02:27
The persistant buzzing at his side finally woke Mitchell up. With an exaggerated sigh he pushed a hand through his tangled hair. *Now what?!* He reached for the small communications device that was pressed snuggly against his bare skin beneath his shirt. He fitted the device into his Gear, and activated the feed.
"Mitchell here."
"Finally, and where the hell have you been?" Reilly demanded. His voice sounded pinched, nervous even.
"Asleep, what do you think, it is 2am." Mitchell responded crisply. He didn't like to be awakened in the middle of the night, especially by an asshole with an attitude.
"Just get your ass down here now, I'm in the Comms room."
"Yes sir, straight away sir." Mitchell replied sarcastically, but the councilman had already broken the connection.
Mitchell reached a hand over the side of the cot, feeling around for the discarded pair of pants that should have been nearby. Then he realised that for the umpteenth time that week, he had fallen asleep fully clothed. Deliberately taking his time, the sergeant left the warm confines of his cot, and made his way the the communications hub of the satelite.
"What took you so damn long." Reilly asked as Mitchell strolled into the room. The liaison didn't turn though, instead he continued to stare at the communications console, his face intense.
"Got here as fast as I could." Mitchell threw back, indifferent to his superior's note of urgency. "So, what's the problem?"
"We've got company." Reilly informed him, as he bent to key in a command.
A picture flashed up on the main viewer that covered most of the aft wall. Mitchell squinted as he studied the screen, try as he might though, he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. "Where, I don't see anything?"
"Eve, magnify sector 8."
"Yes Councilman Reilly." The computer replied obediantly as the view loomed into focus on a small spacecraft.
"Who is it?"
"Eve's not sure, the craft is too far away to identify."
"How far, is far?" Mitchell stepped closer to the viewer. By its shape, the craft looked to be a small passenger shuttle, probably a Beta Class IV. They were very hard to come by, top of the range, very expensive.
"They'll reach the satelite in just under two hours. We have plenty of time to think of a suitable 'deterant'."
"What exactly are you planning to do? Because you know, its most probably some kind of foolish rescue stunt by Adair and crew. They don't want to lose their precious doctor."
"Yes, I realise that. I'm afraid Ms Adair just doesn't know when to leave well enough alone. We won't do anything for now, let them think we haven't spotted them, lull them into a false sense of security."
"And then?"
"And then," Reilly finally turned to face him, smiling. "Blow 'em outta the sky." He drawled melodramatically.
"Aye, aye Sir!" Mitchell replied with a grin.
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03:15
"Careful!" Ramirez warned. He tilted the visual feed arm on his Gear, adjusting it closer to his face as he blinked sweat out of his eyes. The doctor stood stock still, breath held, as he watched the pele scan Thomson was transmitting.
Thompson shifted position in the claustrophobic vent. He swore he could hear his echoing heartbeat in the confined metal tunnel. Gentally, he lowered the explosive device into the small crevice to the left of the air conditioner. With a flick of the switch, the small black box armed, it started to bleep as the countdown to detonation began.
"How long till it blows?" Ramirez asked, chewing nervously on his lower lip.
Thompson studied the small crystalline display, the digits glowing eerily in the dimly lit vent. "59 minutes... 58... 57..."
"Okay, okay. You better get out of there. So you're going to load and prep the shuttle, while I stay here with Heller, right?"
"Yeah, I'll meet you both in the Cargo Bay in 90 minutes?" Ramirez nodded. "Alright, Thompson out."
Thompson removed the Gear from his head and stowed it in his shirt pocket. He then slowly backed out of the vent and soundlessly jumped down to the corridor floor, replacing the mesh cover. With a quick glance through the window to make sure that the other crew members were still sound asleep in the main quarters, Thompson jogged to the Cargo Bay.
Ramirez removed his Gear also, and placed it on the table top. He picked up the solution he had been working on before Thompson called in. The liquid swirled around in the small vial as the doctor analysed the mixture with his diaglove. The readings seemed correct, the consistancy positive. *Lets just hope it works*. He pushed the vial into the slot on the sediderm, then walked over to the cot that Julia Heller lay sleeping in.
"Dr Heller you have to wake up." He paused, but there was no response. "Dr Heller, do you hear me? You can't go to sleep." Still no movement. Laying the sediderm down, Ramirez gently shook the young woman by the shoulders.
"Wha... Whatta matter? 'Lonzo?" Julia rolled her head to the left, the direction the voice was coming from. Her voice sounded strange, even to herself. Distant.
"No, its Dr Ramirez. Come on Julia open your eyes for me. How do you feel?"
"Hmmm, fuz... Kinda fuzzy." She slowly opened her eyes, the brightness of the room adding to the terrible pounding in her head. Finally the face that belonged to the voice she kept hearing, flashed into focus.
Ramirez smiled as she looked at him. "That's it Julia, now keep looking at me. Focus, don't close your eyes again, okay?"
Julia tried to nod her compliance, but her head didn't seem to want to move. She had to settle for talking, which was even harder to do. "'Kay." Her eyes narrowed as she studied his features. "Who you?"
"My name is Alex, I'm a doctor. Don't worry Julia, you're going to be fine. Now I've synthasized a mixture that should help to clear up the 'fuzziness'. So just lie still a minute, while I..." Ramirez cut his own sentence off, as he picked up the applicator and pressed it to her neck. He watched as the vial emptied, the solution being injected into her bloodstream. "It will take a few minutes to take hold, so just relax."
"Mmmm, yeah." Came the slurred reply, as Julia closed her eyes once more.
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03:58
"Okay, so they're right on us. Shall I wake the rest of the crew?" Mitchell clasped his hands behind his back as he addressed Reilly.
"No. No I don't think that's necessary. I think you and I can handle this situation on our own, don't you?"
"Oh definately." Mitchell stepped back over to the main viewer. The shuttle was clearly in focus now, it seemed near enough to touch. A smile crept across Mitchell's face.
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04:09
"Something very strange is going on here, they should have detected us by now." Solace frowned, by all outward appearances the satelite looked deserted. "You don't suppose they've already left do you?"
Heller studied the shuttle console, he found the situation more suspicious than strange. *We're walking into a trap. Being drawn in*. He didn't voice his fears to his co-pilot though, they could be completely unfounded, no use in getting jumpy now. "*Anything* is possible." Joshua replied distractedly.
"Hey, I thought you were supposed to be the optimistic one here. You're supposed to say, 'Don't be stupid Solace, everything is gonna work out fine.'" Alonzo quipped, his tone half serious.
"Don't be stupid Solace, everything is gonna work out fine." Josh responded immediately, his voice completely devoid of humour. "Better?"
"Yeah much, thanks." Suddenly the navi-panel emitted a sharp bleep, and a string of co-ordinates and calculations flashed onto the screen. "Okay then, here goes nothing. Docking procedure initiated.
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04:14
"Right, they've started docking procedures. They're sitting ducks." Mitchell hands danced over the control panel, punching in a variety of commands. "One shot of the plasma cannon, should disable them. The second should finish them off." Mitchell shot Reilly a somewhat bemused glance. "Say when..."
Eve, the satelite computer, interrupted Reilly's command before it even left his lips. "I have detected a minor disturbance in the Crew Sleeping Quarters Councilman Reilly." Her holographic representation appeared on the viewscreen, replacing the shuttle dock that they had previously been watching.
"What sort of disturbance?" Reilly questioned clearly puzzled.
"A small explosion on deck 2b, no damage has been caused." Eve continued.
"An explosion, how the hell..." Mitchell programmed a full perimeter scan. "She's right, could they be shoorting at us." He motioned to the viewscreen.
"The shuttle?" Mitchell nodded. "No, they think they've snuck in undetected, they aren't going to draw attention to themselves now."
"Then who?"
"Eve, was the explosive device triggered internally?"
"Yes, the detonation occurred in an air conditioning conduit. No damage has been caused."
"Looks like we've got a traitor on board. Call a yellow alert, I want everyone down here now!" The councilman instructed. A klaxon started blaring, issuing all crew to take up defensive positions.
"What about the shuttle?" Mitchell asked, his fingers hovering over the weapons systems panel.
"Just shoot it down goddammit, I haven't got time to play around with them."
"Yessir." The button that Mitchell pressed should have sent a streak of plasma across the sky, the power enough to knock out all the shuttle's power and life support. However, when he did press it, nothing happened. He tried again, thinking that perhaps he hadn't hit it squarely. Still nothing. "What the hell...?"
"Now what?!" Reilly demanded from his vantage point infront of the main viewer. He strode across the room to join Mitchell, as the Sergeant started to push each button on the weapons panel in turn, each one delivered the same response.
"Nothing, the things shanking dead, all weapons are non-responsive."
"WHAT!!" He boomed. "Eve, weapons status now. Why aren't we getting any response?"
"Weapons systems have been disabled Councilman Reilly."
"Disabled? By who for christ's sake?"
"Weapons sytems were disabled by Thompson, Leuitenant J. Authorisation codes were accepted."
"Thompson. That son of a bitch, I never trusted him." Mitchell spat, slamming a fist into the console, the plexiglass straining beneath the force.
"We'll deal with him later." Reilly replied, maintaining his calm. Suddenly he glanced at his watch and swore, as if remembering an important previous engagement. "Where the hell are the others?"
Chapter End Notes:
And as the great Dana Scully once said: 'Sure, Fine, Whatever!'