They were now practically orbiting Earth and still weren’t getting assailed by Drevi warships, but it quickly became apparent why that might be.
“There’s an abnormally large number of ships and power surges coming from the facility near Baltimore,” Trell said.
“I’ll bet Ken’s making his move,” Ted said. “Maybe our timing isn’t very good. The soldiers aren’t going to be glued to their handhelds in the middle of an emergency.”
“Actually, they will be,” Vandoraa said. “Think about it. The second something bad happens, you want to hear all about it. Granted the soldiers stationed around Baltimore probably won’t see our message, but all the others on the planet... you bet your ass they will.”
Vandoraa’s point made sense, so Ted gave his consent for the operation to commence. “Let’s go.”
As he waited, Ted’s mind wandered as he watched the scanner readings of Earth. How much had changed in just the time he’d been on Neptune Station, recovering from his injuries? It looked like there were considerably less Drevi facilities left. His people were fighting back, and winning. This was great news, but his fear was that everything would descend into chaos. He had to make sure that didn’t happen.
“Wait, there, I got it!” Trell cried in success. “They’re broadcasting right now, so I was able to pick it up on scanners. They’re sending the signal from a center in Washington D.C. I think we can even get a live feed.” He played around with it a bit longer and soon 2D video images appeared on the screen. The video showed the very facility in which Ted had been forced to live. Sirens were going off and bright green lights were flashing. There was a calm yet tense voiceover of a reporter in the articulate language of the Drevi. Only Vandoraa could understand it, but he didn’t translate.
“Geez, they make us look pretty terrible,” Ted commented as images of bloody Drevi corpses were shown.
“What’d you expect?” Vandoraa asked dryly.
“Here’s how we’re going to do this,” Ted said, deciding. “We’re going to break up into teams. Trell, you’re going to go with Bea, and Alana, you’re with Vandoraa and me. That increases our chances of at least one of our groups making it to the broadcast room.” It was his crew’s first real mission, and his first time really giving them orders and sending them into a dangerous situation. Adrenaline and boldness shot through his veins. He was ready for this. They were all ready for this.
“No, you need to stay here. Someone needs to watch the ship, and you just had major surgery,” Alana said, not unkindly.
“But I can’t just...”
“Yes, you can. And you will.”
Ted looked at Trell and Vandoraa, who seemed to agree with Alana, so he sighed and gave in.
Trell pressed a button on the wall so he could call Bea, who had run down to the engine room to check on something called the gravitic clamps after figuring out how to tap the broadcast with Vandoraa. “Bea, meet me by Shuttle A. The two of us are going down there.”
“Right,” she said over the comm system. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
Alana and Vandoraa exchanged glances. “Well, let’s head to B Launch Bay,” Vandoraa said.
Alana grabbed her weapon from where she had set it down and slung it around her waist. “Let’s go.”
In the blink of an eye, the bridge was empty. Ted released a deep breath and sat down. He would just have to sit here and stop worrying. If he was going to be captain, he was going to have to learn to trust his crew.
Because there were separate launch bays for each of the three shuttles, Trell separated from Alana and Vandoraa as they neared the launch bays. Bea was waiting for him by the door. The four of them boarded the two shuttles, depressurized both bays, and disembarked from the ship, leaving the December seemingly cold and alone in space.
As Trell and Bea’s shuttle went to the west of the broadcast center while Vandoraa and Alana’s went to the east, they lost sight of each other. Alana and Trell had agreed on their way to the launch bays that it would be better if they maintained radio silence, so each team had lost contact with their counterpart a few miles above the surface.
Alana and Vandoraa, guns at the ready, crept out of the shuttle, carefully taking in their surroundings and scanning for enemy threats. The coast was clear. With a glance at each other, they vanished into the night.