“I have detected Aka-1 on ninth floor, Captain,” Maggy reports, “Along with other enemy ships.”
“Who is Aka-1, Chief?”
“She is the ship your father was commanding when he was captured.”
“Is it still operational?”
“Maggy, see if you can establish communication with Aka-1,” Chief orders.
“Communication established, Captain.”
“Please check the status of Aka-1, Maggy,” I ask as new plans start to develop in my head.
“Aka-1 is fully operational. All her systems are in working order, Lee.”
“Excellent Maggy. We are taking that ship back with us. How technologically advanced is Aka-1, Chief?”
“Very! She is the previous model of Maggy. Not much different from her.”
“Awesome! Maggy, please place Aka-1 on standby mode. Provide her with my voice frequency and program her to execute my commands. Also… have her understand the English language.”
I hear some beeping noises from Maggy as she programs Aka-1. “Work in progress…” says Maggy. “Aka-1 has been programmed and she is now ready to execute your commands, Lee. Downloading English vocabulary… downloads complete!”
“Good job! You are awesome Maggy.”
“You are welcome…I detect activity on the ninth floor.” Maggy says.
It looks like one of the other ships has been started. A small patrol ship,” says Chief.
“Let me know if it moves or prepares to exit the building. I might be able to sneak inside while it comes out, Chief. Are there guards on that level?”
“Two guards,” Maggy replies.
“Gate is opening Lee. They are ready to come out. You only have about five seconds to get inside, once the door is fully open.”
“I am almost there.”
“Very good. I may have to move out of sight if they detect us.”
“Understood Chief. Do whatever is necessary.”
I get closer to the gate—fifteen feet, ten, five. Gate opens fully. The ship comes out and I go in. The gate closes and I see a second door, already closed, in front of me. “Damn it!” I shout. “There is a second door, Chief. Chief?...Maggy?…You guys there?” I keep shouting, but there is no answer.
About twenty seconds later, I hear Chief on the radio, “We have been detected Lee. I will retreat and shake them off. We’ll come back!”
“I saw that coming,” I say to myself.
I point my gun at the second door and blow the whole thing off. “This is going to get some attention.”
I jump inside the building and two guards approach me immediately. With no hesitation, I throw myself on the floor, point at them, pull the trigger and blow them away.
“Father, please guide me!”
“Door to your right is a passage to the next floor down. Follow it son.”
I run towards the door. The whole alarm system has gone off by now. I can feel a few more guards coming my way.
All of the sudden I see an amazing spaceship in one of the corners of the room. “That has got to be Aka-1,” I say to myself, “I can recognize a state of the art ship when I see one. No wonder those bastards are trying to steal our technology.”
“Stay put Aka-1, I will come back for you in a few minutes,” I mutter.
Another door opens, and guards storm in and get in position to shoot me. I swiftly move up, down, and then to the sides. I pull the trigger and give them a laser discharge, which take care of four more guards.
I go to the next floor down and start to perceive three more attackers. A moment later, we find ourselves face-to-face; we did not even have time to point our guns at each other. I push myself forward, knocking two guys down by walking up to their bodies and hitting them hard with my gun. The third one is targeting me, but he is sort of confused, he did not expect to see such a fast action right before his eyes.
In a split second I recall more martial arts moves, and without hesitation I point at him while emitting a very loud noise, which confuses him even more. I take a step back, then launch forward with a side kick and slam him against the wall—hard.
“They are done! All my martial arts training on Earth is finally paying off. And combined with my new abilities…I am a dangerous dude!” I say to myself.
“Where to father?”
“Down, cell number two!”
I go down another floor and start to look for the cells. I can feel more guards approaching the area.
I finally find cell number two and there he is, my old man, in a very small cell. It certainly is a prisoner cell, from what I can tell.
He shouts at me, “Don’t! Don’t try to come in son! You will get trapped!” He points up with his head, the only part of his body he is able to move, and tells me, “See that dish up there…it will be activated and trap you the moment you walk in.” I keep moving forward. “Please don’t!” he cries.
I kick the gate open, point at the beam head with my gun and overload the dish with enough power to make it smoke. Next I point and shoot at the machine that my father is strapped to. It releases his wounded hands and legs.
I can tell right away that his body is very weak, and his mind, disturbed. He had been deprived of food and rest for way too long.
“Those bastards! They are going to pay for this!”
I help my father sit up on the small bed and tell him, “I will carry you over my back, father. Just hold on as tight as you can. I am going to get you out of here!”
A second later I hear Chief getting back to me on the radio. “Lee, are you there?”
“Yes Chief. I’ve got my father with me. We are moving towards Aka-1 now.”
“Okay. It seems like they are sending a whole army your way, about thirty guys. Be prepared! They are also going to have visual on this ship any moment. We can’t hover here for too long!”
“Got it Chief!” I begin to command the ship, “Maggy, activate Aka-1 and get it ready for take-off. Get my radio synchronized with her, too.”
Maggy responds a few seconds later, “Aka-1 is on and ready for departure. Radios synchronized and ready to communicate.”
I come out of the cell and sure enough, I perceive a whole army approaching us. I literally fly upstairs with my father on my back, shooting at a few soldiers, while moving.
“It’s strange. They don’t seem to be very agile. They are sort of slow when drawing their weapons too—all to our benefit.”
“There are more guards awaiting us behind the door son.”
“Ten to be precise father.”
I concentrate, take a deep breath, and move forward, shooting through the closed door and walls at soldiers, who I know are waiting for us. As we pass through the door, we find only a few of our immediate attackers still standing, and their confusion makes them an easy target for me.
“There are more coming up behind you Lee,” Chief announces.
“How come I don’t perceive them Chief?”
“They are droids, and have no life or mind of their own to be perceived. They are good with weapons though.”
“Understood!”
I can feel my father holding on even tighter. “Poor guy, he must be so tired, but this is not the place or time to think about tiredness, not if we want to make it. And we will make it. I have no question about it!”
I move up as high as I can. Droids start to pile into the hallway. “Shit, that’s too many,” I say to my father. “But I can’t be scared. Being scared hasn’t taken me many places!”
I begin to shoot them as we descend in a circular motion. My father helps me to avoid some of their shots by pushing our bodies in various directions, while I eliminate the rest of them. Not as difficult as I had expected.
We head towards the door where Aka-1 is located, on the ninth floor. I blow the door open with my weapon and start to command Aka-1 on the radio, “Aka-1, open door, now!”
“Door is open, Captain.” I hear her voice for the first time, it sounds as s
weet as Maggy’s.
As I run towards Aka-1, I direct my weapon towards the main gate of the building and blow it to pieces, making way for Aka-1 to leave.
“Aka-1, close door and activate shield mode. Let’s get out of here, at once!” I tell her as I place my father in one of the seats.
“Leaving, Captain,” she says, blasting off before I even notice.
“Well done Aka-1! Please slow down, turn around and give me visual of the Boggie’s Base.”
“Visual obtained, Captain.”
“Set full target Aka-1.”
“Full target attained, Captain. But I am not authorized to deploy weapons.”
“Don’t worry Aka-1. You are not going to deploy anything. Please switch to manual mode.”
“Manual mode active!”
I reach for the trigger that fires the weapon of my choice and pull it with no hesitation.
“That was the end of that Boggie Base,” I mutter. “And that puts peace into that sector of Mars.”
“Lee!” Chief shouts on the radio.
“I just gave them some of my integrity Chief.”
I suddenly get visual of him on one of the screens, he is shaking his head. “Crazy kid! How is your father?”
My father struggles to say a few words, “I am shook-up, weak, but alive.” He then turns to me and says, “This kid of mine is quite a character, hasn’t changed much, got worse if anything.” We chuckle and get a proper hug at last.
“Chief, I request permission to go back to Earth and take care of my father there.”
“I cannot authorize you to do that, Lee. I am on vacation, don’t you remember? I am not holding any post right now.”
“Roger that, Chief! Roger that!”
“Aka-1. Please establish communication with Base, find the records from where BZ-2 last took off from Earth. I want you to find those coordinates.”
“Communication with Base established…looking for records in database…location found. Earth coordinates for BZ-2’s last departure: Solar system, planet Earth. Latitude: 33°13' 53.73". Longitude: -116°44' 40.88."
“Excellent! Lock in those coordinates and set your course to that destination, at normal speed. Can I get an ETA?”
“ETA, thirty-seven Earth minutes at high speed, Captain.”
“According to my Earth watch, it is going to be about 4 am at our destination, is that correct Aka-1?”
“We have not kept records of Earth time zones, sorry, Captain.”
“No worries, can you tell me if it is going to be dark when we get there?”
“Yes, the positioning of your sun will be basically at the opposite side of our destination, Captain.”
“That’s what I needed to hear.”
“Chief, please brief my mother and anybody else at the Base about our trip and change of plans. I take full responsibility for any wrongdoing. I will take full responsibility for Aka-1 as well. My family and I will take care of my father.”
“Don’t worry kid. I would do the same if I were you. By the way, well done on this rescue mission. I am really proud of you!”
“Thanks Chief. I could not have done it without you, Maggy, and Aka-1. Have a safe trip back home.”
“Talk to you soon Lee.” He directs his attention to my father and says, “Get well soon, Officer Darius. Have fun and don’t drink too much coffee, or you will end up like your son.”
I immediately feel the impulse to instruct Maggy. I tell her, “Maggy, take Chief back to the Base, at once!” We all laugh.
“Aka-1, proceed to target.”
“Leaving the Mars atmosphere, Captain.”
Chapter 36
Home
I turn around with all the attention on my father. “Okay father, we can now talk for a little bit and then I will let you rest. Here, have some water and the last of my fruit.” He grabs the water, gulps it down immediately and bites into an apple.
“Thanks son. I have never been happier to see you.”
“It has been such a long time father. I am so glad to see you too.”
We talked for a few minutes and he briefly tells me what happened and what they did to him while at the Boggie’s Base. He seems calmer and relieved after talking to me about it. He had not been allowed to speak with anyone for a long time.
“Have you ever been to Earth, father?”
“No, I haven’t. I heard it’s beautiful. I was offered to go there once, but I hesitated and someone else went instead. That was Jon.”
“Funny, you would have landed right by my house, just like they did.”
“True, but I could also have been killed like those on the other ships.”
“Right! It’s just as Jon says, nothing just happens. There is a reason for everything and I understand we cause those things. I have learned so much from those guys. I have learned more from them in the past few months than in all my previous Earth lives together.”
We both laugh. I go on, “And funny enough, it has mainly been a matter of remembering things and regaining my dormant abilities. I am so glad all this is happening. Still feel bad about the ships that were shot down and the guys that died, but again, it’s all for a reason.”
“I totally understand what you mean, believe me I do.” He looks deeply into my eyes. He is tired, weak and hungry, but deep inside I see a wise, strong being; the return of a best friend.
I recline his seat, make him comfortable, and let him rest for the remainder of the trip.
Twenty minutes later, Aka-1 reports, “We have entered the Earth’s atmosphere, Captain. Speed reduced to hypersonic—Mach 5.”
“Excellent Aka-1. Turn lights off and activate stealth mode as we approach home.”
“It is a good feeling, knowing that this ship can’t be easily detected—less of a rush.”
“Approaching home, Captain.”
My father wakes up from the sounds of Aka-1 and hearing my voice. He stretches himself. “I guess we already made it.”
“That’s right, we are home! I have to wake up the guys. I have no radio to call them.” I concentrate and send Jon, Leo, and the girls a thought, asking them to come and open the garage.
They all jump out of bed.
The garage roof opens, and we descend, and land.
“Father, Aka-1, this is my home—your home, too. Welcome!”
“Thanks son.” He gets up from his seat, holds onto my shoulder and prepares to exit.
“Thanks Captain,” says Aka-1 as she gently opens her door for us.
Jon comes rushing forward. “What in heavens Lee! Officer Darius! Where have you guys been?”
“It’s a long story. My father needs lots of fresh oxygen, food, and rest.”
“I see you have discovered many things Lee,” Leo comments. “You are even speaking ‘Kumy’, our space language.”
Gina rushes in behind the boys, still in her PJs. “Lee! What happened? Is that Chief?” She hugs me.
“Hi babe. Chief is back at the Base, and he is fine. This man here is my father, my father from the Base that is.” Father gets close to Gina and bows to her.
He doesn’t speak the English language so I translate to her. “Father says he is pleased to meet you.”
“I am pleased to meet him…too,” says Gina in amazement and with all of her attention on my father. She continues, “Wha…what a kind being.” She places a hand on his shoulder.
“Hence myself,” I joke, and then continue, “And this is Aka-1, she is an amazing ship—just saved us from Mars.”
“Hi Gina,” says Aka-1. Already speaking the English language.
“Hi Aka-…1. She also talks?”
“Yep! She sure does.”
I proceed to give Aka-1 final instructions, “Aka-1, please send a report to Base about our safe arrival on Earth. Power yourself down, leave communication and surveillance systems on, please.”
Aka-1 beeps and then says, “Powering down… Communication system in standby mode. Surveillance system ac
tive, Captain.”
“So, now you are a Captain?” Gina asks with surprise, “Did you fly this ship too?”
I grab Gina with one arm and my father with the other and say, “Let’s make some fresh coffee and I can tell you all about it.”
We provide my father with some food, and then help him get comfortable in bed where he can rest without any disturbances.
I sit down with Gina and the boys for two hours. I brief them on my trip to the Base, the realizations I had, how amazing it was to step into this other world after so long of not having been there, and how they greeted Chief and me upon our arrival.
I share how special the people are, the way they operate and the technology they have. I also tell them about having found my mother, the things we talked about while enjoying a cup of coffee. And then, last but not least, the account of rescuing my father from Mars.
They could not believe what I was saying, and even Jon and Leo were surprised.
“You went through all that in the last 20 hours?” Gina asks.
It all seems too hard to believe, but Gina has no room for doubt, for there is my father and there is another ship, but most of all, she knows I am a different man, one who is stronger in mind and spirit, who is finding less and less barriers in life, one who cares for others to the point of risking his own life, and one who is ready to change the world.
They also bring me up to speed on the work they have done while I was away. It is impressive what they have accomplished in less than a day. They put together a whole advertising campaign. Developed the first subject, “The Power of Communication”, by gathering pictures and creating vocalized messages for every part of this subject. Leo has made computer animated movies that make it very easy for people to understand. They are going to continue to refine every part of the campaign, and then translate it into 15 languages, the main languages spoken on planet Earth.
We decide to get some rest before another eventful day.
Chapter 37
The Future
We all get up late the next day after a long and well deserved rest. My father had taken a shower and was sitting next to an open window, enjoying the fresh air.
“Here father, have some coffee. You look so much better. Did you sleep well?”
He takes a sip. “I feel great! Lots of oxygen here, makes me recover very fast.” He nods and takes another sip of coffee. “This stuff is not bad. My stomach sort of tingles—”