his official uniform, in contrast Wolfe was showing the strain of 24hrs of non stop organisation of his Crew chiefs: double and trebled checking working patterns and procedures to ensure all would work without too much danger, but the strain which he accepted showed in his unkempt appearance.
‘Glad you could join us,’ Gonzalo chirped as he looked at his watch. ‘Have you anything to report that will run against the evacuation, of personnel today,’ his sharp eyes burned into Wolfe.
‘The work details have all been set this morning and all agree the workload demanding but achievable.’ Wolfe turned to Gonzalo and informed him that Rusty was the foreman; he will ensure all the necessary parts will be replaced.
Celestial entered the room and said to Gonzalo, ‘Rusty would be my choice too, he is an experienced engineer and has a excellent reputation with the crews.’
Gonzalo confirmed that today they would see the dwindling of the stations workforce. He quickly underlined the need to communicate constantly about the recall of staff and the core dates of their departure, so no mistakes were made. ‘It is essential that the crews do not deviate from your instructions. Failure to evacuate on time will result in consequences for us all,’ he said grimly. Gonzalo handed them a comprehensive breakdown of the departure dates for the staff at the station, it read:
IGE Staff Recall to Earth, September 10-15th, 3053
Staff: Departure date:
IGE administrators: Monday 10/09
IGE Service personnel: Tuesday 11/09
Non essential Scientists: Wednesday 12/09
Non essential Astro-Techs: Thursday 13/09
Remaining Scientists: Friday 14/09
Crew Chiefs and key personnel: Saturday 15/09
‘The last date for departure includes you two.’ He looked over the desk. ‘So please ensure you have all your belongings packed and transferred to the departure terminals by lunchtime on your day of departure.’
The message came across load and clear. It hit Wolfe hard; finally it sunk in that the modern lifestyle of his space family was about to come to an end. An uncertain feeling knotted his stomach. What would the future hold?
Gonzalo looked into his drawer and produced two MSE packs and presented them to the commanders. ‘Here are your debriefing packages, which contain the procedure in which you will be given financial compensation when you return to Earth. There are options to remain in the service, however the positions available will need to be reapplied for, as the structure of the organisation will be streamlined. From December 3054 the Ministry will not function as an exploration organisation anymore.’
Wolfe questioned the packs appearance. ‘Have these packs been circulated yet, to my men?’ he asked with some annoyance.
‘Firstly there not your men, they are IGE personnel and work for MSE and yes they have been hand delivered today to their living quarters,’ Gonzalo snapped. ‘Everyone has the right to know what they're entitled to and information on the debriefing process when back on Earth.’ He looked directly at Wolfe. ‘Any problems?’ he asked as he swivelled the chair to the side before standing and pacing out of the office. ‘That will be all for today, keep me informed of any developments,’ he said as he quickly disappeared from sight.
Wolfe lashed out at the table in front of him, in anger. ‘In all my days, I have never wanted to punch a superior officer. ‘Doesn’t he understand that the technicians need to be focussed on their tasks, not distracted by this kind of information. These packs should have been handed out at a later date!’
Celestial considered his response. ‘I think he just followed procedure but, we must be careful not to give him bullets to fire against us. After all we have a lot to lose, with Mars and the unexplained plants, animals and seeds in the labs and restricted Eco Zone, let alone the UFO in one of the isolation bays. Remember we have fabricated official records.’ Celestial played with his beard, and thought for a second. ‘We need to at least cover up the evidence before his personal guard stumble across it. It is our only way of containing information about Mars until we can give evidence to MSE about life somewhere out there in the solar system and where to find it.’
A plot was quickly hatched to cover their tracks, the two trusted commanders of the space station would need to run their side of the operation whilst spiriting away any alien evidence they had in the labs. The running of the space station in its final hours could become trickier than thought possible, but they had the advantage over Gonzalo, for the time being they were running the show. At least that was what they thought!
Persecution
Mars had been playing with with Volitaire and Robo dog in his bedroom, away from his sister Capella and Sweeney who had been teasing him all day. The morning had started well with Ariel Galieo giving them breakfast and sorting out their schoolwork, but once his mother had gone to work trouble flared. Capella had been rude and said. ‘All of his belongings would need to be left behind and not taken to Earth.’ She taunted. ‘Robo was stopping as well, because his name was not on the passenger list.’ Capella always had a knack of pushing the right buttons to annoy. Ever since his dad had brought Robo home, both she and Sweeney had found the energy-bounding pocket of fun overpowering. Now she had found a way to leave him behind.
Mars could only contain his frustration for so long before he snapped back. ‘Well in that case, Sweeney will have to stop as well. Perhaps he will have to stay in the ECO zone. They will not allow aliens either!’ Capella had not liked this and increased her attentions on Mars. Everything had combined just before lunch, to fuel a name calling fight. Eventually Ariel had stepped in to separate the two children before a physical fight could begin. She sent them to their rooms for the afternoon, as punishment for their behaviour. Here Mars had used his time with Volitaire wisely, by hacking into the stations servers once again, this time he viewed images of Gonzalo when he arrived on his spacecraft. The boy tracked the commander into the control centre and then switched cameras so he could watch the man perform his first tasks in charge. He watched events unfold as the rest of the IGE fleet docked.
Whilst observing Gonzalo, the boy sensed that something was not right. In the observation tower of the space terminal, the new commander stood surveying the newly arrived fleet of ships, which had accompanied his commission. They would be valued transportation returning IGE Personnel and equipment to earth. The ships were dated and had seen better days, just like the remaining fleet they were becoming past their best. With no money available for the fleets maintenance ships, which required extensive overhauls. The craft would be sent to a space graveyard rather than undergo a costly refit.
The commander’s eyes followed the small party of his hand picked personal guard as they unloaded the valuable cargo from the hull of a container ship. Orders were being swiftly carried out, and the secret contents of the boxes would remain on a need to know basis. He turned to his trusted captain. ‘There is no need in compromising the operation by including other senior members of the command team, an investigation at this stage could expose us and put this operation in jeopardy.’
A silhouetted figure replied, ‘I understand, everyone involved will exercise caution about our orders sir.’
Mars and Volitaire watched the last of the crates get carried into the isolation bay. Once they saw the cargo bay doors lock, Gonzalo could be seen allowing himself a wry smile as he looked his reflection square on in the window. ‘Stage two complete,’ Gonzalo said in a confident manner.
Mars was now even more curious of the commander, and so monitored him entering his quarters. He watched Gonzalo lay out his uniform for the next day. As the commander settled, the man looked over his briefing notes for the next days meeting amongst the papers Mars could make out for a few seconds a picture profile of a child, before Gonzalo closed his case and set his alarm for 6:30 am. The last thing the commander did before retiring was to send a personal communication to Templar. Mars managed to intercept and read it. ‘Initial control of station established, cargo
has been transferred we are on countdown. The evacuation of personnel will be completed on time, in seven days.’ Mars wondered what the mysterious cargo could be and what the countdown was? He would have to try and investigate and find out what Gonzalo was up to.
Mars now sat on his bunk with Volitaire, his arm around Robo looking out of the cabin window into the ever-increasing depths of space. He could see a trail of space ships approaching the station as dots in the distance, behind them Eve2 glowed in golden sunlight. Amongst one of these crafts would be the ship sent to take the Galieo family home, he then realised his friend would soon depart.
‘We will all soon be back on Earth.’ Volitaire announced.
Mars sighed. ‘You before I.’
‘Will you miss me?’ She asked.
Mars for the first time realised he was about to lose a close friend. Now he would have no one to study and play with. ‘It’s a shame you are leaving. I would have liked to return with you to Earth.’ He squeezed her hand and they smiled at one another.
‘But will you miss me?’ She asked again.
‘More than you will know, you have been a fantastic friend. I will miss you a lot.’ Mars frowned and became embarrassed.
Volitaire smiled held his hand tightly, a few moments later Ariel entered the room.