Part 7: Solutions       Marsala looked up from Tanaka's progress. They were getting no where fast. He walked over to the communications station and placed a call. The vid screen flashed to life. J.T. Marsh appeared on the line, "Marsala! This is a surprise! How are you?" "I could be better J.T." said Marsala. "What's wrong?" asked J.T. Marsala told him what had happened with the escaped Neos and the disappearance of Hanley and Napier. "You still have a gift for understatement." noted J.T. "I need a favor J.T." said Marsala. "Name it." replied J.T. "We're closing in on Sean's current whereabouts. When we have precise set of coordinates we will need ground troops to execute a search and rescue." explained Marsala. "I'll put a word in with the Admiral. I also have feeling Charlie Five will be willing to lend a hand." J.T. smiled. "Thank you J.T. I'll contact you the moment we have something." * * *       "Why exactly is Sargent Torres here?" asked Sterling. "Because what we have to discuss concerns the squad as well." answered Nara flatly. They sat at the poker table, Nara and Torres across from Sterling. "And what precisely do we need to discuss?" asked Sterling. "This." said Rita as she threw his file onto the table. "No finger prints, no date of birth, no first name, and no record of you in any exofleet database save for this highly suspect file." stated Nara. "Technically you shouldn't even exist" added Rita. "Why is that file highly suspect?" asked Sterling. "Aside from the missing information, your history has you being born in deep space and hanging out with aliens most of your life. You don't really expect us to believe that, do you?" asked Rita. "Yes and No." replied Sterling. "Which is it?" demanded Nara. "Both" said Sterling flatly. "I'm not in the mood for games." growled Nara. "I'm not playing games." retorted Sterling. "Quite fooling around with us." said Rita. "I'm not fooling around with...um...nothing happened!" said Sterling suddenly remembering the previous night. This had the effect of silencing Rita and angering Nara. She had hoped to avoid the subject a little longer. Rita continued, "Just come clean with us." "But I took a shower this morning." said Sterling, slightly confused. "Don't get wise with me, Trooper." warned Rita. "You can't stop me from accumulating knowledge, I have a right to learn like everyone else." insisted Sterling. Rita took a deep breath, then continued, "What is your first name?" "My first name?" questioned Sterling. "No, my first name." said Rita sarcastically. "I don't know your first name." answered Sterling. Rita had become increasingly more frustrated as the line of questioning progressed. Nara, on the other hand, was positively fuming. As soon as Rita finished with her last question, Nara flipped the table over and grabbed Sterling by the collar. She hoisted him with one arm into the air. "Enough! I've had it with your little games!" she screamed. Rita, coming to her senses, tried to stop her. "Nara don't! Your gonna hurt him!" But Nara wasn't in the mood to listen, she gave Rita a gentle 'push' with her power. Rita fell backward onto the floor. Sterling watched with fascination. A million thoughts raced through his mind, and were suddenly put to one side when he realized that Nara really could strangle him. Nara felt a shock in her hand and she instinctively let go of Sterling. He landed on his feet. Nara looked at right hand. The glove of her uniform had been dissolved away, leaving her hand untouched. She looked at Sterling in time to see an eerie blue glow fade from his eyes. "What are you?" she asked. "That has to be the first question you asked me that makes sense." noted Sterling. "I think we have a lot to talk about." * * *       "And so we meet again." Kaz said with a smile. Shanita looked at him blankly from her cell. "What? No verbose hello? I'm disappointed." joked Kaz. Shanita remained silent. "Okay, so you don't appreciate my humor. How about the straight forward approach? My name is Kaz Takagi, but you can call me Kaz. What's your name?" Shanita quickly got bored and turned to face a opposite wall. Ouch! thought Kaz Maybe I need to try a different approach. He called out to the scientists in the control booth, "Open the door to the cell!" A response came from the loud speakers,"We can't allow that, there's no way to assure your safety." "Did it ever occur to you that she won't talk because maybe she needs to feel on equal ground with the speaker. If I'm in there, then its person to person, not the kept to the keeper." A moment of silence passed. Shanita turned around to see what was happening. She heard the electronic hum of the force field stop and the cell door unlock. Kaz grabbed the handle and opened the door. He took a step inside and closed the door behind him. It locked and the electric hum immediately returned. Kaz casually walked over to Shanita's bunk and had a seat next to her. Shanita looked at him, "You are brave." "I try to be" Kaz said as he stuck out his hand, "Kaz Takagi" Shanita stared at the hand for a few seconds. Kaz, realizing his mistake, offered an explanation, "Its our custom to greet people with a shake of the hand." Shanita nodded and gripped his hand in her own, "My name is Shanita." "Pleasure to meet you." said Kaz. "Well, Kaz, what is it that you want?" asked Shanita. "Its not what I want, its what the wimps in the booth want." said Kaz as he gestured upward with his thumb. "You insult your superiors?" asked Shanita, somewhat shocked. "They're scientists, not officers. They teach us a few things, but we aren't responsible to them or anything." "So what is it that they want?" asked Shanita. "Forget about that for now" Kaz said with a dismissive gesture. Inside the control booth, Dr. Martin proceeded to throw a fit. Not only had Takagi overstepped his bounds by going into the cell, but now he was deviating from agreed upon line of questioning. Kaz continued talking with Shanita attempting to keep it as informal as possible, "Tell me about yourself." "Why do you want to know about me?" said Shanita. "I want to know who I'm talking to. Who are your parents? Do you have any friends? Is there anyone waiting for you back home? That sort of thing." explained Kaz. Shanita swallowed hard, "I have no one. My parents died a long time ago. I have been abandoned by my people. They will never take me back because I was captured in battle. All soldiers are to die or come back to risk their lives again. So you see, even if you release me I have no where to go." "I'm sorry to hear that." said Kaz "Did you have any friends?" "There were three fellow soldiers that I could truly say were my friends." "What happened to them" asked Kaz. "One was killed on Mars by a terran pilot. I tried to avenge her, but was called away to defend my Baseship." Kaz's expression went cold when she mentioned Mars. Shanita noticed, "You were there, were you not?" "Yes, I was." said Kaz, unsure how she would react. "What type of mecha did you fly?" "It was a fighter, a structure with two large wings, it was blue." said Kaz cautiously. Shanita clenched her fists, Did he kill Kamilia? "Did it have arms and legs, or was it shaped more like a capital ship?" she asked. "It was more like a capital ship. It wasn't humanoid shaped, if that's what you mean." answered Kaz. Shanita unclenched her fists and Kaz had no idea how close his life had come to being over. "I did not encounter such a vessel in that battle." "Well that makes me a bit more comfortable." said Kaz with a smile. "What about your other two friends?" "One was with me on the mission where I was captured. I assume he is dead. Though I would like to know how he died." Shanita looked almost pleadingly at Kaz. "Maybe I can arrange for you to find out." "I would appreciate any effort on your part." Shanita got up from her bunk and walked over to the bars of her cell, "Do you think they will let me see this world, the descriptions I read of it made it sound beautiful." "I don't think they will let you out any time soon, but maybe I can bring a little of that world in here. Shanita, what happened to the third?" Shanita continued to look away from him, "He was my best friend. What became of him is a long story, and even I am not sure what happened to him." "I'm not going anywhere" said Kaz with a shrug of the shoulders. Shanita turned and walked back to her bunk, where she sat down again. "Very well, Kaz Takagi. His name was Taqueza..." * * *       "Marsala! We got a homing beacon on the scanner!" yelled J.J. "Any idea who it belongs to?" asked Marsala. "No way to tell. They were designed to send out a simple signal, not identify the user." explained J.J. "Notify the Exofleet and give them landing coordinates for five miles South of that position." ordered Marsala. "No problem" assured J.J. A moment later, J.J. had a response. "They'll be there with bells on!" "That would be a disadvantage if we wish to catch them off guard." noted Marsala. Tanaka, Madison, and J.J. looked at him oddly. "That was a joke." explained Marsala. "When we get back, remind me to work with you on the concept of timing." stated Tanaka. "Lets go!" yelled Madison. Minutes later, they were in their e-frames and on their way to meet up with Charlie Five. * * *       Nara stared at her hand, then at Sterling. "Start talking." "Not here, come with me." said Sterling. "In case you forgot, I'm in charge here, not you." reminded Nara. "Advantage in any situation is subject to change." countered Sterling, "I have information you want, not the other way around. I am willing to tell you what you want to know, but only in the confines of a secure location." "Fine. We'll play it your way. Rita?" "Right behind you, Nara." Sterling lead them out of the hanger and into the personnel quarters of the ship. He stopped at the door marked with his name and opened it, motioning for Nara and Rita to follow. Once inside Sterling made his way to his computer console and had a seat in front of it. Rita and Nara took note of the room's state. The design was just as any other trooper's room. It was its contents that made it unusual. Books were scattered everywhere. The subject matter varied from physics, chemistry, engineering, and biology to Shakespeare, poetry, art, and music. One corner of the room was made into a small workshop. It looked as if Sterling had spent hours there tinkering with gadgets of his own design. "What did you do? Raid the ship's library?" asked Rita. "In a manner of speaking. They allowed me to temporarily borrow these volumes." Sterling fiddled with his console. His screen displayed the message, "Security lock down engaged." Rita had seat on the bed, Nara sat in the chair across from Sterling. "I believe you were about to explain something to us." noted Nara. "In a moment, I was wondering about your abilities. Were you born with them?" asked Sterling. Nara stared at him fiercely, Rita braced herself for another outburst. "Look Sterling, I've been more than patient," Rita shot her a sidelong glance and Nara corrected herself. "Okay, I may not have been patient, but you promised answers and now its time to deliver on that promise." Nara's voice was low but tense, indicating she was trying to control herself. "Five minutes Na - Lt. Burns. That is all I ask." his eyes softened as he spoke. Nara, much to her surprise, agreed. "Fine. I wasn't born with them. I went on a mission to the Amazon rain forest where I met up with a lunatic that liked to play with people's DNA. He injected me with a retrovirus to alter mine and here I am. Satisfied?" asked Nara, who still couldn't understand why she chose to tell him. Sterling said nothing and turned to his computer station. His hands flew over the keyboard and soon he had access to the crew's medical records. Nara and Rita peeked over his shoulder, "You realize that's illegal, right?" commented Rita. "How much more trouble can I possibly get into?" responded Sterling. "Good point" conceded Rita. They watched as Sterling pulled up Nara's file and downloaded the most recent information on her condition. Soon a computer model of her genetic pattern appeared on the screen. Sterling opened a few programs and the computer began to try to match up the altered sequence with a known source. "Medical already tried that and came up empty." said Nara. As she said it, she noted she wasn't angry anymore and genuinely interested in what he was doing. "Came up from where? Nevermind. Must be another figure of speech, I have trouble understanding those." said Sterling. "That explains a lot" noted Torres dryly. Sterling continued, "I believe medical has been looking in the wrong place." A moment later the computer announced it had a partial match with another genome. Sterling isolated out the unknown segments and ran them against a sample called 'unnamed'. The computer determined the two samples to be from the same species. "How did you do that? What is this?" asked Nara. Sterling turned to look at her. "I assumed that since medical was not able to match sample with one organism, it must be from more than one. At regular intervals you have inserted segments that appear terran in origin. The computer matched these segments to a family of plants, most of which grow in the Amazon rain forest." explained Sterling. "That's consistent with Ketzer's style" said Nara with a nod of the head. "The remaining portions are Eltorian in origin. You can see that when your sample is compared to the unnamed one." Sterling pointed at the two sequences for emphasis. "What's an Eltorian?" asked Rita. "An Eltorian is a being from the planet Eltoria, they were recently driven from this system." explained Sterling. "You mean I'm part alien!?" exclaimed Nara. "Essentially yes. Though since you were artificially made that way, you possess only part of the alien genome. This accounts for your unusual powers and your increased strength. That makes you almost, but not quite, a hybrid of the two species. Based on your earlier demonstration, I would guess you are about as strong as the average Eltorian. A full half-breed, at least in my experience, would probably be stronger." Nara shook her head in disbelief. "What do you mean, in your experience? Where did that sample come from?" Nara pointed to the sample called 'unknown'. Sterling looked her square in the eye, "It came from me." * * *       "Looks too peaceful to be a bunker." Jared Mathison looked past the rocks that served as cover for point group at a large mountain. It looked like any other. As a mater of fact, no one would have suspected it was a bunker if not for the signal beacon that Mathison was homing in on. "Of course it doesn't look like a bunker, if it looked like a bunker it wouldn't be a hidden base." retorted Poedowski. "They don't know we're here, let's keep it that way." said Pellegrino. "Mathison signal O'Reilly and tell her we found our Neo encampment. Mathison nodded, a moment later he was talking with the Lieutenant. * * *       Colleen O'Reilly watched as the three E-frames came in for a landing. The lead one opened and Marsala got out to greet her. "Greetings Lt. O'Reilly." "Nice to see you again Marsala, we got here a little before you and got set up." answered O'Reilly. "Have you located the source of the transmission." asked Marsala. "Not yet, but I have three of my best people on it." As if on cue, her personal comlink crackled to life. "O'Reilly here." Mathison's voice came over the com, "We found the source of that signal. Its a mountain about three miles from your position. We think we found the main entrance." "Good work, sit tight and wait for us to get there, O'Reilly out." "I will fly ahead and await your arrival." stated Marsala. "Are you sure that's smart?" asked Colleen. "We have no choice. If the other e-frames try to fly to that position they will be detected, it is better that they serve as an escort for your platoon. With the cloaking capabilities of my ship, I should be able to get there faster and undetected. I should also be able to providing the necessary cover your men there will require should they be discovered." Colleen nodded her head in agreement. Marsala got back into his frame and took off. A moment later he faded from sight as he activated his cloaking shield. Colleen turned to her platoon, "All right everyone, suit up! We move out in five minutes!" * * *       "How's the arm?" Eve looked at Sean with exhausted eyes. "Hurts like hell." "You will not have to endure the pain for much longer." They looked to the doorway to see Phaeton flanked by Livia, Typhonus, Draconis and a few guards. Livia stepped forward, "It appears you are no longer of any use to us. So now we have to kill you." She snapped her fingers and the guards stepped forward. "Hold." said Phaeton. Livia looked at him questioningly. "Not in the base, I hate the smell of terran blood. We will kill them outside." "Are you sure? The security of the base might be compromised." noted Typhonus. "I am sure he is aware of that danger." responded Livia, "Perhaps you would like to dispose of them yourself?" Phaeton looked a bit uncomfortable for half a second. "Why not, how hard can it be to crush an insect." Phaeton motioned to the guards and they stepped forward to open the cell. Sean looked at Eve. "I can't believe you trusted him!" he whispered. "I figured we had nothing to lose." she whispered back. "Well now we don't!" Sean hissed. The door opened and two guards entered and brought them out. They then escorted them out of the cell and to the surface, where their lives were to end. * * *       Sterling told them everything. Never before had he been so honest with anyone. He told of his parents, what his Eltorian name was, his service in the Eltorian Guard, the events that occurred at Mars, the return of Chaos, the extent of his abilities, everything. When he finished he felt oddly cleansed. He looked a Lt. Burns and Sargent Torres. "Have you nothing to say?" "That is a bit much to take in all at once. Though it does explain your experience as a pilot and leader." said Rita. "I have a few questions." said Nara. "Then ask them." stated Sterling. "OK, First of all, why do you call yourself Sterling? Why weren't you honest to begin with and tell us who you were? And last, what proof do have to back this up?" "I call myself Sterling because it is the last name of my mother, Lt. Amanda Sterling of Exofleet. I was not honest with you because I wanted some time for myself, to experience your culture. To be...normal, just for a little while. You have no idea what its like to grow up believing you're a monster." Nara instinctively touched her arm, "I can sympathize." Sterling looked at her moment as if putting two and two together for the first time, "Yes, I believe that you can. As for proof, I planted a large number of data files in the Exofleet data banks when I first arrived. It contained the plans for a number of weapons that were introduced recently to the exofleet armament, as well as detailed plans for a shield that provides an effective defense against the Sphere. I also took the liberty of putting in text that explains how to interpret the Eltorian language. Inquire about it, I assume they are keeping it classified." "I'll look into it." said Nara "In the meantime, do you have anything else to back up your story?" "There is one more thing, though I admit I would prefer not to show you." Sterling looked a bit nervous at mentioning it. "Under the circumstances I'm going to have to insist you do." said Nara. Sterling closed his eyes and concentrated. His skin and hair darkened to purple, he opened his eyes to revival an Eltorian black. Rita jumped back with shock written on her face. Nara sat oddly transfixed by what she saw. She raised her hand and gently touched his cheek, "Its amazing, if didn't know it was you I would never be able to guess." Sterling quickly reverted back, "I'm relieved you took that so well. As you have seen, I can switch between an Eltorian and human form." "Do we have anyway of knowing if this is the real you?" asked Torres. "I can't impersonate people. I just look like I would as a human and as an Eltorian, I can't do any other forms. I have to concentrate to look like an Eltorian, when I loose that concentration I become human. I've had to maintain that guise my whole life, not once slipping, in order to gain only a small amount of acceptance. As you can guess, I took to not bothering with it very quickly." explained Sterling. Rita approached him, "Let me use your computer." Sterling got up and went to sit on the end of his bed. Nara got up and sat next to him. As Torres worked at something he talked quietly with her. "Lt. Burns, I want you to know that the reason I left...this morning was because I was afraid you would not except me. I am sorry." Nara said nothing at first, "That's okay. I was afraid of the same thing. Let's just forget about the whole thing, alright?" Sterling seemed to look a little disappointed, but he quickly masked it with relief as he said, "Already done." "You mind looking at this Sterling?" asked Rita. Sterling got up and looked over her shoulder. Behind him, Nara seemed to get depressed. She spoke without thinking. At the time she thought it was the right thing to say. This is what I wanted, isn't it. Her thoughts were interrupted as Rita read from the computer console. "Lt. Amanda Sterling. It says she was a member of an exploration mission that disappeared over fifty years ago." Rita said with skepticism. "We sleep in stasis tubes. Sometimes we spend years in them, until our services are called for. By your calender I am roughly 62 years old and have spent 10 years in command of a Section." explained Sterling. "What's a section?" asked Torres. "Its like a squad, only larger. The number of individuals in it is somewhere between 25 and 30." "So you were an officer?" asked Nara. "Yes, I was a Section Commander. Based on what understand of your military hierarchy, I that is equivalent to the rank of at least Commander." "So is your mother still alive?" asked Nara. Sterling's face took on a grim look, "No, they were killed when I was young." Nara put her hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry. I know how difficult that can be, I lost my own parents three years ago." "What happened?" asked Sterling. "The Second Neosapian war broke out, they were killed while I was off fighting the pirate clans." Nara explained. "You were lucky, I was made to watch as they were ejected out an airlock." Rita and Nara fell silent for a moment, a little stunned by Sterling's words. Nara headed for the door, "Stay here with Torres, I'm going to see Admiral Winfield." * * *       "Something's happening, everyone stay out of sight!" ordered Pellegrino. A side of the mountain had disappeared, revealing a set of iron doors underneath. "Good holographic system." whispered Mathison. "Stay ready, we may need to do something." ordered Pellegrino. "Stay where you are until I order you to attack." Marsala's voice came over their com line. "Who is this and where are you?" asked Pellegrino. "This is Marsala, I am in a cloaked e-frame 30 yards in front of you." Pellegrino looked but saw and heard nothing, not that he expected to, cloaking shield and all. "Understood, its your show Marsala."       The night air was cool, bordering on crisp. The sky was clear and it looked as if one could see for miles. "Its a good night to die." commented Sean. "I'll have to take your word for it." said Typhonus. He pulled a pistol from the holster at his hip and motioned them towards the plains. "Let's move this along, shall we?" "I'd rather not if its all the same to you." quipped Eve. "I'm afraid I do have to insist." As Typhonus spoke, the Neo guards pointed their weapons at them and herded them towards the plains. Their procession stopped about twenty yards from the doors. Typhonus pointed his weapon at Napier's head. "Stop" said Livia. She looked at Phaeton, "I believe you requested the pleasure of disposing of them. Typhonus, give him your weapon." Typhonus handed Phaeton his pistol. Phaeton took it and walked up to Napier. He placed the barrel in front of Sean's face. Livia came up behind Phaeton, "Whenever your ready, Phaeton." To Sean's surprise, he wasn't thinking of the unfairness of his plight. Instead he thought of Amanda and how he never got the chance to say goodbye. He closed his eyes and waited. "I heard that you once saved the original Phaeton's life." Sean opened his eyes, "Yes I did." "You should have let him die when you had the chance." Phaeton put his finger on the trigger. He quickly spun around and brought the weapon to bear on Livia's forehead. He pulled the trigger. Livia didn't even have time to scream. Her lifeless body fell backward as Phaeton fired into the crowd. He hit Draconis who fell face first to the ground. Typhonus instructed his troops to fire and they unloaded on Phaeton. He continued to fire back as he was riddled with shots and screamed, "Get out of here now!" Sean and Eve took the hint and ran as fast as their feet could take them. Sean glanced over his shoulder to see that Phaeton had already fallen. They started to fire at them, with no cover they were as good as dead. Suddenly the lazer blasts were somehow deflected as they bounced off an unseen object. To the everyone's surprise, Marsala and Grimley decloaked between Sean, Eve, and the Neos. He opened fire on them. At the same time, more shots were seen coming from the distance as a small group of jumptroopers attacked. "Alert the base, we're under attack!" screamed Typhonus. His troops tried to hold their own. But they lacked the necessary fire power. Most fell in minutes, the rest made it back into the base. Typhonus ordered the doors closed. They were just sealed as the rest of Charlie Five arrived. O'Reilly approached Eve and Sean, "Are you both all right?" "We'll live. What about the Neos?" asked Sean. "They aren't going anywhere." She gave a hand signal and Charlie Five deployed to surround the entrance. "Mathison, give the signal." she ordered. Mathison extended his antenna and sent a transmission. A moment later raw energy rained down from the sky and bombarded the mountain. "My god." was all Eve could say. "That's the exocarrier Nautilus' way of saying hello." explained Longfeather. Not even sixty seconds later, the Neos that fled into the bunker were fleeing out of it again. They fired at their attackers and continued to attack with Typhonus leading the charge. "Logic would dictate that they surrender" noted Marsala. "I guess they aren't feeling very logical, open fire!" ordered O'Reilly. Charlie Five mowed them down, Typhonus was the first to fall. The last was a Neo Lord who might have broken through if not for the timely use of Longfeather's mines. "Its over," said O'Reilly grimly, "Lets clean up." * * *       "Take care of her." ordered Sean as the med techs took Eve away. "She'll receive the best of care." one of them assured him. O'Reilly was walking toward him, "So what's the count?" "Everyone is accounted for, dead, but accounted for." said Colleen dryly. "What about Phaeton?" asked Sean. "The Med techs are working on him but it doesn't look good, he took way too many hits." explained Colleen. Sean started to walk away as Colleen caught his arm, "Is it true? Did he save you guys?" "Yeah, he stuck his neck out for us." replied Sean. "I never would have believed it." said O'Reilly. "I know what you mean, excuse me." Sean walked to the tent that served as a temporary hospital. Marsala stood outside it. "Waiting to see an old friend?" asked Sean. "Waiting to meet a new one, I would think." answered Marsala. "I scanned the cell you were held in, there was a jamming field over it." "I figured as much, I knew he planted the transmitter the moment he turned on Livia, which was too late, for him at least." Sean said with a hint of regret. "When they brought him in he was ranting about what happened. He wanted you and Hanley to know he tried to avoid what happened, but Livia kept insisting that they kill you. He knew he couldn't buy you anymore time so he tried to give you a chance to escape. It apparently worked well." said Marsala. "Not for him it didn't." Sean looked into the tent as five med techs tried to stabilize Phaeton. They worked on him for 45 minutes. Sean and Marsala stayed the whole time. When the techs concluded they could do nothing more for him they allowed Marsala and Napier into the tent. Phaeton looked weakly at them, "Would...the old...Phaeton...have tried...to...save you?" his voice gargled, he was choking on his own blood. "No, he wouldn't have." answered Sean. Phaeton smiled, "Then...I'm...not...him." His eyes took on a glassy stare and his pupils became fixed and dilated. Marsala reached out and gently closed them. "He is gone."       Sean and Marsala sat outside the tent and said nothing. Finally Sean broke the silence, "He deserved better than that." "Many believe it is not the length of a life that defines its worth, but its quality. This Phaeton entered the world with everyone expecting him to be like the original. All he really wanted in life was to find himself. In those last precious moments, he did just that. He may have died too soon, but he did so with no regrets. He could have played the part of a despot like everyone wanted, but he chose to be himself, to embrace the truth rather than continue denying it." Sean thought about what Marsala had said for a moment. He then looked at him, "Can I borrow your e-frame?" "Of course." replied Marsala. Sean stood up and walked over to Marsala's frame. He climbed into the back seat and punched a few buttons. After finding what he wanted, he tapped into the appropriate communications system. He hesitated for a moment. What the hell. He hit the execute button and the vidscreen crackled to life. After a few seconds an image came into view of a silver haired women, her eyes were puffy, most likely she had been asleep. "What? Hello?" she said. "Amanda? It's Sean. I was wondering...if we could talk." On to Part 8