Chapter 5       Ellen awoke to the smell of coffee and pancakes. Her stomach growled, demanding food. She sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes. Alec sat at the table munching down a stack of pancakes. His bed had not been slept in, which struck Ellen as odd. Upon seeing her awake he stopped. "Awake I see. Hope you don't mind but I ordered breakfast, better hurry before I eat it all." Ellen let lose a yawn and stretched her arms. "Sounds good to me." She threw off her covers and got up, stretching again. "So how did you sleep?" asked Alec. "Good." answered Ellen. "And you?" "I don't, remember?" he paused for a second half expecting some kind of lewd comment. Ellen said nothing, the unused bed suddenly making sense. Alec polished off his stack of pancakes. "You gonna eat or what? Because your stack is starting to look good." Ellen had a seat and picked up her silverware. "That it does."       "So when do we see your...friend." asked Ellen. Alec noted the unpleasant undertones of the last word she spoke. "In a couple of hours. You might consider being decent to him, he is your only ticket home." Ellen shoveled another forkfull of pancake into her mouth. "I don't trust Elts." Her cheerful morning demeanor suddenly drained away. "Based on what you've told me of your world, I can't say I blame you. But you have to remember that Elts here are our friends." "Oh, you mean like the ones that were trying to blow up all those innocent people?" retorted Ellen. "You see, that is your essential problem right there." Alec pointed an accusing finger at her. "What are you talking about?" Ellen gulped down some more pancake while Alec answered. "You assume that all Eltorians are the same. That if you've seen one, then you've seen them all. That's not true, they're individuals just like us." "They are NOT just like us." replied Ellen. "And if you ask me, they all look alike." Alec gave her a hard stare. "That's the sort of thinking that caused the Neosapian War." "Funny, I thought the Neos started it." Ellen took a sip of her coffee. "But why did they do that? Perhaps because we treated them like second class citizens? I don't know how well you know your history. But 'they all look alike' has never worked as a counter-argument for dismissing the uniqueness of a people." "I didn't say they weren't unique." said Ellen. "No, you said they all look alike, which implies the same thing." Ellen seemed to get a little flustered. "Whatever, can we change the subject please?" "Sure, what do you want to talk about?" asked Alec.       "Not to bring up old business, but I would like to talk about what happened back at the university." Alec paused as he raised his cup of coffee, then asked "Why?" "Because you slapped me over something I said, and I feel I have the right to know what nerve I hit." answered Ellen. Alec swallowed. "I'd rather not talk about that." Ellen didn't say anything. She was replaying the events in her head. "You're impotent, aren't you?" Ellen had finished her breakfast and sat back in her chair. Alec put his coffee down. "No, I'm not. I'm...sterile." Ellen began to laugh, suddenly realized how inappropriate it was, then abruptly stopped. "Sorry." she said. "I'm so happy you find my personal problems amusing." Alec's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Well, its just that I thought it was more serious than that." replied Ellen. "That isn't serious enough?" asked Alec. "It is, I guess. It's just that, there are ways around it. You could adopt?" suggested Ellen. "Maggie would want kids of her own." "Artificial insemination then, its only a big deal if you let that male ego of yours make it into one." Alec considered Ellen's words, they made a lot of sense. Yet... "I don't know." Ellen's jaw dropped open. "You haven't told her!" Alec sat in his chair like he was pinned to a dissection tray. "No, I haven't." Ellen got to her feet. Her hand flew through the air, slapping Alec upside the head. He jumped in his seat. "Hey, what the hell was that for!?" "You're an idiot. This whole 'problem' of yours could be fixed if you would just sit down and have a long talk with her." Alec glared at her. "I've had enough of you! You think you know how to fix my life, but you hardly know me, or her!" Ellen sat down again. "You're right, I don't know that much about you or her. But let me tell you what I do know. I know what you think of her. Its written all over your face whenever you talk about her. The sparkle in your eye, the curl that always appears at the corner of your mouth. That's the reaction of someone in love. And if she loves you half as much as you do her, then she WILL understand. And she won't stop loving you over it. That's what I know." Ellen picked up the red plastic bag with her freshly laundered clothes and went into the bathroom to change. Alec picked up his cup of coffee, sipped it, and put it down again. He made a deep cleansing sigh then began to mentally plan his day. * * *       Kaz switched off the vid-screen. "Okay, would someone like to attempt to explain what we just saw." Seated in front of it were Jared, Poedowski, Pellegrino, and Longfeather. They were at a loss for words. Dirk stood behind them. He looked from them to Kaz, trying to figure out what they saw as so improbable. "Lieutenant, call me crazy, but it looks pretty straight-forward to me." "Really, care to share with the rest of us?" asked Kaz. Dirk paused for a second, not sure if he was serious, then continued. "You have six perpetrators which were trying to set up and detonate what looks like a really big bomb. A lone jumptrooper goes in and takes them out. The only civilian casualty was the poor guy that opened the crate with the bomb. Pretty neat and tidy, if you ask me." "Tell that to the guy's wife and kid." commented Ramon. "Hey, I realize it was tragic that someone had to die, but I think one death was preferable to 1000's that bomb might have caused." Dirk shot back. "We know that," said Kaz, "but what we really would like to hear is your explanation of how that jumptrooper got there." Dirk shrugged his shoulders. "Based on what I saw of her attack and the chewing out she got later from your friend - DeLeon right? - I'd say she happened onto the site by accident. H.I.A. was clearly not pleased that she left no one alive."       Kaz turned the vid-screen back on and scanned backward on the tape. He stopped the tape at a particular frame, which showed the female jumptrooper with her helmet off. Kaz fiddled with the controls and magnified the image. The picture of a green-eyed, red-head dominated the screen. Kaz looked from the picture to those seated. "Does this look like, who I think it looks like?" Jared nodded. "I'd know that face anywhere." said Poedowski. "To close to be a coincidence." agreed Pellegrino. "Its her." said Ramon. "You know her then?" asked Dirk. Kaz turned back to the picture. "Yeah, we know she's dead." * * *       "Hey Maggs." An image of Maggie Weston appeared on the screen front of Alec. She was dressed in her yellow and blue uniform. Apparently getting ready to leave for the day. "Where have you been?" she demanded. "That meeting on earth got postponed to today. Depending on how it goes, it will determine how soon I'll be home." Maggie looked disappointed. "I was worried, you know. You could have called." "I know, I'm sorry." replied Alec. "So where are you and what's this meeting all about?" asked Maggie. "I'm in Chicago. I can't tell you why I'm here though, that's classified." Alec took a sip of coffee, the cup covering the lower half of his face as he did so. "Figures. By the way, Kaz called yesterday." Alec's face lightened. "Really, how is he?" "He didn't say. He was looking for you. He seemed surprised when I told him you were on earth." Maggie's eyes narrowed, "Are you in some kind of trouble?" "No, no. I'm fine, trust me." assured Alec. "I'm finding it difficult to do that lately." commented Maggie. "I have to go." replied Alec. "You usually do. Well, don't let me keep you." Alec could see her reach for the switch that would shut down the comm station. "I love you." he said. A look of surprise jumped across Maggie's face. "You too, hurry home." Her image flickered and faded and Alec left the room. * * *       Sterling paced about Professor Algernon's office. Algernon had loaned the office to him for his meeting with Alec. Sterling hated waiting, though it seemed that's all he did lately. He waited for Alec for two hours yesterday, and he was already late today. It was only five minutes late, but then again, that's how it started yesterday. Cy convinced himself to wait an extra five minutes, then an extra ten, then an extra fifteen. Then Alec was two hours over due. Cy began to entertain the notion of leaving. He could catch a transit in an hour and be home on Venus that night. It would make a nice surprise for Nara. Just as Cy convinced himself to leave, a buzzing sound filled the office indicating that someone was at the door. "Come." The door slid open revealing Alec DeLeon and young red headed woman. Her uniform suggested that she was a jumptrooper. "Alec, nice to see you." Cy extended his hand. Alec happily shook it. "How are you, Cy?" "Fine, and this is?" Cy looked to the young woman. She just stared at him, making no gesture to greet him. Cy recoiled slightly and looked to Alec. "This is Ellen Wright." Alec gave her a nudge with his elbow. An emotionless 'hello' escaped her lips. Cy looked a little confused. "Wright? Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't she supposed to be dead?" "Your kind have certainly tried hard enough to make that a reality in the past." commented Ellen, her stare was as icy as her tone. Cy simply looked at her, his face an emotionless mask. "Alec, perhaps it would be better if you and I talked alone." suggested Cy. "Fine with me." responded Ellen. She headed for the door. "Don't wander off. I want you close by, okay?" Alec called over his shoulder. Ellen nodded and left the room.       "What a charming young woman." commented Cy. "Believe me, she can be when she feels like it." responded Alec. Cy had a seat behind Algernon's desk while Alec took one of the two seats in front of it. "I have the distinct feeling her good graces only extend to terran species." "You're part terran." pointed out Alec. "Not in her mind, I know the type. The alien part of me is the only part that matters, for the purpose of hating me anyway." Cy put his hands behind his head. "But let's put aside her personal prejudices for a moment. You came to see me about something which, I suspect, she is at the heart of." "Quick on the uptake, as usual." noted Alec. "I try to be. So spill already." replied Cy. "Okay, it all started yesterday as I was getting ready to leave work..." * * *       "You wanna explain this?" asked Pellegrino. Kaz shrugged. "It was my best guess." "Guess?" said Vince skeptically. "Look, we know that Alec is in this city and chances are the Wright look-alike is with him." "Yeah, but why here?" asked Vince. The central quad of the University of Chicago lay behind him, the trees and grass a vibrant green. A number of faculty buildings were situated around it. Kaz stood with his back to quad's rec center and Pellegrino in front of him. "I called Maggie again, in case she heard from Alec again, she did." "He told her he was coming here?" offered Vince. "No, he didn't mention where he was in the city or what he was doing here." Vince looked confused. "So how does that help us?" "I asked her if she had any idea about where he might have called from. According to what she said, Alec was drinking a cup of coffee when he talked to her. The emblem on the side was that of StarBuck Hotels." Kaz explained. "But there has to be more than one of those around." pointed out Vince. "There are, but the one closest to where Alec landed also happens to be the one closest to this university." Kaz pointed to a flier on the door of the rec center. "According to that, Cy Sterling gave a speech here yesterday, the day Alec landed. Coincidence?" "I think not." answered Vince. "So he's probably here to see him. Then why not look Sterling up? You do know him." "I would if I could, but he doesn't have an office here, so I don't know where to start." answered Kaz. "So we're forced to walk around and hope we bump into them, right?" Kaz nodded. "Why not at least get your squad and my platoon down here, it would speed things up." Kaz looked past Vince for a second, eying a red head. Satisfied it wasn't the one he was looking for, he turned his attention back to Vince. "I want to keep this in our little group for now." "You mean you want a chance to talk to her, before military intelligence locks takes her away for extended debriefing." Vince's gaze hardened. Kaz stared back unwavering. "I think we have a right to speak with her first. We did know her best. Do you disagree?" Kaz's tone changed and Vince knew he was no longer speaking to his friend. He was speaking to a superior officer. "No, sir. Not at all." * * *       Stupid Elt. thought Ellen. So what if he might be able to get her home. He was still an Elt, and experience had taught Ellen that she could never trust one. As she left the building, she vaguely remembered Alec's request that she stay nearby. She halted a moment, then decided against it. Its not that she wanted to make Alec mad. It was just she was angry and a brisk walk seemed like a good way to burn the anger off. It was about then that she realized why she was angry in the first place. It was the indignity of her situation. She was forced to ask an alien for help. That, and she wasn't smart enough to help herself. The alien was the real kicker though. It was essentially going to the enemy for help. Which technically wasn't true, at least according to what Alec had said about him. But it still felt that way. Ellen spotted a coffee shop and entered. As she debated about what to get, she suddenly remembered she had no money. Feeling a little stupid, she left the shop and headed back to where she left Alec. Half-way across the quad she had the distinct feeling that something wasn't right. She stole a glance over her shoulder and noted two men walking behind her. It didn't seem unusual to her, but something about them bothered her, something that was almost familiar to her. In her mind, she back played the sequence of events leading up to her exit of the cafe. She was flustered and not paying much attention, so it was difficult to figure out was unusual about them. Then it hit her. They were standing outside the cafe before she entered. Then they followed her in. Come to think of it, Ellen remembered them standing behind her in line. Then they followed her back out. Let's try a little test. Ellen stopped and pretended to take an interest in a nearby tree. The two men behind her also stopped, and were talking amongst themselves.       "What's she doing?" asked Pellegrino, his back to Ellen's position. "I think she's onto us." replied Kaz. "Well, one thing is for sure, it is definitely her." Kaz looked skeptical. "If it really is her then why did she walk right past us? She should have recognized us." asked Kaz. "We won't know unless we talk to her, I say we bag her." suggested Pellegrino. "No, not yet. If she runs, fine we'll do that. If not, I want to see where she's going. She might lead us to Alec and he's our best chance to figure out what's going on." Kaz let loose a curse under his breath. "So much for that, she's bolting. Come on, after her!" Kaz broke into a run after Ellen. Vince followed yelling into his hand held comm unit. "We got her! She's heading north across the main quad! Meet us there!"       Ellen looked behind her and, not surprisingly, the two men were in pursuit. One thing was for certain, she wouldn't be able to lose them in the open. So she headed for the nearest building. As she reached the front entrance a large dark-haired man hurriedly opened the door. He was calling back to someone inside the building, "Got her!" Great! thought Ellen. Given no choice, she ran full force into the man, her shoulder planted firmly into his stomach. He fell backward, toppling the two men behind him. Ellen, in the meantime, scrambled around the side of the building heading towards the back.       Ramon was off Dirk and Mathison by the time Kaz and Pellegrino made it to the door. "Ramon, come with us! Mathison, Dirk head round the back, try and cut her off!" ordered Kaz. As Jared and Tony disappeared around the opposite corner of the building, Kaz rounded the one Ellen had gone around only to find a dead end. The building connected to the one next to it, creating a small alcove. But there was no way out save the way they came in. Pellegrino stood in front of him, his hands in the air. "So where is she?" Kaz and Ramon looked about the alcove. It was fairly plain, three brick walls and a few bushes. "The bushes." whispered Kaz. Ramon nodded and headed over to the group by the left wall. Kaz took the ones near the back wall. Pellegrino wandered over to the ones on the right. They each began to search behind them. There was a rustle followed by a crack, as Pellegrino caught a fist across his face. He stumbled back as Ellen emerged from the bushes. She tried to take advantage of his momentary disorientation and run by him. But he recovered too quickly and grabbed hold of her jacket near the elbow. "Here!" he shouted. Kaz and Ramon quickly converged on them as Ellen delivered a hard kick to Vince's stomach. He reeled backward from it, releasing her. Ellen's freedom was short lived as Ramon quickly wrapped his powerful arms around her. The bear hug restrained her arms. As Vince righted himself, Kaz tried to talk sense into her. "Ellen! Relax, we're here to help." he said calmly. Ellen responded by jerking her head backward and striking Ramon's nose. A trickle of blood run out of one nostril as he instinctively released her. Ellen quickly brought her arms over her shoulder and latched onto Longfeather's shirt. As Kaz moved forward to stop her, she pulled, heaving him over her back as she bent forward. Ramon suddenly forgot about the pain in his nose as he found himself flying through the air at Kaz. He vocalized his one thought, "This is gonna hurt."       Jared and Dirk immediately turned back when they realized that the ally Ellen ducked into wasn't an ally at all. As they rounded the corner she was last seen at, they saw Longfeather being tossed onto Takagi. The two collided with a heavy groan, and upon hitting the ground lay motionless. Pellegrino was about to make a move when Mathison stopped and called out to her. "Ellen!" She spun and seemed to recognize him. "Jared?" She momentarily let down her guard, Pellegrino stopped his advance hoping for a peaceful resolution. However, Dirk pressed the advantage and connected with a vicious right hook. Ellen spun like a top and fell on top of Longfeather and Takagi, unconscious.       Kaz looked up from the tangled mass of bodies, "Was that really necessary, Sargent?" Dirk looked surprise. "Maybe you were too busy pulling your punches to notice, but she was pounding you." "She stopped, you didn't have to hit her." protested Jared. "Look, the way I see it, I did what had to be done. You three obviously have a history with her and weren't willing to hurt her. I just saved you a hefty hospital bill." Dirk crossed his arms and waited for a reaction. He was right, Jared and Kaz knew that and so they didn't say anything, neither did Pellegrino. Longfeather broke the silence. "Someone get her off me!" Dirk grabbed Ellen by the right arm and hoisted her up. Holding her upright, he waited while Kaz and Ramon got to their feet. They heard someone approaching and turned to see Poedowski arrive. "What'd I miss?" * * *       Sterling brought his forefingers together and pressed them to his lips. Alec had finished his story and now looked to Cy for an explanation. "So what do you think?" "I think Miss Wright is the first person in our known history to cross dimensions." Alec looked confused. "But I thought you hadn't successfully opened a rift yet?" "Neither did I." commented Cy. "But apparently I was wrong. Here, look at this." Cy reached behind the desk and retrieved a manila folder. He removed a sheet of paper from it and gave it to Alec. It looked like some sort of graph. "While I was here on Earth yesterday, Algernon was running an experiment on Venus. As part of the procedure, he recorded the power levels of the primary and secondary warp rings." Alec's face begged for a better explanation, Cy complied. "The apparatus we use to try to generate a rift consists of a two ring system. Its essentially two very big metal rings. The outer ring has a diameter of four meters. While the inner has a diameter of three meters. Each ring is lined with micronized warp generators. These are essentially little warp engines. In a starship, they are used to warp the space behind a ship, creating a wave-like disturbance that the ship rides on." Alec nodded. "Yeah, like a surfer on a wave." "Exactly. Except on one of the rings, the focus of the distortion is at its center. With so many generators focused on one point, space is pulled every which way until it breaks apart. This is the function of the primary ring. Once the initial rift is made, hydraulics slide the secondary ring through the rift and into unspace. Are you following all of this?"       "Yeah, I read your paper. Unspace is where Chaos was sent at the beginning of the Eltorian War."       "Right. Now once the secondary ring is put through the rift its powered up. In theory, once that's done we should punch a hole into another universe. The presence of Miss Wright suggests that the theory is correct."       "So how do you like, aim this thing? Not to be insulting, but it sounds like your firing blind here."       "It sounds that way because we are. No one has ever done this before. We don't know how to 'aim', as you put it. We're hoping that with time and continued experiments we will eventually learn." Alec seemed to be satisfied with the answer. He held up the paper. "Okay, so what's this supposed to tell me?"       "Note the jumbled and inconsistent power levels, represented by the various peeks and troughs. The maximum power level remains the same across the board, but it drops at several points. Algernon noted that the rift he created had significant trouble staying open. An open rift looks to be a very bright white light. Algernon said his sort of flickered on and off."       "Kind of like someone was playing with the power switch?" offered Alec.       "On target as usual, Alec. He almost lost the entire secondary ring, luckily he retracted it in time. He compared the 'on and off' pattern he had observed to this graph. He found they matched perfectly. The entire experiment lasted only about 30 seconds, so we didn't get enough data to determine if he successfully opened a rift. I don't know how yet, but I think it the power fluctuations he observed have something to do with your friend's arrival."       "So you think you can get her home?" asked Alec as handed him the graph back. "I don't know for sure. But given time, maybe I can come up with something. At any rate, I can't do anything here. All my equipment is on Venus, so we'll have to go there first." said Cy. "Agreed." replied Alec. He rose from his seat. "I'll get Ellen." Cy waved him down. "Don't trouble yourself." he hit a button on the desk's intercom. A women's voice replied, "Yes?" "Would you please send in the young women who accompanied Agent DeLeon?" "I'm sorry Professor, but she left some time ago." Alec put his face in his hands, "Not again." * * *       The world seemed fuzzy and indistinct at first. Finally, what was in front of Ellen began to clarify, settling into the image of Jared Mathison. She realized she was sitting in a chair, she didn't recognize her location. Not that it mattered, she clearly wasn't on Earth anymore. The room had metal walls and automatic interlocking doors, typical style for a spaceship. Ellen tried to move, but found her arms restrained behind her back. "Where am I?" she mumbled. "Your on the exocrusier Vigilance, in Earth orbit." answered Jared. There were other men in the room, five of the them. She only recognized two. Though she remembered the others from the University of Chicago. They were apparently letting Mathison do the talking. Probably because she recognized him. "Do you know me?" asked Jared. "Mathison, Jared. Comm tech for Jumptroop Charlie Five." replied Ellen. "That's right. Who are you?" asked Jared. Ellen looked him in the eye. "You know who I am." "We'd like you to state your name for the record." said one of the others. Ellen remembered him as the source of the pain the left side of her face was causing her. "Wright, Ellen. First Lieutenant. Charlie Five." she replied in a monotone voice. Jared crouched next to her. "Look, let's make a deal. I'll remove the restraints if you promise not to attack us and answer our questions." "What do I get out of it?" asked Ellen. "A little more comfort while we question you, that's all I can guarantee right now." Ellen nodded and Jared began to remove the restraints. Jared threw the binders in a corner and pulled up a chair next to her.       Ellen rubbed her wrists, the binders had been on a tad too tight. "Who are they?" asked Ellen gesturing to the room's five other occupants. Jared began to introduce each person, pointing his finger as he went. "This is Pellegrino, he's our point man in Charlie Five. That's Longfeather, he's the Lieutenant in charge of Charlie Five." Ramon gave Ellen a two fingered salute from his right temple. "This is Sargent Dirk, he's with Able Squad." Ellen's eyes narrowed on him as she rubbed her right cheek. "Your mother never show you how to treat a woman?" Dirk smiled, "Nope, she thought her time was better spent making sure I could defend myself." Ellen's face lightened a little. "Smart woman." Jared continued, "This is Poedowski, he's..." "I know him, move on." interrupted Ellen. Poedowski gave her a reassuring wink as Jared continued, "And this is Lt. Takagi, commander of Able Squad. Ever heard of him?" Kaz waited breathlessly for her to answer. "Heard of him, yeah. Never met him though. He's supposed to be dead." replied Ellen. Kaz's heart sank at the statement but he refused to let it show. "Funny you should mention that, your supposed to be dead too." commented Kaz. Ellen turned her gaze to Kaz, "Yeah, I know. Alec, told me that." "So, H.I.A. and DeLeon are mixed up in this somehow?" asked Dirk. "Yeah, sure." answered Ellen. "You don't sound to convinced of that, Wright." commented Poedowski. "Because I don't really know, Alec does, why don't you ask him?" "When we find him, we will." answered Dirk. "In the meantime, clarify what 'this' is?" Ellen shot Dirk a questioning look. Jared decided to field it. "Are you a clone or something?" Ellen laughed out loud. "No, I'm just as natural as any of you. I'm really Ellen Wright." "If that's true then who was the Ellen Wright that served with us?" asked Jared. "Can't tell you." she replied. "Can't or won't?" asked Kaz. "Can't." replied Ellen. "I don't know how I got here, but I'm here. Alec seems to think that the Elt back at the University can figure it out." "You mean Sterling?" asked Jared. "Yeah, that's the guy." answered Ellen. "He's not an Elt, he's a half breed." corrected Pellegrino. "Listen pony tail, I don't care what you call him. He's still got alien blood in his veins, that makes him an Elt in my book." replied Ellen. "A close-mined assessment if I ever heard one." said Kaz. "It's my opinion, and I'm entitled to it. You don't like it, then stuff it!" snapped Ellen. Kaz pushed a button on the wall and a door opened. "That's enough for now. Ramon and I will find DeLeon, the rest of you can keep an eye on her." Ellen shot him a glance, "You sure they can handle me?" "We'll find out." replied Kaz as he and Ramon left the room.       As the door closed behind them, Kaz slumped against the wall with a distraught look on his face. "You gonna be okay?" asked Ramon. "I don't know. She looks so much like my Ellen, I guess I was hoping she would be." "Her personality did turn kind of ugly at the end there, the Ellen we knew wouldn't act like that." said Ramon. "Yeah, I know. The more I talk to her, the more I realize she's not who I want her to be." answered Kaz. Ramon clapped him on the shoulder, "Come on, let's go find DeLeon. Once we straighten this thing out, I'll by you a drink." Kaz sluggishly moved away from the wall. "I think I'll need far more than one." * * *       Alec sat behind Algernon's desk. Kaz and Ramon were seated in front of it. Cy strategically positioned himself between them, in case things got violent. Although Alec and Ramon were calm, Kaz looked as if he were ready to skin Alec alive. "Well?" demanded Kaz. "Look, Kaz, I didn't tell you about her because it wasn't necessary. I know how close you were with our Ellen, I thought I'd be saving you from some unnecessary pain." "So you hid her from me. And when I found out about it, it hurt more." retorted Kaz. "She wasn't supposed to expose herself like that." countered Alec. "But she did!" shouted Kaz. He tried to get up, but Cy put his hand on his shoulder and firmly planted him back in his seat. Kaz looked up at him, "You could have at least clued me in!" Cy patiently answered him. "When would I have done that? I only found out about her a few hours ago, about the time you ran into her." Kaz's gaze shifted to floor. "I know, I'm sorry." he mumbled. "We were kept out of the loop before, and probably rightly so. But you can't deny that we ARE involved now, Alec. So I suggest you fill us in and let us help." noted Longfeather. "I can't do that." replied Alec. Kaz again attempted to rise from his seat only to find himself sitting again. Alec continued, "You aren't needed in this operation, all we need is Sterling to resolve this. Besides, the less you know, the better." "You have to be kidding." said Kaz, his voice somewhat icy. "No, I can't tell you." replied Alec. "But I can." said Cy. The resolve in Alec's face was visibly shaken by Cy's comment. "You can't do that! Its a matter of system security!" "Yes I can. You forget, I'm not in the military anymore. I'm a private citizen and have in no way been contracted to keep what you told me a secret." Alec couldn't believe what he was hearing. "And you're wrong, they do have a right to know and we do need their help." continued Cy. "Explain." demanded Alec. "They have access to military craft which are far faster than any H.I.A. transport, and we need to get to Venus in a hurry. They are also in a position to supply us with adequate protection." noted Cy.       "Protection from what?" asked Alec. "That Eltorian radical group, did you forget Miss Wright's adventure yesterday? Their friends will undoubtably want to exact revenge, that means we need to protect her from a possible military-level strike. Able Squad and Charlie Five would be ideal protection." "There's no way they could know it was her. Our security covered her tracts." said Alec dismissively. Cy gestured to Kaz and Ramon, "Then how did they find out?" Alec fell silent at the remark. He had no answer, at least none that would help his argument. "Alright, brief them. We'll leave as soon as you're done." * * *       Jared Mathison stared out a viewport at the Earth. It was slowly growing smaller in the distance. "There you are!" Jared didn't need to turn around to know that it was Pellegrino that found him. "Hey Vince." mumbled Jared. Pellegrino stood next to him, "You okay buddy?" Jared muttered something close to "Uh-huh." "Oh, its about us leaving in a hurry, isn't it?" asked Pellegrino. "So much for my night out with Rita." commented Jared. "She understood, didn't she?" asked Vince. "Rita has military edicate on the brain, of course she understood." Jared placed his hand on the viewport, as if physical contact would somehow drag the Earth along with them. "I was just really looking forward to spending time with her." Vince clapped him on the shoulder. "Cheer up! She understood, so all you gotta do is plan to make the next time you see her a bigger night out. That, of course, means you'll need more money and I was talking with some of the boys in the hanger..." Vince trailed off ending with pleading smile. Jared considered the prospect a moment. Extra money would be nice to have, and arm wrestling would probably help him work out his frustration. "Sure, what the hell." On to Chapter 6