Epilogue:

      Commander Jonathan Xanatos finished typing up the last of his notes regarding the stolen scout ship. Captain Jose's mission to retrieve the vessel was a resounding success. He returned with the ship in tact and two prisoners in tow. However, explanations were not forthcoming. The two prisoners had not spoken a word since their capture on Mars. Numerous crew members claimed they possessed extremely advanced technology which allowed them to infiltrate the Normandy with ease. Yet when captured, evidence of such technology could not be found. The only technology Captain Jose recovered were pieces of exoarmor. Though unique in design, they were hardly at the level of complexity described by witnesses such as Private Dagger or Lt. Mengele. Another issue was the fact that there were only two of them. Dr. Rhodes had insisted that there were three. Details from Lieutenant O'Muirdagh's mission report supported this. According to his account, there was a new type of space battle suit they fought against. There was also a jumptrooper hanging out of the rear airlock of the scout ship. By necessity, there needed to be a third to fly the ship. Dr. Rhodes had also insisted that the third intruder was an alien. Since no one else could confirm the claim, it could only be taken at face value. It seemed much more likely to Commander Xanatos that the third person merely appeared as an alien, just as Private Dagger had appeared as Phaeton. Most of the other personnel who were aware of the situation agreed with him. In either case, it appeared that the third intruder had in fact eluded them. This meant possibly serious repercussions for Exofleet if the last intruder were to run to the Neos. It was a very real possibility, considering where the scout ship had ended up. Now it was Commander Xanatos' responsibility to explain all this to both the Captain and the assembled fleet command personnel which would arrive within fifteen minutes.

      Xanatos sat back in his chair as his notes printed out. He ran his fingers through his hair and breathed a deep sigh. He hoped that the deep exhale would carry away the stress he was feeling. It did not. "Commander Xanatos?" Xanatos pressed a flickering red button on his desk and spoke into the speaker next to it. "Yes?" "Fleet command has arrived and they're ready for you now." "Thank you." answered Xanatos. He got to his feet and scooped up his notes from the printer. As he approached the door, he remembered something that Private Dagger had said regarding his experience in hanger 2. "It sucked. Big time." he had said. Xanatos felt it summed up the event pretty well, and considered adding it to his closing remarks. A fraction of a second later, he dismissed the notion. But he found the mental image of saying such a thing to fleet command quite humorous and chuckled lightly to himself. He stepped from his office and headed to the briefing room, not quite sure of what to say, but certain that it needed to be told.

End Part 2

Note from author:
      At long last, the second installment to the Rifts saga. It took a while to get written, but its done. Now I can take that vacation I've been promising myself. Oh and if you're reading this, why not drop me line and tell me how much you liked/hated it? - J.P.