Star Runners: Revelation Protocol

Chapter 3-1

3

The energy beam shot into his right eye like a hot needle through butter.

"Ow!" Austin yelled. "I told you already-I'm fine!"

"We are just being careful, lieutenant, and this procedure is the quickest way to tell if you have a concussion." The nurse lowered the light and planted her hands on her hips. "You were very close to the explosion after all."

He glared at her. "No kidding."

With a bandage on his face where he had smacked into the concrete, Austin did not want to tell her about the ringing in his ears. He feared the admission would lead to more tests. He had enough. He wanted answers.

Two agents in plain clothes, claiming to be of the Legion Earth Intelligence Force, had arrived on the scene of the explosion and escorted him back to Base Prime. Once past security, the EIF took him into a compact room with bright florescent lighting and launched into a series of questions about the incident.

Did he notice anything unusual?

Did Lieutenant Bean seem distracted?

What was the last thing he said to you?

After forty-five minutes, they brought him to the infirmary where the nurse started poking him with laser sticks he didn't understand.

A tall, thin lieutenant colonel, with a tablet tucked under his arm marched in through the infirmary door. He scanned the room, seeming relieved when he looked at Austin.

"Lieutenant Stone, I am Lieutenant Roberto Ginn," he said in a deep voice as he approached. “I’m sorry, but your leave is going to be delayed. Will you come with me?"

Austin glanced at the nurse who nodded her approval. Ginn led him through two secured doors guarded by armed marines to a dimly lit control room. A dozen staff monitored holographic images. The cool blue light washed the area in a palette of neon colors emitting from the holograms. In addition to the twelve staff, two Lobera Star Runners sat hunched over holographic stations.

Ginn gestured to a computer station near the door. "You have a secure link. Please advise if you need anything."

Austin paused. "Pardon me, sir, but a link from what?"

“I’m not privy to that information. Please sit, log in, and find out. Your connection will be completed shortly."

As Ginn marched away, Austin slid into the cold, black chair as if it would explode. He put on the headset and glanced at the screens on the far side of the room. They displayed the local San Francisco news. Three stations showed images from the street of Ryan's taxi disintegrated into a burning wreck of metal. The caption indicated that officials thought terrorists had carried out the attack. Perhaps that was true, but terrorists from where?

The holographic projector at his station whined to life. The image materialized as if it was formed from water, and transformed into a familiar face staring back.

"Thank the Maker you're alright," Captain Jonathan Nubern said.

"I can't say the same for my traveling companion," Austin grumbled, his hands shaking. He balled them into fists and dropped them out of sight of the screen.

Nubern glanced off camera. "I know. Lieutenant Bean was a good man. We don't have much time, Austin. Since I am your CO, they asked me to make contact with you.”

The image flickered as the visual message caught up with real time; the standard delay when conversing over light years. Austin had grown accustomed to the hesitation when he was on Tarton’s Junction, but now it infuriated him.

“I have some disturbing news to share and I need to get to it,” Nubern said. “I wish I had more time to educate you during flight school, but I thought there would be plenty of time.”

“Educate me about what?”

“About the dangers out there.” Nubern leaned into the camera. “There is much more going on in Quadrant Eight than I have been at liberty to tell you.”

His stomach rolled. “Like what, sir?”

“Later.” Nubern shook his head sharply. “You and your contacts are in danger. Here’s what we know: An unknown force is targeting our Earth-bound Star Runners. The effort might be spreading to other planets, but we're not sure. Several incidents have occurred in recent days."

"My contacts? What incidents?"

"Yes. Lieutenant Bean was one of many Star Runners targeted in the past twenty-four hours. Any person you contacted while on Tarton's Junction could be a target. A few pilots have had family members die in bizarre accidents or simply vanish. Right now, we don’t know why or even who is doing this. All your correspondence has been, and probably continues to be, hacked." He leaned off screen. "Your mother and someone named Kadyn, correct?"

Austin thought back, his mind racing as this new reality fell over him. He regularly sent messages to Mom and Kadyn during flight school. "Yes, sir."

"They need to be warned, Lieutenant,” Nubern said, his eyes frigid as ice. “Not via phone or radio, but in person. They must be taken to safety. Command has provided all Star Runners currently on Earth authority to enact the Revelation Protocol."

A flush of adrenaline surged through his body. "I didn't know Command would ever give such an order."

"They just did."

Austin tightened his fists and bit down on his bottom lip. The Tyral Pirates killed his friend. Dax Rodon had slipped through his fingers after nearly killing his mentor and Ryker. Rodon had to be behind these latest terrorist attacks, but how? How was it possible that pirate scum continued to outwit and outfight the Legion Navy?

“Humor me, sir,” Austin said through his teeth. “Do we know anything at all? Or are we at the mercy of these pirates? Again?” His tone revealed more sarcasm than he had intended. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.

Nubern glared at him. “Watch yourself, Lieutenant Stone. We don’t know if this is the work of pirates, yet. Your concern should be warning your contacts as soon as possible. Time is not on our side.”

Shaking his head, Austin realized he would have to immediately tell Mom and Kadyn the truth about his school, his new life, and the secret situation for the rest of the planet. All of it. After wanting more than anything to reveal everything about his new life for the past year, he now grew hesitant.

"Sir, how do I tell them?"

"You'll figure it out. For now, I want you to take a tube to the Tizona Academy Campus in Georgia and an officer will escort you to retrieve your contacts and bring them to a secure location. Once you and your people are secure, we will decide the next step. Be careful and keep your eyes open." He glanced at his watch. "Get moving, son."

“Yes, sir.” Austin nodded and placed his hand on the headset.

"Lieutenant?" Nubern asked before he moved away from the desk.

"Yes, sir?"

"Be careful."

The screen darkened, leaving Austin alone in a bright sea of holographic images. He sat in silence, feeling as if he was rocking adrift in a canoe. His chest tightened as he realized his world and those he cared about on Earth were in danger.

I'm coming, Mom.

Despite now viewing his surroundings as a threat, nothing out of the ordinary happened on the tube trip to the Georgia swamps. Either the chewing gum worked this time or he finally had grown used to the process. During the entire journey, he continued thinking of his mom and Kadyn in danger. His skin felt clammy, his mouth dry.

The air stuck to his skin when the tube hissed open. Two security officers in Tizona blue rushed him out, grumbling something about the number of personnel coming through this junction.

Three Legion naval officers were waiting on an air boat at the dock alongside the wooden shack on stilts. The shack still appeared as if it had been in the middle of the swamp for a hundred years. The crumbling roof and split boards comprising the walls helped to disguise the tube station beneath.

Austin said nothing to the officers, only offering a nod as he sat down. The boat rocked as he boarded. He tried not to think about the car bombing that claimed Ryan Bean. The Star Runner had been there and then, a moment later, he was gone. He could still hear the explosion, smell the fire burning in the streets of San Francisco.

The boat’s engine blasted the silence, sending birds cawing through the trees in the afternoon light. Austin jumped at the sound, his heart thumping into his ringing ears. He watched the black water pass by the boat, the hull splitting the green pond scum. The smell of rotting wood hung over the swamp. The sun cast long shadows across the familiar water Austin hoped he never had to taste again.

“Where you are coming from?” asked an older officer sitting across from Austin, his brow wrinkling beneath his white hair. His brown eyes focused across the boat.

“San Francisco.”

“Where were you stationed?”

“Tarton’s Junction,” Austin said. “I was heading home for leave.”

The older officer frowned. “I’m sorry.”

“So am I,” he said. “Where are you going?”

The man gazed out at the swamp. “Tizona Campus. I’m in Logistics. I was working deep cover in Brazil when I got the call to report here.”

“Deep cover?”

“I’m a Legion officer working on Earth just like anyone else. I report to work, do my job, and go home.” He turned back to face Austin. “I’ve never been called away from my home and family before. Do you know what’s going on?”

“Just a little. They’re recalling officers all over the planet.”

“Not good.”

“No, sir.”

The boat nearly crashed into the dock. A security officer saluted when they stepped off the boat. Austin hurried over the short dock made of uneven wood planks. The officer gestured to a golf cart, and Austin and the three other officers boarded in silence. The security officers drove the golf cart along the rough path toward campus.

“Our newest arrivals are heading back to campus,” the officer said into a radio on his shoulder.

“Copy,” Security Chief Javin Sharkey’s husky voice hissed from the radio. “We are waiting on the Grand Lawn.”

The path meandered through the trees. Strands of moss tickled Austin’s face as they moved past. The cart rumbled over wooden bridges swaying in the grim light. Despite the humidity, he folded his arms across his chest to fight off a shiver.

When the trees parted and revealed the Grand Lawn of the Tizona Campus, the Terminus Building looked smaller than Austin remembered. He saw the simulation pod building to the left, off by itself like a storage shack. Despite his feelings at the moment, he smiled slightly at the structure, remembering how he’d felt the first time he sat down in one of the pods. He saw the dormitories in the distance, and beyond them the physical training field stretched to the trees, all devoid of activity. He thought of Skylar and her desire to run regularly across the field. He owed her for the early training or he might not be here now.

Security lights flickered to life, beaming halos of light onto the trails winding through the campus. Just like the physical training field and the dormitories, the Terminus Building seemed deserted as the golf cart approached, passing the statue of the Tizona sword at the edge of the Grand Lawn. The cart’s brakes screeched to a halt in front of the Terminus Building.

A stocky, muscular man stood at the base of the stairs, his arms behind his back, his face hidden in the fading light. Austin knew who it was before he heard the voice.

"Good evening, gentlemen. I am Security Chief Javin Sharkey. Classes are not in session at the moment. Feel free to move around the campus. Some of you are here to lie low for a spell until all of this is sorted out. Commander Pierce will provide a briefing now that you all are here. Lieutenant Stone?"'

Austin stepped off the cart and stood at attention. "Yes, sir."

"Our field agents here at the school are all on assignment at the moment,” he said, his eyes narrowing. “Since your situation is time sensitive, I will be escorting you to Atlanta."

"You're going to drive me?"

"I was going to let you drive. It is about a five-hour drive, after all. We'll use one of the school cars at the gate. Before we leave, Commander Pierce would like to speak to you."