18 Years (WORK IN PROGRESS)

Chapter 5

Alright, since I suck pretty bad with defining the uniform he wears, look up a picture of an officer's uniform for the United States Air Force. That's basically it.

         The next few days on the Scalpel passed by pretty quickly. I spent the majority of my time on the ship either getting briefed on what I had to do or sitting in a medical room getting stuck with all of the immunizations I'd need to not be dead on arrival when myself and the staff that was to be sent with me touched down on Earth.
         It had been almost four weeks since I had gotten kicked into that tree on the surface, and just over a week since I had been given the operation to transfer me back into this body. Since I had woken up and Doctor Woods had spent that day showing me around the ship, I had learned to walk without the cane. I still looked a bit mechanical when walking, but I had gotten a decent amount of normalcy back to my motions. I could dress myself at least, so that was a plus.
         I looked into the mirror of my quarters on the ship, making sure my uniform was in place properly, glancing down at the field manual that I had been provided, having to learn how to do everything all over again.
         Sitting on the bed behind me was none other than the very same Doctor Lauren Woods that had presided over my progress these last five years. She was watching as I adjusted the dark blue jacket of the uniform. It felt silky on the inside, but somewhat rough on the outside. Lauren had helped with arranging the rows of ribbons over the left chest pocket, as well as all of the various bits and pieces.
         As I ran my hand over the material, a flash in my mind's eye showed me standing in front of a mirror in my younger body, a black uniform jacket in place of this blue one. I saw ribbons, a nameplate, arches, and more. It was the very same JROTC uniform I had worn up until the day this all started.
         It lasted an instant before I returned to my body, now very seriously eyeballing the uniform I wore, as if the standards were the same between the other one and this one. I turned around after a moment, holding my arms out a bit. “How does it look?” I asked her.
         The doctor and ex-officer smiled a bit. “I do good work, don't I?” She asked, half to me and half to herself. “Alright, everything's in place. Turn around and let me get the jacket back off so we can put the tie on.”
         I nodded and began fumbling with the buttons for a moment before I got the jacket separated. Letting my arms relax backwards, I felt her pull the jacket off of me. A soft rustling noise was the sound of the jacket being placed on the bed behind us. Another noise came a moment after as she set a small stool next to me and told me to sit.
         As I sat down, I felt the collar of my shirt raise up, a black fabric sliding around where it had been. She moved quickly, judging the length just right as her hands knotted the fabric with hands that contained surgical precision. After a moment, she put my collar back down and smiled, looking at me in the mirror.
         “Oh, I do good work indeed” She said, a hint of pride in her voice. I rolled my eyes, laughing a bit.
         “I'm not sure whether to think you're conceited about your work on me or the tie, or you're hitting on me.” I said. It may have been an unprofessional conversation, but for the moment, she was the only person I remotely trusted on this ship so far. Adler may have known me better, but this woman had messed with my mind, and I wasn't dead yet, so that was a start.
         Standing up, she retrieved the jacket, helping me slide it on. “I'm not too sure just yet, General...maybe it's both.” She said, playing along. As I finished buttoning the jacket up, I took a look at it in the mirror, a hint of a smile on my face from the joking conversation. The jacket looked just like the uniform from my memory a few minutes ago. An opening in the middle, just above my sternum, let the tie show through. Lapels on either side went out pretty far, almost reaching the ribbons on the left side of my chest, and the nameplate on the right. The collar split off from the bottom lapels, leaving a much smaller wedge. Two epaulets were on my shoulders as well, five silver stars sitting on each one.
         I looked down at the hat sitting on the counter in front of the mirror and sighed a bit. This was a lot to take in. Grabbing onto the black plastic brim of the hat, I ran my thumb over the silver oak leaves that were situated like a wreathe around the brim. Putting it under my arm, I turned back to Woods. “Alright doc, let's get this show on the road.”
         She nodded and stood, walking towards the door. She shut the light off as I arrived behind her, nodding just as she had. She pulled down on the lever, the lights slowly dimming until the room was black.
         We stepped out into the hallway, the metal door sliding out of the ceiling as we exited my quarters, sealing us off from it. By the time I looked away from the door, I saw that Lauren was already in motion, a good distance away.
         Groaning inwardly, I began to hobble after her, putting my officer's cap on and closing the distance quicker than I thought I would.
         We passed by several windows, the planet Earth showing around the moon's edge. The fleet had begun to move out of the satellite's shadow earlier that morning, and we could have already been on the surface by now, but the fleet commander had chosen to move slowly, to give me time, while still making progress.
         By now, I was sure that any of Earth's intelligence agencies would have picked us up. They kept track of hundreds of bits of space debris, maybe thousands of pieces. There was no way in hell they'd have missed a huge fleet coming out from around the dark side of the moon.
         I could see spiderwebs full of little yellow dots all over the planet's surface. The night side was facing us, and I could see just a bit of the light side, with the sun peaking over the horizon a bit. It wouldn't be long before the sun rose up and we'd be confronting the daytime side of Earth. History was about to be made for the human race.
         Stepping into a large, empty room with an opening on either side to the left or right, I saw space through the openings. “Hangar?” I asked, looking down at Doctor Woods.
         “Hangar.” She answered. In the center of the hangar bay floor sat a solid gunmetal gray dropship or a shuttle of some type. It looked more like a huge fighter craft or gunship than a shuttle. A large, slender body one would see on fighter craft, massive forward swept wings near the rear of the fuselage, and a ramp jutting out from the stomach of the ship. Going around towards the back of it, I saw two huge engines, but neither one was online. At the bottom of the ramp stood a man in a white uniform, with a single silver shape on either of his epaulets. As I looked closer, I saw that they looked like crescent moons.
         As I stepped into view, the man saluted me, which I returned, just as I had been taught to do so. Beside me, Lauren saluted as well. She may not have been military anymore, but she still rendered the courtesy to the other man. After we had all dropped our salutes, the man stepped forward, his hand out. Taking it in my own and shaking, he smiled a bit. “Good morning, General. I'm Captain Gregory Loran, Commander of the 118th Special Tactics Fleet.”
         I nodded at him. “It's a pleasure, Captain.” I responded as the Captain turned, waving us into the shuttle with him.
         “Our first order of business is to head back to the Albatross and pick up your staff and the necessary provisions for our journey to Earth.” He explained. Calling ahead into the cockpit, he gave the order to lift off. “Lieutenant, the General is aboard. Get us back to the Albatross so we can get underway.”
         A muffled “Roger” came back as I felt the ship's engines spool up. A few moments passed as the Captain told us to strap in. I sat down next to Doctor Woods, pulling the four point safety harness over my shoulders and chest. I began to fumble with the clasp for it, and managed to only fail several times. I looked over to Lauren, almost pleading with her to help me. She looked at me for a few moments, an eyebrow raised in amusement.
         She eventually acquiesced and helped me strap in, just in time as the ship lifted off the instant I heard the click. The interior of the bay began to slowly become transparent as we set out. As I noticed it, I began to panic a bit. “What the hell is happening?” I asked, looking to the other two for explanation.
         The Captain started to speak, but when I saw his eyes look to Lauren, he stopped, as if unsure of what to do. Looking to her as well, I saw her wearing a small smirk, and I instantly became suspicious. “Care to explain, Doctor?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
         She was silent for a moment before she explained. “This is a KH-49 shuttle, nicknamed “Javelin”, due to how aerodynamic is for a large shuttle type vessel. It's capable of conventional takeoff and landing, as well as VTOL, due to the jump jets in the bottom. It's a recent model, and what makes the bay transparent is a series of cameras on the outer body, and the inside of the body is able to form to see the feeds the cameras do. It helps troops or personnel inside direct the pilot on landings if navigation is knocked out, or helps them call for incoming fire, and any number of other uses. Relax, General.” she said.
         I continued to eyeball her, not too happy with her having fun at my expense. “You know, for a doctor and a former military officer, you're awfully playful...” I said, only getting a laugh and a nod from her.
         The trip to the Albatross passed without anymore surprises. We set down in one of the larger hangar bays on the cruiser, the bay door dropping down to allow other people in. Most of them wore uniforms like my own, some of them wearing Army uniforms and some wearing Navy. Most of them wore the same insignia that Captain Loran wore, others wearing the same stars as me. I looked back to Lauren for a moment, suddenly questioning something.
         “Tell me, how do I understand our language? I know that you don't speak English.” I asked, the doctor nodded, as if having already explained.
         “Since you already knew our language, and we knew the language of the area you were going into at the beginning of the project, we implanted a translator in this body before birth. When you were knocked out after your incident, we put one in that body too, so you could understand us. So, both Candran and English will be translated without problems. Since you know more English at the moment, we've set it to translate all Candran to English, just for simplicity's sake.”
         I nodded. “Fair enough...” I said. As the people crowded into the ship, most of them carried briefcases or backpacks. Three large containers, looking somewhat like highly advanced ammo crates were loaded in as well, left in the center aisle. Each one was labeled what it held, with one being food, one being drinks, and one being filled with other miscellaneous items.
         As all the men loaded up, there were four seats left, and at the bottom of the bay loading ramp, four men in highly decorative power armor stepped in, marching in step together with some type of rifle held at their chest. They entered together and almost on cue, sat at the exact same time. They must have been a ceremonial guard unit. I guess it was a good thing we had guards. The human race tended to not like change.
         One of the men that had entered wearing a dress uniform sat next to me. When he looked over at me, I saw that it was Adler. When I looked back at him, he smiled. “Morning, General. All ready?” I laughed a bit.
         “Like I have a choice, Admiral. Over the past month I've had my life flipped upside down, taken over an entirely new life, and now I'm about to be the man that makes first contact with the Human race, something I've been waiting for since I first got into extraterrestrials, not to mention what amounts to the true first contact between our own species and another race as well.” In all honesty, it was a helluva lot to take in, and even more to know that I was the one at the helm of it all.
         “Well count yourself one of the most important people we have. It's why we brought you into all of this. You were one of our most influential leaders before the project. We figured it'd be nice to give you another life to live, and at the same time, we got a lot of personal interaction with the human race as well. Today is the culmination of all of our work.”
         I only nodded to him as the bay door closed and the ship shuddered back to life. A light in the bay remained red until we lifted off and exited the bay. At that time, the camera system – dubbed “Omnipresence” due to the many “eyes” all over the ship – came to life and let us see out into space. The pilot's voice came to life as the red light turned off. “General Staff, from this point on, radio communication will be filtered through the bay as well. Captain Loran has left Executive Officer Commander Keeta in charge of the 118th while we're gone. Fleet will slowly move in and take up position in very low Earth orbit so as to avoid the many satellites in the Earth's orbit, per the Captain's final orders. XO Keeta has the mic.”
         Another voice came on after he finished. “This is Commander Keeta, the fleet is right behind you gentleman...and Doctor Woods.” Some of the staff chuckled a bit, the doctor arching a brow and looking up to the single speaker in the ceiling. “After your ship – callsign 'Bossman 1' hits dirt and we've made contact, stage two of the operation will begin as briefed, and we'll try and get clearance to enter United States air space. After that, our fleet will drop down to two kilometers above sea level, weapons will remain engaged in case of any incidents. This is the plan for now. Good luck, General, from all of us aboard the Albatross.”
         I heard a click as the mic cut off again. I turned to Adler a bit as we dropped closer and closer to the Earth, the dim blue aura that covered the planet growing closer. “We're dropping into the United States? Where at?” I asked.
         “South Carolina, the very same place you've been living for the last six years. It'll allow you to see some people you know before there's a chance for everything to hit the fan.”
         “Does the American President know about us dropping into the atmosphere?” I asked.
         “It's most likely he's been hounded by his sky watchers since our fleet first peeked out from around the moon early this morning, before you and I were even awake. Captain Loran has been doing a good job of it so far. We're making history for two races today.”
         I nodded and searched out Captain Loran, and his eyes locked to mine. I nodded silently, him returning the gesture with a slight smile. The man looked to be a bit older than me, not much more than a few years.
         I heard the pilot come back over the radio as a cone of fire began to form over the nose of the ship. When we looked towards the pilot's cabin, I could see through it, but only due to the cameras placed on the nose.
         “I'm spiked. Human radar is pinging off the hull. They've got aircraft up. Our database lists them as F-22's, designation Raptor, but we don't know much about them. They're hailing us. Sergeant Burns, adjust comms to pick up on them.”
         A few moments passed before he said anything else. “Alright, patching Raptor chatter through now.”
         I heard static for a moment before a new voice came on. “This is Lieutenant Colonel William Harper, United States Air Force. Unknown craft, you are entering United States Sovereign Air Space. State your identification and business. You have five minutes to comply or you will be shot down. Over.”
         The pilot of our ship came back on. “He can't hear us just yet, General. Patching the comms through to you...now. They're getting us now, General. The floor's yours.”
         I nodded, forgetting the pilot couldn't see me, but I began to speak. “Lieutenant Colonel Harper, my name is General Marcus Ballard, Supreme Commander, Candran Military Forces. Our shuttle is unarmed, and we request an escort to the airspace over South Carolina. Consider yourself lucky, Colonel, you've just made first contact with an alien race.”
         The line was silent for several moments as we dropped through the atmosphere, and finally, Harper came back on. “Roger that General. Are you the pilot of the shuttle?”
         “Negative, Colonel. Lieutenant...?” I turned to the side, whispering to Adler. “I never got the pilot's name. Who is it?”
         Adler answered me and I went back to the conversation. “Lieutenant Cole is our pilot. We'll relay orders to him.”
         “Affirmative General. Have the Lieutenant drop altitude to 20,000 feet and change heading to course one-five-oh. We'll meet you at your drop point.”
         “Roger, Colonel.” I came back, calling ahead to the cabin. “Cole, you heard the man. What's our ETA?” I asked.
         “We're about five minutes out, General.” he replied, his voice transmitting through the channel. Harper didn't respond.
         The time passed quickly as we dropped through the atmosphere, the cone of fire beginning to dissipate as we dropped to the specified altitude, the craft leveling out and using air brakes to slow us down. Another few moments passed before I saw two glints off in the distance behind us. I squinted to make them out.
         When they came within range, I recognized them, my head suddenly erupting in pain as more memories came flooding back. I remembered the F-22 Raptor and everything I had ever learned about it, as well as dozens of other American fighter aircraft, bombers, attackers, helicopters, and all other knowledge I had possessed of the United States of America's Aerial Assets.
         As my flash of memories ended, I came back to myself, pressing against the harness with my hands covering my face, Adler and Doctor Woods looking at me with concern, and Harper asking for updates over the radio, probably hearing grunts of pain from me. I felt myself sweating a bit as I recited bits off about the F-22.
         “Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, Air Superiority Fighter, 5th Generation fighter aircraft. 195 built, capable of over Mach three flight, undisclosed altitude ceiling, first flight 7 September 1995, Introduction to service 15 December 2005.” I felt the cascade begin to ebb away as the memories stopped flowing, looking over the gray airframe of the F-22 on the port side of the shuttle.
         “This is Lieutenant Colonel Harper, what's going on in there?” came the question, Adler answering it for me.
         “This is Admiral John Adler. It's a long story that will be explained upon meeting your President. General Ballard is fine. Everything is alright.”
         I saw the pilot in the Raptor in front of me look towards the ship. That must have been Harper. “I'm fine, Colonel. We're still fine.”
         Harper came back on, the pilot nodding as he did so. “Roger, General. We're still a few hundred miles out. At this speed, we'll arrive at our destination in about an hour.”
         “Roger, Colonel. Keep us posted if there's a change in orders.”
         The radio remained silent, save for a click of the mic on the channel before it cut off entirely. The next hour passed by uneventfully as I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the inside of the shuttle. It felt like the journey passed by in an instant. I guess I had fallen asleep.
         I opened my eyes again to Doctor Woods shaking me a bit. “General? We're about to land.” I nodded, hearing Harper and Lieutenant Cole go back and forth on the comm. Looking out the window, I saw buildings for miles in each direction, and at the very border of the window, I could see a runway, and a terminal. Dozens of large jets could be seen sitting dormant next to the terminal. Looking to Woods, I raised an eyebrow. She picked up on it fairly quickly.
         “We're landing at an airport in the nation's capital. I think Harper called it Ronald Reagan International. If the public didn't know we were here before, they do now. The Javelin isn't the quietest unless you're sitting inside.” She said, smiling a bit at the mention of the Javelin's noise level. I looked at her a moment before nodding and returning to gaze out the window.
         I saw the ground below circling as Cole got directed on where to go. Lowering altitude more and more as the Raptors peeled off, a pair of jump jets in the bottom of the hull rumbled to life, portions of the Omnipresence system shutting off where the boosters were. We lowered more and more until we finally touched down, unstrapping our safety harnesses. As I looked around, I saw dozens of black utility vehicles, men swarming the area. There were no jets taking off today, at least, not anymore. As the ramp began to lower, the ceremonial guards stood up, covering the doorway.
         I stood as well, before the other officers did. “Holster your weapons. If they see us with ours out, it'll be a pissing contest to see who has the bigger gun, I know America.” The guards hesitated for an instant, but they did as they were told, the weapons retracting into themselves, and switching from a weapon the size of an automatic rifle to a pistol, going into a hip holster, but they remained in front of me, not willing to move until we were all ready.
         I turned back to the others. “Alright, rules of engagement: nobody pulls a weapon, and nobody moves quickly, got it? Woods, you're with me. Adler, chaperone the staff. Let me do all the talking since we won't have a shipboard translator anymore. Cole is to join us. I'm not leaving him here.” As the order was given, the shuttle completely spooled down, the pilot and his copilot stepping out of the cabin.
         “General? You're right about one thing, they're not gonna understand us anymore now that we won't have the ship's translators.”
         I nodded as I turned to Adler. “We don't have some type of over ear translator or anything like that? I figure if we've got them in ships and one in my brain, we'd damn sure better have one that fits over your ear.”
         The Admiral nodded. “Yes sir, we do.” He called over to another man in Air Force blue, the man reaching into the backpack he wore and pulling out a small rectangular box, giving it to Adler. “We have twelve in total.”
         I nodded. “Give one to Cole, one to Woods, yourself, and anybody else that would desperately need one. I take it the guards have them embedded in their armor?” I asked, receiving a nod from Adler. “Good. Alright, I need the name of the commander for the guards.” I said, looking at the armored men.
         Now that I was taking a close look, I saw that they looked like. They were big, bulky almost. A polarized visor covered part of their face, only a slit where their eyes would be, covered in polarized red plating. The rest of the armor was gray, the helmet covering their heads entirely, sealing to an under layer. The rest of the armor was held on in plates, different sections so as to provide maximum protection and the most mobility possible. There was a red stripe down the center of the chest, with what appeared to be rank insignia. One of them raised his hand, stepping over to me. “Sir, Sergeant Mark Reiner.”
         I remembered that name now, he was the man that dropped onto the surface the day I was hit. “You were the man that was on the scene when I got hit, weren't you?” I asked.
         He nodded. “Yes sir. I was the leader of the guards then, and these are some of the same men that hit dirt with me that day.”
         I nodded a few times, as if satisfied with the answer. “Then it's a pleasure to finally meet you in person, Sergeant.” I said, taking the man's hand and shaking it. I took stock o his rank insignia, so I'd know who to look for later. The sergeant's insignia was a pair of slanted bronze lines in the center of his chest.
         “I'm going to need your men to remain as neutral as possible. Weapons are to remain holstered and on safe unless I specifically give the order to draw them. You'll most likely be rubbing shoulders with a lot of jumpy dignitaries who are presiding over Humanity's first contact with an alien race.”
         Reiner nodded. “Understood sir. Leave it to me.” He said, saluting and turning to his men, having them line up outside of the bay. People began to look at them, a silence ringing out over everything. There were no photographers, and only special personnel had been called in. There was no doubt the airport was vacated for this occasion. I continued to give orders to the rest of my staff in the bay, and when all was ready to go, we moved out onto the ramp.
         Black SUV's lined the tarmac on the runway we had put down on, dozens of men in black suits and sunglasses staring us down. All of them had guns, no doubt, but none of them were drawn – at least not openly. My guards remained in front of myself and my staff, hands at their sides. Their weapons remained in hip holsters, ready if needed.
         We stepped into view, one of the agents across from us stepping forward slowly, his hands held out at his sides. I put my hand on the shoulder of one of the guards, slipping past him. As I did, two fo the guards formed up on either shoulder, walking behind me. I recognized them when I looked back to be Sergeant Reiner and another guard I didn't know. With the two power armor covered guards at my back, I began to step towards the agent, meeting him halfway.
         As we reached the halfway point, he stuck his hand out, and I took and shook it as he did. He spoke before I did. “My name is Agent Leon Manus. I'm your liaison until we've gotten everything sorted out.”
         I nodded, releasing his hand. “General Marcus Ballard, Supreme Commander, Candran Military. What's our order of business?” I asked, looking at the other man. He was far shorter than I, almost Doctor Woods' height.
         The agent turned and gestured to the many SUV's sitting with men in black suits, all of them holding their hands clasped in front of them. I took a glance at the line of secret service agents, not saying much else. I also got to peek at the terminal for a split second, seeing dozens of faces, if not hundreds, pressing against the glass in an attempt to get a look at this large man and his entourage. As my eyes landed on Agent Manus again, he continued. “We'll be escorting you through the city in an armored convoy. These Sport Utility Vehicles are agency standard, but they've been reinforced with armor, bulletproof windows, and bulletproof tires in case visiting dignitaries need ground transport.”
         “I might as well have just landed on the White House grounds...” I muttered.
         “Sir?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
         “Nothing, agent.” I said, hoping he hadn't completely understood me. “How long will it be?”
         The agent put a finger to his ear, most likely pressing his radio earbud to his ear in order to hear it better. “How long?” He asked, getting his answer and turning back to me.
         “The president is set to touch down in the next twenty minutes.” I only nodded. In the time that Manus had spent on his radio, I had glanced at the terminal. There were dozens of faces pressed against the glass, wanting to get a better look at this new ship that had landed, the people that had come out, and the set of men in power armor.
         I looked back down to the agent, who looked as if he was nervous in the presence of myself and my guards. I felt my stomach growling a bit, although it wasn't audible. I saw Sergeant Reiner's head move just the slightest in my peripheral vision. It was more like, I didn't see him, but he was on the very edge of my vision to the point of me being able to notice him move, but not actually sure if I had seen it. It was highly likely the guards had my vitals pulled up in the side of their HUD's, wanting to keep an eye on me in case of possible cascades. I looked back to Reiner, nodding.
         “Then, if you'll excuse us, we're going to return to our shuttle and prepare, since we have time.” I said, turning and motioning the two guards to return to the shuttle with me. Both of them turned on their heels and closed up behind me, only turning when they were shoulder to shoulder. I motioned my staff to board the shuttle once more.
         When I boarded it again, the bay door closed, shutting us off from the outside world. Sitting in a seat, I motioned towards the boxes. “Alright, where's the food?” I asked.
         Over the past few days, I had been able to eat on my own, and it had taken some getting used to. When I was still unconscious, prior to the transfer, I had been on IV lines. It was a bit of a culture shock for me, eating new food. I was used to things like chicken, pizza, ham, and so on. When I entered the mess hall the day that Doctor Woods had escorted me around, I had met up with Adler again. He looked like he was afraid to see me walking around, and looked like he had almost choked on his food. It was something I still messed with him about on occasion.
         Candran anatomy and physiology was almost identical to that of Humanity's. It was one of those variables that seemed like it was impossible, but at the same time, it was highly likely. Humanity had spent decades, centuries even, staring at the stars and looking for other intelligent life. I had even spent many a night wondering if there was more than just humanity in the universe. The rational side of me had always thought that it was impossible not to have more than just humanity in the universe, but I had never expected to meet an alien race, and the irony that I was that alien made it all the sweeter.
         One of the staff members sat directly across from me, sitting in the center of the middle container, and opened it. Inside sat many of the things that could be found in an average Candran cafeteria. When I had first heard the names of the foods, I had been hesitant to try it, as well as looking at the appearance of it, but upon tasting the food, I had recognized their tastes, memories proving what my tongue already knew. There was a food called lios, but it tasted like ground beef. Oclin tasted like chicken. Eldrige tasted like venison. Although most meats were the same as those of Earth's animals, the vegetables were different. Something that looked like lettuce was completely different, tasting more like bread than a leafy green. I guessed it had something to do with advanced agriculture.
         Despite my knowledge of what most of this food was called in Candran, I still liked to think of it as what its equivalent was called on Earth. As I got my food, I sat back, staring down at the tray that held a pair of burgers and a nutrient bar, I looked over to another rbox that had been opened, filled with containers of water. Doctor Woods had gotten one, and before she sat back again, I tapped her shoulder, asking for one without words.
         She nodded, handing me one of the plastic containers. I nodded, thanking her, before I broke the seal on the container. When I had lived here under the guise of being a human, I had always liked soda and juice more, but I didn't have either right now, so water would do. I ate quietly, not saying much, as the rest of my staff members talked softly amongst each other. The guards ate in shifts. Two would eat, and the others would stand guard near the closed door, staring out the one way windows. After those two ate, they switched places. After all of us had finished, I stood, walking to the cockpit and getting the two pilots.
         “Hey, knock knock, you two flyboys eat?” I asked. Neither of them nodded, only shaking their heads. “Then go to the hold and get some food before we have to leave.” I said, ushering the two up from their seats and sending them to the cargo area where the others still sat.
         Taking a seat at the pilot's area, I looked around, examining the controls and what not. There were square panels everywhere, most likely holographic interface. Two helmets were hung up above the seats, most likely for the two pilots. I made a note to ask them how the ship was piloted later.
         Standing and looking out the cockpit, I saw a small dot in the distance. That must be the president's plane.
         I began to move back to the cargo bay, looking around. At this point, only the two pilots and the guards that had taken first watch were still eating. The two guards that were taking their shift were the ones that had gone out with me for the meeting with Manus. I made a motion with my hand, getting them to move on me. Turning to the rest of the staff members, I made the same motion. “Alright, people, get ready. I see a big jet in the distance. If this entire airport has been shut down for us, then there's no doubt that's the one we're waiting for.”
         All of them stood up, including the pilots. I motioned them to sit and finish. “Make it quick. I don't want you guys going out there unprepared.” I turned to the other guards. “Same goes for you. Everyone make sure you grab a nutrient bar or two, supplies withstanding. We may not come back here for a while.”
         People began to move as I hit the manual release for the bay door, opening it with a hiss of hydraulics. Stepping back out into the mid day sunlight, I put my officer's cap back on.
         “Showtime.”