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  "Do not tell them anything," his cell mate, actually his navigator, almost screamed. "It would be our heads."

  Rapheli tried to reassure them. "I can assure you that the loss of your heads would be the least of your worries if you do not help us."

  The pilot looked at him. "Where are we? First we were aboard our ship then here."

  Dickson them stepped forward. "As I stated before, you are aboard my ship now."

  "The one that visited us?" the pilot asked.

  "No, the mother ship," Dickson said trying to make them understand.

  "It's a trick!" the navigator shouted. He was obviously much more afraid of Levid that the pilot was.

  Dickson grinned. "I assure you it is no trick," he said walking to a display panel and calling up a view of the Lexington from aft looking forward. "This ship is about 30 times larger than your own."

  The pilot looked back at his navigator. "You see. Maybe they can help us."

  The navigator was skeptical. "But if Levid finds out?" The two continued to argue in their cell.

  President Rapheli turned to his friends and said, "I have never seen anyone as terrified as these men are."

  "Let me try something, with your permission captain," King Raterc said.

  "Certainly."

  "Gentlemen," the King said getting their attention. "Allow me to offer you something special. Are you interested?"

  "We are listening," the pilot said.

  "Good. What if we were able to offer you sanctuary aboard this ship, safe from your captain and his overseers in exchange for your cooperation?"

  The navigator scoffed. "There is no place to hide from Levid. He will hunt us down and kill us if we cooperate."

  Raterc gave a reassuring look. "First he has to know you are not dead. This ship destroyed your craft. Levid will think you have crashed. Has this not happened before?"

  "Yes, there have been crashes," the pilot said.

  "Then he will not know you are here. Secondly, this ship has been in orbit around this planet for the past few days. Has it been detected?"

  "No, it has not."

  Raterc smiled and threw up his hands. "There, you see - a perfect place to be, thought to be dead and hiding in a ship that does not yet exist as far as they know."

  "But what about later?" the navigator finally asked.

  "Believe me. There is nothing that Levid has which can defeat this ship or spirit you away," said Dickson.

  The pilot slapped his navigator on the arm. He was convinced that for now it was a chance to get away. "It's the chance of our lives! Can't you see this?"

  "You saw how he killed my brother," said the navigator more quietly. "I don't want him to do the same to me."

  "I give you my word," Dickson said. "You will not be harmed in any way while in my care. As a token of good faith," he said, walking to the cell controls. He then shut down the force field and stepped into the cell with the men. He held out his hand to the pilot. "My word," he said to emphasize the pact. Slowly the pilot stood and reached forward. Then Dickson turned and did the same to the navigator. The man looked at Dickson and his outstretched hand. Slowly he stood and took it. As their hands met, the navigator began to cry. His friend went to his side.

  "We will do what we can," the pilot said.

  The communications officer interrupted them. "Bridge to Captain Dickson."

  "Dickson here."

  "Captain we have manufactured the antidote. We are ready to disperse it."

  Dickson smiled. "Very well, I'm coming up," he said. Then he turned to the guard assigned to the brig. "Give them all the comforts but restrict their movements to this deck and always with an armed escort. Protect them," he said in a loud enough voice so the men could hear him.

  "Aye sir."

  The pilot stopped him, amazed at what he heard. "You mean we can leave our cell?"

  "You may move freely wherever this guard tells you. I cannot let you go totally free just yet. I hope you understand."

  The navigator looked at him in awe. "On our ship we can only stay in our rooms."

  "I think you will find our freedom more to your liking." Dickson turned to the guard again. "Use your best judgment."

  "Yes sir."

  "Mister President, Your Majesty, would you like to watch us cleanse the poisons from your planet?"

  "Yes indeed Captain," Rapheli said reveling at the leadership he had just seen in the room. Both leaders followed the Captain out of the room.

  Aboard the shuttle Galileo, Pike was again coaxing all the speed he could out of the engines. "We are at stage 2.5. It's the best we can do."

  "That should put us there sometime early tomorrow morning," Thompson said.

  Thedor missed the whole conversation. He was staring transfixed at the stars flying past them in the front windows. "I cannot believe the speed at which we are traveling," he said in wonder.

  "Well, get used to it," Pike said winking at Thompson.

  "I take it their engines will work?" Thompson asked.

  "Most definitely," Pike said with confidence. He turned to Thedor. "This guy, Koss. Did he actually design it?"

  "Yes it was his work."

  "Brilliant," Pike said. "His transpace theory rival ours. He even has a couple of twists that we don't even use. He's a good man Thedor."

  Thedor was actually amazed. These men with all their technology were complementing their engineer for things they had never thought of! He kept his composure. "I will relay that to the Emir, after the successful test."

  "Oh, it will be successful all right. Unless there is another problem we don't know about, those engines will take you wherever you want to go."

  "That's good to hear," Thompson said with a grin. "I think we better contact the Lexington and give the captain an update." He activated the selected sub space transmitter. "Thompson to Lexington."

  Dickson's face appeared almost immediately. "This is Lexington, what is your status, Number One?"

  "Sir, the Tetan ambassador is with us and we are on our way. We should be there in the morning."

  "Good. Is the ambassador there?"

  Thedor stepped into view. "I am here captain. Thank you for coming to get us."

  Dickson smiled at the man. "My pleasure. I have the King of Nacerium and President of Oreupe with me. We are dealing with a slight problem from our Mister Levid."

  Thedor's face clouded. "What has he done now?"

  "Aside from harassing my away teams, he has begun using chemical agents against portions of the population. We stopped him, but not before he killed nearly 30,000 people."

  Thompson's smile faded quickly. "We are coming as fast as we can. I just hope we get this over with quickly."

  King Raterc stepped forward. "As do we commander."

  Thedor almost pleaded to the men. "Your Majesty, Mister President, please accept the sincerest apologies of the Tetan people for what this man has done. I cannot tell you how...."

  Rapheli raised his hand to stop him. "Save your apologies, Mr. Ambassador. If you were to blame, you would not be speeding this way to help stop him. On behalf of my nation and I believe from King Raterc's nation, I welcome your help and sincere efforts. We appreciate your coming and hope to both sit with you upon your arrival."

  On the Lexington viewscreen they could see Thedor brighten some. "Thank you, sir. I will do everything I can."

  Thompson stepped back into the center of the screen. "Captain I'll hold on my brief until we arrive, if that's okay."

  Dickson nodded. It was inconsequential anyway until this was cleared up. "Agreed. Get back as quick as you can. Dickson out."

  Again, the viewscreen returned to a view of the planet.

  "It is so hard to grasp, being in contact with all you people from other worlds. And all helping us with our problems," the President said.

  "It is a new universe we live in now my friend," the King assured him.

  "Speaking of worlds, we need to clean yours up a bit. Is the agent ready?"
>
  Lieutenant Day was at his station. "Yes sir. We can deliver it by torpedo and set to disperse directly over the areas. The microbes have been tested and will pose no threat to the environment."

  "Good. Make it so."

  "Aye sir."

  From the Lexington a spread of torpedoes was launched toward two different portions of the planet's surface. They entered the atmosphere and seared toward their goal. Just 1,000 meters above the surface the torpedoes flared and formed a line abreast. A door on the bottom of the torpedoes opened and the microbes disbursed over a wide area. A second group made a pass 1,000 meters above them providing a double coverage. Then the torpedo engines engaged again and swiftly left the atmosphere back into space.

  On the bridge of the Lexington they began to receive the new data. It was almost immediate.

  "The microbes are working captain. Cyanide levels are dropping," Lieutenant Day reported.

  Raterc was surprised at the quickness. "How does it do this?" he asked.

  "We have engineered microorganisms that devour the poison as a food source," Day said. They will continue eating until all the poison is gone."

  The King was amazed. They can even engineer living things, he thought. "How long will it take?" he asked finally.

  "About a day sir," Lieutenant Day said. "Then the microbes will eventually die out. They cannot reproduce by themselves."

  Rapheli shook his head. "Such abilities. Perhaps someday we will be able to do the same."

  "That is the hope we share with all we meet," the Captain said.

  "We seem to owe you more thanks captain."

  One of the crewmen entered and handed Lieutenant Day some documents. He recognized what it was and walked up to the Captain.

  "Excuse me, sir, but you said to get this to you as soon as we had it."

  Dickson looked at the paper he was handed. It was so rare to actually see paper, he almost didn't know where to look. "Ahhh. The names of the people in your government working with Levid. Here are your copies," he said.

  Rapheli looked at his copy. He almost staggered. "My Defense Minister, and communications!"

  "My Prime Minister. Other cabinet ministers!" King Raterc exclaimed. "I never dreamed it was so wide spread."

  "Some of the people I trusted," Raphelli added with a mixture of sorrow and disgust.

  Dickson watched the realization on their faces. This was a tough blow. "It will be difficult to get things under control again."

  Raterc smiled. "Do not worry captain. Do you have the evidence we need to try these people?"

  "I will be happy to turn over any recordings of the conversations and who they were between," the captain assured them.

  Rapheli turned to his friend. "Then we can do this."

  "We must leave now, Captain," the King said. "My friend and I have devised a plan of our own. You must allow us to take care of our own dirty linens. I will contact you when we are ready to begin and what you must do to remain out of the way."

  "Don't you think we should coordinate..."

  "Please understand captain. This is our fight," the President said. "For the freedom we desire and the world we live in, we have a responsibility to perform. If it works, the problem will be solved. If not, then we are no further in trouble than we were before. Please trust us."

  Dickson smiled again. "Trusting you is not so difficult. Do you have people you can trust?"

  It was King Raterc's turn to smile. "I believe so. In my case, there is one elite force that has always been loyal. They are smaller but I believe I can rely on them."

  Dickson sighed. "It seems I have no choice but to leave this to your hands."

  "No Captain," the King said grinning, “you don't." He grasped Dickson's shoulder. "Thanks again. We will get back to you," he said. He turned to leave and then quickly looked back. "Oh, by the way. Do you still have teams studying what we do?"

  "Yes, but only very small teams now. That way they are less conspicuous. Is that a problem?"

  "Not at all, but I thought you and your people may want to meet this one man and his followers currently in my country. He is a great man of peace and is supported and followed by many. I must admit that I too believe in what he says. I would highly recommend you go and observe him."

  Chapter 14

  The Assignment

  Hadaie and Tosh had been selected for a special exploration team. So far, neither had been down to the planet's surface except when they accompanied the Captain to meet the King, so it was a nice change of pace for them when they materialized on a hilltop overlooking valleys on either side. It was early morning. There was green almost everywhere and in the far distance a lake. Commander Tosh was pleased with the setting. She enjoyed the outdoors, especially when it was as pretty as this. Her face showed it as she looked around.

  Looking down one side of the hill they saw a crowd of people walking along the valley floor beneath the trees.

  "I wonder if this is the crowd we were to look for,” Hadaie said.

  "I don't know," Tosh said. "This was the only group of people in the area the king referred us to. Let's go down and follow them."

  In the middle of their conversation, Hadaie noticed one individual point them out to another. Then the second individual started making his way toward them, seemingly with a purpose. The man wound his way through a grove of trees toward the hill.

  "Someone may have noticed our arrival. There is a man coming this way,” Hadaie pointed out to Tosh.

  "Better go down and act as if we were joining them anyway. I don't sense any hostility at all," she said. They began descending the small hill down a path they found.

  "After some of the recent raids on our people, we must be cautious,” Hadaie reminded her.

  Within minutes they came upon the man sent to greet them. He was a younger man, possibly in his mid-thirties, dressed in simple attire, and sporting a short beard. His face seemed happy enough and he waved to them as he approached. He seemed a little out of breath.

  "Hello," he said in a most friendly manner. "I am glad I caught up with you. My name is Gesta and the Master sent me to ask if we could share a meal with you this evening."

  Tosh was taken aback. We come to observe and immediately this guy invites himself to dinner? She turned her senses up full, but all she got was this friendly and warm feeling. There was not even any doubt here. No hostilities. She decided to go along. "We would be honored. My name is Tosh, and this is my friend, Hadaie."

  Gesta raised both hands and smiled. "Blessings to you both."

  Hadaie obviously did not have the benefit of Tosh's abilities. But his curiosity was working well. "May I ask why we were chosen for this honor?"

  Gesta shrugged his shoulders. "That, I do not know. Sometimes the Master chooses people from a crowd and meets with them for reasons known only to him. He simply pointed you out to me and said that he knew that you had a great many questions for him and to see if we could meet this evening for supper at your tent. The Master says he will answer all your questions there."

  Tosh began to wonder if this Master had some sort of sixth sense. If so, this could be embarrassing. Still, there was no animosity from Gesta, so she was not afraid. She was about to speak when Hadaie said, "Will you be joining him?"

  "If that is no problem. It is one of the great joys in life to meet and get to know others."

  "Then you are more than welcome. When should we expect you?" Tosh asked.

  Gesta pointed at a hill not too distant. "We will meet you near sunset at the foot of yon hill. I trust that is where you will be staying," he said innocently.

  "How will you know our tent?" Hadaie asked.

  "Just leave a candle or lantern burning beside it. We will find you."

  Tosh was impressed that Gesta had thought this one out completely. "Do you have a preference for the kind of meal?" she asked?

  Gesta looked a little surprised. "Preference? We have never had a choice before. Please prepare whatever pleases you."

/>   "Then we will see you at sunset," Tosh said to him.

  Gesta smiled. "Wonderful. Then I bid you both a good day." He turned and began to make his way, more slowly, to rejoin the others in his group.

  After he had left them, Hadaie turned to Tosh. "Curious. How did he know we were asking questions?"

  "I don't know. I sense great sincerity and openness. He seems curious but caring. In any event, this certainly makes our investigations easier. Now all we have to do is get a tent and some food," Tosh said, already trying to think of what would be good to eat.

  Chapter 15

  Lessons Learned

  The morning dawned a little foggy on the lake. Mike woke to see Jo looking out the window across the mist-shrouded island. She could hear some of the animals and the ever-present insects. To her, it made it seem such a distant and almost fantasy-type land. Mike's stirrings interrupted her thoughts. She turned to see him sit up in the bed and smile at her. He had a strong and well-defined chest, something she did not tire of looking at. He threw off the sheet and replaced his arms through the suspenders of his shorts. He had worn them to bed last night. He stood and walked over to her, sat down beside her and began looking out the window.

  Jo placed her arm around his waist and leaned into him. He responded by placing his arm around her shoulder. They sat watching the early morning sun start to burn through the haze and fill the yard, garden and other buildings with light. Not much had been said other than the usual good mornings, they just shared the experience.

  As the sun grew higher, Mike turned and asked, "Want to go for an early morning walk?”

  "Sure," Jo said. It was exactly what she had been thinking about.

  They put on their sandals and Mike put on his shirt. They eased down the stairs so that they would not wake Rokka and Shala and went out into the yard. Mike reached down and took her hand and they walked slowly around the island. The mist had left a fine coating of dew on everything and the smells enveloped them like a warm coat as they walked along, talking softly. As they walked by the lake, Mike showed her where he and Rokka had bathed. He even hinted she should try it sometime. That had brought a laugh, and they joked about it some, but they continued on.