Chapter 14

Haruz was pleased by how well the meeting with Lunn and Alice had gone. There had been only a few awkward moments which he knew he could have handled better, particularly, the tense moment between him and Alice. Ever since she had discovered that her brother was being held in the alien field, she had stopped passing information to him. It was a pity that he had lost this source of information but he had high hopes that Alice would resume her services as soon as she’d freed her brother. He thought he might have a chance of doing that if the Medifocans were to assist him. Although he knew he needed to apologise to Uso first. He sighed, realising it all had become a lot more complicated and the time pressure to get a good defence in place before Doomsday was growing by the hour.

“Why the big sigh, Haruz?” asked Andena.

“Oh, just. It’s going to be tough getting it all ready in time.”

“Yes, I hope that people can set their enmity aside.”

“They are going to have to Andena, if we are to stand any chance of surviving the alien attack.”

“I wonder why Alice was so, err, hostile towards you,” Andena said in a honeyed tone.

Haruz was not surprised by the question but it still made his heart beat faster. From the way she had formulated the question, it was clear that she knew there was something between him and Alice. He had the choice of either trying to deny what had happened, hoping that Andena wouldn’t pursue it any further, or tell her the truth.

“Hmm,” he murmured, “I’m not entirely sure. I thought it looked like she was on a warpath with someone. Clearly she and Lunn weren’t exactly in alignment.”

He hated it that he was still stuck in the wheelchair; turning his head and body to see Andena’s reaction would be far too obvious.

“I see what you mean,” retorted Andena, “in the time I was with the group, I saw her several times but she was never as visible as today.”

He was relieved that Andena had accepted his explanation and sighed again but this time to vent his tension. He instantly realised that she could interpret it the same way and so quickly said, “There’s nothing better than a mid-morning stroll with good company.”

Haruz loved the way she snorted: a guarded sound and right after that, a gentle little laugh.

She said, “When you can walk again I will make sure that you get to push a wheelchair around loaded with rocks just so you can see what I have had to put up with!”

As they entered the briefing room, he said, “It can’t be that hard.”

Suddenly he heard her sweet melodic voice close to his ear as she said teasingly, “You’re forgetting that I am stronger than most people.”

The soft touch of her fingers on his cheek made him gasp wondering why it had such an effect on him. The loud noise of people chattering in the room meant that he had to focus: this meeting was crucial to get the ball rolling in the right way. Just at the moment he was about to address the group, Alice walked into the room holding Lunn’s arm loosely in hers. Haruz was amazed as the room fell completely silent and as soon as Alice and Lunn had taken their designated seats he cleared his throat to start the briefing.

“Right,” he spoke with a loud and clear voice, “if someone would close and lock the door, we can start. Now, pay attention because there is a lot at stake.”

Lunn couldn’t believe it as he watched the group instantly fall silent as Alice entered the briefing room. He noticed that Haruz had trouble keeping his attention on the men as he started to address them. Lunn thought it was interesting to listen to how well Haruz managed to convey the essence of what had happened that morning. He could see that most people in the group were still a little shocked by the inevitable situation presented by their leader. It was good to hear all the facts again but he found it difficult to keep his mind from wandering to the shocking news that his financier was in fact Haruz’s sister. It actually alarmed him to know that Meleda had managed to raise five billion credits right under Haruz’s nose. The pieces of the puzzle were starting to fit together: Meleda’s incredible power and skill had enabled her to secretly control the planet. She was the one who had brought down Yousima and thus Bionex. It made him curious about what else she had done. Haruz’s voice brought him back into the briefing room as he forcefully said, “Right! You’ve heard the facts and now we need to get our act together.”

Lunn thought it was impressive how Haruz managed to hold the undivided attention of the group while still in a wheelchair.

“I can think of four disciplines,” Haruz said as he looked around the room, “One, analysing the alien ships. Two, designing a targeting system. Three, getting as many androids and android robots online. Four, keeping all of this hidden from anyone who is not involved. But, before we split into groups I think there is now time for some questions.”

The room was silent and Lunn felt the tension building until someone asked, “Do you think that we’ll make it, Sir?”

Haruz chuckled and said as he looked at the woman who had asked the question, “What do you want to hear? The only thing I can say is that we humans are resilient. We have managed to survive the most terrible situations and I don’t see why this would be any different. We have the upper hand in the sense that they think that we are incapable of mounting any resistance. If we are able to disable their ships without them knowing how that happened, I think we have a reasonable chance of succeeding. So the only thing I can say is that we need to put our best people on this and work really hard to get it all done before the aliens arrive.”

Lunn thought that Haruz’s answer was encouraging and he was pleased that this group had no objections to working with his rebel group.

“How are you going to explain to Mr. Arnost that we are collaborating with the most wanted rebel group?”

Lunn could see the colour drain from Haruz’s face as he stared at the man who had asked the question.

“I doubt that he will need much persuasion,” Haruz retorted tautly.

The man exhaled and replied, “I’m not sure about that. I think he would declare you insane rather than collaborate with a rebel group.”

Lunn’s heart was in his mouth when he heard the reply. He watched Haruz pinch the top of his nose as he pondered how to address this remark.

“Alright,” said Haruz in a clear voice, “Raise your hand if you think we have to wait for Mr. Arnost to be present and waste valuable time.”

To Lunn’s delight, there was not a single hand to be seen. Haruz was visibly relieved as he joked, “Maybe we should draw straws as to who is going to break the news to him.”

There was loud laughter which quickly died away as Haruz raised his hand to silence the group.

“Any other questions?” he asked.

The group remained silent and Haruz said, “Right. As for the division of the groups: choose the group that would most benefit from your input at this moment. It’s important that we get the best people for each group so feel free to suggest names. Let’s move into the corners of the room and draw up a list of names. So the group that is going to analyse the alien data, please gather in the left corner behind me. Miss Andena will lead that group for now. Targeting group: in the right corner behind me and Mr. Lunn will lead that group. Android group: left fore corner, Mr. Harrold will do the honours for now. The media group: right fore corner. Miss Alice will lead this group. Are there any questions?”

“After we have finalised the list, do you want us to bring in the people on the list? And where should we go?”

“Good questions,” remarked Haruz, “I think the analysis team and the targeting team should work in the same place. Lunn, am I correct that you can house both those groups in your facilities?”

Lunn was taken a little off guard by the sudden question but he had already assumed that those teams should work together closely.

“Yes, that’s no problem at all,” he retorted.

A woman asked, “How are we going to avoid our colleagues at the security posts becoming suspicious of our activities? We just can’t send those people home.”

Haruz turned his gaze to Alice as he said, “I think that Miss Alice is our expert on that subject. Perhaps you can give us a few pointers?”

“Of course,” responded Alice happily, “There are several ways to do that and mostly it will require tight and disciplined schedules. We can create time slots which will provide the opportunity for people to move freely without being noticed. But for now, we need to spread ourselves and mingle with the crowd.”

Someone remarked, “It would be handy if we had our own means of communication.”

“Can’t we use the spare channel on our comms?” asked a man.

“No,” replied Haruz, “All channels are monitored.”

Lunn saw Alice looking at him with a quizzical expression and he knew what she wanted him to do. She wanted him to share their secret communication system with the group. He was reluctant to give away such a valuable aspect of his rebel organisation but he also knew that it would be useless if the aliens won the battle.

“We might have a solution for that,” Lunn said with a clear voice as he looked at her with a genuine smile.

Alice continued, “We have a communication system based on a frequency that nobody is using.”

“Do you have enough equipment to supply all of us?” a woman asked.

Lunn confirmed, “Yes, and with a very simple modification we can alter your existing devices to connect to our grid.”

“All right,” said Haruz, “any other questions?”

The room stayed silent and after Haruz had looked around at his people, he chuckled as he shook his head.

“I never thought that this, us joining forces to work together, was possible and I’m pleased that we are doing so. Let’s split up and as soon as you have the complete list come to me. After we have compiled the lists, I think we should have a brief session to set our goals. Let’s do it!”

Harrold felt a little unsettled by the fact that he had been appointed to the android group. It wasn’t his forte although he was excited by the prospect that he was going to meet a real functioning android and that there were more to be fixed. He recognised the two men who joined him. He had seen them practicing with the android robots and he was pretty sure that they had accompanied Arnost. He asked them without accusation, “so, what happened to the android robots?”

The taller of the two answered gruffly, “Those bloody vines pulled the heads off just like that.”

The other man unconsciously brought his hand to his neck as he continued, “Yes, and when we arrived at the field to retrieve the robots they were gone.”

The outcome of the version Harrold had heard from Saida was the same but he knew that the robots were safely stored away somewhere in the field.

“I see,” he said with genuine interest, “Do you think we could repair them?”

“If we could find them, yes. I think it will take us about four hours to fix them both.”

Harrold thought about it and came to the conclusion that he could ask the Medifocans whether they were willing to hand the robots back. It wouldn’t involve that much effort on his side because he was planning to visit Meleda later that day anyway.

“I see,” he replied, “is there enough spare material to build another robot?”

The men looked at each other and the taller man retorted, “Err, yes I think there are enough spare parts to build another one.”

“How long do you need to complete it?”

“Well,” mumbled the man, “it completely depends on the quality of the spare parts but I think we can get it ready within four days.”

Harrold smiled on hearing the confirmation and said, “Good, I suggest you get started on that right away. Meanwhile, I’ll see if I can persuade the Medifocans to release the ones that have been beheaded.”

“Are you planning on going back to the field?” asked Haruz who had joined them.

“Yes, later today, most probably after sunset.”

“I see. So what is the situation and plan here, Harrold?”

Harrold seemed amused as he said, “We just have agreed that we’re going to build another android robot and hopefully we can repair the ones which are damaged. I assume you can advise me who to contact regarding the androids.”

“Excellent plan,” Haruz said enthusiastically, “oh and yes, as for the androids, I think you need to ask Alice for more information.”

As Harrold started to look around for her he saw the beautiful woman just a few feet away walking towards them.

She asked with a silvery voice, “Did I just hear someone mention my name?”

Haruz chuckled nervously and said with a slightly affected voice, “Yes, guilty as charged. We’re just discussing how Harrold could get more information about the androids.”

Harrold couldn’t deny that her stunning beauty gave him a slight hint of apprehension as she looked him straight in the eyes. Her smile met her eyes as she said, “Ah yes, they are in good hands. Joshua and Olga have proven that they know what they are doing. I’ll give you Olga’s number but don’t forget to tell them you got it from me.”

“Oh, okay,” he responded thinking about what the hell he could say to them without sounding too intrusive.

“They are working in Miss Danette’s lab,” she continued, “and I must warn you that you will need to be tactful when broaching the news about the aliens. It will be an unpleasant surprise for them if they find out that they have to finish the rest of the androids in seven days.”

Harrold was shocked to hear this from Alice, and asked, “How come they don’t know?”

Alice sighed as she looked at him with sad eyes, “Lunn and I just heard the news this morning from Haruz. I suspected that we were on the verge of an alien attack but I had hoped that we had a bit more time. As for Joshua and Olga; we never had the chance to talk about it.”

He knew he had a difficult task ahead and said softly, “I see, maybe you can give them a call first and explain what is going on. I think they will take the bad news much better if they hear it from someone they know.”

“Point taken, Harrold,” she said with a friendly tone, “I’ll give them a call as soon as this meeting is over.”

Harrold felt the burden slip from his shoulders and smiled as he responded warmly, “Thanks, Alice, I really appreciate that.”

She chuckled and said, “That’s okay but I have to warn you: Olga is a feisty woman who doesn’t take direct orders easily.”

He had to laugh as he remembered how he had been forced to deal with Meleda’s moody moments and said, “I will bear that in mind, and how about Joshua?”

“Oh,” she retorted with a sigh, “he is a sweet man, completely head over heels in love with Olga.”

Alice’s dreamy smile made him feel sad because of the fact that they had to face a battle which might lead to the destruction of Earth. He suddenly realised how fragile happiness was.

Lunn looked around at the group of people who had gathered in his corner. He was surprised by the large number and said enthusiastically, “Wow, what a good turnout. I didn’t know I was so popular!”