“Don’t worry Zaul, if I stay here, I’ll just make a complete fool of myself anyway. I don’t know what nonsense I am saying in front of her,” explained KC. “Just guide me. We got less than a minute to save that pilot up there,” said KC as he got into the cockpit of the aircraft.
KC tried to touch the controls of the craft. They were so hot he could barely touch them.
“Flight computer,” said KC, “activate auto ignition. Head to the building’s 650th floor… approximately.”
“Flight unsafe,” the flight computer replied promptly. “Landings are not guaranteed.”
“We will worry about landings later,” said KC. “Let’s do it now. Rise and shine darling.” KC took off, as everyone saw him, horrified not believing what he was doing. In a matter of seconds, he was into the smoke engulfing the building. Zaul activated his battle night sights as a transparent strip appeared in front of his eyes. He could see the Commander even behind the smoke screen and that made him very nervous.
“Commander, hold the bearing. Rise vertical-290. Steady… Pitch at 45… go…go... halt. In location. Move back slowly until you… hit something.”
“All right computer. Hold steady. This is going to get a whole lot crazier,” said KC touching the flight controls quickly. They had significantly cooled down. KC rammed the rear of the craft into the building shoving a good about 3/4th of the craft into the building. He quickly opened his seatbelt, got out of the cockpit and made a short sprint over the craft and rolled into the building.
“Battle sights on,” shouted KC. For a desperate and long 30 seconds, he searched for the pilot in the blazing heat and burning building.
Finally, he spotted him. Lying on the floor crouched. KC picked him up and somehow managed to slide him back into the cockpit. The pilot looked at KC in amazement.
“This cockpit is designed for only one,” said the pilot with whatever little strength was left in him. “You shouldn’t have come here to save me. There is no point. Both of us can’t get into this craft.”
“We are not going together Sir,” smiled KC. “You are,” he added as he tied the seat belt around the pilot. “Flight computer, activate auto pilot,” ordered KC. “Land at the exact location we took off from,” continued KC as he jumped off the craft back in to the building. The aircraft almost immediately dived towards the ground applying air brakes every now and then to reduce air speed and finally it became visible to the bystanders as it reached closer to the ground and emerged out of the smoke.
“Thank the Universe,” jumped Zaul in joy as he saw the craft coming towards them. “They are coming.”
“Oh no,” said the girl as she tied her hair behind. “They are coming in too fast. They are going to crash. Everyone to the ground. Get down. Get down. Find cover,” she shouted.
The craft came down intermittently braking and whizzed past right over them, crashing some 200 meters away as everyone hugged the ground. Zaul and the girl sprinted towards the craft. For the second time, the craft activated its fire protocol to put out the fire. Zaul climbed the craft and pulled out the pilot. Desperately, he again climbed up the craft to look for the Commander but he couldn’t find him. He wasn’t there!
“Where is the commander?” asked Zaul as he got off the craft and grabbed the pilot from his arm.
“He didn’t come along,” said the pilot gasping for air.
“What do you mean… he didn’t come along! Where did he go?”
“He is still up there,” said the pilot pointing his arm towards the building and finally collapsing due to exhaustion.
Zaul quickly got up and activated his battle sights once again and looked up at the building. Sure enough he couldn’t see anything.
“Commander… Commander,” shouted Zaul on his comn link. There was no response. Zaul immediately made a run for the building trying to locate the stairs to climb up. The girl almost immediately ran after him and tackled him down. Zaul pushed her to a side and made a run for the building again. She got up and this time grabbed him from the back and tackled Zaul to the ground for good gripping him from the shoulder and the neck.
“Get off me lady,” said Zaul desperately. “I got to get to the Commander.”
“Are you crazy?” she said. “By the time you climb even the first 10 odd stories of this building, there will be nothing left of it. Get a hold of yourself. You can’t climb up now. There are no stairs left!” she added as she looked up.
“Wait a minute…what on Earth is that?” she added in amazement as she continued to look up in utter surprise. She let go off Zaul and kept staring up. Zaul looked up too as he rolled over to get up.
“That lady is my Commander!” declared Zaul proudly.
“But what is that thing!” she asked.
“That is a parachute lady,” added Zaul as he looked through his battle sight. “25 years in the uniform, this is the first time I have seen anyone using one of those; let alone the Cdr.”
Surely but slowly KC finally touched down! His clothes were half burnt and he was badly cut and bruised. Soon enough, everyone surrounded him. People were eager to know - who was this brave and partially crazy man to do what he just did!
“Commander, are you alright?” asked Zaul as he served him some water after making his way through the crowd.
“You are extremely brave I must say,” said the girl. “Who… are you?”
“I am Cdr…Kenneth Cent from the A.M…” said KC barely able to speak straight, “and you are…?” asked KC trying to smile!
“Jenny…” she replied smiling as she pressed her hand against KC’s wounds to stop the bleeding.
“Don’t worry Kenneth,” she added smiling. “This is not the end. It is just the beginning. Be strong.”
* * *
Six hours later, KC woke up completely disoriented. He got up from the bed and walked up to the window. He was in the middle of a busy bustling city with super high skyscrapers. So high were the buildings that he was well over the clouds. There were passenger cars flying all over the place like a million tiny ants swarming the city.
“By the universe…where am I?” said KC.
“On the east side,” came a voice. It was Jenny.
“On the east side of what?” asked KC as he looked at Jenny with a thousand questions to ask.
“Oh, so you got a sense of humor as well,” said Jenny sarcastically.
“Ha Ha,” said KC. Not knowing what to say and trying not to look foolish in front of her again.
“You know something,” said Jenny seriously, “I think your friend… Zaul! Is crazy…”
“Oh… is it!” replied KC playing along trying to find the cause of her deduction.
“Yeah… I mean when you flew the wrecked craft to save the pilot stuck in the building, Zaul kept calling you – Commander. And when we got you to my house, he kept saying that you both are from the…. Military Union! Or something and you just came from the 3rd sector of the Universe!”
“Oh… did he just say all that?” said KC trying to look as surprised as possible.
“I mean, how delusional can Zaul possibly be…!” continued Jenny.
“Everyone knows no one has gone beyond the Andromeda Galaxy…Ever. And our Milky Way Galaxy is completely demilitarised. So the…Military Union are fabrications of his imagination of course,” explained Jenny. “Or else has got a wicked sense of humour which he is pulling off for hours.”
“Yeah..! You are completely right,” said KC as he looked at Jenny realising something.
“Earth is perfectly demilitarised… trade is rampant between the Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxy. Everything looks great,” said KC casually.
“and these are trade logs…from your cargo ship,” continued KC as he picked up a manifest which contained the details of all trade items and went through it. “Everything is traded between these two galaxies. Everything but…hi
gh grade medicines!”
“Why would we need medicines unless there is an all-out war,” said Jenny as she laughed. “And if a war breaks out here, the man who sells medicines is sure gonna make trillions…zillions of money credits,” added Jenny just as Zaul walked in and heard what Jenny had just said.
“By the Universe,” said KC as he looked at Zaul, “that’s what he is up to.”
“Lady...” said Zaul quickly as he walked towards Jenny. “Who is the biggest trader in…this galaxy?”
“Garmin,” said Jenny candidly. “He is also the richest man in both the galaxies. He came out of nowhere a few years back and since then, he has skyrocketed up.”
“I think we know exactly where he came from,” said Zaul as he looked at KC. “Commander, I think we should call in the team. Right now.”
“Do it,” said KC as he walked up to Zaul and whispered into his ear. “…and don’t call me Commander. Just call me KC.”
“Who is coming?” asked Jenny.
“Ah… my team,” replied KC. “We got some repair work to do. We were looking for a fault. We… found it!”
“All right boys,” said Jenny as she picked up her suit cube and placed it on her chest. The suit quickly expanded and took the shape of her body. I am out to deliver some goods. Guess where..?”
“Where?” asked KC as he couldn’t help but admire her flawless beauty. He had never felt like this for anyone before. In fact, he had never experienced these feelings before...ever. He was so busy with the AMU that he had never given any time to himself.
“I am going to deliver some goods for Garmin Industries to a warehouse in the Andromeda Galaxy,” replied Jenny. “I’ll be back by afternoon. You boys can recoup and when you feel good enough, let me know. I’ll drop you off to your repair work site.”
“Have a safe flight,” said KC smiling as Jenny entered her craft, which was docked, to her apartment house.
“Boss! Did you hear what she just said?” whispered Zaul.
“Yes, she said she’ll be back by afternoon,” said KC leaning on the kitchen table.
“Boss…!” repeated Zaul.
“Yes… of course,” said KC. He was on a mission! “Garmin industries. Our ticket to paradise!” he added sarcastically.
So…, here is what we are going to do then. Since we can’t follow her, and she is not going to believe if we...tell her the truth. The people here are very simple and uncorrupted. They can’t foresee what Garmin is up to. Even if we try and explain it to them, no one is going to believe us. They just won’t be able to comprehend the magnitude of what’s about to hit them. A war is coming to this planet, to this galaxy and the people here are oblivious to it. We need to get to Crona. I don’t know how much time is left before Garmin starts a war here!”
“But Commander, how do we get to Crona, our comn links are out!” asked Zaul.
“Do you still have the coordinates of that point in space to which the warehouses and even our craft crashed, when we plunged from Xz-01?” asked KC.
“Yes Boss, I have it,” replied Zaul. “It is exactly the same spot C- 333.84.1984.253. Our craft lost contact with the AMU right there.”
“Then that spot in space must be a window to this planet and this galaxy. Miraculously, Crona somehow can’t see through this window,” explained KC. “But one thing is for sure that Garmin is getting millions and zillions of tons of medicines through that very window into this galaxy and who knows, what else. And if things can come through, I am sure they can get back as well.”
“Cdr, are you suggesting that we should go back to those exact coordinates and get Crona and AMU backup?” asked Zaul.
“Ideally yes. But right now, we are terribly out of time. We will need to send a signal there… through that window back to the AMU. Rest assured even if Crona catches an iota of the signal that we send her, she wouldn’t even take a split second to find us and map the space we are currently in to the last detail.”
“But Cdr, how do we send a signal? We have no tech here to pull that off.”
‘Think out of the box,’ said KC to himsef. “Let the team get to our location. Combined we could send a stronger signal. We will use a… satellite dish to point our signal to C-333.84.1984.253… and then wait.”
“Directive Commander,” said Zaul as he checked this position tracker.
This planet has rotated on its axis since we have got here and we will have to wait until it’s night to have a clear line of sight of the - window location - C-333.84.1984.253 again. By that time, our team will be here as well. We will manage a dish from this building and send the signal.”
“Lovely,” said KC. “By midnight, we should have the AMU backup. And by tomorrow… Garmin’s neck!” added KC confidently.
* * *
Three hours later, the balance team arrived. Zaul briefed them on the latest developments and what KC’s orders were. By next day morning, they were to initiate a massive covert operation by several elite units of AMU under the Ghost Protocol at multiple locations in this space, destroying Garmin’s stockpile of medicines in the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxy. Once the stockpiles had been taken out, Garmin would have no reason left to wage a war and he could be arrested with proof.
It was almost evening as Jenny walked into her apartment. She saw KC standing in the center of all the men and explaining them something as he drew on a piece of paper… something she couldn’t understand.
“And…this is how we are going to fix the….cable pipe…” said KC quickly as he saw Jenny approaching.
“So your team is here. I hope you all had something to eat?” asked Jenny. “I could order lunch. ‘Garmin home delivery service’ is very prompt,” said Jenny as she tapped a huge circular container.
The container got activated and throughout its surface displayed wide varieties of menu and food symbols that one could order from Garmin’s food services, and to top it all, it had a weird photo of Garmin smiling with a thumbs up!
“By the universe! What all does Garmin own here? Unbelievable,” said KC in complete disbelief.
“We are not having anything from this menu,” added Zaul as he looked at Jenny and others nodded.
“Well, you guys are pretty much going to go hungry then… because all food articles are completely monopolized by ‘Garmin Food Industries’ across the universe…!” said Jenny with a smile. “Either you eat from Garmin’s or you go hungry.”
“So, really?” asked KC quickly. “What all does Garmin own here?”
“You must be kidding right,” said Jenny as she opened her yogurt and nibbled on it. She had ordered yogurt through the food display and got instantaneous delivery. “Garmin is the most powerful businessman of this era! He directly or indirectly owns everything. He owns - security, food processing, water, development and space exploration industries.”
“By the universe… You said he owns security as well?” asked KC.
“Yes, why?” asked Jenny. “Garmin security can and does track every soul in the universe automatically, the moment you get connected to him by using any of his products or services,” explained Jenny. “And I think you guys just switched on the air conditioning. So, there you go. You all are on- ‘Garmin Industries Privileged Customers’ list, they would know all about you by now or in the next 10 minutes…”
“Oh no,” said KC. “Boys, head to the roof. I don’t think we have much time left. If Garmin knows we are here, he will come for us with everything he has got and we got no back up, yet. We need a relay dish right now,” announced KC with a sense of urgency in his voice.
“There it is!” said Zaul as he grabbed one on top of the food display unit.
“What on Earth are you boys up to?” asked Jenny.
“Jenny… you are the most remarkable person I have met…ever,” said KC looking deep into Jenny’s green eyes. “No… this is not out of
context,” said KC in the same breath. “What I am saying is that… there is a war coming and you don’t know anything about it! No one here does,” added KC as the rest of his team moved to the roof in a split.
“Where are they going…?” asked Jenny looking up.
“…you are a good person. I saw how you piloted the craft to rescue people from the burning building. You have the qualities of a great being, Jenny,” said KC.
“But..!” interrupted Jenny.
“Jenny, listen to me…,” said KC as he softly caught Jenny from her arms. “They are going to come for us… any minute now.”
“Who are…they?” asked Jenny surprised as for the first time she saw deep into KC’s eyes.
“Garmin’s men. His security,” KC replied. “They are going to come for us and you got to delay them as much as you can. I know this is against all that you believe in…but…please trust me.” He added as he let go of Jenny and climbed towards the roof through the window of the apartment. Just as he was about to disappear out of the window, he turned around and looked at Jenny. He wanted to look at her one last time. He didn’t utter a word. Neither did Jenny. She just stared back at him. Jenny didn’t know how to react! She knew nothing about him, but in his eyes, she saw real morality and a fearless confidence. His selfless, fearless and blissful nature was something that she had never experienced before.
“Commander, the dish is approximately pointing towards the coordinates as you directed. What now?” asked Zaul as KC joined them on the roof.
“Now we must connect our comn links to it and relay in that direction. Come on all of you. Connect your comn links to the exact same AMU frequency and call for Crona. It is an outdated way to communicate through. But right now, it’s our only chance to get to Crona. It’s now or never.” Declared KC as he took out his fazer gun and gripped it tight just in case.
“Commander… we are relaying,” said Zaul relieved.
“Alright boys gear up, we are going to have some… unpleasant company soon,” said KC as he looked up into the sky.
The weather was about to get packed and it was drizzling already.
Genesis Page 18
