XXVIII - The Return to Earth
Inside the Star Hunter spaceship, Zara began to smile, lost in thought. Nicholas looked at her, curious, realizing that his wife's gaze was fixed in some point in the solar system. From the hatch of the command bridge, he observed the direction to which her sight was headed and stared at the planet Earth, still a tiny point, approaching faster and faster. Relieved, he saw that the great battle cruiser was finally arriving at its destination. The journey had been tiresome, but the expectation of seeing again those they loved made any suggestion of scam or fatigue disperse. The happiness stamped in Zara infected him.
"Z8, put the ship in invisible mode", Merko ordered.
"Understood, Captain."
"I miss my little Helen so much. I'm dying to hug her and hear her voice, calling me Mommy." Zara said, happy, allowing the minds of the other crewmembers to fill with hope.
"I can't wait to see our daughter too, my love." Nicholas' eyes were glowing.
"Z8, open a channel with Helen's smartphone. I want to talk to her now that we're on the Earth's orbit."
"Yes, doctor."
After a few minutes, the computer returned with strange news.
"Doctor Zara, I can't get answers from the requested number."
"Keep trying and let me know when you can." Zara's smile began to disappear from her face, again that strange sensation in her chest that something was wrong.
"I penetrated the computer systems of the planet and verified in the archives of the airlines that Lorena, Sophia and Helen have already returned home", Merko, concerned, said after a while.
Nicholas and Zara looked at each other apprehensively.
"Z8, enter with the ship at the bottom of the sea, where we hid it the last time. Leave a scout ship ready for Dargan, since he'll need it to return to the planet Life."
"Yes, sir, I'm adjusting the landing coordinates. The robots are doing maintenance in a ship as requested."
The Star Hunter spacecraft was hidden deep in the ocean. Merko, Zara and Nicholas teleported to the garage of Lorena's house, where Helen used to play around during the day. They called for them, but there was no one there. They climbed a few steps of the stairs and arrived at the front door of the living room. Zara ran, looking for Helen all over the house, to no avail. Where could they be?
"Grab the phone, Nicholas. Try to talk to your mother and let her know that we have arrived. She must be hanging out with Helen." Zara tried to be positive. "It's already afternoon and they usually go to the mall to grab a snack at this time."
"Leave it to me, I'll call her. I will take advantage of it and let Sophia know we're here. She must be at the University."
Merko sat down on the couch and thought about Lorena. He was crazy to see her again and missed her a lot.
"What an adventure we lived, Merko! If I told the people of this world, no one would believe." Zara tried to relax as her husband phoned.
"We saved the world and preserved the future of humanity. I would do it all over again if necessary," Merko said without hesitation.
Meanwhile, Lorena wasn't answering the phone, to increase Nicholas' anxiety. He tried to call Helen's cell phone again, but he wasn't successful, either.
"What happened? That's strange!"
"Merko, Zara, I can't get in touch with my mother or Helen. No cell phone answers."
"They may be out of coverage area. But I find it weird because it has never happened before. The telephony networks always work well in any part of the city," Zara no longer hid the anguish.
Merko appeared in the room, suddenly, pale.
"I already talked to Sophia. She said she's going to ask for a dispensation and come here, and she's missing us greatly. She also was surprised that Lorena and Helen weren't here. They didn't comment anything about going out this afternoon. But they must be here soon... Don't worry and take the time to rest", he tried to disguise his apprehension.
"Merko, Fizard requested that you contacted Dargan and warned him that he could return to the planet Life. He must be anxious to get back home," Nicholas reminded him.
He needed to distract himself, fulfilling the mission, not filling his mind with bad ideas.
"I already ordered Z8 to call him, just as Fizard asked. It'll be all right."
At least that's what they expected...
***
The spy was in his quarters, inside the base in the Bermuda Triangle, thinking about the latest events and how to get out of that mess, when his bracelet showed a contact signal. It was the computer of Star Hunter, Z8, which sent him a coded message:
"Dargan, Colonel Fizard ordered you to abort your mission. You are allowed to return to the planet Life. A scout ship is available in the hangar of Merko's ship. Contact him for the coordinates. Peace reigns in our world and Mirov's dead, along with his cronies. Fizard thanks you for your good services. Message closed."
He then realized the trouble he'd gotten himself into. Good news and bad news: the good was that his planet was peaceful and Colonel Fizard seemed to be doing well. The bad was that they thought Mirov was dead and the villain was there, alive, and dangerous, full of hatred in the heart, planning to take revenge on everyone.
"Captain Merko won't like this news!" He pondered.
Dargan knew he needed to do something fast. He decided to warn Merko of the truth, but it was too dangerous to communicate with him from within the base, for someone could intercept the communication.
He returned to the command room and encountered Agent X and Director Steighem who, in their human shapes, conversed with Ann Soliver.
"I need a transport to go back to Los Angeles. By my calculations, Captain Merko must have returned by now. I'll make a full report on his activities."
"We received information that they have already arrived. You can take an amphibious vehicle from the base's dock. Soon, we'll send a message inviting them to come here, to "welcome" them. We're making the preparations to receive them with the honor they deserve. Follow them, make sure they won't prepare any surprises when they come here." Mirov savored his revenge on every word.
"What's the plan, sir?" Dargan asked before he left that place, trying to save himself.
Time proved to be his worst enemy.
"I'm going to capture Captain Merko. I know he's an extraterrestrial with many skills and we're going to do a lot of research on him."
Agent Ann Soliver imagined that the director Ronald Steighem had a very big problem with this alien. He seemed to be obsessed with capturing him. She followed the laws and wasn't sure if her boss's methods were adequate. Anyway, she'd keep an eye on him and report to the Pentagon if he committed any excesses. It would be the perfect opportunity for her to be promoted once again.
"Thank you, sir. Permission to leave the base." Dargan said.
"Granted."
Dargan took a deep breath, feeling all the frustration flow. He was in hot water because he didn't know how to save the girl. How could he help them without ruining everything? Maybe the captain had some idea on how to get everyone off the base safely... He entered the amphibious ship and dived into the deep waters. Slowly, it was submerging and leaving the sea, gaining the open air.
"Sir, do you really think it's necessary for Dargan to watch over our target? All we must do is send a message and he'll come like a rat, falling into the trap", Collin argued.
"Let him go to give us more relevant information", Steighem said.
Agent Soliver began to speak:
"Sir, according to reports of the agency's extraterrestrial captures and the research made in these beings, they have the abilities of telepathy, telekinesis, improved intelligence and can even manage to live for many years due to the technological advances of the future. I was thinking of starting the experiments in the hybrid girl. If her father is as it's in the files Agent Collin showed me, she's part of a second generation of hybrids between humans and aliens. We could do genetic manipulations to discover their secrets and separate the genes that command these features. Imagine these genetic traits being applied to create supersoldiers?!"
The director turned to Collin and said:
"I had told you to keep the details confidential, agent."
"But Ann is in our team, sir, and we'll get all of them soon... She knows the informations are confidential."
"I would never tell anyone what's going on here, sir," she said.
Steighem decided to continue:
"Calm down, Agent Soliver. I feel that you have hunger for power and I can feed it in due time. This will be our next step. Let's create a superhuman race, where the girl Helen will be our guinea pig. She has a valuable genetic material. But first, let's capture Merko, because he's slippery. I've tried to capture him more than once, and you can be sure that it won't be an easy task, although everything's in our favor."
"Leave it to me, I'll get him", Ann said, closing her bionic fingers.
Mirov smiled crookedly, knowing that the captain would destroy her as if he stepped on an insect. "Humans are too foolish and arrogant."
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