"The ships from the Crux Army are almost here." I overheard a man saying to Montwik. He nodded and walked down towards the main control room. "Good." He replied. "I need them to be stationed where I ordered them to be." He continued.

"Rithvik, come with me." He said, turning to me. "We have a team ready for rescuing your crew. I guessed you would like to be in the meeting." He said. "Sure. Ask Reneesh and Souvik to be present in the meeting." I replied. We made our way to the meetiqng and we ran into Reneesh and Souvik just as they were entering the room. "What's the meeting about?" He asked me . "The plan to rescue Anna and Konrad. Thought you'd like to be here." I told him. "Obviously." He replied.

We made our way into the room and I counted a total of twelve people seated around the table. "Ten of these people are the pilot and the rest of the crew who will fly out for the rescue while we are attacking them..." Montwik started. "Hold up." I interrupted him. "Reneesh and I want to be in the rescue team too." I said. "No, Rithvik. It's too dangerous. I can't allow you to do that." He replied, trying to convince me out of it. But there was no quitting from it. "It's my crew. It's my duty to rescue them." I said, showing no signs to compromise. "Rithvik, please. We need you." he said, pleading. "They need me more than you do." I replied. He seemed to have given up, knowing that I wouldn't compromise on any terms. "Fine. You will be a part of team which would rescue Anna, Konrad and the rest of the Alpha Twelve crew." He said, after thinking for a while. " Captain Holder, is it okay with you?" He asked the man sitting next to him. "I have no problem as long as they don't interfere with our mission." He replied. "Well then, it's set then. "Souvik." I said, looking at him.  "You will be going with Montwik. Help them to the best of your abilities." I told him. "You got that, Rithvik." He replied, nodding in acceptance. "What's the plan then?" I asked Montwik.

"According to our latest intelligence reports, they are being held at the bunkers of kenjah's palace. They also tell us that the place is heavily guarded and it would be tough getting in. But you are the best of what we have on this planet. And I'm positive that you'll be able to pull this off." Montwik said. He then asked one of the men to turn on the display screen and showed us a 3D model of the kenjah's palace and we discussed the plan in detail.

_____

Konrad's Point of View: 

"Nice how we took down the kenjah's people, huh?" I asked Anna. Anna and I were put on a different jet as there was no place for us over there. Apparently, some people had to discuss something important with Montwik. "Oh yes, I thought we were doomed until I saw Jake standing there with an army of people!" she replied. "Same here." I said. "And by the way, what's up between you and Rithvik?" I asked her. "Ah! It's complicated." She replied, blushing. "Hey!" I called out to a soldier sitting next to me. "Where is the jet carrying Montwik and Profus?" I asked him. "All jets of our squadron have already landed back on base. We were the only jet in the air. We'll be reaching base in a few minutes." he replied. I was back at talking to Anna and the rest of the soldiers were in a fairly good mood considering our victory. 

Suddenly, an alarm went off and the jet starting banking leftward. "Whoa! What the hell is happening?" I yelled, but my voice was drowned in the yells and shouting of the soldiers. I looked out of the window to find a jet, very much larger than ours hovering above our jet. The jet lost altitude drastically before stabilising itself. Slowly, all the soldiers, noticed the ship and silence swept through the jet. The cockpit door opened, and the co-pilot, I assumed, walked out of it. "Everyone, listen." He started. "The airplane hovering above us, as may already have guessed, has taken full control over our jet. And, obviously, the airplane above, belongs to the Kenjah's army." He said. Everybody started asking questions at once, but the co-pilot lifted his hand and motioned everyone to remain calm. "They are here for two people in particular." He said, looking at me and then at Anna. Anna gripped my hand. All the soldiers were looking at us. "What do you mean?" I asked him. "Why else would they take this ship as a target? There's no one more important than the two of you onboard this jet. They obviously are here for you." He said. "Wait up. Did you send a distress signal back to Base?" A soldier asked the co-pilot. "Told you already, our controls don't work at all." He replied.

Suddenly, the engines of the jet started providing upward thrust for the jet, increasing our altitude, drastically. "Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your new captain speaking." A voice on the communication system announced. "Welcome to the non stop service to the home planet. We have two very special people on board this flight today, Anna and Konrad. Please welcome them. Please be seated and fasten your seatbelts. Do not try anything stupid, we would not hesitate before killing you all." He said, going offline after the last statement. "Oh my god." I exclaimed. "This is very bad." Anna muttered. "Everyone, sit down and strap yourselves to the seats. There's a good possibility that he wasn't bluffing. We will be going into space very soon. Put your suits on for safety purposes." He ordered as he rushed back to the cockpit. An eerie silence prevailed in the jet except for the engines.

The secret was out.

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Thank you for reading! The second part of the chapter describes the events under which Konrad and Anna were taken to the home planet. It would continue in the next chapter!
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