Steve glanced from Ty to the corpse then back to Ty. He lowered his gun, then pulled a black handled folding knife from its belt pouch and sliced through the zip strip, releasing the deceased’s hands. Picking up the cut pieces, Steve handed them to one of his men. He then gingerly stepped over to Ty and cautiously eased the gun from Ty’s grip. Steve glanced around the room, looking at each of his men, having clearly caught the implications of the kidnapper’s greeting to Ty. Steve simply said, “Looks to me like he was trying escape.” Then looking back at Ty, “Unfortunately, we didn’t find out who was giving the orders. Ralph, search the phone to figure out how the caller was.” Steve’s men followed his lead and lowered their weapons, also.<\/p>\n
Staring, with a far away look in his eyes, Ty volunteered, “That won’t be necessary. I recognized the voice on the phone.” Eyes suddenly focusing with crystal clarity and alertness, he looked directly at Steve and snapped out, “How quickly can you get me to Houston?”<\/p>\n
Steve shot Ty a worried look, saying, “Not too sure we can do that. This little… uh, ‘rescue’ is not what you might call ‘sanctioned’. We’re not even supposed to be here. As far as anyone else is aware, we’re assumed to be in Virginia Beach for some much needed R & R.”<\/p>\n
Ty looked thoughtful for a moment, then with his back now ramrod straight, he faced Steve squarely. “Captain, as you may recall, I am a US Naval Commander. I’ve been on somewhat of an extended medical leave, but, if you’ll follow my orders, I’ll personally sanction this mission and take full responsibility for the consequences. Would you like to see my I.D. card?” Ty asked, reaching for his wallet.<\/p>\n
Steve’s worried look morphed into a grin as he saluted and barked out, “Sir, no sir. That won’t be necessary.” Then he popped the clip out of Ty’s gun and jacked the cartridge out of the chamber before handing it back to Ty, recognizing the sudden change in the man before him as nothing less than an epiphany.<\/p>\n
Transformed, Ty now appeared to be the dynamic and self-confident leader he had been a year and a half ago, before Claire’s death. “I know who called and as far as he knows, this asshole just killed Mike. We have to get to Houston, ASAP. I also need to convey a message to the Mars crew, if I may use your computer when you’re through?” he addressed Mike.<\/p>\n
“Sure thing, anything!” Mike quickly replied, very thankful to all of these men that had just saved his life and returned his freedom.<\/p>\n
“While you’re doing that,” Steve began, as he turned to his men and ordered, “Gonzalez, you and Jacobson will stay here and take care of Mike. Make sure that bleeding stops, then get him to a safe location. There may be others on their way to take the next shift. We don’t want them finding Mike or these bodies, so contain this scene and give me a status update later. Charlie, I’ll need you to track us down a jet… Air Base, Airport… I don’t care which, just something big enough to get six or seven of us to Houston, like right now. Beep me with coordinates when you have it set up.”<\/p>\n
“Roger that,” Charlie replied as he exited the room on a run and headed out the door.<\/p>\n
From: Michael Miller
\nSubject: Safe at home
\nDate: November 27, 2018 11:25 p.m.
\nTo: Jackie Miller<\/p>\n
(CLT): 8 min 9.56 sec<\/p>\n
Stick the landing, Babe!
\nI love you, Mike<\/p>\n
< ≡ ♂ ≡ ><\/p>\n
Knowing that Jackie would have just read the message from Mike, Ty sent his message directly to her.<\/p>\n
From: Tyler Cody
\nSubject: Message to Tom
\nDate: November 27, 2018 11:28 p.m.
\nTo: Jackie Miller<\/p>\n
(CLT): 8 min 9.56 sec<\/p>\n
Ms. Miller,<\/p>\n
Please give the following message to Tom: A lot is happening here. Momentarily, you will be receiving a communication from Mission Support, with orders to fire thrusters for trans-Earth injection. Acknowledge the command and then cut or block your comm. and telemetry so they can no longer track you. Continue on to the landing site, if you are still able to do so. I am here with Captain Thomas at Mike and Jackie’s place. We will soon be en route to Houston to place Commander Lewis into custody. He is a murderer and a traitor. I will send you an email when we are finished, but for now, it is imperative that he be convinced the Hab is either returning to Earth, or better yet, destroyed. You can expect to hear from us within a few short hours.<\/p>\n
Cmdr Tyler Cody<\/p>\n
< ≡ ♂ ≡ ><\/p>\n
(Another message that would not get passed on by Dr. Willis)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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