Be Careful What You Wish For...

[Sargon]

Repost of an award winning story I'm still working on that got wiped out by a previous board crash. New updates will also be posted in this thread.


Sargon

[Sargon]

Be Careful What You Wish For...

Part I: "What plaything can you offer me today?"

Thitu Island: Philippine Occupied Spratly Island, 20:37 hours local time, 17th March.

Vincent Navalez was bored. As he absent mindedly flicked another fly away from his neck with his fingers he reflected upon his time here thus far. As a soldier and part of the small garrison on the island, he didn't have much choice over his assignment, but he knew one thing: he couldn't wait for it to end. Although there was a small town on the island, there was precious little in entertainment on what he thought was nothing better than a desolate rock. True, it had an airstrip and there were a couple of commercial flights each week that brought new visitors to the island - most of them tourists - but apart from that, life was pretty quiet. A good place to retire to, he thought.

Still, it was important to maintain a garrison here as the Philippine claim on the island was contested by other nations, and that claim had to be protected - as well as the local people living there. Efforts were being made to increase the population within those habitable islands under Philippine control in order to develop them more and strengthen the hand of the government when it came to talks about the islands. There was also an effort to balance tourism and local residency with the environmental and wildlife aspects of the islands. After all, those elements brought the tourists here and boosted the local economy.

That didn't concern Navalez much though. He wanted to return to Davao City and see his family. Pacing the airstrip at night as part of the security detail may be good exercise, but was not much fun. He kicked the dust at his feet, and his thoughts turned to a drink in a good bar and perhaps a bit of karaoke. He prayed just for once something exciting would happen around here...

**********************************************

High above, three saucer-shaped vessels descended rapidly. They were invisible to radar of course. They could be invisible to eyes as well - if they so desired - but their commander wasn't bothered about that. Creating a bit of mystery suited the plan that had been made. Big plans in fact - and ones he could have scarcely dreamed of shortly before. But here he was, and he had the opportunity of a lifetime, and he wasn't about to miss it. He needed a base of operations and the Spratly Islands seemed like a good choice. It seemed to him that since no one could agree who owned it all that it'd be a good place to take over, and whilst those disputed it argued with each other about it all, he could get on with his plans.

"Descent continuing as ordered. Landing zone confirmed as sea off Thitu Island." The metallic-like voice echoed across the control chamber to where the commander was seated.

"Good. Prepare for soft landing and engage environmental damage reduction and protection procedures. After landing, deploy perimeter defences, make preparations for underwater base construction and prepare the thought-scan and transmat beam for use.". The commander thought that sounded like a line out of a bad science fiction movie, but it seemed appropriate considering his interest in those after all.

"Understood. Preparations will start immediately upon landing. Guard units and construction units will deploy as ordered. Thought-scan and transmat beam calibration will commence.". Activity increased on all three ships as they flew straight across the airstrip and slid gently into the sea.

************************************************

Their landing did not go unnoticed by Navalez. he was after all on patrol. What he didn't know was that the commander of the saucers didn't care if he was noticed, and in fact saw it as a bonus if he was as it would create all sorts of hard-to-believe stories that would stir the pot somewhat.

Navalez' hand reached for his radio as he called the base. He couldn't quite believe what he had seen, but he was certain it has been three flying saucers! My commander is never going to believe this, he thought.

"Are you so bored you're making up stories now Navalez?". came the sarcastic reply from the base's radio operator Morales.

"Just reporting what I saw, nothing more. And I'm not drunk either, before you make any accusations. How can anyone get drunk with the amount of alcohol on this rock?". Navalez knew Morales was the type to wind people up a bit if he saw a chance.

"Alright Navalez, calm down. I'll inform the Commander. Get back to base and submit a full report. You'd better be right about this. Out."

Navalez raised his eyes to the heavens in supplication. God, I pray for something exciting to happen around here, and when it does it something that no-one is likely to believe. Thanks a bundle. Now help me out with this.

He trudged off back to the base.

**********************************************

Sargon

[Sargon]

Be careful what you wish for...

Part II "Strange object imaged..."

One week earlier...Berne, Switzerland

He chucked the Darth Vader voice changer back into the box of assorted Sci-Fi items he had a habit of collecting. Damn thing needs new batteries, mused Jean. Ah, but there's a battery charger in that drawer over there....I think...oh, but I need rechargeable batteries...just a mo...should have some AAs here somewhere.... He rummaged about in yet another box and found three.

"Bugger! It needs FOUR of 'em! Bloody typical...why can't something go right for a change??". He kicked the box across the room making the contents fly everywhere. Dammit, I'll have to tidy that up later, he thought sourly.

Jean's day was not going well. And he was not in the best of moods. First of all, his morning had kicked off with a knock on the door back in England. He'd been expecting a new Babylon 5 model kit to arrive that morning, and it turned out to be some salesman at the door trying to get him to change utility company. He hated that, but worse still, his new kit had not arrived, and when he'd phoned up the company who were supposed to be sending it to him had discovered there was a postal strike on. He really wanted to have it before he left for the airport later in the day to return to Switzerland. Bloody Post Office, why couldn't they strike another time and save him the trouble? He actually thought they had valid reasons to strike, but NOT TODAY! And he'd forgot there was one too.

It seemed that England had a habit of doing things to him at the worse possible time. Still, being a student there was good fun. However, he needed to collect a few things from his apartment in Berne and as it was a Friday and thus no lectures on his timetable, he'd decided to go back. Besides, there was a fancy dress party back at his university in England later in the week and he wanted to go as Darth Vader thus remembering he had a mask here. Not that he was obsessed by SF or something...he just...well...had a passion for these things. And those discount flight tickets he had got hold of were too good to pass up on. Anyway, he wanted to get back in time to watch Doctor Who, the new series of which was due to kick off soon. Those Brits certainly knew how to make good SF!

Although his mother was in fact British, he didn't mention it much. He found it more useful to use his Swiss side at times...made him a bit more exotic to the locals he thought. Or maybe he was just kidding himself since being an SF geek tended to put some people off and he needed to have something different about himself to focus on. His parents couldn't agree on his name at first...they had finally come up with Jean, his mother because it sounded just like a British name, and his father since it sounded like a French one. It meant 'John' anyway, whichever way one looked at it, and thus would cause little confusion. People in the UK still emailed him as 'John' though, which he didn't mind too much.

He was studying in Manchester, and the airport was not too far away from his digs seeing as it only took about 15-20 minutes to get there from Manchester Piccadilly by train if he hopped on the Transpennine Express. Local trains took longer as they stopped at every station along the route, and so he preferred to take the hourly Express arriving from Cleethorpes. They'd recently upgraded the trains and they were better to travel in than the local ones being cleaner and more modern looking to his eyes. Was that his futuristic SF preference kicking in? Probably. He couldn't wait until they had maglev.

Oh well, I'll just have to buy some batteries before I go back. Can't be cheap ones either, as they'd just conk out after ten minutes of use, and that'd be embarrassing if all the mask makes is a squeak. The rechargeables would have been fine, but WHERE is that missing one? What's the point buying the damn things to save money in the long term when they go missing and I have to buy new ones each time?

Actually, he was pretty disorganised sometimes, so it was not surprising.

Fridge. Food.

He decided the best way to 'enhance his calm' (he loved that line, being from Demolition Man after all) was to get some food inside him. His mother had obviously been shopping and there were some goodies in the fridge. He piled up a plate, grabbed the TV remote and switched the telly on.

"...and Robert Mugabe says that criticism of his regime is merely rhetoric from western nations who still practice their own forms of imperialism these days. Despite this the Foreign Office has made it clear that...".

Oh God, not him again, despaired Jean. Just when is someone going to deal with him? All those people suffering there and no one is lifting a finger to help - it's disgraceful.

Jean had quite an interest in current affairs, Actually, he was interested in many things, and liked to be well read on various topics, although it could be said he had more of a general knowledge of certain topics than a deep one. Still, he did have various deep interests and he'd often be surrounded by books that were not SF ones. He liked books a lot, but found that he never had time to read all the ones he bought. He probably spent too much time on the net, playing computer games, and building model kits to keep up with reading everything.

Jean was pretty upset, "Jeez, I wish someone would sort him out and get that country back in order and help those people.", he said to himself. He thought about all the other places where people were suffering due to nasty regimes...North Korea and Burma sprang to mind. He sighed and changed channel...it was too depressing.

In Manchester, something fell through a hole in a pocket...

*************************************************

One week later, Thitu Island: Philippine Occupied Spratly Island, 20:57 hours local time, 17th March.

"Navalez, do you expect me to believe THAT?? Yellow flying saucers??", screamed his CO as he stood in the base's office.

Why didn't I just say I saw planes, thought Navalez as the glares continued in his specific direction. On the bright side, they might think I'm crazy and send me home. He brightened up a bit at that.

"Sir, I'm just telling you what I witnessed. They had lights in them and seemed yellow, but could be darker.". How many times have I said that since I saw the damn things? He could imagine the size of the smirk on Morales' face right now. He must be listening in to all this next door...the walls aren't that thick after all.

"OK Navalez. We're duty bound to check it out, but if you're trying to pull some prank, I'll have you counting sea shells for the rest of your assignment. Get back to your patrol. Dismissed.", rumbled the CO dangerously. Navalez was all too happy to leave the office. Quite rapidly in fact.

The CO picked up the phone and gave orders for a search party to set off in a launch to survey the area of sea where Navalez had said he'd seen the objects descend into. He'd have a plane up at first light as well to overfly it too. After that he was planning to have Navalez for breakfast.

*************************************************

Saucer Landing Zone, Off Thitu Island: Philippine Occupied Spratly Island, 21:40 hours local time, 17th March

"Diiiiiiiiiiiveeeeeee!". He always loved this one. The commander of the squadron looked up from his personal holoscreen as one of his bridge crew approached.

"Soft landing successful. Environmental damage slight, and restoration underway. Perimeter established and base construction commencing.".

"Excellent. Estimated time until construction complete?", the commander knew it would take a while, but couldn't remember exactly how long.

The reply came back rapidly, precisely and metallicly, "With current deployments, undersea base will be completed and fully operational in 3 weeks, 4 days, and 7 hours.".

The commander thought about that. He'd like it to be quicker, but he knew impatience was not a good thing. He somehow remembered he had made a promise to try and be less so. Besides he had one third of his crews fitted out and assigned to that particular task. And he needed other things done too.

"Assign priority to the shipyard part of the base. I want more ships built as soon as possible. One the shipyard is complete, allocate another two-thousand to work on two more ships. We must have numbers. Also, increase output in the production facilities so that we can replace those who are working on the base and the ships. It might be necessary to carry out other actions before the base is fully complete and I wish to have that option available to me. I think that.....".

He was interrupted before he could finish that off.

"Alert! Guards have notified command that an object has been imaged matching the description of a naval launch and is approaching the landing zone. Instructions?".

The commander couldn't help a grin. So someone was awake up there. "No direct action. Raise the shield to prevent them getting too close underwater. However, they can still see us, and that's fine. Let them puzzle about us. It'll give them some good stories to tell. After they've seen us and if they cause too much trouble, we always have the option to use the mind-scan and transmat to gain an advantage later. As a matter of fact, let's have some fun. Illuminate a Ch'ing Dynasty flag for China on the upper hull. Heh, that'll cause some confusion. Carry on with my orders regarding the base.".

With the acknowledgement of his orders echoing in his ear, he turned his attention back to the holoscreen.... "Charge the lightning field!". He really liked the acoustics in this ship.

************************************************

Sargon

[Sargon]

Be Careful What You Wish For

Part III: "No one would have believed...".

Philippine Local Garrison Search Party, Off Thitu Island: Philippine Occupied Spratly Island, 21:42 hours local time, 17th March.

A small launch made its way out of the harbour and skilfully negotiated the scatted bits of coral near the entrance before making its way out into relatively deeper water. Moonlight reflected off the calm sea, making visibility quite good on what was a clear night. Inside the launch were nine men, two of whom were kitting up in diving gear. Navalez, having resumed his thankless patrol on the airstrip observed them as they left, praying to God they found something. He'd read somewhere that there'd been some mad Roman Emperor who had supposedly made his troops collect seashells or something. That figures, he lamented to himself, the damn CO must have read the same book and is going further down the road of Barking Mad Street by threatening to make me count the bastards. Navalez had little doubt that his CO was actually crazy enough to implement that order too.

It took sometime for the launch to make the area where Navalez' flying saucers were supposed to be underwater, the distance from land being a good few miles. Nothing was to be seen until the launch made its way close to spot where a faint glow could be made out. Once there, it swung in the gentle swell, the crew illuminated against the skyline as a line of figures leaning over the side scanning the ocean below.

The leader of the group, Second Lieutenant Amor Bancain peered into the sea, his long, serious looking face looking thoughtful. "Could be the emergency lights from a downed aircraft.", he commented dryly. "Looks like Navalez was right about something for once.", a remark which was met with smirks from some of the others.

"Could be a jellyfish sir.", chimed in the larger-than-life Private Matunog from just behind him, which upped the response from the group by receiving chuckles from most in the boat this time.

"Well, that's a possibility, but how many yellowly-green jellyfish have you seen around here that glow that much Private?", shot back Bancain. "Get over the side Gabat, and see what's down there if you can.".

One of the divers gave a brief wave with one hand, his other grabbing a powerful flashlight as he slipped over backwards into the water with something of a flourish. "Bloody show off.", quipped Matunog.

The Lieutenant turned to the other diver, "As for you, swim above him and survey the area. If there's a plane down there, or a wreckage field, I want some idea of how large it is in either case. Maybe Navalez saw three bits of a plane crashing down as it disintegrated or something.".

The diver quickly obliged and there was another splash of water as he plunged in leaving a trail of light, ripples and bubbles in his wake.

**************************************************

Base Construction Zone, Off Thitu Island: Philippine Occupied Spratly Island, 21:57 hours local time, 17th March

Inside the saucer, the commander continued to watch the holoscreen, light from it glowing off his face. One part of it was tuned into events happening up above as some diver bumped into an invisible force that shook him around a bit and the look of surprise was quite evident even on his masked face. "There must be a way of deactivating the lightning field.".

"Not on your Nelly in this case.", chuckled the commander to himself.

**************************************************

Philippine Local Garrison Search Party, Off Thitu Island: Philippine Occupied Spratly Island, 22:03 hours local time, 17th March.

It wasn't long before the luckless Gabat bobbed back up to the surface, quickly followed by his team-mate, and both made their way back to the launch to make somewhat breathless reports to the expectant Bancain.

Gabat just managed to kick off first, "That's no jellyfish, that's a vessel!". before the other diver's words followed immediately afterwards.

"That thing is over 1000 feet across, and that was just the part I could make out!". he stammered.

Bancain looked incredulous, "What? Are you kidding me? That's too big to be a vessel.". He peered down again, his lined face now showing some concern as one hand rubbed the back of his neck.

"And another thing, I got caught up in some sort of turbulence down there. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't get closer. I think I approached from the wrong angle to get a good look at the source of that glow and there was a shoal of fish in the way blocking it. Took me a while to re-orientate myself, but even after that I still couldn't move in any closer.", added Gabat, his dark eyes rather wide at this point.

"Closer?? Why would we want to go closer?? I've got a bad feeling about this.". Matunog's huge face had lost its previous grin and betrayed the idea that he didn't like to stay around here much longer if he could help it.

**************************************************

Base Construction Zone, Off Thitu Island: Philippine Occupied Spratly Island, 22:05 hours local time, 17th March

The commander suddenly raised an eyebrow and paid more attention to what the party were saying with a look of mild surprise on his face. Some of those could be lines straight out of a certain movie, he observed to himself. Sometimes truth imitates fiction...well, I have to say these guys are fairly entertaining at the very least.

A delicate porcelain cup supported by the fingers of his right hand made its way up to his mouth. The taste of Assam filtered its way through his system. He had tried Earl Grey, but it just wasn't his cup of tea. He viewed this as rather a shame as he would've liked to be a starship captain who enjoyed one.

Putting the cup back down, he turned his attention back to the screen. No matter, the taste is beautiful enough and adds to the enjoyment anyway.

**************************************************

Philippine Local Garrison Search Party, Off Thitu Island: Philippine Occupied Spratly Island, 22:07 hours local time, 17th March.

"Get back down there and take some shots with the underwater camera.", ordered Bancain to the obviously reluctant divers. "I want to know what that glow is.".

"I really hate you sir.", muttered Gabat as he and the other diver grabbed underwater cameras being held out by one of the other men in the boat and dived back down.

Not as much as I hate Navalez, thought Bancain grimly. The amount of damn paperwork this is going to cause...

**************************************************

Base Construction Zone, Off Thitu Island: Philippine Occupied Spratly Island, 22:14 hours local time, 17th March

The commander watched as the divers managed to get into position outside of the shield in order to take underwater photos as clearly as they could. "lt's a little too quiet around here for me.". Music by Queen echoed out in the control room. Several heads swivelled in the huge space as members of the crew looked towards the source of the unique electronic based melody.

I bet that's what they were thinking before we came, but not now. See? I've just livened up your assignments here. You should all be thanking me, he thought with amusement. And just wait until those photos are developed. Now, time for a book.

He'd been half tempted to put the Imperial logo from Star Wars on the hull, but the Ch'ing flag would cause far more of an interesting ruckus he was sure - and he needed to restrain himself somewhat, remembering that patience would be an advantage in all this.

Instead of showing flatscreen images, his holoscreen now projected a three-dimensional globe of the world. Significant areas on it were marked in red and the commander contemplated it for a while, his brow creasing as he observed the rotating orb. The commander thought it looked a bit like the one in that PC version of the game called Risk - the second version of the game of course.

"With infinite complacency men went to and fro over this globe about their little affairs, serene in their assurance of their empire over matter.".

He soon intended to be the skunk at the garden party and shake things up somewhat on this globe.

**************************************************

Sargon

[Sargon]

Be Careful What You Wish For

Part IV: "All alone in the night...".

Previous week, Manchester, UK, 02:48 local time, 14th March

Jeez, that was one hell of a party, enthused Jean's mind as he weaved unsteadily back home, co-ordination somewhat impaired by by the generous amounts of alcohol he'd imbibed, and the restrictions imposed by the Darth Vader costume he was wearing. The lightsaber clipped to his belt clattered against his plastic armour as he lurched whilst lifting a kebab up to his face and then realised he still had his mask on.

"DAMN, BLOODY FORGOT ABOUT THAT!", he boomed. The batteries had lasted well, and even now made his voice scarily impressive. He'd already managed to frighten the life out of a group of girls earlier when he'd shot out of an alleyway that served as a good shortcut to the kebab shop, especially as he'd gone "AARRRGGGGHHHH!" after putting his foot down in an awkward position that had tweaked his ankle when rapidly stopping before crashing into them. Luckily the guys in the kebab shop had not been so fazed by his appearance, after all, they saw all sorts in there once the pubs and clubs disgorged their clientele for the night. Besides, there were a lot of SF characters that had left the same party and had headed for various eating places or bars afterwards. A group of Starfleet officers, Romulans and Klingons were even now making their way through nearby Chinatown.

Clumsily putting the kebab back into the plastic bag he'd been given to carry it, he made his way down another alleyway, this time as a means of cutting the distance to his digs. He decided he'd get home first before eating it, but was finding out just how awkward it was to move about in a suit of amour with a long cloak and a mask that did not offer the best of views. He promptly bumped into a dumpster and crashed to the ground with a Vaderish wheeze.

Now I know how Scorpius' implant 'Harvey' in Crichton's head felt, he thought painfully to himself as he glared at the dumpster. Of course, the human character from Farscape often threatened to chuck Harvey in with the rubbish, so at least he'd missed it. He started to haul himself up, and glanced around for where his kebab bag had fallen, and after awkwardly moving his head for a while located it behind the dumpster. Crawling over to it, he was about to grab it when he saw something out of the side of his eye - which was about as far as his vision went, the helmet not allowing him to see out of the corner. It looked like a leaflet.

His gloved hand picked it up and found it was wrapped around an object that clattered to the ground. It resembled a rock. That didn't immediately take his attention, as he was too busy looking at the leaflet which was about the Doctor Who props exhibition being held at Manchester's Museum of Science and Industry. Heh, that was damn cool, already been there, he remembered. They had actually extended the exhibition due to popular demand, and had released new leaflets for it recently, but Jean had not seen this particular one before, so he opened it up for a quick glance. No new exhibits were there, which disappointed him a little, but the artwork was cool. He decided to put it with the others he already had, as he had a habit of collecting every bit of SF stuff he could lay his hands on - much to his family's and housemates' chagrin. He stuck the leaflet in his belt, picked up the kebab bag with his right hand and started to get up properly. However, he felt compelled for some reason to pick up the little rock. It was like it was whispering something in his mind...

The Dark Lord made his way gingerly back to his digs, clutching the rock in his left hand.

**************************************************

Thitu Island: Philippine Occupied Spratly Island, 00:17 hours local time, 18th March

The CO listened to Second Lieutenant Bancain's report, the twinges of fatigue pulling on his eyes.

It was late, and he had not had the best of days what with someone screwing up the manifest for base supplies that had arrived at the islands in the morning. And his wife was giving him problems. Or maybe he was giving her some. It was complicated. Anyhow, the last thing he needed was what Bancain was telling him now. Even worse was that Navalez had actually been right about seeing something. That meant he couldn't bawl him out the next morning, which the CO thought was a bit of a disappointment.

"How big?", he demanded, his foot tapping impatiently under the desk.

"Over 1000 feet across. And it appears to be in one piece and extends out in all directions. It was definitely not a debris field. All we can ascertain is that it is a vessel or construction of some sort. There was a lot of weird turbulence down there, making it impossible for our divers to get close enough to physically examine it.", Bancain related in his usual professional manner, standing ramrod straight with one hand by his side, the other holding a folder.

Rubbing his chin the CO replied, "Well, it can't be a vessel then. Perhaps it is an underwater construct of some kind. But that does not explain what Navalez saw. Unless they were some kind of amphibious aircraft that were taken underwater or something, and that just seems stretching the bounds of reality.". He pointed to Bancain's hand. "What's that you have there?".

Bancain opened the folder and placed it on the CO's desk. "It's the printouts of the digital photos the divers managed to take. There were a lot of fish swimming about...probably disturbed by the turbulence, and it was difficult to get any reasonable shots at first, but these are the clearest we have. It appears to be the casing of whatever is down there. It looks like it is made of metal.".

Leafing slowly through the photos the CO noticed the colour of the metal. It looked to be bronze in nature, although it was difficult to be precise because of the effect of the water. Suddenly he came to a photo that had some sort of design on it, and paused. "Now, just what is that? It looks like a marking of some kind. Doesn't look like anything I recognise. What's that long U shape in the middle?".

Bancain coughed and replied matter-of-factly, "I'm afraid that's the diver's finger. It's much clearer in the next one.". He thought he'd removed all the unclear ones.

If the CO felt embarrassed by his gaffe, he did not show it much, and turned to the next image. "Ah, that's much clearer...it looks like markings of some sort on the metal....hmmmm....it's a blue dragon on what seems to be a yellow background...or could be light green...difficult to tell.". Scratching his head the CO glanced up at Bancain. "What do you make of it Lieutenant?".

"Well, I'm not sure sir, but this was the cause of the glow we saw under the water. It was shining out quite brightly, almost as if it was supposed to draw attention to it. From the shape of it, it appears to be some sort of flag, but I've never seen a flag like that before. It's certainly no national flag I know of for example.". Bancain was just as puzzled as his CO appeared to be.

"My thoughts exactly. Well, we'll have a plane up at first light to overfly the site. Until then, I 'm going to alert the commands on the other islands and call out extra guards here to join Navalez on his night patrol. Then I'm going to send this image attached to an e-mail to Headquarters. Maybe they can make something of it. In the meantime, write up your report before going to sleep Lieutenant, and have it on my desk by the morning. Dismissed.".

Inwardly, Bancain groaned. "Yes sir.". I'm going to kick Navalez' butt around the damn airfield tomorrow, he fumed to himself. That was if he had enough energy after staying up to write the report.

**************************************************

Base Construction Zone, Off Thitu Island: Philippine Occupied Spratly Island, 00:30 hours local time, 18th March

On and below the three saucers in the dead of night, construction of the base continued. It was to be a vast space under the seabed, housing repair, maintenance, accommodation, and production facilities amongst other things. The excavations were extremely efficient, extracted material being immediately sucked into mobile conversion plants, the atomic structure of it being re-arranged and then being ejected at the other end as various components, panels, flooring, infrastructure and whatnot for fitting out the base. At the moment the converters were producing items suitable for setting up and fitting out the shipyard, and the cavernous space it would be located in was becoming ever larger every second.

The saucers themselves had burrowed deeper into the seabed, so that less of their considerable size was exposed above it. To restrict damage to the local environment, all sea life that had been below the saucers had been transmatted above the vessels, or to other parts of the seabed where there was sufficient space for them. The Commander was very concerned that the local ecology did not suffer too much, and was making strenuous efforts to make sure such damage was limited. He was even now watching the holoscreen which relayed three dimensional representations of the sea creatures presently swimming around outside.

"A strange twilight world opened up before me, and I felt as the first man to set foot on another planet, an intruder in this mystic garden of the deep.", came the words from another part of the holoscreen, this time in two dimensions where another scene similar to the one floating before the Commander was being shown. He liked this one too, being very appropriate for his current location after all, but decided as it was becoming late, he needed some rest and would continue with it later. The holoscreen's images faded and he rose from his chair and made his way to the nearby chamber that housed his well-appointed bunk.

He left the bridge crew with words echoing around the massive area, "If any human activity of note occurs please inform me. Otherwise, leave me to sleep until dawn arrives. That is all.".

**************************************************

Sargon

[Sargon]

Be Careful What You Wish For

Part V: "Something special planned for them...".

Republic of the Phillipines, Quezon City, Camp Aguinaldo, Armed Forces of the Philippines: General Headquarters and Headquarters Service Command, Intelligence Division (GHQ & HSC), 00:45 local time, 18th March

Lieutenant Benigno Fernandez yawned as he put the papers down on his desk. Routine reports most of them, and consequently of little interest. Desk jobs were not the most stimulating of tasks to be employed in especially if one was working late in the communications office. He turned to his computer and brought up his e-mail inbox. Not much there at all, he'd already gone through most of the mails, only a couple of non-urgent ones were left to deal with. Sighing, he was about to return to his paperwork when a new mail arrived.

He was quite surprised to see one marked as urgent from the Commander of the usually sleepy base on Thitu Island. His interest grew as he opened the mail and read the description of the image attached. He then opened the image and saw that it did indeed appear to be a dragon of some sort with what appeared to be a red disk above its nose. And he didn't recognise it either. Still, it was his job to investigate these things, so he headed off to the bookshelf where there was a study on international flags. This being a publication useful for intelligence purposes of course included all military flags, banners and insignia.

Hmmm, that dragon sure looks like it is Chinese, he reasoned to himself as he flicked through the pages. A quick scan through the reference work failed to yield any results. The book was not a slim one and he had the feeling this was going to take a while, so ambling back to his desk, he started working his way through the book in a methodical fashion.

**************************************************

National Capital Region, Manila, Embassy Building, Counter-Intelligence Service, 00:47 local time, 18th March

The same image was displayed on the monitor in front of a foreign country's intelligence operative. Like his counterpart in Quezon city, he started reaching for some reference manuals...

**************************************************

Republic of the Phillipines, Quezon City, Camp Aguinaldo, Armed Forces of the Philippines: General Headquarters and Headquarters Service Command, Intelligence Division (GHQ & HSC), 01:23 local time, 18th March

Fernandez was yawning once more and reached to scratch the back of his neck. He'd been through all his reference works pretty thoroughly and had drawn a blank. The thought had crossed his mind of course that the symbol was obscure or secret enough only to be recognised by certain people, but that did not square with it being so obviously displayed. He was pretty certain it had been designed to draw attention to itself, or why bother illuminating it in such a fashion?

He turned to another computer in his room. This one had a secure connection to the internet and the security on it was implemented with that in mind. He felt rather reluctant admitting this, but from time to time he found that the net could be a useful source of information in his line of work. Oh well, it's worth a try, let's see what flag and insignia websites there are, he decided.

He typed in the words 'dragon flag' and 'blue' in the advanced search page, and pressed 'search'.

The mouse pointer hovered over the first result, "Chinese Customs: ...of the dragon flag (similar to the flag at 1890 Imperial Dragon flag). .... the present national flag - red ground with a blue jack in the upper canton...", but paused a moment as Fernandez' eyes scanned the second entry which was indented and obviously a sub-category of the first. It read, "Lay-Osborne Flotilla (China)... Son of the Sky was the blue eastern dragon, the image of returning strength, ... On 10 November 1872, the Imperial dragon flag was officially adopted as ...". The words 'blue eastern dragon' caught his eye and he clicked on the cached version...

**************************************************

National Capital Region, Manila, Embassy Building, Counter-Intelligence Service, 01:24 local time, 18th March

Another hand rubbing a neck. The operative had failed to find the flag using his authorised references as well, however there was a mass marketed flag book on the shelf nearby and he reached for it. Before long he had come to the section on China's historical flags...

**************************************************

Republic of the Phillipines, Quezon City, Camp Aguinaldo, Armed Forces of the Philippines: General Headquarters and Headquarters Service Command, Intelligence Division (GHQ & HSC), 01:25 local time, 18th March

Fernandez had struck gold, or rather yellow, as that was the colour of the flag's background. The CO of Thitu Island's garrison had not been sure about the background colour, stating it was either a light green or a yellow field. Now it was confirmed as yellow, and the dragon and his little red disk matched pretty well, apart from the fact that it was superimposed upon a larger green and yellow flag. He noticed an entry for 'Imperial Dragon Flag' and followed the link, being presented with a page of text detailing the history of the flag. Scrolling down the page somewhat he found an exact match.

Well, that's it for sure, but why the hell is that being used? Rough stubble grazed his fingers as he rubbed his chin. An old flag of the Chinese Empire? Somehow, he couldn't see the Communists using that one, unless they had some sort of agenda to restore the Emperor which seemed ridiculous to him. The Taiwanese seemed to be the better choice, but they were a republic too. Hmmm, they of course have that pretty unrealistic dream of taking back all of China someday...perhaps there's a link there, he surmised. He did consider the possibility of it being someone else...Singapore crossed his mind, but they didn't fit into the picture, not pursuing any claims in the Spratlys. It seemed logical that it was either China or Taiwan that was at work here, with the stronger possibility being the people in Taipei.

Collating his findings together, he sent a reply back to the CO, with the recommendation that he be aware of and on the alert for either Chinese or Taiwanese incursions just to be sure. Then he prepared a report for his own commander and heading out of the door, decided he deserved a coffee after all that hard research.

**************************************************

National Capital Region, Manila, Embassy Building, Counter-Intelligence Service, 01:27 local time, 18th March

Fingers danced across a keyboard as the operative typed up a report for his superiors. He was no less surprised, intrigued and puzzled about the image he had found rather easily in a commercially available publication. And since he knew the Filipinos appeared to have no idea what it was, unless his superiors were keeping him in the dark too, he was even more sure it meant trouble for his country as well as Manila. What on earth have these blue dragon guys got planned, he wondered, special forces perhaps?

**************************************************

Thitu Island: Philippine Occupied Spratly Island, 01:32 hours local time, 18th March

Returning from the washroom, the CO found a new e-mail in his inbox. His eyes widened as he read the explanation of the flag and the possible elements involved.

Well, if it's either the Chinese or the Taiwanese trying to muscle in on our claim, there's going to be hell to pay, he thought with not a little amount of worry.

**************************************************

Base Construction Zone, Off Thitu Island: Philippine Occupied Spratly Island, 01:36 hours local time, 18th March

Below the sea, the crews of the saucers continued their efforts. The caverns for the base were becoming larger by the second, and infrastructure being fitted very rapidly. On the bridge a silent and intimidating figure eyed the construction impassively, and knew the Commander would appreciate the news that the shipyard would be completed within the next two days. Then the construction of additional ships could begin...and...well, all were aware the Commander had something very special in mind for these humans...

**************************************************

Sargon

[Sargon]

Bumping up as there's five chapters here that people may never have seen and can have a go at reading if so desired.


Sargon

[archangel]

Bumping to bring more readers and to bring an update.

[Alex]

Originally Posted by archangel

Bumping to bring more readers and to bring an update.

Ditto

[general_tiu]

Yes, it returned!

[Sargon]

**************************************************


Be careful what you wish for...


Part VI: "So say we all...".

Previous week, Manchester, UK, 07:32 local time, 14th March.

"Ooooooh, my head!", moaned Jean as he struggled with dragging himself out of his bed. He needed a toilet stop, the effects of the alcohol causing trouble in more than one area of his body. He gasped as his toe made an unwelcome appointment with the frigid floor, and muttered various curses as he gingerly made his way to the bathroom, negotiating bits of his Vader costume as well as various other items in his path. Underfloor heating would be nice, came his wistful thought as he closed the door behind him and gratefully planted his feet on the bathroom rug.

As he went about his business with some relief, images entered his mind of some rather strange dreams he had during the night. He recalled a sensation of something slipping into his mind, and wandering about inside as if it was in some sort of archive full of shelves of books. It had been saying things too, but he could not quite recall what. It had seemed gently persuasive and insistent though, the voice of it like a a smooth caress, tempting and compulsive.

Rubbing his head, Jean made his way back to his bed, as he had no intention of getting up for a while. He flicked the TV on to the news channel, watched it for a while, and then fell back into the land of nod...

**************************************************

Thitu Island: Philippine Occupied Spratly Island, Sunrise, 06:24 hours precisely local time, 18th March.

The plane had been prepped some time earlier, but now made its way along the airstrip. Dawn had arrived, and as planned, the CO's reconnaissance flight was underway. The CO himself stood in the small tower that served as the operations centre for the small airbase. He had not slept that well, and presented a rather haggard figure. Nevertheless, he was overseeing the operation rather than leaving it to his second-in-command. It wasn't just duty that motivated him, it was genuine curiosity as well, mixed with a smattering of apprehension. Conditions were clear enough, and the sea-state was calm. He wondered what the pilot would be able to observe.

**************************************************

Base Construction Zone, Off Thitu Island: Philippine Occupied Spratly Island, 06:24 hours local time, 18th March.

A console blinked on one part of the bridge of the main saucer.

"Alert. Human aviation detected. Wake the Commander.", the metallic voice echoed across the bridge as the leader of the crew there looked towards a subordinate.

**************************************************

Thitu Island: Philippine Occupied Spratly Island, 06:33 hours local time, 18th March.

The pilot looked down onto the surface of the sea as the plane approached the area where Navalez' saucers had been seen to land. The water was pretty clear and he was able to make out a fair amount of detail at this height over a large area. Very soon his diligence was rewarded as he spotted a rough circular shape under the surface. Angling his plane to the left, he circled over the region of the sea that held his interest. Unlike the reports that the reconnaissance boat crew had brought back, the object did not appear to be a thousand feet across. To the pilot's reckoning, it seemed like it was no more than 150 feet in diameter at most, and he came to the conclusion that the divers must have become confused in the darkness. Squinting a little, the pilot tried to make out the colour of the object, which was not as easy as one might think given that the water had an effect on judging it. However, to his eyes, it appeared to be a copper type of colour...perhaps lighter than that if the blueness of the water was allowed for. Satisfied that there really was something unnatural on the seabed, although not the three objects Navalez had claimed he had seen, the pilot radioed descriptions back to the tower...

**************************************************

Base Construction Zone, Off Thitu Island: Philippine Occupied Spratly Island, 06:35 hours local time, 18th March.

The Commander watched from his chair, rubbing his eyes somewhat due to the fact that he was still a little groggy from being woken up. He could have done with a little more sleep, but the activity was important enough for him to take an interest in the events on his holoscreen. Studying the plane circling overhead he listened to the radio report being sent back by the pilot to his CO. It went without saying that he had instructed a member of his crew to monitor any broadcasts, encrypted or otherwise.

"....resting on the ocean bed. Appears to be about 150 feet across and not 1000. Shape appears to be an uneven circle. Copper coloured, although could be lighter in shade as sea darkens it. Unable to make out any large scale illumination from the object. Faint light green glow from small area near the centre of the object. No outstanding features apparent on the surface.....".

The Commander sipped another cup of tea as he listened to the report. He fancied some breakfast and beckoned over a crew member. "Four slices of thick toast, buttered. And a raspberry flapjack.".

**************************************************

Thitu Island: Philippine Occupied Spratly Island, 07:47 hours local time, 18th March

The CO reviewed the images taken by the camera on the plane and the pilot's report. Whilst not appearing to be a vessel of any kind, it certainly looked like an underwater construction of some sort. As for the objects Navalez had seen, the CO reasoned they were probably supply drops of some kind. In his mind it was more than likely a base built by one of the states competing for islands in the area. His money was on the Taiwanese given that they had resisted an invasion attempt on one of their islands by the Philippines years ago, and this was some sort of in-your-face revenge on their part. He couldn't figure how they'd so sneakily built a base under his nose, but it was embarrassing, and he wasn't relishing the grilling he was undoubtedly going to get when all this was sorted out.

The material already having been sent electronically to Intelligence, he reached for the phone. It was time to call Headquarters directly.

**************************************************

Previous week, Manchester, UK, 08:51 local time, 14th March.

Jean awoke from his slumber and looked at the clock. Still far too early to wake up in his opinion. He was about to turn over when a news item on the TV caught his attention.

"....attacked by pirates off Somalia. This area is notorious for such activity with a number of ships being taken over and their crews threatened with violence. Despite international efforts little concrete action has been taken to deal with the pirates in this area other than small patrols by various local governments, and the deployment by the US of a ship in the area. A spokesman from Lloyds of London says these efforts are not nearly enough to deal with the attacks, and remarks that governments need to do much more to address the issue....".

Oh great, thought Jean, seems governments never take this seriously enough...why don't they deploy Q ships or something? That'll sort the bastards out. It was an item of news that had been appearing with increasing frequency as modern-day pirates took to hijacking freighters with their valuable cargoes hoping to flog off the contents of the ships and make a profit. And if there were no cargo ships available, they were known to stop cruise liners and rob the passengers and crew. Sometimes even kidnapping people to hold for ransom. He shook his head as much as the confines of his pillow allowed as the next news item came up.

"....and despite recent efforts that have seen relations improve between the two countries, the North Korean government has criticised the South for "recklessly aiding Japan and their warmongering masters the US" in the stop and search policy of vessels heading for North Korean ports that could be carrying restricted items the import of which was banned by UN resolution. Yesterday's skirmish between naval vessels of both countries when a North Korean freighter was intercepted by a South Korean warship has raised tensions in the region. A spokesman for Kim Jong Il's regime has denounced the South's actions as those of "a lackey of the imperialists intent upon infringing the territorial and trading rights of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and an insult to our citizens who will continue to struggle against these blatantly aggressive acts.". The South has responded by...".

Jean despaired about all this. Is there no end to the craziness of that regime? I just wish something could be done about them. Throw in the pirates too whilst we're at it. Jeez.

Fed up, he turned over and went back to sleep. At least he could get away from the troubles of the world for a while with a nice slumber. Or so he thought.

The stone seemed to shimmer slightly and slipped its way into his sleeping mind...

**************************************************

Thitu Island: Philippine Occupied Spratly Island, 08:39 hours local time, 18th March.

Second Lieutenant Bancain had slept rather better than the CO, but he still wasn't in the best of moods as he stood once more in front of the CO's desk. He took some satisfaction from the CO's tired appearance though as that meant he wasn't the only one being screwed over by Navalez.

"Headquarters are now involved. They are sending three vessels from the mainland, one of which is embarking equipment to make an underwater search easier to carry out. The other two are warships in case there's any trouble. In the meantime, our orders are to observe the area closely and wait for the ships to arrive before carrying out any further underwater surveys ourselves as we do not have the means to infiltrate the construct anyway. We'll find out what this thing is soon enough. Things are going to be a bit busier around here for both us and the men. And that means more bureaucracy too, so be prepared to write more reports. In the meantime, have your men ready in your boats for regular patrols of the area. That is all. Dismissed.". At this point the CO rolled his eyes upward in resignation. Judging from the expression on Bancain's face, he was just as depressed about the thought of more bureaucracy as well.

Bancain exited the office and sourly made his way down the corridor to his own. The only good thing to come out of this for him was that some activity might help his chances of promotion and reassignment off this rock to somewhere more prestigious. Lost in his thoughts, he did not see Navalez hurriedly duck into a doorway in an effort to hide from his bad-tempered superior.

**************************************************

Previous week, Manchester, UK, 11:11 local time, 14th March.

The banging on the door woke him up yet again. "Get up you lazy geek!", yelled Jean's housemate Reuben, "We've got a lecture at 12, or have you forgotten already?".

Jean was feeling for want of a better word somewhat....weird. He'd had all sorts of strange dreams and felt like his mind was somewhere else. Like it was not on this earth. He could hear voices in his mind, or was that merely his imagination? Asking him for...he still wasn't quite sure, it was eluding him, just out of reach of his conscious thought and hovering in the realms of his inner self.

Gingerly shaking his head, he struggled out of his warm bed. "All right, give me a chance, I haven't even had a shower yet. Be with you in ten.". Reuben was a pretty good housemate all things considered, and an even better alarm clock. If it wasn't for him and his reminders the university would probably think Jean had vanished off the face of the earth. Reuben was far more organised than him.

Reuben sighed and went back down stairs to the kitchen and downed some coffee. It wasn't great, for some reason the people in the house always managed to get some cheap crap the British thought passed for the stuff. Not having that much money, and due to the fact that everything was about four times more expensive in Britain than the US due to the terrible exchange rate and the high cost of items here anyway, he couldn't afford the premium coffee on offer in the supermarket himself anyway. At least the chain that trades here, Caffè Nero, is better than this, he mused unhappily as he gulped down the rest of the mug.

Jean wobbled in the shower as is mind struggled to cope both with being awake and the weirdness inside it.

**************************************************

National Capital Region, Manila, Embassy Building, Counter-Intelligence Service, 11:56 local time, 18th March.

Another operative had replaced the previous one who had gone to sleep after his marathon night of analysis. This one, like his colleague had also intercepted messages between Thitu and Philippines Intelligence and was fully up to date with this morning's traffic. News had just reached him that his own government had also despatched a naval force to the region post-haste consisting of a number of vessels. What he and his superiors didn't know was that yet another nation had found out what his government had discovered plus their plans of dispatching ships, and had done the same.

**************************************************

Base Construction Zone, Off Thitu Island: Philippine Occupied Spratly Island, 12:05 hours local time, 18th March.

The Commander knew all about these moves having eavesdropped on the lot. In a few days he could look forward to the vessels of various nations dropping anchor above his ship. The more the merrier, he thought with satisfaction. All sorts of potential opportunities may arise then. The prospect of various nations united in arriving to the area due to a purpose common to each of them made him think of a certain line from Battlestar Galactica. He switched the holoscreen back on and decided to watch an episode...

**************************************************

Sargon

[archangel]

Keep it up, Sargon!

[Sargon]

Originally Posted by archangel

Keep it up, Sargon!

Thankee old chap.

Bumping up for more comments. C'mon, you know you want to.


Sargon

[Sargon]

Be Careful What You Wish For...

Part VII: "Explain it to them...".

Base Construction Zone, Off Thitu Island: Philippine Occupied Spratly Island, 09:13 hours local time, 24th March


The Commander gazed at the tactical display. It was becoming crowded up there. Naval vessels from four countries had appeared in the area. It seemed that each had discovered what the other was up to and an international incident was brewing. It hadn't taken long before the movements of Philippine forces had been noticed by other nations' intelligence networks. Some might say that those countries had a leaky ship where their security was concerned if the pun could be taken in jest. They certainly weren't taking it in jest though as warships and support vessels faced off against each other across the shimmering blue waters.

The Filipino vessels had arrived first and their research ship had attempted to more closely survey the saucer. Unfortunately for them, all their efforts had failed due to the shield erected around it. Listening in to the radio chatter, it seemed they were convinced the base was generating some sort of water turbulence that was far too strong to enable anything, even the mini-sub they had brought with them to approach the hull near enough to examine it in any detail.

Taiwanese, Vietnamese and Chinese squadrons had then appeared on the scene a couple of days later, and a tense stand-off had developed when each of their forces had attempted to survey the saucer. Of all those contesting the islands, only the Malaysians had not turned up as the area in dispute was outside their declared claim, but the others were adopting increasingly aggressive postures. The Filipinos had stood their ground and not allowed anyone to get too close on the surface so far at least and had sent additional ships. Squads of divers from the various nations has run into each other beneath the waves and some pushing and shoving had taken place, with no serious injuries for anyone so far, and the turbulence throwing them all off. However, the Taiwanese were even now deploying a mini-submarine, closely followed by the Chinese who were busy at work on the clear space of the aft flight deck of their lead vessel, the Jinan, and there was not much anyone else could do to stop them underwater, but they could at least make life difficult by keeping the ships as far way as possible. Both wanted the national glory of revealing the secrets of the object first before the other, and if there was anything valuable to be found, both were sure as hell that the other was not going to get their hands on it first.

Enough had been seen by both the Chinese and Taiwanese to claim the object as their own, perhaps an ancient artefact of both their heritages and they weren't about to be fobbed off by the Filipinos and Vietnamese trying to muscle in on the area. This had led to quite a puzzle for everyone else, since whilst both of the Chinas were ready enough to claim the object as theirs, they hadn't explained what it was, and if both were disputing each other over it, then THAT didn't prove current ownership, and the idea that it was a base of one of those powers seemed to be not so plausible anymore. Which raised more questions that everyone was too busy to seriously look at being distracted in their quest to examine the thing itself. The Vietnamese were sure that it was a plot by someone of some kind that could harm their interests, and wanted to make sure the threat was dealt with, and any potential benefits were theirs.

The Commander settled down to a late breakfast as he surveyed the scene, and tucked into his bowl of Rice Krispies.

******************************************

BRP Destroyer Rajah Humabon, Thitu Island Oceanspace: Philippine Occupied Spratly Island, 09:29 hours local time, 24th March


Captain Manuel Tiu of the BRP Rajah Humabon eyed with concern the activities of the Chinese and Taiwanese vessels through his binoculars. He had orders to prevent any incursion into the area. It was bad enough that these ships had turned up in what were regarded as Philippine waters, worse still that they attempt to infiltrate the area that his little squadron was now guarding. He had already ordered the mini-sub on loan from the US to be lowered over the side of the survey ship that was in the group so that it could monitor the opposing subs and disrupt if at all possible their attempts at a survey. However, if he could stop the vessels from launching their subs in the first place...

His ship may be old, an American relic of the Second World War, but she was reasonably well equipped and he had confidence in his crew. And he was not alone: in his flotilla were the 3 most capable vessels in the entire navy, former British corvettes of the Peacock Class that had been built especially for Hong Kong service in the 1980s, and sold to the Philippines in 1997 when the British had left their old colony. They were enough of a force to be reckoned with, but of course Captain Tiu hoped that it wouldn't come to fighting if necessary.

It had been difficult to monitor movements below the surface due to the fact the turbulence from the object was making the acoustic detection systems very hard to use. In short, it was noisy down there, and the Captain was wary of this too. He might not be able to identify any potential underwater threats to his vessels as a result. Hence the fact that he had a significant number of divers over the side. Not great, but better than nothing, he mused. He could comfort himself that at least the situation should be the same for the other countries' commanders here.

As he watched, the Chinese vessel tried to make its way past the Taiwanese destroyer, but was intercepted. The ships were dangerously close, and it looked like they were going to collide. Instead water hoses blasted from the Chinese Luda II class destroyer to try and disrupt the preparations on the sub taking part on the deck of the Taiwanese vessel. Equipment was scattered all over the place, several sailors were knocked over, and one fell overboard, thrown over by the high pressure of the water. Some cables were also washed over the stern. The Chinese destroyer had managed to slip past whilst the crew of the Taiwanese ship set about cleaning up the disruption caused by the pressure hoses and made moves to recover their shipmate from the sea. The deck-mounted torpedo tubes had been affected by some equipment being thrown against them and needed to be cleared. Sailors scrambled around the launchers to remove the debris, whilst their opponents on the Chinese ships observed them with some measure of amusement. Captain Tiu thought he could almost hear the epithets and curses being thrown at the Chinese vessel by the Taiwanese - but of course it was just his imagination as he was far too distant to hear any such sounds. Still, he made sure to have his observers who were recording everything zoom their military grade surveillance cameras in to monitor everything that was going on aboard the two ships.

He was pretty sure that if they didn't catch everything, then the embedded film crews the Navy had allowed in from the media would. There were some on Thitu Island itself, and there was a team on board this ship as well. He craned his head to look aft. Sure enough, there was the news crew from the Filipino TV station, GMA News and Public Affairs. Their camera crew were busy filming a shot of the activity between the Chinese and Taiwanese ships whilst their correspondent prepared to record another slot for their large number of viewers. The military liaison was trying to keep a close eye on them, but seemed more concerned that they may trip over some equipment and land themselves in the sea. Tiu recognised Anthony Billogu as the news correspondent leading the group. They'd been introduced earlier, but most people already knew the correspondent owing to his ubiquitousness on TV news slots.

The Captain raised his binoculars again, and gazed back in the direction of the seaborne scuffle. The Chinese warship had drawn well clear of the Taiwanese destroyer which was hampered by having to recover its sailor from the drink, as well as untangling the cables that dangled over the stern. For quite some time, Tiu studied the scene as the Chinese ship came closer to him, leaving the Taiwanese ship seemingly behind on the horizon.

******************************************

VPN Patrol Frigate Truong Chinh, Thitu Island Oceanspace: Philippine Occupied Spratly Island, 10:03 hours local time, 24th March


There was a lot of activity on the Vietnamese People's Navy ship. Unknown to any of the other participants in the area, the Vietnamese crew were preparing a naval torpedo for use against the shield...

******************************************

Base Construction Zone, Off Thitu Island: Philippine Occupied Spratly Island, 10:22 hours local time, 24th March


"Alert! Cavitations detected! Incoming object identified as 533mm UGST Russian anti-submarine torpedo launched from the Vietnamese patrol frigate Truong Chinh of the Petya II Class. Approach speed of 50 knots.". Heads swivelled on the bridge of the main saucer as the metallic voice announced the warning. The Commander's ship had no trouble hearing AND identifying the object, unlike the vessels above - and the Vietnamese no doubt knew the other navies would not hear it either.

Until it exploded.

Which it didn't do.

The Commander chuckled as the torpedo was simply thrown off course by the cushioning and unpredictable turbulence of the shield and back out into the ocean following another direction.

Unfortunately, it wasn't heading towards empty ocean.

The Chinese ship had edged closer to claim a better spot for launching its mini-sub. The Taiwanese vessel had been left far behind, apparently unable to move because the cables that had been washed overboard had fouled her steering gear. Unluckily the Jinan chose a spot that wasn't better. The redirected torpedo found its home in the bow of the ship...

The Commander had been taken a little by surprise by this as it has all happened rather quickly - even though his announcer on the bridge had just enough time to blare out, "Torpedo deflected and will impact bow section of Luda II class destroyer Jinan!".

There was a very large explosion and even through the shielding, the Commander imagined he could feel the shock wave buffet his vessel.

"Report on condition of the Jinan!", he barked looking up at the tactical display and shifting his holoscreen to give himself a three-dimensional view of the situation outside. This new development might mean that he wouldn't have to interfere too much with the ships above after all, and depending on what happened to the Chinese vessel, well things could become very interesting - in the Chinese sense of course, he thought sardonically.

"Vessel has lost her bow section...", The Commander hardly needed telling as he watched the severed part of the hull drifting down as displayed in the holoscreen, "Forward armament has either been destroyed, lost with the bow section, or rendered inoperable. Ship is maintaining buoyancy. Scans indicate structural integrity of the hull is strained yet intact. Medium to severe fires have engulfed the remaining forward section of the hull ahead of the bridge.".

"Well, that's something....", murmured the Commander as the surface view showed the ship listing to port and down by the head, sailors turned fire-fighters desperately trying to battle the flames there. He was impressed at how fast the crew had reacted to deal with this fire danger. "Those Russian torpedoes usually blow everything apart, so they're lucky to....". Before he could finish, he was interrupted yet again.

"Update: Jinan is preparing to fire YJ-83 anti-ship missile upon the Taiwanese Kidd class destroyer Su Ao.".

******************************************

PLAN Destroyer Jinan, Thitu Island Oceanspace: Philippine Occupied Spratly Island, 10:27 hours local time, 24th March


Captain Wang Ruisong had barely managed to get off his feet before the damage reports had come in. He was in doubt what had happened to his ship and who was responsible.

"They will pay for this. Explain it to them. Fire the missile!".

******************************************

Base Construction Zone, Off Thitu Island: Philippine Occupied Spratly Island, 10:28 hours local time, 24th March


"What? Why are they doing that?", queried the Commander with a hint of surprise in his voice. He shifted in his chair as he examined the holoscreen carefully. Sure enough, the anti-ship missile had somehow just been launched from the an undamaged part of the Jinan.

"Scan of internal communications of the Jinan indicates they believe the Su Ao fired a torpedo at them. They report observing crew members of the Taiwanese vessel clustered around the torpedo launcher.". There was a very slight pause. "Su Ao is firing countermeasures.". Another very slight pause. "The countermeasures have been unsuccessful: missile strike on Su Ao imminent.".

There was a roar that echoed around the bridge as a brilliant flare of incandescent orange and yellow light as the Chinese missile hit the Su Ao dead centre.

"Su Ao has been heavily damaged. There are many casualties. Fires have broken out all over the ship. The Combat Information Centre has been destroyed, and the ship has lost all power.". The Commander stared in morbid fascination at the holoscreen as he watched the conflagration consume what had been the proud flagship of the Taiwanese force in the area. "Other Taiwanese and Chinese vessels are manoeuvring to engage each other.". The sound of further missiles being fired as well as the bark of large calibre gunfire illustrated that point, if it needed to be told.

On the holoscreen, the battle started to play itself out...

******************************************

VPN Patrol Frigate Truong Chinh, Thitu Island Oceanspace: Philippine Occupied Spratly Island, 10:31 hours local time, 24th March


Captain Ngo Van Linh was astonished. And very worried. The Chinese ship had exploded not long after his torpedo had been fired, and his crew had reported the torpedo had not impacted the object below water. They hadn't even been able to get a proper reading of the object, so they had been forced to fire the torpedo dumb as its target acquisition couldn't see it. However, it seemed the commander of the Chinese vessel was pretty certain the Taiwanese were at fault or he wouldn't be firing on them. Perhaps then it was just a coincidence and it had not been any result of his torpedo, but a genuine Taiwanese attack?

Ngo hoped so. The alternative was that he was responsible for starting a war.

******************************************

BRP Destroyer Rajah Humabon, Thitu Island Oceanspace: Philippine Occupied Spratly Island, 10:32 hours local time, 24th March


"Tell me we got THAT!", said Billogu incredulously as his team stared in similar disbelief at the bedlam playing out before them and crew members starting rushing about on deck.

Captain Tiu stared aghast at what was unfolding before his eyes.

"Sound General Quarters throughout the flotilla. Move closer to protect the area. I don't want to get caught up in their personal fire-fight, but no one is going to take advantage of the situation regarding the object. My orders are to secure the area, and that is what we are going to do.".

The Filipino ships started to move...

******************************************

Comments completely necessary if more is to be posted.


Sargon

[Alex]

It sounds like all hell is about to break loose. I would love to read more!

[American God]

Wow. Looks like a lot of people are about to get killed here.

[archangel]

Originally Posted by Alex

I would love to read more!

Seconded!

[Sargon]

Originally Posted by Alex

It sounds like all hell is about to break loose. I would love to read more!

Things are going to get interesting almost literally in the Chinese sense, aye!

Originally Posted by American God

Wow. Looks like a lot of people are about to get killed here.

Unfortunately that's the nature of war, but yep a sea battle usually involves a depressingly high number of casualties.

Originally Posted by archangel

Seconded!

Thanks for the comment!

More on the way soon.


Sargon

[Sargon]

Be Careful What You Wish For

Part VIII: "It's fantastic...".

Two weeks previously, Manchester, UK, 17:19 local time, 15th March

Down a wet central Manchester street trudged a troubled figure. Jean wasn't in the best of moods. His professor had recently been on his case, and had been making life difficult for him. Added to that his day had been rather boring and he couldn't shake the weird dizzy-sort-of-feeling in his head that had been with him for a couple of days now. His mood was a little more irritable and less tolerant somehow, yet he found if he thought of certain fantastic things he felt somewhat better. That's why SF is a good thing for me, he mused with some measure of satisfaction. Turning a corner, he saw he'd come to the The Old Nag's Head, a traditional pub located in the city centre. Jean's face brightened somewhat. Hmmm, I fancy a good drink, I think I'll prop up the bar for a while.

Heading to the impressive old wooden bar, Jean ordered a big cold Guinness and perched himself on a barstool, gratefully taking a large swig as he did so pulling out his wallet to pay for it. His hand fumbled on the stone whilst doing so. Don't remember putting that in there, he thought as he handed over his cash to the barkeep. The bar wasn't too busy at this time of day, so he could easily hear the TV. As with most pub TVs in Britain when the bar wasn't too busy, this one was tuned into SKY news. Why can't it be tuned in to the SciFi Channel, wondered Jean.

"...minister has said he will not be resigning over the accusations and the Prime Minister has said he has his full confidence. The opposition have called for a full public enquiry into the allegations, and have demanded his immediate resignation for his part in the Saudi Arabia arms scandal. In other news..."

Jean couldn't say he was totally shocked, this scandal had been going for a couple of days now, and it involved the usual stuff, backhand deals where certain people would get payoffs in return for lucrative contracts and so on. Still it didn't improve his impression of the government of this country much. If I had my way, I'd make those people more honest and be accountable for their actions, he thought grimly.

The stone in his pocket shimmered slightly absorbing more information and delving deeper into his mind. Jean was day-dreaming about just HOW he'd make the politicians accountable. And he felt better as he did so.

******************************************

Base Construction Zone, Off Thitu Island: Philippine Occupied Spratly Island, 11:29 hours local time, 25th March

Fire raged across the sea and a great geyser of water and mangled upperworks whooshed into the air as the shattered wreckage of a Taiwanese ship took its final plunge into the depths after a catastrophic secondary explosion. A scattering of blasted debris marked the grave of a PLAN warship which had also got caught up in the battle and had taken a Taiwanese RGM-84 Harpoon missile into her guts. By all rights, the Rajah Humabon should have been blown out of the water, but the opposing Chinese ships had been too busy to concentrate on the Filipino vessel that had moved forward to assert a bolder position above the underwater artefact. Captain Tiu had fully expected to become embroiled in a very serious fight but to his relief, not only had his ship suffered only token gunfire, but his warning shots had driven off a couple of the other vessels too intent on surviving the assaults being hurled at them by more determined enemies. However, one of his Peacock class escorts, BRP Apolinario Mabini, had suffered more moderate damage after it had moved forward as it had been closer to the apposing fleets than his command. Despite this, she had given as good as she had got and landed some useful hits with her 76 mm Oto Melara Compact DP gun on a PLAN escort which had targeted her.

The battle had petered out after frantic orders had been received to try and reign things in, but it seemed enough damage had been done to create something of a diplomatic firestorm. Some time later the various navies had withdrawn somewhat from the area to lick their wounds and by default it seemed as if the Filipinos had come out a victor of sorts as their ships were the one closest to the artefact. However it would appear to only be a matter of time before reinforcements were sent by everyone given the circumstances Tiu considered as he shook his head sadly at all the lives already lost and the others that it seemed yet to come. Hope my squadron makes it out of all this if it can, he thought with a sigh.

******************************************

Command Saucer, Base Construction Zone, Off Thitu Island: Philippine Occupied Spratly Island, 13:27 hours local time, 25th March

The Commander was watching the news. From a multitude of TV stations in the region of course. All of them were showing yesterday's naval battle, and most of the footage was from GMA News and Public Affairs, seeing as they'd had news-crews in prime spots during the chaos. And chaos was what had developed with each side's government blaming the other for the battle and subsequent sunken ships and casualties. The Chinese had of course laid the blame on the Taiwanese for starting it by nearly sinking their first ship hit and had accused them of trying to take what was rightfully theirs. An accusation that had incidentally been laid at everyone else's door too. For their part, the Taiwanese were adamant that the Chinese had fired upon them first and they had nothing to do with the attack on the Jinan. Their flagship had nearly burnt out as a result of the battle, and was being towed back to Itu Aba, the largest Spratly Island, and one that was under their control. For their part the Chinese had had managed to take the Jinan out of the area under her own power and at vastly reduced speed after her bow had been hastily shored up and the huge hole where it had been temporarily patched. However, all sides, except the Vietnamese had suffered casualties and damage in the ensuing firefight, with the Chinese and Taiwanese coming off worst as they had each lost a couple of smaller vessels each. The Filipinos had tried to maintain their protection over the object and had suffered their fair share of potshots from both sides, incurring some damage to their ships. However, they'd come off comparatively lightly, and were still in control of the area hours later, their ships now forming a cordon around the site.

The TV news was currently showing demonstrations taking place in China and Taiwan, and to a lesser extent in the Philippines as well. Not much from Vietnam though - they seemed strangely silent on the matter for the most part, merely deploring the action that had taken place and urging all sides to exercise some restraint. Tensions had risen greatly in Taiwan and China, with huge numbers of people out on the streets in Taiwan incensed by China's action and openly calling for independence. Whilst in China there had even been anti-Taiwanese riots against Taiwanese owned businesses, and huge crowds had come out to protest at the temerity of what they saw was a renegade province's actions. There had even been shouts in the crowd calling for an invasion to deal with the separatist elements that had been raising their voice across the Straits as well. The Commander idly wondered how much money each economy was losing per hour with all these people seemingly having enough time to be out for all this.

Anthony Billogu was fronting the report and he spoke clearly with some measure of urgency as he relayed the most recent events in Taiwan. "The Legislative Yuan has condemned China's actions calling them 'unprovoked and reckless'. China for its part has blamed the 'separatists who will stop at nothing to launch aggression at China', and have spoken of 'grave consequences'. Whether these may be economic in nature, or something else, has not been elaborated on. However, with our footage that was previously shown very recently on this channel, it has been shown that it appears the Chinese warship did in fact fire first.".

The scene cut from Billogu's face to footage taken by his team aboard the BRP Rajah Humabon. " As you can see, we had several film crews present on board a couple of vessels of the Philippine Navy, and here you can see the Taiwanese vessel Su Ao and you can definitely see crewmembers around the torpedo launcher - here circled to make it easier to see - but they appear to be clearing wreckage that has jammed into it from the earlier Chinese water hose attack. You will note that none of the tubes is trained outwards over the side, and thus it is unlikely they could be fired, especially as the missile from the Jinan hit them just a minute or so after this footage was taken.". The scene changed to the Jinan. "You can clearly see here the front part of the ship exploding. The origins of this explosion are at this point unknown. Some have speculated that it could have been an ammunition explosion of some sort, or perhaps even sabotage by a disgruntled crewmember. However, it is plain enough from our footage that the Taiwanese ship is most likely not responsible for this. Why then, did the Chinese fire on the Su Ao? Was it because there WAS a saboteur on board their ship and he was found to be Taiwanese? It is difficult to know what went on during that very short time before the Jinan's bow section exploded and her launching of an anti-ship missile that severely crippled the Su Ao. As far as we can tell the Chinese government is not allowing this footage to be shown on their TV networks, and have in fact internationally condemned it as being taken out of perspective or even faked.".

Billogu continued his overview and analysis of the battle and the likely fallout from it all. The Commander had seen enough for now. He desired a change of scenery after being stuck in this saucer for a while. Not that he wasn't intrigued by the result of yesterday's battle: on the contrary it made things more interesting and had saved him some work. However, he wanted a nice night-time view, and he knew where he could get one. He picked up a bracelet from near his chair and snapped it onto his wrist. I'm going to do it this way, he thought, will feel more like the part.

He turned to a nearby crewmember whose head turned in his direction. "I'm leaving for a while. If anything important happens, let know. You know where I'll be.".

After the acknowledgement from the crewmember in question echoed into his ear, he spoke into the bracelet. "One to bring up.".

The reply came in over the bracelet's small intercom, terse and tetchy accompanied by a weird humming sound, "I do have better things to do than waste my time on your trivial matters.".

"Just do it!", snapped the Commander.

"Oh, very well.", came back the resigned yet irritable reply.

The Commander shimmered out of existence.

******************************************

Two weeks previously, Manchester, UK, 17:42 local time, 16th March

Jean was downing another pint, this time of Bishop's Finger when the door to the pub opened and he saw the face of his larger than life Irish coursemate Thomas Brownlee.

"Hi Jean, how's things? Feeling any better today?". Tom knew that Jean had been feeling rather off since he had seen him in lectures yesterday. The Irishman moved over to the bar and pulled up a stool on which he placed himself. "Make mine a Strongbow please. I fancy a change from Guinness or Murphy's. Also, I don't want to be mistaken for a stereotype.", he fired off in the general direction of the barkeeper with a wink.

"Well, I've been feeling a bit faint headed lately. Sitting down and putting away a few beers seems to be helping though!", chuckled Jean as he returned to his pint. The alcohol seemed to be making his thoughts clearer, or so he imagined.

"Yeah, just like you to get some booze in when you're ill. Say, are you feeling well enough for that night over at Karla's later? It's her birthday and we're going to have a small party there. She doesn't want to go out on the town, prefers having everyone around to bring a bottle and some food.". Tom took his pint of cider from the barman and handed over some money. "It should be fun enough, you can bet there'll be some nice girls there.".

Jean sighed. He liked parties, the only problem was that he didn't like the aftermath of them when hangovers kicked in. "Well.....", was all he could manage to say.

"Aw come on, it'll be cool, and she's got that new huge flatscreen at last. Everyone collected some money for her to add to her own and now she's bought it. Can you imagine seeing some cool movies on that? I bet we'll be able to watch some. A Star Trek movie or two would be nice!", he couldn't help laughing at the thought of that, seeing as Karla wasn't into Trek too much. Still, if he took a nice present, then maybe....

"Hmmm, well, OK then. I do like a party and a big screen. And it'll be nice to see Karla too. It's been a while. I guess we'd better take some nice prezzies and stuff some good movies into a CD case so maybe we can watch some. Better make at least one of them a comedy though - she likes those.". He downed the rest of his pint and beckoned the barkeep over.

"Hey, that's more like it. I think I'll join you in another drink to celebrate our potential victory of watching something cool tonight.". Before Jean could even speak to the landlord, Tom had downed his pint in one and ordered another one.

Yep, he thought, this is going to be one hell of a night. Or it will be if I can get to watch some Doctor Who, Stargate or Battlestar Galactica at some point there.

The rock continued shimmering in his pocket.

******************************************

Above Canada, Upper Earth Orbit, 00:57 hours local time, 24th March

The Commander rummaged around in the massive starship's galley. He found some food that he liked and piled up a plate for himself. Funny, they never showed this at all, he thought as he left the galley and made his way through the room he had come up in.

"Oh, what is it now?", came the bad tempered voice he had spoken to earlier on through the bracelet intercom, obviously noticing his presence there.

"Nothing you flashing pile of junk. You can go back to solving the problems of the universe. I'm off to sit somewhere more comfortable.". With that he passed through another entrance and headed off down some brightly lit corridors before he arrived on the bridge of the vessel. Someone had once described it as looking 'conceptually alien'. He tended to agree. It was fantastic - also other words someone else had said in awe having just arrived on board. It was a nice baroque place to have a late lunch, even though the time in the country below him was night. He didn't need to worry about anyone below noticing the ship, after all the Detector Shield was in place and it was as good as invisible.

He made his way pass a tier of empty control positions to near the front of the large space and gratefully sunk into the comfortable white seating area that was there. "Put North America on visual. I'd like to see the night view of all those dots of lights across the continent. And lower the lights. Thanks.".

An aloof yet somehow reassuring voice answered him, "Confirmed. Flight deck light level reduced. The location is on visual as requested.".

An idle yet curious thought crept into the Commander's mind. He wanted to find out what was real and what wasn't. "Did this vessel have a crew before I came along?".

"That information is not available.", came the reply. Not unlike that of an almost disinterested civil servant. The Commander wasn't entirely surprised though as sometimes this was the stock reply when a question wasn't really welcome, plus there was the question of prior reality or not affecting things too.

"Hmm, well maybe you'll come up with something soon. Or feel like saying something. Keep the comm channel open to my command saucer below.".

"Confirmed.".

The Commander sighed. This one wasn't much for conversation. However at least his seat was very comfortable, the food delicious, and the view amazing. He tucked in and savoured everything in combination, this time with a blissful sigh.

******************************************

Taipei, Taiwan, 14:33 hours local time, 25th March

The street demonstrations were becoming bigger as the footage that the Philippine TV crew had taken became known to more and more people. Anger was high and the pro-independence lobby were making full use of it all, even causing some politicians to become concerned. Tensions amongst the crowd were starting to go through the roof...

******************************************

Sargon

[archangel]

Keep it up, Sargon!

[Alex]

Great stuff as always!

[Sargon]

Originally Posted by archangel

Keep it up, Sargon!

Will do.

Originally Posted by Alex

Great stuff as always!

Thankee Alex, glad ye are liking it!


Sargon

[Sargon]

Be Careful What You Wish For

Part IX: "Fun, fun, fun. In the sun, sun, sun"

National Maritime Intelligence Center, Suitland, Maryland, United States of America, 17:36 hours local time, 30th March

Commander David Bar Elias scratched his neck and yawned widely. It had been another long day, and things were looking even worse in East Asia. There were riots and demonstrations in several cities now, and the rhetoric of both governments had become much more strident and heated. Ever since he'd started investigating this case, the Office of Naval Intelligence had been assigning more resources to monitoring it. From what information they had gathered so far from radio intercepts, satellite observations and naval units discreetly lurking in the area, it seemed that the unidentified object belonged to none of the countries arguing over it. And this was worrying, since the US certainly wasn't responsible for it either, and that left the question of just who or what was down there. Of course, the Russians had been high on the list of suspects, but they had seemed more or less indifferent about the situation, viewing it as a regional issue between the various Asian countries involved. It almost seemed as if they where observing it with something of an air of detached amusement. Bar Elias wondered if they had suspected the Americans to have anything to do with it. He mused that they probably had, but like the US, had ditched that notion. Seeing as their relationship with Britain was not as good these days, they were more likely to be suspecting them than anyone else. Now, that was one possibility that hadn't been examined, but it seemed too far-fetched that THEY had anything to do with it. Still, the information about what was apparently a Ch'ing flag on whatever was down there was very puzzling. He wondered if it was some stunt that had been pulled by somewhere such as Singapore. His job was to investigate all possibilities and find an answer. Shuffling some papers together in a vain attempt to make his desk appear more orderly, he stood up and made his way to the canteen. He was hungry after all.

**************************************************

Deep Space, Alpha Centauri Star System, 07:42 hours Spratly Islands relative time, 31st March

The view of the triple star system was breathtakingly beautiful. The Commander could of course have travelled much further away, but he liked this particular system and it was within a short distance in terms of travel time from Earth with the vessel he had. Lounging in the white seating area of the flight deck, he could fully savour the view - as well as some nice snacks and drinks of course. He sipped on his soma, and sighed in contentment. This stuff is every bit as good as Vila always said it was, he thought happily to himself as he recalled the words of the former thief and very reluctant revolutionary who was a crewmember of this ship. It still felt odd to be on this fictional vessel that had only existed in a television series, books, models, toys and a host of online writings however. Still, he was getting used to that feeling now considering everything that had happened.

"Information. A communication is being received from the command saucer.". His thoughts were interrupted by the aloof voice that reverberated slightly around the flight deck accompanied by a sequence of flashing lights on a huge hexagonal yet somewhat rounded mottled brown display off to his right.

"Put it on audio Zen.", replied the Commander, sitting up slightly and taking another brief swig of his soma.

The capacity-charged brain that was Zen replied, "Confirmed. Audio feed now relayed.".

The voice of the Commander's bridge control officer filled the chamber, "Commander, construction of the shipyard is fully complete and we have commenced construction on the first new vessels.".

The Commander sat up even straighter, he was pleased with this news, "Excellent work. I will return to inspect it. I take it the underwater entrance is fully operational as well?".

"Affirmative. Vessels may arrive and leave at any time.", the metallic voice replied matter-of-factly.

A big smile materialised across the Commander's face. "In that case, I intend to test it. I will not be returning by teleport. I shall use the planet-hopper to arrive in. Expect my return shortly.".

"Understood.", the voice said succinctly just before cutting the transmission.

The Commander turned to the curved panel on the wall of the flight deck. "Zen, set a course for Earth, Standard by Five. No need for us to rush. And provide me with the co-ordinates for my command saucer once we get there.".

A big oblong light flashed in the centre of the display amongst smaller squarish ones, indicating Zen was speaking. "Course and speed confirmed. Liberator is now departing the Alpha Centauri system. You will be advised of arrival at our destination. The requested co-ordinates will be provided at that time.".

Downing the last of his soma, the Commander started to make his way down to one of the ship's cargo holds that also served as docking bays. He couldn't wait to fly in the ship that was stored down there to his base.

Passing the teleport area, he threw a comment at the clear flashing box of lights that was there. "Well, Orac, you won't have to operate the teleport this time. That should please you for a change.".

The tetchy voice shot back, "That is unlikely. Your petty affairs have already taken up far too much of my time.".

Chuckling to himself, the Commander made his way out of that particular chamber and headed further down into the lower part of the ship. Sometimes I can't believe that bad tempered crappy plastic box with coloured lights winking about inside it is the the most powerful computer about, at least in this particular universe, he thought sardonically as he strode along another brightly lit hexagonal shaped corridor.

**************************************************

Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China, 09:22 hours local time, 31st March

Sean Bryan zoomed in on the demonstration with his camera from his elevated position on the hotel balcony. It almost seemed like a fist that was currently punching the air just where he was focused was directly aimed at him. Good footage, that's what he wanted and he wanted to get more shots in on what promised to be a volatile and bad-tempered day. He was sure the editor would like what he was filming. Of course, ninety percent of it would end up not being used, but the choicest parts would be shown again, and again, and again on the rolling news channel that he worked for. And he would be satisfied with that.

Down below on the street another man struggled to move as the crowd milled around him. The Italian tourist Mateo Messiniano had come to enjoy a vacation in what he hoped was a more unusual part of the world. Well, this is certainly NOT what I expected, he thought with resignation as he tried to shove his way out of the crowd. Last thing I want is to end up in a riot and arrested or something. He almost tripped and fell as someone's leg appeared at a very inconvenient moment and hooked itself around his ankle. Lurching forward, it was the density of the crowd that saved him from landing flat on his face. As it happened, he wasn't too upset as it was a Taiwanese girl who broke his fall, who initially looked surprised, but rather quickly helped to steady him. Messiniano didn't speak much Taiwanese apart from the basics that most visitors learnt when going for a trip, but he still managed to say 'Thank you', to which the girl beamed, obviously hardly expecting him to utter any words in the local language.

"You're welcome.", she said in English. That was better for Messiniano as at least he was more than reasonably conversant in that language. "Let me help you get to the sidewalk.", she offered, taking his arm and guiding him through the sea of bodies that to him appeared to be endless in all directions. He wasn't sure how she managed it, but within a minute they were on the pavement and the crowd had thinned out somewhat.

"Thanks once again. I'm glad to be out of there.", he smiled with relief.

"No problem. There's a coffee shop over there, why don't you go and rest there for a while until everyone has gone by?". She gestured with her hand and Messiniano's eyes followed her pointed finger to where he could see an ubiquitous Starbucks.

Turning back to her he said thoughtfully, "You know, I think that's a good idea, I could do with a drink, even if the coffee isn't that great there.". Rubbing his hands together in anticipation of a drink and a sit-down, he was about to move off, when an idea struck him, "Would you like to join me? I'd like to buy you something - as thanks for getting me out of there I mean.". He wondered if she was part of the demonstration and would turn him down and continue off down the street. Ah well, if that's the case, never mind, he mused matter-of-factly.

The girl's face brightened up, "Sure! I'd like that, and it gives me a chance to use my English some more. Let's go!.".

Messiniano suddenly found that he was being pulled along to the place by her rather than him leading, making him wonder who was inviting who. Still, he didn't mind too much as he saw a nice comfortable seat inside just waiting for him to sink into. Ah, that looks great. This'll be worth it.

Leaving the crowd behind, he entered the shop with his new-found friend.

Up above, Bryan focused another shot as his TV camera sought new subjects for broadcast and the forward edge of the crowd approached a line of police.

**************************************************

Battlecruiser Liberator (Deep Space Vehicle 2), Geostationary Position above the Western Pacific Ocean, Upper Earth Orbit, 11:17 hours local time, 31st March

In one of the the giant spacecraft's docking bays rested a much smaller, yet fast looking rust-brown coloured ship. A little battered, it had obviously seen its fair share of action, yet it had been heavily modified over the years with a series of improvements. This was the planet hopper Scorpio, a ship that had been used by the same bunch of galactic revolutionaries who had also used the Liberator. The Commander liked this ship for different reasons, and gazed around its flight deck. Two rows of consoles with seating behind them were in front of him, the first row with three positions, and the second row with two. Unlike the Liberator, these were not elevated one over the other and were all at the same level. Turning around to face the front of the ship, he could see the teleport chamber and to the left of that the obsequious ship's computer and operations monitor, Slave, in his green-tinged alcove.

"Good morning Master, and if I may humbly say it is very good to see you. How may I be of service?", it said in a cringing and servile voice.

The Commander almost burst out laughing, this piece of AI had been programmed to be as humble as possible, and also had the habit of constantly apologising. However, in emergencies and when things were going badly for the ship, it could end up reduced to a state of panic - which in its own way was very amusing as well, but probably not so much fun if it actually happened if one was not safely watching it all on a TV screen.

The Commander managed to stifle his mirth and cleared his throat, "Morning Slave. Get the engines fired up, we're leaving soon.".

"Of course Master, I shall carry out your order immediately with pleasure. Might I enquire the destination you require? Er, so that I can instruct the navigation computers to entrain us there safely of course. I DO hope that doesn't come across as presumptuous in any way Master. I sincerely apologise if it has.".

"Don't worry Slave, you've done the right thing. The destination is here.". The Commander punched in some co-ordinates that Zen had kindly provided for him and sat down in the central chair of the first row of flight positions.

The computer's voice betrayed a strong sense of relief, "My deep thanks for your understanding Master. The co-ordinates have been entered and I can inform you that the engines are online.".

Opening the communications channel, the Commander spoke to the Liberator's master computer, "Zen, we're all ready down here and cleared for departure. You may open the outer doors. Remain in geostationary orbit. I will be in contact.".

The reply came back, calm and somewhat detached, "Confirmed. The outer doors are now opening. Liberator will remain in the specified position until further instructions are received.".

Switching the comm channel off, The Commander turned back to Slave. "Take us out of here Slave as soon as the doors are fully open. And put the Detector Shield up".

"With pleasure Master. I do hope you are strapped in. Atmospheric entry can be rather turbulent if I may be permitted to say so.". The submissive computer now sounded rather nervous.

"I'll be fine Slave.", answered back the Commander as he gripped the sides of the flight chair and Zen confirmed the docking bay doors were fully open.

From the lower pylon of the Liberator, the Scorpio could be seen emerging from the docking bay. Once clear, with a few deft maneuvers, it orientated itself Earthwards, and its engines blasted the hopper off in that direction.

**************************************************

Comments welcome.


Sargon

[Alex]

Is it Blake's 7 reference? I love the story!

[stevep]

Originally Posted by Alex

Is it Blake's 7 reference? I love the story!

Alex

Definitely Blake's 7. So that's where whatever is infiltrating Jean's mind has got a couple of ships from. There's some sort of detection shield being used which will presumably hide the ship but will it hide the fact that something has come down from space and entered the ocean in the vicinity of the mysterious base. It could cause even more panic to everybody that they can't see what's landed. At this point as well the US will be getting really worried that someone or something has some very powerful tech.

Steve