Captain Avery The Galactic Bank Heist

10.1: Andrew’s Station: The Council’s Lab

  Captain Phillips was beginning to feel his toes again, even though he was wrapped up around the two-wheeled trolley he was on.

  ‘You can cut me out of this now,’ he said hopefully, but Jessica just ignored him.

  ‘Let’s go and have a look at what your life is worth Captain Joseph Phillips.’

  Jessica grabbed the handles of the truck and wheeled Phillips to the lift. Pressed the button and waited.

  ‘I’ve been to Ross 154,’ he said trying to strike up a conversation.

  This time Jessica responded ‘I hardly think that my sisters would entertain a common pirate such as you.’

  ‘Ah that is where you are wrong.’

  ‘Oh really!’

  ‘Yes, I took a fair maiden named Julie back to Ross, oh about six months ago now. She looked a bit like you. Do you have any sisters?’

  ‘No Mr. Phillips, I don’t have any blood sisters, all Ross 154 women are my sisters.’

  ‘Oh I see.’

  The lift arrived and Phillips was wheeled in and brusquely lent against the side of the lift’s wall. Jessica pressed the button to go down to the parking bay.

  ‘What sort of device is this and where did you get it Mr. Phillips?’

  ‘Well, I’m not going to say where I got this from. All I can tell you is that the creature, I mean green guy I met, told me that it was a pre-world observation device.’

  ‘What is that?’

  ‘I don’t know. All I know is that it is big. I had to take everything out of my hold to accommodate it.’

  ‘Parking Level,’ said the voice of the lift.

  Phillips was wheeled out, pushed over to his Manx, and parked to the rear at the entrance to the loading bay. Jessica pulled out a short sharp knife, she carried around for personal protection - a Ross 154 girl could not be too careful, even in a system controlled by The Council.

  She started to cut the plastic wrapping that encased Phillips - it made a creaking sound as it weakened - layer-by-layer Phillips could breathe more easily. Phillips fell onto the hard cold concrete-type surface of the landing bay. He was still weak from the effects of the poison. He managed to climb to his feet by way of holding onto the side of the Manx, short of breath.

  ‘Open her up Phillips,’ said Jessica, chucking him the keys.

  ‘Alright, you can have whatever this thing is. I’ve no idea what it does.’

  Phillips pressed the cargo bay release button on his keys, and a hissing sound accompanied the hydraulic opening of the loading bay doors to reveal the huge device, that occupied the entire bay.

  ‘Well Mr. Phillips, I can see that you must have struggled to fit this in.’

  ‘I had some help. Well, he did all the work.’

  ‘What help?’

  ‘This little green guy just appeared in my ship.’

  ‘What galaxy did he say he was from?’

  ‘He didn’t say, just wanted to trade technologies, that’s all.’

  ‘We have heard stories about this green race of humanoids, but nothing more than deep space mining tales, that could have been made-up for all we know. Was he friendly or hostile?’

  ‘He was friendly enough, seemed to think we were not as advanced as they were.’

  ‘I see. So this came from them did it?’

  ‘Yes from their junkyard. He took me there.’

  The lab technician had done their jobs well. They had sealed off part of the parking bay, used loading robots to unload the large container and parked it next to the Manx. Computer equipment had been fused to the device and power was now surging through its circuits. Phillips was now laser-wired to a chair - he was more secure than before.

  ‘We will set you free Phillips, if this equipment is not just a piece of junk,’ said Jessica.

  The two assistants were hunched over computer screens, which were decoding the alien language it had encountered.

  ‘I think this device is something that we have only dreamt about Jessica,’ said the whistling assistant Alex.

  ‘What do you reckon Marcus?’ she said turning to the other assistant.

  ‘Beats me Jess, I think that the fellows at Earth Project would be interested in this.’

  ‘Hummm,’ said Jessica thoughtfully.

  Lights began to come on inside the device, and the screens started to display instructions of function.

  ‘I think we’ve hit the mother load!’ said Alex.

  The two men slapped each other on the back on a job well done. Jessica came over to the screens to see what was being displayed. On a black background with light green vector style graphics an instruction was offering a demonstration mode, to test the program. It seemed it required a participant to enter the machine.

  ‘Have we any willing volunteers?’ asked Jessica.

  Both assistants looked in the direction of Phillips, who just wriggled in his chair in a vain attempt to escape.

  ‘We have to prove this thing works Mr. Phillips, before I can release you, so this would be for your freedom. Are you willing?’

  ‘I don’t suppose I have much choice in the matter?’ he asked hopefully.

  ‘No, not really,’ replied Jessica.

  She untied his hands and Phillips made his way reluctantly towards one of the ends of the device.

  ‘It’s indicating that you must walk through the length of the device and out the other end,’ said Alex.

  ‘What is inside?’ asked Phillips.

  ‘That it doesn’t say,’ replied Marcus.

  ‘What is that?’ said Jessica pointing to the screen, as Phillips stepped onto the matted area in front of the pressurized door.

  ‘It is asking for a test environment, some planet’s coordinates,’ reported Marcus.

  Jessica went over to her portable improvised desk, and searched for her star chart she used to program the transportation device.

  ‘Ah here we go. Where would you like to go Mr. Phillips?’ she shouting across to the end of the chamber.

  Phillips noticed that the door and the wall either side of it were studded with cylinder shaped tubes that connected to the inside of the chamber. Phillips thought for a moment, and decided to play it safe and opted for his home planet of Texel in the Afare System.

  ‘Texel!’ he shouted back.

  ‘What system?’ came Jessica’s response.

  ‘Afare!’ replied Phillips.

  She typed in the co-ordinates and sent the information to Alex, who transferred them to the device. The pressure on the door lifted and the door swung inwards, allowing Phillips to step inside, he held his breath.

  ‘Nothing to worry about,’ he said as he stood aside to allow the door to close again. The lights shut off and for a moment, he was in complete darkness.

  ‘Hello,’ he said instinctively into the void.

  Suddenly in a flash he was standing in the meadow of his parents’ ranch, he had grown up on. He could see smoke rising from the chimney of the homestead of his childhood memories.

  ‘This is very weird,’ he said to himself.

  As he walked towards the building, he noticed that the ground he was walking on flickered just slightly, giving away that this was a simulation, and not reality. This gave him some sort of comfort. The gravel under foot made the right sounds, the flowers in the meadows, the birds singing were all as he remembered.

  As he reached the porch, he could hear the sound of a baby crying from inside. He peered through the window, and realized he was watching his own birth. He opened the front door and walked out of the other side of the device, back into the parking bay.

  10.2: Frank & Louis: Wild Cat

  Frank was sorting through some paperwork regarding the purchase of their rival yard on New Station. Louis was having a whole week off and Frank was only open in the daytime, and took a rest day. Things were looking up.

  He checked his in-mail and noticed an odd stamp with dolphins and whales on, from Zeandin. He did not have any connectio
n with that system, and began to worry what it contained.

  ‘How bad can it be?’

  Frank took his knife and slit across the top as if he was gutting a fish. Folding the paper open it was a transfer request for a ship back to the Diso System paid for by a Mr. Smith, for a Wild Cat NX, and attached to the centre of the letter was the entry card to the ship, with a note on the back, “Forward to Marie.”

  ‘Wow,’ said Frank not knowing what to think. ‘This can only be the handiwork of Captain Avery.’ He sat back in his chair admiring the implications. Frank could just smile and remember that they had been instrumental in the process and now their lives had changed.

  ‘Best arrange for this to be sent to Marie.’

  He took out his well-worn address book that had everyone he had ever met in, well almost. It bulged with bits of paper. He leafed through and found Jim Bonny’s address.

  He put the note and card in the envelope, scribbled on it and tossed it on the pile of out mail, ready for posting.

  Marie had started to remember all the things that had been lost from her memory; it appeared her soul was uploading the information that had been stored. This none wiping of her souls memory, was vital for the device to operate effectively. Any humanoid within the device, when it malfunctioned, needed to remember what it was they were doing; and more importantly all the valuable learning that underpinned their ability to undertake the necessary tasks.

  ‘So, I used to drive a sky-taxi dad?’

  ‘Yes, so did I.’

  ‘Did you? I have no memory of that yet.’

  ‘I remember when I died, meeting Captain Avery and now driving the sky-taxi.’

  ‘It sounds like you are remembering everything backwards.’ Jim said as he served up the fried breakfast that he had made for his one and only daughter.

  The sound of the mail van could be heard coming along the gravel track. It was the only regular visitor and delivered Jim’s daily paper the Diso Gazette.

  They both waited for the daily clatter of the letterbox and Jim subconsciously counted the mail fall into the basket attached to the back of the front door.

  ‘Expecting anything?’ he asked his daughter jokingly.

  ‘No, not that I can recall,’ she joked back.

  Marie got up, went to the mail basket, and picked up her father’s paper and a strange envelope with her name on. She returned to the breakfast table in the kitchen and placed the mail down.

  ‘It’s for me,’ she said a little apprehensively, Marie hurriedly opened the envelope to reveal the transfer note and the entry card to the Wild Cat.

  ‘This makes no sense, do you know what this means dad?’ she said as she passed it over to him.

  ‘It looks like Avery’s revenged your death and this is the booty he has acquired. The Wild Cat was the type of ship that shot you down. I think you’ve just gained yourself a new vessel.’

  ‘How am I going to get to Andrew’s Station from Radian?’

  ‘You will have to buy a cheep ride that will get you there. Sell it, and bring back the Wild Cat.’

  ‘But dad, I can’t remember how to fly yet!’

  ‘I couldn’t help you there. I’ve never flown before, and there is no way I am starting now.’

  ‘What do you suggest then?’

  ‘Ask Frank or Louis to take you. They can drop you off and follow you back, by then hopefully your memory would have returned enough for you to remember how to fly.’

  ‘Okay dad, I’ll do that. I’ll go and see them today. But you will have to drive me down to the spaceport, so I can talk to them.’

  ‘Okay, we’ll go after breakfast.’

  Jim sat there reading the paper, as was his custom in the morning. It was as if nothing had happened to Marie, she was visiting, but could not remember where she lived yet, so she was staying there. Marie had her front door card but that could fit any one of hundreds of apartments in the city. It was quicker they both agreed that she should stay on until Marie could piece her life back together.

  Both finished their breakfast and Jim collected his car keys from the ‘Home Sweet Home’ key holder his daughter had brought when he and his wife had moved in many years past now. It prompted him to say,

  ‘It’s a shame that new fangled device couldn’t bring back your mother.’

  ‘Yes I miss her to dad, but I’m sure she has reincarnated in some place, so it would be far too late even if you had a DNA code to bring her back physically.’

  ‘Yes I suppose so,’ said Jim regretfully. ‘I wouldn’t want some soulless humanoid, or to have a Daisy with a different soul.’

  ‘No dad, I think you are better off remembering her as she was.’

  ‘I believe you are right,’ said Jim closing the old door behind him.

  Jim drove slowly towards the city high-rises that had began to appear on the horizon. Why did people choose to live this way, if they liked the countryside more? He thought to himself. Then he looked across at Marie, and remembered exactly why people had to live in an urban environment.

  Marie was starting to remember certain things on a daily basis. It was as if that when she woke up; her soul had uploaded another page of her life story. Today she had recalled all the events that had occurred during the bank robbery, and her meeting at the Arumba Hotel’s lobby.

  ‘Are you alright Marie?’ asked her father a little concerned.

  ‘Yes fine dad, just can’t get over the fighting we had to do to get to the control room on the freighter to take charge of the ship. We then went and hyper-spaced to the Sol System of all places!’

  ‘Yes not too many people have been there. Was it strange and wonderful like the stories you hear in books and fantasy magazines?’ Jim asked.

  ‘All I can remember dad, is the smoking volcanoes on the surface and sending the freighter into the biggest we could find.’

  ‘Well, that sounds like a bit of an adventure!’

  ‘Look where it got me,’ said Marie holding her face in her hands.

  ‘It could have been worse. You could be back driving a night taxi for Ralf and his band of merry men.’

  ‘Yes dad, I know, but I just don’t seem to feel that my life fits anymore. I died and that was the end for most people. Now I am back it’s like I’ve cheated in life and none of this makes any sense.’

  ‘It will all fit back into place once you remember everything. Once you have remembered your first recollection you’ll probably not notice the difference. It seems like you are still joining all the dots together.’

  ‘Yes, I suppose you’ve got a point there dad. Not that I have any idea what my first memory was!’

  Both laughed as they sped towards the large sign of Frank & Louis in the parking bay of the spaceport of Diso City.

  Jim drove through the rows of neatly parked space ships of various states of repair and Jim could not help himself thinking about taking one up into space. Space he thought, even the word scared him.

  He dropped Marie off outside the door, continued the circuit out towards the outskirts and home.

  Marie opened the door of the office and a “Buzz” sound bought her presence to the attention of Frank as he was shopping for groceries remotely.

  10.3: The Empire

  Avery was still trying to figure out how they were going to get the rejuvenation device back from Corporation X, when he hit the hyper-space button and sent them hurtling into the heart of the Empire: Stein 2051.

  ‘Any ideas yet?’ said Reginald.

  ‘Still thinking. I find the rush of hyper-space clears my head,’ he said as they reached their destination.

  ‘Ah, the Empire,’ said Reginald with nostalgia, as if the Empire had been such a positive manifestation, instead of a divisive, race driven, atheist and backward thinking entity.

  The Republic was born out of the desire to be closer to nature and to the divine source, whose knowledge and existence was being related through mediums who challenged the notion that man was a soulless animal
.

  Over time, rebellions broke out across the galaxy, some worlds gained control of their affairs, threw off the shackles and banded together to form the Republic. They offered help and assistance to those worlds still under the yoke of the Empire who wished to be free.

  This gave some indication of why the Empire would be interested in a prison that would be able to punish a person numerous times. In reality, they knew about souls and the center of the universe, but kept their subjects in bondage; attempted, and mostly succeeded, in convincing them that they were soulless. Then these people had denied their existence and enslaved themselves through this denial.

  The Federation on the other hand, appeared independently about the same time as the Empire around 10, 000 years previous, and was in essence a balance between the Empire and the Republic. One world, Radian, had as an experiment, transferred over to the Federation’s industrialized view. The Federation maintained its original creator driven religious view and therefore could mediate between the Republic and the Empire. It was almost a perfect balance, as if god given.

  Radical elements infested the Federation, Republic and Empire worlds. Pirates were lawless and lacked loyalty to any imposed structure, lived under their own codes of conduct and were in no way without belief in a higher power and force.

  Avery turned the ship and headed for the main planet. Large amounts of trading vessels were traveling between worlds in the system and Reginald could not help but marvel at the amount of commerce the Empire was conducting.

  Avery could see further than his perspective and did not find this of any interest, except on the level of, which one would provide the best pickings. Then suddenly, Avery turned to Reginald.

  ‘I’ve got an idea.’

  ‘Go on,’ Reginald replied.

  ‘We could simply destroy it.’

  ‘But The Council wants it.’

  ‘That’s true, and my life kind of depends on the delivery, unless I go into hiding for the rest of my days. That might not be too bad; after a while I’m sure I’ll get used to it,’ pondered Avery.

  ‘It’s still the only model around, and therefore as long as we can get hold of it, there will be no possibility of it being reproduced,’ argued Reginald.

  ‘I suppose we will have to do this the old fashioned pirate way of smash and grab. Are you with me Reginald?’

  ‘You’re the captain Avery, let’s go do this thing.’

  As they got closer to the main planet of Victory I, Avery reached into his overhead locker and gave Reginald his spare laser gun.

  ‘Look after that Reginald it’s an antique; had that since I turned pirate at the age of eighteen.’

  ‘That long ago,’ joked Reginald. He felt the weight of the gun in his hand. He had never carried a gun before, let alone fired one. He was not about to tell Avery that, and let him know what a useless shot he was probably going to be. Never mind, he thought, it might not even come to that.

  The massive spaceport could be seen from their position where billboards were illuminated advertising health destroying junk food and sugar laden drinks brain washing the residents with promises of bliss, which was in essence only a temporary fix and therefore addictive.

  Avery contacted the spaceport Nelson, named after the founder of the Empire and its philosophies, Dr Nelson Wingate. A huge edifice of him used to exist in every spaceport controlled by the Empire, but now their numbers had diminished.

  He had been a tall thin man, with round glasses and a shock of white hair, unlike his former subjects who were generally obese and were small in stature. Avery landed the Lion S Class in the open air area surrounded by green fields. It was peaceful.

  Not a bad place for an Empire to stem from, Reginald thought. It was clear to Avery that Reginald was a little in awe of the power of the Empire once - and to a certain extent still had.

  ‘This place is quite pleasant,’ Reginald said, rubbing his eyes at the bright light as he followed Avery down the steps of the S Class.

  ‘Yes certainly has an appeal on the surface,’ he said holding up his hand to block the harsh white light that came from the powerful rays of the star Stein 2051.

  They entered a reception hall that was full of outlets selling cheap export products, such as spirits and gemstones from the mines that made Stein 2051 so rich and powerful in the first place.

  Reginald got to the customs official first, and produced his Council stamped travel documents that allowed him to carry anything across the galaxy including weaponry.

  ‘He’s with me,’ he said pulling Avery by the jacket passed the checks and there they were, on the other side. Air-taxis waited on the ground to take arriving passengers into Nelson City.

  ‘That was pretty good Reginald. Do you have the power to confiscate things?’ Avery asked rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

  ‘Well, I’ve never used the power to override a situation, but I suppose that I could try and “blag” my way through it.’

  ‘Well that’s it then. We will barge into the conference and bluff our way into gaining the life support device.’

  ‘At gun point?’ asked Reginald.

  ‘Yes, just to make it more authentic, can’t take any chances with such an important mission.’

  Avery stuck out his hand and a taxi stopped. Reginald waved his Council magic, and the ride into the centre became more pleasant by the fact that it was free. The society of the major city of an empire seemed to Avery poor, run down and in places extremely rich. Such juxtaposition did nothing to endear the place to him.

  The taxi hit traffic and the driver began to chat.

  ‘So you’re from The Council? Wow, I’ve never met anyone from that organization. I thought that it was all an urban myth. The fellas down the yard will never believe me. What are you here for?’

  Avery piped up and put the guy at ease. ‘We’re here for a conference, new technology conference. We like to keep up-to-date with the latest gadgetry on the market.’

  Reginald joined in, ‘Cannot have you thinking that the The Council do not have their finger on the pulse.’

  The driver laughed, ‘You couldn’t say that The Council doesn’t have a sense of humour: you guys are great. Here, were coming up to the Milton Hotel.’ Reginald scanned his card that paid for the ride via Council funds.

  Avery got out first and made his way passed the concierge and into the lobby, with Reginald following closely behind.

  They booked in with Reginald’s account card and made their way into the conference hall.

  10.4: Phillips Questioned

  Captain Phillips was sat down in the lab. Jessica and her technicians sat around him eagerly waiting what he had to say. Phillips had been too stunned to talk after he had exited the device.

  The technicians had simply walked and guided him back to the lift and up to the lab, whilst Jessica analyzed the data on the system and followed shortly afterwards.

  ‘So what did you see?’ asked Jessica coldly.

  ‘I can’t quite believe it,’ replied Phillips.

  ‘Believe what?’ asked Jessica.

  ‘It was me. It was my home.’

  ‘What was?’ she pressed.

  ‘Inside the machine. There was my parents, the homestead, everything as I remember, but I wasn’t a child. I was me, an adult, and when I got to the house I could see inside: it was so realistic, but the thing was, I was there inside being born. It was as if I was in two places at once, but I could see myself, it was an odd feeling.

  ‘Then when I went to the front door of the house, I was exiting the device.’

  ‘Have you had a memory of this event before?’ asked Alex.

  ‘No nothing, I’ve never even thought about my parents, even existing before I came along. Tell you the truth, I’ve not wanted to. The thought of my parents together and mother giving birth to me whilst my father watched. Ah! I think that’s what bought on the shock.’

  ‘I see, so it may bring up your own deepest fears,’ pondered Alex. br />
  ‘No,’ said Jessica, ‘it’s a test mode, just to see if it works and from the looks of it, it does. Did it seem totally real Mr. Phillips?’

  ‘Yes, almost, there was a moment when I could see a slight flicker, and then I couldn’t tell the difference.’

  ‘So what happened after we put you in there at first?’ asked Marcus.

  ‘It was all lit up then it went totally dark, there was nothing, no sound then there was my home world of Texel, the farmstead. The rest, I’ve already explained.’

  ‘Well there we go gentlemen; I think by Mr. Phillip’s reaction, we have got ourselves a working functioning device.’

  ‘So what is the next stage?’ asked Alex.

  ‘We will have to get this off to TCR, who can see if it would be of any use in their Earth project, Mr. Phillips, consider yourself hired in respects of carrying this item in your ship from here to TCR in the Altair System,’ Jessica said.

  ‘So I’m a free man?’ Phillips inquired.

  ‘No, not quite,’ replied Jessica. ‘Once you have taken this to Altair and have them verify your discovery, then we will set you free.’

  ‘Well, I suppose I can’t say fairer than that. I’ve just got to take this over to the Altair System, and that will be that?’

  ‘Yes pretty much; we need to run a few tests first which will require your cooperation again, and then you should be on your way.’

  ‘Okay, sounds reasonable.’

  ‘I’ll send Marcus along with you, so we make sure you don’t try any funny business. He can inform TCR of the position and run them through the data that I’m sending them,’ Jessica swung round in her chair, typed a quick message and loaded the data from the tests and sent it off. ‘There, all done,’ she said warmly and gave them both a look, which Marcus read as: what are you both still doing here.

  ‘Back it up there!’ bellowed Phillips, as he was guiding Marcus with the pre-world observation device.

  It was a tight fit into the hold of the Manx and Phillips did not want to dent his pride and joy, nor did he want to damage his meal ticket to freedom.

  ‘Okay, okay!’ replied Marcus, he reversed the levitator that had hold of the machine and lowered it enough, so it just fitted below the cargo door entrance.

  ‘That’s it,’ Phillips sighed as it slowly slid into the bay, much to his relief.

  Phillips closed the cargo doors and there it sat, snug in position, ready for them to be off to the Altair System.

  Phillips pulled down the steps and Marcus followed him up and a distressed looking Felix flew out. Neither man spoke as Phillips fired up the engines and took the Manx out of Andrew’s Station. He set the controls for hyperspace to the Altair System; and in a flash a hyperspace gate opened in front of the craft and the Manx quickly disappeared into it.

  As the Manx entered the Altair System, Phillips realized that he had no idea which planet he was heading for. ‘Okay Marcus, which one is it?’

  Phillips sighed as Marcus looked at the controls and the mapping screen.

  ‘There is no listing here, no indication which planet is which, all the information is scrambled: make a call,’ said Phillips.

  ‘It’s worth a go I suppose,’ replied Marcus. He opened up the communications, sending out a message to all contacts in the vicinity. ‘Marcus Sancey, calling on all contacts, we are lost and looking for your location TCR, looking for your location.’

  There was a long silence and both men looked at each other, Phillips was about to give him a piece of his mind, when a faint voice could be heard across space.

  ‘Identify yourselves Manx IV. This is TCR control.’

  Marcus perked up and replied. ‘This is Marcus Sancey of Andrew’s Station in the Zeandin System, controlled by The Council.’

  ‘Checking status. . .’ came the faint voice, ‘. . . Your status: cleared; ship status: wanted . . . please clarify.

  ‘I am with the Pirate Captain Phillips, who is carrying an important device on behalf of The Council.’

  ‘Requesting clearance . . .,’ said the contact, ‘. . . clearance received proceed to Atlas four.’

  The voice cut out and Marcus found that the mapping system unscrambled and the names of the planets and moons were revealed.

  ‘Okay, got it,’ said Marcus, ‘head towards the planet Atlas and then to the fourth moon.’

  ‘Right, that should be easy.’

  Phillips swung the Manx around and headed out towards the centre of the system where Atlas was located.

  Altair was a strange system that had a wide band of planets located in the area that could sustain life, four planets in all with numerous moons that had thin atmospheres. Atlas 4 was one such moon, but had been hollowed out to provide secrecy to the location, which was The Council’s most secure and hard to find outpost.

  ‘So where is it?’ asked Phillips as they came within the vicinity of Atlas 4.

  ‘It’s inside,’ said Marcus with a certain satisfaction.

  ‘What do you mean inside?’

  ‘Look; see that large crater?’ he said as he pointed to an abnormally large one in the middle band of the moon’s surface.

  ‘Yes, I see that.’

  ‘That’s the entrance, just fly into it.’

  ‘Just fly into it? repeated Phillips, ‘how do you know it’s that one?’

  ‘You’re just going to have to trust me.’

  So tell me why? It looks like it’s solid and that when I fly this craft into it, we will explode into space dust.’

  ‘It’s an elusion, a hologram of the former crater. It is where we drilled into the moon thousands of years ago.’

  ‘Well unless you have a death wish, I guess I have no choice but to trust you.’ Phillips paused for a moment and as he turned the Manx up to fly into the crater, he could not help himself asking, ‘Had anyone chosen the wrong crater?’

  ‘Yes of course, there’s plenty of debris around the place. Spies from lesser powers have tried and failed in the past, notably the Empire attempted to infiltrate and control us, but this has only happened once, though various attempts have been made.’

  Phillips increased the thrust and closed his eyes as they got closer, and eventually broke through the hologram and into the TCR base.

  11.UNDERTAKINGS