Leskal appeared in Nick's room the next day as Thralesh had said. With him he brought some food and a space suit Nick recognized as the one he had worn on their trip to the moon from Earth. Nick went into the bathroom and put on the suit and returned and sat and ate the food. Leskal didn’t communicate at all with Nick as he ate, he just watched him, outwardly showing all the patience in the world but Nick could tell that he was agitated and anxious. Nick was so nervous about today that he could think of nothing to say either and worried that even if he tried the food he was eating would come back up. He pushed his plate away and sat back, Leskal watched him, his eyes glinting in excitement. After a brief moment he said “Let’s go to my office Nick. We'll be more comfortable and I can explain to you the final details of the plan that you are courageously undertaking” and he rose and went out the door into the lab area with Nick following closely. They used the elevator at the side of the lab and Nick couldn’t tell which direction they were moving and came to a stop with the doors opening onto a lavishly decorated room, with soft lighting and lots of strange looking art decorating the walls and tables. There was no indication that this was an office at all, no desk, no filing cabinets or anything that would make it look like an office. Leskal went over to where there were some chairs set in front of a table that faced a large window and motioned for Nick to join him. The window was opaque and through it Nick could see the fringes of the sun burning brightly but there must have been some sort of protection that muted the intense brightness of the sun. It was beautiful and tranquil and no words came to mind that could do it justice if he had to relate what it looked like to someone else. They sat down and Leskal poured them each a drink from a container that was on the table. He offered one to Nick “I understand it is an Earth tradition to toast before a trip of this significance” He held his glass up and said “To you Nick, for making all this possible, for putting yourself on the line for your fellow man. May your trip be quick and successful” and he drank his glass down in one. Nick raised his glass and sipped the liquid inside. It was warm and slightly on the bitter side, and as he drank it a calming feeling spread quickly throughout his body like a wave of deep relaxation steeling over his body. “That’s pretty tasty. What is it?”
“It’s an old Annunaki recipe, a calming draught. I thought it might help your nerves. I am glad you like it. How about we get down to business, your ship is leaving in a few hours’ time and I think you only know the basic framework of the plan.” Nick nodded in assent and Leskal continued “As you know the plan is to send you to Nibiru on one of the ships we have. When you get close enough the homing system of the computer will take over and direct the ship to one of the decontamination facilities.”
“Decontamination facility?” Nick questioned.
“Because the ship has not been seen on Nibiru for so long the computer on the planet that controls perimeter defenses will direct the shipboard computer to land at a decontamination facility so that it can be assessed and possibly wrecked or upgraded whichever the case may be.”
“Won’t a stray ship approaching the planet arouse suspicion?”
“The Annunaki are well traveled and ships have been left behind or gone adrift at various times before. The recovery system actually sends out a signal as the planet moves through its orbit to try and find ships like that and signal them to return to the planet. This will work to our advantage in a few ways. First, you won’t need to man the ship for landing, the guidance system will take care of that and second, once the ship is down, it’s put in quarantine for some time to be scanned for bio-hazards”
“Why not just send a ship back loaded with a bomb or set it to self-destruct after it lands?”
“Unfortunately a bomb would not do the damage required and would also be detected aboard the ship before it landed and the guidance system would fly it out of harm’s way and detonate it. As for the self-destruct, as soon as the ships on board computers linked with the main ones on the planet, the computers on the planet would detect that self-destruct has been activated and override it.”
“Can I be detected aboard the ship before it lands? What happens then?”
Leskal smiled broadly “This is where your training comes in. When the link with the planet systems occurs there is a quick scan done to see if the ship is manned or unmanned. That is when you need to use your telepathic training to make it seem that you aren’t even there, conceal yourself so you are invisible to the scanning system as it were. Once the ship is on the ground we have someone in place that is sympathetic to our cause, they will make contact with you and get you off the ship to somewhere safe and prepare for the next phase of the plan.”
Nick was processing the information quickly in his head and while it seemed plausible it also screamed with impossibility. His training had progressed to where he could use his abilities to hide his human signature so that didn’t seem so daunting of a task to pull off.
“What happens after that?” was all he could think to ask at this point.
“Our contact will take you to your main objective which is the atmospheric processor that controls the environment for the whole planet”
“What am I supposed to do there?”
“You remember those nanobots you were infused with?”
“Yes”
“They are still in your system, dormant at the moment, and quite harmless” he added as he watched Nick frantically look at his limbs, aghast. “Our contact, Zhengil is his name, will re-purpose them to exit your body and attack and reprogram the computer control of the atmospheric processor. At that point a toxin will be released that will temporarily disable the telepathic ability of the entire planets inhabitants and allow us to attack and seize control of the whole planet before anyone knows what is happening.”
“What do you mean, exit my body?” asked Nick
“When the time comes and you are near the processor, the nanobots will cluster at a pre-designated spot on your body for release. At that time you need to make a small incision in your skin to allow them to get out.”
“I have to cut myself?” Nick said, his disbelief dripping from every word “Nobody told me about that”
“You don’t have to cut deeply Nick. There will be hardly any blood lost and once they are set free to do their job, Zhengil will patch you up good as new.”
The thought still resonated deeply with Nick. He knew there would be sacrifices to be made he just didn’t think that they would involve self-mutilation. He shuddered and took another sip of the draught that Leskal had given him. Relaxing a little from it he asked “Is the attack force going to be following me?”
“The timing on this whole thing has to be precise. As you can understand our attack force has to stay out of sight until the toxin has been released and there is total confusion on the planet’s surface.”
“Can you tell me more about the trip there?”
“Basically we will simulate the homing beacon signal from the home planet and the computer on the ship will be tricked into thinking that it has received the call to come home and will set a course accordingly. Since Nibiru is still quite a ways away it will most likely involve the use of a wormhole to get back to the home planet”
Nick thought for what seemed like an eternity. So many questions, the most pressing of which was “Will I get home?”
“If all goes well Nick, you will come back to a hero’s welcome”
Nick didn’t feel like that at all. He was scared to the point of wishing he had never agreed to go. He thought again of his friends on Earth, the children on Earth that would grow up in slavery or not get to grow up at all, the six billion or so people that would be in bondage and the thoughts seemed to strengthen his resolve. He finished his drink and put the glass down on the table. “Is there anything else I need to know?” he asked
Leskal stood and said “That all. Your ship is leaving quite soon. I think we should get down there and get you on board” and he turned and made his way back to the elevat
or. Nick followed and once they climbed aboard the elevator and its doors closed, Nick could tell they were descending. He swallowed hard and set his jaw. At the bottom they exited and went down the small hallway and into the hangar that Nick had first arrived here in. There was the ship they used to come here and a little beyond that was Nick’s ship for the mission. It was basically the same as the one he had been in with Leskal, it just looked a little older and more travel worn. The landing ramp was down and Nick could see a faint purplish light emanating from within. He followed Leskal into the ship and after the bio scan they moved into the cockpit area. Leskal watched as Nick climbed into one of the chairs and placed the headband on that would allow him to interact with the computer.
“I’ll be in the control room monitoring your departure” Leskal said “For the record Nick; I think that you are the bravest human being I have ever met. I wish you nothing but success” and shook Nick’s hand firmly, smiled, then quickly turned and exited the ship. After Leskal was gone Nick found that he was in tune with the computer as it retracted the landing ramp. Moments later he was free of the tractor beam that was holding him in place. Above him the blackness of space revealed itself slowly as the huge hangar doors opened. Once they stopped Leskal's voice buzzed in his head “OK, Nick, we are initiating the homing signal, after that the computer should take over. There will be no more communication from us here. Good luck with everything”
Nick tried to respond with but found his thoughts were too muddled to form something coherent. There was a quick flash of light outside the window and in response the computer on the ship activated its guidance and thrusters and started to rise slowly out of the hangar. This was it. No turning back now, the next stop presumably was Nibiru. As they drifted slowly out of the hangar the doors below started to slip together closing the hangar out of view. The ship continued to rise slowly up and away from the moon and abruptly stopped. All around the windows Nick could see the deep black of space filled with hundreds of thousands of stars, twinkling and shining brightly and to one side, the sun, huge and fiery and awe inspiring. Directly behind him lay home, planet Earth. Floating in space like a blue and white marble, glowing magnificently, Nick’s eyes began to tear up at the site. The beauty and the majesty of seeing his planet in this setting sealed his resolve once and for all. He would succeed or die trying. Around him the ship started to vibrate slightly and looking ahead the star field was starting to get blurry in a spot directly ahead, like it was melting. The ship drifted slowly toward the distortion. Nick took one last, longing glance at Earth, the ship eased into the wormhole and in an instant everything was gone.
Chapter 11