Rupra Bruda felt a rush of adrenalin. He sat up in his chair and concentrated on the presence in his mind. If he wasn’t mistaken it was Evohn Cystrom.
“Evohn! Is that you?”
“Yes. Thank God I got through to you. It has been complete chaos since I got here to the rebel base. I have tried a couple times to get away and make contact, but I always seem to be interrupted. So, we must make this a quick link.”
“Yes. Of course. I’m so glad to hear from you. We were afraid you may be dead.”
“No. The coordinates given to me were accurate. They did have to send out a refueling drone, though, or we would have crashed.”
“So there is a rebel base in the Beet Islands?”
“Yes. It’s a small island but it has an active volcano on it so it should be easy to spot.” He ran the coordinates through his mind.
“Got it. I’ll pass that on to General Bratford.”
“The Liberator has just arrived to great fanfare. Apparently he was victorious in an assault on Pegaport.”
“Yes. The skutz and his cohorts destroyed the base. It was a complete disaster.”
“Well, they have a decent sized base down here and they are preparing to strike somewhere again.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know. I tried to get clearance to go on the raid so I could go to the briefing, but they don’t trust me yet. I’m hoping to get assigned to pilot a transport plane or something where I’ll have access to their computers.”
“Yes. Get us as much intelligence as you can. We’ve got to destroy this rebellion now while it’s small.”
“How is my father?”
“He’s doing fine. He’s going to make a great Chancellor. He’ll be very proud of what you are doing.”
“Well, I haven’t done much yet, but they are so desperate for pilots I’m sure they’ll give me a plane sooner or later. In the meantime I’ll read as many minds as I can and perhaps learn something of importance.”
“No. All you need to do is figure a way to get off the island. I’m sure General Bratford will want to obliterate it tomorrow. I’ll try to hold off the attack until you let me know you’ve gotten away.”
“Oh! Someone’s coming. I’ll do what I can.”
The connection broke. Rupra stood up and wondered if he should go see the Chancellor first or call General Bratford. He decided General Bratford needed the coordinates immediately so he called him first. Then he rushed down the hall the Chancellor’s office.
“I’ve got good news for the Chancellor.”
“Go in,” his secretary said. “He’s alone.”
Rupra nodded and went in. “Chancellor! I’ve got good news.”
“What?” Videl asked.
“Evohn is alive. He made contact with me just a few minutes ago.”
“Why did it take so long?”
“He’s at the Loyalist base and they don’t trust him yet. They have been keeping a close eye on him. This was his first opportunity to get away.”
“Hmm. So, you have the coordinates of the base now?”
“Yes. I’ve given them to General Bratford.”
“How soon can he attack?”
“It will take a day or two to plan an attack?”
“A day or two! We can’t wait that long. The Loyalist could abandon the base at any time.”
“I don’t think they will. I’m told it is a large base with many personnel. It would probably take many days to move it.”
“We can’t take that chance. We must strike at once.”
“But Evohn needs time to get off the island. I told him to find a way off immediately, but we need to give him a little time.”
“He can take care of himself. Just tell General Bratford to launch the attack as quickly as possible.”
Rupra was a bit surprised that Videl had so little concern for his son’s safety. But he knew better than to say anything about it. He either had great confidence that his son would find a way off the island or didn’t care if he lived or died. But even if Videl didn’t care about Evohn, Rupra had grown fond of him and would do everything he could to make sure he got away from the LB1 before missiles began raining down on it.