shattered, scattering under Victor’s feet, but he just walked on, oblivious to anything around him, shaken by the fact that the woman who might be the one to bring him back to life, the woman with whom he could finally talk about things completely unrelated to his work, who had given him so much joy by the simple fact of spending time with him and with whom he’d had probably the most passionate moments in his entire life, had used her feminine charm on him to pry out some information about a hacker.
* * * *
Levi had spent most of the night waiting for a connection with David to give him the good news that, in just a few hours someone would be coming to get him. The wait had been exhausting, filled with anxiety and putting his patience to a harsh test. Luckily, if there was one thing Levi did not lack, it was patience.
“Come on, David… make the call.” With the headset on, he kept listening to the agreed frequency.
He waited restlessly and, although subconsciously, he kept telling himself to remain calm; the nervousness was slowly beginning to overcome his mental defences.
Jo entered the room in hardly the best of moods, not to his surprise, however.
“Commodore, I’m ready to go,” she said, with a hint of sadness in her voice.
“I can’t make contact with David, but hopefully it won’t be long now. Go on, get ready for the flight. That dandy little technological masterpiece you liked so much is waiting in the hangar. You’ll be flying it.” He noticed sparks lighting up in her eyes.
“I’ll send someone to go with you in a moment.”
“Yes, Commodore.”
His crew always respected his decisions, even though they were not always happy with them. Clearly, Jo had her mind set on going alone, but due to the recent events he could not allow it. He hammered his fist at the console. The connection had failed again.
Jo briskly walked through the hangar gate and found the aircraft waiting for her. Small, designed to carry only three passengers, it was the latest advance in Atlantis’ automatics and engineering. She took another careful look at it, studying each element. Its constructor, always present when any of his creations were being handed over to the pilots, showed her inside. The procedures and steering seemed familiar. She was relieved to see that she would have no problems handling the craft. Everything was similar, only smaller. They smiled at each other as Jo fired up the engines, which began to hum steadily. The cockpit was illuminated from the inside. She went through all the take-off procedures, checking the console, computer and fuel. Then she settled down comfortably in the pilot’s seat and closed the door. To her astonishment, as she looked out the window she saw Alec running towards the plane. He was unshaven and it was apparent that he had been drinking all night. He had difficulty finding his tongue as he shouted, “I really should come with you. David is my friend. I have to get him out of there!”
“Go back to your wife!” she answered, trying to shout over the noise of the engines. “Absolutely not!”
Jo simply did not want anyone with her on this flight.
“It’s nothing to do with my wife, is it?” The commando was not planning to give up that easily.
“What on earth do you mean?” Jo switched off the engines. Somehow she had a feeling this would not be a pleasant conversation. Alec walked up the plane’s steps.
“Maybe you just want to fly to Earth on your own, eh? Maybe the mission has nothing to do with it?”
“What the hell are you insinuating?” Jo’s face started to redden with anger.
“Maybe you want to go with that arsehole I saw leaving your place last night, hm?” Alec felt that he’d hit the nail on the head. He was in control now.
“Explain to me how that’s any of your damn business?” The argument was beginning to sound like so many others they’d had in the past, the only difference being that she had no idea of that. They stood face to face, as if
* * * *
Levi had spent most of the night waiting for a connection with David to give him the good news that, in just a few hours someone would be coming to get him. The wait had been exhausting, filled with anxiety and putting his patience to a harsh test. Luckily, if there was one thing Levi did not lack, it was patience.
“Come on, David… make the call.” With the headset on, he kept listening to the agreed frequency.
He waited restlessly and, although subconsciously, he kept telling himself to remain calm; the nervousness was slowly beginning to overcome his mental defences.
Jo entered the room in hardly the best of moods, not to his surprise, however.
“Commodore, I’m ready to go,” she said, with a hint of sadness in her voice.
“I can’t make contact with David, but hopefully it won’t be long now. Go on, get ready for the flight. That dandy little technological masterpiece you liked so much is waiting in the hangar. You’ll be flying it.” He noticed sparks lighting up in her eyes.
“I’ll send someone to go with you in a moment.”
“Yes, Commodore.”
His crew always respected his decisions, even though they were not always happy with them. Clearly, Jo had her mind set on going alone, but due to the recent events he could not allow it. He hammered his fist at the console. The connection had failed again.
Jo briskly walked through the hangar gate and found the aircraft waiting for her. Small, designed to carry only three passengers, it was the latest advance in Atlantis’ automatics and engineering. She took another careful look at it, studying each element. Its constructor, always present when any of his creations were being handed over to the pilots, showed her inside. The procedures and steering seemed familiar. She was relieved to see that she would have no problems handling the craft. Everything was similar, only smaller. They smiled at each other as Jo fired up the engines, which began to hum steadily. The cockpit was illuminated from the inside. She went through all the take-off procedures, checking the console, computer and fuel. Then she settled down comfortably in the pilot’s seat and closed the door. To her astonishment, as she looked out the window she saw Alec running towards the plane. He was unshaven and it was apparent that he had been drinking all night. He had difficulty finding his tongue as he shouted, “I really should come with you. David is my friend. I have to get him out of there!”
“Go back to your wife!” she answered, trying to shout over the noise of the engines. “Absolutely not!”
Jo simply did not want anyone with her on this flight.
“It’s nothing to do with my wife, is it?” The commando was not planning to give up that easily.
“What on earth do you mean?” Jo switched off the engines. Somehow she had a feeling this would not be a pleasant conversation. Alec walked up the plane’s steps.
“Maybe you just want to fly to Earth on your own, eh? Maybe the mission has nothing to do with it?”
“What the hell are you insinuating?” Jo’s face started to redden with anger.
“Maybe you want to go with that arsehole I saw leaving your place last night, hm?” Alec felt that he’d hit the nail on the head. He was in control now.
“Explain to me how that’s any of your damn business?” The argument was beginning to sound like so many others they’d had in the past, the only difference being that she had no idea of that. They stood face to face, as if
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