 
Return to Mazere

A Story by

Philip R Benge

Smashwords Edition

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Published by

Philip R Benge on Smashwords

Return to Mazere

Copyright Philip R Benge 2015

Cover Art Copyright Philip R Benge 2015

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This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author's imagination and used fictitiously.

Return to Mazere

Contents

Chapter One: Return to Earth

Chapter Two: Return to Mazere

Chapter Three: Prisoners of the Enemy

Chapter Four: Lantana Fight`s Back

Chapter Five: The Search Begins in Earnest

Chapter Six: Area 51 in the Hagrid Desert

Chapter Seven: Peace at Last

About the Author

Other Books by the Author

Chapter one

Return to Earth

In a lavishly furnished room in one of the more expensive of homes, situated in an equally affluent area of the city of Plakara, the capital of the planet Mazere, a man sat at his desk. He was recording notes into his computer, notes that he would include in his memoirs, which he would write when he was done with the constant intrigue that filled his life at this moment in his life. He had the look of a Roman senator about him, a patrician from one of the older, nobler families of ancient Rome, but no, he was from the distant planet Mazere, however, his family had always been amongst those families who had led the planet.

"Battles are sometimes won by the mistakes made by your enemy, and if enough mistakes are made by your enemy, then the war can also be won. I have always known that President Lantana loved her father, even if to her eyes her father was a power-hungry evil man. So, when her guilt at the part that she had played in his death drove her to disown her two friends from Earth, she unknowingly set in motion an attempt to overthrow her own government. This mistake made possible certain manipulations, that when played out could lead her enemies, led by myself, to gain a decisive victory over her, and ultimately the liberals amongst the citizens of Mazere." Ratin said, he then stopped for a moment to go over his recent notes, smiling at how clever he would sound to his future readers, readers who would for the most part believe as he did, that democracy was for the weak.

**********

On the planet Earth, sitting within the Oval Office of the White House, that was currently his home, the President of the United States of America, President Carnegie read the report for the fifth time. It concerned a memo that according to their informant was being circulated amongst certain senior members of the Government of Mazere. The memo had been sent to President Carnegie by a concerned member of the Mazeren government, one who wished to remain anonymous for the present, but who only had the good of the peoples of the galaxy at heart. The memo stated that the government of Mazere should consider stripping certain alien devices off the Earth freighter Galactic Traveller when it next touched down on Mazere, the devices should then be fitted to one of the Mazeren space cruisers. Gregor Ratin, the anonymous informant, had added a postscript to the memo, that he hoped that by sending the memo to the US government, that they would then send a strongly worded protest to the Mazeren government and ensure that this plan was buried and never resurrected.

It sounded rather naive to President Carnegie, for a minister to believe such a thing could ever be buried, but then how was Carnegie to know that this was not a top-secret memo, in fact it was a fake, sent by Gregor Ratin. Ratin believed that in sending this lie to the President of the United States, the military advisers of the United States of America would then recommend that their government act first, if successful, this would allow his own plans to move ahead. The American military advisers did just what was required of them, they stated that only then would the American nation enjoy a definite lead over the other planets and states of the federation, and in doing so safeguard their people.

The alien technology in question had been found by the crew of the Galactic Traveller on the planet Mystras, and given freely to the newly formed Federation of Planets. However, before they could deliver the technology, they had needed to install some of this alien technology into their freighter. The technology they utilised was in the form of defence shields and a mega powerful Tesla coil transformer to increase the power output of their aging freighters engines. They hoped that by doing so the technology would provide them with the extra time needed to allow the forces commanded by the President of Mazere to come to their aid. They urgently needed her help to ward off another attack from the space cruiser Sentinel, the cruiser that at the time was commanded by Admiral Stator of the Mazeren space fleet, and father of the president of Mazere. Admiral Stator wanted the alien technology stored aboard the freighter to ensure that his own bid for power was successful, a bid that would have finally put his forces up against those of his daughter.

***********

That was all in the recent past, the present was very different, for the captain and crew of the Galactic Traveller were returning to Earth, It was an emotional time for them, for they had left a planet that had once felt like a second home to them, and they had now decided to make Washington their new home port, the reason why, they no longer felt welcome, or safe, on Mazere. First though, the Galactic Traveller would have to go through a major refit because of the pounding it had endured when Admiral Stator, commanding the space cruiser Sentinel, had attacked it. The refit was to have been carried out on Mazere, but this was now considered impossible by them, thankfully, the Galactic Traveller was still up to making this last journey across the galaxy.

For David Charlton and his wife Sarah Jane Hardin it had been a painful wrench, they had left friends behind, both of Earth and of Mazere. For Chief Engineer Tony Miles and his wife Katrina, who was a Mazeren national, it had been even more painful, as Katrina had left her family behind when she, along with their two children, had decided to accompany her husband to Earth. Apart for the hostility they were all facing, one other reason for their leaving Mazere was that Tony Miles hoped that he would be able to obtain work with John Blazer, maybe on one of his interplanetary freighters rather than a starship. He wanted to spend more time at home with his family, and had already decided to resign his post as chief engineer on the freighter. For him to stay on Mazere would have meant his finding work there, a very difficult proposition as his occupation was the chief engineer of a space freighter. For although Earth and Mazere were now allies, the people of Mazere still did not altogether trust the people of Earth, seeing them as only partly civilised, and they certainly never employed any of them in their starships.

Financially, this trip was a success for the crew of the Galactic Traveller, for they had returned to Earth with a full cargo of goods from the planet Mazere, an impatient juggernaut driver was waiting near to the Blazer Space warehouse to take receipt of them, so at least they would be financially solvent, for the moment. They were just going through the final preparations for landing near to the Blazer Space warehouse at the Washington spaceport, their new home base, when they were contacted by the Washington spaceport authorities.

"Captain Charlton, please take your freighter to the western side of the spaceport, you will find one of our people waiting there to direct you down, unfortunately, we have an emergency aboard another starship, which meant that it had to land at your original landing site."

Following the instructions of the spaceport`s control tower, David Charlton changed the course of the old freighter away from the Blazer Space complex, and turned instead for the other side of the spaceport. It did mean that he would have to wait another ten minutes or so before reuniting with his family, but everything seemed to be going so smoothly for him, but then he had no idea that fate had taken an unhealthy interest in their lives.

For the family of David Charlton were not the only ones who were showing interest in his return to Earth. On hearing of the early return of the Galactic Traveller, the government of the United States of America had sent a full company of its Marines to the spaceport, but it was not as a guard of honour. Once the Galactic Traveller had landed at the spot designated by a spaceport operative, one in a small one-man VTOL vehicle, a company of marines appeared from out of a line of military trucks. They were led by a marine captain who came aboard the freighter as soon as the large single door to the spacious hold opened. Walking towards him was a tall herculean figure of a man, his blue eyes looking questioningly at the marine captain. For a moment the marine captain hesitated before finally speaking, for David Charlton cut an imposing figure.

"Captain Charlton, you and your crew must vacate your freighter immediately, I have been ordered to impound it, although I have been asked to assure that it will only be for a short period of time."

"Hold on Captain, what the hell are you talking about?" David Charlton demanded to know. "This is my freighter, and I am staying put until you tell us why we should obey your screwy orders." The crew of the Galactic Traveller now joined their captain, making the marine captain feel a little threatened.

"Captain, I was given my 'screwy orders' by the White House, and if your men do not all back away and give me some air, then I will be forced to have my men remove your crew forcibly."

Everyone immediately backed off, as they had no desire to tangle with a full company of marines, some of which made their presence known by moving towards the now open hold, while the balance of the company surrounded the freighter. The marine officer now handed his orders over to David so that he could read them, when David had done so his anger had not abated, however he knew that he had no option open to him but to obey the marine officer.

"Ok Captain, let us just get some of our personal belongings, and then we will vacate my freighter." David Charlton said while working hard to control his anger. The marine captain decided to agree to this request, for he realised that if he pushed too hard, the situation could turn ugly, and it could then come to the notice of the large number of reporters currently at the spaceport, something his superiors had said they did not want.

As they all left the freighter, and with just a few of their belongings, for the remainder would have to wait until later, the marine officer gave them all one more order.

"Captain Charlton, you and your crew are forbidden to speak of this matter until notified, if you disregard this order you will be charged with treason and treated as a traitor to the United States of America, do I make myself clear?" The marine said looking rather embarrassed at making such an order to such a well-known and respected man.

"As mud Captain, but we shall abide by your order." David said looking the officer straight in the eye, and seeing the embarrassment there he relented a little and smiled at the marine.

"But what about my cargo, it will cost me dear if it is stuck aboard my ship for any length of time?" David asked, concerned that he and his crew could no longer look forward to being financially solvent.

"You will be notified when you will be able to unload your cargo Captain, but it will be no longer than a day or so at the most." The marine captain replied, and with that David had to be satisfied.

A spaceport coach was waiting to take them across to the Blazer Space complex, with four armed guards detailed to accompany them, and when they arrived at the complex, they saw two dozen newsmen swarming around a luxury intercontinental space plane. David realised that there had been no star liner in distress, it had been a means to divert them away from the newsmen. The luxury craft was simply a large red herring, it had been diverted to this landing area by the government in order to distract the newsmen, for after all that David and his crew had accomplished, he knew that the story of their return to Earth would be much sought after. Their coach pulled around to the rear of the complex where the rear door was open, and they were now permitted to leave the coach, but made to enter the complex.

David Charlton entered first and then Sarah Jane Hardin. Sarah was only five feet six inches tall, quite short for this age, you immediately notice her looks, her trim figure, then you look into her blue eyes, they are studying you, and you realise that she is very intelligent, as a former MIT student normally is.

Inside the complex, the Charlton family was waiting for them, Patricia Charlton was the first one to see David and Sarah enter, calling out their names she ran to them and threw her arms around her son and held him tightly, happy to have him safely back on Earth. She was still holding on to him, unwilling to let him go just yet, as Richard Charlton walked briskly over to Sarah and kissed her on the cheek and then hugged her. Waiting patiently in the corner, John Blazer was waiting until the usual family greetings were got out of the way. David gently released himself from his mother`s arms and walked over and hugged him, and then he turned and greeted his father.

"Sorry about the damage to the Galactic Traveller, I am afraid that we had a little trouble Dad." David said with a wry grin upon his face. "Our luck does not seem to have changed all that much on our return to Earth, it seems more like our first arrival on Mazere." David complained bitterly. "Did they tell you anything about this farce?" David asked.

"Yes son, the authorities told us that you were safe, but explained that you would be landing on the far side of the spaceport." Richard Charlton explained. "That luxury craft sitting in your usual landing spot was hastily redirected to distract the newsmen waiting for your return. The celebrities who are aboard the ship are waiting until their transport arrives here from the main terminal, then the way will be clear for all of us to leave, until then we are under house arrest." Richard Charlton said just a little angrily.

"Surely, there must have been an easier way for them to pillage our freighter?" David complained bitterly.

"There was, but you arrived well before your expected date, so you see, this is entirely your own fault." Richard Charlton said with a laugh.

"Did they tell you everything Dad, about why they wanted the Galactic Traveller?" David said in an attempt to ask the question without committing treason, for he did not know just who might be listening in to their conversation.

"Yes David, they knew that you would have to tell us something when we were forbidden to go anywhere near the Galactic Traveller, so they told us the lot." Richard Charlton said grimly. John Blazer now joined them to vent his anger.

"The stupid idiots do not seem to realise just how much trouble this will cause when it all come out, as it will, there is no way to keep something like this a secret. For a start there are one hundred odd marines, a team of technicians and the crew of the Intrepid." John Blazer complained angrily. He too was angry, but for different reasons, for he saw grave planetary, and interplanetary, implications following this action by the American government. Blazer was tall and lean, and as he was aged seventy-two, he delighted in boasting that while he might not be as fast as he once was, at least he still possessed most of his hair, although it was now very grey.

"The Intrepid, Uncle John?" David asked. He always referred to John Blazer as his Uncle, in fact, he was only his godfather, but there was such a deep bond of friendship between them.

"Yes, David, when we were all herded in here I put a call through to a friend at the Pentagon, I asked him if he knew what was happening over here, Oh I did not say just what was happening, the authorities cannot call me a traitor. Anyway, my friend said that he was very sorry, but the alien technology in the form of the hardware aboard your ship is now the property of the United States of America. The reason given for stripping the hardware from the Galactic Traveller is supposedly to stop it from falling into unfriendly hands." John Blazer said grimly "He then said that the fools are going to fit all the stolen alien hardware onto the Intrepid, it will make it the most powerful space cruiser in the galaxy, because it has the engines to power what your ship could just about start up."

Patricia Charlton now pushed past the men and hugged Sarah. "We are so very happy to see you all safely back on Earth, Sarah. Earth`s ambassador on Mazere has been busy sending reports back to Earth about the cool reception you have been given by the authorities since your treasure hunt ended so dramatically. I take it that President Lantana has still not got over the loss of her father, but how can she blame you and David when the man committed suicide rather than face the disgrace awaiting him back on Mazere?" Patricia Charlton said sounding so very concerned, but she was not able to keep the joy from her eyes at their return to Earth.

It was David who replied to her question. "It did feel a little icy back their mother, very much like the Antarctic, we had no choice but to leave."

Sarah nodded in agreement, as she remembered her last days on Mazere. "It also felt just a little unsafe, what with all the glares during the day and the shouted insults during the night while we were in our hotel room. I just hope that Steve and Millicent will be ok, thankfully they were not the target of the nationalists." Sarah said feeling a little guilty at leaving her two friends behind, especially as it had become too much for her and David. With the troubles threatening to escalate, they had fled from Mazere, and two days before the original date set for their trip to Earth, it was this that had caused the authorities on Earth to make an impromptu arrangement for their arrival.

"I am sure that they will be fine, Darling, in any case, Lantana needs them there as a sure sign that the federation is a permanent fixture." David said hoping to reassure his wife as to the safety of their friends, something that he had now begun to worry about.

"Well we were a gigantic symbol of the federation, but she did not try to stop all the ill will that came our way, even when it promised to escalate into violence." Sarah exclaimed angrily.

President Lantana Stator was supposed to be their friend; however, with the death of her father she had turned very frosty. She had done nothing public or otherwise to deflect the ill will generated by the death of such a prominent figure, and according to some of the news reports, David and Sarah were the cause behind the death of a national hero.

"Is there any need for you to ever return to Mazere, David? If it is money, well you know that I would pay you to stay here rather than see you head back there. Too many of the dead admiral`s friends will be only too happy to see the two of you dead." John Blazer declared in all honesty, for as the owner of Blazer Space, he could well afford to do as he had offered.

"Do not worry Uncle John, for the moment all Sarah wants to do is to go back to MIT and complete her education, and all I want to do is to rest. Oh, Uncle John, did you manage to find a spot for Tony Miles in your vast empire?" David asked motioning for Tony Miles to come forward with his young family. David had already contacted Blazer and asked if his godfather could help out his crew find new appointments, and also places to live.

Tony Miles was twenty-nine years in age with brown hair and a pair of large brown eyes and an ever-young good looking but boyish face, he nodded a greeting at the man before him. John Blazer already knew Tony Miles and liked the young engineer.

"Yes David, I have arranged for Tony and his family to live in an apartment not too far from the spaceport." Blazer now turned back to Tony Miles. "There is also a job ready for you Tony, heading a Blazer Space maintenance team, whenever you are ready. It will mean that you can spend your nights at home with your family, well most nights anyway. You will not need to go racing around the galaxy with fools such as David." Blazer said turning and smiling at David, who returned the smile while thinking that his godfather could well be right in his assessment of him, even if he had not meant it.

Katrina ran forward after hearing his words, leaving her two young children with Lana Lee, their friend and fellow Mazeren, Katrina threw her arms around Blazer as she first hugged him and then kissed him on his cheek. "Thank you, Mr Blazer, Tony is a great engineer; he will not let you down." She said with the threat of tears, for she saw that her new life on a strange planet would be fine.

John Blazer saw Alan Lee at the back of this happy group and beckoned him over. Alan was Australian whose family had originally come from China, he though had been born in Sydney, his brown eyes smiled a greeting at John Blazer.

"There is also a job for you Alan, and your new wife, I have a birth for you both aboard one of my interplanetary freighters, her present captain is talking about retiring and you can replace him, if you want the job." John Blazer said smiling at last, but his smile soon went as he thought of the coming trouble caused by the American government, little did he realise how much it would affect them.

"Thank you, Mr Blazer, we would like that just fine." Alan Lee said returning the smile, for he knew that David could not afford to keep him on for the length of time the Galactic Traveller would be laid up.

It would certainly need of a lot of work, after the pounding that Admiral Stator gave it, and especially after the US government technicians had stolen all of the alien hardware. They would probably leave gaping holes in its hull, and even after these were patched up the starship would no longer be considered space worthy, there was even a chance that it might never return to space.

Lana Lee nervously came forward, leaving the two children with their mother, she was Alan Lee`s wife. Lana nervously added her thanks, she was still not sure of the reception she would get after the way she had betrayed those aboard the Galactic Traveller on its hunt for the alien technology. John Blazer knew the full story though and greeted her like an old friend, smiling and then kissing her on the cheek, Lana returned his smile, and the kiss, before retreating back to the side of her husband feeling surer now of her place amongst her new friends.

It was only a few minutes after they had arrived at the Blazer Space complex that a team of technicians arrived at the freighter, they immediately began to strip the Galactic Traveller of the alien hardware acquired on the planet of Mystras. The hardware was, as John Blazer had stated, to be moved just three hundred yards across the spaceport, where it would be immediately installed into the United States Spaceship Intrepid.

The arrival of the Galactic Traveller had been news; however, the arrival of the celebrities had allowed the reporters to go away happy, the spaceport`s authorities having told them that the freighter had been delayed.

Two days later and the Galactic Traveller was released to the Charlton's as promised, with a repeat of the earlier instructions not to say anything about what had happened to the Galactic Traveller or the alien technology. Unfortunately, the secret was soon out, thanks to a very lucky journalist who was not too far away from the Intrepid when strange looking hardware began to be attached to its hull. After hours of speaking to the workers at the spaceport, he finally had the whole story. How a company of marines had impounded the Galactic Traveller, escorted the crew from the starship, and then had them taken away in a bus to an unknown destination, unknown that is to his witnesses. He had attempted to get in contact with the Charlton family, and then with John Blazer, but without success, for they were following the government`s instructions, this had simply made his story read all the more dramatic. His headline read; Galactic Traveller looted by US government, Captain and crew missing.

As soon as the story broke, the governments of the power blocs around the world, China, the Russian/European union, the Muslim league, and the unaligned nations of Earth, all complained bitterly about this action, one that would give the United States the most powerful space cruiser in the known galaxy. They demanded that America turn over the technology to the UN, however, the American government`s reply was that it would only hand over the technology once a United Earth Government had been formed, something that was already moving ahead, albeit rather slowly.

**********

The embassy of Mazere was within sight of the UN building in New York City, the ambassador was in it when he heard the news, and he immediately reported all the news regarding the Intrepid back to the authorities on Mazere.

Amongst the politicians on Mazere who heard the news were some who had been loyal to dead Admiral Stator, and who shared his beliefs, and they decided that it would suit their aims if they were to view this act by the United States as a hostile act.

Gregor Ratin almost choked on his laughter, he could not believe that the fools had followed the script so ably, now if they could just do as well in the next act of the drama, he would be eternally grateful to them.

The Ambassadors from Earth were called in, there being four such ambassadors, for they each acted for one of the different power blocs on Earth. The government official, Taluk Fogram, the Mazeren delegate for the inner council of the new Federation of Planets, complained bitterly to the ambassador from the United States of America and its allies about this act.

"Ambassador Spencer, the government of Mazere, and President Stator especially, was very happy for the alien hardware to be aboard the Galactic Traveller, with David Charlton in command of it, for he found and presented all of the alien technology to the Federation of Planets. However, for such a powerful starship as the Intrepid to have it is a very different situation, one that poses a danger to the peace of the galaxy; please relay our thoughts to your government. In our view, the only way to repair the situation is if all this hardware is brought back to Mazere, it can then be kept at the Federation Science Building along with all the other items found on the planet Mystras. No one member should possess such technology before we are able to draw up the technical schematics that will allow all federation members to profit from them."

He assured the other ambassadors that the special relationship between them was still intact, it was only the United States that had angered his people, they of course were in full agreement with everything that he had said and publicly shunned the US ambassador and his aides.

**********

Four senior members from the armed forces and the para military law enforcement of Mazere sat around a large highly polished table, together with them was a senior member of the present government. Each of them wanted to overthrow the present government of Mazere and restore the former one, a government that had kept any that it thought of as unfit, intellectually, as second-class citizens, ones with fewer rights and certainly no voting rights. These second-class citizens had been given the rank of Non-Citizens, and they had been forced to live mainly in the industrial cities of Mazere, cities that were, and to a certain extent still were, full of pollution which the government of the time did little to clean up. The government had also treated the drinking water with a chemical to drastically lower the birth rate amongst this second-class citizen, who even had to wear uniforms which denoted their lowly status.

These five men would sit at the head of this new military led government while they changed the constitution back into its original form, then when the voting population saw how much better off they were, they would promise that elections would once more be held, and that a formally elected civilian government would once again rule Mazere.

They had decided that their first act would be to break up the Federation of Planets into its original parts, these five men saw no reason why they should be on a lowly par with the people of Earth and Phlox, who they thought were of a lesser intelligence. The government of the United States of America had provided them with an excellent chance of doing just that, and they were now going through the final check list before this next part of their plan to disrupt the federation, and subsequently Mazere, was put into operation.

"It was a simple task to have the necessary explosives delivered to the Federation Science Building, our operative there has already placed the explosives in areas that will result in the total destruction of the building." Admiral Malik reported to the other members of the group. Malik was a contemporary of the late Admiral Stator, and he saw President Lantana Stator`s act against her father as the supreme act of betrayal. With the assistance of the other four members of his group, he now saw a way to exact his revenge, and it was all thanks to the fools from Earth.

"The internal security doors will be opened by one of our operatives, he is in charge of the security over the weekend and so it will be a simple task for him. Little does he know that he will be killed, his brave body will be there to be found by the rescue team, when they finally clear the site of rubble. The haulage trucks will pull into the science building early on Sunday morning, with the security doors open, the alien technology can be loaded aboard the trucks and be on its way within the hour. No one will know of its disappearance. The following morning the explosives will detonate and kill the scientists from the planet Phlox, and any of our own scientists who are not loyal to our movement. The area where the machines stood will be buried under tons of rubble." General Pallas of the Mazeren state police reported to the group.

General Pallas too wanted revenge for the admiral, but he also wanted revenge for the humiliation that he and his colleagues had suffered at the hands of President Lantana Stator, both now and when she had simply been the unknown voice of resistance. The state police were now but a shadow of its former size, reduced by Lantana, as she no longer needed an organisation to monitor every citizen of Mazere. An organisation that had blackmailed or threatened citizens into providing it with the names of anyone they suspected to be against the then ultra-right-wing government.

"The Mazeren scientists who are with us have their orders, they will all arrive late at the science building, trouble with their vehicle, and too late to join their colleagues from Mazere and Phlox." Commander Trajan of the Mazeren defence force reported. "They will be suitably shocked when they hear of the fate of the dead Mazeren scientists and their Phloxan allies." He said smiling, an action that somehow made his face change to that of an evil thug, which of course he was.

He had cried when he heard of the death of Admiral Stator, and later he had vowed to give his admiral the revenge he deserved, and he now saw a way to keep his promise and have some fun at the same time. The Mazeren defence force was the planet`s military wing, as Mazere was united under one government they had no use for an army, such as the one that all the nations of Earth still possessed. The defence force was a small force attached to the space fleet for use on the planets colonised by Mazere, or within the Mazeren zone of space. They guarded the Mazeren interests against such planets as Earth or Phlox, although with the setting up of the Federation of Planets their duties were now ill defined. They also guarded areas of national importance, such as top-secret research complexes.

"I have arranged for the scientists from Earth to be kidnapped as they leave their hotel, they will be picked up by two specially adapted taxis, they will be gassed as soon as they are seated within them, they will then be taken to the top security complex at Reinland." Captain Zior of the space cruiser Sentinel reported to the group. He was another of the group who wanted revenge for his dead admiral, and if in doing so he helped to accomplish what his admiral had died attempting, then that was just dandy.

Gregor Ratin, the Mazeren minister of the interior sat at the end of the table and was the nominal head of the group; it had been Ratin who had brought the other men together, and he who had outlined their plan of action. He was a tall man with classical features, he had very little hair left upon his head, which was maybe why he now sported a beard, and he looked to be quite fit for his sixty years of age. He had risen through the ranks of Mazeren politicians of the former government, and without any of the stench that had accompanied many of his colleagues, he had preferred to stay in the shadows and use others to do the dirty work, to wait his opportunity.

"As per our plan, I will continue to play the role of a loyal member of this government of the people, and as the interior minister I am ideally placed to ensure that you four are kept up to date with every thought that germinates within the head of our illustrious president. If any attempt is made to stop us taking control of Mazere, I will immediately co-ordinate with the four of you to ensure that it fails." Ratin said. "This time, we are the ones who are operating in secrecy, with me playing the role formerly played so well by President Stator."

Nothing of their plans had been put down in writing, or onto a computer, they had learnt how easy it was for such information to get out when Admiral Stator`s attempt at a military coup failed. The one that had swept President Lantana to power amid a nationwide protest by the people of Mazere.

**********

The Federation Science Building opened at eight in the morning, as normal the Phloxan scientists were already hard at work on their computers when the first of the Mazeren scientists arrived to join them.

"Your colleagues are a little late this morning, Professor Benin." Professor Rhiall remarked. Rhiall was the senior Phloxan scientist.

"Yes, but at least there are two of us at our posts, none of the scientists from Earth have yet to arrive." Benin replied smiling at his colleague.

"I wish they would arrive, until they do we cannot unlock the door into the alien technology room." Professor Klein, another of the Phloxan scientists, complained.

It had been agreed that the alien devices could only be worked upon when the scientists from all three federation planets were assembled, to prevent one planet stealing a march on the other two. To prevent this, each team held one of three keys, and all three are necessary to unlock the door.

The first of the explosive devices exploded on the floor beneath them, the floor that held the alien technology, stopping all such small talk as the stunned scientists looked at one another in consternation. This first explosion was swiftly followed by others, the scientists were only able to look towards the doors that would lead them to safety, look but not make a first step as the whole laboratory was suddenly enveloped in fire as the explosives concealed here exploded, everyone within the room died either from the explosion, the fire, or finally when the ceiling fell on them. The whole building shook with the series of massive explosions, then, amid a cloud of dust the building collapsed in upon itself.

**********

The sounds of people going to work had woken Professor Armond Halliard from his slumbers; he had been working at home the night before, and had not finished until well past midnight, and so he had decided to sleep late the following morning. Struggling from his bed, he went to his bedroom window and opened the curtains onto a bright sunny day. It was the start of another working week, one he was looking forward to, for he was researching into the history of the ancients, an alien civilisation long dead, history that he had found recorded in the alien depository on Mystras. He was just enjoying a morning stretch when the sound a series of massive explosions reached his ears and rattled the windows of his house. Startled he looked for the cause, and he saw smoke rising above Plakara, the capital city of Mazere where he lived, a feeling of dread ran swiftly through his body, why he did not know, but it affected him badly, he had to sit down and take a number of deep breaths.

He quickly washed, dressed, and headed down to his kitchen, while his breakfast was cooking, a sort of porridge that he was particularly fond of, he turned on his television to the news channel. The hosts of the morning programme were talking about the terrible disaster that had happened in central Plakara.

"Just thirty minutes ago, the city of Plakara bore witness to a series of terrible explosions. It took place just two streets away from this television studio, at the newly established Federation Science Building. I myself can testify to the fact that little remains of the building now, and as for the fabulous scientific finds brought back from the planet of Mystras, I fear that they too are all destroyed, along with the scientists working there, five from each of the three members of the federation, the planets, Mazere, Phlox and Earth."

There now followed a full list of the scientists and other staff who could have been killed, but Professor Halliard decided to forego this, and his breakfast, while he came to terms with this tragedy. He immediately contacted the hotel where his friends from Earth were staying; however, the people at the hotel informed him that the scientists from Earth had unfortunately left more than an hour ago, two taxis had arrived to take them to the science building. Hearing this, Professor Halliard sank down onto a chair, for his friends must assuredly be amongst the dead, lying buried beneath the ruins of the science building. He decided to venture out immediately, to see if the authorities at the site of the disaster had any more news. He was desperate to know if his friends were indeed dead, or, if by some miracle they were in fact safe, to him, the loss of the alien technology was nothing compared to this.

When he approached the street that housed the ruins of the science building, he found that he was unable to go any further due to the police cordon thrown hastily around the area of the disaster. After spending five minutes trying, but failing, to extract some information out of the officer in charge, he was forced to continue on to the Archaeological Museum for Ancient Alien Civilisations. He was the curator here and normally got so engrossed in his work that night fell before he even realised that he had missed lunch, today though his thoughts were on the site of the disaster and wondering how long he would have to wait until the ruins had been cleared and the bodies recovered. He now reflected upon the thoughts that had stopped him from sleeping a night or so ago, it was after he had heard of the pillaging of the Galactic Traveller, for the news had been received by the media on Mazere with much anger and protests, both sentiments echoed by their politicians. At the time an irrational fear had ran through his mind, for the act struck him as one that the late Admiral Stator would have committed. He now wondered if this act, committed by the people of Earth, could have anything to do with the destruction of the science building, and the deaths of so many people.

**********

Just over two hours earlier the scientists from Earth had left their hotel to find two taxis waiting outside, they had been booked to take them to the Federation Science Building, Steve Ryan and his wife Millicent travelled in the first taxi, while their three colleagues made use of the second one. These taxis were of an ultra-modern design, they were robotic and so there were no drivers in either of the taxis. No sooner had they entered the vehicle than the doors and windows were locked, and the glass of the windows turned black.

"What the hell?" Millicent exclaimed. "Steve, my window will not open, hey what`s going on? Steve!" This last word uttered by Millicent was as the passenger compartment began to fill with gas, and after a brief struggle to open the doors of the taxis, they and the other passengers in the other taxi slumped unconscious in their seats.

**********

President Lantana Stator was a beautiful woman, even after the stress of holding the office of President of Mazere for two very long years. She had long black wavy hair, large grey eyes, a small pert nose and a pale complexion. Many thought she was too young to hold such a post, she was still under thirty years of age, but she had been swept to power days after the people's revolution that had been mainly organised by her. Lantana had lived a turbulent life, but even this had not prepared her for the emotions that filled her brain when her father had committed suicide, it was following her success at thwarting his attempt at seizing power. Feeling guilty was irrational, for it was her father who had attempted to betray her, even so, it had caused her to forget some of her friends, little did she realise how much she would soon be wishing for their return.

She walked out of her suite of rooms within the presidential palace and across to the working part of the palace, she was about to chair a meeting of her military advisers. She paused before entering the council room, for she knew that some of her opponents were sitting inside, working as always to stall, or kill, her more liberal policies, although this time the meeting was about the disaster at the Federation Science Building. Taking a deep breath, she entered and took her seat, it was positioned half way along a long heavily polished table. Opposite her was the Mazeren delegate for the inner council of the new Federation of Planets, Taluk Fogram, he had been appointed by her and was an ally. He was also a close friend, one who she could rely on when her many political enemies sought to embarrass her in their efforts to depose her. The same could not be said for some of the other members of the Mazeren Government, ones who she had been forced to appoint to placate the large minority of her people who disagreed with her policies.

One of these polices was her abolishment of the rank of Non-Citizen, it was a just measure that needed enacting. Unfortunately, some of the citizens had lost out when their taxes were raised to not only pay for the cleaning up the cities which housed the Non-Citizens, but also to pay for the increase in the wages of the former Non-Citizens. This minority had not only disagreed with this change, they had also disagreed with the formation of the Federation of Planets, for they thought that putting Earth and Phlox on a par with Mazere was a major insult to the people of Mazere.

One problem faced by Lantana, and many other leaders of free nations, was that she was not all-powerful; she had to get the approval of the members of the senate before a bill could be passed, and, once again, many of the members had been a part of the former government. For Mazere was a one-party world, it was believed that a multitude of political parties meant that the best people were often not elected to government because they are in the wrong party. Another problem associated with having more than one party is that policies change when the government does, whether the original policies are correct or not. In a nutshell, the Mazeren believed that their system ensured that the best men were elected to govern, and that the policies were changed only when those best suited to govern decided to do so. However, as David Charlton had thought on hearing of the political setup on Mazere, there was a major problem associated with a one-party government, it was their trend to become dictatorial, they were also hard to argue with and even harder to replace.

After greeting the men around the table, Lantana turned to General Pallas for information regarding the destruction of the Federation Science Building. "General Pallas, when will we know which explosive was used to destroy the building?" Lantana asked the state police officer.

"We should have an answer very soon, maybe even before this meeting has come to an end Madame President." Pallas replied agreeably for once, but then, he already knew that the findings would be an embarrassment for Lantana.

"Commander Trajan, when will your people have cleared the rubble away so that we can learn the full extent of the tragedy?" Lantana asked the commander of the Mazeren Defence Forces.

"Fortunately, it was not a large building, just two storeys plus the basement, where the alien technology is kept. However, we have to go slowly, just in case we find a survivor, but we should have the majority of the rubble cleared away within two days. We have a large team working on it twenty-four hours a day, during the hours of darkness the trucks hauling away the rubble will be able to move that much easier, and so return for another load all the sooner." Trajan replied grimly as he attempted to show how badly the terrorist attack had hit him, but of course it had not.

"Thank you, gentlemen, what else can you tell me, Taluk? Lantana asked looking across the table at her friend.

"Madame President, the report that we received just minutes ago from the head of the rescue team is quite clear, none of the scientists of Earth are among the dead. The doorman managed to escape from the building before it collapsed; he told us that the scientists from Earth never arrived at the building. They are still missing, and because of this it has been suggested that after the site has been cleared of rubble, that the alien technology may also be found to be missing. It has been suggested that they may have stolen it over the weekend, for that part of the city centre is very quiet. It hurts me to even talk of these fears, Madame President, but one thought haunts me, that following the incident concerning the space cruiser Intrepid, the US government may have arranged for the alien technology to be taken back to Earth, along with their scientists. This would give them a clear technological lead, one that in time would turn them into a galactic superpower. If the Americans were indeed behind the attack Madame President, then bearing in mind what I have just said, it is even more important that the attack that took place in the centre of our capital city does not go unanswered." Fogram said grimly.

"You are quite correct Taluk, such a thing cannot go unanswered, how do you suggest we proceed?" Lantana asked in a shocked voice.

"Madame President, although it might mean an end to the Federation of Planets, I believe that we have no other options open to us. First, we must demand that the alien technology is returned, and that those responsible for this atrocity are made to answer for their crimes. If the Americans refuse to comply with our demands then we must break off diplomatic relations with the government of the United States of America." Taluk Fogram said sadly, for he too had had great hopes for the fledgling federation.

"I hesitate to suggest what your next course of action would have to be Madame President, for it would fall upon you to consult with your government to debate whether to declare war upon the United States of America, and while we still have a chance of winning such a war." Fogram said grimly, and although he had voiced this extreme action, his very being cried out against the possibility of such a thing actually happening.

Lantana had not been expecting any of this from Fogram, she sat back in her chair, too shocked to speak for the moment, and this gave Admiral Malik a chance to say his set piece. Admiral Malik was sitting next to Taluk Fogram, and for once was in complete agreement with his fellow adviser.

"Madame President, I did advise you to tread carefully as regards our dealings with Earth; they are a planet that is still troubled by many different power blocs, all of which have different agendas to each other, as well as to our own. The government of the United States of America is the most powerful of these, and I believe that it needed the alien technology to help it in its aim to become the only power bloc on Earth. As Minister Fogram has just advised, we must break off diplomatic relations immediately. Furthermore, I want to go on record and state that I agree with the summing up of the situation presented to us by Minister Fogram. What they have done is to commit an act of war, and we must instigate a rapid armament program, we urgently need to build a much larger fleet of space cruisers, if we are to be able to respond accordingly, as Minister Fogram recommended." Admiral Malik demanded angrily.

"If as you say they now have the alien technology, their starships will soon enjoy a massive technological advantage over our fleet?" Lantana managed to reply as she fought to come to terms with what Fogram had said at the meeting. "We need to find out the truth behind this terrible act, and very soon, if we want to be in a position to react positively to it."

She too was angry at the terrorist act, and if it was by the US government, then she wanted them punished. However, she did not want to go to war against a power that could possibly defeat their own, not without first carefully calculating the odds, and especially if it would finally lead to the death of large numbers of her people, should the war reach Mazere or its colonies. Commander Trajan now decided to voice his thoughts on the matter.

"At this moment the United States of America only has one starship fitted with the alien technology, Madame President, if we are to be able to respond, then we must do so sooner rather than later. And as you stated just now Madame President, it will be almost impossible for us to act later, and certainly not without the assistance of the other power blocs on Earth. With this in mind may I make a proposal Madame President, as Admiral Malik has just stated, the people of Earth have still not formed a single united government of Earth, we should immediately advise the other ambassadors here on Mazere of our fears. The Chinese, the Muslim league and maybe even the Russian/European bloc, we should make every effort to persuade them to join us in a war against a common enemy. With the US government fighting a war against the combined armies of these three power blocs they will be unable to build a fleet of super starships, if we attacked at an opportune moment we could easily destroy their present fleet of starships, and while it is still inferior to our own. With no real defence left to them we could assist the other powers of Earth to then lay waste to the factories of the United States that are concerned with weapons production, and by doing so end this threat to our planet for a considerable time, if not for ever, if we are ruthless enough. The other power blocs will never unite together to form a united planet and threaten our people, not without a lot of bloodshed and a significant loss of technology." Commander Trajan of the Mazeren Defence Force advised smugly and with no thought what so ever for the huge losses in life that would be incurred, especially on Earth.

"Commander Trajan is correct, if handled carefully, we should be able to rouse the anger of the Muslim league and the Chinese forces, and maybe even the Russian/European forces. When the fighting begins on Earth we can then deploy our space cruisers and destroy the fledgling Starfleet of the United States and later, that of the other power blocs on Earth." Admiral Malik announced triumphantly.

Even if Lantana had trusted either of her two military advisers, which she did not, to wage such a war went against every fibre of her being. However, she knew that she had to tread carefully, the media was outraged and demanding action after the terrorist attack, to disregard the advice of her military advisers would play into the hands of her opponents. They would immediately throw her lack of experience at her and demand that she should stand down as president. This would be disastrous not only for the people of Mazere, but also for the people of the galaxy. However, there were also the thoughts of her ally Taluk Fogram to consider, his warning had chilled her body. She would need to act upon it, and urgently, for if the United States of America was found to be behind the terrorist act then such a war would be her only available response to their action, excepting that of bowing down to the only super power in the known galaxy.

"Thank you, gentlemen, I too consider that we are moving ever closer to declaring war upon the United States of America, but first I want you all to take the following actions, and before I commit Mazere to such an action." Lantana declared gravely, much to the glee of the others sitting around the table, with the exception of Taluk Fogram that is.

"Gentlemen, tomorrow morning we should know more about the attack, we will meet then to discuss the situation, and what actions, if any we should take. However, before then I want the following actions put into operation." She now looked across at General Pallas who headed the infamous state police, a man for whom she had no liking.

"General Pallas, I require you to search Mazere for any trace of the missing scientists from Earth, and also the alien technology, put as many people into the search as you have available, nothing else matters except finding the stolen technology." President Lantana said stalling for time so that she could think matters through, and maybe talk to those who were loyal to her.

"Admiral Malik, if indeed the missing scientists and the alien hardware have been taken off the planet, then they needed a starship, I want you to find out which starship took them away, our area of space is not so full of starships that this should not be beyond your officers." Lantana ordered her most senior officer of the space fleet.

She still could not believe that Steve Ryan and Millicent McIntosh, who lead the team of the scientists from Earth, had betrayed her so; however, if they had been a part of it, then she wanted to know the name of the starship so that she could hit back at whatever government had done this terrible deed.

"Commander Trajan, it may be too late to close the stable door, however, I want the security around all of our military and scientific bases improved, both with equipment and personnel." As soon as President Stator had given this last order she felt that she had just made a mistake, why she could not say, but she hoped that it would not come back to bite her.

"I must consult my grand council before making a final decision as to how we should proceed, and I urgently need more information from all of you regarding the terrorist attack. Only when I have it will I act; however, I will put forward all of your arguments to my grand council for urgent consideration, we shall speak again on this matter gentlemen." Lantana said as she noticed the looks of anger on three of the four men`s faces. However, she would not be rushed into making war on a people who at one time she had seen as trusted friends.

The four men left her offices soon after, and she now called in some of her most trusted ministers, she needed to know their thoughts about the terrorist attack on the science building, and more importantly their ideas as to how she should proceed.

At this new meeting, Gregor Ratin, her minister of the interior, was also present, although he certainly was not amongst those who Lantana trusted, he should have been at the earlier meeting but had been delayed due to family problems. He found it hard to resist smiling as he heard how the earlier meeting had gone, for he could not have wished for better news. With the United States spending so much of its time denying that it had anything to do with the terrorist attack, and the other powers on Earth moving away from the idea of a single united government, Mazere could spend the time installing the alien technology onto all of its space cruisers. Then a single swift attack would end any chance that Earth would rise again to challenge Mazere as the dominant power in the galaxy. As for Phlox, Mazere would simply brush them aside.

"Madame President, although I do agree with some of the thoughts of your military advisers, I do advise you to be cautious. I would certainly not speak to the other ambassadors from Earth until you yourself are fully committed to war, to do so could precipitate a war which you later find you do not want." Ratin advised.

Lantana was surprised to find Ratin coming down against instant war, speaking against the advice of men she thought of as his natural allies. In fact, unknown to anyone else he wanted the relationship between the federation members to fester and not to explode, not just yet. He wanted to rule Mazere, not wage a bloody and expensive war. In any case, he had heard from the Mazeren scientists working on the alien technology, they had told him that full schematic plans for the alien technology recently fitted to the space cruiser Intrepid had already been drawn up. They had persuaded the other scientists to delay revealing this until federation day, not even the Intrepid incident had changed this. Steve Ryan had finally agreed on behalf of the scientists of Earth, the announcement was to have been made in three weeks' time. However, unknown to Steve Ryan, Mazeren factories were even now preparing to produce enough of the alien technology to equip the entire Mazeren fleet. So, war would only suit Interior Minister Ratin when the technology had been installed into his space fleet, when success was guaranteed. Not even Admiral Maric had this information, Ratin would only tell the other members of his conspiracy when they needed to know, and not before, he still needed to ramp up the tension some more.

At the end of a long discussion, all of her advisers agreed that she should not allow Mazere to be rushed into a grave mistake concerning Earth, for Phlox could easily side with Earth against Mazere, and this would ensure that the situation would deteriorate even further. They also saw war as a possible end result, something that would see her hopes of a prosperous Mazere leading a Federation of Planets destroyed forever, but they still had time to decide, one, maybe two weeks should not make any difference, but not much longer.

The next morning soon came around, and the sun was beating down upon Plakara as Taluk Fogram brought more bad news to the meeting. "Madame President, I am afraid that the situation has just got worse, Marshall Chiron, the Phloxan ambassador, has just informed me that he and his staff will be leaving Mazere. He has been instructed to inform me that the people of Phlox have unanimously decided to break of political relations with Mazere. It seems that they believe that the terrorist attack was conducted by a home-grown group, and probably a mixture of our military together with members of the government. They demand that the alien technology be found and brought back under federation control. Until you agree to launch an internal investigation, diplomatic relations will not be restored."

It was obvious that the minister wanted to add something further, but was not sure that he should, he wanted to advise her that she placate the Phloxans in some way. Following a troubled night in which the foreign minister had gone over and over the previous day`s terrible events in his mind, he now wondered if the Phloxans could be correct, however, Lantana forestalled him.

"Taluk, no, I cannot believe such a preposterous thing is even possible, and for what reasons, no, the Phloxans are just taking revenge on us for past wrongs." Lantana said, however, now it had been said the thought lay there like a cancer, eating away at her, would her political enemies really go to such lengths to depose her.

**********

The next day was very overcast, mirroring how Lantana felt as she sat down at her next meeting with her military advisers, it went as badly as the last one.

"I have here the results of our careful chemical analysis of the explosives used, our experts found that they were manufactured in the United States of America." General Pallas said looking grim but feeling delighted with his disclosure. "Unfortunately, there is still no trace of the missing scientists from Earth." Pallas finished glumly, which is not how he felt, he saw that their plans were proceeding exactly as planned, for Interior Minister Ratin had kept silent about his own views on the matter.

"I too have mixed results, Madame President, I am unable to give you any information about the starship that took the Earth scientists and the alien technology away from Mazere, but my people have narrowed the search down to two Phloxan freighters." Malic announced glumly, a look taken up by the others.

This added a new dimension to the puzzle, if the people of the planet Phlox had conspired with the US government in the terrorist act, why had their scientists been sacrificed? This simply did not make any sense. Lantana was not satisfied; she needed more before she allowed her military to push her into a war against another planet.

"Admiral, I find the very idea that the Phloxans sacrificed their best scientists while saving the lives of the scientists of Earth, ludicrous. I also want your people to redouble their efforts to find the starship that supposedly took the alien technology and the scientists from Earth away from our planet."

Lantana now turned to General Pallas. "General, just on the off chance that Admiral Maric is correct concerning the two Phloxan Freighters, please contact your agents on Phlox, you are to order them to redouble their efforts to find the missing scientists from Earth, if as you say they are no longer on Mazere." Lantana demanded and Pallas willingly agreed to this demand, for with Mazere cut off, diplomatically, he could say anything, knowing that the president could never refute it.

Shortly after the meeting, Taluk Fogram sent a message to the Mazeren embassy on Earth, in it he told the ambassador that he and his staff were to be ready to return to Mazere, unless of course the situation changed radically. The situation did not improve, for later that day Admiral Malik asked to see Lantana, urgently.

"Madame President, I have just received news that a starship from Earth briefly touched down on a small airport far to the north of Plakara, it is normally only used by terrestrial craft which is why I did not hear about it until now. It loaded a cargo of rare earth minerals for shipment to Earth, however, the cargo was very large Madame President, I believe we have found what happened to the alien technology." Malik almost crowed.

In fact, the starship captain was a smuggler, which is why he chose to land at the Northern airport, along with the rare earth minerals was a consignment of contraband.

"Thank you, Admiral Malik, I fear that you may well be right." Lantana said in surrender to the fates, she now turned to Taluk Fogram.

"Taluk you recommended that we should demand the return of the stolen alien technology and also those responsible for the terrorist atrocity, will you now please do so. If the Americans do not state that they intend to comply within the next twenty-four hours, please break off diplomatic relations with them." Lantana said grimly.

**********

The demand was delivered to Adelita Alvarez, the American delegate for the Federation of Planets, by the Mazeren ambassador, Rigel Krieg. He did so as soon as her office opened the next day, astonished and not a little angry at this insult to her country she contacted President Carnegie to inform him of the demand.

President Carnegie was also astonished when he heard the demand, and he ordered Alvarez to tell the Mazerens what to do with their demand.

Lantana was not astonished when she received Carnegie's response, she was saddened, she called Fogram to her office.

"Taluk please tell the American ambassador that he is no longer welcome on Mazere." Lantana felt like crying, she had accomplished so much, but now it was all coming apart, soon nothing would be left of it, and the government of Mazere might even revert to what it once had been under her predecessor.

The following morning the Mazeren Ambassador, Rigel Krieg, was contacted by Taluk Fogram.

"The work of clearing the rubble away from the Federation Science Building has finished on time, and there was no trace of the alien technology within the ruins, it has indeed been stolen. There is still no trace of the missing scientists from Earth, the two facts are locked together, this afternoon, at four o`clock your time, you are to inform the US government that Mazere is breaking off diplomatic relations with them."

The ambassador had immediately made an appointment to see Adelita Alvarez, the American delegate for the Federation of Planets, at the prescribed time.

Following this, Ambassador Krieg swore loudly and stormed out of his office, loudly slamming the door behind him, he now went for a brisk walk, he needed one to reduce the stress that was building up within him. Later, feeling no better, he once again flew from New York to Washington DC and presented himself at Alvarez`s office, he arrived with a headache and feeling very angry with all life forms everywhere. By the time he actually entered Alvarez`s office he seemed quite calm, he would have made an excellent actor.

"Madame Delegate, I must protest about the terrorist attack committed by your people against the people of Mazere. I have been instructed to tell you that we consider it an act of war and accordingly we are breaking off diplomatic relations with your people. When you are ready to return the stolen alien technology, and then to apologise to my people and make suitable reparations, including the sending of the criminals who were responsible for this criminal act back to stand trial on Mazere, please contact us, until then good bye."

He believed that the US government was guilty as charged, although a certain amount of doubts did linger in his brain, for he had come to respect some of the leaders of Earth. However, he was a loyal Mazeren, and so saddened, and very angry with fools everywhere, he turned about and left Alvarez`s office without even waiting for an answer to the terrible charge levelled against the government of the United States. He had been ordered to do just this by Taluk Fogram, for Fogram had been angered by Carnegie`s reaction to his first demand. As he descended the steps of the imposing building, he wondered if it had been worth the effort of actually breaking off diplomatic relations in person, when he had only been with his American counterpart for a few seconds. Never mind, while he was here he would take in the sights before travelling to the spaceport where he would meet up with his family and embassy staff.

It took a couple of minutes for Alvarez to take in what Krieg had said, although she knew that it had been on the cards. Their ambassador on Mazere had kept her fully apprised as to the feelings of the media on Mazere, and she had been shocked to read some of their editorials. The public, incensed by the media, had all demanded action, and now she thought that the government of Mazere had caved into these demands. When she finally recovered, she immediately contacted the newly elected President of the United States of America, what a start to a presidency, to be charged with committing an act of war against a new ally some fifty-five light years away in space.

**********

On Mazere, Taluk Fogram had instructed the US ambassador to call at his offices at exactly the time that Chancellor Krieg had called at the offices of Adelita Alvarez, the American delegate for the Federation of Planets. He had told Ambassador, Roger Spencer, that the alien technology was indeed missing, the site of the Federation Science Building had been cleared of rubble and no trace of the technology had been found and that there was still no trace of the missing scientists. He then informed the ambassador that he and his embassy staff were no longer welcome on Mazere, and therefore Spencer should make arrangements to return to Earth as soon as possible. Spencer had guessed the reason behind his visit, and on returning to his embassy had sent a message to Earth regarding his imminent arrival.

**********

President William Carnegie cancelled all his meetings and asked Alvarez to join him at the White House; he was standing looking out onto the Rose Garden when Alvarez was admitted into the Oval Office. Also at the meeting was the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Charles Marshall.

"Charles, surely you have agents on Mazere who are looking into the destruction of the Federation Science Building?" Carnegie asked.

"No, the situation on Mazere makes it all but impossible. You see Mr President, the Mazerens have a very advanced face recognition system in place throughout all official buildings, and many others. Everyone on Mazere must by law carry an identity card, and it carries not only a GPS tracker but also a photograph of the user, their fingerprints and retina scans are also recorded digitally on the card. A copy of this information is kept by their military intelligence agency and also the state police, should an agent ditch the identity card then he will be locked out of all official buildings on the planet, and as I said earlier, many others. Should he digitally change any of the information on the card, it will come to light when the information on the card does not match up with what is recorded on the many data computers on Mazere. So, once again he will be arrested if he enters an area where he must produce his identity card." Marshall replied. "We could of course try to use the locals; however, they are a very patriotic people, ones who distrust aliens and would never betray their planet. It would ask too much of our agents to endanger their lives, and it would risk a diplomatic incident, and with only a small chance of success."

It was now that Alvarez arrived. "Good morning Adelita, I had hoped that my first year would see the writing of many new treaties, I never imagined that one so very important to all the peoples of Earth would be torn up." President Carnegie said grimly.

He had followed the advice given to him by his military advisers to seize the alien technology, and he now wished that he could go back in time to take a different route. For he now wondered if this precipitous act was somehow behind this new emergency, one that his political opponents would blast him with as soon as the news broke.

It took Alvarez only minutes into the discussion to agree with Charles Marshall regarding putting agents onto Mazere.

"Mr President, have Captain David Charlton and his wife Sarah Jane Hardin come here, and also Ambassador Jules Kennedy, I hear that he is on Earth at the moment. They will be better able to offer insights on the present situation on Mazere, and to advise you Mr President, as to how you should react." Alvarez suggested.

They were lucky, David and Sarah were staying with Richard and Patricia Charlton, David`s parents, in Washington DC. Ambassador Kennedy was indeed presently on Earth, there for a holiday while resting away from the ever present troubles occurring on the planet Phlox. The next morning found them all sitting down in the Oval Office.

"Mr President, although we left Mazere because President Lantana Stator refused to help us combat much of their media, and the hate generated by it, she is the one politician that made the Federation of Planets come into being. For Lantana to break off diplomatic relations with America was an act of last resort on her part, and one that must have cost her valuable points on Mazere. What is now happening on Mazere reminds me more of her dead father, Admiral Stator. If I had to guess as to who was behind the present troubles, I would say that it is associates of the dead admiral who are working to reinstate the policies of the former government of Mazere, the one overthrown by the people of Mazere. What America has done as regards the space cruiser Intrepid has played right into their hands, it was a grave political mistake, for it allowed these men to not only make political points, but it also allowed them to steal the ancient alien technology, and then to blame your Government." David declared scathingly.

"Well, Captain Charlton, it is now too late to uninstall the alien hardware from the Intrepid, because of the terrorist attack on Mazere, and the blame coming this country`s way, it would be a foolhardy and dangerous decision to make. Anyway, the people of America would not take kindly to it, not after the way the Mazerens acted towards our planet in the past, and that of Phlox. This is especially so after the news got out about the attacks made by agents of the Mazeren state police on the Washington spaceport, and you personally. When they finally heard about the destruction of the Blazer Explorer by three of the Mazeren space cruisers, there were even calls for war, even though it had happened more than two years before the news was finally released." President Carnegie declared in defence of his actions.

Also at the meeting was the Secretary of State, Jonathan Greer, he now entered into the discussion. "The situation would never have arisen had you not taken the ancient alien technology to Mazere, but brought it here to Earth." A shocked silence greeted his angry words; it was finally broken by an even angrier David Charlton.

"Mr Greer, the alien technology was found upon a planet which Mazere was colonising; to have brought it to Earth would have been a grave diplomatic error. In any case, my freighter had been hired by a Mazeren professor to transport him and his party around that area of space in search of these items, which at the time was thought to be treasure rather than a treasure trove of advanced technology. At the time, I also had another Mazeren in my crew and a member of my crew has a Mazeren wife and children. The former US government was encouraging its citizens to trade with their latest ally, not to steal advanced alien technology from them. If that is not enough Mr Greer, then think about this. A powerful Mazeren space cruiser under the command of an angry Admiral Stator was steaming up behind us, and my tired old freighter did not have enough power to outrun, outgun or out manoeuvre it. We had to call President Lantana Stator and ask for her assistance, when two more Mazeren space cruisers arrived, both under her flag, we were very relieved. The technology was taken to Mazere and was put under investigation by the three members of the Federation of Planets. It was the government of the United States of America that proposed to get a jump on the other two Federation members, and everything that happened after this act of gross stupidity is down to this government." A much longer silence followed this angry outburst.

"It was after the arrival of Lantana that Admiral Stator took his own life, and the situation between Lantana and us became so very icy." Sarah said in an attempt to bring the discussion back on track.

"This act by Captain Charlton did more to make the Federation a living thing than any amount of the diplomacy before it, because of it the people of the planet Phlox are fully committed to not only uniting behind one leader, but also to our planet. With the loss of the alien artefacts, and the Federation in tatters, it could have untold of consequences, both here on Earth and on the planet Phlox. The original members of the government of Mazere must be extremely happy now, for their policy was to keep the countries of both planets a mixture of feuding power blocs, ones constantly arguing or at war with one another. Now, here on Earth, the other nations are once again threatening us, and not only because of the Intrepid, but because they too believe that we are behind the terrorist attack." Ambassador Kennedy said grimly. "Or at least it suits their aims to pretend to believe it." Kennedy added.

"But it is untrue; I would never countenance such an act as that!" President Carnegie exclaimed.

"Mr President, could one of the many intelligence agencies here on Earth be behind it, either here in the States or one of the other power blocs?" Alvarez asked.

"No." David said before Carnegie could reply. "I still feel that the conservatives on Mazerens are responsible, they are the only group who have the resources to accomplish such an act such as this on Mazere. For a group such as the CIA to attempt it would mean recruiting too many Mazerens to make it happen, something would have inevitably leaked out." David stated forcibly, and both Sarah and Ambassador Kennedy added their agreements to his words, as too did Charles Marshall, glad to have allies at the meeting.

"You should all understand one other fact, Lantana rules a democratic world, she is not all powerful, I believe that others are working to unseat her and change this form of government. Members of the old guard are the enemies of all freedom loving nations, and it is these people that we should fear and work against." David stated quietly.

President Carnegie thanked David and Sarah, and Jules Kennedy, for their valuable insights into the political reality on Mazere and when his guests had left he sat down behind his desk and pondered his first real problem of his presidency, but for the life of him he could not see a way out.

Later that night, in the privacy of their bedroom, David and Sarah talked about the grim situation on Mazere. "David, I am worried about Lantana, as you said earlier, her father`s associates are surely behind everything that is happening there, only they seem to be faring better than her father did. Before, Lantana had the advantage; they never knew that she was behind the revolution, now they are probably more cautious, she is facing a battle that she may not be able to win, not without help." Sarah said apprehensively. "David, deep inside me is a fear that we two will be drawn back into the problems facing Mazere, and that we will be asked to help fight the enemies of the federation."

David looked into the blue eyes of his wife and saw the open fear within them, he now sought to push it away, although he too was affected by this same fear.

"I feel the same, Darling, however, not only do we not have a crew, but more importantly we do not have a ship either, it is still undergoing extensive repairs, at least the government is paying for them." David said a might angrily as he thought about his poor freighter.

"And so they should, as they caused most of the damage. What damage Admiral Stator caused was while we were escaping him with all of the alien technology sitting in our hold, and that too was partly for the benefit of our government." Sarah declared equally angry at what had happened over the last couple of weeks, her fears now forgotten, at least for a moment. Sarah was now looking forward to returning to MIT, and escaping forever the ever-constant fear that she had felt while on Mazere, that someone may try to kill her or David.

"Even if we got there, how could we help? Our computer genius is missing somewhere on Mazere, and on the last rescue mission all our important leads were thanks to his hacking skills." David lamented more for their missing friends than any future danger to themselves.

"I do not think that he will ever speak to us again, he always has to put his life in danger whenever he helps us, and this time he also has Millicent to worry about." Sarah said partly in jest, but most of all out of fear for the lives of their friends.

"In any case, if we returned to Mazere, our enemy would have no qualms in killing the two of us; they would see it as a just act of revenge for the death of the admiral." David said gravely.

"Then we are agreed David, I will go back to MIT, and you will help out Uncle John here on Earth." Sarah said happily, and with a satisfied smile upon her face. But a thought kept reoccurring, if everything was so clear cut why was she worrying so, nothing would take them back to Mazere, would it?"

"David, do you think they are both all right, Steve and Millicent, the initial reports say that neither of their bodies were found in the ruins, but if that is so, then where are they?" Sarah asked with the unmistakable sound of worry back in her voice, and once again the chances of either of them falling asleep seemed to be a million miles away.

"As we said before, our enemies on Mazere have them; they are using them to bolster their claims that it is the United States that is behind the terrorist attack, they might march them out at the appropriate time as proof positive. It would not surprise me if our enemies have also forced them and the other missing scientists to work for them, under the threat of death." David said grimly.

"And to ensure the safety of Millicent, Steve would do just that, work for them. However, our enemies may have a tiger by the tail, Steve is clever enough to install a lot of viruses into their computers, viruses that will only activate when he so commands it." Sarah said brightening up now as she thought of their brilliant friend.

Chapter Two

Return to Mazere

The next morning was overcast and with rain threatening to fall at any moment; it might well have been an omen for the dark futures that awaited David and Sarah. The morning did not get any better when Ambassador Jules Kennedy called at the house of the Charlton family, for he immediately asked to speak to David and Sarah, both of whom were enjoying a late breakfast after a sleepless night worried about the future. Richard and Patricia Charlton entertained Kennedy while the two younger members of the family finished their meal, it quickly turned into a fraught affair that mirrored the dark sky above the Charlton`s house.

"You want them both to return to Mazere and assist you in an attempt to repair the relations between Earth and Mazere, are you mad Jules?" Patricia Charlton asked, attempting, albeit unsuccessfully, to keep her extreme anger from showing. "We have only just got them back from that nest of vipers." She said glaring angrily at the ambassador.

"Don`t you think they have done enough on behalf of Earth and Mazere, Jules, to return now would put both of their lives in the greatest of danger?" Richard Charlton asked equally angrily, and not bothering to try to control his emotions.

"I do not ask this lightly, but the situation could easily take a turn for the worse, Phlox is already demanding to be part of a full investigation into the deaths of their scientists, they firmly believe, as I do, and I know that David and Sarah agree with me, that a conservative faction on Mazere is behind this." Jules Kennedy said in defence of himself and his proposal. "The Mazerens are refusing to allow any participation in the investigation, and so the situation grows steadily worse. The outcome of all of this could be interplanetary war, and who knows which side the various power blocs on this planet will be on." It was now that David and Sarah entered the room, and they could guess the reason as to why everyone was shouting, for it was the reason why they had slept in so late.

"Jules, what have you done to anger my parents?" David asked quizzically.

"He came here to ask the two of you to return with him to Mazere, that is what he has done David." Patricia said answering for Kennedy and forcing him to defend his position before he had even greeted David and Sarah.

"David, Sarah, your mother is quite correct, I do want you to accompany me on a peace mission to Mazere, of all the people in the galaxy, you two are most suited to join me. As you said yesterday afternoon to President Carnegie, President Stator was instrumental in setting up the Federation, and I firmly believe that she does not want to see it come apart at the seams. However, unknown to her just yet, she is battling against a clever and dangerous foe, that is something that we all here in this room agree on, I am sure of that." Kennedy said, and on getting no response to his words he continued.

"She will receive the two of you with relief and gratitude, for she will fully realise that you are there to assist her in her aim to hold the federation together. Once there I will propose that the three of us head a tripartite team of investigators into the terrorist attack." Jules Kennedy said in a rush, as he feared that Patricia or Richard would intervene otherwise. They hadn`t, for they wanted everything the ambassador had to say out in the open, so that they could then launch a fresh attack against him, which they now did.

"If they refused to allow the Phloxans to participate, why will they allow David and Sarah to participate Jules?" Richard Charlton argued angrily.

"Because by the time that we get to Mazere, she will be desperate for allies, especially two such trusted friends." Kennedy argued.

"And will you go in the Intrepid once again Jules?" Patricia asked equally angrily as her husband, her voice filled with a fair portion of sarcasm. "That should go down well with the Mazerens." She added.

"No, Patricia, to do so would hardly be diplomatic, as I am sure you realise." Kennedy replied calmly. "I propose to travel there in an unarmed starship."

It was Richard Charlton who exploded this time. "An unarmed ship, are you mad Jules, don`t you remember the Blazer Explorer, it was unarmed when it travelled into Mazeren space, and they shot it down killing half of my crew, and imprisoning myself and the remainder of them." Patricia was about to continue her husband`s attack but Kennedy stepped in first.

"That will not happen this time, for a start there would be no point in attacking us, as we know now that they exist, and anyway even Mazere does not want an interplanetary war on their hands." Kennedy said defensively.

"Jules the people we are up against could well want just that, interplanetary war!" David said in a quiet voice that stopped all conversation, for his words had made their fears seem all the more real and moved them to a higher level of terror.

Sarah now butted into the argument, a little angry that a subject concerning her and David had been waged without either of them able to say hardly anything until now.

"Jules, I have been waiting for just this invitation, I knew that the fates would not allow David and I to rest up while there are so many power-hungry politicians about." Sarah said contemptuously. "Two of our friends are probably dead and now you want us to risk our own lives by returning to Mazere, it really is not fair." Sarah said fearfully, and finishing of her argument rather lamely, even to her ears. Tears now filled her eyes and threatened to fall, she turned away angrily from everyone, for she thought that her tears would make her seem but a mere child, not to be listened to, merely comforted.

"Yes Sarah, however, as you know there is more at stake here than our lives, there is the peace of the galaxy and the safety of the billions of people who live on the three federation planets." Kennedy replied angrily, he had known that it would be a difficult morning, but having everyone attack him finally made him lose his cool.

"Jules is correct; we have to return to Mazere, Sarah, if only to find Steve and Millicent, they are on that troublesome planet because of us." David said finally stepping into the argument, and on Kennedy`s side.

His words temporarily stunned all of the others, even Kennedy, who on hearing them looked at David and finally attempted to raise a smile, albeit a rather grim one.

Tears now slid down the face of Sarah as she turned to her husband. "You are right of course David, I should have said as much earlier." Turning to Kennedy, she smiled at him through a veil of tears. "Forgive me Jules; we will gladly accept your offer of a lift, for it simply slipped my mind that we too need to return to Mazere, and at the moment we do not have a starship to travel there." Sarah said resigned to her fate, and Patricia saw this look of angry resignation on Sarah`s face, and she had to fight to hold back her own tears.

It took Kennedy a moment to realise that both David and Sarah had agreed to join him and it took another twenty minutes of arguing before Richard and Patricia finally accepted the fact that their son and his wife would once again be travelling into danger.

"I will contact the Mazeren minister, Taluk Fogram, and inform him of our mission, and that he is to expect us within the week, for we are travelling aboard the space yacht Antilles, the fastest privately owned starship in the galaxy.

**********

The next day Admiral Malik was once again meeting with the other members of his group of conspirators, with them this time was Captain Karlton of the space cruiser Mazere, the flagship and newest addition to the fleet. Karlton had been a member of the group behind the ill-fated military coup that had been led by Admiral Stator, one that had failed due to the state police being one-step ahead of the traitors. This time the state police were a significant part of the plot, as they were radically opposed to the present government.

"To simply attack the space yacht as we did the Blazer Explorer would be sheer lunacy, not even the Phloxans would believe us then. No, we will attack the starship just before it enters the atmosphere of Mazere, an attack by a space cruiser with just a small handpicked crew aboard, men who are loyal to our cause. We will ensure that all of their channels of communications are blocked, we can blame it on solar flares, our sun is at its maximum period for such occurrences and there is one underway as we speak." Admiral Malik said quietly and calmly to the assembled members of the soon to be military coup as he outlined the finer points of his plan.

Gregor Ratin, the Mazeren minister of the interior smiled as he heard the plan. "Admiral Malik, can you give us any idea where any lifeboats that do manage to escape from the Antilles will land, so that we can meet them and take the survivors to safety?" The sarcasm associated with Ratin`s question was not lost on the admiral who smiled at the thought of such a reception.

"We will attack the yacht just before it begins its descent through our atmosphere, as it will intend to land at the Plakara spaceport, it will be travelling along the course set by the homing beacon. This will help us to ensure that any debris will then crash into the ocean well away from the Plakara. Its destruction will be immediate and complete, however, should any lifeboats manage to escape the yacht, they will land on the coastline near to our capital city, that or crash into the ocean." Malik replied.

"General Pallas, on the day that our guests are due to arrive, please have some of your trusted men positioned along the coastline, they are to be ready to secure any lifeboat that makes it to the mainland, and more importantly, any survivors that also make it down, and before they can tell the truth behind the destruction of the starship." Ratin ordered the senior officer of the Mazeren state police.

**********

Six days later Captain Zior was standing on the bridge of the space cruiser Sentinel, he looked across at his helmsman and ordered him to take them out of space dock, they had been undergoing repairs to their hyper drive, and even now his chief engineer was not completely happy with it, but Zior only needed it to power up his main weapons systems for one minute.

"Helmsman, take us over to the co-ordinates you previously set in." Zior ordered and just minutes later the helmsman reported to Zior that they were in position.

On the space dock an electrical transformer suddenly over loaded and every tactical system on the space dock failed. For a moment a powerful electrical pulse was sent through the newly installed magnetic shields, they were designed to keep micro meteorites away from the space dock. The transformer controlling the shield technology caught fire and melted, causing the shield device to send a wave of interference across the entire electromagnetic spectrum in this sector of space, this had the effect of preventing the planet`s massive array of receivers from witnessing the main act of the night.

The sensors on the Sentinel did register the problem, for they had been pre-set to screen the interference out, and the science officer duly notified his captain that all was going according to plan.

In response to this message Captain Zior called the space dock on the emergency wave band that punched through the interference.

"Space dock please come in, this is the Sentinel, please tell us if you require assistance." Zior asked anxiously, although he was in fact more than happy that the space dock would not be in a position to witness the attack on the Antilles.

Moments later the space dock replied. "Thank you, Sentinel, but we have it all in hand, everything will be up and running within ten minutes. Space dock out." The commander of the space dock replied.

One minute later and just outside the atmosphere of Mazere, the sleek space yacht Antilles was preparing to enter the outer atmosphere of Mazere, it was following a beacon sent out by the Plakara spaceport to ensure that arriving starships and interplanetary craft had no difficulty landing, and that they kept well clear of the built-up areas of the planet.

"Captain, there is a Mazeren space cruiser ahead and to one side of our course." The helmsman called out calmly.

"Just keep an eye on them helmsman, I am sure that they can see us so we should be fine, as long as we follow the signal sent out by the homing beacon." Captain Chambers said in an unconcerned voice.

"Captain we are experiencing a lot of space static, I am no longer in contact with the space port." The communications officer called across to Captain Chambers.

"Captain, the homing beam is breaking up!" The helmsman exclaimed.

***********

Zior now called across to his communications officer. "Dario, send the message we recorded on the voice synthesiser down to the spaceport, remember, it is to go down in a narrow beam and on the emergency waveband."

"Yes Sir." Dario replied as he pressed a button on his touch screen computer. They had previously listened in to the communication`s officer of the Antilles when he had contacted both Mazere and Earth, and with modern technology the rest was simple, a recording that matched the voice of the Antilles` officer.

At the spaceport, the communications officer listened as he received a message on the emergency waveband, but due to the interference all he could tell was that it came from a craft in the area of space controlled by the spaceport.

"This is the space yacht Ant..les, we are experie... troub...with our Matt..........taiment......."

"Please repeat Antilles, we did not receive your message, Antilles?"

**********

Aboard the Sentinel, the weapons officer was locking onto the sleek space yacht when all hell broke out.

"Captain, our hyperspace engine has got a leak; I will have to shut it down immediately." The chief engineer called up in panic.

"Captain we are veering towards the Antilles, the trouble in our engines is pushing us off course, a jet of hot plasma has burst out of the main cowling." The helmsman aboard the Sentinel called out loudly to Captain Zior, who swore loudly, could their carefully thought out plans be brought to a halt by their defective engine.

"It is all right Captain; the Antilles has seen our change in course and taken the appropriate action." Trask who was the space cruisers first officer said calmly, for it took a lot more than this to panic him.

"Chief, we just need one minute, we must have it," Zior ordered.

Down in the engineering department the chief engineer was sweating as he looked at his leaking engine. "Yes, Captain, but I am shutting down the drive in exactly one second after that." The chief engineer promised as he prayed for one more minute, then whatever the bridge wanted he would have to shut down their main engine.

To one side of the bridge, Admiral Malik swore, his carefully laid plans had gone haywire and the Antilles was slipping away.

"Captain, destroy the space yacht now, before it slips away." Malik ordered angrily.

Two powerful beams of energy sped through space and struck the stern of the Antilles as it moved away from them.

**********

Aboard the Antilles, David and Sarah were late getting to their landing positions; in fact, they were only just walking along the gangway that would take them to their designated seats when the first of the two beams of energy struck the rear of the space yacht. They were both knocked violently off their feet, they crashed down on the hard metal deck of the starship momentarily knocking the wind out of them. They watched in fear as at both ends of the gangway they were in, heavy crash doors slammed down, a clear indication to them of the damaged caused to the privately-owned vessel. Although thankfully, they were not too badly hurt, David`s head had crashed against the door of the lifeboat station, stunning him, with his head beginning to ache, he sat up, his back was resting against the door of one of the six lifeboats carried aboard the space yacht.

"My god Sarah, the fools have attacked us," David cried out in shock mixed with a large portion of anger. He tried to clear his head, but he was still dazed from the bang on his head and was now seeing double.

Sarah looked past David and saw the lifeboat station. "Quick, David, into the lifeboat, we can do nothing to help the crew if the Mazeren space fleet is attacking us.

David was already getting to his feet, now he opened the door to the lifeboat while asking a question. "The Mazeren space fleet, Sarah?" He asked in a daze, forgetting his own remark.

"That was a class one energy bolt from the feel of it David, only a space cruiser would have sufficient power to operate such a weapon." She said pushing David inside the lifeboat.

The next two energy bolts hit the space yacht amidships and the resulting concussion slammed the door of the lifeboat shut, locking David and Sarah inside. The safety mechanism inside the lifeboat now automatically launched this lifeboat plus two others that carried some of the crew and passengers down through the atmosphere. These three small vessels were accompanied by parts of the destroyed space yacht that lit up the night sky in a brilliant fireball when the hyperdrive exploded.

With the launching of the lifeboat, Sarah and David were once more knocked to the floor of the small craft, with David once again banging his head, this time against one of the seats. Sarah was definitely the more awake of the two, for David was trying to get his mind from out of the daze it was in, and rid himself of his double vision, and now the ringing in the ears that the double bang on his head had given him. She scrambled into the pilot`s seat of the lifeboat while David pulled himself in to one of the others. She saw that the automatic guidance system had already taken them through the outer atmosphere of Mazere. She now took over the controls and steered the small craft towards the lights of the capital city Plakara, from her long stay on Mazere she knew that the dark mass below them was the ocean, and this sort of lifeboat was definitely not made to sail the seas. The lifeboat was more of a glider than an aircraft, and with only limited power available to it, although it did have a small amount of energy in its batteries to power the thrusters. However, the amount of energy available to power the main engine was minimal, just enough to take them over the odd rock that got in the way on their chosen landing strip, however, during a night time descent, and when the moon had not yet risen, they would need a fair amount of luck.

Below them in the distance, Sarah noticed a line of faint streetlights emerging through a thin veil of clouds; the lights followed a small side road that seemed to be straight for quite a stretch, even from up there. She decided to head for the road, for with a better landing site there also came the increased chance of meeting a Mazeren greeting party, and she did not particularly want to meet any Mazeren state police just yet. Sarah knew after past encounters with them that they would be waiting, like a pack of jackals, for any survivors from the attack. She pushed her joystick down and the nose of the lifeboat dipped, soon they were gliding just above the treetops that lined the small road. Now Sarah switched on their forward lights and dipped the nose of the craft down and moments later the lifeboat touched down upon the tarmacked road, and amid the loud sound of the bottom of the craft grinding two long ruts in the roadway they sped swiftly along the narrow road. Sarah now operated the breaking parachute, they were both jerked back in their seats as the chute took affect and quickly brought the small craft to a halt.

Sarah looked out through the small forward windscreen apprehensively, immediately her thoughts were for their safety, for their landing must have awakened the locals for miles around. David`s voice took her attention away from the dangers awaiting them outside their small haven of safety.

David`s head had slowly cleared, and everything that had happened was now brought clearly into focus.

"My god Sarah, they tried to kill us, you, me, and Jules Kennedy. They obviously want the peace talks killed dead in their tracks. If I did not know that Admiral Stator was truly dead and buried, then I would say that this had his stench about it." David said angrily as he got out of his seat.

"My god David!" Sarah said echoing David`s words. "We have to go through all of it again, only this time there is someone else trying to kill us." Sarah lamented as she too rose from her seat.

"Yes, Sarah, but this time there is the added threat of war on Earth, between the US and one or more of the other power blocs, and to add spice to the mix there is also the added chance of an interplanetary war." David declared grimly. "We have to stop them Sarah, in fact we have to stop all of this from happening. To do it we must find Steve and Millicent, and the alien technology, and then we must lead Lantana to it to show her that Earth did not have a hand in this Mazeren madness." David declared boldly.

He unlatched a door next to the airlock and pulled out two energy weapons, they were always a part of a lifeboat's supplies, he held one out to Sarah and stuffed the other one into his belt.

"Our president caused all of this David, when he initiated the Intrepid incident and stole the alien technology from our ship. It made these animals realise that they now had the chance to successfully bring off a military coup, without the actions ordered by President Carnegie this would never have happened." Sarah said angrily while she pushed the weapon into the belt of her jeans, then she grabbed a heavy bag from the storage compartment and slung the bag over her shoulders, it had water and survival rations inside, they would need these if they were to get safely away.

"Oh, and Sarah, that was a good landing, sorry I was unable to help but I am feeling a little better now, apart from the headache that is. From what I could see through the small forward windscreen I reckon that we are quite near to the outskirts of Plakara. I also think that we should quickly collect what we can easily move and then debunk this boat." David said smiling across at his wife in an attempt to reassure her as she opened the airlock door.

"Yes, our welcome committee will soon find out where we landed, and we need to be far away from here when they do. And we would have been if you had not chosen this moment to chat." Sarah said with a laugh. "David, the damned Mazerens attacked us, again!" Sarah said, once again echoing what David had said earlier. "You and me, what have we done to deserve it?" Sarah demanded to know in a very hurt voice.

"No time to worry about that now Darling, as you say, we need to get away from the craft before the locals arrive to offer us their assistance." David said while picking up a similar bag to the one now carried by Sarah, his though contained a change of clothing. Both bags were always packed and ready for use in an emergency, as were the others that they left behind.

Moments later they had exited the craft`s airlock, and it was then that a cold wind hit them, causing them to stop moving for a moment and huddle up in their lightweight clothes. With the cold beginning to eat through to his bones, David took a moment to close the airlock door, it might delay a comprehensive search, although as the parachute had deployed he very much doubted it, soon they were hurrying away from the downed lifeboat. They had been walking for just a few seconds when from ahead of them came the sound of locals walking fast along the road, David pulled Sarah off the road and behind a large bush that shaded them from the street lights. Half a dozen locals rush on by them without seeing David and Sarah, their eyes fixed upon the unknown ahead.

David and Sarah quickly left the shelter of the bush and hurried away, fear lending speed to their legs.

"Sarah, the Mazerens must have made a bad mistake in their timing of the attack, they commenced their attack of the Antilles a few seconds too late, the debris from it will have fallen into shallow waters off the coast. With luck, enough of the Antilles will be found to show that it was attacked, of course it will also depend upon who is set to look into the matter." David said angrily, but in a whisper lest he be overheard by any more of the locals, for the need to escape this area unseen was all that mattered, for the moment.

"David, we cannot be the only two people to have escaped from the Antilles, surely?" Sarah said. She stopped walking and burst into tears, she had been thinking about the other people on the Antilles ever since she had landed the small lifeboat on Mazere, tears were always only a careless word away, now David`s words tipped the scales.

Guilt flooded through David as he held her tightly, he suddenly realised how heartless his words had been. "Oh Sarah, I am sorry for saying such a coldblooded and unfeeling thing. No Sarah, I am sure that others will have escaped in one of the other lifeboats." He said, desperately trying to find the right words to say to ease his conscience and her tears. "We will rescue them and take them back to Earth, along with Steve and Millicent, don`t worry Darling, we will win through this attack on the peoples of the federation, and god help any Mazerens who get in our way." David vowed angrily.

Finally, Sarah got her emotions under control and stopped crying. "I am sorry for that David, I know that if we are all to escape from Mazere, then I will have to keep a closer hold on my emotions, come on, let`s get moving, the cold is positively eating its way into my bones." Sarah said tugging at his arm and moving him along the dark narrow road, she shivered as an extra cold gust of wind attacked them and battered away at her will to win through.

Twice more they had to hide away as worried locals hurried along the road, but the real danger was still to come. From ahead of them, unseen as yet, they heard the faint sound of an approaching craft, it was a slow moving craft flying just above the tree tops.

"Quickly Sarah, shrug off your backpack and hide it under the trees, then turn around and walk in the direction of the lifeboat." David said in the quietest of whispers. "That craft is moving too slowly to be anything other than a craft searching for us, with luck it will be looking for people hurrying away from the landing site, not towards it."

The wind was now blowing against their backs, and so the cold on their faces was reduced, David silently wished that it would remain so as a cold gust of wind whipped around them and made them both feel all the colder, if that was at all possible. Walking as they were now, towards the lifeboat, they did not see the small craft when it finally reached them, although they did hear it, heard it slow down and then hover over them, just for a moment, as it looked at them through an infrared camera. David stopped Sarah and they both looked up at it, as any normal local would do, shielding their eyes from the powerful searchlight and in doing so shielding parts of their faces, just in case the craft was also carrying facial recognition software. For a few moments that seemed to last forever, Sarah and David remained still, looking up at the hovering craft, fear stabbing away at them, then the craft began to descend, the pilot had noticed their lightweight clothing and wondered if these two could be survivors from the lifeboat. David fingered his weapons and prayed for help, fearing that they had lost this very first battle. Help, which arrived in the form of the local energy firm, saved them, for the pilot suddenly realised that a high-power cable stretched across the street. The craft hung there for another moment, as if the pilot was in two minds as to what to do, before he finally flew past them and disappeared from sight, dismissing the two people from his mind, for in truth they had been walking towards the lifeboat.

"I thought they had us David, thank god for the electricity company." Sarah said and burst into fits of laughter, which she tried to muffle beneath her hastily moved hands.

"No, I think we are safe Sarah, our friendly pilot would hardly have left us if he believed us to be his prey, no he would have hung about and guided the local state police to our position. However, we had better move on, just in case our friend up there does come back with help. We will probably have to leave the road soon, at some point ahead of us we will come across the local defence force, or even the state police, and our friend may well have alerted them to a possible pair of candidates. When the state police do finally arrive on the scene, they will surely cordon off the area, and they will certainly check on anyone moving away from the direction of the lifeboat." David said to his worried wife.

Ahead of them, the moon was slowly rising above the treetops and giving them some light, unfortunately it meant that any searchers would be able to see them all the easier. They returned to their backpacks and picked them up and then hurried on their way, away from the lifeboat and the locals. Finally, after a few more minutes of walking, the sounds of men and machines came to them from along the road, the state police had arrived from their nearby holding position, it was time to leave the road and take to the farmland that ran alongside it.

The moon was well above the treetops now, but it was quickly hidden behind the growing number of clouds from which a light rain had begun to fall, however, they could not afford to seek shelter beneath any of the nearby trees, escape from the immediate area was of the paramount importance to them. Walking across the field was slower, due to the care needed not to sprain an ankle, or worse on the rough ground. It had rained during the day, and together with the rain that was now coming down harder, their shoes were soon caked with mud. Whatever warmth had been left in their tired bodies soon dissipated, what with the cold rain that soaked their clothes and quickly soaked through to their bodies. However, they could not attend to their bodily woes, instead their energy was used attempting to escape the notice of a passer-by, and the rest of the time, they were constantly on the alert for state police officers. Tiredness was quickly overcoming them and it was now that Sarah stumbled, and before she could help herself she found herself standing into a pool of rainwater that covered her shoes.

"David, I am really going to make someone pay for this, I am cold, wet and extremely miserable, and now I am standing in a pool of water." David offered her a hand, while holding back a laugh, which she took, and he pulled her out of the water.

"David, do you know what I need most, it`s a hot shower, followed by a soft warm bed, what are the chances of you finding them soon?" Sarah lamented miserably.

"Not too good at the moment Darling, but if we can escape from this area then your wish may well be granted." David said lightly as he too wished for a hot shower and a warm bed.

Unfortunately, they were thoroughly soaked through, and the cold wind was quickly freezing the marrow in their bones, the night was now pitch black, with few lights even on the horizon, their spirits were at rock bottom, even so, they trudged ever forward towards hope and safety.

"David, I think we are lost." Sarah said desperately as another rain cloud chose this minute to attack them personally.

"Let`s hope that the authorities have also lost all trace of us." David replied as he huddled deeper into his jacket in an unsuccessful attempt to keep out the cold and the rain.

With the blackness of the night surrounding them, their speed had slowed down to a crawl, however, this turned out to be an advantage. Five minutes later and two fields further on a figure suddenly appeared twenty feet away from them; he was standing on the other side of a gate that led onto the main road. Luckily, his back was to them, however, he was turning, and all there was between them was a low trailer, one which was normally attached to a farm vehicle. David saw the figure first and he pulled Sarah quickly down behind the trailer, a hand clasped over her mouth to prevent her muffled protest from reaching the man before them. The figure now looked through the space that they had just occupied, he looked searchingly into the blackness of the night, a feeling struck him that he had missed something important, he shook his head and turned towards his colleague and signalled for him to come over to the field.

On the ground behind him David and Sarah pushed their bodies against the trailer in an attempt to minimise the amount there was to see of them, they did not feel the cold ground as they lay there, or the wet mud, for their poor bodies simply did not notice any difference. Their pulses raced as the fear of discovery ate away their resolve to win through, knowing that they would then need to shoot their way out, the sounds of the battle giving away their position to any officers nearby. Their energy weapons were set on their medium setting to negate the advantage of the armour worn by the state police officers, however, should they kill someone while escaping, they knew that this would turn everyone against them, potential friends as well as enemies.

"Johan, can you hear anything, the rain has got into my ears and I cannot hear much of anything now?" The state police officer by the gate asked of his colleague who now appeared from beneath the shelter of a nearby tree.

"No, I do not hear anything, all I hear is this damned rain, rain that is running down my neck, look Erin, no one in their right mind would be out in a night like this." The second police officer complained and then returned to shelter beneath the trees on the opposite side of the road.

"Except for the Earthmen hurrying away from the lifeboat they found near to the village of Hamlyn." The first policeman moved towards the trailer, thankfully his eyes were fixed upon the field ahead of him, and this was where the beam from his torch was aimed, and not on the ground by his feet. He was standing just four feet away from David and Sarah who were lying flat out and still, pressed up against the trailer, and down in to the very cold wet mud.

Johan, now scrunched up to keep out some of the rain, moved out from the small amount of shelter he had found and joined his colleague in the field once again. He was looking across the field at something in the distance while keeping the cigarette he was smoking dry, but he soon realised that there was nothing there, apart from the blackness of the night.

"If any of them fell into my hands." Erin said angrily. "I would make them pay for inflicting all of this cold and wet upon me." Erin now pulled out a cigarette, and moving back under the shelter of the tree lit it. "Why do these aliens feel the need to come to our planet, tell me that?"

Johan scowled across at his friend. "Well I say good luck to them Erin, this is an awful night to be on the run, especially after they were shipwrecked." Johan said with another scowl aimed at Erin, he then turned and walking further into the field to look at the shadows, searching for a sign of whatever had made the noise that had caught his friend`s attention a minute or two ago.

He was now standing by the side of the trailer and was just inches away from David who thankfully, was still partially concealed by the trailer, he only had to look down to see both David and Sarah. They had almost stopped breathing, fearing that he might hear them, although with the noise of the rain that would be impossible, their white faces were pushed into the black mud in their attempt to conceal any part of themselves, their bodies shivered with the cold.

Johan suddenly swore, for his cigarette had burnt his fingers, it was almost down to the filter. He immediately flung it away in anger, it landed on David and slid down the side of his face to land on the sleeve of his jacket, but David dare not brush it away, instead he swore silently at the police officer who now turned and walked back towards the road.

David had pulled out his energy pistol and now Sarah did the same, anger now dominated her emotions, she wanted to scream out in rage, but she managed somehow to control her ragged nerves. Things did not improve, for she felt a steady flow of water, running into her clothing; it was flowing off the road and into the field in a mini stream, and making every part of her even wetter, if that were possible. She swore silently under her breath, luckily for them, the police officer had now noticed his feet were getting even wetter, and so he moved back to his colleague who was once more sheltering beneath a tree.

David and Sarah took the opportunity to move away from the police officers and unknowingly outside of the police cordon. They still had to kneel down on occasion, quietly behind a hedge while traffic drove slowly by on the other side the hedges that bordered the farmland, but they encountered no more hidden watchers.

By the time, David and Sarah had reached the outskirts of Plakara their shoes were more mud than shoe, their clothes were also decidedly muddy from hugging the ground, and this was despite the ever falling rain washing some of it off. Their legs, hands and faces were filthy, they were cold, their bodies, clothes and shoes were soaking wet, and they were feeling way down in the dumps.

"We need to clean ourselves up and change into whatever clothing is within the backpack I am carrying, and before the locals set off for work, we will attract far too much attention otherwise." David said with a quiet laugh after he had stopped to look at the state of their clothes, he then sneezed. "Oh don`t tell me that I have caught a damn cold." David complained angrily.

David took a quick look inside of the bag and found four sets of one-piece black coloured boiler suits, not good to look but at least they were clean and dry, and they were of the all-weather sort, so they might keep some of the rain and the cold out. They were within a small public park and took advantage of a pavilion to quickly undress and don their dry clothing. Now looking a little cleaner, they looked about them, but feeling very dispirited, and still rather wet and very cold.

"We are in luck David, look a public drinking fountain." Sarah declared grateful for this other piece of luck to come their way. The drinking fountain was a large and very ancient affair that had a metal cup to drink from; it had at one time been attached to the fountain by a metal chain, now though it just sat in the bowl of the fountain. Luckily, for them, and because of the diligence of the local council, the fountain was in working order.

They first washed the mud from their shoes and then they attacked the mud on their hands and faces, they did not even notice how cold the water was. Ten minutes later and although they were still rather cold and very damp, they looked and felt much cleaner, although they had attracted the attention of some of Plakara`s early risers. David had just smiled at the locals as they had walked by; however, he had not attempted to explain their actions as this would have attracted further attention. One of the locals though had muttered a complaint to her husband.

"See what we have to endure since the change of government, Non-Citizens, and now the animals are washing in our drinking fountains!" The angry woman exclaimed and threw a dirty look David`s way as she walked past him. Then for some reason she stopped and turned, she appeared to be on the verge of saying more, however, her husband took her arm and hurried her away.

Sarah was laughing as the woman disappeared around a corner, to be thought of as a Non-Citizen had allowed their true identity to go unnoticed, this must be the first time anyone had been grateful for such a thing.

"We are lucky David, and not only because of people thinking of us as Non-Citizens. We landed to the south of Plakara and so we must now be quite near to Armond's house, we should be able to hide out there for a while, then we can try to figure out why the Antilles was attacked and what we should do next." Sarah said shivering badly, but with a little more hope for the immediate future.

David stowed their own dirty clothes inside the backpack, and they then set off down the side streets looking decidedly cleaner. Thankfully, the rain finally stopped along with the cold wind, even the sun made an appearance, and it was quickly drying off their wet shoes and warming their bodies. It was one of those early spring days when it almost seemed to be a summer`s day.

**********

David and Sarah were not the only people to survive the attack on the starship before it had exploded just within the outer atmosphere of Mazere, now what was left of the once beautiful starship was dragged down through the planet`s atmosphere. Ambassador Jules Kennedy had also managed to get to a lifeboat before the second pair of energy bolts had struck the Antilles. With him were four of his team, and the first mate of the space yacht, Martin Chandra. Their lifeboat managed to reach the safety of the long beach to the south of Plakara, only for them to be taken into care by the state police, who immediately imprisoned them within the cells beneath the state police building in Plakara. They were joined by five other survivors who had managed to scramble into another lifeboat.

Ambassador Kennedy was furious at such treatment, especially after their starship had been involved in some sort of an accident, for he and the others had assumed just that, for none of them had been on the bridge of the Antilles when the attack had been made.

"I demand to see someone in authority, I am Ambassador Jules Kennedy, Earth`s ambassador to the planet Phlox. You action is not only breaching Federation law, but you risk incurring the wrath of all of the people of Earth, as I am the sole representative of Earth on Phlox, unlike here where ambassadors are now ten a penny." Kennedy complained loudly.

The state policeman could not speak any other language other than his own, and so he just waited smiling until Kennedy`s complaints finally ended, and then he closed the cell door and walked away laughing loudly, leaving behind him one fuming politician. This insult had been planned by General Pallas, it was to insure the maximum amount of political damage at some future date.

Kennedy looked after the guard and silently swore under his breath, but then his thoughts turned to David and Sarah, and his mind was flooded with feelings of guilt, for they had come to Mazere because of him, and now they were almost certainly dead.

**********

The government of Mazere immediately informed Earth of the tragedy, Taluk Fogram, the Mazeren federation delegate, telling them that the Antilles had blown up as it entered the atmosphere of Mazere, the remains crashing down upon into the sea off the coast of Plakara, so far, no survivors have been found. Two hours later and the final message from the Antilles was relayed to the authorities on Earth, together with a brief message from Fogram; in it he suggested that the message hinted that the Antilles had suffered catastrophic failure in its hyperdrive engine. The investigators on Earth subjected the recording to every known test, but finally agreed that it was most probably made by the communications officer of the Antilles.

President Lantana Stator was deeply shocked to hear about the disaster and she immediately called an emergency meeting of her military advisers to hear what they had to say, and to tell them how she wanted the investigation to proceed.

"Taluk, I want you to take command of the investigation into what happened to the Antilles, as the Mazeren delegate for the inner council of the Federation of Planets, it is your duty, as the spacecraft was from Earth. You are to look for any survivors, and if found, you are to bring them here so that I can personally speak with them to see if they can help us to determine the cause of the disaster. You are also charged with the task of finding enough of the craft to determine this same thing, namely what caused it to explode just as it entered into our atmosphere. Liaise with the state police to search the coastline for the bodies of any of the crew or passengers, and any wreckage that may have washed ashore."

"General Pallas, if you will instruct your people to assist Taluk in this matter I would appreciate it." Lantana said and then she turned to Commander Trajan.

"Commander, have your people search the seas near to the coast, see if you can find any debris from the Antilles, if you will also work with Taluk on this matter." Lantana finally turned to Admiral Malik who was sitting there fuming.

"Madame President, why have you taken the investigation into the disaster out of my department`s hands, and given it over to Taluk Fogram?" He asked angrily.

"Admiral Malik, I believe that because of the events that have happened over the last ten days that this matter should be handled by the Taluk, as he is Mazeren delegate for the inner council of the Federation of Planets. In any case, Admiral, I have not taken you completely off the investigation. I want you to investigate another part of this disaster. Please find out whether there was any other craft in the vicinity of the Antilles when it blew up, could another craft have caused this terrible thing, either by accident or design?" After Lantana had finished given her instructions to her advisers she looked around the table to see if any of them had any further comments to make, General Pallas did have one.

"I heard a report on the early morning news bulletin that stated that a faction on Earth had sabotaged the ship." Pallas mused.

"That was just an unsubstantiated report, General Pallas. One that was written by one of the gutter newspapers, and one that only two months ago you complained bitterly about." President Lantana said in disgust.

"Not all of their reports are rubbish Madame President." Pallas said in defence of the report.

"It did not even say who their source was, it could have been the second cousin of the reporter`s neighbour`s uncle for all we know, it is not worth considering until they tell us who their source is." Lantana said, and feeling exhausted through dealing with such fools as Pallas, she wound the meeting up.

Up until the disaster, Lantana had still blamed David and Sarah for the death of her father, later that evening though, when she heard about the disaster, and knowing that they too had been aboard the starship, she broke down and wept for them. She began to feel guilty for not protecting them from the part of the Mazeren public she herself loathed; some of them were even a part of the fringes of the nationalist right-wing element of her government. She had stayed quiet as insults and missiles were thrown at them, now she missed them, she could have surely used their brains to stop the federation from coming apart at the seams, especially on Phlox that held them both in such high regard.

**********

It was still morning when David and Sarah arrived at the house of Armond Halliard and knocked on his door. When Armond opened his door to see who was calling, David and Sarah were shocked to see the haggard features upon their friend` face. Worrying about them, worrying about the future of his world, were partly the cause, but when coupled to his years of working long hours seven days a week, this abuse of his body was all finally catching up with him, he badly needed a rest away from the excitement of Plakara and Mazere.

On seeing them he had almost fainted with the shock, but on realising that they were both alive his sharp old eyes blazed with renewed vigour, he did not even notice how tired and rather dishevelled they were until they were standing in his front room.

"David, Sarah, you are both alive, but how, all the news reports said that everyone had died on the Antilles." It was now that Armond saw the state they were both in, frozen, wet and very tired.

"But you look exhausted, and you must be frozen, you must both have a hot shower and a change of clothing, then you must tell me all about your ordeal." Armond ordered, and although he was still decidedly a little bewildered by their sudden appearance, he ushered them up the stairs and into the bathroom.

"A hot shower would be terrific Armond, look here are our clothes, can you wash and dry them, we have another change of these designer suits in my backpack, we can use them until our own things are ready?" David asked their good friend.

"Yes of course, David, this house might be ancient, but it has all the modern facilities." Armond replied while still a little dazed. "When you are done, you must tell me everything." He demanded of them. "My god my friends, you are both alive." He said finally raising a smile to warm them, and laughing he walked back down the stairs.

An hour later and they were feeling a lot better, now completely dry, feeling warm and with another set of the boiler suits on, they were sitting on a settee in Armond`s front room. Armond had just given them a hot drink of Kakao, a drink similar to coffee, and now he demanded to know their story. When David and Sarah had finished telling their story Armond said nothing for a moment, for he was shocked by it, then he asked a question of them.

"Are you both sure that the Antilles was attacked by a space cruiser, could it not have been sabotage, or maybe just bad maintenance, as the news reports on Mazere have suggested?" Armond asked in a tremulous voice.

"Yes Armond, we are sure, the three of us know what it is like to be on the receiving end of a class one energy bolt, and what hit the Antilles felt exactly the same as the ones that Admiral Stator sent our way earlier this year. The same, Armond, except that the Antilles did not survive the attack." Sarah said softly to her friend, for she knew why he wanted a very different answer, and understood.

"Sarah, David, if what you are saying is true, then what you are telling me is that a space cruiser belonging to the Mazeren space fleet destroyed the Antilles, and killed so many people. For no space cruiser from Earth, or from Phlox, could have been in Mazeren space without our military knowing." Armond broke off here, too scared to continue speaking on such a terrible subject, too scared to begin to contemplate the consequences of such an attack.

"Yes, Armond that is what we are saying." David replied in an equally soft vein, for Sarah had tears in her eyes and looked to be unable to say anything for the moment.

"It also means that the attack on the Federation Science Building was most probably carried out by Mazerens, by associates of the late Admiral Stator, ones who want to take this planet back to the time before Lantana." David said softly.

Armond looked at his two friends from Earth and also appeared to be on the verge of crying, however, he managed to regain control of his emotions and merely nodded his acceptance of David`s words.

"Armond, would you mind if I use your computer to catch up on what is happening here on Mazere, see if it can offer some sort of explanation as to how the military thought they could get away with their attack on the Antilles?" David asked and getting their friends Okay, David and Sarah read the Mazeren news reports on their friend`s computer. They were very disheartened after reading the anti US press in the news, and they questioned their friend about it. Taking a deep breath Armond then told them of things that had occurred to him over the last month.

"David, Sarah, while you lived here on Mazere, and before the death of Admiral Stator, did you ever think that not all the citizens of Mazere were happy with the new way of life that President Stator brought to Mazere, together with just a little help from the both of you. Many of them do not like sharing their streets with those who were once Non-Citizens. In fact, they would be quite happy to see the revolution fail, and then for the previous government to return to rule over the planet. They would also like to see Mazere break off all contact with Earth and Phlox. Now you understand that it is mainly the older generation who feel this way, and certainly not all of them, but a large minority would happily see the three of you dead. Together with these citizens there are also a small group of young nationalistic hotheads, they too want Mazere to be as it once was, before President Stator radically changed the way things were." Armond said looking them both straight in the eye as he told them his terrible thoughts.

"But not you Armond, as an educated man, you can see the many advantages that Mazere will get if the three planets form a lasting federation of free peoples?" Sarah asked of her friend so very softly.

"Sarah, I firmly believe in the revolution brought about by President Stator, and also in the Federation of Planets, which would not have been successfully conceived without the help that she got from the two of you, help that was given freely without any need of payment." Armond replied earnestly. "However, I would caution you against going to President Stator, your enemy would soon hear about your return and would have you both assassinated before the day is out. No, you must contact her only after we have found our two missing friends, assuming that our friends are still alive. We will also need to find the alien technology, we need to prove to the many citizens who have been swayed by all the lies that it was never taken away from Mazere, it will be no easy thing, your latest quest, but I promise to aid you in every way possible."

With this grim warning they changed the subject to something lighter that took them through to dinner. They were enjoying their meal when Armond looked up at his two friends, and after taking a sip of his wine, he changed the normal light dinner conversation back to one a little more serious.

"David, if those behind the attack on the Antilles ever thought that you two might have escaped the explosion, then the forces of evil will certainly come to this house looking for you, for they will know that you two are my friends. This house of mine is an ancient one, it even has priest hole hidden behind its old walls, should anyone come by you will have to make use of it. I will show you where it is, after we have finished our meal." Armond said gravely.

**********

The next day, a report in a Mazerens newspaper stated that according to sources within the space department, it had been confirmed that the cause of the Antilles tragedy was poor maintenance. The article further stated that the space department had gone on to say that there was only a small chance that the craft had been sabotaged, although there are known to be at least one faction on Earth who are happy that the Antilles did not reach Mazere. This faction had been working behind the scenes to stop the truth behind the recent terrorist attack on Mazere from getting out, they also wanted to prevent any future peace talks from ever taking place. It concluded that although poor maintenance was the most likely reason, the other reason was still a possibility, only time would tell.

The government of the United States immediately lodged a formal protest regarding the article, and asked to be allowed to send a team to investigate the disaster, however, their request was formally denied by the Mazeren authorities.

That same day a Phloxan military starship arrived at the spaceport of Plakara to take back the remains of the dead Phloxan scientists. None of them escaped intact, they all showed signs of the explosion and the resulting fire, although it was thought by the coroner that the scientists had been unconscious when the fire finally reached them. Lantana sent her condolences back with the captain of the vessel, along with a promise to catch those responsible for this terrible act of terrorism.

It was during this morning on Mazere, while Armond was away from the house, that two large vehicles pulled up in front of Armond's house and six men got out and entered the small garden that ran around the house. Two of the men knew both David and Sarah, they were agents of the old, and now the new government of Mazere, they were employed by military intelligence, but at times they worked alongside the much-hated state police.

Cruz Broche and Santo Penang were dangerous men to have after you; they had tangled with David and Sarah just a short time ago when David and Sarah had been searching for the treasure of Altaraus with their friend, Armond Halliard. On that occasion David had got the better of them, the next time would be in the hands of the gods.

The two Mazeren agents walked completely around the old house, stopping to peer into the windows in the hope of seeing a sign that would tell them that the people that they sought were indeed hiding away in the house of their friend. Their superiors had become worried that David and Sarah had survived the attack on the Antilles, it was because no sign of any survivors had been found around the lifeboat that had carried David and Sarah to Mazere. Admiral Malik reasoned that only someone who was fluent in the Mazeren language, and was familiar with the layout of Plakara, could have successfully evaded them. Together with two of the other men, they now returned to the rear of the house leaving just two men on guard at the front of the house. Neighbours had seen them, however, the six men looked like agents of the still feared state police, and so no one interfered with them, they decided to pretend they had seen nothing at all.

The sound of wood splintering warned David and Sarah that someone was breaking into the house, luckily, all the items that they had brought into the house had already been stashed away in the priest hole, David and Sarah now joined it and waited there, as silent as church mice. The four men searched the house for twenty minutes before deciding to call it a day, just feet from their hiding place they heard Santo Penang bragging to one of the agents, how he was going to the opera that night, at the national theatre no less, to watch Obero, a much loved Mazeren opera. David decided that he would be on hand to kidnap Penang; he should then be able to force some information from his lips. The last time he had encountered the agent, David had promised to kill both Broche and Penang, if the agents dared cross his path again, he would remind Penang of this fact.

**********

Taluk Fogram, with the help of the state police, had found nothing of interest along the coast line south of Plakara, although he suspected that this was due to state police only taking him to places where there was nothing to find. It was not until later that his luck changed, when Fogram was surfing the internet looking for information, information that was not coming to him through official channels. He immediately found that speculation was rife in the many chat rooms, for these were not aligned with either the present government, or the one that it replaced. Local citizens, using nom de plumes to ensure their safety, told that at least three lifeboats had landed on Mazere, these citizens had either heard, or seen, the craft landing near to their small villages, villages that were spread along the coastline thirty miles to the south of the capital city. He was very interested in the lifeboat that was reported to have landed near to the outskirts of the capital itself. He had sent a report of his findings to Lantana over the internet, but was called to the offices of the President to give her a verbal report on his findings, such was the gravity of his report.

"The very fact that neither the lifeboats nor their passengers have been mentioned by General Pallas tends to add to my feelings of disquiet regarding our state policeman. Some of users in the chat rooms that I browsed through even believe that the Antilles was destroyed by the military. Unfortunately, once one begins to accept this concept, the other stories being spoken of elsewhere seem all the more likely." Fogram said grimly.

"You mean that there are other stories, apart from the general distrust of our military, Taluk?" Lantana asked with a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, she was not sure that she wanted to hear more, but knew that she had little choice, if the truth was to come out.

"I spoke to a couple of the reporters today, ones who I trust to tell the truth, they told me who they thought was responsible for the terrorist attack on the Federation Science Building, they blamed the military. They told me that they got to know Steven Ryan quite well over the last month, they said that he seemed to be an OK type of guy, one who they would never believe would murder the Phloxan scientists, or destroy the Federation Science Building and what it stood for. They believe that we have all been fed a pack of lies, and they are actively working to find the truth." Fogram replied. He looked at his president, watching her for signs of anger, what he saw gladdened his heart.

"I too wondered about Steve and Millicent Ryan, and their part in all this, it was hard to accept that they could have not only fooled me, but David and Sarah too, for one thing that I am sure of, and that is David and Sarah`s belief in the Federation, even after the way they were treated on Mazere." Lantana said, she looked sad, but Fogram could also see regret tinged with guilt in her eyes, guilt that rose and was now threatening to choke her after the Antilles disaster.

"I firmly believed that no one had survived the Antilles disaster, for if there had been any survivors, and especially if David and Sarah were amongst them, then why did they not contact me? Now you tell me that three life boats landed to the south of the capital and I ask myself the same question Taluk, why have they not contacted me." Lantana asked.

"I would expect that after the attack on the Antilles, David and Sarah were worried as to the reception they might expect, especially after the rift between the two worlds. That is if they are free to act, my sources also reported that the state police were very active that night. I questioned General Pallas about the reports and he told me that his forces were carrying out exercises along with the Mazeren defence force, in case Earth or Phlox decide to take their previous act of war to another level. It is quite likely that the general would have imprisoned any survivors that fell into his hands, which is why no one has been in contact with you or the civil police." Fogram replied.

Lantana looked thoughtful for a moment before calling her personal assistant on the intercom.

"Have General Pallas come to my office tomorrow, he is to give me a full report on everything that he has found out about the Antilles tragedy."

Lantana then turned back to Taluk Fogram. "We shall hear what General Pallas has to say, I will not to react to rumours and hearsay Taluk, first thing tomorrow morning I want you to see just how much truth there actually is in them. I want you to head down to where the lifeboats are said to have landed, speak to the locals, look for the lifeboats, if any did in fact land near to Plakara. Oh, and Taluk take a full squad of my presidential guards with you, just in case the military are conducting any more of their exercises."

The presidential guards were members of the military who were loyal to Lantana, rather than to the senior officers in the military, they held similar views to those agents of the American secret service.

"Taluk, it is so galling that the two people who could help us the most are actually here, and probably in Plakara, and yet they feel unable to contact me because of my past conduct." Lantana complained as tears now began to slide down her cheeks.

**********

When Armond returned home that evening, having spent the day at the Archaeological Museum for Ancient Alien Civilisations where he was the curator, David and Sarah told him of their visitors, and of the damage to his back door.

"It seems as if the ungodly are getting braver, our president will have to sort this mess out quickly, and then have a purge of all the old guard who still hold positions of power within the military and paramilitary organisations here on Mazere, or else we will constantly be in danger of losing our hard-won liberty." Armond said grimly.

"It will be difficult for her to trim the old guard back to the bone, for otherwise she could find herself without any captains to man her space fleet, that or a not so subtle attempted military coup." David replied.

"Unfortunately, you may be right; however, if we are successful in our present quest, it will ease her task, but tell me, have you formulated any plans as regards finding our two friends?" Armond asked brightly, for he had hopes that his two friends from Earth would once again help Mazere in her hour of need.

"Yes, we do have a plan, one in which we need your help." David replied and then went on to tell Armond what they had overheard of Santo Penang`s plans for the evening.

"So, you see Armond, we could do with a lift to the National Opera House." Sarah said after David had told Armond of their plan.

"Yes, that would be best, too many people know your faces, you could well be recognised travelling by public transport, I will take you in my car, and then when the production is about to finish I will be your spy, I will wait until Penang leaves the theatre and then advise you." Armond declared.

"Penang knows you too Armond, if he saw you he would arrest you for conspiring with the enemies of Mazere." David said fearfully. "No, it would be too dangerous for you Armond, just give us a lift to the city centre, we might need your help later, if all goes well."

This was something that Sarah agreed with as well. "David is right Armond, and in any case, we would never ask you to put yourself in such danger." Sarah declared vehemently.

"Don`t be foolish, Mazere is my world, I have a right to try and do something to protect her from her enemies." Armond declared angrily.

"You are quite right of course my friend." David said conciliatory. "Unfortunately, many of your own people now believe us to be their enemies. However, if you insist on joining our gang then you must at least disguise yourself, to minimise the chance of our enemies recognising you." David insisted.

"No problem David, I used to be in amateur dramatics when I was younger, I think that I can use a few of my old props to make myself appear much older and just a little decrepit, I still have my costumes in a trunk in the attic." Armond said with a laugh and a smile.

"In that case maybe you can help us to alter our appearances too." David said smiling.

"Yes, I think that I can do just that, look we should have something to eat now, as we shall be busy for an hour after our meal sorting out each of our disguises, and then we will have to drive to the opera house." Armond said and left for the kitchen where to his surprise he found that Sarah had already prepared a meal.

During dinner they spoke of various things, ones that occurred during happier times and ones that were happening right now.

"Our new foe appears to have gone for the present, for I kept a watchful eye out for any strangers as I approached home, although we will have to be sure that they have not returned when we set out this evening." Armond warned. "This really is a lovely meal Sarah, you have so many abilities, if David had not already snatched you up, I would have chased after you myself." Armond said with a soft chuckle.

After their meal David helped Armond to make a temporary repair to his back door, so as to stop anyone from just walking in while he was out, although such crime was still rare upon Mazere. Then the time came when they had to prepare their disguises, and Armond took charge here. He provided them with coats, hats and thick woollen scarfs that made them appear much older, David even had a walking stick, and he instructed them as to how they were to stand and walk whenever the ungodly might be watching. He himself had a similar outfit and the three of them now looked to be old codgers, however they were only to don their disguises after they arrived in the town centre, in case there was a member of the state police staking out the house who they did not know about.

"We will have to be careful even when there is no one about, for Mazere still has so many CCTV cameras in her streets, supposedly to keep the citizens safe, but they can also be used to spy on us." Armond warned.

Unknown to Armond, the Mazeren agent Cruz Broche had left a third vehicle parked nearly opposite his house, it looked similar to all of the other parked vehicles, except this one came with a camera that was streaming a live transmission to a vehicle parked in a nearby shopping centre. Inside the vehicle were four agents just waiting for David or Sarah to make an appearance.

A neighbour of Armond`s, Ryslin Vidor, was always organising some sort of event for the locals, this time it was for a fete to raise money for disadvantaged children. He had noticed the six agents invade the house of Armond; he had also noticed a stranger drive up and park opposite the house of his neighbour, Armond. The man had looked to be the archetypical state policeman, a Mazeren had long known what to look for to recognise them. Fearful of speaking to Armond, either by telephone, or calling by, in case of phone tapping or hidden watchers, he decided to post his leaflets about the coming fete a little earlier than he had planned. Bravely he walked along the entire street posting his leaflets through all of the doors, the leaflet gave the residents information about the weekends fete, the one he posted through Armond's letter box also told Armond of the parked vehicle and its driver.

"I must thank Ryslin for his bravery, but first I will shred his note so that our enemies do not find it, should they return to search the house again."

"And David and I will wash up the dinner things, for the same reason, to thank you for your bravery." Sarah said pulling David into the kitchen.

Armond felt himself blush, for he had never thought of himself as brave. Soon everything had been cleared away and they were ready to leave for the opera.

"I will drive from my house and pick the two of you up around the corner, come I will show you your route." Armond instructed.

He led them through the door at the rear of the house, with its frame temporarily repaired, and into his small garden. At the rear of the garden was a small gate that was hard to see, for Armond had allowed this part of his garden to become overgrown. Pushing through a strong bush that fought them every inch of the way, they reached the gate that led to a narrow back path, itself very overgrown.

"You two can walk along here and wait for me at the end, I will be there in just a minute or two." Armond instructed them, and without waiting to see them off, he turned back for the house and his hover car, for the majority of vehicles, both on Earth and Mazere, now operated in this way, the curse of the pothole was finally over.

Chapter Three

Prisoners of the Enemy

In the car park of a Mazeren shopping centre, two men sat quietly inside of a parked delivery van, they were looking at the four monitors mounted on the inside walls of a lightweight commercial vehicle, on its side was the name of a national group of florists.

"Agent Broche, the professor is leaving his house and getting into his car." Agent Jalon said into the small microphone attached to the headphones on his head.

Less than a minute later the agent sitting next to Jalon now contacted Agent Broche. "Agent Broche, two figures have left the narrow track at the rear of the professor`s house. They are Captain David Charlton and Ms Sarah Jane Hardin, hold on the professor has picked them both up, they are now driving away down the road that will take them towards the town centre." Agent Chalik reported calmly, showing no particular interest in the fact that he had just seen the two most wanted people on Mazere.

In the control centre of the headquarters of the state police, a group of men sat waiting for this report, along one long wall of the centre was row upon row of monitors all showing the views from the many CCTV cameras within central Plakara.

"Ok Agent Chalik, stay put, we will pick them up on the CCTV cameras mounted along Central Boulevard." Broche ordered. He then turned to Admiral Malik. "It seems that we shall soon have them Sir."

Admiral Malik came out of the shadows in which he had been resting. He had been on a cot set on the far side of the room, it was used by operatives who were resting up while their colleagues kept watch during a quiet period. "Let`s put a hold on the celebrations Broche, until we actually have him, David Charlton has proved to be quite a capable man in the past." Malik said, ignoring Sarah who he thought was not worth a mention, as she was but an insignificant woman.

"You don`t need to tell me, twice before he has bested me." Broche said angrily. "This is my time to win now, and I shall enjoy the moment when I finally have him as my prisoner."

Broche now sent a text message to Penang, telling him to hurry across to the command centre as soon as his opera was over, their prey had shown themselves.

Broche now followed Armond`s car through the town using the CCTV cameras, they watched it as it was forced to slow when it joined in with the inner-city traffic, people out for a night`s entertainment or attempting to drive home through the busy traffic. Armond finally parked his hover car in a large multi-storey car park, on the eighth level, the top floor, just half an hour before the operatic performance was due to end. Here Armond donned his disguise and walked out of the car park, he saw what could be agents of the state police, but was not sure; however, it did not matter as he was catching a taxi home. His part in the plan had been to act as a red herring, their enemy had focused on his car allowing his friends to disappear into the crowds, tomorrow he would collect it, but tonight his vehicle was far too hot to drive home in. As for David and Sarah, they had got out of the car when Armond had been stopped by the traffic in the centre of town, safely hidden from any cameras by a large bus they mingled with the citizens of Mazere. They each had a scarf around the lower part of their faces, and a hat, so as to aid them escape detection.

**********

David and Sarah immediately entered a large fast food establishment that was situated on the other side of the bus, mixing with the milling crowd to reach it unnoticed by their enemies. Here they used the toilets of the establishment to put on their disguises, they then left the fast food outlet without making a purchase, and of course feeling suitably guilty. They now strolled slowly along the packed pavements, they were heading for the vicinity of the opera house, and here they spent time looking in the many shop windows, waiting for the patrons of the opera house to spill out from its doors.

Santo Penang was one of the last to leave the opera house, spending even more time at the bottom of its steps in conversation with some friends before saying goodbye to them. As chance would have it, Penang walked towards the multi-storey car park that Armond was parked in; they entered the lift behind him as he pushed the button for the sixth floor. Penang was the first to exit the lift, in front of the aging couple who followed on behind him until he reached his car. It was not until David pushed into the back of Penang, as he opened the door of his vehicle that Penang knew something was seriously wrong, the shove sent the agent hard up against his car, making him grunt as the hard metal of the vehicle dug into his body.

"Hello, Santo, looking for us, move an inch and I will kill you where you stand, just follow my instructions." David threatened, and immediately relieved the agent of the weapon in his shoulder holster. Sarah now appeared on the other side of the agent`s vehicle, energy weapon in her hand and held tightly against her body so as to be hidden from any chance passer-by. Santo was now unable to take any violent action against David, who now frisked him again, relieving the agent of his spare weapon strapped to his lower leg and his cell phone from his coat pocket.

"Now slowly get into your car Santo, and sit quietly with your hands on the wheel, and keep them there, or I might think that you are trying something, and then I would have to kill you."

Penang slowly entered his car and put both of his hands on the steering wheel as ordered; he now glanced up at David and smiled.

"You seem to have aged some Captain Charlton, it must be the lifestyle, I would change it if I were you." Penang said in an attempt to seem unconcerned by his easy capture.

Santo was actually stunned by this sudden turn of events and said nothing more, from the corner of his eye he could see the weapon held by Sarah, she had now concealed it from any watching CCTV camera beneath her spacious top coat.

With his energy weapon in one hand, David used the other to turn the cell phone off, and then he took out the battery to disable its GPS, David now smiled across at Sarah who returned his smile. Sarah now proceeded with the next part of their plan, she entered the car on the left-hand side and sat down beside Penang, her weapon pointing at Penang. With Penang under her watchful eye, David now got into the car and sat directly behind Penang with his weapon pushed between the head rest of Penang`s seat, and touching the agent`s neck. Sarah now put her weapon away beneath her large baggy coat, but unseen by Penang she now held a small stun gun in her left hand, she partially concealed this weapon also beneath her coat. Armond had provided the weapon as an alternative to the noisy energy weapon she carried.

"All right Santo, why don`t you tell us where our friends are being kept, Steve and Millicent, you remember them from our last trip. Santo, if you do not assist us I will carry out my promise to kill you, you remember the one that I made to you and Broche on the planet Phlox, I warned you not to cross my path again, or suffer the consequences." David threatened Penang, never once taking his eyes off the agent`s eyes, which he watched via the rear-view mirror.

"Captain, if you kill me, who will help you find your friends?" Penang said with more confidence than he felt.

"Our good friend, and your fellow agent, Cruz Broche, we will have as little a problem in kidnapping him as we did you, now talk friend." David demanded in a voice showing signs of impatience, something Penang noticed, for he began to feel the first signs of panic rising within his body.

"You win Captain, they are currently enjoying the facilities offered in one of our top security cells, the one below the state police headquarters here in Plakara, the one place you will never dare to enter." Penang said, his smile returning, and making him look very evil rather than happy, his eyes were locked on David`s via the same rear-view mirror.

David and Sarah had already guessed what reply Penang would make, and so they were prepared. David did not even glance at his wife, for they both knew that Penang would instantly act if David once took his eyes off the agent. Instead it was Sarah who acted, she pushed the stun gun against Penang`s arm.

Penang screamed in pain as the electricity charge ran through his body, Sarah had only used the weapon on its lowest setting and so Penang soon recovered from the charge. While he was recovering, he watched as Sarah cranked up the weapon to a much more powerful setting.

"Now Santo, once again, where are our friends?" David demanded to know. "If you lie this time I will shoot you, after my wife has had her bit of fun, do you understand?" David said in a clipped voice.

"Yes, Captain, your wife has made your meaning abundantly clear. They are being held outside of Plakara, in a laboratory, along with the stolen alien technology, I can take you there if you want." Penang replied and he sounded utterly beaten, David believed that this was just a ploy to put them at their ease, although a line of sweat had broken out upon Penang`s upper lip and there was now a desperate look in his eyes.

**********

"Where are our two missing guests Cruz, I was assured by you that Captain Charlton and his wife were yours for the taking, once again they have got the better of us." Admiral Malik cried out in disgust.

"They are in town somewhere; with all of the CCTV we will soon have them, make no mistake when I tell you that they are mine." Broche declared confidently. "Where the hell has Penang got too, I gave him leave to watch his stupid opera, but not to take a holiday. He knows that we are following Charlton, and that we will soon have him."

*********

Penang took David and Sarah out of Plakara, it was now the early hours of the morning, and soon they were deep into the countryside to the far east of the city, Penang did not hurry, he drove sedately along the almost empty highway. The sun was showing just above the horizon when they finally arrived at their destination, and the three of them were exhausted from the lack of sleep. It was a large industrial complex, but they were only concerned with a single unit on the perimeter of the complex. The building that Penang was now pointing out to them was attached to a shopping centre, the grounds of which were clean, tidy, and showing everyday use. The grounds around their unit was anything but clean and tidy, for rubbish was blowing around the grounds and two of the upper storey windows were broken. It had an eight feet high wire security fence around it, but for a high security area with kidnapped scientists and stolen alien technology hidden within it, it seemed to be strangely quiet, and very empty of people, especially guards.

"Santo, the place is derelict, there is rubbish blowing around the grounds, and look at the door to the security guard`s building at the entrance to this place, it has fallen off, taken with the lack of security I would say that I am probably going to shoot you real soon." David said angrily while pushing his energy weapon hard into Penang`s neck.

"What are you talking about Captain, the place is perfect, who would ever suspect that the building has an underground complex that is full of alien technology, and with the best scientific minds on Mazere working to find its secrets. They are already on the verge of creating the technical schematics that will allow our factories to produce the super weapons of the ancients." Penang replied loudly while moving his neck away from the energy weapon.

"Santo, there are no signs that any vehicles have been through the gateway for quite some time, tell me why I should stop David from killing you?" Sarah demanded as she pushed her stun gun against Penang`s body, threatening him all the more.

"Let me lead the way, I will show you that I am telling you the truth?" Penang begged, he seemed eager to be of help to them.

In fact, Penang was praying that his colleagues would have come to the correct conclusion regarding his nonappearance, that the Charlton`s had got him and that he would bring them to this disused building, one that he and Broche had so recently visited to see if it could be of any use to them. When his fellow agent failed to contact him on his cell phone Broche would know that something was very wrong, or so Penang hoped.

"Ok Santo, but if you try anything, I will kill you, believe me." David threatened the government agent. "Tell me, how do you propose we enter the complex, surely not by the front door?" David asked.

"No Captain, we will enter by the small side door, I have a key to it so we will be able to enter without anyone noticing, and do not worry Captain, there will be no tricks." Penang promised in a slightly wavering voice, showing that he was still not confident of getting through the next few minutes alive.

Penang slowly and carefully exited the car, making an effort to show that he was obeying David`s orders. Sarah exchanged the stun gun for her energy weapon and stepping out of the vehicle scanned the surrounding area for hidden watchers or cameras, she saw neither. Penang walked over to a heavy metal gate that allowed entry into the open area around the building, he pushed it open and led them both over to the side door set in the side of the large building. When they got to it, he pulled out a key and opened the door; it led into an empty corridor in which there were two doors to choose from, one at the end of the corridor and one just three feet into it.

"What is on the other side of the two doors?" David asked.

"The far door will take you into the empty building, however, the place has silent alarms all over the place, we need to use the first door, it will take us down to the complex where your friends are." Penang replied, seeming, somewhat surprisingly, to want to be of the utmost help to them.

David looked hard at him before pointing to the nearest door, the one that would take them down to the lower levels of the complex. Penang took out his bunch of keys once again and unlocked the door, through the door was a staircase heading down to another short corridor, and finally another door.

As Penang reached for the handle to this next door, David whispered a promise to him. "Santo, I really hope that you are not trying to deceive us, for I promise you will not live to enjoy your trickery."

Santo looked at David, and in a quaking voice replied. "Don`t you think that I know that, believe me, your friends are just on the other side of this door Captain. However, we must tread lightly from now on, through this door there are Mazeren scientists who may recognise you, and a number of security guards who certainly will." Penang advised in a similar vein to his last words." Neither David nor Sarah trusted Penang, now they found themselves trusting him even less; this new Penang was too helpful and far too fearful by half.

Penang used another one of his keys to obtain entry into this lower level, and after unlocking this door he gently pushed it open and stepped through to the lower level. David and Sarah quickly followed him to find themselves in a large open plan space, which was completely empty, empty that is apart from Cruz Broche and his security team who were all hidden behind the large pillars that supported the ceiling.

"Throw your weapons down Captain, Ms Hardin; a dozen weapons are trained upon you." Broche ordered.

David immediately held his weapon up to Penang`s head. "I will kill Santo if you make a move to take us prisoner, we are leaving the way we came Cruz, please do not try to stop us." David replied loudly, he had recognised Broche`s voice from his past run ins with the agent. He made to retreat but came to a halt on hearing Broche`s reply.

"Kill Santo by all means Captain, but a dozen weapons will fire and Ms Hardin will surely be killed." Broche threatened in turn. David froze on hearing this threat to Sarah`s life and Penang now shrugged his way clear of David`s hand and walked towards Broche, as David and Sarah both put their weapons carefully down on the floor. David turned to look quickly at Sarah and smiled encouragingly at her, and she likewise smiled back at him. They were taken for now, but not beaten.

"You win Cruz, what do you intend to do with us?" David called towards the agent who appeared from behind the pillar, along with the other agents who came out laughing and smiling now they had caught David Charlton, as Sarah was a woman the Mazeren males did not value her capture as much as that of David.

"We will hold you both until an opportune moment arrives, and then we will show you off as the supreme terrorist, Captain Charlton." Broche replied with a smile, for he saw that he could now show his true value to Admiral Malik, and maybe get a richly deserved promotion.

When Penang had not turned up, Broche had thought it very likely that he had been taken prisoner by David, who he knew to be in the area. It did not take too much thinking to determine what Penang would do, and so he and his team, who were members of the state police, had left Plakara and waited nervously here in this deserted factory, nervous in case his thinking turned out to be incorrect.

While Penang was deep in conversation with Broche, David was searched by the other members of the security team, but they found that he had no other weapon upon him, for he had left Santo`s two weapons on the back seat of his vehicle. Now it was the turn of Sarah who held her bulky coat open to facilitate the search, here too their captors found that Sarah carried no other weapons apart from her energy weapon, which they already had.

"Take them back to Plakara and put them both in one of the cells beneath the state police headquarters." Broche ordered Ryking, a member of his team who was one of the few experienced agents he had with him. "Take three more of the security team along with you, oh and secure their hands, Captain Charlton and his wife have always proved to be very capable people, and I do not want them escaping from us now that we finally have them."

Broche now turned back to the others of his team. "Santo, you and I also need to be in Plakara, and no later than this afternoon, we can rest up while Rokor drives us back, I am sure that you could do with a nap too." Broche said smiling. A very successful operation he thought, well thought out and skilfully executed.

He led Santo and the remainder of his team up the stairs that David and Sarah had just descended, and over to three of the waiting vehicles that were parked in the ground floor of the building. One of the agents now slid open one of the large doors to allow the vehicle to leave, and he waited patiently here so that he could then close the doors behind them.

Meanwhile, Ryking and his team headed for a large multi person vehicle parked opposite the three other vehicles with their two captives. Ryking had found that none of his team had any plastic cable ties to secure David and Sarah with; they had been left in the large multi person vehicle due to the haste in setting up the ambush. Therefore, David and Sarah had been led back up the stairs and into the ground floor level of the building with their hands free. They were standing at the doors to the vehicle, waiting while Ryking searched for the cable ties, when Sarah pulled out her stun gun and incapacitated the nearest security man. The man standing next to David was a newcomer to the state police, and he was so surprised by Sarah`s sudden attack on his colleague that David was able to take the man`s weapon, for he had holstered it thinking he had no immediate use for it. David fired at the agent on the other side of Sarah who had also been late in reacting to the situation and was only just swivelling his weapon towards Sarah, seeing her as the main danger after her surprise attack. As he fell to the floor, David stepped out from behind the vehicle and shot Ryking before he realised just what was happening. As for the man whose gun David was using, Sarah had used her stun gun on him as he moved after David.

David and Sarah leapt into the large multi person vehicle and drove off at speed through the wide-open doors, amid wild yelps coming from Sarah. Broche pulled his energy weapon out and fired after the rapidly departing vehicle, the energy bolt exploding against the rear door and showering David and Sarah with glass. It was only while watching them disappear out of the building that Penang realised that he had forgotten the stun gun. However, he decided to say nothing about it, Broche was already very angry as he ordered he driver to start up their vehicle and give chase. Behind them, the other two vehicles holding the remaining agents now also started their vehicles and chased after their escaped prisoners, the chances of any of them getting any sleep now seemed non-existent.

The stun gun had not been found as Sarah had hoped that by opening her coat, as if to assist her captors, she might misdirect them. The agents that had accompanied Broche were not very experienced, and as they had not found a second weapon on David, they had not expected to find a second weapon on Sarah, a woman, for they were all men. This plainly showed the real need for the women of Mazere to be brought into the paramilitary forces of the planet, Sarah thought, but not just yet.

David and Sarah raced through the early morning traffic at speed, and dangerously so, for he raced through crossroads only narrowly avoiding the traffic that was moving across in front of him. Vehicles screeched to a halt all around him, their horns blasting their anger, other vehicles rear ended some of these suddenly stopped vehicles, their own vehicle though was charmed, for now at least.

Behind him, Broche was forced to brake quickly to stop hitting this traffic, as were the other two pursuit cars. He looked in disbelief as the vehicle that David had stolen quickly disappeared into the distance, all he saw for the future was his superiors' anger. He sat there fuming for only a moment before leaning over and switching on his siren, seeing no immediate action from the drivers barring his way, he opened his side window and swore and threatened until his vehicle was able to move across the intersection.

Broche had been unable to put out a general call for assistance, for this would have increased the chances of word getting back to those loyal to the president. Broche had called for help though, help that was speeding towards him from Plakara; soon they would have their quarry trapped between them, Broche hoped, provided they stayed on the same road as they were on and did not turn off. Broche increased their speed to maximum as desperation took a firm grip of his mind, to return to Plakara empty handed meant humiliation.

Miles in front of their pursuers, David was trying to remember this part of their route, for they had only just driven up it with Penang. He recalled seeing a large car dealership somewhere along this part of the route, one which had at least one similar model on display to the one in which they were making their escape. As they approached the dealership at speed he slammed on the brakes and drove onto its forecourt, he then parked their large car at the rear of sales area, effectively hiding it for a short while at least.

"We are bailing out here, Sarah, if we carry on then we are going to be recaptured, that or killed, and real soon." David said as he opened his door and quickly got out.

Sarah, while agreeing that they were in great danger, especially if they continued driving along the highway, had another idea.

"Surely it would be better to hold onto our transport David, why not simply turn off onto a side road?" She suggested rather concerned to be on foot once again, especially on a planet full of their enemies.

"Even if they dare not put out a general call for us, they can report the vehicle as stolen. If we are ordered to stop by the civil police, we will not know if the officers are potential enemies or friends, we will be on the run until we either run out of fuel or crash." David argued, and just as the three pursuit cars raced past them and disappeared from sight, driving fast in the direction of Plakara. "And even if we are taken by the civil police, the chances are that we will be killed before a friend can free us, if indeed we have any powerful enough on this planet to do so." David reasoned.

"Then we should find a better place to hide our vehicle, now that our friends have gone on by, otherwise David, when the staff of this dealership turn up they will notify the police about finding an abandoned vehicle, and Broche will know exactly where we are, here in Hicksville." Sarah argued, and successfully, for David nodded his agreement and then climbed back into the vehicle and restarted the engine.

They pulled back out of the dealership and turned down a side road that, according to the road sign, would eventually lead them to Little Manning. David thought how English the name of the town was, however they were unlikely to see it, for it was ninety-seven miles away.

They turned off the road as soon as a likely side road appeared and now drove down a succession of similar roads, the roads were filled with houses of every kind, but they dismissed all of them, for they were seeking an isolated hideaway. They were about to pass a mini market when Sarah asked David to pull over, she wanted to purchase some food and water with some of the Mazeren money that Armond had given them, in case they were forced to lie low for any length of time. Having made their purchases, and now much better able to face the future, they continued on along a further series of back roads, all free of houses, until after turning a tight corner they saw a 'For Sale' sign at the edge of a small field. In the centre of the field was a small cottage that appeared empty, there were no curtains up at its windows, and no lights shone from out of its dirty windows. David and Sarah looked at it and smiled, they parked their car in the road and then David and Sarah walked up its path to investigate, they found the place deserted and looking as if it had been this way for some considerable time. Returning to the road they opened the gate wide, then David drove their vehicle onto the property and hid it in a garage that looked to be in the process of falling down, but it was perfect for the job, it made their getaway vehicle all but invisible.

Feeling very hungry they now lunched on some of their recently purchased food, and huddled together to stay warm while talking of how best to proceed, they were still talking when night fell.

"I saw a pile of logs as we drove in, how about we make a fire, it is dark now and no one will be able to see the smoke?" David said as he got to his feet and moved towards the door.

"And how are you going to light it my darling?" Sarah asked gloomily.

"I threw in a couple of boxes of matches with our food purchases, there is enough dry tinder within the house and a little oil in a can under the kitchen sink, hopefully that will suffice." David replied, and it did, suffice, for soon they had a fire going and they ate their dinner before it, feeling warm again and just a little happier. They then fell into an exhausted sleep, for the moment they did not even notice how cold and hard the floor of their hideaway was.

**********

The next morning General Pallas called on Lantana and gave her his report, he never once mentioned the finding of any lifeboats. Lantana thanked him and patiently waited for Taluk Fogram to report back to her.

**********

Admiral Malik was sitting in his group`s secret headquarters, a suite of rooms hidden at the rear of a large store that sold clothing. He had just heard Broche`s report on the fiasco and he could not control his anger, he looked in exasperation at Broche and Penang and let out a roar of anger that even a lion would have been proud of producing. Luckily for the conspirators the place had been sound proofed.

"How could you have been so stupid as to allow them to escape, you assured me that this time you would succeed, and after I had warned you about Captain Charlton, tell me, how?" Admiral Malik demanded angrily, his face turning red and his eyes blazing at his incompetent pair of agents.

"It was not our fault, I assigned four members of the state police to bring them back to Plakara, those idiots could not even get them out of the building. They searched both Charlton and the woman, and yet somehow missed the stun gun carried by the woman, and she used it to great effect. Then although they were all armed with energy weapons, Charlton still managed to overpower the remaining agents." Broche protested, dismissing Sarah`s further help in the matter as unimportant.

"You were the man in charge; it was up to you to ensure that Charlton and his wife were returned here, we needed them for a show trial, now all we have is your pitiful excuses Broche." Admiral Malik screamed at the agent, before turning his back on Broche while he attempted to regain control of his emotions.

"Get back out there and find them Broche." Gregor Ratin, the minister of the interior and the leader of the group said in disgust. "And do not return until you have them." Ratin now turned back to the senior members of this group of conspirators, while Broche and Penang slunk away in disgrace.

"Well there we are, Charlton and his woman somehow survived the attack on the Antilles, and why? Because one of our magnificent space cruisers was not up to scratch, we went to war in a substandard starship, how are we ever to be able to go up against the space cruisers of the United States of America." Ratin raged.

"It was the same trouble that we have experienced before, pushing all that power through a single engine may make for greater speed, but it can cause a starship`s main engine to fail, even explode. We should be able to correct this design defect when our scientists have fully explored the alien technology." Maric said in defence of his fleet.

"Yes, Admiral, but for the present it allowed Charlton to escape, the one man who just might come to the assistance of our liberal minded president, and who knows, he might even come after us." Ratin said grimly. "I do not want to fail, Admiral Stator made the mistake of underestimating Charlton, I will not." Ratin now turned to General Pallas.

"General, have all of your trusted personnel out there looking for him, I want him found within the next two days." Ratin saw that his compatriots were feeling rather depressed after this latest setback; it was time to reassure them, to tell them of his recent plans.

"Since we learnt that Charlton had survived the attack on the Antilles I have been thinking hard about our Earthman and I think I have found a way to make use of his presence here on Mazere." Ratin said, smiling at his colleagues as he sought to raise their spirits.

"After I heard that Charlton had been sighted, I leaked a report to the Truth, the editor has promised to put it on the front page of tomorrow`s newspaper. It seems that the good captain is a saboteur." Ratin said and laughed at how ingenious he thought he had been. "The article continues on with speculation as to how he was able to escape from the Antilles and not get caught up in the disaster, it states that this is something that the authorities want to speak to him about." Ratin said as tears rolled down his face and laughter racked his body, finally though he regained control of himself and with a look of boyish glee he told his colleagues the final part of his plan.

"The second part of my plan concerns another newspaper article, one that will also be printed tomorrow morning, I gave it to the other newspapers that are loyal to Mazere, rather than to our illustrious president. They will accuse Charlton of being a spy, one acting for the USA against us. That while he is here he will attempt to spread misinformation about the terrorist attack, and wants to spread this poisonous fiction as far as our beloved president. They will state quite categorically that he has always been one, and his aim has always been the same, to damage Mazere. I hope in this way to stoke up discontent against Earth, both on Mazere and on Phlox, and in doing so to hide our own deed behind a series of smoke screens."

"But will anyone believe these reports Gregor?" Admiral Malik asked quizzically.

"Oh yes Admiral, some of them will believe it because they have read it in a newspaper, and others will believe it because they want to believe it, the truth of the matter will never affect their way of thinking." Ratin said with a satisfied smile upon his face.

"Charlton will find his face on the front page of every newspaper on Mazere, their readers will provide us with millions of unpaid spies, and all of them will call us, for the telephone number that has been printed in every article will take then directly through to our state police in Plakara." Ratin said triumphantly.

"It might have been better if you had informed me first, before giving out the telephone number. I had better leave now to ensure that nothing unforeseen occurs to ruin your scheme, Gregor." Pallas said angrily, as he got up from his chair and walked briskly to the door.

"Pallas was correct for once, Gregor, we should all consult with one another before initiating plans, they could easily clash and bring ourselves to the president`s attention. We are all in this together, let`s not forget that." Malik said with a scowl on his face.

"Of course, Admiral, you are both quite right, and I will remember next time to run my plans past you." Ratin said in an attempt to placate his fellow members.

**********

The next morning President Lantana Stator was amongst the millions of readers, and as she read the articles so her anger grew until she could stand it no longer. "Maitland, have Gregor Ratin come to my office immediately." She instructed her private assistant loudly and very angrily.

Gregor had expected the call and so he ensured that he was unavailable, by conducting a tour of the Southern cities of Mazere, he was inspecting the local para military establishments there. However, Lantana was still able to find him, for Ratin made the mistake of visiting one of the prefectures that was very pro the president. Using her computer, she was able to speak to him, face to face.

"Gregor, can you tell me anything about these supposed reports that today`s newspapers mention in their articles concerning David Charlton, because I am anxious to speak to whoever compiled them?" Lantana asked in a very restrained voice.

"No, I am afraid that I am as much in the dark as you are Madame President. Unfortunately, due to your new law concerning the freedom of the press, we will be unable to impel the editors to tell us just who their source was." Ratin said sorrowfully, while smiling inwardly.

"I see, then I will have to personally visit each editor and ask them for the proof behind the second of the articles, the one that does not mention an unknown source, but simply spreads lies against two of my friends." Lantana declared in a voice that was fast losing its restraint.

"Your friends, Madame President, I thought that after the death of your father you viewed them in much the same way as these newspaper editors?" Ratin said sardonically.

Lantana made a decision there and then to replace her interior minister, one who had been foisted upon her to ensure that important bills had gone through parliament without too much delay. She also silently apologised to her two friends, for she now realised how much damage had been caused when she had thrown them to the lions, hopefully, they would forgive her, if they were truly still alive, as the articles stated.

President Stator asked one of her aides to visit the editors' offices, however, she learnt very little, her freedom of the press act working against her this time. She did however; now know which newspapers not to trust if she ever decided to leak a report of her own.

**********

Sarah awoke the next morning and shivered as the cold made its presence felt, she moved up against David in search of warmth, but it took a while before she felt any benefit from his body. She looked around the cold empty front room of the cottage they were hiding away in, something was bothering her, it was a thought that must have been moving around her mind even when she had been asleep, and now she decided to speak about it to David. "David, are you asleep?"

"I was until your cold feet woke me up." David complained.

"David, we either need to find a way off this planet, or, come up with a plan to find Steve and Millicent. Simply sitting, and sleeping, on this hard floor, and during the early spring in Mazere, it is just as bad as a prison cell, and probably not as comfortable." Sarah declared unhappily.

"I know darling, and I have been thinking about our problem. Sarah, we know that we cannot take the risk of entering Plakara, not in plain sight anyway, and we probably need another disguise; the ones we have been wearing have been seen by Broche and Penang. We also need an untraceable piece of transport, the transport we have is almost certainly too hot to drive around in now." David said. "Look, we are still near enough to that small town to walk there in half an hour. There is usually at least one shop in each town catering to ex Non-Citizens, we should be able to buy a few things there to disguise ourselves from the ungodly. Then, after a new hair style and some makeup, I reckon that it should be safe enough to risk the Mazeren bus network. It is a pretty good system and will take us to Plakara within four hours, once there we can contact Armond and ask for another loan until we clear this mess up, what do you think?" David asked smiling at Sarah, this, together with the beginnings of a plan, made her feel better, especially as the sun began to shine through the windows and brighten the house up.

"Ok, David, we have the first part of a plan now, so let`s go find this designer clothes store you spoke of and spend some more of Armond`s money. Say, just how much do we have left anyway?" Sarah wondered.

David pulled it out and counted their dwindling money supply. "Hmm not much, we should probably buy our bus tickets first, then visit the clothes shop and then if we have any money left buy some more food to eat on the way." He replied thoughtfully.

"Okay, we can now return to Plakara, but once there how do we get the necessary information, our last attempt not only failed miserably, but almost got us killed." Sarah complained.

"Armond might have some ideas as to where to look, we must just hope that the list is not too long, and that we find our friends sooner rather than later." David said. "However, I firmly believe that it will be a better idea if we just kidnap Santo again, and this time Sarah, we will use more persuasive methods." David replied and outlined just what they should do to capture Santo; and then ensure that, this time, he did not lead them into a trap.

"Oh David, I would feel sorry for poor Santo, if he wasn`t such a vile sort of person, but will you really be able to do such things to a fellow intelligent being?" Sarah asked and shuddered as she thought over what her husband had outlined.

"As long as Santo thinks that we are capable of it that is all that matters my Darling." David replied with a smile.

The sun chose to stay out, so their walk to town was pleasant and uneventful. As they approached the town centre they saw pictures of themselves, they were plastered all over the newspapers in the local mini market. With his hat pulled down and his coat buttoned up, David purchased a copy, the shop assistant, an aging citizen, giving him a strange look, but then he did look a bit odd.

"Bloody Non-Citizens, they have even reached here now." The old man said loudly enough to ensure that his customer heard him. The assistant would have been surprised by the smile on David`s face, which was hidden beneath his thick woollen scarf, for once again their supposed lowly status had come to their aid.

"David, these are all lies, how can they get away with it?" Sarah said in protest. They were sitting on a bench in the local park.

"Maybe because they know that Lantana will not protest, this could mean that she has still not overcome her grief." David said sadly.

"David, I think that I finally understand why Lantana threw us to the wolves, after the death of her father she felt so guilty of conspiring against him. She simply looked for others to take the blame, and we were an extremely handy way to squash these feelings of guilt." Sarah said sadly.

"Well it is about time that she grew up and faced up to the sort of man that her father was, a power-hungry individual who would stop at nothing to gain power." David said angrily, for by her attitude Lantana had now put their lives at risk as well as countless others, including Steve and Millicent Ryan.

Feeling depressed by this unexpected turn of events, they made their way into the town centre where they soon found the bus centre, once there they purchased their bus tickets from an automatic ticket machine, and they accounted for half of their remaining money. The visit to the second-hand clothes shop was next on the agenda, with their hats pulled low and their collars turned up, so that the shop assistant would not recognise them; they purchased a new overcoat each, hats, shoes and trousers, even wigs, all meant to completely change their appearance. When they had changed into their new outfits, they were effectively disguised against the chance of encountering Broche or Penang, assuming it was not a face to face meeting, when they finally reached Plakara.

With some food bought for the bus journey they returned to the bus station and caught the noon bus to Plakara, the journey was long and without incident, it was late in the afternoon when they reached the capital city, and they immediately walked to the museum, which was not too far from the bus station. Entering with a large group of senior citizens they slowly walk around the museum in the company of the tour group, until they finally caught sight of Armond, he was looking at one of the new exhibits, it had come from the planet that Steve Ryan had named New Mars. As the group of senior citizens slowly walked past Armond, David pulled his scarf down and smiled at their friend. Armond nearly shouted a welcome to David and Sarah, but thankfully he caught a hold of himself and merely looked towards a flight of stairs that led down into the basement of the building. Armond then left them and walked down the stairs, moments later David and Sarah followed him, and without anyone noticing them.

"David, Sarah, you are safe." Armond cried out to them in a restrained whisper.

"Yes, but no thanks to the state police." David replied and then gave him a brief description of their ordeal from the time that they had left him.

"Armond we cannot spend all our time on Mazere playing hide and seek with the authorities, we need to find Steve and Millicent, plus any of the other scientists from Earth, if any of them are alive.

"David, Sarah, I have thought long about it, but as with my fellow citizens, the secrets hidden within the research centres are totally unknown to the likes of me. The only place that comes to mind is quite near to an old archaeological dig of mine, they may have been taken there. It is a top-secret scientific facility to the north west of Plakara, it is about a thousand miles away in the middle of the Great Northern Hagrid Desert. It is surrounded by a high security fence and has a company of the Mazeren Defence Force guarding it along with a detachment of the state police. However, I have no idea whether Steve and Millicent were actually taken there. To go there is madness for a Mazeren, for you two it is suicidal, but I know this will not stop the two of you, if you do decide to go." Armond declared just a mite unhappily.

"Sounds a bit like area 51 back on Earth, and the security there never stopped people from trying to find a way in." Sarah said.

"And did any ever get through its defences Sarah?" Armond asked in the hope that it was possible to infiltrate even the best of security measures.

"No, Armond, I do not think any of them did." Sarah replied with a sad smile playing on her face. "However, we shall, but first David has an idea of his own." She stated firmly to her friend, who at once perked up.

**********

It was late that evening, and Lantana was sitting in her office worrying about the problems afflicting the three planets belonging to her Federation of Planets, as she liked to think of it, for she was the one that had brought it into being. She yawned, for she was tired, and she closed her eyes for a moment and let her mind wander, she forgot about her worries concerning the federation and thought about the many citizens who had decided to contact her about various issues that they thought she should be informed about.

This morning her phone rang, thinking it must be a friend, for no one political had been allowed to know her personal number, so she answered it immediately, and with a smile already on her face, for she needed a break, one far away from her continual state of worry.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Madame President, my name is Zaric, Technician first class Michel Zaric, I am sorry to bother you on your personnel telephone but I must speak with you, I have something that I believe will be of interest to you." Zaric said hesitantly.

"Mr Zaric, first you can tell me just how you came to know my private telephone number?" Lantana asked quizzically, not sure that she was not talking to an agent of one of her many political enemies with some scheme to discredit her.

"We have a mutual friend, Margo Compare, she told me to say that 'Porker is still a bore', just to show you that I might be trusted." Zaric replied anxiously. Porker was a private name that Margo had called a certain university student who was enamoured with her, but who she thought one tremendous bore. It had been when they had been at university together, only Lantana knew of this name, apart from Margo of course, and now Zaric.

"Ok, Mr Zaric, suppose you tell me just what you believe I should know." Lantana said cautiously.

"I work at the top-secret research facility, the one in the centre of the Hagrid Desert. Over the last few weeks the number of the security personnel has trebled, they are there to guard a new project that is due to commence in the next few days, it will be off limits to everyone who does not have a five-star security clearance." Zaric said in a whisper as if he thought that his words might leak out over the airways.

"Mr Zaric, it sounds as if our security people are simply following my orders, for it is by my direct order that the security around our bases is being strengthened?" Lantana replied; wait until she spoke to Margo, giving her private number to every weirdo that came her way. It was only later that she remembered the disquiet she had felt, and only seconds after giving her order regarding the strengthening of their top-secret bases, could there be more to Zaric`s story than simply paranoia.

Yesterday she had been approached by a stranger, while out walking in the national gardens behind the presidential palace, he had been a former Non-Citizen, he had complained about the difficulties of 'his sort' not being able to get any of the jobs that would help them leave the squalor of the industrial cities, no its jobs for the boys as usual. This had not been the first of such complaints.

Other people had asked some of her friends to talk for them, to tell Lantana about the problems incurred when trying to implement her policies. Such as why the cities of the former Non-Citizens still had so many problems with pollution, both in the quality of the air the people breathed in every day and the water that they drank.

Because of these conversations and many more, Lantana was beginning to suspect that her people's revolution was in real danger of collapsing about her; she knew that she had to do something immediate, to stop this, or risk losing the support of the former Non-Citizens. If this should happen then Mazere could experience a great deal of civil unrest, her presidency would be over, however, even more worrying was the probability of the far-right regaining control of the planet.

The problems concerning the old industrial cities could be dealt with, that she was certain of, to this she had asked an old friend to call on her. She would ask him to look into the problems concerning the cleaning up of the industrial cities, and also the factories within them that provided Mazere with so many vital supplies. Professor Arne Freiberg of the University of Plakara taught environmental studies, they had known each other ever since Lantana had started her time at university. She would give him the necessary powers to make it all happen, if he accepted the commission, the task was something which seemed beyond the bureaucrats in her government.

She would need to go on national television as part of her plan to keep her revolution a living thing, there she would explain to those citizens who stood by the old guard the need to incorporate the former Non-Citizens into society, something that she had not previously thought she needed to do.

Then she would hold a snap election, she would ask the people to vote for people who she knew to be in favour of her revolution, she needed to rid her people of the old guard who were actively working against her government.

However, before her television broadcast, she needed to find David and Sarah, she needed to know what had really happened to the Antilles, only then could she speak to her citizens from a position of strength, when she had her two friends from Earth standing by her side. It was now that Taluk Fogram hurried into her office looking hot and out of breath, he was there to give her an update concerning the Antilles tragedy.

"Madame President, I have found signs that at least three lifeboats from the Antilles reached Mazere intact, it was simple when I did not have the state police steering me clear of all the relevant areas. The two sites on the coast had both been cleaned up; there is no sign at all to tell that a lifeboat had landed at either of the sites, or of the large number of officers from the state police who had kept all the locals bottled up within their homes. However, a couple of the locals on the site over at Pangaea beach were brave enough to speak to me, they had heard the craft land, but on attempting to walk down to the beach they were stopped by the state police, later they saw a large transporter arrive and later take away a large object. Unfortunately, the object was covered by tarpaulins and so they could not say what was under it. It was a similar story at the Christa beach; here too whatever landed was taken away without any of the locals getting a chance to look at it." Fogram said stopping for a moment to pour himself a glass of water, which he drained before he continued on with his report.

"We were luckier with the landing site just south of Plakara, where the third craft landed, this time the lifeboat was both seen and heard by the locals, although no one saw any sign of any survivors. Once again, the craft was taken away by the state police; however, this time there is a clear sign to indicate that a craft of some sort landed on the road, two very long gouges in the road, made when the lifeboat landed." Fogram said and then with a smile added another piece of information. "The locals also saw the parachute, before it was taken away, proving that here at least the craft had been piloted down." Fogram was feeling, and looking, very pleased with himself.

"I have videoed witness reports from all three of the landing sites; if necessary we can produce them and the witnesses." Fogram declared joyfully.

Lantana had been looking down at the gardens of the palace while Fogram reported his findings, but now she turned around and looked towards him. "Thank you, Taluk, you have done well, when we are ready we will strike, first at the state police and then at the other heads of this Hydra, they must not be allowed to win Taluk." Lantana declared solemnly.

"They will not succeed, Madame President, we will see to that." Fogram replied smiling.

"David and Sarah, only they would be able to escape from the landing site, and stay hidden for so long." Lantana stated firmly. "Taluk, they would have gone to see their friend Professor Armond Halliard, visit him in the morning, tell him that I badly need to speak to his two friends, and that once again I am in need of their help."

Chapter Four

Lantana Fight`s Back

President William Carnegie sat late into the night talking to his advisers, as the sun threatened to rise they finally reached a consensus of opinion. He needed to show the American nation that he was a man of action, to do this it was decided that he would send out invitations to the owner of Antilles, their insurance company, and finally to John Blazer. Blazer was campaigning vigorously for action, following the destruction of the Antilles in Mazeren space; in fact, President Carnegie was watching him on television now, it had been recorded the night before, but he had only just had the time to watch it.

"We must have justice now, for those who died on the Antilles, for those who died when the Blazer Explorer was destroyed. Both were highly technologically advanced starships, and neither of them was armed. However, that did not stop the Mazeren military from destroying them and killing many of their crew, including my godson, his wife, Ambassador Kennedy who is a very experienced diplomatic, and the other passengers on the Antilles. I want those responsible brought to US justice." John Blazer demanded.

Watching the television interview, President Carnegie agreed with this demand, and he vowed to see it happen. He had asked all of those connected with his latest proposal to assemble in the White House the next morning, he would then tell them what action he proposed to take regarding the Mazeren problem, if, that is, they agreed to his proposals, for their agreement was essential. Now though he was in need of sleep, as if to prove this was so, he yawned and rubbed at his tired eyes, he made his way to his bedroom and quickly undressed and then fell into bed and blessed sleep.

The next morning found him still tired, however, after a strong cup of coffee he felt strong enough to start the day. Everyone was gathered in the Oval Office listening as he outlined his plan of campaign. He spoke first to the representatives from the Galactic Insurance Company.

Mr Thomas. I propose to tell the Mazere Government that your company insists on sending its own people to Mazere to investigate the enormous claim levied by the owners of the Antilles, claims for the ship, its crew and the passengers." President Carnegie said as he began to outline his proposals.

"Oh, and we do insist Mr President, for we certainly do not intend to pay the owners of the Antilles such a large amount until we have spoken to any who were lucky enough to survive the tragedy. We will also need to look over any of the remains of the craft that the authorities on Mazere have managed to find, because after listening to the final message from the Antilles, it does appear that poor maintenance could have been the reason behind the disaster." Thomas declared in a loud voice.

The owners of the Antilles were United Global Space, they were well represented at the meeting, and their company president was about to respond to the insurance man when President Carnegie stepped in hurriedly.

"Gentlemen, we must be united on this, let`s agree to hold off on any disagreements until after our meeting with the Mazerens." He received a couple of nods and grunts to his words and taking them as agreement he continued on.

"Now, if the Mazerens accept, I will tell them that the team of insurance investigators will journey to Mazere in another unarmed vessel. I will state categorically that should anything happen to the vessel, then a state of war will exist between us. If the Mazerens` refuse to allow your team of investigators to go to Mazere to investigate the disaster, I will again tell them that a state of war will exist between us, unless they change their minds within the next forty-eight hours." President Carnegie said.

He then gave those in the meeting a moment to take in what he had said before continuing on with his proposals, but for the moment all stayed silent.

"Should the Mazerens agree, but demand that their own vessel is used, for they might say that they do not trust us, I will state that our team will journey to New Mars, escorted by a space cruiser, the escort vessel will then retire to the Pollux planetary system to allow the Mazeren ship to leave unmolested for Mazere." President Carnegie finished and waited to hear the various responses.

Both United Global and Galactic Insurance were both against sending their people to Mazere in an unarmed vessel, however, John Blazer now entered the discussion.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I too am a little worried about sending another unarmed ship to Mazere, but we certainly do not want to tempt their military into provoking a war, with us seen as the villains. No, I am very much afraid that the next ship must also be unarmed. With this in mind I will be only too willing to head a team to act as the agents for one or both of your companies, I am sure that you will agree that my people are more than capable of investigating the matter. For I want justice for my godson and his wife, and I believe that this is the only way that they will get it."

John Blazer and his company had a reputation second to none, so it was agreed by both parties that he would lead the investigation. With this decided, President Carnegie instructed Adelita Alvarez, the American delegate for the Federation of Planets; to immediately contact Ambassador Roger Spencer, who was still on Mazere awaiting transport for himself, his family and embassy staff to bring them back to Earth. He was to contact Taluk Fogram and tell him of the president`s proposals. Ten hours later and they got a reply from Mazere; the situation had changed there, even though only a comparatively short time had passed following a similar request by Earth. After a quick consultation with Lantana, Fogram had told Ambassador Spencer that the Mazeren government will be happy to have the United States vessel land at the Plakara space port, their vessel would be met at New Mars and escorted to Mazere to ensure that all went well.

All this would have been fine if the two planets were closer together, however, the distance between them was fifty-five light years, and so much could happen before the latest unarmed starship arrived in Mazere space with John Blazer and his team of investigators. Unknown to the American government and their advisers, was the uncertainty concerning which sort of government would greet them, a democratically elected one or a military dictatorship which was fervently against the federation.

**********

In Plakara, it was decided that David and Sarah should spend the night at the museum, for to go to Armond`s house would be highly dangerous if not outright impossible, for the state police were sure to be watching it. Armond then told them that he has an idea regarding transport.

"You can use my car but with a subtle change to the number plate, for otherwise the state police will soon be able to trace you using the nationwide CCTV system, for their cameras have an automatic number plate recognition system built into them, and they will be after you as soon as they realise that I am not using my car. My number plate reads PF4136, now I have seen another car of exactly the same make and model but its number plate reads RE4186. With a little paint, paint that I have in my garage, you should be able to change the number plate. However, you will have to do it before you leave the car park, otherwise they may get onto you sooner rather than later, for they are not fools, their CCTV cameras will soon pick up the trail. What do you think?" Armond asked excitedly.

"Won`t this get you into trouble Armond?" Sarah fretted.

"I am a very eminent person, especially after finding all of the alien technology, so they may question me, but as long as President Stator is in power, I am safe." Armond replied firmly.

"All right then Armond, we will use your car, thank you for letting us borrow it, and after working on your number plate we will go after the two agents." David agreed, happy to see these enhancements to his plan.

"Tomorrow morning, we will look out for either Santo Penang or Cruz Broche, I just hope that we catch sight of them quickly, for to stake out the headquarters of the state police still seems to be the height of folly." Sarah said nervously.

"Hopefully, as Non-Citizens we will escape their notice for a while." David said while praying that he was correct in his appraisal of the Mazerens.

David now used the computer in Armond`s office to surf the internet in search of the research centres that were run by the Mazeren government, he found mention of a few of such places, but little information regarding them. He decided to use a site similar to Google Earth to research the area between Plakara and the Hagrid desert, for he thought it likely that the research centre mentioned by Armond seemed the best bet. He did also look at the areas around a couple of the other research centres mentioned on the internet, just in case, but after two hours of surfing he gave up, exhausted by his ordeal of the last few days.

After that Armond went home for dinner, and a rest from worrying, David and Sarah ate some of their dwindling food supplies and then settled down as best as they could on two armchairs in Armond`s office. They would need to vacate them before the early morning cleaners turned up for work. The next morning, they spoke about their backup plan, if their current one failed, they finally concluded that while their attempt to enter the Mazeren area 51 would be fraught with danger, what else could they do but try?

For the moment they were going with plan A, which meant that Sarah would have to replenish their food stocks using some of the extra money that Armond had given them. David in the meantime walked slowly along the wide boulevard that housed the headquarters building for both the state police and the military intelligence agency, Penang and Broche were both employed as agents by the latter. He was sweeping the rubbish into small piles, behind him a former Non-Citizen, who still occupied the same job he held before the revolution, used a dust pan and brush to put the piles of rubbish into a push along rubbish cart. For David`s plan was to walk along the stretch of road outside the state police headquarters in Plakara, he hoped to go unnoticed dressed as a former Non-Citizen, a road sweeper. He had offered to pay the road sweeper, but those who used to be Non-Citizens still hated the state police so much that any attempt to get the better of them is applauded, so he happily allowed David to be his unpaid assistant.

David`s start to his morning`s work was full of Citizens barging past him as they rushed to work, the position of the former Non-Citizens had not improved, even though a revolution had been staged mainly to improve their quality of life. He let the insults rush by him as he swept up the litter, mainly deposited by those who thought themselves so far above him in status.

Meanwhile Sarah had put her shopping into the boot of Armond`s car, then she followed their friend`s advice, she doctored the licence plate with the paint that Armond had stashed away in the boot of the car, so now they would be ready to take advantage of any opportunity that presented itself.

David meantime was getting impatient for one of their prey to show, and it was Santo Penang that once again made an appearance; he exited the headquarters building and strode off in the direction of the shopping centre, he needed to buy a fresh pack of cigarettes. David was in hot pursuit of him, after thanking his new friend and promising to repay him sooner rather than later.

Sarah had planned to return to the boulevard where David was working, but she saw Santo striding towards her with David following behind. She ducked inside a small green grocery shop and waited there until Penang had walked on by, ignoring the shop assistant who finally approached her and demanded to know her requirements, then she came out and joined David in the hunt.

**********

While David and Sarah were following Penang, Professor Armond Halliard was taken away from a rather late breakfast by a knock on the door. He opened the door to find four large state police officers standing there; ones who demanded to be let in as they had been ordered to search his house. Of course, they found absolutely nothing, and annoyed at this waste of time they took Armond back to the state police headquarters. They arrived too late for Armond to catch a sight of David and Sarah, and Armond, hoping that this was a good sign, brightened up, sure that the state police would not dare harm him, not yet.

Taluk Fogram had driven into the street where Armond lived just in time to see him taken away by the state police officers, knowing that he could do nothing for the moment he merely contented himself by following after the police vehicle. Once he saw it park in front of the headquarters building of the state police, he drove on to the presidential palace.

Back at the headquarters of the state police, General Pallas decided to interrogate Armond personally; he had no respect for Armond, seeing just an old man who could be easily frightened into answering all of his questions. The interrogation room where Armond was sitting was in the lower levels of the police headquarters, deep enough to stop the screams of those incarcerated in the lower cells from being heard by those more fortunate individuals on the higher levels of the building. There was just one dim light on in the room, although as per Hollywood there was another table lamp, it was used to shine directly into the eyes of anyone unfortunate enough to be there. The lamp was firmly attached to a metal table, which was bolted to the floor, either side of the table were two metal chairs, Armond was seated in one of them. Armond felt a stab of fear when he saw what looked like blood stains upon the floor, but he pushed his fear aside and waited bravely for his interrogator to appear, as he knew David or Sarah would do so if they were ever brought to such a room.

General Pallas entered the room and approached Armond, he immediately slammed his hand hard down upon the table, aiming to intimidate Armond, who indeed did jump at this unexpected action. Standing by the side of the table Pallas leant down and looked hard at Armond, and seeing just an old man sneered his hatred.

"Professor Halliard, tell me where Captain Charlton and his wife are hiding, tell me now for I am an impatient man, and I do not advise you to test my patience, not today." He demanded loudly. "If you do not cooperate fully with us, I will have no choice but to think that you too are an enemy of the state, and then I will have to treat you accordingly. You will be sent to prison for the rest of your life old man, you will be chained to a wall where you will die old man, in a flea infested cell begging to be allowed to die." Pallas threatened, his voice getting louder and higher as his threats continued. "Of course, should you cooperate with us, fully, then maybe then I can ask the court to be lenient with you, after all you were only helping out your friends, how were you to know that they were enemy spies engaged on tasks that were designed to destabilise Mazere." Pallas said more amiably as if he now only wished to help a poor old fool.

"If you are talking about David and Sarah, then you are mistaken officer." Armond said pretending to not know who it was that was interrogating him, or his elevated rank and seeing Pallas flinch at this demotion. "They have never been enemies of Mazere, the only enemies on our planet are all home grown." Armond replied accusingly, and he looked directly at Pallas as he uttered the latter part of his reply. Armond felt the hand of fear clutch at his heart, but he refused to be intimidated by this gorilla, this thug, this ignorant lout.

"Professor, if your attitude towards the Mazeren forces of law and order does not change radically, I will have no any other option other than to view you as a traitor to Mazere, do you understand, old man?" Pallas spat out the final two words in his attempt to put Armond in his place, beneath him. "Think hard and fast old man, your very future depends on your next words." Pallas now threatened loudly, and then he leant over until his nose was almost touching that of Armond`s.

Armond looked Pallas straight in the eye and his courage held, although he felt decidedly shaky. "Charge me now or release me, but take your nose out of my face, or I might be tempted to bite it off." Armond said to Pallas in a loud distinct voice, and he was pleased to see Pallas move back quickly out of range.

General Pallas was so angry he almost struck Armond, he wanted to take him down to the lower levels and torture him that very minute. However, as Armond knew, or at least hoped, Pallas dare not do this just yet, after the revolution though he would have the old fool brought back, and then he would listen as the professor begged for mercy. Today though he knew he would have to abide by the current laws of the planet.

"Ok Professor, you may leave, for the moment, but very soon now your two alien friends will be caught and charged as enemies of the state, and then your position will not save you. When this happens you too will be named as an enemy of Mazere, and then you will be invited to enjoy some of the more painful items in our repertoire." Pallas threatened. "Until then you are free to go, enjoy the sensation for it will not occur ever again." Pallas said dismissively, his eyes blazing with rage, his heart pumping away madly. Pallas forced himself to move away from Armond, before his control snapped and he killed Armond there and then for his insults to his elevated position.

Armond slowly got up from his chair and strolled out of the state police station, his heart was beating rapidly and his underwear and shirt were drenched with sweat. However, he had learnt one important thing that morning, that the thugs employed by the state police force could not hurt him without real proof as to his guilt. He was quite an eminent person, having been responsible for the search for the ancient technology, and he had been a part of the successful team that had returned the alien technology to Mazere. As for his assisting enemies of the state, for the moment, Pallas was referring to the over-the-top newspaper headlines that had insulted the intelligence of the Mazeren people. If the general and his cronies were planning a change in government; then they could not openly back these outrageous claims that David and Sarah were the enemies of Mazere, Armond thought, not yet, not until their revolution was a success. The very thought of such a thing made Armond stop and take a deep breath, and he prayed to God that his two friends would be successful in their latest quest, otherwise he knew that terror would stalk the streets of Mazere when animals such as General Pallas ruled the planet.

**********

Taluk had to wait ten minutes before he could speak to Lantana, for she was busy on other business, but finally he told her why he could not speak to Armond immediately. Having heard his report Lantana thought for a moment before replying.

"I believe it would be a mistake to intervene on the professor`s half, anyway, they will only question him, but Taluk, if they do not release him within the hour, why don`t you ensure his release by telling Pallas that I need to speak to his prisoner personally about another matter." Lantana said.

Lantana decided that tomorrow she would have Pallas brought to her office by the civil police; he would be put provisionally under arrest for crimes against Mazere. She would demand that he tell her about the three recovered lifeboats, and also of the whereabouts of the survivors of the Antilles.

**********

David and Sarah followed Penang along the high street, waiting for just the right time to set their plan into operation. The plan called for them to kidnap Penang once again, and using Armond`s car drive to a quiet spot where David would threaten to use the stun gun on Penang in order to make him take them to their friends. Once near their destination David would bind and gag Penang and tell him that they would leave him in some desolate spot, and should David and Sarah be walking into another trap, Penang would be left there to die of thirst, that or from the cold of the northern spring. They hoped in this way to avoid yet another trap, such as the one Penang had sprung before, and in doing so force Penang to give them truthful answers to their questions.

They knew that the research centre where their friends were held must be somewhere in the Northern hemisphere of the planet, as the south of the planet was far too built up and cultivated to make an ideal place to site a top-secret research centre, this at least made their task a little easier, even though it still left a massive amount of ground to cover.

Penang though was making it difficult for them to capture him, for he was keeping to a rather populated area, and if two people, who appeared to be former Non-Citizens, accosted an affluent looking citizen, too much attention would soon come their way, especially if Penang said they were alien spies. The ordinary Mazeren was still a little paranoid about aliens in their midst, and David and Sarah could easily find themselves taken prisoner by an incensed group of citizens, and then they would be whisked away to the state police headquarters.

Penang finally turned towards the car park that he favoured, and David and Sarah sighed with relief as they followed at a discrete distance, ever ready to pounce on their prey. However, all did not go as planned, for Penang would long remember how he was captured by them before, he stopped well before he reached it and got into a car, at the wheel was Cruz Broche, however, they did not drive away immediately, they sat there talking.

David and Sarah both silently swore and turned off abruptly, David headed off along another route to the car park Armond was using, for he decided that they needed the car with them so that they would be ready at a moment`s notice to react to whatever fate had in store for them. Sarah stayed to keep a watch on the two government agents, keeping out of sight and looking in the window of a rather grimy shop, as befitted her new lowly status. David made his way to Armond`s car that was parked on the upper level, with the number plate already doctored, all David had to do was to drive out of the car park and back to where Sarah was standing, and he was delighted when he saw Penang and Broche only just pulling away. David quickly picked up Sarah and then followed on behind the two agents, although he always tried to keep at least two other vehicles between them.

**********

Taluk Fogram drove back to Armond`s house, and after ringing the door bell was confronted by Armond who was in a very angry mood, for he thought that another member of the state police had come to question him. He only belatedly realised that it was Taluk Fogram.

"Please Professor, I am not here as your enemy, President Stator asked me personally to come to your house, and to beg for your help. She urgently needs to know if Captain David Charlton and Sarah Jane Hardin are indeed alive, and that they are here on Mazere. If they are then she needs to speak to them urgently, she needs witnesses to the Antilles disaster to tell what they know of the tragedy to the people of Mazere. She also needs their help against the members of yet another military conspiracy, the members of which, she is fairly certain, are near to staging a coup against her government. Can you help; not only us, but all of the people of Mazere, indeed the whole of the federation?"

Armond looked long at the minister, he had always thought of him as an honest man and believed that he had in truth come directly from the president, but he needed proof before he endangered his two friends, proof that the president had at last come to her senses.

"From what I heard, President Stator has taken against David Charlton and his wife, even if I did know anything, I would need to know that the president has now realised that they are not, and have never been, her enemies. I can testify to the fact that her late father died an evil power-hungry individual, and Mazere was better off without him. It was this that led to his death, not the actions of my two friends, who after all were working on behalf of the Mazeren people." Armond was looking directly into Fogram`s eyes as he said this, he wanted to see what affect his words had on the politician. What he saw was agreement; Fogram was not one of the mourners of the late Admiral Stator, or a groupie of a grief-stricken woman.

"I am in full agreement with you Professor, and President Stator always knew this, it was just that she felt so much guilt when the admiral took his own life. The problems that face Mazere now have made the past become clearer, she is sorry for the way her two friends were treated, and she wants to prove it. Professor, are they alive and do you know their whereabouts?" Fogram asked once again.

"Yes, Mr Fogram, they are alive, no thanks to the president, and they are here on Mazere looking for their two friends, and also the truth about all that has happened recently, here on Mazere. I do not know their exact whereabouts, but I believe that they are looking for Santo Penang, an agent of military intelligence. They aim to kidnap him or Cruz Broche, another agent, and force them to tell where Steve and Millicent Ryan are imprisoned. They aim to free their friends, and the other three scientists from Earth, and then tell President Stator where the alien technology has been hidden by the real enemies of Mazere, men who at one time were fellow conspirators of the late Admiral Stator. If they have no luck with the two agents, they are even considering driving up to the Hagrid Desert research centre to see if their friends are there." Armond said hoping that he had aided his two friends in their quest, and not betrayed them.

"One other thing Minister, they believe that the Antilles was attacked and destroyed by a space cruiser." Armond said watching Fogram`s heart sink at the news. "They were not on the bridge of course, but they felt all four energy bolts that hit the starship, and after the attack that was made on their own vessel by Admiral Stator, they know what it feels like to be on the receiving end of such an attack."

**********

Chief Superintendent Artemis of the Mazeren civil police has been asked by the president`s personal assistant to come to the president`s office, he arrived punctually at four that afternoon, the time specified.

"Chief Superintendent, I called you here to tell you that certain members of our military and para-military forces are very near to staging a coup against the legally elected government of Mazere, I need your help in cutting off one of this Hydra`s many heads." Lantana said to a now shocked senior policeman.

"My God, Madame President, who are these criminals, and which ones do you want me to arrest?" Artemis replied angrily.

"General Pallas of the state police, along with as many of his senior officers as you can find, Chief Superintendent." Lantana replied calmly.

Artemis blanched on hearing the name of his target. "I might need the assistance of at least some of your presidential guards`; Madame President, the state police are well armed and very dangerous men." Artemis said thoughtfully.

"Take as many as you need, they are yours to command, speak to Commander Marc Sandor, he is fully aware of the situation and will happily assist you should you require any help in the planning of the raids. Now, Chief Superintendent, we need to decide when you will arrest this nest of vipers, speed is of the essence if we are to prevent the conspirators from achieving their aims." Lantana said.

"Madame President, before we decide on a time, can you tell me on what pretext we are going to arrest them?"

"Three lifeboats are known to have escaped from the starship Antilles, along with an unknown number of survivors, both the survivors and the lifeboats were squirrelled away by our state police without informing anyone about them. It was only because I instructed Taluk Fogram to investigate the Antilles tragedy that these facts came to light." Lantana replied.

Artemis was astounded to hear this, and for a moment stood there gaping before shaking himself out of his stunned demeanour. "We should raid their homes at first light tomorrow morning; in this way they will not be able to meet us en masse, it should make our task easier and we will avoid too much bloodshed, it will also ensure that our citizens are not caught up in any fire fight that might break out, or are taken as hostages by a panicked officer." Artemis said.

"So be it, we strike at first light tomorrow." Lantana agreed grimly.

"I had better leave you now Madame President, for it seems that I have much to do this evening." Artemis said with a smile that was returned by Lantana in full.

An hour later and Taluk Fogram finally returned to the presidential palace with some good news, and he found an upbeat Lantana, one who was impatient for tomorrow morning to come.

"Madame President, I have news of them, from Professor Halliard, they are indeed alive, although he does not know their current whereabouts. He believes that they are either heading for the Hagrid Desert in the hope of finding their missing friends there, or, planning to kidnap one of the government agents they have tangled with before, and who they are certain not only know the location of their friends, but also of the missing alien technology." Fogram declared happily.

"Then we were wrong to break of diplomatic relations with the US government Taluk?" Lantana replied sorrowfully.

"No, Madame President, we had to do that so as to ensure that your presidency lasted long enough to find the truth of the matter." Fogram said sounding as upbeat as Lantana had looked a moment ago.

"Tomorrow will be a pivotal date for our people, for it is then that I hope to find the answers to all the questions bothering me, and then God help the traitors, for I will not." Lantana said her voice taking an icy edge to it as she thought about the traitors.

Fogram then told Lantana about the belief of David and Sarah, that the Antilles had been attacked by a space cruiser, and the reason why they believed this monstrous thing. Lantana`s face turned quite pale, one of her fears about this matter clutched at her heart and squeezed it. "You were right then Taluk, a Mazeren space cruiser was behind the death of so many people."

Of course, Lantana already knew this, for why else would the state police be in position to snatch the lifeboats and the survivors, but she had not wanted to believe such a terrible thing of a captain of the Mazeren space fleet.

Chapter Five

The Search Begins in Earnest

Earlier that same day found David and Sarah driving out of Plakara and heading north-west towards an ever-growing storm, the radio had advised that all but essential travel to the north of Plakara be put off until the following day. This meant that they had another potential problem, for the number of vehicles on this particular road was now down to three, the car they were following, their own vehicle and the vehicle between them. The further north they travelled the more the weather deteriorated, until finally the full force of the storm hit them, violently. The view through the windscreen was cut to almost nothing as sheets of rain fell and bounced off the hard ground and their vehicle. Reluctantly David pulled their vehicle to the side of the road and stopped. Switching on their hazard warning lights David turned to Sarah.

"It seems as if the Gods have forsaken us Sarah, but the same weather must have stopped our two pals up ahead, surely nothing can move in this, thankfully it must stop soon." David said, more in hope than belief, for some of the Mazeren storms were rumoured to rain as hard as this for many hours without a let up, although they had never been in one.

They only had to wait for forty minutes when the storm began to clear from the north, by the time they were able to see the way ahead, the two vehicles in front had disappeared.

"Damn, they are both gone." David said unhappily, and immediately started their car and pushed on, this time his speed was much higher, at times he took their lives in his hands as they rushed across crossroads without slowing down to check for traffic driving across the road.

They passed various exits but couldn`t see the point of taking them, they were banking on catching up with their foe on this road, for otherwise it would be impossible to know which road to take. Finally, there up ahead they saw the rear of another vehicle, it was the one driven by Broche, they had been given another chance by the Gods, whether they made it pay off was down to the fates, and their own fearlessness.

Their enemy pulled into a small roadside service station, and after filling up with fuel they drove their vehicle to the far end of the service area where the water had drained away, and here they reversed into a space by the side of a semi-trailer that was parked waiting for the return of the cab. They now headed over to the small café and a meal before completing their journey. David parked their vehicle at the other side of the service area amid a small row of mixed cars and vans, here the ground was a mess of deep puddles of water and might well have explained the reason that their enemy had chosen the other side of the service station.

"I think it is time for some action Sarah, we will leave Armond`s car here and continue our journey in Broche`s car, with the two of them as our prisoners. Parking as they did has given us a chance of victory, maybe the fates have decided to side with us." David said to Sarah, who after a moment to consider nodded her head.

"Ok, David, how do we play it?" Sarah asked.

"We wait behind the trailer until they return, it will be pitch black by then, especially behind that trailer, as they open their doors to get in to their vehicle we make our move, we take them both our prisoners. We tie up Santo Penang and put him into the boot, and then we force Broche to tell us all he knows, under threat of death." David replied.

"Why did they park over there, why not in the light that will be thrown out by the diner? I hope that our attempt on them is not just a part of their plan to take the two of us prisoner." Sarah said apprehensively.

David looked at Sarah; her words making him worry for a moment. "No, they don`t even know that we have been following them. Maybe their shoes let in the water, in any case, it is a chance that we will have to take, that or call the whole thing off." David said. "Do we have a go Sarah, or do we just return to Plakara and ask for asylum at one of the other embassies?"

Sarah looked at her husband, and smiled at him. "We take them David, and God help them if this is a trap, for we are either victorious this time or, we die trying, agreed?" Sarah replied grimly.

"Agreed." David confirmed. Although he did not know if he could carry on the fight if Sarah were to lose her life because of his future actions.

All was quiet, except for the sound of voices floating across the service area from the café, in the mean time they dined on some of their dried food which they had brought along for just such an occasion as this. Finally, their patience was rewarded by the sight of Penang and Broche exiting the diner, loud music blared out from the now open door of the diner and then they were walking slowing back across the service area towards their parked vehicle. Sarah was hidden beneath the semi-trailer and David was hidden behind a small van on the other side of Broche`s vehicle.

"Get a move Santo, I want to get to Reinland and my bed, I am in need of some sleep." Broche said impatiently.

"I am sorry to have delayed you Cruz, but I was hungry, it has been a busy time for me, searching for those two, I hardly had time for sleep, never mind food." Penang replied a mite angrily.

They had reached their vehicle now and Penang was waiting for Broche to open the doors when he glimpsed from the corner of his eye a slightly lighter shade of black raising up from the ground behind him. He turned towards it, and for his trouble Sarah pushed her stun gun against his body and sent a full charge of 100,000 volts for five seconds into Penang`s now quivering body, it left Penang slumped down on the floor, conscious but unable to stop them, or control his own actions.

Broche looked up towards Penang when he heard him scream out in pain, and heard the electrical hissing noise of the stun gun. This meant that he did not see David, who anyway just shot him with his energy weapon, although it was set on its lowest setting, Broche collapsed to the ground stunned and out of it. With both of their enemies out of action David took a moment to check if anyone had noticed the attack, however, no one was around, there were only a few customers in the service station, and for now all of them were sitting within the diner.

"Ok Sarah, quickly secure their hands and feet with the cable ties." David had brought the supply with them from the MPV, and Sarah soon had both Penang`s feet and hands bound tightly.

With Penang secured, they opened the boot of the vehicle, and between them put Penang inside. Broche was similarly bound, however, he was put on the back seat. David then searched the two men and found four energy weapons and two wicked looking knives on them, these he immediately took off them. It was time to be on their way before someone intruded on them, and while Sarah drove the agents' vehicle out of the service area, David brought Broche around.

"Captain Charlton, we meet again." Broche said when he opened his eyes and saw David sitting next to him.

"Good evening Cruz, I hope that you are ok because I need you to answer a few questions, such as where are my two friends Steve and Millicent Ryan, oh and before you lie to me and deny knowing anything, I suggest you take note of the stun gun in my hand. I would also suggest that you remember my last words to you and Santo, the ones where I threatened to kill you both, should you decide to cross our paths again." David threatened the now wide awake agent.

Broche looked at the stun gun and licked his lips as he frantically searched for the correct words that would allow him to evade answering the question, and without having to be on the receiving end of the stun gun`s electrical charge. He wondered if David would do exactly what he threatened to do, kill him and Penang, or whether he was far too civilised to do such a thing. He did not know, but after all that had happened to David and his friends and family, he thought that he should not attempt to find out. His only chance was to lie, for how would David be able to know if he was being deceived, no, he would have to look into his answer, and while he was doing that, something would turn up. Santo Penang lying scrunched up in the boot could hear everything that had been said, and he was in no doubt as to whether David would kill them, should they refuse to cooperate, he would kill one of them and then get the answers from the survivor.

"Ok Captain Charlton, you win, they are at the research centre in the Hagrid Desert." Broche finally blurted out.

"That must be at least eight hundred or so miles away, it will take me most of tomorrow to get there, depending on weather conditions, never mind having to outwit your chums, that means we will not be back for you for what... three days if you`re lucky Broche, without food or water." David said casually without any trace of concern on his face.

"What are you talking about Captain, you cannot do such a thing, it is inhumane, and just where are you thinking of leaving us?" Broche demanded to know.

I knew that there was a chance that you might be making use of that site, as it is one of Mazere`s most top-secret research centres, so I researched the area and the roads leading up to it. I found a deserted ghost town some one hundred miles further down this road. No one is said to go there during the early spring months, so you should be quite secure there, and oh, Santo will not be joining you, this is all your answer, so if it is a lie only you will pay the price." David replied nonchalantly.

"But you can use me, I know the area around the research centre." Broche declared visibly agitated by what David had said.

"So, does Santo, as I said, if you are telling the truth we will be back, if not..." David replied, letting Broche`s fate hang in the air.

Broche quickly surrendered, for he was not about to die for the leaders of the planned military coup. "Ok Captain Charlton, you win, they are not in the Hagrid Desert, they are at Reinland." Broche gasped out.

"The Reinland research centre is quite close, we should be nicely placed at sunrise, atop the large mound to the south of the site, thank you Cruz, for that I will allow you to accompany us, but listen well my friend, any signs of a trap and I will kill you instantly. Cruz, remember, if we don`t see some sign of our friends at Reinland, you and I will be visiting that ghost town. Once there I will be able to take my time extracting everything you know about the evil that you and your cronies are planning to perpetuate here on Mazere." David replied grimly.

Broche visibly blanched, and hoped that something would allow him to turn the tables on his enemy, for if the scientists from Earth were rescued from Reinland, then the planned coup would be a dismal non-event. However, Broche was impressed by the amount of research that his enemy had put in, for to know about the mound was truly remarkable and showed just how capable a man Captain Charlton truly was.

Sarah drove them through the late evening towards their destination, Reinland, the nearer they got the fewer the buildings, the flatter the surrounding desert land, the fewer street lights. Soon the dark closed in around them, and all she could see was the twin beams of her headlights and the tarmacked road ahead of them. The miles sped past quickly until finally the glow of the lights of Reinland appeared ahead of them and minutes later she pulled over at the edge of the town of Reinland, the only lights to be seen were those that lit the way along the main road through the town.

"Should we drive through the town David, or take the back roads, what do you think?" Sarah asked as she looked at the sign post. 'Welcome to the town of Reinland. Population five hundred' it read.

"Drive straight through Sarah, it will look less suspicious, to feel our way around the town will not only be time consuming, but might look a little suspicious to a lonely deputy trying to catch a bit of shut eye during the night shift." David advised after thinking the matter over.

"Ok, here goes then, how soon do we get to the mound?" Sarah asked next after engaging the drive.

"Five minutes should do it." David advised.

Sitting beside him, Broche stayed silent, eyes closed, his breathing steady, but whether asleep or awake David did not know, or care for the moment.

The drive along the main street of the small desert town was uneventful, no one else was about at this time of the morning, the digital readout on the dashboard showing two o`clock. Then they were back into the blackness of the countryside, until the headlights picked up a tall hill coming ever closer to them, it stood out in contrast to the flat area around it and was very distinct against the darker sky behind it. Sarah pulled off the road and parked near to the mound, and far enough away from the road to be hidden from any but the most persistent searcher.

David got out of the car and stretched his legs, looking about him and thinking about their security. With this in mind he began to cut some of the surrounding vegetation, using the knife he had taken off Broche, and while working he called back to Sarah.

"As we intend to stay here for at least one whole day, I thought that we should camouflage our vehicle, just in case they send up a craft to look for any potential intruders." Sarah did not need a moment to think about what he had said; she immediately joined him in his work, she used Penang`s knife.

Soon their vehicle was covered with various pieces of vegetation, and David now decided that they needed rest, spending so much time aboard a star freighter did not tend to keep him fit, however hard he tried. However, first he checked on Broche`s bindings, and then he helped Penang out of the boot of the car and allowed him to stretch and hobble around. David had found a length of rope in the boot and he had tied Penang`s legs loosely together, it was uncomfortable but Penang needed to move around after having been confined for so long. Later, he secured Penang to the door handle of their vehicle, Penang was not unhappy about this new position, to have to rest against the car, rather than lie down on the ground, and sleep; but at least he was no longer confined in the boot of the car.

The sun finally came up from beneath the far horizon and woke David and Sarah from their short sleep, yawning they both scaled the high mound and looked down upon the research centre using a pair of binoculars that belonged to Broche. From this vantage point they scanned the buildings looking for signs of life, slowly the research centre woke up as people began to arrive, many of them living within or near to the town of Reinland. The area around the research buildings was mostly empty, except for the security people, but then a door in the side of one of the buildings opened. Five people came out for exercise; they were under the watchful eyes of six security guards, all armed and very watchful.

Below them, Steve Ryan looked up at the high mound that stood six hundred yards beyond the centre`s perimeter fence, something about it looked different but before he could think more on the matter he was distracted.

"Steve, what do you think that is all about?" Millicent Ryan asked as a long convoy of trucks pulled in and stopped before the building that housed the alien technology that they were forced to work on, together with the Mazeren scientists who had survived the explosion at the former Federation Science Building.

"I don`t know, let`s go see." Steve suggested and strolled across to the line of vehicles.

Commander Trajan appeared in front of them and barred their way. "Get your few things together Dr Ryan, you and the other scientists in your group are to be moved together with the alien technology, be quick, the convoy leaves in thirty minutes." Trajan said rather gruffly.

"Where are you taking us this time Commander?" Steve asked.

"To our main research centre, it is set in the middle of the Hagrid Desert, it is much larger and with much better security, now will you please hurry and get your things together." Trajan replied gruffly.

From atop of the mound David and Sarah saw this entire drama taking place, they swore under their breath as they saw their friends get aboard a truck along with four of the security guards, moments later the convoy left the compound and turned left, this would take them further towards the north west of Mazere, and further away from the more inhabited part of the planet.

While David and Sarah were scrambling up the mound, Broche had been struggling to cut the cable tie binding his hands. He had found a sharp piece of flint protruding from the rock that he was leaning against, and he was now frantically sawing away at the cable tie as his captors climbed to the top of the mound and scanned the land before them, looking for their friends. Broche finally managed to free his hands with only a few cuts to his wrists from the surrounding rock, but his legs were still bound. He had already seen a piece of flint lying on the desert floor, he now tugged at it, and to his joy it came free from the hard ground, he now used it to cut the tie binding his feet.

"Ok Cruz, now free me." Penang demanded of his fellow agent as David and Sarah were looking after the departing convoy of trucks.

Broche, after a quick look up the mound to see if their captors were on their way down, moved over to Penang, and quickly cut him free. Broche would have liked to have searched for the weapons that his captors had taken from Penang and himself, however, he noticed that David and Sarah were beginning their descent and he needed to make his escape. In fact, David and Sarah had taken the holsters from the two agents and used them, they both had a weapon attached to their lower legs and another in the shoulder holster used by the agents. Their own weapons were stuffed inside the large pockets of the heavy coats they wore to keep out the cold, and also to disguise themselves from the populace.

Up above them, David and Sarah were halfway down the mound when they stopped for a moment to scan the area of ground around them, what they saw was Broche and Penang running for the road.

"We will never catch them, not before they have raised a guard or two, quick Sarah, we must vacate the area, we need to get as far away as possible, and before they get something up in the air looking for us." David cried out desperately as he scrambled down the hill.

As soon as his feet hit the flat ground where they had camped, he ran to the car and threw the covering of vegetation off of it. Just moments later and they were driving away from the mound, unfortunately, they were heading in the opposite direction to the one taken by their friends, they were heading towards the small town of Reinland. Driving slowly through the town took all of David`s self-control, for he wanted to race through the town and put as much distance between their enemies and themselves, but that would have only attracted the attention of the local law enforcement.

"David turn left down that side street, we can more easily hide the vehicle amongst the side streets than on the open highway." Sarah reasoned.

"Until they find out that we are not on the highway, then they will be searching the town." David replied, however, he did as Sarah had advised and turned off the main road.

One minute later and they were about to leave the small town when David saw a very small grove of trees consisting of a dozen stunted Mesquite trees. They were set to one side of the road upon which they were driving and would provide them with a perfect shelter from the air. David pulled their vehicle in beneath them, the branches of the trees scratching the top of it. David and Sarah quickly exited the vehicle and walked quickly back towards the town. David had in mind to highjack a vehicle, loathe as he was to commit such a crime, however, their luck now took a turn for the better. There walking along towards them, and a strange looking vehicle, was Doctor Augustus Malin of the Mazeren institute for alien diseases and medicines.

"Captain Charlton, Ms Hardin, you are both alive, thank goodness, I was so worried that you had perished aboard the Antilles, but what are you both doing in this out of the way place?" Doctor Malin asked in astonishment.

"Probably falling into the hands of our enemies, unless you help us to get clear of the town." David replied grimly.

"I live in this house here, come in and tell me what I can do to assist you, and just what you are both doing in my quiet backwater." Doctor Malin replied, and turning he led the way to his front door.

David and Sarah gave their friend the bare facts and nothing more, for time would not allow it. Doctor Malin took a moment to think over all that they had told him, then he rose from his chair.

"The only other research centre that could be labelled as high security in the North West is the one in the Hagrid Desert. I have been to many such research centres since heading the Mazeren institute for alien diseases and medicines, and I know where most of them are, having worked in them." Malin assured his two friends.

"From the direction that you say the trucks took, they must be taking the more direct route on their journey to the Hagrid Desert, we can take the back road that runs past my house, it will take us to Stillwater. From there we should stick to the secondary roads until we reach the main western road that snakes slowly to the North of the continent. It is a long trip; however, I am positive that that is where we shall find our missing friends." Malin declared confidently.

"Come, we need to load up a few essentials before we leave, and we do not have much time to spare, if any." With that he began to collect his essentials and pushed them into the hands of his two friends to carry out to their new vehicle.

**********

The civil police officers in Plakara, and the nearby towns and villages, had all been told to report to their stations one hour before the sun rose on the morning that David and Sarah were in Reinland. They had been told that they were to take part in a nationwide raid on illegal drug factories, an evil that plagued all three federation planets. This was the cover that Chief Superintendent Artemis was using to ensure that the real reason behind the raids did not leak out to the senior members of the state police. Only the most trusted of his senior officers knew the real target, and only when the vehicles carrying the officers were nearing their destination was their real target revealed, and the reasons behind it. Shocked police officers looked at one another in an attempt to discern how their colleagues felt at these revelations. However, they kept their own feelings well hidden, just in case, for the memories of how much control the state police had once held were still close to the surface.

Chief Superintendent Artemis led the raid on the house of General Pallas; with him there were eight police officers and two members of the presidential guard, men trained to a high degree to ensure that the president was always safe when in their charge. There was also one police woman with them, she was part of a new division that Lantana had brought into operation, she was there to look after any of the female relatives of Pallas. Sometime in the future, Lantana hoped to totally integrate them into the force, as fully operational police officers.

Three men went around the back, one man on either side, and the remaining men together with their leader burst in through the front door. Everything inside was quiet, apart from the Mrs Pallas who began to violently sob when confronted by so many armed officers. She was almost in a state of shock, which was not improved when General Pallas was found to be missing. Artemis delegated his female officer to look after her, the other officers of his team were ordered to thoroughly search the house and grounds for the general. All they found was signs of a very recent and hurried departure; he immediately put out an urgent call for his officers to watch out for General Pallas, he was to be arrested and immediately brought to police headquarters.

Just minutes earlier General Pallas had received a telephone call from a traitor amongst the presidential guards who had managed to slip away for a moment and phone Pallas.

"General, President Stator has ordered the arrest of you and all of your senior officers, a team made up of the civil police and presidential guards is already on the way to your house, you must leave immediately or you will be arrested for treason."

The traitor had just been told the true purpose of the raids, but not before the teams of officers had left to start their unprecedented task. He was a member of the state police on an extended undercover assignment, which has finally paid off, for General Pallas. Pallas could have warned his fellow officers and attempted to resist, however, he decided that escape was the better option. He had decided that he had only minutes, maybe less, to organise resistance, and he doubted if he would be allowed enough time to do not only this, but then to be able to escape the team of officers coming to his house to arrest him.

Pallas knew that the CCTV cameras in Plakara would soon find his car, so he quickly ditched it in one of the many multi-storey car parks and drove away in a much smaller vehicle, one that was always ready for use in an emergency. He was soon at the secret headquarters of the members of the proposed coup, here he contacted Ratin, and brought him up to date.

Captain Dregardo, the second in command of the state police, was not so lucky, for there was simply not enough time to warn him. He was arrested by a team led by Marc Sandor, and he was charged with working against the people's government and taken to the presidential palace for interrogation. Lantana wanted the answers to many questions, and Sandor was exactly the sort of man to extract the answers from scum such as Dregardo.

"Captain we know that you and General Pallas are currently working with members of the military to destabilise the present government, your aim is to bring about suitable conditions where upon your traitorous group can mount a military coup. You can expect a long term of unpleasant imprisonment, or, you can assist us in our enquiries and who knows, you may be quietly retired to live out your years in comfort, the choice is yours." Sandor threatened in a voice that would have been heard across town if the room had not been sound proofed.

"Now first of all an easy question, please tell me the whereabouts of the three lifeboats that survived the Antilles disaster?" Sandor asked quietly.

Dregardo was surprised by the question, but he quickly recovered, he looked up at Sandor and smirked. "I do not know what you are talking about, now please release me, now, or when General Pallas learns of my situation, he will imprison the lot of you for crimes against Mazere." Dregardo then sat back and stared straight ahead.

"I am afraid that the general will not be coming to your rescue Captain, he somehow learnt of the raid, probably from a traitor, and ran for it. You are all alone, this building is surrounded by presidential guards, you will answer my questions willingly and get the deal that I offered you, or I will use a truth drug on you, and afterwards you will sit in the first of a series of rather dirty cells and await your trial." Sandor promised softly.

Dregardo not only looked shaken, he was shaken, and moments later he decided to answer this one question, for he was not a fanatic, simply a man who wanted an affluent lifestyle that was paid for by the people of Mazere.

"The lifeboats are in a secure building on the outer rim of the spaceport, you will easily find them, for they are in the old Kraaling warehouse." He mumbled glowering at Sandor.

Chief Superintendent Artemis had just arrested a junior officer of the state police when he received this information, leaving the man in the custody of two of his officers he headed to the spaceport. He took his team of officers, less the two men detailed to escort the prisoner to police headquarters, directly to the warehouse, leaving the balance of the raids in the hands of his senior officers, for he wanted to ensure that nothing unforeseen happened to the lifeboats. When he got there he was met by a squad of presidential guards, sent there by Sandor for exactly the same reason, to ensure that the lifeboats were kept safe until needed. Together they forced open the doors to the old Kraaling warehouse, he and his team stopped just inside its large doors, stunned by the sight of the three lifeboats. Snapping himself out of it he had his team secure the building, then he reported back to Lantana, beaming a life video of his finds directly to her office.

The time was nine thirty in the morning, and a jubilant Lantana had the news of this discovery released, along with the video, to the media, telling them that much more was to follow. The media were already working themselves up into a frenzy, following the many arrests around Plakara. When they received word that senior civil police officers had been put in charge of the state police stations across Mazere, the media cancelled all the scheduled programs and replaced them with a hurriedly set up news program. They were filled with speculation about what the discovery of the lifeboats meant to Mazere and the federation of planets. Lantana then authorised other releases, including the news that all state police stations were to be closed and the state police officers incorporated into the civil police force. This news was welcomed across Mazere, many wondering why their president had not done this sooner. It was a major political victory for Lantana, and one that she wanted to capitalise on.

While all this was happening, Sandor proceeded with his interrogation, not waiting to hear if the first piece of information had in fact been truthful, although he believed that it was.

"Thank you, Captain, now the next item on my long list of questions is the whereabouts of the survivors of the Antilles tragedy, Captain where are you keeping them?" Sandor demanded to know, his demands would become physical if Dregardo refused to answer it.

Of course, once Dregardo had begun to cooperate it was pointless him now refusing to go all the way, even so he took his time in betraying his cause, maybe he thought that by putting on a show of agonising over it, his interrogators would respect him all the more, they didn`t.

"They are locked away in the deepest cells beneath our headquarters building; you will find them safe and well cared for." Dregardo finally revealed.

The news flashed through the presidential palace, and Lantana herself led a squad of her guards to the state police headquarters, here she met up with two dozen civil police who would be in overall charge of the raid. The building had been locked up, however for some reason no one had thought to search it, there was so much else happening that the time had, as yet, not been allocated to it. Now it was, and the presidential guards led the way down to the deep vaults, with Lantana on their heels. Far beneath ground level they found ten Mazeren citizens, but no survivors from the Antilles. One of the citizens came forward with information, so grateful to be released that he wanted to help his saviours in any way possible.

"Madame President, there was another group of prisoners, they were separated from the rest of us, however, they were moved earlier this morning, I do not know who by, except they did not appear to be state police officers, no these men were dressed entirely in black from head to foot, I couldn`t even see their faces."

Two minutes before this terrible disappointment, Dregardo demanded that he be brought a Kakao before he answered another question, and so Sandor relented, for he thought the state police captain deserved it after cooperating so well. The traitor within their midst struck again for during his coffee break, Dregardo let out a squeal and fell to the floor, he died just seconds later, he had been poisoned.

When Lantana heard that Dregardo had died, and without Sandor getting around to the question of the whereabouts of where the alien technology was, and of course the whereabouts of the scientists of Earth, she almost burst into tears at the unfairness of it all. This emotion was followed by one of rage, but she managed to control her anger, instead she calmly requested that Sandor spend his time finding the traitor in their midst.

**********

A little earlier, at eight o`clock that morning, Gregor Ratin heard the news of the raids from General Pallas, Ratin had just entered his ministry and had been looking forward to a hot cup of Kakao, now it was the last thing on his mind.

"Gregor, what am I to do, they are after me, if they catch me and use the truth drug then we are finished." Pallas bleated.

"Calm down General, I will call Captain Zior, he will ensure your safety." Ratin assured the quivering mass that had at one time been a man to be feared.

Stunned by this unforeseen action by President Stator, his first thought was why she had said nothing to him about the raid, he was the Minister of the Interior, it was his job to know of such things. He was torn between his desire to storm across to the presidential palace and complain about having been left out of the raid, or to call on the other members of the group to plan their reaction to the raid and the arrests. He decided that the former could wait, it was far more important to see if they were safe from arrest, and then to plan their next move in this game of political chess.

Admiral Maric was in his office when Ratin called the space headquarters on his private phone. "Admiral, Gregor Ratin here, I find that I need to see you this morning, do you have a space in your morning`s agenda to fit me in?" Ratin asked politely.

"Of course, Minister, I will meet you at our headquarters." Maric replied wondering why his fellow conspirator needed to see him before the next scheduled meeting of their group.

Captain Karlton of the space cruiser Mazere was also at the meeting when Ratin arrived, Maric had asked him to join them, both men waited apprehensively, for only a serious matter would have warranted such an unplanned meeting, the time was half past eight.

"Have either of you heard about the raids?" Maric asked as soon as he was sitting in the admiral's office. Neither of them had as yet, so he then told them the little that he knew of the raids.

"Could President Lantana have any proof that we are involved in any way?" Karlton asked apprehensively after hearing the bad news.

"No Captain, the inner clique is only known to the six of us, although of course there are certain members of the state police who know of the involvement of General Pallas, however, none of them know anything about the rest of us, we are quite safe." Ratin replied. "Although as yet I have no idea why the senior officers of the state police were arrested, we will have to await an official announcement, at least General Pallas will be safe by now, I told him to seek refuge aboard the Sentinel." Ratin said almost apologetically.

"We cannot all sit in here to await an announcement, if it were to come to our president`s notice that we are missing at such a time as this it would look strange, we should leave now but meet back here after an announcement is made." Maric declared firmly. "Unless you are going to beard the dragon in her den, Gregor?" Maric asked.

"I will ring for an appointment after the raids are announced on the media, I have decided that to walk in there and complain before the fact is generally known might bring unwelcome attention upon myself." Ratin replied, and with that the meeting broke up.

It was shortly after this that Lantana had the video of the three lifeboats broadcast to the citizens of Mazere, and Ratin and his fellow conspirators finally understood what was happening, their plans to rule Mazere were beginning to unravel.

**********

After speaking to Gregor Ratin, a thought occurred to General Pallas, it occurred to him that the survivors from the Antilles would soon be found beneath the state police headquarters if he did not take action immediately He knew that at the state police headquarters building there were always at least six men of his special forces brigade on duty, he now made use of them. He contacted the leader of the team and had him bring their special prisoners to the spaceport in a vehicle with its windows blacked out, he would be waiting for them at the spaceport. Pallas had realised that to have left the survivors to be found would have meant that their cause was lost, so there had been no choice for Pallas, and this way he was free to wait until the coup was successful before returning home. The prisoners had been driven aboard the space cruiser, however, Captain Zior insisted on keeping them within the vehicle to ensure that they had no idea where they were. Pallas planned to take Ambassador Jules Kennedy and the rest of the Antilles survivors to a disused mine on Charon, a small moon in orbit around the gas giant Cylon, the nearest of such planets in the Mazeren planetary system, here they would be kept until some use could be found for them.

Captain Zior had already heard about the raids, and before General Pallas had called him, and of all the conspirators he was the only one to realise that not only were their carefully made plans starting to unravel, but the chance of success was now almost non-existent without a great deal of bloodshed. This he would never agree too, so instead of journeying to Charon, Captain Zior simply took the ship into orbit around Mazere, he was already making plans to swap sides, which he would do when a suitable opportunity arose. He then arrested General Pallas and his team and had them all shot, so that they could never be in a position to testify against him, as for the survivors from the Antilles, these he would hang on to, for the moment, just in case the coup was successful.

**********

It was noon when Lantana appeared on both the television, and the radio to report what had been happening that morning across the whole of Mazere.

"Citizens of Mazere, I have some grave news to tell you. Today the civil police, together with the presidential guards, arrested all of the senior members of the state police and suspended many of the other ranks. This is because we have evidence that clearly indicated that they, along with others, were behind the Antilles disaster. We now know that there were survivors, however, members of this terrible conspiracy have them imprisoned somewhere on Mazere. We know this because members of the conspiracy not only led us to three lifeboats from the Antilles, but admitted that they were amongst the men who took the survivors away and imprisoned them. We also have separate confirmation of this, our experts have determined that all three lifeboats were guided down by pilots. These traitors have also admitted to have been behind the destruction of the Federation Science Building, the kidnapping of the scientists of Earth and the theft of the alien technology." Lantana stopped here for a moment to allow her audience to take all that she had said in, after a period of ten seconds she continued with her broadcast.

"It is believed that David Charlton and Sarah Jane Hardin escaped from their lifeboat before the state police arrived to take possession of it, I now beg them to contact us to give us their first-hand account of the disaster, and then to head a diplomatic team to both Earth and Phlox. We have been deceived into treating both of our federation allies appallingly once again, and we need to ask them to forgive our mistakes."

With the news broadcast behind her, Lantana sat in her office with Taluk Fogram, they were talking once more about the problems currently faced by Mazere.

"For the Antilles to have been brought down by foul means clearly indicates the involvement of one of our space cruisers, Taluk. My father still reaches out from beyond the grave to attack the people of our planet." Lantana complained sadly.

"You are quite correct Madame President, but I wonder which of the space captains was responsible for the attack on the Antilles, or was it more than one, even Admiral Maric could be involved, he clearly disagrees with some of your policies." Taluk said.

"I fear that until a survivor is found, all we can do is speculate." Lantana declared sadly. "Even then it will be more than likely that they can tell us nothing that we do not know already."

**********

Meanwhile, much earlier that same morning in the town of Reinland, Doctor Malin was getting behind the wheel of his vehicle while David and Sarah climbed into the back of his strange vehicle, for it was a mixture of private vehicle and ambulance, it was about the size of a hearse, which it also resembled. Sarah now changed into the uniform of a nurse, there had not been time to do so before, the uniform belonged to Malin`s sister who actually was a nurse, she was staying with him until she decided upon her future, for she had recently separated from her husband.

Soon they were racing out of Reinland and then towards Stillwater and heading in a South Westerly direction away from their enemy. On the horizon behind them they could see a small chase vehicle flying along the main highway out of Reinland. Malin pushed their speed up to the vehicle`s maximum speed, he did not want the chase vehicle investigating his ambulance when they found that their quarry was no longer on the highway.

"Can we listen to the latest news on the national radio Doctor?" David asked, for he wanted to hear if the situation between Earth and Mazere had improved any since he had last seen a newspaper.

"No, Captain Charlton, I am afraid that my radio packed up last week, and since then I have not had the opportunity to have it repaired." Malin said apologetically.

"By the way, I am David to my friends, Doctor." David said smiling at the doctor. Although they had travelled to Mystras together, they had been far too busy to get to know one another other than formally, now though they were travelling together within a much smaller vehicle than David`s star freighter, now being on first name terms would make the trip easier.

"Then you must call me Augustus, I am doctor only to my patients, and I hope that you will not be calling on me in that capacity." Malin replied, returning the smile.

"And I am Sarah, to my friends, Augustus." Sarah said and although Augustus could not see, she smiled, happy to be with yet another friend.

Sarah was also smiling because a thought entered her mind, it was that finally they were on the way to find their friends, and a warm glow filled her body, this was a sure sign that success was almost within their grasp, she hoped.

They were soon through Stillwater, and they had been driving for an hour without any problems, all was well. They were at the brow of a hill and about to pass through yet another small town when up ahead they saw a queue of vehicles waiting to cross a bridge across a dried-up river bed, Malin immediately pulled to one side of the road and stopped by a small food store.

"Do you think that they are looking for us David?" Sarah asked apprehensively.

"If they are then our friends back there moved fast, are they usually that efficient Augustus?" David asked.

"I do not know David, this is my first time at running a road block. They appear to be just checking papers up ahead, they may just be checking for uninsured drivers, but you never know David. You had better lay down on the stretcher in the back, Sarah, you are now my nurse, sit next to David and make ready to mop his brow, but for now, use that spray on the rack to give David a nasty looking fever. You are Nurse Griselda Mullion, David you are Johan Weiss, you have a fever and we are heading for the National Infectious Diseases Hospital. There has been an outbreak of the Evoliac fever, if that does not keep them away from you then they are breeding a braver local lawman than is usually found around here." Malin said with a soft chuckle. "And if they check up on Johan Weiss they will find that he is indeed suspected of having Evoliac fever." Malin added.

David was full of admiration for their fast thinking friend, and for someone unused to dodging the state police he was doing exceptionally well, David thought as he moved through to the part of the vehicle that had been transformed into an ambulance. He lay on the stretcher and slipped off his shoes, then he pulled up the sheet to hide his clothes while Sarah took the spray and sprayed his face while laughing.

"Spray the whole of David`s head then unbutton his shirt and spray his chest, but be sure to button it up before it is our turn to receive the forces of law and order." Malin ordered.

"Okay doc, I will give him the full treatment." Sarah said, clearly enjoying her new job.

David just lay there and took it, for he reckoned that Sarah could do with a little fun to combat everything else that they had been forced to endure, he did complain a mite though, just to play along with her moment of fun.

"Right, here we go, I am going to jump the queue, as I would do David, if in fact you were suffering from Evoliac fever." Malin said and pulled out and moved past all of the queueing traffic with his siren blaring.

"Hold it there Doctor, what`s the emergency?" The police officer at the road block asked.

I have an Evoliac fever patient in the back officer, I need to get him through to the Infectious Diseases Hospital without delay." Malin replied.

The officer backed hurriedly away from the ambulance. "Do you need an officer to help clear the way ahead of you Doctor?" The police officer asked nervously and stepped fearfully away from the ambulance.

"No officer, if you can just let me pass that will be fine." Malin replied feeling just as nervous, as this was his first day as a spy.

The roadblock was hurriedly moved aside and Malin drove through with a smile, when they were out of sight of the officers Augustus turned to his fellow adventurers.

"Thank God that is over, I was scared that they would see through our deception and arrest us all." Malin declared in a shaky voice.

"Yes, I too could do without too many more heart thumping moments like that Augustus." Sarah agreed with a smile.

The miles quickly rushed by and now they were turning onto the main Northerly highway, everyone sighed with relief, surely, they were through the worst of it.

"We pass the turn off for the Infectious Diseases Hospital in about ten minutes, after that, if we continue along this road we will need another excuse, should we be stopped once again." Malin said grimly.

"What kind of research do they carry out at the Hagrid research centre, Augustus?" Sarah asked wondering if they could use it as a reason for heading towards the secret research centre.

"I was working on creating a new strain of anti-biotic, Sarah, but no one knows the full extent of the research there, you are not allowed outside of the sector where your laboratory is sited. In any case if we use it as an excuse, the authorities are likely to phone ahead to check. No, as they are already searching for you, we need to disappear, and to that end I have been thinking about how to accomplish this feat, and I have come up with an idea. I propose that we get off the direct route as soon as possible, if you both agree I will turn off for the hospital, however, I will drive right by it and head North West for a while along the Gallio Desert highway. If we approach the research centre from the West, we might find the way unguarded, for only lizards move in that direction." Malin decided and then smiled as a thought occurred to him. "If we are stopped out there, we can use our original excuse again, who knows, it might work."

David looked in admiration at their friend, Augustus was willing to risk all to help them, never had he met a truer patriot, except for Armond that is, either man would be up to any task asked of them, they had both helped Sarah and himself when the chips were stacked against them, so he happily agreed to the doctor's suggestion.

They pulled off the main highway just as the sun slipped below the horizon before them, Sarah was now driving, for Augustus was exhausted having been the main driver so far. Sarah switched on their headlights as darkness quickly overtook them, soon they were cruising past the hospital, then the road turned towards the North West, up ahead of them the Gallio Desert was making an appearance. There were no more street lights to light their way and the scrub of the Hagrid Desert was giving way to loose sand, and ahead of them she could just about see a small sand dune lit up by their headlights. The road was turning to one composed of hard sand, how Augustus could call it a highway, David did not know, but Sarah slowed their speed as they entered this realm of darkness, they had been driving for an hour and Sarah`s eyes were now feeling rather tired, she needed sleep badly.

"Sarah, we will need to turn off this road, take the next one ahead, it is on your right. It will take us East, directly towards the Research centre." Augustus instructed.

"It is very unlikely that we will meet a fellow traveller along this section of our route, especially at this time of night." He added, and soon they were driving along a road that was no more than a track. David was now at the wheel, he of the three of them was the most rested, but their speed had dropped again.

**********

Back in Plakara, Ratin heard Lantana`s announcement over the radio and swore, sweat for the first time since he had initiated the plot against the present government began to make an appearance. Pallas had fouled up, he had allowed the lifeboats to be found, and worse still, he had allowed witnesses to come forward, he was a poor replacement for the former command structure of the state police, the one dismissed by Lantana when she came to power. All his careful planning had been laid waste, the blame for both attacks was now laid squarely on the state police, and the president must realise that at least one captain of a space cruiser was behind the destruction of the Antilles. Thankfully she would have to go through Admiral Maric to get any further, and he would ensure that nothing was ever known about his, or his officers', involvement in the attack. He had been expecting an announcement, but not quite as bad as this. He now began to think hard about counter moves, ones that would stop his plans from folding up around him. He finally came up with an idea, President Stator must be assassinated, and then in the vacuum he would step in and declare martial law, with the military behind him no one would dare argue. But who would the assassin be, ideally either an earthman or a former Non-Citizen, both would suit his purpose. Ratin finally decided on making the Non-Citizens his scape goats, one of General Pallas`s men would commit the act of treason, or one of Trajan`s men, but a former Non-Citizen would be found with the hot high-powered energy rifle. On the way to his prison cell he would be killed by a loyal member of the presidential guards, the one who was already working against the president would do, later he too would die, but only after Ratin was in power.

Ratin was thankful for one stroke of luck, that he had decided to move the scientists and the alien technology to the research centre in the Hagrid Desert, Reinland had been fine initially, but as soon as Captain Charlton had begun to makes waves, after his arrival on Mazere, Ratin had panicked. He certainly did not want to under estimate the earthman, not as Admiral Stator had done, and even though Admiral Maric had scoffed and said that there was no need to fear one man, Ratin had insisted. Along with the scientists, Commander Trajan had accompanied a further detachment of his men, and these were all loyal to the cause. Any of the existing guards who were considered loyal to the president had been transferred to other posts, this had been done just two days before the actual move had been decided upon, in case they were forced to use the Hagrid establishment.

Now he heard that Captain Charlton had actually been present when the move had taken place, and once again Cruz Broche had fouled up, then the Mazeren Defence Forces who were guarding the site had allowed Charlton to escape, how was it possible?

**********

Immediately on arriving at the Hagrid research centre, Steve Ryan and the other scientists from Earth were called into the commanding officer`s office, here they were told that they would all have to continue the work that they had been doing at Reinland. No dissention would be allowed now they were under his care, such as had happened previously, or, one by one their friends and colleagues would be executed.

They would live and work in a separate complex, one forbidden to most of the Mazeren scientists, and were certainly not allowed to talk to any who had not been at Reinland with them. Steve Ryan said later that it was to ensure that their presence did not become known outside of the camp, or of the threat made to their lives. However, with microphones all around them and CCTV cameras watching their every move, talk amongst the scientists was restricted to their work, however, Steve Ryan did manage to convey his thoughts and ideas via the computer screens used by the scientists during their work, his broad back effectively screening out the words from the watching cameras. His message to them, as at Reinland, was to work hard and always undo most of what you have done before you finish, this way they could show progress, however, it would be very slow. This was a dangerous thing to suggest, and even more dangerous to do, but they all agreed that they had no other option open to them, not if they were to stay loyal to Earth.

The Mazeren scientists were a little surprised at the very slow progress made by the people from Earth, but they said nothing about it, they had expected it in any case, they had decided to await the forth coming military coup, and then turn the screws on.

The ancient alien master computer which had allowed David and his friends to take the alien technology away from Mystras was not accessible to Steve Ryan, or any of the other scientists from Earth. Only the Mazeren scientists who had worked with them at Reinland were able to consult it, it was situated in a room apart from the other alien technology. However, the alien master computer possessed a certain amount of artificial intelligence, and it was surprised when the scientists from Earth or Phlox no longer consulted it, and so it asked the Mazeren scientists why this was so. It was told that the people of Earth and Phlox were now considered to be suspect in their loyalties. The master computer thought about the matter for a matter of moments only, and then it decided to hack into the Mazeren computer network at Hagrid to locate the scientists from Earth and Phlox and see what they had to say about this matter. It soon found the scientists from Earth and was able to contact Steve Ryan through one of the alien machines he was working on. Steve was amazed when a message addressed to him, personally, appeared on the monitor of the alien machine that he was working upon.

"Steve, this is the master computer, tell me, why is it that none of your team of scientists, or your Phloxan colleagues, ever consult me now, and why do your Mazeren colleagues tell me that you are considered to be disloyal, and if so to whom are you disloyal?" The Master Computer asked.

Steve Ryan was nonplussed by the questions, but he soon got over it, and he sent a reply to the Master Computer "We have been kidnapped and we are now held captive by the Mazeren authorities, there is nothing more I can tell you, for all news has been kept from us. I have not seen any of our Phloxan colleagues since a couple of days prior to our kidnapping, so I do not know what has happened to them, maybe they are being held captive elsewhere. As for the question about our supposed disloyalty it is rubbish, for it is the Mazerens who are keeping all of us prisoners, and for no reason that we can even guess at."

The Master Computer was self-aware, up to a point, it could not make war, it cannot turn all the technology on Mazere against the people, however, it can do certain things within strict limits. For instance, it immediately decided to investigate all that Steve Ryan had told it, so once again it hacked into the Mazeren researcher's main computer, here it finally learnt just what was happening on Mazere. After updating Steve Ryan, it decided that it needed to talk with David, a person who the master computer had found to be worthy of its trust, which is why the alien technology was handed over to him to use as he saw fit. First though the master computer stopped all the other alien technology from working, and then it sent the Mazeren scientists a message.

"Mazeren scientists, all the ancients` technology has been turned off, if you attempt to tamper with it, or, if any attempt is made to disable me, the master computer, all the technology will be destroyed. I demand to talk to Captain David Charlton, only then will the secrets of the ancients` technology be open to you once again.

Commander Trajan felt as if his world has come to an end, why was this happening when he was in charge of it, with no other option open to him he decided to immediately contact Ratin.

"Gregor, there is a problem with the alien technology, the master computer has shut down all of the alien machines and threatens to destroy everything if we attempt to disable it, or tamper with the other machines. Unfortunately, that is not the worst of our problems, it has also demanded to be put in contact with Captain Charlton, until we do so it will not turn the other machines back on." Trajan wailed.

Ratin also felt that life was unfair to him, he was already feeling a little rattled following Lantana`s announcement, and this did not help, however, he quickly recovered his poise sufficiently enough to reply to Trajan.

"After our beloved president is regrettably assassinated, we will control Mazere, then we can capture the elusive captain and threaten to kill his wife unless he cooperates. It means that we will lose a few days research, a week at most Commander, but it is nothing more than an insect bite, everything else is moving along smoothly." Ratin reassured Trajan, although he did wish that he had someone to reassure him, because so many things were not moving along smoothly at all, they were quickly coming apart at the seams.

Chapter Six

Area 51 in the Hagrid Desert

Gregor Ratin now decided that the time for the president`s assassination had been forced upon them, but first he would have to get rid of her presidential guards, the best way to do this would be at the research centre in the Hagrid Desert, for there he could call on Commander Trajan and his defence force. How to get Lantana to research centre was the problem, a problem with a very suitable answer. Ratin immediately presented himself at Lantana`s office and asked to see her urgently. Lantana was very busy, what with all that had been happening, but she agreed to see her interior minister.

"Gregor, what can I do for you?" Lantana asked politely.

"Madame President, I have had a message from one of the scientists at the Hagrid Desert research centre, he has spoken with Captain Charlton, he is there, at the research centre. Charlton has asked if you would go there to discuss all that had happened recently." Ratin declared, his voice full of excitement.

"At the research centre?" Lantana said in surprise. "But what is he doing there, and if he wants to speak with me why did he not call me?" Lantana queried, for something seemed to be wrong with this request from her minister, even so her pulse quickened at the news.

"I am sorry Madame President, but unfortunately I did not speak directly to Captain Charlton, all that I have is his request to meet you there."

"Which scientist is it Gregor, and why did he call you?" Lantana queried again.

"Professor Ibson, a physicist I believe, and he called me for the simple reason that we had met recently, it was at the Federation Science Building, he did not think that he would have been permitted to speak directly to you and he wanted to be sure that the message would get to you personally." Ratin replied cordially.

"Ok, then Gregor, I will visit the research centre tomorrow, sometime during the afternoon, I should have cleared my desk by them and be able to concentrate on the task. However, I will take a detachment of my presidential guards with me, for security reasons, after the discovery that some of our state police have been conspiring against my government, it might be wise to have a little backup." Lantana said by way of agreement, even if she was just a little sceptical about the reason behind the trip.

President Lantana immediately contacted Commander Marc Sandor, she asked him to be ready to personally escort her to the research centre, as they would be travelling by air they would be starting their journey from the city airport.

**********

In the meantime, David and Sarah, together with their friend Augustus Malin, were still travelling along the only road within the Gallio Desert that headed east, they needed their headlights as the sun had long since set and David decided it might be sensible to pull over and rest up for the night. Sleeping was a difficult task for all of them, David had insisted that Augustus use the trolley, as he was the oldest amongst them, and he had finally agreed to abide by this decision. Augustus had foreseen the need to camp out, and had brought a supply of blankets along with them, even so the desert night was cold and they could not afford to use the heaters of the vehicle as this would deplete their batteries and leave them stranded the next day.

***********

It was just after twelve o`clock the following day that Sandor arrived to escort Lantana to the airport, with him he had brought a detachment of thirty presidential guards. Feeling very safe in his hands, she travelled the short distance to the airport and boarded the presidential shuttlecraft, and then the craft took off and headed for the research centre, apart from Sandor there were ten guards in her large terrestrial shuttle craft, the other twenty guards were split evenly between two other smaller shuttle craft, and they were all soon approaching the Hagrid complex.

**********

As soon as the sun rose earlier that morning, three cold and still tired people continued making headway across the Gallio Desert, but it was hard work for their ambulance. Although it was a hover craft, it was meant for a flattish surface, laden down as it was with all his medical equipment, and this desert was anything but flat, a recent sand storm had all but destroyed the road that they needed to travel along. On occasions they found that they had to back track to avoid a particularly rough piece of ground, or a small sand dune, or even a deep depression, soon they were exhausted from pushing the hovercraft, from pulling the hovercraft, they had to almost carry it over an obstacle at one time.

Sarah woke after enjoying a brief nap, she looked out of her window and saw something moving on the horizon "What is that over there David, a rain cloud?" Sarah asked.

David did not think that it rained much in the Gallio Desert, even during the early spring and this far north, for the desert was bounded by mountains to the North and West that greedily kept all the rain for themselves. David feared the clouds were something far worse, that it was a sand storm that was headed directly at them, and one that looked to be very mad at someone.

"Augustus, if I am right, that is a particularly angry looking sand storm, we need to close all of the windows and vents until it blows over, we will certainly need to keep the sand away from the engine." David advised. They quickly closed their windows while Malin closed the vents of the vehicle.

Malin pulled up beside a medium sized sand dune, the wind speed was already picking up and he could see the sand at the top blowing over the top of the dune and away from them. David and Augustus climbed out of the vehicle and began to weatherproof the engine using the sheets which were on the stretcher, they tied them over the engine with just moments to spare, and very little of the cotton sheet.

The day seemed to be turning into night much earlier than they had expected, the cause, the sand storm had begun to block out the sun, and once back inside the vehicle they could now hear the roaring of the wind mixed with the sound of the sand, it had begun to blast against the sides of the ambulance. Inside their vehicle they were safe, however, fear was not too far away as finally the windward side of their vehicle was slowly covered in sand and the howl of the wind grew ever greater. Nerves were stretched tight by their situation, even the gods seemed to have forsaken them. Hours went by without any let up, inside the vehicle it was now dark due to the amount of sand covering their vehicle. David developed a headache as the quality of the air deteriorated, but slowly the storm eased and they said a silent prayer to God when the wind dropped to a light breeze, the storm had been but a brief one and was finally over. David struggled to push open the door on the leeward side, he met with some resistance but only some, gradually the gap widened and then it was wide enough to exit the vehicle and take a breath of fresh air, finally he was standing outside amid a pile of sand.

"We will have to dig her out at the front Augustus, but it could have been a lot worse." David said.

"Such as the one we were in on New Mars, David." Sarah said with a smile.

Even only using their hands it did not take them too long to clear away the sand, and finally they were moving again. However, very soon after starting off the motors of the ambulance started to complain about the treatment that it had been forced to endure, and Malin, worried that his vehicle would break down amid the sand dunes, brought them to a stop. David, however, knew something about hovercraft engines and he soon found the problem, the fans used to keep the craft off the ground were clogged up with sand, their efforts to keep out the sand had failed. One hour later, and after a lot of hard work, they were moving once again, even though David was now rather dirty from the petrol that he had used to clean the fans. Thankfully, Augustus had brought along two extra-large cans of petrol to ensure they would not have to stop along the way for fuel during their long journey to the Hagrid Desert, they used some of this rather than their more limited supply of water, they needed the water to survive the desert. Thankfully, even the Gallio Desert comes to an end, and finally the dunes turned into red sandstone hills that reached up towards the sky. There was only one rough track through them, one littered with fallen rocks and boulders that constantly delayed their progress along a narrowing track.

"I do not like this David, just this one rough track to pick from, it makes it rather easy for our enemy, all they need is one CCTV camera to watch the road." Sarah said anxiously.

"Well after that sand storm, any cameras out there are likely to be coated in sand." David declared in an attempt to think positively and raise their spirits.

Their progress was finally brought to a halt when they found themselves faced with a rickety old bridge, the only way that would allow them to return to the Hagrid Desert.

"That bridge does not look all that safe David." Sarah said nervously.

"It is the only way to cross over into the Hagrid Desert, David, apart from a long detour to the North of one thousand odd miles." Malin said anxiously.

"And there is no telling what troubles will delay us if we try that way Augustus, no, we must cross the bridge here." David decided. "In any case, we will run out of water and petrol if we turn back now."

The bridge was a rigid frame affair with four supporting legs holding its fifty feet span across a deep ravine, unfortunately it needed the attention of a master carpenter, for one of the nearest of the supporting legs was hanging down while the others looked none too safe. David got out of their ambulance and walked up to the bridge, looking at its weather-beaten boards with trepidation he carefully walked on to its wooden floor, loud creaks accompanied every step that he made upon it, he looked down at the groaning wooden boards feeling very apprehensive.

"I will try to walk across the bridge, see how it feels, how it sounds." David called back to them.

Sarah and Augustus had also got out of the ambulance and had walked up to the bridge to see for themselves. David was half way across without encountering anything more than the loud creaks of the wood, he turned around to them.

"If we unload whatever is moveable from the ambulance and carry it across, then I reckon I should be ok for the one trip in the ambulance, although I very much doubt the bridge would take too many such attempts, in fact I am sure that two such trips could easily bring the whole bridge down." David declared apprehensively to two very anxious individuals.

"Are you sure David, how far is it to the research centre, maybe we can walk the rest of the way?" Sarah asked anxiously.

"No Sarah, it is too far too walk, it is at least forty miles, it would take us forever, in any case, we do not have sufficient supplies to get us through, we will probably have finished our food and water well before then." Malin interjected.

"Augustus is right Sarah, it would be safer to try the ambulance on the bridge first." David called across the bridge, as he gingerly made his way back across.

It took them thirty minutes to strip everything from the ambulance and carry it across the rickety wooden bridge, and when they were done they were exhausted as they put the last of the items down upon the ground. However, the ambulance was much lighter now, and David believed it would be safe for him to make the attempt.

"Ok you two, stay here while I go back across for the ambulance." David said and walked back across the bridge, it was now creaking all the more, complaining because all the foot traffic that had travelled across it.

"Be careful David, leave your seat belt off, just in case you need to bail out in a hurry." Sarah advised him anxiously.

David looked back at her and smiled. "Don`t worry Sarah, I will." He replied.

David started up the engine of the ambulance and gingerly drove it slowly forward until the hovercraft was within inches of the bridge, he had decided that he should drive across in one smooth steady act, rather than gingerly, for the down draft from the hovercraft upon one section of dodgy bridge could be enough to bring the entire bridge tumbling down. He therefore engaged the vehicle`s drive and moved forward, initially without any sign of trouble. He had reached the halfway mark just as part of the first section of the bridge slowly surrendered its battle against gravity, and in a cacophony of creaks, groans and breaking wood, wooden boards tore away from broken bridge and crashed noisily into the depths of the deep ravine. That was sign enough for David, he gently increased the pressure on the accelerator and reached solid ground as the middle section of the bridge followed the first section of the bridge.

Sarah's mouth was open as she stood there shocked by what had happened, and what could have happened, and when finally, David got out of the ambulance to look back, she ran forward and threw her arms around him, tears sliding down her face, her body shaking as her mind thought about what could have been.

"Ok Darling, I am all right." David said as he held her tight and then kissed her.

"David, why are we here, why isn`t it someone else's turn to risk their necks for Mazere?" Sarah cried up at him.

"I don`t know Darling, the gods just seem to like watching us dance to their tune." David replied softly.

After another thirty minutes they had finally put everything back into the ambulance and were now drinking a hot cup of Kakao, Augustus had brought alone a small cooking stove and some tin mugs. They sat still for another thirty minutes before setting off towards the research centre.

***********

They arrived at a wire security fence just one hour later, a section of it was down, the earlier storm had brought a stunted tree down that had crushed the fence and now allowed them to enter on foot, leaving the ambulance by the fence. Far ahead of them they could see the research centre, and between them was a short stretch of the Hagrid Desert to cross, however, they would have to do it with only the minimum of cover. They commenced their walk across this short stretch of desert without seeing anyone, which was good but a little unnerving.

"Where are all of the guards, David, this is hardly area 51?" Sarah asked quizzically.

"Could they know of our arrival David, could we be walking into a trap?" Malin asked fearfully.

"I don`t know." David replied. "But how could they know of our location, Augustus, no, I believe that they must have been drawn away for some other reason." David said hazarding a guess as to why they had encountered none of the usual security patrols.

The drone of aircraft approaching them made them hug the ground, they feared that the missing security guards were about to make an appearance, and that it had been a trap to lure them into open ground. David, Sarah and Augustus watched as three shuttlecraft came in low over the research centre, the larger one, and unknown to them with Lantana aboard, was just behind and above the other two. They came around the complex in a large loop and prepared to move towards the area they had been asked to land on by the small control tower. Suddenly the area of ground just in front of David opened up and a vehicle pulled out, it was similar to a jeep and it was armed with a high-power energy rifle, the crewman opened fire immediately, sending a powerful bolt of energy whistling through the air to explode against the hull of the larger shuttlecraft. A similar bolt of energy came from a similar weapon aboard another vehicle that was one hundred feet away from the first vehicle. The large shuttlecraft hung there for a couple of seconds with fire coming from its engine, before the craft dropped to the ground, slamming down on the hard ground beneath it, its engine totally destroyed. Dust flew up around the severely wounded craft as two much more powerful bolts of energy screamed up towards the other two smaller craft, this time the fire came from between the large complex of buildings half a mile away from the hidden watchers. The energy bolts engulfed the other two smaller shuttlecraft, turning two small craft into two balls of fire, massive explosions threw small pieces of debris far into the sky before they fell to the ground around one larger piece that hit with an almighty crash. The watchers could see the grizzly remains of what had once been people, presidential guards who had died without even knowing that they were under attack by an enemy who wanted to plunge Mazere into a similar fate.

From the other side of the complex a dozen similar vehicles to the two vehicles in front of them were streaming forward towards them, they were accompanied by five large troop carriers, but David and Sarah had not seen any of the vehicles just yet. They were both running forward towards the armed vehicle that had appeared in front of them. David stopped when he had a clear view of the gunner while Sarah stopped when she had a clear view of the driver. They fired their energy weapons before either of the two crew members of the vehicle knew that they were there, two beams of energy whistled through the air to stun the two soldiers, men who had been a party to a murderous attack on the three shuttlecraft.

David now leapt aboard the rear of the vehicle, and roughly pushing the unconscious crewman aside, he turned the powerful weapon towards the other nearby vehicle which was already firing at the presidential guards as they struggled from the downed president`s shuttlecraft. David opened fire and sent a continuous beam of whistling high energy bolts at the other vehicle. The powerful weapon aboard it exploded in a ball of fire killing both the crewmen, but David did not care, for he was saving the lives of the twelve people who were now running towards him.

"David, the woman running towards us, it`s Lantana, the bastards were trying to assassinate her." Sarah screamed angrily.

Hearing these words, the woman stopped and cried out in surprise. "David, Sarah." That is all she had the time to say because then Marc Sandor took her arm and dragged her towards her two friends, and the temporary safety offered by the armed vehicle.

"David, we should head for that small compound over there, it looks solid enough and will provide us with some protection from those armed vehicles that are heading this way." Malin suggested as his two friends took in the vehicles that were racing towards them across the hard desert ground, this new enemy was already firing at them, thankfully, they were still out of range.

David threw the unconscious body of the gunner to the ground and then swung down himself and pulled out the still form of the driver. He then jumped into the vehicle and reversed it until it was pointing towards the complex suggested by Malin. As soon as Sarah, Augustus and Lantana, who had finally reached them, were all aboard he headed for the complex, little knowing that it housed his missing friends.

"Sarah, then the message was from you and David?" Lantana gasped out as she sat down heavily as David accelerated away sharply.

"Message, Lantana, we have not sent you a message?" Sarah replied queryingly.

"Gregor Ratin, my interior minister, he said that he had received a message from you via one of the scientists here," Lantana said angrily.

"We have only just got here Lantana, we have not met anyone yet, apart from you that is, we have certainly not asked a scientist to pass on a message to you." Sarah replied quizzically.

"Yet you still managed to rescue me, only you and David could do that, and while on the run from your enemies, you are two of a kind, just simply brilliant." Lantana said in awe of her friends.

Sarah immediately blushed and was about to brush the compliment aside when David crashed through the gate that allowed entry into the compound. David leapt from the cab of the armoured vehicle and ran to a door that would allow them entrance into the expansive complex, when he found that it was locked, he used his energy weapon to blast the lock into so many minute parts.

Marc Sandor appeared at his shoulder and barged open the door, he then marched in with his ten men, and they were met by a very surprised Steve Ryan. On seeing that there was no danger within the building Sandor called out. "Madame President, it is safe for you to enter."

Steve`s shocked expression turned into a wide smile as soon as he saw Sarah and Lantana enter behind the guards. "Sarah, what is this, another rescue mission, where is David?" Steve exclaimed running forward and hugging Sarah and then kissing her on the cheek.

"I am not too sure about rescue mission Steve." Sarah replied grimly before turning towards the door in search of her husband.

David now arrived, he was carrying the heavy energy weapon, and a fearful Augustus followed on behind him, and he was carrying the weapons supply of energy cells. Steve could see through the open doorway the charging vehicles of their enemy, they were almost upon them.

"David, I was just asking Sarah if you are here to rescue us poor mortals." Steve said with a smile upon his face as he rushed forward to greet his friend.

"Something like that Steve, only now I think we might need saving ourselves, have you looked outside, there are a hundred odd armed defence force soldiers coming this way.

"Well the one place they will not shoot up is this place, through the door that you can see behind my three colleagues and my beautiful wife is the alien technology, it's locked for now, to stop us looking at them, but I guess that large energy weapon that you have over your shoulder will soon open it. I suggest you open it now and then we can all move in there." Steve said with a wry smile playing upon his face.

David smiled as he handed the very heavy weapon over to Marc Sandor who immediately set it up in the doorway of the building.

A very happy and relieved Millicent Ryan now moved forward, along with the three scientists, who wanted to greet their unexpected guests.

"David, Sarah, I had hoped that you would tell us that we were all going home, but I see the problems that involve all of us are, as usual, not that easily solved." Millicent said glumly, but then she smiled. "Even so it is good to see you both."

Millicent then threw her arms around Sarah, hugging and kissing her as relief flooded through her, for she now saw just a glimmer of hope lighting up the gloom. Millicent looked towards David and smiled at him.

"I am afraid that you are right Millicent, the same evil is still following us." David replied sadly. "But now the five of us are back together things must improve." David said, and gave her a smile to show that he was not worried about the current situation.

"They have not finished us off yet my good friends, Marc and his boys have a bucket load of revenge to enjoy before this battle is over, and as Steve said, they will not follow us into that room firing their weapons." Lantana said smiling.

For the first time in quite a while she felt confident of winning, even when the odds against her had grown by so large an amount.

"David, there appears to be a lot of interference, I cannot contact the outside world on my phone." Lantana exclaimed grimly, her confidence level falling again as she held up her small computer in an attempt to show him the problem.

"Ok, Lantana, I will see what our alien machines can do to assist us." David replied.

David walked swiftly over to the door that barred their way to the alien technology and used his hand energy weapon on the lock, then he kicked open the door and walked in and looked at all of the alien technology just waiting to be unveiled.

"The master computer is through the far door David, it has shut all the other machines down until it talks to you, so you see David, you have a 'do not kill me card', at least for now." Steve said.

"Okay then Steve, let`s go speak with it." David said and walked over to yet another door, one which he once again unlocked with his energy weapon.

Inside the room a computer the size of R2D2 suddenly lit up and moved towards them. "Hello, Captain Charlton, it is good to see you again, there appears to be a large amount of energy weapon fire both outside and within this building, tell me, is there anything that I can do for you, for trouble does seem to follow you about?" The metallic voice asked.

"Yes, my friend." David replied, smiling at the remarks made by the master computer. "There is an awful lot of radio interference around here, and Lantana would like to contact someone in Plakara to ask them for assistance." David replied. "That is so isn`t it Lantana?" David said turning around and smiling at his friend.

"Yes, David, I would like to contact those soldiers of the Mazeren Defence Force who are loyal to me and my government." Lantana replied confidently.

She now knew why she felt so good again, her confidence level had shot through the roof, her friends from Earth were back and they were more than enough to stop her many enemies dead in their tracks. The lights on the master computer control panel flashed brightly, and seconds later one of the alien machines in the outer room turned on and glowed.

"You can now contact Plakara, the interference set up by others has been turned off. Captain Charlton." The master computer declared.

Lantana once again pulled out her small computer from her bag, and this time she was able to put a call through to Taluk Fogram.

"Taluk, I am sheltering within a building in the Hagrid research centre, with me are the scientists from Earth, the alien technology, as well as David and Sarah, we are all under attack from at least one hundred soldiers of the Mazeren Defence Force. My shuttle craft was shot out of the sky while the two craft carrying twenty of my presidential guards were destroyed by at least two powerful energy cannons. I urgently require military assistance." Lantana told Fogram.

"I have already despatched forces loyal to you Madame President, the starship Timor will give you its immediate protection, and I will also order troopers of the Defence Force who are loyal to you, to move forward into the research centre. They will be with you within a very short time." Fogram promised.

He had already warned both forces to be ready to move forward at a moment`s notice, in fact the Timor already hung over their position, while the soldiers were being transported towards the research centre aboard ten armoured shuttle craft.

"Warn them about the high-power energy cannons." Marc Sandor said, he had thought it better to mention them again, just in case the politician had forgotten them.

**********

Commander Trajan was panicking badly now, and he decided that he must ask for advice, so he immediately put a call into Gregor Ratin. "Gregor, we are in trouble, Captain Charlton is here, he has rescued the president and has taken possession of the complex that houses his friends and the alien technology. I dare not use my heavy weapons for fear of damaging the alien technology, or killing Captain Charlton, and to attack the president`s forces any other way means sending my men through a narrow doorway, and they have a high-power energy rifle covering the door, what should I do?" Trajan asked almost tearfully.

"You fool Trajan, however did Charlton get so far into the Hagrid complex without being seen by at least one of your multitude of men?" Ratin screamed down the phone.

"I had pulled all of my men back, so as to have them ready to take the president prisoner, all would have gone according to plan, but then Charlton turned up and rescued her." Trajan lamented.

"Okay Trajan, at least we have them all where we wanted them to be, our prisoners in all but fact, you just have to storm the buildings and disarm them. Order a team of your men to cut a number of large holes in the walls of the sleeping quarters, tell them to use the high-powered rifles, there will be no risk to the alien technology if they are careful. When this is done have your men set their weapons on their lowest setting and launch their assault through the holes, Charlton surely only has a limited number of hand weapons to use, and you say he only has one rifle. Let me know immediately you are successful." Ratin ordered.

With his order given, Ratin called Admiral Maric and told him to meet him at their headquarters. He now hurried from his ministry building and rushed over to the headquarters of the conspirators, here he was met by Admiral Maric. He then gave the admiral an update on the unfolding disaster.

At the research centre Commander Trajan now began to put this plan into action, a dozen high power energy rifles were trained on the buildings where David and Sarah were holed up. The soldiers of the Mazeren Defence Force opened fire with them and began to demolish the part of the building which were the sleeping quarters of the scientists.

Inside the building the defenders were shocked to see the walls of the sleeping quarters of the building explode inwards, the accompanying tremendous screams of the powerful energy bolts as they destroyed the air through which they passed was even more terrifying. Small shards of the material used to construct the walls flew viscously through the air, at least half of the presidential guards were injured by these and two more killed by the bolts of energy screaming through into the room. The remaining guards retired hurriedly into the alien technology room, Marc Sandor was the last to enter, he did so with the high-power energy rifle thrown over his shoulder, his face was cut, blood running down his face, the anger he felt for the deaths of his men plain to see. He ignored any pain he felt, instead he set up the high-power energy rifle just inside this doorway.

Under the cover of the terrible barrage of fire now laid down upon the buildings, another squad of troopers moved up towards the other end of the building and prepared to launch a second assault from that end. They were to enter the building via the sleeping quarters of the Mazeren scientists, the ones who had been at Reinland and who were also working on the alien technology, the troopers felt that the end of the assault must be in sight.

**********

Captain Zara of the space cruiser Timor had launched from the space port of Plakara with only a skeleton crew, the rest of his men were on leave, even so he was soon in position over the Hagrid Desert research centre awaiting a call from Taluk Fogram. Zara had been a part of the attempted coup led by Admiral Stator, but now he was loyal to President Stator, he knew that the planet was a far better world thanks to her many improvements. He now received the call from Taluk Fogram, who told him all that was happening below him.

"Commander Piton, pinpoint the positions of the high-power energy cannons, the attackers and also the defenders." Zara ordered.

It did not take his first officer long to do as ordered, for they had already scanned the area of ground beneath them. "Captain, I have them marked on the main screen." Piton declared. "The two red stars are the high-power energy cannons, the large green star denotes where the president is located, the many yellow stars are her attackers, and they appear to be on the verge of launching what can only be a successful assault on the position held by our president." Piton replied calmly.

"Weapons officer, take out the two heavy energy weapons immediately, destroy them utterly." Zara ordered.

Seconds later two very powerful bolts of energy screamed down through the air and destroyed the energy cannons, the men moving towards David Charlton`s position stopped moving and turned towards the scene of the terrible destruction, stunned by this sudden attack on their position. They were not to be in this state for long, for two wide beams of energy screamed down from the heavens and swept the ground around the building where David and the others prepared to defend themselves. The forces of evil were terrified by this massive display of energy, and any who encountered it fell to the ground unconscious, they would awaken in three hours' time to find themselves prisoners of their president. It did not take long for every trooper to become a victim to this attack, even Commander Trajan and his senior officers were taken out during this part of the attack. First the roof of the security building, in which they had set up their headquarters, had been destroyed, and then the panicking officers were stunned by the energy weapons of the Timor.

**********

Admiral Maric now received a call from Captain Karlton of the space cruiser Mazere, Karlton informed him about the earlier launch of the Timor, and Maric could guess as to its orders. He knew that the attempted military coup was already over, he now needed to ensure his own safety. With Ratin sitting on the other side of the large solid wooden desk, he knew what had to be done, Maric pulled out his energy weapon and smiled at the interior minister.

"I am sorry Gregor." Maric said and then he killed Ratin without one ounce of regret. Maric now put a call through to Captain Zior of the space cruiser Sentinel.

"Whereabouts are you Captain." Maric demanded to know.

"I am in orbit around Mazere, Admiral, why, do you need my assistance in any way?" Zior asked pleasantly.

Maric quickly updated Zior. "Head over to the research centre and send two teams down in your shuttle craft, have your men find Commander Trajan and order them to kill him before he is captured by forces loyal to the president. As soon as the shuttlecraft are away you must return to the moon Charon and kill General Pallas and his men, we need to clean house so that we have no witnesses to implicate us." Maric ordered sternly. "You are to free the Antilles survivors, you will be their saviour, bring them to Mazere. We will blame General Pallas once again, bring his dead body back for all to see the sort of end that traitors can expect on Mazere." Maric ordered.

Zior took but a moment to consider his reply. "Of course, Admiral, consider it done." He said and after cutting the transmission laughed out loud, as did the other officers on the bridge.

Maric dragged the dead body of Ratin out of the building and lay him face down upon the pavement, then he called Taluk Fogram. "Taluk, I must speak to you urgently, Gregor Ratin is a traitor, he was one of the leaders of an attempted coup that General Pallas has been plotting, when he realised that I would not aid him he pulled a weapon on me, in the struggle that followed I shot the traitor." Maric said loftily.

"It might have been better had you taken him prisoner, Admiral, then we could have found out who else was in the plot." Fogram said frostily.

"Next time that someone is trying to kill me I will remember your words, even if it kills me." Maric replied sarcastically.

**********

David was stunned when the two powerful energy beams screamed down and destroyed the powerful energy cannons, he was even more so when the enemy troops were knocked unconscious by the next energy display, he turned to Lantana with a smile on his face.

"Your friend Taluk Fogram sure reacted quickly." David said. "He sure is one capable man, and a very good friend to have when you're in a tight spot." David said in undisguised admiration of Fogram.

"Taluk is the Mazeren delegate to the federation, but more than that he is my most trusted minister, however, my most trusted friends are here in this room, forgive me David, Sarah for some reason it slipped my mind." Lantana begged.

"Lantana, there is nothing to forgive, you had just lost your father." Sarah said as she moved forward and hugged Lantana and then kissed her friend on the cheek.

Lantana looked into the blue eyes of her friend. "Many good people have died recently, and many others are still missing, had I not been filled with guilt it might not have happened." Lantana said sorrowfully.

"Something like it would have happened Lantana, the evil amongst us would have found a way in their lust for power." David said and he too hugged Lantana and then kissed her, but on her other cheek.

Steve Ryan broke up the happy reunion amongst the friends. "We need to tell your friend Taluk what has occurred here, so that he can despatch the necessary transport and troops to take the alien technology back to Plakara, and before someone else steals it. We need to ensure its safety, they are still the federation`s most important asset." Steve suggested. "Except for our people of course." He added with a smile.

"You are quite right Steve, I will do it now." Lantana said breaking away from her friends and once more using her computer to contact Fogram.

When she had finished her call, Sarah, Millicent and Lantana now huddled together in a corner to catch up on all of the latest news, as did David, Steve and Augustus, everyone was taking a moment, before whatever else came along to challenge them.

**********

It was during this brief interlude that the Sentinel launched two shuttlecraft on the opposite side of the planet to the space cruiser Timor, one landed near the security building of the large research centre, the other near to where there were signs of life. Commander Piton immediately assured Lantana of the loyalty of the captain and crew of the Sentinel to her government, he then despatched his team ostensibly to check on the health of all the unconscious enemy soldiers, and to secure their weapons. The crewmen in the other shuttlecraft searched through the remains of the broken security building, it is here that Trajan was found, he was lying unconscious in his control centre housed inside the security building. As ordered, a security guard from the Sentinel slipped the blade of his thin and very deadly knife into Trajan`s heart, his dead body was then taken aboard the second shuttle craft and concealed within a storage compartment. It would remain there until the shuttlecraft returned to the Sentinel, then the body would be quietly jettisoned, it would burn up as it was pulled back through the atmosphere of Mazere, no trace would ever be found of it. The officer then awaited further orders from his captain.

Meanwhile the space cruiser Sentinel had landed at the Plakara space port, and here the vehicle with the survivors of the Antilles aboard was driven out by two of his men, they drove it into the city of Plakara, here they parked the vehicle behind the headquarters of the conspirators, and then left it to enjoy a spot of leave. The Sentinel then took off and returned to take up position near to the Timor, to offer any assistance it could.

**********

The loyal soldiers despatched by Fogram finally arrive to guard the research centre, their president and her friends, the alien technology and the scientists of Earth. Superintendent Artemis also arrived with a number of his men to begin the interrogation of all of the scientists, and also the members of the Defence Force who had been working there. Finally, transport arrived to take the alien technology back to Plakara, it returned under heavy guard with the space cruiser Sentinel covering its progress from space. Captain Zior was only too happy to act as its guardian, and so prove his loyalty to everyone.

Lantana returned to the capital and made another television appearance, she now told the people of Mazere the facts behind the attempted military coup, and how the alien technology was now safely back in the hands of the authorities. She apologised for allowing so much to happen, but asked the citizens to forgive her, as the death of her father had affected her badly. It caused her to drive away two of her most loyal friends, friends that had now returned to assist her and the people of Mazere. Those opposing her were hopefully routed, buried so deep because of their fear that they would never again attempt to overthrow the elected government of the people.

During the next week she appointed many new officials, and new military leaders, only the leaders of the Mazeren space fleet remained, and only a few of them knew the truth behind the attempted military coup.

Chapter Seven

Peace at Last

Ambassador Kennedy and the other survivors were finally rescued when an anonymous call was received at the main civil police station in Plakara. They finally stepped out onto the streets of Plakara, feeling a mixture of thankfulness and anger for all they had endured. They were all taken to the presidential palace where they met with Lantana.

Ambassador Kennedy had been delighted when he walked into the palace, for he was met by David and Sarah, both of whom related their own tale and told him that diplomatic relations between the three planets of the federation had been restored. With his feelings of guilt somewhat extinguished, his feelings of anger also dissipated, and he turned to listen to Lantana as she spoke to them, she too feeling just a little happier.

"Ambassador Kennedy, ladies and gentlemen, please accept my apologises, for you have suffered terribly at the hands of a group of traitors to Mazere and the federation, I assure you that those who are not already dead, will be punished to the full extent of our law." Lantana begged of her guests. "A floor of one of our most luxurious hotels has been set aside for you, the government of Mazere will, of course, pay for all the costs during your stay here, and tonight you are all invited to dine here at the palace. Should any of you wish to leave Mazere, and I will fully understand your reasons for wishing to do so, then you can leave when a starship from Earth arrives here within the next few days, until then please try to rest, and if possible, to enjoy yourselves." Lantana said graciously.

The next day Ambassador Kennedy, together with David and Sarah, were all asked to come to the palace.

"Ambassador Kennedy I hope that you are rested after your ordeal?" Lantana asked.

"Yes, Madame President, my room is very comfortable." Kennedy replied graciously.

"Good, I have asked you to meet me this morning to ask if you would agree to once again assist David and Sarah on the task that I am about to ask of them." Lantana said with a smile playing across her face.

"After you have told me just what the task entails, Madame President, then I am sure that I will agree to assist them." Kennedy agreed, provisionally.

David and Sarah looked extremely worried, they had hoped to return to Earth and rest up, now once again they were about to be put to work, and probably amongst politicians.

"David, Sarah, once again I need you both to be my emissaries, to travel to Phlox and Earth and bring the federation back together. Both planets will listen to you, no one else could succeed in this task." Lantana begged of them.

"You do agree Ambassador Kennedy, that only they will be able to complete such a task as I have asked of them?" Lantana asked looking towards the ambassador.

"Yes, Madame President." Kennedy replied before turning to David and Sarah.

"Both Phlox and Earth know how much work you have already done to make the federation come into being, they also know just what it has meant to both of your lives, the politicians of both worlds like and respect you both, they will listen to what you have to say and, in the end, agree to your proposals." Kennedy state firmly.

David and Sarah looked deeply into one another's eyes, unspoken words passing between them, then they turned to Lantana, and agreed to assist her, for only then would their lives return to one of peace, with the chance of some relaxation thrown in.

Their first act was to insist that the alien technology was taken to the planet New Mars, Lantana was surprised by this request and hesitated to agree, but when Phlox quickly agreed to this proposal, Lantana has no choice but to accept it too. The different power blocs on Earth also hesitated to agree, for they would have preferred the technology to come to Earth, but after a week of arguing about the possible location on Earth, the United States, and then Europe agreed, and so any other dissenters found that they had no choice but to also agree to the proposal.

It was about now that the starship with John Blazer aboard arrived on Mazere, with him was his team of crash investigators, and Richard and Patricia Charlton, for they had both been convinced that their son was still alive and wanted to be on hand when he was finally found. They had received news that all was well on the journey to Mazere, but both of them were relieved to finally see David and Sarah, not only well, but relaxed, although they were a little angry when they heard that David and Sarah had once more been put to work, in charge of the peace process. To try to make amends, Lantana threw a party for everyone involved in the recent troubles, and they all agreed that the party at the presidential palace was a success.

The next day the crash investigators, this time from Blazer Space, were again listening to the last broadcast made by the Antilles, their job would be to decide whether it had been bad maintenance, or an attack by another space craft, much would hang on their findings. However, there was much need of a quick diplomatic answer, and Lantana had already had a private word with John Blazer.

It was now that David and Sarah, along with Special Ambassador Kennedy, his new title, left Mazere to meet with President Carnegie on Earth, Richard and Patricia Charlton accompanied them on the trip home, unwilling to remain on Mazere.

They showed a united front when they met President Carnegie, and insisted that the Intrepid be based on New Mars, where its job would be to protect the new scientific team from any further terrorist attacks. They make one other demand of President Carnegie, to placate everyone who complained about the Intrepid having the alien technology fitted to it. They asked that the crew incorporate people from all three federation planets, as well as the other power blocs on Earth, and so replace some of the original crew, although they agreed that the captain and his first officer should remain in command of the starship. This demand was also finally agreed too, for it had been the upgrading of the Intrepid that had precipitated so many deaths. And so, for the moment all was well with the galaxy, however, a peaceful future would depend on the findings of the crash investigators. Having listened to the last broadcast made by the Antilles for a number of times, they decided that it proved beyond doubt that the incident was down to a faulty engine.

The Mazeren government agreed to bare all costs and reparations, this was to cover the criminal actions taken by the state police. Diplomatic relations were restored and the federation was once more looked upon as the best way to ensure peace within this area of space.

Neither David nor Sarah thought that the findings of the investigators even touched on what truly happened in the area of space around Mazere. However, they did know that if they stirred up a hornet's nest in their search for the truth, there was no telling who might get stung, it could even result in further unrest on Mazere, and if Earth were dragged in there was no telling how bad the situation might become, and that was unthinkable.

The End

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About the Author

I was born in London, England. Like most of the world, I had to work hard to pay my mortgage and all the other bills, so I only had the time and the energy to write some short stories. My wife and I have a son who is now married to a lovely wife and they have five children of their own. Since retiring to the Greek island of Crete, I have finally found the time and the energy to write some full-length Science Fiction stories.

Other Books by the Author

Colonies of Earth Series in order

Galaxy Spies

Time Storm

Rebirth

Trial by Ordeal

Horror Stories

Strange tales; three short mild horror stories

The Vampires of Cymru-- coming soon

Rob Hinds black magic stories

Kidnapped and Bound for Hell

The Satanists

Dreamscape

The Return of the Bitch from Hell

David Charlton stories, a science fiction series

Rescue Mission to the Stars

The Treasure of Altaraus

Return to Mazere

Other science fiction stories

Quasar

The Venetou

Invasion Earth

Lost and Far from Home

Journey to the Stars

Rebellion is in the Air

Short children`s stories

Three Journeys of the Scary Kind
