Blackstone - The Temple of Trials

Down Time

Instantly I found myself in the middle of Blackstone Control. A young psionic carrying a tray of coffee almost freaked out and threw hot coffee all over me when she saw Bal appear behind me.

"It's all right," David said to the young psionic, "He's with us."

We certainly caused quite a commotion in Control. How the Grays knew where to place us was beyond me. I'm sure Colonel Nash would have something to say about this to Mr. Z. If the Grays had the coordinates to Blackstone Control than something was seriously wrong with our security procedures. I knew that the League of Hackers would have to answer for the breach of security. Somehow we had been hacked, and until our security shields came back up to speed, no one in the League would rest until we were back to normal.

Major Reynolds came up to us. A serious looking man with graying hair and an elegant mustache, Major Reynolds was the head of the Union of Psionics. Once a powerful psionic in his own right, he still had considerable mental abilities. Major Reynolds was one sharp cookie and as a Ranger I always felt uneasy around him. I wondered if he could read my thoughts, although I remember Carrie saying that not even the most powerful Psionic would dare intrude on our consciousness. To do so was a serious breach of ethics.

"Agent Ross. Thank heaven, you're all right," Major Reynolds said.

"Hello, Major Reynolds. It's good to be back. Is Colonel Nash available. I'm sure she will want to debrief us as soon as possible," David said.

"Of course. I must say when you vanished in Shanghai, we assumed the worst. This is the work of Count Ramses, isn't it," Major Reynolds said.

"Yeah, whatever gave you that clue. If your psionics had been up to speed then we wouldn't have even been ambushed in the first place," I said.

"Ms. Grant, the Union of Psionics take their responsibilities very seriously. We have a 90 percent success rate at reading the time streams."

"I'm afraid that's the problem, Major. The Union used to have a much higher percent success rate. Something's wrong and Rangers are being sent into dangerous situations as a result. The incident in Shanghai only further illustrates this point," David said.

"And I intend to find out as much as possible about this and stop it." Major Reynolds said.

Suddenly, Colonel Nash appeared. She was flanked by Nicole and Thomas. I smiled when I saw Thomas.

"Bloody hell, Eliza. We thought you were dead," Thomas said and then shut up when Nicole shot him a dirty look.

"Mr. Adebayo, I understand your excitement at seeing Ms. Grant and Agent Ross again, but here in Control we keep a tight reign on our emotions. Is that understood?" Colonel Nash said.

"Yes, Ma'am" Thomas said quietly but couldn't help but grin widely.

"And who is this?" Colonel Nash said when she saw Bal.

"Ma'am this is Bal Khan Ra. He's a Dra Khan Warrior from Alpha Draconis. He's pledged his loyalty to us, and saved our life in the Temple of Trials," David said.

"He saved our life several times, Ma'am," I said and almost said can we keep him. I'd always wanted a pet as a child and now was my opportunity to step up and make sure I'd get what I always wanted. Besides, I liked Bal. He had a rough charm and wasn't that bad at all once you got to know him.

"Bal Khan Ra, welcome to Blackstone," Colonel Nash said.

"A pleasure to be here. The legends of the Twelve are well known among my people. I pledge my life and my sacred sword to serving you and Earth."