The Martian Lie

Chapter 9

Chapter 9 – Deux Ex Machina – Callie & Richard

Richard couldn't quite believe Jordan had agreed to their plan. When Sienna had come to them with her claim and all its necessary backstory, his father's face had been a study in conflicting emotions. It had gone from disbelieving, to incredulous, to irritated, to a grim acceptance. The girl was convincing. Then again, she'd convinced Roark of her love to the point of becoming a confidant, so it was a bit of a roll of the dice to believe her.

But Richard did believe her; he saw himself in her. Someone who had once been enthralled by Roark, only to find that Roark only cared about Roark, and therefore felt the desire to get as far away from Roark as possible. After one finds out their devotion is misplaced, the only way out is to take the most opposite route possible.

In a rare display of emotion, Richard had told his father his reasons for believing Sienna. In a rare display of taking someone else's advice, Jordan Spencer had decided to let Richard have his way. They would believe Sienna, and they would base their plans on it. Jordan made sure to remind him that if he was wrong, the entire fate of a planet's population would rest on his shoulders.

But he was not wrong.

He knew it.

And so the plans had proceeded forth.

Jordan's henchmen had proved helpful in gaining intelligence, but none of them actually wanted to go. In the end, their rag-tag group consisted of Richard, Callie, Herrera, Sienna, and Davis – one of Jordan's employees who came from a long line of military men that was itching for action. The military on Earth these days was largely just a police force for civil disputes and didn't get any real battle experience. Davis jumped at the chance to live up to his ancestor's reputation. Callie thought her friends wanted to be included, too, and had argued with Jordan about bringing them to the compound for safety purposes. But in the end, Jordan won that one. He couldn't deal with having more Martians in the house and they were safe enough now that Roark had released them. They'd likely encounter a few more racial slurs, but now that the comet was coming, it was unlikely anybody would be too worried about harassing them since Mars was soon to become their home. If anyone found out about their existence they'd likely be seen as somewhat of celebrities in fact. Callie used his computer to send word to Simon, Hera, and Dr. Latimer that she was currently on a visit and would meet up with them on the ride home.

The group was to simply dismantle the payload. Well, simply being the operative word. Roark had most assuredly figured out Sienna's disappearance and suspected her betrayal. There was only so long a scorned woman would run off to her mother's before coming back to her lover. Therefore, he would get suspicious. He didn't get where he was by not suspecting nearly everyone around him of ulterior motives all the time. Even if he had briefly trusted Sienna, he'd easily swing the other way when he suspected her. He only wanted those around him who could help him.

They had done the best they could with what they could find out. Sienna said the second payload, the real one, was located on Supply Line 16 in a hangar, ready for launch. It wasn't a particularly secretive spot because the best place to hide things is in obvious places, and also because Roark was arrogant and didn't think anyone would ever look into it even if they saw it.

They had hacked the schedules of the guards and the camera mainframe. They knew that tomorrow night was their best chance, because the guard was older and he had a few disciplinary notes about falling asleep on the job. The cameras wouldn't be an issue because they'd be disabled.