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Chapter 22

Chapter 22

December 11th, 2157

The next several days went by in a blur.  Logan, James, and Nora continued the speculation of their situation.  The scenarios became wilder and much more imaginative, and somewhere during that time they forgot about the initial reasons why they had started this game.

The three were sitting in the recovery room when a tall gaunt man whom they have never seen before entered the room.  Even though he was thin and well pass his prime, Logan knew that this was man who would not hesitate to hurt and maybe even kill.  Within seconds every member of the Security Special Forces team was standing and at attention.  The man stood there for a moment and then activated his DNAC.

Chirps and Bips sounded from all of the Special Forces DNAC's almost at once.  The man didn't move but just stood there next to the door that he had entered from.  The soldiers quickly looked over the message and then moved to stand close to their charges.

Mike was a few feet away from Logan, and stood at attention. A shorter soldier with jet-black skin and a broad nose stood behind James and a third soldier, this one female, stood behind Nora.  Logan realized that she was the soldier that Mike had sat next to the day he came out into the recovery room.  Thinking back on it the Mike and this female soldier were rarely more than ten meters apart.

Logan was wondering if there was something to this or if he was just making things up when the gaunt man began to speak.  "I am Lieutenant Scott.  We are now on approach to the Callisto Moon Station were we will be housing for the next few months."

Lieutenant Scott continued, "Once we reach the station you will be accompanied by your escorts to a secured area of the station where you will receive a briefing of what you are here to do.  It is of absolute importance that you do not speak of your projects outside of the secured area.  This is your only warning, talking about classified information to anyone outside of the secured area will be handled as treason."

The Lieutenant paused for a moment to let his last phrase sink in.  "Thank you for your patients, we will be docking in less than two hours."  With that the man tuned on his heals and left the recovery room through the door that he had entered.

Already some of the soldiers and their charges were moving about the room.  Mike moved closer to Logan and gently place his hand on his shoulder, "I think we had better secure our belongings."

Logan nodded and followed Mike into the small room that contained all of their belongings.  It didn't take long to have everything packed.  Logan didn't have much with him, and he was also use to living out of a suitcase for a living.  When the two were happy that everything was packed and in it's proper place they took their bags and left the room.

The two were among the first back into the recovery room.  Both Mike and Logan stored their luggage next to one of the chairs.  Sitting down Logan casually asked, "Before we enter the 'secured area'," he said with emphasis, "what do you know about what we are doing out here?"

Mike squinted his eyes slightly as if deciding how much he should reveal.  After a moment he said, "not much really.  My orders were to escort you to the space platform.  I wasn't given anything else beyond that."

Logan realized that Mike was speaking honestly, and believed him about his orders.  With a simple command he linked his DNAC to the ships open system and started to call up commands.

"But there has been chatter..." Mike said.  Logan looked up at Mike to confirm that he had actually spoken.

"Chatter?" Logan asked.

"Chatter, unofficial communication.  There was an operation several months back, I know a few soldiers who were called up for a transportation mission, First Class.  The mission started at the Mars station.  They were moving something really important, to an undisclosed location."  Mike looked at Logan, "It could be related to what we are doing right now...” Mike shrugged noncommittally, " or it might not."

Mike turned and looked away from Logan who didn't know what to say.  Logan didn't have much experience talking to Special Forces, but he believed that he just saw a rare incite into whom Mike was.

Redirecting his attention back onto his DNAC, Logan used his DNAC to activate a holo screen on the wall of the recovery room.  A few more prompts and the holo screen was filled with Jupiter.  The largest planet in the system overwhelmed Logan.  He was surprised at the size of the storms raging on the planets surface.  Then he noticed Callisto, a dark brown body with white acne caused by millennia of impacts.

This moon was almost the size of mercury, yet it looked insignificant compared to the planet that it orbited.  Next to Jupiter and in front of Callisto, Logan noticed something strange.  At first he wasn't sure what it was.  Then he noticed a blur, a black blur that seemed to be out of place.

Logan squinted his eyes and found himself leaning toward the holo screen.  Realizing this he took a step back and made a few prompts on his DNAC.  He holo responded by zooming in on the black blur, and was rewarded with a larger black blur.

Logan tilted his head to the side, as if this new angle would reveal the blur's secrets.  "Holy shit!"  Logan jumped not realizing that Nora was standing right beside him.  "That is the largest artificial black hole I have ever seen!"

"Black hole?"  Logan said.  "Bla... wait, the largest you have seen?  How many black holes have you seen?"

Nora didn't respond, she was looking at the holo.  Logan Continued to zoom in on the black hole and he noticed the glimmer of a ring.  Having seen images of man made black holes he knew that the ring held thousands of very powerful electronic magnets used to hold the black hole in place and keep it in orbit.

Perpendicularly connected to the ring are particle collectors on either side of the hole's disc.  The collectors sit directly in the path of the polar jets and collect protons and many other particles, which are then converted into a power source.

This was a large man made black hole.  "Why would they need this much power all the way out here?" Logan said to no one.  And then he saw the shipyard.

The space ship yard looked like the skeleton of a very large space station.  Scaffolding made up the bulk of shipyard, where several very large ships and stations could be fabricated at the same time.

Just beyond the shipyard, there was a ring.  This ring was different from the one that surrounded the black hole.  This ring was much smaller, and was currently under construction.  The images in the holo began to grow and slide off the side of the screen, and Logan realized that the ship was getting closer and beginning to slow down at a rapid pace.

Returning the holo's zoom to its normal default, Callisto shifted from taking up a third of the screen, to less than a centimeter.  The ship was still moving very fast and the moon grew in view quickly.  Soon the black hole was visible, then the shipyard, and last came the ring.

"Logan," Logan turned from the holo to find Mike talking to him.  "We will be taking a shuttle from the ship to the station.  We are going on the third trip.  Once we are on the station do not speak unless I tell you to."  Mike's eyes narrowed, "do you understand?  These people take classified information very seriously, and if they suspect you of letting anything slip, you will be treated as a traitor and possible terrorist.  Your trial would be swift, and one sided.  Do you understand?"

Logan realized that he was afraid.  The rush of adrenaline was accompanied with an equal rush of nausea.  Logan nodded his head, "Ye... yes I understand."

Mike nodded his head in response, and then turned to view the screen.  Logan realized that the threat that Mike had just explained was only a portion of why he was afraid.  Realization of just how dangerous Mike was was just beginning to set in.

Being babysat is bad enough, but when the baby sitter has the power and knowledge to give you a very long and painful death, your situation becomes a whole lot worse.

For now, there was nothing that Logan could do, but buckle himself in and go for the ride.  He just hoped that the ride wouldn't get too bumpy.