The Summit Beyond Our Galaxy - An Apple Loving Individual space opera

Chapter 13 - Grave Danger

Chapter 13 – Grave Danger

Sunday, May 17, 2176
8:12 AM
Cross Resort Food Court

Jerry and Alyssa ordered their breakfast and the robots working at the food court, went about starting their day, to serve their customers. Alyssa sat next to Jerry, so she could hold his hand every chance she got. Two robots came to their table, giving the pancakes and eggs Jerry and Alyssa both ordered. "Never thought I'd see a happy day with a girl in my life again!" said Jerry. Alyssa smiled and put his arms around him. "But then again, there hasn't been much happy moments for you to see lately." She said. "At least nowadays, I see you smiling more than ever." Unbeknownst to them, they were being monitored in the same food court, where Tango Galnac was sitting on a table, two tables away. "Do you think we can trust Miller?" said Lance. "I ain't gonna lie, boss! I've got a bad feeling about this one!" "You think Durand will find out, we are going to harm an innocent soul?" said Rahul. Lance then looked at the rest. "Of course, and we'll be dishonorably discharged!" said Lance. "We need to talk to Sullivan and the girl, then I'll explain my plan to each and every one of you, even then." Larkin explained. "You'll be fine!" "If not, we'll either lose our jobs or have ourselves in grave danger!" said Lance. "How's that different from any other day, Lance?" said Luna. "I agree with him!" said Rahul. "It's one thing to send us in with bad intel. That shit happens, I get it! But this like sticking our hands in a lion's mouth and expecting it not to bite! I mean, what if this is all a setup to screw us over and either way get in deeper shit?" "We don't know anything yet for sure!" said Larkin. "Let's just see where this goes!" Larkin then walked over to Jerry's table as he finished his meal, Alyssa also finished her food then.

Jerry saw Larkin as she walked up to him. "Jerry Sullivan?" said Larkin. "Yeah, that's me. What's up?" said Jerry, calmly. "We need to talk to you, and the girl!" said Larkin. "This is urgent!" Then Larkin pulled Jerry and Alyssa into a desolate room of the resort, to explain what was going on. She told them each and every detail. Then Luna spoke up. "So, basically, you're saying we will turn him over to Miller, and at the same time we won't?" said Luna. "Precisely!" said Larkin. "Unfortunately, we can't go against our commanding officer and kill him, but we can 'turn him over' to Miller, indirectly! Thank you, technology!" "You got something in mind?" said Lance. "I sure as hell do!" said Larkin. Then Jerry raised his hand. "Sorry to poke my ass in the middle, but what the hell are you even talking about?" Then Larkin went about to explain each and everything that she had in mind. Alyssa sighed in relief and so did Luna. Lance and Rahul also seemed convinced. Jerry on the other hand seemed skeptical. "No, I don't think that'll work!" said Jerry. "One look and he sees it isn't me, he'll attack the Earth, and all its remaining inhabitants will die!" Larkin looked at him in dismay. "You got a better plan, rookie?" said Larkin in a taunting tone. "Priya, come out here for a second!" said Jerry. "Bring Arjun as well!" Priya and Arjun both came out of his holo-phone. "Your plan is amazing, Major!" said Jerry, "I'll give you that much! But we need to enrich it a little more!" Jerry then went about explaining what he had in mind. Larkin listened to what he had to say, and realized Jerry was adding to the plan, to make it even better. "Wow, Sullivan! I've got a hand it to you, you think far better than what even I could!" "Thank you!" said Jerry. "I still have a vacation to catch up on! But I've been thinking to end it early, as I'll just spend the remaining days at home! But I am taking Alyssa home with me!" Alyssa then felt happy hearing this, as she also hoped to one day leave Phobos. She finally got her chance.

Jerry began to pretend she was traumatized from being abducted. Alyssa actually begun shedding tears, as she still feared Christopher, despite having broken up with him years ago. "Miller!" said Larkin. "We did what you asked for! Now, we will keep the end of our bargain and deliver them to you, in a few days. Then as per your end, you need to activate the tapeworm, and destroy your machine's software." Miller got mad. "Why can't you deliver them now?" said Christopher. "You think it's easy? We've told our commanding officer we're on a search mission on Phobos, which will take four days, you don't think it'll be suspicious we just left Phobos right now?" said Larkin. Christopher then nodded. "Understood! But, no games!" he said. After that, the call ended, and Luna untied Jerry and Alyssa.

Jerry then looked at Larkin. "I think it will be better if you relate this plan, to your general as well!" said Jerry. "Woah, you serious?" said Larkin. "It's better not to keep him out of the loop, and he should be aware of the current circumstances." "Affirmative!" said Luna. "He is indeed making sense! We keep the general out of the loop for so long, he'll think we're up to something!" Larkin then sighed. "You're absolutely right!" said Larkin. "Wilco, standby for the message!" With that, she began to send an important email to Gen. Durand via the USAMMO's special VPN. After a few minutes, Larkin finished the email and sent it out. "The general is a very busy man!" said Larkin. "The earliest I can get a response from him, is by 1900!" "Until then, you need to play along Jerry!" said Lance. "We need to make sure everything goes as planned, without Miller knowing!" Jerry then held Alyssa's hand. "No issues!" said Jerry. "Whatever it takes to keep me and my love out of harm's way, I will do it!" Priya and Arjun appeared from the holo-phone. "We're with you two!" said Priya. "Arjun and I can also help you and SgtMaj. Larkin, to carry out your plan!" Arjun nodded his head yes. "Alright, then!" said Jerry. "Let's do this!" Then Jerry and the rest began to shake on it.

Priya and Arjun both scanned Jerry and Alyssa's body for at least ten minutes. Then Priya began to shape out Larkin's plan. With some luck and extra time, they would be able to get Jerry and Alyssa ready to be delivered to Miller without any hassle. Jerry then looked at Alyssa as she was being scanned. "You alright?" said Jerry. Alyssa then smiled. "Yeah, although I'm pretty skeptical about it, surely this'll work!" Larkin then looked at them both. "You'll be fine!" she said. "By the time Miller finds out, you'll be safe and the bomb he created will be long erased!" Lance then spoke up. "Surely, we'll have you both in safe hands as we supposedly deliver you, to this bastard as well as the rest of the galaxy!" he said. "After this, we can all enjoy some hot dogs and enchiladas!" Then Larkin looked at him and smiled. "Jesus, Lance!" she said. "For the first time in life, you sound like my father!" Everyone then stared at Larkin. "First time, you didn't compare Lance to your mother, boss!" said Rahul. Larkin then sighed. "My parents are both amazing, but in their old age, my mother became quite schizophrenic, as well as being diagnosed with Stockholm's Syndrome." Larkin sighed. "She tends to speak a lot of garbage nowadays, sometimes I feel she herself doesn't realize what comes out of her mouth!" Jerry then smiled but also feeling disturbed. "At least you still talk to your parents!" said Jerry. "Following my divorce, I stopped talking to mine years ago and left Earth, hoping to heal myself. To be honest, if they were here, I'd tell them how much I love them even today!" Alyssa then held his hand. "We'll meet them for sure, Jerry!" said Alyssa. "Me and you!" Jerry smiled. "For sure, and when we do, I'll apologize for sure! I was wrong to leave them in their old age!" Jerry and Alyssa shared a kiss, as Priya and Arjun finished scanning them. Then the latter two, went back into the digital realm.

Larkin then took the scanned images, accessed them in her holo-tablet, so she could work on them. She did have an amazing idea without any doubts. The only thing that was left, was to make Miller believe that they actually would deliver Jerry and Alyssa to him. It was a great feeling while it lasted.