EarthFall

Chap 26. Gift Baskets

Somewhere on Titan.

Commander Hail sat in his leather chair on the bridge, watching the various screens and systems his team utilized. He didn't need to be there, really. But it was his job, and he would show up and do nothing if that's what was required of him.

He sat there, chewing on a chocolate bar absentmindedly thinking about his date last week. He smiled thinking about it. He wished he could have kept him longer.

Damn that Director Stalfon Surdesh. He promised him that if he wrapped up and shipped off his toys to Ganymede, that he would have all the new toys he could possibly want after the last phase of the plan was ago. But when was that going to happen?? It had been in the works for years now. The director said now, they just had to update the remaining civilian equipment with failsafes to ensure no one trespassed in their promising new Garden, Earth.

The emergency Comm on his desk blinked on.

"Everyone out!" Hail yelled, and two dozen soldiers retreated from the bridge.

What now? The director only called him on the emergency Comm when it was very, very serious.

The Emergency Comm blinked ominously. It was shaped like a half-sphere, with little ridges and folds on it.

It was Old World tech, capable of allowing one to communicate with someone else faster than the speed of light. Instantaneously, as it were.

They hadn't been able to replicate the technology, everytime they tried to open one up to see how it worked, it broke on them.

There were only two left in the solar system, as far as Hail knew. One on his desk, and one somewhere on Ganymede that the director used to call him when things just couldn't seem to wait.

He sighed and tapped the intricate half-sphere with one finger.

"Yes sir?"

"Are you getting this? Have you gotten the reports from Mars yet?"

"No, why?" Hail asked as he eyed the orbitals on the main screen of the bridge. The Director responded with venom in his voice.

"You are currently 18 light minutes closer. I got this news just now, and you're telling me you haven't even looked into it?!"

"Looked into what? What's going on?" Hail asked, growing concerned.

The Director's voice grew frighteningly cold.

"I've been getting reports of members of batch 23, alive and on mars.."

Hail sat up straight in his chair.

"What? How is that possible? What are they doing?"

"From what I've been told, handing out FUCKING GIFT BASKETS"

Hail rubbed his Chin. This was impossible. The whole reason they had let the last batch integrate with the Martians was to put a face to HUD command. The people needed more than doctored photos and distorted number reports. The people of Mars would never stop trying to get back home unless they saw that HUD Command would attempt it. Attempt it, and fail.

And now they were back? But how?

"I'll take care of it." Hail said.

"See that you do. I don't want to have to close the gates of the promised land on you, Commander Hail. But I will. You will be the scapegoat if this gets out of hand. You'll be to blame if no one sees the meteor in time that destroys that poor little quadrant. Remember that!"

The ancient Comm device winked out and went dark.

Son of a...

Hail called his men in and prepared a message for the troops on Mars. It would take almost 20 minutes to deliver, so he worked quickly. There was no time to waste.

After he had finished the message, he linked it to his 2nd in Command.

"Send this to Mars Command. Top priority."

The lieutenant read the message. Then he read it again.

"Are you sure Lethal force is necessary in Civilian territory? It might look bad if we..." The lieutenant asked.

Hail looked at the man sharply.

"Do as I say or I feed you to the Sentinels, lieutenant."

The man's face went white. He got back to work.