Felix Sutherland steps out of his personal shower onboard ‘The Zealot’. The steam lifts off of his muscular body in wisps of smoky mist. Grabbing an oversized towel off of the sink counter, he quickly dries off and wraps the towel around his waist. His amber tinted Draegona Crystal swings from side to side on the golden necklace. The thick opaque crystal slaps against his chest as he walks out of the bathroom.

The door to the bathroom was already wide open, and hot steam had filled up his quarters in the ship. Small and quaint, the room contains a large bed, a television, a desk with a computer workstation, and a small closet. The walls were solid steel with various posters of old sci-fi movies on them. It was large enough to live conveniently but it is cramped, and there isn’t enough room to comfortably walk between the objects.

Walking around his bed, Felix makes his way over to the closet when he notices a red light blinking near the bottom of his computer monitor. The computer belches out a beeping tone every few seconds. Felix abandons getting dressed and leaves the towel wrapped around his waist. His bulky muscles ripple underneath his skin as he leans over and clicks on the monitor. Jacob’s plump face immediately fills up the entirety of the computer monitor.

Backing up and sitting down on the bed, Felix flexes his muscles and stretches his huge arms over his head as Jacob asks, “Where have you been? I’ve been pinging your ship with requests for you to come to Launch Control. We have a problem.”

Felix says as he continues to stretch, “I was in the shower. What’s wrong?”

Jacob sighs, “We have a security alert.”

Felix stops stretching and scoffs as he points his palm face up at the computer monitor, “So what? It’s not like I can do anything about it. Jacob... Get the guards to take care of it. I’m not sure why you would call a pilot about a security issue.”

Jacob pauses for a moment before responding. He holds his breath for longer than expected. Felix’s expression grows confused as he watches Jacob struggle to say what was on his mind. Jacob was obviously upset and carefully choosing his next words.

Jacob continues, “It’s your family, Felix. Multiple alarms have notified us of many different security anomalies at the Sullivan Estate. We can’t connect to the internal camera footage for their home, so we can only assume that the house has been destroyed in the storm. Also, the train storage building alarm has gone off, and the train has left the building. We were able to connect to the security footage of that particular building and noticed Vikta and Echo limping over to the train. We never saw Andrea board the train with them before it left traveling at top speed. We’re not sure what happened to her...”

Felix interjects, and his face scrunches up in a furious rage as he points at the computer screen with a massive finger, “What the fuck, Jacob!? I’m coming down there now! I want answers! Not a god damned debrief!”

Jacob pauses and takes in a deep breath before attempting to say something he might regret, “Felix... Please calm down. There’s nothing we can do with the hurricane overhead. We’ll have to wait until the storm passes. It’s too dangerous out there. Come to Launch Control with a clear head and don’t act like a jackass. We need you to be calm in this situation. We’re not sure what to expect next.”

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Felix slams his fist through the computer monitor, breaking the screen and punching a hole through the middle of the dense glass. The computer’s speaker that is next to the monitor was still alive with Jacob’s voice, “This is exactly what I was afraid of. If you can’t contain yourself when you get down here, I’ll have security throw you into a cell for the night. Chill the hell out, Felix. I will not tolerate you foolishly getting angry and hurting someone in this facility. I’m worried that we’ll have to arrest you. I don’t want to do that.”

Felix growls as he stands up and stomps over to the closet. He flings the sliding door open and yanks a thick yellow cotton shirt off of the rack. As he dresses, he talks over his shoulder at the broken computer which was thankfully still working, “It’s not me you have to worry about. You should be more worried about who would possibly attack my family on Keto. This planet is protected by the Takeda. This could be a bigger problem than we expect. It could mean war... Or executions.”

Jacob’s voice comes through uncertain, “What the hell are you talking about, Felix? Have you gone mad?”

Felix grabs a white rain jacket and throws it over his shoulder before sitting down again. His head droops down, and he grits his teeth in confusion before continuing, “It just doesn’t make any sense. Why would they leave a perfectly good storm bunker in the middle of the storm? Even if the house was destroyed, they would have been safe in the storm shelter for weeks. They have food, water, and circulated air. Only a madman would travel by train in winds this harsh. Something’s very wrong. Vikta would never leave Andrea behind... Alive or dead.”

Jacob says calmly, “You have a good point. We weren’t sure why they would leave the storm shelter either. Are you sure that they might be under attack? It’s a bit of a stretch if you ask me. We haven’t seen any signs or alerts of possible intruders landing on the planet.”

Felix begins putting on the raincoat before standing and grabbing a pair of cargo pants from the closet. He places the pants down on the bed before turning his head to look at the busted computer monitor. Felix slows down his voice as he speaks, “Yes, I’m sure... And whoever decided to attack them is bad news for us too if they were able to bypass both planetside and wormhole security. Whoever or whatever Vikta is running from must be more dangerous than the storm. He would never run from a fight. Especially if it meant protecting my sister. He promised me that he would protect her no matter what. We should go on high-alert, especially if they end up being derailed nearby Launch Central. It could end up being a catastrophe if we don’t warn the employees of the incoming train.”

Jacob says, “I don’t like doing this, but you’re right. If they derail next to the facility, we could end up seeing a bigger disaster than this storm could ever cause.”

Jacob goes silent on the computer speakers for a few moments. Felix then heard Jacob’s voice in the distance calling out over the Launch Central loudspeakers, “Attention all security and emergency personnel... The alert level has been increased to red-alert. This is not a drill. I repeat... Alert level raised to red-alert. All security personnel are to be on permanent standby until directed otherwise. Emergency personnel, please report to rail eight as soon as possible. We have an incoming transport train traveling at high speeds on rail eight and a possible train derailment soon.”

Jacob clicks off the loudspeakers and returns to talking to Felix, who has now finished getting dressed. In the distance, a siren begins wailing at a loud volume. The siren was loud enough to pierce the thick hull of Felix’s ship and reach his ears. Jacob’s voice comes through harsh and precise, “You had better be right about this, dammit. We’re paying overtime for those guards to be on standby. If you’re wrong, we’ll have to pull this from your pay for being responsible.”

Felix gets up from the bed and walks over to his bedroom door, which was still bolted shut. As Felix opens the heavy metal door and walks out, he says, “No need to threaten me with pay deductions, Jacob. I’m sure about this. We have bigger problems than a superstorm. Get those security guards ready for a fight.”