Although they had no idea if Nancy’s program had worked Will knew they had to get Grandle talking before they were interrupted.

“It’s about time you told the people of Earth what you’ve been up to,” demanded Will. “Let’s see what they think of your invasion of Celentus along with the secret bases and weapons you’ve been building.”

Grandle shook his head. “I can’t do that Power. What we’re doing is too important to let the whims of public opinion jeopardize it.”

“You can’t keep it hidden forever,” declared Debra.

Grandle leaned back. “Oh, I won’t need to. In time, when the situation is right, I’ll inform the people of what we’ve been doing and they’ll fully support me.”

“I doubt that,” answered Will.

Suddenly there was a buzzing sound coming from Grandle’s desk. “You don’t mind if I answer this? It could be important,” he said picking up a small phone which continued buzzing.”

Although he had no idea if they were actually broadcasting, Will couldn’t risk the person on the phone warning Grandle about it.

“Toss it over here,” he ordered. “You can call them back when we’re done.”

With a shrug, Grandle tossed the phone towards Will and resumed his train of thought. “You’re clearly not a student of history, Power,” he said condescendingly. “People generally don’t like change and only accept drastic government action when there’s a crisis. Think Pearl Harbor or the terrorist attacks on the former United States. Due to those events, the government was able to assume new powers all in the name of protecting its citizens.”

“So you’re waiting for a crisis in the hopes people will accept what you’ve done?” angrily shot back Will.

“Or the perception of one,” replied Grandle in a calm voice. “Inciting fear in the population can be a most effective tool to get people behind you.”

“Do you hear yourself,” cried Debra. “You’re getting people killed to serve your political goals.”

Grandle’s face turned red. “This isn’t mere politics,” he shouted. “This is about defending Earth from the threats we face. For too long, we’ve had to face them alone.”

Will shook his head. “We’re not alone,” he declared firmly. “We have allies who’ve stood by us.”

“Allies that can turn on you when it suits their purpose,” argued Grandle. “The only ally we can rely on is one we control.” Grandle’s eyes blazed. “Think of it. An Earth empire that no one would dare attack.”

“And I assume with you as emperor,” said Debra sarcastically.

He glared at her. “It’s not as if I wouldn’t have earned the title. However, I plan on remaining President.”

He looked at Will. There was anger in his voice. “You’ve been a thorn in my side, Power. The two of you thwarted our invasion of Celentus, destroyed two bases, multiple ships, and some of our weapon systems.” He shook his head. “And yet you claim to be loyal to Earth. Of all people you should know the dangers we face. How can you be against what we’re doing?”

Will laughed. “Perhaps because I’m a student of history. Look at Nazi Germany and the TransAsian Alliance. All they did was plunge the world into war. What makes you think your grand Earth Empire will be any different?”

He took a step forward and aimed his blaster at Grandle. “Now I’m giving you one more chance. Are you going to tell the people of Earth what you’ve done?”

Grandle stared at Will for a moment. “You know, Power. I think you just might do it.” He looked over at Debra. “I must congratulate you, Miss Corlander. It seems you’ve given Power a backbone. However, I much preferred him when he did what he was told.” He pressed a button on his desk.

There was a faint whoosh behind them and before they could turn to look, an all too familiar woman’s voice called, “Lower your weapons.”

“Gwen,” muttered Will. “I should’ve known she eventually show up.”

“Take their weapons,” she ordered.

The two soldiers who’d been on the shuttle with Gwen came around and grabbed the blasters out of Will’s and Debra’s hands.

“Hi, Henry,” said Will to the young male soldier. He couldn’t look Will in the eye. “And you too, whatever your name is,” he said to the female soldier. She just glared at him.

The two soldiers put the blasters on the President’s desk and then stood on either side of it keeping their blasters trained on Will and Debra. Gwen, who was wearing her usual while blouse and blue skirt, walked around the desk and stood by Grandle, placing a hand on his shoulder.

He smiled. “You are so predictable, Power. We knew you’d eventually make your way here so I had Gwen and her security detail waiting in one of the meeting rooms. I’d hoped to convince you to see things my way, but of course you didn’t.”

“So what happens now?” asked Will.

“I suppose I could have you arrested,” answered Grandle, “but why waste such a perfect opportunity.”

A look of comprehension came over Debra’s face. “So you’re going to claim we were killed trying to assassinate you, right?”

“Very perceptive,” replied Grandle. “The two of you burst in on me, but my brave guards were able to kill you before you could succeed.” His smile grew. “And since you’ve recently spent a lot of time on Celentus, we can easily make the case that you were acting on their behalf. If we play it right, people will be demanding we invade Celentus within the week. We have the crisis we need and it’s all thanks to you two.”

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

Will looked down and shook his head. “Very clever, Grandle. We played right into your hands.”

“Thank, you Power, but I can’t take the credit,” answered Grandle. He looked up at Gwen. “This was all her idea.”

“We should have left her on Methinal,” muttered Debra.

“Oh, don’t be that way,” said Gwen sweetly. “I really wish the two of you hadn’t decided to oppose our efforts. We’d have made a great team.”

“Well looks like you’ve won,” said Will, trying his best to sound defeated. He knew it was time to see if their plan had worked. “However, before you kill us, you might want to turn on your viewscreen.”

A puzzled look came over Grandle’s face, but he pressed a button on his desk and the viewscreen on the wall came on. Will breathed a sigh of relief as it showed Grandle’s desk with the two soldiers standing by it with Gwen and Grandle on the other side. There was shock on all their faces.

“You’ve ruined everything,” cried Gwen glaring at Will and Debra.

Grandle’s face grew beat red. “You traitors,” he cried.

“Get ready to dive,” whispered Will to Debra out of the side of his mouth.

“However, I’ll still get the satisfaction of seeing you die,” muttered Grandle grimly.

“Now,” yelled Will as he pressed a button on his equipment belt. The two of them dived to the floor as the small box Will had attached to his blaster exploded. There was a bright flash and the sound of the explosion echoed around the room. Shrapnel bounced off the windows and fell to the floor. Gwen was thrown back against the window while Grandle’s chair fell over backwards. The two soldiers were knocked to the floor in front of the desk.

Will and Debra got up and rushed over to the soldiers. Both were unconscious and they grabbed their blasters. The two blasters which had been sitting on the desk were destroyed, but other than a blast mark on the desk there was little other damage.

“I would’ve expected more damage,” said Debra.

“It was a concussion explosive,” explained Will. “It’s designed to knock people out.”

They checked on Gwen who was unconscious and had several small cuts on her face. Will pulled the medikit from his belt and quickly treated the cuts. Moving over to Grandle, they found he’d hit his head hard when he’d fallen backwards. He also had cuts on his face. After treating his injuries, they stood up.

“So what do we do with them?” asked Debra.

“Nothing,” answered Will. “With all the evidence Grandle provided against himself, I’m sure the proper authorities will take care of them.”

Will noticed the viewscreen was still on showing what they were doing. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the camera and turned it off before putting it back in.

“Shouldn’t you have said something?” suggested Debra.

He shook his head. “I leave speeches to the politicians. Right now we need to get out of here. I suspect most of the soldiers in this building are loyal to Grandle.” He gestured at the door. “And I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them are already out there waiting for us.”

“Is there another way out is here?”

“There soon will be,” answered Will, pulling two small silver boxes from his equipment belt. He stood there a moment with his eyes closed, his brow furrowed.

Opening his eyes, he gestured at the room which was on the same side of the building as the elevator. “If I remember correctly, the wall in that room backs up to a storage room which extends to the corridor where the elevator’s located.

He attached one of the boxes to the door and a red light began blinking.

Debra nodded. “A diversion?”

“Right and hopefully they won’t notice the second explosion,” said Will as they headed into the room he’d pointed out. Once inside, he fired his blaster at the door controls.

They stood in a sitting room which was about twenty feet long and ten feet wide. Two doors were located about ten feet apart on the right side of the room. A couch and coffee table sat in the middle of the other wall.

“We need to move the couch out of the way,” he called as he pushed the coffee table away.

It only took a minute for him and Debra to slide the couch about four feet away from the wall. Going around it, Will quickly attached the other silver box to the wall. A red light on it began flashing when he did.

He gestured at one of the doors. “We can take cover in there.”

Once inside, they crouched by the door and Will brought out a remote control. “Ready?”

Debra nodded and he pushed a button on the control. The floor shook under their feet as both explosives detonated at the same time. Even from behind the door the sound of the explosions was deafening.

Hazy smoke filled the room when they came out, but they could see their way. They rushed to the gash in the wall caused by the explosion. Will shined his light inside. On the floor in front of the opening was the remnants of a cabinet which had been against the wall on the other side of the hall. Will reached in and did his best to push the pieces out of the way.

“It’s the storage room,” he said. “Careful climbing in. There a wrecked cabinet on the other side.”

“Got it,” acknowledged Debra as she began squeezing through the hole in the wall. As she worked her way in, she had to shove pieces of wood and boxes out of the way. Once inside, she got to her feet and used her light to check out where she was. It was a large room, but in the dark, it was hard to judge how large. Cabinets lined most of the walls and there were rows of shelves in the middle of the room. On the wall opposite them, she saw the glint of a door frame.

Will was soon standing beside her. “Door’s on the other side,” she whispered.

They made their way across and soon stood by the door. Will gently turned the knob and opened the door a crack so he could see out.

He leaned over to Debra and whispered in her ear. “Looks clear. You head for the elevator and I’ll cover you.”

She nodded and slipped out the door. The elevator doors were partially open just as they’d left them. She moved as quickly as she could while being quiet. She’d nearly reached the elevator when she heard the sound of a blaster firing behind her. Leaping into the elevator, she looked behind her and saw a soldier lying on the floor at the end of the corridor.

Debra drew her blaster and peered around the elevator door. As Will started running towards the elevator, two soldiers came into view at the end of the corridor and raised their blasters. She fired twice and they joined their comrade on the floor. The sound of running feet now could be heard. Reaching the elevator, Will lifted Debra up to the overhead door and once she as through, climbed up after her.

They scrambled up the ladder and were soon running past the bank of elevator motors to the opening they’d cut in the wall. Will bent down and scanned the area outside. “It’s clear,” he reported. “Head for the jetpacks.”

Debra crawled through and after drawing her blaster, made her way towards the edge of the elevator building. Within a minute, Will was with her and they started running towards where they’d left the jetpacks.

They heard shouts as the door to the stairs opened and four soldiers ran out onto the roof and began firing at Will and Debra. Diving behind a ventilator shaft, they returned fire, but the soldiers had also taken cover.

Debra peered around the ventilator shaft and fired. “Won’t be long before more of them show up.”

Will looked around. “Then we’d better move now. Think you can make it to that shaft over there if I cover you.”

“Yes.”

Debra was just about to start running when the scream of jet engines echoed across the roof. Will and Debra dropped to the ground as as two hoverjets came up over the edge of the building. Their spotlights moved across the roof until they came to rest on Will and Debra.