“Run,” cried Will as he rolled out of the light and got to his feet. Debra was quickly by his side and they took off, alternating firing their blasters at the hoverjets and the soldiers on the roof.
Blaster fire was now coming down from the hoverjets as well as from the soldiers. “We need to find cover,” yelled Debra as she dived to the ground to avoid being hit.
Will looked around frantically as he helped her up. “Back to the elevator room,” he shouted. They started running, zigzagging to try to avoid being hit. However, more soldiers had gotten to the roof and Will and Debra had no choice but to once again take cover behind a ventilation shaft. Fortunately, this one had an overhang which provided some protection from the hoverjets.
Reaching out, they continued to fire on the hoverjets, but they both knew it was only a matter of time before the soldiers reached them. They could now hear the sound of running feet approaching their position.
They rolled out from behind the ventilator shaft and began firing. Nearly a dozen soldiers were heading for them and five of them fell to the ground before the rest dived for cover. The hoverjets began firing again just as they got back under the overhang.
They continued firing at the hoverjet and the soldiers. Their breath now came in ragged heaves and they had to use two hands to hold their blasters as they fired.
“At least we stopped Grandle,” gasped Debra as she continued firing.
Will smiled. “Sorry about not giving you that vacation.” There was a flash as he hit one of the hoverjet’s lights.
“It’s okay,” she answered. “Just being with you was more than I could ever ask for.”
Will peered past the ventilator and saw soldiers carefully making their way to either side of them. He fired at them. “It won’t be long before we’re surrounded.”
Debra nodded. “Yeah, two against over a dozen soldiers plus a couple of hoverjets isn’t a recipe for success.” She ducked around the edge of the ventilator and fired. “You don’t happen to have some plan I don’t know about, do you?”
He shook his head. “Not this time.”
Will and Debra looked at each other and just shook their heads as the sound of more hoverjets could be heard. Four hoverjets shot up high over the building. Three of them swerved down and began firing on the two hoverjets attacking Will and Debra. The fourth flew past, its blaster fire targeting the soldiers on the roof. They quickly retreated to the safety of the stairs where they returned fire.
Unable to return fire against the attackers above them, the two hoverjets headed for the edge of the building and flew off into the distance. Two of the hoverjets quickly descended to the roof and landed not far from Will and Debra. The third flew off to aid in the attack on the soldiers. Within a few minutes they’d all retreated into the building.
“Friends?” asked Debra getting to her feet.
“Apparently,” declared Will.
As they hoverjets landed, a half dozen soldiers climbed out of each of them. Will and Debra remained where they were as several approached them. An older man with solid grey hair wearing civilian clothing led the way. The group stopped about ten feet away from them.
The man saluted. “Captain Power, what are your orders?”
Will saluted back. “Grandle’s soldiers still control the building,” he said. “We need to get Grandle out and secure any available evidence in his office.” Will paused. “Who are you and how’d you know we’d be here?”
The man smiled. “I’m Lieutenant Commander Johnson. Commander McAllister told me you might need some help.” He laughed. “Yeah, after seeing that broadcast, I figured there was more to Tanya’s story about needing jetpacks for mountain climbing.”
Will smiled. “Certainly was. Thanks for your help.”
By now the other two hoverjets had landed and more soldiers had disembarked. They took cover not far from the stairs, but there was no further fire coming from them.
“Take your soldiers to the stairs and make your way inside,” ordered Will. “Debra and I will go in through the elevators.
“Yes, sir,” answered Johnson. He and his soldiers headed off to join the soldiers by the elevator.
Will and Debra headed over to the elevator room and crawled inside. They hurried down to the end of the building. They slowly worked their way down the ladder in the elevator shaft and stepped onto the top of the elevator. Bending down, Debra looked into the elevator below. “Looks okay.”
Will quickly lowered himself into the elevator and peered out the partially open door. He listened, but heard nothing. That worried him. He helped Debra climb down into the elevator.
“It’s too quiet,” he told her. “We’d better find out what’s going on.”
They quietly worked their way down the corridor. They peered around the wall in both directions, but saw no sign of any soldiers. Suddenly he realized what’d happen.
“Come on,” he cried, running down the corridor to Grandle’s office. Stepping through the hole in the door, he immediately saw his fears confirmed.
“They’re gone,” he shouted. “Grandle and Gwen are gone.”
Debra stepped inside behind him. The two soldiers were gone as well.
“The soldiers must have been buying time so they could get Grandle out of here,” guessed Will. “We can only hope they didn’t get a chance to destroy any information on the people who were working with Grandle.”
Will and Debra drew their blasters and hid behind the door as they heard the sound of running feet behind them. Looking around the door they saw it was Lieutenant Commander Johnson and his soldiers. Will and Debra stepped outside.
“Grandle’s gone,” he announced.
Johnson nodded. “We didn’t meet any soldiers on the way in. Looks like they decided to get the President out of here while they could.”
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“The elevators are out,” explained Will, “so it’s possible he’s still in the building.” He looked over at Johnson. “We’ll need to secure this office, but send whatever people you don’t need here to search the building.”
Johnson began issuing orders and all but five soldiers ran down the corridor.
“It’s possible he’s gotten out of the building,” stated Debra. “We need to let people know he’s on the loose.” She gestured at Will’s pocket that held the camera. “Time for you to make a speech.”
He handed it to her and she turned it on. He just stared into the camera for a moment before beginning to speak. “To everyone in the Capital,” he began. “President Grandle has escaped and is currently somewhere in the city. I’m asking for your help to bring him to justice. If you’ve seen him or think you’ve seen him, contact your local authorities immediately. Thank you.”
Debra turned off the camera. “Not bad,” she said with a smile.
Will turned to the remaining soldiers. “I want you soldiers to remain here until the proper government officials can take over. Let no one in.”
“Yes, sir,” they replied in unison.
“We’d been staying with Tanya,” Will told Johnson. “Don’t think going back there’s a good idea. Could we stay in the Armory barracks until I can arrange to get my ship back to Earth?”
“Don’t see why not,” he replied.
Once the Lieutenant Commander made final arrangements with his soldiers, he, Will, and Debra headed up to the roof and boarded one of the hoverjets. Once away from the roof, Debra looked down at the streets below which seemed to be rippling.
“What’s going on down there?” she asked pointing down at the street below.
“As we were flying over, I heard troops were being called in to deal with large crowds of people trying to get into the Capital building. Seems a lot of people were upset by what they heard on the broadcast you two put together.”
‘They have every right to be,” agreed Will. “What Grandle was doing would have caused only death and destruction.”
Within ten minutes, the hoverjet was descending to the ground not far from the space port’s armory building. The three of them climbed out of the hoverjet and headed for the armory.
“Could I use your radio?” asked Will as they entered the building.
Johnson gestured at a nearby room. “Right in there. I’ll have the officer’s quarters in the barracks made ready for you.”
“Thanks.”
Will and Debra went into the radio room.
“Who are you contacting?”
“King Raphul,” said Will. “My ship should be repaired by now so I’d like him to have it flown here. Then we’ll take the pilot to the Celentian ship we left on Hrela so they can return it.”
Will flipped on the radio and in a few minutes the face of King Raphul appeared onscreen. A wide smile came across his face when he saw them. “Will, Debra,” he cried. “Quite a triumph for the two of you.”
“You’ve already heard?” asked a surprised Debra.
“Of course,” he answered. “I think half the galaxy has already seen your broadcast. You’ll have to tell me how you pulled it off next time you’re on Celentus.”
“We’d love to,” said Will. “However, we wanted to see if it would possible to bring my ship flown to Earth. That will allow us to return the ship we borrowed.”
“It would most definitely be possible,” replied the King. “All the repairs on your ship have been completed.”
“Thank you, Your Highness,” answered Will. They spoke a little more before Will signed off.
“I don’t know about you,” said Debra with a yawn, “but I could use some sleep.”
Will nodded. “The barracks are just down the hall.”
They headed down and met Johnson walking out of one of the rooms in the barracks. “All set.”
“Thanks.”
It was a small comfortable room with a couple of single beds, a desk, and an attached bathroom. Neither Will nor Debra bothered undressing as they collapsed on the beds. Within a few minutes they were both asleep.
Johnson had left some extra uniforms for them which they put on after taking their showers the next morning. “Didn’t think I’d ever wear one of these again,” observed Debra as she looked at herself in the mirror.”
“Looks good on you,” said Will.
Debra smiled. “Thanks. Of course I can think of a few things that look better. I’ll have to show you sometime.”
Will smiled. “I’m looking forward to it.”
While they were eating breakfast in the armory dining room, they looked up to see Tanya rushing towards them carrying Will’s backpack. Will and Debra jumped to their feet and she wrapped them both in a hug.
“I’m so relieved you two are all right.”
“Thanks to you,” replied Debra. “If you hadn’t called Lieutenant Commander Johnson, I don’t think we would have made it.”
The three of them sat down and talked for a long while. Tanya filled them in on all the news reports. The government was moving quickly to investigate Grandle’s actions. President Grandle was still missing and a number of government and military officials had gone into hiding.
However, the thing most people seemed to want to know was what’d happened to Will and Debra. There was already talk of celebratory parades and medals being given. Will and Debra looked at one another and shook their heads. News stations were offering rewards to people who could find Will and Debra so they could interview them. There were even people talking about making Will president.
He laughed and shook his head when he heard that. “Not happening. I’m a soldier, not a politician.”
When Tanya was ready to leave, they all stood up.
Will gave her a hug. “Thanks for everything. We couldn’t have beaten Grandle without you.”
Tanya wiped away a tear and turned to Debra. “You take care of this guy. He needs someone like you.”
Debra smiled. “I promise you I will.”
For the next several days, Will and Debra remained in the armory and watched the coverage about Grandle. There were reported sightings of him and Gwen around the world, but none of them led to his capture. Some of the other officials who’d disappeared had been apprehended and were said to be cooperating. However, little of what they’d said was made public.
“I’ve served with some of those people,” sighed Will. “In a million years I’d have never expected them to be part of Grandle’s scheme.”
“Grande’s persuasive,” noted Debra. “I’m sure he convinced them it was for the good of Earth.”
At last Will’s ship arrived. As it slowly descended from the skies, people from all over the city recognized it and hundreds of people and most of the city’s reporters headed for the spaceport. By the time the ship landed, a crowd of people were pushing against the spaceport gates and several hoverjets from different news stations were flying over the landing field.
Will and Debra quickly shook Johnson’s hand as they got into a car to take them to Will’s ship.
“Thanks for everything,” said Debra.
“You two take care and enjoy your time on Halsned.”
“Oh we will,” answered Debra giving Will a smile.
As the car drove out to the ship, two of the hoverjets landed. Several reporters jumped out and ran towards it. The soldiers guarding the landing area got between them and the car as Will and Debra got out.
“What are your plans now?” yelled one reporter.
“Are you considering becoming president?” shouted another.
Will looked over at Debra. “Just smile and wave.” And that’s just what they did as they climbed onto the ship’s gantry and were whisked up to the control cabin.
They were surprised to find Commander Stelia waiting for them when they entered the ship. She gave them a crisp salute. “Good to see the two of you again,” she said.
Will looked around and smiled. He’d missed his ship. Climbing into the pilot’s seat, he strapped himself in. Once everyone was ready, he began flipping switches and as he flipped the last one announced, “Initiating Ignition Sequence.” The ship’s engines roared to life and they were soon in space.
Within two days they’d reached Hrela and landed in the small valley where they left the Celentian ship. After saying goodbye to Commander Stelia, they lifted off and set course for Lord Lestron’s estate on Halsned that he’d made available to them.
Three days later, they descended out of a clear blue sky to the landing field on the estate. However, as they drew closer, Will noticed that several ships were already there. He flipped on the external cameras to get a closer look. Near the ships he saw groups of people holding cameras and microphones.
“Reporters,” he muttered.
“What?” cried Debra. “How’d they ever find us?”
Will shook his head. “Someone must had heard us talking with Johnson.” He adjusted the ship’s controls and it headed back into space.
He looked over at Debra. “I’m sorry. I promised you a vacation on Halsned. We’ll go back another time.”
Debra unstrapped herself and got up. “You know, a vacation isn’t about where you go.” She ran a hand along his chest. “It’s about what you do.” She started climbing down the ladder to the crew quarters.
Will set course out of the system and engaged the autopilot. With a smile he hurried down the ladder.