made any progress yet in finding the individual responsible for the death of Maria. I will find this person no matter how long it takes. It’s only a matter of time. That’s all I have right now, I’ll turn it over to Randy.” Enzo said.
“Thank you Enzo. I know the reasons for your expedition and I’m aware there are other parties interested in your whereabouts. With that in mind I’ve selected a captain I can completely trust, and who can independently make smart decisions. He is a long time associate of mine with unquestioned loyalty. Expenses for this trip will be exceedingly higher then normal. It is my expectation that I will receive some compensation for my investment. It will be of utmost importance for this mission to appear like every other. Everyone on board will be expected to pull their own weight and put in their fair share of work until you reach Mars. Listen to the captain and do what he says. Make no mistake, he is in charge of space operations. Do not bring extra attention to yourselves prior to launch. Once in space be very careful. You haven’t been properly trained and space is very unforgiving of mistakes. Launch will be tomorrow at fifteen hundred hours. That will be all for now. You can go and visit the ship and become familiar with where you’ll be spending the next few months." Randy said.
Never having been aboard any type of spacecraft Vincent was impressed. The ship was designed primarily for the transportation of cargo. Randy treated his employees well. Each crewmember was assigned their own cabin which was spacious for a transport. He wondered if all the ships in the fleet were designed this way. After taking a tour of the ship Vincent exited and met with Enzo and Randy. A slight change in plans had been made.
Thirty minutes before launch Enzo and Randy watched from the observation window as the transport was prepared. Equipment and supplies were being loaded into the ship. The ship was ready for launch as one last cargo container was offloaded and returned to the hanger bay.
In the control room the launch technicians were going through their normal routines. All eight heart rate monitors were well within the normal range and the countdown was at thirty seconds. Randy was nervous. "Do you think this is going to work?" he asked Enzo. "I do. I can't think of anything we might have missed and I've gone over it quite a bit." Enzo said.
Fire bellowed out as the transport lifted into the blue sky on back of the newest model Vanguard rocket. It would take the transport about ten minutes to reach orbit. After a system check the fission engine would be started. The ship would rendezvous with the cargo unit already in orbit, and the trip to Mars via Titan would begin.
The liftoff began without incident. After eight minutes a launch technician spoke up "Mr. Stedman, we have a problem. An object is approaching at high speed. It is on a collision course. Estimated time to impact is fifteen seconds. There is no time to intercept the object." she said. "Bring up all external cameras now." The forward facing camera picked up the missile two seconds before impact. The internal cameras had been disabled. "Sir we have lost contact with the transport. All systems are down. It appears it has been destroyed." the technician said.
"Damn it! That ship cost eight million dollars." Randy exclaimed as he and Enzo left the control room. "We knew this was likely to happen. That's why you have insurance. You just better hope PETA doesn't get wind of this." Enzo laughed. Eight large pigs were substituted for the crew on the last container into the transport. The crew had been taken off the transport and was safe. "Those poor hogs, it's too bad they have the same heart rate as humans. The CIA is going to want eight heart rate readings. We’ll give them the data for the eight heart rate readings on board the transport. The CIA has nearly unlimited resources, I’m sure they’ll request the medical data. You
“Thank you Enzo. I know the reasons for your expedition and I’m aware there are other parties interested in your whereabouts. With that in mind I’ve selected a captain I can completely trust, and who can independently make smart decisions. He is a long time associate of mine with unquestioned loyalty. Expenses for this trip will be exceedingly higher then normal. It is my expectation that I will receive some compensation for my investment. It will be of utmost importance for this mission to appear like every other. Everyone on board will be expected to pull their own weight and put in their fair share of work until you reach Mars. Listen to the captain and do what he says. Make no mistake, he is in charge of space operations. Do not bring extra attention to yourselves prior to launch. Once in space be very careful. You haven’t been properly trained and space is very unforgiving of mistakes. Launch will be tomorrow at fifteen hundred hours. That will be all for now. You can go and visit the ship and become familiar with where you’ll be spending the next few months." Randy said.
Never having been aboard any type of spacecraft Vincent was impressed. The ship was designed primarily for the transportation of cargo. Randy treated his employees well. Each crewmember was assigned their own cabin which was spacious for a transport. He wondered if all the ships in the fleet were designed this way. After taking a tour of the ship Vincent exited and met with Enzo and Randy. A slight change in plans had been made.
Thirty minutes before launch Enzo and Randy watched from the observation window as the transport was prepared. Equipment and supplies were being loaded into the ship. The ship was ready for launch as one last cargo container was offloaded and returned to the hanger bay.
In the control room the launch technicians were going through their normal routines. All eight heart rate monitors were well within the normal range and the countdown was at thirty seconds. Randy was nervous. "Do you think this is going to work?" he asked Enzo. "I do. I can't think of anything we might have missed and I've gone over it quite a bit." Enzo said.
Fire bellowed out as the transport lifted into the blue sky on back of the newest model Vanguard rocket. It would take the transport about ten minutes to reach orbit. After a system check the fission engine would be started. The ship would rendezvous with the cargo unit already in orbit, and the trip to Mars via Titan would begin.
The liftoff began without incident. After eight minutes a launch technician spoke up "Mr. Stedman, we have a problem. An object is approaching at high speed. It is on a collision course. Estimated time to impact is fifteen seconds. There is no time to intercept the object." she said. "Bring up all external cameras now." The forward facing camera picked up the missile two seconds before impact. The internal cameras had been disabled. "Sir we have lost contact with the transport. All systems are down. It appears it has been destroyed." the technician said.
"Damn it! That ship cost eight million dollars." Randy exclaimed as he and Enzo left the control room. "We knew this was likely to happen. That's why you have insurance. You just better hope PETA doesn't get wind of this." Enzo laughed. Eight large pigs were substituted for the crew on the last container into the transport. The crew had been taken off the transport and was safe. "Those poor hogs, it's too bad they have the same heart rate as humans. The CIA is going to want eight heart rate readings. We’ll give them the data for the eight heart rate readings on board the transport. The CIA has nearly unlimited resources, I’m sure they’ll request the medical data. You
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