CHAPTER 11

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"Captain,Earths moon is in coming into view on the holoscreen",Pi-E says as he brought the ship out of warp drive and slowed the XT-1 to a slow drift.

Every crew member was on the bridge talking about what was going on with the Ant people and what was now looking like a planed strike that was going on across space by them.

Everyone turned their attention to the holoscreen and watched as they got into a position so they could see the moon base on the surface. What they saw was hard to believe, the whole base was in ruins,and there was at least a half a dozen of the Ant peoples ships sitting on the surface around the destroyed base.

MeWolf turned to the captain and said with a pleading voice,"Lets blast the heck out of them right where they sit".

"Yeah,lets do it"! Charlie joined MeWolfs band wagon.

"Trust me,I would love to,but,without shields we may be bitting off more than we could chew",the captain said as he stood and walked closer to the screen and looked at the scene on the moon with disbelief and thought,it was only about a week ago that he was sitting at a table right there at the base and now it is gone and then he started to wonder how many people from the base survived.

Captain Camper turned away from the screen and said to Val,"get Orion Command on the com please and tell them we are coming in so be prepared to give us support if we come under attack from the ants".

"You got it captain",Val said as she set to her task.

The captain turned his attention back to the screen and then says,"Pi-E"!

"Yes Captain",replied Pi-E

"Take us in when your ready". The captain said to Pi-E without looking from the screen.

Upon touch down a repair crew was at the ship with equipment to fix the shileds.

MeWolf and Pi-E stayed at the ship to help with the repair of the shield,the rest of the crew followed the captain to a monorail where they were met by a Lieutenant Jordan and another soldier of the EMC. The EMC was the Orion Commands new division of special forces trained to fight battles on other planets. EMC stood for Earths Millitary Corps and they were said to be the best of the best at what they do.

The Lieutenant held his hand out to Captain Camper and says," I am Lt. Jordan",as Captain Camper takes and shakes his hand. "And you are Captain Camper I take it"? Lt. Jordan asked as they seperated hands.

"Yes,I am Captain Camper and this is part of my crew". Camper told the Lt. as he motioned to Bonni,Sugarmags,Val,and Charlie.

The Lt. nods in the crew direction and then says to Captain Camper,"I am to take you Captain to meet with General Gray. Your crew can follow Doyle here to the guest facilities on level one.

Doyle,the soldier that was standing with the Lieutenant,steps forward and says to the crew,"if you will follow me I will take you all to the guest facilities where you can shower,change your clothes,and relax.

The Crew turned and looked at their Captain and he told them,"go ahead I will meet up with you after I meet the General".

The crew stepped past the Lt. and Captain as they headed for the monorail that would take them to the guest facilities. As Val stepped past Camper she said in a voice that only he could hear, "I'll look into finding a pie for you after the meeting",and smiled as she walked past.

The comment brought a little boy grin to the Captains face.

The Lt. turned and started to walk in a differnt direction than the crew did and said to the captain,"this way sir".

Captain Camper followed the Lt. across the Monorail station untill they came to a turbo lift door with a slot for a identification card. The Lt. took out a card,that was on a cord around his neck,and slid it into the slot and then pulled it back out to open the doors. They both stepped into the turbo lift and the Lt. slipped the card into another slot inside the lift. The doors closed and the Lt. put the card away as the lift started to desend.

Captain Camper looked at the Lt.and asks,"I have never been here before,what is this place"?

"This is the EMC special tasks underground base and Orion Command Emergency Defense bunker,it has been in operation for a little over a year and a half now. Not many know of this place,not even the lower ranking EMC soldiers know where it is even if they heard rumors about it".The Lt. answered the Captain.

The turbo lift stopped and the doors open and the first thing the captain saw was two armed EMC soldiers dressed in EMC battle dress uniforms (BDU's) and full gear. They saluted the two officers as they stepped out of the lift,and both officers returned their salutes.

The two men went left from the turbo lift and walked down a 60 foot hall and came to another set of doors that the Lt. used his card to open. They stepped into a room that had huge viewing screens hanging from the walls,rows and rows of people wearing BDU,s sitting behind computer screens. The chatter in this room was constant and sometimes people could be heard swearing into a microphone headset.

The Lt. pointed to a door across the room and said to the captain,"the General is in there,he is waiting for you just go right in".

"Thank you Lt.". Captain Camper told the Lt, and started to walk to the door on the otherside of the room.

<O>

Bonni,Sugarmags,Val,and Charlie Followed Doyle as he took them to a monorail that after they got on,it took them underground.

Once on the monorail the soldier asked the crew,"So you have been in deep space,whats it like"?

Bonni looked at the young soldier and said,"it is like nothing you have ever seen".

"Yeah", added Val,"If you havent ever been there then it is hard to describe.

Seeing the disapointed look Doyle had on his face,from what Bonni and Val told him,Charlie spook up and said."It is like nothing you have seen before,but,if you have been to the moon then it sorta is like what you saw and experienced just a tadbit more intense and more colors".

The soldier seemed some what content with what the crew could tell him of deep space,and he says to the crew,"well with the way things seem to be going I maybe experiencing deep space soon".

Surgarmags looked over at the soldier and said. "Unless you are on a ship like the XT-1,I doubt you will never experience what we have when it comes to deep space travel".

Doyle looks at Sugarmags with wonder in his eyes and asks,"what do you mean,unless Im on a ship like the XT-1 I could never experience what you guys have"?

Sugarmags smiled at Doyle and says," That is something I can not tell you because it is classified information".

After hearing that the soldier looked at Sugarmags with a look that said it all,he had a look that said,oh ok,I think I have asked enough questions.

Finally after riding the monorail for 3 minutes it came to a stop and the five passengers got off at an underground monorail stop. They all walked across the stop area to a set of double doors that "Swished" open as they stepped up to it. Above the doors there was a sign that said guest facilities.

The doors led into a 20'x20' room with concrete walls,on the wall straight across form the double doors that the crew walked in was another set of double doors. The wall to the right of the door leading in, has mini flags of all of the earths nations and countries hanging,the left wall was a mural of a EMC unit performing some kind of training. In the center of the room was what looks like a ATM machine but it isnt.

Doyle walks to the machine and tells everyone,"slide your Identification cards into the slot,then push the vacancy button and the computer will tell you what resting quarters are available and all you do is touch the screen on the number to register your identification card to the room and the quarters will be assigned to you. When you leave you have to stop here and check out". He looks at the group then and asks,"Everyone understand"? Everyone said that they understood.

Doyle then pointed at the doors that no one has walked through yet and said,"after you register,go through those doors and follow the signs to your quartes number.If you have any questions while your here,you can use a computer com link which one can be found in every hall or,you can go to the guest service center and they can help you in any way. It was good to meet you all and I hope to see each of you again". With that he turned and walked back out the doors everyone came in.

Chapter 11 {continued}