The mission

Part 6

"Am I more appropriately dressed now?" Reyes approached the deck dressed in more comfortable clothes - tight black pants, and a simple gray hooded sweatshirt. She tied her pony tail as she approached the lieutenant who glanced at her briefly. "You can join the party now," she announced, looking at the screen. "I thought so," she said in the same tone of sarcasm as the lieutenant. "So, what do we have?" Reyes sat down next to Stelvio to see what she was so focused on. "Almost nothing," she said simply. "Except for what we have mentioned," she added. She had a simulated Degea telescope on the screen along with the data she had strung on its lower part. Reyes headed to the large table wanting to see again what they had managed to explore.

This was one big puzzle that was missing many pieces. They had a lot of work to do to find out what the planet was hiding and why it was so special to the Government. Luckily they have plenty of time.

"So we have the number of planets in the Solar System Planet E3, that's 8. Also five dwarfs." Morgan read aloud, occasionally accompanying the lieutenant. "Starting from the Sun, the first four planets are terrestrial, while the others are gaseous." The lieutenant nodded, approving what had been said. "Since Planet E3 is the third in the row, we can conclude that it is actually a rocky planet. That should be good, right?" Morgan came to her own conclusion, though it was obvious. "Define in what sense." The engineer shrugged because she didn't know what she meant. "That's what we have. We have a lot of work to do, Stelvio." Reyes folded her arms across her chest, not very pleased with the information. "I know, and if you're going to complain, I'll put you in Cryo." Reyes didn't know if she was joking or serious, but she turned to the joke anyway: "You won't get rid of me so easily." Stelvio chuckled briefly, she was looking at the screen.

They started preparing and programming Degea's telescopes of various electromagnetic waves. It was much easier to get data from a ship in the middle of space than from the Army whose atmosphere blocked some signals and radiation. They had a small advantage.

Programming Degea's systems, Reyes occasionally drew her attention to the lieutenant. When she thought about it a little better, she realized that she trusted her, when in fact she didn't even know her. She only knows that she is the granddaughter of her former mentor and that she was a cadet of the Air Force under Mark's command. How old is she then? Apparently, she might have looked a little like her grandfather, but she would still say that they had similar traits. They are both curious, cheeky and smart, for them there is no problem they cannot solve. She knew they shared these traits, and she will find out about the others. The lieutenant was another mystery for the engineer.

It took them about eight hours to turn on all types of scanners aimed at E3. They were proud of the work they had been doing, the only question now was how much they could rely on Degea. Until she detects something, the engineer and the lieutenant are free.

Reyes wasted no time after the lieutenant went to her sleeping chamber, immediately asking Degea about her file. "Lieutenant Noah Stelvio." Degea showed Raven the file on the screen. "Daughter of Sarah Stelvio." Her mother's field of interest was not recorded. "Strange," Morgan remarked. She knew Martin Stelvio, her grandfather, had a daughter, but she didn't know she had died. The next column was also not recorded. The column was reserved for the father's name. Morgan raised her eyebrows. She shook her head and continued reading. "Close family, Martin Stelvio, prof. University of Arma. ˝ This information was the only thing she knew, but she was surprised again to realize that he was her only family. Then she looked away at the date and place of birth. Then the section on education, but also work. She stared silently at the screen. They received their doctorates in the same year and found a job the same year but Reyes was 5 years older than her. Did Martin have something to do with this or is the lieutenant above average smart? Only Noah can answer that question.