EDGE OF DAY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

"No. But who knows, maybe I have and you wiped it from my memory."

"Several decades ago, the Unified Northern Territories sent a mission to Mars to explore colonization. They discovered something strange, an energetic flux with similar properties to a microcosmic black hole. 

They built a scientific base to explore and test the phenomenon. But as experiments and tests on the energy intensified, they observed a correlation between the stability of earth and moon's weather systems and the growing energy field. Twenty years ago, the scientific base was closed down. But it was too late. The Earth's southern hemisphere was already under great upheaval. There was no way they could reverse the process. All they could do was protect the energy porthole from ever being used again."  

"And what does that have to do with you and Will Van de Berg?"

Ferdinando's wrist watch beeped. "Excuse me." He answered his communication link. Day couldn't hear the voice coming through his ear implant, but she could see the tiny holo image projecting up from his watch—a police droid.

"I see," Ferdinando said. "We give you permission to come aboard and make your search." 

 Ed burst through the cockpit door. "Police patrol are here," he said. "They've traced us from the convict shuttle. They've cast hooks."

"Let them come aboard," Ferdinando answered.

"Dom, Ceasar," Ed said to the men who had searched for Day on the convict shuttle, "come and help me move Mr. Van de Berg."

The men got up. Ed's bodyguard, who also guarded Ferdinando and Amber, stood to attention by the shuttle exit.

Ferdinando smiled. "Everybody remain calm."

Day watched Ed retrieve an enormous chain. Despite its size, the chain was obviously made of a light metal. The man called Ceasar attached the end of the chain to the top of Ed's box with a giant carabiner clip. Ed pressed a button. The box's air vents closed, releasing gas into the chamber. Dom opened a door at the rear of the shuttle. Behind it was a small compression compartment. The three men lifted Will inside.

"Better hurry that up," Amber called from the other end of the lounge. Day edged towards them. What were they doing?

Dom attached the other end of the chain to a clip at the far end of the compression compartment.

"Wrap it up boys," Amber called.

Ed, Dom and Caesar hurried back into the shuttle lounge.

"Wait!" Day caught Ed's arm as the compression compartment swished closed. "Wait, why is he out there?"

"And they're in," Amber announced.

The door at the front of the shuttle slid sideways. Behind Day, the compression door of the ship opened. The metal box with Will in it flew out into space, dangling by its chain. Day's breath flew out into the vacuum with it.

"Turn around," Ed said, squeezing the top of her arm.

The carabiner holding Will's box at one end and fastened to a cleat in the compression wall at the other, vibrated.

"Ed, it's not holding." At that moment, as though confirming her worst fears, the cleat broke off from the wall. She gasped, but the cleat didn't get sucked outward, it was part of a crawler droid, which now slowly crawled out of the ship. As soon as it had passed through the pressure door, the door closed.