Ground Two

NASA : Heinz Trattle

His hands were clasped behind him, his eyes stuck on the jagged edge of Ground 1. His palm rose up to press against the transparent surface of the glass. It was cold to the touch. His eyes focused on the sky's blackness.

There was an exhale of breath behind his back. Heinz turned to see a forty – year – old woman sitting in his desk chair. Her purplish-blue eyes looked up at him, her black hair tightly wound into a bun at the back of her head, and her lips were drawn into a frown. Heinz took a step back, caught off guard.

"Is it complete, Trattle?" the woman asked.

"Excuse me ma'am?"

"The weapon, Trattle. Is project DESTINY complete?"

"Oh. Yes."

"Excellent. So, within a week's time we should be able to successfully dissolve Ground 2?"

"Yes ma'am."

The woman clapped her hands together. "You've never let me down Heinz. Again, you have succeeded."

"I guess all we need to do now is falsely warn Hera of the destruction."

The woman dismissively waved her hand. "Already have an idea of how to handle that. We're not going to tell them."

"Oh? How clever."

The woman stood and clasped her hands behind her back. She nodded her head and said, "Thank-you."

"I think it especially clever because you used to be really good friends with Ground 2's leader, Hera... Soal."

A pained expression came over Soal's face. She grit her teeth so that Heinz would mistake it as something else. It didn't work.

"Are you still soft Soal?"

"No," Soal responded. The anger became more prominent upon her face. She obviously was not lying. "It just reminded me of why we're no longer friends."

"Oh! Not the dispute again!"

"Yes! She went and talked bad about NASA I was defending the organization. She rejected my nice comments about the organization, shoving them in the dirt. I still hate her for talking bad about this wonderful place. What other aeronautics program could possibly be any better?"

Heinz was about to speak, taking sides with Lumina, but decided against it. It was then that he realized his deception and all the lies that he had made to Soal.

Heinz changed the subject.

"I think it's time I get back to work ma'am. I'm already behind."

Soal looked at him. The expression on her face softened. "You do that Heinz. Thank-you for being the hard worker that you always were and still are."

Heinz nodded and Soal left. He sighed, Soal's presence no longer lingering within the room. He strode over to his desk and booted his LapPad – a double-paned device that consisted of a keyboard and screen that reminded you of an old laptop – from sleep. A completed prompt was onscreen. All Heinz did was tap send.

From: Soal Dienze

To: Hera Si