While Nicholas was prisoner, the other men of Merko's crew also invaded the apartment where Sivoc's team was staying. Drako had elaborated a sophisticated detection system able to detect intruders, and noticed an intermittent signal from the room where he was resting. Worried about it, he warned his captain and the doctor to teleport in safety to the restroom of a shopping mall two blocks away. That was an escape plan that he had developed some days ago.
As soon as the men stepped on the carpet placed purposely in the middle of the living room, four submission collars fell from the ceiling and grabbed them by the neck putting them under his control. Those were very usual artifacts on Life, used to control the mind of those who suffered of serious and incurable madness. It made the patients obedient to the one who controlled them. The expert in Information Systems teleported the four men to Science spaceship and left them inert at the medical center. He could not leave the comrades from his planet, no matter who were following them, at the mercy of extraterrestrial capture agents.
He, Sivoc and Zara met at a restaurant. They had already been attacked, and they needed to look for Tibor and the earthling. Their friends could be in danger too.
The vehicle's computer had also warned Drako about the enemy commander's men's invasion. As soon as they went to the warehouse, they would also go to the spaceship and check it.
When they got to the fight ring, the chief of security was there, fainted on the floor.
"Take care of Tibor and check if the humans on the streets around are fine. We must get out of here as soon as possible," the captain ordered.
"Why did it take you so long?" The trainer asked when he got up. He was still dizzy, beaten up and had a strong headache.
"We had to find a way to deal with ship Star Hunter's soldiers. Some of them wanted to catch us too. That's why we're late. Where's Nicholas and Sanches?" Drako asked.
"They took them."
"What are we going to do now?" Zara asked, concerned.
"We have to eliminate any traces of our presence here on Earth and go back to the spaceship. In three days, the gap will open near Calisto Moon, and we'll need to be close to our planet along with the other team's task force. The boy's life is under serious risk, we don't know what they plan to do with him after the bone marrow transplant. I'm quite sure Counselor Mirov won't follow King Zador's order to take him back in safety to Earth", Sivoc said.
"Some weeks ago, I was informed by the computer that Merko had gone to our vessel. I preferred not to make noise about it, so that we could keep hiding. If I had told you, you might have decided to go back to the ship, and all of us would be under serious risk now."
"I can't believe you did this! It's your duty to keep me informed about everything that happens during our mission. I'm the Commander!"
"I apologize, sir. It won't happen again. Now, we must go back to the ship with caution, they might have sabotaged it."
"I don't think Merko would like to keep us on Earth. He knows he would be punished for that. Now I'm going back to Science ship with Drako. Zara and Tibor, go back to the apartment. And if everything is all right, Tibor, you'll follow us. Don't leave any traces of our stay here", Sivoc ordered.
He went back to the spaceship and after checking everything, he sent for the others.
The crew, most of it spread throughout New York, was ordered to go back to the spacecraft and get ready to return to Life. The vehicle was checked with caution, so that safety could be assured for all. The chief of security was in bed, to heal from the fight and the wounds it had caused him, while the others prepared for the trip. Wolfie was taken to the engine's room to be fixed by a repair robot.
"I wonder where Nick is. I hope he's well. We must follow the other team and land at the same time on my planet. This is the single chance I must protect my beloved Nick. I somehow feel he's alive", Zara thought.
The ambulances arrived and, in a sudden, along with them, came the agents from Alfa-Omega team: Collin, Ann and many other soldiers from the American Army Special Forces. Ronald Steighem followed them, and they all searched the place for evidences.
"We have been informed that there were some people immobilized around this place, and that's the result of some extraterrestrial weapon. Check the entire place, they must have left some trace that might lead us to the place where they are," agent Steighem ordered.
"Yes, Sir," Ann Soliver said.
"Where the hell are those damn E.T.s? What the hell are they planning to do?" Steighem thought.
The doctor went to her bedroom in Science ship and tried to concentrate in the hopes of communicating telepathically with her beloved. She would never lose hope to find him alive and well.
Merko's military ship was not very far away from his enemy's spacecraft. Inside it, Nicholas also tried to concentrate, following the meditation practices taught by Tibor. There was nothing left to do with as a prisoner there and that was his main hope, although it was a small one: to contact his friends.
"Nick, can you hear me?" The woman asked telepathically.
"Yes, I can hear you, Zara! I'm so relived to be in touch with you. I was about to lose hope, I've been trying to make contact for hours."
"Are you ok, dear? Did they cause you any harm?"
"Yes, I'm fine. I'm not hurt, but I'm in a jail."
"In Merko's ship?"
"Yes. We are somewhere at the bottom of the ocean. There are fish and other marine animals around. I can't see much more. Sanches is here. And how about you, where are you?"
Communication between them was very difficult because of the rocks that surrounded the spaceship. But that was not a real issue for Nicholas and his lover, once they were happy to see each other were fine. However, they had no idea that Star Hunter and Science ships were so close, once the enemy commander's plan was to capture Sivoc's team and freeze them when they were back together with the spacecraft's crew.
"Zara, are you guys, ok? Is Tibor with you?"
"Keep calm, Nick. Your teacher's still a bit dizzy, but he's not wounded. We're all fine. We're in Science ship."
"I'm afraid of what could happen to me here. Can you help me?"
"We still haven't found your precise location, but we're trying to find a way to get to you when we land on my planet. Star Hunter ship must have activated its radar shield. But you must be near us, anyway, because if you weren't, we wouldn't be able to listen to each other now. Take care and be quiet, Nick. This captain is powerful. We'll do everything we can to rescue you."
The earthling was under serious risk. Not even Merko himself knew about that and, now that he believed the boy could be his son, he was willing to give his own life for him. What they didn't know was that counselor Mirov would do everything possible to put an end to the young man's existence.
As soon as the scientific crew was ready for the trip, its commander contacted counselor Kenan.
"Captain, I hope you have good news. The portal between the galaxies is about to open. Is the kid with you?"
"No, Counselor. The other team took him from us forcedly."
"That's absurd! There was no need to do that! I'm going to follow the kid's arrival and I'll protect him. I'm not aware of Mirov's real intentions, but all I know is that I don't trust him. Get ready for the trip and come as soon as possible. I need you here more than ever."
"Yes, sir. We'll meet very soon."
The battle ship Star Hunter intercepted the communication and learned that the other team had already gotten to the vessel."
At once, the captain sent for Crom and five more men to invade the ship and capture their squad.
"Z8, make contact with Science ship. And, during my conversation with them, turn their shields off to allow our invasion. Tell me as soon as you do it," he told the computer.
"Commander Sivoc, Captain Merko asks to talk to you," said Drako.
Curious as he was, he went up to the command bridge to listen to the captain. When he got there, a hologram had already formed in the middle of the lounge.
"It's an honor to talk to you, Sivoc. As I see, you are all together in the ship."
"Tell me what you want from us, Merko. We don't have time for small talk."
"First of all, I'd like to know if there's someone missing. You recognize it would not be reasonable to leave our comrades in another planet. They could be captured and that could put the future of humanity at risk."
"I think it's at least strange to see you worried about it. The way you took the kid from us shows your real character."
"Anything for the success of the mission, pal. I'm just certifying that everything is under control. As to leaving someone on Earth, I am just trying to follow the rules for the space-time trip, you realize we can't leave anyone behind, don't you? Where are my men? Did you take them?"
"Yeah. They are fine and we've brought them to the spaceship. You also have someone that interests us. How about an exchange?"
"You have knowledge that I'd never let the boy leave my spacecraft before handing him to the Counselor, which hired me to capture him. As for to my men, I'm sure you would never do them any harm."
"You're aware of what we think about Mirov."
"We have the King's authorization and that's what's important to me."
Meanwhile, Z8 called its captain's attention.
"Shields turned off, Sir. Time to go."
"I'm sorry Sivoc. I must prepare for the trip back. You should get ready too. We're very close to the day of the space-time opening gap. Have a nice trip!" The hologram turned off.
"Merko's speech was very odd. I wonder what he wanted in fact," Sivoc commented.
"He might truly want to know about his men", Zara answered.
"But he believes we're good people and we'd never do them any harm," Drako said.
"That was a bit weird indeed", he spoke.
While they talked about it, the other captain, the chief officer and their men embodied at the medical center in Science spaceship. With a pistol, they froze Tibor, who rested and healed from his wounds.
"One down, Commander," Crom informed. "Let's take the others."
"Keep being discreet. Surprise is our best ally."
They went to the engineering room. Two guards saw them and started a reaction, but, since Crom was faster, he hit them with a punch in the face. The other guard launched over him to attack. Merko and the other five men came in and the man raised his hands letting his laser gun drop. They froze the two guards too and continued to freeze the rest of the crew. Then, they turned the whole propulsion system off, making the spacecraft unable to fly. They also set four of his soldiers free, the ones that had been made prisoners and now were at the medical center.
A siren cut the air in the vehicle, warning everyone about the invasion. More soldiers, men and women ran to capture the invaders. With their freezing weapons, more and more members of the team were put out of action.
Then, Crom said:
"Sir, I've programmed the ship to turn on the engines in one month - our planet's time - according to our plan."
The spaceship Science's captain and the expert in Information Systems were in the command room when all systems were turned off. All panels went black, and emergency lamps were turned on, leaving the place somewhat lit.
"Drako, you take care of the equipment, and I'll check what's going on with the monitors. I believe Star Hunter's soldiers came to rescue the four prisoners, and that must have something to do with that. However, I wonder why the defense system hasn't warned us about the invasion."
"I'll check it, Sir. Something must have failed."
Aware that something very wrong was going on, the specialist had the excellent idea of turning Wolfie off for the period of 24 hours. The dog had been fixed by a group of robotic experts and was ready to be turned on again. The invaders, though, were not aware of that, and if something went out of hand, the robotic dog would come back to life on the following day and would be ready to follow the rescue protocol set in its system.
In a few minutes, Merko, Crom and their soldiers were at the command room. They aimed their weapons at Sivoc and Drako at the same time another soldier aimed his weapon to the chief of security, which had been taken there already frozen, so that they could force all the scientific crew to surrender.
"If you try any tricks, we'll shoot Tibor", the commander warned, aiming his laser weapon at him.
They all stopped and were frozen too. Then, the chief officer went to Zara's room to bring her with him.
"What else do you want now? Don't you have everything you need? You took Nicholas from us when our mission was almost finished", the woman said.
"You'll have a month of sleep in the ship, Doctor. And when you land on our planet, we'll have carried out the mission and you won't disturb our plan. The Commander and I will be promoted since we will have saved Isadora. The crew's biological activities will be monitored by the system and everybody will be fine for you to go back home at last", the chief officer said.
"You must be crazy! Don't you see that the Counselor isn't a trustworthy person? He's selfish, bad, and we're almost sure he's going to kill the boy. Please, don't do that. You and Merko will regret it very much if you hand an indefensible boy to such a bastard like him."
"My baby, here inside my womb, I hope you're not under any risk," the doctor though.
"You don't know what you are talking about, Zara. The purpose of this mission is to save the Princess and Mirov himself will take care of it. We won't do the boy any harm. Your team will be safe and sound as well."
Crom read her mind and knew about the child she had in her womb. In the beginning of the pregnancy, her belly hadn't shown yet.
"How odd! The doctor's pregnant, and I feel she is worried about the baby she brings in her womb. I wonder if she has someone waiting for her on Life. Anyway, that's none of my business. The cryogenic system will oversee taking care of those two lives. Taking Zara with us could disturb the success of our mission."
After reading her thoughts, he aimed his cryogenic weapon to the doctor, and froze her in few seconds. Then, he put his hand over her and they both teleported to the command room, where all the scientific squad that had already been frozen were.
After that, the enemy captain and his staff took everyone to the cryogenic boxes that were used to preserve bodies during long trips and keep them alive until the final destiny. They programmed the crew's defrosting and revitalization for a month ahead, as well as Science's trip back to Life.
Merko and the others went back to the ship, and the chief officer told him about the woman's pregnancy.
"Commander, the doctor's carrying a baby in her womb. I managed to read her mind. Does the cryogenic state mean any danger to the baby?"
"What great news! She must have someone at our planet. I find it weird that she, being a doctor, accepted to get involved in this mission while pregnant. She should be more cautious. Anyway, the suspended animation state, carried out by the sophisticated system of our fleet, is able to take care of her causing the baby no harm."
"I see. Then everything will follow as planned, Sir."
"Now go and have some rest. I can take care of our return home. The days here on Earth have been exhaustive."
"I'll do as you say, Sir."
Merko said goodbye along with a smile.
"Thank you, Crom".
Nicholas tried to talk to his love again, but didn't succeed. He didn't know that, from now on, he was vulnerable and alone, but he had a bad feeling, as if something was very wrong. He felt a shiver through all his body, as if he was dominated by a deep feeling of angst.
"Zara, can you hear me? Drako, Tibor?"
Nobody answered, and Nicholas was worried. There was something wrong and he found himself unable to react.
The captain led Star Hunter battleship to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, to a place known as Mariana Trench, over thirty-six thousand feet deep. There, they won't be disturbed by any terrestrial team that could be after them, and they could also wait for the right moment for the so desired return to their home.
Merko contacted his master on his planet, to tell him they were on the way. The mischievous counselor was anxious for them to arrive. Everything was going as planned. They would sabotage the bone marrow transplant which would save Isadora, and then kill the earthling during the surgery, blaming the doctors for that. With the princess's death, the king would be depressed and weak. Then, he would order his servant to infiltrate in Zador's personal staff and poison him. After that, there would still be Kenan to be eliminated, but he was too old to cause him any trouble. He would let the counselor rot in jail and take the power to himself.
Nobody knew about Mirov's plan, though. Not even the commander, who was loyal to king and believed to be following his orders with efficiency.
Merko, despite following orders with accuracy, always wanted to do his job with efficacy and responsibility. Honor and respect were some of his qualities, and he dedicated his life to his king. He had planned to freeze and postpone Science's crew's trip in order to avoid any harm to his plans and stop his rivals. He couldn't imagine, however, that he supported a traitor.
Counselor Kenan rested in his room in the Royal Council and he could not stop trying to find an answer for Mirov's real purpose.
"Why does he want to take Nicholas so much? He doesn't want to talk to me and looks away every time he sees me, as if he had something to hide. I should keep an eye on him."
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Read #ThePhantomMan Duology by #ChaieneSantosWriter