Sarah awoke the next morning in a guest bedroom at the Raynor estate. She showered and walked to the electronic wardrobe. With a few button taps and a blaze of light, she was suddenly dressed in her favorite hot-pink shirt and a pair of jeans she bought at a flea market on Mraxis.
The previous night had been very weird. Sarah marveled at football’s amazing ability to absorb the very souls of men and cause them to ignore the dearest people in their lives. It wasn’t unexpected, though. The girls had gone up stairs and, of all things, practiced with Bo staffs, the ancient oriental weapon that was essentially a big stick designed to knock people senseless. Sarah, with her Seiin strength and martial training, had been quick to best most of the girls. Itin’s wife Mara had nearly defeated her, but Sarah had managed to rout her at the last minute with a skillful set of reverse strikes that kept Mara guessing at where to block. The only person able to defeat Sarah was Jill Raynor herself.
As Sarah decended the winding stairs of the mansion, she noticed that she couldn’t feel Jim’s ki. That was unusual, considering he was the strongest human in the house. When she got to the bottom of the staircase, she saw Jim’s family, along with some of his old friends at the kitchen table. The look on their faces told Sarah immediately that something was very wrong.
“What is going on?… Where is Jim??” were the first words out of Sarah’s mouth. Jim’s parents gave an anxious sigh before his mother answered.
“Last night, he was called by General Greglithf. He was given a Police Mission.”
“Oh…” Sarah said as her heart sank. One of the requirements of military service within the Empire of Earth armed forces was, that during peace time an even while on leave, as she and Jim now were, the government could call outstanding military officers—or any officer, for that matter—to engage in various law enforcement or investigative missions. They were especially important for international affairs because local cops weren’t allowed to police activities taking place out of their jurisdiction, and outside the Empire certainly qualified.
Sarah assumed that it was an international crisis.
Jim regretted leaving his family and Sarah in the middle of the night. He hated it. He wanted to hate General Greglithf for giving him this mission. But that wasn’t going to do any good. He was also disappointed in the outcome of the Ultra Bowl. The accursed Felt Fighting Fichuses had bested the Texas Titanic Longhorns 45 to 43. A lousy safety had decided the fate of the game! Jim ignored his anger and turned on a holo-sermon given by his favorite pastor, Reverend Justin Smith. It was about anger.
Figured.
He had downloaded the last few days worth of TV and HV programming before making the thirty-six hour warp-jump to the planet Texas, where he would use the planet’s gravity to slingshot himself to his the vector of his final destination: Felt.
The irony of the timing of his journey amused him for a minute, as well as the pastor’s joke about animal-rights activists. Jim watched the bright blue stream of hyperspace streak by out of the cockpit. He leaned his chair back and fell asleep.
Sarah was staring out the window when her own call came. General Robert Seguin, who had never been her commanding officer before, contacted Sarah at 8 PM Sunday night, Kantapolis standard time. Her instructions were to simply leave as soon as possible and go to the Ithguad Memorial Hospital in Laredo City on Texas, and that she should come prepared to have every skill in her arsenal tested.
She left at 8 AM the next morning. She was limited to public transport, since her own precious Stallion was still at Iif. She had to go on-foot, as her mission was a secret and she very well couldn’t steal one of the Raynors’ cars. She got to the spaceport around nine-thirty and found a flight to Texas. Well, she thought, this is going to be fun.
After nearly forty hours in cramped quarters on the space-bus to Texas, Sarah needed to stretch. She rented an air-car from a rental agency. To her surprise it wasn’t a Ford. It was another hour of flying before she sat down at the Ithguad Hospital. She was escorted to a room on the 320th floor, where there were several nurses and military types waiting for her. There was also a hospital bed, and on it was a woman who appeared to be sleeping.
“Welcome, Lieutenant,” began the highest-ranking military officer. ”I am Admiral John Hammock.”
“Sir,” Sarah acknowledged, “May I ask what this is about. I would like to know why I was called off my leave.” Sarah realized that she could’ve been more respectful.
“This,” the general said, pointing to the comatose woman on the bed, “is why you’ve been called here. Her name is Kiva Andur, and she works for the infamous pirate vessel the Iien Blian. I fear her confederates may be involved in matter of international security.”
“I see.” Sarah looked again at the woman on the bed. She looked to be about Sarah’s age, roughly her build, similar hair color. There were some nasty scars on her face, arms and legs. One scar on her forehead looked especially fresh. The general opened his mouth to speak.
“Our medical officer, Lt. Yalm Wessil, will brief you further.” He motioned to the scruffy-looking Tye officer on the other end of the room.
“Well,” Yalm began, “the patient, Ms. Andur, essentially seems to be in a coma. We have found no way to revive her. The most puzzling aspect, however, is her brain activity. Nearly all of her mental functions seem to be shut down. The only functions that are currently active are life processes. Though her heart still beats and her lungs still work, she essentially isn’t there. It is as if her mind is wiped clean, torn from her body.”
“Sounds like some sort of psionic attack to me,” said Sarah.
“I was thinking the same thing,” replied Yalm. “But that isn’t the most important issue right now.” Yalm pressed a button and a gravity beam flipped the cadaverous body over. He continued, “In the back of her thy,” he said, touching a portion of the woman’s leg, “there seems to be implanted an ECU.” The piece of paper in his hand that he had held over the pirate converted into energy and entered the implanted blit, concealed behind a scar in her thy.
“So what significance does this have?” inquired Sarah of Lt. Wessil.
“Wait till I show you what we found in it”