“Stay there, I’ll be down with a team of officers promptly.” Branston looked as though he were signalling to someone.

The communication cut out and Cynthia stood alone. She did not feel the need to go to engineering now. The department was just down the corridor but the feeling had evaporated like her fear. She would wait though until Oliver arrived.

The lights began to flicker again. “Don’t let the power go, don’t let the power go, not till Oliver gets here,” she whispered. “Don’t let it go,” she repeated. Back her pleas went unheard and the power went again.

“Aaaaaargh.”

Cynthia’s eyes darted down the corridor where the scream had come from.

“Help me. Aaaaaaaaarh. Help me… help, HELP, HELP”

Cynthia began to walk forward. Her heart began to thud again. The screaming was constant now, whoever it was, was in definite danger and pain.

“Cynthia?” it was Oliver.

“Down there Oliver. Some one is in trouble” Cynthia replied.

Oliver and another two officers ran down the corridor towards the noise. Oliver turned to face Cynthia, “Stay there. And Cynthia?”

“Yes” she replied wearily.

“I love you.”

Oliver ran down the corridor flanked by two officers. He rounded the corner ahead and stopped. The corridor was pitch black, even the emergency lighting was out. He activated a button on his wrist unit and a light came on, his officers followed his example and soon the corridor was filled with three beams of light.

Ahead of them was the body of one of the engineers. His chest was smoking and it looked as though he had been hit by some kind of high-powered energy weapon far more powerful than anything the Agamemnon had in its arsenal.

“Follow me and stay close.” The two men stayed close to their superior as Branston led the way with his weapon pointed down the corridor.

Suddenly the lights flickered on and the corridor was filled with light again. The door ahead, which led into engineering itself where the chronometric drive was located, was locked tight. There were other entrances into engineering though.

Activating a button to turn the light off on his wrist unit, Oliver called his partner Janice Mulholland.

“What is it?” asked Janice.

“I need officers posted at every entrance to engineering and once it is secure I want a full sweep done, teams of no less than three officers. Send another man down to exit 4-Alpha, I need to interview Miss. Woods to find out exactly what she saw in the lift.” Branston barked the orders out one after the other.

“Understood, I’m right on it.” The hologram of Mulholland vanished from the wrist communicator.

Branston turned to his two officers, “stay here and wait for your reinforcements.” Once that was said he headed back to Cynthia.

Cynthia seemed terrified by the events, which was not surprising, as a scientist she had not received the same training that a lot of the crew of the Agamemnon had. There was no training to deal with attacks from people let alone aliens.

“How are you?” asked Oliver as he looked at his fiancé.

“I don’t know,” replied Cynthia with a shake of her head. Everything happened so quickly, so suddenly. It was all so…”

Oliver’s communicator bleeped interrupting Cynthia. Looking at it in annoyance, Branston pressed the button to receive the communication and a hologram of Mulholland appeared.

“Oliver, where is Miss. Woods?” Mulholland seemed quite anxious.

“She’s with me, why?” Branston had an inkling of what was coming.

“Miss. Woods has apparently just left engineering from door 4-Beta.”

“Blast,” exclaimed Branston. “The alien has our access codes, how did it know to go for Cynthia.”

“What?” asked Mulholland.

“Miss. Woods has a degenerative eye defect which has been repaired using technology. The back of her eye has advanced implants to make her eyes work. All the alien has to do it recreate the circuit patterns and he has a model of Miss. Woods eye.”

Cynthia was annoyed at her disability; it seemed to be causing no end of problems at the moment.

“At least we can track it,” stated Mulholland.

“Indeed, let’s get on it.” Branston switched off his wrist communicator and looked at Cynthia. “It’s not your fault.” He touched the side of her face and looked into her eyes.

“How did it get my access code?”

“We’ll worry about that later. For now, just get back to your department and stay in sight of people. You,” Branston pointed to one of his officers, “go with her.”

Cynthia nodded and walked to the lift, the police officer walking close behind.

Evan was lying down trying to use his mind again. In the room with him were Khaira and Major Harrison.

“Evan, what do you see?”

Suddenly Major Harrison’s intercom alerted her to an incoming call.

“Blast… don’t people understand the meaning of do not disturb.” Major Juliet Harrison was not impressed. “What is it?”

“Sorry Ma’am but there has been another incident. One of our men has been killed.”

“Thank you, keep me informed,” she replied. She looked now at Evan. If he could use his head now would be a good time. “Evan. Please help us. Who is doing this to us? Who has sent this creature to kill the way he is.”

“Please Evan. It’s killed some of the people expecting children. It’s killed a soldier. It could ruin this mission,” Khaira added, “Try. For me…”

Evan lay back and shut his eyes. He let himself relax and go into a trance. He felt as if he was floating.

“Nice and easy Evan. Okay, who has sent the creature?” Juliet spoke first.

Evan’s head flinched slightly, “A man called Doig. He is someone important.”

Khaira and Juliet flashed a look at each other, “Doig? Are you sure?”

“Doig, Captain Robert Doig.” Evan confirmed.

“But he’s on our side. He helped prepare this ship.” Khaira said.

Evan seemed to go into a seizure, after a few seconds he stopped his eyes opening wide.

“I have seen it all… he’s betrayed you. It’s…” he broke down in tears.

“Seen what Evan?” Juliet asked gently. But Evan was too upset to talk. He sat, head bowed and cried.

“Evan,” Khaira sat down next to Evan and put her arm around him. “We need you to tell us what you saw.”

“The alien who killed the unborn children is not the one you need to worry about. It is the other one on board who seeks to do something to one of those unborn children.”

Harrison knew what Evan was saying, it matched what the alien from the cargo bay had said but it still did not make sense. “So you are saying that the alien that Doctor Masterton is attending to now is a friend?”

“Not a friend,” warned Evan, “but not an enemy.”

“And what about Doig?” Harrison knew that she had to find out as much information as possible. “He helped install the chronometric drive, without his assistance the plan would never have happened.”

“He sabotaged it.” Evan was certain; he did not know how he knew. All he had seen were vague flashes and images but somehow they mounted up to something, which made sense. “He was not one of us?”

“One of us?” asked Khaira confused.

“He was one of them.”

3 DAYS TILL SURVIVOR REPOPULATION

Captain Reynolds found himself sitting behind his desk again. Cynthia Woods had just joined the group, which also included Khaira and Juliet Harrison. “So,” said Reynolds, “you think this warning is something we should take seriously.”

“I don’t know if we should take the warning seriously but I think we should be cautious and at least check out our engines as a precaution. If there is sabotage then we can deal with the problem and the warning for certain.” Major Harrison laid out her ideas clearly; it had been one hour since the revelation from Evan.

“How do you feel about Evan?” Reynolds focused his attention on Khaira.

“I don’t know,” replied Khaira honestly. “It’s difficult to gauge him. Sometimes he seems normal, other times he seems very strange and distant. Now I’m sure that is a consequence of the shift in time for him. Somehow though I think there is something more, something we have yet been unable to identify.”

“Cynthia, if the chronometric drive has been sabotaged do you think you can fix it?”

“We can try, my staff and I are quite experienced but at the moment they are dealing with the survivors. I can pull some of the more experienced staff in to help me and see if we can divert the engineering crew to give us a hand with the drive insides.”

“That’s not a very good idea,” protested Khaira. “The drive mechanism is a very delicate machine. If inexperienced staff are dealing with the actual mechanism then it could cause even more problems down the line.”

Cynthia knew that Khaira was right, as one of her most experienced staff she had every right to raise issues, which could cause problems. “The engineers do maintain the day to day running of the drive.”

“But they are closely supervised and do not go deep inside the workings.” Khaira was insistent.

“We have no other choice. We need some people still dealing with the survivors.”

“I disagree.” It was Reynolds who spoke now. “If your staff is needed then it is your staff who will be dealing with the drive. The medics can deal with the survivors. These people are sedated and living out holographic memories are they not?”

“Yes.” Cynthia felt odd; she had not been able to settle since her experience the previous day. “I’m sure everything will be all right. Perhaps if one or two of my staff could be on stand by to help the medics.”

“I’m sure we could accommodate that. On another note, how are you coping?”

Cynthia was a little unsure of how to reply. “It’s a little strange, I know that my access code has been restricted because of the need to track and hem in the alien but it feels like I am cadged in with the beast as well. It doesn’t feel good.”

“Hopefully this wont last forever, Branston is apparently close to catching the alien. Anyway, if there is nothing else this meeting is dismissed.”

Reynolds watched everyone leave the room.

Doctor Elaine Masterton stood in the medical bay as she pondered what she saw before her. Never before in her life had she seen something quite so alien, quite so fascinating. This was what she had hoped to see; alien life confirmed before her very eyes and she was the one who would see it first.

Checking the readings that appeared on the monitor she concluded that ‘Traksis’ or whatever it was called was stable. She could not be sure; these machines were set up to deal with human beings and not aliens. Perhaps the configuration of the alien was giving false readings.

This was the kind of challenge she enjoyed; this was the kind of challenge she thrived on. She was focused on this alien and all other thoughts were slowly being pushed from her brain as she became single minded. Her tutors at medical school had told her that her single-mindedness was one of her greatest assets and also one of her greatest downfalls. Elaine still to this day did not understand why this could be a downfall. Her single-mindedness had got her where she was; one of the most sought after and prestigious posts ever.

Her staff moved about her doing their duties in near silence. Elaine had an order to things she would be the one who gave the orders and that would be that. Once those orders had been issued Elaine expected her staff to carry them out to completion without any further interruption.

The alien was an enigma. It was very tall which made her wonder what kind of planet it had come from, there was a thick muscular frame running underneath its scaly skin. The scales were small and slightly supple. As the creature breathed through its mask the scales rippled slowly.

Upon examination of the eyes there appeared to be no pupil but as Elaine shone her small torch in them they appeared to darken several shades. It appeared that the entire eye was sensitive to light and darkened to stop bright lights getting in. It was genius and allowed more of the eye to be able to see - the alien probably had a wider field of vision than any human.

Even though the creature was sedated Elaine was still cautious when it came to dealing with it. There were four police officers in the medical bay, which although not to her liking, was very necessary. At any time the creature could awaken and try to harm them all.

There was much to discover regarding this creature that only a full autopsy could explain but as it stood this was a live sample, something far more precious. Elaine could only hope that when the other creature was found, it was found dead.

Evan paced around his small living quarters. Since being brought aboard this time ship he had been overwhelmed with information at every turn. His only ally, Khaira, was strange at best and seemed to be mistrusted by the doctor aboard this ship. What was Evan going to do, apparently he had some kind of psychic power to read minds and see things, which he had never seen. The very idea of that scared him and he was lost and confused.

What was happening and why did he feel the need to throw himself into a war he should never be involved in? Why was there some concern about Evan himself, which caused everyone on board the Agamemnon to look at him strangely? What was he going to do?

There was a chime at his door and Evan walked across to the controls, which opened it. Captain Phillip Reynolds, who Evan had only briefly met in the last few days, stood before him.

Reynolds walked into the room and surveyed Evan’s quarters before finally speaking. “Who are you?”

“My name is Evan Harkins.” Evan was unsure of Reynolds and his motives.

“I was born in your time in 2004, what I want to know is why I survived frozen while billions died.”

“What do you mean?” Evan was confused.

Reynolds sat on Evan’s bed and looked up at the boy. ”There were survivors who were found frozen 35 years ago. They were thawed out, a small group of us, and we managed to integrate with society. I’ve always wondered what my life would have been like had the attack never happened. I’ve always wondered why this ice bomb was used to destroy our planet. I’m angry at having someone else choose such a drastic alteration for my life.”

Reynolds looked away from Evan who could only stare at him. The captain had opened up in a most personal way. “I want to know why you weren’t frozen, why weren’t you killed? I want to know why you of all people survived.”

“What difference would it make?”

“It would give me context. It would give me a piece of mind.” Reynolds appeared to begging but his expression and his tone were normal.

“I don’t know,” said Evan apologetically. “I can’t help you. If I knew why then perhaps I could begin to figure out who I am beyond just my name. There’s things happening here which I don’t understand but I appear to be pivotal.”

Reynolds stood up, his air was more professional but there was still warmth in his personality. “We’ll find out what happened. I’m certain of that.”

Evan watched Reynolds leave convinced he had one more ally.

Captain Reynolds entered the communications department, knowing that the call he was about to make would be one of the most difficult of his career. Dialling up the number he took a deep breath and turned on the viewing screen.

“Your through to Space Station 5 which department do you require?”

These recorded messages annoyed Captain Reynolds, how difficult would it be to speak to a human.

“Captain Robert Doig”.

The tone began to ring and after a few seconds some hold music came on. “God, hold music”

“Your through to Captain Doig’s office. Can I ask who’s speaking please?”

A human, he thought to himself, “Yes, my name is Captain Reynolds from the ship Agamemnon. I have to speak with Captain Doig”

“Hold sir, I’ll transfer you now. He’s expecting your call,”

Captain Reynolds took a sip of water. How was he going to discuss the current situation with his superior? He had so much to tell him and there was no easy way to do it. Ever since Evan had announced that Doig had sabotaged the chronometric engines there had been panic on the ship. Cynthia Woods had pulled her entire division into action to go over every section of the drive and check it for faults. Reynolds hoped that there would be no problems but he had a dark suspicion that Evan would be proved right.

There was also the problem of Evan’s cryptic message that Doig was not one of them. Who was he then? What did Evan mean? The boy had no idea of anything beyond what he said so it was hard to get any more information. Did Evan mean that Doig was not one of us because he was not on their side? Did Robert Doig have sympathies with the alien cause? How could Doig even know about the aliens when nobody had ever seen one before? Reynolds was confused and unsure of how to proceed.

Looking back at the screen Reynolds noticed that it flared as static interfered with the signal. Trying to communicate through time was not easy and this was the clearest call he had ever seen. Suddenly the screen changed and Doig appeared.

“Captain Reynolds,” said Doig as static fuzzed his voice and the image skewed sideways slightly. “What can I do for you?”

“I have some important things to discuss. Earlier today there was an accusation that you had tampered with the chronometric drive.”

It took a moment for the communication to be delivered to Doig but his surprise was apparent. “That isn’t even possible. It’s a ludicrous accusation.”

“I understand your anger sir. We have been colleagues for over 15 years. When I heard the accusation myself I said how ludicrous it was.”

Doig shook his head from side to side, “I’m waiting for the but.”

Reynolds felt awful now, he had know Doig since he had began working. He had a lot of respect for Doig, viewed him as a father figure and admired his work. He had believed in everything Doig had done and wanted to follow in his footsteps. It hurt him to make accusations against the one person he regarded as family.

“Well I’m waiting Phillip. For 15 years we have been nothing but allies and now you sit before me and accuse me of sabotaging my own people?”

“No Sir. You have been nothing but generous to me. You made me who I am today. And to speak the words of the boy was one of the most difficult things I have ever had to face in my career. “ He paused feeling even more awful than he had before making the call, “If I may be so bold sir, it was you that taught me to always be honest no matter what.”

Captain Doig lifted his bowed head, “The boy? Evan made these allegations! The thief we rescued, and I thought, as you said, I had taught you well.”

Reynolds began to feel really bad. He had made an accusation towards the one person who had taken him under his wing when he had entered into the naval space corp. “I’ll investigate this further then.”

“I suggest that you do before you start making wild accusations again. Doig out.”

The screen went black and Captain Reynolds sighed. He had called Doig out of his loyalty to him but as he stood there alone in the communications room Reynolds knew that he had made the biggest mistake of his life. If Doig was the saboteur then Reynolds had just alerted him to the fact that they were on to him.

Khaira knew that they were watching her. Ever since they had realised that she had bonded with Evan they had been watching her. They tried to hide the fact that they were watching but she knew.

As one of Cynthia’s more experienced staff, Khaira was still afforded all the courtesy she was used to. Although they suspected her there was still no evidence to support anything. Only Evan and Doctor Masterton knew she was pregnant and Khaira hoped to keep it that way.

There was still no sign of sabotage on the chronometric drive but that did not dissuade Khaira, there was bound to be something and they would find it. Khaira had faith in Evan that he was right that he was correct and that he was not the threat that everyone else suspected. Khaira hoped that she would be the one to find the sabotage, that she would be the one to prove all the detractors of Evan’s abilities wrong.

Suddenly Khaira looked around, all the other people in the room had left but she felt a presence behind her. She felt her skin prickle and a sense of cold fear running though her. She was almost afraid to look but she knew she had to so Khaira turned around.

A tall alien matching the one in the medical bay stood before her. Khaira tightened her grip around her precision laser cutter and prepared herself for the worst.