Universe War (Mission Activated)

Arrival on Kirian

A flurry of diagrams appeared on the monitor, flashing past in rapid succession. Though they were incomprehensible to Jasper, Alex absorbed the information at lightning speed.

"See anything abnormal?" Jasper asked, shifting slightly in his seat. He was more worried than he had thought.

"Your cerebral activity is a little more intense than usual," Alex confirmed, adding almost blandly, "You received external waves."

What the hell was that?

"Explain."

"These waves don't come from your memory. Somebody is sending you the images."

Jasper went a little cold inside. "Do you know who? And where they came from?"

"Negative," Alex replied, her voice holding regret. She wasn't a person, but she had a personality, and she disliked being unable to answer any question the agents threw at her. "They could come from the present or the past, and from anywhere in the universe."

"Leaving exospace," Eliza called over to Jasper. The young major did not respond. He was too busy pondering Alex's unsettling analysis. Why would someone want to direct images into his sleeping brain? Specifically, those images?

"Three..." Alex counted down, "two... one. Exit!"

The cockpit shuddered. The black expanse of space visible on the enormous view screen exploded into thousands of filaments, out of which emerged the image of the planet Kirian.

It was smaller than Earth, and no clouds softened the red, rocky image it presented. It took a stretch of the imagination to think that such a place could support life, let alone give birth to it. But it had, and Jasper and Eliza would be interacting with it soon. The place was certainly uninviting, but on its desert surface was where their next assignment lay.

Eliza swiveled in her chair and grasped the joystick.

"Manual," she instructed the computer.

"Affirmative," replied Alex. "You now have command, Sergeant. Rendezvous coordinates are shown on B4."

"Thanks."

The spaceship hurtled through Kirian's atmosphere, approaching the desolate, bleak, and very hard surface with unsettling rapidity. They hit turbulence, and the ship began to buck. The two agents bounced wildly about in their seats. Jasper was almost ninety-two percent certain his teeth were rattling, but Eliza didn't seem to care. She looked forward with those intent blue eyes, totally focused, both hands gripping the joystick as if trying to arm-wrestle it into submission.

"Easy," Jasper cautioned. The bouncing made his voice waver.

"We're running late," Eliza retorted, her own voice somehow managing to stay steely even though it, too, was wobbly from the ship's erratic motion.

Jasper muttered under his breath, "Better late than dead." Of course,

as soon as he said it, he realized that "late" could also mean "dead," but he

shoved the thought aside, preferring to focus on the speed with which Kirian was approaching and the hope that he'd survive the next few

minutes.

Exasperated, Eliza released the joystick and threw her hands up in

the air. "You want to drive?"

"Keep your hands on the wheel, please!" Jasper tried not to yelp the

words.

Eliza, stony-faced, appeared not to have heard.

Sweat broke out on Jasper's brow. With the utmost politeness, he said

in a calm voice, "Eliza, will you please put your hands back on the

wheel?"

"Will you stop complaining about my driving?" she retorted.

"Yes, I'm sorry. You're a great driver. You're the best driver in the entire

universe!" Jasper wasn't sure who he was trying to convince—himself

or Eliza. Probably both.

She beamed at him, but her eyes were sly. "Aww, thanks!" She'd won

this round and they both knew it.

But at least she'd grabbed the joystick again and had gained control of

the ship.

"Touchdown on Kirian in two minutes," Eliza announced. There was a trace of pride in her voice as she added, "I saved us some time."

"Perhaps I should take over for a moment," Alex said, "so you can both utilize that time to put on something more appropriate?"

While Jasper had certainly not forgotten that Eliza was in her bikini, he'd forgotten that he was sitting in the cockpit of a cutting-edge ship in nothing but swimming trunks.

"Good thinking," Eliza said, to Jasper's quiet disappointment.

"Leaving manual."

"Manual disarmed," Alex replied.

Eliza rose and left to change. Jasper watched her retreating figure with all the appreciation it deserved, murmuring under his breath, "Wow! Man..."

"Do you want me to regulate your hormones, Major?" Alex offered helpfully.

For a brief instant, Jasper actually considered it. Then, "No thank you," he replied, and rose to change as well.

They walked down the ramp to the surface of Kirian, a plain of soft, powdered sand interrupted by craggy, jutting stone. In the end, their attire was a bit more modest, but otherwise not that different. The major was in shorts, closed athletic shoes, and a yellow mesh undershirt overlaid with a gaudy flower-print shirt. The sergeant followed clad in a short, gray, flowing dress, waving at the six unsmiling soldiers who had been awaiting their arrival.

They were, at least at this moment, unmistakably that—soldiers, despite their efforts to blend in with the populace. They wore loose, somewhat messy sand-colored clothing. Their heads were wrapped with cloth—except for one soldier, whose bald pate and long, thick beard set him apart and, frankly, probably was a better disguise than a headwrapping. Voluminous ponchos served double duty, concealing their excellent physical condition and also conveniently hiding various pieces of equipment and weaponry. Their disciplined military bearing was obviously being sorely tested by the heat of the planet, which had reddened the paler faces among them and dewed all of them in sweat. Kirian was every bit as unwelcoming on its surface as it had looked from space. Some of the huge boulders had been contorted and shaped by time and weathering, their tops looking like the wrinkled folds of brains propped up on narrow stalks. Others erupted at angles from the ground and looked more like sharp, flat arrows. Both types reared up over flat desert like ancient witnesses to a time of tremendous chaos. The sand was soft, but hot, and it was already starting to creep into clothing and skin.