Stargazers

7. No Turning Back

     Drummond was unconscious for the better part of seven hours. When he finally opened his eyes, and looked up at smiling face of his own son, it didn't take long for him to realize what Saunders had done. He had already broken dozens of laws, broke protocol and disobeyed orders from everyone in his government, even the President. What harm would it do to add kidnapping an officer to the list of offenses? Drummond groaned as he sat up in bed. As his vision came into focus, he could see Eric standing on the other side of the room, slyly staying out of arm's reach some Drummond couldn't punch him. He looked up at Eric and sighed.

     "I should have seen this coming," he started, "Why did you do it?"

     "I was worried that the big wigs might try to make you the scapegoat," Eric explained, "Especially if they found out I took your son."

     "Is that the only reason?" Drummond asked.

     "No," Eric said, sitting down. "I wanted you to be my military advisor. Not only because I trust you but I also know that you trust me. You were willing to leave me to care for your only son. Trust like that is vital is important to the success of this mission. It will make the difference between living and dying."

     "That is so cool!" Gabriel called out.

     "Yes, it is." Eric agreed,

     "I ought to kill you for what you did," Drummond said as he stood up, "But it wasn't like I was an eager participant."

     "You were not," Eric admitted, "Even the Captain knows you were taken without consent. He's willing to testify to that as well."

     Drummond stood up and then something dawned on him. "How am I standing? I thought we would be in zero gravity in space?"

     "That's something me and a team of engineers took care of." Eric answered, smiling. "It's why I needed to lower the capacity to twenty-five thousand."

     Drummond held his hands up, "Not in the mood to listen to stuff that I likely won't understand to begin with. The fact is I'm here and you can't exactly turn back and drop me off. Now that the world knows about the existence of our project, it would be best to carry on with our mission."

     "I couldn't agree more," Eric said as he gestured to the door, "Follow me and I'll take you to today's briefing."

     "Briefing?" Drummond replied, "What briefing?"

     "With the other ships," Eric replied.

     Drummond took a deep breath. "Lead the way."

     It took the better part of twenty minutes to walk down hallways and climb up stairs to make their way to a specific room that was near the bridge. Drummond could tell them were closer to the bridge because the gravity was getting lighter. Once they were in what looked like a situation room, they were able to begin the briefing by introducing Drummond to everyone present.

     "Sergeant," Eric said, gesturing to the Captain, "This is Captain..."

     "Webber, Anthony Webber." Drummond said, slightly surprised. "We met when I graduated from the naval academy. You made the commencement speech."

     "I did," Webber said, smiling, "Good memory, Sergeant."

     "What are you doing here?" Drummond asked.

     "I was asked to come out of retirement," Webber replied, "This man here made me an offer I couldn't refuse."

     "He has experience with both military and commercial boats," Eric added, "He seemed like the ideal candidate to Captain the ship with our most prized cargo."