There it was. It had been named for everyone in the room to hear. Thomas turned to see the expressions on the faces of the others. He had never expected anyone to ever discover his secret. Why would they? No one had any real reason to suspect that John Thomas Paris, mass murderer, was still alive, much less on a colony world. He was, after all, the man that history recorded as being the loudest voice against colonization. He was the literal death stroke of man’s first venture towards the colonization of other worlds.
“Well, Mr. Paris?” Taggart said. “Don’t you have anything to say?”
He didn’t. He simply looked from Taggart to Somar, wondering suddenly if the alien captain regretted sharing his own secret with him.
Somar was not looking at Thomas. Instead, he was staring at Taggart. “This man’s historical background is irrelevant,” he said.
“Oh?” Taggart laughed. “Well, maybe it is at that.”
“You are attempting to shift our attention away from your purpose here by placing suspicion on Mr. Thomas.”
“Paris,” Taggart corrected.
“But I, for one, would still like to know what your intentions are.”
“Get used to disappointment,” Taggart said. “I’m not obligated to you in any way. And don’t think you can deny me the right to serve this community. Take a closer look at the name stamped on most of the equipment here.”
He was right. “Taggart Industries” was printed on nearly everything. It was so prevalent that Thomas had stopped noticing it long ago, like overlooking a flaw in a paint job.
“I funded this colony, Captain Somar. Now, by the laws of the Earth Colonization Fleet I can’t claim to own the place, because I signed the colony agreement. But I do own the equipment. “
“That seems clear,” Somar said. “But the people will dictate its use, not you.”
“We’ll see how much they dictate if I decide to turn on the fail-safes and shut down every piece of technology on this world.”
“You would do this and endanger the lives of these colonists?”
“Only if I’m forced to,” Taggart said. He was not smiling now. And he wasn’t looking at Somar. He was looking at Thomas.
“You think I have some influence here, Taggart?” Thomas said.
“More than you’d ever know, actually. See, your name … it’s hated throughout the colonies. But what if I told you, I could make your name beloved by all of mankind?”
“I wouldn’t care in any way,” Thomas said.
Taggart laughed. “You know, I think you’re telling the truth! Well, that’s ok. I’m going to make you famous anyway.”
Thomas felt his stomach churn. Was Taggart going to reveal that he was still alive? Never mind the impact on the rest of humanity, this small group of survivors would shred him before word ever got out elsewhere.
“Oh, Thomas, don’t worry too much about it. I can see it scares you. Believe me, when I choose to reveal your secret it will make you a hero. No one will think of you as the man who killed a world ever again. Eventually, anyway.”
“You have some sort of plan, I take it?” Thomas said.
Taggart smiled. “Always. And forever. I’m the only one in the colonies who can redeem your name and save humanity.”
Billy Sans, who had been quiet through this conversation, laughed aloud. “Save humanity! From what?”
“From itself, young man,” Taggart said, eyeing him. “From people like you, who would sooner roll over and play lackey to an alien species than stand up and fight for control of what rightfully belongs to you.”
“What, the colony?” Thomas asked.
“All of the colonies,” Taggart said.
Again Thomas laughed, “This doesn’t sound like Earth First to me. What kind of game are you playing?”
“Oh, it’s Earth First. But I’m not as narrow-minded as my great-grandfather.” He looked around to see the reaction to this statement. “Oh yes, Earth First is a family business, didn’t you know?”
“You are speaking of the Esool,” Somar said.
They all turned to him. “Yes,” Taggart said. “I’m talking about the Esool. Or rather, removing the Esool. Your species occupies several worlds at present that should, by rights, belong to the Earth colonies.”
“We obtained all of our worlds through our own independent expansion,” Somar said.
“And through bargaining with humanity,” Taggart replied. There was a slight note of bitterness in his voice, the first real emotion that Thomas felt he’d heard from the man.
“Yes,” Somar said simply.
“We will have them back,” Taggart said, matching Somar’s tone.
“How?” Thomas asked.
Taggart shrugged. “Before boarding Citadel, I made numerous arrangements. I have Earth First followers on every colony world. And Taggart Industries manufactures all of the hubs that are used for faster-than-light travel.”
“You … ” Thomas started, unable to believe what he was hearing. “You would shut down the lightrail network? Just to further your insane cause?”
“No, no. That would be treason, Thomas. Of course, I wouldn’t shut it down. But I will exercise an option in my contract with the Earth Colony Fleet. Only vessels that Taggart Industries approves may travel the network. And it’s enforceable by code. Every vessel built by Taggart Industries has a ‘safety,’ as it were. A code that tells the hubs to let the ship pass. It’s built into the hardware of each vessel, and any attempt to replicate it or reverse engineer it will cause it to self-destruct.
“Right now, all of the hubs are set to allow passing traffic, without hindrance. But at my word, the safety is triggered and only TI-approved vessels will be able to make faster-than-light journeys on the Earth hub network. I will have complete say over who moves among the stars.”
“You’re killing the colonies!” Billy shouted.
“Nothing of the kind. I’m freeing them.”
“How?” Thomas asked.
It was Somar who spoke. “By refusing to allow the Esool to travel on them.” Again they turned and stared at him. “Since the end of the conflict between the Esool and the humans, we have become dependent upon the human lightrail network. We have abandoned our old network and allowed it to be replaced by the human system. For that, we are now at the mercy of humanity.”
Taggart’s smile was so smug, Thomas wanted to rip it off of his face. “You bastard,” Thomas snarled. He moved forward, ready to physically attack the man. Somar put out a hand and stopped him.
“Your plan for the human colonies is ambitious and quite brilliant,” Somar said. Everyone, including Taggart, seemed surprised. “But that does not explain why you purposefully sabotaged Citadel.”
Taggart suddenly broke into laughter. He laughed so hard that he had to stumble back slightly, leaning on one of the tables. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve and looked up at the men gathered around him, each of whom wore an expression that was not amused.
“I had nothing to do with the sabotage, Captain Somar. But I’m afraid Earth First did.”
“What?” Thomas asked. “What do you mean by that?”
“I have rivals, son. People within my organization who believe I’ve drifted from the one, true way. They still hold to the old-fashioned idea that humanity should stick to Earth. But they forget that we’ve grown since those days. We couldn’t possibly reel ourselves back in now. Earth is smaller than it used to be. Humanity is much bigger. We are no longer one world with a division of nations—we are hundreds of worlds with a division of societies. The rich, the White Collars, the Blue Collars—we had to have our prejudices, didn’t we? That’s who we are now. Earth First has to adapt or die.”
“So someone decided you weren’t fit to lead, and they tried to wipe out an entire colony?”
Taggart shrugged. “It wouldn’t be the first time. There’s historical precedence. Oh, but you know that!” he laughed again.
Thomas didn’t find it funny. “So, what now? What about your grand scheme now?”
Taggart shrugged. “It goes on. My people are already in place all over the colonies. The moon I bought is already set up to be the nerve center to coordinate everything. What? You thought I’d buy a whole moon just for mining purposes? I’ve connected every lightrail hub in the galaxy to a system on Taggart Prime. Do you like the name? A bit self aggrandizing, I know, but it rings so well. Oh, and I’ve even had my scientists fix a little problem we had. Communication.”
“What? You’ve overcome the light speed barrier?” Thomas asked.
“What is a barrier, anyway?” Taggart replied. “It’s just something that’s in the way, between you and your goal. No barrier is impenetrable. Oh, don’t ask for details. I’ve read the reports, but I’m no physicist. Something to do with twined quantum particles or some such. Fascinating stuff. I’m sure you’d appreciate it, Thomas.”
Somar spoke, “You are able to communicate across the gulf of space? With any world?”
Taggart shrugged, “With any hub, anyway. I was planning on expanding the system, to put it on every colony world. It’s quite a leap in technology, and it will change everything. And it will have the Taggart name stamped on it.”
“Interesting,” Somar replied.
Thomas marveled at the alien’s mastery of understatement. Then something occurred to him. “How did you know about me?”
Again Taggart laughed. “Son, you really are dense. Did you really think the government could keep a secret? When they changed your face and put you in stasis, my grandfather used his position and influence to make the Taggart family your guardians. He always felt that someday you’d come in handy. Granted, he had no way to know of the infamy that your name would achieve. But infamy and fame have just a narrow line between them in the view of the public. So, if I suddenly announce that you are alive and well, here on a colony world with me, it would shock the colonies. They would hear me say that this was your second chance, an opportunity for redemption. And they would be so in love with this romantic notion that they would listen to anything I had to say. I would be, after all, the man who raised the dead and in infinite generosity helped to redeem the greatest murderer of all time.”
Thomas dropped to one of the stools surrounding the table. He was stunned. Was it possible, that he was here not by accident or fortune but by the grand design of a man he’d never met, over a century ago?
Captain Somar put a hand on his shoulder. “You do not need redemption, Thomas. Nor do you have to allow yourself to be used in this way.”
“I don’t see how he has a choice,” Taggart smiled.
Somar turned to him. “He does indeed. Your plan seems to rely on your network of communication and the worlds that you’ve infiltrated. No doubt you planted one of your devices on the colony world in advance. Unfortunately, you failed to account for all variables. You are trapped here with us, on a world that was not our destination.”
Taggart’s smile stayed, but his eyes revealed a glimmer of irritation. “What do you mean?” he asked.
Somar turned back to the computer and brought up the survey maps, letting them slide side-by-side with the satellite images. “We are not on the world we were destined to land upon.”
Taggart studied the maps for a moment, then slammed his palm on the table. He turned, glared first at Somar and then at Thomas, and without another word, left the command center.
Thomas blinked. “He didn’t know.”
“I suspected he did not,” Somar replied. “Mr. Taggart’s plan was meticulous and detailed, but I do not believe it included Citadel crashing, and it certainly did not include being on a different world entirely.”
Thomas rubbed his eyes. “Well, not that it isn’t fun to thwart a madman’s plans for galactic conquest, but I’m still facing a very angry mob of people when they find out who I am.”
“They’ll rip you to shreds,” Billy Sans marveled. “There’s no way you could convince them that you didn’t have anything to do with us being stuck here.”
Thomas looked at the young man. “What do you believe?” he asked.
“Are you really John Thomas Paris?”
Thomas hesitated, “That man died over a hundred years ago. I’m Thomas. New face, new name … ” he waved a hand to indicate the images of the planet on the computer screen, “ … and what was supposed to be a new start. Of course, if Taggart spills about who I was, then I’m not only back to square one, I’m buried under it.”
Billy thought about this. “You’re as much a victim here as anyone,” Billy said plainly.
Thomas looked up at Somar who, strangely, was smiling. “Something funny?” Thomas asked.
“Mr. Sans has gained great wisdom since coming to this world. It is my hope that others will as well.”
“Don’t bet on it,” Thomas said. “Individuals can be wise, but people … people usually make horrible mistakes and reason that they did it in the name of society. If they find out about me, there will be plenty of voices to convince the crowd that I’m a threat. I’ll be lying in ribbons by the morning.”
“As will I,” Somar said. “After all, I am the alien who tolerated your presence. We will both be suspect. But you need not worry. Taggart will say nothing.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because this information is the only true leverage he has at the moment.”
Thomas thought about this and realized Somar was right. It was cold comfort, though. And deep down, he just couldn’t bring himself to rely on it as protection.
Taggart was unaccustomed to his plans being so openly thwarted. He was a man of patience and planning as well as action. He never committed himself unless he knew two things for certain: His plan would succeed, and he had a way out if it didn’t.
Here, he couldn’t be certain of either. It had not occurred to him that this wasn’t the world that he’d thought it was. It hadn’t occurred to him that the one element of his plan he’d taken for granted might not be a given. Who could have planned on something like this? A different world! How would he manage to pull the pieces together when there were light years separating them?
But he would. He would because that’s what he always did. He’d done it his whole life, just as his father had. Just as his grandfather had. Just as every man in the Taggart line had done since history had begun recording the name. He wouldn’t fail—he would just change the objective.
This was the wrong world. That meant all of his preparations were useless. For close to two years, he’d been secretly placing his communications arrays on various worlds, including that first one—the planet that had been their original destination.
Taggart had orchestrated this without the knowledge of the Earth Colony Fleet, sending out unmanned, robotic spacecraft that had no need of returning. If the planet had been uninhabitable, he’d have lost a paltry billion dollars worth of materials, nothing more. But the world hadn’t been uninhabitable, and within days of the craft’s arrival, he’d begun receiving telemetry, faster than light, from the world that would become the symbol of a new empire. The Taggart Empire. The empire of Earth First, if they could get their heads out of their isolationist asses.
But this wasn’t the right world, and his array wasn’t here. Everything, absolutely everything, had depended on one element—that he land on the right world. It hadn’t even been in his consideration that he’d land on the wrong one. It was inconceivable. Utterly … completely … totally inconceivable.
Yet, here he was. Damn him for being complacent.
He’d pull it together. It would be more difficult than before, that was all. Despite not having all of the resources he’d planned on, he still had a few. The people, for one, were a resource. Most of the colonists were part of his chosen group—wealthy elitists who cowed to his whims in every way—and they would follow his lead in anything he declared. The rest, the crew of Citadel who had been stranded among them, they might prove more problematic.
The Blue Collars were a breed he understood. In his childhood, his father had made him work in all of the businesses owned by Taggart Industries. It was his father’s way of encouraging character, principle, and a work ethic. And it had worked. Taggart loved working in the factories and fields, putting his hands on equipment, figuring out solutions to basic mechanical problems. He became a quick study of engineering in all of its forms. He could design a circuit, build equipment, and draft union agreements. He learned the principles of accounting and of marketing as well as the principles of physics and thermodynamics. He studied under masters in every discipline and came away with a much greater whole of knowledge than any one man he’d ever met.
His education was thorough and all-inclusive, but it wasn’t complete until his father had shown him the pod.
“This will be your ultimate weapon, son,” Taggart Sr. said.
“Who is he?” Taggart had asked. He was in his early twenties and had already risen in the ranks by his own strengths. His father had done nothing to help him, other than give him opportunities to learn and work.
“He is the man who killed a world.”
John Thomas Paris—the man that history recorded as the mastermind behind the destruction of the first colony ship. Here he was, a new face and a new name, but otherwise preserved in a way that vids and history books could never approach. He slept, now for a century, in a pod protected by Taggart Industries. Through subsidiary holdings, of course.
Taggart, Sr. explained how this ultimate weapon would work. “When you are the head of Earth First, you will raise the martyr. You will show the world his face. You will remind them of this war with the Esool and of the way in which humanity has spread itself out in the galaxy, destroying our unity, our sense of self. Right now humanity hates that it is so far spread. By the time you are the head of Taggart Industries and that more secret and sacred trust, Earth First, humans will be seeking a new way. They will hunger for leadership, for symbols. And at that time you will awaken the World Destroyer and show humanity that there is nothing you cannot tame, and that if John Thomas Paris can get a second chance, so can humanity. You will pull them all back to Earth, son. It is your destiny.”
Taggart knew nothing of destiny. He knew only of the plans of a brilliant mind, of the schematics of a revolutionary design, of the map of a new and powerful empire. As his training had continued and he left the Blue Collar world behind, he began to learn the art of business. He learned how to build and maintain a financial empire. He learned how to bend the will of a man using nothing but what the man wanted most.
He learned the power of symbols.
But he also learned that vision of his father and grandfather was flawed. The goals of Earth First were foolishness. Draw humanity back to Earth? What would be the point of that? What good would come of it? The Earth was a tapped-out whore who had given everything to her children and was now retiring into obscurity. Her minerals had been mined, her strength had been sapped. It was only by constant attention that humanity was able to keep the old girl around. She might not last another millennia.
So Taggart began to think of things in a different way. Earth First? He changed the meaning. Now, instead of a selfish contraction of humanity, it would be a noble expansion, a growing domain. Earth First would now stand for Earth as the beginning. Earth as the first of a collection of worlds—a union of planets that all bore the weight of humanity. Earth First, the organization that his small-minded grandfather had begun in answer to expansion, would become a spanning interplanetary government. It would become a new and powerful Rome among the stars. It would be the battle cry of conquerors, who would slay alien monsters who took what rightly belonged to humanity. Travel among the stars would become a human privilege, to be denied to anyone who did not comply.
Earth First would be Taggart’s legacy and a new order—one that would live on as the greatest empire of humanity.
And it had all hinged on landing on the right damn world.
Taggart watched several Blue Collars as they worked. He propped himself against a tree, resting in the shade as activity buzzed all around him. This was his way, when he needed to regroup. He became quiet and contemplative. In his office at Taggart Industries, back on Earth, he would sit for hours in one spot mulling over a dilemma. He was a man of action, and sitting still for so long took a great deal of concentration and effort, but it always paid off. By thinking through a problem, from beginning to end, he would always come up with a solution.
The Blue Collar workers were hoisting equipment into place all over the encampment. These would be relay stations for power and water, which would be supplied by the lines that were being laid from the river at this very moment. Stands for the solar panels were going up as well. The panels would supplement their power needs once they could be retrieved from the colony module. No possible watt would be spared, if it could be helped. This was survival. In survival, you use every resource available.
Taggart watched as one of the White Collars stepped into the scene. He was holding some plans on actual paper, or the artificial equivalent that sometimes still saw use. These were rolled tightly in one hand and he spread them out now, directing the Blue Collars to look at them and make adjustments. The Blue Collars all looked at each other for just a brief instant, but it was enough. Taggart saw, in that fraction of a second, a means to his end.
He might not be on the right world, and he might not be able to communicate with the rest of humanity, but he was still surrounded by humans.
Thomas—John Thomas Paris—was safe for now. Taggart couldn’t risk playing that trump card just yet. There would be a time and a place to reveal what he knew. But his other opposition—the alien captain—he was one problem Taggart could deal with.
It would all depend on humans being humans.
Penny was going to be a nuisance. Mitch looked her up and down before shaking his head and firmly saying, “No.”
“What do you mean, no?” she asked, indignant.
“I mean you’re not going with us. We have enough trouble without some debutante tagging along.”
He heard Reilly cough and saw her turn her head to keep her smile from showing.
Penny, obviously, had noticed it too. “Listen, grease monkey. My parents are still out there. For all I know, they could be dying! I’m going with you and that’s that.”
“That’s nothing,” Mitch sneered. “This may be dangerous, and I’m not about to let a colonist with no useful skills tag along.”
It was Alan, that noble, quiet bastard, who ended up ruining Mitch’s day. “She’s a professional climber and an expert hiker,” he said quietly. “We’ve been in space most of our lives. We might need someone with her skills.”
Mitch turned on the young man and glared. Alan was always levelheaded, making decisions based on cool reasoning and common sense. Why would he suddenly flaunt protocol and speak out in direct contradiction of his commanding officer?
It took only an instant for Mitch to realize why. He spoke out only when he felt that the one in command wasn’t thinking things through. He was a good worker and a very smart young man, and he would never contradict his commander unless he had a damn good reason.
These things came to Mitch in an instant, but his temper didn’t catch up immediately. He turned back to Penny, who was beaming with the sudden realization that she was, in fact, going on this trip. “Get her set up with gear,” he snapped and then walked away.
If he’d stayed another moment, he would have wiped the smug smile off of Penny’s face.
Reilly caught up with him as he stormed around the shuttle, doing the last-minute inspection. “Hey,” she said.
He didn’t stop, just kept moving. “What?” he snapped.
“Hey, just because you’re pissed doesn’t mean you can take it out on me,” Reilly snapped back.
He whirled and faced her, bore down on her. He stood over her with fury tightening his arms and shoulders and neck. She looked up at him, defiant and unblinking. For a long moment they stood that way, silent.
They both suddenly broke into laughter.
“Why does that girl get to me so bad?” he asked.
Reilly smiled and briefly put a hand on his chest. Noticing, she quickly pulled it away, and Mitch suddenly wondered why he wished she’d put it back.
“Maybe it’s because you want her to be this weak and weepy rich girl, but she’s actually got some edge to her.”
“So, what, I just don’t want to respect her so I resent her because I do?”
“All of a sudden you respect her?” Reilly asked.
Mitch was silent, then sighed. “Yeah, I do. She comes off as a spoiled brat sometimes, but the truth is she can really pull it together.”
“Yeah, I’ve noticed.”
“So what is it? What bugs me about her?” Mitch asked.
“Maybe it’s just that you know she can do better, but she doesn’t seem to know it.”
Mitch thought about this for a moment before realizing that it was true. He shook his head. “Penny Daunder is the last of our concerns right now. She’ll pull her weight, I guess. But what I’m more worried about is the fact that we haven’t heard from Captain Alonzo.”
Reilly absorbed this. “Nothing? No attempt at contact?”
“We have full satellite communications now, everything works. We have access to the ship’s computer, as far as our access codes can take us. But our hails aren’t being answered, and when we try to access any of the logs, we’re blocked. It’s as if the Captain and the remaining crew up there are not just ignoring us, but are going out of their way to keep us from knowing anything.”
“No one would be able to block all of the logs,” she said.
“One person could.”
She thought for a moment. “Captain Alonzo? Why would he do that?”
Mitch shook his head. “I have no idea. It doesn’t make sense. This definitely qualifies as a time of emergency, so we really need to have all communication channels open. He needs to be the one directing everything, and instead he seems to be leaving it to Captain Somar.”
“Somar’s doing a good job,” Reilly said.
“He is,” Mitch agreed. “He has my full support. But at the moment, we have no way of knowing what’s going on upstairs. And that’s why I didn’t want Penny with us.”
Reilly thought for a moment. “You’re planning on going out of atmo? Back up to the orbital platform?”
“Captain Somar has given me a directive. I’m supposed to drop off Alan and a small team to retrieve the pods and get them ready for transport, wake up the colonists, whatever. But while he’s doing that, you and I are going into space.”
Reilly absorbed this information. “I can’t say that I’m not happy to hear that, I guess.”
“I figured. But this isn’t going to be a homecoming, Reilly. We’re going up there to find out what the hell is going on with Captain Alonzo and the crew.”
She nodded. “It’s funny,” she said.
“What’s that?”
“I never thought I’d see the day when I trusted an Esool more than Captain Alonzo.”
Mitch said nothing. He was afraid to tell her he’d been feeling that way for some time now.
Instead he buried himself in the details of pre-launch. He loaded the gear that the rescue team would need. He tested the communications equipment and signal beacons. And he made doubly sure that there was enough food and water for several people to make the long journey back to Citadel on foot.
Just in case.
Half an hour before they were set to launch, Mitch called Alan into the shuttle’s crew bay. He had Alan sit in what would be considered the command seat. It was a gesture on his part, meant to emphasize what he was about to tell the young man. “You’re a solid guy, Alan,” Mitch said. “Squared. You know what you’re doing, and you always act with a cool head.”
Alan nodded.
Mitch marveled that the young man could agree with compliments on his character without so much as a smile of pride on his lips, and yet he still seemed utterly humble. “I’ve been given another mission by Captain Somar.”
“You’re going into space,” Alan said.
Mitch blinked. “What are you, psychic?”
“It makes sense. We haven’t heard from Captain Alonzo since the crash, and now that the shuttle’s back in working condition you’re going up to find out what’s going on.”
Mitch nodded. “Good. Then you’ll have no problem leading this rescue expedition.”
For the first time, Alan seemed surprised. “Me?” he asked.
Mitch fought the urge to smile but failed. “You’re the best qualified. You’ve already been out on the terrain further than anyone else, and you know how to repair the pods and get those colonists out safely. And besides, you’ll have Miss Daunder to help you navigate the rough terrain.”
Alan’s expression was back to its usual mask of stoicism. “Yes, sir,” he said.
“Don’t ‘sir’ me, Alan. As of right now, you’re being promoted to Engineer First Class. You and me, we have the same rank now.”
“Promoted?”
“By order of Captain Somar. He’s the acting commander here, and he has the authority. I suggested it to him this morning.”
Alan nodded. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. You’ve got a tough job ahead of you. And if anything goes wrong while we’re in orbit, you’ll have to figure out a way to get a bunch of weak and whining rich people back to base a few hundred miles away.”
“I’ll manage,” Alan said.
Mitch was surprised to see the younger man smiling, a hint of wry humor in his voice. “Well, I never thought I’d see it. You’re actually proud of yourself, aren’t you?”
“No, sir,” Alan said. “Just approving of a wise command decision.”
Mitch laughed.
“What about Thomas,” Alan asked. “Is he going with you?”
Mitch shook his head, “Not this time. Apparently Somar has something in mind for him. They wouldn’t tell me what it was.”
“Interesting,” Alan said in a tone that told Mitch that the young man knew Thomas wouldn’t be with him, either.
“Do you know something I don’t know?”
“No,” Alan said, his expression blank.
Mitch didn’t know what to believe. “ok, well, anyway this is your mission. The team is the group you selected, including Miss Daunder.”
“Penny will do fine,” he said.
“Let’s hope so. Now, go get ready. We lift off in about twenty minutes.”
Alan nodded and rose to leave. He paused just at the door to the cargo bay.
“Mitch?” Alan said, “When you see Captain Alonzo ask him how he knew we were off-course.”
Mitch blinked. “What makes you think he knew it?”
Alan shook his head. “It’s too much of a coincidence to think that this planet was on the same flight path as the one we were supposed to land on. That means that someone had to adjust our course somehow. The Captain is one of the few people who could have done this.”
Mitch thought this over. “ok,” he said. “I’ll ask him.”
It was just one of many questions he planned to ask when he saw Captain Alonzo face-to-face.