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The Ones We Forgot: Chapter 20

  He could hardly believe what he was hearing from the others. The alert, despite what he initially thought, had not been a drill. It was the real deal. Aliens! They really picked the worst possible time to find us, didn’t they? The rest of those in the Security Dome were hard at work and busy trying to make sense of the new arrivals’ transmissions. The only thing they knew for sure was that the alien ship that the aliens had deployed from had since moved on, likely heading for Earth itself.

  He attempted to contact Edmund Grey again and his boss didn’t hesitate to accept the connection. “I think I know why you’re reaching out to me.”

  He does? “You do?” Derrick asked.

  “Yes, moments earlier, we received a transmission from Lazarus that confirmed our worst fears. The city is under attack from a strain of Mortalis, but there’s more. A group of aliens that hijacked the signal interrupted the transmission. That was before Lazarus himself cut us off.”

  “I was just about to say that we made first contact.”

  “They must be following an aether trail like breadcrumbs. Have they made any serious attempts on the Mars base?”

  “The only word I’ve got from those in the know is that they deployed some kind of FOB and are barrelling towards us as we speak.”

  “It would be unwise to assume immediate hostility,” said Edmund, as his picture on the screen flickered.

  “Why is that?”

  “If they had meant to destroy you, wouldn’t they have done that by now?”

  “Good point. What would you have me do?”

  “Assume the base is a lost cause and prioritise getting back to Earth.”

  Derrick leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. He looked out to those in his sector as other personnel each hurried about and talked frantically amongst themselves. “That won’t be easy, sir.”

  “I know, in your earlier messages, you stated that an alien outpost had finally been located. It’s a long shot, Cutler, but from what we know, that alien facility might have a gate that can bring you home.”

  “I’d have to get there first.”

  “I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”

  The connection ended, and Derrick sat, tapping his arm. He stared at the screen for a while; it still showed his current report on LT765. The new group that had arrived before this all began. A lightbulb lit up in his mind and he steeled himself. If I’m going to make it out of here, then linking up with them might be my best option. I just need to figure out who they are really working first and feign an alliance. Since everyone is so preoccupied with the aliens. Digging into Logitek’s history shouldn’t be too hard, but it can’t take forever. No telling how the aliens will act once they reach us.

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  “Savin - Overseer. The aliens will be here any minute. We need to go.”

  Savin faced the Chief of Security, and said, “Chief Cain, would it not be best to first check which part of the base they’re aiming for?”

  “I’ll check with the comms tower; they should be monitoring the alien’s movements.”

  Chief Cain wasted no time in heading over to the panel in the wall that allowed him to contact other parts of the base. He keyed in his access code and requested a connection to the control tower. “This is Chief Cain, MTC; can you hear me? I’m - with the Overseer, we’ve just become aware of touchdown some ways away from here. I need to know what we’re dealing with.”

  There was a long hiss of static only broken by Savin’s heavy footsteps coming to join them. The response from the comms panel came, eventually. “This is MTC, Ross here. We read you, Chief. Sensors are picking up something large approximately 20 klicks northwest of the Private Sector.”

  “Has anything been deployed?” asked Savin.

  “Er - Chief, who is that?”

  “Not your concern officer, answer his question.”

  “Scans do show something heading towards you, likely heading for the northern entrance to the base.”

  “That’s all I needed to hear. Thanks, Ross.”

  “Sir, what should Anya and I do in the meantime?”

  “Remain in the tower. It’s probably the safest place for you. No telling what these aliens have planned for us.”

  “Understood. We will await further communication.”

  The line went dead and Chief Cain switched to a base-wide broadcast frequency. “This is Chief Cain to all security personnel; I need as many of you as possible to meet me at the Northern airlock. We believe the newcomers will attempt to gain entry through it.”

  Cain stepped back and let out a sigh he had been holding in; he then looked at the nervous Savin. “Remember, I need you to be diplomatic. You’re not representing the Nirikiri anymore. You're one of us, and even if you are now the Overseer. I won’t have you jeopardise the lives of those on this base.”

  Everyone was on high alert after Cain's last message and it fell upon Francis to lead what remained of the Black Knights to the meeting point. While they planned to slip away into the barren lands of Mars, Francis’ morbid curiosity got the best of him, and a part of him wanted to meet these newcomers for himself. There was also still the underlying issue with Savin possessing Reginald, though he had no idea how to solve that problem, or even if he wanted to do so. We were told to gain control of the base with as little drama as possible, but now - I just want to go home, back to Earth. The more we’re here, the more I feel these cold walls closing in. This place will be our tomb if things carry on like this.

  “Frank, it shouldn’t be long before we reach the Private sector. I only just noticed this, but I don’t think Eva is with us.”

  He stopped dead hearing the concern in Melina’s words and faced them, doing a quick head count. There was Melina, Charles, Echo, and Pyotr. Eva had indeed slipped away from them in their haste. He cursed quietly to himself. He had suspected something was off with her; now there was no telling what she planned to do.

  “She’s made her choice,” he said before looking at Melina. ‘Did you sense something off with her? She was behaving strangely.’

  ‘No, but then any Mortan worth their salt can mask the symbiote. Even I can be blindsided. You think she was infected? When?’

  ‘When we reunited. It would explain why she stuck with miners. I’ve just been so caught up in everything, I never put two and two together.’

  ‘Should we warn the others?’

  He shook his head. “We continue to the rendezvous point and see what these aliens are about. Eva can look after herself…” But that’s not what I’m worried about, is it?

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