7 Renewed Hopes (2/2)

'' Don't play dumb with us mister Calvert. You know what I'm talking about. ''

'' Please, call me Henry. You look like respectable man, Commander London. ''

'' Landon. It's Commander Landon. And you 'Henry' are trying my patience. One more refusal to co-operate and my men will fill you with smoking holes. Now once again, what were you doing in that blast zone and how are you uninjured. ''

'' Ahhh, that. Yes. I was caught by a Tamarain scouting party. It derailed into a light skirmish and ended with a great bang. '' Henry said, a smile in his face.

He was technically not lying, only hiring the true gravity of the situation he was in. Only, hewasn't expecting what came next.

'' Commander, our inspection party came back with answers. ''

'' ... ''

'' ... ''

'' Give your report soldier, I don't have all day. '' Landon said, with exasperation and impatience all over his face.

'' Ahh yes Sir. Sorry Sir. The inspection team found what appeared to be 8 Tamarain scout bodies and 1 officer. A Captain, judging by his uniform. They were all burnt to crisps by the bomb, but strangely, the Captain back side was untouched. ''

Raising a brow and looking at his strange 'guest', he wondered if he could have done that. Impossible, he thought. No single man alive, especially a civilian, could take out 2 scout parties, kill an officer AND survive a bomb of that magnitude. It was totally unimaginable.

Staring at his new burden, he noticed he was a little out of touch. Almost as if he was in another world. Unbeknownst to him, Henry had been talking to the ACC since the end of the report.

'' System, can I take them on. ''

'' We strongly advise against it, as the chances of success are close to none. System can not scan human strength, as it was not programmed to do so. Status and rank of man named Joseph Landon, however, suggest strength of at least equal footing to class C Tamarain warrior. ''

'' Shit! Could you hack into the warp pad's interface and leave then? ''

'' Hacking into warping interface would require direct contact with warping pad's control panel. ''

'' DAMMIT!!! I guess we'll just have to go along with for now then. ''

Snapping back to reality, Henry could see the Commander staring at him. Taking a fake face of worry, he asked '' Is there something on my face ? '' touching his face at a few places, feigning to check it out. Seeing that, Commander Landon completely discarded the fool thought of him taking out so many enemies alone. He had probably stumbled upon the battlefield amidst the battle and hid before the bomb landed. Puting on a severe face, he snapped at the fool.

'' You look like the right age to serve. You clearly haven't in the past so i believe that will be beneficial to you. Were bringing you back with us. ''

Speaking into his com-link, he ordered the pilot to bring them back to base. feeling the ship shake a little, Henry understood that they had started moving. He was stuck there.

'' Ensign Duncan, Ensign Gamin, bring this fool to the brig and lock him up. I don't want him wandering around the ship until we get to base. ''

The 2 soldiers took Henry away and walked him down to the lower level, where the brig was. It was basically a prison but with a good bed and a toilet. He hoped the travel would be of short duration, as he refused to stay locked up forever.

Being almost thrown into his new lodgings, he looked back and glared at his escort.

'' Why thank you for showing me to my room guys. Now if you don't mind, I'd like some privacy. '' Henry said, a cocky smile on his lips.

'' Ohh you'll get privacy, you imbecile. Get comfortable, you're going in one just like this back at base I'm sure. '' The first soldier said.

'' Ahah, keep acting cocky man, you'll get what's coming to ya soon enough. '' said the second one.

And so, his journey to a blurry future started. Henry sat down on the bed, crossed his legs and started meditating. Nothing could be done right now so, patience, was going to be his only weapon.