Chapter Twenty Seven

Kepler sat at his console wearing a sad expression.

“Any news, Ensign Kepler?” Captain Leiber asked.

Kepler sighed. “No, sir. The program has not found the right modulation yet.”

“How much longer?” The captain asked with a look of concern on his face.

“That is hard to say, sir. My original estimate should have been correct. I am sure that it could be any minute now.”

“Ensign Kepler, I understand that estimates can be wrong, but that does not help us rescue those stranded children. I need results.”

“Sir…” Kepler started to respond but was interrupted by a sharp chirp from his console. He checked it quickly, looking down in surprise.

“Any news now, Ensign?” The captain asked.

“Uh, not exactly, sir. But it looks like somebody down there is trying to talk to us.”

“How so?”

“Someone down there is using some sort of laser signal to illuminate a cloudbank. They are using what the computers say is an old, Terran code.”

“What are they saying, Ensign?”

“I’ll punch up the feed on your console, sir.”

Kepler flicked a few keys and a read-out appeared on the screen in front of the captain.

-Ship down -No known casualties -Four children out of contact -Search for datapad locations if able -ID 211-4211-7176786 -ID 211-6580-0192874 -ID 211-6421-9751357 -ID 700-0000-0000018 -Situation here not emergency -Missing children priority

Captain Leiber frowned as he read the data.

“Four children missing, what the devil is Jacobs doing down there? Ensign Kepler, find out who those datapads belong to.”

Kepler hit a few more keys and the readout changed.

-ID 211-4211-7176786 – Blake, Devon
-ID 211-6580-0192874 – Vasquez, Jacinda
-ID 211-6421-9751357 – Gustav, Merrell
-ID 700-0000-0000018 - Sa’Atar, Flimitpoytrotilmas

The captain scanned the names and let out a groan. Everyone on the bridge of the Boadicea turned to look at the captain. To most it was the first time they had ever heard their commander show any emotion other than irritation.

The captain rubbed his eyes for a moment and let out sigh. He knew that Devon Blake being one of the missing children complicated matters. Blake’s family had great influence and if anything were to happen to him, there could be terrible consequences for the crew as well as the UCF.

“Anything else, Ensign?” The captain asked.

“No, sir. That is all there is, but I guess it is something. At least we know that the ship made it down okay.” Kepler answered.

“Thank goodness for small favors.” The captain replied.