Early afternoon Vera returned to the landing spot. It had become quite a sunny day, and for the season it was remarkably warm. So she did feel a little exhausted when she settled down on a free spot next to the shuttle, with Tammy watching her in amusement. Her grown-up friend could still see that she was in the best of moods.
"I imagined how the base might look when it's built" Vera told after catching her breath and taking a big gulp from her juice bottle. "I have no idea how Hank's gonna do it later, but if he builds it like I picture it, the attackers will grind their teeth on it."
"You know I'm pretty sure he's open to your suggestions" Tammy responded diplomatically "That's why he sent you here with me. Have you found out something valid?"
Vera had, and she gushed it out already. With remarkable precision she described what paths were possible to be taken on foot, what spots seemed dangerous to her and where she would construct a firm defense if she lead the project. She had even collected rock samples from a few rocky places in the hills to have them analysed at the academy. If the people there would achieve to find out what the stone was composed of here, they would also find out whether it could be turned into a weak spot or reinforcement for the base. Resourceful mercenaries were able to turn certain materials into dangerous weapons by various means, and nothing came close to the unkindness of transforming the basic substance of a mountain into a gigantic bomb.
Having put everything into a datapad Tammy gave it a pleased nod. "That was very good work, Vera" she praised her. "I think you earned your pay well today."
Still Vera kept her scepticism. "I'm not sure if Dad thinks the same way. I don't know, but I don't feel like I have accomplished much."
"But you have" Tammy disagreed vigorously. "I don't know any mercenary at the academy who would have scouted out such a big area on foot and then would have delivered such a good description. Believe me, the attitude towards a mission is equally important to the skills you use to fulfill it. And no one would have done it with the same enthusiasm that you possess."
Slowly Vera's face brightened. "You're serious about this?"
Tammy nodded. "Of course I'm serious. If you join the mercenaries later, I do think that you'll make an excellent scout."
"Ow, come on, you're exaggerating!" Such high praise made Vera blush out of bashfulness. Thoughtful she looked at the shuttle... and surpressed a grin. "I would surely feel better if we could check what this strange signal is all about."
Naturally Tammy saw through her instantly. But her grown-up friend laughed. "You rascal! Then get up, and let's go!"
Excited Vera got up on her feet again and dragged her backpack to the shuttle. Launch preparations had already been made - all mercenaries at the academy used to leave the shuttle's in standby mode for a quick launch, and Tammy was no exception to that. When Vera had taken her place again at the scanner controls the engines were already running, and the shuttle ascended to the cloudless sky. Vera activated the scanners and switched the energy seeker to maximum, in the hopes of finding the signal again.
"You still got the coordinates?" Tammy asked. Vera gave her the position she had saved in the system, and the shuttle headed north with high velocity. Again Vera kept her eyes on all the displays, watching out for a single beep that would give away the source of that signal. But they soon approached the spot where the computer had discovered the signal for the first time. Finding nothing.
Still Vera suspected Tammy or someone else at the academy to have anything to do with this signal. She couldn't picture how they were able to pull it off, but she felt like it being a prank they pulled on newbies at the academy. She had observed other newcomers facing a sneaky twist in their training missions. But it would disappoint her deeply if Tammy really did have something to do with it because she trusted her without reservation.
Finally they reached the coordinates. Vera watched Tammy putting the shuttle in hovering mode and stopping it several feet above ground. "Are you sure these are the right coordinates?" the pilot finally asked. Vera watched her closely. And she began to feel queasy about this. Either Tammy was a really talented actress, or Vera had been wrong about her all along. Instead of gloating about Vera falling for her trick, she showed signs of worry and mistrust on her face.
"Yes I am" Vera confirmed, glancing at the displays again. They were hovering above the exact location where the energy source had shown up on her scanners. But as before, just after the signal had shown up for the first time, nothing appeared at all.
Tammy looked around, too, and checked all the displays at her disposal. "Well..." she said thoughtfully. "Nothing to see here. Perhaps we should do a complete scan with all our systems."
"Right on it" Vera answered eagerly, her fingers brushing over the control panels. Beside the sensors they had already used the shuttle was equipped with a wide array of scanners able to analyse things she could barely understand. If she put all the scanners on maximum performance she couldn't imagine anything still being able to hide from her.
"Good." Tammy reached for the comm system. "I'll contact the academy..."
A loud beeping cut her sentence off. "I've got something!" Vera shouted in excitement, pointing at a bright dot that had suddenly appeared on the screen.
One second later the beeping turned into an electronic howl. A howl which sent ice cold shivers down Vera's back, making Tammy yank at the controls of the shuttle with hectic movement. A howl echoing through the entire passenger section like the herold of damnation. More screaming signals sounded from Vera's control panel, getting mixed into the baleful howl, with colored lights blinking and flickering like in a wild panic on all the interfaces. Vera had no idea what was going on right now, but she had a very bad feeling about this: Deep inside she knew this could not end well.
"Hold on!" Tammy yelled, yanking the controls. She did this not even one second after the howl had started. But it was half a second too late.
Something hammered into the side of the shuttle. A deafening bang made Vera scream in terror while sparks were raining all over the passenger section. The entire shuttle shook and trembled like a wild animal. Vera instantly fell off her seat. As she was about to get off the floor again, another hit concussed the shuttle. With another bang and an evil sounding snap the console under Tammy's fingertips exploded, splashing sparks and glowing hot shards in all directions. The shrill alarm signals were almost drowned be the horrifying scream of pain Tammy let out as the shards hit her face.
That last scream was too much for Vera to handle. Controlled by her mere instincts she just wanted to run. But the constant shaking and quaking of the shuttle didn't allow her to move in a determined direction. Suddenly she felt hanging in the air, like a feather in the wind, motionless and without any weight, until she saw the backside of the passenger section coming towards her like an unpenetrable wall. She shut here eyes hard, in the last desperate hope for it being only a really horrible dream.
Then the shuttle fell out of the sky like a stone.
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