“It does, and it’s how you turn a live call off, or back on, without hitting your communicator. It’ll work to alert Jerry that there’s an issue if you turn it on and off too often, too, so don’t play with it.”
“You guys are amazing and I’m going to ignore you suggesting that I’m a little kid who can’t stop touching the new toy. Make sure the backup team has this stuff, too.”
“Thanks, just a warning, and no kidding about prepping the backup team. Thank God you’re here, we’d have never come up with that one on our own.”
“Careful, Eddy. I’m not against kicking you in the shins. Or hitting you in the tragus.”
“The more things change, the more they stay the same, Kitty.”
Stryker went off to give others this fab new tech and I headed for my team’s shuttle. Jeff’s team had Butler, Reader, and Tim, who all got to fight for who was going to fly the shuttle. Knew Butler was going to win that one—he and Maurer had already proved that androids made great shuttle pilots.
My team had me, Buchanan, and Len to fight about who was going to do the flying. So. I was sort of surprised to see Wruck in the pilot’s seat. He chuckled at my expression. “You do remember where we were the first time you and I ever really talked.”
“Yeah, in a helicopter you were flying. Works for me, but I’m snagging the seat next to you. I want to see the view from straight ahead, not just by looking through the moon roof that is cool but now makes me wonder if we have a metal cover for it.”
“That’s fine on your seating, but only because you have hyperspeed. Windshields can take asteroid hits, too, you know. And yes, the shuttles have metal covers for the moon roof and windshield.” He pushed a button and a metal lid slid over the moon roof. “They weren’t used when we were visiting Nazez because that system didn’t have the debris this one does. The windows, like the hull, can take a lot of hits before they crack.”
“Thanks for reassuring me and taking all the fun out of it at the same time. You got your snazzy earpiece?” Could see the communicator on his clothes.
“I did. I got to confirm that we can’t hear your music.”
“Everyone’s a hater these days.”
The rest of my team filtered into the shuttle. My right earpiece beeped softly. “James wants to confirm that I can connect everyone,” Jerry said in my ear. “So, I’m going to be doing that while you all travel down to the planet. It’s going to be boring and annoying, but necessary, so don’t whine.”
“Check. Wait. Do I have to hit my communicator for you to hear that?”
“No, not if I’m contacting you. You tap it to contact me, though, and then you tap it again when you’re turning it off. I can do both from here, for all of you.”
Heard Reader in my ear. “Testing, testing. Sound off if you hear me. This is James.”
While Jerry started the communications tests, we took off. Jeff’s team went first, with ours following right after. As with our other shuttle voyage, took the time to look back at the ship. Saw nothing. Good to know our cloaking was spot on. Figured the kids were watching us and sent love at them. Sent some love at Jeff, too, just ’cause.
This was different from Nazez in a lot of ways, though the uncertainty was similar. “Think we have to find and stop an evil megalomaniac here?”
“Does a duck swim?” Len asked. “Does a bear poop in the woods?”
“A simple ‘yes’ would have sufficed.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” Kyle asked.
“Good point.”
CHAPTER 97
WE HAD TO MANEUVER around asteroids more and more the closer we got to the planet. However, the communications testing was distracting enough that I didn’t have a lot of time to worry. Wruck and Butler were both great pilots, though, and neither shuttle took any asteroid hits.
The Blue Team reached their planet’s atmosphere first. “James is live to all of you,” Jerry said in our ears.
“This planet is a lot like Earth,” Reader said. “Mostly oceans, several large landmasses, some big islands. We’re orbiting to find the most populated area or what might be a spaceport.”
Things went quiet and we continued on toward the red planet.
Any idea where Ixtha is? I asked Lilith in my mind.
No. I have been searching for her, but haven’t found her yet. She may be in some kind of shielded area.
Shields work on superconsciousnesses?
Sometimes. It depends on what the shield is made of.
“All cities seemed bombed out,” Reader said a few minutes later. “No signs of spaceports or similar.”
“That was fast for a planet that size,” Chuckie said.
“The shuttles can go at supersonic speeds when inside a planet’s atmosphere,” Wruck said.
“Really glad Kitty got Drax onto our side,” Chuckie said.
“Really hope we don’t find out they have one like him on this planet,” Buchanan countered.
“We’ve found a safe place to set down,” Reader said. “Near what looks like an older city. Jeff says he gets a different emotion from this area than the rest of the world. And before Kitty worries, his blocks are back up and he doesn’t need adrenaline.”
“Abby?”
“My blocks are up, Kitty,” Abigail said. “No worries.”
“Starting descent to the red planet,” Wruck said.
Buchanan advised Jerry. “Missus Executive Chief, they want us to do the same commentary that Reader did. You’re in the shotgun seat, so it falls to you.”
Tapped my communicator. “Jerry?”
“I’m here. Putting you live to the Blue Team, Red Leader.”
“Thanks, Mission Control. Okay, this planet is not like Earth. At least, I hope not. The red is everywhere.”
We got lower and started the supersonic speed Wruck had talked about. “Going fast around this puppy, and while there are cities of a sort, this place looks a lot more like Darkseid’s home world of Apokolipse. And I mean, it really looks like it. Lots of active volcanoes, lava, even the water is red. Not as technological as Apokolipse, but it sure looks like they’re trying.”
“James is explaining what you mean to most of his team,” Jerry said. “But the rest of us are with you, Red Leader.”
“Good. This place looks horrible. I could understand why you’d want to leave it, but not why you’d want to destroy your most viable options for where to go next. So I’m running with the idea that whoever’s in charge is really like Darkseid which means likely evil. I’ll be thrilled to find out differently, but that’s our working hypothesis. The heat is clearly coming from all the volcanoes, and they are volcanoes versus fire pits, for those keeping comics score at home.”
We kept on circling. “Not a lot of what we’d call cities but possibly that’s due to available resources—everything appears to be made from the rock, earth, and lava. The colors are red, orange, and yellow, and all minglings of such. Maybe they’re shooting at the blue planet because they’re afraid of it—there is nothing in the blue, green, or purple ranges here, nor is there any white.”