"Sir, I'm not sure I understand? What would we do with her?"
Hamil turned and looked Lincoln, a surprised look on his face. "She doesn't belong in our timeline, obviously. At first glance, sending her back as soon as possible is the right thing to do. The sooner she returns and the less she knows about the future, our timeline, the better. There's less of a chance for time paradoxes and other problems."
"I sense you are considering other options."
Hamil nodded. "Possibly. She presents an opportunity to correct your failed mission."
Lincoln furrowed his brows. "How?"
"Follow me. We need to brief the council before any decision is made." Hamil exited the medical bay with Lincoln behind him. At Hamil's insistence, he returned to the wheelchair and sat in silence as he floated behind the Commander in silence. Sending Marie back to her timeline, as much as he didn't want that to happen, made sense. She wasn't supposed to be here, in her distant future. She had her life to live, assuming she survived the impact. What concerned Lincoln was Hamil's hesitation to outright do so, instead see her as some sort of remedy for his failure. What is he planning?
He couldn't help but feel a sense of dread as they entered further into the administrative section of the base. They entered a circular room through a set of cloudy glass doors. In the center, a circular table with thirteen chairs stood empty, arrange in a semi-circle around the far side of the table.
Where is everyone?
Lincoln was confused. Why were they here in this empty room? Where was the council? Hamil, seemed to know exactly what he was doing and walked up to the table and sat down on one of the twelve chairs. He pointed Lincoln towards the opposite side of the table.
"Where is the council?" Lincoln asked.
"They will be here shortly," Hamil said and tapped something into a control panel Lincoln hadn't seen. Moments later, half-globes emerged from the surface of the table in front of the other eleven chairs. A column of light grew from the top of the globe upwards about a foot and then widened into a cone as a white ball of light grew from a pinprick to about a foot diameter. A barely audible pop preceded a flash, where after a floating hologram representing the head of each council member appeared above each globe.
Lincoln blinked a couple of times, surprised by the dozen or so flashes around the table.
"Commander," the head at the center of the far side of the table said and nodded towards Hamil.
"Councilman Dexter, Council members, welcome."
"We have been waiting, Commander. I trust you have news," Dexter said, a frown on his face.
"I do. As you know, Captain Graber has been deployed on a mission through the portal to-"
"Commander," Dexter said, "I think it's safe to say we are all aware of the parameters of Captain Graber's mission as well as the implications of its success or failure. Please, Commander, get to the point."
Hamil sat quietly for a moment, glanced towards Lincoln, and then sighed deeply.
"Captain Graber has returned," he said and tapped a button. Immediately, the heads around the table looked up, straight at Lincoln, a sense of anticipation evident on their faces.
"Ah, Captain Graber," Dexter said with a smile, "I'm pleased to hear you made it back alive."
"Thank you, Councilman Dexter."
"So tell us," another head said impatiently while locking eyes with Lincoln,, "Was the mission a success?"
Lincoln hesitated, then shook his head. "I'm afraid not, sir."
YOU ARE READING
Intervention | NaNoWriMo 2018
Science FictionLincoln, a recent graduate of the Orbital Space Command Academy, volunteers for a high-stakes mission on which the future of his orbital society, as well as his future career, depends. Failure is not an option. After his mission is compromised and...
