REVOLUTION

"Ok, so what else don't we know?" James demanded after a pause to catch his breath, "you have a fair bit of explaining to do colonel." "Yes, Im sorry for all the confusion, I just didn't want to say anything out in the open," he said finally, "so I suppose you're probably wondering what all this commotion is about?" "We think you need to come clean with us," said Amario, "what's really going on here?" "Well you know things have gotten worse here lately," Davidson began, "the Vulians are really cracking down on us. Ever since you attempted to assassinate Valdor, he's been obsessed with finding you and he wont stop until he has you. He's tearing up every possible hiding place all over the world in an attempt to hunt down every last rebel fighter who will stand up to him." "Well that's hardly surprising," said James, "is that why you're helping us get off planet?" "It's not me who's getting you off the planet James," Davidson replied, "there is someone else involved. A contact over on Tolis who asked me to arrange transport for you." "I don't get it," said Amario, "why would someone on Tolis want two runaways like us? Who is this person?" "This person has been keeping an eye on your activities for some time now," Davidson explained, "they have been quite impressed by what you have been doing here. When they heard what Valdor was doing they requested I send you to them as soon as possible. The shuttle is waiting for you right now, we'll have you there shortly." "I knew there was more going on than you had let on," said James, "but you really didn't need to play all these coy games with us, why not just be straight with us?" "Information on a need-to-know basis I'm afraid," said Davidson, "we have gone to a great amount of trouble to set this all up, we couldn't let on more than was necessary at any time or we risked giving away the details. We couldn't let that happen." "Well someone obviously did catch on," Amario grumbled, "how did they find us at the match though?" "I honestly don't know," said Davidson, "let's just get this show on the road anyway, the sooner you're out of here the better." After about an hour forcing their way through the congestion, they finally reached a small hangar bay where an interplanetary shuttle waited for them. It was a fairly large craft, sleek, dark grey and about thirty meters long. James was not much of a flyer but he knew Amario should be able to handle it without a problem. He had trained to fly such craft back at Greenwich so he knew what he was doing. "Can I ask how you were able to obtain this craft?" James asked as they entered the bay. "Simply military force," said Davidson, "it was necessary though, we can't send you in one of our own, it would be recognized too easily. With a Vulian shuttle you will not be recognized as the enemy, there is no way they will fire on their own ships." James couldn't imagine they were too happy about having their shuttles stolen. He only hoped they would indeed blend in with the other air traffic. Vulian forces would not hesitate to shoot them down on sight if they were discovered. "Ok guys…" Davidson began, "…when you reach Tolis you want to head for the city of Korodon and look for the Marinet district. Your people will be waiting for you at hangar bay seven. I'm sorry I can't tell you any more than this, you're just going to have to get there yourselves." "It's not like we know our way around the place you know," James said irritably, "can you not give us any sort of direction?" "Sorry, this is the best I can do," Davidson sighed, "I wish it wasn't this difficult but you two are smart enough to handle it." "Well Ok then colonel," James resigned, "I suppose you've done us a great favor just by bringing us this far, we should be thankful for that at least." He didn't pretend to know why Davidson was still not telling them details. There could be any number of reasons for it. Regardless, both he and Amario climbed out of the vehicle and boarded the shuttle. It had been unlocked and powered up for them, all that needed doing now was to simply fly it out and make for the Tanchanis system. "You sure about this James?" Amario asked as he sat himself in the pilot's seat, "I have a really bad feeling about this, something just doesn’t feel right." "I know what you mean," said James, "but if we stay here we're dead anyway. We're doing this, it's our only chance to get away." "If you say so," said Amario, shaking his head, "let's get out of here then." Amario started up the engines and got the shuttle off the ground and took them out over the city of London. There was no sign of any pursuit behind them. No Vulian craft had made any sort of response to their movements, their disguise looked as it it might be working. Amario took the shuttle higher and higher, the city of London eventually becoming a blur in the distance. The blue of the sky had disappeared now, they had reached the outer atmosphere of the planet and within seconds, the shuttle was out into space.