2.2

Astra landed in the water in a dive, with her feet locked together and her arm locked by her sides to avoid splashing hard on the surface upon contact. After a few seconds, she swims to the surface of the water and grabbed the floatation device that automatically ejects out of the hovering bike once it is completely immersed in water.

She looked around to make sure that all of them have made it to the sea successfully and she was happy to see Jamie and Rhoda have found floatation device and over to their side are Kate and Khan.

The small ships are getting closer and closer, so they all started swimming towards the ships. They gathered around and when the ships arrived where they were; they sent down a ladder for the five of them to climb into one ship and the other kept its distance, with guns ready to fire.

Astra asked Jamie to go up the ladder, followed by Kate, then Khan, Rhoda before she finally followed them onto the ship. The ship is a small naval ship armed with a cannon and big enough to carry a small crew of naval units for an operation.

Astra realized the ships are only seen as small from the outside because of the effect of seeing how large the floating fortress is compared to smaller ships like it. Aboard the ship, they were met with a team of naval officers armed with armor piercing guns, ready to shoot them should they be commanded to.

The ship is also has two cannons mounted on the deck and, from what she noticed when they were climbing up the ladder, a bunch of torpedoes that can pose a serious threat to even a battleship.

Astra stood in front of the rest of her colleagues, trying to gauge who among the masked soldiers in front of them was the commander. The ships have turned around, heading back towards sea where the floating fortress sits afloat.

“My name is commander Zander Luke of the Global human federation Navy, for ensuring the safety of my crew and the security of the floating fortress, we will need you all to drop your weapons and comply with the bio-signature tests that will ensure us you are not aliens. Put your guns down and step forward to where the second line has been drawn on the floor.” A man dressed in Military dark camouflage said while walking to the front of the armed soldiers in front of them.

Astra slowly unstrapped her silhouette and let it fall to the floor of the ship. She slowly reached her ankle and unstrapped another gun belt, removing a high caliber pistol from her shoe and putting it on the floor.

She turned to the rest of her colleagues and said, “drop your weapons for now, you will get them in a bit after they finish their checkups, this is just a protocol for safety.”

All of them started removing their weapons and putting them on the floor. Astra unstrapped the battery pod for her sword from her back and pulled it off with the two swords still magnetically attached to it. She put it on the floor and said. “Please don’t mess with this weapon. It is very important for me.”

All of them finished dropping their weapons and walked to the second line where the commander standing and watching them asked them to stand earlier. He walked closer to them and turned his head to look at the shore. Astra turned her head with him to also look at the shore. The crawlers have gathered around the shoreline where the water is not deep.

“Just stand where you are and don’t panic. You are safe now.” He said and the platform they were standing on started turning slowly clockwise and descending into the deck of the ship. There was a brief moment of darkness before the platform finally comes to a stop in a light filled place inside the deck.

There are twelve people dressed in white biohazard suits waiting for them. Once they stopped, the commander said.

“They are going to scan your life signatures to make sure that you are human. We are in a situation where we can’t be careless, since we do not even fully understand what we are fighting out there. Please be cooperative.”

Rhoda instantly walked forwards and was led away by two of them to a glass cubicle that lays at the far ends of the wide open space visible for Astra.

The rest of them looked at her, awaiting to see her response as if she was already their leader or the one responsible for them; she nodded her head in affirmation of cooperation and stepped forward to the two that are now waiting for the next person.

Astra followed the next person dressed in the biohazard suit asked her to follow her, they started walking and Astra noticed that there are automatic machine guns and rifles that carry high caliber armor-piercing bullets mounted everywhere in the place with doors that she immediately know will be for troops to rush in.

She was taken to one of the glass cubicles where she was asked to take off her clothes, except for her shorts, and stand inside. A few minutes later, she was asked to dress up and exit the glass cubicle. She was walked to a waiting area. Rhoda was already seated with a cup of rapid cook noodles in her hands.

“Stop looking at me and get your from the machine over there!” Rhoda said to her.

She walked to the machine and picked the largest instant cup noodles she saw, then sat and started eating as the rest of the crew gather up one after another. After a few hours of waiting, the naval commander from earlier walked into the room.

“I am sure you all remember my name. Please follow me.” He said and led them to the top of the deck once again, but this time around, the ship has already docked on the floating fortress and a large bridge has been connected between them.

They walked across and got on the edges of the fortress where a military high speed maneuver rover was waiting for them. They got inside and the commander drove them for twenty minutes through the city on the fortress and all of them enjoyed the view.

With exception of Jamie, this is their first time on the floating center of the federation where all the high-profile people live. Jamie would occasionally visit his grandfather together with his mother; on the inside it looks just like any other city, only that there are soldiers and military infrastructure everywhere you look. This is the only thing that distinguishes the floating fortress from regular cities.

The rover came to a stop and all of them came out and headed straight through a large gate on the surface, using the escalator that convene them in. At first look, it appears as if they were heading into an underground space, but it becomes instantly obvious that they are inside the deck of the floating fortress.

After going through five security checkpoints, they were finally in a large room with a table in its center and seats around the table. There were seven men seated inside the room and they needed not to be introduced. The vice president of the federation, his deputy and the five military heads leading the Navy, Army, airforce, space force and the federation law enforcers.

Astra and her colleagues were seated in the middle of the room across the table where they sit facing the vice president and the generals heading the entire planet’s forces.

From behind them, two men walked in. One of them is also a familiar face while the other one isn’t. the familiar face is none other than the most wanted man on the face of the planet. He isn’t exactly wanted for any crime; he is wanted because he is the most brilliant scientist of his time, Carter!

Astra stood with her mouth gaping as she looks in awe that Professor Carter is right in front of her in flesh. The other man, however, ran and hugged Jamie. Immediately, Astra figured he must be the one that pulled the strings to have them saved, Jamie’s grandfather.

After all of them are seated, the president of the federation showed up on a holographic screen near the seat to the right of the vice president. “I am sorry, I wanted to preside over this matter Carter, but I will leave my vice in charge because I am busy dealing with a situation for now.” He said, and the hologram blinked out and died down.

“in that case, let me make this as quick as I can. Former admiral Peterson Chromewell, you abused your authority and send a team of a naval unit without full authorization.” Carter said,

“You have endangered the entire fortress by your actions and would have been given the death sentence, but I asked the president to let you off with a suspension because we have heard something important that may help us fight back the aliens that have already taken full control of the entire planet.” He added, looking at Astra.

“You are free to go. They are your responsibility now. Take them to your place and make them useful. You are dismissed.” Carter said.

Jamie’s grandfather stood with a wide smile on his face and saluted, “thank you Sir.” He said and asked them to follow him.

They all stood up and started walking after him when Carter walked to them and placed a firm hand on Astra’s shoulder.

“Not you, you will stay here and answer a few questions for us.” He said.

‘what does Carter and the vice president of the federation possibly want to ask me? Am I in trouble?’ she asked herself in her mind. No! if it was a problem or if I have done something wrong, there would be security here, and e was smiling when he said I am to wait behind, it must be something else.’ She reconciled in her mind and sat back down.

The vice president and his aids stood and left the room. Carter walked to the end of the room where a mirror like wall stood. He placed his hand and waved for Astra to come over. The military generals all walked into the room. She walked to the door and entered together with Carter, who closed the door behind them. As they were entering through, he bent over and whispered in her ear.

“Don’t worry, you did nothing wrong. Just don’t lie to us,” he said.

Inside the room is mostly similar to the conference room that they walked out of on getting here, it has a tale at the center too, but the table is made of metal here, it was also tiny compared to the conference table on the other room.

As soon as she set her eyes on the item placed on the table, she realized what this was about and could relax a little. The five admirals and Carter stood around the table and invited Astra to stand on the other side where the swords she has been using were placed. She walked closer to the table and stood.

“what is your name, soldier?” one of the admirals asked with a deep and commanding voice

“My name is Astra Sir! But I am an engineer, sir, not a soldier.” She replied immediately without a single crack in her voice or sign of being afraid.

all the admirals started laughing out loud, looking at Astra and her demeanor when she answered the question.

“I figured that since you have your hair short and the way you behave matches that of someone with professional military training, you would be a soldier. My bad for assuming,” he said back to her. She simply lowered her head, unable to say anything to the head of the entire federation space force apologizing to her.

“That is an impressive young lady. Don’t you think so too?” one of the other admirals asked Carter.

However, Carter refused to even bat his eye. He has been staring at the swords for straight one and a half minutes. He finally raises his head and looks at Astra.

“Please don’t mind these war torn and crazy old men. They are very good for defending the people, but take that out and all they will do is make you want to bite your tongue and die because of boredom.” Carter said.

He looks at them and said.

“I will ask Astra here some important questions that may as well help us understand how to fight back these monsters that have come for our planet.”

He turned around and faced Astra, studied her for a moment and then said.

“Astra right, how do you have HELL blades with you? Where did you get them, and how did you know how to use them?”

Astra steeled herself up and stepped closer to the blades on the table. “first, I don’t know what HELL means, I am assuming it is an abbreviation for something.” she said.

Almost in a chuckle, he said, “Yes they are, and this is smart for someone your age, but answer my questions first! Where did you find them, and how did you know how to use them?”

“they were given to me by my adopted mother in the chrome shelter, if you mean the dust devil sword dance. I have learned it since I was a child. My mother was strict about it, so I had to do it every day at four.” She said.

When she looked up at their faces, I surprised her to see their expressions getting tensed up. ‘Did I say anything wrong? What is with their sudden change in expression and the way they are looking at me?’ she wondered.

“This can’t be any other person. It has to be her, right?” one of the admirals asked.

“What is her name? Your mother and where is she right now? We need to get the best of our squads ready to go for a rescue mission now!” another of the admirals said.

With pain in her voice, she said. “she died, the alien crawlers took her life! I couldn’t do anything to help her, despite all she did to me!” Astra said with tears rolling down her cheeks.

“HELL blades are her creation, you know, HELL stand for High Energy Laser Lance. They use the most rare element on the surface of the earth and she was the only person who could get her hands on it. She was the best engineer in the entire fleet of the federation. She designed mostly weapons that she said should not be used on people because of the destruction they cause.” He said, looking at her.

Before Astra could ask him more questions, he turned around. “we should call this a day. I will be personally taking of Astra here. I believe there is no objection to that.” Carter said and all the admirals agreed without arguing. Which puzzle Astra even more.

‘why are they talking as if they know her and why did he stop suddenly and called this meeting over, declaring that he will be taking care of me from now on?’ Astra ponders as the admirals walk out of the room in an obvious gesture to give the two of them some privacy.

‘what in the world is happening here right now? What crazy secret is the smartest person in the world about to tell me that the highest ranking military men on the planet are giving us privacy for?’ she asked herself. The door closes after them and Carter picks up the HELL blades on the table, putting the battery pod on his back and activating the switch of the blades which made the sharp edges start to glow red instantly.