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.They were locked in.Dr.Harper and Dr.Jones said nothing, but both looked concerned.Gideon looked at his watch and said with a smile, “We have thirty minutes before dinner.” He then walked over to one of the tables, sat down, propped his right arm on the table, and started nervously tapping his fingers on the table.His tapping started randomly and loudly but soon settled down into a quieter, regular rhythm.***A few minutes later Commander Steward had had enough of Gideon’s tapping and walked over to the table to ask Gideon to stop.Commander Steward had enough to worry about without having to listen to the lieutenant’s nervous habit.Just as the commander began to speak, it suddenly hit him that Gideon was repeatedly tapping a message: a Morse code message.He listened to it over and over again and finally understood it.It had been many years since Commander Steward had used the ancient communication system and realized the lieutenant knew all naval officers still learned Morse code as a historic tradition, not a requirement.Gideon’s tapped message was the following:Let me know when you understand this by scratching your nose.Commander Steward scratched his nose.Gideon cracked a smile and started another tapping rhythm.I can talk as I tap and talk while you tap.Focus on the tapping and just agree with what I say with my voice.I’m sure we’re being monitored, so my talking should cover our communication tapping.Tap back that you understand.Commander Steward tapped back.Understood.Gideon spoke as he tapped, “Well, Commander, I guess we’ll be here a little longer.I hope we can leave after dinner.I have some work to do aboard ship.”As Gideon spoke, he tapped this message:I’m sure we are being held hostage.I will get us out of here as soon as possible, and we’ll link up with the extraction team.Follow my lead when the time comes.Commander Steward verbally agreed with what Gideon had verbally said and tapped back while Gideon kept talking.I agree, Lieutenant; you are in charge of getting us out of here.I’ll do whatever you say.Gideon continued talking about the make-believe work he had to do aboard ship, and then tapped out another message to the commander:We’ll go to dinner as planned and see if Doctor Kastriva happens to be there.I figure we’ll try our escape after dinner on our way back here; be ready.Commander Steward verbally agreed again with what Gideon was saying and tapping.Marine Extract Team, Canton Mie Biosphere1645—February 21, 2372The extract team entered the biosphere through the breach hatch with their armor camouflage enabled.They spread out in defensive positions behind some small trees and bushes that lined the circumference of the biosphere’s internal wall.They lay there for a few minutes to make sure their entry hadn’t been noticed before Captain Neubauer ordered them to move out.Sergeant Manelly led the extract team through the Canton Mie streets.Following him were Gunny Xia and Captain Neubauer.Corporal Gault covered their rear.Manelly used as many side streets and alleys as possible.The team moved slowly, allowing their armor to blend in with their surroundings.It would take someone with a keen eye to notice the vague outlines of their armor.Minutes passed into an hour when the extract team reached Dr.Kastriva’s home.The team kneeled behind some bushes across the street from the house.At least five men guarded the single-story house outside.Sergeant Manelly noted a window on the right side of the house that was guarded by a single soldier and pointed it out to Captain Neubauer.Neubauer acknowledged and used hand signals to say they would wait till dark to move in.The Gliese sun would set in forty-five minutes.As they waited, CTU citizens, dressed in the same-colored gray jumpsuits, walked up and down the sidewalk.Sergeant Manelly noted their bland facial expressions.It was as though every man, woman, and child lived a life of hopelessness and were bound to live that way until death.Ten minutes later a couple of male teens passed by, and before they reached the next block, a CTU security police vehicle zoomed in from behind them and came to a skidding stop on the sidewalk in front of the teens.Two uniformed men sprang out of the vehicle and, without a word, started beating the teens with clubs.The teens fell to the ground, curling into balls to protect themselves, as the police continued to strike them.Strangely, the teens never cried out or asked questions about their beating.***The extract team watched the beating from the bushes for several minutes.Captain Neubauer knew his men wanted to intervene, as he did, but knew they wouldn’t because the mission came first.Just as a precaution, Captain Neubauer used hand signals to tell his team to remain where they were.If circumstances were any different, he would’ve allowed the use of deadly force to stop the beatings.What seemed like an hour but only minutes later, the police stopped beating the teens and verbally warned them to begin properly acknowledging ranking CTU political members.Captain Neubauer realized that on their way to the house he had watched several CTU citizens touch their heads and bow as they passed specific citizens.The teens undoubtedly hadn’t acknowledged a ranking citizen and were caught.Captain Neubauer noted that Gault looked simply disturbed and probably mad by the beating while Manelly, who had seen such atrocities before, looked as if he had chalked it up to a standard act of a typical totalitarian government.Gunny Xia smiled.Captain Neubauer was sure Xia, if given a chance, would kill a few CTU policemen before leaving the planet.As soon as it was dark, the extract team took up positions around the house and were ready to move in.Captain Neubauer sounded a execute chime, and the team began the assault.Science Division Building, Dining Room1715—February 21, 2372The envoy team sat at a table as they were served dinner.The two guards who had escorted the team to the dining room stood at attention inside the room by the door.The CTU scientists they had met during their earlier meeting were there along with several other people they hadn’t met.No one spoke as the servers placed food in front of the guests.Gideon scanned the faces of all the people in the room, noted that Dr.Kastriva wasn’t there, and knew the envoy team was in a bad situation.When the servers completed their tasks, Director Buru stood [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]