Roger exited the vessel and returned to Val's room. Gently, he knocked on the door.
“Come in,” he heard her say.
He opened the door and walked in. Val was milling about the room in her typical undressed state.
“Val, you'll promise to start wearing clothes more often after we get my wife, won't you?”
She turned to him, laughed, and nodded. “How do you know she won't mind?”
“Because, like most women I know outside of Mardi Gras, she's a very modest woman. Anyway, the reason I came by is that Doctor Archer accepted his assignment, but less than graciously. We're set to leave tomorrow.”
“Great,” she exclaimed. “Are you sure you don't want to leave him behind?”
“Not at this time. A part of me still hopes all it'll take for Archer to see our point of view is two months in the nightmare you described.”
“And if he doesn't?”
“Well, he'll have to take his place with the rest of the crew. It will be sad to see any life lost, but Archer is in a unique position: he'll have been warned.”
“Then I guess your conscience should be clean, right?”
He nodded. “I just wanted to let you know that upon our successful return, and after the weapon is fired, you and I will leave promptly to get Jennifer. She'll be very proud of you.”
“I'm looking forward to meeting her.” Val smiled. “And Roger?”
He turned and raised his eyebrows.
“I don't believe I've ever thanked you for bringing me here.”
“Don't give it a second thought, my dear. Would you like to join me in a toast?”
“Sure.”
“Good. Meet me in the mess hall then...after you've put some clothes on.”
He turned and left. She reluctantly dressed and followed him a few minutes later. As they walked down the hall together, they both had a slight bounce of excitement in their steps, unaware that their mission set to start tomorrow, would be postponed by disaster.
The damage to the ship was only slight, but the sabotage destroyed the entire time machine component. The crew worked quick to put out some of the fires caused by the small explosion. Archer stood nearby, surveying the damage in stunned silence. Val heard the explosion but was intercepted by Roger to stay in her room. As far as he was concerned, whatever happened had not altered their plans.
When Roger got to the bridge of the ship, which he since dubbed the
Apocalypse
, he saw Archer in a panic, moving back and forth around the ship seemingly without direction.
“John,” Roger said, to which Archer stopped and turned to face him. “Were you hurt?”
“No, I'm fine. I was nowhere near when it happened.”
“Where are they?”
“The saboteurs? In a storage compartment downstairs. Members of the crew have them under guard.”
“Good. Make sure they aren't hurt. I'll speak with them directly. Is there anything you need from me?”
“Not right now. Let me get the damage contained and we'll talk.”
Roger nodded and headed away from the bridge. Once out of earshot of Archer, he tapped his earpiece and said: “Val, grab a gun and meet me in storage in two minutes.”
A few minutes later, Roger and Val were face to face with the saboteurs, both of them a little bruised and bloodied by the crew, who were all excused when Roger and Val arrived. The saboteurs were a man and woman, both of them in their thirties, and both of them unremarkable in every way.
Roger cleared his throat for their attention. “I take it you aren't going to die without giving me the message you carry first? Who do you work for?”
The man spoke first. “Who else, Roger? You've kept your technology from us for the last time.”
“And your wife will never live again!” the woman shouted.
“The Cabal,” Val whispered. She turned to Roger: “How did they get aboard?”
“They must have gotten through the screening process. Doctor Archer interviewed them. It doesn't surprise me, Val. After all, they possess the same desire we do – for change – but we differ only in method.”
“I have a message for you,” the man said. “My superiors want you to know that if they can't come with you, no one goes at all.”
“I offered all of the leaders a chance. They were all told about this and they refused my offer. You were lied to,” Roger said.
Val approached the woman. “You realize how futile this all was, don't you? We're just going to rebuild.”
“They'll find you first,” the woman answered.
Val shook her head and chuckled. “Not likely. We're outside their reach, aren't we?” she asked Roger.
He nodded. “You both think we're still on Earth, don't you?”
The couple looked at each other as fear overcame them. “You're lying.”
“Not so,” Roger said. “We're on the dark side of the moon as we speak.
Rebuilding will not be a problem.
”
The man snickered. “Not with Archer's work destroyed. It was all on-board that floating platform we destroyed.”
Roger laughed aloud. “You see, my dear,” he said to Val, “this is why you keep secrets.” Turning to the couple, he said: “You're referring to the other ship that Archer built, yes?”
The man and woman nodded victoriously.
Roger went to the intercom by the door and spoke into it: “Doctor Archer?”
“Yes, sir,” came Archer's voice.
“Where is the other vessel you designed?”
“Where we left it, Roger. On the ocean floor.”
Roger turned to face the conspirators and saw the disappointment on their faces. “Is there anything else you both would like to say?”
The woman approached the fence that separated them from Roger and Val. Swiftly, she spit in his direction. “May your wife burn in hell!”
Roger snorted and left the room, but not before giving Val the unmistakable nod of permission. Seconds after he left, two shots were fired from Val's gun, and the saboteurs were no more. She exited the room and smirked. “Two down. Seven billion to go,” she said as she went back to her quarters. Roger walked off in the other direction, but only after shaking off Val's callous talk, which he was unaccustomed to.
Back on the bridge of the ship, Roger returned to check in on Archer's progress.
“Where are the criminals?” Archer asked.
“They will no longer be a problem,” Roger said.
“I see,” Archer answered. “Why did you ask me about the other ship?”
Roger sat down in the captain's chair and closed the door to the bridge so he and Archer could be alone. “We're going to scuttle the other ship for parts. How long will it take to transfer its time-machine here?”
“Six months, maybe more,” he said.
“Then let's do it. When you have some free time, we'll also need to look for replacements in the Philanthropy group.” Roger really didn't care if replacements were actually found – his mission could be just as successful with ninety-eight fertile participants. Still, to keep up appearances for Archer's sake and to fill the number Jennifer requested, he made the demand anyway.
“Very well. Let me get a team together and we'll head back to the ground ship.”
“Thank you, John. Take your time – we have plenty to spare, but we need to get this right. And I'm strengthening security protocols. I expect no further incidents, but the work ahead of us is our chief priority.”
“Yes, sir. I'll get to work immediately.” Archer left the bridge and was beneath the surface of the ocean an hour later, salvaging all he could from the sunken – but operable – vessel.
Archer sat behind the desk in his office where a massive pile of books was stacked. Roger entered suddenly and took a seat directly across him.
“So the ship is finally ready. Have you found a new civilian to replace
the moles?
”
he asked.
“No. Six months, and I can't find an altruistic soul out there.”
Roger nodded in approval. “That doesn't surprise me.”
“I've found several of interest, but none
really
jump out. Except for this fellow who started a children's charity a few months ago. Are you sure you don’t want to just keep it the way it is: forty-eight groups of two?”
“We need fifty couples.”