Escaping the Cradle

by Karen Page

Part 40

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Part 40
DATE:FC+152

"Two engineers on the same ship shouldn't be allowed," Sam had said the other day.

Ashleigh hadn't thought about the implications if a ship went missing and James was soon assigned to Aurora instead of Sam.

"I've missed this ship," James said, as he took his place at the front. He gently stroked the controls as if reminiscing.

"I just got a call from Jessica," stated Becky. "It seems there was an attempted break-in last night. There was increased security as the satellite was ready for transport. The intruders were apprehended and the police carted them away."

"Are we still doing this?" Ashleigh inquired.

"I don't see why not. You have the coordinates, and it is secure."

The four people going were soon loaded. Sam and Ashleigh were in Eos, with James and Henry in Aurora. They'd talked about jumping simultaneously, but side by side tunnels had never been done with the ship, and they didn't want to try it today. They had a satellite to retrieve.

Scottsdale in late June was about the same temperature at sunrise as it was at the maximum temperature in England. As they stepped off the ships, it was warm but dry. There was none of the humidity like home. The orange light of upcoming sunrise played against the scattered clouds that hung over the distant mountains.

"Miss Thompson?" asked a young woman, rushing out of the private terminal building. Her bright yellow tabard clearly visible in the brightening dawn.

"That's me," said Ashleigh, coming forward.

"You just arrived. I know you mentioned you were coming in Eos, but Aurora too? Seeing it is totally different from hearing about it," she gushed.

"Thank you for being our entry port into America," Ashleigh said, putting on a friendly smile.

"I'm Jasmin. If you follow me, we'll get you through immigration."

With the two ships sealed, the four of them made their way into the terminal. There were a few people at the windows, gawping at the sight of the two famous spaceships. Nobody had ever reported seeing the two ships together. It was still early, and they knew the rumours would spread.

Jasmin escorted them into the Customs and Border Protection office for processing. She hung at the back waiting for them to complete their interviews. There were two desks, each with an officer waiting. They signalled two of them forward. Sam and Ashleigh went first.

Ashleigh handed over her passport, and the officer took it without word. He opened it and put it in his machine.

"What's the purpose of your visit?" he asked, looking from his screen to her.

"I'm liaison for a satellite export that will happen later today."

"How long are you staying?"

"Less than a day. I don't expect to leave this airport."

The officer glanced between his computer and her, his face never changing from anything but professional. As he worked, she noticed that Sam had finished already. Sam being American made the process faster. She didn't know if being ex-US Navy made things quicker or slower for Sam.

"You'll remain on airport grounds?" the officer asked, his blue piercing eyes looked at her.

"Yes, once the satellite clears export, we'll depart," Ashleigh asked, wondering why all these questions.

He paused, continuing to study her. "You're not conducting work outside of this facility?"

Ashleigh wondered why he was asking the same question in a different way. She worried she'd said something wrong. "No, sir. My role is liaison only."

"Yet your visa says more."

She shrugged. "I didn't want to get caught out not having the right paperwork."

It took another few minutes. While he did his work, she saw that James was being grilled by the other CBP officer.

She was handed back her passport "There you go, Miss Thompson. If you need to leave the airport, you are free to enter the country in line with your visa restrictions."

"Thank you," she said, suddenly realising how quickly her heart was beating. It was almost as intimidating as a one-to-one with Laura.

She joined Sam at the back of the room and gave an exaggerated exhale. Sam laughed.

"It's easy for you. You are a US citizen."

"I got grilled too. The only difference between us at the border, they can deny you entry, but they can't do that to me."

They watched on as Henry and James were interviewed. After a few, another officer joined the one talking to James.

"That's not good," Ashleigh said.

Sam shrugged. "He's got a more complex background. UK Military, ESA and then what happened back in February when Tina collected him directly from a NASA base."

"I thought that had all been sorted."

"At the top level, yes, but it will still be on his record. He did actually follow protocol, but border officers don't like people abusing regulations."

Henry finished and joined the other two. James continued to be questioned, yet he sat relaxed, answering what they asked.

"Does it normally take this long?" Ashleigh asked Jasmin.

"It can do," she responded, uncommitted. "Do you all want drinks while you wait?"

"No, but thank you. While we wait, can I just confirm a few things. Aurora will be setting off to get the satellite which is in its transport container. When it is ready, they will jump it to the area taped off to the right of Eos."

"Eos is the bigger ship, right?" asked Jasmin.

"Yes."

"Sure, that is why that area is blocked off. You said it needed to happen to stop somebody getting hurt. We're all about safety."

"Good to know."

Jasmin looked around and said quietly, "You've not brought one of the aliens with you, have you?"

Ashleigh laughed. "No."

"What are they like? I mean I saw that press conference with the UK leader and two aliens. Are they slimy?"

"I've only met them once. The ones I saw weren't slimy or gross. They were just normal people, doing jobs, such as doctors, waiters etc. Their technology is more advanced, but not in ways that made me lost or uncomfortable."

James eventually finished and was handed his passport back. He came across. "That was quite some grilling," said Sam.

"Yeah. They were just doing their job. My travel history is a bit more complex. Added to the query based in February, they wanted to confirm I'd be departing properly. Anyway, I've been allowed in."

"Great. Then let's do this," said Ashleigh. "James and Henry, go get the satellite. Give us a ring when you're ready to send it."

"Not quite," said one of the border officers. "We need to inspect your ... vessels. We need to confirm there is no undeclared people or cargo."

They'd never had this before and wondered if they were being extra careful. Jasmin had wondered if there was an alien on the ship. Perhaps CBP wondered that too.

"Sure," said James without missing a beat. "Which do you want to inspect first?"

James went out with one of the CBP officers and their boss. While they waited, the rest went to the lounge and Jasmin went off to deal with another arrival. The seats were mostly empty. The only couple waiting in the lounge were stood at the airside window, gazing out. None of them had their phones out. She took out her phone and looked at one the more popular Tracking Aurora forums. There was nothing, which surprised her.

"Nobody seems to have posted anything," Ashleigh said to Henry.

"Probably because they don't want their own flights photographed. The rich seem to respect privacy a bit more."

The checks didn't take too long. The ships weren't that big, especially Aurora. She was there because they needed to be in two places at once for the departure and arrival of the satellite at each step of the journey. They needed to keep custody of the satellite until it was in Manchester. That meant not leaving it on an airport tarmac without one of them being there.

"See you later," Ashleigh said as Henry went out to join James and they along with Aurora were soon gone.

An airplane taxied to the stand, and the couple waiting rushed to greet those coming in. Just like the commercial terminal, just on a totally different scale. The arrivals weren't escorted to see the border officers, so it must have been an internal flight.

She didn't have a mobile communication setup, so couldn't listen in to what was happening. Becky, back in England, would have more knowledge than she would.

She wasn't out of contact long before James sent a message. "Henry in cleanroom inspecting. If all is well, probably ten minutes."

Ashleigh updated Sam, who nodded, but seemed distant.

"What's wrong?" Ashleigh asked.

"I miss Jessica. She has been working so hard on this project and I'm not there for her. I could have seen her today, but I put my foot in it."

"You did what you did because you're a professional. You highlighted a project security issue and raised it. I'm sorry you missed seeing Jessica. I'm not sorry you told me though."

"You better tell Jasmin so she can get the custom's person across."

Ashleigh nodded and went across to the reception desk, where she was working with a colleague.

"Hi," Jasmin said as Ashleigh walked up. "How are things going?"

"I've just heard from the team who left on Aurora. They estimate about ten minutes before they send the container through."

"Ten minutes? You folks don't waste any time," Jasmin exclaimed. "I'll let the CBP desk know, but they'll need to hustle. Here, you'll need this if you're going out on the ramp."

Jasmin tapped a headset mic. "Supervisory, this is Jasmin. Container arrival in ten. Cargo officer to reception, please."

Ashleigh caught the clipped reply through the static: "Copy. Standby."

Jasmin turned back with a grin. "They'll be here, but don't expect them to smile about it."

Jasmin passed two bright fluorescent tabards to Ashleigh.

"I'm going to look so good in this," Ashleigh pouted. Jasmin just laughed and followed Ashleigh back towards the airside entrance.

Sam cottoned on, and joined them, shrugging into the vest before they went out into the early morning. The sun had now risen, and the pleasant temperature of earlier was starting to rise.

'Paperwork matches. Everything is in order,' was the next message.

An airside buggy chugged along and parked up by the terminal. A CBP officer clambered out and made his way across. When he saw Eos, he stopped for a minute and gazed at it before continuing.

"Jasmin," he greeted the rep. "I heard there's cargo here for me to check?"

"In a few minutes," she responded. "This is Ashleigh, she's the liaison."

"30 seconds," Sam called out, after the next message beep.

"Is that Eos?" the CBP officer asked, glancing at the ship again.

"Yes," smiled Ashleigh. "Cargo will be delivered to this taped-off area.

"Huh?"

Before Ashleigh could respond, a huge white satellite transport container appeared in front of them.

An expletive was heard, and Ashleigh was glad Jenny wasn't there to hear it. It was a new word for her. The CBP supervisor who grilled James came out and joined the newly arrived cargo officer.

"I'm taking custody," claimed Ashleigh. "The paperwork will be here in a few minutes."

This was an estimate on how long it would take Henry to disconnect the drive, get out of the cleanroom and the overalls, and get back to Aurora.

The CBP officer went across and removed the tape. He frowned and asked, "This is a satellite container? You're shipping a satellite via Scottsdale?"

"We sure are," Sam said cheerfully. "It's an export. Where better than a dry, friendly port like Scottsdale?"

"That's why they sent me," he grouched. "I used to work at Kennedy on satellite imports."

There was something in the way he held himself that Sam recognised. "Navy?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"Your posture as you walked around the container. I saw that dockside enough times."

"Target or Canoe?"

Sam laughed. "Canoe."

"We need to wait for the paperwork," the officer said, scowling less. "I've seen these arrive on huge transport planes. I never expected to see one of these here."

"Get used to it," Sam responded. "Scottsdale is our chosen American port."

Aurora arrived. Jasmin didn't jump. She'd seen it a few times now and was starting to get used to it. The CBP supervisor did though, and he muttered about ships being silent and they should have warning bells.

When the door opened, Ashleigh was surprised to see Jessica as well as James and Henry.

"Go get a high vis vest," Ashleigh ordered the arrivals.

Jessica dashed across and handed a folder to Ashleigh before going in to get attired to comply with FAA regulations.

The officials were still going over the paperwork when James, Henry and Jessica reappeared.

"I'm surprised to see you here," Ashleigh said to Jessica. "That wasn't the plan."

"I have something to tell you. James will then take me back."

Ashleigh pulled Jessica to one side and after making sure they were out of earshot of the others said, "And?"

"I contacted the police to find out what was happening with the people who tried to break in. They made out they didn't know what I was talking about. I sent them the footage of the arrest, and they changed their tune slightly. I was basically told to not mention it, or I might be in bigger trouble. They then hung up."

Ashleigh lowered her voice. "So, they're stonewalling you?"

Jessica nodded, her hands twisting the hem of her vest. "It felt like they were warning me off. Like they've got cover from higher up"

Ashleigh rubbed her forehead. "Flip. That doesn't sound good."

"No. It's like the NSA are still sniffing around and have some sort of 'get out of jail' free card."

"Perhaps we should have a meeting with them. I could be there with you. You invite them to your office and ask them. Show them Mars-1."

"Do you think that will help?" Jessica said anxiously. "Or will it just make them angrier?"

"I've no idea but ignoring them doesn't seem to be working either," Ashleigh said, noticing the CBP officials were still on the paperwork. "You said you had footage. Send it to me later and I'll see if we can get some names. If we do approach them, it might help to know exactly who."

Jessica handed a USB stick across. "We have two systems. One obvious, the other more discrete. Completely separate hardware. Anyway, the obvious system was down. The other, caught them."

"I bet they are wondering where the footage came from," Ashleigh thought aloud. "You might want to move the cameras though. They will know where they are now based on the footage you sent. Okay, you better get back. Be safe and watch your back."

Sam returned Jessica, while James and Henry started to unload the plastic pieces from Eos that would contain the interdimensional tunnel.

The export process was slow and methodical, but eventually the satellite was given permission to leave. The import process was just as arduous but a few hours later the satellite, still sat inside the container, was delivered to the Manchester satellite company.

It wasn't quiet as it had been when Henry had last visited. Then it was a security guard on the gate. Now there was a sizable team. They were no longer a startup, but a valuable company. Part of what they were paid to produce satellites included keeping them secure and they had no intention of failing in that regard.

When Eos arrived back, Ashleigh opened the door and sighed. Today had gone as well as could be expected. She knew the export and import process took time, but she hadn't realised how long. James and Henry would be a while yet, making sure all was well in Manchester.

She was surprised when Becky and Jenny were waiting near the building entrance. Jenny was back from school and Becky must have collected her.

"Hi," Becky said, shyly and kissed Ashleigh.

Jenny hugged her too.

"How was school?" Ashleigh asked Jenny as they made their way upstairs.

"Fun. We're nearly at the end of term, so things are slowing down. We're doing a week talking about space. Today we were learning all about the solar system. This is done for the whole school, not split so much in years. We were teams in the playground, pretending to be planets. The little ones went round faster."

They'd got to the control room and Evan had heard. He asked Jenny, "So which is the largest?"

"Jupiter," she responded without hesitation. "It's a gas giant, like the one we saw when we were on the alien space station."

"Correct," Evan beamed. "Hopefully we can have a lesson with you and Kelly tomorrow. We can do even more Solar System stuff."

"Great," Jenny responded, and took a seat to listen to what company things were going to be discussed.

"Jessica updated us," Becky said. "I'd hoped they'd stopped."

Ashleigh didn't have to say what Becky meant. They all knew. It was also something they didn't want to spell out in front of Jenny. She was still recovering from being kidnapped.

"Is Laura's plan still possible?" Becky asked reluctantly. "I worry though that if we give into one demand, they'll just want more. Like you never pay a blackmailer. It never ends."

"Probably, but if so, you three will need to be in the meeting."

Liam paled. "I'll have to wear a suit, won't I?"