Earth Star(98)

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Now, please talk to the Eden Dig Site teams.’ He smiled. ‘Don’t forget to change clothes first. I’m happy to know you tagged Fian, but a Military uniform will look more reassuring on a vid.’

I looked hastily down at my top and blushed. ‘Yes, sir.’

Leveque ended the call, and I looked helplessly at Fian. ‘This is …’

‘I know,’ he said.

We hurried up to our room, dug our uniforms out of our bags, and started hastily taking off our clothes.

‘You’re changing out of the black lace?’ asked Fian.

‘Yes. It’s not exactly Military.’

‘You could keep it on,’ he said. ‘I like the idea of you wearing the formal Military uniform on top, while underneath you’re …’

I giggled. ‘It’s me that has a thing about you wearing a uniform, Fian, not the other way around.’

‘I think I got corrupted.’

‘I think you’re trying to make me laugh to stop me panicking.’

We put on our uniforms, and attached our Military lookups. I thought Fian looked impressively professional. I was less convinced about myself, but I didn’t have time to stand around worrying about it.

On our way down to face the Eden dig teams, I checked Earth Rolling News, and found it alternating between replaying Colonel Torrek’s speech and showing a Military vid. This showed the Military fighters and the Earth Africa solar array guarding the sphere, the combined menacing effect making it look outnumbered and insignificant. I felt people would find it very reassuring, at least until they remembered Earth was in the middle of a solar storm at the moment, so the fighters weren’t actually up there.

I paused just outside the entrance to the main hall. My grandmother, Colonel Jarra Tell Morrath, had commanded several Planet First teams. She’d died before I was born, so I’d never met her, but I imagined her now, picturing her as calm and confident as Colonel Torrek. I was her Honour Child, and I could do this. I had to do this.

I walked in with Fian at my side. Everyone was standing together watching Earth Rolling News, which was promising further information from the Military within the hour. I knew what the information would be.

The main crowd didn’t notice our entry into the hall, but Playdon did. He took one look at our uniforms, grabbed something from the pile of boxes holding the band’s equipment, and came to join us.

‘We’ve been ordered to request some help from the Eden Dig Site teams,’ I said.

Playdon was obviously grazzed by that. He looked down at the object in his hand; a reproduction twentieth-century microphone. ‘I thought everyone would ask questions the moment they saw you in Military uniform. I wasn’t expecting …’

He broke off, switched on the microphone, and his voice echoed around the hall. ‘Please can I have your attention?’

People turned, looking startled by the interruption, then stared at our uniforms.

‘Major Jarra Tell Morrath and Captain Fian Eklund have a request to make on behalf of the Military.’

Playdon passed me the microphone, and stepped back. Several hundred people waited for me to speak. The dig site teams were used to keeping their heads in a crisis, and were just looking tense, but I spotted Keon with his arm around an openly terrified Issette. Her reaction was far more typical of the panic that must be spreading through Ark, and I had to help stop it by convincing people they were safe. I tried to look like someone who was totally in control of any and all aliens in the universe.

‘I’m Major Jarra Tell Morrath. Captain Fian Eklund and I were recruited in the initial phase of the Alien Contact programme. I’m now Field Commander of the Military operation to retrieve the device needed to communicate with the alien sphere. There’ll be a general public announcement about that soon. For the moment, I’ll just explain an alien device was left on Earth in excess of a thousand years ago. The recent solar super storm created a power surge in the device, which transmitted a signal to summon the alien sphere. It’s now waiting for a further signal to trigger its communication sequence, but we have to find the device before we can send the signal.’

Was I sounding confident and in control? It was hard to tell from the shocked faces in front of me. No one was actually throwing anything at me, or asking where I’d stolen the uniform, so I kept going.

‘We believe the device is buried at a location in equatorial Earth Africa, due north of the Eden Dig Site. The Military request your expert assistance in finding and excavating it.’

Rono elbowed his way through the crowd. ‘Last time, Jarra, it was a crashing spaceship. This time, you want us to dig up aliens?’