Maybe I fell asleep or was put to sleep by someone? After all, how could Justine ever make it here by herself? She's all the way on Earth, right?
I squinted, blinked and hoped to wake up, but none of this was a dream. Somehow, my mother made it to Mars with our principal.
With Justine's sheer determination, I wouldn't be surprised if she convinced Nigel to fly her to Mars with pure motherly rage. This would explain why the two made it here so quickly; they started shortly after us.
When Justine reached our rover, she started shouting something. We couldn't hear her, but I saw her lips moving. Since I'm her son, I decided to leap out of the rover and confront her, but before I could do that, mom walked away, waving at us.
- She wants us to follow her! - Arika noticed.
- Are you sure that she's your mother? - Dawn was distrustful towards Justine.
- I say we follow her. I recognise Justine - I responded.
- Yes, it's her - Anthony confirmed. Even though it's been years since they've last seen each other, Anthony still remembered Justine.
With the revolutionaries getting ever closer, we quickly got moving. Justine and Captain Nigel led us into the rocket. We left the rover behind and narrowly made it inside.
- What on Earth is going on in here? - Justine asked us all.
I got the impression that someone was about to add "We're not on Earth", but nobody responded.
- Roby, the leader of the assassins pretending to be a friendly governor of Mars Base Beta, accused us of many pro-American and anti-Martian operations. His claims caused an uprising to ensue, with the revolutionaries chaisng us - Anthony briefed her.
- A... Anthony? Is that you? Aren't you... dead? - Justine recognised her husband.
It was at this point that I remembered that Justine thought Anthony was dead for a few years. My father vanished without a trace in 2031 and we presumed him sadly dead, but as I've found out in the biodome, he's still alive and a part of the Agency of Cosmic Espionage as a professional agent. It's possible that I was allowed into the Academy of Astronauts thanks to Anthony's recommendation.
- No... I'm not dead. I was recruited into the Agency and had to keep secrecy. I couldn't reveal my new identity to anyone, not even you... - Anthony started explaining in a rush.
- HOW MANY MORE THINGS DID YOU LIE ABOUT?! - Justine suddenly growled at Captain Nigel - FIRST MY HUSBAND, THEN MY CHILD...! Who's next?! Maybe I've been secretly recruited into this mess...?!
- I didn't lie because I wanted to. I lied because I had to - Captain Nigel didn't budge at all, still keeping his emotionless demeanour.
- Because you're paranoid over some Russian or Chinese folk eavesdropping on your little missions? Not everyone is an enemy! - Justine continued.
- It's not paranoia! We must assume that enemies are everywhere to keep our secrets intact! Would you be happy if we threw top-secret files left, right and center? No, because we'd be invaded in a heartbeat! National security is our goal...! - Captain Nigel was turning into his angrier self.
- There was no need to fake my husband's death and conceal the truth about my son's activities! You could have enlisted me too or at least told me about all of this spy stuff! I can keep a secret, I assure you...! - Justine hissed.
- Protocols - was Captain Nigel's response before he stormed off.
- Don't listen to him, he's a block of emotionless ice... - Anthony tried to comfort angry Justine.
- That's true. Nigel only cares about the completing the mission for the "greater good". He doesn't mind his agents, only what said agents do matters. I'm honestly surprised that he's still in charge... - Einstein whispered.
Luckily, Captain Nigel didn't hear that.
- I think that Richard Diaz or a figure of similar importance elevated Nigel into his leading position. He's got the government on his side - Claudius theorised.
- Still, this is ridiculous. Why did he assure that you'll be safe whilst sending you on another dangerous mission? - Justine turned to me.
- We were meant to stay in safety for a while, but the Martians, the assassin sqaudron, crashed our rocket on Mars. We barely made it to Mars Base Beta alive, only to run into a series of coordinated actions meant to turn the people of Mars against us - I explained.
- ...and it worked perfectly - Arika pointed at the revolutionaries banging on the rocket.
- Release the evil spies! - John Premium yelled.
- So... assassination on a greater level? - Justine asked.
- What do you mean by this? - Anthony answered with a question.
- They couldn't get you by themselves, so they recruited an army of colonists to go after you... - Justine deduced.
- So all of this was done to dispose of us...? - Sebastian's eyes widened with surprise.
- That makes a lot of sense... - Einstein nodded.
- Supreme definitely has greater plans in mind. Maybe he considers you... uh, us, a threat to the future of his team? - Dawn added.
- He probably knows what happened to the Perseids, thanks to you... - Sebastian replied.
- So, to summarise, Roby wants to get rid of us before we become a real threat to the Martians? And he's framed us for his crimes to get an army of enraged colonists to do the dirty work for him...? - I tried to understand the situation.
- Yeah, that's true... - Anthony confirmed.
- So... how do we undo the damage? - Claudius asked.
- If the mishap with you-know-who has taught me anything, it's that honesty can really do a lot of good. I say we expose Mr. Roby for his crimes and turn his new people against him - Justine suggested.
- For now, let's think about getting past the revolutionaries... - Amber reminded us of John Premium's furious group.
- Open up, John Premium is here! - John's wife thought that the billionaire's supposed authority was enough to get us out of the rocket.
- Let's smash right through them. An angry billionaire with a venomous wife isn't enough to stop us, right? - Sebastian proposed.
- I... I don't think so. A lot more is at stake than our reputation and some tubs of ice cream. If the Martians successfully set up a country loyal to Roby and his revolutionary ideas, they'll be able to pull off schemes of unimaginable magnitude! - Einstein noted.
- Yeah, an annoying guy with a group of maniacs can't stop unit 212! - Amber cheered.
- I wouldn't say "maniacs" - Einstein added.
- Unit 212...? That's how you call yourselves...? - Justine was perplexed.
- Every unit has a number, sweetie. It's how Nigel chose - Anthony responded.
- Ah, Nigel... - Justine grumped upon hearing about our principal.
We decided to just get going before things escalate even further. One by one, we slided into our spacesuits and got ready to detatch them from the rocket, preparing for a confrontation with the revolutionaries, who were waiting for us.
Right as I was about to go, Captain Nigel came back out of the blue.
- What is going on here?! Are you pulling something off without my consent...? - he appeared.
- A friendly reminder: recruiting my husband and my son into your Agency happened without my consent. It's fair to give you a taste of your own medicine - Justine snarled before hopping into her spacesuit. I was quick to join her, as there was no time to waste, especially on arguing with Captain Nigel.
We left him behind, leaping into action upon exiting the rocket.
Amber and Dawn swiftly dealt with several revolutionaries. As John Premium came to aid his men, I accidentally smeared some reddish dust on his perfectly clean white spacesuit. That alone was enough to drive him insane.
- This spacesuit costed five hundred thousand dollars! You'll pay me, you little...! - I didn't hear the rest of his speech, as I had to catch up with the others.
The Martian dust was enough to distract both John and his wife, allowing me to sneak past them. I quickly made it into the rover and we left the John Premium's group in the dust. Litearlly.
Even though we weren't particularly fast, our sudden movement sent clouds of dust flying into the faces of our enemies, allowing us to abandon them. We set off towards Mars Base Beta. I looked back for a bit.
John Premium was seemingly about to explode because of his now dirty spacesuit. His wife was also irritated for the same reason. The revolutionaries were still chasing us, but they were no match for our rover.
I also saw the rocket Justine and Nigel used to reach us. It was named Hope. Hope is precisely what we need now, because we're about to come back to the lion's den, the lions being Roby and his gang of revolutionaries and assassins.
ns216.73.216.86da2
and then Add to home screen.