(9) Determination

The lights in the small room flickered. Their fluorescent glow causing seemingly random changes in the faces of those sat around the room, each continually changing from a collection of soft, sympathetic features one moment, to a sharply lit and sinister definition only a moment later.

This was clearly a meeting of determined people. Those present stared intently at each other across the fluid void of darkness and light swimming among the group.

'There is only so much we can do surely?' said the tall dark figure near the far wall. 'We've tried to contact them but either our signal isn't getting out, or they're just not listening.' his brow crumpled at the fleeting thought of his homeworld abandoning him and the rest of his group.

'We need to find out what's jamming the signal.' came the reply from a stout man sat among the others, 'it's the only possibility. There's no way the academy would leave us here, we all know what happens to these people's prisoners eventually.'

The rest of the group glanced around at each-other, it needed not be voiced between them the horrors they had been told of before each of them left; none wanted to be tortured and manipulated, especially at the hands of such a dishonourable enemy, playing with their minds while they waited to be taken away.

'We can't get to any decent equipment; cooped up down here.' said the tall figure. 'These pigs have us pinned down, we need to get a military radio and see if we still have any recon darts in orbit, these civvy-sets are just getting static.'

'Oh come on, Jek, we'd never find a recon up there. Our fleet was obliterated by these bastards, you think they just left a couple of guys cruising around.' said the stout man. 'A radio isn't going to help us one jot, we've gotta get hold of some ships and get the hell out of here. Maybe if we get out of the atmosphere we can get in touch with home. I know they'll send someone to help us, heck maybe we can cause some damage on the way out.'

'Maybe Kurt, maybe; but if you think it's gonna be easy to get enough ships to take us home, you're running an engine short of a sol-jump.' Kurt shot him an angry look, 'I know these guys look like you could knock them down no-worries, but they've got their systems sorted, we can't just walk in there and borrow a cruiser.'

'So if you're saying we can't get off, and we can't call home. What we gonna do genius?'

'Hey man, we're both on the same side here. Like I said, we need a military radio, and we've got to work this from the inside. Running aint gonna help us or our guys back home.'

'Ok' said Kurt 'so what are you saying.'

'We tried for nearly five years to get guys into this base, and look at us now, we're in prime position to do some real damage.' A few of the people sat round nodded. 'We need to speak with home and get the tools we need, cos I'm telling you now, it's not gonna be easy to get equipment or arms from here, and we'd be idiots to think otherwise.'

A good looking woman at the back of the room stepped forward. 'So you think we can sabotage this place?'

'Hell yeah' said Jek. 'But we can't just fool about, we need to do it right. We can't just fight back outright and expect it to get us anywhere except into prison-cells. We've gotta be smart about this.'

'Like the Jormanian resistance in the last oil-war.' said Kurt, 'Just a coupla dozen guys disrupted the rigs I was working on for almost 10 years. Real hardcore, clever guys.'

'Exactly!' he nodded his head and smiled, as the room fell deadly silent.