Their quarters at the Union of Sol Embassy were very plain. Almost like a jail cell. So when Denise rose the next morning she had to think for a couple of minutes before remembering where she was. Rising and getting dressed she met up with the others for breakfast. It was a quick meal and they were off to the Station Administrators office. They made their way to the central elevator but once inside it would not move. After a couple of seconds the doors opened and there stood four concord marines with weapons drawn. Beighur said,

"What is going on? We have an appointment to see the Station Administrator." The lead marine spoke,

"Yes sir, we know. One of your guests has a concealed weapon." Beighur looked around with fire in his eyes. He said,

"Who is it?" Aleerin stepped forward and said,

"Statement: I regret/sorrowful for any problems/difficulties, but after yesterday, I was/am afraid."

He then handed the gun to Beighur. The Captain's face softened and he said,

"You are safe now. These men are Concord Marines. They will make sure the Syndicate can not get to you." Aleerin smiled up at the soldiers. The marine took the gun and looked at it.

"You could not have killed anyone with this, so we will just hold it until you come back down." Aleerin smiled and nodded a thank you.

They then made their way to the Station Administrator's office and were shown right in. There, behind a desk was a tall good looking man in his early to mid thirties. He was dressed in his Concord Administrator's uniform and his Tri-staff was on a rack on the wall behind his desk. Everyone sat down except for Denise. She started off her story of the Empress of Sol and finished off with them being in his office. He had not interrupted or even asked any questions. Then, once she had finished he finally spoke.

"I am going to call in some other people. Captain David Chase. He is in charge of the Marines on the Station, Jax Rolin, he is with Concord intelligence and Captain Adam Wistzee of Star Force. When they arrive we will form some sort of plan to deal with this. I will have my assistant show you to the conference room where you can wait." A woman then came in and showed them out. There was coffee and water and they sat down to wait.

After about 15 minutes the four men walked into the conference room. Kyle Wakefield introduced the other men to the group and then asked Denise to tell her story again, but this time just from the incident at Ice Walker Station. Denise smiled because she had not said it was Ice Walker. Huntly on the other hand got very nervous. Denise told her story from that point and the four men listened intently. When she was finished Captain Chase asked about the black light lasers the cyborgs were using. Denise told him all she could. Then Jax Rolin asked about the mind control device the cyborgs rested in. Pogo answered his question with some help from Christine. They seemed to have more questions, but Kyle Wakefield stepped forward and said,

"Let me sum this up. The Jamaican Syndicate has found a Worm Hole Generator that for now only this young man can operate. It goes to a deserted jungle planet with advanced technology they are using. The attack on Ice Walker was probably only to test to see how well it works and it does. The question is what to do about it." He was silent, looking around the room. It was obvious to all he did not really expect an answer. When his train of thought was ready he continued,

"I think we have some options. The first is to destroy the site and the gate with it. The second is to capture the site and use what we find. The last and my least favorite is to leave things alone and see what happens."

Jax Rolin stood up and said,

"We cannot let a group of thugs and thieves have access to such advanced technology."

"Yes, yes, calm yourself Jax, but have we the right to interfere with a developing system?"

"They are not developing, they are stealing! As far as we know they do not even have access to our level of cybernetics."

"We do not have enough information to either destroy the site or to capture it. So for all they have done is raided another pirate den. This goes on all the time."

Pogo leaned over to Denise and whispered,

"they do not want to get the Concord's hands dirty, but we might be able to get their help if we volunteer." Denise turned to Pogo and smiled. She then stood up and said,

"Gentlemen, I can see you have a problem. You do not want to step in too early or you will be perceived as picking on a small government no matter how bad they are. We already know the area and have the boy." She looked at Aleerin, then continued.

"I am sure he would help us to get through the gate and check out what is going on. Then we can report back and you can make an informed decision."

Wakefield said,

"That would help a great deal, but to put you at risk like that..." Denise smiled at the crafty Administrator and replied,

"We would volunteer of course."

"Well, in that case, I could not stop you so I might as well help, don't you think?"

"It would be best for all concerned."

"I will let you and Captain Chase work out the details and he can supply you with any gear you might need." At that point the meeting was adjourned and the other three men left the room.

Denise looked at Captain Chase and liked what she saw. He was young for being a Captain and Denise hoped it was because he was good. He said,

"So what are you going to need from us?"

Denise had not even thought about it. Then her training from the cruise company kicked in. She said,

"We cannot go down there unless we know all the passengers from the Empress of Sol have been taken care of." This was news to him so Denise filled him in on the beginning of the story. He waited until she finished before speaking.

"You people have been through hell. Where are they now?" Denise looked at Christine. She said,

"They are at the Union of Sol base on Telemachus." Captain Beighur quickly added,

"They are honour guests. After all, they are all prominent people from Earth."

Captain Chase looked at Captain Beighur and said,

"Yes, I can see where that would hold a lot of weight out here. I will get them aboard and on their way home as quickly as possible. We will also send a message to Earth telling everyone they are alright."

Denise looked around the group and said,

"OK, now is when you have to decide. Go home with everyone else, the smart thing to do, or go down to the planet surface and then maybe to another planet a 1000 light years away. No one knows what we will find or even if we will be able to come back."

Then she looked around and the silence in the room was deafening. She waited then said,

"OK, we go in the morning."