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| Mansel broke in. �He managed to totally blow up our Intelligence building.� Cain rubbed at his chin again. �This has got to be some sort of joke,� he decided to himself. �Do you have any proof of this?� Mansel and Brungess glanced at each other. �Proof?� they said at the same time. �What might exist in our dimension that doesn�t in this one?� Mansel asked, at a loss. His colleague, however, had an answer. �The Stealthlon!� he exclaimed. �Didn�t you say that the Stealthlon-B was about to be commissioned in a matter of days?� �Yes it is,� Cain confirmed, nodding his head. �Then there you go,� the General said, smiling, feeling proud of himself. �The Stealthlon-B has been in commission for a few years in our dimension.� Mansel immediately knew where Brungess was taking it. �If we pull up the Stealthlon�s operational history,� the Captain said, �then we can prove that the Stealthlon has been around for a few years.� �Exactly,� said Brungess. �Plus, we can pull up his service record to further convince him.� Mansel had Lieutenant Hardy pull up the Stealthlon-B Cain�s record. The Stealthlon�s record showed its commission date, unclassified mission, excerpts of Blackbird�s logs, and current crew listing. �There you are Cain,� said Mansel, pointing out Cain�s name on the list. �You�re second in command on the Stealthlon-B. Blackbird is the commanding officer. ��Blackbird?�� Cain asked, looking at the both of them. �Who is �Blackbird?�� �Obviously, his name doesn�t precede him as much as he thought,� Brungess said with a wide grin. �Blackbird is Admiral Beckerd Benson.� �Oh! You must mean Captain Benson,� Cain said, recognition on his face. �Captain Brungess will be commanding the Stealthlon. He pointed at Jim. �You.� Bewildered, the UNSF/EDF liaison pointed a thumb at himself. �Me?� With a glance in Mansel�s direction, he exclaimed, �I�m just a liaison officer!� �Well now you�re a starship captain,� said Mansel, unable to contain his smile. He looked over at the mirror image of Captain Matthew Cain sitting in his office. �Well, Captain?� he asked. �What will it be?� After a quick moment of thinking, Cain agreed. �We�ll need to round up the rest of this so-called crew list, or at least the most important people. Half of these people probably don�t even know each other, I�ll bet,� he mumbled. �Let�s see what we can do.� |
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