For the first time since the destruction of the Admonitor, all of Terra Group was together. All nine of the active team members waited in the main briefing room, along with Z-3PO, the team's protocol droid, and Ambassador Kerr. Though they'd had a few missions to attend to over the last thirteen months, none had involved the entire group as had the first mission that originally brought them all together. So much of the last year had been spent on building and setting up their various facilities that most of the team members' active duty time had been spent on design and testing duties. Still more had been spent on Terra Eight's attempt to train his team mates up to what he considered "proper military standards." Most of them hadn't taken to it, of course, and the effort had been abandoned halfway through.
Now they were all here, albeit fewer of them than there had been. More than a year on, Alison's absence was still diminishing some of the group's original energy. She remained their only combat loss, but others had left the group since the Admonitor battle. Pol's sudden departure had surprised everyone but Sci, who'd hinted that Pol had other matters to attend to when his strange resignation had arrived. Morwen's Ph.D. drew her to research full time and away from the life of a part time intelligence agent.
Sci stood at the chalkboard-sized video screen at the front of the briefing room and waited patiently for his troops to settle down. "As you may have all guessed by now," he began, "you're here because we have a mission. This is a big one - the biggest since Project Boussh. For reasons that will soon be clear, I'm calling this one Operation Arrakis."
"Clear to you, maybe," Josh Cochran interjected. "I don't know what an Arrakis is."
"Do you even know how to read? Anyway, since you were the first to open your mouth, you're the first to get volunteered. You do speak French, correct?"
"Why does everyone keep asking me that? Yeah, I minored in it in college. But so did Becki! Volunteer her!"
Sci smiled his most annoying smile. "Actually, I already did."
"Uh, Sci? Why are we looking for people who can go talk to the frogs?" asked Brad.
"I'm getting to that," Sci said. "Shortly after the Battle of Terra a shipment of components for a planetary shield generator was stolen from the Imperial supply depot at Qualor. NRI heard rumblings through their contacts that the shield generator was being delivered to someone here on Terra. They sent one of their field agents, someone with experience in 'primitive' societies, to find out who it was being sold to and stop the transfer. That agent has now disappeared."
"And NRI wants us to find them?" Vickie asked.
"Yes, but that's a secondary objective. Our main mission is still technological containment - find the shield generator and capture it or destroy it before it becomes operational. Anyone on Terra with a functional shield would be free to attack their enemies at will, without fear of retaliation. It would remove the only thing preventing a dozen wars from flaring up right now - mutually assured destruction. Obviously, we can't allow that to happen."
"Now, Agent Blade's reports indicate that she tracked the Imps making the deal to Paris, where they've been meeting with a small group of known Iraqi intelligence agents. I don't have to tell you that the middle east is the worst possible place for this thing to be going. And if it's going to Iraq, well...Saddam has repeatedly shown his willingness to use chemical weapons and ballistic missiles. If he could do it while hiding behind a shield that renders him virtually invincible he would instantly become the dominating force in the middle east. If the deal included improvements to his missile's range and warhead yield the whole world would be endangered. And he has quite a grudge against the United States and Great Britain."
The grim looks on the faces of the Terra Group members told Sci they understood the danger all too well.
"So we're going to Paris to try to pick up the trail the NRI agent was following?" Becki asked.
"Yes, and as Vickie said, to find Blade herself. She's more than a week overdue to report in to General Cracken. She said in her last report that she thought someone was following her, and then she went silent. She was still in Paris when she last reported in, but with the amount of time that's passed she could be anywhere on Terra - or off - by now. She's been on planet for about ten months now, so she's had a lot of time to learn how to move around quickly."
"Yeah, on our 'primitive' little world," Mike remarked. "You said she was sent because of her experience with planets like Earth. If we're going to find her, it would help to know what her story is. Why her for this mission?"
"Glad you asked. Although she operates under the codename Blade, all of you know of her better by her real name, Cheriss ke Hanadi." He paused a moment to allow the surprised murmurs to die down. "Cheriss has been in the New Republic armed forces since Wedge's trip to Adumar, first as a pilot in Starfighter Command and more recently as a Wraith. Since Terra is on a level of development similar to Adumar, NRI decided she was the ideal agent to send here."
"Hey Sci, I've got a question," said Emily as she raised her hand in the air. "Why didn't NRI just get us to find this thing and stop it for them? Why did they need to send another agent?"
"Fair question, and one that I asked myself. I don't exactly know why, but I suspect--based on this and other data I've collected--that someone in NRI doesn't trust us much, and doesn't think we can do something this delicate without making a mess."
"A mess? Us?" Josh Nolan asked sarcastically. "All we've ever done was burn down half the New Hampsire woods, blow up a building in Washington, and turn the Admonitor into a second sun. Oh yeah, and Psych over there lighting an oil slick on fire. What's not to trust?"
Sci looked from one Josh to another with a bemused look on his face. "Indeed. Can't fathom why we weren't their first call. Okay folks, your assignments are being transmitted to your datapads, but here's the short version. Josh, Cochran I mean, Becki, Vickie, Mike, Crispy, and Brad, are going to Paris. Because of his familiarity with NRI operations and galactic technology, Josh Cochran will be in charge of the Paris team. Zee's going with you." Seeing the look on Josh's face, Sci held up his hand to forestall the protest he knew was coming. "Not debatable. She's on your team for the mission. Kristy, you're on lunar duty until the mission's over or I replace you."
"Cool!" Kristy said with an enormous smile spreading across her face.
"Cool?" Mike asked. "I think just the thought of all that time bouncing around all alone up there is affecting her brain."
"Yeah, sounds like she's already got some Sci-chological damage," Josh Cochran quipped.
"Give her a week or two alone on the moon and she'll come back Sci-chotic," Nick joined in.
"Just what we need! Another Sci-chopath." Mike said.
Nolan couldn't resist the opportunity. "She'll probably start seeing all that moon dust in weird Sci-chedelic colors."
"Y'know, we need a good Sci-chiatrist on this team," Emily said.
"Are you kidding?" Josh Cochran asked incredulously. "We get enough Sci-chobabble as it is!"
Sci buried his face in his hand and groaned loudly. "Don't you guys ever get tired of this?" he asked rhetorically.
"Okay, okay, we'll be Sci-lent," Josh smirked at him.
"Anyway...Nick's asked for some time to take care of some business matters, but he will be on call if the Paris team needs him. That leaves you, Emily. We can't spring you from school indefinitely for this one, so we're going to have to send you back."
"Aw crap! That sucks!" she said.
"Sci, what are you going to be doing while we're off chasing after spies and shields?" Becki asked.
"I'm going to be recruiting some new members to fill in the gaps in our roster and doing some diplomatic work. Which reminds me," he said, looking at Josh Cochran. "Since one of the new guys will be in your wingpair, I'm bumping you up to Seven and making your new wingman Eight."
"Cool!" Josh said. "Does that mean I get paid more?"
Sci just shook his head. "I should have made the new guy your wingleader."
"You wouldn't!" Josh protested.
"Don't push it. Anyway from here forward you're now Terra Seven. You guys probably won't meet the new Eight, or Two and Eleven, for a while. Soon as I have them on board I'm going to take them with me on the diplomatic tour."
Sci looked at the face of each member of his team. They looked happy, in a way, to be back together and facing danger again. They looked determined. Most of all, they looked ready, something they definitely hadn't been for their first big mission.
"Okay, everyone knows where you're going? The Paris group leaves at 0900 tomorrow morning. Full briefing info will be sent to your datapads. Let's get to work."