Captain Stanley Nelson - Prisoner of War

[pbrione]

--KNF Military Complex, New Tokyo--

Two men stood atop a tower block a short distance from the base's entrance, watching the KNF ships landing and taking off from the hanger bay. The taller of the two men was holding a pair of unusual electro-binoculars and was currently trying to focus on a tiny viewscreen within the base perimiter, through the open hangar doors, which by rights should have been impossible for him to see.

Satisfied, he passed the binoculars to the second man, "There, by the main hangar entrance. Yoshimo was right, the terminal just to the left appears to hold the shipping records."

Fumbling with the complex controls on the device for a moment, the second man eventually replied "I see it. But what if he's not on there? If he's still in the base we'll have a hard time tracking him down. And we can't even be sure this is the right base."

"This is the right base Yoko. You may be sure of that. Analysis of that news broadcast tells us as much. As for the results we find, we'll deal with that problem when we get to it. Personally I'd be happier if we found him here. At least we can keep an eye on the place without attracting too much suspicion. Now. We have work to do..."

--Two hours later--

Two men in the uniform of KNF Leuitenants marched swiftly and unfalteringly towards the hangar bay of the military complex. Their access cards opened every door they came across, and their ID chips satisfied even the most paranoid of computer security systems. As they arrived at the hangar bay they found a KNF officer on duty standing by the door. They saluted respectfully. "Konnichiwa Chūsa," said the first man in perfect Kusarian with only the breifest of glances at the insignia on the Commander's uniform, "Daisa Sakai requests your presence in the control room at once. It appears there are intruders in the base." Startled, the officer nodded curtly and marched swiftly off back towards the centre of the base, leaving the two men alone by the entrance to the hangar.

The man who had spoken moved quickly to the computer terminal in the wall of the hangar which housed the records of incoming and outgoing vessels and their cargo. "Thank God I can remember the KNF fleet roster off the top of my head" he thought, as he began keying in a complex series of symbols that should be known only to senior KNF personnel. "We have probably 5 minutes before he realises he has been tricked," he whispered to his companion, "perhaps less if their security system detects that the cargo records are being accessed without authorisation. Keep a watch on the door Yoko."

After about 2 minutes a KNF Ensign came marching down the corridor, spotted the two officers and paused before saluting hesitantly. His eyes lingered, confused, on the man operating the high-security terminal which should have only been accessible to High Officers. "Shōi! What are you doing here?" barked the man guarding the door whilst the other man continued to type furiously at the console. Before the young man could reply he added, "Get back to your duties at once! You have no business here." "Y-yes, sir." replied the Ensign, clearly very nervous, as he stumbled backwards before turning and running down the corridor. "Goddammit man, hurry up!" whispered the man known as Yoko to his collegue "He'll be back any second with reinforcements."

About 20 seconds later the man at the terminal straightened up, clutching a long print-out sheet of paper which he hurridly folded and tucked into his pocket. The two men set off at a brisk walk back down the corridor towards the centre of the base. As they reached the main hallway they were passed by half a dozen officers running quickly in the opposite direction towards the hangar, blasters in hand. Not looking up, they quickened their pace and eventually walked calmly out of the main complex entrance. Only once they were out of sight of the base did they break into a run.

As they climbed into a waiting hovercar, removing their uniforms and face-altering prosthetics, the man with the paper finally unfolded it and read through it carefully. "We're too late." he muttered. "They took him out on a transport yesterday morning. Destination..." he scanned across the page with his finger "...Fuchu."

---

Sir Stanley Nelson




<span style="color:#000066">Charles Canning </span><span style="color:#000066"> Foreign Secretary</span>