Isolation

Chapter 09

A small vibration pulled him out of sleep. Mark was lying in James's bed facing the wall. James was snoring away on the opposite end. They had kept their suits on; it wasn't mandatory to put them away every night. He answered the call without looking at the screen.

"Hello?" He answered quietly.

"Mark! It's me!"

It was his dad.

"Dad? Why are—"

"Listen. I need you to get up here to the Command Center immediately. Bring your friends, and be quick."

The call ended. He sounded worried. He had to get up there.

"James, wake up!"

He shook him. He bolted upright.

"What?"

"Dad needs us in the Command Center. Like, right now."

He nodded. "I think we're about to find our answers."

"Me, too."

He woke Blaez and told him to be quiet. Slowly, they tiptoed out of James's room and out the door of their home. He dialed Sara's number as they ran down to the Hub. She answered.

"Mark?" She said groggily.

"Sara! My dad needs us in the Command Center now!"

Her response was immediate.

"Consider me there."

She hung up. Mark and James made it to the Hub. They located the security door. It was guarded by two officers on either side. They saw them come running and unfolded their hilts.

"Mark O'Connor, son of Captain O'Connor," he said gasping.

"James Tanner, son of Officer Tanner!"

They immediately relaxed and moved.

"Sara is on the way," Mark said as they let them through. "Make sure she gets here!"

They huffed as they bolted between rushing officers until they made it to the Central Command Center. Marks' dad was looking at a large screen hundreds of feet long. An image of space was portrayed on it. Rows of screens lay below it with people analyzing data.

"Dad!"

He turned to look at him.

"Mark, come look at this."

It was eerie the way he said it, but Mark followed. He walked up next to him and looked at the giant screen. A small, gray dot moved slowly across space.

"What is that?" Mark asked.

"That is TransArk 49."

"What? How?"

"About ten minutes ago, the officers guarding TA forty-nine were missing. About fifteen minutes ago, the ship was jettisoned into space."

"No way..." James whispered.

"James!" Mr. Tanner came up behind them.

"Dad! Are you okay?" James asked.

"I'm fine. Is your mother alright?"

"She's asleep. I thought you were back at home?"

"I was investigating a disturbance. There were gunshots and some blood, but there are no bodies. They were just... gone."

"Is the DCS still out there?" Mark asked.

"It hasn't moved position since we found it," Jason said.