Road Rovers: Reich Of Franco

Episode 10: Secret Of NASA

By Gerhard Naudé

Striker, Franco, Norwood, Diehard, Champion and all others related to 
the KH Military © Gerhard Naudé
All Road Rovers names © Warner Brothers and rightful owners
Plague © Markus Laitinen
Buford Lovejoy © Robert Baer Jr.

Any question, comments, complaints, feedback or suggestions can be 
sent to gnaude_@hotmail.com.

Gas Station
Outskirts Of Orlando
State Of Florida
United States Of America
11 November 1982
9:56 PM:

It is raining on a clouded night over the city of Orlando. The outskirts
of the city is devoid of any kind of traffic. The only lights come from
street lights and the gas station. At the gas station a sedan pulls up
into the parking lot. A figure climbs out of the sedan. He is Buford
Lovejoy (future master of the Collie Squadron), wearing a raincoat over
his suit. The coat bears the emblem of NASA. Buford runs to a phone
booth and goes in. He puts in some coins into the payphone and starts
to dial a number.

Motel room
Stop-And-Go Motel
At that moment:

This is a seedy, out-of-the-way motel located opposite the gas station.
The curtains are drawn on one room and it is dark (like all the others). 
In the room, however, it is very active. Several EDF agents are here with 
all kinds of observation and listening equipment. One agent is looking
through the curtains at Buford with some kind of camera, while another
is busy with a voice recorder machine. Yet another has a monitoring
device and the rest are on guard. The voice recorder operator listens as
Buford makes the call.

Voice:"Xavier Storm here."

Buford:"This is Lovejoy."

Storm:"It's about time, 'buddy'. You haven't made contact for almost two
       months now."

Buford:"Satellite preparations take a long time to do and then there are
         the security personnel there. They are not easy to dodge."

Storm:"Did you get the plans?"

Buford:"With great difficulty, yes. However, there is a problem."

Storm:"What?"

Buford:"I cannot take the plans outside of the Cape's compound. If I
         tried, I would be arrested before I had set a foot beyond the
         fence."

Storm:"Can't you smuggle it out in your car?"

Buford:"It would have been possible two months ago, but ever since the
         CIA caught that Russian spy trying to steal plans for the
         space shuttle, all security loopholes have been sealed up."

Storm:"Bloody Commie scumbags. They ALWAYS have to screw things up."

Buford:"So what am I to do?"

Storm:"I'm to get Big Brother on the line and tell him what's wrong. You
       just keep a low profile for two days, then call me again."

Buford:"I will."

Storm:"Good, and don't try to double cross us. We know of that little
       finance problem you have and we can expose it to your employers if 
       you start acting out of bounds. If necessary, we have boys out
       there that can put a bullet into your head anywhere, anytime. You
       got that?"

There is a sigh.

Buford:"Yeah, I got it."

Storm:"Good."

There is a click as the phone is put down. The operator turns to the
agent who handles communications.

Operator:"Got a hot lead. Get the Commander on the line."

Agent:"Already done."

He calls for the lieutenant. Outside Buford has gotten back into his sedan
and is driving back into the city.

Norwood's Office
EDF Headquarters
12 November
2:34 PM:

Norwood is at his desk and is busy looking through some files. The door
to his office opens and he looks up. He becomes surprised as Striker
comes into his office, his face covered with cream. Striker does not
say anything as he closes the door and sits down before Norwood's desk.

Norwood:"I may be a bit curious to ask, but what happened?"

Striker sighs.

Striker:"Laura."

Norwood gets a stern look on his face.

Norwood:"Laura? What did she do?"

Striker:"She asked me if I want to give her a kiss. I agreed and she told
         me to close my eyes and get ready for the kiss. She then hit me
         in the face with a cream pie, and walked off."

Norwood quickly goes onto the intercom system.

Norwood(into intercom):"Agent Laura, report to my office in ten minutes
       immediately."

He turns back to Striker.

Norwood:"I will talk with her."

Striker:"It will not help, Mark. Clearly I will never be able to win the
         hearts of women. I don't blame them. I am a different species
         here. No human woman would fall in love with me."

He sighs.

Norwood:"Yes, it is rather a tricky situation you are in. However not all
         women are the same, Striker. I'm sure one day you'll meet your
         true love."

Striker just shakes his head sadly and sighs. Norwood takes out napkin
and tosses it to Striker, who catches it.

Norwood:"Clean yourself off and let's get back to work. We'll discuss this
         later."

Striker starts cleaning the cream off his face as Norwood begins to talk
about the next mission.

Norwood:"Our agents in Florida have finally succeeded in getting info
         about the dealings between the KH Military and NASA. Yesterday
         we intercepted two phone calls between two individuals who are
         providing the KH Military with sensitive NASA information and
         schematics."

He hands Striker a folder. He opens it and looks at the file inside. It
is a personnel file of Buford Lovejoy.

Norwood:"That is professor Buford Lovejoy, a scientist working within
         the NASA compound. He is the one who takes the information out
         of NASA to his contact."

Striker(reading):"33. Single. Lives in Orlando. Parents live in Miami. No
       siblings. Educated in Harvard University. Began working for NASA
       in 1970. Current position is Assistant-Chief in the satellite
       and shuttle preparation/launching department."

He continues reading the report.

Striker(reading):"Rumoured to be a compulsive gambler."

Norwood:"That's why he's working for the KH Military. They found out 
         about his gambling debts running into the thousands of dollars
         and offered to pay off his debts in exchange for little bits
         of information from NASA."

Striker:"At the beginning."

Norwood:"Right, but then they began to press him for more and important
         information until he had unwillingly become a spy."

Striker:"Gambler's blackmail."

Norwood:"Exactly."

He hands Striker another folder. Striker opens it and reads the file 
inside of it. The photo on it is of a man that resembles Zackary Storm.

Norwood:"This person, Xavier Storm, is Lovejoy's contact outside NASA and
         the one who relays the information to the KH Military."

Striker(reading):"29. Married. Wife Jessica Storm. Son Zackary. Lives in
       Norfolk. Born military man. Current position is captain of the
       101th airborne division. Highly regarded in the military and the
       cream of society."

He looks up at Norwood.

Striker:"Traitors everywhere, né?"

Norwood:"Sad, but true."

Striker:"Off the record, Mark, but might Storm be responsible for helping 
         the KH Military get hold of Apaches, Patriots, Chaparrals and 
         other US military equipment and weaponry?

Norwood shakes his head.

Norwood:"No, and quite a pity. Storm doesn't have the rank or clearance to
         get into the Pentagon's armoury. Though I wish he were the leak,
         we must accept that whoever is selling the Pentagon's secrets is
         somebody with a lot of power and rank."

Striker hands the folders back to Norwood.

Striker:"What where those two phone calls between Lovejoy and Storm?"

Norwood:"During the first call Lovejoy told Storm that he had failed in
         getting the 'plans' because a Soviet spy was arrested within
         the NASA compound. Storm told him to stay low for two days before
         calling again. Two days after the first call Buford contacted
         Storm again and told him that he had gotten copies of the 'plans',
         They have agreed to meet tonight to make the exchange."

Striker:"Where?"

Norwood:"On a beach just north of the NASA compound. Barely a stone's
         throw away, you might say. They were to meet inside the compound 
         due to the fact that security was stepped up after that Russian
         spy incident. We, however, persuaded the security chief there to 
         lower security, since a meeting within the compound would be too 
         crowded for us to operate in.  Your mission, Striker, is to go in 
         and stop the deal. Get the plans back, but capture both Lovejoy
         and Storm alive. They might give us more information on what is
         going on here. Anyone else who tries to stop you and isn't on
         our side are to be shot at on sight."

Striker:"Reg, Mark."

Norwood hands him another folder containing the details concerning his
mission. He takes it and puts it into his coat before standing up.

Norwood:"Good luck, Striker."

Striker salutes.

Striker:"Thank you, Mark."

He turns and leaves the office. Norwood turns to look out of his office
window.

Norwood:"Poor Striker. A good soldier, but an unlucky lover."

He keeps looking out of his office.

KH Submarine "Alistair"
Off The Coast Of Florida
United States Territorial Waters
3:24 PM:

This is an old diesel submarine travelling just beneath the waves. On the
conning tower is the KH Military insignia just above the sub's designation:
KH-A122. The sub is heading towards the Florida coast.

Captain's Quarters
Alistair:

This is small quarters with a bunk, fold-away sink and tap, a small metal
table and two metal chairs. A metal door leads out of the quarters. In
the quarters are the sub's captain, Champion, Plague and the first mate.
On the table is a map of Florida and a small portable screen showing
Diehard's face. The captain speaks to Diehard.

Captain:"So far we have been able to avoid the US navy by pretending to 
         be a fishing trawler. We did so by travelling close to the
         surface without exposing ourselves to visual contact by US ships
         and aircraft. If all goes well, we should be in and out of US
         territorial waters within a day or two."

Diehard:"You must speed up ze mission, ja? Ze EDF is on to our dealings
         vith NASA und ve do not vant zem to discover vhat is going on
         here. Ze Supreme General vill not be pleased if ze EDF find
         zis out, yah?"

Champion:"Tell the boss that he can count on me. Those plans will be in
          his paws even if I have to kill my way through America to get
          it to him."

Diehard:"Your bravery vill not impress ze Surpreme General. Ze plans is
         all zat matters, yah?"

Plague:"Where do I fit in?"

Diehard:"You vill kill ze two informants zat are vorking for us. Ze
         can be captured by ze EDF und forced to reveal our plans."

Plague:"What's the price?"

Diehard:"75,000 dollars for each of zem, but only if both of zem are
         killed. If one escaped, zen you are vorth nozing to ze Supreme
         General."

Champion looks at Plague.

Champion:"In other words, botch this mission and you can forget about
          contacting us, if you value your measly life."

Plague ignores him.

Plague:"And what is the bounty on Striker's head?"

Diehard:"10,000,000 dollars for his death."

Plague whistles.

Plague:"That is quite an amount. Are you certain you can afford it?"

Diehard:"Vith Striker, ze Supreme General vould give you all ze dollars
         in ze world. Only if you do not fail."

The screen just goes blank. Champion turns to the captain.

Champion:"Where are going to go ashore?"

The captain points to the everglades swamps.

Captain:"We will surface within the everglades as far inland and as close
         to the meeting point as possible. Coming up near the coast is more
         risky due to coast guard patrols. The swamps are isolated and
         there are little or no people about."

Champion:"Good. Get there ASAP."

Captain:"Aye, sir."

The captain looks at the first-mate.

Captain:"Give her all she's got without raising suspicion of any Yankee
         boats out there."

First-mate:"Aye, captain."

The first-mate leaves the quarters while Champion and the captain carry
on with their meeting. Plague just leans against the corner of the
quarters.

EDF Observation Team
Holding Position Outside NASA Compound Entrance
4:58 PM:

A black sedan is parked a short distance away from the main NASA entrance.
Two EDF agents, Miller (behind the wheel) and Lombardi, dressed in grey 
suits are watching the gate as guards allow the cars of leaving NASA
scientists through. Lombardi is the first to spot Buford's sedan approach
the gate.

Lombardi:"There he is."

Miller sees the sedan being stopped by a guard. Buford rolls down his 
window and shows his ID card to the guard. The guard and lets Buford
through. He rolls up his window again and drives out onto the road, going
north.

Miller:"Let's go."

He starts the engine and the sedan goes after Buford's, following some
distance from him. Lombardi goes on his radio.

Lombardi(into radio):"This is Lombardi to Striker. The target has left
        the compound head north on route 25."

Striker(over radio):"We are on our way. Do not loose the target. He is
       carrying the package."

Lombardi(into radio):"Copy that, sir."

He turns his radio and puts it away. They continue following Buford.

The Storm Residence
Neighbourhood in Orlando
5:07 PM:

This is an average middle-class home in a residential area of the city.
Zachary Storm (still about 5 years old) is on the patio playing with
toy soldiers, tanks and planes. Xavier comes walking out of the home
wearing casual civilian clothes. He looks into the house.

Xavier:"I'll be home in a while, dear."

Jessica(from home):"Don't be too late, dear. Supper will soon be
       ready."

Xavier turns to Zachary and rubs his head.

Xavier:"You like playing general, don't you son?"

Zachary:"Yeah! I am a powerful leader! Soon I will take over the world
         and become king!"

Xavier laughs.

Xavier:"That's my boy."

He walks towards the garage, opens it and goes in. He pulls out a jeep,
climbs out and closes the garage door before climbing back in. He pulls
out of the driveway, waves at Zachary (who waves back) and drives off.
As Zachary resumes playing a pickup appears from a side street and begins
to follow the jeep. Inside the pickup are two more EDF agents.

Side Road
South East of Everglades
5:23 PM:

This is an empty tarred road running along a forest towards the swamps. The
Rhino is currently the only vehicle on the road. Striker is behind the
wheel listening to the radio reports from the EDF agents.

Miller(over radio):"The target has entered the perimeter of the Everglades
      about 10 miles west from your position, sir."

Sampson(over radio):"The contact is approaching the perimeter of the swamps
       35 miles west from your position, sir."

Striker(into radio)Remain behind them, but increase your following distance.
       The target and the contact are entering an area with much less
       civilian traffic."

Miller, Sampson(over radio):"Copy that, sir. Increasing distance."

The radio goes dead and Striker pushes a button on his dashboard. A radar
screen of the swamps appear on the dashboard. Two blue dots representing
the EDF agents' vehicles can be seen on roads leading into the swamps.

Striker:"If they keep moving in the general directions they are going now,
         then they will meet..."

He puts his finger on an area roughly where the two vehicles might meet,
deep within the Everglades.

Striker:"... there."

As he pulls his finger away a red dot appears where he had pointed. He
sees this.

Striker:"Lekker. Looks like I have been proven right."

He pushes another button and the red dot is scanned and identified on the
screen.

Striker:"A US Baleyo-class diesel submarine. The US Navy does no longer
         use these boats, so that means it can only belong to the KH
         Military."

He reactivates the radio and calls the agents.

Striker(into radio):"We have a KH contact: a surfaced diesel submarine
       about 24 miles north of the target's position and 12 miles east 
       from the contact's position. Fall back and prepare for assault."

Miller, Sampson(over radio):"Copy that, sir."

Striker puts his foot down on the accelerator.

Striker:"This is it. Now we might finally have a breakthrough in this
         entire mystery."

The Rhino speeds onward towards the swamps.

Small Clearing
Everglade Swamps
5:36 PM:

This is a small, dirt-covered area within the forests of the swamp. A
road leads from it towards one of the tarred road. Xavier's jeep is
parked here. He is waiting as Buford's sedan pulls up next his truck.
Buford climbs out.

Xavier:"You're almost late, Lovejoy."

Buford:"I'm sorry, but security is giving me all kinds of troubles.
        Luckily they weren't as strict as they were a few days ago."

Xavier:"Damned Russians with their KGB spies. Do you have the papers?"

Buford takes out some folders and hands them to Xavier. He takes them
without looking at them.

Buford:"May I leave?"

Xavier:"No."

Buford(surprised):"No? Why no?"

Xavier:"Because our employer wishes to have a chat with you."

Buford:"Did I do something wrong?"

Xavier:"You'd better not. If you had screwed up somewhere, it is MY life
        will be on the line with yours. Come with me."

Xavier walks off into the swamps. Buford reluctantly follows. Behind
them hiding behind the trees is Striker and the four EDF agents, all
wearing the same blending snow uniforms, except these are temperate 
uniforms. Striker signals them and they begin to creep behind Xavier and
Buford into the swamps.

"Alistair"
4 Kilometres East of Clearing
5:42 PM:

The submarine has surfaced in one of the deeper lakes in the swamp. A
gantry leads from the sub onto dry land. A few KH sailors armed with
AK-47's patrol on the sub's hull. Standing on the ground by the end of
the gantry is Champion. He watches as Xavier and Buford appear from
the trees and walk up towards him. Xavier salutes.

Xavier:"Greetings, sir. Welcome to America."

Champion:"Whatever. Do you have the plans?"

Xavier:"Right here."

Xavier hands the folders to Champion, who begins to look carefully at
each paper. Buford looks around nervously, but Xavier remains calm and
even a bit impatient. Behind a fallen tree not far off Plague is readying 
his Steyr AUG rifle as he watches Xavier and Buford.

Plague:"Sitting ducks. This should be easy."

He gets into position. Meanwhile Striker and the agents were watching the
group from behind the trees some distance away.

Sampson:"That big wolf is Champion. He's Franco's personal bodyguard...
         as well as a notorious rapist."

Striker:"I hate rapists."

Miller:"We all do. And we'd all like to see Champion on the rack because
        of that alone."

Lombardi:"What is the plan of action?"

Striker:"We must find out what those papers are and prevent Champion from
         smuggling them out of America. We must also try to interrogate 
         Buford and/or Xavier. Let's spread out and attack all at once
         from all sides."

The agents nod and ready their weapons as they begin to run to their
positions, all the while keeping out of sight. Striker readies his sonic
rifle and creeps as close as he can to the sub and the group. Back at
the fallen tree Plague is now in position and is aiming his weapon at 
Buford and Xavier.

Plague:"Too easy."

He then hears a twig snap and quickly looks towards the spot where the
noise came from. He spots Lombardi creeping along the trees. The agent
is keeping his eye on the submarine and is thus oblivious of Plague's
presence.

Plague:"S***!"

He quickly takes aim on Lombardi and fires. The agent barely has time to
hear the shots when the bullets tear into his chest. He falls onto the
ground, lifeless. But everyone; Striker, Buford, Xavier, Champion, the
submarine sailors and EDF agents; are looking towards him.

Champion:"What the h***? Stupid idiot!"

Striker:"Ai yai yai. Plague!"

Plague quickly turns his attention back at Xavier and Buford. He takes
aim on them.

Buford:"Oh God!"

Xavier:"Damn!"

The two quickly turn to run, but Plague is pulling on the trigger. Suddenly
a sonic blast from Striker hits the fallen tree, causing Plague to fire
off target. The shots miss both Xavier and Buford, the two of them now
running in the general direction of their vehicles. The other EDF agents
open fire on the submarine, and the sailors fire back. Champion quickly
boards the submarine and heads for the conning tower. Striker and Plague
trade a few more shots before Plague sees Xavier and Buford running
away.

Plague:"Oh no, you're not going anywhere!"

He quickly takes off running after the two. Striker watches him go and
gets up as well to intercept. He radios the other agents.

Striker(into radio):"This is Striker! In pursuit of the two contacts! The
       rest of you try and stop the sub from leaving the swamps!"

Agents(over radio):"Copy that, sir!"

He starts running after Buford and Xavier. Meanwhile the agents keep on
firing on the sub. Some of the sailors are lying dead on the deck, but
the rest keep firing back. One of them is controlling the machine gun
cannon on the desk, firing into the woods with great effect. Champion,
who had gone into the sub, climbs onto the top of the conning tower
holding an EDF SM-16 rifle. He looks it over.

Champion:"Let's see how this baby differs from its US army cousin."

He takes aim towards a spot where an agent is firing towards the sub
and opens fire. A rain of laser shots hit all around the agent, forcing
him to take cover. Champion then fires at another, also forcing Miller
to take cover. He then fires towards Sampson, and the agent fails to 
find proper cover. The laser shots smash into his body and sends his
body reeling backwards onto the ground. The submarine starts up and
begins to move out of the swamps, Champion and the sailors keeping the
two surviving agents well and truly pinned down. Meanwhile Buford
is still running towards his sedan. Suddenly he steps into a pool of
mud and sinks up to his knees. He frantically tries to climb out, but
his movements causes him to sink up to his waist.

Buford:"Quicksand!"

He tries to reach for grip on dry land, but he is out of reach. He
sinks up to his chest. Plague appears and stops next to the pool, look-
ing at Buford who is looking back at him with fear.

Buford:"Are you going to kill me?"

There is a moment of silence.

Plague:"Only if the quicksand doesn't kill you before I get back here."

He takes off after Xavier. Buford tries to escape, but sinks up to
his shoulders. He starts shouting for help.

Buford:"Some! Help me! I'm sinking in quicksand!"

Not far Striker hears his calls for help and starts running towards him,
shouting back at him.

Striker:"Hold on!"

He keeps running until he reaches Buford, who's head has disappeared
under the mud and only his arms remain above the mud. Striker quickly
goes onto his stomach by the pool and quickly grabs Buford's hands. He
then pulls hard, pulling Buford out of the mud and onto dry land. 
Buford coughs up mud that had gotten into his mouth. Striker gets up
again.

Striker:"Stay here and don't move."

Buford just nods as Striker goes after Plague. Back at clearing Xavier
has just reached his jeep. He jumps and begins to start the engine. As 
this happens Plague appears not far from the clearing. 

Plague:"Not so fast."

He takes aim on the jeep, but then he hears someone behind him stepping
on dry leaves and twigs. He turns around to see Striker coming towards
the clearing.

Plague:"Never mind Xavier. Striker is the big bounty here."

He turns to fire on Striker, but Striker spots him and quickly ducks behind
a tree. The two begin to exchange shots while Xavier's jeep keeps on
moving until it reaches a tarred road and drives away.

Xavier:"That's it! No more working with anything that isn't human!"

He keep driving faster. Back with Striker and Plague the two of them are
still shooting at each other, barely missing each other. Plague's gun
then runs out of ammo. He reaches for an extra ammo clip inside of his
ammo pack, but finds none.

Plague:"What the?"

He looks around in his pack and finds a hole created earlier by a bullet 
in the pack. All his ammo had fallen out. He growls.

Plague:"And that stupid salesman said it would repel bullets! When I get
        out of this I'm to find out if HE can repel bullets!"

He takes out his Colt 45 and fires a shot at Striker, causing him to
duck behind his tree again. Plague then quickly turns and runs away into
the forest of trees. When Striker appears from behind the tree to shoot
him he just sees Plague disappearing in the distance.

Striker:"He's running away, but I had better be careful. He will be back
         for me again, né?"

He looks towards the clearing.

Striker:"Though I doubt Storm will come back here again. All I can do now
         is head back to the others."

He begins to run back to the others.

Clearing
6:00 PM:

The Rhino and the two EDF civilian vehicles are now here along with
Buford's sedan. Miller and the surviving agent (Obermann) are loading 
two body bags onto the back of their pickup truck. Striker is helping
Buford clean the mud off of him. The sun is setting in the west.

Buford:"Thank you for rescuing me, though I feel that might not help
        me much, considering that I've been caught and my secret's
        out."

Striker:"Ja, that is true."

Buford:"So, am I under arrest?"

Striker:"Nee, but if you do not help us by telling us what we need to
         know then we will place you under arrest."

Buford:"But if I talk, won't my former employers kill me?"

Striker:"Not if we can help it. You will given special 'protection' from
         the KH Military. In addition, we will also cancel all of your
         current gambling debts."

Buford:"In that case, I accept. What do you wish to know?"

Striker:"Firstly, what do the KH Military want to do with all of the NASA
         information and plans?"

Buford:"They've never told me what they want to do with them, but if 
        look at all that I've smuggled out to them I would say they are
        building something based in space."

Striker:"Do you have an idea what it could be?"

Buford shakes his head.

Buford:"I don't know. It could be a satellite, a space station, a lunar
        shuttle or something else. However, it would likely be unusual
        and one of a kind. One of its most vital components can only be
        acquired using some artifacts."

Striker's ears perk up.

Striker:"Artifacts?"

Buford:"Yes. I've heard Xavier Storm sometimes talk about how the compo-
        nent can only be acquired once they have all the artifacts."

Striker:"All which artifacts?"

Buford:"I don't know. And that was all he knew about it."

Striker thinks for a moment.

Striker:"Ai yai yai. This is very ominous."

He looks back at Buford.

Striker:"Dankie for telling us what we know."

Buford:"Dankie?"

Striker:"It means 'thank you'."

Buford:"Oh, my pleasure then."

Striker:"Goed. Now, could you stand still for a moment?"

He takes out the mind disruptor and points it at Buford.

Buford:"What now?"

Striker:"Now you are going to loose a part of your mind."

Once again there is a flash, followed by the glow coming from Buford's
eyes. Striker puts the mind disruptor away and goes over to the two
agents who have finished loading the body bags.

Striker:"You two take Buford back to his home. Once done, go to Xavier
         Storm and erase his memory as well."

Agents:"Yes, sir."

The agents go over to Buford and begin to put him into his sedan while
Striker climbs into the Rhino. He starts it up, goes into flight mode
and then takes off towards the north.

Norwood's Office
EDF Headquarters
6:12 PM:

Norwood is seated by his desk writing on some files. His phone rings and
he pushes a button on it.

Norwood:"Commander Norwood."

Striker:"Mark, it's Striker."

Norwood:"Did you complete your mission?"

Striker:"Only partly, Mark. The KH Military managed to escape with the
         plans and we lost two agents, but we managed to capture Buford
         Lovejoy. He told us what is going on, and it does not sound
         good."

Norwood:"What did he say?"

Striker:"It seems the KH Military is building an orbiting vehicle of some
         kind and it is connected to these museum thefts."

Norwood:"Connected? How?"

Striker:"It seems one of the most important components of this vehicle
         can only be acquired if the KH Military manages to get all the
         required artifacts."

Norwood:"That is unusual. We have just a few hours ago discovered that
         all the artifacts captured relate to the Inca civilization in
         one way or another."

Striker:"The Incas? This does not make sense, Mark. What do the Incas
         have to do with a sophisticated orbital space vehicle?"

Norwood:"I don't know, but you can bet that Franco certainly does know.
         We must try to found out what this space vehicle is and what
         this vital component is, then try and stop him."

Striker:"That could be difficult, Mark. We have another problem."

Norwood:"What?"

Striker:"Franco's bodyguard, Champion, had an EDF SM-16."

Norwood is shocked.

Norwood:"What! You certain?"

Striker:"Ja, and I have a dead agent to prove it."

Norwood swears.

Norwood:"So this means the Earth Defence Force has been compromised."

He looks around before speaking.

Norwood:"Listen, you keep the information you have just between you and
         me. It's clear we can no longer trust anyone in EDF."

Striker:"Won't the Council oppose this decision?"

Norwood:"Not if security has been compromised. Report back to HQ, Striker.
         We will discuss this later."

Striker:"Reg, Mark."

Norwood turns the phone off, then sighs and looks suspiciously around.

Truck Stop
Somewhere South of the Everglades
7:46 PM:

It is night time over this average American truck stop. Dozens of trucks
are parked here, their drivers either eating at the café or buying fuel.
Plague, now wearing fatigues, is inside a phone booth talking to Stalker
on the phone.

Stalker(over phone):"You are only lucky that we don't know were you are,
       otherwise Franco would have had you killed right away."

Plague(into phone):"What about my payment?"

Stalker(over phone):"Franco would rather eat your heart than pay you.
       You have failed your mission, Plague. And it is a costly failure."

Plague(into phone):"What am I supposed to do about it now?"

There is a moment of silence.

Stalker(over phone):"Listen carefully now. Go to Disneyland and check one
       the rubbish bins near Cinderella's castle. Inside you will find a
       black bag containing $12,000."

Plague is a bit surprised at this.

Plague(into phone):"What am I supposed to do once I've gotten the money?"

Stalker(over phone):"Then you get lost. You are no longer employed by the
       KH Military. You will NEVER come back to us, or we will kill you.
       We never want to see you again. Goodbye."

The phone goes dead before Plague can reply. He puts the phone back onto
the receiver, then swears and hits the phone.

Plague:"Damn you, Striker! Damn you! Damn you! Damn you!"

He gathers his things and leaves the booth. He then hitches a ride on a
truck leaving the truck stop. The truck then drives away into the night.

Shepard Laboratories
Near Socorro, New Mexico
8:49 PM:

It is a clear night sky with a full moon over the now-completed Shepard
Laboratories Complex. On the roof of one of the buildings is a table and 
two chairs have been placed along with a medium-sized stereo set. The
table has been set for a candlelight dinner and the stereo is playing
soft music. William and Isabel, both well-dressed, are dancing close to
one another.

Isabel:"Tomorrow you will probably go to work, I guess."

William:"Not really. I still need to bring in some additional equipment
         and personnel, but I can start on some smaller tasks."

Isabel:"Will you be very busy, then?"

William:"I will have quite some free time left after I have finished
         working. Perhaps we can spend more time together tomorrow?"

Isabel smiles.

Isabel:"That would be wonderful."

She kisses him passionately and he kisses back as they keep on dancing. 
Above them a shooting star streaks across the night sky. Franco's plans 
have been exposed, Buford has been freed from the grip of his gambling 
debts and the KH Military and Plague has been left without an employer. 
But Champion has gotten away with the plans and the EDF has been compro-
mised. What is this vital component the KH Military is trying to find? 
What are they building in space? And who is the leak in the Earth Defence 
Force?


THE END