Part One: Reunion

[Troy Loveridge]

1825 hours
Commander’s Office
Lost City of Akrotiri

Troy and Ayden followed Travis to the expedition commander’s office, listening as the Colonel filled them in on Director Wright. While Troy had given input to the selection of his predecessor, Special Agent Barnes, he’d had little to do with Wright beyond reading the mission reports coming out of the base. The closest the two had ever come to meeting was Troy sitting in the background of video teleconferences with the expedition coordination team at the Pentagon. He hadn’t had time to ask Ayden how well she knew him, but he suspected they might have crossed paths. Directorship at the NID was a pretty close circle.

For a moment he wondered if the man was related to Doctor Ian Wright, a scientist who had been assigned to the Delian Expedition back in the day, and at one point had been a member of SD-1 alongside Troy.

“I wouldn’t be in the best mood if I was in his shoes,” Troy replied to Travis as they approached Wright’s office. Even up here, signs of battle and destruction were still clear. It looked as though the forces of Hades had been fighting their way toward Wright before being overcome. Troy removed his backpack and left it by the door as they moved into Wright's office.

They entered the office and introductions were exchanged. It was a very strange feeling being back here - Troy had occupied this very office himself for six months while base commander. Wright had redecorated upon taking residence, just as Troy had done when he’d taken over from General Kepler. The same framed medals, certificates and momentos that had once adorned these walls were now proudly on display in Troy's office in the Pentagon. He noticed that Wright didn't have as much on display - typical spook.

“Thank you for making time to see us,” Troy explained as he took a seat. “It looks like you’ve still got a lot on your plate.” That much was evident by the pile of paperwork on the commander’s desk - Troy knew all too well how the height of those piles was proportional to the sleepless nights Wright would be getting.

“Now that’s bit of an understatement,” he replied, removing his glasses to rub his tired eyes.

“Any new intel on Hades or his fleet?”

Wright shook his head. Based on the reports that had been beamed daily to the USS Thor during its three week voyage here, Hades’ fleet had dropped out of hyperspace close to the planet and began an immediate orbital bombardment, followed by a rapid landing of troops. Neither the sensors in Akortiri or the satellites monitoring hyperspace around the edge of the star system had detected his approach. To say the situation was alarming was an understatement.

< End of Part One >