Free Commandos by Madlen Namro Page B

Levi asked after making sure no one would hear them.
“There’s a problem, Commodore. The technicians say that it’s not yet gone through its final check up. They’ve all been working on the plane Jo’s flying.”
Levi was compelled by a sense of urgency. He’d made too many mistakes recently. He walked up to the chief constructor.
“Get it ready, right now.” He pointed to the plane. “We’re leaving.”
“Commodore.”
“Don’t argue with me. I gave you a direct order.”
The constructor motioned his technicians to move the plane to the taxi lane.
“I just want to remind you…” Sweat was beading on the terrified man’s forehead. He swept it with his hand. “The ship can only take three people.” He tried to be firm, but his voice gave away his nervousness. “Due to the maximum weight and oxygen supply…”
“Why did Jo go alone?” Leon asked Levi. For him, as for most other people in the base, most of the night’s events were a mystery.
“I believe the third person onboard, apart from David, is going to be Magdalena.”
“ That Magdalena?” Leon exclaimed, disbelieving.
“Yes.”
They got inside the craft, strapped on their vests and fastened their seat belts. Then they put on their headsets and checked communications with each other and the base. After a short engine warm up, they began to taxi towards the runway.
“Why would she need a hacker?” The pilot did not try to hide his curiosity.
“Jo wants Magdalena to break into her memory and upload a disk.” He went silent for a moment, pondering. “Luckily she doesn’t know where to find her.”
Levi was breathing heavily, his heart pounding. He was uncomfortable. It was the first time in his career he would take off without authorisation.
From inside the craft the ascent seemed slow, but for everyone watching the spectacular take off of the newest space plane, the machine’s movement looked incredibly swift. The airfield was crowded with onlookers, technicians, constructors,
cyberneticists and automatics
assistants, engineers, specialists, as well as commandos and senators with their families.
They were following Jo, not knowing her exact speed or whether she’d even allow contact once they’d found her. Anxious but seemingly calm on the outside, they set off hoping that their stunt would somehow help David.
    * * * *
    Alec was drowning his worries in a glass of whiskey. He felt dejected and shattered by what had happened. Diana’s reaction had caught him completely off guard. He had no idea what to make of it, even though he’d given it a lot of thought, he would never have imagined having to struggle with his wife’s post-natal depression. He figured that was the cause all of this.
    Regardless of all the technological advances, depression remained the greatest threat faced by mankind in the era when other diseases such as cancer or HIV had long been successfully defeated.
    Alec heard someone knock insistently on the door. Discouraged and unhappy, he slowly walked to answer it. He did not feel like talking to anyone. Diana’s behaviour and Jo’s unbelievable action had taken a heavy toll on him. He still could not believe that after such an exhausting medical procedure, she would choose to fly alone. With his glass in his hand he angrily pried the door open.
    “Can I come in?” asked Margaret, calmly assessing the situation from the doorway. She could see that he was already mildly intoxicated. She stepped in.
    “I have to tell you something.” She met his eyes, not knowing where to begin.
She sat and after a moment Alec followed her. His fists were clenched which made his entire posture seem greatly distressed.
After a long pause, Margaret finally spoke. “Diana knows everything about you and Jo.”
Alec looked at her in amazement. How many more unpleasant surprises awaited him this evening?
“I uploaded Jo’s memory disc, to her,” she said without batting an eyelid. She’d been gathering courage to come clean for a