Free Rogue Command (The Kalahari Series) by A J Marshall Page A

an image of Carol’s face filled Matheson’s mind’s eye. She smiled at him and blew a kiss and then gestured for him to follow her; stars backlit her complexion. Jupiter, massive, with its rings of colour, turned slowly before him. He supported himself with a hand on the buggy and stretched up to feel the full extent of the great planet. No one has seen what I am seeing, he thought. Carol beckoned again – sweetly and lovingly, as on that ‘night’ in her cabin when Saturn passed by. He tightened his lips subconsciously as if to kiss her back and then reached up and found the other retaining clip with his right hand and, with some effort, flipped it open. A second red light illuminated on the control panel and began flashing incessantly and this time an aural warning complained loudly of his reckless stupidity. Having eyes only for Carol, he paid the warnings no heed. Instead, and with a hand on each side of his helmet, he rotated it.

CHAPTER 2
    Recall
    Moon base Andromeda – the day before Christmas 2054
18:07 Lunar Corrected Time
    “Hello. Unit one zero three. Rachel here.”
    “Doctor Rachel Reece?”
    “Yes, speaking.”
    “Good! It’s Peter Rothschild. How are you?”
    “Why are you calling, Peter? Please, of all nights, not tonight.”
    “Is Richard there?”
    “Can’t you leave it? Just another day or two. Please! It’s Christmas Eve for God’s sake.”
    “Rachel, I’m sorry. You know it’s not me; I’d rather be at home too. Something’s come up. It’s serious. The repercussions . . . Is he there, Rachel?”
    “Actually, no, I don’t know where he is, not exactly. He’s not back from the office. Maybe he hasn’t landed yet.” Rachel Reece sighed. “I thought this was all over, Peter. We’ve not heard from the department for almost two years, not since he assumed command of the Wing – he’s enjoying the job. Why don’t you just find someone else?”
    “He landed over an hour ago, Rachel, I checked. And there’s no answer from his office.”
    “Then he must be on his way. Perhaps he’s stopped to share a drink with friends? That’s what one does at Christmas time . . . isn’t it?”
    “Rachel, please . This job is difficult enough without . . . When is a recall convenient? You tell me? Anyway, I don’t dictate timings. I’d prefer to be with my family too, and not here in the city, I can tell you. He’s the one who did the degree in Hieroglyphics and Cryptography. He’s the one who’s receiving funding for his doctorate from the department. If he’d wanted to drop it, he should have done so four years ago.” Rothschild paused and his tone softened. “Rachel, listen, like it or not, Richard is our resident expert in these matters; he’s up there with the best of them. And regarding the origin of the Kalahari crystals, he’s the world authority. What’s more, after his illness, Professor Mubarakar is too frail to see anybody, although he always makes an exception for Richard. It’s very important Rachel. We have a major catastrophe on our hands. So please, tell me if you know where he is.”
    Rachel hesitated; she knew that there was no point in being difficult. Her disappointment at not being first on Richard’s list mustn’t make her feel rejected , she thought, but the realisation of Christmas alone made her grimace. “I expect he’s with the squadron pilots and the ops staff, Peter, enjoying some goodwill for once. Try Lieutenant Stewart Grant’s unit – number two, twelve. Remember, I haven’t seen much of him for weeks, so don’t you think he’s going anywhere tonight – not for a moment!”

    “A ferry flight, sir . . . no passengers, no cargo, now that is unusual. I thought it was all about saving fuel. First that new annual award for the most fuel-efficient return sector to Earth, and now we fly there empty – doesn’t make sense!”
    Commander Richard James Reece looked across the flight deck at his young co-pilot. By necessity, it