“You must be Sheryl” Emma said, her head upside down, and legs up in the air. This wasn't the best first impression she had ever made, but not the worst either. She quickly rolled herself into a more suitable position and then stood up, holding out her hand towards Sheryl, who quickly reciprocated the greeting.
“I'm sorry we couldn't get you here in more comfort, but once we heard that the Elite were about to strike, we had to use what means we could at short notice” Sheryl explained, “My sources originally said we had another week, but they were kept in the dark slightly. So, we weren't as prepared as we hoped”.
Jarrah was still not prepared and was only just picking himself up off the floor.
“Nice to see you again Ms. Roberts” He said.
“Please, call me Sheryl, there's no need for anything other than first names between us all”
She gestured over to her guards to remove the craft while she showed Jarrah and Emma the compound they would be working and living in for the foreseeable future.
“We need more than two of us to lift it; it's not got any wheels” Said guard number two.
“Of course it hasn't, do you think there are roads in space? Just do it” Sheryl asked him.
Guard number two didn't reply, he just walked around the back of the truck muttering to himself. Sheryl showed them around the complex, an underground installation consisting of a series of chambers, each kitted out with all the tools they needed to finish their research and engineering. Down a series of tunnels, they had a separate relaxation area with a kitchen and couches, as well as their own private bedrooms. It was a property acquired by Sheryl a long time ago, its original use was unknown, but it was at least fifty years old. All she had to do was modernise it and she knew it would be perfect. She had the money to throw at it. She knew they would be living underground for a while and there was no point in them all slumming it.
“When are you getting the others?” Emma asked.
“My teams are extracting them today” Sheryl replied.
She took them to their own bedrooms and told them to settle themselves in, have some coffee, tea and lunch, whatever they wished, and she'd keep them updated on the extraction of the rest of the team members. Sheryl left them both alone and made her way to one of the chambers that was set up as a nerve centre, rows of screens adorning the middle of the wall horizontally, a different image on each one. Rashid was sat at a desk facing the screens and on hearing Sheryl appear behind him, he swung his chair round.
“We're all in place and ready to go” He said, “As soon as you give the instruction we'll start”
Sheryl had been building up to this moment for a long time, carefully, methodically. She was hoping that everything she had done was going to work, she had accounted for everything she could think of. She knew that it was a possibility that not all of them would make it, but was confident that ninety percent would. She had employed the best guards she could find, the most capable, the most experienced. Okay, some may be a little dim about some things, like thinking they had roads in space, but she knew each of them was loyal and skilled when it came to the art of combat and protection. She was positive of that, she had been positive about everything in life, that's how she earned her money and her reputation. But she knew her reputation would mean nothing any more if she didn't pull this off. She poured herself a gin and sat next to Rashid. She was going to be glued to these screens for the rest of the discernible day. The enormity of the task was immense; she needed something to quickly calm her nerves. She told Rashid to give her a few minutes while she knocked back the contents of the glass and poured herself another. She took a long slow deep breath before finally turning to Rashid.
“Okay, let’s do it”.
GINA’S LAB
Gina's phone rang and she hurriedly picked it up.
“Hello?”
“Hi Gina, it's time. A team is ready to escort you and your research to where it's safe. They will be with you in five minutes” Sheryl said on the other end of the line.
“Okay” Gina replied nervously. She flicked the self-destruct switch and watched the phone disappear in a puff of smoke. Everything was all now very real.
She gathered what she needed, carefully placing everything in a series of metal containers and pulled them to the door to her lab, ready for them to be whisked away with her, hopefully to safety. She was full of trepidation, this was all a huge unknown, and anything could happen from this moment on. The last week had been difficult to comprehend. Only eight days ago, everything and everyone was normal and going about their daily business, but not anymore. She knew she was taking a huge gamble, but she felt she had no choice. She couldn't live under a regime that was suppressing the whole of society and she knew she had to help find a way out. Her robotics expertise was part of the hopeful solution, along with her prototype machine, that was carefully encased in the containers sat by her side.
The main reason she had such a huge lump in
