December

  *

  They left Neptune Station around nine the following morning after a goodbye breakfast with Rosa. It was an extravagant affair, at least as big a one as they could pull together, with all the Neptune Station officers upbeat and optimistic. The endless pancakes and apple cider had been a godsend.

  General Toka had come over to the December’s bridge to discuss strategy once they’d returned. The December’s more powerful scanners had indicated there were nearly five Drevi fleets in the star system, but no more. Meaning they only had about two hundred ships, so the odds were not as bleak as any of them had originally thought. Apparently the Drevi thought they could hold Earth with that number of ships, and had sent about half the initial invasion force back to Dreve once it became clear the humans had lost. General Toka’s plan, therefore, was to circle Earth by coming from the asteroid belt, as well as from behind Venus. If they could trap the four Drevi fleets near Earth, they could lay siege and conceivably win the battle. A third set of Kolean ships would engage the last Drevi fleet, currently patrolling the outskirts at the opposite end of Neptune’s orbit, and take care of them as well.

  It seemed like a good plan to Ted, so he said nothing against it.

  When Alana asked Ted about the resistance, however, he found himself at a loss. He had already told her what Rosa had said to him, and that was, for the most part, all he knew.

  “Um, I’m not sure. All I have is a name, Kenneth Wood.”

  “But didn’t you say something about knowing a Kenneth Wood before? Isn’t it possible it’s the same person?” Trell asked.

  Ted really didn’t want to think about that possibility, but nodded. “I knew a Kenneth Wood in college. We met at various events and eventually became good friends, but we had a, um, falling out and haven’t spoken since.”

  “Do you know someone who has been in contact with him? Maybe another acquaintance from school, perhaps?” Alana asked.

  Ted thought, searching his memory. It was a harder task than he would have imagined. After everything he had been through, his past on Earth seemed like lifetimes away. “Jodi might.”

  Alana and Trell tested out the alien name on their tongues. “Jodi?” It was the first they had heard of anyone Ted knew named Jodi.

  “Yeah,” Ted said, unable to prevent his face from flushing red. “Jodi Hart. I haven’t heard anything from her since before the Drevi invaded, so I don’t even know if she’s still alive.” The idea of Jodi dead hurt Ted more than he thought it would. “I think I still remember her contact information, though. I’ll give it a shot.”

  “Your job, then, will be to get in contact with her and do your best to contact as many factions of the resistance as you can,” Alana said. “Because I highly doubt they’d even agree to an audience with a strange alien race if my team contacted them first. And if all of us don’t get our act together this won’t turn out well. In the meantime, General Toka will begin his planned maneuver to circle the planet and cut off the Drevi forces on Earth from outside help. And I will instruct my own team in an undercover op.” Undercover? Ted vaguely wondered how they were planning to pull that one off, with them being, well, bird people, but he figured he wouldn’t get much of an answer if he asked, so he didn’t.

  He sighed. Being a secret agent wasn’t exactly something he had aspired to be. Nonetheless, he agreed.

  IX