Re: Episode Eleven: The Line in the Sand
Vance heaved a sigh, scowling for a moment at Bixby's comment...then got up on his seat, so as to be seen over the heads of all the standing people exchanging questions. "WHOA, HOLD UP!" he called out, holding his hands up. The moment people realized who'd yelled, the volume dropped...he was apparently the bearer of all unofficial news, and they didn't want to miss it.
"There's a lot...and I mean A LOT...that we can't answer. We just don't know. I haven't been ordered to keep it classified, so I'll tell you now...but know that this information could become classified at any time, so don't go shouting it from the rooftops, or you'll get us all in trouble, okay?" He didn't wait for a response.
"Yes, the SDF-1 is operational. Where she's been and what she's been doing is anyone's guess, I know we've all heard rumors about what happened to her during the alien attack on Earth and I can't clarify any of them. We never got close enough to make contact, we spotted her leaving Mars a while ago and have been trying to track her progress, but the aliens keep a pretty tight cordon around her and we couldn't get close enough to punch a clear signal through their ECM and signal scrambling, so they don't know we've seen them, and we've only got bits and pieces of comm chatter and internal signals to let us know what's going on. No idea how many are still on board, no clear idea what condition they're in...we just know that whoever's still on board is fighting like hell because the aliens STILL don't have her and based on their behavior for the last few weeks, since we saw the SDF-1, it's a good bet they've been badgering her for months."
His voice got somber...a little strained as he tried to keep his emotions in check as he spoke. "They've likely got no idea any of us are still left...but they're still fighting. So, no matter how grim things may look, I don't think any of us have excuse to make any less effort than they have." He looked around the assembled faces, and found himself blinking back tears for a moment.
"They're fighting on faith...that we're here, that between them and us, we can fight off the aliens. We've gotta fulfill that faith. They keep getting blocked from a direct path to Earth, but even with all the tacks and jogs their course has taken, they keep working closer and closer...and when they get here, we've gotta be ready to leap into the fight, tooth and nail, and show them they were right to have faith in us. You with me on that?!"