Chapter Eight
Reunion
Six months after Up left, the G.L.E.E. lost all
communications with the Starship Eagle.
At first they thought it was a technical error, a busted
satellite, but all the diagnostic reports came back with
equipment in perfect working order. The Eagle, specially
commissioned for the mission, was travelling into the far
reaches of known space, and they didn’t have another that
could make the trip for a rescue mission. The Admiral and
the head honchos at the government argued back and forth
about the best course of action. Nothing was actually
accomplished. Eventually, the newsfeeds stopped reporting
on the topic, and the mysterious plight of the Eagle faded
from general conversation.
The last time Taz had spoken to Up, it had been via
vidscreen and he’d been in a cheerful mood. The
connection had been poor, and they’d done a lot more of
shouting “What?” at each other than actual talking, but
she’d managed to tell him about the results of her second-
year exams, and she’d seen the pride in his eyes before they
lost the connection entirely. It was less than a week later,
through the newsfeeds and the whisperings of her
classmates that she’d learned that no one had heard from
the ship since then. Worry settled in her stomach, but she
did her best to ignore it and continued her studies,
determined that when Up did come home, he would find in
her the best young Ranger the Academy had ever produced.