While all of that had been going on, the Chancellor of the New Earth project, Willis Hancock, had been overseeing the crop growth. Sitting down, he started to count the potato plants, writing the Talley into a little notepad.
Hancock was one of the only members on board the space stations that did not use technology - at least, not much of it. He still preferred to use pen and paper, and he only used computers for calculations to complicated for most humans to comprehend. Highly unusual, he had risen through the ranks to become the highest-paid cosmonaut ever, earning over $2 million universal credits (the worldwide currency) in the last year of the Earth being habitable.
He wiped his brow and sighed. It had been a long day, and he still had no idea how to fix the problem with the crop growth.
His watch beeped, and looking at it, he frowned. A message had just popped up and asked him to come to the conference room. But why? he wondered. The conference room on his station had not been listed to be used today. Something's up.
Getting up from his designer chair, he staggered. It had been days since he had last had a good sleep; there were large, dark bags under his eyes. Hancock was no stranger to long, tiring hours, however this was the limit. Just a little sleep, he said to himself.
Shaking himself awake, he slouched towards the door. Reaching it, he turned the handle and walked out.
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While Hancock had been trying, in vain, to stay awake and get down to where Jack was, Jack was out of the torture rack and talking to his captors -
"and therefore, the matter duplicators can actually be used to duplicate humans, however we were only able to test it with two of those that had not awoken."
Actually, Jack was lying, however he had to keep a straight face or else the game would be up.
"Well, I don't see what the harm is in trying it out. We shall try it out with...Captain Jack."
Jack had had a feeling that they would suggest this. They wouldn't lose any sleep if they lost him, however the same couldn't be said for themselves.
However, Jack had a special power - he could transform into droids, therefore the matter duplicator would work safely. However, he had to do it immediately, and without fear, so they wouldn't realise he was lying.
The sergeant fired up the matter duplicator that Jack had seen him bring into the conference room.
"Don't fear, Captain. If you are telling the truth, you will bring prosperity to mankind. Ally with us and you will become powerful and wealthy," the sergeant said, wheeling the matter duplicator that would seal his fate - or give Jack another chance to take down the bad guys. "Step down in here please, Captain."
The Captain knew how the matter duplicator worked. Accessing the transforming function took only a fraction more effort than using a smart watch, even one that was hidden beneath his skin. The m.d's had tinted glass (something to do with maximising energy efficiency) so Jack knew he wouldn't be seen transforming. It would take 10 seconds to transform and just over 20 seconds between the doors closing and the duplication process starting, so he knew he had to time it perfectly. After he (well, the droid) was duplicated, he would re-transform back into human form, and overpower the sergeant and his lackeys (all in all, there were 4 that he had to take care of). He would catch them by surprise - they wouldn't see him transforming, as it would take (according to Jack, in his conversation with the sergeant earlier in this chapter) at least 40 seconds between the end of the process and a window of opportunity to re-open the doors (because of radiation leaks), which would cycle through every 60 seconds (again, according to Jack).
Pushing Jack into the duplicator, the sergeant leered down at Jack and said, "But you must know this: betray us, and we will blast you out of the sky," before shutting the doors.