Mike went straight to the tiny restroom on the shuttle and sat on the throne to try and calm down. He had Bambi do a mental replay of the video of his visit with Bob Stassen. He definitely could have handled that better. The problem was, Mike believed in what he was doing and it made him a fanatic. When the President didn’t show the same concern for the Earth that Mike felt, it angered him. If he had given it some thought before his presentation, he would have seen that there was no other way for the President to react.
Every day, people were running things by the President and, although his staff filtered most of it, ultimately, he had to decide the difference between what was pertinent and what was bullshit. The President had become very skeptical of all things that were offered as new and exciting.
If Mike attempted the same approach with all the leaders they wanted to bring on board, it could turn into a disaster. They had to do a better job of preparing those people for what he had to say.
He began I back and forth with Bambi about it. All of them had been concerned that there was no good way to get the facts out, without being interrupted with a barrage of questions and probably insults. They could deal with specific questions after the leaders had some facts to go on, even if they didn’t believe them.
When he was alone with Bambi, she usually spoke out loud, rather than comm. She said she noticed his blood pressure and heart rate seemed calmer when she communicated as a human would.
“Mike, I think we’re going to have to go with Mary’s plan. We need to make a video that explains what has happened thus far. They won’t be able to interrupt a video with nonsense questions and accusations. At the end of it, we can explain what it is we need from them to defend the planet. And we must emphasize that we’ll do it off planet, so it won’t affect the balance of power on Earth.”
“Bambi, we can’t tell them everything, at first. We don’t dare risk letting them know how few of us there are. We’ll give them just enough to wet their appetite for more info and more gifts. I know they’ll like the added wealth, but real enticements will come in the form of things like a cure for cancer, nerve regeneration and new limb growth. They can take credit for it, by claiming it was accomplished through the efforts of the allied English speaking countries, and they’ll look like heroes for it.”
Mike continued to think out loud, as he said, “Then, in the next video, we’ll hit them with your plan for a training base in the asteroid belt. Each country can recruit for us, by seeking volunteers for a top secret military mission that will require them to be away for two years. When the men report, they’ll be put to sleep and taken to the new base. By the way, have you any idea where that might be?”
“Yes. I’ve been reviewing possible sites in the outer belt, in Jupiter’s orbit, and I’ve found four that are relatively close together. I’ve already started the robots working on one of them for us. Those robots have discovered gold on one and a lot of iron, as well as a few other resources we’re going to need. Those four asteroids can be hollowed out and restructured by the big celestial mining robots we have on board the Mother Ship. As soon as we return to the ship, I’ll have the large shuttle reloaded and sent out to get the project moving a lot faster.”
Mike nodded and mumbled, “Good, good.”
“General, we have an awful lot of difficulties to overcome and one of the biggest is going to be transportation. Mary has been reviewing the maintenance records for the shuttles, especially the large one. Those records include complete design documents, which are needed for keeping up with maintenance. She thinks we can manufacture our own, now that we’ve identified some resources in the belt.
“At first, they would be very basic and lack all of the bells and whistles. They wouldn’t have the speed capability, or the stealth of the original Sauran models. But, they could be constructed rather quickly. Once the fabricator has her design downloaded, I believe it can begin pumping out one a month. Just one would double the number of men we could bring up and, as more became available, we could make substantial progress on the asteroid.
“One of our other big problems is the amount of time it takes to move around in the solar system. I realize we are way faster than anything the humans have been able to put out here. But by experienced space traveler standards, it’s terrible. The big hold up is our fear of the beacons discovering our movement. However, I may have found a solution to that, thanks to some TV shows I’ve seen.
“It’s a method that’s long been known, but not used for hundreds of years by the Saurans. I don’t think they would be looking for it from such neophytes in space, as humans. It’s going to be tricky and if I’m wrong, it could trigger an interstellar alert to the Saurans. That’s why it’s your call, General.”
She always went into a formal, polite voice, when something important was going down. Normally, he liked that. This time it scared him.
He grimaced and told her, “Well. Let’s hear it.”
“Sir, I’ve been looking at the downloads from the beacons and I made a copy of the area of space they record. If I can hack in through the beacon security, I can set the beacons to replay the area of space we need to use. If a Sauran ship looks at the beacon’s record, it will only see the last ten months of recordings, before we began running around. It’s a nice long record so they are unlikely to notice that what they’re seeing is a video loop. Do you think that might work?”
“Yes, it just might.”
He sat there thinking about it, and then asked, “How sure are you that you can do this without setting this part of space on fire?”
“Sir, these beacons were already in place, when I got here. When I checked them upon arrival, which is standard operating procedure (SOP), I used an old code to bring up the record in their files. That code had no problem giving me access. However, just because these seemed to be old beacons, doesn’t mean they haven’t had a recent security upgrade.”
He was getting irritable and still hadn’t calmed from his misjudgment with the Presidential meeting. “Well, can you do it or not, damn it?”
“I believe so, sir. I’ll know better when I enter the beacons protection file and tweak it before I try changing anything. If I don’t trigger anything, then I’ll proceed and we’ll have more than just a back door into the beacons. We’ll be able to control what a Sauran ship sees from them, if we have to fight them.”
He rubbed his chin, as he gave it some thought. “OK, Bambi. Let’s give it a try. If we set off an alarm, will you know it?”
“Yes sir.”
He had a degree in computer science, but he only obtained it to get a job, after losing his legs. He never really pushed to become an expert or to learn more, once he was employed. His area of expertise was in managing people, not computers. Still, Bambi had initiated a thought stream for him and it wiggled around in the forefront of his thoughts.
He asked, ‘Hey, sweetie pie, did I understand you correctly, the Saurans will check on the beacons when they arrive?”
“Yes sir; that’s SOP.”
“If you’re already inside the beacon brains, could you put some sort of virus in there that would transfer to the new Sauran ships?”
“Doubtful, sir. The anti-viral software on a Sauran ship is very touchy and most Senior Pilots have their computers set to change entire virus prevention programs fairly often. It would be common for them to initiate a change, as soon as they entered the area.”
“But, would they do that before or after they checked the beacons?”
“It’s hard to say, sir. That’s always up to the Senior Pilot. But, if I could get a virus in the beacons and a visiting ship did pick up my virus, it won’t do us any good, unless the shooting starts. We could be dead, before the virus has a chance to engage.”
“Bambi, I trust you to do the best you can. I want every advantage we can muster. First, tweak the damn beacons and let me know how that goes. We’ll take it one step at a time.”
“Yes
sir, one step at a time it is.”
He walked out of the small toilet to find Max and Jo standing close by and staring at him. He laughed. “Damn, can’t a guy take a piss?”
Max told him, “Bambi wouldn’t let us listen in, but she couldn’t keep us from hearing through the thin metal door. It’s like a tympanic membrane. It resonates nicely so we heard most of your conversation.”
Without humor, Jo said, “If you had urinated, we would have heard the toilet clean itself.”
Ignoring Jo’s comment, he asked, “So, what do you two think?”
Max had a small grin, as he said, “I really like the idea of making the videos and we should emphasize that each head of state receives a copy. They’ll want to show it to their senior military people.”
Mike agreed, “Yeah, and I’m OK with that, as long as they keep it to no more than two or three guys. All they need to do is tell their military people that this project is a top secret combined operation with allied governments and they don’t want to alarm any of the non-allied countries. Bambi can keep an eye on them and if some one attempts to circumvent the process, we can have that head of state deal with it. If it’s severe, we’ll do whatever we must to keep the lid on.”
He paused, and then asked, “Got that, Bambi?”
“Got It.”
“Good. Now, what about the idea of breaking into the beacon security? If we can pull it off, it could prove to be the difference in our first engagement with the Saurans.”
Jo looked nervous, or at least Mike thought he did. He still had a lot to learn about Thorian body language and facial expressions.
The alien said, “I must urge Bambi to use extreme caution. If she fails and a warning massage goes out, then we won’t be dealing with a small Sauran convoy. We could be facing a task force of a hundred warships.”
Max was aghast. “Really? Are you sure? They would actually respond with such force?”
Jo awkwardly nodded, trying his best to emulate the human method of a positive response. “Yes, I believe so. I’ve told you over and over, they are very cautious and they don’t like taking risks. So, when they respond, they will send overwhelming force to ensure victory. It is their way.”
Mike uttered, “Well shit.”
He and Max exchanged glances and he said, “It seems to me that we’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t. The only real difference is WHEN we have to face a fleet of that size, not whether or not we ever do. The advantage we gain, if Bambi can do it, will be significant for us.”
He looked away, as he made his final decision.
“Bambi, do it. And you be damn careful. Go as slow as you have to and let us know as soon as you have some results.”
“Yes sir, General.”
“Gentlemen, let’s go brief my son and his wife.”
Wayne was very concerned about setting off a trip wire, as he called it. Mary, on the other hand, ignored that possibility and seemed thrilled that her idea of making videos for the various heads of state were being taken seriously and about to be acted on.
She told them, “I have a rough design for a new slightly smaller space fighter that won’t have the range of the ones in storage. It will be slower and have only one plasma gun. It can carry four homemade missiles in its tiny cargo area and they will be autonomous. In other words, fire and forget. I have no idea how effective they’ll be. But it’s something we can shoot at them and we can manufacture them in large numbers. Also, this fighter can carry a pilot, or be used as an autonomous drone.”
Max observed, “We’re coming up with a lot of stuff that needs to be fabricated. I doubt we have that kind of manufacturing capability”
Mary smiled, “No, but the Earth does. The fighters will need some unavailable parts that are made of special material, which the Earth has never seen and doesn’t know how to produce. Our fabricators will make those parts for them and we’ll deliver them, as needed. The fighters can be built at Lockheed’s skunk works. It’s secure and the men building them are used to keeping their mouth’s shut. Same for the missiles.”
Mike asked, “What about the possibility of making more space fighters like the ones in storage?”
“We have the fighters. Unfortunately, we don’t have a full design program for them. We only have what amounts to a maintenance manual. I’m still looking that over, but don’t get your hopes up. Maybe when the other scientists get a look at the manual, they can add to our knowledge.”
Jo expressed his surprise at her ability to make adjustments to designs. “Mary, it’s hard to believe how fast you’ve been able to produce these new designs. It’s given me hope that once the new scientists have been upgraded, they will be able to add a lot to this type of progress.”
“All I have is a rough idea of what might be possible, Jo; and I emphasize ROUGH idea.”
Mike pointed out, “I know it’s too early to realize, for sure, what we might be able to accomplish. Having said that, it is good to see a glimmer of hope. Let’s not stomp on it. The scientists we recruit could be one more step toward salvation for the planet.”
Mary added, “That will depend on how well tomorrow’s operation goes.”
Her comment would prove prophetic.
The breakfast seminar was to be held in a hotel conference room, near Stanford University, in Palo Alto, Calif. Once the people had been gassed, they would be transferred out to the shuttle through a side emergency exit. It seemed like the perfect setup.
Mary arrived early and shared breakfast with a few of the early guests and her husband, who was playing security guard. She waited for an additional; ten minutes, allowing any late arrivals to get in before she went to the podium and made her announcement. As she looked out at them, she counted a baker’s dozen. She had hoped for more than thirteen people.
“Ladies and gentlemen, because this is a highly classified presentation and concerns the security of the United States of America, we will be locking the doors in two more minutes. This presentation will take approximately twenty minutes and be followed by a Q & A. Anyone who cannot stay for the presentation must leave now. When it has ended, anyone wishing to leave may do so at that time.”
Mary had been to a few of these and she was sure that many of the attendees had also. So, she used these words as a standard beginning, which would be the expected procedure by the scientists.
At the two minute mark, Wayne locked the two entrances and she went back to the podium. Just as she was about to tell Bambi to begin the gas she had the shock of her life.
Mary, Wayne, get down on the floor now. The shit just hit the fan. I don’t how or why, but the police are about to bust this party.
No sooner had she commed than the doors burst open, shattering the wood panels and a dozen local police ran in with guns drawn, screaming, “Everyone on the floor, NOW, and don’t move. This is an unauthorized meeting, by unknown parties and we have reason to believe some of you are in danger.”
Mike and Max had been listening through the comm and Mike was the first to respond.
He commed, Max and I are coming in to help. Wayne and Mary, you are authorized to stun, with superior force, which may or may not prove deadly. Don’t question me, just do it. Take down those cops. They can’t see or hear the shots, so they’ll have no idea who is behind them.
Bambi, hit ‘em with the gas.
She told Mike, It won’t be very effective, General, because with the doors open there is enough of a breeze to dilute the gas.
Do it anyway. It’s got to take down a few people for us.
Wayne began shooting, but Mary hesitated. After her husband had stunned three officers, a few of the policemen began to fire at him, because he had to raise up to get a clean shot. When Wayne was hit, Mary went ballistic at the sight of her husband being shot and possibly killed. She began taking out cops, with maximum force. Her shots were blowing two inch holes in everyone she shot and she didn’t miss, as sh
e made her way over to Wayne.
Just as she reached for him, she was struck four times and went down. Wayne had been knocked down and it hurt where he had been hit, but he was all right otherwise, as the nanites began to do their work on his pain. He crawled to his wife, as the remaining police angrily screamed for everyone to surrender and several of the scientists cried out in fear.
That’s when Mike and Max began to cull the police from behind, dropping them quickly with carefully placed stun shots. As soon as the police had been quieted, Mike ran over to Mary and saw that was she in pain, yet breathing.
Bambi commed everyone, She’s OK. She’s hurt and frightened and a little stunned by the action, but she’ll be fine in a few minutes. Her vitals are looking solid and the nanites are already repairing what little damage she incurred.
Mike, cool as a cucumber, commed, Bambi, hit these people with more gas. Wayne, get Mary into the shuttle. Max, help me start loading these people. Bambi, send in the robots to help us and if there are any more police on the way, let me know.
Yes, sir.
Finally, the gas began working, as Bambi sent individual micro-drones to each scientist and sprayed them. Max and Mike began carrying two people at a time. However, the robots worked rather slowly, or so Mike thought. He would address that with Bambi at a later time.
They dropped the unconscious scientists just inside the door of the shuttle and went back for another trip. Wayne began putting them into med units. Between Max and Mike, they only needed two trips. The robots each made two trips. For the last scientist, Wayne ran out, lifted her carefully, and took her into the shuttle.
Mike told Bambi to go full stealth and take off immediately. As they lifted off, she commed, There is a swat team on the way, but it won’t matter now, because we’re already gone, as far as they can tell.
Mike asked, Bambi, what happened? What caused those cops to show up in such numbers?
I’m picking up a lot of radio traffic on some interesting frequencies, other than the local police bands. The FBI uses these. It seems that when a mystery woman invited a group of retired scientists to a top secret meeting, the FBI was notified. Someone who Mary invited was apparently still working on some classified project and he was concerned that he had never heard of this woman and that his retired colleagues might be in jeopardy.
So, he made a few calls through his contacts at work and they told the FBI. The Feds checked with DARPA, and several other agencies, none of whom had any knowledge of this meeting.
The FBI was suspicious, but not terribly concerned, as they get several well meaning calls a week. The local office was heavily involved with a major drug investigation and short of people to follow up on this report. They didn’t have the time to pursue it, so the FBI notified the local police. They went a little overboard and took it as a terrorist threat against the scientists. They felt that we were either going to kill them or kidnap them.
Max observed, “Well, they were half right. Someone was trying to kidnap them and now those scientists are missing.”
Jo suggested that they should try calling the President, but Mike wasn’t in the mood to speak him.
Max told them, “If he has done what I suspect he’s done, he has a small group of trusted advisors trying to find out anything at all about us and our backgrounds. I’m guessing he has my complete file and Mike’s sitting on his desk; and pretty soon he’ll have Wayne’s and Mary’s, too. If those people have half a brain, once they hear about what happened out here, they’ll put it all together and realize it was us, trying to grab some brain power.”
Mary was upset. “Oh no. They’ll never trust us now.” She paused, and then asked, “Bambi, are all of the men we shot OK?”
“Not really. A few if them have died.”
“Oh dear Lord. I’m so sorry. I know it was me who killed those poor men. I panicked and didn’t use reasonable force. When I saw Wayne get shot, I wanted to retaliate. So, I just started blasting.”
Mike softly told her, “Mary, you’re the only person here who has never had to kill someone. It’s not a fun club to join and I’m sorry you’ve had to become a member. But, I was watching, as the event unfolded, and I can tell you that if you hadn’t reacted as quickly as you had, those cops may have hit you or Wayne in the head. That could have proved fatal. You did what you had to do, not what you wanted to do.”
With tears running down her face she said, “Those were innocent men just doing their jobs. I feel like hell.”
Max said, “Good. You wouldn’t be the kind of person I’d want on my team, if you thought you had been a hero and felt it was wonderful. I’ve seen young soldiers brag about getting their first kill, and then fall apart two days later. We’re all here for you, young lady. We all know how horrible it is to take a life.”
Mike wasn’t going to belabor the point. She would have to deal with it and in time she’d learn to accept the necessity for what she had done. He didn’t say it, but he felt it was good that she had seen some combat, such as it was. She would become hardened now and she’d need that toughness for the job ahead.
He stood up and told everyone, “We’ve finished with round one. It’s time to head back to the Mother Ship. Bambi, take us home.”
“Yes sir.”
Mike kept his expression neutral, yet his thoughts were anything but. They had achieved the first steps toward building an organization that he hoped would be the foundation of a new Terran Space Navy. He felt so out of his league. He was no empire builder and he certainly didn’t want to be an Emperor.
His greatest concern was how slow things were progressing. Despite the recent actions, which were relatively simple slam-bang affairs, there was still so much more to do.
Eventually, the Saurans were going to discover they had a missing transport. When the word got back to them, they would show up here with overwhelming force and Mike couldn’t imagine the people of Earth being ready in time to deal with them.
He realized he didn’t have the luxury of dwelling on his worries. At the moment, there was work to be done.
Before they could pursue anything else, they had to get as many of the old vets, into med units. Half way to the Mother ship, the old men came out repaired, slightly younger, yet groggy and not fully recovered. They were put in stasis and another person was put in a med unit.
Bambi told them it made no sense to stop for the robots they had left in the asteroid belt. They had room for them, but no place left to store the gold, platinum, silver and other metals they had collected. So, she sent them on a mission to do a closer study of the four asteroids she had identified as usable by the new Terran Space Navy.
The entire time on route, Bambi had been listening to the Presidents comm unit. Mike was correct about his reaction. He explained to the Secret Service what had happened and they wanted to move him immediately. He pointed out that was closing the barn door after the horses got out and that if Mike had wanted him dead or kidnapped, he easily could have done just that.
As a salve to the Secret Service, the President agreed to triple the number of agents at Camp David and a second company of Marines was sent there as well. All on duty personnel would wear oxygen breathing apparatuses (OBAs), in order to avoid being gassed again. It was uncomfortable for the men, but a logical defensive measure.
Bob Stassen was remarkably calm, as he explained to his chief of staff what had happened and what he had been told. Oldfield was skeptical. He suggested that the President bring in a few experts, such as the head of the Science Foundation, the National Security Advisor and his close friend, the Secretary of Defense. Very shortly after that, they lost contact through the comm unit, because John Oldfield had placed the comm unit in a Faraday cage to block any signals. He had correctly assumed that it could be used as a listening device. What Oldfield didn’t know was that Bambi had placed micro-drones around Camp David; so she was still monitoring their conversations.
/> Two days out from the Mother Ship they received a call from the President.
“Sergeant Hurst, are you there.”
Mike was munching on a delicious blob of chicken and his mouth was full; so he responded using his comm. “I’m here Mr. President. How can I help you?”
“You can answer some questions for me. There seems to be some people missing and I suspect you have…brought them onto your spacecraft with the intent of improving their health.”
It was a delicate way of accusing Mike of kidnapping. The man was definitely a clever politician.
End of Book One