The Council of Hhearn Trilogy Box Set

by P F Walsh

  She draped the medal over her head as the crowd applauded. Doris was speechless like Sean, and she too was only able to utter a weak “Thank you” as she held the medal in her hand.

  Chapter Ten

  Book Two

  Maejel was standing outside the Washington Hilton Hotel waiting for Secretary Lewis to pick her up for cocktails and to meet someone. As usual, the sidewalk in front of the Hotel was full of people. Tonight, it was a bit cool but again, her pashmina was keeping her warm. She could see the blinking lights of the small vehicle convoy coming and preparing to turn into the circular drive of the Hotel. As the crowd noticed this, they all bunched up pushing Maejel to the back. The limousine stopped in its usual place with the Doorman rushing to open the door as Maejel was trying to push her way forward in the group. They were pushing back not wanting to lose their viewing spot to another more aggressive looker. The lady in front of Maejel turned around and snapped at her,

  “Stop pushing, bitch! We were here first.” with a pronounced New York accent.

  Maejel strongly pushed her out of the way and said loudly with an English accent,

  “Bugger off, slag. This is my bloody ride!”

  She strode to the limo door which was being held open for her to the amazement of the woman who tried to keep her from boarding. She stood there forward of the crowd where she had been shoved by Maejel, with her mouth hanging open while her male companion doubled over in a fit of hysterical laughter. The limo convoy drove off.

  Inside the limo, the Secretary was in a fit of admiring laughter himself mumbling “Welcome to Washington,” as Maejel settled herself into the seat alongside him and began to laugh herself not quite believing she did and said all that. They continued to laugh about the event which set a light, cheery beginning to the evening. The limo convoy rolled up Connecticut Avenue through the madcap circle and eventually turned onto Pennsylvania Avenue and then swung into the gates for the White House. Maejel was so busy talking she didn’t realize where they were until the limo stopped under the portico and an attendant opened the door.

  This time Maejel was not a tourist as the Secretary guided her through the building to the Oval Office which, of course, was not on the tour. The Secretary nodded to Elizabeth the President’s secretary, and opened the door to the Oval Office where the President was just finishing stuffing some folders into a larger folder marked ‘Secret.’ he smiled as he put the folder in his tray and said,

  “Can’t leave that stuff laying around for the cleaning lady to start a war.”

  He came around his desk and held out his hand as Maejel was being nudged to greet the President. She took his hand and said,

  “Ah, I’m a bit off Mr. President, do I curtsy?” with her British accent and a big smile on her face. The President laughed and said,

  “Absolutely not, we did away with that about 200 years ago. You may have heard about that?’ He said with mirth in his voice.

  “Indeed, I have Mr. President, it’s all the rage over there.” She served back smiling.

  “Come, come let’s sit on the couches and make some drinks.” as he heard the knock on the door. Before they had arrived, he told Elizabeth to send a steward to bring in a cocktail cart. The door opened and a steward rolled in two carts. One had a setup of various spirits and mixers along with an ice bucket. The other was filled with chocolate chip cookies, chips, and snacks. The steward positioned the two carts, set the snacks and chips on the cocktail table in between the couches and left the room.

  The President and the Secretary went over to the cocktail cart and asked Maejel,

  “What can we get for you Ms. Tripperty?” The President asked.

  “Gin and tonic, please.” She replied as she looked around the most prestigious office in the world. She was having trouble realizing she was there, and getting ready to have sips with the President. The President brought over her drink along with his and sat down beside her. The Secretary sat on the couch opposite with the cocktail table between them. The Secretary said,

  “Mr. President I have to share with you the adventures of picking up Ms. Tripperty,” He began to recreate the scene on the sidewalk at the Washington Hilton along with Maejel’s deadly retort. The President broke into a huge laugh-up saying,

  “I can see the whole thing, ...’slag’? God that’s funny. Best thing I’ve heard all day! Good for you Ms. Tripperty, good for you!”

  They chatted for a while and then the President began to describe the reason for the meeting,

  “Ms. Tripperty, as you know, Earth has joined the Council of Worlds and is now a member. We are in the middle of introducing ourselves to the Worlds’ communities and some of the things we have to offer. Pivotal in our presentation by Captain Flynn were two things, fashion and music. The Council of Worlds somehow missed getting those genes and we have so much to offer in that regard. Obviously, I want America and our close allies to get the best opportunities that may present themselves as they learn more about us. What we need is an effective cultural Attaché to the IRO, the new Interplanetary Resource Office to arrange special events, bookings, etc. for our Earth music and fashion. They have only heard our classical music played by a Symphony Orchestra, they have never heard 40's Big Band dance music, jazz, you name it. And, Fashion, there’s a whole dimension they are very anxious to get more of. The ladies on Hhearn went nuts for the gowns Captain Flynn brought with him.”

  He paused, took another sip of his drink, a few chips, and continued.

  “I would like to persuade you to take that job in hand and get it done. We understand you know ‘everybody’ and have no prior professional work, so the prospect of being criticized for being biased won’t play. You would have travel back and forth to Hhearn and some of its Member planets of course, so if you like travel, this is as big as it gets. The job pays $100,000 per year plus expenses, I don’t know how much that is in British pounds. We know you don’t need the money, but when you are paid to do a job, typically a person does it reliably.” he continued a bit more,

  “Maejel, may I call you Maejel?” She nodded affirmatively.

  “This is a job that has no employee handbook or instructions. You can build it your way, working with our contacts on Hhearn. You will report to the Senior Field Agent of the IRO, Captain Flynn who was a professional pilot, so doesn’t know a lot of what you need to do but he is clever and inventive, I think you two will work well together. You’ll have a free hand. How does this appeal to you?”

  Maejel had sat there mesmerized as the President laid out the most exciting possible job she could imagine. She knew she would accept long before he finished, but needed to exhibit composed consideration and not flighty gushing of acceptance.

  “Mr. President, I must say this is an extraordinary opportunity and absolutely unexpected. I am totally thrilled to be offered this. May I have a day or two to consider all the implications?” She asked.

  “Of course, Maejel, John here will keep in touch with you and let me know your decision. Looks like we need to buy a starship, I don’t think riding back and forth on a freighter has very much cache’.” he said.

  “Now that we have that out of the way, we can start to solve the world’s problems in our usual ‘after five’ meeting.” The President said.

  The Secretary advised Maejel of the President’s meaning of ‘after five’ and reached for more chips.

  Secretary Lewis stayed behind with the President to deal with some State department matters, but not before making another dinner engagement with her in three days hence. Maejel was taken to the limo and it returned her to the Hotel where the doorman took notice to recognize her and had learned her name. As she alighted from the limo the Doorman tipped his hat and said,

  “Welcome back Ms. Tripperty, I apologize for the dust-up earlier. I will make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

  “Thank you.” She said, as rolled the term ‘dust-up’; in her head. Definitely, an American slang term, but she decided to add it into her le
xicon. She liked it.

  “Was this part of becoming Americanized?” she wondered, “If so, it’s working.” She smiled. The doorman ushered her into the Lobby, opening another door for her while the other guests watched her arrive. Maejel looked at her watch, ten PM, that would make it three AM in London.

  “Can’t call Millie Griggs tonight, I’ll chat her up in the morning after tea.” She thought.

  Millie was her best friend, another bachelorette who was a year younger and similarly unable to find love or meaning in her day to day life of teas, shopping, beauty salon, and more shopping. An occasional party was mixed in, but the same boring people were always at those. Like Maejel, she needed a break in her lifestyle.

  The Millador, A fast packet freighter owned by Beztl-Tor had followed Beztl-Tor’s instructions and left Earth’s orbit immediately after the shuttle was recovered and strapped down for the flight back to Hhearn. There were, by Beztl-Tor’s instruction, only two crewmen aboard. The Captain and a cargo man/shuttle pilot. Beztl-Tor often did this to reduce the number of eyes that could take in whatever his ships were doing. Some of it was quite legitimate, thereby denying his aggressive competitors information, and the other activities were illegitimate, and secret. This time, unknown to anyone a stowaway was aboard, hiding in a remote cabinet on the very back of the ship beyond the engines. He was a paid assassin, known for reaching targets that were unreachable. His mission this time was to infect Beztl-Tor with a deadly and contagious disease to simultaneously kill Beztl-Tor and as many of his crews as possible. While the crew and Beztl were sleeping, traveling in ‘no-space’ on the way to Earth, the assassin crept out of his hiding place and slipped infections into the food stores.

  The assassin had brought his own food supplies and once he had contaminated the ship’s food supply, he never came out of hiding except for personal relief in the engine room sanitary station which hadn’t been cleaned in many lunars, so no one used it. He spent his time asleep using sleeping drugs so as to endure the solars of confinement and to remain quiet. As it was, he was now in a deep sleep from his recent sleeping drug after spending a solar awake while the ship unloaded Beztl-Tor at Earth.

  The Millador, following instructions, had reached the outer solar system of Earth and transitioned into ‘no-space.’ Now with nothing to do, the crew relaxed and set the ship on auto-watch. When that happened, a small click might have been heard coming from the pack Beztl slipped under the co-pilot seat in the cockpit of the shuttle if it had been occupied. But it was not, the shuttle was locked down in the cargo bay of the Millador. The resulting explosion tore the shuttle apart, compromising the small anti-matter containment for the shuttle engine and then, in a chain, the containment of the ship’s anti-matter. The overall explosion was vast and the ship was completely fragmented with small pieces all being kicked out of ‘no-space’ in some uncharted part of space a few light years beyond Earth. There would be no record or testimony of where Beztl-Tor had gone. No one would ever learn why or who ordered the assassination. The assassin never woke up, but his work was done.

  Nasht-Mer was playing a game of ‘Ducal lore’ with her tourist lady friends aboard the Seeker number 18 as it smoothly streaked through ‘no-space’ and would be passing unknowingly by the rubble of Beztl-Tor’s fragmented freighter. She was enjoying this pleasure cruise and the companionship of both her friends and Allister who was doting on all of them. The Senior Councilor’s Mate Leeanon was winning the game and had increased her score after a bad start. She would get to pick the entre’ for tonight’s Earth selections synthesized by the ship and Allister’s doting. Soon, they would reach Earth and on invitation from the White House would set down on the Ellipse again.

  The President felt the ship was an extraordinary tourist attraction for Washington. He welcomed it as often as it would like to set down ignoring, the grumbling of other countries which would like the attention, and the cost of turf repair after it left, as being an assumable expense to bring business to the nation’s capital. Besides, he might get invited aboard by Allister for another one of those fine dinners and relaxation away from the clatter of politics, for a bit.

  The Seeker finally set down, quietly and softly onto the Ellipse. Allister had notified the State department of their impeding arrival, the Secretary of State John Lewis and a contingent of Diplomatic staff were waiting. Security surrounded the ship and safety perimeters were established to keep crowds a safe distance from the ship and the arriving travelers. Nasht-Mer was first to descend the ramp and greet the Secretary who had with him a new person to introduce to Nasht-Mer. Nasht-Mer introduced each of the Councilor’s Mates one by one and then the group moved over to a set of buses parked nearby. One bus was for the travelers and the other for luggage. They would all be transported to Blair house for two nights before leaving by chartered Qatar jet for California. Qatar had offered to contribute the use of one of their fabulous airliners to the tour group to gain some notice in all the interplanetary dealings that were swirling around them. The President agreed and set it up. He also arranged a State dinner this evening at the White House for the travelers and planned some special entertainment as well as a splendid dinner. Nasht-Mer was surprised and delighted that the ladies would be feted at the White House which Nasht-Mer thought was elegantly charming. She didn’t know anything about Qatar being rated as the best airline on Earth but was certain it would be perfect.

  “A dress up dinner on the first night!” She thought, “What could be better to introduce the ladies to Earth!” After the Secretary had told her all of this before loading onto the bus, she diverted the bus to the shopping stores she had visited while in Washington. The ladies needed their first sample of shopping on Earth to get something to wear tonight at the White House. The ladies were besides themselves, and ready to go. The diplomatic staff equipped each of the ladies with a translator broach before they departed for a first ’Tour of Spending’ on Earth.

  Maejel Tripperty couldn’t wait for the two days she asked for and called Secretary Lewis the next morning to accept her new position as Cultural Attaché from Earth to the Council of Worlds on Hhearn. She was so excited she had to call her ‘bestie’ Millie Griggs in London.

  Millie answered a bit groggily,

  “Hello?”

  “Millie, are you set from winks?” Maejel asked.

  “God no, I just woke up, I went out last night to a ’knees up’. Boring. What are you up with? Are you coming back?” She asked.

  “No, apparently not for a long while.” Maejel replied.

  “What? You met someone?” She demanded.

  “Well yes, but it was through that I took a job.”

  “A job, like, in work? Maejel, you never worked a day in your life, this is tosh. You’re dodging me, aren’t you?” She jibed.

  “God no!” and she proceeded to tell Millie all about her encounter and her new job including meeting the diplomatic team that just arrived from Hhearn and her expected attendance to a State Dinner at the White House tonight. Millie was unable to respond.

  “Millie are you still there?” She asked into the silence on the cell phone. Millie finally answered,

  “Am I going to see you on the telly all poshed-up and looking aaabsolutely amazing?” She asked.

  “Millie, I don’t know, Maybe. Listen love, I have to go and buy a gown for tonight. Spin your pets for me, will you?” Maejel asked.

  “Maejel, you know I always include you in my prayers. It looks like now you will need them. Catch up when you can and tell all!” She said and rang off, her head spinning with the incredible news of her friend getting a life.

  “I’ll bet there is a man in there somewhere she has her knickers set on.” she thought. “Maybe I should think about a tour in America. Everything really amazing happens over there. God, what would I wear? She’s dating a Secretary of State?” She rolled over, stuck her face in her pillow and screamed.

  The Discovery was on her way back from Denknish bringing with it two d
iplomats, one from Denknish and one from Lotma. They would accompany Sean and his crew back to Hhearn to report on their mission and then, on to Earth. In both cases pleadings would be made for humanitarian assistance. In addition, Sean would make a quiet presentation to the Senior Councilor on the wisdom of having an ‘Associate’ membership to the Council for a twin set of worlds. Up to now, only single worlds had been offered potential for membership but the process was flawed in favor of vassal status and Sean would like to see that changed. His near escape for Earth to fall into that horrible status made him highly motivated to help others approach that trial.

  Doris sat in the dining area using most of the table to disassemble the two ‘crowd pleasers’ and clean them before re-assembly. She grunted several times in the process muttering about dirty weapons don’t fire reliably, and “What slob owned these?” She was pleased they had them though, based on what had happened so far, she could expect crowds were going to be the norm.

  “Wait until Maja sees these; his guys are going to want to order some of these too.” She thought as she looked forward to seeing him again.

  “What a tale I have to tell.” She mused.

  “There is no shortage of bad guys and jerks.”

  Sean was having a conversation with Martin,

  “Martin, have you been able to utilize all the software and memory that Allister had arranged before we left?”

  “No Captain, there seems to be a blockage preventing me from accessing some of it. I am not sure why, but I suspect an expansion limiter designed to constrict my intelligence to a servitude level.” Answered Martin.