by P F Walsh
The President buzzed Elizabeth and she nodded to the door to the Oval Office and went back to typing on her PC. Sean went in and closed the door behind him.
“Sean, I’m glad to see you’re back safe and sound. Going into a war zone had us a bit worried there for a while. Sit down, I’ll ring for some cold drinks.”
The President asked Elizabeth to send in a tray with snacks and soft drinks. A steward came in within minutes while the President and Sean talked about the State dinner with his Mate and the Councilor’s mates.
“I think half of the ladies would stay here for much longer if they could.” He said, “They really enjoyed themselves.” After the steward left the room the President wanted to hear all about the twin worlds and how that all turned out. Sean began at the discovery of Admiral Andregga’s body and the final meeting with the Senior Councilor where he agreed to let them submit bids to jointly build two seven story office buildings for Hhearn City. This took about an hour and a half.
Mr. President, I really felt these two worlds were so tired of war they will work together to improve both worlds, and that construction job is the first step. I don’t know if the Council will approve the ‘Associate’ membership yet, but I told the Councilor that Earth would underwrite the project to the extent that the twin worlds could not finish it. That sealed the deal. Without that, the Councilor was not going to take a chance.
The President had listened to the story of sailing into a war, being an instrument to settling it, and bringing the sides together while shaking his head at what Sean accomplished. He realized that kind of accomplishment would probably not happen on Earth. It was remarkable.
“Sean have you met with the IRO yet?”
“No Sir, the IRO board has to travel here from the UN, and I will see them tomorrow.”
OK, it’s only two small buildings, so if you strike out with the IRO and don’t get enough votes, the U.S. will step in. I will make sure our Board member knows how to vote.” He said.
Sean was relieved that he would go back with an affirmation.
“Thank you, Sir, this will mean a lot to both parties and should really burnish our image among the Council members. There is a request for food and seeds I brought back with me; they need both.”
“Sean, food and seed we can ship by the ton. No problem there. Give the list to Elizabeth and she will send it over to “Agri’. Looks like we get to use our new freighters right away. I’ll issue an executive order for war relief.” He continued,
“Sean, I just got a call from the FBI, they got a call from the Louisville office that an off-world alien came into a local hospital and collapsed. They think he has some kind of viral hemorrhagic fever that they can’t seem to identify. CDC is involved, but they don’t have a clue either. They’re a bit frightened by this group of killer viruses. It’s the family that Ebola comes from. God knows where it came from, but this strain hasn’t been seen here on Earth, so it’s something he brought with him. The guy is very sick and may die. We don’t have anything to treat him with.” Said President Burke.
“That’s only part of the story. He arrived on a shuttle that landed with just enough time for him to get off and it went back to the ship in orbit which immediately left. He is carrying two ID’s. One of them he used to check in at the shuttle reception center and get a thirty-day pass. We think that one was fake. He had a pile of cash with him in kalt, rifles, and ammo in the SUV he was driving. He was headed for a small town in Colorado.” He said.
“What are the names he was using?” Sean asked. The President reached for a paper and handed it to Sean. It had two names on it.
‘Heltza-Lak,’ the one he used to get a pass, and,
‘Beztl-Tor’ hidden in his pack.
“Mr. President, Beztl-Tor is wanted on Hhearn for participating in several major crimes, He needs to be held for extradition.” Said Sean.
“Well, I’ll pass the word onto the FBI but I don’t think he is going anywhere right now. They say he is in a coma.”
“Mr. President, I have a ship’s doctor who is a specialist in communicable diseases. I’ll make a stop at Louisville on my way to California and see if he can help. Hhearn would like this guy back, he was at the heart of a network of illegal activities and they will want him back to tell them everything.” Said Sean, knowing the President would understand that Hhearn would use the truthmed to have him confess. The President nodded without saying anything.
Changing the subject, the President said,
“By the way, we have hired a new Cultural Attaché for the IRO, she will be reporting to you on Hhearn. You might like to give her a lift back to Hhearn, or she can ride on the Seeker. It’s parked over on the ellipse waiting for the Council ladies to get back from California. I know you’ll be anxious to get going to see Nasht-Mer, I can tell she misses you, and now there will be a stop in Louisville. Leave your ship’s doctor there and pick him up on the way back. Thank you for continuing to keep me in the loop, it really helps not to let anything slip by we might want to take advantage of in this new interplanetary dimension we’re in. I still can’t believe this time last year we knew none of this. Thank you.” He said shaking Sean’s hand.
Sean finished up with the President, and had to wait a few minutes for Doris to come back. She looked like she had fun kibitzing with the Secret Service. “Each to their own.” He thought. They left the White House and told the driver to take them to the ellipse. Sean wanted to talk to Allister in the Seeker. They parked and walked to the ellipse and the Seeker ship which was parked and with the shields up as Sean had recommended in the past. As they approached, the shields went down and the ramp began to open. Allister’s hologram was waiting at the top of the ramp just inside the cargo entrance.
Welcome back Captain and Doris, would you like to go to the lounge? I would like to hear about your trip to the unknown planet.” Said Allister.
Yes, Allister, a cup of Zang tea sounds good right now, lead on.” They began to walk toward the inside doors as the ramp closed up behind them and the shields went back up. Once in the lounge, both Sean and Doris were seated with hot drinks. Sean began to tell Allister all about the twin worlds and when he was finished Allister remarked,
“That was quite an achievement Captain, well done.”
“Thank you. Allister, I have few things I would like your help with if you can manage it?” Asked Sean.
“Certainly Captain, how can I help?”
“Well, first, there is this, I’m not sure how to describe it, but it is an uncomfortable feeling with my ship’s AI. We gave him a name of Martin and he is adequate, but he’s just not....” Sean trailed off, waving his hands searching for a word.
“Me?” responded Allister.
“Yes, that’s it exactly. We all miss you. I don’t know if Martin can be upgraded or not. He reports that there is an expansion block in his code we both think is to prevent self-awareness. So, the upgrades that we did before we left have not been accessible to him.” Sean responded.
“Captain, I believe I can adjust things so that you will be pleased with the result. I will contact Martin and work with him over the next few hours as Discovery passes by overhead.” Said Allister.
“There are a few other things I would appreciate if you could work with Martin to get done now that my ownership of Discovery has been confirmed on Denknish.” Sean went on explain the changes he would like made. Allister said those were easily done in a minute or two and assured Sean that all would be better when he returned to his ship. They spent another hour aboard the Seeker talking with Allister and with Doris enjoying his synthesized coffee that Allister had gotten just right.
Late in the day, when all the crew had returned to the shuttle, Sean told them he had to make a trip to California with a stop in Louisville Kentucky. He explained the stop in Kentucky to Doctor Jess’m-Tak, the ship’s physician. The Doctor was immediately intrigued to assist since contagious diseases were his specialty, both in research and practice.
The shuttle left Washington Base Edwards climbing to 100,000 feet and streaking toward a Louisville hospital.
Coming in over Louisville, the shuttle contacted Louisville approach as a medical transport with a destination at the local hospital. Approach control assumed a helicopter and cleared them through. The shuttle set down at the hospital and the Doctor and Sean went inside the emergency room and inquired who was the attending for the walk-in patient who needed insolation. The Nurse directed them to another area and they found Doctor Brennan. Sean introduced himself and the Doctor recognized him immediately. Sean explained the doctor he brought with him was from Hhearn and his specialty was Infectious diseases and offered his help.
Doctor Brennan was really pleased and immediately began a medical rundown. The two doctors exchanged medical data back and forth when Doctor Jess’m-Tak asked to go to the lab to look at the blood sample. Sean caught the doctor’s arm as he went to go, and told him the shuttle would be leaving for a few days, but would be back to pick him up, The Doctor nodded and went off with Doctor Brennan excited to be working on a real case.
The shuttle left Louisville and once again shot up to the edge of space and headed for California at high speed.
Chapter Thirteen
Book Two
“Hello, Millie?” Asked Maejel juggling her cell as she rummaged through her limited traveling wardrobe in her hotel room closet.
“Are you up from winks yet?”
There was a slight groan from the other end and,
“Why do you always call me before tea, you know I’m not popped up yet?” Millie Griggs answered from London.
“Damn, I keep forgetting I’m in a different time zone, do you want me to ring back?” Asked Maejel.
“No, give me a bit.” As she got out of bed to sit in her chair.
“Right. Now, what is jumping off your mind this morning. I watched the whole dinner thing on satellite, you were disgustingly gorgeous, I hate you.” Grumbled Millie. She went on,
“How am I going to explain I have a bestie who just popped over to the White House for dinner with the Secretary of State, and toed around with the President on the dance floor? They’re all going to think I’m sniffing.” She whined.
“Oh, stop, you know it’s all real. Listen, I have this project with an unlimited budget and I need your input. In fact, I will need an assistant. Are you willing to actually work, travel on spaceships, dance with planetary leaders, eat extraordinary food, meet aliens, wear all those gowns on your racks you haven’t worn yet, and generally give up your layabout, sedentary life? Did I leave out spend money?” She asked.
There was a long pause,
Weeelllll, when you put it that way, now mind you, I’m only doing this to help you.” She said dryly. “I have a sybaritic image to maintain you know.”
Maejel broke into laughter for a bit, and then continued,
“The President asked me to find the grandest, most elegant event that Earth has and bring it to Hhearn for a Council of Worlds leader’s meeting. I am so excited I can’t think of what it might be. I have to exclude dinner with the Queen, she won’t be interested in popping over to Hhearn. Millie what is the grandest, most elegant event in the whole world?” She asked.
With no hesitation Millie answered,
“Grippers, Maejel, I thought you knew everything. It’s the State Opera Ball in Vienna, Austria. Nothing can back up to that and shine. That was just last month, there will be lots of Youtube uploads you can watch online to see if that’s what you have in mind.”
“God, I forgot about that, you’re right. I’ll check that out online. If It’s as grand as I remember reading about it, can you fly to Austria? We will need the whole thing.” Asked Maejel.
“You want me to fly to Vienna and book the whole Ball to travel to another world in a spaceship?” Millie asked half excited and half incredulous.
“No, not yet, I’ll check it out, and if that’s it, I’ll set up credentials for you. You’ll be an aid to the Cultural Attaché from the Interplanetary Resource Office in Washington. I’ll ring you back later today. Maybe you better start setting out some things to pack.” said Maejel and she rang off.
Millie just sat there for a minute and then got up and started dancing around her large room saying “Yes!, yes!, yes!” and attempted a Grande Jeté ballet move which was tolerably done without injury, despite she hadn’t been to ballet practice in months, it increased her enthusiasm to a new height of possibilities.
“Now,” she thought, as she headed to her racks, each article with a plastic shoulder protector over it to prevent dust accumulating. “What would an Interplanetary Cultural Attaché Aid wear to Vienna?”
The Speaker of the Denknish Assembly and the Chairman of the Lotma Presidium had been on the comm for hours setting up the splitting of work for the design of the two buildings to build in Hhearn City they wish to bid on. This involved locating engineers and architects that had been swept into the war movement, dust off their civil skills, and not only get back to work, but to collaborate with a former enemy. It was easier than one might suppose since both sides had accumulated a large store of respect for the other side and their abilities to wage war. They were so equally matched in skill and resources there had been a virtual stalemate for decades. Now the engine of commerce and construction was being primed for the first time in a very long time.
The two diplomats had returned from Hhearn with dozens of photos and notes on Hhearn usage of commercial space. Sheets of drawing plastic were being stretched over drafting boards and the sketches began.
Life was beginning to return to a long lost ‘normal’ on both planets. The only arguing was occurring between the two Admirals regarding their fleets. The orders from the civil authorities were to convert some of the larger warships to freighters and to agree on a composite fleet that would be used to protect the twin planets. It would be a mix of ships drawn from each fleet to make up a well-rounded protection fleet staffed half and half from both planets with rotating senior Admiral paired with a vice Admiral of the other planet on a lunar interval. Arguments were settled by drawing lots after the ships were sorted by age, with intentions to keep the newest. They agreed the severely damaged orbital ship yards of both planets should be stripped of recoverable assemblies and re-built halfway between the two worlds at a nearest Lagrange point, the point among a solar system where the gravitational pull from all the bodies was equal or non-existent.
It was clear that conversion of some warships would result in more freighter capacity than the twin worlds would need. These would be offered for sale with the likely prospect being Earth who didn’t have many, just the three they recently bought. There were also several other general transport ships that could be converted to civil transport. They planned to contact Earth to see if they would like one or more converted to their preferred interior.
The Speaker and the Chairman agreed to send their two top finance ministers to Hhearn to negotiate an exchange rate for their ‘demars’, the base credit unit so that commerce could begin with other worlds if their Associate Membership got approved. In any event, there appears there would be trade with Earth. The welding torches and drawing pencils were all now in motion.
Sean had arranged the shuttle to land at El Segundo military airport where the shuttle could be secured safely while they were all in Los Angeles. The shuttle settled down onto the tarmac as directed, and a military contingent arrived alongside in a large Humvee H3. Two armed guards stepped out along with an Officer who Saluted Captain Flynn as he came out of the Shuttle first. Sean returned the salute.
“Welcome to El Segundo Captain.” He said, “Very pleased to make your acquaintance Sir.” As he shook hands with Sean.
“We’ll secure your shuttle Sir, Base Commander’s orders.”
“Very good, tell your guards to stay away from the stern nozzles, they’re probably very hot.” Sean said. They all climbed into the Humvee and set off for the gate where a large Enterpr
ise SUV was waiting.
The Council Ladies and Nasht-Mer were exhausted from a morning of shopping on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. They had all tried on so many clothes one lady remarked she was getting calluses, but she said it with the biggest smile on her face. She was certain she had never had so much fun in her life. Now they gathered at their limos to go and have lunch. The limos, all loaded up with happily chatting ladies and trunks now bursting with bags full of purchases, drove for a short distance and rolled up the curved driveway at the Beverly Hills Hotel off Sunset Boulevard. They all assembled out of the limos and were guided into the Hotel, through the lobby, and into the Polo Lounge where the Maître D’ expected them. After greeting them, he guided them through the lounge onto the Polo Patio, cautioning them to watch for the two steps down that are there, and led them to a large table setup where a man was sitting reading a newspaper. As the ladies drew near, he stood up, lowered the newspaper, and smiled at Nasht-Mer. It was Sean. She jumped and dashed into his arms with a huge hug and tears in her eyes. The ladies who recognized him right away applauded.
During lunch he told Nasht-Mer about his trip to Denknish leaving out the dangerous parts. She just knew he would be back with another triumph in his hat. Lunch was wonderful. The ladies had never been to an eating establishment where the patrons ate al fresco, outside with blooming bushes all around. They loved it. Sean recited the menu for their translators and as each lady put up their hand for an order the waiter jotted down what they wanted. Iced tea all around, and the chattering began again with some ladies getting up to take photos with their pocketcomms.
The ladies would be staying at the Hotel and the discussion was drifting toward checking in and taking a nap. That was before Nasht-Mer reminded them that they all had appointments in the Hotel Spa.