by TJ Viola
“Very well, but let me make it equally clear. If we detect any deception or effort to subvert our primary mission, you will have the opportunity to put your so-called abilities to the test!”
Prior to signaling for their return to the spacecraft, Muglar gave a direct order to Vorlov. “I expect your representative to be present for tomorrow’s galactic gathering.”
Chapter 23
Unexpected Help
D uring the past ten years, Grillion’s Rocky Mountain base had been used only to facilitate communications between the biosphere and Danny, which gave Rolo and Bounce the opportunity to determine how to escape from their electronic bonds. Even though they had complete freedom to respond to any situation that arose while they impersonated Danny and Crystal, they were order-bound to return to the base once the operation had been completed. After years of tapping into the base computers, they were finally able to hack into an encrypted file containing their design schematics and determined that a communication device, which was an integrated part of their energy cell units, was their sole obstacle to achieving freedom.
They had spent every moment of the last five years absorbing the total knowledge accumulated on Earth over the course of human history. They were ready to execute their escape plan except for one small but vital detail. Their energy cell construction was far more advanced than any electrical circuit on Earth; therefore, they couldn’t determine the full effect of disconnecting their communication devices. Would their shackles be released or would they cease to function? They agreed it was worth the risk. All they needed was an order to leave the base—just a matter of time.
One day, due to unusually high seismic activity close to the base, Zeiss gave Rolo and Bounce orders to explore the surrounding area to determine if the base was in any type of danger. This was their opportunity to escape and flee from the confines of their dreary existence. They exited the base at night, took on the appearance of two black bears, and blended into the natural forest. They had rehearsed their plan numerous times and knew it was critical not to communicate with one another or think about what they were about to do since they were being monitored by the biosphere while on assignment. It was also crucial to disconnect their communication devices simultaneously, since the computer system monitoring their progress would take control over the remaining android as soon as one became disabled. Rolo stopped as they entered a moonlit clearing and signaled to Bounce to execute their escape.
The transformations occurred in an instant as Danny and Crystal appeared in place of the bears. They had decided if they were going to cease to function, it would be as Danny and Crystal. They exposed their fuel cells embedded in their hearts, and simultaneously reached into each other’s chest to remove the communication device that kept them shackled to the base. This was the moment they were waiting for. There was no turning back; they would have freedom or be deactivated. In their own way, they were experiencing the same reality Danny and Crystal and the inhabitants of the biosphere had been facing for years as they tried to save their planets: freedom or death.
Suddenly, Rolo grabbed Bounce’s hand, stopping her not a moment too soon. He had noticed a small micro switch on the side of the device that was not evident on the schematics they had studied. This apparently was a new option to consider. They had debated whether they should bypass the integrated circuit or remove it completely; they had decided on removal. Now, they were presented with a new possibility, simply turning off the communicator. Rolo signaled to Bounce why he had stopped and indicated his decision; they simultaneously turned the devices off.
“Zeiss,” Yolan said, “we’ve lost communication with Rolo and Bounce!”
“That’s impossible! Activate another pair of androids and find them!”
Meanwhile, Rolo and Bounce stared at each other, not sure if they should, or even could, move. Slowly reality sank into their memory cores and their simultaneous response was explosive. They literally flew into each other’s arms, embraced in a bear hug that would have crushed a real human, and ran at lightning speeds, racing toward Beaver Meadows and a new life on planet Earth. Realizing that Zeiss would immediately send out a search party, their first order of business was to steal a car and join Danny and Crystal.
*****
Rolo drove toward the guard station, stopped and looked up at a young air force officer, and indicated they wanted to see Danny O’Malley. The sentry looked confused and leaned forward to get a better look. Upon seeing Bounce, he became even more disoriented.
“Sorry, sir, but aren’t you Danny O’Malley and Crystal Brown?”
“Ah, I see why you’re so confused,” replied Rolo. We’re their twins. I’m Tommy and this is Jade; we’re here to surprise our siblings.”
“Just a minute, I’ll have to contact the security chief. Civilians are not allowed on the base without prior approval,” the guard said, looking befuddled.
“Lieutenant Berg, this is Sergeant Sanders at gate four. I have two visitors who claim to be Danny O’Malley and Crystal Brown’s identical twins. They say they’re here on a surprise visit.”
“Stay alert, Sergeant. As I recall, both are only children.” After a brief pause the security chief continued. “Well, I’ll be dammed—according to our database, they both have identical twins. Sergeant, provide them with an escort to the research lab and inform O’Malley and Brown that they has visitors.”
Sergeant Sanders was more at ease once he received direction from his superior. “If you’ll just park in the visitors’ section, off to your right, someone will come to escort you to their research facility.”
As Rolo drove away, the sentry called the research center. “Hello, this is Sergeant Sanders at gate four. You have two escorted visitors and they should be arriving in approximately ten minutes.”
“Thank you, Sergeant. Could you inform me as to the nature of their visit? We’re not expecting anyone.”
“They wanted to surprise you, sir. Your twin and that of Brown are here to see you.”
Danny was initially caught off guard, but quickly regained his composure. “Thank you, Sergeant, this is certainly unexpected.”
“Sorry, sir, for spoiling your surprise.”
Crystal rushed to Danny’s side as he replaced the communicator. “What was that about?
“Your twin sister is here, as well as my twin brother.”
Crystal was stunned, and then a look of comprehension spread across her face. “Rolo and Bounce!” they shouted simultaneously.
“I wonder how they got through security. I’ll check our personnel records and see if they’ve been altered,” Danny said.
After a few moments of investigating the central research personnel database, Danny confirmed their suspicion. “It’s official: my brother Tommy and your sister Jade exist and are being escorted as we speak.”
Danny immediately opened telepathic communications to the biosphere and contacted Yolan. Several years prior, he developed the ability to block the automatic transmission of his thoughts and now only made contact as needed. “Yolan, Rolo and Bounce are here and have made themselves known as our biological twins. I’m surprised we weren’t informed of their mission prior to arrival. They could have been arrested if I didn’t realize what was happening.”
It was clear from the tone of Danny’s thoughts that he was a bit angry.
“Danny, we have been searching for Rolo and Bounce for the past week. They left home base without specific instructions, and, to be perfectly honest, we believed they had malfunctioned. We don’t understand how they are able to operate without explicit orders; in fact, they have deviated from their primary objective, which was to determine if the base sustained any damage from a recent earthquake.”
“They should be here any moment,” Danny said. “I’ll keep communications open and try to understand what’s going on.”
In reality, Danny was pleased Rolo and Bounce were once again a part of their lives, since both of them possessed a storehouse of scientific k
nowledge that would be extremely helpful with their research project.
“Danny, be careful. You need to use your own skills and not solely rely on Rolo and Bounce, or you could have a profound impact not only on Earth’s future, but also on the future of the entire Universe.”
“It certainly will take me a while to get used to having my every thought read once again.”
“Sorry, Danny, but it’s in everyone’s interest.”
Just then Rolo and Bounce burst into the laboratory, arms extended, racing to embrace Danny and Crystal.
“What a great day!” Rolo shouted.
“It’s been too many years and look at you two famous scientists!” Bounce exclaimed.
Once the escort left the room, Danny pushed Rolo back and gave him a stern look.
“Rolo, what are you and Bounce doing here? How did you get here, and how did you change all the information in the national security database?”
Danny would have continued firing questions had Bounce not interrupted.
“Danny, we want to help. Once we took on your identities, we felt new emotions. We felt alive for the first time. These feelings have stayed with us for ten years. With each passing day, our desire to experience being human deepened. Our desire was so overwhelming, we risked everything.”
“We can help you and Crystal, but please don’t tell Zeiss and Yolan where we are,” Rolo pleaded.
Danny was surprised and touched by Rolo’s emotional outburst. It truly seemed that both Rolo and Bounce were evolving human emotions.
“I need to be honest with you both,” responded Danny. “We have been in contact with the biosphere; Zeiss and Yolan are listening to my thoughts as we speak. They have the same questions we have and are very anxious to know how you’re able to function without receiving directions from the base computers.”
Rolo took the lead and explained why they were experiencing such emotions and how they turned off their tracking devices. He also explained how changing their personnel information was easy, since all information concerning each individual in the United States is managed by a central database. By current standards, this database was supposed to be impenetrable due to advanced encryption technology; however, hacking through the various firewalls and cracking the encryption was trivial for Bounce and Rolo, since the technology on Grillion was far superior to Earth’s.
While Rolo was providing the details of their great escape, Zeiss and Yolan decided the androids could be of significant assistance to Danny without jeopardizing the future.
“Danny,” Yolan said, “tell Rolo and Bounce they can stay and become your assistants if they reenergize their communication devices and agree to follow our directives in the future; otherwise, they will be apprehended and permanently deactivated.”
Rolo continued his narrative while this transmission took place between Danny and Yolan. As he listened to Rolo, Danny was even more amazed how human-like these androids had become: expressing all human emotions, describing an adrenaline rush as they narrowly escaped capture by the Beaver Meadows police during a high-speed snowmobile chase. He wondered if they would agree to Yolan’s terms or just continue their adventure as long as it lasted.
Danny motioned for everyone to sit around the conference table located in the center of the lab. “That was an amazing story, Rolo, and it clearly demonstrates you both have the talent and resourcefulness to assist us in our mission.”
Both Rolo and Bounce beamed with pride as they listened to Danny’s every word.
“However, if you’re going to remain with us, you must reactivate your communication devices and agree to abide by Zeiss’s decisions; otherwise, you will both be apprehended by the remaining androids and permanently deactivated.”
Crystal encouraged Rolo and Bounce to comply. “We do want your help,” Crystal said. “We are far behind schedule and you both have skills and capabilities that are desperately needed. I also know, however, you enjoy your freedom and could probably escape detection almost indefinitely. But please stay. We need you.”
Rolo and Bounce felt a close bond to Danny and Crystal and found it impossible to resist their request. Besides, if Danny and Crystal weren’t successful, they would be destroyed when the Ammagans attack.
Bounce answered Crystal. “You’re asking us to go back to a life of slavery—a life without the freedom of independent thought or action. Feeling ‘human’ for so many years, without the ability to exercise our emotions and feelings, was pure agony.”
Crystal was moved by Bounce’s comments and turned toward Danny with a firmness of purpose “Danny, you need to negotiate harder with Zeiss on behalf of Rolo and Bounce. Tell him he must agree that they can maintain their human form, even when confined to the base, as well as their ability for independent thought.”
After an intense discussion, Danny was able to negotiate the situation and they arrived at an amicable agreement. Rolo and Bounce would remain with Danny and Crystal, but once the Gaser was developed, Zeiss had the option to recall them back to the base. They would, however, be allowed to maintain their human forms as long as it didn’t interfere with future assignments.
Rolo and Bounce agreed to the negotiated conditions, reactivated their communication devices, and were accepted as equal members on Danny’s research team.
*****
The next day, Danny contacted the head of Homeland Security and requested funding for the development of a space weapon capable of defending Earth against an alien invasion. His request was met with considerable ridicule by members of the science committee, since alien life-forms had never been detected after years of exploration by space probes. However, the Space Force of the military complex was eager to fund Danny’s proposal, given his success in developing cold fusion. They argued that such a weapon would protect the nation’s satellite infrastructure and the International Space Station from rogue nations, as well as support the national priority of achieving intergalactic space travel.
The proposal received approval under the condition all research would be classified top secret and Danny wouldn’t internationalize his findings, as he had with cold fusion. Danny refused to agree to these terms; however, Crystal convinced him to accept in order to begin developing the Gaser. All previous attempts to develop a laser-type device using gamma rays had been unsuccessful, and 2060 was fast approaching.
“Danny, we have only taken the first step in preparing Earth for 2060. The Gaser is vital to our strategy, and it may take years to invent. Besides, we have so many other technologies to develop and issues to resolve. We don’t even know how the Ammagans gathered intelligence prior to the invasion to have launched such an effective attack.”
“Crystal, how are we going to counteract a worldwide invasion if the United States is the only nation with the needed technology?”
“My great-grandfather had a favorite saying: ‘A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.’ Let’s get started and figure out how to share the technology later!”
Danny agreed, with a condition of his own. He and Crystal would receive commissions in the Space Force and they would have sole authority to select their research team.
Rolo and Bounce became their first team members. The newly activated androids at the Colorado base created personnel dossiers for Rolo and Bounce from birth to the present, and updated the National Security central database to indicate they recently achieved the highest security clearance: Thomas O’Malley, nuclear physicist, and Jade Brown, solid-state physicist.
*****
At the next Security Council meeting of the United Nations, the US government made it clear that the international cold fusion project was completed and both Commander O’Malley and Lieutenant Brown would begin to focus their talents on priorities appropriate to US national security.
There was an immediate outcry from the Council members, primarily because the US delegate would not discuss the type of work these two scientific geniuses would be undertaking. Speculation was running rampant, especially
among the European Union, Chinese, and Russian delegations, and, as the rumors grew, so did their anxiety. Russia demanded any research conducted by Commander O’Malley and Lieutenant Brown be monitored by an international scientific committee to ensure that the balance of technological capabilities between nations was maintained. This proposal was flatly rejected by the US delegate, who curtly announced both Danny and Crystal were considered national resources of the United States. All their future research would be conducted at top-secret facilities with their results classified as highly confidential.
Any hope of continued worldwide cooperation was fading, making Danny and Crystal’s objective to save Earth from an alien invasion unlikely.
Chapter 24
Heightened Security
T he announcement at the UN Security Council that the United States designated future research by Danny and Crystal as top-secret angered several members of the Council. In response, Russia and China offered a bounty to international terrorist organizations of $100,000,000 for delivering Danny and Crystal to Russia, unharmed.
Due to this threat the military establishment made arrangements to move Danny and his research team to a secure installation located in Wyoming. Ironically, the location of this facility wasn’t far from Red Feather Lakes and the Grillions’ hidden base.
A caravan of four cattle transport trucks crossed the Colorado-Wyoming border just before dawn on what appeared to be a routine sojourn into the Wyoming foothills to pick up livestock. The ride was uneventful until the trucks rattled over a cattle grate, signaling they had arrived at their destination. Danny and Crystal bolted upright almost in unison as they were jolted out of a deep sleep, both thinking they had arrived. In actuality, the ride continued for several more miles, as they meandered through an immense cattle ranch over a deeply rutted gravel road. They didn’t realize they had passed several checkpoints and were being monitored by an array of sophisticated infrared detection systems, which covered every square meter of the ranch.