Punishment

by Guerin Zand

  “You’re not talking about going after…,” I stopped her.

  “Exactly. I’m not talking about it. I’m going to do it. We need to forget about it, not talk about it ever again, and play nice for now. Keep this between the two of us. I promise, if it costs me my life, I will take care of it.”

  Katie nodded, she knew what I was thinking and that it was best we never spoke of it again. A wicked smile and an odd look of satisfaction appeared on her face. We left the room and went back to join the others in the cafeteria.

  “You’re back. I assume you’ve taken care of whatever it was you needed to attend to?” I nodded yes. “Good. The Chinese and Americans have officially reached an agreement. It looks like we dodged the bullet.” I didn’t react one way or the other to the news. “You don’t seem happy about this, Guerin. Is something wrong?”

  “For how long have we dodged this bullet, Roger? What about the next bullet and the one after that? It’s not over, and I’m not sure it ever will be. We’ve bought ourselves a reprieve for now. We’ll still have to monitor things on Earth closely. Is there anyone we can really trust from now on? I’m sorry if I can’t get excited about this news. Just tell Sammy to restore the communications in North Korea as we agreed and to keep vigil.” I didn’t say it out loud but a line from a movie I saw, or a book I had read, just stuck in my mind. “We can rest when we’re dead.”

  Over the next few days, the news services went wild with the disclosure of an attempted MSS coup in China. The Americans and Chinese made a joint announcement explaining how the Chinese uncovered the plot and were working with the Americans to stop the rogue agents. They had failed to stop the initial attacks in New Your, but in the spirit of cooperation, the Chinese had provided the names of the active MSS agents to the governments of the world to stop any further violence. This explained the rash of raids and arrests of Chinese agents that had been reported previously to the world.

  The Americans helped the Chinese to spin this all in a more favorable light for China than I had imagined. I’m sure they got something in return and this was all part of the agreement they worked out in private. We didn’t look into the details of the agreement. Why should we? The result was all we cared about. Over the next several months there were mock trials and a few executions in China. The Americans tried the captured MSS agents, including Wang, but magnanimously agreed to forego the death penalty. They received life sentences and were scattered among the various supermax facilities across the nation.

  The cleanup and investigations in New York took a while to complete. Almost six months after the attacks, Anna's remains were finally identified and released to us for burial. Maria and I had returned to Earth and the ranch. We had what remained of Anna cremated, per her wishes, and we spread the ashes on the ranch which Anna had loved so much. Maria went with Katie and Steve back to San Francisco where she dropped out of grad school, vacated her apartment, and cleaned up any other loose ends. She never saw that boyfriend of hers again. I just sat back at the ranch and drank. I had no motivation to do anything and I stayed away from work.

  Diane didn’t leave with Stella and Sly. Instead, she went back home and dealt with the funeral of her fiancé and all the issue that went along with that. She took a few weeks off from work but then she returned. She said it helped her to not think about things. Roger, well Roger was Roger. He went right back to work when we returned to Earth. He said there were a lot of issues he left hanging that needed his attention. Katie and Steve went to join him after Maria returned to the ranch from San Francisco.

  I guess Maria got tired of watching me drink and at some point, she called Roger. He came down to the ranch and found me on the front porch with a whiskey in my hand.

  “Are you going to drink yourself to death, Guerin?”

  “I don’t think it’s possible anymore. The aliens even fucked that up. Grab yourself a glass and let’s find out.”

  Roger went into the kitchen and grabbed a glass. I could hear him and Maria talking about something which I assumed was me. I didn’t care. He came back with a glass and I grabbed the bottle off the table and poured him a drink.

  “So, Guerin, what are you planning on doing next?”

  “Pouring another drink after I finish this one.” And I raised my glass to show him that would be fairly soon.

  “I mean about the job. I could understand if you needed a break and go off on a vacation, but sitting around drinking yourself into a stupor day after day is not helping. You need to get back on that horse, so to speak.”

  I looked at Roger and laughed. I remembered when I was a little boy growing up in Kansas City. My parents took us every Saturday for riding lessons. They figured that every boy who grew up in Kansas City should know how to ride. We moved from upstate New York and we all considered Kansas City to be the wild west we had always seen on TV. My horse threw me one day at a full gallop. The horse turned quicker than I had intended. The horse went in one direction and I continued to go in another. I loved that horse, I asked for him every weekend because he loved to run and I loved to let him. The horse came right back to me where I was dusting off the dirt from the rodeo ring we were using for practice. I hopped right back on. The reason I hopped back on without hesitation wasn’t that I was a tough little kid, or because I wasn’t scared. No, I hopped back on because I didn’t want to have to walk the 5 miles back to the stables and I needed to get my horse back there. I didn’t think there was anything else to consider.

  “What about you, Roger? Have you considered what comes next?”

  “What do you mean? We do our job, right?”

  “Forget the job for a few minutes, Roger. Look at yourself. It’s been more than twenty years since we started this and you look like you maybe aged a year or two at the most. The same goes for Katie and Steve. You could probably still be doing this job for the next century before your age becomes a consideration.”

  “I’ve thought about that at times, but I just sort of ignore it. I guess you’re right, but what is your point?”

  “Well, there’s a lot of points I guess. First off, I don’t mean to get personal, but I know you and Katie have grown close. Have you two considered making plans for a life together?”

  “We’ve talked about it.”

  “Well, maybe you should do a little more than talk. We don’t have any guarantees what the future will hold. Look at me and ask yourself is this what you want.”

  “We’re on the verge of colonizing the Moon and Mars. In a hundred years how far will this colonization have gone? You have to know that it will only mean more governments and more tensions. This recent turmoil will probably pale in comparison to the conflicts ahead. Where will we be in a thousand years? A million years?”

  “Where are you going with all of this, Guerin?”

  “Just hear me out. I’ve been thinking about these things, and a lot more. Much of what I thought was going on here may not be quite accurate. We’re thinking in terms of timescales that are trivial in cosmic terms.”

  “We’ve been doing this job, Roger, but what is the point? Why do the Collective care? What’s really going on? Who are the Bree? How long have they been around? Millions of years? Billions of years? What is the relationship and history between the Bree and the rest of the Collective?”

  “Do you think I have the answers?”

  “No, but I want you to think about these questions and more.”

  “What if the Bree have been around for billions of years? It only seems far-fetched to us humans who can’t imagine that. We need to expand our thinking. I know the Bree are more powerful than I ever imagined. I’ve forced them to show me glimpses that lead me to believe that they could pass themselves off as gods if they wanted, yet they try to hide their real power.”

  “Who are the Trogans? You know how I said I thought the Bree wanted humans to advance so we could be a firewall against them, but what if it’s more than that? In one of our more heated discussions, Stella mentioned that they
wanted to make sure they didn’t create a bigger monster than the Trogans. Their concern was we would develop into a worse problem than they already had with the Trogans. What if they fucked up with the Trogans? What if they did create that monster and I just didn’t realize that was what Stella was trying to tell me? I don’t have access to all their historical records. I have very little information about any of the other intelligent races out there. Why is that?”

  “You will drive yourself crazy, Guerin, with all of these questions.”

  “That’s where the whiskey helps.” I finished my drink and poured another and signaled Roger to offer him another as well. He accepted.

  “So do you have a new theory, Guerin?”

  “Sort of a revised one I guess, but I’ll get to that. First, I asked you to look at me and ask yourself if this is what you want for yourself. What’s your answer?”

  “You mean to become a drunk wallowing in self-pity?”

  “Well, I guess that goes with the job, maybe. If they asked you to allow them to modify you like they have me, with an unknown lifespan, would you agree? What would the rest of the team decide if they were asked?”

  “Do you think that is going to happen?”

  “Yes, I do, and I suggest you all start thinking about that long and hard. If you’ve been paying attention to my little ramble here, then you’ve got to realize that at some point, just me won’t be enough. The human race will need guides to help them navigate what’s to come. Guides are just other people who know the territory better than the ones their guiding, right?”

  “Ok, I see where you’re going, but how can you be sure about any of this?”

  “I can’t. I can only guess based on my experiences. I’m your guide, so to speak. Are you going to avoid my warnings and ignore my advice?”

  “No. You said you had a new theory. What is it?”

  “They constantly referred to me as a child, Julie especially, and it always pissed me off. But I have a child, and I know that when I would tell Maria that she was too young, or she was still just a child, she always got pissed off too. But what if the analogy is actually true. What if, just like parents, they’re trying to raise this child, humanity, to grow up and follow in their footsteps? What if they screwed the pooch with our big brother, the Trogans, and are trying not to do that again? All the younger races in the unaligned worlds are vulnerable to the Trogans. They had planned for the Trogans to help raise their younger siblings, but with the Trogans turning out the way they did, it just caused the younger races to go their own way and not work together. Maybe we’re their hope to fix this.”

  “Do you really believe all of that, Guerin?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe it’s all just the ramblings of a drunk wallowing in self-pity.” We both laughed. “But it seems to me, I keep guessing in the right direction. The more time I spend at this job the more I refine these guesses. I can’t see the future, but I’m pretty sure they’ll ask you and the rest of the team to join us officially. That’s if we passed this latest test. I think we did since they haven’t yanked my ass back to the principal’s office for a spanking. Talk to the team about this. You should all start thinking about your answer.”

  “Ok, I’ll talk to the team.”

  “If that does happen, we’ll also have to think about bringing on new people to take your places when the time comes.”

  “What about Maria?”

  “Well, I don’t think she’s going to really have a choice. Not with the father she got stuck with. I’m going to ask that they take charge of her education and leave her out of this for as long as possible. Perhaps, no, not perhaps. One day I’m sure we’ll all be answering to her, but please, whatever you do, never tell her I said that.”

  Chapter 25

  Another Invitation

  I went back to work. The team had lots of questions about what Roger and I had discussed. I blew them off and told them they’d have to figure it out for themselves. Their guesses were probably as good as mine. Bart and Gladys returned back to the main ship. I’m sure they had fun telling the story of my latest ordeal to the committee and Bree Council. Of course, the Bree Council probably already knew everything. It was almost a year since the Wang Chung Affair. Stella and Sly came down to the ranch for a visit. Everything at work seemed to be going smoothly. The Chinese were behaving and there was talk about holding a vote among the IOET security council to reinstate them to the council. Stella asked me to gather the team.

  We were enjoying a nice night on the front porch. The kids had built a bonfire up front and we were sitting around enjoying a few tasty beverages. That’s when Stella made her announcement.

  “Guerin, the committee is recalling you to the main ship. We’ve decided you could use a break and they have some questions for you. It’s been a while since you were last there and we thought you might enjoy seeing some of your old friends. Sid and Nancy are really looking forward to your visit.”

  “Still using the children to guilt me into doing your bidding?”

  “It seems to work, so why not?”

  “I could refuse.”

  “Yes, but why? It’s not a punishment, Guerin. I would have thought you’d be happy to get away for a bit.”

  “I’ll go, but I want Maria and the rest of my team to join me. They’ve earned a break as well and we still owe Diane that space vacation.” Diane smiled. We hadn’t talked about her vacation since we first brought it up during the Chinese incident.

  “We anticipated that would be your response and that would be fine.”

  “You anticipated it, or you planned it?”

  “Semantics, Guerin, semantics. What difference does it make?”

  “Well, probably none to you, but you know how I feel about being manipulated.”

  “When do we leave?” Diane asked.

  “As soon as you can all get ready. Let us know.”

  “I can be ready in a couple of days. How about Friday?” Diane could barely control her enthusiasm. It was Tuesday, so everybody else agreed they could be ready by then. We just had to let our assistants know that we’d be gone for a while and finish anything important we were in the middle of.

  “How long will we be gone, and will someone take your place on station here?”

  “You can each decide how long you want to stay, Guerin. We weren’t planning on leaving anyone on station. Do you think it’s necessary?”

  Roger shook his head. “No. Things have been quiet lately and I don’t see any immediate problems. With China trying to get reinstated on the security council I’d doubt they do anything to spoil their chances.”

  “Don’t overpack. Just bring what you can’t do without and I don’t mean your hair dryer, Maria.” She gave me a dirty look. “You can replicate any clothes you want there, so just the clothes on your back and one change is good enough.” I’m sure most of the women were going to ignore that bit of advice.

  I scheduled everybody to meet at the ranch that Friday for lunch. I figured this time I’d prepare a little better than the first time and get in one last meat packed meal. Cheeseburgers were the star of this lunch. Of course, Maria chewed on celery sticks and frowned as we all enjoyed our juicy burgers. Katie, Steve, Roger, and I had simply grabbed our go bags while Maria and Diane had to have a small rollaway piece of luggage in addition. I suggested we pack a few pounds of bacon in Maria’s bag and she replied with a few foul words. I backed off.

  Sammy opened a portal for us, it was about 1 PM local time. Stella and Sly met us in the room typically used for transit portals. I wasn’t sure exactly why they had a room dedicated to this. I think they decided to place a portal control panel there for convenience. They could open a portal from the control center as well, but perhaps they liked to be near the portal to greet or wish farewell to the travelers. Sort of like a gate at an airport, although nowadays you can’t meet your party at the gate anymore. To the best of my knowledge, there was no reason they couldn’t open a portal back at the main ship an
d bypass the whole shuttle part of the journey. It was probably best not to overthink alien shit like this. I could ask, but that usually meant listening to a very long answer. By the end of their explanation I would be so bored I would just nod and say yes, even though I still didn’t have an answer. I’m sure they did that on purpose, so I avoided asking questions about things I really didn’t care that much about.

  We all dropped our bags in the…, well I guess I should come up with an official name for this room. I guess I’ll call it the transport room.

  On my first journey into space, I found that I had to come up with names for a lot of shit. Sometimes the aliens had numeric designations for things like the shuttles, main ships, and stations, just to name a few. These were just so long I felt remembering them, and actually taking the time to say them, took too much effort. I would come up with my own simpler and more catchy names. For instance, I named Sammy’s shuttle the Minnow, and trans-dimensional portals became transit portals. This trip, my daughter, and my team were joining me so maybe I could get some help with the naming dilemma.

  Anyways, we dropped our bags in the transport room and went to the cafeteria to enjoy a few beverages. My daughter went up to a control panel in the cafeteria and enabled the rooms external view mode. The walls, floor, and ceiling seemed to disappear. It was like you were just hanging there in space, with a bunch of furniture floating around as well. I wondered how my daughter knew to do that, but not more than I wanted a drink before the transit, so I didn’t ask. Sammy was all set up for the transit back to the main ship, so we barely got the bottle of Gluark open before we passed through a large transit portal to the main ship.