Queen Zaria Trilogy

by Danny Dunn

  Pong, “how long do you think it will take them?”

  David says, “oh, less than an hour.”

  Just them, one of the Pongettes yells out bingo, hiya, as she practices her snap kicks.

  The money came from another swiss account, and the owner of that account is, drumroll, please…

  Edmonds, Murphy, and Tealer. The top lobbyist company in DC.

  Pong very nice girls, warm up those legs.

  Pong asks where Alex is. Joe, Michael, and Pongettes all start laughing.

  Michael tells Pong that Alex will be here soon and that he needed to go shower first. He will tell you the story when he gets here. In walks, Alex all showered up. So, they all gather around, and Alex proceeds to tell the story starting back at the van.

  “Michael told me to move 100 yards from the road into the dense trees. My orders were that if someone were to get the jump on Michael, I was to take them out asap. So, I am running through these trees, and just as I get to where I can see this guy with his gun aimed at Michael, I see two big bears literally licking their lips with their heads down. I couldn’t shoot them, so I shewed them away, and they backed off a bit, so I kneeled down, and I guess to them that meant was tired and ready to be eaten. I could get the shot I needed on my knees. They had backed off a bit, so I focused on the shot and tried to forget about the bears. Just as I am about to pull the trigger, this big ass bear sits on me. Did you know that when a bear eats you, it doesn’t kill you first? Bears just sit on you and start eating. Did you also know that they don’t like our skin, so while they are sitting on you, they peel your skin off so they can get to the tasty meat? I made my way to my knife and stabbed that big smelly thing while it was sitting on me. Before the guy showed up that surprised Michael, the Pongettes tasered the 3 guys waiting to get the jump on us, so Michael acting on David’s order had the Pongettes strip the three guys, tie them trees and smear his ham sandwich all over them.

  When the guy with the drop on Michael asks where his buddies were, Michael, being the funny guy, he is told the guy his buddies were “bearing,” it is a lot like fishing, but with bears he says,

  Right then was when I stabbed the bear in the butt, and the bear lets out the very scary scream, and Michael hears the bear thinking, oh. The bear found one of the 3 guys tied to a tree. Michael thinks where the hell is Alex, and I am trying to get this 500-pound bear off me and am very concerned that the bear’s buddy will take over. I turn myself sideways with a 500-pound bear on me and take a big breath and took my shot. A hell of a shot under the circumstances, I must say. I then started to smell this god-awful smell; the bear had peed all over me. The gun scared the other bear, and I get fatso off of me and go running to Michael, who starts to lambaste me and is going on and on about green lights, trust, and commitment. When he looks at me and says omg, you stink.

  Here are some pics I took. Everyone claps. Alex stands and bows.

  OK, I will go now and look in the mirror and tell my story 20 or 100 times.

  They are all laughing and clapping as he leaves.

  End Chapter 50

  Chapter 51 – Been there done that.

  In the room are Pong, Zaria, Tom, Will, David, Michael, Joe, Alby, and the Pongettes. Pong asks the Pongettes to join them.

  Pong before I forget, can the inventory move themselves to the cave?

  They can, but let's talk about this first.

  Pong “with the president and VP gone the next 3 are the speaker of the house, the President pro Tempore and then the Secretary of State.

  Pongettes, can we get any email activity between the General and these three. The Pongettes vanish. Pong says that the general can’t do this alone. Also, since we know where the money came from, Pongettes Pong yells out, also find links with the lobbying company.

  Ok, who else?

  David, “we shouldn’t be in here right now. We need to move to the cavity now.

  They all get up and head down to the transport, and they bring the Pongettes with them, Alby said there is a room Karen set up today with a bunch of computers. David tells them this is where they stay until this is over. Pong has someone move Will’s mother away from that house.

  David says that he just realized that since we have not had elections yet, the VP is president, and since there cannot be elections this year, that person is president for at least a year and maybe 4, with Tom and Will dead they win. It is one of those 4 people and could be the president. So, they don’t need to do the press conference to tom and will. They can do it however and whenever they want. When they kill Tom and Will, whoever is pulling this off will kill those above them to be president.

  I say if at all possible, we make it look like these two are dead, then we see the President and show our cards. Michael, you were confident before that the cave is safe. Michael, yes, and I still feel that way.

  That is my thought, I am ready to hear others.

  Zaria, as usual you are a genius, David.

  Until then, all focus should be on identifying who the general is working with. Just like Costa Rica guys.

  What else other than the money transfer would the General, the lobbyist, and the successor need to do?

  They might decide to meet somewhere

  Pong yells, “Pongettes 1-3, you are on finding a meeting spot with the parties.

  David asks Pong how much is in the bank right now. Pong tells David there is a $1.3 trillion. Pong says they are going to steal my assets. David nods his head. David says for them to all assume we are all dead. It isn’t enough to just have the government.

  The president gives the order to defend their great nation from the aliens and wipes us out. In the shuffle, the money gets lost, and maybe they transfer it before the attack, so it looks like we did it. They leave enough. Let's say $500 billion so that people are happy, and they split the $700 billion.

  The lobbyists are behind the money end of this. We are on attack from two sides. How do we play that?

  Zaria “at the moment we really need to establish if it is the VP doing this or if it is one of the 3. The VP is republican, so it would most likely be the speaker of the house. That makes sense. Woe, the democrats put this into play when the democrat bowed out of the race. It always bothered me that they quit when they did. Let’s look at communications between the speaker and the general. Meetings, credit cards, expense reports.

  Pong “Pongettes…”

  Pongettes “on it boss. Is now a good time to talk about that minimum wage thing we have been putting off?” Pong laughs, “fine and two weeks’ vacation when this is solved.”

  Pongette, “all expenses paid and free drinks?”

  Pong “you don’t drink but yes. Pong smiles and chuckles.

  Pongettes “wow, what timing. Look at what I found.” The Pongettes put a barrage of text messages between the house leader and the general up on the wall. In one exchange, the general is asking for, and the speaker agrees to a 5% increase in the military budget.

  Pong “great job Pongettes. Are we able to send a text and make it look like the speaker sent it??

  Pongettes “yes,” we can emulate their phone and send all we want.

  Pong, “I am going to lose my money while you guys come up with a plan.”

  David “great,” so it sounds like we hide money, make it look like the speaker took the money, and accidentally copies the general on a message? How are they offing the VP?

  Tom, “Can we kidnap the president to keep him safe?”

  Will “you guys are hilarious” and laughs.

  David looks over at Will and tells him, “this is what it takes to deal with these jokers.”

  About hiding the inventory. “Can the bots fly drones?

  Pong “Absolutely”

  David “Ok, let's have them positioned all across the property. How many drones do we have?

  Pong smiles and tells David they have 50,000. “I like drones, she says. They all have Tire poppers, day and night vision, tasers, audio in and out, and
extended battery life.

  David suggests that rather than hide them all in one place, we spread them out and have them become our army. But their role is to control the drones. And we deploy them all now.

  Pong, “it is happening right now. I plugged their IDs in, so the canon doesn’t fire on them. Everyone is wearing their IDs, right?”

  The group says roger that.

  Alby says that the military would be doing recon right now.

  David says that the inventory should use the Transport to move them to the outskirts and move to their positions. Pong tells David they are getting the drones ready to go. They will each take 10 drones with them. That will save some battery life. They will start heading out in 10 minutes.

  Pong says she moved the money 8 times through 12 banks and made gold purchases with most of it. We need to move our families into the cavity Pong says. David says he will get that working. David talks to Linda, and she gets it going.

  Zaria “what if we send an anonymous email to the General from the lobbyists telling him that Pong's money is gone and that the speaker is screwing him.

  Pong, “I could put into our account that the money was levied by the government.

  David, “I like it.”

  Will “we can leak a document prepared by the Speaker on the seal of the president that charges the General with treason.”

  Tom pretends to cry and says, “that’s my VP” and pats his old buddy on the back.

  Zaria, “let’s also document our case. We need to be ready at any time to lay out our case.”

  Pong “Pongettes?” The Pongettes reply that they hear Tahiti is nice this time of year.

  Wilma and Betty say they want a few minutes with the speaker, the General, and the Lobbyists.

  Pong “I will try,”

  Wilma and Betty, “hiya, hiya.”

  The whole table laughs.

  Pong “Adam?”

  Adams replies, “yes, pong” from his workstation.

  Pong, “I would like you to go back through every transfer I just did and try to hack them. On the ones you can hack, please fix them so no one can hack them. Then send me what you did.”

  Adam, “thank you, pong.”

  David, “how are we getting the treason from the speaker to the general?”

  David “OK A-Team, I want the three of you to go to DC and sit tight. Bring the works, and hopefully, we catch another would-be assassin. Joe, stay alert, we are at war. Stay at the airport and watch for tails. Also, keep a phone on speaker and stay in the meeting.

  Joe “roger that, sir.”

  The others at the table see these guys changing before their eyes. No more jokes and nothing but business. They are in the air in an hour.

  Alby tells them, “the general has his people keeping the speaker and the lobbyists honest. We send it from the speaker on a new email to the lobbyists. At the very least. It is going to put the brakes on attacking us. It may get the speaker killed, but not until the General has cut a new deal with the VP or the next two successors down on the list.”

  David “are we good with that?

  Pong, “just add a comment in the message that here is my first act as president. 5% Ha.” Does that sound good?”

  The table laughs, roger that.

  The families are moved, the “army” is deployed, the money is in hiding. Pong sends 20 bots to the control room, and they simulated RF normal activity in the control room. The guards at the front gate are bots and not Pongettes. Everyone is safe in the cavity.

  David asks pong if the university is protected. Pong says you mean my baby that I have spent three years designing, building, and cultivating? Is that the one you are referring to?

  David smiles and asks if it is ready. Pong tells him, yes, it is ready.

  At a desk at the pentagon, a computer analyst is sifting through emails and finds the email from the Speaker to the Lobbyists. The lobbyists are pissed because they were to get a huge payoff in the 5% deal, and the lobbyists go to the general to help find a way to broker the deal with someone else.

  The lobbyists email the general and attach the document generated by the Pongettes charging the General with treason and murder.

  The general tries to stop the VP who is getting on Marine One on his way to Air Force One. He can’t get through, so he tries to stop the assassination of the president. The contractors have their phones off, so they don’t get ID’d at that location. They are in a van waiting for Airforce one to take off at the airport.

  The general has his team check Pong’s bank accounts, and the money is gone. The general tells them to find out where it went. They see a wire they trace to the speaker’s wife. But can’t see the amount. The General is livid. Screw with me, will he?” the general orders his men to stop the contractors at the airport. Do whatever you have to do. In fact, stop the flight. Do not let AF1 get off the ground.

  The general sends some men over to redirect the assassins to kill the speaker. The general has his computer team search for the money, and the general’s orders are to seize whatever you find. Possession is what? His men replied, “9/ 10ths of the law, sir. The General replies damn right it is.

  Both the General and the lobbyists believe the Speaker has double-crossed the General, and neither are contacting the Speaker. The general reaches out to the president and suggests they need to talk about something urgent. The President tells the general they can talk tonight. The general tells the President not to get on Air Force One and that he will brief him tonight when he knows more. The president tells him to brief him on what the general knows now. The General is vague and tells the president it is just chatter on the internet but that he will know more tonight. The President blows off the warning, and they continue to the airport.

  The Pongettes see the messages and tell Pong the general tried to stop the president from getting on Air Force 1, but we don’t have confirmation that the president is not going. Pong thinks about it. And calls the president's secretary and tells the secretary she must speak to the president directly right now on Marine one. You know me, Margie. If I say it is important, it is life and death.

  A couple of minutes go by, and the president greets Pong. Good morning Pong, how can I help you? Mr. President, I know we have a conflict of interest, but you have done nothing to us, and so we can’t let you die. We have uncovered a plot between the speaker and a general to have you assassinated as Airforce one takes off this morning. The Speaker has agreed to increase the military budget by 5% once he is president. Mr. President, I have documentation to back up everything I am telling you. But I am begging you for now not to get on that plane.

  The president replies, “Pong, the general called me to warn me not to get on the plane, why would he do that?

  We have reason to believe that as part of their plan, once you are dead and the speaker is president, he will fabricate evidence to establish our team is planning on taking over the country and attack my compound, killing us all. Then they are going to split up my money, and the military gets their increase, and the speaker gets at least a year to run for president as the one that saved the world in a time of crisis.

  This morning we fabricated a document that makes it look like the speaker screwed the general and with the presidential seal make the case that the general killed you. Then we hid my money, and the general found that so he is convinced the speaker screwed him, that was to stop the general from killing all of us. But then we learned you are traveling on air force one and this has a short enough fuse on it that we figure they will kill you today, sir.

  The president replies that he always liked and respected her and her family. And you say you have proof to back this up the president asks. Pong replies that yes, sir, I do. A mountain of evidence? And the president laughs. It is a small mountain but getting bigger by the minute.

  The president tells Pong that their planet doesn’t appreciate her and family medaling in the politics of their planet and that he has had enough, you are not quite as s
mart as you seem to think. The speaker isn’t going to be the president, he is going to be my Vice President. The general, the speaker, and I all saw the ending of our system coming, and this was the way to save our system and eliminate you all in one swoop. Sorry Pong is you are not wanted on our planet. Your 20,000 bots and 50,000 drones will be the first to go.

  And the phone goes dead. Pong goes to post the call on the website, and their internet is down. Pong calls the group in and tells them what just happened. They have killed all our communications.

  David, “but we can communicate with our bots and drones, right?

  Pong “yes.”

  David tells pong that is we load the call and all the information into the bots and drones, they can go out and play the information and transmit the package to the press. The president tipped his hand to us. To hit our 20,000 bots and 50,000 drones, they would use a swarm of killer bee drones to attack them. We need to send ours away now, so they are not in the range of the drone bees. Pong tells David the pack is loaded, and so is the call.

  David says great, send them out to every house, hotel have them locate the press trucks. I am sure there a some of them around that was going to cover the press conference. They still don’t know we have the laser cannon. Nope.

  OK, we are about to do battle with the greatest military power on the planet. Zaria smiles, been there, done that.”

  I have seen theirs. It is slow and clunky. Ours is much better. The bots put up a large video wall and a makeshift control room over the last 24 hours. They all settle in and prepare for battle.

  Zaria says that she just realized that they did have a deal, and the President doesn’t get that the Speaker and the General decided to bump themselves up a notch.

  Twenty minutes latest Air Force One crashes. The drones are out broadcasting their message. The first words of the message are “This is a message from Pong, please get your phones out to record this and post it wherever you can.

  In the control room, David has an idea and asks Pong if she can selectively allow certain things to be hit like all our houses and the control room. Pong smiles and says, you bet. She punches in the coordinates.