“You want to tuck our tired fella in, or should I?” Piper quietly asked Joy.
“Sure, I don’t have to get up early for anything tomorrow,” Joy replied to Benjamin’s amusement.
“Me neither, Ops gave us the week off,” said Piper.
“We could flip for him, or maybe both of us can tuck him in. What say you, Ben?”
Benjamin chuckled, and quietly replied, “I appreciate the offer, ladies. But I really need to get some sleep tonight; I’m bushed.”
“No problem. I’ll tuck him in. That cool with you?” Joy asked Piper.
“Have at him. I’m going to head out myself,” said Piper, giving Benjamin a peck on the cheek.
The three said good night and left the commissary. Joy escorted Benjamin to his quarters while Piper headed off to bed in her own. Once they arrived at Benjamin’s quarters, the two quickly undressed and climbed into bed. Benjamin almost immediately fell asleep spooning up behind Joy who wasn’t far behind.
* * *
The UN commission on disarmament adjourned for the summer, the delegates returning home to consult with their governments and to seek additional networking contacts. Financial pressure only seemed to make the Israeli government dig their heels in deeper into their entrenched position. What was troubling for the Jewish state was the declining support it received from Jews around the world. There was still international resistance to risking Israel’s security, however Jews worldwide had become more amenable to finally considering and achieving a two-state solution under strict UN enforcement. With very few allies around the world, the DeFacto isolation served to increase hardship on the Israeli people, including exacerbating the slow drain of younger Israelis emigrating to other countries. The general perception was that the life in the country was one in serious decline, something only fanatics would endure or ignore. The pragmatic young people were moving to Europe or the United States, something not lost on the old guard running Israel’s government. This was not lost on Chairman Hu either as he dismissed the committee for summer break. Perhaps, he thought, the problem of their nuclear weapons holdout just might take care of itself given enough time. Unfortunately, the future of every country’s space technologies hinged on complying with the edict the colonists laid down, and the longer it took, the greater the risk that some country would decide to take matters in their own hands and directly confront the colony’s will, no matter the cost.
* * *
Lucius and Margaret were visiting with Phillip and Alma, having coffee, discussing the changes ahead for the colony. The three were the oldest members of the community, and as such, Margaret consulted with them often for advice.
“I guess the question boils down to: do we really want to devote the resources needed to have our own standing military here?” Margaret asked.
“I know we’ve lasted this long without one, but Chris has rarely been wrong. I’ve tended to trust his judgment through the years,” said Alma, setting down a plate of cookies.
“Fortunately, he’s not as singular minded as is generally believed, he talked a lot of things through with me early on, Lucius too,” added Phillip.
“True. But this is different. The fact is that when we conclude the embargo, we will have to be constantly on the alert once the various space-capable countries start flooding into Earth’s orbit and beyond. Chris can be volatile, but he’s not stupid. He even knew what to expect when the two ships visited us. No one really expected either of them to attack us, and what happened? That Russian fired half a dozen missiles at us. Chris expected the attack and was ready,” Lucius said.
“I have no problem with him leading us in another direction, but we need to all be on the same page. The council is discussing how we can better protect our community in the coming years,” Margaret said. “I noticed that Chuck is outfitting all our ships with that new beam of theirs. Angela said it’s the nearest thing to a disintegrating ray as she’s ever read about in science fiction literature.”
“Peanut is just as much a genius as Chris. I can’t wait until he has his faster than light drive perfected and we can get the hell out of here,” Margaret said bitterly.
“I had no idea you felt like that, Meg,” Alma said, laying her hand on Margaret’s arm.
“When Sydney recruited me, I had just had two patents in biotech research stolen from me by the director of the lab where I was employed, both were conservatively worth millions. When I sued, the court ruled against me based on the notion that I couldn’t possibly have done all that research by myself. When Syd came to me and told me there was a place where my contributions would be both important and never stolen, I was skeptical. No, that’s not right, I didn’t believe her. But she kept after me, describing this colony without revealing its location, selling me on the point that this place she was describing was composed only of blacks. That’s what tipped it in for me, I was completely done with white men,” she explained. “And I’ll tell you this, if the rumors are correct, and the hab is going to explore the galaxy as soon as the guys perfect the FTL drive, and I have every confidence they will, I’m moving over to the hab.”
The surprise on the other’s faces made Margaret laugh. “What? I can’t have wanderlust in my soul?”
“Not exactly. I’m just surprised that you are thinking that far ahead,” replied Lucius.
“I’ve caught snatches of conversations about the hab and what its mission will be. It sounds like a lot of our second generation is interested in relocating for a chance at exploration. They really have no connection to Earth and sticking around the solar system when they have the opportunity to explore the galaxy definitely doesn’t appeal to them at all,” Alma said.
“I wonder if Benjamin is among them, and whether or not Chris and Pat know?” Lucius asked.
“If he is, then I know Joy and Piper must be thinking about going, too. Ben has made no secret that he wants to be the first colonial pilot to make it to another star. That whole Titan team is very close, they’re most likely going to be sticking together,” said Margaret.
“So, rather than sticking around, they would most likely just leave. It’s not a bad strategy and relieves them from having to gear up for a fight nobody wants,” said Phillip.
“And what do we do about the colony? Should we all leave the solar system? I don’t know if that’s going to sit well with everyone or even much of our community,” Margaret said with a sigh.
“We may be facing a situation where the question has to be called,” observed Phillip.
“Most likely. But let’s get to what Meg wanted to talk about,” suggested Lucius, getting nods from the Lancasters.
“I’ve got two items I wanted to discuss. The first is whether or not we make an exception to the embargo and allow the weather satellite launch, and the second item is should I endorse Chuck’s suggestion that we form a space corps trained to fly the disintegrator-equipped shuttles?”
“When I spoke to Peanut, he said that Chris didn’t see any merit in allowing the satellite to get into orbit. I can’t say I disagree. To do otherwise would set a bad precedent,” Lucius replied.
“As for the equipping of the jumpers, it seems a prudent precaution. We don’t want any of our people caught in a situation where they need a way to protect themselves and they don’t have the means,” said Alma.
“No one is suggestion we put anyone at risk,” Margaret protested. “But word is getting around and questions are being asked.”
“My advice is to just tell the truth, take the rumor and speculation out of the equation,” suggested Phillip.
“I agree. And if you need to deflect, suggest that they talk to Chris, Chuck or Peanut,” Lucius suggested.
“But I’m the head of the council, how will that look?”
Lucius chuckled. “Well, there is that. But you can easily say that the defense of the colony is Chris’ responsibility, his chosen responsibility from the beginning. Remember, he was fully prepared to de
stroy the White House if the FBI hadn’t released us.”
“That’s what I worry about, just how he’s going to react to another provocation,” Margaret said heavily.
“It’s doubtful he’s going to make any mistakes. Remember the draft of the question on embargoing Earth. I couldn’t find any conceptual flaw in his reasoning or presentation. I don’t think you have anything to worry about, Margaret,” Phillip said.
“Neither do I. I’ve seen him at his best, and at his worst when his father died. He’s always carried rage, but I can’t remember him losing his temper more than once or twice. I admit that I thought we were going to see him go completely off the rails when he decided to confront the President of the United States. He’s one of the brightest men I’ve ever known, both in the theoretical and real world. I think his going to college in Texas was the best thing that could have happened to him in terms of coming to grips with exactly how racism in America worked,” Lucius said.
“Pat told me how you picked up the slack watching over his mother. Lord knows he has every right to hate whites, but it almost seems like he’s above that sort of thing. From the way Angela described his attitude when he was dressing down the President, he was acting like the man was a bug he could either swat away or squash. But I don’t think he considers everyone on Earth like pests to be done away with,” Margaret said.
“That’s what I worry about,” Phillip quickly said. “If he has no regard for them as people, as fellow human beings, then their lives hold no meaning: they’re forfeit.”
“I’ve talked it over with the rest of the council, Phillip too,” she said nodding in his direction, “and what we’ve decided is that if he’s determined to return to Earth, not only is Angela going to ride herd on him, but I want to talk Chuck into going with him. Between Chuck and Angela, neither are going to let anything happen to him.”
“Perhaps make damn sure Ben doesn’t go along.” Alma added.
“I’m sure Pat’s not going to let that happen,” Lucius assured them. “You mentioned that there’s a lot of chatter about the future of the new hab. What else have you heard?”
Margaret took a sip of coffee. “Most of the rumors are about the personnel who will initially populate it and what long-term missions it might carry out. Some think it’s being built for intergalactic exploration. Sam from the Titan team said that there’s a pretty good chance that wherever it goes, it’s for damn sure there’s not going to be any white folks there. Needless to say, when he announced that fact in the commissary, he got exactly the laugh he wanted. I can state for the record that neither the council nor Ops has begun to make any such plans. The decisions and policies will have to pass consensus by the whole community before they’re codified. I would like to see some new faces around here though. You and Syd getting any closer to figuring out how to successfully recruit?” she asked Lucius.
Lucius rubbed his eyes, “In a word, no. Short of getting someone back on Earth to do the face-to-face, it’s just too dangerous. We’ve even discussed trying to contact candidates from the Earth station, but the comm lag would give us away in short order. Neither Sydney nor I ever gave up where anyone was going before they were scheduled to leave the planet, except for maybe you two.”
Phillip reached over to clasp Alma’s hand. “Yes, and it saved both our lives doing so. Cancer was killing me, and if Pat’s retrovirus hadn’t stopped it, I don’t know what Phillip would have done without me,” Alma said.
“She’s not kidding. I was a mess. I’ll never be able to adequately thank Lucius, although he may have just wanted someone close to his own age to talk to!” Phillip said with a chuckle.
“Is that what it was, you old reprobate?” Lucius asked, his voice dripping with irony.
“Oh, stop it, you two. They’re like two peas in a pod,” Alma explained. “Neither one can do without the other. I was talking to Sydney and she said that the only way to do a proper job of vetting candidates is face to face. Do you agree, Lucius?”
“I do. We’ve been trying to figure a way for decades now, and with what happened when the Feds caught Julius and me, I wouldn’t want anyone to take the chance of getting caught down on the ground,” he confessed.
“What would it take to operate on the surface?” asked Margaret.
“There’s a number of factors to consider. First, we have to get safely down and concealed. Second, whomever was going to recruit will need to be able to move around the country freely. Money is no problem; we have cash here and Genesis is managing over a hundred million I left behind. And, Genesis can create pretty solid identities, we learned something important last time we were there: you need some dirt in those identities like parking tickets, credit card purchases with a missed payment or two and the like. Julius was too clean for that racist cop; he couldn’t believe that a black man in his twenties had a clean driving record. But all that is incidental, the hardest part is going to be picking up recruits. Every time we land to pick up someone, we run the risk of being caught or attacked. Although, if Chris plans to draw a line in the sand with America, making it plain that we will brook no more nonsense from them, and make it stick, there might be a tacit truce that will allow us to operate there,” Lucius concluded.
“What? Like open up an office? That’s never going to happen. Even if they left our ships alone, if any of our people were captured you can bet, they’d be peeled like an orange in some black site outside the country,” Phillip warned.
“And none of our physicists can ever visit, nor our medical people. That’s one reason I never studied anything Peanut or Patricia worked on. What I don’t know can’t be given up to someone with a hot poker!” said a chuckling Lucius.
“Sorry, my friend. After the last time, you’re not likely to ever return to the United States, I’m willing to bet,” Phillip said, clasping Lucius on the shoulder.
“Sydney can’t go, she’s got family. I know Chuck, Peanut, and Chris are like my own boys, but I did the job for decades. I’m about the only person who knows the drill,” Lucius protested.
“That’s not going to happen, Lucius. I can reliably state that the council will not approve of your recruiting from on the ground,” said Margaret.
“You’re my dearest and oldest friend, but I can’t endorse you trying to do the job on Earth either,” Phillip added.
Lucius sighed. “Back to the drawing board. This is where Sydney and I have been stalled since we left the moon. And knowing that your department wants to see another few hundred genetically non-related people added to the community has brought the issue to the front burner, Margaret.”
“I understand your desire, Lucius. But there has to be another way,” Margaret said soberly.
Cast Your Fate To The Wind
Forty-eight hours before the launch of the new U.S. weather satellite, the whole world began watching.
Meanwhile, Nate Slade was at home, meeting with Lance Cooper, going over the scant information he was able to uncover on General Archer.
“It’s been a pretty frustrating slog, Nate. The guy is either the best clam in the ocean or there’s nothing hinky going on,” he said, accepting coffee from Slade.
“You know the guy; do you really believe that?”
“No, I don’t. But I even have a guy who has top network clearance and he’s seen nothing suspicious at all; he even cracked NASA’s entire commend network and there’s nothing there with Archer’s fingerprints on it either. The move of the launch from the Cape to Edwards made sense given the embargo,” explained Cooper.
“You haven’t given up, have you?”
“Hell no. but we’re up against a hard break here, the launch goes off in two days. There’s not much room for him to maneuver even if we do find something. Security at Edwards is about as airtight as possible and the airspace downrange is going to be closed to commercial traffic twenty-fours prior to launch; after that, it’s anyone’s guess.”
“What about the Air Forc
e and Navy? Have there been any moves that look suspicious at all?” asked Slade.
“Several of the newer destroyers pulled into Norfolk for upgrades, but there’s nothing else that is remotely out of profile. Are you and the President sure this guy’s dirty?”
“He’s been a pain in the ass just short of openly insubordinate to President Wilcox since she took the oath of office. In all honesty, she should have shit-canned his ass at the very beginning, but she thought he would eventually settle down once he got used to taking orders from a woman,” Slade said ruefully.
“How’s that working out for her?” said Cooper, getting a bark of laughter from Slade.
“Exactly!”
“Oh yeah, in case you were wondering, I even got a guy embedded as a launch technician at Edwards and near as he can tell, the rocket is also on the up-and-up; there’s no explosive payload, just good old American weather technology aboard.”
“Jesus, Coop! Is there anywhere you can’t get intel?”
“In this country? Hell no. One of the changes from when we were in the service is that nowadays a little cash spread around can get you virtually anything you want. And we’re not talking a huge wad of cash. It’s disappointing how cheaply people can be bought these days.”
“Does this mean you can get intel on what’s going on in the White House just as easily?” Slade pointedly asked.
Cooper laughed, “What do you think?”
“Shit, I was hoping our people weren’t as cheap as that.
“Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that they’re cheap; that’s not it at all. But information can be had, it takes lubrication. The application of alcohol to people overworked and stressed out, combined with a sympathetic ear can do a hell of a lot more than a bribe. Look, Nate, a bribe almost never works with your people. Once you’re posted to the White House you know two things; one, you must assume everything you do is monitored 24/7; and two, your job is only good for four years, maybe eight. No one wants to mess that up because getting fired from the White House pretty much means no one else is going to want to touch you with a ten-foot pole.”
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