“How much do you think the building and contents were worth?” Aidan asked.
“Trillions, no doubt,” Silas replied.
“Well, if there’s one thing white folks respect over all else, it’s money,” stated Aidan.
“Shh, look at this!” Constance said, as a split screen video began with the President of the United States and the leader of the colonial ships according to the info crawl on the bottom of the screen.
The world was riveted to the screen as the conversation played out, then was replaced by the destruction of the Pentagon, then switched to the final exchange between the two. When the studio feed returned to the station’s talking heads, they didn’t notice the camera was back on them in their shock.
“Sorry about that, we’ll be right back after these messages from our sponsors.”
“That was quite the statement. They leveled the biggest building in the world in less than an hour and they made one hell of a statement in the process,” Aidan began as he turned his chair around to face Silas and Constance.
“I wonder what the fallout will be for people like us?” asked Constance.
“Probably nothing if we continue to keep our heads down. And there’s nothing to disagree with what that Chris guy said. The advances we’ve made here, modest as they are compared to the colony, are not for the greater population. But we are vulnerable, and like I said, we have to keep our heads down and not be noticed,” Silas said.
“How does this impact your plans to try to contact the colony, Aidan?” asked Constance.
“That’s kind of what I wanted to discuss with the two of you,” he replied.
“What’s on your mind, son?” Silas said.
“I have a confession I need to make, a secret I’ve been holding inside. Not only do I want to contact the colonists, but if they’ll have me, I want to join them,” he said, then was silent.
“And what’s the secret, son?” Silas said, grinning broadly as Constance chuckled.
“Aidan, we’ve known this since you moved here. I’m betting you’ve wanted this for a long time, even as a child. Am I right?” Constance gently asked.
“I guess. I was always intrigued by their accomplishments and how they lived. And now, I may have a safe means of contacting them. But I have to wonder what today’s events, or the death of their people, means to my chances; I really have no idea.”
“Aidan,” Silas began, clasping his shoulder, “all you can do is your best. We’re behind you all the way. I would be proud as hell to see you make it.”
Constance grasped his hand, “You do whatever you need to do and if there’s anything you need from me, don’t hesitate to ask. Try not to do anything that puts our community at risk, because it’s highly doubtful they’d take all of us.”
“You’d go?” Aidan asked, completely blown away.
“I’ve thought about it over the years. We’ve both talked about it,” she said gesturing to Silas. “Harmony is the next best thing to the colony. But we have to deal with whites, with the U.S. government, and not always the best in our own people as well. When I look at the people who were listed on their roster, there were so many who were near the cutting edge of their fields. I was determined to try to emulate their organizational plan down here, regardless of the needed security and the risk we run of discovery. I mean, who wouldn’t want to live somewhere where there’s absolutely no chance of being killed driving while black?”
“I thought of that too. But it was a distant second in my priorities when I considered the advances they must have, and they’re living in space for God’s sake,” gushed Aidan.
“It is pretty exciting to imagine what they have up there. I’m a little long in the tooth to think about wandering around space. But it’s still damned exciting to think about,” Silas said wistfully.
If I were you, I would look at this country, and I mean the whole country, and try to come up with a plan that can facilitate the pickup of new people for the colony. You must consider the fact that the military can probably track their ships so any pickup must involve stealth, misdirection, and speed. You can’t expect them to solve all your problems,” suggested Silas.
“And what about Valerie?” Constance asked. “How does she feel about your desire to leave the planet?”
“We’ve talked about it. I think if she wasn’t so involved with her new business, she would give it some serious thought,” he replied.
“Would you go without her?” asked Silas.
Aidan was silent. “I honestly can’t say. There’s too much going on for me to answer right now. There’s if I even get asked or if it’s possible to get safely picked up. There’s if she says no. There’s if she says yes. Like I said, right now, too many variables.”
“Whatever you decide, you have our blessings. I hope whatever you end up wanting, it becomes yours for the taking, young man,” said Silas.
“And if you need a letter of recommendation, let me know,” said Constance. “In any case, I hope the two of you can spend the rest of your lives together. It’s for damn sure you’re going to have a hell of a time finding a better companion than Val. What’s your next step in trying to get in touch?”
“I have a laser that I can tune from the visible band into the ultraviolet. If I can get their attention with that, I can send a signal that might lead them into the x-ray band,” explained Aidan.
“What about the opening message?” asked Silas.
“Not sure. Like I said, when I put something together, may I run it by you all?”
“Absolutely! I can’t wait to see what you come up with,” Constance replied.
For the rest of the evening, there were no further revelations about the destruction of the Pentagon and all the media had to offer was an endless stream of talking heads castigating General Archer for attacking in the first place, alongside speculation about what could happen the next time the colonists were attacked.
The White House released a statement detailing General Archer’s unauthorized attack on the colonists’ spacecraft along with the transcript of the conversation between President Wilcox and the colony’s representative. With the video of the conversation, posted all over Social Media Web sites, there was little left to hide. There was no comment from Global Space Technologies about the destruction of their manufacturing facilities, especially the plant in Tennessee, but the Board of Directors issued their shortest statement on record, “We are cooperating with authorities to ensure that GST’s operations continue in the America’s best interests.”
* * *
When the fleet arrived back at the space station, Christopher still had them park nose-toward-Earth with their shields at full strength to add an additional level of protection until the station’s shield upgrade was completed. The jumper crew members were subdued, having witnessed the power of the latest variant of Christopher’s G-wave technology. To see the Pentagon dissolve into dust in such a short amount of time from a kilometer in the air awed them. It also frightened more than a few, accustomed to the colony’s original proscription against weapons, with the casual destructive force now at their command.
Christopher and Angela took their turn bringing their jumper inside the station to unload supplies. When they exited the jumper, Alice and Dorothy were waiting to greet them, hugging and thanking them for coming.
“Don’t mention it,” Christopher said as they made their way to the station’s lounge.
When they were settled, he said, “I’m sorry things turned out the way they did. I underestimated the kinds of responses the military might take over the embargo; this was entirely my fault.”
“No way, Chris. You can’t hold yourself responsible for the acts of others,” Alice objected.
“They were already enraged over the fact that we exist, and to deny them anything was guaranteed to set them off. We should have been paying better attention,” Dorothy added.
“We can argue the point forever, but
it doesn’t change the sad circumstances we face today. In any case, the relief crew is going to stay while you come home with us; council’s orders,” he said.
“Is it true that you destroyed the factories where they made the railguns, and the Pentagon?” Dorothy asked, awed.
“Yes, and I would have done more but Angela has a much more level head than I do, so we left it at that—and the railguns themselves,” he added.
Christopher got up to get a cup of coffee and asked if he could bring anything back for the others. Both women said no, and Angela asked for a glass of water. While he was out of the room, Angela took the opportunity to ask how they really were.
“I’m still a little shaken, and heartbroken about Clarice and Zelda. This is not going to be easy to deal with for a long, long time,” Alice confessed.
“Same here. And I must admit that I’m glad we’re going home. I haven’t really slept more than an hour or so at a time since it happened,” Dorothy added.
Moments later, Christopher returned, handing a glass of water to Angela, then sat sipping his coffee.
“You two will be traveling back home in the whale along with the engineering crew and Doctors Long and Abbott. We’re going to take it easy on the way back because we haven’t been able to inspect the ships for any collision damage incurred on the way here, so it’s going to take about five days to get home. Have you begun to pack yet?”
They both nodded.
“Good. Did you sign off on your duty logs, leaving them ready for your relief?”
“We did,” Alice answered.
“Then if Angela agrees, I think we can set off for home in the morning. That work for the two of you?” Christopher asked, looking them in the eyes.
“We believe so. We talked about this while you were gone. We want to get home, see Clarice and Zelda’s friends and family, and try to put the worst of the memories behind us,” explained Dorothy.
“Good to hear. We’re going to head back out to let the others have a chance to stretch their legs in the station. But I wanted to stop by to say how sorry I am that you had the experience that you did,” he said, getting to his feet. “I’ll wait for you in the jumper,” he said to Angela.
Once he was gone, Angela said, “He’s not really comfortable with these feeling thingies,” getting genuine laughter from both women.
“But he tries. He does care, look at what he did down there. Have you seen him lose his temper? I hear it’s not something you want to see more than once,” said Dorothy.
“I’ve seen him angry, but not like the first time they all went to the moon. Pat told me about it. He’s furious, and he feels entirely responsible for what happened. The embargo was more than necessary provocation for someone convinced of the railguns’ superiority to take a chance at attacking us and it’s killing him that people died, our people,” Angela explained, then hugged both women and left to join Christopher to pilot their jumper from the station.
The next day the colony’s space fleet set out for home, bringing the space station’s unmodified jumper back, having left a couple of the heavily modified jumpers behind. When the fleet arrived at the colony, the hanger was silent as Zelda and Clarice’s remains were unloaded from the whale until the freezer was on its way to the infirmary, then activity resumed, but no one really felt like talking after that.
Christopher arranged for his gear to be dropped off at his quarters and went to the council’s office to let Margaret debrief him. “Were there any injuries?” she asked.
“Frankly, I don’t know. I don’t know if the factories, any of the military installations or ships were clear either. We gave precise intentions at every turn. Maybe there were military personnel left inside the Pentagon, but again, not for any lack of warning on our part.”
“According to news reports G2 relayed, forty-nine military personnel are missing from the Pentagon and four from the various GST factory locations. Fortunately, there were no casualties listed for the Naval installations where the railguns were deployed. The missing do not reflect well on us. After all, we were the people who could always claim the moral high ground, even with the provocation of the embargo. Now, I fear we have lost that high ground,” she said.
“Perhaps so. And yes, any loss of life is tragic, but it’s important to remember who started it. Our lives have never mattered in America, not for the entire time blacks have lived there. They killed two of our people, our family. I couldn’t let that pass. I had to come up with something that was so horrific that they would never consider attacking us again. None of us want to relitigate our God damned differences every time someone down there, as my grandmother used to say, started smelling their piss. Eventually, they’re going to get their collective shit together and we’ll have to let them off the planet and into space. What do you think they’re going to be after when they do?” Christopher said heatedly.
“Don’t get me wrong, Chris. I agree with everything. But you can’t discount the fact that what we did in the name of our people was as heinous as what they did.”
“But doesn’t it say something in the Bible about an eye for an eye? I was just doing the Christian thing in my response, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.”
Margaret chuckled at the smug look on Christopher’s face, knowing he was just as torn up about the loss of life as she was. “It was a tough call, and I know your team did their best. And hopefully the message was understood. As far as I’m concerned, the council will have nothing negative to say, we knew it might come to people being killed. I think the thing to do is concentrate on remembering Clarice and Zelda and supporting their family and friends. Now beat it, I’m sure Pat and Ben are anxious to welcome you home. Well done, Chris.”
* * *
President Wilcox was forced to hold a news conference in the days following the destruction of the Pentagon, as much as she wanted to try to make her brief statement the day of the attack suffice.
“Since you all heard my statement earlier in the week, let’s begin the questioning with you,” she said pointing to the reporter from MSNBC.
“Madam President, given that in both cases of military authority violating orders, specifically, Generals Archer and Kaminski, what can the White House do to ensure that the same kind of incident does not happen again?”
“Isn’t that the question of the day?” she began. “In Archer’s instance, we have several factors that played into his act. The first being a testosterone-driven command structure where the first option considered, no matter the circumstance, is one of attack. This is the nature of the military everywhere. But with Archer, there is another component that is far more disturbing, and that is a complete lack of respect men have for women in America. Colonel Archer simply could not accept my orders to leave the colonists alone, no matter the provocation, and as a result we have lost an unknown number of American lives and uncounted dollars in property losses. And that was just retribution for the loss of two colonists. As long as men believe they can do anything they want without consequence in our culture, we’re going to have problems from verbal abuse all the way to trillions of dollars in damages,” she replied. “You there, Ed.”
“Madam President, what about the colonist Chris’ demand that if they wanted to land anywhere in the country to buy a pack of gum, they should be allowed to do so unmolested? How is that going to work? What happens if someone on the street accosts or attacks them?”
“If they decided to visit this country again, and if they were here for such a mundane task, I would hope that they be treated in an appropriate manner. Okay, I have time for a couple more questions. In the back there.”
“Thank you, Madam President. These colonists, up until now, committed no crime in this country before they left, not a single one of them, and they committed no crime in living on the moon and in space.”
“Is there a question here?” Wilcox interrupted testily.
“Yes, I would like to know why the Uni
ted States government insisted in treating them like criminals from the onset of their discovery until the events of this last week? What was the justification for them being treated like criminals, and that includes General Kaminski sending armed SEALs to invade their home on the moon, to General Archer killing two of them and allegedly damaging one of their spaceships? Why does the U.S. government treat African Americans as enemies of the state merely because they are much more technically advanced than this country is?”
Wilcox was silent for a few moments. “You know something? That is the question that should be addressed. The short answer is that white America does not tolerate being told no, and when someone has what whites want, white men I mean, they have always been able to take it for their own.”
The room was so quiet one could hear a pin drop.
“Generals Archer and Kaminski, and all the Russian military men who planted rockets in their spaceship and fired on the colonist’s ship with nuclear weapons are the same problem we all face. It is intolerable to this country that blacks managed to beat us to the moon, appear to live longer and healthier lives than we do, and absolutely refuse to share their largess with white men. That is the nature of the problem we face.
“White men drove those people off the planet, I imagine, because they knew what would happen if their technology was discovered and stolen by white men. You want to know what we squandered with this country’s culture of racism? They live out by the asteroid belt; they’ve been observed exploring both Jupiter and Saturn. They can travel at near-relativistic speeds, approaching an appreciable percentage of the speed of light. They now have two habitats that are cubic miles in volume. In comparing the video of the colonist Chris, who we believe is Christopher Benjamin Wright, based on the roll call they sent back when they departed the moon, and comparing it to the one recorded when he confronted President Laughlin, it appears he hasn’t aged a day in decades; according to records he was born before World War II and still appears between thirty- to forty-years-old.
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