WORLDS END

by Marshall Huffman

  “Damn it James. Why does it have to be you? How long before someone else steps up? Yeah, I can build them and maybe you are right about being the only one at this point in time that can develop them on a scale we need but that does not mean you are expendable to me,” she said, looking into his eyes.

  “Now don’t go crying. It would spoil my ‘I’m Doctor Sarah Knott to you buddy’, image I have of you tough girl.”

  She suddenly threw her arms around him and started crying. He let her sob for several minutes before she finally got under control and pulled away.

  “Sorry.”

  “For?”

  “I just lost it.”

  “Yeah and I found it. I want to keep it if it is alright with you.”

  “What?” she said frowning.

  “The key to your heart.”

  **

  Captain Beal was smiling when James walked up.

  “That was some discussion. I saw her crying. Did you tell her you needed Viagra or something?”

  “Get in the damn plane you buttwipe.”

  “Ooooh, name calling as well,” he said.

  Beal hovered the plane and took it out of the hanger. Within seconds they were hovering over the giant downed ship. If anyone was alive they wouldn’t be alive for long. Fire was consuming every part of the ship.

  “Seen enough?”

  “Just get me to DC,” James said.

  Forty-five minutes later Beal sat the Invader down on the White House lawn in the same spot. They were met by the guard and escorted to the President’s bunker office.

  Both men could see how haggard and tired the President looked.

  “Welcome back gentlemen.”

  “Thank you sir. I think you are going to be amazed at what I am about to tell you.”

  “Amazed would be good,” President Coaler said, crossing his fingers.

  “Sir, Doctor Knott not only built the weapon but we tested it. It brought the pods, the discs and the command ship.”

  “What,” he exclaimed sitting bolt upright.

  “Yes sir. I drove the truck to attract the thing and Sarah operated the controls. We were successful in bringing everything down.”

  “Oh my God. It’s a miracle. You actually saw it crash?”

  “Yes sir, Sarah and I had front row seats so to speak. We were still in the cab of the truck when it came crashing down.”

  The President sat there looking dumbstruck. Just this morning he was wondering if anyone would even be left alive, and now this startling revelation.

  “We need to get that device back here immediately”

  “Well sir that may not be so easy. The roads are too cluttered for travel. We have no way of getting it here.”

  “So what can we do?”

  “Sarah can design them and direct others on how to build them. She is working on two things right now. Simplification of the construction design and increasing the power. Oh, it is called P-SAM for short. It stands for Plasma Sine-wave Amplitude Modulation. Please don’t ask me what that really means but I do know for a fact it works.”

  “What does she need specifically?”

  James handed over a sheet of paper. The President read down it and looked up.

  “I don’t even know what half this stuff is,” Coaler said.

  “Me either but that is what she needs. Do you have anyone that speaks engineese here?”

  “Maybe Doctor Walters.”

  “Then he should be the one to look at it.”

  “James. Captain Beal. I can’t thank either of you enough for everything you are doing. The risk with the Invader, bringing down the command ship, and I don’t know how many more things. All I can do is thank you. Except for you, Major Beal.”

  “Sir. You just promoted me the last time I was here.”

  “I see nothing in the rules limiting the Commander-in-Chief’s ability to promote officers, Major Beal.”

  “Geez. I mean, thank you sir.”

  “Geez is probably right,” he said smiling.

  “Suck up,” James muttered and the President laughed.

  “Sir, I need to bring up one more thing. One that is a little more controversial.”

  “Alright James. What’s on your mind?”

  “It’s about the technology.”

  “What about it?”

  “We should share it with any other country under attack. We may drive them off our little corner of the world but what about the rest of them?” James told him

  “Humm. I see the problem. Let me get everyone in here and talk about this.”

  “Sir, is it really that difficult?”

  “I’m afraid it is James,” the President answered.

  **

  Once again the President’s office was packed. James was explaining what had just transpired and now they were discussing the sharing situation.

  “Sir, I mean no disrespect but we would be crazy to reveal the Invader and this new technology. It could come back to bite us big time. I mean look at what happened during WWII. We developed the atomic bomb and spies handed it over to the Russians. The result of that almost cost us the world during the Kennedy Administration. Fingers were on the button to destroy the entire world. It started in 1945 but took twenty years to fester into a potential nuclear holocaust,” General Pearson said.

  “Thank you General. Ron?”

  “Well sir, I have to agree with the General. It seems like every time we share some breakthrough it comes home to roost. I don’t know if it will happen again but I can certainly see the potential. I don’t want to see any country decimated but I also don’t want to give them the bullets to shoot at us at a later time because they thought we held out on them too long. You know how stuff like that gets skewed.”

  “I understand Ron. How about you Bobby?”

  “I guess I am like the rest of us. I can see both sides but that isn’t what you are asking for here. This new technology has great potential but right now we are fighting for our very lives. I too want to see us do the right thing but for now the focus should be on our own country. Once we drive them out of America, we can do what we can to help the other nations,” Bobby replied.

  “I see,” the President said.

  Well, he had asked for their opinion and they were certainly giving it to him.

  “Gunny, what do you think?”

  “I think it has already been decided. By that I mean, America is in no position to help anyone at this point. We haven’t even figured out a way to build more of these contraptions and get them to where they will do us some good. Mr. Flynn talked about needing flatbed trucks. How many do we still have at our disposal? Where are they and how would we get weapons built on them without exposing the scientists to danger the entire time. What would happen if Doctor Knott was killed trying to build one of these things without protective covering? Mr. President, in my mind the risk outweighs all other considerations. Yes, I too want to help all of the other nations but not at the risk of losing our own country. I hate to say it, but as I see it we need to clean our own house before moving to someone else’s.”

  “As always, right to the heart of the matter. Thank you Sergeant Baker. And you Major Beal?”

  “Keep working on our own country. We need to get them gone before we try to help anyone else. I don’t mean this from a traditional military standpoint but simply a necessary means of saving as many Americans as we can. Every time one of those things discovers another person, it means one less to help put our country back together. Like Gunny said. Get our own house in order first.”

  “Thank you Major. I pretty much know where you are coming from Mr. Flynn. Both you and Doctor Knott think we should get this technology in the other nation’s hands immediately. I understand the moral and humanity aspects of that. Is there anything you would like to add to that?”

  “Just that every day we wait, there are fewer inhabitants on this planet. I don’t have a clue as to how many die each day but if we can stop it and don’t, it d
oesn’t say very much about the moral values of this country,” James replied.

  “I realize this is difficult for all of you but I want to thank each of you for your candor. I need to think this over. You are all dismissed for now and I will let you know my decision later today,” the President told them. He walked to his desk and sat down to think about everything he had just been told.

  FORTY-FOUR

  The President paced back and forth, struggling with the decision. At one point he got down on his knees in front of his couch and prayed for guidance. The path he chose would have long term repercussions no matter which way he decided.

  He replayed each man’s conversation over in his head trying to glean enough to make the right decision. After three hours he made his decision and sent for them again.

  “This has not been easy. I understand the military view. It is always foolish to give your nemesis a break. I also understand the moral and ethical dilemma that has been at the forefront of our nation’s policies. Having said that; let me go through my thought process with you. You will better understand why I have decided the path we are to take. First, I am not in the least bit worried about any country knowing about this technology or even the Invader. They may see the plane but so what? They will have no knowledge of its capabilities. They can speculate but that is all. I took the Invader out of the equation for that very reason.

  As far as this P-SAM thing, if I got that right, I have no problem with them having that information as well. Right now we all have a common enemy that must be eliminated no matter what it takes. So they will have the technology. And yes they could use it on us in twenty or thirty years but as always, we will continue to advance and brilliant people like Doctor Knott will still come along and we will always be on the forefront of technology. I essentially eliminated that from the equation as well,” he said taking a drink of water.

  He could read the reaction of what he was saying on their faces. Especially General Preston who had taken on the stoic look of any military man who thought his superior was full of it.

  “So where does that leave me? Thinking it through I realized that even if we got to Russia, China, and all the other nations, having only one scientist who could do the job would take an unbelievable amount of time and risk. I simply could not put Doctor Knott in that position. On top of that, where would we find the people to have the proper scientific conversations with? Add in the simple fact that we don’t have people who speak Russian, Chinese, or Arabic and we are just spinning our wheels,” he said letting it sink in.

  The General had unfolded his arms as his expression was softening.

  “Finally, I concluded that considering the risks, the unknowns of where to locate the other countries' facilities, and the language barrier problem, we will concentrate our efforts here in the United States,” he told them.

  The General took a deep breath and muttered ‘hallelujah’.”

  “Indeed, General," the President said.

  **

  James walked across the hanger bay and Sarah came running up and held him for the longest time.

  “It is so good to have you back. I’ve missed you.”

  “Maybe not so much when I tell you what the President said.”

  “We are not going to share it are we?”

  “No.”

  “It’s because there is no real way to do it, isn’t it?”

  “How did you know?”

  “After I got done ranting and raving I realized we would have no way of knowing where their scientists were located. Plus the fact that I don’t speak any foreign languages except French, Spanish, and Italian would be a barrier. It would take a lot of pointing and sign language to build one in another country. Tell me those were the reasons and I quite understand.”

  “If I ever forget to tell you Doctor Knott, you are brilliant.”

  “That goes without saying, but please, say it whenever the mood strikes. I take it that was essentially what he said.”

  “No, that is exactly what he said.”

  “Then I can live with his analysis. He is pretty darned sharp himself.”

  “Hey, at any time you could throw my name in the hat,” James said.

  “Oh yeah, I could.”

  “Sarah Knott.”

  “That’s brilliant Doctor Knott.”

  “I have opened a can of worms, that's for sure,” James said.

  “Have you eaten yet,” Sarah asked?

  “Food service on the Invader is really limited. I intend to talk to Major Beal about it.”

  “Major? I thought he was a captain just a few days ago.”

  “I seems he has special hero status with the President.”

  “It’s darn well deserved.”

  “Oh please. I’m the one riding with that maniac. I should get hazardous duty pay or something. A chest full of metals, a special title or something.”

  “You do.”

  “I do?”

  “Yeah, my man.”

  “Oooh. I like that one best of all. I assume some sort of benefits come with that title.”

  “How about if we take turn being the ‘doctor’?”

  “I like it.”

  **

  After a quick lunch that was at least hot, Sarah filled him in on what she had been working on.

  “Now that I can see the amount of power released by the command ship, I have increased the output power to the P-SAM. Unfortunately, for it to be placed on a mobile platform this is as high as I can go.”

  “So what does that mean from a safety factor?”

  “Stopping the plasma stream around 40,000 thousand feet.”

  “Heck, that’s great right? That’s double the amount from before,” James said.

  “Keep in mind, James, that there is probably an even more powerful ship that is in control of the one we shot down. That is usually the way it works. Those big guys aren’t acting independently. At some point the big daddy is going to show up and then we will need everything we have to fight it.”

  “You actually believe there is a ship bigger than the one we brought down?”

  “I’m absolutely convinced of it.”

  “Do you think they will send it here for revenge or to investigate?” James asked.

  “A little of both I would imagine.”

  “Well isn’t that just special. A bigger ship.”

  “Just telling you like I see it.”

  **

  Baajal’s bellows could be heard without the microphone. He was more than enraged. A second ship had now been downed. It was more loss than the whole time they had been venturing into space.

  “What is this race?” he screamed.

  No one was about to answer. When he was this out of control it was best to just stay silent.

  “How is it possible? Are you all incompetent?” he screamed from the dais.

  “Two in this sector alone. That is not just an unfortunate accident. Either I have inept commanders or they have found a weakness. I am personally going to take over that sector. Of this I can assure you, whatever is on this world, I will crush. I, Expeditionary Force Supreme Commander Baajal, will lead the way and you will see how a true warrior destroys his opponent. You are hereby ordered to return to your ships and watch as I eliminate these pitiful creatures. Go NOW,” he bellowed as was his typical departing gesture. Once again they all filed out.

  The whole thing seemed so ridiculous to most of the commanders. This could have easily been done over the communication devices but Baajal was big on the pomp and circumstance. He thrived on showing his power to command their presence.

  “What happens if this ends badly?” Dakmala asked.

  “We do not speak of such things,” his friend replied, “It would be better to keep those thoughts to yourself.”

  “So we should not think as well?”

  “Dakmala, you are a good friend, a fierce Supreme Commander but you have a tendency to question too much. I beg you, for our own safety, you can think t
hese things but do not say them out loud. It can only cause you great harm.”

  “But we should be allowed to think and speak our mind.”

  “True but not about Baajal.”

  “So we should just live in fear of him?”

  “Dakmala, for once use your brain before you use your mouth. Of course we must fear him. In space he is the ruler. The home world cannot touch him out here. Please, use your brain more and your mouth less,” his friend said.

  Dakmala just grunted.

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  The guard ran down the hall and found the Major Beal. He saluted quickly and took a deep breath.

  “Major. A ship is coming.”

  “You saw it?”

  “I saw the clouds and light behind them.”

  “Hurry, get Knott and Flynn on station,” he said heading to the Invader in case it was needed.

  Within minutes of the alert the hanger was alive with activity. The truck was checked for fuel level and all the tires checked. Sarah took her place in the command station and James slid in behind the wheel of the rig.

  “Well that didn’t take long,” James said.

  “I figured they would be pretty mad at losing the ship. I think we are going to be pretty glad that we have the extra protection,” Sarah said.

  “So, same routine I guess. I race down the airstrip and get us turned around as quickly as possible so you can track them better.”

  “That worked last time. Oh, one more thing. I increased the sensitivity on the P-SAM. Hopefully that will detect when they fire sooner.”

  “I could just drive faster.”

  “Ha, ha. Like that would actually help.”

  “Why thank you. I thought it was brilliant as well.”

  “Keep thinking buster. Now are you ready?”

  “Just one more thing,” he said and leaned back and kissed her.