by Don Koch
Aston welcomed the six new visitors and went through again the explanation provided the previous day. He noted that the others present had accepted the gift along with the duty that acceptance imposed. All had received the implants and were now fully functional, although untrained. He asked that if they did not accept the gift that they not tell anyone else about it, as that would endanger the others here.
Ed’s father said, “Son this is your decision and Jane’s. If this is something you wish to do, your mother and I will join you.” Jane’s father made a similar comment.
Ed replied, “Actually, it is something we very much wish to be a part of. This is not an expected life path but it is one that could not be more gratifying and to be in the company of my best friends, what more could one ask. If Jane is with me, then I am in.”
“I am,” responded Jane. Their parents all followed suit.
Andy noted, “I think that by the end of this vacation, we will try to recruit Nick and Anya. They deserve an opportunity be part of this.”
"Aston, can you give us a portal to their home and arrange it so that they will see us as we really are but observers will see some one else?"
"Pat, Gus, Barbara, Dad and me. They know the five of us from last summer in Tokyo. We are ready now. Make the inside of the apartment door the return portal. After we are inside the apartment, make that doorway impenetrable until all are through the portal."
The five were standing outside the apartment door. Andy knocked on the door.
The door opened and Nikolay was standing there with a look of surprise. "You should not be here, there is danger coming."
"Yes we know and we can help. Please invite us in."
After a fraction of hesitation, he waved them in. When the door was closed, Andy reached over and locked the door and secured the chain and Nikolay said, "that will not stop them."
"Better than you might think. I need to talk to you, Anya and all parents."
"Come with me tovarich."
Nikolay's father rose and said, "My friend, this is a very bad time for you to be here."
"Yes, I know, the secret police are preparing to arrest all of you. In fact, they are already on the way and there is no way out of this building."
"How can you know these things? We feared that we were too late, but…"
"We will explain that later but right now we can get you out if you suspend disbelief for a bit. Do you have the things you would wish to take with you ready to go? Ok everybody lets help them along. Now this will be the hard part." He went to the front door and said, "watch." He then put his hand through and withdrew it. "That is a portal that will place you in Alaska. The secret police are on the way here now to ship you off to a labor camp. How would you like to go to Alaska instead?"
Nikolay's father responded, "that is not possible but then, nothing ventured, nothing gained. I am ready and willing to see what this brings. It is better than the alternative." Gus and Barbara stepped through carrying several suitcases as did Bill Foster. The rest followed carrying various items including a computer hard drive and an antique samovar. Andy took one last look around, saw a book on the table and grabbed it. Pat noticed an old icon on the wall and took that down. Then he and Pat stepped through the portal just as the secret police started pounding on the door.
After everyone was in the main room, he handed the book to Nicolas and Pat handed the icon to his parents and said, "I almost wish I could watch this, the door is locked, the windows are closed and locked, the apartment is on the eighth floor, the food on the table is hot, but no people, it will be priceless."
Aston responded,
After seeing enough, Andy said, "Thanks Aston, that was indeed priceless and my friends are safe. Thank you. Now for introductions."
After everyone was introduced, Nicolas' father said, "Andy, everything I have just seen here is wreaking havoc with what I know of physics and of the capabilities of the United States. As you probably know, both my colleague Dr. Petrovich and I are theoretical physicists and this last 30 minutes is beyond anything that I know and understand. Why do I have the sense that you are the one in charge?"
Jim responded, "That would be because he is indeed our leader."
Andy continued, "I think that it is time for you to have the entire picture. You are currently in Alaska in an interstellar vehicle that is a gift from a people that once populated Lota and other planets in the 11 Aquarii system, 86 light years from here."
"Once?"
"Unfortunately, yes, they were invaded and destroyed by a lizard-like race that are now on their way to this system and will reach us in about 7 years with the same intent. The younger people in this room represent the total population of individuals believed by the representative of the Lotan race to be suitable candidates to halt the invasion. With the presence of Nikolay and Anya, every suitable person on this planet that we know of now, is here. The ten young adults here are it. We think there may be no others but we hope there are more and are still searching. The Lotan representative is Aston. He is the ship, our mentor, our tool and our trainer to prepare us for the task ahead. I am going to ask Aston to give you the full explanation and ask if you will all join us in this effort as well as explain your role in it. If you elect to go your own way, we will do our best to provide you with the means to continue life of your choosing wherever you wish to go. I would only ask that you do not reveal what you have learned today."
Aston then explained everything to them as he had done on two previous occasions. At the end of that description, Nikolay and Anya simultaneously said that they were in. The parents all added their agreement to the group. Aston promptly administered the necessary implants.
Bill Foster then said, "we are quickly adjusting to the implants. It is fortunate that we have 10 days left on this cabin rental. This gives us time to gain proficiency in our new capabilities. We will all need to figure out how to allow our new friends to wander about without being charged as illegal aliens. We will also need to be together with each other frequently and we will need a plausible excuse to do that. We will need a base of operations."
Aston said, < I think I may have a solution for that. I have taken the liberty of creating false identities for each of our Russian fr
iends, or should I say friends of Russian descent, each of whom was born in Alaska and have social security records, birth certificates, graduation records, employment accounts, driving licenses, etc. that all register as authentic. They will be able to use the names they were born with and any queries from elsewhere will be deflected without causing suspicion.>
Ed said, "You can do that?"
Pavel, Nikolay's father rose and said, "Earlier today I thought my life was over and that my family was in jeopardy because I would not agree to work on a government project to which I am opposed. The government was going to 'soften me up' so I would be more malleable. I can't express how happy I am that you have provided an opportunity for us to contribute in this way. I thank you and my family thanks you."
Andy jumped up saying, "Holy smokes, my manners are slipping, I forgot that you did not have a chance to eat your dinner. You must be hungry. How would you all feel about joining us for an American style barbecue. If that is too much we have some splendid trout waiting for us. We are camped at one of the more spectacular lakes in Southeast Alaska. Tonight you can sleep aboard the ship and join us during the day to relax a bit. We should enjoy what is left of our vacation. Dr. Ivanovich and Dr. Petrovich, I do not think your colleagues will be expecting you for work tomorrow." That brought about considerable laughter.
Dr. Petrovich observed, "I can see that this will be an interesting group to work with. It is so relaxing to see genuine smiles again."
"Wait until you see the lake. Follow me and we can get the food going. A word of caution, there are bears in the area that can get cranky. Big ones. For the most part they are skittish and will leave if they know you are there. Surprising one is not usually a good idea. After tomorrow that won’t matter because then they can’t hurt you. Mostly they just want to fish in peace."
Chapter 4 - Adjusting
# Day Five at Turner Lake #
# Wednesday. June 15 #
Adjusting to their new capabilities was going very smoothly. Aston started teaching the young people how to absorb and release energy. This was done in areas not near the lake to avoid accidental discovery or discovery by one of the satellites in orbit. One satellite was selected as a target for controlled releases because it was noted that it was an EMP weapon. If used that device could start a nuclear war. They gleefully gutted the satellite and caused it to spiral toward the sun. This must have caused its owners great discomfort because there was no detectable reason for the satellite to behave as it was.
Aston pointed out that their increasing expertise was far ahead of what he expected at this point. He also suggested that a controlled test with practical application would be in order. He suggested that they remain invisible using their stealth capability or use a ghost outline form with facial features obscured. All preferred that mode. He noted that a terrorist with a particularly strong bomb was about to suicide in Times Square at a very busy time. The ten arrived in Times Square just as the bomber revealed the bomb and was about to trigger the bomb. Chris removed the trigger from his hand and held it just out of the bombers reach. Nikolay disarmed the secondary trigger while the rest of the team dismantled the bomb and left it lying in pieces all about him. They then tied him to a light standard. At the start of the operation, they had alerted the police and even though the police responded within 60 seconds, the culprit was disarmed and tied up before they arrived and all the evidence was intact. Witnesses reported seeing streaks of light during the process and what appeared to be very fast moving ghosts. Quite a number of cell phone photographs were taken but none had identifiable features. What could be clearly seen was the look of dismay on the face of the terrorist as his plan unraveled. The press had a field day concerning the unknown benefactors noting that they had likely saved hundreds of lives. An hour after
that they did the same thing in Tel Aviv. They repeated the exercise in London, Cannes and then in Melbourne after that.
They spent the rest of the day relaxing and enjoying the lake and surroundings. Later that afternoon they returned the remaining supplies to the West End Cabin and cleaned up the East End Cabin.
George and Julia Carter returned the boat to the Taku Cabin and teleported back to Turner Lake.
# Day Six at Turner Lake #
# Thursday, June 16 #
Andy suggested that the exercises of the previous day were a good training method for everyone. With that they decided to continue with more of the same and suggested that teams of 4 were probably overkill but that it still sent a message out and provided good training of the capabilities in their implants. Each group going out had at least two of the younger group so they could absorb energy from an event and learn how to fully exercise that capability when required. Day six addressed an event in Berlin, two in Syria, one in Chicago, one in Johannesburg, one in New Delhi, and one in Rome. In each case, weapons were defused, culprits were restrained and left alive for the authorities. The group decided to vary the hours of activity to further confuse the source of the assistance. They also critiqued every action to maximize the learning opportunities.
Aston was able to pinpoint where activity was about to occur with greater accuracy. He suggested that some cases could be dealt with at the source rather than at the target site. This way fewer lives would be at risk. The practice was resulting in greater speed and more effective action than expected at this stage of development.
Everyone took a few hours off to enjoy the lake. While this was happening, Aston conferred with Andy,