Solarans 1: The Gift From Aquarii

by Don Koch

  The President said, "You sound like you might be the leader of the Solarans, how old are you?"

  Andy laughed and said, "Nice try Mr. President. I am indeed the leader of the Solarans and how old I am has no relevance to the issue we are discussing, capability does. Have you decided how you wish to proceed?"

  "Sam, any further concerns?"

  "Just one. What will you or Mexico do with 20,000 terrorists. Seems to me that Mexico might not have enough places to put that many really bad eggs."

  "That is an interesting question that we have not really discussed but my suggestion will be to very publicly return them from whence they came."

  Almost everyone exclaimed, "What?"

  "Hear me out. We will identify where each of these terrorists came from, so we will determine the country of origin. We have the means to do this. Each person we capture like this is tagged for future reference. The primary purpose of the tag is to keep tabs on the bad guys. There is however an additional setting that we have not used to date but expect to start. Use of that setting would make it impossible for the criminals or terrorists so tagged to use a weapon, threaten to use a weapon or direct the use of a weapon without rendering himself or herself unconscious. Also they can't be knowingly suicidal. A kind of impotence of purpose. It would mean that whoever sent them will have them back but be unable to use them. It's kind of a poetic justice don't you think?"

  "Wow, I'll say! Sam, any other thoughts."

  "No, and I will say nothing outside of this room about what you have told us. I do like what you are offering. I particularly like the last little bit there. That is an awesome solution to a sticky issue."

  "That is essentially how I feel about it as well. Admiral, please assist our friends from Mexico with our joint concern and when the operation is complete to El Presidente's satisfaction, move out of Mexican waters. You will have written orders today with authorization. When this is done, please provide me with a full report. El Presidente, I believe our working relationship has taken a huge shift in direction and I for one welcome it. Would it be possible for us to meet for a few days at Camp David. I believe we have much to discuss. Maybe in about two weeks if our schedules both permit."

  "I would very much appreciate that. I have penned an agreement in English and signed it outlining that we are having a joint operation and the terms. If you agree, we are ready." He had the foresight to bring a folder with some of his presidential letterheads.

  The president read the document, saw that no changes were needed, signed it and Sam witnessed it. Sufficient copies were made and given to all parties present, including the Admiral and the General. El Presidente then said, "I thank you all for hearing us out and for this agreement. Vaya con Dios."

 

 

  The Solarans then transported all back to Florida where some contact agreements were exchanged. The Admiral indicated that he would talk with the Commanding General at Camp Pendleton in California to place a battalion of Marines on call for operations with the Mexican troops and coordinate with the 4th Fleet. They then returned El Presidente back to his office.

  Andy responded,

  After returning General Gomez to his office, Andy said,

  Andy appeared back in the Oval office and the President and Mr. Jeffers were waiting. "Mr. President, as you know we have been making raids on the criminal families in Mexico and this has some huge ramifications for Mexico and your country. This all leads to a question that you may not like to hear. Mr. President, are you missing any secret weapons? I am thinking in terms of a weapon that weighs about 34 pounds, is one man operated and highly portable. It is operational and is shipped two per crate."

  Sam Jeffers blanched and looked at the President who grimaced and nodded yes. Sam said, "Yes we are. They have been missing for six days. It is a portable rail gun designed for use by infantry troops. We had a shipment that was en route to Twentynine Palms in California for field-testing by the Marines. The shipment was hijacked and the two of the three guards and the driver were killed. The surviving guard is stable and is now able to talk. Not sure what we will get there."

  "Mr. Jeffers, how many guns were in that shipment?"

  "There were 20 guns, 4 of them were destroyed during the hijack."

  "La vache! Oh sorry, that slipped out. We have recovered 4 cases so that leaves 4 cases unaccounted for. We have to find those things. These do not appear to be part of the terrorist army venture but this is not good. Where do you want these weapons?"

  "We had a secure lockup prepared at the marine base. That is probably the best place for them."

  "You will need time to make the necessary arrangements. Would you please tell the base commander that we will turn them over to him this afternoon on his parade field. Tell him that he should erect a tent that we can put these things in so they can be returned without everyone knowing they are there." He told them where the weapons had been found and that the site was now melted. He then returned with the rest to the General's office.

  In the Oval Office the President asked, "What the hell is la Vache?"

  Agent Johnson responded with a grin, "Mr. President, it means 'Oh crap' in French."

  "French, hmmm."

  In Mexico City, the General commented,

 

  The General laughed and went on,

  Andy grinned and said,

 

 

 

  you are aware that the Solarans were on vacation when all of this started. Our vacation still has five days to go and we have not been making much use of the 'vacation' to relax and recharge. Do you like to fish and swim? >

 

 

 

 

  Chapter 7 - Relaxing, Sort of

  # More of Day Nine at Turner Lake #

  Forty-five minutes after leaving the General Gomez's office in Mexico City, Andy. Pat and the General were fishing about 300 yards offshore from the cabin. The rain had stopped and the sky was partly cloudy.

  Josè remarked, "This place is spectacular. How do you come to have it all to yourselves?"

  Pat laughed, "Anyone can do this. The two cabins on the lake are rented, first come, first serve by the US Forest Service and it is not the most convenient place to get to. There are no roads so the only way to get here is by boat or by air. The usual way is to charter a flight in with a plane on floats. If you come by boat you must use a trail for the last 0.8 miles and hope that you have positioned your boat so that it survives the change in tide. That usually means that you have the lake to yourself. Just us, the bears and the fish. It is very relaxing."

  Andy went on, "This is a great place to relax and we have something we would like you to see after we fish for a while." As he said that, Josè's rod bent over almost in half and the struggle was on. Pat and Andy reeled in their lines to give Josè some room and avoid tangled lines. A very big cutthroat trout broke water and tried to toss the lure. After about 10 minutes the line went slack so he reeled in his line to see if the lure was still there. It was but the hook had been straightened out. "Wow, you do not see that too often. That was a monster you had on the line. We would have had to release him anyway since this is a catch and release lake for that species of fish. They are trying to enhance the trout population here. But what a nice fish that was." They continued across the lake to the notch, tied up to a boulder and stepped ashore. Pointing Northeast, Andy said, "see that peak just there and the shoulder just below it." Josè nodded. "That is our target but let me check to make sure we are unobserved."

 

  "Ok, got it, lets teleport up there, invisible mode." An instant later, they were all standing on the shoulder near the peak. "Below us is the Taku Glacier and feeding it is the Juneau Ice field. Juneau itself is 18 air miles West of here. Not very many people get to see this from this vantage point. I thought you might enjoy seeing this."

  "You live in a wonderful place to have so much of this around you."

  "That is generally how we all feel. It is more expensive to live here since so much must be imported. It is a price that most are willing to pay."

  "I almost laughed at your use of a French expletive when you found out how many rail guns were missing. You are very good at misdirection. I wanted to say that your response to your President and his Mr. Jeffers was truly well said. It was very calculated. If you want our help, don't look for us. You know they will anyway. "

  "Yes, I expect that they will. They are after all, politicians and power brokers. I am still not sure how the President suspected that I might not be an adult."

  "I did not hear you say anything to suggest the question. He may have been fishing and you straightened out his hook for him." Josè chuckled at his own stab at humor. Andy and Pat also shared the laugh. "I have also brought you a present. This is a list of persons wanted by Mexico that we know to be in your Los Angeles area. These are seriously dangerous people, almost all on the list are murderers. We would very much like to see them find their way to our little reception area at Islas Marias. I think your authorities would be happy if they were gone. There are many in my country that fear them because they are so vicious and their exact whereabouts is not certain. Some of these are likely to try to rebuild what you have destroyed this week. I also have a listing of all remaining known cartels should you become bored for lack of something to do. We do intend to tackle as many of these as we can."

  "We will probably want to tackle some of these to avoid focus on what is coming with the containerships. I have also been thinking that it might be good if there was some honest news coverage of the takedown of that terrorist army. This is such a big deal that it should not rely on how the politicians may want to spin this. I'm concerned they may try to put an unintended spin on the exercise."

  "Your President may not be happy with that. In fact, the press itself is not above placing unwanted conclusions on the news they report. I would suggest that you might want ask Aston to record what goes on and then offer it to some major news outlets in multiple countries yourself. I know a reporter who might guide us in how to put this together. He also has contacts with American, British, French and Australian reporters that seem to like to get the news right. Maybe a multinational team is what you need."

  "That makes sense. I will need to check with Aston to be sure this is something he can do."

  "I do have another thought. The tag you mentioned to the President and his National Security Advisor sounds like a very interesting device. Would it be possible to activate that feature in the tag for the criminals you have placed in our custody. I worry about what happens when they complete their jail term or even during it."

  Aston responded,

  "My friend, these few hours have indeed been relaxing but I must get back to work. Would you mind if I returned tomorrow for some more 'relaxation'?"

  "You are welcome anytime. When vacation is done we will show you where we live so that you can visit there as well. Meanwhile I have some rail guns to deliver. I have put a complete schematic and plans for one of those in your locked file cabinet. You can decide what to do with them."

  "That would be good. Hasta luego."

  "Hasta la vista!"

  After the General left, Andy, Pat, Gus, and Barb retrieved the rail guns and teleported to the inside of the tent on the parade field at Twentynine Palms. The Marine General waiting for them, Pat Clark, was momentarily startled but kept his cool. He said, "I was told to expect a surprise but this was not anticipated. I think the President was getting even for a little surprise many years ago when I was a Captain and he was a green Second Lieutenant. All he told me was to put up the tent and put strong security around it and wait. Fortunately we do have some air conditioned tents and there is a cooling area around the tent for the guys guarding the tent. Its 115 º F outside right now. I gather you are the Solarans we have been hearing about. Can you tell me what this is all about?"

  Andy gave him a full description of what was in the crates and how they came to be in the Solarans' possession. He noted that they were looking for the remaining eight weapons and would deliver them to him if they were able to locate them. He told the general that he almost destroyed them because in the wrong hands they could be devastating. The Marine general noted that he would do his best to assure that these remained in the right hands. He said, "These weapons have a self destruct mechanism built in. If an unauthorized person tries to use the weapon, it will self destruct. This was not active on the missing guns and I am not clea
r why they were shipped with that protection inactive. I do have my suspicions and if I have my way, there will be an investigation. If you can get within 5 miles of one and trigger that mechanism, the secret components within the weapon would melt down and destroy the weapon non-explosively if anyone unauthorized tried to fire it. I think that in the future these will be shipped with the code activated." He took a notepad from his pocket and wrote some numbers and letters. "These are the codes that activate the unauthorized use self destruct code as well as the frequency on which to transmit. If you get within range you can prevent unauthorized use. While I am at it, thanks for what you have been doing. I think the long term impact will be profound."

  "Thank you, that is comforting to know and we appreciate your comment. We have to go now, we will be back in touch. Cheerio."

  # An hour later #

  "Who is up to a little visit to Sunny Southern California to make it a bit more sunnier."

  Jim said, "What do you have in mind?"

  "Aston told me that he has been working on a means to identify and tag criminals we want from orbit. He can then guide us directly to the person, whom we can then relocate to a more favorable location off the coast of Mexico. So far he has tagged 6,047 persons using this methodology. I feel like the crime rate in Southern California is about to take a serious nosedive."