by Ben Winston
"For example, what you are telling me you are going to do is a direct violation of our personal rights. By law, we own all of this. It is our property, yet you would seize it for no other reason than you want it. How is that even close to fair? In fact, if a private individual or company did that, it would be called theft, unless it was being stolen for the U.S. Government."
"It isn't theft; it's Eminent Domain. You have something that is a benefit to the nation as a whole. That gives the nation not only the right, but also the duty to seize it for use by the nation for the good of the nation. As for the rest of the conspiracy crap you pointed out, not one bit of that is true…" Director Whiteshield began, but Sharon interrupted him.
"With respect Sir, remember who you're talking to. We're not like the average rubes off the street. We know at least some of the truth of our nation. Denying it only makes you look foolish."
Director Whiteshield looked thoughtful while John was about to tear into her for talking to the Director like that. The Director stopped him. "She's right, John. I underestimated them. Look Commander, we have thousands of pilots far more qualified for this type of combat…"
"Excuse me Sir, but how could they be qualified on something that, until now, didn't exist?" Greg asked. "You're still overlooking the small matter that each pilot you have would have to have the specific genetic make-up of a Ranger in order to even get the sled to function properly. So, no, you do not have anyone more qualified, or Abraxis would have known about it already. Sir, we can counter every single argument you will make because the best possible situation is right here, right now. I will never do anything that will allow this tech to be transferred to the planet. I will share it with people I can trust to do the tasks that need to be done and nothing else."
"So, what will you do if I refuse to help you?" the Director asked.
"The first part of that has already begun. This base is sealed, its weapons and defenses are both active. If we do not have an agreement before you depart, we will destroy this base and move our operations to the moon. We will publicly ask for assistance from all nations in the form of manpower as well as the needed trade materials. Simply put, we will ignore the governments and appeal directly to the people. You have no weapons that can threaten our craft when we return to the planet to retrieve them. Honestly, we don't actually need you, but we would rather work with your blessing than do what we need to do in spite of it."
"If we were to oppose you and move to prevent you from abducting American citizens, what would be your response?" Director Whiteshield asked.
"You want to know if we would declare war on you or the United States. No. Our job is to protect you, not to kill you ourselves, no matter how stupid you are being. We would use the minimum required force to ensure the safety of innocent people. Death by stupidity will not be blamed on us," Greg replied. "We will warn your troops not to fire their weapons when there is a shield present because they would most likely only hit themselves with a ricochet. We will ignore a national edict prohibiting the recruitment of citizens because that decision is one that should be made by the individual, not an uncaring government that is only throwing a temper tantrum."
Director Whiteshield chuckled at that comment. "What, exactly, do you want us to do for you?"
"Simple, Sir, I would like to speak to the President and I would like you to sponsor that meeting. I need a substantial amount of a certain commodity. I will leave it up to her if we should approach the United Nations for that commodity or if she would be willing to supply it, or at the least let us purchase it at current market value," Greg replied.
"How much and what do you need?" John asked. "Maybe we won't even need to talk to the President."
"We need about two million metric tons of soybeans and other tree and vine grown fruits and vegetables with the exception of tomatoes; they’re too acidic," Greg said, grinning. "I don't think you can get appropriations for that, do you?"
"That's a lot of food, Son. Can you tell me the situation you need it for?" the Director asked.
"Two local years ago, or about three of our years, the home planet of a race called the Greynus was struck by an asteroid. It was large enough to pretty much destroy food production in the southern hemisphere of their planet and greatly impact production in the north. They have already lost thousands due to starvation.
"As a race, they are exceptional structural engineers of all types of facilities. In order to successfully oppose the Drellians when they return, we will need to build several structures all over the sector. The Greynus would be the perfect choice to do the construction.
"According to our analysis, our soybeans are the perfect food source for them and they should find them to be very enjoyable to eat. We had also planned on using some of the soybeans as seed to teach them how to grow this crop using hydroponics, underground. The planetary emergency, if it continues to get worse, has the potential to become an extinction level event for them. They have yet to find another planet suitable for colonization," Greg explained.
"How do you plan to get the cargo to them?" the Director asked.
"Another race we are allied with already has a merchant fleet that could be called upon for the delivery. This would be a combined effort to save their race," Greg replied.
"So you've already worked out the deal?" the Director asked.
"No Sir, I haven't. In fact, I haven't mentioned it to anyone not part of this base. I wanted to have the goods before I agreed to provide them. I knew I would have difficulty convincing certain parties to either provide the needed materiel or to allow us to purchase it," Greg explained.
"That's the second time you have implied you could purchase the soybeans. Son, do you have any idea how much that will cost?" the Director asked.
"We have a pretty good idea, Sir. Do you know the price of Iridium or Platinum? How about Gold? We could even sell Helium-3, but we would be very careful about that. There are also several technological breakthroughs we could easily sell once we make ourselves public. I bet we could sell the hell out of our hydrogen automobile engine conversion kits, or the zero-point energy module for powering a household. Hell, even if we just stayed with our improved solar cell units we could make a killing," Greg said in a conversational way.
"Okay, okay, I get your point," Director Whiteshield replied. "If we try to seize this place, you'll destroy it and run to the moon. At which point you'll basically go public and circumvent us completely. Currently, you believe you have covered yourself well enough to prevent us from forcing you to surrender this facility and everything in it."
"Director, think about this; you've seen that we have advanced technology here. You've met the Artificial Intelligence we have at our disposal; you've even flown in our ships. Do you believe that even if we overlooked something, you would be able to force us to surrender to you?" Greg asked.
"With the right lever, you would move in the direction we need you to go," Director Whiteshield replied.
Greg looked the man directly in the eyes. "You mistakenly believe that I would surrender the lives of our entire race to prevent the murder of a few in order to enrich those in power. You would also like to know to what ends I would be willing to go in order to prevent you from doing said murders. Well, I have ways to make sure those operations are made public knowledge complete with live video footage and close-ups. We could very easily make your life a living hell, Sir. But I'd much rather you see the real picture here, just see what we're actually trying to do and support us because of that."
Director Whiteshield was quiet for a time being. "Would you be agreeable to helping us out from time to time?"
Before Greg could answer, Jarad jumped in. "Director, by 'helping you out', it would violate the neutrality we are trying to build. For now, our entire focus needs to be on getting the defenses we are going to need built. In the event of a global emergency, we would be willing to assist, providing we could, but other than that, no Sir. Doing otherwise would undermine our mission and purp
ose in the eyes of the rest of the world."
Prometheus Base
Shermandale, Utah
North American Continent
Earth, Sol System
That night, when Jarad had returned from escorting his bosses back to their plane, the group once again met in the Ranger's apartment.
"So do you think he'll stick to his word?" Greg asked his parents.
Jarad smiled and replied, "What is your read on the situation?"
"He'll support us, but he'll still try to sneak someone in on us. Those agents will have orders to steal tech or find a way to force us under U.S. control," Greg replied.
Jarad nodded. But Sharon smiled at her son. "You're learning!"
"But what I really need to know is do we move our people or not?" Greg asked.
"I know at least half of them would like to go anyway Sir." Lionel replied. "We could always get them moved and offer it to the rest to see if they want to go as well."
"That might not be a bad idea," Greg replied. "It would be less people for us to worry about being used against us."
"The largest and easiest group to move is local to us here. All of the researchers’ and scientists’ families really want to go. We can start with them anytime, Sir," Lionel replied.
Greg nodded. "Abraxis? How's the base up there, is it ready for a few occupants?"
"Currently, the base can easily support up to five thousand humans. As you know, construction is still underway, but we could safely relocate those researchers that wish to go. That was the original plan for those individuals anyway, and moving them now would not significantly alter the time-line for the activation of the base," Abraxis replied from the speakers. "I have already returned the temperature in the command dome to normal settings. The environment in the residential areas is optimal for human habitation. Replicators can supply food stuffs, but as you know, it would be better if supplies were taken up."
Greg nodded. "Okay, let's get the people moving then. However, make damn sure everything is guarded and don't take any chances. We need to be aware that the Director will do everything he can think of to crash this party. I’ll visit the President three days from now to secure her support and cooperation. Failing that, we will have to go to the UN.
"The people going up to the base will set up shop to continue or expand their research and assist Abraxis' remotes in the construction of a few new small freighters capable of hauling cargo. We will slowly begin moving our operations up to the base, but for now, the team will operate from here.
"Sharon, could you find out if there is a warehouse complex we could lease or buy capable of servicing one of our small freighters? We'll use that as our main supply point. Try to make it as remote as possible, yet still capable of handling a large amount of cargo. I would imagine we’ll need more than one, since that will be a strategic weak point.
"Please try to keep an eye open for a facility we can use for loading the big bulk freighters with the supplies for the Greynus. We might have to modify that facility some in order to land and load those freighters, but we can talk to the Harclens about what their ships will need once we set all this up. Any comments, ideas, or changes anyone can think of?" Greg finished his summary.
"What are we going to do about StealthCon?" Emma Mays, Lionel’s second in command asked.
Lionel snorted. "I wouldn't worry about 'General Daddy'. He always lands on his feet in a clean uniform."
"Not this time," Jarad replied. "General Hollister's career is over. The agency knows they can't trust him so he will be retired. The real question will be the method of his retirement. Normally someone in his position would receive a visit from one of my less… sane, brothers. However, since he is connected to us, the agency might simply try to get him off to some place quiet and then retire him. We'll have to remove him from the equation. Greg, I suggest we make him the new moon base commander. Although he is a damn good officer in almost every way, his strength lies in his administrative ability."
Greg nodded, but turned to Lionel. "Captain, I know you and the General have a history, and there are issues there. Will my putting him in command of the moon facility piss you off?"
Lionel was quiet for a long moment, deep in thought. Finally, he sighed. "Abraxis, could you please see if the General has a moment for a call? I'd like to put an end to this."
"Certainly Captain. One moment please," Abraxis replied.
"Thank you," Lionel replied. "Greg, with your permission and knowing we are off duty after this meeting, would it be possible for me to get a beer? This juice just isn't cutting it anymore."
"Actually, it's getting close to supper time. Would anyone object to joining us for dinner? I can ask the chef to make some pizza for us?" Bella suggested and grinned at Lionel. "That beer sounded really good!"
"You know, I never thought anyone would be able to make a better pizza then the Pizza House back home," Emma replied. "That is until I tasted the pizza our cook’s make. I will never turn down an offer of one of their pizzas."
Everyone else agreed to stay for dinner and the formal meeting turned informal as everyone ordered their beverages from the replicator in the dining area of the apartment.
"Captain Washington, General Hollister is on the line for you. You may proceed when ready," Abraxis said from the room speakers.
"Before we get into that, Chef Karen said the pies would be ready in fifteen minutes and she will have them brought over," Bella said. "Sorry Lionel, go ahead."
Lionel nodded to Bella. "Thanks Bella, please connect him Abraxis."
"This is General Hollister, what can I do for you folks tonight?" Carl asked.
"General Hollister, this is Captain Washington. Actually Sir, I asked for the call. If it is alright with you, Sir, I would like to get something off my chest. It's becoming an issue with my duty and that is a luxury I do not believe I can afford any longer," Lionel said.
"I think it's safe to say I don't mind. I've been waiting for this for a very long time. I can't try to fix whatever is wrong if I have no idea what it is," Carl replied.
"I'm sure you don't know. In fact, I'm sure you don't know anything about me. The part that actually surprised me is that you have everyone believing that you want to know!" Lionel said angrily.
"What are you talking about, Lionel? I always wanted to know! I wanted to be part of your life, but your mother didn't want to be married to the military!" Carl replied.
"Bullshit! Don't give me that 'poor me' routine; it won't work with me. Mom told me how she waited and waited for you to come back, but you never did. She told me that years later, when her parents told us that they knew you had a son because they had made sure to tell the military to attach your pay! We knew then that you didn't want anything to do with us!" Lionel said.
"Wait! That's not what happened! Your mother and I had been dating for almost a year when I decided to ask her to be my wife. We had a little fight because she thought I had cheated on her, but before we could get back together, I was served with a restraining order accusing me of beating her up!" Carl replied. "The MP's arrested me while they investigated but released me when they discovered that she had been beaten by her own father! I never found out why that asshole had done it, and I still couldn't do anything about it because the civilian restraining order was still in place. I even asked a police officer to escort me to a place where I could speak to her and make sure nothing bad happened. When he tried to arrange it, he brought back a handwritten note from Jenna's parents. In it I was told that Jenna wanted nothing more to do with me and I was forbidden from attempting to contact her ever again.
"My police friend and I went to Jenna's work only to find out her father had called in to tell her boss she would not be returning. Smelling that something was not right, my police friend went to your grandparent’s house to speak to Jenna directly to make sure all of this was really her and not just her parents.
"The long and the short of it was that no one was allowed to speak to Jenna becaus
e she was too 'distraught' over her 'ordeal' with me. The court order stood and I was cut off from the woman I loved. Until I had heard she passed away, I kept in contact with that police department and made damn sure they knew how to find me if she had ever asked. Two years later, your grandparent's attorney informed me that you had been born. No demand for child support was made, no contact information was offered, not even a picture. I got nothing else.
"I set up the child support payments for you and had them sent to the child welfare office in your hometown. I set up a scholarship for you to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, but had it transferred to Annapolis when I found out you had joined the Marines. I would have tried to contact you then, but I had no idea what to say to you," Carl finished. "Son, I was blocked at every turn from you and your mother."
"How can you say that? Grandpa told me how we had to move away because Mom refused to give me up and she wasn't married. He told me about how hard it had been on Mom and me trying to get by on the tiny bit of money we could get out of the Air Force. Mom had to work two jobs just to make ends meet for us! I hardly ever got to see her! She worked herself to death because of what you did! Grandpa Bill told me she cried herself to sleep every night until she died over you! You fucking murdered her!" Lionel accused.
In the silence that followed, Abraxis spoke. "Police records in Columbus, Georgia from twenty three years ago show a case of aggravated assault on one Jenna Washington. The case is still open, and the notes from the investigator say that the Air Force had refused to continue the investigation due to a lack of evidence and the fact that the assault in question happened several hours after Miss Washington and Airman Hollister had parted. Although Carl Hollister is listed as the main person of interest in the case, no charges were ever filed due to a lack of evidence or testimony from the victim.