Verron_Birth of a Nation

by Douglas Varnell

  Paul decided with a man like General Zarman, that there was no point in doing a sales job. The direct approach was the only way to convince this man and he needed to get his undivided attention right away. He knew he would probably throw him out if he started with the mission from God angle and if he tried to tell him that people from another planet had put him in a machine and made him young, he would probably call the men in white jackets. So, Paul exchanged pleasantries for a few minutes, long enough to eat two cookies and drink his tea, then asked, “Jim; do you mind if I call you Jim, or do you prefer General?” Jim answered, “I was never your General and you were never a Marine, so Jim is fine.” Paul continued, “Thank you. Ok, what I have to tell you is so unbelievable that you will never understand it or accept it as truth unless you see it for yourself; both of you. If you two will follow me out front, I’ll show you.” Jim and Barbara looked at each other and Jim asked, “How long will this take?” Paul smiled and assured them, “As long as you want it to. I figured with a man of your experience I only have one shot to convince you of who and what I am.” Paul stood up and asked, “Is the oven still on?” Barbara shook her head no and the two of them followed him toward the front door. They never made it. Paul formed a gateway at the door leading back into the house from the porch and the three stepped into the hanger bay under Mountain City.

  Jim immediately looked behind him and the gateway was gone already. All he saw was a view through the hanger door of the bay and the mountains on the other side. He turned back and was speechless. To his right were Dalhia, Amber, Hunter and 99 going over the finer points of the two seat fighter trainer. They had spent the entire morning in the simulators and had just returned; Hunter, with 99 in the fighter and Amber, with Dalhia in the Light Destroyer parked beside it. On the left were the Executive Ship, his smaller transport, the stealth transport, Tlase’s mobile lab and two crotch rockets. Jim looked at Paul and back at the ships and said, “Well, I must say you do have my undivided attention.” Paul escorted Jim and Barbara over to meet his people. He started with Dalhia and began, “General Zarman I would like to introduce … what rank are you anyway?” She replied, “Commander … Commander of the entire Xhondarian Air Force; even when it was big enough to call it an Air Force.” Paul continued, “May I introduce Commander Dalhia, Fighter Pilot 99, my granddaughter and aspiring pilot Amber and her brother, also an aspiring pilot, Hunter.” Before he could walk away to continue his tour, Amber burst out, “We both made eights, but kept crashing on level nine.” Paul smiled his approval, replying, “You two are doing great.” He turned to indicate the two military ships, describing both briefly and some of their capabilities. When he started talking about faster than light missiles, plasma cannons, photon torpedoes and nukes, then warp drive and whitematter reactors, Jim looked at him with questioning looks, but could not deny what was sitting right in front of him. Paul told him, “If you will allow me to show you a few highlights of this compound, then I’ll take you and Barbara for a ride and show you a few more points of interest.”

  Paul was beginning to feel like a tour guide at Biltmore Estates. There were still places in this complex he had never been, but he was getting really good at showing the highlights. He first took them to the Medical Center. Jim had met Paul’s uncles and his mother at his wedding to Lynn. He was speechless looking at three people he knew had to be close to 90 looking 30 years younger than him. Tlase and Zimuel were introduced and pointed out the progress on Donald and his leg. Jim refused to believe it until Tlase showed him a before picture. They next did the Mansion tour and the Mountain views, and even Zeus, which completely unnerved Barbara. He added the Executive Offices to this tour, since, if things worked out, one of them would be Jim’s. When Paul showed him a hologram relief map of the area where they were, both Jim and Barbara could not begin to comprehend such technology. Paul asked, “If I’ve got your attention and stimulated your interest enough, I’d like to take you both for a ride.” Jim and Barbara looked at each other and Jim answered, “This place is better than Disney World, show me more.” They took the private express elevator from the Executive Offices to the hanger below. As they stepped onto the hanger floor, Paul asked, “Want to fly a Light Destroyer?” Jim grinned and Barbara commented, “If you’re trying to coax him out of retirement, you’re doing an awfully good job.” Hunter and Amber asked if they could come along and Barbara was the one that said, “Come on.” The kids and Barbara sat in the crew seats behind Paul and Jim. Once Paul had them out of the Hanger and headed on the right course, he showed Jim the simplicity of the control system. With thousands of hours in a helicopter, it was easy for him to get familiar quickly. Paul grinned and asked, “What’s the fastest you’ve ever been, Mach 2 maybe 3.” Jim held up two fingers. Paul explained how the G-force compensator could handle up 20g without special body suites. Jim eased the throttle forward slowly and in a short span he was doing Mach 10; he grinned with his approval. Paul took him over the Robert’s Range instead of through it to avoid making Barbara sick or nervous. In no time they were on final approach to the Spaceship Factory.

  When they landed, Hunter and Amber raced for the simulators. As they ran away, Paul told them, “If you hear a female voice over the communication system, it will be Lucy telling you get back to the ship.” They waved, with no reply, and were gone. Barbara, who loved children commented, “What delightful grandchildren you have.” Paul knew that if Jim had been impressed so far he was going to be on a stimulus overload inside the factory. By the time they looked at the Fighters, Gljarne Class Destroyer, and finished with the Verron Man of War, Jim was almost weak-kneed from excitement and Barbara was just worn out. Paul had discovered an in-plant hovercraft used to get around inside the facility that seated four people. It served his purpose better than the little one man hovercraft he had used earlier. He drove it over to the storage yard and pointed out the fleet, now ready to start closing the deal. Informing Jim, “If you’re willing to come out of retirement, I will offer you and Barbara and your family the rejuvenation treatment, a residence on Verron, and you the command of Sixty-two thousand seven-hundred and eighty-seven spaceships, plus any we manufacture in the future, and I can promise you, I have every intention of manufacturing a lot of ships. Before you answer, let me show you a couple more things.” When they got back to the Destroyer, Hunter and Amber were in their seats beaming. Hunter blurted out, “I didn’t crash on level nine, but Amber did. Who’s Lucy? As we were leaving she explained to us what we had been doing wrong. How does she know?” Paul smiled and answered, “Lucy is sort of Santa Clause.” As they took off Amber was singing “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” for her brother and any who would listen.

  At his next stop, Paul offered Barbara the opportunity to wait in the ship with Amber for company, since there was a good deal of walking. Hunter wanted to go with him, and so did Amber, but she was the kind of kid that would never leave someone alone in a strange place. The weapon storage facilities security system impressed both Jim and Hunter. Even with his beyond top secret clearances, Jim had never seen anything like this place. Paul didn’t try to quote statistics; any fool could see that there was some unbelievable fire power in these warehouses. He then took him and showed Jim the conventional weapons inventory. Jim and Hunter couldn’t resist picking up one of the ultra-light and ultra-futuristic weapons. Paul decided to confess his little secret to Jim and Hunter, telling them “Jim, have you been following the news about the hostage rescues in Yemen and Iraq?” Jim looked at Hunter and replied, “As an expert on the Middle East Terrorists I was called in as a consultant on both, but I probably shouldn’t discuss it in front of people without proper security.” Paul smiled and said, “The answer I would expect from a man of integrity. But, don’t worry, I know far more about operation JUSTICE than anyone.” Jim was taken aback that Paul knew the name of the Top Secret designation and replied, “Are you going to say what I think you are going to say?” Paul answered, “Only if you honor the classified reque
st of Verron.” Jim nodded his acceptance. Paul told him, “I’m JUSTICE. Those secret little bombs that no one can figure out came from here. I have millions of them.” Jim looked contemplative a moment and said, “Well, that certainly explains a lot about how no one could tell where they came from. Your little demonstration teleporting us form Beaufort to here explains how you could come and go so easily and unnoticed. But how did you know so much?” Paul smiled and looked at Hunter and answered, “Lucy.” Paul continued as they started walking back to the ship, “I hate terrorists and the threats I made in my last note, I intend to keep. I have at my disposal enough weapons and the technology to take the battle to the terrorist and win. I can also do it with fewer people and with no friendly casualties. All I need are the people and a General to lead them.”

  By the time they got back to the ship, Amber and Barbara were best of friends. They stopped talking when they got back and had a guilty look on their face. Hunter knew right away, saying, “Amber, have you been running your mouth again?” Paul laughed at how well they knew each other. Barbara spoke, “She has been telling me some pretty unbelievable things about King Verron’s fighting skills and how your healing her Mom of cancer and Grandpa Donald of diabetes and her Grandma of scoliosis, and how you’ve taken a genetic experiment and made him a friend and fighter pilot, and how you promised to give her a spaceship of her own if she passed the skill levels in the simulator. My grandfather wouldn’t even let me drive his car and you’re going to give your granddaughter a spaceship?” Paul said, “Absolutely, but the only condition is, it has to stay here. Besides, I doubt that it will fit in her garage.” As Jim was climbing into his seat to strap in, he asked, “Honey, what would think of living someplace besides Beaufort?” She smiled, answering, “King Verron had you at that first hanger and the deal was as good as closed when he let you have the controls of something that flew. Anyway, you and I have never lived in one place for too long. This looks like a place that would never be boring, besides our granddaughter would love to see a dragon and a herd of unicorns.”

  On the way back Paul decided to clinch the deal even more and give his grandchildren a thrill as well. He took the controls from Jim and set his trajectory and escape velocity, in moments they were outside Verron’s atmosphere. Paul orbited one of their moons and reentered about 8,000 miles southeast of Mountain City. The flight home took only thirty minutes. Jim was smiling all the way. Barbara had never seen her husband so happy.

  Paul took them back to Beaufort, and on a hand shake, told Jim, “You are the General of the Verron Air Force and Marines, the only person that outranks you is me. Everything you saw today is extremely confidential. I don’t expect you to violate anything you’ve sworn to the Marines. In fact, to Earth, we don’t even exit. Jim, in a few years, Earth and the rest of the Universe are going to need the military power we build. It’s my intention to be Earth’s greatest allies, but I’m not ready to reveal that just yet, it’s too soon. No one in history has ever been given a chance to build a military like we will build. We can discuss it more when you and Barbara come back for the rejuvenation. I have had a lot of time to think and plan all this. Please feel free at this point to offer your family the opportunity to join you. Now the big question is when will you two be ready to begin? I don’t want to pressure you, but I’m a notorious planner and scheduler and I have a timetable in place I am determined to keep.” Jim looked at Bard, she nodded, in the mind reading way only a husband and wife of many years can comprehend each other’s thoughts. Jim answered, “Today is Thursday. Can you pick us up Monday morning?” Paul shook his hand and answered, “By the way, you are now a 4 Star. Commanding General of the soon to be most powerful military in the Universe. God, we’re gonna have fun.”

  Paul looked at his watch just before he left General Zarman’s and noticed it was after 11:00 pm. He had two families to get moved. He suddenly realized that other than two cookies, he had eaten nothing since breakfast. He had completely lost track of how much time he had spent with General Zarman on Verron. He had a little time before he had to be at his nephew’s house, so he decided to stop at Buck’s BBQ and grab a quick sandwich before he fell over from starvation. He soon found that Buck’s was not the same as the last time he ate there. It had turned into a biker bar, almost a club house, for one of the local biker organization. He never did bothered to keep up with that sort of thing, and was too hungry to care at this point. He got a lot of odd stares as he walked in. A clean cut, 175 pound man, in a pair of Dockers and an Oxford shirt, stuck out to say the least. He tried to ignore the looks as he sat at a table and managed to catch a waitress’ attention. He ordered a BBQ Pork sandwich and a Diet Coke. He could hear snide conversations about him being spoken, just loud enough to be intentionally obvious, yet low enough not to comprehend.

  He was about half-way through his meal when a man about 6ft-8in and easily 350 pounds, dressed in black leather, sat down at his table. He picked up Paul’s Diet Coke and poured it on the floor, stating, “Only faggots and women drink this shit.” Paul smiled and replied, “You really don’t want to do this.” The man then reached over and took the other half of the sandwich and began to eat it. Paul got up, laid a $20.00 on the table, and said, “I was wondering what I was going to do with that, I hate to waste food.” He was headed for the door and the big man blocked his path. Paul once again smiled and said, just loud enough for a few others to hear him, “You know I’m sure that all your friends consider you a pretty tough guy. I’d hate for you to get embarrassed in front of your friends by me kicking your ass. So one last time, I say, you really don’t want to do this.” The man reached towards Paul’s neck, in an attempt to grab him in a choke hold. The people in Buck’s never saw, but definitely heard the sound of the pop, when Paul broke his wrist. The man was yelling a long list of profanities and going for a gun with his unbroken hand. Paul took it away from him effortlessly and bent the barrel. Some of the man’s friends were getting to their feet to assist a friend in need. Paul once again told them, “Are you people really that stupid. Now back off.” He realized that drunk-bikers have a lot more courage than they do brains. He left four more on the floor with a variety of broken bones, and casually walked out. Thinking, next time I’ll go to Sonny’s. He was also wondering what it is about people that made them feel like they had the right to take advantage of those they perceived as weaker than them.

  When Paul arrived at Marcus’ house the U-Haul was loaded and the kids were just beginning to pile into the family Tahoe. Danyel was concerned about some of the things they had left behind and what they would do with the house. Paul reassured her, saying, “If there is anything here you need, we’ll come back to get it. As for the house, it’s now paid off, rent it or sell it, but I can assure you, it will never be missed.” The neighborhood was dark and quiet. He looked towards the empty back yard and told Marcus, “Turn the truck around and head towards the backyard and have Danyel follow close behind.” Marcus did as instructed and in the darkness of the backyard, drove from his drive-way in Chattanooga directly into the hanger bay at Mountain City. Paul stepped through with them and made certain the welcoming committee he had arranged was there waiting. He told them to park the SUV to the side and reminded them that it was not much use on Verron. He then informed them he was going to go get Michael and promised to help them unload as soon as he got back. Katelyn, Chase and Tala were already headed towards the Fighter and Destroyer parked next to them, where Amber and Hunter were standing in wait for them, under the watchful eye of 99.

  Michael had always been super punctual and organized. When Paul arrived, the big Penske truck was loaded and his Highlander attached to the rear on a vehicle carrier. Daniel and Rachael were sitting in the cab and Michael was locking the front door of the house. He told Paul, “A guy who just started work for Shutzer, Marcellis and Cole is going to rent if from me. My location is perfect for both he and his wife. I may sell it to him later. We’re ready. What’s the plan?” Paul looked around
at the well-lit gated community and answered, “If you can stuff me in the cab with you, we’ll head for the closest deserted road or dark alley. I’ll know when it’s the right time.” In moments they were pulling out of the neighborhood and actually waved at a few neighbors out walking their dogs. It wasn’t long before they were on the outskirts of Nashville headed for the rolling hills of Middle Tennessee. Paul suggested that he slow-down on the next sharp curve and as they exited the corner, they rolled into Verron, greeted by the smiling face of Michael’s younger brother and nine new friends. While Daniel joined his cousins, Paul had Yadvega showed them to their new home.

  Paul was more grateful than words could express that Yadvega, Xhing Li, Dalhia and Gljarne had spent endless hours mapping out every room under Mountain City, checking to make certain each one was suitable to live in and determining the residential capacity of each. His nephews and their families were going to be the first residents of Verron. He wanted it to be a favorable experience. They had selected two 3500 square foot, four-bedroom and four bathroom units overlooking the bay for the two brothers. In addition, they had Lucy establish access to maps of Verron and floor plans of Mountain City on each apartment’s computer system. They identified the locations of a shopping concourse, and another indoor pool, a large auditorium for meetings, what appeared to be a school, a recreation center and a tunnel that exited into the valley floor behind the mountain. It accessed trails, creeks and a small lake. There was also a huge warehouse, in addition to the ones already known about, that had some clothing and consumable items. It was well over a million square feet and almost empty. Last but not least, they found a central kitchen, big enough to prepare meals for 30 to 40,000 people at a time. If it were run a full Verron day, it could feed every resident of Mountain City when it’s fully populated. Finally, Lucy directed them to the droid and drone manufacturing and maintenance facility. It had the capability to manufacturer droids and drones, along with other robotic equipment, as needed, based on the population and requirements of the community. All that was required was that the raw materials be supplied. The manufacturing artificial intelligence and complete automation took care of the rest. The entire place was managed by Lucy. Paul felt like he would never comprehend the nanotechnology, computerization and automation capabilities available on this planet; no, on his planet.