Verron_Birth of a Nation

by Douglas Varnell

  Vladimir Zhdanov looked great when he appeared in the Executive Conference Room. He had evidently made a trip to Zirtouni’s. At six-foot-four and 200 pounds, blue-eyes and a full head of blond hair, he was a handsome man. Most notable was the absence of his limp. Paul had given Vladimir the military enhancements and prayed that he would agree to be a part of his plans for him. General Zarman, Colonel Hall, Paul and Vladimir were the only ones present for the meeting. After introductions were made, in his usual direct manner, Paul began, “Vladimir, as you could tell by how I tripped all over myself in Russia, I am not experienced in any kind of spy-craft, other than reading a lot of good spy novels. The General and Colonel have years of experience in virtually every kind of military operation, but were never part of the CIA or other clandestine operations. I need you Vlad to be my Intelligence Director. You would hold the rank of Colonel and the pay will be whatever it takes to meet your needs. I will need you to build up Verron’s intelligence forces, which at this time consist of me. I plan to make Hunter your protégé, he learns fast and will listen to what you have to teach and I would also appreciate you training my Dragon Guard. Anything you need to accomplish the job will be at your immediate disposal. My budget is probably better than Mother Russia’s. You can build the organization anyway you like and if some of your former Spetsnaz or former KGB associates agree to be an asset it will be your prerogative to use them. We have former Seals, Green Berets and Marine Recon to support you and I think mixing their talents with what you know, will be a good starting point. If you agree, then we will discuss my immediate plans.”

  Vladimir looked very pleased with the offer, as he replied, “You do not do things the way we did in the KGB. Your direct approach is unique. You told Father John and me that you do exactly what you say you will do. I have now witnessed you doing it twice. I have never had a leader who would take chances; they always sent people like me to do their dirty work. Yes, I would be proud to follow you King Verron and I know many more who will agree to do so. I will also be glad to be a part of the Dragon Guard training; perhaps they will be able to teach me as well. Now what is this immediate plan?” Paul smiled and answered, “I plan to pay a visit to your old boss. I need you to help me pick the best place to do it and where I can expect to find him alone.” Vlad looked puzzled, “My old boss?” Paul looked at the other three men who knew nothing of what he intended to do, then continued, “Vladimir Putin, and for that matter most of the leaders of your old country, has been using intimidation and threats throughout their entire career, taking advantage of people too weak to fight back and in no position to resist. I plan to go visit Mr. Putin and have a little man-to-man talk with him; no politics, no diplomats and no one for him to hide behind. He will soon find that neither threats nor diplomacy will work with me. It will only be one way; my way.” Vladimir smiled at the thought of President Putin being put in his proper place. Paul continued, “I have every intention of sending you and the others back to recruit Russians who do not want to be there in the first place. With the high levels of unemployment, I will actually be doing him a favor. He is on such a power trip, too busy trying to control his people, to realize he would be better off without many of them.”

  Vladimir thought a moment and replied, “I believe the best place to meet him will be the Putin Palace on Cape Idokopas. He is very experienced in KGB or now FSB methods of security. He has spent a lot of Russian money to make it a secure place to live, but if you decide to do something like you did in Afonino, it will be far enough away to hurt no one but Putin and his security. Paul laughed, and told him, “I have no intentions of destroying him or his palace. Palaces are hard to come by, but I do intend to make him an offer he can’t refuse.” Vladimir smiled and said, “Godfather,” great movie. I’ve seen it many times.” Paul continued, “Show me exactly where this Putin Palace is located. I’ll put an observation drone in place to inform me of when he is there. I will then pay Mr. Putin and unannounced visit. Lucy, I need everything you can find on this palace by tomorrow morning. Get a drone over it at once and I’ll meet you here with Vladimir in the morning. Vlad will be my Director of Intelligence; he may have questions for you. I will personally show him everything he needs to see. I want him to have an office here and a suite of his choice.”

  Paul spent the afternoon showing Vlad around Mountain City and some of the more secure locations on Verron. He made it perfectly clear that none of Verron’s technology was to leave the planet without his permission. When he took him to his executive office and introduced him to his Administrative Assistant, his eyes almost popped out. Jesserrica, former queen of Klelta, was outside his office. She had worked with Zimuel after coming to Verron and had become a trusted and efficient aid. After entering Vladimir’s office overlooking the bay, he turned to Paul and asked, “All of this and you’re going to pay me too?” Paul grinned a sly grin and replied, “Probably not as much as I had planned now that I’ve seen the way you looked at Jesserrica.”

  Next morning, when Vlad and Paul arrived in the conference room, Lucy had a hologram of the palace in the middle of the table and detailed floor plans on the wall monitors. Vladimir asked, “How did you get all this? It has to be one of the highest security compounds in Russia.” Paul was pleased with Lucy as he answered, “Lucy can get anything that is digital. There are few secrets from her.” While he was speaking, the monitors view switched from the floor plans to a drone view of a motorcade moving toward the Putin Palace along with the sounds of a conversation between Putin’s security detail and the motorcade. Putin was coming home. Paul and Vlad viewed the floor plans a few more times and chose the best place for Paul to make an appearance. Vlad knew that Putin was often in his office late into the night and he would more than likely be there after he spent some time with his family. Paul checked his old Ironman and adjusted it to Russian time. He had about two hours to kill before it was time to visit the leader of Russia. He took Vlad to his Mansion for a home cooked meal. His mother had actually made fried chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans. Pavel “99” Verron had made the sweet tea. To his surprise, the Queen Mother began to converse in very good Russian with Vlad. He had forgotten that she had sung in a couple of Russian operas when she was younger. With the high tech learning available, she was once again fluent in the language. Paul and Vladimir went to his room so Paul could get his clothes changed. He gave Vlad a brief tour. When he opened his closet Vlad asked, “Where do you keep your clothes? Father John has more than this.” Paul decided it was definitely time to expand his wardrobe.

  It was time to go; at the last moment he was trying to decide whether he should wear the hood or allow Putin to see the face of his nemesis. Vlad suggested the open approach. Paul tossed the hood on the sofa, put on his dragon cap and stepped directly into President Vladimir Putin’s private office. Putin was so intently involved in a conversation on the phone, while looking out at a full moon shining off the beautiful bay that he didn’t notice Paul behind him until he turned to hang up the phone. He uttered several profanities in Russian and rose pointing a gun directly at him. Before he could ask Paul who he was, Paul spoke first, “I am King Paul Verron, A.K.A. Paul Von Heis. I believe you are looking for me. I thought I would save you the trouble of a fruitless search.” Putin continued to keep the gun pointed at Paul as he walked from behind his desk, he asked, “How did you get in here? I will have my security chief’s head for this.” Paul smiled, saying, “He couldn’t have stopped me if he tried. I came here to speak to you, one world leader to another. I have no time or interests in diplomacy or protocol, I thought with the events of the past few weeks, that I would come and explain a few things to you.”

  By this time Putin was furious, as he raised his voice, “You, are going to explain things to me! You kill my soldiers, destroy my property and kidnap Russian citizens and think you can just walk in here like nothing happened.” Before he could continue, Paul cut him off, saying, “Let me make myself perfectly clear. I did not come here to
listen to you rant about what I have done. I came here to tell you what I have every intention of doing. Now if you stop running your mouth I will be glad to inform you of my plans.” Putin was so angry he raised his 9 mm and fired. The bullet stopped in midair, inches from the barrel. Putin was suddenly unable to move or speak. Paul walked over and plucked the lead slug from the air and put in Putin’s shirt pocket, saying, “I hate to waste ammunition. Maybe you can reload this. Now, here’s the deal. I need people, lots of people. If you have been keeping track of what’s going on in the States, they are wondering were almost a million people have gone in the past two and half years. Every one of them is currently a citizen of Verron. Now, I have added nearly 4000 Russians to that number. I intend to add more. You have millions of people unemployed and looking for work, and as hard as it is for you to believe, a lot of Russians are not happy with the living conditions or the leadership available in this great country. I will be recruiting Russian, Polish, German and even Bosnian citizens who are interested in a new life. I expect to recruit a few million over the next couple of years. Now, we can do it the hard way, like my last two trips to your fine country, or we can do it the easy way, by you telling your FSB, Militia and Police to back off and let anyone who chooses to leave, do so, and pursue a nice life on Verron. I will be using Russians to recruit more Russians. If any of them are harassed in any way, it will make me very unhappy and I think you have seen what happens when I am unhappy. Oh, yea, I want my name, Father John and Vladimir Zhdanov removed from the INTERPOL terrorist watch and I would suggest you retract that secret declaration of war you signed last week against Verron. I have one policy when I go to war. I kill the leaders first. I think you know now that it will take little effort on my part. So now that you understand that I wish Russia or you no harm, I expect to be free to transport those who desire to leave Russia, and go to my country as transplant citizens. And please, don’t try to slip in spies. The last three hopefully have returned from Yakutia by now. I will do worse to any others you try to sneak in.”

  About that time the office doors burst open and 10 security police rushed in with AK-47s pointed at Paul. To their horror and to President Putin’s, their guns were suddenly pointing directly at President Putin’s chest and not a single officer could point it anywhere but at their leader. Paul then turned and said, “Silent Alarm? Let me show you that you should never underestimate me. You are the leader, you must die first.” Putin felt his arm slowly moving with his 9mm soon pointing at his right temple. He began to sweat profusely as he could feel his finger tightening on the trigger. Paul spoke, “My proposal is nonnegotiable. If you violate the deal, I will be back, and you will die. Then I will systematically kill every other Russian leader until someone has enough sense to let me have my way; hopefully Mr. Putin that man will be you. I will begin recruiting next week. I will give you and your government no trouble as long as you don’t give me or my people any. Have a nice day.” Then he was gone. Putin was the first to lower his gun and began screaming for his security service officers to do the same. They snapped out of it and began to apologize for their actions. An angry Putin ran them from his office and slammed the door; fuming for being made out a fool, but smart enough to know that soon Russians would be freely leaving his country, without him giving them a moment of grief.

  The following week, Paul had Vladimir, Father John, with his new leg, and a team of ex-Spetsnaz, selected by the new Director of Intelligence, to be the first to return to Russia in order to begin recruiting. He felt it would be safer to send experienced operatives and men capable of taking care of themselves, before he sent back normal citizens to speak with friends and family. They recruited several hundred in only a few days. The reputation of his little group and photos of the embarrassed Russian Militia were all over the internet and underground newspapers. Local police, military and FSB acknowledged their presence, but made no effort to detain or even discourage them. Several privately asked how they could come along. Lucy verified that all wants and warrants had been revoked from INTERPOL. What surprised Paul even more was the fact that the outstanding reward and warrants for him had been withdrawn in the United States as well. Evidently the leaders of the United States, Poland, Germany, Bosnia and France had been having discussions about the situation and decided that in light of the incident, inside the high security Putin Palace, that maybe it would be best to give this Verron person some freedom to recruit those he wanted. None of the talk of Verron was done publically, but the CIA, FBI, INTERPOL, FSB, Mossad, French (DGSE) foreign security agency, and even Great Britain’s MI-6, were applying a name to go with the infamous “JUSTICE.” They had seen the destruction and property damage done in Russia and had finally found the frozen terrorists in Afghanistan. With the debriefing of U.S. soldiers, captured terrorists and rescued hostages, they were fairly certain this man who claimed to be King Verron and the man they called “JUSTICE” were one in the same. Paul had now become one of the most admired and the most hated men on Earth. The following week nearly 3000 of his new Russian citizens returned to their homes to spread the word of what a wonderful place Verron was. In two weeks there were over 50,000 new Russian’s being processed on Verron. The Russians were indeed coming.

  Chapter 21

  Now that things were running smoothly on Verron and recruiting efforts were going well in Russia and other parts of Europe, Paul decided it was time to start systematically reaching out to other worlds discovered by the Xhondarians over the past 30-40 thousand years. Few had seen an out-worlder in thousands of years, and though the galaxies involved were well charted, no one knew for certain if these planets still existed, how advanced they had become or whether they would even be receptive of creatures from other worlds showing-up on their planet. Paul knew he could not even begin to go to all of them. If the time he had been spending with the Klelta and Tecalna was an indication of required involvement levels, he needed help. The Dragon Guard was eager to do more off planet. Since Hunter, Amber and Katelyn had been involved in the heroic rescue of the Russians, the others were eager to prove themselves. Chase and Daniel, after seeing the Gatling guns mounted to the Mil Helicopters in Russia had decided to work in the R&D Department at their Grandpa Kary’s weapons factory and create a Verron version of a Gatling gun. They downloaded the basic designs from intelligence documents obtained by Lucy. They had worked for several months and now had two models built in prototype: An 8-barrel, 10mm Laser Gatling, capable of 10,000 RPM and a 4-barrel 5mm Shoulder Mount Gatling, capable of 5,000 RPM. Chase and Daniel had installed two of the 10mm guns on a new Light Destroyer and made 4 more prototypes of the shoulder mounted version. Paul decided to let the boys, soon to be 15 years-old, run some needed trials and visit one of their neighbors while they were out testing. Marcus and Kary decided to accompany the two in the name of research on a new ship design and new weapons design; it was going to be great Father-son and Papaw time. They boarded the new longer range fully armed Light Destroyer, along with 24 armored and armed Marines. Everyone on board had the latest in body-armor/survival suit. There was not going to be a safe asteroid or desert planet between Verron and the Beriya Star System; 20,000 light years away.

  The long-range Light Destroyer had sleeping facilities, showers and a dining room. Even with the ability to make space-jumps, travel at warp-speed and use gateways, there were still reasons for extended stays in the Destroyer. As soon as they exited Verron airspace Daniel made a gateway to the other side of the Whirlpool Galaxy that held Verron. There were still numerous planets, moons and asteroids between where they exited the gateway and Beriya. The two members of the Guard were enjoying themselves as they practiced firing FTL missiles, plasma cannons, neutron bombs, photon torpedoes and thermal missiles. The asteroids where losing the battle. They soon made a practice assault landing on an asteroid bigger than some moons. The Marines, accompanied by Chase and Daniel, had opportunities to practice with the devastating new shoulder-mounted Gatling. What amazed everyone was the fact that
even in a 0 gravity environment, there was no recoil from the powerful mini-Gatling. By the time they had reached their destination, the Marines and Dragon Guard had managed to train on one very ugly desert planet, one that could be inhabitable with a little terraforming and had some kind of four foot crab-like bug, and a gaseous planet with high levels of methane. They were ready to arrive at Beriya and hopefully breathe real air and make contact with what was listed as a very civilized and advanced culture; in a chart 10,000 years old.

  The ship computer had an extremely accurate navigational system, designed to travel the best route from star-system to star-system. As the ship, occupied by the Verron representatives, received the signal indicating that they had arrived in the Beriya Star system, Chase and Daniel stared out the front windshield. They should be able to see a very bright sun at this distance, about like looking at Earth’s sun from the surface of its moon. There was nothing there that remotely resembled a star, just a gigantic gray rock as big as a star, with light streams of steam rising from the surface. “Computer, are you certain we are in the Beriya Star System?” Daniel asked. The computer confirmed, “The object directly in front of this ship at a distance 6,000,000 miles is Beriya star. My navigational system has reconfirmed the location and it is accurate to within 6 inches over a 100,000 light year distance. Chase asked, “If that is the sun for this system, where is the planet we are supposed to be visiting?” Computer responded, “The planet is 3,000,000 miles at a heading of 45 degrees.” Daniel told Computer, “Proceed with caution at .8 LS and inform us when we have a visual of the planet Beriya. The planet was named after its beautiful sun, if this is a beautiful sun, then who knows what the planet will be like.” Chase and Daniel headed to inform Marcus, Kary and the Marines, “We are either in the wrong solar system or Beriya is burned-out. We should be at the planet by the same name in about an hour.