Verron_Birth of a Nation

by Douglas Varnell

  Without asking, Lucy had the ships computer prepare an R4 for flight and contacted Amber, Katelyn, Chase, Daniel, Tala and General Hall. The others were off somewhere taking care of other business. As Paul and General Zarman were headed down the hall he met Tala coming from a visit with a friend. He told her, “We’re going on an R4, make sure we have enough to eat and drink for at least a one day trip for about 20 people. Lift-off in one hour; I’ll see you there. If you see any other Dragon Guard make sure they know.”

  In exactly one hour a crew consisting of King Paul, General Zarman, General Justice Hall, Colonel Amber Hall, Captain Katelyn Verron, Captain Chase Verron, Captain Daniel Verron, 1st Lieutenant Tala Verron, Marie Parks-Verron and Renee Sumter-Verron were lifting off the ground and headed for the Milky Way Galaxy on a rescue mission that was going to change Earth and it’s understanding of the Universe forever and set the destiny of Verron in motion. Paul decided to pilot, at least initially, knowing there were at least six other people who could just as easily do it, he smiled as he noticed Tala staring over his shoulder watching everything he did, while Amber was carefully studying ever control in the cabin. Paul knew she would have them memorized in an hour. General Zarman was co-pilot and was about to have Lucy form a gateway, when one appeared before them and in the distance he could see the small red ball that was Mars. He shook his head in amazement that Paul could form one of these things faster than an AI. He put the pedal to the metal as he hurried towards the stranded Mars Lander. He had to be a bit more cautious than usual with his two daughters on board, neither was enhanced for the g-force the ship was capable of. Both Renee and Marie sat wide eyed as they recognized their destination. General Zarman had Chase, Amber and Daniel suit-up in their body armor/environmental suits and prepared to depressurize the huge cargo bay. They would be responsible for operating the tractor beam and securing the lander for the ride home.

  It was easy to locate the Lander, there wasn’t a lot of other radio traffic on the surface of Mars and the chatter became even stronger as Earth had detected an incoming object headed directly for the stranded Lander. It seemed so strange to Paul and the others to listen to the 13 minute delay in communications between Earth and Mars. He laughed saying to no one in particular, “They’ll be inside our cargo bay and headed towards Alfa Centauri before the signal to Earth gets there and back.” General Justice Hall in his usual sense of humor radioed the Lander as they approached saying, “Mars Lander this is King towing service. We will be at your location in 15, I repeat 15 minutes. Strap in and prepare to be beamed aboard.” With the microphone still keyed, he shouted, “OK, Scotty, prepare to beam them up.” His laughter at himself was contagious. Amber laughed harder than usual, popped him on the back of the head and said, “Dad, you’re such a dork, now tell those people who we really are” then left to join the others in the hanger bay. Paul laughed and informed them, “Too late, we’re already there. Hold on, I’m about to reverse thrusters so we don’t overshoot.” It was as if someone had suddenly slammed on the brakes. It was a good thing everyone was strapped in, or in the case of those suited up, had magnetic shoes.

  The video monitor under the ship was projecting a perfect view of the Russian made lander. Paul could even see the questioning looks on the faces of the crew as they pressed their faces against the Lander’s small windows for a better view of this craft that blocked out the light from above. Suddenly the Lander began to rise off the surface of the red dusty ground. As it rose towards the open recovery door, the faces of the men on board could be seen more clearly. They were talking a mile a minute. Paul could hear the panicked voices as they tried to communicate their situation to their operations on Earth. Soon they were locked into place in the ships bay and the doors began to close and their transmissions were abruptly cut off. Paul let the General take the controls and headed for the door to the hanger floor. He waited patiently as he watched Amber, Chase and Daniel secure the Lander, in a few minutes the green pressurization ready lights would come on. He couldn’t wait to greet his passengers. It’s not every day that four men in a Mars Lander have a knock at their door from a stranger. The all clear lights came on and the door made a whoosh sound when he opened them to head toward the rescued vessel. It actually looked tiny in the bay of an R4. Amber, Chase and Daniel stood by with their headgear retracted, knowing they would soon need to pressurize their suits again. Paul could see the men gazing out in amazement as they watched a man in gray commando fatigues walking casually toward them. Paul was certain they were confused to suddenly be feeling gravity after a month of 0-g inside a spacecraft. He climbed the ladder and knocked on the hatch. He backed down the ladder when he realized it was about to swing out in his direction. The first head out was the Lander commander, Lieutenant Colonel Aviation Zhukov. Paul greeted him warmly in Russian, the commander turned and spoke to the others, saying, “See, I told you only Russia could have such a ship and keep it secret.” Paul laughed behind him and greeted the other three on board in French, Japanese and English. Soon they slowly made their way down the ladder. Justice, Renee and Katelyn had arrived to lend a hand for the weak-kneed astronauts.

  As General Zarman and Tala navigated the R4 towards the distressed ship, the four currently on board were escorted to a small dining area and took a seat while Paul told them they were on their way to rescue the remainder of their crew. He asked, “Would you gentlemen like something to eat or drink?” He pointed Renee towards the food storage to find something for the obviously overwhelmed crew. Soon Renee asked, “Do you want Digiorno or Digiorno? Who chose the menu for this flight, anyway?” Paul activated his com-link and asked, “Tala; is Pizza all you brought? What about sodas or beer?” She replied, “I like Pizza, if you wanted something else you should have asked Amber, then you’d be eating BLT’s, by the way, I’m too young for beer. There are Diet Cokes, Mountain Dew, Diet Dr. Pepper and Cokes in the cooler behind the serving line.” Paul looked at his guests and shrugged, “This is what happens when a 14 year-old chooses the flight menu, I guess after a month of food in a tube, even a frozen pizza sounds pretty good.” He looked over seeing General Justice grinning his ‘I know something you don’t know grin.’ He turned and asked, “What?” He replied, “I saw Tala load up those Pizza’s from the storage in Mountain City.” He walked over to a double-door cooler beside the serving line and removed a six-pack of cold Heineken. The Russian commander smiled and reached for a cold beer, saying, “Pizza it is, I think I am in love with this Tala and the General.” Marie and Renee heated the pizzas and each crew-member got his own Meat Lover’s. Major Reynolds from America looked around at his rescuers and asked, “Sir, may I ask, who the hell are you? This is like something out of Star Wars. Everything I know about space flight tells me that we should not be doing this.” Paul looked at the men and decided rather than tell the whole story twice he’d wait until the rest of the crew was onboard then fill them all in at once. He answered, “My name is King Paul Verron. You are on one of my R4 Rescue ships and this is Renee, Marie, Chase, Daniel, Amber and General Hall. Renee brought it to my attention that your mission was going badly and that we could not just let you all die, not when we have the ability to do things you could only dream of. We quickly put a crew together, with Lieutenant Tala providing the inflight menu. Let me just say we have some abilities that you have never even dreamed of. This ship is just one of many that can fly from galaxy to galaxy in minutes instead of centuries. Now I know you want more answers, but we are about to retrieve your stranded ship. If you like, you may watch through the windows in the hall. He turned and walked away as Chase, Amber and Daniel prepared for recovering another ship.

  As Paul entered the control room Tala was saying, “NASA Ship Mars, this is Verron towing service. We received a distress call from AAA and are here to offer roadside assistance. I do hope your policy is current, at $.50 per mile this could be very expensive, by my math approximately $250 million dollars, give or take a few million.” A female voice came over the radio
and sounded angry, saying, “This is a secure NASA frequency. If you are caught broadcasting on this frequency you will be fined or imprisoned. Now stop playing around.” Tala, not one to be intimidated, replied, “If you’ll look up and at 2 o’clock you will soon find out whether I am a joke or not. I guess I could just leave and go back home.” As the ship ahead finished its 360 rotation, the voice came back, “No, no, no don’t leave! I don’t know who you are, but you’re the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.” In the background you could hear cheers from the rest of the crew as they looked out the windshield at the approaching ship. Paul took the radio from Tala smiling, and told the Mars, “This is the commander of Verron R4 rescue vessel. Please fasten your seat belts while we bring you aboard. The Lander and crew are safely aboard awaiting your retrieval.” Once again the video camera showed what looked like a tiny little toy being slowly pulled toward the open hanger bay. Once the tractor beam locked on to the rotating ship, its rotation quickly ceased. Shortly after the recovery doors were closing as the crew looking from the comfort of a gravity environment was waving to those staring through the windshield at the massive vessel. Captain Sullivan had believed her ship to be the ultimate in space going technology. She shook her head thinking it was like wooden wheels and a mule cart compared to this thing. She and her crew looked across hundreds of feet of empty hanger at the Lander. They could put several of her ship end to end inside this monster. While she watched out the window she saw three people in ultra-modern EV suits walking around securing their ship. Soon a green light began to flash on the distant wall and the four man crew from the Lander ran through a set of double-doors to greet the remaining crew. One of the people in protective gear placed a ladder to the now open hatch door. Amber greeted the crew saying, “I’m Colonel Amber Hall-Verron. Does anyone on board need medical attention? If not, please follow me.” It was a hard climb after being in 0g for so long, but they made it down and were greeted by warm embraces from the others already on the rescue ship. Major Pierre Bonett handed his fellow Frenchman a cold beer and smiled, saying, “These people really know how to explore space.” waving his arms around pointing to the massive craft. Soon they were helped to the dining area by the R4 crew and introductions were made all around. There were several shocked expressions when nineteen-year-old Amber removed her head gear and introduced herself as Colonel Amber Hall-Verron. General Hall explained a little about the rescue, but mostly made sure everyone got a pizza and drink of their choice. He had fortunately brought more than one six-pack of Heineken. Captain Sullivan cried briefly and said a prayer of thanks to God.

  It wasn’t long before Paul Verron and General Zarman arrived in the room with the others. Marie, looking around the room, asked; “Excuse me, but who’s flying this thing?” Chase and Daniel laughed at her panic. Chase quickly told her, “Don’t worry, Tala is 14 now, she flies much better than she did as a kid.” Captain Sullivan figured they were joking and declared, “I don’t care who’s flying it, as long as they know the way home.” It was General Hall who couldn’t resist by saying, “Home for Tala is about 30 or 40 thousand light years that way, but I’m pretty sure she can find Earth. I mean, from here she can almost see it, right.” Amber excused herself from the group saying, “I’m going to get out of this and return to the bridge and see if Tala needs any help, at least I’ll be sure she’s actually headed towards Earth.” Several of the Astronauts did not appreciate a good sense of humor. Paul decided it was time to tell these people who they were. He had intended to wait at least another year before he let Earth know about Verron but this was going to be when it happened. He suddenly remembered God’s perfect timing is not always the same as what we plan. He began, “My name is Paul Verron, King Paul Verron, from a planet, as the General said, several thousand light years from Earth. I guess it will now come as no shock for me to tell you we are a very technologically advanced nation. I now possess almost 100,000 space going ships capable of many times the speed of light and all are capable of travelling across galaxies in minutes or hours, instead months and years or centuries. I believe you have met my crew, except Lieutenant Tala. We also have one other technology that just saved your life. We have the capability of communicating in real time to any place in the galaxy. While you wait 15 to 20 minutes for your call to reach Earth from here and an additional 15 or 20 for a reply, we do it just like we’re speaking now. My people on Earth informed Renee of your situation. We could not allow you to perish when we could easily rescue you, so, here we are. Some of you may have heard of Verron. There has been a great deal of speculation about whom or what we are and we have been transporting volunteers to Verron from Earth for several years now. I had intended to slowly begin introducing our technology to your world in small increments in the near future, and increase my recruiting efforts for those who may want to live in a more advanced but uniquely different society. However, after we take you back to Edwards AFB California it will be a bit hard for us to keep our identity quiet. Now Captain Sullivan, if you’ll join me, I’ll take you to the bridge and let you call the folks back on Earth to let them know you will be home in …” He looked at his old Ironman. “About 3 hours.” He looked at the others and said, “I’m sure all of you have plenty of questions. My crew will be glad to answer any of them. If you have the strength to walk, maybe some of you would like Colonel Amber to give you a brief tour.” As he and Captain Sullivan began to exit the room, he asked, “Would you rather go to Edwards or the cape?” The Captain smiled, saying, “How about the Cape, if it’s not too far out of your way.” Paul smiled as he replied, “After travelling a few trillion miles, I doubt a couple thousand more will matter.”

  Captain Sullivan was trying to carry her pizza and Diet Coke as she walked. Paul held out his hand for the soda and told her, “I value my hand too much to try and take the pizza.” Sullivan sighed as she said, “It’s got to be the best pizza I’ve ever eaten. Thanks!” They had just exited the elevators to the bridge when Paul told her, “Don’t thank me, thank my pilot Lieutenant Tala Verron, my niece.” The Captain almost dropped her pizza as she looked at this cute 5 foot redhead in braids sitting at the console of a spaceship she could only dream of. She looked at Paul and said, “When I was that age I was still trying to master roller skates and going to slumber parties. I didn’t fly anything until I was in the Academy.” Tala smiled and told her, “We start young on Verron. I had a mini-fighter at 9, my own pink Speeder at 10, was flying Fighters before I was twelve and now work as a test pilot and flight instructor. Uncle Paul, if you don’t get someone to relieve me soon, this thing goes on autopilot and who knows where we’ll end up. I’m starved.” He looked at Samantha and said, “In many ways their still teenagers.” Looking at Tala he said, “Amber is changing out of her body armor and headed your way, have her take over before the others eat all the pizza.” She was on the com-link immediately warning the others that they better save her at least one pizza. Paul escorted a smiling Captain Sullivan to an outgoing com and asked for the frequency at the Houston control or the cape. He said, “Lucy, please connect us.” Samantha informed the flight operations people at Johnson Space Center, “The ship, lander and the crew have been rescued by King Verron and we’re safe and on the way back to Kennedy Space Center, ETA 3 hours. Please tell my husband that I’m fine and that I’ll see him tonight. I guess we’re getting back a bit earlier than expected thanks to our new friends up here.” Earth received her message immediately, theirs came back as Paul was showing Samantha around the ship. “Captain Sullivan, did you say King Verron rescued you and your crew? We have visual now of a fast moving object headed for Earth’s orbit. Please confirm ETA.”

  Paul responded instead, telling them, “That fast moving object is my ship and we’ll now be there in 2½ hours.” As Paul showed Samantha the medical bay and crew sleeping areas with over 500 rooms, she asked, “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but my husband works for the CIA, and Verron has been a topic of conversation at the FBI, CIA and Homeland
Security. At least everyone will soon know where all those people have gone, but may I ask, why are you only taking white people, are you a racists, you don’t seem like one to me.”

  Paul thought a moment and tried to explain his delicate political position, saying, “When I was given control of Verron I was the only human from Earth living on it. I was given the task of populating the entire planet and organizing it into a productive and functional nation. I am tasked with building the most powerful military power in the Universe. I took a look at what didn’t work on Earth and saw that the majority of the wars and conflicts since the beginning of time have been fought over political, racial or religious differences. Even in a country where the laws favor a society to be free of those issues, they still exist and are getting worse instead of better. To be honest, I just didn’t have the time or the patience to deal with race, religion or politics. On Verron, there is one religion, Christianity, one race of humans, Caucasian and one leader, Me. The people are free in every way. If your political views, religious views or desire for a multiracial society do not match the laws of the nation of Verron then you will not be punished or persecuted, you will simply be asked to leave and return to Earth where you can live as you please. Our laws are founded on Christian principles and are strictly enforced: no drugs, no tobacco, no alcohol other than beer and wine, no homosexuality, no pornography and only one legal religion. We enforce the death penalty for rape, murder, child molestation, treason, drug manufacturing and distribution. The result of these rules is that we have no crime, no drug or alcohol problems, no racial hate crimes or issues with race in the workplace, no gangs, no housing or educational discrimination and in addition, we have free medical, we have no sickness, no old age and can regenerate lost body parts and cure almost any disease; ask Renee, she had cancer. Earth has had thousands of years to get it right and no matter what continent you’re on, racism is a problem, it isn’t simply a black-white issue, if you’ll notice, there are also no Oriental, Arabic, or Hispanics on Verron. Besides, for every white person who leaves Earth to live on Verron there is one more job opening for a black or Hispanic. Incidentally Verron now has a population that consists of over 50 Earth nationalities, three different humanoid races, and five non-human races.” She looked at him with a questioning look as he said, “Yes we have little green men, except ours are big and gray, or furry and look like a cat, or have hooved feet and little horns, some are cloned and others are completely manmade. I have enough issues without adding more to them.”