Verron_Birth of a Nation

by Douglas Varnell

Dalhia was at the plant and escorted Samantha and Amber around for a tour. She now had 400,000 people enlisted in the Xhondarian Army and promised to have 15,000 ships in the sky within 5 years, 5000 were already fully prepared. Kary Verron was working like a mad man to expand the weapons plant on Verron in order to meet the demands placed on him by his allies and Verron’s own military. He now had plants operating on Klelta and Tecalna busily manufacturing small arms, grenades and body armor. Xhondar I was just beginning to participate in the weapons manufacture of small arms. Xhondar II and III were now cranking up enlistment on their planets and would no doubt have special needs for the Crendornic people of Xhondar III. Samantha could not comprehend the maturity and confidence displayed by this youthful Colonel as she discussed military needs and deployment schedules for training. She came to realize that she would gladly serve under her command if the occasion ever arose to do so. Dalhia explained that she had been fighting wars and commanding armies ever since the Xhondarian Revolution 10,000 years ago. As Ambers mentor she confessed that she was a bit biased, but told Samantha that leaders like King Verron, Hunter Verron-Hall and Amber Verron-Hall only came along once every few thousand years. Verron was blessed to have three of them at once. Samantha had not met Hunter, but did not disagree with Dalhia’s assessment.

  Amber couldn’t resist stopping by the motorcycle shop started by Dalhia’s husband and Paul Verron. She had ridden dirt-bikes and four-wheelers all her life and was impressed by the display of bikes and the volume of business in the newly opened dealership. Prominently displayed in the front window was TR650 Terra Husqvarna Dual Sport Bike and a bright red Artic Cat 1000XT EPS, 4 wheel drive ATV. She knew it wouldn’t be long before this spread to Verron. Samantha smiled and asked Amber, “Don’t tell me. This was King Verron’s idea wasn’t it; boys and their toys.” Dalhia and Amber agreed, but still they went inside and sat on the motorcycles and four-wheelers on display. It was late in the day when they returned to the Elder Complex, so Dalhia convinced the ladies to stay the night and go out for dinner. That evening they went to a restaurant on the 400th floor of the building and were served T-Bone Steaks, twice baked potatoes and fresh salads, all from Verron. The steak was covered with mushrooms from Molnar and the appetizer was Molnar grubs fried up like Calamari with a side of marinara sauce. Amber had no idea where the Diet Cokes came from, but figured someone was smuggling them in from Verron. At five cronz each they were also making a handsome profit. Dalhia read the look on Amber’s face and holding up her soda commented, “Paul and Bhlani; one more of their side ventures. They’ve been selling them here ever since Paul lived here nearly five years ago. Between his music player and soda business I’d say Paul, Zimuel and my husband have split 400 billion cronz in profit over the past four years.” Samantha decided that Paul Verron had his fingers in something on half the planets in the Universe and wondered, “Just how much is that man worth?” Amber had no idea her Grandfather was involved in so many ventures. She wondered how he kept them all straight, she had enough to handle with just one part of the Verron military, her Grandpa handled much, much more. Samantha couldn’t resist asking, “Amber, just what is the exchange rate of a cronz?” Amber remembered having this discussion with Hunter as he traveled back and forth to Earth. She informed the Captain that it is worth a bit more than a Euro or the Dollar.” Verron was on the gold standard and so was Xhondar. Both economies were very strong. She pointed out that neither planet had any unemployment.

  The next morning Samantha enjoyed the sunrise as she viewed it from the 499th floor guest quarters of the Elder Tower. They said their goodbyes to Dalhia, who was returning to Verron and boarded their ship for a quick return to Tecalna to retrieve her Marines and then off to Klelta, to deliver rice? Amber was primarily going to see the demonstration of the new Ship Buster round that Hon IV had been telling her about. Cali was there to greet them when they arrived on Tecalna and was wearing her insignias of command for the Tecalna Army while being followed around by two aides. She informed Amber, “I will be accompanying 100 of my new fighter pilots along with 20 of our new fighters to Verron within a week. Will you make sure Tala feeds Tigger if you get back before me?” She had Lucy contact Tala first thing when she climbed back into her ship. The Major and the Captain were partly complaining and partly bragging about the Catmandoes, with the Major saying, “My men are the best and probably are still more capable in a combat situation simply because we have a great deal of experience, but these guys and gals fight like a cornered mountain lion with cubs. I would gladly fight by any one of them; I hate to admit that the Spetsnaz bozos that Paul sent here to train them have done an excellent job. No doubt the students have outpaced the teachers.” While the Major and Captain argued about the virtues of Russian versus American soldiers, Amber and Admiral Sullivan headed for Klelta.

  Exiting the gateway to Klelta, Amber was quickly surrounded by four of the big Klelta fighters. They were really doing an excellent job of protecting the planets orbit from invaders. If Amber had been a threat, the Klelta would have had over 100 of the big ships ready for action. They were also in the process of building a Klelta sized destroyer on their planet using Klelta steel. Verron would supply the propulsion reactors, antigravity reactors, forcefield reactors and most of the electrical and computer operating system. Klelta was using Xhondar technology for the weapons system, but everything was Klelta sized. They landed after the fully armored Marines jumped from the Destroyer into a training battle with 100 Klelta. Just before she touched down on the edge of the quarry used for a landing zone, Samantha noticed, in the distance, two large ships; not space ships but freighters? King Hon himself greeted the arriving Princess and her guest and informed her, “Prince Hon is waiting for you at the old Qualoc military compound and is looking forward to your arrival. He asked me to remind you about the rice.” For the life of her she couldn’t understand what was so important about a pallet of rice. She pointed toward her ship and replied, “It’s in the cargo hold.” The king had one of his aides retrieve the pallet, which looked tiny next to him, and load it into one of their ground transports. Amber and Samantha looked like two children without a child seat as they climbed into the huge vehicle. It was a short drive to the abandoned compound. When they pulled into the gate it looked like it always had; empty. Then she noticed clothes on a clothes line and curtains on some of the dormitory windows. As she exited the big SUV type vehicle she heard laughter coming from behind her. As she turned around, she wished she had a camera for what she beheld. Prince Hon IV was walking from the river behind him back to the compound. In his right hand he carried a fish that had to weigh at least 200 pounds. He had one laughing oriental child on each shoulder, carried one about 3 years old in his left arm and was followed by at least a half dozen more.

  Once the people in the building realized it was safe to come outside, more than 20 Chinese men and women came out of the large dormitory styled building where she had seen the clothes line and curtains. The children ran excitedly to their parents screaming in Cantonese about the big fish Hon had caught. It would have easily pulled any of the small children and probably even the adults helplessly into the river. There was a wave of conversation as two of the men ran forward and relieved Hon of the fish and swiftly carried it away to the building they had exited. Amber and Samantha looked on in surprise as Hon carefully placed the little children on the ground and gently patted them on the behind, sending them back to their Moms. In only a few strides he was in front of Amber and Samantha with his brief greeting, “Admiral, Colonel, I guess you’re wondering what’s going on. Don’t feel bad, I barely do myself.” He proceeded to tell them about what he found after Amber had dropped him off with the two ships. Samantha looked at her questioningly and replied, “Princess Amber, pirate of the East China Sea.” Both King Hon and Prince Hon expressed how much they enjoyed what they referred to as the little people. He told them that the men and women had been hiding from the Chinese government on the ship when it was towed out t
o be sunk by the Chinese Navy. While they were speaking, Pastor Fu approached with a bundle in his arms. He was a frail looking little man of probably 80 and he was accompanied by a man about the same age, named Master Lin. In broken English he looked at King Hon and said, “King like eggroll” and handed him the bundle. Inside were four Klelta sized eggrolls made just for the King. He looked at Pastor Fu and thanked him in what little English he had learned from being around Paul and the others from Verron. He looked at Amber saying, in Xhondarian, “These people make the best things to eat. They give me some of these every day, as if they are paying me. I hope they are happy here. We enjoy their company.”

  To everyone’s amazement Amber turned to Pastor Fu and asked in perfect Cantonese, “What were you doing on the ship we took. Did you know it was about to be used for target practice?” Pastor Fu was thrilled to hear his own language spoken by someone in this strange new world. He immediately began to tell her, “We are Christians in hiding from the Chinese communists. Our homes and jobs had been taken from us so we found shelter in the shipyard where one of our people used to work. The ship we were on was not scheduled to be destroyed for another month. When the Navy began to tow us out to sea we told the Navy Security soldiers on board that we needed to get off. They called their commander and were ordered to lock us in the cargo hold so we could be killed when the ship was destroyed. We thanked God that he has saved us from death and put us in a place so nice. We don’t have to go back, do we?” Amber wanted to cry for these poor people. She now understood where the rice was going. She asked the Pastor to please gather the others around so she could speak to them.

  When the last of them were standing in front of her she began, “You are on the planet Klelta. The King and his son would very much like for you to stay here and enjoy the protection of a Christian King and Christian Prince. I am Princess Amber from Verron. It was me who flew you here from Earth in one of our spaceships. I will talk to King Verron and see if we can get the rest of your families and friends safely out of China.” Some of the people began to cry and talk back and forth about this statement. She added, “We will make sure you have enough food, shelter and any medical attention you may require. I will have some of our doctors come and see to you ladies that appear to be having babies soon. I will also have a shipment of food sent to you. If you will make a list of the things you need, I will see to it that we get it for you some way. We will also take the time to find out what you did for a job in China and what you would like to do here. There is plenty of work for everyone and we can always use your help. I will also make arrangements for some teachers to come here and assist you in learning the language of the Klelta and English, which we speak on Verron. Here we are free to worship our God and his Son Jesus Christ. Free to raise our families and have as many children as you like and free to pursue a career of your choice. Welcome.”

  Amber and Samantha spent the next few hours being introduced and shown around the home of Klelta’s new citizens and realizing just how fortunate these people had been that she had stolen those two ships. Several of the women were crying when her tour finished and were thrilled when one of the aides unloaded the pallet of rice. That evening when she returned to her ship, Amber thought about what all went into most of the Chinese food she had eaten and had Lucy contact King Verron to have him ask Daryl to ship by gateway a dozen large bags of onions, 200 pounds of carrots, 200 pound of peas, 50 whole chickens, 10 whole pigs, a pallet of flour, some curry if they had any, one hundred dozen eggs, and tea. She closed with, “I’ll get a list from the 36 Chinese here on Klelta as to what else they need. I guess since I brought them here, it’s my responsibility to take care of them.”

  They stayed as guests in the palace that evening, but ended up eating dinner with the Chinese immigrants and joining them in their worship service. When Amber sang ‘Amazing Grace” in Chinese even Samantha cried. The children were adorable and insisted on singing ‘Jesus Love Me’ for their visitors. Amber couldn’t help but notice that Pastor Fu and Master Lin were extremely weary and both looked almost too weak to sit up and eat. She asked the two men if they would mind being separated from the rest of the group for a week if they could return to them healthy and strong enough to lead the community that was going to be built on Klelta. She didn’t want to wait. Pastor Fu looked so sickly she wondered how he remained alive. It was obvious that he had not been eating enough and coughed like he may have pneumonia. She turned to Hon IV, who was enjoying the company of his little friends, and informed him, “I’m going to take the two Elders to Verron immediately. I don’t think they would last long enough for me to finish my trip then return for them.” Hon agreed and encouraged the two men to go with Amber and he would look after his followers. Amber formed a gateway and actually carried the tiny little Fu into the Verron Medical Center. He couldn’t have weighed any more than 80 pounds. Master Lin shuffled behind her, using a walking stick for support. She soon found Rebecca Austin and explained the situation. She explained to the two men what to expect and then left them with Rebecca, who got smiles from both as she joked with them in Cantonese. Amber looked surprised and Rebecca informed her, “My husband and I were missionaries to China for 7 years. I look forward to helping with the new settlement any way I can and I know Brad will too.” Amber gave her a hug and immediately returned to Klelta. She quickly informed the bewildered refugees that the Elders were being taken care of by Missionary Doctors and will be home in about a week. The children were falling asleep in Amber and Samantha’s arms and Hon’s lap, when they finally went back to the palace to get some sleep. As they walked back, Amber told Hon, “I think the Dragon Guard should take the responsibility of getting as many Christian’s out of China as are willing to leave. Would they be welcome to settle here?” Prince Hon, who was a man of few words, simply answered; “Count on it.”

  Bright and early the next morning they got a demonstration of the Klelta Commando version of invading a forest. As the transports flew over at 150 feet, the big men leaped from the ship and managed to hit 100% of the enemy targets on the ground that were firing on them. When they began to blow holes through 4 inch steel plate with their rifles, Samantha quickly realized that these men were shooting .50 caliber automatic and semi-automatic rifles like they were .223’s. Then she saw the big 1 inch rifle being used by several of the men and how it would blow a hole 6 inches wide going into the steel plate. The Verron Marines were playing the role of much faster humans and made for difficult targets. They had more tact and experience than the Klelta but when a 9 foot tall man who weighed 500 to 600 pounds was gunning for you, it was difficult to maintain your composure. They finally made it to the two derelict ships for the testing of the new Ship-Buster round. It was designed to use against an invading aircraft for maximum damage. They didn’t want to just blow holes in it; they wanted to completely destroy it. In their last brief war they had discovered that a ship with holes in it can still fight back. The Chinese community had heard that the ships were going to finally be destroyed. They now knew that the Chinese had intended to destroy the ships with them in it, now they were just thrilled to see the would-be coffin blown to bits. King Hon and Prince Hon were there for the tests and Amber had an observation drone deployed to the area so they could get good video. The soldiers began by shooting holes in one ship with a standard 25 mm non-exploding round. Even with the heavy steel, it easily went through, coming to a stop somewhere deep inside the ship. They next shot a 12.7 mm or .50 whitematter round, almost 100 feet of the ship disappeared in a brilliant flash of light. A second round vaporized another 100 feet. Samantha had never seen anything with 100% destruction capability; no flying debris or shrapnel, no residual flames or crumbled metal. It literally disappeared. They made two more shots and there was nothing but a big hole in the ground where the ship had been. Prince Hon lifted one of the big 25mm rifles and opened a metal case sitting on a table next to him. He removed one 25mm round with the tip painted white. He loaded the round in the chamber and
took aim at the dead center of the 480 foot long cargo ship. He fired from two hundred yards away. The flash was brilliant and the noise would shatter an eardrum. Amber hoped the Chinese were far enough away. They had not been allowed closer than a mile from the test sight. About 20 feet of the bow and 30 feet of the stern dropped to the ground with a loud clank and cloud of dust. The rest of the ship was gone. From a mile away, you could hear the shouting Chinese celebrating its destruction. Amber and Samantha walked over to the target sight and looked down into a hole over 50 feet deep. Amber knew Paul and her Dad were going to be testing whitematter rounds for selling to their Earth allies. She turned to Samantha and informed her, “This is what King Verron intends to sell to the U.S. Military. Do you think they will approve?” Samantha stood looking at the hole and the two sections of ship to her left and right. She looked at Amber and replied, “This will change the way we fight a war in more ways than you can imagine. The Pentagon will be all over this.” Amber smiled, saying, “Now imagine the same kind of power in a 5.56mm, 7.62mm, 9mm, and 12.7mm. You’ve already seen a 12.7 at work. It would take out an entire tank and leave nothing but a hole.”

  After a light lunch and saying goodbye to their new friends, assuring them that Pastor Fu and Master Lin would be home soon, they departed Klelta for their next stop, Molnar. Amber had promised Tala that she would stop by to make certain that the terraforming was progressing and that everything was going as planned. The Marines on board were scheduled to replace some of the ones who were already there. General Zarman preferred to rotate the men often rather than have them get frustrated from being away from family for long periods of time. With the ease of transportation at his disposal, there was no justifiable reason to leave men anywhere for too long. Amber had only been to Molnar one time and even then it was short visit. She did need to go see her troops there to make certain that they had everything they needed to do their job. When the ship was greeted by two orbiting destroyers, Amber felt proud of their alertness and the impression it left on Samantha to see these two Gljarne Class Destroyers dwarf the much smaller Light Destroyer. She would hate to face one of those things in the hands of an enemy. They entered the atmosphere and immediately Samantha asked, “People actually live here? How? Where?” Amber smiled and answered, “Well, actually they aren’t exactly people. But you know the appetizer we had on Xhondar I and those delicious mushrooms we had with our steak? Those come from here. It may not look like much, but you’ll be in love with the place by the time you leave.”