Verron_Birth of a Nation

by Douglas Varnell

  Vlad could see the gears turning in Hunter’s head. He looked at him and said, “That look always worries me. What do you have in mind?” Hunter asked Boris, “I know all of you have received part of your pay for this shipment, how much more would you and your crew make after delivery and training?” Boris informed Hunter, “I would get additional 2 million euros, my first mate would receive 1 million; each of the crew would receive 500,000 euros.” Hunter thought a moment and decided to make Boris and his crew an offer they couldn’t refuse. He asked, “Does all your crew know the terms of delivery?” He answered, “Da.” Hunter stepped closer to the men and in a loud Russian voice began, “May I have your attention. I realize that my taking your ship has hurt each of you financially and has also put each of you on the target list for the Russian Mafia and a few terrorist groups. I have an offer for you. My name is Prince Hunter Hall-Verron, I am about to lead a small outnumbered army against a much larger and better equipped force. If you men will help me train this army and fight alongside them during the upcoming battle, I will pay you the money you were going to get paid after delivery of these weapons. If you decide you would like to remain on Verron like many other Russians have already done, then you’ll be welcome as long as you obey our laws. If not, I will see to it that you are delivered to any country on Earth where you prefer to live, with your money. I could use your help and it’s an honorable way to make a living and a lot better than going back and trying to explain what happened.” The Russians looked around at each other thinking it was a lot better than their situation had been and one by one agreed.

  Tala saw one of the Russians wearing a large Russian made NR-40 combat knife reaching for the last Mountain Dew and protested, speaking excellent Russian, “You better be acting like a gentleman and getting that for me.” The big Russian turned to look down at a five foot tall redhead with pigtails wearing commando grays with a lieutenant bar and a dragon cap, staring at him with her hands on her hips. He couldn’t help but notice the knife handles sticking from each boot. He turned to Hunter and stated, “Prince Hunter, I agreed to fight your war and help train soldiers, I did not agree to take orders from little girls.” Hunter smiled because he knew the 225 pound Russian had made a big mistake. Before he got a response from Hunter, the Mountain Dew was snatched from his hand. He looked to see Tala pop the lid and take a sip. She smiled and informed him, “I decided to be a lady and not beat an apology out of you. Thanks for the soda.” The other Russians began to laugh and that only made the big man even angrier. He taunted Tala by saying, “In Russia I would spank a little girl like you and send to bed without supper.” Tala continued to keep her temper and calmly told him, “First of all, you are very fortunate this is not Russia, because if you even acted like you were going to touch me, then I’d have to embarrass you in front of all your friends. I’d suggest you quit while you’re ahead.” Holding up her Mountain Dew, she added, “You might want to try the water. It’s actually pretty good.” The big man reached to grab Tala by the shoulder and suddenly found himself looking up from the ground with his own knife against his throat and the piercing green eyes of an angry girl staring at him. She was a woman of few words, as she simply said, “Do not ever touch me again or I will test this blade to see how well you sharpened it.” He then noticed that she still held the Mountain Dew in her other hand. Tala turned and drove the knife into the two inch thick wood dining table, all the way to the hilt. As she was leaving she asked, “Did any of you consider that someone else might be hungry. I like BBQ.” Three of the big men handed her their untouched sandwiches. The man on the floor rose and attempted to pull his knife free, turning red in the face from his efforts. Chase still had a smile on his face as he walked over and easily removed the knife from the table and handed it to the big man named Serge, declaring, “Never make my little sister mad. She is especially sensitive when people talk down to her. By the way her nickname is Blade. Ask Vlad, she came by the name honestly. No one beats her with a knife.”

  Tala returned to the bridge and offered sandwiches to Amber and 99 and split the Mountain Dew with her cousin. Nothing was said about the incident below. They made a gateway to Darsai and had timed it perfectly for the dark of night. King Darsai had implemented a curfew for his residents to eliminate them from staring in wonder at the machines that had harvested their wheat fields. Vladimir had ordered the Russians to climb back on their freighter with himself and Hunter joining them. The crew on board the R4 was going to lower the ship into the deep river behind the Castle, then use the ships derricks to unload the equipment to be used by Darsai’s army. Before they left there was a knock at the door to the bridge. Chase had escorted the Russian named Serge so he could apologize to the “little red-head.” She graciously accepted the apology and he handed her his Combat Knife as a token of his sincerity. Before he turned to leave, he grinned and mumbled, “When five foot girl takes knife I switch to gun.” He smiled with his badly stained teeth and added, “She probably take gun too.” Tala thanked Serge and wished him luck on Darsai. The ship was lowered and a new adventure was about to begin for the Russian mercenaries and King Darsai. As soon as the big ship was safely afloat in the river, the R4 began its trip back to Verron. Amber thought, “I’m sure glad we were able to contain that nuke and no one got hurt,” then sat back as Katelyn and Daniel piloted them home.

  General Zarman was beginning to get a bit nervous about the trip to Washington, D.C., probably because he had more time to think about it and had seen how politics is conducted up close and personal during his days flying the President and during his time serving on the Terrorist Taskforce under the direction of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Paul had everything organized and was just waiting for the time to leave. He had finished meeting with Pastor Fu and Master Lin, both looking like energetic 35 year-old men and promising them his support in helping others like them resettle to Klelta. Pastor Fu was thrilled to know that King Verron was a devoted Christian and was willing build them a church and a school. When he found out that Master Lin was a Master of Pai Lum Kung Fu he asked if he would be willing to assist in training the troops on Klelta. The old Master was thrilled to be asked. Rebecca and Brad Austin had accompanied them to the meeting, along with his daughter Renee. She was going to personally escort them back to Klelta and get the resettlement process off to a smooth start and had already started making arrangements to transport food stuffs to Klelta directly from an oriental market in Hong Kong. Brad and Rebecca had agreed to stay on Klelta for as long as needed. As they left the office Paul turned to General Z and replied, “No one ever told me we had Chinese allies on Klelta.” He laughed and continued, “I guess if I can fill Verron with Russians, King Hon has a right to fill his planet with Chinese. I believe they will be a real asset on Klelta.” Taking a look at his watch, he asked, “It’s almost show time; you ready to go?” They were given plenty of support from well-wishers as they left the office to head to the beautiful new Dragon Wagon as others had begun to call his drastically modified Light Destroyer. He decided to have Jim make the trip with him in case he needed a bit of credibility among the military brass.

  King Verron and General Zarman entered the Earth’s atmosphere over the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 200 miles off the coast of Delaware. Jim contacted local air traffic control for the Washington D.C. area and requested permission to land on the White House lawn like he had done for eight years while flying Ronald Reagan. The Secret Service and then the Marine Flight detail both thought he was some kind of crack-pot. He was flatly denied clearance to land at the White House, Dulles, Reagan or BWI. He then contacted Andrews AFB and was once again threatened with arrest for using confidential frequencies and denied a right to land. Paul was getting a bit frustrated and made a decision. They were already in the cloaked mode of operation and could not be seen visually or on radar. He decided to ignore the ADIZ over Washington D.C. (Air Defense Identification Zone). He didn’t care if it was monitored and even used Laser beam warning systems from NORA
D to warn off unauthorized aircraft. He and Jim smiled, knowing they were doing an, in your face, to the people at Homeland Security, but they did at least make an attempt to land at the surrounding fields. It was 8:45 AM when Jim maneuvered the Dragon Wagon to a holding position 5,000 feet above the White House. Paul looked at the surrounding area to find a location without much traffic. He then grabbed the briefcase he had put together to carry some samples of what he had prepared for the United States. He felt like he was making a cold call on a new prospect and they were very cold. He decided to wear a black DKNY two-piece slim fit suit, a Gucci long-sleeve black silk T-shirt, and Gucci shoes. He was carrying a black briefcase covered in T-Hog leather; he was not about to dress like everyone else in Washington.

  He walked up to the main gate of the White House under the careful watch of Secret Service Police. He handed them his Card; white with a Red Dragon in the top corner and only three words written in the middle, King Paul Verron, saying, “I have a 9:00 AM appointment with the President. I would have been here earlier, but I couldn’t find a place to park.” The Secret Service agent was going to give him a hard time, but decided to check the visitors list; sure enough King Paul Verron was on it. He asked for some ID and Paul presented him with a Verron Passport, complete with photo ID. He then called the President’s secretary and after a few minutes a man in a dark gray business suit came to escort him in, as soon as they searched his briefcase. Paul knew he was about to have a problem. The contents of his case consisted of various sizes of whitematter rounds for military testing, a harness and power supply for converting a Fiat 500e to a whitematter battery, 6 squares of Verron Steel in brushed metal finish and even in clear, a vial of Verron Antivirus and Verron Antibacterial, a quart of Verron crude oil for testing the quality of their oil, and an ornamental solid gold dagger studded with dozens of emeralds, rubies and diamonds as a gift to the President. As the agent began to remove the items from the case, he set aside the bullets, the dagger, the wiring harness, vials of serum and the crude oil. Turning to Paul he politely said, “I’m sorry sir but these items will have to stay here. You can pick them up on the way out.” Paul smiled his friendliest smile and replied, “Don’t worry about. Just put it all back in the bag and I’ll meet with the President when I get back to D.C. again. Would you please be kind enough to call him and let him know that he has his entire National Security Staff waiting on me for nothing?” The agent stepped to a nearby phone and made a call. At ten minutes after nine Deputy Director of the CIA George Washington Sullivan entered the Guard Station. Looking at the Agent in charge he said, “You know who I am; you let me in earlier. The President has sent me out here to escort King Verron to his meeting. If you like, you may send additional escorts, but he needs what he’s carrying for the meeting.”

  When the two of them entered the Cabinet Room just off the Oval Office, Paul was surprised when President Hensley rose to meet him and shake his hand; next he introduced Israeli Minister of Defense Moshe Barak. After a few pleasantries were exchanged, George Sullivan introduced Paul to the Directors and Cabinet members present. All the men had on suits and ties and the women were in suits as well, without the ties. He was pleased to see Admiral Samantha Sullivan in attendance as well. The President thanked Paul for his rescue of the Space Mission and let him know that after speaking with Admiral Sullivan and DDIC Sullivan he was very anxious to hear more about what he had to offer the United States. Paul was about to begin his presentation when the President’s Chief of Staff entered the room looking very agitated. He spoke briefly to the President and then turned to Paul, asking in an agitated tone, “What the hell is going on. I have reports of a large spaceship off the coast of France, that six hours ago launched a nuclear missile at a ship in international waters. Reliable eye witnesses claim they then formed a storm in the sky that sucked up all the water, radiation and clouds in the area and took off; vanishing in thin air. There are hundreds of people exposed to radiation out there and a Royal Navy Type 23 Frigate is one of them. They are trying to police the area and help crew members from one German and one French vessel and the crew of the destroyed freighter.”

  Paul knew this meeting was not going to go as planned, but he remained calm and basically took control of the situation. He held out his hand to indicate he had heard enough and began to speak out loud, “Lucy where is the R4?” No one in the room heard the response. He then told her, “Tell them I want them on the ground in Verron in ten minutes and have every member of the medical team ready to board and prepared to treat radiation exposure. Bring enough food for at least 1000 and I want them on Earth as quickly as possible ready to handle an emergency situation. The crew on board the R4 will know where to go. Now, can you explain what happened?” He paused a moment and looked at the National Security Advisor, saying, “Ms. Brice, if you’ll log on to your laptop computer there should be a download of the entire incident.”

  National Security Advisor Susan Brice gave Paul a strange look and hesitantly opened her laptop. As soon as she entered her password and the computer booted-up, there was a message notice on her screen. She opened the file labeled as being from Paul Verron and the first thing she saw was a ship’s manifest listing thousands of weapons, all in Russian. She worked a few buttons and the manifest showed on the big screen in the front of the cabinet room. Lucy was narrating to Paul through his implant. He rose and went to the front of the room addressing the crowd in front of him, informing them, “We discovered this shipment of weapons headed for Turkey to supply ISIS terrorists.” The manifest with the missiles showed on the screen next. “My agents also discovered this other vessel shipping 500 missiles from Russia to Egypt. Later to be transported into Lebanon. My team confiscated the ship full of conventional weapons. I can assure you, they are nowhere on Earth. Before they left, they warned the crew of the Kahana to abandon their ship because they were going to sink it in 20 minutes.” Paul then saw for the first time the actual video footage shot from the R4 as Lucy narrated the incident. It was being shown in ultra-slow-motion. “As you can from the video, the crew of the Kahana is speeding away in the distance in their smuggler boats.” The picture now focused on the Kahana. “Notice that the 50mm Plasma round fired from my ship impacts the freighter precisely in the center. Now watch closely, you will see that there is a slight delay then the nuclear warhead detonates.” No one in the room had ever seen a slow motion nuclear explosion, with precise detail from the flash at detonation, the expanding spherical fireball, the melting of the ship from the intense heat, then before it could spread and the water column began to rise, there were literally thousands of small drones moving at incredible speeds encircling the area of nuclear contamination. The FTL drones continued to speed around the blast zone as the ocean and clouds disappeared into the swirling black-hole above, penetrating the Earth’s lower atmosphere, soon the hole disappeared and the sky was clear. Paul turned from the monitor and faced a silent audience and told them, “That nuclear weapon was not fired by Verron, it was on the Kahana and we may have accidentally set it off, but as you can see, the disaster was contained. If that weapon had been set off in Tel Aviv or Washington, D.C., millions would have died.” No one in the room comprehended what they had just seen with the exception of Admiral Samantha Sullivan, who asked, “King Verron, did I just see what I think I saw?” Paul knew she would recognize the most dangerous phenomena in outer space, and kept his answer low key, and replied, “We can do a lot of things that defy all reason; that’s one of them.” She thought silently, “How does anyone control a black-hole. It’s impossible.”

  Paul looked at his watch and announced, “I have at least an hour before I will need to leave to join my people over the Atlantic. I may as well give you a short presentation of what I came here for.” He walked to his seat, but remained standing beside the black leather briefcase he had brought in. Opening the case, he first removed the vials of Verron Antiviral and Antibacterial. Looking at FDA Commissioner, Dr. Stephen Orndorf, M.D., he held up the vi
al and informed him. “Doctor, as you can see from looking at the Sullivan’s, we can do some pretty remarkable things medically on Verron. Scientists on Earth have been searching for years for a cure to AIDS, Ebola and hundreds of other viruses. The bad news is that as soon as I release this product on Earth, there will be thousands of researchers and billions of dollars in research grant money that will no longer be needed. It will affect quit a few economically. On the upside, there will be a complete elimination of AIDS and every other virus known, by using this unique formula.” Holding up the other vial, he continued, “The antibacterial will accomplish the same thing with any known bacteria. I plan to only introduce these two pharmaceuticals initially, but we can also completely rid the world of cancer, diabetes, as Admiral Sullivan can confirm, sickle-cell, autism, arthritis, plus heal a stroke victim, severe brain trauma, heart attacks or even an amputee. I do not want to cause economic harm to the medical community, but I feel it is more important to have healthy productive people than prosperous and successful doctors; no offense Doctor. But no doubt you will appreciate the dilemma.” He handed the two vials to the Doctor and suggested, “Have the CDC verify what I just told you. Dr. Desiree Verron, formerly of the CDC has already done numerous trials to confirm it is perfectly safe to be used on humans.”

  Paul next removed a plastic bag containing a whitematter battery about the size of a small motorcycle battery and a wiring harness adaptor designed to attach the battery to the harness of a Fiat 500e. Handing it to Transportation Secretary Gerald Cox, he addressed him, saying, “I know you’re more of a politician than a mechanic, but I also know you are actively involved in ways to produce more efficient transportation. Electric powered vehicles have not exactly been a boom, but mostly because they have such restraints on their range of travel. If you will have one of your people replace the battery in a Fiat 500e with the battery I am about to give you and use this wiring harness to make the connection to the existing electrical feed, you will be amazed at the results. I apologize that we have no test tracks on Verron, however, several of the electrically powered vehicles we have operating on other planets have been running for over a year of continuous use and show no sign of battery drain. I would imagine that if you put a Fiat test vehicle on a track running on this battery, you will need to replace the tires a couple of times before you need to replace the battery. By the way, this same technology can be used by your friends over at the Department of Energy to produce electricity for entire cities; it’s what we use on Verron.”