She dropped the naked fat man on the sofa of the DDIC and got stares from the four men waiting on her. One hurried to a closet and got a blanket kept there for when the DDIC sleeps in his office. Sullivan walked over and looked into the glaring eyes that stared emptily into space. Camil asked, “Should I bring him out sir?” His only response was, “Please.” As soon as the Admiral snapped awake he immediately began to curse those around him. Director Sullivan removed a syringe of Kahlan given to him by Paul for this specific purpose and slammed it into the fat-man’s left arm, shoving the plunger as hard as he could. The reaction amazed everyone in the room. The Admiral was anxious to answer any and every question put to him by the CIA interrogators. Camil said her goodbyes to the CIA agents in the room, turned to the Admiral and said, “eto bylo veselo” and disappeared. The agents laughed, saying, “It’s been fun, alright, and the fun is just beginning.” One of the agents looked to Sullivan and commented, “I didn’t know we had any field agents that looked like that. I think I’m in love.” DDIC Sullivan grinned at the comment and replied, “Don’t get too excited, tomorrow she could look like E.T.”
The well-guarded estate of General Ludkowsky was about forty mile northwest of Moscow overlooking the Volga River. He had at least two dozen uniformed military guards patrolling its perimeter, but very little security once inside. Hunter wondered if these people ever slept. The house was well lit and he could hear talking and the clanging of pots and pans coming from the kitchen. He roamed the empty halls of the 20,000 square foot Mansion and heard a conversation coming from behind an ornate double-door; one male voice and one female. He could tell by the tone of the voices that a disagreement was taking place. He opened the door and stepped in. Behind the 8 foot desk sat General Ludkowsky, to his right, sitting at a computer terminal, was a lovely brunette in a red cashmere sweater and jeans. She looked like a young female version of the man behind the desk. Before Hunter could speak, both had guns pointing at him. He casually walked to a nearby wingback chair and took a seat, saying, “Put those things away before someone gets hurt.” Then turning to the General he continued, “General, you’ve been a bad boy. Did you really think those two nukes couldn’t be traced back to you?” The daughter gave her father a surprised look. Hunter wasn’t certain if she was part of the program or if she was shocked that her father was. She suddenly said, “Father, is that where all that money came from? I have no problem helping you sell excess inventories of weapons, but I want no part of something like this.” Hunter quickly informed them, “Well, enough pleasantries. I’ve come for the General and if your smart sweetheart, you’ll get your affairs in order and look for a new line of work, I’m afraid Daddy won’t be coming home.” They both raised their guns and aimed for his chest. Hunter waved his hand and both weapons flew harmlessly across the room. The General was going for the alarm button on his desk and suddenly froze, completely unable to move. The pretty brunette walked toward Hunter and slapped him, saying, “I’ll have you killed for this!” Hunter picked her up, placed her in his now vacated chair and spoke, “Don’t move.” Suddenly she realized she couldn’t move even if her life depended on it. Hunter eyed the two of them then said to the daughter, “I probably should take both of you, but I was only sent to get the General and I don’t feel much like killing you today. I’ll probably regret it later.” He walked over to the computer she had been working on and saw on the screen that she had shut it down as soon as he entered the room. He also noticed a flash-drive still sticking from the computer tower and removed it. He could tell by the expression on her face that she was not happy. He stuck the drive in his pocket and headed for the General. He easily lifted the man over his shoulder and stepped through the gateway. Only half hoping that the daughter would once again be able to move.
He stepped into Admiral Sullivan’s office to be greeted by four agents and a fat man wrapped in a blanket. He did a double take and said, “I take it Camil has already been here. I have a feeling I’ll have to make another trip later to get this one’s daughter.” He reached into his pocket and handed the flash-drive to Sullivan, saying, “She didn’t look very happy when I took this out of her computer.” He next unfroze the General and allowed Sullivan the pleasure of using the Kahlan on him. He knew that the CIA was going to be very busy gathering information from these two. Before he left, he asked, “Will you be at the meeting on Verron?” Sullivan answered briefly, “No, only the DIC is invited.” Hunter shook his hand and said, “I’ve heard a lot about you and your wife. I’m certain I’ll be seeing you around.” With that he stepped through his gateway back to Verron. The four agents escorted the two Russian’s to the underground interrogation rooms. They were locked away until proper protocol could be followed to be certain everything they had to say was properly recorded and documented. Admiral Sullivan stopped by Director Brannon’s office to inform him that both were securely locked away in the basement and he would be back bright and early with the interrogation team. The DIC told him he had done a good job and went back to the paperwork on his desk.
It was not unusual to see Director Brannon in his office after hours or making his rounds through the CIA Headquarters, so no one paid any attention when he left the office and began to wonder through the massive complex. When he ended up in the underground holding cells and asked to see the two Russians, the guards on duty were not about to say no to the DIC. As he entered the Admiral’s cell he removed a tiny capsule with a covered needle. He quickly touched it to the Admirals arm almost unnoticed. The tiny capsule was coated with Poloium; a favorite poison of the Russian KGB. He immediately left the room and went next door to General Ludkowsky. The General actually realized what was coming and tried to resist, but was no match for the younger and stronger Brannon. The content of the second capsule was injected into him. Brannon was turning to leave and stood facing Admiral Sullivan holding gun, he went for his own and was shot immediately through the heart by Sullivan, falling to the floor with the second capsule still in his hand. The agents on duty entered the cell to find a dead Russian General and dead DIC. Sullivan’s only comment was, “In the over ten years that I have known that man, not once has he told me I did a good job. I knew something was up.”
Gregorovich Romenov was found in his office the following morning with a perfectly placed small caliber bullet-hole in the middle of his forehead. With Romenov, Ludkowsky and Kuznetoz all dead, any further leads on the involvement of others were now at a dead-end. Putin and other Russian leaders had cleaned house. It was soon reported that Ludkowsky’s daughter was found shot through the forehead in her father’s home while sitting in a wingback chair and several aids to the General and Admiral were missing. Admiral Sullivan was exonerated for his actions, since Brannon was in possession of the used Poloium needles. He was appointed by the President to serve as acting DIC and launch an investigation at the CIA to see just how deep the Russians had infiltrated the CIA. The Admiral announced the following morning that each and every CIA employee would be given a small injection of Kahlan to be provided by King Verron. He further declared that it is absolutely impossible to lie while under the drugs influence. That evening, four people took their own lives, six disappeared from the country; four more thought they could beat the Kahlan and ended up providing information that was helpful in identifying who was paying them off, but it all led back to the dead Romanov. Sullivan intended to systematically inject every field agent and operative; he was going to make sure that the CIA was clear of any traitors.
National Director of Intelligence James Grasper praised the quick thinking and good work of Admiral George Sullivan and launched a congressional inquiry into the other security agencies, seeking the approval to buy enough Kahlan from Verron to inject every employee of NSA, FBI, Homeland Security and any agency that was responsible for the security of the United States, including Senators and Congressmen. Of course the Justice Department, NAACP, EEOC and Civil Liberties people were going nuts and trying to fight it. The door to further Kahlan
use was closed until extensive inquiries were made and legalities as well as health issues of its use established. When King Verron, Hunter, Vlad and General Zarman watched the CNN coverage and C-Span debates they turned it off in disgust. Paul only made one comment, “Politics; how do they get anything done?”
When Paul had Lucy do her top secret report, that was only seen by the most trusted members of his staff, he found that after the house cleaning of the CIA, several other National Security agencies outside the United States were curious about the drug used by the CIA and were making inquiries on how to obtain the drug in order to cleanse the ranks of their organizations. Great Britain, France, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Italy, Israel and Australia were now attempting to purchase Kahlan from Verron. There was even a group of good and honest Russians campaigning to cleanse their government of corruption who proposed the drug be used within their own FSB, military and national government. Needless to say the proposal was denied from the highest level and pressure came to bear on those who were the proponents of the plan. According to what Lucy uncovered, President Hensley was 100% for it being used and even volunteered to set the example by going first. FDA Commissioner Orndorf was very outspoken about the unknown effect the drug may have on people. He declared it should not be used by any agency of the U.S. government until a thorough clinical study could be conducted. Paul laughed and looked at his brother, Dr. Joe Verron, and asked, “Should we give him a copy of our clinical trial; how many have been injected with low doses of Kahlan that you know of?” Joe informed those at the conference table, “Every man, woman and child over 14 who lives on Verron has been injected and according to Tlase it has been used on over 500,000 enlistees in the Xhondar military to determine loyalties and to find traitors. So do you think Dr. Orndorf will accept a clinical trial of over nearly 3 million subjects?” General Zarman surprised them by his comment, saying, “As arrogant and full of his self as that man is, I doubt he’ll even approve the cures and vaccines you plan to export to Earth.” Paul shook his head and replied, “If my plan to have an independent Verron state within the United States goes through, independent of all State and Federal regulations, then we will open a clinic there; maybe I’ll even build a hospital.”
The big day had finally arrived. Paul decided that he would have Prince Hunter fly the executive ship to Camp David to pick-up the world leaders who had sequestered themselves there awaiting his arrival. Paul, Vlad and General Zarman realized that the official representatives alone would fill his private spaceship and the security teams of those leaders were having fits that they were not able to protect their charges. He had Amber and Katelyn take the much larger executive ship that had been built for Governor Xhondar so the entire entourage could make it to the meeting. Paul was not too thrilled about having a bunch of secret service men prowling around his planet and almost put a halt to entire affair, but wisdom prevailed, his mother talked him out of it, and he decided to have the Dragon Guard and Vlad’s group of Shapeshifters responsible for the security of their security. They were to go nowhere without being escorted by King Verron’s team.
King Verron commandeered the entire Klelta palace for the meeting. Besides the leaders from Earth, Paul had made arrangements to have representatives of his other allies attend the meetings. He even had Hunter contact King Darsai and ask him if he, his wife and his sister would like to attend and was shocked to find out that Tala had taken it upon herself to invite High Priest/Chief Tu, leader of the Lyncardi, from Molnar. When she informed him of what she had done and argued, “They are very devoted allies.” It immediately took the steam out of his argument, especially since she told him while he was eating a filet mignon covered in sautéed mushrooms from Molnar. He laughed and told her, “I agree. You did good, but, I expect you, as their Queen, to make sure Tu is looked after, and Tala, no grubs, centipedes or shiny rocks.” She turned to walk away and replied, “Well good luck getting them to eat anything other than their usual diet. I’ve tried everything and so far Peanut M&Ms is the only thing they eat. Can you imagine what the Mars family could do with that information?” Paul dropped his head into his hands in frustration, thinking, “Gee, it’s great to be King.”
When Hunter landed at Camp David, his ship was immediately surrounded by Secret Service agents and Marines. They gave him a strange look, since they were expecting King Verron; no one had seen him before. DIC George Sullivan quickly cleared the air as he informed everyone, “This is Prince Hunter. I have personally worked with him on covert operations.” He gave the big Admiral a handshake and was introduced to everyone as Prince Hunter, Commander of the Dragon Guard, Colonel in the Verron Intelligence Agency and next in line to the thrown of Verron. He politely informed those waiting on him, “King Verron is tied-up making the final arrangements for the meeting and I will provide transportation for you and your security teams.” About that time the much larger Xhondarian Executive ship uncloaked. Those present gasped at the fact a ship that large had been less than fifty yards away and they didn’t know it. Hunter continued, “As you can see, I have enough room for anyone you need. I will transport as many as possible, the remainder will fly with my sister and cousin.”
Soon after the big ship touched down an entry ramp came out and revealed the passenger opening. Princess Amber and Princess Katelyn came down and were introduced to everyone. These dignitaries were not used to having pilots who were royalty and struggled with acknowledging their positions of authority. Hunter could tell they were having a difficult time being courteous. He just chalked it off as another quirk of the political system. President Hensley approached and made a point of thanking Hunter for the things he had done that no one else knew about or could talk about. Hunter immediately liked the man. He acted like a real person.
The President of the United States, President of France, Prime Minister of Great Britain, Prime Minister of Israel, Prime Minister of Australia and Chancellor of Germany were the first to board, followed by Cabinet Members from each country. Hunter was amused by the pecking order being observed. As soon as his ship was filled, everyone else headed for the big ship beside him. There had to be at least a hundred security agents from various countries and cabinet members representing everything from National Security Agencies to Transportation and Commerce. All total, 345 representatives and security agents from Earth were on their way to Verron. Hunter thought, “I’m glad he reserved the entire Klelta Palace. This thing sure has grown like a snowball rolling downhill.” Then he thought, “Prime Minister of Australia; I never heard anything about anyone from Australia.” He immediately had Lucy contact Verron and give King Paul the final number of people in transit, and that there was one additional country represented, Australia.
The next couple of hours were going to be forever embedded in the memories of 345 people. The ships they were flying in had one unique feature that few ships had; even other Verron ships. At the touch of a hand and a request for visual, you could look out with an unobstructed view, right through the ship’s hull; like flying as you look through a picture window. Amber and Hunter informed the passengers to do so with caution since many were not experienced flyers and the sensation could easily become overwhelming. The two ships proceeded at reasonable speeds, gradually accelerating as they continued to climb higher and higher. Looks of awe were on every face when they were peering out a window at the Earth hundreds of miles below and the moon just off to their right. None had imagined how many stars were out there.
Accelerating to .75 LS the ships took the passengers past Mars and flew closer to Jupiter than anyone from Earth had ever been. Hunter and Amber then increased to warp speed and in mere minutes passed within 70,000,000 miles of Alpha Centauri. As they passed Lucy informed Hunter through his implant, “The life-form sensors show positive and there are multiple nuclear readings coming from one of the planets orbiting Alpha Centauri B.” Hunter softly spoke, “Send out enough probes to determine which planet and then have a closer look. Do you recall anything mentioned
in the Xhondarian charts about there being civilization in this area?” Lucy quickly responded, “Those charts are 10,000 years old. Things can change in that amount of time.” After passing Alpha Centauri, they made a gateway and exited within two million miles of Verron. Slowing their speed and making an orbit around Verron’s three moons, they soon made a final approach to the planet that was three times the size of Earth.
Hunter and Amber decided to make it an impressive reentry and made a point to enter the atmosphere on the far side of the only inhabited continent. Hunter was enjoying the tour of his home as much as the people seeing it for the first time. He kept his altitude as low as possible so they could grasp the beauty and diversity of the terrain; heavily wooded forests, millions of acres of fertile farmland, mountains taller than an Earth plane could fly, oceans so clear you can see as far into their depths as the light above would allow. With no salt in the oceans, clarity can often penetrate 2000 to 4000 feet and even from a flying spaceship you can see billions of sea creatures swimming about. They did a flyby of Mt. Alene and headed for Capital City. The two of them circled Alicia Falls and made their final approach to the landing zone in the gigantic city square. There was no room to land the larger ship on the property of the Klelta Palace.
King Verron was there personally to greet them along with most of his staff, 10,000 Marines, consisting of Klelta, Tecalna, Androids, Abioye, and Chikondi, along with a 200 person band. Flag bearers held flags of each country and somehow even managed to have one for Australia. In the center was the Red Dragon Flag of Verron. Hunter smiled seeing the people so nicely dressed. He rarely saw any of the military officers in anything but commando gray and his relatives usually never wore a tie or a suit for that matter. Today even his Uncle Kary and Cousin Marcus had on suits and ties. His mother, Princess Renee, was wearing a very fashionable gray pinstripe suit with a mid-thigh length and a white silk blouse. King Verron still refused to waver. He had on a pail gray silk suit and a black silk T-Shirt underneath. Hunter was pleased to see he actually had on normal looking Gucci shoes. The man almost always wore boots or Nikes; usually his boots were Nike. It looked as if he even got a haircut. Hunter smiled and knew that his wardrobe and haircut was due to the Queen Mother, no one else could get him to dress like that.
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