Verron_Birth of a Nation

by Douglas Varnell

  While the National leaders visiting Verron were holding meetings with each other, Paul was enjoying a nice quiet evening at home with his family; he smiled when he realized how important the people eating at his table had become to him and this was not everyone. They had even moved to the big dining room for their Sabbath afternoon meal; grateful to have each other. It was the chef’s day off so everyone brought a dish from home. There was more variety than Morrison’s Cafeteria. Paul and his mother, both of his brothers and their wives, Paul’s daughters and their husbands and all his grandchildren, the nieces and nephews and great-nieces and nephews had all come to show their support for Paul. Four of Paul’s uncles, three out of five ex-wives and their husbands, Vladimir and his wife and family, the Xhondarians that still lived in the Mansion, plus Mahala, General Zarman and family, Cali, Camil, 99 and Governor Uduak; who had become a regular in the Mansion. After the buffet style family reunion and selection of over 20 different desserts, the Verron family dug out the guitars and other instruments and spent the next couple of hours singing a wide variety of Christian music; bluegrass gospel, southern gospel, contemporary Christian and even the Blues. They ended the evening with a family prayer, thanking God for the safe return of those involved in The Battle for Molnar, as it was now called. There was only one guest among the group who was not a regular at the Verron dinner table; Chief Tu sat almost clinging to Tala and accompanied her everywhere the entire day. To everyone’s amazement the little man ate his usual centipede and mushrooms for his entrée, but had 99s sweet tea to drink and two helpings of the Queen Mother’s Banana Pudding. Tala was trying to figure out how she was going to teach Tu Lyncardi how to make Banana Pudding. Being a Queen was not an easy job.

  The following morning it was business as usual with King Verron’s guests. This was to be their last day on Verron and he hoped they could conclude their business early enough to at least give them a short sightseeing trip that didn’t include blowing something up or building equipment that could be used to blow something up. He had hoped to escort them to the other Allied planets and before the meeting got underway offered to do so for any of those who could stick around another day or two. The breakfast buffet included 100% Verron food items; even the coffee that was just beginning to develop into a solid industry in the western hills on the far side of the agricultural district. The bagels and smoked Benoay, a fish like salmon that his old friend Bill was now marketing under his own name, and wild red-berries; there were also apples and bananas that had been transplanted here from Earth and doing very well. Paul was eating a toasted bagel with crème cheese and strawberry preserves and drinking a Diet Coke as he socialized with the early arrivals for the meeting. After about another half hour there were at least fifty more people present than he had originally started out with, many from Verron, to hear just what to expect in the future that would involve their particular expertise. Everyone was surprised at how he opened the meeting, saying, “I want to first apologize to the Security Agents that I promised to take to the firing range. As you may have noticed from the surveillance drones, I was a little busy on the day I promised to take you. Any of you who can stick around a little longer, I promise will not be disappointed. I appreciate the patience of all of you for waiting on me to continue these talks. I know that you have incredibly busy schedules and can’t afford to waste time hanging around while I tend to other matters. I guess the events of two days ago speak for themselves. Due to the advancement of technology in other parts of the Universe the aggressive actions of numerous societies has now reached the star systems we call home. The alien nations are prone to be even more aggressive and merciless than the worst societies on Earth. At Klelta we fought a group of humanoids that wanted to enslave every planet they discovered. This is the second time we faced the Jhxunka, once on the surface of Molnar and as you’ve all seen, again on their way to possess that planet. I’m here to tell you; there will be others and most will be worse than anything we have seen. I’m proud of those who have already trusted me enough to organize and lead an Allied Force to protect those in our alliance. We want Earth to be a part of that alliance.”

  Paul looked out over those who he knew needed to join forces with him, but were too proud to admit it and realized again that these six willing Earth allies represented less than 15% of Earth’s population. He continued, “Unfortunately, uniting Earth will be one of the greatest challenges we face. There is no planet in the known Universe that is as divided politically, philosophically, racially and ethnically as Earth. In order for your world to be able to stand against those who would destroy you in the future, a great many problems must be dealt with first. It is my intentions to offer proposals to your governments today that will hopefully begin the process of reducing the conflicts that currently exist. Don’t get me wrong, as a Christian I would be cautious about proposing one world government; at least for now. There is nothing inherently wrong with different countries with totally different ways of ruling and living their lives existing, as long as they can recognize those differences and accept them and not try to force their beliefs on others. One way to accomplish this is for all Nations to have a common goal or in this case a common enemy. No one Nation on Earth can defend against what you saw today, it will take all of you. Ambassador Braun, I hope you will take that message back to NATO and tell them what you witnessed here. The ancient phrase ‘United we stand – divided we fall’ dates back to ancient Greece and Earth still hasn’t gotten right. What seems more prominent on Earth is Sun Tsu’s philosophy in the Art of War – ‘Divide and Conquer.’ We can no longer afford to be divided, in the end no one truly benefits from standing alone. That, my friends, is what Verron is all about; our sole purpose for existence is to unite those who will join with us. Today I would like to take the first step toward achieving that goal.”

  “Verron can’t be all things to all people. Although our resources are great, they are not unlimited. So I intend to offer to you the things I would like to do in partnership with Earth; the things that I can in good conscience do to improve the quality of life, and also advance Earth’s technology. It’s my hope to do this at slow enough pace that we don’t disrupt your economies and immediately make what is considered high technology on your planet, totally obsolete. I will begin with my military proposals first and continue from there. Before I get on a roll, are there any questions?” After a short moment of pondering the question, William Eichelman, Director of NASA asked, “Does this mean you have no intentions of offering us all of your current technology?” Paul smiled and answered, “Exactly. After much discussion with my Allies, we came to the conclusion that until Earth moves closer to a united planet they cannot be trusted with the advanced technology you saw demonstrated here these past few days. But I can guarantee, what we offer will still be hundreds, if not thousands of years more advanced than anything you currently possess. Let me give you just one brief example; What if we exported to Earth a vehicle manufactured on Verron that could be driven at freeway speeds for five years without needing fuel or a recharged energy cell and require no tire replacements. How would that impact the automotive industry or the petroleum industry? How many would lose their jobs? And yes, we can do it. Our spaceships go for a lifetime and never refuel, so can our personal vehicles.” Paul waited a moment for his comment to sink in and saw the looks on their faces. The German Director of Transportation was shaking his head at the thought of what that could do to the German economy. No one else asked any questions.

  Paul continued, “The most glaring problem on Earth today is the rampant spread of terrorism. It dominates the daily news in almost every nation on Earth and virtually every country has been affected by it. I have every intention to eliminate it from the face of the Earth. It has always been politically sensitive because we ask people of free Nations to sacrifice their sons and daughters to fight wars in countries that usually don’t even want us there and the cost of war is high. The best efforts of NATO and other anti-terrorist countries
has been at most a band-aide and at worst, a total failure. You have been fighting terrorists for decades and you’re losing the battle. I intend to take the battle to them. I plan to supply two of my stealth troop transports, the crews to fly them, Verron Body Armor, the weapons that you saw demonstrated fired from conventional weapons, training for 100 of your best fighters, hopefully a mix of the countries represented in this room and advanced surveillance to locate and identify terrorist wherever they may be hiding. Those of you in this room who know me know that I have already done things with terrorists that have never been done. This Terrorist Elimination Squad will be tasked with the destruction of all known terrorists. Don’t get me wrong, this is not a Jihad. I have no issue with peaceful Muslims around the world, but if my plan is accepted there will never be another allied death while fighting terrorism.” The whole room applauded, especially those from Israel. “I also plan to offer Verron Body Armor to my allies for use by their military and police forces. Military and Law Enforcement should never be concerned about taking a bullet in the line of duty. All conflicts will end much quicker when our people have no fear of death or injury;” once again applause, mostly from the security officers in attendance.

  “My second military proposal concerns your defense systems. Too long, China, North Korea and Russia have been rattling their sabre with threats of nuclear wars. While most of the countries represented in this room have been trying to reduce their nuclear weapons stockpiles, these and others have been steadily increasing theirs; Iran, Pakistan, India and others have made tremendous advances in their nuclear programs. I want to make their weapons so obsolete that they no longer pose a threat to my allies. Marcus Verron and his team have built a prototype of a ship we call an Interceptor. My original plan was to sell two of these ships to the United States, I suppose now I will need to build more. These ships will be positioned on the North American continent in order to intercept and destroy any missiles fired at the United States and then immediately destroy the location of the launch. Armed with FTL, or Faster Than Light missiles, 20mm Laser Gatling guns and Photon Torpedoes, these ships can be deployed and intercept even the fastest missiles on Earth. Capable of speeds in excess of Mach 80 or over 60,000 mph, these ships can take-off, locate a missile and shoot it down, with total destruction and no radioactive fallout, using whitematter warheads in FTL Missiles. They will also be capable of low orbit maneuvers, such as shooting down satellites or even making repairs on them. The advanced targeting systems designed by Chase and Daniel Verron can automatically lock on a target and fire with 100% accuracy. Each ship can carry more defensives weapons than these named countries have nukes and can target multiple missiles simultaneously. I plan to build the ships, supply the weapons and train your pilots.”

  “Now for Dr. Eichelman; I know you’re anxious to advance the capabilities of the United States Space program. NASA will be a focal point of some of our more advanced technology. Please keep in mind, if you buy a spaceship from us you will most definitely make obsolete everything and everyone currently involved in your space program. Now there may still be a market for launching a satellite for the private sector, but if you have a ship that can take-off and land regardless of weather conditions, pick and choose any trajectory you desire, is equipped with anti-gravity, anti-drag, artificial gravity, g-force regulators, whitematter reactors capable of 5LS, enough capacity inside the cargo bay to carry two C-5A Galaxy’s, and make trips to Mars or the Moon a simple day trip then I suppose boosters will soon be useless. In addition, I plan to establish bases for allied forces on Mars and the Moon. These can be used as research facilities for those countries that join the alliance. They will also be used for defensive tracking stations for detecting any incoming ships, just like the ones on Molnar that detected the Jhxunka when they were still nearly a light year away. I will also train your pilots and crews on the operation of the ship. I might add, this would be a perfect command position for Admiral Sullivan, since she has already been trained to fly Verron Spaceships. We do by the way have the capability to build very nice facilities on remote locations. We have them in every allied star system; a few are even on large asteroids. That technology would also be shared. By the way, if they are willing to relocate, Verron can probably use most of your NASA people in our own program. As you’ve already seen, we need more ships and people who know how to fly them. Does this sound like it will meet your needs?” NASA Director Eichelman, being a typical bureaucrat asked, “How much will one of these ships cost?” Paul smiled as he replied, “It’s sort of like a yacht, if you have to ask you probably can’t afford it. Seriously though, I think I can build you something that will get you to other star systems in your galaxy, make Mars and back a simple day trip and never use an ounce of fuel and with a useful life of easily 500 years, for about $50 billion.” The President almost choked and the NASA Director sat there running numbers through his head trying to determine how he could justify spending three years of his $17 billion dollar budget for one ship. Paul made no apologies, but added, “A ship like the R4 would take half the U.S. National budget to buy. I will give you terms, it’s not like you will wear it out. I’m open to negotiations on how long we could spread out the payments. Prince Michael handles that sort of thing; I know we can work something out satisfactory to everyone.” He couldn’t resist making a slight joke, saying, “Do think you’ll need a co-signer?” The President laughed and blurted out, “Yeah, Bill Gates.”

  “Now, I’d like to move on to my economic proposal. As some of you may have figured out, we have been working with John Deere for a while now in a joint venture manufacturing farm equipment. They will hold the exclusive rights for five years to all licensing of Verron antigravity farm machinery. It will be offered to their competitors, but agreements will be made with them. I plan to approach BMW to form a joint-venture with them.” He looked at his Uncle Mike and continued, saying, “Verron makes one of the finest personal hover transports available. We’ve looked at the ones on Xhondar I and we feel ours are slightly better, but we do share one thing in common with Xhondar, our vehicles are ugly and totally lacking in style.” He saw his Uncle Mike smile at the comment and nod his agreement and heard Mahala and Mr. Hontro say to each other; “Here go more changes for Xhondar.” Paul continued, “I personally think BMW is the best looking car on Earth. I’d like to have them work with us to design better looking cars for the Xhondarian and Verron market. In return, they will have the exclusive rights to sell those same vehicles on Earth at an agreed upon time in the future. I also plan to offer Verron whitematter batteries to automobile manufacturers that make electric powered vehicles.” He turned to Transportation Secretary Gerald Cox and asked, “Mr. Secretary, did you have a chance to evaluate the battery and conversion kit I provided you?” Mr. Cox stood and let everyone know that the Fiat 500e had been running non-stop even as he left for this meeting, for over two weeks. It had been maintaining a steady track speed of 75 MPH and they were rotating drivers. The battery indicator still had not dropped below the fully charged level.” Everyone looked amazed at the results. Paul informed them, “These can be made for anyone’s electric automobile. They won’t be cheap, but they will provide power for a very long time.”

  “Let’s move on to another subject near and dear to my heart. OPEC has been controlling the price of oil for way too long. I also suspect that a good portion of those revenues end up in the hands of our terrorist friends around the world. I have oil, lots of oil; more oil than all the oil wells on Earth combined when they were still full. I intend to make the United States and her allies the ones in control of world oil prices. I have the ability to pump oil from Verron directly to a location on Earth several thousand light years away. I currently do it for Xhondar I and II, Klelta and Tecalna. Soon I will add Darsai to the list. Here’s where things may get a little touchy. The technology of how I can transport something from here to anywhere in the universe is one of Verron’s most closely guarded secrets. For me to put an exit gateway on
Earth I will require absolute sovereignty over the location where I build it.”

  He had General Hall put a map on the big screen showing the location of Camp Shelby in Mississippi.” Continuing, he said, “This would be a perfect location. Camp Shelby is remotely located, yet is close to the majority of U.S. oil refineries, numerous ports available for shipping and economic areas that need the boost that I hope to provide. On this location I propose to build a tank farm large enough provide oil for the U.S and the rest of the world who want to buy from them, a refinery that is so efficient that we can do contract work for oil companies, still make a profit and be inexpensive enough that those oil companies can sell gasoline at less than half of the current price and still make a reasonable profit. On this same location I plan to build a Verron Embassy, travel center and import/export warehouses to handle our exports to Earth and your exports to Verron, we will also build a hospital that will provide services to those employed at the location and the surrounding community. It is our intention to staff the facilities with local talent in a ratio the same as the state of Mississippi’s demographics, in other words, it will have a fifty-fifty ratio of black and white employees, just like the state population mix. I also hope to work with Georgia-Pacific to see if we can come to an agreement on a timber processing facility. We have discovered that on Verron we can grow a white pine, maple, black cherry, black walnut and even oak trees from seedling to a 24 inch or greater diameter in two years or less. Compare this to the norm of 5-7 years minimum on Earth and I believe we can offer a lot to the timber industry on Earth. I believe once we’re up and operational we should employ 50 to 100,000 people in Southern Mississippi. What I propose is, that you allow me to purchase all or a large portion of this property and it be classified as a sovereign nation, under Verron law and Verron protection. Not drastically different than the current Indian nations, except the Federal Government would have no jurisdiction inside the boundaries of the property. It would be Verron on Earth. I would also agree to locate oil and distribution centers in other allied countries if we can agree to something similar. Now, let me add, this could be the deal breaker. If I can’t do things my way on this issue, I will still do the military and NASA proposals, but the rest would be questionable at best. I will not allow someone else to control my resources or my technology.”