Tree of Liberty (Book 3 of The Humanity Unlimited Saga)

by Terry Mixon

  The doctor had a way with people. He got along with everyone. It was all part of his bedside manner and general personality.

  Cook smiled more widely as she shook Granger’s hand. “It’s good to see you again, Todd. Though I still can’t get over your accent. It throws me for a loop every time.”

  That made Brenda laugh. “I’ve known him since we were kids. It still messes me up. How can somebody that looks like he just stepped off a flight from Japan sound like he came from Appalachia?”

  “It’s a gift,” Granger said with a grin. “What can I do for you ladies?”

  Cook hefted the cat carrier. “Agent Cabot says that you have a scanning device that might be able to take a good look at my cat.”

  Granger raised an eyebrow. “That may be one of the most unusual requests I’ve had in recent memory. Though I suppose there’s some sense to it. You are one of the most wanted women in the world after all. I’ll wager dropping in on your vet might be a poor idea.

  “I’m a human doctor, not a veterinarian, though. Perhaps if you tell me what the problem is, I might be able to work something out, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.”

  The man bent over and peered into the carrier. “The little thing looks healthy enough. She’s a cutie by the way. At least I assume she’s female from the size.”

  Cook set the cat carrier onto the examination table. “I’d rather not lead you down any specific trail of thought. Could you just give her a general examination and tell us what you think?”

  Brenda nodded when he glanced at her. “It’s actually more important than you think. Be thorough.”

  “Okay. She doesn’t bite or scratch, does she?”

  Cook shook her head. “Not that I’ve seen. She’s one of the friendliest cats I’ve ever met.”

  Granger shrugged, took the cat out of the carrier, and began examining it. After a few minutes, he carried it to a hooded machine with a gurney that slid inside it.

  “This might look like an MRI machine, but it’s capable of several different modes of scanning. As I told you before, I don’t know that much about cats so I don’t know if I’ll be able to determine anything. Also, if she doesn’t stay still, the scan will be useless.”

  Cook stepped up beside the gurney and squatted so that her face was just a few inches in front of the cat’s. “Sit still for a minute.”

  To Brenda’s amazement, the cat promptly sat down and curled her tail around her legs.

  “It’s almost as if she understood you,” Granger said with a smile. “Let’s see if we can take advantage of this miracle.”

  He gently pushed the gurney under the scanning hood and stepped back to the controls. A few deft motions and a low hum emanated from the machine.

  “All done. Go ahead and get her out and we’ll take a look at what the scan recorded.”

  To all appearances, the cat was sitting in exactly the same position it had been when they rolled the gurney into the machine. Cook picked the cat up and held her to her chest, petting her. That seemed to be precisely what the creature wanted because it snuggled against her and began purring loudly.

  Granger brought up an image on the built-in screen and stared at it. “What the hell?”

  To Brenda’s inexperienced eye, that didn’t look like a cat. She wasn’t sure what it was. “What are you seeing?”

  The doctor turned and squinted toward Cook. “That cat doesn’t have any internal organs. Hell, it doesn’t even look biological. What is going on?”

  “That’s what I was hoping you folks could help us figure out.” Cook turned her attention to Brenda. “Is that enough evidence for you to accept what I’m telling you?”

  “Provisionally,” Brenda said. “I do want to see this with my own eyes. What does this have to do with the Asharim? Hell, if this planet was there before they even visited us, what has it got to do with humanity?”

  “I haven’t got the slightest idea. I’m hoping you can provide me with someone to help us get into the computer systems on that station. Not only would it be useful to find their research notes, I’d like to unlock the destination that Harry’s relatives used to escape in that ship. The longer they’re on the loose, the greater the chances that someone we can’t deal with is going to come visit us.”

  “I’ve already taken some steps in that direction,” Brenda said. “I’ll have a guy here in the morning that might be able to help you crack those computers. Not only is he one hell of a hacker, he’s made a specialty of porting that skill over to Asharim technology. His name’s Kevin McHugh.”

  “Excellent. In exchange for your help, I’m willing to share everything we find there with you and your people. That world looks like one huge city. A megalopolis spread across every single bit of land.

  “We haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of their technology. Everything is in a vacuum and frozen. It’s going to be in amazing condition, I think. I don’t know if they were more advanced than the Asharim, but just based on this cat I would suspect that they had some areas they were ahead in.”

  Brenda considered the cat. “It’s really damned hard to argue with that. I can already see one aspect of technology that these people had the Asharim beat in. You say this critter was frozen for over a thousand years but came back to life as soon as you thawed it. Smaller Asharim power supplies would have failed long ago.”

  Cook’s eyes narrowed. “I hadn’t thought of that. Good point. Oh, and I have another present for you.”

  The woman dug a phone out of her pocket and handed it to her.

  “I’ve got plenty of burner phones,” Brenda assured the woman.

  “Not like this one. You don’t have to destroy this one when you’re done. It’s linked into the carrier networks with an artificial SIM card. Software in the carrier will give it a different identification every time it’s used. Basically, it clones a nearby phone and pretends to be it.

  “But that’s not the biggest thing. It also incorporates quantum technology. Something that Clayton Rogers had been working on. There are only four of these phones in existence, but when communicating between these units, the transmissions are undetectable. No way that anyone can intercept what we’re saying.”

  “Seriously?”

  “That’s what I’m told. The range is also much greater. It won’t use any of the equipment here on Earth or in orbit, but it should be able to call someone on the other side of the globe. I have one unit, Harry will have one in a few hours, Rex has one, and your group will have the last. The numbers are in the contact list.”

  Luckily, Brenda had someone who understood quantum mechanics very well. Victor Holyfield was a doctoral candidate in particle physics. He’d be able to use words small enough to explain what this meant to her.

  Even so, she already grasped the implications. They’d built a level of trust with Cook and Rogers that might allow them to become real allies. That was a hell of a lot more valuable than a toy.

  She glanced at her watch. “We’ve got a couple of hours until your hacker arrives. Why don’t we have breakfast and go over what you found in more detail? Then we can work on how my organization can do the most to help you leverage what you’ve found.”

  Cook smiled at her. “That would be perfect. Please tell me you have blueberries.”

  “I’m sure we can find some. Thanks for your help, Todd.”

  “My pleasure. If you ladies don’t mind, I’m going back to bed. Somehow, I suspect tomorrow is going to be a busy day.”

  Chapter Ten

  It took Clayton twenty minutes to convince Krueger that they had to meet with the woman and her army. He understood why the man was reticent. Once they revealed themselves, there was no going back.

  Yet they didn’t have much of a choice. Now that these people knew someone was around, they would look hard to find whoever was controlling the drone.

  Simply based upon the fact that the flying machine hadn’t completely discombobulated the viewers indicated they’d seen its like befor
e. Unless the Americans wanted to be thought of as hostile, they had to create a different impression and soon.

  Even though Krueger eventually conceded the point, he’d insisted the contact happen in stages. He’d sent scouts to keep an eye on the Army while they put together a group to meet with them.

  “Honestly, I think we should send as small party as possible,” Clayton said. “If things go wrong, I’d prefer it to leave some options on the table. I think I should meet them alone.”

  The Navy commander raised an eyebrow. “That’s risky as hell. Why would you volunteer to do something like that?”

  Clayton shrugged. “Do you happen to have a better negotiator in your back pocket? While I’ve never dealt with this particular situation before, I don’t believe they’ll see me as a threat, so they’ll allow me to approach. A larger group might come under fire.”

  “I can see the logic in that,” Krueger conceded, “but why not take one or two other people? Having a few extra bodies isn’t going to raise the threat level that much. They have an army.”

  “If I’m going to put myself in danger, why put other people in the pot with me? If these people aren’t willing to discuss things in good faith, that seems like the safest move.”

  The officer shook his head. “And a dangerous one to our eventual chances of getting home. You have a lot more knowledge about this alien technology than anyone else in our group does. I understand that even your insight is limited, but ours is nonexistent. We didn’t even know these gates existed until after we walked through one. What else don’t we know?”

  Clayton nodded. “That’s a point. Still, my computer has every bit of information I have. If things go sour, you’ll be able to study the files. As long as the battery holds out, anyway.

  “In any case, time is wasting. We need to send someone before they conclude the drone is hostile. Frankly, they’ve probably already assumed that. It’s going to be difficult for me to convince them that we’re harmless. Spending extra time talking with you isn’t going to help me do that.”

  The Navy man sighed. “I’ll have someone escort you down the hill. The trail is rough and no one seems to have used it in a long time. It’s not like the one their party took to the crown of the hill. It has seen occasional traffic.

  “Our scouts have been down this one several times and we’ve blazed a trail that won’t be obvious to any observers. We’ll also send a small group with you to provide cover in case you need to retreat.”

  Clayton cocked his head little. “You mean like snipers?”

  “That’s what I mean. I’ll give them orders not to interfere unless they believe your life is in danger. If you want to risk capture, I can’t stop you. Well, I suppose I could, but I sort of agree with everything you’ve said.

  “Nevertheless, if it looks as if somebody is going to shoot you, one of my people will put a bullet in their heads. I hope that they’ll be able to give you enough covering fire to retreat if that happens. We’ll turn this hill into a fortress if we have to.”

  Clayton stood and brushed his pants off. “It’s my job to make certain we don’t have to. Under the right circumstances, you can make a deal with anyone. You just have to understand what they need and come up with a way to provide that in exchange for something you want.

  “They have detailed knowledge of this world that we don’t. If there’s something our technology can allow us to do for them, it may very well be that we can come to a straightforward solution to our problem.”

  The officer didn’t seem convinced. “They’re obviously outfitted for war. I’m not sure that anything we can provide will make much of a difference.

  “Yes, our technology is of a higher caliber than anything we’ve seen them use, but there aren’t that many of us and we didn’t bring a lot of ammunition. I was only supposed to make a brief foray into New Zealand and take you into custody, not fight a war.”

  Clayton smiled. “As you well know, fighting isn’t the only thing that can be brought to the table in a combat situation. Gather your men and let’s get this going.”

  Krueger rose to his feet and summoned several of his men. He gave them instructions in a low voice and then came back over to shake Clayton’s hand.

  “Good luck and be careful.”

  Gunnery Sergeant Danvers led the small group of men that escorted Clayton to the bottom of the hill. Frankly, Clayton was glad he had the man. He didn’t see the trail at all. It just looked like rough hillside to him.

  Thankfully, they managed to get him to the bottom of the steep slope without him breaking his neck. Once he was on relatively level ground, Clayton felt a little bit more confident about his ability to move around.

  “The army’s that way,” Danvers said, gesturing toward the forest in front of them. “I’ve got two guys out keeping an eye on the area between here and there. As of five minutes ago, the path forward was still clear. We’ll accompany you until we get to the edge of the clearing on the far side.”

  “Thank you, Gunnery Sergeant. I hope I won’t require your services to extract me.”

  The man gave him a humorless smile. “Me, too.”

  The journey through the rough woods wasn’t nearly as difficult as climbing down the hillside, but it still took longer than Clayton would’ve liked. He was grateful that he’d been dressed for the wilds of New Zealand when he’d come through the gate. The vegetation would’ve torn his regular business suit and loafers to shreds in minutes.

  By the time they’d arrived at the edge of the clearing where the army had bivouacked, almost an hour had passed since the strangers had spotted the American drone.

  Just looking at them, Clayton couldn’t see any indication that they were overly concerned about coming under immediate attack. Still, he wasn’t a soldier. He didn’t pretend to know what that type of reaction would look like.

  “Be careful, sir,” Danvers said. “If we have to start shooting, there’s no walking that back.”

  He clapped the other man on the shoulder. “Then let’s not be hasty. I’d prefer it if you only took action under the direst of circumstances.”

  “Yes sir.”

  Clayton sighed, stretched his back, and stepped out into the clearing. No one noticed him immediately, so he continued walking slowly forward.

  He’d made it about a third of the way to the nearest tents when some of the soldiers noted his approach. He kept his pace easy and his hands in plain sight. Hopefully the fact that he wasn’t carrying a weapon would preclude them taking any precipitous actions.

  Half a dozen men came from the camp with their weapons at the ready. Clayton was no firearms expert, but it certainly looked as though these were relics from the Revolutionary War or based upon them.

  When they shouted at him to stop, he did so. He kept his hands out to the sides at waist height, palms toward them.

  “I’m unarmed,” he said. “I mean you no harm.”

  One of the men came forward after handing his rifle to one of the others and roughly searched Clayton. Undoubtedly, he was looking for weapons. His modern clothing seemed to confuse the man. Understandable.

  Once his new captor seemed satisfied that Clayton was unarmed, he grabbed him by the arm and dragged him forward without a word. The other men formed up around them, making certain that Clayton had no avenue of escape.

  The people in the camp stared at them curiously as they made their way toward the central tent. The looks were not overtly hostile, but they weren’t very friendly either.

  When the group arrived at the large tent, the same group of individuals he’d observed watching the drone came out to meet him.

  It would be interesting to see if the woman took a direct role in questioning him or allowed the senior military commander to do so. If these people were indeed from revolutionary times, it was entirely possible that the woman’s role was constrained in some manner.

  She corrected that notion immediately. “Who are you and what do you want?”

  Her
accent was quite distinctive. At first blush, he was tempted to say it was Jamaican, but that didn’t sound quite right either. It was definitely something from the Caribbean. Interesting.

  “My name is Clayton Rogers and I represent the people that control the device you were observing an hour ago. We would like to talk. We mean you no harm.”

  The woman snorted. “Well of course you don’t. Why would you? And what is that accent? I can’t quite place it.”

  He blinked in surprise. This was a turn of conversation he hadn’t expected. He wasn’t quite sure how to respond. How could a group of armed people not regard a stranger as a potential threat?

  She must’ve found something in his expression amusing because she laughed. “You’re an odd bird. Wherever you come from, you must know the fact you are a human makes you our ally. Unless of course you’re telling me that you’re a traitor.”

  “I’m not, but my story is somewhat more complicated than you’d expect. If you don’t see me as a threat, perhaps we could speak more privately.”

  The woman considered him for a long moment, and then gestured for his guards to take him into the tent.

  Large tapestries covered the sides of the tent, thick carpets covered the ground, and ornate wooden furniture filled much of the interior. It all looked quite opulent.

  The woman sat in a padded chair with armrests. Two of the men brought out a stool at her gesture and forced him to sit. The other men that looked like military officers arrayed themselves against the side of the tent. The woman was definitely in command.

  She lounged in her chair and considered him at length.

  “I cannot say that your clothing strikes me as familiar. To my mind, that means you must come from afar. Perhaps from one of the other colonies?”

  Clayton smiled a little. “I’m not familiar with the colonies to which you refer. Are you perhaps acquainted with the gates between worlds?”

  “Of course. Hence the colonies to which I refer.”