by Saxon Andrew
“I’ll tell him.”
“Thank you, Son.” The call disconnected and Whitehall smiled. The young boy was very much like his father. He turned on the interstate and headed south into Virginia. Two hours later he turned off the main road and drove up the dirt road. He arrived at the tree marked with yellow paint and parked the car. He got out and started walking through the forest up the steep hill. Forty minutes later, he crested the hill and saw the huge spaceship in the clearing. He bent down and caught his breath. He was out of shape. He straightened up and heard, “You made more noise than six elephants moving through the trees.” He looked up and saw the young boy and his sister move out from behind a tree with sniper rifles in their arms.
“Yes, I suppose I did.”
Stella ran forward and hugged him, “It’s good to see you, Grandfather.”
Whitehall’s head went back and realized for the first time that he was their grandfather. He returned the young girl’s hug, “It’s good to see you, too.”
Jim smiled and said, “Follow me.” Stella held on to Whitehall’s waist as they walked to the cave. Whitehall found something had changed in him. He would go back to his former position. He could do more to protect them from there than being out of it. They walked into the cave and Emily jumped up and ran into his arms. For the first time since he had lost his wife to a drunk driver, he felt happy. It had been so long since he felt it.
• • •
The President looked at the other World Leaders on the row of displays in the former war room. They were all arguing with each other and he saw himself in their words. Their suspicions were running rampant and it started when they asked why he called the meeting.
“Why have you called this meeting?”
“Admiral Whitehall has asked that I set it up.”
The Premier said, “I thought he resigned.”
“He did.”
“Then why did you do what he wanted?”
“It seemed like the thing to do.”
The leaders then started into it and had kept at it for thirty minutes. The president wondered how long he would have to listen to them but then the main display in the front of the room activated and he saw Essay Connor sitting beside the Prophet. No one had actually seen him prior to this moment but it had to be him. He was one of the species in the last recording. Connor looked out of the display as the leaders became silent. He said, “I’m going to play a recording of what’s happened since I’ve been gone. You will view it and keep your mouths shut!”
The leaders were offended by his remark but then they saw a planet growing on their monitors. They saw the conversation between the Prophet and the leader of the alien species on the planet and after it was completed, they felt immense shame. They didn’t need to be ordered to silence. None of them wanted to speak.
Connor looked out of their displays and said, “All of you are either going to have to believe the Prophet is a real friend or you will need to resign your positions and find someone to replace you that does!”
Michaelov looked at Connor, “How could we know what he was doing. He could have been taking the control systems to an alien species that would pose a danger to us.”
Kam looked out of the display and said, “Once you’ve built your ships, would you go to my world and attack it?”
Michaelov’s eyes narrowed, “We would never do that!”
“Why not?”
“Because you’ve come here to save us. We would never harm you or your world!”
Kam stared at the Soviet Leader, “Then why would the Bosrean be any different?”
Michaelov stared at Kam and could see the gratitude of the alien at being given the controls in his mind. He took a deep breath and shook his head, “I’ve been stupid.”
Connor nodded, “All of you have. None of you have taken the position that we left to help us. All of you fell back into your old suspicious behaviors. That is unacceptable!”
The leader of Japan said, “We arrested the scientist that assisted you.”
Connor looked at him and said, “From this moment forward, that scientist will have total control over our ship building efforts.” Essay saw their surprise and he stood up, “I mean total control! You will do what he wants without question. He has demonstrated that he at least knows who can be trusted and who can’t.”
Kam nodded, “I agree with this decision.”
Hodges leaned forward, “Will the wiring harness you’ve brought back with you make a difference?”
“We’re taking them to the building site momentarily. Plan to meet again this time two days from now!”
The display went dark and the Premier said, “It looks like the Apostle has taken control.”
Hodges looked at him, “Do you think that’s a bad thing?”
“Quite the contrary. It’s the best thing that could happen. He, like that scientist, is beholden to no one but the planet. I envy his ability to do it. All of us are mired in our former distrust of each other. That will have to change or like he said, we’ll need to put others in our places to do what must be done.”
“But we didn’t do anything wrong?”
The Premier looked at the Mexican Leader, “What do you think we would have done if we were asked to provide those control systems to take to another alien species?” He waited and saw the leaders’ expressions. He nodded, “They would still be here while we argued about doing it. I for one will no longer question anything the Prophet wants done. I suggest everyone does the same thing.”
Hodges nodded slightly and then saw his small display come on. Whitehall was on it, “I’ll be back in tomorrow.”
“Thank you, Admiral. I’m sorry for my behavior.”
“Let’s put that behind us and try to avoid making similar mistakes in the future.” Hodges nodded and the display went dark.
• • •
Andres sat in his cell and felt his hunger. The ship was late. He sighed and heard the cell door at the end of the hall open. Two guards ran down the hall and opened his cell. They bowed and said, “Please come with us.”
Andres smiled. It must have just arrived. He looked at the guards, “Would it be possible to get something to eat?”
The guards nodded so hard he thought they might break their necks. One sprinted up the hall and the other continued bowing. He wondered what was going on. After he looked at the meal put before him as well as seeing everyone he passed bow to him, he decided something had changed. Two hours later, the spaceship arrived with the wiring harnesses and he knew a giant step forward had taken place.
• • •
Andres looked at Connor on his monitor, “This wiring harness you brought back with you is mind boggling.”
“Why is that?”
“There isn’t any insulation on it. Every wire is made of some kind of metal.”
Kam smiled, “The metal is the insulation. The interior of the wire is made of superconductive material.”
Andres nodded, “There is no possible way for us to duplicate this. The metals used to make it exist nowhere on Earth.”
“You won’t have to do it. The Bosrean will send us as many as we need. We will also need to send them completed control systems.”
“That’s easy. We’re manufacturing them much faster than we can build hulls. This wiring harness is incredible. It can handle the full power of the new reactors.”
“Have you gotten a reading on the force field and the power feeding the disintegrators?”
“They’ve been increased at least six times what they were.” Andres paused and said, “I do have one concern.”
Connor didn’t like his tone, “What’s that?”
“We’ve answered the power delivery issues so we can start really mass producing the hulls. I’m concerned that sending the control systems and receiving the wiring harnesses will slow us down.”
Kam smiled, “Your new ships are much smaller than this Traugh vessel but they do have a landing bay that can hold a hundred harn
esses. Once your ships are built, you can use them to make the transfers.”
“Would they trust us above their planet with a warship?”
“Would you trust them above yours?”
The corner of Andres mouth went up, “I guess I’m being stupid.”
“You thought of them first. That’s not stupid.”
“What about pilots to fly them?”
Connor looked at Andres and then looked at Kam, “I haven’t even thought about that. I guess I assumed it would be a hundred years before we needed to use them.”
“You should put Admiral Whitehall in charge of selecting them. You can assist him in the effort.”
Connor looked at Kam, “Do you think we should start using them now?”
“The more you can do to delay them, the better your future chances against them.”
Essay looked at Andres on the display, “When will the first ships come on line?”
“We have three ready now. The numbers will really grow after eight months when the other building sites are completed.”
Kam looked at Andres, “Did you connect the lavender colored button?”
Andres hesitated and Connor said, “What does that do?”
Andres shrugged, “It’s a self-destruct button.”
“Have you connected it?”
Andres blew out a breath, “I’ve had it connected but a code will have to be input before it’ll be operational.”
Kam nodded, “That is wise.”
Connor looked at him, “Why?”
“What if someone unstable is flying the ship? You don’t want that ship going up while it’s on the planet’s surface. You also don’t want a mistake during battle and have it pressed accidently.”
Essay shook his head and looked at Kam, “Can you get Whitehall on the channel where we could discuss this.”
Kam nodded and reached for his control panel.
Chapter Ten
Whitehall and Connor sat on the huge Traugh Warship and listened to Andres make a suggestion. “Why don’t we give you one of the new warships and train two pilots to fly the other two ships to transport the control systems to the Bosrean.”
“Why would you want me to take a new ship?”
Andres shrugged, “I’m going to assume that you have more important things to do than be a delivery pilot.”
Kam smiled at Andres, “That still doesn’t answer why you want me to take a new ship.”
“I’d like to take a shot at updating your ship.”
“What?”
“We can put four reactors on your ship along with a new brace of disintegrators. We can wire them to be controlled from the bridge.”
“Bridge?”
Andres nodded, “That’s what we call the control center on a ship.”
“Oh.” Kam was quiet for a moment and then said, “Do you intend to use the ship or give it back to me?”
“Whatever you decide is fine.”
Kam looked at Whitehall and saw his concern. He looked back at Andres, “That would make this ship the most powerful warship in our arsenal.” Andres nodded.
Kam stared at Andres and Whitehall said, “What are you thinking?”
“I’ve never fought in a battle with other ships. I stole the ship and ran having never been on a spaceship before. If you intend to use it against the Traugh, then you should take possession of it.”
Whitehall looked at Andres, “You have an idea on how to use it, don’t you?”
“I was thinking it would be a perfect scout to go and take a look at what the Traugh are doing. I’ve looked at the computer and it has all the Traugh identifier codes.”
Whitehall looked at Kam, “Would that help?”
“Actually, it would. The Traugh are mercenaries and most of their ships are owned by those that can afford to buy them. The Traugh that own them pretty much go wherever they choose when they’re not involved in an invasion or taking possession of a planet.”
Connor looked at Andres, “Wouldn’t adding disintegrators make it stand out from a normal ship?”
Andres shrugged, “We don’t intend to put them on the hull.”
Kam’s head went back, “What?”
“We’ve looked at the design of the disintegrators and they’re much larger than they need to be. Our new design will allow us to put them inside the hull and have the barrel extended through a cover when they’re needed.”
“How will they be aimed?”
“The assembly will be mounted to a swivel mount that can rotate 360 degrees. The current disintegrators on your ship can only move 180 degrees and they’re pretty slow doing it. I took a wiring harness and used the metal inside the wires to make the swivel. The new disintegrator will turn a complete circle in less than a second.”
Kam shook his head, “This is something we need to share with the Bosrean.”
“We could also use some of that metal in bulk form.”
“Give me a copy of the diagrams and schematics of the new weapon.”
“Have you decided about the update on your ship?”
“You can have it. The three ships you have ready can carry as much as my ship. I need two pilots trained to fly them so we can deliver another load of control systems with the plans.”
Connor looked at Whitehall, “Have you decided who will pilot these ships?”
“Obviously, the Prophet will be flying one. I would suggest that you fly the other.”
“Why me?”
“Because you are now in charge and need to know how these vessels perform. You can step out when we start formal pilot selections.”
“What about the third?”
Whitehall tilted his head, “Andres would be a good choice but I can see we need him here.” Whitehall thought about the issue and then looked at Kam, “Prophet, how dangerous is it to fly these ships back and forth to the Bosrean?”
Kam shrugged, “Actually, there’s no danger at all. The new ships should make the trip to their planet in less than eight hours.”
Connor looked at him, “Are you sure about that? It took us a little over forty hours to make the trip.”
“The new force field makes all the difference. With its increased power, it will outperform my Traugh ship.”
Whitehall nodded, “I’m not prepared to put anyone on one of these ships unless I really trust them.” He looked at Connor, “What about Jim?”
“WHAT?!”
“He drives that Jeep like a pro. He could do it and the two of you will be spending time together.” Connor shook his head and Whitehall shrugged, “Emily could go with him until he’s up to speed and the other two could make the trip with you.”
“Why are you suggesting this?”
“About the only ones I trust at the moment are sitting in this room. Outside of this room, I only trust our family.”
Connor looked at Kam, “He could do it. The computers will teach them how to fly the ship and once they complete the tutorial, it won’t be difficult.”
“But the Leaders will have a fit.”
“We’ll tell them Emily is flying the other ship and she’s an Airforce Colonel.”
Connor looked at Whitehall and shook his head, “I’m going to call them to come on board with us and see what Emily says.”
“Why don’t we go to the clearing and talk about it there?” Kam paused and looked at Andres, “I’ll turn my ship over to you and we’ll make the trip in one of the new ships. I want to see how it performs.”
Andres looked at the three and saw no one was speaking. “Well, alrighty then. Take the one with the number one on the hull.”
Connor shrugged and followed Andres toward the landing bay. Whitehall followed them and smiled. If something bad happened, at least his family would have a means of escaping. He worried that the missing Traugh Warship might cause the Traugh to go out searching for it. He suspected the Prophet agreed because he had the same concern. Kam looked at Andres, “We’ll need five more helmets put on board for them to go throu
gh the tutorial.” Andres lifted his cell phone and punched in some numbers. The five helmets were waiting for them when they arrived at the new ship.
• • •
Emily listened to the proposal and her eyes narrowed instantly, “You can’t be serious!”
Connor nodded, “I told them I thought the idea was way out there.”
Whitehall sighed and looked at the Prophet and saw him nod. “There’s another reason I suggested this.”
The five Connors turned to him. He could see the children were excited by the prospect but didn’t dare speak. They didn’t want to say anything that might spoil it. Essay said, “What reason would make this worth doing?”
“The Traugh have a missing warship. What if they start sending fleets out to find it?”
Connor stared at Jason and then looked at Kam, “Is that a possibility?”
“It is.”
“Why?”
“Because they have to know I wouldn’t stay inside the territory they control. I suspect they set traps around my planet. When I don’t show up there, they will look elsewhere.”
“Is there a possibility they would come here?”
Kam shrugged, “It’s a large universe but anything is possible.”
Jason looked at Connor, “If things go bad, your family would have a way to escape.”
Emily stared at her father and blew out a slow breath, “Then you need to have a ship too.”
“That won’t happen. The Leaders will object to that in the strongest way. Unfortunately, I’ve become too essential to moving the plans forward.”
Kam shrugged, “You could always pick him up if necessary.”
Connor looked at them and then looked at Jim, “What do you think about this?”
Jim shrugged, “They can’t know I’m actually flying the ship.”
“Why can’t I do the flying?”
Jim looked at Emily, “Michael needs you.” Emily stared at him and looked at Michael sleeping in her arms clutching his phone. She shook her head and after a moment, nodded. Jim shrugged, “You know that if you were flying the ship, Michael would be fighting to get away from Stella and me to get to you. He can be a load to handle.”