“That is something that you do not need to know.”
“Alright, what do you plan to do with the President?”
“He’s a problem -- I don’t believe simple blackmail will work with him. If I discredit him, then I lose power as well. However, some of his advisors can be bought.”
“Yes, like you bought me,” snapped Helen.
“Yes Helen, like I bought you. It’s time to stir the pot. The United Creyte Republic will not let relations between our two governments progress without the U.S. first surrendering Oria over to Creyte authorities.”
“Well, whoopee, so what do you want me to do about it?
“Why Helen, you’re President Ratherson’s trusted security advisor, with a blank check to further diplomatic relations between our two governments. Surely, you can think of something. I have all kinds of juicy information on the people you must manipulate.”
“I’m really starting to despise you, Retilia. You make my skin crawl. I’ll apply pressure to have Oria released into our custody. If that doesn’t work, I’m sure the Pentagon can work something out.”
Retilia rubbed his lizardy hands together, grinning at Helen knowing she was under his power. “That’s more like it Helen. Good. I’ll leave now and will be anxiously waiting for positive results.”
2 PM: Pentagon Spec. Mtg. with Joint Chiefs
The Pentagon gossip network was exploding with the latest developments of operation Laser Watch. The number of self-proclaimed experts on linking the latest press coverage of Oria’s arrest in West Virginia with Oria’s escapades in Ocean City was growing. Joint Chiefs participants had different opinions as to what was actually going on with the Air Force’s involvement with Oria.
General Bronson’s day was worsening. His head was pounding when his assistant informed him that the Joint Chiefs had summoned him to an emergency meeting. Bronson quickly dropped what he was working on and stormed out of his office seething mad to join the Joint Chief’s meeting already under way.
When Bronson entered the Chiefs usual briefing room, he saw several additions from OSD (Office of the Secretary of Defense). Bronson knew this meeting would turn into a real grilling session. As he approached his seat, the Chairman, General Pulte, along with the rest of the room became silent. Every eye in the room focused in on Bronson as he took his seat. Pulte glared at Bronson for 30 seconds.
“General Bronson. Are you not able to control your team? What in the world is going on? My phone lines are swamped with reporters, the White House wants to know why you messed up, and Helen Marshal wants your entire team fired!”
“Yes General. I know it looks bad.”
Pulte roared back, “Looks bad! General Bronson, need I remind you that this is a top priority set by the President. The man you are supposed to be following and getting information from now sits in jail. Your team is right at ground zero on this screw-up.”
Sitting in the hot seat, Bronson felt his head pound even harder. “General Pulte, I understand the situation. I’m also annoyed at the latest sequence of events. As a result, I have ordered bringing Oria in for questioning. As we speak, officers are working to gain custody of Oria from the Sheriff in West Virginia.”
“General Bronson, that won’t work,” replied Pulte shaking his head from side to side.
“Excuse me sir, we do have the President behind us?”
“That’s correct, General Bronson. However, the President isn’t willing to tangle with Senator Jenson of West Virginia. Sheriff Shepard is married to Jenson’s sister. It seems that he has been interrogating witnesses and they are no longer are collaborating your team’s version of the events leading to Oria’s arrest.”
Bronson took a deep gulp. He feared that he would have to expose more of his operation to set the facts straight. That was an unacceptable option. Bronson sat there trying to figure his way out of this big mess.
“General Pulte, that places us in a bind.” At that moment, Bronson’s smart phone signaled a new message. His team texted him information that neither the local DA nor Sheriff Shepard were budging from placing first degree murder charges against Oria, let alone releasing him into their custody. Bronson sat there reading the text wishing he could disappear right about now. Great, thought Bronson, he finished reading his page, scrubbed his face with his hands thinking his retirement can’t come soon enough.
“General Bronson, I can see from the look on your face that you must have received some more bad news.”
“Yes sir. It doesn’t look like we’ll gain custody of Oria short of a court fight. We don’t have time for this!”
“I’m in agreement with you. The Chiefs and I have already discussed this issue. We were considering having General Sloan and one of his Ranger squads assigned to Laser Watch.”
“Yes sir. That will complicate our operation.”
“General Bronson, as you know Senator Jenson is chairman of the committee that determines DOD funding. As a result of your fiasco in West Virginia, Jenson is demanding the shutdown of the STAR Hawks operation.”
Bronson’s headache intensified after this last remark. No quantity of aspirin would bring him relief. “That would be a serious mistake, General.”
“I agree. However, your team has placed themselves squarely on his hit list. Setting up a joint operation between your team and the Army may be enough to dodge this political bullet, at least for now.”
“Very well general, we still need to get Oria out of jail and into the Pentagon for questioning.”
Everyone sitting around the table nodded in agreement. Bronson felt another jolt of pain rocket through his head. Of course, they all wanted Oria brought in for questioning. Once they had him secure in the hallowed halls of the Pentagon, each of them would ramp up their efforts to take over some or all of the technology that Oria could provide. It would become another internal Pentagon political fiasco.
Bronson took a deep breath; he would need some strong allies to keep the dogs off Oria. At least Pulte would support him. It didn’t hurt to have Sloan assigned to his team either. Sloan was a straight shooter with strong political connections of his own.
General Sloan was excited to join Bronson’s team. He and Bronson had worked together successfully before and he looked forward working with him again. He interjected himself into the discussion.
“General Pulte, it appears that we will be unable to gain custody of Oria in the near future through normal channels. Should we consider other means?”
The room became silent. Everyone there knew exactly what Sloan was proposing and all had similar thoughts. Pulte broke the silence. “I agree. We will confer with the POTUS (President of the United States). In the meantime, General Sloan, use one of your teams and get them ready for the mission. I don’t believe we want to involve any of our allies for this one. There’s not enough time and there is too much at stake.”
The meeting broke up shortly after Pulte’s orders. Bronson and Sloan headed out of the briefing together and headed to Bronson’s office. There they could exchange information and start planning their mission.
5:30 PM: Oria contacts Ratface
Ratface was sitting at his boat rental shop eyeing the devices that Oria had slipped to him during his arrest. He wasn’t sure what they were and he knew better than to play with them. He had contacted several associates and asked them to meet at his house around 8PM that night. Without further directions from Oria, he was planning to use his team to break Oria out. It was a risk, but then, Ratface was use to taking risks. One of the devices started to vibrate suddenly interrupting his thoughts.
Ratface picked it up and examined it. A voice came over it. “Who’s there?”
Ratface thought it was a communications device and said into it, “This is Ratface, who’s this?”
“The device you are holding belongs to a friend of mine.”
Ratface stared at the device and said “and who might that be?”
The voice in the device said, “This device belongs
to Oria.”
Ratface replied, “Yes, I know Oria, he has run into some trouble. Is this Borella?”
“Affirmative, what do you know about my friend.”
“He has been arrested by a local sheriff on some trumped up charges of murder.”
“I see, Mr. Ratface. After I retrieve Oria from jail, we’ll be back in touch. You must be the person the Admiral trusted.”
Ratface said in a surprised voice “Admiral?” as he thought, “here I’m nothing but a retired navy chief and now I’m a key friend of an Admiral.”
“That’s right. Oria is one of the most famous Admirals in all of Azortec.”
“I see”, replied Ratface, “uh, Borella, do you need any help springing Oria?”
Borella laughed at Ratface’s question. Sometimes these Earthlings can be quite dense. “No, Mr. Ratface, I don’t need your help. Either Oria or myself will contact you later.”
Captain Borella had the ships sensors locate Oria. They had been making limited use of the sensors to reduce the risk of the Creytes locating the Hercules. When Borella finally located Oria, he waited until Oria was alone to beam him back on board the Hercules.
Captain Borella quickly filled in Oria on his conversations with Ratface and the latest developments with Retilia and the Pentagon. The Creyte situation greatly complicated matters. The Creytes looked like the good-guys while they set Oria up as nothing more than a lunatic and a common criminal.
Oria used the ship’s CON to contact Ratface. He had his communications officer text Ratface and waited for a returned call.
Ratface was just climbing into his hummer when the communicator vibrated again. Ratface answered, “Hello is this Borella again.”
Oria replied “No my friend, sorry to disappoint you.”
Ratface immediately recognized Oria’s voice and replied, “It’s good to hear your voice again sir.” Ratface felt compelled to respect Oria’s rank even though he wasn’t technically in the service anymore.
“It’s good to speak with you too Ratface. Did you assemble a team?”
“Yes sir, there’re supposed to meet at my place tonight around 8PM.”
“Excellent, prepare them to beam aboard the Hercules around 8:30. Explain to them that their trip will be like taking a ride on a Star Trek transporter.”
“Ok, this sounds like we are going for a wild ride. This should be an interesting adventure.”
“More than you know Ratface. In addition, I want to initiate you into the first Earth contingent of the Azortec Federation. Eventually, I hope to have the U.S. military set up as a member. Is that acceptable to you?”
“Yes sir.”
“Good. Then Lieutenant, prepare your team for transport at 8:30PM sharp.”
“Yes sir” Ratface was sitting in his truck speechless. He had been swearing at officers most of his military career. Now he was one of them and he hoped that would translate to being an officer in the U.S. Military.
7:30 PM: Karen starts Space Station Mission
Karen sat in the pilot seat of her space shuttle as the crew of the 797 transporting her ship at 50,000 ft. prepared to release the shuttle. Normally, Karen always felt a rush at this moment. This time was different. She knew the General had detailed her on this mission to get her away from Oria. She was worried about Oria and feared she might not get the opportunity to be with him again. In addition, she was afraid the events of the last few days had hurt her career.
The 797 took a sharp dive releasing the shuttle. At that precise moment, Karen ignited the shuttle’s engines and immediately the shuttle shot forward with the slower 797 quickly disappearing from view. Karen gently pulled back on the stick placing the vehicle at a 10% climb rate. It took about 10 minutes for the shuttle to reach an initial orbit at an altitude of 300 kilometers and an orbit velocity of 29,000 kilometers per hour. The next step was to continue accelerating around Earth using Earth’s gravitational force to catapult the shuttle into a higher orbit. It took approximately 90 minutes to make one orbit at the current speed and altitude.
The first trip around the earth seemed to take forever to Karen. In earlier trips, the time always went fast. Now she had a lot on her mind. Karen was considering calling her younger brother Henry. Henry was a very successful business attorney. If anyone knew who to recommend helping Oria and anything implicating him, it was Henry. Henry and Karen had always been close. When they were kids, Karen was always looking out for Henry. The other kids liked to pick on him directly because of his academic success and nerd-like appearance. As Henry grew older and picked up a few years of law under his belt, he became more and more of an advisor to Karen.
Karen’s current objective was to reach the space station and bring them supplies. The station was in an orbit at an altitude of 5,000 kilometers. Once there, she would dock her ship to the station and spend the night. In the morning, their plan was to unload the supplies and refuel the space station. On her current mission plan, Karen should reach the space station at 11PM.
8:00 PM: Ratface’s team meets at his house
Ratface’s house looked like a party was getting started as his band of warriors showed up. The assembled team included a retired Air Force fighter pilot, a retired Navy fighter pilot, four former Seals, three retired Rangers, and two retired Marines. Every single member of the team was a combat veteran. It was an old bunch, and they all looked like their physiques had seen better days.
Ratface was not releasing any information to his team. Everyone owed Ratface in some way and trusted him implicitly with their lives. They knew that Ratface would fill them in when the time was right.
Once everyone arrived, Ratface asked everyone to join him in his living room.
“Alright, you bunch of no-goods; it’s about time to start our party. There’s no simple way to tell you bunch of thugs what’s in store for you. Now, I know some of you have heard of Star Trek.”
“Oh, come on Ratface, we didn’t come here for some stupid trekie party. What’s the real scoop?”
“I should have guessed that some of you ladies have no imagination. I invited you guys for the ultimate Star Trek party.”
“Yeah, right, Ratface, or should we call you Sissy Face now?”
“That depends, if I told you guys what’s about to happen, you’d all faint from fear.”
“Give us a break, what are we really here for?”
“You asked for it. Hey Mad, what time you got?”
“I got almost 8:30”
“Great, the fun soon begins. This little gizmo is going to vibrate and someone on the other end is going to ask if we are ready to go. Then voila, if you bozos know anything about Star Trek, you will recognize that you’ve been beamed up onto a starship.” As Ratface finished speaking, his communicator vibrated and Ratface spoke into it “What’s up, doc?”
Captain Borella on the other end said “What? Is that you, Ratface?”
Ratface replied, “Who else you expecting? I’m here with my crew, and they think I’m full of it.”
“Ok, I’m not quite sure what you mean, but, if you’re ready to be transported, say so”.
“Look team, seriously, when we get to the other side, don’t freak on me. Ok Captain, 12 to beam up”.
Captain Borella transported Ratface and his crew on board the Hercules. When they arrived in the transport room, they froze, dumbfounded. Oria was standing nearby and walked up to Ratface, shook him, and said “Ratface. It’s ok, it’s me, Oria.”
Ratface managed to get a few words out. “Wow, man, this is far out. You weren’t lying.” The recent change in events was just starting to sink into him.”
Ratface’s crew hardly even moved during the exchange between Oria and Ratface. Ratface was able to pull his composure together, turned to his team, and said, “Ok, you bunch of bozos, snap to it, I told you that we were going on the ultimate Star Trek party. It’s time for you men to act like men. We got work to do! This is Admiral Oria, chief honcho on this ship. Are you all cool with that?�
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Mat Pauly was the first one to respond, “Sure Chief, this is just a bit overwhelming.”
Oria spoke and said, “Welcome aboard, even though your trip was short, it has been disorienting. Sorry about that, there’s no good way to put all the introductions together on a short time frame. I’ve scheduled all of us to meet in one of our briefing rooms. We’ll answer questions and give you some background on where you are. Lt. Ratface will brief you with some of the activities on Earth. That’s all. Commander Zariello, please lead these men to the briefing room.” Oria with a nod to Ratface turned and left the transport room.
Commander Zariello while he studied the 12 men in perfect English said, “Men please follow me.” They looked at each other, shrugged, and followed the Commander out of the transport room and down a long corridor. After walking about 100 feet down the corridor, they stopped and waited for an elevator. The elevator arrived and transported them to another level where the group exited. The briefing room was only a few short feet from the elevator door. Commander Zariello walked towards the briefing room with the doors automatically opening at his approach. Ratface’s team quickly followed the Commander into the room and took up seats around the conference room table.
Commander Zariello started speaking once the group settled in their seats.
“Welcome aboard the Starship Hercules. I would imagine you men have a few questions for me at this time. Let me get started by giving you some background before answering them. First off, only Admiral Oria is originally from Earth. He joined the Azortec Federation over 500 years ago. We’re here today because of him. President Shalat of the Azortec Federation has managed to provide the Admiral with a year’s time to help Earth build a defense against a Creyte attack. We have a video that provides you some history and a briefing on the players in our galaxy. In a moment, I’ll provide you background on our ship, its facilities, and then run a video on the basics of living aboard a Starship such as eating, restroom facilities, etc. Ok, are there any questions that you need answered now before we go on?”
Legend of Oria 1: Initial Contact Page 28