by Ben Winston
He was to give them the technology stored in his ship and guide them in how to use it. Advise them on how to take over the other planets in the sector and expand even more. It was his mission to create another Empire based from the planet Earth.
Harkness had been a Fighter for a long time. He knew what living under imperial rule was like. Maybe, if he handled things correctly, this new empire would be better than the old one had been. He would have to be very careful though. Earth had a Ranger team now. Granted they were new and still very young, but they had to be something special in order to orchestrate the destruction of three Drellian teams so easily. Yes, he would have to be very careful.
He had plenty of time to think on a plan of action. It would take the better part of two months to get where he was going. Fair enough, the more time he had, the better and more detailed his plan could become.
Grimaldi Ridge Base
Ocean of Storms
Selene, Earth's Moon
Carl had met Wilma and Sherry at the terminal where Jarad's shuttle had dropped them off. She was surprised when none of the Marines got off with them, and only Jarad escorted them to the entry portal, where he left them.
"This isn't our stop, Madam President. We have to go over to the military part of the base, turn in our weapons, shower, and debrief. I'll catch up to you in a couple of hours. In the meantime, Carl is waiting for you on the far side of the gate," Jarad explained.
Sherry giggled. "You folks have the TSA up here as well?"
Jarad shook his head. "Nothing nearly as bad as that. This is simply a weapons screening as well as a brief health check. Lethal weapons are not allowed in the civilian areas of Grimaldi Base, and only the peace officers carry stunners. The health check is to make sure a contagion isn't brought in. This is the only way into the city, ladies, even Ambassadors have to go through this.
"Which reminds me, I wanted to remind you that we do have a lot of non-humans here now. Technically, they outnumber humans here. However, most of them are actually out working on projects but are only based here. I'm sure Carl will tell you all about it," he finished.
"Thanks again, Jarad, for saving our lives," Wilma said kindly.
Jarad smiled and winked at her before turning and walking back to the shuttle. Wilma took Sherry's hand and they walked into the archway that opened at their approach.
Wilma was surprised that it didn't take longer to screen them. Of course, they had no baggage or personal belongings except for the clothes they were wearing, so maybe that was it. However, she was surprised when she and Sherry left the entry gate and found not only Carl Hollister, but Alicia Givens and four other reporters waiting for them.
Carl stood and smiled at the two women. "Madam President and First Lady, welcome to Grimaldi Ridge. I hope your trip up was uneventful?"
She couldn't help it, Wilma started laughing. "Yes, very uneventful for us. Thank you Governor."
Carl chuckled and nodded to her. "The full video of your rescue is available to you if you want to see it. No one was harmed in your escape." He said and turned to introduce his companions. "As you know, Madam President, everything we do up here, at least on the civilian side of things, is generally public knowledge. Now while what happened to you is still a secret on Earth, we do not make it a habit of keeping important issues from the public. These reporters would like to ask you a million questions, but they already know that we don't want their reports sent until the United States responds to your rescue. However, you will be listed as new arrivals in our daily logs, and those do get published. You will be listed by name and not title, it's just the way we do things." Then he introduced each of the reporters.
Wilma smiled at them. "We really appreciate that you’re not mobbing us. If it would be alright, can we talk later? We're still new here and would like to figure out a few things before we get overwhelmed."
"No Problem, Madam President. We didn't actually think you would really be up to answering questions right now, and besides, at this point, I don't think the real story would be accepted anyway. We just wanted to come along and add our welcome to that of Governor Hollister's," Alicia replied for her group.
"Whatever happened on Earth, at the least you have survived the ordeal, Madam President," Anubha Bhan, an AP reporter from India, added. "Welcome to a very different and exciting new world."
The other reporters shook the new-comers hands and welcomed them to the moon. The last man, an Australian named Seth Harlow, added, "When we do talk, there will be a couple of others there with us. They would have come this afternoon, but did not want to overwhelm you since they're not exactly from around here."
"Really? Why would alien reporters even be interested?" Wilma asked.
"It's part of what I was trying to get you to understand in our earlier conversations. Our allies are pretty peaceful and have grown to the point where a few of them really don't understand life on Earth. Because we are so violent and warlike, we tend to make the other races pretty nervous. Two races have refused to join the alliance because they are scared of us more than they fear the Drellians. Yet, even with that fear, they refuse to create a military to defend themselves. So, having their reporters here is part of a major effort to get them to accept the Alliance and to reassure them we have no intention of harming them in anyway."
"Kind of a galactic public relations campaign?" Wilma asked.
Carl grinned. "Well, not galactic, but in our little corner of the galaxy at least." He nodded over his shoulder, "Come on, I'll show you around and take you to your new apartment. It's getting on towards evening here, and I'm sure you two would like to rest up after the events of the day."
The group left the spaceport and entered the large main plaza. The reporters excused themselves and departed, leaving the two new arrivals alone with Carl. However, there were quite a few people that took notice of the new arrivals and began whispering to each other.
"I take it, not everyone knew we were coming, Carl?" Wilma asked quietly.
"No one knew, Wilma," Carl replied. "We intentionally did not let knowledge of your rescue out so your government wouldn't know what we intended. Now that it's after the fact, we'll let everyone know you've joined us. We'll keep it as low key as possible, but the people on Earth will eventually figure it out. There are simply too many people that watch us up here. In fact, the web cams have already seen you."
"Is that smart? Aren't you afraid of a public backlash?" Sherry asked.
"From the beginning, we have never tried to hide anything from the public and we never will. We knew what the intelligence people had planned for you and we acted to prevent the loss of life, nothing more. Your situation is no different than if we had known that any other person was going to be killed. We would have rescued them as well. The only difference is that in your case, we had to wait until they actually acted against you," Carl explained. "Like I mentioned before, the entire rescue operation was recorded and will be available on our site just like every other military operation we are involved in. Since this operation was against Earth forces, we will also be adding our reasons for the strike as well as the outcome. We will not mention the reasons you were in that position as that is actually a separate issue."
"I'm afraid they'll make it your issue as soon as our rescue becomes public knowledge, Carl. They'll claim you kidnapped us and deny any intention of wrong doing," Wilma replied.
Carl nodded and grinned. "They can't; they already reported you killed in a car accident on your way to Walter Reed. Abraxis and two other AI located and invaded the global 'ShadowNet'. They secured copies of the orders to terminate the both of you. They copied their entire database. We have their whole network, names, dates, places; hell, we even have the orders to assassinate JFK! The entire mess will be dumped into the public domain tomorrow afternoon."
"You're going to expose them?" Wilma said in shock.
Carl nodded. "Every dirty little secret. The fallout from it will be bad, but we don't think it'll come to a
ll-out war, as most of the world leaders are like you were. However, three or four of them are more active participants. If they’re left alone, we'll eventually bring them up here. The hardest thing to beat will be the corruption. There is a lot of money being paid out to people to look the other way and they are not going to want to give that up. Things are really going to change down there because of this."
"I had no idea it went that deep, Carl! I mean, I knew it was bad, but… just how large is this?" Wilma asked.
"Large enough that they have actually been running the entire planet for the better part of the last century. It started during World War II and built from there. Now it controls everything of importance on the planet; every corporation, military, and government are firmly under their control.
"I'm sure it will make people laugh to begin with, but unlike other conspiracy theorists, we have the proof to back it up," Carl finished. "We're devoting a pretty large amount of resources to this. It might surprise you to know the Alliance Council even made a ruling on this. 'Since the people of Earth are being unknowingly subjugated, it is our duty as their protectors to expose the truth and return their destinies to them. We must also protect them during this time of transition.' It was the first official order to the Alliance Military from the Council."
"How can we help, Governor?" Sherry asked.
"Well, to begin with, we're going to resurrect you from the dead," Carl said grinning.
"How can three, well two actually, Rangers protect the entire planet from what's coming?" Wilma asked.
"Earth has seven Rangers now, actually. But the fact is that by themselves, they can't. That's why there are far more than just the Rangers involved in this. Come on, let me buy you dinner and I'll tell you all about it," Carl replied grinning.
Struve Rim Training Base
Medical Center
Struve Crater, Selene
Earth's Moon, Sol System
"Hey hero, are you hungry?" the smiling nurse asked from his door.
Greg chuckled and nodded his head. The nurse, Cindy, had followed him over from the Grimaldi medical center, but had always referred to him as 'hero'.
"Yeah, actually I am," Greg replied. "Will I still get visitors today, and when will physical training start?"
Cindy came over and retracted the hood over the bed after checking a few of the readings. "Yes, you’ll get visitors later. As for the physical therapy… That starts right now." She grinned. "John? Steve? I'm ready in here."
Two very large men entered the room and grinned at him. Cindy took pity on him. "These two gentlemen are from rehab. They are here to help you walk from your bed over to the chair where your lunch will be waiting for you."
"Whoa, I thought we'd start with movement exercises while here in bed. Glen said something about not stressing the hip joint, is this okay?" Greg asked.
"The computer has been working on strengthening the hip, Sir." One of the men said. "I'm John, this is Steve." The other man nodded to him. "As for the exercises in bed, if you had a normal leg, that would be what we'd do, but you don't. We need to start training your brain how to operate that techno-marvel as soon as we can."
"I'm not going to end up like the six-million dollar man am I?" Greg asked.
"The who?" Steve asked.
"It's an old TV show from Earth about a test pilot that got rebuilt with bionics and became super-human," John explained to his friend. "No sir, nothing like that. If it were like that, it would shatter your bones the first time you tried to move it. No, this will be just like a normal leg. Now, let's get you sitting up. Slowly now, you're going to be a little dizzy at first."
Greg did what he was told, and was very dizzy. But, he actually did make it over to the chair mostly on his own. However it did hurt like hell when he put his weight on his leg. By the time he made it over to the chair six feet away, he was sweating again.
"Cindy, now that I'm up and about again, does this mean I can have a real shower soon? I know the bed has been keeping me clean, but I can still smell myself," Greg replied.
She laughed at him. "Don't get too gung-ho yet. I'll see about getting you cleaned up though."
"We'll work with you every day from now on, Sir," Steve said. "Before you know it, you'll be running again."
"That would impress me. Hell, just walking over here took everything I had," Greg replied. "I have a feeling there is a lot of work ahead of me."
John nodded. "Yeah, there is. While you're doing it, you're going to wonder if you're even getting better, but before you know it, you'll be looking back on it and wonder how you did it so fast."
Greg chuckled. "The way I feel right now, we have at least six months of therapy ahead of us."
"If all goes well, you'll be released from the hospital in two weeks," Cindy explained. "In three weeks you'll be released back to light duty and the hypersled simulator will be added to your therapy. A month from now, you will be re-certified as a Ranger and released from medical care."
"Whoa, that's pretty aggressive. You really think we can pull all that off?" Greg asked?
John nodded his head. "Actually, I have a bet with Cindy that you'll pull it off sooner."
Greg chuckled. "Dare I ask what you wagered?"
"A date," Cindy replied. "If I win, he has to take me out for dinner at a place of my choosing followed by a guided tour of the surface and a full body massage."
"If I win," John replied, grinning. "She has to make dinner for me, and we get to check out the new virtual fun zone and holographic movie theater followed by a visit to the hot springs. No matter what happens; I know I'll be the winner because I get a date with her."
Cindy blushed and smiled at him and Steve rolled his eyes. "Suck-up!"
"I wouldn't be too hard on him, Steve; he's the one going out with a beautiful woman; you aren't," Greg replied.
Steve chuckled and nodded his head. "Yeah, you've got a point. Are you comfortable sitting there? Any pain from the leg or hip?"
"I am feeling pain, but it's more like over stress of the muscles. It's getting better while I'm sitting here," Greg replied.
"Okay, then we'll leave you in the chair for now then, but we'll be back in a couple of hours to help you back to the bed. However, if you need to go back sooner, just let the nurses know and we'll move you back over, okay?" Steve asked.
Greg smiled. "Thanks, I was going to ask if I could just sit here a while."
"It's part of the therapy; while you sit there, we want you to work on leg lifts, and rotating your ankle. The more usage data we can get on that leg, the better we will be able to adjust it. In other words, the more you use it, the faster you'll get better," John explained.
"Well, don't worry John, I'll do my part to make sure you get that home-cooked meal. What's she going to make you anyway?" Greg asked.
"I'm going to make him buy me dinner, that's what!" Cindy said. "If you two manage to pull this off, I'll tell you what the menu is then. I'll even have the replicator learn the recipe and have it make the meal for you and your ladies," Cindy replied. "I promise you'll love it."
Greg laughed at her. "You know your stacking the deck against yourself, right?"
Cindy just shook her head, but she was smiling. "Not really. If it helps you get better faster, I'm all for it. We can do my date when he takes me out the second time."
"Well, then, I definitely have to do my part!" Greg said. "You want me to do this, right?" Greg asked and lifted his leg at the knee and tried to rotate his ankle.
Steve knelt next to him. "Try to get it all the way up if you can. You probably won't be able to hold it there for long yet, but just getting it there will help. If you can get it all the way straight five times, then I'd call that good for now. Just concentrate on lifting it a little and rotating the ankle. It looks like that's more difficult for you right now."
"Yeah, it is. Okay. I'll work on that stuff," Greg replied.
"Okay you two, out you go. There are a couple of tests I need to do while he
finishes eating, then he gets visitors again," Cindy said making shooing motions with her hands.
"What tests did you need to run?" Greg asked.
"Do you remember the tactile tests the doctor ran yesterday?" Cindy asked.
"Yeah, I thought she got the settings fixed?" Greg replied.
Cindy smiled but shook her head. "They're pretty close, but may not be perfect yet. We will be testing and readjusting all the settings as we go. Since the pain has gotten much less, I've been asked to retest your sensations. If I understand her notes correctly, it also is a better indicator of how well you’re accepting the nerve grafting since sensations are much more delicate than motor function."
"Oh, okay then," Greg said.
Cindy knelt down and put a hand on each of his legs, just above the knee. "How does that feel?"
Greg chuckled. "Like you're about to do something that would make John very jealous."
Cindy chuckled. "Your ladies would clobber me. No, what I meant was does the pressure feel the same, are they equally as warm, that sort of thing."
"It kind of feels like your leaning harder on the right leg, but the left is warmer," Greg replied.
"Okay," she said, then got some ice out of a cup and tested each leg. Again the temperature was stronger in the left but he felt more pressure on the right.
She noted each of his replies, then did the poke test with a stylus she used on her data pad. It felt slightly sharper on the left, and she noted that as well. "Doctor Jeffreys will stop by later, after you’re back in the bed and make the adjustments. Just so you know, I felt that your left leg was a bit warmer than the right as well, but the bed will verify that."