by Ben Winston
“That makes sense. Let me talk to him, Greg, and I'll get back to you with a time,” Jon asked.
“Fair enough,” Greg agreed.
“If I may, why don't the four of you just take the rest of the day for yourselves? I think tomorrow is soon enough for you to worry about saving the world,” Beth said in her doctor's voice. “You need to rest and just be around each other for a bit.”
“Besides, we all need to get back to work before someone freaks out,” Carla added.
“Uh, before we all go off in different directions, could I send a physics formula for you girls to look over? We are having a horrible time with it,” Ned asked.
“Sure Dad, but Mandi and I haven't finished writing out the answer to the other one you sent,” Jolene said.
Abraxis took that moment to interject a suggestion. “Perhaps Bella and Greg should make the first attempt at Dr. Blane's equation while the two of you finish the previous problem sent to you?”
“Is that an order Abraxis?” Greg asked grinning.
“Fighter Greg, I am only a guide, I cannot, and will not, ever give you an order. I will make suggestions as well as render an opinion when asked. But I am incapable of issuing an order to a sentient life-form,” Abraxis replied. “It is an intentional design limitation.”
“So how does that work if we need to be sent someplace?” Greg asked.
Abraxis looked at Greg like he might be a little slow. “I will simply inform you of situations as I detect them. The decision of what to do about them will be yours as the team commander. I am no more than an adviser.”
“I have a feeling that is the year’s major understatement. Anyway, let’s get to work on those physics problems.” Greg suggested.
Low Orbit
North American Continent
Earth, Sol System
“Abranix, I demand more information on this prey the Emperor has sent us to hunt,” Fen'Ness growled in his mind where he knew the AI 'listened'.
“You've been given the scent, what more do you need?” the AI hissed in reply.
“That's the point; we haven't gotten the scent. We've dug through the records of the facility where the cubs had been attending lessons. Twenty-five females are no longer living at the address listed. Either those females were destroyed beyond recognition, or they have left the area. We've managed to locate and terminate sixteen of them, however, the computer refuses to confirm that any of them are the female we are looking for.”
“You have all the information Prime is willing to allow at this point. Be very careful what you ask for whelp; you might just get your wish. I suggest you continue as you have been and find the girl. Remember, you have three-fourths of a lunar cycle remaining to accomplish your mission. End of Line.”
Fen'Ness growled in frustration with his superiors, and the abrupt way the AI terminated the contact. Although he told his mates that they were tracking a female cub, he had little more information to give them. So they worked on that approach, which only got them so close. The remaining nine female cubs have relocated to other places on this continent, but only Gra'Ga'Dems knew where they had gone to.
“Not'Cern, plot a course for planetary intercept from the system's asteroid belt. Tyern'D I need you to calculate the mass we would need to blast this hemisphere into dust. Then, I'll need both of you to find a suitable asteroid that we can use to finish this mission once and for all,” Fen'Ness ordered.
“That could completely destroy the planet, Fen'Ness! Have we been ordered to do that?” Tyern'D replied in fear. She was already working on his orders, but she could still ask him about it.
“In about twenty solar cycles, Prime Nexus is going to 'downgrade' us if we do not have this task finished. Of course we haven't been ordered to destroy the planet. But if I'm going to die for that human cub, I'm damn sure going to introducer her to Horfus personally!”
“If we could get the locations down to a few microsectors, we could just use an antimatter pulse, couldn't we? It's not that I care either way about these humans, but this planet isn't so bad. It reminds me of T'Shan'drow,” Not'Cern asked, bringing images of their home world to all their minds.
Fen'Ness nodded agreement. “I agree, but we will need a plan if we cannot lessen the search area.” He snorted. “You both know how the Prime likes bold action.”
'The Bunker'
Blane Residence
Shermandale, Utah
North American Continent
Earth, Sol System
A decommissioned silo complex up in the foothills of the mountains proved to be the location of choice and Sharon, with Abraxis' help, set up everything needed to purchase the underground complex.
Although Abraxis' counter to having a rural base still applied, he made thorough scans of the area, and even had a hard time finding the silo hatches. The only way he'd found the 'ground entrance' was by the location of the security fencing at the end of a long, rarely used trail.
The interview with the General that Greg had been dreading had actually taken a couple of days to arrange. By the time the interview was set-up, Sharon and Jared had been assigned the task of investigating the unusual company that had recently purchased one of the decommissioned and abandoned NORAD (NORth american Air Defense command) complexes.
The 'bunker' was large enough to accommodate the six people that were present for the General's visit provided they didn't have to spend a lot of time in there.
Plates of food in hand, Greg led the procession down into what used to be the girls' private domain. Carl himself had only seen the inside of the bunker via the monitor in his office. Once they all got seated, he immediately noticed that there had been some changes.
He also noticed how the four young people interacted. He smiled to himself thinking that they had become a very tight working team. He grinned involuntarily at Greg, who was obviously the leader.
Jon began the meeting by introducing Greg and Mandi as Jared’s son and daughter. He went on to mention that the girls believed that Greg was at least as smart as they were and Mandi was even smarter.
Carl snorted. “I'll believe that when I see it!”
“It's true Uncle Carl. Mandi is way smarter than we are. Who do you think has been solving all those impossible physics theorems your folks have been throwing at us?” Bella said, bragging for her friend.
“Okay, I believe you Bella, but what I wanted to talk to all of you about was if you would consider taking an office at StealthCom and you can finally start getting paid for the work you've been doing,” Carl countered.
“Sir, I'm afraid that won't be possible. You see we wanted to talk to you about something else we are going to be involved in,” Greg countered. “It's a bit of a tale, so I hope you're comfortable.”
Carl chuckled. “Son, I haven't been comfortable since I finished high school and joined the Air Force.”
“Carl, Greg had a hard time deciding to bring you in on this, because he was worried about what your reaction would be. Would you please keep an open mind, and don't jump to any conclusions until he's finished. After that, all four of them will be happy to answer your questions. The reason Jared and I are here is to reassure you that they are not crazy, do not pose a threat to the United States, nor have they been influenced in any way.”
Carl lost his grin while Jon spoke. “Considering the average intelligence in this room, that does not set my mind at ease, Jon.”
“With respect General, I doubt very much if this conversation is going to improve that condition,” Greg began. He explained the entire story, from beginning to end. Telling of how they discovered the 'amulet', and how Mandi figured out the puzzle to 'opening' it.
“General, I would like to introduce to you, our local node of the Abraxis Virtual Construct. He has a series of numbers that identifies him, but we just call him Abraxis,” Greg said finally, motioning for the hologram to appear, which he did.
“It's a pleasure to meet you, General,” Abraxis said and bowed to the man.
“The honor's mine,” the General said trying to think all this through. It registered to him that these folks had taken a hell of a risk telling him about it. The question was, is this a test to see if he's telling everything on his reports? He knew who and more importantly what Jared was. He turned to the spy first. “Agent Adams, I need to know if this is a test by the Company to make sure I'm still a team player.”
Jared reached behind him, and pulled out a sheathed combat knife. After removing the knife from it’s sheath, he reversed it and handed to Carl hilt first. “You have my word of honor, General. This is not a trap, and is exactly what it appears to be.”
Carl recognized the combat knife of the intelligence service elite combat troops. These blades were zealously guarded and it was rumored that only after the soldier's death could a person take the knife. He'd seen only two, both of them in their sheaths. The soldier was always buried with his knife, 'in case Satan gave them any lip'. He'd never seen one drawn, and he'd never heard of a real one ever being owned by a civilian. Jared's vow on the blade, meant it was the utter and absolute truth.
“I understand. Thank you for the honor,” Carl replied as he carefully handed the blade back, hilt first. Greg had Abraxis fill the General in on the story of Abraxis Prime, the Drellian Rangers and their mission. When Abraxis finished, Carl leaned back and let out his breath. “You young folks are taking a hell of a risk telling me about this. The question is why?”
Greg nodded. “Because Sir, we need to build a base we can work from. We know that there is no way in hell to do something like this without someone getting curious.
“To prove my point, earlier today, you handed a case file to my parents. They are to investigate the purchase of a silo complex up in the mountains near here. Ironically, they are two of the people 'on the board' of the company that bought it. I intend for that complex to be our new base. We are also aware that there are a considerable number of covert installations in this little corner of Utah, so we are hoping we could simply blend in. The one thing that will give us away will be the landing and launching of our hypersleds, and if we ever get attacked.”
“They would dare to attack you in the open like that?” Carl asked.
“Sir, the Drellians have no problem at all fighting in the open on this planet. In fact, the team will be hard pressed to make sure that the heavier weapons won't be used,” Abraxis said.
“How heavy are we talking about here?” Carl asked.
“Carl, these Drellians have already made an attack. The Mederos incident,” Jon replied. “I guess you hadn't gotten that report yet.”
“I got the report, I just didn't connect the dots to this,” Carl said.
“They were trying to kill Mandi and I,” Greg said.
“To answer your question, General, how heavy can you imagine? They do possess the ability to destroy the planet. However, they rarely use it. They value slaves more than a destroyed world. That however, will not deter them from using nuclear or antimatter weapons,” Abraxis explained.
Carl got very pale. “This is not good, not good at all. I really think we need to get some experienced pilots, and a detachment of Marines ... “
“You know damn good and well how that'll work, General. Besides, the kids are the only ones that can use the equipment. Something about genetically predisposed or something,” Jared said.
“Yeah, I know, the Pentagon won't believe the story about the 'little green men', and will immediately take the sleds to white sands for reverse engineering so we can build more of them, then take over the rest of the planet ... "
“And pretty soon, we have a new Imperial seat of power right here on Earth. No, General, I'll destroy the equipment myself if I even suspected that were to happen,” Greg said. “This task has fallen to us. We have to handle it, but more importantly, we'll have to be free to handle it.”
Carl thought it through again, and nodded agreement with Greg. “I take it you’re the team leader then?”
Greg smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I am, but I like to ask for advice a lot from my other team members, and friends.”
“Well Commander, for what it's worth, you have my support. However, you will still have the government crawling all over you as soon as they think they can. I'm about half way to hatching a plan to deal with that when it happens, and will most likely need to borrow your father, and perhaps the skills of your AI when the time comes. You will remain autonomous, but it would be much better to have the help of the local government, don't you think?”
“Yeah it would, but I will not allow any tech transfer that will give one nation an advantage over any others. We're here to help the planet, not one nation. If we have to, we can relocate to the moon, or one of the other satellites, although doing so would greatly lengthen our response time,” Greg replied.
Carl tilted his head back and howled in laughter. “Son, you do have a head on your shoulders! Just keep that attitude, and don't back down. They'll call you everything they can think of including a traitor, but as long as you believe in what you just said, you can never be a traitor. I'll help in any way I can.” He turned to Jared, “Take a week or so, and then give me a clean bill of health for the company. I'll issue the order to release the access codes to a courier, (Greg), and you folks can get busy moving in. It sounds like there really isn't any time to waste.”
“Thank you, Sir. No, there isn't any time. As far as we can tell they're not trying to hide their presence here. So, we need to get on this; they could start tossing the aforementioned 'heavy' weapons.” Greg replied.
Carl nodded his understanding. “I hate to say it, but our leaders would be more inclined to accept this situation if there were something to happen publicly to make them panic. Unfortunately, they'd still try to steal your tech, but they wouldn't overtly interfere with you.”
“Honestly, Sir, once this gets going, the local governments will be the least of our worries. We also intend to make sure we have the capability to not only build the sleds, but to improve them, or apply upgrades. Which means that Rangers from other planets will have to come here for the work,” Greg added and Mandi grinned and nodded her agreement.
Carl looked a little uneasy hearing this. “You intend to invite aliens to this planet? I don't know how well that would go over.”
“Not all aliens are bad, Uncle Carl. The ones that will come here will be like us. With the same job, for the same reasons,” Bella said. “Besides, not all of them will be able to leave the facility without a suit.
“Rangers, I applaud your motives, but I must also advise against the construction of a full maintenance base here. Ranger teams stay alive because they remain hidden. A base such as you are describing will eventually get the attention of Abraxis Prime, and the odds of planetary destruction climb exponentially,” Abraxis interjected.
Carl looked at the hologram. “You mean there are no bases of your fighting forces? How do they resupply, upgrade equipment, and keep the warriors sane?”
“You could say that there are very small bases, one for each team, hidden on their planet. Most missions are short term, but in the event of a long term mission, there are small replicators built into the sleds for food, and water as well as waste disposal. The Rangers stay sane because they come home to their families every night. We have found that the practice reminds the Rangers why they are fighting, and what they are fighting for.”
“Are these hypersleds the only weapons platforms you have?” Carl asked.
“The hypersled is the pinnacle of Alliance technology. The Alliance found that they are so effective that none of the other ships were needed, and were in point of fact, a massive waste of resources,” Abraxis answered sounding a little pompous.
'The Bunker'
Blane Residence
Shermandale, Utah
North American Continent
Earth, Sol System
Carl looked about ready to argue the point, but Greg, shook his head and changed the subject. “A
week delay getting into the complex is going to be a little long, General. Is there a way we can get into it sooner?”
Carl looked a little concerned, but accepted Greg's stalling tactic, for now. “I suppose you could get into it anytime you want. All the locks are computerized. However, I should warn you that there are alarms set on those locks as well as motion sensors and monitored cameras in the complex itself. Not to mention the silo doors themselves. Not only are there sensors on the doors, the power usage is monitored in case someone overrides the system.”
“You sure seem to know a lot about missile silo's Uncle Carl,” Jolene said.
He smiled at her. “I wasn't always a General you know. At one point in time I had to work for a living. I was actually the commander of the complex you're buying.”
“Once I can get the Ranger's equipment into the complex, I'll take over the whole system prior to rebuilding it. I will also be replacing the old back-up generators with a pair of Helium-Cobalt Reactors. They are a form of non-radioactive, cold reactors that supply almost limitless energy, without damaging it's surrounding area. They are also the safest power unit to use since anything else would be spotted from orbit,” Abraxis replied.
“Nice, I assume there has to be a downside to using them?” Greg asked.
“Yes there is. No reactor is one hundred percent efficient. By that I mean total conversion of fuel to energy. There is always a waste product. My concern would be storage or disposal of this by-product,” Abraxis intoned.
“What is it, is it dangerous, and what have other races that use this do about the disposal question?” Jon asked.
Abraxis turned to face him. “The by-product is a synthetic compound called Pentalithium Carbonide that was a highly controlled substance in the Alliance. The Alliance were the only ones allowed to use or run one of these reactors and then it was only used on a weapons producing world.”
“May I ask why?” Carl asked.
Abraxis turned to Greg. “Ranger Fighter, this area of questioning is classified. Only select individuals may learn this knowledge after swearing an oath to never release it to unauthorized individuals.”