Paul Verron was ready to close the meeting and knew he sounded like a broken record constantly demanding more and more firepower from the weapons being developed by his people. He was about to speak when Mahala began, saying, “Whoever these creatures are, they are from nowhere near this end of the Universe. We had Computer check and double check every available database from thousands of years of explorations and no record could be found of anything even resembling the cannibals and their emerging technology. I had every Elder review the film footage you forwarded us and no one recognized any resemblance to known alien life-forms. We’re dealing with an, up to now, unknown entity that has obviously developed both the technology and desire to conquer other worlds. We are more committed than ever to militarize Xhondar I, II and III. Anything we can do to step up your progress will be available at your request. These things cannot be allowed to spread, but I personally believe we are much too late for that; they are probably in dozens of galaxies by now, just like we are. Paul acknowledged his agreement and knew that Xhondar was committed to help him be successful. He still spoke, saying, “I know I sound like a broken record, but study their technology thoroughly and make any improvements to our weapons that need to be made. We must always maintain superior fire power; I doubt we will ever have the greatest numbers. Daniel smiled and bragged a bit, “I’ve already started working on an FTL missile I call the Two Tap, named after how Seals take two tap shots at a target to be certain their dead; two FTL Antimatter missiles fired a fraction of a second apart. I know I can make a better disrupter than the Volvs and that will be on the first missile. The second will have the warhead. There will be no time for a forcefield to regenerate fast enough to resist the second missile. Chase is working on making our forcefields immune to Volvs disrupters. It will hopefully be a part of every ship and body armor by the next time we meet.” Kary and Marcus were the proudest men in the room. Dr. Morgensson looked at these boys who were dating her twins in a completely different light.
After his staff meeting, King Verron and General Zarman gathered the soldiers and dignitaries from Tramlaw together to give them a briefing on what they had just discussed. He felt like if anyone needed to know what made the Volvs tick it was them. They had the highest probability of encountering them again, if Molnar and Klelta were any indication of how an enemy will often return to exact some revenge. Renee’s staff had been escorting the business and political leaders around since they arrived and had put together a very attractive business and economic plan, one of the most interesting products to be the Spider Silk. After spending more than a week above ground in a moist green 75-80 degrees, most didn’t want to return to Tramlaw. Since he was the only one who could make a decision about gateway travel between planets, Paul decided to take them to the Transportation Center and escort them to Xhondar I and Klelta for a brief visit. He then informed them, “If you believe it will be beneficial to Tramlaw and since I will have Marines there to protect it, I will put one of these on Tramlaw so your people may travel back and forth between Verron and your home. Those who use it will be closely regulated and your government will be responsible for monitoring who you allow to travel here. As far as I’m concerned, everyone’s welcome.” The smiles on the faces of the visitors were indication enough that they were pleased with the possibility of being allowed to come here anytime they liked.
As Paul was leaving the Travel Center, Tala, Ibrihim and Lydia approached him on the sidewalk. In her usual radiant manner Tala asked, “Uncle Paul, I have a race tomorrow, can Ibrihim and Lydia go with me? They have never been to a race before. Besides, you always told us it was a good idea to travel and see other places and they have only been to Syria and Armenia and of course here, but I thought it would be good for them to get out once in a while …” Paul knew she was on a roll and could take all day to ask a simple question by the time she did her sales job on him. He cut her off with a smile and said, “You three go and have fun. I know better than to tell you not to let them ride your motorcycle, so make certain if they do, they have on the protective gear. Now go win a race for me.” Paul got a hug and big smile from both Tala and Lydia and a much more reserved hand-shake and a, “Thank you, sir. I’ll make sure they are safe” from Ibrihim. Paul admired this youngster’s maturity and didn’t have the heart to tell him that it was Tala who would be looking out for him, not the other way around. He turned to see a dozen smiles from his guests. One of them commented, “Well, it looks as if you raise children pretty much the way we do on Tramlaw. The girls have their Dad’s and Uncles under their control on Tramlaw as well.” Paul smiled at the proclaimed Universal truth.
He turned to his group to escort them to a lunch in Market Place Mall and ran into Katelyn. He knew it was no accident. She had a different style of manipulation; with her you got the hug first. She already knew she was going to get her way. After being greeted with a hug, Paul introduced her, saying “This is my niece, Princess Katelyn, the sister of the one you just met. She no doubt has already decided what she is going to do, but wants my blessing.” Katelyn smiled and ignored his comment, saying, “I plan to go surfing with some friends and sing at a beach concert tonight. But, what I wanted your blessing on was to bring several of my friends back to Verron to check out our surfing before you send me away somewhere on another assignment.” Paul knew he kept them away and busy a lot, and did in fact have an upcoming assignment. He of course told her, “No problem, have fun. Bring your guests around so I can meet them.” He couldn’t help but be amused by the humorous comments from behind him as they headed into the mall; “I guess he showed her who was in charge.” “I wonder if he is that easy to manipulate by everyone.” “How could anyone say no to those two girls?” Paul knew that these members of the Dragon Guard were nothing like typical kids. They deserved to have some fun.
Paul was greeted at the restaurant by Renee and Michael. After an enjoyable meal of Russian Cuisine, he handed his guests off to Renee for a final meeting before they departed for home. As Paul walked across the town square for a short visit with Desiree and Marie before they headed to Earth to begin promoting their pharmaceuticals, he thought about how impressed he was with Tlase and Zimuel’s new children. After Tlase’s husband and child had died of the plague that once destroyed the original Xhondarian colony on Verron, she had married Zimuel, but they never had any children of their own. Both were enjoying this brother and sister from the border of Syria and Iraq. What impressed Paul most was their drive and determination for excellence. They studied constantly to learn everything they could. They trained daily with Xhing Li and with Zimuel in the weight room. The two ran every morning with Tlase and tried with every ounce of effort they had to free-style run with anyone who would teach them how. They were at the indoor shooting range constantly and would both be training with the Terrorist Elimination Unit if Hunter and their parents would allow it. The brother and sister were adored by everyone and spent a lot of time attempting to immolate the Dragon Guard. Paul decided he was going to speak with Zimuel, Tlase and the Dragon Guard about making them an addition to their ranks. If they were determined to help fight terrorists, he wanted them to have every possible advantage.
Dr. Desiree Verron and Marie Verron-Parks were in Desiree’s office when Paul arrived. Very few people ever referred to his three daughters, Renee, Desiree and Marie, as Princess, although they knew who they were. The girls wanted to stand on their own two feet and lay claim to their own accomplishments; they were determined to prove to everyone on Verron they had their position because of their ability, not because their Daddy was King. Both of the girls were in an ill mood when he entered the office and heard Marie saying, “The FDA has got to be the dumbest bunch of people on the face of the Earth. They’d rather see people dead or ill rather than change their way of doing things.” Paul immediately knew what the problem was, but had learned with these girls to let them tell you what was going on with their own words, rather than quickly summarizing something in his own words. His girls we
re never very good at summarizing, especially Marie. As they turned to see who had come into the office, he asked, “So how is everything going with the serum introduction?” Marie quickly began to vent her frustration, saying, “Those boneheads at the FDA are holding to their usual program of clinical trials and tests of tests before allowing the serums to be sold in the U.S. I swear they need to go read the Hippocratic Oath. I thought their top priority was to save human lives. It appears that their real priority is keeping the drug companies, oncologists, dialysis clinics, hospitals and research labs in business. Evidently our friends at the FDA made sure to let their doctor friends and drug company friends know all about our serums and every lobbyist in Washington is on a rampage to stop them from disrupting the status quo.”
Paul couldn’t help but smile when Desiree took advantage of Marie’s pause for a breath to jump right into the conversation. She had always had to do that anytime Renee or Marie was talking. She added, “I am making arrangements to open a clinic on our property in Mississippi until we actually open the hospital. Once word gets out, it will be a very busy place. France and Germany, the Bahamas, Great Britain and just about every place else is eager to get it, but not the good old U.S. of A.”
She almost got to finished what she was telling Paul, but Marie quickly interrupted to pick-up where she had left off, saying, “After the world sees the results they will no doubt see in Africa, it will be very hard for the FDA to withhold our technology from its citizens. We are donating a large quantity of antivirus, antibacterial, antipoison and tons of nutrition bars to Doctors Without Borders and Catholic World Missions. Did you know that all combined, there are millions who die each year in Africa and Asia from Syphilis, Meningitis, Tetanus, Pertussis (Whooping Cough), Measles, Tuberculosis, Diarrhea, Malaria, Aids, Pneumonia, and Lower Respiratory Tract Infections. With so many people not dying we know there will be a drastic shortage of food and clean water. When do you think we will be able to have people in place for that?” Desiree and Paul both laughed. Desiree pointed out, “All that in one breath. I believe that’s a record.” Marie rolled her eyes at her sister. Paul was glad to see they had a good handle on things, but informed them when he left, “Two of my contractors in Mississippi are headed that way to work on providing clean water and energy, beginning in Kenya, only because so many of the other problem areas are unstable. Our goal is to target those areas with the first assaults of the Terrorist Elimination Unit. There has to be stability before we can start building-up their infrastructure with utilities, water and agriculture. You worry about getting them well, my construction workers and engineers and military advisors will handle the rest.” He turned to leave and quickly added, “It will be over a year before the hospital is finished. If you don’t mind working out of one of the warehouses, I’ll arrange it and you can begin dispensing treatments from there right away. That’s where the serum will be stored anyway. Tell Michael how much space you need.” The girls were smiling when he left. They were always amazed at how quickly he could make a big problem seem suddenly much smaller.
Paul left the Verron Pharmaceutical and Chemical Company and decided to make his first visit to the Marine training camp where the Terrorist Elimination Unit was training. He couldn’t believe they had already been there long enough to be training in their body armor. He had just been too busy to get there, or to see Tala race, or Katelyn Surf or to have dinner with 99 and Ilna, the name chosen by 99s bride-to-be. He smiled at the thought of those two married and watching little hooved children running around. Ninety-nine had turned her into a sci-fi junky already and he actually allowed her to make sweet-tea or the breakfast toast once in a while. Her first batch of tea was so sweet you could have put it in wrappers and sold it as candy; she still burns the toast. Pavel was the name Ilna used for him and the two of them had already discussed having their own place closer to the Space Center where he spent so much time. Their wedding was planned for July. They requested a small ceremony to be held at the Mansion, with Paul as the best man. He was still thinking about his oldest friend who seemed more like a son, when he made the jump to the training center located in a large valley of the Robert’s Range.
Those who had been on Verron had grown used to his sudden appearances, but the group of commandoes from Earth had not had the pleasure of meeting King Verron yet. He received a lot of strange looks walking around watching them on an infiltration exercise wearing the usual gray commando clothes but no rank insignia, except the same red dragon on his cap as Hunter and a few others they had seen, but unlike everyone else in the Verron Marines he also had a subdued dragon on both collars and no nametag, just the word Verron over his left shirt pocket.
As he stood and watched, one of the big Mossad agents training with them recognized him from his visit as a member of the security detail when their P.M. had visited. He had no time to tell the man beside him who Paul was before the member of the French Foreign Legion asked, “What are you staring at. You have a lot of nerve wearing a commando uniform and make believe rank insignia. Now get out of here before you get hurt.” Paul realized that a slim 5 foot 9 inch man with no rank insignia and wearing no weapons looked out of place among this group. Paul was about to put the man in his proper place when he heard a shout from the other side of the Legionnaire, claiming, “Darned if you don’t look even smaller now than you did in Iraq. It must have been the sword in your hand or all the heads on the wall that made you look much bigger then.” Paul looked up to see a smiling Major Jack Bentley approaching, as he continued saying, “I was wondering if you were ever going to show up. I’ve been waiting to thank you for saving my team and for that nasty bruise on my arm that got me sent stateside. ‘Bout time you showed up.” Paul looked at the big man and it suddenly seemed like a hundred years ago they had run into each other inside that compound in Iraq. He greeted him with a friendly handshake and commented, “It’s good to see you guys got out of Germany alright. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall when you and the hostages showed-up in Frankfurt; by the way, sorry about that, I wasn’t sure where else to send everyone on such short notice. Major Bentley turned to the men under his command and said, “Gentlemen I want you to meet King Paul Verron. The best damned commando I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with. Took out several hundred ISIS all by his self, rescued three hostages, saved my Marines and left 24 heads behind to let everyone know he had been there. I’d still like to know how he did it.” The big Frenchman looked suddenly ashen-faced and crisply saluted Paul. Paul told him, “At ease; I guess since I have made such a stranger of myself, it’s my own fault that no one recognized me.” Turning back to Bentley he asked, “How’s this bunch doing?”
Major Bentley was making his biased Marine comments about Seals and Special Forces and, whatever these other people called themselves, when Hunter walked up with the other half of their group of commandoes ready to rotate-out with Bentley’s group and send them off to practice their demolition skills. He introduced his XO, Captain Martinez, to Paul and asked if he wanted to conduct the training session instead of him. Paul always loved to be in the spotlight but declined. He wanted Hunter to be the undisputed leader of these men and didn’t want to do anything to lesson his influence. He was recognized by this group since he was quickly introduced by Hunter. He was about to leave when one of the men yelled, “So you’re the one. Excuse me, but I want to meet the man who kept my men from heading into an ambush in Yemen.” Lieutenant Commander William “Wild Bill” Ethridge, commander of Seal Team 2, was smiling when he pushed forward to meet Paul. He said, “I’d sure like to know how you did what you did. Me and the boys were already revving-up the engines for departure when you dropped those folks off. They were so delirious they weren’t sure what happened; just that a man in a mask, only armed with knives, killed their captures and brought them out. I just had a chance to use one of those plasma bombs you used on those folks. The entire war department has been trying to figure out what you used. I look forward to tossing a few of th
em myself.” Paul liked “Wild Bill” and told him. “I believe by the time we rid two continents of terrorists you will have plenty of opportunities to use them. What do you think of your body armor?” The big Lt. Commander almost cried when he answered, “I know a lot of good men who would still be alive today if we had something like this.” Paul’s only comment was, “If I have my way, there will be no more Allied casualties.” He stuck around for a while to introduce himself to these men from Earth who had volunteered to be under the command of the military of Verron. There was virtually every race on Earth represented; Caucasian, Black, Hispanic, Arabic, Jewish, Chinese, Japanese and Korean; now serving one of the six Allied countries, but most were from the United States. It was a good group of men, determined to change the world; and they would.
Verron: Serve and Protect: Book Two (Verron Series 2) Page 26