Serve and Protect

by Douglas Varnell

  When Chase and Daniel arrived in Israel with the first prototype of the anti-missile defense system, there were protests in the world press from the surrounding Islamic countries. Paul couldn’t help but laugh at the thought that they were upset that these people had the nerve to shoot down their incoming missiles and instantly retaliate. When Chase was interviewed by one of the more liberal journalists, his comment was, “I would highly recommend that the people outside Israel simply stop shooting missiles at them. Do that and there should be no problem.” As soon as Great Britain heard about the missile defense system being sold to Israel, they immediately started inquiries about what they could do to purchase the system for their borders.

  One of the greatest pleasures for Katelyn and Tala, other than flying, is teaching others how to fly. Marcus Verron, at King Verron’s recommendation, took one of the existing Xhondarian Battle Cruisers and made a few modifications to it. He had Lucy reprogram the ships computers to eliminate the ships ability to fly higher than an altitude 100,000 feet and restricted the top speed to Mach 10. The weapons were replaced with more conventional weapons to include 7.62mm, 12.7mm and 25mm whitematter rounds, plus enough surface-to-air missiles, air-to-air missiles and torpedoes to wipe out the entire Navy of their neighbor to the north. Katelyn and Tala, accompanied by a weapons training crew of 50 Marines, and two engineers, flew the 2500 foot long ship into HMAS South Head in New South Wales and landed at the HMAS Watson Heliport. It was located near the Maritime Warfare School but away from the main shipyards and harbors of Sydney. They were greeted by Vice Admiral Sara Barnett, Chief of the Royal Australian Navy. Since they couldn’t go galactic with the ship, Katelyn made a gateway 300 miles off the Australian coast and flew the big ship in, just above sea level. The Admiral had been informed that the ship could accommodate a crew of 800, but could be managed with 200. There were over a thousand members of the Australian Royal Navy there to welcome the new addition to the Navy fleet. It came as no surprise to Katelyn and Tala that there were obviously confused looks when two petite young women walked off the ship to greet the Vice Admiral. The Commander of the Royal Navy was all smiles when she realized that these young ladies were about to train her very best Navy pilots and ships crews on the most sophisticated piece of equipment currently on the planet.

  The two young ladies did not waste a lot of time with the pomp and circumstance of the greeting and soon had the Admiral and her staff touring the big ship. The ship was so large and those wanting to see the ship were so many that they divided them up into groups and had the Marines show the weapons and engineering portions to those who would crew the ship, leaving Katelyn and Tala to show the officers who would command the vessel its many highlights. The tour lasted several hours. Both Tala and Katelyn were impressed with the level of professionalism and courtesy being shown to two young girls, who were quite obviously of a lower rank than the officers they had on tour. Finally, Tala could stand it no longer, and asked, “Excuse me Admiral Barnett, but everyone here is older than my sister and I and I see only one person that doesn’t outrank us. So why are you and your people being so nice to us?” The Vice Admiral was beginning to like these two and Tala’s boldness impressed her even more. She replied, “First of all, Princess outranks Vice Admiral and everybody else here. Secondly, there is not a person among us that has any idea how all this works and you and your sister obviously do, and last but by no means least, Prime Minister Talbot would have me operating a Captain’s Gig if I were rude to you. To be honest, I wasn’t sure of you when you first walked off this ship, but it’s pretty obvious you two know what you’re about.” The other officers affirmed her comment.

  When they finished their tour of the ship, the Marines were shown to their housing units on the cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean, while Katelyn and Tala were driven toward the west side of the point to 19 Victoria Street. The 8,000 square Beach House overlooked the beach and had a lap pool just off the large patio. There was a Royal Navy cook and housekeeper made available as well. Tala laughed and commented, “Do all your officers live this nicely. I think you must be way overpaying your people.” Admiral Barnett quickly let them know that the house belonged to the family of Prime Minister Talbot and they were making it available to them while they stayed in Sydney. Katelyn looked out the window and realized that as nice as this place was, that if she told Uncle Paul she wanted a house on the beach, she knew she’d have it without question. That evening they dined on grilled shark-steaks, rice pilaf, and a fresh salad, prepared in their own kitchen while they went for a swim. By the time they finished eating and prepared for bed, Tala realized that her skin was never intended for the Australian beach. Her skin was almost as red as her hair and she was miserable. She was just glad it had been late in the day and she had only been out for one hour. She would have been in much worse shape had it been early in the day. She decided that a beach bunny she would never be. Of course Katelyn baked to a nice deep olive brown and her blond hair just turned lighter. Tala thought it was disgusting.

  Paul Verron, General Zarman, Hunter, Amber and Michael Verron went to Washington D.C. To avoid more attention than they really desired, they landed on the Pentagon Heliport for their first stop of the day. Since there were so few of them, they took the small transport Paul normally used on Verron. With a seating capacity for six, he knew he could politely turn-down any requests for spaceship rides; besides, it was easier to find a parking place. They were greeted by General Dorsey’s aide, Air Force Colonel Robert M. Lawson and several other officers representing the Navy, Marines and Army. There were brief introductions and then they started the long walk to the Pentagon Building and General Dorsey’s office. The five from Verron entered a conference room with about 30 people anxiously awaiting their arrival. After the usual formalities, the first question asked of Paul by Navy Admiral Koch, was, “How do the Australian’s rate a 2500 foot battle cruiser and we are only slated for two small Interceptors?”

  General Zarman knew the question would come up, but thought that it would at least be later in the meeting. General Z had been in meetings like this before and quickly responded, “Admiral, what Verron chooses to supply to Australia is none of your business. We are here to discuss what we plan to supply to the United States.” The Admiral had obviously taken offense with General Zarman’s harsh response, but stood silently as the General continued, “We are not here to play the game of one-upmanship with the military powers of Earth. King Verron supplied the Nation of Australia exactly what they needed for their situation. The battle cruiser is larger and has more fire power than anything currently on the planet, but they are also a small navy being pressed by a much larger and more aggressive power to their north. However, the ship is limited in speed and altitude capabilities. The Interceptors we are building for you are faster, have more advanced weapons and are capable of flying to Mars and back in the same day. Any more questions, sir.”

  In the following silence Paul Verron looked around the conference table and realized that these men were afraid for their jobs and that every branch represented in this room was more concerned about his or her individual branch of service than the welfare of the country. Paul decided to take over the meeting and began, “I’m sure you gentlemen have plenty to do, so let’s stick to the agenda at hand. Have you selected the men you want to be trained as part of the initial group coming to Verron? The Terrorist Elimination Unit will be the first to train in the new body armor and new weapons; keep in mind that the armor is custom made and not an off-the-shelf item. Each man will be fitted for his armor on Verron and do weapons training for a week until it is ready. I will also be getting a list from Israel, Great Britain, Germany, Australia and France this week as well. I know that trying to keep your number to only one hundred was a tough decision to make, but I know that it will be your best people.” General Dorsey handed Paul the list of 100 men and 20 alternates. It was a good mix from each branch of service; he only recognized two names that were probably women. He thought
there would be more. It was agreed that a ship would be sent to Fort Bragg, North Carolina to pick-up the soldiers on the following Monday, for two months of training on Verron.

  They next discussed the two Interceptors that would not be delivered until later in the year, hopefully by mid-summer. When those upset about the Australian battle cruiser heard that the Interceptor would be capable of speeds in excess of 60,000 mph inside the Earth’s atmosphere and 1-LS out of atmosphere, needless to say they were impressed. Then General Zarman began to describe the weapons system, not a single weapon was considered conventional. The command staff almost began to drool when Jim described FTL whitematter anti-missile missiles, photon torpedoes that can lock-in on a heat signature or nuclear reactor under water at depth of 8,000 feet and travel through the water at speeds reaching Mach 1, and Gatling guns that fired laser rounds at over 6,000 rpm. When he started discussing the targeting systems and instant retaliation launch-site recognition software, the Admiral, who had first been so forward, quickly apologized for his attitude on their arrival. Jim closed with a final statement, “Gentlemen, it is our goal to give the United States air-superiority over anything that exists on this planet for the defense of your country. What we provided Australia should give them superiority over a large and aggressive Navy.” He was about to end his presentation and quickly added, “Oh, yea, I almost forgot. We intend to equip the two Interceptors with forcefield technology similar to what we use on our Fighters. They should be able to withstand anything fired at them, including a nuke.” No one at the table could quite comprehend an aircraft that could withstand a nuclear impact, but no one dared to question the statement, they had seen the top secret videos from the nuclear explosion taken from the R4.

  When they were dismissing from the meeting, General Dorsey came over to Paul and his group of people followed by Colonel Lawson. He made a point of getting Amber’s attention as he introduced the Colonel, saying, “King Verron, Princess Amber, I’d like for you to meet Colonel Robert Lawson. I have just assigned him to be your liaison for the United States Air Force Academy. Classes resume next week. Will that meet with your schedule? It will be Colonel Lawson’s responsibility to get you into any classes that you desire to audit and to coordinate your activities at the academy. Please keep in mind, this has never been done before and there will no doubt be many cadets and staff that will resent your presence. It is the Colonel’s job to make things go as smoothly as possible. We have made arrangements for you to have an apartment just off campus instead of living in the dorms with the cadets. You already outrank everyone there, so we felt that it would be appropriate for you to have better living arrangements.”

  Amber took a long hard look at this man who was actually very young for a Colonel. She blushed a bit when she realized that she thought he was really handsome; almost Air Force poster-boy good looking. When he smiled and extended his hand in greeting, Amber got weak kneed by the perfect smile and green eyes before her. She decided that he looked a lot like Brad Pitt, but seemed much more masculine, instead of being a pretty-boy. He had a rugged outdoorsy look about him and smooth tanned skin that offset his short jet black hair. At six feet and 175 pounds he made a great first impression. As he shook her hand, he informed her, “I’m afraid we’ll be spending a lot of time together. Initially, I plan to escort you everywhere you go, until you are familiar with the Academy and the surrounding area. I will be staying in the BOQ while there and will be at your service anytime you need my help.” He then smiled again and Amber thought to herself, “Why don’t we just start now.” Instead she replied, “I’ll need to go back to Verron and get a few things together and should have no problem being in Colorado Springs by Saturday. I assume the apartment is furnished.” Both the General and Colonel assured her that it was and Colonel Lawson handed her his card with his personal cell and business phone number and e-mail address, stating, “Just let me know when you plan to arrive and I will meet you to help get settled in.” Paul, Hunter and General Z could all sense the chemistry between the two and knew she couldn’t wait to get to the Academy that she had previously been dreading.

  The next stop was CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia. Although both Hunter and Paul had been there before, it had never been through the normal entries. Two cars met them at the nearby CIA Heliport and drove them the short distance to the offices of Director in Charge, Admiral George Washington Sullivan. Paul and Hunter were both amused with the high level of security, but realized that they should probably begin to exercise more security on Verron; no doubt it would be necessary in the near future. The party from Verron got a lot of stares from the staff inside the CIA Headquarters. Word inside about the things they had done and were planning to do had spread to almost every level. General Zarman had spent a good bit of time in both the CIA offices and Pentagon during his years on the Terrorist Reaction Team. There were people who thought they recognized him, but were obviously confused by the youthful looking four-star general. Hunter and Amber also wore uniforms for this trip and were no doubt the youngest full-bird Colonel’s any of these people had ever seen, at 24 and 21 years of age, they were no doubt the envy of aspiring officers wherever they went. There were more than a few double-takes at the pretty 5ft-6in girl with long auburn hair worn in a French braid and the 6ft-3in young man with a blond ponytail; neither fit the typical profile of an officer. When the five of them entered the meeting room just off the DICs office and were greeted by Director Sullivan and U.S. National Director of Intelligence James Grasper like they were best of friends instead of visiting dignitaries, the men and women in suits quickly realized that it was not business as usual with these people from Verron.

  Before anyone said a word, Director Sullivan put his big hand on Hunter’s shoulder and said, “Come here, I want you to meet someone.” He was then approached by a man about 50 years-old dressed in a nicely tailored dark-gray suit. He continued, “Prince Hunter, this is agent Kent Oswald. He is responsible for our training facilities for new agents. A new cycle begins next week and one of the candidates had a skiing accident during the holidays, leaving an empty position. If you don’t make it this session, it may be a while before we can work you in. As it is, the others in training will be ahead of you, since the class began in September.” Hunter looked at his little sister and commented, “Looks like Mom is going to have an empty nest beginning next week.” Paul added, “Don’t worry, I plan to keep her so busy she will never know your gone.” Hunter asked, “When do you want me there and what do I need to bring?” Agent Oswald, answered, “No later than Sunday afternoon and travel light. We plan to keep you too busy to worry about what you wear or use in your spare time.” Hunter smiled and told him, “I guess I’ll see you Sunday afternoon. Just tell me where and I’ll be there.”

  With that settled, they began to discuss the intelligence information that Paul would require in the near future for the Terrorist Elimination Unit. Those around the table were afraid to speak-up at first since everything Paul and General Zarman were asking for was highly classified. Hunter realized that this meeting needed a kick-start and quickly spoke up, saying, “You people act like we’re some third world country asking you to go out of your way to help us. The truth is quite the opposite. You are the people who will need our help to get the information we request. We could actually get it all our self but didn’t want to leave you people out of the loop.” Several of those around the table were beginning to get agitated by the arrogant young Colonel, but Hunter ignored them and continued, by pulling his personal laptop from his carrying case and placing it on the conference table. As soon as it booted-up, which was almost instantly, he told them, “Let me show you something.” On the big monitor screen in the front of the conference room appeared a selection of ICONS. Hunter clicked the one labeled China and a globe of Earth appeared, indicating the location of all the Chinese satellites orbiting Earth. He then clicked on the satellite over South America. He immediately had a set of tasking criteria for that satellite. In s
econds Hunter was showing the room the image being seen by the satellite as it passed over central Brazil. He then spoke, informing them, “We have the capability to control every satellite in Earth’s orbit, including yours. Now we would not ask you to do something for us without doing something in return for you. Nor would we ask you to do something that seems almost impossible without giving you the ability to do it.” Hunter scooted his laptop across the table to Agent Oswald, saying, “Give it a try. We can not only control everything they do, but we can also decode any encryption or coded message that travels by satellite or on the internet.” Agent Oswald was one of the top computer hackers at Langley and quickly selected a satellite labeled as belonging to Pakistan. In a few minutes, he not only had a vivid image of the area surrounding Tehran, but he also had an encrypted message that was transmitted by the Pakistan Secret Police. His smile was pretty obvious, it grew even bigger when Hunter added, “Keep it, I can always get another.”

  Paul then informed those at the table, “We intend to provide this programming for the CIA. If you choose to offer it to NSA, or other agencies, please let me know. We do not want this programming to fall into any more hands than necessary, or as you well know, it will soon be the Chinese or Russians tasking your satellites. I’d suggest that no more than the people assigned to support the Terrorist Elimination Unit be allowed access. I know Admiral Sullivan cleaned house recently of traitors, but that doesn’t mean there are not others who would be willing to turn for the right price.” Everyone at the table was nodding in agreement as Agent Oswald passed his precious new gift around the table. One of the female agents almost had a heart attack as she took control of a highly classified U.S. Navy satellite that no one at the table even knew existed. Admiral Sullivan quickly added, “No one but the people in this room will have access to this; do I make myself perfectly clear?” Fifteen heads nodded simultaneously.