Serve and Protect

by Douglas Varnell

  Blyco looked at Paul and then looked at Samantha, he then asked, “King Verron, I thought you said you were originally from Earth.” Samantha quickly understood the man’s confusion and told him, “Earth has people of many colors. King Verron’s race is just one of them. People of my color actually outnumber people of his color and people that look like Pastor Fu are even more numerous. Hopefully one day we will all get along. I understand your fear.” Paul, always being a man to bring people together, suggested, “I was thinking that after NASA gets their Shuttle, maybe Earth and Grnardo could establish a research center on Mars and work there together. It might be a great way to get to know each other.” Samantha shook the Lieutenant Commander’s hand and told him, “I will be here for a few more days working at the Space Center. I would love to meet with you and your people to help us learn to understand each other better.” The Crimson warriors left to join the rest of the party as Samantha and those with her began to excitedly discuss the fact that they had neighbors orbiting their nearest star.

  Paul noticed that after the band left his family had moved in on the stage set-up for the occasion and was doing what the Verron family does; sing, play and have fun. Kary had just purchased a Gibson Custom 1954 Limited Edition Les Paul Electric Guitar for $5000.00. He couldn’t wait to use it in public. Chase wanted to impress his girl and so did Daniel. Chase grabbed a guitar and while Daniel claimed the keyboard. Tala broke-out the mandolin, Hunter got on the bass, Amber seated herself at the drums and Katelyn got out her favorite guitar as well. Uncle Joe had left early and Renee started off singing a few country selections. The lingering guests mostly consisted of soldiers who had never been to the Mansion and were enjoying the King’s food and the King’s hospitality. They were amazed when he began to join a line dance with Desiree and Marie. They taught fifty Catmandoes, Androids, Grnardo and Tramlaw flyers the Boot Scoot Boogie. Renee soon had a hundred people following her instructions in dance after dance. The soldiers from the allied forces partied till the wee hours and King Verron stayed right there with them to the very end. The MJs had the time of their life dancing with the little Lyncardi from Molnar. They both fell asleep curled up next to Zeus with a half dozen Molnar friends by their side. The highlights of the evening were Chase doing a guitar duet with Kary, Daniel doing a Jerry Lee Lewis Shake Baby Shake on the piano and Katelyn and Tala, both on an Acoustic Guitar, playing Chapel Hill Boogie. Kary shed a tear; the girls had learned well under his careful tutelage. Paul shook the hand of every guest as they left, he did not want anyone to feel slighted by their King. He made a point to treat everyone there the same. If Verron didn’t have 36 hour days, the party would have ended at something like 4:00 AM. Paul walked over to get a bite to eat and quickly noticed that the food had been devoured. No one left the party hungry.

  Chapter 10

  Paul got up earlier than he intended the next morning and went for a run. When he returned from his run, the kitchen was the usual buzz of excitement as everyone talked about how much they were going to miss having 99 and Ilna in the Mansion. They also couldn’t stop talking about what a wonderful wedding it had been. Hunter had already headed back to the USS Carl Vinson; Amber was on a short break from the Academy and had Robert with her at the Space Center working with Admiral Sullivan and her crew of NASA people. Amber and Samantha had become close friends and worked well together. Tala and Katelyn had finished the test flights on the Interceptors and were doing some testing of new weapons systems Chase and Daniel had installed in three Fighters. Chase was putting the finishing touches on the Two Tap missile system he had installed in one of the Light Destroyers. Daniel was in the base control room prepping two target drones for the tests about to be performed by Tala and Katelyn. Paul couldn’t help but notice the smell of burnt toast when he entered the kitchen. Ibrihim and Lydia had attempted to replace 99 as toast makers. Hopefully they would allow the Queen Mother to make the tea. Finley had already left for Beriya-Haven escorted by Tlase. He didn’t want to wait for Paul to get back from his run, he really wanted a mate. Paul immediately began to think about the couples that were forming up; Hunter and Ursula, Chase and Kay, Daniel and Fay, Amber and Robert, he noticed Cali with her young man from Tecalna dancing together all evening, even the Queen Mother had an admirer at church that stopped over to visit once in a while. He suddenly felt really lonely. He grabbed his Diet Coke, BLT and Egg sandwich and headed for his office. Inga finished her coffee and conversation and followed close behind. After a briefing from Inga on behalf of his staff, he went to his office to check in with Lucy.

  Lucy reported that Desiree and Marie had departed for Kenya. They had decided to wait until after 99s wedding to go, rather than go for a few days and return to Verron. She verified that 100 Marines in body armor had gone with them. If there was no trouble, they would assist with humanitarian aid, but promised that neither Desiree nor Marie would ever be without protection. It was going to be quite a show when they arrived in Kenya. The Verron medical team was traveling in a 900 foot-long Freighter with enough room for the Marines, their medical supplies, an on-board medical clinic, a feeding hall and of course housing for those traveling from Verron. Two Light Destroyers would handle air support for any place they went; their Daddy was taking no chances.

  As he expected, the wedding party was being broadcast everywhere. All he saw was the actual network coverage, there was no way to follow the mass of Facebook information. Looking at the pictures taken made him realize just what an unusual and diverse group of allies he had. He decided to have Inga contact Robin Meade and see if she was ready to make a trip. He wanted people on Earth to get a true image of Verron and not just bits and pieces of incomplete information. He looked over his weekly Verron Security report. As the population increased, so did the number of violations of Verron Law. There was still no serious crime, but he did have several new arrivals caught trying to smuggle in drugs, they obviously were returned home, a domestic dispute that turned violent, and several drunk-flying arrests. Security had screened and rejected 47 people who had tried to migrate to Verron; they consisted of half a dozen spies from around the world and a dozen people of the Islamic faith. Some of them were potential terrorist threats and the others would have just been trouble makers. Six homosexuals who had served in the U.S. military were politely told no and sent back home. Someone thought she had her purse stolen, but it was later found in the dressing room at J.C. Penny’s. Dr. Joe Verron told Paul that many of the new arrivals were younger and didn’t require rejuvenation or regeneration; he had decided to utilize the chamber space to add a few extra Disabled Veterans. A lot of those veterans opted to stay on Verron. The press was having a field day interviewing those people of color who had been regenerated then returned to Earth and were no longer eligible for their disability check, talking about how unfair the system was to cut off their disability pay and how racist King Verron was for allowing some of the white Veterans to remain on Verron and not the black or Hispanics. Paul thought to himself, “I send a 45 year-old quadriplegic home with all four of his limbs and a 25 year-old body and he complains to the press about not being disabled and rejected by the very people who gave him his life back. It almost makes me want to make them all pay for their treatment. It seems like when it’s free it becomes just one more entitlement.”

  Thoroughly frustrated by the news reports, Paul decided to head to Klelta and discuss Hon IV’s plan to bring more Chinese Christians to Klelta and he also knew he needed to pay a visit to his new colony of Iraqi, Kurdish and Syrian Christians. He told Inga where he was headed and disappeared. New Zion was impressive and picturesque for a small village of 19,000 people. Built along the Mediterranean type coast of the western shore, it was surrounded with cliffs, rolling fertile hills and crystal clear waters. He thought, “New Zion, Heaven, it’s a good name. I really need to name each continent. Before I know it, there will be people living on all of them.” The town looked like a Mediterranean Fishing Village right out of a picture postcard. The
low hills overlooking the harbor were covered with one and two story white stucco buildings with red tile roofs. The breeze off the ocean kept the small homes with large patios and wide windows cool even in the middle of the day. There was a Fishing Boat Manufacturing plant on one side of the harbor and dozens of 30 to 70 foot fishing boats lining the peers. Surrounding the village on the hills farther from the harbor, there were thousands of acres of 3 foot tall olive trees, and beyond them the beginning of grape vineyards. Inland there were already thousands of sheep grazing on the fertile grasslands.

  Hundreds of the new residents had elected to start-up small farms, while others opened carpentry shops, leather shops, restaurants, retail stores and grocery stores. It had become a self-sufficient community and filled with happy healthy families. Dr. Verron had even opened a small medical facility there. So far it had delivered 11 new babies and the new multipurpose school was opening in another week, encompassing classrooms, recreation facilities and daycare services and adult education class, it was open 36 hours each day. He walked by the fish market and was amazed by the wide variety of fish being sold. He asked the local merchants if they caught enough fish to ship some to Capital City. The dozen or so fisherman standing around looked doubtful. He then asked, “What could you do if I supplied a couple of 200 to 300 foot fishing ships. I could have two of them built and send a crew to train your people on how to operate them. It could do a lot to bolster your economy until your other businesses get off the ground.” They liked the idea, he then added, “What you lack here is any form of manufacturing. If we could open a factory or two that did not require high levels of skill but could employ a few thousand of your people, would you be interested?” The men that were gathered around escorted Paul to the town elders. These four men operated out of a small community building that functioned as a town hall and administrative building. After the excited men told them about what Paul had offered, it was agreed to have a group from Capital City come and select a place to build a plant and help find a location to dock two much larger boats. Paul already had it in his head to put a branch of his farm equipment plant outside their city and maybe even a cannery. After answering a dozen inquiries about the much loved Ibrihim and Lydia, Paul said his goodbyes and headed for Klelta.

  There was always something new going-on on Klelta. Today was going to be no exception. Prince Hon IV was not only a member of the Dragon Guard he was also the leader of the Klelta Armed Forces and was showing more and more of his latent talent at developing his Nation’s economy. When Paul arrived in the abandoned military base, now occupied by almost 5000 Chinese, he realized that Hon IV had been busy doing a bit of recruiting of his own. Now named Philadelphia, it truly was an example of brotherly love. Giant Klelta and slim Chinese were busily going about their day’s activities. Hon had converted one of the large aircraft hangers into a factory where the Chinese now built items too small for big Klelta hands to do easily, communications devices, computers, controllers for their weapons targeting systems, and even new computer controls for their new internal combustion engines that had replaced their very crude diesel units. In a building across from that plant, the busy Chinese were working side-by-side with Klelta building farm machinery. Over a thousand had joined forces with the Klelta and become part of their military. Several were on Verron training as Fighter Pilots. Paul caught up with Hon IV, Master Lin and Pastor Fu in the former headquarters building for the defeated army that once oppressed Klelta. The three of them were reviewing a map of China that identified one of the largest prison camps in the country. Located in the middle of the most inhospitable area of China, mountain and desert, the facility housed over 10,000 Chinese Christians who were there to be reeducated, many never lived long enough to obtain that education. Hon IV was determined to bring every one of them to Klelta. He was trying to determine a way to get them out safely without harming the Chinese guards, some of those guards had secretly become Christian’s themselves and were the lifeline between the detainees and the outside world. In fact it was one of those guards intelligence reports that was equipping Hon to make this rescue.

  When Paul entered the room he was facing four smiling faces; three he recognized. The fourth was one of the prettiest girls he had ever seen. Pastor Fu quickly introduced his niece Eu Meh, means especially beautiful. Paul thought, “They picked a name at birth and she grew into it.” Master Lin informed Paul, “Eu Meh just arrived. Before becoming a Christian, she was in the Chinese Army. She was unsuccessful in being transferred to the Reeducation Center and decided to join her family here.” Paul had to make himself not stare at the perfectly proportioned woman with long black hair and green eyes. When she smiled, it was like the entire room lit up. Paul thought, “This is all I need. When I’m going around feeling sorry for myself for having no one in my life, this perfect girl shows up.” Paul extended his hand for hers and simply said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He couldn’t help but notice how firm her grip was, even with her tiny little hand. He immediately asked, “What am I looking at here? Do you need my help?” Pastor Fu responded, “Only if you’re invisible. This compound is miles from any vegetation and almost impossible to approach without being seen. Even if we make a gateway into the compound, the sentries have dozens of towers with excellent views of all areas. We want to render the guards harmless without killing any of them and keep them that way until we escort everyone from the camp to Klelta.

  Paul smiled, and Hon IV knew exactly what he was thinking. Paul didn’t want to use the Dragon Guard on this rescue, it would be best if Hon IV and the Chinese leaders got the credit for it. He looked at the three Chinese who were all slight in stature, especially 4 foot 11 inch Eu Meh. He asked, “Out of the Chinese in the Klelta Commandoes, how many are my size of larger; can you find at least a dozen?” Knowing what he was doing, Hon answered for the puzzled Chinese, saying; “Not all these Chinese are little. There are actually a few here over six feet tall, one is 6 foot 11. I will have no problem meeting your criteria.” Paul then said, “Congratulations, you now have one dozen Invisible Men. How soon do you plan to leave?”

  Before the Pastor and his friends drove themselves crazy trying to figure out how they were going to have invisible men, Hon laughed and told them, “You have seen the Destroyers that patrol Klelta, the ones that can be invisible.” The three nodded. “Well, King Verron has body armor that can do the same thing. He controls and limits the use of it, but has just now offered it to us to use for this mission. With a dozen invisible men, we should be able to easily surprise the sentries.” Paul then asked, “Do you have any of the stun-guns we use on Verron for our security police?” Hon indicated that he did not. Paul continued, “I’ll see to it that you are equipped with enough of them for everyone on your exfiltration team, there will no doubt be sentries inside the compound as well. It will knock them unconscious for a good 2 to 6 hours, depending on the setting of the guns control. I believe that should give you plenty of time and no one will be injured, unless they hit the ground too hard when they fall, I can’t be responsible for that and neither can you.” Eu Meh excitedly gave Paul a hug and exclaimed, “You are everything my people have claimed you to be. How can we ever thank you enough?” Paul was intoxicated by the smell of her so close to him. He had to catch his breath and answered, “Just get them out safely, then I will work with Hon to put a plan and timetable together for systematically recruiting Chinese from all over your country, just like we have done in Russia. It will be up to your people to prepare housing and employment for them as they arrive. It has to be carefully timed and planned or you will end up with a huge refugee camp and no one will have a job or a home. My friend Hon is extremely generous but no one’s economy can survive long if their people are not productive.” Paul then left to see Rebecca and Brad at their medical and education center. As he walked out the door he told Hon IV, contact General Zarman, he runs the security on the Cloaking Armor. Tell him I said you could borrow the suits. The stun-guns are my gift to you. Jus
t let me know if you need anything else.”

  Rebecca and Brad had known Paul for over 30 years. Rebecca had been a friend of Renee’s when they were still in Junior High School. A Nurse Practitioner and devoted Christian, she and her husband Brad had served for years in China as missionaries. They were perfect for the job on Klelta. Brad had a degree in secondary education; between the two of them the city of Philadelphia had a first rate medical clinic and the beginnings of an excellent school system. He entered the medical center that had once been used as a military hospital. The people there before them had been more advanced than Earth but not quite where Verron was technically. Paul couldn’t help but notice the abundance of small children and crying babies in the lobby as he headed down the hall to Rebecca’s office and passed a big window with two dozen infants lying in small cribs. After living in a country where there was a limit on children born into a family, these now free citizens of Klelta were having a population explosion. Rebecca was in her office just finishing an exam of a small three-year-old boy that was proudly sucking on a Tootsie-Roll Pop he had just received as a reward for his good behavior. Paul smiled as he entered the room and pulled a Tootsie-Roll from the jar next to the door, asking, “Have I been good?” The little boy’s mother suddenly recognized King Verron and looked terrified to be in the same room with him. He smiled and spoke to her son in Mandarin Chinese, saying, “I think your Mommy has been very good. Do you think she should have a sucker?” The little boy hugged his mother’s neck and received the Tootsie-Roll from Paul then handed it to his mother. Paul told the mother, “King Hon and I want nothing but the best for you and your children. Just tell Rebecca here if there is anything that we need to do to make life better for you. This is not China.” He then tasseled the little boy hair and told him, “Take good care of your Mama.” Both were smiling when they left.