“Yeah, that’s an issue. We can only assume that even though their devices now are more efficient, they still have the same function. Their ears probably aren’t that different, right? And like Jim said, they have that plant on Heeg. I don’t know. If we had time to go to Ceres2 and test it… that’s why I came, to go with you guys, but now…”
“I need to get this to Cardigan right away,” Reena said, “we don’t really have time for any kind of testing.”
“Cardigan?” said Ari, “as in President Cardigan?” His eyes widened.
“It’s been an interesting few days, hivol weird. I’ll fill you in. You’re going to need to demonstrate this to some very important people. Do you have your controller with you?”
“Yes, of course, it’s in my room. I stashed everything there and came right over.”
“Ari, look at me,” ordered Reena. “How sure are you about this?”
“I’m sure of what I did, that’s all. I’m going to meet the President?” He was scared sick to his stomach.
“Let’s find out.” Reena immediately swiped a call to Zoomer Perry, which was the closest personal number to the action that she had been given.
“Mr. Perry’s office,” came the response.
“Hi, this is Reena Coolie, I need to speak to Mr. Perry, it’s urgent.” She floated the image in front of her and began pacing the room.
“Mr. Perry is not available right now; may I swipe voice-mail for you?” said the woman.
“Actually no, I have to get to him immediately…or Presidenta Murillo, ma’am, as I said, it’s very urgent. It is concerning the Foon; do you know who I am?” Reena was firm but polite.
Corey and Pel were watching intensely. This was a side of her they had not seen yet.
“No, I don’t, but I’m sure you realize-”
“I’m one of the celebrities at the meeting for the Defense First Initiative,” Reena interrupted, “and I have information for the President that he needs to hear. I-”
“Ma’am the Defense First has collapsed since the Foon hyperjump. You know that, right? The arrival will be in only-”
“Yes, of course I know, and that is why, with respect, I need to speak to Madame Presidenta. We may have a solution to the problem and I need her to get me an audience with President Cardigan.”
“Presidenta Murillo is so very busy with this situation, and you can be sure we are doing all we can-”
“Madame, YOU can be sure that you don’t want to be the one who did not let me get through to our leaders. We may have a useable weapon against the Foon. Madame Presidenta knows who I am; PLEASE PUT ME THROUGH to Mr. Perry or her!”
A pause.
“One moment, please.”
“Ms. Coolie, this is Presidenta Murillo. I have been listening. Please stay on the line for instructions.”
“Thank you, Madame Presidenta.” Reena took a deep breath and waited for what seemed like an eternity. Zoomer Perry came on the line.
“Ms. Coolie, we are sending a transport to your location now. Bring whoever you need and prepare to leave immediately.”
“Thank you, Mr. Perry. We’re on it,” replied Reena.
“Looks like we’re in! Corey and Pel, can you come with us? We could all use your support…I’m sure we’ll be back by this evening,” said Reena.
“Yes, we just need to tell Mom and Dad,” said Corey.
Reena put her hands on Ari’s shoulders and looked him in the eye. “You’ve got this,” she whispered.
She turned to the hovering image. “Jim, let’s hang up. We’re going to need you in DC also, how fast can you be there?”
“I’m in Oklahoma, and I’ve got a car so I can be there in an hour. Tranquil lives here, so I just gotta get her home. Swipe me where to go when I get there.”
“Um, it’s the White House, you go to the White House.”
Jim moaned, “Oh Lord, I-”
“I know it’s not your cup of noodles, but you’ll be considered an expert on the Foon, and it’s imperative you be with us,” pleaded Reena. “I need you.”
“I’ll wear my orange jumpsuit, just to save time,” Jim groaned.
“Jim, behind you!” She could see two men dressed in dark suits walking up behind her friend. Jim turned to face them and Reena could barely hear the audio, but it was clear one of them said, “Mr. Matthews, we’d like you to-”
The screen went blank.
“Oh, my Maker!” Reena yelled. “Jim? JIM! Corey, Pel, let’s all go.”
“Ok, but we have to see mom. Ten minutes and we’ll be there,” Corey commanded.
The brothers rushed down to mom’s room on the skylevator to check on her one more time. She looked tired, but her vitals were strong. Dad was looking ten years older.
“Please, just hear me out,” said Corey. “Mom, dad, we are involved in the situation with the Foon. You know about the hyper-jump. They’re coming. But Aristotle may have an idea that could help United Earth, and we have been invited to the White House to demonstrate it.”
“Did you hear that, mama?” asked Roy. “Our boys are on a mission for the government!”
“Well, that is just wonderful,” whispered Mira. Her eyes were closed. “I’m so proud of you boys.” Her voice was breathy and weak, and she fell asleep.
A government shuttle was waiting in the Blue Kaiser main parking lot. Reena coordinated everyone into the vessel within two minutes, including Jon. The boys exchanged hand-slaps and greetings with their artiman friend and took their seats immediately. Ari was visibly sweating, going over the demonstration in his head.
“Hey Reena, did you tell them we’re going to need one of the Foon devices?” Ari asked.
“Yes, they said they can do even better than that.”
“How can they do better than that?” asked Corey.
“Prepare for departure, people. Restraints on now,” came from the cockpit.
“Not quite as cozy as commercial pilots, eh?” said Pel, leaning toward Corey. With that, the transport rushed forward, faster than any skycar the brothers had ever been in, and Pel pulled open the disposer but kept his coffee.
They zipped over the ocean and were in Washington DC in thirty minutes, hovering above the White House Rose Garden waiting for permission to descend, when Reena got a call from Jim.
“Surprise!” said Jim.
“Jim, where are you; who was that-?”
“Look out your window,” he said.
He was standing in front of the White House, his dark-suited escorts at his side.
“They don’t talk much, but they fly real fast,” said Jim, who was relieved to not be dead or sitting in a Federal prison.
The transport landed and was met immediately by a military protocol team who were there to escort them all into the White House. After DNA and retina scans, scalp burns, z-ray and a quick pat-down, they were in. Jon had his programming scanned, called a softscan; that was all that was necessary for an artiman. Corey and Pel kept looking at each other with amazement as the place was unfolding before them. Surreal. Reena’s hand was gripping Corey’s like a vise.
Ari was both exhilarated with this whole turn of events and terrified of what he was about to do. He never had any interest in government, but here he was, and he would be using his hard-earned skills to do something for which they were never intended.
He unpacked his controller without shaking any hands. He had to focus. As Ari was firing up the power, President Cardigan, Vice-President Nga, and General McCalvin walked in with an entourage of assistants.
“Good morning everyone, I am Andrew Cardigan. Ms. Coolie, it’s good to see you again. I’m sure you all know we are here because of today’s turn of events. The hyperjump of the Foon is of the utmost concern. These are desperate times, and in the event of invasion, we need to know every possible solution available to us, so we are meeting to see a demonstration. Mr. Lopez, I presume,” and he put out his hand.
“Yes, Mr. President,” said Ari, and they shook han
ds.
“Don’t be nervous, son, you can save that for if we have to use this idea. Pack that up, though, we’re not doing it here. We’re going to another room.”
Protocol agents swiftly moved everyone along. The President and his team would take a different route. Ari was doing his best to gather up his equipment while cursing at himself that he had just set everything up at the wrong time. An agent stepped in to help, and she and Ari took quick steps with gear under both arms. The speed at which everything was moving made it seem like they were being attacked right that minute.
They made their way down a long corridor, stopping at a large red blinking light above what looked like titanium elevator doors. An agent swiped his wrist in front of a plate to the right of the doors, and they opened with a hiss. Everyone jumped right in, and the elevator took them down for what seemed like an eternity.
“How far down does this go?” Corey asked. No answer. Pel shot him the stupid face.
Finally, the doors opened. Directly in front of them was a glowing yellow force field that buzzed with the sound of electricity. There was obviously a room on the other side. Corey assumed this must be some sort of underground bunker to hide the heads of government in case of attack, and he was right. The President and General McCalvin were already there, and each stood in front of a scanner plate on either side of the force field. With a phrase from each of them and a swipe of the wrist, the force field dissipated. A tall, muscular service agent, obviously an artiman, opened a door on the other side.
Reena gasped and squeezed Corey’s hand. “Oh my God!”
“Whoa, what the-” said Pel.
“What in God’s name,” uttered Jim.
Inside the room were the Foon.
21
INTERROGATION
“Please, enter. Please…”
There were about forty of them, the Foon, seated in chairs, no restraints, no apparent discomfort, but they looked terrified. They didn’t move until Jim stepped in, at which time one of them in the front row stood up and stepped forward.
“Jmmmmm,” he said, apparently happy to see a friend. Jim ran forward and bent down to hug him, a hug that lasted several seconds.
“Neem, you’re a sight for sore eyes,” said Jim. “Hmm teep ween?” He turned to the officials, “is there a translator here?”
“Yes there is, my friend,” came a voice from the ceiling. There was a device in the room, and as the Foon man spoke in musical tones, his translated voice filled the air.
“Are you all right? Are you being treated well?” Jim cried.
“We afraid, but we not harmed.” A female came to his side.
“Hoog Fee, so good to see you,” exclaimed Jim, hugging her. “I’m glad you’re both together. This must be so difficult for you.”
President Cardigan had quickly assembled an observation team for this event. Yolanda Murillo and her entourage were in attendance, as well as White House staff members and a security team. Also present were UE Chief of Space Force General McCalvin and Major General Perez, along with representatives of the Air Force, the Army, and the Navy. No reporters and no unofficial recording devices were in the room.
Cardigan began the proceedings. “Mr. Lopez, it is my intention to see for myself and my colleagues what your idea is and how it works, and Mr. Matthews, I would like you to be the liaison to these people. We have one of their devices with us. Please inform them that we are uncertain of their safety during this experiment.”
Jim looked at President Cardigan, into his eyes, for about 10 seconds before turning to his friend Neem, to explain that the experiment would be testing their ears. He didn’t know how to feel. Jim wanted no harm to come to his friends, but the fate of the solar system may be at stake. He looked at Ari.
“It’ll be ok,” Ari whispered.
“Your honor, maybe we should do a little chit-chat first,” said Jim, turning to Cardigan. “We’ve got them here; let’s not rush this.”
“Yes, I agree,” said Reena. “General, you don’t have any questions they may be able to answer? Surely if Ari shows them-”
McCalvin interrupted, “We’ve already done that, young lady, with zero success.”
Reena’s face flushed and her muscles tightened. “With respect to all here,” she answered, “you brought them to this place against their will, and you violated a significant treaty doing it. Please know I’m not attacking your decision, but they are extremely sensitive to this kind of interaction. This is not the way to-”
“We will decide what is the best interaction,” barked McCalvin, interrupting her again. “You are here for one purpose, and it’s not to dictate procedure, young lady.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, were we not introduced, General? My name is not young lady, it’s Ms. Coolie. Mr. President, Madame Presidenta, with respect, you don’t know much about their communication abilities. Mr. Matthews does. Why don’t we start with a polite conversation?” She crossed her arms.
“We know more than you think, that’s why you’re here,” said Cardigan. “And we have asked. We’ve been speaking to them since 2:00 am, and we’ve learned nothing. They did say that they don’t know much about this technology. These are two-hundred-year-old devices that they didn’t invent, their ancestors did. We just acquired them ourselves and we are having them reverse-engineered. We’re pretty certain we’ll find trinitium inside, or something like it since the devices are still functional. Ms. Coolie, when you called, we jumped on this meeting because of what we know; your team is here because of what we’re hoping to learn now.”
Jim turned to Cardigan, “Your honor, what-”
“Jim, Mr. President,” snapped Reena.
“Excuse me?”
“Don’t call him Your Honor.”
Jim gave a short bow. “I’m sorry, sir. Sir, what do our friends know about the approaching ships? Did you ask them about-?”
“Mr. President, we are in a hurry,” blurted McCalvin. “Every minute counts.”
Neem spoke up. “Yes, friend, we know. I say something now. Listen…ancestors of us not prisoners as we say past, they leaders. Forced to leave. Heeg Foon become hostile. Heeg people is bad. They know long time of your planet, but no way get here fast. Was hope for better life for children and childrens when we leave. Happy we find the Earth and good people. Stay alone on Ceres2 for peace. Not tell before because of not reason.”
A silence filled the room for what seemed like an eternity.
“Do we have their permission?” asked Cardigan. Jim looked at Neem, hoping to see something in his face, anything that would help to know how they were feeling.
“Do we have their permission, Mr. Matthews?”
“Yes,” said Neem.
“Neem, are you sure?” Jim stood right in front of Neem, putting a block between the president and his friend.
“Jmmmmm…we here for you and your planets now.”
“Mr. Lopez, please commence,” said Cardigan. Ari felt McCalvin breathing down his neck. Pel pulled up a chair next to him and sat down, putting his hand on Ari’s back and patting him lightly.
“First I want to see how you access the device,” said General McCalvin.
“No problem sir, accessing the device is easy.” Ari worked the process until he got a return signal on his headset.
“See? It’s that simple,” said Ari. “This isn’t dimensional science; if your guys have tried this and failed, it’s because they don’t understand how the language device interacts with Foon ears, I think.” He looked up at McCalvin. “If it weren’t for Jim and a lot of research, I wouldn’t know much of this either. I spent a lot of time looking into-”
“Mr. Lopez!” barked McCalvin.
“Right. So, if I slowly increase…” Ari said to no one as he worked the controls, “I can get-”
Suddenly the entire group of Foon raised their heads in unison. They produced a beautiful sound together, C natural pitch, with a very pleasing timbre, almost like a Gregorian Choir. McCalvin looked ov
er at Cardigan and their eyes met.
“Is this voluntary?” asked Cardigan, “or what, this is you? Are you making them do this?”
“I’ve never seen this,” muttered Jim.
“This is a very low-level send,” said Ari.
“Increase the signal,” McCalvin ordered.
Ari turned the signal up, and the chorus from the Foon became louder, stronger, but a bit harsher in tone. The Foon stood up in unison.
“Wow, this is incredible!” Ari exclaimed.
“How do you feel, Neem? Neem, can you hear me?” asked Jim. He looked at Cardigan. “Your honor, this seems a little-”
“Increase the signal again,” said McCalvin.
“Now wait, wait,” said Jim. “Maybe we should slow this down. Anyone?”
Ari looked at Jim, then Corey, then Reena. They looked scared and so out of place amongst the political elite. He increased the signal by a fraction. The voices became stronger still, but were becoming a bit disjointed, less pleasant...
“Increase the signal.”
Ari was hesitant but obeyed, and the beautiful choral tone turned to atonal anarchy. The Foon grabbed their ears, bending toward the floor. A moan erupted from those observing.
“This isn’t what is supposed to happen; I need to reset my waveforms!” yelled Ari.
“Increase the signal,” McCalvin repeated.
Ari screamed, “Mr. President, I don’t think-”
“Increase the signal, Mr. Lopez!” That came from President Cardigan, and Ari did, reluctantly.
The Foon were in total disarray and were shaking visibly. Their heads jerked back and forth as they dropped to their knees and to the floor.
Reena shrieked, “What are you doing?”
“You stop this right now, Mr. President!” yelled Jim.
“Increase the signal,” McCalvin ordered.
Reena ran toward Ari, “Don’t go any further! This is ridiculous!” Two guards grabbed her and pulled her to the floor.
Corey threw himself at the guards. “Get your fucking hands off of her!” he screamed. He jumped one of them and pulled him away from Reena but was punched in the stomach, then the face, and Corey fell to the floor. Another guard pinned him down and held him.
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