“Increase the signal, goddammit!” yelled McCalvin.
“Ari!” yelled Reena.
“You are dead!! You’re all dead!! That’s my brother!” screamed Pel as he jumped from his chair. “Don’t do it, Ari!” He stood in front of Ari to defend him from the guards.
That was enough. Ari lowered the signal and looked directly at Cardigan. The Foon went quiet, slowly retaking their seats.
“Mr. President, with respect sir, we don’t need to see any more of this wave setting,” Ari pleaded. “I’m right about what this can do, but that wasn’t what I expected. I just wanted to put them to sleep temporarily. Let’s have Jim get a few volunteers instead of the whole group, and let me try it again.”
Jim stepped to Ari and whispered, “they’ll all still be affected, son. You said that signal goes far.”
“Shit, that’s right. I’m not thinking.”
With a nod from Cardigan, the guards approached Ari and grabbed his arms, pulling him away from the controller.
“What the hell-”
“Mr. Lopez, the future of the Earth and her worlds is at stake. The fate of this group of Foon is not our concern, nor are you and your friends. We are in control now, of all of this, and I suggest you follow orders. I am the Commander-In-Chief.”
Corey, Pel, Reena, Jim, and Ari looked at each other in silence.
Cardigan looked over at a young man who didn’t look like he belonged in the Presidential party, and the man stepped forward.
“This is Ian Dodson. He will be conducting this experiment now,” said Cardigan. The man sat down at the controller board, tugged his sleeves and ran his fingers along the edges of the device as if he was admiring it. He touched a few pads and nothing.
“Are you serious, Mr. President?” said Ari, with an angrily sarcastic chuckle. “That console is completely customized; nothing does what the factory set it to do, and it’s bio-locked. That’s my intellectual property. You are wasting time.”
There was a long silence in the room, with everyone staring at Ari and at Cardigan. The man kept touching pads, but nothing was happening and he stopped. He gave a sheepish look at General McCalvin.
“Let him go,” Cardigan directed to the guards.
Ari could not believe he had just admonished the President of the United States Republic, but then he couldn’t believe any of this.
Corey got to his feet. “Mr. President, what…what is it you want to see, sir?”
“Mr. Jagger, what I want to see is success. Let me remind you that you are here only because of your association with people that may be important to the mission; I suggest you stand down.”
“Stand down? He should stand down? You haven’t seen enough?” Reena yelled. “There is no reason why you can’t take this slowly and let Ari do it his way. We know this can work, and going all the way should be saved for the actual bad guys.”
“Ms. Coolie!” yelled McCalvin.
“You’re torturing them! Who are you, Mr. President? Did the New Birth not happen? I believed in you!”
McCalvin jumped toward Reena, but Cardigan extended an arm to stop him. The room went quiet. The Foon caught the entire translation of what Reena said and stood in unison, chanting “Muuuh Kaaah!” Like a haka chant from ancient New Zealand warriors, it was a sign of unity, of determination. Cardigan stepped forward.
“I’ll tell you who I am, Ms. Coolie. I am the President of the United States Republic of America, the most powerful nation on Earth and in the solsys. Nothing matters to me but the success of this mission, nothing.”
“Mr. President, we all want the same thing. Please, call off your dogs and let’s get this done, the human way. This is 2198 for God’s sake...”
Another pause.
“Ms. Coolie, let’s meet privately, right now. Mr. Lopez, you also, and Mr. Jagger.”
That’s Jagger-Seven, Mr. Bastard SIR
“Mr. President, my God...” from General McCalvin.
“General, stay on task, remain here.”
“Yes, sir.”
Cardigan, Corey, Reena, and Ari entered a side room, with the thick metal door slamming hard behind them.
“So, apparently the executive branch of the USRA will be taking orders from a rocband and their superstar friend, am I on the right track here? Should I put you in charge?” barked Cardigan.
Reena jumped in, “Sir, it’s not about us, this will take everything you have at your disposal. We didn’t ask for this either. But can you just give decency a small chance before you go torturing?” Please let Ari play out this demonstration his way. He’s very knowledgeable, but we are seeing this for the first time, just like you,” she pleaded. “There’s much to learn, but torturing won’t teach us much.”
Cardigan looked over at Ari, who was looking down at the floor. Ari was relieved to have Reena making the argument for the Foon; he wasn’t sure if he had the guts to do it.
She continued, “I know it’s important to test the limit of what this idea can do, but these are lives, sentient beings, regardless of who they are. We need to show restraint and allow the Universe to see what we’re made of.”
“Ms. Coolie, I am listening, I promise, but you need to keep in mind that I don’t really care what the Universe thinks; the Foon are arriving Tuesday and I’m just trying to make sure we all wake up on Wednesday. That’s been my job from day one. Now we’ll go back out there and take it a bit slower, but I am in charge here, not you. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, Mr. President,” said Reena, and Corey repeated it, softly patting his blackening eye.
A calm had taken over the room. McCalvin was seated alone against a wall, examining a topographical map of Moon which hovered in front of him. Jim was sitting amongst the Foon, talking with them and reacquainting with a few that he knew.
Neem had confessed to Jim that he knew the experiment was crucial. He said that he can tell the UE all he knows about his people, but without actually testing Ari’s idea, nothing useful could be learned. It was refreshing to find that the Foon of Ceres2 were on the human side. They had no allegiance to their people because they were convinced this was an invasion.
Neem stepped forward toward the president.
“Foon at your service,” Neem announced. “Less pain from before is better.” That got a light chuckle out of the room.
“Please try slowly your machine.”
McCalvin approached the president and Reena overheard him whispering, “Sir, I’ve been informed we have a fleet deployment problem on Moon that I need to handle before maneuvers. With permission…”
“See to it Mac, and have Major General Perez take over here. We can handle it,” said Cardigan. With that, McCalvin barked out a few orders and left the room with his entourage.
“Well, that needed to happen,” said Reena. Cardigan and Murillo smiled.
“Sir, I have an idea,” said Ari. “In looking at my wide-field generator readings, I see a harder k-flux envelope at the target tones than those at the source, but they should be equal. It’s as if my board is acting as some sort of ghost algorithm cipher to compensate for the Foon receptors. Perhaps an aliased analog signal would be favorable over tri-digital oscillation, then I can possibly fire-pipe the…”
He looked up at the president, only to see his face as hard as a stone. Ari looked around the room. Even the Foon looked confused. Then a sliver of what appeared to be a smile began to form on the right side of Cardigan’s mouth.
“Mr. Lopez, either this is a mouthful of the deepest chicken spew I’ve heard in a long time, or you’re a genius.”
“He’s a genius,” from Corey, Reena, Jim and Pel, all at once.
“Cut to the chase, Ari,” said Reena.
“Um, I need someone to sing into this hole on my board.”
“I knew that,” chuckled Pel.
“Want Reena or me?” asked Corey.
“Reena…she’s got a purer tone. Sorry, Corey.”
“No, you’re right about that.
”
“Ok, let’s do it,” said Reena, and she did a quick brrrrrrrr with her lips bubbling, a professional warm-up trick. A few repeats and she stood next to Ari and the board.
“Ok, I need as close to A-432 as you can give me. 432, not 440, so just a hint toward a blue note. I’ll explain later. I don’t think I can auto it and have it work, so give it your best. Sing ahh… with no vibrato, straight, you know? Do it like the end of ‘Tell Me Everything,’” said Ari.
“Ok, I’m ready.”
“Here’s your pitch.” He played her the tone.
Reena stood tall while Ari held the board up to her face. She felt her ribs expand as she took in air, put her hands in front of her, palms down, dropped her jaw, and made magic. She knocked it out beautifully on the first take, and Ari stored it in the controller. He then began moving his fingers across the board, touching lights, checking readouts, playing keys, until Reena’s exotic voice was heard throughout the room, singing a beautiful adjusted-concert pitch.
At that point, Ari was talking to himself, “Ok, I’m going to fire-pipe this to create the perfect-”
The Foon once again raised their heads in unison, singing a perfect E natural, creating a fifth harmony. It was an angelic sound, pure, resonant. It went on for fifteen seconds, then Ari touched a few more buttons and bam… They stopped and sat down in unison. Jim approached Neem.
“What did you feel, my friend?” he asked. “Neem, what did you feel? Neem, can you hear me?”
Ten more seconds went by, then Neem spoke. “Ready for experiment,” he said.
All eyes were on Ari.
“Whoa,” said Pel. He looked over at Corey.
“Ok,” said Ari, “ok, that’s actually not surprising; I think what we saw and heard there was them ‘talking in their sleep.’”
“Neem, we just did the experiment,” said Jim. “I think we’re going to have to get you guys a record deal! What do you remember last?”
“The voice this woman,” and he pointed at Reena.
“This is easy,” said Ari, “I’m going to try it again. Neem, did you feel anything in your ears at all? Any pain? A tingle?”
“No, not pain. Pleasure.”
“Mr. President, everyone, this is where the variable will be,” said Ari. “Whatever technology they have now could take us by surprise, but if it still interfaces with their bio-swipe the same way it does with these Foon, we can do this. I just showed it.”
“Mr. Lopez, this is a very impressive presentation,” said Cardigan. “I need you to stay on this; I’m due for a meeting in the Oval Office. Major General Perez, remain here and oversee the proceedings. I need a report on the hour every hour, or when something breaks, understood?”
“Yes, Mr. President,” from Perez.
Cardigan, Murillo, and their people exited the room, which left a pleasant vacancy. Ari felt a sense of relief and was excited to see what his idea could now possibly do.
“Jim, tell them to get ready,” Ari said. He looked around the room. “This next transmission should make the sleep period longer,” he told everyone. At that, Ari began manipulating the board until the Foon, without standing up, without singing, without pain, went silent.
Minutes passed. The room was dead quiet. The eyes of the Foon were closed, though their bodies remained upright.
“That’s how they sleep, by the way, they sleep upright,” said Jim. “And they only sleep for about two hours at a time, but in an average solday they will do it about five times.”
“Really?” said Corey. “I hope they don’t dream like me.” That got a snicker out of Pel.
“I wondered at first if it was that crappy asteroid we built, the thing doesn’t spin right. Night and day ain’t consistent. It’s not that, though. It’s just in their DNA,” Jim added.
The Foon were completely catatonic for about twenty minutes before movement began within the group. When Neem started to stir, Jim spoke.
“Neem, are you well? Is everyone well?”
Neem began a series of musical tones, addressing the others as to their well-being. There was a chorus of sound, and Neem looked to Jim, “They fine, but hungry.” Nervous laughter filled the room.
Major General Perez approached Ari and extended his hand. “Mr. Lopez, I’m not sure if you want this or not, but you either have to teach someone to do this, or you are going to be commissioned to a warship. Of course, the UE has weapons that we know to be effective in any wartime situation, but you have accessed a possibility that, quite frankly, no one has considered, and we must have that possibility as an option.”
Ari’s eyes lit up. He hadn’t really thought about going into actual battle, and he certainly didn’t want to. Still, he was hesitant to have someone else do it.
“General, I can teach it, but I don’t really…I don’t really trust anyone else to be able to respond to technical problems that may come up. And my board is bio-tuned to me. I can change that, but it takes time.”
“How much time, Ari?” Perez pleaded.
“It would take an hour to switch it out of my control, teaching is a matter of you finding your best tekker. Once I set the para-meters, a few hours should do it. And we’ll need a few of the Foon again, sir,” Ari instructed.
“Ok, I’ll have my assistant on that right away,” said Perez. “We need you out there with us for maneuvers today, though. We’re going to test your idea on the Foon at high speeds and greater distances. A few of them have agreed to fly with us. Right, Neem? Perez looked over at Neem and they smiled. He suddenly felt a sense of gratitude and respect for these beings, who were just as much in the mayhem as anyone.
“Maneuvers can be as stressful as the real thing, you guys,”
Perez said to the group. “It’s not at all protocol, but I personally would like any or all of you on the bridge with Ari during these exercises. Anyone not up for it speak now; there is no shame.”
“I’m in,” said Corey, loudly.
“Me too,” came from Reena, smiling at Ari.
“Count me in,” said Jim, “gotta make sure you guys don’t put a spankin’ on my Foon buddies.”
Everyone looked at Pel.
“How can I say no?” Pel asked, “but I’m going to need a military-grade bucket on the floor in front of me.” Lord, help me.
“You have great friends, Ari,” said Perez.
“That I do. I can bring my artiman as well, yes?”
“Yes, of course. Haven’t heard a peep out of him. Listen, so far the plan is for conventional military at an intercept distance; your idea is still being called an option. But it looks like one hell of an option. As I said before, maneuvers can be stressful and your thinking can be thrown off in a moment of panic. Ari, I have someone I want you to talk to.”
Perez looked into the entourage of military personnel and nodded his head, and a small elderly gentleman with civilian clothes and white hair stepped forward and approached Ari.
“Hello Ari, I am Jorge Parenti; I am approved by the UE and the Cultural Council to address any apprehensions you may have about the mission preparation.” He did not extend his hand, but raised his right arm and spread his fingers, a gesture of solidarity on Titan. Ari hesitated, but then did the same.
“Great, now I get a shrink,” said Ari. “Better talk to these characters, too,” looking over at his group. “Especially that one.” Ari pointed to Pel.
Cardigan was briefed on the rest of the experiment and was ecstatic with the results. For the final test, Ari was flown with his board to several locations, the first fifty kilometers away, which resulted in the Foon going to sleep just as before. It continued to be successful up to four hundred kilometers, even though the Foon were still in the underground bunker. Ari realized that he had control of the procedure.
Corey accompanied him on that part of the experiment while the others were treated to lunch at the White House. He was supportive of his friend in every way, patting him on the back, keeping him hydrated and reminding him of wh
at a genius he was. Ari, overwhelmed with fear and self-doubt in this most unprecedented of circumstances, was more than happy to have his friend at his side. Now the real test was at hand. It was time for maneuvers.
22
MAYHEM
“UE One Central acknowledge, Bravo Echo Echo Charlie,” came the voice of Command Central.
“Roger Central, this is Hard Mac, we read you ten by ten.”
“Hard Mac, move swiftly two four zero and level one hundred thousand.”
“Two four zero, one hundred thousand copy.”
“Hard Mac, we show a twenty-k spread followed by a one hundred-k backup, acknowledge.”
“Roger Central, we are in position and lock-loaded.”
“Hard Mac, reveal swoop pattern epsilon in sync.”
With that, the entire UE Santa Fe fleet made a graceful sweep to the lunar side of Earth and blasted away with blinding speed toward a false target set about six hundred thousand kilometers away. Maneuvers were going well, but nobody had anticipated that these exercises would be so desperately last-minute. This team was going to be the tip of the spear against the oncoming armada, and The Cosmotix and company were nervously on board the heavily flanked speedship Roadrunner, with Major General Perez as captain.
Neem and several of the Foon were in an American Navy speed fighter, the PT Pat Tillman, piloted by one of Miramar’s finest, Thompson Beckham. His job was to do some hard flying to simulate the enemy evading the UE fleet, while Ari worked out the strategy with the board. Splittermen and nano teams were going through their moves, as were implosion canners and nukers. All artillery experts on the battle grid had to be ready.
“All right Roadrunner, on my mark, go to chase,” said Mac.
“Helm, put a tracker on the shuttle and copy his flight pattern,” Perez commanded.
“Now!”
The Tillman lurched to the left, then the right, and Roadrunner followed in perfect pursuit.
The Cosmotix 2198 Page 21