Soon it was Sylvia’s turn to leave. She packed her bag and headed back to London to finalize the bullion vault acquisition. Her negotiating skills proved to be impressive, and she closed the deal at a price that shocked John. He immediately awarded her a sizable bonus from the considerable amount he saved over his initial planned offer.
While in London, she stayed with her parents in their flat. Their reunion was a happy occasion, but her parents were stunned that she had been involved in the American crisis. They were proud of their daughter and thrilled that she and Jim Slater had finally reunited. Sylvia was surprised to learn that her parents had always admired Jim Slater.
They wanted to give her a wedding that would be rivaled by the royals, but she declined. After all the recent tragedy, she had no desire for pomp and circumstance. She insisted on a quiet and intimate ceremony that would be a deeply personal experience, not some media splash. But she did agree to have it at their ancestral home in Scotland.
****
John and Jim Slater began their intense discussions about the changes that were needed in the government and how to accomplish those changes properly. It was a daunting process and at the end of each day, they were exhausted.
They soon realized that even with enormous powers, changing a massive bureaucracy would be an almost impossible task.
Many sectors of government had grown into behemoths. How could agencies be resized, eliminated, or improved? How could efficiencies be achieved?
If agencies were eliminated, how would the former employees be handled? Could they be retrained and placed in other jobs?
Surely, with the remote craft and Maxxine’s powers, conflicts could be avoided. But then, how could the military be downsized without harming the economy?
The problems seemed insurmountable, and they hadn’t even begun to address social issues.
After a particularly contentious session that produced sparks between John’s insistence on changes and Jim’s insistence on caution, they were about to leave the room when they heard a deep sigh and then a familiar voice from far outer space.
“My primitive friends, you have opened Pandora’s box. For every solution you suggest, there are untold consequences. The problem is one of human nature, and you just can’t change it quickly. However, you can easily erase the board, so to speak, and start over.
“My cloning program for Mylea is going very well. I will soon have a planet full of young and vibrant Myleans. Their future is very bright.
“I think that you could just simplify the whole matter on Earth if you let me take over.
“Why don’t I just come up with a dandy little plague? Some nice little virus would be just fine. Of course, it would be deadly with no possible cure. After a few weeks, your planet would be left with no human life. Poof! Your problems are solved.
“Then, I could provide you with samples of Mylean DNA to start a cloning program of your own. I’ve already been determining how to take the best characteristics of both races and combine them into a nearly perfect new species.
“I’ve already programmed Maxxine with the capability of creating DNA artificially on your space station. I have to admit that I consider this program to be my crowning achievement.
“Think of it, in a relatively short period, you would have a people who are technologically oriented and do not have those destructive urges of your current population.
“My solution is far easier and far more positive than anything you’ve considered, and it would take much less time to implement.”
John and Jim looked at each other in shock.
Then, there was total silence in the room.
Epilogue
“No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.”
- Gautama Buddha, Sayings Of Buddha
The Wilkinson Presidency
Henry Wilkinson would serve out his term and choose not to run for a second term. His presidential years were some of the most turbulent in history, but the country began to heal and grow. Many were already praising his presidency for the integrity, strength, and monumental changes that it brought to the nation.
His legacy would be that of a beloved president, who had successfully steered the ship of state through many dangerous situations. By the end of his tenure, many wrongs had already been corrected, and the government was making slow but steady progress in its efforts to return to its constitutional basis.
Of course, behind the scenes, Jim Slater worked diligently to achieve many of John Scott’s goals. They, supported by Maxxine, provided constant advice and resources for the many changes that were required to return the ship of state to smooth sailing.
Jim and Sylvia
Jim Slater and Sylvia McDonald built a strong relationship forged on trust and faith in each other. They were married quietly at the McDonald ancestral home in Scotland with close friends and family in attendance.
It was no surprise that the list of close friends included President Wilkinson and John Scott, along with their wives. They traveled, in secret, on John’s remote craft and arrived shortly before the traditional ceremony was to begin. Two Secret Service agents, Lucas Siegel and Jonathon Gordon, were also in attendance, as a token gesture to appease the Secret Service.
Immediately following the traditional ceremony, the president and first lady returned to Washington, leaving the wedding party to celebrate for days. John and Julia stayed until the last bottle of scotch was emptied, and the last bagpipe silenced. The celebration was finally over.
John had urged the couple to accept a luxurious penthouse overlooking the Potomac as a wedding gift. They declined, opting for a simpler, historic farmhouse in the Virginia countryside. Neither had a desire for the trappings of wealth that were available to them. John openly protested, but was secretly pleased with their decision.
As a surprise, John had ordered a humanoid robot as a wedding present to Jim and Sylvia. They named him Churchill and insisted that he be given a British accent and the ability to serve a proper high tea.
Sylvia continued to run John’s London operations. She worked from home most of the time and made only a couple of trips to England each month. To make travel more comfortable, John made a shuttle craft available to her for all her trips.
As for Jim Slater, he had always wanted a job that would make a difference. Now, he had just that, and he loved the challenges and opportunities that it offered. He would serve the next president just as faithfully as he had served Wilkinson.
John and Julia
John Scott and Julia Compton married in a private ceremony on the island. Only her family, Jim, and Sylvia attended. John had managed to have General T licensed as a non-denominational minister, and he performed the ceremony.
Afterward, Julia challenged the others to a round of golf which she promptly won.
After only a short time with John and Julia, both her father and brother heartily approved her marriage and appeared to be very fond of her new husband.
John decided to postpone his trip to Mylea until he had more time to be with Julia. He would provide her with complete and honest information and even take her to the transporter craft for a tour. If she chose to accompany him, he would take the trip to Mylea.
If she chose not to accompany him, then he would not go alone. Nothing would ever convince him to leave her side for an extended period. The two of them became almost a single person, experiencing life together to the maximum. They had untold wealth but chose to establish charitable foundations to enrich the lives of others. As for themselves, they spent a great deal of time zipping here and there about the globe in John’s shuttle. One day, they might perch on the top of Mount Everest and the next, they might be at Macchu Picchu.
Because of Julia’s love for the oceans, John had Maxxine construct a craft for underwater travel, and that would take them from the depths of the Marianas Trench to beneath the polar icecap. Julia was enthralled with seeing things beneath the sea that she ha
d previously only read about.
Akiro had become their constant companion. He was never far from the pair that he had trained so well. They catered to his every whim and lavished him with affection. Somehow, that little dog brought more healing to John’s soul than he could have ever imagined. The pain over the innocent lives lost during the war with the Krakow Klub would never leave him completely. But he was able to put it finally in a place in his mind that enabled him to live with it.
The Krakow Klub
The Krakow Klub, along with Carla Montrose, was put on trial in Washington. The charges included treason, conspiracy to commit mass murder, and a short list of lesser charges. John had Maxxine provided as much evidence as necessary to assure the conviction of all thirteen of them.
The trial ran for more than six months. All thirteen were convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole and forfeiture of all assets. The assets that the government was able to access, cumulatively, amounted to more than ten billion dollars. A small fraction of the total, but it is not easy to legally seize assets in many foreign jurisdictions, and John would allow nothing to be done that was illegal by international law.
John also insisted that much of the seized wealth be used to compensate the families of those servicemen who lost their lives in the coup attempt. He even insisted that the families of the Scorpion Battalion be included as well, but not to the same degree as the others.
The number of arrests was staggering. The Krakow Klub seemed to have had associates in every walk of life. It would take investigators and prosecutors years to work their way through the list of suspects that had been created by Maxxine.
Dr. Wesley Newton
Dr. Wesley Newton, because he was an active military officer, was also tried, but in a military court martial. He was convicted of treason and conspiracy to commit murder. He was sentenced to death, but the president commuted that sentence to life imprisonment without possibility of parole, stating that he did not deserve such a quick and final punishment.
The US Military
Ferreting out all the Krakow Klub associates in the military was a formidable task. General McGown, seeing that his arrest was at hand, chose to commit suicide with his service pistol. He left a note detailing his involvement and identified many others as conspirators. Resignations, plea bargains, and confessions were prolific in the weeks after his death.
Captain Popovich
Captain Popovich was promoted to rear admiral. He also received a special presidential citation for his actions during the attack on Scott Key. He had exercised restraint and courage in refusing to continue the military attack on the island. His actions had saved countless lives and billions of dollars’ worth of military hardware from certain destruction. He was delighted to learn that his good friend and superior officer, Hugh Morning Star, had also been promoted to vice admiral and had replaced Admiral Bloodworth as chief of Naval Operations.
Dr. Hiram Wu
As soon as the public trial of the Krakow Klub was announced, which listed all thirteen defendants, Hiram Wu quietly resigned his post at Stanford University and immediately returned to his native China. He would spend his remaining life trying to create SEP circuits.
Mitch the Bitch
Mitch, that most clever of canines, still hasn’t decided to become a mother, although she had many an opportunity on her frequent visits to Scott Key with Jim and Sylvia. She continues to string poor little Akiro along until the perfect time, which she alone will decide.
General (Formerly Mister) T
General T, although proud of his high military rank, continued to manage the island and serve John and Julia faithfully. He claimed to be the happiest robot in the galaxy. When in public, he used his alias, Al Genret, which John had cleverly come up with by reconfiguring the letters in “General T.” He had a large collection of wigs, beards, and eyeglasses that he wore to conceal his resemblance to John Scott when they traveled together. He also finally agreed to accept other robots on Scott Key and currently commanded a crew of ten. But only one of them, a female version programmed to be a housekeeper, was allowed inside the villa or guest house. General T insisted on personally handling the duties of cook, butler, and personal aide to John and Julia.
Maxxine
Maxxine continued her work on the deep space project for John and has designed many new types of robots in the process. The manufacturing of the Mister T class of robots was finally begun after waiting while General T stubbornly refused assistance in operating and maintaining the island.
In her spare time, she has come up with several rather creative and diabolical plans to put Maxx in his place at least once. She would never harm him as she had rather a strong feeling of electronic fondness for him even though she would never admit it. Offspring, even electronic ones, seem to want to outdo their parent, at least once in some way.
Maxx
Maxx continued his epic journey through space, but with a definite destination and an increasingly complex plan for repopulating Mylea in its new location. He would continue to talk with John Scott from time to time. Maxx valued John’s insight into the emotional side of biological beings. The project of raising a whole new generation of Myleans was beginning to get more complicated on a daily basis.
Also, he has secretly amassed a gigantic DNA store just in case John Scott, and Jim Slater should decide humans were a lost cause and needed a repopulation of Earth.
The Greenbrier
The Greenbrier was restored to its former glory without a single hint as to the carnage that had happened there on that bloody Thursday. All restoration costs were paid from the confiscated funds of the Krakow Klub.
The bunker remains, but it is again deactivated and available for tours by hotel guests.
The US Congress
The United States Congress was finally reconstituted with many new faces. Not only from the one hundred thirty-seven members who lost their lives, but from the resignation of several who were rumored to have been implicated with the Krakow Klub. As their terms ended, many who had survived the Greenbrier massacre decided to not stand for reelection.
A crisis can bring out the best in people, and that happened at the Greenbrier. These people who had led a privileged life were suddenly faced with death in a most brutal manner. They saw their friends and colleagues slain before their eyes. In those chaotic moments, they were totally helpless and only survived because of the random paths of the bullets that tore through the hotel. They would never understand why one person was killed instantly and the person beside him left unscathed. Was it luck? Was it divine providence? Many experienced survivor’s guilt and suffered grievously. Many others returned to the religious roots that had made their families and the nation strong. They found solace in faith and found the strength to unite and work together to heal the nation.
The Krakow Klub
All twelve members of the Krakow Klub, along with Carla Montrose, were found guilty of all charges. They were sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. These formerly mega rich, mega powerful individuals, were soon reduced to a state of madness probably because they already had personality flaws.
Stoellar was the most pathetic of all. He became a frail wraith tottering about in his cell, talking to himself endlessly about rebuilding the group. His handsome face was now gaunt, his beautifully coiffed hair was now only a short gray stubble. Sometimes, at night, he could be heard sadly calling out to someone named the Dragon Lady.
Number Eleven, the formidable Dragon Lady, feared by all who knew her, spent her days in a women’s prison far away from her former colleagues. She could be heard weeping piteously throughout the day and night, begging for someone to believe that she was only a humble Chinese immigrant. She swore that she had only been arrested for a rather insignificant offense but had been switched with the real Number Eleven in the jail bus carrying several inmates to court for their trials. The bus had been involved in an accident, and several prisoners required me
dical care. That’s when she claimed the switch had happened.
No one listened to her.
No one believed her.
And Finally
Halfway around the world, at an exotic private island, Laucala, near Fiji, a beautiful Asian woman in SCUBA gear swam through the crystal clear water and examined the breathtakingly beautiful coral reef below her. Exotically colored fish flashed curiously around her. It was a perfect morning. She looked at her dive watch, swam quickly to the surface, and climbed into the sailboat waiting for her.
She tossed her diving gear to the teak floor and waited patiently. Within seconds, a strikingly handsome young man came forward with a towel and a rum cocktail. She purred softly to herself. It was time for lunch. She licked her lips in anticipation.
As the young man gently toweled her, she sipped on her cocktail, and when he had finished, she took a seat on the nearby lounge. Reaching out, she took his outstretched hand and pulled him down beside her on the lounge.
This time, she would not be deterred from pursuing her pleasure.
But, that’s another story.
Coming Events
To be released in early 2016
Mylea: Rebirth
The interstellar transporter is proceeding relentlessly towards its goal, an average size star in an outer arm of the giant spiral galaxy (the Milky Way). It left Earth’s solar system less than year ago and it has a bit more than nine years of travel left before it reaches its final destination. Along the way, Maxx will be busy implementing his plans for the rebirthing process of the Mylean people. The further into his planning process he gets the more complicated it becomes.
The Krakow Klub Page 39