Confrontation

by William Hayashi

  “That doesn’t sound like something those same people are going to like to hear, sir. Especially given your role in contacting us. All we have ever wanted was to go home. Why can’t they just leave us alone?” Julius asked.

  “Good question. The ships you have just off the coast could be construed as a threat if you aren’t allowed to go on your way. They’re at least a reminder of what your capabilities are. I would like to ask you if the people in those ships plan any aggressive action if the authorities further impede your attempt to go home?”

  “Is that what’s going to happen, John? If Julius and I get up from this table, walk out and hail a cab, are the federal and local law enforcement agents scattered about going to prevent us from leaving? We have nothing of interest to your people. Neither Julius nor I are engineers, physicists, doctors or any other kind of technical type that can provide someone with information about the technology; that’s why we’re allowed to come back. And you saw what happens to people who threaten us. I dare say that sort of thing never ends well. I’m not making any threats when I say that further detaining us is the worst possible mistake your authorities can make. All hurt feelings, dick-waving contests, and childish escalations aside, the man in control of those two ships hovering over the lake can and will tear this country down around you with no more thought than you or I would give stepping on an ant on the sidewalk. The people who sent you here also sent soldiers to try to break into our home. Think about this John, if anything happens to us, or any other member of our community, the repercussions and consequences will be horrific,” Lucius said quietly. “This is neither the time nor the place for some statement from the president or anyone else for that matter. I implore you, make sure the people who sent you do the right thing because the same man that dropped the spacecraft that attacked our home on that building in Russia, and stood over the White House while being shot at by your military, has been monitoring everything said and done around us; including this conversation.”

  Seconds later John saw agent Adams stroll past the door, and assumed that whomever was listening might be preparing to intervene. He reached into his inner jacket pocket and took out the listening device. Looking around, he saw no place he could put it without being seen, so he tucked it under his thigh.

  “There are feds all over the place. What can I do to help?” John asked quietly.

  Julius and Lucius looked at each other, wondering if they could trust John.

  “How long did they give you? Are you on the clock?” Julius asked.

  “I don’t think so. I think if it sounds like we’re getting somewhere they may back off, seeing what I can find out. You have any ideas?” John asked.

  “I think if we can stall them until dark we should be able to get away,” Julius replied. “That is, if you’re on the level,” he said, still not completely convinced John was on the up and up.

  “Done,” John said, retrieving the device from under his leg and returning it to his pocket.

  Julius nodded to Lucius to continue.

  “How much did Sydney tell you about our community?” Lucius asked.

  “Not a whole lot. The night she left for the moon she told me a little bit about the man who made the anti-gravity discovery, and that it made the first moon base possible,” John said, watching through the door as Adams quickly walked out of the pier complex.

  “His discovery has given us propulsion, construction and manufacturing capabilities not available on Earth, as well as the shields that performed so well above the White House lawn. Needless to say, neither of us knows a damn thing about the principles nor the technical specifications, but it was because of this one discovery our colony was possible,” said Lucius.

  “When did your people first arrive on the moon?” John asked.

  “I don’t recall the exact date, but the colony was up and running with a few dozen or so residents well before Armstrong and Aldrin landed. In a way they were the first men on the moon, the first white men. By the way, when we first landed there were men and women in that first mission.”

  “Oh my God! How many were on that first trip? How big was the ship? Where was it built and launched from?” John asked, one question after another.

  “Slow down there, John. One question at a time,” Lucius said, as he and Julius laughed.

  “Okay, how many were on that first flight?”

  “A mixed crew of half a dozen. They landed on the back side of the moon, and they all got the opportunity to actually go out on the lunar surface,” explained Lucius.

  “They had working spacesuits, too?” John asked, incredulously.

  “Of course. Remember, our people were years ahead of NASA getting to the moon, just not into space. Both the Soviets and NASA beat our people into orbit.”

  “But where did your people launch from? How did they come and go without being seen? Were some of those flights attributed to UFOs? It’s unbelievable to finally find out,” John said, amazed.

  “They left and returned from an American city. I’ll not be spilling the beans on which one, but I will tell you this, they simply left and returned in the middle of the night. And from that same location they launched the biggest construction project in space, ever. Where those soldiers are stranded was our first habitat. They’re living in the first permanent shelter built off the planet Earth. Obviously we stripped it of anything that you don’t have already, except for the sophistication of the hydroponics, maybe. By the way, what did everyone think about the Apollo 13 hardware on exhibit there?”

  “That was quite a surprise. Most people thought they were fakes, conspiracy nuts thought that the Apollo program was some sort of secret coverup for aliens, Nazis, Atlantians, and a few other mythological groups that lived there for hundreds or thousands of years,” explained John, smiling.

  “When we picked up a news broadcast that Apollo 13 was in trouble, the leader of our community sent out one of our biggest ships to follow the astronauts as they limped home, prepared to rescue the men if they were in imminent danger of dying. Our ship followed them around the moon, passing right over our home by the way, and all the way into the atmosphere, just in case the heat shield was damaged. They were ready to snatch it in mid-flight and stow it inside one of our heavy haulers. And once nightfall came to the Florida coast, our people were going to drop the damaged spacecraft and the crew on the shore at the cape. Fortunately for us all that never became necessary. I know several of our community really wanted to park ‘No Trespassing’ signs where the various Apollo missions landed, but it was best that we remained unseen.

  “That’s also why we spent so much time and effort guiding that asteroid to soft-land on the back side of the lunar surface. It had to look like a natural occurrence. We wanted the water the easy way instead of mining it. When your satellite saw the evidence of our being up there, we knew the jig was up. Oh, by the way, your president should reflect on just how easy it is for us to move nearly any sized object through the solar system. It should give him pause before doing something monumentally stupid. Can this country defend itself from someone dropping big rocks from space, John?” Lucius asked, knowing those listening would understand the threat.

  “If we treated the powers that be in this country commensurate with how blacks have been historically treated and are still being treated, how do you think that’s going to change the political and social landscape of this country?

  “If we decided to completely reverse the income inequity in this country between blacks and whites through coercion and violence born of our advanced technologies, how will that sit with the people listening in on our conversation?

  “And finally, what if we decide to give our technologies to all the nonwhite countries on the planet and make damn sure that whites never have access to them? How will your people feel about us destroying any notion whatsoever of white exceptionalism across the planet in one fell swoop?
<
br />   “And one last thought before you try to answer questions better off left to those who sent you. What if we decided to explode every nuclear weapon still in use in this country all at the same time, no matter the various failsafes protecting them, in revenge for any transgression against any one of our community, no matter how small, no matter how accidental? For example, if some cracker came in this bar deciding he didn’t like my shirt and picked a fight with me, and those who run my community decided to make an example out of the incident and exploded all the nuclear ordnance on one of the missile submarines the navy still has in service, would that be lesson enough for your president?”

  “That would make you monsters!” John replied, appalled at the very thought.

  “Actually, John, that would make us copycat mass murderers. After all, the United States of America is the only country in history to use nuclear weapons against civilians, nonwhite civilians I remind you. We would only be following this country’s example.”

  * * *

  “You heard that, Mr. President. These people are not to be trifled with,” national security advisor Robert Abbott said, as he, Cleary, and Laughlin eavesdropped on the conversation in real-time in the situation room.

  “Can we afford to believe them without attribution?” Laughlin asked.

  “Dare we take a chance?” Abbott asked, pointedly.

  “They can make as many claims as they want, but without proof it’s all bullshit,” Cleary said with contempt.

  * * *

  “So, John, any more questions?”

  “Too many to sort out,” he answered, looking out the window into the gathering darkness.

  Seeing the direction of John’s glance, Julius gave a tiny nod, indication that he too was watching the coming night and for the two to continue their conversation.

  “John, I live in a space habitat that used to be bedrock on the moon. My people just flew here at a speed of a half million miles an hour, and that was towing that piece of shit example of your country’s best technology,” Lucius said, winking at John to take the sting out of his words. “And you were flown here to convince the two of us that somehow this country is worthy of dialogue with us? It’s embarrassing that the president of the United States would have the balls, John,” Lucius said as Neil informed him in his ear that the entire conversation was being monitored at the White House. “He’d be a hell of a lot smarter and make much better decisions if he just assumed that there was nothing beyond our capabilities, technologically speaking. Your country is run by virtual spearchuckers compared to the people I represent. And the only reason why we’re having this conversation at all is because I respect you as a man, John. And you have the respect and love of someone our entire community respects very much. I see what Sydney likes in you. Were you a couple of shades darker we’d be taking you back with us. But I’m very sorry, that just can’t happen.”

  “Answer me this, if they let you go without any further interference, will that be the last we see of any of you?” John asked.

  “I can’t really say. If Julius hadn’t left his watch behind in his haste to get to the moon, we may not have been here at all,” Lucius said, all of them laughing.

  “I got that already. But I really would like to know why you chose to come back after so many years? You had to know what would happen if you were caught,” John said.

  “We’ve known for years that the U.S. military has a way of tracking our spacecraft, at least the gravity-powered ones …”

  “You have others?” John interrupted.

  “Perhaps, but let me continue. None of the people who live in our community have a police record. They have committed no crimes, and when they moved to the moon they were all U.S. citizens in good standing. Why shouldn’t we visit whenever we want? If we eat at a restaurant, we pay the bill and tip generously. If we go to the store to pick something up, we check out and pay just like anyone else. Why should your government harass us? Why did Julius and I have to suffer the indignity of being locked up? It’s because your government has decided that for whatever reason the constitution no longer means a damn thing. That was their doing not ours. President Bender sent soldiers to the moon for Christ’s sake, how boneheaded a move was that? Those poor soldiers are still up there because of his stupidity, well all but the one who died of a ruptured appendix.”

  “You know about that?” John asked, stunned.

  “There’s nothing that we cannot find out about, I guess except for secretly arming a spacecraft with rockets. But we dealt with that exceptionally well. I can tell you right now that President Laughlin, National Security Advisor Robert Abbott and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Vincent Cleary are in the White House Situation Room listening in on this conversation, John. Did you know that?” Lucius asked, stunning everyone listening in.

  “How in the hell do you know these things?” John asked, sitting back in his chair, looking up and shaking his head.

  * * *

  “What the fuck? Did he just say what I think he said?” Laughlin exclaimed.

  * * *

  “President Laughlin just said, and I quote, ‘What the fuck? Did he just say what I think he said?’ I’m not exaggerating when I say that there’s little beyond our capabilities compared to the best technology your country has on hand, especially the secret advances you keep from the public. Nothing is hidden from us, John. So my suggestion is that when we want to leave that those feds outside give us a wide berth and everything will be just fine,” Lucius said, then laughed out loud. “One of our people in one of the ships just said, ‘Don’t start none, won’t be none!’”

  John sat silently, realizing that the earpieces that the two wore were relaying a wealth of information to them. He signaled the waitress for a cup of coffee.

  “You hungry?” Julius asked. “I could do with a bite. It’s on me.”

  John looked around, trying to see if Adams was in sight. He didn’t know anyone else, really. He’d forgotten what the phony cab driver looked like. When he looked back at the door, Adams was standing just outside. John excused himself and left the tavern, leading Adams down the hallway.

  “You’re doing fine, John. If you can keep them occupied for a little while longer and maybe get some more information out of them about their community or technology, scary as it is, you have a green light. You still think they’re going to try to leave after dark?” Adams asked in a rush.

  “After everything Mr. Walker said? You all still want to mess with them?” John was incredulous, and drew back as Adams reached for his coat. But Adams was only pointing to the transmitter, reminding John that they were still being listened to.

  “No new orders have come down the pike, so I say carry on. At least Walker likes you, use it. You know how. If anything changes, I’ll signal you,” Adams promised.

  John turned around and reentered the tavern. When he returned to the table, he said, “Let’s get something other than bar food. I saw that they have a Mexican restaurant down the way, let’s head over there.”

  The others got up and followed John out of the tavern. They were silent on the way to the restaurant and said nothing until they were seated. They ordered beverages while they looked over the menu, and when the waitress returned with their drinks, they ordered. While they waited for their food to arrive, they made light conversation, Lucius and Julius asking John about the last ten years in America and his experiences as an astronaut.

  * * *

  Christopher got up from the copilot’s seat and stretched. He then asked Andrea, “You think they’re going to let them go?”

  “My guess is not initially, but if we put on a show of force they’ll back down. They have to,” she replied.

  “Here’s what I think we should do. Once they’re done eating, we move over Grant Park, making it look like they’re going to be heading over there by taxi, it might distract everyone
long enough for them to get into the water. Once they do that, we can drop down over them and give them cover with the shields.”

  “But Chris, if we’re going to do that, why don’t we just pick them up on the pier or in a parking lot?” Andrea asked.

  “Two reasons. One, in order for us to pick them up on land we’d have to drop the shields. Those damn jets buzzing around still have me worried. No sense letting a lucky shot damage one of the jumpers or injure someone when our defenses are down. We can fly low cover and use our shields to keep everything away while they’re underwater getting into either Todd’s or Chuck’s ship. And two, I just don’t trust anything the authorities may promise. I want you and Lenny ready to respond to any threat at a moment’s notice.”

  “No problem. By the way, I want to discuss something with you without you getting angry,” Andrea began.

  “Okay, what’s that?”

  “I’m serious. You have to promise that you won’t get mad.”

  “Okay, dammit, I won’t get mad,” he said angrily, making her laugh.

  “What do you think about taking Joy’s father back with us?” she asked.

  Christopher was shocked. “Really?”

  “Yes, I was wondering what you thought about the idea?”

  Christopher didn’t answer immediately.

  “He seems like such a good man, Chris. Sydney loved him, still loves him I’m sure. And now he knows that he has a daughter that’s been kept from him since she was born,” she said.

  “Jesus, Andrea! I don’t know how that would work,” he confessed, then flopped down in his seat. “I don’t know where to start here. Can we pretend you never asked me that?”

  “I apologize. I don’t know if it’s even something Syd wants. I was just wondering if it was possible. Don’t get me wrong, I know the idea goes against everything our home stands for, what you conceived of from the beginning.”

  “Just stop! God damn—”