“Hey! You promised! All I wanted was to discuss it, not do it. So there’s no reason to get angry, Chris,” she said, trying to mollify him before he really got off on a tear.
“Look, if I were even going to consider the idea, and I’m not saying that I never will, this is something the whole community is going to have to hash out. What you suggested is a unique situation, I admit. But it’s not something I would ever do unilaterally, and certainly not on the spur of the moment. If you feel that strongly about it, talk it over with Sydney and if she wants to go for it, call the question. And that, Andrea, is all I have to say about that!”
* * *
“Mr. President, we’re obviously out of our depth,” Abbot said. “As national security advisor I simply cannot endorse any action you plan to take against these people any more.”
Laughlin, the chairman of the joint chiefs, the director of the F.B.I. and Abbot were quietly conversing in the hallway outside the situation room still shocked at the discovery that Walker was, somehow, able to listen in on conversations inside the room itself.
“They can hear what we say inside the White House, for fuck’s sake!” Abbott continued, completely exasperated.
“Mr. President, in this circumstance I’m on board with Mr. Abbot. Conventional weapons can’t hurt their ships, and we damn sure don’t want to shoot either of their people by accident. We’ve run out of options,” said Cleary.
“Let’s go inside and see what they’re talking about. Mathews is at least still keeping them talking. Maybe he can pull a rabbit out of the hat,” Laughlin said as he led them back inside the room.
* * *
“We’ve seen photos of the ship, obviously. But what was it like on the way out to our home on that ship?” Julius asked.
“I think the best part was the fact that it was under thrust the whole way. Having gravity made it almost surreal. It was so different from everything I saw in the Apollo, Spacelab, shuttle and International Space Station missions. Everyone was always floating around in those videos. Being in space was more real during the three weeks we spent in orbit before we fired up the engines.
“I liked everything about being in free fall, that is except for trying to sleep. I had these damn falling dreams that would just jerk me awake. Once Jove slingshot around the moon, then swung around the Earth to head out, everything settled down into some kind of science fiction movie normal. Like when the actors are supposed to be on the moon and they don’t bounce around at all. What’s it like in your ships?” John asked, watching the two look at each other at his question.
Julius just shrugged and said, “We have artificially-oriented gravity in all our ships and space stations.”
“How many of each do you have?” John asked, keeping in mind his secondary objective of at least getting the two to talk about their lives.
Julius laughed, not fooled at all. “Enough. As a matter of fact your military has a detector that sees our gravity-based technologies most everywhere in the solar system, does it not?”
“Honestly, I have no idea,” said John, also laughing. “But I wouldn’t be surprised they’re keeping it a secret from everyone else.”
“We do a lot of scientific research, we have to, in order to maintain and grow our community. With our engineering team able to control gravity, we have no real need for planets or moons as bases to keep our people healthy. Our futurists, our sociologists, and yes, we do have them, have calculated we’re between fifty to one hundred years ahead of this country’s technological development. Unfortunately, American culture is not survival-oriented. Neither is black culture in this country. Our people have calculated that America will not last out this century without experiencing devastating total economic and social collapse, and that doesn’t even take into account the environmental devastation now commonplace around the world. Just think of us as having left before the crap hit the fan, John,” Julius said, a sad grin on his face.
“Trouble is, your community doesn’t accept refugees, does it?” asked John rhetorically.
“It doesn’t. You might think of it as the ultimate gated community. There will be those who demand that if we get to visit Earth, then people here should be allowed to come visit us; that ain’t happening. What everyone fails to recall is that we earned our current circumstance by our own blood, sweat and tears. We worked hard for what we’ve achieved, but the difference this time is that there was no white man standing over us to take what we created and keep it for his own. Everything our community has that represents an advance over the technology, medicine, agriculture, et cetera, on Earth, was achieved by a black man or woman. We owe nothing to white America, and that’s got to be eating into a whole lot of folks invested in the notion of white superiority. Apparently we’ve managed to out-achieve every other nationality on the entire planet, every other race. I’m dying to see how historians, educators, sociologists and the like spin our abilities when the history of our community is written.
“John, I can almost respect your authorities trying to keep Lucius and me here, trying for any advantage, for the possibility that we’d give up our technology to ensure our safety or safe return. But the truth of the matter is that no matter how precious each and every life in our community is, we live for much bigger ideals. We live for each generation having it better than the last, and giving up our tactical or technological advantages to what amounts to our enemies just isn’t going to happen. No one with advanced knowledge of our discoveries will ever set foot on this planet again. Nor will our mission commander let any injury to us go lightly, no matter what Lucius or I have to say about it,” Julius said, Lucius just shook his head at the prospect.
“He’s right, John. The man in control of those spacecraft over the lake is, hands down, both the smartest member of our community and the most bloodthirsty. His anger has been growing since the close of World War II. So, here’s hoping we leave here unmolested,” Lucius said, clinking bottles with the other two.
In the ear of each member of the ground crew, Chuck announced that he and Todd were parked on either side of and just east of the Navy Pier breakwater, submerged at a depth of about forty feet.
“I have a question for you,” John began.
“Sure, what is it?” Lucius replied.
“The military have seven men stranded in your old installation. Is there any way to persuade you to pick them up and bring them home?”
Julius just snorted as Lucius said, “In a word, no.”
“Okay, but what’s your reasoning?”
“First of all, they weren’t invited. Second, they have guns, and as members of the military, simply cannot be trusted,” said Lucius.
“But what if you could do what your people did with the Svoboda crew? You know, put them in one of those construction thingies already in orbit and drop them off on the ground somewhere here?” John suggested.
In his ear, Lucius heard Christopher simply say, “No.”
“The decision has already been made, John,” Lucius said with regret.
“I had to ask.”
“We know,” Lucius said, smiling.
“So, what now?” John asked as the dishes were being cleared away.
“Dessert?” Julius suggested with a grin.
“Maybe. I’m going to hit the head, I’ll be right back,” said John, getting to his feet and walking to the back of the restaurant. When he entered the restroom, he wasn’t surprised to find Adams already inside.
“So what now? It’s clearly time for them to leave. What’s the plan?” John asked. “Have your orders changed?”
“No, we’re supposed to keep them from going anywhere they can land one of their ships. We have people in that lot where the helicopter dropped you off and every other clear space big enough for a two-mile radius from here. If they try to run, we have them. Go on back and see if you can find out how the hell they knew wh
o was with the president and what they were saying. Everyone’s going ape shit over that. Now scoot!” Adams said, making a shooing motion.
“After I pee. Now get the hell out of here before someone thinks I’m spoken for!” John said, stepping up to the urinal.
When John returned to the table he was mildly surprised to see both men were still there, Julius having a piece of cheesecake, Lucius with coffee. When he sat, Julius handed him the dessert menu, but John declined and instead just ordered a cup of coffee.
“Now what?” said John, not really expecting an answer.
“Good question,” Lucius answered. “I’d really like to go home.”
“Me too,” agreed John, smiling.
“Tired?” Lucius asked.
“You have no earthly idea,” John replied, as the others laughed. “They’re not likely to let you two go, which I think is the dumbest idea yet. They’ve got every place one of your ships can land within miles covered. Maybe you can get on top of one of these skyscrapers and get picked up. They can’t have every single one of them covered,” John suggested.
“No, but if they have enough men covering us on the ground, it won’t make much difference. And aren’t you afraid they’re going to come down on you for your wanting to let us go?” asked Julius.
“I’m too tired to care. And anyone with the sense of a rock should know that keeping you here is stupid—but there you go.”
As they were talking, Christopher directed Lenny and Andrea to take the jumpers and have them hold a hundred feet over Grant Park. In minutes they were in place, with the overhead fighter coverage maintaining patrol directly above them. Christopher brought the ground crew up to date on attempts to decoy some of the law enforcement coverage away from the pier. As soon as the ships were stationary, the Chicago Police Department began routing traffic around the area surrounding the giant park and pulled their vehicles into the middle of every open expanse.
Lucius continued, “Let’s stretch our legs and walk off some of that great meal.” He then paid the bill, fortunately for John, his wallet still in Houston, and the three went outside to stroll around the pier, first stopping at the huge ferris wheel.
“Could your people get you from the top of that thing?” John asked jokingly.
“Not without tearing it up, I’m afraid,” Julius responded.
As they strolled along, they people watched, each trying to see who might be an undercover officer tailing them. Most were easily spotted, but they knew that as many as they saw, there were probably a greater number they didn’t.
“John, what are you going to do once all this nonsense is over?” Lucius asked.
“I was hoping to maybe go back to my job with GST. I was in their corporate security department. I liked the work, it paid a hell of a lot better than the Atlanta Police Department and I was treated a lot better. I’m fairly certain that my astronaut days have come to an end.”
“Was that whole thing with Sydney a problem when she left?” Julius asked.
“Yeah, a few of the higher-ups never let me forget it. I told the FBI everything, but everyone seemed convinced I was holding something back. I never really had the confidence of a number of the higher-ups in the department afterward, and they let me know it. But I stayed my twenty and got the pension, so to hell with them.”
They continued their stroll around the pier, passing a lakefront tour boat getting ready to depart. They stopped and watched it pull away from the dock, and then continued on their way.
As they approached the east end of the pier, largely away from the lights and sounds of the main outdoor attractions John was able to spot a pair of men staying well back from them, but never letting them out of their sight.
“I can—” he began.
“We know,” Julius replied, his voice pitched low.
“John, once we leave, I wish you the best life ahead of you. I will tell Sydney that you treated us with dignity and respect. She really did choose well, I wish we could have been friends,” said Lucius as they slowed their walk to look out at the lights of the boats out on the lake.
“You know, that’s one thing I miss. We have a huge pool, but nothing like a lake to sail on,” Lucius said wistfully.
As they rounded the end of the pier, three shapes suddenly came at them out of the darkness. Julius put his hand over John’s mouth to keep him from crying out. John nodded and said casually, “Maybe so, but you guys can sail out among the planets.”
“We can. But the vast majority of us were born on this planet,” Lucius said, keeping the conversation going.
John watched as the three, already equipped with masks and air tanks, helped strip off Lucius and Julius’ outer clothes and quickly helped them into their gear. Just before he pulled on his mask, Lucius shook John’s hand and said, “Thank you.” Then, little more than shadows in the night, they ran to the end of the pier and dropped into the water.
John turned and looked back toward the sound of running feet coming toward him. He also saw several cars with flashing lights hurrying down the pier. Seconds later a Chicago Police Department launch came speeding around the end of the pier, blue lights flashing and a searchlight panning back and forth over the water.
All of a sudden, the starlight was blotted out as the two spaceships that had been hovering over Grant Park descended to just a few feet over the water causing the police launch to abruptly turn away and come to a complete stop to keep from crashing into one of the ships.
Adams came running down the pier and stopped next to John, peering out into the darkness over the water. When he looked questioningly at John as several marked and unmarked cars pulled up to the edge of the walkway, headlights pointed out over the water, John said, “Shows what I know, I thought you were supposed to wait an hour after eating before you went swimming.”
Adams and John remained at the end of Navy Pier for a half an hour while the spaceships hovered motionlessly over the water.
“Well, I’m hoping that’s that,” Adams finally said.
“Do you think anything else is going to happen?” John asked as several helicopters began circling around the hovering ships.
“Probably not. I can’t see under the ships very well, but if those people are being picked up, unless we get someone in the water, there’s not much we can do. And I, for one, am not jumping in there, job or no job.”
“You heard everything, right?”
“Every word. So did the White House, so did my bosses and whoever else was on the line. No one really wanted to tangle with them except the president.”
John pointed to his jacket and gave a questioning look at Adams who laughed, holding out his hand for the device. “It was shut down shortly after I reported the two jumped in the water. By the way, did you get a good look at the other three?” Adams asked John, pocketing the listening device.
“Yes. There were two men and a woman. They all looked like they were in good shape, one man and the woman looked like maybe late twenties or early thirties, the other guy looked older, but he moved pretty well. They were in what looked like scuba suits, or maybe like what surfers wear. Walker and Stanford were wearing them too under their clothes,” John said, pointing to the pile of clothes left behind. “Did they have them when they were in custody?” he asked.
“Definitely not. They must have picked them up here somewhere. They’ve obviously been helped all along. They have resources we can only imagine, like how they knew what was going on in the White House. That’s going to be giving people heartburn for a long time to come,” Adams stated.
“I’m just a former detective, a corporate rent-a-cop, and even I know that mixing it up with these people is not only a waste of time, it’s dangerous.”
“Kind of self-serving for you, isn’t it John? After all, the separatists like you enough to talk to you whenever you show up. What’s up with that?” Adams as
ked, shrewdly.
“Now you’re beginning to sound familiar, I was wondering when the real you was going to appear,” John said.
“Meaning what?”
“Meaning that you are incapable of effectively evaluating any situation that requires you to think on your own. You heard every single word Walker and Stanford said to me. I dare say you’ve seen the recordings of my conversations with Sydney Atkins, too. And here you are, just some common tool who always thinks himself into a circle, convinced that what is plainly evident simply cannot be true. So, in order to get to the bottom of it and not waste any more time, yes, I know so much more than you do. But not because I have any special connection with those people, or that they have been secretly in contact with me all along, but because I’m just not as terminally stupid as you are,” John said, turning his back and making his way through the gathered vehicles and law enforcement personnel.
“Hey! Just a fucking minute,” Adams said, hurrying after him.
John slowed up, then turned to see what Adams was going to do.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” Adams said angrily.
“I already told you. See, you just can’t process a damned thing with any measure of clarity, you lack the smarts to recognize the truth. You and your ilk are essentially useless. I now understand more than ever what Lucius Walker was trying to tell me without saying it: there’s nothing of value in our culture that is survival-oriented. Look at you, ready to eat your own because you refuse to accept what you heard with your own ears. So are you going to take me into custody now, too?” John said, holding out his hands as if waiting for cuffs to be put on his wrists.
Adams stopped, shocked at the suggestion. He shook his head and said, “Get the hell out of here. I didn’t mean anything like that.”
John dropped his arms and said, “Then just what did you mean? You know, you’re not the first asshole to accuse me of something where nothing exists. I’ve had a belly full of the likes of you.”
Adams looked chagrined as he said, “I’m sorry, John. I really have no excuse other than habit.”
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