Confrontation

by William Hayashi

  “One day you’ll learn just what a bullshit excuse that is. But before you go thinking anything else stupid, let me tell you something. I was on Jove because GST’s board of directors made me go. They wanted two things of me, to keep an eye out for their commercial interests, and to see if my being on the mission would draw out conversation with one of the colonists. And now I’m stuck here in Chicago for the same God damned reason, but this time it was the president who used me as a go-between. So, for your information, none of this was my God damned idea!” John said, almost shouting.

  Adams saw several police officers and his own men looking at the two of them, wondering what was up.

  “Come on, let’s go inside and have a seat,” he suggested.

  John allowed himself to be led inside the pier where they found a quiet bar. Once they found seats and sat, Adams said, “I’m sorry, John. I wasn’t thinking, and I deserve everything you dished out. But in my own defense I’ve never faced a situation like this. No one has. I knew trying to grab those two again was pure suicide, but I was boxed in. And, when they slipped off into the water, all I could think of was that I was going to be blamed for letting them get away.”

  “Then you’ll find out exactly how I felt when Sydney Atkins left for the moon out from under my nose and I got blamed,” John said bitterly. “Anyway, I’m sorry too, and I’m beat. A day ago I was in outer space, and I’m sure that isn’t helping my mood any.”

  “Do you have any idea when they’re going to send you back to Houston?”

  “Not tonight, if I have anything to say about it. You have somewhere I can be put up?” John asked, unsuccessfully trying to suppress a yawn.

  “Sure thing. Why don’t we get together for breakfast and we can go over everything that happened tonight? I’ll know what arrangements will be made for getting you back to Houston by then. Come on, let’s find you a room,” Adams said, getting up and leading John out to his car.

  Chapter 38

  NITTY GRITTY

  It didn’t take long for the ground team to make their way underwater to the breakwater. Neil swam to the surface to get their bearings, since all they could see clearly underwater was each other, the faint glow strips on their backs visible a few yards away.

  At the entrance to the breakwater they dove for the bottom. The lights from the cockpit windows were faintly seen below, making it easy for the crew to navigate to the airlocks. Lucius entered Chuck’s jumper and waited while the water was pumped out of the small enclosure. When the inner door opened, Chuck grabbed the older man and hugged him hard enough to keep Lucius from breathing. When he felt like he was in danger of passing out, Lucius frantically tapped Chuck on the back. Chuck eased up, then holding him at arm’s length said, “What the fuck! Didn’t you get the memo about not getting caught?”

  Slightly out of breath, Lucius replied, “You know I don’t read that crap. I just do what I do best, wing it.”

  “You know Chris was ready to fly into that building to come get you if they didn’t let you go. I was listening to the conversation you were having with Joy’s father, how was it out there? Did they get close to grabbing you?” Chuck asked.

  “Not really, John played it cool right up until the end. Syd found herself one hell of a guy. Joy’s got two sets of great genes going for her. What’s the latest? I lost my earpiece when we hit the water,” asked Lucius.

  “Chris said for us to get back to the whale, to clear this area as quickly as possible,” said Chuck, taking the pilot’s seat. “Is everyone else getting in the other jumper?”

  “Looks that way. I think they were just giving us some time alone together. Have you spoken to Chris about us going home yet?”

  “Not really. We were concentrating on getting you and the others safely on board.”

  Chuck called the other jumper to see if the rest of the ground team was aboard. Todd said they were, and that he was ready to move out into the middle of the lake.

  Chuck set out at a leisurely pace, making sure the jumper was moving slowly enough to keep from making any visible disturbance on the surface. An hour later, Chuck and Todd pulled next to the anchored whale and the crew members swam from Todd’s jumper to the larger ship. Meanwhile, Andrea and Lenny were holding position off the end of Navy Pier, drawing thousands of onlookers, blocking traffic and being held back by police. Traffic on Lake Shore Drive was crawling along through one lane in either direction as people just parked on the roadway to watch the ships hovering over the water. Christopher was quite pleased with the results of their distraction as he watched several news and traffic helicopters warily circling the area.

  G3 was keeping track of the military communications, monitoring whether or not their orders not to engage changed.

  Informed that all members of the ground crew made it safely into their respective spacecraft, Christopher polled the pilots to see if anyone had any good ideas for getting the ships safely into orbit.

  “We definitely should use our Jupiter jumpers to cover the rest, we’ve got the best shields,” Andrea pointed out.

  “That’s true, but I’m talking about just getting the three ships out of the water and high enough to be out of reach of those fighters out there,” Christopher said. “Wherever we go, they’re going to follow.”

  “Then we take them a thousand miles away. They probably figured that we picked up the ground crew, so once we take off, the fighters are sure to follow,” Lenny said.

  “Yes, but I want us close enough to provide low cover when the ships exit the water.”

  “Chris, dude! We’re faster than any other aircraft on Earth! With these shields we can easily travel at Mach 5, even better,” Damien reminded him. “Let’s take the fighters in any direction away from here at a speed they can keep up with, then blast back a hell of a lot faster than they can manage when we’re far enough away.”

  Christopher thought about it for a few moments, then he said, “Okay, someone pick a target, a direction we should go.”

  “I say we head back east, on a direct line to Washington, D.C., they’re bound to notice the course,” suggested Lenny.

  Christopher looked over to Andrea to see what she thought about the idea. She nodded enthusiastically, secretly hoping that she would get her chance to mix it up with the fighters.

  Christopher laughed at the feral look on Andrea’s face as he indicated for her to set course for Washington.

  “Try to keep up, Lenny!” Andrea radioed as G3 put the course up on her display.

  “Echelon right, girly. And take it easy on the fighters,” Lenny replied.

  Andrea laughed and rose straight up to twenty thousand feet startling everyone on the ground with their abrupt departure. Lenny kept right up with Andrea, moving off fifty yards to the right to give them both space to maneuver.

  It took the fighters more than a few seconds to recover as they could only track the ships visually. Andrea held at twenty thousand feet so the fighters could reacquire them visually, then set off at just under Mach 1. They angled off, crossing over the border into Indiana with everyone strapped in, just in case. G3 and G4 were monitoring the military channels looking for any changes in orders transmitted to the fighters. Since their course was directly toward Washington, fighters, tankers and AWACS flying command centers were launched, and since the data channels between the deep shelter gravity wave detectors were not being blocked, military command was finally able to track their progress.

  By the time they passed into Ohio airspace there were no fighters left orbiting the Chicago area. They had flown just over the border into Gary, Indiana’s airport. The bulk of that wing was standing down as the two jumpers flew farther away toward the east coast. Andrea was waiting for the entire fighter wing to land before she and Lenny would go screaming back over Lake Michigan.

  * * *

  “Mr. President?” came a voice outside the bedroom door.<
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  “Yes?”

  The door opened and an agent poked his head in.

  “Mr. President, we have to take you down to the bunker,” the agent said apologetically.

  “Why, what’s up?”

  “Both of their spacecraft are inbound toward Washington, D.C., sir,” explained the agent.

  “Was anybody hurt in Chicago after they jumped in the water? We all heard that,” Laughlin said, pulling on his shoes.

  “No sir. At least nothing reported. The locals said that Walker and Stanford, with the help of several others, jumped into the water and then the two ships immediately dropped down over the water where they disappeared. They think the two, with their helpers, were picked up and are on their way here, maybe looking for payback or some kind of revenge. Please, let’s go, Mr. President,” the agent said, anxious to get POTUS into the bunker.

  “All right … ” Laughlin said, shaking his head over the hysteria.

  On the first floor they were picked up by three more agents as they secured the elevator leading to the PEOC. Once downstairs, Laughlin looked at the main screen and saw that the separatists’s ships were crossing Ohio on a direct line toward Washington.

  Laughlin picked up the phone to the watch commander and asked, “What’s our response?”

  “We have launched a fighter wing to circulate over D.C., sir. And the remote command center is activated and staffed as we speak. The vice president is en route to the secondary shelter and scheduled to arrive about twenty minutes before those ships get here if they maintain their present speed.”

  “Thank you. Keep me apprised of any new developments.”

  “Yes, Mr. President.”

  It wasn’t but a couple of minutes later when the phone buzzed. Picking it up, and looking at the screen, Laughlin said, “What’s up?” He then saw the track of the spacecraft reversing itself.

  “They’re headed back west, Mr. President.”

  “What’s the word from the fighters?” Laughlin asked.

  “They left the fighters behind, sir. They’re traveling at over Mach 5. It’s going to be noisy as hell for anyone under their flight path. They’re only thirty thousand feet up!”

  “Scramble the fighter wing outside of Chicago, I think they might have just pulled some sleight of hand on us … again.”

  * * *

  “No one’s keeping up with us, Chris,” Andrea reported.

  “G3, what’s on the military channels?” Christopher asked.

  “The fighter wing posted in Gary, Indiana has been alerted and they are scrambling to get airborne,” answered the A.I.

  “All call, please, G3. Attention, be advised we’ll be over Lake Michigan in just a few minutes. Let’s get everyone out of the water,” Christopher announced.

  Julius reeled out the anchor cables until the whale was twenty feet from the surface and then cut them loose. Chuck and Todd were right alongside the whale as Sondra broke the surface of the water, and then all three spacecraft shot into the sky with the Jupiter jumpers pulling below them to shield the other three ships from any possible weapon fire.

  The five spacecraft continued into orbit several hundred miles above the surface of the planet.

  “Well, that was a letdown,” Andrea said, as she shut down the controls.

  “Sorry we couldn’t fight it out down there. But we had to get the whale safely away. Dogfights next time, okay?” Christopher promised.

  “I’ll hold you to that!” Andrea said with a grin.

  “All call, G3. Everyone all right?” Christopher asked.

  “Didn’t feel a thing,” said Albert.” And I am damn glad to be back in orbit! When can we head home, Chris?”

  Christopher laughed as everyone started talking at once.

  “G3, please notify the colony that all crew members are present and accounted for and that we will be departing for home as soon as we check out the three ships that spent so much time underwater.”

  “Understood, Christopher. Is there anything else I may assist you with?”

  “Yes, Chuck please. Chuck?”

  “What up, skipper?”

  “Can you get suited up and do an inspection of yours and Todd’s jumpers, and then go over the whale? You all were underwater for quite a while,” Christopher requested.

  “I’ll give you a hand,” offered Andrea.

  “Good enough. I’ll be ready in half an hour. That give you enough time?” Chuck asked.

  “Be right out,” promised Andrea as she left the pilot’s seat to begin to get her spacesuit on.

  Once she was suited up, Christopher triggered the airlock for her to enter, then closed the inner door. Moments later the air was pumped out and the outer door opened to let her out into space.

  Watching through the forward window, Christopher saw Chuck jet over and the two headed off to the whale to give it the once-over.

  Meanwhile, Sondra and Julius ran pre-flight checks on the whale’s systems, while Albert and Lena inspected the containers in the hold. Lucius checked the jumper with the help of G4 while Chuck was doing the EVA inspection of the other spacecraft. Todd and Neil checked their ship, and monitored the world below for any launch that would signal an attack on their fleet.

  A message was received from Maxwell and the rest of the council congratulating Christopher on a successful mission getting all their people off world. Peanut sent a personal message of congratulations, expressing his relief that everyone was safe and informing him that he and TJ finished all the modifications needed to add a Genesis clone to the interdimensional probe and that they could proceed any time after Christopher returned.

  Christopher was excited to receive the news. It was the natural next step in the exploitation of his original work. He jotted a quick congratulatory message to TJ and Peanut, letting them know that he couldn’t wait to return home. Peanut had attached a full set of schematics of the probe to the message, giving him something to study on the way home. He was finally able to relax, now that Lucius and Julius were out of the hands of the government and that the cargo in the whale was soon to be on its way home.

  Little did Christopher know that Lucius had played Santa Claus for the entire colony while he was ostensibly gathering all the items on the wish list. Mixed in with everything they picked up off the list, Lucius had purchased thousands of extra items, surprises for every single person in the community. Lucius had known that the chance of their returning to Earth was remote at best, so he decided to really make the trip count.

  Lucius finished the systems checklist and realized just how tired he was. More than anything he wanted to grab some sleep. But he wasn’t going to lie down until Chuck was safely back aboard. He activated the radio.

  “How’s it going out there, Chuck?” Lucius asked.

  “Slow. There’s a lot of frozen crap on the hull, mostly algae and some seaweed kind of stuff. We’re cleaning it all off to make sure it’s not hiding some corrosion underneath,” explained Chuck.

  “Need a hand?” Lucius offered.

  Chuck laughed. “Hell no! With your luck you’d probably leave without the keys and lock us out of the ship. Tell you what, though. If I call you fifteen minutes or so before we’re through, you think you could rustle up some hot grub for me?”

  “No sooner said than done, son! Have a taste for anything special?” Lucius said, delighted to be asked.

  “Something spicy! I’ve missed home-style cooking fending for myself sitting on the bottom of the ocean.”

  “I’ll see what you have in the larder. See if Andrea would like to come by as well, it’s the least I can do for her dragging around with your sorry butt out there.”

  “I’d be honored, Lucius!” Andrea said, obviously having heard over the open frequency.

  “The more the merrier. You all get a move on and I promise something special.�
��

  “Thanks, we’ll be in soon,” Chuck said, signing off.

  Lucius took a look in the galley, in the pantry lockers and the freezer deciding to make some good old fashioned chili, substituting chicken for beef. He checked what spices were stocked and found everything he needed. As he cooked, the fatigue that he felt just before calling Chuck all but disappeared. Two hours later Chuck and Andrea finished their inspection and cleared the ships for travel back to the colony, they then returned to Chuck’s jumper. Once they shed their suits and cleaned up, the three sat down and enjoyed a quiet meal together. Chuck had called Christopher and invited him to join them, but he begged off saying that he was too tired. Andrea promised to bring food back to the jumper for him, for which he expressed his gratitude. Signing off he wished them bon appetit.

  The dinner conversation naturally gravitated to the mission, with Lucius giving them the whole saga, from landing and swimming ashore, to escaping off the end of the pier. Andrea was very interested in finding out as much as Lucius could tell them about Joy’s father. Chuck just chalked up her interest to her wondering what kind of man Sydney had fallen in love with. Girl stuff, he thought. The quiet meal was a welcome change from the events of the previous few weeks, and when it was over Andrea declined Chuck’s invitation to escort her back to her jumper. Lucius sealed a healthy portion of leftovers in an airtight container for Andrea to take to Christopher, and hugged her goodbye before she entered the airlock.

  * * *

  The next morning Agent Adams stopped by so he and John could have breakfast together at the hotel. Their conversation naturally turned to the separatists and how John was involved in the mission.

  “When you said last night that GST’s board was instrumental in your going on the Jove mission, were you actually saying that they overrode NASA, the military and the president to get you inserted in the crew?” Adams asked.

  “Exactly,” was John’s dry reply. He was still somewhat pissed at the way Adams had treated him the night before. “GST’s head of corporate security had been scoping me out for a few weeks. I was spending my retirement tending bar in Atlanta and this guy started dropping in semi-regularly. He told me he was security for GST, just not that he ran the entire department worldwide.