Neighbors

by Brian Whiting

  in politics, where I learned that my opinion mattered even less, and the old

  boys’ club was strong and unwavering. I put up with it until recently, when

  my boss made a terrible boneheaded mistake, against my express advice. I

  jumped ship, cause that one was sinking fast. I decided that if I wanted to

  be taken seriously, then I better damn well support someone who will sup-

  port me, someone that aligns with my ideals.” Laura slowly looked towards

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  Alex and raised her eyebrows. She glanced around at the group, stopping at Gloria.

  “Lovely sob story, dear—” Gloria started.

  “Who was your last boss?” Mason interrupted.

  “An idiot senator, you might have seen him on TV lately.”

  “Ah, I can see why you jumped ship then.” Mason leaned back in his

  chair. “How old are you?”

  “What business is that of yours?” Laura glared at Mason.

  Alex watched the brewing argument, sitting back, resting his chin on

  his hand. These people would be working together a lot, and it would be

  better for them to get through bravado matches now, rather than during

  a crisis.

  “Laura, give me the benefit of the doubt for the moment, if you please,

  and see things from my perspective for a minute,” Mason said, making a

  placating gesture with his hands. “A beautiful woman, who has had a rough

  life, looks very young and already has experience working on a senatorial

  staff, is going to turn a few heads when your face ends up on the news at

  some point. So I ask again, how old are you?”

  Laura paused for a few moments, eyeing Mason over.

  Alex sighed, swiveling in his chair a little. “Well, I do know her age,

  and I can tell you she is not a minor. I think she’s got a point, though.

  What difference does it make if she’s twenty or thirty years old?”

  “That’s why I want to work for him, he has an open mind. Unlike some

  people.” Laura sat back against her chair and focused on trying to relax.

  “Yeah, because you agree with him, we know what happens when you

  don’t. What was it you just called it? You jumped ship.” Gloria seemed

  pleased with herself.

  Alex pretended he didn’t hear Laura or Gloria’s bickering, and focused

  on Mason, waiting for him to respond.

  “Alex, you know I don’t mean any disrespect to either of you. But she

  has made my point already. People don’t take her seriously. If she’s twenty,

  then—”

  “Okay, that’s enough. Let’s table this conversation for a later time.

  We have actual important things to discuss, and we have to get through it

  today.” Alex picked up his data pad and scrolled the page, leaning forward

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  in his seat. “What’s the status on those ships in construction?” Alex looked at Timmy, shutting down the bickering.

  “The Raziya was scheduled to be delivered at the end of the week. Now

  they’ve extended it two weeks, and they won’t provide a reason as to why.”

  “I know why; they’re adding weapon systems to the ship. They are not

  confident that we have any to install.” Alex rubbed his temples and then

  his eyebrows.

  “The Nuboko from Japan is near Titan with Cindy and Japan has started

  constructing a skeleton for the next ship. The Israeli shipyard is way ahead

  of schedule, new estimates on completion put it in two months instead

  of four.” Timmy didn’t look up from the data pad as he scoured for more

  information, occasionally making odd faces, but not elaborating.

  “Wow. How are they getting it done so fast?” Cindy looked at Alex,

  figuring he would have an answer.

  “Israel has always been a surprise when it comes to self-preservation.”

  Alex moved his hand away from his face and reached out for the water in

  front of him.

  “This is excellent news. They might have another ship built before the

  next Zorn attack comes.” Mason readjusted in his seat with a warm expres-

  sion on his face as the meeting continued.

  * * *

  I am meeting with the Israeli Prime

  Minister right now, chat later.

  Alex looked up from the message he’d just sent Kalibri, answering a

  small enquiry. “My apologies, Prime Minister. You were saying?”

  “In addition to the extra ship, we want to provide you with personnel

  and equipment. However, we do not want to have our people pledge them-

  selves to the UEF. This would cause far too much grief for my country.”

  “I must apologize again, Prime Minister, as your offer is most gener-

  ous. However, I must remain firm in my stance that any personnel must

  renounce ties to all parts of their former life and pledge themselves fully

  to the UEF. We will, of course, accept the equipment without hesitation.”

  Alex smiled, his cheeks starting to hurt. He hated playing the diplomat. He

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  also knew that if it weren’t for the anti-gravity drive and finding an interstellar ally, Alex would still be a nameless face in the crowd.

  “I am afraid the offer of the equipment is conditional with the person-

  nel being included on the ship.” The Prime Minister sighed and stood up

  from his chair. “Do you know the history of Israel, Alex?”

  “I know some things.”

  “From the moment we were given our country by the UN, we have

  been at war with our neighbors. We fight each other, each demanding the

  same thing, that they only want our land back. Since we cannot both have

  the land, the fighting will never cease. This, we have come to accept.”

  The Prime Minister walked around his chair and leaned against the

  table, speaking to Alex from the other side. “I have watched your exploits,

  just like the rest of the world, and as soon as we learned of the new enemy,

  the Zorn, we have not been at rest. Now we have something we can do

  about it. Why not allow us to command the ship ourselves? We would con-

  sider it our holy duty to protect the world from such evil.”

  “For the same reason you would not allow me to put on an Israeli uni-

  form and act like a general.”

  The man’s lips pursed and he squinted, as though considering Alex’s

  words, and finding them distasteful. He stood up and walked to the door-

  way, where an aide opened the door for him. He looked back at Alex. “I

  will not command my men to turn in their uniforms. But I will ask for

  volunteers. They will, however, retain their Israeli citizenship indefinitely.”

  Alex nodded and stood up as well. He walked over to the Prime Minis-

  ter and shook his hand. The Prime Minister said something in Hebrew and

  waved Alex out of the room.

  Alex opened his phone and called Zeek as he walked to the pad where

  his shuttle waited.

  “What’s up?”

  “The Israelis built a secret shipyard and have been building two ships

  the whole time.” Alex waved to a receptionist as he continued his way out

  of the building.

  “That’s good news. I heard the Senate voted to build a series of ground-

  based US shipyards.”

  “They didn’t ask us if that was okay, did they?”

  34

  “No, they didn’t…Did they need to?”

  “We don’t
have enough dark matter for all the ships coming.” Alex

  stepped out onto the tarmac and opened the shuttle. He climbed inside

  and strapped in, holding the phone to his ear. “Let me call you back.”

  An idea struck him. He pulled out his data pad and messaged Kalibri.

  We need more dark matter. Can you

  fabricate us more, or find a way to

  obtain more?

  Alex secured the data pad and took control of the shuttle. He lifted the

  ship from the ground gently, then gunned it towards the research vessel in

  the Atlantic.

  Kalibri responded half-way there.

  I can do better, Alex. I can give

  you some.

  Attached to the message was an image of a strange device. Alex rotated

  the image in an attempt to guess its use.

  * * *

  Cindy looked down at her data pad as a message notification flashed.

  She looked at the odd object in the photograph Kalibiri had attached.

  “Comm message to Kalibri.”

  “Comm opened.”

  “Kalibri, what is this message I just received?” she asked, turning the

  image in an effort to decode its use.

  “Captain, this is an image of a certain type of Thean explosive device.

  This particular device is of low quality, and I have only one that remains

  intact. With some minor extraction, you could retrieve approximately an

  entire liter of dark matter.”

  “And why do we need dark matter?”

  “It has a myriad of uses, but more importantly, Alex has a need for it

  and will be expecting the shipment.”

  “Okay, we’ll get it on board.”

  35

  Chapter 3

  Plan B

  IT WAS DARK outside, and the stars were not shining. The President

  peered out into the night sky through triple-paned bulletproof windows. In

  his right hand sat a beer that dripped with condensation the longer he held

  it. He never imagined becoming the President anytime soon. Now that he

  was, it wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be.

  He turned and looked around at the people gathered in the room.

  They all looked nervous, and he found that mildly annoying. Some of these

  people knew him when he was a lowly town mayor; he trusted them, and

  they shouldn’t be so timid.

  “So… give it to me.”

  “We have someone on the inside, awaiting the go order, aside from the

  numerous informants we have now.”

  “Mr. President, you know I have no love for Alex, but I think you

  should wait until the Zorn attack. We can make it look like he died in

  the attack.”

  “Sir! Eliminating Alex will not dismantle the UEF, they have grown too

  large. That plan is no longer viable.” General Green was the only person in

  the room who didn’t look nervous, standing at attention behind the others.

  “The game has changed, people. One man cannot have too much

  power or authority from the people. It upsets the balance. He must be eliminated. We will continue to support the UEF until the technology for

  the propulsion drive becomes available.” The oval room never seemed so

  cramped before, despite the relatively few people in it. The President read-

  justed his collar while he glanced down at a recent report suggesting that if

  an election happened now, Alex would become president.

  “We now know they don’t have any other weapon systems.” Mark

  Hammond folded his hands together and at the President. “They would

  have used them on the Zorn during the attack. You saw the videos; they

  only used the laser weapon, and the Destiny is still down for repairs for the next month, and the Nuboko is on Titan. There would be no better time to take one of the crafts for ourselves.”

  “I think that could work.” General Green inclined his head. “I have

  intelligence that indicates the Raziya is complete and is awaiting crew. We could send a team and retrieve the ship.”

  “Mark, hold on to that go order for now. I want to give this new plan a

  try. General, how much time do you need to set this up?”

  “We could launch the operation sometime tomorrow.”

  “Do it, and General. No mistakes this time!”

  General Green nodded and marched from the room.

  * * *

  The cafeteria at the UEF main complex was a nice setup, with a buffet for

  every meal—in this case, lunch. A spread of salads, dressings, meats, and

  cheeses decorated the community food bar, followed by roasted chicken,

  pizza and pasta. Today was make-your-own tacos.

  Jackie and Laura met a few days ago and became fast friends, but today

  was their first meal together.

  Laura peeled apart one of the shrimp on her plate and tossed it into her

  mouth. Jackie stabbed at her salad and watched with fascination as Laura

  ate her food.

  Laura picked up a spoon with her left hand and a fork with her right.

  Jackie watched the grease from the shrimp spread along the fork and spoon

  where her fingers slid across the solid surface. The spoon disappeared into a

  pile of mashed potatoes, and the fork caught a round fried object of some

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  kind. They both entered Laura’s mouth, nearly at the same time. She was breaking all sorts of stereotypes Jackie had for women who looked too

  beautiful to be real.

  “How’s your food?”

  “Mmmm…” Laura nodded her head a few times as she finished

  chewing. “It’s good.” She noticed Jackie stopped eating and was focused

  on her plate. “Alex has been skipping meals lately. I haven’t eaten since

  lunch yesterday.”

  “Have you noticed Cindy and Mason?”

  Laura shifted in her seat and didn’t look up at her. She remembered

  one of the many times Alex told her that much of what she sees and hears

  is confidential.

  “Last night I saw Cindy hanging around the hallway after the meeting.

  Then when Mason left the room, she went with him.” Jackie lowered her

  head in an unsuccessful attempt to get Laura’s attention.

  Laura considered Jackie’s profession. She was supposed to be observant

  without remarking on anything. She thought of a better way to change the

  subject after a drink. “Actually, I am more interested in you and Zeek.”

  Jackie literally froze in place, lettuce touching the edge of her mouth.

  “What are you talking about?” She pushed the salad into her mouth. “We’ve

  barely spoken.”

  “Well, in that case, you’re not as observant as I thought you were. He

  stares at you every time you’re in the same room together.”

  “Really? I mean he’s cute but…”

  The lights in the room went from white to red. An alarm blared, a new

  tone that no one had heard before. Laura pushed two more spoons of food

  into her mouth and stood up. She watched other people in the room scurry

  in various directions. Jackie was already gone.

  Laura ran to Alex’s office. Despite traveling at a slight jog, it took her

  more time than usual to reach the office, as the stairs and elevators were

  crowded. When she reached the office, she found it empty and pulled out

  her cell phone.

  Alex, where are you?

  A whole minute went by with no response. Her palms grew sweaty as

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she looked out the window and observed a couple squads of soldiers in full battle gear jog to various locations on the compound.

  “Crap!”

  She left the room, figuring the next best place to check would be the

  hanger bay, or even—

  “The Destiny!”

  This time she took off at a sprint through the now mostly-clear hallways.

  * * *

  “Why aren’t we in the air, Mr. Numbe?” Alex wondered if he had enough

  training to actually fly the ship.

  “Sir, the scaffolding is still being taken down.” The pilot replied in a

  thick South African accent.

  Alex spent a moment making an assumption as to what he meant as

  Lanora entered the bridge with a slight limp. He decided he needed to

  replace Numbe for the sake of clear communication as soon as he could.

  “Good to see you, Lanora. Are you well enough?”

  “Don’t worry about me.” Lanora sat down in her chair, taking extra

  time to adjust the straps for her right arm cast. She put one strap into her

  mouth as she pulled on the adjuster with her left hand, working quickly.

  Alex looked at the display screen which now showed 19:13…14…15.

  “The Nuboko is in orbit and awaiting orders. They report they have no

  offensive weaponry.”

  “Transfer scans to my chair.” Alex readjusted his dual chair screens to

  accommodate the incoming sensor data.

  Just as he was looking over the scans…

  “Time!”

  A soldier sitting in a chair on the far end of the bridge continued

  making notes on his data pad.

  Alex let out a deep sigh as disappointment took hold of him. He

  unbuckled his chair and stood up to leave the bridge. “Alert all participants

  that the drill is over. I want reports from all commanders on response times

  and plans for improvements.”

  “Sir, message from Cindy.”

  “Put her on the main viewscreen.” Alex stepped away from the bridge

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  door and walked towards the screen. “It’s good to see you’re back Captain.

  I assume you have the extra package that Kalibri sent us.”

  “Yes, we have it.”

  “Great. Please dock at the hangar facility at the main UEF complex for

  unloading. How’s the ship?”

  “I had no idea the history behind the name of my ship, even after we

  launched. It was interesting to learn why Japan choose the name. The ship