Neighbors

by Brian Whiting

  walls and no desks. The room was set up with stadium-style seating in a

  55

  semi-circle, with the instructor’s desk and main viewing screen next to it, situated in the center, where the rest of the room could see it. Each of the

  students’ desks had electrical outlets, built-in computer terminals, and even

  adjustable cooling cupholders. Fena hoped that she and her friend might

  sit next to each other, but she was disappointed when Timmy pulled out an

  assigned seating layout.

  * * *

  Half-way through the four-week flight training course, only twenty-

  six of the trainees remained in the class, down from thirty. Timmy was

  in a secluded observation room, closely watching his students. In a room

  nearby, there were four interlinked simulators housing four of the students,

  the rest mingling around the lounging area nearby.

  Timmy was adjusting some of the camera controls to get better views

  on his students, his headset plugged in to hear any audio.

  “—we did last night. It was…intense.”

  “So, are you guys going steady now, or is it just a one-time thing?”

  Completely uninterested, Timmy moved the camera to focus on some-

  one else. Noticing a lone student in a corner on his cell phone, he switched

  to the overhead camera and zoomed in on the conversation.

  It’s fine, really.

  Well, it’s not like I can change my

  mind now.

  No matter what happens, we will

  always love you.

  I know, mom.

  Just do your best. Just because

  you’re scoring low, doesn’t mean

  they’ll cut you.

  They already cut three other people.

  I know I am next, I just know it.

  56

  Timmy adjusted the camera again and focused on two other students sitting very close to each other.

  “The thing I don’t understand is, we know the Zorn are coming, and

  soon. Why are we going to let them come all the way to us? A battle over

  our heads is more dangerous. We should meet them in open space, where

  they’re less likely to kill civilians. If their main method of battle is boarding action, we have the advantage. All we need to do is sit out of their range

  and obliterate their fleet,” said Fena.

  “It does seem simple, doesn’t it? If it were that easy, I doubt they would

  have been able to conquer other planets. How did you get these videos,

  anyway?” asked Stacy.

  “I have no idea, they just showed up on my data pad last night. Look

  here.” Fena pointed to her data pad. Timmy was not at a good angle to view

  her screen and had no better camera options to use. “The Theans are slow

  to respond—there’s a twenty-second delay in everything they do.”

  “What is that?” Stacy pointed to an odd-looking Zorn ship. It wasn’t

  pointed like most of their vessels. This one was shaped more like a large

  oval, a space pill.

  “I don’t know, that’s the thing. We are training for pods and destroyers.

  Yet someone knows about the cruisers and these other ships. Why aren’t we

  training to fight those?”

  Timmy’s attention was caught by the battle in the simulation, which

  took a devastating turn. The pilots were exiting their simulators in disap-

  pointment. His phone rang, and he pulled off his headphones to answer it.

  “How goes pilot training?” asked Alex.

  “There are a few better than me already… I am afraid the battle isn’t

  going to be won by pilots. The simulators are more than clear about that.”

  “If there are a few better than you, why are you prolonging the train-

  ing? Why not just advance them out of training?”

  “Where would I send them? The ships aren’t ready yet.”

  “Good point. You think you’re going to release any other pilots?”

  Timmy relaxed into his seat and zoomed out to get a view of his whole

  class on the screen.

  “Not sure, maybe one or two others. But you should know, I just

  learned that someone is passing video of the Thean battles to my students.”

  57

  “Really?” There was a long pause. “I’ll look into it. Thanks, Timmy.

  Keep it up.”

  Timmy put his phone away, glancing at the screen. It was time to

  return to the classroom.

  * * *

  Alex pulled out his data pad, lost in thought.

  Kalibri, find out who has been

  sending my pilots videos of the

  Thean battles.

  No need, Captain. I sent them to a

  trainee named Fena.

  Interesting… Why did you do that?

  In the whole of the UEF, she is the

  best pilot and possibly the best

  strategist. I have been observing all

  of the recruits closely. There are a

  number of gifted individuals in your

  various programs as we speak. Fena

  is just one of them.

  For what purpose?

  I believe for you to have the best

  chance of winning this war, you will

  need the best people you have to

  fight in it and as you have been

  cultivating your people for this

  purpose, I have been assisting. I

  assure you, the little I have done has

  not hampered your efforts in any

  way, but strengthened them.

  Alex typed a message but halfway through, he stopped and deleted it.

  58

  Then he realized Kalibri was sure to have seen the little he did write, and a long silence followed.

  Captain, there are few computers

  on your planet that exist which I

  have not examined. As I speak, I

  have an advertising campaign that

  will lure the right people into your

  cause. I assure you that you have no

  greater ally.

  The hairs on Alex’s neck rose as he contemplated all that Kalibri was

  capable of. Considering that an advanced alien race was already on their

  way to eliminate humanity, he shrugged it off. Besides, if he couldn’t trust

  Kalibri, then humanity was doomed already.

  Very well.

  Alex turned off his data pad as he looked out of the window to his

  shuttle as it set down in a remote area that bordered an Israeli desert. An

  awaiting vehicle escorted Alex to an underground network of caverns,

  one of which contained the UEF Abraham, the secret ship the Israeli were building, which Alex and Laura were about to tour.

  59

  Chapter 5

  Flight Training

  FOR A COUPLE of weeks, Jorge had the new pilots rotate through his

  little construction shuttle as a co-pilot, mostly for familiarization and

  added experience. Timmy’s piloting class ended with twenty-six graduates.

  These pilots would fly every kind of vessel the UEF had in its inventory

  before they got their first assignment.

  To Fena, once you learned how to pilot one UEF ship, they were all

  the same. She was looking forward to the newer engines on the projected

  construction schedule to allow for FTL travel. Kalibri mentioned it would

  be teaching a few classes in the near future, and she was looking forward to

  that as well. In the meantime, she was getting bored watching Jorge maneu-

  ver, align and weld. In that order.

  T
he construction shuttle only seated two people, just like most of the

  other shuttles. This one was modified with four highly maneuverable arms

  that could grab or be utilized like a large tool. After watching Jorge for ten minutes, she figured out the whole system and boredom sink in.

  “Do you want to take a stab at it?” Jorge said while looking at Fena.

  Fena’s face brightened, and she quickly and eagerly took the controls

  in front of her.

  “Now just take it slow at first, let me get comfortable with your

  piloting.” Jorge reached up and unlocked the second control panel by pushing a button. Jorge made an exaggerated motion that he was leaning back

  in his seat and wouldn’t interfere in the piloting.

  Fena maneuvered the shuttle to the next open segment of the nearly

  completed orbital shipyard. The shuttle faced the shipyard, and she used

  lateral compressed air thrusters to move the ship left and right while keep-

  ing the shuttle’s nose pointed in the same direction. Once in place, she

  activated the arms on the shuttle. She extended one of the arms and latched

  onto the shipyard. With a second arm, she pulled out a completed section

  of outer hull from the overly large basket that was attached in the midsec-

  tion of the shuttle, separating the rear and forward sections of the shuttle.

  The third arm was used to help align the hull section to the shipyard itself.

  Once all three arms were locked in place, she activated the fourth arm and

  welded the joints.

  After the first couple of sections were installed, Jorge relaxed; she was

  nearly as good as he was.

  “I am worried you’re spending all this time on a pointless exercise.”

  Fena looked over at Jorge.

  Jorge shot a quick glance at her, then slowly returned his gaze forward.

  “Yeah, no ship built here will be anywhere near completion by the time the

  Zorn return.”

  “So why are you doing it?”

  “As you can see, it’s a simple task. No one is up here telling me what to

  do or how to do it. This time has given me a lot to reflect on.”

  Fena thought about the few times in her life she was alone somewhere,

  and realization struck her.

  “I’ve seen video of the Zorn attack fleets. Our five ships will be no

  match the hundreds that will arrive. We should be thinking about other

  ways to prepare for the attack.”

  “Do you think I’ve been sitting up here thinking about my personal

  life?” Jorge fired back.

  A shadow of confusion crossed Fena’s face. The shuttle had run out of

  hull sections, and they would need to retrieve more from the surface.

  “Do you know the story about how we came up with the anti-grav-

  ity device?”

  61

  Fena was silent. She, like everyone else, knew nothing about how it all started, and to be told such information was special, to say the least. She

  shook her head as Jorge piloted the shuttle back to the supply point on the

  surface to reload his basket with hull sections.

  “It’s a fantastic and long story, but in short, Timmy theorized, and I

  built… To be perfectly honest, Timmy could have used any good engineer

  or software programmer to complete the project like I did. He was the

  true mastermind.”

  “What did Alex do while you guys built the Surprise?”

  “See, that’s what bugs me…”

  The shuttle hit a bit of turbulence but continued its gradual descent

  into the atmosphere. Fena looked over at Jorge and expected him to explain

  what he meant. After a few moments, she feared he wasn’t going to elabo-

  rate anymore.

  “Are you hungry?” Jorge asked as they approached the supply point.

  “Sure, I guess.”

  As soon as the shuttle landed, a large crane swayed its contents towards

  the basket affixed on the construction vessel. The hull sections fit nicely

  into the basket, and the crane released its hold. Timmy made it look like

  he was about to shut down the shuttle, prompting Fena to exit her side of

  the ship. As soon as she touched the ground, Timmy spoke via the headsets

  they were wearing.

  “Take the day off, you’re as good a pilot as I am. I’ll sign you off,

  enjoy yourself.”

  The shuttle ascended back into the air, leaving Fena stunned on the

  ground, unsure of what to say. She knew she certainly was not in the mood

  for a day off.

  * * *

  The situation room hadn’t changed much over the years. As presidents

  and generals came and went, the design was the same; only the equipment

  seemed to undergo frequent updates.

  “We couldn’t have known the Nuboko would return so quickly. If not

  for it, the ship would be ours,” Hammond said.

  62

  “Agreed, sir. When the operation launched, we had no indication the ship had already returned,” General Green added.

  “Shiddits! Go to plan A.”

  Almost immediately, the whole room rumbled with groans or objec-

  tions. It was Lucy, the President’s Chief of Staff, that cut through the noise.

  “Sir, it seems the people at this table, and I would agree, believe that

  it’s not the right time for this kind of operation. The Zorn will be arriv-

  ing within the next year, and Alex is preparing our defense. To take him

  out now could be detrimental to the security of the planet. Besides, when

  we offered this as a possible method of action, it was suggested under

  the assumption that we would be able to fill in or take over the program.

  Unless we did an unprecedented corporate takeover of the UEF, we cannot

  fill their shoes or duplicate their technology. It is no longer advisable to

  consider this a viable solution.”

  The President looked around the room to people with nodding heads.

  “Sir, if I may…”

  The President looked at Hammond, his NSA Director, but said nothing.

  “I now have a dozen people in the ranks within the UEF. It’s only a

  matter of time before we obtain the technology to duplicate their method

  of travel. I suggest we continue to support the UEF and prepare for the

  attack in our own way. Once we obtain the technology, we can marginalize

  the UEF. Besides, now that Congress is openly funding and supporting the

  UEF, they have garnered a lot of support within our own ranks.”

  The President stood and slowly walked around the table, like a shark

  circling its prey. Those at the table shared uneasy glances with each other. A few were going to add to the conversation, but were now too intimidated to

  speak, unsure if their opinion would be opposed to the President’s.

  “I am left with no good option. See that it’s done!” The President

  extended his arm to point at Hammond. As soon as he lowered his arm, he

  stalked from the room, the door slamming behind him.

  Lucy was the first to break the tension caused by the President’s exit.

  She collected her belongings and went to leave the room herself.

  “The President is well-served by having you by his side.”

  Lucy turned around to see which one of the many men in the room

  63

  spoke. One of the Joint Chiefs in a Marine uniform tipped his head slightly in her direction.

  “I second that!” a Deputy Director to the FB
I said, mimicking the

  marine’s head movement.

  Without saying a word, Lucy turned away from the group and exited

  the room. Moments later, she was in the Oval Office with the President, as

  she knew he would be waiting for her.

  “Any belly aching back there?”

  “No, but it did occur to me that we don’t know some of those people in

  that room very well. Maybe it’s time we look at replacements.”

  “I am way ahead of you.” The President pulled out a paper notepad

  with a list of names on it and handed it to Lucy.

  Lucy looked over the list, and her eyes brightened slightly, her eye-

  brows shooting up as she considered the last name on the list.

  “What do you think?”

  “Certainly changes the game a bit. I’ll reach out to him.”

  * * *

  Another month passed. The Founding Four were together once again as

  they celebrated Timmy’s birthday party in a large banquet hall in one of

  the upper floors of the Complex. They invited a large number of people to

  join in on the festivities, including the assistants, the pilots, the intended Captains of all five constructed or soon-to-be constructed UEF ships, and

  some others from within the Complex.

  Almost everyone was seated around large dining tables while a food

  vendor catered for them. There was a stage at the back of the room, vis-

  ible to all those seated. On stage, the five Captains were doing a comedy

  sketch that wasn’t meant to be funny, but they couldn’t act, so their audi-

  ence found entertainment in their missed cues and fudged lines.

  The volume of the audience’s laughter rose as Mason’s armored knee-

  cap fell off and made a loud clinking sound on stage. He was dressed as a

  medieval knight, and they were in the middle of a battle over Lady Laura.

  Mason’s arch-nemesis, Tyrant Cinnamon Styx, waved her gleaming plastic

  sword in the air.

  64

  “Ha, you can’t even afford good armor. You are not worthy of such a lady,” Cindy crowed with all the pomp she could muster.

  Laura sat on a throne in the background while she waited for the one

  true knight to win the battle and her heart. Her attention occasionally

  drifted to the knight lying dead at her feet, and she would stifle a grin or

  a giggle as Alex provided commentary on what was going on downstage.

  His character was supposed to be dead or dying at her feet after losing a