Kneel Or Die

by Michael Anderle

  John looked up and noticed another Pod coming down to them. That explained how all four would get back to the ship. He shrugged his shoulders, “Frankly, his whining really pissed me off.”

  Gabrielle grabbed one of them and dragged him over to her Pod. The man’s weight was not even a concern for her. “Yeah, well, you’re going to have to clean his blood out of my Pod because I’m not doing it!”

  John grimaced, “Lovely.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  TQB Base - Co - USA

  “Well, that’s a fine ‘fuck you, too!’” Bobcat pushed back from his side of the table in frustration. While each of them had an office, they liked working with each other so they pulled tables out into their huge shop area and set up their computers and laptops there. Occasionally Marcus would go play with his scientific toys in the area built for him and William had set up some sound baffles around the CNC and 3D printing machines to keep the noise down.

  Bobcat had been using the Internet and now had just finished researching the complete restrictions and rules related to space launches. He was frustrated as hell. First, the documentation was harder to read than even some of the military documentation he was accustomed to and second it was related to exo and endo thermic propulsion. Marcus had assured him that neither set of regulations were relevant for what they were attempting.

  Bobcat had been studying the electronic Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR) for launch regulations and it didn’t matter which way he read it, they weren’t going to get approval to launch anything. Another issue was there was no way Bethany Anne would permit anyone to examine their content for a ‘Payload Review’ and only government payloads weren’t reviewed. It would be hard to explain all the parts needed for building a base on the far side of the moon. This was Team BMW’s next impossible task and had been handed to them a couple of days before. Fortunately, Shelly had flown like a dream and flying the helicopter had eased some of his tension.

  Bethany Anne didn’t want much, she only wanted a Space Station. Oh, and could you have it ready to go in the next six months, pretty please? She had explained that putting a space station in Low Earth Orbit, her first desire, would be just daring one of the governments to shoot at them. If they put it on the far side of the moon, it would make it much more difficult to hurt her team and they would have more time to deal with anything or anyone sent to them. Plus, she liked the idea of drilling into the Moon for additional space.

  Due to the restrictions on launches, Bobcat had been beating his head against the table all morning long.

  Marcus looked out from behind his laptop, “Problems?”

  Bobcat was rubbing his eyes, “Yes! No two ways about it, we aren’t going to launch anything legally here in the states.”

  “Why?”

  “Well as near as I can figure out, they have all sorts of safety regulations so you don’t blow up on launch. Then they want to ensure that if the payload falls back to earth there isn’t a safety issue coming down. And they don’t want your payload causing some environmental disaster if it crashes.”

  “Why are we lifting off from inside the United States again?”

  Bobcat took his hands away from his eyes, “It’s easier?”

  “Well what’s going to let them know that we are lifting off? There won’t be any bright lights and flame. No noise, we can reduce the radar signature to a pretty small area depending on what size you want to take up. What size do you want to take up?”

  Bobcat stared at Marcus for a moment. What size did he want?

  William interjected. “Are you having the same internal discussion that we had last time with the rocket?”

  Bobcat turned to look over at William, “Maybe?”

  William snorted, “Sounds like probably.”

  Marcus chimed in, “Rather more approaching unity.”

  Both men looked at Marcus but it was Bobcat that spoke, “Unity?”

  Marcus nodded, “Of course, 100% is the same as one and one in mathematics is unity.”

  Bobcat frowned, “Then why not just say ‘one-hundred percent’?”

  Marcus smiled, “Would you believe I’m a crazy rocket scientist if I don’t spout off some scientific phraseology from time to time?”

  Bobcat shrugged, “Beats the hell out of me. Ok, smart-asses one and two. How would you guys ship stuff up to the moon?”

  William shrugged, “Cargo containers?”

  Bobcat looked at William, his face incredulous. Marcus just said, “Genius!”

  Bobcat turned to Marcus, “Can we lift cargo containers?”

  Marcus opened the chat program on his computer, “One second.”

  While waiting for Marcus to talk with TOM, Bobcat turned to William. “That would be kick-ass if it works. We could store all the stuff in the containers and prep them to go and launch them all at the same time. Even if we get caught making an unauthorized launch they couldn’t stop the shipment.”

  William asked, “Why would we get caught? Spray the anti-radar goop we use for the Pods on them and ship it all upstairs. Besides, who would believe someone who said they saw a ‘cargo container’ flying in the sky?”

  Bobcat started laughing, he needed to release some of his tension and the idea that they would have their rockets right out in the base’s fields, in plain sight with no one the wiser tickled his fancy.

  “Two.” Marcus declared. He looked up at Bobcat and William. “TOM suggests two engines each placed one quarter of the way from each end of the container and affixed to the top of the cargo containers. Keep the weight distributed evenly and we should be good to go.”

  “Hot Damn!” Bobcat grinned, “Where there is a will…”

  He stepped over to William who put up his hand for a high-five and finished the saying with Bobcat, “There is a way!”

  Bobcat took a few more steps and grabbed the whiteboard that was on wheels and pulled it closer. It had all the major categories they needed to consider. Basic things like food and water, shelter, air, toilets and hygiene facilities. More columns for power, laboratories, landing area, habitation modules, storage and equipment areas. So long as they could lift from Earth, they would be able to resupply the station indefinitely. Bethany Anne had told them to plan for the worst and assume it needed to be self-supporting.

  That was why they were intending to build their base on the ‘dark side of the moon’. That way, they wouldn’t be directly in view from Earth and no one would be able to see what they were doing right away. Add a few just in-case weapon emplacements and they should be able to build the facility they needed without interference. Bethany Anne claimed they would be building much larger ships complete with a support infrastructure. As soon as the lunar base was complete she would need someone to explore the possibility of mining asteroids for raw materials.

  Initially they would need to plan and construct as many pieces as they could on earth. An endeavor that needed to happen with as few people as possible knowing what they were doing.

  Bobcat picked up a dry erase marker and used it to scratch the back of his head, “William, that was impressive. Do you know how many cargo containers we could have sitting right in the middle of the base and no one would question it?”

  William thought for a second, “If they aren’t in anyone’s way? Dozens at a minimum.”

  Bobcat thought out-loud, “I imagine if we get Kevin involved he will just tell someone they are related to the base construction. If we stack them…”

  Marcus interrupted, “Can’t stack them, the engines are going to be on the top.”

  William asked, “Could we weld them to the ceiling inside the container? If we have these things laying around with large cubes welded to the top that might look odd to a lot of people.”

  Bobcat continued, “We should be able to coat them better if we don’t have to deal with the engines on the outside.”

  Marcus was reading his screen, “TOM says that placing them on the inside isn’t a problem. They just need to be equal dis
tance from the edges and each other. So a third from each end not a quarter. I misunderstood his original comment.”

  Bobcat was looking at his list, “How many do we need?”

  William responded, “Intermodal cargo containers are usually 40 feet long and either eight foot six inches or nine foot six inches tall. They are eight feet wide. Depending on what length we get, shorter ones can be moved with a forklift. We might want climate controlled units…”

  Bobcat interrupted, “For outer space?”

  Marcus chimed in, “Sure, to keep heat in, right William?”

  William nodded.

  “Well, I guess we have the beginnings of a plan. I just don’t know how we are going to explain to Bethany Anne that her space base is a bunch of cargo containers.”

  Marcus shrugged, “Paint them? That always made my first wife happy.”

  Bobcat considered Marcus’s idea. The outsides would be black and not much could be done about that. However, once they figured out how to prepare the inside for habitation Bobcat was going to contact Ecaterina for advice on how to make it feel ‘homey’.

  Washington D.C. - USA

  Barbara Nickers wrinkled her nose. A neighbor’s cat had gotten into her garage and in an attempt to be a good Samaritan she had caught and returned it. Even though she had gone back inside her house and had taken a shower and put on a fresh outfit, her allergies had been bothering her all morning. She had stuffed the contaminated outfit in a plastic bag and tied it shut. She had tossed it into the trunk and dropped it off at the dry cleaners on her way to work.

  She had been working for the last couple of hours when a couple of persons of interest from the Anthony Chillenni file appeared in a report from the Netherlands. It seems that a large Caucasian man went into a very inhospitable neighborhood, killing multiple people and kidnapping two suspected terrorists, then just disappeared. Now all of a sudden the Muslim locals were demanding that the police come in and do something about the ‘crimes against their brothers’.

  The unidentified man had left five dead and one in a coma with multiple critical wounds. There had been a firefight on the third floor of a tenement. The report claimed multiple gun-shots and one grenade had been tossed into the mix. One dead in the apartment.

  They did have some blood from the man involved but when it was tested something had rendered it useless. The suspect took the two men up to the roof and just disappeared.

  Barb thought it was a pretty impressive operation. She might like to buy that man a drink! Just getting into one of those extremist friendly neighborhoods was a challenge, trying to get back out was usually a good way to get yourself a trip to the morgue. It was damned strange, seemed their suspect created all of the destruction on the way in and then left without a trace.

  It wasn’t until later that day that Barb felt a chill when she found out three more names with possible links to Anthony Chillenni had disappeared over the last few weeks. One in Great Britain and two in Germany. Just like Anthony Chillenni, none of the bodies had been found.

  The Queen Bitch’s Ship Ad Aeternitatem

  CLANG CLANG… “You” CLANG CLANG SWISH “ARE”

  CLANG - “OOF!” Gabrielle back peddled quickly to get out of Bethany Anne’s reach. The dirty conniving woman had used one of her blades to parry both of Gabrielle’s and then kicked her in the stomach. Gabrielle dropped, tucked and brought her blades back up crossed above her. CLANG!

  Gabrielle smiled when her crossed swords caught Bethany Anne’s downward swing. She stopped smiling when Bethany Anne’s other sword slapped her ribs. “Mother Fucker!” Gabrielle went down on her left side, “Yield!” She lay panting on the workout mat. Bethany Anne sat down beside her, breathing hard as well.

  “I was trying to say that you are getting a lot better.” Bethany Anne stopped talking to fill up on the wonderful air she was so desperately craving at the moment.

  “Tell that to my ribs!” Gabrielle wheezed out.

  Bethany Anne took a deep, calming breath, “They will heal, stop whining!” Ashur came over from the side of the work-out area heading right between the two women. Both women had to move a sword out of the way to make room as he unceremoniously plopped down between them.

  Pete called from the side, “I don’t think he likes you two fighting!”

  Bethany Anne, eyes closed, responded to him. “We aren’t fighting, I’m just getting her warmed up for her second round with you guys.”

  Remembering all of the unflattering remarks they had yelled out to the women while they had fought, the Wechselbalg Guardians side of the work-out area suddenly became very quiet.

  Bethany Anne called out, “Sucks to be you guys!”

  She heard Matthew, forever the respectful one among the group, say under his breath. “I hope she knows I kept my mouth shut.”

  Bethany Anne looked across the big furry white German Shepherd between them. “You about ready again?”

  Gabrielle winked at Bethany Anne.

  The little rat was fine she’d just been playing possum, lying there on the mat. Bethany Anne smiled as she called out, “Ready Set Go!” With ‘Go’, she grabbed Ashur and they both disappeared.

  Gabrielle grabbed her swords. That bitch! She had to quickly roll away from the onslaught of Wechselbalg. Pete’s team had one saying that they fucking lived by.

  ‘Always be ready’!

  —

  Bethany Anne put her two swords into their katanakake then had a shower. Gabrielle really was a damned proficient sword fighter. With the improvements from their training Bethany Anne could no longer take on the whole team if she played fair. In fact, even if she had John with her, the four team members would take at least one out of every four sets. If she used all of her talents she could take them out but it took her a while as they were all getting damned good.

  >> Bethany Anne, I now have access to the covert communications of the major world powers. <<

  Bethany Anne toweled her hair.

  What do you mean, the covert communications?

  >>All major and minor nations have the ability to communicate and send covert communications between themselves and their allies. While most of these are through digital communications which I can track, some are passed non-digitally and I am still working to figure out ways to integrate tracking mechanisms. I have located approximately forty-two percent of the secured computers where these messages are either created or translated from their codes.<<

  How the hell are you able to locate and listen in to forty-two percent of the world’s secured spy computers?

  >>I’m piggy-backing on other world powers who were there before me.<<

  So, you didn’t break in, but another world power has broken into the system and you’re listening to their eavesdropping?

  >>Yes <<

  In-fucking-credible. Who has broken into the most computers, the Chinese?

  >>No the Israelis.<<

  You’re shitting me!

  >>Why would I do such a thing?<<

  Man … keep your friends close and your enemies closer. So when I told you to build a network for covert communication consumption you went all out. Damn, next time remind me to ask you what you understand I’m telling you I want.

  >>Is this not the answer to the action you requested? <<

  Yes, I guess I just figured it would take you multiple steps.

  >> How? <<

  I would have to ask for a request, you would accomplish the first step then I would have to request you go deeper then loop this conversation ten times.

  >>I’m not an ignorant super-computer, I can ‘think outside the box’.<<

  Humble, too.

  >>I’m not capable of being prideful, I am merely explaining my abilities with easily understood explanations that hide the complexity of my effort.<<

  You’re right, there is no humbleness in your statement.

  >>Thank you for recognizing the truth of my statement. <<

  Bethany Anne smiled, she both got her
point in and figured out a way to check to see if ADAM had made his next big step to maturation.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Key Biscayne, Fl - USA

  Bethany Anne, Lance and Patricia were enjoying a dinner out on the patio behind her house. She and Ashur had gone to ‘pick them up’ and bring them to Florida. It allowed for a casual dinner, enjoying the water and the gorgeous sunset as day faded into night.

  Plus, it allowed everyone a few minutes to enjoy a little family time.