by Don Koch
The plane ride back to Juneau was uneventful until they arrived at the Juneau Airport and were met by Sean O'Malley in his police patrol car. "Well Chief, you look like the time off treated you well. You all look great."
"It was every bit of that. That lake is a great vacation spot. The fishing is amazing not to mention the scenery. But what brings you out here, is something up?"
"Exactly, Buzz Heath escaped two days ago while being transported for a hearing down town. Two guards were injured but nothing serious. Both will fully recover. He took a Glock from one of the guards so he is armed. He has managed to disappear. The transport vehicle was found abandoned in the parking lot at DMV. That is a bit brassy since that is also the location of a State Troopers detachment."
"Dang, that is not exactly the kind of thing I wanted to hear on the day I return. Any leads?"
"No and we have been watching the Foster's house and Jeff's house since. First thing we did."
"OK, we need to let everyone know what has happened." He sent a mental message to the group there to look surprised or shocked when he gave them the news from Sean verbally. "Everyone please gather around for a minute. We have a problem. Lieutenant O'Malley has just advised me that Buzz Heath escaped custody two days ago and is armed."
One person was heard to mutter, "Rats, some idiots just never learn."
"JPD has checked each of your homes and we can see no signs of forcible entry though that does not mean you are in the clear. What we would like to do is escort each of you home and check your premises to be sure he isn't there. We have no idea what he is capable of or how long he can stay hidden. He even managed to bump the Solarans off the front page headline for a day."
Andy commented, "Solarans, what is that?"
"That's right, you wouldn't know being isolated at Turner Lake." Sean then proceeded to update them with the sudden appearance of the Solarans and their various activities. "There must be a hundred of them and no one knows where they are from or why they are here, but their impact on crime and terrorism has been huge. I have been saving the headline articles from several national papers and you are welcome to look those over. It is pretty amazing."
A call came in from the Lieutenants radio. Buzz had been spotted near Thunder Mountain High School not far from Andy's first encounter with Buzz. Andy said, "Lieutenant, I am coming with you. I may be able to talk him down."
"I cannot allow that, you are a civilian."
"Sean, take him with you. He knows what he is doing. I will take responsibility for this."
"OK Chief, but I don't like this."
"I will explain later. He really does know what he is doing."
On the way, Sean explained that the site was surrounded and he had told his men to hold their fire. "Lieutenant, it is really important that your men not fire on Buzz. He is a mean piece of work but does not deserve a death penalty. I think he is trying to commit suicide by cop. I believe I can turn that around. Besides we are going to have some help."
When they arrived, a police sergeant reported that snipers were in place and escape routes closed off. "OK Sergeant, tell everyone that they are not to fire. Reinforce that command."
"Yes sir."
"Ok Andy, what do you have in mind."
"In a few minutes I am going to walk out there and talk to him."
"Are you crazy, he's armed."
"He won't be when I walk out there. Trust me."
Suddenly, Buzz put the gun on the ground and stepped back rubbing his temples as if to relieve a headache and that was exactly what he was trying to do. A semi-visible Solaran appeared, picked up the gun, disappeared and reappeared by the Lieutenant handing him the gun and again disappeared. "Ok Lieutenant, it looks like I am up." Andy approached Buzz and stopped about 8 feet away. "Well Buzz, you have been busy. Do you know how close you came to being killed today?"
"Might have been better if I had."
"That is kind of a stupid remark, why would you say that?"
"Because I am headed for prison, probably for a long sentence. All I have is an eighth grade education so I have no work skills. I am at a dead end."
"So change your course. Let go of the anger. Use the prison time to educate yourself and if you do that, my family and I will help you find work when you get out."
"Why would you do that?"
"Why would I not do that if I were convinced that you had turned a new page? Can you turn that new page?"
"I can try."
"Good, shall we get started."
"Yeah, I guess its time. Those snipers will start to get itchy fingers."
"Good point. You do owe some people an apology you know."
When they arrived in front of the Lieutenant. Buzz offered his wrists for handcuffs and said, "Sorry to be such a pain Lieutenant. I will not be attempting a repeat."
After the police on scene took custody of Buzz, Sean offered Andy a ride home. Andy nodded agreement. They got in the car but before Sean started the patrol car, he took a long look at Andy and then shook his head and muttered, "Naw."
Andy immediately replied with an impish grin, "Yes I am."
Sean reacted with shock, "Can you read my mind?"
"No but its not too hard guessing what must be going through your mind after that. When are you off duty?"
"I'm off duty now."
"Can we go to your house first? There is something I need to talk about with you and your wife, Jeanne. Nothing harmful I can assure you."
"Sure, she is itching to meet you after what I told her of your previous encounter with Buzz. I only live three blocks from here so lets do that."
They went to Sean's house. After introductions, Andy said, "After we got in your car, you took a long look at me and said, 'naw'. May I ask what was the thought you had?"
"Sure, I was thinking, is he a Solaran and then I said naw."
"What did I say then?"
"You said 'Yes I am,' but that can't be."
"Sean, just because something seems impossible does not make it so. Does this help?" He faded to invisibility and then reappeared in Solaran attire. He then reversed the process.
"Holy smoke."
"I'd like to tell you both a story but this is one you can't tell anyone else, agreed, both of you?" Both agreed. Andy then told them the whole story of the previous week and a half. How they were essentially in training and what they had learned to date. How the tags worked and all about the various settings.
'Why are you telling us this?"
"Because we want the two of you to join us."
Jeanne said "We have a rather large complication."
"I know about the cancer diagnosis. That will be resolved within 24 to 36 hours of your becoming Solarans. The implants used to become a Solaran essentially removes all illness, disease, ailments, and defects. These are essentially a body wide genetic supplement. It resets your genetic code and adds a bunch of extras. It supplements your current genetic structure with an overlay that, with training, allows you to do amazing things. With that comes a duty and responsibility to use those gifts for good. So if that is the complication you are thinking about, it is not that at all. What do you think?"
Sean and Jeanne looked at each other and nodded. Together they said, "Yes."
"Outstanding, lets get you up to the ship so we can get started. Aston, would you give us a portal please? I think the front door will do nicely." He explained what was happening. They went up to the ship where Aston did the implant and explained more about what to expect. "You will have to be careful not to reveal your capabilities to others. Once your training is underway, you will have plenty of opportunity to help others. In spite of the speculation in the p
apers, there are only 34 of us and Aston including yourselves. Our numbers will continue to grow and we have to expand our operations. You can come to the ship at anytime and ask Aston any questions that arise. We will keep the portal in place, just tell Aston where you would like to have it. The portal cannot be used by someone else inadvertently." They returned to the O'Malley home.
"By the way, who is in command of the Solarans?"
"That would be me."
"Andy, I should stop being surprised by what you can do. Thanks for inviting us on board."
"My pleasure. I think we are in for some exciting times. We have some pretty big projects ahead of us. "
"I just hope the world can take it."
"The first few times out, you will be with someone with more experience. I think you will catch up rather quickly."
"Well, to keep up appearances, I had better take you home."
"Thanks, I appreciate that. You will find the mind to mind speaking becomes easier as you use it and it is secure and confidential. Also, I forgot to mention, you should avoid genetic testing. That could identify you as a Soloran. Also if you see an incident underway, alert Aston, he will have someone there in a blink. That is to protect your identity as a Solaran. If that is not possible, be sure no one sees you teleport and use invisibility,"
After he was home, he teleported back to the ship with Pat. It is a bit difficult to call the last two weeks a vacation but it sure was satisfying
Chapter 14 - Recruiting
# Juneau #
# Friday, July 1 #
"Aston, what kind of activity have we been seeing today?"
"I definitely agree with that. It also occurs to me that we are going to need additional ships."
"Wow, that gives us some increased capability. Too bad we do not have some more candidates for primary implants."
They decided to try the couple in Australia first. Alban Macrae and Beth Bruce live in the outskirts of Perth and were hiking in one of the forests close to their home. Some local thugs decided to give them a hard time. Andy and Pat arrived invisibly just as the encounter started. Two of the three thugs had pulled knives and were advancing on the couple. Andy kicked the knife from the hand of one. The knife went up in the air and in a blur it went back down and through the boot of the other one with a knife between his big toe and the first toe next to it without cutting the flesh. Meanwhile Pat repeated the exercise with the other knife holder and copied the result. Andy had Aston tag all three and rendered them unconscious. He then transported them to a nearby police station and told the police what had happened. He said that if you ask how they came to be in this condition and what they were doing to get that way, they will tell you the truth. Andy then went back to where he had left Pat and the couple. Andy appeared as a normal person but with slightly different features. He looked at the couple with a big grin and said, "I will wager anything you care to name that they were not expecting that. I am glad we came along when we did. We had provided you with protective armor but you did not know that. I delivered them to a police station not too far from here. Do you know who they are?"
"No, we have never seen them before. We did suspect something was different because we took a nasty spill about 2 kilometers from here, tore our clothing up a bit, but not a scratch on us. What is going on?"
"We will explain that shortly but we do not want to be here when the police show up, if they do. What say we move away from here. Is anyone at home at your place now. We are going to teleport there and do not want to scare anyone."
"My mom and dad are there and Beth's parents are due to arrive in a few minutes. But the garage is likely to be empty."
"OK, we will go there. My name is Andy and this is Pat. Take my hand Alban and Beth take Pat's hand." In a blink they were in the garage. Andy assumed his normal appearance and Pat did likewise.
"We would like to talk with you and your parents. It is important and it will explain a lot."
"It has been a pretty strange morning and my curiosity is starting to get away from me. Let’s go in. Thank you for what you did."
"Our pleasure." They followed the couple in and went to the dining area where the four adults were all sitting and chatting.
Alban did the introductions. It was clear that the adults had been discussing news of the Solarans. Andy asked what they thought of the news about the Solarans. Albans father Craig replied, "Well, we all agree that we like what they are doing but wonder how much of this was hype and nonsense. It just sounds too good to be real. We know that the press tends to exaggerate when they can't get their hands on real facts and I just wonder if that is what is happening here."
"Mr. Macrae, I am just curious, but if someone were to offer you an opportunity to be a Solaran, how do you think you would react?"
"Wow, that is a funny question. If I were convinced it were real and it was offered to my wife and son as well as myself, I think I would do it. Yes, I would do it. The ability to help people like they appear to be doing is a very strong argument to contribute to the same."
"Mr. Bruce, how do you think you would react?"
"I would have to give the same answer that Craig just gave you with the same condition, but the odds against that have to be more than 500 million to one."
"Mrs. Macrae, what would be your reaction?"
"I can't imagine that an opportunity like that would ever present itself, but if it did, I would want to participate"
Mrs. Bruce offered the same opinion.
"That is cool. The reason I am here is to discuss that very subject."
Mr. Macrae replied, "You appear to be too young to be a reporter or writer but you accent is not local. Why are you interested in our opinion on this particular subject?"
"I have something to show you if you are willing to suspend disbelief for a few moments and Pat will do the same." He slowly changed to semi-visible mode and then changed to the Solaran image. "Do you know what I am Mr. and Mrs. Macrae, Mr. and Mrs. Bruce?"
"Good Lord, they're Solarans."
Andy changed back to his normal appearance as did Pat. "No matter how we do this it is still a hefty shock to those we contact. My apologies. The articles you are reading in the press are pretty much understated with some speculation not necessarily accurate. I am the Solaran Commander and am here to hopefully recruit the six of you. Each of you meets all of our prerequisites. It is not like hitting the sweepstakes or is it necessarily easy. It is eminently satisfying." He then explained the shortage of young people and the critical role they must play because of the differences in the implants and the ability to accept the implants. He explained what the implants do and how. He explained the reason for their formati
on what was coming and when. "Alban and Beth could absorb energy on a massive scale with a primary implant if they choose to join us. Adults cannot receive a primary implant after about age 21 or 22. There may be occasional exceptions to that but those are very rare. The installation of a primary implant would be fatal to most adults since their gene structure does not have the ability to adjust in the way necessary for absorption of massive amounts of energy. The secondary implants do allow some absorption of energy but it is involuntary and responds to situations rather that being used in a deliberate fashion. That is not bad, it just is. Adults can do a considerable amount but not what the younger people can do if they have the primary implant. Once that implant is active and trained it remains in place even as an adult. Adults provide advice but can't act as a weapon to the same extent the primary implant permits. This does not mean they cannot be a weapon, only that they can't approach the capability of someone with a primary implant. We need the adults to provide a stable group to support us and keep our heads on straight, to advise, and to assist with work where shear numbers become critical. The Mexican cartel exercise was done in about a week with 10 holders of the primary implant and 16 adults with the secondary level of implant. The heavy lifting was done primarily with primary implants. Given all that, are the six of you willing to join us? It will not always be easy and we absolutely must conceal our identity. What do you all say?"
Alban and Beth immediately said yes and their parents all responded affirmatively after that. "That is great. The next step is that we get you up to the ship for the implants and some more instruction. The implants are painless. You won't even know it happened. We will need to set up a portal that only a Solaran can use or someone that has been invited. Craig, your house has a number of places that would be suitable because they are not readily seen from the outside. You should think in terms of being observed. If you enter a place, you should exit that same place regardless of where you go in the interim. That will become second nature and Aston, our ship, will help you keep track. You are not that far behind us. We have only had these capabilities for less than three weeks and we are still learning. It's funny to think of ourselves as trainees but that is what we all are. Likelihood is that we will make mistakes but we will work around them. We want the world to think of us as being from everywhere so sometimes a little misdirection is a fun exercise. You all have a good conscience and that led to your selection. Aston will help to keep that on track."
