by G. E. Stills
“Take a seat.” Em indicated the chair across from her. “We have a lot to discuss.”
Sliding into her chair, Janice said, “I have a lot of questions.”
Pressing the remote in her pocket, Em activated a sonic privacy screen to surround them. Not one scrap of their conversation could be heard outside the field. Em slipped into her seat.
“I’m sure you do and I’ll try to answer all your questions to the best of my ability. You’ll have to excuse me, if your questions get to technical though. Unlike yourself, I’m not a molecular physicist, my areas of expertise lie elsewhere.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. Most of my questions are of a non-technical nature anyway.”
“Go ahead then, ask away.”
“So let me go over the points of our phone conversation, only more in depth. If I choose to accept your offer, all my living expenses will be taken care of including a place to stay and I’ll be provided unlimited funding for my research?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve done a little investigating, or at least I’ve tried. I can’t find any information on the PTE Foundation.” Janice said.
“We’re relatively new.” Em thought of PTE and what it stood for. Protect The Earth. “We’re a private organization and like to keep our research confidential. Like a lot of research facilities.”
“Which brings up my next question.” Janice said. “I’m not free to divulge or discuss this offer with any of my colleagues? That sounds a little extreme.”
Em swallowed her distaste for the things she was about to say. Though they weren’t a lie, they weren’t the entire truth either. “Just like your present employer, MIT, you will be required to sign a contract agreeing not to divulge anything about your research. Those outside our organization,” Em added. “Maybe being prohibited from talking about our offer to others is a little excessive, but those are the foundations rules.”
“And I can’t tell anyone where I’m going, not even my family? I can’t communicate with anyone while I’m gone. Where would I be going, by the way?”
For a moment Em thought of Jar’san’s criteria of selecting people with no strong emotional ties to others here on Earth. She hoped that Janice met those requirements. Her hesitation only lasted for a moment. The mission was the only thing of real importance.
“Sorry, but no, you can’t tell anyone. The facilities are in a remote location and there is no outside communication available.”
Janice gave her an incredulous look. “Not even the internet?”
“Not even. I can tell you this Janice. You will never be required to research anything you do not agree to work on, nor will you be asked to do anything you don’t wish to do. Next, should you desire to leave, you will be allowed to do so at any time of your choosing and transportation will be provided, at no charge, to anywhere in the world you wish to go.”
Another shaded truth, Em reminded herself. If Janice decided to accept the offer, one of the first things she would receive would be a download from Kat or more likely the new computer being built. After that, Janice would have no desire to leave and would do anything to help accomplish the mission.
“So I have a week to decide and give you my answer?”
“Yes.”
“And if I do agree, I need to give a two week notice and get all of my affairs taken care of?”
“Yes.”
“What about the lease on my apartment? I just signed a new one. What about my bills, when they become due?”
“If you agree to work for us, you will receive a substantial sum of money. You can use this to pay off everything you owe. There will be enough to buy out your lease. Should you accidentally omit something, it will be taken care of by my foundation. We’ll be glad to help on anything you require us to do in order to facilitate your relocation.”
“What about living quarters? Will I be in some type of dormitory sharing a room with a roommate?”
“No you’ll be provided with a house. Not a fancy one but one I think you will be happy with.”
“A house? Not an apartment?”
“A house.”
“What about publishing my work?”
Em took a drink to hide her grimace. She hated telling Janice a half-truth. Janice would be able to publicize and share her research just not with people here on Earth. “Subject to the foundations approval, you will be allowed to share anything you wish.”
“Wow. I need to think on it, but I promise I’ll call you at the phone number you’ve provided and let you know my decision one way or another.”
“Thank you.”
Janice stood. “I guess I’ll be going now. I have a lot to think about. I’ll be in touch.”
“We’ll be talking soon and thanks again, Janice.”
Janice left and Em remained seated, finishing her coffee. I thought that interview went well. Just from the tone of her voice and the look in her eyes, she was certain Janice would be joining them.
Now if I had Ing’s ability to read minds, I’d know for sure. I wonder if the others are having a similar experience. She knew at the same time as hers, ten other interviews were taking place. The increase of Teelan’s population is just starting.
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
“Move us out to main engine engage coordinates, Bill,” Tom ordered. He gazed at the view screen over Bill’s shoulder.
“Aye, aye, Skipper,” the pilot, said.
Maneuvering jets eased the Planetary Defense ship Blasar, away from its berth at the space station orbiting high above Kiesar. As their separation increased, Tom saw the huge factory in the distance, where more spaceships were being manufactured. In two weeks Blasar’s sister ship PD Sukan would be launched to begin her shakedown tests.
Over Bill’s shoulder, he watched the kilometer readout climb steadily as their distance from the station increased. “Engage main engines. All ahead slow,” he ordered.
“All ahead slow,” Bill repeated and slid the throttle forward slightly. The Blasar eased ahead smoothly.
Tom marveled again at the quietness of the powerful engines that propelled the Blasar, ones that Ing and Kimo had designed. Though plenty comfortable for her crew of four, in addition to himself, the control cabin and living quarters occupied a compact forward section of the Blasar. The ten-meter room aft held the engines and the fuel to power the ship. It never ceased to amaze him to look at the fuel container, not much larger that a thirty-gallon gas tank. The paste like substance, Ing called Iradim, was enough to power the Blasar over her expected three hundred year lifespan. The bulk of the ship was dedicated to cargo space.
The Blasar was a civilian ship. She was not even armed. Although they usually called him skipper or Captain out of respect, Tom was on a first name basis with his crew and addressed them that way. These four people were his friends, almost family.
Kat had placed his wife Blaise in charge of their fledgling space fleet. With a grin Tom recalled the many discussions he had with her. Blaise was all for plunging right in, building large military type ships from the very start. He wanted smaller ones that would be used to test the many new systems. In the end they compromised. The first two ships were civilian in nature. Ships of war were already being designed and would begin production in the near future.
Turning to the systems operator, he ordered, “Open the portal, Angela.”
“Yes sir.” She pressed a series of buttons on her control panel.
An area expanded in front of them. It was devoid of stars. The blackness inside rippled like a disturbed liquid. It quickly became large enough in diameter, to accommodate the Blasar. The ship entered the middle of the circle, and suddenly it was in Earth space behind the moon.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to that moment of queasiness when we transition from Teelan, to Earth or vice versa,” Steve, the loadmaster, commented.<
br />
Several heads nodded in agreement.
“Maria.”
“Course plotted Captain. It should be on Bill’s screen right...” The navigator pressed a button on her control panel. “Now,” she finished.
“Half speed on course Bill.”
“Aye, aye sir.” Bill pressed the throttle forward. The ship surged ahead. Although he could not feel the acceleration, he knew to all appearances, the ship simply vanished in a burst of increased velocity.
Tom stood from his captain’s seat. “You have the ship Bill. I’ll be in my quarters if you need me”
“Yes sir. I have the ship,” Bill repeated.
Tom entered his small, but lavish, cabin and sat back at his desk making entries into his log.
A day from now, he wrote, we’ll be outside the orbit of Saturn and begin our mission of placing satellites. The cargo hold is filled with them. Four weeks from now, the early warning system will be in place and switched on. The system will detect anything approaching from outside the solar system, he wrote.
At least that is the theory. I’m still a little skeptical. So much has happened in so short a time. I guess I shouldn’t question the capabilities of my wife and the other women.
He chuckled softly when he recalled the term the humans used for the women from the past. The old ladies. Even though the term was never used in front of them, he was certain they knew. At thirty, his wife Blaise, was the oldest.
The population on Teelan is exploding, he mused. Ten thousand people on Teelan and near space at last count and growing daily. What has been accomplished is almost beyond belief. It’s hard for me to imagine that less than two years ago I was sailing the Seeker on the Earth’s oceans.
For a little longer, he tried to concentrate on further log entries, but at last surrendered to the thing he wanted most. He triggered his implant, to call her. Minutes later she answered.
Another theory proven correct. Very little time lapse.
“Hi dear,” Blaise answered. “I’m missing you already.”
“I’m missing you too. It’s going to be a long month.”
“How’s the ship handling?”
Business first as usual. He shook his head. “Great. No hiccups so far”
“Good.”
This is the Blasar’s maiden voyage. Her next mission will be under a different Captain. I’ll be close to home, testing her sister ship. Close to Blaise, where I long to be.
“I was hoping you’d be on Earth and not Teelan,” he said.
“I thought you might be calling, that’s why I’m here in Houston.”
“Any progress on establishing communications between the Earth and Teelan?”
“Progress yes, but the system is not operational yet. Ing and Kyra assure me it will be soon.”
For a while, they discussed the projects she was involved in, and then Blaise said, “I have a surprise for you, dear.”
“And what would that be?”
“Now if I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise would it?”
“No, I guess not. So, you’re going to make me wait?”
“Yes.”
He could picture the smile on her face.
“I’ll be here in Houston again in three days. Will you call me then?” Blaise asked.
“Try and stop me.” He blew a mental kiss to her. “I love you.”
“I love you too. Talk to you then.”
“Bye Blaise.”
When his eyes closed and he drifted into slumber that night, he dreamed of her.
****
“That’s the last of them,” Steve reported. “Maria and I are safely teleported back onboard.”
“Very good. Angela, bring the system online.”
She flipped switches. “Online sir.”
Maria joined them and took a seat at her station.
“Plot a course for home, Maria.”
“Yes sir,” she said enthusiastically. A bright smile creased her lips.
He activated his implant. “Control, system is online here.”
“This is Control,” Tracy, the controller in Houston answered. “System up and running here. Nice work Captain.”
“Thanks.”
“Bill, as soon as Maria gives you the course take us home.”
“Yes sir.”
God it’s been a long month. Turning, he strode toward his cabin to try and call Blaise. Anxious to give her the good news.
An alarm blared out, bringing him to an abrupt halt. He spun and looked at Angela. She was hunched over her panel, intensely studying the screen in front of her. “Intruder alert sir,” she reported.
In two steps, he stood behind her. “Comet, asteroid?”
“I don’t think so sir. Wrong composition.”
“Shit,” he cursed under his breath. “Control, are you reading an incoming in sector five?”
“Yes sir.”
“Shit. Maria, plot a course. Let’s go see what it is. Put us two thousand kilometers behind the object. “
“On it sir.”
“Angela, maximum magnification.”
The Blasar streaked across space, coming up behind the intruder.
“Not a comet or asteroid,” he said, unnecessarily.
The ship in front of them was ten times their size.
“God it’s big,” Bill whispered.
“It fits the description we have, of a Men-gar patrol ship.” Tom said.
“Crap,” Steve said from the rear, “And we don’t have any weapons.”
Tom knew from his conversations with Blaise, that this patrol ship was not armed heavily enough to perform wholesale destruction of life on Earth. The kind that was done in the past. He was certain though, that once it discovered the rudimentary space program Earth had, it would send out communications and summon Men-gar ships with weapons that could.
“Damn it.” He cussed in frustration. Activating his implant, he reported. “Control, bogie headed your way.”
“I read. We’re monitoring.” Tracy answered.
“There has to be a way. We can’t let that ship send out communications and bring other Men-gar ships. We’re not ready to turn back an attack. We could ram her but that is no guarantee we’d destroy the ship or prevent them from communicating their discovery.”
He did not realize he’d spoken aloud, until Angela answered. “I think maybe I have a solution but—”
“Talk to me Angela,” he interrupted.
“I think maybe I can rig up the computer and tie in the teleport system to the ship controls. It would make the entire ship teleport. I’m afraid what I’m suggesting would mean a one way trip for us though.”
“Go on,” he ordered, in a measured voice.
“Suppose we picked a point just ahead of the Men-gar ship to teleport into? Further suppose that we timed it, so that the Blasar and the Men-gar ship arrived at that spot in the same instant.”
He thought about what Angela was suggesting.
“There’s just one thing Captain. I don’t think I can manage a jump more than about a thousand kilometers.”
“Bill, can we get that close without being detected?”
“Maybe. They haven’t spotted us so far because I’ve been remaining in the blind spot behind their engines. I think maybe Blasar is small enough to avoid detection this close behind them. Especially if they aren’t searching.”
He glanced briefly at each of his crew in silence, not having to voice the question. The Blasar was not a military ship. This crew, his friends, were civilians. They answered his unspoken question in a chorus of yeses
“Do it Angela,” he ordered.
She and Steve scrambled behind her control console and went to work.
“Control, this is Captain Parker of the PD Blasar, we’re going to
try something out here. If it succeeds, then the bogie should go away.”
Tracy waited for him to elaborate further. When he did not she simply said, “Standing by.”
****
Quietly, Bill counted down the distance separating them from the Men-gar craft. “999…998…997…996…995. Captain I think they’ve spotted us. They’re altering course.”
Tom glanced at Angela.
“Ready,” she reported.
“Jump.”
Angela’s finger stabbed down on a button. The ship blinked from existence and materialized microseconds later in the same space as Men-gar patrol ship.
****
Tracy was monitoring the two ships through a giant telescope located on the backside of the moon when a miniature nova, just inside the orbit of Saturn, blazed to life. The screen she viewed blanked to protect its circuitry. When the image returned a few minutes later, the eye searing brightness had dimmed.
“PD Blasar,” Tracy paged.
No answer.
“PD Blasar, respond.”
Nothing but static.
None of her detection devices could locate any trace of either craft. She only spotted a spreading ball of ionized gases. “Jesus.” She glanced up at the man standing beside her. “Go to Teelan. Get in touch with Kat or Nolan and report what’s happened.”
“Yes ma’am,” The man dashed from the room. He entered the teleport room, and seconds later stepped from an almost identical room on Teelan. Immediately, he put out a call to locate either of them. Finding both together, he raced from the room.
****
When the courier contacted her in her lab, he simply asked for her location, said he had an urgent message and did not give any details. With a sinking feeling in her gut, Kat was sure from the tone of his voice his report could not be good news.
The messenger rushed in nearly breathless minutes later, the look on his face confirmed her worst suspicions. Her eyes grew wide in shock and her knees threatened to buckle, as he relayed the information.
“Oh no. No, no, no.”
Nolan wrapped his arms around her, bracing her up. Though she knew Nolan was just as torn up emotionally as she was, his voice came out official and impassive.
