by Ben Winston
"Mandi, he's only your step brother and both of you were too old for the sibling bond to form when Jarad and I got together. As far as your heart is concerned, he isn't your brother. You're as much in love with him as Bella and Jolene; you have been for years. Is that why you haven't gone to see him?"
"The stupid idiot almost died this time! He should have died this time!" Mandi said in a burst of emotion. "He's acting like it's no big deal and that his injuries are only temporary! If he does heal up, all he'll do is get back in his sled and go back out there!" She said crying openly now. "He's like a crack addict! He'll keep going out there until it kills him!" She sobbed and softly added. "They all will, and now so will you. Everyone I love is going to die, and I can't… you’re going to kill yourselves and I can't stop you from doing it!"
Sharon took the girl in her arms and held her while she cried.
Jarad stepped closer and caressed his daughter's hair. "Sweetheart, while I will admit flying the sleds is fun, we don't go out there for that. We go out there to protect our friends and you; the people we love. We're all working hard to reduce the threat to Rangers, and eventually a Ranger team will not have to go out alone anymore. Sweetheart, we have to do this, if we don’t, everyone and everything we know will be destroyed."
"I know, Dad. I know all of that, I understand it intellectually, but I just can't accept it. I mean, why? Why do the Drellians even care about us? If they hadn't attacked us, we wouldn't even know about them. It just makes no sense!" Mandi replied.
"They attacked Earth because you carry the kill codes for the Prime Nexus, young Fixer." Abraxis said softly entering the conversation. He formed his hologram beside Jarad. "I think the question we should be asking is how did they find you? I have been in this sector for hundreds of centuries and even I didn't know about you. What event gave the Prime Nexus the information it needed to locate you?"
"Are you saying that the reason we are in this position is because of Mandi?" Sharon asked.
"No, not at all, Pilot," Abraxis quickly clarified. "The fact that she has the code embedded in her DNA is no fault of hers. Rather, I was suggesting that there is something here we are not seeing that brought the Drellians to Earth. However, I feel I should point out that, regardless of all of that, I still would have made contact with you, just as I did, when I detected the formation of the team."
"Okay, so how did you detect them when the four of them had only just got together?" Jarad asked.
"In the case of Earth, all I could do was monitor the educational computers of the planet. When I would find records of exceptionally intelligent individuals, I would then search for their medical records and other data to either prove or disprove the possibility of them being a Ranger. When I found Bella and Jolene, I did not know they had not actually completed the formation of a team. So I dispatched the terminal to their location in the event they had. If you remember correctly, it took the addition of a Fighter to activate the terminal," Abraxis replied.
"We got off on a tangent here," Jarad said gently. "Mandi, Greg thinks you're mad at him. Yes, his wounds are serious, but he believes he can still overcome them. In order for him to do it, he'll need the love and support of his friends to do it. A person's will is driven by the love and care of those he holds dear. He needs you in order to get better." He caressed her face and made her look up at him. "He needs you to believe in him, the more we all believe in him, the better he'll be able to do what he needs to do. It's what pushes us and keeps us going when everything else seems to be against us."
"Go see him, Sweetheart. Tell him how you feel, you know how dense he is sometimes, tell him the truth. You should probably make sure his ladies are there too, so it doesn't seem like your trying to poach. Between the four of you, I'm sure you can work this out and still help Greg along," Sharon replied.
"Peanut, we're your family. We're here for you to talk to when you get in a bind like this. I know we've all been busy lately, but we'll make time for something like this if you need it. You don't need to deal with stuff like this on your own," Jarad said.
Mandi wiped her eyes, and looked up at her father. "Dad, there is no way in hell I'm going to come talk to you about some of these feelings. Trust me here, you are the last person I want to discuss my sex life with!"
Jarad blushed and cleared his throat. "Uh, yeah, I can understand that. I meant that Sharon is here for you as well. There is also Bella and Jolene and even Greg, though I'm sure you don't want to talk to him about that stuff either."
"Dad, I love you," Mandi replied. "Just remember your own advice; you're going to be finding yourself in a very similar situation pretty soon."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Jarad asked.
Sharon blushed. "I haven't had the chance to talk to him about that yet, Sweetheart. He has a mission tonight, so I was going to wait until he got back."
"Mission?" Mandi asked looking back at father.
"Greg wants me to tag the President and her wife," Jarad explained. "There's a long explanation here we really don't have the time for right now. Why don't you ask Greg about it when you go see him?"
Mandi turned slightly and shut down the rings. "Okay, I'll head over there right now. When are you leaving?"
"Soon, this should be a cakewalk, really. I just need to sneak into the White House and tag two women. How hard can that be?" Jarad asked.
Mandi snorted. "What are you going to be tagging them with? A tracking device can be found by their medical people. I'd talk to the doctors and see if there is something that you could use that they won't be able to remove. Like a barium tracer or something," Mandi suggested.
"Good idea, I'll check with them before I go," Jarad said.
Stardust Medical Center
Grimaldi Ridge Base
Ocean of Storms
Selene, Earth's Moon
"So, what are we going to do about Mandi?" Bella asked.
"I dunno, but we need to do something soon or this'll just keep getting worse," Jolene replied, sadly. "I honestly had no idea how she felt."
"None of us did, Jolly. That's what caused the problem." Bella replied.
"What problem? What are you guys talking about?" Greg asked.
"Greg, Mandi is in love with you; she always has been," Jolene replied. "She hides it pretty well, but it's there."
"She was the one that told me about both of you when I was clueless. She told me then that she was over me," Greg replied.
Bella shook her head. "She's not over you. If anything her feelings have probably grown stronger. I think her behavior now is her trying to distance herself from you."
"So the question becomes what do we do about it?" Jolene asked. "I'm pretty sure she wouldn't… uh, I don't think her feelings include Bella and I; at least not in a romantic way."
Greg looked thoughtful. "I don't know what to do about this. I do love her, just not that way. She's my best friend and my sister. I don't want to hurt her, or see her hurt."
"As surprising as it might sound, I don't really want to have sex with you either. I wouldn't say no to it, but it's not really what I want," Mandi said quietly from the door. "At least most of the time."
"Damn, how much of that did you hear, Mandi?" Bella asked.
Mandi walked up to the older girl and kissed her softly on the cheek. "Enough to know that you guys care about me and don't want to see me hurt." She gave Jolene a kiss too. "Yes, I'm in love with Greg. I have been for a while. It’s not actually a sexual love; it was at first, and I certainly wouldn't fight it if it were to happen, but for now, it just isn't there.
"I am starting to feel the same way about you two as well," Mandi said to the girls. She moved over and took Greg's hand.
"The parents came to talk to me about this; they wanted to know why I hadn't been to see you. Everyone I care about is a Ranger now. Because of what happened to you, Greg, I was, and kinda still am, worried that you're all going to die. I was convinced of it.
"I'm sorry I was acting so childish. I'll try to overco
me those feelings and will make sure you know how I feel from now on. So all of you; don't be surprised if I seem more affectionate towards you, especially when you get back."
Jolene came up behind Mandi and put her arms around her. "You don't need to wait until we get back to be more affectionate, Sweetheart. Anytime you need a hug or a cuddle, I'm sure any of us would be more than happy to give that to you."
Mandi leaned her head back against Jolene's breast. "Thank you, I will be taking you up on the offer."
Greg squeezed the hand that Mandi was still holding. "So what have you been cooking up in that little shop of horrors of yours?"
"I'll tell you guys, but you have to keep it to yourselves for the time being. Greya wanted it to be a surprise for Delion," Mandi said, mentioning the Harclen Fixer she had befriended. "Greya had this idea about how to make hyperspace travel more efficient, but was having some trouble with the idea, so we've been working on it. So far, we have been able to create a stable, for now short range, transit point."
Greg's eyes opened in surprise. "An artificial transit point? How far do you think it'll be able to reach?"
Mandi shook her head. "Because of the theory behind it, there is no realistic maximum range. However, there are other issues we need to work out before we try any large scale or even long distance experiments. Currently, it can only work between two perfectly aligned 'gates'. I don't know if there can be anything of mass between the two points, but that shouldn't be an issue. Ideally, we want the system to be able to connect to either multiple points at a time, or be easily realigned to another point.
"Then there is the rather unusual side-effect I've had in testing; I've been using a tennis ball, and each time it goes through, it comes out very close to absolute zero. The balls usually shatter after transit. I'm going to try using a small probe with a shield generator on it."
"I think it would have to be a hyperspace field generator, Mandi: remember, we can't make a jump when our shields are up because of the magnetic resonance," Bella replied.
"The magnetic resonance prevents the hyperspace field from forming because they both have the same point of origin, Bella. The two wave forms interfere with each other due to resonance transmitted through the hull of the ship. In this case, the hyperspace event is originating externally, so a regular shield should work just fine," Mandi explained. She shrugged. "That's what experimentation is for. If we can get the system to work the way we want to, it should be a major benefit to getting the Alliance facilities built; at least commercial traffic would have almost instant travel between systems."
"It would help greatly with defense, too, Cuteness. If we could move our warships anywhere in the Alliance in minutes… That would be an advantage the Drellians just couldn't counter!" Bella said.
"Except, it would also make these gates a priority target for the Empire. Any system we install them in would have to be very heavily defended. If the Drellians were to capture even one gate, they'd have the whole system," Greg countered.
"No, as soon as our ships got through the gate, it would be shut down. If the fighting got too close or the gate was boarded, it could easily be destroyed. No, I can think of at least ten different ways to protect the system right off the top of my head. The Drellians would not be able to simply scan it, since hyperspace distortion would prevent it. They would have to board it to learn how it works or to reprogram it. Since the gates would be unmanned anyway, it would be a simple thing to set up a self-destruct if boarded. Just power it up and detonate any high-energy substance really close to it, and you'd have to search hyperspace for any molecules that might have survived." Mandi explained. "No, it would take a fucking miracle for the Drellians to get their claws on one of the gates."
The four friends talked for a few more hours before the nurses kicked everyone out. Greg had surgery scheduled the next morning, and they wanted him to get some sleep.
Grimaldi Ridge Base
Ocean of Storms
Selene, Earth's Moon
Greg got a message to the President that he was having something delivered that evening that should help her with her 'problem'. He intentionally left it very vague as he knew the communication was being monitored. Abraxis did everything he could to ensure it was a garbled mess to those who were monitoring it.
However, Jarad did make it down there, with Joyce and her team providing cover. Although there was little that could have stopped Jarad, there seemed to be an unusual amount of fighter craft in the skies over Washington D.C. and there were twice the normal guards on duty in the White House.
Still, Jarad managed to inject the President and her wife with a specific chemical that could be traced from either satellites in orbit, or from the hypersleds themselves. Although they knew he was there, neither woman acknowledged Jarad's presence, even when he injected them.
Just before Jarad left them, a pair of guards entered the room to look around. All they found was the President and her Aide working on the President's upcoming State of the Union address.
Jarad took advantage of the guard’s entry to slip out of the office and return to his hypersled. The four Rangers returned safely to the moon without incident.
Greg's surgery had been scheduled for early that morning, and it was projected to be a long one because of the delicate nature of some of the work being done. If successful, it would allow the doctors to attempt regrowing his legs at best, or fit him with cybernetic legs at the worst. If they regrew his legs, there was still no guarantee he would be able to walk again, but this surgery would set the stage for that possibility.
While they waited, Bella and Jolene worked with Mandi in her lab while they tried to set up a remote gate on Harclen to continue the work on the project. Jarad worked with the recruiters on figuring out how to recruit the training personnel they would need. This was assisted by a small notebook the President slipped to him when he was down there. In it, he found a list of military and ex-military personnel that had a background in most of the training fields they would need. Some of them were retired, and others had been wounded and, most surprisingly, not all of them were from the United States. Ranks ranged from sergeants all the way up to a retired two-star general.
As it turned out, Carl actually knew the General and got a ride in Jarad's hypersled as the two men went to speak to him. Major General Abraham Small, United States Army, (Ret.) remembered Carl from his time in the military. General Small was quietly retired when he disagreed with his orders to abandon several of his troops to insurgents while in the Middle East. He instead staged a rescue mission that not only freed his trapped troops and destroyed the insurgent cell, but rescued several foreign nationals that the group had been holding hostage.
It had turned out to be a major political boon for the United States, but the powers that be couldn't let him get away with it. He was put out to pasture and his troops sent back into the frying pan.
At first, he was resistant to the offer Jarad and Carl made to him, but once they told him what was going on, and that the President herself had recommended him, he reluctantly agreed. He did have a problem with giving up his citizenship, as he did still love his country, but he finally did agree once he was assured that his family could be relocated to the lunar base if they chose.
"It occurs to me that you are taking a hell of a risk by recruiting a senior officer for such a prominent position. What happens if you find out that I'm actually spying on you for the government in order to get back in favor?" Small asked.
Jarad smiled. "I won't lie to you General, we will be monitoring you to make sure you are not doing exactly that. However, we honestly don't believe you would do that. More than anyone, you should realize and understand what would happen if any of the governments of this planet got their hands on our tech. Earth would become a dictatorship in very short order with the same assholes that retired you in charge.
"No if we catch anyone trying to pass our tech back to the planet, they will have a choice; incarceration on the moon unt
il such time as we can safely release them, or reassignment to one of our allies far enough from Earth to prevent the transfer of technology," Jarad finished. "A pretty liberal policy, I know, but the guy in charge of the military up there believes that we have better things to do than to kill each other over stupid shit."
"Who's the guy in charge? Do I know him?" Small asked.
"I doubt it," Carl replied. "His name is Greg Albright. He's a Ranger Fighter and has recently been named as the senior Fighter among our allies. That basically puts him in charge of all military operations. Now, remember that becoming a Ranger is a genetic thing; no one picked him for this job. He's also Jarad's nineteen-year-old son."
"You have a nineteen year old kid running the military? Please tell me he at least graduated from a military academy?" Small asked.
"No, he didn’t, but I think you'll understand better once you see what he had to go through to earn the title of Ranger," Carl replied. "I had this same discussion with the President when she told me that she didn't feel a kid like him could defend Earth."
Jarad nodded. "They're better trained than any special ops soldiers I've ever heard of. Now that I'm going through the same training, I'm starting to wish I could have started younger, this can be pretty brutal."
"Okay, I'll withhold judgment until I understand the situation better. When do you need me to be ready to go?" Small asked.
"When would be good for you and your family?" Carl asked. "We can adjust to your schedule to some degree. We make multiple flights a day."
"I'm just amazed that no one has nabbed one of those flights, they had to have tried," Small replied.
"Oh they do, but so far, none of them have had much success," Jarad replied, grinning. "They can't hide from the sensors we use, so we stun them before our ship lands, then load up, and lift off. The ships then hang around until the team wakes back up, apologizes and makes sure everyone is okay, then heads for the moon or their next stop."
