by Ben Winston
Greg nodded and swallowed his current bite of food. "Okay, so who all is waiting to see me?"
Cindy grinned. "No one special, just your family and the President of the United States."
Greg almost choked on his drink. "They got Wilma up here? Do you know what happened?"
She shook her head. "Not a clue, but I'm sure they'll be more than happy to tell you all about it when they get in here." She got a blanket and covered his lap so he wouldn't be as exposed. "Are you ready for this?"
Greg nodded. "Yeah, it'll help give me strength to overcome the torture you're putting me through!"
Cindy snorted. "Yet you still love me, how romantic! Take it easy Hero, if you start hurting, let me know right away. Don't just try to ride it out yet. Once we get your settings closer to where they need to be, then you can be tough, but until then, we need to know everything you feel."
"Okay Cindy, I understand. What about that shower I asked about?" Greg asked before she could step out.
She winked at him. "I'll recruit your ladies to help with that. I'd do it myself but I'd get fired." She slipped out the door before he could reply, but left the door open to indicate he could see visitors.
His family filed into the room led by Jolene and Bella. The girls and Jarad were wearing duty coveralls over flight suits.
"Hey beautiful! Why are you guys dressed up?" Greg asked.
Bella grinned. "We're training your father today. We're doing a system patrol and survey mission. The mining guild would like to know what kinds of ores and minerals are in the rest of the system, so we're going to be getting some readings for them."
"You must be getting close to certifying if you’re going out on missions, Dad," Greg asked.
Jarad nodded. "I'm getting there. How are you doing?"
Greg grinned. "Well, believe it or not, I got to this chair under my own steam with only a little help, so I guess I'm doing pretty good, too."
"The day after a major surgery and you're already up and walking?" Wilma asked from near the door.
"Madam President! I'd heard you were here to see me! I take it things went to hell while I was out?" Greg asked.
Wilma nodded. "You could say that. Sherry and I were on our way to be killed when Fighter Jarad and Fighter Joyce rescued us. I'm told you issued the order for that?"
Greg nodded. "I couldn't just stand by and let someone be murdered when I knew it was going to happen. That would make us accessories to the crime. How is the world taking it?"
"Well, before we even made it back up here, it was reported that we were killed in a car accident. Then again, the entire planet saw me arrive here. So far, there hasn't been any official word from Washington about it. I think they have other issues to worry about at the moment," Wilma said giggling.
"Like what? Dad, what happened during that rescue?" Greg asked.
Jarad held up his hands. "It wasn't me, Greg. It was the Alliance Council. Once they learned of the rescue and the reasons Wilma and Sherry were put in that position, they reached a unilateral agreement about Earth. The people of Earth are being repressed by leaders not of their choosing. Therefore, it is our duty, as the protectors of that world, to free them of that subjugation and return control of the planet to the population by as peaceful means as necessary but including military action if required.
"Abraxis and a couple of the new AI hacked the ShadowNet and dumped it out onto the main Internet this morning. So far, everyone is trying to either destroy evidence, restore the cover-ups or do as much damage control as possible. None of which is actually working since the AI and the cyber-warfare group are countering them.
"There hasn't been a peep about any of it on the main-stream news networks, mostly because those are controlled by the bad guys. However, Alicia and Seth contacted a group of independent reporters and expanded the Alliance news web site that headlined the story. The servers are ours, so they can't be shut down by the bad guys."
The family talked and filled him in on all the stuff that had been happening that he hadn't known about. As it turned out, the last couple of days had been very eventful. Wilma again apologized for being a bitch to him, but Greg told her not to worry about it. At the time, she actually thought she was doing the right thing, and that is what truly mattered.
Finally, Jolene and Bella chased everyone out of the room and closed the door. Greg knew something was up when they started taking their clothes off.
"Uh, not that I don't appreciate it, but what are you doing?" Greg asked.
"Cindy told us you wanted to get clean," Bella said.
Jolene nodded. "So she asked us to give you a bath." She moved the table away from him and took the blanket off him.
"Uh, I don't see any bath supplies, and why do you need to be naked for it?" Greg asked.
Just then, the door slid open and Mandi entered carrying a stack of towels and personal hygiene supplies. She sat them on the counter, and peeled her own jump suit off.
"Well, in addition to getting you cleaned up, we were asked to get a sample from you as well," Mandi explained, smiling sensuously.
"After all, the doctors would like to know if the repairs they made are working," Jolene replied as she knelt between his legs.
"Uh, Mandi, I thought you didn't want this kind of relationship right now?" Greg asked. He was getting a little distracted.
"Just call it a little more visual incentive to help the girls," she replied, grinning at him. "Besides, I don't want to get my clothes wet when we clean you up."
Grimaldi Ridge Base
Ocean of Storms
Selene, Earth's Moon
"Hello and good day, people of Earth. As most of you know, I am Wilma White. I was the President of the United States of America until my reported death a few days ago. As you can see, I am not dead. Myself and my wife, Sherry, were rescued by Terran Defense Initiative forces from those who were trying to kill us.
"I am not speaking to you as the President, but as simply another citizen. My address to you today is simply an explanation of events as we understand them. However, before any of that, let me reassure all of you that we were not kidnapped by TDI, and it was very much a rescue. We are here, on the moon, by our own choice. We are in hiding up here because I found out too much of the truth about my former government. If either of us were to return to the planet we are sure that we would be killed as soon as the intelligence services could make the arrangements.
"It was rumored in the press that my longtime aide, Sherry, was really my lesbian lover. I will confirm that we have been in love since we met in high school many years ago. Throughout my career in politics, we never tried to hide our relationship, but we did not flaunt it either. What would be the point? What is between Sherry and I is a private matter and not the concern of anyone else. No, we did not defraud the American people by misrepresenting ourselves. If asked, either one of us would have freely and happily admitted to our relationship, but no one ever asked. I never referred to Sherry as my wife for the simple reason that until yesterday, we were not married.
"As for the rumored secret address I made to congress where I made multiple paranoid remarks about a shadow government and how the intelligence services had too much power; it never took place. In fact, if you would care to check the records, even the visual records of C-Span, the congress was in recess that day. There was no one there I could have addressed at the time they said I did.
"However, just to be clear, I do believe that the intelligence community is behind a lot of pretty shady stuff. I got a peek under the blanket while I was in office and it scared me. I was overheard discussing it with Sherry, and that's when we think they decided to have us killed. I had no idea how deep the rabbit hole went until I arrived up here and I was shown what the AI had found.
"That same information is now available to you folks. Most of it is pretty unbelievable, but all of it is frightening, and every bit is true. The decision on whether you believe it or not is entirely up to you, but I have seen t
he evidence and how it was gathered. I know none of it is fake like it is now being reported. If you stop and think about it, there is simply too much there that fits too well for it to be made up.
"Now that I have a better understanding of what is really going on up here, and what these people are doing, I am going to support them as much as I can. As I said earlier, I am just a civilian now, I have no authority to give orders. However, if my opinion is of any value to you, then I would advise that you all take a good, hard look at your current leaders. Take an even harder look at their actions and ask yourself some very important questions; who and what are their actions really benefiting? Even if there is a benefit to you, the people, be sure to look and see who else is benefiting from their actions. I think you will find that in every legislative action in the past fifty plus years, there was a corporation or a business field that ultimately benefited the most from those actions. Even at the state level, nothing gets done for the sole benefit of the people, nothing.
"Why? Because it’s not your votes that elect people. It’s the corporations and conglomerates that elect politicians. Since the end of World War two, every election held that has been held for a major office of state or higher level, has been bogus. I can honestly say that not one single member of congress was elected by the people. I'm sad to say that I wasn't either. I would like to believe that if I had known, I would have resigned. That no longer matters. What does matter is what you do about the current situation.
"You can recall your senators and congressmen and hold new elections, but what will that do? As long as those in power remain in power, nothing will change. I'm talking about those that are really running things, and not the supposedly elected puppets in the governments. I think many of you will soon find that they will not be easy to unseat, after all, not one single member of that cabal has probably ever broken a law. It will be like trying to catch smoke with a butterfly net. How can you arrest someone for something that isn't a crime? These men and women hold all the power in the world, they were not elected, nor is there any way to take that power away from them simply because there is no law against it.
"Our defenders, the Alliance Council, has set forth a proclamation to aid the people of Earth in freeing themselves from tyrannical rule not of their own choosing. The cyber-attacks on the global intelligence network was one result, the dissemination of the information found there is another.
"Folks, we've been living under a single world government for the last eighty years and none of us knew it. Wars and conflicts make money and are good for business. It has the added benefit of reducing excess populations. It gives the population a solid enemy to focus on so they miss other far more important, yet much more subtle actions.
"Look through the information now available to all of you and you'll see what I mean. However, there is one last thing I would ask of you. If you decide to take action against those that control almost every aspect of your lives, keep one thing in mind; These uncaring and arrogant individuals also control every military on the planet as well as every nation's arsenals - nuclear and chemical alike. No nation is your enemy; rather the people that tell those nations what to do are.
"Thank you for listening to me. I wish all of you luck and peace in the future. Good day," Wilma said finishing her speech.
Two weeks later, Greg attended a meeting in Carl's office to discuss the state of affairs on Earth. It was the first official function he'd been able to attend since he was injured. After Lionel and the two Council Ambassadors welcomed him back, they got down to business.
"We're really lucky the Drellians have been so quiet while all of this crap on Earth is going on. While I appreciate the opportunity to be able to get this dealt with, I can't help but wonder what they are up to," Greg replied.
"Most likely beginning to build that invasion force we're expecting. However, it would not surprise me if they did not try to get something in this sector in order to observe us and see what we are up to," Jarad replied. "I know if it were me running the Drellian forces, I would want as much information as I could get."
"Did they not do just that when Commander Fighter Greg was injured most grievously?" The Onarian Ambassador Gragoe Jnee asked.
Jarad nodded. "Yes, it would appear so, but since that force was destroyed and we hunted down what probes they left behind, they no longer have any information coming from this sector. But, they know they will have to be careful about how they go about it. They know we will challenge any intrusion they make in this sector, so their next attempts will be far more subtle. I would be willing to bet that while they might send Rangers, they will not send them in hypersleds. I would send in multiple teams on vastly different vectors with a variety of equipment packages in different ship types. However, the only two ship types we really share with them are shuttles and the hypersleds. It would not be surprising if they did not try to steal one of our ships in order to move about freely in our space."
Greg looked thoughtful. "Abraxis, you've told us that there are other human races present in the Drellian Empire. Are there any other Drellian races that can pass as other members of the Alliance?"
"Because of the age of my information, I cannot give a wholly accurate answer to that question. However, from the information I do have, both the Greynus and the Harclen are unique to this sector. Neither of those species are listed as having been encountered before. While the Onarians are also unique, there is a species known to be a part of the Empire that could visually pass as a member of that race. However, the information I have lists them as a very primitive, hostile race. They are listed as extremely xenophobic and would attack other races on sight. They are listed as being what humans would call Bronze Age technology.
"Two of the minor Alliance races were very common within both the old Alliance and the Empire. It could be said that the Arnorian are the most prevalent species in the galaxy. They are very bright with an inquisitive nature. Like the Arnorian we know, they are a peaceful, friendly race that tends to view meeting new races as opportunities to learn.
"The other common race is the Cormoran. They are listed as not sharing any racial traits at all. The differing tribes of the race range from being peaceful to warlike, outgoing to reclusive, highly advanced to technophobic. The one thing they all have in common is that none of them have anything in common," Abraxis finished.
"So there are four races they could use to infiltrate us," Greg said thoughtfully. "About the only thing we can do is be extra vigilant. Only our survey ships venture into deep space and it would be very difficult to steal one of those because there are so few of them that the crews are well known. Still, I think we should implement remote monitoring of them while they are out on missions. Even if they don't get attacked, we would be able to respond faster if we knew they were in trouble."
"The safety of the survey crews is logical. Experienced crews are important, and there are not a lot of volunteers for such a long and dangerous assignment. Remote monitoring would be a valuable addition," Jnee agreed.
The Teraxan Ambassador, Enri Hews, nodded agreement. "Our crews would feel safer and more valued. It would improve morale among their ranks as well. The addition would also have the added benefit of alerting us to new major finds such as habitable worlds and new resources. Such an addition would be very feasible and invaluable for a number of reasons."
"Since it involves multiple races, I'll add it to the list for the next Council meeting. However, I am also going to add it to the requirements for the survey ships we are building. Even if it is never used, the option would still be available," Carl replied.
"If I may ask, what is happening on your planet, Governor?" Enri asked.
"So far, a lot of political chaos. No one has started fighting yet, but it's beginning to look like it will get there eventually, at least in some places. We are working to keep everything peaceful in those areas, but the people are very upset. In the United States, the federal government is pretty much deadlocked on what action to take
. The states have begun recalling their elected officials, but some of them are refusing to leave. The new President tried to order a nationwide state of emergency and martial law, but most of the troops are refusing those orders as illegal.
"The city of Washington D.C. is more of an armed camp now than anything else. Troops still loyal to the government have surrounded as much of the capitol area as they can to keep rioters from storming the buildings damaging more property and killing people. Right now, it's one of the worst areas, and the first place we expect violence to break out.
"Several state governments have completely shut down while they try to get the issues sorted out. Vital services are still running, at least for now, but even before this stuff started the public had lost their trust of the police. I'm sure that we'll see an increase in violent crime soon too. Basically, it's a mess down there," Carl replied.
"This is not good, is there anything more we can do to assist in this transition? We fear a major loss of life will occur if we do not at least try to intervene." Enri said.
"We're getting our first batches of Marines trained as quickly as we can, but at the moment, there simply are not enough for something of this scale. I would mention that as an added side effect, there has been a major spike in applications to join us. We have even been contacted by the commanding general of Fort Lewis in Washington State. He has asked what he can do to help keep the peace on Earth."
"We might need his help," Greg replied. "But for it to do any good, we'd need thousands of shuttles and pilots just to shift troops around. Wait a sec. Isn't Fort Lewis a combined base? Don't they have air force there as well?"
Carl nodded. "It's actually called Lewis-McChord Joint Base. It was along the lines of an experiment in logistical support and operations as well as creating a rapid deployment center for the troops stationed at Lewis."
