Hartman nodded as the last of the crew finished their responses. She looked his way. “Before I take these people into the White House for tea and cookies in the Blue Room, I have a duty to perform as this nation’s commander of its armed forces.” Behind her a Marine now stepped forward holding something in his hand. A second Marine honor guard also stepped forward to stand behind the president. “Chief Petty Officer Bill MacCarthy, step forward to this podium.”
He swallowed hard. Around him the crowd of people went quieter than before. Did his wife know what was about to happen? She kept her eyes fixed forward, showing proper attention to the person mandated by the Constitution to send her into battle. He moved from parade rest stance and walked forward to stand before Hartman. Who now moved out from behind the podium and up to him. She reached out to her right and accepted a small blue box handed her by the nearer Marine guard. Her brown eyes fixed on him.
“Reporting as ordered,” he said briefly, having learned at Coronado the less said meant the less chance of saying something wrong. He gave her a quick salute, then stood with arms at his side.
Hartman smiled. “Mr. MacCarthy, for extraordinary heroism in the boarding of the enemy starship now named Seafloat, while in great danger, at great personal risk to yourself you forced entry into the Command Bridge of the starship, thereby drawing laser fire on yourself from the Alien commander. That action allowed three special forces team members to enter from the roof of the bridge and to render senseless the Alien commander. Which action resulted in America gaining control of that starship.” She opened the small blue box and pulled out something shiny as best he could tell from his peripheral vision. He was not about to take his eyes off of his commander in chief. “In recognition of your extraordinary heroism during a time of war and in combat against the enemy, I hereby bestow the Navy Cross on you.”
Chills swept over him as Hartman pinned the bronze cross pattée to the left side of his Dress Black jacket. He could not remember the last SEAL to win the Navy Cross, but only a few had earned it. Most of them were dead now, or dead when awarded. He saluted again, hoping his drill bosses at Coronado would approve of his form.
“Thank you!” he said firmly, still fixed on the face of Melody Hartman.
Who smiled as she stepped back. “Do you wish to say a few words? It is permitted.”
Bill almost licked his lips but didn’t, recalling this was all live on video camera. Whatever he did or said here would outlive him. He smiled back. “I only wish to say many SEALs have done more than I did. But I thank you for this honor.” He lowered his hand and went to parade rest stance.
“Admirably succinct,” Hartman said as she stepped to one side and faced the gathered crowd. And his crewmates. “Captain Jane Yamaguchi, step forward.”
Damn. What did he do now. Go back to the line of his crewmates? Best to leave it to the woman in charge. Both of them. He glanced to Jane as she stepped forward, her posture upright and her manner command proper as suited an officer. She kept her dark brown eyes on Hartman, as was proper.
“Reporting as ordered,” she said, her manner officer formal. She gave a quick salute, then put her arm down.
The second Marine guard now stepped closer to Hartman. Who reached out and took a small blue box from the man’s hands. The president looked at Jane, who was an inch shorter than the six feet of Hartman.
“Ms. Yamaguchi, you showed extraordinary heroism in the space battle at Kepler 443 where your ship destroyed the space factory that builds Collector ships for our slave-taking enemy, showed leadership and daring during the recent fleet battle out by our Moon, and used your ship’s lasers to disable the weapons of the enemy ship that is now Seafloat. In such action, you continuously exposed yourself to enemy fire, to mortal danger and still you fought.” Hartman opened the blue box and pulled out a bronze cross graced with oak leaves. ““In recognition of your extraordinary heroism during a time of war and in combat against the enemy, I hereby bestow the Air Force Cross on you.”
Bill watched as Hartman pinned the medal on the left chest of Jane’s Dress Blue jacket. His wife made to step back but the president grabbed her shoulder and held her in place. “Young lady, there is more.” Hartman reached back and took a second blue box from the Marine guard. She faced Jane again, her expression serious. “In recognition of the multiple space battles fought by your starship Blue Sky, as part of the continuing defense of the United States of America and the Constitution, I hereby award you the Air and Space Campaign Medal. Congratulations,” Hartman said as she pinned another bronze-colored medal to Jane’s jacket. “You may speak.”
The president stepped back a foot, leaving Jane front and center. His wife glanced his way, smiled quickly, then faced the president. “The last airman to receive the Air Force Cross was Dustin Temple, of the 21st Special Tactics Squadron, for extraordinary heroism in Afghanistan. I wish I were as brave as he was.” Jane moved to parade rest stance before the president.
Hartman gestured to Chester. “Vice Admiral Chester J. Richardson, come up here.”
The admiral looked shocked, then walked up to stand beside Jane and Bill as part of their impromptu line. Hartman stepped between Jane and Chester, then put hands on the shoulders of each, causing them to turn and face the audience with her. Bill quickly did the same. “My fellow Americans, these three, aided by the seven Alien crew members of their starship, brought about the defeat of the invading Alien spaceships. The Alien crews of those ships will be put in a jail on Mars, there to live out their lives as they ponder the price of attacking Earth and America.” The woman, whose soprano soared over the lawn, patted Chester’s shoulder. “But that defeat was but the first battle in defending America, Earth and our Solar system from invading slave ships! In a few days these people will take the starship behind you, joined by three other such ships, and travel 54 light years to a star where a Market world exits. On this Market world are Buyers who purchase intelligent captives from these Collector ships. That system is just two days travel from Earth!”
Bill noticed how the gathered crowd was reacting to Hartman’s words. Expressions of shock, surprise and worry showed on the faces before him, Jane and Chester. To either side of them the network vid crews moved to focus in on the woman who had just made him feel special.
“I have no doubt this team will destroy the enemy facilities that are used to buy and sell intelligent people,” Hartman said. “After that, this ship and her partners will travel to the five star systems occupied by the seven Alien crew members gathered here. These Aliens are the good people!” she said emphatically. “Vice Admiral Richardson, as my ambassador plenipotentiary, will seek to make mutual defense treaties with the people of these five stars. I am calling this alliance the NATO of the Stars!” People in the crowd looked surprised, then intensely interested.
To one side of the sixty people gathered in front of them, an older man whose tie was askew began clapping. Bill recognized him as the no-nonsense Secretary of Defense who had held his post the entire time of Hartman’s presidency. He and his saloon buddies had left the DOD chief out any discussion when they listed the idiots in Washington. The man was an Army veteran of the Iraq war and someone who put service people first over grandiose weapons systems.
His clapping brought others to clap, who were soon followed by everyone. The NATO of the Stars alliance was something these people, and the American public, could easily understand. With Aliens from five star systems standing before a spaceship unlike anything ever put up by NASA, he had no doubt this announcement was the true reason for Hartman’s demand they land on the South Lawn. No one could doubt the reality of Aliens, of spaceships able to travel to the stars, with his crewmates and the starship Blue Sky as part of the president’s backdrop. The woman was indeed acting like a wartime Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Hartman smiled and kept her hands on the shoulders of Jane and Chester. “Why this alliance? Because the best defense against future slave-taker attacks is a good offense grou
nded in a mutual defense treaty where an attack on one member is an attack on all,” she said in a tone that brooked no dissent. “I have so informed the Congress of my intention earlier this afternoon. Any treaty secured by Vice Admiral Richardson will of course be submitted to the Senate for their advice and consent.”
Jane looked his way, her thin black eyebrows lifting. He gave her a quick nod. She clearly understood they were stage dressing for this president’s choice to appear as the savior of the entire planet. The valor crosses were no doubt well-intended, in view of Poindexter’s warning about ‘surprises’ at the White House. But the awards, which were normally given by a command level officer, could have been given inside the White House. As was commonly done when service members were awarded the Medal of Honor. Giving them out here, in the open before multiple network vidcameras, with an Alien starship as part of the backdrop, was pure theater.
“Now,” Hartman continued, “I must give these brave people a personal tour of the White House. And food and drink. I for one wish to see what our Alien friends think of my Jim Beam Black Label scotch!”
Laughter came from the crowd.
“Come along,” Hartman said, her tone amiable as she turned and headed for the curving steps that led up to the South Portico pillars. She waved at their seven crewmates to follow. “I’ve got a nice banquet spread set up in the Diplomatic or Blue Room, which is just behind the portico pillars. Have either of you ever visited the White House grounds?”
Jane took the lead in replying, giving Bill a sense of relief. Combat in the Hindu Kush Mountains was easier than being on stage for a politician’s masterful manipulation of American public opinion!
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Bill awoke the next morning with Jane’s head on his chest. The bed they lay in was soft, while the synthetic sheets felt like silk. It was still dark in their habitat bedroom, though that could change in an instant if either of them spoke the word ‘Light’. Her low, steady breathing told him she was still asleep. He blinked. It was mostly dark in the room, except for four green-glowing spots on the four walls of the room. They acted like night lights, giving just enough light so either of them could find their way to the bathroom alcove, to the metal dressers and flexmetal chairs that lined one wall, or to the open archway that led into the front living room and dining nook. Telling Star Traveler what they wanted in each room had not been hard. It had a Library of Earth culture imagery, texts and videos from its visit to Earth when Bill had been captured. You could name most any object associated with humanity and the AI could project a holo of it, then fabricate it either in the Factory Chamber or extrude it from the flexmetal floor. What had taken awhile during their return from the stars to Earth had been the fabrication of their Air Force and Navy dress uniforms. It had taken Bill several hours of viewing military videos before he was able to single out some images from official parades and functions. Then had come the choice of fabric, the design of dress hats, the nature of the emblems on the buttons, details not readily apparent in the vid images. But it had been worth it. He and Jane had left the ship with a similarly dressed Chester, to stand in front of the President of the United States. He felt sure his Coronado drill instructors and fellow SEAL Team Seven buddies were satisfied that his appearance was military proper. While Jane’s parents were dead and she had no children, she did have close friends and relatives who likely watched the stage show on the South Lawn.
“What you thinking?” she said, her head shifting as she looked up toward his face.
He put his left arm around her bare shoulders and hugged her close. “How we looked to friends and family in the live vid broadcasts,” Bill said. “You looked great. Loved the look of the Air Force Cross and the campaign medal on your jacket!”
She chuckled low. “You looked pretty good too. Like a human tank with a two day growth of whiskers. Never understood why the Hollywood guys never shaved clean. Now I know. Very macho looking,” she said, her left arm moving over his chest to hug him. “And after seeing the holo vid of your entry into Diligent Taskmaster’s bridge room, you damn well did deserve the Navy Cross! You could have been killed!”
“I wasn’t,” he said, mentally reliving those moments of mortal danger. “Comes down to timing. Stefano and I were in comlink coordination. The ship AI was happy to open holes in floors and walls. Just knew I had to distract the cockroach bastard, or he would have killed some of the team with that laser of his.”
“Instead you got a laser beam through your arm!”
He sighed. “Any of them would have done the same for me. I was one. They were three. A SEAL always puts the team ahead of himself.” He hugged her close. “That’s why I flew down there. I knew with the way the Alien crew were moving up the hallway that the team needed someone to out-maneuver the attackers.”
“So how does it feel?” She nudged his left arm with the back of her head. “Earlier it looked perfect to me after you came out of the clamshell healer unit. No stitches showing. Tanned skin tone like the rest of you.”
“Feels fine and normal,” he said, reaching with his right arm to pull her further up on his bare chest so their faces were just inches apart. “Thank god we had this evening up in orbit for Bob’s shoulder to be made ‘like new’ and for Francis’ leg to be fixed. Frankly, I think sleeping off our taser zaps in containment cells is too good a treatment for the cockroach and his buddies!”
“Agreed,” she murmured as she kissed his neck. “Glad our AI is building the geodesic glass dome in the Factory Chamber. The transport that brings up the Magfield drive to Alicia’s ship will also carry a refurbished sub nuke power plant for the jail dome.”
He knew that. He’d overheard her discussing the matter with Chester after they left the White House and joined the six other ships in LEO above Peterson. It turned out to be better for two transports to head down to Earth, one to get the engine at Norfolk and one to pick up the twelve new recruits for ship crew at MacDill. The crew transport had returned to Stefano’s ship, then had delivered crews two by two to the other five ships. This morning the transport from the Pointe Du Hoc would lift from Norfolk and rendezvous with Alicia’s ship. The dead engine would be pushed out through an Engine Chamber wall, with Alicia and others dressed in vacsuits as they took advantage of zero gravity and a ship AI willing to open a big hole in the ship’s outer hull. The new engine would come in that way, thanks to help from the grappling arms of two pods from Alicia’s ship.
“So, have you figured out just where in the Valles Marineris canyon we should put this jail dome?” he asked.
“Well,” she murmured, “I’m thinking that putting the dome down in the Ius Chasma part of the canyon would be best. The canyon is narrow there and there is evidence of groundwater sapping that formed the side feeder ravines,” Jane said. “That tells me frozen ground water is likely nearby. We will locate the nearest frozen water using absorption spectroscopy, then let one of the repair robots drill a well down to it. Put down an electrified thermal probe and you’ll have liquid water that can be pumped up to the dome.”
“Fine with me,” he said, feeling overwhelmed by how much his amateur astronomer wife knew about this distant world that he only knew about from a high school Shakespeare course. Where ‘Mars’ indicated the god of war. “We can taser zap all of them, except for Diligent. I want him awake and aware when I plop him down there.”
“Need any help with that?” she said. “Bet that Learned Escape could help you. A man who learned how to survive on a jungle world filled with dino-like creatures can surely watch your back.”
“Good idea. I’ll ask him to join me on the transport as we pick up the zapped crews and haul them down to this Ius Chasma place. Uh, how do we get the jail dome down there?”
She chuckled. “What else are collector pods good for, beyond grabbing captives with those grappling arms of theirs?”
“Oh. Right. Our pods will transport sections down and then assemble them. Right?”
“Right.” She
breathed into his left ear. “I like this private time. Which makes me think.”
Private time in bed made her think? For him, it was strongly arousing. “Think what?”
“I’m thinking we should tell the other ship captains and crew folks that they are welcome to bring up their spouse or live-in partner,” she said. “Our three ships will be gone for months. The three ships that stay at home may be sent to another star, while we are away. Who knows? There are plenty of habitat rooms on this ship. Same for the other ships. And the Greenery Chamber grass and trees can put out enough oxygen for 10 or 15 people.”
He liked her idea. “Sounds smart to me. Besides us on this ship, there are two other couples among our Alien crew members. Bet Alicia would like to have Lorilee with her. Cassandra has a live-in boyfriend. Joe, Bob, Frank, Chris, Howard and Mark all have wives or partners. Only Stefano is hanging solo.”
“Glad you like my idea,” Jane said. “When we were captured, I had no idea we would be away for nine months. We cannot assume your saloon buddies signed on for eternal solo service among the stars. Let’s have them talk to their spouses. A happy crew is always a more effective crew,” she said.
“Agreed. Which means I should mention this option to Chester. His wife may want to join him. Their kids are grown. And we will be back here often enough for him to see his grandkids.”
“Perfect,” she murmured, her left hand sliding down his belly to his groin. Her light touch made him breath deep. “Shall we celebrate our love union?”
He turned toward her and kissed her deep, his hands moving to caress her in places she opened to his touch. Words became pointless.
Escape 2: Fight the Aliens Page 21
