The Cocoon Trilogy

by David Saperstein

  At the meeting with the commanders, the young couple announced their intentions. Everyone was delighted. “We didn’t tell you this just to garner some good wishes,” Phillip told them.

  “No,” Alicia continued, “we’ve been giving the problem of the babies in space serious thought. We have an idea…sort of a plan…”

  “But it can work,” Phillip interrupted. “It can be the answer to all your concerns.”

  The meeting for hours as the commanders listened carefully to the plan the two young scientists proposed. They questioned every detail of the proposal. Then, after they were sure Colonel Smith had left the premises, they went to look at the computer models Alicia had prepared.

  “By God, I think it can work,” Bernie said with a grin, “but it will require exquisite timing.”

  “It does answer the concerns we have about taking the babies into space,” Rose added.

  Ben and Mary Green weren’t that positive. Their baby had not been born yet. “It will have to be put to a vote,” Ben suggested.

  Ruth was recovered from her operation and enjoying motherhood. She knew her daughter would have to travel to Subax and that she would go too.

  “A vote may not be the proper way,” she finally said. “That is to say, our vote. The children have a voice too. Rose speaks with them.”

  “And with us,” Phillip Margolin added.

  “Yes. We know. The plan you two young people have devised is brilliant. But this is not an easy decision. We need more facts. And we need the births to be complete.”

  “That’s only three to four weeks away,” Bernie Lewis reminded her.

  “Yes,” the chief commander responded. “The Mothership is coming. We are here for it. We should develop two plans - one to leave and another to stay. Part of our decision will depend on what Bernard finds when he confronts Gideon Mersky in front of the President.”

  “You know that the children will want to have a voice in the decision,” Rose reminded everyone.

  “Of course,” Ruth said. “But for now we must proceed on the basis that we are all prepared to leave with the Mothership. Bernard will go to Washington. I’d like you to accompany him, Ben,” she asked the remaining father-to-be. “But if you want to stay here with Mary, I’ll understand.”

  “The docs say we have three weeks to go,” Ben answered. “I know Bernie can be a little long winded,” he joked, “but even he can’t talk for that long.”

  “All I need is a few minutes with that sleaze Mersky. I won’t waste any breath,” Bernie said, not finding humor in Ben’s remark.

  “Good,” Ruth said. “Make your appointments in Washington for next week. I’ll ask Jack Fischer to pay us a visit to get things moving on the other plan.”

  After the commanders had left, Alicia and Phillip went back to the model for their plan.

  “Now that we’ve sold it, are you sure it can be done?” Phillip asked his new fiancée.

  “Theoretically, yes. But until we try it for real…well…stuff can happen. But yes, it can work!” There was confidence in her voice.

  He took her in his arms. “I love you,” he whispered softly. “I want to have many children.”

  “Me too,” she responded, caressing the back of his head. “And perhaps they’ll have more playmates than they’ll know what to do with . . .”

  CHAPTER FORTY-NINE – AWAITING BIRTHS AND DECISIONS

  It was mid-September. There were only six Earth-human couples and one mixed couple awaiting the arrival of their babies. The staff had been cut back and only one delivery room and intensive care team was on call. Everyone was confident that the births would continue to go smoothly. In the next two days two women went into labor and delivered healthy baby boys. They were moved without incident to the main nursery, which had become the busy center of the hospital. There were now twenty-two babies, ranging in age from four and a half months to four days, in the nursery. Three others were with their parents in the off-planet environmentally altered duplexes.

  If the staff were able to hear the communication Rose Lewis monitored and joined between the babies, they would have been shocked. The children were learning at a rapid rate from observing their caretakers, from Sanchez and Margolin, from Rose Lewis and each other. The older ones, those born on the Watership as it came to Earth, were now absorbing and passing information from beyond the facility. Using Rose Lewis as a conduit, they reached out to the commanders on the Watership.

  The Erhardt twins and Melody Messina were also telepathing with Amos Bright and Beam. It was apparent to the Antareans that these children were a special race of Earth-humans, created in part by what their space processing equipment had done to their parent’s genetic makeup. It was possible that they were destined to be important instruments in the service of the Master.

  The Watership approached Antares as the Mothership neared Earth’s solar system. Decisions would have to be made about the future of the children and the Brigade. Amos communicated his thoughts in the Antarean language to all the commanders and Ruth Charnofsky.

  “Our race has traveled the galaxy for millennia. As you know, we have chosen to reproduce our race with genetic improvement using science over time. Most of the traveling races tend to do that. But you Earth-humans are sudden travelers, thrust out into the galaxy with most abilities of Antareans – even of commanders. Your offspring appear to be unique. In the cosmos there are a myriad of beliefs regarding the existence of life, its purpose and its future. Many of the races keep to their own kind, as we Antareans have. Many others mix and interbreed, forming new races, new possibilities. They are in the majority. They believe that the grand plan, life, will mix and blend until there is one that encompasses all. There are many who believe we are all one now…that we come from one common universal seed placed among the stars by the Master, whatever he or that power might be. The one you Earth-humans call God. Who is to say what it means? The great civilizations, the laws, written and unwritten, the overwhelming respect for life - these great truths have been given to us by the mixed races, by the blending of the common DNA and genetic matter within the universal spark of life itself. These children are a new race. They are to be protected. I will confer with the Antarean council as soon as we arrive and pass along their opinion as to a plan of action.”

  Under instructions for Chief Commander Charnofsky, Jack Fischer had met with Mr. DePalmer at the Coral Gables Bank and located several promising situations that fit the alternative plan Sanchez and Margolin had developed. The final decision would be made after Amos Bright presented it to the Antarean Council, and after Bernie Lewis and Ben Green completed their mission to Washington.

  A baby girl was born to a couple from New Orleans. It was the only child that had been conceived on Parma Quad 2. When the Parman guides on the Watership learned of the event they asked the flight crew to request that the child be granted citizenship on their planet. Amos sent the message and the parents accepted with gratitude. The girl was named Parmabelle.

  That left only four Brigade mothers waiting to give birth.

  CHAPTER FIFTY - CONFRONTATION

  Bernie and Ben flew to Washington a week after requesting a meeting with the President and the Secretary of Defense. As they crossed the Key Bridge in a taxi, Ben looked back at Arlington National Cemetery. His only son, Scott, killed in Pleiku during the Tet Offensive, lay buried under one of the thousands of snowy white marble markers that covered the rolling Virginia hillside. Some minutes later, as they drove past the somber black marble Viet Nam Veteran’s Memorial, upon which Scott Green’s name joined fifty thousand others, Ben’s thoughts went out to Mary with a silent prayer that their new baby would be a son.

  Bernie understood his friend’s emotions. He’d been a soldier too. He’d seen his friends die in foxholes next to him. He remembered the mass graves and still warm, corpse-filled ovens at Buchenwald. Both men understood they were about to confront a man who was planning to use military force to control their lives and the destinie
s of their children. Passing by these monuments to dead heroes, which also symbolized the senselessness of war and oppression, gave strength of purpose to both Geriatric Brigade Commanders.

  “It’s going to be all right,” Bernie said to Ben as they approached the White House reception gate.

  “Yes. And this time, I believe, life is going to be the winner!”

  “Amen!”

  Bernie Lewis and Ben Green had requested that in addition to President Teller and Secretary Mersky, Caleb Harris, the NBC Washington News Bureau Chief, Captain Thomas Walkly, the Navy Undersecretary, and Doctor Khawaja also be present at the White House meeting. They all were gathered informally in the Oval Office, the place where President Malcolm Teller first learned about the Geriatric Brigade from Alma Finley. Only Gideon Mersky was not yet there. He had been unexpectedly detained by the crash of a Huey helicopter on a training mission at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Nine soldiers, there for advanced training, had been killed along with the pilot and co-pilot.

  “Mrs. Finley sends her greetings, Mr. President,” Bernie began after hello’s were exchanged and they were seated in the middle of the room on two sofas and four matching arm chairs. “She is now aboard the Watership rapidly approaching Antares.”

  “She never called to say good-bye,” Caleb Harris said wistfully.

  “There was little time, and a great deal to accomplish,” Ben told Caleb. “The Antareans are eternally grateful to all of you for your efforts that enabled them to bring their cocoons home after five thousand years.”

  “They are entirely welcome,” President Teller said. “And please let them know they are always welcome in America.” A momentary uncomfortable silence gathered in the room. Tension filled the air. Bernie and Ben knew it was something else. Gideon Mersky was nearby.

  Ben let his mind open while Bernie blocked his. Mersky entered the room as his mind probed Ben’s consciousness. So he’s learned to do it, Ben thought to himself, masking the revelation as he sensed the Defense Secretary groping to make contact. Mersky gave his apologies, greeted everyone and sat down. He then continued to look into Ben’s mind, but he was blocked.

  “That’s enough.” Bernie Lewis’s abrupt thought cut into Mersky’s and the President’s minds.

  “What’s enough?” the President asked, unaware that he had not heard the words said aloud.

  “Our stay here on Earth,” Bernie answered. “The time grows near when we must also depart.”

  Malcolm Teller was clearly surprised and disappointed. He glanced at Mersky with a questioning expression. “I thought you were going to stay,” the President said. “Didn’t you tell Secretary Mersky’s people that the babies were too delicate to travel and that you were going to keep them here on Earth for a while until they were stronger?”

  Ben Green now riveted his concentration on Mersky as he spoke to the President.

  “No, sir,” Mersky answered. “That was just a suggestion your medical staff made. It was never a firm decision. Dr. Khawaja can confirm that.”

  “That is true,” the Undersecretary of Health told the President. “We believe it is dangerous for the infants to be subjected to the rigors of space travel as it was described to us by the Antarean medical officer, Beam. The children would have to be put into a state of suspended animation. The Antareans believe that such a procedure with ones so young might be very unwise.”

  “Nevertheless,” Bernie Lewis said, “we’ve made the decision to leave. There is an Antarean Mothership scheduled to arrive shortly. We have begun our preparations for departure.”

  “I’m sorely disappointed,” the President remarked. “Secretary Mersky was confident you’d stay. He’s had a special living area, a secure compound, prepared for you out west somewhere. In Arizona, I believe.”

  “That’s correct.” Mersky spoke for the first time.

  “I’m sure he has,” Ben Green said sarcastically. “But it’s time to end the games. The lives of our children are at stake.” Ben’s belligerent tone of voice confused everyone except Bernie Lewis and Gideon Mersky.

  Before the President could assess that there was a problem, Gideon Mersky stood. As he did, both Brigade Commanders sensed that Colonel Smith was outside the Oval Office and he was armed.

  “Mr. President,” Mersky began, his tone of voice even and measured, “you will recall several months ago, when these senior citizens returned from their adventures in space, I took the position that they were obligated as Americans to share their knowledge and special talents with the rest of their countrymen. The woman, Mrs. Finley, insisted otherwise, and, in my opinion, used her extrasensory powers to persuade…no to actually force you to give them everything they needed to secretly have their babies and get those cocoons out of our territorial waters.”

  At any moment it was possible for either Bernie or Ben to stop Mersky, but they chose to let him continue. Mersky’s voice grew stronger now as he came to his conclusion.

  “At your insistence I put military facilities, manpower and equipment at the disposal of these people. Undersecretary Walkly informs me the Navy budget alone was more than three million dollars. I imagine the NASA figures might be twenty times that. We have spent taxpayer’s money. We have been party to a conspiracy to perform secret activity within the borders of our own country with aliens. Now we are being told thanks and good-bye. For me, as a government official and as an American, that is just not good enough. Deny it or not, these people here and in Houston are Americans. The others, the aliens that travel with them, are in this country without a visa. They all come under United States law. I believe the time for accountability has arrived. I believe they are manipulating us. I believe they have subtly forced and coerced us into supplying and fulfilling all their needs without once offering anything in return.”

  “What do you want?” Bernie Lewis asked calmly.

  “The list is long,” Mersky replied immediately. “To begin with, this talk about leaving in a few weeks has got to end. Your country has need of the technology you and these Antareans possess. We want to learn how to use telepathy as you use it. We want…”

  “That’s enough,” Ben Green said aloud, cutting Mersky off. “Mr. President, it was explained to you months ago that we no longer consider ourselves Americans. We are human beings from planet Earth. We are galactic travelers. We have come home to bear our children. That is now our natural way of things…”

  “You’re back in America!” Mersky cut in. “We have our own way here!”

  “BE SILENT!” Bernie Lewis commanded. His authoritarian voice stilled the room. At the same time, Bernie sent and unheard emotional shock through Gideon Mersky’s mind that stunned the Defense Secretary.

  “Now just a minute…” President Teller began.

  “We’re sorry. There are no more minutes, Mr. President,” Ben said quickly. “Outside your office door right now, an armed American Army colonel is prepared to harm Mr. Lewis and myself.”

  “What?” The President was visibly shaken.

  “He’s only there if these two don’t listen to reason, Malcolm,” Mersky said, having recovered from the jolt Bernie sent through him.

  “There’ll be no gunplay here!” The President was incensed. “Just who the hell do you think you are, Gideon?” This is the office of the President of the United States, not some back alley for kidnapping.” He stood and went to his desk. He rang his reception secretary. “Midge? Is there an Army colonel out there?”

  “Yes, sir,” was the reply on the speaker phone.

  “Please send him in here immediately.”

  “Yes, sir.” A moment later, Colonel James Smith entered the Oval Office. He started to walk toward the end of the office where everyone was seated.

  “That’s far enough, Colonel,” the President said. Smith stopped and stood stiffly at attention. He saluted.

  “Yes, sir.”

  The President approached him. “Colonel Smith, what were you doing in my outer office?” Smith glanced over at Mersky.
“I’m asking you a direct question, Colonel, and as Commander in Chief I’m ordering you to answer me. Now!”

  “Yes, sir. I was ordered there by Secretary Mersky.”

  “For what purpose?”

  “This is difficult, sir.”

  “Answer me, Colonel, or you’ll answer a General Courts Marshal.”

  Mersky stood up. “Answer the President, Jimmy.”

  Malcolm Teller spun around and pointed his finger at Mersky. “You sit down. This officer is under my command, not yours.” He turned back to Colonel Smith, who had turned pale. “I’m waiting, Colonel.”

  “Yes, sir. I was there under orders from Secretary Mersky to be prepared to take those two gentlemen into custody.” He pointed toward Ben and Bernie.

  “How?”

  “By force if necessary.”

  “If they resisted?”

  “I was to shoot to maim and subdue them.”

  “I see,” President Teller said softly. “Is there anything else you want to say?”

  “Well, sir…yes, sir. My command, the 1159th Light Infantry Brigade, is under orders to take charge of that wing of the Space Medicine Center at 0230 hours tomorrow morning.” The colonel looked down at the rich blue carpeting that bore the Great Seal of the President of the United States.

  “Surrender your sidearm,” Malcolm Teller told the officer. “I am now ordering you to place yourself in the custody of the chief of my Secret Service detail. He is in his office adjacent to my secretary. Good-bye, Colonel.”

  Smith unsnapped his holster and placed his silver-plated .45 on the coffee table. He then saluted the President and left the office. President Teller turned to Captain Walkly. “Tom, please get on the horn and notify the base commander…where would that be, Gideon?”

  “Fort Campbell,” Mersky said quietly.