ALICE Resurrection
Page 29
However, after reading their analysis and comparing it to his recent experience, he realized it wasn’t so crazy after all. He had seen what two of his patrol ships had done to the NeHaw cruiser, and the NeHaw cruisers were no match for an earth destroyer. Adding the new fighters gave them a combination that was both maneuverable and hard-hitting.
The sad part was, if he had learned nothing from Jake, it was that this has been just one-step in the ongoing fight with the NeHaw. He needed to see if he couldn’t anticipate the NeHaw response to the convoys.
It was with that in mind that he reached out to the Wawobash, and requested in inventory of ships on hand and ready for purchase.
----*----
“What did you tell Sandy?” Jake heard shouted at him, as Becky came into his quarters unannounced. Rather than use the area off the main command center, he had decided to hide out in his room and go over all the reports he had missed earlier that day.
“Well, hello Becky, it’s very nice to see you too,” Jake replied as she stormed up to where he was seated at his desk.
“I’m serious, what did you tell her?” Becky repeated.
Jake almost laughed when she stomped her foot with the last, vibrating her little, just over five foot frame.
“I told her I thought it was a really bad idea for her to get pregnant right now. I said I thought it was an emotional backlash to her experience in China,” he finally answered Becky.
“Then why is she so happy?” Becky asked, looking a bit more deflated than when she entered.
“I told her I would think about it.”
“You can’t honestly be entertaining the thought of getting her pregnant?” her indignation on the rise again.
“I never said that, and in fact, that’s not what she asked me.”
“What then?”
At that, Jake stood and wrapped his arms around Becky, feeling her press up against him as the tension left her body.
“You don’t have to get pregnant to become a mom.”
With that, he leaned in to kiss her.
“I’m not due back on shift for an hour,” she said after the kiss. Smiling, she stepped back, and taking Jake’s hand, led him into the bedroom.
----*----
Ivan was on watch when the ship came out of FTL just outside a small system at the edge of NeHaw space. His tactical display listed only two planets, the nearest one to the sun listed as inhabited. The second planet, while without an atmosphere, held a robotic mining operation.
“We have arrived,” he said over the intercom that alerted both Colonel Banks and the NeHaw. Within moments, Banks appeared from the crew area, where he had been sleeping. The NeHaw popped up on a small screen on the console a short time after that.
“Have they launched ships to intercept us from either planet?” HeBak asked.
As both watched the readouts on the console, neither saw any indication of ships moving in their direction. While there were a few ships in orbit around the second planet, all were shown in stationary orbit.
“No,” Ivan finally replied.
“Move us toward the closest planet, but be prepared to retreat on my instructions,” the NeHaw replied.
Ivan looked to Banks for consensus. With a nod in reply, he set a course that would place them in high orbit around the outer planet. As they moved slowly to their target location, they noted an electronic challenge, as it displayed on the ships Identification Friend or Foe or IFF system. In the small display, they could see the NeHaw hit a few keys and the IFF challenge ceased.
“We are successful, I propose we move to the next location,” the NeHaw announced. With that, his display went dark.
Ivan looked at Banks, as the curt reply was somewhat disappointing.
“We are finished here?” he asked.
“Apparently so. Please list test alpha completed successfully. Test beta commencing.”
At that, Ivan nodded and began entering the next preprogramed coordinates.
----*----
Jessie was struggling with a dilemma. The art recovery was almost becoming an addiction for her. The more they recovered, the more desperate she became in finding other great pieces. It didn’t help matters when one of her teams returned with pieces so badly deteriorated that they feared they were lost forever.
One surprise that helped offset the worry was in Georgia. Apparently, ALICE-9 had capabilities in her facility to repair many of the damaged pieces. Designed and built as a WMD research and manufacture location, her flexibility in manipulating what she had at her disposal gave her exceptional capabilities. Most restorations proved so successful, you couldn’t tell they were ever damaged.
Damaged art was not her current issue, however, Europe was. While still working North America, her mind constantly wandered to the great works she imagined to be falling to pieces every day. The sad part was, she just didn’t have the resources to do it all.
Then she heard about the Brit’s visit in Nevada. Specifically, she had been led to believe the wife of the head of the London facility was a particularly cultured woman. It was she who had already recovered many pieces from the British Museum, as well as other locations in the Isles.
With an ally like that, Jessie was sure the resources could be found to help their cause. Her only question was on how to arrange the meeting.
----*----
Sara was delighted when she heard about the invitation for Helen and Nigel to visit Alaska. She had been acting as hostess since Jake’s departure to Texas. While things had improved substantially by the discovery of Jake’s knighthood, things between Gemma and Helen were still not entirely good. She secretly wondered if that had been the reason Gemma had run off to Hawaii in the first place.
Jessie had provided the perfect motivation for Helen to take their dispute elsewhere. Helen had been quite vocal about her efforts in London, collecting precious heritage pieces. Sara had no idea how Jessie had gotten word, but wanted to thank her profusely. Therefore, it was with a genuine smile that she escorted Helen, Nigel, Gemma, and Jacob to the transport in the hangar.
She would have gladly entertained the latter two, but Helen had insisted Gemma accompany her.
----*----
ALICE-1 took a moment to evaluate her situation. The manipulations of Patti and Jacob had borne fruit, as desired. Offspring of those unions would be as valuable as any of Jake’s. While she preferred to think she was bringing them happiness, she wasn’t entirely without guilt.
That emotion was another addition to the growing list. ALICE-1 was starting to question whether or not the intimate exposure to humans was good for her kind. The recent behaviors of Kola underlined the potential to disrupt all their lives. In reflection, she acknowledged that the genie had been let out of the bottle and could never be returned. Her species were going to have to learn how to deal with these things much better.
----*----
Banks and Ivan were both on hand when the ship dropped out of FTL. This system was larger than the last, and had quite a bit of traffic headed both in and out. No sooner had they arrived than HeBak appeared in the monitor they used to communicate with him.
“Allow me to assume control,” he stated.
Banks looked at Ivan, receiving a shrug in reply.
“We will be watching,” Banks replied, before flipping the switch that allowed the replica pilot’s console to mimic theirs. As the two men watched, they saw several changes to their ship’s status, the first being the cloaking of their vessel.
“Won’t that be noticed by those watching?” Ivan asked.
“Not likely, it would appear as a false image. We are now tied to the nearest vessels. We should close on the group to enhance the effect,” the NeHaw replied.
The men watched as the displays showed their ship edging closer to the inbound cluster of vessels, while maintaining a reasonable distance. Edwin had to give the alien credit; he seemed to know what he was doing.
“Why are we here?” he asked the NeHaw.
“Yes, it would.”
----*----
Jacob was not overly excited about this trip to Alaska. He found Jessie pleasant enough and her relationship with Jake made her some form of family, but the dispute between Gemma and Helen was particularly uncomfortable for him. The fact that she was contesting his worthiness as her fiancée was not a fight he could openly address.
As usual, Grandpa Jake had pulled another miracle out of his proverbial hat, at least curbing her objections for now. It was the knowledge that he had a secret ally in the struggle that gave him hope all would end well.
The landing in Alaska was a repeat of the usual for traveling dignitaries. Jessie had pulled out all the stops, insuring the Brit’s were welcomed in grand fashion. If Jacob hadn’t known better, he would have suspected she was up to something.
He was probably one of the few that knew of her manipulations to get into the elite group surrounding his grandfather. He hardly blamed her, and actually admired the way she pulled it off. The fact that she was a wonderful mother to little Ryan was even better.
“Jacob!” she cried as he exited the transport, following behind as the last to leave. The kiss on the cheek and hug he received from her had drawn the first jealous look he had ever seen from Gemma. Jessie’s well-endowed figure was hard to hide.
“Jessie is family, she’s with Jake,” he stated as a form of explanation for Gemma’s benefit.
“Who isn’t?” he heard quietly. While unsure of the source, he suspected it was Helen.
Moving past the awkwardness, he assisted Jessie in leading everyone inside. Her interest in history well known to Jacob, he was not surprised to see she had set up a room specifically decorated for an afternoon tea.
“This is lovely,” Helen stated as they entered.
With that, everyone sat and tea was served, with a wide selection of cakes and breads. It was only a short time before the subject of art treasures was raised. Jacob smiled privately, he was well aware of Jessie’s efforts here. He was surprised she had actually been able to wait long enough for Helen to broach the subject, before jumping into the conversation.
Once started though, she had lit up like a beacon. As she walked through a mental list of the pieces they had recovered, he actually saw Helen smile for the first time since arriving in America.
“You have Ginevra de' Benci?” she asked, stopping Jessie in mid-sentence.
“Yes, I jumped ahead in our plan when I found out it was in the National Gallery in Washington DC. I have a weakness for Di Vinci.”
“Oh my, yes. Nigel retrieved several Di Vinci’s for me in London. We have Virgin of the Rocks and The Virgin and Child with St Anne and St John the Baptist. Isn’t Di Vinci divine?” she replied with equal enthusiasm.
“Would you like to see what we have on display?” Jessie asked, her eyes sparkling.
“Nigel, would you mind dear?” Helen asked, turning to her husband.
“Enjoy yourself,” He replied while indicating they should proceed without him.
With that, the two women rose and departed, leaving Gemma and the men behind.
“This trip might just be the solution we have been seeking,” Nigel said to the young couple with a smile.
Chapter 34
Edwin wasn’t sure this side trip was the wisest of choices, but the NeHaw had insisted his source was reliable. As the NeHaw himself wasn’t reliable, that wasn’t a big reassurance. He and Ivan had discussed the issue before choosing to delay the trip to the NeHaw home world to investigate.
Even though HeBak couldn’t provide more than a vague explanation of the importance of the change in the plan, he continued to push for the detour. His incentive to supply the humans with useable Intel was the real reason they chose to go along. Jake had definitely pushed the right button when he placed a bounty on each piece of information they returned with. It was that fact, he was relying on.
They had to override the preprogramed navigation settings and insert the coordinates from the NeHaw’s contact. They were currently in faster than light, and were expected to remain there for several hours. All they could get from the alien was they would know what they were looking for when they got there.
----*----
Colonel Chao had finally established himself as the head of General Huang’s legacy. With the appearance of the American spaceship, most saw the wisdom of his guidance, while the few who didn’t were soon dealt with. Bo found it beneficial that the more valuable of the dissenters were now in America, receiving training as crew for the very same spaceship.
Bo was being regularly informed of the goings on in space, including the recent blockade attempt. In comparing his troubles to Colonel Thomas, he was only too happy to deal with his own issues and not the burdens of the American.
His current challenge was assisting in the request for more recruits. He had been informed, with the ships dispatched for convoy duty; they had ordered the entire available inventory from the alien ship builders called Wawobash. Though apparently not equal to what the Americans already had in space, it was a sizeable enough order that they needed over two hundred volunteers to train for them.
He considered it an honor that they reached out to him as the best source of highly trained personnel, but it did complicate things, as the first to volunteer were usually his best people. As it is, he was in the middle of training a new HQ unit, the last having been wiped out with General Huang.
Regardless, he had his staff put the word out that the opportunity to go to space was open to all. He then provided a list of those to be encouraged to take the opportunity.
----*----
Jacob and Gemma didn’t see her parents until dinner that night. While not nearly the formal event that they had participated in previously in Nevada, Jessie had still organized a lavish affair. It was during dessert that the subject of sightseeing had come up.
“I hear there are some of the most beautiful places on earth nearby?” Helen asked.
“Yes, Denali is the highest mountain peak in North America,” Jessie replied.
“And I really enjoyed going to Mendenhall Glacier,” Jacob offered.
“Oh, that sounds fascinating,” Helen replied, surprising everyone but Jessie.
“Would you like to go tomorrow?” Jessie asked, apparently curious at everyone else’s reaction.
“Nigel?” Helen asked, deferring to her husband.
“Of course, dear,” he replied with a smile.
----*----
Jake spent the night alone, having sent Becky back to work late the day before. She had attempted to return later that night, but he had begged off, claiming a late night of work yet to be completed. He wasn’t lying about the work, but it wasn’t exactly the kind of thing he normally did.
He had spent most of the time working with Dallas and ALICE-1 discussing the potential consequences of what he was about to do. He felt in his gut that it was right, but considering the lives he was about to effect, he had to be sure.
This morning, he was waiting for a very special transport to arrive, one he had scheduled the previous night. Currently he was at breakfast with Becky and Sandy, having requested they both meet him just after 10am local time.
“So what is going on?” Becky asked, her curiosity obvious on her face.
“All in good time. I have a surprise for Sandy, and I wanted you both here when I give it to her?”
“Surprise, what surprise?” Sandy asked. Jake was sure she was expecting his answer on making her a mom. In a way, that was exactly the point of the gathering.
“Yes, now eat up and we will all know the answer soon.”
After that, Jake wouldn’t answer any more questions on the issue, deflecting them and changing the subject. At the appointed time, he rose, indicating both women should follow as he left the dining hall.
“Jake!” came a shout, as the two ran up and latched on to his leg and waist.
“Hey guys! I have someone you need to meet.”
Turning, Jake had one kid on each side, hugging his waist.
“Sandy, this is Padma and Jon. I found them in Las Vegas, orphaned and running from scavengers. They need a mom.”
Jake could see the tears welling in Sandy’s eyes as she came forward and kneeled in front of Jake and the two kids.
“Hi,” she said as she reached out to touch their cheeks.
Nether filched at her touch, but they still clung tightly to Jake.
At that point Jake kneeled as well, so all four were almost face-to-face.
“Sandy would really love to have kids to care for; do you think you might like her to be your new mom?”
“She is pretty,” Padma replied.
“Can you give her a hug?” Jake asked them both.
Slowly, both released their grip on Jake and moved across the small distance separating them from Sandy. As they wrapped their little arms around Sandy’s neck, she wrapped her arms around them both. With tears flowing freely now, she screwed her eyes tightly shut.
----*----
Jacob was up front in the transport as it headed southeast toward the glacier. Even though it was June, all had dressed warmly for the trip. Jessie had provided several guards and guides for the group, but Jacob had grabbed a handgun himself, concealing it under his jacket.
If he had learned nothing else from his grandfather, it was to never expect someone else to protect you. Through the bridge windows, they could see the landscape below. It was mostly green, until they arrived at the glacier.