“Fred? Captain Fred,” she said will small smile.
“Actually, my first name is Titus, but using Fred for both makes it easy,” he said with a smile.
“Works for me,” Joan responded.
“Fred, Captain Fred this is Jerry,” she said as she introduced the two of them.
“Fred,” said Jerry.
“Jerry,” Fred said as he shook hands briefly in front of Joan.
“Well gentlemen I hope you’re both hungry, SIMPOC and my Beta-Prime worked hard putting this meal together,” Joan said with some anticipation.
“I’m starved,” Fred said.
“So am I,” Jerry added.
The two of them pulled out their chairs and one for Joan. After everyone was seated Admiral Monson stood and spoke.
“I’m glad to have everyone together; this is an important meeting for us. We need to get to know each other, trust each other, and learn to fight together,” said the Admiral before pausing. “We’ve been going through the drills and exercising our ships and tactics, but now is a time to relax.”
“This is highly irregular, but given the importance of this meeting, and the fact that all rules seem to have changed, I’ve opened the spigot and brought a couple of cases of good wine with me. Let’s face it, either we drink it, or it will go bad. If any of you get drunk, I’ll have your ass,” Admiral Monson said with a smile.
There is a scattering of applause and good-humored comments.
The Beta-Prime unit that came with Admiral Monson joined with Joan’s Beta-Prime, and they began passing out bottles of wine. One bottle for every two guests. Enough to have a good time, but not too much. Beta-Prime moved behind each pair of guests, and with a simple mechanical motion, he was able to poor exactly equal amounts in both of their glasses. The entire operation went surprisingly fast, and within 3 to 4 minutes everyone had a glass of wine in front of them.
Admiral Monson rose again and said, “I’d like to propose a toast. To Earth, to the loved ones we’ve lost, let’s have a moment of silence.” With that solemn statement, the roof became absolutely quiet. After a mournful pause, the Admiral continued, “and to those of us who have a lot of work to do,” Admiral Monson said as he lifted his glass and tapped it with the glasses of captains on either side of him.”
The room erupted with cheers and encouragement.
Instead of sitting down, the Admiral kept the floor, “Before we get into a pleasant meal together, I have got an announcement and some important new people to introduce, the captains of our newly named fleet. We wanted to give each of the capital ships names. We wanted those names to represent Earth, so seven of the ships have been named after the seven continents. Fortunately, we have new members joining our forces every day, and we’ve been able to assign many of them to the ships named after their home continents or in some cases regions. Let me take a few moments and introduce them. First off my ship will be just called EDF. In deference to our other current captains, we decided to let the Chevesky under Captain Herl and the Burlington under Captain Drummond to retain their names. Would Captains Herl and Drummond please come forward.”
The change in proceedings surprised both, and they rose slowly and walked from opposite sides of the room to where the Admiral was standing.
“We are going through unusual times, and thus we need to change. That is true, although we still need to respect important traditions. We’ve been a little remiss in acknowledging changes in rank, and I plan to correct that today. I’ve prepared the proper uniforms for those of you that are commanding Earth’s first space fleet. Here they are.”
With that comment, a 3D display appeared in front of the Admiral showing Joan Herl in a deep blue flight suit with the Eagles of a Naval Captain on her color.
The room broke into applause, and Admiral Monson handed Captain Herl a uniform wrapped in plastic along with the rank to put on her collar. Again, the room broke into applause, and she was noticeably embarrassed.
“And the same for Captain Drummond.” Her image appeared in the 3D display then she was handed her uniform along with the rank of Captain. More applause and the two embarrassed Captains found their way back to their chairs.
We’ve also taken one of the ships and assigned it to be re-worked in Mars orbit. When it’s done, it will be a huge laser platform. That ship will be under the command of Captain June Hollister.”
There was brief applause as Captain Hollister raised her hand and acknowledged the applause. Admiral Monson waved her forward, and she was presented with her Captain’s insignia and uniform.
“As I introduce each of you, please come forward for your promotion. The other captains are, Detrick Heinlein for EDF Europe, Fola Ekua for EDF Africa, Eric Bean for EDF North America, Jose Soza for the EDF South America, Howard Anzac is the captain of EDF Australia, Simone Perot for EDF Antarctica, and finally Pedro Jestoni for EDF Asia.” In turn, each of them went to the front of the room, saw their image on the 3D display and received their rank from the Admiral. When they had all returned to their seats, the Admiral announced, “Please let’s have a round of applause for all of our new ship captains.”
Everyone joined in the applause, and even the new captains were applauding the others in the small group who were expected to defend Earth.
“I suggest that we take a few minutes and let everyone slip into their new uniforms.”
The uniforms were flight suits, so they easily slipped over the garments they were wearing, and in a few minutes, the room was full of the leaders of the Earth Defense Force.
After the promotion ceremony, Joan found her seat, and after seating, she turned to the Captains on both sides of her and renewed the conversation.
“Gentlemen, I think that I’ve lucked out and both of you are within my Battle Group?” she mentioned as she glanced at them.
They looked at each other and nodded their heads acknowledging her comment.
“Great news. Now that we’ve split the forces up into battle groups, it should make a pretty intense fighting force.”
The two compatriots agreed and offered another toast.
“Now that I’m back, I want to spend time with all of you and get to know you better. Besides, I want you to meet SIMPOC and learn to trust him. I sure do,” Joan said with some emphasis.
The friendly banter went on throughout the meal. She didn’t want to bring up personal issues, and she was glad that they didn’t ask about Tom. Everyone had lost so much, and that wasn’t the time to go over it.
Towards the end of the meal, Joan remembered the comment that SIMPOC and Beta-Prime had made. They said there would be a surprise. It was then that she took a minute and thought about the meal she had just enjoyed. She realized that it was one of the best meals that she had ever had. It was a full Italian menu, with all the courses and subtleties. There was nothing missing, and for a while, the quality of the food helped her forget what they were dealing with. Judging from the conversation and the actions of the others she judged that they were having the same reaction to the food that she was.
Time to figure out what the surprise was, she passed to SIMPOC through their alien connection.
May we address the gathering? Was the reply that she got back from SIMPOC.
Absolutely, she responded and then she stood up, tapping her glance as was the tradition to get everyone’s attention.
“Ladies and gentlemen. As your host, I’d like to pose a toast to all of you. You’ve taken on roles that none of you imagined. I’m proud to have you upon my ship.”
Her comments were ended with the clinking of glasses and more wine to fill them up.
“I’d also like to introduce SIMPOC, whom I suspect most of you have heard about, and his accomplice, Beta-Prime, in preparing this meal.”
There was a quick round of applause to acknowledge the excellent meal. Joan received a quiet message from SIMPOC, “Accomplice?”
Joan smiled at SIMPOC then commented, “I also want to point out that it was announced
before this meal, that they had a surprise. I should warn you, I have no idea what that surprise is, so I’m as curious as you are. SIMPOC would you tell us what the surprise is?” she asked.
SIMPOC walked up to the table, looked around at each of the guests, and some of them were a little uncomfortable having such a huge creature look at them in such a manner. After a moment he spoke.
“As you are aware, I am a robot. I am also more than that. I fill a unique position in relation to humans and those of you gathered here. I appreciate that position, and as a token of that appreciation, Beta-Prime and I arranged this meal. As we prepared the menu, we felt that it would be appropriate to provide you with unique food. Food whose source, you would never consider. So, we need to elucidate upon the source of this food.”
For a second, some panic began to creep into Joan’s thoughts.
“All of this food has been created upon this ship. We used the manufacturing processes to construct the food that you are eating.”
Joan wasn’t sure if he paused after that statement for dramatic effect, but that is what happened. The group fell silent; then they looked at the empty plates in front of them, then they looked at each other. After a moment, everyone broke out in applause, and the entire room stood.
Admiral Monson glanced around the room then said, “I hope that I’m speaking for everyone here, but this food was amazing. If you made this with the manufacturing processes on this ship, then you have my permission to prepare all of the meals that way.”
With that statement, he lifted his half-empty glass as another toast to SIMPOC and Beta-Prime to acknowledge the fine food they created.
Joan passed a simple message to her friend, good job.
SIMPOC didn’t respond to her and as she watched him and Beta-Prime stand she got the feeling that they were enjoying the adulation and even showed some pride.
He is definitely changing, she thought to herself.
Wednesday, November 8, 2051
Lee Begins the Takeover
“Lieutenant we have 6,000 units under control. What are your orders?” Asked Lieutenant Lee’s Sergeant
Lieutenant Lee was happy; her plan had worked to perfection. She sat for a moment enjoying the last rice in her bowl while she thought.
“What is their distribution?” She asked.
“The majority of them are in Northern Florida and Georgia, but we have units all of the way between us and the president’s location,” the sergeant responded.
“Change their programming and assemble them in the pattern that I’ve instructed. Begin moving towards Norfolk Virginia.”
“Yes sir,” responded the Sergeant
LL Decides to Confront Tobias
LL and his team were able to avoid Tobias, which actually was pretty easy. LL knew that Tobias and his group were there, but the reverse wasn’t true. Tobias and his thugs were too busy doing ‘their thing’ to pay attention. They assumed they were alone and there was no reason to look for a sophisticated team like LL’s.
“LL, you know we’ve got to deal with Tobias,” Michael pointed out.
“Ya, I know. As far as I see it, we don’t have many choices. We have no police or courts. They are a real threat to everyone around here,” expressed LL.
“Yes, we’d all like to take care of them, but we’re trying to bring law and order back to the Capitol. Probably not the best plan to kill everyone we meet so we can clean up the Capitol,” responded Michael.
“What they did to that group of people was wrong, and I’m not sure how much respect they deserve. If we give them any, it will be more than they gave that group.”
“Up to you, what’s your plan?” asked Michael.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
“They’re leaving,” whispered Tobby from his lookout point.
“We’re moving out, we should everything set up in about 5 minutes,” responded LL.
“Roger, I’ll keep my eyes peeled,” whispered Tobby.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Tobias was riding in the lead vehicle and to be honest; he was getting a little bored. Driving around D.C. wasn’t the most exciting time. He and his crew had done their thing and raided a couple of banks and jewelry stores, but he allowed them to so that because ‘they’ thought it would be fun. He knew that it was a waste of time, who cared about money and jewelry. In today’s world, they were meaningless. His men wanted to have their private stash of stuff, so he let them.
This trip had been like all the others. After they dealt with a couple of small groups of people, they saw a handful of people wandering the streets, but the ones they saw ran away. Maybe the word got out, Tobias thought to himself. Now the day’s exploration was over, and it was time to head home.
“What the?” TJ asked out loud as he turned the SUV onto K.
“Stop here,” Tobias yelled.
“Everyone stay in your trucks,” he ordered over their com system.
“The entire street is blocked. We can’t get by unless I ram them,” said TJ.
“I can see that, you idiot,” growled Tobias.
“Tommy is that shoulder-launcher still in the back of your truck?” Tobias transmitted to the last truck.
“Yes boss, what do you want me to do?” responded Tommy.
“Blow up that truck. We need to get to our stuff, and I’m not going to let some local jerk play games with us. I want to show them who’s boss.”
“Will do, just give me a minute,” responded Tommy.
Tobias and TJ just sat in the lead SUV watching and waiting.
“Boss, what if there are a bunch of them?” TJ asked.
“Kill them; I’m not going to let some local hood treat me like this. I’ll teach them a lesson; then we’ll clean up the remnants.”
“Ready to fire,” Tommy said from the rear.
“Do it,” answered Tobias with a little disgust in his voice. “Close your eyes.”
The shoulder-launched missile exploded out of the launcher on Tommy’s shoulder, and the flash was blinding as it passed by the lead SUV.
The explosion was huge. The vehicle blocking the road twisted as it lifted off the road. The rising mass of disintegrating metal expanded while the explosion blew out the windows in the buildings on both sides of the street. The body of the vehicle exploded outward followed by the expanding ball of fire, and it climbed 50 feet into the air. It took 5 seconds for the vehicle to land, the smoke clear and the random parts to settle back on the street. Then there was silence.
“I guess you taught them who’s in charge,” said TJ with pride in his voice.
Just as Tobias was settling down, pleased with his display of force, an explosion and crash behind them caught Tobias and his team by surprise.
“What’s that,” he yelled to TJ not expecting him to answer.
TJ was adjusting his mirror looking behind him in the direction of the noise.
“Tobias, they just blew up a couple of vehicles, a big street sign and, … it just crashed down behind us. We’re trapped we can’t back up,” transmitted Tommy from the last vehicle.
“The street ahead is full of crap we can’t go forward either,” pointed out TJ with a lot of stress in his voice.
Tobias needed time to think, things weren’t going to his plan and he didn’t like that.
The world around them exploded again, and Tobias and TJ felt their SUV slump to one side, then to the other. “What?” yelled TJ.
“Boss, they shot our tires,” Jerry transmitted from the SUV behind Tobias.
“Shit,” yelled TJ.
Then things got worse. A loudspeaker beside a vehicle on TJ’s side of the vehicle came to life.
“Attention, attention. This is Sergeant Lenmore of the United States Army. You are under arrest. You must throw your weapons out of your vehicles, then follow our instructions.”
Tobias and TJ were frantic, and both were looking side to side trying to come up with a plan.
“I’m going down fight’n,” yelled Tommy fro
m the last SUV.
“Me too, the Army an I don’t get along. If they get me, I’m done,” yelled TJ.
“Same here, … the bastards,” said Tobias.
“This is Sergeant Lenmore of the U.S. Amy. There is an M-18 Claymore beside each of your vehicles. You must surrender, or we will be forced to detonate them,” the loudspeaker blasted into Tobias’ head.
TJ and Tobias panicked and stared out of their windows trying to see if the voice was telling the truth.
“I can’t don’t see nothin,” TJ yelled.
“I don’t believe them,” Tobias yelled back.
“They’re lying,” he yelled to his team. “On three, let’s take them out. One, two, three.”
On the last count, both sides of the vehicles burst open, and the occupants jumped out, shooting.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
LL and Michael were about 100 yards up the street, safely behind where the vehicle was blown up by the shoulder-launched missile.
“Not too bright, are they?” Michael asked, not expecting an answer.
LL sat, patiently waiting with the detonator in his lap. Pressing the button would end the conflict in seconds, but he wanted to give them all the chances he could without threatening his team.
“On five,” he whispered to Michael. “One, two, three, four, and five,” Michael heard from LL. He still hesitated for a second before pressing the button.
The result was ground shattering. Each of the M-MPIMS did their job and fired thousands of small metal balls at more than 1,200 m/sec. The sound was deafening as echoed off the buildings on K street for a few seconds. When the sound had died, LL and his team stood and walked to the scene to inspect the results. There was only one result expected, and Tobias and his men were no longer a problem.
Keung Leaves
General Keung’s plan was going well. Now it was time for him to make his move. High-jacking the submarine would provide the necessary diversion and would surely occupy Quiang’s attention for a while.
The general’s drive to his base was relaxing and enjoyable. Like the chess pieces on a board, his plan was moving forward. Now for the final move.
Earth II - Emergence Page 22
