Chapter 34
Assassination Plot
Peter rolled underneath the car just before a bullet hit the pavement where he’d been kneeling. More bullets riddled the car, and it shook from each impact. Peter knew that at any moment one of those bullets might hit the gas tank, and then it would be all over. He peered out and saw a bus coming down the street. He didn’t think the aliens would shoot at a bus loaded with people. It would attract too much attention.
He rolled out from under the car and ran for the bus as it pulled up. He jumped inside, but just as he did the copter opened fire on the bus. There were screams as windows burst out and bullets penetrated the roof, hitting passengers inside. Peter realized he’d made a mistake, one that innocent civilians were now paying for, so he ran back off the bus and across another parking lot to draw the attackers’ attention. The copter pursued him, leaving the smoking bus and the carnage within it behind.
Peter ran along the concrete wall of a parking garage, using it as partial cover from the helicopter. As he was about to break out onto another street he saw a second copter coming at him. This one, however, looked familiar—it was Hamilton’s FBI copter. Peter waved his arms frantically. The pilot saw him and started to descend just as the alien copter peeked up over the parking garage. Peter turned toward the alien copter. The two craft faced each other for a few seconds, and then there was a flash of light and the alien copter began to spin out of control. It drifted aimlessly toward a string of power lines and then fell through them, sending a flurry of sparks in every direction. When the big copter hit the ground it exploded into a fiery inferno.
The FBI chopper set down near Peter, and Hamilton reached out and helped him aboard. They watched the alien copter burn for a moment and then took off.
“Thanks,” Peter said, breathing hard. “I thought it was all over there for a moment. What was that flash of light?”
Hamilton held up the memory gun.
Recognition hit Peter when he saw the device. “Oh, yes. It was a good thing I was looking the other way when you fired that baby. Where did you get it?”
“Your Captain Shilling gave it to me.”
“You’ve met Captain Shilling?”
“Yes, your father and brothers found the alien shuttle where the hostages were being kept. The aliens killed the hostages, and when we arrived they left in a hurry. A few minutes later we were attacked by the Maryland National Guard unit. Had it not been for ES 26’s intervention we’d all be dead.”
“Thank God for that,” Peter said. “I’m glad they made it here. We really need their help. So, what made you come looking for me?”
“Senator Rubio has been sworn in as President,” Hamilton explained. “He’s pulled all your protection. The aliens want you dead.”
“Yeah, I got that impression,” Peter said. “So, why are you still protecting me?”
“I don’t like the idea of an alien being president. Particularly after talking to Captain Shilling. She told me about Videl Lai and the Purists, and their plans for Earth.”
“Right, but I don’t know if there’s anything we can do now. They’ll keep Rubio deep underground where nobody can touch him.”
“Then we’ll have to expose him. Let the people know an alien has been sworn in as president.”
“Nobody will believe us unless we have proof,” Peter argued. “So far all we’ve come up with is circumstantial evidence—nothing that will hold water.”
“We’ve got to keep digging until we find something,” Hamilton said.
Peter nodded but didn’t feel at all optimistic.
The copter flew low over the landscape until they reached the farm where ES 26 was hidden. They set down near the barn. The pilot let off Peter and Hamilton and then flew away to hide the chopper where it couldn’t be spotted from the air.
Lt. Lakee and Lucinda came out to meet them. When Peter saw Lucinda, he rushed over to her and they embraced.
“I missed you,” Peter said, hugging her tightly and swinging her around excitedly.
“I was worried sick the whole time you were gone,” she said after he’d set her down.
“I can imagine,” Peter said and then looked over at Lt. Lakee. “Hi, Lieutenant. I heard you saved my family.”
“I’m glad I got there in time. We were lucky.”
“Well, I owe you one. Thank you so much.”
“No thanks are necessary, Commander. You’ve done so much for Tarizon and my people; what I have done is nothing.”
Peter smiled and slapped Lt. Lakee on the shoulder. “I wouldn’t say that. So, where is everyone?”
“They’re all in the officers’ lounge, I believe.”
Peter nodded and followed Lucinda down the ladder into ES 26. She stopped at the bottom. When Peter caught up with her he kissed her and said, “I’ll meet you in our quarters in a little while. Let me talk to the Captain and our guests and find out what the situation is.”
Lucinda squeezed his hand. “Okay,” she said and left.
When Peter got to the officers’ lounge he smiled at his father and two brothers.
“Did you meet Lucinda and Tokin?” he asked them.
They all nodded enthusiastically.
“Quite a woman, huh?”
“Oh, yes,” Stan said. “She’s so nice, and Tokin is a doll. I wish your mother was here to meet them.”
“Me too,” Peter said, and then his eyes narrowed as they fell on a strange and beautiful woman wearing a Purist officer’s uniform. The woman smiled at him.
“You have a prisoner?” Peter asked, looking at Captain Shilling.
“No. A defector. Peter, this is Lt. Aerial Muri. She just escaped from Videl’s Revenge. She’s been giving me some great intel.”
“I bet,” Peter replied evenly. “How do we know she’s not a spy?”
Lt. Muri took a deep breath. “Well, Mr. Liberator. Look into my eyes. I’ll open my mind so you can see whatever you’d like.”
Peter raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Okay,” he said tentatively.
Lt. Muri sat up straight and looked straight at Peter. Peter walked over to her and sat down. He looked around the room, shrugged, and then peered deeply into Lt. Muri’s eyes. Thoughts and images came flooding into Peter’s mind. She gave up everything willingly and joyfully. Peter had never felt anything like it. It wasn’t like when he received Threebeard’s memories. They’d come to him in a steady and constant flow, but Lt. Muri’s came pouring out like they’d been dammed up inside her and suddenly the flood gates had been opened. It was so overwhelming Peter had to turn away.
“Jesus!” Peter exclaimed.
“I’m sorry,” Lt. Muri said. “I’ve had to lie and deceive for so long it was wonderful just to let it all out.”
Peter smiled. “A Loyalist spy? Holy Sandee. You’ve had a tough life. I’ll admit that. You must be one hell of an actress to have survived as long as you did.”
She nodded. “Yes, I’m just glad it’s over.”
“What I find hard to believe is that you were able to conceal the fact that you were part seafolken.”
Lt. Lakee looked over at her in shock and surprise. “Is that true?” he asked.
Lt. Muri nodded. “Yes, I had to make sure it was dark when we made love so they wouldn’t see my gills. If they did discover them, I’d sting them with my tortiac and then they’d forget everything they’d seen.”
Mark’s and Reggie’s eyes widened. Stan thought back to his fateful encounter with Tehra’s tortiac. He’d ended up in the emergency room at the local hospital. And later found himself an expectant father. Peter looked at him and smiled. Stan felt embarrassed and ashamed. He looked away.
Lt. Muri noticed the exchange and frowned. She looked at Stan and said, “You must be Peter’s father. You two look a lot alike.”
Stan nodded. “Yes.”
“Has your son told you what a hero he is on Tarizon?”
“Yes, briefly. It’s all quite amazing.”
“And now he�
��s come back to save Earth. You must be an extraordinary man to have produced such a son.”
Stan smiled awkwardly. Just hearing her voice started to arouse him. “It was his mother,” he said quickly. “She’s quite an extraordinary woman.”
“It would take two extraordinary people to produce a Peter Turner. I have been a secret admirer of his for some time.”
“Well,” Peter said, “speaking of saving Earth. Does anyone have any ideas on how we might accomplish that?”
“We must expose the President,” Hamilton said. “Agent Snead has dug up a lot of background dirt on him already. All we need is some proof that he fixed an election or illegally gouged his way up the ladder in the Senate.”
“That would take time, and the entire Tarizon Repopulation Project would likely be exposed,” Stan said.
“Is that a bad thing?” Lt. Muri said. “Shouldn’t the people know the truth, so they can understand what has happened to them?”
Stan sighed. “Yeah, in theory you’re right, but let’s analyze what would happen if the Tarizon Repopulation Project were to be exposed.”
“The people would be outraged,” Hamilton said. “There would be fingers pointed and accusations against hundreds, if not thousands, of politicians and government officials who knew, or should have known, what was going on.”
“Yes. It would be worse than the McCarthy era,” Stan said. “The government would be snooping into everyone’s affairs to find out if they were aliens or not. There’d be congressional investigations, special prosecutors appointed—it would be madness.”
“So, what’s the alternative?” Captain Shilling asked.
Stan looked at her and raised his eyebrows. “Hmm. Perhaps if we focused on a relatively minor illegal act, like when he set up his opponent with the woman at the motel. That was a criminal act but nobody died, so it’s a lot more palatable than treason and would be more readily accepted.
“So,” Stan continued, “to begin with, we go to the president and let him know we know about the Fleet and the conspiracy to take over the government. We suggest he may want to resign before we tell the American people the truth. We’ll tell him he can use the motel incident as his reason for resigning. He can apologize and tell everyone how remorseful he is and move on with his life. We’ll give him the choice of going home to Tarizon or staying here, as long as he keeps his mouth shut.”
“I like it,” Hamilton said. “It’s brilliant, actually.”
“I don’t know,” Peter said. “You’ve got to remember that Kulchz will be listening to everything that is said to the President. You won’t have any privacy. The moment you threaten him the Secret Service will be all over you. That’s if you can even get in to see him.”
“Can’t we remove the sensor chip?” Stan asked. “It’s not hard. I had mine removed.”
“Anyone who goes to see the President will be searched,” Hamilton said. “You won’t be able to get even a pocket knife into the room with him.”
There was an uneasy moment of silence. Finally, Stan said. “Ah, Mark and Reggie. Why don’t you go topside for a little while?”
Reggie frowned and started to protest, but Stan gave him a look that Reggie knew well. It was no time to argue. He got up and Mark followed him outside. Stan turned to Lt. Lakee.
“Lieutenant, would you be sure they actually go topside?” He looked over at Peter and smiled wryly. “Strange as it seems, my children don’t always obey me.” Peter returned the smile.
“Sure,” Lt. Lakee said and left the room. A minute later he came back and reported that Reggie and Mark had climbed topside, and that he’d closed the hatch so they couldn’t sneak back in.
“Thank you,” Stan said. “This is a little embarrassing and shocking, so I didn’t want Mark and Reggie to hear it. We do have one other option. Now, ordinarily I couldn’t even conceive of killing someone intentionally, but, in this circumstance, it may be our only choice. I don’t see it as murder but as self-defense or self-preservation. After all this isn’t just politics, this is war.”
“So, you are saying we should assassinate the President,” Hamilton said, shaking his head. “No. I can’t go along with that.”
“I know. It may seem repugnant to you at first. It certainly is to me, but think about it. You are sworn to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America. Let me assure you if we do not kill President Rubio now, a year from now there will be no Constitution of the United States!”
Hamilton sighed and slumped back into his chair. He knew Stan was right but it was a hard pill to swallow. “I don’t know if I can participate in this,” he said softly.
“You have to,” Stan pressed. “We need you. You’re the only one who can get into the White House.”
Hamilton sat up. “You want me to kill him?”
Stan shook his head. “No. I want Lt. Muri to kill him.”
All eyes turned to Lt. Muri. She feigned shock at first and then smiled wryly. “How did you know? Are you telepathic like your son?”
“I don’t think so, but it’s pretty obvious. You didn’t come here for political asylum entirely. You’re here for revenge as well. You want to make somebody pay for what they’ve done to you or somebody you cared about.”
“That’s right. You’re a counselor . . . er . . . an attorney. You know all about people’s motives. Well, it’s true. I hate Evohn Cystrom and want his dream of conquering Earth to fail, and I want him to pay for the atrocities he has committed. I was never a Purist. How could I be with seafolken blood running through my veins? They sucked me up into their sick conspiracy and expected me to jump at every command. They dragged me from bed to bed wanting my body, wanting the pleasures I could bring to them, while at the same time planning the genocide of my brothers and sisters. Yes, I want revenge, and revenge I will have!”
Stan nodded and looked at Hamilton. “For this to work you’ll need to be in the good graces of the Secret Service. If the President suspects you’ve thrown in with us, they’ll trump up some bogus charges and have you suspended to get you out of the way.”
Hamilton nodded. “That’s probably true.”
“So, you’ll need to go back and tell your superiors that Peter and I were killed in the raid on the space shuttle. You can take Mark and Reggie with you and say you managed to save them but not us. Then send Mark and Reggie back to Dallas to be with their mother. They can brief her on what’s happened, and they all can pretend to be mourning our deaths.”
“What about your bodies?” Hamilton asked.
“Just say that we were on top of the ship when we died, and when it took off our bodies went with it. You can speculate that they probably fell off eventually, but you don’t know where the bodies landed.”
“What about Mo and Snead?” Hamilton asked.
“You can trust Mo, I’m sure. You’ll have to use your own judgement with Snead. I don’t know him that well.”
Hamilton nodded. “Okay. So, how are we going to get Lt. Muri and the President together?”
Stan explained that portion of the plan and they all discussed it at length. When all the details had been worked out, Stan told Mark and Reggie what their parts would be, and then sent them back to DC with Agent Hamilton. Hamilton called ahead and arranged to meet with Mo and Snead.
He had decided Snead could be trusted, so he advised them both of the plan. They agreed that assassination was indeed their only remaining option, and began putting the plan in motion. When Hamilton made it back to the White House he advised the new President that Peter and Stan were dead and that he’d sent Mark and Reggie back to Dallas to be with their mother. The President seemed elated with the news and called a press conference for the following afternoon. After his meeting with the President, Hamilton called in a favor and got a White House press pass for a good friend, Aerial Smith of the Dallas Herald.
Tarizon, Conquest Earth, Tarizon Trilogy Vol 3 Page 43
