by Paul Phipps
“An interesting way to negotiate,” The Minister for Defense said, “but why not? Let us see how well the opposite side was listening.”
“Are all of you agreed to this?” The Admiral asked them. A series of nods from the assembled men and women met his eyes. He then began to list Israel’s requests and requirements.
“Israel would like access to advanced defensive technology. Particularly Anti-Missile, Anti-artillery technology. And you would like similar access to other military technology such as we are giving access to the American military.
You would like a dedicated oil and garbage recycling facility similar in function to the one the TSN has placed in the Western Mediterranean.
You would like us to modify our stance on only one world for Islam and that all must go or none may go. You also want to share Intelligence with us and vice versa.
And for the last point, you also want to enter a mutual defense treaty with the Terran Space Navy.
Are those your primary salient points?”
The Prime Minister had been checking the points off mentally as Admiral Webster had been speaking. Finally he nodded his head and said “Yes, I think that covers them all.” He then looked around at the rest of his cabinet. “Did the Admiral miss anything?”
Once again there was the quick flashing of eyes and head nods. “Yes, we are in agreement that you have covered our requests.”
The Prime Minister straightened his back and did a little stretch to loosen tight muscles. “The Terran Space Navy requests the following items from the Government and State of Israel.
Permission to engage in active recruiting of Israeli citizens into the Terran Space Navy.
Permission to share gathered intelligence with Israeli Intelligence agencies and access to Israeli personnel for special intelligence analysis and vice versa.
Permission to offer long and short term contracts for Israeli citizens that might involve off-world assignments or travel to Alternate Earth’s.
Permission to purchase land and place a shuttle-port for off-world travel and communications.
Is that a good summation, Admiral Webster?” The Prime Minister finished up.
“Yes, I think that is a good one.” Fleet Admiral Webster answered with a smile.
“That is good then, for our part we will go to the Knesset and inform all of the members of what we have been discussing. Would you be willing to come back for a general question and answer session with our legislators?”
“Do you think that would be helpful in getting this set of requirements agreed to by the Knesset?” Admiral Webster asked candidly.
The Prime minister considered the question carefully. Then nodded his head affirmatively, “Yes, I think that will help out.”
“Then I will be available to the members of the Knesset when they take this on.” Admiral Webster promised.
Shortly thereafter Fleet Admiral Webster was being escorted outside where a large number of News Media had been waiting for him and the Prime Minister to show up for a quick Photo-op and question period. The prime Minister made a short speech thanking Fleet Admiral Webster for coming to talk with him and his cabinet about establishing formal relations with the Terran Space Navy.
“Fleet Admiral Webster,” The cultured tones of the Al-Jazeera reporter began. “How are your operations in the Iranian Unified Republic going at this time?”
“At this time? Well at this time everything is going quite well. We are doing nothing more than blockading the nation of the Iranian Unified Republic and cleaning up several Bio-Weapon Contamination sites.”
“Do you anticipate any military action against the IUR?” A reporter for FOX/CNN asked.
“No, we don’t. We went in for one reason only and once that is completed to our satisfaction we will leave the nation of the IUR alone.”
“When do you expect to remove your blockading wall?”
“Current projections are in approximately three hundred years.” The Admiral replied calmly.
There was a stir of unbelief through the crowd of reporters. “Why so long? Won’t everyone alive now be dead?”
“Yes, precisely.” The Admiral replied.
“Why!?” cried an anonymous voice.
“Why? Why indeed? The official Government of the Nation of the Iranian Unified Republic was not only willing but in the process of beginning the extermination everyone alive today. Fine if that’s what they desire then we will oblige them. We are still in the process of finding and acquiring ALL samples of the ‘Shaitan’s Breath’ Bio-Weapon. And once our job is complete, no one outside of the nation of the IUR will bother them ever again.”
The news conference continued on for a little longer until the Admiral grew tired of the same questions. He just told them no more questions and allowed Rover to pick him up in a Gravity Elevator in front of the mass of news media.
“That was exhausting” he told Seeker. “I really don’t understand politicians and the need to subject themselves to that… nastiness.” He told her hologram as he sipped on a refreshing drink.
* * *
“Interesting press conference Admiral.” Lt. Commander Albert fuller told Admiral Webster when the Admiral came into the Companion’s Intelligence Central.
“I hate those things! If they would ask different questions it might be different, but it’s the same ones over and over only asked in different ways.” Admiral Webster said as he sat down and started to review the documents that had been placed there for him.
Albert Fuller watched him carefully with his eyes that were more youthful thanks to the nightly treatments he was receiving in the Companion’s Med-Center. ‘There it is!” he thought, ‘finally spotted it.’
Admiral Webster read the report completely and then he pulled out a pen from a shoulder pocket and started mark certain paragraphs. After a while he looked up to see the eyes of the former U.S. Navy Admiral who had specialized in intelligence watching him with careful eyes. He smiled a bit wryly and then said.
“Ok, I get it. Does Seeker know what you and the others have uncovered?”
“Yes, I do know,” Seeker said primly as her McAndrews Hologram flickered and solidified in a different chair at the conference table.
“Oh Good! If you hadn’t I would have been concerned. I don’t want you losing your aura of ‘all knowing being’.” He said with a smile.
“Thank you for that, dear. But I’m worried not only about the possibility of the Quarn or some other entity being here on Earth. I’m also concerned about the ‘hole’ in my personal memory data base involving the ‘close encounter’ the Gho L’Gamesh had with the Quarn at E00262. It’s a very skillful hole too. I think I will be able to access them eventually though. The hole is a very difficult to describe loss of comprehension method of ‘avoiding’ those memories.
I am of the opinion that with time and effort I will breakthrough or maybe ‘go around’ the blocks.”
“Just do the best you can then. Now what do you think we should do about the Quarn?” Admiral Webster asked.
“I’m contacting everyone else and asking them to join us here for a quick brainstorming meeting. While they are getting themselves up-to-speed I have a few suggestions. For you, no more going in person to meet people on the ground. From now on you will use your Telefactor exclusively.
For the rest, I am throwing out the specifications for the exudate that Captain Thomas’s people have discovered. Once they come up with a device that’s compact enough to fit in a button sized device so it can be worn.” She paused as the Evana, Ansel and Gunnar’s Holograms popped into place.
“AH! Here you all are. Have you accessed the report Albert has collated from all of the data you have supplied him?” After the affirmations she turned the meeting back over to Admiral Webster.
“All right then. Suggestions?” Admiral Webster asked as he looked at his people.
“Yes, sir, I have several.” Gunnar spoke up and the others all nodded their heads that they did too.
“All right then, let’s hear them.”
“I believe that we need to make it mandatory that all of us now and in the future know how to pilot any of the ships that we use on a regular basis in case the A.I. in Command gets shut down like the Gho L’Gamesh was.
Second I am recommending for that same reason that all fighting craft be co-piloted by a human when conducting exercises or operations anywhere near where there are possible Quarn concentrations.
Johnny Reb, Lucky and I are still going over the data from Captain Thomas and Seeker. As you can see Lt. Commander Fuller has also received the package and is doing his own independent analysis. I have been thinking that we need to recruit or hire some ‘Conspiracy Theorists’ also known as ‘nuts’ and give them free reign to use their imaginations.
Who knows, they might actually come up with something.” He finished his recommendations with a smile.
Admiral Webster was nodding his head. “Approved! Do it all. Evana, Ansel, Albert and Christine get that pilot training ASAP. Most of it can be done in Slowtime, the practical is just that, start doing some real piloting.
Ansel you handle the hiring of these ‘Conspiracy Nuts’.” Ansel got a strange look on his face as he realized this might not be so easy. “Have FUN!” The Admiral finished in a teasing tone of voice.
“Yes, Sir, I’ll get on it. May I give my recommendations now?” Ansel asked
“Yes, let’s hear them.”
“I’m currently at Space City Four in the OORT cloud. I want to bring her in to the Lagrange point L4. I and Ariadne believe that having it nearby and in sight will do wonders for recruitment. I also propose that she be renamed Asimov City and that the TSN Training Center portion be called Camp Heinlein.
The testing at GameTestors is only two weeks along, however they have said that it meets their total approval. With that being said, I propose total distribution of the equipment to all Eight hundred and ninety two thousand people who have written and expressed an interest in the TSN.
In addition I am going to the Epiphany today to formally enlist the four pilots that Gunnar interviewed last week. I plan on bringing them here to Camp Heinlein and getting them fitted with implants and starting Virtual Reality training.” That’s it from me for the moment.
“Yes, I approve of all of that. If you come up with any other ideas let me know. Also what about your last recruit, Warrant Officer Cavendish?”
“Ms. Cavendish comes out of the Med-Center today. Fully repaired, implanted and rejuvenated, she is raring and ready to go on the training regimen and will become my Command Master Chief for training.” Ansel said with some pride.
Good to hear, I’m looking forward to meeting her in person. Commander Fuller?” Admiral Webster indicated she was next.
“I can use as many pilots as you can send me as well as operations and weaponry specialists. If the Quarn can knock out Johan we will be sitting ducks here with just Albert and myself to run the ship. Oh yes some power plant specialists also.” She finished up.
“Good requests, I’ll have Ansel detail half of all his trained people to you as soon as he has any that is.”
Captain Thomas?” He said looking at her.
“I’ve been thinking about this for a while now using Slowtime.” She said starting off slowly. “I have several projects that can all be done simultaneously and will use up a great deal of that money Gunnar was so worried about.
First project, start a worldwide genetics collection effort and pay for all collected samples. And I mean genetic samples of everything and anything. I propose a huge ad campaign to begin off with and get as many scientists and governments involved in the collection effort.
I believe we should bring in at least three of the ARKS and start using their on-board resources to assist in the gathering and storage effort. Also we should provide housing and other scientific resources for all of the volunteers and paid scientific personnel we can gather to the effort.
Second Project, construction of eight mega-telescopes with mirrored surfaces as large as we can make them, Hans my chief Fabricator says that he can design one with a light gathering surface of twenty three thousand miles across. This project should be highly publicized and used to attract Astronomers and ‘space junkies’ to our cause. We can also use it as a jump-off point for watching for other alien incursions.
Third project, devise and prepare an evacuation plan of the Human population using voluntary, mandatory and in-voluntary methods. The goal here is to save as many as we can if there is the need to do so.
Fourth, propose a ‘work program’ for those people who are so-called ‘non-contributory’ members of society as the President-for-Life used to called them, the Unemployed, welfare recipients and retirees. Hire them, bring them to a TSN Space City and rehabilitate them with education and medical assistance.
Then enlist those who meet our requirements and so desire to, for the rest? Well we have a bunch of worlds that obviously need boots on the ground to explore and prepare them for colonization. That’s a great way to get them motivated and to start off core groups for colonization.
The underlying goal of all of these projects is to get as many people off of the planet and under our protection from the Quarn.
I also have a hypothesis I am working under and it isn’t a pretty one either. Do you want to hear it?” She finished up almost defiantly.
Admiral Webster was shaking his head slowly from side to side as he was attempting to grasp the enormity of Evana’s projects. “Yes please, something must have gotten you going. So let’s hear it.”
“Very well then, we need to go back in time about sixty or so years. The Viet Nam War or Police Action depending on which history books you use is raging on. A very young man who would grow up to be the most powerful and despised man in the world is out swimming and snorkeling off of a beach in Indonesia.
He is looking for a meteor that he saw fall into the waters from his bedroom window the night before. As he is out looking he finds something. The next thing he knows he is back on the beach feeling wonderful and full of purpose. All of this is taken from his first autobiography, My life and My Destiny, Page 29 to 31. You recognize the name I see.” Evana paused to look around and then continued.
“The Quarn as far as we can tell was a sea based organism that evolved from a creature with two basic forms a sedentary non-moving ‘mother’ and fast moving motiles she would send out to parasitize other creatures and when those creatures were under the control of the motile they would return to the ‘mother’ so that she could feed on the creature.
Eventually we theorize the mother learned to live off of the life force as well as the flesh of the parasitized creatures. This meant that the host creatures could move farther away from the ‘mother’ and explore more of the surrounding area. A hive mind developed once there were enough parasitized creatures providing the brains and life force to keep one alive.
Eventually other Quarn mothers were discovered and a war for domination occurred. After the war for domination there was only one left and the home planet’s life force was mostly eaten up. Using the Telekinetic ability of the massed Hive Mind, a single shell or perhaps multiple shells with a portion of the mother was sent on a journey across the vastness of space looking for a new planet to conquer and make into a new home.
I believe that the meteor described in the President-for-Life’s book was the re-entry shell for the fledging Quarn Mother. And our Earth is the latest one to be so selected by the Quarn. In addition I believe the ion trail that Seeker mentioned in our past meeting was from this Quarn re-entry shell. The orbital mechanics and trajectory data line up anyway.
In any case the young man was parasitized and the motile was removed far away from the mother Quarn’s control by family circumstances and so gained sentience and what I call a ‘master’ status. Using projective telepathy and possibly telekinesis he rose through the political ranks of the United States and became the President-for-Life.
/> We all know what happened after that. Now we come to the IUR where he has been in exile, still far away from the mother. Only the mother has also been busy over the last sixty years too. She has been releasing motiles as she gains sustenance and now I theorize has enough creatures including humans parasitized to have the energy to use her projective telepathy on the former President-for-Life, now known as the Great Leader. And she has given him a task to do and once it is complete he must return to her.
That task I believe was the creation and eventual spread of ‘Shaitan’s Breath’. The only known ‘cure’ for ‘Shaitan’s breath’ is to be parasitized by a Quarn Motile, AND If ‘Shaitan’s Breath’ were to be released then the Quarn have conquered this planet as any surviving humans would then be parasitized and a part of the Quarn Hive Mind, or dead.” Evana finished up somberly.
