by Ken Pence
“How will you do that?” Tod asked. He was skeptical but knew Brad was sharp. He trusted his judgment and it seemed – so did Andrew. They left to dive into it.
Brad contacted General Sykes and there was a conversation, heated at a couple of points and then a chuckle from Sykes.
“We are both going to rot in hell even if we get away with this...” Sykes said.
Brad was thinking of the old adage that its better reign in hell than to serve in heaven wasn’t quite apropos for this plan...it better to be carried by six than judged by twelve...damn that’s backwards...ah... Ho Shih commenting on Sun Tzu explains it well: "When the enemy has made a plan of attack against us, we must anticipate him by delivering our own attack first." Damn a bunch of whining, defensive moves. Brad called his aide, Lieutenant Atassi and Captain Xu of the Odin. Odin was also called the Norse God of War among other things. Appropriate.
The Shuttles
The new smelling shuttle, Albert landed softly, next to the Enclosure. A lone woman in civilian dress got out and confirmed her position. She walked into the Enclosure showing the proper credentials to the guards and automated devices. She walked swiftly to building A110. She entered the appropriate codes and passed within. The layout wasn’t like the diagram and she had to open three doors before she knew she was in the right lab.
“Rett, I require your attention,” she said in Tros.
The alien, Rett, swiveled his ears toward this female human. “What do you want? Why do you disturb my work?”
“Susan and CaptainAndrewWilliams require you to come with me right now,” she said in the way Captain Williams had had her practice. She didn’t see the sense of it but smiled as big as she could at the gray being. “My name is Joey Hernandez,” said the petite brunette a strong stance and ready to fight. She had years of sparring experience but she knew from Susan’s coaching that these beings could be beaten if you knew where to hit – she did have a stun gun.
Rett was repulsed by the being with utters telling him her name...disgusting...but they don’t know better – still. He was considering trying to smash her against the wall and calling for help when she smiled. Barring those fangs – colleagues – what I put up with...”Where are we going?”
“Bellatrix,” she said.
Rett knew the human name for the star because Andrew had promised to take him there. It is time, he thought and quickly scanned the room, took a black fabric bag off the desk and placed a few items in it. He then picked up a heavy-looking, larger bag and started walking toward the door without saying anything.
He followed the human as they walked toward a large maintenance port of the enclosure wall. She reached into her pocket, pulled out a small device, held it against the maintenance door control and turned it on.
“Stand close to me,” she said. “This only works once,” she said hoping that it would work. She was beginning to doubt it when she heard a soft – snick and the door popped open an inch. She pulled it wide and it was barely large enough to let Rett crawl through on hands and knees?
“I do not want to crawl,” Rett said. “I want humans to show me the respect I deserve and I am not doing it by crawling.”
“I will show you how much respect you deserve after I kick your old gray ass through that opening. Move it,” she grinned widely and pulled the stun gun out of her boot.
Rett heard the weapon hum and he felt a stinging shock to his rear.
Hernandez smiled. “That is lowest setting. Should I set your show of respect higher,” she said.
Rett tossed the bags through the opening and scampered through -- pretty damn well for a friggin’ rhino, Hernandez thought.
They walked about 60 meters and then Hernandez’s MemDex vibrated. She walked forward as a rectangular opening appeared. Rett saw six large beings in some sort of battle armor and wasn’t so sure of his decision to follow this human out of the Enclosure. The beings were large as Rett and their dull black armor looked quite...quite practical.
Hernandez said, “Sit down.”
When Rett didn’t immediately comply, Hernandez nodded to one of the suited figures and the being reached out with blinding speed and pulled him to a seated position. The being’s grip was crushing. Rett did not feel comforted.
***
The Victoria shuttle, of the Albert and Victoria pair from the Odin, hovered in the woods outside the large mansion. The nanotech camouflage on the surface of the craft showed only trees. The rear door dropped briefly and six commandos in nanotech-camouflaged armor flew out of the craft. They flew toward the residence and hovered near the second story patio and the door suddenly opened...seemingly of its own accord.
Eugene Bradley Phillips was scanning summaries from his lawyers when his patio door blew open and he was in the process of getting up to shut it when he saw a blur and felt a sting in his neck. A light was turned on in his bathroom and the door was closed. The unconscious form of Phillips was draped with a fabric meta-material and the doors to the patio were pulled shut.
The door to Phillips room opened and Ramon, his aide stepped in very quietly. Ramon noticed the light on in the bathroom and considered that since Phillips was ninety – he’d need to go a lot. He certainly did at 75. He quietly backed out and looked forward to his day off the next day.
***
Susan came up to Andrew and put her arms around him. She pulled him close, and he leaned back in her arms looking at her questioningly. “What’s up?” he asked.
“You’re an interesting guy,” she said with a huge smile and laid her head on his shoulder.
“What’s this about?” he asked.
“I never thought I’d be doing all this when I first joined the synthesist team in Arizona. It’s been a wild ride,” she said grinning.
“Well, I find you just as exciting as when you’d visit me in my room at U of A. This isn’t what I pictured for myself in middle age either. Now we’re kidnapping corporate execs and planning an interstellar expedition while carrying an alien back home,” he replied while looking down into her eyes. They kissed passionately in the way both appreciated after years of marriage. Andrew felt his desire and love for this woman. “I’m glad we can go together.”
“I’m scared, Andrew. What will we do when we get back? What about Phillips? He’s being kept in a time normal segment. He just woke from sedation and it’s been ten days for us but only six hours for him. We can’t do that when we’re traveling. He’ll have to experience the entire six months if he goes with us. We can’t leave him here can we,” she said. “I’m scared.”
“You scared? The first human to meet an extraterrestrial is scared,” he smiled down at her. “I bet you’re excited too.”
“Of course,” she admitted. “I’m excited too. It is all so much to think about.”
“We leave in four days – just 5 hours normal,” he said. “We’re going to be fine. This will all work out and it’ll be fun,” Andrew said and laughed. “What will our kids say about all this?”
Susan shoved him. “No fair. Okay. I’m distracted. Kids?” she said. “You never said you wanted children.”
“How about a couple when we get back?” he said. “Prisons are pretty liberal about conjugal visits these days. I’m sure that won’t change by the time we get back.”
She laughed in spite of her tension. “Okay. I’m distracted but I plan to practice while we’re away.”
“Deal,” he said and pulled her close for another passionate kiss.
Eugene Bradley Phillips wasn’t used to being treated like this. He was being marched to meet someone. The three LARGE soldiers escorted him down the brightly lit corridor...one in front and two behind. With a physical appearance of 65 but a chronological age of 90, he wasn’t about to tempt fate. His lawyers would have him out of this in no time. No one could do this to him. They marched him into a room and two stayed outside. The soldier in the room indicated a chair and he sat down in the modestly appointed room. The chair was comfortable and he put o
n his air of barely tolerant impatience. It was almost an hour before another soldier came in -- General Brad Kyger. Well – well – Phillips thought... I’ll have this guy’s guts for garters.
Phillips started to demand...General Brad Kyger swung his open palm mightily and slapped Phillips completely out of his chair. “Shut up. Don’t say a word. You make decisions every day. Go with us and give me some reason every day to keep you alive or not. I have no qualms, at all, of tossing you out into space without a suit. Give me one reason and I’ll do it in a heartbeat.” Phillips clouded up and started to...Kyger slapped him again...hard. “I don’t want to hear how we can’t do this to you. We are interfering with your trade. You have been studying the wrong law. You demand the intellectual property rights for the power supplies YOUR corporations invented...right. Those students never worked for you. You have communicated with aliens in violation of the ES treaty signed April 11th – three and a half years ago, I believe. Now. I ask you. Why should I keep you alive today?”
Phillips had fabricated a case against this man being a megalomaniac and there may have been truth to the report. Phillips was looking around the room for something he could use as a weapon. He looked to the uniformed officer standing at rest near the door...no support there. The man looked interested, alert and dangerous...nothing more...no compassion...no sense of outrage.
“You wanted access to new technologies, Phillips. We gave you some. You have hundreds of nanotech implants that should be nestled in your medulla right now. One frequency – one tone and they dissolve the nerves controlling respiration. You will just die like a fish out of water with no marks. Then they dissolve themselves and are undetectable. We would put a miniature MemDex on you, more new tech, firmly attached to your wrist -- monitors everything you say and gives no access to anything I don’t allow. I’m waiting and I have a busy schedule,” Brad said with no compassion for this man at all.
“I can tell you were we’ve sent drones to contact aliens wishing to trade with Earth,” Phillips said, shaken by physical violence he had often ordered but never experienced.
“I know where they are and we will remove them shortly,” Brad said and nodded for the escort to...
“I will tell you who we contacted and what they traded,” he said wanting to gain concessions so he could figure out a way to escape.
“Yes you will, Eugene. The Chief will take you to a comfortable room and feed you and I will have Dr. Desiree Bardeen listen to you. You remember her don’t you? She’s Dr. Schroeder’s wife. I believe you know she questioned some of your employees a few years ago – used a lamp cord I think. I wonder if she remembers about all the people you sent to kill us all so you could steal that technology.”
“You will tell her everything and anything she asks or... I understand repeated loss of oxygen will destroy your mind. Once you tell us everything we will see about letting you live the next day.
“What’s to keep you from killing me after I talk...no deal. Nanotech Kyger. I know everything you are doing here and at the Enclosure. You haven’t put anything in me...cutting off my oxygen with Nannites – what a lame excuse for a threat. Nannites...come on,” Phillips said getting up from the floor.
General Kyger nodded. “Chief, if you’d do the honors – not too long or intense...” Brad said sitting comfortably with both arms on the padded leather chair.
The Chief stepped out of the door and suddenly Phillips felt like the air was being crushed out of his lungs. He was gulping for air and could hardly breathe. He fell down on his hands and knees and he couldn’t catch his breath. He waved one hand feebly at General Kyger who sat perfectly still in the chair – just looking at Phillips. Kyger didn’t order them to stop or do anything but look. The older soldier came back into the room and suddenly Phillips could breathe again. He was gulping air. General Brad Kyger just sat there watching him recover.
When he could talk again, Phillips said, “I’m not going to tell you anything. You might as well kill me now.”
General Kyger turned to the soldier by the door. “Just take the shuttle and send his body toward the sun. Drop him out the airlock conscious if you can – unconscious if he gives you any trouble.”
“Out the airlock and body toward the sun. Yes sir,” the soldier said and grabbed Phillips suddenly sagging body because his knees were weak.
“Wait...wait...you can’t do this...Brad...I can be helpful. I’ll tell Desiree everything. I’m a great negotiator. I am good at predicting impacts of new technology and I’m good at planning new ventures and trading. Don’t do this,” Phillips pleaded.
The soldier was pulling Phillips along since he was trying to hold on to chairs, the wall, and the door frame. If it hadn’t been so pathetic, it would have been amusing. It was like taking a big dog to a bath with the vet.
General Kyger ordered, “Belay that order, Chief. It is my standing order that you will complete that order if he is anything but cooperative in any way while he is on this ship. Get him some broth to drink now. Take him to Doc Bardeen. Leave a guard and install his wrist MemDex. Take him to dinner and assign him quarters and issue him clothes if Dr. Bardeen says he has been fully cooperative.”
“Dump him out in vacuum if he is ever uncooperative. Have him questioned by Dr. Bardeen...Broth...MemDex...Food, quarters and clothing if he’s cooperative. Yes sir,” the soldier said and marched Phillips off.
Atassi came into Brad’s office from a side room where he had been monitoring.
“Tough old bastard, isn’t he?” Atassi said. “I thought turning up the gravity and evacuating the air was a good demo. Would you really have him tossed out the airlock?”
Brad sat there a minute looking at the young officer. “Let me set this straight for you. Yes. I still will toss him out if he’s uncooperative in any way. He is tough and smart. He put Earth in jeopardy with his actions and he violated the ES Treaty but he may still be valuable. I have the authority from the Confederation to summarily execute anyone that violates the treaty. We have the power and authority to quarantine or depopulate a world under certain conditions. Everyone out there,” he indicated away from Earth. “They’re not all nice. They aren’t human. They don’t think or act like humans. UmBllatt killed his brother and a whole crew because he was interfering in his brother’s trade. I will still toss him out unless he does a 180 degree shift in his thinking. He can be charming as many sociopaths are. I am currently keeping him alive because he has information and skills and may only be a borderline sociopath. Be careful with him. Watch him and realize he is a huge threat. You stop him if he even looks like he is suborning anyone.”
Atassi was rocked by these revelations. He realized Kyger was way smart and competent, but he had never really realized how his boss’s mind worked. The insight was illuminating to say the least. He didn’t feel as much empathy for Phillips any more...dangerous but possibly useful. Don’t leave your rear undefended...Sun Tzu...smart. “Shall I send in Rett now? He has asked to see you more than once.”
Brad nodded and hoped this young officer would realize how much of a threat Phillips had represented if left on Earth with them gone. Phillips had been the linchpin of the operations against the Earth Regulatory Force. Brad stood up as Rett walked in and sat down on a large padded stool or ottoman without asking for permission. Brad went to a small refrigerator and pulled out two bottles of grape juice. He handed one to Rett and unscrewed the cap on one for himself. Brad knew that grape juice was Rett’s favorite beverage.
Rett took a large swallow, made a humming sound that would be a satisfied ah-h-h with a human and said, “You did not give me payment. I have worked with humans for many of your years and now I have no lab, no computer access and no gain. You will abandon me at Bellatrix...with no way to travel.”
“We will take you to Bellatrix but we have several stops to make first. You have discussed this with CaptainandrewWilliams,” Brad said in Tros – one of the three alien languages he could speak.
“We have d
iscussed it. How will you repay me?” Rett asked.
“We are setting up your quarters like you prefer – it will take us another day to do so. We are preparing a lab for you next to your room. Let me know what trade materials you want as payment. You will have enough trade materials from us to buy passage or we will get you the materials you need to build your own ship. Our shuttles use your ship design as a start. We have added more capabilities as you saw when they picked you up,” Brad said.
“I will need the lab near a cargo bay so I can build my own ship. I will need materials, trade goods, basic weapons and a large supply of grape juice,” Rett said.
“Agreed,” General Kyger said and then turned to Atassi who had stayed quietly near the entrance. “Did you get all that?” Brad asked.
“Yes sir. I speak Tros,” Atassi said and he had to rush to catch up with the departing alien. “We’ll have to move his quarters to accommodate the ship building effort. On it sir.”
Rett got up and left. Brad would never get used to the way the Tros and Ullumff often leave – without a word – like an alley cat.
***
Preparations to leave had reached a crescendo, days before, and all was in readiness. Brad met with Desiree and she enjoyed the 3D view of the beach that had been put up along the wall of the observation deck. They had finally put up some of the window displays they had been trading away and they were pretty impressive. It looked like there was a row of windows overlooking a real beach on the Gulf Coast.
Desiree was enjoying a strong cup of Darjeeling tea when Brad came in and sat down.
“Smells good,” he said and motioned to the steward to bring another of the same. “So. How did Phillips do?”
