Legacy

by Bob Mauldin

  Finishing the introductions as he brought out another chair, Rob said, “And this is Jim Collier. He’s a true disbeliever. Or, at least from Missouri.”

  Gayle looked Jim over. Turning to the other two women, she asked, “All right. Who does he belong to?” When Barbara raised her hand, Gayle walked over to her and shook hands. “Hi. I’m Gayle, and I really am the Communication Officer on a spaceship. I know. Sounds simplistic and stupid when you say it out loud, but it’s true. May I borrow your husband for a bit? I promise to return him in the same shape he’s in now. Which isn’t too great. He hasn’t said a word since I got here.”

  Bowled over by Gayle’s flamboyant attitude, Barbara looked to ‘Chiko for support. “Oh, let her have him for a bit. I promise she won’t hurt him. If you want, Rob and I will take you three on a tour, too. Wanna see a spaceship?” she asked with a wicked grin.

  Getting a slow nod from Barbara after getting ‘Chiko’s okay, Gayle said, “Oh, goody. I just love a good skeptic. Here, Jim, stand up and take this.” Handing him one of the handy-dandy locator disks, she pulled him to his feet. She said, “Watch that first step, my friend. It’s about twelve thousand miles high.”

  Pressing the button on her wristband, she wished for something more flamboyant, like having to say, “Beam me up,” but would settle for the blue sparkle effect. “Come on, stop staring,” she chided as the metal walls of the transport room shimmered into view “Nobody else can come aboard while you hold up things by standing on the transport pads.” Turning to the transport tech, she said, “Ensign, this is Jim Collier. When his wife comes aboard with either Commander Greene, let me know immediately.” Turning back to her stunned companion, Gayle asked cheerily, “So, what do you want to see first?”

  Two hours later, all four visitors were together in the mess hall on deck three. “So sue me! I’m sorry! I’ve been convinced and I want in. I still think that if we stayed on Galileo, the kid wouldn’t be that much trouble. But, I’m out-voted, so I give up” he said, raising his hands.

  Ted laughed along with the two women. “Well, we do have promises for when our kids are old enough. I got Rob to agree to talk to the Captain for us. When the kids turn fifteen, they can join with parental consent, if, and only if, the parents join for two years, too.”

  Since each couple finally agreed to act as clandestine recruiters, both were given a small radio. Made to look like kitchen appliances by paranoid engineers, there was little chance of them being spotted and less of being overheard, as Earth still hadn’t discovered the wavelengths they were on. Beaming back to Earth with the two couples, Rob and ‘Chiko were jubilant. “Now we can stay in touch. I was afraid that we’d wind up choosing different roads. I don’t like it when friends drift apart. Good ones hard enough to come by as it is.”

  The usual round of hugs and handshakes ensued, complicated by the fact that there were three couples involved. Robert shook his head. “You guys are going to have to get used to this, so we’ll just say good night, and we’ll be in touch soon.” He was still amazed that he could see out of the beam well enough to recognize the envious expressions on the faces of their friends as it took effect.

  Stephen had no trouble, on the other hand, getting his friend Victor McCord to come aboard. “Oh, I’ve been waiting for you, pal!” Victor crowed. “I’ve had things wound up for months. Waiting for you to come back was the hardest thing I ever had to do. And that includes my final exams and getting married and divorced!”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Six days to the minute after Lucy hung up the phone on Galway, she called him back. Sounding considerably more alert this time, he commented, “Now why did I expect to hear from you at this exact moment?” after Lucy identified herself.

  Lucy responded, “Of course you should have expected me. I said ‘six days from now,’ didn’t I? Are the other members of your team ready to go? Good. It shouldn’t take you long to drive to a little place in Delaware called Bethany Beach. There are two rooms reserved for you in your name.” She named one of the better known motel chains and added, “Once you’ve had a chance to unpack, you’ll be contacted.” Looking up and down the street, she beamed out of a phone booth far away from the one she had used the previous week.

  Later that evening, Lucy called Galway’s room. “Satisfied with your rooms, Mr. Galway?”

  A slight hesitation came from the President’s representative. “To tell the truth, Commander, I was expecting the rooms to be paid for, but when they weren’t, I went back over what you said. And your words were ‘there are two rooms reserved for you.’ You tend to say what you mean, don’t you?”

  Lucy shot back, “Well, Mr. Galway, my Grandpa always said that I never learned how to gild a lily. I think that just means that all I know how to do is be direct.”

  Galway chuckled. “Now there’s a phrase I wouldn’t expect out of someone twice your age, Commander. But to answer your question, yes, they’re acceptable.”

  Lucy couldn’t resist another shot. “I thought they might be. After all, what do four men together need besides an internet connection and the Playboy channel? The reason this place was chosen was because of the meeting rooms. They are totally secluded from the outside world. A lot of companies come here for their retreats. Not even sunshine can get in if it isn’t wanted. If you will go down to the first floor, you will find that the Compton Room has been reserved for your party. See you in fifteen.”

  Galway and his group arrived about five minutes early to find the door locked. They milled around uncertainly for a few seconds until the youngish manager came up to them. “Are you the Galway party?” he inquired. Brandon nodded and the manager unlocked the door. “Enjoy your meeting.”

  The four men filed uncertainly into the empty room, pulling the door closed behind them. The little man walked over to the door and checked it. “I’m not the least bit happy about this, Galway,” he complained.

  “And what are you worried about, Anderson?” Galway all but snarled as the agent put the phone back on its cradle after checking for a dial-tone.

  Looking around the generic box of a room, like a million others from Boston to Bavaria, they found a long conference table with eight chairs around it. The big difference was a small metal box sitting on the table. Without tools that none of them carried, nothing could be determined about the box as it appeared to have no seams at all. The only conclusion that the four men could come to was that it was obviously not solid unless it was a very light metal or composite.

  Having been reassured by a hidden sensor disk on the wall earlier that their opponents were unarmed, Lucy and her team beamed into the room precisely on the mark. The meeting proceeded in an unremarkable fashion. Galway let them know that the U.S. government was ready to cede a small parcel of land to be used embassy-fashion. The location was still to be determined, of course. “Everything’s negotiable,” Galway said.

  Lucy just smiled. “No, everything is not negotiable. What about the other two bases?”

  Galway returned, “We’re working on that. The other heads of state involved, actually that includes all the nations of Earth, are having trouble believing you exist.”

  Stephen couldn’t help getting a shot in. “Maybe that’s because you’ve promoted the ‘they don’t exist’ policy a bit too long and aggressively, Mister Galway. See what your policies have brought you to?”

  The Colonel had to speak at this point. “That’s not a fair representation, sir. It isn’t our policy. We just do as we’re told.”

  Stephen countered, “That’s what the Nazi’s said at Nuremberg, Colonel.”

  Lucy stepped into the fray before the two men came to blows. “Children, please! Well, Mr. Galway, you’ll have to solve that little dilemma, now won’t you? Just remember this: we will not put up with any more delays.” Changing her tack fast enough to give most people whiplash, Lucy asked Galway in a frank voice, “Let’s get the record set straight, here, Mr. Galway. Just what is it
that you think we have? A space ship, yes. But what else do you know?”

  Galway glanced at his team and the little man spoke. “We know you have an alien spacecraft that belongs to the United States, Commander.” The man almost spat her title out.

  Lucy leaned back in her chair. “Any particulars on that spacecraft? And it actually belongs to its builders. We’re just sort of caretakers.”

  Galway stepped in, keeping the unnamed man quiet. “Analyzing the tapes we have come up with is what is probably in the vicinity of two thousand feet long. What its functions and capabilities are, we don’t know. And that scares people. We’re assuming it has an interstellar drive. We’re assuming, too, that its data banks will have information about this part of the galaxy and its own neighborhood that we can use to our advantage. We also know that you are using it to build what you call space docks, ships, and that you need large numbers of people. The rest is speculation.”

  Lucy looked at Galway like a bug on a plate. “Okay, I’m going to give away information that is going to save you a lot of time and effort. The ship you assume to be two thousand feet long is closer to thirty-eight hundred feet long, eight hundred wide, and over two hundred high. The first five hundred feet are living spaces on sixteen decks, work spaces on one, and storage on the eighteenth. The last five hundred are engines and power core. The portion in between is factories and a fusion smelter. It’s a construction ship, Mr. Galway. The computer aboard has the specs for every piece of equipment needed to start, maintain, and eventually expand a colony world. That also include ships, sir. Many kinds. From little scout craft to ships big enough to turn our planet into ashes. We are still trying to figure out just how it wound up here.

  “Our plans. We are going to build four, count ‘em, four, space docks in the asteroid belt,” she said waggling four fingers in the air. “We’ve already finished two, and one of those has turned out a ship. We are going out to commission and crew that vessel now, return for more volunteers and go back to get the third dock started. And here’s a secret for you: the second and third ships are already under construction. Once we have all four docks built, we will be turning out four ships every six months. Each and every one with interstellar drives, and weapons suitable for space combat. Energy beams, force fields, anti-matter bombs, and more.”

  Lucy looked at the little man at the back of the group, recognizing him from their previous encounter outside Washington, DC. “I see a look of pure fear on your face, little Mister Anonymous. Don’t worry. We won’t be using these weapons on you. They are for the folks who will be coming to look for the ship they lost. Assuming, of course that we can ascribe our motivations to an alien race, and they show up angry. We believe that it will take almost three years to duplicate that ship ourselves, and we don’t think they can let that kind of expense go without at least looking for it. If we want to keep it, or duplicate it, we better be prepared to fight for it. And without other ships, we can’t. Also, what will happen when they do get here and we have no defenses against them? Will they come as friends or oppressors? You are males and presumably into sports. Who was it that said, ‘The best defense is a good offense?’“ She shook her head. “It really doesn’t matter. We have things well in hand and intend to keep them that way.

  “And there are others out there besides the Builders. The ship had weapons aboard and in the data banks. That means someone they have had to fight. We’ve been attacked ourselves. Most of our folks don’t believe it was the Builders. So, that leaves their adversaries. Those could be our friends, given a chance. Or not. Again, we are going to alien motivation. Could be that all space-going folks are going to resent the new kid on the block. So, we’ll be as prepared as we can get. We figured five years before the Builders could even show up the first time. That’s down to four now. Maybe a little less.”

  Lucy leaned back in her chair and waited. She could tell Galway didn’t enjoy his position and being put there by a mere girl was even worse. “So, tell me, Mr. Galway. What does Earth want? Does she want to feed her starving millions? Does she want to clean up her bio-sphere? Or do you want to be able to turn lead into gold, Mr. Galway? Tell me what you want.”

  A bit nonplussed by her direct approach, Galway stalled. “Most negotiations tend to have a lot more give and take in them, Commander Grimes, and your directness is a little disconcerting. You’ve already made it clear: no weapons or propulsion technology. How about some kind of shield technology? Something we can use to protect ourselves from attack?”

  Lucy nodded, a grimace on her face. “Barely possible, I believe. That can be done. I do want you to remember what you were told in the beginning. We are giving these items to the people of Earth. Not to any one particular nation or group of nations. We will make available to the people of Earth our shield technology if that is what you want. We’ll give it to a representative of each nation and tell them not only why they are getting what they get but also who requested it. Now I have a hard time believing, Mr. Galway, that all the countries of the world got together and asked for shield technology. You wouldn’t be putting yourself up to speak for the entire planet, now would you?”

  The anonymous little man fumed, “You ... can’t give out that information to everyone. It’s not that we were going to ... it’s just that we need to be able.”

  “Silence, you little prick!” she thundered. “If you can’t add something constructive, just be invisible.” Getting her temper under control, she turned her back on the infuriating little man.

  Colonel Babcock stepped in and put an end to the little man’s suffering. “I would be very surprised, Commander, to find out that anyone outside of the G-8 know about your existence. Officially. Which, as I understand it, goes against the spirit of what you are trying to accomplish.”

  “You got the right of it, Colonel,” Lucy avowed, watching the little man glare daggers at the Colonel. “Maybe you should be in charge of these meetings for your team.” Lucy looked at all four of the men facing her. “You need to keep in mind that we are citizens of Earth, too. We have families here, and we want to come back, eventually. Some of us won’t stay in space forever, but will come home to live and work and raise families of our own. We need to be able to come and go without harassment by the alphabet agencies. Believe me, I know how hard that is for a government to allow. But you don’t have any choice. Which makes you madder than hell. Which makes you doubly dangerous. Which means we have to be doubly cautious. See our dilemma? But you can relax. I don’t believe we would give you shield technology, anyway. Sometimes the counter to a threat is as bad as the threat itself. Now I want to get something straight, Colonel. Is it true that only eight governments know of our existence?”

  Getting a hesitant nod from the Colonel, Lucy went on in a stricter tone. “We’re not too far away from breaking orbit, Colonel, so there’s no way to remedy the situation now. We’re going to be out seven or eight months building the next dock. By the way, Mr. Galway, by the time we finish that dock, there will be two more ships finished and ready for commissioning.

  “We’d like to be able to set up Earth-side bases when we get back. We expect that in that time you’ll have officially revealed our presence to the rest of the world. And we will know if you don’t. If you haven’t, we will do it for you. How about something visual? Flyby’s over Moscow, Washington, New York, Beijing, London, Paris, and Tokyo first, maybe? I guarantee you, it would be something the major news services would not be able to keep from reporting. Especially after the flurries of stories last time we came back and this time as well. We’re more than willing to coordinate with you ahead of time so you don’t get caught with your pants down.”

  Gayle had to get her two cents worth in. “Think about this: if we get to set up shop down here, you’ll be able to keep track of some of our comings and goings. Maybe even slip a ringer or ten in on us. At present, you don’t even have that much as far as we know.” The others nodded at that as if they had talked it over bef
ore coming to the meeting. The anonymous little man spoke up. “How about putting an observer aboard?”

  Lucy hesitated a few seconds, glanced at her team members and back at the group fronting her. “It’s an interesting idea. Not a subject that has come up in discussion for some reason,” she said a bit acerbically. “I will say this: it won’t be you.” Turning to Gayle, she asked, “Commander, would you take the suggestion to the Captain? I think it merits immediate attention as we are so close to leaving.”

  Gayle nodded, stood up, glanced at the four men, said, “Gentlemen, if you will excuse me,” touched her wristband and disappeared in front of them.

  “I’ve seen that a few times now, and would really like a chance to look into it,” said Mitchell, the NASA man.

  “Maybe you can, some day. Once the politicians settle down and the military decide we are no threat to them,” Lucy mused. “The problem with that technology is that it is line-of-sight, and very energy-intensive. Only Galileo has it and will probably be the only one for quite a while. The equipment is very bulky, and only battleships and larger can provide the space for it.”

  Gayle’s return moments later put an end to the impromptu question-and-answer period. Looking at Lucy, she said, “Captain is agreeable to the idea of an observer. And he put special emphasis on the word ‘an.’“ Turning to the men, she added, “Gentlemen, the Captain has a suggestion for who that observer might be, if you are interested. He would be agreeable to having an FBI agent on board the Galileo, and he chooses that particular agency because he personally knows an agent who already has some small experience with this case. If you are amenable to the idea, please contact Agent Daniels out of Billings, Montana. And if he is agreeable, he should be at Captain Hawke’s house in six hours. Acceptable, gentlemen?”