Ancient Birthright (54 page)

“How the hell did this happen? Don’t these people know, we depend on them to keep the country strong and safe? What is this doing to my numbers in the polls?” demanded the President.

“Your ratings have dropped ten points in the last month,” Todd said.

“Ten points, that’s not so bad. Hell, ten points can be caused by a dip in the stock market or a hurricane.”

“Yes Sir, but your approval rating before this drop was only twenty-six percent. Congress is already selecting an investigative committee to begin looking into articles for impeachment.”

“Let them, they don’t have any proof.”

“The first witness on their list for tomorrow is Senator Breathsword. The second name is DHS Agent Hooker. From there, the list includes every top military officer who’s resigned or been fired in the last six months, as well as the Vice President.”

“Get Breathsword and Hooker in here. We need to shut them up and make sure they don’t say something stupid.”

“We can’t Sir.”

“What do you mean we can’t? I’m the President. If I want to see someone, they damn well will be here.”

“I figured you’d want to talk to them, so I sent for them earlier, and both of them have disappeared. The FBI has a warrant out on Hooker’s team for domestic terrorism, and they’re searching for Breathsword. His entire family has disappeared, and all their accounts have been stripped. I’ve read reports that the FBI does have one lead. After the Breathsword family vanished, one of Billy Breathsword’s golfing buddies got a call from him inviting the guy to go to Cuba for some golf.”

“At least, they’re in the wind and won’t be available for questioning.”

“That’s true Sir, but Breathsword’s staff and Hookers DHS team are still here. The FBI and every military and civilian police force in the nation is looking for Hooker’s men. After what they did to the security detail from NRAO, even you can’t intervene and save them. I’ve gotten reports that the FBI already has Hooker in custody and will deliver him in shackles to the hearings tomorrow. If these reports are true, and Hooker appears before the investigative committee, I think your time in office is numbered in days, rather than weeks.”

“I guess, we’ll just have to see what tomorrow brings. Hooker can’t open his mouth without incriminating himself, so I think he will keep it shut. After all, what proof does the FBI really have? On your way out, would you have Nancy give my wife a call and have her join me here in my office?”

“She’s not here, sir.”

“What?”

“She took the girls on Air Force One for a weekend of shopping in Tokyo and Hong Kong. She said something about needing some old masterpieces to hang in her new Presidential Palace.”

The intercom buzzed.

The President pressed the response button on his phone, “What is it,” he snapped, “I’m in the middle of my morning briefing.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt you, Mr. President but the U.S. Attorney General is on the phone and says it’s urgent he speak with you.”

“Put him through.”

“Good morning, Ronald. What gets you into your office so early in the morning? I thought only United States Presidents started work in Washington before seven.”

“I wanted to call and give you a heads up, Mr. President. The FBI has just issued an arrest warrant for your wife. The charges are misappropriation of government funds, fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, theft of government property and about ten other charges. They have documented proof and eyewitnesses lined up for every count. From what I can tell, their case is solid. The Director of the FBI has formally requested that the Secret Service have Air Force One Foxtrot return to CONUS immediately, and that they detain the First Lady until she can be taken into custody. Mr. President, I believe you need to contact a criminal lawyer as soon as possible and get him on retainer. Sir, I have got to go. My staff is arriving, and I don’t want them to know I called you. We had a good run while it lasted—good-bye, Mr. President.”

The President just stared at the dead phone for a full minute. “God damn it, they can’t do this. I’m the President of the United States, and my family is American royalty. I AM the law. Todd, I want the Director of the FBI fired...IMMEDIATELY. No one’s going to arrest my wife.”

The President looked up and saw an empty chair. The office door was just swinging shut. “Todd, where the hell did you go? Todd, get back here, I need you to take the heat for this.”

Chapter-64

Dantee brought
Janna
down to the Moon’s surface with skill and the assurance of someone who knows they have mastered a task. She lined up with the airlock and was about to issue the command to open the outer doors when a transmission interrupted her.

“Mind if I come in with you?” asked Tuuan.

A second smart ship pulled up to within a few feet of
Janna
’s left side.

“Back from the
Universe Explorer
already?”

“I dropped off my passengers and loaded some additional supplies for the living quarters here on the Moon, and I brought back a few people I had not planned on,” Tuuan said.

The view from Tuuan’s ship expanded to show Cindy and Soleene, and Striker, Becca, and John.

“They figured they would be needed by the film crew, so they joined me on the return trip.”

Saigg pushed out of his couch and approached Dantee’s command chair. “Tuuan, I told you to get some rest. That trip must have taken at least ten hours.”

“I got a solid nine hours of sleep. Becca took over as pilot for most of the trip.
Chandra
just converted the controls so they looked and responded just like the ones on the
Endeavour
,” Tuuan explained.

“Okay, we’ll talk more once we get inside and offload our passengers and equipment,” Saigg said.

When the two ships parked in the hangar and the first time visitors had gotten over their awe at the size and sophistication of the facility, Saigg showed them the communications section and pointed out the hundreds of hours of digital recordings that the
Endeavour’s
crew and the luzzon children had made.

The video crew connected several computers to the Internet through the installation’s antenna array, and Harold claimed one of them to notify his office that he was taking the day off, while Ginny used another to send an absence notification to the children’s school.

Saigg watched the editing personnel set up their equipment and begin the process of transferring the multitude of digital tapes to removable mass storage units tied to their computers. They catalogued each tape for content, subject matter, and individuals involved.

“Whoa, check this out!” exclaimed one of the editors. He had frozen his display at the beginning of a tape of Baany and his flight giving rides to the luzzon children and humans. When he pushed play, the tape showed humans and luzzons strapped into harnesses and sitting at the base of the Ptero’s necks. The tape included a segment filmed inflight from Ptero back. What really caught the editor’s attention during the transfer was the interaction between the passengers, a mostly naked Katya and Nadya and the Ptero Baany. The two screamed and shouted back and forth in ecstasy as they swooped and climbed to avoid the obstacles and traverse the changing wind currents of the growthbay. The sheer joy on the girl’s faces, and the obvious thrill the huge Ptero was getting from providing the flight clearly showed the bond that had formed between the three.

“How did you get this footage?” the editor asked Dantee.

“Reedn took it. He hung on to the harness with one hand and his tail and used his other hand to hold the camera.

“I’d like to meet these guys, the Ptero’s, and especially the girls,” the editor said with a little whistle as he watched the tape again. He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see a small female hand extended to him. One of the girls on the tape stood behind his right shoulder.

“Hi, I’m Katya Vasina. That’s my twin sister on the tape. She’s on board the
Universe Explorer
, helping with the injured crewmen from the International Space Station, but I’ll tell her you want to meet her.”

“There are two of you?” the editor said staring at her chest.

“They usually come in pairs. At least, I’ve never heard of a single twin. Maybe you American’s do things differently,” Katya said with a slight smirk as she used a curled knuckle under his chin to raise his face to her eyes.

“Human males are so easily distracted,” Dantee said in a patronizing voice.

The editor turned back to his equipment to let the scorching flames die from his face.

#

“Beldon, you might want to see this?” Harold called.

Beldon, Cindy and Saigg crowded behind Harold as he worked one of the Internet machines. “This is CNN’s breaking news web site.”

The screen showed four FBI agents leading a shackled DHS Agent Hooker into a congressional hearing chamber. The announcer explained that Hooker was the second witness called before the investigative committee to give testimony on the actions and orders of the President of the United States. Senator Breathsword had been the first person called, but he had failed to show up at the hearing. After half an hour of unproductive questions where Hooker gave evasive answers or pled the Fifth Amendment, it was obvious that he was not going to provide anything of consequence to the committee.

Beldon turned to Cindy. “We need to go down to Earth and talk to the FBI. We’ll take Striker and Becca along so they can corroborate what happened on the
Endeavour
. Maybe if Hooker sees the evidence and witnesses against him, he will give up the people who ordered him to do some of the things he and his men did. Saigg, could we get one of the kids to take us to NRAO?”

“Reedn should be itching to go. He didn’t get to fly with
Jerrod
last night.”

“We’ll go find Striker and Becca, and find someone to watch the babies, while we’re gone,” Beldon said.

“Give me at least an hour, I need to express some milk and get the baby bottles filled and Becca will probably have to do the same,” Cindy said as she turned toward the door.

Ginny stood up from the computer where she’d been surfing the web. “Can I go with you, Cindy? I’ll watch the babies. It’s been years since I got to take care of really little babies.”

Cindy waved her over as she stepped through the door.

Beldon and Ginny followed Cindy through the door and climbed on one of the electric cars to head for the hangar.

Two hours later, they were sitting in Colonel Bitman’s office waiting for agents of the FBI to arrive. Colonel Striker and Major Becca Jollye were dressed in new uniforms provided by Colonel Bitman.

“There’s one thing we’d like to do before we go back tonight,” Becca said. “Striker and I would like to be married. I know it didn’t matter to the crew of the
Universe Explorer
since it is a human ritual, but I think it would be good to have our relationship clarified before any of the programs are broadcast on Discovery. It will take one point of contention away from the critics and moral groups that latch on to details like that to use as examples of why their point of view is the correct one.”

Striker pulled her into his arms and gave her a lingering kiss to show his agreement.

“I think we can get that taken care of. I had one of my people get the paperwork in order and ready for you when Striker mentioned it the other night. I have a minister standing by, and we can do the ceremony now, or after the FBI gets done with its questions.”

“Let’s do it now, to make sure we get it done,” Striker said.

“We need to go to the base Mess Hall. There are a few people who want to witness the nuptials,” Bitman told them.

Beldon took Cindy’s hand and led the soon to be married couple out of the office and across the facility to the Mess Hall.

Bitman had apparently called his Command Post to spread the word because scores of people streamed into the building ahead of them.

“Beldon and Cindy, will you stand up with us as best-man and matron-of-honor?” Striker asked.

“We were wondering if you were going to ask,” Cindy said, “We’d be honored. In fact, there are a few others who have volunteered to be in the wedding party.”

When they entered the largest building on the installation, they saw the room crammed with people. A raised platform stood at one end with a minister waiting. Three couples lined up ahead of them, the three Russian cosmonauts and to balance them out, Airman Mays along with the two other airman who had volunteered to remain at the Moon base. They stood at the Russians sides wearing dress uniforms.

Anika, Katya, and Nadya hurried to join Becca and Cindy. They whisked them into an office area, while Striker took his place on the platform.

Video cameras covered the hall from four different angles as a full film crew from the Discovery Network adjusted lights and placed microphones.

Striker must have told Harold Metzler about wanting to marry Becca while we were at NARO.

This was the first time Beldon had seen the three Russians in form fitting dresses.
That has to be one of the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen. Cindy is beautiful, and I love her to the ends of the Earth, but those three together, in those dresses, have every man in this building sticking his chest out and sucking in his stomach. The three airmen escorting them must think they’ve died and gone to heaven.

Ten minutes later, Cindy and the three Russian girls rejoined the groomsmen and paired up. Music began to play as the doors at the rear of the hall opened. The brides-maids and groomsmen stepped off in pairs, until finally Beldon and Cindy started their walk down the aisle. Dantee and Tuuan slowly marched in, dropping rose petals on the white runner. Reedn marched next with a satin pillow with two rings tied to it.