Starting from Scratch (11 page)

Mary asked, “Would you be expected to maintain a long
conversation with them, until they arrive close to us.”

“That’s doubtful, Major Hurst. No Sauran would bother
to lower himself to conduct idle chitchat with a computer. Even
their computer would be restricted from comming with me, other than
periodic progress and location reports.”

“Dad, we need to get those vets into the upgrade
program ASAP.”

Mike agreed. “Yes we do, but we’re going to let Bambi
decide when their bodies are ready for it. I don’t want any man to
suffer as much as I did, just because we rushed him into it. It’s
going to be bad enough as it is.”

Bet gave his wrist a little tug, as she told him, “We
need to get the scientists through as quickly as possible, too.
We’re not quite so old anymore, so we should be ready to be
upgraded when the vets are.”

She looked up at the ceiling and asked, “Bambi, how
much longer do think it will be, before we can begin upgrading
those who are willing?”

Bambi answered, “I’d like to see it held off for
three or fours days, but if we’re going to push extra fast, then at
least two more days.”

Mike decisively announced, “Let’s make it three days.
We’ll explain every detail we have on the situation and allow these
people to begin making their own recommendations. We can’t afford
to let a good idea slide by, just because someone hasn’t been
upgraded yet. Mary and Bet will prep the scientists; Wayne, Max and
I will address the vets. Jo, you will bounce back and forth between
the groups, to reinforce the reality of the existence of aliens who
are not here to eat our children.”

Bet hung her head and shook it, as she mumbled, “Oh
dear Lord, Mike.”

He looked down at her and realized how horrible that
sounded. “Sorry Bet. I’ll try to remember not everyone has the same
sense of humor as a combat vet. We deal with the horror of death
and dismemberment through gallows humor. I guess it’s our way of
denying that it’s an ever present possibility.”

She smiled at him and patted his hand, saying, “I
understand. I’m sure that approach will fly quite well with the
veterans. But, when you’re talking with the scientists, please be a
little more sensitive to their culture of civility. Oh, I don’t
mean that you can’t cuss. You’ll find that most of us are quite
capable of unleashing a tirade of vulgarity, when an experiment
goes awry. Just avoid the ‘Eating Babies’ type of comment.”

“Will Do.”

Her smile and the habit she had of touching and
patting his hand affected him in an unexpected way. He didn’t want
to think which direction his mind was going, so he quickly moved on
to the next topic.

Mary brought up an awkward side effect of kidnapping
the veterans. “Mike, what about the family members of the vets who
got caught up in all of this. A few might want to be upgraded, but
most still have additional family on Earth. They’ll want to go home
and I don’t think it’s fair to wipe their memories of whom they
were.”

He shook his head and uttered, “Shit! I forgot all
about them.” He looked around the table and pleaded, “Please, does
anyone have any ideas about them?”

Max said, “I might. During World War Two, when the
Manhattan Project was underway, they would transfer whole families
out to the site, telling them their loved ones were working on a
top-secret piece of equipment and that they wouldn’t be allowed to
deal with the outside world, as they once had. It was all about
national security. Most of them hated it. But they understood and
went along with it.”

Mary disagreed with the concept. “These people
already know what’s happened, at least as far as being taken to
outer space and they’ve all seen Jo.”

Mike spoke with the final command on the topic. “We
don’t have time to concoct a special lie that will be difficult and
time wasting to be believable. So tell them the complete truth.
They can stay here and communicate with friends and family back on
Earth, but there’s no way we can risk having them let the air out
of the balloon this soon.”

Wayne put in his version of how to handle them. “Dad,
I bet we could offer them a job at Nellis. They would be watched by
Bambi and be helping to prepare for Armageddon.”

Mike looked at Max and told him, “Get a hold of John
Oldfield and explain our dilemma. See if the President has a
problem accepting these people at the Nellis, in our area. Once the
world is officially told of the Sauran threat, those people can do
what ever they want. We’ll even hold out the prospect of upgrading
them at any time.”

Max nodded. “He’ll raise hell and squawk about it
being our fault that those people were kidnapped in the first
place. But, I suspect, he’ll see the logic, under the
circumstances.”

Mike rapped his knuckles on the table and said,
“Folks, we need to notify the Earth; and by that I mean the
President. I don’t believe we should sugar coat it. I don’t know
how I could if I wanted to, anyway. We’ll let him decide which
members of his staff to consult about this. Right now, we need
every good idea we can come up with.”

There was agreement all around.

He turned to Max and told him, “You’d better wait
until after we chat with the President, to tell Oldfield about our
little family problem.” Max nodded

Two hours later Mike, Max, Mary and Bet, had a
conference call with the President. They had contacted John
Oldfield, the President’s chief of staff and told him there was a
situation and that it would be best if the meeting were kept to a
select group, primarily the President, Oldfield, Hardesty, the Sec
Def and Pierpoint, the National Security Advisor and finally, Marge
Chalmers the head of the National Science Foundation.

Bet was surprised when she was invited in on the
meeting. Mike warned her, “You must keep in mind that they don’t
really recognize me as anything but a hindrance. They are well
aware that I was a lowly Sergeant in the Army and a disabled vet,
when Jo chose me to lead his rebellion.

“What I’m trying to tell you is that you’ll be
casting your lot in with this new nation of upgrades who do not
recognize any government on Earth to give us orders. We are trying
to avoid any one country’s bureaucracy from taking us over and
bogging us down in bullshit. Dr. Fulwiler, you are either one of
us, or still a citizen of the United States. I’m afraid you can’t
be both.”

Her brow furrowed and it was obvious she didn’t like
that prospect.

He told her, “Look at it this way, once you’re
upgraded, never again will you be looked at, as being one of them,
because you will be stronger, physically faster and a great deal
quicker of mind than any normal human. However, you won’t
necessarily be any smarter. Hugging a loved one could cause them
extreme harm, if you’re not careful.”

He looked concerned, as gazed at her and said, “Bet,
I know you’ve indicated your desire to be upgraded. By your
reaction to what I just told you, I suppose you’re rethinking that
decision. So, I’m asking you again to join us right now, even
though you have yet to be upgraded.”

He watched her closely, as she pondered his words and
made her choice. “Well, I have to admit, I don’t like not being a
US citizen. I’ve been a proud American all of my life. But I do
understand the obstructive nature of any bureaucracy and I don’t
doubt that any government on Earth would love to have the entirety
of this technology available to them and no one else. I can see how
a group of politicians might use this technology to their own
benefit.”

She paused, as she closed her eyes in thought. Mike
remained silent, allowing her to ponder this important decision.
Finally, with firm determination, she told him, “So, yes…I’m with
you.”

“Good. Incidentally, I’ve requested that Marge
Chalmers be present with the President. She seems to have a good
grasp of our situation and she does a very good job of describing
complicated topics to the President’s team, using layman’s
terms.”

Bet had a huge smile, as she said, “I’m sure she
does.”

John Oldfield came on the comm, announcing irritably,
“OK, Mr. Hurst, we have everyone you requested in the room. What’s
wrong?”

Mike looked over at Bet, who looked puzzled, and then
angry at Oldfield’s implication of Mike’s incompetence.

Mike had Max give them a brief overview of the
problem they faced, with regard to the damaged Sauran transport on
the way into their solar system.

When Max reached a stopping point, Mike Hardesty
exploded, “Hurst, this is just the sort of thing that we were
afraid would happen. You’re in no position to handle it. Give us
everything you’ve got and we’ll take it from here.”

Mike spoke with sarcasm, as he responded, “Oh thank
God, Mike. What a weight off of my shoulders. Tell me please, would
I be allowed to know how you’re going to handle it from down
there.”

With no effort to hide his hostility, he said, “Well,
if you had let us in on this from the beginning, maybe we would be
up there in your place.”

Mike just couldn’t help baiting the man. “Again you
right, Mike. Boy that sure would have been a relief to have you
here, handling it, as you say. Hell, I bet you would already have
the Saurans eating out of the palm of your hand, you slick
bastard.”

The President jumped in. “All right gentlemen, that’s
enough. We have a serious problem and we need to use what assets we
can muster to deal with it. This juvenile pissing contest that
seems to come up every time you two speak with each other has got
to stop. Do I really need to remind you both that the fate of the
world is at stake here?

“Now, Mike, you’ve had some time to think about this,
what do you suggest?”

Mike said, “I’m sorry, Mr. President. I’ll try and do
better at controlling my temper. I’m going to have Max explain the
ideas our staff has proposed, the problems to each as we see it,
and the possible outcomes for each…good and bad.”

He knew Max was more accustomed to giving these
strategy presentations. So, it just made sense to have the old pro
take it from here.

There were very few questions during the presentation
and most of those involved having Max repeat what he had just said.
Mike thought, in the future, that would be unnecessary for
upgrades, because they had eidetic memories.

Hardesty was the first to comment and it surprised
Mike. “Hurst, I hate to admit it, but capturing this damaged vessel
is the only way to go. I see no alternative to letting it come into
our solar system, and then bug out with the knowledge of our
current situation. I’d like to send you three seal teams for the
assault.”

Considering the new threat from the damaged
transport, Mike made a decision on the fly. “Thank you Mr.
Hardesty, I would appreciate that. And I believe we have a way to
do that, if we hurry. We’re going to be leaving for Earth in three
more days and we’re bringing as many upgrade med units as possible.
We can’t waste time bringing people back and forth. So, upgrades
will be done on the planet. We’ll need to get those men into the
units as quickly as we can, because there is more involved than
just suffering through the procedure.

“As we are still learning up here, it takes constant
practice to take full advantage of everything you can do with your
new talents. Think of it as mental boot camp. I can assure you it’s
necessary, and well worth all of the work.

“You’ll need to decide who you want to join my staff
up here. The other English speaking governments will too, if they
want to be on the inside of the decision making process.”

Much to Mike’s surprise, Todd Pierpoint spoke up,
“Mr. Hurst, I’d like to be a part of that staff, but I would insist
on remaining a US citizen and answerable to the President.”

“Mr. Pierpoint, I would be very pleased to have you
add your knowledge and experience to the counsel of advisors, if
the President will allow it. And for the record, no one sent by
another government will be required to surrender their allegiance
to their respective countries.”

Max cast him and angry glare, but held his
tongue.

There was a long pause, as people whispered back and
forth. Then the President announced, “I shall allow Mr. Pierpoint
to join you, Mr. Hurst. However, at the risk of seeming ungrateful
for your efforts, I must warn you that I’ll unleash the dogs of
hell if you violate him in any way.”

Mike responded, “Then I should tell you that any
person who undergoes the upgrade process will have implanted in
their minds a restriction against being a part of any effort to
displace the Terran Space Navy from taking the lead in the defense
of Earth. That would include an attack on any of my staff, or me.
Other than that, they will have free rein to almost all information
and be able to pass it on to the governments who are working with
us.”

He waited for the expected complaint from Mike
Hardesty, but the man remained silent. So, Mike continued. “Along
those lines, I would add that we would take it as a possible
violation of our alliance, if new weapons, which are developed
through us, are used against another nation. There can be
exceptions, such as self defense against a serious threat. But I
want to be kept in the loop, if you’re planning to use our weapons
as you resort to force.”

Hardesty again. “You ask a lot of us and yet you make
it sound as though it’s not. We have a right to defend our national
interest.”

Mike chuckled, as he told the man, “You can do that
right now, Mike; using weapons that you already have. I’m just
saying that I don’t want these new weapons to be used to dominate
the world. If another country seems as though it is about to strike
first, that will be a game changer. But I ask that you do a quick
check with me, before you unleash the dogs of war using this new
technology.