Starting from Scratch (17 page)

With a poker face, the Commander answered, “I suppose
I could offer a few suggestions. Of course, I’ll need to know a few
thousands things first, like what equipment will I have available,
what weapons do we have and what are the enemies capabilities. Then
there’s the need to know about the hull of the ship to be
assaulted, what sort of resistance can we expect from their crew
and is that ship’s design exactly like this one. Oh, and what about
space suits for me and my men, assuming I’ll have men.”

Max told him, “Commander Vollmar, we have been
offered three seal teams for this assault. I’m sure they will want
their own team leaders. But any pre-planning you do now for them,
could save lives later and probably salvage the mission.”

“I see. I’m too old and out of date to go in with
them. Have you forgotten that I’ll be young again?”

Mike gave him a sympathetic smile. “No, Commander, we
haven’t forgotten. But you know damn good and well how you would
feel if a stranger was thrust upon you, just before a mission as
bizarre as this one. You will have a few weeks to get to know these
guys and I’m sure they will appreciate the prep and analysis that a
man of your experience can offer for this. As for whether you go in
with them, that will be up to the mission commander.”

Vollmar didn’t look angry, but he did look
disappointed. “Yes sir, I understand. I’ll give them everything I
can think of, sir.”

“Thank you, Commander Vollmar.”

Mike commed Max,
Damn, Max, this entire process
seems to drag along. I’m really concerned that we’re never going to
be ready. Every little detail takes so much longer to explain and
the entire thing is taking us to damn long.

Max commed back,
Let me explain, something to you
and these soon to be young men.

Out loud, Max gave them a pep talk.

“Gentlemen, right here and now, we are building the
organization that will save the Earth, or watch her destroyed.
Don’t think for one second that any of your efforts are for naught.
Every idea that you consider and then cast aside is one idea we
won’t have to worry about later. And, with the upgrade, every good
or bad idea can be filed away and retrieved as needed in
nanoseconds. So do everything you can now, because it will make a
difference.

“This organization is in its infancy, but it will
grow very fast. It’s going to be like an avalanche. Once it gets
rolling, it’s going to continue to build speed and if we haven’t
established the infrastructure to deal with it and control which
way it rolls, then the Earth is doomed.

“I’m sorry to be so melodramatic, but it’s true. Now
you gentlemen get to work. Ask Bambi anything and she’ll give you
answers. You may not like them, but you’ll be building a knowledge
base that you’re going to need as the avalanche picks up
speed.”

Max commed,
Mike, it’s time to call back General
Boltz and see if he’s ready to talk.

Yes it is. Bambi, have Jo meet us on the bridge.
Perhaps if General Boltz sees the bridge and can talk to an alien,
he’ll be a little more receptive to a conversation.

He stood, thanked the three Naval officers, and left
with Max for the bridge.

Once the three of them were sitting on the bridge,
Bambi told them, “If General Boltz is as anal as Jim indicated, we
might want to wait another few minutes to call him back. It hasn’t
been exactly two hours yet.”

Mike was shocked by her use of the word ‘Anal’, which
was Earth slang for being ridiculously meticulous and ill humored.
“Bambi, maybe you should be careful about the casual use of Earth
colloquialisms. Some people will find it offensive and it could
jeopardize our fragile relationship with them.”

“Yes sir. I haven’t done that yet, have I? I am aware
of the protocols of official exchanges of information, especially
when dealing with a new person. It’s the same way with other races,
such as the Thorians or the Januki. The Sauran method seems to be
shoot first and then eat you, or make you a slave.”

Mike just shook his head, looked at his alien friend
and brought him up to date, about the Januki scout ship at
Nellis.

Jo seemed very excited about the prospect of getting
a good look at the scout ship. “Mike, if we could see it and have
Bambi run an analysis of how it functions, we may be able to make
use of their technology. I know that the Saurans were concerned
about it. So it must be something special.”

Max looked doubtful, as he said, “If that thing is
the one that went down in Roswell. It crashed over seventy years
ago. Is it going to be any good to us now?”

Jo replied, “Yes, absolutely. Technology that works
is kept in use for as long as it continues to function. Rarely is a
design significantly altered. Some of these ships may have been
away from their home worlds for hundreds of years. As you humans
would say, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ There would be
upgraded variations, of course. But, even if there has been a
technological breakthrough, the older models will remain in service
for as long as they are viable.”

Bambi announced,
Gentlemen, it’s time for the
call.

Make it, Bambi and put it on his TV screen.

I have to; because he ripped the phone out of the
wall, remember?

They saw General Boltz sitting at his desk, with two
other men, standing next to him, on either side.

Boltz said, “Well, I see your punctual, Mr.
Hurst.”

Mike immediately detected an attitude change in the
man and felt some relief at the implication.

“Yes sir. Have you had a chance to verify my
credentials, sir?”

“Credentials? Is that what we’re calling the
high-jacking of a government secret communications net now?”

Mike remained silent and his face blank.

General Boltz nodded and told him, “All right, Mr.
Hurst, I’ve seen your movie and made a few calls. The President is
being made aware of the existence of a peculiar vehicle, which came
into our possession several years ago. What now?”

“General Boltz, the alien you see next to me is a
Thorian. We speak back and forth by way of a translation device,
which is extremely advanced. He can understand you perfectly and
you will be able to understand him as well. He knows a little about
that vehicle, although not very much, I’m afraid.

“The good news is that it belongs to a race, whom we
think could become an ally for us, in the fight against the
Saurans. The bad news is, my friend here can’t tell us how that
thing works. But, we have a very advanced computer that might be
able to shed some light on its abilities, if you’ll allow her to
look it over.”

Bambi told Mike,
Sir, I’ve located the scout ship.
It’s buried deep underground and has been torn apart. They’ve all
but destroyed it, in an effort to find out what makes it tick and
I’ll bet it was done many years ago, before they had a clue as to
how not to fuck it up.

General Boltz glared at him and said, “I’m not about
to allow you or anything associated with you to know anything about
it.”

Mike nodded, still maintaining his poker face. “Sir,
I wouldn’t expect you to, at this early point in our relationship.
We know where the object is and we know it’s been disassembled,
probably several years ago. It was done badly, to say the least.
Still, once you have been given permission to release what you have
found for our inspection, I believe we can improve your
understanding of a few operational possibilities it has to offer.
Your people will be included in our real time analysis and our
computer will answer any questions your scientists may have.”

Boltz leaned forward and told him, “Mr. Hurst, I was
told you are a little reluctant to recognize any authority and that
you don’t trust the US military. That’s a damn shame, because you,
more than most people, should know that if the situation is as bad
as you seem to think it is, then a man with your back ground isn’t
prepared to deal with all of this.”

Mike couldn’t contain a big smile, as he admitted,
“General, you are absolutely right on all counts. I don’t trust the
government to move quickly enough on this, because of the cronyism
that always lingers around the power mongers on capital hill. It
will slow down every program we need to build and we just don’t
have the time to make sure that some friend of a friend of a major
donor to Senator so and so, gets his pockets lined.

“As for my qualifications to lead this cluster
fuck…well, who in the hell is, General? Give me the name of the
person who can do it and convince me that I should surrender
complete control of the defense of our planet to that person. But,
before you do, be sure that he or she is a person who will always
have the welfare of all the people of Earth at heart, when they
make a decision.”

General Boltz was angry and Mike realized that was
his constant state of existence. He sat there and to Mike’s
surprise; he was obviously trying to think of someone he would
trust to replace Mike.

Finally, he said, “Mr. Hurst, I’ll think of someone,
you can bet on it. But, for now, I guess I’m stuck with you. I’m
under orders, which unlike you, I obey. I have been told to show
you what we have, as long as you share what you find.”

Mike hid his satisfaction, not wanting to anger the
man any more than he already had. “General, as I said, we’ll do a
real time exam of whatever you show us and we’ll speak out loud, so
your people will hear our opinions and ideas at the same time as we
conclude them. I’ve felt all along that cooperation is the only way
we’re going to cut through he bullshit.”

“Humph,” was Boltz’s only response.

Boltz nodded to the man on his left and said, “This
is Dr. Moshka, he is the lead physicist on the UFO. What did you
call it? A Januki scout ship?”

“Yes sir. That’s what our computer said it was.”

“Dr. Moshka will show you tapes of what has been done
as it was carefully disassembled. We have made some remarkable
discoveries, over the years; and yet, it’s still an enigma in many
ways.”

Gen. Boltz raised his open hands and asked, “So, how
in the hell do we send this to you?”

Bambi told her team,
I’ve got it, guys. I found
some of it in an old computer and they have some of it on an old
tape recording system. They’ll have to put the tape into a playing
device, in order for me to see the rest of it.

“General Boltz, Bambi has located some of your older
videos, but you’ll need to put the tapes into a playing device and
turn it on, for her to see it all.”

“Who in the hell is Bambi?”

“She’s our computer. After I was kidnapped and
repaired, I gave her that name, just to have a name to call her. I
know it seems foolish now, but I was in recovery. Now she won’t let
me change it.”

“Holy shit, Hurst, you’re piece of work.”

“So I’ve been told, sir.”

16mm film had been converted to digital and placed on
the computer Bambi had taken over. Jo became very excited as he saw
it. “Mike, see those tiny bumps sticking out all over it, they are
a form of protective shielding, I’m certain of it. I heard a Sauran
once say that these shields were impervious to most of the weaponry
that had been used against them. The Saurans have nothing like
it.”

“That’s good news.”

Dr. Moshka said, “We thought they had something to do
with how they travel. But we’ve been unable to find out how they
did it.”

Jo told him, “Dr. Moshka, those little devices are
used to protect the ship, as it travels through the folds, as the
ship travels great interstellar distances. It also helps to protect
the ship, as it moves around, within the globe of a solar
system.”

“What is a Globe of a solar system?”

“As I’m sure you know, a solar system has its own
gravity to be accounted for. We call it the gravitational globe of
the solar system. One cannot fold space near a solar system,
because of the peculiar shifting gravity pools around it. A ship
must be far away from globes and large celestial bodies, in order
to move extreme distances. It requires constant fine tuning, as one
travels through the fold.

“But, when traveling within the gravitational fields
of a solar system, a different type of drive is used. It can move a
ship quickly, faster than the speed of light, although that is very
dangerous, because of unknown local gravitational pools. Once those
pools are charted and constantly updated, then a Senior Pilot can
maneuver safely, at great speeds, while making adjustments for the
thickest of the pools.”

Moshka asked, “Do you have any idea how that drive
works?”

“I’m afraid my knowledge of it is very limited. Bambi
can be of greater assistance. Bambi, what can you tell us?”

“Well, I’ve been concentrating on the weapons. That
ship has little to protect it, but it does have a few items that I
recognize as weapons, although I don’t know how they work.”

On the screen, a red circle highlighted a series of
short rods on each side of the ship. She told them, “The Senior
Pilot of the Mother Ship looked at graphics of a scout ship many
times. He was trying to analyze it. He told his subordinate that
these were not plasma weapons. They were crudely designed weapons
that fired hard bolts. I believe humans would call then rail guns.
These can fire at a rate of two thousands rounds a minute. The
small bolts have little effect, as individuals, but when several of
them strike the same spot repeatedly, they are very effective. The
have an estimated range of twenty thousand kilometers.”

General Boltz cried out, “Holy shit, that’s over ten
thousand miles.”

Bambi corrected, “Exactly 12,427 miles, to be
precise, General Boltz.”

Jo said, “Remember, there is no air in space to
restrict the flow of the projectile. However, it is relatively easy
to dodge or deflect them, if you see the shot coming. All a good
Pilot needs is a computer that is ordered to deal with it
automatically.”