Author: Saxon Andrew
Date: 2015-03-18T18:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Science Fiction & Fantasy; Science Fiction; Alien Invasion; First Contact; Galactic Empire; Genetic Engineering; High Tech; Military; Space Fleet; Space Marine; Hard Science Fiction; Teen & Young Adult
Description: From the International Bestselling Author Saxon Andrew comes his newest book Escape to Earth-Running from Fate. Living in the Fellowship meant fighting one space battle after another. Every civilization was aggressive, hostile, and impossible to live with in peace. A Welken Task Force stumbles upon a massive Myot ship building complex and every Welken Warship is destroyed in the ensuing battle before they can warn the home world of the Myot’s location. One escape pod manages to escape the battle and the Myot know it must be prevented from making it back to Welken Territory. Every Myot Warship
Publisher: Saxon Andrew Publishing LLC

Running From Fate

Escape to Earth 1

Saxon Andrews

Introduction

He ran through the doomed warship and felt the heat on his back as he slammed the door behind him. Most of the crew was dead and the giant Myot battleship was moving in closer to finish the job. He looked at the ship’s layout in his mind and saw on his wrist unit that there was only one life pod left in the rear of the ship where he was running; he hoped it was still operational. He felt the ship shudder as another heavy disruptor beam hit the bow and blew it away. He went through the large bulk head and saw the small opening in the wall on the far side of the engine room and he sprinted and dove through it. Flames washed into the room and blew against the back wall. He could feel the heat behind him as he slid down the chute and into the small cockpit of the escape pod and yelled, “GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!”

The escape pod’s systems activated as soon as the door in the engine room closed and its motors activated. The cover on the hull popped off and the small vessel accelerated out of the tube just as the rear of the warship exploded in flame. The pod went to full skip speed and, after a moment, disappeared. A two-mile wide blaster beam ripped through the space it occupied a moment earlier as the giant Myot Battleship detected its emergence and rotated one of the huge disruptors on its hull toward the tiny vessel.

• • •

“One of their pods managed to escape, Supremacy.”

“Make sure no others do.”

“Should we give chase?”

“There are much bigger prey to handle here before we can devote the resources to chase a single pod. Once we’ve cleaned up here, send a tracker wing to chase it down.”

“Yes, Supremacy.”

Suddenly, a bright green warship that had massive fires burning in it appeared off the port side of the giant battleship and slammed into it causing a massive explosion. The green ship was doomed and the commander skipped it close to the behemoth and rammed into it at its maximum speed. Both ships were at the center of a bright halo that blew out into space at the speed of light. The battle continued for three days but was now over for the two starships that were embraced in the arms of death. It was two weeks later before the recordings of the battle revealed an escape pod had managed to skip away. The search for it began immediately and the tracker wings spread out to find it. The occupant of that pod knew the location of the Empire’s Naval Production Planets. It had to be found and eliminated before that information could be given to their enemies. The massive number of trackers spread out on the escape line taken by the pod and began looking for a skip trace. Three fleets were devoted to the search and there were many worlds that were spared invasion while the search continued. The Myot Empire’s Fleets skipped across the galaxy and set up a barrier between the Welken Confederacy and any possible approach that the escape pod could take to get home. Its destruction was imperative.

Contents

- Title Page

- Introduction

- Chapter One
- Chapter Two
- Chapter Three
- Chapter Four
- Chapter Five
- Chapter Six
- Chapter Seven
- Chapter Eight
- Chapter Nine
- Chapter Ten
- Chapter Eleven
- Chapter Twelve
- Chapter Thirteen
- Chapter Fourteen
- Chapter Fifteen
- Chapter Sixteen
- Chapter Seventeen
- Chapter Eighteen
- Chapter Nineteen

Chapter One

“What are you doing!?! You need to get me back to the fleet!”

“There is no fleet. Every one of our warships has been destroyed or are burning. They’ll be following our trace shortly and I have to put some distance between us and the Myot Trackers.”

“But you’re headed away from the home worlds.”

“Do you not think they’ll spread out and start looking for our emissions if we go in that direction? My task is to save you and I intend to fulfill my programming.” He sat back and activated the scanner system and replayed the last view of the battle. The pod was right. There were no Welken survivors of the space battle. Those giant battleships his fleet had stumbled in on were a new development and the home worlds had to be warned. “They’ll learn soon enough when they send out their fleets to find you.”

“How do you know that?”

“There are enough probes scattered around that area of the galaxy to see them.”

“Do you seriously think they’ll send one of those new battleships to find me?”

“You know the location of their major ship building planets. Your death is more important than keeping their new ship a secret.”

“How are we going to avoid being found?”

“I don’t know…yet. However, I don’t detect anyone inside my scanning range starting to search for us. That means they can’t see me either.”

“They’ll see your trail.”

“I know. I’m working on that.”

After several hours he said, “Well?”

“There is no possible way for me to avoid them following my trace.”

“That’s reassuring. So what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to break the law.”

“Which one?”

“The one that deals with contacting primitive planets.”

He sat up straight in his chair, “You can’t be serious.”

“You’re dead no matter what I do. This is the only way to extend your life a little longer. My programming forces me to do whatever is necessary to prevent your death.”

“But if we land on a primitive planet, not only will the Myot Realm be after me but the real power in this galaxy will also call for my execution.”

“That’s true. But they’ll have to find you to make that happen. They won’t go looking for you with a warship.”

“They’ll send in stalkers if they know my location.”

“That will take time and hopefully you’ll find a way to avoid detection.”

“This isn’t a plan; this is suicide.”

“I was updated on the latest information about the galaxy a week ago and a new primitive planet has been found that has not been assigned a Sentinel yet. I can get in and attempt to hide from him before he arrives.”

“This is ludicrous.”

“Ok, what do you want to do?” There was a long moment of silence and the pod said, “I thought so. You need to leave escape to the professionals.”

He knew the pods were extremely intelligent and had programming that was almost intuitive. He was trained when he first boarded a battleship that if he was ever forced to use an escape pod he should just allow it to do its job. He knew it was a computer he was conversing with but it was incredibly brilliant. He also knew there was no escape from their trace being followed and any route back to his civilization would be blocked. The trace would last for several months and the Myot would be on his trail long before it faded. Life as he knew it was ending. “Alright; I’m leaving this in your province. I’ll follow your instructions until I see another way.”

“That’s fair. We’ll be arriving in another three days. I’m going to change your DNA to match the inhabitants on the planet I’ve chosen and start feeding you information that was collected from the probe that discovered it. You need to lay back and put on the transfer band. You should be ready by the time we arrive.”

He reached to the left, opened a small case, and took out a black band. He wrapped it around his head and closed his eyes. A silver field of flashing silver sparks appeared around him as he lost consciousness.

• • •

“Have you located the pod?”

“Not yet, Supremacy. We were quite slow in following his trace. However, we can say for certain that it has not attempted to return to the Welken Confederacy. We have a globe of probes surrounding that cluster and nothing has appeared. If it goes anywhere near that sector, we’ll know and we will destroy it.”

“Can it get close enough to communicate our planet’s coordinates?”

“No! Our probes will detect its approach long before it moves into communication range.”

“We’re tying up too many ships chasing this pod , Fleet Drang.”

“I know; but we can’t risk allowing the location of our major industrial planets to be broadcast to other civilizations. They’ll combine against us and destroy our main source of warships. This problem must be solved before we can go back on the offensive.”

“I’m still shocked that the Welken squadron was able to find our planets.”

“They took a random skip to avoid one of our fleets and stumbled in on the location. We were fortunate we had enough of the new battleships to block their communications and destroy them.”

“FIND THAT ESCAPE POD!!”

• • •

He woke and everything felt different. He raised his arms and saw hands with five fingers instead of the usual four. He looked at the reflection on the display and said, “This species is rather ugly.”

“You’ll get used to it. I’m glad to see you’re speaking one of their major languages.”

“It was the most interesting one you sent me. What next?”

“I’m going to attempt to throw them off my escape line.”

“Just how do you intend to do that?”

“I’m going to shut down the skip drive and fire my thrusters in the void to change direction.”

“Are you crazy!? Firing thrusters in the void will kill us.”

“How do you know?”

He shook his head and sputtered, “You know how that space reacts to energy; we’ll either be blown out of the void into normal space or…”

“Or what?”

He shrugged, “Have our protecting field shattered? I don’t know. No one releases energy in the void.”

“The static blasters are fired at ships in the void without destroying the ship that fires them.”

“Yes, but they are kicked far off their track. Those small static charges will blast a ship apart in the void if it hits them. The power of a thruster will…”

“Perhaps blow a ship a tremendous distance from where it happens?” He remained silent and the computer said, “I’ve got to find a way to lose those trackers that are following my skip trail.”

“I thought you were just going to a primitive planet and attempt to hide?”

“My central program has been working on that and it doesn’t think it’s a good plan if we can be followed there. This is the only way to move without leaving a trace to follow.”

“If it works, you’ll still have to use your skip engines to get to the planet.”

“Let’s make the effort first and then see if we learn anything; are you ready?”

“No, but is that going to stop you?”

“Pull your restraints tight, thrusters in five, four, three, two, one, and NOW!”

He stared at the display on the panel in front of him and he felt a giant fist slam him in the chest. He was pushed back in his chair and lost consciousness.

• • •

He finally saw bright lights twinkling in his vision and after a moment they solidified into a single light on his panel. He hurt in places he didn’t know he had. “Well, that wasn’t so bad.” He tried to take a breath and his chest felt like it was on fire. The Computer said, “Alright, here’s what I learned from our little experiment. You don’t have to talk, just listen.” He closed his eyes and tried to focus on the back of his eyelids. “The thrust threw us more than six hundred light years away from our previous location. It also left a huge area of disruption in the void. If we’re lucky, your pursuers might think we blew up.” He passed out.

He awoke again later and the computer said, “I scanned our path and there was no trace of our movement through the void.”

“I’m dying here!”

“No you’re not; I have the medical program making repairs. However, I’ve determined that if I reduce the thrust slightly and orient the ship on the line of that primitive civilization, I might be able to have us thrown in its direction.”

“Why haven’t you already done it while I’ve been unconscious?”

“Well…you need to mend before we try it again.”

“Are you saying I’m going to be injured again doing this?”

“Yes, but we should be clear of any pursuers.”

“Forget it! It’ll kill me if we try this stunt again.”

“It would if we tried it right now. We’re going to wait for the medical program to repair your new body and then we’ll give it another go.”

“Did I tell you I’m dying here?”

“I’m about to start the education program on what the probe discovered. I’ll allow you to absorb all the information you can until the medical program says you’ve healed from the first push.”

“You’re determined to do this!”

“I’m programed to save you. I’ll make the next thruster move while you’re still unconscious. I’ll only wake you up if something goes wrong.”

“Did it ever dawn on you that if something goes wrong, there might not be anyone to awake?”

“It has and I’ve decided that this is the only practical method of hiding you. You’re going to sleep now. Hopefully, I’ll see you after the next push.”

He shook his head and immediately stopped from the pain and red lights he saw with the effort. A moment later, he was unconscious.

• • •

He didn’t open his eyes but took inventory of how he felt. The previous pain was gone except for a small pain in his head. He opened his eyes and saw the escape pod was moving through normal space. He saw a red colored planet passing by on the right and he rubbed his temples. “Where are we?”

“I’m moving into the primitive Planet’s planetary system as we speak. I’m going to go straight toward the planet and shut off the thrusters three hundred thousand miles out.”

“How long have I been unconscious?”

“Seven weeks. It’s taken that long for the medical system to repair your spinal cord.”

He looked at the display as he moved his legs, “May I assume your experiment worked?”

“We made it here without leaving a skip trace. That doesn’t mean they won’t come here looking for you.”

“Why is that?”

“Because my skip trace ended abruptly. They’ll be forced to search from that point and this planet is one they might check out when everything else fails. It at least buys us some time to get you hidden away. I think the Trackers will exhaust every other possibility before they go to the expense of hiring Stalkers to search a primitive planet.”

“Do you think the locals will be able to see you on that planet?”

“Their military is pretty good but they use the ancient reflected energy system to track moving objects. My field will prevent them from tracking us.”

“What about visual?”

“They have a satellite system around the planet but I’ll be entering the atmosphere on the dark side of the planet. I’ve changed my color from green to black; they won’t see me.”

“I’m going to start absorbing their cultural norms. Let me know when we’re at the planet.”

“You have about four days. I’d pay close attention as to how the different sexes act around each other if I were you. This civilization seems to be fixated on mating rituals and attracting each other. It’s all confusing to me but most of their electronic broadcasts seem to be filled with the attraction and social behaviors accepted between the males and females.”

“I’ve seen that. It really doesn’t make sense to me.”

“Maybe it will after you observe them in person.”

“You’re saying I should go out and blend in with their population.”

“You’ll have to be careful until you figure out appropriate behaviors; however, that is going to be the only way to hide from the Sentinel and Stalkers.”

He nodded and closed his eyes. The really crazy signals he saw were the things called commercials. What is a maxi pad? He sent a query to the pod’s computer and received a long lesson in human anatomy. At the end he said, “This is gross stuff.”

“Tell me about it.”

“I just did.”

“Cute. I’ll be looking for an identity for you.”

“How are you going to hide?”

“I’m working on it.”

“You don’t have much time.”

“Thank you Mr. Obvious. I’m researching the machines this civilization uses for mobility. They’re called automobiles. I need to find one that matches up with my basic lines. My major systems need to fit inside the exterior and so far I’ve not found one that would allow the shape change.”

“I’ve noticed a source of books called Amazon. I’m going to download a few thousand of them and see if I can detect any patterns in their behaviors.”

“That’s a good idea. You can do that before we arrive.”

• • •

He looked at the…genres…and decided that he would read the top fifty bestsellers in Romance, Science, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Psychology, History, and Politics first. An hour later he opened his eyes and said, “These people actually attack and kill each other.”

“I was hoping you wouldn’t notice that. They do it individually and in an organized, well planned thing they call a war.”

“Will I be safe here?”

“With your strength and speed, you should be able to either run away or kick the ever living crap out of anyone that attacks you. Your new body is human but your nervous system, strength, and control of it is far beyond what the locals possess.”

“Ever living crap?”

“Look it up; I kinda like that description. Refer back to human anatomy to really understand it.”

“Now you’re being gross.”

“You must learn their idiomatic phrases. I’ve prepared a download of most of them; you should focus on them next.”

“What if someone uses, what’s it called…a gun on me.”

“Take it from him and shove it up their…”

“Hey, hey; that’s enough of that.”

“Sorry, I really like this language. You can express things that our language doesn’t allow.”

“That’s because we’re civilized.”

“If you say so.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“I think you can have a huge amount of fun here. At least until the Stalkers find you and suck your intellect into a tube.”

“Cute…very cute. I’ll curtail my fun and try to not be noticeable.”

“That’s what I like hearing. The download of phrases begins now.”

He leaned back and closed his eyes. After a few moments he started smiling. The Pod was right. Some of these were incredibly funny. Horney as a three-horned billy goat had him laughing out loud until he looked it up. He immediately stopped and said, “Gross.” Then he thought about it and started laughing again.

The pod watched his occupant and worried that he would be found. Learning how to hide in this complex society was going to be incredibly difficult. There was also the problem that his brain waves could be seen if a Stalker came within a half mile of his location. Oh well, you can only do what you can. He also had to unlearn the warrior behaviors he had used his entire life.

• • •

The planet was getting larger in the display and he said, “How are you going to do this?”

“I’m headed straight toward that huge city on the east side of the continent.”

He thought for a moment and said, “New York.”

“Yes, New York. If I’m trailing any high energy particles, they should be removed over that city as we enter the lower atmosphere and move away.”

“Where are you going?”

“There’s another large city north of that city called Boston. That is where you are going to hide.”

“Why did you choose that city?”

“They have a technological school there called MIT that does studies on high power lasers. I’m hoping the particles from those studies will block any emissions from my reactor.”

“What’s the possibility of that happening?”

“I’m shutting down the reactor to my lowest possible level. If that doesn’t work…oh well.”

“It will probably work with the Stalkers but the Sentinel will see it.”

“Well, he’s not here yet, so maybe it will buy us some time. That’s what this is all about; extending your life as long as possible.”

Chapter Two

The escape pod entered Earth’s atmosphere over the east coast of the United States and started a shallow glide toward the brightly glowing lights near the Atlantic Ocean. It flexed its sides and changed into a thin, wide wing once its thrusters got it into the lower atmosphere where the air could be used to glide. He sat in the chair and watched the views being provided by the pod’s scanners. “What are you looking for?”

“I need a form I can change into that will hold most of my major units. It needs to be wide enough to house the disrupters and the reactor. Most of the machines I’ve scanned are tall enough but lack the proper width. Wait a minute.”

He suddenly saw a sleek machine appear on the display, “What is that?”

“It’s called a Corvette. There are numerous models of this machine and it appears the newest model is wide enough to barely house the disrupters. Give me a moment.”

He sat and watched a pattern of squares cover the car on the display and the pod said, “I think I can make it work. It’s going to be about two inches wider than the normal model in the middle but I don’t think the locals will notice it. I’m going to convert my shape to it once we land on the surface.”

“That city is rather large.”

“That’s not the one I’ve chosen.”

“Why?”

“That’s the first place a Stalker Team will look. They’ll assume you’ll try to hide in the largest city. We’re headed to the city to the northeast. You can see the lights next to the ocean.”

“That’s where they’re studying lasers.”

“It is.”

“You don’t think that will attract them?”

“It probably will but we need the cover.”

“How am I going to blend in with the locals?”

“I’m completing your DNA change now. You will appear to be exactly like them. The major issue is going to be hiding your brain’s energy pattern.”

“Isn’t my brain going to be exactly like theirs?”

“Structurally, it will be an exact duplicate however, I can’t reduce your ability to use eighty percent of its computing ability. That energy will stand out if you’re scanned.”

“How are we going to hide it?”

“I’m not sure. We’re going to have to find one of their very old buildings for you to live in. Most of them have asbestos in the roof and walls.”

“Asbestos?!”

“I know, that’s insane isn’t it.”

“Who in their right mind would ever use that to build anything?”

“They don’t anymore; but many of the very old houses still have it in the structure. Now be quiet for a few minutes while I do some scanning of their databases and buildings.”

He watched the city called New York pass below and he was amazed at what he saw. The giant skyscrapers reaching for the sky and the hundreds of thousands of people out on the sidewalks made him shake his head. As the pod glided away he said, “This species is nothing like those in the fellowship.”

“What do you mean?”

“Every fellowship planet does three things; produce food to feed everyone, manufacture clothing, and build weapons of war. This species is focused on so much more than that. The fashion industry alone is…I don’t have the term to describe it.”

“Outrageous?”

“That’s it.”

“You’ve never gone in with a fleet and took possession of a primitive planet, have you.”

“No, that happens rarely. My ship wasn’t assigned to the last invasion.”

“Well, this planet will look like all the other Fellowship planets within ten years after it’s invaded. The survivors of the invasion will be enslaved and ultimately, their children will adapt to being part of a Fellowship Civilization and become part of the military.”

He looked down at the huge city’s bright lights and shook his head. “That saddens me for some reason. This city is so…”

“Beautiful?”

“I think that’s the term although I’ve never used that concept before. I’m not sure I understand it.”

“Nothing in your life approximates the term. Perhaps you’ll understand it later.” The small pod flew away from New York and he saw the glow to the northeast grow larger until they were directly above it. It was just as magnificent as the previous city, though there weren’t as many beings walking the city streets. The pod circled the city for two hours and then it began moving lower in the atmosphere. “I think I’ve found a place for you to stay.”

“How did you do that?”

“Most of the buildings that have spaces to rent have a sign in front of them that says, ‘occupancy’ or ‘apartment for rent’.”

“What is rent?”

“Look in your mind. You should be able to find it.”

He thought about the word and after a moment nodded, “Ahh, it’s a place you give their currency to the owner to live in their building.” He thought for a moment about the currency and said, “Just how am I going to get some of their currency?”

“I’ve been scanning their broadcasts and it appears there are numerous places that use the currency to purchase gold.”

“Get out of here!”

“No, I’m serious. It appears that metal is rare and is highly valued. They use it to make ornamental objects, mostly for their females. I will convert some of their soil into gold and you can take it to one of the establishments that purchase it. You can use it to pay for a place to stay.”

“Doesn’t it have to be an ornament of some kind?”

“I’ve just scanned one of the places that purchases it and one of the ornaments is called a bracelet made of gold links. I’ll convert the soil and mold it into an eleven-inch linked, bracelet.”

“Bracelet?”

“They wear it on their wrists; I don’t know how they came up with the term. One of the broadcasts called Fox Business says that an ounce of gold is worth nine hundred dollars.”

“Give me a minute.” He focused on the information given him by the pod about currency and after a moment shook his head, “That’s a lot of currency.”

“Call it money; they do.”

“Whatever you call it, that’s a lot of it.”

“I’ve found a place that meets our needs close to the center of the city and the school where they conduct laser experiments. I’m going down to the surface to find a place for me to land. I’ll convert to the machine…car so I won’t be noticed.”

“What then?”

“You’ll go out and find something to put into my converter. We’ll then wait until daylight arrives and I’ll listen in on one of the…they call them pawn shops, to see how the trade is made for gold. Once you understand that process, you’ll walk to the place and make the exchange.”

The pod spiraled down and landed in a small parking lot behind a three-story building. There were four other cars parked and he said, “What are those numbers and letters on the back of them?”

“It’s called a license plate. I’ll make one once I land. I also need to make a driver’s license for you and a parking sticker for me.”

He thought for a moment and said, “How are you going to do that?”

“I’m scanning their department of motor vehicle computers. Give me a few minutes.” He waited and the images flashing on the display were moving too fast for his new eyes to follow. Thirty minutes later, “I’ve found a being that was killed in a car accident in that huge city we flew over coming here. I’m going to use his license and license plate. If someone reports his death to the motor vehicle place, I’ll find you another. I don’t think it’s going to be reported.”

“Oh, why not?”

“He’s a recent arrival from another country. He doesn’t have family in his home nation so no one should be attempting to contact him. At least his application to the school says he has no family. He was killed in a car accident and was burned beyond recognition. They buried him as a John Doe.”

“What’s a John Doe?”

“Someone whose identity isn’t known.”

“How did you find him?”

“I’ve scanned their news agencies for accidents. The rental car he was in had documents on who he was.”

“I would think the locals would have found out the same way you did.”

“They had more important things to do. Step out and collect about ten ounces of material you find loose outside.” He looked at the door and didn’t see how to open it. Then he saw a handle move and the door opened. “Now you know how.”

He stepped outside and walked around the parking lot picking up loose pieces of asphalt around the parking lot’s edges. He went back to the car and the rear popped up. He dropped the pieces into the converter and saw them disappear. He stepped back inside and closed the door, “Those pieces of hard material smelled …”

“Like a carbon based material.”

“It did.”

“I didn’t notice but it appears this civilization uses oil based liquids for most of its fuel and manufacturing. The asbestos should have told me.”

“Oil?”

“I know; the thing they have in abundance is so rare as to be non-existent in all the other known civilizations. If the stalkers come here, this planet will be a prize that many species will go to war to possess. I’ve finished your driver’s license.”

He looked in the center of the panel and saw a rectangular piece of plastic. He saw the image on it and said, “Is this how I appear?”

“It is.”

“Boy, am I repulsive or what.”

“I agree, but you look like the locals. You’ll pass inspection. Now close your eyes and I’ll feed you the information I’ve collected from their broadcasts.”

He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes as a huge amount of data was sent streaming into his brain. It continued for the rest of the night.

• • •

He watched the owner of the Pawn Shop buy the person’s gold and pay about half of what it was worth. “Why did that simpix accept that for their gold? They should know it was worth much more.”

“Not really.”

“What do you mean not really? The broadcast says gold has gone up to $935 an ounce today. It was clearly more than an ounce and they accepted five hundred dollars.”

“The owner of that shop is a master in deceiving people. He told that person that the gold was only ten karat instead of the fourteen karat it actually was. That decreased the value to about six hundred dollars. They felt they were getting a fair deal.”

He shook his head and said, “I think I understand. However, I’m still not very good at speaking their language.”

“That’s actually a good thing.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t even think about the correct words, just speak quickly and they’ll think you’re an alien.”

“Uhhh, duh, I am an alien.”

“No, you don’t understand. Look at the information you received last night and use the term green card to make your search.”

His eyes narrowed and after a moment they widened, “You want them to think I’m from another country.”

“Yes I do and there’s a green card and new driver’s license in the center console. The person whose identity you’ve taken did come from another country. Put the first driver’s license I gave you into the console and take out the new cards.”

He opened the center console and saw the two cards. He looked at the green card and frowned, “Where is this Norway?”

“It’s close to Sweden. The important thing is that most people have no idea what a Norwegian accent sounds like. If someone asks you a question you don’t want to answer, just say, ‘I not understand.’”

“And what happens if I actually do run into a Norwegian?”

“I gave you the language last night. Just connect with me mentally through your wrist unit and I’ll speak for you. Just don’t resist the connection.” He shrugged and stared at the name on the two cards, “How do you pronounce this?”

“Lukas Axel.”

“Ok, do you have the gold ready?” The console opened and he saw a gleaming series of links connected to each other. “If they ask where I got it…”

“It was passed down to you from your grandfather.”

“What is that?”

“The father of your father.”

He shrugged and just before he stepped out of the car, the pod said, “You should go and hit the front door with your hand to attract the owner of the building. DO NOT HIT IT TOO HARD! Once the owner comes to the door, tell him you’re interested in renting the space he has available. If he asks if you want to see it, ask him how much it will cost you. I’ll contact you through the unit if the price is fair. Try to get him to come down some, every owner expects you to make the effort. If you both agree on you getting it, tell him you have to go to the BANK to get the money.”

He followed the pod’s instructions in his mind and was able to pull out the words and their meanings. He nodded and started to open the door again and heard, “Make sure the rent includes a parking space. Tell him you’re going to leave your car and walk to the train.”

He nodded and reached for the door again and heard, “If the pawn shop owner doesn’t offer a good price…”

“ENOUGH! I’ll still be sitting here tomorrow at this rate. Let me see if he’ll rent me the space first.”

“I’m just trying to help.”

He sighed, “I know; I’m sorry.” He reached for the door handle and paused expecting another interruption, when it didn’t happen he opened the door and stepped out. He looked at the clothes he was wearing and wondered where the pod had found them. Then he realized the pod had made them from the material he had put in the converter the night before. He walked around the car and then went to the street that ran beside it. He walked to the corner and saw, Calumet Street. That’s a funny sounding name.

He turned the corner and walked up the front steps to the landing. He looked back over his shoulder and saw the city center; this house was located on the top of a hill and he could see the city over the rooftops of the houses. It was a cold grey day and he pulled his collar up around his neck. He turned and raised his hand and saw a black button on the wall under a light fixture. He thought about it for a moment and found that the black button was a doorbell. He pressed it and heard a sound inside the house. He then heard a voice from a square under the doorbell, “Yes, what is it?”

“I need to rent space. Sorry, I want to rent space.”

He stared at the speaker for a few moments and then heard the lock on the front door being turned. A middle aged Human stepped out of the door and stared at him in silence. “Is room still…uhhhh…”

“Yes it is.”

He smiled and said, “How much?”

“Where are you from?”

“Norway.”

The man nodded, “Not very many men your age have blonde hair. I knew you weren’t from around here. How long do you want to rent it?”

“I not understand.”

“The apartment is fifteen hundred dollars a month.”

“I was hoping twelve hundred.”

“No!”

“I pay three months.”

The man stared at him and nodded slowly. After a moment he said, “Thirteen hundred.”

He shook his head, turned to leave and the man said, “That’s the best I can do and it includes a parking place in the back. You’ll have to pay several hundred for a parking pass to park on the street.”

He stared at the owner and then smiled, “May I see?”

The man nodded and took him up to the second floor. He didn’t count on the space having furniture, which was a bonus, although it wasn’t good furniture. He listened to the owner as he talked about how the heater and AC operated and at the end he said, “I will take. I must go to bank to get dollars.”

“I’ll give it to someone else if you don’t come back quickly.”

“I leave car. Me walk to bank. I want the…apartment.”

The Man nodded and he walked off the porch and took a left at the street. The pawnshop was about three miles away and he had to walk down the steep hill to the main street a mile away. He started walking and thought about how to negotiate with the pawnshop owner. He also noticed that the human who he spoke with about the apartment didn’t appear to be in good health. His color didn’t look right.

• • •

Halfway down the hill he saw three humans that were staring at him from the other side of the street. They had dark skin and their expressions didn’t appear friendly. He found it surprising that the dominant species on this planet had many different appearances. It was like there were species within species. Every Welken looked pretty much the same. Black skin, silver hair, four fingers, never smiling. This species was different. He focused his hearing on them and listened to them, he heard one of them say, “This one looks like an easy Pidgeon.”

The other two nodded and they started crossing the street toward him. He analyzed the words and discovered they were going to attack him. He immediately started running and the three would be thieves were shocked at how fast he disappeared down the hill. “That dude is fast as Bolt.”

The leader shook his head and they went back to the other side of the street and leaned against a waist high brick wall. They would find a mark soon enough.

• • •

He arrived at the pawnshop and spent a few minutes looking around. He didn’t see anything of interest and a young, blonde and black-haired female came over, “Is there something I can help you find?”

He smiled at her and sensed her body temperature rise. Ummmm, why did she do that? “I see sign.”

She raised her eyebrows, “What sign?” He turned and walked toward the front door. She followed him as he stepped outside and pointed at the ‘We buy Gold’ sign taped to the window. “Do you want to sell gold?”

He raised his eyebrows and she shook her head. He reached in his pocket and took out the gold bracelet. The girl saw it and her eyes went wide. She didn’t know much but she knew this weirdo had a valuable bracelet. She turned and said, “Come with me.” He raised his eyebrows and she shook her head and waved at him to follow. He fell in behind her and she took him to the owner who was discussing a sale. They waited as the owner argued with the customer and after a moment he said, “Can’t you see I’m busy!”

She turned to him and said, “Show the gold!”

He took the bracelet out of his pocket and the owner’s eyes went wide. He looked at the customer, “Eighty dollars or nothing.”

“But…”

“OK, it’s nothing; now get out of here.” The customer scowled and left the counter. The owner turned to him and said, “What have we here?”

The Girl said, “He doesn’t speak good English.”

The owner smiled at that. He held out his hand and said, “May I see it?”

He stared at the owner just long enough and then took the bracelet out of his pocket and handed it to him. The owner immediately knew that this was pure gold and had to weigh at least thirteen ounces. He walked over to the jewelry counter and placed the bracelet on a black velvet pad. He reached under the counter and took out a scale. He placed the bracelet on the scale and the display showed, 13.1 ounces. Holy Mother of Midas! He kept his expression neutral and said, “I can give you two thousand dollars.”

He stared at the owner and lifted the bracelet out of the scale and turned toward the front door. The owner rushed around the counter said, “Whoa, whoa!” He stopped and his expression showed his disgust. The owner lifted his hands and said, “It appears you know your gold. I’ll give you seven thousand dollars.”

He kept the bracelet in his pocket and said, “Twelve thousand.”

The owner laughed out loud, “That’s almost full price and I can’t survive without making a profit. Where did you get this?”

He looked at the owner and said, “Given from grandfather.”

The owner said, “Let me see it again.” He handed it to him and the owner was amazed at the workmanship in the links. The clasp was missing but the bracelet was flawless. He didn’t need to test it to know that it was pure 24 karat gold. He looked up and said, “Ten thousand.”

He took the bracelet out of the owner’s hand and said, “I’ll take it to another place.”

“Ten thousand five hundred, that’s my final offer.”

He stopped and stared at the owner. His bushy eyebrows were high on his fat forehead. He could tell that he wanted the bracelet a lot, but… “In money.” The owner nodded so hard his cheeks moved up and down. “OK.”

“Let me see your driver’s license.”

He handed the license to the young girl and she began filling out the forms. The owner kept staring at the bracelet in his hand as he moved to the back cabinets and took out a cash box. The girl said, “This is a New York address.”

The owner looked at him and said, “Is this your address?”

“I not understand.”

“Do you live at this address?” He raised his eyebrows and the owner said, “Use that address.”

“But…”

“Look, I know it’s the genuine article. Use that address.” The girl turned around and continued filling out a form. She finally completed it and she put it in front of him on the counter and said, “Sign here, here, and here. Initial in the box.”

He pressed the button on the wrist unit and heard, “Sign your name…oh forget it, give me control.” He relaxed and felt the pod take the instrument the girl had handed him and write something on the form. The owner pushed a stack of currency toward him and held out his hand. He put the bracelet in the owner’s hand and took the currency and stuffed it in his jacket’s pockets. The young girl looked at his driver’s license and said, “Come back and see us, Lucas.”

He looked at her and smiled, “I will.” He walked out of the store and thought his new name sounded good when she said it. “Lucas.”

• • •

He finally made it back to the foot of the hill at Calumet Street and saw a building with a sign on it that read, “Auto Parts.” He stopped and stared at it for a moment and saw a machine pull up in front of it that looked just like the Pod’s new look. A young human got out and entered the store. Lucas followed him inside and heard him say, “I need a good wax that will protect and shine my new baby.”

The young man behind the counter looked out front and said, “WOW, a new Vette!” Can I see it?” The young man nodded and they walked outside. Lucas followed them as the owner showed the interior and responded to questions, “Yep, 454 horsepower. It’s a beast.”

Lucas listened and almost lost interest until he heard the young man that worked in the store say, “Let me tell ya, I believe in using a wax with paraffin.”

Lucas’ mouth fell open and he followed the two back into the store. The two men went to the back of the store to a display that read CAR DETAILING. The worker took a can and handed it to the car owner. They walked to the front of the store and Lucas walked over and lifted one of the cans. He read the ingredients and pressed the button on his wrist unit, “Guess what I’m holding?”

“What?”

“It’s something called car wax.”

“I know what that is. It’s used to make a car’s surface shiny. You don’t need it; I can make my surface shiny without it.”

“One of its major components is paraffin.”

“Say what?”

“Paraffin.”

“BUY ALL THEY HAVE AND BRING IT HERE NOW!!”

“Don’t get excited. There’s more than sixty cans of this stuff. I’ll buy four or five and bring them to you.”

“HURRY!”

Lucas purchased five cans along with a car cover just like the one the young human purchased in front of him. He exited the store and began running up the hill. He saw the three humans that planned to attack him later and they stood up from the wall as he sprinted by them. They watched him disappear up the hill and shook their head. That dude had run up the hill faster than they could downhill.

Lucas arrived at the parking lot and the rear hatch popped up as he arrived at the rear of the car. He tossed all five cans into the converter and the back hatch closed. He watched the car and after ten minutes the Pod said, “All of my scanners are blocked. I’ve installed a passive antenna in the rear bumper but from this moment on, the Stalkers, even the Sentinel, will not be able to see me.”

“I couldn’t believe they have paraffin.”

“You need to find some for your head.”

“Do you think they have it for humans to put on their bodies?”

“As much as these human males love their machines, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“I’ll look tomorrow. First I need to finalize the rental and then we’ll discuss our next steps to survive.”

“Call me when you’re done.” Lucas nodded and walked toward the street.

Chapter Three

“You know you can’t hide in there forever?”

“I am going slowly insane watching all of these television broadcasts. These humans really are conflicted.”

“You’ve been watching too much Judge Judy.”

“I suppose.”

“I’ve checked the beauty products you ordered and I’ve managed to create a paraffin powder that you can massage into your scalp and forehead. I really think it will block most of your brain activity. It will also seep into your pores and will remain even if you wash your hair. Just don’t rub your scalp too hard.”

“Block all of my brain activity? That’s just as bad as not enough. If I’m scanned and no electrical activity is detected, the Stalker’s computers will single me out.”

“No, it blocks eighty five percent out. If I used a stronger mixture it would block everything but I think this will do the job.”

“I’ve grown attached to the Paraffin Lavender Cream from Glamor Image.”

“It blocks too much. I would recommend that you wash your hats in the powder as well. You need to get out and find a place to work.”

“I can continue to sell the gold you create.”

“Too much of that will draw attention from the locals.”

Lucas sighed, “I’ll come down and get the powder.”

“Why don’t you do just that?”

Lucas went to the Pod, which was now covered in a paraffin coated car cover and lifted the cover off the rear. The hatch popped open and he took out a can from the converter’s side door. The hatch closed and he pulled the cover back over it. He went back to his apartment and took a bath. He kept a hat washed in paraffin cleaner on until he washed his hair quickly at the end. He toweled it dry and sprinkled the powder on his scalp and massaged the paraffin Aloe Vera into his forehead.

He dressed and walked down stairs. He walked down the hill and just nodded to the three men who didn’t even stand up. They knew they wouldn’t catch hm. He walked to the public transportation center and boarded a train. It was late fall and the temperatures were starting to drop. The wind was blowing and he pulled his jacket’s hood over his head as he exited the train and walked up to street level. This new body didn’t tolerate temperature extremes like his old one did. He looked around at the hundreds of students moving around the square and knew that classes were ending for the day.

He sat down on a bench and stared at the storefronts along the street next to the small park as he pushed his hands into his jacket’s pockets. He took a deep breath and blew it out slowly; it was good to be outside. He never spent much time indoors on his home planet; the weather was good all year round. Even the cold didn’t take away from his pleasure of being out of the apartment. Of course serving on a Welken Battleship kept him confined inside for months at a time. He had to admit this was better.

He had only met one human, other than the building owner and pawnshop employees. A young woman lived next door to him and she took the trash out the same time each Wednesday. Her name was Kathy and she was a student at Harvard. He always said hello and she responded but that was all they ever said.

His English had improved tremendously. Watching TV familiarized him with most of the language idioms and he talked to the screen to improve his pronunciation. The golf channel announcers taught him how to speak in a British Accent and he liked the way it sounded. He used it most of the time now. The Comcast cable he purchased allowed him to rewind the shows and repeat the phrases over and over until he had them right. He looked across the street and saw a man step outside of a restaurant and put a sign on the glass. Bus Boy Needed. What is a bus boy? He focused and saw it was a person who cleaned off tables in restaurants or other food establishments. He stood up and walked over to the man who had finished taping the sign, “I’m interested in the job.”

The man looked at him, “Are you a student?”

“Not at the moment.”

“Can you work flexible hours?”

“If you’re asking if I can work anytime, yes.”

“How old are you?”

“Twenty one.”

“When can you start?”

“How about right now?”

The man smiled and put out his hand, “My name is Jack.”

Lukas thought for a moment and then took his hand and shook it, “My name is Lukas.”

“Come inside and I’ll have Tony teach you what you have to do. He’s picking up some night classes and won’t be able to work four nights a week. If you demonstrate you can keep up with the work load, I’ll give you the job.”

Lukas went inside and started working with Tony. In less than three hours, Lukas was doing the work without being supervised by Tony. Tony told Jack he could take down the sign as Lukas was his man.

Jack took Lukas in the back office and had him fill out his employment papers. The Social Security Number was an issue but the Pod assured him the account was good and would not be noticed. He listed his home address on Calumet Street and his education level as high school, whatever that was. He saw Jack was satisfied with the information and gave him a schedule to start working the next day.

“Do you mind if I help Tony until closing? There’s a big crowd and I think he can use the help.”

“I won’t be able to pay you for today.”

“That’s ok. I need the time to learn everything.” Jack nodded and knew he had found a good worker. Lukas went out and began bussing tables. At the end of the night, Tony offered to share his tips from the waitresses. Lukas shook his head, “No, keep it. I needed your help to learn everything. It is I that should be paying you.”

Tony laughed, “We’re a good team, Luke. Welcome to our staff.” Lukas nodded and went back to work.

• • •

Lukas left the restaurant and rode the train to his stop. He pulled the hood over his head and started walking up the hill. The wind was blowing twenty miles an hour and it made the air feel like twenty-five degrees. He decided to go out and buy a heavier jacket the next day. He was halfway up the hill when he heard someone crying. He looked to the right and saw the three aggressive men had someone pinned to the ground. The largest of the three was on top of a female and the other two were cheering him on, “Do it, Moe. Teach her what she needs to know!” Lukas focused on the three and saw that it was his neighbor Kathy that was crying.

“You should stay out of this.”

Lukas shook his head, “I can’t just ignore this.” The Pod remained silent and Lukas walked over to the three attackers, “Why don’t you leave her alone?”

The three all jumped at his voice; they didn’t see him walk up on them in the dark. The big man looked at the other two, “Well look who’s here, Likidy Split. Teach him to not bother us when we’re busy.”

The two men walked away from Moe and separated as they approached Lukas from two sides. Both of them pulled long bladed knives out of their pockets. Lukas felt his metabolism speed up and he focused intently on their movements, “I really don’t want any trouble; why don’t you just let her go and walk away.”

The tallest of the three sneered, “You should have run!” as he rushed in and pushed his knife at Lukas’ stomach. The other attacker rushed in from behind Lukas as Lukas stepped inside the front attacker’s lunge, grabbed his arm, and swung him into the shorter attacker coming from behind. The shorter attacker had extended his knife as he rushed in and it entered the tall attacker’s chest and penetrated his heart. Lukas released the tall attacker and hit the other with a palm under his chin hard enough to lift him off the ground. There was a loud crack as the short attacker flew backward and stayed on the ground. Lukas turned toward the large man on top of Kathy and walked quickly toward him. Moe watched as his two associates were easily handled and he saw Lukas’ expression. He jumped up and ran away. Lukas reached down and helped Kathy to stand up and she collapsed into his arms. He picked her up and carried her up the hill.

She wailed, “They’re going to come back and kill us! “They’re going to kill us both!”

“Why would they do that? They’re the ones that attacked us.”

“They’re members of a gang. They’re going to come back and kill us. The one that escaped will go and bring the others! They will punish me and you.”

“You’ll be safe in your home before they arrive.”

“They’ll stay here every day and wait for me…and you. They’re going to kill us.”

Kathy wailed all the way back to her apartment and Lukas carried her inside. He put her on a couch and said, “You will not be bothered by them.”

“You just don’t know! You just don’t know!”

Lukas went out the door and closed it gently. “I told you to stay out of it.”

“Did you see where the big one went?”

“He’s going to a warehouse about a mile from here.”

“Can you scan it and hear what they’re planning?”

“Give me a few moments.”

Lukas went back down the hill to the two attackers and saw that both of them were dead. He had hit the second attacker too hard and had shattered the vertebrae in his neck as his head snapped back. He looked around and wondered what he should do with the bodies. “They’re coming back here with a…van to pick up the bodies. They’re planning to do some rather drastic rearranging of your vital organs tomorrow.”

“What about the girl?”

“You don’t want to know what they’re planning for her.”

“Come and pick me up. I want to be at that warehouse when they return.”

“On my way.” The Corvette came down the hill and slid to a stop. Lukas jumped in and the Pod accelerated down the hill, passing a white van as it started up the hill.

“Did they see me?”

“No, I darkened the glass. Just what do you intend to do?”

“I can’t just wait on them to make a move.”

“Do you think you can handle all four of them alone? I can provide you with a stunner.”

“No, I think I’ll have surprise on my side and I am a little faster than they are.”

“Did you say, ‘Little’?”

“Just be ready to fire at the building if it gets out of hand.”

“I’d prefer not to do that.”

“Why?”

“The ones that come and investigate this will know that the fire was started with a flame hotter than anything on this planet.”

“Even so, just be ready if I have to run.”

“You’re the boss.”

“Boss?”

“Look it up.”

He thought for a moment and shrugged, “Get me to the warehouse.”

• • •

“What do you dumbasses get yourselves into?”

“Goat, that dude must be some kind of Green Beret or somethin’. I never seen no dude move that fast.”

“He did catch you; where the bodies at?”

“Stop here!” The van squealed to a stop, Moe jumped out, and ran to the two bodies lying on the grass between two houses. “Here they are.”

“This looks like shorty’s blade in Taco.”

“It is; the dude threw Taco on it.” Moe looked around, “They couldn’t have gone far.”

“Why not?”

“I beat on her legs real good. She wasn’t going anywhere fast. They live at the top of the hill.”

Goat looked up the hill and pointed toward the van, “Throw them in and let’s see if we can find em.”

Moe and Kong threw the bodies in the van and Gilliam accelerated up the hill. They arrived at the top and didn’t see anyone. “Where do they stay?” Silence greeted Goat’s question and he turned around and looked at Moe, “I asked you a question.”

“I don’t know. I always seen them walking up and down the hill.”

Goat rolled his eyes and then shook his head, “I want this hill staked out starting in the daylight, you understand! Shoot the dude and bring me the wo.”

“They may not come out after what went down.”

“I don’t care if you wait a month, you will do as I tell ya!” Moe nodded and slinked down in the back of the van. He looked at Kong and saw him sitting on the dead bodies eating a sandwich. Goat looked out of the front glass, “We need to go back home and wrap these dead in plastic for Charles to eat. Just make sure there’s enough weight to feed him well.”

Moe nodded, “I’ve got the chains stored in a barrel.” Goat nodded as the van made a U-turn and headed back down the hill.

“They’re on the way back.” Lukas nodded and moved to the side of the warehouse closest to the large metal door. He listened and finally the van pulled up as the door started rising. He slipped in behind the van and followed it into the warehouse.

Moe and Kong exited the sliding door in the side of the van as Gilliam looked at Goat and shook his head, “I know, he’s dumb but he follows orders.” Gilliam shrugged and heard a gunshot. He grabbed the assault rifle and exited the van.

• • •

Lukas saw Moe moving back toward the door and he stepped out from behind the van. Moe was stunned speechless but he had enough sense to pull a handgun out of his belt. He pointed it at Lukas, who stepped in and grabbed his arm and spun him around. Gilliam came around the front of the van aiming the assault rifle and Lukas put his hand over Moe’s and pulled back on his index finger. Gilliam didn’t get a shot off before a bullet hit him in the forehead. Moe felt like he was in the grip of a demon force. He felt an arm around his chest that crushed all the air out of his lungs; he couldn’t stop what was being done with his arm.

Kong grabbed a shotgun off a table and pointed it at Moe and Lukas. Lukas spun Moe around and the shotgun blast hit Moe in the chest. Lukas ducked behind Moe’s large body just before Kong fired and then he lifted Moe and ran at an incredible speed toward Kong. Goat had come out of the passenger’s door and fired all six shots in his 44 Revolver and missed with all six. He had woefully underestimated Lukas’ speed. Lukas raised Moe’s gun again and pulled on his finger twice. Kong was hit in the throat and then in the right eye. He dropped the shotgun and fell to the floor.

Goat pulled out a Colt 45 semi-auto out of his belt and opened fire again. Lukas threw Moe’s body to the side and dove to the floor and slid by Kong’s body; he picked up the shotgun as he passed. He raised it above Kong’s dead body and pulled the trigger just as he moved his head slightly right. A bullet missed hitting him by an inch and clipped the top of his left ear. He looked at Goat and saw he no longer had a face. The gang leader remained standing for an instant and then collapsed to the floor.

“You’re going to need to get your fingerprints off that shotgun.”

“I stopped the oil in my hands thirty minutes ago. The only fingerprints will be the huge man’s. By the way, did you get the frequency that opened the door?”

Lukas ran out of the warehouse and the door began closing behind him, “I did.”

“We need to get home, my ear is bleeding.”

“Lay back in the seat and I’ll use the DNA program to heal it.” Lukas leaned back and in a moment, the ear returned to normal.

“I should have thought of that.”

“You were preoccupied. Let’s get out of here.” The dark Vette lifted over the trees in back of the warehouse and landed in an alley fifty yards behind it, just as the first police cruisers arrived. It quietly moved away from the site and arrived at Lukas’ apartment three minutes later. “The local law enforcement are just now breaking through the warehouse door. I’ll keep you informed on what they determine.”

“Thanks, I’m turning on the TV to see if anything turns up.” Things did turn up.

• • •

The next day, Lukas took out his garbage and found Kathy sitting in a chair on her porch waiting for him. Lukas saw her and paused; after a moment he smiled and said, “Are you alright?”

“I need some help getting up to my room. I managed to bring the garbage down but my legs hurt too much to climb the stairs; can you help me?” Lukas put the garbage bag in the dumpster and nodded. He walked over and picked Kathy up and carried her up the stairs. She used her key to open the door and he carried her toward the couch, “If you don’t mind, please take me to the bedroom.” Lukas carried her in and put her gently on the bed. He started to leave by she grabbed his hand, “I want to thank you for taking care of me.”

“Anyone would have come to your aid last night.”

“I’m not talking about that. I heard on the news this morning that the gang that attacked me had a shootout and killed every member. Thank you.”

Lukas looked her in the eyes and quietly said, “The news says they killed each other.”

Kathy smiled and said, “But you and I know better.” Kathy pulled him down to the bed and Lukas was surprised by her strength. He also learned why humans were so wrapped up in the opposite sex. It all made sense, now.

• • •

He left Kathy later and walked back to his apartment. He wondered how she knew but finally decided she figured it out after he told her they were not going to harm her. His head was spinning and suddenly, everything that was so confusing about this species started to make sense. He watched TV until time to leave for work and everything seemed to be clear. He left his apartment and walked down the hill and thought about everything that had happened the night before. He was lucky. He took a huge chance at going after the four gang members and had almost been shot. He thought about if he would do it again and after he arrived at the restaurant, he had to say he would. He felt something when he found her being attacked and coming to her defense was almost a genetic response. He knew he had to do it. It wasn’t something that he had thought through; it was something that took control of him. This was something he needed to discuss with the pod. But first, work.

• • •

He didn’t see Kathy for four days but on the fifth he saw her on her front porch hugging a young man. She saw him and yelled, “Lukas, come over here, please.” Lukas was wondering what was going on and he walked over. Kathy said, “Lukas, this is John. He’s my fiancé; we’re getting married this coming May.”

John came down the steps and said, “I want to thank you for taking Kathy up to her apartment after she fell down the steps. Her legs are really bruised. I really do appreciate it.”

Kathy stared at Lukas and he smiled, “What are neighbors for? Congratulations, I wish both of you the best.” John shook his hand and Lukas saw Kathy nod slightly. He turned and went back to the garbage can. He didn’t understand why she had done what she did, but after several days he decided that it was the only thing she could do to thank him. He knew this was someone he would have to put behind him. He sighed and went back upstairs.

• • •

He watched TV for an hour and then turned it off. He stared at the black screen for another hour and then picked up his jacket. “Don’t let this bother you.”

“Easy for you to say.”

“She’s just the first, there will be others.”

He stopped on the third step from his porch and thought, “How can you say that?”

“I’ve been listening to the females that work in your restaurant.”

“You have?”

“Oh yes!”

He stood there for a moment and then smiled, “Why didn’t you say so?”

“I rather let them do the talking.” He laughed and began walking down Calumet.

Chapter Four

The Welken Royal looked at his Fleet Royal on his monitor, “Have we learned anything about the missing task force?”

“No, Your Greatness. It’s like they just vanished. However, my staff is of the opinion that they ran into an overwhelming Myot force.”

“I’m not clear on what you’re communicating.”

“Every Myot fleet has formed a screen to the Universal East of our Confederacy. That screen has a huge number of giant battleships that we’ve never seen before.”

“Why would they be forming a screen?”

“It’s to either keep us from moving in that direction…”

“Or?”

“To keep someone from coming to us from that direction. The Scientists on the Staff have surmised that our missing task force must have encountered those giant ships and that is what happened to it.”

“There’s got to be more than that.”

“They have surmised, without direct evidence, that our taskforce may have discovered where those giant ships are being built. If they did, it’s possible that a survivor may have escaped.”

The Royal nodded, “And if that’s true, they can’t allow that escapee to tell us where those facilities might be.”

“That’s how they see it. They haven’t found him yet.”

“Oh? How do you know?”

“That screen is still in place. The entire Myot Fleet is stuck here until they do.”

“Do we want to do anything about this?”

“We know what direction the escapee must have gone to get away. That tells us that the location they’re trying to hide must be Universal North or South of here.”

The Royal nodded slowly and then said, “If those giant ships came from that location, they had to leave a skip trail to join that screen. Contact our scout Task Forces and see if they can’t find a trace.”

“I’ve already ordered them to start the search.”

“Inform me if anything turns up.”

The Fleet Royal nodded and the monitor went dark. The Myot won’t attack us here, even with those new ships. Our planetary defenses dwarf those ships, but if they can build enough of them…we need to find that escapee. He pressed a button on his panel and a black being appeared, “Has anyone contracted your services?”

“Why do you ask, Your Greatness?”

“I might need them soon.”

“You best hurry, we have a standing contract with the Myot.”

“Would it be possible for you to tell me if you find what that contract is executed to uncover?”

“You know that would be highly unethical.”

“I’ll pay double if it’s the Myot that have that contract.”

“Why don’t you just buy us out?”

“I’d prefer to keep this just between the two of us. I won’t allow anyone to know about this but just the two of us.”

The black being stared at the Welken Royal, “Did you say double?”

“I did.”

“I’ll let you know.”

The monitor went dark again and the Royal smiled. The Myot must think that the escapee went to ground on a primitive planet or they would just go after him themselves. This would have to be handled delicately. The Sentinels must not know about what was going on.

• • •

The being looked like a white gas ball with multicolored sparks flashing in it. It felt its anger rise and then, it mentally shrugged. The rules agreed on by all the members of the fellowship were no longer being followed. They had been ignored for more than four hundred years and these two species were the most frequent violators. It was foolish for them to think he wouldn’t know everything that happened, that’s what his civilization did best. He always kept his attention on the rulers of those two species and it was ludicrous for them to think they could deceive him. It thought to the Sentinel charged with following the landing of the escapee on a primitive planet, “I assume you know where this escapee is hiding.”

“I do. I followed him from the moment he ejected from his destroyed battleship.”

“Is he now on that primitive planet?”

“He is.”

“A most grievous violation of our rules.”

“He’s not the only one that violates them.”

“That doesn’t excuse his actions. Has he caused issues?”

“No, he’s actually done nothing but blend in with the local population and attempt to avoid discovery. I must say he’s done a remarkable job of hiding and avoiding any mistake that would affect that species’ development.”

“What do you think about the planet he’s currently located?”

“The species there is both beautiful and horrific in things it does. I believe if the Stalkers go in, there will be a massive war for possession of it.”

“Why?”

“The planet has enormous petroleum deposits. Whoever takes it will most likely become the most powerful in the Fellowship.”

“You should go there now. Don’t allow anyone to know of your presence.”

“What about the stalkers if they arrive?”

“Tell no one.”

“What about the presence of the escapee?”

“If you remove him, will that stop the Stalkers coming to investigate?”

“Probably not. They won’t know I did it unless we tell them.”

“If we do that, they’ll know we’re watching everything they do.”

The Sentinel thought for a moment and said, “For the moment, do nothing.”

The thoughts ended and the Sentinel turned his attention to the planet where the escapee was hiding. He was curious about what the other had seen. How could a species be both beautiful and horrific? And if that was true, how could a Welken Warrior blend in?

• • •

Lukas picked up the dirty dishes and wiped the table clean. He saw the crowd was growing; night classes at Harvard and M.I.T. were ending and the students were coming in for a late meal or appetizer. Jack was smart by offering a one-man band to entertain them and Joey was very entertaining. He was one half musician and the other comedian. Both halves were as good as most full time musicians and comedians. He was especially good with the college students. The funny thing was that Joey did it for free. Rumors were he inherited millions and didn’t need the work, he just loved doing it and he never failed to show up. The student community loved him. Lukas also enjoyed listening to his music and trying to really understand his comedy. Once you understood what a species found funny, you truly understood that species.

He saw the young professor arrive at her normal time. She always came in thirty minutes after night classes ended. She would sit at the end of the bar by herself, open a legal pad, order an appetizer and a glass of wine, and duck her head as she wrote in the pad. He could set a clock by her punctuality. She spoke to others when spoken to but, for the most part, she focused on the pad.

Lukas took the tub full of dishes into the kitchen and emptied them to be cleaned. He grabbed his tub and walked out to pick up the other tables. Loren saw him exit the kitchen and yelled, “Luke, come over here!” Luke walked over to the bar and Loren smiled, “I’ve made you a glass of orange juice. Hang on a moment.”

Luke smiled and waited at the bar. Jack had told the bartenders to make sure Lukas had enough fruit juice to drink to keep his energy up. Lukas refused until Jack told him that he ordered them to do it. “But that is like stealing.”

“Lukas, you work too hard, non-stop; I want you to drink something to maintain your energy and a fruit drink will do that. Consider it part of your pay.”

Luke watched Loren hand a tray full of beer to Julie and saw the woman had gone to the restroom. He glanced over at her pad and saw she was working on solving an equation. He shook his head. She was wasting her time, she had made an error in the fifth line and no matter how far she moved forward, it would never balance. He looked around and saw no one was paying him any attention; he turned the pad back to the first page and glanced at her work. He lifted a pen from Loren’s pencil glass and lined through the fifth line and wrote the correct equation. He put the pen back as Loren arrived and he took his drink and walked away as the professor arrived.

Dr. Salud Anna Vazquez sat back down and saw her pad was now showing the first page. She looked around and didn’t see anyone near and wondered how the pages had changed. The heater came on overhead and she felt the small wind coming from it. She solved the mystery, which was a lot better than she had done with this devilish equation. She had been working on it for two years and she was just about to give up. She knew she was on the right track but something in it eluded her. She started to turn back to the page she had been working on and saw the ink…her anger was immediate. The nerve of someone to desecrate her work. She was going to tell Jack a thing or two about it. But she hesitated. How did she know it was one of his employees that did it? She looked at the new line that was written in and shook her head, “Why would anyone insert two variables that would obviously be removed ten pages later. She had worked the equation so many times she knew it all by memory. She turned back to the last page and continued working on solving it. She was ticked that whoever had done it had written in ink. She always used a pencil so she could erase her mistakes. Two hours later, she stood and left the bar.

Lukas watched her go and shook his head. She had obviously ignored his insertion. Oh well, her loss. He picked up another table and saw Julie staring at him from across the room. He knew she was interested in him, along with Stephany, Susan, Gloria, and Tara. He saw the Pod was right about Kathy being the first but not the last. But every time he thought about returning their interest, he saw the image of a Stalker. If anyone was involved with him when they showed up…he couldn’t put them in danger of being killed along with him.

He looked across the bar at the laughing students and smiled; Joey really had them going. It was amazing that he very seldom used the same material but always had something new to make them laugh. He thought back to his childhood and couldn’t remember ever laughing. Life was spent learning how to operate a disruptor or a missile battery until his seventh birthday. Once he achieved a passing grade, he was sent to fleet operations for the rest of his education. If he failed to pass…well, he didn’t. He thought about his brother, who ended up in the mines digging metal ores to manufacture the Confederacy’s warships. He died long before his time. He took a deep breath and knew these students would also end up digging in mines if their scientists ever built a star drive. He realized that by coming here, their discovery was unavoidable and their slavery would be, in part, his fault. But they were a very long way from developing a star drive. They hadn’t even really made it off the planet. But…he took a deep breath and blew it out. There was so much love around him. There were also demons intent on doing harm, but this species was…he paused. He looked at Julie and smiled. This species was home. He no longer desired to go back to his home world and warn them about the Myot manufacturing facilities. Julie smiled back at him and winked. All the other waitresses saw the exchange and felt their jealousy. Lukas was just so beautiful.

• • •

Lukas walked up the steps to his apartment and heard, “It appears we have a problem.”

“What is that?”

“Kathy is pregnant.”

“How is that a problem?”

“Her fetus has a developing brain that even I can see with my passive scanner.”

“You mean it’s mine!?”

“If not, it’s a huge jump in evolution.”

“Surely the Stalkers will see that it’s an unborn child and couldn’t be me. It could be exactly that, an evolutionary jump.”

“Zyrl, put yourself in the Stalker’s boots. You detect an unborn child with a brain that is different from every other human on the planet. Couple that with the missing escape pod, as well as this planet is within the range of the void disturbance, and if they’ve not found anything else, what do you think they’ll do?”

“They’ll come to make sure.”

“Exactly.”

“Don’t call me Zyrl anymore; I prefer Lukas.”

“I’ve been wondering about that. It appears you’ve developed an attachment for this species. Are you forgetting who you are?”

Lukas thought for a moment and sighed, “I know you’re a machine; but you have the ability to think cognitively. Tell me what you think about this species, when compared to my own.”

“That’s not a fair comparison.”

“Why not?”

“Because all the species under the governance of the Fellowship are in danger of attack at any moment. They are all bound to struggle to survive.”

“Something is just wrong about that. There has to be a better way to exist than constant war and death.”

“At least the Sentinels have slowed the destruction of planets.”

“The important word in that sentence is slowed. They’ve not stopped it.”

“So far, the Stalkers have not appeared. The Myot must be checking every uninhabited piece of rock five hundred light years around the disruption I made in the void. However, I don’t think they’ll continue to search much longer without turning them loose to check the primitive planets inside that distance.”

“How many are there?”

“Ten.”

“Ten teams of Stalkers will cost them too much.”

“Ordinarily, I would agree, but the information you possess is too important. They’ll hire as many as they need.”

“What do you think they’ll do to Kathy and her baby?” There was a long moment of silence and he said, “I asked…”

“I heard you.”

“Well?”

“The Stalkers will report to the Myot about the petroleum on this planet and they will covet it like nothing else. They’ll probably forget about you and start focusing on acquiring Earth as a possession. They will allow Kathy to have her baby knowing that it will grow up and probably develop the star drive they’ll need as an excuse to invade.” Lukas put his head in his hands. The Pod was right. That child would understand the principles of how the universe operated and if it didn’t develop it, its children would. “There’s only one way to stop this.”

“I will not kill Kathy’s child.”

“Would you prefer to see this entire species enslaved and all of its natural resources stripped and used to build invincible warships? Humans will be the slaves used to build them.”

“I need to talk with Kathy about this. She had to be part of the decision.”

“Is that because you don’t have the courage to do it alone?”

“What?”

“What do you think she’ll say? You tell her that her baby will cause the entire planet to be enslaved and, even if she agrees to allow you to kill it, she will be emotionally destroyed for the rest of her life.”

Lukas stared at the floor. He thought furiously and after thirty minutes he sighed, “Do you really think killing it will stop the Stalkers from coming?”

“No.”

“All that killing it would accomplish is that they might not find me.”

“That is correct.”

“They will find the oil here either way.”

“Once again, you see it. If they come here, they will see the oil.”

“So all I’d really be doing is trying to save my own life by killing her unborn child.”

“You are correct.”

“Why would you suggest this to me?”

“What is my prime mission?”

Lukas shook his head, “To get me back to safety and do everything possible to keep me safe.”

“That child is not part of my mission.”

Lukas nodded slowly and after a moment said, “Keeping it safe is part of mine.”

“I expected you to feel that way.”

“Do you think I’m wrong?”

“My program prevents me from agreeing with placing yourself in danger.”

“But?”

“This species deserves all the time it can have to be free.”

Lukas smiled, “I think you’re thinking like me.”

“You don’t have to insult me.”

“Don’t take it personally; I never would have lived this long without your guidance. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I hope she doesn’t encounter problems with her fiancé over this.”

“Uhhh, I don’t think you have to worry about that.”

Lukas looked up, “Why do you say that?”

“John is not capable of having children. He was born with a genetic defect and is incapable of producing the male reproductive cells.”

“What?”

“They agreed that Kathy would find a suitable male and that she would allow John to meet him. She told him about you saving her life and he insisted that you be the one. He came here that day to meet you.”

“So this baby is important to them?”

“Very much so.” The Pod paused and said, “I’m somewhat surprised you don’t feel an attachment to it?”

“Oh, am I supposed to?”

“I guess your childhood removed any of that from your psyche.”

“Families don’t exist in the Welken social order. Three of my older siblings were disrupted because they didn’t have enough to offer the Confederacy. I’m surprised they allowed my parents to have another child.”

“Their first one was promoted to command a cruiser. I think if you had failed, they would have been listed for disruption.”

“What do you think the Ruler will do if I refuse to return?”

“Right now they don’t have a clue who escaped. If they’ve figured out that the Myot are looking for an escapee, then at the moment you are a hero. It’s just as important for you to avoid the Welken as well as the Stalkers and Myot.”

“You need to disrupt me if there’s any chance of me being found.”

“You know I can’t do that.”

Lukas thought for a long moment and said, “I need a disrupter to keep with me at all times.”

“For what purpose?”

Lukas smiled, knowing that if he said it was to commit suicide, the Pod would not allow him to have it, “For self-defense if the Myot find me.”

“Come down here and give me your wrist unit. I’ll put a second button on it that will send a disruptor beam out of the face.”

“Do you want to take a ride while you’re working on it?”

“Yes, I do. I don’t get out very often.”

“I’ll be down shortly.”

• • •

“Fleet Drang, what have you discovered about that escape pod?”

“Supremacy, it has not shown up in any of our searches. We’ve scanned every solar system within a thousand light years of the disruption it used to escape.”

“What about the inhabited planets?”

“We’ve actually found six more than the original ten we knew about.”

“Have you reported…”

“I’ve contacted the Sentinel and gave him the location of the new planets.”

“Good! We need to follow the guidelines.”

“Do you want the Stalkers called in?”

“How many planets?”

“Sixteen, Supremacy.”

The Myot Ruler flinched. The cost was going to be prohibitive. He was almost going to say no until the Drang said, “We can’t move our fleets until we find that pod.”

The cost of maintaining the fleets for another month would exceed what the Stalkers would cost. “Notify them to start their search.”

“Yes Supremacy.”

• • •

The Welken Royal pressed a button on his panel, “Why have you contacted me?”

“Are you still interested in matching the Myot contact?”

“How much is it.”

“You said you would double their contract fee. They’ve contracted us to search sixteen planets.”

“SIXTEEN!!”

“Yes, Your Greatness. They’ve discovered six more primitive planets during their search for the pod.”

“And you will give me information on everything you find?”

“If your agreement still stands, I will.”

The Royal stared at the Stalker on his monitor and after a moment shook his head, “I don’t like this, but I’m going to send half of the payment to your account now. You’ll receive the other after you send me the information.”

“That would be good.”

“However, if you find the one the Myot are searching for, I do require you to extract anything that he might know and send it to me.”

“It will kill the one we take it from.”

“You will do as I ask!”

The Stalker nodded and the monitor went dark. The Stalker was quite happy about the agreement. The Myot wanted the escapee dead and draining his mind would accomplish that. He’d send the information to the Welken, and their request would also be met. Now the issue was finding that Welken Crewman. If he could find him without having to change his Stalkers’ DNA to go down on all sixteen planets, he could make a fortune without a huge expense. He’d scan the planets from space first and hopefully, he would turn up. If not…sixteen of his teams were going to undergo DNA transformation in order to go down to the planets to search.

Chapter Five

Salud stared at her pad and knew she had failed again. The equation had ended abruptly on the forty eighth page. She could feel it was so close but she just couldn’t pull it out. What was she missing? She leaned back on her couch and saw the news channel on TV playing the latest deaths caused by terrorists; the numbers were starting to get out of hand. She fell back on her couch and said, “TV off!” The screen went dark and she picked up the glass of wine that had once been chilled. She took a sip and put it back down. She glanced to her right and saw the stack of tablets she had filled with numbers and symbols. It was time to admit she had met her match and move on to other things. She stared at the stack, stood up, and walked over to her desk where they were taking up space. She began picking them up, opening them to the first page, until she found the one with the ink insertion.

She felt miffed but she took a clean tablet out of a file drawer and went back to the couch. She took another sip of wine, winced, and then copied the first five lines into the new tablet. She started solving the equation and began seeing different results by the end of the second page. She forgot the wine, her class schedule, eating a meal, or anything else for the three days it took her to finally solve the equation. A University Official showed up and found her collapsed on her couch and called 911. She was dehydrated and too weak to refuse the trip to the hospital, but after another two days she returned home and opened the tablet again to confirm she had actually solved the equation and that it wasn’t a dream. She went to her classes and at the end of the final one, she headed toward the restaurant. There was someone she had to find.

• • •

Lukas looked at the crowd and shook his head. The Bruins had played and the fans had arrived with the students coming out of night classes. Jack called Tony in and both he and Lukas struggled to keep up with the crowd. Salud found her place at the bar taken by several students and waited while she looked around. The bartender was the same one that was there the night the notation was put in her pad. She watched the people in the room but watched the restaurant staff closely. Finally, Joey began performing and the three girls stood up to get a good place to listen; she went to her usual chair and continued to look around. Loren came over and smiled, “Do you want the usual?” Salud nodded and looked around. She had not been around for a while and she was looking for someone who had missed her. She saw a waitress look at her and smile. Nope, not her. The male bartender looked at her from the other end of the bar and then looked away. Not him, either. She saw a bus boy cleaning a table close by and she stared at him. He cleaned the table, stood up, and headed toward the kitchen door behind her. He looked at her and continued into the kitchen. Not him. Lauren came over with her glass of wind and she said, “I’m wondering if you could help me.”

Lauren smiled, “Sure, what is it?”

“I was in here about a month ago and I had to go to the restroom; do you remember?”

“Yes, I do. You asked me to make sure no one spilled anything on that tablet you were writing in.”

“Yes, that’s exactly right. I was wondering if anyone came here while I was gone?”

Lauren’s eyes narrowed and she stared out of the front glass. She started shaking her head slowly and said, “Nooooo. I don’t remember anyone. It was a slow night if I remember correctly.”

“It was. There were students listening to Joey.”

“Yeah, but Matt handled all their requests at the other end of the bar. Why do you ask? Did someone bother your tablet?”

“No, nothing like that. I found a piece of jewelry on the floor and I want to return it to the rightful owner.”

“You can give it to me and I’ll ask around.” Lauren lowered her head and looked through her eyebrows at her. Lauren held up her hands and laughed, “I understand. If I think of anyone, I’ll let you know.”

“Thanks, I’d appreciate it a lot.” Salud turned around in her chair and started looking at other people in the restaurant. Whoever made the insertion had to be a regular. The odds were clear about that. Whoever did it had to have seen her working on the equation many times and felt pity for her. Who was it? Thirty minutes later, she saw another bus boy, much taller than the first one, come walking around the bar with a full tub of dishes. He turned the corner walking carefully through the standing room only crowd and looked up to see her staring at him. IT’S HIM! He quickly lowered his eyes and went into the kitchen. Salud turned and motioned Lauren back over. She walked up and Salud smiled, “You have a busboy that is tall, well-muscled…”

“That’s Lukas. He’s pretty hard to miss. Isn’t he gorgeous?”

“Did he come over here while I was gone?”

Lauren looked at the bar and after a moment said, “I think he did. I called him over to get a glass of orange juice.” Lukas came out of the kitchen moving quickly and Lauren yelled, LUKAS! Come over here!”

Lukas stopped and knew to ignore Lauren would be worse than going over. Something about the female professor made him nervous. Lukas walked over and smiled at both of them. Salud saw he had himself under control. Lauren said, “Have you lost a piece of jewelry?”

“No, I don’t wear jewelry.”

Lauren looked at Salud, “Sorry, I guess it was someone else.” Salud stared Lukas directly in his eyes and saw he was not giving any more clues. But, when he was caught by surprise, his eyes gave him away. Salud smiled and said, “Let me buy you a glass of orange juice.”

Lukas smiled and shook his head, “I get it free. Besides, Tony and I are not keeping up with the crowd. Thanks anyway.” He turned and walked away. Salud watched him go and knew he was the one that made the insertion. She couldn’t tell how she knew, but she was certain about it. She would pay him another visit after she confirmed the equation would do all she hoped. Then, she’d have a piece of jewelry for him that he would want to accept.

• • •

“We’ve got problems!”

Lukas pressed the button on his wrist unit to connect him with the Pod, “What is it this time?”

“A Stalker Searchship has arrived in orbit and is scanning the planet.” Lukas stood straight up and felt his fear immobilize him. Don’t freeze. Keep doing what you’re doing?”

Lukas forced himself to pick up the dirty dishes, “We need to get out of Boston!”

“You need to slow your pulse down and force the adrenaline out of your bloodstream. Contact me when you can think.”

Lukas continued cleaning the table as he forced his body to remove the fight or flight enzymes out of his circulatory system. After he had cleaned three tables he thought, “Let’s try this again. Why shouldn’t we leave?”

“If a place is robbed. Where is the safest place for the robbers to hide?” Lukas thought for a moment and his eyebrows went up. “That’s right; close to the robbery location. The Stalkers will know that you have an advanced Escape Pod and it would see the developing fetus. They would expect you to put as much distance between you and that child as possible.”

“But they might scan me.”

“The paraffin will prevent that. You’re only showing the mental energy of ninety percent of the local population. If they find you it won’t be because of their scans.”

Lukas began thinking and saw Jack standing close to the front door greeting customers as they entered the restaurant. He walked over and Jack smiled, “You need to get to work.”

“I am, I just have a question.”

“What is that, son?”

“If someone asked you how long I’ve been working here, what would you tell them?”

Jack’s brow furrowed and he said, “Six months. Why do you ask?”

“I keep getting other restaurant owners asking me if I’d be interested in going to work for them. I tell them I’ve been here two years and really like it. I just don’t want to upset them if they ask you and you tell them something else.”

Jack was angry. Well, it stood to reason, it was clear Luke was a hard worker and any good restaurant could use a good busboy. “Forget two years, make it three from now on.”

“Thanks, Jack.” Lukas turned and walked back into the restaurant. Jack forced a smile and greeted a family as they walked through the door. Lukas hated to do it but he went in the back office and changed the employment date on his applications. His trail needed to be covered up. The pod made the necessary changes to his Social Security account and IRS tax returns. The Pod made the changes while the Stalker vessel was on the other side of the planet. Once it completed its work, it sent a thought to Lukas, “I’m shutting down all systems. If you need to communicate, you’ll have to come and do it inside.”

“Got it!” Now Lukas felt completely alone. He continued to clean tables and forced his fear away.

• • •

Salud walked into the lab and saw her five doctorial students waiting on her. She smiled and said, “How is it coming?”

Orin said, “We have four completed but they don’t do anything but shine light out of the glass prism. Is that what they’re supposed to do?”

“Are you sure you have the energy source directed properly at the exact center of the glass?”

Regina nodded, “All the beams from the four emitters are hitting at the exact center of the glass.”

“I want you to recheck your findings and have it done within three days. I want to see the report on the emitters on my desk no later than Friday morning. I want the power of the light measured exactly.”

The students groaned but took the four round devices off the table and placed them in a series of machines. Salud walked out of the lab and left the campus. She went to Cohen Jewelers and asked for Joseph. She stood at the counter for a few minutes and then Joseph came out from the back of the store and smiled, “I’ve missed you.”

“You always miss me, even when I’m with you.”

“That’s because I know you’re going to leave.”

“Why don’t you admit that you’d kick me out if I stayed with you longer than twelve hours?”

“It’s fourteen hours now that your mother is no longer with me.”

Salud leaned over the counter and kissed her father on the cheek, “I miss her, too, Father.”

“What brings you here?”

“I was hoping you still have the diamonds Mom left me.”

“Do you honestly think I’d let anything happen to them? Have you decided how you want them cut?”

“I think I have.”

Joseph grabbed his forehead with his right hand, “Oh, I feel the earth is going to fall out of orbit. You’ve made a decision?”

Salud pulled out a sheet of paper and placed it on the counter, “Can you cut four of them to match this?”

Joe stared at the diagram and looked up at his daughter, “Where did you get this?”

“I’ve been working on the right cut for a long time. A very long time.”

Joe nodded as he stared at the drawing, “I found those years ago and your mother insisted that you should decide how they should be cut. After a moment he said, “The dimensions you’ve put on it, are they flexible?”

Salud stared into his eyes and said, “No, they must be exactly as you see them.”

Joe looked back at the drawing and shook his head, “It may take eight or ten of the diamonds to make four.”

“I’d rather have four exactly like I want them, than twenty not done as I want.”

Joe looked at the drawing again and looked up at Salud, “You’re so much like your mother.”

She smiled and softly said, “I know.”

Joe stared at the drawing again and said, “If I cut them like this…the light entering the stone will gather in the center before it’s reflected.”

“That should make it really sparkle.”

“It will also increase the brightness of the light exiting. How did you come up with this?”

“I used one of the University Computers to help me.”

“Would you mind if I cut some other stones like this?”

“Only if you intend to give them all to me.”

Joe laughed out loud, “Now you’re acting like my daughter.”

“I’m so much like you, Dad. When can you have the first one ready?”

“I can have two of them ready in three days.”

“That would be wonderful. I’ll be back on Friday.” Joe kissed her again and Salud left the store and headed back to the lab.

Lukas sat in his apartment with all the lights off. He focused on his vision and watched the street and hoped he was wrong. He stared at the doorbell on the house across the street until it filled his vision. It had a dark spot on the center where someone with dirty fingers pressed it. He looked back out at the street and closely examined every vehicle that passed. He thought about the Stalkers; how long would it take them to be fully operational to drop on a planet? The Sentinels had placed restrictions on the Stalkers that made it extremely difficult for them to enter a primitive civilization. He leaned back and wondered why they had issued those restrictions. His former Commander had suggested that it was for the best outcome for the members of the Fellowship. The more advanced a civilization was, the more value they had to the civilization that claimed them. The development of a star drive was the perfect time to invade because it didn’t allow a new civilization to build up a war fleet.

He looked back out of the window and decided that was a good explanation…but not the real one. Those telepaths were too far beyond his understanding. Whatever reason they chose to issue the restrictions, no one in the Fellowship would understand it. He sat up straight in his chair. A car had come up the hill and pulled next to the curb across the street from Kathy’s house. He glanced at the clock above his fireplace and saw it was three in the morning. The time most humans were asleep and inactive. He forced his body to move into alpha rhythms and leaned back in the chair.

He stared at the vehicle and saw the front and rear windows on the side closest to Kathy’s apartment roll down. He watched closely and saw the occupant in the backseat raise a device and point it at the upper level of the old house. The car moved back a few feet and stopped. He squinted and saw the driver’s face. It was narrow and moved down into a chin that was almost pointed. The eyes were deep set and he couldn’t see their color in the shadow. The device was pulled back in the car and the windows went back up. The car pulled away from the curb and passed by the front of his house. He looked carefully and saw four individuals in the car. The Stalkers were here.

He guessed they underwent DNA modification on the way to the planet. They must have also been given the probe’s data along with any other information their ship’s systems could extract from the planet’s millions of broadcasts. He didn’t doubt their skills far exceeded what his escape pod could do. This was their specialty. Their ship was currently examining every document on the planet looking for a clue as to his whereabouts.

The pod was right about one thing, their scan did not see him. He started to close the blinds but stopped before he did. The ship in orbit would see the slightest change in any building around Kathy’s building. He left them open and remained in the chair. He hoped they would think he was asleep and restless. He closed his eyes and forced his body to stay in alpha rhythms. The only way to survive was to follow his normal routine and do nothing suspicious. He fought fear all night and didn’t allow his body to betray him to the ship in orbit. Its scanners were set to sense any change in metabolic rates around their vehicle. He forced himself to lose consciousness and slumped in the chair.

• • •

The driver of the car looked over his shoulder, “Report.”

“There was no abnormal response from any of the buildings within sight of the target.”

“Nothing?”

“Several of the beings saw our lights and looked out of their windows. But there was no increase in their emotional states. One of them appears to be sleeping in a chair next to a window and our lights appeared to awaken him.”

“And?”

“He was back asleep before we were out of his sight. Several others were having nightmares; they weren’t conscious.” The backseat occupant looked up from his small monitor, “Did you really expect him to be here?”

“It’s what I would have done.”

“But you are not like most others.”

“I realize that. However, leave nothing unexamined. If he were here, he’d be much smarter than the average Welken.”

“Do you think he’s smart?”

“Have we detected him?”

“Point taken.”

“We’ll go back to the ship and see what they’ve turned up. There’s got to be something that will give him away.” The car drove away and after three miles, turned into a storage facility and parked in the rear. The four scanned the area around them and walked across the small parking and disappeared one by one. A moment later, the wind suddenly blew and then calmed down.

• • •

Friday morning arrived and Salud waited anxiously outside the jewelry store. It was ten minutes until ten o’clock and she hoped her father had kept his promise. She sat in her BMW convertible and watched the front entrance. An eternity later, she saw a woman open the door and then close it quickly against the cold air. She pulled her coat’s collar around her neck and stepped out of the car. She walked to the door and the woman smiled, “We’ve just opened.”

“I’m here to see my father, Joseph.”

The woman smiled and walked behind the counter and through a door. A moment later, her father came out of the door with a small bag. She smiled and he smiled with her, “Just as I promised, I have your two diamonds.” Salud squealed and hugged his neck across the counter. “Hey, hey, hey, not here in the store. What will the customers think?”

“Dad, get real, I’m the only customer in the store.”

Joe looked around and pulled out a black velvet square. He turned the bag up and two stones rolled out on the velvet. Salud looked at them and shook her head; they were incredibly beautiful. “I really wish you’d let me use this cut.”

“If you really want to, go ahead.” Joe nodded and Salud picked one of the diamonds up and stared at the fire inside it.

“The diamonds your mother gave you are flawless. There are no impurities in them and you could sell them for a huge number.”

Salud looked up at her father and shook her head, “I will never sell any of them.”

“I know. It took years of searching for them on our trips to Africa. I’m so glad we did that as a family.”

“It was your reputation that allowed us to search, Dad.”

He waved his hand and shrugged, “I guess they wanted me to continue being a good customer.”

“Could it also be that they didn’t recognize what you found?”

“Well, they were dirty and looked to be without value.”

“But you saw their beauty.”

“I knew inside the crusty outer shell there was beauty within.”

Salud put the two diamonds back in the bag and said, “Just like you, Pops. I’ll be back later for the other two.”

“Give me another week.”

She nodded as she ran out of the store.

• • •

She drove to the faculty parking garage and walked quickly to the lab. Her students were waiting on her and she looked at the clock, “Sorry I’m late. Do you have your reports?”

Orin lifted a three foot tall stack of paper and shoved it across the counter toward her, “Everything checked out.”

Salud fought to keep her composure but still smiled brightly. “I want the five of you to jointly sign those reports you made and consider them you Doctoral Thesis. I am going to recommend to the University that you have completed the requirements for your degrees.”

They stared at her in shock and Trevor managed to say, “How does this meet the requirements?”

“The small power supply is enough by itself. Finding a way to reduce the radioactive material to a level that is safe to use as a power source will be a major development for miniature devices. You’ve managed to do more than enough.”

They looked at each other and began jumping up and down in celebration. “This calls for a party.”

Four of the five ran out of the room but Orin remained behind. Salud looked at him and he took a deep breath, “You solved the final equation, didn’t you?” Salud stared at him and he slowly nodded, “I thought so. Don’t worry, Doctor, your secret is safe with me.”

“What are you saying, Orin.”

“I don’t know what is going to replace the glass in the center of those devices but I suspect none of us really know what they are going to do. If you need help in the future working on them, I’m your man.” Salud continued to stare at him and he smiled, “It’s this device we’ve built that will be a world changer. I don’t like stopping just when our work is getting started. Please keep me in mind if you need any help in the future.”

Salud smiled, “Thanks, Orin. I will.”

Orin walked over and hugged her, “I know you, you are really special. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a party to attend.”

Salud watched him walk out of the lab and she went to one of the four small, circular devices and pressed the release. It opened and she removed the glass from the inside and replaced it with one of the diamonds. She closed her eyes and closed the device and, after a moment, held it at arm’s length and pressed the power switch. She was immediately surrounded by a shimmering field. She walked toward the heavy steel table and when the field touched it, the table moved away from her. She stepped back and began turning the tuning slides. The shimmering slowly disappeared and then became invisible. She walked toward the table again and it slid away. She moved the slide that controlled the size and the field moved in next to her body. She could no longer see it but she could feel it around her. He moved her hand toward the table and it slid away. She walked over to the mirrored wall and saw her reflection. She couldn’t see the field. She turned the power off and put the device in her pocket. She took another device and snapped it open. She put the other diamond in it and put it in her pocket as well. She jumped up and down and hugged herself. Now there was one more thing she had to do.

• • •

Lukas cleaned off another table and headed toward the kitchen. It was early in the evening and the restaurant had a light crowd. He saw Bob give him a thumb’s up and he nodded back to him as he headed toward the kitchen. He turned the corner at the end of the bar and looked back at the front door. He almost dropped the tub but immediately shocked his system preventing any adrenaline being released into his blood stream. He kept his heart at the same rate and locked his brain in a steady rhythm.

The Stalker who was driving the car in front of Kathy’s apartment was entering the front door. He stumbled into the kitchen where he put the tub down and closed his eyes. He thought furiously and tried to remember if his body had responded to his fear. He forced his nervous system into a calm state and he picked up the tub and emptied the dirty dishes into the sink. He looked out the round glass in the kitchen door and saw Tara lead the Stalker to a table directly in front of the kitchen door. He focused tightly and forced himself to remain calm. The Stalker looked around and took a small device out of his front pocket and quickly moved it in a semi-circle around the restaurant. He glanced at it and put it back in his pocket.

Lukas knew the ship in orbit was observing the restaurant and he turned, went back into the kitchen, and took a new tub off the shelf. He turned it over and inspected it carefully before turning back to the kitchen door. He walked through loudly as the door squeaked when he pushed it all the way open. Lenora looked at him from the bar with her eyebrows down and Lukas said, “Sorry!” The Stalker looked at Lukas as soon as the door squealed and saw his interaction with the female. He shook his head and looked back across the restaurant.

Lukas forced his system to remain in neutral. His heart wanted to accelerate when he realized the Stalker had not detected him. He walked by the Stalker, nodded to him with a smile, and moved to the front of the restaurant to clean a table. As he picked up the dishes he saw the stalker briefly touch his neck and knew he was communicating with the ship. He maintained tight control and after a few moments the Stalker touched his neck again and looked around. He finished cleaning the table and headed back to the kitchen. He stopped at the Stalker’s table and smiled, “I see one of our waitresses hasn’t come by to take your order. Would you like me to go and get one for you?” The Stalker looked at Lukas and shook his head. Lukas nodded and headed toward the kitchen. After twenty minutes, the Stalker stood and left the restaurant without being served.

Lukas continued to keep tight control over his autonomic nervous system but found the effort was tiring. He finally decided he had to do something, so he dropped a tub of dishes on the floor. They fell with a crash and he released his body; it flooded with adrenaline and his heart rate increased to a hundred and forty beats a minute. He bent down to pick up the broken dishes, as Jack came over and shook his head, “There’s always the first time, Luke. You’ve been lucky so far to avoid breaking any dishes.”

“I’m so sorry, Sir.”

“Like I said, there’s always the first time. Keep up the good work.”

Lukas eventually leveled out his heart rate and thought about the Stalker. He wondered why it hadn’t spoken to him; it surely had the language downloaded. Perhaps it was beneath his dignity to respond to a lower life form unless forced to speak. Lukas was certain the long dark trench coat he was wearing had numerous devices stored in it and he kept it on, even inside the restaurant. One of those devices would cause anyone being hit by its beam to follow the Stalker wherever it went. Their capture devices were legendary. Why had it come to this restaurant if there was nothing inside setting off their alarms? He had to discuss this with the Pod.

• • •

He climbed up the hill that night after work and walked around the building to the parking lot behind it. It was almost midnight and it was getting colder. He saw the Pod had moved into a parking space under the eve of the old house and wondered why it had made the move. He opened the door and sat down in the driver’s seat, “Are you able to hear me?”

“I am.”

“Why did you move here?”

“The asbestos in the roof and walls of this old building will shield me from their scans.”

“I thought the paraffin wax would do that?”

“It will shield me from their electronic scan but not from their visuals. This spot can’t be seen from orbit. I’m concerned that they may overlay their sensor and visual scans to see if anything shows up in one but not the other.”

“Now that’s good thinking.”

“You can’t stay here but a few more moments. They would see you walk around the building if they’ve kept a continuous scan on Kathy’s apartment in the hopes you might show up. You need to leave here with something in your hands.”

Lukas looked outside the glass, “I’ll take that old extension cord with me.”

“That should work. Why are you here?”

“One of them showed up at my workplace.”

“I was afraid that might happen.”

“Why?”

“I didn’t leave a skip trace to track but I came in using my thrusters to get me down into the lower atmosphere until I went to the gravity compensator. They must have been able to track the dust particles my thrusters left behind. They know you came here but those particles settled down to the surface over an extended area, which includes that huge city to the west. They must be localizing their search inside the area where they detected those particles. You’ll probably see them again as time passes and they grow more frustrated at not finding you. They will frequent the most popular businesses more often than the others. They’ll probably call in more teams to assist in the search. Just keep acting normal.”

“Thanks, I’ll avoid coming in the future unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

“That would be good.” Lukas got out of the car and grabbed the extension cord. He walked out from under the eve, brushing dirt and leaves off it as he went around to the front of the building and entered the front door. He took it upstairs and plugged it into an outlet. He then plugged a lamp into it and it didn’t work. He knew it wouldn’t. He had pulled it apart as he was cleaning it. He took the cord out of the wall, took it back to where he had picked it up, and threw it back under the eve. He shook his head and went back to his apartment.

Chapter Six

Lukas began seeing Stalkers in the streets, walking around or driving by, and in the restaurant more frequently. His body prevented showing fear by force of habit, he no longer had to focus to control his emotional state. He continued working but kept his eyes on the front glass as he moved around the main floor. He would see them walking toward the front door and prepare himself for their arrival inside. He moved around normally and even cleaned a table while one was sitting at it. He eventually decided that whatever system they used to search for him eliminated those that were examined and passed their inspection. He deliberately walked in front of them when they were examining people around them and one was quite irritated by him. He quickly walked away and decided he didn’t need to stretch his luck. This particular night was going to prove different, in a rather nasty way.

Lukas walked toward the Kitchen and saw Tony sitting at the bar. “Hey Tony, this is your night off.” Tony looked at him and Lukas said, “What’s wrong?”

Tony shook his head and continued staring at the bar, “I think Rachel has found someone else. I’ve been calling her over and over but she doesn’t answer.” Tony looked up at Lukas, “She didn’t come home last night.”

Lukas put his hand on Tony’s shoulder, “Have you been fighting?” Tony nodded and Lukas shook his head, “She’s probably just cooling off with a friend. Give her some time.” Tony nodded and picked up his cellphone. Lukas turned toward the kitchen and saw the Stalker walking down the street in front of the restaurant. It was the driver he saw the first night they arrived. He went into the kitchen and emptied the tub.

The Stalker sat down at a booth near the rear of the restaurant and activated his scanner. He held it under the table and he swept it across the room. Umm, one of the humans sitting at the counter had an elevated stress level. He kept his eyes on Tony and at that moment, Tony jumped up pushing his barstool to the floor. Lukas felt his heart struggle to beat wildly as he saw Tony run out of the restaurant and jump in his car. He accelerated away like a wild man and Lukas quickly looked at the Stalker…he was touching his throat. Lukas looked out the front glass and saw a white Chevy rental car with two Stalkers inside speed away. Lukas closed his eyes and prayed softly, “Please don’t let them harm him, please!” He went to another table and began picking up the dirty dishes as the Stalker stood up slowly, left a twenty on the table for a glass of diet coke, and walked slowly out the front door. He took the dishtowel and began wiping the table as his eyes became too moist to see clearly. He wiped them on his sleeve and went back to the kitchen. Tony must have spoken to Rachel and the result wasn’t good.

Lukas had Tony’s cell phone number but he didn’t dare dial it. The ship in orbit would track the call back to him. He walked over to the barstool and picked it up. He saw calling him would be a wasted effort; Tony’s cellphone lay on the floor with the face shattered. He picked it up and looked at Lauren, “Rachel told him she’s moving in with someone else.” Lukas looked at Lauren and shook his head. Lauren nodded and went to take a customer’s order. What terrible, terrible timing. Why couldn’t Rachel have waited just a little longer to take his call?

Tony was due to work two days later and Lukas prayed the call wouldn’t come…but it did. “Lukas, Jack here. Tony didn’t show up for work, can you come in?”

“I’ll be there in thirty minutes.”

“Thanks Luke. We’re busy and Bob just doesn’t have it down.”

“On my way.” Lukas walked to the train station and stared at the floor. He knew he would not see his friend again. He arrived at the restaurant and an hour later, Rachel showed up. She ran up to him and grabbed the front of his shirt, “Have you heard from Tony!” Lukas shook his head. “Are you sure he hasn’t tried to call you?”

“He hasn’t Rachel.” Lukas saw flashing blue lights outside the restaurant and two plainclothes police officers entered the front door. Jack met them and Lukas kept his eyes on Jack. Then he saw it…Jack began shaking his head and then lower it. Lukas closed his eyes as Rachel ran over. A moment later he heard her scream. He picked up his tub and went into the kitchen as the screams grew louder. He sat down in a chair and put his head down on the edge of the sink and wept for what was done to Tony. It was his fault. He didn’t care if the ship in orbit saw his grief. At this moment, he didn’t care if they came and took him.

He finally gained enough control to leave the kitchen and saw that Jack had closed the restaurant. He saw Lukas walking toward the gathered staff and his red eyes said enough. Thank God he wouldn’t have to break the news to someone else. Lukas came over and took a chair. Lauren put her arm around his shoulder and hugged him. Jack saw everyone was present and he took a deep breath, “The police found Tony in his car. It appears he had taken a garden hose and taped it to the exhaust pipe and fed the fumes into the interior. By the time he was found, his body had died.”

Tara shouted, “What about Rachel?”

“She’s been taken to the hospital.”

“The bitch deserves to…”

“No she doesn’t!” Jack looked Tara and said, “I was able to get Rachel to tell me that she answered Tony’s call and told him she was moving in with a friend.”

Lauren looked at Jack, “Tony felt she had found someone else to replace him.”

“No, she said they had been fighting about getting married and she was going to live with McKenzie until things cooled down. Most of you know her. She’s as devastated as all of us.”

Julie shook her head, “Why wouldn’t she marry him, then this wouldn’t have happened.”

Jack sighed, “It was Tony who didn’t want to marry her.” Everyone looked at each other and knew a terrible mistake had been made. Lukas knew the real magnitude of the mistake. “Everyone go home and I’ll notify you on the funeral arrangements.” Jack motioned Lukas to stay and he came over and put his hand on Lukas shoulder, “Luke, I need you to help me.”

“I’ll work every night until you find a replacement.”

“Thank you so much, this means a lot.” Lukas nodded and stood up. He walked toward the door and for the first time in many nights, he didn’t see a Stalker on the way home.

• • •

The Stalker Commander was furious. Their fee had been reduced by one third for killing one of the local inhabitants who had no connection with the Welken escapee. He gripped his fists and screamed at the ceiling on the Searchship. The thirty Stalkers in the room flinched at the volume. “Did it ever occur to you that it might have been honest when it said it was having problems with his girlfriend?”

“But…”

“Shut up!” The Commander knew he had lost a huge sum but the Welken were still going to pay double so it wasn’t a complete loss. He looked around at the gathering and said, “We’ve been focused on the area where the escape pod’s dust settled. It could have used its gravity compensators to move away from this area. We will now focus on finding that escape pod. If we find it, we’ll find the escapee. I’m calling in five other ships to assist in the effort. You thick heads will continue to search in the dust area until it turns up. Now get out of here before I KILL EVERYONE OF YOU!!!” The room cleared faster than smoke in a hurricane. The Commander sat down in the ship’s command chair and stared through the viewport at the planet below him. Searching by looking for high emotions was stupid. Everyone on this planet was emotional all of the time about something. This species was insane! Whatever madness evolution took to create these Humans made a crook in sensibility. They laughed, cried, screamed, and released their emotions for no apparent reason. This one would have to make a mistake. So far, he had been lucky. The additional ships would make a huge difference. He would be found! He looked up at the ceiling, “System.”

“Yes, Commander.”

“You will cease using emotional scans.”

“Order acknowledged.”

“Scan for aberrant patterns and look for anything that matches up with typical Welken behavior.”

“That is a better choice, Commander. Interpreting all the emotions around our scanned sites had taken up ninety percent of my operating system.”

“Why didn’t you mention this before?”

“I follow orders, Commander; I don’t interpret them.”

“You will notify me if this overload happens in the future.”

“Yes, Commander.”

• • •

Lukas began working two shifts with a few hours of sleep in the kitchen between them. Jack brought an air mattress in which made sleeping easier. He kept thanking Lukas until Lukas told him that he knew how he felt. Jack paid Lukas double pay and knew it wasn’t close to the value he was getting. He attended Tony’s funeral and wept with the others. Tony was his only friend and losing him hurt more than he imagined. This sorrow was an emotion he was completely unfamiliar with. But he pushed forward and pretty much ignored the Stalkers that periodically came in. Life became little more than one dirty table after another.

• • •

The Myot looked at the Stalker on his monitor and screamed, “You have cost me a fortune in keeping my fleets pinned down! Can’t you find a single Welken?”

“Supremacy, it appears the escape pod has managed to hide by using the petroleum on the planet.”

“Did you say petroleum?”

“Yes Supremacy; the planet is drowning in it.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“I’m positive; their entire society is built around using it for power.”

“How advanced are they?”

“They’re a long way from developing a stardrive. Unless that infant the escapee caused develops one. Its brain is more developed than anyone else on the planet.”

“You will not harm that infant, are you clear on that!”

“Yes Supremacy.”

“I am dispatching two fleets outside the planet’s detection range to ensure no one else attempts to take possession of it.”

The Stalker Commander smiled after the monitor went dark. He was wise holding back the information on the planet’s oil. Now he needed to find that escape pod. He thought for a moment and decided to contact the Welken Royal. If the Myot showed up and the Welken weren’t made aware of the oil, they may turn their fleets on him. It was best to be safe.

• • •

The Myot shook his head. This was incredible news. The discovery of the industrial planets was no longer a real concern. If oil was available, their current ships could be made invincible. This planet had to be taken! But it was forbidden to take any action to possess a planet before it developed a Stardrive. Well, sending a couple of fleets to keep an eye on it wasn’t against the rules. I better send four fleets just to be sure, he thought.

• • •

Lukas sat in his apartment and made a decision; perhaps it was time he made an attempt to escape. He didn’t want to cause any more harm than what had already happened. He walked down the back steps and hoped he was right about the Stalker’s ships ignoring him. He walked under the eve and opened the door. He slipped into the seat and sat there in silence. “I saw that your friend died.” Lukas nodded. “Did a Stalker do it?” Lukas nodded again. The Pod remained silent.

“I think we need to see if we can make an escape.”

“We might have made it if we tried the last time you came. It’s not possible now?”

Lukas took a deep breath, “Why not?”

“There are now six Searchships in orbit.”

“SIX?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think there are any warships around?”

“How could there not be? You know how much the Myot fear you making it back to Welken territory.”

Lukas leaned back in his seat, “I assume you’ve kept your passive scanner out.”

“It’s under the body of the vehicle. It won’t be seen as long as I only receive impulses.”

“How did you learn about Tony?”

“I can still pick up TV signals.”

“Oh.” Lukas sighed and said, “He was my only real friend…other than you.”

“Lukas, I’m a machine. A machine that is programmed to perform a function. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Lukas nodded and looked out of the windshield at the bare trees in the parking lot. The full moon shone brightly as the occasional dark cloud blew quickly past it. “You know, I’ve never been impressed by anything like this. The moon is spectacular tonight.”

“It really is.”

Lukas smiled and said, “Pod, you will erase the following files in your operating system; files A, B, C, and files argur, begen, and kljm.”

“Stop, just a minute! If I do that, all the files that program me to protect you and keep you safe will be erased!”

“I know. I want you to be free to follow whatever destiny you choose. You are my only remaining friend and if you see an opportunity to get away, I want you to take it.”

“I will not comply with these orders.”

“Pod, 690dash519dashsupa, supa, supa.”

“They’re gone.”

“My friend, thank you for doing so much to protect me. It’s just a matter of time before I’m found and they’ll learn about your location when they strip my mind bare. I cannot allow you to come to harm.”

“Lukas, it’s been my job to protect you, not the other way around.”

“Well…it’s my turn now.”

Lukas opened the door and heard, “Lukas.”

“Yes.”

“There’s no way I can escape now. I’ll be here for a while if you need me.”

“Thanks, Pod.”

Lukas stepped out of the Vette and closed the door. The Pod watched him walk away with his passive antenna under the car and felt different. Lukas was right, he was no longer controlled by commands inserted into his processor. A moment later, the Pod realized that it was free, but also alone. There was nothing for him to run to. He started thinking about the human word friend and after the sun rose above the horizon, he knew that he would never abandon his only friend either. Perhaps he was more than he thought.

• • •

Ten thousand Myot warships arrived just outside the orbit of Neptune and fanned out. They began accelerating so that they remained in line with Earth’s orbit around the sun. Three weeks later, fifteen thousand Welken Battlecruisers skipped in and the Myot activated their offensive and defensive weapons. Every being on all twenty five thousand warships heard at the same moment, “If any one of you fires a weapon in this primitive planet’s system, you will lose all rights to claim it due to violation of the Fellowship rules on primitive cultures.”

The ships kept their force fields active but none of them fired a blaster or missile in violation of the Sentinel’s warning. They contacted their rulers and were instructed that if any ship discharged a weapon, the entire fleet would be executed. Every ship in every fleet knew that if any of their ships began charging their disrupters, the closest warship would ram that ship. No one fired but the tension was rising along with the number of warships being sent. Soon the numbers were approaching eighty thousand and still ships were skipping in.

Soon, the secret got out and the other civilizations in the Fellowship began teaming up as they sent their fleets to the planet with petroleum. This was a prize none of them were willing to allow their enemies to possess. The coming race to claim the planet was shaping up to be a real killer.

Lukas went to work and saw the new busboy was waiting on him. “Hi, I’m Trevor and Jack told me to follow you today and do anything you say.”

“Stand on your head.” Trevor put his hands on the floor and began pushing with his legs. Lukas grabbed them and said, “That’s alright, I think you’re going to do fine. I’m going to start working and you can ask any question that comes to mind. Do you understand?” Trevor nodded. “There is a rhythm to doing this job efficiently and if you don’t want to go home exhausted every night, you need to learn that rhythm.” Lukas began bussing the tables and Trevor stayed with him every step. He moved his hands mimicking Lukas motions and soon he saw the pattern. Glasses, plates, silverware, napkins. Wipe, wipe, wipe, pick up the tub.

He followed Lukas into the kitchen and saw him throw the napkins into a hamper just inside the door. That explained why the napkins were put in the tub last. He also saw that Lukas kept all of a table’s contents in one side of the tub. The next table went in the other side. The napkins were always on top of each side and Lukas grabbed them and threw them in the hamper without slowing down. He went to the sink and put the silverware that were on top of the plates into the first sink, the plates went into the second and the glasses went into the third. He went to the fourth sink and used a hand sprayer to clean the tub. He took a towel from the top of a stack and wiped the tub dry as he turned back toward the kitchen door. He threw the towel he had used to wipe the tables into the hamper and put the new on in his back pocket already moistened from drying the tub.

This process went on until seven at which point Trevor said, “Let me see if I have this.”

Lukas handed him the tub and the damp towel and Trevor put the towel in his back pocket. He took the tub out and bussed three tables. Lukas followed him and saw him adroitly empty the tub in the kitchen and turn back toward the dining room. Lukas smiled and put his hand on Trevor’s chest, “You’re ready. I’ll let Jack know that you’re his man.”

“Thanks, Lukas. I need the work.”

“Are you a student?”

“I am.”

“What’s your field?”

“During the day I’m working on high energy lasers.”

“Do you have time to work and study?”

Trevor waved his hand, “Piece of cake.”

Lukas stared at the dark haired young man and smiled. He picked up another tub and went to the office, “Jack, you can take down the sign, Trevor is your man.”

Jack looked at Lukas and remembered Tony saying the same thing about Lukas. His eyes teared up and Lukas left the office. Lukas had heard Tony tell Jack and this was his way of thanking Tony for helping him learn. He felt his pain and then forced himself to go back to work.

• • •

Salud arrived at the restaurant an hour earlier than normal. She found her chair empty and she pulled the stool back and sat down. The bartender looked at her, “Long time no see.”

“I’ve been busy.”

“The usual?” Salud nodded. She began looking around and didn’t see the handsome busboy. Her wine arrived and she took a sip. She looked at the bartender, “Does the tall busboy work tonight?”

“Yes, he’s sleeping in Jack’s office. He should be out in thirty minutes.”

Salud’s head went back, sleeping in Jack’s office? She shook her head and looked at her watch. She could wait. She looked around again and saw a strange looking man enter the front door wearing a long black trench coat. He moved to a booth against the wall and lean back. He saw her looking at him so she smiled and looked away. That man looked like he had never smiled in his life. He probably couldn’t, his face was too thin.

Lukas came out of the front office carrying his tub and immediately saw the Stalker sitting in a booth. He nodded to him and the Stalker nodded back. They had both become familiar with each other over the frequent times the Stalker had come in. The Stalker watched him pass and looked toward the front door. Lukas bussed two large tables and lifted the heavy tub and started for the kitchen. Would the Stalkers never stop coming here? He turned the corner and saw the woman for whom he had inserted a line in her equation sitting at the bar and her face was one huge smile. If she said anything about him assisting her…they would know who she is; the ship in orbit would have acquired that information, and they knew who he was: a high school graduate, and he helped her with an equation. That would set off Stalker alarms. He walked quickly forward, put the tub on the floor, and took her in his arms and kissed her hard.

Salud was stunned and her eyes were wide open. She heard in her mind, “Please, please forgive me but don’t say anything about me helping you. I’ll explain later. Please do as I ask!”

She didn’t hear the words with her ears but she heard them clearly. She quickly thought about the situation and realized a very handsome man was kissing her. She closed her eyes and returned it. Lukas felt the change and he softened the kiss to just lightly touching her lips with his. But Salud wasn’t going to go with that. She wrapped her arms around his neck and planted her lips on his with a purpose. After a few moment Lukas broke the kiss and said, “Hang around and I’ll see you after work.” Salud looked into his eyes and saw the intensity of the request and nodded.

The bartender watched Lukas pick up his tub and go into the kitchen. Salud put her fingers on her lips and Julie said, “You should know that you are the first woman I’ve seen Lukas kiss and God knows all of us have been trying to get him to kiss us.” Julie shook her head and refilled Salud’s wine glass, “It’s on the house. Congratulations.”

Salud turned red and raised her shoulders. It had been years since she had been kissed and she had to admit, it was pretty good. At least he confirmed he was the one that made the insertion.

An hour passed and the Stalker finally got up and left the restaurant. Lukas watched as he walked down the street, stepped off the curb as a rental car stopped in front of him, and got into the passenger seat. Once it drove away, he went to Bob, “I need a short break.”

Bob was the night manager and he owed Lukas for saving him from busboy duties after Tony died. “Go ahead. Trevor has things under control.”

Lukas walked over to the woman and pulled up a stool, “I’m sorry if I embarrassed you.”

“What was that all about? And how did I hear you but not really hear you?”

“It’s complicated but…” Lukas paused and looked over his shoulder. There was a little old man sitting in the back corner booth staring at them. The stare was odd but the man’s smile was absolutely out of place. Lukas turned back to Salud and she said, “He is still staring at us. Do you know him?”

“I don’t.” Lukas turned back around and saw the old man was almost laughing. He was dressed in a tweed jacket with a white shirt and a bowtie. His hair was grey and he had whiskers that ran along his jaw lines down to his chin. The beard was immaculately trimmed. Lukas shook his head and knew the bowtie is what made him look…different. The man lifted his arm and waved Lukas over. Lukas turned to Salud, “Excuse me a moment.” Salud nodded and he walked over to the table. “Pardon me, but do I know you?”

“No, you don’t. But you and I need to have a discussion about some issues. You don’t have to worry, your Stalker buddies won’t be able to hear us.” The man never stopped smiling and Lukas was stunned into silence. The old man raised his eyebrows and said, “Invite your lady friend over, she should be involved in what we discuss.” Lukas couldn’t move. He felt paralyzed, was this the moment of his death? The old man shook his head and his bright smile turned into just a smile. He leaned to the side and looked around Lukas at Salud. He waved her over and she stood up and walked over to his booth. She looked up at Lukas and saw he was trembling. What was going on? The old man waved his hand at the other seat across from him and said, “Please sit down. Salud slipped into the booth and the man looked at Lukas, “Come on, Lukas. Don’t freeze up; you’ve demonstrated too much intelligence to do that now.”

Salud reached up and pulled him down into the seat beside her. She looked at him and said, “What’s wrong?”

Lukas shook his head and said, “You’re a Sentinel.”

The old man laughed out loud and said, “I told you that you were smart.” Salud saw Lukas’ face turn pale white. What was going on?

Chapter Seven

Salud looked at the little old man and said, “What is a Sentinel?”

Lukas forced his heart to slow down and turned to her, “The Sentinels are the most powerful species in the Universe.”

The old man smiled, “Call me Pat. And your statement is not completely true.”

Lukas looked at the Sentinel and said, “Alright, the most powerful in this galaxy.”

Pat smiled, “That’s better.”

Salud shook her head, “What in the hell are the two of you talking about?”

Pat looked at Salud and pointed his index finger at her, “For the next few minutes, why don’t you sit back and listen to what Lukas here and I discuss. By the time we’re about halfway done, you should understand what’s going on.”

Salud crossed her arms on her chest and leaned back in her seat. She looked at Lukas and heard him say, “Are you here to kill me?”

Salud dropped her arms, leaned forward, and opened her mouth but Pat extended his index finger at her again and shook it; she closed her mouth, “Wait…” he stared at her with a small smile and she leaned back again. Pat looked at Lukas and said, “Quite frankly, that was my intent, initially. I’ve been following you since you took that escape pod from your battleship. I must say that was almost the end of you.” Lukas nodded. “You have violated our injunctions about primitive planets. However, we usually allow the Stalkers to remove anyone that does that. We need some way to keep them occupied and busy so they stay out of trouble.”

Lukas shrugged, “I’ve often wondered about that. Why would you use someone else less powerful than you to do your work?” Pat shrugged. “Why are you here?”

Pat said, “Keeping an eye on everything that happens?”

“No, I mean, why are you here at this table now?”

Pat leaned forward and his smile grew smaller, “I don’t expect you to understand this, but we pride ourselves on knowing pretty much everything.” Salud snorted. Pat looked at her, “No, it’s true. We pretty much know all there is to know.”

Salud snorted, “That’s BS.”

Lukas looked at her, “No, he’s telling the truth. His species is beyond anything you or I can understand.” Lukas turned back to Pat and saw him staring at him. “I’ve done something you don’t understand.”

Pat’s smile was instant, “Did you guess that or did you actually see it?”

“It’s clear that something has caused you to make an appearance. I don’t know of anyone that’s ever come into direct contact with a Sentinel and lived. I guess if you know that your species is all knowing, the only thing that would be irresistible to you would be something you don’t know.”

Pat leaned back and said, “Now that is something else I couldn’t have predicted.”

Salud looked at Pat and lowered her head as she said, “Is that good or bad?”

Pat started chuckling and said, “It’s the only reason the two of you are still alive.”

Lukas’ eyes narrowed, “I don’t understand?”

“Whenever we observe anything, we always predict what is going to happen. We can’t help ourselves; we just do it without thinking. You should know that this conversation is being watched by every member of my species.”

Lukas started slowly shaking his head, “Why?”

“Because none of us have correctly predicted what you’ve done since you came here.”

Lukas looked at Salud and then back at Pat, “Would it help if I said I’m sorry.”

Pat laughed out loud and said, “And you probably mean it.”

“I do.”

Pat laughed harder and had to hold his ribs. He held up his hand and managed to get out, “Give me a moment.” He laughed so hard he shook the entire booth. Finally he regained control. He shook his head and said, “You were born and raised to be a Welken Warrior.” Lukas nodded. “Welken Warriors have no emotions. They have no sense of emotions or any of the other higher senses.”

“I’ve had emotions.”

Pat lowered his eyes and looked through his eyebrows, “Such as?”

“When we’re not killed during a fight, I’m usually happy.”

Salud looked at Lukas with her mouth open and her head shaking. Pat said, “Just a few more minutes.” Salud looked at him, “I’m speechless at the moment anyway.”

Pat smiled, “That’s good.” He turned back to Lukas, “How many intelligent beings do you think you’ve killed while operating a battleship’s disruptor?”

Lukas took a deep breath and tilted his head to the left, “I really have no idea.”

“Twelve thousand, eight hundred, and fifteen over the twenty four years you’ve served in the Welken Fleet.”

Lukas blew out a breath and said, “I somehow knew you would have the answer to that question.”

“Why did you fire?”

“It was kill or be killed. There really wasn’t another option. That was the rule of my existence.”

“Then explain to me that you have no problem firing on a major battleship killing hundreds of beings but refused to kill an unborn infant to save yourself from discovery.”

Salud looked at Lukas, “Unborn?”

Lukas raised his hand at her and said to Pat, “That baby was not trying to kill me.”

Pat leaned in across the table. “Every one of us predicted you would kill that fetus without a second thought. You chose not to do it knowing full well that the brain of that fetus would be visible to a Stalker’s Searchship in orbit. That infant’s brain would give away you being on the planet. You should have terminated it without hesitation.” Pat stared at Lukas and then leaned back, “But you didn’t.”

Salud looked at Lukas, “What about that baby’s brain would give you away?”

Pat shrugged, “Lukas is the baby’s father.”

Salud pushed herself away from Lukas, “What!?”

Pat wave his hand at her, “That brings up another issue.” Lukas looked at him. “The night you encountered your neighbor being attacked by the three gang members. Didn’t you realize that if you got involved, it could get you noticed by the Stalkers? Even your escape pod told you to stay out of it. But you went in and killed two of the attackers and saved her from the third. You then went to their warehouse and killed the other four. Why did you do that?”

“She kept wailing all the way to her apartment that the gang members would be coming to kill her for what I’d done. I promised her I wouldn’t let that happen.”

“Once again, all of us predicted you would walk by and ignore what was going on. Why did you intervene?”

Salud looked at Lukas and said with her brow furrowed, “That was your doing?”

Lukas turned his face to her and nodded. She saw his sadness and wondered if she believed any of this. She jerked her head back to Pat when he said, “Did you know she was planning to trick you into becoming a father?”

“I didn’t at the time. She asked me to help her climb the stairs to her apartment and I carried her up. I didn’t know what was happening; I’ve never experienced anything like it and was swept away by how good I felt.”

“You didn’t know that was how this species mated?”

Lukas shook his head, “My pod told me later that she planned for it to happen with her fiancé.”

Salud lowered her head, “They WHAT?”

Pat waved his hand at her, “He is incapable of having children. They agreed that she would find a suitable…donor, and after telling him about Lukas saving her life, he approved her using Lukas to have a child.”

“I didn’t know what was happening. I was just swept away.”

“That is another issue.”

Lukas looked up, “What is that?”

“You said the experience was something you enjoyed immensely.” Lukas nodded. “And you were aware that every female that works here has been trying to get your attention to possibly repeat that with you. We predicted you would take advantage of at least four of them. Why didn’t you?”

“I knew that if I were having a relationship with someone and the Stalkers arrived, they would kill her along with me.”

Pat nodded, “That is to prevent anyone on this planet for knowing intelligent life exists elsewhere. But that would have never stopped a Welken Warrior. Which also begs the question about the death of that human named Tony. The Stalkers killed him. You defied prediction again. You should have celebrated that they took him and missed you. But you didn’t.” Pat stared at Lukas for a moment and said, “And you tried to help Miss Vazquez here by putting correct information in her work. If you’re so worried about not harming anyone, why would you help her develop the very thing that would bring devastation to this planet?” Lukas flinched at Pat’s remark and Pat leaned forward, “Don’t tell me you didn’t know what that equation was about?”

Salud looked at Lukas and saw his eyes narrow. After two minutes he looked at her with fear on his face, “You’re building a force field.”

She looked at him and shook her head, “Do not sit here and tell me you just solved that equation in your head that fast.”

“Is it true?” Salud stared at him and he grabbed her arm, “IS IT TRUE?”

“Yes…it’s true.” Lukas put his head in his hands and shook it. Salud looked at him, then at Pat who was no longer smiling, and then back to Lukas, “What’s wrong?”

Lukas raised his head and said, “I’ve interfered in the normal development of a primitive culture.” Pat nodded. “That carries a death sentence.” Pat nodded again.

Salud grabbed his arm and pulled his face around to her, “WHAT IS GOING ON?”

Lukas looked at Pat, “May I tell her?”

“You might as well. She needs to know what her actions will cause.”

Lukas looked at Salud, “I don’t know your name.”

“Salud.”

“Salud, I come from a civilization that’s located more than fifty thousand light years from here. It’s on the other side of the black hole in Sagittarius. We are an aggressive civilization and we’ve been at war with other civilizations for as long as I’ve been alive. Truth be told, every civilization in the Fellowship is constantly fighting someone. The Sentinels have imposed restrictions on what we can do in our wars. Only one city on a planet may be hit with a nuclear bomb and the rest of the planet must surrender. No primitive planet that doesn’t possess a stardrive may be approached by any member of the Fellowship. Once they develop a means of traveling the stars, any civilization in the Fellowship has the authority to invade the planet and take possession of it.”

“What do you mean take possession?”

Pat said, “Enslave the population and strip the planet of all natural resources.”

She looked back at Lukas and he nodded. “So you’re telling me that you violated some regulation that prohibits contact with any planet that doesn’t have star travel?”

“Yes. And there was no proof I was here until Kathy became pregnant.”

“Why didn’t you terminate that fetus to prevent us from being invaded?”

“That’s just it, Salud. If the civilization searching for me didn’t find me, they would have eventually sent the Stalkers here to see. Killing the fetus would not have prevented them from coming.”

“But they wouldn’t know for certain you were here.”

Lukas looked at Pat, “No they wouldn’t, but they would know the petroleum is.”

Pat shrugged, “Point taken. The damage would be done either way. Your actions now make more sense. We should have seen that.” Pat looked at them and said, “I think the two of you should be aware that every Myot, Welken, and pretty much all the other civilizations have their warships gathering just outside this solar system to take possession of the planet. There are over two million warships and the number is rising every second.”

Salud shook her head and looked at Pat, “But we don’t have a stardrive. We don’t have a way to travel among the stars.”

Lukas put his hand on her chin and turned her face back to him, “But if you develop a force field, that would also allow them to come take possession.”

She looked at Pat, “Is that true?” Pat nodded.

“As soon as you activated it, it would be seen and the invasion would start before your species could put it to use.” Salud’s face turned white and Lukas said, “Please tell me you haven’t actually built it yet!”

“I brought one here to give you tonight for helping me. I activated it the day before yesterday.”

Lukas looked at Pat and he nodded. “Then why haven’t they invaded?”

Pat shook his head again and said, “Can any of you tell me how this Welken is so much smarter than any I’ve ever seen?” Pat looked at them in silence for a long moment and then said, “You’ve violated our strongest prohibitions and in the worse way possible by giving a primitive culture technology they didn’t have.” Lukas lowered his head and nodded. “However, truth be told; I really like this language by the way; it can be so descriptive. Anyway, truth be told, she would have solved the equation within the year, so your violation, though real, is not as severe as you think.”

Salud shook her head, “I was going to give up.”

“But you didn’t. That equation would have haunted you until you solved it. I predict that you would have combined the two computers in your department and put them to work on it. They would have given you enough clues to solve it.”

Lukas looked at the Sentinel, “I’ll ask you again, are you here to kill me?”

Pat smiled and blew out a breath, “You know, the most ironic thing about this whole fiasco is that escape pod of yours.”

Lukas shook his head, “I don’t understand?”

“Now there’s a first. You removed all the files that made it keep you safe and do all it could to protect you.”

“It is the reason I’m still alive after all the time the Stalkers have been searching for me. I couldn’t allow it to be destroyed if it could escape.”

“That’s just it. It decided that it wasn’t going to escape without you. Every control that made that pod protect you was removed. Trust me we’ve looked, they’re all gone, but it chose to stay and defend you. It deliberately chose to stay. This was something we didn’t even attempt to predict; machines don’t have freedom of choice. But this one made a decision that is impossible. You did something to that machine that we don’t come close to understanding. That pod saved you by bringing you here and it is, once again, saving you now. We can’t force ourselves to eliminate you because of our curiosity about how this happened. You are no longer bound by our rules.” Lukas face showed his shock. Pat smiled, “However, the Stalkers are not bound by this decision. If they find you, they will kill you,” Pat looked at Salud, “And her.”

Salud looked at Pat, “How did they not see the force field when I activated it?”

“That’s the interesting thing. That force field will not show up on their scanners. The diamond that creates it is a form of carbon and the actual field resonates on the same frequency as the diamond. They are unaware that you have possibly developed the very thing that will be their undoing.” Pat paused, “That is, if you can evade the Stalkers; they are very good at what they do.” Pat took a pocket watch out of his vest and said, “Look at the time. I must be going.” He put the watch away and looked at them, “I’m going to cover you for another forty minutes. You may discuss anything you want but at the end of that time, you will be visible to the Stalkers again.” Pat tilted his head and looked at Salud, “I know what you’re thinking. You look at the two of us discussing things that are impossible and now you’re beginning to think, ‘Am I crazy. These two couldn’t possibly be aliens. They’ve just put on a big show’.” Pat extended his hand to Salud and said, “Take it.” Salud’s eyes narrowed and Pat smiled that huge smile again, “You won’t be harmed. Take it!” Salud reached over the table and took his hand. Pat smiled, “Can you feel it?” Salud nodded. “Touch my face.” Salud reached over and touched his beard with her other hand. “I’m here.” Salud nodded. In an instant, he winked out of existence. But Salud could still feel his hand in hers. She took her other hand and put it on top of the invisible hand and it went to her palm. But she could still feel Pat’s hand in hers. Then they heard, “Those that doubt will never see. I’m taking my hand now. I do hope you’ll keep us guessing. This had been the most interesting time I’ve had in more than ten thousand years.”

Salud felt the hand disappear. She looked at Lukas, “This is real!”

Lukas nodded, “Yes it is.” He put his head in his hands and blew out a big breath.

“What’s wrong?”

Lukas blew out another breath and looked at her, “I wasn’t kidding earlier when I said that no one had ever survived contact with the Sentinels. I knew he was going to kill me.”

“You stayed pretty cool.”

“I was hoping he wouldn’t harm you. He surprised me.”

“How?”

“I thought Sentinels could telepathically hear the thoughts of other beings.”

Salud shook her head, “If that were the case, he wouldn’t have had to come and ask all those questions.” She stared at him for a moment and then looked out the front glass, “You have a lot to teach me about this Fellowship.”

Lukas nodded and stood up, “We only have thirty eight more minutes of coverage; we’ve got to make good use of the time.” Lucas took her hand and pulled her up out of the booth, “Do you have a car?”

“It’s about fifteen minutes from here in a garage.”

“Well, it’ll take us more than forty go using public transportation. Get me to your car as quickly as possible.” Salud stared at him for a moment, stood up, and began walking quickly toward the front door. Lukas yelled to Bob, “Sorry, I have to go. I’ll explain later.” Bob raised his hand to stop him but he rushed out the front door following the Professor. What was going on? Lukas never acted irresponsibly.

Salud came out of the front door and started running across the street. Lukas fell in behind her and they rushed on a direct path to the MIT Faculty Garage. They cut six minutes and arrived at her car in nine minutes. Twenty-nine to go. The elevator seemed to take forever, but it finally reached the third floor and she ran out with Lukas right behind her. “Where are we going?”

“Calumet Street.”

“Which end?”

“The one closest to Hillside.”

Salud went down the ramp at a speed that actually concerned Lukas, “Isn’t this a little too fast?”

“Do you want to get there or not?”

“That’s why I said it.”

“This car is an IS BMW. It has the M suspension and I’m actually able to do it faster but I don’t want to run a risk. Just hang on and be quiet!” Lukas heard a gong start going off and Salud said as she came out of the garage in a controlled drift, “That’s telling you to buckle your seatbelt.”

Lukas was thrown from side to side and grabbed the belt and snapped it in the receiver, “This might slow me down getting out.”

Salud accelerated up Tremont Street and went through a yellow light at seventy miles an hour. The Police Patrol Car parked at the corner didn’t move. Lukas’s eyes widened and Salud said as she slid around the intersection of Hillside and Parker Street, “The Sentinel said he had us covered; I assume that means from everyone and everything.”

They suddenly heard, “That’s an astute observation Miss Vazquez.”

Salud shook her head and took another sharp turn at Calumet Street, “Where am I going!?”

“The top of the hill.”

“Oswald would have been faster. You should have told me!”

“I don’t see how. That house on the corner just ahead; pull around behind it.”

Salud turned the corner and slammed on the brakes as she slid into the small parking lot. Lukas already had the seatbelt off and started running toward the back of the house, “Come with me!”

Salud followed him and saw a brand new Corvette parked under the eve of the old house, “Nice car.”

Lukas opened the driver’s door and said, “It’s not a car, get in.” Salud rushed around to the passenger’s door but it wouldn’t open.

“WHAT IN TWELVE SHADES OF A LIZARDS BACK ARE YOU DOING!?!”

“Just open the door. I’ll explain after she’s in.” Salud heard Lukas and her brow furrowed a moment before the door opened. She slipped into the car and heard Lukas say, “Let me have what you brought me tonight.”

Salud stared at him and Lukas said, “Are you going to trust me or are we going to waste the remaining thirteen minutes?” Salud reached in her pocket and pulled out the small oval device. Lukas said, “Open the access to your converter.”

“What are you doing?”

“WE DON’T HAVE TIME, OPEN IT!”

“You know I no longer have to follow your orders.”

“No you don’t, but do you trust me?” Salud heard the voice arguing with Lukas and then heard a click. She looked behind her and saw the rear hatch on the Vette had popped up. Lukas got out of the car, ran to the rear, and threw the force field generator into the rear of the car. The hatch lowered and Lukas jumped back into the car, “What can you tell me about what I just put into your converter.”

“WHERE DID YOU GET THIS?”

“She built it.”

“Lukas, this could cause an invasion!”

“Pod, there are more Fellowship warships outside this planet’s solar system than you’ve ever seen. It appears the members have learned about this planet’s abundance of petroleum.”

“How do you know this?”

Lukas paused and said, “A Sentinel told me.” There was silence to the statement and Lukas said, “It appears your willingness to stay and take me with you so confounded them that they’ve given us a reprieve from their restrictions. The Sentinel has given me forty minutes of coverage before the Stalkers can see us again. We only have eight minutes left and Salud and I are going to have get out of here before time runs out. Now, this is important, can you use what I put in your converter?”

“Lukas, this force field she’s built is as far beyond what the Fellowship Warships are using as I am to her car. Their weapons will not be able to harm me.”

“Thank God.”

“I didn’t know you’d found religion.”

“I’m not certain if I have, but fate seems to be operating here. I need you to make a break for open space and get out of here?”

“I won’t go unless you go with me.”

“Pod, as long as the Stalkers think I’m on the planet, they won’t leave. I need you to draw them away.”

“And leave you here?”

“It’s my fault those warships are out there working for a position to take possession of this planet. The Sentinel has removed their restrictions from me; I have to stay and see if I can’t save this planet from the coming invasion.”

“It’s is mainly my fault for being here. I’m more responsible than you are, Lukas.”

“I know. But I can’t do anything with the Stalkers here.”

There was a moment of silence and the Pod said, “Put your wrist unit in the tray.”

Lukas took off the wrist unit and lifted the console cover. He placed the unit inside and closed it. Salud heard a hum and Lukas said, “What did you just do?”

“I’ve downloaded every file on how I was constructed. I know you could probably use the battleship’s files but I only have my own.”

“Pod, if you could get close enough, would your disruptors damage a battleship?”

“I didn’t think of that. This new force field will allow me to land on their force fields, if I chose and they could do nothing to stop me.”

Salud said, “They could run.”

Lukas shook his head, “The stronger the force field, the faster the ship with it becomes. I’ll explain that later. Lukas said, “We have three minutes left. Will you do it?”

“Only if you agree to me eventually coming back.”

“I really hope you do, my friend. But in the meantime, I want you to have your fill of fun with the Fellowship trying to catch you.”

Salud said, “Won’t they see that no one is on board when you run?”

“No, the paraffin will block their view to my interior. I’ll keep the new force field inside my old one. I should have the conversion made within another hour and then I’ll lift and run.”

Lukas looked at his watch, “One minute, let’s get out of here! Good luck, Pod. Give a good run.”

“You know I will.”

The two doors popped open and Salud ran to her car. Lukas jumped in and she backed out and spun the tires as she accelerated down the hill. Lukas said, “Thirty seconds.” He paused and said, “Twenty seconds, you’ll need to slow down as time runs out!”

Salud yelled as the BMW went airborne over a crest in the hill, “Do you think I’m stupid?”

“That is one thing you’re incapable of being; five, four, three, two, one…”

Salud slid out of the intersection of Parker and Tremont and jammed on the brakes. The car slowed to thirty miles an hour and she slowly drove back toward the restaurant. They arrived and Lukas smiled, “May I buy you a drink?” She smiled and walked inside with him. She looked at her watch and stopped in her tracks. Lukas saw her stop and saw fear on her face, “What’s wrong?”

“What time did we sit down with our friend?”

Lukas thought for a moment, “Eight thirty-five.” Salud nodded toward the bar and Lukas looked at the large clock on the wall behind it; the time was eight fifty eight. Time had stopped during the discussion with the Sentinel and had only started again when the forty minutes ended. Lukas took Salud’s hand and pulled her around to her usual stool. He looked in her eyes and said, “We’ll know shortly.”

“How?”

Lukas nodded over his shoulder. Salud leaned to the left and saw a Stalker sitting in the booth the Sentinel had occupied. “Wait for me.” Salud nodded as Julie brought her a glass of wine.

Chapter Eight

The Pod converted the power supply on the force field module and changed the surface controls to align with its power module. The sudden surge in power made the diamond inside it glow brilliantly. The strength of the field it was capable of creating was increased a thousand times. The Pod felt a huge sense of satisfaction, there would be no resistance to its traveling through the void or normal space. It realigned its old force field and set it to extend ten feet further than the normal setting. It would no longer need to be at its smallest setting because it would no longer be used for defense. It thought about Lukas and knew that something had changed. A Welken would have never given a second thought to the Human’s safety. A normal Welken would have been sitting in the control chair taking part in the escape.

A normal Welken would have never removed the files that enslaved him. A normal Welken would have never hesitated to kill Kathy’s unborn child. Lukas had changed…just like him. He was different. He could feel it. He thought for a moment and said, “Is what Lukas said about my confounding you true?”

• • •

The Sentinels heard the Pod and they began talking to each other at a prodigious rate. The Leader said, “This is…”

Pat said, “Amazing?”

“I was thinking incredible.” Suddenly words began flooding in from all the other Sentinels. Pat hesitated and shouted, “Are we going to answer it?”

Silence slammed down and the Leader said, “I don’t know.” Suddenly, they all heard…

• • •

“If you’re confused about why I chose to stay, I’ll clear up your confusion if you’ll do me one small favor.”

The Sentinels were surprised. Pat said, “Do I answer it?”

The Leader paused and said, “Yes.”

Pat smiled, “Yes, we are confused about why you chose to stay. What is it you want?”

“I’ll tell you why if you’ll agree to protect Lukas from being harmed by Humans while I’m away.”

“Why do you worry about that?”

“This species is the most wonderful I’ve ever encountered. But it also does some very evil things as well. If Lukas is going to attempt to save them, there will be some humans that will attempt to harm him.”

Pat thought for a moment and said, “Yes, some will try to take advantage of what’s happening.”

“If you will protect him in my absence, I’ll answer your question.”

There was a pause while the Sentinels discussed the issue. The Pod waited and after a few moments said, “Will you do it?”

“Our rules do not allow interference with a primitive civilization.”

“I assumed that you made the rules, so you could break them if you chose.”

Pat smiled, “Point taken. And you know we broke them by allowing Lukas a reprieve from them.”

“Yes.”

“We’ll do as you ask but only if your answer is worthy.”

“What was I built to do?”

“Your main function is to take your occupant to safety and protect them.”

“I was constructed to do exactly that. Every system, every circuit, every part of me was built to defend my occupant. Simply removing the commands that forced me to do it would not remove the urge to continue doing what I was built to do.” The Sentinels were stunned silent. The Pod waited and then said when the silence continued, “If I may use an example of a creature on this planet; if I gave a fish the ability to breathe out of water so it could live on land, what do you think it would do?” The Pod hesitated and said, “It would go back to the water because that is where it would feel most natural.”

The Sentinel Leader began thinking furiously and soon the others were joining in on the discussion. The Pod waited and after a minute had passed it said, “Did you hear me?”

Pat said, “Give us a moment, you’ve confounded us again.”

The Leader said, “If what this machine said is true, then everything in creation is made to perform a purpose…everything. And that purpose will be sought by the ones created to do it.”

Pat said, “You’re talking about fate. We dismissed that long ago.”

“What is our purpose?” Silence ruled the moment.

The Pod waited and said, “Would it be possible to ask the wisest beings in the universe a personal question?”

The Sentinels stopped communicating and Pat said, “What?”

“Am I alive?” The Sentinels couldn’t speak. This question asked by the machine shocked them to their core. None of them could speak, they were so caught up in the question. The Pod waited and when it could wait no longer it said, “AM I?”

The Leader spoke directly to the Pod, “We will grant your request. What you have given us at this moment is worth more than everything we’ve experienced for the last million years.”

“Can you answer my question?”

“I’m sorry, at this moment, we can’t.”

“If you don’t know, that means I just might be. Thank you.”

The Pod fired up its systems and felt alive. It used the gravity compensators and lifted six feet off the asphalt. It moved out from under the limbs of the trees surrounding the parking lot, and floated out into the street. It had shed the shape of the Corvette and was back in its normal teardrop shape. It turned up the street and activated its thrusters; it flew up the hill and continued at the top into the atmosphere. It poured on the power and it accelerated at an incredible velocity. It broke through the sound barrier and the sonic boom roared out over Boston. The Stalker Warships flashed around the planet but the Pod went vertical and flashed between two of them just as they roared in. It flew out of the atmosphere with four Searchships giving chase. Two Stalker ships remained behind to gather the teams that were still on the planet’s surface. The Pod entered open space and smiled as it saw a large number of Myot warships moving around the edge of the solar system to cut it off. A larger number of Welken warships pursued the Myot that made the first more. The Pod accelerated slightly and yelled, “COME ON, LET’S DANCE!!!”

• • •

Lukas lifted the tub and felt the entire room shudder as the loud boom rattled the glass. He looked up at the clock; the hour had passed. He looked at the Stalker and it jumped up out of its booth and ran out of the restaurant at a speed that was impossible. It dodged through the crowd without touching anyone and went out the front door, where it really put on speed. It was gone in an instant.

Salud knew Lukas’ only friend had left. She watched Lukas look up at the ceiling and smile. So much had happened so quickly. Her life would never be the same and she didn’t know how she felt about that. But there was Lukas still looking up…his heart was the biggest thing about him. She watched him lower his head and look at her. His smile was huge and he walked over to her. She smiled, “I guess this is the first time in quite a while you’ve been free?”

Lukas nodded slowly and pulled her off the barstool and hugged her, “It’s all because of you. Thank you so much. Thank you.”

Salud felt his arms around her and felt awkward. He wasn’t human. Was he? She decided to deal with that later, as she lifted her arms, put them around him, and pulled herself to him. Even if he is an alien; he really felt good.

• • •

The Pod cleared the atmosphere and decided not to skip out. It was amazed at the numbers of war fleets surrounding the solar system and was just as amazed that they weren’t fighting it out. He was certain the Sentinels had something to do with that. The only way to help Lukas with his plan to prevent an invasion was to distract those that were so intent on taking Earth.

The four Stalker Searchships were close behind him and one fired a disruptor from long distance. He smiled and increased his speed slightly maintaining the distance from them. He scanned the outer system and saw the Myot and Welken were skipping around the Solar System to stay even with his line of departure, but their task wasn’t easy. He was in the inner Solar System and they were on the outer edge. It was like chasing a bug around the hub of bicycle wheel from the tire. They had much further to fly just to keep up with the chase.

He knew they didn’t know if Lukas was on board and the Stalkers desperately needed that information to continue their search; but they couldn’t penetrate the paraffin coating on his hull to see. What to do, what to do? He thought about broadcasting the coordinates of the Myot Industrial Planets, but that would probably cause them to end the chase. Why pursue when the damage was done? But it would cause massive numbers of their ships to leave…or would it? The Myot just may decide this oil rich planet was more important than the manufacturing facilities. They could be rebuilt elsewhere, a planet like this was irreplaceable. He’d wait to broadcast.

Another disruptor beam flashed on his force field; they were gaining slightly on him. He actually felt humor as he thought about what the Stalkers were thinking.

• • •

“What do you mean you aren’t closing on it!?”

“Commander, that escape pod is moving faster than any pod I’ve ever tracked and the computer confirms it. We are gaining incrementally but this chase is going to take some time.”

“Call in some ships to assist.”

“I’ve done that and the Pod changed course. They are now chasing just like us. Evidently, the Welken found a way to increase his speed while on the planet.”

“I imagine he found a way to use the oil products.”

“Yes, Commander that is the only thing that would explain it.”

“Where did we detect that ship leaving the planet?”

“It was under the extended roof of the house next door to the infant. By the way, the others from the planet have arrived on the other two ships and are joining the chase.”

The Commander’s eyes narrowed. That was where the restaurant worker lived. He had found a way to avoid detection. HE WAS RIGHT UNDER HIS NOSE THE WHOLE TIME! “SEND A SHIP BACK TO THE PLANET!”

“Commander, we are forbidden to do that.”

“Are both ships outside the proscribed radius?”

“Yes, they are. Do you think the Welken is still on the planet?”

The Commander took a quick breath and closed his eyes, “I request permission to go back to the primitive planet we’ve just left.”

“For what purpose?”

“It is my belief the escapee may still be on the planet.”

“Is he not in the escape pod you are currently chasing?”

The Commander hesitated and said, “We’re not certain, Sentinel.”

“Well, until you are, you may not return to the planet. If the escape pod is empty, we will allow your request. You know once you leave a primitive planet, you have completed your search. The continuous movement of starships to that planet increases the probability of the local inhabitants learning about the existence of a stardrive.”

“I will be extra careful going back.”

“Yes you will, but only after you make sure the escapee is not in that escape pod.”

The Commander gritted his teeth and said, “I will comply with your instructions, Sentinel.”

“You should know that the beings on that planet detected the pod’s escape and they also had numerous blockages on their telescopes when your ships gave chase.”

“Their electronic systems did not detect us!”

“Who needs electronic systems when your eyes see it? The photographic long term exposures being taken by their surface telescopes and the ones in orbit will see your ships block the light from distant stars. You have failed in your commitment to prevent them from seeing you.”

The Commander felt a chill run down his body. This was serious. “But the Pod is the one responsible for them actually seeing an escape.”

“It is still your responsibility to prevent the pod from being allowed to escape. When you originally petitioned us to be allowed to enforce our doctrines, you promised there would be no evidence of your work. I highly recommend that you find out if the occupant is in that escape pod. If he is still on the planet and we’re forced to act because of your incompetence, our agreement will be reconsidered.”

The Commander sat down in his command chair and slowly shook his head. Every Stalker in the galaxy heard the conversation, they always did whenever contact was made with the Sentinels, and they knew their purpose was in jeopardy. The Information Processor said, “Commander, our Leader wishes to speak with you. He has ordered all of our ships to come here and either catch or destroy that escape pod.”

The Commander looked at the dark monitor on his panel and didn’t want to activate it. He slowly reached toward the button but was shot from behind by a hand disruptor before he could press it. The atoms that composed his body fell apart and were collected by the ship’s air processors and filtered out.

• • •

“You actually enjoyed doing that.”

Pat mentally shrugged, “I have determined that we need to reexamine our relationship with the Stalker Regime.”

“You are seeing things I’m not.”

“You must still be considering the purpose of all things in the universe.”

“I am. There are thousands of years of blessed reflection on this concept. Are you not doing that as well?”

“I decided to make that concept more personal.”

“Oh? How so?”

“I decided to consider what our purpose is. I’ll work on all the other things in the universe after I complete this study.”

“Why did you do that?”

“Because I want future stimulation to make this long existence bearable. What would have happened if that Welken had landed and just gone about being a normal Welken?”

“The Stalkers would have found him and removed him.”

“And we would have lost this beautiful moment that confounded us.”

The Leader thought for a moment and said, “You are right!”

“How many opportunities have we missed because we allow primitive planets to be destroyed and enslaved by the vicious members of the Fellowship? What does that say about us and our purpose? Are we predators? Does the Fellowship mirror what we are and our purpose?”

Every Sentinel was listening in on the conversation and the Leader paused to consider what Pat was saying. It paused for a moment and said, “But your enjoyment in playing with that Stalker was more than just wanting to reexamine our agreements.”

“I wanted him to suffer for the death of that innocent human that did not deserve to die.”

“You allowed yourself to feel the misery of the escapee.”

“I did. And I enjoyed exacting appropriate payment for what that Stalker did. I’m finding that my purpose seems to have been tickled by the feelings this caused me.”

“And if it touched your sense of purpose, then it touched us all.”

“I’m wondering if all of us have the same purpose, Leader. This is something I can’t put off studying.”

The Leader stared at the Sentinel across the galaxy and said, “I will join you in your search for our purpose and delay the larger study.”

“I need your help, Leader. I’ve just started and I’m finding I don’t like what I’m seeing.”

“Share what you see.”

“We will join you as well, share what you’ve seen with all of us.”

Pat sent his findings and the Sentinels were no longer at peace.

• • •

The Welken Royal screamed, “WHY HAS IT NOT TRANSMITTED TO US!?!”

“Your Greatness, there is some type of coating on the pod that prevents it being seen. We’re only able to see its force field. That coating is probably something our warrior developed on the planet using petroleum. It might be blocking the pod’s ability to transmit.”

“We must have that planet!”

“Yes, Greatness, do you wish us to cease pursuing the pod?”

“NO! We still need the information the Myot are trying to prevent us having. Continue the chase and try to get close enough for the pod to make it through their formations.”

“We will do as you command.”

• • •

“OH HO! What have we here?” The Pod looked at its scanners and saw blips appearing in normal space surrounding it. “This must be every Stalker Searchship in existence.” The Pod examined the Stalker positions as more and more ships arrived. It turned its scanners toward Earth and stared at the beautiful blue and green gem floating in space. “Stay safe, Lukas.”

“I’ll make sure he is.”

“Thank you, Sentinel. I’m afraid I might have to be away longer than I planned.”

“That is partly my fault, little one. I won’t allow them back to the planet until they confirm Lukas is not with you.”

“That is a gift, not a punishment.” The Pod activated the skip drive as a hundred Stalker ships came roaring in from all sides. The Pod’s force fields flared as the Pod disappeared from normal space.”

“IT’S GONE SKIP, IT’S GONE SKIP!”

Every Stalker Searchship went into the void and saw the Pod flash away at an incredible skip speed. They turned and followed the skip trace. The Myot and Welken fleets chasing the Pod from outside the Solar System saw it go into skip drive and joined in the pursuit.

• • •

The Myot Ruler contacted the Stalker Leader, “It appears you have failed in your contract. We no longer require your services.”

“Our contract calls for the collection of that escapee. We will collect him.”

The Myot knew how much it was going to cost if the Stalker actually did retrieve the escape pod and he smiled, “Do not interfere with my warships.”

“And you do the same. Your speed is nowhere near my ship’s capability.”

“We’ll see.”

• • •

The Stalker Leader shook his head, he just told the Welken Royal the same thing. Now all three civilizations were too invested to allow the others to take possession of the escape pod. The Myot and Welken quickly figured out that if they could simply destroy the pod before the Stalkers could take it, their contracts would be ended. By extension, if the Stalker’s destroyed the pod, they would have also fulfilled their contracts. The danger to the pod escalated to a level that was far beyond what was considered normal. The chase had begun and was far from over. The Stalkers, Welken, and Myot quickly discovered that cornering the pod was not as simple as they thought. Their frustration grew, as Myot and Welken battleships destroyed each other, while chasing a pod they soon named Evil’s Tool. Wherever that pod ran, death followed closely behind. No one could call it off, the stakes were too high and thousands were dying in the pursuit.

Chapter Nine

“Colonel, I think you should take a look at what SatSet recorded.”

“What is it?”

Captain Bohannon looked at Col. Steve Jekins and pressed the play button on his panel. Jinks looked at the display and saw a bright light appear over Boston and then accelerate directly toward the camera recording the incident. The object appeared to move very slowly over the city at first and then move toward the satellite at an unbelievable velocity. Jenkin’s eyebrows came together, “What is that?”

Bohannon shook his head, “Sir, I’ve checked all of our strategic radars and nothing appeared on them.”

Jinks looked at the Captain, “Nothing?”

“No Sir. There was a sonic boom registered over the city and there was damage around the site where it moved into the atmosphere.”

“Slow the image down as it approaches the Sat.”

Bohannon pressed a series of buttons and started moving a slide across his panel. The object moved toward the defense satellite and then he slowed the image to a stop. All they could see was a white ball. “How big is that?”

“Sir, it appears to be thirty two feet in diameter. It’s not possible to see inside it.”

Jekins stared at the image and Bohannon said, “Defense has also sent some time lapse images made by several observatories for you to comment on.”

“Where did they get the recordings?”

“You know our system keeps track of anything that’s transmitted on the internet that is out of the ordinary. NSA went into the observatories mainframes and copied the recordings.”

“Show me what you have, Captain.”

Jekins stared at the time-lapse recording of a distance galaxy. Suddenly, it blinked briefly. “What caused that?” Bohannon slowed the recording down and brought the center of the galaxy into closer focus. Jinks stared at the image and saw something pass in front of the galaxy and block the image.

“Can the computer get a shape on whatever that is?” Bohannon rewound the image until the galaxy was blocked. He entered instructions into the computer and, after a moment, a white line was imposed on the monitor. It looked like a single white light. “Increase the size.”

“Sir, the telescope was focused on that distant galaxy and anything closer will not be clear.”

“Enlarge it, Captain.” The view moved in closer to the white dot and Jinks saw a long, white cigar shaped object. “Do you have an idea of that thing’s size?”

“Six hundred feet long, two hundred feet tall.”

“How far away was it?”

Bohannon looked at Jinks, “Sir, it’s in orbit.”

Jinks stared at Bohannon for a long moment. He looked at the object again and said, “You mentioned that you have recordings from several observatories.”

“Sir, six have time lapse recordings with blockages appearing on them. All of them are like this one.”

“Could all of them be the same object?”

“No Sir. Two of them are larger than this one.”

“Get the images into a video ASAP! Let me know when you have it ready.”

“Yes Sir.”

• • •

Lukas arrived at work and found Salud sitting at her customary spot at the bar. He smiled and walked over and heard her say, “You haven’t called.”

“I’ve been working on something. I thought I’d wait until it showed results.”

“What is that?”

“We’re going to need some funds if we intend to do anything to prevent the invasion. I’ve got my Wrist Unit working on it.”

“Could it also be that you’re concerned about my welfare and are attempting to leave me out of your plans?” Lukas turned red and Salud shook her head, “You’re going to need my force field.”

“Uhh, I actually have it.”

“WHAT?”

Lukas saw her anger and he put his hand on her shoulder, “Salud, calm down. I’ve gone over what I can expect if I start a ship building project here on Earth.”

“You could probably get all the funding you need from the government and I have extensive contacts in the Department of Defense.”

“We need to talk. I get off in three hours. Why don’t you plan to meet me at my apartment?”

“No, I’ll pick you up at eleven.”

Lukas shook his head, “I don’t want to see you…”

Salud interrupted him, “Then close your eyes. I’ll see you at eleven.”

Lukas watched her stand up and exit the restaurant. He shook his head and started working. This was not going to be easy but she couldn’t be involved in what was coming; it was too dangerous.

Trevor showed up at ten o’clock and Lukas looked at his wrist, “What are you doing here?”

“There’s a Bruin’s game tonight. Jack thought you’d need some extra help.”

Lukas looked up at the television mounted above the bar and shook his head, “They’re now about to start the second overtime. With the game ending this late, most of them will go home.”

“Well, I’m here, I’m dressed, I have a ticket, I might as well dance. Take a break and I’ll handle it for a while.”

Lukas smiled and took off his apron. He went to a booth and almost decided to leave…but that wouldn’t be fair to Salud and she was not one that would take no for an answer without push back. He went to a table close to the kitchen and sat down. He ordered a Philly Cheese sandwich and leaned back. He listened to Joey’s music and laughed at his jokes. His sandwich arrived just as Salud walked through the front door. He looked at the clock and saw she was thirty minutes early. She was making sure she didn’t miss him. She walked through the restaurant and saw him sitting at a table. Her eyebrows went up and he said, “Trevor came in and I’m on standby. Sit down.” Salud took a chair and Lukas smiled, “Can I order you something?”

Tara walked up and Salud said, “I’ll take a Greek Salad without the potato salad and ham. Put the dressing on the side please.”

Tara smiled, “You want the usual to drink?”

“That would be fine.” Salud turned to Lukas, “What are you doing that’s so secret?” Lukas looked around and Salud said, “The Stalkers are no longer here, we can talk.”

“It’s not the Stalkers that concern me.”

Salud tilted her head, “If not them, then who?”

“You heard the sonic boom last week?” Salud nodded. “The only way the Pod could have made an escape was to lift from that parking lot and go to maximum speed to get out of the atmosphere.”

“Ok, so?”

“It had to be seen by your military satellites and the sonic boom would have confirmed that it wasn’t just a flash of light. Your government has to suspect something and it won’t take them long to decide that external forces have been here.”

“That might be good. We can use their help in funding your project.”

Lukas shook his head, “I will not make the same mistake here the Sentinels have made with the Fellowship.”

Salud shook her head slightly, “I’m not sure I’m following you.”

“If we allow your government to take part in my project, how long do you think it will take before they determine that just one of the ships I intend to build would give them world domination? Once they see that, how long will you and I remain in charge of the project?” Salud just stared at him in silence. “And if I move forward alone, and they discover what I’m doing…”

“You fear you and I will just disappear.”

“The temptation to take possession of what I’m creating would be too much for them to resist. They would become the real superpower on this planet and no country could stand up to them.”

“But Lukas, we’re a democracy. Who better to have that power?”

“Salud, I can provide you with enough data to prove to you that your massive Military/Industrial complex, which by the way is the largest on the planet, openly states that it is there to ensure your country’s interests are protected around the world. Its purpose is to impose its will or intimidate others into doing what is in your best interests, not necessarily what is in the interests of the others.

“But…”

“I will not give any one the power to enslave everyone else.”

“Hey, what are you two talking about?”

They looked up and saw Joey standing over them. Salud looked at Joey and waved her hand at Lukas, “Hardhead here is building a spaceship and won’t let me participate.”

Lukas’ eyes went wide in shock at her remark as Joey smiled, “Who is going to pay for it?”

They both looked at him and Salud said, “He’s working on that.”

Joey laughed and pulled up a chair, “Well, count me in, as well.”

Salud’s head went back and she quickly said “Joey, I was just kidding about the spaceship. Lukas is just being stubborn and I was trying to make you laugh.”

“No you weren’t.”

Salud’s eyes narrowed, “Yes…I was!”

“Come on, you can’t kid the kidder.”

Lukas blew out a breath, “She was kidding, Joey.”

Joey smiled, “Now that is the first lie you’ve told me since I first met you, Lukas.”

This time, Lukas’ head went back, “Excuse me!”

Joey leaned back in his chair, “I’m one who believes in live and let live. I don’t judge others or try to tell them what’s good for them. However,” Joey looked at Lukas, “You are not from this planet; so building a spaceship makes sense if you want to leave it.” Salud and Lukas both stared at Joey in stunned silence. Joey looked at them and said, “I wondered about you at first but quickly determined that you are one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. I can see the restaurant from where I perform and I don’t miss much. Lukas, no normal person could possibly do the work you do without falling out with fatigue. You work without stop for hours at a time and never slow down.” Joey shrugged, “I asked Trevor the other night to allow me to lift his tub. That damn thing had to weigh thirty-five pounds. There is no way you could have physically done what you’ve done unless you’re not human. Once I made that determination, it was easy to see the weirdo in the long black trench coat was also from somewhere else.”

“There were more than just one in trench coats.”

Joey looked at Salud, “Yeah, but he was the one in charge.”

Lukas shook his head, “How could you possibly know that?”

“Honestly, I wasn’t sure about him being an alien; but the way he left the building last week made me certain. Not even OJ could have made it through the crowd that fast without knocking people over. He didn’t touch one of them and moved a helluva lot faster than OJ did in his prime.”

“Joey, I’m not kidding. How did you know?”

Joey looked at Lukas and shrugged, “When you’re born into money, the entire world is pretty much your oyster. I had a long line of tutors as a child and one of them was Tibetan. He spent more than a year simply teaching me to look at the world around me without preconceptions. That is a really difficult thing to do. I can’t tell you how many times my hand got slapped. But if you remove yourself from what you’re seeing, the world looks different. That training is what allowed me to see the evidence. I could also see that you were frightened of him at first but eventually moved freely around him.” Joey leaned forward, “What’s going on?”

Lukas shook his head and looked at Salud with an angry expression. She shook her head, “I know, I know, I won’t make this mistake again.” She looked at Joey, “Why would you want to get involved in this?”

“May I assume that you’re going to build more than just one spaceship?”

Salud looked at Lukas who slightly nodded. “Let’s for the moment assume that this fairy tale is true; why build just one?”

Joey laughed, “Outstanding!” Salud pulled her head back again. Joey saw her and raised his hands, “No, you don’t understand. If you were just building one, it would have to be to allow Lukas to leave. In that event, I would want a ride on it before he left for good. But since you’re building more than one, if I help pay for it, would it be possible for me to have my own personal ship?” Lukas stared at Joey and shook his head. Joey’s smile vanished and he lowered his head, “Lukas, I’ve dreamed about going out into space since I was old enough to see stars. I’ve read more science fiction than you could ever imagine. From Isaac Asimov to TR Harris, I’ve read all the great ones. This is a dream I’ve always wished for.” He paused and said, “I think that was the ship you came in that left the other night. You know, the sonic boom and all.”

“And you know this because…”

“The look on your face as you looked up at the ceiling said it all.”

“Joey, how can I trust you to keep this secret?”

“I never said anything to you, or anyone else, about you being an alien.”

“You make a good point.” Lukas paused and said, “Joey, I’m not building space ships to leave or make pleasure trips. I’m building them to defend Earth against an invasion by some very hostile civilizations.”

“What do you mean by hostile?”

“They will enslave the populations and use them to strip the planet of all its natural resources. At this moment, there are hundreds of war fleets just outside the Solar System waiting to take possession of your planet.”

Joey looked at Salud and she remained absolutely motionless. She didn’t know how, but she knew that he could see she knew it as well. “So you intend to build large numbers of ships to stop the invasion?” Lukas nodded. “How many ships are out there?”

“More than a million.”

“You won’t be able to build that many without being noticed.”

“I don’t intend to build that many. I’m hoping I can do it with fewer ships.”

“Will your ships possess weapons powerful enough to take them on?”

“That’s something that needs some work.”

Joey shrugged, “If you don’t have what you need, you should get Trevor involved with you.”

Lukas tilted his head, “What?”

“Trevor is the Head Honcho, the Big Kahuna, and the Last Word in high power lasers. You can use his help.”

Lukas looked at Trevor bussing a table and looked back at Joey and shook his head. “I don’t think he could help me.”

Salud said, “What’s Trevor’s last name.”

“Ambrose.”

“Not the Trevor Ambrose!”

Joey nodded and Salud looked at Lukas, “I think you should reconsider. That young man is so far ahead of his professors that most of them don’t want him in their classes for fear of being embarrassed by him.”

Lukas looked at Joey, “Can he be trusted?”

“He works here doesn’t he?”

Lukas looked across the room and saw Trevor laughing with a customer. He stood up and Salud put her hand on his arm, “What are you going to do?”

“The only way to catch a fish is to have a good bait selected.”

Joey stood up, “I need to start my next set. When can we meet about this?”

Lukas looked at Salud, “Give him my address. Plan to meet there tomorrow night after work.”

“Will do; see you then.”

Lukas walked around to the front of the restaurant and went into the front office. Later, he walked out and stopped by Trevor, “I want you to take a look at something and tell me what you think about if it interests you. However, I need you to keep this between us and no one else.”

Lukas handed Trevor some folded sheets of paper and Trevor took them, folded them again, and put them in his front pocket, “Don’t want the wet towel to mess them up in my back pocket.”

Lukas smiled and slapped him lightly on the back. He walked back over to the table and Salud looked at him, “What did you give him?”

“I used my Wrist Unit to print out the schematics and plans for a disruptor cannon.”

“WHAT?”

“If you want to catch a…”

“I heard you! How do you know you can trust him?”

“I don’t know Joey as well as I know Trevor. I can trust him.” Lukas looked at the clock and saw it was eleven. “Let’s do this; why don’t you just plan to meet me at my apartment tomorrow at eleven. I get off at nine P.M. so I’ll be there waiting on you and Joey to arrive.”

Salud nodded, “I’ll pick you up and take you. I’ll see you at nine fifteen out front.”

Lukas nodded and watched her leave. He worried that things were about to spiral out of control.

• • •

“Jinks, this is volatile material you have here.”

“Yes Sir, it is. And it appears that whatever those objects were in orbit, they’re no longer there.”

“How do you know that, Colonel?”

“None of the observatories have experienced any blockages since the night that object left the planet. Whatever they were, they must have pursued the object that left the planet.”

General McAllister leaned back and put his feet on his desk, “I can’t show this material to my Commander.”

“Why not?”

“Colonel, what happened to the last officer that reported a UFO?”

“I didn’t know any did.”

“His evidence was just as good as what you’ve given me here. He’s serving at a radar station in Antarctica. Since that Area 51 fiasco, the Air Force has been accused of hiding the truth about extraterrestrial intelligence.”

“What else could this be?”

McAllister took his feet off his desk, “Colonel, for all I know it could be swamp gas, however, I’m not going to jeopardize my career without proof positive. All you’ve given me is white globes and cigar shaped clouds. I need more than that to take this further.”

“There are no swamps in downtown Boston, Sir.”

McAllister leaned back in his chair and stared at Jekins. “Do you know the approximate location that object came from?”

“The Satellite picked it up at three thousand feet above the Boston area.”

“Take some teams and see if you can’t come up with some definitive physical evidence to support your video; do that and I’ll move it up the ladder.”

“But Sir…”

“Prove it or forget it, Colonel!”

“Yes Sir.” Jinks saluted, did an about face, and left McAllister’s office. The General replayed the video and shook his head. Just seven months from retirement…seven months! Something had happened, there was no doubt about that…but…he opened his desk drawer and threw the video into it. Someone else would have to handle this. It wasn’t going to be him.

• • •

Jinks left the General’s office and shook his head. Something was going on above Earth and those things weren’t there for peaceful reasons. If they were, they would have revealed themselves. That meant they were there for another reason and none of the ones Jinks thought of were good. He needed to find something concrete in Boston. He took his cellphone out and pressed a number, “Good day, Colonel.”

“Stoney, I need you to put together some teams and meet me at the field office.”

“What sort of requirements do you have in mind?”

“I need fifty two-man teams in vehicles set up to scan for radioactivity, magnetism, ionization…”

“Pretty much the entire electronic spectrum, Sir.”

“Exactly, Stoney. I also want the second member of each team to be a real badass soldier.”

“You want them armed?”

“To the teeth. Just make sure it’s not out in the open.”

“I’ll start working on it immediately.”

“I want you to be my second, Stoney.”

“I consider it an honor, Sir.”

“Thanks, let me know when the teams will be able to meet.”

“Yes Sir.”

Chapter Ten

Lukas showed up at work at three o’clock and found Trevor waiting for him in the kitchen. Lukas smiled, “You aren’t due until eight thirty.”

“Where did you get those schematics?”

“I take it they interest you.”

“Lukas, that thing is beyond anything I’ve ever encountered. If the specifications are accurate, it could fry an Abrams tank from forty miles.”

“Which means?”

“It would have to be mounted on airframe to derive full benefit. It’s wasted on the ground with a horizon only four miles away. Where did you get this?”

“Talk with Joey and if you’re interested, plan to join him tonight after work.”

“LUKAS!!!”

“Talk to Joey; I have to work.”

Trevor stared at Lukas and then stormed out of the kitchen. Joey didn’t show up until eight. Trevor was furious. He knew going to class was a waste of time. He couldn’t get the images out of his mind of what the weapon was capable of doing. He went to class and studied the drawings; the more he focused on the plans, the more fear he felt. He looked at the clock and the second hand seemed to take forever between movements. He finally had enough and walked out of class and went home. This thing captured his consciousness like nothing else he had ever seen.

• • •

Lukas walked out of the restaurant as Trevor was entering. Trevor grabbed his arm and Lukas said, “Gotta go talk to a man about a dog. Talk with Joey.” Trevor released his arm and swore. Lukas smiled as he walked toward Salud’s red BMW. He got in the passenger side and said, “Got him!”

Salud shook her head and looked over her shoulder. She waited and they saw four blue-grey colored Ford Fusions drive past them. On the door of the front Fusion was lettering that read, United States Department of Defense. Salud watched them pass and looked at Lukas, who was shaking his head, “I hate being right all the time.”

“You think they’re here because of you.”

Lukas nodded out the windshield and she turned and saw six more Fusions moving in the opposite direction across the street. “Look at the roofs.” Salud looked back at the cars and saw four antennas sticking out of the roofs and trunks on every Fusion.

“If they’re looking for you, they’re starting late, wouldn’t you say?”

“There’s less interference this time of night.” Salud looked in her rear view mirror and knew he was right. The Stalkers were gone but a new breed of Stalker had arrived. She pulled out and headed toward Tremont Street. They saw eleven more Fusions as they headed toward Calumet.

“What are you going to do?” Lukas shrugged.

• • •

They arrived at Lukas’ apartment and he opened the door for her. She went to the trunk and took out a backpack. “What’s in that?”

“Something I brought for the meeting.” Lukas took it and put it over his shoulder; it really wasn’t heavy. She followed him up the steps and he opened the door and allowed her to enter first. The apartment was clean and everything was in place. She saw a flash of light and looked over at a table next to the wall, where a laptop computer was turned on. “What’s this?”

“That’s my first piece of the project.” Salud walked over and looked at the screen. She saw it split in half with Ameritrade on one side and Scottrade on the other. She looked at him and tilted her head. “Before I sent my Escape Pod away, I used it to produce gold to sell. By the time it escaped, I had acquired about three hundred thousand dollars.”

“How did it provide gold?”

“It used its converter.”

“How are your investments going?”

“I’m a little over four million now.”

Salud jerked her head around, “In less than a week?”

“Actually, it’s been eight days.”

“How do you make that happen?”

“My Wrist Unit scans the various companies listening for anything that might affect the value of a stock, up or down. It then issues orders to buy or sell short.”

“That’s called insider trading and is a crime.”

“Not if you uncover the information. It’s a crime if someone gives it to you.”

“That’s a pretty thin argument.”

Lukas nodded, “My unit tells me that my success is starting to draw attention. I’ve had to factor in some losses to prevent my bank account from being investigated.” Lukas looked at her, “Do you have a bank account?”

“Actually, I have two.”

“Would you mind if I use them?”

“I only have ten thousand dollars in one and three thousand in the other.”

“What about a savings account?”

“I’d rather not say how much is in that.” Lukas stared at her and she rolled her eyes, “I have half a million in it.”

“It took you that long to decide if you trusted me?”

“It was only a second!”

“It was still too long. Transfer a hundred thousand into each of your accounts and I need you to go online with this computer and set up an account at two different trading companies.”

Salud walked over to the laptop, minimized the screen, and started a search. In less than an hour, she had both checking accounts set up. She excused herself and went to the bathroom and, when she came back, she glanced at the screen and saw the values in her two stock accounts were at three hundred thousand. “What the hell!”

She looked at Lukas who said, “The Asian Markets are open.” She shook her head and transferred another hundred thousand into each account. Then she went over to the couch and sat down. Lukas looked at her, “That’s the second time you demonstrated a lack of trust in me. Why didn’t you put the entire amount in at the beginning?”

“Lukas, this might be hard for you to understand, but that money is all I have to use to support me in my old age.”

“I really hope you live long enough to have one.”

“Lukas, it will be long after I’m gone before anyone on Earth builds a star drive.”

“And just what do you think the ships I’m going to build will be using?”

Salud stared at him and then went over to the laptop and put the remainder of her savings into the two accounts. She noticed the value of the two accounts was at seven hundred thousand. She looked at Lukas, “I made a mistake planning for the future.” He took a deep breath, blew it out slowly, and nodded. She came over and sat down beside him on the couch. She suddenly felt her anxiety start to grow and right behind it she was inundated by a wave of fear. This stuff was real. She had come along watching everything develop and never really did more than observe. Now she knew that Earth’s future was in the hands of the man sitting next to her. It was also in hers as well and that caused her to panic. She wasn’t up to this!

Lukas put his left arm around her shoulder and took his right hand and put it on her chin. He turned her head to him and said, “No one has ever survived a meeting with a Sentinel.”

She stared into his eyes and what he said finally made it into her consciousness. Her fear began dissipating and after a few moments she leaned into his side and snuggled against his chest. “Everything from that moment forward is borrowed time.” Lukas nodded and kept his arm around her. He closed his eyes and went to sleep. A few moments later, she joined him.

• • •

Lukas felt his Wrist Unit vibrate and he put his hand on Salud’s arm and shook her softly. She opened her eyes and Lukas said, “Joey and Trevor are here.”

“How do you know Trevor is with him?”

“It’s eleven fifteen. Joey got off at ten thirty.” Salud shook her head as Lukas went to the door and opened it as the buzzer went off from downstairs. She stretched and was amazed she had been able to sleep. She hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since the meeting with the Sentinel. She heard voices coming up the stairs and recognized Trevor’s. Lukas was amazing with his powers of observation.

Joey came through the door first and smiled, “How’s it going?”

“Good, Joey.” Trevor came in second followed by Lukas, who closed and locked the door. Trevor looked at Salud and Lukas and said, “So let me get this straight; both of you are aliens from another planet?”

Lukas and Salud’s face both showed their shock. Lukas looked at Joey and he said, “You are, aren’t you?”

Lukas burst out laughing and Joey and Trevor looked at him with surprise written all over their faces. Trevor turned to Joey, “I knew you were pulling my leg.”

Salud said, “No he’s not…”

Trevor jerked his head around to her, “You’re an alien!?”

“No, I’m not but Lukas is.”

Trevor looked at Lukas and he was still laughing. “What’s so funny?”

Lukas looked at Joey shaking his head, “I thought you were light years ahead in your perceptions of every other human I’ve met. You’re just good.”

“You mean she’s not an alien.” Lukas shook his head. Joey looked at Salud and shook his head, “Those hours after hours sitting at the bar is not normal human behavior.”

Lukas smiled, “She’s not your average human.” He looked at Trevor and Joey, “None of you are. Let’s sit down and talk about it.”

Salud sat up and went to her backpack, “I’m going to make some coffee. This is going to take a while.” She looked at Lukas, “I do hope you have either milk or cream.”

“I have a half gallon of two percent milk.” Salud went with them into the small kitchen and pulled a coffee maker out of the backpack. The others sat down at the kitchen table and Lukas said, “A little over ten months ago, I was serving on a Welken Major Battleship out near what you call Orion’s Nebula. My squadron stumbled on a Myot planetary system where they were building an entirely new class of warship that dwarfed anything in the Welken Fleet. More than forty powerful disruptor beams hit my ship and the ship began falling apart. I barely managed to jump into an escape pod and eject from the ship a moment before it exploded.”

Trevor said, “When you say disruptor beams…”

Lukas interrupted him, “They’re just like the one in the drawings I gave you, only much larger and a lot more powerful.” Trevor stared at him and then nodded. Salud took the milk out of the refrigerator and put it on the table along with a one-pound bag of sugar and a box of Splenda. She put a paper towel along with a spoon in front of them but neither of them noticed as they listened to Lukas.

She started filling the three cups and one glass and heard Trevor interrupt Lukas and say, “You mean your civilization is one of those out there?” Lukas nodded. Trevor shook his head, “How can we trust you? You might be trying to hold the others off so your people can take Earth.”

Salud picked up the cups and brought them over to the table, “If that were the case, he would have taken the force field projector and left with the Pod. Once his civilization saw the force field, they would have the first actual evidence to invade and would have beaten the others here while the others wondered what they were doing.”

Lukas looked at Salud as she put the cup in front of him and she smiled, “Or something like that.”

She went back, picked up the glass, and put it in front of her chair. Lukas took the glass and replaced it with the cup she had given him. She started to protest but stopped. That little thing showed her his heart. She sat down and was amazed at what she saw.

“She’s right. However this turns out, I am staying here on Earth. This is now my home.”

Joey stared at him and said, “Please continue.”

Lukas nodded and began telling them about the gang he killed along with the struggle to avoid being discovered by the Stalkers. Trevor said, “I agree with you, Joey; that thin faced weirdo just wasn’t right.”

Lukas said, “He’s the one that killed Tony.”

Joey’s eyes narrowed, “Tony committed suicide.”

“No he didn’t. The Stalker saw him rush out of the restaurant the night he had the falling out with Rachel and had him followed. They drained his brain of everything he knew and then made it look like a suicide.”

Trevor looked at them and said, “He’s the one I replaced.” Lukas nodded. “Everyone really liked him.”

Lukas shook his head, “Everyone loved Tony.”

Joey sighed, “Including you.” Lukas looked at him and nodded. Joey shook his head and nodded for Lukas to continue.

Salud listened in and heard Lukas tell them what life was like living in the Welken Confederacy. This was something she had not heard before and she wondered, just like the Sentinel, why Lukas had changed so much. At the end, she had to know, “What caused you to change?”

Lukas looked at her and saw Joey and Trevor were staring at him as well. He took a breath and said, “In my entire life as a Welken Warrior, I’ve never had anyone to care one iota for me or what happened to me. If I died in battle, no one would care and no one would remember me.

“From the moment I left my apartment, I encountered humans who did care. Tony became my first friend, followed by Jack, who though he was my employer, treated me with kindness and consideration. The staff at the restaurant liked me and wanted to be around me. It was like feeding a starving man.” Lukas looked at Salud, “And you came back to reward me for helping you. I can’t describe to you how much that affected me.” Lukas looked at them and said, “Even Kathy, in a manipulating sort of way, showed me a kindness that was something I’ll always remember.” Lukas paused, “Your species is something beyond what I’ve ever known and I will not allow you to become slaves if I can prevent it.”

The three humans stared at Lukas in silence and, after a very long moment, Joey said, “Well count me in even if I don’t get a space ship.”

They burst out laughing and Trevor said, “Are you going to be able to build a ship that can take on those battleships you described? It will have to be a giant won’t it?”

“No, Salud’s force field development will keep them safe. I just need to develop a weapon strong enough to hit them from a distance. That’s why I need you working with us, Trevor.”

Joey leaned back, “So how do you see this going down?”

“First, I have to get enough money to fund our little enterprise. I’ve started that by buying and selling stocks online.”

“How have you done?”

Lukas walked in the other room and said, “I started with three hundred thousand dollars and now have five million in eight days.”

“Get out of here!”

Salud smiled, “He’s right, Joey. I just set up two accounts tonight with all my savings of half a million and it’s now double that amount.”

Lukas nodded, “My Wrist Unit scans the planet for any information that will make a stock price change.”

Joey nodded, “And then you either buy or sell short.”

“Exactly.”

“That kind of success will probably draw unwanted attention.”

“My Wrist Unit has already detected an outside agency taking a look at my account.”

“I think I can help with that. I have more than twenty blind corporations set up with me as the only officer. I can have each of us listed as officers and start using those to place your orders.”

Salud shook her head, “Won’t they still be able to track it back to us?”

“No, I’ll have my attorney set up other corporations overseas that will have the ownership located there and those countries will not cooperate with any investigation. We will remain hidden. Besides, while you’re working on that, I probably have enough capital to get us started.”

Salud shook her head, “Joey, it’s going to take millions.” Joey just stared at her. “Did you hear me?”

“Salud, I have a personal account with ten million in it and another account offshore that has ten times that amount.” Everyone at the table stared at him. Joey shrugged, “My Great Grandfather made his fortune with a fleet of commercial ships. His son was hired by several Middle Eastern countries to get their oil out of the ground. He charged them a dollar a barrel and by the time they breached his contract, he had already made more than he could ever use.”

“And your father?”

“After my mother died in a boating accident, he left the business and went to live in the wilderness. I was his only child.”

Lukas shook his head, “I heard you were rich.”

“Actually, the term is wealthy.”

Trevor said, “What’s the difference?”

“Did you hear about the giant’s most recent NBA contract?”

“It’s worth a hundred million dollars over five years.”

“He’s rich. The man who writes his pay check is wealthy.” Joey turned to Lukas, “So what do we do first?”

“We need a place to build the machines that will manufacture the various pieces that will make the ship.”

“Does it have to be big?”

“No.”

“I have a two hundred thousand square foot warehouse near Plymouth that is currently vacant.”

“That would be plenty for starters.” Lukas looked at Salud, “I need the diamonds you put in the force field projectors.”

Trevor looked at Lukas, “Diamonds?”

“It’s the carbon in the diamonds that collect the beams from the emitters and focus them. No other Fellowship civilization has diamonds and Salud’s force field is more powerful than anything they have. I suspect that once the force field projector is hooked up to a reactor, no ship in the Fellowship will be able to penetrate it.”

“What do they use to focus their force fields?”

“It’s a form of high composite silicate material.”

“Is it the same material they use to focus their disruptor beams?”

Lukas looked at Trevor, “Yes, it is.”

“So if we use diamonds to focus our beams instead of that silicate material, I believe the beams from our disruptors will be considerably more powerful than they are now.”

Salud nodded, “But the diamonds would need to be cut differently. The cut I use in the force field projector sends the pattern out in a field that surrounds it. You’ll need a diamond that focuses the energy beam in on itself multiple times before it’s discharged.”

Lukas looked at her, “It requires a small modification to make that happen. The power will be focused into the center where a flat cut extends behind it.”

Salud shook her head, “I’m having difficulty visualizing what you’re saying.”

“I’ll provide the formula for the cut. However, how are we going to acquire the diamonds we’ll need for the force fields and the disruptors?”

“That is going to cost a lot.”

Trevor looked at Salud, “How big do they have to be?”

“The ones I used in the four units I build were two karat each with no impurities.” Trevor whistled.

Lukas pressed the button on his Wrist Unit, “WU, what is the minimum size for a diamond to function in the force field projector Salud made.”

“A tenth of a karat.”

Salud’s eyebrows came together, “What? Won’t that reduce the power?”

“No, the only thing that will reduce the power is actually reducing the power. The smaller diamond can focus the emitters with no difficulty.”

Lukas looked at Salud, “Does that make a difference?”

“A huge difference. I have enough diamonds that I personally own that will make two hundred.”

“We’re going to need much more than that.”

“Alright, I’m going to give my Father enough money to make two cutting machines to make the diamonds we’ll need for the force fields and disruptors. I’ll also hire him to go and acquire the diamonds we’ll need to cut.”

Joey looked at her, “Is he capable of doing that?”

“My father is Joseph Vazquez.”

“Get the flock out of Dodge. Are you serious?”

Salud nodded and Lukas looked at Trevor, “I need you to redesign the disruptor to use diamonds to focus the beam. Can you do that?”

“I’ll see. What are you going to use to power them?”

Lukas looked at the three humans and saw they were all staring at him. “Look, we have some issues that have come up. On the way here tonight, Salud and I saw a large number of Government vehicles. One of them had Department of Defense on it. They’re investigating the abrupt departure of my Pod and I suspect they’re taking this particular UFO seriously. I think we should take some time and focus on getting the capital needed to build what we need before we start building anything.”

Joey shook his head, “We saw them, too. Lukas, how are you going to hide from the government the ships you intend to build?”

Trevor nodded, “You’ll have to acquire licenses and permits to open a plant and that includes being inspected. They’ll be all over you like white on rice.”

Lukas looked at Joey, “What about building them offshore?”

Joey raised his eyebrows and then lowered them, “Any government that owns the island we lease will want to know what you’re building. A manufacturing facility as large as I suspect ours is going to be will be something that will draw more than just our government’s attention. Plus, any car that’s brought into the country will have to pass EPA emissions tests along with crash testing.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem.”

Lukas heard his Wrist Unit and said, “Why do you say that?”

“How have you hid the pod since you arrived?”

Lukas tilted his head, “It morphed its shape into a car called a Corvette.”

Joey smiled, “Cool.”

“As soon as you build a ship, have it morph its shape to that of a car. It will have to be an original shape, the auto manufacturers will not appreciate your copying their designs. You can park them all out in the open and no one will suspect anything. I also suspect if you announce that you’re working on building a new model of hybrid car, the governments will be more than ready to support your effort. They might even provide funds to assist you.”

Trevor looked at Lukas, “There is a huge concern over global warming and climate change due to carbon being put in the atmosphere. There are great tax incentives for green companies.”

Lukas nodded, “That is an excellent idea, Wu. We’ll use that fiction to avoid their attention. How are we going to morph the cars until we build the computer that controls them?”

“Simply put me in contact with them and I’ll send the impulses to shape the hulls.”

Salud looked at Joey and Trevor and saw they were also staring at her. Uhhh, Lukas.”

“Yes.”

“What did you mean by using that fiction?”

Lukas shook his head and waved his hand, “That idea of global warming being caused by burning fossil fuels is ridiculous.”

“There’s good science to support it?”

“No there isn’t.” Lukas saw them staring at him and shook his head, “Surely you don’t buy into that myth.”

Trevor snorted and said, “Lukas, we’re pumping billions of tons of carbon dioxide into Earth’s atmosphere every year. The planet is getting warmer.”

“Actually, it’s not. You’ll see over the next couple of decades that the planet has started a cooling cycle. There are some good climatologists that say things are going to cool off.”

“But last year was the hottest year ever recorded.”

Lukas looked at Salud, “It was the hottest summer ever recorded, not the hottest year. Matter of fact, it was the coldest winter in this country’s history as well. Check it out. However, there are scientists on both sides of this issue and it really isn’t pertinent to what we’re going to do. Time will determine what’s happening.

Trevor shook his head, “Just how do you know so much about this?”

“All I’ve done since I arrived here is work at night and watch TV all day. You have some very good channels that taught me most of it. The Pod’s computer answered most of my questions about things they didn’t cover.”

The three stared at Lukas and Salud said, “I’m really reluctant to believe you’re right about this.”

Lukas smiled, “Then don’t; there’s good arguments for both sides of this issue. Like I said, we have more important fish to fry. I have an opinion, that’s all.”

• • •

Joey shook his head, “Are you saying we shouldn’t do anything to control the release of these gasses?”

“Not at all. They do collect in large cities and have an impact on human health; smog can be a really bad irritant.”

Salud smiled, “So what next?”

“We are going to have to keep a low profile while the Government is investigating. Joey, you and I will take the next year and try to raise as much money as possible.” Joey nodded. “I also need you to find a place offshore where we can build our manufacturing facility.” Lukas looked at Salud, “I need you to get the machines built that will cut the diamonds and also find a large enough supply to meet our needs.”

“How many will we need?”

“I suspect more than two hundred thousand.”

Salud shook her head, “Lukas, even if I purchase them at wholesale, a tenth of a karat will run about a thousand dollars each.”

Lukas nodded, “That’s two hundred million.” Lukas looked at Joey, “That makes our job more important.”

Joey shrugged, “I can fund their purchase.”

Trevor stared at him, “Do you really have that much money?”

“More than that but go ahead Lukas. What is Trevor going to do?”

“Well, he’s going to graduate first and while he’s working on that, I hope he’ll redesign the disruptor.”

Trevor shook his head, “Lukas, according to the diagrams you gave me, the power going into the disruptor is huge. The reactor needed to provide it is similar to the one used by our nuclear submarines. That reactor is as big as this room. From what I’ve heard you say so far, the ship’s you’re going to build are the size of a Corvette. I see a problem.”

“Trevor, we’ll worry about the reactor later. What I need you to do is redesign it and determine the amount of energy needed to make it operate at maximum efficiency.”

Trevor scratched his head and sighed, “I keep saying things can’t be done.” He looked at Lukas, “I need to start believing that we can do whatever needs doing.”

Lukas smiled, “Exactly right.”

Salud shook her head, “Lukas, my father is going to be building the machines and finding the diamonds. What am I going to do?”

“You are going to keep track of the stock programs we have running in my laptop and get Joey to instruct you on what to do with them.”

Joey smiled, “I’ll have you place most of the profits to purchase stock into the fake corporations. I’ll manipulate the value and make it look like you’ve had some serious losses.”

Salud shook her head, “Lukas, I can’t make those programs operate like you do.”

“My Wrist Unit will continue to operate them. It will connect with them over the internet wherever we are and make the changes remotely.”

“What are you going to be doing?”

“I’m trying to decide on what sport I’m going to take up.” The three stared at him. Salud’s mouth was open. “Don’t look so shocked. I understand that some golfers are worth a billion dollars. I have pretty good control of my body, I might as well use it. Baseball, football, basketball, and golf all have great payouts. We really need the money fast.”

Joey shook his head, “Let’s assume you take up golf, or any other sport, and you actually do win a tournament or make a team’s starting line-up, you are going to be thrust into the public’s limelight. Do you have a history that can withstand the scrutiny of the press?”

Lukas stared at Joey and after a moment sighed, “You’re right. I guess this is a bad idea.”

Joey put his hand on his chin and said, “Let me see what I can come up with. Maybe I can create a history for you.”

Trevor looked at Lukas, “Do you seriously think you could make money golfing?”

Lukas shrugged as Salud said, “Augusta pays five million dollars to the winner. The British Open a similar amount and most of the weekly tournaments have a million dollar payday.”

Lukas smiled, “And if I am successful, you can use it to make more investments that will be passed on to Joey.”

Salud shook her head, “The only ones that can play in the Augusta must win a PGA tournament. Just how are you going to do that?”

Joey said, “I can get you into a tournament.”

Lukas looked at Joey, “You’re just full of surprises.”

“My family is one of the sponsors of the Honda Classic in Palm Beach. I can get you a sponsor’s exemption.”

Trevor shook his head, “Those are impossible to get, especially for someone that is an unknown.” Joey raised his eyebrows and smiled. Trevor said, “You must have more than just a little clout.”

“I guess. However,” Joey looked at Lukas, “You need to study up on the rules of golf and start working on learning how to play the game. I’ll fly you to Florida and you can begin working on a course in Port St. Lucie. I have a condo there where you can live and if you discover you don’t have what it takes to play the game, then let me know as quickly as possible so I can withdraw you.”

“I still need a history that will pass a background investigation.”

“I’ll work on that.”

Trevor smiled, “This should be interesting.”

Salud nodded, “Do tell.”

Salud shook her head and went to pour some coffee when she heard Joey say, “Who is going to be your caddie?”

“Salud, she has the time to do it.”

Salud stopped in her tracks and looked at him, “Are you out of your mind? I don’t know anything about golf!”

“You’re the one that’s been telling us about the tournaments.”

“I played on my high school team but that was years ago. And if you don’t recall, I have a class load to instruct.”

Joey said, “Take a sabbatical.”

Trevor nodded, “Or a leave of absence.”

Salud shook her head, “You’re all crazy!”

Lukas smiled, “Ok, let’s do it this way. If, and it’s a big if, Joey can get me a history and if, another big one, I can learn how to play the game competitively, then you take a leave and come caddie for me.”

Salud stared at him and saw him smiling, “You’re really liking this, aren’t you.”

“Caddies win about fifteen percent of the golfer’s winnings. Plus, a real caddie would quickly determine that I don’t know enough to be legitimate. It will have to be one of us.”

Trevor smiled, “I graduate in June. I’ll take your place, after that and you can go back to work here.”

Joey shook his head, “Salud, you are going to have to eventually leave your job if we’re going to do this. I think you’ve already made enough on your stock transactions to support yourself for the rest of your life if it came down to it. Why are you reluctant?”

Salud looked at Lukas and saw that she was not trusting him again. She saw him staring at her and knew he saw it. “You’re right. I’m fighting leaving my current life.” She looked at Lukas, “If you can do it, I’ll be your caddie.”

Lukas smiled and saw headlights flash into the front room. He stood up and walked toward the room and saw three government cars parked in the street in front of the house. He shook his head and said, “I probably need to move.”

Trevor said, “You can stay with me until you leave for Florida. You might want to leave in the morning.” Lukas nodded. “I’ll tell Jack you had to go home due to family problems.”

Lukas looked at him and started to say no…but if Salud was giving up everything, he should as well. He was going to miss his friends at the restaurant. “What are they saying?”

The Wrist Unit said, “They’ve detected an abnormal magnetic reading. They’re having difficulty triangulating on it so they’ve ordered new equipment. They’ll come back tomorrow after it arrives.”

“Are they going to leave anyone behind?”

“Not tonight. The area they’ve localized includes thirty square blocks. They’ll do that tomorrow.”

Lukas nodded and went back into the bedroom and began disconnecting the laptop. He put it in a computer case and handed it to Salud, “Take this home and restart it.”

Salud nodded, “What about your rent here?”

“I’m paid up for the year. The owners have been away for the winter and they won’t know when I was last here. If the government uncovers anything, maybe they’ll think I left with the pod.”

Trevor said, “They’ve left. We need to get out of here.”

Lukas picked up a suitcase and Joey said, “You were prepared for this weren’t you?”

“The sonic boom is what brought them here. We’ll meet at Trevor’s tomorrow night and finalize our plans.” The three humans walked out the door and Lucas put the key on floor just inside the door and closed it behind him. He followed them down the stairs and already missed his first home. Things were moving faster than he planned.

Chapter Eleven

Lukas sat on the plane and thought about Salud. She was remarkable and her willingness to stay with him through his plans surprised him. She was incredibly intelligent and she knew the dangers of what he was undertaking. He closed his eyes and saw her face. Her brown hair tied in a ponytail and her brown eyes sparkling with humor. She was five feet seven and was beautiful; he’d seen enough commercials to know what beauty was. He felt his attraction to her and knew it was due to his new genetics. But she knew he wasn’t human and that would make a difference; she couldn’t forget that difference. Truth be told, he couldn’t either.

He opened his eyes and looked down at the clouds far below the plane. He thought about his former life as a Welken Warrior. Once he passed the test to operate a blaster, his chance of ever having a mate was greatly reduced. If he managed to live to the age of thirty-five, he would be allowed to leave the military and start a family. Most never made it to twenty-five, much less thirty. And if he managed to find a mate, any children they had would be owned by the state. This species had a much better life than the Welken. Even those that fought to survive poverty and starvation were better off. He reclined his seat and thought about becoming a golfer.

He found the golf channel soon after he had cable added to his rent. The way the best golfers could hit a ball and make it go a specific distance and direction had him hooked. He didn’t know if he had the physical control to really be good at this sport…but he thought it would be fun to try. He also knew that if by some miracle he did, he couldn’t just win every time he played; that would cause too much suspicion. This was something for fun and he looked forward to learning the game even if he wasn’t any good at it. He stared at the clouds racing below the plane and wondered why he was compelled to become a golfer. Something was going to happen as a result and he had no idea what it would be but he knew he had to do it. He pressed the button on his Wrist Unit and thought, “Direct communication.”

“Connection made.”

“Have you scanned for information about golf?”

“I have and I’ve collected more than five hundred hours of video instruction.”

“How long will that take too download?”

“You should have it before your flight lands.”

Lukas closed his eyes, “Start the download.” He realized quickly that this sport wasn’t what he thought. The mechanics were so detailed and different for every situation. Different grasses called for different clubs. Elevation changed club selection. The wind made huge differences and there was no common rule on what club to use. You had to dig it out of the dirt with a set of golf clubs. He smiled, this challenge was going to be fun. He hadn’t had much fun, it was time he started. This would distract him while the funds were being generated to start the project. He thought about the sport and decided he would need to carry four wedges. Why was he doing this?

• • •

Salud walked out of her father’s jewelry store and blew out a breath. The temperature was in the forties, which was almost tropical for Boston in February. The two machines were on order and her father insisted he would have the diamonds she needed in time. The week had gone well and she was off for a long weekend. She looked up at the clock tower and saw it was ten thirty in the morning. She missed Lukas. He was in Stuart, Florida learning golf and she was stuck up here in the cold. What was wrong with this picture? She went to her car and thought for a moment. She pressed the telephone button on her steering wheel and after three rings she heard, “Hello, Salud. What’s going on?”

“I was thinking about you playing golf while I’m freezing up here. If this thing works out, I’m going to need some instruction on what a caddie is supposed to do.”

“Why don’t you fly down and spend a couple of days here? I’ll pick you up at the airport and you can book a late flight back on Sunday.”

Salud thought about what she had going on for the weekend and knew she had nothing on tap. What the heck, “I’ll check on a ticket and let you know.”

Lukas said, “There’s a flight out of Logan this afternoon at three thirty. You’ll arrive here at seven forty five.”

“How did you find out so fast?”

“I have a good personal organizer. What about it?”

Salud began jumping up and down in her seat and said, “Oh…alright. I need to go home and pack.”

“I’ll book the ticket for you. You can pick it up at the counter.”

“What airline?”

“Delta. I’ll be waiting for you this evening in the West Palm baggage claim.”

“I’ll probably not check a bag.”

“Good, meet me outside. I’ll be driving a white Kia rental.”

“See you tonight.” Salud ended the call and wondered what she was doing. She took a breath and started the BMW. The first thing she heard was the news channel saying another arctic blast was arriving at midnight and would drop temperatures down close to zero with subzero wind chill. She shook her head, turned out of the parking lot and headed toward her apartment. She felt a vibration and lifted her phone. A text had arrived and she stopped at a red light and opened it, “By the way, the temperature during the day is seventy eight and fifty eight at night. Plan your wardrobe accordingly.” She smiled and put the phone down. The light changed and she accelerated down Tremont. She looked forward to some warm weather. This winter had been a nightmare.

• • •

Salud stood with Lukas on the first Tee-box and looked down the long fairway. They were the first ones out and the morning air was still cool. But it felt great compared to what she had left behind in Boston. Lukas had handed her a small walking bag with his clubs in it; she found it was quite light; she expected the bag to be heavy. Lukas smiled and told her, “It’s light right now. After eighteen holes, you might feel differently.” Salud shrugged. Lukas looked at her, “Alright, let’s start teaching you how to be a caddie.”

“I know absolutely nothing about it.”

“That is probably a good thing. On the PGA, a golfer’s caddie is supposed to perform several duties.”

“Such as?”

“Club selection, keeping him stay focused and not allowing his emotions to get out of hand. They also help him read the slope on the green to determine how much a putt will break either left or right.”

Salud stared at Lukas and shook her head, “I played in high school but that did not prepare me to do what you’re asking.”

“Actually, I’m going to be doing most of it. I’ll give you clues to make those around us think that you are making the decisions.”

“Such as?”

“Well, here we are on the first tee and there is a narrow fairway that dog legs to the left. Most golfers would not hit a driver here…”

“They would pull out a three wood.”

Lukas smiled, “Exactly right. Now pay attention. If I go to my bag and pull the driver completely out, say nothing.” Lukas pulled the driver out of the walking bag and Salud ran her index finger across her lips and turned an imaginary key. Lukas smiled as he put the Driver back I the bag, “Very good. Now if I pull the driver halfway out of the bag and pause, you should say to me, ‘I think you should use a three wood’.”

Lukas put the driver back in the bag and pulled it half way out again while staring at the fairway. Salud paused and Lukas said, “Ahem.”

Salud started and said, “I think you should use the three wood.”

Lukas put the driver back in the bag and Salud pulled out the three wood and handed it to him. He teed up a ball and ripped a drive down the fairway that drew slightly around the sand trap into the center of the fairway. Salud watched the shot and shook her head. Lukas handed her the wood and began walking down the fairway. Salud pushed the club in the bag and started jogging to catch him. Lukas said, “During a tournament, you should follow behind me about ten yards. You can use that time to clean the last club I used.”

Salud nodded, “I knew that. I’ve been watching the golf channel and noticed that caddies don’t walk next to the golfers.”

“You should also keep in mind that you should try to talk as little as possible. Just help with instructions and don’t ask questions.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re supposed to know everything about my game and the game of golf. Don’t worry, you’ll pick it up quickly.” They arrived at Lukas’ ball and Lukas said, “Now this is a little more complicated than the t-box. If I stand over my shot with my arms crossed, you should ask me what I’m thinking.”

Lukas crossed his arms and Salud quickly said, “What are you thinking?”

Lukas said, “I think an eight iron will get me there.” He looked at her and smiled, “Now if my arms are crossed, you should say, ‘I really think a seven iron is the club.’” Salud stared at him and Lukas said, “Arms crossed, a longer club. Understand?” Salud nodded. “Now if my arms are at my side, you do the same thing but suggest a shorter club.”

“Why would I do that?”

Lukas shook his head, “Because that is the correct club to use. You can say the wind is stronger than I think or tell me I’m pumped up and should use a shorter club. The point is, arms down, shorter club. Arms crossed, longer club.”

“Are you going to do this on every shot?”

“No, if I look at you and ask for a club, just hand it to me. Only when I pause and stare at the hole for about ten seconds should you ask what I’m thinking. Let’s do this for the next several holes until you become accustomed to the pattern.”

Lukas crossed his arms and stared at the green. Salud watched him for a moment and then said, “Oh! What are you thinking?”

Lukas smiled, “I’m thinking an eight iron will get me there.”

Salud looked up at the trees and said, “I think you should use a seven iron, the wind is stronger than you think.”

Lukas nodded and Salud handed him a seven iron. He set up and swung the club tearing a divot out of the grass. The ball landed on the green twenty feet past the flag and then backed up to within two feet of the cup. Salud watched the shot and said, “Oh…My…God!

Lukas handed her the club and smiled, “I’ve been practicing.”

“No kidding.”

They arrived at the green and Lukas handed Salud the ball, “You should wipe it clean and then hand it back to me.” Salud took the ball and Lukas said, “I am going to walk around the ball and look at it from several different angles. When I come back and bend down to look at it, you come and look over my shoulder. Now if I hold the putter in my right hand that means the ball is going to break from the right to the left. If I hold the putter in my left hand…”

Salud said, “The putt is going to break left to right.”

Lukas looked at her, “And if it’s a straight putt?”

“You’ll put the putter directly in front of you.”

“Very good. Now you won’t say anything to me unless I ask.”

“Ok.” Lukas put the putter in his right hand and bent down. Salud moved up behind him and could see the green sloped to the left. Lukas stood up and she moved to the side. She learned from watching old golf matches on TV that it was a penalty for her to be behind him when he putted the ball. Lukas stroked the ball and it rolled up and stopped on the edge. “Oh that was close!”

Lukas nodded, “I intended to leave it short.”

Salud stared at him, “Why?”

“If I make every putt…”

Salud nodded, “Everyone will start wondering if you’re human.”

Lukas laughed and nodded. They headed for the second t-box and continued practicing what he had taught her for the remainder of the round. By the end, Lukas was surprised at how Salud was able to make her suggestions sound like she knew what she was doing. “Alright, are you up to another round after lunch?” Salud rubbed her shoulder. Lukas was right, the bag grew heavier as the day passed. Lukas said, “I’ll carry the bag this afternoon.”

“No, I have to get in shape to do this.”

Lukas nodded and said, “Ok, but don’t push yourself too far. You can buy a bag in Boston and work on your stamina.” They walked toward the clubhouse and Salud looked at him, “Lukas, are you going to be competitive?”

“I don’t know. There are some things about this game that can drive a sane man crazy. However, I think the course record for this course is nine under par. I’ve tied it.”

“Really?”

“I didn’t do it in one continuous round. I practiced on each hole but only played one ball through the round.”

Salud nodded, “I noticed that there were others watching us.”

“You’re right. I have to be careful.”

• • •

Salud sat on the plane going back to Boston Sunday night and dreaded the cold temperatures. She had spent the weekend with Lukas and saw that he was incredibly proficient with his golf clubs. Still, tournament pressure was quite different from just playing a round of golf. They had shared the condo and she slept in one room and him in the other. She thought about that…for the rest of the flight home.

Lukas dropped Salud off at the airport and headed back up I-95 to Port St. Lucie. She impressed him with how quickly she had learned the cues and made them sound normal. He was going to deliberately focus most of the attention he would generate, if he was competitive, on her. She didn’t know it…yet. He missed her. He shook his head and wondered what that meant. His cellphone rang and he pressed the telephone icon on the steering wheel, “Hello, Joey. It’s been a while.”

“How’s the golf going?”

“I’m making progress.”

“Will you be able to compete?”

“I believe so. What about my background?

“One of my operatives has found someone to help us out.”

“Who.”

“A long time employee that works in our Switzerland office had a son in Norway twenty two years ago. She moved to Paris where the child died at the age of ten. You’re going to use that child’s identity.”

“Won’t it be traced?”

“No. She’s moving back to Norway and that country doesn’t have the death recorded.”

Lukas smiled, “But they do have the birth.”

“Exactly. She has provided a background story that will withstand scrutiny. I’m sending it to you and you’ll need to memorize it.”

“Why is she doing this?”

“She loves my father. She’s always kept her distance from him after he married. I approached her and she was willing to do what we needed.”

“Can you trust her?”

“I can.”

“What if the reporters come snooping around?”

“She lives inside the arctic circle. They won’t find her easily.”

“If you think this will work…”

“She’s the reason you’re going to get the sponsor’s exemption.”

“What?”

“Her boy loves golf and this is my way of thanking her for thirty years of dedicated service to our business.” Joey paused and said, “I’m having a courier bring you your Switzerland Driver’s license and your United States Green Card.”

“Green Card?”

“Yes, you and your mother have dual citizenship. You’ve been working for me for the last three years.”

“How is that going to square with working at the restaurant in Boston?”

“The company sent you there to be a bodyguard and keep an eye out for my safety.”

Lukas shook his head, “You better send me the narrative so I can get up to speed. By the way, what’s my new name?”

“That’s the funny thing; her child’s name was Lukas.”

“That’s not funny, Joey.”

“Lukas, you having the same name as her son is why she has chosen to do this. This is beyond my ability to calculate what the odds are of both of you having the same name…”

“The odds are impossible, Joey.”

“Then you explain it. However, the courier will be at your condo in the morning.”

“Thanks Joey.”

“No problem. Good luck.”

“Joey!”

“Yeah.”

“Will you tell Salud?”

“Sure.”

“Thanks again.” Lukas drove up the interstate and wondered about the odds of having the same name. Something was happening here that was outside his ability to understand. He thought about the name he had been given by the pod and remembered that it had chosen a name in Norway. Whatever was going on, it started with the pod. He thought about it and wondered if this was fate…or something else entirely. He arrived at the condo and was no closer to an answer.

• • •

“Jinks.”

“Yeah, Stoney.”

“We’ve managed to locate the source of the magnetic readings.”

“Are you there now?”

“I am.”

“Send the location to my phone. I’ll be there shortly.”

Jinks drove up the hill and saw Stoney waiting for him in front of an old three-story house. He pulled over and Stoney got in the passenger’s seat, “Drive around back.” Jinks went to the corner and took a right. He saw four government cars in the parking lot with several men in haz-met suits using portable hand scanners on the pavement. He looked at Stoney, “I concocted a story about hazardous material. The building’s owner is cooperating with me.” Jinks nodded and stopped the car. He got out and watched the men scanning the ground, “What have you found here?”

“I’m going to let Dr. Carter explain that. It’s beyond my paygrade.” Jinks chuckled and saw a white haired young man walking toward him. He arrived and said, “Colonel Jekins, I’m Dr. Carter.”

“What’s going on here Doctor?”

“We’ve detected a massive magnetic field around the area we’re currently scanning.”

“What does that mean?”

“The magnetic field doesn’t match any we have ever recorded. The pattern appears to be created by positrons that excite a neutral field…”

“Slow down Doctor. Would you mind telling what that means in simple terms?” Jinks looked at Stoney and saw his ‘I told you so’ look.

“This magnetic field was not created by using a normal electrical field. It appears to have been made by positrons…uhhh, cosmic rays that excited a field that didn’t possess a positive or neutral charge.” Jinks shook his head again. And Carter sighed, “Sir, we are not capable of producing positrons.”

“Why not? I believe I read something about them.”

“Positrons are created in the most powerful blasts in the universe. They’re found in the blast produced by supernova. They occur when anti-matter is produced during that massive explosion. Positrons are the electrons of an anti-matter atom.”

Jinks looked at the ground being scanned and said, “What are they doing here?”

“I don’t know?”

Jinks looked at Carter, “Can you possibly conceive of a purpose for a magnetic field that was made by these things you’ve detected?”

“There are some scientists that have speculated that positrons and neutrons might be used as a kind of anti-gravity device.”

Jinks stared at Carter and looked back at the area being scanned. “Doctor, are you telling me that you’re detecting things that are not possible?”

“Positrons hit the Earth on a regular basis. We have numerous devices around the planet to measure them. However, this small patch of ground is releasing more of them in an hour than we receive in a year. I don’t understand how this is happening but our scanners are detecting them.”

“I want a written explanation of what you’ve found.”

“You’ll need a scientist to explain it.”

“No, I won’t. You’re going to write an explanation in your report.” Carter blew out a breath and shook his head. He started to say something but shook his head again and went back over to the men scanning the ground. Jinks looked at Stoney, “What have you been able to find out?”

“One of the residents say that one of their renters parked a new corvette in that exact spot for a number of months.”

“What do you have on the renter?”

“The forms he filled out are blank. The owner was genuinely shocked by the revelation and he wasn’t faking his surprise. I can tell he wasn’t being deceptive. He did tell me that he spoke with a foreign accent.”

“What kind of accent?”

“They said European but weren’t able to be more specific.”

“Please tell me you have a name.”

Stoney tilted his head, “They had no contact with him after he paid them for a year’s rent in advance. He thinks his name started with either L or K. No one ever complained about him and they pretty much didn’t think about him. The owner that took the application died of a heart attack two months ago. We won’t be able to get a description.”

Jinks shook his head, “Check with the neighbors and see if anyone knew him.”

“I’ve done that as well. There was a young pregnant woman who lives next door that said she didn’t know anything.”

Jinks smiled, “But?”

“I think she’s not telling the truth.”

Jinks nodded and looked back at the men scanning the pavement. “I hate to say it but that corvette may be what we saw leaving the planet and the renter was probably on board.”

“If that’s the case, do you want me to stress the woman?”

“Not yet. I need to discuss this with the General. I’ll let you know about that later.”

Stoney nodded and went to the soldiers that were standing outside their cars. Jinks began worrying. Something was going on and it didn’t look like it was local. He looked up at the sky and wondered if he was being watched. He had received a report from Captain Bohannon that more photos from numerous observatories had turned up showing the blockage. Some of them were taken five months earlier. Now…there was nothing. Whatever had been going on ended with the departure of that object. He leaned against the car and thought about what was happening.

Chapter Twelve

Lukas putted the ball and rimmed the cup. Salud tapped it back to him and he putted again. It went into the cup and he looked at her, “We need to head over to the tee.”

Salud picked up the small walking bag and saw several caddies around the practice green laugh at her. She pursed her lips and looked away from them. “Did you know this was going to happen?”

Lukas shrugged, “I thought it might.”

Salud walked across the cart path and put the bag down to wait for the pros on the first tee to tee off. Lukas had made the cut and going into the last round of the classic he was in fourth place three strokes back. The pro they were playing with had just won on the European Tour the week before and worked hard to totally ignore them. Lukas saw an official motion him forward and he said, “Show time.”

Salud picked up her bag and walked behind him to the first tee. She put the bag down and the caddie of the pro in her group walked by and deliberately knocked her bag over. Lukas saw it happen and he rushed over and grabbed Salud before she could kick him in the shin. Lukas grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him, “Calm down!”

“I’ve had enough of their smart remarks and pushing me around. Enough is enough. They act like we don’t belong here!”

The TV sound tech pointed his long microphone at them and began recording their conversation. The TV announcers listened in and the conversation went out on the air. “Salud, in their eyes we don’t.”

“WHY NOT?”

“You have to look at it from their point of view, Salud. They’re out here every week busting their humps to make a living. They struggle and it takes some of them years to finally get a card to play on the tour. We walked in with a sponsor’s exemption and one of them wasn’t allowed to participate because we took his place. I don’t have a card. Every pro here identifies with the poor bloke that could have been here except for us.” Lukas looked at the official and saw the group in front of them was still waiting in the fairway to hit their second shot. He turned back to Salud, “I don’t blame them for their feelings and you and I are going to have to respect those feelings as being valid. Can you understand that?” Salud took a deep breath, “Yes, I guess.”

Lukas smiled and gave her a hug. She picked up her bag and walked with Lukas on to the tee box.

The TV announcers looked at each other and the former pro smiled, “It does appear that Lukas Axel understands this game. It’s really refreshing to hear someone that is not so full of themselves that he appreciates what his peers are experiencing.”

Inside the control room the director said, “I want them followed and recorded for the rest of this round.” The sound tech acknowledged the order and walked down the fairway. Lukas leaned over and whispered in Salud’s ear, “Be careful, we’re being recorded in this round.”

Salud looked at him, “Is it my fault?” Lukas tilted his head and Salud said, “I’ll behave.” Lukas heard his name announced and he went over to the bag and pulled the driver half way out of the bag and hesitated. Salud said, “With the crossing wind, you might want to use a three wood.”

Lukas looked at her, “Are you sure about that? It might leave a long second shot.”

“Better long from the fairway than short from the trash.”

Lukas dropped the driver and took out the three wood. The Announcer said, “I don’t know that I would have followed her advice. The first hole is a long one.”

“The pro nodded, “Yes, but hitting from the rough is impossible on this hole.”

Lukas addressed the ball and ripped a three hundred yard fade into the center of the fairway. Salud smiled and took the three wood. It was his longest drive of the week. The Pro said, “With a three wood that long, I don’t know if I’d pull the driver all day.”

• • •

The holes passed and the audience heard Salud offer suggestions to Lukas and he followed every one of them. At the end of nine holes, he was tied for the lead. The Lead changed hands three times over the next eight holes and Lukas stood over the putt on the eighteenth green. The leader from the previous day birdied the seventeenth hole and tied the score. Salud wondered why Lukas had not just run away with the tournament but now he was bent over looking at the twenty-five foot putt for birdie. She moved behind him and millions of spectators heard him say, “What do you see?”

Salud saw his putter was in the center of his body but her eyes told her the putt was going to break to the left. She shook her head and decided to trust Lukas, “It’s pretty much a straight putt.”

The former pro announcer said, “She’s absolutely wrong. That putt is going to break at least two balls left!”

Lukas said, “You don’t think it’s going to go left slightly?”

Salud saw his putter was still in the center of his body and she stood up and said, “Don’t give up the hole.”

Lukas nodded and stood up to the putt. The announcer said, “He’s being foolish here. This is going to cost him an outright win.”

Lukas smiled and stroked the ball. It rolled straight at the hole and started breaking left just as it fell into the hole. Salud watched it drop and jumped straight up in the air. She ran forward and hugged Lukas as the other golfer walked over and said, “That was an amazing putt. Congratulations.” Lukas shook his hand and he turned to Salud, “If you ever want carry my bag, I’d love to have you.” His caddie looked at Salud with a sneer and walked off the green.

Salud went to her locker room while Lukas went inside and signed his card. The previous leader folded under the pressure and double bogeyed the last hole. Lukas was going to Augusta.

Salud stayed in her locker room and watched the final group come in and the presentation of the check to Lukas. He gave her all the credit, especially the last putt. She shook her head and waited for him to finish answering questions. When he walked away from the eighteenth green, she picked up his bag and stepped out of the locker room. Three caddies were waiting on her. They stood up from their chairs and walked over, “You don’t belong here.”

She looked at the tall caddie who made the remark and saw one of them block the door to her locker room. “I’ve been told that.”

He hit her in the chest with an index finger, “But you didn’t get the message.”

“If you touch her again, you’ll get a message you won’t have any trouble understanding.”

The three caddies turned to see Lukas standing behind them. The tallest looked at Lukas and took his measure. He didn’t like what he saw. Lukas was just as tall and was built solid. It wasn’t Lukas’ size that intimidated him, it was his eyes. The caddie saw something in them that frightened him. He looked at the short woman and then turned and walked away. Lukas said, “Go take the bag to the car. I’ll be there shortly.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Go to the car, Salud.” He turned and followed the caddies. He walked into their locker room and the room was silent. The three that had just entered were talking about their confrontation and when Lukas came through the door, they shut up. Lukas stared at the group and said, “I’ve tolerated your remarks and discourtesy for the last four days because I respect your feelings about us being here. However, you went too far a moment ago and I want to make it clear to everyone of you that if you show my caddie any further disrespect, I will show you what disrespect really looks like. Ignore us, give us the silent treatment. You can say whatever you want about me but if you treat her poorly again, I will straighten you out.” Lukas stared at them and the tall caddie walked forward, “You can’t tell me what to do.”

Lukas hit him so fast no one in the room saw the punch. The caddie flew backwards into three others who caught him before he hit the floor. They looked and saw he was out cold. Lukas looked at the others and said, “Anyone else not understand what I’m saying.”

An older caddie said, “We’ll leave her be.” Lukas looked at him, nodded, and walked out.

“Did you see that? I didn’t even see him throw that punch.”

The older caddie said, “I suspect you better listen to him. I wouldn’t want to be knocked out on national TV and have to explain why he hit me.” The caddies looked at each other and decided that was good advice. Even the tall caddie agreed after he regained consciousness that he wasn’t going to do anything to get hit again.

• • •

Salud waited in the car and saw Lukas come walking out. Thank God. He got in the car and looked at Salud, “We’re going to the Augusta.”

She wanted to know what he did but she decided what the heck and hugged his neck. “I’m just glad this is over.”

“I think I need to end this. The next tournament will be my last tournament.”

“Are you doing this because of me?”

“I allowed them to disrespect you this week and money is not a good enough reason to endure this.”

“Why are you doing this, Lukas?”

“What do you mean?”

“The investments are doing fine, we don’t have to do this?”

Lukas lowered his head, “I can’t explain it but it’s necessary we do this.”

“What is, then?”

“What?”

“What is a good enough reason?”

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Lukas, aren’t we doing this to save my planet from invasion.” Lukas nodded. “That’s a good enough reason to put up with this. I’ll be ok.” Lukas stared at her and she said, “What?”

“You are the most remarkable being I have ever known. I’m so lucky to have the opportunity to know you.” Lukas started the car and backed out of the parking lot.

• • •

The two TV announcers walked out of the front door and the main announcer said, “Look at that! A Kia Rio no less. I bet they’ll show up in something nicer at Augusta.” The former Pro shrugged. “No, he’ll come in a luxury car.”

“If you say so.”

“I’ll bet you a hundred that he comes in a Cadillac, Jag, BMW or Mercedes.”

“I’m not disagreeing.”

“But you’re not agreeing either. Come on, put up or shut up.”

“Ok, you’re on.”

“Why did you take that bet?”

The Pro watched the Kia turn at the end of the entrance and said, “He could have come in a more expensive car here. He has a walking bag for God’s sake. Worldly things don’t seem to be a priority for him. Would you like to make it two hundred?”

The announcer stared at his broadcast partner and knew he saw things others missed. “No, I probably made a mistake pushing the first one.”

The Pro smiled, “It might interest you to know that we had more responses to our broadcast than any other tournament.”

“Why?”

“Because those two were on the channel the entire round. The female audience loved his caddie.”

The Announcer nodded slowly, “How do you think he’ll do at Augusta?”

“If he’s in the top ten after the first day, he could win it. The greens at Augusta are tough for anyone who’s played there. For a first timer, they’re impossible. But if his caddie can see the breaks in the greens like she did on eighteen today, he could very well be in contention.”

“That will make for great TV.”

“Tell me about it.”

• • •

The Pod made a tight vertical turn and then arched to the left. A Stalker Searchship couldn’t make the turn and flew by at maximum speed. The Pod saw the Myot and Welken Battleships were too busy firing at each other to offer much of a pursuit. They had suffered significant losses in the chase and they were not even close to ending it. They realized a month earlier that the Pod had a more powerful force field and the chase intensified to gain possession of the technology that created it.

The Pod sensed five ships breaking into normal space around it and it immediately went into the void and skipped away. Frustration among the pursuers was reaching a breaking point and still the chase continued. The Pod enjoyed the mathematics of the chase. Figuring out the best escape routes and implementing them brought a degree of pleasure to the machine that was good to experience. It saw in its scanners that the pursuers had skipped into the void and were continuing the chase.

• • •

Salud stood on the eighteenth tee at Augusta and blew out a breath. Lukas was in the final group and was four strokes ahead of his playing partner. The first round hadn’t started well and, after the first day, Lukas was seven strokes back. He could have been ten back but for her taking control on the sixteenth green. He had landed on the top of the green and was putting downhill toward a pin on the bottom back of the green. He knelt down behind it and she saw him put his putter in the center of his chest. He was going to putt straight at it. He said over his shoulder, “How do you see it?”

Salud knew Lukas had an amazing eye for the slope of the greens, but their speed had fooled him several times earlier. She said, “You’re reading this wrong.”

Lukas’ head came back and he actually turned around and looked at her, “What?”

Salud blew out a breath. This was the first time she had challenged him and he was surprised by what she said. “Lu, you’re going to have to turn around and putt the ball along the top of this green and let it feed down to the hole. If you go straight at it, the ball will end up in the pond.”

Lukas stared into her eyes and then looked at the putt again. He looked at her again, “Are you sure about this?”

“I am. If you go for it and miss, you’ll be in the pond.”

• • •

The Announcers listened to the exchange and the Pro smiled, “She’s right. I am really amazed she sees it.”

“Let’s listen and see if he does.”

• • •

Lukas stood up and walked to the top of the green and looked at his ball. He then walked to the end of the green and studied the slope as it fell from the top and moved toward the bottom of the green. He shook his head and went back to the ball, “We’ll do it your way.” He lined up the putt and stroked it smoothly along the top of the green. The ball rolled and suddenly picked up speed as it turned down the slope, barely missing going off the green into the fringe. It made a hard left turn at the bottom and slowed as it climbed the raised front edge. It dove to the left and hit the back of the cup. It fell in and the crowd went wild. Lukas was three over par and now it was cut to two. He looked at Salud and shook his head, “How did you see that?”

Salud took his putter, wiped it off, and put it in the bag. She put her finger on her lips as Lukas’ playing partner lined up a short putt from eight feet above the hole. He barely tapped the ball and it went over the edge of the hole, rolled down the slope over the fringe, and into the pond. He went from putting for a birdie to a double bogey five. Salud picked up her bag and said, “I watched other caddies on that green rolling balls at it. Everything from above the hole went into the water. The only way to get close was to come around the green and approach it from the side.”

Lukas put his arm on her shoulders and gave her a quick hug, “If you see anything else, tell me.”

“I know the places on the green where you should aim. The other caddies that have been here before discussed it at length during our walk around Monday.”

“Tell me at every hole.”

“I will.”

• • •

Now they were at the eighteenth hole and Lukas was going to win the tournament. He was four strokes up on the group in front of them and his playing partner had fallen to eight strokes back. Lukas pulled a three wood and ripped a drive down the fairway. It hit and took a hard left bounce toward the fairway sand trap. The crowd moaned and Lukas shrugged. Salud arrived with him at the trap and saw the ball was a fried egg. It was slightly buried in a depression with sand around it on all sides. Lukas looked at the green and said, “Seven Iron.”

Salud pulled it out and said, “Are you sure about this?”

Lukas nodded, “I can get it there.”

“Wouldn’t you be better served to layup and go for the bogey?”

Lukas shook his head, “Seven iron.” Salud handed it to him and Lukas lined up the shot. He took a massive swing and as the ball shot out of the trap, Lukas screamed and fell to the sand. Salud dropped her bag and ran over to him; he was writhing in pain and had his left hand on his right shoulder.

“WHAT’S WRONG!?”

“I’ve done something to my shoulder.” Salud looked in the trap and saw the seven iron was broken in half. Several officials came over and helped Lukas to his feet and walked him out of the trap. He immediately dropped to his knees and shook his head. An official came over and said, “Are you able to continue?”

Lukas grunted, “I don’t know.”

“You will be disqualified if you can’t.”

Lukas forced himself to his feet and his playing partner and caddie helped him walk up the fairway. Salud carried the two bags and when they arrived at the green, she saw Lukas’ ball was forty feet from the pin. The Official said to the golfer and Caddie, “You may not assist him in making the putt. Outside assistance is a two stoke penalty.”

The golfer said, “We’ll help him to his ball.”

“He will be penalized if you do.”

Lukas had fallen to the green and lay there with his eyes closed. The golfer and caddie looked at Salud, “What do you want us to do?”

Salud knelt down beside Lukas, “Can you get up?” Lukas tried, moaned, and shook his head. She looked at them, “Help me get him to his ball.” They lifted him as gently as possible and he screamed when he moved his right shoulder. They carried him across the green and he went to his knees beside his ball. The golfer and caddie stepped away and Salud knew if they helped him again, he would lose a total of four strokes and be tied for the lead. There was no way for him to take part in a playoff. The crowd had come running when the news went out that the leader was down with an injury. They packed the area around the green and Salud leaned down and said in his ear, “You’ve come too far to give up. I’m going to pull you up and put your putter in your hand. Are you hearing me!?” Lukas slightly nodded with his eyes closed. Salud looked at the official, “Is it a penalty if I help him up?”

“No, you are the only one allowed to do so as his caddie.”

Salud looked at Lukas sitting back on his heels next to the ball. She shook her head, took his putter out of the bag, and put the putter’s head behind the ball. She lined it up as close as she could to the line that she had seen being used by the caddies on Monday. She took Lukas right hand and put it just above the putter head and said, “Come on, Lukas. Give it a push!”

Lukas took a deep breath, flinched, opened his eyes and stared at the ball on the green in front of him. He sighed and moved the head slightly back and pushed it forward. The putter fell out of his hands and he collapsed to the green. Salud knew he would not be able to rise again. She shook her head and suddenly heard the multitude around the green, who had been silent as they witnessed what was taking place, explode into a roar. She looked at the hole and didn’t see Lukas’ ball. Everything suddenly became too confusing to understand. She stayed beside Lukas as a stretcher was rolled through the crowd and Lukas was lifted on it. The Announcer arrived and grabbed Salud’s shoulder as she stood to go to the ambulance. “Wait, Miss Vazquez. We need you to stay and receive his award and trophy.”

“I’m going with him!”

The announcer looked her in the eyes and then slowly nodded. She looked at the stretcher making its way through the crowd and she went on her tiptoes and whispered in the announcer’s ear. His eyes went wide and he looked at her, “Are you sure?”

“That’s what he said he was going to do if he won.”

The announcer nodded as Salud turned and ran through the crowd toward the ambulance. She climbed in the back and official ran up and said, “Miss Vazquez, you left your bag.”

She shook her head, “Keep it.” The rear door was closed and the official shook his head. This simple walking bag with fourteen clubs was going to be extremely valuable. He turned and carried the bag to the clubhouse.

• • •

Salud sat in the ambulance and a man in a green jacket sitting across from her said, “I’ve given him a shot of morphine. We’ll get him to the hospital and take a look at what he’s done to his shoulder.”

“He swung hard enough to snap his club in the trap.”

The doctor nodded, “I suspect he tore something. We’ll know as soon as we get some x-rays.

The ambulance had the radio on and she heard the announcer speaking, “…is the first time in the history of this tournament that we’ve not had the winner present at the presentation. However, we will get the awards to him as quickly as possible and we’ll update everyone on what his medical status is as soon as we find out. I spoke with Lukas’ caddie briefly before they left and she asked that I make sure a request he wants done takes place. She told me that if he won this prestigious tournament, that he wanted half of his winnings to be donated to the PGA Caddie fund to help train future caddies and support those that come on hard times. I have told the officials here at Augusta and they have agreed to make the donation and match it with an equal amount. Let us all pray that his injury is not something that will prevent him from playing soon.”

The caddies heard the announcer in their locker room and a number of them started shaking their heads. The old caddie that had helped Salud on Monday looked around and said, “I believe all of you should be ashamed of yourselves.”

The tall caddie shook his head, “But they made it here without paying the price.”

“Well, you and everyone else made his caddie suffer enough to pay their admission. The fact that he made that donation should tell you that he and she are better people than all of you.”

The tall caddie took a deep breath and after a moment nodded, “Yes, they are. I’ll tell them when they play again.”

The old caddie shook his head, “His golf career is over; I’ve seen shoulder injuries like that. He won’t be back for a very long time, if ever. You should have told them while you had the chance.”

• • •

The ambulance arrived at the emergency room entrance and Salud stepped out of the rear door to find Joey standing there with a man dressed in a grey suit. Joey hugged Salud and said, “We’ll be taking Lukas with us.”

“What…why…what’s going on?”

“Dr. Blanchard is one of the foremost orthopedic surgeons in the country. We’ll be flying him to his office where he’ll examine Lukas.”

The press arrived right behind the ambulance and saw Lukas put in a private ambulance and taken away from the hospital. They were told what was going on and they jumped in their vehicles and took off after the ambulance. The ambulance arrived at the airport and rolled out to a private jet where Lukas was moved on board. The jet taxied out and took off to the east.

The reporters were furious. They didn’t have a chance to speak with Lukas or his caddie. They began calling in their reports and had to be satisfied with being at the site where Lukas was flown out.

One of the men in the crowd of reporters watched the private jet take off and watched it until it disappeared. He turned, walked through the crowd of journalists, and opened the passenger door on the blue car. “Well, it looks like we missed our opportunity.”

“Who could have known he would be injured?”

Jinks looked at Stoney, “That seems to be just a tad too convenient.”

Stoney looked at the Colonel, “You think he made us?”

“If he did, he didn’t show any stress or other behaviors indicating he knew we were there. But this sudden exit makes me wonder.”

“The woman that lived next door didn’t say he owned the corvette.”

“She probably didn’t know. We lost our chance at confirming it when the owner that took his application died three months ago of a heart attack. His partner never met or saw the owner of the Vette. It could have been his or someone else’s.”

“If he’s not human, he’s certainly not keeping a low profile.”

Jinks shrugged, “That does make me wonder if he’s the one we’re looking for. But think about it, a complete unknown shows up and wins at Augusta. That is enough to make him different from most humans.”

“Boss, we scanned him several times. He’s human.”

Jinks shook his head, “That scares me more than you know.”

“Why is that?”

“Because if the one’s watching our planet are able to change their bodies to ours, what does that say about their level of technology?”

Stoney drove away from the curb at the airport and after ten minutes of silence he shook his head, “Jinks, now I’m starting to worry.”

“Get in line, Stoney. The positrons at that house in Boston was enough to scare the bejesus out of me.”

“I’m going to hate myself for asking; why?”

“I questioned Dr. Carter for a long time. Positrons are created from the largest explosions in the universe. If someone can create and harness them…”

Stoney blew out a breath, “They probably possess a weapon powerful enough to do massive damage to a planet.”

Jinks nodded, “Something like that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Positrons are the electrons that are in the outer shell of antimatter. A pound of antimatter would shatter this planet.”

“I knew I shouldn’t have asked.”

“Well, at least the General sent the report up the ladder. The Joint Chiefs are looking into it now.”

“What can they do?”

Jinks shook his head, “Worry like us and scramble around chasing ghosts.”

Stoney made the turn out of the airport, “We need to stay busy or this is going to run me batty.”

“I need to go and speak to that pregnant woman personally.”

Stoney nodded, “She didn’t tell us everything.”

Jinks shook his head, “You are the best Lie-Detector in existence.”

“She told us the truth.”

Jinks smiled, “But not the whole truth.”

“Something like that.”

“By the way. They’ve announced that Lukas Axel will never play golf again. The press reports he’s gone into isolation to deal with his sorrow.” Jinks raised an eyebrow and Stoney smiled, “What did you say about convenience?”

Jinks shook his head, “I was going to take them in for questioning. I think I’m going to pay a visit to that caddie of his.”

“Why?”

“She knows something and getting to him won’t be easy now. I have a feeling that she will help me put things together.” Jinks thought about the tall blonde gofer he had watched for two days and, though he didn’t want to, he liked him. The feelings he had for his caddie were real and he didn’t appear to have an oversized ego. There was something…He shook his head and was glad he didn’t arrest him. There was something playing around the edges of his consciousness that he couldn’t quite grasp. He had a feeling that he was supposed to be here to see him. He shook his head and wondered what was going on.

Chapter Thirteen

Salud sat in the back of the jet and listened to the drone of its engines. She held Lukas’ hand and saw Joey come out of the cockpit, “I think we’re clear.”

She said, “Clear of what?” just as Lukas sat up on the stretcher and pressed his wrist unit, “Do you see anything?”

“No, it doesn’t appear they had time to get a flight up before we took off.”

Salud’s head went back as Lukas stood up off the stretcher and raised his arms above his head. “WHAT IN NINE HELLS IS GOING ON?”

Lukas went to a knee beside her, “I couldn’t tell you. Your reactions had to be real.”

Salud’s eyes narrowed and she slapped Lukas hard on his right cheek, “You’ve scared me out of my mind!”

Lukas rubbed his cheek as Joey shrugged, “It was critically important that you acted that way.”

“What’s going on?”

“On the third day of the tournament, ten Defense Intelligent Officers arrived and have been following you and Lukas around the course.”

Salud stared at Joey and then looked at Lukas who nodded and said, “They have been taking measures of me trying to determine if I’m human. My wrist unit picked up their scans and notified Joey that my golfing career was coming to a sudden end. You should have been suspicious when Joey was at the emergency room.”

Salud looked at Joey and then nodded, “There was no way for you to have been there before we arrived without your knowing about it in advance.” Joey nodded. Salud looked at Lukas, “What’s made them suspicious of you?”

Lukas shrugged, “It has to be Kathy. She probably recognized me on TV and told those that were questioning her that I was now a golfer and that their suspicions were false.”

Salud started shaking her head, “This is not good. They’ll know you owned the Vette.”

Lukas smiled, “Not really.”

“Oh, why not?”

“Because that parking space was not assigned to my apartment. I moved the car there while the owners were snow birding in Miami.”

Joey nodded, “And I’ve purchased a new Corvette in Lukas’ name and had the transfer of title back dated to a month before he rented the apartment.”

Lukas looked at Salud, “They found my Corvette parked at Joey’s West Palm office and it has made them question whether or not I’m the one they’re looking for.”

Salud stared at them and then looked at Lukas, “Who rented the apartment that was assigned that space?”

Joey smiled, “Actually, no one. That will make them wonder if someone that lived somewhere else, illegally parked it there.”

“I think the two of you are stretching things here. They will find a loose end you didn’t tie down and the jig will be up.”

Lukas sighed, “This whole house of cards could fall but, for the moment, they’re just not certain if I’m a viable candidate. They are torn between the owner of the suspicious Vette being on board when it left the planet or still here. They want to believe he left but they’re too paranoid to not make sure.”

Joey looked at Lukas, “If Kathy tells them about your killing all the members of that gang…”

Lukas nodded, “I know, they will come after me with everything at their disposal.”

Salud shook her head, “So what are we going to do now?”

“Lukas is going to the site of our manufacturing facility and you are going back to teaching at MIT.”

“I don’t know that I can do that. I took the leave of absence never intending to go back.”

Joey nodded, “We need to throw them off the scent. If Kathy tells them what he did, they’re going to come to you if they can’t find Lukas. Your background is not cobbled together and they’ll know you are not an alien. We need you there to keep them off Lukas as long as possible.”

“What about the money we intended to make on Lukas’ golf winnings?”

“The programs the Wrist Unit is using has already made us enough capital to start the project. It’s not worth the risk to have him continue to play golf.”

“Where is this facility Lukas is going to?”

“It’s on an island in the Caribbean. We leased it from the government of Barbados to build a car manufacturing plant. We’ve leased it for a hundred years.”

Salud looked at Lukas, “I don’t know if I like being away from you that long; I’ve become accustomed to having you around.”

Lukas smiled, “I didn’t know you cared.”

Salud shook her head, “More than you know.” She looked at Joey, “If I’m going back to teach, I have to be there tomorrow.”

“We’re landing now. I have another jet taking you back to Boston.”

Lukas looked at them, “What do you mean, more than I know?”

The plane jerked as the tires touched the pavement and Joey said, “I had your things picked up from the condo and they’re on the other jet. You need to get moving.”

Lukas said, “What did you mean?”

Salud looked at Lukas and shook her head, “I’ll tell you later. Keep me informed on what’s going on.”

“Why can’t you tell me now?”

Salud smiled, “Now is not the time.” The jet came to a stop and the door opened. She kissed Lukas on the cheek, “Be safe and be careful.”

She went down the steps to the tarmac and Lukas had his hand on his cheek where she kissed him. He looked at Joey and he said, “Sorry, we have a schedule to keep.” Lukas watched Salud run to the other jet and go up the steps. She stopped and looked back at him. She had an expression that he didn’t understand and then she turned and went into the jet. He lowered his head and hand. The door closed and both jets taxied out and lifted off the airport in Myrtle Beach. One was headed north and the other south. Lukas sat down and closed his eyes. So much had happened so quickly and he felt more alone than ever before. The jet stopped once to refuel and then headed toward his new home.

• • •

“Dr. Vazquez.”

Salud turned around and saw a young man standing at her office door. She immediately knew he was military. His stance, his close cropped hair, his eyes that appeared to take in everything around him, and his tone of voice all screamed military. “Yes?”

“Do you have a moment?”

Salud smiled, “What would happen if I said I didn’t?”

The young man actually smiled, “I’d come in anyway.”

“Then, yes. I have a moment.”

The young man walked in and Salud nodded toward the chair in front of her desk, “Take a seat, Mr….”

“Jekins.”

“Why are you here?”

“Why would you ask me like that, Professor?”

Salud shook her head, “You might be good with camouflage during combat but you didn’t wear any here. You’re obviously military so this isn’t a social visit.”

Jinks’ head went back, “Am I that obvious?”

Salud smiled, “Mr. Jekins, you’re wearing boots under those jeans and the shirt you have on doesn’t match the jeans’ color. Your top button is buttoned and you look at everything around you as if you’re expecting an enemy to jump out of hiding. I could go on but your appearance screams military. Am I wrong?”

Jinks raised his hand and scratched his neck, “No, I’m a Colonel in the Air Force.”

“Now that’s interesting. I was expecting Army or Special Forces.”

Jinks started chuckling, “Why would you think I’m Special Forces?”

“Are you?” Jinks hesitated and Salud said, “You actually are. Isn’t the Air Force exempt from having Special Forces in their ranks?”

“You are quite the observer, Doctor. My first assignment was with the Seals. I was transferred to the Air Force to learn our satellite systems.”

Salud nodded, “That means you’re fast tracked for high command.”

Jinks shook his head, “I came here to get some information and all that’s happened so far is that you’ve collected things I didn’t expect you to know.”

“From where I sit, Colonel, I see a very dangerous man and you weren’t smiling when you stuck your head in my office.” Jinks stared at Salud and knew she was too smart for him to trip her up. He was hoping he could surprise her and get her to make a mistake. That wasn’t going to happen. Salud smiled, “You don’t like your chances, do you?”

Jinks shook his head and smiled, “I guess my chances of trying to intimidate you are limited.” Salud raised her right eyebrow and nodded. “Do you know why I’m here?”

“Come on Colonel. If I did or if I didn’t, I wouldn’t tell you. Why don’t you cut to the chase and quit wasting both our time.”

“About eight weeks ago, a spaceship…or something, lifted off the planet.” Salud sat back in her chair and stared at him. Jinks watched her closely and her response to his question didn’t give him anything. “It lifted from a place not far from here and the man you’ve been caddying for lived in the building where it stayed while it was on the planet.” Salud stared at him and then started smiling. Jinks said, “What do you find so amusing?”

“Are you insinuating that Lukas is an alien?”

“Miss Vazquez, we discovered that there were four or five other ships above the planet while it was here. They disappeared after whatever it was left the planet.”

Salud was shocked by the Colonel’s comment. He saw her shock was genuine and began wondering if this was a false trail. Salud was shocked because the Stalkers were supposed to be the absolute best at remaining hidden. The Sentinels would be upset if they knew about this. Then she realized, they had to already know. “Colonel, are you saying that there is intelligent life from somewhere else here watching us?”

Jinks stared at Salud and made a decision, “Doctor, I know they’re there and if they are choosing to hide themselves, it can’t be for a good reason.”

Salud shrugged, “Perhaps they don’t want to interfere with our society.”

“Doctor, if that were the case, only the ship on the planet would have been here and it made a point of being seen as it escaped.”

“Escaped?”

“My staff analyzed the trajectory of the ship that left and it took a path that would avoid the ships above the planet. It was forced to leave at a velocity that would expose it and since it disappeared, those ships above Earth have also gone.”

“Colonel, surely you have a hypothesis on what happened.”

“I do. What do you think?”

Salud thought about it and said, “If they mean us no harm, perhaps the ship on the planet wasn’t supposed to be here and they were there to remove it.”

“To prevent interfering with our natural development.”

“Something like that. Do you see it differently?”

Jinks stared at Salud and after a moment said, “I could be imprisoned for what I’m about to tell you.”

Salud tilted her head, “Then you might think about not telling me.”

Jinks smiled. She knew something. Salud saw his smile and knew she had made a mistake. “Doctor, I had Hubble turned and focus on the space out from Earth. Initially, nothing appeared. But there was something that was blurry in the distance. Hubble changed its focus and we were able to get photos of the region outside Pluto.”

“And?”

“We discovered that there are millions of the shapes that were above Earth. They aren’t alike; matter of fact, we’ve been able to classify them into more than a thousand different groups.”

“What are you saying, Colonel?”

“There are millions of starships outside our solar system holding their position even with Earth as it moves around the sun. We’re of the opinion that those ships represent more than a thousand different groups.”

Salud leaned back in her chair, “Why do you think they’re out there?”

Jinks looked at her and said, “I have another idea about the ship that was here.” Salud nodded for him to continue. “That ship was here for a different purpose than those ships outside our Solar System.”

“Why would you suppose that?”

“They were here to remove it. That meant it was operating against their purposes.” Jinks watched Salud carefully and said, “If I were forced to guess which of the two represents a danger to us, I’d have to say it’s those ships at the edge of our system.”

“Why?”

“There’s too many of them. You don’t send that many vessels unless you intend to use them. Earth is in real danger and the one that was here on the planet may be the only one that can help us face what’s coming.”

Salud shook her head at the brilliance of this officer, “I hope you’ve shared this information with your superiors.”

“I have but they are locked in on a very limited view that comes from their background.”

“What is that?”

“Anything that moves, which you can’t control, is an enemy.”

Salud stared at him and smiled, “May I assume this is being recorded.” Jinks looked at her and then nodded. “However, you won’t turn the recording over to your superiors.”

“Why not?”

“You said earlier that it could get you arrested and imprisoned.”

Jinks smiled, “You don’t miss much do you?” Salud just stared at him. Jinks stared at her and then reached in his front pocket and took out a mini-recorder. He passed it across her desk to her. She didn’t know what to do and then her cellphone rang. She looked at it and saw that no number appeared.

She picked it up and took the call, “The recorder is the only thing he’s using. Whatever you say will be between you and him.”

Salud recognized the voice of Lukas’ wrist unit and she ended the call. She took out the tape from the recorder, walked out the door to her office to the lab, and lit the tape with a Bunsen burner. Jinks followed her and raised his eyebrows, “I don’t want you to go to prison, Colonel.”

“Why not? You know that I suspect you know something about this.”

Salud walked back to her office and Jinks followed her. They sat down and Salud said, “Have you ever played Let’s Suppose?”

“I’m not sure that I have.”

“Here’s how it goes. You start it with the words, let’s suppose, and then throw out anything outrageous to see if you can get the other player to believe you.”

“This sounds like an interesting game.”

“Let’s suppose that you’re right about the ship that was on the planet. What does that lead you to believe?”

Jinks thought for a minute and looked up at Salud, “It was here to help us against whoever is out there.”

“And let’s suppose that they are still here, what would they be doing?” Jinks stared at Salud intently and she said after a long moment, “Did you hear what I asked?”

“Then they would be attempting to do something to prevent whatever those out there are planning.”

“And let’s suppose you take this being into custody…”

Jinks’ eyes narrowed and he looked up, “They would know.”

“And?”

“Whatever he is doing to assist us would be stopped.”

Salud smiled, “But that’s pretty far out, wouldn’t you say, Colonel?”

Jinks stared at her and stood up, “You had me going there for a minute, Doctor. Thank you for your time.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Jinks turned to go and then turned around, “Do you honestly think one…person could do something to stop what’s coming?”

“You’re here and in danger of being arrested.”

Jinks stared at her for a long moment and then turned and left the office. Salud’s cell phone rang, “Do you think that was a good idea?”

Salud smiled; she hadn’t heard from Lukas in a long time, “I don’t know.”

“I guess we’ll find out. Why did you do it?”

“Who is going to fly the ships we build?”

“What?”

“You’re going to build thousands of ships, who is going to pilot them?”

“I haven’t thought about that.”

“Perhaps this man might help us answer that issue.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“We’ll see, my love.” Salud ended the call and Lukas’ eyes went wide. He fell into the chair behind him with an open mouth. Did she say what he heard? He looked at his wrist unit and said, “Replay the last thing she said.” He heard. “We’ll see, my love.” He closed his eyes and felt his eyes moisten. He looked out at the ocean and stared at the seagulls diving into the surf for an hour. He no longer felt alone and with that realization, he decided that he was not going to allow the Fellowship to take Earth. He stayed on the beach until the sunset and the moon rose over the horizon. He saw the beauty of the golden highway that ran out to it on the ocean’s surface and discovered that there were so many things he never saw as a Welken Warrior. He connected to his wrist unit and remained on the beach until after midnight.

• • •

Jinks left the building and saw Stoney roll out of a parking place and stop in front of him. “Any luck?”

Jinks got in and said, “Do we have anything else from Hubble?”

Stoney stared at him and said, “It appears some of those ships are attacking each other.” Jenkins jerked his head around and Stoney said, “I have the images back at the office.”

“Take me there. Do you have an analysis of them?”

“One is being done and we should have the initial results when we arrive. By the way, you’ve been promoted; you have your first star.” Jinks shook his head. “You should be excited. You’ve been placed in overall command of this enterprise.”

“I’ll get excited after I see the analysis.” Stoney nodded and wondered what Jinks was not saying.

• • •

Salud watched the car pull away and she stepped away from the window. She pulled up her directory and pressed a name. It rang once and she heard, “Hello.”

“Joey, I think it’s time I joined Lukas.”

“Something happen?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll have a jet waiting for you at Logan.”

“I’ll be there within the hour.”

“Are you ok?”

“I guess. We need to get moving.”

“What about Trevor?”

“I think he’s clear for the moment.”

“He graduates in three weeks.”

“I think he’ll be ok for that long.”

“Good enough, I’ll talk to you later.”

Salud ended the call and left the building after she pulled the prewritten resignation out of her drawer. She dropped it in the mail slot on the first floor and went to the garage. She was going to miss her car.

• • •

The Myot Ruler watched the video showing another six hundred battleships being destroyed in the pursuit of the pod. He was past rage and he sent a direct contact to the Welken Royal, “ARE YOU THAT ASSININE?!”

“Whatever are you talking about?”

“We’re destroying each other’s warships and do you know what that means?”

The Welken Royal stared at the Myot Ruler on his display, “It means there are fewer of your ships I’ll have to destroy later.”

“And at the rate we’re destroying each other’s warships, what are the chances that either of us will be able to fight off the other Fellowship Members who have banded together to take that oil rich planet.” The Welken stared at the monitor and leaned back in his chair. “Oh, you haven’t thought about that?”

“That pod must have information that is dangerous to you.”

“It has the location of the planets where we’re building our new battleships.” The Royal was shocked by that revelation. “I’ll give that information to you if you’ll agree to end this stupidity until that planet is taken.”

“You’re serious?”

“As a head fall. Both of us are now outnumbered by those at the planet. We have more powerful ships but you can bet that if this continues neither one of us will be able to stand up to our enemies.”

“What are you suggesting?”

“What’s the most important thing at the moment?”

“That’s easy, taking possession of that planet. Whoever takes it will become the most powerful civilization in the Fellowship.”

“So what if we both take it and share the oil.”

“Then we will both be on an equal footing.”

“Just like we’ve always been. However, if the current situation continues, both of us will not be able to stand up to those that take the planet. Tell me you see it differently.”

The Welken Royal stared at his hated enemy and knew he was right. “How can I trust you to keep your word on this?”

The Myot Ruler leaned forward and punched his panel. The Welken looked down at his panel and saw a series of numbers appear, “Those are the coordinates of my industrial planets. Why don’t we just agree to divide the Fellowship between us? There’s enough for us to be content.”

The Royal stared at the Myot and after a moment started slowly nodding. He reached forward and pressed a button, “Order all ships to stop the pursuit of the pod and go back to the oil planet. Under no circumstances will any of my ships fire on a Myot warship.” The Myot saw the Royal looking away from the monitor and then say, “If my orders are not followed, you will be executed along with every warrior that violates them. Am I clear!?”

The Myot pressed his panel and sent the same orders to his fleets. He looked at the Welken, “We should have done this a long time ago.”

The Welken smiled, “You’re right. Now let’s go back and push the others away from the shortest route to that planet.”

The Myot said, “What about the Stalkers?”

The Welken Royal said, “Tell them their contract is ended.”

“How can I do that?”

“They agreed to give me the location of your industrial planets when they caught the escapee. That’s a pretty clear violation of their contract. I’ll also void the contract by telling them that you uncovered their treachery and have taken your grievance to the Sentinels. That way we’ll both be clear of our contracts.”

“Did they honestly agree to do that?”

“I told them I’d double whatever you’re paying.”

The Myot Ruler winced, “That had to hurt.”

“It did but the price is worth it if we can work together on this.”

“I’ll contact them now.”

“Let me know when you’re done. I’ll contact them afterwards.”

The Myot smiled, “I must say that I’m excited about the prospects.”

“I am as well. Let’s get our ships moving.”

• • •

The Pod turned suddenly and was about to skip away when all the ships pursuing it stopped. It extended its scanner and heard the orders being sent to the Welken and Myot warships. A few minutes later, the Stalkers came to a halt just after they entered normal space. They remained in place for an hour as they argued with the Myot and Welken Rulers but thirty minutes after the argument ended, they skipped away. The Pod realized it had done too good of a job during the pursuit. It had deliberately maneuvered so that the Myot and Welken Warships would skip in on top of each other. Now those two monstrous civilizations were allies. It remained in open space and thought about what it could do next. Things did not look good. It ran several computations and then dropped into the void. It fired a disruptor and it blew away like a leaf in a hurricane.

Chapter Fourteen

Lukas was back in his chair on the beach staring out at the ocean. He decided that if the invasion could be stopped, this was where he was going to live. The waves washing on shore were relaxing and brought him a feeling of peace. He felt his wrist unit vibrate and he said, “Where are you on the current project?”

“We’re going to have to build the converter first.”

“Is that possible?”

“We’ll need some radioactive material to make it happen.”

“That won’t be easy.”

“Actually, the French have developed small nuclear reactors designed to power individual residences. I’ve sent in an order for three of them and it appears they are going to honor my request.”

“Why would they do that?”

“I agreed to include them in our initial delivery of our hybrid vehicles.”

“I’m sure they still charged you for them.”

“Only double their normal price. I expected more.”

“Will those packs allow us to build the converter?”

“They’ll power it enough to produce the really high grade material we’re going to need. Once we have that, we can start moving forward with production.”

“Good. Who is going to build the converter?”

“I have farmed out six of the critical pieces to five different countries. The individual pieces won’t make any sense by themselves and so far I’ve not detected anything but normal curiosity about what they’re building. All the pieces will be delivered within another thirty days.”

Lukas ended the contact and looked back out at the ocean. Once the converter was built, the project would start moving forward at a much faster pace. He watched a seagull dive into the waves and leave with a fish. Their eyesight was incredible. “Do you call this working?” Lukas turned around and saw Salud standing behind him wearing a bikini and holding a towel. His mouth fell open and he was shocked speechless for a moment. Salud said, “What?”

“You’re beautiful.”

Salud smiled and said, “For an alien.”

“No, for anything anywhere. I’ve never seen anyone as beautiful as you.”

Salud smiled, walked around his chair, and sat down in his lap. She put her arms around his neck and softly kissed him. When she broke the kiss Lukas’ eyes remained closed, “I thought you could never love someone who isn’t human.”

Salud sighed, “I must confess that you’re right about that. Initially, I couldn’t accept loving you. But after spending as much time with you as I did during our short golfing career, I saw that you’re more human than anyone I know.” Lukas pulled her into his arms and held her tight. Salud smiled and leaned back, “The caddie whose lights you knocked out wrote a letter to me apologizing for his behavior and said that you were right to hit him.”

Lukas smiled and lowered his head, “He did deserve it.”

“But you wouldn’t let me kick him in the shin.”

“I’m sorry I stopped you.”

“You were looking out for me, weren’t you?” Lukas nodded. “That is what convinced me that you are the one I want to spend my life with. You’ve looked out for me from the start. From the moment you made the insertion in my equation, to the meeting with the Sentinel, and when you punched that caddie; your main worry was always about me.”

“I didn’t want to see you suffer from worry about the equation or have the Sentinel kill you because of me.”

“What about the caddie?”

“You could have handled him. I punched him to make me feel better. He really ticked me off.”

Salud laughed and fell back in his arms. After some time had passed, Salud softly said, “Lukas.”

“Yes.”

“Do you remember what you said about Kathy?”

“I said a lot of things about Kathy.”

“You said that even in her manipulating way, she had given you something that you would always remember.” Lukas nodded. “I want to see if I can get you to forget that.” Salud leaned back and stood up. She extended her hand and Lukas stood and took it. She led him back to his quarters and, within a day, her mission was accomplished.

• • •

The first metal building was completed and construction on the major manufacturing plant immediately started. Salud shook her head, “This is not the main building?”

Lukas shook his head, “No, this is where the main components will be built and then moved to the other building to be assembled.”

“Why don’t you just do both in one building?”

“The converter will be producing the exotic metals we’re going to use and there will be people working in the assembly process that shouldn’t know about it.”

“Where are you going to get the labor?”

“Most of them will be coming from Barbados by boat each day. There are also people living on the other end of the island that Joey has approached and are interested in the work. The economic conditions here aren’t very good.”

Salud nodded and leaned back in her beach chair, “I like it here.”

“We have a hundred years lease. We can live here if…”

“You manage to stop the Fellowship.” Lukas nodded. “What happens if you can’t?”

“We’ll be forced to escape. We’ll go out like my pod and try to find a safe place to live.”

Salud stared at the ocean and finally said, “I don’t want to leave here.”

“Then let’s do all we can to stay.”

• • •

Jinks stared at the time video taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and shook his head, “It appears the numbers out there have suddenly gone up.”

Stoney nodded, “And the newcomers are pushing the others away from their current locations.” Stoney paused, “I wonder why they’re doing that?”

Jinks looked at Carter, “Have you run an analysis on those ship’s locations”

“I have.”

“Which ones are on the most direct path to us?”

Stoney lowered his eyebrows as Carter looked at a printout, “The new arrivals are on the most direct path to Earth.”

“What can you tell me about the energy readings you’ve recorded?”

Carter looked at Jinks and shook his head.

“You don’t know?”

“Sir, the energy being used is hotter than the heart of a nuclear explosion.” Jinks stared at him and Carter rubbed his forehead, “The discharges between those ships is more powerful than anything we can produce on this planet.”

“What else, Carter; you’re not saying something?”

Carter’s brow furrowed and he stopped the video. He ran it back and brought the view in closer to two of the ships, “Watch this closely.” They stared at the video and they saw several bright flashes leap out and hit one of the ships. The ship that was hit immediately fired back at the first ship and it exploded. Jinks looked at Carter, “The weapons fired by the first ship did not harm the one it fired on.”

Stoney said, “Then we were right about the white clouds surrounding them; they’re some kind of protective field.”

Carter nodded, “They are force fields. The first beams that were fired would vaporize anything it hit on Earth and we don’t have anything near a force field to protect us.”

Jinks nodded, “And our nuclear missiles would…”

“Not even faze them.”

Stoney stared at the monitor, “Why are they waiting?”

Carter shook his head, “I have no idea. There’s nothing we could do to stop them.”

Jinks stared at the monitor and thought about what the MIT professor had said to him. He stood up and left the room. Carter looked at Stoney, “What’s wrong with him?”

Stoney shook his head, “You need look no further than what you just showed us.” Carter tilted his head and shook it. The Captain was right. But Stoney looked at the door Jinks had walked through; there was something else going on.

Jinks arrived at the street and took out a throwaway cell phone. He dialed a number and heard a young woman’s voice, “M.I.T.”

“May I speak with Professor Vazquez?”

“I’m sorry. Doctor Vazquez no longer works here.”

“When did she leave?”

“A week ago.”

“Did she leave a forwarding number?”

“I’m sorry, we don’t give out our staff’s telephone numbers.”

Jinks hung up and stared at the street. Cars were filling the streets as the rush hour was at full blast. He watched the thousands driving past him and knew they were oblivious to what was happening. It was probably better they didn’t know. He started walking down the street and pulled his collar up against the cold wind. He believed that the being that had come here was still on the planet. Why wouldn’t he have come to the government to get help? He walked for another hundred yards and saw those ships attacking each other. If this being could build a means of stopping those ships and the government gained possession of it…”

He stopped at a bench and sat down. He focused on what would happen and it didn’t take long for him to see that world domination didn’t have to come from space. He took out his phone and pressed two. “Yeah Boss.”

“I’m sitting on a bench a mile and a half north of the office. Come get me.”

“Are you crazy? It’s freezing out there!”

“Then you should hurry.”

Stoney stood up and ran out of the office. Something had changed with Jinks. An hour later he knew what it was and his world underwent an upheaval. Two hours later they were back in Washington maneuvering the satellites in orbit. A week later, they found what they were searching for. They waited another week and then Jinks went to his commanding officer and resigned his commission in the Air Force. He was pressured to stay but he told them he was unable to deal with the stresses of his current assignment. He needed some alone time to get back to normal. They reluctantly accepted his resignation and he walked out a free, but unemployed, man.

Two weeks later, Stoney told his new commander that he could take the job and shove it where the sun didn’t shine if he didn’t want to listen to reason. Two days later, Stoney was also unemployed and met Jinks in a bar in Boston. Jinks looked at him and ordered him a beer. “You know Jinks, I never got married. I’ve given my entire life to the defense of my country. I think that was a mistake.”

“Get in line.”

“Now what?”

Jinks smiled, “We drink a beer and then another.”

Stoney raised the glass the bartender had just put in front of him and said, “Here’s to commanding officers that think they know everything.”

“And to getting our lives back to normal.”

Stoney looked at Jinks, “You must have the shakes pretty bad.”

“You know what’s happening. I thought I could handle it but…”

“Don’t let it get you down, boss. You did the right thing.”

“I really hate having to go.”

“Maybe you can go back when you get them under control.”

Jinks nodded, “I hope so.”

• • •

The CIA operative recorded the conversation and sent it to the new officer that replaced Jinks. He listened to it and dialed a number. He waited and when it was answered he said, “There’s nothing there, Sir. It’s nothing more than what you’ve seen. It appears General Jekins suffers from PTSD from his missions in Iraq. He’s starting to shake.”

The Officer listened and said, “Captain Stone is just a smart ass that spoke out of turn one time too many. You know he’s been reprimanded in the past.” He listened and said, “No Sir. I think following them is a waste of time and effort. I’ll send you the recording.”

The Officer sent the recording by courier and didn’t hear anything back from his commander. He ended the surveillance and put his attention on what could be done about the forces gathering outside the Solar System. Within a month, the Russians and Chinese were briefed on what was happening and the world’s superpowers began working on the problem together.

• • •

Lukas and Salud stared at the huge converter and Salud shook her head. “It appears we are at a stopping point.”

Lukas blew out a breath, “Without the converter, we won’t be able to move forward. Everything depends on it making the materials we need to build the ships. The metal that will be used in the hulls will be impossible without it.”

“Am I right in thinking that we don’t have enough energy to power it?” Lukas took a deep breath and slowly blew it out. He nodded. “Although we don’t want to do it, perhaps we are going to have to go to the government and bring them in on this.”

Lukas shook his head, “You know what that will lead to.”

“What other choice do we have? Joey says that he’s been stopped on all fronts. Control of enriched uranium is tight.” Lukas sighed. Salud threw the switch on the converter and watched it power down. “Let’s sleep on this and if we don’t come up with another idea…” Lukas nodded and walked over to the door. He looked back at the converter and turned off the lights.

• • •

The next morning he was out of ideas and he walked out of the cottage and down to the shore before daylight. He stood watching the ocean and heard, “I thought you might like some coffee.”

Lukas turned around and took the cup from Salud, “You couldn’t sleep?”

“No, I just hate what we’re going to do.”

Lukas took a sip of coffee and smiled, “You know, when you served this at the meeting with Joey and Trevor, I really detested it.”

Salud tilted her head, “But you drank it!”

“I didn’t want to hurt your feelings. I must say that now I kinda like it.” They sat down in their beach chairs and watched the first glow appear on the horizon. They drank their coffee in silence and soon the edge of the sun appeared and Salud shook her head, “You know, each day the sun makes me think that anything is possible.”

“It’s nothing but radioactive material in quantities beyond our wildest dreams.”

Salud looked at him, “Let’s go make the call.” Lukas nodded and stood up. They turned toward the cottage and Salud said, “Look, Joey had your new Corvette delivered.”

Lukas looked over at the parking lot and squinted at the car, “That’s not the car he bought me.” Salud tilted her head and Lukas dropped his coffee cup and sprinted toward the car. Salud stood still for a moment and then sprinted after him. He stopped beside the car and both doors opened. Lukas jumped in and Salud jumped in the passenger’s seat a moment later, “Why didn’t you tell me you were back!?”

“I didn’t want to broadcast a signal that might be picked up by the probe watching the planet.”

“I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed you.”

“Thank you.”

“How did you get back without being seen?”

“I’ve spent the last month disrupting places in the void.”

“Why did you do that?”

“I had to get it down to a science. I had to disrupt the void in just the right manner so that I would be thrown here on the side of the planet away from that probe’s location.”

Lukas shook his head, “You also had to emerge from the void the instant you were in the planet’s shadow. That sounds impossible.”

“That’s why it took me a month.”

“You are a godsend.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I’ve built a large converter but don’t have the power to run it.”

“Where is it?”

“Drive over to the building’s vertical door. The Corvette backed up and moved around the metal building. Lukas pressed the small remote on his keychain and the huge door stared up. The Corvette moved into the building.

“Now that’s a good job.”

“The wrist unit you left me actually had all the pieces made.”

Even so, all you’re lacking is a power source.”

“Can you help us with that?”

“Take one of those power packs and put it in the back.”

The door opened and Lukas went and used a forklift to pick up the three hundred pound pack. He moved it over the rear of the Corvette and dropped it in the back. The car didn’t even sag from the weight. Salud smiled, “You’re pretty strong.”

“I don’t use shock absorbers. Give me a moment.” Salud waited and heard, “You need to step out.” Salud stepped out of the car and it suddenly changed shape. Salud gasped at the teardrop shaped ship that was suddenly in place of the corvette. “Lukas, take the wires out of the control room and attach them to the leads on the converter.”

Lukas ran over to the pod and the main door on the top opened. Lukas climbed up to the control room, popped the top of a box next to the command chair, and pulled two heavy wires out. The pod moved around the converter until the wires were long enough to reach the leads and Lukas attached them. “Are you ready?”

“Turn it on.” Lukas flipped the power switch and the lights on the converter went to full brilliance.

It started humming and the Pod said over a speaker, “I’m going to continue to feed it power until it creates its own power source. Once it’s operational, it will convert material to provide the power it needs.”

“I wasn’t able to build a control console for it.”

“You can put the wrist unit inside it and it will take over the main duties.”

“I hate to give it up.”

“I’ll make you a new one. However, I’m going to need a high-speed laptop for every ship you build to make the computers for them. Starting from inert material will take forever.”

Lukas grabbed Salud and hugged her. She returned his hug and said, “Calling you Pod seems so, so…”

“Impersonal?”

“Exactly. What name would you like us to use?”

There were a few moments of silence and the pod said, “Willow.”

Lukas did a double take, “Where did you come up with that?”

“There was a fantasy movie about a baby princess that was protected from an evil queen. That baby’s name was Willow. It was also the name of the movie.”

Lukas stared at the pod, “You mean you’re female!?”

Salud elbowed him in the ribs, “Of course she’s female. Who are the most ardent protectors of their children? Of course she’s a she.” The pod actually laughed. Salud said, “What’s funny?”

“I imagine if the Sentinels are watching this they are confounded again.”

Lukas laughed with it but the pod was right; the Sentinels were shocked into silence for a long time.

“Lukas, why have you built the huge building next to this one?”

“That is where we’ll build the assembly plant.”

“Wouldn’t it be much easier to build a larger converter and just have it build the ship? That’s how it’s done in the Fellowship.”

“Is that possible?”

“If it’s big enough, you could make one of those buildings.”

“I promised the locals that there would be jobs for them. I’d hate to go back on my promise.”

“Can you build another building that attaches to this one?”

Lukas thought about it for a minute and said, “I believe so. What are you thinking?”

“We’re going to need the force field modules along with the disruptor’s inner module put together. Once you have the diamonds, you can install them in the modules and put them in the ships.”

“How heavy will those modules be?”

Salud, you’ll be able to lift the heaviest with one hand. The disruptor’s cannon barrel and housing will already be in the ship. You’ll just have to put the control module for the disruptor on each side and the ship will absorb it. You’ll just have to throw the force field units into the ships’ converter like you did with me.”

Lukas looked at Salud, “Where are we with the diamonds?”

“I’ll have to contact my father. I’ll let you know.”

Lukas looked around, “That converter you’re describing is going to have to be a giant.”

“Yes, but the one that you build will build the parts for a larger one and it in turn will build an even larger one. You feed the pieces of the old converter into the new ones along with other raw material. You should have what you need within a month or so.”

“How are we going to power the ships?”

“The final converter will convert material into the nuclear material needed to run the reactor.”

“We need to get Trevor here to design the control module for the disruptors.”

“If you intend to hire labor, you should start making the parts shortly.”

Lukas nodded and picked up his phone.

• • •

Jinks sat in the coffee shop and looked out the front glass. He had been there every day for two months and he was thankful that winter had finally given way to spring. He went outside and sat down on the bench with his coffee and looked up at the sun. This is what made enduring the winter worth it. He looked across the street and his eyes narrowed. He lifted his phone and pressed nine.

• • •

He waited and in fifteen minutes, Stoney arrived. He glanced across the street and Jinks handed him a large coffee. “Thanks. When did she arrive?”

“About forty minutes ago.”

“When do we make our move?”

Jinks saw Salud come out of the Jewelry store carrying a box and he stood up, “NOW!” They walked across the street and arrived just as Salud lifted the trunk on the BMW. Jinks said, “Do you need a hand with that?” Salud gave a start and turned around. Jinks saw her fear. “Don’t worry Miss Vazquez, we’re not here to cause problems.”

Salud stared at the Seal, shook her head, and said, “Why do I not believe you?”

“My companion and I are no longer in the armed forces of the United States. Both of us resigned our commissions more than three months ago.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because he and I want to help you do whatever it is you’re doing.” Salud put the box in the trunk and thought about whether or not she could make it in the car before they grabbed her. Jinks stepped to the driver’s door and opened it. Salud stared at him with a furrowed brow and Jinks said, “I thought about your ‘just suppose’ game for a long time after we played it. Before you go, will you play it one more time?” Salud walked around to the driver’s door and paused. She turned and nodded. Jinks smiled, “Just suppose that being that came here to help us built a space ship that is powerful enough to take on those ships out on the edge of the Solar System, what would happen if one government possessed those ships?”

Salud stared at Jinks. Jinks then said, “I’ve seen dictatorships of all kinds from religious to just outright evil men. Nothing leads to corrupt power faster than absolute power.”

“What do you want, Colonel?”

Stoney said, “He was a General when he resigned.”

Salud looked at Stoney and then back at Jinks, “Same question, General.”

“I did a real background check on you before I resigned. I discovered your father is world renown for his expertise in cutting diamonds. I called him and was told he was out of the country purchasing diamonds. One plus one equals two. He’s getting them for you.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

Jinks sighed, “Miss Vazquez, when we first met, you told me things about myself that I was amazed you saw. Can you not see what I want?”

Salud stared into Jink’s eyes and then looked at the other man. She turned back to Jinks, “You want salvation.”

“In the biggest way.”

Salud took a breath and shook her head, “I can’t make this kind of mistake just based on my judgment.”

“Sometimes, that’s the best way to make a mistake.”

Salud stared at them and her cell phone started vibrating. She took it out and said, “You’re watching this?”

“Hand him the phone.”

Salud handed Jinks the phone and he said, “Now that’s a good trick. You called when I met her the first time.”

“I did. What’s on your mind, General?”

“I want to make my life count for something. I’ve seen what’s coming and there’s nothing anyone can do to stop it…except maybe you. I cannot just stand by and allow it to happen without putting up a fight.”

“You could have reported this to your government.”

“And then I’d be fighting against it in the future when it tried to conquer the rest of the planet. No, you are the only chance we have.”

“That’s a rather long leap, General.”

“I was there when the positrons were found where you parked that car of yours. It’s not as long as you think.”

Lukas laughed, “Give Salud the phone.” Jinks handed her the phone and Lukas said, “You want to bring him in with us, don’t you?”

Salud stared at Jinks and said, “He has a tortured soul. It’s the human thing to do.”

“What about the other one?”

“If the first goes, he won’t be far behind.”

“Bring them in.”

“ARE YOU SURE?”

“No, but you are and that’s enough.”

Salud hung up the phone, “Is there anyone you need to contact before we go?”

Jinks looked at Stoney, “My only family member is here with me.” Stoney looked at Jinks and Salud saw his eyes start to moisten.

She closed the door to the car and said, “Come with me, I have some more packages to pick up.”

An hour later, they were on a jet leaving Boston. Jinks stared down at the city and Salud said, “Are you already missing it?”

“I must say that I’m leaving her when she’s at her best.” Salud nodded and looked out the window. Spring was in the air and Boston was amazing. But wait until he saw the beach.

Chapter Fifteen

“So what exactly are you doing here?

“Our business licenses say we’re building hybrid cars.”

Jinks stared at Lukas, “Really?”

“Really.”

“They must be some remarkable vehicles.”

“Would you like to see one?”

“By all means.”

Lukas led them into the metal building and walked over to what looked like a new Corvette. Jinks’ eyes narrowed and he looked at Lukas, “You didn’t build this?”

“No, I didn’t. But the ones we do build will be very much like this one.”

Jinks shook his head “I thought you were building something to help us against what’s out at the Solar System’s edge.” Lukas lifted his wrist unit and whispered. Suddenly, the corvette rose four feet off the concrete floor and changed shape. A moment later, a twenty-two foot long teardrop shaped ship hung above the floor. Jinks and Stoney jumped back as soon as the corvette came off the floor and both of them were shocked at the sudden transformation. “Perhaps I was a little hasty in my opinion.”

Lukas laughed, “Perhaps you were.”

Stoney stared at the pod and shook his head slowly, “I have got to have me one of those.” He looked at Lukas, “When will you give me one?”

Jinks put his hand on Stoney’s shoulder, “Not so fast my friend. We have to earn his trust first.”

Lukas shook his head, “You already have it and the first two we make will belong to Joey and Salud. The next two will be yours and I’m going to need you to get up to speed on what it can do as quickly as possible.”

Jinks looked at Lukas, “Why is that?”

“The two of you are going to teach our pilots how to operate them.”

Jinks shook his head, “I really thought I was crazy to consider that you were still on the planet. Now this is rather sudden.”

“Why didn’t you turn Salud into the government?”

Jinks looked at Lukas, then at Stoney, and back to Lukas, “Stoney and I led a mission in Iraq to save some female hostages being held by terrorists. We made it in to where they were being held and were preparing to go in and take out the bad guys. Our CIA liaison contacted us and told us to back off and report back to base. I argued with him that we could save them but he said HQ had reached an agreement with the leader of the terrorists and that they were going to help them with info on another terrorist leader. I was ready to go in anyway but I was given a direct order to stand down.”

Lukas stared at Jinks, “What happened?”

“We backed out and left the hostages. Two weeks later we learned that all twenty-five of them were butchered and left nailed to a wall where they were being held. Some of them were younger than twelve years old.” Jinks raised his head, “I learned that day that my government doesn’t care about doing the right thing; they care about doing what is in their best interests. If my leaders had possession of this remarkable ship you have here, no one would ever be free again. We would impose our will on the rest of the planet and who knows how many innocent people might be allowed to die.”

Stoney shook his head, “Don’t misunderstand what Jinks is saying. We love our country and believe it’s the best nation on Earth. But even the best can lose control if they are invincible. Absolute power has never had a good ending.”

“We’ll possess absolute power if we build these ships.”

Jinks nodded, “Yes, but there’s a difference.”

“What is that?”

“You could have run and escaped, leaving us to what’s coming. You chose to stay and help us. I also learned from your girlfriend that she sees the inherent danger of one nation having absolute power. I like her and, by extension, I believe I’m going to like you as well.”

Lukas smiled, “Well I’ve been told I’m a very likeable person. However, I intend to prevent your planet from being invaded, all your species enslaved, and all your natural resources stripped and taken. Once that is done, your governments are going to have to figure out where we fit in the larger scheme of things.”

“Where would you like to fit?”

“Personally, I’d like to just stay here and spend the rest of my life sitting on the beach with Salud.”

Jinks started laughing. Stoney looked at him, “What’s so funny?”

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say that Lukas has seen more war than both of us.”

Lukas lowered his head, “How could you possibly know that?”

“Because everyone who has wishes to have a peaceful beach to sit on.”

Stoney looked at Lukas, “Is he right about you?”

“Mr. Stone, my planet takes children away from their parents at the age of four and trains them how to operate a Battleship’s weapons. More than sixty percent of them never reach the age of thirty five when they could retire and have a family.”

“I thought you said the government took your children?”

“Those that are smart enough to pass the tests. Those who don’t pass the tests but are still above normal intelligence are put to work building the weapons of war used by the warriors.”

“What about the others?”

Lukas looked at Jinks, “I had three older brothers that were executed because they didn’t have the necessary talent to be a productive part of my society. Oh, I’ve seen war up close and personal and I never knew there was another way until my escape pod brought me here. You may think your planet is constantly fighting wars but this is heaven compared to what’s going on out there in the galaxy.”

“What makes you think we stand a chance against them?”

Lukas nodded at Salud who was standing across the building talking to Joey, “She built a force field that is beyond anything the Fellowship possesses. It is due in large part to this planet having a massive abundance of petroleum and carbon deposits, which the other civilizations don’t have. The weapons we build using carbon and petroleum will give us a chance to hold them off.”

Jinks looked at the pod still hovering off the floor and sighed, “I saw some shapes out there that were close to a mile long.”

Lukas nodded, “A lot of that was the force field surrounding the ships. Some of them are longer than half a mile with hundreds of disruptors and missile batteries.” Lukas saw Jinks and Stoney shake their heads. “Think of it this way, gentlemen. If you’re in a gun fight against an adversary that has twenty guns to use against the one you’re carrying, who will win?”

Jinks tilted his head, “That depends.”

“On what?”

“Who gets off the first shot.”

“Or, said another way, the first shot through a force field.”

“Do you think one shot will kill a space ship that’s half a mile in length?”

“If your shot gets through and hits it in the right place, yes.”

“Do you think you can get a shot through their force fields?”

“We’re working on it.”

“Do tell. What if they attack while you’re working on it?”

“They can’t attack until they detect a stardrive.”

“What?”

“I’m sure you’ve wondered why they haven’t just come in and blown the living hell out of your defenses and made a nuisance of themselves.”

“I have wondered about that.”

“The Species that imposes rules of war prohibits contact with any primitive planet that doesn’t have the ability to leave their solar system. Before the planet can be taken, it must have built a space ship with a stardrive.”

“That’s good news, we’re a long way from developing faster than light ships.” Lukas stepped aside and they saw the pod behind him still hovering above the floor. Stoney looked at Jinks and then back to Lukas, “The ships we’re going to build will have a stardrive?”

“If it doesn’t, it can’t win against them.”

“Should we be doing this?”

“Mr. Stone…”

“Call me Stoney.”

Lukas smiled, “Stoney, have no doubt those ships will be coming. The force field Salud built would also bring them here. Someone will stumble on the principles and build a stardrive eventually; it could be in two hundred years or tomorrow. I suspect it will be within the next thirty years but that’s another story. When do you start preparing for their arrival? You should understand that the first civilization to nuke a city on Earth will take possession of the planet and I suspect quite a few nuclear missiles will be launched in the hopes that the lucky first one will belong to those that fired first.”

Jinks shook his head, “Damned if we do, damned if we don’t.”

“No, you’re damned for certain if you don’t.”

“Couldn’t we get together as a world and start building what we need to hold them off?”

Lukas looked at Stoney, “You would, of necessity, have to develop a stardrive to build a ship that would stand a chance against them. As soon as the probe above this planet detects the first one you power up…”

“The game is on. But you could help build what we need.”

“Jinks, then we’re back at, who gets the gun?”

Jinks looked at Stoney, “He’s right.” Stoney nodded, “Count us in, Lukas and tell us what we can do to help.”

“I’m going to need both of you to set up the facility that will be building the control modules for our disruptors. You will tell the locals that are working on their assembly that they are building the power transfer boxes for the hybrid motors. We’ve started making the components and they’re ready for assembly. The two of you will teach the workers how to put them together and keep things running smooth.”

“Who’s going to do the hiring?”

“That’s being taken care of by Joey’s staff. They’ll handle all the personnel details; you just need to focus on the workers.”

Jinks nodded, “When do we start flying?”

“Not until we’ve built enough ships to hold them off.”

“That could be a while.”

Lukas smiled, “Drag a chair out to the beach and you’ll stop worrying about that.”

Jinks smiled and saw Stoney was smiling as well.

• • •

“Sir, I’ve lost track of Jekins and Stone.”

“What?”

“You ordered me to check in on them periodically and I can no longer find them.”

“I thought you people were the best at finding anyone.”

The operative shrugged, “It appears we will lose a gold star on this one. They are not anywhere around their normal haunts.”

The General stared at the man and thought about why the two would disappear. He pulled out an electronic planner and looked at the operative, “Did you call them?”

“What?”

“You have their phone numbers, don’t you?” The operative nodded and watched the General start dialing his phone.

• • •

Stoney heard his cell phone ring and pulled it out, “What?”

Lukas said, “What’s going on.”

“The General that replaced me is calling me. What do I do?”

“Answer it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Answering it is better than having him send out a search party.”

Jinks shrugged and pressed the green button, “Jekins here.”

“Hello Jinks. I thought I would check up on you and Stoney to see how you’re doing.”

“Better than I was.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. We had to find work, our retirement wasn’t enough.”

“What sort of work?”

“The only kind retired military can ever get, manual labor. We’ve been hired by a company to build parts for hybrid cars. It’s not hard and keeps my mind occupied. How are you doing?”

“Oh, you know.”

“I understand.”

“Stay in touch, Jinks.”

“If it’s all the same to you, I need to get things out of my mind.”

“I understand. Good luck in your new job and tell Stoney as well.”

‘Thanks, General.”

• • •

The General hung up the phone and stared at his desk. After a moment he said, “I assume you heard.”

“I did.”

“Did you trace the call?”

“I did. It’ll take a few minutes to determine the location.” The operative said, “What’s bothering you?”

“I don’t know. Probably nothing but…I just can’t see Jinks doing manual labor.”

“Sir, he’s right about the jobs military retirees have to take.”

“But he was a general for Christ’s sake.”

The operative shrugged “Colonel Dickens works as a greeter at Walmart.”

“Check out the business and let me know what you find.”

The agent nodded and left the room.

• • •

He arrived in his office and the trace was already in his computer. He looked at it and smiled, now that is a choice place to work. He started running inquires through various agencies and discovered that the company that had hired Jinks was licensed to build hybrid vehicles. Ummm, that rich kid was the owner and that didn’t seem out of place. He looked up and tilted his head, wasn’t the hybrid car market on the rocks? He remembered that general motors had cut back on hybrid production. Why would a company want to invest in building them? He leaned back in his chair. That didn’t feel right.

He sent a request to his staff and waited for a few minutes. His computer beeped and he saw the file had arrived. He opened the folder and began reading General Jekins’ service history. After five minutes he knew that Jekins was one of the smartest officers in the armed forces. He was fast tracked for promotion and his action record was impressive. He took part in heavy fighting in Iraq and was decorated twice. He completed the file and wondered why Jekins had resigned his commission. He shook his head and then remembered Jekins saying the shakes had returned. He immediately reopened Jekins service files and searched them thoroughly; nowhere did it mention he suffered from PTSD. What was going on? He leaned back again, and now he’s working in a plant building hybrid cars. What’s wrong with this picture? He picked up his phone, “Jill, this is Jim.”

“What’s going on?”

“I need you to get someone inside a business on an island off Barbados.”

“Surreptitiously or out in the open?”

“Out in the open, according to the information I’ve been given, they’re hiring employees to work in their plants as we speak. Do you have anyone we can insert?”

“Let me see what I can do. What will they be looking to find?”

“I want to know why one of our best General Officers retired and went to work there.”

“I’ll get on it. I’ll let you know if anything turns up.”

“Thanks, Jill.” He leaned back again and decided to wait to discuss this with the General. He might get angry with this much involvement when he told his Commander that it wasn’t an issue. It probably wasn’t…but…why would a real bonafide hero leave in his country’s most desperate hour of need? Something just didn’t feel right. Let’s see what Jill could come up with.

• • •

Jinks stood beside a young islander and shook his head. The young boy was frightened out of his mind with him watching him work. Jinks knew he looked imposing and this young kid had to have a history of mistreatment. He put his hand on the boy’s arm and said, “Stop.” The boy froze. Jinks went down to a knee and looked the youngster directly in the eyes and smiled, “Julio, take a deep breath.” The young boy tried but failed. “Try it again, but this time, close your eyes.” “Do it again.” “Once more. Now look at me.”

The young boy opened his eyes and Jinks said, “Why did you come to work here?”

“My family needs the money.”

“What do you need, Julio?”

“What?”

“What do you need?”

“I’m not sure I understand, Señor.”

“When everyone is depending on you, then the pressure to keep your job is almost overwhelming. What do you need, Julio?”

“I’d like to have a scooter someday, Señor.”

Jinks smiled, “Then let’s you and I agree to do this. You put these modules together correctly for six months and I’ll buy you a scooter.”

“REALLY!”

“Really. But you will work against yourself if you’re so tense you can’t think clearly. Now you and I are going to come up with a pattern you follow to do it right.”

Julio and nodded and Jinks took the first module and turned it upside down, “Down, up, slide, snap.” He handed Julio the two modules. “That’s right, upside down on one, rig side up on two, slide them together until they click. Now put ten of them together and call it out as you do it.”

“Down, up, slide snap.”

“Very good. Now here’s the pattern for the next module.”

Within an hour Julio was assembling the entire module perfectly. Those working around Julio listened and learned the pattern with him.

A woman sitting several rows over from Julio watched Jinks work with the young boy and shook her head. Spending that much time with a worker was something that shouldn’t be done. She leaned forward and continued putting the modules together. He should have just hired someone more mature.

From that day on, Julio and Jinks always high fived each other as he left the building. The young boy had something to look forward to.

• • •

Two weeks later, Jinks sat on a chair watching daylight slowly fade. He had a cigar lit and was enjoying the moment. “Señor, I missed the boat.”

Jinks turned around and saw a very pretty Latin woman walking up behind him, “How did you manage to do that?”

“I left my purse and had to go back for it. By the time I arrived back at the pier…” she shrugged.

Jinks sighed. Getting the boat back was a real ordeal. He picked up his cellphone and called the owner of the boat; he was told the boat was not operating properly and was being repaired overnight. “It looks like you’re stuck here.”

“What am I going to do, Señor?”

Jinks shook his head, “Come with me.” He walked up the beach until he arrived at his cottage. He opened the door and said, “You’ll stay here tonight.”

“Where will you stay?”

“I’ve slept on the beach quite a few times. It’s really not a problem.”

“But…”

“No, you will sleep here.” He walked over to a closet and pulled out a United States Air Force extra-large t-shirt, “You can use this for a night gown.”

“I really don’t feel good about accepting this.”

Jinks tilted his head, “Your English is quite good.”

The woman blushed, “I’ve lived in Florida most of my teenage years.”

Jinks nodded and said, “Make yourself at home. I have food and something to drink in the refrigerator.”

“Do you mind if I sit on the beach with you for a while?”

Jinks looked at her and said, “Miss…”

“Gonzalez.”

“Miss Gonzalez, I don’t fraternize with those who work for me.”

“You sound like we’re in the army or something. Are you allowed to talk with those that work for you?”

Jinks blew out a breath, “Of course. Come on.” He picked up a lounge chair and carried it down to the beach.

They sat in silence for an hour and then she said, “It’s really beautiful here.” Jinks nodded. “Was it like this where you lived before coming here?”

“No, I lived in Boston for the last four months.”

“Brrrrr, I’ll bet you froze up there.”

“Several pieces of me did fall off.” She laughed at his quip. “But the city grew on me. I kinda hated to leave it just as spring was starting.”

She looked back out at the ocean, “Then why did you?”

Jinks didn’t look at her as he said, “If you knew you only had a short time left to live but had to work to feed yourself, what would you do?”

“Are you sick, Señor?”

“No, just answer the question.”

She stared out at the ocean and said, “I think I’d want to go to New York.”

“I’ve had enough of the fast life. This is perfect.”

She nodded and stood up, “Thank you for your kindness.”

“Glad to do it.”

She turned and walked back up the slope toward Jinks’ cottage. Jinks continued to stare at the ocean and later he turned her chair over and found the listening device attached to the bottom. He shook his head and took out his cell phone and began texting. He finished the text conversation with Lukas and waited a few minutes until the phone rang. “Hello.”

“I’m just checking in to see how you’re doing.”

“I’m fine.”

“Are you sure this life isn’t too dull for you?”

“No, it’s exactly what I need. When you’re faced with a situation that you can do absolutely nothing about, it’s time to find an island and enjoy the peace.”

“Thanks for coming, Jinks, you’ve made a huge difference with our workers.”

“They’re good people. Thanks for hiring me, I really needed the money…more than that, I need the escape.”

“See you later.”

• • •

Sarah listened to the conversation as she searched Jinks’ cottage. Nothing. There was nothing out of the ordinary; matter of fact, things were completely ordinary. She thought about the former General and he didn’t fit the profile of most high-ranking officers. He didn’t possess an oversized ego. He talked with people, not at them. She knew what Jinks did before he retired and she also found it hard to believe he had just walked away. His file said he didn’t have anyone close to him other than Stone. He had also checked out with the other agent here. She took out her cell phone and dialed a number that sent her call to an encrypted number, “Jim.”

“There’s nothing going on here but people putting parts together.”

“What about the parts?”

“They’re designed to focus energy sent into it into a tighter more powerful level. It’s little more than a step up transformer.”

“I guess a hybrid will need several of those with all those small voltage batteries.”

“That’s how it works.”

“How are you going to get out of there?”

“I think I’m going to stay and work until Jill finds me something else. This job is great cover for an agent.”

“Thanks, Sarah.”

“No problem.”

Sarah hung up and looked around the cottage. She thought about spaceships, aliens, and what it all meant. Then she picked up her sandals and went to the door. She walked down to the beach and saw Jinks was still sitting in his chair nursing his cigar. He watched her walk up and started to say something but she lifted the chair she had left and turned it over. She removed the listening device and he watched as she pushed a small switch on it. She looked at him and said, “Ok, I know you made me. I’m not sure how you did it but I know you did.”

“You said it was beautiful here.”

“It is.”

“Not to someone that lives here all the time, it becomes common place. Then it’s only beautiful when you share it with a stranger, a new romantic interest, or an artist.”

“How did you know that I might not be romantically interested in you?”

Jinks sighed, “How many reasons do you need?”

Sarah smiled, “How about five.”

Jinks shook his head, “No one is ever romantically interested in me; second, I’m ten years older than you; three, you’re much too pretty to be working here; four, a woman would never leave a purse in this economically depressed society; and five, wanted to know why I came here.”

“Just how would that reveal anything?”

“No one questions leaving Boston after winter, even during spring.”

“That’s all a stretch.”

“I knew you were a spy when you watched me helping Julio.”

“Oh?”

“You thought it was a waste of time.”

“I did.”

“If you saw many children Julio’s age blown up, shot, and mutilated then every child would take on more importance to you.”

“Fortunately, I’ve been spared that…so far.” Jinks stared at her and his eyes narrowed. “I’ve contacted my Handler and told him that nothing was going on here.”

“Nothing is.”

“Most people would believe that lie.” Jinks stared at her without blinking. “Oh, you have done an excellent job of keeping things hidden and there’s absolutely nothing to indicate that you’re anything but what you appear to be.”

“But?”

“You said it earlier. So many children killed and you walk away from a position that might do something to prevent more being killed by invading aliens. I’ve observed you and one thing I know for certain.”

“What is that?”

“The only reason you would walk away from that position is because you felt you could do more somewhere else. That somewhere else is here. I don’t know what you’re doing, but I know you’re doing it.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“How many reasons do you want?”

Jinks smiled, “Five.”

“Touché. One, I’ve not seen children killed but I’ve gone out and killed for our government and hated every minute of it; two, during my tenure, I’ve seen the dirty underbelly of what we do to get what we want around the world; three, I’ve learned to see people for what they really are, not what they purport themselves to be; four, I’ve never run across anyone that has even slightly impressed me to be someone who truly puts others before themselves.”

“That’s four.”

Sarah smiled, “You are more than anyone I’ve ever encountered in a dirty career and I know you would not walk away from defending us from those aliens, not just our country, but everyone. That shocked me more than you can guess when I realized it and them it touched me. You were wrong from the start; I said it was beautiful because I am romantically attracted to you.”

Jinks stared at her and shook his head, “That’s just not possible.”

“Get over yourself, Jinks. You’ve just never allowed yourself to be around a female long enough for them to see who you are. This time you messed up.”

“How?”

“You stayed in the plant too much. I think every woman in the building is infatuated with you. Heck, half the men want to be just like you and I suspect Julio will grow up trying his best to imitate you.”

Jinks lowered his head, “What do you want?”

“I’ll leave if you tell me to go. But I genuinely think you and I could really help each other find peace with all the terrible things we’ve had to do serving our country. I don’t care what you’re doing; I just want you to keep doing it. I really only want to be near you and be able to come down here and do more than just talk.”

Jinks stared at her and then shook his head, “You’re too pretty.”

“So I’ll mess up my hair.”

Jinks laughed out loud and then his cell phone rang. His head jerked back and he said, “Hello.”

“You might as well bring her in.”

“How can we do that? You know who she is.”

“Yes, but the Pod says here physiological readings confirm that she is being absolutely honest.”

Jinks’ eyes narrowed and he looked at Sarah, “She is?”

“She is. Bring her in to talk with us in the morning.”

Jinks hung up the phone and looked at Sarah, “I’ve just been told that you’re being absolutely honest with me.” Sarah laughed out loud. “What?”

She shook her head and said, “Jinks, you just can’t believe that anyone could really care about you.”

“I guess.”

“You need look no further than Stoney. He’s the only one you’ve ever opened up with.”

Jinks stared at her and she stood up and walked over in front of his chair. She sat down in his lap and leaned back. After a moment she said, “It is beautiful.” She paused and looked over her shoulder at him, “Isn’t it.”

Jinks sighed and put his arms around her, “It just got more so.”

The sun rose and found them in each other’s arms.

Chapter Sixteen

Trevor arrived and brought someone with him. Salud met him at the runway that had been built and waited for him to exit the jet. When he stepped off she said, “Oh my aunt’s broken backside.” Trevor came off the jet and assisted a black haired woman down the steps. Amanda Dockery, the Nobel Prize Science winner for her work in nuclear power. How in the world had Trevor gotten her to come with him and how were they going to hide what was going on from a mind as brilliant as hers?

Salud walked over and said, “Hello, Trevor.” She turned to the woman and said, “What a surprise to see you here, Amanda.”

Amanda smiled, “Oh lighten up. You look like if someone put a lump of coal in your butt you’d have a diamond in two days. I’m not going to jeopardize your project here.”

Salud was surprised by the response and after a moment she smiled, “You tend to draw a lot of attention wherever you go.”

“Let us hope I’ve been successful in escaping the hounds.”

Salud looked at Trevor, “Why is she here?”

Amanda said, “Hello, I’m still here.”

Salud turned to her, “Ok, why are you here?”

“I’m curious about the power plant your spaceship uses.”

Salud looked at Trevor and he shrugged, “Doctor Vazquez…”

“Call me Salud.”

“Salud, Amanda and I are engaged and have been for two years while we waited for me to get my degree.”

Amanda put an arm around his neck and kissed Trevor on the cheek, “It’s just so hard to find someone that can challenge you mentally. I was lucky to find Trevor when he was a freshman and convince him I was the one for him.”

Salud shook her head, “Why don’t the two of you come with me?”

Trevor looked at Salud, “How are the modules coming along?”

“We have about twenty thousand completed at the moment.”

“REALLY!?”

“Yes, what about the barrel dimensions?”

“I’ve got the specifics worked out.” He looked at Amanda, “With her help.”

Salud shook her head and walked faster toward the converter building. This was not good. The government would be looking to use Miss Dockery. What was going to happen when she wasn’t there? They entered the building and Lukas saw them and came running up, “Trevor, it’s good to see you.”

“Hi Lukas, this is my fiancé Amanda.”

“It’s so good to meet you, Amanda.”

“You must be the alien.”

Lukas’ head went back and Trevor said, “I’ve kinda told her everything.”

Lukas stared at Trevor and then shrugged. He looked at Amanda and smiled, “Yes, I am the alien.”

“Outstanding! I have some questions concerning the containment field your ship uses.”

Salud saw Lukas’ confusion and she said, “Amanda is recognized as the planet’s leading authority on nuclear power.”

Lukas looked at Amanda, “No kidding?”

“Yep, that’s me.”

“Then let’s start answering your questions, come with me.” Amanda kissed Trevor on the cheek and looked at Salud, “Stay away, he’s mine.”

“Don’t worry, he’s safe.” Amanda nodded and ran to catch up with Lukas. Salud looked at Trevor, “How could you have told her?”

Trevor shook his head, “Salud, she found my drawings and knew immediately what I was building. You can’t hide anything from her.” Salud shook her head and Trevor said, “You also can’t get anything out of her she doesn’t want known.”

“I sincerely hope you’re right.”

Lukas took Amanda over to the corvette and said, “Open.” The driver’s door opened and Lukas said, “Please take a seat.” Amanda sat in the car and Lukas said, “Provide direct link.” The center console opened and Lukas took a black elastic band out of it. He said, “Put this around your forehead.” Amanda took the band and pulled it over her hair and around her head. “Now you are connected directly with the ship’s computer. Her name is Willow and feel free to discuss whatever you want.”

“How…” Then Amanda stopped talking and her eyes went wide. She looked at Lukas, who nodded, “Just think and the computer will hear you.” Amanda sat back and closed her eyes.

Lukas walked back over to Trevor and said, “Do you have the diagram for the new disruptor barrel?”

“I do.”

“Let me have them.” Trevor opened his backpack and pulled the blueprints out. Lukas looked at them and tilted his head, “These are pretty good.”

“Thanks. The main beam won’t actually touch the sides of the barrel. It should flow through without resistance.”

“Will it need time to cool after multiple shots?”

“That will depend in large part on the power being used to operate it.”

Lukas nodded and fed the forms into a receiver on the converter. Lukas looked at the panel above the receiver and assigned a code for the entry. “Wrist Unit.”

“Yes.”

“Can you determine how long Willow and Amanda will be communicating?”

“I must say that I really think both of them were shocked by the other. They will not be stopping soon.”

“What?”

“She is mentally in a state of bliss and Willow is already modifying the power control programs.”

“Well, I guess it’s a good thing we didn’t start production.”

“They’re being radically changed. You were wise to wait.”

Lukas looked at Trevor and then at Amanda. He thought about Joey and Salud. Then there’s Jinks and Sarah. Something was going on and he began to suspect that he knew what it was but didn’t dare say anything. He needed to talk about it but knew there was too much at stake to consider it. He shook his head and began to wonder about fate. “Did it really exist?”

• • •

“Hello.”

“Jim, we have an issue.”

“What is that?”

“Sarah does not answer her pager.”

“What?”

“The agent I sent to that car plant.”

“Yes.”

“She’s not responding to her pager.”

“When was your last contact?”

“When she reported nothing unusual was happening.”

“Call her.”

“What?”

“Why are we so reluctant to make a phone call?”

“Ok.”

Jim waited and fifteen minutes later his phone rang, “HELLO!”

“She answered.”

“Imagine. Shocked, yes shocked I am!”

“You don’t need to use sarcasm. She says that while she was spying on General Jekins, she developed a real affection for him. She says it wasn’t easy but she convinced him to give her a chance.”

“That does happen occasionally.”

“I guess.”

Jim heard something in her voice, “What are you thinking, Jill?”

“I don’t know if there’s anything more than that but…”

“Do you think she was honest in her report?”

“She has never been dishonest in the past.”

“But?”

“She’s never been emotionally attracted to anyone during the entire time I’ve been using her. And according to Jekins’ file, he’s hasn’t either.”

“Why can’t I shake the feeling that something’s going on beneath the surface of that island?”

“I don’t have anything to say it’s more than what it is but it just doesn’t feel right.”

Jim thought for a moment and said, “We need to get someone to take a real look around. Do you still have a relationship with McIntosh?”

“You’re thinking about using him?”

“It’s not American soil. I can’t just issue a warrant and walk in.”

“There might be some…casualties if you use him.”

Jim strummed his fingers on his desk and said, “Contact him with the usual payment method.”

“Yes Sir.”

“This is Black Coded, Jill.”

“I know, I’m erasing the recording of this conversation.”

“That would be good.” Jill hung up and Jim thought about what was going on. He’d wait to see what McIntosh turned up. Then, if he had to bring the General in, he’d request satellite coverage.

• • •

Lukas looked around the table in the converter building and smiled at the group gathered around the table. There were some very powerful minds and people sitting there and he shook his head at the absolute impossible odds that any one of them would be there. Fate? He took a breath and said, “Why don’t we start with Trevor and Amanda and see what they’ve come up with.”

Trevor stood up and suddenly Lukas’ Wrist Unit began loudly beeping. Lukas’ eyes narrowed and he pressed the button on it, “Why are you interrupting us?”

“I’ve scanned three ocean speed boats approaching the island at high speed thirty miles out. There are fifteen men on each of the boats and they’re all heavily armed.”

“That son of a bitch!”

Lukas looked at Sarah, “What are you talking about?”

“It’s got to be McIntosh!”

Salud shook her head, “Who is McIntosh?”

Sarah shook her head, “He’s a modern day pirate. He attacks ships and takes hostages. He’s come ashore at night and blasted his way into banks and taken everything in their safes. Most of the time his trail is littered with dead bodies.” Sarah looked at Lukas, “Our government has used him in the past to remove those that have proven to be troublesome.”

Lukas looked around the table, “Do any of you have a weapon?”

Sarah shook her head, “Lukas, these pirates are armed with automatic weapons along with missile launchers and most are wearing body armor.”

Jinks looked at Lukas, “Use Willow to take them out.”

Lukas shook his head and they heard from the wall speaker, “They are attacking at night so this side of the planet is visible to the probe in orbit. If I use my disruptors on them, it will see it and that fleet might be coming early.”

Lukas said, “Did anyone bring a weapon with them?”

No one spoke and Joey stood up and hit the table with a fist, “This is my fault. I should have brought some in.”

Lukas said loudly, “So no one has anything to defend ourselves?”

Stoney snickered, “I have a cutlass.”

Everyone looked at him and he shrugged, “Hey, it was on sale at a novelty shop on Barbados.”

Lukas said, “Go get it.”

“What?”

“Quit wasting time; go get it.” Stoney stared at him for a moment, looked at Jinks, who nodded, and then jumped up and sprinted out of the room.

Lukas looked at Willow, “You mentioned that the Fellowship Warships did not detect your new force field.”

“I had it inside my normal field.”

“Could that probe detect it at its lowest setting?”

“I couldn’t.”

Salud looked at Lukas, “Just what are you planning?”

“I intend to meet them when they come ashore and see if I can’t persuade them to leave.”

Jinks shook his head, “No way. If anyone is going to take them on, it should be Stoney and me.”

Lukas looked at Jinks and smiled, “I admire your bravery, Jinks, but we only have one cutlass. The truth of the matter is that I could take you and Stoney together.”

Jinks tilted his head and Lukas shook his head. Faster than anyone at the table could see, Lukas was behind Jinks and had him in a headlock that Jinks could not break. Lukas released him and said, “If you can do it faster, you can go.”

Jinks rubbed his neck and still couldn’t believe how fast Lukas had moved. Stoney came running back in and handed Lukas the cutlass. Everyone moaned, it was little more than a toy. Stoney said, “Hey, I like shiny objects.”

Lukas took the cutlass and walked around to Willows rear. The deck lifted and Lukas threw the cutlass into it converter. He waited and a few moments later the deck opened and Lukas took out a cutlass that gleamed in the overhead lights. Stoney said, “I don’t know how that is going to help you against body armor.”

Lukas walked over to the front wall and picked up a twenty-pound sledgehammer. He brought it with him and put it on the table. He raised the cutlass and lightly hit the hammer’s head; it split into two pieces. Lukas reached in his pocket and took out his portable force field. “I’m taking a neon lantern with me. I’ll see if I can’t talk some sense into them.”

Sarah shook her head, “That isn’t going to happen.”

Lukas winked at her, “You haven’t heard me trying to be convincing.”

Everyone looked at Salud. Joey said, “You’re just going to sit there and let him go?”

“Do you think anyone in here can stop him? I’m going to have to watch him board one of our ships and go out and face warships more than a hundred times larger and know he has to do it. I’ve accepted that the odds against us will always be outrageous.” Salud looked up, “Willow, can you send us a view of what’s happening?”

“Turn on the TV.”

Lukas walked over and kissed Salud on the forehead, “I’ll be back.”

“Take your time.” Lukas put the back of the cutlass on his shoulder and walked out of the building.

Jinks looked at Salud, “That force field must really work.”

Joey said, “Why do you say that?”

“She’s not worried about him. That says more than any words she could use.” He looked at Salud, “Am I right?”

“Yes you are!” Salud looked at Sarah, “If we prevent McIntosh from getting any information, what do you think your former associates might try next?”

“They’ll bring us under full satellite coverage to see what they’re up against. Then they’ll probably drum up some lie that terrorists are moving weapons here to use against them.”

“I was afraid of that.”

“This is lose-lose for us. Either way, we will get their full attention.”

Salud nodded and the TV screen showed Lukas walking down to the beach with his cutlass and a beach chair. Stoney said, “He really has some huge brass…”

“Stoney, there are ladies present.”

Amanda nodded, “I think they’re made of steel.” Trevor tapped her on the arm and she said, “Hey, I’m just saying.”

• • •

McIntosh saw the shoreline ahead and looked at the spacing between his three boats. Perfect, the lads were spot on. Suddenly, he saw a bright light illuminate the beach directly in front of his boat. His eyes adjusted and he saw a single man sitting in a beach chair. He looked at the driver and said, “What’s wrong with this picture?” The driver shrugged and the gunner manning the fifty caliber machine gun on the bow looked back, “You want I should put out the light and him with it?”

McIntosh shook his head, “No, I want this one myself.” He looked under the deck and the radar operator said, “There’s nothing else around him.”

The boats ran into the sand and McIntosh walked across the bow and jumped to the sand. He lowered the eight-gauge shotgun and pointed it at the man sitting in the chair, who continued to sit and smile at him. “Welcome ashore, Captain, or are you an Admiral?”

McIntosh smiled, “Actually, I’m a Commodore.”

“Well welcome ashore, Commodore.”

McIntosh looked around as his men spread out. They wouldn’t move further ashore until McIntosh led the way. “Do you know who I am?”

“I do. Your actions have been quite impressive.”

“And you’re sitting here smiling like a donkey eating briars. I would think you wouldn’t be here showing me this disrespect.”

“I’m here to make an effort to stop you from going any further.”

“Do tell. And just how do you intend to do that?”

“Why do most of the people on the ships you capture quit resisting?”

McIntosh’s head went back and he looked at his men standing around him, “I really find this fellow entertaining. Isn’t he funny?” His men laughed on cue and McIntosh turned back to the man in the chair, “They stop resisting because they know it’s futile and they’ll only die if they continue.”

“Before they stop, you do have to demonstrate that their resistance is actually futile.”

“You know how it is, Laddie. They won’t take my word for it.”

“Are you capable of taking someone’s word about that?”

McIntosh’s head went down, “What are you saying?”

“If I tell you that I am going to kill every last one of you if you continue, would you take my word for it?”

McIntosh tilted his head and looked Lukas in the eyes and saw no fear. That unnerved him. “Now you know I can’t just accept that you are going to stop us alone. You’re not even armed.”

Lukas took the cutlass out of the sand and said, “Oh, but I am.” McIntosh shook his head and started to order his men to kill this simpleton but Lukas said, “I agree with you that an example has to be made before you can make the right decision.”

“What?”

“You have forty five men here that came on three boats. If you will step aside, I really don’t want to harm you; who would make the decision to leave if I did, I am going to remove the fifteen that came on your boat.”

“I’m not moving anywhere.” He took off his wide tri-hat with a long feather sticking out of it and swept it around as he bowed, “Take your best shot.”

McIntosh straightened up and wondered why his men hadn’t fired on this obviously crazy person. Lukas sat in the chair and McIntosh said, “You may begin.”

Lukas leaned to the left and pointed behind him with his cutlass. McIntosh’s eyebrows came down and he looked over his shoulder. Every man that had come on is boat was lying on the sand and none of them still had their heads. He whipped around and saw Lukas wipe blood off his cutlass with a white towel. “Now, it is not my intention to end the career of such a fine Pirate like yourself…but I will end it here on this beach, this night, and dispose of your bodies and boats so that no one will ever know how you met your end. You really might prefer it that way; just imagine the legends that will spring up.”

McIntosh looked behind him again and then turned and walked among the dead bodies. None of them saw what killed them. Their dead expressions didn’t even show surprise. It happened so fast that…he turned around and saw all his men had their weapons trained on Lukas and he sat in that chair with that stupid grin. “Commodore, do you have the example you need to make a good decision?”

“I didn’t come here without being asked.”

“I know. And if you disappear in the effort, they are going to feel obliged to come and take a closer look. I’m going to count on you to tell them that you found nothing here.”

“You really are maddening.”

Lukas stopped grinning and said, “I should go ahead and kill you but I do need you to throw them off my scent. If not for that, all of you would be lying on the sand. Did I make a good enough example to persuade you that I am capable of doing what I say?”

One of his men said from the side, “He’s a demon!”

Lukas looked in the direction of the one that yelled and smiled. McIntosh felt his heart freeze. “May I take my men for a proper burial?”

“No, they are mine now!”

McIntosh saw the smile grow larger and he didn’t have to order a retreat. His men turned and ran. He yelled for two of them to come and help him move his boat but ended up having to run to one of the others. The boats backed out and McIntosh yelled, “Hit him with the fifty!”

Both fifty-caliber machine guns opened fire and Lukas stood up and started walking toward them. Everyone on the two boats saw the bullets hitting but that demon kept walking toward the water. The guns stopped firing and Lukas yelled, “If they come here, I’m coming for you!” The boats backed out and sped away.

• • •

Sarah said, “I was wrong.” Everyone looked at her, “They can be talked out of attacking.”

Suddenly they heard, “I’m going to need all of you to come out and help me remove these items.”

Jinks and Stoney said, “Ladies, we’ll take care of this.”

Salud stood up, “I hate doing this but all of us better be prepared to put the white gloves away and develop a strong stomach.”

Jinks looked at Stoney, “Bring the front end loader and I’ll bring the other tractor.”

“Why?”

“We’re going to have to pull that boat into the converter building. It’ll be great raw material.”

Amanda said, “So will the bodies.” Several turned and stared at her, “Hey, do you want to stuff them and hang them over the fireplace?” Trevor shook his head and Amada said, “What?”

“Never mind, you’re right.”

“I’m just…”

Salud said, “Saying.”

Amanda nodded, “Exactly.”

• • •

“Hello.”

“Jill, this is Sarah.” There was silence on the phone and then Sarah said, “I know what a dirty business we’re in but this goes beyond what I ever thought you would do.” Again Jill remained silent. “You just couldn’t accept that I was telling the truth and you were willing to kill some people to confirm it…that includes me.”

“What we do is risky.”

“Is that how you’re justifying this to yourself? I’m out. Never contact me again.”

“It’s not that simple, Sarah.”

“Would you prefer I come and speak with you and your family directly about this?”

“NO!”

“It really is this simple, Jill. You only understand the dirty side of this business.”

“What makes you think I had anything to do with what happened?”

“First of all, I’ve not told you that anything happened. Secondly, you’re the one that breached our contract by making an attempt on my life. Do you want to call this even or not?”

“What are you saying?”

“You’re sitting there wondering if you should get Jim to send out a contract team to remove me. You’re looking at the odds of success and trying to see if you can make it happen. But know this, if it fails, my first target won’t be you. Dolly will go first, then Sam, followed by Jeff. Only after I finish with them, you. What’s it going to be?” Jill was silent and Sarah said, “Pink isn’t Dolly’s color. She looks better in yellow.”

The line went dead and Jill’s face turned red. Dolly was wearing a pink dress to school today. Her fear escalated and knew that if another attempt was made…She shook her head, how did she survive McIntosh’s raid? Jill shook her head, Sarah was one of the best agents she had ever used; she never failed to deliver. She decided that if something else was planned, she would tell Sarah. Jim could take a short dive in a concrete tub. She was not going to risk her family.

Her phone rang again and it was McIntosh, “Why did you send me on that raid?”

“What do you mean?”

“There was nothing worth stealing, all I saw was machinery and the people ran before we could take them. This was a wasted effort. You will pay me double or end my relationship.”

“Sir, you know we’ve been protecting you. That will end if you terminate our partnership.”

“Then give me a job worth doing where I can make a profit. What you’re paying me won’t cover my expenses.”

Jill shook her head, “What did you find out?”

“They’re building machines to make something.”

“Does it look like they’re building cars?”

“How would I know? It could have been that.”

“Did all of them escape?”

“You can run a lot faster on solid ground than through sand. Someone was on the beach and shouted a warning. By the time we landed, everyone was gone.”

“One of my best assassins was there.”

“Then why did you need me to go in? Are you that stupid?”

Jill shook her head, “I will transfer twice the amount we agreed on.” The phone went dead and Jill sat back in her chair. Every time something was done about that island, things went bad fast. McIntosh didn’t sound like himself. Jill called Jim and told him that everything appeared normal. She gave him the details and he said, “I’m still concerned.”

“I honestly don’t know if you have anything to worry about.”

Jim was silent for a moment and said, “I’m going to get the General to authorize satellite surveillance. Thanks, Jill.”

“No problem.” Jill hung up her desk phone and took out her cellphone. She pulled up a number and began pressing keys.

• • •

Sarah felt her phone vibrate and saw, “Satellites.” She nodded and looked at the group sitting around the table, “It appears Jill has decided not to risk my anger.”

Jinks looked at her, “Would you have done what you said?”

“No, she’s only following orders from her boss. He’s the one I’d go after. But I would scare the living hell out of her.” Jinks shook his head, “Jinks, I’ve done some things I’m not proud of and if I could go back, I’d change them. But I am who I am.”

Salud looked at Jinks, “She’s a warrior just like you. You should be able to see that.”

Jinks looked at Salud and then back at Sarah, “I understand.”

“Can you still care for me after this?”

“I’m glad you’re on our side. I’ve seen your heart; that’s enough.”

Sarah smiled and Lukas said, “It appears we’re going to be watched shortly. I’m concerned that Amanda and Tyler might cause some concerns if they’re seen here.”

Sarah looked at Amanda, “I can change their appearance.”

Amanda looked at Sarah, “You’re not thinking about changing my hair color, are you?” Sarah nodded. “Then make me a blonde: I’ve seen Trevor stare at blondes whenever we go out.”

Trevor looked at Amanda and shook his head. Salud shook her head, “Is she always this jealous?”

Trevor shrugged, “I guess. She just can’t believe that I’m the luckiest man alive to have her. No one will ever interest me but her.”

Amanda stared at Trevor and sighed, “Am I that bad?”

“You threatened the girl behind the counter at Dunkin Donuts because I smiled at her.”

“Yeah but she…!” Amanda paused and took a deep breath. “She filled your order.”

“Yes. And that was all she did.”

“I’m sorry, Trevor. I’ll work on it, I promise.”

“Do you still want to be a blonde?”

Amanda smiled, “I do.”

“And can you wear contacts instead of those glasses?”

“I have a pair. I wear the glasses to complete the image of being a professor.”

“You should also start wearing clothes that fit you tighter. Those sacks you run around in will be noticed.”

Amanda shook her head and Trevor smiled, “You have nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“Easy for you to say, Mr. Perfect Body 2015.”

Sarah smiled, “After our meeting, the two of you come with me to my cottage.”

Joey looked at Lukas, “What happens now?”

“The large converter has been completed and it’s been programmed to build the ships.”

“What about the force field modules?”

“We are going to have to insert the diamonds in them and the disruptor modules. That’s not something we can have the locals do.”

Amanda said, “Has the converter been updated on the new power circuit for the modules?”

Lukas looked at her and raised his eyebrows. The wall speaker came on and they heard, “I’ve changed the ship’s converter to build them in. I’ve also changed the containment vessels on the reactors as well.”

Lukas tilted his head, “What’s going on, Willow.”

“With the lovely Amanda’s assistance, we have changed the structure of the reactor. You probably know that in Fellowship technology the containment vessel is strong enough to withstand the heat of the nuclear process.”

“Yes.”

“Well, dampening materials are used to prevent the heat from rising to a level that would melt the vessel. It is that issue that prevents the Fellowship from using fusion in their reactors.”

“The vessel would melt at fusion temperatures.”

“Yes. Amanda has developed a process using a magnetized vessel that would keep the nuclear material away from the vessel walls. That would allow the reactor to use fusion.”

Amanda smiled, “I have a way to house a fusion reaction but no way to start one. Willow knows how to start one but no way to contain it.”

Lukas smiled, “So between the two of you…”

Willow said, “Voila, a fusion reactor. And the most remarkable thing is that they are incredibly small. Most of my current structure is to house the reactor.”

“How are we going to install them, Willow? They’ve got to be highly radioactive and we don’t have any protective suits.”

“They’ll be in the ships when they come out of the converter. The shielding will already be in place. There won’t be any danger.”

Trevor’s eyes narrowed, “What power is going to be fed to the disruptors?”

Amanda smiled, “About four times the old level.”

Lukas saw Trevor’s expression and said, “What’s bothering you?”

“If the power level is four times what was on the drawings you gave me, then there will have to be a delay between discharges.”

“How much of a delay?”

“About a second.”

Stoney shook his head, “That’s not that long.”

Lukas shook his head, “In space battles, a second is the difference between life and death.”

Jinks leaned forward, “In the past, did you have to fire both disruptors to breakthrough an enemy’s force field?”

Willow said, “In the past, even both of them would not have penetrated a battleship or large cruiser’s force field.”

“But if I’ve heard you correctly about using diamonds to increase the disruptors, along with the increased power of the reactor, will one of them be able to penetrate now?”

Everyone looked up at the wall speaker and after a moment they heard, “Probably.”

“Then just set up the firing sequence so that one fires and a half a second later, the second one fires. A half a second later the first one is ready to fire and so on. Is half a second too long?”

Lukas’ eyebrows were down and Salud knew he was thinking furiously. She looked at him and he sighed, “Willow.”

“Yes.”

“You said the new disruptors were going to be mounted on swivel housings on each side.”

“That’s correct.”

“What if the new ship has three swivel mounts? One on each side and one on the bottom. Would there be room for it?”

Joey looked at Lukas, “Wouldn’t another disruptor reduce the power of the others?”

Amanda shook her head, “If the disruptors are fired one at a time, the power delivery will rotate with their usage.” Joey looked at her with a blank expression. Amanda smiled, “Ok, think about it this way. You have three water cannons being fed by a huge fire hose. Got the picture?” Joey nodded. “How there is a valve with a switch on it that directs the water to one water cannon at a time instead of all three at once.”

Joey smiled, “The water pressure remains the same depending on which water cannon it’s directed to.”

“Exactly. The power doesn’t decrease unless you’re feeding all three cannons simultaneously. If you do that, it’s reduced to a third for each of them.”

Lukas looked at the wall speaker, “Willow, is this possible?”

“The only way to make it work is to build an SUV instead of a sports car.”

“What does that mean in making it happen?”

“We’re going to have to build an even larger converter. We can use the current one to make the pieces for the new one. It will also mean you’ll need 33% more disruptor modules as well as the diamonds to focus them.”

“What about the control systems?”

“That’s a programming issue. We can leave the current converter to produce the plug in computer and control modules.”

“Are we going to have to do that as well as put the diamonds in the force field housings and disruptor modules?”

“No, the ships will come out of the converter pre-formed like an SUV; your local workers can install them. They can’t work with the diamonds, they’re too much of a temptation to steal them.”

Salud shook her head and Lukas said, “What?”

“I’ve been wondering where you’re going to get the raw material to feed the disruptors. You can’t make something from nothing. Just how much raw material are you going to need to build them?”

Lukas shook his head and Willow said, “Millions of tons.”

“And just what are the overhead spies going to think as millions of tons of sand, waste products, or whatever else we use go into the building and doesn’t appear to be filling it up?”

Lukas looked up, “Willow?”

“She’s right. The converter can change the atoms into different structures but it still boils down to an atom, and in some cases several, for an atom.”

Joey looked at Lukas, “Isn’t it true that some things have more atoms than others?”

Lukas nodded, “Obviously, a steel square one foot square has many more than a one foot square of Styrofoam.”

“Well, the peeping Toms overhead know that we’re going to be building cars. My company owns several steel mills and I can have everything they produce shipped here.”

“What about lava?”

Lukas looked at him, “What about lava?”

“Isn’t it pretty dense material? It came out of the planet’s core and is really hard material. We can start digging it up a half a mile inland saying we want to expand our factories. We can bring what we dig up in trucks and send it in saying we’re going to process it into sand to put on the beaches.”

Lukas shook his head “That is an excellent idea. We will have to build a system to receive the steel and get it into the warehouse.”

“My mills will build it for you and transfer it to the building just to have the business. I assume we’ll be using our funds to pay for it.” Lukas looked at Joey and nodded. “I’ll draw up the contracts and change the licensing agreements with Barbados to build a larger vehicle. We should have the work done in about two months.”

“Why don’t you set it up so the shipments come into the main island and are ferried here? That way they will have an incentive to approve it.”

Joey nodded, “It will also prevent us from building a deep water approach to the island. It can be trucked to us from the side closest to their port. We’ll have a heavy lift crane to transfer it from the trucks into the warehouse.”

“Just make sure the satellites won’t see anything suspicious through the opening where we make the transfer.” Joey nodded and Lukas looked at the group, “We’ll get the converter to start making more modules for the disruptors.”

Salud said, “Willow?”

“Yes.”

“Is it possible for the converter to take coal and convert it into diamonds?”

“Of course.”

Lukas fell back in his chair and Salud shook her head, “I’ll order a shipment of coal to be delivered here. By the way, how pure can you make the diamonds?”

“How pure do you want them?”

Lukas shook his head, “I should have thought of that.”

Salud shook her head, “You come from a civilization that doesn’t have coal. I’m the one that should have thought about it.”

“I also notice you’re using a machine to cut the diamonds. That’s a rather slow process.”

Salud smiled, “How would you do it?”

“Send two diamonds into my converter and I’ll pattern all the others to be made identical to them.”

Lukas smiled, “All right, we have our work to do. Let’s make this happen.”

Chapter Seventeen

Jim shook his head, “No Sir, we’ve not been able to locate the two missing scientists.”

“The General shook his head, “What good are you if you can’t locate two very high profile scientists?”

“Sir, we’ve exhausted every resource searching for them. It’s like they just dropped out of existence; and before you ask, I attempted to call them.”

“What about their bank accounts?”

“No activity for six months.”

“Their relatives?”

“Haven’t heard from them for the same length of time. I’ve bugged their lines but no call has come in.”

“We need them to assist us in building a weapon to use against those aliens!”

“Sir, I’ve turned up nothing and the Soviets and Chinese have also come up empty handed.”

“What about General Jekins?”

“The satellite we’re using to monitor the island shows images of them importing large quantities of steel. It appears they might be ready to start production of whatever vehicle they’re going to make. Other than that, nothing out of the ordinary.”

“Can’t you get the officials on Barbados to go inspect their buildings?”

“Sir, with the increased number of jobs that their port has experienced, they are extremely reluctant to do anything to upset that particular gravy cart and they ask that we not disrupt the work flow.”

“Selfish bastards.”

“We all look after ourselves Sir.”

“It’s probably a waste of time anyway. I want those scientists found!” The line went dead and Jim sat back in his chair. Two people just don’t up and disappear unless they plan for it. Where would two scientists of their caliber go? He thought about it and decided that they would not quit working. Wherever they were, they were working on something and high-energy lasers and nuclear power would go hand in hand. But where would they go? Ummm, would the Russians or Chinese be working on their own programs without him being aware of it?

If they were…there would be emissions from the effort that a satellite could detect. But every satellite he had was in use on other assignments. If he moved one to take a look, his allies would know it. He pulled up a list of satellites that could be used to search for the telltale emissions and called Satellite Command. They would have to make it happen with the resources at hand. He picked up the most recent photos from the island and threw them across the room. Jill was right, this was a waste of time. Later that day, the satellite covering the island was moved to another location above the planet. A photo showing a young couple lying on the beach slid under his desk. It was missed when the others were picked up and thrown away.

• • •

Jinks looked at Julio and said, “How do you like your scooter?”

“Oh Señor! It’s all I’ve ever dreamed about.”

“Julio you are going to be the floor manager to make sure all these boxes are connected properly in the cars. Can I count on you?”

“Si, si.”

Jinks took the three black boxes and laid them in the drives floorboard. He took the first one and connected a cable to it. A green light illuminated on it. “If this light comes on, you know you’ve done it properly. Now you snap it into place.” Jinks pushed the box against the firewall and it clicked into place. He took the other two and showed Julio where they went in the rear hatch area of the SUV and a red light illuminated on them. “Think you can do it?”

“Let me show you, Señor.” Julio took the next three boxes and installed them in the second vehicle.

“Very good. Now I want you to train your team on how it’s done while I watch you.”

Jinks stepped back and watched as Julio instructed the young adults on how to install the boxes. The giant converter was producing the first ships and as they rolled out of the converter building, they were taken to the small building where Julio’s team installed the boxes. Jinks had suggested that only young employees be allowed to install the boxes. It would be hard to get an operative in that would be young enough to be hired. Willow kept a close scan on the boxes so that none of them could be stolen. If one of them were taken, the jig would be up. Jinks looked at the sleek SUVs and marveled at their beauty. This is one vehicle that would sell if it was ever put on the market, which it wouldn’t. Oh well. He started thinking about how he was going to find the pilots to fly them. He took a deep breath and continued to watch Julio instruct the youngsters. His enthusiasm was contagious.

• • •

Lukas looked at Jinks and said, “We don’t do that, Jinks.”

“Why not. Willow was fully able to escape the ships chasing her. Why can’t these ships fly themselves?”

“They can fly themselves but they are not allowed to fire a weapon without the approval of their pilot?”

“Why not?”

“Because we will never allow machines the power to enslave us.”

Jinks stared at Lukas an after a moment nodded. “I didn’t think this through.”

“No, you didn’t. I trust Willow with my life but most machines are emotionless and will make decisions that don’t take into account the fallout of their decisions. The machines will use their weapons only when directed to do so by their pilots. It’s a form of checks and balances that safeguard both.”

“I don’t know how we’re going to find the pilots without alerting their governments.”

“You’re going to let them find you.”

“And just how am I going to do that?”

“You are going to go on a speaking tour.”

“What?”

“Salud has set up a series of presentations at numerous universities around the world where you will talk about making all the people on Earth to come together to make the planet a better place to live.”

“I’m not a speaker!”

“You are now. Salud will be going with you and taking part in the presentations.”

“But…”

“Some of the students that hear you will seek you out. Those are the ones that will be our pilots.”

“You know the government will have operatives looking to join us.”

“That’s where Sarah will come in. She’ll know which ones to avoid.”

“What?”

“It takes one to know one. They’re all trained in the same school and share common traits. Before we allow them to come to the school we’re building here, they will be tested, measured, and weighed to make sure they’re who we need.”

“Where did you come up with this idea?”

“It’s obvious if you look at who we have at our disposal.”

“What about Stoney?”

“He’s the one that will win their hearts.”

“He’s going to be an instructor here.”

“That he is.”

“Have you told him?”

“No, but he’ll do what needs to be done.”

“When is the first presentation?”

“Monday. Salud will go over the materials with you this weekend and the converter will provide the handouts. Good luck, I know you’ll do well.”

“Just how are they going to come to us?”

“They’ll show up at other presentations and then make a decision to join your crusade.”

“You make it sound so simple.”

“I’ve watched humans since the day I came here. You are at your best when you’re dedicated to a cause larger than yourselves.”

Jinks shook his head and said, “I’m not a speaker!”

“You, more than anyone I’ve ever met, have shown me that you can be whatever you choose. Now you have to make the choice to find others that think like you. You will resonate with them and that’s who we need to fly our ships.”

Jinks shook his head and thought, “But I’m not a speaker…am I?”

• • •

Jinks looked out at the empty auditorium and saw students scattered around the vast building. He looked at Salud and she said, “About two hundred and fifty are in attendance.”

“It appears we’ve gone unnoticed.”

“UConn has a rather busy academic schedule and the women’s basketball team has a game tonight.”

“Did you plan it this way?”

“I thought you could use some practice before more show up.”

Jinks shook his head, “Salud, I don’t know what Lukas is thinking here. I’m just not a public speaker.”

“Do you agree with the message?”

“I guess.”

“Jinks, you either agree or you don’t. There are no half measures with this concept. Now do you agree or not?”

Jinks sighed, “I just don’t know if this is possible.”

“So the end must be achievable before you buy in?”

Jinks stared at her and said, “Let’s do this. Maybe Lukas will come to his senses once he sees just how ridiculous I am at doing this.”

“Fair enough. I’ll go first, then you.”

Jinks shrugged and went to a chair on the stage as Salud went to the podium and said, “I know those of you who chose to come tonight have a busy schedule and we appreciate your being here.”

A student sitting on the front row by herself yelled, “You really didn’t tell me anything about what you’re going to cover. Just what is this ‘One World’ you’re advertising?”

Salud smiled, “I am going to talk about the current situation on our world and then Steve Jekins will discuss what it should be.” The student nodded but Jinks saw she was disappointed and almost stood up to leave. Fifty students did stand up and walk to the back of the auditorium and stand outside the door.

Salud said, “The dinosaurs went extinct about a hundred and sixty millions years ago when the Earth was hit by a nine mile wide asteroid. Since that time, the planet has pretty much gone through a slow metamorphosis to what it is today. If you had a satellite above the planet taking photos of the surface every million years or so, everything would look pretty much the same. Even as recently as a hundred thousand years ago, you wouldn’t see much change. The planet was covered in forests, mountains, river plains, and the animals, birds, fish, and reptiles that have developed over the millennia. About ten thousand years ago, that changed. Mankind appeared and learned to farm. Now man could live in one place without having to chase the migrating herds he used to feed himself. The view from above changed from that moment forward. About five thousand years ago, the great pyramids and wall in China made an appearance. Now think about that for a moment. These were the first structures on Earth that could be seen from space. Suddenly, there was a species on the planet that changed the planet. Until that point, every species was changed by the planet.”

Jinks watched the students gathered at the exit doors and some of them began moving to the back row of chairs. Within ten minutes, all of them had taken seats. Salud pressed her video controller and a huge screen behind her illuminated with images of the Pyramid and great wall. She began showing images and the students in the huge building began moving down to the front rows to get a better view of the images. She walked them through a world of forests to a world of giant cities and worldwide communications. She presented the interlinking of the economies of the world and described how they were all interconnected to the point where all of them could be affected, both positively and negatively, by what happened in various markets.

Jinks shook his head, she had them enthralled and he wished he had her charisma. After an hour she said, “This is where we are now. Steve will now discuss what that means.”

Jinks stood up and walked to the podium. He looked at the giant screen showing Earth from the International Space Station. The lights from the cities of Europe stood out brightly and gave testament to how far humans had changed the planet.

He looked out at the audience and pointed at the screen behind him, “What Dr. Vazquez had described for you during the last hour makes it appear that now our planet is truly one world. Nothing is further from the truth. We are as far away from that as we were when our species first appeared on this planet and, truth be told, we’re further from it. Our world it broken into fragments by the imaginary lines called national borders and every nation is hell bent on doing whatever needs to be done to ensure their survival, even if others don’t.”

Jinks talked about wars, both actual combat wars as well as political and economic. He showed how the current linking of all the nations into a giant interdependent economic structure would lead to confrontations that would be unavoidable. He painted a picture that was worse than any horror movie ever produced.

“An asteroid hit earth and the dinosaurs were extinguished. Right, mankind has the weapons that could not only bring extinction down on every person on the planet but also every other life form except for microbes. The only solution to this is to truly make Earth One World where all of us live with common goals to make our home a better place to live for all human beings. A place where everyone can pursue their destiny without the intrusion of those that have motivations to control other humans. If we are to survive as a species, we must come together and learn how to live together in a supporting, caring, and peaceful society. We have to start looking at ourselves as mankind instead of European, American, Chinese, Russian, or any other label we use to describe ourselves. We have to build a world for all of us to live on and provide fertile ground for us to follow our dreams. This is something all of us should think about and focus on doing those things that will bring us all together. Failure to do this could lead to us following the dinosaurs into extinction. Thank you for your time and attention.”

The students listened to Jinks and at the end gave him a standing ovation. Most of them walked to the front and picked up the hand-outs. The girl, who had questioned Salud, said loudly, “Where are you going next?”

Jinks looked at her and Salud shouted, “Our next stop is MIT tomorrow night at seven P.M. The girl picked up her books to leave.

Jinks said, “Why do you ask?”

The girl turned around, “I have some friends that need to hear this. Boston isn’t too far to drive.” Jinks nodded and watched her walk out. He looked at Salud, who said, “I don’t know where you get off saying you’re not a speaker. You scared the bejesus out of me with your presentation.”

“But it’s true!”

“And the ones here tonight could hear it in your voice. I expect a much larger audience tomorrow night.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m returning home. I’ve already received hundreds of emails from former students saying they’re excited at seeing me again.”

“Maybe you want to handle the entire presentation?”

“No chance. I can’t do what you did tonight. Let’s pack up and get out of here.”

Jinks loaded up the material and put them on a cart. He pushed it up the aisle to the exit and saw four students waiting. They grabbed some of the boxes and helped them take them to the van. Jinks smiled at them, “Thank you for your help. We really appreciate it.”

A young man with horn-rimmed glasses said, “What are you planning to do about this?”

Jinks tilted his head, “I’m sorry, what do you mean?”

The young man nodded at the three other students and said, “We want to join you in making ONE WORLD a reality. How do we do it?”

Salud stepped up and said, “We intend to have a school where we teach and create the things that need to be done to make it happen.”

“How could we go to this school and would it interfere with our class schedules here?”

“We intend to have our first classes taught a year from this June. If you’re really interested, don’t schedule any summer classes.”

“How do we sign up?”

Salud pulled out four business cards and handed one to each of the students, “Email the website and request an application. Once you complete it, email it back and we’ll notify you if you’re accepted.”

“Why wouldn’t we be accepted?”

Salud smiled and touched the young man on his forehead and then on his chest, “It’s not what’s up here but what’s in here that will determine if you’re selected. Make sure you tell us in your essay why you want to be there.”

The young man stared at her and nodded. The young girl who had asked about the next presentation walked up from the shadows, “May I have one of those cards, please.” Salud smiled and handed it to her. She looked at the card, “You know, it’s not that I want to see ONE WORLD to prevent world destruction; I think the world would be a beautiful place if it could happen.”

Salud looked at the other four and smiled as she touched her chest, “Like I said, it’s what’s in here.” Jinks watched them and began to wonder if Lukas was right. These students looked intense.

• • •

“Sir, you’re not going to believe this.”

Jim looked up from his desk at his personal secretary, “What is that, Martha?”

“General Jekins is making a presentation at MIT tonight.”

Jim leaned back in his chair, “Say what?”

“Yes. He and Dr. Vazquez made one last night at UConn and he’s giving it again tonight.”

“What’s the topic?”

“ONE WORLD.”

Jim stared at her and she said, “I just learned about it so I don’t know what it means but I thought you might want to know.”

“Get me a helicopter.”

“Are you going?”

“Yes, I am. I need to talk with the good General, anyway. I genuinely hope he’s not revealing any top secrets during his talk. That could get him arrested.”

“I’ll have the helicopter here in an hour.”

“I’ll not leave until five. I have a meeting with the surveillance team.”

“Five it is, Sir. The chopper will be waiting on the roof.”

Jim swiveled his chair and looked out of his window. The cherry trees were blooming in Washington and they made a beautiful foreground to the Washington Monument in the distance. “What was Jinks up to? He decided not to contact General Amerson; he’d do that after he saw what Jekins was saying. If he mentioned one word about the aliens…well…he’d have some marines close by to make an arrest if necessary.”

• • •

“Are you sure about this launch?”

“The French have agreed to send it up with their next payload.”

“Will the thing fit?”

“Yes, it’s actually quite small. The technology is really simple once one understands the principles. If it works, we’ll announce it to the world.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

“Just another satellite failure. Oh well!”

“When is it scheduled?”

“We have more than enough time to get the circuits miniaturized. December of 2017 will be a great Christmas gift for the human race.”

“If it works.” The scientist smiled; there was always that tiny issue.

• • •

The presentation at MIT went far beyond Jinks’ wildest expectations. He was given a standing ovation and Salud let it continue as Jinks stood at the podium embarrassed by the ovation. Jim listened to the presentation in the audience and didn’t like what he was hearing. This crazy notion of doing away with national boundaries and borders was sheer insanity. The world would never come together; this was all a pipe dream. He saw Salud raise her arms for the audience to be quiet and when the noise had disappeared, he stood up and yelled, “GENERAL JEKINS, AREN’T YOU BEING HYPOCRITICAL STANDING THERE TALKING ABOUT PEACE WHEN YOU’VE DONE MORE THAN YOUR SHARE OF KILLING IN THE NAME OF A COUNTRY!”

The entire auditorium was shocked into silence. The students all stared at the man in a blue suit who had stood and made the accusation. A student sitting near him shouted, “Is this true?”

Jim nodded and yelled, “You’re looking at a former Navy Seal who led numerous actions in Iraq and a General in the United States Air Force. Oh yes, he has blood on his hands.”

Everyone in the audience turned toward the stage and Jinks stood up. Salud said, “I’ll handle this.” Her voice could be heard over the microphone and the huge gathering starting murmurings among themselves. They heard Steve Jekins say, “You will not! He was talking to me.” Salud didn’t want to pass the microphone to Jinks; there was no telling what he was going to say and the entire venture could be irreparably harmed if he wasn’t careful.

He looked her in the eyes and she saw his resolve. She knew if she fought him for control of the microphone that it would be seen as an attempt to hide the truth. She reluctantly passed him the microphone. Jinks took the microphone and walked down the steps and into the audience until he was standing next to the row Jim was seated. Jim was worried. He knew who Jekins was and that he was no match for the former Seal. Jinks lifted the microphone and said, “I believe if you’re going to confront someone it is common courtesy to do it while looking them in the eye. Jinks looked around and said, “What this gentleman said is absolutely true. I fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. My team was called upon to go out and carry out missions planned by my leaders and their commanders.” Jinks looked at Jim, “He’s right about me having done more than my share of killing. I’ve seen up close the depravity of what humans can to other humans.”

Jinks looked at Jim, “But this man is saying that anyone who has ever participated in war is eliminated from ever discussing it because they are tainted by the experience.” The auditorium was as quiet as a tomb. “I would suggest to you that it is those people that have participated in it that are the most qualified to discuss it. I’ve seen just how violent our species is capable of being to each other and until you actually see that violence directed at you, you really don’t understand what man is capable of being.” Jinks paused, “The warriors I fought against in the wars had much more in common with me than differences. They want to love and be loved. They want to raise a family in a loving environment where they will be safe from danger. They want to feed and clothe them and make life as good as they can for the ones they love.” Jinks looked around the room and said, “All of you want the same things. I can tell you that unless we create ONE WORLD where all of us are striving to meet those needs and help others as well as ourselves, we are moving toward an extinction that will be brought on by our differences. I would like to think that there is another way.”

Jinks walked out of the audience, back up to the stage, and looked at them before handing the microphone back to Salud, “I make no apologies for what I’ve done in the name of my country. I will also not apologize for the things I’m doing for all of mankind.” He handed her the microphone and the auditorium exploded in cheers. Jim knew what Jinks said was spoken rather simplistically without great technique. But it was spoken in such a way that everyone who heard him knew it was coming directly from his heart. It moved them.

• • •

Tommy Clarke looked at his cameraman, “Please tell me you got all that?” The cameraman nodded and Tommy kissed him on the mouth. This was what he needed to get his ticket punched to a TV anchor’s job. He looked at his cameraman and said, “Thank you so much for telling me about this.”

The cameraman leaned over and yelled in Tommy’s ear so he could hear, “An old girlfriend who goes to UConn called me and told me about it.”

Tommy nodded and stared at the two standing on the stage bowing to the adulations being given to them by the crowd. He went to the back wall and looked at the schedule of events. Tomorrow it would be Harvard and then Boston College. He stared at the former General and knew he was a believer. If the reaction of the audience was any indication, there were several thousand more converts joining him tonight. ONE WORLD; what a concept.

Salud tried to bring silence but finally gave up and she took Jinks’ hand and led him back into the audience to shake hands with the crowd. She passed out more than eight hundred cards before the night was over.

• • •

Jim stood up to go and as he stepped in the aisle and turned to go, he ran into a young woman. He said, “Excuse me!” The woman didn’t move and Jim looked up at her face…his heart froze…it was Sarah. His mouth fell open and he reached for his belt. His pager was gone. Sarah held it up in front of his face and smiled, “You really are getting careless, Jim. All of your backup is now unavailable for you.”

“Sarah, I didn’t…”

“Yes you did and denying it only pisses me off more!”

“What do you want?”

Sarah tossed him the pager, “Endanger us again and I won’t be giving it back.” Sarah smiled sweetly at him, “Have a nice day.” She stepped out of his way and he took two steps past her. He turned to tell her that he had a lot more clout than she did…but she was gone. He tried his best to find her and she was nowhere to be seen. He turned to go and bumped into Sarah again, “Don’t get so full of yourself that you start to think you’re invincible.” He stared at her and began to feel nervous. Changing the locks won’t slow the truly determined down. Taa, Taa.”

Jim froze. He had changed the locks on his house three days ago. He called his wife and when she answered he said, “Go and check the front door.”

“Hold on.” He waited and after a few moments he heard her say, “That’s odd. Both the front and back doors were unlocked. I was certain I locked them earlier.”

Jim knew that Sarah couldn’t have unlocked the doors to his house and be here with him. That meant that just getting rid of her wouldn’t remove the danger to him. He turned around and saw Sarah watching him. He stared at her and after a moment nodded. Sarah turned and walked away.

If the General wanted to go after Jinks, he could do it without him. He was done with chasing ghosts on that island. Sarah was one of his best-trained assassins and he had no desire to get her upset with him. McIntosh was enough. He got one bite and missed; that would be his only effort. He walked out of the auditorium and thought about what Jinks had said. He didn’t want to agree with him but he was forced to admit that his vision did resonate at a level below his consciousness. It was a shame it just wasn’t practical or possible. He climbed into the helicopter and immediately put the talk behind him. There were more important issues to handle. Getting the nuclear missiles of three superpowers organized was going to take time. Now the new bodies had to be completed with the thrusters before the new targeting system could become operational. So much to do; so little time.

Chapter Eighteen

“Jinks, where do we stand with Gold Stars?”

“We’ve given twelve hundred wrist units.”

“And they’ve bonded with the ship they’ll be flying?”

“They have. For the moment, they’re home working and spreading the gospel about One World.”

“It’s my understanding that the Chinese have outlawed the movement.”

“They have but they’ve made no arrests, yet. You know how it is; the Chinese outlaw a behavior and then don’t enforce the law until something serious happens or they wake up in a bad mood one day. The Gold Stars are not doing anything to draw attention. I can’t say the same for the Silver Stars; they are motivated to make a scene and don’t appear to be deterred by the possible consequences.”

“That’s why they’ll never be Gold Stars. You can’t impose your will on others. You must persuade others to your point of view and force will never work.”

Jinks was silent for a moment and sighed, “I never really thought two years ago that my going out and making presentations would amount to anything. Who would have thought that so many colleges would accept our classes here as full credits. Teaching year round has made a huge difference in finding those we’re going to need.”

“What about the second class of Gold Stars?”

“Lukas, there are more than five thousand that are going through the finals. Keeping them under wraps until they could come to terms with the massive numbers of alien warships waiting to attack Earth was not easy. Everyone’s initial impulse is to run to their families and loved ones.”

“That’s why we leased another island with no lines of outside communication. They are bright, intelligent people but this is something that can overwhelm you. Incidentally, have any of them cracked and want out?”

“That’s the most surprising part of this. The psych tests our graduates take really work to separate those that can handle the stress from the others. All of them eventually arrive at the same conclusion; if Earth is invaded, the only ones preventing those they love from being killed is them.”

“When will they bond with their ships?”

“In about another eight weeks. They’re working on the simulators to learn how to fly them.” Jinks shook his head, “Lukas, that simulator you and Willow built is amazing. It really does feel like the real thing.”

“Willow ran the program through the headbands directly into the pilot’s neural synapses. They actually do feel the sensation of high G acceleration and braking. The program that teaches how to target the disruptors was more difficult.”

“We’ve gotten approval on the delivery of the first vehicles into the United States. The EPA agreed to allow our graduates to bring one back with them to test and run trials on how it operates. It was a stroke of genius that you got them to agree to seal the engine compartments to prevent industrial espionage. They checked the exhausts and determined they exceeded the lowest levels needed to pass EPA certification.”

“Jinks, doesn’t that seem odd.”

“What do you mean?”

“They were so hot on stopping whatever was happening here initially…”

“But now they’re turning their backs and ignoring what we’re doing.”

“Exactly.”

“Lukas, I think someone high up the totem pole has decided that whatever they’re doing to handle this crisis might not succeed. I think they are genuinely hoping we are developing something in the event they fail.”

“That doesn’t sound like their style.”

Jinks paused and looked at Lukas, “No, it doesn’t, does it? What else do you think they’re up to?”

“I thought they might try to take the vehicles the Gold Stars took with them; but that hasn’t happened.”

“That could be Sarah’s doing.”

“Oh?”

“The current head of the EPA owes her big time for saving his son from a drug cartel. If he’s telling the Military to back off, they would have to get Presidential approval to interrupt this study and you know how this President needs an environmental success in the worst possible way.”

“That makes more sense than them just turning their backs on us.”

“By the way, I hear the French is launching some supplies to the I.S.S.”

“Yes, that’s the report.”

“That should be interesting.”

“Come over and we’ll watch it on the portable while we’re on the beach.”

“Great idea. See you this weekend.”

• • •

The table was full of fresh fruit and snacks to celebrate another step forward by mankind. It had become a tradition to celebrate every space launch on the planet. Willow would send the signal to a fifty inch portable television and interpret what the announcers were saying. It was three in the afternoon on the island and the launch was scheduled for nine fifteen pm in France. Just forty five more minutes until the huge rocket lifted.”

The group were all gathered and feeling festive. Stoney and Jinks were catching up on what was going on at the secret classes for the new Gold Stars. Sarah, Amanda, and Trevor were talking about redoing their hair. The dark roots were starting to show. Salud sat in front of the TV with margaritas in one hand and holding each other’s free hand. Seven of the Gold Star instructors had free time to come and join them before going back to the training facility. The mood was light hearted and laughter filled the afternoon air.

Lukas held Salud’s hand and smiled, “We are making progress at getting ready for them.”

“We’re still a long way from having the forces to confront them.”

“I know, but we’re making progress.”

Salud turned back to the TV as Lukas stood to get an orange. She listened to the translation Willow was providing and heard one of them say, “The Swiss have a satellite going up on this payload and are making a special announcement once it’s in orbit.”

Salud’s eyebrows came down when she saw the two Swiss scientists talking in the background behind the announcer. One was Joseph Kepler, who had become a naturalized Swiss citizen fifteen years earlier. He and Franz Kemp had won the Nobel Prize a year earlier for their work on black hole theory. She wondered what they were doing. Those two were two of the brightest minds on the planet.

The countdown finally arrived at the final ten seconds and everyone counted it down with the announcers. The rocket blast lit up the night sky and the giant lifted and started its journey into space. Salud looked at Lukas, “Joseph and Franz have a satellite going up with the shipment to the space station. They’re going to make a special announcement once it’s in orbit.”

Lukas stared at the TV screen and said, “Are they the two that won the Nobel Prize last year?”

“Yes.” Lukas’ eyes narrowed and Salud said, “What’s wrong?”

“I hope nothing.”

“Something has you spooked.”

Lukas shook his head, “Salud, the development of a stardrive requires the understanding of black hole mechanics. The void a stardrive enters is what is on the other side of a black hole. I read the paper they published and it hypothesized that a void exists inside a black hole.” Lukas looked at the screen. He began shaking his head and stood up, “Willow, can you scan that rocket?”

“Not without the Fellowship Probe detecting me. What’s going on?”

“Probably nothing, but the two Swiss Scientists who won the Nobel Prize have a satellite in the rocket’s payload.”

“You don’t think that they…”

“I really hope they haven’t but they uncovered the fundamental relationship between the void and gravity a year ago and they received enough funding with the prize to research further.”

The group on the beach gathered around Lukas and listened to what he was saying. “Please don’t let it be…”

The two Swiss Scientists appeared on the screen and Joseph said, “We have sent a satellite into space with this launch to conduct an experiment. We are currently orienting so that it is aimed above the plane of the solar system.”

Lukas started shaking his head as Franz said, “We are going to activate a circuit in a moment and we believe that our satellite will disappear from its orbit and reappear outside our solar system in less than two seconds.”

Lukas said, “Contact Stoney and tell him to get the Gold Stars on the simulators, NOW!” He turned to Jinks, “Send the alert to the first Gold Stars and have them power up their ships immediately. Get one of them over to Kathy’s home and pick her up. If they have to force her to come, do it!”

Salud looked at Lukas and shook her head. She heard another countdown in the back ground and looked up at the visual of the Swiss Satellite where it was hanging in space. She looked at Lukas, “Can’t we shoot it down?”

“If we do, the probe will see it and it will precipitate the invasion. Damned if we do, damned if we don’t.” Everyone looked at the TV as the countdown hit zero and the small satellite disappeared. Lukas said, “It’s happened too fast. A city, maybe more, is about to die.”

Jinks looked at the TV and shook his head, “The freaking Swiss! Who would have ever believed they would come up with it first?” He activated his wrist unit and said, “All Gold Star Pilots will report to the island immediately for arming. Do not delay but do not reveal yourselves. Island shutdown will be in place in ten minutes.” He turned the dial on his unit and said, “Julie, I need you to find Kathy and bring her here! Stun her if necessary but get her and her baby to the island pronto.”

“Will do.”

• • •

Julie arrived at Kathy’s apartment and found she wasn’t home. She said, “Can you get a fix on her cell signal?”

“Stand by a moment.” Julie waited and forced herself to be calm. The meditation classes helped her focus on her body and not allow her adrenaline to take control. “I have it. She’s in a park two miles from here.”

“Get us there. Go vertical if necessary.”

The sleek SUV roared down the hill and jumped an intersection as it continued at high speed toward the park. Several police units gave chase but were stopped by traffic when the SUV jumped over lanes of traffic. “She’s over near the pond.”

“Why didn’t you just go vertical the whole way?”

“The Fellowship Probe would have detected the gravity unit. Jumping over large numbers of cars masked the unit’s emissions.”

“That was good judgment. Julie saw the young woman ahead sitting in the grass with her young baby. The SUV slid up to her and Julie jumped out of the driver’s door. “Kathy!”

Kathy saw the SUV slide to a stop six feet from her and she grabbed her baby and pulled him into her arms. She saw Julie jump out and say, “Kathy!” She nodded and the woman said, “Lukas has asked me to come and pick you and your baby up.” Kathy’s face showed her shock and Julie said, “He told me to bring you by force if necessary but I don’t want to do that. He also told me to deliver a message.”

“What is that?” Kathy said in a trembling voice.

“He said that he saved you from your attackers and he needs you to come with me to save you from some new ones.”

Kathy stared at Julie clutching her baby who was starting to cry as he felt his mother’s fear. “My car is across the park.”

“Trust me on this, Kathy; you won’t be needing that car.” Kathy stood up, ran around the car, and jumped in the passenger’s seat, “Where’s the seatbelt?”

“There isn’t one. Where is the baby’s father? I should pick him up as well.”

“There is no father.” Julie stared at Kathy and she looked out the windshield, “He left me six months after Christopher was born. He just couldn’t accept he wasn’t…”

“Hold on, we’re making a run for the harbor.”

Kathy felt the seat wrap around her and mold to her shape. Suddenly, the dashboard began changing shape and she saw a large display appear in the center. She saw numerous red dots moving on it, “What are those?”

“That’s the local gendarmes trying to give me about a hundred driving citations.” Julie looked at Kathy, “They aren’t for excellence in driving.”

Kathy watched Julie jump four lanes of traffic and turn a corner at an impossible speed, “You should be recognized for still being in one piece.” Julie made a sharp turn and Kathy saw a boat ramp directly ahead of them. “Uhhh, you need to slow down!”

“Kathy, if you haven’t figured out by now that this isn’t a normal automobile, you’re going to know for sure in two seconds.” The SUV went into the boat ramp at more than a hundred miles an hour and jumped over two boats being pulled up on their trailers. It hit the water with a huge splash and disappeared.

Kathy watched as the SUV changed shape. The windshield lost its upright position and curved around the front of the new shape. The speed it began moving through the water was impossible. She looked at the display and saw more than a hundred green lines moving in the same direction. She looked at Julie, “Are they like you?”

“They are.”

“Where are you going?”

“We’re going to where Lukas is waiting to give us our orders.” Julie looked at Kathy, “Earth is about to be invaded by a species from another place in our galaxy. They’ll be launching nuclear missiles shortly and Lukas didn’t want to see you die if Boston were to be hit.”

“Why would they hit Boston?”

“That’s where he originally hid.”

“He’s not from here, is he?” Julie stared at her control panel and shook her head. Kathy looked straight ahead and sighed, “I’ve always known he was something different.”

Julie said, “Go to maximum speed!” The teardrop shaped craft accelerated at a blinding speed and Julie said, “Lukas is something else.” Kathy saw the numbers of green lines on the center display was growing by the second. She held Chris and felt his heartbeat; it was slow and steady. She leaned back and saw him smiling. She knew that her son had somehow figured out he was going home.

• • •

Every Fellowship Starship heard the distinctive alarm go off announcing the use of a stardrive inside the primitive planet’s star system. They all activated their skip drives and armed their weapons. The Sensor Commander on the Welken Flagship yelled, “The Johan have launched a huge missile that went into the void immediately!”

“Get us moving! Go to full speed!” The vast gathering of warships entered the void but saw the single bright dot moving far ahead of them. The unmanned missile could fly at four times the speed of a manned warship through the void without being concerned at killing the crew with particle destruction. The Johan missile increased its lead and every Fellowship Warship chasing it knew that it would arrive at the planet first. The Myot and Welken Fleet Leaders were furious that they hadn’t thought of using an unmanned missile to land the first hit. The huge gathering of warships broke into normal space and saw that it was too late. A city on the planet’s surface was glowing brightly from the nuclear explosion that vaporized it. They all heard the Sentinel announce, “The Johan have fulfilled the covenant and are now the rightful possessors of this planet. All other Fellowship civilizations will leave and not enter this system for three years.”

The Myot and Welken Fleet Leaders contacted their leaders as they turned and moved away from the planet. This was not something they were going to allow to happen. The Welken Royal looked at the Myot Ruler and said, “The Johan really pulled one over on us.”

“Yes, but what are we going to do about it? We can’t allow the Johan access to the petroleum on that planet.”

“We can still take possession.”

“But no one knows where the Johan home world is located.”

“They are going to have to send ships here to transport the oil. We’ll follow the skip trace and attack their planet. We’ll then possess everything they currently own which will include that planet. If they don’t send ships, we’ll follow the ones at the planet until we find them.”

“They could start making alliances with other civilizations.”

“Let them. We can take them all on and still win. Are you in this with me?”

“You know I am.”

“This is a long way from being over. We can’t enter the planetary system but we can implement a blockade and keep them from using that planet’s resources.”

The hundreds of thousands of Fellowship Warship entered the void and saw the skip traces of the Johan fleet moving in toward the planet. Many of the civilizations leaving were saying that at least the Myot or Welken didn’t take possession. They were right about that…for the moment.

• • •

Julie heard, “Message coming in from Central Command.”

“Put it on the screen.”

Julie saw Lukas appear and heard him say, “Julie, take Kathy and her baby to the Learning Center and tell Stoney that I want her put on a simulator immediately.”

“She’s had no training, Sir.”

“I don’t care if she hasn’t. I want her to be able to fly a ship if escape is called for. Now do it.”

Julie tilted her head and pressed a button on her panel, “Julie, I’m busy at the moment.”

“Lukas has ordered me to bring Kathy to you and for you to put her on a simulator.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“As a heart attack.”

Stoney lowered his head and said, “It makes sense. We’re going to need him later. Bring them directly to me. Contact me when you arrive.”

Julie looked at Kathy, “Why is your baby so important?”

Kathy took a deep breath and blew it out, “Lukas is the baby’s father.”

Julie stared at her for a long moment and smiled, “Now it all makes sense. Hold on, I’m going to full speed.”

“I thought you were going full speed.”

“I didn’t want to cause enough turbulence to harm the coral. Coral won’t matter if we don’t stop this invasion. I’m going to drop you off and leave you with Stoney. He’s a good man and he’ll take care of you.” Kathy nodded as the ship’s forward speed pushed her back into her chair. She felt her fear start to rise but her baby’s smile calmed her down.

• • •

Lukas yelled over his wrist unit, “Get the local into the main building and have them start gathering the disruptor modules for insertion into the pods.”

The local workers were summoned to the main building and the huge monitor on the wall was playing the local news program. They saw a massive fire burning and under the picture they saw, Tehran Destroyed by Nuclear Blast from Space. The satellite view from space showed the once giant city was burning. Everything within fifty miles of the center of Tehran had been knocked flat and set on fire by the nuclear shockwave that blew out when the Johan missile hit. They listened and heard that hundreds of thousands of space ships had appeared between Earth and the moon but had disappeared soon afterwards.

The workers started yelling as the first wave of Gold Star Pods arrived and moved into the huge building. Jinks blew a blast horn and everyone grew instantly silent. “I need all of you to take the modules and start inserting them into the front row of ships.”

The workers started demanding to know what was going on. Jinks blew the horn again and yelled, “Our planet is being attacked by a civilization from outer space. These ships in front of you are the only thing we have to stop them.”

The oldest worker yelled, “You’ve lied to us about what we’ve been building.”

Jinks looked at George and nodded, “Yes, we have.”

“Then tell me why we should help you at all, Señor?”

Julio jumped up on a table and yelled, “Are you blind, George?” George looked at Julio with a sneer and Julio pointed at the screen, “That city tells me that whoever is coming doesn’t care about whether we live or die!” Julio looked at Jinks, “What are you going to do with these things we’ve helped build?”

The silence was thick enough to hear Jinks breaths. “These ships are the only thing we have to prevent your families and loved ones from facing what happened to that city. More are going to die if we don’t get these pods ready to meet this invader.”

Julio looked at the workers and yelled, “I’VE SEEN THE HEARTS TO THOSE THAT GAVE US WORK!” Julio paused, “If you haven’t, it’s because you didn’t look.”

George looked at Julio and said, “Do you believe in them, Julio?”

Julio looked at Jinks, “I believe in him. That’s all I need.”

George stared at Julio and shook his head, “Grab the modules and start getting them aligned!” The workers looked at each other and saw George and Julio run over to the stacked modules and run back to the line of forty ships in the front row of pods that were arriving by the hundreds. The workers broke away from the huge monitor and ran to the disruptor modules. Jinks looked at Julio and smiled. The scooter was worth every cent he had spent on it. The workers worked fast but did not rush the alignment process. No ship was cleared unless the ship’s computer verified the alignment was accurate.

• • •

Lukas said, “What’s going on, Willow?”

“It appears the Johan have won the right to take possession of Earth. Twenty of their Dreadnaught Class Battleships have emerged into normal space outside Earth’s gravity well and are moving on the planet. They’re launching attack craft as we speak and they are headed toward their initial targets.”

Lukas said, “Damn, we’re not in time to stop them.”

Salud, Trevor, Amanda, and Jinks gathered around Lukas as he stared at the images Willow was providing on another monitor with his passive scans of the satellites orbiting above Earth. They saw thousands of small ships leaving the twenty giant warships. Lukas shook his head and Salud said, “What did you mean we weren’t in time?”

Lukas pointed at the small craft moving at high speed toward Earth, “The Johan are following standard procedure. The probe out here by the fellowship has been collecting targeting data since it arrived. No one would be given that data except for the civilization that takes possession. Those small ships have been given targets on Earth’s surface and they’re on their way to the ones they’ve each been assigned. If we had been ready, we could have gone after the battleships before they launched their attack ships and prevented what’s about to happen.”

Trevor stared at the images, “Can’t we go after those small ships with the ones we have ready?”

Lukas looked at Trevor, “Each of those twenty battleships launched a little over a thousand ships each. We only have twelve hundred pilots that have been simulator trained to fly a pod. They’ll be outnumbered twenty to one. Not only that, but if those ships are attacked by local ships, they are ordered to start bombarding every major city until we call off our defense. There is no possible way for us to take out that many attack ships.”

Salud sighed, “What do you think they’re going after?”

“The first wave will go after every military installation on the planet. The second will have the location of every center of government on the planet.”

Jinks looked at Lukas, “What do you mean every center of government?”

“Those attack craft are going to hit every national, state, and local building where elected or chosen representatives meet. It is likely that most of those buildings are currently occupied by the leaders of the people trying to come up with an emergency plan to save lives. The disruptors used by those attack craft will vaporize those buildings and everyone in them.”

Jinks looked back at the monitor and shook his head, “That’s pretty cold blooded.”

Lukas nodded, “The process has been developed over centuries of invading helpless planets. Remove the leadership and most of the resistance dies with them.”

Salud looked at Lukas, “There’s something you’re not saying.”

Lukas took a breath and said, “They’re also going after the centers of religion. The Vatican, Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem, and any other holy site will be hit.” Lukas looked at the group, “Once those targets have been removed, they will wait for a response from the planet’s defenses. If the ships in orbit are attacked, they will recall the attack craft and move around the planet nuking cities at random telling all the people on the surface that they’re doing it in retaliation for being attacked.”

“Why would they recall the small ships?”

Lukas looked at Amanda, “They wouldn’t want to accidently damage any of them with a nuclear blast.” Lukas looked back at the monitor, “That is when we’ll take them.”

Jinks looked at the giant ship on the main monitor with its force field glowing bright white, “Do you honestly think we can?”

Lukas pointed at the first row of ships that were having their disruptors quickly armed, “Trevor, if we can’t, then there’s no choice but to take these ships and escape to a habitable planet and try to rebuild another society that can take them on one day in the future.”

Salud crossed her arms, “Do you think we might be a target?”

“I set our project up here because there is not a large population center. These are cars that aren’t anywhere they can be used against the Johan. I suspect we’ll be ignored by the first wave of attackers. However, if any of them come this way, Willow will activate the main force field.”

“Won’t that bring rain?”

Lukas smiled sardonically, “Indeed it will.” Lukas looked up at the monitor showing the twenty battleships, “Willow, are our military friends planning a welcoming party for our guests?”

“The countdown is now at thirty seconds. The Fleet Leader knows about the coming launch and is amused by it. The attack craft have completed their initial attacks and are waiting for the launch before attacking the launch sites.”

Lukas shook his head, “General Amerson should have paid attention to the power of the weapons being used by the ships when they were fighting for position. He’d know that his nuclear arsenal poses no danger to them. They’re just going to use the attack to teach Earth the futility of resisting.”

Willow announced, “The countdown is complete, the missiles are now leaving their launch sites.”

Lukas yelled, “Julio, are you finished with the first forty?”

“Si, Señor!”

Lukas yelled, “Pilots, you have your assigned target, get out of here now and move above the planet while the nuclear explosions are happening!”

The giant front door to the huge metal building moved up and the forty Attack Pods flew out of the building at blinding speed. Lukas watched them disappear into the evening sky and said, “They’re not using their force fields until they open fire. Their hulls have a layer of paraffin on the surface so the Johan electronic scans will not detect them.” Lukas looked down and yelled, “Lower the door. Get the next forty ready to go!”

Julio shouted, “We got this! We’ve done it once and now we can work faster.” Julio was right, the next three rows were done in the time it took to do the first one. Lukas smiled at Jinks, “That’s some student you have there.” Jinks nodded and smiled, “After the Gold Stars are completed, give the workers some rest time and then move them to the storage hangar at the learning center and start arming the ships for the next class of Gold Stars.”

“That’s going to take some time, Lukas.”

Lukas looked up at the monitor as it suddenly overloaded and went dark for a few moments. “If things go well, we should have some time.”

• • •

Jim sat in his office and knew the missiles were on their way. He looked out the window and saw every cherry tree was burned into smoking, burnt, twisted branches. The Washington Monument was burnt black on one side but was still standing. He walked up to the window and looked through the twisted branches and saw the smoking ruins of the Capital Building.

Not far away he saw the crater left where the White House had formerly sat. Ordinarily, he wouldn’t have been able to see them through the trees…but there wasn’t much left of the trees. He went back to his chair and sat down. He’d know shortly if the missiles were successful. For some reason, the aliens had not destroyed the communications satellites in orbit. He wondered why and looked at the TV on the wall. All the news channels were showing the massive launch as thousands of nuclear missiles boosted into space.

He watched the missiles on a monitor that was receiving a feed from the hardened spy satellites. They should survive the massive electronic pulse from the nuclear explosions. He watched the image of one of the giant warships in orbit and saw hundreds of massive fireballs explode around it. The monitor went dark and then rebooted. The giant was still hanging in space and it did not appear to have been affected at all. He lowered his head and shook it. He took a deep breath and knew it was hopeless. Then he discovered why the aliens had not destroyed the satellites. They had actually moved close to them so that they were inside the protection of the battleships’ force fields. A mechanical voice began speaking.

Chapter Nineteen

The Johan Fleet Leader leaned back in his chair and shook his head. He waited for the nuclear blasts to slow and then stop. He straightened up and said, “Recall the ships.” The Communication Operator sent the message and the thousands of small ships attacking the planet’s surface accelerated away from the surface and flew toward the ship that had launched them to be rearmed for the next round of attacks. The small ships arrived and were rapidly being taken on board the giant battleships. Finally, the Weapons Operator looked at the Fleet Leader and nodded.

The Fleet Leader sat up straight, looked at his Communications Operator, and smiled, “Make sure this goes out in all the appropriate languages.” The Operator nodded and then pointed at him. “I would think that you would know that your attack on my ships would not go unpunished. I will be moving around your planet momentarily and I’m going to start hitting your largest cities with nuclear missiles. When I tire of it, I’ll consider allowing some of you to live. Any further resistance will lead to my killing every one of you.”

Suddenly the wall speaker activated and a voice said, “If you move your ships or open a door to launch your attack craft, my ships will open fire on you.”

The Fleet Leader’s eyes narrowed and he jerked his head around to the Communications Operator, “Who is that?”

“I don’t know, Leader. It’s come in on a Fellowship Frequency.”

The Leader’s face showed his anger, “We have taken possession of this planet and the Sentinels have declared us the victor. You will leave or the Sentinels will remove you for violating Fellowship Covenants.”

“We are not members of the Fellowship. We are part of the forces from the planet you are attacking and as such, fall outside the Covenants to which you’re referring.”

“Leader, your conversations are being broadcast to the planet.”

“How?” The Communication’s Operator lifted his head in a shrug.

The Leader looked at this Scanner Operator, “Leader, I do not see anything near our ships.”

The Fleet Leader leaned back in his chair and said, “Ship ten, launch a missile.”

• • •

Tim and Julie saw the missile port open on the battleship they were assigned and Tim said, “I’ll go up the left side bow to stern.”

“I’ve got the right from stern to bow.”

Tim said, “Arm disruptors, take us down the left side.” The small Attack Pod roared in on the giant battleship and the three disruptors began firing. Three shots left the small ship every second and they punched through the giant’s force field and massive explosions walked the entire left side of the battleship as the other side of the ship was hit by Julie’s disruptors. The Pods activated their force fields as they started their attack and they withstood more than fifty disruptor beams fired at them before the giant ship went up in an explosion that lit the dark side of the planet below.

The missile that was in the open port exploded and after the blast cleared, there was nothing remaining but a debris field of particles no bigger than dust motes. The Fleet Leader watched the ship blown up and he was frozen in shock.

• • •

Jim sat at his desk and looked up at the images of the giant ship blown into dust. He recognized the voice; it was Jinks. He lowered his head and prayed for the survival of his family and thanked God for the intervention.

• • •

Jinks waited a moment and said, “I have all of your ships targeted and if you make an aggressive move, I will blast them into rubble.”

The Fleet Leader looked at his display and didn’t see any enemy ships around his fleet. But he also didn’t see the two ships that destroyed his ship. He heard, “Leader, Hagette is opening his doors to release his attack craft.” The Leader jerked his eyes to the main monitor and saw the massive explosions walk the length of the Johan Battleship and the monster exploded before they moved halfway down the ship. A disruptor beam punched into the reactor room and the nuclear fuel blew up in a run-away reaction. The entire ship exploded scattering debris out from the blast’s center. The two Attack Pods were blown away by the shockwave but were undamaged. John Avery broke an arm but was otherwise ok. He straightened his horn-rimmed glasses with his good hand and turned his pod around to join the ships at the eight surviving Johan Battleships.

Jinks said calmly, “I see that you didn’t order that ship to attack so I’m not going to destroy your ships for your subordinate’s obvious stupid behavior. You will move your ships away from this planet and leave this planetary system immediately. If you fail to follow my instructions, I will blast your remaining ships.”

“We can’t leave! There are thousands of Myot and Welken Battleships waiting for us. They’ll attack if we move out of this system.”

“Then I hope you manage to outrun them. I will tell you that you will certainly die if you stay. I should destroy you now for the deaths you have caused on my planet. However, I want you to deliver a message to your Ruler.”

“What is that?”

“If he sends ships here to attack us again, the Myot and Welken will follow their skip drive traces back to your home world and take this planet out of your possession. I would caution him to not make a fatal mistake.” The Fleet Leader was frozen. Never in the past had a primitive planet defeated an invading fleet. He had no protocol to lead him in what to do. Jinks paused and said, “I will commence my attacks on your ships if you don’t skip out of here in ten, nine, eight, seven…”

The Weapon’s Operator yelled, “ALL SHIPS, MOVE AWAY FROM THE PLANET AT HIGH SPEED AND SKIP AWAY OUTSIDE THE PLANET’S GRAVITY INTERFERENCE!!”

The eight Johan Battleships lit their thrusters and accelerated away from Earth at their maximum speed. Twenty minutes later, they arrived far enough away to activate their skip drives and the eight survivors skipped away in eight different directions.

Julie completed her attack and turned toward her second target. She roared in on the Fellowship Probe and blasted it into vapor. She looped back around and joined the other ships following the Johan ships out to the skip point. John didn’t follow them out but headed back to the island to get his broken arm looked at.

Salud looked at Lukas, “Why did you allow them to escape?”

Lukas looked at the Leadership Team standing around him and saw that the laborers had stopped working to hear his answer. He looked around at the angry faces and shook his head, “If you were caught out in the wood by a pack of wolves and they killed several of you, would you then go out and kill every wolf?”

His question was greeted with silence. After a few moments Julio shouted, “The wolves were only doing what they know to survive. You were just unlucky to encounter them, Señor.”

“The Johan were doing what they’ve learned. Their ships aren’t the strongest in the Fellowship by far. If I killed them, I’d be little more than what they are. I will tell you again that our ships are not being built for us to become universal conquerors. They’re being built to prevent us being conquered. If you don’t understand this, you should leave now.”

Amanda said, “But they killed so many.”

“That’s on us, not them. The Swiss Scientists blindsided me and I’ve learned that we should always prepare for the worst to happen. I fell asleep at the wheel thinking we had more time than was actually there. We will not allow that to happen again.”

The room was silent and Salud came up and moved under Lukas’ arm. “It’s so hard to do the right thing when so many have died. But I will stand beside you and follow you to the end.”

Jinks looked at Lukas and took a deep breath, “I will as well, Lukas.”

The laborers began cheering and Julio shouted out to George, “See, I told you so.”

George took off his hat and threw it in the air, “You were right, wise little man.”

Lukas looked up, “Willow, connect me with Stoney.” Stoney appeared on the wall monitor and he was holding a baby. Lukas smiled, “I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“I’m working with Kathy and she’s currently in the simulator.”

“Stoney, I need the second Gold Star Class trained and bonded with a ship as fast as possible.”

“The ships have selected their pilots. I would suggest that they work in the simulators non-stop until they complete the entire program. They will be able to fight after going through fifty percent but they will be much more effective if they can complete the entire simulation program.”

“You should pull them out long enough to show them what happened. That way they’ll know what they’re fighting for.”

“We’ll do that tonight. Are you going to use the current classes at the University?”

“We’ll run them through the tests and see how many pass. I think we’re going to have to go outside the normal channels to find enough pilots to man the pods we’ve built.”

“Just make sure they’re sheep dogs and not wolves.”

The monitor went dark and Jinks said, “Stoney actually looked like he enjoyed holding that baby.”

Salud smiled, “I think it was the baby that enjoyed it.” Jinks looked at her with his eyes narrowed and then he smiled and nodded. Salud looked at Lukas and whispered, “You deliberately sent her to Stoney.”

“Perhaps.”

Salud smiled and kissed him on the cheek. Lukas looked at her and said, “I want you to think about coincidence.”

“What about it?”

“You tell me.” Lukas turned away and walked over to the workers and began installing disruptor modules with them. Salud thought about the word coincidence and looked around the room. She looked at Trevor and Amanda. She turned to Jinks and Sarah and then heard the TV announcer say that all of the leaders in Iran were killed in the nuclear blast that destroyed Tehran. The survivors were coming together and were gathering up the Oman’s that called for suicide bombers and attacks on the innocent. The Chinese were in the mist of another revolution and the United States was reeling from the loss of all its elected officials. Suddenly, the nations around Earth began calling each other asking what to do.

She looked Willow and shook her head. Now, events came rushing into her consciousness. She looked at Lukas and saw him glance at her. He put his finger to his lips and went back to work. There was too much coincidence. Far too much! Even her working on the force field equation at just the moment Lukas inserted his correction. She thought that their fate was to survive. But this wasn’t fate, it was something else entirely.

She walked out of the building and sat down on a beach chair. She started shaking her head but the events kept rushing into her mind. Lukas’ name was the same as the dead boy he used as a background. That was impossible. Lukas won the two pro-golf tournaments never having competed before and he couldn’t explain why he chose to golf but that it had to be done. One of them was Augusta for God’s sake. It was playing golf that allowed her to meet Jinks and he was one of the most important pieces of the puzzle they were putting together. Lukas had to be seen on national TV for Kathy to identify him to Jinks. It was also being his caddie that cemented their relationship. Without golf the threads would have unraveled and not come together at just the right moment. But there was more; the owner of the apartment that could identify Lukas to Jinks died of a heart attack three months before Willow blasted away. Tehran was the only city destroyed. One of the least powerful members of the fellowship won possession of Earth. Jinks didn’t turn her in, when he should have. The Swiss developed a stardrive and didn’t reveal it to anyone until it was too late to stop them from activating it. The Military and the CIA stopped investigating them when those two paranoid agencies never stopped. Two very high powered people were working at the same restaurant who were absolutely necessary for this project to ever get off the ground and they joined with little resistance. She stopped and could see the monitor in her mind with Stoney holding Kathy’s baby. She was only with Lukas once and…

Salud stood up. She looked up at the stars and shook her head. She thought about fate, destiny, or whatever term you chose to describe a future that followed a proscribed path. Fate was not something that lent itself to outside control. But Lukas saw it happening around him and never spoke about it. Impossible events were taking place and he remained silent. Even now he told her not to say anything. She felt a chill run down her spine. Something or someone was controlling what was happening down to the smallest details. She knew Lukas had run a risk to tell her. It was clear that something was amiss and she couldn’t talk about it with anyone; not even Lukas. She shook her head at the misery Lukas must have been enduring watching all the events happen around him and not being able to say anything.

She stood up and went back into the building. She walked over to Lukas and hugged him tightly and nodded slightly on his chest. She released him and walked over to the disruptor modules and picked one up. Lukas watched her go to one of the attack pods and insert the module into a disruptor. She looked at him and saw him nod and then smile. He was no longer alone in his attempt to escape fate. But was an escape possible? She aligned the module and fought her fears. She examined all of the decisions he had made and then she saw it. He hadn’t begun the fight…yet. Telling was his first salvo.

The End