Annihilation Prequel - Psychic Beginnings (29 page)

“By no means, you will be following the first law of being a warrior.”

The Khans discussed the choice for more than four hours and then all of them agreed to accept the new path given to them.

AG said, “Do not force any of your clan members to follow this course. Any that chose to stay will be allowed to remain behind. Only those that are willing to struggle to make this vision happen should be a part of it.”

“What is the first thing we must do, Great Kahn?”

AG smiled, “I am going to need all of our clans to provide two hundred of our members to be accepted for admission to the Air Force and Naval Academies every year starting six years from this moment.”

The Khans all looked at each other and then nodded.

• • •

AG returned to Harvard and met with Cynthia, Lydia, and Jerry and told them what was going to happen. Lydia looked at Jerry and then said to AG, “Is there nothing we can do to avoid this?”

“If we try, then our only chance of saving anyone will be prevented. This is a vision that has slowly come to me over the years and has just come to a point where I can see all the details. Much of what I’ve done in the past was driven by what is coming. I haven’t understood many of the things I’ve done until now. One thing I know, any other path will be lead to disaster.”

Jerry said, “Are you absolutely sure about this?”

AG took a deep breath and blew it out slowly, “I am. And you are going to have the most important tasks to do in order for this to be successful.”

Cynthia looked at him and AG saw her sorrow, “Cynthia, you are also going to have to provide the ones that we must have for our future survival.”

“I will make sure they are there when we need them.”

Lydia lowered her head and said, “When do we start this process?”

“Ten years from now. The structure must be in place before we can make it happen.”

The four put their hands in the middle and grasped them. AG said, “Our goal is to make the world a better place. Never forget that.”

• • •

The District Attorney from the City of New York looked at the Attorney General and said, “I need your help in finding a place. We can’t let this opportunity go to waste.”

The Attorney General said, “You are not the only one asking for a place to send these gangs. It appears more than twenty of these street thugs have requested the same thing in other major cities.”

“I haven’t heard that. I don’t understand their reasoning but this could be monumental in getting a grip on the illegal activities being done by these hoodlums.”

The Attorney General leaned his chair back, “What is it they are asking you to do?”

“They are requesting that they be given land to farm. They say that the cities are no longer safe and they want to go back to a simpler life.”

“Does that make sense to you? Those gangs aren’t farmers and I’ll bet none of them know anything about farming. They must have a hidden agenda.”

“You’re probably right but I would prefer them to have an agenda as far away as possible from the city. If they fail, that’s just their bad luck.”

“The farming machinery would be extremely expensive.”

“They’re not asking for any. They only ask for the land and the seeds to plant. They say they will purchase whatever they need as far as farm equipment. They also ask for temporary structures they can live in while they get settled in and food until they can start their crops.”

“I am not going to send more than twenty gangs out into the heartland to start their trouble.”

“You don’t have to do that. Just find a place that’s far removed from any cities and put them all in the same place. We might get lucky and they kill each other off. At least no innocent civilians will be hurt.” The Attorney General narrowed his eyes and was going to say no until the District Attorney said, “Can you imagine the boost the President will get when it becomes known that twenty street gangs have been removed from our major cities. The cities would cheer him and it will certainly help his re-election this year.”

“Come see me the day after tomorrow.”

• • •

Two days later the Attorney General said, “I think we can help you.”

“What have you found?”

“We have found an area of private land located in the unsettled land between Nebraska and Missouri. The Land Bureau will purchase this land and turn the deeds over to the Gangs. They will all be located within twenty miles of each other.”

The District Attorney looked at the map and said, “There aren’t any paved roads.”

“There is a small one that’s hard to see on the map, however, they won’t need to travel. This will make sure they stay where they live. There are some unpaved roads through the area but not much more than that.”

“I see there is enough water flowing through the region.”

“It’s perfect for farming.”

“How big an area will this cover?”

“A little over six thousand square miles of empty land; it’s a square eighty miles wide on each side.”

“I’ll take this back to the gang and see if they keep their word about moving. What about the structures for them to live in?”

“We have thousands of portable barracks in storage that we’ve slated for destruction. It won’t cost anything to set them up. We’ll also send them food until their crops are done.”

“How will you get the food in?”

“We’re going to pave a two lane road from the interstate and build a small airfield at the edge of their lands. That should be enough. The initial food shipments will be brought in by helicopter. The taxpayers will pay for the water treatment plants.”

The District Attorney stuck his hand out and they shook, “There are no losers here.”

“Those gangs are going to learn what back breaking work is all about. I don’t think they are coming out winners here.”

“That’s true, but they are there and we are here.”

The Attorney General laughed and said, “That is true.”

A year later, twenty five gangs were moved to the wilderness and dropped off at their new homes. Law enforcement in the cities they left laughed at their good fortune. Six months later when their violent crime rates had tripled, they started to understand what value the clans had provided to their cities. But now they were there, and the police were here.

• • •

AG graduated from Harvard with a PhD in History. The Vietnam War had ended and his rank was changed to a reserve commission. He knew he would never serve in the Army again. He accepted a professor’s position and taught for four years and then called Edward Bingham and requested a meeting. He also contacted Robert Adams and asked him to be present. Robert was elected to the House of Representatives and was one of the youngest ever elected.

He arrived at Bingham’s office and found Edward Bingham, junior and senior, along with Robert Adams waiting for him to arrive. The younger Bingham had been updating Robert on all that had happened in Vietnam. Robert found most of the stories hard to believe but Bingham senior had pulled documents from the military to prove Ed’s narrative.

AG entered the room and said, “Thank you for this meeting, Sir.”

“I’ll meet with you any time you want Doctor Gardner.”

“I have something to share with you and I am going to ask for your help and a promise to keep this information secret. Please hold your questions until I finish.” Everyone nodded and AG began. Eight hours later the three were staring at AG and he could see their distress. “Surely this can be avoided?”

“It cannot. If we attempt to get around this event, a worst one will happen and the results will be totally catastrophic. You are going to have to trust me that I know this as a truth.”

Ed junior looked at AG and said, “You’re psychic, aren’t you?

“I am. However, I’ve learned that some things I’ve done happened without me knowing why. The reasons only appeared much later.” AG looked at Ed junior and said, “Taking you out of the Black Witch’s camp was one of those things. That had to happen in order for us to be discussing this today. I only sensed that I had to do it originally. I didn’t know why.”

Ed senior said, “Well, we’re both thankful that you did it.”

“Will you help me?”

Robert said, “What do I need to do?”

ED senior said, “You must become the ranking member on the Defense Appropriations Committee.”

“Why is that?”

“Because we are nowhere near wealthy enough to create what Gardner is describing here. We’re going to need government funds to make this happen.”

Robert thought a moment and said, “That means I will have to be re-elected quite a few times for that to happen.”

AG said, “You will be.” Robert looked at him quickly and AG said, “I know you’ll play a major role in what happens.”

“Is that why you saved me?”

“Yes.”

Robert nodded and then smiled, “Well, I’m your man.”

Bingham said, “When do you see us starting this structure?”

“In three years. I also need you to give me a number where I can contact you or someone in your family at a moment’s notice. If I contact you, drop everything and come to the place I need you. Make sure you bring your families.”

They nodded and then started detailing how the plan would be done.

F
ifteen years passed and AG and Cynthia were professors teaching at Harvard. AG sat in his office and looked at the site of the clan’s farms from an aerial view. He hoped the changes would not be noticed by the government.

“Dr. Gardner, you have a call from Dr. Dodd.”

“Thanks, Judy. Send it through.” AG picked up the phone, “Jerry, it’s good to hear from you.”

“Same here AG; I have something I want to discuss with you.”

“What does it involve?”

“I’m going to need a place to work on some items that we need to keep undercover. I have a good team but you know it’s impossible to hide anything in a public university.”

“Are these items what we need?”

“They will be eventually. But we’re at the point where we’ll lose them if we continue development.”

“There is room at the project if you want to move in.”

“Have they made that much progress?”

“They have.”

“How do we make this happen?”

“It’s time for us to open the universities at the project site.”

“Then we’re ahead of schedule?”

“We are. Bingham is setting up a grant to build the schools and the government has agreed to assist him.”

“That must be Robert’s doing?”

“It is;Cynthia and I will be taking sabbaticals to go and teach there.”

“What about the others?”

“They are also going to assist in educating the poor farmers that toil the soil.”

“Isn’t that a risk? All of those professors are members of the clans.”

“Exactly; they’ll be going back to help their former families for what they did to give them a good education.”

“I’ll notify my team. We’ll move out slowly so we won’t be noticed.”

“That would be good. I’ll call you when the technology is in place you need to work.”

“Thanks AG, it’ll be good to see you again.”

AG stood up and looked at another chart. The positions in the Air Force had been taken and now the Navy was close to being handled. He looked at his calendar and knew there was enough time to lock everything down in time. He took the file and shredded it. It was up to Robert now. He left to teach his afternoon class. He looked forward to going home and playing with Tony. The three year old was a handful.

• • •

One of the satellite surveillance technicians looked at a photo of the large community that had grown in the center of the United States. It was dated July 4th, 2007. “This is interesting.”

His partner looked at him with raised eyebrows, “What is that?”

“The community has stopped growing. It had grown to more than half a million ten years ago, but now the population has stagnated and even dropped some.”

“Would you stay there and spend your life farming? I’d get out of there as quick as I could.”

“I guess, but there aren’t many jobs out there for them to run to.”

“You can attribute their population loss to those three universities that were built there. I understand they are some of the country’s best. They shouldn’t have trouble finding jobs if they graduate from them.”

“There’s less heavy construction equipment there now.”

“It may be that the gold mine they started twenty five years ago is playing out. They’ve used the gold to pay the tuition for the communities and to build the universities. This is a great example of how criminals can be made productive members of society. It could also be that a lot of them are working in the mines below and are not showing up on the photo.” The partner paused and said, “Why are you taking shots of them?”

“I don’t know. It just seemed that there was far too much heavy equipment for just digging a mine.”

“Have you looked at what the environmentalists are requiring to dig anything?”

“I didn’t think about that. I guess that thing will have to be reinforced beyond anything we’ve previously seen. They’re just digging over such a large area.”

Their supervisor came in and looked at what they were doing. “Do you have enough time to waste doing this? I need a look at eight spots in the Middle East and Iraq and you’re looking at a bunch of farmers. If I catch you doing this again I’ll have you suspended. Now get to work.”

The Supervisor left and the first tech said, “I’m sorry I got you in trouble.”

“Just don’t do it again; there’s a record of everything we take a shot of and I don’t want this showing up again. At least while I’m anywhere around.”

The tech shredded the picture and moved the view to Iraq. The second tech was thankful. He knew the truck in the top right corner of the photo moving toward the construction site would have been a problem. If the first tech had enlarged it he would have seen the nuclear reactor on the flat bed. A week later the first tech was reassigned to the Pentagon, filing non-classified photos. The tech that replaced him came from the Air Force Academy.

• • •

“How is the candidate we’re chosen doing?”

“He’s leading in the major polls they have every other minute. He assures us his election is a sure thing.”