Fear and Aggression (44 page)

Aspiria smiled warmly, knowing—so she
thought—that he would have a child very soon indeed. She thought of
Steve and Tammy, and the little child enjoying these festivities
for which they were speaking. It was a very pleasant thought to
her. She almost made a comment in regard to it, but stopped herself
short. She was in the confidence of Tammy, and it was not to be
broadcast.

“
I would love to see your
Christmas season; it sounds wonderful.” Then turning to Danny:
“What is the reason behind this great celebration.”

“
I was waiting for you to
ask. Christmas is when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the
Son of God.”

“
I knew that it must be
about Him.” Aspiria had a particular glow about her as she listened
to everyone. She was soaking it all in, and seemed to be genuinely
happy—even joyful. “Tell me all about that; I would love to know
this about Him.”

“
His birth was miraculous.
His mother was a young virgin. She was good, and righteous, and
pure. An angel came to her, and told her that she would be with
child—with God’s child—though she had never been with a man. She
was engaged to a man, but they were not yet married. The man was
concerned when he discovered that she was with child, but, the same
angel came to him in a dream and told him what was happening. He
married her, but was not with her, sexually, until after the Christ
child was born.

“
Near the time that he was
to be born, they were forced to travel to another town, to pay
taxes. When they arrived, she was ready to give birth. They went
all around, but no one would give them a place to stay. Imagine,
the Son of God was to be born, and no one would accommodate His
mother. Eventually they were allowed to go into an animal stable,
and she gave birth there. The Christ child slept in a manger, the
place where they put hay for the animals to eat.”

Aspiria looked on, and her eyes were misty.
She shook her head slowly, as Danny continued. “That night, an
angel came to nearby shepherds in their fields, and told them that
the Son of God had been born. They came, and worshipped the child.
Imagine the greatest event in the world—in the universe—had just
occurred. Yet it was the humblest people, in a most humbling
circumstance that got to participate in it. The great people of the
earth: kings, rulers, the wealthy—they had no idea. There was a new
star that was born that night in the sky. The star shone brightly
over the place of his birth. Some wise men recognized the signs and
they traveled to find him. They made the mistake of telling the
ruler what they were looking for. He deceived them and told them to
find the Christ child, and then tell him where He was. He said that
he, too, wanted to worship Him; but he did not. He wanted to kill
Him. They brought the young child gifts; that is why we give each
other gifts during this season. Those gifts provided some resources
to this family who would soon need to leave to another part of the
world. The wise men were warned by God to not tell the ruler. They
left, but he knew that something was going on. He commanded that
all children, in that part of the world, under the age of two years
old, were to be killed. The Christ child would have been in the
group, but because His mother and step-father had been warned of
God, they left for another land before the slaughter of all of
those children.”

Aspiria put her hands on her mouth. She was
horrified at the thought of the killing of all those babies. She
knew that Christ had been killed by his own people, but she had no
idea that an attempt on His life had been taken when he was such a
small child. “Those gifts that were given, likely gave his family
the resources to leave, in order to spare his life. This is what
the Christmas season is all about. It is a most wonderful
celebration. You would love Christmas time, Aspiria.”

There was a warm peaceful feeling in the
kitchen. Everyone felt it. There was silence for just a moment, and
then Steve spoke up, “I haven’t heard that story since I was a
child. It is a beautiful story. I remember now, that my mother
always put up a small stable with figurines of Mary, Joseph, and
baby Jesus. There were shepherds, and wise men, and camels, and
sheep. I used to play with those figurines as a child. If I got
caught she would scold me. She said that they were not to be played
with, but I did it anyway.”

“
I have been given so
much—to be told these stories. I hope that soon our worlds can
speak. We would love to learn all that you know. I want to tell
this story to my son.” Danny and Bob looked a little uncomfortable,
but Steve looked her in the eyes. He was thinking—deeply
thinking.

Rapid footsteps could be heard coming down
the hall. Steve turned around and Kenny walked in. Tammy walked by
the door, but did not come in, nor turn her head to look
inside.

“
Captain Jenners,
Commander Wiston is requesting you immediately for a conference. He
has asked that I attend it with you. He says that it is urgent,”
explained Kenny.

“
Captain Jenners, I have
much to fill you in on. We have just successfully completed a major
mission. It included all of the ZX-120’s in the fleet, except for
yours. We could not risk informing you, or anyone on your ship,
until the mission was complete. Captain Carryman led this mission,
but you are still the overall leader of the mission to that world.
He was the leader of the submission—of the attack.”

Steve looked on and listened without an
expression. Kenny looked over at Steve, and raised his eyebrows as
he saw his Captain listening at attention, and showing no
emotion.

“
The President commanded
us to destroy their entire technological infrastructure. We have
destroyed all of their electrical stations and substations. We also
destroyed their technology center and city capital. This entire
mission was sent to earth on a live video feed. The hope is that it
will bring stability back to earth—that the people will no longer
fear this alien race. We have attempted to keep total alien
casualties to a minimum; and hope still, that with time, we can
open up a dialog with the beings of this world. But for now, we
have to pacify the people on earth.

“
We were given perfect
intelligence by your team, and the mission went off without a
hitch. You will be given overall credit for everything, including
this mission. Because of the quality of your intelligence, we did
not have to hit any extra targets; the alien race will have to get
along, again, without power; but they should be able to live
fine.

“
I am sorry that I was not
able to share this with you, before. But, we felt that, if your
captive had any idea, she may do something that could hinder the
mission. We felt it best to conduct it completely first; and, now,
we are informing you of everything.”

“
I understand completely,
sir.”

“
I am glad, Captain.
Captain Carryman and all of the crews have left the stellar system.
They are well on their way back to our space station. You will be
completing your mission shortly, and you will be on your way back
soon, as well.

“
This is what is required
to finish your mission: I need one more flyby to confirm that the
electrical structure is completely annihilated. It has been
concluded that the final step, to ensure peace on earth, is that we
must euthanize your captive. We cannot return her, living, to her
planet. She has too much intelligence. We cannot bring her to
earth, alive, for the people are in complete fear of having an
alien on our planet. If we don’t bring back the body, there will be
suspicion. The mood on earth is not good; so, we will bring them
back their alien body. They will see that it is the same creature
that was in the videos. That may pacify them; and knowing that it
is dead will also pacify them. Independent studies will be able to
confirm the alien DNA structure, and, we believe that in short
order peace and normalcy will return. I know that this command may
be difficult for you.”

“
No, sir; I understand
completely, and will fulfill the mission. I am looking forward to
seeing you, and speaking with you, in person, about the details of
this mission soon.” Kenny’s expression was the look of
bewilderment. He looked on at his Captain, but felt that he was
looking at someone else. He had just been with Captain Jenners, in
the galley, and he saw how he was looking at Aspiria. He had seen
the time that his Captain had spent with her. They were friends. He
was close to her. This could not be his Captain. Besides this, he
felt a pit in his own stomach. How could they do this to Aspiria?
There was no way that they could reject a direct command. But he
expected some emotion, some protest, something—anything. Steve was
a rock; he did not even seem to blink.

“
Very good, Captain. Thank
you for your service to our country. You are a good man, and I,
too, look forward to your report in person. You will report when
these final conditions of your mission are complete and you are in
route to the station. Good day, Captain Jenners.”

“
Good day, Commander
Wiston.”

When the communication was complete, Kenny
turned to Steve, who was still expressionless. “Captain, I have
suspected that this may happen. I’m so sorry. I feel sick inside
about, Aspiria.”

“
Kenny, I need you to get
yourself together. This will be hard on the crew, and I need your
full support. We have to be brave. If we show confidence, and are
in complete harmony with Central Command, the crew will follow.
With time, they will all understand.”

“
Yes, sir,” he said, but
with a little shakiness in his voice.

“
Aspiria is preparing our
dinner as we speak. I am going to allow her one final meal—she
deserves this much. Although, we cannot say goodbye, it will allow
for us to at least internally offer our respects. I do not want to
inform Bob or Danny. They are not ready for something like this. We
will let them know as we head back to the station. I want you to
tell Mike and James. I will go and tell Tammy. She will have to
perform it, and she, too, has grown close to Aspiria. It may be
hard for her, so, give me some time to talk with her. I would like
everyone to be present for this final meal. It is out of respect to
her.”

“
Yes, sir; I will let them
know.”

“
Thank you, I will see you
at dinner.”

Kenny left, and Steve walked in the opposite
direction. As soon as he was out of earshot of Kenny’s footsteps,
he began to jog. He got to the galley, and looked in to see
Aspiria, Bob, and Danny busy with the preparations. “Aspiria, are
you okay in here for a while by yourself? I need Bob and
Danny.”

“
But, Captain…” Bob did
not like getting interrupted while preparing a meal.

“
You better go,” said
Aspiria. “I’ll finish up for you.”

Danny was already leaving, and when Bob saw
the look in Steve’s eyes he quickly headed out as well. Steve
turned and looked at Aspiria, whose back was towards him for a
second, and paused. Then he quickly turned away and began walking.
Bob started to speak, but Steve put his finger to his lips and
hushed him instantly. The three continued to walk until they
reached Steve’s private chambers. Danny and Bob looked at each
other strangely as Steve opened the door. He motioned them in and
looked around the corridor to make sure that they were not
seen.

“
Gentlemen, we have been
given orders to kill Aspiria, by Central Command.” He looked
carefully at each of their faces, and saw what he had hoped for.
They were white, and looked sick to their stomachs. “You will be in
a position of potentially great trouble if you help me, but I do
not plan on fulfilling this order. I do not want to bring anyone
else in on it, and I don’t think that I need to. With both of your
help, we can return her to her world unharmed.”

“
Yes, sir,” said Bob
quickly. “I’ve made so many mistakes, I’m sure that I am already in
trouble. But I can’t kill Aspiria. I couldn’t even tranquilize her
back when we picked her up. I will help you.”

“
Captain Jenners, nothing
would do me a greater pleasure than helping you to save her life
and return her to her family. I will do anything that you
ask.”

“
Thank you, gentlemen. I
knew that I could count on the two of you. Here is the plan: Bob,
you have made some mistakes, and they are well-documented. I am
relying on you making another one.” Bob looked a little hurt. “I
need for you to accidently land us back to where we landed on the
planet before. I have already put in the coordinates, and it will
be easy. You will be able to claim that it was a simple mistake,
rather than a deliberate action on your part. I’m trying to keep
you out of trouble. That’s not always easy,” he said with a wink.
Bob smiled and nodded. “We will land, and you will wait until the
door opens, and then closes. Once it closes, take off. I have that
programmed in as well. We will leave her off at the clearing where
we land. She will not be far from home and can walk there easily. I
will back you up, and will do everything in my power to assure
Central Command that it is my fault, and just a mistake on your
part.”

“
Got it, Captain—door
opens, and then closes; we get out of dodge, and she’s home safe,”
Bob summarized; he wanted both of them to know that he actually
knew what he was doing.