M'tak Ka'fek (The T'aafhal Inheritance) (26 page)

“I thought the last time we talked you were all ready for winter, Roger, what happened?” TK had grown to casually dislike the overly excitable former mayor and wished they could deal with someone else. Unfortunately, Stoltz was it until the locals could hold an election—or possibly a coup.

“Look out the window, for cryin' out loud!” Roger said standing up and making a theatrical gesture toward the windows overlooking the airfield. “We got four feet of snow and drifts twice that high. We're not used to these conditions. What are we supposed to do?”

“Well, Roger, what would you have done before the attack?” TK asked innocently.

“I would have called Austin and Austin would have called Washington. We'd have gotten some federal assistance, that's what I'd have done.”

“In case you haven't noticed, neither Austin nor Washington exists anymore,” said Sid Hopkins. The former Texas Ranger was leaning against the nearby bar with the usual toothpick in his mouth. Precisely what his function was in the local power structure was unclear, but none of the others objected to his presence—perhaps they didn't have a choice.

TK gave Sid a sideways glance and then focused back on the now pacing President. “Exactly what would you have us do, Mr. President?”

“I don't know, damn it. Help us.” Roger was obviously a man in way over his head. With the President a spent force, Tony Ruiz entered the conversation.

“TK, I think the first thing we could use is help getting the power back on. Without it a lot of folks are without heat and can't cook hot food. Restoring the electricity would go a long way toward calming everyone down.”

“OK, say I can get you four or five reactors, each puttin' out 25 megawatts—that's enough for around 25,000 homes apiece. Would that help ease the situation?”

“It most certainly would, TK,” chimed in Sally Musselman, the third of the governing triumvirate. Like Tony, she had waited for the hyperbolic Roger to wind down before joining the conversation. Why they allowed him to remain head of the government was a mystery—perhaps they used him for cover.

“All right, here is what I want you to do,” TK said to the Texans. “I want you to find the five best places to locate the power plants among your towns. Places that are flat and near major power lines.”

Refusing to take yes for an answer, Roger jumped back into the fray with a list of questions. “You can put in power plants just like that? How long will it take? How big are these plants and who's gonna run them?”

TK ignored him and addressed the others in the room. “We need a space about the size of a football field for the shuttle to land. And I want you to dig a hole at each location, 12 feet across and 35 feet deep. That's where we will put the power plants.”

“What type of plant are these, TK,” Tony asked, totally confused. To him, a power plant was a large complex of buildings, certainly nothing that would fit in a relatively small hole in the ground. “Are they like the engines in your spaceships?”

“Naw, the spaceships are powered by muon catalyzed fusion reactors. They are way too detectable from space. What we're giving you are mini-reactors based on safe fission technology developed by the U.S. Department of Energy decades ago. They were a great idea that never made it to market 'cause of vested interests, political infighting, and bureaucratic turf wars.”

“You want to bury nuclear reactors under our football fields? We'll all end up radioactive!” ranted Roger, who was becoming more irrational by the minute.

“No, you braying jackass,” TK exploded. “Somebody get that man a drink. Maybe it will shut him up.”

The Republic's representatives looked at TK like something dangerous had suddenly sprung up in their midst. Sid, unruffled as always, reached over the bar and retrieved a bottle of whiskey. He uncorked the bottle and handed it to the President who took a long pull on it from the neck. He coughed a bit but quieted down.

“If I might continue explainin' how we intend on savin' your hides,” TK looked sharply at each of the other Texans in turn. None offered any objections.

“These are sealed units, totally self contained. Inside, each reactor has a uranium hydride core, surrounded by hydrogen gas. The hydrogen acts as the moderator for the reactor; the balance between heat generation and gas temperature makes the whole unit self-regulating—no need for computers or human operators to control things. The heat is turned into electricity by a closed loop turbo-generator. Think of it as a nuclear battery. 

“Once you get the holes dug you need to pour slabs of reinforced concrete to set the units on. They weigh about 15 tons each. We will place one unit at the bottom of each hole, which will then be backfilled and a concrete cap poured on top to seal 'em in. The only thing that comes out of the hole is a cable to deliver the electricity.”

“And these things are totally safe?” asked Sally cautiously.

“Yes they're safe. We were going to use them for settlements on Mars, but figured you folks needed 'em sooner than we did.”

“If you are going to bury them it sounds like they are fairly permanent,” said Tony.

“Each unit should run for 25 years. When they stop working give us a call, we will come and take them back for recycling.”

The lights in the room flickered out, leaving the bar dimly lit by the depressing grayness slanting in through the side windows. After a half minute the lights came back on and shone brightly. Then the heating kicked in.

“See, things are lookin' up already,” TK said with a smile.

Through the barroom doors came a tall figure dressed in a parka. As she threw back the parka's hood and stamped the snow off her boots, the people in the room turned and stared.

“Well, we've gotten the shuttle power hooked to the building's distribution panel. Things should warm up in here shortly.”

“Fantastic,” TK replied. “I really did not want to sleep in the shuttle overnight.” Then, remembering his manners, TK introduced the woman. “Folk's, this is my aid and pilot on this trip, Lt. Melaku. She's takin' time off from blasting aliens and training pilots to help y'all out.”

Beth smiled. “Hello, nice to meet all of you.”

The male Texans just stared at the striking female officer. With a how-typically-male look for her companions, Sally turned to Beth and said, “It's very nice to meet you, Lieutenant. Have you ever been to Fredericksburg before?”

Fredericksburg, Republic of Texas

It took 24 hours to load up the first three reactors and their support equipment, and another 24 to make the trip to Earth. This worked out well, since it gave the locals time to dig the holes and pour the bottom slabs. The first installation was in downtown Fredericksburg, in the middle of the Old Fair Park between Park Street and Ufer. The utility crew on-site marked the landing zone with flags that were obscured by flying snow as the big shuttle landed.

Still hot from reentry, the shuttle clicked and popped as it cooled. Billy Ray, dressed in a white parka, walked down the rear ramp and over to the men beside the hole.

“Mornin' gentlemen. Somebody here order a nuclear reactor?”

“That's what yer gonna put in this hole, mister? They didn't tell us about no reactor,” said the on-site supervisor, eying Billy Ray suspiciously.

“Well,” Billy Ray drawled. “Somebody's gotta sign for this thing.”

“Hell, nobody said I'd have to sign for no nuclear reactor,” the supervisor began.

“Relax, pardner. I'm just pullin' yer leg. I'm Commander Vincent, but you can call me Billy Ray.”

“You had me goin' there for a minute, Billy Ray. Name's Willy,” the supervisor said, shaking hands. Between his name and his accent the stranger seemed like a local boy. “How big is this thing and how are you gonna get it into the hole?”

“We came prepared. If the slab is set we can put the reactor in and you fellers can start backfilling the hole.”

“It should be good to go, we been keeping it warm with heaters from the field house so the concrete would set up quick.”

Bill Ray nodded and spoke into his collar pip. “Chief, you can bring the payload out now.”

From inside the shuttle came a solid metal container three meters in diameter and two and a half high, floating on a pallet a half meter above the shuttle's cargo deck. It floated down the ramp and approached the hole, guided by the crew chief and a couple sailors.

At the sight of the crew the workmen's eyes bulged. The floating reactor didn't shock them, but the huge robotic spacesuits worn by the sailors did.

“I guess you really are from outer-space, mister,” one of the workmen said tilting his hardhat back on his head.

“You mean arriving in a big ass spaceship didn't tip you off?” Billy Ray said with a grin. The workmen all chuckled, some nervously. “Come on guys we're burning daylight, we got other deliveries to make before the Sun goes down. Let's get this puppy in the hole and hooked to your power grid.”

“Yes, sir, Commander. Just tell us what you need us to do...”

* * * * *

Twelve hours later, well after sunset, Billy Ray brought the shuttle in for a soft landing at the airport, parking it beside TK's smaller craft. The day had taken them to two other small towns for the remaining installations and now back to Fredericksburg to report. After getting his men settled in rooms at the hotel he went to the bar, which was serving as the command center for the operation. As Billy Ray walked through the double glass doors into the now cozy bar, TK called out from a table across the room.

“Billy Ray, come on over and tell me how things went today. I got some people you need to meet.”

At the table were TK and Beth and two men Billy Ray did not know. Billy Ray made eye contact with Beth and smiled, then he walked over to the table and the men rose to greet him.

“Gentlemen, this is Lcdr. Vincent, one of our starship captains,” TK said by way of introduction. “He has fought against the aliens both here and in other star systems. He also happens to be a Texan.”

This elicited nods of approval from the men. TK continued. “Billy Ray, this is Tony Ruiz, one of the Republic's leaders, and Ranger Sid Hopkins.”

“Mr. Ruiz,” Billy Ray said, shaking his hand. Then, with a cool look of appraisal, he shook hands with Sid Hopkins. “Ranger.”

“Commander,” Sid replied. Beth watched the exchange between Billy Ray and the Ranger with great interest. The two seemed to be cut from the same tough West Texas cloth—tall, lean and taciturn.

“We'd like to thank you for coming down to help us through this crisis, Commander,” Tony began. “Y'all told us that this winter would be terrible but we didn't realize how terrible. Without your aid a lot of people might die.”

“Glad to help out,” Billy Ray replied, taking an empty chair as the others sat back down. He focused on TK and reported on the day's mission. “We managed to get all three reactors, their transformers and line interfaces installed. They were all online and sending power into the local grid when we left 'em.”

“What towns did you put them in, Commander?” asked Ruiz.

“One here in Fredericksburg, one over in Junction and the last one up in Brady. Tomorrow we'll head back to Farside and fetch a couple more—one for Kerrville and the last one for Alpine out west.”

“These things are really saving our bacon, since the main power plant for the area was knocked offline.”

“Oh? Were was it located?”

“On Lake LBJ near Marble Falls. It was right on the ragged edge of the tsunami that took out Austin and San Antonio. The plant survived but falling debris caused lots of damage and blocked the cooling water intakes. It used to provide over 400 Megawatts of power to this area, hopefully we can get it back online.”

“What did it run on, Tony?” asked TK.

“Natural gas, one thing we got a lot of around here.”

“Sounds like you'll be in good shape if you can get that plant back online. In the meantime, our little presents should help tide you over.”

“Well we greatly appreciate this, TK,” Tony said. “And you too, lieutenant, for flying the work crews around in your shuttle.”

“Not a problem, Mr. Ruiz. It was either that or stay here and drink all day with TK and the Ranger.”

“Now girl, we weren’t drinkin'
all
day,” TK said with a chuckle. 

“In any case, if you gentlemen will excuse me I believe I will turn in for the evening. I suspect it will be another long day tomorrow.”

“Goodnight Beth,” said TK, as the tall lieutenant pushed back her chair and stood up.

“'Evening, Ma'am,” added Sid and Tony. Billy Ray just nodded slightly as Beth glanced his way and headed for the door.

“Speakin' of drinkin',” TK added with a twinkle in his eye, “anyone for a nightcap?”

Room 211, Hangar Hotel

Forty five minutes later, Billy Ray managed to excuse himself from the other men in the bar and head upstairs for bed. As he walked down the hallway looking for his room number a door beside him opened. Before he could react, someone seized his arm and pulled him into the room. Urgent hands cradled his face and eager lips sought his.

Breaking the long passionate kiss, Beth looked soulfully into his eyes and said, “It's about bloody time you drug yourself up here, I almost grabbed a crewman by mistake a half hour ago.”

Billy Ray couldn't think of an answer that would improve his position so instead he kissed her again.

* * * * *

A little after 6:00 the next morning, Billy Ray was awaken by the sound of the shower running. He really had been bone tired from the long day yesterday, and the passionate reunion with Beth had not helped matters. Not that he had any complaints in that department.
I guess they're right,
he mused,
that absence makes the heart grow fonder—or at least hornier.
 

Beth exited the shower to find Billy Ray, propped up on pillows in the bed, admiring her. “And what are you staring at?”

“I'm just expressing my reverence for the naked female form.”

“You saw me naked last night.”

“Last night I saw you nekkid, there's a difference.”