Starting from Scratch (21 page)

“I’ve taken the liberty of planting, in the minds of
the men we are currently upgrading, subtle messages about treating
women with equal respect. I believe this will work. We may have to
do some tweaking, but on the whole, it should be OK.”

Mike looked at Mary for her reaction to the idea. She
said, “At first look, bringing a bunch of hookers up here isn’t a
good idea. On the other hand, after upgrading, they would no longer
be hookers. I like the idea and I’d be very surprised if it wasn’t
accepted by the powers that be on Earth. Of course, we would
explain it to the girls beforehand, and they would have to accept
the fact that they would be working for us in outer space.”

Mike grinned and said, “I agree. But, you know what?
I bet this is going to piss off a lot of astronauts.”

“So, we make them the same offer. Most of those men
and women are scientists in their own right.”

“Good point, Mary. I’ll make the offer, but I don’t
think it’s going to be very popular with NASA. They are very
quickly going to become irrelevant.”

“Mike, has it occurred to you that what we have
available is going to make a lot of people irrelevant?”

“Only vaguely. I’ve been more concerned about saving
the planet than saving jobs. I do have an idea though.”

“Bambi, can we give people the initial med unit
treatment and place knowledge in their minds at the same time, or
is that strictly a process of the upgrade.”

“I can do that, but it wouldn’t be nearly as complete
or effective as a full upgrade capability. I would insist on each
person being made fully aware that I would be making additions to
their brains, although in a good way. And I could have a fabricator
make a low ability med unit that would get the job done, while
repairing any medical conditions. It would not have the ability to
replaced limbs, or cure some of the more complicated diseases.
However, it could do an analysis of each person and if we found
some nasty disease, we could transfer them to a bigger med unit for
repair.”

Mike thought about it and told them, “Let’s not even
mention that for now. We have a lot riding on this first step back
onto the planet. Once they see how well this could work, we can
bring it up.”

Boss, we need to talk about Nellis. Mr. Hardesty
intends to ring the entire Basin with new, fortified outposts and
they are all facing in, not out. They are moving in a battalion of
airborne rangers and two companies from Delta force. They mean
business, Mike. Also, there’s two odd looking units being set up,
one to the north and one to the west.

Bambi, do you have any idea what they are?

I can’t be sure just yet; but they might be a crude
sort of field laser. The guns, the motors, the rockets and the
artillery shells don’t concern me. None of those things can harm a
shuttle. Those things have shields that fend off small meteors and
space trash, when we’re traveling over a million miles an hour. So
the ordinance is harmless.

Lasers? That’s different. If they can produce enough
energy, they can burn holes in the shuttles and needless to say,
people and equipment.

He responded,
Shit. Well I’ve outdone myself this
time.

I can take them out, sir.

I know, Bambi. Let me talk with Max and get his
insight on this. If we have to do it, I want as little collateral
damage as possible.

Yes sir.

Bet’s cries pulled his attention away and he returned
to her, as she struggled against the restraints pleading for
mercy.

Mary looked in on them and told him, “Talk to her,
Mike. Say anything. She just needs to know that someone is here and
that they care.”

He did. Mike told Bet about his life with Sherry and
Wayne. How he felt so guilty, because he had lost so many years
with them, because he was on deployment somewhere. He talked about
going back to school, after he retired and how difficult it had
been, at first. Mike explained about his experience in the
corporate world and how different it was from military life. But,
he never once mentioned losing his legs and eye. He just didn’t
think she needed to hear about someone else’s suffering, when she
was in such terrible pain.

It went on for hours, as the TSN Independence made
it’s way to the chosen location for their new home. Bambi kept him
up to date on their progress, including a notice from Todd
Pierpoint, telling him that the President was pleased that he was
on the way. He assured Mike that General Boltz would be cooperative
and pointed out that the man had no light touch to anything he did.
So, don’t expect to be welcomed with open arms.

Knowing what Mike Hardesty had in mind for him, Mike
felt General Boltz was a breath of fresh air in comparison.

Bambi, do any of the other members of the Presidents
staff know of Hardesty’s plans for me?

No sir. But apparently a few civilians do. He made a
few calls from a hotel bar, near the Pentagon. They were to a
friend of his, Harvey Grissom, who just happens to be the CEO of a
large defense company. He promised the guy that he could assure his
company a substantial piece of the action, with respect to the
alien technology.

Then he called his broker and told him to buy two
million shares in the man’s corporation. If that company takes over
the development of our technology, Mike Hardesty is going to make
billions.

Mike shook his head in disgust.
Bambi, this is
just the sort of shit I was afraid of and the main reason I didn’t
want to deal with the Washington crowd. Are you sure the President
doesn’t know? Is there any activity by the other players
here?

Well, I feel pretty certain that the President is on
the up and up. However, in Australia, there has been a jump in a
few stocks of companies that would benefit from our tech and those
companies have close ties to the Prime Minister. The other nations
seem to be keeping a lid on it, for now.

Mike said, “The Australian situation might just be
simply a matter of the Prime Minister returning a favor, by giving
a friend a heads up. Is there any evidence that he has made an
effort to profit from this personally?”

“No sir. Other than being a bit of an ass, he seems
to be a straight shooter.”

For the next few days, as the recruits went through
the worst of their upgrade, TSN Independence moved closer to the
new location. When it was nearly there, most of the newbies were on
the down side of their horrible improvement.

Mike sat by Bet’s med unit, holding her hand, as she
began the slow recovery from her agonizing journey. He gave some
thought to the maneuvering of Mike Hardesty, and then made a harsh
decision.

Bambi, I have an idea, but it is illegal. Let me
explain, before you say no.

Before he could say what he had in mind, she
interrupted.
OK, but I can tell you, I like it already.

He huffed and told her,
Financially Hardesty might
have had a good idea. I want to do what he was about to do. We can
discreetly direct the business of managing our tech on Earth,
through a series of different companies. We’ll use gold and
platinum to bolster the accounts we had set up with my retirement
money and invest it all over the world. We can predict what
businesses are going to prosper, once this gets out. So why
shouldn’t we use that advantage to help people and to protect our
own interests down there?

We’ll buy companies in each of the English speaking
nations we have invited to join us. That would give us a physical
presence there, without them knowing it. I just think we’re going
to need people on the ground to help provide us with intelligence.
But first, I want to build up our accounts on Earth, so we can
provide the financial means for dealing with those people who
decide not to join us and to give us the ability to throw some
money around, behind the scenes.

He stopped talking and there was silence. He expected
Bambi to say something, but she remained quiet.

Bambi, what do you think about this?

Well, are you asking me to set this all up, or are
you ordering me to do it.

I’m asking, Bambi. I don’t want to do anything that
offends your sense of integrity.

I’ll do it, sir. But, we’re going to need someone we
can trust to be on the ground running things for us. I think I know
just the man for the job.

Mike was not surprised that she accepted the
assignment; but he was amazed that she knew of someone.

Who, Bambi?

Jim Atteberry. I was in his mind, Mike. I saw some
of the things he accomplished. When he didn’t want to be noticed,
he could be very discrete. He can play dumb, ignorant,
sophisticated and a bunch of other characters. The man is a
chameleon. I think that’s the Earth animal I want to reference.

Yes, Bambi, that’s the one. OK. When he finishes
being upgraded, let’s offer him the job.

Should we tell Max about this?

Yes, definitely, and I want Wayne to know of it,
too. I’ll have a private meeting with them; that’s enough people
who will know about this for now. If it gets out, the President and
the other heads of state will think we’re planning some sort of
coup. So keep it between the four of us, five if Jim takes the
job.

Hours later, the Independence arrived on station,
behind the large asteroid. Bambi released the huge robots to begin
the task of preparing the big rock. Then she moved the shuttles to
the edge of the hanger portal, in anticipation of launching for
Earth.

Max walked into the med unit area, on the big shuttle
and asked, “What’s the hold up. Why aren’t we pulling out for
Earth?”

“Max, there’s some serious shit going on down there
and I want our troops to be ready for action, when we arrive.
They’re going to need a few more days to get acclimated to their
capabilities and to familiarize themselves with their weapons.
Then, we’ll bring them up to date on the intel we have and see if
anyone balks at the assignment. Those that don’t want to go can
stay on board and we’ll make do with the remainder.”

Max looked angry, as he pressed Mike, “Well, damn it,
I can tell that something’s wrong. How about bringing me up to
date.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that, but I just found about
this a little while ago myself. Let’s get Wayne and some coffee and
I’ll have Bambi explain it to you guys. Then we’re going to discuss
how to handle it.”

Chapter
12

After Bambi explained what Mike Hardesty had done and
what he was planning, Wayne was all for assassinating the man. Max
took a cleaner, longer view of the situation.

He said, “Assassination is out of the question. It’s
going to be very awkward, but we have to give him all the rope he
needs to hang himself.”

He presented his solution and Wayne was opposed to
it, at first. “Max, you’re asking my dad to put himself and a few
others in jeopardy, which could lead to Hardesty having the victory
he wants.”

They continued to look at other means to avoid such a
calamitous outcome. Exposing Hardesty as a money grubbing scumbag
was at the core of any plan they considered. Finally, with Bambi’s
input, they settled on a plan that didn’t risk too much, for a
great reward, which would be the riddance of one Secretary of
Defense, Mike Hardesty.

It would involve having Mike’s new warriors back his
play and Bambi would need to deal with the potential lasers, which
really bothered Mike.

She explained, “General, I’ve told you before, those
weapons would be fairly ineffective against the Saurans, unless
they had some serious improvement, which I can offer to provide. If
I destroy them, they will only have lost a few experimental
variants of a rudimentary high energy laser. When their physicists
see how I can improve the design and at such a small cost of
development to them, they’ll be doing back flips and forgetting all
about the ones they lost.”

“Yes Bambi, that’s probably true. But, what about the
men who are killed, when you take out the damn things?”

Max showed his ruthless side. “Mike, we know there
are going to be losses in this war, as there have been for ten
thousand years on this planet. Many of those losses were incurred,
as men trained for the battle. That is the case here. Those men
will have died for the cause of defending the human race. That they
will die because of an arrogant bastard’s profit motive won’t make
them any less heroes than the men who will die in battle.”

Mike looked at Max, with a furrowed brow and said,
“Yeah, I know, Max. It’s just that I spent my entire military
career, trying to save my men through endless training. I know
those laser guys will have trained hard to do their job and they’re
going to be wiped out, without knowing they never had a
chance.”

“Sir.”

“What is it, Bambi?”

“I might be able to direct a tight, low power plasma
shot at the power source. They’re using a common type of field
generator to load the pulse power capacitors for a shot. If I take
that out, before they charge the capacitor, the damn things won’t
work.”

Mike pursed his lips and pointed out, “But, didn’t
you say there are two of them?”

“Yes sir. I can hit each of them simultaneously,
using drones, with mounted hand plasma guns. They won’t be
stealthy, but they’ll get the job done. My concern here is that if
I miscalculate the best place to hit the generator, they may get
off a shot and that could really sting us.”

Wayne angrily told her, “You mean dad could get his
damn fool head blown off.”

“Yes Colonel, that’s exactly what I mean.”

Mike stood up and announced, “Then that’s what we’ll
do. That I took such a risk will impress the President and perhaps
help to gain his trust.”

Max said, “Mike, I love you, but you’re a damn fool
sometimes.”