The Pyramid Builders (12 page)

Jeff smiled at her and Dolly shook her finger in front of his face, “Don’t even think about going there. You don’t need to do anything to have me. All you’d do is make me angry if you tried it.”

Jeff tilted his head to the right, “And it wouldn’t be good to make Dolly angry.”

She smiled and kissed him, “Who says you’re not trainable?”

Jeff laughed, and kissed her again.

Chris arrived at Romeo’s and was greeted by the crowd. There were numerous slaps on the back, and Jamal escorted him to his usual place at the bar to order a drink. Chris looked at the bartender and said, “I’ll just have a diet Pepsi.”

Jamal looked at Chris with shock on his face, “Are you sick?”

“No, Jamal, I’m fine. How are things at the center?”

Jamal smiled, “They’re great. The Tutors stepped in and have made a huge difference. The children do miss you, though.”

“I miss them, too. Some of them are going to make a difference in the future.”

A young coed dressed in a micro-minidress tapped him on the shoulder, “Dr. Connor, will you dance with me?”

Chris smiled, “I’m sorry, dear, I don’t dance with my students.”

She smiled at him and said, “You are no longer an employee of the university.”

Chris looked at Jamal, then back at the young woman and said, “You’re right. I’m not.”

“Well, what are you waiting on?”

Chris started to stand up, but then sat back down. “I’m sorry. I’m just not up to dancing tonight. Thank you for asking.”

Jamal watched her walk away and did a slow whistle, “How could you say no to her? She is hot! Someone turn up the AC.”

Chris took a deep breath, “I just don’t want to remember my last dance happening here.”

Jamal looked at him, “Last dance? Are you going somewhere?”

“You might say I’m being reassigned.”

A young man walked up with four others behind him and slapped Chris on the back. He turned around and jumped up to hug James Logan, “Jimmy, it’s so good to see you.”

“Are you coming back, Dr. Connor?”

“I hope so, but it may be a while. Tell me how things are going.”

The four Tutors started telling him all the things they had done in his absence. Chris was excited by the initiative they had shown to take up the slack at the project center.

Jillian arrived at Romeo’s and walked quickly inside. She had to use her badge to get by the doorman. The place was standing room only. She had on her knit green coverall, and worked her way around the bar until she was standing next to the dance floor. She searched, but couldn’t find Chris. She stopped a young coed as she left the floor, “Have you seen Dr. Connor?”

The young woman smiled, “You’re wasting your time.”

“Why is that?”

“He’s not dancing with anyone tonight.”

“Why not?”

“Rumor has it that he wants to remember a dance he had with someone else as his last dance. We’ve all tried, but he says no. You might as well go home or find another partner.”

Jillian felt the tears, but wiped them away. If he wasn’t on the dance floor, she knew where he’d be. She turned and worked her way through the crowd toward his place at the bar. She broke through the crowd and saw him surrounded by students with white berets that were listening to him. She heard, “I’m not going to be here for a while. I need all of you to give back to our community what you’ve been given. You may not believe this, but it’s giving that makes your life worthwhile. I’m proud of the way you’ve taken on my responsibility with the children at the center, and I don’t know how I can ever thank you enough.”

A young man said, “I think their smiles are reward enough.”

Chris smiled and hugged the young man.

Jillian stepped forward and tapped Chris on the shoulder, “Will you dance with me?”

Chris turned and said, “I’m sorry, but…..” then he saw Jillian and stopped talking. The students saw his expression, and then they looked at Jillian. Chris smiled and said, “I’d love to dance with you.”

Jillian took off her coverall and the students were stunned. Jillian had on a strapless, black mini-dress that fit her like a second skin. A number of the coeds elbowed their partners that were staring open-mouthed at the woman with Dr. Connor. Jillian took his hand, and he led her to the dance floor. “What are you doing here?”

“It’s Thursday.”

Chris smiled, “Yes, it is.”

Jillian came into his arms and she said, “That’s not the real reason I’m here.”

“Oh?”

“I didn’t want you dancing with anyone else but me.”

Chris looked into her eyes and smiled, “You should know by now that I never will.”

She looked up, and he saw her tears, “Why?”

Chris pulled her close and whispered in her ear, “It was in your arms that I was healed. I’m alive again.”

Jillian put her head on his shoulder and held him tight. He could feel her tears through his shirt, and they danced and danced.

Dolly, Jeff, Arnold Gordon, Ben Keenan, and President Carlyle were on the bridge of the Cheops giving Jillian and Christopher a sendoff. President Carlyle said, “We have another guest. He’s here for you, Miss Sierra.”

Dolly turned around and said, “Me? Who?”

Prime Minister Christen walked on the bridge and Dolly’s mouth fell open. “Dolly? You don’t mind if I call you Dolly?” Dolly shook her head, “I understand that you have played an important role in making this vessel space worthy. We Aussies are proud of you, and want you to know that we expect you to come home and celebrate with your mates when this is over. You are one of our daughters for which we are righteously proud.”

Dolly jerked her head around and looked at Chris, who appeared to be focused on the control board. She looked back at the Prime Minister and said, “You may count on it, Sir.”

James Carlyle turned and said to the attendees, “Our world is counting on you to find what we need to survive. We are currently building ships to take colonists out to other worlds so that if the worst happens, humanity will continue. We hope to launch three of them within a year. With the help of Dr. Connor’s invention, they will scan the light in our galaxy looking for planets similar to our own. Perhaps it’s not as hopeless as one might think.” He turned to Chris and Jillian, “We need you to succeed. All of humanity is counting on you.”

Jillian looked at Chris and said, “We are going to give it all we have, Mr. President.”

“Well, good luck. We’ll be watching liftoff and praying for your success.”

Arnold walked up to Jillian and gave her a hug, “I need you to come back.”

“I’ll do my best, Dad.”

Dolly walked over and wrapped her arms around Chris’ neck and whispered in his ear, “I told you I would go.”

Chris smiled, “You can never ask enough to get you to do what must be done.”

Dolly hugged his neck tightly and said, “I’d do it because you asked. That carries more weight with me than anyone, including the Prime Minister.”

“I love you, Dolly. Hold the fort while we’re gone.”

“I love you too. I won’t let them take the North Wall.”

“Now that you’re the project manager, I’m not as worried.”

Dolly laughed, “Who would have ever thought I would be a bureaucrat?” Dolly looked at Jeff and said, “Guess who reports to me?”

Jeff smiled and said, “I’ve always reported to you. I do it now for the benefits.”

Chris and Dolly both laughed out loud, attracting the attention of the President, “What’s so funny?”

Dolly smiled and said, “Chris is already missing us.”

James Carlyle smiled, “I can understand why. Miss Sierra? I would like a short meeting with you to go over your plans.”

Dolly sighed, “This is not a benefit,” she whispered to Chris, then said louder, “I’ll be ready right after liftoff, Mr. President.”

Ben Keenan walked up to Chris and smiled, “I guess there was more to you than I thought.”

“You think?”

“I’ve done some investigating and learned about your Tutors and the learning center in the projects. I’ve also read Kim Newland’s article about what happened in Oslo at the Nobel Prize. I’m not as worried about my troops as I was when we first met. Good luck, Dr. Connor.”

“Thank you, General.”

Ben came to attention and saluted Chris. “No; thank you.”

Dr. Morrison stuck his head in the door and said, “It’s time to leave the ship.”

Everyone shook hands and then moved off the bridge, leaving Chris and Jillian alone. Chris looked at Jillian in the command chair and saw her nervousness, “Are you all right?”

Jillian stood and said, “I’m not afraid of the mission.” She walked over to the view port and looked out at the spaceport.

Chris stood and walked over beside her and said, “Then what’s bothering you?”

She turned and looked into his eyes and said, “This.” She put her arms around his neck and kissed him. Chris was surprised, but then pulled her close and kissed her. When they broke the kiss, Jillian said, “I’ve wanted to do that for weeks.”

“You should have told me.”

“I couldn’t tell myself, much less, you.”

Chris held her tight and then said, “I guess we need to get underway.” He looked into her eyes and said, “Thank you, Jillian. Thank you for all you’ve done.”

Jillian smiled and said, “You are very welcome. Let’s go visit a pyramid.”

Dolly hit the toggle and said, “Cheops, are you ready for liftoff?”

Jillian said, “Standing by for building clearance.”

“Roof lift in two minutes.”

The huge sloped roof over the ship began lifting, moving ninety degrees. The Cheops only had open sky above it, “You’re clear for liftoff.”

Jillian looked at Chris, and he turned a knob on his console. The ship lifted a foot off the ground and hovered. Jillian nodded and Chris activated the positive gravity field on the bottom of the ship. The Cheops began rising, clearing the building. “Hang on, Jillian.” Chris pulled the steering wheel back and the nose of the ship lifted as it continued to rise. “We’re going weightless; minimal thrust on the engines.”

The starship was now pointed at the horizon, and a brief flash of the thrusters sent the ship roaring toward the sunrise. Chris pulled back on the steering wheel and the nose of the ship went vertical. The Cheops flashed into the upper atmosphere. Chris kept his eye on the scanner to make sure there were no ships or satellites near them.

Dolly looked at her board and said, “You are approaching six thousand miles per hour and will clear the atmosphere in two minutes.”

Chris looked at Jillian and smiled. He spoke into the communicator, “We are engaging engines, and will take a path below the plane of the planets. We’ll see you later.”

Jillian looked at Chris with a puzzled look.

“I’m not going to leave our system passing the planets. Remember that the Sheera’s main ship was destroyed by a Moet in the outer solar system. I believe it was above our planet, out near the Ort Cloud.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Both of the Sheera’s building projects were in the northern hemisphere. I believe they came to our planet from above the plane of the ecliptic. I don’t want to use the stardrive anywhere near our planet without something to block its view in case the Moet still have a device watching Earth.”

“I didn’t think of that.”

“We are going to go below the ecliptic plane, then turn around and energize the stardrive such that we will be passing Earth toward a clear area of space above the planet. We should be in Earth’s shadow for anything looking at it from above the ecliptic plane. There are no stars on the route I’ve chosen for more than ten thousand light years. We should be able to find what we need on that line. Right now I’m going to go to near light speed and get us away from Earth. I’ll then turn and accelerate back. I’m hoping the planet will block any probe from seeing us when we jump away. Are you ready with the stardrive?”

“I am. Remember to factor in about three seconds for the drive to surround the ship and reach the energy level needed.”

Chris stared out the view port and saw the stars gleaming brightly against the black veil of space. Jillian saw him staring and walked over and looked with him. “I’ve never seen so many, Jilly.”

“The atmosphere blocks most of them. They are beautiful aren’t they?”

“It’s so hard to believe they hold such danger. Something this beautiful shouldn’t be a threat.” Chris turned and shook his head, “But they are. Let’s get underway.”

Jillian hugged him and went to her command chair.

“I’ll move away for a minute, and then turn around. Get ready; turning on half thrusters.”

Jillian looked at her display and saw the Earth getting smaller. Suddenly, it disappeared so fast she thought it had just turned invisible. “How fast are we going?”

“A hundred thousand miles per second.”

“What if we hit something going that fast?”

“We have a strong positive gravity beam in front of us that will push anything in our path out of the way.”

Jillian watched the planets above them on her wide scan as they moved below the plane. After a minute, Chris said, “We’re coming around and preparing to jump. Initiate the stardrive on my mark. Ready……mark!”

Jillian hit the button and they saw a light green energy field begin to form around them. Jillian watched the dials and said, “Field is not complete. It should come on instantly after this initial charging. I’m energizing stardrive in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Now!” Jillian pulled back the blue handle on the control panel and the Cheops disappeared.

Dolly and the President watched the Cheops over the satellites’ scanning system, and James was amazed at how fast the Cheops disappeared. Dolly continued watching the defense radars and saw it turn and zoom back toward the planet. Dolly knew what was going to happen, but was still amazed at the approach speed. The radars produced a blip of the approaching ship that was getting larger fast…then it was gone.

James Carlyle shook his head, “How fast was that ship going?”

“Three quarters light speed.”

He looked back at the now empty display and said, “That tablet has changed things a lot.”

Dolly smiled, “More than you know.”

An alarm went off and the Moet turned and hit the system search switch. The monitor showed a solar system with a gas giant and nine planets. He turned his whole brain on the readout. A stardrive was used. He turned the scanner to full power and immediately saw that the third planet had developed space travel. That was not good; especially a system contaminated by the Sheera. He turned the recording back and fast forwarded through it.