When the Gods Aren't Gods: Book Two of The Theogony (3 page)

“I already did that,” replied the president in a no-nonsense tone of voice, “when I welcomed the Psiclopes to our planet.” He
thought about it a moment and then relented. “But you’re right,” he conceded; “we should probably give people a little notice so that they can ensure the legitimacy of what they’re doing.” He remembered a certain land purchase he had been considering and made a mental note to cancel the deal after the meeting. Can’t be too careful, he decided.

“I’ll do that,” the Attorney General agreed. “That’s it for Justice.”

“Interior?” asked the vice president.

“I have to protest the rhenium mine that has been proposed for
the National Park Service land in the Eldorado Wilderness area of Arizona,” stated the Secretary of the Interior. “They are going to
destroy
valuable park land that
cannot be replaced!
It was bad enough when some of the other mines were reopened, but this one goes too far!”

“I also want to protest this mine,” agreed the Secretary of
Health and Human Services. “Not the mine itself, but the fact that all of its production is slated for defense. At least some of it needs to go toward medical applications. Rhenium is needed for a large number of things like treating restenosis and liver tumors.
All
of it right now is going to defense.”

“
We’ve got to have it
,” said Defense. He had known this argument was coming. “Rhenium is used for a number of critical defense purposes like rocket thrusters, high temperature thermocouples, and molybdenum superconducting alloys. There is a
lot
of it that goes into making the space ships, space fighters and shuttles that are our first line of defense. Not only do we need all of this mine’s potential production, but we also need every last bit that we can get, worldwide!”

The president nodded. Defense may have gone a little strong on the argument, but he had a point.
Americans
wanted
more park land; the Earth
needed
more spacecraft. “Open the mine,” said the president, “and earmark its production for the replicator on the moon.” Interior looked crushed. “We need the ships,” the president said to Interior in apology. “There’s no need for park land if we’re all dead.”

The vice president looked at his list. “Agriculture?”

“We are working to put as much arable land as possible into production,” noted the Secretary of Agriculture. “With industry moving off the planet to the moon, and more people working, we’re going to need more production. We’re also working with Transportation to ensure that we have ways to get the food to market, whether that is in the U.S., somewhere else on Earth or in space. Hopefully, there will be some shuttle time available for food distribution. Its ability to take off and land like a helicopter lets it get into wherever it’s needed.”

The president looked hopefully at Calvin, who only shook his head slightly. The president had already spoken with him earlier to discuss why he couldn’t use one to fly to Germany and back. Calvin had held his ground about their schedule being packed
; they must really be that busy.

The vice president nodded to Commerce.

“We’re busy everywhere,” said the Secretary of Commerce. “If the days were 30 hours long, we still wouldn’t have enough time to get half the things done. The most important tasks involve working with Transportation to get raw materials where they need to be to help the war effort. We’re working hard across the entire department. Even the Bureau of Patents is busy as some of the new technology is filtering its way down. I’d second Agriculture; we need more shuttle time.”

“We’re as busy as everyone else,” commented the Secretary of Labor, whose turn was next. “If not even more so. Our re-employment offices are working 24 hours a day to find jobs for everyone.”
She looked at the president. “Your proclamation to end welfare grants to the states in two years has
everyone
scrambling. Our Occupational Safety branch is undermanned to inspect all of the new businesses that are starting, especially the mines that are opening. These are dangerous occupations at the best of times, when people
aren’t
cutting corners trying to increase production so substantially. A lot of our re-employment services are being used to train people to fill holes in our own organization. Our budget will be bigger next year; it has to be to cover all of the new positions required to ensure safety in the workplace.” 

“
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)?” prompted the vice president.

“I don’t have as much as some of my fellow secretaries,” noted the HHS Secretary. “Mostly, for us, it is business as usual. As transportation worldwide is increasing, we are on the lookout for the transmission of diseases. Additionally, with all of the adults being required to find jobs, our
Administration for Children and Families is working to set up programs for child care and to watch for an increase in child abuse.”

“
We are looking at ways to provide affordable homes for the workers in the new industrial areas,” said the Secretary for Housing and Urban Development. “It involves a massive building effort that requires transporting tremendous amounts of raw materials, but we can use land-based shipping for that. It also puts a lot of people to work,” she said, looking at Labor.

“
Transportation?” asked the vice president.

The Secretary of Transportation shrugged. “You’ve already heard
what I’ve got going,” he said. “We need more shuttles, as fast as we can get them. If I had 100 of them, I could use them all.” He looked at the Secretary of Energy. “Next.”

“We’re working on developing Helium-3 power plants to
increase electrical capacity, as soon as we can get a continuous supply of it from the moon,” replied Energy. “We’re also investigating a variety of other power options to fill the need that the additional industry is going to bring. Our power grid was already stretched pretty thin before the Chinese hit it during the war. Many of our power plants and transmission systems sustained damage in the war that still hasn’t been fixed yet. We’re hiring anyone that knows anything about power and power transmission.”

“As far as the National Laboratories go,” Energy continued, “they are working full time to develop new sustainable power sources, whether that is power plants or engines for automobiles. We have the technology to put better engines in our cars and trucks, as well as to make them last l
onger; the auto industry has dragged its heels in implementing them.” She looked at the two congressmen. “I’d love it if some of the members of Congress would put aside the money they get from the auto makers and implement some tougher auto standards, especially for fuel economy. That would help a lot.”

“That’s all I have time for,” announced the president
, looking at his watch. “I have to go catch an
airplane
flight to Germany for a Terran Government meeting.” He looked pointedly at Calvin. “Is there anything else that needs my decision? No? OK, thanks for your input. I know everyone’s busy. When you get tired, remember, we’re not only working to save the planet, but the entire human race.”

“In national news this evening, the White House announced a major new initiative to crack down on crime,” read KIRO’s anchorwoman, Anna St. Cloud. “In a joint press conference, President Bill Jacobs, the Attorney General and the Secretary of
Homeland Security announced the end to major crime and criminal networks among states of the Terran government.”

The scene shifted to the president
standing behind a podium, flanked by his two cabinet members. All wore serious looks on their faces. “A friend of mine once told me,” the president said, “that where there is confusion, there is the opportunity to profit. While these times are as confused as any in our history, it is
not
time to profit illegally from it. We don’t have the time or resources to lose to criminal activity at either home or abroad. I’m here today to warn all crime gangs, terrorist organizations and other less-than-honest individuals that any illegal activity will be dealt with harshly.”

“
Don’t think you can hide,” continued the president, “We intend to ask the artificial intelligence on the spaceship
Vella Gulf
to point out where criminal activity is occurring, and we will use this information to root it out. We simply can’t afford to waste any of our resources. We need everything we’ve got to make our country stronger and more prepared for the imminent alien invasion, not in lining the pockets of unscrupulous individuals.”

The camera shifted back to
Bob Brant, the station’s new co-anchor. “While the president’s announcement was greeted with approval by the law enforcement community, others in Washington were less enthused. Dave Rickland, the head of the national office of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) had this to say.”

The
camera shifted to Rickland, standing on the steps of the Capitol Building. “We will do everything in our power to halt this unjust invasion into citizens’ privacy. This is truly a day that will live in infamy. Today, the president set up a two-tiered system for law enforcement, arbitrarily separating citizens into two unequal classes, those that have the power to hide and those that don’t. The people that control this glorified computer can use it to track down anything that their opponents are doing wrong, while keeping it from looking at their own affairs. Anyone that is not in the political ‘in crowd,’ will be arbitrarily denied their rights.”

The camera shifted back to Bob Brant. “The ACLU has promised to fight the new measures with all of
its resources,” said the co-anchor. “It looks like it’s going to be a long and nasty battle.”

“Of course I can give you that information,” replied Solomon. “Looking into any terrestrial computer network is easy. Although I may not have all of the
alliance software upgrades, I am centuries ahead of any computer technology on Earth. Your strongest codes take me less than two seconds to break. Give me an hour, and I’ll have a list of the locations for most of the top 100 ‘Most Wanted’ terrorists, as well as the major cells for the top five terrorist organizations in the world. Some of the terrorists might be sleeping, which will make them difficult to locate, but in a couple of hours I can put together a list of the whereabouts of most of the known members of the Tamil Tigers, Hezbollah, the Taliban, Hamas, and Al-Qaeda. Give me a day, and I’ll have most of the top terrorists and organizations located.”

“Will that use
much of your memory?” asked Bullseye.

“No,” replied Solomon, “th
at will all take place in just my memory buffers. That’s how easy it will be.”

“Good,” replied Bullseye. “In that case, I have a few more things I’d like you to research...”

* * * * *

Master Chief
Ryan O’Leary kicked in the door of the East End apartment and was greeted by a hail of bullets that hit him in the chest, despite his invisibility. “Damn it!” he grunted, as the impact of 12 bullets drove him back into the opposite wall. While the terrorists focused on O’Leary, other members of the platoon crashed through the back windows of the 4th floor apartment, taking the terrorists by surprise. The fight was over in less than a minute, leaving the terrorists dead and Ryan with an expanding bruise on his chest. Although the suit stopped the bullets, as advertised, it did nothing to absorb the impact. Someone else gets to kick in the door next time, he vowed.

Ryan surveyed the dead. No prisoners were taken, but then again, the terrorists hadn’t given them the chance...and the soldiers hadn’t really wanted to take any in the first place. The terrorists had nothing they needed, and to have to go through the motions of a trial was...inconvenient. Besides, the terrorists shot first, and to come back to London when they were already wanted there was
just stupid. Ryan shrugged. They were another example of Darwin’s rule of natural selection; they were obviously too stupid to live.

Scattered among the remains of the bomb making materials, he found the jihadi bomb maker Samantha Lewthwaite, the notorious ‘White Widow’ that terror agencies in the U.S., U.K. and Kenya had been looking for since the Nairobi shopping mall terror attack in 2013 that killed more than 70 people. A key member of Somalia’s al-Shabaab militants, her career as a terrorist was over, courtesy of three laser blasts to her chest. Good riddance, he thought.

Sirens wailed as the local police made their appearance. Ryan looked at his watch. If the shuttle wasn’t late coming down, they could still make it back to Moon Base Alpha in time for happy hour at the new bar that just opened.

Life was good.

* * * * *