Broken Soldier (Book One) (30 page)

Max told him, “Bambi wouldn’t let us listen in, but
she couldn’t keep us from hearing through the thin metal door. It’s
like a tympanic membrane. It resonates nicely so we heard most of
your conversation.”

Without humor, Jo said, “If you had urinated, we
would have heard the toilet clean itself.”

Ignoring Jo’s comment, he asked, “So, what do you
two think?”

Max had a small grin, as he said, “I really like the
idea of making the videos and we should emphasize that each head of
state receives a copy. They’ll want to show it to their senior
military people.”

Mike agreed, “Yeah, and I’m OK with that, as long as
they keep it to no more than two or three guys. All they need to do
is tell their military people that this project is a top secret
combined operation with allied governments and they don’t want to
alarm any of the non-allied countries. Bambi can keep an eye on
them and if some one attempts to circumvent the process, we can
have that head of state deal with it. If it’s severe, we’ll do
whatever we must to keep the lid on.”

He paused, and then asked, “Got that, Bambi?”

“Got It.”

“Good. Now, what about the idea of breaking into the
beacon security? If we can pull it off, it could prove to be the
difference in our first engagement with the Saurans.”

Jo looked nervous, or at least Mike thought he did.
He still had a lot to learn about Thorian body language and facial
expressions.

The alien said, “I must urge Bambi to use extreme
caution. If she fails and a warning massage goes out, then we won’t
be dealing with a small Sauran convoy. We’ll be facing a task force
of a hundred warships.”

Max was aghast. “Really? Are you sure? They would
actually respond with such force?”

Jo awkwardly nodded, trying his best to emulate the
human method of a positive response. “Yes, I believe so. I’ve told
you over and over, they are very cautious and they don’t like
taking risks. So when they respond, they will send overwhelming
force to ensure victory. It is their way.”

Mike uttered, “Well shit.”

He and Max exchanged glances and he said, “It seems
to me that we’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t. The only
real difference is WHEN we have to face a fleet of that size, not
whether or not we ever do. The advantage we gain, if Bambi can do
it, will be significant for us.”

He looked away, as he made his final decision.

“Bambi, do it. And you be damn careful. Go as slow
as you have to and let us know as soon as you have some
results.”

“Yes sir, General.”

“Gentlemen, let’s go brief my son and his wife.”

Wayne was very concerned about setting off a trip
wire, as he called it. Mary, on the other hand, ignored that
possibility and openly seemed thrilled that her ideas were being
taken seriously and being acted on.

She told them, “I have a rough design for a new
smaller space fighter that won’t have the range of the ones in
storage. It will be slower and have only one plasma gun. It can
carry four homemade missiles in its tiny cargo area and they will
be autonomous. In other words, fire and forget. I have no idea how
effective they’ll be. But it’s something we can shoot at them and
we can manufacture them in large numbers. Also, this fighter can
carry a pilot, or be used as an autonomous drone.”

Max observed, “We’re coming up with a lot of stuff
that needs to be fabricated. I doubt we have that kind of
manufacturing capability”

Mary smiled, “No, but the Earth does. The fighters
will need some unavailable parts that are made of special material,
which the Earth has never seen and doesn’t know how to produce. Our
fabricators will make those parts for them and we’ll deliver them,
as needed. The fighters can be built at Lockheed’s skunk works.
It’s secure and the men building them are used to keeping their
mouth’s shut. Same for the missiles.”

Mike asked, “What about the possibility of making
more space fighters like the ones in storage?”

“We have the fighters. Unfortunately, we don’t have
a full design program for them. We only have what amounts to a
maintenance manual. I’m still looking that over, but don’t get your
hopes up. Maybe when the other scientists get a look at the manual,
they can add to our knowledge.”

Jo expressed his surprise at her ability to make
adjustments to designs. “Mary, it’s hard to believe how fast you’ve
been able to produce these new designs. It’s given me hope that
once the new scientists have been upgraded, they will be able to
add a lot to this type of progress.”

“All I have is a rough idea of what might be
possible, Jo; and I emphasize ROUGH idea.”

Mike pointed out, “I know it’s too early to realize
what we might be able to accomplish. But, having said that, it is
good to see a glimmer of hope. Let’s not stomp on it. The
scientists we recruit could be one more step toward salvation for
the planet.”

Mary added, “That will depend on how well tomorrow’s
operation goes.”

Her comment would prove prophetic.

The breakfast seminar was to be held in a hotel
conference room, near Stanford University, in Palo Alto, Calif.
Once the people had been gassed, they would be transferred out to
the shuttle through a side emergency exit. It seemed like the
perfect setup.

Mary arrived early and shared breakfast with a few
of the early guests and her husband, who was playing security
guard. She waited for an additional; ten minutes, allowing any late
arrivals to get in before she went to the podium and made her
announcement. As she looked out at them, she counted a bakers
dozen. She had hoped for more than thirteen people.

“Ladies and gentlemen, because this is a highly
classified presentation and concerns the security of the United
States of America, we will be locking the doors in two more
minutes. This presentation will take approximately twenty minutes
and be followed by a Q & A. Anyone who cannot stay for the
presentation must leave now. When it has ended, anyone wishing to
leave may do so at that time.”

Mary had been to a few of these and she was sure
that many of the attendees had also. So, she used these words as a
standard beginning, which would be the expected procedure by the
scientists.

At the two minute mark, Wayne locked the two
entrances and she went back to the podium. Just as she was about to
tell Bambi to begin the gas she had the shock of her life.

Mary, Wayne, get down on the floor now. The shit
just hit the fan. I don’t how or why, but the police are about to
bust this party.

No sooner had she commed, than the doors burst open,
shattering the wood panels and a dozen police ran in with guns
drawn, screaming, “Everyone on the floor, NOW, and don’t move. This
is an unauthorized meeting, by unknown parties and we have reason
to believe some of you are in danger.”

Mike and Max had been listening through the comm and
Mike was the first to respond.

He commed,
Max and I are coming in to help. Wayne
and Mary, you are authorized to stun, with superior force, which
may or may not prove deadly. Don’t question me, just do it. Take
down those cops. They can’t see or hear the shots, so they’ll have
no idea who is behind them.

Bambi, hit ‘em with the gas.

She told Mike,
It won’t be very effective,
General, because with the doors open there is enough of a breeze to
dilute the gas.

Do it anyway. It’s got to take down a few people for
us.

Wayne began shooting, but Mary hesitated. After her
husband had stunned three officers, a few of the policemen began to
fire at him, because he had to raise up to get a clean shot. When
he was hit, Mary went ballistic, at the sight of her husband being
shot and possibly killed. She began taking out cops, with maximum
force. Her shots were blowing two inch holes in everyone she shot
and she didn’t miss, as she made her way over to Wayne.

Just as she reached for him, she was struck four
times and went down. Wayne had been knocked down and it hurt where
he had been hit, but he was all right otherwise, as the nanites
began to do their work on his pain. He crawled to his wife, as the
remaining police angrily screamed for everyone to surrender and
several of the scientists cried out in fear.

That’s when Mike and Max began to cull the police
from behind, dropping them quickly with carefully placed stun
shots. As soon as the police had been quieted, Mike ran over to
Mary and saw that was she in pain, yet breathing.

Bambi commed everyone,
She’s OK. She’s hurt and
frightened and a little stunned by the action, but she’ll be fine
in a few minutes. Her vitals are looking solid and the nanites are
already repairing what little damage she incurred.

Mike, cool as a cucumber, commed,
Bambi, hit
these people with the gas. Wayne, get Mary into the shuttle. Max,
help me start loading these people. Bambi, send in the robots to
help us and if there are any more police on the way, let me
know.

Yes sir.

Finally, the gas began working, as Bambi sent
individual micro-drones to each scientist and sprayed them. Max and
Mike began carrying two people at a time, but the robots worked
rather slowly, or so Mike thought. He would address that with Bambi
at a later time.

They dropped the unconscious scientists just inside
the door of the shuttle and went back for another trip. Wayne began
putting them into med units. Between Max and Mike, they only needed
two trips. The robots each made two trips. For the last scientist,
Wayne ran out, lifted her carefully, and took her into the
shuttle.

Mike told Bambi to go stealth and take off
immediately. As they lifted off, she commed,
There is a swat
team on the way, but it won’t matter now, because we’re already
gone, as far as they can tell.

Mike asked,
Bambi, what happened? What caused
those cops to show up in such numbers?

I’m picking up a lot of radio traffic on some
interesting frequencies, other than the local police bands. The FBI
uses these. It seems that when a mystery woman invited a group of
retired scientist to a top secret meeting, the FBI was notified.
Someone who Mary invited was apparently still working on some
classified project and he was concerned that he had never heard of
this woman and that his retired colleagues might be in
jeopardy.

So, he made a few calls through his contacts at work
and they told the FBI. The Feds checked with DARPA, and a number of
other agencies, none of whom had any knowledge of this meeting.

The FBI was suspicious, but not terribly concerned,
as they get several of these calls a week. The local office was
heavily involved with a major drug investigation and short of
people to follow up on this report. They didn’t have the time to
pursue it, so the FBI notified the local police. They went a little
overboard and took it as a terrorist threat against the scientists.
They felt that we were either going to kill them or kidnap
them.

Max observed, “Well, they were right. Someone was
trying to kidnap them and now those scientists are missing.”

Jo suggested that they should try calling the
President, but Mike wasn’t in the mood to speak him.

Max told them, “If he has done what I suspect he’s
done, he has a small group of trusted advisors trying to find out
anything at all about us and our backgrounds. I’m guessing he has
my complete file and Mike’s sitting on his desk; and pretty soon
he’ll have Wayne’s and Mary’s, too. If those people have half a
brain, once they hear about what happened out here, they’ll put it
all together and realize it was us, trying to grab some brain
power.”

Mary was upset. “Oh no. They’ll never trust us now.”
She paused, and then asked, “Bambi, are all of the men we shot
OK?”

“Not really. A few if them have died.”

“Oh dear Lord. I’m so sorry. I know it was me who
killed those poor men. I panicked and didn’t use reasonable force.
When I saw Wayne get shot, I wanted to retaliate. So, I just
started blasting.”

Mike softly told her, “Mary, you’re the only person
here who has never had to kill someone. It’s not a fun club to join
and I’m sorry you’ve had to become a member. But, I was watching,
as the event unfolded, and I can tell you that if you hadn’t
reacted as quickly as you had, those cops may have hit you or Wayne
in the head. That could have proved fatal. You did what you had to
do, not what you wanted to do.”

With tears running down her face she said, “Those
were innocent men just doing their jobs. I feel like hell.”

Max said, “Good. You wouldn’t be the kind of person
I’d want on my team, if you thought you had been a hero and felt it
was wonderful. I’ve seen young soldiers brag about getting their
first kill, and then fall apart two days later. We’re all here for
you, young lady. We all know how horrible it is to take a
life.”

Mike wasn’t going to belabor the point. She would
have to deal with it and in time she’d learn to accept the
necessity for what she had done. He didn’t say it, but he felt it
was good that she had seen some combat, such as it was. She would
become hardened now and she’d need that toughness for the job
ahead.

He stood up and told everyone, “We’ve finished with
round one. It’s time to head back to the Mother Ship. Bambi, take
us home.”

“Yes sir.”

Mike kept his expression neutral, yet his thoughts
were anything but. They had achieved the first steps toward
building an organization that he hoped would be the foundation of a
new Terran Space Navy. He felt so out of his league. He was no
empire builder and he certainly didn’t want to be an Emperor.

His greatest concern was how slow things were
progressing. In spite of the recent actions, which were relatively
simple slam-bang affairs, there was still so much more to do.