Guardian Stone 1: Stone Genesis (13 page)

### Later that evening ###

Joe and June Carson arrived about 15 minutes early and June was carrying a large plate of home made ginger snap cookies. As Sam let them in she commented, "Good Lord, you two look like you have found the fountain of youth."

June replied, "You know we have, and its incredible. This is really a second time around for me and I can't thank you enough for what you and Hank have done for us. Joe is livelier than ever and is thriving on it. I am involved in loads of things and am getting a better feel for where I can fit in." As she was saying that Hank came into the room, shook hands with Joe and hugged June.

"Its hard to believe how great you both look now compared to seven weeks ago. Can't express how happy I am for you both. Somebody waved their magic wand over you two and presto!"

"That was you and we are forever thankful. By the way, what did you do to Josh, he was at work today looking like a new person. That young man has a load of talent and I am happy to be working with him. He was looking a bit morose these past few weeks and I was worried for him."

"That is one of the things I wanted to chat with you about this evening. Sam and June, would you excuse us for a few minutes, we are going out on the balcony for a little chat."

Sam said kiddingly, "Hmpf, men and their secrets, wouldn't you know."

June said, "Well I suppose they have to have some fun."

"Come on, you know its not like that. We can sit here at the counter and you can hear everything we say."

Sam grinned, "I was just pulling your chain, go ahead out on the balcony, June and I want to bring each other up to date and compare notes."

June added, "Go out on the balcony and have your chat, you will let us know if it is anything we need to know."

Hank and Joe went out to the balcony and sat in the easy chairs there. Joe said, "can't get over this place, it's pretty amazing."

Hank agreed and said, "Yes, and the mountains are a really nice touch. I've been trying to find more time to go roaming in those hills. I am told there are some pretty amazing hiking and biking trails there. Anyway, I glad you brought up the thing with Josh. I really like Josh and feel that he is capable of great things, unfortunately I pushed him into that position before he was mentally ready for it. He has performed well and up to expectations but he does not believe that himself. He asked to be relieved of the number 2 spot and be replaced by you. He also said that he would like to work for you. He essentially said he would like a bit more seasoning. So I told him ok. In a few more years we are going to need equal positions at that level and I expect he will be ready when that time comes. I am hoping that you will accept this revision that places you as my exec and Josh as number 3. With your experience and tutelage I do not think it will take him long to gain the confidence to go with the rank. I am not babying him but I suspect that the jump from Colonel to Full General was beyond what he was mentally prepared for. What do you say, Number 2?"

"Of course I'll do it, I am not overly ambitious, and I didn't see this coming, but I think you are wise to allow him the adjustment time he needs. I will treat him as an equal because he does have the skills. He will come to see that. I just hope that I have the skill you need in that position."

"Joe, on that point, I have no reservations. In addition to your USMC experience, I notice you have been taking full advantage of the stations learning machines. You are probably the smartest General in this sector of space. No reservations at all. One of the more interesting things about this lash-up is that we do not have or need a budget. There are no constraints on getting the support other than finding the appropriate talent and mindset. If we need more ships, we ask for them and we will get them. Anything you need we will do our best to help you find and obtain. Appropriate talent is a bit more difficult. In fact I have a little project for you and Joan that we will talk about after dinner. Ah I see Fador has arrived and with a beautiful lady on arm. We had better go in and be sociable. After you my friend."

He and Joe greeted Fador who introduced his guest, "I am pleased to introduce my daughter Lasa-Dor, who is visiting from Tau Ceti. Lasa is in charge of the station and warship refinements that are done at Tau Ceti. I have wanted her to meet each of you so she can see the kinds of leaders we have preparing our defenses. Barana who is with us has met Lasa previously. I thought this would be a good opportunity so now you all have to be on your best behavior."

Lasa looked at her father with a surprised look and then to Hank when he replied, "no we don't," and Joe, June and Sam started laughing. 

She was momentarily startled and then a smile slowly formed as she replied, "So father, I think I now see why you think so highly of this man, his sense of humor is a mirror of your own."

"Someone has to laugh at his jokes." At which Sam sputtered while trying to sip a glass of wine.

"Not fair, you guys set this up."

The three men responded in unison, "No we didn't."

Barana added, <
but if they had had the opportunity, they would have
> bringing about another round of laughter.

Thus began an interesting evening.

Sam announced that all the food on the table was grown or bred on Station except for the salt and that came from Earth. After dinner they all helped with the clean up and then retired to easy chairs and couches in the Great Room to chat. Hank said, "this has been a particularly, I should say a spectacularly, productive day. Yesterday Josh asked to be relieved of his duties as Executive Officer, the number 2 slot in our Command Structure, and that the position be given to Joe. Josh wants to be moved to a number three position below Joe so he can gain more seasoning. I happen to think that Josh is a fine officer and has more than lived up to expectations but this was obviously affecting him so I agreed. Joe has agreed to switch places with Josh and provide the seasoning opportunities Josh has requested."

"Today Sam resolved a problem that has been bothering me for some time. Long story, short, using her suggestion, we were able to identify 79,000 telepaths in the crowd that has come up to the station in the past few days. I have had them all transferred to Station One so we can deal with that issue here. Fador, we are going to need a like number of your telepaths here to assist in their processing and training if at all possible. No doubt, there will be more as this program continues. We are still developing some ideas on how to utilize those talents in the coming days." He then went on to explain the research they had been conducting and the surprising progress to date. "I just have a feeling that we are going to need them in view of the developments we are seeing from that research"

"Now for the very welcome development that came out of todays efforts. It turns out that all of you are telepaths, latent or active. Yes Joe and June, you too. At this point, we do not know how strong but we can test that in short order and refine what you have. We can show you how to utilize it and to shield against unwarranted intrusion. One of the advantages that you have probably noticed in the past is that you could always detect when someone was lying to you. You just knew. That is because the liar was transmitting on a slightly different wavelength than that he or she uses to tell the truth. That is a very nice tool to have at your disposal. You can train that with a few more nights in the machine. Barana or Fador can talk to you if you have any trouble adjusting your shields or using your skills. Fador has folks good at providing that kind of assistance including a husband and wife team, Han-Far and Gan-Sel. Josh and Rose have it and so do Bill and Joann. It looks like I have been picking people for the Fleet Command who are talented this way. Now I want to be sure that this talent does not become an impediment and the training should take care of that."

"Joe and June, I have a little assignment for you that you might just enjoy. How well do you two know retired Admiral Dresser, Admiral Hawk and General Dawson and their wives?"

Joe responded, "very well, in fact we used to play a round of golf with them every other week or so and frequently socialized with them. Why do I get the feeling you knew this already?"

"Yep he's definitely telepathic. Joe, it is probably because I do know. I probably should have suspected that you had this talent the night you came aboard and thought it had something to do with something nasty coming this way. One of the things we sorely need is good commanders for our stations and for our Warship wings. We are having no trouble finding officers for our warships squadrons but a wing is ten thousand ships and that is a different ball of wax. Do you think those retired gentlemen would fit the bill?"

Joe replied, "You know, I had not really thought of that because of their age, they are all over 65 and reasonably healthy. But now that you mention it, and knowing what this station has done for June and I, those three are prime candidates. In fact I can think of a few more including a few foreign Admirals and Generals that would fit the bill. There is also General Isaac David in Jerusalem. Yes indeed."

"I understand that Admiral Dresser played a gag on you a few years ago that is still the talk of the course. How would you like to return the favor?  said Hank with a smile.

"In that Company, I would love to but have not really thought about following it up. I figured that I would just grin and bear it but if you have something in mind, I am interested."

"The whole idea behind this is to give you the opportunity to recruit the lot of them without revealing anything until to the right moment which would be when he realizes he has been had. He won't see June until after the gag because her appearance would be a giveaway. June are you willing to go along with this and work on the wives, I think you will enjoy it"

She nodded agreement, as did Joe. Hank then proceeded to relate how the plan would work.

Quantico, Virginia –

November 1 – C Day 63

Joe met with the three retired officers at the club house of the Medal of Honor Golf Course at Quantico about 3 miles from Joe and June's House. Vice Admiral Paul Dresser USN Ret, Vice Admiral John Hawk USN Ret. and Lt. General Richard Dawson USMC Ret. were all starting to show their years a bit, but their wits and competitive nature was still alive. They were all taken aback with Joe's appearance and vigor.  The banter went back and forth while they waited for their tee time. They chatted about their time in service and finally one of them recalled the prank that Paul had played on Joe some years before. It was a good story so he did not mind being the point of humor. Besides, he thought, payback is on its way. It was not unusual for this group to place a small wager as they made their way through the course. Joe rarely came out ahead on this practice. As they approached the first tee, Joe said, "I've got a fiver that says this one will be within a foot of the pin."

Dresser said, "In your dreams, you're on."  Joe hit his ball and it went straight to the green while the others would need at least another shot to get to the green. When they finally all arrived at the green, they saw Joe's ball was about 3 inches from the hole. Dresser said, "Nice shot, you've been practicing. That's a gimmie, I'll give you that."

"No, last time I played was with you yard birds before June got sick, haven't touched a club since."

On the next hole Dresser said, "I suppose that you would not like to lose that fiver you took from me with some really outrageous claim this time."

"Well I suppose I could, I'm warmed up now. Lets see this hole is 520 yards. What say within 12 inches of the pin in 2 strokes. Is that outrageous enough for a ten spot?

Dresser said with a grin, "You couldn't resist pushing the envelope. You do that and I'll give you twenty. You have never done better than five strokes on this hole."

When it was Joes turn to tee up, He powered the ball straight down the fairway for 390 yards with his ball stopping in clear sight of the pole and flag 90 degrees to the right of where the ball had landed. Dresser almost dropped his club and said, "You are using regulation equipment aren't you."

"Of course, I wouldn't cheat you."

Joe made a near perfect shot to the green. He allowed the others to approach the hole first and there was Joe's ball again sitting six inches from the cup. His caddy said, "Great Cucamonga" in disbelief. Dresser was flabbergasted. Hawk and Dawson looked at each other as if to say what is going on. Joe was humming the Marine Corp hymn. Dresser said "here is the twenty."

"What challenge would you like to pose this time?"

Dresser said, "The next hole is 'only' 275 yards, you can surely hit a hole in one at that piffling a distance."

"Ok, how many would you like?

Startled, Dresser said, "what?"

"How many holes in one would you like, one, two, three. That is all the balls I brought with me today."

"Give me three, your luck can't be that good."

Joe handed Dresser three golf balls and tees and said, I'll even let you set the tees. Dresser looked at Joe as if he was a stranger and said, "Ok this is getting spooky, where did you say we met the first time."

Joe started laughing and said, "Paul, you think I'm a ringer, not the real me. Well OK, you asked the embarrassing question so the answer is we met when I was rescuing you from…"

At that point Dresser realized he had made a serious mistake with his choice of test and quickly said, "wait, wait, wait, wait, don't say it. It is you, damn it is you."

"Relax Paul, relax, I won't say it. Let me take these three shots and then the four of us and our caddies can wander over to the picnic area for an explanation." Joe stepped up to the first tee and took his swing and drive. Before the first ball hit the green, he was hitting the second ball. Likewise before the second ball was down he was hitting the third. He then said while his caddy was picking up his bag, "Gentlemen, shall we go see what we shall see." When they arrived at the hole, his caddy looked in and said to the other caddies, "three, they are all in the cup."

Joe said to the caddies, "I think we are done playing but if you four lads would care to join us, you too can hear the explanation. Your tip today will be quite large. Would one of you go pick up some soda pops and chips for all of us including caddies and we will wait for you before we start." He handed one of the caddies a fifty-dollar bill and he ran off to get the drinks. They signaled the next group to play through and headed for the picnic area. They located a table with no one around and waited for the other caddy to rejoin the group. Meanwhile Joe returned the wagers and said that he had an advantage that they did not know so it was not an even contest.

When the other caddy returned, and everyone had a drink in hand, Joe started with, "You all know that Paul here as given a lot of people a laugh at my expense and my boss offered me a chance to even the slate, but I do not intend to go public with it. I have had my fun with his discomfort. That is the end of it. Still friends Paul?"

Dresser said, "Absolutely and I feel bad about what I did to you. It got out of hand and you took it really well. But yes, enough is enough. One more thing, while he did not tell you how we met, I will. Someone had booby-trapped the officer's head at Little Creek when we were having some joint exercises there and I was the victim. I was within inches of landing in the crapper when Joe rescued me. Most embarrassing. He has never used that information to counter the embarrassment I have caused him. For that you have my hand and friendship."  As Dresser extended his hand, Joe, using the thumb and forefinger of his left hand, took Dresser's extended thumb and holding it, took a look at his palm, then released him and shook hands with his right.  Dresser said, "What was that."

Joe said, "Oh, just checking to be sure you don't have one of those shock buzzer things in your hand." and everyone laughed. He then went on, "Does anyone have any ideas about what just happened here today."

There were some puzzled looks until Dresser said he thought he did and one of the caddies indicated he thought he did as well. Dresser said, "The only thing that I can think of is that you are part of that Antoran fleet upstairs and even that seems farfetched with the demonstration you put on today." The caddy that spoke up was nodding in agreement. Joe saw this and said, "young man, if you decide to look into life on a station, tell them General Joe Carson sent you, got it."

He responded and said, "Yes sir and thank you."

Joe said, "I was recruited a bit over seven weeks ago and both June and I were knocking at deaths door at the time. My boss up there, General Stone was concerned that we are not getting a sufficient number of experienced officers at your level to flesh out the command billets we need to fill. Part of this is because, at our age, many believe that we no longer have the ability or vigor to fit in so do not even apply."

General Dawson said, "wait a minute, you said General Stone, he's the Supreme Commander of the Antoran fleet, what is your position in the fleet?

"I'm his Executive Officer, second in command."

"And he has you recruiting."

"That is interesting isn't it. He does recruiting too. He recruited me directly."

"That's different, you're his second."

"Surely you do not think that he would send me to recruit second lieutenants? John, you saw me four months ago, what was your impression then?"

"You were pretty run down and looked downright unhealthy, a fair amount overweight. In fact I was worried when I learned you were going to play today. I was shocked when I saw you because the difference was extreme. I am still having a hard time connecting what I see here and what I saw then."

"The medical treatment units they have on board have essentially restored my health and with that vigor. It goes to work right down to the cellular level. It is what we are doing right now with millions of people who have volunteered to use the machines. You gentlemen are thinking too small with your lifespan and what you can contribute. Probably thinking that you will be long gone by the time we fight the Glarin, but that need not be true. You could be regaling your grandchildren's grandchildren with tales of what you have done if you want. We need experienced commanders who have managed large units, who understand large military structures and how to fight them effectively. We have 20 Divisions up there that need military commanders. We have 100 stations that require the same."

"General Stone felt that one of his principal sources for the command structure was going to be retired officers. He was disappointed after recruiting started at the lack of response from that group and realized that the lack of results was likely due to a mindset that develops when we old-timers feel that we have little left to contribute or believe that is how we are viewed by others. In my case, June was dying and so was I. Antoran technology reversed that in a matter of days." He went on to relate his story and that of others he knew. He briefly described the command structure and the massive amount of equipment to be manned. He described life on the station, the facilities available, the balance between preparations underway and leisure, the social scene and other opportunities including the learning machines. He explained his commander's view that both husband and wife had to be in agreement about seeking life on the station. He noted the choices for life after the invasion. He pointed out that he was a prime example of that agreement for change and that he was really curious to see other worlds. "In case you are wondering, those golf shots were not a trick. I did use a number of my enhancements and aside from that there was no external assistance. I can see with acuity better than an eagle and I can throw or hit object like a golf ball with precision plus or minus an inch from a distance of 500 yards. If that's 'carpe diem' I'll take it."

One of the caddies asked, "Sir, I have been caddying here to earn some extra money. It is hard in this economy to make ends meet on a sergeants pay. What I have seen and heard in the last hour is like a dream. My enlistment in the Marines is up in a month. My missus and I have been considering our options and if she is willing, where can we sign up."

"What is your name again and where is your missus now, son?"  

"Sir, I am Sergeant Benjamin Pine from Renton, Washington and Mary is at home with our two year old Ben Junior."

Joe said, "Tell you what, would you like to go talk to her now and see what she feels about the idea." Benjamin nodded affirmative. "I recall you said earlier that you had bummed a ride here, so here is what we will do. I am going to have you transported home and placed where you don't scare your missus half to death. You can discuss it with your wife and then when you say ready, Barana will transport you to my house and you can meet our wives. You will get there before we do so do not be uncomfortable. My wife will be expecting you. So you will have four grandmotherly types doting on junior.  Are you set to go." Benjamin nodded yes and Joe said, Barana, please take this young man home as we just discussed and let June know what is going on." With that Benjamin disappeared with a *pop* and Joe continued, "If you other young men want to consider this, there is a listening post on the northeast end of the parking lot for the Marine Corps museum over between I-95 and US-1. Just let them know that General Carson sent you." He then settled up with them for the caddy fees with a nice bonus and had Barana do the same for Benjamin. The caddies then left.

"By the way gentlemen, we do have golf courses on the stations but those have devices to tune the enhancements down to human normal so that the games are fair. Not everyone gets the same level of enhancements. Well gentlemen, this is not something you can decide without your wives. What say we retire to my house. We can have that lunch my wife promised and we can talk about it some more there."

On arriving at the house, Joe let everyone in. As he expected, Benjamin and family were there and judging by the huge grin on his face, it was easy to determine what their decision had been. The ladies were gathered around Ben Junior who was clearly enjoying the attention. June came out of the kitchen and said, "with this many people, I have moved things out on the deck with Ben's help as well as some assistance from Barana. Ben said this is about the time you would be arriving. He told us what happened, show off." Joe noticed that Paul, John and Rick were each talking with their wives and it was looking like the men did not have to do much selling of the idea.

Joe said, <
Barana, would you check and see if Hank, Sam and Fador are available for a few minutes, I would like them to try that little Psi test they used on the station. I suspect this might be a good group to try it on. Please let them know what I am up to
.>

A few minutes later Hank, Sam and Fador appeared around Joe. Without further ado, they applied the test to the others in the room except Joe and June with Barana shielding the house. All arms went up and down twice, even Ben Junior.  Joe said, "Can I have everyone's attention. It is my pleasure to introduce General Henry Stone, his wife Samantha and Fador, Leader of the Antoran people. They can only stay for a few minutes, but wanted to meet you." He then made introductions of all his guests.

When Hank was introduced to Benjamin, he said, "Ah, Sergeant Pine, a pleasure to meet you. I took a peek at your service record and you have done well. I brought you this from the Commandant and the President. It's your Promotion to Staff Sergeant, your Honorable Discharge and a Letter of Commendation. They think highly of you and wish you the best. When you are done with the initial indoctrination stuff with the station, I would like you to report to Sergeant Major Wall. He has been asking me for a good competent Marine to help him out. It looks to me like you are just what the doctor ordered. Ah, and this must be Mrs. Pine and Junior. I think you are all going to enjoy the station. I hope the rest of you decide to join us, we really need your talent up there. I am really sorry for the hit and run tactic here but I have to get back. Things are a brewing but I will spend some time with you when you get settled in, I promise." With that Hank, Sam and Fador disappeared.