The Navigator 2: We the People (14 page)

Joe saw the spark of anger in her eyes at that. It was one of the things she had always wanted; to give him a child. "Now, before you get pissed, you need to know some things. Part of my duty, as I explained before, was to pass on my genetics. Becka actually is a part of that. Also, once you get through medical up here, there is a damn good chance you will be able to give birth again too, so will Sharon." He paused as she thought about what he was telling her. "Yeah, she got pregnant first, but you will be able to have the child you've wanted as well. Laura, she's happy as hell with the pregnancy, please don't condemn her for it."

"Colonel, you've only been gone for two weeks. If she is part of the breeding program, are you sure you are the father?" Sharon asked in her blunt way.

"Jared Smalls ordered The Citadel doctor to use only his semen for the inseminations. Most of the women refused to allow the procedure, I say most, because he used his power to 'convince' some of them. Becka was not one of those women. Since I am the only other man she has been with, it kind of limits the possibilities," Joe replied as he felt the ship set down in the big landing bay.

"So if it's only been a couple of weeks, how do you know she's preggers?" Laura asked.

"Actually, it's been less time than that. Part of the medical treatment up here is medical nanobots. They reported her condition to the medical computer when we returned to the station two days ago," Joe explained. "The doctors will explain the whole thing to you when we get to medical. For now, there are some pretty important people waiting to meet you."

True to his word, Admiral Hawklings was there to meet them, as was a nervous looking Becka. When Laura saw her, she hugged the younger looking girl and said thank you.

"For what?" Becka asked, taken by surprise.

"For taking such good care of our man. I'm glad you were here to look after him since I couldn't be," Laura replied.

Recovering her wits, Becka replied, "Well, it is a full time job!"

The group guided the two new women down to the medical section and introduced them to Doctor Ortigon.

"Ladies, we have just gotten your complete medical histories, and we should have no trouble assisting either of you," Haviar began. Joe interrupted him.

"Excuse me Doctor, I must be leaving soon and so will leave them in your care. Please treat them as you would any married couple."

"Ah, they are together?" He smiled and nodded. "I will treat them as I would my own daughters, mi amigo."

"Wait, where are you going?" Laura said with a little fear.

"There is something I urgently need to take care of, Dear. I'll be back before you know I'm gone, I promise," Joe said.

"I'll stay with them, Joe," Becka volunteered.

"I really appreciate the offer, Becka, but I might need you this time. A breakout has been predicted tomorrow evening, and an empath would be good for what I'm planning." Joe said.

"Right! Juno's prediction; I forgot about that. Uh, you should consider taking Abby instead. She's combat trained, as well as empathic. The girl that will be breaking out is young, Joe. Abby would be better able to speak to her than I would," Becka suggested.

Joe thought about what she said. "Is she healed up? It's only been two days…"

"Haviar released her for light duty this morning. The wound is healed but the muscles that were damaged have to be strengthened," Becka replied.

"So you're leaving us?" Laura asked, a little fearfully.

"Sweetheart, I have to; a young girl will be killed if I don't," Joe said in an effort to get her to understand.

"Mrs. Anderson, in reality, you will be unconscious for the first couple of days as we treat you," Haviar explained. "However, if the Colonel has not yet returned when you do regain your surroundings, I would be more than happy to keep you company." He was smiling winningly.

"Laura," Joe said. "This place is not the scary intelligence agency I told you about so many years ago. I trust these people with my life; you can too."

Haviar nodded. "Si, it is not because of what the Colonel is I offer this, rather because of who he is; and that is someone I can call amigo."

Joe grinned. "Besides I promised him three whole Pesos to look after you!"

Without missing a beat, Haviar retorted in mock outrage. "Three! You said four earlier! What of my starving children?"

Both Becka and Hawklings burst out laughing at the teasing banter.

"Haviar! You're not even married! You don't have any starving children!" Joe replied.

Haviar nodded. "That is true, but how am I supposed to find a good woman on such meager pay?"

Now, Laura and Sharon were laughing too. Joe looked back at Laura. "See? They're not evil people. They're good people that care about others. You can trust them," Joe said and took the smaller woman in his arms. "I won't be gone very long, two maybe three days. If I'm not back here when you wake up, I'm sure the Admiral will let you call me."

"Of course!" Hawklings said. "Why wouldn't I?"

Laura sighed and nodded. "Okay, but you better be back here to get us buster, or I'll track you down again!"

Joe kissed her tenderly on the lips. "I will. I love you."

Since he was looking her directly in the eyes, she looked back. "I love you too. Be safe."

"I will be, I have a few new tricks to help," he said and turned to Sharon. "Take care of her please,"

"You know I will, Colonel. Good luck, and God speed," Sharon replied, using the same phrase she had always used when he left on a mission.

As Joe headed for the door, he heard Haviar begin the explanation of what was going to happen to the two women. He stopped and looked back at his wife. Becka caught him looking and smiled at him. She winked and waved for him to go.

Admiral Hawklings left with Joe as a guide and to speak to him. "We've got a pretty full house up here at the moment. We let Becka keep your quarters, but you're sharing them with Cassie and young Abby," he explained. "Laura and Sharon will have to remain in Medical until it's time for them to depart for BC IV. I've talked to the shipwrights and gotten them to release two of the new larger ships; the liner was to be the first off the line, but the other ship is a cargo vessel. The liner will be here tomorrow, but the other ship is still being built, it'll take at least two more days."

"I thought all the new ships were going to be cargo only?" Joe asked.

Hawklings shook his head. "Every fifth ship is going to be a passenger ship. We wanted to have them available to increase our population as well as when we open a new planet for colonization. When we do establish a new colony, we'll send a small fleet of these ships instead of a larger ship. These are easier and faster to build, and can be used for other purposes."

"What about warships or defensive platforms?" Joe asked.

"Why build them? We haven't found any aliens to defend against!" Hawklings replied.

Joe stopped and looked at him. "Sir, with all respect, there are aliens. They have visited Earth and most likely still are. That isn't just my paranoia talking either. Look up the incidents; the first is called the Battle of Los Angeles that took place shortly after the start of World War II. The other incident is called The Phoenix Lights. I will admit a good portion of the rest of the reports sound pretty questionable at best, but those two incidents stood out for me."

"You really believe in Aliens and UFOs, don't you?" Hawklings asked.

"Yes Sir, I do. Look into those reports and try to sift through the bullshit and misinformation, and I think you'll begin to understand why I do," Joe replied. He turned and they started walking again. "I will grant you that the Internet is not the best source for information on the subject, but it's all I had."

"I'll look them up, Colonel," Hawklings promised.

"But, that's not the only thing we may need to defend against, Sir. The governments of the planet will eventually figure out what's going on up here, and they will come for us. Trust me here, it's a certainty," Joe said. "There is no way they can abide a large, off-world population that they do not control. Toss in the existence of advanced tech, and they will kill every one of us to ensure their domination."

"You really don't like those folks, do you?" Hawklings asked.

"Sir, the people are just that; people. As an entity, no, I do not like what the world's governments have become. I have an unprovable belief that there are only a few people that actually run the whole damn planet. That's who I fear will come after us." Joe replied. "Calling them 'Illuminati' would be a joke; there is nothing enlightened about them unless it's their own self-interest. It's the entire reason World War II actually ended."

"Didn't we defeat the Axis powers and that's what ended the war?" Hawklings asked.

"Yeah, that's what ended it, ask yourself this; what happened to the Nazi's just before that? They were actually winning the war as a whole, even though the allies would win some of the battles. What happened that stopped that huge war-machine from over-running all of Europe?" Joe asked.

Hawklings shrugged. "As I understand it, they moved too fast and stretched out their supply lines. They literally ran out of gas in the middle of the battle field."

"Histories are written by the victor's, Admiral. The truth is, they had the ability to resupply, they simply didn't have the supplies. Hitler's suppliers shut him down when he refused to follow their orders.

"When he left office, President Eisenhower warned the American people that too much power had been given to the military industrial complex during the war. They knew exactly what had happened to Hitler's army, and Ike tried to warn the people. No one listened, no one took his warnings to heart. Now, if you look in the right places, you can see who really runs the United States, and it isn't the people," Joe replied. "A very good example of that corruption is what we are fighting right now. Do you honestly think anyone would volunteer to be turned into one of those… things?"

"What do you mean? Those agents you fought, the cyborgs, they made their own decisions," Hawklings replied.

Joe shook his head. "No, they didn't. They were fucking drones, just like that fighter craft, remotely controlled by a computer program. Eventually, we'll see every military in the world turned into those zombies."

"Interesting choice of words, Colonel," Hawklings replied.

Joe shrugged. "That's what they are. There is no trace of humanity left in them. In the original plan I saw for them half of the brain was replaced with a control computer. It also called for deceased soldiers that had volunteered for experimental use after death. That was twenty years ago, I'm sure they've been 'improved' since then."

Hawklings shuddered. "One of these days, I'd like to hear more about this shit you discovered back then. I'm sure the Council would too. With programs out there like this, we may have more to worry about than just a few cyborgs."

"Sir, I am a conspiracy nut. I'll freely admit that. But, there is usually some truth involved in any conspiracy, that's what tends to make them at least somewhat believable. I do know that some of the stuff out there is far worse than anyone could have dreamed up," Joe replied as the two men stopped before a door. Hawklings reached out and rang the admittance chime.

"I did tell them you would like to speak to Juno about her vision. She said she would be happy to help in any way she can," Hawklings replied.

Although the Doctor was talking to them, Laura felt a moment of fear when Joe left them. She'd saw him stop and look back before he left. He smiled before he and the Admiral left. He had changed a lot in the last two weeks. He seemed more… alive now. Back at the trailer park, she'd thought he'd been happy with their life. But seeing him as he was now, it was like night and day.

She couldn't help but think about it during the rest of the doctor's explanation. After answering a few questions, the doctor left the women to discuss the issue and make the preparations for their treatment. Becka stayed with them.

Laura looked at the younger looking girl. "Becka, I'd like to thank you for taking care of Joe and helping him the last couple of weeks. I'm a little shocked by him though; he's very different than what he was."

Becka smiled at her. "I'll admit I didn't know him at all before we picked him up, but even then, I knew there was something special about him. I still can't tell you what that is, but I can tell you I love him. That being said, you have always been first in his heart. From the very beginning he made sure to let me know that no one would ever replace you in his heart. Honestly, I never wanted to. I will have to adjust to sharing him, but I've always known I'd have to.

"It's a little hard to explain, but when we're together, our minds kinda link as well. I can feel what he feels. I know how he feels about you because he's shared that with me. I know that what he feels for you is a bond that no one else will ever be able to intrude on. He told me that long ago, when he first told you about his past, you saved his life by accepting him. When he got sick, you stayed by him and kept him going. Laura, never, even for one second, think that anyone will ever replace you in his heart."