Captured (The Prometheus Project Book 2) (20 page)

“Hello Ben … Amanda,” said President Quinn, shaking their hands, his voice deep and commanding.

“Mom and Dad know the president!”
broadcast Ryan in disbelief.

“It sure looks that way,”
replied Regan.

“Come in, come in,” said Ben Resnick.

The three men entered and Mrs. Resnick closed the door behind them.

Ben Resnick faced Kevin Quinn. “I’m glad you could make it, Mr. President.”

“Me too,” said the president sincerely. “But, unfortunately, I only have a few minutes. I’ve been at Prometheus since dawn and I need to get back there and complete my visit.” He grinned good-naturedly. “You may have heard that my planned visit on Saturday had to be rescheduled. Seems I was about to walk into an ambush.”

“I did hear something about that,” said their father, trying to keep a straight face and failing.

“But I was determined to fit this in, no matter how much juggling of my schedule I had to do. Sorry about making the kids late for school.”

Amanda Resnick smiled. “That’s quite all right. I’m sure they’ll catch up.”

He turned toward the kids. “As you have no doubt figured out by now, I have come here this morning to meet the youngest members of the Prometheus team. I had your parents hold you up from school so you’d still be here,” he explained. “I’m here to thank you personally for everything you’ve done.” He shook hands warmly with each of the Resnick kids in turn. “Ryan … Regan,” he said, “I have read the colonel’s report, and I have to say we’re all extremely lucky you’re on the team.
You know, when Dr. Harris told me he was adding two children to his team, I really thought he was crazy. Not anymore,” he said simply.
“Definitely
not anymore.”

“Thanks, ah … sir,” said Ryan, and his sister added her thanks as well.

“Don’t thank me,” he said. “I’m here to thank you. Not only have your actions saved the city itself and the lives of the people who were inside of it on Saturday, but you have also saved many billions of others from a truly horrible future at the mercy of a ruthless tyrant. So on behalf of the United States and the peoples of the world, please accept my sincere thanks. We are all in your debt.”

They both nodded as if in a trance, too stunned and overwhelmed to speak.

“Unfortunately, my thanks and deep appreciation are all I can offer you—for now at least. Have you ever heard of something called the Presidential Medal of Freedom?”

They both shook their heads no, still mesmerized by the president’s praise and his rich, deep voice.

“It’s the single highest civilian award in the United States, given to recognize individuals who have made a major contribution to the security or national interests of our country. Recipients are determined by the president alone.” He smiled and nodded warmly at the siblings. “I’m happy to say that your actions in stopping the threat posed by this hostile alien, this um … Tezoc …
more than qualify you for this honor, and I have made the decision to award this medal to each of you.” Before they could get too excited, frowning deeply, he hurriedly added, “But there is a catch.”

President Quinn paused. Everyone in the room waited anxiously for him to continue, wondering where he was headed.

“Here’s the problem,” said the president in frustration. “The Prometheus Project, and your involvement with it, could not have a higher top-secret classification. The purpose of the Presidential Medal of Freedom is to recognize outstanding accomplishment—publicly. So the country and the world can know what you have done. The only way I could give you what you’ve earned would be in total secret, which would defeat the purpose of the honor.” He paused. “So while I’ve signed a secret order giving you this award, the ceremony and presentation of the medals will be postponed until such time as this project is declassified, even if I’m no longer in office at the time. While I can’t tell you how much I wish I could just invite you to the White House tomorrow for a public ceremony, that isn’t possible. But know this: the medals will always be waiting for you, no matter how long it takes. I am truly sorry about this.”

Both kids’ mouths hung open in astonishment and delight.

“Sorry?” said Ryan in disbelief. “There is no need to be sorry … ah, sir,” he added happily. “Thanks. Thanks
a lot. It’s a fantastic honor. We don’t have to have the medals in our hands to appreciate it.”

Regan nodded her agreement. “Right. We understand why you can’t give them out now, sir. Just knowing that you wanted to do this, all by itself, is incredible.”

The president tilted his head slightly and grinned. “You two really are something,” he noted, impressed by their reaction. “Well, congratulations. You should know that you are,
by far
, the youngest recipients of this medal ever.” He raised his eyebrows. “Although I must admit that it’s possible you’ll be my age before you finally receive them.”

President Quinn sighed. “Unfortunately, I have to go now. But you both are quite remarkable, and I’d really like to spend some more time getting to know you better during my next visit to Prometheus.”

“We would be honored, Mr. President,” said Regan.

“Yes, anytime you would like, sir,” added Ryan.

The president nodded. “I’ll look forward to it.”

Dr. Harris and Carl said their goodbyes as well and headed for the door. Just as they reached it the president turned and scratched his head. “Ben, Amanda,” he said. “Have you ever considered having more children?”

“Ah … no, Mr. President,” replied Ben Resnick, having been caught completely off-guard by the question. “Ah … not for a while now, sir.”

“Well, maybe you should,” said the president playfully.
“Consider doing it for your country. As your patriotic duty. We could really use five or ten more kids like these two.”

Amanda Resnick’s eyes went wide. “Five or ten, sir?” she said, pretending to be alarmed.

“Well, ten or twenty would be better,” said the president, a huge smile coming over his handsome features. “But you’re obviously a very busy woman, so I would never ask you to have more than ten.”

“Thank you, Mr. President,” replied Amanda Resnick, fighting to keep a straight face. “That’s very reasonable of you, sir,” she added.

C
HAPTER
27
Underachievers

R
yan and Regan Resnick were signing in at the front office of their school when the principal, Lynda Lyons, poked her nose out of her office door. She saw the two siblings and shook her head. Five or ten minutes was one thing, but this time they were over an
hour
late. And they didn’t look guilty about it either. In fact, they looked so happy they were almost glowing.

There was something not quite right about these two kids. They were well behaved and did well enough at school, but they never seemed to go the extra mile. They were classic underachievers. They never did any extra-credit work. Neither one had even taken part in a recent Science Fair competition.

She had read in their files that their parents were both accomplished scientists and had even heard from their teachers that they wanted to be scientists when
they grew up. Well, they would never become great scientists if they never made any effort to learn about science outside of the classroom, that was for sure. And if this wasn’t troubling enough, they both seemed to be the last students to get to school in the morning and often the first two to race out the door.

But race to where? They were involved in precious few extracurricular activities. This was Brewster Pennsylvania, after all, and there just wasn’t that much to do. Because of this, participation in extracurricular activities was very high. There were so many activities to choose from it was hard to imagine a student not being able to find several they enjoyed. And the alternative around here was most often boredom, since there wasn’t even a movie theater or any other sign of civilization within a hundred miles of the town.

She stepped from her office. “Hello, Ryan,” she said. “Hello, Regan.”

“Hello Principal Lyons,” they both replied cheerfully.

“Running a little late, are we?”

“Sorry. We’ll try to work on that,” promised Regan.

“Forget to set the alarm this morning?”

Ryan eyed his sister mischievously. “I don’t suppose you’d believe that we were meeting with President Quinn because he wanted to thank us personally for everything we’ve done.”

Principal Lyons looked at them crossly. “No, Ryan, I don’t suppose I would.”

Ryan managed not to grin but he couldn’t help wearing an amused look on his face. “I didn’t think so,” he said. “Okay, in that case, we overslept.”

“Overslept,” repeated Principal Lyons knowingly. “Just as I thought. From everything I hear, you two are great kids. I just wish you’d put in some more effort. I really think the two of you are capable of extraordinary achievements if you would just apply yourselves.”

“You really think so?” said Regan.

“I really do,” said the principal. “I know you aren’t involved in many extracurricular activities. What do you find to do with yourselves? This is a pretty isolated part of the world.”

“We keep busy,” said Ryan.

“Well, what did you do this weekend for example? I don’t want to pry, so only tell me what you’re comfortable telling me, but did you do anything productive? Anything exciting? Anything challenging?”

“I’m gonna say, yes,” said Regan.

“Definitely yes,” agreed Ryan.

“Like what?” pressed the principal.

“Uh-oh,”
broadcast Ryan.
“Any ideas?”

“None,”
replied Regan.
“Maybe we should just surrender.”

Ryan sighed heavily. “Okay, Principal Lyons, I’m gonna level with you. Regan and I don’t need much excitement.
We just like hanging out at our house, spending time with friends, reading a little, doing a little hiking. I know a lot of kids our age need to be doing something exciting all the time, but not us.”

The principal nodded. “And there is nothing wrong with that,” she said. “Nothing at all. I just want to make sure you two live up to your potential. I would love for you to find something you could get excited about. To find something challenging to pursue that really interests you.”

“We appreciate the advice,” said Regan.

“Yeah. We’ll keep our eyes open,” promised Ryan. “Who knows? Maybe we’ll stumble onto something like that, after all.”

“Right,” agreed Regan. “You never know. It could happen.” She glanced at her brother and smiled. “To be honest with you, since we arrived in Brewster,” she continued with a twinkle in her eye, “I’ve begun to believe that just about anything is possible.”

The Adventure Continues …

The Prometheus Project

Book 3

Stranded

Ryan and Regan Resnick are trapped on a treacherous alien planet, surrounded by vicious predators, and in the path of a raging river of lava. And their troubles are only beginning …

When the Resnick kids become stranded on a primitive planet, they are plunged into a nonstop fight for their lives. But surviving on the deadly planet might be the
easy
part. Because if they can get back to Earth, they will have to face a ruthless adversary who controls a mysterious alien device. A device that is the most powerful, dangerous, and unstoppable weapon the world has ever known …

Bonus Chapter

Why Did Tezoc Zoron First
Set His Sights on Earth?

How Was he Able to Plan For This
Conquest While in Prison?

Turn The Page to Read a Bonus Chapter
That Answers These Questions.

The Alien Prisoner

This chapter was the first ever written for CAPTURED. It was written from Tezoc Zoron’s point of view, and was the beginning chapter of the very first draft of the book (although it didn’t make it into the final version). It takes place seven years before the events chronicled in CAPTURED
.

Tezoc Zoron surveyed the prison’s vast grounds and lavish facilities from inside the enormous mansion that served as his private prison cell. He sneered bitterly.

Sheep, he thought in disgust. The people of the planet Morca had become nothing more than pathetic sheep. He was sickened to be a member of the species.

He had committed unspeakable crimes, and how had they chosen to punish him?—by placing him in a prison that was grander than a palace. He shook his head. The Morcans had become so soft that comparing them to sheep was an insult to the sheep.

He walked to his study and sat in a recliner that instantly counterbalanced his weight, even as he shifted, exactly mimicking the effects of total weightlessness.

But as much as he despised his own people, he hated an arrogant alien species called the Qwervy even more. He had just entered prison five years earlier when they had revealed themselves to the Morcans. The Qwervy were the species at the top of the food chain in a galactic collection of civilizations linked together by a vast web of portals. Step through a portal and you were on another world, even if it was trillions of miles away.

Prior to this time the Morcans had been completely unaware of this galactic community. But that didn’t mean the galactic community was unaware of Morca.

Oh no, quite the opposite.

It turned out that the Qwervy had established an underground city from which they had secretly observed the Morcans for hundreds of years. During this time, the Morcans were apparently not advanced enough, not
mature
enough, to join this galactic community. Until now. How lucky for the Morcans that the Qwervy had finally found them worthy to sit at the grown-up table.

It was an outrage! The Morcans had been spied upon and treated like children. Who were the Qwervy to sit in judgment of them? Who were the Qwervy to snub Morca as they had for hundreds of years? Yes, the Qwervy had superior technology, but only because they were the
oldest
species in the galaxy, not because
they
were superior.