Talosian Chronicles 5: Raptor Squadron (6 page)

Ian narrowed his eyes at Ty. "Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to like this idea of yours very much?"

"Because it will involve your family," Ty replied. "Keep in mind that, at no time will anyone be in real danger. Most of what will happen is will be in a virtual simulation." Ty said and took a sip of his coffee. "When you go down tomorrow, I'll assign the
Damocles
as security with a newly released Cindy at the helm. While she protects you and the Councilors at the UN, your family will be 'kidnapped' in order to force you to surrender or something. That's when Cindy's test will begin. I'll wait until after your address to the Security Council before I call you and tell you what happened. We can simulate any evidence we need to convince her this is for real, but in reality, your family will be perfectly safe back on the ship. Once you and Cindy board the
Damocles
and she gets her armor on, it'll go into simulation mode and run her through the test. The
Damocles
will return to the ship, but you won't be able to make a jump until the test is completed, since she would be able to feel a jump through the simulation. At that point, everything that happens will happen only in the computer realm. In her mind, it'll all be real. She'll be pissed once it’’s over, but I can deal with that."

"Everyone but Cindy will have to know it's not real," Ian replied, thinking about it. "And I'm not happy using my family this way."

"Major Hiro of the
Samurai
and the Ambassador can explain the situation to the Security Council after you leave. That way, if they happen to overhear something, they don't panic and do something rash themselves," Ty explained.

"Can you get it all set up that fast? The meeting is at ten-hundred our time tomorrow."

"I'll have to jump through my ass to do it, but I think I can. The hardest part will be convincing the doctors to release her under these conditions," Ty replied.

"Offer to bring them along to monitor her. The armor should be more than capable of transmitting the data they'll need. I'm sure Beth will want to be actively involved as well," Ian said and nodded. "Do it. Get it set up. I'll call and let Luke know what's going on so he can be prepared for it. If you need me to do any 'pushing' for you, just let me know."

Ty nodded and began issuing orders over his data pad. Ian sat and quietly sipped his cappuccino while he waited. Ty looked back up. "I'll brief the
Damocles
team before I leave the ship."

Ian nodded his understanding. "I'll talk to Jenny and Beth about it tonight."

Ty was hesitant. "You'll have to send your kids to Phoenix Base. There is no proof, but I think she can sense them when they're close by. We can bring them back aboard as soon as the test progresses to the point where she gets close to them, that will help her believe the simulation."

Ian looked thoughtful. "It'll be difficult, but we can do it. I can ask their grandparents to watch over them and get them back here in time. You won't be able to use normal humans from Earth though. Our technological advantage would make it a very short test."

"Yeah, you're right. We could always use a scenario involving a left over faction of the Talosian Cadre. That would stress her even more since it was those assholes that forced the breakdown to begin with." He paused. "Sir, I'm not going to lie to you, what I'm going to put her through will be brutal. I'm going to do everything I can think of to cause her to break again. It's the only way we can be absolutely sure of her. Our only other alternative is to have a telepath work her over, and I'm not a fan of doing that. She is my best officer and has become a very close friend. It has to be done this way," Ty replied sadly.

"I understand they are dangerous, Ty. But is it really necessary to go to these extremes?" Ian asked.

Ty nodded. "Sir, let's say that Cindy does break again. Only this time, she decides that the UN is to blame, or worse, ARC High Command. What do you think would happen? What if she decides that everyone on Earth or New Talos is at fault?"

Ian frowned. "She'd be killed trying to fix the issue."

Ty snorted. "Only if we were very lucky. That would be the best case scenario, I'm afraid." He leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees and was as serious as Ian ever saw him; he even dropped the usual 'sir'. "Ian, if she wants to, she can become invisible; especially in a society that has humans in it. She has extensive knowledge of chemicals and explosives, is an expert marksman, and can walk past any ID scanner we know of without it detecting her. If she needed to, she could very easily and successfully hide from us. If she decides that someone needs to stop living, they will. Ian, she's better than I ever dreamed to be. We
have
to be certain about her, and we have to do it in such a way that we can control her or stop her if it fails. If we were still on Earth, the community would have already put a bullet in her head." Ty leaned back. "In my opinion, she is far and away the most dangerous and effective weapon system we have ever developed. We are the elite, Admiral, and she is the best of us."

UN Security Council Chambers

UN Building, New York City

Planet Earth

Sol System, Sol Sector

Ty's plan was indeed in place, although it was a bit more complex than even Ty had imagined it would be. The doctors from Atlas had insisted that they remain with their patient during the trial, but Ty had forbidden them from being in the Raptor with her. So, as soon as the Damocles left its birth, most of the psych ward from the hospital moved in and began setting up monitoring equipment for when the Raptor returned and the test began. For that reason, Lissa was ordered to place the Damocles in lock-down after it landed. It would remain sealed until the trial was over and Cindy was released from her armor.

Another complication to Ty's plan was that Ian would be in the Raptor with them. When Ty objected, he reasoned that in this test, Ian had a part to play and that part would be for him to insist that he accompany the team on any rescue of their children. Reluctantly, Ty agreed but only on the grounds that Ian wore his armor as well. Ian agreed and would bring his armor with them. The doctors had reluctantly agreed to release Cindy for 'light duty' and Ty assigned them as a guard detail for Ian's upcoming trip to the UN. He told Cindy that they would run her through the evaluation after they returned.

For her part, Cindy did remarkably well. She got back in the swing of things like nothing had happened and was on top of the security arrangements for the visit to the UN.

Ian looked out at the somewhat sullen faces of the assembled delegates as he explained the plan for protecting the planet if an attack was imminent. When he finished the Ambassador from the United States stood.

"Your plan sounds very effective and seems to have covered a broad range of issues in our defense. However, and with respect, Admiral, we will not willing allow a foreign power to place weapons of mass destruction we do not control in orbit over our country. If you wish to proceed with this plan, we demand that you surrender control of those weapons to us."

Ian smiled at the man. "Ambassador, I see that you still are having difficulty in understanding the situation. We are not asking for your permission to build those fortresses, nor are we asking your permission to place the weapons or shield units if an attack does come to this world. We are informing you of the actions we are taking. The plans are already being worked upon, several fortresses are already being built. We will not allow you to have control of any of our advanced weapons or technology. We have already made that very clear to you. We are simply informing you as a matter of courtesy, as to the actions we are undertaking on your behalf.

"Think about this, Ambassador; if we had intended on attacking any country on this planet, we would have already done so. That situation still has not changed. Therefore, you have no reason to fear these fortresses being built. I think I should also mention that, once online, they will be more than capable of defending themselves, so I would not recommend sending an exploration team up to one of them. No one will be allowed to approach any of them without prior authorization from System Defense Command.

"Oh, I forgot to mention that the fortresses themselves will be automated. They do not have the facilities to support a crew as one is not needed. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is happening. Construction has already begun. As we have in the past, we will continue to provide support for your own peaceful exploration of space as you request it, but we will not give you any weapons or technology that you can use to destroy yourselves. These fortresses certainly fall well into that category."

"You say that you will not allow us to obtain access to your advanced technology, yet you are assisting several mining consortiums on this planet, encouraging them to begin off-world mining operations with your assistance and technology. How do you explain that?" the Ambassador replied.

"I cannot answer directly to that, Mister Ambassador. However, I do know that none of the technology we will be providing will be allowed to be returned to Earth. I do know that some of the ores mined will be brought back down, but the ships that bring it will be guarded and protected. I believe the same sort of deal is in place for the food being grown on Atlas, if you would ever allow it to make it through quarantine. I am led to understand that you will eventually be offered to relocate a good portion of your heavy industrial, as well as other dangerous manufacturing facilities, off world as well." He shrugged. "I don't know all the plans for the future, I deal with the military defense of this world."

"You claim to be working for the protection of this world, Admiral, but yet you will not allow us a say in how those defenses are handled?" the Ambassador asked.

"We are working for the defense of this world, Ambassador. We have already proven that many times. As for giving you a say in how those defenses are handled, you have no one that is qualified to understand the issues involved. I do not mean to disrespect any of your military leaders, but this is something none of you have ever dealt with before, and there is simply too much to lose to allow you to bicker and fight among yourselves while you learn. There is far more going on out there in the galaxy that you people simply have no understanding of. To prove my point, I just read yet another report of an attempt by a government of this planet to capture some of our technology. The simple fact that the attempt was made is proof that not one single government on this planet is mature enough to be trusted with this level of technology. You are making progress; I will admit that. But as long as there are rogue factions within governments, or governments that are more concerned with their own power and money instead of those that elected them, none of this tech will be allowed to be passed to you," Ian finished, but it was clear he was getting frustrated with the old fools.

"Calling us corrupt and immature is not a very respectful thing to say, Admiral. We try to remain civil to one another here," the Russian Federation Ambassador replied.

Ian nodded. But out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Cindy was receiving a message. From her expression it was most likely Ty beginning the test. "That is true, Mister Ambassador, you do. You will also notice that I did not accuse anyone of corruption. As for the immature comment, that is only my observation of the actions of some of your governments, but again, I did not say which ones. I'm sure they are well aware of their own short comings.

"Ladies and Gentleman, I came here today to brief you on what will be happening in our preparations to defend this world. As I have done that, and it appears you have no further questions on that subject, I will step down now and let someone up here that can answer your questions. I bid you all a good day," Ian finished, bowed to them and stepped away from the podium.

As soon as he did, Cindy joined him as he was leaving the room. It was obvious to everyone in the room that something was wrong.

CHAPTER THREE

TDF
Raptor Damocles

Various Locations

Planet Earth,

Sol System, Sol Sector

Major Cindy Swift-Williams, Commanding

Cindy watched Ian telling the politicians what was going on in space as she scanned the room for threats. At least the governments of Earth seemed to have all agreed that this place would remain safe, and they wouldn't try to attack when 'the Terrans' visited.

Everything was nice and quiet security-wise, but she was beginning to wonder if Ian was going to punch the American Ambassador in the face.

"
Damocles
, this is Control. Security Alert! Ensure the safety of the delegates and get them back to the ship as quickly as possible!" a voice called over her comm unit.

"Control, this is Williams. What's going on?" Cindy asked putting her hand to her ear.

Ty Anders answered her. "Cindy, someone just grabbed Beth, Jenny and the kids. Three Marines are dead and another is in critical condition. We don't know how they did it, or who they are, but we do know they are using advanced weapons. We're not tracking Beth and Jenny's comm units either."

"What?" Cindy hissed. "How the fuck did these Neanderthals get our tech? Hang on, Ian just finished his speech, I'll get him in the comm."

Ian was already walking toward her with a concerned look on his face. "What's wrong?"

"Someone using advanced tech just grabbed Beth, Jenny and the kids. We've been ordered to get you guys back up to the ship," Cindy replied.

Ian nodded. "Get Luke and the others, I'll call Ty."

Cindy nodded and moved toward Luke, who was at the podium speaking. She once again opened her comm. "Lissa, get
Damocles
ready for launch. Full security alert people! Everyone else, we are escorting the VIPs back to the shuttle. Full shields; we're facing advanced tech."