The Navigator 2: We the People (13 page)

"Will you be required to kill anyone again?" Laura asked completely out of the blue.

"Yes, I will. I already have actually. But this time I know the reasons as well as agree with them. I also have full discretionary authority over the mission. If I don't feel it’s right, it doesn't happen." Joe replied. 

"How can you agree to do that again after what it did to you?" Laura asked, very concerned. "You were still having nightmares years later!"

Joe took her hand. "Calm down, Sweetheart. I only had nightmares about the missions that I shouldn't have been sent on. You helped me to put those ghosts to rest. What I've been asked to do this time is much, much different."

"You have to kill people; how is that different?" she asked.

"Because, by stopping these people I will be saving lives and preserving freedoms. I’ve far more intel of the missions this time, and I fully agree with the mission, or the mission doesn't happen," Joe replied. "The people asking me to do this, and they did ask, not order, have gone to great lengths to make certain I am aware of every aspect of the mission. I have full operational control, and I can stop it at any point. This is the real type of mission I was trained for."

"Laura, more than any of the others, Joe knows what really happened back then. If he says he feels comfortable working for these people, you have to trust him," Sharon offered.

Laura nodded. "Joe, I know how you feel about Sharon. But she never broke faith with you or any of the others. The night you left the Agency, a team arrived. They killed everyone and erased all trace of that agency. Sharon was the one that called them in; that was the reason she wasn't your controller on that last mission. She never betrayed you."

"Okay, if that's true, then why was she in Colorado Springs that time when those agents started following us?" Joe asked.

"I brought my own team in to stop them. Who do you think cleaned up the bodies of the two you killed?" Sharon said. "I didn't find out until later, but they weren't there to kill you. They were supposed to observe and evaluate you for possible retrieval. After that mess was cleaned up, I was called on the carpet for my actions. I explained that you have a chronic, incurable disease that would only get worse and showed them the proof that they missed.

"They tried to argue that you were still viable since you had taken out two operatives without injury or detection. I countered by telling them the only reason you succeeded was because my team was covering and assisting you. That wasn't the truth, but I made sure I could prove it. They believed me and decided to leave you alone," she finished.

Joe wasn't sure if he believed her, but her story did explain a few things. "Okay, I'll accept that."

Laura nodded, but turned to Sharon. "What are your thoughts? You've always said you wanted to get out of the life. This sure sounds like a good way to do it."

Sharon smiled at her. "I'll go if you decide to join. If you don't, someone will need to stay here and protect you."

Laura sighed and looked at Joe. "What do we need to do?"

Joe smiled. "Just get your stuff and come with me. I have a… 'plane' waiting."

When Joe and the two women got back to the plane, Joe opened his brief case and handed Sharon a file on The Citadel, what they were planning for it, and why.

She had only read the first page when she looked up. "Mental abilities? You only mentioned Navigation, and I thought that was more of a skill than an ability?" Sharon asked.

Joe shook his head. "No, the ability to Navigate is a mental ability. It can be trained into certain special individuals, but only with limited success. I am a natural Navigator. I'm told I'm one of the strongest so far discovered. You will be working directly for the Council and charged with overseeing Navigator training and our general well-being. There is a lot more to the story, but I'll leave that to others to explain."

Joe touched a switch on the arm of his chair. "Shana, can you let Alpha team know to proceed with the mission? You can also prepare to return to the station, and can you connect me with the Admiral, please?"

"Certainly Colonel. We should be taking off very shortly," Shana replied. "Our flight time will be thirty-one minutes. The Admiral is on holo-comm two."

"Excellent, thanks Shana," Joe replied.

A hologram of Admiral Hawklings took form in one of the comfortable chairs, surprising Sharon and startling Laura. "I take it your mission was a success, Colonel?"

Joe nodded. "It was. Sir, please allow me to introduce my wife, Laura Anderson and her lover, Major General Sharon Sorenson." He turned to the two astonished women. "Ladies, I am honored to introduce you to my immediate commanding officer and friend, Admiral Abraham Hawklings."

"It is a true pleasure to meet you, ladies. Colonel Anderson has spoken highly of both of you. Now that I know you are joining us, I'll make the arrangements for your arrival," Hawklings replied. "Colonel, one of the new precogs has seen the capture of one of the gifted. She said it'll be tomorrow evening on the east coast of the United States. How do you want to handle it?"

"I'll talk to her after we get the ladies set up in medical. Maybe we can go in early and just avoid the agents all together," Joe replied.

Hawklings nodded agreement. "That would be the best solution. I'll let you handle it when you get here."

Joe nodded. "Thank you, Sir, we should be seeing you in about a half hour, I see we're getting ready for takeoff."

"We'll see you then," Hawklings replied and closed the channel.

"Holographic display, huh?" Laura said. "That's pretty snazzy."

Joe chuckled. "Honey, you haven't seen nothing yet"

"So, if we're on a plane, how are we going into space?" Sharon asked.

"Yeah, we're going into space. The answer to your question is this isn't just a plane," Joe replied.

Sharon raised an eyebrow at him but went back to the file when he didn't elaborate.

Laura asked. "So what was all that about going into medical?"

"Well, for starters how would you like to be free of those migraines you have?" Joe replied.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "What do you mean? This isn't going to be some experimental surgery shit is it, 'cause you can turn this plane around right now if it is!"

Joe laughed. "No, it's not experimental anything! It's advanced medical technology that's been suppressed on Earth. Just ask the Doctor about it when you get there. He'll explain it to you far better than I can. It is kinda scary, but they really do know what they’re doing. After all, they cured everything that was wrong with me and even helped me get back into shape. I'm completely healthy now, probably more than I was even when I was young!"

Sharon closed the file and handed it back to Joe. "That is going to be a major project. I'm not talking about rebuilding the Citadel either; the whole thing will be an ongoing challenge."

"I recently had to pay a professional visit to the old Citadel. The leader had developed a very limited mind control ability and was using it to try and take over. I met him; he was totally insane, classic megalomania at its finest. Anyway, the Council asked me to take care of the problem by eliminating him and any of his minions that couldn't be otherwise helped. The Citadel was destroyed due to hostile action, but we managed to evacuate most of the personnel first. The leader, Jared Small, and his minions were still on the station when it was destroyed." Joe replied.

Sharon nodded. "I'm certain the community would have ordered your death if they were in this situation, but thankfully they aren't. However, I would like to know what is being done to make sure that a situation like that doesn't happen in the future?"

"Putting you in charge of the Citadel is one of those precautions. The Citadel itself will be undergoing a few fundamental changes in the way it functions in an effort to prevent the abuse of our abilities by anyone, including us. We will be raising our own children. We will create schools for them that will teach ethics, morality, and duty with regards to our abilities and how we use them. We will be allowed to police ourselves with regard to our abilities: to that end we will be working out a few rules for our people." He frowned. "Unfortunately, I have a feeling I will end up being the enforcer of those rules.

"Right now, there are not that many of us, and most of us are of a like mind on the issue. We have a duty to help our fellow humans to work together for our mutual benefit. Manipulation or control of others is not to be allowed unless it is in defense of life." Joe paused. "That's really what my mission is about; to stop that sort of thing before it can take root."

"Where will you fit into the scheme of things after the new Citadel is built?" Sharon asked.

"I'm told my ability ranks me as a senior Navigator equal to or higher than Smalls. Originally, they wanted to put me in charge of The Citadel, but I convinced them a 'normal' human would be better suited for that position and suggested you," Joe replied. "I'm not certain, but I imagine I will simply be a Senior Navigator with extra duties as a Colonel in the Terran Marines."

"Terran Marines? We have a military?" Sharon asked.

"Not really, there are only a couple hundred of us so far, if I count the guards on Darkwater station." Joe grinned.

The dog, Merry, was spending the trip in Joe's lap. Shortly after they had left the airport, she raised her head and whined a little, looking around. Joe just petted her lovingly to calm her. He knew she had felt the antigravity engines come online and was only responding to that.

Laura smiled at him. "I think someone else missed you too."

Joe nodded. "I missed her. She always did seem to know when I needed a cuddle. I guess it's my turn to give her one."

"So are you going to tell me about your girlfriend before we get there?" Laura asked, grinning.

"Be nice to Becka! She did a great job helping me get used to all of this. She's said many times that she is looking forward to meeting you. I imagine she's going to be nervous enough as it is. She knows you're first in my heart and accepts that. All I ask is that you give her a chance, please," Joe said.

"Okay, I'll be nice. After all, she obviously has good taste in men. Does she at least like girls, too?" Laura asked.

Joe chuckled and nodded his head. "Yes she does, and she is a very pretty red-head. Keep in mind that she's only a couple of years younger than you, no matter what she looks like."

"Really? How old does she look?" Laura asked.

"When I first met her, I thought she was maybe twenty or twenty-one. She's been a Navigator for twenty years," Joe replied.

"Just how long has this place been running?" Sharon asked. "How is it that no one knew about it?"

"It started out as a Japanese commercial space project, but took on a life of its own when they discovered faster-than-light travel. At that point, the scientists in charge broke away from the corporation and became a semi-private, multi-national project. It's still a little touch and go when it comes to the different governments and intelligence agencies, but for the most part, they support us. As long as we remain autonomous, the various countries leave us alone. If one of them tries something to take control of us, we tell the rest of the world about it and the issue goes away." Joe explained. "The problems would be the tech we've developed, most of which came from Earth anyway, but the fact that we actually developed it, and in some cases improved or expanded on it, would very quickly put us at odds with the rest of the planet."

"What about funding, who's paying for everything?" Sharon asked.

"We're self-sustaining now. In fact, we export a lot of food and materials back to Earth. Not all of it is hidden very well either, after all how many Iron mines does Micronesia have?" Joe asked.

"Micronesia is a group of small islands in the Pacific Ocean. As far as I know, they don't have any mines," Sharon replied.

Joe nodded. "Yet they are exporting several thousand tons of magnetite and taconite a month. Of course it actually comes from either the asteroid belt or one of the moons in the Centauri system. We keep what we need and sell the rest on Earth."

"Holy shit, how many people are involved in this?" Sharon asked.

"I don't know exactly, but at least a couple hundred thousand. They are also taken from all over the planet, regardless of religion or political ethos. They all work together pretty well, too. I heard of a rancher that works very closely with a few of the farmers to keep his herds fed correctly. They supply him feed and vegetables, he supplies them with meat and fertilizer. The rancher is a Christian from the United States, and the farmers are Muslim and Irish Protestant. They all get along just fine. The only major problems so far have been this deal with The Citadel."

A chime sounded and Shana spoke over the intercom. "We'll be docking in a couple of minutes, Colonel."

Joe touched the control on his chair. "Thanks Shana."

"It was my pleasure, Sir," the captain replied and closed the channel.

Joe sighed, "Well, ladies, we're here. Laura, I didn't get the time to explain everything, but you need to know, Becka is pregnant."