Uplift (31 page)

That was the incident that got attention, but it was only after the cell video got accidently released to the public, that I was set free. Reporters descended on the base perimeter, and were not allowed in. Doctors came to see me, but I had repaired most of my injuries by then. I didn’t want an MRI, or CAT scans, to screw up Corey – he said it might. I demanded to see some authority, and whom did they take me to see, but Admiral Walt Simpkins with Colonel Majors.

I told Corey to totally wipe out the NSA – totally I said – and all NSA computers around the world began dumping files in the largest purge ever held. All remote sites that had been carefully isolated, had some form of communications, and that was linked eventually, and wiped clean. The names of those with ultra top-secret clearances were kept, while all others were wiped, including Colonel Masters, and Admiral Walt Simpkins. They lost all clearances.

I told Corey to release the duplicitous planning in the command trailer, but this time to the public, and show them ordering Garcia to beat me. I figured I might as well, before they killed me to hide the evidence.

I had Corey directly message the President with this message:
Every country in the world now has a fleet of powerful space ships – while we have squat. I die, or disappear, and a message showing you never intended to help others will be broadcast. You will go from diva to be damned. You will be vilified after your impeachment. Counting down… Colonel Masters, and Admiral Simpkins, are about to try to have me killed…not going to happen. Tick tock Mister President.
I notified my security to come running, and showed them my location, as well as Yaloo. They were to kill, or stun anyone in the way. This charade has gone on long enough.

Admiral Simpkins communicator buzzed, and he grabbed Colonel Masters by the arm. “What is happening? How? Stop it. Reboot. If it’s a cyber attack – then we need to retaliate. The Chinese are the only country capable – I’ll call the President,” he said, opened the special briefcase, and reached for the receiver, just as it rang. Yes Mister President. I was just going to call a nuclear strike against the Chinese. Shanghai first sir. We are losing all our intelligence abilities. All our data is being destroyed. No…All of it sir. Richard Patterson. He’s right here with me sir. We were going to have him executed…for treason. We’ve droned people for less Mister President.”

“Sir. We can’t just turn him loose. He’s dangerous sir. Yes I saw the video of his beating in the cell. Yes, we have stopped the construction of any new ships by these people. We don’t let supplies on the base. Yes. I can get Captain Pates here sir, but he’s dangerous too. You want him to meet you here…what do you mean – you’re about to land. Yes – General Green is in command over Bragg, and the 5
^th
Special Forces there. He is where? I should see him shortly,” Simpkins said, and we heard a siren in the distance rapidly approaching, as well as the running feet of my security team, and a group of Special Forces soldiers.

Colonel Masters stepped forward, and ordered the soldiers around me to “Execute this man,” pointing to me. Those soldiers held their weapons on Admiral Simpkins, and Colonel Masters instead, until General Green arrived, and stepped out of the lead vehicle.

“Admiral Simpkins. Colonel Masters. It is my regret to inform you that you have been disempowered. You are under arrest.”

“You realize, Green, that I outrank you,” said Simpkins.

“I don’t think you outrank the Commander in Chief. Men. Search them thoroughly, and take them to the holding cells. They are not to contact anyone. You will find an alien, a Graloc, I believe. Release him, and escort him to me, here. President Leech will be arriving momentarily,” General Green said, and turned to me.

“You are free to go,” he said.

“I hope you mean – free to return to work, or we will have issues,” I said.

“Don’t get all testy with me Patterson. I do what my boss tells me.”

“That is a wonderful excuse. I hope the world doesn’t pay for your obedience.”

“Don’t lay this on me Patterson. As a civilian you wouldn’t know…”

I cut him off, and started walking back to hangar three. “Read my file asshole.” I thought to myself – I’m 71, and fought more battles than he, and all his REMF buddies ever did, I thought – fuming. Arguing with an asshole is a lesson in futility, and not worth it.

I saw the president’s plane landing, and thought, fuck it – let him come to me. I wanted a burger, and a thick chocolate shake. I told Mel, and Joey, my security champions, to bring Yaloo to the hangar as soon as they could. I took the clothing, the set of BlackArmour, and weapons they had for me. I put them on, right there, on the tarmac. Stripping out of the prison garb was heaven. I felt like a new man.

                                      
****

The president, and his entourage, approached the conference room on the side of hangar three.

“Well. Mister Patterson. You got my attention.”

I didn’t say anything.

“I disappoint many of my constituents.”

I looked up. “Oh… of that I am sure.”

“You did not need to threaten me.”

“You could have fooled me. I guess the videos did their work,” I said. “I wanted you reliant on the world’s popular opinion of the US for once.”

The president laughed. “It was the captured ships in orbit that did it.”

“How so?” I said, genuinely surprised.

“When those two ships went into orbit, the other nations started calling me – me. They wanted to know how many ships – mind you – how many of their ships did I want them to put into orbit? I asked them how many they had available. The Chinese offered ten, Indians eight…overall, 38 completed ships were offered. The US has two captured ships, and they are now gone. You have two ships here. We need more,” said the President.

“You think?” I said. “I’m sorry Mister President, but this isn’t about politics – it is survival of our species.”

“So you think you are the one to ‘save’ the human race?”

“Mister President. You were doing everything you could to keep control, and
nothing
got accomplished – nada – nothing… You allowed policies that put the U.S. behind every country on our planet.”

“I’ve been persuaded. I want to offer you the full weight of our economic support,” said the President. “What do you need?”

I looked over at the President. “I suppose that is better than the full weight of American justice. Here’s a summary, but I’ve sent you a detailed list – we do not have much time.

1. Supply me with contact persons to arrange supply of materials. You will have received lists of materials.
   
2. Transfer the personnel of the 5
   ^th
   Special Forces 2
   ^nd
   battalion to move to stations on the ships we will build. I will be in nominal command. A temporary appointment as an Army Major General would help for the duration of the emergency. I do have five decades of battle experience. It would give YOU more control as my beloved Commander in Chief. It would also be easier to take command of a coalition of vessels from other countries – essentially under your leadership – another civilian command like your command of the military.
   
3. No more ships in orbit ‘til I say so – we may have a small fleet attacking us soon – if we look weak. More ships in orbit means a faster, and larger enemy response.
   
4. Grant amnesty to the Graloc officer Yaloo, and he will work with me developing new weapons. Give him a temporary Naval appointment as an officer – Captain?
   
5. We will supply new weapons to the fleet – all the fleet.
   

“Can you work with that?”

“I don’t have much choice,” said the President. “I will consult advisers about the military appointments. How about commodore?”

“Mister President. I am the only person on the planet who has commanded space combat – we won,” I said.

“You don’t need to remind me,” said the President.

I gave him a ‘letter perfect’ salute, and stood at attention. I was wearing a hat – I never saluted my previous Sigma troops without wearing cover. It actually felt decent to stand at attention holding a salute.

“Oh God Patterson…god I hate this…yes,” he said, and returned a half ass salute.

I heard him muttering as he marched off and I knew the military would hate someone who was not in the ‘fraternity’.

          Wallups Island ramps up production

It was a night versus day difference with US cooperation. Yaloo gave daily interviews, at the office on the periphery of base. Cort had taught him English, and he seemed to enjoy being a celebrity. His species was sufficiently humanoid, even with four arms, that he got several propositions from reporters – male, and female. I didn’t ask him how that worked out, but the military assigned him a plainclothes security detail. He disappeared one evening, and seemed much happier in the morning. What happens to aliens stays with aliens – I always say. The female reporter said the Graloc was not as endowed as human males, but ‘could manipulate all his appendages including…she was completely satisfied.’

Tractor-trailer truckloads of materials arrived daily, and many people tried to slip into the base. We allowed access for representatives from all our erstwhile allies, and they sent them to check us out. All of them asked us where our ‘other’ ships were, and we all told them we were holding those in reserve. We had to lie to cover the fact that our government had stopped all construction while they were producing ships in their accelerated programs. The ships WE were finally building were much, much larger than our original design. Yaloo showed how to design the multifrequency projectors the Xeeg ship had incorporated in its battle with us – ours was larger.

The new dimensional projector was turning out to be harder to design than we thought, but it was doable. It was going to be large. We couldn’t test it on Earth because we needed a longer range with no atmosphere. We used our same computer controlled mounts, only larger. We decided we could synchronize three projectors at a time to target the same point – increasing our destructive power. We used huge, multiple, accelerated time enclosures for construction. We were producing ten ships in them that were slightly bigger than the Xeeg ship. People were collapsing from overwork, but getting them built. The sprayed shell framework went pretty rapidly, but the interior wiring, and segmenting details seemed to take forever.

I kept running into Carole at odd moments, and we were still awkward around each other. I tracked her down on the ship where she was sleeping. She roused rapidly, and sat up when I knocked on the cabin door.

“What’s up?” she said.

“You know,” I said.

“You’re still talking about Hershel…Lord. I care for him. We’ve worked months together. He’s more my age.”

“I am physically twenty-five,” I said.

“Look Richard. You were my focus when I was stuck in that horrible job. You were the exciting neighbor. You went places, and did things. Then there was Corvette. I got to know you really well…REALLY well. You were good in bed. I like you, but it was like Stockholm syndrome…falling for your captor. Hershel understands me without a neural link. You’re old – mentally.”

I was shocked. I thought it was just a ‘thing’ that happened, but she felt more for Hershel than I thought, and less for me. “But we…”

“Oh yes, Richard. You are a great lover…great…but technique, and pheromones are not the only things. I think I need some space. I’ll tell Corvette, and Corey, to help me out.”

“Okay,” I said, and walked away stunned as the Chinese delegate approached me.

“Mister Patterson. We saw that you were installing a new type of weapon,” said the Chinese military officer.

“Yes Colonel Xie,” I responded as Corey produced his name for me. “We just sent the designs for one of the new weapons. We have another one, but we haven’t even tested that one. If it doesn’t kill us all – I will send you that one too. We are building larger ships, and we just sent those plans. Let me ask you – have your people built the link to our space sensors yet, and how is communications coming along with the coalition. We’ve determined to use English primarily since all personnel have had the new training modules.”

“Yes. We are able to receive its data. I have confirmed that what we see is what you are seeing. Our people are just now starting to work with your Special Forces on boarding operations. We have had some of our personnel developing techniques for the saber devices we were given. We have several handling, and fighting improvements to offer.”

“That is wonderful. Can you make training modules for use of the saber weapon? We will make it standard for all boarding troops – I think you would make many aliens regret ever coming to our system. I will make sure your people get the new weapon design as soon as we prove it works. Would you like to observe our testing? I would be honored to have you aboard.”

“Excellent. I understand you are getting a military appointment as a Major General in your Army.”

“You do have good sources, but it has not been certified yet. I did just take a VERY painful military training module that covered everything from the Code of Military Justice to personal hygiene. Wasn’t bad. Learned the most about passing in review, and inspections. Tactics for PsyOps was another interesting part.”