

The Plan

and other short stories

by Stephen Brandon

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Copyright 2013 Stephen Brandon

Smashwords Edition

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Smashwords Edition, License Notes

Thank you for downloading this free ebook. Although this is a free book, it remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be reproduced, copied and distributed for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy at Smashwords.com, where they can also discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support.

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Author's Note

These stories are works of fiction. All characters, organizations, incidents, and dialogue are from the authors imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual locations, events, or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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Table of Contents

The Plan for the children

X Plan

Not Enough Wars

Camping in the Swamp

The Harappan Seal

The Ship

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The Plan

### for the children

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Author's Note 2

However, any concerned parents would desire their children grow up with the wisdom they've accumulated. Their plans, if possible, would be to leave their children in a much better position for success.

This story starts that way and then develops its own life into the Saturn series.

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The Plan Table of Contents

John

Grandpa Joshua

The Old House

The Junk Yard

Bob

Texas

The characters

* * * * *

John

John looked at the baby and thought back over his own life. The successes and failures he'd had were evident in his memory. His father had been a lawyer in Chicago when he graduated college. His parents had died in an automobile accident just three months later. His grandfather picked him up the night after the funeral on the way home from work. The next thing he knew, he had a new name and they lived in Arizona. He remembered the day he met Alice and the evening he brought her home and introduced her to grandpa. It wasn't until grandpa met Alice's mother that they were told the story about grandpas past as a collector.

His wife looked up from the hospital bed and said, "He's beautiful isn't he. Lets name him Joshua after your grandfather. We can now give him everything we didn't have."

"Yes we can but, we must shield him from all the mistakes in our past. Can we do that? Should we set aside money so he can go to college and be financially set up when he comes of age or learn how to stand on his own two feet."

Shockingly Alice replied, "We should set aside money for him and the others we'll have, but first we must teach our children to be more like us. We must teach them so they don't repeat our families mistakes. Just because you finally made enough money for us to be comfortable and not have to worry about how to pay our bills, doesn't mean we should leave any of our children a fortune. I'd still love you if we lived in a shack and both of us had to work just to put food on the table."

That weekend John evaluated his finances and business with Lee, a friend that was also one of his lawyers.

"I want to leave my heirs enough money so they'd never have to scratch like I did when I was young. Alice thinks that we must teach the children to be like we are now and how to avoid the mistakes we both made when we were young."

Lee's surprisingly commented, "You can't teach children the wisdom you learned through all the mistakes you've made."

* ToC *

Grandpa Joshua

Grandpa Joshua was a colorful character. He left San Francisco after several of his associates accused him of making their boss disappear. He never talked about his associates that accused him of that, although he told plenty of stories about other people that met unfortunate accidents. After all as a collector, and he got around.

The story that John remembered the best was about a man that borrowed some money from his boss. Joshua went out to collect and did manage to collect the interest. Of course the mans wife cried as Joshua broke the mans little finger and told them that he'd be back next week that weeks interest. After a few visits the man went to the boss and complained about Joshua's attitude. The boss told him that Joshua was just following orders and he'd better remember that. That evening the man was run over by a runaway freight wagon and killed.

That fact was explained to Joshua by the widow on his next visit. Now Joshua has some scruples, but when the situation was explained to the boss, he just said to kill the woman as an example to others.

After thinking about that order, Joshua gave the woman and her daughter some money and a ride out of town. After all, Joshua couldn't in good conscience just kill a woman and innocent little girl. He had a family of his own.

The boss was irate and finally confronted Joshua with the suspicion that he'd let them get away. The boss disappeared that evening on his way home. Two days later his lieutenant and another collector confronted him at home. That evening his house burned down and two bodies were found.

That is why Joshua and his family moved to a small town in Texas. Joshua's son was the first in the family to attend and graduate from college.

* ToC *

The Old House

Nineteen months later Alice announce at breakfast, "We need to set up another nursery."

John looked at her and said, "No, we need to move. I've been thinking about what you said. It'll be hard on us, but best for the children."

Six months later she looked at the old house and the overgrown garden between the house and the barn. The barn looked better than the house.

John said, "We'll have a lot of work to do, but I think this place will be the best to raise the children. They'll have room to play and chores to do that will hopefully teach them that hard work has it's own reward.

The old house groaned like it was going to break as it was lifted and move 100 feet south. It only took four months to build the communications center, security room, and the root cellar in the hole they dug under the foundation. Then the house was moved back and repaired. The closet under the stairs was modified with a trap door leading down to the security room. In the master bedroom was a hidden door leading down to the communications center. Outside the back door was a sloped double door leading down to a root cellar. All were connected by hidden doors.

John went to the local hardware store and bought plastic lattice to mount all around the pier and beam foundation to keep the animals out. The old guy running the store commented about all the heavy equipment that had been on his property for five months, so John said, "Yes, I had some major work done and the old house leveled. There was some real soft ground under part of it. One thing I didn't think of was having the plumbing redone."

The old guy commented, "There's a plumbing shop in town, but I wouldn't use him unless you can finish the work. His wife died as he was finishing up a big job out of town, and since then he's never completely finished another big job. He does excellent work on small jobs. Thought I'd just let you know."

"What about a house painter?"

"He lives five miles down route 3. He only paints in the summer though."

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind."

* * *

Joshua was six when he asked his first really difficult question. "What does daddy do when he's not here?"

Alice simply said, "You'll have to ask him when he gets home."

It didn't come up again until Mabel's 4th birthday party and he fell out of the tree and broke his arm.

John simply said, "I have a job in the big city that pays for the food on the table and the toys you have."

* * *

Joshua loved the garden, but hated feeding the chickens and milking the cow. When he was fifteen he discovered that girls weren't the pest he'd always called his little sister.

Alice had to insist he did his chores before he could go out until one of the girls told him about the cow she had to milk every morning.

John came home in the middle of that week. He told Alice that he'd been fired. The board of directors decided that he wasn't progressive enough to continue to lead the company. He lamented the fact that he'd never thought about an employment agreement when he incorporated and went public years ago. As soon as the news hit, the stock dropped 12%. I've now got to figure out what I'm going to do.

* * *

"I need several rolls of chicken wire, couple boxes of staples, and twenty fence post."

The old guy in the hardware store simply commented, "The kids didn't find all the eggs, uh."

"Know anyone that wants a dozen chicks?" stated John. "Also I'll be sending Joshua down to pick up some lumber. They're going to build a new chick coop. Then, they'll know where every nest is."

"Make sure he runs power for a heater. This coming winter is going to be a bad one."

* ToC *

The Junk Yard

John got a job with the junk yard in the next town. That winter after getting stuck three times going to work he bought a used wrecker. He pulled several of his neighbors out of ditches that winter on his way to and from work.

One morning he pulled the state cop out of a ditch and then the cop tried to pay him.

When John refused the cop informed him that he had to have a license to pull people out of ditches and he'd help him get one so he could start charging.

After thinking about it John started his own wrecker service, aptly called, My Private Wrecker. Then he started getting calls from all over the county. He didn't make much money until the next spring when the state police called him to help with a big wreck.

Alice was shocked when the payment came in. "$150 just to pull two cars into town from that wreck. You never charged anybody anything like that when they called."

"I didn't even put an amount on the paperwork I turned in."

"By the way, Joshua has mention to me several times that he'd like to go out with you in the wrecker and learn the business."

"Tell him that he'll have to maintain a B average before I'll let him work year round. I'll take him to work with me starting next week, if the Tim OKs him being there all day."

"Also you got a call from someone that claimed to represent the state wrecker association. Something about not being on the approved list to work wrecks for the police and licensed for non-consent tows. He wants you to call him."

"I'll call him tomorrow from work. Don't cash that check yet."

After discussing the call and payment received for working that wreck, the owner of the wrecking yard called in his other wrecker driver and told him to transfer 3 cones to Johns truck and get a full set of twelve for his out of the storeroom. Then he had a letter typed up to the state police complaining that he'd only received payment for one of the two wreckers he sent to the big wreck on Hwy 61 the month before.

The he told John that all the tows he'd done for him previously, when he sent him out, were under his license. John needed to send the check and paperwork back with a letter stating that since he was at work at Jim's Wrecking & Towing at the time Susan had dispatched him, payment should be made to the wrecking yard. Also don't forget to list the fact that you were on the clock and have already paid for the work you did at that wreck.

"If you get any more calls like that tell them to call me unless you want to join the association and upgrade your license. Here is one of my tow books. Sorry but you may get fined if they check your paperwork, if you do let me know. I'll have my lawyer handle it," Jim said.

"Thanks, how much are association fees and cost to upgrade?"

"The fee is $200 a year and you need to attend an annual law and safety class that cost another $200 each year. Those were the classes I sent you and Bob to six months ago.

"Susan, give John a list of the required equipment so he can verify he has everything and it's operational."

"Boss, my son wants to work with me on my wrecker and maybe here at the yard this summer. Do you have any positions that he can qualify for."

"Summer hire interviews are next Tuesday. Tell him to be here at 6AM."

"That time will make him very very happy," John stated.

"I always interview before the yard opens. Ha Ha. And I don't want to see you until the usual time."

* * *

I told Joshua that night at supper my boss held summer job interviews at 6AM on Tuesday. If he wanted to apply he needed to be there by 6. I didn't need to be to work until 8AM. Alice simply looked at me and frowned. I knew I'd have some explaining to do that night.

Tuesday morning Alice poked me in the side. I looked at the clock and said, "It's only 4:05. Let me sleep another 2 hours."

Then she whispered, "I heard his alarm go off a few minutes ago and then a crash. Should I go check on him."

I whispered back, "Only if you want a mama's boy. I bet he gets the job because most of the other boys will be late."

When I got to work, only 2 boys were sitting in the outer office. He called his other wrecker driver in and the boys. He assigned Joshua to him and I got the city boy. Then he told us that we were to have them inventory the trucks and clean them from top to bottom. The boys would ride with us for a week and do only maintenance and cleaning. Then we could decide if they knew enough to start training in the yard. They were not to touch the controls outside the yard until he cleared them. Then he told the boys to wait out in the outer office until we came out. We were to supervise every move they made all summer. Then he'd know which one to hire next summer as an operator in the yard since they couldn't legally operate the wrecker solo until they were 21. Then he told the other wrecker operator that his boy was my son. Don't cut him any slack. John and I want him to know how tough life can be, and when you get a chance mention that with a technical school or with college he could make more money. There were six other boys this morning that learned a lesson, they were late, and I fired them before the interviews even started.

By the way John, "Your son showed up with a cup of coffee and a pack of doughnuts at ten till six. I asked him if he thought he could eat breakfast on the job and his reply was he expected to have to wait for the boss to get here. Was he surprised when I started interviewing him at the gate. He's quick. Some of his answers were really interesting. He dumped the coffee and doughnuts in the trashcan outside the office. He'll be real hungry by lunch time."

That night Alice was surprised when Joshua went through 3 plates of food.

I winked. Later that night I told her what Jim said.

She asked me if I was proud of her baby.

I quietly informed her that her baby was almost a grown man and she should treat him that way.

At breakfast the next morning Joshua asked me if he could ride to work with me.

I said yes.

It got to be a regular routine. After a few weeks he asked, "Is Bob was an ass all the time or just because he's training me?"

I laughed and said, "He's being nice to you because he knows you're my son and he's at work. You want to see what he's really like? We'll stay after work and go down to the cafe for supper tonight."

That night Bob acted his usual fowl mood. He even tried to pick a fight with the cook. Finally the waitress brought a frying pan out and told him to behave or she'd pop him. He meekly finished his meal and left.

Joshua just sat there with his eyes bugged out.

Later on the way home, Joshua asked me, "How come he isn't in jail.

I told him, "Bob has never raise a hand against a woman, far as I know he's only beaten up several men in self defense, and saved the lives of more than one family in the county. For all his supposed nasty attitude, he's really a nice guy once you get to know him. And, if you ever tell him what I just said, I'll spank you like you're ten years old again."

Two weeks later my city boy just didn't show up for work. After two days Jim called his father and informed him that his son was fired for not reporting to work. He could come in Friday and pick up his pay.

That afternoon Bob pulled me aside and told me my boy was to smart to drive a tow truck. Then he asked me if he could get really tough on him?

I told him he had better not be going easy on him because I want him to know not only how to operate a wrecker, but to learn a few of the rules of life. I was proud on him so far, and wanted a son that would hold his own against any odds.

Bob just smiled and headed over to where Jim was chewing out his crusher operator, for something he'd done wrong.

It was almost a week later when Bob finally got a reaction from Joshua. I heard the sound of a solid fist stopped by an open palm. When I walked around the trucks Bob was explaining the facts of life to Joshua about fighting on the job and invited him to meet him after supper down at the river to settle the differences.

Joshua looked at me and all I said was, "Son, you're grown up now. If you want I'll wait and give you a ride home."

Joshua only got one good punch in, and landed on his back several times.

Finally the sheriff asked Joshua, "Is your honor satisfied?"

Then Joshua sat up and answered, "Yes."

He reminded Joshua and Bob that brawling was illegal. He was glad that Bob was just teaching Joshua self defense. "Watching all this exercise is making me thirsty, lets go to the cafe and get some coffee."

All hell broke loose when we got home. Alice was screaming at me until Joshua told her that it was his fight and the sheriff and I watched, then we all went to the cafe and had coffee.

The next morning while Bob and I were checking the trucks when Joshua announced that he wanted to be called Josh, not Joshua. Then he told Bob that he wanted him to teach him how to catch a fist in mid-swing.

Bob simply said, "Next year will be your senior year in school. Football is a fun sport, but doesn't teach you how to control your muscles. Take up wrestling and if you make the state finals I'll teach you next summer. Plus the holds you'll learn will allow you to subdue an opponent easier than just pounding him into the ground. Then I'll teach you some moves that will make it a lot easier to stop a fight than just putting them face down on the ground. Oh and by the way two pointers, first never loose your temper because you loose your control, and the second is a warning. Never swing on your dad or a woman, because after he finishes hurting you I'll break your arms."

Josh answered him with a snappy, "YES SIR."

I hadn't heard in a long time.

Well Josh qualified for the wrestling state finals although he lost his second match. He also graduated with a B+ average. Alice and I then informed him that we wanted him to go to a technical school.

His reply was, "I'm going to be a tow truck driver, I don't need any technical school."

Mabel, three years younger, piped up and stated.  
"If you want to be a better tow truck driver than me, you better figure out which technical school you are going to excel at. I have an interview with Jim for a job at the wrecking yard."

At the end of the summer Josh headed off to technical school. Of course Alice cried after he left.

* ToC *

Bob

Mabel entered the 10th grade. Less than a month later she came home with a suspension letter from the school. It stated that she was suspended for 3 days for beating up two boys rather than reporting them to the principle after they yanked her into the boys restroom.

The next morning Alice visited the principle. After talking to him quietly for a few minutes she informed him that if her little girl was molested or raped by any of the so called boys at school, she would castrate him along with the culprits. My girls will defend themselves. You needed to enforce discipline at the school or else.

Then she stopped by Jim's and talked to Bob and invited him over for supper.

Bob and Mabel were in the yard when I got home. She was covered with grass stains and he just looked smug.

When we sat down for dinner, Alice told me that Bob was going to teach Mabel some self defense moves. Her year of judo didn't prepare her for the situation at school, only the fact that she thought faster and was stronger than either boy, kept her out of trouble. She also repeated her conversation with the principle. Then she asked Bob how prepared for life Alice was?

Bob's answer was, "She is somewhat prepared and has evidently been watching Josh practice." Then looking at me he smiled and announced, "I will enjoy manhandling your two girls, as long as Alice or you are present."

Alice simply said, "Weekends are open, however you'll have to go to church with us on Sundays. Teaching can start after we get home."

* * *

Josh came home for Christmas break. The Saturday afternoon he arrived the first thing he saw was Mabel being thrown around the corner of the house. When he rushed around the corner he met Bob head on and then the fun started. Bob flipped him to the ground and then Mabel threw him as he got up. Alice was sitting by the kitchen door and started laughing so hard that she peed herself as Mabel taunted Josh and demonstrated that she wasn't the little pest that Josh thought she was.

It took Josh a couple of minutes to realize he'd lost his temper. Then he got serious. It only took another minute or two to immobilize Mabel. Then he turned on Bob and said, "I hope that you haven't hurt my little sister."

Bob replied, "Only bruises and a few scrapes. First thing I taught her was how to fall, just like I taught you. She can hold her own against two or three stupid assailants. By the way, I'm having a hard time maintaining my rotten reputation in town. Can you meet me at the cafe this evening and give me a hand."

Josh asked, "What if someone recognizes me?"

Alice, our two girls, and I were sitting eating dinner when Bob entered that evening. Josh was sitting back at Bob's favorite table sipping tea.

Bob started raising Cain and Josh returned the complements until they made contact. Then swings caught in the air and wrestling started until the waitress brought out an iron skillet from the kitchen and threatened both of them.

I'd never seen Josh bow to a woman before, but he bowed to the waitress and asked her, "Can I be of assistance against this ruffian," pointing over his shoulder at Bob. Then he and Bob both broke down laughing at her expression.

Alice then walked over, grabbed both of them by their ears, and said, "You boys sit down and play nice or I'll have Mabel teach you a lesson."

Both said, "Yes ma'am," and ordered. Then a lively discussion broke out between them on who would pay. They were arm wrestling when the sheriff arrived.

Looking at them he simply stated. "You-all better eat good cause I didn't serve food in the cage I'm going to put ya in." Then he sat down with them and they all started talking.

When the waitress delivered the food she commented with a smile, "Sheriff maybe you better lock Bob up, he let that runt hold his own."

That bought more laughter everyone.

* ToC *

Texas

It was the summer of 08 when Bob got a call from a friend in Texas. He came back a week later and gave his notice to Jim.

Three months later he called Josh, and Josh went to Texas to work.

Several months later he called and told his mother that one day he'd call and she should pack everything up and be ready to move us all. He advised me to invest in a certain advertising agency. He still didn't know what the family was really worth, he just knew we didn't have any money worries.

In 2011 I visited Tim in Austin Texas and then took a side trip to Arizona. Arrangements were made for our daughters to join my son as soon as they qualified, to make their decision.

I retired and moved family to Montserrat in 2013. Mabel went to work at the island hospital as a nurse. Then the earth workstation.

* * * ToC * * *

The Characters

John Green - b. 1955, married to Alice - b. 1964

Joshua (Josh) 1st son - b. 1986

Mabel, born 3 years later - b. 1990 - completed nursing school

Felecia, born 2 1/2 years later - b. 1992 - loves things mechanical - started taking toys apart at age 5 and online courses at age 10.

Lee - John's friend & lawyer in the city

Jim - owns junk yard and several wreckers

Bob – another wrecker driver - works at Jim's wrecking yard. (ex Marine)

* * * ToC * * *

# Main Table of Contents #

X Plan

Table of Contents:

What to Do

The Mine

The First Year

The Next Forty Years

supporting documentation

Plan 1

Preliminary Historical Report star system 486-33

History of The People

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Author's Note 3

What if an alien civilization discovers less advanced civilizations and evaluates them to determine if they are or will be a threat to their civilization.

What actions may they take?

* * * * *

What to Do

Meeting 30120815 of the council is now in order. The first item on the agenda is what to do about the civilization we've located at star 486-33. Jason, "If you will read the highlights from the report from the exploration crew."

"Yes sir",

The humanoid civilization has reached their moon using multistage chemical fuel rockets.

Their planet has no central government.

The exploration crew observed 7 small wars in progress between political groups and savagery practiced between members of the species. Religion, language, and skin coloration seem to be some of the divisions and reasoning they use for their atrocities. Portions of their planetary population benefit from their technology, but a larger percentage are on the verge of extinction due to poverty.

There are two main (political and economic) powers on the planet, but a third is rising (estimate within the next 50 orbits of their star).

Estimation is that within the next 100 orbits of their start they will expand out into their star system. Plans procured indicate they plan to colonize their moon, the next outer planet, their asteroid belt, along with space habitats.

It is estimated that within an additional 200 orbits they will exit their star system and make contact with our civilization.

Their technology is approximately .9 on the Johnston scale. However their social development is estimated at .5 on the Johnston scale. A plan must be developed to retard their technology until their social development catches up to their technology level.

Usually civilizations with this wide a spread destroy themselves, however this civilization appears past that point, but is a danger to other civilizations.

"Thank-you Jason, I can only think of a few questions. Can our agents infiltrate their civilization without being detected physically? Are there any indications that we can influence their civilization without being detected? How long a period does the Johnston group estimate will be needed to bring their social level up to at least a .9 without destroying their technology?"

"Sir", replied Jason, "These questions and a proposed plans have been drawn up."

Due to the variety of physical sizes and skin pigmentation within the species only surgery will be required for long term infiltration of agents. Our agents doing the initial evaluation passed among the natives with no suspicion using cosmetic disguises.

The Johnston groups preliminary estimates that the civilization can be influenced and within 400 orbits of their planet around their star be brought up to .8 on the social scale.

They also presented a plan to retard their technology by economic means that would allow the time needed to influence their social development. This 1st plan estimates a 28% loss of native life.

Plan 2 is to invade and occupy the planet and completely train the young natives for 2 or 3 generations. This plan estimates a 46% loss of life among the invading force and a 68% loss of life among the natives. If there is no social advancement due to species hatred, they estimate occupation for at least a thousand orbits if not sterilization of the species.

Plan 3, which I think is suicide, is to ignore the problem and wait for contact. That can go two ways, peaceful or interstellar war between our civilizations.

Plan 4 is to use nuclear devices and destroy their home world before they progress any further into their star system.

"Jason, have the Johnston group detail Plan 1 and present it to the council at its next meeting. Now on to item 2, the shortage of females on colony Green due to birth defects. Who has that report?"

Frederick answered, "I have it sir. The environmental problem is identified, a virus. Medical is working on it, but there is a ratio of 18% female to 82% male on the planet now. The Albertson group suggest enticements to females on all our planets to emigrate to Green."

* - *

Meeting 30120822 of the council is now in order. The first item on the agenda is what to do about the civilization we've located at star 486-33. Jason, give a copy of the Plan 1 to each member and we'll take it up at the next meeting. Now about the problem on colony Green.

* - *

Meeting 30120829 of the council is now in order. The first item on the agenda is what to do about the civilization we've located at star 486-33. Has everyone read Plan 1?

Good, now discussion.

The council erupted with demands to speak first.

Council President Johnston held up his hand, and said, "None of us are old enough to remember the first alien species we contacted over 2000 orbits ago. We had 6 colonies and were going to establish a 7th. They only had one colony and their home planet system. The resulting war killed the population of 3 of our colonies before we decided to sterilize their colony and home world. If you will review our history you'll also find that after destroying their worlds they still managed to kill another estimated 20% of our total population in suicide attacks by their remaining military spacecraft. I know half of you are going to refer to the cost appendix. Before you are recognized to speak I want you to think a minute about the cost of citizens against the estimated cost of this plan. That's why the Exploration Fleet was chartered. As you well know it's been a burr in the side of the council for over 300 orbits, and was almost eliminated not 5 orbits ago by financial vote."

Then he sat down and open his copy of the Plan 1. After rereading his copy he stood up and announced, "Speakers will be recognized in alphabetical order of their last names for 5 minutes each, no shuffling or substitutions will be allowed. Then we will vote on accepting Plan 1, 2, 3, or 4. Council member Ajax, you are first."

After over 4 hours of speeches the vote was taken. Plan 1 was got 37 votes, Plan 2 got 3 votes, Plan 3 got 3 votes, and Plan 4 got 16 votes.

* ToC *

The Mine

"Joe, the survey ship was off by 60 feet."

"Nah, you just didn't get an accurate fix on the landmarks. Anyway the extra digging will make it look more like we spent a lot of time searching. We still will need to put in a few more holes and at least one more campsite. Bill grab your rifle, two sensors just went off. We got company coming in from the east."

"OK Joe, I'm set up in a covered position."

Bill hollered, "OK come on in with your hands in sight. I have my rifle on you."

The hunter staggered into camp, dropped his rifle and collapsed. "Do you have any food and maybe something hot to drink?"

Bill snagged the hunters rifle, then got the hunter a mug of hot chocolate. "Hang on, I'll get you some food. What happened to you?"

The hunter replied between bites, "My guide's plane went down 2 days ago. I've been trying to find your camp because he pointed it out when we flew by. My son and the pilot both were injured, so I left the food with them. Can you help?"

Bill yelled, "Joe, check the perimeter."

Forty minutes later Joe walked into the camp and looked at the hunter. "You're pretty lucky, you know that."

"Why?", asked the hunter.

"I spotted where your plane went down from the cliff top and it's only about a couple of hours away. How bad are they hurt?"

"Real bad", replied the hunter, "my son's leg is broken and I think the pilot had internal injuries."

"Well, we've got our claim markers out so we can leave as soon as you can walk." stated Bill. "Hope our first aid kit is sufficient."

Bill led the way and 3 hours later they approached the plane. The pilot was dead, but the boy was still alive. His leg was swollen out and around the primitive splint made out of branches. It looked bad and he was delirious. After one look the hunter sat down and cried.

Bill carefully cut the splint away and took a good look at the leg. He whispered to Joe, "I think I can save the leg, but I'll have to use our med kit. Should we take the chance?"

"Do it, the medicine should be clear of his system by time we get him back to civilization. I'll get him to help me tear the wing apart to make a stretcher."

After 3 injections and re-splinting the leg Bill elevated the leg and walked around the plane to where Bill and the hunter were cutting the wing into pieces. "Your boy is real lucky. I first thought the swelling was caused by blood, but it looks more like it is because he drank to much water and the leg was lower than his body. Another day and the skin would have split."

They constructed a long triangular stretcher and put a cross piece at the top end. Together two of them could pull it along and the two long legs would stabilize it on the ground.

The three day walk to town took them a week. When they approached the town the hunter knocked on the door of the first house and asked them to call the local doctor and law.

The local doctor turned out to be a veterinarian. He arranged for a plane to come in and take them to the city.

Bill and Joe found the land office and filed their claim. They got a hassle because over half the gold they had was from the river and stream leading up to the area they claimed. Only one of the two samples they had had an appreciable amount of gold. Plus the fact that there was an old mine within a mile of the area they claimed. They were granted a provisional claim that would have to be settled in court. They then went back to the hospital to check on the hunter and his son.

The hunter introduced himself as Joseph Brown. As they talked over dinner Joseph told them that he would get them a good lawyer and pay for him because they'd saved his son.

A month later the lawyer proved that the old mining claim had been abandoned and Bill and Joe were granted their claim. Mr. Brown invited them to his home to celebrate. Over drinks after dinner Joe explained how they'd found the claim by tracing gold flakes back up the river and stream to where it came out of the cliff. That meant that the gold was in the mountain and they'd have to blast parallel to the underground part of the stream back to the seam of gold.

Bill piped up that they'd be rich, but it would be someday. Properly done if they broke through to the stream the water would drain out the tunnel and they'd just get their feet wet.

The mining engineer that Joseph introduced them to suggested that they find where the stream went underground and block it to dry out the streams tunnel. By diverting the stream they could then tunnel in through the original stream bed and reach the gold deposit faster. That would also make it easier because their blasting would be less likely to collapse the tunnel. If they were really good they could use the stream to remove the smaller debris by building a sluice along the side of the tunnel.

It took two months to locate where the stream went underground. Another 3 weeks to build a diverting dam and insure it would work.

The day they started enlarging the stream tunnel they only got 24 feet into the cliff before a section of the roof fell in.

Three days later they had it cleared. Looking at the debris they found traces of gold. Upon examination of the roof at the rear of the shaft more traces were found. After carefully setting more charges in the stream channel they blew it. It brought more roof down with more traces of gold. After repeating this process for another 800 feet they came to a small cavern. The underground bed of the stream was obvious. The debris piles where the roof had collapsed were evident in hundreds of places.

Bring in their strongest lights they looked at the roof and could see the quartz formations. Dozens of places reflected yellow. Bill set up his camera on a tripod and started taking pictures.

Bill sent Joseph the pictures and asked him to forward them to his engineer friend and ask tell him that they'd appreciate any suggestions on how to mine the cavern.

Josephs mining engineer friend sent a letter back with a bid from a mining company. They wanted to purchase the mine outright, but Joseph recommended a much lower sale price with a percentage of all gold and other minerals mined.

The mining company sent their own experts to evaluate the cavern and drill a couple of test holes.

Joseph handled the sale for them and they were suddenly indecently wealthy. At their request he also helped them buy into a bank and handled their stock purchases.

Bill and Joe were on their way with the councils plan.

* ToCx *

The First Year

Joe inserted himself with glee into the companies that they had stock in.

Bill purchased a medium size ranch in a remote section of Montana and proceeded to modernize it. The original cowboys taught the young men that he brought in how to ride horses and handle cattle. After six months Joe suggested that Bill purchase some Bison and start a herd, also more land. It only took three years to turn a profit from the ranch and then they put in an airstrip and purchased a plane. Two of their young men started educational courses on the internet with their manufactured documentation.

Several of the women brought in married the young men and started families. However one married one of the original cowboys and was surprised when she turned up pregnant. The council was puzzled because initial reports indicated that there was only a 5% chance of biological compatibility. After all they all had six fingers and toes and the natives of star system 486-33 only had five. After complete physicals of the cowboys, all genetic material was thoroughly compared with the records of the People. The pregnancy was monitored more closely that any pregnancy in a thousand years.

Academic and historical research was immediately started and ten more of the People were sent to star system 486-33 to research their historical documents.

* ToCx *

The Next Forty Years

As per plan the number of The People increased on the natives planet. It took about thirty years to penetrate the civilian governments to positions of power.

The educational systems remained resistant to any change. When scientific discoveries were demonstrated and reproduced the educational system initiated programs to discredit the scientist and results.

As a result of this the three major power block countries were determined to be to hostile to knowledge to proceed in. After surveying the planet for countries that were in a better position to advance scientifically a small group of them were selected and infiltrated. Another two decades passed.

The government and scientific communities were infiltrated. Several level 2 items were designed and built within the countries for protection. The hardest problem was designing them so any tampering with the shields would cause them to self-destruct to prevent theft and reverse engineering. The most critical were shields to protect them from aerial bombardment whether chemical or nuclear. The second was personal shields for their military personnel. When all was in place the first spacecraft was launched from the hidden space center.

As expected the reaction from all three major power block countries was immediate. After the spies and saboteurs were blocked, diplomatic threats were launched. After all they could not allow what they considered a third world country the prestige of being a major player. When the countries didn't fold up and withdraw from space, military incursions were started and defeated.

Then the planned propaganda broadcast were started in earnest lauding the educational and scientific systems of the small countries and the fact that they accomplished all this by allowing freedom of scientific inquiry backed up by the educational system. Slowly and steadily scientific discoveries started pouring out of the small countries until finally the educational systems of the three major block countries fell in confusion to the knowledge they were being bombardment with.

* ToCx *

Plan 1

To neutralize the threat from the species at star 486-33.

Operational Phases:

Phase 1: Infiltrate the governments of the 2 major political powers and the 3rd emerging power.

Phase 2: Infiltrate the educational system of the planet.

Phase 3: Infiltrate the major religious organizations.

Phase 4: Infiltrate the major economic structures to the point where they can be disrupted or guided.

Phase 5: Accumulate local purchasing power to acquire land sufficient for bases near major population centers of the major political governments with backup bases away from population centers.

Phase 6: (If needed) Plan for removal of leaders within the governments of the planet and replacement by our agents.

Phase 7: (Last option) Start wars that will escalate to exchange of native atomic weapons. Then our military will need to either occupy safe areas of planet or destroy all natives left.

Implementation time-line:

T1 Training of agents in our star system, 2 orbits. Training of additional agents will start here and then advanced training at bases on native planet.

T2 Insert agents with skills to duplicate any and all documentation needed to infiltrate all social groups. Start concurrent with I 1 and continue throughout all phases.

T3 Acquire land and shelters for bases. Will start during I 2. First bases should be in areas with few natives. Start, 1 orbit after arrival and will continue as resources become available. Level .8 technology may be introduced into native system to acquire money for purchases.

T4 Insert young agents in native schools. Estimate 4 to 8 orbits for acclimation. Starting estimate is 10 agents. 20 to 30 agents should be added every other orbit to build a support structure.

T5 Phase 1 through 4. Estimate from entry level to positions of mid-level power positions is 20 orbits.

T6 Infiltrate educational system for young natives. Start socialization advancement training.

T7 Infiltrate local military organizations.

T8 Gain indirect control of at least 11% of monetary system by way of native banks and other financial institutions. Gain an additional direct control over 5% of money used by natives. Level .8 technology may be introduced into native system to acquire this money and control.

T9 Disrupt or guide monetary system to slow technology advances. This may require the unpleasant task of removing certain natives that are involved in technology advancement toward space flight and level 1 technology.

T10 Guide educational and religious institutions to advance societal level to at least .8 level.

Cost estimates report: (200 orbits)

Per agent trained here: *15,000

Per agent trained on native planet: estimate *20,000

Estimated cost per document: *10

Equipping each agent: estimate *200 to *1,000 in our currency, local currency equivalent unknown (Agents may become self-sufficient reducing native cost.)

Purchasing land for bases: no possible way to estimate

Construction on bases: Use local technology for all visible structures. Unable to estimate. Security habitats will be installed if base is designated as an evacuation point. Size 1 security building housing 20, *10,000; size 2 security building housing 50, *20,000.

Transportation equipment: tasked from military

Transportation per round trip: *1,600,000 per round trip

Transportation required to be located near native planet: Spacecraft sufficient to evacuate all agents in one lift.

Documentation equipment: Unknown until evaluation of document technology level.

Weapons for agents: Local self-defense weapons will be purchased where native laws allow. Cost unable to estimate.

Propaganda should be started within 50 orbits to introduce idea of friendly aliens.

Entry avenues

E1. Precious metals are still used in native economy. First agents need to research native laws on acquiring or claiming precious metals. 1 exploration ship should be dispatched to survey non-populated areas for mineral resources. This survey may assist in accumulation of preliminary money needed by agents to set up first bases and equip later agents.

E2. Train agents in skill set not needing native documentation. Agents would then enter native work force to help establish background identities.

E3. Technology could be introduced and sold to native industries for start up money.

* ToCx *

Preliminary Historical Report star system 486-33

The natives educational system teaches evolution as a theory.

Their archaeological evidence has been twisted to to support this theory. Certain of their scholars have developed a fictitious geological column theory which can be disproved with a few scoops of soil and a large tube of water.

Their biological evidence and historical documentation has also been twisted to support this supposed theory of evolution. Simple DNA & RNA analysis disproves this theory.

Their astronomical data has also been perverted to support this theory and as a result they have a theory of a big bang as the start of the universe 4 billion years in their past. Their distance calculations to the stars is completely inaccurate. Also their calculation of the speed of light and speed of time passage because they don't take into their calculations the effect that gravity has on it. They even compensate for this time calculation difference in their primitive satellites.

Some of their theological beliefs have the time elements almost calculated correctly. Others are so far off in left field that they are delusional.

Team 16 has come to the conclusion that a hidden group has perverted star system 486-33 scientific community and educational system for some unknown reason. Further investigation is required. We suggest an additional team of private investigators that are trained in criminal investigations to ferret out the culprits subverting this star systems scientific community. We hope that this is an inside group and not an outside group.

* ToCx *

History of The People (abbreviated)

Five thousand twenty three years ago three interstellar spacecraft landed on our home planet. Due to navigation problems with the computers it was impossible to determine the origin of our ancestors flight. The war for leadership damaged all three spacecraft. They were cannibalized to start the industrial base of our civilization.

The population increased and covered our planet over the next thousand years. When the normal progression of technology reached the planetary saturation point, the star system was utilized for resources.

Then two colonies were set up in nearby star systems. We had a total of six colonies in other star systems when we encountered the first alien race. They attacked without warning and destroyed one colony before the council made a preliminary decision to commit and build a space military force. A second and third colony were exterminated before we decided to sterilize their colony and home-world. They only had one colony and their home planet system.

After sterilizing their home-world and colony they still managed to kill another 21% of our total population in suicide attacks by their remaining military spacecraft. Unfortunately they were so fanatical that no live or dead member of their race was ever examined. They used the nuclear power units of their war-craft, habitats, and cities to commit suicide rather than capture.

The Exploration Fleet was created to explore all surrounding space and locate civilizations that might be a hazard to ours. We have had almost eight hundred years of peaceful expansion.

* ToCx *

# Main Table of Contents #

Not Enough Wars

or NEW

* * * * *

Table of Contents ( ToCn )

Prologue (a must read)

NEW - 1

NEW - 2

NEW - 3

NEW - 4

NEW - 5

NEW - 6

NEW - 7

NEW - 8

NEW - 9

Prologue:

It was another disastrous event that finally broke the camels back. A Taliban suicide bombers truck Tuesday swerved into an orphanage and exploded.

The demonstrations started after morning prayers Wednesday.

Thursday morning they turned into riots outside the American embassy and the military headquarters in the cities.

Saturday a suicide bomber blew himself and 48 Afghans up in front of the embassy. That didn't help a bit. Of course the deaths were blamed on the big Satan.

Orchestrated demonstrations in Iran and Pakistan started Monday followed by demonstrations in half the middle eastern countries.

By Friday, Afghanistan President Khwaja bowed to pressure. He ordered all American military and civilians out of Afghanistan and gave them fourteen days to be gone. Any Americans still in the country after the deadline would be considered spy's and executed.

Saturday morning the first planes arrived and started the evacuation of the civilians, government workers, and nonessential military personnel.

The evacuation was going smoothly until Monday morning when Ambassador Jones and the military commanders from 3 countries boarded a plane. Thirty minutes after takeoff it was shot down by a Pakistani jet fighter. Of course Pakistan claimed that they were justified because it was a military aircraft and didn't have clearance to overfly their territory.

Needless to say no other evacuation aircraft were shot down, but there was no Pakistani air force left by the US Air Force jets flying escort. Then some smart ground commander then ordered using surface to air missiles to shoot down the evacuation planes. When their radar was turned on, they were quickly turned into smoking pieces of junk by the escorts and support aircraft stationed in the Arabian Sea. In less than a week Pakistan had no effective air defense left.

China made their usual noises and then offered half a million ground troops and air support to Pakistan to keep the Americans from invading. It took two days for them to set up along the convoy route from Quetta to Karachi on the coast.

By then all most of the Combat forces and equipment was assembled east of Kandahar in preparation to convoy down the highway through Quetta to Karachi. Ships were on their way to the port. However the Chinese military presence and Pakistan's warnings stopped the convoys just short of the border.

Iran started invading western Afghanistan from Herat down to Farah. By Saturday Herat was occupied. Farah had fallen and what was left of the Afghan western command was in a pitched battle trying to stop their southern invasion force at Dilaram.

~ ToCn~

NEW - 1

By noon Major General Black finally got an audience with General Sherzai the Afghanistan Supreme Commander. After an hour of tea and pleasantries General Sherzai finally asked what brought General Black to his headquarter.

Quickly General Black outlined the situation his soldiers were in. Also commenting on the invasion in the west by the Iranians. He was sure that Afghan army would have problems if they had to evict the US and other military forces from the country while fighting an invasion from Iran. However he had a possible solution.

General Sherzai didn't comment for awhile and then finally blinked. What is your possible solution to the problem I am forced into by my government?

General Black quickly outlined what he wanted to do. After all if he hadn't missed the ambassadors plane he'd be dead also. All General Sherzai had to do was get President Khwaja to give him two more weeks to evacuate his forces. Included in the deal he would take care of the invasion from Iran. Of course he must be given free rein in dealing with the Iranian invasion force, plus command of some of the Afghanistan army until he crossed the border.

General Sherzai demanded to know his plan, of course off the record.

General Black then told him that he intended to move all the foreign military forces west. When they got to Dilaram he'd start splitting off units.

He had full permission from the Joint Chiefs because the President had sent a memo to the Pentagon that simply stated that he wanted the problem in Afghanistan solved quickly using any means necessary.

As soon as the invading forces were identified bombers would pound them into the ground. Then his ground forces would mop them up. Any civilian casualties would be blamed on the Iranian invasion forces. He didn't intend to take any prisoners and he intended to cross the border into Iran.

Then General Sherzai would assume complete command of the Afghanistan army at the border and deal with any Iranians he could find alive. He didn't care if General Sherzai claimed that he'd chased the Americans completely out of the country. All he needed was full authorization from President Khwaja for the military operations within Afghanistan plus the extra 14 days.

* * *

Three hours later General Sherzai returned with President Khwaja and they handed General Black a hastily put together diplomatic book. The gold inlay looked good, but the papers within were what General Black really looked at. First was a request from the Afghanistan Military Supreme Command requesting assistance to repel the invasion from Iran. General Sherzai would be in command with General Black as second in command. Next was authorization for the allied military forces to draw necessary supplies while traveling to Herat by way of Dilaram and then to the border of Afghanistan in support of the Afghanistan Army to repel the Iranian invasion force. The third page was a military pardon for all soldiers participating in the military operation to repel the Iranian invasion. The fourth page was a letter from the President praising the professionalism of General Black and proficiency of his soldiers in assisting in protecting Afghanistan from the invasion. Page five was a letter of permission for the US Air Force to overfly Afghanistan in support of General Sherzai's military expedition to repel the Iranian invasion. Page six was a copy of a letter to the Pakistani President chastising him as not being a good Muslim by not allowing the allied military forces to exit Afghanistan in a timely manner and also inviting the pagan Chinese to invade his country. Page seven was copy of a letter to the Chinese President informing him that Iran had invaded his country without provocation. He would repel that invasion with all military forces at his command and he expected China to stay out of the illegal military operation by the illegitimate government of Iran.

~ ToCn~

NEW - 2

General Black informed General Sherzai that his military forces would be ready to move out at noon Tuesday. He thanked the President and would report his readiness status in the morning.

General Black returned to his headquarter and had commo transmit all the pages to the Joint Chiefs. Then he had copies made of all pages and passed them out to the allied commanders as he briefed them. They had 16 hours to brief and get their personnel ready to move. The order of march will be light armor with infantry in trucks mixed in. One heavy armor company will be next, then fuel and maintenance vehicles. Remaining heavy armor and artillery will follow up mixed with support vehicles. Medical, supply, and food service personnel will be last. Air support personnel will go where they are needed.

Upon contact the armor will disperse and the infantry will form a scrimmage line. Air support will be called in for any armor units or infantry units larger than company size. Smaller than company size units will be exterminated at their location prior to moving up. We do not have the facilities to take prisoners. All light armor will receive a disk to broadcast upon any contact. Basically it will tell the invaders that if they drop their weapons and run back to Iran, we will not kill them. If they want to die, they can stand up and fire at us. We are taking no prisoners. Every soldier must understand this. We are taking no prisoners.

* * *

Now, everyone except the senior commanders is dismissed.

As everyone below the grade of full colonel filed out General Black informed them of the senior chain of command from him down to division level. Also by agreement General Sherzai is the figure head overall commander and he knows what I expect of him.

Now the unofficial and not to be passed down the chain of command portion of the battle plan.

We will exterminate every Iranian soldier in Afghanistan. We will then cross the border into Iran. General Sherzai then will announce that he has repelled the invasion and chased us out of Afghanistan just west of Herat. At that time I will broadcast in the clear to all commands that we will move south to the Arabian Sea to be picked up by the American fleet. Commo insures me that this broadcast will have enough power to be heard in Tehran by anyone with a radio. Also included in this broadcast is the route we will follow, Toyyebat, Quyen, Sadeeh, Birjand, Sarbisheh, etcetera down the main highway to Chahahar on the coast. You should realize what this means. It is a taunt to the Iranian government. I expect that they will throw everything they have at us. That is what we want. We will be resupplied by air. If the Chinese move across the border from Pakistan into Iran we will turn west and continue to rain a trail of devastation on any resistance to our movement. The Joint Chiefs personally hope we are forced to the west so we can take out a few of their nuclear facilities that are in the central mountains. The Air Force will be bombing from high altitude to support us. We will have ground support from the battle fleets in the Arabian Sea. Every unit must keep its position updated to command at all times to prevent friendly casualties. This you must emphasize to every officer starting tomorrow when we move out.

If chemical weapons are used against our soldiers the reply is with battlefield nukes. If nukes are used against us we are to dig in as fast as we can because aircraft size nukes are the reply. If strategic nukes are used against us the reply is ICBMs on Tehran, Esfahan, and Kerman. By then we'll probably be dead.

The Chinese, Russians, Indian, and Israeli governments will get this message after we cross the border with the caveat that we are evacuating our military force from Afghanistan through Iran and expect only limited resistance from the Iranians.

The Arab governments in the region will be warned that we are evacuating our military forces from Afghanistan and they would be wise to keep clear because it is not yet time for the 13th Imam to appear.

* * *

Then he asked each commander if he understood the evacuation route and if he had any qualms or questions.

A couple of them had qualms about the loss of life they would be responsible for, but none were worried that their soldiers would disobey orders once the operation was started.

~ ToCn~

NEW - 3

At 1045 hours General Sherzai called and informed General Black that the streets of Kandahar had been cleared. The only resistance the allied troops might run into would be terrorist if they had a suicide wish. The regular army was ordered 100 meters back from the main route and all civilians were evacuated from the route. Move out time is 1100 hours.

* * *

The first incident was 30 miles up the highway. A suicide truck tried to ram a troop truck. The burning wreckage rolled into the blocking APC with minimal damage. Two APCs requested ammunition resupply. The column was stopped for less than a minute and everyone behind the incident saw the results. The 18 mile long convoy continued to move at at a respectable 45 miles per hour.

20 miles from Dilaram the lead elements ran into the first enemy unit. The light armor, APCs, and infantry deployed. The speakers on the APCs blared the warning to the Iranians. Then they opened fire. Several of the Iranian tanks blew and they could see enemy soldiers digging in. Then the first jets arrived. Most of the soldiers had never seen napalm. The smell was terrible, but the battle was over in a matter of minutes.

General Sherzai observed the battle from his helicopter and called General Black. I think this is a good place to spend the night because my scouts reported that a few survivors were headed back up the road. Hopefully their reports will throw fear into the occupation troops in Dilaram. Even if it doesn't, I have scouts going into town to tell the civilians to leave tonight.

* * *

Hot food had been served by the mess personnel starting at 0400. At 0600 the first vehicles cranked up their engines. By 0615 the convoy was moving. 35 minutes later the first vehicle entered Dilaram. The second vehicle was fired upon. The troops in the truck deployed and started retreating as several APCs and light armored vehicles gave covering fire.

General Black was called by General Sherzai and told to pull back another 100 meters. He was calling in the Afghan air force to start leveling the town. General Black should call for heavy bombers to complete the job. He had several elite light infantry companies on the other side to prevent any Iranian soldiers or equipment from escaping. His scouts had already eliminated 6 Iranian outpost that were placed to observe the town.

Twenty minutes later the first jets arrived and started strafing and dropping bombs. That only lasted about thirty minutes and then they all headed east. Then shit started falling out of the sky. The bombers were so high that all that could be see was the contrails. After half an hour they stopped coming and low level jets screamed in from the south. After two sweeps not a wall was standing. General Black ordered the engineers and heavy armor forward to clear a path through what was left for the convoy.

General Sherzai called General Black and informed him that he could tell his commanders that the outpost northwest of Dilaram was evacuating after sending messages that Dilaram had been utterly destroyed with the loss of 5 companies of soldiers.

Friendly casualties were 2 killed and 6 wounded.

* * *

We spent the night at the road intersection to Farah.

The next morning half the convoy headed for Farah and the rest headed northwest on the main road to Herat.

Two small ambushes later the main force reached the northern road south to Farah. General Sherzai called and requested that General Black hold position around that intersection to stop the Iranian units fleeing north from Farah. The first of them should be at the intersection in about an hour.

Their tanks were no match for ours because we'd dug in and had all our fields of fire plotted. 16 tanks, 5 military trucks, and 20 civilian trucks destroyed in 18 minutes. General Sherzai reported that his scouts reported 9 survivors fleeing south on foot. They would be shadowed back to Farah and our convoy was holding an hour east while the civilians fled town. 20,000 civilians took awhile to evacuate into the hills. If we could insert some heavily armed infantry just north of Juwain there was a steep pass that would be a good place for an ambush. His scouts would mark the landing zone and offer support, but he only had six men at that location. There were an estimated 400 Iranians headed south in stolen vehicles.

* * *

The British Commander stormed into General Blacks APC when he heard about the preparations. His first words were, "Are you going to cheat my men out of this mission. I have 60 ready to go with everything they can carry and they are ready to head north or south from the ambush point."

General Black looked at him and then picked up his phone. Tell the lieutenant to stand down, the Brits insist on going to the party. Departure time is still in 20 minutes.

40 British soldiers boarded the helicopters. The ambush was a classic. Unfortunately the Iranians were so spread out that only 3/4 of the vehicles were in the kill zone so they let the first on go through. When the firing started it must have unnerved the driver because he drove his truck off the cliff. The last 4 trucks were abandoned before they even stopped rolling and weapons were dropped everywhere.

The Afghan scout sergeant had his men collect the weapons and ammunition. The British lieutenant gave him a snappy salute and asked if he wanted a ride back to Farah. He declined and announced that his mission was to head south to Juwain and put a little terror in any Iranians that were in town. General Sherzai had a company of soldiers coming up from Shand and they'd meet up with them.

When the Brits approached Farah from the south all they heard was the rumble of bombs falling so the lieutenant had his men pull off the road and set up another ambush. He reported his position and was told to pull further off the road because it was going to be a kill zone for jets that needed to expend unused ammunition before heading back to their carriers. He then reported the Afghan scouts position and the fact that a company of Afghan soldiers were headed north to Juwain from Shand. The air controller thanked him and told him to have his men dig in deep. There might be some napalm left also.

Friday morning Farah was considered liberated and the Brits had a hot meal for breakfast after they marched into town singing at the top of their lungs.

By 1000 hours both convoys were headed north toward Herat. General Sherzai asked General Black if he wanted to make enough noise to let the Iranians know they were coming.

General Black just asked him to have his scouts start telling the civilians to get out of town. That alone would be enough to warn the invasion force. He was going to ask that the airport be leveled in the morning to prevent any high ranking Iranian officers from taking the easy way out.

Then General Sherzai admitted that he only had two scouts that made it to Herat. Then managed to down four Iranian transport planes with RPGs before they stopped reporting. He had no other scouts anywhere near Herat.

General Black then called the fleet and requested the airport at Herat be destroyed at first light and a no-fly zone placed around the city at the earliest possible hour. Since his forces would be entering the city hot, he also requested that any target identified as military be bombed, starting in the south, to panic the civilian population into fleeing the city to the north and east.

~ ToCn~

NEW - 4

Saturday morning just before dawn the first jets screamed overhead. They were better than any alarm clock it getting the troops up and moving. Just after noon the convoys started hitting landmines. Personnel type first and then antitank. That slowed down our advance. We only made 40 miles Saturday.

* * *

Sunday we started hitting more and more mines along with downed trees and other obstacles on the roads. We still managed 25 miles.

* * *

Monday we had clear roads until about noon. One Iranian suicide bomber managed to get close enough to a troop truck to wound several soldiers. After that anything suspicious near the road received several bullets or other ammunition. Anything that moved was declared a free fire target. One soldier commented over his radio that, "That suicide bomber exploding at a distance is an entertaining event." A minute later one of the company commanders repeated the comment and told the unnamed soldier he shouldn't be so happy to see someone die, even the enemy. His chastisement was in the clear, on the division frequency, so everyone within thirty miles heard it.

That afternoon we ran up on a patrol in the process of burying an antitank mine on the side of the road. It was the command detonation type. On the body of the officer in charge was found a map giving the locations of several more along with the detonation cell phone codes. We detonated them at a distance and made good time until dark when General Black ordered the convoys to set up in formations similar to the old circle the wagons.

Heavy and light armor on the perimeter. Infantry next, support next, aircraft, and finally artillery in the center. Patrols were sent out from all circles to keep an eye out for night attacks.

One patrol walked right through Gandalak and set up an outpost 2 miles north of the town. When SSG Smith reported their location, he requested reinforcements to set up an attack. He also informed the command that he had in his sights what appeared to be a reinforced infantry company and his boys were mapping their ambush and heavy weapons locations. He would pull back if the General wanted to use air support on them, however their perimeter was like a sieve and his boys already had half a dozen covered routs mapped into their midst.

On the main road several patrols infiltrated the area around Gozareh. Someone on the Iranian side was getting smarter because the civilians were held in the center of town and battalion size forces were dug in east and west of the town.

* * *

At 0330 SSG Smith's men briefed the six lieutenants and NCOs that brought the attack force up to take out the ambush force. They were in position at first light and started their attack from the middle of the Iranian ambush out. By 0830 the senior lieutenant called reporting area clear and requested breakfast be brought up. His casualty report was two wounded and one broken leg. His commander informed him that he needed to sweep up the road and insure no other ambushes were set up. He'd get a hot lunch at the Herat airport. Light infantry would be sweeping the area half a mile on either side of the road following his unit at a one hour distance.

Just after 0900 the first bombs and napalm started dropping on the ambush sites east and west of Gozareh. Only one bomb landed in the town. Allied scouts infiltrated the town perimeter quickly eliminated the few soldiers left to keep the civilians prisoner.

After he last wave of bombers supply transports came in escorted by jets and air dropped ammunition and rations. Among them were twenty soldiers that only wore a star on their left sleeves. Their officer reported directly to General Black and then they dispersed among the infantry.

That evening the airport runway was filled in and more resupply transports landed with everything from toilet paper to pork BBQ. All the wounded and injured were evacuated. The strangest cargo that arrived was a dozen live pigs. More soldiers arrived that weren't identifiable by unit or country.

* * *

The main assembly point that we moved to was just west of Kohsan. The towns on that road had been evacuated. General Sherzai requested that we wait one day before crossing the border so his soldiers could at least get to Herat. General Black considered his request and then left a rear guard. Everyone else was to move out at first light on Wednesday. The first unit crossed the border just before noon. That evening the convoy was stretched out from Toyyebat to the main north south highway intersection.

* * *

Thursday morning I saw my first antiaircraft and missile defense vehicles. At 1500 every unit was reported across the border and some elements were headed south on the main highway. We met with no serious resistance until just north of Birjand. This unit had air support for about 15 minutes. When the heavy artillery started pounding them they ran. We followed all the way into Birjand and through to the other side. For a city that was supposed to have about a 100,000 population there were very few people.

* * *

This morning everyone listened to General Black make his announcement over the radio. Then we heard a unit reporting in from Sarbisheh. They requested an ETA. Less than 30 minutes later 2 heavy tank units headed south with a few AA vehicles and 6 trucks of infantry. They were moving fast. Two hours later the convoy started south at 40 miles per hour. We passed through Sarbisheh and were half way to Nehbandan when the first Iranian observation aircraft was spotted. It stayed out of range for over an hour until it suddenly exploded. Then one of our jets came screaming out of the sun and ran the length of the convoy south to north. Then it was gone and the rumble of the road wheels filled the silence. That night we parked on the road with half on guard and half asleep. The only noise I heard all night long were fuel trucks moving down the line.

* * *

Just after dawn we were hailed from the east. My lieutenant climbed down from the APC and walked to the side of the road. After a minute he returned and told me to call for 3 empty trucks and hot rations for 53 soldiers. Then he call division and informed them that unit 16 had arrived. We were near the end of the convoy as guards for half the helicopters being hauled on trucks.

~ ToCn~

NEW - 5

That evening I was sitting on the front deck smoking a cigarette when two of unit 16's solders came over and asked if I could spare a smoke. After a few minutes they started telling me where they'd been.

They were detached from the convoy at Farah. From there they moved south to Salian. Joining up with some Afghanistan scouts and then an Afghanistan infantry patrol they moved to the town of Kang. The next afternoon they infiltrated into Jaranj. There were very few Iranians there, but they found a headquarters that hadn't been completely emptied. The documents located were like steak sauce for the Intel guys. After making copies and transmitting everything we gave the Afghan scouts the originals.

Why a small headquarters would have the full invasion plans plus troop deployments was stupid. The Intel guys figured that the command chain was micromanaging all the way down to squad level operations. When the town was secured General Sherzai flew in for a briefing by our guys and the scouts.

We were even resupplied with everything we'd need and then the next morning we were driven down to the next town and the scouts escorted us across the border. Those are some tough guys. They took out the border guards at Zabol. We then headed due west across the lake and here we are. We did run into a few detachment size Iranian units and destroyed them. Unfortunately there weren't any goodies for the Intel guys other than their communications gear.

~ ToCn~

NEW - 6

The next morning all the helicopters were checked out and prepared for flight.

Zahedan was the city that we had to go through on our way south. It had a good size airport and the objective was to empty the city of civilians and secure the airport. After that we were to destroy the runways and move south.

Less than an hour into the attack we were informed that plan B was now in effect. The scouts had spotted Chinese troops in Zahedan and more south along the highway. Because we were now at the end of the convoy we moved out across country for the east west highway to Kerman.

As soon as we hit the highway we moved up to Nosradiabad. It wasn't much of a city, but the local militia resisted as well as they could. It was after dark by time we secured the town and rounded up the civilians.

* * *

Our captain told the civilians that unfortunately they were in the middle of a combat zone. The Chinese had taken Zahedan. One brave Iranian yelled back that they knew that this morning and the militia though we were the Chinese. After telling them we were mainly Americans he instructed them that they had an hour to gather what they could carry and they should head north into the mountains. They would find weapons and ammunition a mile north of town. Anyone found in town later tonight would be considered an enemy soldier and shot on sight. Some of the men volunteered to stay, but the Captain told them they were needed to protect the their women and children if we lost against the Chinese.

* * *

More and more of the convoy arrived during the night and we prepared for major combat. Toward dawn we could hear the battle in Zahedan. It was more of a low rumble like an earth quake. Over the radio we could hear units reporting their location as they pulled back. Our AA guys reported several dozen high altitude bombers headed south. Then the sky lit up. At first we thought it was a nuke, but almost immediately the word came down that something called fuel air bombs had been dropped. Then we were ordered to prepare for the helicopters to return and the other units to start west on the main road.

* * *

Sunday morning we were loaded and moving west at 40 miles per hour. We stopped at Bam to pick up ammunition and fuel that had just been airdropped.

Now when we come to a town or what they call a small city the lead element drives straight into the town to the militia headquarters and informs them that we are Americans. We are passing through and they should keep their civilians out of the way. Behind us are the Chinese and they should prepare their defenses. We had no problems until we reached Kerman. Their militia was set up blocking the main highway. When the lead element stopped their commander walked out and told our Colonel to turn around and go back. The Colonel explained that we were retreating from the Chinese and his militia could either assist us in traveling through the city and then south toward Sirjan or we would fight our way through. He had an hour to decide.

Before the hour was up our AA guys informed us that unidentified aircraft were coming out of the northeast. The militia commander told our Colonel that if we took care of the Chinese planes he would allow us free passage. Moments later AA reported jets headed north on an intercept course. The Chinese bombers turned away, but their escorts decided to fight. They lost. We lost a few planes also. Then the bombers tried to approach from the southeast. Then our long range surface to air missiles started taking them out. While this was going on some low level jets came out of the west and started strafing the convoy. The AA units had their hands full. After an hour of air combat the skies were clear. The militia commander ordered the barricades moved aside and told our Colonel to get through town as quick as he could before the Chinese returned.

* * *

We were almost to Mashiz when the next wave of aircraft were spotted. They approached from the southeast and were identified as ours. The cargo was airdropped and then they headed due south. One of the aircraft pilots apologized for not being able to land and pick up our wounded.

Just up the road from Sirjan we were ordered off the road and told to take up positions on the north side. There was an airfield and our planes were landing on it. The supply and maintenance trucks were headed out to the planes followed by our medical personnel with the wounded.

As I was listening to the division radio I could hear the units reporting that sections of Sirjan had been taken and all civilian ordered to evacuate up the highways to the northwest and west.

We entered Sirjan during the night and drove straight through. We were leapfrogging sections of the convoy to take a position near the lead. Our escorted helicopters had been refueled and rearmed. We passed up two other helicopter elements that were still in the process of refueling and rearming their equipment.

We drove til afternoon and then were ordered to prepare our aircraft for deployment.

They took off after dark and were back less than two hours later. I listened from the drivers seat as the chopper pilots briefed division over the radio.

From what I could understand the Iranian army had several divisions deployed just outside Bandar-e 'Abbas. The airport had Chinese aircraft coming and going. Evidently the Iranians were fighting the Chinese incursion.

General Black sent down orders for all units to deploy in the mountains just north of Bandar-e'Abbas. We were also told that we had 2 bulls eye on us so we needed to become almost invisible. Full camouflage and radio silence. We were to let any patrols pass unless they spotted someone. Then they were to be eliminated before they could send a report.

~ ToCn~

NEW - 7

Once we were backed into he mountains and camouflaged pickets were set out all around. I even got tagged for guard duty. My post was up the mountain at a pass. From it we could look west where the major part of the convoy was bivouacked in a long valley. To the east was the road beyond a short open valley with two houses.

On the third night toward the end of my shift I heard a scream from the east. I checked quickly with my partner on the other side of the pass and he heard it also. We reported the noise and were told that a squad would be at our location in ten minutes with night vision goggles.

Before they arrived we spotted movement at the bottom of the pass. Even in the dark we could count twenty to thirty men moving quietly toward us. We called the Sergeant of the Guard and reported the group approaching our position. We were instructed to take the prepared positions up the sides of the pass and wait. It had been a pain to build those positions, but an old sergeant supervised the details. From there we had protection from fire, yet had a good field of fire into the pass and down the eastern side. Also we had positioned boulders that could be rolled down the eastern side.

I was shivering in my boots when the squad leader crawled into my position. We'd been watching them come up the pass and they were almost to the location the old sergeant said the boulders would be most effective. Sergeant Lee took one look and quietly started cursing. Then he got on his radio and reported 26 Chinese soldiers scaling the pass. In the valley below was a company strength unit. We were hidden by the dark, but when the sun came up our positions would be visible.

Intel had reported Chinese units moving around behind the Iranian units, and evidently one wanted to use our valley to set up in.

Command instructed us to roll the boulders down on the climbers and hold our fire unless we were in imminent danger of being overrun. Hopefully confusion would keep them in the valley long enough for a light armor unit to move around and box them in. Snipers were on their way up to our position to attempt to eliminate their leaders and communications personnel.

Well the boulders did their job as calculated. Only a few survived and went back down into the valley. It's amazing how far the human voice will travel at night. If we understood Chinese we'd have been happier, but all we could do was observe. They were still forming up another climbing group when the armor unit came up the road and opened fire into the valley. They were caught flat footed and before they got organized our snipers started firing. In a matter of minutes the Chinese were trying to surrender, but our orders were to take no prisoners. We watched the few that managed to recross the road and disappear into hills over there. An Iranian army truck was driven up the road and then someone went and got a Chinese RPG an fired into the engine. The wreckage was left to burn as the light armor unit retreated and covered most of their tracks.

Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest, but we were in the pass with block and tackle moving more boulders into position to reset our defensed. We weren't done by sundown so we camouflaged the tackle and blocks and posted new guards. This time we also had an outpost on the ridge near the road.

Monday we finished just after noon and took our gear back into our valley.

Tuesday morning an Iranian patrol came by and stopped to investigate. Also the news filtered down that the infantry unit sent to the airport had been very successful. They'd raided an Iranian armory and taken all their RPGs, land mines, and satchel charges. Some mines had been set on the runways, a few satchel charges had been lobbed into Chinese positions, and 17 aircraft had been hit with RPGs when landing and taking off. They only claimed a dozen confirmed crashes, but they'd stirred them up. They had a successful week.

~ ToCn~

NEW - 8

We are still blocked from approaching the coast by two armies, the Iranian and the invading Chinese. They are still maneuvering for best position before engaging. One of the sergeants from the a infantry company laughingly said they looked like two guys in a fight that were dancing around afraid to swing first.

General Black has called for another planning meeting. My lieutenant isn't scheduled to go, but he claims that they are going to plan some incursions into an area between the Chinese and Iranian armies to instigate reactions from both. Sounds like suicide missions to me, but you never know what will happen when the bullets start flying.

After hearing the plans that came down from a couple of friends in the British forces all I could think of was Oh shit. Two dozen squads are going to raid into the army areas and go after their officers and leave clues that it was members of the opposing armies that did the attacks. Weapons and equipment have been captured from contacts with the Iranians. Now all they need to do is collect some Chinese army equipment and weapons. Their plans also indicated that instead of retreating like they should they are to infiltrate further into the opposing army controlled areas and create observation post and prepare for more attacks. This is a pure guerrilla plan that is estimated to have a 30% casualty rate and 90% chance of instigating full contact between them. If it works we are get everything ready to move after hunkering down and wait for them to go at it. The commanders figure we'll have less than a thirty minute window once they start full contact to start moving east. Once we reached highway 92 it would be a mad dash to Kahnuj. Once there a decision would be made whether to go north to Darzin or south to Minab and follow the coast. The southern route was a few miles shorter, but some of the roads weren't as good and there will be less maneuvering room.

As we approached Kahnuj the advance scouts reported convoys of Chinese trucks coming up the coastal roads. We stopped for an hour in Kahnuj while we divided our force. The fastest armor was to take the northern route through Darzin and down to Transhahr, then south to Chabahar. The main body would move with its air support down the coastal roads cutting the Chinese supply lines. My unit was one of the ones selected to take the norther route. Our lead vehicles mounted the Stars and Stripes on their radio antennas. Our instructions were to travel full speed and if we ran into resistance or road blocks to blast our way through. Vehicles damaged that couldn't be immediately made mobile would be destroyed on the spot. Our units 14 remaining light armored vehicles would be first in line followed by three M1 tanks. The plan was to form a skirmish line left and right when needed leaving an opening for the M1's to punch through.

We blew through Bam and only the rear guard got any small arms fire as we were leaving town. Twenty kilometers north of Transhahr our scouts reported a small convoy stopped on the road. It had markings on one vehicle indicating a general officer. General Black ordered that they capture all the officers. The firefight was bloody, but two officers were captured. Being nearby General Black walked right up to the Iranian General and pulled his 45. Looking over the barrel of his 45 he calmly stated, "When you corner a wild animal what does it do? Lay down and await capture. Does it run to and fro looking for an escape route. Does it attack and destroy everything within reach. My army today is like a cornered lion looking for an escape route so it can return to its lair. Our escape looks to be the coast. If we find an open route, we'll move quickly and leave this accursed country. Captain, withdraw your soldiers back around the bend in the road so he can be rescued by the Iranian column moving in this direction. We settled in a good defensive position and replenished our supplies. Two hours later we headed south again.

As we approached Transhahr a RPG hit the lead vehicle and blew its front left road wheel. As it veered off the road our skirmish line formed and opened fire. I've never been in front of an M1 firing, but I was glad I wasn't the target. The round fired blew all three trucks blocking the road off onto the shoulder. They started burning as we watched the soldiers behind them drop their weapons and run. The Colonel ordered a cease fire and ordered one M1 second in line as we reformed on the road. The maintenance crew made record time in changing the damaged road wheel and we moved out in less than 20 minutes. Transhahr looked deserted as we rolled through town.

As we approached Nikshahr one lone soldier held up his hand with a white rag. We formed a diamond perimeter as he approached. All he asked was if the Chinese were following us. Then he informed the officer in the lead vehicle that everyone would be out of town in thirty minutes. The Colonel then came on the radio and told the Captain to inform the soldier that we were just passing through and he had 5 minutes to inform his commander. We would come through town as soon as we ate lunch and if there was any resistance we would clear our path with explosives and instant death. After we were through town they could do as they wished. We'd been through Nikshahr only a few weeks before and caught them by surprise, this time they had a decision to make. Let us pass freely or be destroyed. The soldier turned and ran toward town while we broke out our MRE and checked our vehicles. The fuel and ammo trucks topped everyone off and 25 minutes later we got the order to move out. My view was limited by the periscopes, every driver was, when buttoned up and I didn't see anyone. Not one shot was fired at us and we didn't stop until we rolled down 93 to the intersection of 98. Turning right we followed the edge of the bag and turned into Konarak Airport.

A fat civilian met us on the road and told our lead vehicle that he'd been instructed to cooperate if we promised not to wreck the airport. After a moment I heard over the radio, "Inform him that we will have a dozen transport planes landing to take some of our men out. If there is no resistance we will leave the airport as it is. If one shot is fired at us or the planes we will leave a smoking hole in the ground where your airport is. Tell your people now because we are coming in in 10 minutes."

He was talking on his hand held radio as his driver raced back to the main terminal. We could see people fleeing south into the desert.

The first C-5 touched down as we secured the east end of the shorter runway. As the infantry walked by to board they passed us their ammunition and a few weapons. The rest went into a pile around several fuel cans on a truck. The second C-5 was landing as the first revved up it engines and started to taxi back on the main runway. One more C-5 landed before the first C-141 landed. As it lifted off General Black gave the order to start all engines. Three attack helicopters lifted off. Twelve APC's, 2 fuel trucks, and 4 M-1's didn't have puddles of oil under them and we pulled back on the access road headed for the bay. Behind me I could hear the engines blowing for lack of oil. The sound of small arms ammo and then one of the abandoned tanks blew. All my gunner said was Oh Shit, they're going up like roman candles.

We turned right on the main road and headed south for Konarak.

~ ToCn~

NEW - 9

Our orders were when we started moving was to eliminate all obstacles, and stop for nothing until we reach the port. There we are to abandon everything we can't carry and board any and all ships and head out into the bay in the direction of gulf. The helicopters will fly cover out to the port. After we launch everything we can find that floats they will continue until they run out of fuel and then the crews will be picked up by the boats we have.

We didn't make it to the town because we turned left on a dirt road and then on a paved jetty extending into the bay. One of the M-1's threw a track and was abandoned. The trail M-1 stopped a hundred yards down the road and turned back and put two rounds into it before it exploded. At the end of the jetty was a semicircle dock with only 4 ships. However lurking just outside the entrance was the most beautiful sight I'd ever seen. Three marine landing craft. With all hatches open we drove out vehicles into the bay and boarded the landing craft.

Just outside the bay an Iranian destroyer was spotted. It turned in our direction just as a sonic boom blasted our ears. The jets that screamed by pulled up and we could see the destroyer turning so sharply that it was leaning over. It made its turn and headed away. Our landing craft veered off to the right as we saw one of our helicopters pancake in the ocean.

It quickly sank, but the crew was laughing when we picked them up. The pilot claimed that he lost half his altitude when one of the jets flew under him and damn near flipped him over.

~ ToCn~

# Main Table of Contents #

Camping in the Swamp

Had a dream last night. Didn't sleep well because the night light was on. Anyway the dream was that there was a secret installation on about 400 square miles of semi-swamp. The main installation was in the southern corner and had a limited crew, maybe up to 50 couples. Years ago one of the couples there had started going out to spend a weekend long camping. Over the years many had taken up the practice and now several of the members were practically tour guides for the trips. They'd get dropped off by air-boat and picked up again at a different location.

* * *

Friday:

Sissy called the two couples to pay attention as she was the leader of this group. She'd been out 109 times and enjoyed taking the youngsters out. As she lined up the both couples in the dining area, she mentally checked off their visible gear. Long sleeve shirts & pants, boots, hats, canteens, folding shovels, a coil of light rope, pistols, and cattle prods. Hopefully everyone had the standard sleeping bag, mosquito bar with frame, hammock, 10' square tarp, camp stove, and environmental bags in their packs. "If no one's forgotten anything lets head for the boat. Dan will drop us off in area N2 and pick us up Tuesday around noon in area N5." Then she folded her map and notebook into her pocket and picked up her pack.

In the air-boat she leaned back as her husband piloted north. Jerry and Susan, the newly weds were in an animated conversation, after all it was their first camping trip. Bill and Wanda had several trips under their belts and were leaned back dozing.

Dan jiggled the boat enough to wake everyone and then announced that the drop off point was ten minutes away. Bill spotted a gator and pointed it out. His wife reminded him that this was supposed to be a camping trip and she'd bite him if he paid more attention to the gators than her.

I reminded them that the hurricane that blew through last week had probably messed up some of the terrain. That's why we left several hours early. We have to have a camp site set up before dark. "OK, load your pistols, chambers empty, and turn on your cattle prods. Single file and follow me." I slid off the side of the boat into about 4 inches of muck. Three steps and I was on dry ground. Turning north I spotted the game trail and we headed inland. Last trip, last year I'd stepped on a snake not 50 feet down the trail. Dan had laughed and laughed as he chased it off with his cattle prod. Two hours and 3 old camp sites later I found one that hadn't been destroyed.

This clump of trees was on higher ground and contained the base of an old fireplace. The cabin was long gone, although it still left its mark in the clearing. They had their hammocks slung and a small campfire burning in the stub of the cabin's fireplace by dusk.

Bill started telling ghost stories after we'd eaten and after a few Susan was tugging on Jerry's arm trying to get him to go to bed. Later we heard a thrashing in the trees over where they'd slung their hammocks, and Wanda started making crude comments. After a few minutes Bill picked her up and commented that he had to go check their sleeping bags as he carried Susan toward the trees.

I listened to the night noises of the swamp and how two areas didn't have any animal sounds close in. The old woman stuck on guard duty while the children play was all I could think of as the moon rose. When the fire died to embers I crawled into my hammock and remembered Dan and my first camp out here. We'd slept on the ground and awoke with company in our sleeping bag. Those were the days!

Saturday:

The dampness on my mosquito net reminded me of many a cold camp breakfast. However this morning as I crawled out of my bag, I picked up my boots from the end of the hammock and clunked them together upside down to evict any creepy crawlies that might have taken up residence during the night. It was always fun trying to not fall out of a hammock while putting pants and boots on. By time I'd finished, I had to run to the slit trench we'd dug last night. By the smell I could tell I wasn't the first visitor. The magnesium fire starter and a splash of lighter fluid and I had a nice fire started. I poured a little water in my canteen cup and hung it from the fireplace hook to start my coffee. Gotta have that coffee! After a few sips, I picked up some small stones and tossed them in the directions of the other two hammocks. When I heard them grumbling I yelled, "Remember to check your boots before putting them on and cover your crap when you use the slit trench." On my second camping trip I didn't check my left boot and got a scorpion sting.

The satisfaction I felt when I heard someone say who made coffee brought a smile as the four looked around and didn't see any. The odor from my canteen cup was delicious. I said, "I'll let you use my fire if someone gets more wood."

Bill and Jerry turned and headed for the trees.

I reminded them that they'd better carry their cattle prods. I had my instant eggs and ham cooked by time they got back, and I chucked as I saw the damp wood they'd collected.

An hour later and a lot of coughing later they'd finished what could be loosely called breakfast.

I spent about 20 minutes reminding them that gathering the morning firewood was something that would save them problems in the future. Also I reminded them that they should vigorously shake all their gear before packing it up for the day.

I updated my map and pointed out old campsites and terrain features and we hiked southeast on one game trail after another. Wanda is the only one that grumbled when we didn't stop for lunch. About 5PM I found a nice site and said we'd spend the night. We all started setting up. When I asked Jerry to dig the slit trench for the night he couldn't find his shovel.

Then Susan asked him, "You did fill in last nights trench, didn't you?"

It suddenly dawned on him where his shovel was, and the toilet paper.

I commented that Jerry could dig the trench tonight and tomorrow early we had to retrace our path to the first campsite on the double. I'd be waking everyone up early. The women will make breakfast while the men pack and clean up this site. Sleep fast because dawn comes real early.

Sunday:

I was watching my wristwatch and as 4AM rolled around I sat up and hollered, "Time to get up." Ten minutes later I was shaking Jerry & Susan's hammock. Wanda was having trouble getting the fire started until Bill walked over and pulled a charcoal starter brick out of his pack and cut off a few slices. I'd given up on those years ago because they were bulky and stank. I reminded Jerry and Susan that they needed to be ready withing the hour, we had twice the distance to cover today to stay on schedule for pickup. If we missed pickup it was over 20 miles back to their house.

Fifty seven minutes later I told them to double check all their gear, we'd leave in five. I set a grueling pace and we arrived at our first campsite just after noon.

After Jerry covered the trench and retrieved his equipment, I said let's go. We started off on another trail due south. I had a campsite in mind, and hoped that it was in good condition. Well it wasn't, but we could camp there. Looking at the sky I told Bill that he should cover the firewood tonight because it looked like rain. After looking at the sky he simply said, "Could be, but better safe than sorry." Jerry took his shovel and went to dig a trench while us girls set up the hammocks and started supper. I could tell it would be an early night because Wanda was really looking pooped.

Monday:

Looking around the camp when it got light I noticed a lot of mud under Bill & Wanda's hammock, the firewood he'd stacked under it last night was gone and the puddle had a small stream headed downhill from it.

I pulled out my whistle and gave it a couple of blast then yelled at them to check out their area's before jumping out of their hammocks. I noticed that there was only 1 pack frame hanging from Jerry and Susan's tree. They found 1 pack and the other frame, but all of Susan's clothing was gone. Bill had forgotten to close the top of his pack and it was almost full of water.

Since the weather was still very humid, I prompted them to just pack up and we'd go downhill and see if we could find anything else, then hike til about 3PM and set up camp. We could then set everything out to dry. We'd have to cover more than a days hike to get on schedule.

Well we did cover a good amount of ground and I estimated we were within 5 miles of the pickup point when I told them to start looking for a campsite. Between Jerry and Bill they found a decent site and we unpacked. In less than half an hour it looked like a Chinese laundry with cloths and other gear hanging all over the place. Most everything was dry by time we'd eaten and were ready for bed. I reminded them that in the morning we'd just eat, pack, and make a run for the pickup point.

Tuesday:

I overslept and the sun was up when I got up. I blew my whistle and started a fire. The wood was damp, but burned hot. Wanda brought over Bill's canteen and said, "Use it all to make coffee. I'll make the eggs and ham." Bill came over with his cup and asked how long before the coffee would be ready. Five minutes I said.

Then he told Wanda, "I'll pack."

Then we all heard Susan wail, "Where's the toilet paper."

My comment to Wanda was, "Another day in paradise" as I grabbed my paper and headed for the slit trench.

When I returned Wanda handed me a cup and plate and told me to eat first.

When Bill walked up she handed him a plate, then hollered, "Jerry, Susan, if you aren't here in thirty seconds I'll feed your breakfast to the fire." Needless to say they came at a run.

Everything was packed up and Bill said, "One stop on the way out, that's to use the slit trench and fill it in. Who's first, I'm last."

Tuesday, 1118AM:

From the pickup point we had a good view of the lake. No boat. Looking at Bill and Jerry I suggested we set up a temporary camp just inside the trees. The girls and I would cook up a meal and keep watch.

Tuesday, 3PM:

Dan still hadn't appeared with the boat, so I took a stroll and pulled out my radio. After climbing partway up a tree, I was able to contact the base. They told me that the storm the other night had damaged both boats, and they wouldn't be able to pick us up for a day or two.

When I got back to camp I called the girls together and told them to inventory all our food supplies and then I took the boys out hunting. We set up a couple of snares on small game trails and then were lucky enough to find signs of deer on another trail. I left the boys on one side of the trail with instructions to only fire when they were sure they could kill, not wound a deer. We'd carve around the bullet if they needed to use more than one.

As I was turning to leave Bill asked how long before the pickup.

I waved my hand and said a couple of days until they get the boats fixed. When I got back to camp I told the girls about the boats and told them that the boys were out hunting deer. "Now we need to make this a permanent camp for a few days. That also includes building a drying rack for the meat they return with."

The boys wandered in just before dark with one rabbit.

I showed the girls how to skin it and they cut it up and dumped it in the pot. Rabbit broth for dinner with chunks of rabbit.

Wednesday:

Well morning is here and weak coffee made out of the last of the grounds. This morning I set the boys to hunting while we went on a nature walk and I pointed out every edible plant that I could recall. Since it was early spring nothing was ripe. Finally we found a patch of wild onions. We carefully dug them up and divided them and replanted most of them. I marked the spot on my map. Well if the boys brought meat, we had a few onions to go with it. We gathered deadwood all the way back and had to go back for several bundles. Next time I'll carry the rope with me.

Back at camp we gathered what rocks we could find and built a fire. Water was no problem, not getting sick from drinking it was. Susan got one of Bill's t-shirts and we used it full of sand as a filter. Then we boiled the water for 15 minutes and set it aside to cool. By late afternoon all the canteens were full except the one the boys had and we had a pot of water waiting to fill it.

Jerry spotted a snake and managed to kill it. We roasted it on spits over the fire. She brought back something that looked like a cattail. Unfortunately it was getting dark.

Thursday morning:

Jerry led me back to the area where she saw the cattails. We found a lot of cattails. They didn't look to much like regular cattails, but we found many of last years on the ground. I had her cut a dozen or so right off at the ground level. I remembered that somewhere I'd read that the Indians used cattails for food.

Also in orientation years ago where the biologist had emphasized the point that swamp plants had seasons where certain parts could be eaten if properly prepared. Otherwise they could poison you. I needed Dan because he knew more about this than I did. He used to supplement our food supply on camping trips with local plants.

We talked to the boys and asked them if any of them remembered their briefings about edible plants. They said no. That leaves us in a quandary, can we eat them and if we can how do we prepare them?

We decided to peel the stems down to the inner pulp and see if it would cook up. Well Jerry decided that she'd be the guinea pig because she found them. She ate one and said it wasn't bad. We decided to give her an overnight test. She said if she was still kicking in the morning we could get more and have them for dinner.

Friday:

Jerry is still alive and didn't have any stomach upset during the night so were going to go get enough to make a soup with. The boys swear they will get a deer today, they found new tracks and are setting up a new hunting site.

Jerry and I had just finished preparing the stew for dinner when Wanda gave a screech that could be heard for miles. The boys came running and Wanda kept screaming he's here, he's here. Sure enough a minute later I heard Dan's voice saying, "Calm down."

* * *

Sissy – (Dan-husband, boat pilot) leader of group

Bill & Wanda – several trips -

Jerry & Susan – newly weds - 1st trip -

Gear - Long sleeve shirts & pants, boots, hats, canteens, folding shovels, a coil of light rope, pistols, and cattle prods. standard sleeping bag, mosquito bar with frame, hammock, 10' square tarp, camp stove, and environmental bags.

# Main Table of Contents #

The Harappan Seal

The new kiln was a marvel. Two fire chambers, an outer chamber to heat the inner chamber, and then the kiln inside both. The old colored glazes cracked and reflected the light so beautifully.

After applying a clear glaze over it and firing the pottery and medallions again he figured they would fetch a premium price at the market.

Thinking to himself he decided to try putting small crystals and fine gold wires just under the surface of the clay, he hoped they would show through the surface and enhance the beauty. His second batch exhibited some strange properties when exposed to the sun. Two of them seemed to almost float they were so light.

Unfortunately a temple priest took all of them.

The next batch, he changed the patterns of the crystals and wire adding silver wires to the gold wires and they were even more beautiful. Keeping those undercover until some of the rich merchants stopped by the booth prevented the priest from taking them. One merchant drew a pattern on a piece of parchment and asked him to make him a dozen.

Soon he had no time to make more for the market, he was busy filling orders for the rich merchants and several patrons that had heard of his work.

Then the temple priest came to his small shop and demanded he make a lot of medallions for the temple. The temple wanted a particular design and several other artisans around the city were also pressed into service making other items for them.

Soon the ships that the priest rode on made better time from port to port. Then they made flying machines that put many of the merchants out of business. These at first were simply ships with flat bottoms. Then they started enclosing them because they flew so high people had trouble breathing. The wooden ships were then built from metal and they flew higher and further.

One year two ships disappeared. A month later another ship left and returned after a few days. They claimed they'd found one of the ships on the moon, but there was no air to breath. More artisans were pressed into service to make special suits that the priest could wear on the moon where there was no air.

It was discovered that lining the metal ships with silver and then pounding a thin layer of gold over the silver prevented the air from leaking out. Special tanks were built to hold air, and plants were carried to keep it fresh. With the triple doors they could stay away from the earth for weeks on end and travel much further.

The temple started giving captives and slaves freedom if they worked in their mines on mars and the moon. Two years service for their freedom didn't seem to bad an exchange. However thousands died for each one that gained their freedom.

After a few centuries the only way to get ahead was to join the priesthood.

The temple historians will list the problems with the climate as the fall of our civilization, because they are too close. They can't see what the temple is doing to our people. Other historians will record that the temple sucked the energy out of our civilization. As an archaeologist, I've seen it before!

* * *

Chapter 1

Mr. John Heath

London, England

Sir,

Over the period of several months since I was hired and assigned as third shift Chef at your Springfield Estate, I've notice problems with high frequency radio reception at irregular times. One of my hobbies is listening to shortwave and higher frequency radio broadcast.

I noticed this interference mainly when listening to the broadcast from space. It only happened when the florescent lights were on.

I was extremely careful once I tracked down the transmissions from the Harappan case. I covered all but one item at a time and the only item that transmitted was the intact ceramic seal.

I think you might want to investigate this seal in your collection. It would be extremely interesting to see if any other collections of this type seal could verify this unique phenomenon.

I've completed a little research on the origin of these ceramic seals and attached is a section of a report from the web (<http://hemant-bhardwaj.blogspot.com/2008/08/harappan-civilization-coins.html>):

The majority of artifacts recovered at Harappa and Mohenjo Daro have been that of crafted objects. Jonathan Kenoyer has been working to recreate many of the craft technologies used by these people. He has successfully recreated the process by which the Harappan's created faience. The process of creating faience ceramics is very complex and technical. It requires such processes as the grinding and partial melting of quartz, fusion aids, and a consistent high temperature of 940 Celsius. A discovery in 2001 of a faience producing workshop revealed that the type of kiln used was very different from what they had thought. As no kiln was discovered in the workshop, Kenoyer suspected that the ancient crafts people had used a kiln assembled from two firing containers. This formed a smaller kiln that was unlike the usual large firing containers. Along with some of his students Kenoyer replicated the process of creating faience using similar tools that the Harappan's had. The result was similar to that of the Harappan's. This showed that the canister-kiln type was a very efficient way of producing faience. (13) Interestingly , Kenoyer has noticed that many of the same firing techniques and production procedures are used today in India and Pakistan as they were thousands of years ago. This is another point indicating that there was a continuity in culture that has been mostly unchanged for thousands of years.

This civilization that created these seals lasted from about 3000BC to 1700 BC.

In my personal opinion they were much more advanced in certain areas than the archaeologist claim. It is also my personal opinion that this may be a locator or signaling device.

Your employee,

James Crawford

* * *

Springfield Estate

Food Service Division

Attn: James

I am authorizing you to allow the examination of my Harappan seal by the team of scientist from the British Museum on the 19th. They are scheduled to arrive on the 18th and may have one day to examine and record any transmissions. They are not authorized to remove the seal from the display room. I suggest you have the estate manager arrange for thick rubber mats to be placed in the display room prior to their arrival.

I know of only one other private collector that has an intact ceramic seal. I've informed him of your findings.

When I arrive on the evening of the 19th you will be ready to accompany me. The examiners will make a duplicate copy of their preliminary findings for us. You will also need to bring the detection equipment you used. We will depart on the morning of the 20th for the United States, so make sure your passport is updated.

John Heath

* * *

"Welcome to my home Mr. Heath. Is this the employee that discovered the transmissions emanating from your medallion?"

"Yes, this is my Chef, James Crawford. You know you cost me a pretty pence when you started your bidding war to get my medallion.

"If you had won, Mr Brown, this discovery would never have been made."

"If I may Mr. Heath, can we dispense with formality and go by first names."

"Sure Steve, just call me John and my Chef James."

"OK Steve, after my Chef prepares lunch we can set up in my trophy room. I have a few interested individuals arriving a 3PM, however if James could set up his equipment, I'd like a preview."

"Lead the way, James do you have everything you need?"

"Yes Sir."

The tour through the trophy room, that occupied the whole second floor, took about thirty minutes. When they arrived at the section where the Harappan seal was in a glass case lit by gas lanterns. This center room had no windows, however as Steve explained his father had purchased the medallion in a bazaar in Thailand over 50 years before. It had cost his father $2 silver dollars. All this was neatly typed out on a card below the display stand. There were six other ceramic items on display plus a clay pot with two green lines down the opposite sides."

James said, "If I may suggest, we isolate these other items and test them one at a time. Those other two appear to be undamaged. Have you ever had them classified by an expert?"

Steve scratched his left ear, then said, "No the original classification was done by an archaeologist friend of my father." Steve then pulled a cell phone and started to press keys.

As he hit the send key John noticed a glow out of the corner of his eye and exclaimed, "You might want to look at this case and cancel that call!"

Everyone jerked their eyes to the small seal to the left of the medallion. It was glowing bright pink. After a minute the glow started to fade.

"James, if John will permit, I want you to talk to some experts and arrange for some proper transportation cases to be constructed to isolate these items and any other I have in my collection. I'll have them moved to my estate in Kentucky. I now see that your little discovery may be the tip of the iceberg."

John looked at James and then Steve. "I have some calls of my own to make, however the only caveat I want to make is that James gets the primary credit for the discovery and we all are listed on future discovery's resulting from this."

Steve nodded and then said, "I think James should get full credit for the discovery about your medallion, partial credit with we three on the seal, and if you agree, John, he'll be the junior partner of a science corporation I'm going to set up as soon as we can get my lawyers over here. Is that satisfactory?

Then turning to James he said, "James your hobby is about to change your life and turn it upside down. Do you have any objections?"

James looked at them both and stammered, "Sir, I do not know what to say, I am only a Chef."

"Your radio hobby and keen observations allowed this discovery. Many great discovery's were accidents that were followed through on. I'm not saying that this is one of them, but I learned from my father that you must grasp opportunity when it presents itself. To realize the potential a lot of hard work will be required. The only free lunch we get is the air we breath and the way things are progressing, it won't be free for much longer. Now I'm going to create a scientific exploration corporation that will find out what we have here. John and I will bear the cost, but you will head up the research portion. Right now you know more about the unusual properties of these artifacts than anyone else in the world."

"Yes Sir. I do have one request."

John said, "Well speak up man, you know you're dismissed as soon as Steve gets the corporation set up."

"But Sir, I don't have any money to contribute or live on."

With a chuckle Steve announced in his best British imitation, "My good man, your salary and living expenses will be paid by the corporation, until then you're my guest."

With disgust John stated, "That's the worst accent I've ever heard. I can see that you need a good British education. Let us proceed."

James looked from John to Steve and wondered if he was the only sane person in the room as they laughed and slapped each other on the back.

By Monday morning the paperwork was completed and James was surprised to find out that the name of the corporation was James Crawford Inc. and he owned 20% of the stock. He also had a salary of $30,000 US dollars a year plus other benefits that made his mouth drop open. Shakily he sat down, realizing that the plans that he and Mary made could finally be consummated.

That afternoon the first boxes arrived. They weren't cheap. A solid metal box with sufficient padding to immobilize the artifacts inside a padded wooden box. This was inside a lead box and a double Faraday cage, one for electric and the inner for radio frequencies. Each box was being shipped in a separate van.

By the next Thursday all the boxes were at the estate in Kentucky mountains. He watched the construction crews building the research lab and a five room cottage for him. He looked at his watch and realized that he only had a half hour before his first meeting with the first of the scientist that were to start working. As he turned to go into his room he heard another tractor trailer truck straining up the hill. The beautiful white rock drive up the hill was now an ugly scar through the meadow.

After two weeks of interviews he'd approved four men to head up his research team. A radio design engineer, a ceramics specialist, a circuit analyst, and a medical technician just out of school to run the CT scan, MRI, and ultrasound machine section. The oldest was thirty. He pointed out to them as they signed that one forth of their $20,000 salary would be in the form of one half a share in the company stock. Since the company was privately owned the stock could only be cashed in at it's value when they wanted to cash out. It would never be worth less than $10,000 a share.

He knew he was overlooking something, it kept nagging at the corner of his mind as he packed for a quick trip to England.

After a short stint with customs at Heathrow Airport he staggered as Mary launched herself into his arms. She looked ravishing in the dress John had bought for her. John simply stood back and watched.

Then he announced that everything was set up and they had an appointment and then would proceed to his estate. After an hour ride they turned into a small abbey.

As they entered the abbey John announced that he'd made arrangements for a quiet marriage ceremony for them. As they knelt at the alter, the whole estate staff filed out of one of the side chambers and took seats.

As the priest started and he held Mary's hand he remembered what he'd forgotten. A ring! As the ring exchange portion of the ceremony arrived John handed him a solid gold band. It fit Mary's finger perfectly. Mary was so flustered when the priest asked if she had a wedding band to present and almost missed the matron of honor trying to stuff a ring into her hand. As the priest announced them he whispered, "Did she know it was today?"

James whispered back, "No, I told her it was going to be tomorrow at the estate."

The wedding procession then left for the estate where the party began.

A week later James and his bride left for America to honeymoon at Niagara Falls. After three days they headed for Kentucky. One of the maids at the Kentucky estate took Mary under her wing as James dived into his experiments with the ancient ceramic artifacts.

* * *

Chapter 2

The first series determined that none of the artifacts were activated in any way by incandescent light wavelengths. Hundreds of film pictures were taken of each artifact and then they were repacked and moved back to the cavern. The next series of test were in the frequencies that florescent lights put out and then frequency bands all the way up to upper shortwave bands. At Steve's insistence all data was transmitted live to his backup area deep in the cavern by the new fiber optic cables.

He had a crew of three analysts going over everything happening in the research building. After one went home to see his sick brother and returned he commented that what we had were OOPArts (out of place artifacts).

It was during the first winter that James found out about them and dropped in for a visit to discuss their report on one of the objects. The object of their interest was the pottery jar. The oldest analysis kept saying that he'd seen something in Germany decades ago that the pot reminded him of.

In several ancient cultures the archaeologist had found OOPArts. Mainly primitive electrical generating batteries. Most of the time the devices were misidentified and mislabeled in the museums. Most were plain, but several he'd seen were very ornamental.

Back at my office I drafted up a memo stating that the pottery jar should undergo exhaustive analysis to include residue that had migrated into the jar structure inside and out. Then reverse engineer at least three working replicas. The last line was that I wanted to know exactly what the jar was used for, how it worked, and what electrical output it would generate. I then duplicated the memo and referenced each item we had for examination. I also put out a letter to Steve and John to pass the word around that duplicates, no matter what shape they were in, should be acquired for destructive analysis.

In less than three days both were calling for me to explain what the hell I was planning on doing. Using their contacts I arranged a meeting at the Smithsonian the next week. After walking them through the ancient pottery section I showed them examples of several pottery jars that could have been primitive batteries. Then we moved on to the section that held medallions and seals from those same civilizations. I then explained that OOPArts existed in many civilizations and most were dismissed or misidentified by the standard archaeologist. However I was going to limit my investigation to the Harappan civilization. If they wanted to they could start investigating other civilizations to see if there were any other examples. To my surprise they simply told me that they expected results within the year and told me to get anything I needed to expedite the research.

* * *

Three weeks later a cracked seal arrived. After my standard set of test was completed one of the scientist claimed that he could repair it. He estimated that the crack was caused by a drop and only surface deep.

After his repair the seal generated a signal when exposed to UV1 light frequencies. However when his crew applied .25 volts DC current, the seal rose into the air and shattered on the ceiling of the lab. He apologized for over an hour before winding down and then I told him that he had one problem that I could see.

When he asked what that was, I replied, "I want that seal reverse engineered and a working copy within the month."

When it dawned on him what I wanted, he stammered that he could do it.

I sent the results and film of the experiment to John and Steve.

All I got back was a letter with one word, WHEN, followed by a big question mark.

My boy took three months and almost $139000 worth of equipment to duplicate his results. However this time the construct penetrated the two floors above his lab and its remains were discovered in the parking lot. Steve was in my office and we were watching on close-circuit TV. We sauntered over to the parking lot and Steve informed him that the damage to his car would come out of his salary. He then gave him a 50% raise on the spot. The expression on his face was one of those where you wished you had a camera.

Back in my office Steve called John and as I listened he told him that we had a major problem. An offshoot of the research indicated that our lab was no longer sufficient. Also we needed the best research facility that they could get hold of with maximum security. John simply told him to put together another corporation and purchase the facilities. They decided that somewhere near Dallas Texas offered the best location.

* * *

Four months later we moved into our new facilities just east of Denton. Three hundred feet down a new paved road was the first guard house. The administration building was beautiful. The only problem was that behind that building was another guard shack that was automated. Access through it was on the need to know only. There was a road through the fence, but the fence was ten foot chain link without a gate. Every four feet around the whole perimeter were concrete reinforced poles. Three other buildings were outside the inner fence. There wasn't a bit of ground or section of the fence that wasn't under 24 hour observation. We had a slightly secure facility to do our experiments in.

* * *

It only took six months to build a control interface allowing the operator to control the amount of lift generated by the constructs.

* * *

The first test pilot died and the computer brought back the vehicle we designed to carry the construct. Acceleration was no problem, the human body was the limiting factor.

John decided that a full size building would be built in the inner compound after the pond was enlarged to the point that hundred foot boat could be floated. A ship was ordered build meeting the outward specifications of a submarine yet airtight like a spacecraft. Seventy-five feet per side it resembled a large cube. The outer hull was three foot thick with several layers of different metals. Its weight was obscene. There were places for two constructs on each of face. Half size constructs were placed on each face near each corner for attitude control.

* * *

Chapter 3

Our cube's first flight went smooth until we were in high orbit. A burst of radiation from the Van Allen belt tripled our acceleration in less than a second. We'd achieved escape velocity so when the computer cut power out velocity was only halved. The only thing that saved our lives was the fluid beds that we were encased in. They were an idea that one of our scientific types claimed was possible. We finally gained control half way to the asteroid belt and determined that the Van Allen radiation belts had to be avoided on our return.

After landing on the moon we examined the exterior of the ship. Every corner and right angle was melted off. This is something we didn't expect. Only minor pitting of the surface was evident away from the corners.

Returning to earth we entered over the north pole and only experienced minor turbulence passing through the magnetosphere. The ship was first landed on our enlarged pond and after cooling off lifted and moved over to the research building. It took the military almost two hours to pull up to the outer guard shack and demand entrance.

Our lawyer was waiting for them and escorted the ranking officer to my office. Steve and John explained to him that we were a private corporation and because of that he had no military authority here. The series of discoveries that resulted in our flight were useless without the proper equipment and expertise. Only three of us knew how everything worked. However he could contact his superiors and we'd meet with them and license our equipment.

That didn't go over to well. The compound was invaded and we were all arrested. Suddenly after crashing the cube once and then loosing it into outer space they suddenly decided that their scientist didn't know how it worked. Then they wanted to talk to us.

The simple fact that all the constructs were hand made didn't help their attitude. Our engineer, who now was a twenty percent owner in the new corporation, kept his mouth shut until we had the contracts drawn up and signed. We finally had a cash cow that would make us all rich without breaking the bank of any government. We also had the rights to colonize mars and the outer planets moons.

Out second cube was twice a big. We however used the same size constructs to power it and it worked perfectly. In the cargo hold we had all the equipment needed to start a base on the moon. Our third trip was one fourth of a new space station.

Our seventh trip was to mars. That's where we discovered we weren't the first. We found another ship and the bodies. Its iron body was almost rusted away, but the inner hulls were intact. Even the thick glass port holes that the pilot could look out of. Its second hull was silver and the inner hull was beaten gold. There were no computers, only a dozen couches with skeletons strapped to them. Our crew laughed at their simple spacesuits until we analyzed them and found out that they worked. This evidently was an exploration trip for them. They had the equipment to exit their ship and gather samples, but not much more. However the ship showed some refinements that shouldn't be discovered unless they had explored an airless body like the moon and traveled in space many times. This evidently wasn't their first spacecraft. Our scientific crew wanted to disassemble the ship until I told them that we may possible find a settlement on the planet. We finally had proof of flying saucers.

Now all we had to find was their base.

Mars was a bust. We put the ship in our cargo bay and hauled it back to earth.

* * *

Chapter 4

When it was disassembled we found something that wasn't expected. A form of artificial gravity using the medallions. It only took two years to make our own.

Within a week our Kentucky lab shipped us a construct, that they had independently developed, that did the artificial gravity more efficiently than the medallions. Add that to the fact that the gravity level could be adjusted made ours more efficient. A side effect of their construct was that it acted like a magnetosphere around the spacecraft shielding it from all radiation above the visible light spectrum. That meant that we had to completely design new radar and communications systems.

# Main Table of Contents #

The Ship

John woke up and didn't feel like getting out of his hammock again. A quick look at his computer confirmed as he read the numerical display 379-10-16 06:15. Another day ferrying supplies from the ship to the surface of the moon. It was a smallish moon, only 10 miles in radius, the 12th out from Jupiter. The government had decided that it was just the right size to hollow out to make a colony ship.

The first thing they built was a steel shell over the entire surface of the moon. That took 22 years. The next were the access ports to the moons surface itself. The nine ports were completed in a mere 6 years and then the mining started. If it wasn't for the new atomic sequencer nothing would even be near the old schedule. It reduced the atoms of whatever it was focused on, to plasma and then combined them by atomic weight to form new elements in the cool down phase. To bad it just made raw materials.

The giant magnetic propulsion coils were positioned at the 6 points of the compass. There was even one backup built, ha ha, if they thought that anyone would be able to move it to a new position if one of the others was damaged. The things weighed in at over 300 tons each, and that was without the control interfaces. During the initial test everyone within a mile was killed when they were sucked to the coil. The second test when everyone had new plastic environment suits was better. Only one poor soul that had metal filling in his teeth was killed from explosive decompression when 2 of his teeth shot through his jaw. The coil itself made a big splash, and started a humongous hurricane in the atmosphere of Jupiter. The scientist said that the red spot that was forming would dissipate in a few hundred years when the asteroid the coil was built on decomposed on the surface of the planet.

They figured for a population of 250,000 to start with. The 100 sections of the colony ship would give them a population of over 2500 for each society group. Now they were talking about a redesign and using the moon as a material source to create a larger ship shaped like an old wine barrel with even more internal volume. Then instead of heading straight out it would loop the solar system and using the suns magnetic field propel itself out toward the Oort cloud and there they could mine materials for the trip. Another load of the automated mining equipment was this load. At least if the equipment worked as promised it would not take another 22 years to redesign the moon and build the proposed extension on it and then coat the whole thing with the new alloy the big brains had devised to reflect radiation.

At least he only had another month on this detail and then he would start on the ship manufacturing training program. They were only supposed to build 200 ships to start with and then another 1000 after they entered the Oort cloud. 450 of those ships were supposed to be mining ships to snag and haul any matter they encountered back to the mining and manufacturing end of the ship. They claimed that the ship could repair itself without them, but to keep the society of technicians sane they and their descendants had to have a job. He loved space and only the goal of flying free for the rest of his life was enough of a goal to make him put up with the crap he had for the last 10 years.

He envied his brother because he was selected as part of the crew that salvaged one of the arks from Earth and as soon as they finished repairing it would go back to Earth to restock it. The scientist claimed that 10 loads would give enough diversity to keep the colony ship from environment failure. They had the envious job of catching anything that moved or swam. Plus loading a million tons of surface dirt. Then gathering several samples of every plant they could find. Dozens of the chambers had been set aside just for plants and animals. Another dozen were set aside for the oceans and lakes. Good thing the computers that would run those sections could herd using the robots any surpluses of wildlife to other sections where they would be used to supplement the diets of the farmers and hunters. He wondered what real fresh meat would taste like as he got out of his hammock and dressed.

Entering the officers mess he noticed that Jan was talking to the Captain again. No doubt she was bitching about his logs. He said Hi and continued on his way to the buffet and coffee urn. With a full cup of coffee he grabbed a tray and started filling it up.

The Captain walked over as soon as he sat down and commented that he must have a good appetite to eat so much.

He mumbled around the eggs that he probably would not be able to get anything to eat until he got off shift after landing the equipment.

The Captain agreed and then stated that he could always call the mess to bring a snack to the bridge.

That's all well and good provided you have time to take time from the instruments and controls to fill your mouth. Of course if one choked everything would be unattended until someone else could grab the controls and hit the emergency boost. Wasn't worth the danger or damage it might do. I'll suffer some hunger pangs until I safely deliver the load to the surface.

The Captain grunted and headed out the mess with a thermos of coffee.

He turned to Jan and waived her to come over. She finished filling her tray and came over sitting opposite him. Well what did the Captain have to say to you she asked.

He just commented about my appetite and the fact that I didn't take a break to eat during shift.

She looked at him and grinned, that's what I told him you'd say when he asked me earlier. Just between you and me, I think you might be in for a promotion to chief pilot.

John groaned and then commented, that will knock me out of ship manufacturing course and I will need that to get a prime position in the technicians section when we launch. I could not get the technical education courses I wanted before I joined the program. I've spent 10 years working my way up and now I'll get screwed again.

She looked shocked and then said, who do you think is going out and getting the rocks out there. It will be the pilots, not the technicians who will be buried in their machines fixing things and watching gauges and dials. You know we are going to have 175 mining ships to begin with and have to gather enough materials in the first 50 years to last over 900 years. Then the kids will have to gather rocks as we enter the Oort cloud around the target star until we get slowed down. We have to gather enough rocks to build those humongous rockets they claim we will need for maneuvering en-route. Not to mention the fuel storage tanks and more rocks to turn into fuel. They will have to carry me to my ship, because I'll fly until I can't see the view screen two feet in front of my face.

He looked at her and said, you know I think you're right. I'll have to think about this training course some more. He gulped down the last of his coffee and said I've got to run or I'll be late for my shift. See you later.

As he stepped onto the bridge he noticed that the pilots position was empty. Looking around he didn't see the pilot he was supposed to relieve. He reported to the bridge officer and then asked him where the pilot was that he was supposed to relieve.

The bridge officer said he was sick and had to be taken off an hour ago

John rushed to the pilots position and glanced at the gauges. Strapping himself in he motioned the bridge officer to come over and then started punching buttons on the display and computer. As the bridge officer stepped to his shoulder he said, we are coming in hot and will need 1.5 G deceleration to keep from crashing. Warn everyone that decelerator will start in 5 minutes. Also have communications call and warn all parties around our flight path and also call for an emergency fuel ship to dock with us within 2 hours.

The bridge officer looked at him and then said I've already notified the Captain and all sections. A fuel tender will rendezvous with us in 2 hours and 5 minutes. Flight control notified me 30 minutes ago of the problem and they determined if you took the correct prompt action we sill had a 12% safety margin. I'll sound the 5 minute acceleration alarm and he waived across the bridge to the Captain to press the big red button. Then he said you'll have a short shift because we'll be on the ground in 5 hours and 6 minutes. The flight path and deceleration levels that flight control sent are listed on this printout. They even compensated for the Doppler effect from the radiation belt we will be passing through.

We'll see after I finish my calculation and then I can tell you how hard a landing they were going to give us. Deceleration in two minutes.

DECELERATION IN TWO MINUTES came across the intercom. SECURE ALL LOOSE OBJECTS.

DECELERATION IN THIRTY SECONDS came across the intercom. DECELERATION IN TEN SECONDS.

The rockets fired and everyone was pressed into their seats. Everyone on the bridge heard the crash somewhere in the ship. Immediately the bridge officer called all sections for damage reports.

John thought about hitting the cutoff, but 30 minutes of deceleration at 1.5 G would put them back on trajectory schedule with only a few minor course corrections. If he cut off early he knew that the only option would be to change trajectory to miss the moon and then recalculate everything after being refueled. He keyed his mike and asked the bridge officer if there was any damage report or safety to the ship or cargo. The reply he got back was the sections were still reporting. He then keyed his mike again and called the cargo master. As soon as he answered he asked the status of the internal and external cargo.

Internal cargo all secure, lost 2 sensors on outside cargo. All other sensors indicate no movement of external cargo. Have a crew of 3 suiting up to check those sensors. Will be able to tell you in 10 minutes.

Do you have any way to get a visual without sending anyone outside.

No because there are no view screens facing the rear.

John then keyed navigation and asked them what ships were closest. Then he called communications and as them to call the 3 nearest ships and request an outside visual and radar check along their trajectory.

The bridge officer called John and told him that the mess officer reported one of the storage racks in store room 2 collapsed and knocked over 2 others. He was still waiting for a report from the other sections.

John then informed him that he had talked to the cargo master and 2 sensors on the outside cargo quit working and he was sending a crew of 3 outside to check. Also he had communications call the 3 nearest ships for an outside visual and radar check along their trajectory. If anything had broken free it would be many miles down our trajectory by now and the only thing they could do would be to make sure they didn't loose anything else and warn everyone in its projected trajectory.

Cargo master to Bridge: One piece of equipment broke in half and we've lost half of it. The rest of it is secure and new sensors are being wired in now. Sensors indicate all other outside cargo secure.

Pilot to Cargo master: I need the time to the second that the sensors failed.

Cargo master to Pilot: Computer indicates time of failure at 0548 and the second 0811 hours.

Pilot to cargo master: Can you give me an estimate of mass or weight of missing piece of cargo. I also need to know the location on the ship in relation to any reference point of the missing cargo.

Cargo master to Pilot: It was on the Jupiter side of the ship almost at 90 degrees. The shape was rectangular and would have tumbled as it separated since it pivoted off from the front to the rear. I estimate it's weight at about 6 tons. It was the cargo bed of a hauler.

Pilot to Cargo master: Thanks

Pilot to communications: Warn all ships along our trajectory including the fuel tender. Also warn the moon that they can expect a 6 ton object to impact in approximately 2 hours and 18 minutes from now. I'll be able to give them a more accurate impact area in about 15 minutes.

Pilot to navigation: As soon as we clear this radiation belt I need an exact trajectory on the cargo that broke free. Time to deceleration cut off 19 minutes 6 seconds. I can rotate the ship at that time so you can aim the main dish.

Pilot to Cargo master: In 18 minutes and 30 seconds when deceleration stops I will need to rotate the ship so navigation can get a radar fix on lost cargo. Is all other cargo secure for this maneuver? I need an affirmative or negative reply.

Cargo master to Pilot: I now have confirmation that outside cargo is secure. My crews double checked the other 3 haulers. We have pictures of meteorite damage to all haulers. You know the outside cargo is no longer balanced.

Pilot to Cargo master: I know, the computer has been correcting our trajectory continuously since 0813 hours.

Pilot to Bridge officer: Deceleration cut off in 30 seconds, rotation maneuver starting 5 seconds later, please sound maneuvering signal as soon as main rocket cuts off.

Pilot to navigation: Your main dish should have a clear view of our trajectory in 90 seconds. Inform me and communications of impact point as soon as you have it calculated. Then check for any converging trajectories and warn those ships again.

Navigation to Communications: Trajectory plotted, inform the fuel tender that they are on a collision course with the 6 ton hauler bed, impact in 21 minutes unless they move out of its way. Then call the moon and tell them I calculate that it will graze the surface. My equipment margin of error at this distance is 1 degree.

Communications to Bridge officer and Pilot: The fuel tender is not answering. I called flight operations and they just informed me that the fuel tender is robot. Inform the Captain that it it hits we will be passing through a debris field and have no refueling.

Five minutes later the Captain was leaning over the navigators shoulder and questioning him.

Then he came over to the pilot station and asked what have you planned. John answered I have plotted 3 options. First is if the impact caused catastrophic explosion of the fuel tender and navigation informs me of no obstructions to our trajectory. Second is if the fuel tender is grazed and simply leaks fuel or burns without exploding and is in our trajectory. And third is if it misses, we get there and find out we cannot refuel.

Captain to communications: Inform flight operations that their robot fuel tender is on a flight trajectory for collision in 12 minutes from my transmission. If it becomes inoperative consider this spacecraft in imminent peril. Also warn the moon that they can expect multiple impacts from the cargo hauler bed and from the robot fuel tender wreckage.

Captain to crew over ship intercom: Double check and secure all items. I want everyone in environmental suits in twenty minutes. A series of miscalculations, events beyond our control, and bad decisions that have brought us to a point where there is now a possible danger to the ship. I am stopping this chain of events right now by using the worse case scenario and declaring a number 1 emergency and all emergency SOP's in effect. We will be prepared for the worse and hope for the best. That is all for now.

Captain to Cargo master and quartermaster: I know you had crews outside. I want you to verify that every crew suit drawn is fully charged and ready for extended usage. Also verify all maneuvering packs are fully charged and extra fuel and oxygen is loaded for outside deployment. You know the SOP and check list. However do not jettison the outside cargo, it would cause a bigger hazard to navigation and or rescue than the robot fuel tender will if it explodes. Right now our biggest danger is running out of fuel and not being able to acquire any. The pilot told me you have pictures of the damage to the haulers. Download it to the communications section, I will have them transmit it to everyone as a warning.

Captain to communications: You will be receiving some pictures from the Cargo master. I want them transmitted to the moon, flight control, and nearby ships along with all our navigational data and up to date data readouts.

Navigation to Captain: Radar and long range view screens showed impact. View screen shows fuel tender opened up like a can of beans. Both are tumbling on new trajectories. Will have them computed in a minute.

Communications to Captain: Receiving signal from military defense spacecraft. Relaying now to your comm channel. This is MDS 1834 to Catcher 1. We are viewing your data transmission now and have changed orbit to intercept.

Catcher 1 Captain to MDS 1834 Captain: Our pilot is recomputing a new trajectory to avoid impact with the colony moon. Will transmit new trajectory as soon as implemented. I am declaring a ship emergency due to critical shortage of fuel because robot fuel tender we were supposed to rendezvous with has been destroyed. Data update follows.

Pilot to Captain: New course computed to take us clear of all debris. Course will also leave us with a trajectory that will avoid all know man made objects and impact with the Sun in 18 years.

Captain to Pilot: Transfer trajectory data to communications to transmit to all and implement.

Pilot to Captain: Am pressing 5 minutes to acceleration signal now.

Catcher 1 Captain to MDS 1834 Captain: Follows is new trajectory data.

MDS 1834 Captain to Catcher 1 Captain: Acknowledged, will divert to rendezvous to pick up your crew.

Catcher 1 Captain to MDS 1834 Captain: Acknowledged.

Captain to Crew over intercom: I've been in contact with MDS 1834's Captain and he is diverting to rendezvous with us to pick us up. Stand down to Emergency level 2. Maneuvering to trajectory that will clear all human stations to safely scuttle ship in 2 minutes.

Navigation to Captain: Trajectories of fuel tender and cargo computed. Cargo will impact with colony moon in 3 hours 10 miles from trailing edge. Fuel tender will impact in 4 hours 3 degrees from trailing edge.

Captain to Navigation: Transfer that data to the colony moon and all ships in vicinity.

MDS 1834 Captain to Catcher 1 Captain: Notify us when your navigator and pilot tell you that your ship is safely out of damage range from the tender explosion. We are going to blow it up with a ship to ship missile to minimize impact damage.

Captain to communications: Relay a copy of that last transmission to the Pilot and Navigation.

Pilot to Captain: Two hours is needed to obtain a safe distance with a 10% safety margin. However that will leave insufficient time in my opinion for the safe destruction of the fuel tender. If you will allow the navigator and I will transfer the data to your console and come to your chair to explain options.

After 5 minutes of consultation the Captain called the MDS 1834 Captain: Question can you destroy the fuel tender within the next twenty minutes?

MDS 1834 Captain to Catcher 1 Captain: Negative missile range to extreme. Why?

Catcher 1 Captain to MDS 1834 Captain: My navigator and pilot indicate we will be within the danger zone from twenty minutes from now until 2 hours from now. They are also concerned that you will not be able to safely destroy the fuel tender after 2 hours without creating a hazard to navigation and still having damage to the colony moon. We have insufficient fuel to change to another safe trajectory. Our only option is to accelerate through the danger zone, but then rescue is almost impossible due to delta-v factor.

Five minutes later the Captain of the MDS 1834 called and inquired how long the Catcher could maintain life support.

The Captain replied that they had 15 days life support on the ship and approximately 40 hours after everyone suited up.

MDS 405 to Catcher 1: Accelerate to fuel exhaustion. We can safely match your delta-v and safely rendezvous with a Belt supply depot. We calculate rendezvous in 14 to 16 days. Final rendezvous time will be calculated upon your final velocity.

"Well John," said the Captain, "do it."

"Shall I save any fuel for maneuvering?"

"No, it's all or nothing."

"OK, sound the collision alarm and then immediate acceleration alarms."

As John sat down he said a quick prayer while bringing up option 4 on the computer. He heard in the background the Captain calling the Cargo master and instructing him to hit the emergency jettison for all outside cargo. He then pressed the button. Maximum acceleration for the Catcher 1 with its cargo load was 1.5 G. Without cargo it was 2 G. Then he heard the captain calling him and telling him to recalculate quickly and see if they could clear the danger zone and still have any fuel to decelerate on the other side. He replied that the only advantage to dropping cargo was to reduce their time in the danger zone by 8 minutes. They only had 5 minutes fuel remaining under full thrust. They would be clear in 45 minutes with no safety factor. I am sending the computations to communications to send to the MDS 405, MDS 1934, and flight control. Communications can also inform them that we jettisoned outside cargo as we started acceleration and its estimated trajectories.

48 minutes later as they cleared the danger zone am EMP pulse blanked their communications for almost 5 minutes. As soon as everything was reset navigation reported that the navigation computers were completely inoperative along with the radar array. View screens were back to 40%.

The Captain then called the Cargo master and suggested that he get everyone in front of items that would provide the most shielding from hard radiation particles within the next 5 minutes. Also monitor the radiation levels inside and outside the ship. As soon as levels from particles drop we need to move the crew to the least radioactive sections of the ship.

***

Fifteen days later the bridge reported that they could see a ship approaching. The crew cheered. 3 hours later everyone felt the docking. Several commented that the rescue ship had a lead foot. When the forward airlock cycled and a medic stepped through in a full isolation suit he looked amazed that the corridor was full of cheering crew. He must have been expecting a death ship because he took one step back and after a moment asked how many survivors there were.

As the Captain forced his way forward he announced that there were a few suffering from mild cases of radiation sickness, but all crew were alive. Now we could all use a drink and a shower. When can we start transferring to your ship?

The medic announced that they could start as soon as a decontamination station was set up and the best place was in this corridor. Are there any critical shortages right now? It took 13 hours to decontaminate everyone to the medics satisfaction and the airlock was closed.

As MDS 405 disengaged from Catcher 1 the crew bowed their heads and prayed. They knew that a good ship was going on a trajectory to the Sun. Then the MDS 405 communications chief came back to the cargo hold and announced that the Captain had authorized him to run a voice only comm circuit back to them and that they could send a 2 minute voice message to their families.

* * *

A year later the Captain along with the on duty bridge crew stood before a panel of judges to determine fault or innocence in the loss of the Catcher 1 and all cargo. The Captain outlined the events and his decisions that proceeded the present bridge crew taking charge during the emergency and then all events and decisions after. He assumed all responsibility and told the judges that he was proud of his crew. It only took 3 hours for the judges to review all the electronic data and then they called the Captain forward.

Your decision to delay in bringing a off duty pilot on immediately when the pilot on duty got sick was wrong. The damage to your outside cargo is noted. The loss of 1 sensor is within the SOP parameters without requiring outside cargo inspection. The loss of the 2nd sensor was also within SOP parameters without requiring outside cargo inspection. Your pilot is to be commended for initiating an outside cargo inspection. Your decision to initiate Emergency 1 condition on-board your ship saved the lives of your crew from the radiation. Also the fact that you directed your Cargo master to assemble all available personnel in locations that had some shielding from radiation. Your decision to accelerate out of the danger zone is applauded even though it reduced the probability of rescue. That decision saved lives on the colony moon. Overall your decision chain would not have resulted with the loss of Catcher 1 and cargo without the chain of events leading up to the failure point. It is the recommendation of this court that you retire and assume responsibility for the loss of your spacecraft without prejudice. This court will forward judgments recommending that flight control be censured for sending a robot fuel tender to the refueling rendezvous at that distance. Also we are forwarding recommendation that the SOP be amended to change the number of sensor failure to 1. Also we are forwarding recommendation that all future external cargo be loaded with any pivot points to the nose of the spacecraft so that should a similar incident happen and the cargo pivot upwards any acceleration will cause the cargo to pivot back against the spacecraft and not away from it. We are recommending that all new spacecraft and upon refit of older spacecraft the communications system be hardened from EMP. We are also recommending that when external cargo is loaded a view screen array be mounted forward of the cargo for outside viewing without endangering crew during acceleration. Your bridge crews are declared not at fault and dismissed. Captain do you have any questions?

The Captain shook his head, saluted, and thanked the court for what he considered a just decision. Then everyone turned and followed the Captain out. The rest of the crew was waiting in the cafeteria downstairs from the court room and wanted to know the decisions.

As they all left they thanked and shook the Captains hand. John was the last in line and he asked the Captain if he thought that the incident and court decision would hurt his chances of being on the colony ship. The Captain replied that nothing official would be held against anyone, but the superstition of their lost ship would follow every member of the crew for the rest of their lives. They would be considered bad luck. The Captain said he would retire quietly and might keep in contact with some members of the crew.

John went to the colony moon recruitment office and asked to see the supervisor. When he entered he asked the supervisor who he needed to see about his status aboard the moon.

After looking at his information, he then referred him to his supervisor, but he wouldn't be available for a few weeks. He could make an appointment if he desired. John made the appointment.

* * *

He went back to his old company personnel section to request assignment to a new ship he was informed that he was still on indefinite administrative leave without pay and could not be reassigned until he was off leave. He would be informed by a letter when his status changed.

Then John went and applied for a local shuttle pilot job. On his first interview the owner of the shuttle company commented that John was well qualified and wanted to know why he was stepping down from a better position to that equivalent to a taxi driver. John explained that he had an appointment with one of the colony moon supervisors in a few weeks and needed to stay local. If he went out on any long runs he would miss the appointment and there was no telling when he could get another.

The owner then said I'm looking for someone that will stick around.

John then reminded him that the scheduled launch date for the colony moon was at least a decade away.

Then the owners excuse was that John had used up all his luck in just surviving the accident that caused the loss of the Catcher 1 and his customers would not want a pilot that didn't have a aura of luck surrounding him. If he could prove that he was still lucky then he would consider hiring him.

The second was a cargo shipping company. The hiring person dismissed him stating that he couldn't have been to good a pilot since he was at the controls when the Catcher 1 was lost.

After a week of making the rounds he sat in his apartment and tried to contact some of the other crew. He finally got hold of Jan and asked her how she was doing.

She had gone home and was living with her parents. She admitted that she had also made the rounds trying to get a pilots job. She then told him about a communication that she received just that morning. She had 30 days to re-certify to keep her pilots license. She wasn't sure she could do it since she hadn't been at a pilots panel in over a year and she didn't have anywhere to practice. Did he have any idea what she was up against. Even her boyfriend had dumped her telling her she was radioactive.

John then suggested that they try to get in touch with Captain Evans. Did she have any idea where he went to retire.

Since she didn't, she suggested that they both go to the company office and request his address or that they forward a message to him from them. They had to know because he should be getting a retirement pension. Also they could request use of the training facilities.

* * *

Three days later they met at the cafeteria across the corridor from the company office and compared notes. He had his official communication stating that he has 30 days to re-certify his pilots license since he had not actively flown in over a year.

As they entered the office they found that their company ID's were inactive and had to go around to the public entrance. They then had to go through the public interview routine just to get to see a junior supervisor. As they sat down in his office he looked over their personnel files and commented that he was sorry it took so long, but their files were marked as inactive.

They then reminded him that they had not received any letter about being placed on administrative leave or dismissal so they were officially still employees. Then they inquired about the status of Captain Evans.

After a minute the computer came back that he was retired. Then they asked if they could get his mail address. He then told them that was private information and could not be given out. Then they asked if he could forward a message to him for them, that way he would not be giving out private information. He said he would have to get permission to do that and if they would wait in the waiting room he would call them back in as soon as he had the permission.

After waiting an hour they inquired to see him again and were informed that he was off shift and had left for the day. Then they requested to see his supervisor. Sorry they were told, but they had to see a public supervisor before they could see anyone behind the wall and there were no public supervisors presently in the office. Jan pulled her ID and asked the desk clerk to set up an appointment with a senior supervisor for her. The clerk checked her computer and then said that the ID was inactive and tried to keep it. Jan refused to let go and told her that there was an incorrect entry in the computer data base and to get on the telephone and call a senior supervisor and let her talk to him.

The receptionist then said she wasn't authorized to call a senior supervisor and the public supervisors would be on shift again in the morning at 0800 hours.

John and Jan left the office and walked down the corridor until they came to another cafeteria. Over a cup of coffee they discussed their options and the queried the communications computer for the mail address of Captain Evans. They found an entry and immediately fired off a message with the cafeteria communicator number as a return address. After a minute Jan sent another with her personal address. After five minutes more John did the same. Then Jan logged on and checked her email and had nothing but junk-mail.

John said he probability doesn't check his mail more that once every day or two being retired. I'm going to be here at 0800 to try to see a supervisor again about use of the training facilities. If I don't get some satisfaction I am going to the court and try through them. This run around is just crap so they don't have to pay us because we were cleared of all charges and responsibility in the loss of the cargo and Catcher 1.

Jan decided she would go to the court first and they would meet about noon here again at this table. The court is only 5 levels up. Also tonight I'm going to look through all the documents I sent home over the years and see if I have the full names of any of the other crew and hopefully some addresses. Luck is what you make it and we need to make some good luck and act lucky. See you at noon tomorrow.

In the morning John walked into the office and told the receptionist that he needed to see a supervisor. She buzzed him right back to the interior waiting room and another receptionist then called him in to see one. It was a different supervisor, so John just stated that he needed authorization to use the company's training facilities to brush up on his piloting skills. When the supervisor claimed that the facilities were only authorized for employees he gave him his ID number. After entering the ID number the supervisor stated that he could not authorize the use because John was on administrative leave. John then said, so I'm on administrative leave, I'm still an employee. If you can't authorize it kick me upstairs to your supervisor.

Knowing bureaucracy John hoped and got a visitors pass and escort to the next supervisor. As he was seated in the next office he restated that he just needed authorization to use the pilot training facilities to brush up on his skills because he had to re-certify in a month. As John sat and waited for the supervisor to make a decision he took a good look at the man. Then John said if you don't have the authority to authorize it kick me upstairs to your supervisor.

The man looked cowed and then said I can only give you a temporary authorization for 2 weeks. I don't understand exactly why you were placed on administrative leave.

John then said well give me the authorization and then kick me upstairs to your supervisor and I'll get him to straighten out the mess on the computer.

After the temporary training authorization printed out another escort arrived to take him up to his supervisor. This guy's office finally looked plush. The receptionist served him tea while he waited. When he was finally called in the supervisor behind the desk he recognized as one of the panel that had hired him 10 years before. He started off by saying, you probability don't remember me but you interviewed me 10 years ago and hired me as a cargo handler. It's been a tough 10 years but I finally worked my way up to a pilots seat. How have you been doing?

He looked at John and then said I vaguely remember you, you were the smart ass kid that wanted to go out on the colony moon and said he'd put in 20 years unless they launched earlier. You wanted to go real bad if I remember right. What can I do for you today?

John then leaned back like it was only a minor problem and told him that some clerk had evidently made a mistake and he was now listed on administrative leave and his ID was locked out. I'm sure you can find the error and get it fixed in no time at all. Also that stopped my pay for some reason. It's almost as they entered me as dead. Ha Ha Ha.

Well if your ID is screwed up lets start with your full name. Do you remember the address you gave to the original interviewer. As he entered it John's original file came up and he started paging through it. He looked up questioningly and said you put your self through the pilot course in 3 years working full time?

John smiled and said, Yup it was tough, but I wanted it bad! I did get some help from pilots on the side. I guess they saw some promise in me. If I hadn't gotten a weeks leave before the exam to work in the training facility I never would have passed it.

I see you served on the Orion for 5 years as a junior pilot and then got promoted. Excellent references from the pilots and the Captain. You then served on the Catcher 1. Let see the board results, the Captain took all blame due to one bad decision. My my look at the list of recommendations and SOP changes they listed. It seems that flight control even took a hit. I guess that when the ship was listed as lost they also listed the crew on-board as lost also. There is no separate entry for you after that.

How long will it take you to correct that? I do have some bills and I imagine that most of the other crew also are in the same fix as I am.

He called in his secretary and explained the problem and told her to correct the entries for the crew. The court board listed all the survivors in their final report.

Come to think about it are Jan and Frederick also on the deceased list? I know that they probably need to get on the trainer also. I got a letter stating that I needed to re-certify before the month is up to keep my rating.

Here is my direct number, check by in the morning. By then all the computer data bases should be corrected. Then he stood up and shook John's hand and had his receptionist escort him to the exit on that floor.

It was almost noon so John figured that he had accomplished three quarters of his goals in less than 4 hours. _Not_ _bad_ _for_ _making_ _your_ _own_ _luck,_ _hope_ _Jan_ _did_ _as_ _well_ _at_ _the_ _court._ He hurried from the door and cut off a couple headed in the direction of the table he said he would meet Jan at. Then he noticed that the nicely dressed woman was Jan. As he reached the table he pulled out the chair and said Jan, I hope you were as successful as I was. She sat and then introduced the older man with her as Judge Albertan. John held out his hand and said, sorry about cutting you off sir, but Jan is an excellent pilot and she deserved to be seated in style. Unfortunately I sometimes forget my manners in my desire to help.

The Judge accepted his apology and took a seat.

John grabbed the third seat.

Jan immediately took control of the conversation and told how she had spent her first 2 hours waiting just to talk to anyone. Once she got in the cue then progress was fairly fast. Judge Albertan wasn't on the board, but he had been consulted before the final decision was written. He was now retired but the younger judges still called him for his expertise.

Then the Judge looked at John and asked what did you accomplish this morning?

John told how he went in an just requested use of the training facilities and using his knowledge of bureaucrats he bluffed his way upstairs to a senior supervisor. I just happened to remember that man because he was on the interview board that finally hired me. He has mellowed a lot in 10 years because he was a SOB when he grilled me before. I got him to start with my name and track my record from the time I started and worked my way up to pilot. Then he got to the entry listing Catcher 1 he jumped to the conclusion that some clerk took a short cut when they entered the Catcher 1 as lost and just listed the whole crew as dead. For now we'll know in the morning if that was the case or if only the bridge crew was blackballed. I acted through out the whole time like I was just irritated because some clerk had messed up. I think it worked, we'll know for sure tomorrow. Now how did your day go Jan.

Jan looked at the Judge and said would you please tell the results.

Judge Albertan started by reviewing the court findings and pulled a data disk and handed it to John. Then he continued by stating that flight control and the company both lodged complaints against the Captain and bridge crew stating that they didn't follow SOP. The flight safety board also lodged a complaint stating that incorporating the changes recommended by the board would cause unreasonable additional cost to the shippers and transportation ships. They are trying all sorts of legal maneuvering to keep from admitting that they may have screwed up. In the morning if your ID's don't work or you find out that you have been blackballed call me. I still have some connections and can get you in for training and a fair evaluation on your pilot re-certifications. I will take years to settle the legal bull that the company, flight safety, and fight control have raised. Tomorrow I shall unofficially drop in to talk to a few of the senior judges and take lunch with some of the junior judges. I'm sure that I can leave the impression that the bridge crew of the Catcher 1 is being unjustly treated. I think I shall also look up the public and private records of all the bridge crew to see what other employers see, and if I see what I think I might I will start the paperwork to remedy any shady entries. By the way, the reason I was there today was that Frederick is a friend of my grandson and he asked me to look into his problem. I gave Jan the card for a sharp legal representative that you should hire. She can explain how to hire him and what to tell him. Now I have an appointment back upstairs so I'll leave you two youngsters to contemplate your fates.

John stood and shook the Judges hand and thanked him for all the advice and help he'd given. As Judge Albertan departed John sat back down and looked at Jan and said, shall we celebrate with a good meal or just sit here and drink tea.

Jan said that after what she had been through this morning she could eat the innards of a computer.

The next morning Frederick and Jan were waiting when he arrived at the employee entrance to the company. Frederick tried his ID first and it passed him in. Jan went second and hers passed. When John slid his ID across the scanner it beeped red and indicated that he was on indefinite administrative leave and the ID was inactivated. John then said, you two get down to the flight training deck while I work my way back upstairs to find out why mine doesn't work. I'll meet you at the cafeteria this afternoon.

John then went around to the public entrance and walked up to the receptionist and asked her to call the extension number. She was slightly shocked when the phone was answered and the secretary said she would be right down to escort him up. When he got upstairs he had to wait fifteen minutes before he was escorted into the supervisors office.

The senior supervisor did not look to happy when he looked up from his computer screen. I see that you have been busy. After your original try to get back into the company you applied at 11 different companies to get a job. The reasons not to hire you are varied. I've dug as deep as my clearance will let me and I can't find any overriding code that states why you are on the indefinite administrative leave list and can't be removed. I have a meeting upstairs in 5 minutes and you are coming with me. I'm only 2 levels down from the top and this is the first time I've run into a problem like this and I want an answer more than you do. In fact I don't give a damn if I can get you back in the companies good graces or not, but I will find out why. Only the VP's and the Pres are higher and they don't usually get involved with small fish like you. Lets go.

John followed him out. The secretary handed John a blue visitors pass as he passed her desk. Smiling she said keep within 10 feet of the boss or security will automatically be summoned.

They entered a really plush area and the secretary ushered them into an office larger than the bridge of the Catcher 1. John whistled under his breath. The secretary told John to sit in the chair at the left corner of the desk and the senior supervisor took the center chair.

The elderly man behind the desk looked up and said, you brought the problem with you I see.

Yes sir, either something is wrong with the computer or someone on this level is involved. I hired this pilot as a cargo handler 10 years ago and he showed promise until the loss of the Catcher 1. He was even on the short list for promotion to senior pilot and you know how tough that list is to get on. From the reports I could access his calculations and actions along with the correct decisions of the Captain prevented the loss of the crew.

Ah, you finally hit the rivet on the head. We have a live crew that witnessed a few screw ups and survived to talk about them.

Sir, I don't completely understand.

If the crew perished in the accident then no fuss would have been raised by the inquiry court board. The Captain only made one mistake and he'll draw a pension for the rest of his life. The military charged us all cost for rescue and transportation. We are out the cost of a spacecraft and cargo. Now do you begin to see what this pilot has cost the company.

Yes Sir, I begin to see how his actions cost the company. He did what he thought was right for the survival of the crew just like a ship captain would.

He will never, and I mean never work as a pilot again. That was my recommendation to the top and it was approved. The boss did give one option if he managed to get to this level.

Sir, what was that?

Only a few get a chance as young as he is and from his record. If he had your training he would be your replacement.

Sir, I can't see how this pilot could ever learn enough to approach the expertise that a mid-level or senior supervisor has.

He managed to work his way past the public supervisor level in two tries and then up to you, and now to me. This boy has more conniving bones in his hand than you have in the whole section you are in charge of. Here are his new orders and assignment. Now his ID is reactivated, and as soon as he passes his pilots re-certification he is to report to the Phoenix.

But Sir, that is the 2nd best ship in our fleet.

Yes, you now begin to see. At this level we don't mind loosing crews or a few ships, but we want the best working where they are needed. Now get out of my office and bring your section up to the standards that surpass expectations from this level.

When they returned to his office he handed his secretary the data disk and said I want to know everything on this disk.

After looking at the computer for a few minutes she printed out 3 pages and dropped one in Johns lap as she headed into the her bosses office.

John read that upon successful re-certification as a pilot he was to report to the Phoenix as 2nd officer in training. Further orders are encrypted and can only be accessed upon completion of steps outlined and entry of codes entered by certain certification authorities. As she came out of the office she snatched the paper from his hands and said you never saw this, now the boss will see you. As he entered the senior supervisor said you have 2 weeks to bring your skill level back up to your previous standard and get re-certified as a pilot. As soon as your re-certification is entered and verified you will report to the Phoenix as a junior officer in training. I don't expect that you have the education to pass this level, but if you do then it's up to you on how high you rise. I've been ordered to keep hands off, so you are now in charge of your own future. All I can do is watch you screw up and then celebrate, because you showed my section up and I don't like that. Now get the hell out of my office and don't ever darken my door again.

Yes Sir, I'll try to disappoint you said John as he left. He thanked the secretary as he dropped the blue pass on the desk and asked where the lift was down to the training facilities. When he arrived he saw Frederick waiting his turn for debriefing. He asked one of the trainers if he could set up a pilot program in one of the trainers. The guy looked like he was pissed just enough to enter a tough program. As he sat down and fastened his safety belt he saw the display light up. The data showed a routine orbital insertion around Jupiter. Over the intercom came a squeal and yelling. Then half the board went yellow showing that he had lost the main rocket and didn't have enough velocity to maintain a safe orbit. He vaguely remembered this scenario from the master pilot training test. He closed his eyes for an instant and then using the internal gyroscopes rotated the ship and called pressed the emergency maneuvering alarm. One by one he rotated the ship so the maneuvering thrustors were in the correct position to fire as if they were mini-main rockets. As the last thrustor exhaustion it fuel the board indicated he had achieved a stable orbit velocity. He then keyed the intercom and called the bridge officer to call for a rescue ship and report that the ship was out of fuel and had a stable orbit for now. The display went blank and he got up and walked out. The technician looked at him and said the gal said you were rusty. I've only seen 2 master pilots pull off that scenario and you were right between them in completion time. Sir, do you need debriefing or shall I set up another for you now.

John told him he'd had a hell of a morning and would be back after lunch. He then asked how long the others had been gone. After being told they just left he hurried out.

Jan started laughing as he entered the cafeteria and poked Fred in the arm and said we set him up good look at that expression.

As John sat down he looked at Fred and Jan and said that was a fail scenario from the master pilot training course. I had an old asshole show it to me one time. I'm sure that you bribed the trainer to throw me that one, so I'll have to get even with you by making you buy me lunch. We are due back in an hour for an afternoon of training and then several more days until we feel comfortable enough to take the re-certification.

They were all laughing as they entered the training facility. Jan and Fred looked shocked when all four of the trainers walked over to John and asked what scenario's he wanted run. John simply stated that he wanted to start with junior pilot level and mix them up. He just wanted to knock the rust off his fingers. Then he turned and said they need the same routine. Tomorrow afternoon you can debrief us for the whole series and then we'll redo any failures until we get them right with the minimum time frame plus 5%. Does that sound good to you Jan? Then he turned and entered the 1st trainer.

Jan was told to enter the 2nd trainer.

Frederick was told to enter the 3rd trainer.

At the door to the 2nd trainer Jan turned and asked can you tell me how bad John did on the scenario you ran on him before lunch. With a grin the trainer answered he is one of three I've ever seen pass it. It was a real scenario. The pilot saved half the VIP's of this company on an inspection tour when a meteorite hit the engine compartment on a low orbital insertion 9 years ago. Now get inside and get ready. When you think you're ready I run it for you someday.

They ran one scenario after another all afternoon and were told to report at 0800 sharp for their next shift. The next morning an extra trainer was sitting in a chair by the control panel. He just nodded at the three as they were ushered into the trainers.

All three were sweating when they emerged 4 hours later. The old man sitting in the chair had his feet up on the end of the control panel and called all three over to him. He simply said, someone way upstairs called me to come in today and monitor your training and report to them. Two of you are simply good and need more seasoning, but one of you is ready to train for a master pilot position. Debriefing will be in two hours. Go get lunch and cool off.

As they walked to the door Jan looked back and saw all four trainers standing at attention in front of the old man. He still had his feet on the control panel and was talking in a low voice.

When they returned 2 hours later there was another uniformed individual sitting by the old man. One after another starting with Frederick they started briefing them on the scenarios they had gone through in order and their mistakes and shortcomings. Jan ended up with a slightly better score than Fred. Then they started on John. Jan noticed that the old man had a slight smile on his face as the trainer briefed John on his results. Then he said there are three more scenarios that you need to run through now. Take your stations.

John strapped in and the scenario started. It was one he'd never seen before. He knew that it was another no win scenario as soon as he finished his calculations. Then he maneuvered the rocket to a 33% angle to the trajectory and fired the main rocket at full thrust. When the fuel indicator indicated ½ was gone he used the thrustors to change the trajectory to 90% from the star. As soon as all fuel was exhausted he signaled that all personnel were to report to the mess sections and enter the refrigeration units in their space suits. As he watched the readouts he saw the hull temperature sensors climb to max and then fail. Then the readouts indicated that the hull melted and ruptured. Then another set of sensor reading came up and he saw the readouts were from the refrigeration units. One failed but the other stayed just below maximum and then started to cool down. Then the scenario ended. The panel blinked twice and then a new scenario came up, another one that he had never seen. After running it the Jupiter orbital insertion scenario came up and his fingers moved as if they had a mind of their own. At the end a voice said get out here. As John came out the room was full of middle aged men. The uniformed man called him over and said when anyone passes the Jupiter insertion scenario an alarm is sounded and some old farts assemble to see who thinks they are good enough to try to fly a brick with nothing but firecrackers up his ass. Jan and Fred came up behind him just then. By the way I work for the Pilots Certification Board and all the results of you three were officially recorded. All three of you passed re-certification and the I entered the codes while you were at lunch. Now on the first scenario there were 6 survivors out of a crew of thirty on a close in solar exploration expedition. The spacecraft was hit by an extra powerful solar flare and it scrambled the computers. The pilot didn't survive but he told the crew in the 2nd freezer what he had done. They survived although all suffered medium radiation poisoning and died within 2 years. John you were the only one that passed and your solution by our calculations enabled the crew to survive with slightly less radiation exposure. Now on the 2nd scenario all three of you failed although Jan came closer to surviving. Now on the 3rd scenario Jan and John are the only 2 that successfully completed the correct maneuvering sequence, although Jan your actions would only last for 3 orbits. Enough time for a rescue of 50% of the passengers and crew. All three of the scenarios were real and you may thank whoever trained and kicked your butts to make you as good as you are today. Jan and Frederick you may train for the Senior Pilot position if you want to starting tomorrow. John, you are now a re-certified as a senior pilot, however just before you came out I was informed that you have orders for a different position. I expect and demand of you that you kick ass, teach, and train any pilot that comes within your reach some of the lessons that you learned. We need excellent pilots and it is the responsibility of everyone that holds a senior pilots license to train those coming up. Dismissed.

John snapped to attention, turned sharply and started for the door. However his way was blocked by a mob of middle aged men that wanted to congratulate him, shake his hand, and wish him well.

Jan and Fred were waiting in the hall as he finally emerged. They immediately headed for the cafeteria. They sat at the table sipping tea and eating a light snack. As they each checked their email they found that they all had a re-certification letter and a set of orders to report to a ship owned by the company. Fred was looking over John's shoulder as he opened his email orders and whistled when he saw that John was going to the Phoenix. Then he squealed like a little girl and grabbed Jan's arm and pulled her to a position where she could see the screen. Then he pointed out that John was assigned as 2nd officer in training with the secondary of Senior Pilot. They plopped down in their seats and looked at John with their mouths open.

After about a minute Jan said who did you kill to get that plum.

John simply answered, its the crew that I didn't let get killed, and the fact that I bluffed my way upstairs. A Veep had his eye on me and once I overcame the minor obstacles he put in my way I get the plum. I just hope that it doesn't turn out to be sour because I also made a very powerful enemy. Now lets plan our celebration, we have three days before we have to report.

* * *

John reported to the company dock and was told that he would be going over on a cargo shuttle. Expecting to sit in a jump seat for the 4 hour flight he quickly changed into a jump suit and packed his dress uniform. When the call came to board he walked through the forward airlock and stopped in amazement. Looking around the small passenger compartment he saw a steward serving drinks to two women sitting in plush chairs that had the normal 5 point safety belts. _He_ _thought_ _that_ _his_ _new_ _jump_ _suit_ _made_ _him_ _look_ _like_ _a_ _bum_ _compared_ _to_ _the_ _way_ _they_ _were_ _dressed._

The steward looked at him an demanded his ID. After running the ID through the scanner his scowl vanished and he ushered him to a seat near the forward bulkhead. He then returned to his station and made a call. A few minutes later a middle aged man came through the bulkhead hatch and took a seat beside John.

After a once over the man said to John, I hope you didn't spend to much on standard uniforms. As soon as we arrive and you are settled in I'll send the tailor around to see you. Now I think that you might be more interested to see the controls and later I'll call you forward as we approach the Phoenix. Our SOP on flights without VIP's is to do a complete orbital inspection when any shuttle returns. The real Phoenix looks nothing like the pictures that are put out by the public relations office.

The Phoenix was not the best ship in the company fleet, it was the most luxurious. It had started out as an engine research spacecraft. It actually had 2 engines, the first a standard oxygen hydrogen chemical jet and second an matter antimatter reactor that used water converted to plasma and ions propelled by strong magnetic coils for propulsion. After 15 years of testing the company bought the whole research company. The Phoenix can fly for over 50 years without refueling the antimatter engines although the chemical rocket has to be refueled on a regular basis. Because the hysteria about antimatter matter reactions the Phoenix is not allowed within 5000 miles of any manned space station or habitat. One of the companies original Veeps liked the idea of flying all over the solar system without refueling so he had additions built on the the original hull. After over a century of hull additions and engine improvements the Phoenix now looks more like a collection patched together from a kid's toy box, rather than a sleek fast spacecraft. It has seven conventional shuttles. 3 of them was so luxurious that they are the envy of the solar system. The military has purchased an engine and basic hull every 20 years for the last 80 years. Those ships after being refitted and fueled have disappeared from public sight.

John was taken forward and introduced to the Senior and Junior pilot, navigator, engineer, cargo master, and then the shuttle Captain introduced himself. John then questioned the Captain with one simple sentence, a crew of five plus yourself, how big is this shuttle? The Captain then told the junior pilot to give John an interior tour right after launch.

As soon as John returned to his seat the steward brought him a glass of mint tea. After one taste John told him to take it away and bring him some coffee. After one taste, John realized that he was going to have a problem adapting to the fancy drinks aboard the Phoenix. John set the coffee on table before him and leaned back and relaxed. He felt rather than heard the separation from the main station. There was a gentle acceleration. During that time the steward hustled around the cabin and collected all the drinks and snack plates from the passenger tables. As he finished he pressed a button on the panel by his station and sat down and strapped in. Then an announcement came over the intercom speaker in a female voice stating, Strap in please, maneuvering and acceleration in one minute. the Captain welcomes you aboard Phoenix cargo shuttle number 2. Our flight time is thirty eight minutes. Enjoy you flight.

A few seconds after the announcement ended he felt the shuttle rotating and then the feel of about 1 G acceleration.

You may remove you safety straps now and move around the cabin until midpoint turnover. Thank you.

After a few minutes the junior pilot came back and asked John to follow him. After stepping through the hatch he turned left and walked about 30 feet to the left to another hatch. After stepping through and securing the hatch he started down the ladder. On the other side of the tube John noticed a set of thin brass poles about shoulder width apart. Twenty rungs down was another platform. The junior pilot pointed out that this was one of 7 hatches into the cargo compartment, each 20 feet apart in. Six levels down he opened the hatch and showed John the top level of the engine room. Then he closed the hatch and the went down two more level and entered the engine room on it's main level.

The chief engineer came over and introduced himself and said just call me monkey. I started out as a cargo handler and earned my nickname there. Here we have a standard O/H engine with a small U236 reactor. The tour was very compact and neat. Now I'm sure you don't want to climb the ladder all the way back to the bridge so here is the lift.

When they arrived on the bridge the navigator invited John to sit at his position as he explained his instrumentation. Then John was ushered over to the junior pilots position. After the standard explanation the junior pilot retook his post and the senior pilot invited him over to sit in his position.

He then gave him the standard briefing and then pointed out several instruments that John hadn't seen before. As John watched he brought up the displays related to those instruments and then announced that turnover was in 2 minutes. The senior pilot took his post and told John to grab the jump seat. Then he pressed the intercom button and keyed the turnover announcement. He explained he was going to do a VIP turnover even though only crew members were the passengers. You know how centrifugal force works. Well instead of cutting power, rotating, and then resuming power this maneuver powers through the 180 rotation utilizing centrifugal force to keep the passengers from going weightless or experiencing more than 1.25 G. What they will feel is a sideways pull like that similar to the entertainment rides on Station 3. It takes 10 minutes. After the maneuver I'll show you how to figure the primary trajectories so the start and destination require minimum mid-course corrections. I know the stuffed shirt steward didn't give you a briefing on the seating arrangement in the cabin but each seat is on a pivot. When the maneuver starts each seat pivots so the back is toward the outside force. That makes it feel like they are partway laying down. Execution start now.

John felt the shift in G forces and watched the calculations and sensor readouts scroll across the senior pilots console. When the maneuver was completed and course verified John commented, I need to fly with you a few times and learn that maneuver. That's one that isn't taught in any manual I've ever seen.

The Senior pilot chucked and announced that that maneuver wasn't in any manual or taught to any pilots outside the company. Seven minutes later the senior pilot started pointing out features as they orbited the Phoenix. His final comment before starting the docking sequence was, she's an ugly ship from the outside. Wait until you get inside.

John asked exactly how big is the Phoenix.

With a chuckle the Senior pilot said it originally started out with a hull a ¼ mile long and 800 yards in diameter. The last measurement I saw was 4 ½ miles long and 1 ¼ miles diameter. Of course that is with all seven shuttles docked. Right now only two are here and we make the third. There are three high speed tubes directly from company headquarters directly to three shuttle docks. There are usually three shuttles at the space stations all the time. The sub-headquarters on the other big station has one shuttle dock. There are living quarters for every senior member of the company aboard the ship. The environmental system will support a population of 1400 for fifty years without resupply. Next year a second ship like the Phoenix is to be started. It is rumored that it will accompany the colony moon. It's not public knowledge, but guess what kind of engines will be used on the colony moon for power and maneuvering.

* * *

The training routine was exhausting and it only lasted six months. Then John finally got the privilege of pulling an unsupervised bridge watch. His 3rd watch involved getting the Phoenix underway to the main asteroid belt habitat to deliver several crews from the company. Since the habitat was in an orbit on the other side of the sun a reverse VIP mid-course turnover was incorporated into the flight plan a quarter parsec above the orbital plane. Transit time was calculated at 27 days. As he began watch he reread the flight plan and noticed that the first leg was above the orbital plane at 1 G using the old rocket. Only at a distance of 1 million miles was the antimatter engine allowed to be powered up. He realized that the antimatter engine would not be engaged until over half way through the next watch. A similar procedure was on the destination end of the flight. Looking back at the second page he realized that there was a full page checklist to be completed prior to firing up the antimatter engine and only 4 items of the list were checks with the engineering section. The third item was the most interesting, Navigation – radar array 4 and then the next item was Navigation – radar array 5. Then Communications – Doppler radio array 3.

When he got off watch he ate and went to his quarters. As an officer in training he had read only access to every manual and checklist on-board the Phoenix. When he tried to bring up the Antimatter Plasma drive checklist he received a warning that he had to have Captain's authorization to access. He then tried to call up all the Pilots checklist. All nineteen were there but none of them covered anything that was related to the plasma drive. Then he tried the Engineering checklist, but again there was no mention of the Antimatter engine. He then went back to the Officers mess and got a cup of coffee. While sitting sipping his coffee the Captain walked in, got some coffee, and sat down across from him. Ships Captains walked on empty vacuum and he knew it. John was sure that the Captain knew that he had tried to access the plasma engine checklist.

The Captain opened the conversation by asking how he liked it aboard the Phoenix.

John replied, "It's fine now that I'm through the initial training. I was beginning to think that it had no end."

"Oh, this is just a break for you. As soon as we are underway phase 2 starts. I understand that you brought aboard several new jumpsuits."

"Sir?"

"Well I think you would rather wear one of them than your tailored suits."

"Yes Sir."

"Tomorrow you will start on 1st shift as an engineering novice under the Chief Engineer."

"Yes Sir."

"When the Chief is sure that you can assemble the antimatter engine blindfolded you will graduate to the Quartermaster section. The only reason you aren't starting in the Cargo section is that you already had that training under a good man I know. He vouched for you."

"Yes Sir."

"You better hit the sack now, in 7 hours you will find out that the bridge orientation was a breeze."

"Yes Sir," as John got up and dumped the rest of his coffee and headed back to get some sleep. _What_ _the_ _hell_ _did_ _I_ _get_ _myself_ _into?_

After not enough sleep John grabbed a quick breakfast and headed down to the Engineering section.

The Chief Engineer, Chief Brown met him at the lift as he stepped off. "You," he hollered, "as a novice are not authorized to use the lift. You will use the ladders when coming and going to the Engineering Section."

"Yes Sir." John replied.

"Now get over there and grab a sweeper."

"Sir, what is a sweeper."

"It's that long thin pole with a brush on the end. There are several in the locker on that wall. I want you to sweep the entire deck and then you will find a bin over in that corner to put the sweepings in." With that he walked away.

John knew that there was an automated system to remove dust and such from the air and in a spacecraft the only dirt on the deck was when workers came in from outside. This was pure harassment and to show him that he was at the bottom of the pecking order. Well he could play that game too. As he swept the deck he noticed several of the personnel in the engineering section give him a glance and then scatter things on the deck where he had already swept. As he approached the collection bin in the corner he was wondering how to get the sweepings into the bin and then remembered an old butler that was a friend of his fathers. He had a small hand held sweeper and a tray that only had 3 sides on it and a short handle. He had described how his father used to sweep dirt and dust into the tray to dispose of it. He went over to the sweeper locker and looked and found a similar tray. When he returned to the pile of sweepings he found that they had been scattered. Sweeping them back into a neat pile and then into the tray he heard some laughter from the other side of the deck. As soon as the Chief noticed him looking at the two laughing engineers he started yelling at them to get back to work.

One replied to the Chief that the kid wasn't as ignorant as they thought. He must have been a janitor.

John started walking a grid pattern around the engineering section checking the deck and behind everything to see if he had missed any sweepings. After assuring himself that the deck was clean and keeping one eye on the 2 engineers he returned the sweeper and tray to the locker and then approached the Chief. "Chief, the sweeping is done for now and the deck is ready for inspection." he said.

Chief Brown turned and walked straight to the largest engine and pulled out a white rag. He then bent over and wiped it along the crack where the engine met the floor. Pulling it up he opened it and there was a faint line of black.

As he started to open his mouth John tried to look shocked and said, "Oh my, I missed a spot, I'll get right on it and turned and marched across the deck to the sweeper locker." He didn't see any rags in it but there was a sweeper with a cloth where the bristles were on the sweeper. On the top shelf in the back he did find some white rags. As he searched the locker thoroughly he remembered another of the stories his grandfather told him about what he called basic training when he joined the scouts. The sergeants would assign a task and when that task was completed they would find the slightest fault related to that task. What the Chief had done snapped that story back into his memory. He was being taught the lesson that no matter what he did it was never enough and he must be familiar with every nook and cranny within sight. He must also be prepared for anything. Well if the chief wanted to teach that, he would show that only 1 lesson was needed. Hanging on the rear wall was a folded up contraption that had 2 wheels and a short sweeper handle on it. As he pulled it out it fell open. It had places to put the sweeper and the cloth covered sweeper and tray. Also it had a wire basket the he assumed must be for holding the clean rags and anther basket below it. He loaded everything into the fold up cart and dragged it to the other corner of the engine room. He started by sweeping a section and then running the cloth covered sweeper over the section again. The he took one rag and rubbed it along the cracks on the wall and floor and then all over the piece of equipment there and then where the equipment met the floor. Lying on the deck he felt as far around the equipment as he could and then took a rag and wiped that area thoroughly. The first thing he saw as he pulled himself out from behind the equipment was the Chief's feet.

"Lying down on the job, huh."

John slowly pulled the rags from behind the equipment and folded them in half and place them in the bottom basket. He remembered something else his grandfather had said. The sergeants would never say they were pleased if you did a good job or used your initiative. They would just find something else you missed. If you didn't miss something but opened your mouth to defend yourself they would jump on you for talking back. As John stood all that he could think of to say was, "I found a spot someone missed. They must have had shorter arms." The second the arm comment was out of his mouth he knew where the Chief would attack.

"Oh so you think you have longer arms than anyone else here, huh. Well lets see then." He called a tall lanky engineer over and told him to take a clean rag and see if the novice had missed anything behind the equipment.

With a grin he dropped to the floor, turned on his left side with both arms over his head and pulled himself behind the equipment all the way to his knees. In less than a minute he was pushing himself back out and tossed the rag on the deck. It had a patterns gray on it separated by irregular patterns of white. He stood up and said, "Chief he don't know where to look and wipe. I think he needs to learn everything about this piece here so he can clean it proper."

With a smile the Chief said, "Good, you teach him and then I'll check his work."

Jimmy turned to John and said, "Drag that contraption back to the cleaning locker and bring those dirty rags." He turned and walked over to another locker on that wall. Opening it he said, "The dirty rags go in the bottom here and you get clean rags off the top bin." Two lockers over he opened a locker named Novice and said, "Here are your tools. Chief knows every scratch and ding on them because they were his at one time. There is a checklist for when you put them up. You don't want to leave any tools in the engines. As soon as you get everything checked meet me back over at the air processor."

Four days later after disassembling the air processor several times Jimmy said, "Tell the Chief it's prepared for inspection. You have about 8 minutes before the air flow will gather enough impurities from the air to show on a white rag."

The Chief walked slowly over and then looked at Jimmy and asked, "Does he know where all the dirt collects." When Jimmy nodded, the Chief said, "Good, then start him on the O/H manifolds tomorrow."

"Can do", said Jimmy with a grin.

John rolled his tool chest back over to the Novice locker and started inventorying his tools and wiping them down. Every tool had an outlined shape in each drawer. Every tool was on the checklist by name and location in the tool chest.

When everything was accounted for Jimmy walked over and said let me show you something. Together they walked over to the ladder door and went down 2 levels. After suiting up Jimmy led him outside the ship and said look at that.

John had looked at the solar system and planetary system using view screens before, but had never stood on an observation deck and looked into raw space while a ship was underway. There wasn't that much to actually see, but the immensity of space suddenly hit him. With only a piece of plastic and some fabric to protect him, he was naked to the stars. He felt his eyes misting and a knot forming in his throat.

Jimmy said, lets go back inside.

He couldn't even fully describe his feelings they were so strong.

Jimmy pulled him back through the airlock and stood watching him as he shook. Then he patted him on the shoulder and said, "I felt the same way the first time I stood out there. It never gets old".

On the morning of the 24th day the Chief met him as he came through the ladder hatch and gave him a scowl that would peel paint. What is a bridge officer doing on my deck without permission. Only the Captain has the right to enter my Engineering Section without my permission. A junior officer like you had better get his ass back on the bridge where he belongs.

Yes Sir Chief, replied John as he backed back through the hatch and secured it. Happily he climbed toward the bridge and entered without thinking about changing his uniform. As he reported to the 1st bridge officer he was told he was out of uniform, to go change quickly and then assume a position behind the senior pilot to observe how a real senior pilot flew a plasma torch. Yes Sir, he replied and ran to his quarters to change.

He had no sooner arrived and installed a jump seat beside the senior pilots seat when the bridge officer handed him a copy of the checklist for A-engine operation. This was one that he hadn't seen before. It required the pilot to verify when zero deceleration would be reached and inform engineering so they could proceed with a smooth shutdown of the A-engine and stabilize the antimatter fields to prevent any type of accident. If the antimatter touched regular matter at any point an explosion would that far outreached the splitting of the atom. The down side was that it would continue until all the antimatter in the collapsed containment field was converted into energy. He remembered his grandfather telling him about the 2nd antimatter manufacturing station on Mercury going up in such an explosion that it caused the planet to wobble in its orbit and turn almost an 30 degrees. The only advantage to that accident was the opening up of virgin mining areas on the hot side. As he followed the checklist down he observed one non-standard operation. The pilot called communications and requested that they contact the belt station and tell them that they needed to prepare to shut down their magnetic mining scoop. That wasn't on the checklist or any other SOP that he remembered and he had visited this same belt station twice. As soon as the shut down was completed he asked the pilot.

The pilot simply replied that he was aware of the magnetic mining scoop and it would interfere with the magnetic containment field that held the antimatter. That was another reason that no A-matter engine ship could operate inside the orbit of Venus. A solar flare contains enough magnetic energy to disrupt the containment field close in. By the way you know that you are not finished with your training in the engineering section. The next phase in on the A-matter engine itself. By time the chief finishes with you you could go in and qualify as an engineer 2nd class so use this break to study up on the O/H and A-engine. It took the exec 5 years to qualify as 1st bridge officer. We've had 5 bridge officer trainees burn out just trying to qualify as 2nd bridge officer. Hope you make it. Then he turned to the bridge officer and said, get this trainee out of here.

John thought about the pilots comments and then his final comment as he was sent to report to the quartermaster.

The quartermaster officer was a short fat man that didn't have a hair on his head. He took one look at John and said your shift starts in 4 hours. I want you in a work uniform that you don't mind getting dirty. The supplies haven't been inventoried since we left Jupiter and I know that some of those lazy cargo handlers probably put them in the wrong places.

John left the quartermaster office with an idea that by time he was through he would know where every storage room in ship was.

* * *

After four and a half months John not only knew where every supply room was, he knew where every suit locker, every piece of fire fighting equipment, every cargo hold, every mess supply control, every airlock, and every piece of repair equipment was located. The day that the quartermaster finished with him and told him to report to the 1st bridge officer he said I can't find my coffee cup.

The Quartermaster officer looked at him and said you had better remember unless you want to spend the next six months moving everything and looking for it.

John took two steps back, reached out with his right hand and felt along the counter until he came to the third cup. He picked it up and then asked where the coffee was.

The Quartermaster officer gave him a stern look and then said in a calm low voice, you are a smart ass punk, I'm going to talk to monkey about you. Have fun while you can. Now get me a cup of coffee and then get out of here.

After getting a cup of coffee for the quartermaster he took his coffee cup to the officers mess, filled it, went to his quarters and changed into uniform suitable for the bridge. The then proceeded to the bridge and reported.

The bridge officer took one look at him and then said take charge, I'll be in the Captains office if you need anything.

That was the last thing he expected. He watch the bridge officers back as he proceeded through the hatch to the Captains office. Remembering some of the tricks that had been played on him in the past he wondered what was in store for him now. He walked over to the navigation station and asked the navigator to show him on the plot where they were. After studying it for a moment he turned and walked over to the communications station and asked if there were any communications that had a time suspense on them. The communications person said no. He then walked over behind the senior pilot and asked him if the junior pilot could handle everything for a few minutes.

The senior pilot told the junior pilot to assume control and then he turned is seat around. Facing John he said, so you are not the bridge officer for now. How does it feel.

John look at him and said, I feel like the bridge officer just stuck me in a rocket headed for the sun without an ounce of fuel. I don't know the procedures here or what they are planning. I could use some advice.

The senior pilot looked at him and said keep your wits about you and ask for reports every once in awhile. Then he swiveled back to his station and asked the junior pilot for an update.

John walked back over to the bridge officers station and sat down. He then looked over the computer screen and saw a listing of the stations on the bridge and three engineering sections. He pressed the button for the Chief Engineer. Nothing happened. He then pressed the button for the Senior Pilot. Nothing happened. He then stood up and walked over to the door to the Captains office and wrapped on it with his knuckles.

The bridge officer opened it and said what do you want?

John gave him a look and then calmly stated, I need the access codes for the bridge officers computer and a headset so I can hear any replies when I ask for any status reports.

The bridge officer laughed twice and then said report to the Captain. I'll relieve you now. With a smile he headed back onto the bridge.

John stepped through the hatch and saw the Captain sitting behind his desk with 2 cups of coffee.

"Hope you like sugar in your coffee. He didn't even get to take a sip before you called him out."

John stood at attention and said, "If he'd given me the access codes for his position and headset I would have been out there until something came up that I couldn't handle. That probably would have been 5 or 10 minutes from now."

"John you lasted longer than the last trainee, sit down and relax. As I was saying, you lasted longer than the last promising youngster the veep sent us. On top of that the Quartermaster says you are a smart ass and recommended that I turn you over to monkey for a year or two. Your actions after having the bridge dumped on you were not those of a smart ass. We monitored you as you made you tour of the bridge and especially what you asked the Senior Pilot. Then when you tried to reach the Chief Engineer on the officers computer the 1st bridge officer said you were possibly going to make a half way decent bridge officer on some garbage scowl. I think that you may have surprised him by asking for the access codes to the computer instead of asking for relief. Now let me tell you my plans to destroy or make you. You will pull supervised watch for the next 10 days until we shut down the A-drive. Then you will pull 1 unsupervised watch while we go back to our assigned parking orbit around Jupiter. Two days liberty and then report to the Chief Engineer. He is going to move the antimatter containment bottle out. The antimatter engine is due its scheduled maintenance. I think that is a bit of luck. By time he gets done with you, I think you'll be qualified to monitor an A-engine powered flight. Then we'll hone you bridge skills until you're ready to pull watch as 2nd officer. Don't think you have it made though, the last trainee made it up to the bridge before he walked out the airlock one night after pulling watch. No one moves up on this ship until the Chief of each section approves. The Quartermaster and Chief Engineer both asked for you if there was any punishment detail you qualified for. I think that they want you to hand clean the rocket tubes and bilge. Of course this ship doesn't have a bilge, but there are areas that resemble a bilge. You get the idea, right!"

"Yes Sir, I'll remember that and try not to qualify for any punishment detail. You may assure the Quartermaster and the Chief Engineer that the only grudge I hold is against one company supervisor that doesn't like me either. He is a paper pusher that thinks he's a ship captain and acts like an ass. He took from me my first love and swore that if I didn't make it here I'd never get a piloting job in this universe."

"Crap, then you don't know?"

"Know what Sir."

"You're talking about my older brother."

"I feel sorry for you Sir, shall I walk out the airlock now or do I get a fair chance."

"You get a fair chance John, because I'm not fond of him either. I would not mention this to anyone else period."

"Yes Sir. Who do you want me to report to now."

"Take the rest of the shift off and report to the bridge officer on 3rd shift tomorrow. I'm unlocking your computer so you can read any manual or checklist. Dismissed."

John stopped at the hatch, turned and wished the Captain a good evening. Then he stepped through and secured the hatch.

The bridge officer looked at him and asked, "Did you enjoy my coffee?"

"I enjoyed the conversation with the Captain more, Sir. See you tomorrow 3rd shift."

***

A year later the Chief Engineer told him that he was no longer needed in the Engineering section. The antimatter bottle was back in place and tested. The A-engine was operational and passed all static test. The test run would be to Earth and back. The Old Man wanted to see it once more. The 22 day run would take 17 months with an O/H rocket.

On John's second watch after they lit the A-engine the Captain relieved him on watch and told him to report to the Old Man in his quarters. Even using the lifts it took him over 30 minutes to navigate to the Old Man's quarters. He no longer was awed by the splendor of the accommodations aboard the Phoenix. However he was surprised at the number of medical personnel there.

The Old Man waived him over and asked him if he was going to be happy if he made it as bridge officer on the Phoenix.

John answered him and said, "My first love was being a pilot, I think my second will be being a bridge officer on the Phoenix. I greatly appreciate the faith you had in me to even allow me to try."

"Good, now go tell the Captain I wish to see him."

Before John even made it to the suite door he heard the Old Man snoring. The Captain was surprised to see him back on the bridge so soon until he relayed the Old Man's request.

Then he called up another officer to duty and as soon as he arrived he told John to follow him back down.

John waited outside while the Captain went in. When he came out he looked at John and asked, "Did you know that your grandfather saved the Old Mans life."

John said, "No, he never told me any story that included the Old Man or that he ever saved anyone's life."

"He then pulled a sealed data disk out of his pocket. This is the Old Man's last will and testament. He told me that you're in it. It goes in the ships main safe. No one knows exactly what is on it except a few lawyers and witnesses. His doctors told him that he would not survive the trip. I only hope that he lives long enough to look on the Earth one more time." Then the Captain broke down and had to lean against the corridor wall for a time.

John put his hand on the Captains shoulder and said, "I think I know how you feel. When my grandfather died I couldn't function for 2 days. Do you want someplace around here to rest before we go back to the main ship?" Then he led him down the corridor to an unoccupied mess and locked the hatch after seating the Captain.

An hour later they walked into the Quartermaster's office and he told the Quartermaster to open the ships safe. After securing the disk in a lock box he thumbed the seal, had the 1st officer put his thumb seal on it, then he told John to counter seal both. He then handed the box to the Quartermaster and told him the contents and to seal the container in the ships safe until it was needed. The Quartermaster looked at the Captain and said I didn't think he was that sick. They watched the Quartermaster seal the box with his thumb print and label the box while saying, "I hope it isn't needed anytime soon."

The flight was uneventful to Earth orbit. The Old Man spent a week looking at the Earth through the observation blister. Then that night he died and they were unable to resuscitate him again.

Only 2 of the Old Man's lawyers were aboard. A radio and video link was established to Jupiter and all persons that the lawyer were contacted. The next morning the lock box was on the Captains desk when the link was reestablished. A similar box was on the desk of the main lawyer on the Jupiter station in the main conference room of the company. At the same time they were opened and the seals on the data disk held up to be verified. The transmission time lag was a major irritant. Then as per instructions from the main lawyer the disk were to be placed in computers and read. The computers would transmit the contents of the disk to the other and print out the will at the same time. Then the lawyer on Jupiter said he would read the will for verification by comparing both copies.

There were 5 sections. The first dealt with the company stock and leadership. John inherited 2000 shares and a seat on the board of directors. The Captain looked at him and said, "Well you're now to rich to work."

The second section dealt with the Phoenix and the new A-matter engine ship nearing completion. The Captain owned 2 shares of both and the present officers of the Phoenix owned 1 share of each. John inherited 5 shares of each ship. The Captain looked at him and then said, "What am I to do with you now?"

The third section dealt with the colony moon. The company owned 5,260,100 of the 10,000,000 shares. However any owner of the company shares could trade his shares in the company for shares in the colony moon except John. He owned outright 649,000 shares. John looked at the Captain and said, "Do you know the story of my grandfather and the Old Man?"

The Captain replied, "I'll tell you later."

The fourth section dealt with the desires of the Old Man as far as his body. It was to be buried either on Earth or aboard the Phoenix under 1 G acceleration out into the universe. His wife and natural children were well taken care of and would make the final decision about his burial. There was a document attached and a reference to a copy sealed in the lawyers safe and filed with the high court on Jupiter station 1. Upon the reading of his will it was to be unsealed. It was an adoption certificate showing where John was formerly adopted after his father died. His mother's agreed to the adoption and signed it. No one else except the Old Man's wife, the lawyers, and a few court officials knew about it. The Old Man's son and daughter said they'd fight and get the adoption revoked. The senior lawyer then informed them that the next paragraph in the will stated that anyone that fought any part of the will would be disowned by the will, their portion would go to a charity on the list, and John would automatically become permanent chairman of the board which was the Old Man's position after he took the company public. The lawyer then said now for the last paragraph of section 4. All inheritance except John Wing inheritance will be held in trust until 5 years after the successful launch of the colony moon. Each inheriting person or organization would be paid from that trust a proportional amount each year from the profits of the company. If John Wing died under conditions other than old age the company was to be split up and given to the public, 1 share per person over the age of 1 year.

Then the lawyer said section five deals with the colony moon and when John Wing assumes his seat on the board of directors and a new chairman is elected it will be read to the board and the Captain of the Phoenix. It will remain sealed until that time.

There was a big argument about the burial among the children and then their mother spoke up. "I wish to be buried with my husband." The middle aged children shut up when she finally yelled at them. She then looked into the view screen and said. "John can you guarantee that I will be buried with my husband." The 46 minute time lag just for him to hear the question was more than he could stand. He yelled, "YES EVEN IF I HAVE TO USE MY INHERITANCE TO PAY FOR IT." He knew that she would not hear his reply for another 46 minutes so he turned to the Captain and asked, "Is there any way to preserve the Old Mans body aboard the Phoenix until her time comes to join him, or would it spook the crew?"

The Captain got up and walked out of the office. He then called all officers to meet him in the his office and a comm link to the Old Man's doctors. He then stuck his head back into his office and said, "John you have the bridge for 30 minutes."

When the first officer and Chief Engineer came back out they told John to report to the Captain. Only the Captain and the lawyers were there.

As John came in the Captain said, "Grab a seat. The lawyers inform me that the Phoenix is divided into 25 shares. The Old Man's wife inherited 2 shares, and his son and daughter 1 each. 11 shares are represented by the ships officers and me. You inherited 5 shares. The last 5 shares are each inherited by one member of the board of directors. I know 3 of them personally. The Old Man's doctors said they would prepare the Old Man's body for long term storage. He can either be stored and buried on Earth with his wife or aboard the Phoenix with his wife on a trip to the stars. I think that those two spoiled middle age brats he has will try to force the Phoenix to be the coffin just to try to hurt you. I may be wrong, but either way the officers of the Phoenix are with you. The Star Child will be completed next year and need a trained crew. We can move over there lock stock and barrel."

The lawyer behind the Captain's desk then turned over a piece of paper and said, "Read this and sign below the last signature. Captain I need two witnesses that are not inheritors or partial in any way to witness."

The Captain called the Quartermaster and said, "I need two witnesses from among the passengers brought to my office now."

There was a knock on the corridor door a minute later and two passengers were escorted in. Both women were irritated that their trip was interrupted.

The lawyer explained that a historic legal document needed to be witnessed and none of the crew or persons hired by the Old Man could witness it. They were the two closest impartial witnesses and would they please read the document and sign as witnesses to make completely legal. If they wished they could watch the recording of the discussion and signing of it by the other ships officers and talk to any of them they wished to. They would also be given a sealed copy of all the recording provided they promised not to divulge the contents until after the main action of the document was accomplished.

They agreed, one wanted to talk to one of the officers and pointed to a name on the signature line. The Captain then called for him to come to his office and said I will wait outside while you talk to him.

When he came into the office John said I'll wait outside also, the lawyers will remain to verify. He stepped out onto the bridge with a cup of coffee. After a few minutes they were called back in.

The ladies each signed with a flourish and said they had never heard a story of such passion. They would keep the secret until they were told they could tell it and show their copy. They both also asked if they could go on the maiden voyage of the Star Child.

The Captain gave a bow and said, "I can arrange it ladies. You'll be my guest."

John then said, "The Captain has my support in arranging your trip. Please excuse us for now we still have some arrangements to make with the lawyers and family on Station 1."

About 2 minutes later the view screen showed the lawyers office and the Old Man's wife thanked John and the Captain. Then the two children demanded that their father be buried aboard the Phoenix and it be sent to the stars.

John looked at the Captain and said, "You were right. Shall we deflate them now or let them enjoy their little triumph for a month."

The Captain looked at the lawyer and said, "Transmit the document and recording under seal so that it can only be viewed by the widow alone with her lawyer. Also transmit a copy to the office of the high court on Station 1 to be filed under seal until such date as it needs to be executed." He then turned to the view screen and said, "Ma'am your wishes will be honored on my word and the word of the officers of the Phoenix this date. We will be back in the Jupiter system in less than 30 days. Make any arrangements you deem necessary after talking to your most trusted lawyer. Gentlemen, John Wing and I wish to retain your services. Your partners here aboard the Phoenix will make the arrangements and transmit them to you at their convenience. I authorize the transfer of 10,000 credits from my personal account as a retaining fee for us."

The the senior of the two lawyers in the office stated, " I strongly recommend taking them on as clients. I'll be sending you communications as soon as we work out the preliminary details. The Captain has given me his personal check for 10,000 credits. Shall I accept it. We five represent the majority of the senior partners."

93 minutes later the answer came in that the Captain and John Wing were now clients. One of the senior lawyers on station 1 said, "I have privately perused the contents of the incoming document and agreed completely." His words shocked the two lawyers in the Captains office when he bluntly stated, "Those two punks are going to go through hell before they break this will or cause their mother any more pain. Talk to you later. Signing off now to talk to the widow privately."

* * *

Twelve years later the Phoenix had it's navigation computers removed and replaced with a single computer that had a very simple program. It would lock in on the galactic center and keep the ship aimed for that point. All the shuttles were removed along with all non-essential equipment and furnishing except for the owners compartment. A million miles polar north of Jupiter all the crew except the 10 required to start the ship on its journey transferred to the Star Child. Captain John Wing gave the command to engage the A-engine. Two hours later the Chief Engineer verified that the A-engine would run stable until it ran out of antimatter. The Captain was the last off the bridge and the last into the last shuttle. At his command to cast off, the Phoenix containing The Old Man and his wife became the most expensive crypt in the history of the human race. There were no dry eyes when they docked with the Star Child and turned her toward the colony moon.

Only three years before the antimatter containment problem had been solved where there were conflicting magnetic fields in the vicinity of the containment bottle. It was so simple that it eluded the best minds trying to solve the problems. It took a smart ass kid right out of training to figure how to manufacture antimatter on demand. It reduced the mass of the A-engine by 60%. The Phoenix would approach the speed of light before it's engine would fail to make enough antimatter to accelerate it more.

Upon arrival at the colony moon the last two Captains were aboard. All three proceeded to the bridge and set the final course in the computers.

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