Everywhere And Beyond Sequel to From Here to Everywhereeverywhere.bizland.com/sitebuildercontent/site...fire so quickly. Did you find any beryllium on Yantu?” “Yes we did. It’s

Everywhere And BeyondSequel to From Here to

Everywhere

Copyright © 2002 Robert Lee JosephAll rights reserved.

ISBN 1-58898-740-X


Everywhere

Robert Lee Joseph

greatunpublished.comTitle No. 740

2002


Everywhere

Acknowledgements

The “Everywhere” books could not have been created without the moral support and encouragement of many family members and others. A tremendous voice of gratitude to my beautiful bride of more than 20 years who sacrificed much of her time with me so I could complete this work. Similar accolades go to my first-born, Tiffini Lurena, who used her court reporting skills to help be my proofreader. Thanks to my sister Pat Bean, City Editor for the Ogden Standard Examiner, for her suggestions and assistance. To Sister-in-law, Alicia Davis, for listening and reading many chapters and helping the characters come to life.

And a special heartfelt thanks to my son, David Michael (Mike), for designing the book covers and the Everywhere Book Series website. He desires to be a web graphics designer and I believe this is a good exhibit of his ability and work.

Now a word about Book II; some fans will note the increased pace from Book I. Dr. Vaughn’s amazing invention allows a much quicker pace and even encourages it with the elimination of travel time. Here’s hoping you enjoy reading the story as much as I enjoyed creating it.

Robert (Rob) Lee Joseph

PROLOGUE

Several light years from earth in the Centauri Sector of space:…

Fire from the sky was raining down on them on every side! Explosions in the capitol city were causing the ground to shake with tremors. Janus held his youngest son, Jarom, tightly to his bosom as he hastily shepherded the rest of his family into the cargo hold of the space freighter. The invaders had attacked suddenly and viciously. The Yanni council leader thought they would be lucky if they weren’t destroyed trying to flee their own home world. Janus would desperately like to take more people but there just wasn’t time! He waited until the last second just before the bulky freighter launched before quickly closing the rear hatch.

As the space freighter leapt towards the open sky amidst the ribbons of fire shooting down from the invading war ships, Janus recalled the previous few hours. The first inkling of anything amiss was when the Yanni space commission notified the Ruling Council that outposts on the outer planets were no longer sending signals. One station had sent an urgent message saying they were under attack before they were silenced. Then the just-opened Space Station, Yanno-1, the marvel of their science, reported identifying numerous space ships just passing the outer planet.

The stars suddenly appeared through the port window, as the freighter reached escape velocity and Janus recalled that fateful emergency council session in vivid detail.

“What can we do? Who are they? What do they want? We

have no weapons to defend ourselves!” The council members could not believe this was happening. They were a peace-loving people, never thinking in terms of an invasion. Their world had experienced a couple of centuries of living in peace. Then came the dire announcement from the space station.

“This is Ensign Basanni. I have just surrendered the station to the attackers to prevent further bloodshed to our crew. The carnage has been most terrible.” There was the sound of a short scuffle then the council heard in a gruff menacing voice, “This is Commander Rasu-sen. We are here to take over your planet in the name of the Spectari. You can either deliver it peacefully or in pieces; it matters not to me.”…

Sometime later in the vast region of space in the Centauri Sector…

“Cease fire!…Cease-fire!…It’s the Argosen!” Commander Rasu-sen hurriedly exclaimed to his weapons officer, belatedly recognizing the giant flagship of his own space armada on the tactical view screen. Rasu-sen knew the first volley of ion cannon shots were intended to cripple most unsuspecting vessel’s engines. He had not taken the time to let the computer identify the fast appearing ship, assuming it was one of those he was chasing. He fervently hoped the Argosen’s defensive shields had been operating.

The forward view screen suddenly revealed the burly angry red face of Commander Cho-sen, the Spectari Fleet Commander. “Are you out of your mind firing on us, Commander? You’re most fortunate we had our shields raised!”

“But sir, why didn’t you respond to our hail for identification?” Rasu-sen nervously queried. He actually hadn’t hailed, believing the fast approaching ship had to be one of the Yanni ships. He hoped his commander wouldn’t know that.

“Because our communications officer was not at his post where he should have been. He will be severely punished for his dereliction. Your firing was too precipitous. You barely allowed any time for a reply.

We’re supposed to be the only Spectari ship in this sector. What are you doing here?”

“We’re following the trail of a flotilla of ships that fled Yantu when we invaded it. We know most of them weren’t equipped to leave this sector so they must be hiding somewhere. We were following their ion trail but then lost it. How do you happen to be here, sir?”

“We’re preparing to scan the next star system several parsecs away. Our astrogator says there’ve been significant high levels of waves and pulses coming from that sector over the past millennia, so we know it’s inhabited by some intelligence. Carry on your own mission and good hunting. You shouldn’t be so quick to fire. There was no immediacy to fire so quickly. Did you find any beryllium on Yantu?”

“Yes we did. It’s in extraordinary good quantities too. We’ve organized the natives to mine it and have two space freighters in orbit. Also the Yanni have some marvelous new science. Matter transporters. They require much power but allow us to transmit the beryllium directly to the space freighters without having to land.”

“That’s great! Transmit a full report with the new technology to Ryosan and copy me. We will notify you when we find the next suitable planet.”

The two giant warships broke off on their separate missions.….

“Commander, we’ve been searching for many cycles and found no trace of them. How long must we maintain these long range scans?” Masori hesitantly spoke to his Commander, almost surely knowing the response, but feeling compelled to ask anyway. He had been with Rasu-sen on enough assignments to recognize his mood swings. The weapons officer knew the commander was still overcoming the shock at having fired on the Argosen, and Masori too knew he must bear some of that responsibility.

The dark-skinned commander of the battle cruiser swiveled his command chair around to his weapons officer, scowled with his nostrils flaring and shook his black-gloved fist, “As long as

it takes, Masori…as long as it takes. We almost had them the last time.” The scowl deepened as he continued, “They cannot have disappeared. We know they weren’t equipped to leave this system. They must be hiding on one of the outer planets or moons. Keep scanning. Something will show up. They can’t hide from us forever.”

“But sir, this is draining on the crew. Can’t we at least return to their home planet to re-supply?

“And give them a chance to make good their escape? They will need to re-supply too and that is when we’ll catch them.”

Ensign Masori was not of the Spectari. He was a blue-skinned Rigelian pilot who had been press-ganged into the Spectari space fleet when his own home planet had been viciously invaded and conquered. He had been wrenched from his young family and now feared for them, knowing he might never see them again. He quickly learned the Spectari were a war faring people who felt they owned the cosmos. They never negotiated or bargained. They simply conquered and took what they wanted, leaving a trail of death and destruction in their wake. Masori pitied that next star system, for he knew from experience if whoever they were, were not prepared, they would have no chance against the mighty Spectari war fleet.…

This book is dedicated to my nine children and eleven wonderful grandkids, Tiffini,Christi, Robert, Lily, Andreya, Vivian, Rusty,

David and Dorthea; and grandkids, Ashley, Alex, Preston, Katelynnd, Kirklyn, Pasha, Rebecca, Mattie, Morgan, Adam & ?

I truly believe life is all about families, and the Lord blessed me with a great one.

CHAPTER ONE

“THE STARS AWAIT”

“The stars, there are so many of them…and they’re all available!”Meredith Royston

“Meredith! John! Welcome home! I hope you had a terrific honeymoon,” Darlene Travis almost squealed as she rushed across the large living area to hug them both affectionately. “You look marvelous. Where did you get such great tans? Meredith, you’ll have to fill me in on all your adventures.”

“Darlene, we’ve been so many places, I’m not sure.” The blond newlywed beamed at the smiling dynamic raven-haired mother-of-three. “We’ve been from Australia to the Swiss Alps and everywhere in between it seems. What’s going on around here? Where is everyone?” The two honeymooners had teleported to an empty living room in the team’s secret Utah base. They were wondering where everyone was when Darlene had excitedly rushed in as a one=person welcoming committee.

“Everything is happening so fast around here, it’s hard for me to keep up,” Darlene excitedly said. “I think you’ll find most of the team at the former NORAD underground facilities in Colorado. We call it Teleport Central or just T-base for short. I know they’ll be happy to see you. Jenny has been asking when you were coming back.”

“Yes, we missed her too. We had a great time, but it’s good to be back. We missed all of you,” Meredith said pleasantly sighing.

ROBERT LEE JOSEPH2 EVERYWHERE AND BEYOND 3

“I’m anxious to catch up on all the activity,” John added. He stood just a little taller than Meredith, looking healthy and tanned in his casual attire of golf shirt, slacks and loafers. “We shouldn’t have stayed away so long. Can you zip us to Colorado so we can meet the team?”

“Sure. We can go there now.” John and Meredith held hands as Darlene held Meredith’s and touched a button on her wrist device. Instantly they were in a cavernous vault-type room in Colorado. John realized the significance of the fact this former command center for the North American Defense System was now theirs to use for the worldwide distribution of teleport platforms. I envisioned such a facility but never thought of it in these terms. I wonder what other marvels are in store?” He looked around at the huge underground complex and thought it was a scientific marvel. He saw a portly familiar and now world-famous figure coming toward them.

“John and Meredith, welcome back!” Dr. Vaughn hurried to them with arms outstretched. “You two look great,” as he gave Meredith a kiss on the cheek and shook hands with John. He smiled at them both with almost fatherly affection.

“It looks like you’ve been very busy since we left, Dr. Vaughn. Who designed the team logo?” John noted the silver-bearded scientist’s tan laboratory smock had a striking UN symbol on it with a large blue “T” overprinted in the center with a bright reddish crest on top of the T, resembling a crown.

“It was mostly Jonathan’s idea, but Jenny helped him.”Just then Jonathan Royston came up from behind them

and wrapped his arms around them both. “Welcome home, Dad and Meredith. We missed you.” The blond-headed 17 year-old stood almost head-to-head with his father and wearing a tan shirt with a bright logo patch on the pocket.

“Son, you’re looking good. It looks like you’ve gotten a little taller. Have they been keeping you busy? I like the team logo. Where did you get the idea from?”

“You bet. I think it’s your loafers that make me look taller. There’s a ton of work going on. Wait till I get a chance to show you. We modeled the logo after some other UN groups. Only


the original team members have this special crest on theirs though. Yours and Meredith’s are in your new bungalow on Crescent Island. There’s a bunch of wedding presents waiting to be opened there too.”

John thought of how Tom Johnston had shown the team the tropical paradise he had selected for their secret hideaway. Before they left for their honeymoon, the team had selected unique cottage designs and laboratory buildings that could be teleported to the Island without upsetting the local flora and fauna. He was anxious to see how it all worked out.

“John and Meredith, welcome back.” The newlyweds turned to see Hank Travis ambling up to greet them. The tall lanky former Deputy Sheriff, now head of the team’s security staff, had a Texas-size smile as he greeted them. Hank had stood with John as Best Man at the world televised reception in the Rose Garden. The reception immediately followed the couple’s private church wedding in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints’ Dallas Temple. “You two newlyweds sure look fit. We’re mighty happy to have you back. John, wait till you see all the improvements we’ve made in this place.”

“Hi, honey. I’m glad you brought them here.” Hank gave his wife, Darlene an affectionate hug.

“I’m just amazed we even have it. How did you manage it?” John noted Hank’s Khaki uniform-looking shirt pocket also sported the same red-crested UN emblem.

“Remember, we’re an official arm of the UN now and when that body decided to internationalize all the teleport production facilities, I suggested since the military was officially disbanded, we could use this little old facility as a secure base of operations. Before each completed platform is distributed, it’s teleported here where we add the final security features. We don’t even have to open the giant sealed doors. We just zip everything inside.”

While Hank was talking, the slowly growing group was walking towards the center of the room where there was a much larger version of their Utah base central console. Huge wall screens displaying large portions of the world with lights


brightly shinning like stars now dwarfed their small Utah console monitors. John and Meredith looked to each other in amazed wonder.

“Most of this equipment used to track missile and weapons installations. Now we use it for a much better purpose. We even enlisted many of the former technical staff to help with the setup and they’re now part of the official UN team. We’ve had to grow very fast to meet the world demand for platforms. We have the full help of NASA and the UN. NASA teamed up with the UN Space Commission to push this project forward so they can began exploring the universe in earnest. Our Fort Worth facility is building the exploration modules now.”

As the group approached the central computer console, John surprisingly recognized the operator sitting at the main console in the tan lab smock with the crested team logo. “Dad!”

John Royston Sr. stood and gave a huge smile as he greeted his son and new daughter-in law with hugs and a kiss on the cheek for Meredith. “Surprised you, didn’t I son? Bet you didn’t expect to see an old codger like me running a sophisticated computer did you? And I couldn’t if it wasn’t for this sweet gal showing me how to do it.” John’s dad pointed to an attractive young brunette of obvious African descent with short dark braided hair who was standing smiling nearby. “I didn’t believe I could learn all the new-fangled stuff but she’s a great teacher and I think she coddles me some. Beverly this is my famous son and his new bride and this is Beverly Garvey. She taught me all I know about computers.”

Beverly warmly greeted them. “I would recognize you two anywhere after watching the televised Rose Garden reception. I’ll bet y’all had fun on your honeymoon. I’ve enjoyed working with your dad. He’s a bundle of energy and keeps me on my toes.” Beverly was thrilled to be on the team and was glad she had chosen computer school when she enlisted in the Air Force several years previously, never dreaming it would lead to such an opportunity. Now she was in the worldwide hub of all the action and loving every minute of it. She happily helped train Mr. Royston.


“Beverly was with NORAD and we drafted her onto the team to help with the programming of the platforms.”

As his dad spoke, John noted the UN team logo on her lab coat was a duplicate of his dad’s minus the reddish crest.

Just then Joan and sandy-haired Alex Stanton walked up and they repeated the greeting routine. “Alex and I were just asking when you two lovebirds would be returning to the flock.” Joan beamed at Meredith noting her fresh tanned look. Joan was a striking contrast with her strawberry blond hair and white lab smock.

“I think we stayed away too long. I can’t get over all the changes.” Meredith and Joan had become quite close since their first introduction at their California facility when Dr. Vaughn had recruited Alex to be part of the project.

“Meredith, Wait till you really get caught up. My head is still swimming with all we’ve accomplished in such a short period of time. Alex drafted me to help the team while you were gone and I’m enjoying it so much I may not go back to just being a home mom again.”

Meredith recalled Joan had been a qualified lab assistant in her own right before she had started rearing her family and could hold her own in most scientific conversations. “Joan, how are your little ones doing? I was looking for Jenny. Do you know where she is? I brought a special gift for her and I’m anxious to see her.”

John Sr. spoke up. “You’ll be surprised to learn Jenny’s helping on the project too. She’s in Fort Worth working with Alice. They’re helping with the interior design of the exploration modules and she’s sure enjoying it too. Alice tries to give them a comfy homey feel.”

Joan spoke up. “If you like, Meredith, I can take you there too see them now and I’ll catch you up on everything?”

“That would be great, Joan. Darlene, would you like to come with us?”

“Yes, I’d love to. I haven’t had a chance to see that facility either. Darling, I’ll see you later,” as Darlene gave her lanky husband a hug.


“Darling, I’ll see you at our bungalow later this evening,” Meredith radiantly beamed with a twinkle in her eye giving her new husband a kiss on the cheek.

Joan laughingly waved bye to Alex and said, “And I’ll see you back at our bungalow tonight too, Dearie.”

Darlene held Meredith’s hand and Joan took her other one, touched a couple of buttons on her wrist device, and the three instantly disappeared.

After a few moments of further visiting, Dr. Vaughn turned to Jonathan. “Let’s go see the progress in Fort Worth too and let Hank and Alex show your dad around. See you later John.” The two waved bye and then disappeared.

John turned to Hank and his dad, “We enjoyed our honeymoon, but we missed everyone here too. Seeing all these changes makes me feel I missed too much.”

“Don’t worry son, there’s still plenty to do.”“Yes, and some of it we’ve saved especially for you,” Hank

added. “Which reminds me, we’ve made some improvements in the devices. If you’ll give yours and Meredith’s to Alex, he’ll get them upgraded for you. I don’t know whether you heard or not, but there was a big discussion over what to name the device. They shortened Vaughn-Simpson-Stanton to call it simply VISA, so now the wrist devices are called VISAs. At least that is the term the reporters adopted and everyone else has latched onto.”

“I hope they’ve been fully tested. I remember the last time when I was the Guinea pig for the I-model. I still remember the initial shock of being invisible. I hope we still have those five special devices well protected,” John said, removing his wrist device that he had become very attached to during all the flitting about on their month-long honeymoon. “How long will it take to make the modifications? Can I have a loaner?”

“Yes, of course. Just a short while, and no one knows about the special functionality of those five either,” Alex said. “Not even the UN or President Hargrove. The modifications Hank is referring to don’t affect the functionality, just a little more efficiency in the arrangement of the components, which we learned during the design of the platforms.”


“Now let me show you the rest of this underground marvel,” Hank said.

As they walked on, Hank seriously said, “I hate to have to tell you everything hasn’t been all peaches and cream since you’ve been gone. While most people have eagerly accepted the changes, there’s been a certain element of the population that has been bitter and is fermenting negativity and trouble for the group. Much of it comes from individuals in former military and intelligence branches who have been affected the most, and they either can’t or don’t want to find other career paths so they lash out at the system, sometimes in violent ways and often targeted towards our group. Most of it’s occurring in the European countries, but we have other trouble spots too.”

John absorbed the disturbing news as he noted all the bustling activity on both sides of the huge room. He saw assembly lines of platforms with technicians swarming around them like worker bees around a honeycomb. The platforms reminded John of the metal detectors at airports. He noted they were in pairs with doorframe type entries and different destinations in large letters at the top. For each pair one was white and one a tanned color. From the Spanish names John thought these platforms must be for Central or South America.

Hank noted his gaze and said, “These platforms are larger than they need to be. We place them at central locations and kind of like airport terminal gates; people walk on the white one and instantly off on the tanned one at their destination. These workers are mostly former staff here that joined our team. They’re adding the additional security features to each platform and synchronizing them to the main computer system. Once that’s done, each platform is fully tested and zipped to its intended location. We’ve had to make modifications to our process due to the latest vandalism and attacks on them.”

“I don’t understand, Hank. Why would anyone want to attack a teleport platform?”

“Good question. We asked ourselves that when it first happened. At the start, we weren’t prepared for it and the


tampering would just cause the units to deactivate and the teleport components would fuse together so they couldn’t be used or copied. Now we take extra security precautions with each installation, similar to what we used with our emergency recall function. As to why, there seems to be a backlash out there with some people upset by all the rapid changes to their familiar established routines.

“They complain about everything, but generally harp about how our team is elitist because we won’t provide unlimited teleport capability outside our charter group. Also some countries have been slow to enact our recommended processes and are only making platforms available to selected areas rather than the mass populace. Also I’m beginning to wonder if there isn’t some sort of coordination in the attacks because of their frequency.”

John noted their slow walk was leading them to a tall wall with a double door and small glass windows. Mentioning emergency retrievals caused him to recall the time of the fake train wreck with Robert Anthony’s scheme to steal the prototype device. Thanks to Dr. Vaughn and the I-model, they had foiled that attempt.

“After we lost a few units to these attacks, we finally got our act together. The UN has enacted laws to severely punish these terrorists with long prison sentences. Sometimes we catch them red-handed when they are teleported here with the platform during the emergency recall.”

As they neared the double doors, Hank peered inside through the door window.

Suddenly, a red light blinked above the doors and a loud buzzer sounded. Hank turned and yelled, “Everyone down! Duck!” In a lightning fast motion, Hank pushed them back and down just as a tremendous explosion occurred inside. The double doors blew outward and over their heads with shards of shrapnel flying everywhere. After the dust settled, John checked his dad. “Dad, are you okay?’

John Sr. had fallen on top of Alex, cushioning his own fall. “Yes, son. I’m fine, but you better check that lad.”


John and Hank both looked to see that blast fragments had wounded one of the security staff. Hank quickly zipped him to the infirmary while John and the rest inspected the damage from the blast. The inside of the previously closed room was totally destroyed in a charred mess including an acrid burning smell.

Hank reappeared. “Frank will be out of action for awhile, but he should be okay. I’m glad we put the recovery room behind closed doors. If this larger room had felt the full effects of the blast, we would have had major damage. Let’s go check the main console and see what we can learn.”

Beverly was anxiously working the keyboard as they approached. She was proud of the accomplishments her and her staff had managed in so short a time. Her concentrated frenzied effort at the keyboard indicated she treated the attack as if it were personal.

“Beverly, what can I do to help?” John Sr. inquired.“Go over to the auxiliary console, check the audit program

files and see what data was captured,” as she anxiously activated the security part of the system. The system had not only recorded the location of the tampered platform, but also a video of the act of sabotage. The console monitor showed the saboteur with a scarf or other material wrapped around his or her head as a disguise. The video clearly showed the bomb being placed on the platform at the same time the saboteur hit the console with a large hammer. Beverly turned to Hank. “The platform was one of the first installed in East Germany on the outskirts of East Berlin.”

Hearing East Germany caused John to remember his last visit near there when their original team had been confronted with the kidnappers of some American tourists just a few months ago. Could this be the work of Heinrich Von Dussen? We haven’t heard from him since Hank shot him in the hip at our California laboratory. Could he be behind this? I wonder.…

Chapter Two

Further Activity

“Wow!” Meredith looked down the almost mile length assembly line of the former Lockheed Martin Tactical Fighter plant in Fort Worth, Texas.

“Wait till you see how we’re using it,” Joan smilingly said.“Meredith! “ Jenny squealed as she ran to her and wrapped

her arms around her with a big hug. “We missed you and Dad. I hope you had fun.”

Alice Royston also gave her new daughter-in law a hug and kiss on the cheek as she said, “Yes, we all missed you. I too hope you enjoyed your honeymoon, but we’re glad you’re back.”

“Yes we did, and we missed you too. I’ll tell y’all about it when we’re home.”

Meredith then turned to Jenny. “I brought you a special gift.” She reached in her pocket and pulled out a small wrapped present and handed it to Jenny. “I hope you like them.”

Jenny excitedly unwrapped the small package revealing a jewelry case, which contained a set of mother of pearl earrings. “Oh! They’re beautiful! I can’t wait to wear them, she exclaimed, warmly hugging her new step mom and then showed the earrings to her Grandma. Meredith noted the charter logo patches on Jenny and Alice’s outfits. She was amazed at how grownup and mature the 15 year-old blond teenager seemed after just a month’s absence.

Dr. Vaughn and Jonathan appeared. “I see you found her,” Dr. Vaughn said. “Let’s use one of the executive carts and give you the grand tour of this gigantic facility.”


Jenny proudly displayed her new earrings to Dr. Vaughn and Jonathan. Meredith noted the tiny pearls on her ears made her look even more mature and beautiful in her youthful enthusiasm.

“This place is huge. What all do you do with it?” Meredith asked Dr. Vaughn as the group hopped onto an extended topless electric cart.

“We’ve divided it into different areas for building the exploration and living modules. We use the titanium and other materials formerly used in the manufacture of fighter aircraft for the outer shell of the modules. Grandma Alice and Jenny have been helping with suggestions on the interior living areas. When we get to that area, we’ll show you some of the completed ones.”

The cart was now passing an area with a wide array of equipment that had NASA and UN symbols on them. Dr. Vaughn acted as their tour guide.

“This area is manned by NASA technicians and computer specialists. Before we can go anywhere, we must be able to identify our destination astronomically. These technicians setup the special computers and programming to accomplish that complicated task. Most of the staff used to work for NASA, but now is part of the UN Space Commission, and as you can see, they’ve adopted the special UN insignia on their uniforms. Dr. Ted Olmstead is in charge of this area. He is head engineer on the Space Commission too. Muckety-muck Bigwig or something like that.” Dr. Vaughn exaggeratedly waved his hands. “On the opposite side of the aisle, the technicians are assembling and testing the lab equipment for exploration on each planetary environment we encounter.”

Jenny spoke up. “Dr. Vaughn, I haven’t heard anyone talk about finding life on other planets. Do you think there are other intelligences out there?”

“Jenny, up until now all we could do was explore our own galaxy and the universe via telescopic means, but now we have the ability to go far beyond that, and we don’t know what we will find.” Dr. Vaughn smiled as he continued slowly driving the cart.


“As for my own beliefs, Jenny the universe is so vast, I believe the possibility is great there is other life out there and now we have a chance to go and meet it and I’m excited about the opportunity and possibility. We have hundreds of scientific and other organizations just begging to be the first.”

The cart had now reached another section, which contained large enclosed areas. Jonathan took over explaining this section.

“This is where the testing is performed for different environmental conditions. Previously it was used for airframe testing of air force jets, but now is used to test everything going off-planet. We not only have habitation modules, but laboratory and engineering modules as well.”

Jonathan really is an integral part of the team, Meredith thought. “What planets have we been to so far?” Meredith turned towards Dr. Vaughn.

“So far we haven’t been beyond our own solar system, although we’ve sent probes to a couple of the closest star systems, so we haven’t really done much yet. All this you’re seeing here had to be setup first.”

“I understand. I’m still amazed at what you’ve accomplished in so short a time. I know John and I were gone awhile but I didn’t think we were gone that long. How did you manage to set all this up in just a month? I’ve been on projects that haven’t accomplished this much in years.”

“You’re still thinking in terms of our small team and the way things used to be. Now as part of the UN, we can add resources and people just for the asking. In fact, there’s a huge waiting list of scientific talent just begging to be on the team. Also with the new global and interplanetary political view, decisions happen much faster than before. The UN Human Resources Division handles staffing for us and they’ve had to expand a couple of times. Our department heads submit their needs on-line and they’re practically filled the next day.” We’ve grown so fast we’ve had to divide and subdivide several departments. You won’t even recognize the new organizational charts.”

Jenny brightly said, “Here we are at the living modules section. This is where Grandma and I’ve been helping.”


Alice cheerfully beamed. “At first the designers tried to make them very sterile with a government barracks type look to them, but I changed all that. I told them these were going to be a home away from home and they should look like one. I put up such a fuss, they added me to the design team and I recruited Jenny to help with good ideas about the inside living arrangements.”

Dr. Vaughn parked the cart near an empty cart by the section. “The only functional requirement we have is the modules have to be interconnect-able with plug and play environmental controls and connections. The units are sturdily built with double insulated panels, as weight is not a factor with teleporting. The rest has been up to Alice’s interior design team.” Dr. Vaughn pointed to a group of domed buildings off to the side. “Those other modules are for housing the laboratory and astronomical telescopes and equipment.”

“Wow!” Meredith said stepping from the electric cart and admiring a conglomeration of individualized buildings. “They’re far from drab and sterile looking. They really do look like individualized homes.”

“Don’t let the simple looks fool you either. These domed buildings are made of very sturdy and well-insulated material. We originally designed them to be similar but Grandma said they needed to have their own character. I can just picture what these will look like on some barren planet. Wait till you see the insides,” Dr. Vaughn grinned as he pressed an odd-looking exterior button. “This button and a few other things was designed to be larger than normal due to the fact those pushing it might be in bulky space suits,” he explained. The front door recessed into the wall with a smooth swishing noise, revealing a small antechamber with a second entry door.

As she walked into the living quarters through the double entryway, Meredith noted the homey touch Grandma Alice had mentioned. The windows were neatly curtained with fine looking drapes and sashes that neatly outlined the rooms that were sparse of furniture, she could feel the comfortable setting each room exuded, having it’s own decorative wall covering and edging. The matching paint schemes were simple yet elegant.


“The furniture will be selected by the individuals who will be living here to make it more personalized,” Alice said as she moved into the neat and spacious kitchen.

“The interior doors resemble most doors, but the exterior doors have special hallway entries with magnetic seals both inside and out for atmosphere control. Included within the magnetic seals are the exterior electric connections, so when each module is magnetically sealed together, it’s immediately hooked up to the local power source.” Dr. Vaughn pointed out certain things as they wandered through the several finished modules. “Each module has it’s own control panel including the teleport components so they can be whisked and retrieved to and from their pre-designated locations. They have special sensors to detect any loss of pressure, which will immediately activate the emergency retrieval system. These units are fully self-contained. This module operates almost like a gigantic space suit. Once we begin, planetary colonization can literally explode across the cosmos.”

“And when will you start and who picks the colonists, Dr. Vaughn? Darlene inquired.

“There’s a special UN group which is accepting applications from all over the world. I think the first colonists will be a very diverse set of qualified explorers. Once the exploration phase is well in hand and living conditions agree, then planetary colonization will start. As to when, I think that is being decided this week by both NASA and the UN.”…

Meredith arrived at their island cottage first that evening. She viewed the cute welcome sign the kids in the group had taped on the living room wall. She thought, Darlene told me how much fun they had creating it, but I must admit, it has to be seen to be appreciated. They were very creative with their patterns and pictures. It really shows how much they care.

Thinking of how much they cared caused a myriad of other thoughts to be entertained. So much has happened so fast. I still can’t believe how much my life has changed in just these quick short months. Ever since John first miraculously appeared at Dr. Vaughn’s


farm in Nara Visa, everything has been going at a whirlwind pace. I think I knew I loved him when I first looked into those serious blue eyes and saw him looking at me in that special sort of way.…

Meredith roamed the new cottage, deep in her thoughts. She noted the large dinning room and kitchen, the sliding glass doors to a beautiful veranda lined with tropical flowers and a patio with a hot tub. She opened the door to one of the guest rooms and saw it stacked high with gifts and absently looked at the tags on just a few of them and then went into their bedroom and sat on the luxurious king-sized bed, noting the nice floral design on the bedspread which she guessed Alice had hand-made.

…Then finding my faith in Heavenly Father again. Feeling the spirit in my life was like waking from a nightmare into a glorious dawn. How beautiful it is to know Jesus is living and real and cares for me as a person. John was right when he first told me I would have to feel it for myself to understand. Now when I pray, I know my Heavenly Father is listening. I would never have taken that opportunity if it hadn’t been for John wanting to teach me. I still can’t believe how I was before that. Now I have the rest of my life and beyond to share with John, and that special priesthood blessing that was pronounced upon us at our wedding was glorious. I still remember those glorious words.

“…With power to come forth in the morning of the first Resurrection…”

Now I know as Jenny knows, I will see mom again. I’m so glad Jenny shared her knowledge that day with me in the car and the way she touched me with her faith and knowledge. Now Dad and Mary are learning about the Church. I know in time they will feel just as I do.…I felt a little queasy this morning. I wonder if that means anything? That would be neat. Am I ready to be a real mother? I wonder where John is now?…

Thinking of John made her realize she didn’t have to guess, so she entered his key code on her wrist device. “Hi darling. I’m at the cottage. You’re going to love it when you see it.”

“Hi sweetheart. I’m with Hank and Dr. Vaughn at T-Base. I should be there shortly.”…

“How was your day, dear?” Meredith asked as they sat at the


kitchen table. Alice had zipped over a delicious home cooked meal for them. It was a pleasant change from the restaurant meals they shared on their honeymoon. “That welcome home sign was nice. Joan said all the kids worked on it together. In case you didn’t see it, the guest room is full of gifts. Darlene said Alice and Jenny did the interior decorating for our cottage. I really like the homey feel of it.

“Yes, all this is special. Isn’t it great to have such good friends who care?”

“Oh John. I’m so happy. Kind of like I’m in my own special dream.” Meredith spread her arms and fell backwards onto the floral bedspread, bouncing on the semi-firm mattress.

“Sweetheart, I know what you mean. You mean so much to me. I still can’t believe we’re really together.” He slipped out of his shoes and lay down beside her. They lay together in each other’s arms snuggling in the warm glow of their togetherness for a few moments. Then John broke the spell.

“You’re not going to believe what happened today,” as he sat up and began undressing. “After you left, there was an explosion because of a sabotaged platform. It destroyed the recovery room and injured one of the staff.”

“A sabotaged platform? What do you mean? Who would want to sabotage a platform?” Meredith sat up as John put on his robe and stood in the bathroom doorway, toothbrush in hand.

“Exactly the question I asked. It seems there’s a certain element of the population who doesn’t like the way things are being done. According to Hank, most are ex-military and intelligence agents who choose not to adapt to all the changes so are attacking the system. Also, I think there are still people out there like Heinrich and Robert Anthony who envision the power of unlimited teleporting and are trying to steal the units. The origin of the sabotaged platform was near East Berlin.”

“Isn’t that where you first encountered Heinrich?”“Yes. And that was my first thought, remembering how we

rescued those tourists from his German terrorist group.”“You don’t think he could be a part of this do you?”


“Hank checked and amazing as it is, he was released from hospital incarceration last week and now he has disappeared. Hank is having INTERPOL and UN Security try to locate him.”

“Didn’t Hank shoot him in the hip?”“Yes and the doctors say that though it’s not completely

healed, he’s mobile and able to get around.”“I had really hoped we were through with all the

opposition. After all, we’re giving them what they wanted. Just about everyone can now go anywhere they want with just a few hops on the public platforms.”

“You and I know that, but some are pointing to our charter group’s personal units which don’t have the limitations of the public or individual units. They’re using that as an excuse to complain and try to get what they want. Did you hear what they are calling our wrist devices?”

They continued their conversation as Meredith prepared for bed.

“No. And don’t ask me to guess.”“They shortened Vaughn-Simpson-Stanton to simply

VISA and that’s what everyone is calling the wrist devices now – VISAS.”

“Sounds fine to me. Jonathan floored me when he told me while we were gone he applied for early entry to MIT and was admitted. His high school gave him a provisional diploma based on his success at MIT. He’s also taking some classes via the Internet and says he wants to major in computer graphic design.” John said as Meredith slipped into her new pink lace nightgown.

“Well based on his work with Dr. Vaughn helping design the new device, I think he’s found the right field and I’m glad MIT recognizes his potential.” Meredith sat at her mirrored dresser, combing her blond trusses she recently had shortened and styled.

John watched her from the bed on one raised elbow, happy at the alluring sight, admiring her soft curves. “Yes, Jonathan is way ahead of me in the brains department.”


“Maybe for his age, but you’re very smart too; smarter than you give yourself credit for.” She smiled at his reflection in the dresser mirror. “I was wondering how we were going to handle his formal schooling, but he’s taken care of that quite nicely. He seems to be a whiz at picking up all this new technology.” Meredith put down her brush, turned out the bedside lamp, and slipped under the covers to snuggle beside John.….

Hank awoke with a start noting the time was 2 a.m. The bright full moonbeams caused a soft pale glow through the sheer curtains. He quietly slipped out of bed so as not to disturb Darlene sleeping quietly beside him. Once in the living room, he immediately pressed the dialog function on his VISA and punched a key code.

“Hello. Hank, is that you?” A sleepy sounding voice came through Hank’s wrist speaker.

“Yes, Beverly. Did we check to verify all the platforms are still OK after the explosion? I have a sinking premonition there may have been another reason for that explosion, but I hope I’m wrong.”

“Hank, I’ll have that done immediately and call you right back.” She suddenly sounded wide-awake.

Hank hurriedly dressed and zipped to the Colorado facility where he noted Beverly anxiously talking to a console operator.

“Hank, I was just about to call you. You were right. At the same time of the explosion, a platform went out of commission near Brussels and we’ve been unable to locate it or recall it. It happened while I was reprogramming the emergency recall function due to the destruction of the recovery room. I should have rechecked the whole system at the same time.”

“I was afraid of this. I’ll zip there and contact INTERPOL to learn what we can.” Hank pressed his dialog button and entered a key code.

“John, this is Hank. Sorry to disturb you, but we have an emergency. One of the Platforms was stolen during the explosion yesterday. Will you notify Dr. Vaughn and Alex and


see if they have any suggestions for recovering it? I’m going to Brussels now to learn how it happened and who did it.”

“Certainly. Let me know what you learn.”Hank set his VISA, said “Bye,” to Beverly and instantly

disappeared.…

John slipped out of bed and quietly into the living room where he tapped his wrist device.

“Dr. Vaughn, one of the platforms has been stolen. Can we meet at our Utah site and see if we can locate it?”

“Yes John, I’ll assemble the team right away. We’ll see you there in 15 minutes.”

John started to leave a note for Meredith, and then realized she would want to help too. He put his hand gently on her sleeping outline under the cover. “Sweetheart, sorry to wake you, but we have a problem.”…

“We built an extra homing device as a separate component into the frame of the platforms when the vandalism first occurred. Jonathan, will you see if you can activate it from here?” Dr. Vaughn addressed the assembled group of John, Meredith, Alex Stanton, Ted Olmstead and George Garrett. They were standing around the Utah console manned by Jonathan.

The quickly assembled team hopefully watched as Jonathan entered the code for the stolen platform and activated the locator function. The console displayed the platform ID and the current location as Geneva, Switzerland. Jonathan then tried the emergency recall function again without success. John immediately entered Hank’s key code in his VISA.

“Hank, this is John. We activated an extra homing device, but can’t recall it. We believe you’ll find the stolen platform in or near Geneva, Switzerland. You can get the actual location on your device now.”

“John thanks. I‘m in Brussels. I’ll assemble the security team and we’ll zip there to recover it.”

“Let’s go to Colorado and see what’s happening there,” John said.…


Hank appeared with his security team in full swat team gear just outside an industrial complex identified as an auto parts manufacturing facility. The group included Frank and Victor, two of the first former sheriff ’s deputies Hank had recruited on the team. Frank Wise and his family of two children and a lovely wife happily joined when Hank explained the opportunity. Victor Austin was single. He used his German language background obtained when his diplomat parents were stationed in Germany to help John and Hank outwit Heinrich’s German terrorists who took a group of American tourists hostage. Victor happily joined the team and reveled in the opportunity it provided.

It was now evening time and somewhat cool and misty. Hank noted the snow capped mountains in the distance and then focused on his nearby surroundings. “Victor, do you see where the lights are coming from?”

“Yes, the third floor of the left corner building.”“That must be where the device is. Prepare your weapons,

but don’t fire unless fired upon. We want to find out who’s really behind this. Set your devices to match mine. I’ve notified the local authorities, but we can’t afford to wait for them. Let’s go, now.”

Instantly the six team members appeared in a laboratory setting and saw the device with several individuals standing around it.

“Freeze!” Victor and Hank simultaneously ordered. The individuals startled turned and froze, but there was a guard by the door who cocked his weapon and hit a nearby switch. Hank aimed and shot him in the shoulder, causing the weapon to drop.

“Victor, with me!” Hank yelled, darting for the door. They cautiously opened the door and peered into the long hallway. At the far end, they saw several people entering a closing elevator. They both rushed to it, but not nearly in time.

“The stairs!” Victor pointed to the exit sign. They both rushed down two flights and exited next to the elevator. The lighted indicator displayed it was in the basement. The


basement stairs were opposite the elevator and they rushed through the doorway and down them, exiting just in time to see two speeding vehicles leave the underground garage. Hank heard approaching distant sirens.

“Inspector Markham, are you there?’“Yavo! Herr Travis, We’re just turning the corner in front of the

factory.”“Stop the two cars just speeding away!” Hank urgently

yelled into his wrist device. Hank and Victor quickly entered the elevator and punched “one”. As they exited, they heard a loud crash and witnessed a fireball erupt a block away in front of the building. Hank feared it was the inspector’s car.

“Inspector Markham, are you OK?”“Yavo, but I fear your criminals are toast. They tried to go around

us, skidded and rammed a utility pole. The second vehicle rear-ended the first and they both burst into flames. I don’t believe anyone escaped the flames. Did they have your device?”

“Yes, but not on them. It’s here in the building.” Hank heard other emergency vehicles approaching.

Hank and Victor zipped to the accident site. Hank walked up to a tall older man with chevrons on his epaulets, giving orders to two uniformed officers. “Inspector, we need to identify these bodies as soon as possible. We need to know who is behind this.”

“Yavo, Herr Travis.” The two shook hands. “I will put our forensic team on it at once and let you know what we discover.”

After the uniformed officers took the other individuals into custody, Hank set his VISA for T-base and zipped the stolen platform there…

“Well Hank, I see you got it back. Did you have much trouble?” John was standing with their colleagues.

“Yes. Some of them tried to escape and wound up killing themselves in a car accident. I left Victor to work with the inspector to learn all he can about the criminals.” Just then Hank’s wrist device chirped. He looked at his wrist display screen, grinned, and punched a button. “Hello, Mr. President.”


“Hank, I heard you had some trouble. ““Yes sir, Mr. President. Someone tried to steal a device but

we’ve retrieved it. I will send you and the UN a full report.”“Thanks Hank. Let’s be sure we have them well controlled. I’ll be

looking for your report. By the way, do you know where John Royston is? I heard he was back in the nest.”

“He’s right here sir. You can speak to him directly.”“Good, good. John, I hope you and Meredith had a great

honeymoon. We would like to invite you and her to a weekend visit at Camp David. Could you make it this weekend?”

John looked at Meredith and she nodded her head with a sweet smile. “Yes sir, we can be there. Just tell us when and where to meet you.

“Great! Madelyn and I will look forward to it. Oh, the invitation includes Jonathan and Jenny too.”

“I’m sure they will look forward to it too, sir”“My secretary will get back to you about the timing. We’ll see you

there. Bye.”“Camp David, Wow!” Hank said as he put his arm on John’s

shoulder.“Hank!” Dr. Vaughn anxiously interrupted, “We have

a bigger problem. The platform is here but the teleport components have been removed!”

Chapter Three

“Trouble”

“Victor! Check the two burned vehicles thoroughly and their lab! The teleport components are missing! I’m sending you some help,” Hank anxiously notified more of his security team and then spoke to the rest of them standing around the console and gutted platform. “I’m going to Geneva and talk to INTERPOL to see what I can learn about who’s behind this. Doctor, can you see if there’s a way to locate those components using the central console?”

“Yes, of course. We’ll assemble the whole technical team immediately.”

“Hank, I’m going with you. Maybe my journalist contacts can help,” John turned to Meredith and gave her a peck on the cheek as he said, “Sweetheart, I know you’ll be working with Dr. Vaughn. Please let me know if the team finds a way to locate those components.”

John and Hank both disappeared as they teleported to Geneva where they met Victor and the forensic team surrounded by several emergency vehicles at the still-smoldering crash site.

“Victor, have we found anything yet?”“No, Hank. Nothing recognizable, although we still have

much to sift through, but I have a feeling they were just trying to escape and didn’t have them. The Swiss police are working on the identity of the car’s occupants now.

“You’re probably right, but we have to be very thorough on this. The micro components we are looking for are very small


and can be hidden in practically anything. I’m going to talk to Inspector Markham now.”

John was already talking to the inspector as Hank walked up to them. “Have you identified who owns this factory, inspector?”

“I have my staff working on that now back at the office. We can go there now.”

“Let’s not waste time with vehicles. I’ll teleport us there if you’ll give me the location.”

As the trio appeared at the Geneva INTERPOL office, a young-looking lieutenant appeared and anxiously spoke to her boss. “Sir, we’ve identified the owner of the factory here and also the one where the platform was stolen from. Though the two factories supposedly have different owners, they both are part of a conglomerate whose principal director is the industrialist, Heinrich Von Dussen. He was recently released from hospital incarceration.”

Hank and John looked at each other with dread, both realizing the implications.

“I knew from the start this had been a well coordinated attack and it would have taken a well organized group to pull it off. The worst is, he has the resources and staff to analyze and use those components to his own ends like no one else. Inspector, we need to put out a full alert to find him as soon as possible.”

“Yavo, Herr Travis. We understand. A worldwide alert has already been dispatched. We are questioning the arrested scientists, but so far they either know nothing or are not talking, but we will not give up.”

“I‘m going to the paper and see what I can learn about the companies Heinrich controls. Maybe I can learn a clue as to where he might be. Buzz me if you have any success,” John said to the two as he punched in the code for the Dallas News and disappeared…

Jonathan and Chad Garvey stood at T-base watching the scientists talk among themselves. The young men knew they


were being ignored. Even though Jonathan knew the snub wasn’t intended, it still bruised his ego. Jonathan knew the seriousness of the problem with the missing micro components, so did not interrupt them.

Chad stood just an inch taller than Jonathan and almost as slender. He enjoyed Jonathan’s friendship. He was also happy his mom had such a great position with the team. Her special position as head of T-Base computer operations allowed him to feel a part of the action too. There was a time he had been depressed when his father was killed in a train accident and his grades had fallen dramatically. He knew his mom had agonized over her son’s depression, but she had seemed to be unable to help him out of it.

Their teleport team association had inspired Chad to be more studious in his classes and particularly his computer programming class. He was thrilled when their family was invited to live on Crescent Island with the charter teleport group, even more so when Jonathan offered his friendship and helped him with his programming skills.

Jonathan and Chad walked over to his grandpa. John Sr. was standing off to the side of the technical team surrounding the Colorado console. The team, including Chad’s mom, was deep in technical Jargon, which neither they nor his grandpa fully understood. “I think we aren’t needed here, Grandpa. How about we go back to home base and maybe check out the console there?”

“Now that’s an idea son. You want to come with us?” John Sr. smiled at Chad, who eagerly accepted. The three held hands while Jonathan punched his wrist device and they disappeared without any of the team realizing they had left.…

“Doris, I need all the data you can find on the German industrialist, Heinrich Von Dussen, and I need it in a hurry. Can you provide me a list of all references to companies or buildings he owns or controls through his conglomerate?”

“Isn’t that the person Hank Travis shot in California?” The older brunette librarian began entering queries via her


news library computer. The paper had recognized her earlier work with John by promoting her to Executive Librarian and expanding her staff.

“Yep, and he’s now doubly dangerous. We need to find him as quickly as possible.”

“Hey John, I just heard about some commotion that involved a stolen platform. Can you tell me anything about it?”

John instantly recognized the vibrant voice of his former desk mate as he turned to face her. “Yes, Carolyn. I’m trying to help Hank and INTERPOL track down the culprit now.”

Perky brunette Carolyn Barnes, star reporter, exclaimed, “You mean you know who did it already?”

“Yes. It’s our old nemesis, Heinrich.”“Didn’t Hank shoot him in the hip? I thought he was

confined in a hospital.”“He was, but he was released. Now we don’t know where he

is, but we know he’s behind the stolen components.”“I thought your team had those solidly secured. What

happened?”“Heinrich used our security procedures against us.

He caused an explosion in Colorado, disrupting the main computer for a short time, during which he or his henchmen stole the platform. We recovered the platform, which was the commotion you heard about, but not the components.” John watched Carolyn absorb the information with wide eyes. “This is all background information and you can’t use it until we recover the components. Right now I’m trying to figure out where he might be hiding.”

John thought, There was a time when Carolyn might have used such information, background or not, but luckily she’s progressed beyond that, so no need to worry about her alerting Heinrich with a news flash of some sort.

Doris had been in her own world querying the computer, oblivious to their conversation. “John here’s a list of many of his recorded companies, partnerships and any other links I could find. I’m still looking for articles that might give you a lead too.”


“Doris thanks. That gives me something to work with.”“Maybe I could help you?” Carolyn was looking over his

shoulder at the several printed pages.“Great! Four eyes might be better than two. Let’s go to a

conference room that’s not being used.”…

Meredith viewed the portable whiteboard near the Colorado main console. On it was drawn a rough blown up schematic of the key micro components. “I hope Hank and John are having better success than we are,” she said to Joan who was acting as scribe.

“What should work doesn’t because they’ve apparently had enough time to disable or remove the locator chip embedded in the components,” Alex said in obvious frustration.

“Didn’t the early units have different chips?”“Yes, Ted. A few did, but they would be detected the same

way. I think for us not to be able to detect the unit, they must have destroyed the locator chip in some way,” Dr. Vaughn said.

“B…but wasn’t all that tied into the security so if it was tampered with, it would fuse the microchips together?” George Garrett queried. The computer guru wanted to help out as much as he could. Oh no, my stuttering has returned. I hoped I was finally over that. It must have to do with my frustration and agitation over this incident.

“Yes, George, but immediately after the explosion it was necessary to interrupt the remote security function in order to reprogram the emergency retrieval destination. In that brief time is when the unit had to have been disabled. They must have had some real geniuses standing by to be able to accomplish it,” Alex said.

“So far we’ve eliminated ways we can remotely recall the unit. We can’t get a signal from it, Dr. Vaughn, but can we remotely deactivate it?” Meredith looked at him imploringly.

Dr. Vaughn gave a despairing look. “We’ve tried without any sign of success. Whoever stole it has obviously separated the microchips from the comm receiver.” The harried scientist seemed just as frustrated as the rest. This is a major stumbling


block. There must be a way to thwart this evil man before he wreaks devastating havoc on the world!…

“Grandpa, I remember when the team first designed the initial units. Dr. Vaughn and Alex inserted a special modulator so they could manually modify the teleport function, but Alex told me they redesigned that component when they started mass production to take advantage of automated features.”

John Sr. watched his grandson nimbly work the keyboard of the Utah console with Chad standing at his side. “Do you think there’s a way to locate the missing unit then?”

“Grandpa, when Dr. Vaughn first installed the emergency recall switch on the early models, he used a tiny modulator to key on their location through the GPS system, but they used a different method in the newer models. If the stolen unit was an earlier one with the special modulator in it, maybe we can find it by process of elimination.”

“How do you mean?” Chad asked, wanting to know as much about what Jonathan was doing as possible. He desperately would like to be helpful to the team in some way if he could.

John Sr. leaned over Jonathan’s shoulder as his grandson executed some special program code not used since the group moved to T-Base.

Jonathan explained to both of them, “This program should show the locations of the units with the early modulators. We can compare it to the directory and see if any show up in an area they aren’t supposed to be.” Jonathan pressed, enter, to initiate the program. The monitor began to show a list of about thirty locations. He split the screen and then executed the directory program. Soon it displayed a list of locations also. Jonathan then had the computer compare the locations and all matched up but two.…

“Herr Travis, maybe from this list of companies the INTERPOL computer produced we can deduce where he might be?”

“How is it organized, inspector?” Hank flipped through


the stack of at least twenty printed pages listing Heinrich’s far-flung empire.

“We queried the major stock exchanges and the Euro, Asian and SEC computers for any references to Herr Von Dussen’s name, then sorted it by country and province.”

“Now we need a way to eliminate the majority of them.” This is getting to be a major problem that must be solved quickly or we are going to be in big trouble. Heinrich has already proven he is capable of dastardly deeds. Hank’s brow furrowed while he glanced at the bulky list.

“Yavo. We need a key. Something that will give us a clue.” What am I missing? This villain mustn’t outsmart us. Are there more resources we can use? The inspector’s mind was working in overdrive.

“I think he would want to use some type of research facility; one that has a lab handy. Is there any way we can select only those?” Hank asked as he absently thumbed through the bulky list.

“A good idea.” Inspector Markham turned and gave the computer operator some instructions. The bright Swedish girl quickly entered some queries via the keyboard. Soon the nearby printer started printing, but this time only a couple of pages.

“I may not have gotten them all because I only used key words like “research” and “laboratory” for the queries, but I hope this helps.” The young blonde operator smiled as she efficiently retrieved the pages from the printer tray and handed them directly to Hank.

“Thank you.” He smiled. “You may have just saved us a great deal of work pouring through the larger list.”

Hank and the inspector looked at the shorter list of facilities. They noted the facilities were in scattered countries with the majority in Europe.

“I have a feeling Heinrich will try to get as far away from prying eyes as he can to allow time for his scientists to work with the components. Can we identify if any of these facilities is remotely located and is not directly connected to Heinrich?”…


“I heard you were here, John? What’s happening?” Redheaded Betty Rogers was holding the conference room door open, obviously hoping to be invited in. She had come from the TV station building next door. John had used her friendship to introduce teleportation to the world by his first TV interview and also to rescue Hank from a hostage situation as a deputy sheriff.

“Hi Betty. Come on in. Carolyn and Doris and I are trying to locate Heinrich Von Dussen. Maybe you can help?”

“I recently saw a news item about him being released from the hospital. What’s he done now?” The TV reporter happily eased the door closed and nudged in between Carolyn and Doris.

“Only managed to steal the components from a teleport platform.” John arranged some of the papers on the table so Betty could read them too.

Betty looked amazed. “How did he do that? I thought your security was very tight.”

“He caused an explosion in Colorado, knocking out our security for a few minutes, and his team took advantage of the interruption. We managed to retrieve the platform, but not before they had removed the key components. Now we’re trying to find out where he may have taken them. UN Security and INTERPOL and all the intelligence agencies are looking for him too. We retrieved the platform he stole, but he had already removed the critical teleport components and disappeared.”

“John, I actually met the man once, down in Jamaica. We had been on the same plane and when I saw him in the hotel lobby I tried to interview him, but he brushed me off and acted like no one was supposed to know him or why he was there. Like he was incognito or something. I tried to follow up, but could find no leads as to why he was there or who he might have met with.”….

The Colorado group was busy working the problem. Meredith’s frustration was building. She was standing beside Alex thinking, if we cannot stop this madman, what havoc can


he wreak? There must be a way to find Heinrich and the stolen components! I have been away too long! I hope John and Hank are having better success than we are.

“Was the stolen unit one of the earlier ones? Didn’t we use a different locator module at first?”

“Yes, you’re right Alex.” Dr. Vaughn spoke up. “I had forgotten about when we used the manual modulator as a locator. Beverly, please check when the Brussels unit was installed.” Beverly nimbly worked the keyboard and in seconds the details of the stolen unit appeared on the computer console monitor.…

“Brussels is where the stolen platform was!” John Sr. pointed to the Display monitor.

“And the one listed as being in Jamaica isn’t on the original list, Grandpa!”

“And look! The identification numbers match!” Chad excitedly said.

“Let’s go check it out!” Without waiting or thinking of the danger, Jonathan excitedly entered the Jamaica coordinates into his VISA. He was excited about being able to help the team, not thinking of the danger of confronting the culprits.

John Sr. put his hand on his grandson’s shoulder. “Wait a minute son! We know these villains are dangerous. Let’s just notify Hank and let his team retrieve it. They’re equipped for that task and we aren’t.”

“You’re right, Grandpa, but we must do it quickly. Jonathan hastily keyed in Hank’s ID on his wrist keypad and when Hank answered, he said, “Hank we think we found it!”

“That’s great, Jonathan! My device shows me you’re at the Utah base. We’ll zip right there!” Instantly, Hank and Inspector Markham appeared beside the two Royston’s and Chad.

Hank still had his shortened list with him as he eyed the display monitor. He noted Ocho Rios, Jamaica was one of Heinrich’s research labs on his short list.…


“Betty, if Heinrich didn’t want anyone to know he was there, maybe he has a secret site there. Where was your hotel?”

“It was in Ocho Rios, Jamaica.”John looked at the list they had been poring over, but didn’t

see anything for Jamaica on it. “Let’s see if this helps Hank.” He keyed in Hank’s code.

“Yes, John?”“Have you got anything on your list for Jamaica.”“Yes. That’s where the stolen device is. Your dad, Jonathan and

Chad just identified it for us. I’m assembling the Swat team now. Care to join us?”

“You bet! And I’m bringing two reporters with me if that’s okay?”

“As long as they stay out of the way. We’re going to assemble just outside the facility. Here are the coordinates. Be there in exactly two minutes.”

Just as Hank finished speaking to John, Hank’s wrist device chirped again.

“Hank, this is Dr. Vaughn. We show the stolen unit is in Jamaica in a town or village called Ocho Rios.”

“That’s great, everyone has identified the same location. I’m assembling the team now to retrieve it. We’ll teleport back to Colorado as soon as we have it. Thank everyone for their efforts.”

Hank’s security team with Inspector Markham’s INTERPOL agents all dressed in SWAT protective gear appeared on a winding cobblestone road not far from an outdoor bazaar on one side of the road with a sandy ocean beach opposite it. John, Betty and Carolyn appeared an instant later. There were a few startled tourists at the bazaar booths about 50 yards away. They quickly moved further away from the almost miraculously appearing troops. Some of the villagers in the booths started screaming.

“There’s where we need to be!” Hank pointed to what looked like a resort facility on a hill a couple of football fields away down a single tracked pathway. “Set your coordinates to match mine and let’s go! John, we’ll let you know when it’s safe to follow us.”


Betty used her mini-cam to catch the action just before the small army disappeared.

The SWAT team instantly reappeared in a laboratory setting surrounding a small group of white smocked startled scientists. “Freeze!” Hank noted no guards were present but believed they must be nearby as he watched the scientists quickly obey, some raising their hands at the sight of the weapons. The scientists were assembled around a laboratory worktable upon which the components lay. Hank pointed to the door and said, “Victor and Arnie, check for guards in the building. We don’t want any surprises!”

Victor came back in and said, “No guards. They must have thought we wouldn’t look here.”

“Take a team and search the whole building. Bring everyone you find here. We especially need to find Heinrich.” The team spread out through the building. Hank signaled John it was okay to join them.

The trio instantly appeared. Betty’s mini-cam zoomed in on the table with the stolen components, surprised at how tiny they were.

“Who’s in charge here?” Hank asked the scientists as several other people were ushered into the lab by the search team.

“You’re all under arrest,” said Inspector Markham.“We do not understand what is going on here,” one of the

white smocked scientists spoke up.“You have the stolen teleport components in your

possession,” the inspector promptly said.“That may be, but we didn’t know they were stolen. The

director brought them to us and asked us to discover how they worked. He did not say they were stolen,” the scientist anxiously said.

“Who is your director?” Hank abruptly asked.“Dr. Kauffman.”“Is he here now?”“Yes, he was just brought in,” the scientist pointed to a

brown-suited individual who was being escorted in by Victor.


Betty quickly focused her lens on the bespectacled dark-haired man walking toward them.

“What’s the meaning of this outrage?”“These components are stolen and I suspect you know it,”

Hank pointed to the table.“I know nothing of the sort. I was given them by one of our

board members who asked us to do some testing on them.”“That won’t wash,” Inspector Markham said. “This caper

has been too elaborately planned. You and your team are under arrest as teleport terrorists. We are taking you to Interpol Headquarters. Herr Travis, we’ll take charge of these men and you have charge of the stolen components for now, but we may need them later for evidence.”

“Thank you, inspector. We’ll return these directly to Colorado now, but please keep looking for Heinrich. This won’t be over until we have him.”

“Yavo. The UN laws now allow us to seize all his assets. He can’t hide forever. “

“And I will return Betty and Carolyn to Dallas.” John took them by the hand, set his VISA, and the trio disappeared.

“Thank you, John for including us,” Betty said as they appeared in front of the TV station. “Can we broadcast the news now?”

“And can I print it?” Carolyn anxiously queried.“Give us a chance to locate Heinrich. He may not know

what happened in Jamaica and maybe we can surprise him. I will update y’all and let you know when. See you later.”

As John instantly disappeared, Carolyn turned to Betty and said, “Wow! Isn’t teleporting great? It’s a shame we can’t report this yet though.”

“Maybe John will have an even bigger story for us though when they capture that mastermind criminal.”…

“Welcome back, darling. Hank just returned a moment ago with the stolen components.” Meredith gave him a hug and kiss.

Just then Jonathan and his Grandpa and Chad appeared.


Chad walked over to his mom at the console and put his arm on her shoulder.

“Hi, son. What have you been up to?” Beverly smilingly asked. Chad seems so happy since we moved on the island. Since he and Jonathan became such good friends he has gotten over his depression. It has even helped his schoolwork, Beverly thought. I wish Twyla could develop such a wholesome relationship too.

“I went to the Utah base with Jonathan and his Grandpa and we identified where the stolen platform was located.”

“That’s great son! I’m glad you can help. You can tell me all about it at home tonight.”

“You have the components already. Boy that was fast.” Jonathan said.

“Thanks to your help son. How did you locate the stolen components?”

“I remembered about the manual modulator we used on the early platforms and luckily it was one of them. Identifying it was easy after that.”

“We were a little slower here,” Meredith said. “It was Alex who remembered about the modulator in our group.” Just then, John’s device chirped.

John looked at his display and grinning said, “It’s the White House.”

“Mr. Royston, this is Danielle Adams, President Hargrove’s appointments secretary. Can you and your group arrive at Camp David at 5 PM on Friday?”

John realized it was already Thursday as he smiled at Meredith and his son and said, “Yes, Ms. Adams. I think we can make it just fine then.”

“Good. He will be expecting you. There’s a reception center just inside the main gate. A protocol officer will meet you there at 5 PM.”

Danielle Adams buzzed the president in the Oval office. “Sir they will be at Camp David at 5 PM on Friday.”

“Thank you, Danielle,” President Hargrove turned to Mark Petersen and said, “I hope he goes for this.”

“Well, we can’t lose anything for trying. He’s the most popular and recognizable name we could have head this project


up and the UN Space Committee has heartily recommended him.”

“Inviting him and his family to Camp David was a good idea too. It may put him in a better mood to accept the job.”

“I still remember his words when we offered him a cabinet-level position. He looked at me with a sheepish smile and said, “Not me, sir. I don’t belong at that level. I still don’t know how I ever accepted the UN position.”

“Yes sir, but he’s had some time to get adjusted to all the changes and he may realize he’s really needed now and maybe if you have enough time alone with him, you can convince him.”…

“You’re going to spend the weekend at Camp David with the President?”

Yes. Isn’t that great?” Jonathan and Tanya sat together around a small campfire on the sandy beach. There had been a group of other teenagers around the campfire discussing how everything had suddenly changed for them when their parents became part of the team. The happy youth had all now disbursed to their families own tropical cottages, leaving Jonathan and Tanya in their own small world.

“I don’t suppose I could get invited too?” She coyly said, leaning her head on his shoulder.

“I wish you could, but Dad said the president was very specific about who was invited. Maybe next time.” Jonathan looked up at the twinkling stars while he encircled Tanya’s waist. “Just think, pretty soon we may get to be up there on some distant planet exploring the Cosmos. I think about all the science fiction stories and movies with spaceships and now we won’t even need them.”

“It’s fine with me as long as we can explore it together,” She said dreamily, “Do we even know what our future is going to be now? Everything has changed so fast. What about our old school?”

“I know, Tanya. I think about that too. Nothing will ever be like before for us. That’s why the group has organized the


schooling here and why I enrolled at MIT. We get to be taught by some of the world’s leading scientists. I think we should call it a school of the stars, and I don’t mean Rock Stars. Just think, I recently got my drivers license, but now I will probably never need it and you won’t even need to get one. That’s just one of the many things we won’t have to worry about that our parents did.”

“Yes, and I can think of other things we’ll have to decide on which our parents didn’t, such as what planet we’ll live on, and what time zone are we in now? What galaxy are we in now?” They both laughed together, enjoying each others company in a special way as the fire slowly died out.…

“Dr. Vaughn, during this latest incident, I’ve realized there’s a need for some police and medical units to have more functionality to respond to disasters and accident scenes and to hospitals. Is it possible to design units that have unlimited capability only within a certain geographical region or vicinity and they could enter coordinates within it?” John had awoken early, immediately wanting to share his thoughts and buzzed the scientist.

“Yes John, I think we could do that, but that’s a large task you’re asking for if you mean for all local police and rescue units to have it.”

“No. Not all, but certainly some selected special units that could respond anywhere within certain boundaries. Sort of like our original Rescue Rangers. I think I will present it at our next team staff meeting.”…

“Alex, I think we need to add some more security functionality to the units. We need to add some stealth technology to be undetectable and separate from the main part of the unit. Your micro components are small enough to be easily disguised and hidden anywhere on the platforms. These special components could emit a separate signal that could be remotely activated.” Hank and Alex were sitting at the breakfast table in the island common area that was as well


stocked as any commercial commissary. The rays of a brilliant sunrise just rising over the island peak were coming through the window.

“You’re right, Hank. I think that’s an excellent idea and I’ll mention it at our team staff meeting this morning. “

“If they agree, see if we can retrofit some of the currently installed units.”

“Yes. When we do it, we’ll include them. I’m sure Dr. Vaughn and the rest will approve of the idea.”…

“Yes, we must have a structured teaching environment, but it doesn’t have to be a rigid one. Our youngsters have the opportunity to learn so much and so early first hand we adults never or rarely did.” Darlene addressed the group of 80 or so mothers whose spouses or themselves worked in some capacity on the project. They were in the island’s central meeting room. Though the team had expanded way beyond that number, only the division heads and their families had been invited to live on the island. Most of the team’s work was now performed in other facilities around the world.

“I think the whole face of education is going to change shortly. I think institutions of higher learning will realize they can have the world as their campus or literally the whole galaxy,” Angela Horton spoke up as she nursed her baby. “My baby’s probably never going to see the inside of a traditional classroom. Tom Johnston’s a university professor. Why don’t we ask him to help us set up an educational program with curriculum outlines? Then those of us with teaching backgrounds can help teach.”

Beverly Garvey was one of the concerned mothers too. Raising two teenagers on her own wasn’t easy. She didn’t worry so much about Chad now that he was over his depression at loosing his father, but Twyla just turned thirteen and was a handful as a precocious teenager and she missed her dad too. Chad had easily made friends with Jonathan and Greg Garrett on the island because they shared the same compassion for computer software, but Twyla was still finding her way. Though they were on the island with the group, Twyla still attended her


old Jr. High School in Denver. “I have been wondering how to handle Twyla’s situation too. Right now she is still attending her old school and she hasn’t really tried to get close to any girls on the island.”

“Yes, I noticed that,” Darlene said. “Danielle has a birthday coming up and she is planning on inviting Twyla. I believe they are going to Euro Disney. Has Twyla been there?”

“No. She hasn’t even been to Disney World in Orlando. I am sure she will enjoy it.”…

“You’ve hardly packed anything, Sweetheart. We’ll be leaving in less than an hour.” John was zipping up the overnight bag he was planning on taking.

“I know Darling, but I just don’t know what to take. I know there are all kinds of activities we may be involved in while we’re there. Dinners, swimming, tennis, and no telling what else.”

“I don’t know what to take either, Dad.” Jenny had just walked into the room sporting the same befuddled expression as Meredith.

“Well, consider this strategy. Just pack the basics. Then when we get there and get settled and you know what’s going on, you can appear right back here and get what you need in an instant. You can even dress here.”

“Gee Dad, you’re so smart. I keep forgetting how quick we can get around now.”

“Sure he’s smart, Jenny, but I thought of it first.” Jonathan came in waving his overnight bag around, smiling. “Just the essentials. That’s what I’m taking. I just made sure I had my toiletries, my tennis shoes and swim trunks.”

“Well, I guess you men just have us outdone, but we women would like to be just a teeny bit more prepared,” Meredith said with a wide grin. “Let’s go check your wardrobe out and see what we can come up with, Jenny?…

“They’ve blocked my every move, Eric! I spent months in the hospital planning every detail of that plot and they wrecked


it in a matter of hours. Now we must find a different way!” Heinrich fumed as he sat in a recliner in his former wife’s son’s villa in Madrid.

“But sir, they’ve frozen all your assets and made you a fugitive. If you show your face anywhere, you’ll be arrested immediately.” The short dark-headed young man pleaded with his ex stepfather, hoping he wouldn’t be caught in the snare with him.

“Then I won’t show my face at all. Haven’t you heard of disguises?”

“Yes, I didn’t even recognize you with the different hair style and color and those thick glasses”.

“That’s not all. I’ve had my fingerprints surgically altered so I really can’t be easily identified. The glasses are only designed to look thick. The actual lenses are my true prescription…and they only froze the assets they know about. I have enough hidden to last me as long as it takes, but I will be successful. I will succeed because with all the public devices now in place, they’ve made it easier for me. I’ll need you to be my front man though. They don’t know of my connection to you. Florence and I have been divorced for over twelve years, I’m sure they won’t make the connection, especially since you never took my name.”

“But sir, I can only do so much.” Eric thought, I’m not so sure I believe him but I know I owe him. Heinrich made it possible for me to have this villa and much more by putting me on the payroll of his Spanish subsidiary, so I will help him as much as I can.

Heinrich sat up in the recliner with a very determined look. “It will be enough. I’ll do all the planning. I believe my plans have been too shallow. They have so many distributed platforms now we should be able to find and exploit a weakness and then use their own system against them. Whatever security they’ve included in them my scientists should be able to foil….”

“Heinrich is a clever obsessed man and probably has enough hidden assets to avoid the authorities. It won’t be easy to catch him. I believe this incident reveals he is deranged enough to make serious trouble for us. We were fortunate this


time and we’re taking additional security steps to protect the devices, but the sheer number of them now provides many opportunities….”

President Hargrove read Hank Travis’ detailed summary report of the incident as he sat in his Camp David office recliner.

“Mark, be sure all the resources of our Justice Department and law enforcement agencies are made available to help track this villain down.” The president spoke as he sat the red folder down on his desk, tapping a corner of the folder with emphasis. “Its sad one man’s crazed obsession can cause so much harm to society.”

“Yes sir. I’ll see all is being done that can be. We’re fully cooperating with the UN Security Agency and Interpol. We’ve even co-located some of our intelligence people onto their teams.”

The president stood just as his intercom buzzed. “Good. Now let’s prepare to meet our guests”.

“Sir they’re here. We’ll escort them to their rooms and they will be with you shortly.”

“Thank you, Andreya.”“Pamela and Madelyn are in the Library. Let’s let them

know the Royston’s have arrived”.“Welcome, John and Meredith. This is Mark Petersen, my

Chief of Staff and his wife, Pamela, and of course you know Madelyn. “

Meredith noted Pamella Petersen was a perky strawberry blonde wearing a brightly colored blue sundress who stood about an inch shorter than the First lady. She noted the height difference might just be the heels Madelyn was wearing while Pamela was in sandals. The First Lady was also in a brightly colored orange sundress. Meredith was glad she guessed the attire correctly as she was in a bright pink sundress.

“The Petersen’s two teenagers are spending the weekend with us too.” The men shook hands and the women gave gracious hugs.

“Jenny, I like your outfit,” Madelyn said. “It highlights


your beautiful hair and eyes. Jonathan, you look taller than I remembered at the reception. Come on into the living area.”

As the president led the way, he said, “The Petersen kids are already out at the pool if you two would like to join them?”

“I’ll take you out to meet them,” Pamella said, and the three of them headed down the hall.

“John and Meredith, we want you to enjoy this weekend very much and we have some special activities planned. I’ve been doing some reading up on your religion and I understand much more about it, so Sunday will be reserved for you to spend as you wish. I even believe there’s a Latter-day Saint chapel in the nearby town, but of course you can teleport to your home ward if you wish.”

“Thank you, sir. That’s very gracious of you. While we were on our honeymoon, we visited several wards, but I think we’ll attend our own ward in Grand Prairie, Texas, and we invite all of you to be our guests there. You’ll be warmly welcomed and I think you’ll enjoy it.”

The president looked at his wife and Pamella and Mark. They each gave an approving nod. “Thank you John, I think we would like that, but you know my Secret Service Agents usually need much more advance notice.”

“Sir, the invitation of course includes your personal agents, but this will be an unannounced visit and you will be part of the rest of the congregation so I really don’t think you need to make any other special arrangements.”

“I agree, John. We should be able to do this without the usual official entourage.”

The smiling First Lady took Meredith by the hand and said, “I’m dying to hear about your honeymoon. You must tell me all about it.”

“Before you two women split to do your own thing, I have a confession to make. Although this is a special social occasion, Mark and I have one item of business we want to include and it would give me some relief if we went ahead and covered it now, if that’s okay with you two?” The president almost had a pleading look in his eyes as he motioned to John and Meredith.


John smilingly winked at Meredith; “I told her you probably had something on your mind.”

Yes, John we do. Can y’all come over here and sit down a minute?”

“I don’t know whether you’re aware the UN Space Commission has decided to start sending the new modules to the outer planets this week. “

“We heard the decision was going to be made soon. I would be interested to know more of the details, sir”

“That’s great, John, because we want to include you as a major part of those details,” President Hargrove grinningly looked at them both and said, “The UN Secretary has put forth your name to head up the effort. You can even have a hand in selecting your title and staff. Something like Space Commissioner or other.”

John squirmed and hesitatingly said, “Sir, I appreciate the honor, but I don’t believe I’m qualified for such a role.”

“Nonsense. The way you’ve handled yourself in recent events proves otherwise. But there’s a more compelling reason for this offer than you realize.” President Hargrove stood up and began anxiously pacing in front of them. “John, society is still adjusting to the rapid changes that are almost being forced upon them and you are the most recognizable figurehead surrounding these changes. We need you to help galvanize the effort we are about to embark upon for the good of the entire planet. I think everyone will feel better with you heading up our reach for the stars. You don’t need to answer right away. You two talk about it and I think you’ll agree, you’re the one for the job.” The president stood and said, “Now let’s enjoy ourselves this weekend.”…

“Welcome back John and Meredith. We’re happy to have you and your group with us today too, sir.” Bishop Davis smilingly said, standing in the foyer shaking hands.

John ushered the president’s group into the chapel to seats near the center rows where they joined the rest of the congregation for Sacrament meeting. President Hargrove


noted the simple design of the chapel while the organist played a familiar hymn as prelude music.

For Mark Petersen and Pamella, this was their first worship service in a while and they too were impressed with the chapel arrangement.

Pamella thought, what a happy and smiling group of people. She watched the slightly silver-haired bishop shake a few hands as he took his place on the stand with his two counselors. John told us he is a police officer and yet still presides over this congregation as their bishop.

Bishop Davis stood as the organist ended the prelude music. “We welcome everyone here on this beautiful Sabbath day. We especially want to recognize some special visitors in our audience. We are pleased to have President Hargrove and his group with us today. We hope you enjoy the service and will want to come back again. You are always welcome.”

After the service, while President Hargrove and his group were meeting with the members in the foyer, Bishop Davis asked to meet with John and Meredith for a few minutes in his office.

“Brother and Sister Royston, we’re certainly happy to have you back. I have received a special letter addressed to you from President Alvarez Alonzo. If he had your address I’m sure he would have sent it directly to you.” Bishop Davis opened his center desk drawer and removed a long white envelope and handed it to John.

Meredith wonderingly looked on, noting the Church headquarters return address in Salt Lake City, as John opened the letter and held it so they both could read it.

“Dear Brother and Sister Royston, we congratulate you on your recent marriage and wish you the best in all your endeavors. Because of your great work, you have allowed humankind to take a great leap forward and the Lord’s work along with it. Our missionary work has had a tenfold increase and we look for that to even double with all the changes being brought about through the new technology. We recognize these changes will affect you personally. We believe the Lord has great


things in store for you and have authorized your bishop to set you apart in a special calling for the Church. We hope you will accept the calling as special roving ambassadors to the Church, representing the First Presidency wherever you may be.

“We also invite you to come to General Conference in Salt Lake City next April and be prepared to bear your Testimony.”…

Meredith looked at John with tears in her eyes, knowing how special this opportunity for them was.

“If you would like, we can invite your guests to witness your setting apart to your new calling,” Bishop Davis quietly said.

A few minutes later, with President Hargrove’s party sitting in chairs surrounding the walls of the Bishop’s Office and Meredith sitting in the chair in the center of the room, Bishop Davis laid his hands on her head with his two counselors and John laying their hands on his and pronounced the special blessing.

“Sister Meredith Ann Royston, being duly authorized from the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we lay our hands on your head to set you apart as a roving ambassador for the First Presidency of the Church and as a special witness for our Lord, Jesus Christ. Sister Royston, the Lord has many blessings in store for you and your family in this special calling. We bless you with strength and courage and boldness to profess the truth at every opportunity whatever situation you may find yourself. Let the spirit of the Holy Ghost guide you in these moments and you will know what to say and how to act.…”

Wow! What a special blessing, Meredith thought as she wiped tears from her eyes and stood to shake their hand and receive a special loving hug from her husband.

Moments later, just as John was about to sit in the same chair to receive a similar calling and blessing, there was a gentle knock at the door and when it was opened, John was shocked to see standing there, the President of the Church, smiling with his two counselors. Everyone in the room stood up in respect to the 93 year-old Prophet and earthly head of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.


“Brother Royston, Bishop Davis called us right after Sacrament Meeting, and thanks to your invention, we decided to personally join you. We hope that is alright,” Silver-headed President Alvarez S. Alonzo said with his trademark wide smile and a twinkle in his crinkled yet still-bright eyes.…

Later that evening President Hargrove talked to John about the morning service.

“I and Madelyn were impressed with that special blessing you and Meredith received in the Bishop’s office. What a special man President Alonzo is and I gather the calling and ordination you received is a very special one too.”

“Yes, I’m still stunned over that. Being ordained as a Seventy in the Church is an awesome responsibility and I hope I can live up to it. Somehow I had the feeling as he pronounced that blessing he’s aware of this job you’ve offered me.”

“Yes, I felt that too, but he didn’t learn of it from me. I’m sure you will live up to it. Thanks for inviting us to witness it. President Alonzo and I met in Salt Lake City once before during my campaign. He’s an impressive and energetic man, especially for his age. Your bishop is an amazing fellow too. I understand he’s also a police officer. Isn’t that hard on his family, having two nearly fulltime almost opposite positions?”

“Yes sir. I’m sure it does present some unusual situations, but he has his two counselors and the rest of the ward members have different callings to assist him. As for being opposite, one of the key tenets of our faith is to be law abiding citizens and obeying our magistrates, no matter what country we live in.”

“Well, I just wanted you to know we felt very comfortable as part of the congregation. It was nice for a change not having people fuss over us and the speakers seemed to speak from the heart with their messages.”

“That’s great, sir. I’m sure the congregation will welcome you anytime.” John hesitated a moment, then said, “Sir, Meredith and I agreed. I’ll accept the position with the understanding I’m able to name my successor when we feel the time is right.”


“John, I hoped you would. That shouldn’t be a problem. I’m sure we can accept that stipulation. You may come to like this position more than you now realize. The world needs you now. It needs your fresh approach and open honesty. I’ll let everyone know. There’ll need to be a formal presentation to the UN Security Council, but that should just be a formality. Everyone is expecting us to provide recognizable leadership for this initial space exploration and they have come to know and trust you. The UN Space Commission will be your initial staff and you can expand from that. They’ll bring you up to date with current plans and you can go from there.”

The teleport team was abuzz with the news about John being elected by the General Assembly to head the UN Space Commission. When Jonathan heard, he and Jenny immediately started designing a special logo patch for their Dad’s new office. The whole world reacted to the news, including one particular twisted group.

Chapter Four

The Plot Thickens

“I want you to learn all you can about what this new space commission is doing.” Heinrich spoke to his inner circle of team members. “They’re planning on going to the stars soon and I believe that’s our chance. Luckily they can’t work in a vacuum. We already know where some of their facilities are. We must find a way to steal one of those platforms without triggering any alarms. The one who comes up with a way to do that will be a rich man indeed.”

Heinrich gazed at each of his handpicked team. They had banded together for the same greedy reason, and included several technical geniuses with solid backgrounds and achievements among them. Their current location was in Thailand at one of his far-flung empire’s microchip manufacturing plants. Although it was located near a rural village, it had all the latest technology his German factories had and it was near a recently built hydroelectric dam to guarantee easily available power.

“Sir, I believe our attempt last time failed because they located the stolen unit so quickly,” Hardison James, one blond-headed brilliant member of Heinrich’s inner circle, spoke up. Hardison, a technical architect, worked in one of Heinrich’s East German parts plants when the twisted tycoon offered him the opportunity to join this team. Being single and loving to travel, the young technical wizard eagerly jumped at the chance.

“I believe you’re right and I’ve thought about that. Last


time we were able to distract them by rigging that bomb, but they’ve probably protected themselves against that tactic working again.”

“Yes, but If we purchase some of the personal units, the VISAs, they’ve begun to market and if we can use our laboratory facilities to understand their security on it, maybe then we can thwart it.”

“That’s a brilliant idea, Hardy. I’ve been focusing only on the platforms,” Heinrich smilingly said. “Have each team member order personal VISAs and select ten different destinations each. We’ll break their security and use the teleport technology to go beyond their detection.” The personal units cost as much as the average car used to, plus extra per pre-set destination. Except for him, none of Heinrich’s new team members were known lawbreakers, so they didn’t expect any trouble purchasing personal units.…

The highly sophisticated electron x-ray microscope revealed the individual components contained in Hardison’s newly purchased wrist device. “Can we determine which of these are the security components?” Heinrich was looking over the shoulder of his technicians. “Because we can’t touch it until we can remove that. The whole thing will either fuse together, disappear, or worse yet, bring their security team to us, so we must find a way to deactivate the alarms first.”

“I know. This thing must be packed with so much functionality for them to be able to track and control each device. Some of the security features should be easily identifiable.” Hardison was fine-tuning the adjustments on the ultra sensitive equipment. Utilizing the delicate industrial scientific instrument on the device was almost like examining a blueprint schematic, minus the labels identifying the components.

“First let’s see if we can isolate the functional chips from the rest of the design, then work from there.” Hardison very gingerly began manipulating the tiny microchips almost in a reverse engineering mode using the digital display of the microminiaturized components.…


There was an elaborate swearing-in ceremony at the UN with worldwide TV coverage and major renowned world leaders making speeches about mankind’s leap for the stars and what it all meant to the world. Some were even now referring to the earth as the home planet. Meredith, Jonathan and Jenny happily accepted all the attention they were receiving from all this. Meredith knew she would be much busier and more in the world spotlight now as wife to the new Space Commissioner. Jonathan thought about the myriad opportunities this might open up for him. Jenny just walked around in a daze and a happy smile on her dimpled cheeks. She was now the most envied youth among her group of friends.

Danielle’s birthday party was a huge success. Everyone enjoyed the Disney theme park with a European flavor. Disneyland Paris was a big hit with the teenagers. They loved the different lands with their distinctive Disney themes and rides, especially Adventureland and Discoveryland. Twyla came out of her shell and spent much time with Danielle and Jenny, who were almost inseparable. Even though they didn’t need to because of the teleport device, they spent the weekend at Disney’s Hotel Santa Fe and enjoyed a wonderful experience to remember. The girls got better acquainted during their late night pajama parties relating their daily park adventures after the nightly fireworks display.…

“What do you think we can do about the problem?” John was replying to a question from his new communications expert, Milton Hall. The space commissioner leaped into his new position with great enthusiasm. He had quickly recognized who the brightest people were on the commission, and gave them authority to attract the brightest ones in their field to assist them in their work. Milton, the almost bald headed middle-aged NASA technician, had a vast array of communications experience and just presented John with his first challenge.

“Well sir, as I said, the teleport function works fine at any distance we’ve tried so far, but we have to either pre-program


the return function or rely on it to be initiated from the other end, because the rest of the device’s communications functions don’t work at those distances. Not in real-time anyway. The only way I could see to solve the problem would be to deploy thousands of Satellite relay stations either in orbits or on moons, planets, or asteroids in deep space and even then, the response time would be long.”

“Milton, why don’t you write up a plan with your design for such a system at least for our own solar system and we’ll organize a group to do it?”

The routine John had become comfortable with was to let the technical or knowledgeable experts come up with the answers and he would provide the authority and support they needed. So far this method had allowed him to create a very smooth working relationship with his staff. He even engaged a PR agency separate from the UN’s to issue bulletins to keep the press and public aware of their progress and plans. He didn’t always like the media attention put on him, but as Space Commissioner, he realized that was precisely why he was chosen for the job. Whenever he was called upon for personal appearances, he usually asked Meredith to accompany him if she was available. He felt her presence took some of the pressure off him.

Meredith enjoyed the occasions too. She still worked with the guys in the lab some, but not near as much as formerly. Though John was now in a highly political arena, she did not think of herself as a political wife. After all they had told the president they would turn the job over to someone else when they felt the time was right, so she decided to just enjoy the limelight. Being the wife of the Space Commissioner, she received many invitations to speak and travel all over the world on her own too.

“Bzzt…bzzt…”Meredith answered the cottage door. “Hi, Darlene. I’m

glad you dropped by.” Meredith put down the stack of mail she had been perusing on her desk. Mail wasn’t delivered to the


island. Someone zipped to the main post office at the UN and picked it up daily.

“I just dropped by to see how the new First Lady of Space is doing?”

“If I’m the First Lady of Space, then you’re the First Lady of Space Security.” Meredith cheerfully smiled, but seriously said, “I’m afraid very busy at the moment taking care of mundane tasks. I’ve received so many congratulations and invitations, I don’t know how I’m going to be able to respond to them.” She pointed to the stack of unopened mail on her desk.

“What you need is an appointments and social secretary. Can I do that for you?”

“Oh, Darlene, if you could, that would be a great help. I’m still getting used to this celebrity business and I can use all the help I can get.”

“Well you sit there and watch me open them and organize them then you can tell me what you want to say to each one. I’m pretty good with the computer too.”

Meredith watched Darlene go through the mail in much quicker time than she had been doing.

“What’s your youngest, Josephine doing now?”“Right now she’s visiting her grandmother, which is why

she’s not tagging along with me and I have all this free time on my hands.”

“Darlene, don’t say a word to anyone because I’m not sure. I haven’t been to the doctor yet, but I think I’m pregnant.”

“Oh, Meredith that is so wonderful! I’m so happy for you. Does John know yet?”

“I haven’t told him yet because I want to confirm it with the doctor first.”

“Well tell him as soon as you find out, then tell me so I can share the good news with Hank.”

“You’ll probably have to hurry because I’m sure John will be anxious to share the news too.”

“There, now. These are just congratulations, which we can send a simple thank you note in response and this stack includes invitations, and speaking requests. We’ll need to talk


about how you want to answer them and use your appointments calendar when we do.”

“Let’s take a break before we tackle those. Come in the kitchen and you can have some homemade lemonade, milk, or a soda.”

“That sounds like a great offer. I think I’ll have the lemonade and maybe we can sit out on the veranda.”

Darlene enjoyed the pleasant ocean breeze that blew off the white sandy beach and watched the white clouds drift overhead. “Meredith you seem very happy. There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you.”

Meredith smiled as she leaned on the patio table holding her glass. “Well Darlene, go ahead and ask.”

“Okay, but it’s kind of personal. I mean I remember before you and John were married, some of the conversations you two had about religion and I was just wondering how you had resolved your differences? I mean your joining his church seemed so sudden.”

“Oh Darlene, I remember those conversations too and I can’t believe how thick headed I was. I mean I didn’t know that much about any religion yet I was acting all superior to him in my way of thinking.”

“Well, what did happen to change your thinking?”“I read the scriptures he gave me and they talked about

praying to God to get my answer. I had never really prayed before and it was hard for me at first. Then Jenny caused me to realize that I had to pray sincerely, expecting an answer and have faith, believing it would happen.” Meredith sipped her lemonade and then her eyes got misty as she remembered that special night she received her personal witness. “Right in the middle of when all this started happening with the success of the device and the opposition, one night I knelt in prayer and the sweetest feeling came over me. I truly felt the spirit for the first time and it was like the Lord’s plan for me just opened up before my eyes.”

Darlene noted the tears running down Meredith’s cheeks and stepped in the kitchen to find a Kleenex.


“That must have been a special kind of experience.” Darlene handed Meredith the whole box of Kleenex. “I never let Julie share any of her feelings about her religion with me because I was afraid it would affect our friendship and we were so close I didn’t want anything to come between us. Now you seem so happy, I’m wondering if that was the right thing to do. I mean Hank and I have our church, but I don’t believe I’ve ever experienced anything like what you did.”

“Oh Darlene! It’s so wonderful to have the understanding that I’m doing what the Lord wants me to do.” She brushed her hair back from her brow. “When John and the Elders laid their hands on my head and confirmed me after he baptized me, I truly felt a peaceful warmth descend upon me and wrap me in love. I think the two missionaries that taught me were special too. They explained about the plan of salvation and answered all my questions. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is so real to me now that I don’t know how I ever got along without it.”

“That’s a special experience. Maybe as we work together taking care of your mail, we can discuss more of it. I’m very glad you’re so happy. You know ever since John invited Hank to be a part of the team and our family joined y’all, we’ve been a much happier family. Hank enjoys his assignment so much. The kids love our island getaway and I enjoy being a part of it too. Not having to worry about finances any more is such a blessing.”

“Yes, Darlene, I was glad to meet you and your family when John had that cookout and invited you. I wondered then what you would think of me because I could tell you were very close to Julie.”

Darlene smiled and softly said, “I was close to her and I still miss her. She was such a good and kind person. I couldn’t understand how such a nice person could die like that, but I wanted John to find someone to be happy with and I thought you and he were perfect. That is until I heard some of your differences over his faith. I’m glad you reconciled those differences.”

“Me too.”…“How was your day, Darling?” Darlene asked Hank over


the dinner table while the teenagers scrambled to finish dinner so they could go do their various activities. Billy and Danielle were being their normal selves, teasing and bickering with each other.

“Very busy. It was a nonstop day. We’ve tripled the staff and yet we still can’t seem to get everything done quick enough. I’ve managed things from verifying new security designs with Dr. Vaughn to helping train our new people on installing and checking out the systems. What was your day like?”

“Oh, not as exciting as yours, but I did take on a new job today. I stopped by Meredith’s and she was so caught up in trying to handle all the mail she’s been getting, I offered to be her social secretary, so now I’m officially the appointments secretary to the First Lady of space. We spent all afternoon organizing her calendar for all kinds of speaking engagements. I rather enjoyed it. Meredith is so easy to work with. She said if she was the First lady of Space, then I am the First Lady of Space Security.”

“You’re not only the First lady of Space Security, you are a super mom and wife.” He gave her a hug and kiss on the cheek.

“Darling, do you and John ever talk about religion?” Darlene asked as she and Hank prepared for bed that evening.

“Occasionally we have. Why do you ask?”“Well, what makes their church so different than ours?

Don’t we believe in the same Bible?”“Yes, but as I understand it, they have other scriptures

too.”“Doesn’t the word scriptures mean it’s from God. I mean

isn’t that how we got the Bible?”“Yes, through the writings of prophets and Apostles.”“Then how did they get these other scriptures?”“John told me there was a latter-day prophet who translated

an ancient record into what they have as The Book of Mormon and he received other revelations too.”

“What kind of revelations? And what does the Book of Mormon teach?”

“John said it’s a separate second witness to the divinity of


Jesus Christ. He said an angel delivered the plates to a young man named Joseph Smith in the 1820’s.

“They seem so happy in their church.” Darlene snuggled closer to Hank. “Meredith shared a special experience with me that made me tingle all over. Then she told me about another experience she and John had the weekend they went to Camp David. They attended their church in Grand Prairie and her and John received a special blessing and calling. I’d like to learn more about their religion. They seem so content in it.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask John some more questions too.” Hank looked lovingly at his wife and placed his arm around her. “He seems so confident in his beliefs I almost feel he believes the Lord is helping him do his job. He’s invited us to church before, but I told him we had our own church. I’ll ask him if we can accompany them next time if you would like?”

“Yes, sweetheart. I would like that.” The two cuddled together as Hank turned off the lamp.

The next Sunday the Travis family accompanied the Royston’s to the Latter-day Saint church in Grand Prairie, Texas, and was surprised when President Hargrove, Madelyn, and Mary Ann showed up too.

Bishop Davis welcomed each of them to the service before he took his place on the stand with his two counselors.

“We enjoyed our last visit so much, Madelyn and I wanted to come back and we brought Mary Ann with us too,” the president smilingly said as the group sat together in a central pew. He also noted George Garrett sitting with his family in the congregation and they exchanged smiles. The observant president also noted Jonathan sitting with the Garrett family beside a lovely blond teenage girl. Madelyn noted a teenage girl sitting with Jenny Royston beside Meredith.

This being Maryann’s first visit, she noted the happy and smiling faces of the congregation while the prelude music was playing.

After the Sacrament service, the visiting adults attended the Gospel Essentials Sunday school class with the Royston’s. This was the class designed for new members or visitors.


President Hargrove was surprised that the teacher for the class was none other than Tom Johnston.

Though Tom daily worked with Hank on the team and sometimes was included in meetings with the president, seeing them in his Sunday school class was special.

“I’m Brother Tom Johnston and I want to welcome our visitors to the class. We’re especially happy to have each of you with us today. The subject for today’s lesson is The First Principles and Ordinances of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Hank noted during the lesson most of the scripture references were from the New Testament. He had been prepared for them to teach out of the Book of Mormon.

President Hargrove had similar thoughts but because of his study of the Latter-day Saint religion, he knew the Church accepted the King James Version of the Bible as canonized scriptures along with their Latter-day ones.

“This is Billy Travis. He’s my best friend and very good at playing computer games.” Jonathan happily introduced Billy to his Sunday school class.

“We’re happy to have you visiting today Billy.” Sister Johnston gave him a captivating smile. She also knew Billy Travis as one of her piano students on the charter teleport team. “Today we’re going to talk about a very important principle of the gospel that Jesus taught his disciples. Please turn in your New Testament to the Book of Matthew…”

“This is Danielle Travis. She is one of my dearest friends and we practically share everything together and now I get to share each of you with her.” Jenny gave a broad dimpled smile to the rest of the class.

“We’re happy you and your family could join us at church today, Danielle. We hope you enjoy the experience and will want to return again.” Brother Rick Barton, a young returned missionary, who was substituting, welcomed her with a wide grin.

“When Jesus was with his disciples, he taught them many things, but one of the most important was the need to be baptized…”


A pretty young girl who introduced herself as Julie Anderson had escorted Maryann to the Young Single Adult class. She sat in the class amazed at how everyone accepted her as a class member without making an obvious fuss over her. She was used to being fussed over wherever she went. She listened as the young teacher welcomed everyone to the class and asked the visitors to stand and introduce themselves. There was one other visitor and she let him go first.

“My name is Jared Olsen and I’ve just returned from my mission to Ireland. I didn’t live here before, but my family moved here while I was on my Mission.”

Maryann hesitantly stood up. “I’m Maryann Hargrove and this is my first visit to your church. I enjoyed the worship service.”

“We want to welcome both of you to our class today and hope you will want to join us again. I will now turn the time over to our teacher, Sister Garrett.”

Sister Doris Garrett personally knew half the class because she had taught them in high school. Today our lesson is on a special subject. Matt would you turn in your scriptures to the book of Acts and read chapter two, verses 37 and 38 for us please.”

Julie shared her scriptures with Maryann during the class…

“These are the two Elders who taught me,” Meredith told Darlene and the president’s family as she introduced them after class.

“Why do they call you Elders when you are so young?” Darlene asked.

“That is our title which denotes our calling and priesthood office in the Church.”

“These young men along with thousands of other young men and women devote two years of their life on missions to teach the Gospel to investigators.” Meredith proudly said and thought, I can’t believe I’m treating the president and First lady as ordinary folks, not worrying about how I act around them or if I will say the wrong thing.


“Where is your home?” Madelyn asked Elder Vinsen.“I’m from Mesa, Arizona,” the dark-headed and brown-

skinned young man said.“I think that must take a great amount of faith to give two

years of your life to your church,” President Hargrove told Elder McRory.

“Not when you know it’s what the Lord wants you to do,” Elder McRory simply answered.

“I guess you’re right about that, son.”They look so sincere and they have a special spirit about them.

Not like a lot of the young men I’ve been dating, Mary Ann Hargrove thought as the two young missionaries smiled at her.

“We’ve invited the Elders for dinner this afternoon and would love to have you join us,” Meredith spoke to both couples. She had ordered a large roast yesterday, so she could extend the invitation. It would be ready when they arrived home.

“We would love to Meredith, but we have a previous engagement. Can we have a rain check?” Madelyn graciously said.

“Of course, I’ll get in touch and we’ll set a date.”“We’d be happy to accept your invitation, Meredith,”

Darlene said with a smile as she looked up at Hank…

“The roast is marvelous Meredith. How did you get it so tender?” Darlene asked as the two families and Elders sat at the long oval table in the Royston’s dinning room. She recognized the table from having previously sat at it in John’s Dallas home. Meredith had adorned it with a beautiful crocheted white tablecloth Alice Royston presented to the newlyweds as a wedding present.

“I simply put it in the roaster slow cooker and let it cook very slowly. Just before we left for church, I added the carrots, potatoes and onions.”

“The roast gives the vegetables extra flavor too,” Hank said as his fork speared one of the potatoes. “Speaking of church, John, today we read mostly scriptures from the Bible. I wanted to hear some from your Book of Mormon.”


“Hank, Brother Johnston, Tom, could have easily taught the same lesson using scriptures from the Book of Mormon because Christ and the Nephite prophets taught the same principles to the people on this continent. Christ visited them soon after his resurrection and taught them the same Gospel message. Tom chose to use the New Testament scriptures because that is the book he felt the visitors would be most familiar with.” John glanced at the Elders to see if they wanted to add something.

Jenny jumped in with, “That’s my favorite part of the Book of Mormon, when Jesus blessed and healed the children.”

“Brother and Sister Travis, we would be happy to explain some of our beliefs and more of the Book of Mormon to you after dinner, if that would be okay?” Elder Vinsen gave an inviting smile with the invitation.

“Yes, we’d love to hear more. Meredith has told me some and I want to learn more.” Darlene quickly spoke up.

“And I’m interested too,” Hank smiled.“I enjoyed my Sunday school class today too,” Danielle

added.“I liked the lesson activity in our class. We did a role play

about having faith,” Billy mumbled through a mouth half full of roast.

After the missionary discussion, the two elders teleported to their next appointment and the Travis’s stayed at the Royston’s to visit. Jonathan showed Billy some of his latest computer programs he was working on while Danielle and Jenny visited in her room.

A few weeks later, as they sat around the Royston’s dinning room table following dessert of apple pie alamode, Elder Vinsen said, “Brother and Sister Royston, the Travis’s have something they want to ask you.”

Meredith and John looked at Hank and Darlene as Hank spoke up.

“We’ve asked the Elders to baptize us and would like you to confirm us, John,” Hank blurted out as Darlene smiled at Meredith and happily nodded her head too.

Meredith thrilled, gave her an affectionate hug. They both had tears of joy in their eyes.


“We decided to be baptized after our last discussion and I’ve been bursting at the seams to tell you,” Darlene excitedly said.

Billy quietly said, “I’ve been reading the Book of Mormon and I know its true too.”

“Jenny’s been reading with me too,” Danielle added. Jenny had been the first one to tell the Elders she wanted to be baptized during their discussions with the Elders.

“You know, Hank, I’m not the only one in the family who holds the priesthood. Jonathan holds the office of a priest in the Aaronic Priesthood and he can perform baptisms too.” John smiled.

Hearing that, Billy’s eyes lit up. “Could Jonathan baptize me?”

The next Saturday afternoon, the chapel was overflowing for the Travis’s baptismal service with the Hargrove’s and most of the teleport team in attendance too. For more than a few, this was their first time to attend any kind of a Latter-day Saint service. Before the service both families and the Elders took pictures of the Travis family and Jonathan all dressed in white.

President Hargrove and several of the team members commented to John after the service, how much they enjoyed the talks on baptism and the bestowal of the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Madelyn remarked to Meredith how much they enjoyed it and surprised her when she said, “We still haven’t set a date for your dinner invitation. Would you like to do that now?…

Just a few weeks later, John stood up as his name was called from the podium in the Salt Lake City LDS World Conference Center. The Church’s semi-annual conference occurred on the first weekends of April and October. The conference as usual was broadcast worldwide via satellite. Years before, the conferences were held in the historic Salt Lake Tabernacle on Temple Square. But recently the new Conference Center had been built across the street from that landmark. It was announced he was being called as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. John knew about the awesome responsibility of his new calling.


Members of the First Quorum of Seventy are sustained as General Authorities of the Church. After the overflowing congregation of 20,000 raised their hand to sustain him, he kissed Meredith and took his new place on the stand with the First Quorum of Seventy.

The Travis’s and Johnston’s were in the audience sitting with their families beside Jonathan and Jenny.

Hank thought about the changes that had recently happened in his and his family’s life since they joined the Latter-Day Saint Church. Here we are sitting in this huge conference auditorium with President Alvarez Alonzo presiding at the stand who is recognized worldwide by over 15 million members as a prophet, seer and revelator for The Church. I feel Goosebumps just thinking about it. I’m glad Darlene felt as I did when we listened to the Elders teach us. I never felt this peaceful and happiness in our former church. I wish I could share my feelings and help others feel as I do today. Hank had his arm around Darlene sitting beside him and she smiled warmly at him in the middle of his thoughts…

“Brother Royston, you have already performed a great service to the Gospel. As you accept this new calling, I know the Lord has greater things in store for you and your family.” President Alonzo had spoken to him in a personal interview prior to the conference and assured him his new position, as a Seventy would not interfere with his job as Space Commissioner. “You will be like a special envoy for the Church wherever you are. Though you will be a member of the Seventy’s quorum, and your Quorum President may call upon you from time to time, you will not have regular assigned duties.”

John knew most of the Seventies served in some capacity in the Area Presidencies around the world and on special assignments. He was relieved to understand his limited assignment. Most of the first two quorums of Seventies were full time callings and he had wondered about that in regards to himself.

In a later session of the same conference, Meredith and John spoke to the vast audience and professed their testimonies of their faith. Wherever they attended church from now on,


they would be welcomed, as honored guests and John would be recognized as a presiding church authority when on official assignment.

Darlene listened to their testimonies while she sat in the congregation and ashamedly thought; I wish I had let Julie share her feelings of her faith with me when she wanted to. I should never have been so judgmental about religion. I’m so happy and peaceful knowing just as Meredith does that I’m where the Lord wants me now. With tears of joy, she happily squeezed Hank and Josephine’s hands that were sitting next to her as she basked in the warmth of her family amongst that vast congregation of now-fellow Latter-Day Saints.

Hank sat with his arm around Darlene and listened to John and Meredith’s testimonies. It’s hard to realize I hold the Aaronic Priesthood now. I can’t wait to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood and then Darlene and I can be sealed together for Time and all Eternity with our children in the temple. Hank understood the requirement of being a member a year so they could prepare to receive the sacred ordinances in the Lord’s House.

President Hargrove and his family watched some of the sessions being broadcast on TV, including the sustaining of church officers and the Royston’s testimonies.

When it was announced how much the church had grown over the past year, Madelyn commented, “I didn’t know their church was that large. I thought it was mostly in Utah.”

President Hargrove stated, “I’ve been reading up on the Latter-Day Saint Church and learned the church truly is worldwide, with more members in other countries than ours. The fastest growing area is South America. I think that is probably because their Book of Mormon is about those people’s ancestors. The book relates they originally migrated from Jerusalem and were led by God to the American Continent about 600 A.D.”

“Well you’re not the only one reading.” Madelyn quietly said, “Mary Ann and I have been reading it too while you’ve been busy running the country. I’m looking forward to our dinner with the Royston’s next Saturday. I want to talk to


Meredith more about it since she is so new in the religion and just now listening to her testimony gave me Goosebumps.”

“I know what you mean, darling. I kind of felt the same about John’s. That sustaining of Church Officers was special too. I’ve got a couple of questions for John too next week.”

The evening following the conference as they prepared for bed, Meredith’s eyes glazed over. “Darling, I was very nervous thinking of speaking to all those people and realizing it was being broadcast worldwide. My knees were shaking at first and I had to hold on to the podium. Then when I looked out at that large audience, knowing they had the same knowledge of my savior as I did, a feeling of peace came over me and I knew the spirit was helping me give that talk and share my testimony with everyone.” Meredith was standing at the bathroom door and John was sitting on the bed removing his socks.

“Sweetheart, I had that same feeling. It was so marvelous to receive that comforting peace. I just suddenly wanted everyone to feel as I did. I’m glad we let the team know about the broadcast so they had an opportunity to witness a church Conference too. I noticed I already have a few emails from team members and others.”

“Yes, I expect I do too, but I decided to let that wait until tomorrow,” Meredith said as she wrapped her robe around her and John took his turn in the bathroom. “I’m still reveling in today’s experience. Just think, a little over a year ago I practically knew nothing about the Church and yet today I was bearing my testimony to an audience of hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, of people worldwide.”

She walked out to the veranda and looked up at the clear starry night and listened to the waves on the sandy beach. “It’s hard to realize how much difference knowledge of the Gospel makes in our lives. It was extra nice knowing Hank and Darlene were in the audience with their family and Jonathan and Jenny too.” She sat down in a patio chair and basked in her happiness.

“Aren’t the heavens beautiful tonight, sweetheart?” John placed his hands on her shoulder and she placed her hands on his.

ROBERT LEE JOSEPH68

“Yes, Darling. It’s very beautiful. I wonder what we’re going to find out there when we go exploring?”

“I think we’re going to find whatever the Lord has created for us to find. I truly believe all that we’ve accomplished thus far has been for us to go out there and meet our destiny.”…

ROBERT LEE JOSEPH68

Chapter Five

Space Without the ShipsTwo weeks later….

“The view is marvelous and breathtaking,” Alex exclaimed, looking up at the bright twinkling stars through his protective suit’s visor, knowing earth’s sun was now one of them, almost four and a half light years away. He and Dr. Vaughn were standing on Regina, a moon orbiting the fourth planet in the Proxima Centauri Star system. The barren moon was rocky and hilly, but with fewer craters than earths moon. I know Joan would love to be here to witness this with me. I need to be sure we get some good pictures to show her the magnificent breathtaking view.

“Yes, Alex. Not in my wildest dreams did I ever picture such a site,” gingerly walking in his environmental suit in the one quarter gravity as he spoke. “We still don’t truly understand how teleportation works at such distances. Even my earlier theories about how the Alpha Wave and FM broadcast wave work can’t explain these great distances, yet just a few seconds ago we were on earth and can return in the blink of an eye.”

“I always thought that was somewhat of a simplistic answer anyway,” Alex said.

“Well, not fully knowing how it works hasn’t stopped us from using it,” Dr. Vaughn affirmed through the suit’s comm unit.

The Solar laboratory with the assigned exploration team instantly appeared several yards away. This was one of many


which had been designed with each exploration team assigned a portion of the cosmos to explore and map. Though they could not communicate directly with earth at this distance, they could all sleep in their own beds tonight, although ‘night’ was a relative term out here, not necessarily matched to earth’s chronometer.

“Look at Centauri-4 near the horizon. Isn’t she beautiful!” Alex exclaimed as he viewed the purple-hued planet they would shortly explore. Centauri-4 was the designation given to the fourth planet from Alpha Centauri. They had chosen to arrive on Regina first so they could program their teleport devices with precise astronomical settings in relation to this star system. The laboratory computer equipment was already at work performing this complex task for them with the aid of the on-board sophisticated laser-guided telescopes.

Dr. Vaughn looked at the distant planet, surprised at how earth-like it looked with several continents and oceans with stars in the background, hanging like a ball by an invisible string in a wonderful panoramic picture. I often pictured scenes like this in my mind, but nothing comes close to this reality. If only Emma could share in this moment with me. I still miss her so. I know she would be proud at all we’ve accomplished thus far. Dr. Vaughn was jolted from his quiet reverie by his comm unit.

“Dr. Vaughn, our equipment is picking up some seismic activity on Centauri-4’s surface. We’re in the process of calibrating the exact location now.” Ted Olmstead anxiously spoke over the comm unit.

“We’ll be right there, Ted.” Dr. Vaughn and Alex easily leaped the few steps to the laboratory module and Alex punched the exterior button, opening the outer doorway with a swift swishing noise as it retracted into the wall. Experimenting with that button in a space suit had caused them to make it extra big. As soon as they entered the small entryway, the door swished closed and the compartment was flooded with breathable air. Within seconds, the interior doorway automatically opened for them.

“How much activity are we recording?” Dr. Vaughn hastily


asked the team chief while removing his helmet. He and Alex viewed both the telescopic and seismic monitors. Several of the other staff were making calculations and recording readings from their individual consoles.

“Enough to identify several unstable areas on the surface. Most of the activity is what we would call the east coast on the northern continent. Our calculations give us about 30 minutes until dark there.”

“Are we to the point we can teleport some cameras there to get an on-site view?”

“Yes sir, I have the planet coordinates programmed into our locator system now,” Jason Starkly, the newest team technician spoke up from his console. Jason, a graduate of Cal Tech and a dark frizzy-headed computer whiz from Argentina, could work rings around most of them when he was in his element. His family was excited for him when he was one of the select few identified for this initial exploration trip.

“Then let’s get them on site now,” Dr. Vaughn excitedly spoke up.

“We’re getting three cameras ready now, sir,” Marianne Conti, the team chief, said as she watched the coordinates being fed into the three-sophisticated TV camera’s teleport components. A powerful transceiver and hyperbolic antenna to broadcast to individual monitors mounted above the laboratory console was part of each sophisticated camera. She too was struck by the awe of her surroundings, but was trying to concentrate on the task at hand. There will be time later to bask in the wonderful view just outside our module window.

In seconds they were viewing results of the seismic activity on the overhead monitors being relayed from the surface. The camera positions had been triangulated to provide three different views of the same area. One of the cameras was vibrating along with the ground it was sitting on. Marianne quickly moved it with a couple of keypad entries at her console. The area they were focused on displayed a reddish-dry rocky desert-like surface with high canyon walls surrounding it.

Dr. Vaughn noted the eerie sound coming from the camera


microphones was more of the ground vibrations rather than from the sound of rocks rolling in an earth-type atmosphere.

“Can you give us a view from the top of the canyon walls?” Alex quickly asked.

“I believe so,” Marianne said as she entered new coordinates on her keypad. The petite blond was not only a brilliant scientist, but was also part of Hank’s security team. One of the views immediately changed to show the view from several hundred feet up looking down at the canyon floor. It was an awesome view of a new world. The current shaking view reminded Marianne of a New Mexico setting she grew up in. Suddenly a huge part of the opposite vibrating canyon wall fell off into the canyon floor, destroying one of the two cameras in a huge cloud of dust. Marianne had been quick enough to move the other one before it was destroyed. Now revealed on the remaining monitor at the bottom was a very smooth rounded circular hole in the canyon wall halfway up and about 30 feet in diameter.

“Zoom in on that hole!” Dr. Vaughn excitedly said. To this point they had received no indications whatsoever of any type of life or non-natural artifact, other than simple vegetation, small animals, and supposedly marine life in the planet’s oceans. Earlier probes indicated only a minimal atmosphere filled with barely breathable traces of oxygen and no signs of civilization. Alex had said breathing would be kind of like standing on the top of Mt. Everest. Now they were looking at what seemed to be a non-natural hole halfway up the steep canyon wall! The hole stood out in its perfectly round geometric outline in the center framed by a reddish multi-hued cliff wall.

“Rig another camera with lights and let’s get it into that opening.” Marianne quickly ordered and several team members rushed to comply. Just minutes later they were witnessing views from inside the hole.…

“Chirp…chirp.”Hank noted his wrist display and quickly acknowledged

the call. “Yes?”


“Hank, this is Beverly. We’ve just had three teleport platforms become inoperative in Brazil! I’ve tried recalling them without success.”

“I’ll be right there.” Hank was at the NASA facility in Houston, monitoring the deployed exploration modules. He instantly appeared beside Beverly at the Colorado main console.

He quickly went through the same emergency recall procedure she had just done three times before. He immediately keyed his security team on his comm unit.

“This is Hank. Teleport to these coordinates immediately and try to locate these missing units!” Hank quickly keyed in the Brazil coordinates to the team members and then zipped to one of them himself.

He was immediately standing near a town square where several villagers stood around looking at him as two of his team members appeared beside him.

“What happened here?” Hank asked the nearest person.The villager was wearing a tattered checkered shirt and

cutoff jeans and a straw hat. He held his palms upward and shrugging said, “Señor, we don’t know. A man appeared on the platform holding something tiny and then he and the platform just disappeared a few minutes ago while we were sitting there on that bench.”

“Chirp…chirp…”“Alpha team checking in. No sign of the platform and no one was

around when it disappeared.”“Okay, return to T-base now.” Hank keyed his own device

and immediately was back in Colorado.“Beverly, we need a diagnostic run on the distributed

platforms immediately. Someone’s using our device against us. We may have to deactivate the system until we can determine how to stop them.”

“Another one just went offline in Chile.” She was anxiously watching her console monitor

“Bzzt.…Bzzt”Beverly punched the intercom button on the console.


“T-base, this is Tyler Baxter in Houston. Two fully equipped exploration modules have just disappeared along with several environmental suits and other scientific instruments and equipment. Two of the technicians working on one of the modules were found unconscious. “

“That does it. Shut the system down now!” Hank almost yelled the order.

“Yes sir.” Beverly hit the emergency master shutdown switch then said, “But what about the exploration modules?”

“They should still be able to return on their own individually. Right now I want you to trace these incidents from the beginning. Someone must have stolen a platform without triggering an alarm for this to happen.”

“I’m running the ID program now. It should be complete in a minute,” Beverly said as she began another parallel diagnostic program.

Hank entered John’s code on his wrist keypad.“Yes, Hank. What’s up?” John was at a different part of the

Houston facility, monitoring activities of the exploration modules.

“John, we’ve got a serious problem. Someone’s using our technology against us and I bet its Heinrich again. So far four platforms and two exploration modules have been stolen and other equipment has disappeared without a trace. I’ve put the whole team on full alert and shut the system down until we can solve this.”

Instantly John was by Hank’s side as other team members started appearing too. Though the rest of the system was shut down, the teleport team’s units still functioned normally. Only the restricted units were deactivated.

“Hank, what about the deployed exploration modules?”“They should be able to return on their own or we will send

someone to recall them. Whatever you decide.”“I think it would be best to recall them now until we sort

this out. I would rather have them here than light years away, and we can certainly use their help.”

Hank abruptly turned to the main console. “Beverly


teleport a member of each team’s support staff to the deployed sites and have them bring all the modules back to the Houston Home base. When they report in, have the teams teleport here.”

In less than a minute the away teams started arriving.“Hank why the recall? We were just on the verge of a very

important discovery,” Dr. Vaughn agitatedly stated.“Sorry sir, it couldn’t be helped. We have a serious problem

here.” Hank quickly briefed him and the others.“I’m guessing one of the units must have been stolen

without triggering our alarms and then it was somehow used to steal the other platforms.”

“If they’ve managed to do that, it means they can teleport just about anywhere if they have the coordinates,” John anxiously stated.

“But why can’t we recall them?” Alex agitatedly queried the group.

“I believe because they’re no longer in our reception area,” Hank spoke in his casual drawl, causing the group to turn towards him, “You guys are the scientists, but I think the reason our security isn’t working is because whoever they are has taken them out of range. They didn’t have time to do much else with those platforms before we tried to recall them. We built extra stealth locator chips hidden into each unit. Remember only the teleport function works anywhere. The rest of the technology is based on normal telecomm facilities such as the satellite transponders. Once they obtained one unit without our knowing it, they must have teleported out of range of those transponders, which means they’re probably somewhere off-planet.”

“I think Hank is right,” Dr, Vaughn spoke up. “Milton, how close are we to having some of our space comm relay units on-line?”

The near bald-headed comm chief looked at some of his team members and then said, “We already have several hundred distributed here in our own solar system and we can start activating them immediately.”


“Hank and Beverly, can you and your teams assist Milt and start scanning for any sign of the missing units?” The two nodded. “Meanwhile, let’s hope they haven’t discovered how to replicate the teleport function to create more units.”…

Heinrich gazed out the bubble port window in amazement at the stars from the far side of earth’s moon. I never realized how dark and vast space really is. His team finally thwarted the security of one of the devices after destroying half of them. In their sophisticated laboratory facility they manipulated the destination coordinates. They had instantly arrived with the stolen modules, equipment and components. This is more wonderful than I even imagined.

The tycoon turned from staring out the window. “Now we need to plot other astronomical locations quickly, because I’m sure they’ll figure out we’re not still on earth.”

“Yes sir. We’re doing that now.” Hardison was eagerly running calculations rapidly through the confiscated NASA computer. “Do you want to stay in the solar system?”

“Not necessarily if we can locate a planet with a healthy environment, but we’ll need to procure more equipment and supplies before we take that leap.”

“I’ve already put some of the team to work on it, sir. Although we’ve learned how to manipulate these wrist devices, we’re still clueless as to how the technology works or how to duplicate the components.”

“Once we get ourselves situated, I’m going to come back and take care of that new Space Commissioner. Then we’ll get his pretty wife and Dr. Vaughn to reveal the secret to us.”…

“Chirp…chirp…”John looked at his wrist display and acknowledged the call.

“Yes, Mr. President?”“I’ve heard we’ve got some real trouble. What’s happening, John?”“Sir, someone is using our technology against us. We’re

trying to locate them now. We think they may have taken the devices off-planet using the stolen equipment from NASA.


We’re activating the long range comm relays to try to detect them now.”

“Is there anything we can do from here to help?”“We’ve already shut down the teleport system so they

can’t use more of our own devices against us. We’ve put out a worldwide alert. I don’t know what else we can do until we find where they are, sir.”

“Yes. I know. I had to call you on my regular phone. We’re already getting a multitude of flack from the shutdown but I guess it can’t be helped. Any idea how long the shut down will last? The whole world has come to depend on your devices.”

“No sir, but we will reactivate the system as soon as we can.”

“Okay, John. Keep us informed. We’ll provide whatever help we can.”

“Yes sir. As soon as we know more, I will let you know.” John turned to his security chief. “Hank, I’ve been thinking. What about the personal unit’s security system? What indications does it provide?”

“Almost the same as the platforms. Why do you ask?”“Because maybe that’s how they were able to accomplish

this and get everything away so quickly. How does the personal unit’s security system work?”

“Similar to the platforms only independent of it.”“Have you taken a recent inventory?”“No, but we’ll take care of that right now.” Hank turned to

the console. “Beverly, will you run the diagnostic program for the personal units?”

Beverly initiated the program and shortly they were viewing the current status of the personal units scroll on the large overhead screen. They hastily scanned the several thousand deployed units. Everything looked as expected until they came to the destroyed ones, which were blinking bright red.

“Why didn’t the system alert us to this?” Hank urgently queried.

“I don’t know, sir. It should have. I’ll check the audit program.”


Hank hurriedly keyed his wrist pad. “Joseph, this is Hank. We have some names for you to run through the crime-net computer.” Joseph Larson was the Team’s link to the UN Crime unit that hooked into the world’s law enforcement computers. “Find out all you can about them as quickly as you can. Review all the information from their applications for personal units too. And get back to me as soon as you have it.”

“Yes sir. We will get right on it.”“The audit program mistakenly thought the units were

inactivated by the main console, so it didn’t signal an alarm,” Beverly frustrated reported. “We must not have done sufficient testing.”

Dr. Vaughn and Alex were monitoring the work at the console and making suggestions too.

“Chirp…chirp…”Hank glanced at his wrist device. “Yes, Joseph. What did

you learn?”“I learned each of these persons only gave us enough right answers

to avoid setting off any alarms in the crime-net computer. They all applied about the same time and most of them have highly technical degrees. They purported to work for a computer manufacturing company which it turns out was recently shut down.”

“Do we have any information about the company other than its demise?”

“We’re tracing it now. Here it is. This is one of the companies that was part of Heinrich Von Dussen’s empire and was shut down when the UN confiscated his assets.”

“Why am I not surprised?” John said as he overheard the conversation. “Well now we know who’s behind all this, but how do we find him?”

“I think our best bet is those comm relays. We have them orbiting all the planets and moons in the solar system now and they’re searching for the locator signals on the missing units. An alarm will go off if any of them detect the slightest response.…

“We’ve picked a star system many light years from here in the Orion Belt, sir.” We’ve sent some cameras and sensing


equipment there and the third planet looks fairly hospitable with a breathable atmosphere.” Dr. Jorgensen was one of Heinrich’s astrophysicists. The scientist was so anxious to explore the universe; he avoided thinking of all the laws Heinrich’s team was breaking. The middle-aged silver spectacled physicist busily made calculations.

“Good. Make all the preparations, but before we make the leap, I’m going back and take care of mister hotshot Royston.”

“But how will you locate him?” Hardison anxiously asked.“I won’t have to. He will find me.” Heinrich teleported to

his ex-stepson’s Spanish villa with several team members, all ex-intelligence agents loaded with stolen automatic weapons they obtained from a Spanish Policía arsenal.…

“Hank, we have a response from one of the stolen personal units and it’s here on earth, near Madrid,” John Sr. burst out as he monitored the console. “I tried to recall it, but it doesn’t respond.”

John was standing next to his dad by the console. “We have the coordinates, so we can zip there and retrieve it and whoever is attached to it.”

Hank thoughtfully said, “John, let’s think this through. This may be a trap. They obviously can avoid detection so why all of a sudden can we locate them?”

“ I guess we don’t really know what we’ve located yet, do we?”

“Only that it’s one of the stolen units.”Okay, let’s reconnoiter first. Why don’t we send a mini-

cam to those coordinates and see what’s there first?”“But won’t that tip them off?”“Not if we do it right.” John turned to Dr. Vaughn. “Dr.

Vaughn, can you produce one of the I-models?”“That’s an excellent idea, John. I’ll take care of that

right away.” Dr. Vaughn immediately keyed his wrist pad and disappeared. Though the system as a whole was shut down, they could reactivate individual units.

Seconds later, Dr. Vaughn appeared with an I-model and


a mini-cam. The I-model looked the same as the other ones, except on the back, it was marked with an “I” in bold red. “This mini-cam has a satellite transceiver attached and we can receive live pictures and sound right here at the console using our new satellite comm relays.”

“Now let’s send it to those coordinates and see what we can learn,” Hank said. Soon they saw and heard, not surprisingly in German. Victor, Hanks security assistant, provided the translation.

“I thought you said they would appear here right after we arrived, Heinrich?” The senior ex-intelligent officer gruffly said. The team members were all placed halfway around the walls with their machine pistols cocked and ready, pointing at the device in the center of the room.

“What I said was, they will know we are here. It beeped when they tried to recall the device remotely, so they should know where it is. They will have to come here. When they appear, don’t shoot unless you have to. I need a hostage.”

“That’s not what I would do,” the senior ex-officer said. “I would reconnoiter first, expecting a trap.”

“That’s possible, but they’re going to have to come inside sooner or later, so we should still accomplish our purpose. Just make sure you’re alert so they don’t surprise us.”

“A hostage for what?”“I want John Royston! He has humiliated me and caused me much

distress. I will deal with him personally!” Heinrich sounded almost deranged in his vicious response.

Everyone near the Colorado console gazed at John as they heard the tone of Heinrich’s revengeful raving come through the speakers with Victor’s translation. Meredith who was standing by his side turned pale and clutched his arm tightly.

“Recall the camera,” Hank ordered, and it immediately reappeared. He quickly took the I-model and unattached it from the mini-cam. “Victor, hold my hand. We’re going to take care of Heinrich once and for all.”

“Wait! You’re not thinking!” John raised his voice. “Even if you get Heinrich now we still don’t know where the rest of


the stolen devices are. We need a better plan. Maybe we can just plant a locator device on him and track him to their main location?”

“You’re right John. How about this? I’ll do both. I’ll attach a locator chip on him. Then we’ll quietly invisibly spy on them until they reveal their location and then we’ll strike. Okay?”

“Okay, but take the camera with you so we can monitor you and have the strike team ready for action as soon as we have their coordinates.”

Hank and Victor stealthily appeared in the room in the Madrid Villa, invisible to the occupants. Hank very carefully attached a locator chip on Heinrich’s back pocket, then quietly backed against a bare wall and sat down to watch what happened. They had their earpieces on so they could communicate with Colorado and vice versa. Hank quietly set the mini-cam in a strategic location out of the way of any path the occupants were likely to take.

Eric walked into the room. “What’s going on here? I thought you left for good. Why are you back here with these armed men?”

“Eric, this is my team. We’re waiting to spring a trap on the teleport team.”

“But why my house? Now they will know I’m involved with you!”

“Don’t worry. I’ll buy you another Villa. One much larger and nicer than this one.”

“So, what are you waiting on?” Eric anxiously asked.“By now we figure the teleport team has located the

signal emanating from this device and should be putting in an appearance shortly.”

Three hours later, Heinrich’s men were getting edgy.“Just how do you know they’re monitoring for this

particular signal?” The head agent’s voice indicated his impatience and irritation.

“Because that’s what I would do in their place.”“Well, I don’t think they’re coming. I think this is just

a pipe dream of your quest for revenge. And what if they’re


assembling outside surrounding this place ready to pounce at any moment? We need to be preparing to leave our moon base now, not waiting around here for them to try and catch us.”

In Colorado, as soon as John heard the words ‘moon base’, he spoke to NASA control through his wrist comm unit. “They’re on the moon! Concentrate your scanning on the moon’s surface. Arrange one of the comm satellites to cover the moon’s far side too.”

“We’re changing its orbit as we speak, sir.”Just a few minutes later, Beverly happily said, “The missing

units are responding! We’ve got the coordinates!” John quickly fed the coordinates to the strike team who also had I-models. The strike team was quickly donning environmental suits.

“We’ve located their moon base. You can take care of Heinrich now.’ Hank happily heard John’s confident and relieved voice through his earpiece.

Seconds later, invisible Hank ripped the device from Heinrich’s arm while Victor immediately used his normal device to teleport Heinrich to a prearranged solitary cell in San Quentin. Victor was now visible and instantly teleported just outside the cell. Then Victor said, “Bye”, and teleported to Colorado.

Simultaneously, in Madrid, invisible Hank commanded in a booming voice, “Drop your weapons or suffer the same fate as Heinrich.”

Not knowing what happened to Heinrich or where the invisible voice was coming from, they looked at each other and dropped their weapons.

“Now step back and hold hands.” Hank used his normal device to teleport them to a different cell in San Quentin, and then teleported outside their cell where he witnessed the rest of Heinrich’s team from the moon base appear in neighboring cells with the strike team who went through the same process.

While the strike team was talking amongst themselves, Heinrich removed the heel of his shoe to obtain a hidden device. Without thinking it through, Heinrich pressed ‘Return’ on the device. Unfortunately for him, the moon base was no longer


there because the strike team had zipped the stolen modules back to Houston. Before he could enter other coordinates, the twisted tycoon expired in a horrible death on the moon’s airless surface.

As soon as Heinrich disappeared from his cell, Hank realized his mistake and told the strike team to strip search the other prisoners, which they promptly did, finding no other devices or weapons.

Hank returned to Colorado, obtained an environmental suit, made sure the air was flowing properly, and teleported to the moon base coordinates where he found the remains of Heinrich still holding his backup device. He teleported the now lifeless body to a funeral home in East Berlin, and then returned to Colorado.

Upon Hank’s return, Darlene hugged him fiercely with tears in her eyes. They matched the tears in Meredith’s eyes as she hugged John with Jonathan and Jenny hugging both of them. All the wives and families of the strike team had come to welcome their husbands and fathers safely home.

“You can reactivate the teleport system now, Beverly,” Hank said.

“Yes, sir,” She happily responded as she pressed the console keys.

More than a few people all over the world heaved sighs of relief when they noted the platforms and devices were back active.

In the midst of the reunions, John’s wrist device chirped and he smiled as he acknowledged the call, “Yes, Mr. President?”

“John, congratulations! I hear your team just retrieved the stolen devices.”

“You have some good sources, sir. We were fortunate this time. It could have been much worse.”

“I will look forward to your report on the incident. Do you think we can keep this from happening again?”

“We are reviewing our security procedures and based on this incident. I’m sure there will be several major improvements, sir.”

ROBERT LEE JOSEPH84

“Fine. I look forward to talking to you later. Bye for now and good luck on the space exploration efforts.”

“Thank you, sir and bye.”John stood with his arms around Meredith and noted the

team all standing there with arms around loved ones and realized how intense the last several hours had been for all of them. “I want to thank you all for performing so well under pressure. You each did a terrific job. I want you to take some time off and think about how we can improve our security process and even if we have to double backup every step, let’s do it. What we’re charged with is too important not to give it our best effort. Now go back with your families and we will reassemble here Monday morning for a debrief, okay?”

They all nodded in the affirmative except for Dr. Vaughn and Ted Olmstead.

“John we were in the middle of a big discovery on Centauri-4 when you recalled us. We’d like to get right back there to it. And we’re going to need more help on our team including some Anthropologists.” Dr. Vaughn emphatically said.

Everyone’s ears perked up at that. Hank said, “What kind of discovery?”

ROBERT LEE JOSEPH84

Chapter Six

“We Are Not Alone”

“I have a surprise for you, Darling.” Meredith happily smiled at John while they were in the bedroom getting ready to retire for the night.

John looked at her wonderingly, watching her eyes twinkle with her radiant complexion by the lamplight. “You look gorgeous tonight.”

“I went to Dr. Walsh today,” she impishly said.John recalled the lady Gynecologist from accompanying

Meredith on a previous visit. “Do you mean what I think and hope you mean?” He reached out his arms to her.

“Yes dear, we are expecting! I’m going to be a real Mom!” She happily blurted out as she blissfully cuddled in his arms.

“This child is going to grow up in a very different world from ours. Do you want a boy or a girl? I’ll be happy with either,” John said as he turned out the lamp.

“Oh, Darling, I will be happy with either too, but I hope our first is a boy.”

“Any chance of twins?”“Dr. Walsh says only a small chance. They don’t run in my

side of the family. What about yours?”I think I have some twin cousins back there somewhere,

but not any closer than that.”“ I wonder What Jonathan and Jenny will think?”“We’ll announce it at breakfast and find out, but I’m

betting they’ll be thrilled too,” John said as he snuggled closer.


“Wow!” Jonathan replied between mouthfuls of cereal.“Oh Meredith, that’s great.” Jenny smiled. “I am so happy.

It will be nice to have a little brother or sister. When is it due?”Meredith smiled; happy John’s children wanted the baby

too. “In about eight months, I believe.”…

“While we prepare for our next visit to Centauri-4 and resume other exploration, let’s discuss how we’re improving security,” Hank looked out over the assembled group in the former NORAD’s auditorium conference room. There were approximately 50 people present—mostly department heads and assistants. Several were listed for presentations on the pre-published agenda. Because of the worldwide interest in the team’s work, John had authorized a closed-circuit broadcast of the meeting to the UN headquarters and government centers around the world. The rest of the population would get the information via the news networks. The security part of the agenda would not be broadcast.

“We’ve already initiated several changes in the computer programs,” Beverly Garvey said. She had taken the security lapse to heart and was doing all in her power to prevent a recurrence. “We’ve added real-time auditing to the security system and 7/24 inventory and security verification. We’ve also started modifying the security components themselves, adding three more layers of security protection above the ones already there. If anyone so much as breathes on any of the layers, the console system will virtually scream at us and immediately notify Hank’s security team and the Space Commissioner’s Office.”

Jared Overmeyer, head of the Personal Units section, spoke up next. Jared had joined the team from the former NORAD defense team. The dark-headed lad stood tall in his Khaki shirt with the UN team logo on it. “We’ve added a stricter review process for all applicants for personal units, beyond the crime-net computer scan. A background check will be initiated using the FBI, INTERPOL and other country’s agencies. No units will be approved until the background checks are completed


and verified. As with the platforms, we’ve tripled the alarm capability if tampered with.”

Marianne Conti, head of Platform Distribution, stepped up to the lectern to speak next. “We are requiring each country’s government to screen all applications for platform sites. We’re verifying real need and increasing on-site security requirements at each location. There will no longer be open access to the platform areas. Frequent platform users will be issued keycards to gain entrance to each area and non-frequent users will obtain temporary cards from the facility or government entity which has charge of each platform.”

With a few clicks of the lectern laptop keypad, she caused a bright yellow web page with the Space Commission logo centered to appear on two wall-size view screens behind her. “We published the new security requirements on our central website for every government security team. They must respond on the website with their implementation plan by the end of the day.” As chief security assistant of the Centauri-4 team, Marianne was anxious to return there, but her team security responsibility came first.

Hank again stepped up to the lectern. “I want to thank each of you for the Herculean efforts in implementing these changes as rapidly as possible. I believe that as a whole, these steps provide the world the needed reassurance this won’t happen again. Now we will hear from Dr. Vaughn on plans for Centauri-4 and began the closed circuit broadcast.”

The silver-bearded scientist almost leaped to the podium in his enthusiasm to report their initial visit to Centauri-4 and latest plans to return. “Before the incident which caused our recall, we were in the midst of discovering indications of civilization or former inhabitants. While we previously believed Centauri-4 was uninhabited because our probes detected no type of buildings or surface activity, an earth tremor revealed a definite man-made or at least non-natural subterranean area.”

The two large screens began to show the videotape of their first close-up view of centauri-4 as the audience lights dimmed. The audience witnessed the earth tremors and the destruction


of the camera with the remaining cameras zooming in on the hole in the opposite canyon wall. The next view was inside the hole with the camera’s lights displaying the interior wall surfaces, which looked silver, shinning almost iridescently. The cameras shifted views down the long narrow corridor at the end of which seemed to be a wider opening. Then the screen went blank at the instance of the emergency recall.

Dr. Vaughn concluded, “We don’t know what we will find, but I believe we are witnessing our first contact with an alien civilization. We haven’t actually seen any, but we do believe the possibility exists for some small animal life there too. Our next visit will include a team of renowned anthropologists and observation satellites equipped for close ground surveillance. The topography of this continent seems to mirror that of earth’s North American Continent with mountain ranges, interior lakes and rivers as well as much dry and arid land as you saw on the monitors. We hope to be on Centauri-4’s surface within a few days.”…

John’s office had already been flooded with requests to be on Centauri-4’s exploration teams. The commissioner’s office had decided on four separate and distinct teams to cover the four continents and another one to begin marine life exploration. Some deep submersible exploration modules were being commissioned from the Oceanography lab for that. Dr. Vaughn’s expanded team would initially return first to further explore the underground artifacts. John turned all the requests over to the selection committee. John noted the selection committee was making an effort to include representation from many countries to the teams. What if we do find intelligent life out there? Will it be like us? How will we react to it? How will they, whoever they are, react to us? These were just some of the questions he and everyone else were asking.…

“Dad, can I be on one of the Centauri-4 teams?” Jonathan pleaded at the breakfast table.

John looked up from the briefing paper he was reading while eating a bowl of cereal.


“I’ll give you the same answer I’ve been giving to everyone else. Submit your application request to the selection committee and wait and see.”

“But I don’t have anywhere near the qualifications those applicants do! I won’t stand a chance!”

“Well, Jonathan, that’s the best I can offer you besides suggesting you find a very solid reason your presence on one of the teams would make the team better and emphasize the reason on your application.”

Meredith couldn’t help hearing the conversation since it was right across the breakfast table from her. “Your father’s right, Jonathan. He can’t play favorites, but maybe I can help you fill out your application and give you some pointers.”

“Over four light years from here. That’s sure a long way,” Jenny spoke up as she looked at Jonathan. “Why would you want to go out there?”

“Because that’s where all the discoveries are going to start. That’s the new frontier.”

“You’d sure be a far distance from Tanya,” she teased him in a sibling manner.

Jonathan ignored her and turned to his dad,” Dad, why couldn’t there be a junior exploratory team. I mean if we’re supposed to be the next generation, shouldn’t we be included in what’s happening that’s going to affect us?”

“That’s a good point, son. Be sure and include that idea in your application.”

“Maybe you could consider it part of your Environmental Studies class at MIT?” Jenny added.

“That’s another good idea, Jonathan.” Meredith said as she rinsed her breakfast plate at the sink and couldn’t help looking down at her abdomen to see if she was showing yet. “Let’s go to your computer and download an application from the selection committee’s website and start filling it out.”

Jonathan perked up at that. He rinsed his plate and they headed to the computer room. “See ya later, Dad,” he added as they left the kitchen.

“Chirp…chirp…”


John looked at his wrist display, semi-surprised at who was calling this early in the morning. “Hello, Betty. How can I help you?”

“You can help me get on one of those Centauri-4 teams, John,” Betty Rogers seriously stated.

“Funny, my son just asked me the same question.”“And what did you tell him?”“The same thing I have to tell you. Submit your application

to the selection committee and it will be considered along with the rest.”

“But this can’t be left to chance, John. There’s too much riding on it!”

“Betty, I agree, but if we make exceptions to the rules, the whole selection process loses its integrity and we’ll have howling and screaming from every side. Just make a solid case for including you on one of the teams in your application. That’s the best advice I can give you.” John was talking as he took his plate to the sink to rinse it. “I’ll do this much for you, Betty, when I meet with the selection committee head today, I will ask how the press representation is being handled and get back to you.”

“Thanks, John. Any help would be appreciated. My producers are screaming at me to find a way to be there. Talk to you later.”

John checked the time on his wrist display while walking into the den to say goodbye before he zipped to his UN office. He gave Meredith a goodbye kiss while she stood beside Jonathan at the computer. Before leaving, his wrist device chirped again. He looked and acknowledged it. “Yes, Hank?”

“John, we’ve received some disturbing news. Just before the strike team teleported to Heinrich’s moon base one of his team there must have sensed something was up because the others are saying he set his device and disappeared just minutes before we appeared. Our inventory also shows a VISA device purchased by Hardison James is missing.”

“That is very disturbing. I assume you’ve put out alerts and are scanning for it.”

“Yes, and also learning Hardison is a technical genius, an MIT graduate.”


“Well, keep me informed, but I don’t see us changing our plans for now. We’ve protected the devices as best we can.”

“Okay. Will do.”…

John reviewed the meeting agenda. The Space Commissioner’s expansive window overlooked an area of New York, now practically car-less and smog-less due to their efforts with teleport platforms and VISA distribution.

The major department heads were allotted ten minutes each, but experience told him some would take longer and some much shorter. He had listed Tom Johnston in the number two spot as head of the selection committee. Dr. Vaughn would lead things off.

Hank arrived wearing his standard Khaki shirt with the new colorful Space Commission logo on the pocket. He was first with the others appearing quickly after. Protocol was, each one teleported to the reception area and the receptionist escorted them in just before time to start, so those who arrived early had a short time to visit before the meeting. John found that pre-meeting chat time saved much unnecessary conversation during the meetings. They sat around an oblong conference table just off of John’s office.

“We’ve reviewed recordings from the probes we left behind on Centauri-4 and its moon and still cannot detect any signs of life other than that of small animals, insects and birds.” Dr. Vaughn took a short breath and continued. “We’re hoping to find signs of another culture inside that obviously man-made, or I should say non-natural looking subterranean area. There’s very little cloud cover with the thin atmosphere and very little rain, which is why the vegetation is so sparse and the animals so small.

“With the instant recall we experienced from Centauri-4’s moon, we’ve realized the possibility of unexpected interruption to our teleport devices. We’ve decided to add additional support and supply facilities at each exploration base in case an extended period is experienced. Now we’re just waiting on the selection committee to identify the remaining team members so we can began surface exploration.”


Tom Johnston then spoke in his well-educated noticeable Texas drawl. He was wearing a sharp-looking maroon blazer, which now sported the Space Commission logo too.

“We’ve received thousands of applications for just a few team slots. Many of them all high caliber and extremely qualified in their particular fields, making it difficult to differentiate or rank. We have a few recommendations to make. One is that several slots of each team be identified as rotational. That is to say they will only be for a specific time length and then will be replaced. That way more of the qualified candidates can participate in this initial exploration period. We realize the necessity to keep the teams intact, and believe this partial rotational method will allow that to remain by and large, the case.

“Another recommendation is that at least two of the rotating slots on each team be allocated to the accredited press pool, the members to be selected from the pool by lottery. We want to provide the public an unbiased and very open view of our work to prevent any possible thought we’re being secretive.

“The last recommendation actually comes from the recent application of a candidate.” Tom Johnston picked up a separate paper from the notes he had been using.

“I quote, “There are many young people who make up a significant portion of the population who haven’t had the time to rise to the top of their chosen fields due only to lack of experience, not necessarily lack of knowledge or intelligence. These are the ones who will be the principal future beneficiaries of whatever is ‘out there’. It is respectfully requested you not leave us out during this historic initial exploration of the stars.” Unquote.” Tom had read the statement in a simple manner, but at the end showed his emotion by rubbing a tear from his eye.

“I must admit I know this particular young man personally as do several of you, but I honestly tried to read his request objectively. The committee and I did so, and realized the valid truth found in his sincere request, for whatever we find out there will be our young people’s legacy and they should be a part of this historic opportunity.”


Tom broadly smiled as he said, “Therefore, the committee recommends each team be expanded with two more rotational slots reserved for junior members through a pooling and lottery system, with this qualified candidate being the first selected, partly because he has already had a significant impact on the teleport technology. I refer to Jonathan Royston, a member of the charter teleport team.”

A few of the members around the table proclaimed in unison, “Hear, Hear”, and clapped their hands.

Tom continued, “If these recommendations are approved, we should be able to make the final selections by the end of the week and have the teams ready to go by Monday.”

John wiped a tear from his own eye. We thank the committee for its recommendations and I know one particular young man who is going to be very happy tonight. Do we have any discussion regarding the recommendations?”

Dr. Vaughn said, “I move they all be adopted and we make a public announcement immediately following this meeting. “

“I heartily second the motion,” Hank enthusiastically added. The motion carried unanimously.

“We have our head of security’s report next,” John said looking at Hank. The security chief ’s Texas twang was even more pronounced than Tom’s.

“Most of you already know the alert we’ve put out for Hardison James. At this point we can only assume he is as fixated with criminally using the teleport technology as his deceased boss. We’ve learned all we can about him in order to predict his future moves. He’s a brilliant though twisted engineer with a functional modified personal wrist device. Our computer tracking system tracked his jump from the moon base back to earth, but by the time the security team arrived, he had already stolen another space module with extra environmental suits and teleported elsewhere, presumably off-planet. This happened before we made the new security modifications.

“We believe he will have to return at some point to replenish his supplies and we’ve set some traps for him if and when he returns. We hope that will be before he is able to


duplicate the technology. All teleport platform areas have been set to immediately notify us if he is detected anywhere near them. We’ve belatedly put special sensors in all the platforms and modules that will detect if they are moved by another device and automatically recall them to NASA in Houston. We hope he’s unable to detect our stealth locator chips in his VISA device. I’ll keep you updated on further developments.”

“Thank you, Hank. We know you and your teams are doing all they can. We’ll now adjourn and let Tom Johnston prepare his press release,” John stood up to dismiss the meeting and went over and shook Tom’s hand.…

“Yippee! I’m going to the stars!” Jonathan shouted in glee.Tanya and Jonathan were watching the news when the

announcement was made about his selection. The TV news had even shown his school picture with a silly grin on his youthful face, which he thought wasn’t that great. He hugged Tanya. She was a little bit hesitant. Jonathan had told her about his application, but she hadn’t thought much about it. Now she began to realize what it meant. Jonathan was going to be very far away from her.

“But what exactly does your selection mean?” She asked as he held her tight in his joyful enthusiasm.

“It means that whatever is out there, I’m going to get to be a part of experiencing it first hand, just like in the sci-fi movies.” He looked up at the starry sky. “We can only see about a thousand of the nearest stars, but do you know there are over 400 billion stars in the Milky Way alone?”

“But what does it mean for us? I mean you and me?”Jonathan looked into her wondering eyes. “Oh Tanya,

distance doesn’t matter anymore. The teams can return home anytime they want. I can be out there and then by your side instantly.”…

Centauri-4’s sun was at its zenith with 30° Celsius on the planet’s surface and not a single cloud in the purple-hued sky with near-earth gravity as eight eager explorers appeared at the entrance of the mysterious opening on the canyon wall.


Each explorer’s visor helmet was mounted with twin lighted mini-cams to both light and record the surroundings. Live transmission was being beamed to the control module a short distance away at the top of the canyon walls.

There, other eager scientists were monitoring each team member’s broadcast video feed. Every 30 minutes of recording would be teleported to earth, and oftener if discoveries justified it. Though the thin atmosphere was described as barely breathable, it would take time to adjust their bodies to it, so they chose to keep their oxygen systems on for the time being. The explorers were dressed alike in their silver suits with the UN patches on the sleeves.

“We’re taking our first steps into the opening,” Alex Stanton stated as they walked a few steps inside and stopped to let their eyes get accustomed to the light being reflected off the shiny curved walls. “As expected, it’s about ten degrees cooler inside.” They walked about twenty feet to the larger opening. The larger opening was an empty circular chamber with a higher almost domed etched ceiling with uniform triangular designs. There were four other circular entryways around the room similar to the one they just came through. “We will each divide up with our buddies and explore separate entryways,” Alex said. He looked at the team. “Describe what you see as you go and alert us of anything noteworthy.” Alex’s companion was Jonathan. They went off to the left entryway.

Jonathan’s eyes were wide as he tried to take in this strange new environment all at once. I wonder what we will find here? The walls certainly don’t look natural. Someone or something had to have caused them.

Betty Rogers wasn’t the first reporter selected, but one of her network coworkers was. Betty pulled strings with the brass to take her place. She was teamed up with Dr. Dawn Peters, a well-known Norwegian anthropologist. Dr. Peters’ selection was an easy choice for the selection committee because of her famous work with aborigine tribes. The two women provided a colorful contrast with redheaded short Betty and the tall 6 ft. blond Dawn as they slowly maneuvered down the second left entryway.

ROBERT LEE JOSEPH96

The third pair consisted of a British Archeologist, Dr. Rex Stuart and a Russian Astrophysicist, Gorgy Stenov. Dr. Stuart was also a distinguished scientist who was on the board of the SETI organization, the Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence. Gorgy had been on the Russian Mars explorer team. The fourth team included Dr. Ralph Jordan, a medical doctor from Kenya and a well-known German botanist, Dr. Rudi Kompton. Dr. Jordan had participated in a couple of space shuttle missions and was renown for his study of the effects of the body in gravity-less space.

As they proceeded down their individual paths each was giving running commentaries for the record.

“There’s an opening to our left.” Betty stated. “There seems to be several containers that resemble crates or large metallic boxes about four feet square in a small circular room with an approximate twelve foot domed ceiling similar to the larger one.” They quickly observed the room and containers, and then took a couple of steps inside.

Alex and Jonathan entered a similar room on the opposite side of the tunnel-like corridor. “This room must be a storeroom as it is stacked with many similar sized containers with strange markings on them,” Alex said.

Dr. Stuart and Gorgy had continued slowly down the corridor and were almost at the larger opening. “We are almost at the large opening,” Gorgy said.

“The walls are all smooth with no markings or outcroppings. The containers have no exterior markings on them, but do have some type of triangular mechanism which probably operates as a latch of some sort,” Dr. Peters explained. They turned to exit the room and were suddenly bathed in a greenish glow and abruptly disappeared!

At the same instant the greenish glow appeared, Dr. Vaughn’s console blinked as if it had been hit with a massive power surge.

“Alex! Everyone freeze! We just lost the Beta team from the monitors and they do not respond to voice or recalls. I cannot detect them at all!” Dr. Vaughn anxiously said. “I’m recalling everyone and we’ll send in some robot probes.”…

ROBERT LEE JOSEPH96

Chapter Seven

First Contact!

Suddenly the reporter and anthropologist felt a faint spell of dizziness and queasiness from a new environment with lesser gravity. They found themselves standing in a circular chamber about a hundred meters in diameter with a faint greenish iridescent glow coming from indentations high up the smooth walls similar to the tunnel walls they had been exploring. They could hear sounds outside their visors, but could make no sense of them. The two continually looked around the chamber noting no obvious source for the sounds. Suddenly the sounds ceased and there was instead an eerie type of silence in its place except for sounds of their own breathing apparatus.

Betty pointed toward an approximate 8x6 ft. archway, which instantly appeared in one of the walls. The archway revealed a pale-lighted corridor in which stood two beings about six feet tall. As the figures entered the room, both occupants noted, though the two figures had human-like pale bodies with head, legs and arms, they exhibited mechanical movements and appeared to be androids.

The androids entered the room and stood before them. They made motions for the two women to remove their helmets. Betty and Dawn looked at each other for a moment, questioning whether this was wise. The androids again made the same motions only more emphatically. Betty realized they must trust these two to be their guides, so she began to undo the fastening on her visor. Dawn followed her lead. As they


opened their visors, the thin air was a shock to their systems and they fell to their knees as they gulped and gasped for the small amounts of breathable air.

They heard a hissing noise and slowly the air pressure began to increase and breathing became easier. After several minutes, the two women were slowly able to rise and stand upright again. The two androids advanced toward them and placed thin shiny metallic-looking strips around their foreheads.

The sounds resumed, but now with the aid of the strips, they were able to understand them as words in their minds.

“Who are you? Where did you come from? Why are you here? Are you from the Spectari?”

Betty looked at Dr. Peters with a motion indicating for her to answer.

“We come from a planet very far from here with a different sun. We are explorers. We mean you no harm. We come in peace. Who are the Spectari? We know nothing of them. How do you refer to yourselves?” Dr. Peters spread her hands wide in what she hoped was a welcoming peaceful gesture.

“We are of the Yanni. This is not our home planet. A vicious enemy has driven us from our home, the third planet in this system. We moved underground to prevent them from finding us. How did you find us? How did you get here? Our sensors have detected no ships in our atmosphere or above it.”…

“We should have been more careful and sent the robot probes first,” Dr. Vaughn frustratedly said as he viewed the monitors which were displaying the now empty corridors.

“Don’t blame yourself. We had no inkling something like this could happen,” Alex said as he manipulated the controls on the robot probe.

Hank suddenly appeared in the control module with John at his side. “We just heard. What’s happening now?”

“The robot probe is just about where we lost contact with them.” Dr. Vaughn pointed at the monitor on the right. The monitor on the left was replaying the videotape from Betty’s camera. The monitor displayed the view from the two


women’s cameras as they entered the smaller room with several containers in it. The probe’s camera now showed the same view.

“All this looks recent. Note there’s no dust buildup on the containers. Everything looks too clean,” Hank pointed out.

Jonathan added, “And though we had our helmets and gloves on, I bet there was no old musty smell either.”

As Betty and Dawn’s recorded view on the monitors turned back towards the entryway a brilliant greenish glow appeared on the screens and the screens went blank. Alex repeated the motions with the probe and it rolled out of the room without incident. He turned it left and continued down the corridor.

“So whatever happened was not automatic, or either it is very selective,” Hank said as he watched the probe’s monitor. “I wonder if whoever they are picked Betty and Dr. Peters because they were the only two females or if it was because of the room?”

“Dr. Vaughn, what is your guess as to why we cannot recall them or they cannot contact us?” John asked…

“Where are we?” Dr. Peters bravely asked. “Can we see you? Will you show yourselves to us?”

“In due time, but we must know more about you first. How can we know this is not a trap to lure us out of hiding?”

Dr. Peters thought; if they think we’re their enemy, our physical features must resemble them pretty closely. I must convince them they have nothing to fear from us. “We come in peace from a very distant solar system. We are only exploring. We know nothing of you or your enemies.”

“If that is true then tell us how you arrived here without our detecting you.”…

“If that energy field did not destroy them, I believe it either transported them very far away or to a very highly shielded area,” Dr. Vaughn hypothesized. “The fact this facility is underground and we could not detect them may mean they, whoever they are, are in hiding, and we have disturbed them.


That energy beam reveals they are highly advanced. It could also be, that high-energy source which is interfering with the team’s equipment, preventing Miss Rogers and Dr. Peters from contacting us. Let’s see what we can learn from the probes.”…

Betty kept punching her recall button and wishing it would work. She was trying not to be frightened, but the situation was one she had not been prepared for. She thought; this is the scoop of a lifetime if I can just overcome my fear.

“We will tell you how we arrived here if you will show yourselves to us.” Dr. Peters thought; I will see how trusting they’re willing to be. Several moments of silence passed. As if they were thinking over her request. Dawn whispered to Betty, “Because of the lesser gravity, I don’t think we’re on the planet anymore. Probably one of the moons.”

Suddenly an oval lighted window appeared on the wall and they saw for the first time the beings behind the voices. There were about a dozen of them in a room behind the transparent wall view. Betty noted their mostly human features didn’t look all that different except their skin was very pale, almost creamy white and their eyes were slightly more recessed, but not severely.

Dr. Peters noted their noses were not as prominent a feature and thought probably because they don’t require the air flow our bodies need.

“Your air is thicker than ours, which lends credence to your claim, but also means we cannot endure it for any length of time. Also, your language is strange and different. We can only communicate with the aid of the mental translators.”

“Yes, our bodies are used to thicker air, but we are adaptable and can adjust a little, and if you could adjust a little, we could probably both manage okay.” Dr. Peters held her hands out again in an openly inviting manner. “Can you possibly allow us to contact our friends? They must be very worried about us.”

“How can we know how they will react to us? Are we your first contact with another race?”

“Why do you ask?”


“Because your shorter companion seems very frightened.”“Of course she’s frightened. We both were. We don’t know

who you are or where we are and you brought us here without warning or preparation and we cannot contact our friends. Wouldn’t you be frightened in similar circumstances?”

“I am less frightened now that I can see you and talk to you. My name is Betty,” she encouragingly said,

“You were the ones who trespassed, so you have no complaint. Would you allow us to examine your equipment?”

“We thought we were examining the remains of a previous culture rather than trespassing. Will you allow us to contact our friends?” Dr. Peters countered.

Through the window, Janus said, “You are not on the planet anymore. We are on the smaller moon orbiting it. This shielded underground facility is probably why your equipment does not work here.”

“Can you return us to our previous location so we can talk to our friends?”

“You must be very advanced to be able to travel so far. We are interested in your technology. It might be able to help us.”

“I’m sure we can readily exchange information once we are reunited with our friends,” Dr. Peters said, again opening her arms in an inviting gesture.…

John, Hank and the rest of the team were viewing the probe’s monitors as it mechanically rolled through several empty corridors. The probe’s monitor suddenly displayed the entry to what must be a large equipment room. Everyone noted the equipment looked clean and in working order, but no ready indication of its purpose.

“I think this is not a dead civilization at all. Everything here looks pristine and well maintained,” Hank Stated.

“You’re right Hank. It is so clean I expect to see the owners any minute,” Dr. Vaughn anxiously said.

As the probe proceeded into the room, they saw more equipment and noted strange symbols and characters on a central console or control panel. John thought they would be


eager to examine the strange-looking control consoles except for the missing Beta team distracting them. Suddenly the probe’s monitor was bathed in the strange green glow and went blank after the console wildly blinked for a second.

“We just lost the probe! What can we do now?” Dr. Vaughn looked even more harried, thinking, who is doing this or is it some automated machine that is causing it? What can we do next?

We should have been more careful and used the probes first. I hope the women are all right, John kept thinking as he viewed the now blank monitors.

“Dr. Vaughn, can you hear us?” Suddenly the Beta team’s monitors were showing the interior of that first small room.

Dr. Vaughn immediately pressed the recall button and Betty and Dawn instantly were standing beside them in their helmeted spacesuits. Both quickly removed their helmets.

“Where were you? What happened? What is that thing around your forehead? Hank asked in rapid succession.

“We’re okay. We met some new friends. These bands allow us to communicate with them. This is not their home planet,” Dr. Peters quickly answered. “They thought we were their enemies, but we convinced them otherwise. They are similar to us but used to a thinner atmosphere and much paler in color. They’re in hiding and ask us to either remove our equipment from the surface or move it underground so our presence doesn’t attract their enemies.”

“Dr. Vaughn, quickly recall all the modules and equipment to Houston, including the satellites,” Hank ordered. “We will approach our exploration in a different manner.”

As soon as they were in Houston John said, “Have Betty and Dr. Peters receive a full physical and Dr. Peters, can we examine your translator?”

“Of course commissioner,” Dr. Peters reached up and removed the band and handed it to Alex and Betty did the same.

“I think we should have a diplomat or ambassador with us on our next contact,” John told the group.

“Let’s see what we can learn of their technology first,” Dr.


Vaughn said as he handled one of the metallic bands, noting its thinness and lightness.…

“Sir, was that wise letting them go without examining their equipment? It might have been useful to us?” Janus’ assistant anxiously spoke to his leader as they sat around the oval table.

“My main concern was to have them remove themselves and equipment from the planet surface as quickly as possible to avoid drawing the Spectari’s attention. Did you notice how quickly they disappeared? Our sensors detected no use of energy at all. Also we’ve shown them our willingness to trust them. That should invite their trust in us. I think they may turn out to be very helpful allies.”

“But what can we offer them in return?”“The two females seemed to be very friendly. I’m hoping their

leaders will be too. Though their transportation seems to be beyond ours, their other equipment seemed quite ordinary though different from ours. We now have their mechanical probe to examine. That should help us understand their level of technology. I saw no indications of weapons either.”

“Janus, Our indicators show multiple launches from Yanno-1,” Jantor, the security chief alarmingly said. The space station had been the Yanni’s crowning achievement, a stepping-stone to the stars and long dreamed of colonization, prior to the invasion of their home planet. Now it was being used against them.

“I was afraid of this. The Spectari are reacting to the explorer’s activities on the surface. We must destroy as much evidence of our presence there as we can and hope they won’t look here. It’s too late to try to flee again. We can only hope to avoid detection. Bring all essential equipment here and destroy the entire underground facility. Maybe they will think we did flee. How much time do we have before they arrive? “

“But we spent many cycles developing that site and you want to destroy it now!” Yantu’s security chief accusingly exclaimed.

“Yes. I don’t like it any more than you, but our very survival depends on their not looking any further for us. You know we’re not equipped to withstand their weapons for any length of time. We’re barely maintaining our shield generators now.”


“You are correct, sir. I should always trust your judgment,” Jantor somewhat humbly said.

“No. You’re right to question. Just understand I have the responsibility for our whole race now. Maybe our new friends will contact us soon and be able to help us.”

“And maybe they won’t want to get involved too,” Jantor murmured. “Also if they have no weapons, how can they help us?”

“The two females seemed like decent honorable people to me. Let’s give them a chance.”…

“The destroyers have been launched, sir. They will rendezvous with us in two cycles,” Rasu-sen’s weapons officer reported.

“The activity we recorded on the fourth planet and its moon has ceased, sir. Maybe they have detected our approaching ships,” the comm officer anxiously added.

“That is just as well. Rasu-sen gave a malicious grin and raised his black-gloved fist. I will relish an open space battle to a planetary one anyway. They are within our grasp now and nothing can change that. Full speed ahead and watch for their ship’s ion trails.”…

Meredith was brushing her hair in their cottage suite, watching the TV broadcast news. Somehow news about the aliens and their enemies had leaked to the press and Meredith hoped it hadn’t been Betty. The former defense secretary was being interviewed.

“…It is believed the aliens are at war and here we are defenseless thanks to the teleport team. What will we do if they attack us? How do we know if they are truly friendly? And what do they look like? The space commissioner has been given too much power. His commission will get us into an intergalactic war! Something must be done!…”

Betty assured us they’re friendly and John is going to meet them personally soon, Meredith thought. She consciously felt the small round swell of her abdomen and wondered whether her unborn child would look more like herself or John.…


“If they have enemies, maybe we should take some weapons with us next time,” Hank was standing as he spoke to the Space Commissioner in his UN Office.

“If you had weapons and something happened, would you be prone to using them or teleporting to safety? Remember, we just spent an enormous amount of energy convincing earth’s countries to give up their weapons. I don’t think we need to reverse direction.” John toyed with his pencil as he seriously responded to Hank’s comment.

“I see what you’re saying, John. If we have them, we’ll be tempted to use them, but if we don’t, the only choice will be to avoid the confrontation or change the enemies mind.”

“Bzzt…. Bzzt.”“Yes, Evelyn?”“The S-G and President Hargrove have arrived, sir.”“Thank you. Escort them in please.” John placed his pencil

back in its holder and stood up straightening his tunic with the UN crested charter emblem on it.

Hank stood to the side as the two chief executives entered the office. They all shook hands and John invited them to be seated. Hank stood against the wall trying to act like a fly on it, hoping they wouldn’t dismiss him from this hastily called executive meeting.

“John, we’ve read your detailed report about your first meeting with the other worlders, the Yanni, and I must say we’re very anxious to make contact with them soon,” The Secretary-General spoke smilingly as he clasped both hands on his lap. We’ve discussed the situation and we’ve decided your position as Space Commissioner also includes an ambassadorial function as well.”

Oh great! John thought. I’m not only representing the First Presidency of the Church, but also the whole planet now.

“What the secretary is saying John, is we are authorizing you to initially negotiate with these people on behalf of earth,” President Hargrove gave a somewhat wry smile.

“Yes, John, that’s exactly correct. We will provide you with protocol assistance both from my and President Hargrove’s


staffs, but we want you to officially represent us for the initial contacts and we will get involved when the time is right for heads-of-state meetings.” The S-G was trying to put a bright face on the situation, hoping John would accept this new function without fuss.

“What you’re really telling me is you’re getting so much flack from both your organizations, you want to avoid the hassle of choosing and dump it in my lap.” John smiled, but with a concentrated glare for both of the heads of state.

Both his guests uneasily looked at each other and President Hargrove sheepishly admitted, “Are we that transparent, John?”

“Sir, I read the papers and watch the news too. I’m aware of the mass hysteria and commotion this discovery has caused. Some are even saying it shakes people’s faith and others are whining we should re-arm ourselves, but I think that’s because they can’t look beyond their own noses. If I accept your authorization to be earth’s representative, it must be with a free hand and to assist them evade their enemies if possible. There must not be any preconditions to inhibit my options,” the space commissioner firmly said as he absently picked up his pencil again. “Also, I think we should start preparing a special guest facility to replicate their atmosphere, but not one that resembles a zoo. These people will be our guests and they deserve their privacy.”

The S-G and president looked at each other and both nodded acceptance of his conditions. “We trust your judgment and won’t interfere. We’ll leave the facility arrangements up to the UN Space Commission,” President Hargrove said. “As I said, we will provide you whatever diplomatic assistance you request.”

“I will get back to you after I meet with my staff. Meantime, feel free to make whatever announcement you need to relieve your own stress. By the way, I would like to know how the press learned about the aliens having enemies? Betty assures me she said nothing about it.”

This time it was the S-G who looked sheepish. “John, I’m


afraid it was a member of my staff who leaked the information. He shouldn’t have had access in the first place, but he eves-dropped on a supposedly secure meeting and felt he had to spread the news. He was summarily dismissed and I sincerely apologize.”

“Well, all we can do now is deal with it. As soon as I can provide more information about the Yanni and what’s going on with them I will.”

“We appreciate your understanding our position, John,” the S-G said as he and President Hargrove stood and John did the same. They shook hands and the two heads of state pressed their personal wrist devices and disappeared..

Hank watched them leave and turned to John. “Wow, that was some meeting. How did you know why they were making you that offer?”

“I simply put two and two together plus I just watched a newscast pointing out all the opposition cropping up over this. There’s a ton of so-called analysts and think tanks trying to bend the public will to their lop-sided way of viewing the world. Hank, it took us a few short months to achieve true world peace and now extremists are trying to throw all that away for the opportunity to get financial gain or power.”

“You’re right about that. There are many religious leaders having fits about us finding aliens too.”

Hank had spoken the truth. The televangelists were having a heyday, disclaiming the aliens and telling anyone who would listen Earth shouldn’t have anything to do with them; that this was God’s chosen planet.

“Hank, you know I don’t mock anyone’s faith, but I truly believe when we learn more about the Yanni, we’ll find they have a belief in a higher power too and we’ve learned to cope with different beliefs here so why not elsewhere in the cosmos?”

“That’s a very simplistic view of things others will have a hard time understanding.”

“You’re probably right, Hank, but right now I think the simplistic view is the best one to take. It cuts out the garbage and politicizing. Let’s call that meeting now.”…


“Okay, now that we’ve arranged the basics, we need to get back with the Yanni quickly so they know we keep our word. I propose a small group at first with Betty Rogers and Dr. Peters as our guides with myself, Hank and Dr. Vaughn, and special diplomatic envoy, Vance Jordan, to correct any diplomatic blunders we may make. That should be enough for our first trip. Betty, please take one of your mini-cams to record the event. We don’t want to overwhelm them.”

“Since we know there is some form of opposition out there, let’s include a couple of I-models for safety,” Hank said.

President Hargrove and the S-G appeared to see them off.The group in their orange NASA-designed environmental

suits set their coordinates for the destination the Yanni leader had provided. The Space Commission computers confirmed the location for them. The group of explorers waved bye to the rest of the team. Meredith watched them disappear with a lump in her throat as she stood next to Darlene, wanting to go and yet knowing why John had wanted her to stay for this first official visit. Though everyone was smiling, she knew there were still many unknowns they had to deal with.

Earth’s chosen representatives instantly appeared in the Yanni underground council room with Dr. Peters and John wearing the two translator headbands. They each noted the thin but sufferable amount of air and noticeable moon-like gravity.

The lone Yanni sitting at the oval table arose and spoke to them in a strange sounding tongue. Only Dr. Peters and John understood his words. “We welcome you. We have modified the air a little so you won’t be too uncomfortable and we can still manage. I have notified the other council members you have arrived and they will be with us shortly. We will provide translators for the rest of your group. Please be seated.” The Yanni representative motioned for them to sit at the table and they took the proffered seats. “We can either supply you with the headband translators or micro ones which can be secreted in your ears. Whichever you prefer.”

John looked at his team and then said, “I think we would prefer the micro ones.”


Shortly an android entered the room and handed out very small earpiece translators for each of them. The team members easily placed the tiny translators in their ears as they watched other Yanni enter in a solemn manner. John and his team stood as they entered.

Janus spoke as he waved to his visitors. “Please be seated. We welcome you on behalf of our people. I am Janus and these are what is left of our ruling council,” Janus indicated the others as they took their seats around the table.

John noted the Yanni council members were smiling but each maintained a serious and somewhat reserved demeanor.

“Jantor, sitting to my right is my assistant and second in command of what little band of free Yanni we have left. The meager information we’ve gathered from our home planet indicates our homeland is at the cruel mercy of the vicious Spectari invaders.”

Dr. Peters made the introductions. “Janus, this is Space Commissioner John Royston, our representative for this visit, and his security chief, Hank Travis, Dr. Vaughn, our chief scientist, along with special envoy Jordan. If you don’t mind sir, Betty is making a record of our first meeting.” They each smiled and nodded.

“A record is fine, but we’re afraid you have caught us at a bad time. We’ve just learned that our enemies, the ones who have viciously taken over our home planet, are heading this way and will be overhead shortly. The Spectari are most ferocious and war-like whereas we are a peace-loving people. Our limited technology is no match for their advanced science. If they detect us we are surely doomed.”

“Janus, I don’t know that we can fight your enemies directly, but we can certainly help you elude them. What is the device with which you brought Betty and Dr. Peters here from the planet with? What is its range?”

“Very perceptive Mr. Royston. The Yasux is a matter transporter. It is the one thing we had the Spectari did not, but they have it now as well as the rest of our technology. We used it during the invasion to beam to a seldom-used spaceport they


weren’t aware of and managed to escape. The Yasux has a limited range and also requires the energy of an entire ion power pod to operate, but we have detected no such energy usage with your mode of travel. How do you do it?”

“Sir, I can’t fully answer that question because it is a fairly new technology and even our own scientists don’t completely understand all its workings yet, but so far it has turned out to be very reliable and has none of the drawbacks you mentioned. We will be happy to use it to help you in any way we can. How many of you escaped your home world?”

“There are a little over two hundred of us. That is all we could assemble before our power source was destroyed.”

“We could easily transport you to our earth, out of danger, where you will be welcomed as friends and allies. We could then work together to find a way to defeat the Spectari and return you to your home world.”

“If you could do that, I fear it would need to be done quickly as the enemy ships are fast approaching. Within hours, I believe.”

“I will send our security chief back to make arrangements for your group and you can begin assembling in a central place. We can transport them in large groups of about twenty I should think. Hank, find a large area on one of the vacant islands near ours. Secure it and place enough exploration modules there for the Yanni. Be sure they are set for a thinner airflow to make the Yanni comfortable and return with the coordinates as soon as they are ready. Have Ted Olmsted assist you and anyone else in Houston you need to speed things up.”

“Sure, John. I’ll return as quickly as possible. If trouble arises here too quickly, teleport to our own island and I’ll have temporary facilities setup there.” Hank pressed his wrist pad and disappeared.

“Amazing,” Janus said as he marveled at Hank’s disappearing act. “Jantor assemble everyone at the flight hangers as soon as possible. Mr. Royston, I’m sorry, but this is the only room we have modified for you. You will need your own air supply outside this room.”


“No Problem,” John said as his team began putting on their helmets and adjusting their suits. They followed the Yanni hastily out the door and down a long corridor to a wide-open Hanger type area, which contained numerous space ships in it. Some were oddly shaped, but most surprisingly resembled some Sci-fi creator’s futuristic vision with centrally domed modules and extended nacelles. John marveled at the sleek ships and wondered how they were powered.

He approached Janus and spoke through his helmet mike. “If you want, we could take these ships with us and park them on our moon? That might be better than leaving them for your enemies. We could even have your groups travel in their ships to the moon and then to your new temporary home from there.”

“That is an excellent idea. We definitely want to save the ships if possible. Jantor, have everyone assemble in the ship they came in as quickly as possible and load the Yanux into the large freighter.” Janus turned to John. The Yanux is our central power source. It transforms small units of refined beryllium ore into compact power pods. They are the fuel source for our ion engines. We don’t want to leave it for the Spectari.”

John watched as the Yanni ruling council and some of their families hurried aboard their ships. The six earthlings joined Janus as he and his family boarded one of the odd looking ships.

“These are mostly space freighters we have modified to carry passengers so the accommodations are not the best, but they allowed us to hastily flee Yantu.” Janus made quick introductions. “This is my family, Yanna, Yorgi, Kara and Jarom. The animal Kara is carrying is her pet tortu. She calls him Tiki.”

“I will teleport your ship first and then return and teleport each of the others,” John noted the small animal Kara was holding looked like the cross between a cat and a rat, except it also had large round curious brown eyes and somewhat floppy looking ears. The small animal seemed to be as interested in John as he was in it.…


Hank was busily arranging for the exploration modules to be zipped to a neighboring island. Making the arrangements was a snap, but modifying the atmosphere settings each required took a little longer. The NASA technicians were quickly deployed with the necessary instructions. Also the newly manufactured units were very Spartan in furnishings and lacked supplies. Hank knew he needed more help than his meager staff could provide if he was going to carry out this operation speedily. He selected the number for the president’s red phone on his wrist device.

“Sir, I have somewhat of an emergency and would appreciate your help.”

“What do you need Hank?”“Sir, we have invited about two hundred of the Yanni as

guests to avoid their enemies. We are setting up a hundred specially equipped living modules for them on an island near ours, but the units are sparsely furnished and are missing needed supplies of linens, pantry items and toiletries. I wonder of your staff could help?”

“That shouldn’t be a problem Hank. Just give me the coordinates of your staging area and I will see the necessary supplies and people are there to prepare the units for our alien guests.”

While Hank was supervising this process, his VISA chirped. He noted it surprisingly and said, “Yes, John?”

“Slight change of plans. We decided to bring their ships too. We’re on the moon and will teleport from here when you have everything setup and supply the coordinates.”…

President Hargrove called his protocol officer and explained the needs. In short order the protocol staff arranged with hoteliers to fully stock more than a hundred bathrooms with towels and toiletries. Several national grocers received similar directions for a hundred pantries. A national manufacturer of kitchenware and cutlery received their order to stock the kitchens.

Presidents of several furniture stores received orders for furnishings. President Hargrove personally called his old


electronics firm and ordered the latest in home entertainment and computer units with built-in Internet and satellite dishes for earth’s special guests. A national service company received the emergency order for setup and installation. Several major booksellers received orders to stock the bookshelves with representative literature in major categories in both print and electronic media. The items along with the installers were zipped to a central staging area in Houston where Hank paired them up with the module coordinates.

In a surprisingly short time, Hank supplied the island coordinates to John. Both the president’s and Secretary-General’s protocol staff was there to greet earth’s first acknowledged alien visitors and welcome them to their guest homes.…

Chapter Eight

The Enemy

As the mighty Spectari battle cruiser came within closer scanning distance to the fourth planet in the Centauri system, Masori reported, “Sir, our scans show their power source has shut down!”

“Scan for their ships! They can’t hide from us now!” The Spectari Commander was also tiring of the extended chase but managed to hide his weariness from his crew. He was anxious for some action.

The weapons chief hurriedly worked his console, but could find no trace of energy emanations from either moons or planet and no residual ion trails in the vicinity. He nervously ran some diagnostic programs to verify his equipment was functioning properly. “Sir, I can detect nothing whatsoever on the moons, planet or nearby space.”

Rasu-sen jumped from his command chair and rushed to the weapons officer’s console. “You must be wrong! They can’t have vanished! Keep scanning!”

The rest of the command deck crew nervously watched their commander pace back and forth behind the Rigelian’s workstation, fearing his sudden outburst of frustration.

The Spectari Commander knew he was overreacting. This is an insignificant planet and a few escaped ships aren’t going to matter. We’ve conquered hundreds of planets and never allowed this to happen even once and I don’t want to be the first. Their matter transporter is not insignificant though. The Supreme Council will surely promote me


for acquiring it. Now if I can just take care of this business so we can return home. Rasu-sen stopped his pacing and stood beside the comm console. “Have you picked up any transmissions at all?”

“Only the ones we first recorded from the moon on the fourth planet.”

“Has the computer decrypted it yet?”Masori pressed a key on his console pad. “Yes sir, it has.

It took so long because it was not sent by Yanni technology. In fact, it seems to be a very unsophisticated simple unencrypted image transmission.”

“Can you display it?”Masori responded by pressing a key. The commander and

crew watched the screen replay the scene the earth explorers had witnessed of the Centauri-4 quake.

“What does this tell us?”“Only that the transmission is coming from the larger

moon and it may not be by the Yanni. We’ve scanned that moon thoroughly too and found no evidence of life there.”…

“Your planet is very different from our home world, and very nice. The gravity is hardly noticeable as different from our own. What do you call these tropical trees?”

“They are called palm trees.”“Our energy fields allow us to enjoy your nice white sandy

beach in a comfortable environment. Thank you for offering us safety here.” Janus spoke to John as they sat in a module adjusted for both their atmospheres where each was only mildly uncomfortable. The module was set up as a working conference room.

“We’re glad we can accommodate you, Janus. I have a favor to ask. I’m sure you must be aware your arrival has caused quite a stir among our population. Betty, who you have met, is a television reporter and she would like to interview you and some of your people. The interview would be broadcast worldwide and I hope will help our people get to know you better. We will have the conference in a city called Denver, where the altitude is such that the air is thinner and will be more comfortable for you. We may even consider moving your modules there.”


“Yes, John. I understand. We would be happy to accommodate your request. I have been watching your television and searching your Internet. Your society seems to have had an interesting history. It was several of your centuries ago that our society experienced some of the same problems.”

“I was wondering what you would think of our history. Can you be more specific about the similarities?”

“The most striking similarities concern what you call religion. I noted the mention of an afterlife, and a supreme being, deity or god. I also had some difficulty identifying between your mythology and actual history.”

John stifled a laugh, but still displayed the humor in his voice as he answered the Yanni leader. “Yes, I can see where you might have difficulty there.”

“And is your Bible fact or fiction? I noted many references to it in either sense.”

“And you will find many people who will argue either way also. I think what it comes down to is a matter of faith.

“We have had that same division between the believers and unbelievers in a higher power in our society too.”

“Sir, I would like to discuss this more in detail with you at another time. After the interview, we’ve arranged a joint luncheon with your council and some of our top people. Then we will talk about some plans to help overcome the Spectari. Our chefs and stewards have already met with your staff to learn your eating habits and I think you will enjoy the menu they have prepared.”

Jonathan was excited. He had been invited to attend the briefing following the interview with the Yanni leaders. He viewed Betty’s interview and was impressed with the fact, though they looked different, they really seemed like ordinary people. With the aid of their translators, the Yanni had picked up on the language rather quickly. Betty covered a wide range of topics from government to education and entertainment, recreation and leisure activities.

The Yanni leader stretched out his arm and introduced his family first. “This is Yanna, my wife and mother of our three children.


The oldest, Yorgi, is in his third year of University, Kara is just starting University, and Jarom is just starting life.”

Betty and Dr Peters chuckled at Janus’ introductions and noticed how sincere and innocent their children looked. Yanna was wearing a plain type of sarong outfit with tiny stars imprinted in it, making her natural beauty almost shine as she smiled at them. The children were also dressed in simple garments, and except for their pale complexion and smaller noses, looked like ordinary children. The Yanni’s mostly different shades of auburn colored hair were of medium length with no indication of facial hair.

“Sir, we only know you as Janus. Do you have a title?”“We do not often use titles in our society, but if you would feel more

comfortable, you may address me as councilman.”Thank you councilman. Could you describe your form of

government for us?”“We have a simple form of what you call democratic government.

Our ruling council is elected for life, but first they are rigidly screened for their qualifications, which must include some exceptional contribution to society. The contribution must benefit everyone, not just a particular segment. In our society, everyone participates voluntarily in our government at some level of duty when they have reached maturity. Generally the older serve the younger and what you call teenagers serve the seniors when they become feeble or incapacitated.”

“Sir, our planet is made up of groups of people with unique physical characteristics and languages and we refer to that as their race, such as Chinese or German or Caucasian. Does your planet have different races?”

Janus smiled as he said, “Yes, we noticed that from your history. We also have different ethnic groups, but we all share a similar language.”

“Are your ethnic groups divided naturally by geography?”“Yes. We have four main continents and each seems to spawn

unique physical characteristics of skin and basic physique such as height and hair color as in your society.”

“Does each group have its own government and do you have a single planetary government?”

“Originally each had its own form of government, but now we have a single world council form of government for all our peoples.”


“Did you have any history of strife or wars before you came together as a planetary government?

“Having viewed some of your history, I understand your question. The Yanni have always been a peace-loving people, and war has not been a part of our make-up. Though our different groups had differences in beliefs, we met together for the common good to establish mutual commerce and interaction. Over time we established our current planetary council of government.”

“That sounds like a very organized society to me,” Betty said. “Does this apply to education as well?”

“Yes, we view education as an extension of our government. Our teachers are seasoned instructors who have achieved success in their chosen careers. They devote a certain amount of time to teaching others at all levels. Our institutions of learning are not as rigidly structured as yours seem to be.”

“That sounds like an amazing system. Are their any discipline problems?”

“Having viewed your television, I can see why you would ask that question. No. Generally there are no discipline problems because our children are taught to respect their elders and institutions at a very tender age by their families. It is not utopia though. We do have some misguided and not fully functional people in our society, but not near as many as your society seems to foster. And even with their individual problems, they generally are not a problem to the rest of the population.”

As Jonathan watched and listened to the telecast, he was surprised at Janus’ forthrightness in his evaluation of earth society. He realized Janus wasn’t meaning to be judgmental of Earth Society, just being truthfully observant.

“What about entertainment and relaxation? What do people do when they are off duty?”

“We are a very creative people and have many avenues to express ourselves through art, music and literature. I myself love to write. Because of our universal educational system, everyone has the opportunity to master a favorite talent, which they often willingly share with others without compensation or fanfare.” Janus spoke with raw emotion as he continued. “That of course was before the


vicious invasion of our home.” I have no idea how things will be with the Spectari in charge.”

“We understand the duress you and your people are under right now. We hope a solution can be found. We thank you for allowing us this brief opportunity to get to know you and your people.”…

Rasu-sen was pacing his ship’s bridge furiously. “We found their empty secret base but how did they flee and why can’t we find any trace of their leaving? They must be here somewhere! This may just be a decoy base to trick us. They can’t have escaped without us detecting them! Masori, double your efforts and have the search teams check every room thoroughly. Search that large moon again too. We must find them!”…

Terani cried as it were a river of tears as she witnessed the Spectari savagery on their Yanni homeland. Her husband had dared to protest the manner in which the Spectari were forcing the Yanni to work in the Beryllium mines. Regardless of their background or training, groups of Yanni, men and women and even youngsters had been mercilessly rounded up and ordered to work the mines around the clock in unbearable conditions without rest and very few rations.

Lesani was a sculptor and a gentle loving man. He had created a wonderful statue honoring Yantu’s reach for the stars, which stood in their capitol city before being destroyed by the vicious Spectari attack. The citizenry rewarded him by electing him to the planetary ruling council. He had put the planet’s interests above his own and tried to serve his fellow countrymen in a diligent and faithful manner. Now he was being mercilessly tortured at the hands of the brutal invaders.

Terani screamed as she saw the Spectari blue energy bolt from the neuron weapon torment and fatally ruin his body. Yantu, the conquered planet was being raped of its natural resources to provide the raw materials for the Spectari war machine. Through her tears, Terani tearfully prayed for a quick death for her husband to end his mortal suffering.…


George Garrett assisted with the review of the Centauri-4 incident. Besides discovering aliens, no small discovery, there was the problem with the use of the devices. He pondered long and hard about the problem. Up until now, we’ve had no problem with the devices working properly. The incident with Betty and Dawn indicates there is a way to restrict the devices from working. I’ll talk to John to see if we can identify the cause of the interference and work to overcome it. Traveling at astronomical distances, we certainly don’t want to have someone not able to return. George pressed his wrist device.

“Beep…beep…”“Hi, George. What’s going on?” John sat at his desk and

focused on what George was saying, rather than the document he was holding in his hands, and listened to George’s concern. “You’re right. We do need to solve the problem. Get whomever you need to help you and let me know when you get the answer. You might want to involve our chief astrophysicist, Ted Olmstead on this too.”

George walked two doors down from his own UN office. “Ted, I wonder if you could help me?”

“Sure, George. Come on in and have a seat.” Ted waved him to one of the comfortable ones near his desk. As George took the offered seat, Ted recalled how just months ago he and George had been recruited separately by Dr. Vaughn and John Royston to be on the charter teleport team. He would be forever grateful for that opportunity. He and George had become good friends and Ted admired George’s computer knowledge and skill. “What’s bothering you?”

“Ted, I’ve been thinking how the Yanni were able to stop Betty Rogers and Dr. Peters from using their teleport device. Have we done any testing to find out how that was done? I would hate to have a recurrence where we couldn’t retrieve or communicate with someone in deep space.”

Ted focused on George standing before him and noted there was no sign of George’s earlier stuttering mannerism. “Yes, we certainly need to learn how that happened and prevent it before it happens again. I did ask Janus about that and we


tested the device with their shields up and the device worked fine, so it must be something else in conjunction with the shield properties that caused it or something independent of it. We need to do more testing to identify the cause.”

“If it’s not the shield, I wonder if it could have to do with those underground caverns on the Centauri-4 moon?” George stood up.

Ted arose from his desk chair also. ‘Let’s put a team together and test out that theory.”

“Now that I think about it, it must be a combination of both, because when the Yanni lowered their shields in their underground facility, Betty and Dr. Peter’s devices worked okay.” George hesitated as he thought and then said, “Maybe not. Maybe the Yanni used their own device to return the two from where they captured them on Centauri-4.”

“We should be able to answer that question fairly quickly.” Ted pressed his wrist device and then spoke into it. “Dr. Peters, I hope I’m not disturbing you in your work?”

“Not at all, Ted. How can I help you?”“When you first returned from your initial meeting

with the Yanni, did you use your own device or did the Yanni transport you?”

“We tried our devices, but they wouldn’t work so the Yanni used their teleport device to return us. Why do you ask?”

“We’re working to learn why the devices wouldn’t work then and you have given us part of the answer we needed. Thanks for helping.”

“Anytime Ted.” I am glad to have a part on the team, Dr. Peters thought. It is great to be able to work with such qualified people.

Ted looked up at George. “You’re right, so we need to examine that underground facility more closely. Let’s round up a team and go there now.”

“Before we go, let’s be sure we have a backup so we don’t get stuck there.”…

Over a hundred light-years away from Yantu in the Vega star system revolved a planet the inhabitants called Venestra. It was


equivalent in development to 18th Century Earth. The day was an especially hot and dry one and young Hansdorf was enjoying kicking pebbles on his walk to the country village. Suddenly he saw a man in strange clothing appear on the pathway in front of him. The young boy was sure the man hadn’t been there a second before as he had just kicked a pebble in that direction and the path was empty then. Hansdorf noted the strange man looked out of place, as he had no hat for this especially hot day and was blinking and shading his eyes from the harsh sunlight as if he wasn’t used to it.

“Can I help you good sir?”Hardison James heard the young boy speak, but could not

understand his language. “Can you tell me where I am?”Hansdorf heard the strange sounds come from the man

and knew he was a foreigner. “I do not understand you, but I can lead you to the village.” Hansdorf pointed down the path toward the village.

Hardy knew the language barrier was going to be a big problem as he followed the boy on the path. Up ahead he saw a village. They came to a cobble-stoned street with neat stucco or adobe houses lining both sides of it. Hardy felt as if he had walked into an almost fairytale setting. Several villagers were walking about in sombrero-type hats. He could see women in back yards hanging out laundry on unusual looking octagonal racks. As Hansdorf led him though the village, several rough but clean looking men glanced up from what they were doing with friendly smiles. Shortly the two came to the village square, which had a square two-story building in the center. Hardy assumed this was the village government house.

Hansdorf led the stranger through the plain open door and up to the counter behind which a plain but pretty lady was sitting. “Mom, this man is a foreigner and I don’t think he understands our language.”

“Is that right, sir? Do you not understand what I’m saying?”

Hardison smiled at the dark haired lady that appeared to be in her early thirties and said, “Miss, You sure are pretty, but I don’t understand a word you’re saying.”


“I guess you’re right, Hans. Do you know where he came from?”

“I was walking down the path to the village and he suddenly appeared. I mean really appeared. He didn’t walk up. He was just suddenly standing there in the path with a strange look on his face as if he wasn’t expecting the sun to be so bright in the sky.”

“Hmm. That is strange. His clothing is unusual too. Please go fetch Safra and we’ll see if she recognizes his language. Serina smiled at the stranger and motioned for him to have a seat as her son darted out the door.…

The Argosen, the mighty Spectari flagship, entered earth’s solar system. “Begin scanning for signs of activity and civilization,” Commander Cho-sen ordered as he viewed the planetary systems on the long-range display. From experience the space travelers knew the most likely habitable planets would be the third or fourth ones. In short order, the Argosen’s scanners detected one of the recently deployed communications stations orbiting Jupiter’s moon. After scanning for explosives, they captured it with their tractor beam and brought it into their ship for examination.

“This is a simple but effective communications device with sub-light range,” Lt. Car-sen reported. “It looks to be of recent manufacture. Based on its limited sophistication of circuitry and components, I would say their technology is several centuries behind ours. I believe I’ve identified the origin of the homing beacon somewhere on the third planet.”

“Very good, lieutenant. If the device is that crude, we have no need to fear these people. They should be quick to conquer. We will just destroy a few of their major cities and they will be ours for the taking. Contact Commander Rasu-sen and have him meet us here. We will orbit this outer planet and scan for mineral resources while we await his arrival.…

“They must have had a very serene life before the invasion. I wish our own society could adopt some of their ways.” Jonathan turned off the television while speaking to his sister.


“Yes, I think so too. We can certainly learn some things from them and they seem so nice too,” Jenny said.

The junior team member straightened his tunic with the distinctive charter red-crested “T” on it and said “bye” as he pressed his wrist device and disappeared. He reappeared just outside the Denver briefing room and was ushered to his seat by a special security guard. Now he was sitting and listening to his dad speak at the briefing. In attendance were a very select few of the charter teleport team with President Hargrove and the S-G along with their cabinet-level people.

“The Yanni have told us how they were attacked and we know the Spectari tracked them to Centauri-4. They may be coming this way. We must prepare for that eventuality.”

“But how can we prepare for an invasion when we’ve already destroyed all of our weapons?” President Hargrove anxiously voiced his and his staff ’s deep concerns as well as those being printed and voiced in the media.

John turned to Hank and said, “I will let our chief of security answer that question.”

“Sir, we are not exactly powerless. We can use the teleport technology to thwart them.”

The Secretary-General anxiously spoke up, “But how, Mr. Travis? How can that stop them?”

“We can surprise them and teleport them far away to a distant planet and separate them from their warships, sir. We can relieve them of their weapons and communication devices and make certain they only have the means to sustain themselves.”

Councilman Janus suddenly spoke up. “That is a wise and humane plan. Could it work on our planet too?”

“Yes, sir. I’m sure it can. If we can locate the enemy, we can send them where they will be stranded and unable to harm anyone again. Have your scientists located any other habitable but uninhabited planets away from your sector of space?”

Janus answered grimly. “I believe they located some possible star systems, but we haven’t developed faster-than-light propulsion so they weren’t within our reach. We were preparing


to use our new space station to launch probes to explore them. We were even looking at this part of the universe.”

“We won’t want them in any part of our universe,” The Secretary-General quickly spoke up.

“If you can provide the astronomical coordinates, I believe we can provide the faster-than-light transport,” Hank said smiling.

“Janus, you have sophisticated and advanced detection equipment on your ships on the moon. Could you have your communications officers monitor this part of space for any signs of the Spectari?”

“Yes, Mr. Royston. We will do that. I will communicate with them immediately. Could you use your device to transport them to their ship?”

“Certainly. We will have personal units made up for each of them.” Hank quickly gave instructions through his wrist device, and then said, “Sir, we may need to locate those planets sooner than later, so I’m going to direct our Houston NASA team to work with your people to locate some possible destinations for our undesirable intruders.”

“Is there anything else we can do?”“Actually there is. If they do come this way in their ships,

it would help to be able to use your ship’s detectors to identify their ship’s coordinates to teleport to.”

Janus smiled and said, “Consider it done.”“It looks like we’re finding it very easy to work with our

new friends,” President Hargrove said, beaming.…

“This dish is delicious. What did you say it is called?”“I am glad you like it, Yanna. It is called Rice Pilaf. It is a

very easy and quick dish to prepare,” Meredith smilingly said as she offered more to her guests.

Meredith had invited Janus and his family for dinner at their island cottage that evening.

Sponsors for each Yanni family had quickly been assigned from the teleport team and Space Commission. Each family was being similarly hosted that same evening.


Meredith learned the Yanni were mostly vegetarians, so she prepared a variety of rice, vegetable, and noodle dishes for them to sample.

John provided a special high chair from storage in Dallas that had been Jenny’s for Jarom. The tiny tot was happily playing with his dish and spoon of rice pudding.

“We do not have anything similar to your rice on Yantu. It tastes very good,” Janus said as he ladled some more on his plate.

“I like the noodles. What is this dish called?” Yorgi asked.“It’s called fettuccini,” Meredith said.“It all tastes so good,” Kara said smiling. What do you use

for seasoning?”John answered. “We use many different herbs but the most

common is salt and pepper.”“Not knowing your tastes, I didn’t use much seasoning,

but we have salt and pepper here you can add to your individual taste.” Meredith pointed out the two shakers.

Janus took the saltshaker and put some on his hand and tasted it. “We have something similar we call Yantus because it is basic to Yantu and it provides similar flavor to our food.”

“This is fried eggplant. It was one of my mom’s favorite dishes. I helped prepare it,” Jenny said as she passed the plate around the table.

Yanna hesitatingly said, “You mean Meredith is not your mother?”

John started to speak, but Jenny quickly answered, “My mother unexpectedly died over two years ago from pneumonia.”

“That must have been very hard on you,” Yanna said, as she tasted the eggplant.

“It is good that you have a new mother,” Janus said as he turned to John. “How does such a thing work in your society?”

John wiped his chin with his napkin and answered. “When Julie died, it was very hard on all of us. It took me a while before I met Meredith, which is a special story for another time. When a spouse dies, the man is considered a widower or the woman is

ROBERT LEE JOSEPH128

considered a widow. Thanks to our friends and our faith we were able to get through this time okay. I believe that Julie’s spirit is in a special place now. At death her spirit was liberated from her body, and when it is my time to die, we will be reunited.

“That must require a strong faith to believe in an afterlife,” Yanna said.

John said, “As you’ve probably noticed, on our world we have many different beliefs or groups of religions. Our particular faith is that of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

Janus seriously looked at John and sincerely said, “I have been reading up on your earth’s religions. I am most impressed by your Jesus Christ, your Redeemer. He must have been a most influential person to have so many followers. I understand your calendar is based upon his birth date. I also read about your particular religion.”

“I hope you read some good things. There is much misinformation about our church,” Jenny said.

“I read your Bible, the Koran and your Book of Mormon. The last book seems similar to your Bible but very different from it.”

“Boy you’re sure a fast reader!” Jonathan uninhibitedly blurted out.

“When I said read, I should have said scanned, but I did pick up most of the essential facts of each.” Janus smiled.


Chapter Nine

A Time for reflection and action

“Your single moon is so beautiful!” Yanna sat beside her husband on the Royston’s cottage veranda overlooking a sandy white beach a short distance away. It was a very picturesque setting with the moon’s rays reflecting on the slow rolling waves of the rippling tide with a slight pleasant ocean breeze blowing in on them. Janus had provided a portable energy field around the veranda so they could enjoy the outdoors and still have a modified atmosphere on the veranda. The breeze could blow in but no air could exit the specially modified energy shield.

“Yes it is very beautiful and I wish I could enjoy it more, but I keep thinking of our people back home on Yantu at the mercy of the invaders.” Janus mournfully sighed.

“I understand, sir, but with our plan I think your planet will be freed soon. I think by combining our two technologies we will be able to teach the raiders a tough lesson,” John reassured him. “I’m envisioning those Spectari warships joining yours now parked up there on the moon,” John pointed up to the pale moon with its pockmarked craters.

He looked out at the peaceful beautiful ocean and then turned to his guests. “Janus and Yanna, we are happy to share your friendship, and hope you feel that way too, but I would like to share more with you about ourselves. You said you scanned our Book of Mormon. That is good, but I want you to know that I know it truly is the word of a loving God whom we call our Heavenly father. The people spoken of in its pages are real.”


John paused to see what reaction his words were having on his guests.

“Yes, John, I received a feeling about the book as I read it too, that it was special.” Janus held Yanna’s hand while sitting on the veranda. “I have a question to ask you about its origin. If Joseph Smith translated the words from writing on ancient plates, where are the plates today? Can I view them?”

“That’s a good question and I am glad you want to view them. After Joseph completed the work of translation, he delivered them back to that same angel, Moroni, who had delivered them to him.

John continued. “The events truly happened. I believe that God preserved this record to come forth in our time when knowledge of the Gospel is dwindling, to rekindle it and prepare us for our destiny and that destiny may very well be among the stars. I know these things are true because a special spirit called the Holy Ghost bore witness to my soul. I just want you to know how strong my faith is. I believe God has made this teleport technology possible at this time in history so we can help you overcome those invaders. I have a calm and peaceful feeling that it will be so.”

Meredith looked at Yanna with a loving feeling and quietly said, “I have that same feeling in my heart and I know that you can know these things just as we do. We would like to understand more about your beliefs and Yanni culture too. Would you teach us and allow us to share our beliefs with you?”.…

“This must be the cause.” Ted Olmstead pointed to the mineral analysis on the display monitor inside the former underground Yanni council chamber on the Centauri IV moon. “There is an unusually high concentration of tritanium in these rock walls.”

George Garrett noted the display peaked at 40% on the monitor. “It is probably harmless otherwise, but must cause a negative reaction to whatever force it is that activates the teleport capability.”

“I think you must be right, George. Let’s bring the Yanni flagship into the hanger and test out your theory.”


The Yanni flagship carefully landed inside the hanger it had so recently hidden in. The test was conducted and sure enough, the Yanni device worked okay.

“I think the difference might be the amount of power their device requires, whereas ours uses very little.” Ted said following the tests. “I wonder if it is possible for us to add a tritanium detector into the scanning devices?”

“I will ask our scientists to help you. Maybe working together we can devise a method of detection?” Janus smiled at the test group.…

“You have some great technology, Jantor. I would love to learn more about it,” Hank said as he supervised the combined Earth-Yanni space surveillance team. Hank viewed the earth with the starry expanse of space in the background through the view screen on the Yanni flagship now berthed on the moon’s silent surface.

“We would be most happy to share it with you,” Jantor said as he worked the comm console. “What you see here is the results of the last two hundred of your years of our scientific advancements.” He pressed a button and the room was alive with a soft buzzing background sound from space.” Jantor swiveled in his chair to face Hank and smiled. “The detectors are now set. The equipment will scan your entire solar system. If anything not now present, enters it, we will know. We don’t need to stay here. The system will automatically alert my comm unit, whether here or on earth, but we will have someone here at all times just in case

“That’s great! I will have one of my team here also. Could you set it to alert my comm unit also?”

“Certainly. I will do that now. I am enjoying your teleport technology. What are its limits?”

“Jantor, it is so new to us we still don’t know its limits. We haven’t gone very much beyond your star system so far. We call your star system Centauri. What do you call it?”

“ We call it Yansa. Just as in your earth history, our people first looked up at the stars and created stories about them too. Sometime I would like to share them with you.”


Hank smiled at him and said, “That would be great. I will enjoy learning more about your people and their history.”

Jantor said, “we will do it then. I’m still amazed how quickly you brought our ships and us the great distance you did so quickly and easily. It is hard to realize we can return just as quickly. Your device truly takes the distance equation out of traveling. And the housing units you provided us to live in are great too. They are roomy and comfortable.”

“Yes, several of our team enjoyed designing them. We wanted to be able to take a little bit of our culture with us as we go exploring.”…

“Rasu-sen’s burly face filled the forward view screen. “Commander Cho-sen, we are just entering the star system and should rendezvous with you shortly. We made good time using the hyper drive. Do you have any further orders?”

“Why aren’t you in stealth mode? We don’t want to attract attention before we’re ready to strike. Why isn’t this message encrypted?

“Sorry sir, It was reported this was not an advanced planet so I didn’t want to expend the extra energy. Our beryllium supply is low because we haven’t had a re-supply ship recently.”

“Commander, we don’t know what their capabilities are yet. That was just a conjecture from analyzing one of their communication relays and there is no telling how old it is. Besides battle strategy requires you to use stealth mode when in a hostile environment so switch to it immediately!”…

Ted Olmsted spoke to John and Hank in the commissioner’s office. “We worked with our Yanni counterparts and identified and explored some possible uninhabited but livable planets in three distant star systems. I downloaded the results to both your computer systems.”

“I’ve already reviewed them. I think the desert-like planet is a good place for them. Without their technology it will present them with a challenge just to survive,” John said as he paced in front of his picture window. “What was your designation for it?”


“That one we named Sahara.”“I liked the rock planet myself,” Hank said. “It will also

provide them a decent survival challenge. The one you named Rocky 13.”

John looked at Ted. “Which one would you recommend?”“I’m partial to Sahara because I think it provides the most

challenge and I personally dislike hot summers.”John stopped pacing. “Okay it’s settled then. We’ll set our

devices for Sahara and when the time comes, that’s where we’ll send them.”

“Should we use the I-model?” Hank asked.“I don’t think we should. If we act quickly we shouldn’t

need it and if this strategy doesn’t work then we will have that as an alternate solution.”

“I think this will work fine,” Ted said. “They won’t be expecting anything like what we’re going to do to them. They’ll be stranded on an uninhabited desert planet hundreds of light years away without any idea where they are and no means to get off.…

“Do you have computer software like this?” Jonathan was showing a very interested Yorgi his computer setup with one of his latest space war games.

“We don’t play games on our machines. They are used for educational purposes, but I would like to learn.” Yorgi smiled at Jonathan.

“Good. This is a control stick.”They played games for hours and Jonathan was surprised

at how quickly Yorgi became very competitive at the games. “What do you do on your planet for entertainment?”

“Mostly I used our comp net to do research and prepare for my next level of classes. Compared to your computer games, that seems very dull.”

“I used to think these games weren’t that productive, then I thought about the sophisticated and detailed programming code it took to create them and realized they were very productive for someone else.” Jonathan smiled.…

“I was sad to hear you lost your mother, Jenny,” Kara said


as the two teenagers visited in Jenny’s room and Kara admired Julie’s picture prominently displayed on Jenny’s nightstand. “That must have been hard on you.”

“Yes it was a very sad time for me.” Jenny’s eyes watered as she said, “It was like my whole world was shattered. Mom had always been there for me and suddenly she was gone. I do know I will be with her again though and that helps.”

“That is something I would like to know more about. How can you know such a thing? We have people on our planet too who believe in an afterlife, but there are many more unbelievers than believers.”

“We have the same thing here too. We have our scriptures to help us. Jenny picked up her LDS published scriptures that contained both the Bible and Book of Mormon. We believe prophets wrote these as they received revelation from God and recorded them for us. These scriptures are available for everyone, but not everyone believes in them. I will see you get your own copy if you are interested in learning about them.”

“Yes, I would like that. We have prophets on Yantu also. It will be interesting to learn about yours. I am eager to learn all about your culture. I’m planning on being what you call a sociologist on Yantu when we get to return.”

“Because of what happened to my mom, I’m going to study to become a doctor of medicine so maybe I can prevent someone from dying like my mom did so unexpectedly.”

“That’s a great way to remember your mom. Speaking of learning, how did you learn to cook so well? The eggplant was delicious.”

“I watched my mom and she let me help her. Then when she died, I used her cookbooks to learn.”

“What’s a cookbook?“Let’s go into the kitchen and I’ll show you.” In her cottage

kitchen, Jenny opened a cabinet to reveal several cookbooks with colorful covers of a variety of food dishes. “This is the one I used to get the eggplant recipe.”

Kara flipped some pages and said, “What are pancakes?”…


Dr. Vaughn and Alex were ecstatic as Sethanni explained the Yanux and the power pod’s function.

“The ion chamber transfers the molecular structure of beryllium into raw elements of energy in a safe non-nuclear way which can be used for electricity. This ion pod I am holding can provide about five years of energy.”

“What is its capability?” Alex noted the round silver pod was no larger than a softball. “I mean how much energy can one pod produce?”

Sethanni placed it in Alex’s hand. “This single pod with the proper power converter can provide one of your average cities enough electricity for five years. Our protective energy screens are also powered by micro versions of these.”

Both Dr. Vaughn and Alex gasped. Alex held the ion pod very gingerly and with greater respect. He handed it to Dr. Vaughn to examine.

“Can you help us replicate one of these machines here on earth?” Dr. Vaughn asked as he felt the round smoothness of the small perfectly shaped metal sphere..

Sethanni smiled. “I don’t see why not. You seem to have all the basic elements here and our scientists can provide the design for you.”

“This will revolutionize our whole energy and manufacturing industry,” Dr. Vaughn happily said. “We will make a great leap forward in our technology almost overnight. We made a tremendous reduction in the use of fossil fuel with the introduction of teleportation. This sweet machine will just about take care of the rest of our planet’s pollution production.”

“Can your energy screens cover an entire city? If we could use them for cities, we could truly control the environment within them and cut down on the need for heating in winters or air conditioning in summers,” Alex excitedly stated.

“Yes, we can help you set one up and you can duplicate the technology for your whole planet. And you are helping us tremendously too with your amazing teleport device. Are you sure you truly do not understand how it works?”


“We thought we did, but our initial basic theories don’t support the huge distances they work at,” Dr. Vaughn stated. “You have the Yasux, but it works on an entirely different principle, I believe.”

“Yes, Doctor, the Yasux collects organized matter, records and transmits it and then reorganizes it. I must admit, I only used it once and cringed at the very thought of how it works. Your teleport device doesn’t truly indicate the process, but it sure works in amazing fashion. I prefer using the Yasux only on inanimate objects.”

“I totally agree with you, Sethanni. I wouldn’t want my atoms collected and reorganized either. I keep thinking there must be something metaphysical with our device because it works in such an amazing fashion. It’s as if for it, time or distance doesn’t exist, just the origination and destination, because we can detect no discernible passage of time from one to the other.”

It was early morning on their Island paradise. Hank was at his cottage with Darlene and the kids when the Yanni Comm unit buzzed. He immediately hugged her and waved bye, used his wrist device, and instantly appeared on the command ship on the moon. Jantor was already there. Hank was still amazed how closely the command deck resembled ones in futuristic sci-fi movie sets. There was even the centralized captain’s command chair with the necessary magic gizmos on its armrests.

Jantor sat in the central seat and pressed one of those gizmos, causing a replay of the recorded surveillance conversation of the invaders. “Thanks to that conversation, we know where and who they are. We’ve located their war fleet orbiting Jupiter. One of the war fleet commanders is the same one who invaded our planet. It will be a great pleasure in dealing with him. He destroyed some of our largest cities before taking over the planet.”

“Let’s see if we can accommodate you.”…

The huge Spectari warship began orbiting above Jupiter like a giant space station. “We’ve just achieved orbit over one of the outer planets,” Masori said turning to his commander.


“Hail the Argosen on visual.”“Welcome commander. You wasted no time in arriving.

Any success on your quest to find the escaped Yanni?”“No sir. I don’t know how, but they left without a trace. We

thought we had them on one of the moons, but when we arrived they were gone.”

“Well, we have used our time here to scan this planet and found only a few signs of useful minerals. We have been listening to transmissions from the third planet they call Earth. Their society seems to be very fragmented with many languages and their technology very crude. It has been somewhat confusing, but we will learn more when we have conquered them.”

Suddenly, a space-suited being appeared on Rasu-sen’s bridge holding a weapon. Rasu-sen recognized the individual as a Yanni android. The android pressed his wrist device and there was a sudden hard jolt, as the whole ship was no longer traveling through space but on solid ground! The view screen, which had been displaying a starry background, now revealed a planet’s empty dry barren surface. The eerie sounding voice of the android spoke through his suit, “Leave all your weapons and comm units behind and evacuate this ship before I destroy it in twenty clicks, one click.”

As the android voiced “two clicks”, Rasu-sen ordered, “Abandon ship! Abandon Ship!” through the intercom. “Leave your weapons and comm units behind and abandon the ship immediately before it is destroyed!”

The Spectari crew, still in a daze from the hard jolt they had felt, dropped their hand weapons and comm units and rushed out the exits. They received the hot blast of Saharan air as they opened the emergency hatches. Rasu-sen and the blue Rigelian were the last to leave with Rasu-sen madly glaring at the android as he evenly counted, “Eighteen.” The android then used the ships console to close the exits and pressed ‘return’ on his wrist device. Rasu-sen and his crew wondered where they were as they blinked in the harsh bright Saharan sun and watched their ship instantly disappear.…

“Sir, Rasu-sen’s ship just disappeared!” Cho-sen’s comm officer anxiously reported.


“Scan for enemy vessels!” Commander Cho-sen quickly ordered.

Suddenly the same scene as happened on Rasu-sen’s ship was repeated on Cho-sen’s own bridge with the same hard jolts, the same orders and the same “Abandon Ship!” being repeated.

Rasu-sen and his men witnessed Cho-sen’s crew abandoning their suddenly appearing ship from a short distance away and his ship disappearing. The rest of their war-fleet’s ships quickly followed this. In a time almost too quick to measure, all of the Spectari crews except one were standing in the barren desert environment with only the clothes on their backs and a hot desert sun overhead. The missing one had been destroyed when one of the Spectari chose to fire his weapon at the android instead of heeding the warning.

“That was a Yanni android! They must have followed us somehow without detection, but how did they do this to us? This is beyond their technology!” Rasu-sen was furiously red-faced as Commander Cho-sen approached him….

Hank and Janus watched the now unmanned Spectari war fleet appear on Earth’s moon in short order.

“We’ll let them stew for awhile then we’ll transport some of their food supplies to them,” Hank said smiling. “That was an excellent tactic to use the androids without endangering any life, but I sure would like to have seen their faces.”

“We can watch the androids recording of the action,” Janus smiled.

“Great! Then we’ll liberate your home planet.”…

The Spectari Lieutenant in charge of Yanno-1 was enjoying his new duty. This is the best assignment I could have asked for. No one is here to bother me or countermand my orders. From the station, using the Yanni technology, my crew can monitor the invasion’s progress on Yantu. After practically destroying the Yanni capitol city, the invaders experienced almost no resistance. The Spectari simply landed and took what they wanted with very little opposition. It is good to have the Yanni’s Yasux matter transporter too. Now I can


beam to the planet whenever I wish. We can use the transporters to beam the mined beryllium to the ore freighters too and the freighters will never need to land.

A space-suited android suddenly appeared on the command deck of Yanno-1 with a raised weapon pointing at the surprised station leader. “All the Spectari will gather in the command section or I will destroy this station in twenty clicks. One click!…. Two clicks!”

The leader yelled into his intercom. “Assemble in the command section immediately! The station is about to be destroyed!”

The Spectari leader anxiously watched his crewmembers rush into the room and halt as they saw the armed android and heard him say, “Fifteen clicks.”

“Is this all your crew?”“Y…yes everyone is here.”“Then everyone drop your weapons and comm units and hold

hands now!” The android menacingly waved his weapon and watched the men do as ordered. The Spectari leader was the last to drop his. When everyone was touching, the android grabbed a free hand and pressed his wrist device. The Spectari crew was suddenly with their brethren, blinking from the bright hot Saharan sun.

The android pressed ‘return’ and noted the Earth Security Chief and Janus now on the space station command deck. They both wore environmental suits as the Spectari had modified the station environment to match the slightly different Spectari environment. Janus quickly made the control adjustments, removed his helmet and turned to Hank. “Normally our androids would not be allowed to handle weapons of any kind or threaten anyone, but we modified their programming for this specific situation.” Janus worked with the central console and identified the Spectari locations on Yantu. “Now we will dispatch the Spectari on Yantu in the same manner,” Janus smiled with no small pleasure. He spoke into his newly installed wrist device. “Implement Plan Liberty.”

First the Spectari orbiting ship’s crews were similarly dispatched to Sahara with Yanni crewmembers from Earth replacing them. Then the Yanni androids appeared on Yantu


and performed the expulsion of startled and surprised Spectari to the Saharan planet to join their brethren. The Yanni who had been press-ganged to work were rescued and reunited with their families. Those who had been killed would be posthumously honored and provided state funerals. Terani and many others grieved for their husbands and fathers.

Janus zipped himself and Hank to their capitol city and Hank was jolted by the devastation the Spectari had caused. I will never let this happen on Earth if I can help it. When the remaining Spectari invaders were dispatched to Sahara, Hank and Janus shook hands and the Space Commission Security Chief zipped to his own office at T-base and pressed his comm unit…

Rasu-sen was dumfounded when the space station crew arrived on the barren planet, quickly followed by those he had left on the planet. “How could this happen to us? Our technology is far superior to theirs and yet they have managed to take our ships away from us so easily. The Yanni must be spread farther than we know. We must find a way to get out of this hellacious place, find out how they are doing this, then smack them back to their Stone Age!”

“Commander! We’ve found a comm unit! One of the space station crew concealed one!” The comm officer rushed to Rasu-sen and held out the precious comm unit.

“Great! Now maybe we can contact one of our outlying ships. Lt. Chora-sen, modify this unit for as wide a broadcast as possible and keep working it until we get an answer.”


Chapter Ten

Other events

“Yes, Hank. That was quick. How’d it go?”“Smooth as silk John. I can’t believe how easy it was. There

was never a time anyone was in danger. Wait till you see the record of the Spectari’s surprise and reaction. Probably the first time they experienced defeat. The Spectari were vicious in their invasion. They practically destroyed most of the Yanni capitol city. You can tell the President, S-G, and news media the enemy has been defeated and Yantu liberated. I recommend we offer to help them rebuild their devastated cities.”

“Sounds like a great idea and it will help with our unemployment problem on earth at the same time. I will propose it to the UN Secretary General.” John pressed his wrist device and conferenced in the S-G and President Hargrove. “Sirs, the operation was a glowing success. We have over a hundred Fifty Spectari space ships now parked on the moon and the crews are on an uninhabited planet very far away. We would also like to recommend the UN initiate a plan to provide humanitarian aid and help the Yanni rebuild their destroyed cities as a goodwill gesture.”

President Hargrove was ecstatic. “I can’t believe how quickly you accomplished such a feat, John. Congratulations to you and your staff.”

“Yes, John. Congratulations are certainly in order. We will present your plan for humanitarian aid to the General Assembly immediately,” The Secretary-General smilingly said.

“Sir, I would also like to recommend Tom Johnston to


organize and head up the rebuilding effort. I think he is well qualified and will present good leadership for the project.”

“A good suggestion, John, why don’t you come and present your suggestion to the General Assembly personally? That way you can present all your ideas to them and I think they would be pleased to see you too.”

“I’ll be happy to do that sir. Just tell me when to be there.”A short time later, John made another call. “Ray, this is

John. I thought you might like an exclusive about our defeating the Yanni’s enemies and freeing Yantu from the invaders.” John spoke with his former newspaper boss who at one time had fired him.

“John! That’s great. How’d you do it and how are you doing? We haven’t seen much of you since you’ve become Space Commissioner. Yes we would be thrilled to have an exclusive. Can you zip here and let Carolyn interview you or do you want to just email it?”

“I’ll come there so I can say ‘hi’ to everyone.” John pressed his wrist keypad and was instantly in the Dallas newsroom eyeing his old desk just outside Ray’s office. Frizzy-haired Carolyn Barnes, who had occupied the desk next to his, now had a window office next to Ray’s with her promotion to assistant editor.

Upon seeing John, both Carolyn and Ray came out of their offices to greet him.

“ Hi John.” Carolyn brightly smiled.“Hey, Carolyn. I like your new digs.”“And I owe it all to you. You’ve been a big help to all of us.”Ray smiled too and happily said, “That’s sure true. I’m now

Vice President of Operations, thanks largely to your association with the paper.”

John noted the once distraught newsman didn’t seem near as stressed as he used to. The now special correspondent remembered when Ray had fired him before the teleport device was fully developed. John had asked for a leave of absence and the paper had turned down the request.

“We hear your team is going to help the Yanni take back their home planet.” Carolyn promptly said.

“We just did and I came to give you an exclusive on it.”


“But how? That is amazing!” Carolyn exclaimed.Just then, Doris walked up to John and said, “John all we

do is see you on TV now. It’s great to see you in person. How’s all the family? I was glad to see Jonathan got to be on the exploration team. Rumor has it Meredith is expecting.”

“It’s more than rumor. Her sonogram shows we’re going to have a little girl.”

“That’s great! Let us give her a shower.”“Doris, I couldn’t stop you if I tried and I’m sure Meredith

will enjoy it.”Soon other of his former office mates joined the hallway

group including Carl Hansen who was about to retire. As soon as the visiting was done, Carolyn said, “John come on into my office and we’ll start work on the article. I can’t wait to hear about this and I’m sure it will be at the top of page one.”…

The sun was blistering down on the marooned Spectari on Sahara. “The solar system we had just entered displayed no such ability, based on what you found, right Chora-sen?”

“The comm officer cowered before his commander. “Yes sir. That is what the components and circuitry indicated on their comm array. It was very unsophisticated and lacked any encrypted security features. The range was very sub-light and limited.”

“Maybe they didn’t need any based on what they have just done to us!” Rasu-sen shed his shirt and wrapped it around his own head. “I don’t think we could have been left in a more desolate location. I can’t see anything from horizon to horizon in any direction.”

He motioned for the other ship’s crews to join their group. As they approached under the hot sun, he asked, “Does anyone have a comm unit? We have only one to send out distress signals with.”

The distressed crewmembers all shook their head no.“We will organize ourselves to search the area. The first

task is to find some shade from this blasted sun! This whole


planet can’t be this flat and desolate! We will organize scouting parties to search in every direction.

As he spoke, the crewmembers were shedding their uniform shirts to form headgear for protection from the blistering heat. Just then several cargo containers instantly appeared in an area beside the sweltering group.

“It seems our unseen enemy has a soft side. Maybe that is a weakness we can use against them. We will use these cargo containers to make temporary shelters”….

Janus appeared in their Crescent Island cottage and greeted Yanna with a special hug and kiss as she held a sleepy Jarom. “It is done. Our people are free again, but there has been much destruction, bloodshed and grief. The Spectari were very vicious in their invasion.” He held her tight as she put her head on his shoulder and he took Jarom in his arms and laid the sleepy lad against his other shoulder.

“Darling, it is so pretty and peaceful here. I want to be able to return here. I enjoy our friendship with the Royston’s and what we are learning about their culture and beliefs.”

“I will talk to John and see if we can keep the cottages, and based on what we’ve learned about John’s religion, I’m sure they would love to come to Yantu to teach us, but now we must return to Yantu. I must supervise the rebuilding of our own planet.”…

“John, those Spectari space ships you have parked on the lunar surface are a goldmine of advanced technology. Our scientists are anxious to analyze them to obtain the engineering marvels they contain. How soon can you provide us access to them?” The secretary-general was almost salivating with the question. He was talking with John in the Space Commissioner’s office. With the arrival of the Spectari war fleet, the UN Science Committee was flooded with requests to examine the alien technology contained in the ships.

“Sir, we’re aware of the opportunity of advancement this affords us, but first we must establish a firm policy and


guideline regarding the new technology gleaned from the ships. I propose a public scientific research agency be organized as part of the UN and all discoveries to be handled by them for the public good of all. If we fail to do this and leave it up to scientific entrepreneurs, there will be certain chaos and infighting.” John earnestly continued, “We must treat what we learn from our space exploration as common public property. Besides, most of what is in those ships is high-order weaponry and we just rid ourselves of weapons, so why are we so eager to get theirs?”

The secretary-General agreed, “Yes, Commissioner, as usual you’re right. It’s not going to be easy though. There are some very influential groups who will argue the point. They have already been pressuring me. Also that energy shield can be a great boon in all kinds of non-military applications besides defensively. We don’t know what else either. If it weren’t for the teleport device, it would be their ion hyperstellar drive we would be most interested in. Dr. Vaughn is working with the Yanni scientists to duplicate their power converter.”

“I know, but as usual all of those groups have their own greedy interests at heart and not necessarily the public good. We must hold firm to this policy or we will never master our own destiny among the stars. Can’t everyone see we’ve leaped ahead of what those ships represent?” John didn’t need to mention the fact as space commissioner he was in control of the ships and could move them to another galaxy if he chose to. He would rather win this argument on its merits rather than sheer control though. He also thought, not only am I to be Earth’s ambassador, must I also be its guardian from itself? How did a simple journalist ever get to wield so much power?

“John, it would be a huge help, if you would include these proposals to the General Assembly with the others you outlined. They respect you and there will be less commotion over it if you do.”

John recognized the S-G was saying this to relieve the political pressure he was feeling, but he also realized the truth in his statement. “Okay, sir I will include them in my presentation to the UN.


“Bzzt…bzzt…”John pressed the intercom button, “Yes?”“Sir, Councilman Janus is here to see you.”“Escort him in please.” John stood up from his desk to

welcome his new friend. They shook hands and he pointed to the comfortable chair and took the one opposite him.

“Councilman, Hank told me what a success the operation was. I am happy for your people. We are planning on presenting plans to help your people rebuild your cities.”

“Commissioner, that would be most appreciated. I am really here on behalf of Yanna and myself. We have enjoyed your hospitality and your beautiful island so much, we would like to be able to return from time to time. Would it be possible to retain our cottages? We would be happy to afford you similar accommodations on Yantu when you visit.”

“Sir, we will be happy to consider them your earthly residences and I might add Meredith has voiced the same request. She has become quite fond of your family as have I and we would enjoy visiting your world.”…

That night, Hank lay in bed with Darlene and told her of the day’s activities. “I was amazed how quickly and easily the whole operation went. To see Janus’ people celebrate when they learned their conquerors had been defeated was very rewarding. We’re going to help them rebuild their destroyed cities. It won’t comfort the aching hearts from the deaths the Spectari caused, but it will show we care and also give more people the opportunity to interact with the Yanni. John says the Yanni are going to erect a special earth village with cottages for us similar to ours here. They will have a special energy field and set the atmosphere to match our own.”

“Darling, do you think it’s possible our society could adopt some of the Yanni traditions?” Darlene turned on her side with a serious look on her face as she spoke.

Hank smiled at her and said, “Exactly what traditions are you referring to?”

“Well how about the ones regarding service? The one about elected leaders having performed some exceptional service to


the general population before being eligible for nomination would be a good starter, don’t you think?”

“Yes, that one would eliminate at least 90% of our current legislators and what about the one regarding teenagers serving the senior citizens?”

“Darlene smiled, “That would be a nice one too, but I think it would require a complete new mindset and we may need to start preparing the preteens for that one.”

“I think you’re right,” Hank smiled as they snuggled closer…

Not far away in their own island cottage, Meredith and John were having a similar conversation as they prepared for bed.

“Sweetheart, do you think it’s possible to initiate a student exchange program with the Yanni?”

“I can think of some adults who might want to do that too and I know the Yanni want to learn more about us. We’re already interacting with the rebuilding program. That program will put many people back to work and relieve much of the unemployment the planet is experiencing. I’m presenting that idea to the General Assembly tomorrow. There’s much we can learn from the Yanni; especially about their energy field generation technology. Janus said they would be happy to share it with us.”

Meredith sat beside him on the bed as she combed her hair. “Yanna was telling me she was adjusting to the atmosphere settings so that it wasn’t so uncomfortable on her as at first. Maybe we’ll be able to adjust too.”

As John picked up his scriptures from the nightstand he said, “You know I marvel at the timing of everything that has occurred. If the Spectari had attacked us just a few short months ago, we wouldn’t have had the means to defend ourselves much less be able to defeat them. We would have been as easily conquered as the Yanni were.” John seriously looked at Meredith blissfully lying beside him. “Yet because of your and Dr. Vaughn’s efforts, we had the ability to overcome them and help the Yanni too. I really do think the Lord had


a hand in providing us the means. I can remember before we succeeded in developing the device, I was remarking to Tom Johnston about whether there was a divine purpose to certain inventions. Now I truly think there is. I know the Lord knew what evil was coming our way and provided a means for us to overcome it.”

John looked into Meredith’s twinkling eyes and said, “Janus also said they want the Elders to come to Yantu to continue their lessons about the Church. Just think; we have a small part in the first interplanetary mission of the Church. I think President Alonzo really did know what we were about to accomplish.”

John felt Meredith’s soft expanded tummy. “Our baby is growing too.” He smiled.

Meredith placed her hand over his on her tummy. “Oh John! I feel so marvelous. I can’t wait to be a mother.”

John gently kissed her and cuddled with her as he continued his other thoughts. “I’m still amazed with our first step into the universe we found an inhabited system with people not that different than ourselves. Even the fierce Spectari aren’t that much different in human features, they just have a twisted mentality. But their race doesn’t lack for genius unless they stole all their technology from the conquered peoples. We may be able to liberate other planets the Spectari conquered if we can find them. I wonder if there are more civilizations out there than we ever imagined.”

Meredith said, “Maybe Hank’s security force could visit Sahara and see if he can get some information about where their conquered planets are from the stranded Spectari?”

John slid under the comforter. “Yes, I’ve thought of that possibility too. It would save us a lot of time searching for them. There may be other Spectari out there too. We’ll have to be careful. I’ll talk to Hank about it tomorrow after speaking to the General Assembly.”

At the breakfast table, John spoke to the family. “I’m going to speak to the General Assembly in a couple hours. It will be a worldwide broadcast. Meredith, will you alert the team members so they can watch if they’re available?”


“Sure, Darling. I’ll do that right after breakfast. I’m sure everyone will want to watch it.”

“I especially want to be sure the Johnston’s are invited. I’m going to recommend him to head up the new program and I want it to be a surprise to him.”

Jonathan spoke up as he finished his cereal. “I’m sure the school will have the special assembly session broadcast to all the classrooms too…”

John stood before the General Assembly in his tan Khaki shirt with the red-crested charter logo, which now also included the Space Commission logo patch with circling planets and stars Jonathan and Jenny designed. Even before he could speak, the General Assembly body gave him a standing ovation.

As they cheered, John thought back to his first appearance before them not that long ago with Dr. Vaughn and Meredith, Alex, Jonathan and Jenny. That time they had arrived via the teleport device. This time he had come by elevator from his office above. That time he had been a single journalist, representing their small scientific group. This time he appeared before them as an official member and as the UN Space Commissioner. That time the UN had been a quarreling body with little true power. Now they truly represented the united countries of the earth and were respected worldwide. That time he had put forth a bold plan to bring peace to the planet. This time they were truly reaching for the stars.

Then the U.S. Ambassador had introduced him. This time the Yanni Ambassador performed the introduction, praising him for his friendship and compassion to the Yanni people.

After a short time, John raised his hand to quiet the audience and indicate he was ready to speak. “You have all read in the news how we stopped the would-be invaders of our galaxy and rid the Spectari from the Yanni home planet. Thanks to the teleport device, we were able to accomplish this and the Yanni are truly thankful to us. They have promised to share their advanced technology with us and thus we are taking large strides in scientific achievement almost overnight.” John paused and took a sip of water from the glass at the podium.


“Dr. Vaughn tells me the Yanni are providing us a prototype of their ion energy technology which can provide clean efficient power to run our cities. Those same cities can be protected from harsh climates and environments by giant energy shields. Almost overnight we will be able to almost entirely reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. This will take some adjustments for several sectors of our society, but there are many new opportunities with the changes that should offset most disruptions.” John continued.

“The people that are involved in the power generation industry now, can be trained to build, install and distribute the new energy system, so the disruptions to people’s lives should be minor and temporary.

The audience perked up their ears at this news, knowing the drastic changes this would cause in the energy industry. It was nice to know there was a plan to deal with what society just went through with the transportation industry. They also smiled at the tremendous possibilities this new technology afforded for their home countries. Deserts could be made into sparkling cities. Many now unpleasant places could be made livable with the energy domes.

“There is something I want to talk to you about today that we can do for the Yanni to show our true friendship. When the Spectari viciously invaded the Yanni home world, they attacked some of their major cities, causing much death and destruction. We can only mourn with the Yanni for the loss of their kindred dead, but we can reach out in true friendship and help them rebuild their destroyed cities. Today I want to recommend to you a great friendship program to help the Yanni rebuild and build not only buildings on the far side of the galaxy, but also build a bond of friendship that will last through the ages.” The assembly interrupted his speech with cheering and clapping.

“Also as a part of that friendship program I want to recommend a student exchange program to help our young people grow and strengthen that bond of friendship.” There was more clapping and cheering.

“I also put before you the name of Tom Johnston, a noted


scientist and educator, and a part of the charter teleport team and Space Commission to head up the friendship exchange program. I know from personal experience, he will represent the true interests of this world body and provide great leadership.” John had briefed the broadcasters ahead of time and as Tom’s name was mentioned, Tom’s smiling picture was shown with the caption “University of Texas professor, Charter Teleport Team member, and member UN Space Commission.”

Tom Johnston was sitting with his wife, Ann, in the large island conference room with many other team members. He was enjoying John’s speech on the TV and his jaw dropped when he heard his own name mentioned. As his picture was shown, Ann lovingly looked at him and entwined her arm in his.

“Looks like you’re going to be doing some traveling, Darling,” she sweetly said.

The other team members quickly congratulated him.“There is another important item we need to address. We

have met two new alien cultures, the Yanni and the Spectari who have much scientific advancement ahead of our own society. I propose a UN Scientific Research Agency be established with authority to identify and present to this body any and all technical advancements from both the Yanni and the Spectari and any other new civilization. These scientific advancements should be the common property of all and not be used for any private commercial gain.”

As soon as John finished amidst much cheering and fanfare, the chair recognized the U.S. Ambassador, who heartily seconded John’s proposal. A vote was quickly taken and the complete proposals adopted without objection.

John thought that last proposal probably caught some of the statesmen off guard, for he was sure had they not been so caught up in the emotion of the moment, some of them would have strongly objected. He was glad to have it done and over with.…

“That space commissioner caught us by surprise. We had no chance to organize any real opposition to his proposals.” The Chinese Ambassador, Chan Li, spoke to several of his comrades at a special meeting.


“Yes, we have this new agency to deal with, but we have the ability to staff it with our own people and control it in that way,” his trusted aide wryly smiled.

Had John heard that statement, he would have groaned, well it’s still politics as usual, but he was not privy to that conversation and would not realize the consequences of it for some time.

The space commissioner sat at his desk in his UN office and pressed a button on his wrist device.

“What’s up John? Congratulations on your speech at the UN. I also think Tom is a great choice.”

“Hank when you’ve got a minute can you zip over to my office?”

In answer Hank immediately appeared standing in front of John’s desk.

John wasn’t surprised because he half expected that would be Hank’s reaction.

“Hank, I’ve been thinking, we now have quite an arsenal of space ships parked on the moon. We also still have a loose end in Hardison James we haven’t heard from yet. Can you neutralize those ships and set some booby traps so any unauthorized person couldn’t use them against us?”

“As the man in charge of security, I’ve already taken care of that. We will be alerted if anyone tries to steal those ships and the would-be thieves will wind up on Sahara with the Spectari.”

“Hank, that’s great. I’ve been thinking it’s probable the Spectari conquered other planets and have those peoples under subjection too. Do you think we could find a way to learn from the Spectari on Sahara where those conquered worlds are?”

“Yes. I’ve been thinking along those lines too. If the Yanni engineers can help us decipher them, maybe we can find out from the Spectari ship logs without having to depend on the Spectari telling us.”

“That sounds like a great idea. I hadn’t thought of that possibility.”

John pressed his wrist device for the Yanni ambassador who had an office in the UN on the floor just below John’s. “Sir


when you have time, our security chief and I have something to discuss with you.”

“That would be fine. How about in ten minutes?”“Good. We’ll be there then.”John looked at Hank and then used his wrist device again.“Hey John, how can I help you?”“Ted, what’s going on right now?”“We’re busy preparing some modules for our people to use on Yantu

while they’re helping the Yanni rebuild.”“Can you spare a few minutes?”“John I’ll be right there.” He instantly appeared, standing

beside Hank wearing his chartered khaki shirt.John smiled. “Ted, do you have some available engineers

who could work with Yanni engineers to help decipher the Spectari ship logs?”

Ted grinned. “Yes I do. I’m sure they would love to do that too.”

“Good, because we’re about to meet with Ambassador Yorbani about arranging for it.”

Minutes later they were discussing the subject in the Yanni ambassador’s office.

The somewhat bushy-haired ambassador was wearing a colorful tunic style outfit that had the Yanni world symbol displaying a purple-hued planet with two moons orbiting it.

“Ambassador, I brought Hank and Ted to see if we could arrange some assistance from some of your technicians to help decipher the Spectari ship logs?”

Ambassador Yorbani was also on the Yanni High Council and authorized to speak for the Yanni on most earth-related issues. The ambassador’s smile to some might have seemed to be a silly grin. “I am sure we can arrange that.”

“Good. Our goal is to locate the other conquered planets and see if we can free them. We’re hoping that information is contained in the ship logs or their computer banks.”

“Yes, I was just talking to Janus this morning, wondering if we could use your remarkable device to help those conquered peoples too. We will be happy to assist you in that endeavor.”


Not long after, Ted was supervising the combined translation team as they decoded the computer records from the Spectari flagship. The Yanni translation devices were a tremendous help in understanding the Spectari technical language. There were over a hundred and fifty space ships parked on the moon, but Ted’s team figured most of the information could probably be found in the flagship’s computer system. Sethanni, one of the Yanni younger technicians said, “Until we met you, to face these warships and weaponry would have been unthinkable for our people. Now with your devices, these ships seem obsolete.”

Ted said, “Yes. I didn’t think of it like that, but you’re right. We kind of leaped right past the need for space ships. You know, Sethanni, meeting your people was the first time we really knew there were other people beyond our own solar system. Until Dr. Vaughn’s invention we were practically earth-bound. I mean we had some crude space vehicles, but nothing like these monsters. To us, space was still unreachable as far as ordinary travel went. We did produce a lot of science fiction about space though. I should show you my collection of Sci-fi movies. You might enjoy them.”

“What is a movie?”Ted realized some of their terms would be just as foreign

to him.“A movie is part of our entertainment medium. The word

is short for motion picture. People write fictional stories or novels and then use film to act the story out. The motion picture industry has become very skillful with special effects, so just about anything an author can imagine, a movie can portray in some manner. I’ll invite you over to my cottage for an evening and see what you think.”…

Sometime later, Ted reported, “John, we’ve developed a list of coordinates for over a hundred planetary systems which the Spectari have conquered. How do you think we should proceed?”

John was sitting at his UN desk absently twirling his pencil while listening to Ted’s report. He still wasn’t happy all


these decisions were being thrust upon him. He just wanted to enjoy being with his family, not be the center of so much attention. He knew his real problem was he truly cared about those people out there. He cared what was happening to them and sincerely wanted to help them, but didn’t know if he could handle the pressure being thrust upon him. “Ted, I think this decision should be put before the UN and Yanni councils and see how they want to proceed. Let’s invite Janus and the S-G into the conversation.”

“John, I don’t have a problem involving the leaders, but I think if you try to involve both organizations, you are going to delay any action we take.”

John could see Hank was just as serious and concerned as him and realized the merit of his suggestion. “You’re right Hank, but I don’t think we should do this unilaterally. After all it does affect everyone.” He pressed his wrist device.…

“Yes, I agree. I think we should follow the earlier pattern and go liberate these other conquered people.” The Secretary General was pacing in front of the assembled group of John, Hank, Janus and his UN ambassador.

“I agree also Mr. Secretary. I think we can devote some of our time and resources to this excellent endeavor. I will be forever grateful for your team’s liberating our planet. Janus too stood up and faced John and Hank and Ambassador Yorbani.

“Before we start on this grand campaign, I have a request. Commissioner, we all know the universe still isn’t safe with those warlike people out there. My people would like to request if your Security Chief, Mr. Travis, could help us set up a similar security arrangement for our planet as you have done for yours? Last time, we were caught very off-guard by the Spectari invaders. We were and are a peace-loving people and never thought in terms of an invasion and so had no previous need for a planetary defense system.” Janus spoke to John almost in a pleading manner. “Though our scanning technology is superior to yours, we do not have the experience your people have and it would be a great help if your security chief could help us design a defense plan.”


Hank smiled at Janus. “That should be a piece of cake with your ultra scanners. I’ll be happy to help. After all, we’re in this together. You have freely provided us your scanning and communications technology, which has helped us build our defense net.”

“And you have freely provided us with teleport devices,” Janus smiled.

“When we combine the two, we should be just about invincible.”…

“Qwan Chu, I have invited you here to discuss a very important matter.” Chan Li spoke to the elderly former province leader. They were sitting cross-legged at a table in the UN Chinese ambassador’s office enjoying afternoon tea. “You have a granddaughter which has come to our attention.” The slender yet nimble UN Ambassador had also been a province leader who had served his superior well and so had earned this opportunity to further serve his country. He was a sharp read of character and took full advantage of others talents. He was also very much into history, especially that of his own country and yearned to go back to those times when his country was seen as a great power in the then known world.

“You speak of Kim?”“Yes, she is very brilliant and has distinguished herself

well. We wish to appoint her to be vice chair of the new UN Science Research Agency. Qwan, what is going on in the rest of the universe is a fantastic opportunity for our people. We can reach out and establish whole planetary systems for our people. Our people can be great again and establish new dynasties!” The ambassador’s eyes shined as he envisioned the future possibilities. He turned those fiery eyes on Qwan Chu. “We wish your granddaughter to help us obtain some of the alien technology for our own people so we can accomplish this great undertaking.”…

“This is Horabsana answering a distress call.” As the far away sounding voice came over the Spectari comm unit speaker, the


stranded Spectari cheered in relief. Many of them were weary of dealing with Sahara’s harsh and brutal climate.

“This is Commander Rasu-sen of the Spectari Fleet. Can you locate us with this signal?”

“You mean you don’t know where you are?”“That is correct. We were forced to abandon our ship in an

uncharted area.”“I will have my chartographer work with our comm officer to

locate your position.” After a few long drawn out minutes, the voice answered, “You are hundreds of light years from the nearest Spectari outpost. How did you get so far astray?”

“That is a mystery we are determined to solve. We have encountered some new enemies with some amazing technology we must obtain. How soon can some ships be sent? We have enough stranded crew to fill at least twenty passenger vessels, but if you can’t rescue us all at once, at least send a ship for me as soon as possible.”….

Hank looked out Janus’ office window on Yantu, noting the Earth-Yanni teams working together to rebuild the destroyed city. Janus had commandeered one of the few standing whole buildings left. This building was only three stories tall. Hank learned the Yanni did not normally build tall buildings and their architecture was very simple yet very functional. It was strange seeing this alien planet with its deep orange sun that cast a pale yellow glow on everything. I can now understand how the Yanni’s complexion is so pale. Though Yantu’s sun is larger than Sol, its radiation is half as intense. As he viewed the panorama of an alien world before him, he noted; the Yanni’s ground transportation is hovercraft of an unusual design, oval in nature with nary a tire or wheel in sight. Our scientists will probably spend thousands of hours examining this alien environment, given the opportunity, he thought.

“Here are the star charts you requested. I‘ve marked the range of our scanners here for you.”

Hank eagerly scanned the Yanni-produced charts of this part of the universe. He was surprised at how much they


mirrored earth’s astronomy charts except for the foreign symbols. Though they were unfamiliar to him, his earpiece aided him in translating and understanding their meaning. “With that kind of sensor range, I propose you deploy sensors here, there, and there.” Hank pointed across the star charts. “That will cover that approach and the middle sensors will provide some overlap for the other two. Then follow that same deployment pattern with the rest of the sectors.”

“Yes, that should warn us of anyone approaching this part of the galaxy. Now we need a defense plan in case the Spectari find a way to neutralize or avoid our sensors.”

“That shouldn’t be too difficult. Simply set your androids as before, strip any would-be invaders of their weapons and comm devices, and identify other out-of-the-way uninhabited planets to maroon them on. I would then take their ships, park them on a far moon, and severely cripple them.

“But if the Spectari do return, they may figure out how to handle our androids,” Janus anxiously said.

“So far no one has interfered with the teleport technology, but if they do, we will have plan B.”

“What is Plan B?”“The I-model,” Hank simply said.…


Chapter Eleven

Other Happenings

While the stranded Spectari warriors waited to be rescued, Fleet Commander Cho-sen, Commander Rasu-sen and his officers worked on their battle plans to go against their new mostly unknown enemies.

“We know how they defeated us this time and we must find a way to thwart them.” Rasu-sen stated. “They caught us by surprise and used their androids against us. Our shields were up yet they beamed aboard without triggering any alarms. We need to modulate our shields and set some kind of trap for them if they still get through. I would certainly like to find out how their device works. We were not able to detect any power usage whatsoever.”

“When that one ship fired on the android though, it destroyed itself and the whole ship. We would need to find a way to neutralize any destructive device it contains,” Masori sat around their evening campfire under the light of the two Saharan moons, noting that even when the giant sun was down, the temperature didn’t seem to drop that much. Masori secretly was happy someone was out there opposing the Spectari. Though he was stranded with the Spectari, he longed to return to his family and wished things could be as before. Will the Yanni and their allies be able to free my home planet?

One of the ship captains sitting around the fire asked Rasu-sen, “How long will it be before we are rescued?”

“I couldn’t get a precise time. They only said they were working on it.”…


The lone figure quietly took an old familiar place at the corner tavern bar where he had often sat after a long day’s work before he joined the deceased Heinrich’s bent team. He softly nudged the person next to him who recognized him in astonishment.

“Hardy! What are you doing here? I hear the government’s looking all over the place for you.” Blond curly headed Clint Everson hesitantly hunched down and looked around the room as if someone might arrest him just for talking to the wanted man.

Hardison James looked straight ahead at the unfamiliar bartender and placed his order before turning to his old office mate with a sly grin. “Yeah, I figured they would be, but I found me a place far away from here they’ll never think to look. How are things at the office?”

“Very slow. They fired half the staff when they sold the company. I thought I would be gone too, but they needed me to replace you. What’s happening with you anyway? I’ve had a dozen government officials hounding me. Asking me all sorts of questions about you.”

Hardy looked at Clint with a wide grin. “I found me a real sweet deal you aint goin to believe.”

Clint took a sip of his drink and said, “Try me.”Hardy pulled up his sleeve and displayed his modified wrist

device with a grin.“I’ve seen those, but they’re pretty expensive. Why buy

one when they’ve got all these free public platforms now?”“This one’s special.” Hardy spoke almost in a whisper. “It

can take me anywhere.”Clint leaned over real close and said, “What do you mean

by ‘anywhere’?”Hardy pushed a button on his wrist device and showed

Clint the digital display. “Those coordinates are over a hundred light years from here and I’ve been there.”

“Wow! What’s that far away from here?”“A very special planet that I’m sure with our technology, we

can become top dogs.”…


“Chirp…chirp…”John was sitting with Meredith on their cottage sofa,

looking at sonogram pictures. Their gynecologist had suggested they go ahead and have the sonogram to be sure the baby was developing right. He looked at the display on his wrist device and pressed a button. “Hi Hank. What’s up?”

“A search satellite’s just detected one of the stolen exploration modules in Siberia. We’re preparing to send a security retrieval team there now.”

“Hank wait a minute! Let’s think about this. Our goal is to capture Hardison, not just the modules. If he’s not there, this will tip him off. Why not repeat what we did with Heinrich? Send someone with an I-model to capture him now or as soon as he shows up. We can then retrieve the module.”

“You’re right. That sounds like a better plan. I‘ll let Victor handle it and notify you of the results. Also, the combined planetary rescue team is ready to launch an operation to free a couple of those identified conquered planets from the Spectari. We’ll send the Spectari to join their brethren on Sahara and bring their space fleets to join the others on the moon.”

“Great! I will be eagerly waiting to hear. Keep me updated.”

“Hardison is one of Heinrich’s henchmen who escaped isn’t he?” Meredith anxiously said.

“Yes, but let’s not stop what we’re doing now.” John held the sonogram pictures up and said, “Let’s decide on a name for our daughter.”

“Can we help too?” Jenny and Jonathan had come into the room and were leaning over the sofa eyeing the pictures with Jonathan looking over Jenny’s shoulder.

“Yes we can all discuss it, but Meredith and I get the final choice.” John looked back at them with a broad smile on his face.

Jonathan teasingly said, “from the size of her picture I think we should name her Little Bit.”…


“That sounds great Hardy. What do you think about all these Aliens from Yantu?”

“Aliens? What Aliens?”“That’s right, you’ve been gone. Well when the Space

Commission went exploring, they found some space people who look different but seem fairly decent. But the Yanni had some mean enemies who had conquered their home planet. I don’t know all the details. They haven’t told us much, but it seems the Space Commission teamed up with them and defeated the bad guys, the Spectari, fairly easily. Come to my pad and I’ll show you the newspapers that tell all about it.”

At Clint’s single apartment, Hardison eagerly read over the news he had missed. He saw the pictures of the Yanni, surprised at how human they looked, and learned how the Space Commission and the UN were welcoming them. He noted there was some talk about other Spectari and some other conquered planets being searched for. He also interestingly read about the translation devices the Yanni had supplied and some other advanced technology. He carefully digested the Dallas News article written by the space commissioner with Carolyn Barnes’ byline telling about the defeat of the Spectari.

Hardy folded the papers up and turned to Clint. “I wonder if I can get hold of some of those Yanni translator devices? They could be a big help on Venestra. How’d you like to come with me and be my assistant? I can promise you everything you can imagine and more.”

“Hardy, if only a portion of what you said is true, you got yourself a deal. When do we leave?” Clint spoke as he handed Hardison a cold beverage from his fridge and sat on the sofa.

“I’ve got a few things to take care of first. After I first stole the NASA laboratory equipment and modules, I made a jump to Mars and familiarized myself with the NASA computer programs. I began calculating star system locations and zipped to several of them in the exploration module before I found an earth-like planet in the Vega System.” Hardy took a few sips from his glass before he continued. “Venestra is similar to early 18th century earth in scientific and sociological advancement,


which gives us a huge advantage. I’m particularly interested in acquiring the Yanni translator devices because I’ve been slowly learning the Venestran language with the help of two local women, but the translators sure would speed the process up for both of us. We also need to acquire some of the Yanni technology, especially their energy shield if we can.”

“Hardy, you sure don’t ask for much. Just how do you plan on getting all that stuff?”

Hardy gave a big grin and hoisted his brew. “The same way I get everything, with stealth and cunning.”…

Victor invisibly appeared in the stolen module and finding it empty, diligently searched it. He checked the module’s teleport controls but it didn’t display the current or previous locations because Hardison had used his wrist device rather than the module controls. Victor made himself comfortable but ever ready to respond when Hardison might appear. With plenty of time on his hands, he pondered the situation. With all we’ve got now, I wonder why someone would think he had to steal this technology. It’s plain to see it won’t be long before most people will be able to go wherever they want in the universe. I still marvel at how fast things have changed for me. Just a short time ago I was just a cop on the beat in Dallas, trying to provide for my family. Now I’m part of one of the most elite security organizations on the planet with the ability to travel anywhere.…

“It’s kind of strange, being so far from earth and yet the starry sky doesn’t look that different.” Hank spoke to Sethanni while admiring the breathtaking view from the specially equipped module window.

The Yanni-earth combined liberation team zipped to a star system in the Orion Belt. They had selected the larger moon orbiting Zenos, the Spectari-conquered planet they selected to liberate first. They learned the local name of the planet by monitoring their communications. The universal translator was a great help in this effort.

“Yes, I thought the same thing looking at the sky


from your moon.” Sethanni spoke while he manned the comm console. “I‘ve set the listening devices and we’re now recording and identifying coordinate locations of any Spectari communications on and around Zenos.”

“We need to be sure we locate all of them so we can rid this area of space of the Spectari invaders. This planet doesn’t seem to have any space capability. Without any type of planetary defense, the Zenons were an easy prize for the invaders. They couldn’t have put up much resistance.”…

“Xerxes, your people are too slow. Am I going to have to use the neuron whip again?”

“Please no! We’re doing the best we can. We are only simple farmers, not miners.”

“You will do as you are told!” Sanno-sen raised the dreaded weapon as if to strike. “Send your people back into the new mineshaft tunnel now! Your shift is not over yet.”

Reluctantly, Xerxes, who had been a borough chief before the invasion, motioned for the tired group of his fellow borough mates to return to work after only a few minutes rest. He had clung to his post while others deserted theirs when the Spectari attacked their world. He had stayed to do his job and was caught in the Spectari roundup of those who were left in his town. He had witnessed their brutal savagery as the conquerors reacted with swift horrible and usually fatal punishment with their devastating energy weapons at the least sign of resistance.

The Zenons distinguishing physical human characteristic was their lack of ear lobes and reddish skin. The lack of ear lobes didn’t seem to affect their hearing though. As the conquered laborers slowly resumed their backbreaking work, Sanno-sen spoke into his comm device. “Home base, this is Sanno-1 calling. It’s extremely hot down here. When is my relief due?”

“Hey Sanno-sen. This is Lt. Lisko-sen we’re sending your relief shortly at the next shift change.”

Though beaten, the Zenon spirit to resist was still strong. Xerxes used coded hand signals to the rest of the group. Lars, the largest of the group was poised to go into action when


Xerxes gave the signal. Xerxes sensed Lars desire to attack the enemy and quickly signaled the time was not right yet and for them to quietly obey. Xerxes knew before they could attack their enemy they had to be able to remove the neuron whip or their efforts to overcome them would be fruitless and cause more death.

“I just identified two more locations on the eastern part of the larger continent.” Sethanni spoke while he set the headphones down. “They’re forcing the natives to mine their Beryllium ore for them just like on Yantu and are being just as vicious toward them. I hope you are planning to take some action soon.”

“Yes. Let’s listen another full rotation to see if any other Spectari groups are identified. Where we’re going to send them they’ll wish they had ore to mine and something to mine it with.” Hank was reviewing some of the other Spectari communications they had intercepted. “It looks like there are only two Spectari warships orbiting the planet and two space freighters to haul the ore they’re mining. When we act, we should take care of the warships first.”

“These are pictures of the main campus of Yorgasen University in our port city, Tulana. Luckily it was spared from the destructive vengeance of the vicious Spectari.” Yanna provided the commentary describing the video pictures now being broadcast worldwide from the Dallas TV station. This was a special broadcast encouraging youth volunteers to participate in a Yanni-Earth student exchange program. Not that much encouragement was needed. Everyone seemed to be excited at the opportunity.

“The buildings look very spacious and inviting,” Betty Rogers observed to the TV audience. “How are students selected for the University?”

“They are selected based on their current academic standing and the recommendation of their current professors. Only about one third of all applicants are accepted annually.”

“Is there a special entrance exam?”“No, but a student who is not accepted can continue at another


university and reapply later when they have improved their academic standing.”

“How would you expect foreign exchange students be selected.”“We have provided your United Nations Education Commission

with our entrance criteria and they will select the best qualified candidates.”

“How many exchange students can you accommodate?”“This first term we are opening the program up to two hundred

students. We already have twice that number of Yanni students who want to study at Earth institutions of higher learning.…”

“Look, Hardy. This is a live broadcast from the Dallas TV station. If we hurry, maybe we can catch them there when they leave.”

“Not likely. They will probably just teleport directly from the studio.” The two had returned to Clint’s apartment to retrieve some personal items. Using the device on Earth was fairly easy because it was synched to the GPS system. The real trick was using it without being detected. He didn’t have the details on how the teleport team had defeated Heinrich, but to be able to do so, he knew they had to be very smart, so he was being extra careful. He avoided all public platforms. The two renegades had decided to finish the drinks in his fridge and turned on the TV.

“Well I just thought we might check it out and be prepared if they do come outside,” Clint took a swig of his brew as he watched the program.

Hardy sat there watching the live broadcast for a bit more and then said, “Okay. We’ll give it a try, but I will be surprised if it works.”…

Meredith and Yanna were walking out of the Dallas television studio. “That was kind of exciting knowing I was speaking to your whole planet,” Yanna spoke as they stood at the curb waiting to cross the street on this sunny afternoon. They were planning on eating at the nearby restaurant Betty recommended.

Suddenly two men appeared behind them and without


warning, threw ropes around them, pinning their hands to their side, and the four of them instantly disappeared!

Betty was standing at the front of the station, videotaping Meredith and Yanna. She was planning on doing a follow-on piece about how well the two planet’s cultures were blending together. She fortunately caught the kidnapping on her mini-cam. She instantly used her personal wrist device. “John, Meredith and Yanna have been kidnapped! I have it on tape!”

John immediately appeared by Betty’s side. “What happened?”

Betty nervously replayed the recorded images and showed him the kidnapping. John recognized one of the men as Hardison James from the pictures of him plastered on every police station bulletin board and broadcast worldwide.

John pressed his Visa keypad. “Janus, we have a major problem. Yanna and Meredith have been kidnapped. Can you please come here?”

Instantly Janus was at their side and Betty replayed the kidnapping for him.

“Betty, not a word of this to anyone until we have a chance to rescue them!” John pressed his wrist device and noted Hank’s coordinates. “I’ll be right back.” Since the display revealed Hank was out of comm range, John zipped to the coordinates and instantly appeared beside Hank on Zeno’s moon.

“John, What are y…”“Hank we need you now!” John grabbed Hank’s arm and

pressed Return on his Visa.Sethanni startlingly watched the two disappear, wondering

what was so critical they couldn’t say goodbye. He resumed the stealth listening of the planetary activity, hoping John would quickly return.

John and Hank instantly appeared beside Janus and Betty.As Betty replayed the kidnapping, John said, “One of them

is Hardison James. I don’t recognize the other one.”Hank said, “Let’s go to T-Base.” They each pressed their

Visas and were instantly standing by the central console where John Royston Sr. was sitting and Beverly Garvey was standing


nearby. “We have a major problem. Mr. Royston, see if you can locate Meredith and Yanna’s coordinates and alert the security staff immediately!”

John’s dad immediately began working the keyboard, but was so nervous he kept fumbling with the keys. Beverly smoothly took over. “They’re not within our detector range or their devices have been disabled or destroyed!” Beverly anxiously kept working the keyboard, trying all possibilities.

Soon the security staff started appearing and Hank briefed them on the situation.

“Chirp…chirp!”Yes, Mr. President?“Hank, I understand Meredith and Yanna have been kidnapped.

Is there anything we can do?”“We’re doing all we can now. They’ve been taken out of our

detector range and we’re working the problem. I will get back to you sir when I know more.”

“If they’re out of our range that means they could be anywhere!” John frustratingly said.

“They may be out of your range, but possibly not out of ours. Let’s go to our flagship on the moon.” Janus spoke quietly but determinedly.

Instantly they were on board the Yanni flagship. Janus’ main crew arrived seconds later. One of them had retrieved Sethanni from Zenos’ moon. He immediately took his station at the comm console where he relieved a young Yanni yeoman and began methodically working it. Minutes later he relayed his findings to the group.

“I can find no trace of them on the long range scanners,” he disappointingly said.

“Why would someone do such a thing? Are these kidnappings so common on your planet?” Janus emotionally inquired of Hank. “I thought you were a civilized people, not barbarians. Jantor, take us to the outer planet and we will scan from there.”

“Janus, you can use your wrist device to zip us there in just a second,” Hank pointed out and continued, “Sir, I am very sorry


for this. We have a rogue person who stole some equipment and we’ve been looking for him for a while now. We laid a trap for him, but so far we’ve been unsuccessful.”

As the Yanni flagship orbited Jupiter, their scans were also unsuccessful.

“Hank, what about Victor in the stolen module? Is he still there?” John anxiously said. He and Janus were standing beside Hank near the console.

“Yes! That’s our chance! Let’s return to T-Base immediately!” They zipped the ship back to its place on the moon and then to T-base.

“Beverly, please see if you can locate Victor!” Hank leaned over her shoulder at the console.

Beverly immediately pressed the console and read the digital display. “He is still with the stolen module in Siberia.”

Hank pressed the ‘talk button’ on the console. “Victor, what’s going on there?”

“Absolutely nothing sir. No one has shown up here.”“Well stay there and be on the alert. Meredith and Yanna

have been kidnapped. We have the incident on tape and know it is Hardison James’ work.”

“Yes sir. I will check in frequently.”“We have a chance then!” Hank said. “They obviously

didn’t use the module to go wherever they went, but with Victor there we still have a chance to locate them.”

“What is this “I-Model”?”“Sir, It is a special model which causes invisibility when

used. We have kept it very secret so not even our leaders know about it. It is the one advantage we have right now.” Hank now sounded more confident than just moments before. The whole team was assembling to assist in the rescue effort. Dr. Vaughn and Alex were both at the console now working with Beverly.…

“These are what I was hoping for.” Hardison reached up to Meredith’s ear and reached in. Meredith yanked her head from side to side to no avail. Hardy easily retrieved the Yanni translation device. Clint did the same to Yanna.


“These will be most helpful on this planet and now we have two more teleport devices. That should make it easier to steal their shield technology” Hardy took off Meredith’s Velcro-attached wrist device and Clint did the same with Yanna’s.

“You won’t get away with this! They will track you down,” Meredith vehemenantly said while she continued to ineffectively struggle with her binding. Yanna was moaning over the tightness of the bindings, which were causing rope burns on her tiny wrists.

“I think not my dear. We are now over a hundred light-years from earth and I know they have no way to detect us this far away. You will be our guests for as long as we want.” Hardison wickedly smiled at his captives.…

“All the new security we put in the devices only works if they are in range of our detectors or if one of our own devices was used to transport them. The kidnappers used their stolen modified devices so the system has no way of knowing where they are.” Hank spoke with feelings of obvious frustration and helplessness. The entire teleport team and Hank’s security staff were trying to work the problem of identifying where Meredith and Yanna could possibly be. They had been working more than 48 hours with only short breaks for sleep.

“What I can’t understand is why is that stolen module in Siberia? Why wasn’t it used in the kidnapping? Does it have another purpose?” John posed the questions to spark ideas from the team members.

“Maybe Hardison realized we could detect it and used it for a decoy,” Alex Stanton offered.

“I disagree,” Ted Olmstead said. “I think the fact it’s in an isolated spot like Siberia indicates he believes it is undetectable there. We should rotate the security staff so we constantly have someone there if he does decide to use it.”

“You’re right, Ted. Besides it’s the only connection we have that we can use right now,” Dr. Vaughn said.

“Dr. Vaughn, can you modify a device so if that module is moved, a timer would be tripped and automatically transmit us


the coordinates of its destination?” Hank mentioned the step, as a positive action they could take while still trying every other avenue they could possibly think of.

“Yes, Hank. We can certainly do that. Alex, will you work with the technicians to install a modified device?”

“Yes, sir. Right away.” Alex motioned for a few techies to join him at their lab.

“Only send people with I-models to install your special detection devices and make the devices as stealthy and hidden as possible.” John anxiously said, “We don’t want to spook him in any way.”

“Well, there is something else we can do than just hoping they will show up. I am going to take ours and the Spectari space fleet and put crews in them then we can teleport them to different sectors of space. That will multiply our detection range and hopefully locate them,” Janus deliberately said.

“That’s a great idea, Janus. We’ll add some of our people with each ship too,” John quickly added. “That way we can combine our technology and knowledge in the hunt.”…

Jonathan, Yorgi and Chad teleported to the Utah base from the island. “Is there any way we can extend the detection area?” Jonathan asked Yorgi.

“I thought I might find you here,” John Royston Sr. said as he appeared beside the console. “Are you three trying to work your magic to find them?”

“It’s not magic, Grandpa, it’s science. I’m trying to pick Yorgi’s brain to help us find his mom and Meredith.”

“Well, maybe I can help too?”“Sure Grandpa, we’re happy to have your help. We’re

trying to figure out a way to detect either Meredith or Yanna’s wrist devices since we know we can’t detect the stolen ones.”

“That’s an idea, son. They probably haven’t had time to modify theirs unless they just destroyed them.”

“I doubt that,” Chad said. “I’ll bet that’s the very reason they were kidnapped; for those devices.”

“You’re probably right young man. No telling what they’re up to now.”…

Chapter Twelve

Venestra

“Hello, Sir James. I have missed our language lessons,” Safra said as Hardison appeared at her doorstep. Would you like some mocha?” She was amazed when she heard Sir James speak to her plainly in her own language.

“My dear Safra, I have missed our lessons also. Now that I understand better I can ask you the questions I need answered. Who is the leader of your village?”

“Chief Olafsen is our village leader. He is the Elder of our village. How did you learn our language so quickly? You could barely understand simple phrases before.”

“And what about your land?” Hardy ignored her own questions. “Do you have a leader for the whole land?”

“Yes. Our village is part of Venecia.”“ What is his name and where is Venecia’s leader located?”“First Citizen Morgan is in the capitol city, Vladstad, on

the far coast. It is over a hundred leagues from here and many days travel time.”

“Do you have a map of Venecia?”“Yes. It is over here in the drawer.” Safra stepped over and

opened the drawer.“Thank you.” Hardy snatched the map from her hands

before she could even fully open it.He looked at the map and saw where Vladstad was on the

east coast of the continent, amazed how easy the translator even helped him understand their writing.

While Hardison lacked an available GPS satellite system


as on earth, he did have the laser-guided instruments in the stolen laboratory module and so could come close to his desired destinations with just a small amount of information. Now that he could understand the language, he decided to act more openly. He startled Safra when he wickedly smiled, pressed his modified wrist device, and disappeared.

Clint was smiling, watching the two women tied together squirming on the bed. He almost jumped when Hardy appeared beside him.

“I know where the capitol city of this land is now. With this device we should be able to take what we want and command who we want.”

“What are you going to do with them?” Clint pointed to the bed.

“Nothing for the moment. I want to initiate my plan for taking over this whole planet. They can wait. They aren’t going anywhere. Let’s use the locator equipment to find these coordinates and go there.” Hardy pointed on the map. After some effort with the laser locator, they had the coordinates. The two walked over to the bed and looked down at their prisoners as they squirmed in their bindings. “We’ll take good care of you when we return,” Hardy wickedly smiled. He pressed his Visa and the two disappeared.…

“Yorgi, can you pilot one of the space ships on the moon?” Jonathan was having no success getting the Utah computer to locate Meredith or Yanna’s Visas. He believed it was because the villains had taken their hostages beyond the detection range.

“Yes, I probably can. I can fly a Yanni speeder and Dad gave me a tour of the Spectari flagship on your moon after we captured them. The controls are not that dissimilar to our own scout ships.”

“What are you getting at, son?”“Grandpa, I’m thinking we could teleport a ship around

to different areas of the cosmos and use the Yanni sensors to multiply our scanning area.”

“I like that idea, son. It sure beats doing nothing. Yorgi, do you think you can help do that?”


“I believe so. The Spectari instrumentation isn’t that different than ours and the translators will help me with what I don’t know.”

“I want to help to,” Chad eagerly said“Well let’s go do it then. We’ll zip to T-base first and see

what progress they’re making.”John Royston Sr. walked up to the T-Base console with

Jonathan, Yorgi and Chad following Him. “Hi Beverly. Have we located them yet?”

“Oh Mr. Royston, I am so sorry about all this. Jonathan and Yorgi, we’re doing everything we can think of to locate them. Right now the team is organizing combined search crews for the space ships and they’re going to zip to different parts of the galaxy to try to locate them. Hi son.”

“Boys, if we’re not too late maybe we can join them in the search. Beverly can you zip us to the Yanni Flagship?”

Beverly looked at her console. “Oh, you’ve just missed them. They just left. The search teams are supposed to be reporting in every thirty minutes.” Checking in at those distances meant either zipping someone or a vid-disc back to T-base. That is the only way everyone could keep updated in anywhere close to real-time.

“Are there any ships left on the moon?” Yorgi asked Beverly.

She consulted the console. “Only a couple of Spectari scout ships are left.”

“Can you give us the coordinates of one of them?”As Beverly complied, Yorgi said, “Let’s go see what kind of

sensor instruments the scout ships have.”Beverly watched the three boys and Mr. Royston don

environmental suits. She wanted to ask Chad not to go with them because she didn’t want her son in harm’s way, but she knew to say something would hurt his teenage ego so she held her tongue and kept silent.

They set their devices and zipped to the selected scout ship. Chad noted the inside of the ship was no larger than a school bus. It did have a pilot’s chair, a comm and navigation


station though. Chad took his seat at the comm station and Jonathan sat at the navigation station. Mr. Royston stood beside Jonathan. Yorgi powered up the ship’s systems and adjusted the atmosphere settings so they could remove their helmets. Chad was excited to be a part of this and stood over Jonathan’s shoulder to learn what he could.

“The scanning equipment’s sensors are not as powerful as the cruisers, but still should allow us quite a bit of space to examine,” Yorgi said.

“Okay let’s do it!” Jonathan excitedly said. He used his wrist directory and pulled up what he thought was a random location; not realizing it came from the list of Spectari captured planets.…

Hank had split the search teams up to go to different parts of the universe to scan for any signs of Meredith and Yanna’s wrist devices. Hank was on the Yanni flagship with Janus. As soon as they arrived in a star system, the combined team would use the ship’s sensors to scan the region. While they did this, the information was being stored in the ship’s databanks for future reference. The data would be correlated later to refine their star charts. ‘I am amazed at the vastness and diverseness of the different parts of the universe we live in.”…

“There his place is!” Hansdorf pointed to the odd-looking building. The architecture matched nothing he was familiar with. “Doesn’t it look strange?” He had silently followed Sir James one afternoon, and found where the stranger stayed when he wasn’t with Safra or his mother, but he had been afraid to go inside. Serina stood beside her young son in the mid-morning daylight.

“You’re right, Hans. It does look very strange,” she whispered. They both quietly crept up to a bubble window on one side of the domed building.

Hans had heard his mother and Safra talking about the stranger. How he suddenly understood and spoke the language and how he had mysteriously disappeared with a sinister-


looking grin on his face. “Mother, I know where he lives. It is in a very strange looking building. Like nothing around here.”

Now they looked through the bubble window. They saw the interior furniture. “I don’t think we should go in, Hans. He might come back anytime.” She spoke as Hans crept to what looked to be a very unusual looking door.

Meredith and Yanna still lay tied back-to-back together and gagged on the bed just below the window. When Meredith heard the strange whispered voices just outside the window, she used all her strength to twist their legs towards the lamp on the side table.…

Hardy and Clint appeared in Vladstad on a busy street at about midday according to the bright sun overhead. Hardy noted the city was just a step above being more advanced than Serina’s country village.

“Good sir, Can you tell me where we can find First Citizen Morgan?” Hardy had stopped a pedestrian dressed in simple clothes. The businessman was not surprised at their question, noting their strange garb.

“The First Citizen is in the Government House three blocks down that street.” The man pointed the direction down the nearest cross street. “But you probably won’t get to see him without an appointment.”

“Thank you.” Hardy quickly followed the directions while Clint hurried to keep up. “We should have this leader eating out of our hands shortly,” Hardy said as they neared the very ornately designed tall Government House draped with colorful flags.…

Serina heard the crashing noise just inside the window. She looked in and saw Meredith and Yanna, gagged and tied up on the bed, looking very frightened. “Hans! Come quickly.” Serina anxiously motioned to her son.

Hans looked in and saw the scene. “We must help them, mother.” He rushed to the door, but could not understand how to open it. The latch would not turn. Hans hurriedly


worked with it, trying all kinds of ways to make the handle turn. In frustration he leaned against the panel beside the door. Suddenly he heard a hissing noise and the doorway slid into the wall! He stepped in and saw a second door. He took a step toward it. The outside door smoothly slid shut. Hansdorf was suddenly frightened but after a few seconds, the second door automatically opened, sliding into the wall. Hans rushed in and to the two women. Serina watched through the bubble window as her son untied their gags and then the rope around them.

“Thank you. Thank you.” Meredith said as she rubbed her wrists to get circulation again while Yanna stood up and did the same. Their words were only noises to Hans.

Hans rushed to the door to let his mother in, but he couldn’t open it. He looked at the two women and said, “Please help me!”

Meredith noted his predicament and smiled gratefully while she walked over to him. She pressed her hands on the wall button. The door slid back with a swish. Hans rushed into the entryway and looked at the outer door as the inner door slid shut. Seconds later, it opened and he rushed to his mother’s side. “They speak differently. Almost like Sir James. I don’t understand them.”

Serina watched as Meredith and Yanna opened the door and using hand signals, invited them inside. When they walked in and the doors magically shut, Meredith said, “I know you can’t understand us, but we are very grateful for your help. I am going to use the controls to take us to get a translator.” Meredith motioned to the recessed wall panel.

She went to the wall panel and pushed a button, causing the panel to open, displaying the teleport controls. Serina and Hans looked on in wonder. Meredith quickly found the ‘Return’ button and pressed it. They were instantly at the module’s previous location on Mars. It was very dark outside and Serina and Hans clutched each other when they realized everything outside had suddenly changed.

“I am not sure where we are, but I hope we’re within range of our comm relays now.” She pressed a button on the control


panel and anxiously said, “This is Meredith Royston. Can anyone hear me?”

“This is Tyler Baxter at Houston Control. We hear you and have your location on Mars now. We are patching you through to T-Base.”

“John! Hank! Are you there?”“Meredith, this is Beverly Garvey. I am contacting John and

Hank now. They should be here shortly. Are you alright?”“Yes, Beverly we are thanks to some new friends.”John, Janus and Hank suddenly appeared beside Beverly.“Here they are now,” Beverly happily exclaimed.“John, are you there?”“Yes! We’re here with the whole team and Janus. Are you and

Yanna okay?”“Yes, sweetheart. We’re okay. Can you come get us now?”Instantly John, Hank and Janus appeared. Janus wrapped

Yanna in his arms and held her to him. John did the same with Meredith while Hank looked inquiringly at Serina and Hans.

“These two rescued us. We need translators for them.”Janus spoke into his wrist device and Sethanni appeared

with four translators. Meredith took two and handed one to Serina. Yanna did the same with Hans. Meredith had them watch her insert hers in her ear. They hesitantly inserted theirs.

“I am John Royston and I want to thank you for rescuing my wife, Meredith, and this is Janus and Yanna.”

“We are glad to meet you. I am Serina and this is my son, Hans. Can you tell us where we are and how we got here?” Serina hesitantly smiled at them as she clung to Hans. “We are from Venestra.”

“We are going to take this module to our home planet, Earth. Then we will return you to your world,” John said as he stepped to the control panel and made sure the previous coordinates were saved.

From Houston, they teleported the group to T-Base. Everyone cheered when they arrived. Jenny rushed up to hug Meredith, as did Kara to Yanna. They then turned to Serina and Hans who were taking in all the events with wonder.


“We want to welcome you to our home planet, Earth. Please come and have some refreshment with us while my husband arranges to return you to your home.”

“Thank you. We would like that. How far are we from Venestra?” Serina inquired as she marveled at the huge underground installation.

“Your home world is over a hundred light years from here,” Jenny smiled. She had peeked at the coordinates on the console.

Hans politely and almost shyly smiled at Jenny, noting how pretty she was.

Jenny realized how frightening an experience this must be for them. She smiled back.

“Where are Jonathan and Yorgi?” Meredith asked.“They took one of the scout ships with Grandpa and Chad

to go look for you after the rest of the fleet left. As each crew checks in I will let them know you are safely back,” Beverly said as she sat at the controls. She suddenly realized she had not given the same reporting instructions to the boys and Mr. Royston. She hoped they knew to check in frequently so she could update them.

“We need to return them without spooking Hardison,” Hank told his security team and John. “I think we should return the stolen module back to Venestra with a couple of invisible agents to take them by surprise when they return.”

Okay. I will return these two while you take care of Hardison and whoever he has with him,” John stated as if it was a simple matter of catching the kidnappers.

“When you are ready, I will return you to your home,” John addressed Serina and Hans as they sat around the break room sipping sodas.

“Dear, they were so helpful to us, can we give them a tour of our island before they go back?” Meredith asked.

“Sure, sweetheart. You can do that while we take care of Hardison.” John turned to Serina.

Serina, do you know what Hardison was doing on your planet?”


“I only know what Safra told me about their last conversation. She said Sir James wanted to know who the leader of our land is and where he lived. She said after she told him and showed him on a map, he just wickedly grinned and then disappeared.”

“Who is your leader?’“First Citizen Morgan. He lives in Vladstad. It’s a city over

a hundred leagues from our village and is near our far coast.”The stolen module reappeared in its former place not

too distant from the village; only this time there were three invisible security agents inside, including Hank.…

“D’arcy, when Sir Patrick arrives, please ask him to setup an appointment with me. I need to talk with him today or tomorrow.” First Citizen Morgan spoke to his secretary. When she left the room, the hefty and almost rotund head-of-state returned to examining the disturbing document in front of him. A scientist was speculating there might be life on the distant planets their observatories had recently discovered. The chief executive thought that article would spark much controversy in their society. He had spoken with the head of the Vladstad Solarium last night and asked him to drop by his office today to discuss the matter. He thought, Here we are probably about to be in the middle of another war and now I have to deal with this issue of make-believe people on other planets.

First Citizen Morgan sat reading the document at his desk when he was startled at the two men who suddenly appeared standing before him just two feet in front of his desk. He alarmingly noted their strange garb and pale features. He knew they did not come in via the door. He was sure he would have noticed their entrance. He also noticed their different complexion and hairstyles. “You’re not from around here, are you?”

“Very perceptive, First Citizen,” Hardy wryly grinned at him. “We’re here to offer you a proposition.”

“And what might that be?” the chief executive uneasily straightened his bulk in his chair.


“Very simple. We’ll let you live if you support me in the next countrywide election.…”

“Victor, I want you outside in case they appear there and sense something is wrong and don’t come inside.” Hank spoke as they invisibly sat at the table. “Frank, we will strip them of their devices and zip them to Sahara with the rest of the misfits. Everyone set your devices. I will take care of Hardison and you handle the one called Clint.”

Not too long after, Hardison and Clint appeared in the module where they had been previously standing beside the bed. Both noted the absence of their hostages, but Hardy acted quicker than Clint. He instantly pressed his wrist device. He disappeared before Hank could grab him, but Frank grabbed Clint and zipped him to Sahara.

Clint blinked from the harsh sunlight as his stolen device was miraculously stripped from his wrist and he was made visible. He saw some strange rough-looking men coming toward him.

Frank returned to Venestra and then used his normal device to make himself visible, as did a very disappointed Hank. “I didn’t think they would appear by the bed. That must have been where Meredith and Yanna were held, so the kidnappers knew something was wrong immediately. Now we still have Hardison to deal with.” Hank pressed his wrist device. “Victor, you can come in now.”

“At least we’ve taken away one module from him and have the other one under surveillance.”

“Yes, but he has a translator now, knows we’re on to him, and can still go anywhere, so it will be harder to surprise him. Let’s get this module back to Houston and alert the watchers of the other module.”…

Within an hour all the rescue crews had checked in and were back at T-Base or other assigned locations except the boys and Mr. Royston. John and Janus both anxiously took note of their sons and Grandpa’s absence, knowing they had no idea where the trio was in deep space until they checked in. As the time got longer, Beverly became anxious about Chad.


“I owe you so much for rescuing us. I want to do something special for you and your world.” Meredith, Serina and Hans were enjoying the pleasant breeze blow in off the ocean on the cottage veranda. “Could I come back with you so we can decide something appropriate?”

“Meredith, all this is so remarkable. I’m not sure our people are ready for all the advancements you’ve shown me and told us about. Most of our world has no idea there are other worlds with other people on them, but we would love to have you visit us.” Serina hesitated then said, “I want to ask a personal question if you don’t mind?”

“No. Of course not.” Meredith guessed the question.“Are you with child?”Meredith smiling put her hands to her tummy. “Yes and it’s

a girl. We are going to call her Amber Julie.”“I am happy for you. Hans is my only child. His father was

killed in an accident almost two years ago. How do you know it is a girl? We have no such method on Venestra.”

“It is a special device called ultra sound that produces a picture of the baby growing inside my womb.”

John walked out onto the veranda. “We missed Hardison. He was too quick for us.” He gave Meredith a hug and a kiss and turned to Serina. “I am very grateful for your rescuing Meredith and Yanna.”

Serina hugged Hans. “I’m glad too. Sir James was suddenly acting strange and when he disappeared in front of us, I felt we had to find out more about him. That is why Hans and I went to his living place, but we might not have known they were inside if it hadn’t been for the strange noise.”

“That was when I knocked over a lamp to get your attention. I heard voices outside the window. John, can we do something special for Serina and her world?”

“Chirp…chirp!” John observed his wrist display and pressed it.

“Yes, Mr. President?’“Congratulations on the rescue, John. Are Meredith and Yanna

okay? You’ve saved us from an interplanetary incident. Did you capture the culprits?”


“Only one sir, and unfortunately not the ringleader. He was too quick for us, but we have a lead to him if he ever takes the bait. Meredith and Yanna were not harmed. Sir, we have the two people who helped Meredith and Yanna escape as guests here. I’m wondering if you and Janus would like to thank them on behalf of the Earth and Yantu?”

“That sounds like a great idea, John. I will arrange a ceremony with my and his staff and present you the details. Now I wanted to talk to you about another matter. Can you come here or where can we meet? “

“Sir, there are still some loose ends to take care of. Can we meet tomorrow morning at your office or my UN office?”

“That would be fine, John. Can you ask Hank to join us there then?”

John looked at his wife who nodded.“ I’ll contact Hank and we’ll meet you tomorrow or propose

an alternate time.”“Great! Janus, Ambassador Yorbani, and the Secretary General

will join us too.”“I wonder what he wants now?” Meredith held John closer

to her as he turned to speak to Serina.“Serina, can you take me to talk with your friend Safra? We

need to find out what Hardison was up to on your planet.”“Sure. Whenever you’re ready.”“Now would be good. We will bring you back later to meet

our president.” John spoke to Meredith. “Darling, after this ordeal, I think you should see Dr. Walsh and get a checkup. I would take you with us, but I think you need your rest after this incident.”

Meredith sighed. “I think you’re right, sweetheart. Serina, I will look forward to our next visit,” she gave Serina a sisterly hug….

Jonathan had zipped the scout ship to the other side of the galaxy to the Rigel star system and positioned them on one of the moons of Rigel IV.

“The sensors are picking up activity on the planet!” Yorgi


excitedly said looking up from the console. Suddenly the console started beeping an alarm.

“We’re being scanned!” Yorgi franticly looked at the console and urgently pressed the energy shield icon. The alarm was reduced to a low beeping sound. “They can’t scan us through the shield but our sensors also aren’t efficient through the shield either.”

“But now whoever they are know we are here,” Grandpa worriedly said.

“What did we record before you raised the shield?” Jonathan anxiously asked while all four huddled around the main console.

“Let’s see.” Yorgi pressed another console icon and the view screen came to life.

“It’s the Spectari!” he exclaimed, witnessing a scene in some type of control room on the planet’s surface.

“Commander there is an intruder ship on the smaller moon!” A gruesome dark headed figure in a maroon uniform sitting at a control panel exclaimed to another.

“Scan it! The officer rushed beside him, looking over his shoulder. Then the screen went blank as the energy shield was raised, blocking the vid signal.

“We must relocate immediately!” Jonathan anxiously pressed his wrist device for return but nothing happened. “Try yours, Grandpa,” he urgently said.

Grandpa pressed his device without anything happening also. “Try yours,” he said to Yorgi and Chad.

Yorgi and Chad did so and both anxiously said, “Mine’s not working either!”

“Can you pilot the ship? We need to move quickly before they send someone after us!” Jonathan worriedly said.

Commander Gar-sen reviewed the snippet of the sensor reading they received before the intruder raised its shield. “It’s one of our scout ships, but those are not Spectari manning it,” he surprisingly said.

“I recognize one of them as a Yanni and the others must be their allies, but they look young except the old one,” the console officer pointed out.


“Send the Ester-sen to capture it!”The console operator contacted the battle cruiser orbiting

the captured planet and gave the orders and coordinates of the intruder on the smaller moon.

Yorgi anxiously pressed the ship’s controls and sighed in relief, feeling the ion engine hum and vibrate as it powered up. “We probably can’t outrun them but hopefully we can find a place to hide.” They watched the barren landscape through the forward view screen. The scout ship lifted off and cruised over the barren moon’s surface.

We’re actually flying through space! This feels different than teleporting. With that there’s no real sense of movement, but why don’t our devices work? What can be the problem? We can’t even communicate to let anyone know where we are. Jonathan anxiously worried at their dire predicament.

Grandpa was eyeing the view screen. He pointed to a deep depression on the rugged landscape of the surface. “Yorgi, can you go down that canyon? Maybe it will provide some cover. Does this ship have any weapons?”

Yorgi quickly complied and steered the ship down. “None that I readily recognize,” he anxiously said.

The scout ship took a sudden dip and the canyon walls became blurry on the screen. The small scout ship flew across the canyon floor. Jonathan looked at the rear view screen on the console, displaying the Spectari ship rapidly growing larger. This reminds me of my space war games but this is no game and we will be in deep trouble if the Spectari capture us if they don’t just outright destroy the scout ship.

“These fools. They can’t outrun us in that toy. We will have them in a moment.” The battle cruiser’s commander almost spoke in glee as he witnessed his prey trying to flee. “Lieutenant, activate the tractor beam!” The giant battle cruiser was now within range of the intruders. “Our sensors only pick up four life readings on the fleeing ship sir.”…

Safra looked up from her sewing as Serina, Hans, and two strangers walked up to her door. “Hi, Serina. I’ve been looking


all over for you. I was worried for you. Where have you been?” She noted the two strangers clothing was strange looking like that of Sir James.

“Safra, I know this is hard to believe, but these two men are from another world. This is John Royston and Hank Travis. They live very far away from here among the stars on a distant planet called Earth. I and Hans have actually been there.”

“Is that where Sir James is from too?” Safra’s eyes were wide with astonishment.

“Yes Safra, it is. Sir James is not a good man and we are hoping you will help us catch him.” Hank smiled at the lovely girl, sincerely hoping Hardison had not stolen her heart.

“Safra, Serina told us you showed him a map. Can you show it to us?” John quietly asked.

“He took the map. He snatched it right out of my hands just before he disappeared. That is why I was worried for Serina. I felt his evilness then.”

“Do you perhaps have another map? We need to find him as quickly as possible before he causes more harm.”

“I have one at the village office,” Serina volunteered.The three followed her the short distance to the village

square and into the government building where Serina produced another map. “Here is Vladstad, the city Sir James asked about.” Safra pointed out the coastal city, “It is our capitol city.”

Not long after, the First Citizen was sitting in his executive chair, wondering how much longer he could call it ‘his’. “I love my country and will not betray it. These evil men have unusual powers, apparently able to appear anywhere. How can I thwart them? How can I face my family and fellow countrymen if I allow this?

Suddenly two different men stood in front of him, and he noticed they wore strange uniform-looking tan shirts with a curious design patch on the pockets. “What do you want now?”

“As you have guessed, we are from the same place as Sir James. We are trying to capture him because he is a renegade. What did he want with you?” Hank spoke simply but forcefully.


The chief executive sat up straighter in his chair. “Very plainly, Sir James stated it was my life or support him in next month’s election. He had another man with him, but I never got his name.”

“We already have him but we missed Hardison. That’s his real name, Hardison James. We wonder if we can ask you to help us catch him? He may not come back, but there is a small chance he will.” John inquiringly smiled at him.

“Yes, I will gladly help you if I can.”“Good. If he does come back and you follow our directions

to the letter, we should be able to capture him permanently.” Hank handed him a small device. “If you will carry this with you at all times, if he appears, simply push this button and set it down without Hardison noticing. It will disappear and we will return immediately.”

Just then Hardison appeared standing beside Hank. Hardy was a half second too late in recognizing who was standing there. Hank grabbed him at the same instant Hardison pressed ‘Return” on his device, and the two disappeared! Hardy had the advantage because he knew instantly where he was, but Hank had hold of him now and wrapped his arms around Hardy’s torso in a way Hank could also press his own wrist device. They instantly appeared next to John again! John grabbed Hardy’s arm just as Hardy pressed his device again. First Citizen Morgan watched in amazement as the three appeared and disappeared three more times in rapid succession before John was able to pin Hardy’s arm so he couldn’t reach the buttons on his device.

This time when they appeared the bulky statesman reached across his desk and grabbed hold of the man he first knew as Sir James; grabbed his shirt and pulled him horizontally across his desk, knocking over a small lamp in the process. Hank stripped the device from Hardison’s wrist and pulled some hard plastic cuffs from his belt loop and put them on Hardison.

“Search Him.” John hastily said. He and Hank both roughly performed that task, making sure to remove his shoes.

“I knew I shouldn’t have come back here, but I just couldn’t resist it. I didn’t expect you to track me back here so


quickly. How did you? I could have had this whole planet eating out of my hands.”

“Well, Sir James, we’re going to give you your very own planet, but you may have to share it with some very unsavory characters.” Hank Wryly grinned as he set his device for Sahara. Neither John nor Hank thought about the ramifications of that act. They would be supplying their enemy with valuable information, but at that time they expected no more problems from the marooned inhabitants of Sahara.

When the two disappeared, John turned to Venecia’s chief executive. “Now maybe we can have some proper introductions. Sorry we had to drop in on you like that, but we thought we had to act quickly, which certainly turned out to be the case. Thanks for your help. My name is John Royston and I represent a planet more than a hundred light years from here called Earth.” John held his hand out and First Citizen Morgan happily took it and they shook hands just as Hank returned with his cuffs in his hand.

“I don’t mind telling you I’m very glad you showed up when you did. I was truly regretting the fact I was going to have to tell Sir James, or whoever he is, he could do what he had to do because I wasn’t about to betray my countrymen to the likes of him, no matter what powers he had.”

John picked up the device Hank had set on the desk. “Sir, Hardison James kidnapped my wife and the wife of another planetary leader and brought them to your planet. They were able to escape thanks to two of your good citizens, Serina and Safra in a small village halfway across your land. Could you recognize them in a special way?”

“For what you just did for me and my country, I would be honored to perform such a function. I believe I know one of the persons you mentioned. Serina is an officer in her village government and was a supporter of mine in my last election. I will be happy to arrange a special ceremony in their honor and ask you to be my honored guests there also.”

“We would be honored to do that and also would like to establish diplomatic relations with your country and planet. Do you have a planetary leader?”


“No. In fact, we are lucky you didn’t catch us in the middle of a terrible war. Our countries are divided by much nationalism and in some cases, racial hatred. We have many large militaries that attack each other at the slightest provocation. If you could help us overcome that, it would be a great accomplishment. One for which we would be forever grateful.”

“Sir, we are not far removed from such a situation ourselves. We had warring countries until this man used this special device to rid our planet of all weapons of mass destruction and all militaries were disbanded.” Hank proudly pointed to John with admiration in his voice. “It is even possible such a ploy could work on your planet too. Maybe the people will band together when they realize they are not alone in the universe.”…

Rasu-sen and his men grabbed the two earthling renegades very roughly. “You will tell us where you are from and how you got here!”

Clint broke first. “We are from a planet called Earth.” Clint tried to twist out of the ruffians grasp but failed miserably.

“How did you get here?”“We were brought here by the teleport device.”“How does this device work that can do such things?”“Ouch! That hurts!” Hardison struggled as well.“Then tell us what we want to know!”“We don’t know. We stole the devices and then they took

them back and brought us here.” Hardison finally gave up struggling, recognizing his situation for what it was. He knew he was in deep trouble.

“Tell us more.”…

“Meredith, I am very worried about Yorgi. Beverly said he went with Jonathan, Chad and Mr. Royston in one of the scout ships looking for us but they haven’t returned. I’m afraid something has happened to them.” Yanna had appeared at Meredith’s cottage and they were now in the kitchen.

“You’re right. They should have reported in by now. Let’s go check.” She set her wrist device for T-Base, held Yanna’s


hand, and instantly they were standing by the main Colorado console.

“Beverly, any word from the missing scout ship?”Beverly glanced at them and then her console. “No and I’ve

passed the word to everyone to be on the lookout for it. I hope and pray nothing has happened to them.”

“We’ve got to do something,” Yanna anxiously said. “I’m calling Janus.”

Meredith contacted John and Alice Royston. Soon Janus, John, Hank, and Alice were at their side in the Colorado center.

“Darling, there’s been no word from the boys and Grandpa for over twenty-four hours and we’re very worried something bad has happened,” Meredith anxiously looked into her husband’s eyes for comfort.

“I assume you’ve tried the emergency recall,” Hank said to Beverly.

“Yes and anything else I could think of,” she said franticly. “If they come anywhere near any of our distributed beacon relays we should be notified immediately.”…

Chapter Thirteen

Bigger Trouble

The scout ship vibrated when the tractor beam grabbed it in its invisible grasp.

“What can we do now? Are there any weapons on this ship?” Grandpa was anxiously searching the confines of the ship for something to fight the enemy with. Yorgi was checking the console for any means to escape the tractor beam the ship was caught in while they felt the scout ship being pulled towards the enemy cruiser overhead.

“I’m going to cut the power and then open it full power and see if we can escape,” Yorgi hastily said.

Suddenly the only sound the trio heard was the sound of their craft being pulled inside the giant battle cruiser. They held their breath at the whine of the ion drive and only felt a sharp jerk as the tractor beam held tightly against its captured prey. The monitor displayed the exterior scene of the enormous cargo bay, with armed orange-helmeted enemy troopers with strange looking weapons in pressurized suits. They felt the jerk as the scout ship settled on the dock and heard the whirring of the cargo bay doors being closed, and then hissing as the bay was pressurized and the enemy troops started removing their helmets.

Yorgi surprised the enemy when he quickly thought to release the ion exhaust inside the enemy bay. The anxious trio watched the monitor as they saw the orange helmets being removed. The burly-looking human-types looked menacing indeed, waving their weapons. Yorgi pressed the console


button and the bay was suddenly flooded with a white-hot gaseous substance, causing the enemy to scream and try to flee as they breathed the noxious and deadly gas, and dropped in their tracks instead.

They heard a wailing siren horn and other orange-helmeted enemy rushed into the bay carrying black vacuum hose type equipment that slowly dissipated the ion exhaust gas. Some of the downed troops staggered to their feet.

Yorgi tried another blast of the gas, but it was now fully discharged. He then started pressing different buttons, hoping something would thwart the enemy. Unfortunately, one of the buttons caused the scout ship’s door to open and the enemy troops rushed inside the small ship in a mass of orange. The Spectari warriors grabbed the four and roughly dragged them out of the ship and through the down and staggering soldiers. The prisoners were brutally thrown into a holding cell with two armed guards outside the barred cell.

“I don’t want the prisoners harmed. Just keep an eye on them. They have much to tell us and I am sure Commander Gar-sen will want to interrogate them personally. He will want to know how they obtained the scout ship and where the mother ship is,” the Ester-sen’s captain ordered.”

“Grandpa! Are you okay?” The older man was on his knees. The boys helped him up.

“Thanks, boys. I’m fine, just a little wobbly. Are you guys okay? Wait till John finds us. These guys are going to regret messing with us.” Grandpa stood upright and dusted himself off.

As Jonathan stretched, he felt the weight of the slim backpack he had picked up beside the Colorado console. He hadn’t even thought about it during the wild ride and capture.

Jonathan carefully eyed the two guards and casually sat down on what seemed to be a hard cot in one corner. He slowly slid the backpack from his shoulders, hoping the guards wouldn’t notice. It wasn’t his. He had just grabbed it there at T-Base during their hurry to leave. He now noted it was Hank’s. He surreptitiously reached in and surprisingly pulled out a


teleport device. He kept turned away from the guards and carefully examined it, noting the red “I” on the back.

“Hey guys, maybe this will work,” he softly said almost in a whisper, without turning.

The three stood beside him to see what he was holding.Jonathan displayed the memory selections and picked one

of them.At the same time the guards became suspicious, realizing

their mistake in not stripping their captives. The cell door opened with a loud clang as the guards rushed in!

“Hold hands!” Jonathan snapped as the guards rushed them. The nearest guard grabbed Chad away from them just as Jonathan pressed the device.

Instantly the trio was in the defense center on Yantu, but in an invisible state. Jonathan reached to his invisible wrist and pressed where he hoped was the return button on his normal device.

“You’re safe! You’re safe!” Yanna almost screamed as she reached out for her son in happy relief. Meredith did the same with Jonathan and John hugged her and his dad. Alice hugged Grandpa. He looked lovingly into his sweetheart’s now-teary eyes.

“Where is my son?” Beverly almost screamed.“Son, what happened? What happened to Chad?”“Dad, we were captured by the Spectari. This device has

the location. He handed his dad Hank’s I-model. “We all four almost got away but a guard grabbed Chad just before we could escape. You can use it to rescue him.”

John quickly handed the special device to Hank.“We’ll take care of them,” Hank immediately said. Victor,

come with me. Beverly, we’ll get your son back quickly.” He held Victors hand, pressed the device, and they disappeared.

“We went searching for Meredith and Yanna and found another captured planet and the Spectari, but for some reason our teleport devices wouldn’t work on their moon. The Spectari captured us, but I found an I-Model in Hank’s backpack I luckily took by mistake. The I-model took us to Yantu and then my device worked to bring us here. Being invisible is weird.”


Hank and Victor invisibly appeared on the Spectari ship. The guards were getting a tongue lashing from the Ester-sen’s commander for letting the prisoners escape.

“They used their device and escaped! That was stupid not strip-searching them!” The Ester-sen commander was shocked because he knew the responsibility was totally his. “We have severely underestimated them, only treating them as youngsters and an old man!” Now, what to tell Commander Gar-sen?

“Captain, Commander Gar-sen is hailing us and wants to speak to you!” The comm officer anxiously said.

“Put him on.”“Congratulations, Captain. I hear you captured them. What have

you learned?” The face of the burly-headed smiling commander filled the view screen.

“Sir, we captured the ship they were using after they cost us some good men, but unfortunately before the prisoners could be secured, some of them used some special device and disappeared. We do have one of them though.”

“How could this be? I want a full report!”Just then, the guard that was holding Chad was knocked

away from him by invisible Hank. Invisible Victor quickly grabbed Chad and pressed his device. The Commander and guards could not believe it when the prisoner suddenly disappeared!

Hank pressed his I-model device for Sahara. When the hard jolt occurred, everyone but Hank fell over.

Hank called out in a booming invisible voice, “Everyone drop your weapons and comm units and abandon ship before it is destroyed! Commander relay that order now! You have ten clicks…one click!”

Everyone stood and looked around for the source of the invisible commands.

“Two clicks…”The ship’s commander relayed the order and told the nav

station operator to open the hatches. Soon the ship was empty with the commander being the last to leave in an angry huff, wondering how this could happen and what fate awaited him.

Hank made himself visible, closed the hatches, and zipped


the ship to Earth’s moon. From there he zipped to T-base and witnessed Beverly squeezing her son tightly to her.

“Since your devices worked okay from Yantu to here, there must be a significant level of tritanium or other inhibiting factor we don’t know about on that moon.” Hank said as he happily stood with them. “Did you try your regular devices when you were on the Spectari Ship?”

Jonathan looked stunned. “I didn’t even think to during all the commotion going on with the Spectari,” He sheepishly said.

“They might have worked once you were out of range of that moon.”

“These things are marvelous when they work, but useless when they don’t. I felt truly helpless knowing we were so far away from here with the Spectari almost catching us,” Grandpa said holding tightly to Alice.

“We’re glad you’re back. We must find out why your devices wouldn’t work on that moon.” Dr. Vaughn spoke up.

Hank’s liberation team invisibly arrived in the Rigel system and secretly orbited Rigel IV. While orbiting, Hank noted their sensors revealed a huge tritanium deposit on the moon where the scout ship must have been. Their scanners were set to record many types of transmissions and their translators helped them understand the language. In less than an earth day, they identified the Spectari locations. “We will first dispatch that orbiting cruiser’s crew to Sahara, then we will take care of the invaders on the planet,” Hank told his team. They followed the now familiar routine used to liberate the other conquered planets, and shortly Rigel IV was free of the Spectari invaders.

The former Rigel planetary council was reinstalled and Hank’s security team met with them at their first new council meeting. He distributed translation ear devices to allow easy communication.

“On behalf of our planet, we want to thank you for freeing us from our enemies. I am Regent Orsen Howe and the head of our ruling Regency.” The blue hued Rigelian introduced the


other dozen members gathered around. They smiled at their Earth-Yanni rescuers.

Hank noted the Rigelians were a light blue hued people of average height and mostly dark hair. They wore simple clothing.

“The Spectari are a vicious and ruthless people. They attacked us without warning and destroyed some of our largest cities. They enslaved us and killed and abused our women and children. We want to thank you for freeing us from them. How can we ever repay you?”

Hank observed the Rigelians seemed ordinarily human except for the skin coloring. “Regent, we are happy we could help. I am Hank Travis from the planet Earth and this is Sethanni from the planet Yantu. We are in the process of freeing other planets the Spectari have captured and you would be welcome to join us in that effort. We would like to open diplomatic relations with your people, share our technology with each other, and also offer to help you rebuild your destroyed cities.”

“That would be most appreciated. We noted you only came in one ship and it miraculously appeared orbiting our planet, as did you in this very chamber. Can you tell us how you travel?”

“Certainly, sir. We use a special device which teleports us instantly to identified locations in the known universe. We would be happy to share it with you, but it must be well protected from those who would misuse it such as the Spectari. This device is how we were able to defeat them.”

One of the junior members of the Regency spoke to Hank. “Mr. Travis, when the Spectari invaded our planet, they took some people with them. My father was one of those taken captive on their ships. Would it be possible for you to locate him if he is still alive?”

“He may be among those we captured and marooned on an isolated planet. I will have my team search for him among them. He should stand out fairly easy if he is there.” He turned to Victor. “Victor, would you accept that assignment and take an I-model to zip to Sahara and bring back any Rigelians you find?”


“Certainly sir. I will do it right away.” Victor quickly disappeared and in a short time returned with a single blue hued Rigelian.

Masori was stunned until he recognized the other Rigelians in the Regency chamber.

“Dad!” Masori’s son, Jon, weeping with joy, enveloped his dad in his arms as the other Rigelians clustered around them.

“Oh son, I’ve missed you. How is your mother?”Hank handed the son a translator earpiece for his dad.Jon showed his dad how to insert it and said, “Dad,

she’s not doing too well, but I know seeing you will help her tremendously. These men rescued us and found you.” Jon turned to Hank. “Mr. Travis, could your device deliver us to where my mom is?”

“Yes, if you can provide me the direction and distance?”As soon as the needed information was supplied, Hank set

his device and zipped Masori and his son to his sick wife who was in a private sanitarium.

“Mom, dad is back and he’s okay.”Masori’s wife, Imma, looked startled at her son and slowly

comprehended what he said. She raised herself in bed and saw her husband as he leaned down to embrace her with a sweethearts embrace. “Oh, Imma, I’ve missed you so. Are you going to be alright?”

Imma wiped tears of joy from her eyes as she hugged him tightly and said, “Darling, I think I’m going to be just fine now that you’re here. We didn’t know what happened to you and I was afraid I would never see you again.”

“This man rescued me.” Masori turned to Hank. “When the Spectari that invaded our planet started appearing on that planet prison, I was glad but had no idea you could rescue me too. I am very thankful for all you’ve done for us.”

“Well sir, when your son asked for you, we were glad we could find you for him. I need to get back home so we can make arrangements for helping your planet recover from all the damage the Spectari caused.” Hank shook their hands and zipped back to the Regency chamber. “Regent, our team needs


to report back to our planet so we can arrange to help your planet. Would you like to come back with us? You can return instantly anytime.”

“Yes, Mr. Travis. I think I would like to do that.” Hank and the team with Orsen zipped back to T-base to explain about the situation on Rigel IV.

“Beverly, this is Regent Orsen Howe from the planet Rigel IV.” Beverly tried to act natural as she stood up from the main console and smiled at the blue alien. “Beverly is one of our team members who keeps track of where everyone is.”

“Welcome to Earth, sir. I’m happy to meet you.”Regent Howe bowed before her. “You are a very pretty

female,” he said in halting English, still getting used to the ear translator.

“Now I will take you to our UN headquarters so you can meet our leaders.” Hank held Regent Howe’s hand and pressed his wrist device.

John had just returned from Venestra with First Citizen Morgan when Hank appeared with the blue Rigelian.

“John, this is Regent Orsen Howe from Rigel IV in the Orion Belt. We just liberated his planet. Regent, this is Space Commissioner John Royston.”

“Regent, I am very glad to meet you.” John stuck out his hand and the Regent held it warmly in both of his own.

“John is head of our space exploration and liberation effort. It is due to his efforts we are reaching out to liberate planets from the Spectari.”

“And this is First Citizen Morgan from a planet called Venestra.” John watched as the blue Rigelian performed the same hand holding routine with the Venestran. First Citizen Morgan was somewhat hesitant at first, but then joined in the handshaking introductions. The two aliens presented a sharp contrast in stature. Regent Howe was a tall thin man with graying hair. The Venestran was rotund with frizzy dark hair. John thought; they both have pleasant easily likable features, though somewhat startling at first. I believe they will be good allies.

“Mr. Commissioner, my people are very grateful for freeing


us from the invaders. Mr. Travis says there are other captured planets and we would like to join your effort to free them as you did us.”

“Regent, I think that can be arranged.” John Smiled at him, Hank and the Venestran representative.

First Citizen Morgan looked out John’s office window and cringed somewhat. “We have no such tall buildings on our planet. This is a marvel of architecture.”

“Hank, why don’t you show both our guests around our planet while I take care of some other business?”

“I’ll be happy to John. See you later.”Later, President Hargrove and the S-G were pleased

to meet the new aliens and welcomed them to Earth with a banquet in their honor. At that banquet Serina and Safra were presented as special guests of the Royston’s and Janus and Yanna. President Hargrove presented a special medal of honor to them for their rescue of Meredith and Yanna.

Afterwards, John reported the situation on Venestra to the Earth and Yanni leaders. “The Venestrans are ages behind in technology and most citizens have no idea there are other populated planets in the universe. We talked to First Citizen Morgan, the leader of one of the countries and he has asked our help in uniting their planet. We would like your permission to help them similarly to the way we united Earth’s countries.”

“Gentlemen, I perceive a great opportunity here for us as we reach out to these other planets, both Venestra and the other planets the Spectari have subjugated.” President Hargrove addressed the dignitaries. “I propose we organize an Alliance of planets, sort of a Galactic Federation or Council of Planets. We’ve already started sharing technology with the Yanni and have seen great benefits from that sharing. I propose we offer the alliance to all those planets who can live in harmony with us and share our ideals of freedom and liberty.”

“That sounds like a fine idea, Mr. President. I believe the Yanni will be in favor of such an organization,” Janus smiled as he saw Ambassador Yorbani nod in agreement.

“Good. Then I propose we establish a Galactic Federation


Council with one representative from each planet and offer our space commissioner the opportunity to be the first Galactic Council President.” President Hargrove smiled as he looked directly at John.

John shook his head emphatically. “No sir. I respectfully decline. I was just getting used to being space commissioner and I felt that was over my head. I don’t think I’m the one for the job.”

“Nonsense, and you haven’t heard the rest of my proposal yet. I propose Janus serve as Vice-president of the Council with the Secretary-General as Earth’s representative and Hank Travis be in charge of Federation Council Security and the others as council members representing their planets.” President Hargrove continued to smile. “Now with a staff like that to start with, how can you fail?”

“I think that’s an excellent proposal. I would enjoy serving in such a position with Mr. Royston.” Janus smiled in his elegant fashion.

President Hargrove was smilingly in his dominant decision-making mode and John realized his predicament. The president wasn’t going to yield until he got what he wanted.

“Sir, I think you’ve backed me into a corner. I feel somewhat inadequate, but will accept with the same stipulation I gave when becoming space commissioner.” John solemnly said.

Janus turned to President Hargrove. “What stipulation is he referring to?”

President Hargrove smiled. “When John accepted the position as space commissioner, he said he would serve if he could name his successor when he felt the time was right.”

“Then we shall include that stipulation into the new Galactic Council Charter as well.” Ambassador Yorbani added with a wide grin.

John looked at the group of smirking men. “Sir, it seems like you’ve snookered me again. I hope Meredith will understand.”

“I’m sure she will, John. I’m sure she will.” President Hargrove smiled like the cat that swallowed the canary.

“Well as Federation Council Security Chief, I think we


better start liberating some planets so this council can grow, but first I better go tell Darlene about all of this.”

“And me as well to Meredith,” John added.“While you two do that, we will ratify this decision

with the UN and Yanni ruling Council and start drawing up the charter for the new Galactic Federation Council.” The Secretary-General was beaming from ear to ear.

“You what?” Darlene exclaimed when Hank told her of the new Galactic Council and his role as security chief. She hugged him closely and looked into his bright eyes. “Wow, that is quite a promotion for someone who was just a deputy sheriff only months ago. I can’t believe all these changes in such a short period of time and now this.”

“Now instead of being the First lady of Space Security, you will be the First Lady of Galactic Security,” he kidded her.

“And now I will also be appointments secretary to the First Lady of the Galaxy,” she smilingly said.

“Wow!” was Jonathan’s reaction when he heard about the new Galactic Federation Council and that his dad was the first president. He told Jenny, “I guess we better start designing a new patch for dad to wear.”

Meredith just sighed with resignation when she learned of John’s instant promotion. She looked at her growing tummy and said, “At this rate, what will your title be when Amber Julie arrives? I don’t think anyone ever got promoted so fast.”

“Darling, the only title I want is “Dad”.That evening the Travis’s and Royston’s got together on

the cottage veranda. They were excitingly talking about the rush of events under the expansive clear starlit sky. “Hank, would you mind if I asked Darlene to be the Galactic Council’s executive assistant?”

Hank smiled. “I think she would like that. She enjoys being Meredith’s assistant, but you better ask her yourself.”

Since the two wives were standing on the veranda with them, John did so. “Darlene, I would like to offer you the position of Galactic Council Executive assistant.”

“Oh, John! That is such an important position, I’m not sure I can do it.”


“Well, I will tell you what President Hargrove keeps telling me,” He smiled at her and tried to mimic the president, “Nonsense. Your recent actions indicate otherwise.”

Darlene looked quizzically at Meredith. “I will if she agrees.”

Meredith hugged her. “Of course. After the super help you’ve been doing for me, I think you’re perfect for the job.”

John and Hank both raised their glasses to their wives and smilingly said, “To the Galaxy!” They all looked up to the starry sky in wonder.

The world was aflutter with the amazing news about the new Galactic Council. Ray Johnson buzzed him during breakfast and wanted an exclusive interview for the paper. Ray anxiously said, “We hope you will still be our special correspondent.”

“Ray, I may have to renege on that agreement because of my new position, but I will see you have first shot at any official announcements.”

“Well, John, either way, congratulations. I know you’re the man for the job. Just look at all you’ve accomplished in such a short period of time. The world ’s scientific community is still reeling from all the discoveries, not the least of which are the alien cultures we’ve discovered.”

“And what’s more amazing, Ray, is that we’re all working together harmoniously except for the bad guys. I am still amazed. Even though each culture is different, they exhibit mostly human characteristics. Even the Spectari aren’t that different, physically speaking.”

“Well John, best wishes and I will talk to you later.”“Bzzt…bzzt…”John again looked at his wrist display and answered it as he

sat at the breakfast table. “Yes, Betty?”“Well congratulations President. The UN just passed the

resolution forming your new council with only a couple of objections. Which planet are you going to conquer next? And why didn’t I get an exclusive?”

“You’ve got it backwards, Betty. We’re liberating planets, not conquering them. And thanks for your good wishes. I have


an opening for a good PR person. How would you like to work on my new staff?”

“I was referring to you winning over the UN single-handedly. John, there’s no doubt the Galactic Council is where all the action is going to be, so yes. If you want me I will gladly accept if I can still be a roving correspondent for the network?”

“That’s acceptable to me as long as you clear everything through me first. Welcome aboard. Our first staff meeting is at nine this morning at my UN Office. I’m sending the coordinates to your device now so you can zip right to it. See you there.”

“You sure don’t waste time making decisions do you? I’ll be there.”“Wasting time isn’t on the agenda. Bye.”Meredith looked at her husband across the breakfast table

in loving amazement. “When I first met you, I thought you were a shy quiet kind of guy. Boy was I wrong.”

“Believe me sweetheart, I wasn’t looking for this position or any position, but since it’s been foisted on me, I’m going to do my best to do it right.”

Meredith hugged him and smilingly said, “That’s my guy.” She kissed him. “Now go out and save the universe.”…

Chapter Fourteen

The Universe

At the first executive session of the Galactic Federation Council meeting being held in his UN Space Commissioner’s conference room, John made his opening remarks. “I want to thank each of you for being here on such short notice.” He looked around the large oval conference table. John’s office staff had made sure there were pictures of water and glasses on the table at each place. Directly to John’s right was Vice-president Janus. To his left was Hank as Galactic Security Chief. Beside Hank sat Darlene busily working with her laptop. Next to her was Ted Olmstead, newly appointed Galactic Science Engineer. Janus had promoted Sethanni to Assistant Galactic Security Chief beside him. First Citizen Morgan represented Venestra and Regent Orsen Howe, Rigel IV. The UN Secretary-General represented Earth. Betty Rogers sat opposite John around the table, also using the keypad on her laptop.

Before the meeting, Hank had shown the newest members their new offices complete with the latest computers and video equipment. Newest Council representatives Morgan and Howe were duly impressed as they looked out their office windows prior to the meeting. Hank provided handheld PDA’s to them and explained how they worked. At the conference table, they were still getting used to theirs.

“I have asked Darlene Travis to be the council executive assistant and Betty Rogers is our Public Relations Specialist. I propose the UN Space Commission support team become part


of our central support staff. Planetary representatives can select their own personal staff. I’m sure our staff will grow as the need arises. Right now I believe our immediate goal is to dispatch rescue teams to the identified Spectari subjected planets and free them from the Spectari. We will use the combined Earth-Yanni teams that were already organized by the UN Space Commission to head up this task with the other planets assisting.” John stopped to take a sip of water from his glass and then continued.

“We also need a diplomatic envoy to work with the continental leaders on Venestra to help rid their planet of weapons of mass destruction and bring them together. I would like to propose Ambassador Jordan to head up this effort with Councilman Morgan assisting him. We are so few here, a simple show of hands should suffice to approve the proposal unless there is some discussion regarding it.” There was none and no objections either.

“John, I have a proposal also.” Ted Olmstead looked around at his new associates. “We need to organize a Galactic science committee made up of top scientists from each culture to blend all the technology we are encountering.”

‘That’s a great idea, Ted. I suggest you get with each planetary representative and get their nominees from their planet. You can use the new UN Science Research committee as your base committee to start and I would suggest Dr. Vaughn have a significant role on it too. Does everyone agree?” Everyone did.

John then turned on the overhead viewer attached to his desktop computer and displayed the proposed Galactic Council patch that Jenny and Jonathan had created late last night. It resembled the atomic icon with a brightly colored nucleus center with different colored electrons rotating around in a dark background filled with stars. “My son and daughter prepared this to present to you as a possible logo and patch symbol for the new council. We don’t need to make a decision right away and you are welcome to commission a professional staff to design our official logo.”


“I think it is a fine symbol and I recommend we adopt it,” Vice-president Janus said.

“Anymore comments? If not, then a show of hands please.” All hands were raised.

“Good. Darlene will order these patches for everyone associated with the council. Is there any more business?”

“With your permission, I’ll prepare a press release describing the results of this executive session. We need to schedule when we will have public meetings too.” Betty spoke up for the first time.

“You’re right, Betty. Anyone have any calendar conflicts with next Monday morning at 10 AM for our first public session?” No one did. “By then we should have some results or progress to report on all these initiatives. Jonathan setup a new internal website for Galactic members only. You each should have a new email on your PC’s with the logon protocols. On the homepage is a directory with everyone’s email addresses to facilitate communication between meetings. Also Betty, be sure and send me a review copy via Darlene before any public releases. No one had objections, so Betty included the date and time in her press release, which also displayed the new Galactic Council logo, giving full credit for it to Jenny and Jonathan Royston.

The Galactic Council jumped into their new role. The Space Commission became the working staff of the new council. The original planetary rescue team returned to the moon of Zenos. After reviewing the audio recordings taken while they were gone, they initiated the liberation of Zenos by dispatching the two Spectari space crews to Sahara similar to the earlier scenarios. After taking care of the Spectari space ships, they proceeded to the planetary capitol on Zenos.

Hank couldn’t help but notice the Zenon women were very lovely but almost universally scantily clad. Their normal clothing seemed to be even less than bikini attire. He thought the skimpy clothing might be the result of the tropical temperatures on the majority of the planet due to its closer than Earth’s proximity to its sun. The Security Chief knew this


would be a problem for any social interaction with the Zenon society. He had been very embarrassed when Xerxes introduced his wife, Ester, who didn’t seem to realize the effect she was having on Hank. At a later time he privately told the Zenon leader, “Sir, your women are very lovely, but I can’t help noticing the meager dress they wear. In our society, modesty is seen as a virtue and our women cover more of their bodies although there are some exceptions. How do they dress here for formal occasions?”

“Yes, we are very natural with it, but we noticed how the Spectari took full advantage of seeing our women’s bodies. They mistreated them very harshly and cruelly abused them. We will recommend our women start covering themselves more when strangers and other worlders are present.”…

“What planet were you on and how did you get here?” Rasu-sen asked the ship commander who’s ship had suddenly appeared on Sahara, disgorged its crew and instantly disappeared. It was immediately followed by another and then the Spectari who had been on Zenos’ surface.

“We were orbiting the planet Zenos when an android appeared on our command deck and suddenly the ship was here and we were ordered to abandon our ship before it was destroyed.”

“They are taking back the planets we conquered!” Rasu-sen threw his hands in the air. He looked up at the scorching sun, raised his hands skyward, and exclaimed, “Get me a ship so I can fight them!”

“This is Baca-sen calling Commander Rasu-sen. Come in Commander…”

“Rasu-sen leaped at the comm unit upon hearing his voice. “This is Commander Rasu-sen, where are you calling from?”

“We are still several sectors from your location, Commander and we have three C-Class frigates to carry most of your stranded crew.”

“Order more ships. Our group has grown. I want the fastest ship to carry me to Ryosan at hyper speed.”…


“That is not right and you know it!” Kim Chu firmly proclaimed to her grandfather standing before her in a colorful Chinese robe. She was the vice chairperson for the newly created Galactic Science Research Committee, charged with protecting the new technology. Her tall white-bearded Asian grandfather was the product of a German father and Chinese mother. They were both diplomats when they met and married.

Kim Chu stood out in many ways in most circles because her height was unexpected from one of her ancestry, and her simple beauty and charm easily won people over, even the few detractors she had. Kim was thrilled when she learned about the new galactic committee and that she would have a role in it. She had a distinguished academic career and had made a name for herself in the field of astrophysics. Soon she would get to travel to all parts of the galaxy and work with numerous other cultures on scientific endeavors. Now her own grandfather was demanding she betray the trust she had worked so hard to achieve. “What right do you have to expect me to betray what I am sworn to protect?”

“I am your grandfather. I have every right to expect your obedience,” The old man said sternly as he stroked his long white beard.

“But not in this! It is my job!”“Your family is your job too! I am only asking for what we

need to carry on our heritage. It is family tradition and honor that you must uphold.”

“What would you do with the energy screens if I did manage to make them available to you?”

“We will use the technology to protect us when we find and settle a planet for our own culture.”

“Then go find your planet and then I may help you.”“We might need to use it here to help us get what we need,”

the old patriarch hesitatingly said.“I thought so. You just want to use it to get power over

others. I know you and your associates. They want to go back to the old ways, but can’t you see, the world has changed and


left you behind. Now there’s a whole universe out there for us to reach out to. The old ways don’t mean much anymore.”

“But don’t you see, daughter. This is the opportunity we need to establish ourselves again! China was a great power ages ago and we can be again.”

Kim Chu stood tall, desperately pleading, “I would gladly help you if I thought it was right, but in my heart I know it’s not true. The Galactic Council is counting on us to protect the technology. The Yanni energy generators are already a great boon to our country and with teleportation we are seeing vast areas of our country open up for our people. Isn’t that enough?”

Daughter, it would have to be if we were still earth-bound, but as you said, things have changed. We must take advantage of those changes. With this new technology we can become a great dynasty out among the stars.” Qwan looked at his granddaughter and sternly said, “China is a member of the UN Security Council too, so we have a right to ask this of you.”

“But, China is only one member.”“Yes, that is true, but we have strong allies on the Security

Council, and they will put someone else in your place if you do not help us. Do you really think you got your position on your own?” He wryly grinned at her while raising his white bushy eyebrows.

This had a devastating effect on Kim Chu. She believed she had earned the post through her own efforts. Now she could taste the bile in her stomach as she thought how her grandfather and his twisted cohorts had manipulated her. She looked at the old man almost in disgust. “That may have been true on the UN Committee, but now I am part of the Galactic Science Committee and am not answerable to the UN.”

“You are not above being replaced if the UN Security Council requests it, daughter.”

“You may be right, but they would have to supply a reason and I don’t see them doing that.”

Qwan Chu played his trump card. “If you want to see your son soon, you will do as I ask.”…


“Sir! Sir!” Yanni yeoman Mancanti anxiously pointed to his console in their Planetary Defense Center. As soon as the sensor started blinking and beeping, he hailed his supervisor.

“Have we anything in the area that can verify what triggered the sensor?”

“No but I can teleport a probe out there in an instant.”“Let’s do it and see what’s out there.”In mere seconds, the monitor was displaying what the

probe saw.“That’s a Spectari ship! Initiate project Sahara!”The computer verified the enemy ship coordinates and

an android was zipped there to perform its programmed function.

The Spectari crew had been somewhat prepared for this, but was surprised at the distance from Yantu that it occurred. They hadn’t even come close to the star system and already were being challenged. They felt a sudden jolt, indicating they were no longer in space.

“This unit will self-destruct along with the ship in 20 clicks. Drop your weapons and comm Units and abandon ship! If this unit is interfered with in any way, it will immediately destroy itself and the ship.”

The anxious Spectari followed the instructions, except the last crewmember, who fired his weapon at the android on his way out the door. The resulting blast destroyed the ship and several of the fleeing crew who were caught in the blast.

Rasu-sen had left a small group on the planet with communications gear in case of such an occurrence. “Sir the ship arrived and most of the crew exited before one of the crew members fired, causing the ship to blow up. Several of the crewmembers were killed in the blast. “

“That is a shame. Let me talk to the captain.”“Here he is now.”“This is commander Sander-sen.”“Where were you when the Android appeared?”“We were over three hundred parsecs from their galaxy when the

incident occurred. When can you rescue us from this hell-hole?”


“We will dispatch ships to retrieve you as soon as we can. Did you have your shields modulated as we directed?”

“We had not modulated the shields because we had not approached the sector yet.”

“Then the only thing we learned from this failed operation was how far out their detection net is and lost a ship in the process. I directed you to follow the android’s instructions until we know how to deactivate it.”

“Sir, the android stated that any interference with its mission would automatically cause the destruction.”

“That will make it doubly hard to defeat.”“Sir, several warriors who were on other subjected planets have

recently arrived in similar fashion.”“From how many planets?“Five so far, sir.”Rasu-sen turned to his second in command. “They’re using

their device and androids to undo all that we’ve done! We must find a way to defeat them! We’ll now probe the earth solar system and see if they are equally defended, but since they seem to be working together, I assume they are. Make sure you have the shields modulated before the probe ship even starts and use one of our older ships. No use losing another top-of-the-line ship.”…

The Galactic Defense System Control Center was located at T-Base in Colorado. Hank had setup the same type of alarm system for Earth as he setup for Yantu. He had programmed androids supplied by the Yanni ready for any enemy incursion into the galaxy. As soon as the alarms went off, a probe was sent, revealing the enemy ship’s presence in their space. An armed android was immediately dispatched with a video feed relayed to the main console viewing the interior command deck of the enemy space ship.

Hank was immediately notified of the alarm by the watch officer and instantly appeared beside the officer in the huge defense complex. The video they were seeing was being bounced off a number of relay stations to supply as close to real-time transmission as possible at those astronomic distances.


The defense team noted what seemed to be several sophisticated electronic devices pointed at the android. “Press the destruct button!” Hank shouted.

The screen suddenly went blank as the enemy was destroyed in deep space. “They were trying to interfere with the androids systems to prevent it from being a threat. I hated to lose the android and cause the ship’s destruction, but let’s hope they gained no information from this incident.” Hank pressed his wrist keypad…

Rasu-sen was monitoring the probe ship and was disappointed when he saw how far from the earth solar system the android appeared. The shield modulation had not stopped the android. He had hoped their molecular disrupter could interfere with its circuitry but the enemy was too quick for them. “How can we defeat them when they react so quickly to our every move? I want all the chief scientists assembled at once! We must find a way to thwart their contraptions!” He bellowed to his staff…

John checked his messages and noted the Spectari had made another incursion into Yanni space and been repelled again. He zipped to Janus’ outer office on Yantu and asked his secretary if Janus was available. He was and immediately came out to greet John.

“President Royston, good to see you. Won’t you come in?”John didn’t waste time. “I’ve noted the Spectari are still

sending probes and trying to disrupt the androids. I think you should equip the androids with personal shields to protect them and keep the Spectari from interfering with them.”

“Yes, I’ve already suggested that to Jantor and your security chief myself. Though the androids are more expandable than people, we don’t like to lose them and need to keep them out of the hands of the Spectari.”

“We need to have the defense net built around every planet we’ve liberated with the same type of threat response system we’ve been using. Will you work with Hank to get that accomplished, sir?”


“I believe that is already in progress, but I will see it is expedited.”

Later, John spoke with First Citizen Morgan. “You have a magnificent planet there. If we can just get the other leaders to realize the advantages of working together I think we can form a grand alliance.”

“Before we send Ambassador Jordan to your home world, we will need to organize a support staff. They will setup a GPS satellite system for your world and use our computers to map your world so you can use the teleport devices on your own world. All of this would be a massive project if it weren’t for teleportation. With our computers it should only take a few days to accomplish. Then with distributed units, you should be all set to travel easily to and fro on your home world…”

“My office is not as spacious as yours but is very functional for me.” It was a beautiful Venestrian morning in Venecia with the sun rising on a clear day. First Citizen Morgan arrived in his office with the Earth representative. They had zipped into his office from over a hundred light years away at the Galactic Council meeting.

Ambassador Jordan admired the ornately carved and patterned wood furnishings. “It looks fine to me. These furnishings would be considered antique treasures on earth.”

“That might be a good export idea, but right now I am more interested in solving our world’s warring problems.” He pressed a switch on his desk and a smartly dressed middle-aged woman entered the room. D’arcy, I know this will come as a shock to you, but this gentleman is Ambassador Jordan, who is representing a planet very far from here. He is going to help us bring our nations together in peace.”

“But how can this be?” She turned to Mr. Jordan. “You don’t look much different to me. How can he know what you say is true?”

“Don’t worry D’arcy, I’ve been to his home world and believe me it is all true.”

“But how, sir? How can that be? You were just here yesterday.”


“I know, but the people from Earth have a whole new way to travel and now we do too. It’s truly amazing. Let me show you.” The chief executive of Venecia pressed his newly programmed wrist device and held D’arcy’s hand. Instantly they were standing outside by the seashore with the city a little ways off.

His secretary looked around in awe as she felt the cool ocean breeze blowing through her windswept hair. “Wow! I wouldn’t believe it if you hadn’t shown me. I didn’t feel a thing either.”

“They have so many new things. I will have to take you to their planet and show you soon. With this wrist device I can go anywhere on the planet or off it in an instant.” He showed her the device on his wrist. “The Galactic Council has promised us this new technology once we unite the countries and establish a planetary governing body.”

“That’s a tall order sir.” D’arcy said as she swept her blowing hair from her face. “There are some very aggressive and terrible enemies across the oceans who would rather shoot first and ask questions later.”

“Yes, but Ambassador Jordan is here to help us.”…On the other side of the Ocean on the third continent

of Venestra ruled the warlord Toran. He was busily engaged plotting a grand sneak attack with his mighty naval fleet on Venecia.

“We will plan our arrival to take place in the early morning hours. We will divide into three strike forces. Force one will attack their northern city of Celestra here.” Toran pointed on the large map on the table. “Force two will attack here on the central east coast at Lasain Bay, and Force three will attack here in the city of Vladstad.”

Ambassador Jordan and First Citizen Morgan had quietly appeared in the room near the door just in time to hear the last sentence. “I think not Toran.”

As the First Citizen of Venecia spoke, the military strategists looked up from the table and noticed the intruders for the first time. All four leaders went for their weapons


simultaneously. Toran was quicker and the first to fire with the others quickly following. The shots bounced off the intruder’s invisible energy shields and into walls, ceiling or other furnishings, one even grazing the warlord himself. At the sound of the shots, the outer guards came running into the room with their weapons drawn. They witnessed the intruders and their leaders with weapons drawn.

“You see, Toran, you cannot hurt us, so you should listen to us instead.”

Toran was furious, but slowly calmed down. “How did you get in here past our guards? And how come our bullets bounce off you?” Toran was reacting from ages of built in war mongering. He had grown up with it and taken over as ruling warlord from his father.

“Ah yes, that should well interest you. Will you now put away your weapons and we can talk like civilized individuals?”

Toran looked at his leaders, afraid to lose face in front of them, yet seeing no ready alternative. “What have you come to talk about?”

“I have come to give you some startling information and offer you an alliance.”

“What information and what kind of an alliance?”“Let me introduce Ambassador Jordan from the planet

Earth and the Galactic Council.”Toran’s jaw dropped. “Did you say planet as in off this

world?”“Yes, that is correct. There are many other planets out

there in space with people similar to us and they have formed an alliance with one another. If we can form a planetary government on our world and act civilized, they will offer us to join them.”

“How can I know what you say is true and what does it mean to all of us?”

“They have some amazing technology and will share it with us if we can live in peace with the rest of the universe. I will show you. Come and hold my hand.” First Citizen Morgan pressed a switch on his wrist device, which turned off the energy shield


and walked toward Toran and his leaders. Ambassador Jordan slowly followed him but left his own shield on.

“I will show you where we were just before we appeared in this room.” The Venecian head of state reached out his hand and Toran hesitantly took it. He then pressed his wrist device and they instantly disappeared! In reaction the soldiers and guards trained their weapons on the ambassador.”

He put out his hands in an open manner. “You have nothing to fear. Your leader will return unharmed in just a few minutes.”

Shortly, the two leaders reappeared with Toran looking somewhat shaken.

“I cannot believe it yet it happened to me. This is a marvelous science. Let us go to the other countries and enlist them in our alliance for the good of Venestra.”

The three leaders proceeded to the other countries with similar scenarios being repeated until the planets warring factions agreed to a truce and the leaders agreed to form a planetary council for the good of all. At the opening of that first council meeting, Ambassador Jordan spoke.

“I am glad to see you have brought peace and unity to your planet after generations of warring among you. I recommend you destroy all your weapons of mass destruction so you will not be tempted to resume your enmities. I will be happy to present your petition to become members of the Galactic Council. Once that is done, we will send emissaries here to help you become familiar with the new technology and welcome you as full trading partners. I must alert you that there is a band of invaders out there that you must protect yourself from. They are extremely hostile and deal in deadly violence and destruction, conquering every planet they come in contact with. We will be happy to assist you in setting up a planetary defense perimeter and provide you the means to defend yourselves.”…

“We must find a way to penetrate their defense perimeter! And to find a way to shield our ships from their beaming capability!” Rasu-sen frustratedly paced his command deck. He


knew he was going to have difficulty explaining his defeat to his superiors.

“But how can we when we have no inkling of how their devices work?” Rasu-sen’s frustrated chief engineer asked. “Their androids destroy the probe ships as soon as our scanners touch them.”

“They can’t be everywhere at once. We just need to find a way to get close to them.”

“We are enlisting the help of the engineering and science teams on Ryosan now,” the chief engineer said. “Maybe they can find a way to thwart their technology.”…

Meanwhile more of the Spectari subjected planets were being liberated daily and as the part of the liberation process, a defense perimeter was established for each planetary system. The Galactic Council was continuing to grow as each liberated planet gratefully joined and contributed their technology for the benefit of all. John’s new Galactic Council staff had taken over several floors at the UN while a new building was being built to house the Galactic Council because of its rapid growth. Earth was basking in its leadership role. Galactic tourism was born. Hank’s Security Staff grew in proportion to the need to protect more regions of space. He enlisted security staff from each new member planet.

“Sir, I believe we can defeat the androids by setting up a stasis field within the ships.” Karok-sen, head of engineering on Ryosan, the Spectari Home World, spoke to the Supreme Military Commander Tora-sen and his staff. “The field should cause all electro-mechanical devices to cease to function. That should render any automatic destructive devices inoperative also.”

“But if I understand you correctly, within the stasis field none of our instruments will function either. Is that correct?”

“Yes sir. That is correct, but the field can be maintained indefinitely, thus removing the threat of imminent destruction from the ships. The enemy may know we are approaching, but they won’t be able to stop us; At least in that manner.”


Supreme Commander Tora-sen presented the first opportunity to try this strategy to Commander Rasu-sen.

“Great! But we will use drone ships. I want no more casualties because of trial and error experimentation.” He ordered a drone ship equipped with the stasis field and launched it toward the Yanni home world. They added many monitors around the stasis field to record every detail of what happened.

Shortly on Yantu in the planetary defense center, the alarms went off as soon as the drone ship reached the outer defense perimeter, still hundreds of parsecs from the Yanni Star System. An android was dispatched. The drone’s sensors activated the stasis field the instant the android appeared on the ship’s bridge.

The Yanni defense team was surprised when the ship kept coming. The console operator quickly pressed the recall button.

“They’ve found a way to neutralize the androids!” The Yanni defense chief exclaimed. “Quick! Teleport a magnetic bomb to attach to their ship’s hull and set it off!” The Yanni technicians quickly complied and the resulting explosion in deep space caused the scanning monitors to once again show a clear area of space. “We must get this information to Janus and the Galactic Council quickly.”…

“What good does the stasis field do when they can still destroy our ships at such astronomical ranges?” Commander Rasu-sen almost bellowed as he saw his own monitors go blank. The Spectari engineers and scientists hastily reviewed the recordings of the incident and worked on the problem.

“If we only had some idea how they are able to teleport at such great distances!” The chief Spectari engineer had been working the problem so long he was nearly exhausted. “Wait! They probably tried to recall the android but couldn’t because it was inside the stasis field! Maybe their teleport device won’t work inside the field either!”

“We need to setup a drone ship with a stasis field completely around it!”


Setting up the stasis field around the entire drone ship was more complicated. They still had to be able to control it. They settled on protecting just the forward section since they assumed that would be the area the attack would come from.

“Let’s test it on one of the other systems they freed. Those systems may not be as defended as their home planet.” Rasu-sen was eager to find any means to overcome his still mostly unknown enemies…

Soon, the chief of defense for the Zenos system was reacting to their outer perimeter alarms and zipped a probe droid to the coordinates to verify who was entering their sector of space. Shortly the defense console monitors displayed the exterior of a Spectari ship. The Zenos defense chief followed established Galactic defense procedure and directed an android be dispatched to take care of the intruding ship.

“The droid cannot penetrate the shield! The ship is still coming!” The Zenos’ defense console monitor worriedly said.

“Notify Galactic Security!”John and Meredith were visiting on Yantu with Janus and

his family when Hank notified him of the new development.“They have apparently found a way to protect their ships and

now they are attacking other star systems. What action should we take against this new threat?” Hank urgently inquired.

“We should have expected they would respond in some fashion. Let’s zip there and assist them.” Hank and John arrived at the Zenos defense center located underground on Arian, their largest continent, almost at the same time, just seconds apart.

“Thanks for coming. We haven’t been able to penetrate the ships defense shield. The Spectari ship is still coming!” The defense chief anxiously looked at Hank and John.

“What have you tried so far?” Hank asked as he viewed the display monitor showing the droid’s view just forward of the enemy ship with a yellowish glow around it.

“We followed standard procedure and sent the probe droid as you see. That’s all we’ve been able to do.”


“ They would probably try to destroy the droid if they could. Apparently they can’t shoot through their energy field either. I don’t think they can maintain that kind of field 100%.” Sethanni suggested. “Let’s try a different approach. They may just be protecting the front. Set the probe to the rear of the ship and then to the ship’s coordinates. The master astrogator computer provided the coordinates. They were transmitted to the probe and suddenly the monitor went blank just as it showed the probe entering the rear of the ship. “As soon as it entered the Spectari modified shield, it quit working, but now we know we should be able to attach to the rear of the ship and destroy it.”

“Do it quickly before they learn anything from the android!” Hank ordered.

Another probe was set and shortly the Spectari ship winked out of existence.

“They managed to thwart our stasis field!” Rasu-sen bellowed with clinched hands in the air.

“No sir. I don’t think they did because their probe stopped working when it entered the stasis field. I think they learned how to avoid the field and then blew the ship up.” The Spectari chief engineer was monitoring his instruments while Rasu-sen was pacing nearby.

The Spectari commander thought a minute and said, “So the stasis field is still a viable tool against their device, we just have to find a way to make it work completely 100% around the ship?”

“Yes sir. I think we can do that, but the trick is achieving functionality for us within the stasis field without allowing functionality to them.”

“Can we have a field around the perimeter of the ship without it being inside so our instruments would still work?” Rasu-sen anxiously queried his chief technician.

“Yes. It may be possible, but we’ll have to do much retrofitting to maintain the field just outside the hull and not affect the interior.”


“Then let’s do it. Use as much help as you need but get it done as quick as possible.” Rasu-sen ordered. At least we’re making some progress, he thought…

John was concerned. This is the first time we’ve encountered an energy force the teleport device cannot penetrate. We must learn as much as possible about it so we can overcome it. John turned to Hank. “The next time they approach, we must try to determine what they’re doing to stop the teleport device from penetrating their shields. Do you have any ideas?”

Hank thought a moment. “No, but let’s ask Dr. Vaughn and the Galactic Science Council.”

John punched the keypad on his Visa and Dr. Vaughn answered.

“Yes, John. What is going on?”“The Spectari have found a way to stop the teleport device

with some kind of modified field. “We thought maybe you and Alex would like to be here the next time we encounter it.”

“Yes, I am here with some members of the Science Council. We definitely would. I see the coordinates but where are you?”

“We are on the planet Zenos. They have some good scientists and engineers here and Sethanni is here as well.”

“Good. We’ll join you shortly.”John looked at Hank. “I think we better send out a general

alert to the rest of the Council members because we don’t really know where they will try to strike next.”

“You’re right. I’ll zip to T-base and broadcast a message asking to be immediately notified of any incursions into their regions of space.

As soon as Hank left, Dr. Vaughn, Alex, and several others appeared with some extra gear with them. “I thought we would bring some special test gear to see if we can analyze what they are doing. This is Dr. Kim Chu and some of her associates.”

“Welcome to Zenos. This is our central astrophysics laboratory. I will introduce you around to the other scientists.” Councilman Orsen smiled and waved them to follow him.

Kim Chu was amazed. This was her first opportunity to


visit an alien planet and she marveled at all she witnessed. Though alien in nature, these scientists have built a laboratory setting just as I would. The equipment looks somewhat different, but that is to be expected. They still must operate with the same physical laws we do. Their symbology is different but with the translator that isn’t a problem.

“It may not be here they strike next, but wherever it is, we will zip your team there with your equipment,” John said to Dr. Vaughn.

Hank directed the preparation of the announcement from his Galactic Security Office in Colorado. I hope the science council will be able to thwart this new field the Spectari are using. We only have the teleport device as our defense and if we can’t use it effectively against them we are in big trouble. With the astronomical distances involved between the Galactic Council members, the teleport device was the only viable instant communication method. Hank directed his staff to send the message to the Galactic representatives on Earth and let them zip it to their home planets. He requested confirmation for when all had been notified. He took the time to zip home and spend a little time with the family. Hank guessed Darlene was at the UN Galactic Council office, but the rest were there. “Hi, Josephine. Where are Danielle and Billy?”

Josephine was watching her favorite video on the wall screen. The preteen looked up and smiled at her dad. “Hi Dad. Danielle is visiting with Jenny in her room and Billy is in the computer room playing a new game.”

Hank glanced at his wrist device and noticed it was lunchtime on the island. “Josephine, would you go invite everyone to meet in the living room and I will treat everyone to lunch if you can agree on a place and we will invite mommy to join us. Okay?”

While Josephine went to get everyone, Hank called Darlene.…

Chapter Fifteen

The Stasis Field

The Spectari scientists worked unceasingly using mechanical robots to create the requested stasis field around the perimeter of a drone ship. The problem was that though their instruments now functioned within the drone ship, nothing would pass through the field either from inside or without the stasis field.

“Sir, we have what you requested, but everything will have to be on automatic because we cannot communicate to the ship once the stasis field is activated.” The chief engineer almost cringed as he gave the information to Rasu-sen, hoping it was enough.

Rasu-sen thought for a moment and said,” So we could set the drone to a certain setting and send it on it’s way?”

“Yes sir. That is correct.”“Can we set an automatic switch to deactivate the field and

then have everything work?”“Yes, we can do that too.”“Good, then here is what I want you to do. Set it at

maximum hyper drive for the Earth planet in their Sol system. Rig it to cut the stasis field just outside their atmosphere and scan for all the data you can. Compress the data in a micro packet and ultra beam it to the nearest relay point. Once the scan results are retrieved, we will aim the drone for their largest city, reactivate the stasis field and send it on its way to destroy that city.”

Rasu-sen gave a perfunctory bow and approached the


Spectari Supreme Councilor, Maro-san. “Sir, we are making progress. We are modifying a ship which will allow us to attack our enemy’s home planet.”

The head of the Spectari ruling council was a tall dark man dressed in a purple flowing robe, a man to be feared and not trifled with. Rasu-sen knew the supreme councilor was a master military strategist and would not long tolerate his field commanders suffering defeats as Rasu-sen had so recently.

“That is good news. We have lost much credibility and resources with what has been happening with our crews and ships in your sector of space. You must defeat these new enemies with a crushing blow so no others will dare defy us. To assist you, I am assigning commander Marak-sen from my personal staff to be your second-in-command.” The Supreme Councilor motioned to one of the men standing a short distance away.

Commander Marak-sen had achieved notoriety in his battle campaign successes and was known for the ruthless treatment of his enemies. He stood before the two of them with a rigid stance and short cropped orange-tinged hair. He gave a perfunctory short bow, “Yes my Lord, how may I be of service?”

“I believe you know commander Rasu-sen. I am assigning you as his second officer.” The supreme Councilor then unflinchingly stared at Rasu-sen. “If you are unsuccessful, Marak-sen will take over and complete the mission. Do I make myself clear?”

Rasu-sen gave a quick bow, “Yes, sir. We will be successful. You will see.” He slowly backed away from his superior before turning and making a hasty exit with Commander Marak-sen now at his side. I knew I was in trouble, but I didn’t realize he would act so precipitously. I must find a way to defeat them quickly or I am doomed…

“We will need to get this equipment as close as possible to their modified field to be able to analyze it.” Dr. Vaughn earnestly spoke to John.

“Then I recommend we setup a Yanni ship with our field


laboratory equipment and when we have the coordinates, we zip to there to examine their new energy field.”

John turned to Sethanni with a questioning look.“An excellent idea. I will arrange the Yanni crew for you.”Suddenly Hank appeared. “They are attacking Earth space

now! We must hurry!”“I will have the crew and scientists teleport with their

equipment to the ship immediately!” Sethanni quickly said.“Then let’s go! Everyone set your devices to match mine!”

As soon as they did, the combined group disappeared from the control room on Zenos and appeared in the Yanni command ship that was docked at the Yanno-1 space station almost at the same time as the Yanni crew.

Everyone felt the vibrations as the Yanni Command ship powered up its hyper ion drive and the rest of the ship’s systems came alive.

Hank spoke into his wrist device to the Earth Space Command center. “Send the Enemy’s Coordinates to the Yanni command ship now!”

As soon as the coordinates were received, Sethanni raised the ships shields to maximum, then zipped the ship to just outside the Spectari drone ship where he matched their speed with the Spectari ship. Dr. Vaughn and the scientists activated their equipment and Sethanni activated the ship’s scanners.

Kim Chu again marveled at the speed of the action and her first experience at actually flying through space in a true space ship. She noted some of the other scientists anxiously checking out the Yanni command deck as well.

Hank focused on the forward view screen. The modified Spectari ship was not near as large as the Yanni command ship. It looks like one of those old pictures of Jules Verne’s underwater craft. What does that say about its mission? He thought. If they are not here to do battle, is it just a reconnaissance mission or something else?

“We must find a way to stop it before it reaches Earth!” John urgently said; worrying maybe this was a threat they hadn’t planned on. Maybe we’ve been treating the Spectari too lightly. They have smart scientists too. They have awesome weapons, but so far


we’ve been able to keep them from being able to use them against us. What if we can’t outwit them this time? We must make sure that doesn’t happen. After witnessing the terrible effects of the destruction on Yantu, he didn’t want to imagine such destruction happening on Earth or any other planet. We must find a way to defeat their science here and now!

The Yanni ship had shields at maximum in case the Spectari ship fired upon them. A halo effect around the Spectari ship’s exterior was clearly visible.

“It’s a null field that is surrounding the craft!” Sethanni blurted out after examining the sensor data now being displayed on his console.

Dr. Vaughn looked over his shoulder. “An entirely different energy field than their original one.” He peered at the forward view screen and noted the recent modifications on the Spectari ship’s exterior, which severely altered the sleek lines of the warship. It provided a surreal view with the starry black space in the background. “They probably would attack us but can’t through the null field.”

Alex noted the speed of the two crafts on the digital display of the Yanni console and said, “At this speed they will be entering our star system in less than 48 hours.”

Rasu-sen could not directly watch the engagement of the two ships following so close they could almost reach out and touch one another. Because of the null field, the drone’s sensors were in effect blind. All their Ryosan monitors displayed were two dots representing the opposing ships progress through the void of space. He would desperately like to be able to use his weapons through the null field but believed that was impossible. “Is it possible to cut the null field for an instant so we could blast that ship out of space or even better yet, capture it?”

“Sir, we have no access.” The chief engineer nervously answered. “We cannot change any of the pre-programmed functions from outside of the null field. The ship is flying blind until it reaches the preset coordinates. When it does, the stasis field will be shut off. At that time we could communicate with it and give it new orders.”


“We should have sent another drone ship to monitor the test ship from outside their detection range. Then we could record their response. Now we don’t know what they are doing,” Rasu-sen agitatedly said as he watched the monitors with their meager information about the action happening millions of parsecs out in deep space.…

John anxiously watched the scientific team apply their knowledge to the problem as the enemy ship continued on its path to Earth. The Yanni ship has energy weapons! “Hank, have we tried the Yanni energy weapons against that screen?”

“Sethanni, can you use those ion cannons you told me about?” Hank immediately queried.

Sethanni pressed some buttons on his console and the team watched bolts of high particle white-hot energy shoot across the short distance to the enemy ship. The result was a huge fireworks display almost blinding them. When it was over they saw the ship still untouched with its null field around it still traveling in its path to Earth!

“Dr. Vaughn, is there any way to turn that ship and cause it to travel in a different direction?” Hank anxiously queried.

“Yes, if we can find anything that will cling to the null field, we should be able to teleport it elsewhere.”

“It doesn’t have to cling to the field as much as just be able to touch it or connect with it for the briefest period, “Alex added.

“I think we have something that will work now that I know what we are dealing with,” Sethanni said. “We will counteract it with another null field. When the two touch, they should cancel each other out. I can set it up from my console if you like?”

Sethanni methodically worked with his instruments to create a reverse stasis or null field just outside the forward ion cannon port. “Got it!” Sethanni proudly announced. “Now let’s see how it works.”

The crew watched on the forward screen as the glowing blue tongues of the newly generated null field slowly reached out towards the halo surrounding the Spectari ship. When the


two fields met there was a blinding white flash and Sethanni immediately used a preprogrammed android to teleport the ship to an uninhabited planet on the other side of the galaxy, which barely had a breathable atmosphere and not much else.

“Yes! John exclaimed with a shout.“Wow! What an awesome display of power! Kim Chu thought.

If grandfather could see this, he would not be trying to steal an energy field device.

The scientists and rest of the team happily celebrated their success.

“Dr. Vaughn, we need to broadcast this information immediately to the other Council planets so they will be prepared to fend off a similar attack,” Hank firmly ordered. “Then the science team should examine that ship to glean all the modifications from it the Spectari have made.”

“I am sending the communications now, sir,” Sethanni quickly stated.

“And I will take our science team to examine the Spectari ship,” Dr. Vaughn almost excitedly said…

“Blast!” Rasu-sen Roared as he flung his hands in the air when the monitors showed his plan had failed. “How can they defeat us so easily?”

“Sir, what we have learned is their teleport device apparently doesn’t work in nor can penetrate the stasis field.”

“Yes, but where does that get us? They apparently can cancel out the stasis field as they just did. At this rate we could send a whole armada of ships against them and they would swat them like flies. We need more information but how to get it?”

“Sir, it did take them time to defeat the stasis field. Maybe we could send some shadow ships to attack them before they defeat the drone?” The chief engineer proposed.

“Yes. That might be possible, but we would have to make sure the shadow ships stay outside of their sensor range.” Rasu-sen hopefully said.

“Sir, I believe our recent encounters have supplied us at least close to what is their probable detection range. At least we could try and see if it works.”


“Good. Then do it as quickly as you can,” Rasu-sen ordered.

“I will give you one more chance, but if this doesn’t work, I will follow Maro-san’s orders and take over command.” Marak-sen spoke privately to Rasu-sen.

Rasu-sen looked his second-in-command squarely in the eyes and said, “We will not fail. You will see.” Though Rasu-sen’s voice did not break, he was inwardly frightened of Marak-sen because he knew if Marak-sen took over, his own career, if not himself, was certainly dead…

“They are attacking us as if they have precise information about our alliance!” Janus said to the Galactic executive council hastily assembled at Hank’s request in the T-base large conference room.

“Yes, I believe you’re right and I think it is our own fault.” Hank spoke up. “We have been treating the enemy too lightly. I made a quick visit to Sahara and found only a few of our latest captives there.”

“What do you mean?” John said.“I believe we will find the Spectari we captured have been

rescued, including Hardison James. That is the only reasonable explanation. We should not have put him on the same planet with our alien enemies. That was my mistake.”

“They would probably have figured out most of what we have done simply from knowing the planets we liberated.”

“Yes, John. But they wouldn’t have had Hardison’s information about us. And remember he is an MIT grad and was already twisted against us.”

“The teleport technology is all that is protecting us from the awful destructive power of their weapons!” Janus said, recalling how his own planet was slowly rebuilding their largest cities after burying their dead.

“I know,” Hank said. “We should plan our strategy as if they know as much about us as Hardison does and then some.”

“They have this null field they have been using. So far we have been able to counter it, but they will be working to


defeat our defensive measures. What will their next step be?” Councilman Orsen asked.

“I think a wise step would be to double and widen our defensive perimeter.” Hank pressed some keys on his laptop and the wall displayed a giant star chart. He pressed another key and their defensive perimeter overlaid the stars with green curved lines. “By now they have probably figured out what our current detection range is. We need to broaden and strengthen it immediately. They have a vast amount of resources they can attack with. So far they have only been using individual ships, but what if they simultaneously sent whole armadas against us? Could we react in time? Can each one of you provide more expert resources to the science and engineering teams?”

“Certainly! I will order it done immediately,” Janus said.“I will order our factories to triple the production of

sensors,” Earth’s ambassador quickly said. The others said they would also.

“Then let’s adjourn and get busy.” The delegates quickly zipped to their individual planets to carry out their assignments.

John, Hank and Janus held an executive session. “You’re right, Hank. I have been too slow to react to this threat.”

“It’s not your fault, John. We’re all are new at this military strategy business, but we do need to be thinking faster than our enemy.” Hank said. “Right now they probably have more information about us than we do them. I’ve taken the liberty to bring some of the latest captured Spectari here to interrogate them to help us catch up in that area. Victor is overseeing that task. He should be reporting back soon.”

“Our planet does not share your history of wars, so we have no military generals to call on,” Janus said.

“Yes, we need to add military strategists to the defense team,” John said.

“Chirp…chirp…”John glanced at his wrist device. “Yes, Sweetheart?”“John, I think it is time,” Meredith softly said in apparent

short breaths. “I’m in the labor room at Grand Prairie General Hospital. Dr. Walsh is here and says Amber Julie will be here shortly.”


“I will be right there,” John quickly answered. He looked at Janus and Hank. “Can you two manage without me for a little while? I think I am about to become a new father again.”

“Certainly, John. Give Meredith a hug for us too,” Hank happily said. Just then, Hank’s wrist device buzzed. “Yes, Victor?”

“I have some interesting information for you,” Victor quickly said.

“I’ll catch it when I get back. Can you give it to Hank?” John said just before disappearing.

“Meredith is being prepped for the delivery room now.” Dr. Walsh was wearing a green hospital gown with a matching mask hanging below her chin. “She is doing fine. You can see her as soon as you have a mask and gown. We don’t want to get any germs on the baby when it comes,” Dr. Walsh smoothly said.

A similarly attired nurse quickly provided the mask and gown and John nervously donned them.

Meredith looked radiant but somewhat uncomfortable with a small amount of perspiration on her forehead. A nurse dabbed at it as she was wheeled into the delivery room. John kissed her forehead and held her hand.

“Jonathan and Jenny are in the waiting room. You look funny in your mask,” she said smiling up at him.

John stood to the side with his eyes locked on Meredith, watching the nurses gently transfer her to the delivery table.

Dr. Walsh checked her again when the nurses finished. “Everything’s normal. Your little girl is in perfect position for an easy delivery,” she assured the couple.

“Oh! I’m having another contraction!” Meredith moaned gritting her teeth.

John gently squeezed his sweetheart’s hand.Jonathan and Jenny were sitting in the maternity waiting

room with Darlene Travis and Joan Stanton.“I was in the waiting room when you two were born,”

Darlene told them.The door opened and a green masked man came through

the door. He lowered the mask and displayed a wide smile.


“Dad!” Jenny ran to him.Jonathan stood with a questioning look.John hugged them both and smiled at Darlene and Joan.

“You have a beautiful new sister. Come see.”The nurse put masks on them before they were allowed in

the recovery room with Meredith and little Amber Julie.“Isn’t she beautiful?” Meredith beamed, lying with the tiny

red-faced baby in the crook of her arm.“Hello Amber,” Jenny softly said, smiling at her new sister

and step mom.Jonathan said, “She is so tiny and fragile.”“Yes, and she will need all of us to love her and help raise

her, Meredith happily said. Though she was smiling, there were still beads of perspiration forming on her face. Meredith relinquished Amber to her father. As he gently held his little girl, Jenny and Jonathan tenderly touched her tiny fingers and toes. Blue-eyed Amber cooed at them.

Dr. Walsh came in and softly said, “We better let your mom get some rest. You can come back in the morning.”

John handed Amber back to Meredith and gave both a sweet kiss. “Sweet dreams and we will see you in the morning.”

The group walked back to the waiting room for a short visit.

“Congratulations, John we are so happy for you. Now I can say I’ve been present for the birth of all your kids.” Darlene looked at Jonathan and Jenny. “Why don’t you two come over to my house for the night?” She smilingly offered.

“Darlene, I would appreciate that. I really need to get back to Colorado.”

“We’ll see you in the morning then,” Joan said. “Everyone come to my cottage for breakfast and then we can zip back here.”

“That sounds great,” John said. “You two are really great friends.” He then pressed his wrist device. “Hank, what’s happening?”

“ I note you’re still at the hospital. Are you a new Dad yet?”“Yes and she’s a beautiful blue eyed little darling. She and


Meredith are doing fine. It was really an easy delivery for her. Hank, we want you and Darlene to be the god-parents.”

“Well congratulations. That is a great honor. I don’t know much about god parenting, but we will do our best. We’re taking care of things here. We’re still gathering data about the Spectari. We should have a more complete picture for you in a few days. You just take care of your family and I will keep you updated.”

John realized he couldn’t have anyone better watching out for them. “Thanks, Hank. I really appreciate it. Darlene is here. You can talk to her.” John held his wrist so Darlene could hear and speak into it.

“High, sweetheart. How are you and the kids?”“ We’re fine, Hank. I invited Jonathan and Jenny for the

night.”“That’s great, Darling. Give the kids a hug and kiss for me. Have

fun and I will let you know when I will be home.”“I’m ready to take our little girl home.” Meredith said the

next afternoon. “They mother me and Amber too much here. The nurses won’t let me keep Amber with me in my room very long. Dr. Walsh says I can leave anytime.”

“Then I don’t know what’s stopping us. The kids are having fun fixing up the nursery for their new sister. I think you’ll like their efforts. The cottage is full of flowers and cards from friends all over the world and out of it as well. I think the group from the paper has a shower planned for you next week and Betty Rogers and Carolyn Barnes have requested exclusives about our new baby. I’ll leave that part up to you.”

The nursery was a hit. There was a rainbow music carousel with colorful animals hanging from it dangling over an ornately carved mahogany crib with cute animal designs on it, a special gift from the Dallas News. Smiling cartoon characters were painted on the walls and the sky-blue ceiling now included some wispy white clouds with an eagle flying high among them. Darlene and Joan had helped the kids do it just right.

Many of the flowers were donated to hospitals. The new mom enjoyed nursing Amber except sometimes during the wee hours of the morning. Meredith enjoyed the shower Doris


arranged, but only allowed a short interview and television spot with her and Amber. Prince sniffed Amber and gave her a quick lick, welcoming her to the family while Jenny held her tiny new sister. Yanna and Kara came for a visit bearing gifts for Amber and Meredith. John just tried to keep out of the way of all the activity.

“On our planet, children are highly viewed as part of a man’s heritage and we pass on as much ancestral knowledge as possible,” Janus told John as they viewed their spouses and children fuss over a cuddly cooing Amber Julie.

“Yes, so do we. We believe that though we provide the physical bodies, Heavenly Father provides their spirits. I’ve been reading some of your history and legends too. I remember your saying you had trouble distinguishing between our history and mythology. Well I am having trouble understanding yours as well.” John smiled at his close alien friend.

“Yes, our legends are very similar to your mythology. I’m afraid one must be familiar with the author’s background to determine fact or fiction in some cases.” The two roamed the island garden where different tropical fruit and lush greenery grew just off their deck.

“Your Yesenta has a similar creation story as our scriptures. Have you noted how much your Yehu and our Jesus have in common? Both lived about the same time in history and each claimed divine son-ship.

“Yes I have spoken of that with the Elders who are meeting with us about your Savior. I believe our Eyotas perform a similar function as your prophets too. The Elders tell me that your religion allows for societies on other planets, but that other religions don’t necessarily believe that to be the case.

“I believe part of that is through our understanding of Latter-day revelation and the Pearl of Great Price.”

“I recall this pearl you speak of.”“The Pearl of Great Price is a Latter-day scripture that

relates a vision revealed to one of our earlier prophets, Moses, who saw other worlds unnumbered, but was told he was only to write about and be concerned with our own. I don’t believe any


other religion accepts that actuality, but they may be starting to now that we can visit other worlds.”

“Yes, now I remember reading it. Your first Latter-day prophet Joseph Smith received Moses Vision while translating portions of the Bible in 1830.” Janus recited the scripture verbatim.

“And worlds without number have I created; And I also created them for mine own purpose; by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten…. But only an account of this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, give I unto you. For behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power. And there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man; but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them.”

Janus smiled. “That is found in your Pearl of Great Price, book of Moses chapter 1 verses 33 and 35.” Janus smiled. “If other of your religions mentions there being other worlds, I haven’t come across it in my reading. I think that is another thing that draws us together. You not only reverence your dead prophets, but you have living ones as well. I would like your President Alonzo and Yazarah, our Nobel One, the current Eyota, to meet. I believe they would have much to discuss.”

“I can see how you qualified to be a Councilman. You have a remarkable memory.”

“Not necessarily so. But I do remember things I am interested in.”

John smiled. “Janus, I am sure President Alonzo would enjoy that meeting as well. I will see about arranging it.”

Chapter Sixteen

Know Thine Enemy

“Well, what have I missed?” John asked Hank just a few days later. He had enjoyed his family time and little Amber, but had constantly worried about the Spectari to the point of it costing him sleep.

“Not much action, John. The Spectari have been quiet lately, which has us wondering what they’re up to. We’ve learned much more about them.” Hank sat across the desk in John’s new office. It was more spacious and better furnished than the older UN office. It also included several technological advancements including a special security energy screen and a wall monitor that displayed the Galaxy status with everything showing green at the moment.

“The Spectari are the weirdest species of homo sapiens we’ve come across. They are older than us. They have about twice our lifetime. They raise their young in a communal environment and relegate the women to child bearing and menial tasks only in a totally male-dominated society. They are totally dedicated to dominating other species without any regard for human life.” Hank stood up and paced around the room as he gave John the summary of their findings.

“They have the philosophy that they are the superior species and thus destined to conquer and enslave all they encounter. They have been doing this for well over a couple centuries, thus the large number of subjugated planets. They are technically advanced in most areas except medicine.” Hank finally took a seat, but continued his report.


“When their people become infirm or dysfunctional, they are not given treatment, but put to death. They have a philosophy that it is valiant to die in battle and would not hesitate to sacrifice any number of their warriors to win a battle.” Hank concluded, “Their society is almost totally opposite of ours and most others we’ve come in contact with. They quickly adopt the advanced technology of any conquered planet.”

Hank’s eye roved across the expansive wooded Maryland vista, contrasting it in his mind with the city view from John’s New York office. He turned to John. “This is quite a different view than from our old UN offices. I like having mine right next to yours too.”

“I’m glad you approve. This used to be part of a CIA complex. Hopefully, we’ll never have need for that agency again.”

“I have some of their old staff on our team now and they were helpful with interviewing the Spectari.”

John stood up too and straightened his tunic. “Well, you’ve certainly learned quite a bit in a short period of time, but does it provide us any help to defeat them?”

“Only in helping us understand their war-like society and maybe some of their tactics and strategy.”

“But will it be enough?”“Chirp…chirp…”Hank viewed his wrist display. “Yes, Janus?”“We have engagement with the Spectari!”Hank looked at John and said, “We’re on our way!” They

were immediately in the Yanni defense center. The screen displays were tracking several Spectari ships. Long-range probes revealed the Spectari ships were similarly rigged as before with the exterior null fields.

“They may not know we can detect them yet. We’ve tripled our defense perimeter since the last encounter. We’re sending an armed probe for each of those ships. We’ve kept the probes out of what we’ve learned from the prisoners is their sensor range,” Sethanni quickly briefed them. “Our sensors have


been upgraded to extend beyond theirs. The Spectari ships are unmanned according to our scans.”

“Let’s not engage them too quickly then. Sethanni, are the probe’s prepared?” Hank questioned.

“Yes sir. They can activate the opposing null fields at any time we direct.”

“Good. I think they are using these drone ships to draw out our defense network. We will not react until they are within our original perimeter.

Rasu-sen watched the progress of the flotilla of ships he was sending. A second wave was maintaining a great distance in the rear in order to record and react to the enemy defensive action. I am amazed they have not broadened their detection range, Rasu-sen thought. They must be very simple beings. That is the first thing I would have done; especially with their teleport ability to apparently set them wherever they want.

This time Rasu-sen was monitoring the action from his command flagship many parsecs away from the flotilla so he could visually receive real-time information. He needed full instrument functionality so the command ship was not using the stasis field, though it was equipped to do so. The Spectari commander did not plan on getting that close to what they recognized as enemy space.

“The forward ships are within our original defense perimeter now,” Sethanni said.

“I would attack those in the rear first. They are probably there to record our reaction to the forward group of ships,” General Rocky Garner, a stout-looking officer who had been called up by President Hargrove and assigned to the team along with several other former Pentagon military strategists, offered. He now wore the Khaki Space Commission uniform. “That way they cannot relay information back to their command center.”

“Point well taken, general.” Hank quickly said, “Sethanni, let’s take out the rear ones first only after they enter the original perimeter.”


“With great pleasure, sir.”John noted the computer display console indicating the

Spectari ships with a curved red line marking the original defense perimeter and a curved yellow line marking the extended one and then a separate blue line. “What does the blue line represent?” He asked Hank.

Hank pointed to the screen. “The blue line represents our extended sensor range. We don’t want to take any action until the enemy ships are well within the lines so we don’t reveal any tactical information to them. This orange line represents their sensor range.”

John realized the colored lines on the display screen represented astronomic distances in the millions of miles, an impossible feat without teleportation.…

“Our shadow ships are preset to stop just outside their detection grid,” Weapons Officer Jorgan-sen softly said, standing beside Commander Rasu-sen. The weapons officer was getting nervous. He was somewhat uncomfortable with Commander Marak-sen standing a little off to the side, not truly understanding his function here. To have two full commanders on the same operations deck was very unusual. No one had bothered to brief him regarding the Supreme Councilor’s warning and edict to Rasu-sen. He just checked and double-checked to make sure his ion cannons were fully charged when the battle action began.

The Spectari drones failed to detect the allied probes maintaining their distance just beyond their own sensor range. “We’ve either caught them off guard or they are planning a new tactic,” Rasu-sen almost worriedly said….

“The rear ships have halted their progress just outside our original perimeter, sir, but there is one ship even still further back and the sensors indicate it is manned.”

“Good, Sethanni. They must not realize we expanded our defenses and sensor range. That other ship may be the command and control one. Can you take it out ahead of the other rear ones?”


“No problem. I’m programming a probe for it now.” Sethanni worked his command console and shortly a new probe was tracking Rasu-sen’s ship just outside the Spectari command ship’s sensor range.

“Good. When I give the word, zip it to Rocky 13. Maroon them there and then zip the empty ship to Yanno-1 where we can examine it.”…

“I don’t expect a problem, but just in case, have a constant update of our situation beamed to Ryosan,” Rasu-sen ordered.

“Yes, sir, but Commander Marak-sen already ordered that be done, sir.”

Rasu-sen tried to control himself and keep from turning toward his sinister second officer. “Very good, ensign.”

Rasu-sen reviewed his strategy in his mind. We have the drone ships programmed to hit the Yanni’s home planet. If there is any interference, we have the backup drones to record and attack the enemy and we’re here to monitor the action. We will finally defeat these puny earthlings and their allies. They have caused me too much misery already.

Suddenly, Rasu-sen and his crew felt a hard jolt and the monitors now displayed a rocky planetary surface! They noted an armed android standing beside them on the command deck. It was too late to activate the stasis field!

“Drop your weapons and communicators now or this ship will be destroyed in 10 clicks…One click.”

“Comply! Comply!” Rasu-sen horrified ordered as the android voiced, “Three clicks…”

This time the android was programmed to monitor for any hidden devices. Some of the crew, including Marak-sen, failed to drop their communicators so the android kept counting, “Five clicks…”

“Drop everything now. Quickly!” Rasu-sen exclaimed.When the android noted all devices were now on the floor,

he ordered, “Abandon ship now!”The frustrated Spectari crew complied and then watched

their flagship disappear.


“How can this be happening?” Rasu-sen roared, realizing his own fate had just been sealed. “They extended their range and suckered us in!”

Commander Marak-sen looked around at his hot, stark, and bleak surroundings and said, “Wherever we are, I am in charge now.”

“Sethanni, destroy all but two of the drones and send those two to your moon so we can examine their technology later.” Hank quickly said once the Spectari Command ship was dispatched.

The allied scientists and crew watched the monitors as the Spectari drones began to disappear.

Sethanni worked his console like a wizard and shortly announced, “It is done.”

The scientific team eagerly examined the Spectari technology it found in Rasu-sen’s advanced command ship. They studied each component in great detail. They dissected and minutely examined the Spectari communications devices, the scanners, and particularly the weaponry. Though Kim Chu abhorred weapons of any type, she thirsted to learn all she could about their enemy. These weapons were trained on us and would have been used had it not been for our own technology.

One particular and special item they quickly adopted was the tractor beam. “This will be a great help in engineering projects, both on planets and in space. I am immediately sending the specifications to the Council representatives,” Ted Olmstead happily beamed. The Spectari comm equipment was as eagerly adopted as it more than doubled the Galactic Council’s current communication capability.

On Ryosan, the Spectari Supreme Councilor, Maro-san, watched his military aid slowly approach him, knowing it could not be good news. What has happened now?

“Sir, we have lost all contact with Commander Rasu-sen’s ship and the others that were with him.”

“Assemble the military council at once! We must take more drastic action.”


Maro-san’s imperial and fearful visage appeared on the overhead screen in the council chamber of the assembled Military Council. This council had not been assembled in several years due to the almost unchallenged brutal military might the Spectari used in their exploitation of the universe. The generals, though in similar uniforms, wore different colors on their epaulets and capes representing their individual clans.

“There are enemies in the Gamma Galaxy who have managed to defeat our forces several times now, he grimly stated. “Listen to the dispatch from the latest failed encounter and arrive at a means to defeat them. Don’t report back to me until it is done and we have their amazing teleport device!”

The screen went blank and the group viewed and listened to the short and abrupt dispatch from Rasu-sen’s ship just before the transmission stopped when the android teleported it.

Senior General Korak-sen addressed the assembled generals. He wore bright red epaulets. “From this, it seems Commander Rasu-sen severely and probably fatally underestimated the enemy. Does anyone wish to offer a preliminary analysis?”

General Sarak-sen stood up from his position far down the large oval table. He was a junior general who experienced a fast rise through the ranks, due to his brilliant strategic maneuvers.

“Sir, though we know little enough about the enemy, we do know they have a transport technology far beyond ours. We have been unable to learn very much about it. This technology allows them to teleport seemingly anywhere instantly and avoids our detection equipment. Because they have captured some of our ships, I believe their scientists have learned more from our technology than we have of theirs. We know several planetary systems have allied against us in that sector and are daily freeing more conquered planets.”

A lesser-known general on the opposite side of the table stood up and Sarak-sen sat down.

“That is true, but so far the enemy has not been bloodthirsty in their tactics. Instead of killing their attackers,


they have been leaving them stranded on remote planets. They even use androids instead of live warriors to do their work for them. That must tell us something about them we can take advantage of.” The general quickly sat down.

No one else stood up so Sarak-sen did. “We must assume they know all about us and have matched or exceeded our technical capability. They probably expanded their defensive zone and extended their sensor range, which is why Rasu-sen had no warning. We must somehow obtain one of their devices so we can duplicate it. I have read commander Rasu-sen’s reports and he believes a single planet called Earth is leading these attacks. When our forces first came in contact with the earth system, he reported they were technically primitive and was surprised how easily they defeated him. We must not make the same mistake.”

General Korak-sen stood up and Sarak-sen yielded the floor.

“I think everything you have said is probably correct. We must change our tactics to a stealth mode. We have one of their captured people. Let’s bring him before us and determine a better strategy.”…

“That went well. We’re learning much about their technology. I am still amazed how technically we’ve advanced in such a short period of time.”

“Yes, John. But not near enough,” Hank said. “We need to stay ahead of our enemy. There must have been some high-ranking Spectari on that command ship. I’m going to bring them here for interrogation.”

John reacted almost instinctively. “No, Hank, not here. I remember our mistake with Heinrich. Zip them to a very secure area deep inside T-base where they can’t possibly know where they are.”

“That’s a better idea.” Hank viewed the directory on his wrist device and selected a button. “Victor, are you busy right now?”

“Not at the moment. I have been working with the science team


on the Spectari command ship. We now have their null field generator and other great stuff as well.”

“Good. I want you take a few of your security staff and retrieve a couple of the Spectari officers we marooned on Rocky 13 here. I will set up a heavily guarded room at T-base for their interrogation. I’ll send you the coordinates so you can zip them right to it. Be sure and use the androids when you’ve identified their key people. I don’t want any of our people to be in any danger.”

John sat at his desk toying with his pencil, listening to Hank make the arrangements, thinking; how easy this all is due to the device and how undoable it would be without it…

A much cowed and beaten Hardison James could not stand erect before the Spectari Military High Command, but was slightly bent over. He had felt the neuron whip more than once in their interrogation and believed another dose would surely kill him. He had no idea whether Clint had survived his interrogation or not and at this point it didn’t seem to matter.

“Puny Earthling, you have not told us enough to save your scrawny life. Can you tell us more? Tell us of a weakness we can use against them or your mangy life is forfeit!” General Korak-sen threatened. What the Spectari had learned so far about the Earth science told them nothing about the teleport device.

In his beaten state, Hardison struggled with the words. “I have seen your might and your weapons and Earth is no match for them except for the teleport device itself. I know very little about its workings. They used it to defeat me as easily as they apparently are doing to you.”

“Tell us about the ones who are using the device.”“The space commissioner is new to the position. The

whole position is new. Until the device was invented just a short time ago, we were practically earthbound with no true space flight. I believe he is space commissioner only because he became popular by working with the scientists who developed it. He is a former journalist with no real technical background. I believe they have teamed up with other planets and are sharing technology.”


“Those are only small details. We want to know how to defeat them.”

“To be able to help, I need to know what you have been doing so far against them. I cannot help you without more knowledge of current events. I have been away from the action for awhile.” Hardy put his hands on his knees and took a couple of short breaths, obviously in some pain.

“We have not even been able to approach them. They detect our ships before we ever get near their star systems. They teleport or destroy our ships before we even know they are there.” General Korak-sen hesitatingly admitted. “We need to obtain their device so we can duplicate it.”

“Earth did not have that detection capability. It must be from their allies.” Hardy tried to straighten but couldn’t quite make it.

“We guessed that, but the question is how to defeat them.”

Through gritted teeth Hardison said, “I think you must avoid or thwart their detection devices. You must learn how their detection equipment works and use material it can’t detect. Do you have some kind of ray or guided laser that could knock out their sensors? What do you have besides your space ships?” Hardison was bent over and straining to stay standing in his weakened condition.

General Korak-sen enjoyed the sight of the beaten earthling slightly hunched over in pain before them. It reminded him how much superior the Spectari were to the puny creatures. “Before we have time to identify the sensor locations, the enemy has already located us and either dispatched the ships or destroyed them. With their remarkable device they can place sensors almost automatically. It would be impossible to keep track of them.” He hesitated while glaring at his beaten captive. “We do have one of the small Yanni shuttle ships they used at their space station. It was brought back following the initial invasion. We will examine its detection capability more closely. General Sarak-sen, see to it at once.”

The young General said, “Yes sir,” and quickly left the room.


“Earthling, when we develop a method for avoiding the sensor’s detection, we will take you with us. You will use your knowledge to help obtain one or more of their teleport devices.”

“If you can get me to Earth, I have a hidden teleport-equipped module in a remote area on the planet they know nothing about.”

“Very good. Your puny life may be worth something yet.”…

The Galactic security team appeared in the Colorado underground interrogation chamber with Commanders Rasu-sen and Marak-sen. They strapped them to two secured metal armchairs equipped with metal leg braces and arm straps. The room was sterile white; having nothing other than the two secured chairs with a wide floor-to-ceiling mirror on one wall.

Hank and Sethanni watched the action from behind the one-way mirrored wall. “Put the fear of god into them so they will spill their guts.” Hank spoke to Phil Gantt who would head the interrogation. Phil was another new team member selected for his special background. He had a medium build and looked mild-mannered with a deep-throated voice.

The former CIA interrogator’s voice came hauntingly through the room’s sound system. “You have been brought here to tell us about your planet. Your life is in our hands, so be careful how you answer.”

“We hear you puny earthling,” Marak-sen angrily yelled at the invisible voice. “Are you too cowardly to show yourself to us?”

“In due time, if you survive, you may see my face, but for now that is not necessary. We want to know what we can expect from your military forces.”

“You can expect us to defeat you!” Rasu-sen angrily spoke while Marak-sen glared at him.

“That is good considering your own predicament. Now tell us how you will defeat us.”

“Because we are superior to you,” Rasu-sen spat out. “We have defeated hundreds of planets and systems.”


“Yes, we know how you have been quite the bully, conquering lesser planets because of your advanced technology. Now that has changed. Now you are the lesser species. Let’s see how you like it?”

“We are not lesser! You tricked us! We shall still defeat you!” Marak-sen angrily shouted at them.

“I see you need some encouragement to loosen your tongues. We will now administer a truth serum to aid this interrogation.” Phil Gantt nodded to an assistant and a physician walked into the room and efficiently used a syringe gun to administer the prescribed dosage.

Marak-sen felt the injection first. “What is happening? What are you doing to us?

“Ouch!” Rasu-sen flinched with a loud wince when he received his.

“It will take a few minutes for the drug to take effect,” Phil told his new boss. “I also think it would be more effective if we separated them. They each know the other is being questioned and it would be better if they didn’t know what the other was telling.”

“Great idea,” Sethanni said. “We can do that while they are sedated.”

“That’s fine. Whatever works,” Hank said as he put his hand on Phil’s shoulder. “What we really need to know is what we can expect them to do next. This interrogation may be lengthy, but I can’t express the urgency of this too much. We’re sure they will try something new and we need to be prepared. Find out all you can and we’ll listen to the transcript later. This is in your capable hands. Notify us immediately if warranted.”

“Certainly, sir. I will provide a full report.” The interrogator then gave directions for separating them to one of the guards…

John visited Janus’ Galactic office next to his own. “They may have been in direct contact with their home planet when we captured them. If that is the case, we should extend our detectors even further.”

“I took the liberty to already ordering that be done.”“Great. Instead of just moving the sensors out though, let’s


leave those in place and distribute new ones further out. That way we have a double-layered defense system.”

“Hank suggested that same approach and it is being done as we speak,” Janus smiled.

“You guys are always two jumps ahead of me. I would hate to play you in chess.”

“What is chess?” Janus had a puzzled look on his face.“It is a very sophisticated game of moves and counter

moves. One which I believe you would be very good at, Mr. Vice-president,” Hank smiled from the doorway.

“Come on in Mr. Travis,” Janus motioned him into the room.

Hey Hank. How’s the interrogation going?” John motioned Hank to the chair next to his own.

“It’s just getting started. We’re using Phil Gantt, the former CIA agent, to accomplish it. I think the two Spectari generals will crack pretty easily. Thy have a lot of swagger, but not much else. I also noticed they don’t like each other much.” Hank eased his lanky body into the soft cushion of the upholstered chair. “Sethanni tells me the new sensors are being distributed as quickly as they are produced. About half of our systems are now double-covered.”

“That’s great, Hank,” John seriously said as he turned to Janus. “There’s something I’ve been wondering about. Maybe you can help me or point me to who can? How exactly do the sensors work? I mean what triggers them? Can someone thwart or avoid them?

“Not a problem,” Janus focused on answering the question. “The sensor devices themselves are a combination, of ion emission, energy pulse detection, motion, heat or infrared, and metal detectors. The sensors relay any of those readings that fall outside their programmed parameters to our scanning equipment.

“We can control what those detection parameters are, I assume?” John queried.

“Exactly.” Janus looked at them both. “They are pre-programmed and can be changed at any time.”


“How secure are the sensors? I mean are we the only ones who can manipulate them?”

“Excellent question, Mr. Travis. We took your Dr. Vaughn’s advice and added the same security features to the sensors you employ in the teleport devices, so yes. We are the only ones who can manipulate them. If an unauthorized person even tries, we should know it immediately.”…

“Before we use the Yanni vessel to get to earth, let us experiment to be sure we can thwart their detectors.” Sarak-sen told his team. “We must get the Yanni vessel far enough inside their detection perimeter, that they won’t think it is from us so it will be free to make its way to Earth. Send a small-unmanned speeder about the same size as the Yanni vessel and record when it is first detected. Then, let’s prepare one with Duranium replacing most of the metal and try it. We will keep experimenting until we find the right combination.”

Lorak-sen, a white-bearded wizened team member, spoke up. “We should try different areas of the Gamma sector as we experiment so the enemy doesn’t figure out our strategy.”

“Excellent idea, sir,” Sarak-sen bowed to his elder scientist. “Spread the trials around the sector and plot the distances at each point.”

The plan was executed, causing the loss of many Spectari modified unmanned speeders, but slowly and painstakingly the information was gleaned from each sortie towards enemy territory.

“By process of elimination, we have discovered the enemy sensor’s sensitivity to mineral elements, energy, ion emissions, and motion,” Lorak-sen finally announced. “We can probably overcome all but the last. For it we would need a device similar to the enemy’s.”

Sarak-sen listened to the team report, thought a few minutes and asked, “If you can plot the enemy scanning perimeter, is it possible to use the Yasux matter transmitter to overcome the motion detector?”

“That is a possibility, but in doing so we would probably


trip the energy sensor,” Lorak-sen added. “The Yasux requires much power and would certainly be detected.

Sarak-sen nodded his head in agreement. “That may be true. They might detect the use of the matter transmitter, but could they detect the transmission’s destination? That is the key, I think.”

“I don’t see how,” Lorak-sen smiled. “Especially if the transmitter is set to immediately erase the previous settings, because it will probably be captured or destroyed once it is detected. We would need to position a transmitter near a planetary type body though, because the distance of the Yasux is somewhat limited.”

“Well, then keep working to make it so and I will report our progress.” Sarak-sen turned and quickly exited the Spectari laboratory…

Hank and Sethanni joined John and Janus for their weekly security briefing.

“How’s the interrogation going?”“Pretty well, John. I think we’ve drained these two of

about as much useful information as we’re likely to get from them. We now know the Spectari high command and how they operate. We know how the ruling council is organized, how it functions, and much about some of the rulers. We have a good outline of how widespread they are in their galaxy. They have been conquering theirs for thousands of years and expanding into ours for about fifty years.”

“That’s good, Mr. Travis,” Janus stated. “I didn’t realize they were that old a society. You have been quite busy.”

“Well, the Spectari haven’t been exactly standing still during this time either. “They’ve been pecking at our defense perimeter. Trying to learn its weakness. They’re losing many ships in the process. As we capture each ship, we work to determine what they are testing for. From what we’ve learned, I believe they probably do understand some of the sensor parameters we’re using, but we catch them at different distances so they won’t have a true picture of our detection range”.


“Does that mean we are in danger?” Janus hastily queried.“Are you talking about things we can adjust for?” John

quickly asked his security chief.Hank straightened up in his chair looking at them both.

“What I mean is the type of things the sensors check for. I don’t think we are in immediate danger, but we need to be especially diligent and fine-tune the sensors as much as possible. Their probes indicate they are reducing the metal and electro-magnetics in their ships to avoid detection. They may be able to nullify some of the sensor parameters, but I don’t think they will be able to nullify all of them. The most difficult would be the motion sensors.”

Janus hesitantly spoke up. “But not impossible, I’m afraid.”

“What do you mean, sir?” Hank focused on the Galactic Vice-president’s answer.

“They have our Yasux matter transmitter, which if tactically used might avoid setting off the motion sensor,” Janus solemnly stated.

“But your device is an energy hog and if they used it we would surely know, right?” Hank blurted out.

John grasped the significance of the conversation. “What is the limit of your Yasux matter transmitter?”….


Chapter Seventeen

Thicker Plots

“Your Excellency, we are making progress, but it has cost us many ships in the process.” Sarak-sen reported to General Korak-sen in his elaborately appointed office.

“Ships can be replaced. What have you learned? Give me details.” Korak-sen ordered then sipped his tort wine, watching the young general stand at attention before him.

“We discovered their sensors are able to identify most mineral elements and electronic devices of any kind.” Sarak-sen tried to keep the quaking out of his voice, for he knew it was necessary to please his leader. “As we, they can also detect ion emissions and we believe can detect motion. We are refitting our ships using super strength Duranium in place of metal. We have not been able to penetrate beyond their sensor range, but we are experimenting using the Yasux matter transmitter to see if we can teleport beyond it.”

Korak-sen wiped his chiseled chin with the back of his hand and said, “The Yasux uses a tremendous amount of energy. We couldn’t use it to transmit even the smallest battle group.”

“That is correct, your Excellency, but it could work to help us get the small Yanni speeder with the Earthling beyond their sensors so they would have a chance to get to Earth undetected and obtain a teleport device for us. Then our scientists can reproduce it and we can go anywhere as they can.”

“Yes! I see you’ve gotten to the heart of the matter.” Korak-sen happily smiled. “That is excellent. Inform me as soon as


your experiment proves successful.” The Military Council commander waved his arm in dismissal, “Now go and get it done.” Korak-sen would like to report progress to Supreme Commander Maro-san, but remembered his edict not to report back until the enemy was defeated. He smiled as he thought; I can at least report our progress to the rest of the High Command.

Sarak-sen’s team continued planning their major test against their enemy’s outer perimeter. “We’ve found a planet inside their perimeter just within the range of the matter transmitter but outside their last identified sensor range. It coincidently offers the straightest and shortest course to the Earth system,” Lorak-sen happily reported.

“Then let’s not squander it on a test and alert them. I feel we’re only going to get one opportunity at this before they tighten their defenses. Find another place to test on the other side of the Gamma sector,” Sarak-sen ordered.

“Yes sir. I see your point. We will continue the search for a suitable test.”

Sometime later Lorak-sen reported a possible test site that fit the necessary criteria. “It is many solar systems away from earth. It lies between two of the planets they took back from us so is on the fringe of both system’s sensor range. The desert-like planet is out of the way and noxious with no strategic value so they probably will not even notice our test.”

“Very good. What is the travel time to destination?”Lorak-sen glanced at his notes. “At Hyper speed we can be

there in less than a hundred sleep cycles, sir.”“I will supervise this test myself,” Sarak-sen ordered. “Setup

a test speeder similar in size to the Yanni one. Have it put in the cargo bay of a modified freighter. And modify the Yasux transmitter so it can teleport the speeder to that planet.”

“Yes sir. Those steps are already in process.”Shortly the Duranium-built freighter was on its way with

the Spectari test team in control. With plenty of time ahead during the trip between galaxies, they planned each step of the test meticulously.…


“It was frightening and very scary but exhilarating at the same time,” Jonathan related his experience in the Spectari scout ship to their teenage friends around the beach campfire. Tanya was sitting beside him with her arms wrapped around her knees watching him with the glow from the campfire reflected in her bright eyes. “Traveling through space in a ship is quite a different feeling than just being teleported. There’s the feeling of motion and action. When the Spectari captured us, I thought we were dead for sure.”

“How did you escape if your wrist devices wouldn’t work?” Jason Garrett asked.

“I was lucky. When we left T-base, I grabbed a backpack that was sitting by the console. It turned out to be Mr. Travis’. When we were in the Spectari detention cell, I found a spare device in it that luckily worked. I surreptitiously took it out with my back turned to the guards and we teleported just as the guards must have realized their mistake in letting us keep our personal stuff. They were rushing to us in the cell just as we teleported. One of the guards managed to grab Chad away from us before we teleported away. Later Hank returned and rescued him.”

Everyone looked at Chad so he told his part of the dangerous incident.

“I was very scared when the others escaped and I didn’t. The guard that grabbed me was very rough and dragged me to the captain. Then I realized if Jonathan escaped he would surely be able to bring help and I was calmed down a little. On the command deck the ship’s captain was really getting a tongue lashing when Hank appeared and rescued me.”

“Do you think maybe we could get to travel in one of those ships?” An eager redheaded freckly-faced Derrick Gantry asked. His dad was one of the astrophysicists on the team.

Jonathan looked at them smiling. “I will ask my dad if we can arrange it. Maybe do it as a class field trip? If we get to, it will probably be a Yanni ship rather than a Spectari one.” Jonathan knew over half of the youth participated in the Yanni exchange program, so traveled there almost daily. But that was


via the device, which was quite different than in a real space ship like Jonathan was describing.

Later after the fire went out, Jonathan escorted Tanya home with a goodnight kiss.

Tanya looked into Jonathan’s eyes as they shared the moment together under the stars. “If you can arrange that space ship flight, I want to go on it too.”

Jonathan wrapped her in his arms. “If Dad okays it, I will be sure you are included.” Later, he stopped by his parent’s cottage to see if his dad was home yet.

Meredith was holding Amber Julie, arranging her nightdress before laying her in her crib. Amber was cooing with a bright smile, wiggling her tiny hands and arms into the warm colorful cotton outfit. “Hi, Jonathan. Would you like to say goodnight to Amber?”

Jonathan took his baby sister gently in his arms. “Goodnight Amber. Sleep tight. Don’t let the bed bugs bite.” Jonathan knew there were no bed bugs because of the energy field surrounding the cottages. He kissed her softly on the cheek, gently rocked her in his arms a few seconds, and then carefully handed her back to Meredith. “Is dad home yet?”

“No, he called and said he was staying at the office a while longer to work with Hank on a problem. How are you doing? I saw the group at the campfire on the beach. Did y’all have a good time?” The two were talking quietly as she placed Amber in her crib in the nursery. Amber lay on her side, cooed once and closed her eyes. “We’re lucky. She had a long day crawling around the veranda with several visitors. She isn’t always that easy to get to sleep.”

“Yes, we did. I was telling them about my experience in the Spectari ship.”

“That was quite an experience and you four were very lucky it turned out okay. Janna and I were worried to death about you along with your Grandma. Please don’t do something like that again.”

“I understand. After what happened to us last time, you don’t need to worry,” Jonathan said as they walked into the


living room. “When Dad comes home, if it’s not too late would you ask him to give me a buzz?”

“Sure. What’s up? Anything I can help with?”“I want to talk to dad about seeing if we could arrange a

space ship flight for the gang around the fire tonight. Sort of like a class field trip.”

“That seems like something that could be arranged. I’m sure your father will consider it as long it’s in a safe environment.”

They walked out onto the Veranda and looked up at a clear dark sky with a beautiful golden crescent moon amid a starry background.

“Everything seems so normal here, yet there’s a whole other race out there trying to destroy us,” Jonathan worriedly said.

“Your father, Hank and the rest of the team are working to defeat them. I have confidence they will succeed, Meredith softly replied.”

“I sure hope and pray you’re right,” Jonathan nodded at his step mom and said, “bye” as he walked the short path over to his own cottage.…

Several parsecs before Lorak-sen’s team reached the plotted location in the Milky Way, they remotely cut the hyper drive and put the freighter on minimum support systems to minimize the possibility of detection. The stealth freighter was now coasting through space, but still at supersonic speed.

“We will need to remotely warm up the Yasux transmitter in slow stages to avoid detection,” Lorak-sen told the team. “Begin the process now.”

The cargo bay was modified with the Yasux set so it could handle the speeder. The raised floor panel was three times the normal size with the speeder resting on it. The equipment began a soft hum and several lights blinked on the elaborate console.

This is very dangerous and we are unprotected. We cannot use the null field generator because we would be detected; Lorak-sen thought


as he monitored the dimly lit control panel indicating the freighter’s approach to enemy space.

Sarak-sen stood by his command ship’s console. “As soon as the transmission is complete, cut all power and then reverse course of the freighter under minimum power.”

Several new lights brightly blinked on the console. “Sir, the transmitter is on-line now,” Lorak-sen reported.

“Is the freighter in position yet?”“Yes, sir. It is.”“Then do it!”The Spectari team watched nervously as the freighter

performed its programmed task and the test speeder was teleported to the nearby planet they had named “Planet-X”. As soon as the transmission was complete, the freighter reversed course. The team held their breath, expecting the freighter to explode or disappear any second. But they had chosen wisely and truly were between the defense detection ranges of the two systems. This particular sector had not yet received the new sensors, so the transmission and freighter went undetected. Now they checked to see that the beacon they had placed on the speeder was functioning.

“The speeder arrived intact on Planet-X,” Lorak-sen happily reported.

“Deactivate the beacon now. We don’t want to risk its being detected. Now, let’s return to star base Antares and prepare the Yanni speeder for its trip to Earth,” Sarak-sen quickly ordered.

Star base Antares was at the edge of the Spectari galaxy, the Yanni speeder’s ion drive engine was refueled and made ready. The selected crew with Hardison went aboard and the Yanni speeder was placed in the same stealth-equipped freighter on the Yasux transmitter floor panel using automated freight handling equipment. They would remain in the speeder for the duration of the trip on minimum life support because the freighter’s support systems would be inactive for the trip.

“We are secure,” Lorak-sen reported via the comm system.The freighter was pre-programmed for its trip to the Earth

galaxy. Even at hyper speed, it would take many sleep cycles to


reach its plotted destination. The crew in the speeder would have plenty of time to wonder about the success of the mission, especially Hardison James.…

“How is the new sensor distribution coming?” John asked Hank in their morning briefing in the galactic president’s office.

“Very good. We now have most of the galactic member systems covered and are starting to work on outlying areas in the spiral arms of the Milky Way. You know, John, I remember in High School seeing those pictures of our Milky Way, never dreaming that we would ever reach out that far, especially in our lifetime.”

“Me too. It’s still amazing to realize how fast we’ve come in such a short period of time.” John had swiveled his chair so he could view the peaceful tree-lined setting outside his office window. “This beautiful setting almost never has to change. With the DC Metropolitan energy dome overhead, this area will never have to face a bad storm again. And just think, it is all run from one ion pod generator that will last over five years!” John smiled. “The construction of new cities in the southwest and northwest and all over the world is providing jobs for those displaced in the oil and gas industry better than I would have thought.”

“The UN Human Resources department learned some lessons from the transportation industry redeployment and worked very closely with the affected companies to offer reassignments and training where needed.” Hank added as he admired the tranquil view from his soft leather chair as he spoke to John. “And we could never have done it without Janus and our other allies. What is also amazing is to see how well we are all working together. Even most of earth’s radicals have settled down from their fussing about our working with aliens. The energy domes are completely changing most cities and allowing new ones where none could be before.

“Not only the cities, but worldwide pollution is quickly being eliminated. The ion generators are replacing energy


generating plants as quickly as possible. Very soon, fossil fuel and nuclear generators will be a thing of the past. The Ozone layer is even repairing itself in the upper atmosphere.

“Yes, I’ve noticed the reduction of radical commotion from the extremists. I hope they’re not planning any surprises against us. It’s bad enough we have the Spectari wanting to destroy us without thinking of our own people causing disturbances too.”

“Well, I think our PR department has a lot to do with that. Every time we free and embrace a new planet, they are right there pointing out all the good. Betty and her team are doing a great job.” Hank unfolded his long legs preparing to get up.

“Hank, before you leave, I want to discuss something with you. Jonathan asked me the other night if we could arrange a space flight for the youth on the island. I think it’s a great idea if we can do it in a controlled and safe manner.”

“I agree. I will arrange it with Sethanni in one of their smaller ships, if you would like. I will be sure they stay well within our controlled area of space.” Hank stood up. “You know they’re not the only ones. We get many requests for the same thing, and if it wasn’t for teleportation it would probably be many more.”

“I know. The fact we still have a deadly enemy out there is another factor to discourage it. That would be great. I will let Jonathan know when you have it arranged.”…

Hardison James was a pacer. The limited space in the speeder didn’t give him much room, but he used it to the maximum, going the few feet and reversing automatically. The interior systems using minimum power only had a soft orange glow for lighting-just enough to keep from stumbling over things. He also kept checking the displays on the pilot’s console often to view their progress. Even though he knew they were traversing huge parsecs of space, it seemed an awful long time.

“Stop pacing. You’re just making the rest of us nervous. If you don’t stop, we will restrain you again,” Lorak-sen told him. He too was bored with the trip, hoping they could speed up the action. He would be glad when they had one of those amazing teleport devices.


“Why do we have to have minimum power way out here?”“Because we don’t know exactly how far out some of their

sensors reach and we’re not taking any chances. Now sit down and be still. Use your vid screen to study your part of the plan, but no more pacing,” Sarak-sen ordered. The speeder was so small they could only recline their seats for sleeping.

General Korak-sen had decided the two responsible leaders for the mission would be part of it, but they weren’t too happy with that decision. They were afraid they might not have considered all the detection possibilities. Now they were trying to make the most of the situation. The plan seemed very workable but took much time just to get where they needed to be without being detected. They couldn’t travel in hyperspace without drawing attention from those wretched detectors.…

“Your planet is pretty but much different from ours,” Jenny told Kara as they viewed the purple colored mountains in the panoramic view from Kara’s Yantu bedroom window. The landscape wasn’t as bright as a similar scene would have been on earth because of their sun’s paler rays, but it was still an awesome view. Jenny absently scratched the back of the ears of Tiki; Kara’s pet Tortu, just like she would do to Prince back home. The furry animal had been easy to make friends with and now came to her just as easily as he did to Kara.

“That’s why I like your planet-because of its differences. Don’t you think nature is wonderful in all its variety?”

Jenny watched the tiny creatures that looked like squirrels out by the huge leaved trees in Kara’s back yard. “Yes, but there are many similarities too. What do you call those?”

“They’re Leechies. We call them that because they pick up anything they find. If they can’t eat it they take it away and hide it. That’s why the ground looks so clean, but they don’t make good pets. They have sharp claws and bite anything.”

“Kara and Jenny, it’s time to go to class,” Yanna called from the kitchen. I’m very happy those two are such good friends, she thought.

“We’re going now, mom.” Kara and Jenny held hands as


Kara pressed her wrist device for Yorgasen University campus and their astrophysics class.

Between classes, Jenny asked Kara, “Have you ever been in a space ship?”

“Yes, when we were fleeing Yantu during the invasion.” Kara shook her flaxen-colored hair as they walked down the hall. “It was very scary. We didn’t know whether we would be able to get away. I don’t like to remember that time very much because several of my friends didn’t make it.”

“I’m sorry, Kara.” Jenny softly said, “I didn’t mean to make you feel sad. I just asked because Jonathan has asked dad if he can arrange a real space ship trip for some of us and I wanted to invite you to come with us.”

“Oh, Jenny, thank you.” Kara brightened as they neared their next class. “That would be different. I think I would like to do that with you. It might help me get over my fear of flying again.”…

“Sirs, we have a problem.” Hank began an impromptu briefing with the Galactic President and Vice-president. “We’ve learned there’s a faction within the UN that is plotting to obtain teleport devices purportedly to settle their own planet, but we think it is more sinister than that. We believe they want to overthrow the government. They have been putting pressure on specific individuals on some of our teams, resorting to blackmail in some instances.”

“Surely you can’t be serious? I thought we had risen above all these petty politics.” John straightened in his executive chair. “That is really sad to hear.”

“Yes, I had hoped so too, but the evidence points to a specific group that has achieved some level of political influence within the UN. They even are on some of the approval space committees.” Hank looked at his notes. “One of those being threatened is Dr. Kim Chu, the vice chair of the UN Science committee.

“How did you learn all of this?” Janus quietly asked.“Thankfully, Dr. Chu came to us and so the Security team


put surveillance on her grandfather who is on the UN Security Council. We unhappily have confirmed the plot,” Hank stated.

“I have been working with Dr. Chu. She is a brilliant scientist as well as a very nice young lady. It is a shame she has such a wicked grandfather and he has such influence in your government,” Janus softly said.

“Are the plotters aware of your knowledge?” John queried. He recalled meeting the UN representative once at a formal White House dinner.

“I don’t believe so. We asked Dr. Chu not to reveal she had confided in us and our surveillance indicates they don’t know.”

John thought for a minute. “We are fighting an enemy in another galaxy that wants to destroy all we stand for and now we must deal with treachery from within. Well let’s approach this situation head-on and see if we can nip this in the bud? Bring Mr. Chu here and we will try to determine his real purpose and change his mind.”

“What is this ‘bud’ you speak of nipping and what is your plan?” Janus inquired.

“I’m sorry, sir. It is just a figure of speech. I think if we can talk to the ringleader to understand his real motive. We might be able to accommodate him or change his mind. Sometimes we forget how much real power we can command.” Hank, please bring him here without any prior notice. Just interrupt what he is doing and teleport him here now. I want him to realize some of that power.” John rarely used such power and influence, but wasn’t above using it if it would help solve a problem.

“Yes sir.” Hank pressed his wrist device. “Victor, can you join us?”

Victor suddenly appeared in John’s office standing smartly in his dress khaki uniform beside Hank’s chair.

“What’s up, sir?”“We have an assignment for you. Does the surveillance

team know where Representative Qwan Chu is at this moment?”

“I’m sure they do sir, because that has been your orders.”“Then have him brought here immediately without any

warning.”


“Yes, sir.” Victor almost saluted and then grinned instead as he pressed his wrist device and disappeared.

In a short moment, he reappeared with a very startled and upset UN Representative Chu in a long flowing colorful ceremonial Chinese robe and cap.

“What is the meaning of this?” Qwan Chu bristled as he recognized those in the room. “You have no authority to do this! I will see you are severely reprimanded for this outrage!”

The spacious office was now beginning to feel full with John sitting at his desk, Janus and Hank, sitting to the front of it, and now Victor and Qwan Chu standing in front of them. Due to Qwan Chu’s quarrelsome outburst, John did not offer them seats, but Victor wandered over to the couch and sat down, knowing he was not an official part of the meeting, only the delivery boy.

John faced the treasonous haughty white-bearded Asian before him with somewhat forced dignity. “Sir, it is you who have no authority to do what you are doing. We are aware of your treasonous plans, your threats and blackmail.”

Qwan Chu stood straight as he thought about what he had just heard. They must have somehow learned what we have been up to, so it will do no good to lie. He decided to bluster though. “You with your ability to go anywhere just want to keep the rest of us earthbound within the limits you grant us. You were just a simple journalist before the invention. You care nothing for my race or me. You give more care to aliens than us!” Qwan Chu was becoming red-faced with his tirade.

“Ah, now you disparage me personally and talk of yourselves and your group rather than the UN you are supposed to be representing,” John calmly stated.

“The UN is nothing compared to the power in the galaxy you now command. We want you to share that power with us. No. We demand you share it!” Qwan Chu stood haughtily to his full height.

“I don’t think you are in a position to demand anything, Mr. Chu,” Vice-president Janus softly said from his chair. “You have plotted treason and must be punished.”


Qwan Chu suddenly realized he might have blustered too much. These men could exile me wherever they choose if they want to. “Excuse me.” He gave a slight barely perceptible bow. “Maybe I should have said we ask you to share this wonderful power with us so my people can find a star system far from here where we may restore our rich heritage to its former standing and be welcomed as a fellow galactic member as you so easily welcome other worlds now.”

“Mr. Chu, I have great respect for your ancestry. You come from a proud and wonderful heritage, but if that is your true goal, you have started out the wrong way to achieve it. Browbeating and threatening will not help your cause. You must first prove you can be trusted with such power. Your plotting against others wins you no friends, especially within this government,” the galactic president plainly stated.

Qwan Chu bowed again before them—this time just a bit lower. “What would you have us do, Mr. President?”

“I would have you cease and desist all actions you have been plotting against your government.” John stood up from his chair. “Then take six month’s and prepare a plan to present to us. A detailed plan on how you wish to go about finding what you consider a suitable place for you and those who wish to go with you. The detailed plan should include the form of government you would establish and how the citizens will be treated. How you will colonize and deal with others not of your race.” John walked around his desk and stood before Representative Qwan Chu. “Do not publicize what you are doing, because we still may not grant or may delay your request. If you will do all that and return with your detailed plan in six months, if we find it acceptable, we will consider helping you achieve your goal.” John reached out his hand in friendship to Qwan Chu.

Qwan Chu gave a short bow and then took the offered hand. “Your offer is both reasonable and honorable.” Qwan Chu sincerely shook his hand. “I regret any harm we may have caused. We will do as you wish, Mr. President. I will direct our efforts be directed to create the plan you request.”

John smiled at him. “You have a lovely and very smart


granddaughter, sir. You should not have put such stress and demands on her. You owe her a huge apology. I hope you will quickly make amends to her.”

“You are a wise leader, Mr. President. I truly regret my remark about your earlier profession. I will see Kim at once and beg her forgiveness. You and she will have no more to fear from us, I promise.”

“I trust that will be the case, Mr. Chu. Victor will escort you back to where he interrupted your day, sir. I look forward to seeing you in six months.” John gave him a slight bow and Qwan Chu smartly returned it in acknowledgement.

“I will return you now, sir.” Victor took his hand, pressed his wrist device, and the two disappeared.

“You know he is getting off very lightly for the treason he was plotting,” Janus said from his chair.

John sat back down and leaned back in his chair. “Yes, but now he will have to live up to the agreement, so we should have no more worry from that quarter. I just wonder, when it is publicized, how many will freely want to follow him to start a new world. He may not find that many takers, but if he plans right, he could find more than he wants, as long as he’s not trying to sell them an undeliverable paradise. Will you ask Sethanni as we map the systems to identify some habitable but uninhabited planets? I’m sure Mr. Chu’s group is not the only group looking for their own part of the universe.”

Janus smiled. “Yes, Mr. President. I certainly will. I am very impressed with how you handled that situation. You are truly not a mere journalist. You have become an accomplished statesman.”

“Thanks for the compliment, but I only figured it was either that or keep not knowing when he would stab me in the back.”

“You have a funny way of saying things, but maybe there is a particle of truth in that statement too.”

“Only a particle?” John quipped.Hank said, “You are right about other groups. I have been

meaning to approach you about that. We have hesitated to open


up colonization because of the presence of the Spectari. Do you believe we can do so now?”

John answered, “Not right now, but hopefully in the six months time I gave Qwan Chu, we will be able to.”…

Chapter Eighteen

More Activity

Every Galactic team was extra busy seeing to all the latest changes, working on some phase of new technology, working with newly freed planets, or otherwise engaged. There was a tremendous amount of work to be done. A large new engineering group had been formed to assist in the rebuilding of the Spectari destroyed cities on more than one of the liberated planets. This effort provided more than enough employment for earth’s citizens.

The planned teen space flight was calendared for the end of the school semester. Hank and Sethanni would accompany them on a six-week-long space cruise through several solar systems. It would be a productive working trip, as they would use the teens to help map the star systems they would pass through. Each teen would be credited with a full semester of astronomical chartography.

One evening John walked over to the almost nightly beach teenage campfires beneath the scattered tall palm trees and dark clear starry sky.

“Hi, Mr. Royston, Derek Gantry said as he watched John approach the group. There was loud popular music playing from a large portable boom box. One teenager thoughtfully turned it down.

“We want to thank you for approving the space field trip,” Greg Garrett said.

John smiled at the group that included Jonathan sitting


with Tanya. He walked over to a picnic table and picked up a couple of almond chip cookies from a stacked tray. He walked around the dancing flames of the fire circle as he talked to them. “I was happy to do that, but I’ve been thinking, there are many people that would be willing to pay quite a price for such an experience as you will receive.” John munched on a cookie, watching the youth absorb his words. “I think there should be a cost to you also.” He could almost notice their ears prick up in the glowing firelight at his words as they leaned towards him. “I am going to require a stipulation for the trip. Your ticket for the trip is to have a minimum of a ‘B+’ or ‘92’ grade average in your school studies.”

There were only a few groans because most of them were already top students.

The results of that night’s campfire visit caused more than a few students to do extra cramming before finals though. No one wanted to be left out of the adventure. The campfire time became group study time with soft Jazz and classical music now playing in the background. Greg Garrett found his talents as a computer whiz were being put to the test by many questions.

Several picnic tables now often accommodated laptops and handheld computers and lanterns or battery-powered lamps. The picnic tables contained a variety of teen snack food from the island’s well-stocked commissary.

Derek Gantry fielded many astronomy questions, often with the dark starry heavens as the chalkboard. A sophisticated field telescope became a popular feature beside the campfire. John’s simple requirement had jump-started many young minds to higher achievements. Billy Travis and Chad Garvey were the weakest scholars, so the whole gang assisted in tutoring and quizzing them in order to raise their grades. The parent’s were being bombarded with serious questions they had rarely heard their teenagers ask.

“Hey Greg, what’s going on?”Greg surprised, looked up from his console and quickly

pressed ‘save’ and blanked the screen when he realized who was approaching from the doorway. “Hi Jonathan, how are you?”


Greg swiveled around to face Jonathan and draw attention away from what he was doing.

“I’m fine, but we’ve been missing you at our beach parties lately. Some of the guys still have some questions for you.”

“Well, I’m working on a special program, but I don’t want to say anything about it until I know if it’s going to work or not. You know we are going to be going on our Missions in a few months and I don’t want to leave this incomplete.”

“Yeah, it’s creeping up on us, isn’t it?” But you know the old saying, “All work and no play makes Greg pretty boring and we do have the whole summer to enjoy.”

“Okay, you made your point. I will be there tonight, but you better save me some of those home made cookies my mom usually makes.”

Greg remembered something he heard Dr. Vaughn say about the VISA device; “We don’t have to fully understand it to be able to use it.”

That one statement caused the computer whiz to wonder if it could be used for more than just teleporting. Greg figured the way the device worked was by totally eliminating distance in the space-time continuum of the universe. That is the only physical thing that explains the total lack of time for the extreme distances the teleport function works. He thought. Kind of like picking random or even specific locations in a computer memory grid, he thought. What if that same functionality could work for communication? It is an interesting theory I must try out.

Greg spent many secret hours working on a design for his hypothesis. This hypothesis led to many more hours of work. He finally felt he was on the edge of a totally new means to communicate across space in true real-time.

Amber Julie was growing daily, now crawling everywhere. Meredith had her hands full trying to keep up with her. Some of the other new mothers in the island group would often visit daily and let the toddlers play together. The Veranda had been cordoned off as a giant playpen. The toddlers in their sun suits received healthy tans along with the mothers in their sun suits watching them.


Since the opposition had been quiet for a while, John was finding more time to spend with the family. They planned an outing on Yantu with Janus’ family. Individual force fields would protect them from any extreme elements and keep the trip more enjoyable than it might otherwise be. There was a scenic nature preserve Janus promised to take them to for sightseeing and an elaborate picnic.

“This reminds me of our Grand Canyon,” John remarked to Janus as they looked out on the expansive pale yellow vista. “I wonder if it was created by eons of erosion as our earth canyons were?” He noted the multicolored striations on the canyon walls in the distance. They do resemble similar earth layers on the Grand Canyon, he thought.

“Yes. I have seen pictures of your Grand Canyon. I would like to visit it sometime,” Janus smiled. “I expect it was created in exactly that fashion. It is a marvelous day today, but sometimes there are some terrible storms here.”

“We will plan our next picnic for the Grand Canyon then,” John said, watching Meredith and Yanna just a little farther ahead of them on the path walking arm in arm, talking and enjoying the magnificent landscape.

“I am so happy our two families get along so well together,” Yanna said. Just ahead of the two moms were Kara and Jenny pushing Amber and Jarom’s strollers along the clearly marked smooth path. They were pushing the other’s brother or sister.

“Yes, Yanna. I am too.” Meredith happily said, “I have been reading up on your culture and your beliefs. I think our friendship is so easy because we do share the same family values and our kids are so close age-wise too. Do you know where Jonathan and Yorgi went?”

“I saw them head for one of the paths that leads to the bottom. You know it won’t be long before those two will leave the nest and start their own families.”

“Yes, I know. Jonathan and Tanya are making plans, but he still has his mission ahead of him first. It’s comforting to know her parents so well since they are on the team with us. Does Yorgi have a close girl friend?”


“I think he has been eyeing one of the girls in his physics class at the university. We do things differently in our culture. If he has feelings for her, he will go to her father and ask to visit their family, before they can pair off and date as your teenagers do. Sometimes if a young man is very shy, he will finish his advanced degrees before he ever approaches a family.”

“Some of our societies used to do that on earth and there are a few that still do, but doesn’t that leave the girls just waiting and hoping sometimes?”

“I think most of the young ladies, when they are ready to match up, find ways to attract those young men they’re interested in,” Yanna impishly smiled. “That’s how I got Janus. He was so wrapped up in his education and achievements; he couldn’t be bothered with girls. I kept putting myself in situations where he couldn’t ignore me. Finally he got the message and talked to my parents. Soon our parents were socializing together and we had a very nice courtship.”

“There is much to be said for your dating ways. I think it cuts out some unhealthy experimenting and provides the making of stronger family ties,” Meredith said as they came to the end of this particular path with a magnificent expansive crevassed view stretching for miles…

The end of the semester arrived. All forty students had qualified to make the trip. Hank divided up the teams into four groups. A member of Sethanni’s star-mapping team would guide them with a Galactic Astrogator as pilot for each small Yanni exploration ship. They followed the process of zipping to a G-type star system similar to earth’s sun and then surveying it using the ion propulsion. At first the students were glued to the port windows as they entered each new star system. Then they were glued to the ship’s instruments as the onboard computers began charting the different solar bodies, planets, moons, asteroids and occasional comets and other space phenomena. Hank’s security team had previously checked each system for any signs of the Spectari.

Jonathan and Yorgi both commented on how each star system seemed to have an average number of planets, moons


and asteroids. “I think that’s because it mirrors the common makeup of an atom with a nucleus and neutrons and protons revolving around it,” Jonathan said.

“And did you notice the distances between the celestial bodies resembles our system in most cases too,” Derek Gantry added.

“That’s probably because of the Universal law of gravity,” Tanya chimed in as she sat smiling beside Jonathan. “Each sun can attract planets only so far out from it.”

Jonathan inwardly smiled; happy to note Tanya could keep up with the scientific discussion.

When Greg wasn’t sitting at one of the consoles, Jonathan noted he was deeply occupied with his PDA and didn’t contribute much to the conversations.

Chad was sitting at the Nav console half listening to the conversation and watching their flight path through this particular solar system being displayed on the monitor. He was thrilled to be here and thankful for his friends on the team.

Jenny and Kara were on a different exploration ship enjoying the experience together. “This is much more enjoyable than when we were fleeing from Yantu with the Spectari chasing us,” Kara said.

“I wondered why Jonathan was so eager to explore. Now I know. There is so much new to see and explore.” She was looking out at a planet with Saturn-like rings on it. “Space is so vast and each system is different.”

A Zenon defense operator noted an object had entered their defense perimeter. He quickly sent a probe. His supervisor noting the alarm joined him at his console. The probe revealed the target of the alarm on the console screen. “That is one of the Yanni exploration ships. They’re charting different systems. This one must be returning to Earth. Turn off your alarm.” The supervisor failed to ask the question, if they were returning, why didn’t they just zip back? He also failed to follow prescribed procedures, which clearly advised challenging all intruders.

“I hope they recognize us as friendly, Lorak-sen said as soon as the ship’s console indicated the presence of the Zenon


probe. The stealth mission had quietly teleported near a planet just inside what they thought was the allies defensive sensor range. Apparently we weren’t far enough inside their defensive net.

“If not, we’ll sure know in a second,” Sarak-sen added. After a couple of minutes, the ship’s crew almost exhaled in unison as the probe disappeared and they continued on their uninterrupted path to the Earth System…

“We have so much going on now throughout the universe, I think we need to organize differently,” John spoke at the weekly Galactic Council meeting.

“How so?” Earth’s representative leaned forward and said.“I believe we should divide the galaxy into twelve giant

sectors like a giant deep-dish pie such as the Centauri and Orion sectors. We should create a Sector leadership and give them authority for supervising activities within their areas that don’t overlap with others. Each sector leader would be a representative on this council. That will save us from so many of the daily administrative tasks we have to deal with now. We are getting swamped with things that can be better handled more locally.”

“And the leadership and staff would come out of that sector,” Janus added. “The planetary representatives for the sector will vote on the sector leadership with the full council ratifying the decision.”

“We’re getting too large to administer everything centrally at the level of detail we have been,” John said. The sector leadership can designate their representative to the Council and so we can control the council size.”

“We need to establish a training academy for all the new staff too,” Janus added. “We can locate it on Yantu unless someone has any objections.

The motion was unanimously carried.At that same meeting, Hank reported, “The sensor

distribution is complete and we’re now double-layered with detection from enemy incursion into our own space.”…


“We have a problem,” Hardy said, speaking to his Spectari captors just as the stealth speeder was entering Earth’s solar system. “We can’t just land this speeder on Earth without being detected. Because of the teleport devices, they don’t need ships or landing sites. In fact, the only ships they have are your captured ones stored on Earth’s moon.”

“Then what do you propose?” Lorak-sen asked.“We need to quietly land on the far side of the moon and

then use the Yasux to transport us to Earth. The moon is just barely within the Yasux’ distance limits. Hopefully, the moon will shield the high-energy use of the transporter. I had the coordinates of the stolen module on my wrist device, but they took it. I only have an approximate location. We will have to transport to the area and find a way to get us to the module.”

“That should work,” Korak-sen said.“We must be very careful from here on in. Because of the

device, they don’t have ships traveling under its own power close to home.” Hardison really didn’t want to be transported by the matter transmitter, but he knew he really didn’t have a choice. I would like to trick these guys if I can. When I reach the module, hopefully I will find a way to outwit them.

“What’s that?” Josh Standish questioned his supervisor as he watched the blip on the view screen. The two were on the Mars exploration team in the operations module. It had been a quiet night. They were monitoring the computer correlate the day’s recordings of the red planet’s survey teams when the blip suddenly appeared. Josh was just working on his Georgia Tech Astrophysics Masters thesis and found the night shift an excellent opportunity to both work and fine-tune the scholarly work he was preparing for his upcoming Masters board exam.

Mark Hill was a NASA geological expert who delighted in the opportunity this assignment afforded him. He had not been involved in any of the Spectari confrontations, so didn’t think in terms of enemy incursions into their solar system. The Galactic defense team had not wanted to alarm the general populace, so Mark had been left out of the loop on recent events or he might have been more suspicious. “Let’s take a closer look.” The


supervisor zipped a probe to the coordinates. “That looks like a Yanni ship. What’s it doing here?”

“I heard there’s a special summer excursion of youth getting to travel with the star mapping teams. My nephew is one of them. He was really excited about it, asking more questions than I could answer. They’re actually using the ship’s powerful ion engine to give the youth the experience of true space ship travel. “I wonder if he is on this ship?”

Lorak-sen noted the probe appear on the screen as their path to earth skirted the red planet. “If they hail us, be careful how you answer.” The Spectari menacingly said to Hardy. Just then, the console beeped.

“This is Mars-1 geological survey team to the Yanni ship. Is this one of the star mapping teams?”

Hardy hesitated a second. “Yes it is.”“This is Josh Standish. My nephew is on one of the teams. Is Derek

Gantry with you?”“He’s not on this team. He must be on one of the others.”“Okay. Just checking. I hope the youth are enjoying their trip.”“Yes they are.”“Have a safe trip.”“Thanks.”After the conversation ended, Korak-sen said, “If we are

hailed again, now we know how to respond.” But they had an uneventful landing on the far side of the moon.

Lorak-sen warmed up the Yasux transmitter using the minimum power setting.

“What the…?” Young Lt. Bryson almost jumped out of his chair as his monitor went wild. “Major, we have a problem!”

“What’s going on Lieutenant?” The major was sipping a soda through a specially designed straw at his desk in the lunar command and control module a few feet away. He stood up and hurried over to Lt. Bryson’s station using his specially designed magnetic shoes for the substantially less gravity.

“There was an unusual surge of energy detected in quadrant 43 causing a brief interruption in my system, sir. The screen suddenly spiked with a flash.”


Major Swensen checked his log and quickly said, “We have nothing there. Send a probe.”

“That ship shouldn’t be there!” The major pressed the security alarm. Immediately a concerned voice responded, “What is the problem?” in the Lt.’s comm unit.

“Sir, we have an unidentified intruder here on the moon in sector 43. We also had an unusual power surge on our equipment.”

Immediately one of the Galactic security teams in full environmental combat gear appeared. “Show us the area,” the team leader quickly ordered through his helmeted comm unit.

Major Swensen pointed to the probe’s monitor. “That ship shouldn’t be there and we just experienced a power surge!”

“We’ll check it out. Set your coordinates and go Alpha squad!” The security team quickly disappeared and reappeared inside the Yanni speeder, pointing their weapons at the lone Spectari ensign who had just erased the transmission coordinates.

It was a cold barren rocky Siberian wasteland the two Spectari warriors and Hardison James teleported to at midday. With the personal energy fields surrounding them, the bitter cold was barely noticeable. Hardy used the Spectari mobile device, which also included a digital display compass. “The module should be in that direction about a couple of miles,” he said pointing eastward.

“Sir, this is Alpha Team leader Jordan. We’ve just captured a Spectari soldier in a stolen Yanni speeder on the moon. He’s not talking, but we believe others may have teleported to earth. The matter transmitter destination has been erased.”

Hank listened to the disturbing news, immediately rose from his office chair, and said, “Secure the ship. Send me the coordinates and I will send some scientists there to examine the transmitter. Bring the soldier to the Colorado interrogation room and I will meet you there.”

“Yes sir. The coordinates are on their way.”


Hank received and saved them, then beeped Dr. Kim Chu. “Dr. Chu, we need a scientific team to examine a Yanni teleport device on the moon and retrieve the last destination coordinates immediately if possible. This has the highest priority.”

“Yes sir. I will assemble a team right away.”“I am sending you the coordinates now.” Hank hit ‘send’

then recalled the Colorado coordinates from his VISA directory and zipped there.

Dr. Chu notified Dr. Vaughn and several top Yanni scientists of the situation. Only short minutes later, they were examining the Yasux transmitter in the Yanni speeder on the moon.

“Disconnect it and we’ll zip it to our Yantu lab. We have more advanced and precise equipment there,” Dr. Cresathi, the scientific team’s top Yanni scientist, ordered. He had lost his wife during the Spectari invasion of his home world, so was eager to do all he could to defeat the Spectari.

Hank appeared in the Colorado interrogation room only seconds ahead of Alpha Team leader Jordan with his captive, shortly followed by Phil Gantt. “Secure him and have the truth serum administered immediately,” Hank ordered. “We need to know who was with him and where they went as soon as possible!”

Soon, the stolen teleport machine was giving up its secrets in the Yanni laboratory. When Dr. Vaughn reviewed the latest coordinates, he quickly beeped Hank.

“Hank, I believe you will find the coordinates I am sending you are nearly the same as the ones for Hardison James’ stolen module.”

“Great! We just learned two Spectari generals are with Hardison James somewhere in that area. We’ll catch him and the Spectari there. Thank the team for their quick work.”

Hank beeped Victor. “Victor, do we still have someone in the stolen module.”

“No sir. We stopped monitoring it shortly after you took care of Hardison James. I don’t believe we have retrieved it yet though. We’ve been so busy with other things.”

“Well, he may be back with some more bad guys. Speed is


of the essence. I have the Alpha Team leader with me. We will meet you at Colorado HQ.”

The two-mile hike was more than the Spectari were used to. The energy field protected them from the elements, but not from fatigue. Also Hardison had not fully recovered from the Spectari torture he barely survived, so they took short rests along the way. The rocky surface had flattened out to a wide plain. The weather was cold, but at least clear.

“How…much…farther?” Lorak-sen asked between short quick breaths.

“If my estimate is right, maybe about twenty more minutes. We should be seeing it…in the distance…soon,” Hardy said as he too gulped for air.

“And what if your estimate isn’t right?” Sarak-sen meanly asked.

“Then we will keep looking. We can’t be that far off course.”

“If we don’t find it we will be stranded here,” Sarak-sen worriedly exclaimed.

“Not exactly stranded. We saw a village a mile off to the right back there. We can go there and use your energy weapons to secure a device if we need to,” Hardy confidently said.

“You think you are so smart. Why didn’t we just go there then instead of making this long trip?”

“Because the personal devices and platforms are very limited and secure. We wouldn’t have time to defeat the security functions and modify a platform; whereas, I already overcame the module’s security controls.”

“You better be right, earthling,” Lorak-sen threatened.Soon the trio picked up their slow pace as they spotted the

module in the distance-right where Hardy had left it.“We could make the whole module invisible and they

would never find it,” Tech Sgt. Jordan said after the team had invisibly appeared in the module and found it still empty.

“We want them to find it so we can capture them,” Hank quickly responded. “Keep a sharp lookout. They may appear anytime.”


The team leader quickly used his password to work with the module controls.

Even though the trio saw the module in the distance, they were huffing and puffing as they traversed that distance. Finally they reached the module and Hardy pressed the entry button. The doorway swished open. When the second doorway opened, they cautiously entered with the Spectari’s weapons drawn and waving. When they believed it was empty, they turned off their energy screens and dropped their weapons to their side.

“It looks just as I left it. I was right. They didn’t detect it.” Hardy quickly walked to the wall control panel. “We can be back on Ryosan in just a second.”

“We will need to teleport to Star base Antares first and then on to Ryosan,” Sarak-sen said.

Hardy started entering the coordinates as Lorak-sen supplied them to him. He was still trying to devise a way to trick the Spectari. He thought, maybe as soon as we arrive at their star base I will be able to set it to automatically return in a few minutes and slip back inside. With the coordinates entered, he pressed ‘teleport’.

Nothing happened except the weapons the Spectari were carrying were suddenly snatched from their hands by unseen forces and now pointing in mid-air at themselves!

Hank turned himself visible. “Think you were going somewhere, gentlemen?”

“You tricked us!”“That’s right. We certainly did.”The rest of the team also appeared visible and quickly

secured their prisoners in handcuffs.“How did you do that?” Lorak-sen was amazed at the

sudden appearance of the earthlings as he struggled in his wrist restraints.

“Oh, we have our ways,” Hank said. “Also thanks for the coordinates to your star base. I’m sure it will lead us to your home world. I believe we will be visiting it soon.”

“You may go there, but you won’t defeat them the way you have captured us,” Sarak-sen spat out.


“With what we have learned about you, it will probably be even easier,” Hank said. “Take them to the moon detention center and make certain they are well guarded.” The moon detention center was chosen because it made the perfect prison. No one could escape because there was no way to leave the prison module. There were no space suits or teleport devices at the prison. Only food was periodically zipped to it. The air apparatus was maintained outside the prison in its own dome, so it couldn’t be misused.

After the security team zipped the captives away, Hank said, “Now we can zip this module back to Houston. I think it has served its purpose here quite nicely. It was like drawing bees to honey only in this case they were hornets.”


Chapter Nineteen

Retaliation

General Korak-sen was furious. He looked out the Antares station’s observatory at the twinkling stars, knowing there was a whole other galaxy out there denying them the Spectari’s grand destiny. Enough time had passed to assume General Sarak-sen and the rest had failed or he would have heard from the team by now. What do I tell the Supreme Councilor? How can I face him? They would have teleported home with the amazing device in an instant if they had been successful. There must be a way to get past their detection zone! Our scientists must find a way!

On Ryosan, one particular scientist was working the problem with his team. Dr. Marve-sen was a brilliant astrophysicist whose father had been one of those on the first exploded warship. His father had taught him the tactics of war and he combined that knowledge with his scientific training. He was eager to avenge his personal loss.

“We know the stasis field prevents their device from passing through it. The main problem seems to be they’ve found a way to nullify the field. The key I think is to arrive where they aren’t prepared with their defense technology, then teleport inside their defenses before they are aware we are there.”

“Yes, but they react so quickly, we would have to be very fast,” Dr. Faren-sen, a senior gray-headed scientist said.

“How are you learning which planets they are attacking?” Dr. Marve-sen asked.

“We’ve gotten better at learning that quicker. We have


initiated a communication plan with an automated system. If a scheduled communication doesn’t occur, that usually means the enemy has captured them. It is happening more rapidly. We are losing more planets daily,” General Korak-sen frustratedly said. “If we could only react quicker. Before we can respond, they deploy their sensor array around the whole star system and attack us when we approach before we have a chance to get within striking distance.”

“I would think that would be when they are most vulnerable,” Dr. Faren-sen said. They must take some time to put their defense net into operation.”

“You’re right, doctor. It might work as part of a larger military operation that would distract them. While they are concentrating on our attack fleet, we could slip in with a special ship and then find a way to capture a device. I am going to present it as an option to Supreme Councilor Mara-san.”

The Spectari General continued to listen as the almost bald and pointy-headed scientist presented his plan. He was more than willing to listen because his father had been one of the general’s fine tacticians and he also mourned his loss. “Yes! I think you are correct. It may work. Launching a combination full-scale attack and a simultaneous stealth mission. Unfortunately, it would mean putting many warriors and ships at risk.”

“Not necessarily. You could have your drones lead the way and the others could pull back once the real mission has been accomplished.” Again the Spectari tacticians were failing to realize that distance had no meaning to the enemy they were planning to engage.

General Korak-sen smiled and put his hand on the scientist’s shoulder. “I like it better already. Let’s meet with tactical planning right now.”…

Following the re-capture of Hardison James and the Spectari raiders, John took the opportunity to take Meredith to their special getaway on Maui. Darlene watched Amber for them. Darlene was enjoying her role as godparent. The


teenagers were still romping through the universe mapping star systems.

“This is all happening so fast,” Meredith said to John as she applied suntan lotion on his back and shoulders. “Amber is growing too quickly and Jonathan will be on his own pretty soon.”

“Well at least we’ll get to experience the joys of Amber’s youth together.” He turned to return the favor with the suntan lotion. “For me it’s truly like having a second family. It won’t be long until Jonathan will be old enough for a mission. I used to think where on earth would the Lord send him? Now it could truly be where in the galaxy?”

“I know. I’ve been thinking about that too. Being a new mom is exciting and wonderful. Little Amber Julie is not out of my mind a single minute. She’s so cuddly and lovable. I adore her so much. Jonathan’s not the only one. Jenny is growing up too. Has she talked to you about her plans?”

John sighed as he looked at Meredith’s radiant beauty. “Yes. I know she wants to go into medicine because of her mom and I have encouraged her in that area.”

“I’m concerned about her social life. Other than her close girlfriends she doesn’t seem attracted to boys,” Meredith said as John applied the lotion.

“I’ve talked to her about that. She said she likes boys but didn’t want to get distracted from her studies. She said, “Dad I enjoy being around boys as much as any other girl, but there will be plenty of time for that later.”

They lay together on the warm white sandy beach sifting the comfortably warm sand through their toes.

“This is so peaceful. I wish the rest of the universe were as peaceful. I’m glad you finally captured Hardison James,” Meredith lazily said.

“Yes, but we still have the Spectari to deal with. I’m sure they’re plotting more mischief. So far we’ve been able to thwart them, but I still have nightmares, thinking we’re missing something. It would be dreadful if they obtained a teleport device.” John rose on one elbow, admiring his lovely wife as


they talked. “Up to now we’ve been able to trump their every move, but I don’t expect them to give up. We must keep our guard up.”

“I know. Sometimes I get depressed thinking about all those people out there they conquered, but then I’m glad we’re able to help them and get to know people like Janus and Yanna.”

“Now with the Galactic Council organized by sectors, we can continue to grow and free more planets even faster.” John watched the surfers navigate the rolling waves in the distance. “I was amazed at how quickly we setup the Space Academy on Yantu. Tom Johnston is the head of it and he has a truly interplanetary staff.”

“He even drafted some of the teams spouses who had teaching backgrounds and George Garrett joined it too,” Meredith smiled, as she too noted the carefree surfers.

“The sector presidents have authority within their own sectors and that takes a large burden off me.” John added. “Most of the action now is happening at the sector level without the council’s direct involvement. The council sets the general policy and the sectors carry it out.” John suddenly stood up and dusted himself off. “Enough about that. The last one in is a rotten egg.” He quickly headed for the ocean with Meredith in hot pursuit. They both reached the shoreline together and rushed in splashing….

The newest member of the Galactic Council was a planet called Bosansi in the Orion Sector on the far side of the Milky Way. The Bosansians were thrilled when their planet was freed from the terrible rule of the Spectari and eagerly joined the Galactic Council. Bosansians were distinctive with their flaming red hair and penchant for colorful dress. Their liberation was so recent; they were still establishing their defense perimeter with the aid of the Galactic Security team. Their science was equivalent to earth’s nineteenth century development, so almost everything was new to them.

“All this new technology is so fascinating I am almost


overwhelmed with it,” redheaded Borcas said as he watched the young Yanni engineer setup the defense perimeter main console. Borcas had been forced to maintain the ore-crushing machines at the mines. He was thrilled when the other-worlders appeared to oust the cruel Spectari. Some of his clan had been killed during the Spectari invasion, including his younger blood brother. He watched Carsanni work at his console. “What you are doing with your devices is simply amazing.”

“You haven’t seen anything yet.” Wait till we get all this equipment hooked up and operational. You will see lights dotting the console. Although most of the equipment is pre-assembled on Yantu and Earth, some on-site connections are required as you see.”…

Victor was manning the pilot’s console and Jonathan was sitting at the nav station as the survey team was passing through the Praxis Nebula of the Orion Belt after having mapped the local star system. The multi-hued gaseous cloud just a few parsecs away had caught their attention and they chose to take the side trip to explore it. Chad and Tanya were taking digital camera shots and video of the nebula out a side port window. Everyone was oohing and aahing at the kaleidoscopic sight.

Suddenly Jonathan noted an oval metallic object appeared on his console screen just forward and to the right of their ship, paralleling their position and speed. Simultaneously, another one appeared on the opposite side.

Before Victor could activate their energy shield a bolt of high intensity blue energy shot out from both objects simultaneously, bathing the ship in an energy cocoon. Instantly the starry background winked out and the ship’s systems shut down in an eerie silence before Twyla Garvey let out an uninhibited scream.

They weren’t totally in the dark because the energy field they were caught in was visually transparent and reflected weird light streams from the nebula lighting the ship’s cabin in a shadowy pattern through the portholes. Nothing on the ship; however, was operative, including their life support system. Quick action needed to be taken.


Victor tried his wrist device and found it inoperable as well.

“Everyone, into your life support suits!” Victor hastily ordered.

The students rushed to the emergency cabinet and started donning the life support suits. Chad handed them out to the students, then donned his own.

“The ship’s life support system is not working!” Sethanni exclaimed as he zipped his own suit up. “We need to open the oxygen valves manually. Victor and I will do that. Jonathan and Yorgi, you keep everyone calm while we go below.”

Who’s going to keep me calm? Jonathan thought as he viewed the other students in the semi-darkness and handed Tanya her life support suit. I remember Dad telling me these suits only have about 30 minutes worth of oxygen before the canisters have to be changed. I hope Victor and Sethanni are aware of the time factor. Jonathan watched the two shadowy figures exit through the hatchway.

As soon as the hatchway closed Victor and Sethanni were in total darkness. Victor let Sethanni lead the way because he knew from his own cursory tour of the ship he had no idea where the oxygen controls were. “There is only 30 minutes worth of oxygen in these suits,” he said as they both felt their way down the dark hatchway.

Victor was also thinking as he followed in the dark, if nothing electronic or mechanical is working, how are we going to get out of this predicament? This must be the work of the Spectari. Probably their null field since that is the only thing so far that has stopped our device. I hope Hank is able to track us when we don’t report in.

Sethanni’s intimate knowledge of the ship and sharper senses allowed him to locate the oxygen controls. “Here are the valve controls. We just have to turn the four valves 180 degrees to the right.” Sethanni found Victor’s hands and placed them on two of the valves as he took the other two.

As Victor felt the manual controls, he noted they were like tiny steering wheels, but they required some effort to rotate. As he did so, at about 45 degrees he happily heard the hissing sound of oxygen flowing into the darkened cabin.


“Without the full regeneration system working, we only have about twelve hours of air,” Sethanni quietly said as they made their way back up to the main cabin.

“I will give you the honor of throwing the switch, Borcas.” Carsanni pointed to the shiny new console with its large blank screen display.

“With pleasure,” Borcas said as he smilingly pressed the “On” switch.

Instantly the screen and monitoring system sprang to life. Also, almost as quick the alarm system went off with bright red flashing dots inside the outer defense perimeter suddenly appearing on the master view screen.

Carsanni knew they were not prepared to defend any attack yet. He immediately pressed his wrist device for Hank. “Sir, Bosansi is being attacked! We just hooked up the defense system and there are many ships already within the outer layer.”

“We will send help right away,” Hank quickly replied.Borcas’ defense team hurriedly entered the room upon

hearing the alarms, but they had not been trained on the new equipment yet.

Immediately a large group of Galactic security team members appeared in the defense headquarters led by Hank himself. Each team member had his or her special assignment. They quickly teamed up with the Bosansi defense team and in a very coordinated way selected their targets, zipped probes to them, and then zipped androids from Yantu to dispatch them to a pre-designated remote planet. In a matter of a couple of minutes the red console lights were blinking out.

“There’s a second wave behind those drone ships but now they’re retreating!” Borcas pointed to the further blinking lights on the console.

“Too bad they can’t outrun our devices,” Carsanni smilingly said; then directed the team to dispatch them too.

“We are very lucky you got the console hooked up when you did. They were closer in than they should have been if you had been completely setup,” Hank calmly told Borcas.


“We thank you very much for your quick response. Thank you for training our team at the same time.”

“Well usually we don’t like to train as we did today with live enemy ships, but at least they know what to expect if you are attacked again.” Hank smiled.

Everyone was congratulating each other on how swiftly they had dispatched the enemy. It was a very festive atmosphere at which Borcas invited the Galactic security team to attend a special festivity that evening in honor of the occasion.…

Near the Praxis Nebula, a lone specially equipped Spectari warship controlled the two energy spheres that were generating the Stasis field around the Yanni exploration vessel.

“We will slowly shrink the Stasis field until it is just surrounding the ship, then use the two spheres to maneuver the ship into the cargo hold without releasing the stasis field.” Dr. Faren-sen said to General Korak-sen as they viewed the captured ship through the transparent Stasis field out their observation deck.

“How long should that take?”“I’m not sure. This is the first time we’ve initiated this

process. We must be very careful to keep the spheres properly aligned or the Stasis field could collapse and they could use their instruments again.”

“Then we must go very slow and assure that doesn’t happen or all this will have been for nothing,” General Korak-sen hastily said. He already knew they had completely lost both waves of their attack armada, but at least so far their lone ship was undetected and needed to remain that way. If we could only get through the stasis field, we would have our objective, but at least the small ship’s crew is powerless with their devices through the field too. We will just have to be patient a little longer and hope we aren’t detected. “Keep everything on minimum power,” he quickly ordered.

“Air isn’t our only problem.” Victor quietly said just before he opened the hatchway to the main cabin. “It is quickly going to get very cold in here.


Jonathan was happy to see the two adults return to the shadowy cabin. “We heard the hissing of air so we knew you were successful,” he told them.

Chad was peering out one of the port windows. “I think I see a ship in the distance beyond those spheres,” he said.

Everyone looked where he was pointing.Victor squinted closer to the window and said, “That looks

like a Spectari ship.”“It’s getting cold in here,” Tanya shivered as she wrapped

her arms around her body.“Are there any blankets in the lockers?” Victor asked

Sethanni.“Yes, there are a few.” Sethanni made his shadowy way to

the lockers and began distributing them to everyone. “You will have to share as there aren’t enough for everyone.”

Chad was still staring out the window. “I think the energy field is shrinking,” he softly said.

They all looked out the windows again.“I think you’re right, Chad,” Victor put his arm on Chad’s

Shoulder.“What’s going to happen?” Twyla nervously asked, clasping

her arms around herself as she offered the blanket to her brother.

Sethanni said, “I think those Spectari are attempting to shrink this null energy field until they can capture us in their ship. We need to be on the alert because if they have to drop the field to take us aboard their ship, our devices should work again and we can escape. If we can’t escape, we need to find a way to make sure the Spectari don’t get hold of our devices.”

“But what if our air runs out before then?” Greg Garrett asked.

Victor seriously said, “Let’s hope the security team realizes we’re missing and comes looking for us.”…

Hank’s team was enjoying the Bosansi Festivities in a magnificently designed grand ballroom with trumpeting brass music in the background. The Bosansians were dressed in their


very colorful formal attire with flowing robes adorned with magnificent regalia. The women stood out in their finest floor length gowns with multi-hued sparkling jewelry.

Most of the Earth-Yanni team members were in their Khaki-type uniforms, which paled in comparison to the Bosansians elaborate formal attire.

Hank was wishing Darlene could be here to see this. Then he thought, Why Not? He looked around for Borcas and spotted him talking to one of the team members. Hank strolled over to him and waited for the opportunity to speak to him.

“Borcas, this is such a magnificent occasion, I wonder if we might invite some of our wives and companions to join us? I am sure they would enjoy this fine affair and we would like to go and change into our formal attire too.”

“Sir, that is an excellent idea. I will communicate to Chairman Franconia that I have invited your companions to join us and you are going to take a break to retrieve them. How much time should we allow?”

“I think they could be ready in about an hour,” Hank smiled. Then he rounded up his team and explained. “This is such a formal affair, we’ve been invited to bring our spouses or significant others or escorts. I want each of you to zip home and get in your formal dress and tell your companions not to spare the jewelry. Let’s show these Bosansians we know how to dress too. Be back here in about an hour.”

Hank zipped to their cottage and located Darlene. He received a warm welcome home embrace and a loving kiss. “Sweetheart, we’ve been invited to the grandest ball you’ve ever seen.”

“Oh Darling, that sounds wonderful, but what should I wear?”

“I want you to wear that great gown you wore to the President’s Whitehouse Dinner and your finest jewelry. The Bosansians are really decked out and I want to show them we know how to dress up too. I’m going to invite John and Meredith and Janus and Yanna too. I think they will enjoy it.”

While Darlene started getting ready Hank called John and


Janus using his wrist device and extended the invitations. They both talked to their wives who eagerly accepted. He explained the circumstances and the impression they wanted to make. They agreed to meet at Hank’s cottage in an hour so they would arrive at the ball together.

“Darling, do you know when the kids will be back?” Meredith asked John while he helped her zip up her beautiful sky-blue gown.

“You look stunning, sweetheart.” He noted the beautiful tiara she wore and thought back to that first Whitehouse dinner they had attended before they were married. She had been stunning then too. “I think their six-week tour is about up. We should be hearing from them soon. Some of the teens have already returned. I’m anxious to hear all about their trip.”

“I called Ann Johnston and she’s coming over to watch Amber Julie for us,” Meredith said as she swung around and viewed her reflection in the floor length mirror. “She was happy to do it and thanked me for thinking of her. I told her she could stay here or take her to their cottage.”

“When are our youngsters due back from their trip? It has almost been six full weeks and I miss them very much,” Darlene queried Hank as she helped him adjust his Tuxedo.

Hank marveled at how beautiful his Texas bride was in her flowing ball gown. “The last time they checked in they were going to visit one more star system and then zip home. I’m sure they will let us know as soon as they’re back. By the way, can we take Danielle’s portable Boom Box with us? I have an old Big 40’s Band CD that I think will fit in real well with the music they’re playing at the Bosansi Ball.”

The time quickly passed and all three couples met at Hank’s cottage. Meredith noted Yanna’s midnight blue sheer dress was simple but very elegant, obviously made of very fine luminous material that sparkled like stars in the dark background. She had beautiful sparkling earrings too. The men all wore similar tuxedos. Janus’s was purple and John and Hank’s were shiny black.

John eyed the Boom Box and Hank explained its purpose.


“I will be looking forward to seeing how the Bosansi react to it,” John laughed.

Before they zipped to Bosansi, Yanna asked John, “When is Yorgi due back? I didn’t realize six weeks was such a long time.”

“They should be back soon,” Hank said. “Is everyone ready?”

They zipped across the Galaxy to the Grand Ball on Bosansi where Borcas proudly introduced his guests to the Chairman and others.

“Chairman, this is President John Royston of the Galactic Council and his wife, Meredith.”

Chairman Franconia gave a deep bow, which was somewhat difficult in his magnificent flowing robe and his heavy regalia hanging around his collar. His flaming red hair reminded John of a picture of an 18th century Judge’s wig except for the brilliant reddish hue.

“I am very pleased to meet you. We have heard much about you and are very grateful for your helping rid us of the Spectari.”

Hank explained the Boom Box to Borcas as a music maker and asked him if during the evening, they might play a few of his favorite band tunes for the gathering?

Borcas thought that would be fine. “A fine mixture of our two cultures,” he smiling said.

During the evening’s mingling and dancing, Yanna again brought up the subject of the survey team to Meredith. She relayed Yanna’s concerns to John.

“I’ll call Beverly Garvey and see what the latest is.” John punched his wrist device. Communicating at this distance would have been unthinkable with their Earth technology, but all the new planets had contributed to their technology explosion and so they added the hyper wave comm as a component into their devices. John knew it would just barely reach this distance. “Beverly, this is John. What’s the latest on our kids survey trip?”

“Hi, John. The last I heard, they were out somewhere in the Orion


Belt. They were going to view some nearby nebula. They’re due to check in shortly. I will let you know when I hear from them.”

“Thanks, Beverly.”“That’s rather close to where the Spectari were attacking,”

Hank now concerned said. He then explained about the recent attack they had repelled. “We were lucky we caught them in time. They were already inside the outer defense sensors and could have really surprised us. It did give us an opportunity to train the Bosansi defense team, but I didn’t like the idea of having to do it with live targets.”

“I agree. That was cutting it too close. I wander if that was coincidence or a careful strategy they’ve plotted against us?” John queried.

Just then a junior member of the Bosansi defense team appeared beside Borcas and quickly whispered something in his ear.

Borcas turned to Hank and urgently said, “Sir, the defense team thinks you should see something in the control room.”

John was standing nearby and overheard the conversation. “What’s up, Hank?”

“I don’t know. Let’s go see.”As soon as they arrived in the central defense control room,

they were quickly escorted to one of the view screens. On the view screen was an odd elliptical oscillating energy pattern.

“That looks like the pattern from a Spectari null field!” Hank exclaimed. “Where is this coming from?”

“It is very near the Praxis Nebula, sir.” The console operator said…

It was getting colder and the sound of the hissing air was getting lesser and lesser. The teens were huddled together to share their warmth. One of them despairingly whined, “Why doesn’t anything work! We’re going to freeze!””

“Because of that null field out there,” Yorgi softly answered.

Victor and Sethanni knew they didn’t have much time left. The last hour they frighteningly watched the Stasis field


collapsing around them until it was just a few meters outside the ship. They would either be captured or die from the freezing cold or lack of oxygen. Victor knew the Spectari didn’t care whether the people in this ship lived or died. The Spectari just wanted a teleport device. He was anxious they didn’t achieve their goal. He had waited till the last minute to collect the devices onboard and used a heavy wrench-like tool to smash them so the enemy, no matter what happened to them, couldn’t use them. Smashing these devices means we are totally relying on our security people to find and rescue us, but at least no matter what happens to us, the Spectari can’t use them, Victor thought. It’s to bad it had to happen to these kids though. They are really a great group.

Greg Garrett sat in his seat freezing. I would love to use my PDA to work on my project, but it doesn’t work either. I wish I had completed a working prototype before this trip.

Across the aisle from Greg, Jonathan and Tanya were huddled under a blanket together doing their best to warm each other up.

“What else on this ship doesn’t require mechanics or electronics?” Victor asked Sethanni. “What can we manually operate that might have a chance to disrupt that field out there?”

Yorgi was listening to the conversation as a means of distraction from the bitter cold. He said through chattering teeth, “W…when Jonathan and I were almost captured that time before, I s…started hitting buttons and one released a flood of noxious gas. C…Could that help?”

“I’m afraid that wouldn’t work in this case because none of the buttons will work due to the null field,” Sethanni quietly said.

Then Jonathan said, “But couldn’t we do like the oxygen canisters and work it manually?”

“That’s a good thought, son, but the gas from the ion engines is too toxic to get near and anyway, there is no manual release and I doubt it would affect the null field the way it did those Spectari warriors you described.”…


As soon as Hank heard the word “nebula”, his concern rose sharply. “Quickly send a probe!”

The operator worked her console keyboard and shortly they were viewing a vid display revealing the two spheres maintaining the stasis field around the survey ship.

John anxiously blurted out, “That’s the kid’s ship!”“And there’s another Spectari ship!” Hank pointed out.

“Dispatch an android quickly!”Shortly, they were viewing the interior of the Spectari

command deck. A Spectari warrior aimed his weapon at the android.

“Don’t destroy it!” Hank exclaimed. The screen went blank as the warrior fired his energy weapon, destroying the android.

“We need to make sure the kids are safe in the ship before we do anything drastic,” Hank anxiously said. “Have a sensor see what it can detect through their null field.”

The console operator worked more keys. At first the dispatched sensor displayed no data. Then using her keyboard controls, she raised the power and intensity level of the sensing components. The readout suddenly came across her panel. They all read the information as she reported, “The sensor detects twelve individual but faint vital signs through the field, sir. The temperature is freezing in there.”

“Thanks. At least they’re all accounted for. Now let’s take out that ship. I want to be the voice of the android.”

The young Bosansian technician set the controls and zipped another android to the Spectari ship.

As soon as the command deck appeared on their screen again, Hank quickly said through the android, “Destroy me and your ship will be destroyed with it!”

“Don’t fire on it!” General Korak-sen hastily ordered.“Very good, commander. What have you done to our ship?” Hank

spoke through the android.“We only captured it. We have not harmed the crew or

passengers.”“Very good. We will not harm you either, but will maroon you on a

deserted planet. Now you will turn off the energy field around the ship.


When your ship is on land in a second, you will abandon all your gear including weapons and comm units and vacate the ship. Anything less will cause it and your destruction.”

General Korak-sen knew there was only one answer to the enemy command, so gave the order and the energy stasis field disappeared.

The android then zipped the warship to the designated coordinates and monitored the Spectari complying with Hank’s orders. Then he zipped the warship to reside with the others on the moon.

John quickly zipped inside the survey ship as the lights suddenly came on and the control panel lit up.

“Dad!” Jonathan happily exclaimed.The survey ship’s systems quickly warmed up the main

cabin and fresh air was recycled.“Victor, can this ship collect those spheres in your hold?”

John asked.Victor gave a quick look at Sethanni who nodded, and he

said, “Yes, we will do that now.”Sethanni worked the console with a magician’s touch until

the two Spectari spheres were secure in the survey ship’s cargo hold.

John then quickly zipped the survey ship to the moon base.

The teens thanked Victor and Sethanni for an experience they would all remember and Hank and John for rescuing them. They each hugged and cried at the thought of how close they had come to serious harm. After the tearful yet joyful farewells, everyone zipped home using new devices the rescue team supplied. John took Yorgi and Jonathan to Bosansi with him after Jonathan escorted Tanya home. Chad and Twyla zipped to T-Base for a joyful reunion with their mom.

“Yorgi! I was worried about you.” Yanna happily hugged her son and wondered why his skin was cold to the touch. “Did you have a good trip?”

Yorgi hugged his mom back and said, “It was a very good experience, but the end was also very scary. Thanks to Mr. Travis and Mr. Royston, we escaped being captured by the Spectari.”


Yanna hugged her son even tighter to provide him some motherly warmth.

The Galactic Council representatives and their companions excused themselves from the Bosansi festivities and returned to their Galactic headquarters to review the latest danger. Though nighttime on Bosansi, the Earth’s sun was high in the sky in Maryland.

John wasted no time in organizing what needed to be done. “Hank, deliver the spheres to the Galactic scientific team and see what they can learn from them. Also have them examine the Spectari Warship that was controlling the spheres. We must somehow learn to counter that null field or we are going to continue to be threatened. That incident was too close to being successful for the Spectari.”

When Hank completed his tasks, he returned to John’s office to report. “Dr. Vaughn and his team are busily examining the Spectari technology now.”

“Good. Hank, we must include setting up new defense perimeters around these planets we are liberating as part of the liberation strategy. I want those sensors set up and active almost simultaneously with the liberation. I’m afraid that is where we are most vulnerable and the Spectari have learned to take advantage of it.”

Hank smiled, “As usual, you are right. I will see it is done immediately.…

“Mom, can we talk?”Yanna was in the family room working on a complex

knitting pattern Alice Royston had given her when she inquired about the bedspread she had received from her as a birthday gift. She put the yarn and needle down and looked up at her fast-maturing son. “Sure son. Is here okay or do you want to go elsewhere?”

“Here is fine Mom.” Yorgi hesitantly sat down beside her on the long couch. “Mom, how old were you and Dad when you became life-mates?

Yanna suddenly realized this was going to be a serious


conversation so she smiled and gave Yorgi her undivided attention. “Son, your Dad was just finishing University when he first approached my parents. He was in his 26th year and I was just turning 25. Why do you ask?”

Yorgi hesitated a moment before answering. “Mom that was a long time ago and things changed. There’s a lot more going on in our universe than back then and I don’t feel I should wait to find my soul-mate,” he passionately blurted out.

Such an emotional display was unusual for her son so Yanna took her time before responding, partly to let Yorgi get his emotions in check. “Son, what brought this on all of a sudden?”

“Mom, I guess it started when the Spectari invaded our world and became more important during the summer space trip. When all the danger happened, I suddenly realized how short life might be and I didn’t have anyone to share it with. I mean I know I have my family, but I mean someone special. I noticed how well Jonathan and Tanya got along on the trip and I was sort of jealous, wishing I could have such a relationship.”

Like any mom would, she looked into his pale blue moist eyes and patted his arm. “Yes son, I’ve noticed your sudden mood changes since you returned from that trip. You’ve been more serious and more introspective. I know it must have been rough on you.” She looked lovingly at him wanting him to be happy again.

“You’re right too when you said how things have changed for us and all of Yantu. I don’t think anyone is as carefree or takes life for granted like they used to either.” She gave a soft knowing smile. “You know there is no real rule as to how old one should be when he finds his soul-mate. If you’ve found someone you care about, maybe you should talk to her parents and introduce us. I know about the young girl you’ve been eyeing at university.”

Yorgi was surprised because he thought he had kept his feelings private. He knew his mom knew him pretty well though so was not that surprised. “Yes mom, her name is Kelina, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Yakora, and I do want to get to know her better.”


“I think that is fine son. Do you know much about her parents?”

“They both work at the university. He is a physics professor. I’ve attended one of his classes.”

“Well then he knows you too. Why don’t you go see him and invite them over to meet us at the end of the week?”

“Oh thanks Mom. Do you thank Dad will mind?”“No son. I think he will be just fine with it.” They both

stood and she hugged her son and he returned the hug.Yanna couldn’t wait to tell Meredith Royston about her

son. The two had become quite close and found it easy to share family happenings with each other. They had a luncheon date later in the week. Yanna looked forward to meeting Kelina’s parents. Thinking of luncheons, she pressed her wrist device to speak to Janus. “Hi Darling. Are you free for lunch? I have some news for you.”

“Right now I am working with Sethanni. I will call you back and we will go to our special restaurant. Okay?”

“That will be fine. I will just get ready. Bye.”In the soft glow of their favorite restaurant, Yanna related

her conversation with her firstborn to Janus. “He has grown up before our eyes and feels he is ready to find his life mate.”

Janus looked into his own soul mate’s eyes and fondly remembered their courtship. He could recall those feelings he had for her and how she was in his every thought with his plans for their future. “Yes, I have noticed Yorgi’s change too. I think that trip which turned out to be more dangerous than any of us would have believed, was a real turning point in his young life.” Janus wiped his chin with his napkin. “I‘m happy he was able to share his feelings with you. I have worked with Professor Yakora on occasion and I will look forward to meeting his family. I’m sure Kelina must be very pretty to have caught Yorgi’s eye.”

The distinctive and popular Professor Yakora was just finishing his last class of the day. He was just leaving the campus physics building when Yorgi met up with him. “Hello Yorgi. How are you doing?”

“I’m fine sir.” Yorgi caught his breath and got right to the


point. “Sir, I want you to know I have feelings for Kelina and I would like you to meet my parents. They would like to invite your family over this weekend if that would be okay?” The two were walking along a beautiful garden path as they talked.

Professor Yakora decided not to make it too easy on Yorgi. The professor remembered his first meeting with his future in-laws. They hadn’t thought he was established enough in his career to start a family, but they slowly came around to accepting him. “I forget what year you are in Yorgi?”

“I am just finishing up third year, sir.”“And your major is?”Astrophysics. I am in the top 3 percentile sir,” he proudly

said.“What do you want to do with it as far as a career?”“I believe I would like to teach at some level. I enjoy

working with others and being able to help them learn.”They reached the end of the garden path and Dr. Yakora

stopped and earnestly looked at Yorgi as a perspective son-in-law and liked what he saw. “That is a fine goal son. I already know your father quite well as Council Chairman and now Galactic Vice-president.” He gave a wide smile. “We will look forward to meeting with your family this weekend. Have a good day.”

Later in the week, Meredith and Yanna were sitting on the cottage veranda with the little ones, now walking, and playing on the porch. Meredith watched the two very different toddlers take short hesitating steps as they took time to assure their balance. Meredith unconsciously noted Jarom was more assured in his steps, being the older one. He was acting as a guide for the shorter and younger Amber as they walked around some of the potted plants on the veranda.

“This week Yorgi and I had a serious talk. He wants to find his life mate. I think he was deeply affected during the summer trip. He also admitted to being jealous of Jonathan’s close relationship with Tanya.”

“Oh, Yanna! That is happy news. Is it the girl you were telling me about?”


“Yes. We are meeting her parents tomorrow. Janus already knows her father and says he is a very good family man.”

“That is very nice. How long do your courtships last?”“There is no set time, but it is usually an agreement both

sets of parents make. I would say the average is from six months to a year. It usually really depends on how prepared for life the two young people really are. When both families set the joining ceremony date, we want to invite your family to be there.”

“We will definitely plan on it and look forward to it.”“Yanna, I noticed our Earth youngsters seem a little freer

with their emotions than Yanni ones,” Meredith seriously said. “I hope that has not created a problem for you. We have counseled Jonathan about not overdoing the relationship as his mission is coming up soon, but I do know he likes Tanya very much and she has promised to wait for him to complete his two-year mission for the Church. That is not an ironclad guarantee it will happen, but at least she is encouraging him to go. Tanya’s brother Greg will be going on his mission about the same time.”

Yanna also spoke seriously. “No. I don’t think it’s a problem. Yorgi does recognize the difference in our two societies. I think it was just the close quarters the kids were in for those six weeks that made its impression on Yorgi, but more than that, it is the series of events that have happened lately that have caused him to want a life mate. I know Jonathan’s church mission is something you have been talking about. When will he know where he will be serving?”

“He will be submitting his mission papers in a couple of weeks right after he has an interview with the bishop; then in about a month he will receive his mission call. While he is on his mission he is only allowed one phone call on Mother’s Day and Christmas. The rest of the time, it is only through letters. That really makes it tough on mothers. I was hoping with the invention of teleportation the leaders would relax those rules at least a little, but so far they haven’t.”

“I certainly know it would me. I can’t imagine Yorgi being away so long. We have enjoyed your church Elders being in our


home on Yantu and their discussions seem easy to understand because our own beliefs have similar family-oriented values.”

Just then Jonathan appeared at the kitchen doorway. “Hi Mom. Hi Yanna. Hi Amber and Jarom.” Jonathan reached down and picked Amber up. “Mom, I just learned a dental checkup and a physical is required to submit my mission papers.”

“Yes, I know son. The appointments are on the calendar for next week. Just look on the fridge.” Meredith was glad Jonathan had started calling her “Mom” instead of “Meredith”. Sometimes it had seemed a little awkward, especially when others were around. She had easily picked up calling him “Son”.

While stopping at the fridge, Jonathan checked inside for after-school snacks too. Jenny stuck her head in the fridge too and pulled out a quarter of a chocolate cake just before Jonathan spied it.

“You’ve gotta share,” he exclaimed.Just as Jonathan was wiping the chocolate from his fingers

so he could use his computer keyboard, his wrist device buzzed. It was Greg Garrett.

“Hey Jonathan, Can you zip over to the comp lab? I’ve set something up I want you to see.”

“Yeah, Greg. Let me take a minute to check my email and I will be right there.” Not having a ready computer or email on my mission is going to be hard to get used to. I wonder where I’m gonna be? I can’t wait to find out.

As soon as Jonathan logged on, Tanya’s instant chat message popped up. Boy am I gonna miss her too. I hope she can wait for me.

A couple of minutes later, he was in the computer lab with Greg, and the computer “Geek” was excited.

“I have secretly been working on something I think has great potential and now I am ready to test it.” Greg carefully picked up what looked like a tiny microchip. “I visited one of the chip manufacturing plants and borrowed one of the chips just before it was going to be used in the personalization process. I figured if we could tap into the functionality that


causes teleportation, maybe we could use it for other things like communications and video transmissions.”

“Wow! That sure would be something, but as I understand it, not even Dr. Vaughn and Alex truly understand how it works.” Jonathan watched Greg manipulate the tiny microchip into an odd-looking very small-unidentified device that looked like a game cartridge for one of their game stations.

“That’s right, but it hasn’t stopped any of us from using it has it?” Greg set the microchip in a tiny slot in the cartridge that must have been made just for it. He then actually did put the cartridge into a specially modified game station. The game station now included a special fish-eye video camera attached to small extensible tripod legs.

“You’re right about that. So what are you doing now?”Greg held the game station control in his hands. “I created

a special program to use the chip functionality in a special way. If I’m right, we’re really in for some action.” He pressed the on switch and the video monitor came to life. A menu popped up with queries titled; ‘Where To?’ and ‘How far?’ ‘Video only?’ ‘Audio only’.

Greg used the game keyboard to enter some coordinates and clicked on ‘Video only’. Instantly the camera disappeared and the monitor displayed a live video scene Jonathan thought he recognized. But that can’t be! Bosansi’s clear across the Milky Way!

Greg noticed that Jonathan recognized the Bosansi Central Defense Control Room. “That’s right. We’re viewing real-time clear across the galaxy. I can add audio, but I will wait for the full demo for that function.”

“Wait till the science team sees this. They are gonna flip!” Jonathan excitedly said.

“I was afraid I wasn’t going to finish it before my mission so I have been really working late on it almost every night.” Greg said as he shut down the game station and the camera assembly instantly reappeared. “Now I’m glad it works just the way I envisioned it.”

“Everyone is going to go ape with this. I want to be there for the demo. When are you going to do it?”


Greg was excited and anxious. “Why not now?” He pressed his wrist device. “Dr. Vaughn, are you busy?”

“Hi Greg. What’s up?”“Sir, I have something special I’ve been working on to show

the science team and Mr. Royston and Mr. Travis. Could you come to the computer lab on the island now?”

“Do you mean you want us there now? I’m not sure we have the time for this.”

Jonathan chimed in, “Sir, this is Jonathan. Believe me everyone on the team needs to see this. You’re going to be truly amazed.”

“Well, if you say so. I’ll see who is available and be right there.”“I want to include Yorgi and his dad too,” Jonathan

excitedly said.“Fine. Invite them too.” Greg Smiled from ear to ear.Jonathan extended the invitations and everyone showed

up almost within seconds of each other. There was the Galactic Science team including Dr. Vaughn, Alex and Dr. Kim Chu. Also John, Hank and Janus with Yorgi. The island computer lab suddenly seemed very small.

“Okay, Greg, what’s this all about?” Dr. Vaughn seriously asked.

Greg went through the same explanation he had just given to Jonathan. He extracted the special game cartridge from the game station and used tweezers to lift the microchip so they could all see what he was talking about.

Jonathan could tell they did not get the full picture yet, but he knew they were about to as Greg replaced the microchip into the cartridge and the cartridge back into the game station.

So far Dr. Vaughn wasn’t very impressed because he thought they were just going to see a special computer game Greg had designed and he didn’t know why Jonathan had insisted they needed to see it when they were in the middle of examining those spheres. He watched Greg turn the game station on and witnessed the simple pop-up menu on the screen. This didn’t make him feel any better until the modified camera disappeared and a clear picture appeared on the monitor screen.


Hank recognized the inside of the Bosansi Defense Center before anyone else. “Is this picture real-time?”

Greg happily answered, “Yes sir, it is. You can talk to them if you like.”

“Dr. Vaughn, do you know where that is?”Dr. Vaughn suddenly caught on. “This is the Bosansi

Control center! Did you say we could talk to them?”“Yes sir. I will activate the audio now.” Greg pressed the

game controller and they could hear the sounds from the other side of the galaxy as if they were in the room.

“Borcas, is that you?” Hank saidBorcas turned to the sound of the voice and noticed the

tiny camera lens sitting on its small tripod off to the corner of the room. “Hank, I hear your voice. Where are you at?”

“We are on Earth participating in a special demonstration.”“How can you see and talk at that distance? Is this real-

time?”“Yes it is. Have you got time to join us? I’ll send the

coordinates to your wrist device.”“Yes. Do it. I want to see this for myself.”Hank pressed the numbers on his device and pressed

‘send’.Instantly Borcas was in the computer lab gazing at the

monitor’s view halfway across the galaxy he had just left. “Wow! This is fantastic!”

“This will make communication a snap. Greg, how did you come up with this? It is amazing. And how hard is it to duplicate? Do you know what its limitations are?” Dr. Chu rapidly asked.

Greg was glowing with all the praise being heaped on him at once. “I just started thinking it was a shame we could zip wherever we wanted in the cosmos, but couldn’t communicate as rapidly. Then I said to myself, why not? I thought if I could find a way to piggyback with the teleport functionality maybe it could work.”

“Well son, you’ve made a scientific breakthrough that astounds us all,” Dr. Vaughn patted him on the shoulder. “I


think we should call this the Garrett Hyper Wave or something like that. Could we install a special monitor at the destination so they could see us too?”

“I hadn’t thought of that, but I don’t see why not. The coordinates could be setup to connect right to their station and we wouldn’t have to zip a camera there.”

“Where’s your dad? Does he know what you’ve been working on?” Alex Stanton asked.

“I believe Dad’s teaching a class at the space academy on Yantu. Maybe he’s finished by now?” Greg pressed a button on his wrist device; then instead of using his device, he pressed the coordinates that displayed on his wrist device into the game controller keypad and pressed the send button.

The group witnessed the camera instantly disappear and the display on the newly named Garrett Hyper Wave monitor instantly displayed an odd view of George Garrett’s space academy office with the computer professor sitting at his desk.

“Hi Dad,” Greg said.George Garrett looked around. “Son, I hear you, but where

are you?”“Look down Dad.”They watched a surprised George Garrett look toward the

small camera.“Where are you?”“I’m in our island computer lab with the science team. Can

you join us right now? I will send the coordinates to your wrist device.”

Just a second later, Professor George Garrett appeared and Dr. Vaughn explained the astounding feat Greg had just accomplished.

The academy professor beamed with pride as he proudly looked at his son. “So that’s what you’ve been spending all your time on. Does your mom know?”

“No one knew until I just demonstrated it, Dad. I thought I knew how it would work, but until I could prove it, I didn’t tell anyone.”


“Well, I think she should share in it too.” The professor pressed his wrist device. “Hi honey. What are you doing?”

“Hi Darling. Just waiting for you to get home.”“I’m in the island computer lab with the science team. Can

you join us? Here are the coordinates.”A surprised Doris Garrett instantly appeared beside her

husband and son. She was surprised at the crowd. She simply smiled and said, “Hi everyone. What’s the occasion?”

George said, “Our son has been working on a fantastic communication device and he just demonstrated it to the team. He has married the teleport functionality with a special communication function Dr. Vaughn has dubbed the Garrett Hyper Wave.”

Chapter Twenty

Treachery at Home

Dr. Vaughn assigned a whole team of experts to work with Greg and Jonathan to perfect the Garrett Hyper Wave device while his team tackled the spheres. There was activity galore as the scientific team had a field day with the Spectari technology.

Dr. Vaughn was ecstatic. “Those spheres are amazing. Even more amazing than the Yanni energy fields,” he excitedly told Hank as he was visiting the lab. “And we’ve just scratched the surface of what they’re capable of.”

“Dr. Vaughn, what I think we need is to find out how to counteract them. Remember, these toys you are playing with were used against us and almost cost some very important lives.”

“Yes. Yes John, I understand. But before we can counteract them we need to understand them. Sethanni and his team of other scientists are busy cataloging their capabilities. They already understand far more than my team, but we are working together and understanding more each day. We already know enough to duplicate the technology and can use it instead of our original simple null field, to defeat it if it is used against us again.”

“Then you are indeed making progress, Doctor. I apologize for my criticism,” Hank sheepishly said.

Dr. Vaughn put his hand on Hank’s shoulder almost in a fatherly fashion. “That’s alright, Hank. I understand how important it is to everyone. The whole team does. We’re just


enthusiastic about how all this new knowledge will help us in other areas besides pure defense.”

The Galactic Council’s humane treatment of the Spectari had become too predictable. General Korak-sen had prepared for such an action, but hoping not to have to activate it. Although complying with the orders to abandon the ship and leave all weapons and comm units, the Spectari general and others of his staff had tiny powerful transmitters hidden in the soles of their shoes, so it wasn’t long before they were rescued. Now General Korak-sen was more determined than ever.

“Our strategy almost worked. With just a little more time, we could have had at least one or more of their amazing devices. We must keep probing their defenses until we find a weakness.” He failed to think of the new advantage they had given their enemy with the loss of the spheres. “We must do more strategic planning to outwit them.”

Dr. Faren-sen witnessed the enemy’s remarkable teleport capabilities first hand. He believed there should be a way for them to overcome the enemy if only they could react quicker. During the strategy planning, he expressed his idea. “Our reaction time is too slow. We should be able to act as soon as we sense their presence.”

“But there’s not sufficient time!” One of the strategic planners agitatedly voiced.

“There might be if we set some automatics,” the scientist quickly answered…

Hank’s team belatedly thought to install sensor monitors around the planets they marooned the Spectari on. “We’re too late!” He exclaimed when they learned the Spectari had already been rescued. “We must learn from this and not let it happen again!” Hank ordered their defense team to add monitoring sensors around all the remote planets they designated for marooning their enemy on.

Each Galactic sector was now responsible for it’s own security with the Earth-Yanni team providing the initial training


and guidance. Each sector was given charge over manufacturing its own defensive monitoring sensors.

Though the Galactic Council was running smoothly around the galaxy, things at home were very busy. Intergalactic commerce was booming thanks to the teleport technology. Earth was literally being transformed with all the technical advancements. As John had envisioned, teleportation allowed whole new areas of the earth to be settled and older cities were being rebuilt. Smog-creating factories were being replaced almost overnight with environment friendly technology.

With the changes the original teleport team had thrust on the world many old ways had been completely changed. There were no longer large refugee camps as their had once been in foreign lands. People were free to migrate or emigrate wherever they wished. Those peoples who for hundreds of years fought for land in the Middle East now turned their efforts skyward.

The UN Emigration Commission with the help of the Galactic Council had opened up selected star systems for colonization and made it fairly easy for groups of people to request emigration to them. The UN established a pattern for them to follow and left the rest to the individual groups. The first step to opening up a new planet was to establish the defense perimeter around the star system. Hank had organized a whole new security division to handle that huge undertaking.

John sat in his Maryland office and thought, with all the changes taking place why can’t politics change as well? He was catching up on his e-mail and watching the TV news on the wall vid screen at the same time. There was his former nemesis in living color in front of a waving throng with the Whitehouse in the background.

“Former Defense Secretary Mike Carlson threw his name in the ring of candidates to contest President Hargrove for his party’s nomination at the upcoming Seattle nominating convention. The Defense Secretary has a strong following that are claiming president Hargrove has given the U.N. too much authority over U.S. interstellar activities. Early polls indicate it could be a tight race.”


That’s all we need, he thought. I need to talk to President Hargrove. John pressed his wrist device.

“Yes John. What’s up?”“Sir, I hope I’m not disturbing you. I just watched the news

about the former defense secretary’s candidacy for your job and I was wondering if I could help in any way.”

“John I’m glad you called. My campaign chairman just mentioned your name. Do you have time to come meet with us here in the oval office?”

In answer, John stood and pressed a couple of buttons on his wrist device and was immediately standing beside the president.

President Hargrove didn’t even flinch at John’s appearance as he was getting used to using his own new device too. “John thanks for coming. I used to think Mike was just being obnoxious and only a thorn in our side, but now he’s gained some powerful support and is becoming a serious obstacle.”

“Yes and we were hoping you could help deflect his harshest criticism of our space efforts,” Mark Petersen, the president’s newly installed campaign chairman hastily said.

“Mike has this parochial view that since the space program was a U.S. initiative, we should somehow control it,” President Hargrove added.

“If it was just him, we could probably deal with it, but we just learned he has gained some influential backing which unfortunately makes him a very viable candidate,” Mark said.

President Hargrove suddenly realized they were all standing and said, “Let’s sit down and discuss this. Would you two like something to drink?”

The trio moved over to two comfortable couches.“I’ll just have a glass of water,” John said and Mark echoed

the request.President Hargrove touched an intercom on the stand

beside the couch and relayed the request along with some orange juice for himself.

“What kind of backing are you talking about, sir?”“We’ve been so involved with implementing all these rapid


changes, we failed to notice that there is a certain segment that feels they are being left out; a segment that has some significant clout and financial resources,” President Hargrove said.

“He’s talking about several former big defense contractors mostly,” Mark added.

Just then their refreshments arrived and John took the proffered glass, as did the others. They each took a moment to sip their beverages before continuing.

“I thought we solved that problem by including their plants in the platform manufacture and in the off-planet construction program,” John said.

“We did too, John.” President Hargrove sipped his juice. “Unfortunately we gave them far too much money when their plants were internationalized and they were hoping to cash in even more with all these new advancements. Your proposal to make them public property took that opportunity away from them and I believe they are thinking with the right political climate they could reverse that decision.”

“That’s right, John. That’s another one of their complaints. The fact all the new scientific advancements are controlled by the Galactic Council or UN and they can’t gain financially from them,” Mark offered. “They misguidedly think if they can install their own president such as Mike Carlson they can somehow change things to their advantage.”

“But can’t they see how dangerous that would be? These advancements belong to everyone, not just a few who want to make a profit. That’s why we had the UN include that as part of the Galactic Charter. And many of these advancements could be harmful if controlled by an individual or a private group.”

“We totally agree, but that doesn’t stop them from trying. While you’ve been out rescuing planets and dealing with the Spectari, we’ve been trying to control this opposition quietly, not realizing the machinations of politics in the background,” President Hargrove said.

“I think you’re right sir. I’ve been so involved, I haven’t noticed what is going on close to home, but we can change that.” John pressed his wrist device.


“Hi John. What can I do for you?”“Betty are you busy at the moment?”“Nothing I can’t interrupt, John. What do you need?”“I’m in the Oval office with President Hargrove and Mark

Petersen. I wonder if you can join us. I’m sending you the coordinates now.” John pressed ‘Send’ on his device.

Betty’s reply was to instantly appear. All three men stood up and she shook the offered hands.

Betty had the opportunity to interview President Hargrove previously but had not been personally introduced to his campaign chairman.

“Betty, this is Mark Petersen, my Whitehouse Chief of Staff and campaign chairman.”

“I’m glad to meet you Mark. I’ve heard some very good things about you,” she said with a bright smile.

“Well I try to work in the background mostly and let the main guy take all the limelight, so I’m not surprised we haven’t been introduced before, but I have enjoyed watching your career from afar.”

“Please join us Miss Rogers,” The president pointed to the couches.

President Hargrove turned to John. “If this meeting goes in the direction it seems to be headed, I think I should include my press secretary too.”

“That’s a great idea sir. Then we can all work together.”“Danielle, would you please ask Kerric to join us?” the

president spoke through the intercom and turned to Betty, “What would you like to drink, Miss Rogers?”

“I’ll have a coke if that’s okay,” she said.“And please order a coke for Miss Rogers and Kerric’s usual

sprite.“Yes sir.”Shortly there was a soft tap on the door and Danielle Adams

escorted Kerric Amesly through the door. She sat Betty’s coke with a glass of ice cubes and Kerric’s sprite on the settee. “Does anyone else need anything?”

Everyone shook their head and President Hargrove said,


“I think we’re fine Danielle. Please hold all my calls unless it’s urgent. We should be through here by Noon.”

“Yes sir,” Danielle smiled and left the room.“For those of you who haven’t met him this is Kerric

Amesly, my press secretary.”The only one who hadn’t met the debonair handsome and

charming eligible bachelor was the one who was also single and startlingly attracted to him. Both knew each other from their TV appearances but meeting in person was both awkward and somewhat electrifying. The other men in the room could feel the sudden attraction between the two.

Betty spoke first as she offered her hand to him. “I’m glad to finally meet you Kerric,” she said with a charming dimpled smile.

“You are much more beautiful in person,” he almost stammered.

After a couple of seconds, President Hargrove said, “Well everyone make yourselves comfortable and let’s get down to business.”

Betty sat in a soft backed chair situated at the end of and between the two couches so she could talk and listen to all three.

“I assume everyone’s aware of Mike Carlson’s candidacy, but what you may not be aware of is his influential backers.” President Hargrove proceeded to list the most notable ones.

John was somewhat amazed at the list. Most of them were well known for their huge fortunes and most headed companies at the top of their industry. Why are these prominent people backing this charlatan? It must be for more than money. It must be the power they think he can help them achieve.

“…. And there are foreign ones too,” President Hargrove concluded. “They want to influence this election for their own benefit. These people with their money, power and influence make the former Secretary of Defense a legitimate candidate.”

As the Galactic President’s PR Chief Betty said, “I think the first thing should be for Galactic President Royston to hold a press conference and give President Hargrove an enthusiastic


endorsement. He can do it in the form of a report to the people, outlining the great progress that has been made.”

“I agree, but I think it will take more than speeches. Their side will be making those too,” Kerric stated…

Unknown to them, their chief adversary was holding his own political powwow not too far from the Whitehouse in the capitol city. The former Secretary of Defense blamed the president and the Teleport Team for his current status. He had been abruptly asked to resign because he publicly voiced criticism over dismantling their military, contrary to the President’s direct orders to keep quiet. He felt he had been publicly humiliated and longed for an opportunity to redeem himself in the eyes of the public, thus he jumped at the chance to challenge the president for their party’s nomination.

Mike Carlson’s chief political advisor, Noel Preston, sat next to his candidate around a large oval conference room with some of their top backers. These men and women were so powerful in their own circles, he almost felt a little overwhelmed. He had just struggled to work his way through school. “We need some mega incident to get the voting public’s attention to our cause; something that will cause a discord. So far the president has gotten all the glory and press for establishing the Galactic Council and reaching out to the stars. Does anyone have any ideas?”

“There are still many displaced people who aren’t happy with the changes. Maybe we should focus on them and give them a forum to voice their anger?” Maria Canbriatti, CEO of Tele-World, a recently merged worldwide telecom behemoth, offered. Auburn-haired Maria had taken over her father’s already wealthy empire and reveled in the power and celebrity status it afforded her. She had grown up watching her obsessed father do whatever it took to be successful in the business world. She had watched him manipulate people and opportunities to his own advantage and now she tried to emulate him.

“Yes, I’m sure we should do that too, but I was thinking of some really negative incident that would cause the public


to question the president’s actions or his ability to lead,” Noel added.

“I know of a secret stockpile of explosive munitions that wasn’t destroyed when we were forced to dismantle our military, if that will help?” The former Secretary of Defense softly stated with a wry grin. Before he was asked to resign, the Defense Secretary had cleverly erased two large secret explosive caches off the list that was provided to the UN inspectors. He then had the Pentagon weapons databases delete all references to the two secret remote locations. He hadn’t planned to use them in this manner but now might be a good opportunity. He was still in contact with a small group of former Special Forces troops who might be interested in a special assignment.…

A few days later, John stood beside the president at a major media event of dedicating a new National Park in Arizona. This magnificent spot had once been arid wasteland before teleportation and the advanced Yanni science helped it blossom into a veritable garden paradise. The podium was placed with a lush verdant background of green sycamore trees where nary a tree had stood before. TV cameras were strategically located to provide the best view to the worldwide TV audience.

“My fellow Americans and indeed the world, this lovely paradise you see before you now exists where only prairie dogs, lizards and cactus could survive before.” President Hargrove outstretched his arms in an expansive manner. “This new National Park represents our renewed and vibrant planet thanks to the vision and efforts of our Galactic Council President, John Royston. Thanks to him and his team’s magnificent work, we have this lovely park, which is only one of many such areas being revived around the world.”

The crowd enthusiastically extended their clapping as John walked up to the outdoor podium wearing the Council’s trademark khaki shirt with the Galactic patch on it.

“I’m happy to be here with you today to celebrate this great event. It wasn’t that long ago that I had the occasion to drive across this then-desert land as many of you might have.


Doesn’t that sound so old-fashioned now? Can you hear your kids and grandkids asking, “Daddy or Mommy or Grandpa or Grandma, what’s it like to drive somewhere?” How quickly our world has changed.” The crowd laughed. “The world has truly been rejuvenated with the disappearance of the major cause of pollution and smog.”

John looked out at the crowd and seriously said. “But there are some that would try to tell you the changes have not been all good. When you hear those detractors during this presidential campaign, as you get ready to zip to work or to your next vacation on Mars or faraway Yantu, or even this garden paradise, just remember that all of this came together because we have a president who exhibited vision and courage when others wanted to put up roadblocks and hindrances.”

John smiled. “Remember it was his vision that proposed the Galactic Council which I’m proud to say represents Earth’s interests throughout the Galaxy. When you hear the detractors, ask yourself what’s behind their rhetoric? I think you will find they are mostly those who resist change and those who want power and control. I am proud to stand with President Hargrove and his administration and heartily offer my support for his re-election.…”

While John was speaking, an aide came up to the President and urgently whispered into his ear. When John had finished his speech, the president again took his place at the podium.

“We want to thank you all for coming today. Please take the time to wander around the park and enjoy it and feel free to come back often with your families.”

The crowd stood and clapped and wondered at the president’s unusually short speech. President Hargrove quietly spoke to John. Then the presidential group, including John, waved to the audience and instantly disappeared.

They instantly arrived back in the Oval office and President Hargrove quickly said. “John, we’ve had a very disturbing incident. Someone has attacked us. Hoover Dam was just blown up. Thanks to the marvelous Yanni energy screens we were able to quickly deploy, the damage has been contained but is still very serious and costly. We lost several lives in the attack.”


“But who and how? We should have been warned if it was the Spectari.”

Hank suddenly appeared. “It wasn’t the Spectari. It was a ground explosion, not an attack from space,” he said with a concerned frown.

“But your group destroyed all the weapons of mass destruction. How can this be? And who is doing it?” President Hargrove anxiously asked Hank.

“Sir, we believe we destroyed them all, but this incident indicates the possibility some type of explosives must have been hidden or secretly manufactured unless the Spectari have managed to infiltrate us.”

President Hargrove turned to his newly installed Homeland Defense Director, Hardin Stokley, as Wally Tasker tuned the TV to CNN.

The tall lanky ex-marine Colonel said, “Sir, we are getting the reports now. We believe some of the dead are the perpetrators who set the explosives. The FBI reports the destruction of the dam was caused by precisely located charges of a special military explosive compound know as XR-89.” The ex-marine general was red-faced as he said, “Further investigation indicates there were several stockpiles of that explosive which were unaccounted for during the removal and destruction of all weapons of mass destruction.”

In the background, they heard the TV newscaster say, “Twenty people lost their lives today and several people were injured during a sudden explosion that destroyed Hoover Dam. It could have been much worse except for the quick work of the Homeland Defense Department, who instantly deployed energy screens, holding back the massive reservoir of water. Some are questioning if this was a sneak attack by the vicious Spectari…”

“Keep after it, Hardin and Hank. I want to know who did this!” President Hargrove fumed.

“Beep!…Beep!” Hank eyed his device. “Yes, Victor?”“Sir, Moon base security has detected a strange transmitter. They

are examining it now…”


“We were supposed to do this without killing anyone! Make sure they can’t learn who did this. They were supposed to think this was a Spectari sneak attack. What happened?” Mike Carlson anxiously spoke to his chief of staff as he belatedly realized he might have ordered the incident too hastily. They were supposed to point the incident to the Spectari. Now the media were saying the Spectari might not have caused it. What happened? I just hope there is no way to track this back to me.”

Noel Preston nervously spoke to his boss, afraid to have to give him the other bad news. “Sir, the assigned team set the charges, but something caused them to detonate prematurely. Some of those twenty bodies are from our team.

“Oh no! Now they will know it was an earth plot for sure and we will be suspects. What steps can we take to prevent that?”

“Sir, the only thing I can think of is to plant some evidence that will lead them to look at another disaffected group.”

“It will have to be done quickly because the FBI and others will jump on this investigation immediately.”

“I will see what I can do sir.”Maria Canbriatti sat in her Manhattan High-Rise office

suite and listened to the news of the disaster. She instantly realized the weakness in their plan. If the President’s team starts looking earthward instead of at the Spectari, we need a scapegoat; one who is not part of our group to take the blame without incriminating us. Who is a likely candidate? Are there any of those German terrorists groups left?

Mike Carlson held a news conference and condemned the dastardly act. “I pray for those people who were killed and call on the president to learn how something like this could happen. We have been told that we were safe from attack because of the Galactic Security Force and our Homeland Defense Department. Now this happens. What may happen next?”

Immediately after his press conference, the twisted presidential candidate heard the beep from his wrist device and noted who was calling him. “Yes, Miss Canbriatti?”

“Mike, what happened? We need to do something quickly so the investigation doesn’t point to us.”


“Yes, I know. The explosives went off prematurely and killed some of the demolition team too. We’re working on that scenario now.…”

Hardin Stokley reported to President Hargrove, including the Secretary-General and John and Hank as the group sat in the Oval Office the next day, “Sir, the FBI Laboratory examined the device found on the Moon and discovered some extremely important facts.” Hardin handed each one of them a red folder and waited for them to open theirs before he continued.

“As you can see, the transmitter was manufactured in the U.S. just last year by the newly merged Tele-World Company. It was originally designed to be an inter-planet relay switch, but it has been very cleverly customized to do one other thing.” Hardin turned the page in his folder and the others followed suit. “We found the timer was preset to just 4 hours later than the explosion actually occurred. This causes us to think the explosion was premature. We experimented with the device and when the timer goes off a high frequency signal is transmitted. We believe it was designed to set off the explosive charges so it would seem as if we were attacked from space.” He and the group turned the next page.

“You can see from the location and placement of the transmitter, it was pointed exactly to the coordinates of Hoover Dam at that time of day. Someone wanted us to think it was our space enemies, the Spectari, attacking us.”

“Who would do such a thing and Why?” President Hargrove angrily asked.

“We believe you will find the answer on the following pages.” Everyone turned to the next page. It was the copy of a classified dossier of a former Special Forces munitions expert named Tech Sergeant Ronald Caufield. “The FBI forensics lab has identified Sgt. Caufield’s and the other five dossier’s remains from the explosion. The location of their remains leaves no doubt they are the ones who planted the charges.”

The stunned group almost reluctantly turned the rest of the pages of dossiers.


President Hargrove noted some of these men were well-decorated heroes. How could they have come to do something like this?

“I note some of these men are married with families. Have the families been notified?”

“We didn’t want to do that until we met with you, sir.”“I don’t see any need for their families to suffer for

their heinous act. They’ve paid the ultimate penalty for their treachery. Let’s not magnify it onto the next generation. Can you devise a story for the press that they were there in the capacity of an outside inspection team or something?”

“Yes sir. I believe we can do that.“Can we determine who ordered this despicable act?”“I believe by putting the components of the crime

together we can come pretty close, if not actually pinpoint the individual.” Hardin took a sip of his coffee as he continued. The others followed along in their red folders.

“We did some backtracking on the explosive that was used and found that the Pentagon weapons database files had been altered just before they were handed over to the UN inspection team. “When we discovered this, we went to the off-site disaster recovery location and found an unaltered copy of the database. We ran a comparison and found two secret remote caches of the explosive not listed on the altered database.”

Hank said, “And I’m guessing you found a good amount of XR-89 missing, right?”

“Yes sir. That’s exactly what we found. One of the sites hadn’t been touched, but the other one was missing several crates of the highly sensitive explosive compound according to the backup database; more than enough to destroy the dam.”

“Do we know who took it? Hank asked.“Yes sir. Luckily we do. It was the renegade group of former

Special Forces soldiers. There were two security cameras, but the thieves only spotted one of them, so luckily we have the theft on tape.”

“That information must remain classified top secret if we are going to protect the families,” President Hargrove said. “Who we really want is their leader. Any leads to him?”


“Yes sir. On the next page.” They turned the next page and found a record of phone calls.

“What does this reveal?” John asked, noting the phone numbers.

“Sir the first phone number is the number of Colonel Bart Sanderson, one of the deceased Special Forces members who we believe was the leader. The number that called him was a pay phone in Georgetown. There were two calls made from it to him.

“How does that help?” Hank asked.“We surveyed the area and found that the former Secretary

of Defense lives just a block away.”President Hargrove said, “But that’s just circumstantial.”“I agree sir, but the next call which was made just hours

before the break-in at the weapons cache, was from a cell phone. The same number owned by Mr. Carlson.”

President Hargrove abruptly stood up. “Okay, Hardin. That clinches it. I knew he was off base but I didn’t know how bad it was. Be sure this information goes no further. Prepare a special memorial service for the soldiers and their families without any hint of their duplicity.”

“Yes sir. I will get right on it. We will have a press announcement as soon as we notify the families.” The Homeland Defense Director retrieved the red folders except for the president’s, pressed his device, and disappeared.

President Hargrove turned to the rest of them. “Hank can you locate Mike Carlson and bring him here now?”

“I will take care of it immediately, sir.” Hank quickly did his disappearing act.

President Hargrove said, “Gentlemen, what I am planning on doing is not exactly to the Joint Code of Military Justice, but it’s the only way we can prevent those duped soldier’s families from suffering. I will see that Mike Carlson will never hold another position in this town again or anywhere I have any influence.”

“What is this? What’s going on here? You have no right to treat me this way!” Mike Carlson struggled as Hank Travis, Galactic Security Chief, held his arm tightly.


President Hargrove spoke sternly and in a rebuking manner to the former Secretary of Defense. “Mike we know you are the one behind the explosion at the dam and the terrible loss of life it cost.”

“You’re mad! I had nothing to do with it!”President Hargrove held the red folder. “It’s all in here. You

called Colonel Sanderson three times. The last time was just before he and his twisted team stole the XR-89 explosive.”

Mike withered at the news and stopped struggling with Hank.

“I would see you were publicly castigated and severely punished for your treacherous act, but to do so, we would have to implicate those dead former soldiers and cause their families to suffer. It’s better that they think their husbands and fathers died heroes than implicate them just to get to you.” President Hargrove sternly continued.

“Instead, you will contact your personal physician and come up with a plausible health reason you can’t continue to be a presidential candidate. You will then sell your Georgetown house and leave the area and retire from public life. You will take no part in politics or any other public endeavor for the rest of your life. Do I make myself clear?”

“Perfectly,” Mike Carlson dejectedly answered.“Hank, please take this despicable person out of our site.”Hank held the traitors arm, pressed his device and

disappeared.“Thank you gentlemen for witnessing that. I hope we can

keep this unfortunate incident a secret.”“You can count on us, sir,” John said as he looked at the

President and Secretary-General.Hardin Stokley took care of the arrangements to protect

the families as the president had requested but he knew the conspiracy went deeper than just the former Secretary of Defense. He knew there were other conspirators still out there. He directed the FBI to identify other misguided former Special Forces members who were buddies to the deceased ones. He also asked the FBI Director to trace the origin of


the placement of the transmitter on the moon. He knew that placement had taken some special coordination because where it was found was not on any of the manufactured personal unit’s destinations. We will have to handle the conspirators quietly too, but handle them we will.

Cindy Sanderson stood bravely with her three teenage sons and daughter along with the Caulfield family and others at the Whitehouse ceremony honoring her husband and the others. I know Bart wasn’t on any special inspection commission, but whatever else he was involved in, I’m thankful for the president protecting our families, she quietly thought. Thanks to President Hargrove’s kindness we have Bart’s pension and the kids college will be provided for.

Hank’s Security office and the FBI tackled the mystery of the clandestine lunar transmitter. The moon had sprouted a small tourist industry that even included a swanky Hilton Hotel with a tall observation lounge within the Moon’s environmental dome. Hank felt that must be how the transmitter was planted and he sent some agents to investigate.

When the report came back about the transmitter, the Homeland Defense Chief was in a quandary. FBI Director George Mason and Galactic Security Chief Hank Travis provided the personal report in Hardin’s Pentagon office.

As FBI Director Mason handed the Homeland Defense Chief a thick purple folder, Hank said, “A few days before the Hoover Dam incident, The CEO of Tele-World, Maria Canbriatti, hosted a reception at the Tranquility Hilton on the moon. Miss Canbriatti was one of Mike Carlson’s largest financial supporters. There were a couple of excursions outside the Tranquility Dome during the reception. We believe that was when the transmitter was planted.” Hank continued, “The Tranquility Hilton manager related that it was Miss Canbriatti herself who arranged and participated in the excursions. The hotel discourages excursions outside the dome most of the time because of liability, but due to the high profile of the requester, they allowed the exception.”

Hardin glanced through the report. “I see some other conspirators confessed to their crime.”


“Yes sir the ones we know about. I’m not sure we have them all, but we’ve traced all the leads we had in such a short time frame,” Director Mason calmly said.

“I guess I need to let the president know about Miss Canbriatti and see how he wants to handle it. Thanks for the report and your quick work and especially for keeping it all quiet.”

“How could she do such a thing?” President Hargrove was uncharacteristically fuming. “How could she be so twisted to do this to us? She has all the money anyone can want.” He paced in front of his oval office desk.

“I think it was for more than money. She and several others like her are looking for the power they think control over these technology advancements will bring them,” Director Stokley responded.

“Well we just can’t allow it, but keeping her part in this quiet and punishing her at the same time is not going to be easy.” President Hargrove set the purple folder on the corner of his desk. “Hardin, I want you to bring her to me as soon as you can do it without causing a scene. I will talk with her and see if I can show her the folly of her ways and a severe punishment. Put the invitation in the form of a luncheon meeting at the Whitehouse at noon tomorrow.”

“Yes sir. I will personally extend the invitation.”Maria Canbriatti sat in her office watching the news on

her wall vid screen. She knew she was in trouble as soon as she heard the TV news report of Mike Carlson’s withdrawal from the race and the story about the dead former Special Forces soldiers being at the dam on an inspection tour. I don’t think for a minute he is as sick as they’re reporting. They found out about the plot and for sure know my part in it unless their investigation is very shallow indeed. They caught on too quick. We should have had a fall guy identified ahead of time to take the heat. Now it’s too late.

“Bzzt…Bzzt.”“Yes, Marylyn?”“Homeland Director Stokley is here to see you Miss Canbriatti.

He says he doesn’t have an appointment, but it is urgent he speak with you.”


“Very well. I will see him now.” Maria stood up and straightened her designer business suit as the door opened and Director Stokley was ushered in by Maria’s executive secretary. She stood almost regally beside her desk to welcome him.

Director Stokley was smartly dressed in a business suit with a maroon tie for this unusual occasion. He shook her hand as he said, “Thank you for seeing me without an appointment. I apologize for coming unannounced.”

“What can I do for you, Director? I do have other business to attend to.”

“I am here at the direction of President Hargrove. He would like you to accept his personal invitation to lunch with him at the Whitehouse tomorrow.

“Let me check my calendar and see if I can clear it for him.” She took a second to glance at her desk calendar and buzzed Marylyn.

“Yes?”“Marylyn, would you please reschedule tomorrows

luncheon meeting. I will be having lunch at the Whitehouse.” She stared directly into Director Stokley’s eyes to let him know she was well aware of the game they were playing.

Director Stokley would have been somewhat intimidated by her piercing look if he hadn’t been aware of her part in the conspiracy. “Thank you, Miss Canbriatti. I will let the president know you will be there.” Having accomplished his mission, Director Stokley quickly smiled, pressed his VISA and disappeared.

The following noon, Maria’s bright sundress celebrated the beautiful spring outdoors, a vain try to ignore the true nature of this luncheon. It was a sumptuous lunch the Whitehouse chef served of stuffed crab with all the trimmings, but neither participant enjoyed it much.

“Thank you for accepting the invitation at such short notice,” President Hargrove said as he set his fork down, wiped his chin, and sipped from his water glass. “I wanted to have this meeting as privately as possible to get a couple of answers, Miss Canbriatti.”


“Please call me Maria, sir.”President Hargrove didn’t return the nicety, but came

directly to the point. “Well Maria, I just want to know why someone as powerful as yourself, with all the riches our society can bestow, could stoop to plotting an overthrow of your own government?”

Maria glared directly at him; now almost glad her duplicity was out in the open.

“It wouldn’t be an overthrow. It would be through a legal election,” she strongly stated.

“Not when a deadly conspiracy is involved to turn the election in your favor,” he quickly voiced.

She stared at him with open contempt. “You with your high-minded ideals. You have taken the greatest opportunity our country could ever have and practically given it away!” She fiercely said as her very lovely but also very penetrating eyes shot daggers at him.

The president was somewhat stunned at her outburst, but had realized to conspire against him she had to be led by some degree of passion; he was just amazed at its intensity. “What I have actually done is give this country and our world an opportunity to find its true destiny among the stars,” he proudly stated.

“While you deny your own countrymen the opportunity to succeed!”

“I think you wrongfully measure success with the gaining of material wealth and power and possessions. What we have done is make these advancements available to everyone, not just a privileged few,” President Hargrove sternly continued, “But philosophies aside, what you have done is a treasonous act. We would be in our rights to prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”

“I think if you were going to do that, you wouldn’t have concocted that story about those dead men,” She slowly said almost smirking.

“Don’t be so sure of yourself. You have those deaths to answer for too. Causing their families to further suffer because


their husbands were led astray by the likes of you and Mike Carlson would have served no good purpose.”

“So what is this private lunch all about then?”The president looked at her with controlled fury in his

eyes. “Tomorrow you will tender your resignation as head of Tele-World effective immediately. I don’t care what window dressing you give it, but you will no longer be head of that organization. You will not serve on their board or in any other capacity. You will not ask for nor receive any severance compensation of any kind.” The president curtly added, “You will resign from any other board of directorships you happen to have or any business organizations you belong to. In short, you are leaving the business world.”

Maria had not been prepared for this. She enjoyed her position and power. Tears came to her eyes. To have it suddenly stripped from her was devastating, but she also realized the alternative the president was holding over her head. She had no doubt, if she didn’t acquiesce, he would publicly prosecute her as he said and all her money wouldn’t protect her. I can prolong it with my defense team of lawyers but with their evidence they would win in the end.

President Hargrove watched the hurt and realization of the seriousness of her position in her wet eyes and crimson face. “Anything less than this and I will order the attorney general to prosecute you to the fullest extent possible.”

Maria, not fully repentant, gave a slight nod and under her breath softly uttered, “I accept your conditions. I will do as you ask. You will have no more problems from me.”

President Hargrove was somewhat relieved. At least she didn’t try to deny the facts they both knew were true. I would love to wring her pretty little neck for the terrible damage she has done, but I don’t see any good way to put her on trial that wouldn’t cause more harm.

The next day when Hank heard the TV news announcing Maria Canbriatti’s sudden resignation, he thought, I know that was probably the best way to handle it for all involved. If we wound up prosecuting her, the full facts would have eventually come out and other innocent people would suffer as the president said.


Unbeknownst to the investigators, there were two other influential persons who had participated in the treacherous act against their country. Larry Grantham and Charles Newlin, both CEOs of former defense contractors, had been a part of Mike’s powerful backers and were aware of the failed plan to embarrass the president. When they heard Maria’s hastily called news conference, they fervently hoped their participation wouldn’t be found out.

The FBI investigators did a thorough job though and shortly their part came to light.

Their hopes were quickly dashed when Director Stokley appeared at their offices for a private chat. “We are aware of your part in the conspiracy. Though small as it was, it did allow the plot to advance to its disastrous conclusion. I have a record of your contributions to Mike Carlson’s misguided campaign. You will donate an equal amount to a worthy charity from a list I will provide. You will then refrain from any more political contributions and political campaigns.”

The two wayward company leaders were just glad they hadn’t been publicly castigated and forced to leave the business world as Miss Canbriatti had. They also realized, though unsaid, they may as well not waste their time bidding on any future government contracts.


Chapter Twenty-one

More trouble in the Centauri Sector

“Things have been too quiet. I just know the Spectari must be up to mischief somewhere,” Hank said to John during their routine morning briefing.

John sat back in his chair, watching the morning sun come glistening through the trees to his Maryland office window. “I agree with you Hank. Are we as fully prepared for them as we think we are?”

“We’ve fortified all our deployed sensors with the extended sensor range capability the Bosansian’s technology provided us. We’ve trained the security forces in each sector as much as we can. We’ve also deployed the new Garrett Hyper Wave receivers throughout the galactic sectors so we can be completely instantly in touch with any area. I can’t think of anything we’ve left out.”

“Well, just be sure everyone stays on their toes. I couldn’t believe they came as close as they did to us in the Bosansian part of space. We can’t let that happen again. Some of those kids are still having nightmares over that experience and I don’t know what we would do if the Spectari got their hands on a device.”

“We’ve created a whole security section that establishes the defense perimeter of all the star systems we liberate or colonize as a first step. Our galactic reach is spreading out rapidly,” Hank proudly said.

“What I’m really concerned about Hank is what if the Spectari do manage to get hold of a teleport device? How could we stop them then?”


“I talked about that possibility with Alex and Dr. Vaughn. Dr. Vaughn says we have complete remote control of the devices and could remotely recall them even if the Spectari did manage to grab one,” Hank confidently said.

“Well, I think the best way to safeguard the devices is to keep the Spectari well away from them.”…

The anxiously awaited day for Jonathan finally arrived. The expected letter from the office of the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was sitting on the mantle when Jonathan arrived. It was in the daily mail packet that was zipped to their home at the cottage. As soon as it arrived, Meredith had notified John and he asked her to call him as soon as Jonathan got home.

Jonathan immediately saw the long envelope sitting on the mantle and automatically went to it. As he handled it, Meredith said, “Don’t you want everyone here when you open it?”

He smiled and said, “I sure do. Can I invite Tanya too?”“Of course. I will tell you’re dad you’re home and Jenny is

around here somewhere.”Shortly the Royston’s and Tanya were all sitting in the

living room watching an anxious Jonathan hold the special envelope in his nervous hand. They were all excited, wanting to know where Jonathan would be for the next two years serving as a missionary.

Jonathan grinned and ended the suspense by tearing the end of the envelope and extracting a few folded pages.

He silently started reading then exclaimed out loud, “Elder Jonathan Royston, the Lord has called you to serve in the Mexico City, Mexico mission of the church for a period of twenty-four months!” Jonathan excitedly looked up from the pages at his smiling and proud family including Tanya.

“Lamanite Country,” his Dad said with a broad smile, referring to Book of Mormon history.

The next Sunday, Jonathan received the Melchizedek priesthood and was ordained an Elder by his General Authority father in the Bishop’s office with his and Tanya’s family present.


The following week, Greg Garrett received his mission call to the Madrid, Spain mission. They both scheduled to go to the Dallas temple to receive their Endowment ordinance during the same session with their families in attendance…

“I want to see a map of the star systems now under the enemy’s control.” General Korak-sen ordered. “Maybe we can learn something from it.” He was sitting in his huge office in the Ryosan central command center talking to his chief of staff.

As the enemy galaxy appeared on the large wall screen with red areas indicating enemy controlled space; a large part of which used to be under Spectari control,” General Korak-sen’s chief of staff said, “That is getting harder to accurately ascertain with their sensor perimeter constantly advancing ever larger, sir. We are losing more ships, because they are getting caught within the enemy’s extended boundaries before the ship’s crews realize it. We also believe the enemy is putting defensive perimeters around the prison-like planets they are marooning our people on because we haven’t been able to rescue any lately.”

“Well brief me on what intelligence you have and extrapolate the rest. What is hardest to take is they aren’t using space ships to defeat us; they are only using that amazing teleport technology which we haven’t been able to get our hands on. Compounding the problem is the greater distances we must travel to find Beryllium deposits to keep our ships fueled and our cities running. This is putting a great strain on our resources.”

“Sir, our scientists are continuing their research to find ways to defeat the enemy’s deployed sensor stations. The last I heard, Dr. Faren-sen thought they were getting close.”

General Korak-sen tapped his comm unit. “Patch me through to Dr. Faren-sen.” As soon as the connection was made, Korak-sen said, “Dr. Faren-sen, how are you doing?”

The scientist’s voice excitedly blurted out, “We have been very busy, sir. I think we have a break through. We believe we can generate a super concentrated ion burst,


which should disrupt the enemy sensors at least temporarily.““Have you tested it yet?”

“We’ve tested it on our own equipment and it functions as designed. It has the power to knock out any sensors or electrical equipment it comes in contact within at least two sectors away and has the energy equivalent of a large sun’s micro burst. The real test of course will be in space against enemy sensors. We believe the key is the distance we can be effective from. It works against our own equipment from several sectors away. That is quadruple the distance than any other weapon and should allow us to work beyond their sensor range; at least near their perimeter.”

“That sounds very promising. Now let’s prepare a live test against the enemy.”…

“Mom, Jonathan told me he is going on a mission for his church to Mexico City for two years. Our church doesn’t do anything like that. Why is his so different?” Chad asked his mother during breakfast.

“Son, I didn’t know anything about the Royston’s church until President Royston invited us to view their conference session where he received his new calling. You should remember. You watched it with us.”

“Yes Mom. I didn’t know his church was so big. How did it get to be so large?”

“Chad, why don’t you just ask Jonathan? If he is going to be a missionary, he should be able to explain it to you. I’ve also been wondering how Meredith feels about his mission, so I will talk to her and then maybe we can compare notes. Okay?”

The Garveys weren’t the only ones asking about Jonathan’s mission. Other team members were too when they learned about his mission call to Mexico City. One in particular was Jose Salencia, a recent academy grad and newest member of the galactic Security Force and also a native of Mexico City. He went to Jonathan to tell him a little about his birth city. He also wanted to know what Jonathan would be teaching on his mission.

“Jonathan, I was happy to hear about your going on a


mission to Mexico City because that is my home. Do you know much about it?”

Jonathan looked up from his computer in the central lab. He knew Jose only slightly and was surprised he even knew about his mission call. “Jose, good to see you. Yes, I am excited about the opportunity to serve there. Can you tell me much about the city?”

“Sure. I would be happy to.” Jose took the empty chair next to Jonathan. “For one thing, if you have never been there before, you will be amazed at the size of the city. It is one of the largest in the world with a metropolitan population of roughly 20 million people.” Jose smiled, “But I think you will find the people very friendly. You will also need to get used to the heat, but not nearly as much as you would have before they installed the new energy dome.”

“Thanks Jose. I appreciate your helping prepare me. You know I will be gone for two years. I hope I learned enough Spanish in high school. The Missionary Training Center will help me with a refresher course too.”

Chad popped into the lab and just caught the last of Jose and Jonathan’s conversation. “And I want to know what you are going to teach those 20 million people,” he eagerly added.

“Well I really doubt I will be teaching all 20 million,” he laughingly said. “But if you really want to know, I will be teaching them about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the restoration of its fullness in our time.” Jonathan had decided that he would answer all questions about his mission as forthrightly as he could and leave it to the listener to decide if they wanted to know more. Chad did.

“I watched your church Conference several months ago with my mom. Do you really accept your church president as a prophet?”

“Yes I do. I believe he is just as much a prophet as Moses or Isaiah in the Old Testament. I believe that Jesus Christ himself caused this church to be organized in 1830 with true prophets and apostles.”

“But how? How did he do that and how can you be so positive about it?” Jose questioned.


Jonathan told them the story of Joseph Smith and his first vision of God the Father and Jesus Christ when Joseph learned as a 14-year-old boy that the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ was not then upon the earth. He told them about the Angel Moron’s visit to Joseph and about the plates, which he was led to and directed to translate by divine revelation into the Book of Mormon. He told them many things, which they were hearing for the first time about the restoration and ended by offering them their own copy of the book. “If you really want to know if it is true, you will need to read and ponder and pray about it just as I did to get my own testimony of it.”

Chad said, “Boy Jonathan, I think you are going to be a great missionary and yes I will read it so I can learn more. Thank you for giving me a copy.”

Jose said, “I want to thank you too. I knew the Church was in Mexico and I have seen your missionaries on bicycles and wondered what they taught. Now I will learn for myself.”

“Meredith, I’ve been wondering how you feel about Jonathan being away from the family for two whole years? I would have a very hard time giving up Chad for that long.” Beverly Garvey spoke to Meredith as the wives visited after a get together in the island main hall. Beverly had been promoted to computer operations director and now had a whole staff of operations people to manage. The two mothers found a quiet corner to sit and visit.

“Yes, it is going to be hard, but I am thrilled he has been called to serve a mission. I believe he will have many rich experiences helping others learn about the Gospel that will help build his own testimony and he will learn much that will help him the rest of his life.” Meredith smiled at Beverly. I am glad to see Twyla seems to be enjoying the other girl’s friendship more.

“Oh Meredith, she is a much happier girl now and I am thankful she has such good and wholesome friends. She wasn’t always so outgoing after her father died and I really worried about her.”

“Well I think she is becoming a very well adjusted young lady.”


Beverly looked seriously into Meredith’s Hazel eyes. “She enjoyed going to church with Jenny last week and I think we all enjoyed watching your church conference. Could you tell me more about your church?”

Meredith smiled, “I would love to, but I think it would be better for you to hear it from two very qualified missionaries. I could set up an appointment for right after church Sunday if you would like to come to church with us? That’s the best way to learn too.”

Beverly smiled, “That sounds fine. We will look forward to it.”

A lone outpost in the Centauri Sector had the responsibility of monitoring the defense perimeter surrounding the Araxis-6 star system. The only habitable planet in the system, Barensen-4, was being used to maroon the latest Spectari captives on.

Ensign Jakor was monitoring the central screen and it was almost at the end of his shift. The young Yanni engineer had just graduated from university and was excited he had been selected to join the Galactic Security Force. His education had been interrupted when the Spectari had invaded their planet. He had been overjoyed when Janus and the people from Earth had miraculously liberated them. Fresh out of the Space Academy, he now enjoyed being associated with the diverse group of members from different star systems as a part of the security force. That excitement had slowly worn off during this current boring assignment.

Suddenly several sensor arrays in the gamma sector had went offline without any warning. Their monitoring screens illuminated with a bright flash of light and went completely blank. What’s going on? He quickly pressed the alert switch for his supervisor and at the same time worked his keyboard to zip a probe to those sensor coordinates.

Just as his supervisor, appeared over his shoulder, the probe displayed one of the offline sensors. “It looks okay, but why isn’t it transmitting anymore?” Supervisor Carthill asked.

Before Jakor could even answer, the screen displaying


the probe’s transmission gave off a brilliant flash of light and suddenly went blank! The supervisor didn’t even hesitate. He instantly pressed the red Sector Alert button.

Within seconds a Sector Security Team appeared and supervisor Carthill quickly updated them on the situation. “The equipment just ceased functioning without any warning. There was a sudden burst of some type of energy and then our screens suddenly went blank. We sent a probe and it ceased functioning in the same manner.” Just then other sensor’s monitoring screens repeated the bright flash and also went blank. Supervisor Carthill looked horrified at what was happening around him in the control room. Our defenses are being attacked and penetrated by some unknown source!

The brown-skinned Sector team chief, Jershon of Epsolan-3, hurriedly said, “We’ll zip a shielded drone ship to check it out.” Though this was an unusual incident, he was still calmly assessing the situation.

Seconds later, the central monitors displayed the drone’s forward view screen. The screen displayed the now-silent probe and dead sensor arrays with a background of empty space.

The experienced sector technician now at the console manipulated the keyboard. “The drone does not detect any outside interference or intruders in the area within our scan range, sir.”

Only seconds later there was another bright flash from the central monitor and the drone ceased transmitting!

“Notify Galactic Security!” Team chief Jershon quickly ordered and the technician used the newly installed Garrett Hyper Wave Receiver to promptly do so.

Seconds later, a Galactic Security team appeared, including Jantor and Victor.

“What’s the problem?” Jantor asked.“Our sensors are being blasted by some type of weapon

we’ve been unable to identify.” Jershon pointed to the Sector map. “This is the affected area. We’ve sent a probe and a drone ship and all have been disabled by some type of weapon. It happens so suddenly we haven’t been able to analyze what is causing it. Our scans haven’t picked up any enemy intruders.”


Victor asked, “Maybe they’ve found a way to fool our scanners. What type of energy shield did the drone ship have?”

“The standard screen, sir,” Jakor quickly answered. “Whatever they’re using is more powerful than anything we’ve seen to date.”

“We need more data,” Jantor said. “Equip a drone ship with a double layer shield and maximize the sensor settings.”

“Yes sir,” The technician quickly worked his keyboard and in less than a minute they were viewing the monitor display the now disabled previous drone with the dead sensor arrays in deep space. Everyone in the control room was on high alert.

“Be sure we capture every reading,” Victor said as the combined teams watched the monitors. “How far out do your scanners go?”

“Better than two complete sectors sir, and we’re still not picking anything up,” the technician quickly answered.

Just then they all flinched as the brilliant flash occurred again and the monitors went blank.

“What did we record?” Jantor hastily asked.The technician read the recorded sensor readouts. “It

was some kind of an ultra high intensity energy beam that completely blasted through the shields as if they weren’t there.”

“We need to be able to analyze it,” Victor said as he pressed his newly modified wrist device. “Hank, we need scientific help quickly. The Spectari have invented some type of powerful beam that treats the shields as if they aren’t there and we can’t detect the source.”

Suddenly Hank was there beside the monitors and the combined teams. He was pressing his own device. “Janus, can you and Dr. Vaughn join us now? We need your assistance immediately.”

“We’re on our way, Hank.”Seconds later the Galactic science team appeared in the

now crowded Centauri control room. Hank noted Alex, Dr. Kim Chu, and Sethanni were part of the hurriedly assembled team and they had brought some special scientific equipment with them.


Jantor quickly briefed Dr. Vaughn’s team. “Everything we’ve tried has had no affect other than we know it is a ultra high intensity beam of some sort that blasts right through even a double layered shield as if it weren’t there.”

Jakor’s team quickly stepped aside as Sethanni took control of the central console and began flying over the keyboard, working his magic.

They witnessed other monitors around the control room suddenly flash and fail.

“At this rate we will be completely blind in this sector of space,” Hank said. “Dr. Vaughn, can your team help us here?”

Dr. Vaughn turned to Alex and Dr. Chu. “Now is a good time to use the energy spheres. Can you deploy them to those coordinates?”

Dr. Chu smiled, “Gladly sir.” She worked at a station beside Sethanni and they worked together like a well-oiled machine.

“We have put the spheres in the Spectari’s own specially designed ship they used in the Praxis Nebula,” Dr. Chu told the group. “Sethanni has rigged the defensive screens with automatic fallback ones to allow us time to analyze whatever beam they are using.”

Shortly the monitors were displaying the previously viewed part of deep space with the now silent drone ships and sensor arrays in the background. Almost the same brilliant flash occurred on Sethanni’s monitor and it went blank, but Dr. Chu’s lasted an extra few seconds longer before it too flashed white and went blank.

Sethanni and Dr. Chu quickly examined the recorded data. “It is a high intensity ion burst!” Dr. Chu exclaimed. “We should be able to use their own technology against it.”

Dr. Vaughn explained, “With that type of beam they can work at fantastic distances, but the beam must be so concentrated all it can do is affect communications and sensors or other electronics. Luckily it can’t do worse damage than blind our visual capacity. I don’t think they can see what they are hitting. They’re probably just firing at anything. This is a great time to experiment with what we’ve learned from the


spheres.” Dr. Vaughn turned to Sethanni. “Deploy one of the spheres to just in front of the Spectari flagship,” he said.

He then turned to Dr. Chu who was working beside Sethanni. “Please set the sphere to bounce the beam back to its source and follow it with the Garrett Hyper Wave so we can record the origination location coordinates.”

In time almost too short to measure, they witnessed the bright flash at Sethanni’s station, but this time it did not go blank. Instead, they witnessed a kaleidoscope of colors as the sphere bounced the beam and followed it the fantastic distance back to its origination in nanoseconds. The receiving Hyper Wave monitor suddenly displayed the Spectari satellite station and its coordinates.

Using the identified coordinates, Sethanni zipped an android to the station, which zipped the offending satellite station to the Yanni moon for the scientist’s further examination…

General Korak-sen was truly enjoying the sensation of something finally working against the enemy sensors. “Good work. Now with their sensors fried, we should be successful with our ships because they can’t attack what they can’t detect.” He patted the Spectari scientist on the back. “Just keep zapping whatever they deploy out there while we prepare the invasion fleet. I will have one of those devices shortly,” he happily said.

The Spectari general watched his scientist’s monitor with glee as he used the ion beam to zap the enemy’s sensors several more times. He turned to his staff assistant. “Dispatch the advance scouts rigged with the ion blaster to those coordinates. We will blast every sensor in the area.”

Just then the monitor went completely blank! “What happened?” the general roared as the scientist worked his console.

“The station just completely disappeared!” The scientist frustratedly stated.

“It can’t be! Not at these distances! Did you get anything recorded?”

“Only this.” The harried scientist displayed the frozen view of the enemy android just before the screen went blank.…


“Dr. Vaughn, Can you reproduce those spheres so we can deploy them throughout Galactic space?”

“Only in a limited capacity so far. We are still working on that. It may take some time. We were afraid to dismantle one of them until we fully understood their capabilities. Now we need to accelerate our efforts to fully duplicate the technology. I will let you know how we progress.”


Chapter Twenty-Two

Hyper Waves, Spheres and Other things

The Galactic science teams were working overtime to get the designs completed for Hyper Wave receivers and to duplicate the Spectari Sphere technology. Alex Stanton was in charge of the new Garrett Hyper Wave receiver units. Elder Greg Garrett had worked with them right up until he left on his mission, so he felt the team understood as much about the super communication modules as he did.

Both the Garretts and Royston’s were missing their sons, but communicating with them regularly via mail. Jonathan mentioned how friendly the Mexican people were but how hot the weather was. Tanya immersed herself with advanced studies using Greg’s Hyper Wave technology to help the time pass. Her and Jenny sometimes studied together on a favorite spot on the beach she and Jonathan had often frequented. She enjoyed Jenny’s company and drew very close to her hopefully future sister-in-law.

Jenny’s time was drawing close to starting her medical studies. She wanted to major in internal medicine. She was blossoming to be a very pretty young lady and had no lack of invitations for dates. She accepted very few though because she wanted to concentrate on her studies.

Billy Travis was a year younger than Jonathan and was still feeling his way in the Church. He hadn’t quite made his mind up to go on a mission yet. He was too distracted by everything that was going on around him, but he sure missed Jonathan’s companionship and loved to receive letters from him.


Greg’s letters told how much he liked Spain and the people too. He confessed to his parents how much he was learning of the Gospel from reading the scriptures regularly. At home he had been too distracted by his computer programming to do his regular scripture reading and studying for his high school seminary classes like he should. Doris, George and Tanya could tell from his letters how much he was maturing and growing. They couldn’t wait for his return in just 18 more months.

Alex upgraded Greg’s prototype model so the newly designed units now worked more like a hyper Internet device, only instantaneously clear across the galaxy. Alex was fascinated with how the young computer guru had understood the possibilities of the teleport technology far ahead of the rest of them.

Now the trick was getting a crash program in place to manufacture the thousands they would need. Alex made the project manageable by having a manufacturing program for each sector. He requested the sector leaders to identify planets in their sector, which were technologically advanced and capable of the huge endeavor. Everyone was going full speed to make it happen as rapidly as possible across Galactic space. There would soon be no reason for anyone to be out of touch in a real-time mode.

Ted Olmstead’s team was in charge of the Sphere technology. Once the true nature of their functionality was understood, they were able to duplicate the design. The team expanded Alex’s manufacturing facilities to add Sphere’s to the process and distribute them in the same manner of the Hyper Wave units throughout the sectors. The sphere’s however required a highly detailed training program before their functionality could be fully utilized.

Professors George Garrett and Tom Johnston were enlisted to develop the sphere-training program and implement it throughout the galaxy. Once the Hyper Wave units were distributed, training became a piece of cake, because it could all be accomplished from one academy training classroom with thousands of students being tuned in as if they were present in


the classroom. The training was video taped so it could then be presented in an on-demand mode.

George and Tom met with the Galactic Council to give them an update. The Council consisted of the Council Presidency of John and Janus, Darlene and Hank Travis and 12 Sector representatives. These men and women had been freely selected by their sectors to represent them. They sat around a large oval conference table in the new Galactic Council headquarters facility on Yantu. There were only a few of the representatives that needed special respirators to handle their special environment needs. Most of them had become adapted to the modified Yantu environment of the Council Chamber.

“With what we have accomplished with these technologies in these few short months, distance truly has become no obstacle,” Tom told the council after presenting a live demonstration via the Hyper Wave unit. “The possibilities for education have also been magnified many times over. University programs can become true Universal programs with students tuned in real-time all over the galaxy. Even these council proceedings are now being beamed real-time directly to your Sector Councils.”

Ted Olmstead was on the same Galactic Council agenda. He brought to life the reality of the Sphere’s functionality with his Hyper Wave presentation. Members of the council witnessed a sphere in deep space be used to deflect a hurtling asteroid and then to attract it and set it gently down on a moon’s surface. “The spheres are capable of manipulating large objects when used in tandem as well as small ones. We have done some careful mining of dangerous asteroid belts using the spheres. We used the sphere’s defensive capability when we bounced the ion bursts back at the Spectari and the Hyper Wave to identify their coordinates so we could deal with them. Now every Galactic Security Unit has that defensive capability.”

“We congratulate you on these great accomplishments all three teams have created working together,” Galactic President Royston standing, addressed the Council. “We believe you have made it possible for the civilized world to take great strides


forward and to secure our future free from outside interference or harm.”

Everyone around the conference table stood in unison and clapped heartily for the three teams. Following the congratulations, John announced there would be a special reception that evening to honor the teams hosted by the Bosansi representatives in the Bosansian grand ballroom. “All team members with their spouses or escorts are invited to attend.”

It was a grand evening indeed on Bosansi with everyone decked out in his or her finest attire for the festive occasion. Some of the lesser-known team members and their spouses and escorts were thrilled at the recognition they were receiving. Borcas and his wife were excited at the opportunity he had been given on Alex Stanton’s team. Meredith Royston was enjoying the evening with many people from newly liberated planets she was meeting for the first time. She was truly thankful for the universal translator that helped her properly communicate her thoughts to these new people.

The Bosansi Grand Ballroom also included a splendid spacious garden patio, which people could roam through under the light of two beautiful reflective moons as they listened to the live orchestra music coming from inside the great hall.

Sitting on a park bench in the semi darkness of the garden were two special people. “You know I have been attracted to you from the first moment I laid eyes on you in the Oval Office, Kerric Amesly said to his date for this special occasion.

Betty’s own hazel eyes sparkled as she looked up into his very attractive blue ones and smiling said, “Yes, Kerric, I think everyone in the room noticed our mutual attraction, but they were polite enough not to comment.”

Kerric knelt beside her as she sat on the bench. “Betty, I can’t think of a better place to propose to you. I want you to be my wife and share the rest of our lives together.” He held a small white jewelry box in his outstretched hands as he looked deeply and longingly into those sparkling hazel eyes.

She lovingly placed her hands over his. “I can’t think of


a more beautiful place to receive such a proposal or a more wonderful person to spend the rest of my life with. Yes, darling. I accept.” He excitedly opened the ring box and almost shaking took the sparkling diamond ring out and placed it on her ring finger as they shared a lover’s long kiss.

“Hmph,” President Hargrove coughed as he strolled by the bench upon which the two lovers, wrapped in their own world, couldn’t quite ignore. Kerric stood up “Oh, Mr. President! I’m sorry. We didn’t see you approaching, but it’s alright we just got engaged!” Betty stood and smiling with her twinkling hazel eyes held Kerric’s arm and showed off her engagement ring for the president to see.

President Hargrove smiling noted the handsome couple with Kerric standing proud and tall and short redheaded Betty radiantly beaming next to him. He looked up at the beautiful moonlit starry sky. “Well youngsters, I can’t think of a more beautiful setting for such a joyous occasion. I wish you the very best of happiness and we expect to receive an invitation to the wedding. When Madelyn finds out, she will probably offer you the Rose Garden at the least for your reception.”

“Yes sir,” they both smilingly said.It didn’t take long for the news to spread around the

charter team members attending the gala; so all evening they were receiving congratulations and friendly advice. First lady Madelyn Hargrove did take Betty for a long garden walk and the two women discussed plans for the special event soon to take place in the Rose Garden. Kerric received similar advice from the guys on the team, all in a happy and joking manner.

Many new friendships and alliances were formed at that great celebration and more than one budding romance. Everyone truly enjoyed himself or herself at this splendid occasion. They also enjoyed the selection of music Hank had picked out from his “Big Band” music, which was interspersed with the live orchestra. Hank wondered if any of those big band directors could have envisioned their music being played in another star system.

There had been several speeches at the evening’s dinner


about how well each planet’s team members had worked on the combined teams to accomplish the technological breakthroughs and achievements.

At the end of the evening, Bosansian Chairman Franconia and Galactic Vice-president Janus of Yantu pronounced the occasion a huge success.


Chapter Twenty-Three

The Solution?

“Galactic Members, using the Hyper Wave we’ve just learned there is another huge Spectari armada heading this way. It is still well out of our galaxy, but should reach it in about ten days at present speed.” Hank stood tall as he continued in his Texas drawl, “I’ve been thinking we’ve been going at this liberation effort from the wrong angle.” Hank stood before the sector leaders of the Galactic Council in the old UN Council meeting room. Where once nation’s flags stood, now it was 12 sector flags representing many planets and star systems. Hank had initiated the somewhat hastily called meeting.

“What do you mean, Hank?” John asked.“I mean instead of liberating planets from the Spectari or

dealing with space ships individually, we should strike at the Spectari home world and force them to recall their warships and then separate them from their weapons of war. We’ve been reacting in a totally defensive manner. I think it is time to go on the offensive. We certainly have the tools to do it with now.”

“That is an excellent idea, Hank! I assume you have a plan.” Janus was ecstatic in the thought of defeating the Spectari in one fell swoop.

“Yes, I do. We have identified the coordinates to a star base in their galaxy, which should lead us to their home world. We can pay them a visit whenever we’re ready. With the Spectari Armada on its way we should act quickly. Do I have your permission to proceed?”


The Galactic Council representatives looked at each other and nodded. “The Galactic Security Force is authorized to proceed to the Spectari home world and implement your plan immediately.” John determinedly smiled.

Hank addressed his security team leaders. All of them were excellent in their chosen profession. “Before we make any moves, we need to identify every Spectari outpost unit, offensive and defensive position we can. We will use the Garrett Hyper Wave in a totally stealth mode. When we make our move, I want it to be quick, complete and decisive. Let’s find an out of the way planet in their galaxy and zip there to reconnoiter first.”

The Planet Listra just inside the Spectari galaxy…

“Mommy, why do our task masters have to be so cruel? Why did they take daddy?” Marta knew Kara was only seven and too young to understand or know how things were before their beautiful peaceful world had been turned upside down by the vicious Spectari. They lived in what had been a quiet country village, but it was near a beryllium mine. The villagers were forced to work in the mines. Even the children were pressed into service.

Lt. Michael Pontecorvo invisibly watched from a short distance away. He noted the Listrians closely resembled other humans, but their skin was a slightly darker flesh color and their average height was noticeably about a couple of inches shorter. His assignment was to observe the daily pattern of the Spectari so they could be confronted and subdued when the time was right.

Michael was proud of this assignment. This is what he had joined the security service for, to help other people. He was not the typical younger recruit and it had not been easy to get accepted into the service because of his rather storied and wild background, but Michael thought that was where he needed to be so he had persisted. Hank had finally accepted


him on the condition he lose the ponytail and earrings as he was representing their galaxy now, not just his weird lifestyle.

“Oh, Kara, I don’t know. They are so different than us in many ways. They just take what they want and treat everyone cruelly. I hope they will let daddy return to us soon. I miss him very much too.” Marta wiped her brow and brushed her dark hair back from her forehead as they traversed the narrow path. The two were carrying food and water to the weary mine crew that had just come up from the mine.

Marta sat the food baskets on the plain wooden table. She remembered her grandfather telling how things were before the invasion. Her grandfather had been the village elder. Even after the invasion they had a near normal life because they lived in an out of the way obscure little village until beryllium was discovered close by. After that her grandfather had been cruelly treated by the Spectari and their society had been savagely torn apart. Families were mercilessly separated and protesters were beaten and or killed. Her parents had been forced to work in the local mine, causing her father’s death less than a year ago. They weren’t even allowed time off to grieve for him.

Kara poured water for the miners. Her emotion overcame her as she witnessed the sad weary condition of the miners. Her eyes teared over and she was visibly shaking as she poured one of her cousins some water.

Lt. Pontecorvo invisibly watched the pathetic scene as a Spectari guard roughly treated the miners and those who were feeding them.

“Why don’t you bully someone else?” Kara almost screamed when her mother was roughly pushed aside.

“Quiet child or you will get some of the same,” The Spectari guard gruffly said.

Lt. Pontecorvo had been ordered only to observe and not interfere, but this was more than he could take. He invisibly caused the Spectari guard to trip.

Marta watched the guard stumble as she slowly regained her footing. The stumbling action was very unnatural with no sign of cause. It made him look very clumsy and she couldn’t believe it had happened.


“Who did that?” The guard recovered and bellowed, waving his weapon at the cowed miners.

“N…no one did. You just fell,” one of the miners hesitantly said.

“Just for that one of you will die. I believe it should be the bratty one.” The guard pointed his weapon at Kara, but the weapon was suddenly snatched from his hand and pointing at himself!

Lt. Pontecorvo then used his device to zip the guard to join some of his brethren on Rocky 13.

The miners watched in unbelief at the sudden disappearance of their tormentor.

Lt. Pontecorvo quickly zipped back to the Listran moon and reported his unplanned action to Hank in their control module. Hank was meeting with some of his staff, but stopped when the Lieutenant appeared.

“I’m sorry, sir, but I just couldn’t let the little girl be killed,” he almost tearfully said as he related the events.

“That’s alright, Michael.” Hank patted the older security man’s shoulder. “I’m sure I would have done the same thing.” He addressed the group of staff members. “No real harm has been done. We were going to take care of this group shortly anyway. Now we will just speed our actions up by a couple of days. We have most of the information we needed and that little village is a good place to start.”

“What happened mother? The mean man just disappeared. I was scared he was going to shoot me.”

Marta tightly hugged her daughter to her breast. “I don’t know, honey. Maybe God had a hand in it.”

The villagers were still sitting at the tables in a somewhat dazed condition, marveling at what they had so recently witnessed. Several men wearing strange uniforms suddenly appeared in front of them and one of them smiled and spoke. They didn’t understand the words until translators were distributed. They were shown how to place them in their ears by a demonstration.


“I am Hank Travis from the Galactic Council of planets. We have come to free your planet from the Spectari.”

Kara fearlessly walked up to the tall man who spoke. “Can you return my Daddy to me?”

Hank kneeled down so he was at eye level with her and reached out to hold her in his outstretched arms. “Sweetheart, if the Spectari took your daddy, we will find him for you.” Hank stood up and turned to Lt. Pontecorvo. “Michael, that is your assignment. Learn all you can about her daddy and find him if he is still living.”

The older man almost did a smart salute, but then just proudly grinned and said, “Yes sir!”

Hank addressed the group. “We can’t undo all the harm the Spectari have caused you and your people, but we can get rid of them for you and they will cause you no more harm.”

While Hank and the rest of the team spoke to the villagers, Michael took Kara and her mom aside. “ My name is Michael Pontecorvo. What is your father’s name?”

“I just call him Daddy, but mom calls him Briary.”Marta hastily said as she ruffled Kara’s auburn locks, “That

is my nickname for him because his beard grows so thick. His given name is Tomas Dalaeden and my name is Marta. He is an electronics engineer and I think they took him on one of their ships.”

“How long ago was this?”“They took him over a year ago and we are very worried for

him. We haven’t heard from him since,” Marta almost tearfully said.

“Can you describe him for me? Do you have a picture or printed image of him?”

“He is about your height and has a reddish beard when he grows it out and he is on the thinnish side. I have a picture in our home in the village. It is about ten minutes away.”

“Then let’s go there now.” As they walked down a narrow winding path between tall pine-looking trees, Michael continued with his questions. “Has he been able to communicate with you at all?”


“We haven’t been able to find out anything about him or his whereabouts at all. It is not wise to question the invaders. They just gathered the villagers up shortly after they arrived and asked their occupations. They were very mean and cruel. They took about a dozen men and women with them and put the rest of us to work in the mines.”

They came to a wider well-used path and Michael let them lead the way. Kara said, “They are vicious and mean. They use their energy whips on anyone that displeases them. I saw them kill several people.”

“We will take care of them very shortly and you will have nothing more to fear from them,” Michael assured her. “I am sure our security team is already taking care of that.”

They came to the village outskirts and Marta led them to their modest home where she ushered them inside.

Michael noted, though it was very Spartan in furnishings, it was very neat and tidy. On the hearth mantle was a picture of a very handsome young couple. Marta went straight to it and lovingly picked it up, hugging it to her breast. “This was taken right after we were married eight years ago. That was before the Spectari discovered the beryllium near our village and turned our world into a nightmare,” she said as her eyes glazed over.

She lovingly handed it to him and Michael held it gently in his hands and examined the picture. “You two are a very lovely couple. I will do my best to return him to you.”

“Thank you for being so kind. It was you who tripped that Spectari guard wasn’t it?”

“Yes. I was only supposed to observe, but I couldn’t stand how mean and cruel he was being. When he knocked you down, I just kind of instinctively reacted. Then when he pointed that weapon at your daughter, I had to take immediate action.”

“We will be forever grateful you did,” Marta looked lovingly at Kara. “I don’t know what I would have done if he had killed her.”

“Okay, you’ve given me something to start with. I am going to propose one of you go with me because you will readily recognize him whereas I might miss him in a crowd. There should be no danger because we will be invisible.”


“What is it like being invisible?” Kara asked.Michael kneeled down to talk to her as Hank had done, “It

is a little weird at first, but there is no real effect on your body and you slowly adjust to it.”

“Then I want to be invisible,” Kara quickly said.Michael stood up and talked to Marta. “If that is okay with

you. I will make sure she is safe and we can return to you in an instant.”

Marta freely smiled for the first time in over a year with the thought of getting Tomas back to her. “That is marvelous technology you have where you can invisibly appear where ever you want to instantly.”

“Yes it is, but it has to be protected so the bad guys don’t get it, so just a few of us have it to use very sparingly. This is one of those times. Not even all of our people know about its existence. I am sure your planet will at least get the limited teleport technology. I will see that you get a device so we will have your coordinates to return to.”

“We are very thankful for all you are doing for us. Have you freed many other planets from the Spectari?”

“Yes, the Spectari invaded our galaxy and we used this technology to defeat them and have freed over a hundred captured planets. Now we have come to their own galaxy to defeat them completely once and for all.”

“We are glad you arrived when you did.” Marta hugged Kara and said, “Hurry back with your father.”

Michael set his device for the galactic command module on Listra’s moon and took Kara’s hand in his. He pressed his wrist device and they disappeared.

“How’s the ore loading going?” The Spectari freighter commander anxiously queried his lieutenant. “We have been here long enough already.”

“The load is 75% full. The crewmaster said it would be another two days before they have the rest ready to teleport from Listra to the ship, sir.”

“Good. I am anxious to get back home. This is no place to


be during the annual Saurian hunt festival. I want to participate in it this time, not just view old news clips of it.”

“Yes sir. My father is going to be in it too and I want to be there also,” the young lieutenant said.

“Well hurry them buggers up then. Tell them not to dawdle and I’ll give them an extra day’s leave.”

Just then an armed uniformed man turned himself visible beside them on the command deck as the ship received a hard jolt. “I think you will be missing your hunt festival this time and from now on,” Victor smilingly said then turned deadly serious. “Now drop your weapons and communicators and abandon ship immediately before I cause this ship to be destroyed!”

Simultaneously, Hank’s security team secured the Spectari Listrian command center. Invisible team members secured the communications stations first by zipping their unsuspecting attendants to Rocky 13. They did not need to interrogate the Spectari attendants for call signs and passwords, having obtained those through their invisible stealth observations with the hyper wave.

The scientific team went to work on the Spectari computers, obtaining all useful information of enemy placements and stores. Hank’s security teams quickly commandeered the identified locations, zipping all Spectari agents to Rocky 13.

“Have our communications team keep the star base communications normal so they don’t suspect anything,” Hank told Victor. “We don’t want to alert them before we are ready to strike at the heart of their twisted empire. This underground moon base should allow us to teleport throughout their galaxy fairly easy and undetected. “

The headquarters staff had arranged huge computerized star charts. Spectari locations were popping up in red beside ones previously located ones as quickly as they were identified from the Spectari computers. An operator only needed to click on one of the red dots and a window would pop up identifying the installation, weapons and crew size.

Hank viewed the red-dotted screens and turned to Victor. “I want you to organize as many security teams as necessary


so we can hit the major centers simultaneously. We must neutralize their weapons before any other action is taken. I want absolutely no possibility of further loss of life.”

Kara and Michael invisibly appeared on another Spectari ship’s deck. They had been on over fifty other similar decks in their quest, but this one was different. Michael heard Kara draw in her youthful breath. He invisibly knelt down beside her so she could whisper to him.

The Spectari commander heard the same sound, but could not find its source as he looked around the command deck at the different stations of the giant warship. All seemed as it should be but he knew he had heard something. He noted the redheaded Listran was at his engineering station working on one of his electronic gadgets, but was sure that was not the cause of the unusual noise. What could it be?

Suddenly the Spectari ship felt a hard jolt as Lt. Pontecorvo had invisibly dispatched it to Rocky 13. “This ship will be destroyed in ten clicks drop your weapons and comm units and abandon the ship. One click…”

The Spectari warriors looked for the source of the warning, but finding none, began quickly complying. Kara rushed over to her dad who stood up with the rest of the console operators. She invisibly slipped her small hand in his and whispered, “Daddy.”

Tomas Dalaeden joyfully recognized his daughter’s invisible voice and gently returned the hand squeeze. He stood by his station as the rest of the operators rushed to comply with the abandon ship order.

At the fifth “click”, in a flurry of action the ship was evacuated except for the three of them. Michael closed the ships doors and zipped the ship to the Listrian moon base. He used his normal device to turn himself and Kara visible.

Father and daughter lovingly embraced. Michael said, “Sir, I am Lt. Michael Pontecorvo, a member of the Galactic Council of planets and we have come to rid your galaxy of the Spectari.”

Tomas eagerly grasped Michael’s offered hand. “I want to thank you for reuniting us. Is Marta okay?”


Michael pressed his device and spoke into it. “This is Lt. Pontecorvo. We have found Tomas Dalaeden. Can you give me the coordinates for his wife, Marta?”

“Certainly, sir. This is ensign Rick Powell. Congratulations. I am sure she will be happy to have her family back. The coordinates are on your device now.”

Michael noted the coordinates, held their hands and pressed his device.

“Tomas! Marta squealed as she rushed to him. The two lovingly embraced. After a long moment, she turned to Michael. “Thank you so very much. I was afraid I would never see him again. How can we ever repay you?”

“You just did by my witnessing your joyful reunion. Now I must get back to my duties.”

Kara pulled Michael down to her height and gave him a loving hug. “Thank you for helping me find daddy. I am glad to be visible again. You are my super hero,” she smiled.…

General Korak-sen was leading the giant armada that had been assembled to take care of the pesky enemy in the Gamma Quadrant. The general’s assistant said, “We’ve armed every ship with the null field plus installed ion blasters with spheres placed ahead of them.” The Spectari engineers didn’t fully understand the sphere technology because it had been stolen from Andorra, one of their conquered planets.

Rather than consort with the enemy, the Andorran scientists had used the sphere technology and taken all their notes and fled to an unknown destination. Try as they might, the Spectari had been unsuccessful in locating them.

The Spectari scientists were examining the spheres when they were sidetracked by the high command demands to overcome the new enemy’s teleport technology. So even though they were able to replicate the spheres, they still were not using them to their full capability. It had been a massive undertaking just to manufacture so many devices and stasis field generators.

“We will finally have them now!” General Korak-sen gloated as he viewed the myriad points of light on the central


display. He haughtily stood in the battle room of his command ship watching the glorious number of ships the Spectari had assembled for this grand invasion of the Gamma Quadrant. “Notify the fleet I want to know the instant the enemy is detected. We will jump on them like swarming bees! They have defeated us for the last time!”

The Spectari Home world…

“Maybe we should be on alert here? We don’t really know what the limits of their amazing device is.” Supreme Councilor Maro-san addressed General Lorak-sen, his chief of staff, in the vast empty council chamber.

“Sir, our defensive net is so tight, we have triple deep detectors set around the entire galaxy. Nothing could possibly slip through without our knowing about it. And our military might has never even been challenged. I gave the order to dispatch another fleet to that galaxy and they have the newly installed ion blaster to blind the enemy sensors to deal with the enemy there. We should be hearing from them shortly.”

“That’s because we’ve always been the aggressor, never giving them a chance. That doesn’t mean there’s not someone out there more advanced than us and this new enemy in the Gamma sector seems to have an edge on us with their technology.”

Invisible Hank heard the entire conversation and decided it was time to take action. He zipped the Spectari warmonger to join his brethren on Sahara. Then proceeded to frighten the Spectari leader into submission.

“Guards! Guards! Following the disappearance of his war general, the Spectari Warlord frantically hailed his minions. As soon as they entered the chamber, they were quickly dispatched in like manner.

“Who’s there? What do you want?” The warlord pulled his weapon and was anxiously trying to look everywhere at once. He was doubly frightened when his weapon was grabbed from his hand and now pointing at him as it hung almost magically in the air two feet in front of him!


Invisible Hank spoke menacingly, “ You have ten seconds to decide whether you will live or die!” “One!…Two!…Three!”

“Wait! What do you want?”“You will recall your war fleet immediately…Four…Five!”“Wait! I need time!”“Six…Seven!”“Okay! Okay! I’ll do it!”“Use your comm unit and give the order now or I will resume

counting!”The Spectari head of state reached for his belt device.

“This is Supreme Commander Maro-san, Recall the fleet heading to the gamma sector now. No! I mean immediately at hyper speed! Recall them at my order! And let me know when they acknowledge the order.”

Maro-san grimly looked at the weapon still pointing at him in the air. “There. It’s done. Now what are you going to do? No matter what you do to me, when they arrive they will take care of you.”

“Now you will recall every one of your warships and warriors on every planet to come back home.”

“Who are you? You will never get away with this. There will be too many questions.”

“Anyone who questions your authority will be eliminated, so be sure you get it right.”

“How did you get past our sensors? Why can’t we detect you now? How come I can’t see you?”

“You are so proud and haughty thinking you are so superior. You go about the universe making war on lesser planets. Well now the worm has turned and we will see how you like being on the receiving end of the battle.”

“You tricked me here, but it will be different when the warships and warriors arrive. They will smash you.”

“Bold words from one who doesn’t know enough about his enemy. Now issue the orders or I will resume the count and not stop again until you are no longer with us.”

Maro-san’s comm badge chimed. “Yes?”“Sir, the fleet commander acknowledged they are returning


immediately at Hyper speed and will be here in approximately eight hours.”

“Thank you. Now I want you to contact every one of our command centers on every conquered planet and order them to return also. Tell them to leave no Spectari on the planets, but all are to evacuate immediately.”

“But sir, are you sure you want me to issue such an order? That has never been done before.”

“Yes. Follow the order to the letter and don’t question my orders again or you will be severely punished!”

“Yes sir.”The supreme commander challenged his unseen enemy.

“Now what are you going to do when all these warships arrive? No matter what I order, some of them are sure to challenge me.”

“That is being taken care of as you speak. In short order all your fangs and claws will be pulled and you will be as potent as a pussy cat.”

Maro-san’s comm badge chimed again. “Yes?”“Sir, after we sent the messages, we have lost contact with the

central comm center. No one is responding there!”Hank quietly said, “The more you send, the more you lose.”“Sir, the space stations are not responding either! And the home

fleet has just disappeared too!”Maro-san stared at the weapon in front of him. “How are

you doing this?”“That’s my little secret. Pretty soon your whole empire will be

stripped from you and you only have yourself to blame.”Several Spectari guards hastily entered the Council

Chamber with weapons drawn. Before they could react to the scene before them, they disappeared. Others of Hank’s invisible team left the chamber to take care of the remaining guards.

Maro-san watched the heavy ornamental chamber doors seemingly open on their own and then close by themselves. “How are you doing this?

Hank’s team assigned Yanni androids to take care of each position and ship, but Hank wanted to take care of the leader


in person. They didn’t initiate action until the recall orders were sent. Now Yanni androids were dispatched to take care of each returning ship. The Spectari troops were zipped to different outer barren planets minus weapons or communicators. The empty ships were then zipped to a secure planet on the other side of the galaxy.

While Hank was busy with Supreme Councilor Maro-san, the rest of the Galactic Security forces were actively taking care of their assigned targets, zipping all manner of warships and weapons to designated secure locations and marooning the warriors on habitable but uninhabited planets. The Spectari would shortly realize how quickly fate had turned on them.

General Korak-sen was watching the battle tank that showed the positions of his massive space armada of ships when his operations officer said, “Sir, we are losing ships!” The general and other officers anxiously observed the lights in the tank winking out. Suddenly, they felt a hard jolt. General Korak-sen recognized the jolt from previous experience. No android appeared this time, but they heard a voice order them to abandon the ship before it was destroyed. The general raged, as he knew he had been defeated again.

Not long afterward, in the space of just a few Earth hours, Hank’s device beeped. “Sir, it is done.”

“Thank you, Victor.”“What? What is done?” Maro-san demanded from the

invisible voice.“Why your forces have all been defeated. Now you will broadcast

to this planet and the others you used to control, the unconditional surrender of the Spectari.”

“But you can’t have! There’s barely been time for them to get started, much less even arrive back in our galaxy!”

“Ah. I see you haven’t learned your lesson yet that distance no longer matters.” Hank suddenly turned himself visible and looked his defeated enemy in the eye. “Once your people were assembled on their ships, they were taken care of. Every one of your far-flung installations in this galaxy has been similarly


dealt with. You no longer have a fleet or army. Now let’s discuss sending that surrender message.”…

Sara-sin was despondent. As an only daughter with no brothers she lived in a small city on Ryosan far from the capitol city. Her family allowed her to read forbidden books in her early teens; books that had long been banned on all of Ryosan With them, she had self-taught herself more than the average Spectari female. She was talking to her mom as they prepared the evening meal. “I know there must be more to life than just serving the males of this world. They keep us enslaved with ignorance. There is much we could do in society if they would just let us.”

“No! No! Sara-sin.” Her middle-aged mother, Lara-sin, cowered and covered her ears. “I don’t want to hear it. What if your father should hear such talk? He would beat us both.”

“But why, Mom? Why is it only the men can do things and we can’t other than your same answer, “because that is the way it has always been”?

Her mother lowered her hands from her ears. “But I have no other answer Little One. It is the only answer I know.”

“But it is not enough. And stop calling me Little One. Can’t you see I have grown up? I heard Dad talking last night on the comm-link about other worlds out there that our world has conquered and is still conquering. Have any women you know ever even been in space?”

“You shouldn’t have been listening little…daughter. We are not to concern ourselves with such things. I never discuss such things with your father.”

“I can’t continue living this way mother. There must be more to life than cringing before our male masters.”

“Your father is a good man. You shouldn’t talk about him like that.”

“Yes, I still have the scars from his ‘goodness’,” she angrily retorted.

“But you provoked him by challenging his authority. You should never have done that,” Lara-sin softly said.


Sara-sin knew it was doing no good to talk with her mother, but she was so frustrated, she just had to do something. This life is strangling me, she frustratingly thought.

The next day, before her dad came home she walked by the comm-link station in the study and saw the comm-link red light blinking indicating there was an incoming message. Sara-sin knew she shouldn’t because only men were allowed to use it, but she stopped and pressed the red button anyway. The view screen came to life with a bold yellow message stating “Stand by for an important message from the Supreme Councilor!”

Again, Sara-sin knew she shouldn’t, but she pressed the button for the next message. Immediately a picture of Supreme Councilor Maro-san appeared. Sara-sin noted he did not look happy. “Citizens of Ryosan and other planets, I am being forced to broadcast this message due to the defeat of our forces in the Gamma Galaxy. All of our forces in our own galaxy have also been defeated. This day I have signed an unconditional peace treaty with them. We are to take no more hostile action against them. The Supreme Council has been disbanded. You are now under the jurisdictions of your local government. The people from the Gamma Galaxy will supervise the open election of new government leadership.” Maro-san looked to his left and the camera swung that way. “This is the Gamma Galactic Council’s Chief of Security, Mr. Travis, who will supervise planetary affairs on Ryosan until new leaders are selected.”

Sara-sin noted the man from the Gamma Galaxy did not look that different except he was somewhat taller with neater trimmed hair than most Ryosan men and had a smile on his face. Most people she knew on Ryosan never smiled. He also was wearing a strange uniform with only a single patch on the pocket; quite different from the colorful Ryosan ones.

Hank looked directly into the lens and with the help of the universal translator spoke clearly and distinctly with his best diplomatic smile. “Citizens of Ryosan and planets throughout this galaxy, for many years your leaders have viciously attacked other planets both in your galaxy and ours. I am here today to tell you that era of brutality is over. The weapons of war and


warships have been stripped from all armed forces in this galaxy. Every planet is now free to determine its own peaceful destiny. Your destiny is in your own hands as long as you exist peacefully with your neighbors and treat your citizens with equality and dignity. We are here to help you do that and look forward to working with you for the betterment of all your citizens.” Hank paused to get his breath. This was the longest speech he had ever made. His team knew the kind of life most of these people he was talking to had led and there needed to be many changes.

“We know from having quietly observed societies on many of your planets that what we are proposing is contrary to the way many of you have been forced to live. I am convinced that most of your current situations are less desirable than you would like. There will be many changes and we hope all of them will be good ones. I just want you to know that freedom is great, but it comes with responsibility; the responsibility to be good citizens and not act the bully just because you are bigger and stronger than your neighbor.” Hank continued with his lengthy speech.

“There may be other changes you wish to make also. Your society has been a male-dominated one for far too many years. The supervised elections will make every adult, man or woman, eligible to vote, in an open society where men and women are treated equally before the law with equal opportunity.”

Sara-sin was thrilled as she heard the words about her new opportunity to have a free life. Now how will father react to the news?

So the Spectari were unceremoniously defeated without a single loss of life. The Spectari leaders were stripped of their titles and power. The Spectari Supreme Council was deposed and more friendly and peace loving people rose up to become new leaders with many women such as Sara-sin freeing themselves from the brutal caste system they had been subject to all their lives.


Unfortunately the Galactic Council knew nothing about the galaxy on the far side of the now-liberated Spectari one.

The end of Book II

Look for the exciting sequel, Everywhere in the Omega Galaxy!


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

It was in the fall of 1963 when the author, just in his 20th year, was standing on the curbside with what seemed a mass of humanity. They had been standing there in the noonday Texas sun for almost an hour, waiting expectantly for the special motorcade that would bring the president past them.

Little did the young Wall Street Journal employee suspect the importance in that day in American history. In only a matter of moments he would watch the chief executive of the land and his lovely First Lady pass within what could only have been a couple of feet of him. The author was sure the president’s cheery wave and special wink were just for him…Right before the doomed motorcade turned that fateful corner in downtown Dallas…and the end of Camelot.

Robert Lee Joseph was born and raised in Dallas, Texas with his older sister and two younger brothers. When Star Trek made its debut on network television, he bought his own first color TV.During the height of the Viet Nam War, he was drafted while still attending Arlington State College on a part-time basis and working for the Wall Street Journal, Southwest Edition, as Sr. Advertising Production Clerk. The young draftee chose to join the U. S. Air Force and worked in computer operations and as an instructor in his various assignments at home and abroad. His last tour of duty was at the Pentagon where his four-year assignment was for the headquarters air force computer operations.

During his time at the Pentagon, he witnessed Dan Rather run out of the White House over to Lafayette Park to announce to the nation Richard Nixon would resign that night. Upon returning to his native Texas, he resumed his education at his original campus, now the University Of Texas at Arlington, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Business.

Rob & his family spent nine years in Georgia and then moved to Illinois. He now enjoys writing at his Rocky Face, Georgia home where he resides with his wife, Deloris and his 17 year-old daughter, Dorthea Marie.

They have nine children and 12 grandchildren. The Sci-fi enthusiast is now completing book III of the Everywhere trilogy, Everywhere In The Omega Galaxy.

His website is www.everywherebooks.com.

He can be reached at [email protected]

ABOUT GREATUNPUBLISHED.COM

www.greatunpublished.com is a website that exists to serve writers and readers, and to remove some of the commercial barriers between them. When you purchase a GreatUNpublished title, whether you

order it in electronic form or in a paperback volume, the author is receiving a majority of the post-production revenue.

A GreatUNpublished book is never out of stock, and always available, because each book is printed on-demand, as it is ordered.

A portion of the site’s share of profits is channeled into literacy programs.

So by purchasing this title from GreatUNpublished, you are helping to revolutionize the publishing industry for the benefit of

writers and readers.

And for this we thank you.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

It was in the fall of 1963 when the author, just in his 20th year, was standing on the curbside with what seemed a mass of humanity. They had been standing there in the noonday Texas sun for almost an hour, waiting expectantly for the special motorcade that would bring the president past them.

Little did the young Wall Street Journal employee suspect the importance in that day in American history. In only a matter of moments he would watch the chief executive of the land and his lovely First Lady pass within what could only have been a couple of feet of him. The author was sure the president’s cheery wave and special wink were just for him…Right before the doomed motorcade turned that fateful corner in downtown Dallas…and the end of Camelot.

Robert Lee Joseph was born and raised in Dallas, Texas with his older sister and two younger brothers. When Star Trek made its debut on network television, he bought his own first color TV.During the height of the Viet Nam War, he was drafted while still attending Arlington State College on a part-time basis and working for the Wall Street Journal, Southwest Edition, as Sr. Advertising Production Clerk. The young draftee chose to join the U. S. Air Force and worked in computer operations and as an instructor in his various assignments at home and abroad. His last tour of duty was at the Pentagon where his four-year assignment was for the headquarters air force computer operations.

During his time at the Pentagon, he witnessed Dan Rather run out of the White House over to Lafayette Park to announce to the nation Richard Nixon would resign that night. Upon returning to his native Texas, he resumed his education at his original campus, now the University Of Texas at Arlington, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Business.

Rob & his family spent nine years in Georgia and then moved to Illinois. He now enjoys writing at his Rocky Face, Georgia home where he resides with his wife, Deloris and his 17 year-old daughter, Dorthea Marie.

They have nine children and 12 grandchildren. The Sci-fi enthusiast is now completing book III of the Everywhere trilogy, Everywhere In The Omega Galaxy.

His website is www.everywherebooks.com.

He can be reached at [email protected]

ABOUT GREATUNPUBLISHED.COM

www.greatunpublished.com is a website that exists to serve writers and readers, and to remove some of the commercial barriers between them. When you purchase a GreatUNpublished title, whether you

order it in electronic form or in a paperback volume, the author is receiving a majority of the post-production revenue.

A GreatUNpublished book is never out of stock, and always available, because each book is printed on-demand, as it is ordered.

A portion of the site’s share of profits is channeled into literacy programs.

So by purchasing this title from GreatUNpublished, you are helping to revolutionize the publishing industry for the benefit of

writers and readers.

And for this we thank you.

Documents

Everywhere And Beyond Sequel to From Here to Everywhereeverywhere.bizland.com/sitebuildercontent/site...fire so quickly. Did you find any beryllium on Yantu?” “Yes we did. It’s