Darrell Bain Page 5

  The Army Intelligence service was using only a small section of the giant underground enclave when Kyle rescued Jeri from her smashed lifeboat. After several run-ins with nefarious characters who wanted Jeri's knowledge and cared little about how they obtained it, Kyle contacted an old friend from the days when he served in Army Intelligence himself, William Shelton, since promoted to general. The general marshaled enough help to rescue Kyle and Jeri but not without several really hairy escapades that just hearing about made my skin prickle with goose bumps. That last bit was skimmed over and I didn't learn until a little later what a desperate time Kyle and Jeri had their first few months together. It sure wasn't a typical honeymoon!

  That was the historical part of the orientation. Then came the present.

  The Brider Enclave was a joint forces intelligence, research, development and acquisition command at the time the aliens landed. After Jeri and Kyle were rescued it was simply incorporated into the newly formed Space Force Research and Exploration Command, SFREC, pronounced Sefwreck, with an Army three-star, Bill, now in charge of it. It worked out fine. NASA was maintained simply as window dressing but jacked up in order to keep this place secret. It was where all the research and development for the space forces took place while testing and construction of the actual space ships being built was disguised as private enterprise. When they left it would be from spaceports leased from a couple of the private firms, one in deep West Texas and one in New Mexico. No one expected to keep that part secret for long, but the Brider Enclave, “The Group,” was where the aliens lived. It had to be under deep cover and was. Activity above ground was disguised as a new coal mining operation now that clean coal technology was coming on line and part of the topside was also designated as an army training command. Both served to disguise what took place beneath them.

  After a break for lunch we were taken on a tour of the facility, or at least the places that weren't top secret. We passed several shops where electronics work of various sorts was being done. Some of it I recognized but in a couple of places I didn't even know what the instruments were for or if what I was looking at was even built to measure or manipulate electrons. I'm not an electrical engineer, of course, but anyone doing research in the hard science specialties has to know something about electronics. Frequently you have to design your own instruments before you can do the research—and just as frequently the instruments you design become part of the research.

  Gene gestured. “Here they're working with Ishmael on devices humans can use to stimulate their minds into paths that can contact the quantum aspects of reality in the same manner they use their minds alone to do so. Or trying to construct them, I should say.” He nodded in my direction. “You may have more success by going at it from a biological angle."

  Biological manipulation of quantum reality? They weren't expecting much from me, were they? And why couldn't Jeri or Ishmael just show us how to do it? They had the perceptive sense, as they called it; they were bound to know scads more about it than me. If Jeri didn't introduce me to the job really well I was going to feel about as lost as a northbound goose in the middle of January. In a blizzard, no less.

  We didn't stay there long. A couple of workmen delivered some folding partitions carried by one of the ubiquitous floating carts. We got out of the way and moved on. I looked back and saw the partitions already being erected.

  "As you've probably noticed, we're rushing,” Gene said. “We're trying different solutions to problems with parallel experiments. There's no time to do it one way then possibly—probably—fail and have to start from scratch again."

  "Expensive,” Carol noted.

  "Yup, but we've got the funding and there's no problem with finding the personnel, other than having to vet them all and then losing so many of them from being family types who don't want to be separated. We can accommodate only so many dependents. We have to rush because other nations have Crispies working for them, too."

  I made a note to myself to ask about that one later.

  I was awed at the vast expanse of the enclave. Old man Brider must have spent a veritable fortune, not to mention how much the government was pouring into it.

  We walked on past a few more small shops then entered another huge cavern. A large boxy shape that was rounded on both ends occupied the center of the enclosure. It was at least twice as high as the dozen or so workmen but was raised off the floor so it appeared even bigger. There were a number of projections like thick antennas at both ends and what looked suspiciously like torpedo tubes beneath and back from one end and some different kinds of openings at the other. There was room beneath it for easy access, where several men and women in white coveralls were busy.

  "Now there's our real beauty,” Gene announced. “It's a scaled down but fully functional version of the FTL spacecraft we built. This is where we do the designing and such testing as we can without going into space, although we trundled the model out one of our hidden tunnels and actually took it into space.” He grinned. “It worked perfectly, but this is a two-person test craft. We've gone about as far as we can with the small version although as you can see, we're still making modifications and improvements. The first really big one is being built on site at the New Mexico spaceport where there are plenty of materials and supplies. It's been a killer job constructing it and keeping its location more or less secret but it's almost finished now. As soon as it's ready for flight, Jeri and Kyle Leverson will be leaving—as well as a rather large complement of crew, scientists and marines. There's another one about halfway done. It's the one you folks will be on if you decide to go into space rather than stay here and do research."

  The rest of the tour was kind of a blur. Just the thought of being able to go into space had my mind reeling. And not just to space but to the stars!

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  CHAPTER EIGHT

  The tour ended back at the dining room. I was told we could have drinks and snack food in our apartments but no major cooking. That suited me. I figured I'd be too busy most of the time once I got started. When I was back in my suite I saw the message light flashing on the console at the little work station that each place came equipped with. It was an invitation from Kyle and Jeri for an informal get-together at their place. I noted the time and decided on a quick shower beforehand. We'd done a lot of walking and some of the places we'd been to were dusty.

  * * * *

  Jeri was hosting, wearing casual jeans and top and looking great in them. I decided she was one of those women who can look good in just about anything, damn her beautiful eyes. It must be nice to be able to sculpt your body to whatever dimension you like. Or was that how she'd done it? I reminded myself I really didn't know yet.

  "Hi Mai. Come on in.” She gave me a brief womanly hug, just as if she'd been doing it all her life.

  "Thanks.” I held up the little purse I'd brought just in case.

  "In there.” She pointed.

  I deposited it and went over to the bar where Kyle was dispensing drinks.

  "Hi, Mai.” He grinned. “Good to see you. And just in case you think this is a regular affair, it's the first occasion Jeri and I have had to relax and have some folks over in weeks. We used it for an excuse to introduce you to some of the people you'll be seeing here and there."

  "Who all will be here?"

  "Oh, you, Colonel—I mean General—Haley and his fiancé, Carolyn; Major Seabrook; a few of the guys I've been on operations with. Not many. Ishmael may come if he can get away from all the women chasing him. What do you want to drink?"

  "Ishmael? That's the other alien?” I asked, and pointed at the whisky.

  "Yeah. Him, and now there's Sira, one we rescued from the IC. I think she'll be around but maybe not.” I thought I caught a hint of an undercurrent in his voice but decided not to pursue it.

  I took my drink and thanked him then moved off. Their place had lots more space than mine. The room the party was being held in was larger than my entire suite.
I wondered if Jeri being an alien had anything to do with it and thought it probably did. We'd be treating them extra nice.

  * * * *

  People came and went throughout the evening, but there were never many there at one time. General Haley proved to be a big man and the kind who practically exudes command presence.

  Somehow or other Roy Jenkins and I got to talking with Jeri about the Crispies landing on Earth and how they were in different countries, which I still didn't understand.

  "How did it happen?” he asked her. Apparently he didn't have the full story either.

  "There were maybe two dozen lifeboats that made it clear of our spacecraft when it was wrecked, and only eight, or possibly nine or ten—we're not real certain—of those made it safely to Earth,” she told us in a calm but rather somber voice. “The others all perished. Those of us who arrived with little or no harm still landed in a widely dispersed pattern, everywhere from America to Mexico to England to India and China."

  "It's a good thing the IC didn't get one,” Roy Jenkins commented.

  "They did,” Kyle corrected him. “She just didn't mention it. The IC also had some agents in our country who found where Ishmael was being held by some renegades of our own people. A group from Army Intelligence got there just about the same time the IC tried to grab him for themselves, probably planning on spiriting him out of the country. Fortunately the FBI was on the scene, too, because we were outgunned."

  "Sounds like it was one big clusterfuck,” Jenkins said.

  "It was. And Ishmael—that's the name he took—still hasn't fully recovered from the treatment he received. He's converted to a male human now but he's ... well, you'll meet him later so I'll let him speak for himself. He's involved with spaceship design, too, but only part of the time. Jeri and Ishmael sort of combine their knowledge since neither of them were specialists in FTL propulsion. They each have other projects going too."

  FTL. Faster than light! Whee! I wanted to go!

  "I guess I'm making it all sound easier than it was,” Kyle continued, glancing at Jeri.

  "You are,” his wife agreed. “I knew little of human affairs at the time. While learning about humans through the internet I managed to contact Ishmael, who had been captured and was being very rudely treated, so I was wary of falling into government hands at first. Kyle got us out of several scrapes before he convinced me to let him contact General Shelton. It's a good thing he did, too. I doubt we would have stayed free much longer without his help."

  "Don't let her underplay her own role,” Kyle said. “If it hadn't been for her survival kit and perceptive sense we'd probably be stuck working for the Russian Mafia or some other outfit just as bad.” He shivered theatrically then grinned when Jeri punched him on the arm.

  General Shelton caught my eye and winked. I got the impression that an odyssey of adversity, anxiety and frightening encounters with very nasty characters had just been passed over with those few words. I hoped I would get more of the story from Jeri after starting on my job, whatever it turned out to be.

  "Are you going on the first flight?” I asked Roy. I could feel a sense of jealousy building toward anyone lucky enough to be on that first trip but I did my best to suppress it.

  "Me? No, I'm just starting my training. I'll be on the crew of the next ship, I hope. At least that's what I've been told."

  "You'll be able to go eventually if you want to,” Jeri said to me. She was smiling just like she knew how much I'd love to be on a starship and she was dead on. I wouldn't give a rat's ass where it was going or when it was coming back so long as I was on it. Why me, though? I started to ask.

  "But..."

  Kyle laughed at my expression. “I told you things were moving fast. We've got several ships in various stages of construction. If ours doesn't blow up and we come back from our first little jaunt, then the rest of them will head out, too."

  "But I thought—oh. You're talking about the big ship, not the model."

  "Right. We, or rather one of our test pilots, flew it out to the Oort cloud and back so we know we're on the right track. Sometimes unexpected problems occur when scaling up though, which is why the other ships will wait until we come back. Or six months if we don't."

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  CHAPTER NINE

  Roy was going to be sent off to the Space Marine incoming troop section for processing the next morning. Too bad. He was interesting even if a little younger than me. He told us he had already undergone an extremely rigorous physical and mental evaluation before being accepted and he'd had the evaluation without knowing what it was even for!

  "I was scared silly,” he said, laughing. “I was bored with training duty and when the notice came down it read, Adventure Minded Marines needed for special missions. Must be physically fit, prepared for combat and long separation from family if accepted. I thought, ‘what the hell.’ I wasn't married and the folks are used to me being gone on long deployments anyway so why not?” He laughed again. “Besides, I was curious as a mouse trying to get into a cheese factory. I really thought the ‘combat’ part meant a Special Forces deployment inside the IC and I was already qualified there. To top it off I hate those bastards, but I guess they can wait."

  "Maybe not,” Kyle said, his tone as serious as any I'd heard from him so far. “We know the Islamic Confederation got that one lifeboat with Sira in it but Jeri thinks there's some Crispies who probably made it to Earth that are still unaccounted for. We've got plenty of Intel searching for where they might be held, but you can bet getting others out won't be as easy as bringing Sira back here was."

  "Easy?!” Jeri looked at her husband as if he was crazy but he just grinned.

  "Easy compared to China."

  "Oh. Well, yes. What I think, Roy, is that rescuing a Crispy being held by force might take priority over an immediate trip into space. If they want to be rescued, that is."

  "Well, I guess I'll find out, won't I?” Roy said. “Nice meeting you all. I have to leave early in the morning so I'd better go.” He told us all good night and left.

  I was confused and didn't mind saying so. I asked Jeri a leading question, hoping I wasn't putting my foot in my mouth.

  "Why are you Crispies so different from each other? And ... well, I hate to put it like this but any of you working willingly for the IC has to be a little off specs. Sorry, but that's the best way I know of expressing it."

  "It's hard to explain, Mai,” Jeri said, then was silent for a moment before continuing and that only confused me more because I thought I'd offended her and she was going to clam up. But she didn't.

  "Cresperians are a very, a very old culture,” she explained. “We're slow to change even though we are heirs to a staggering amount of data accumulated through the ages. Somewhere long ago we lost most of our adventurous spirit. We only began exploring outside our own solar system a few hundred years ago, and that in a limited fashion. Up until the malfunction of our space ship we had never run across anything even remotely like you humans. You have such an extreme range of emotions and attitudes that when we change our form and become human we necessarily take on some of the attitudes of the humans we're with. This is particularly true if we're limited in the amount of data we're allowed access to, which I believe was the case with Sira and the one who was working for the Chinese hegemony. We think now there was a second lifeboat that landed in China and there is at least one and possibly two of us still there. Intelligence reports tell us that they weren't near the explosion that wiped out their space launch capabilities temporarily. And Ishmael ... by the time we rescued him—and he was the first one rescued—his thinking was somewhat warped. He's still recovering."

  She paused and moved closer to Kyle. He put his arm around her and drew her close and she went on. “Until I experienced what it's like to be human, I could never have imagined the depths of emotion your species is capable of or how much your thinking is influenced by your hormones, your sexual drives and especially the way your
genome is governed so heavily in its expression by the particular environment you're subjected to.” She looked up at Kyle in a manner that practically shouted her love. “I was extremely fortunate to have landed almost on Kyle's doorstep and had him to guide me through the process of becoming human. He never tried to persuade me to accept a particular philosophy or belief and that allowed me to discover, that for all your faults, America is still the best place to be."

  I frowned, but not because I didn't understand her explanation. It was something else. “Jeri, I guess I can accept all that, but why ... I mean, what made you and the other Crispies want to become human in the first place? If you didn't know what it was going to be like in advance, weren't you taking a terrible risk of stumbling into something you didn't like? Or even detested?"

  "Certainly, there was that chance, but there was a compelling factor that made most of us choose to become human. At the time none of us imagined there would be such brilliant scientists on Earth, not at first glance at your technology. And at the very first we also had no idea you had attained a technical society such a short time ago or that you were such an innovative species. Bearing all that in mind, we thought we were stranded here forever. You saw what we look like. Can you imagine us functioning in human society other than as prisoners of your governments? Or at the very most, as curiosities?"

  "I guess not. But one more question, if you don't mind?"

  "I don't mind but I already know what it is. Why not change back now that we know we might be able to get home, assuming we can find it again? Isn't that it?"