Chapter 10

Day 31 through Day 60:

We started addressing a few of the agenda items related to trade that could result in significant problems among the delegates. I am getting a feeling that the delegates are becoming more polarized along the financial line of the ‘have’ and the ‘have not’ countries.

I first noticed the divide after a discussion on Day 40 that was related to trade restrictions. The agenda item was about limiting trade between the Empire and Earth. The discussion started out along the line of protecting Earth’s businesses by preventing Empire traders from flooding Earth’s markets with low cost, high quality merchandise. If that happened, Earth businesses would not be able to compete and would go out of business.

The discussion decided to limit the volume of trade goods to be imported, but then evolved and became how the limited amount of trade goods received by Earth would be distributed to the merchants of different countries. That discussion led to whether there should be import restrictions imposed on some countries, but not others.

The ‘have not’ countries wanted import restrictions placed on the ‘have’ countries, so the ‘have not’ countries could benefit financially. The ‘have’ countries countered that the ‘have not’ countries did not have the financial backing to purchase the goods, a market to consume the goods, and no distribution system to distribute and sell the goods.

A delegate from Ireland, Walker McGillicutty, said, “I don’t know what we are all arguing about. There will be enough merchandise for all of us. We all need to pull together for we all have the same problem. None of our currencies are going to have any value in the Empire. Right now it seems to me that we will be trading on the barter system. From what I can see, the financially less fortunate countries have more to barter with than the financially fortunate countries.

Walker’s statement unsettled all of the delegates for different reasons. It also ended the argument.

Good news on Day 45, we have a signed contract to build our office building. Our comments had no significant effect on the draft drawing package, so Elba was able to incorporate the changes in just a few days. After a quick review, she released the final drawing package. Johnson and Taylor and their subcontractors were able to update their bids in time for the contract negotiations to take place. During the negotiations, Edgar submitted the final drawing package with a request for a building permit. Due to the nature and simplicity of the construction and Elba’s reputation for quality work, he was promised an expedited review period.

Great news on Day 53, the building permit was approved and construction started on the following day. When we first moved into our new headquarters building, we moved everything in Building 3 to either our new building or one of our warehouses. Nothing had to be done before it was demoed.

Day 61 through Day 90:

The delegates had settled their differences, at least for now. They were moving through the agenda items at a rate higher than we had expected. If they continued at this rate there was a slim possibility of the meeting ending in less than two years.

Day 77 was a disaster. I was awakened at 3:13 AM by a phone call from Simon.

Simon said, “Sorry to wake you, Jeb, but we have four intruders in the area near your boat dock.

“Explorer Leader Beebe woke me a few minutes ago to let me know our perimeter was being breached. She observed the intruders approaching your dock by boat. Once they landed at the dock, she deployed a fire team to assess the situation, and if necessary to detain the intruders. We are waiting for them to report on what is going on.

“Hold on ... the fire team just reported that they have stunned and detained four armed intruders. Their armor’s sensors indicate the intruders have explosives with them.”

“God Dammit! ... Simon, why now, things have been going great. I’ll meet you out front, but first, I have to notify the President.”

“Okay, Jeb. Explorer Leader Beebe just sent a message to Ship Commander Shimlt notifying her of the attack.”

I hung up and dialed Betty’s private number. It was almost 6:00 AM in Washington D.C. She answered on the fourth ring.

“Morning, Jeb. What’s up?”

“The farm was invaded by intruders about fifteen minutes ago, Betty. An Altairian fire team stunned the intruders and confirmed they were armed. The fire team’s armor indicates the intruders have explosives with them. Simon sent a message to Ship Commander Shimlt. I’m on standby awaiting your instructions.”

“Oh shit! ... I was praying this wouldn’t happen.

“Okay, Jeb. Martial law is now in effect, so I order you to detain the intruders for now.

“Jeb, I need time to think this through. The meeting was not in progress, so there was no immediate danger to the delegates. However, it sounds as if they were going to plant the explosives and set them off at a later time. If so, that could be considered a threat against the delegates, against your security force, or against you and your family. These initial details indicate this was an attack on the farm, but I need more details.

“I will have to announce what happened sometime this morning, so I need the details of the attack. As soon as you can, conduct an investigation to confirm what happened and let me know. We have more than enough time to handle this situation in an appropriate manner, Jeb. So take as much time as you need to do a good job.

“Cindy will probably contact me in a few minutes. Perhaps she will have more information. Bye for now.”

I hung up and got dressed. When I opened the front door, Paul, Aaron, and Simon were waiting for me with a jeep and one of Mike’s trucks. We left heading for the dock.

The fire team saw us coming and attracted our attention with their lights. Our drivers stopped thirty feet short of the downed intruders. Several of Mike’s soldiers exited the truck and moved toward the intruders. Paul instructed them to not approach the intruders for I had told him that Betty wanted photos of the vicinity, intruders, weapons, and explosives. When I got close to the intruders, I could see they were armed with what appeared to be AK-47s and Glocks in shoulder holsters.

We didn’t have a camera with us. Simon said to not worry and he contacted Explorer Leader Beebe and asked her to send a camera crew to our location to film the intruders and the surrounding area. Paul said we also needed something for collecting the weapons so we didn’t smudge fingerprints. Simon added a roll of material that would serve that purpose to his request. While the camera crew was being assembled and sent to us, two of the fire team members escorted us to the dock.

When we arrived, we observed a speedboat tied up at the dock. It was evident that no one was onboard, so we went closer to see if there was anything else to see of interest to us. There wasn’t, but I noted the boat had come from a local boat rental company. I made a mental note to make arrangements for its return to the rental company.

Paul said, “We will get photos of the boat at the dock, the intruders, and their weapons. But, I don’t want to fool with their backpacks and possibly set off the explosives.”

When we returned to the intruders, a photographer was filming the area, intruders, and their weapons from a distance. When he finished, Simon sent him to the dock to film the boat.

My cell phone rang and it was Betty.

“Hello, Betty.”

“Have you learned anything new, Jeb?”

“Not much. Simon had a photographer film the intruders and area around them. We found a speedboat tied up to my dock, and it is a rental from a local company. The photographer just left to film the boat. The intruders were armed with what look like AK-47s and Glocks. The explosive must be in their backpacks, and we don’t want to fool with them.

“We plan to cut the backpacks off of the intruders and disarm them. Then we will transport the intruders and their weapons to the farm, until we can get rid of them. That’s all I could find, and I need some guidance.

“We plan to leave the backpacks in the field until a bomb squad can deal with the explosives. I would appreciate it if you could arrange for someone to deal with the explosives without destroying the backpacks. They may contain useful information.

“I will eventually have to return the speedboat to its owner. I suspect the intruders believed the dock was an unprotected entry point. So they hired the boat and used it to get to the dock. I don’t think us retaining possession of the boat is necessary. What do you think?”

“I agree, Jeb. I don’t think we will need physical evidence in this situation. The photos will suffice. I’ll make arrangements for a bomb squad to dispose of the explosives, and you can return the boat to its owner at your convenience.

“Good job, Jeb. I talked with Cindy. She agreed with my assessment of the possible targets of the attack, but said it didn’t matter.

“I wasn’t aware of it, but Cindy had declared your farm to be an Official Altairian Meeting Site. The Empire’s laws make it an offense for an armed force to invade or attack that type of location. That, by itself, is adequate justification for her to request extradition.

“In addition to that charge, the Altairian forces that are part of your security group are on an official mission. So attacking them violates Empire law. As the Facilitators, you and your wives are considered Altairian Officials for the duration of the meeting, so the same law applies. We already discussed what would happen if they had harmed the Altairian Delegation. So that is three additional charges that could be brought against the intruders. Cindy said she would charge them with illegally entering an Official Altairian Meeting Site. So regardless of what they planned to do with the explosives, they committed a serious crime against the Empire.

“Cindy requested that the intruders be extradited to The Seeker and I approved her request. She has dispatched a shuttle to carry the intruders to The Seeker. It should arrive at your location within an hour. When the intruders arrive onboard The Seeker, they will be mind scanned and we will go from there.”

The fire team with the help of Mike’s soldiers cut the backpacks off of the intruders, and gently moved the backpacks away from us. They then disarmed the intruders and wrapped their weapons in a heavy cloth like material. Once all of that was done, they put the intruders and their weapons in Mike’s truck. We left the backpacks until trained personnel could dispose of the explosives. The disposal was done that afternoon. We didn’t find any useful information in the backpacks.

We heard the shuttle arrive as we were preparing the intruders for transport. When we got back to the house, the fire team moved the intruders from the truck to the shuttle, and after equipping the intruders with Upchuck Kits, the shuttle departed for The Seeker. Paul asked Simon to have the fire team secure the weapons in one of the extra shuttles even though we didn’t need them as evidence.

It sounds like my wives and I will inherit some additional weapons. We don’t have a use for the weapons we have now, so additional weapons won’t improve our situation, but it won’t hurt our situation either. Now that I think of it, we need to register all of the weapons we own with the appropriate authorities. I’ll add that to our list of things to do.

By the time we completed all of this and I explained everything to my three wives, it was time for breakfast.

Our relationship with Elba had been extremely intense that Saturday afternoon. Oddly enough, once she experienced our telepathic group conversation, the intensity of her sexual needs dropped significantly. She lived at her apartment building in Everett during the week and joined us during the weekend. She was still a very passionate woman, but we had other things to do together than engage in sex. We were expecting a phone call from her once she heard of the attack.

We were listening to the news on TV while waiting to head to the meeting tent. When we heard the newsman say that the President was going to make an important announcement, we all gathered in the living room to listen to what she had to say. Alicia started the recorder that we had set up to record her announcement.

The announcement started with Betty standing at a podium with a serious look on her face.

“My ... Fellow ... Americans.

“I wish I could have said Good Morning to you, but this has not been a good day for me or for you, and I doubt you will consider what I have to say to be good news.

“About three months ago, I announced what would happen if someone attacked the location where the delegates were meeting to discuss an Alliance Agreement with the Empire.

“At approximately 3:15 AM Pacific Standard Time, four individuals were detected entering the perimeter that surrounds the meeting location. An Altairian fire team was dispatched to investigate. The fire team determined that the intruders were armed, so they were stunned and detained. The fire team also learned that they were carrying explosives.

“I spoke with Facilitator Jebidiah Connor, and asked him to investigate the intrusion. He later provided me with the details of what had happened. When I was first notified of the intrusion and that the intruders were armed and carried explosives, I declared martial law to be in effect within a one hundred mile radius of the meeting site.

“I then spoke with Ship Commander Cindy Shimlt. She briefed me on the crime the intruders had committed against the Empire, and on the possible crimes we believed they intended to commit. Ship Commander Shimlt requested that I extradite the intruders to her spaceship The Seeker for the crime that they did commit against the Empire.

“I approved her request, and the intruders are now in custody aboard The Seeker. The intruders have undergone a harmless scan of their memories that is called a mind scan. Digital recordings of their memories relating to their participation in the attack on the meeting location were made. Ship Commander Shimlt agreed to provide me with copies of the digital recordings. I should receive copies of those recordings later today.

“She provided me with the name of the organization behind this attack. The organization uses a cell structure, so we were only able to determine the names of the accomplices who gave the attackers their orders. The organization is known to the FBI, and suspected of being a terrorist organization.

“What that means is ... we will have to arrest and extradite a series of small groups of accomplices, so they can be mind scanned. After several cycles of extradition, we will have the names of all the attackers’ accomplices and they will be arrested and extradited to The Seeker.

“I have one additional thing to say to the members of this organization who aided and abetted the intruders who launched this attack.

“Your leaders implemented a cell structure because they did not want to be identified. Due to this announcement, they realize that we will identify them. Before we identify them, they are likely to break the link between them and the attackers. Of course the only way they can do that is to have the members of one or more cells killed before we learn the identity of the leaders and extradite them.

“If your leaders fail to kill you first, you and your leaders will be arrested and extradited for these crimes. Do the smart thing and turn yourselves in before you are killed by your leaders.

“Because no one was harmed or killed by this attack, the penalty to be imposed on you by the Empire is minor. You will be released back to Earth unharmed within two months of all of the accomplices being arrested.”

We recorded Betty’s announcement on our video recorder for the meeting’s delegates were enroute to our location and may not have been able to watch Betty’s announcement. We planned to play the recording at the start of today’s meeting.

Considering the circumstances, all of my wives decided to attend the start of today’s session. As we were preparing to leave the house, Elba called us and Alicia answered the phone.

“I just finished listening to the President’s speech, Alicia. Is everyone okay?”

“Yes, Elba, no one was injured or killed, we are all fine. But we were just on our way out of the house to go to the meeting, so we have to go. Have a good day, and I’ll call you after this morning’s portion of the meeting. Bye.”

Elba said, “Bye, Alicia, and give everyone a kiss for me.”

I said, “Alicia, this would probably be a good occasion to link with Elba and reassure her by explaining everything that happened. The four of you can talk while I get the meeting started.”

“That’s a good idea, Jeb. We’ll do it as soon as we can get settled in the meeting tent.”

Susan and Dot were our assistants this morning. I gave the recording to Dot, and told her to have it ready to play after my opening remarks.

At a minute before 9:00 I stood up, nodded to Dot, and moved to the podium. I heard our big screen monitor warming up.

I turned my microphone on and said, “Most of you are aware by now that four people launched an attack last night that was targeted at this location. At this time, I am not aware of the precise intent of their attack but I will be kept informed by President Kelt about what they planned to accomplish, and I will provide you with the details of what I learn.

The organization responsible for the attack is the same group that is leading the anti-Agreement demonstrations in Seattle. This morning President Kelt made a nationwide announcement, which I suspect has been transmitted to the rest of Earth’s people. In that announcement, she informed our fellow American citizens of the attack and what she was doing to bring the attackers and their accomplices to justice. My wives and I made a video tape of President Kelt’s announcement.”

I turned my microphone off and returned to my seat. Dot played the recording. When the speech ended, I returned to the podium and turned my microphone on.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, the intruders were carrying explosives when they entered this farm’s perimeter. Since they are associated with the anti-Agreement group, I believe they intended to plant their explosives here in this meeting tent.

“If the Altairian force here on the farm had not detected and stopped the intruders, they may have succeeded in planting those explosives – with remote controlled detonators – in this tent. If they had not been detected and stopped, there is a very good chance that many of us would now be dead.

“If the intruders had succeeded, members of the Altairian Delegation would be among the delegates injured and killed. That is especially true for I believe they were the group’s intended target. If they had been successful, the Empire would have no choice but to respond.

“That response would likely have been the Empire interpreting the actions of a few people on Earth as Earth declaring war on the Empire. Those intruders would have placed everyone on Earth and our planet in serious jeopardy. If we do not aid the Empire in apprehending these criminals, there is a slim possibility that the Empire will interpret our inaction to be an act of war against the Empire.

“I agree with President Kelt’s actions to aid the Empire’s representatives in bring these criminals to justice.

“I do not want to see Earth in a war with the Empire that Earth cannot win. If war was declared and the Empire chose to do so, it could order The Seeker to locate several large asteroids in our asteroid belt, move them to our location, and drop them on Earth. Our planet would be destroyed and everyone on Earth would die.

“Don’t try to fool yourself into thinking we can win a war against the Empire, for we can’t. WE ... WILL ... LOSE!

“I urge you to contact your countries’ leaders and have them send messages to President Kelt demanding that she arrest and extradite these criminals to The Seeker.

“Thank you for your time. I suggest that we now take a thirty-minute break and when we return we can continue with today’s meeting agenda.”

I had focused my speech the delegates to unite them in completing the negotiation of the agreement, and to encourage their leaders to support Betty. I think I succeeded. What I overlooked was, the camera operators had focused their cameras on me and my wives during my speech. Their cameras sent my image and words to the media tent. My speech was then transmitted to the communication satellites in orbit above us and broadcast around the world. The world took note of what I said in that speech and responded.

The demonstrations in Seattle came to an abrupt end. That evening, our local TV news programs led with the story of my speech and a side story on how the organizers of the demonstrations had been taken into protective custody before irate crowds dismembered them. Those news stories were picked up and rebroadcast nationwide and then worldwide. The organization had chapters in other countries and the media in those countries reported similar situations involving known members of the organization. In a few countries the media reported that irate crowds got to known members of the organization before the police could step in. I would not be surprised to learn the police were part of the crowd that got to the organization’s members.

I was credited with singlehandedly destroying that organization with just a few words. Now, the world was focused on the broadcasts of the meetings, and there was no way my wives and I could go out in public and not be recognized.

When Day 77’s meeting ended, my wives and I were drained. We thanked Vert and Relpt for preparing dinner. Otherwise, we would have just ordered pizza and had it delivered. Vert sent my wives to the living room with the rest of us while they cleaned up the dining room and kitchen. We made sure to thank them for their thoughtfulness.

During lunch, my wives had briefed me on the mental conversation they had with Elba. Elba had been reassured and would see us on Friday. So we relaxed in the living room and watched the TV news program. We missed the anchor’s lead story, which was about my speech, and listened to the anchorman tell his viewers about what had happened since Betty’s speech. We learned that Cindy had delivered computer disks to Betty containing the memories of the intruders’ involvement in the attack.

According to the anchorman, there was a closed session of Congress scheduled for tomorrow. The anchorman said that he believed Betty would play the disks during the session, so Congress would know the truth about the lowest echelon of accomplices involved in the attack. The anchorman indicated that he believed Betty would request special authorization to arrest anyone that those and future disks implicated in the attack as an accomplice regardless of the accomplice’s location and extradite them to The Seeker.