Kinsmen of the Dragons
Copyright© 2013 by Gina Marie Wylie
Chapter 15: Retargeting
It was a minor wonder of the world, Sam thought. The discussion moved into a conference room with a bunch of people, including a lot of people that Sam recognized from the news, including the President of the United States.
For more than an hour a half dozen scientists and a doctor asked Amanda and Minerva questions, with the President looking silently on.
Finally, it was the President who got them back focused on the task on hand. “So, you think she’s describing a retrovirus?”
“Yes, sir,” the lead physician said, trying to sound officious and knowledgeable.
Minerva spoke up. “I have been working with Amanda and your doctors. For a great many people, the infection will cause no discernible change. About one person in ten thousand, though, will gain some benefit. About one in a thousand of those are like Heather and Amanda, strong enough to be guardians of a gate.”
She looked at Sue Ellen and then looked away. “In these two,” she indicated Sam and Sue Ellen, “things are more clouded. We have no experience with what happens when an adult gains these abilities. Their conscious minds are interfering with their perceptions.”
She waved at Sue Ellen. “The degenerate there is adapting better, because she lies to herself.”
The Coast Guard captain spoke up. “Minerva, you need to take a moment and understand that no matter how much we look like each other, we’re not the same. Your ship brought nearly seven hundred of your people out, including about eighty adult women and about twenty adult men. Absolutely none of the women expect to be unmarried for very long and neither do the men.
“In our culture, a man with multiple wives is a criminal and subject to arrest and incarceration.”
Minerva looked frustrated. “You have said that before and Ben has told me of this. I learned of it as well from the Navy women who taught my brother and myself your language. It is against biology, your way. A man can impregnate many women. It has to be his duty to do so, lest the species fail.”
“Well, we don’t have your crummy fertility problems, Minerva,” the Coast Guard captain told her. “You need to check your cultural attitudes at the door, okay?”
Minerva stuck her tongue out at him. “And you would permit such a degenerate to serve about your ship?”
The Coast Guard captain laughed at her. “Oh, we’re about as rigorous about that as your people are about their marriage vows, Minerva. Why, not one of the women in your society would ever betray her vows to stay faithful to her husband, so long as she may live, right?”
Sam smiled at that. Clearly, Minerva’s people did indeed have a little fidelity problem. Sam laughed. “Minerva, you probably haven’t had a chance yet to explore all you’ve learned much about us. Think ‘wife-swapping party.’”
The men laughed; the women blushed, as did Minerva. “You do it in public?” Minerva asked, stunned. “Openly?”
“Well, maybe not openly, openly,” Sam said, “but people just can’t bring themselves not to talk about such things.”
The President cleared his throat. “It’s nearly nine in the evening. I’m fairly sure a number of us are jetlagged on top of being fatigued.
“I have been assured that the cooks here can prepare credible food and have been working for a while on a nice barbeque menu.
“Tomorrow morning, first thing we will reconvene. First we’ll have an intelligence briefing on these Dragons from the NDI. Captain Reubens, you coordinate with Miss Minerva and the others with these special abilities and then brief the rest of us on just the highlights of what’s possible. Admiral Stewart will be here by then; Admiral Sloan you’re his new Presidential Liaison officer. Admiral Stewart will brief us as to the war at sea.
“Secretary Margulis I want you to communicate to the head of the Secret Service that I want protective details for everyone here with the special powers, their liaisons, Admiral Stewart, Admiral Sloan, and the details reinforced for everyone else. We’ve not faced an internal threat like this since the Civil War. We cannot let our guard down, not so much as an instant.”
“Yes, Mr. President.”
“General Kirkland, an action point for you to start forthwith. Our enemies have obtained surface to air missiles. We don’t believe they have these in great numbers, but they have employed them. Get with whatever Federal agencies you have to and get to work right this instant doing whatever you can to defend airliners against the threat of missiles. Go right now and get this organized. If anyone gives you any trouble, report them to the FBI. The FBI will take the lead hunting down any of these Dragons and their sympathizers. As soon as I leave here, before I join the rest of you chowing down at the barbeque, I’ll be signing a number of Executive Orders. I’m not going to declare martial law over the entire country, just Arizona, California and Hawaii.
“I’m going to define a new class of interrogation techniques. I wanted to call them the ‘extra crispy’ techniques, but the lawyers had fits.”
Everyone at the table laughed. “These will be very strong measures, whatever we finally decide to call them. They will cause fear, extreme physical and psychological discomfort — they include water boarding, sleep deprivation and similar scale items. They won’t include invasive torture — no finger nails, toe nails, no electricity, no sharp instruments, no broken bones or teeth ... that’s still out of bounds.”
The Secretary of State sighed, “There may be some blowback on that, sir.”
“The minute the people of this country find out we’ve thwarted nuclear attacks on three cities, the blowback will change to ‘why are you being so nice to them?’” There were nods this time.
“And if we catch any of these Dragons, until we start asking them questions, they are to be kept in leg shackles and straitjackets. They are not to be allowed to hurt themselves or anyone else. According to Minerva, they don’t fit our usual definition of human — and for them, all bets are off.”
Minerva shrugged. “They don’t suicide, sir. They believe you are too stupid to hold them for long. Nothing they say can be trusted.”
“Play them all the iterations of ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ in their cells,” the President said. There was more laughter, mystifying Minerva. “Run a chainsaw or two every few hours nearby after the marathon.” The laughter dissipated as quickly as it had appeared, when they realized he was serious.
The dinner was fine, and Sam ended up stuffed and replete — he hadn’t had a decent meal since dinner on Friday — and that had been a burger in a bar.
During the dinner an elderly man had sat down next to him. “Detective, I’m Mark Gant, one of the President’s assistants. He has asked me to serve as your orderly. If you give me your clothing sizes, I’ll rustle up some new threads.”
“I’ll give you my sizes, but I don’t need an orderly.”
“Sir, my job is like that of orderlies in any army. You have a number of personal needs that you can do just fine — but take time. The President has determined that you have unique contributions to make in the defense of our nation and he doesn’t want you wasting time shining your shoes or such things.”
Sam shook his head, bemused. “He isn’t at all like I expected.”
“Sir, you’ve heard the aphorism that a conservative is a liberal who has been mugged. Our enemies want to do a lot more than mug us. He has a wife and children, sir. It is hard to imagine how much that fact is determining his actions. Honestly, sir, this is like the Mark 2 version of the President. I like him a lot better than I ever liked Mark 1. Please, sir, this is not an unreasonable request — even if you like so shine your own shoes.”
“Me? Shine a shoe? I wore scuff leather loafers, except on duty and then I wear steel-toed boots — of scuff leather. I haven’t shined a shoe since I was in high school.”
The man made a note of that, then took Sam’s sizes. He smiled and told Sam that he would have some clothes to choose from in the morning. A minute later Sue Ellen and Amanda sat down next to him, their plates heaped with fried chicken.
“Finger-licking good!” Sue Ellen said.
“The potato salad is pretty good, too,” Sam told them.
“God! Starch! Mayo! Eggs!” Sue Ellen said the last word with considerable emphasis and a grimace.
“Onions!” Sam added. “The nicest thing about getting divorced was that I could eat onions again without flack!”
“What are we going to do tomorrow?” Amanda asked.
Sam felt devilish. “I know this isn’t the usual way you do things, Amanda, but I’m planning on doing what I’m told. Even Admiral Sloan is a peon here.”
Two men approached. Sam stood up and shook hands with Captain Reubens and Commander Vargas. Sue Ellen did so at as well.
Captain Reubens smiled at Amanda. “We are going to have a meeting tomorrow, before they get started with the main program. O700. The escorts, and the escorted.”
“No problem, sir,” Sue Ellen said.
He laughed. “Until further notice, Miss Godwin, our ranks are all the same: escort. We are all in the same boat with roughly the same duties; Ben Schooland is going to be responsible for Minerva. I was pleased when the President released me from the job — of course then he gave me responsibility for every one of the escorted.”
“Yes, sir,” Sue Ellen responded.
“It is Jack, Ben, Ramon, Sam and Sue Ellen. Minerva, Heather and Amanda. I’m still trying to figure out what to do about our friends from Gilbert.”
Sam spoke up. “Jack, there are a hell of a lot of people from the Phoenix who are infected. They had a lot of people, and while fighting drug gangs isn’t the same as fighting armies and navies, it takes a lot of infrastructure to do the things they were doing in my city. I think you should convey to the military that there should be a lot of interest in Phoenix. If this is passed around like the flu, there seems to be a lot of it Phoenix.”
“They are bringing some specialists from Atlanta and the CDC via the overnight express. Tomorrow will be the last day we get together, for the time being. Too many eggs in one basket. We have gotten with Minerva and sure enough our best encryption is better than anything they can do to break it. At least today. Right now the lights are burning late at the NSA as they work on new methods.”
He turned to Amanda. “Miss Feather, this has been a hard time for all of us. We seem to be more flexible than most, but it’s not an easy thing. Until tomorrow.”
Ramon Vargas delayed a bit. “Sam, Sue Ellen, Amanda. The government hasn’t always been as responsive as I want. They wanted Heather and Amanda to room together. I got that quashed; I got them to quash the idea of Sue Ellen joining them as a ‘den mother.’ But you are going to have the room between them, Sue Ellen. I’m sorry,” he said to the two women. “They just want to keep you safe and they think that concentrating you both in one place is the way to go. I’m pretty sure they are wrong, but for now try to grin and bear it.”
“I think Minerva will have more trouble with it than I or either of the young women,” Sue Ellen said with a laugh.
“I expect you’re right. Until the morning.”
Amanda appeared at his door before Sam could get settled. “Heather has the hots for Ramon,” she said bluntly. “As for me, I’ve wanted a real father as far back as I can remember. I wanted a mother who would listen. Now I have you and Sue Ellen. I don’t have the hots for either of you. Mommy and daddy are enough for me,” she concluded.
“And if I tell you that as a father, I don’t think Stewart is a good influence?”
“That’s not something I have a problem with. Well, so long as Sue Ellen will let me work on her car instead of his.”
Sam laughed, leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “Go to bed, daughter. Sleep tight.”
She grinned and vanished.
The next morning he awoke to find racks of clothes to chose from. He made a dozen choices and Mark Gant noted them down, a serious expression on his face. Sam appeared at Captain Reuben’s early meeting, feeling very mellow. The two young women and their escorts were there, so was Captain Reubens and Ben Schooland, Minerva and her bother Demeter. The only two missing were the new comers from Gilbert.
Captain Reubens was blunt. “We have to face the fact that all of us have been identified now, as possessing, at least to a degree, some of Minerva’s abilities. None of us are shirkers, and none of us are comfortable with what we are coming to understand is within our abilities. That said, the skills appear to be different from person to person; I suppose that that shouldn’t be surprising.”
“Some of us excel,” Sam said sadly, “and some of us barely make the grade.”
“Before you run yourself down detective contemplate one thing: there were a handful of survivors at your precinct. The Scottsdale police have lost a half dozen officers when they came across these ‘kralki’ unexpectedly. You’ve met them twice — and you’re still alive. The official count right now is forty-seven people who weren’t so blessed. Amanda says you can sense them; I say you can as well. And that makes you a life-saver if someone has to go into an area that might have these creatures present.”
Sam bowed his head and said, “Whatever. I guess.”
The navy commander laughed suddenly. “That’s what I said to Heather, when she first explained to me what she could see. Educations are painful, Sam ... and frequently embarrassing.”
“So, we have to be at the top of our game,” Captain Reubens said smoothly. Heather and Amanda, you are going to listen to what Minerva teaches you. You’ll probably have to spend several hours a day at it, although the exact schedule will probably be fluid in the next few weeks.”
Amanda and Heather exchanged looks. Heather cleared her throat. “They haven’t told you what they want from us. My mother lets me watch poker on the TV. The technical name for their plan is ‘going all in.’”
Amanda spoke up. “We can read minds. You, not so much. Just flashes, but those men in the other room — they are crystal clear. Heather told them, Commander Vega told them, but they think it was bull ... an exaggeration.”
“Your language has improved overnight,” Sam said mildly.
“Heather made the best argument about cussing I’ve heard. It makes sense. Those words just waste time, mostly. They are just noise, except to show when you’re angry. It’s just as simple to pound on the table a few times — you can talk and pound away easy. That or shrink a SUV to the size of child’s block.”
“We decided that the big guys didn’t want to hear we know their secrets from Miss Tiny Tits and someone with piercings in some places I can’t imagine wanting to pierce. One of you will have to tell them.”
Jack Reubens chuckled. “Oh, I suppose it will have to be me. But I want a scoop of your next ice cream portion.”
“Not if it’s chocolate,” Heather said.
“Double if it’s chocolate,” he said, grinning.
A presidential aide stuck his head in the room. “They are assembling now.”
They dutifully trooped along behind and found that the seating had been rearranged. Tables had been added and there was now a three-sided U-shaped arrangement. The president sat at the head table, with Admiral Stewart to one side, and Admiral Sloan seated next to the admiral. On the other side of the president were some civilians, then some generals. On Sam’s side of the table were the two from Gilbert, plus a couple of people Sam didn’t recognize.
Opposite them was a table with mostly men and only a few women jammed together.
“Sit down, people,” the President told them, but remained standing.
“There is three people that were at this table yesterday are missing today. They took it upon themselves to attempt to leak events to the press or some of their colleagues. They have been jailed for the duration. The people they talked to have also been jailed. As I said yesterday, I have authorized the military to administer enhanced interrogations, and we’re sure that we have contained the leaks.
“Don’t. That is a simple, one word command. It should be understandable to everyone here — if you don’t understand, you’ll be shown in considerable detail. Prisoners are being held in solitary, forbidden to speak to anyone. Don’t.
“We face an enemy who has launched a nuclear attack on this country. They’d previously destroyed another country with nuclear weapons. We are talking up the existence of this nation at the worst, and the deaths of tens or hundreds of millions of our citizens if we screw up even a little. I am not going to screw up.
“And, I want to make something very clear. If you dare to threaten me with your friends in the Senate and House, your contacts with the national press corps, academics and the rich and the powerful — you will ease my mind considerably about the terms of your confinement — preventing you from speaking with anyone.
“For the time being, the Director of National Intelligence will brief what is going to become a war cabinet. This is the only full briefing most of you will see. Consider that stakes if you decide to blab. Dr. Nickolas Davenport, the new Director of National Intelligence. You will note that he is different than the person who had that job yesterday. Dr. Davenport.”
“I got the Secret Service to agree to a slight dimming of the lights. I’m sorry, but because of the nature and scope of the threats against us, extra security precautions have to be taken.
“First, let me assure everyone that each and every person in this room has had a completely new security investigation carried out in the last few hours. That investigation isn’t complete in most cases. We have already questioned a number of prisoners. Many of them say they belong to what was supposed to be a cult, called the ‘Five Circles.’ Official records show this cult was founded in 1992, and is reputed to have branches in most western nations. We also suspect they have members in Russia and probably in China.
“We have detained a number of men who behave in an inappropriate manner when faced with assertive women. Our information is that this reaction is positive proof that these are the actual invaders. They may be arrogant bastards, but they sing like canaries when water boarded. Results of those interrogations are too highly classified to repeat here. Suffice to say, the worst things we’ve heard are true. Their plan is to kill every male, non-fertile woman and child on the planet, and keep the surviving women to father their children on.
“They will find the a little harder than they think.
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