Discovering Alien Technology Part Two
Copyright© 2026 by GMet
Chapter 16
Monday, June first was warm, even at six-thirty in the morning as I ran down the road with a wheeled security robot beside me and a couple drones above me at two different heights. After the attempt to abduct Reece and Sage while they were driving home after work on Friday, extra security measures were put in place for everyone. The family got the first three new vehicles made from our design and materials, simply called Addler C1, with the smaller version getting C2. We had both models quickly approved by the Ministry of Transportation after the Prime Minister requested a fast review after the attack.
Reece and Sage were fine, just a bit shook up as they never thought they would be targeted. A man in a pickup truck rammed their modified SUV and then another three men in a van drove up and tried to get the two women out of their vehicle. Fortunately for the ladies, their SUV protected them while not being as damaged as the men thought. The doors held shut, as did the windows when the men tried to shatter them with the butt ends of their assault rifles. The two security robots, travelling in the back seat, opened the back doors and quickly put all four men on the ground after disarming them. Reece called her mom and then 911 and they were quickly surrounded by several OPP cars, an ambulance and the fire department. Dad and the Moms, still at work, drove over and helped settle the ladies down and eventually take them home.
The men didn’t have any identification but were Caucasian and had some tattoos that led the authorities to presume that they were Russians. CSIS agents flew in and took over the investigation from the OPP on Saturday and met with us in the afternoon, confirming that the men flew into Toronto from Moscow and then from there to Winnipeg. They rented the two vehicles and drove to Dryden and checked into one of the new hotels two days before the attack. They didn’t have much left in their rooms, but the agents found them in their database of foreign agents and traced their movements. They suggested caution and increased security so everyone got a security robot and drones flying above their vehicles, or in my case, my jogging, fishing or swimming.
Base tracked the men back to their supervisors and found their orders to kidnap anyone close to me for leverage. The Russians got nervous when their honeypot traps couldn’t even get close to any of us, let alone seduce us, so they decided to up their game. Base sent all the info to the Prime Minister with a copy to the CSIS team on Sunday, hence the call from the PM that afternoon to warn us. I used the incident to get the approvals for the new C1 and C2 models for security reasons. This morning would be the first day that Mom, Dad and Reece would drive the three SUVs to work, after dropping the girls at school.
After my run, I had a swim in the lake in front of the house. Base had made a few aquatic security robots to monitor the lake so I had some friends swimming along, as well as flying above as I swam out to the middle and then back. After a quick shower downstairs, I made breakfast and coffee for everyone and woke all four ladies.
“You’re much too cheerful for seven-thirty in the morning,” complained Reece.
“And you four waste two hours sleeping away like bumps on a log while I exercise and get things done,” I responded with a grin. “For example, while running and swimming this morning, I came up with a design for a deep ocean explorer, using our materials and power units to make those submersibles much safer and able to easily go all the way down to the deepest part of any ocean.”
“That’s cool,” Riley said. “What made you think of doing that?”
“I was swimming with the fishes and just thought it would be cool to go see the ocean floor,” I replied. “I knew that current models aren’t hundred percent safe right now but with our better materials, we could make them much safer. I’ll have to get a design done and sent to Rachel to patent.”
“Wonderful, more work for us,” Sage complained.
I just gave her an inquiring look and she explained, “This week we’re helping her get caught up on getting all your inventions patented so people or countries don’t steal your ideas.”
“Sorry,” I responded, trying not to grin.
“You could take a break once in a while,” Reece suggested. “Let everyone catch up to you.”
“I’m on a break right now,” I told her, before taking a bite of my toast.
“A longer break than just ‘break’ fast,” Teigan said, swatting my arm.
“Well, I might take a break and play hockey in the fall,” I told them. “I’ve had some OHL teams approach me to see if I would be interested in playing. The draft is on June twelfth and thirteenth and I saw online that I’m a top ten prospect. If I declare that I’m going to play, I would probably go in the first few picks.”
They all sat up and Riley spoke up, “That would mean you’d have to live in their city. The closest team is in Sault Ste. Marie, right?”
“Yes, but they don’t pick until twelfth,” I replied. “Sudbury and North bay have teams and they pick fifth and eleventh. All the other teams are farther south, from Ottawa down to Windsor so I could go anywhere. Oshawa picks first, Erie Pennsylvania second, then Brampton and Sarnia are third and forth. The cities are all over Ontario and three are in the States.”
“You can’t go to the States,” Riley protested.
“Probably not,” I agreed. “The team that drafts me will have to take that into account I guess.”
“When would you have to go?” Teigan asked.
“Probably in August sometime, with trips before that to meet with the team, get pictures taken and find a place to stay,” I answered. “I know they usually board out of town players with families but I’m not going to want to do that.”
“You might have to emancipate yourself so you’re legally an adult or the adults will force you to live with a family,” Reece suggested. “I’m surprised you didn’t do that already, especially as you’re already living apart from your parents.”
“Never really had the need, as all the bills are paid automatically and Dad helped with the house,” I explained. “I probably should get my legal team on that soon.”
“Great, something else for us to do,” Sage groused, trying to hide a grin.
“But what about us?” Riley asked.
“I looked up last year’s schedule and they play games mostly on the weekend but sometimes on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday,” I responded. “The only days they don’t play is Monday and Tuesday, but they might be travel days as it takes a while to get to the other cities, especially on a bus. I think they sometimes fly to farther away games. The point is that I’ll be away from September until the end of March, as they have up to three games a week, all across Ontario.”
“That means you won’t be able to get back to see us much,” Teigan said, looking sad.
“Remember I have the AddlerEight, which can get me back here less than an hour, or can bring you to me,” I responded. “Yes, we’ll be apart, but with some creative scheduling, we can still see each other, especially as we play half our games at home. Most of the players still have to go to school, so there has to be some stability at home. The games during the week have to be in the evening so there will some time during the day.”
“We’re in school during the week, so it will only be on the weekend when you have home games,” Riley said. “This is going to be rough.”
“I haven’t decided if I’m going to play, but I need to let them know this week,” I told them. “I’ll have to attend the draft in Kingston on the twelfth if I decide.”
We finished our breakfast and got ready to go, with my two younger ladies depressed. We dropped them off at school and drove to the buildings in town for me to review the manufacturing lines there while the older two ladies did some work in the offices. The two car lines that made the first few C1 and C2 vehicles were still churning out cars, though slowly as they were working on one at a time rather than as an assembly line like normal vehicle were made. We would have to get another large building and put in the lines to make both models should the demand take off. I did put in a request for one of each for me personally as I would be turning sixteen in a month and a half and would need transportation once I had my first level of licence. I might have to get a waiver to get the full licence right away, but with the connections I had, that shouldn’t be too much of a problem, especially if I was emancipated.
With that in mind, I gathered the two older ladies and we drove to the spaceport. We met with the Moms and Dad and discussed emancipation as well as playing hockey and getting a licence so I could drive one of the new SUVs.
“I think you getting emancipated on your sixteenth birthday is a good idea,” Dad said before Mom could object. “You’re already living apart from us and you need to be able to deal with adults on an equal footing more and more as well as get yourself around.”
“As long as you don’t think you can take over Addler Enterprises by yourself,” Mom added.
I felt like doing my evil laugh but decided on the more mature path and replied, “Of course not, who would do all the work around here if I did that? I need all of you gainfully employed so I don’t have to take care of you in your dotage.”
So maybe not the most mature thing to say as I grinned at them.
“Maybe I was too hasty in my agreement,” Dad said, shaking his head as the others quickly agreed.
“Okay, can the legal team see what is needed for that and I’m sure we can get the Prime Minister to help speed things up if it gets bogged down,” I said, getting serious. “I’ll wait until I have that and am sixteen to get my licence and see if he can help get that turned into a full licence, maybe with the help of our contacts in the Ministry of Transportation.”
“I’ll get on it right away,” Rachel responded.
“Good, thanks,” I replied.
“Now about playing hockey, in the OHL I presume,” Dad continued. “Are you sure you want to be away from Dryden for two years? You’re not going to be able to travel back here often, maybe just on some of the holidays perhaps. You could be drafted anywhere, even in the States.”
“We’d have to meet with the league and tell them about my travel restrictions,” I responded. “I assume that the three teams in the States wouldn’t draft me, but Erie does pick second so that could be a nightmare if they decide to select me despite our request.”
“You would have to decline and not play then, unless they traded your rights away,” he said. “It would be smart of them to do that, just to get the best return.”
“Let’s talk about Addler Enterprises for a moment,” Mom spoke up. “You’ve got a lot of fires in the oven right now with the Mars mission, the Space Station build, all the bases being built on the moon and Mars, all the builds for space ships, ocean skimmers, space barges, new SUVs and accelerating all your expansions for our bases to include better security. Who is going to take over all of that?”
“No one, I’ll still be in daily contact with you and the AIs that are overseeing the robots for all the projects,” I replied. “I’ll have lots of time during the day as the games are almost all in the evening and I won’t be attending school. I can also work while travelling with just my laptop and a phone. Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to keep you all busy, especially the legal team in getting patents caught up. I’m working on deep sea submersibles next, by the way.”
“There will be times that you’ll need to be in meetings,” Dad cautioned.
“I can fly in for Monday and Tuesday meetings as they don’t usually have games then for some reason,” I responded. “If I can’t, I’d have to video conference in. Obviously, being away for so long sucks, especially in regard to my relationship with Riley and Teigan, but I’ll buy or build a house in the city that I move to and, with one of the AddlerEight available, they can visit on the weekends or I can on Monday and Tuesdays if I don’t have other commitments. I think I can make it work but I’m not going to commit until I know a bit more about all the requirements and we get some agreements in place before the draft.”
“Then we better request a meeting right away,” Dad said. “I assume you’ve done some research?”
“Yes, the head office is in Scarborough so I’ll have to fly down,” I answered. “I’ll call after we’re done here and set up an appointment. Anyone want to come?”
Mom and Dad looked at each other before Dad spoke up, “I’ll make the time to come with you as long as it’s only a day.”
“Thanks, they’ll probably want an adult there even though I could handle it myself,” I responded. “Any day that doesn’t work for you?”
“I can move things around most days so just try to give me some notice,” he replied.
“I’ll push for as soon as possible so it could be as soon as tomorrow,” I warned him. “Okay, if we don’t have anything else to discuss, I’ll make the call now.”
No one had anything at that moment so I went to my office and made the call to the Commissioner of the league, though I got through to his executive assistant. I explained who I was and that I would like to come down and have a discussion with the powers-that-be about playing this year and my unique situation. She left me on hold for a minute but came back on the line and said that Wednesday at ten in the morning would be acceptable. I thanked her and hung up before letting Dad know. We would fly up early in the morning or tomorrow evening and stay over, thereby not getting caught up in traffic in the morning. We decided on tomorrow evening and I booked a hotel just a four minute walk from their headquarters.
The rest of the day I worked on the toxic barge builds in the fields outside of the space port that we now owned. We had made some large cement pads and were building the huge flyable containers so we could maximize the amount we could haul to the sun. Some would be essentially tanks for the liquids while others would have shelfs to hold as many large containers as possible. Each would be flown out to space and then attached together so that one AddlerFour could tow them after a second one helped get them started.
I made an appearance at the training facility where all the astronauts were back from the moon and were going over experiments that their countries or Addler wanted to run during the flight and on Mars. Everyone was in good moods and were happy to talk to me, even the three from the superpowers. I hoped that everyone would keep the friendly and cooperative attitudes for the entire mission. We had decided to not send the Russian home even though we knew someone in his government had authorized the kidnapping. We did warn them that any other attempts would result in his expulsion from the mission and their Moon base would be forfeited.
We picked up the girls from the high school and had to tell them that, while I was going down south tomorrow night, the odds weren’t great that the league, let alone the teams, would be amenable to all the requirements and special circumstances that I had and needed. Riley and Teigan were still sad all during dinner and afterwards and cuddled close that night.
The next day went quick and Dad and I flew south after dinner to Toronto Pearson airport and rented a hangar for the night. We brought a few extra robots to act as security for the AddlerEight and one to stay with us in each of our rooms for the night. They would stay in the rented car for our meeting in the morning as we doubted we would have trouble in their head office. It took an hour to drive to the hotel so we were glad to have come in the night before the meeting. We took a quick walk and found the headquarters before we had a snack back in the hotel bar while watching some of the playoff hockey games. We called it a night after the first period of the game out west and went back to our rooms. I called my ladies and told them I missed them as they did me. We talked about our days and then we hung up as they were going to spend the night with their sisters.
Wednesday morning, I used the elliptical and the weight room in the hotel before Dad and I met for breakfast.
“So, what’s the plan this morning?” he asked.
“I’m going to discuss my limitations in terms of not being able to travel to the States, therefore not going to be able to be drafted by those three teams,” I replied. “I’ll also tell them about soon being emancipated so I’ll be living in my own house for security reasons. Finally, I’ll let them know that there could be times where I have to return to Dryden in case there is an emergency or important meetings that require me there in person.”
“Okay, do you think the league will go for that, let alone the teams?” he asked.
“Who knows,” I admitted. “I think it’s a long shot but thought I would try. I guess it depends on how much the league wants me as part of it – not to brag, but I’m predicting I’ll be pretty good and would attract some people to the stands. I’m not really sure if being Ben Addler of Addler Enterprises is a drawing point for hockey fans but the prospect lists have me in the top ten already. I guess we’ll see when we get there. If it doesn’t happen, I’m not going to be too disappointed. I’m sure I can find something else to keep me in shape.”
“True,” Dad agreed. “Security is a factor to consider as well. You’re not as well protected down here or on the road. You wouldn’t be alone but who knows if the people involved would worry about who got hurt during a kidnapping. I’m not sure if they’re going to allow a security robot to tag along everywhere you go.”
“More to discuss this morning I guess,” I responded. “It sounds like you don’t want me to do this anyway.”
Dad shrugged his shoulders and thought about it for a moment before replying, “Being a Canadian dad, there is a part of me that wants you to do well in the OHL and then go on to play in the NHL, but just being a dad means that I worry about you. You’re doing so much that is good for Dryden, for Canada and the entire world, but there are people who are affected by the changes your inventions are causing. Not only that, others that don’t get the benefit of those changes can and are getting angry and will take it out on you and those close to you. It might not be the best time to be away from the hive if you know what I mean.”
“Or be off playing a game while others are losing their livelihood or struggling,” I said. “That’s part of the reason I developed the health pods, to help a lot of people. We’re getting them out to more and more people every day.”
Ben, you’re doing wonderful things, and humanity is already benefiting from them,” Dad agreed. “Unfortunately it’s taking time to trickle down to everyone or getting people retrained into some other profession if their industry is hit hard by the changes. That’s not even taking into account the countries that aren’t getting the benefits either.”
“So I shouldn’t even bother trying to get them to allow me to play today,” I said, letting out a sigh.
“I’m not saying that,” Dad replied. “You’ve done enough for humanity in the last two years, it’s okay to enjoy life for a bit if you really want to. Just know, there are issues, not only to your relationship with the girls, but also with all the people who are dealing with Addler Enterprises.”
“Yeah, Riley and Teigan definitely weren’t happy with this,” I told him. “Alright, we’ll go and see what they say but I won’t put up much of a fight if they have reasons for not to be allowing me to play. This is just an exploratory conversation and the security requirements and time needed to dedicate myself to playing OHL hockey might be too much to overcome, even if they are okay with the other requirements I’ll need.”
After that, we just finished breakfast and checked out of the hotel before storing our suitcases in the rental SUV. We drove over to their headquarters and left the security robots in the vehicle while we walked inside and checked in at the first floor security desk. We were pointed to the elevators and rode up to the third floor and found their suite 300. We entered and were brought into a conference room by the receptionist where several men and women were already sitting.
Introductions were done and we had in the room the Commissioner, his Executive Assistant, along with several Vice Presidents, Directors and managers of various facets of the league.
“Thank you for seeing us on such short notice,” I said after we had all met.
“When one of the top ten prospects for our league wants to discuss things, we’re happy to meet with them,” the Commissioner responded.
“And when the Chairman of the Board and the President of Addler Enterprises want a meeting, it would be foolish of any business not to take that meeting,” the Vice President of Business Operations spoke up.
“Well, we appreciate it, none the less,” I responded. “Since you know what I do for a living, you can imagine the difficulty and restrictions that I would have in playing hockey while dealing with issues involving matters that affect the world and beyond. While I enjoy playing hockey very much and think that I would excel playing in the OHL, we are not sure that we can make it happen if you even want me in your league.”
“Of course we want you in our league, it’s the best league in the world for you to be playing in at your age and talent,” one of the other men, a director of hockey operations, said quickly. “Why don’t you give us some of the issues you see in playing for one of our teams?”
“Security is the big one, traveling to the States is also a no go due to some conflicts with them on several fronts, and the need for security robots to accompany me to the rink and while travelling to other cities,” I started. “Security needs would require me to live in my own house or condo, for the safety of potential boarding families. I’ll need to be able to handle various business needs, such as meetings with government and production teams that come up when running a large company, so I may not be able to attend all team functions during the day. I would prioritize games and practices but would need to have conference calls and perhaps fly back to Dryden for a few hours during the day. I have my own plane that can get anywhere in the province very fast, but the team would have to be aware of all of these things prior to drafting me.”
“Those are some very unique and potentially deal breakers,” the Commissioner spoke up.
“Yes they are, thus the meeting request,” I replied. “We thought it best to get everything on the table and either work things out or withdraw my name from the draft.”
“Would one of your parents be joining you in relocating to the city of the team that drafted you?” a woman who was in charge of the education program.
“No, I already live in my own house,” I replied. “I’m working on emancipation for when I turn sixteen next month so I won’t need an adult to sign for anything or be responsible for me. Obviously, I don’t need to go to school so that’s not an issue either, neither is payment. We would have to discuss media and use of my name and image over and above normal team pictures and game interviews.”
Everyone was quiet for a bit, looking around at each other.
“I see that you’re really not sure how to handle such a unique case,” I spoke up after a lengthy pause. “Why don’t we address what is probably the biggest obstacle, having three teams that can’t draft me and the fact that I can’t travel to play in those three cities. Is that a deal breaker in itself? I can’t imagine those three teams would just accept not being able to draft me, even if they had no plans to draft me at their position in the draft.”
“That is a big issue,” the Commissioner agreed. “Add in the security requirements as well as the safety of those around you and it’s looking bleak at first glance. Can anyone see a solution to these three issues? The rest are not as monumental, comparatively speaking.”
It was silent for a few moments until an older man spoke up, “There is no way he could be drafted fairly. He would have to be a walk on at a later point, to a team that will accept his limitations and the risks. Even then, they would have to have some sort of motivation to do that.”
“That is a possibility,” the Commissioner agreed after mulling it over. “I’m sure you could come up with something to motivate a particular team if you really wanted to play.”
“Any rules against an owner playing for his own team?” I asked.
“As long as they meet the age requirements and pass the health exams, then no,” he replied. “I know of no team that wants to sell but a few might take on minority owners for an influx of money. Let us know if you’re interested and we can make inquires and let you know. We would stay out of the negotiations but would need to know if you do become a minority owner and at what percentage.”
“Understood,” I responded. “The rest of the issues would be more of a team issue, except for security at the arenas, correct?”
“If you’re emancipated and have a high school degree, then we don’t have an issue with you living by yourself and not going to school,” the woman spoke up.
“Everyone has to go through screening at each arena but we don’t have security staff that could deal with an armed kidnapping or worse, an attack on you,” the Commissioner added. “I did read that your robots foiled a kidnapping of two of your family members without resorting to gunfire. If they were stationed outside the locker room, they could keep you safe in the locker room while also being close to the rink itself if there was an attack on you while on the ice. Your team would have to agree to them being on site and travelling with you while we would make allowances at other arenas.”
I looked at Dad to see if he had any other issues. He shook his head.
“Alright, we have lots to discuss and ponder,” I said to the room. “If you could get me the list of potential teams willing to take on a part owner, we will wait until after the draft to approach them, should we go further with this. Please put out the appropriate communication that I won’t be available for the draft but we will need to keep the potential of partial ownership to yourselves as it’s a long shot at best.”
“Understood,” the Commissioner responded. “Let me just say that we would welcome Addler as a partner in our league and you as a player if the various issues can be resolved.”
“Thank you for your time and your willingness to discuss our options,” Dad said as we stood up.
We shook hands all around before leaving their offices and the building.
“That went better than expected, especially at the end,” Dad spoke up once we were in the rental.
“Yes, though the cost of an OHL team is somewhere between fifteen to twenty million, depending on the team and the location,” I told him. “Buying a ten percent portion would be a couple million at least, and up to ten for at most half ownership. I know I have the money but it seems a tad expensive just to play hockey for a couple of years.”
“If you wanted to play in the NHL, you would have to sell that ownership before the draft in two years so you’d probably get most of that back,” Dad noted as we started the drive to the airport. “And playing in the OHL is probably the best way to get drafted into the NHL.”
We discussed the pros and cons along the way and then were quiet as traffic got worse. I conferred with Base and he said he was doing some research to see what teams had financial issues. Once we returned the car, we walked to the private section of the airport and boarded AddlerEight, already backed out of the hangar by our robot pilots. It took another twenty-five minutes to get into the queue before we could take off. It took less time to get to Dryden then waiting to take off.
We spent some time going through the hangars and builds at the space port before he dropped me at home and said the older sisters would pick up the younger ones in their new C1.
“Thanks for coming with me, I really appreciate it,” I told him.
“No problem, it’s not often we can do things for you anymore so I enjoyed it,” he replied. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Sounds good,” I responded before he drove off.
I putzed around with a small model of the submersible that Base had built from our designs while I was away. It was remote controlled so I turned on the outer lights and cameras after a couple of robots helped me get it into the water and took it to the deepest point of the lake. I watched on the views with the remote control tablet and then had it skimming along the bottom for the entire length of the lake. I had just gotten it back onto the dock with the robots’ help when the two pairs of sisters came down to see what I was doing.
“Ladies, looking gorgeous as always,” I said with a smile. “You should get into your swimsuits and we can frolic in the water before I put some sunscreen on you.”
The two younger ladies were in jean shorts and tops while the older one were still in their work outfits of skirts and blouses.