Chapter 19

It was apparent that Paul’s mind had wandered off somewhere. He looked like I felt: pulled through a wringer. In a mild voice, I said, “We still have a bit to talk about, Paul.”

“Yes, we do. My mind is running around in circles right now, Jeb. I was picturing what the media might do with Directive 1495, and it wasn’t a pretty picture. What do you want to address first?”

“There is too much for us to discuss if we try to cover everything before tomorrow, so I suggest we limit it to three topics: long range plans for the negotiations, tomorrow’s reception of the Altairian’s delegation, and the first meeting with the President’s representatives. How does that sound?”

“It sounds like a full day of discussion to me, Jeb. However, I think we should limit our discussion of long range plans to the basics that need attention right now.”

“I agree. That was my intent. Hopefully, all we will need to do is hit the high points. Once the Altairians arrive and the first meeting is over, we can get into detailed discussions about our plans and the rest of the things we need to address.

“I suppose the easiest to address is tomorrow’s reception of the Altairians. Mary informed me of the general plan, but I haven’t heard what your plan is for greeting them, Paul.”

“My plan, Jeb? I understood this would be the Facilitators meeting the Altairian delegation. What do you want us to do to support you?”

“Ah ... I thought Earth was greeting them, not me personally. I don’t know where to even start, Paul. What is the normal protocol for something like this?”

“To start with, Jeb, nothing like this has ever happened that I can recall. But, if we treat it like a Diplomatic Reception, then our planning should probably begin with where the four shuttles are to land. From what I’ve been told, their approach is being worked out between the Altairians and the President. I was told there would be four shuttles. Their command shuttle will have their delegation on board. The remaining three shuttles will be support personnel, supplies, and equipment.

“The first thing we need to determine, Jeb, is where you and your ladies will be standing when you meet the Altairians. Mike, Aaron, and I will stand behind your party. Mike’s people can form an honor guard for their delegation to pass through. We can determine where their Command Shuttle needs to land from that information. The President informed me they will be accompanied by an unarmed escort; therefore, our honor guard should also be unarmed. I suspect their escort will exit and form up as an honor guard for their delegates to pass through. Mike will have to leave enough space between his peoples’ lines for them to form their lines. I expect their representatives to pass through their lines and greet you. After the initial meeting, I would expect you to invite all of us back into the house. Once there, they will want to talk with you about whatever. After that, we can all relax and get to know each other.

“Their support shuttles are another matter. Will the subsequent meetings be held here on the farm or elsewhere?”

“I’m planning on here. If we need more space, then we will make other arrangements.”

“Okay, then the first thing to decide is the number of delegates that will attend each meeting and where on the farm the meeting is to be held?”

I said, “Madge, get on your computer and tell me how many countries there are in the world.”

Paul said, “Jeb, if I might make a suggestion. I would only include delegates from nations that are members of the United Nations. I happen to know there are slightly under two hundred member nations in the UN. If we assume two delegates per nation, probably one in favor of the agreement and one opposed to it, we will have less than four hundred delegates plus their support personnel.”

“Forget it, Madge. Four hundred sounds good for planning purposes.

“All right, Paul, if we assume one support person per delegate, we can give each delegate a five-foot folding table and two chairs. With a bit of space between tables, we will need an area around one hundred and fifty feet wide and three hundred feet deep. That should be adequate for their tables and chairs, and a stage for my people and staff.

“Madge, start a list of supplies that we will need. So far I think we will need a circus tent big enough to cover a one hundred and fifty foot by three hundred foot area, four hundred and fifty folding tables, and nine hundred folding chairs. Oh yeah, add in porta-potties also.”

Paul asked, “Why so many extra tables and chairs, Jeb?”

“My people will need some, and I can give the media a few for their use. We can adjust the number needed as our plans become more detailed. Madge, add a second small tent for the media.

“Mike is on the north side of the house, Paul, so let’s make the large area to the south of the house our meeting area. The only other area suitable for the Altairian party is the far northern patch on the other side of Mike’s people. Should we move Mike’s people to the far north area and locate the shuttles closer to the house?”

“Humm ... no, I don’t think so, Jeb. For security purposes, it would probably be better to have Mike’s people between their living area and the general meeting area and especially the media’s area, which I assume will be near the delegates’ meeting area.”

I asked, “Won’t that leave the perimeter of the Altairian’s living area exposed, Paul?”

“No, Jeb. Mike’s people will be patrolling the entire perimeter of your farm. They will protect the Altairian camp, and I would expect the Altairians will also post a guard detail. That should probably be one of the topics for tomorrow’s discussion with their representatives. If things go well tomorrow, you might want to suggest that the Altairian escort be armed with personal weapons just in case someone gets through Mike’s people. It would be a disaster if some armed idiot were to attack an unarmed Diplomatic party.

“I’ll have Mike mark the four shuttle landing locations with orange cones, if you can give me the dimensions of their shuttles. He can have several of his people act as wing-walkers to direct the shuttles to the landing areas. Once they are down, their support people can set up their camp, and the Command Shuttle can move to its parking location later.

“Now what are you going to do about the media that shows up to cover the Altairians’ arrival?”

“Media? As far as I know, neither we nor the President has divulged where the Altairians will land. Until then, the media shouldn’t know where to go.”

“Jeb, I’ve met a few guys who are in the FBI and CIA. They told me that they wished their intelligence gathering capability was as good as that of the American media. By now, I suspect the American media knows the Altairians will land somewhere in the Seattle area. The presence of a company of US soldiers here on your farm is going to get out. The media will add two plus two, and decided to pay you a visit sometime today. Once they decide your farm is where the Altairians will land, every reporter on the planet interested in covering their arrival will be headed to Seattle.”

“Okay, Paul. It’s evident that the media will be here. How should we handle them?”

“With disposable gloves, Jeb. But I suppose that would depend on whether you wanted them friendly toward you.”

“Let’s go with friendly for now. We can always do hostile later, if necessary.”

“Okay, Jeb, set up a tent for them near Mike’s people well away from where you will put the circus tent. Feeding them would be nice; but if it were me, I wouldn’t feed them. Let them go into town to eat. In fact, I wouldn’t cater to them at all, other than giving them the use of a tent and a few tables and chairs during the meetings. If Earth’s government representatives get upset with your media arrangements, you can always tell them that the media is not subject to your schedule and security concerns, so the media can come and go at will.”

“What about room reservations for the President’s representatives?”

Paul paused for a few moments and then with a rather large smile on his face, he said, “The politicians the President will send are supposedly big boys who are quite capable of taking care of themselves. They almost always do a good job of that, so I suspect they have rooms booked by now. If not, they can always stay in the Bachelor Officers Quarters at Lewis-McCord and commute between there and here. I doubt they will want to stay in a tent with us military types.

“I don’t know about you and your ladies, Jeb, but other than coffee, you four haven’t eaten breakfast and Aaron and I managed to choke down some cold MREs around five this morning. If there is a good breakfast spot around here, I’ll buy. Although, considering the time, we might consider an early lunch.”

Looking at Alicia, I asked, “Eat in or go out?”

Alicia responded with, “Everything considered, it would probably be better for us to go out. The Denny’s in Everett is about a fifteen-minute drive, and I think they have a dining area for group meetings, so we can talk while eating. If Paul is right, it is already too late to keep everything secret, so if our servers pick up on what we are discussing, it shouldn’t hurt things.”

“I guess we will be eating out, Paul. Denny’s okay with you and Aaron?”

“Sure, our families eat there frequently back home.”

“Might I suggest we take Mike with us. He will need to be aware of what is going to happen tomorrow and the day after that.”

“Good idea, Jeb. It would probably be a good idea also if the three of us are in civvies, so give us about thirty minutes to find our bags and change; then we will be ready to go.”

Thirty minutes later, we left. I drove Paul and Alicia to Denny’s and on the way, Alicia fulfilled her duties as my navigator. Phyllis took Madge, Aaron, and Mike in her car. Aaron said he would fill Mike in on our current plans for the Altairians’ arrival tomorrow during the trip.

An hour later, we were seated in an unused portion of Denny’s dining area. We had our coffees in front of us and had given Katie, our server, our orders.

“Paul, for now, I think we should focus on the structure of the first and second sets of meetings rather than their content.”

“Yes, that would probably be for the best.

“We should plan on two Altairians, twelve Presidential representatives, and the four of you Facilitators for the first meeting, Jeb. It may be crowded, but you should be able to meet in your house. The representatives’ support people can fit in wherever there is room.

For the second set of meetings, Jeb, I would say you should set a maximum limit of two delegates per country, as you mentioned earlier; one for and one against the agreement. You should also set a limit of one support person per delegate.”

Madge beat me to it when she asked, “Why do we need to do that?”

Paul said, “Well, two delegates per nation are enough to present their country’s two viewpoints. The types of people who will be delegates are influenced by their cultures, and a lot of them are on ego trips. If there is no limit set for support staff, they will want twenty or more support people to impress the other delegates with how important they are.”

Phyllis asked, “How many support people are really needed, Paul?”

“I would say two to four, Phyllis. The more complex the issues become the larger the support staff necessary to keep each delegate on track. I get by with just Aaron, but I’m not a policymaker. If I were, I would need more than one aide.”

I thought about it and said, “The second set of meetings will be focused on giving the delegates information about why a third meeting should be held. The delegates will need a larger staff. What do you think of two delegates per nation with each delegate having two support people for the second meeting? We can go with the same number of delegates for the third meeting, but increase their support personnel to four or possibly five, if needed.”

“That sounds like a good idea, Jeb. However, I would start out presenting it as one support person per delegate for the second meeting and two for the third. During next week’s meeting, the President’s representatives will want more support people than you suggest, so you can give them more without exceeding the maximum you want them to have.”

“Sounds good to me, Paul. Did you get that down, Madge?”

“Got it, Jeb. That sounds like the strategy I recommend to my clients when negotiating the sale or purchase of a home.”

Aaron said, “Sounds like you are a real estate agent, Madge.”

“Yes, I have my own business in Kenmore.”

“I guess the President’s people will be going up against a pro, Paul.”

Madge said, “Now don’t try to soften me up for them, Aaron. I side with Jeb for these meetings and he will get my best effort.”

I said, “Hey you two, we don’t want this to become an adversarial relationship. I want us to work with the President’s people.”

Paul said, “I agree, Jeb. But, I don’t think Aaron or Madge meant it that way.”

“I know. I think he was teasing Madge and she took it that way.

“All right, it seems as if we fully covered the basics of tomorrow’s reception of the Altairian delegation.”

Phyllis asked, “Jeb, we will need to feed our guests. Can they eat the same food as we do?”

Mary said, “Jeb, the Altairians are human the same as you are. They eat the same types of food as Earth people eat, although a few of your dishes will probably be new to them. An assortment of sandwich fixings and side dishes will be more than adequate for tomorrow.”

“Good point, Phyllis. Mary just told me, sandwich fixings and side dishes should be fine for lunch tomorrow. I think we should plan on a sit-down dinner for tomorrow night. For the day after that, we will need to have a caterer supply a buffet luncheon for the first meeting. I’m thinking of an initial spread of pastries, a fruit bowl, and drinks for our guests followed by a light buffet meal.”

Madge was taking notes on her laptop, so she jotted that down.

“Madge, Phyllis, arrangements for a caterer is an action item for the two of you to address. Any other minor items that we overlooked?”

After waiting a few moments, I said, “Well if anyone thinks of something later, let us know. Now, what are we to do in this first meeting with the President’s representatives?

“Alicia, if you will link with Mary for this discussion and let us know what she thinks, I’ll just coordinate everything while Madge takes notes.”

Phyllis smiled and said, “Looks like I don’t have anything to do, Jeb.”

“Yes you do, Phyllis. Alicia will be presenting the Altairian viewpoint and Paul will represent the President’s, so that leaves you to represent our viewpoint as Facilitators.”

“Me, I thought you were going to do that.”

“I’ll help.

“Which brings me to two questions regarding the meetings: First, how much power will we, as the Facilitators, have to make decisions, and second, how will we enforce our decisions?”

Paul said, “That is a question that you will need to address in the first meeting.

“At first, you will have very little power other than what the President gives you in her instructions to her representatives, and your position as the Altairians’ moderators.

“The terms agreed to in the meeting are what will give you your power in that and subsequent meetings. Be sure that those terms define what you can do with and without justification.”

Madge said, “That doesn’t sound proper to me. We should be accountable for our actions, and we should not be doing something without justification.”

“Yes, you’re correct, Madge,” Paul said. “You shouldn’t do something without justification; that is not proper in our society. Unfortunately, Earth has societies that will use your sense of fair play against you. As a Facilitator, you will find yourselves in situations where a decision is needed and you don’t have the facts to justify your decision. Furthermore, keep in mind that as the Facilitators, you cannot justify your decision once you announce the decision. You would lose the respect of many delegates, and then you would have difficulty controlling the meeting. It is acceptable, however, to briefly mention why you are making a decision when you announce it. You know, something like ‘You agreed to X, Y, and Z, Mister Delegate. You violated X therefore you are expelled from these negotiations’.”

Madge said, “Ah, I see what you mean, Paul.”

“I don’t think there will be any need to enforce a decision in this first set of meetings. However in subsequent meetings, you will need a Sergeant-at-Arms. I am quite certain that Mike can supply six or eight large, capable Rangers to fill your need. True, Mike?”

“Oh, yes. The hard part will be to ensure the delegates aren’t harmed in the process of being escorted out of the meeting. My guys aren’t trained to wear velvet gloves, and no one has issued them a pair either.”

I said, “If I understand you correctly, Paul. You think this first meeting will be us simply sitting down and deciding on things like an agenda for the second and third meetings, number of delegates and support people, the future meetings’ protocols, and similar items.”

“Yes, that is probably a close assessment of what you will need to discuss with the President’s people, Jeb. What about the Altairians, Alicia?”

“Mary said that sounded about right to her. She did suggest two things for the second meeting. The first thing is that when we invite the nations to send delegates, we also provide them with a briefing paper that describes why the Altairians believe this Alliance Agreement will be a good thing for our planet. That should help expedite the second meeting. The second thing is we need to define a means for the delegates to notify us of whether they want to meet with us to negotiate an agreement. In other words, how are we to decide if a third meeting is necessary?”

Paul said, “Both sound like good suggestions, Alicia. What did Mary mean by how will we decide if a meeting should be held. It seems clear that a majority of the nations should be the deciding factor.”

“She suggested a couple of other ways to make that decision, Jeb. One way is to use a weighted voting system by adjusting the weight of each nation’s vote based on world population. A second weighting factor could be the level of manufactured goods each nation produces. Those weighting factors would give some countries more say in the decision than others. She said, she can think of other weighting factors that could be used to make the decision, like the average citizen’s education level.”

I said, “Let’s not go there right now, Alicia. We can discuss things like that in our meeting the day after tomorrow.”

“True, but Mary asked if the US should be making that type of decision for all of Earth. Shouldn’t we decide that in the second meeting?

I responded, “Yes, I think she’s right. The second meeting is the right time to do that. Mary, if you haven’t done it, start an agenda of topics to be addressed in the second and third meetings.”

By the time we finished discussing the first set of meetings, we had finished the meals our server Katie had brought us. She had also made several trips back to replenish our water glasses and coffee mugs. When she brought the check, I told Paul his money was no good. I explained that this was part of the effort that the Altairians had arranged for us to pay for. I really wasn’t thinking when I said that to Paul; for Katie was standing beside me at the time.

Katie’s eyes went wide and she asked, “Are you talking about the aliens up in orbit?”

Me and my big mouth! “Er ... yes.”

“I was sort of curious about the bits and pieces I heard when I brought you more water and coffee. I thought you were like my other customers who have been talking about the Altairians. There have been a lot of guesses about what was going on. I thought you were just talking in general about what might be happening. But you were planning the meetings. Weren’t you?”

Paul just shrugged his shoulders when I looked at him, then he said, “Well, if the cat wasn’t out of the bag, it is now.”

I turned to Katie and said, “Yes, Katie, that is what we were doing.”

I glanced at Alicia as I handed Katie my credit card, and I asked, “Well, Alicia, do we need to beam Katie up to the spaceship like the others?”

Katie jaw dropped open in shock and Alicia quickly said, “He’s just teasing you, Katie. We haven’t beamed anyone up to the spaceship. In fact I don’t think the Altairians have a Star Trek transporter. And for you, Mister Connor, you can just give this woman a real good tip for putting up with your scaring her half to death.”

“Okay, Alicia. In fact, we may be able to go one-step further. Katie, if you will go run my card, I want to ask Paul about something.”

As Katie left, I turned to Paul and said, “I like to control things that happen around me, Paul, if I can do it. You said the media would probably be coming out to our place sometime later today. What if we suggest to Katie that she sell my name and the fact that we have a farm just off Lowell Snohomish River Road just a bit northwest of Snohomish to the local press? I’m guessing they will be out there within two hours.

“Since they are going to be there anyway, it will give Katie a chance to make some money and it should get them there in time for us to deal with their arrival.”

Alicia said, “I sort of like that idea, Jeb.”

Paul added, “A small group of media will be relatively easy to deal with right now. If you use them as a means of letting the rest of the press ... who will show up in the next twelve or so hours ... know that you will not make statements to the media until after the Altairians have arrived, that should make you popular with the local media. It will also put the rest of the media on notice that you will not meet with them just because they want to talk with you. But that is a hardline approach, so be sure to follow through on that if you decide to go that route.

“Mike, when we get back, make sure your people are ready to repel intruders without shooting them. Shooting them is a last resort option, and it is right after bayoneting them. If either happens, we will both lose the brownie points the President gave us when I talked with her earlier. Oh, yes; before I forget it, again, she told me to let you know that Captain Lovett did an outstanding job getting here as fast as he did.

“If you aren’t aware of it, she makes it a habit to learn specifically who does the tasks she assigns and see they get credit for a job well done. She also lets people know when they didn’t perform to her expectations, so we all need to stay on her good side. She told us she would be out here tomorrow to talk with us before the meeting. I suppose you can expect a few Secret Service types to come here to check things out before her arrival. Make sure your people don’t talk about her coming here to the press, or to anyone else.”

When Katie brought the check for me to sign, I added a hefty tip. Then I said, “Katie, don’t tell anyone but we are expecting the press to show up at my home sometime today or tomorrow. It would be better for us if they make their appearance early this afternoon.

“We were wondering if you might like to collect a finder’s fee from the media. You could call them and let them know that the Altairians’ Facilitators just left Denny’s to go home and prepare for the Altairians’ arrival tomorrow. Tell them you know the lead Facilitator’s name and his address from his credit card information. If they doubt you, tell them about this conversation and let them know I won’t talk with them if you aren’t paid first.

“Negotiate a good price for that information, and be sure they pay you in cash. They will probably want you to reveal my name and location before they pay you. Here is my cell phone number. Don’t give them that number! Just call me as soon as they pay you and leave, so I will know they are on the way. If they don’t pay you, call and let me know. I won’t talk with them if they stiff you.”

On the way home, Alicia asked, “What if she doesn’t call, Jeb. What are you going to do?”

“In that case, Alicia, I will probably talk to the reporters. The way I see it, she may not call the media or the media may already know how to reach us and in those cases, they won’t make a deal with Katie. If they make a deal, and stiff Katie, she will call to make sure I don’t talk with them. So if she doesn’t call like I asked, I’ll talk with them.”

When we got home, I summarized our first two topics and then we started making long-range plans for the negotiations.

Paul asked, “I’m curious about your arrangements for the negotiations, Jeb. From what I know, these are probably the most important meetings to be held in the last thousand years. Yet, you are talking about a drafty circus tent, folding tables and chairs, and porta-potties for the delegates. Not that I’m objecting, but it doesn’t make any sense to me to treat the delegates in that fashion. Why?”

“Paul, you said it yourself a while ago. Think about the types of people they will be sending us. They are likely to be arrogant, full of their own self-importance, want to be catered to, and want attention. Now add in that these negotiations are going to be high profile events. We could have a major problem.

“I took Modern History in college. One of the topics we studied was the Paris Peace Accords that eventually resulted in an end to the Vietnam War. According to my professor, the delegates to the negotiations fought for over six months about whether they should be seated at a round or square table. I remember him saying that if those delegates had been required to sit in a drafty, unheated circus tent on uncomfortable metal chairs during a French winter, the negotiations would have been finished before spring. Instead, it took them five years to reach an agreement to stop the fighting in Vietnam. I’m going to take a lesson from history because I and the Altairians want to complete the negotiations as quickly as possible.

“Between you, me, and the fencepost, Paul, I want to make their stay here as unpleasant as possible. They may get a lot of attention, but the poorer the living conditions I can arrange for these delegates, the better. If I can do that, I figure that they will want to finish the negotiations, so they can get out of here as quickly as possible. However, I also realize we have to give the appearance of treating them in the best possible fashion. Do you have any ideas?”

“That is rather devious, Jeb, but I like it. You mentioned the need to make reservations for the President’s delegation as soon as possible before all the rooms were reserved. With all the media flying in to cover the negotiations, all of the local hotel rooms will be reserved. That means most of the delegates are going to have a big problem finding a place to stay within a reasonable commute time of your farm. With all of the diplomatic level people that will be in the area, the US Government will need to make security arrangements for them, so some xenophobic wacko with a gun doesn’t shoot a pro-Altairian delegate at their hotel or some local restaurant.

“Now Lewis-McChord is about an hours commute from here. I doubt that it has enough quarters for all the people who will be attending the negotiations and the mess halls would have a hard time feeding that many additional people. In fact, if the base commander was given enough notice most of the available housing might become unavailable and one of the mess halls might have to shut down for repairs or for some health related reason.

“So, Jeb, if the delegates’ welfare and security were at stake and they couldn’t locate housing elsewhere, the President could order the people at Lewis-McChord to set up a tent city and a field kitchen to support the foreign representatives. Sleeping in a canvas tent with wooden floors and eating in a field kitchen should expedite your negotiations. Your won’t have adequate parking, so she could also provide transportation to and from the farm. Perhaps something like the trucks our people arrived in. Unfortunately, that is probably going too far. I suppose we will have to use something like buses; school buses would be the best choice.

Paul said, “It would be a lot of work to do something like that, Jeb; but yes, it would be very doable. The base commander would undoubtedly get a lot of complaints, but those can be handled. We should mention this to the President during our talks, so she can start preparing for a sudden unanticipated problem with housing for the delegates. She doesn’t like to be blindsided by something like this, but when she understands why the arrangements need to be in place, I think she will support our efforts to complete the negotiation in record time.”

“I like your idea, Paul. Here at the farm, I don’t want to be constantly walking through mud and tracking it into the house during our rainy season. Perhaps the circus tent needs a wooden floor. A wooden walkway to the house and parking area would also be a good idea. Now that I think of it, we are going to need some ventilation in the tent or else it will get really stuffy in there.

“Madge, add wooden flooring, walkways, and some of those big blowers to your list, but no heaters or air conditioners. We will also need some lighting so we can see what we are doing. That means we need a power source. We need to make arrangements with PUD for a power pole and breaker box near where we want the tent set up and an electrician for installing the electrical runs to wherever they are needed.”

Aaron interrupted and asked, “Jeb, what is PUD?”

“Oh. We are in Snohomish County and our electricity is provided by the Snohomish County Public Utilities Department, but everyone around here just calls it PUD.

“Now during the meetings, we can start at eight in the morning and go to six at night with an hour break for lunch. Since that isn’t enough time for the representatives to go into town to eat, I was thinking of feeding them something like MREs for lunch. What do you think, Paul?”

“I think that I don’t ever want to get you upset with me, Jeb. Personally, it couldn’t happen to a more appropriate group of people. However ... I do think MREs would be going too far. Everyone would know you had it in for them, and they would scream about your inhumane treatment of them. I can identify with those feelings for at times, we Army types have to live on MREs.

“About the only thing I can think of that might make things worse for them here, is two days before you set up the tent, spread a nice thick layer of fresh manure where you plan to set up the tent and turn the soil over. Unfortunately, with our people here, no one is going to just walk onto the farm and do something like that. People would know it was a deliberate act and you would have problems.”

We continued talking about things that needed to be addressed in advance of holding the two main negotiation meetings. Until now, I didn’t realize how many things needed to be done, and how long it would take to do some of them. Late that evening, I finally said, “I don’t know about you gentlemen, but I’m tired. We all have a big day tomorrow, so I think I’ll go to bed and get some sleep. The three of you are welcome to join us for breakfast.”

Mike said, “I would be happy to join you, Jeb, but I need to be with my people tomorrow morning. We have a number of items to organize before the shuttles land. Have a good night, and I will see you after breakfast.”

We ended our meeting. Before breaking up, Madge printed out a copy of her notes for each of us. She hadn’t taken notes when we were talking about Directive 1495, so we were safe there.

“All right, ladies. Now that they are gone, we need to have a brief talk before going to bed. Today has been too chaotic for us to talk about our relationship. I’m in favor of the four of us living together as man and wife. Do any of you have a problem with entering into a quad relationship?”

Phyllis said, “I’m not sure if that is a good idea, Jeb. Alicia, Madge, and I were able to talk about it briefly. They are okay with the idea, but I’m worried about several things. Our age difference for one, and while I definitely like the three of you, I’m not sure I love you.”

I responded, “I can understand that, Phyllis. The age difference doesn’t bother me. We don’t have to force the relationship into existence. In time, I think we will be comfortable with each other. I’m more concerned with the idea of being in a relationship with someone I don’t love. I love Alicia, and I am very fond of you and Madge. As we get to know each other, I believe we will come to love one another, even without sex influencing us. What do you think, Madge?”

“I agree, Jeb. I’ve liked and respected Phyllis and Alicia for several years. I can see myself coming to love both of them and you rather quickly. I may never feel the sense of being in love, but I think I will be very happy with all of you.”

Alicia added to my comment with, “Mom, as you said earlier, you and I would both be very uncomfortable having sex with each other, and I don’t think either of us is really comfortable with the idea of having sex with Madge. You always told me a relationship is more than just sex. Can you see yourself having sex with Jeb? I’m surprised at myself, but the idea of sharing Jeb with the two of you doesn’t bother me. I think the four of us can form a good relationship, and I’m in favor of us doing so.”

Phyllis looked at Madge, who said, “I’m willing to try it, Phyllis. We can go slow and just let the relationship develop naturally. If it doesn’t, and someone wants to drop out, that shouldn’t be a problem for there will be no legal agreement that will stop us from going our separate ways. Of course, we will have to track the financial aspects of our relationship, so no one goes away feeling cheated in case we do have a problem and have to split up our business interests.”

“All right, if the three of you want to give it a go, I’ll join you. It will definitely change my relationship with the two of you and with Jeb.”

I said, “Okay. Since we all agree, I suggest that we all start using the last name of Connor. If necessary, the three of you can have your last names legally changed to Connor later, but it is important that we use Connor around the media. We don’t want them hearing Creswell and linking us to Alicia’s lottery prize.”

Alicia and I paused for a moment, then I said, “Mary just contacted Alicia and me to tell us she would suppress any thought of the name Creswell in our minds and the minds of the media reporters. Hopefully, that will help us with that problem. All we need to do is let Paul, Aaron, and Mike know that from now on we want them to refer to us by the last name of Connor.

“Let’s get ready and go to bed. I’m tired even if I’m not sleepy.”

Alicia decided to let me sleep in while she, Madge, and Phyllis started breakfast. Alicia sent Madge into the bedroom to get me up so I could clean up and dress before Paul and Aaron arrived. I found it rather pleasant to have Madge stretch out beside me and wake me with a long, slightly passionate kiss. That kiss suggested a very passionate woman, who would be making my day anytime I was interested in a bit of slap and tickle.

“Come on, Jeb. Alicia says you have fifteen minutes to get ready before Paul and Aaron get here.”

“I’ll try, but it is going to be difficult to get out of bed with you in bed with me; and after that kiss, I really don’t want you to get up.”

“Tough shit, Sherlock. Alicia wants me back in the kitchen to help finish making breakfast, while Phyllis sets the table and runs the toaster.”

“Oh, all right. We are going to have to pursue the promise you made with that kiss when we have time.”

Paul and Aaron arrived before I made it out to the living room, but that was only due to their arriving ten minutes early. I should have expected it, but I was surprised by their being dressed in their Class A uniforms. For civilians like me, that meant Army Dress Uniforms. I was curious about the ribbons they wore, but decided it wouldn’t be appropriate to ask them about their awards now. I would wait until I knew them better before I asked that question.

After breakfast, I volunteered to load the dishwasher and clean up the kitchen, while my three wives went to get ready for our busy day. It was going to take a while for me to automatically think wife, instead of girlfriend, friend, or mother-in-law. Paul and Aaron volunteered to help with the dishes, but I suggested they let me do it so they didn’t get dirty. I had on casual clothes and would change later.

Yesterday, my wives had spent a good bit of time deciding what they and I should wear today. As I was finishing in the kitchen, Alicia came in and gave me a kiss before joining Paul and Aaron. Alicia let me know I still had plenty of time to get ready for she had laid out my suit, shirt, tie, and socks; I left to go clean up and dress. When I rejoined everyone, Aaron was missing.

“Where’s Aaron?”

“I asked him to check with Mike and have him contact the Control Tower at the air base. I want to know the status of our guests’ arrival.”

We sat and talked about everything we could think of except for the negotiations and our upcoming meeting with the Altairians. That conversation didn’t last long for Aaron returned and said, “Sir, the Altairian pilot contacted the Control Tower to inform them they would be making a gradual spiral descent so they don’t alarm our pilots. That was five minutes ago, and radar shows that they are at altitude and about to meet our aircraft. The Alpha and Bravo flight leaders reported having them in sight, and they have displayed no aggressive action.”

“Good. Did they give us an estimated time of arrival?”

“Yes, sir. The Alpha Flight leader estimates them to be fifteen minutes out.”

“Thank you, Aaron. Let Mike know that we will be out in a moment and he needs to get our honor guard into position.

We had explained the change in our relationship during breakfast, so Paul said, “Jeb, it sounds as if they are almost here. Are you and your new wives ready?”

Everyone smiled and nodded yes, so I said, “We’re ready, Paul. I guess we should get in position.”

Once we were in position in front of the porch, we watched the horizon for the appearance of the shuttles. As we were waiting, Paul said, “Thank you, Jeb, for suggesting we not give them a 21-gun salute. I didn’t think of it, but you were right that they might take that the wrong way. I would hate to blow it all by doing some silly little thing like that.”

“You’re welcome, Paul. We could have contacted them and let them know what our tradition is, but it is probably better this way. Once everyone has loosened up, we can explain it to them and then do it the next time.”

Mike had maintained contact with the control tower, so he said, “General, the tower is reporting them three minutes out. My people are in position and ready to form the reception lines as soon as the shuttles land; all is going according to plan.”

“Good, have your people keep a close eye on that media delegation. I don’t want them interfering by rushing the Altairian delegates. If they step out of the designated area without permission subdue them quickly, and try to avoid seriously injuring them.”

“Yes, sir. Per your instructions we only allowed a dozen of them through our perimeter. They picked who would represent them, and we made it clear what might happen to them if they left the area we designated for their use. I assigned my ten best hand-to-hand troops to monitor them. Any one of my people can put down five of them with no problem.”

Phyllis pointed and said, “Is that them down low on the horizon?”

Paul and Aaron looked, and Paul said, “Yeah, I think that’s them.”

Paul turned to me, and said, “You’re on, Jeb. It’s time for you to greet your guests.”

The first shuttle, which according to the plan was to be the command shuttle, came in low and slow. Mike had one of his Sergeants giving hand signals to maneuver the pilot to where he was to set down. When the Sergeant signaled to stop and set down, the shuttle pilot rotated the shuttle in a hundred and eighty degree turn and settled in place with its ramp facing us. The next three shuttles moved in and set down in the area we decided should be their living area. Once the four shuttles were down, we heard the command shuttle’s pilot power down his engines. The other three reduced their power to a bare idle.

Now that the command shuttle was on the ground, Captain Mike Lovett gave the order and his Rangers’ formed two lines about thirty feet apart facing each other. Alicia, Madge, Phyllis, and I moved to our positions with Paul and Aaron taking their positions behind us. As the ramp lowered, Captain Lovett ordered his men to come to Attention and to Present Arms; at that command the soldiers raised their hands in salute and held the salute.

Thirteen Altairian military personnel, male and female, dressed in fancy uniforms marched down the ramp in two columns of six and one soldier in what must be their version of formal dress uniform at the rear of their formation. The two columns spread out so there was about twelve feet between them. When commanded to do so, the two columns stopped and turned to face each other.

I heard Aaron whisper to Paul, “That was rather smartly done.”

Two men in their version of formal dress uniforms appeared at the top of the ramp, and marched toward us side by side. As they passed the first person in formal dress uniform, he fell in to the rear center of the two men. Their manner of dress and physical positioning clearly indicated the two front men were the senior military personnel, and the person to the rear of their three-man formation was the junior person.

The three men stopped five feet in front of me, and gave me a moderate bow with the person at the rear giving me a slightly deeper bow; another indication that he was the junior person. Their leader stepped forward to address me, and nodded his head.

The End

View the Time Scope Series
Previous Part: Time Scope Part 1
Next Part: Time Scope Part 3

Share: Tweet Facebook WhatsApp