Chapter 22

It was still dark when I arrived over Wichita. Things had gone a lot quicker than I’d thought they would, as I didn’t have to destroy that much.

That meant when I got home, I had plenty of time to make love to my women. They were all excited, especially Marcia, as she’d never been asleep and witnessed me in action before. Once we were done with the showers after sex, and everyone was cuddling with me, she sleepily asked me, “Why did you speak in English to those people?”

“I didn’t, I was speaking Russian.”

“Wow! What I saw you do ... I wish my parents were alive. I’m so proud of you.”

Beth was snuggled up outside of her. “We all are. He’s our man.”

I was proud of Elroy. He didn’t bother to call until after all the Sunday morning shows were over. We’d watched them while eating breakfast. Apparently, my impression on the Soviets had scared the shit out of them. It hadn’t helped that someone had filmed me in Afghanistan, casually carrying the BRDM through the air, then tossing it like it was a simple children’s toy. There had been a Reuters news crew doing a simple story on road construction in Moscow, and they’d managed to catch the last half of my performance on camera. Including the shooting of the rifle at me. They’d sent it out via satellite, live, so the government had no chance to deny anything.

The big thing that the talking heads on TV were all pontificating about was, what did it mean, that everyone would meet at the airport in Tel-Aviv. What message would I bring?

When the phone finally did ring, Elroy wasn’t even snarky, which surprised me. He just told me that he’d make some plans with the City Council and the County Commissioners for next week. He also told me to be careful, no matter what I did. Powerful people didn’t like finding out they weren’t as powerful as they thought they were.

With the help of the girls, I moved Mike into the house. He was disguised as a simple dresser. Then I sat down at the computers, with the girls helping, and designed a wind turbine and generator that could be built for about two hundred fifty thousand dollars. Marcia helped me tremendously with the design, due to her physics knowledge. While I had read the books, she already had the degree and real world experience. Margie helped with cost analysis, the other three with factory layout and figuring out just HOW to build it.

We were deep in that when the phone rang again. It was SJ, telling us to make sure and watch Wide World of Sports. He’d just seen a promotional commercial; apparently they were going to feature Hutchinson again. He also said that his dad was being held in a lockdown unit for his own safety; he’d gone completely off his rocker. Jennifer and Toby were fine, which he thought was odd. He was concerned that he might have to take a discharge from the Corps because of it. He spent some time talking to Eve after that.

We kept working up until the show came on, then sat down to watch it. “Good evening, and welcome to ABC’s Wide World of Sports. We begin tonight with a follow-up to a story from three weeks ago. Here’s Keith Jackson.”

“Thank you, Jim. Three weeks ago, I highlighted a story about a small town football team from Hutchinson, Kansas, the Salthawks, and their amazing quarterback. Friday night, I got to witness his play, live. If you recall, in a show of good sportsmanship, he had his entire team stand around for four minutes, to avoid running up the score. Some of their opponents, however, don’t believe in that.” The tape started playing. “During the Junior Varsity game, which was an incredibly close contest, the Coach of the Newton Eagles put two varsity tackles in, on what would have been the last play of the game, to try to win the contest. They were caught, and kicked out of the game. Due to the unsportsmanlike conduct and literal outright cheating under the Kansas High School Athletic Association rules, the Salthawks had the right to win the game by forfeit. Instead, they chose to play it out, win or lose.”

“In and of itself, an example of what not to do, if nothing else. But when the Varsity team came out, one thing you don’t expect to see is the starting quarterback on the field to receive the kickoff. Or to see him return the ball after a handoff, then avoid tackles like the other team wasn’t even on the field to score a touchdown.” The tape of my run played then. “Or later, on a trick play, throw a perfect 70 yard pass through the air.” He showed that as well.

“Again, in and of itself, good football. However, the halftime show that I witnessed made me look at this quarterback in a whole new light.” The screen showed Colonel David being handed the microphone, then his speech about the half million dollars we gave to Toys for Tots, him naming me President and CEO of CEDEM Financial, then handing me the plaque. Then part of MY speech. “I did some checking, and in addition to Toys for Tots, CEDEM Financial donated $150,000 to the local high school football boosters club, in honor of Corporal Stephen Patrick, Junior, a local Marine, who was injured in Beirut. I interviewed Governor John Carlin, of Kansas.”

It switched to the Governor. “Yes, I know Cal. He’s the grandson of a good friend of mine, and I sincerely hope he never gets into politics, because if he does, whoever is his opponent won’t stand a chance. He’s everything good about a simple, mid-American, boy, with the intelligence, charisma, and charm, to go incredibly far in this world.”

It switched back to Keith. “I agree with the Governor. Mister Lewis is probably the best football player under the age of 20 right now in the entire country. Back to you, Jim.”

“Thank you, Keith Jackson. I suspect we’ll be highlighting that young man through college and the pros as well. In a different...” I turned the TV off. The girls got up to put swimsuits on. I simply waited by the phone. It took less than a minute.

“I’m guessing you had no idea that was going to play tonight.”

“Not in the least, Mike. You said Bill was going to make an announcement this week anyway, right? I don’t think there’s any reason to change anyone’s plans because of this.”

“You might end up having to take your phone off the hook, though.”

“Not in my name, and it’s a private line, anyway. Oh, and you’ll want to get with Elroy. You missed the big land discussion.”

“What are you doing?”

“Buying land for Microsoft, Cisco, and other manufacturing plants, as well as land to develop housing on, for everyone. Don’t worry, it’s only about eight sections.”

He surprised me by laughing. “I love it. I bet everyone on the west coast freaked out about it, when you told them what you were doing. They don’t have a clue how big this state is, or real land sizes. Don’t tell me, let me guess. Everything north and south of the highway, from the town out to here.”

“Close. Margie and Elroy will work on that. Don’t forget, Marcia will be moving her things from Washington to here this week, as well.”

“No problem, Mister Lewis. Anything else?”

“Yeah. If they can get the fence up as quickly as possible, I’m going to be working on some projects here that we hadn’t considered, actually. You’ll probably get to know the UPS guys pretty well.”

“That’s part of our routine anyway. If someone comes in that’s not a regular delivery person, they may get the unwelcome mat.”

“Thank you, Mike. Have a good evening.”

All five girls had changed while I was on the phone, and had gone out to the pool. I went out to join them. We had a nice pool party. Eve was on day one of her period, so she just sat on the edge, splashing her feet and talking. There was a lot of simple discussion, about school, the weather, and nothing drastic. Margie mentioned that, with it being established that John Carlin was a friend, we could expect visits from the other politicians as well, especially the other party.

“Ugh. I hate politics. Or maybe it’s just politicians. I mean, John seems okay.”

“Let’s face it. Right now you’re not the richest man in Kansas, that’s Charles and David Koch. They’re out of Wichita, doing oil work, pipelines, and such. I suspect that your next football game is going to be VERY interesting. It’s one thing to beat up on all the other schools in the state. Going up against Derby? I know we’ll win, but that’s going to send a message to the politicians AND the Koch family,” Margie said.

Beth nodded. Eve said, “It’s got the potential to get ugly, even in the stands. It’s obvious to us, anyway, that you’re part of us, and by that, I mean Hutchinson and Reno County. Out here, we’re rural kids, even those of us in the city. Down there ... they’re not. I’m not saying that we’re going to have trouble, but we could.”

I sighed. “Dora...”

“I’ll make sure Mike is aware. Do not worry about us, mi amor. Now, have we all done at least six laps, so that we can stay in shape for our man? Sister Eve excepted. That’s our plan, at least once per day. Six full laps, to keep our arms, legs, and muscles toned.”

“Yes, Dora, we’ve done them,” Beth said.

“Good. Then, it is time for Eve to christen our new pool appropriately. Get our man hard, swallow his load, then pass him off to us!”

Eve giggled, taking her top off. Her pink nipples showed she was ready. I brought myself up out of the pool, shucking my pants down. Marcia hollered out, “Don’t!” We stopped. “Speaking from previous personal experience, you won’t like the taste of the water that’s still on his cock, and having sex in a swimming pool is painful. You’d think that the water would be a good lubricant. It’s not. It washes our pussy juice out, and can even end up causing a yeast infection. That was two years ago, but that’s also why I wasn’t a virgin when I joined the family.”

Margie nodded. “Actually, that’s what Cal said in San Francisco, but it slipped my mind. In that case, shower time, to clean the chlorine off, then bed time for all of us.”

I was embarrassed that I’d forgotten. We went in, then spent a pleasant evening making love to each other in various ways. Even with Eve out of action, she was still more than willing to help kiss or lick one of her sisters to an orgasm. Everyone made sure and helped pleasure Marcia at least once, as she wouldn’t be home for several days.

The next morning, since we’d be leaving for school before she left, we all gave Marcia extra kisses goodbye. As we were leaving, the crew had showed up to start installing the fencing. The day went by quickly. Coach showed the Wide World of Sports tape. His comments were pretty simple. We were facing the toughest game of the season, simply because they could probably score every time we did. He also told the Junior Varsity that they should have a cakewalk after last week, since Derby wouldn’t try to cheat.

He pulled me aside after practice. “Cal, there’s some rumblings at the school board, that you bought your position. No one on the team, and I’m not sure where it’s coming from. Watch yourself, is all I’m saying.”

“You don’t think anyone would try to hurt any of the girls, do you?”

“No, but it’s possible someone might try to come out to your house and scare you.”

“Um, I think what Mister T said in Rocky applies. Someone comes at my house, ‘I pity the fool.’ In case you haven’t been that way lately, they should have the perimeter fence up by tomorrow, and we have armed guards.”

“Um ... okay?” He looked puzzled. “I don’t quite get it.”

“Coach, you were there when I got that plaque. You don’t think that was just to keep Elroy out of the spotlight, do you?”

“Sort of. I take it that’s not the case.”

“Let’s put it this way. Those two days I was out of school last week? I was spending thirty-five million of my own money, buying a portion of two companies. Elroy had nothing to do with that. The minor detail that I’ve inherited from him the control of all his local businesses, had nothing to do with that.”

He nodded. “I’ll pass the word along. I hope someone pays attention to it.”

“Just curious. What word is that?”

“Four words, actually. Don’t fuck with Cal.”

I nodded. “Those are good words, Coach. Words to live by. Maybe even words to be able to continue living, by, if you get my drift.”

Things were rather quiet that night at home. Margie had heard a rumor at lunch that there was someone on the school board upset. Eve figured it out. “Who on the school board has relatives in Wichita, or could be influenced by someone from Derby?”

That was worthy of a call to Elroy, followed by a quick call to the Superintendent. They promised to figure things out, well in advance of Friday, so there’d be no surprises. We called Marcia, to make sure things were going well with her in Seattle, and there were no surprises. I didn’t think things were supposed to go that easily. The girls all gave me kisses and promised to try to not interfere with anything they saw me do.

I had to leave before 11 that night, and I could spend no more than 5 hours in Israel, simply due to the time zone differences. With the fencing crew actually working through the night, they had lights set up. I ended up sneaking out the back of the garage, as we didn’t have security lights there. The work lights would ruin the night vision of everyone working, so instead of messing around and going to Wichita or Vance, I just went up, up, and away from our backyard.

I was pleasantly surprised that there was a very large tent set up along one end of the airport, and even more pleased that Viktor had been persuasive. There were five very large jets lined up at that end of the airport. There were Israeli fighters overhead, watching things, and a lot of military around the whole place, making sure that nothing was going to happen. I used my vision to make sure everyone was present. It was 5 minutes until 7 in the morning, local time, when I dropped down to 1 mile up, then started slowly descending to the airport. I could tell when I was spotted, as a lot of people rushed out to look up.

My hearing allowed me to pick up a lot of invocations to Allah. I almost landed. I stopped five feet in the air, then proceeded to walk towards the tent. In Russian, I said, “Hello, Viktor. Hello, Mikhail. Please, introduce me to the gentleman with you.”

Viktor nodded. “This is Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko.” I descended to the ground.

“It is my pleasure, Andrei. Is Chairman Chernenko feeling all right, or is his health still an issue?”

He licked his lips, like he didn’t want to admit something. “He is unwell, yes. I am here because of what you did to Lenin’s Tomb.”

“Well, if you’ll allow me to introduce myself to the others, you’ll find out. Oh, and I do appreciate that you’re actually working to get your troops and equipment out, like you were told to do. Thank you for listening and avoiding ... unpleasantness.”

There were two men, both with Israeli flag pins on their jackets, next. “I am Shimon Peres, Prime Minister of Israel. This is Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir.”

In Hebrew, I said to them, “Thank you for agreeing to host this meeting on such short notice. I know you did not have an actual choice in the matter, but it is kind of you.”

“I am General Michael Aoun, commander of all armed forces in Lebanon.”

In Lebanese, I said, “It is my pleasure to meet you, General Aoun.”

“I am Crown Prince Abdullah bin Al-Hussein, of Jordan. This is Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, and Muhammed Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt.”

I nodded to all, holding my hand over my heart, saying “Peace be upon you,” in Arabic. They looked at each other, surprised, then replied, “And upon you be peace.”

The last man in the tent said, in English, “I apologize in that I was not directly invited. I am Samuel Lewis, the American Ambassador to Israel. I was asked to be here by my government strictly as an observer.”

“Ah, you helped with the peace treaty between the nations of Israel and Egypt. You are welcome to watch, then.” I looked around. “Viktor, I believe we’re missing someone.”

“My sincerest apologies, but President al-Assad of Syria declined to participate. He...” Viktor looked embarrassed.

There was amusement in my voice. “He takes after some neighbors of his? Ah, well. I had hoped I wouldn’t need to make a lesson out of someone today. Since I really don’t want to have to repeat myself in speaking ... gentlemen, may I impose upon you for ... I would think no more than an hour, as time is measured on this planet.” I shook my head, and even though they couldn’t see my face through my mask, they could hear my tone. “It is a shame that I have to repeat my lesson again. If you’ll excuse me...” I stepped out of the tent, flying straight up.

My first stop were the military airfields around Damascus. After ten minutes, there were no military airfields remaining around Damascus, nor were any of the 200 jets and 40 helicopters remaining in one piece. My next stop was at Homs, where I destroyed another 150 jets and both airports. I then hit Aleppo, destroying their airport and the jets there. When I was coming back south again, I had a thought, which I suspected came from Margie or Marcia, and descended upon the petroleum refinery at Homs. Without destroying any of their stockpiled fuel, I destroyed all of their ability to make more. One of the buildings I destroyed had something very nasty in it. They were using it to make nerve gas. I grabbed some of their signs, as well as written proof. Once I found that, I lit all of their fuel tanks on fire. They didn’t need them if they had nerve gas.

It was fifty minutes later when I landed back at the airport. They were all gathered around two television screens that had been set up, seeing long distance camera shots of destruction. “What did you do?”

“I am glad you asked, General Aoun. As I didn’t want to take too much time, I simply destroyed the airports at Damascus, Homs, and Aleppo, as well as all military aircraft that I could find at those three locations. In addition, I found that they were manufacturing and preparing to use large quantities of nerve gas, hiding it in the petroleum refinery at Homs. I had not expected to find that, but once I did ... well, there is a large difference between making simple pesticides to deal with insects and weapons grade nerve gas to kill people. The first is acceptable; the second, not in the least. Thus, there now is no petroleum refinery at Homs, and all their fuel stored there is no more.”

I held out the documents that I’d found, giving them to Gromyko. I also pulled something out that I’d found in one of the buildings. “Please feel free to examine this. Somewhere safe. I suspect there’s enough nerve gas in this vial to kill everyone here. Well, except me, of course.”

“Now then, to the point of discussion. As I have very clearly told your friends from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, I do not have an issue with you having a military to defend yourself. Using that military to attack someone else ... not a good idea. Thus, my message initially was quite simple. Part of that is my own fault.”

I sighed. “You’re all involved in governments. Someone made an error, and your file was misplaced. Once we realized our mistake, well, something had to be done. It’s been ... well, way too long since my predecessor left here. My initial message of ‘End the Fighting’ was based upon ... old information. I’ve taken some time to ... study the things that have changed over the ... millennia ... and now realize that a simple message will no longer suffice. Not when you have the ability to do to your planet what the inhabitants of the fifth planet in this solar system did to themselves.”

The Jordanian Crown Prince asked, “Jupiter?”

“Ah, no. The name of the planet is now irrelevant. I believe your astronomers refer to it as the Asteroid Belt. So much of that planet was vaporized. Such a shame. There truly are not that many intelligent races around; we hate losing even one.” I shook my head. “So, my job is simple. End the fighting. Live in Peace. I’ve added the Destroy the Drugs part myself, as those can cause international conflicts as well.”

President Mubarak said, “I see. We’re here, so that you can impose a peace upon us, then?”

“Politely, yes.” I held up a hand. “I know, it’s not exactly what you want to hear. But, I thought it was appropriate for it to happen at least in this region, if for no other reason than this is where ... well, I don’t want to give too much away. As I told Viktor, if I can do a good job during my tenure here, I may get leave before my tour is complete.”

Abdullah from Saudi Arabia asked, “How long is your tour?”

“By your terms of measurement, 500 of your years. Ambassador Lewis, one of your law enforcement agencies has a saying, one riot, one Ranger. Well, in our case, one planet, one ... Messenger. My actual title is irrelevant. I’m not here to solve all your problems. I’m not here to cure your diseases, to heal the blind, or to do any of the miracles associated with ... others. And no, I will not comment upon whether or not ANY of your religious figures were previous messengers. You’re ... well, you’re not mature enough to handle the truth right now.”

Peres said, “I guess that’s why you invited us all to meet here, in Israel.”

“Well, yes. Please note that what I’m going to say is not going to be very welcome. You’re going to feel that I’m imposing this on you. You’ll be right, I am. The Jordan river is the eastern border of the nation of Israel. Quit fighting about it. If someone living there right now is not Israeli ... they will leave. Yes, I realize this is what’s called the West Bank. I really don’t care. The same applies to the area known as Gaza.”

I think they were shocked at what I said, because no one objected yet. “General Aoun, you will cut ties with Iranian terrorists. Quite frankly, when I was approaching this planet, my original landing was supposed to be rather near to Beirut. I didn’t do so, because I saw ... well, Ambassador Lewis, the bombing of your Embassy. That’s why the building in Baalbek was destroyed. I was new to here, so I thought that simply taking care of the people who did the deed, showing that it was Iranians, would be enough for you to realize the futility of your fighting.”

“One man said he repented; a man named Ahmed. He saw what I did. The same thing happened to the tomb of Lenin. I ... prefer ... not to kill if it can be avoided. I will not hesitate to do so, if it will accomplish my mission.” I sighed again. “I take no pleasure in doing what I must do. I prefer to leave it to all of you, to figure things out. Yours will not be the last countries on this planet I visit. Please get this figured out, so that by the first of next year, significant progress will be made.”

“Mister Messenger, I ... will tell my father. With the assistance of our neighbors, we will welcome those who may not live in Israel any longer. If he approves, of course. But ... what of the others, who are not represented here, who wish to live here? The Palestinians?”

“I know this is being recorded. He will approve, unless he wishes that you as his son become King of your country. The same goes for the house of Saud. General Aoun, President Mubarak, you face the same choice. As for the Palestinians ... if they wish to live, in peace, within Israel or within one of your countries, then I’m sure that the Israelis will welcome that. If they do not, then I’m sure you will cooperate in destroying them. There will be no further terror attacks, attempting to destabilize any of your countries, from another nation.” I walked back outside.

I heard the crack of a rifle, the sound of a bullet flying through the air, and moved quickly, caught the bullet before it could hit the target, then flew to the roof of the building, grabbed the sniper, and carried him back. “Why did you just try to kill General Aoun?”

“I will tell you nothing! I am a warrior of God!”

“I see.” I noticed that I still had a couple of hours left before I needed to leave. “Well, let me introduce you to something you may fear. Oh, and please, don’t touch his rifle.” I let that drop to the ground, then picked the man up by the shirt, flying straight up. “You know, you get a great view when you’re a couple of miles up, don’t you think?”

“You ... cannot ... scare me!”

“Can’t I? I’m the one who is flying. You, on the other hand...” I let go of him. He kept his calm until about 1,000 feet up, then he started screaming. I caught him at 10 feet.

“I was here to kill General Aoun! President Al-Assad said this was the perfect chance for one of us to strike, when all would be looking at everyone else, or only you!”

“There, now, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” I placed him on the ground, picking up his rifle. I simply took hold of the barrel and bent it, then started squeezing. “As you can see, this is a very nice rifle. Very nice barrel. Well, it was, anyway.” I squished the whole thing up into a two inch cube.

“Oh, and since it wasn’t too difficult for you to tell the truth, I am going to let you go. I do hope you can swim.” I picked him up, then twirled, throwing him through the sky, towards the sea. “I wonder how long he can swim? If I timed that right, he should land about a mile offshore. Of course, that may not make a lot of difference, I think he’ll hit the water surface at about 300 kilometers per hour, if I’ve converted your speeds correctly. If someone sees him hit, they might see how many times he skips, like a stone. We do that at home, too. Skipping stones, that is.”

“General Aoun, here, this should be cooled down now. A ... souvenir for you. Now, if we could continue, before we were so rudely interrupted.”

Shamir gruffly said, “Something you said earlier. Destroying the drugs, as that can lead to international conflicts. Am I ... are we ... to understand that you do not have an issue with us, any of us, actually being our own nations? And there is a corollary to that. Our neighbor to the north is undergoing a bit of a civil war, fighting within. What about a situation such as that?”

“I can see why you, at one time were Prime Minister for your nation, and perhaps will be again in the future. You are not afraid to ask a difficult or tough question. The answer to your first question is correct. Your planet, your people ... and note that by people, I’m not talking about Jews or Arabs here, I’m speaking of humans in general. As a side note, I hope that in the future, your arguments regarding race will go away, as there is only one race. Humans. If you can breed and produce another human, regardless of different physical characteristics ... I believe you call them white, black, brown, yellow, whatever ... you are all one people. That’s simple biology, you know.

“Nations are a part of a culture growing up. Fighting between those nations, we have found, wastes resources. You have people right now complaining that you are running out of time to fix your planet. Technically, and eventually, they’ll be right. Of course, if you need something, what better way than to find more of it, somewhere else, then trade or otherwise develop it? This isn’t the only planet in this solar system, after all. Or the only solar system in the galaxy. What we’ve found, though, is that it typically takes an effective planetary government to do so. Very politely, the United Nations that you have is a joke. I suggest you ... well, that’s really up to you, I am the messenger, after all. Whether you listen to my message or not, is up to you. You have free will. There are consequences, though.

“As for Lebanon, you’re both right and wrong, Mister Shamir. There is fighting there, but it is not a civil war. It is a war, sponsored by Syria and Iran, to destabilize this region for their own sake. I have not revisited Tehran or Baghdad. I hope I do not have to do so. I don’t think they’ll care too much for it if I do. Phrasing things very politely, the consequences ... well, I’ve been spending time getting caught up on the changes to this planet since the last time someone visited here. I read in one of your magazines an article that called something the Rod from God.” That made the Soviets and Israelis very unhappy. At the confusion of the others, I simply said, “I control the orbitals. Ask one of your scientists what that means, as far as rendering nuclear weapons obsolete.”

I paused, deep in thought. The most powerful men in this region stood silently, waiting. I sighed. “Ambassador Lewis, Minister Gromyko. I have my own limitations. Not from a physical perspective, but from a moral, ethical, and operational perspective. I will not get into why you do not see me every single day at this time, it’s not important. I am not your father or your mother, I am simply your messenger. I am given ... great leeway in determining HOW I pass on that message, and I believe I have another way, one that will involve both of your nations, with the cooperation of these gentlemen here. I told you that your militaries are for defending your own nations, your own homes.”

“I was ... reviewing, is perhaps the best word ... thousands of other examples, that is why I was thinking for so long. I do not believe that it would break precedent if you were to offer to assist another nation, and that assistance was accepted, if it was clear from the beginning that you would then leave completely after the need for your help was done. No leaving peacekeeping forces, no leaving friendly military bases behind, no advisors left behind to train troops. You go in, you help the people of Lebanon, you leave. Done.”