Chapter 2

We had just finished eating dinner when one of Mike’s people let us know that a convoy of SUVs and a single limousine was approaching the farm.

Alicia said, “That is probably President Kelt. She said she should arrive early enough for her to stop by to talk with us.

“If everyone is through eating, let’s clear the table for our meeting with the President.”

We all carried our dishes into the kitchen and left them on the counter. Madge wet a dish towel and returned to the dining room to wipe down the table. Phyllis started the coffee urn that she had set up before we started to eat. Alicia carried the trays of cake and cookies she had prepared before dinner to the dining room and set them on the table.

Stepping back from the table, Alicia appeared to be going through a mental list of what had to be done before we met with Betty Kelt. There were glasses, cups, saucers, and plates on the sideboard. The table was cleared, cleaned, and the snack trays positioned on the table in accessible locations. The coffee would be ready shortly, and the pitchers of iced tea and water were in the kitchen ready to be brought out to the table. Knowing Alicia, she was probably also checking for dust on the sideboard and debris on the floor.

With everyone helping, it only took a few minutes to prepare for Betty’s arrival. When Alicia indicated all was ready, we went out front to welcome President Kelt.

Once I was outside, I could see that the number of media personnel had increased to the point that it was now a crowd in front of our gate, and some of the media representatives had parked their vehicles on the road. The cars parked on the road made it very difficult for traffic to get past their vehicles. The time necessary to clear a path through the vehicles had delayed the arrival of Betty’s motorcade, but it had finally reached our farm’s driveway. I made a note to myself to call the County Sheriff’s office and ask them to send someone out to take care of the problems the media representatives were causing. Otherwise, it would only get worse as the number of reporters increased.

We watched as the motorcade passed through our open gate. Our guards stopped the media from following the motorcade through the gate. The media representatives was in a frenzy and were not happy with being stopped.

The lead SUVs drove past us before stopping, so the President’s limousine could stop where we were waiting. One of the agents in the lead SUV rushed to the limousine to assist the President in exiting the vehicle, while Agent Ogle and the rest of Betty’s security detail took up defensive positions and scanned the surrounding area. I could hear the media shouting questions from the road as the door of Betty’s limousine opened and she exited the vehicle. She waved to the media and then walked to where we were standing.

“Good evening, Madam President. I am Jeb Connor and I would like to welcome you to our farm.”

I then introduced her to the Altairian delegation, my three ladies, and Captain Mike Lovett; I assumed she already knew Paul and Aaron. She smiled and nodded her head at each introduction.

She then said, “It may be a good idea for us to go inside. I saw a couple of media reps with shotgun microphones, and I would prefer that my greetings aren’t their lead story.” I recalled the media articles that crucified her for mispronouncing a diplomat’s name last year.

Betty had only brought a few of her delegation’s personnel with her today, and it was my understanding that she had briefed them regarding Directive 1495. As we took our seats at the dining room table, I noticed her Secret Service detail taking positions around the room. I asked, “President Kelt, considering the nature of the topics we will be discussing, do you want your security detail to overhear our conversation?”

After looking around the room, she motioned to one of her detail. When he approached, she said, “We will be discussing several ultra-sensitive topics, Roger. It would be best if you and the rest of my detail wait for me outside the house.”

It was evident that Roger didn’t want to leave the President with us without him and his people being present. However, he nodded at the President’s politely worded order, and the security detail went outside. I later learned they took up defensive positions to prevent anyone from entering the house.

As they were leaving, I said, “Let us introduce ourselves. I am Jebidiah Connor, but I prefer Jeb, and my role in these meetings is that of the Lead Facilitator. My ladies then introduced themselves and explained their roles. Simon then introduced himself.

When Simon’s people finished introducing themselves and explaining what their roles were in the meetings, Betty said, “I am the President of the United States, Betty Kelt, and I am aiding Jeb in making arrangements for the second and third meetings. During those meetings, I will be responsible for the American delegation. Please address me as Betty for I get tired of the formal mode of address everyone uses when talking to me. Betty then had her people introduce themselves and define their roles.

Betty said, “Simon, I am glad to have this opportunity to meet you and your people. Paul informed me of Directive 1495. Since then, I’ve given what he said some thought, and I have to agree that the policy makes a lot of sense. I briefed the people with me today on Directive 1495 before we left the White House. I and my people feel the real question is, how to handle Earth’s delegations and lead them to the decision we want them to reach without fully disclosing Directive 1495 and its details?”

Madge said, “This morning, Paul said we should present things from a different point of view. We talked about presenting it by telling people that without an agreement then when Earth begins to trade with other planets, our spacecraft are likely to start a war between Earth and Altair or some other planet that we cannot win. That would eliminate the necessity of explaining the details of 1495. We could lead everyone to the conclusion that an agreement is in everyone’s best interests, since a war with a more advanced planet would result in us being destroyed.”

Alicia said, “If someone were to tell me something like that, I would want us to have an agreement to protect us from our own ignorance. If the Captain of one of our spacecraft violates the agreement, it would be acceptable to me to turn him over to the Empire for justice.”

Betty asked Simon, “Can one of your spacecraft really destroy our planet or bomb us back to the Stone Age?”

Simon nodded and then said, “All it would take is for us to redirect four or five small asteroids to each of Earth’s continents. The impacts would result in massive destruction. They would also set off a series of major earthquakes that would destroy most of your buildings and open cracks in the Earth’s mantle that would lead to volcanic eruptions. That would fill your atmosphere with dust, fumes, and debris that would make your air almost unbreathable for at least a year. I doubt you would be able to recover from the devastation in less than several hundreds of your years, if not thousands of years. We also have weapons that could be used to reduce your planet to a field of rubble drifting in space, but they wouldn’t be needed, and inflicting that degree of damage is repugnant to us.”

After flinching at the thought of the possible destruction, Betty asked, “Jeb, do you have a written agenda for tomorrow’s meeting?”

“I wrote down five items that we should address, but I consider tomorrow to be an informal meeting so I didn’t prepare a formal agenda. I was thinking of submitting my ideas as suggestions for what needs to be accomplished and let the discussions determine the items that need to be addressed in the future meetings.”

“What are your five items?”

I handed Betty my bulleted list of items. The list included:

We need to decide on the countries to invite, how many delegates each country can send, and how many support people each delegate should be allowed.

Invite an Altairian delegation of an estimated fifty delegates to the two meetings.

We need to discuss why Earth needs to enter into an agreement with the Empire.

We need to discuss who should decide if Earth needs an agreement.

We need to discuss the protocol for holding the meetings and how decisions are to be made in the meetings.

We discussed my items for tomorrow’s meeting and a few Betty suggested. One of the important things brought up during our discussion was how the Altairian shuttles were to leave Earth and return to the farm.

Simon said, “Ship Commander Shimlt asked me to seek guidance from you, Betty. Yesterday our shuttles approached the surface a long way from your coastline and were escorted to the farm by your warplanes. She wants to know if we need to continue to use the same approach pattern or if we can use a more direct route for our shuttles to leave the surface of the planet and return.

“For departing Earth, we could go directly from the farm to our ship, The Seeker, or we could go out to sea before we climb out of your gravity well. We will understand if you feel you need your warplanes to escort our shuttles out to sea and back to the farm. What would you prefer for us to do?”

Betty asked, “Can all of your shuttles transmit radio signals on our radio frequencies?”

“Yes, we can. Why?”

“The main problem our military will have is your shuttles entering and leaving our airspace unexpectedly. If your shuttle pilots were to contact our military shortly before you leave or arrive, our radar operators will expect to see you on our radar. If your shuttles have cloaking devices like your ship, I suggest that you don’t use them. Our people will become accustomed to seeing you come and go, and that will encourage them to trust you.”

“All right, since it is mainly a matter of developing trust, I will let Ship Commander Shimlt know that we need to contact your military when we intend to leave the Seeker and head for the surface and before we return to the ship. Do you want us to wait for an escort of warplanes?”

“I don’t think an escort is necessary, Simon. Our radar operators determined your shuttles’ ground speed as they approached our jet fighters. It is evident to everyone that your shuttles could easily evade our jets and probably any missile they might fire at your shuttles. Just give us two or three minutes of advance warning before you begin your descent and before your departure. Please keep your ground speed down when your shuttles are over the ground so they don’t create a shock wave that will damage our buildings.”

“Will we need to contact the people who control your commercial aircraft? It would be easy for us to avoid coming close to their flight paths and approach the farm at an altitude lower than what they fly at. We can also avoid the areas where they land and leave the surface.”

“That is acceptable to me. If our airports’ flight controllers have a problem with not being notified, we can discuss the matter later.”

The rest of our meeting was productive, and we also spent time getting to know Betty as a person. As the President’s motorcade left the farm, the moonlight was bright enough that we could see a column of army vehicles approaching. Mike was happy that the last of his missing people and equipment had finally arrived. While he got them settled, my ladies and I started our evening preparations for going to bed.

As we were preparing for bed, Mary pulled us all into a link. It was a little surprising for I wasn’t aware that Madge and Phyllis had reached the level of being able to link with us. Mary knew what I was thinking and explained that they had reached the point of being able to participate in a link but weren’t capable of initiating a link, yet.

Mary said, “I have something very important to discuss with you. What I am about to explain to you is a powerful enhancement that you can acquire if you wish to do so. However, it has a few disadvantages and you may not want to accept the enhancement. This is a personal decision and I will not influence your decision.

“The Empire has what is best categorized as a medical procedure that will enhance an average person’s muscular performance, nerve performance, mental abilities, and other things. This procedure is not offered to everyone for it is expensive to perform. I have been in contact with the Zldats onboard the spacecraft and we all agree that the four of you need to receive at least the first of the five stages of enhancement and hopefully the second stage.

The first two stages are available to anyone selected for enhancement. The remaining three stages are only available to individuals whose positions in our society require the use of the abilities gained by the additional enhancements. I am hoping the four of you will volunteer for the first two stages of enhancement for you will find them very beneficial in your everyday lives.

“Stage 1 is the basic enhancement package. The degree of enhancement that you experience will vary with your ability to adapt to each specific enhancement. This stage of enhancement does three things. It will strengthen your existing musculature and skeletal systems, it will increase the speed at which signals are transferred between your nerve endings and your brain, and it will promote the development of new nerve paths in your brain that will connect a portion of the unused areas of your brain to the portion of the brain you currently use.

“The musculature and skeletal enhancements will give you greater strength and agility. The enhancement of your nervous system will result in an improvement in your reaction time. The additional nerve paths in your brain give you an increase in your mental storage space, and your brain’s processing power, which in turn can lead to an increase in your intelligence level. These three enhancements are done at the physical level and not at the genetic level.

The Stage 2 enhancement package provides several things. You will receive additional enhancements to your Stage 1 enhancements. It will make you even stronger by enabling you to consciously change your muscle mass over a period of months, give you even faster reaction times, and add additional unused portions of your brain to that which you can use.

“The Stage 2 enhancement will also enhance your body’s ability to resist physical ailments and reduce the time necessary to recover from injuries. This will result in a longer life span. The duration of the increase varies with the person and their race, but twenty-five percent is the average increase in lifespan for Altairians. Some of the Empire’s races have an even larger increase.

“The most important aspect of all of the Stage 2 enhancements is that they are encoded at the genetic level. Your future offspring will have your enhanced abilities, but their degree of enhancement will be slightly less than your enhancements unless you breed with someone who is enhanced. Without future enhancement or cross-breeding with an enhanced person, your children and their descendants’ genetic characteristics will weaken with each successive generation.

“I am not going to describe the Stage 3 through 5 enhancement packages at this time. They are only authorized for people who are deemed critical to the welfare of the Empire. While I consider you important to the Empire, I doubt you are critical to its welfare; but, you do qualify for the first two stages of enhancement.

“I hope the four of you will consider accepting these two stages of enhancement. If you decide you wish to be enhanced, then the Stage 1 procedure can be done on The Seeker between the first and second sets of meetings. Your bodies will require time to adapt to the Stage 1 enhancements before you can receive the Stage 2 enhancements. You should all have adapted to the Stage 1 enhancements before the third meeting. Do you have any questions?”

Phyllis said, “You explained the advantages of being enhanced, but you also said there were a few disadvantages. What are the disadvantages?”

“Yes, I did fail to address that aspect of the enhancements. There are essentially three disadvantages. The main disadvantage is immediate and temporary. You will be mentally disoriented for about two weeks and during that period you will need to be restrained and your bodies cared for by The Seeker’s medical personnel. Once you have recovered from the disorientation, you will require an additional week to two weeks to become accustomed to the initial changes in your bodies. These changes will continue until your bodies have evolved to the fullest extent possible and you will be adjusting to the changes as they occur. You will all be enhanced, but the degree of enhancement is likely to vary. The third disadvantage is the people you associate with will notice your enhanced abilities and that will affect your relationships with these people. The differences are likely to result in you being shunned by non-enhanced people. This will be an unconscious action on their part; they will just sense that you are different and react to that. As they become more familiar with dealing with you, the strength of this aversion will lessen, but it will always be there to some extent.

“You will not be eligible for the Stage 2 enhancements until you have fully adapted to the Stage 1 enhancements. Once you have the Stage 1 enhancements, you may feel that this delay is a fourth disadvantage, but it is a necessary delay.”

Alicia said, “You mentioned our degree of enhancement relative to an average Altairian. Is there a reason to expect our degree of enhancement might be different?”

“Yes, there is. At the genetic level, there are small differences between Earthlings and Altairians. In general, these differences aren’t that important because the differences are related to recessive genes. The Altairian genes also allow for the possibility of certain traits that Earth genes won’t support and Earth genes allow for the possibility of certain traits that Altairian genes won’t support.

“Earthlings can breed with Altairians without harmful or noticeable effects on the child. When a union of an Earthling and an Altairian occurs, the children will inherit both sets of the unique genes. This means their genetic structure will be different from that of Earthlings and Altairians, but they will be human and any visual differences will be within the range of human normal. When these children have children, their children may develop traits not currently found in Earthlings or Altairians.”

I said, “Mary, we will think about these procedures and we will let you know of our decisions in the next few days. Can we discuss the enhancements with the Altairian delegation to get their opinions of whether being enhanced is a good or bad thing?”

“Yes, there is no problem with that. Everyone in the Altairian military with a rank higher than Lieutenant Colonel receives the first two stages of enhancement. So the two senior members of the Altairian delegation should have already received at least their Stage 1 enhancements. The higher-ranking people, like Ship Commander Shimlt, should have also received the Stage 2 procedure. I say should have received because a few people don’t want to be enhanced.”

Without warning, Mary switched subjects to Paul’s suggestion of how to address the concept of introducing Directive 1495.

“Follow the approach Paul suggested to talk about Directive 1495.

“The violence and the aggressive tendencies of Earthlings are due to what they experienced in the past. Thousands of years ago, your people were mainly concerned with survival. They banded together in small groups that supported each other in finding shelter, food, water, and clothing. They shared what they found.

“However, the people separated into multiple groups. As the groups grew in size, the groups viewed each other as competitors for the things they needed to survive. The small groups became large tribes and fought each other for possession of the caves and huts they used for shelter, for their sources of water, and for their hunting territories. Those battles led to each tribe viewing the members of any tribe, other than their own, as enemies. Within their tribe, they were comrades. They had personal rivalries, but they worked together to defend the tribe.