Chapter 12: Repercussions and Crew

“Well, this is going to be interesting.” thought Simon.

As the four thousand and fifty-six survivors were deposited on the roof of the Pentagon, several other things were happening outside Blazing Star. A few people outside the pentagon had noticed the growing number of rescued crew on the roof of the Pentagon, looking for a way down. The crowd outside near the entrance was growing. Inside the pentagon, the Admiral had just been informed that there were, strangely enough, people appearing on the roof. Over the next few minutes, all the rescued crew were offloaded, the ramp pulled up and Blazing Star completely disappeared just as the Admiral found his way out the front door, along with the rest of the Joint Chiefs.

“Blaze, take us slowly back to Star Base Earth.” said Simon.

“Course laid in. Activating.” replied Blaze.

Blazing Star moved away from the scene and headed back towards Alberta.

Back at the Pentagon, a lot was now happening. Fighter jets were scrambling from several military bases in the area. Inquiries were going back and forth to Radar installations all over the USA and NORAD. At the Pentagon, they were finding ways to get all those people down the fire escapes and roof accesses to the ground. There happened to be a small news crew just outside the grounds and they picked up on the activity going on. Naturally they were curious. The Pentagon initially stated that it was simply an evacuation procedure that they were testing. No big deal. News hounds being what they were, began to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Something was going on and they wanted to know what! The Joint Chiefs had a closed door session with Captain Mike Swendon and his First Officer, Thomas Addison.

The President of the United States showed up at the meeting. He had been on his way in to check on the status of the Nimitz, fearing he would have to make some kind of announcement soon. Now he was going to find out what all the media attention was about. He had no idea the two were related. Dan Blake, the current President of the United States of America, was not in a very good mood. He was worried about the missing Nimitz and couldn’t get anyone to tell him anything. Now he just had to push his way past a small media frenzy who were asking him questions about ‘people on the roof’!

“What the Hell is going on out there?” asked President Blake as he stormed into the conference room.

“We may have a small situation here.” muttered the Admiral.

“Who are these two gentlemen? I don’t believe I have met either of you before.” he said, nodding at Mike and Thomas.

The Admiral made the introductions. “Mr. President, this is Captain Mike Swendon and his First Officer Thomas Addison, both of the Nimitz.”

“The Nimitz?” asked the President. “I thought that the Nimitz was in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in a Category five Cyclone. What are you two doing here?”

“That is a long story Mr. President.” said Mike.

“Explain it to me then!” said the President. “I have a bit of time.”

So explain he did. Starting with the orders to proceed with all haste to the California coast. Mike explained how they had been doing okay until Nimitz became crippled and started taking in water, then the subsequent mayday. He explained how he had heard a response to his mayday and how he personally was plucked off the mast by this weird aircraft and transported into the hull of an even stranger ship.

Thomas related how he had been rescued in a similar manner by seeing in the storm this large opening in a ship right in front of them and being washed into the hull of a huge ship that had similarly rescued over four thousand of the crew in a little under two hours.

Mike then went on to describe his meeting with Captain Simon Gordon and being shown around Command. He told them about visiting his rescued crew in the hold. Then he described the phone call to the Admiral and the decision by Captain Gordon to deposit the survivors on the roof of the Pentagon.

Everyone was stunned.

Mike ended the explanation by saying “The Captain gave me a note to pass on to you Mr. President.” as he handed him the note with the phone number on it.

Dan Blake was furious. “Admiral, you and I are going to have a long conversation about this. Ordering Nimitz through that storm was reckless at best. The way you dealt with Captain Gordon was, how should I put this, bull headed and stupid! Yes, that fits the bill. Now, will someone please tell me how he got all those people up on the roof and then disappeared in broad daylight with no one even seeing his ship? And where has this ship, what was it called, Blazing Star, gone to? Did we track it?”

No answers were forthcoming from the joint chiefs. They were sitting in stunned silence.

Mike was the first to respond. “Sir, Blazing Star, was ‘cloaked’. Captain Gordon mentioned that it was virtually invisible and undetectable. The technology in that ship is unbelievable.”

“You people mean to tell me that a ship, flew undetected across America and hovered above the Pentagon for over ten minutes, released over four thousand people onto this very roof and NO ONE even saw it?” exclaimed the President.

The President took that moment to look at the note from Simon. It said simply ‘Call Me’ and contained a phone number. He started to laugh.

“He made us all look like idiots, and we don’t know anything about him!” exclaimed the President. “Get me a phone.”

Dan Blake seated himself at the head of the conference room table. He had a large telephone console system in front of him.

“I want this call traced and tracked!” he said. “I want to know who I am talking to and where they are.”

Dan dialed the number, as several technicians scurried to their tracking stations.

“Incoming call, Captain” relayed Blaze.

They had already returned to Star Base Earth and were nestled snugly in their home base when the call came in.

“He doesn’t waste any time.” commented James.

“Answer the call.” said Simon. “On speakers.”

“Blazing Star.” answered Blaze.

“May I speak to Captain Gordon?” said the President.

“Simon Gordon here. Who, may I ask, is calling?” replied Simon somewhat cheekily.

“This is the President of The United States, Dan Blake, calling.”

“Ah, Mr. President, call me Simon. What can I do for you today?” asked Simon.

“Captain, er ... Simon, I would first like to thank you for rescuing the remaining crew of the Nimitz for us. Secondly I would also like to thank you for returning them to us in such a timely fashion, although I would have preferred a slightly less public location and method.” said the President.

“I accept your thanks and regret the nature of the delivery, but your ‘Admiral’ there refused to discuss the matter sensibly. It was he that suggested that location. I only wished we were able to help earlier. We might have been able to save a few more lives. My condolences on your loss of a good ship and the crew that went down with her.” said Simon.

“Yes, well, thank you Simon. We are going to have to do quite a bit of explaining to the public over this one, and at the moment, I don’t know what to tell them.” stated the President.

“Well we could take them back and drop them somewhere less difficult to explain, say Hawaii or something like that, but I suspect that would only lead to more complications, and I suspect you would be more inclined to minimize complications right about now.” said Simon.

“You are likely correct there, Simon.” said the President. “I must say, I am impressed with what I have been hearing about you, your crew and your ship. Is there any truth to the rumors that you can take her into space?”

“That is something I am not prepared to discuss at this moment. I am certain that your sources are, however, reliable. Perhaps some day, you may be invited to tour Blazing Star.” said Simon.

“I think I would like that.” replied the President. “Well I thank you for your time and your efforts on our behalf. A lot of our military owe you their lives. I must say it does make me a bit uncomfortable, though.”

“How so, Mr. President?” replied Simon.

“You seem to be in possession of technology we know nothing about. We know nothing about you or your crew. We don’t even know where you are or what your intentions are. How do you think that makes us feel?” asked the President.

(Captain, someone in the room with the President has been attempting to trace this line.)

“I suppose you would be concerned that we might pose a threat to you or your country. I assure you that we have no plans to that end. Our focus at the moment is to protect Earth and everything good upon it. I am sure that that strategy will refine itself in future. You may choose to support us or not. We would prefer you support us. Oh, Mr. President, someone in that room with you has been attempting to track this phone call. I assure you it is a futile attempt. Please keep in mind that we will defend ourselves, and you do not want to play games with me. I do not react well to that.” said Simon.

“Heh heh, yes, I can see what it cost us the last time. My apologies, Simon.” said the President. “I have to get back on schedule here, but may I call you again?”

Simon replied, “If there is anything we can do to help, call anytime. This line will stay available for your call.”

“Thank you again, and goodbye!” said the President as he hung up. “What about that trace?”

The technician replied “It disappeared to a satellite and then seemed to bounce randomly around all of our communication satellites. There was no way to hold on to the link long enough to track it past that.”

“Thank you, that will be all, then.” said the President and the technicians left.

“Gentlemen, you all heard the conversation, do any of you feel we have to consider this a threat to the USA?” asked the President.

The general consensus was that there was no immediate threat, however everyone expressed the feeling that more information was needed about the man and his ship.

The President then asked Captain Swendon “Mike, you spent a bit of time with Simon and his crew. What else can you tell us about them.”

“I only spent an hour or so with him, but he impressed me. He appears to be a good, honest, moral person. His crew are fiercely loyal I would say and he has handpicked some pretty good people. I have met a couple of them before. They are former Canadian military and I do believe most, if not all the crew is Canadian.” replied Mike. “The ship is unbelievable, totally different from anything we have developed. I was told it was twice as long and four times as wide as the Nimitz. The Nimitz, we thought, was the largest warship on the planet. The ship is called an Aurora Class Battle Cruiser, so I think you can assume from that, that she would have some pretty incredible abilities. Another thing you can keep in mind, Captain Gordon told me she is capable of carrying over four hundred aircraft. I was afraid of asking too many questions after that. If you don’t mind me saying so, Mr. President, I believe him to be an honorable man. He seems to have a well developed sense of humor, since he even handed out brochures to everyone as they left as he said he hoped everyone had a good flight. I would be inclined to trust him and I feel we should work with him. I do agree that we still need to know a lot more about everything.”

“Canadians eh!” quipped the President. “That just makes it worse. Now they are going to rub our noses into it about this. Bad enough it was their Health Care System that was so much better but now, they have Blazing Star. Let me see one of those brochures.”

“Excuse me, Mr. President,” replied Mike, “They may be mostly Canadians, but that is not a Canadian ship. Simon made it quite clear that he and Blazing Star have no government affiliation. I suspect the Canadian Government has no knowledge of Blazing Star at all.”

“So we may be the first to be in contact with him?” asked the President. “This brochure is looking for people. He is looking for help. Maybe we should offer to help. I wonder if we could ‘loan’ him some people.”

“There are about four thousand plus navy and air force personnel reading those brochures right now. I wonder how many of them would be inclined to join up with his group?” suggested Mike. “We are going to have to make significant changes in our deployments with the loss of Nimitz as it is.”

“Good points, Captain.” stated the President. “Okay, let’s get the press settled down. Prepare a press release announcing the sinking of Nimitz and that we rescued over four thousand personnel. Don’t mention Blazing Star. I don’t think Captain Simon Gordon would feel slighted. Contact next of kin of the personnel we lost and take care of their families. I hate days like this. Debrief everyone from the Nimitz and let them know that they were rescued by a passing ship. No more. Tell them not to talk about the rooftop event. Tell them it is classified and a matter of national security.”

Shortly the entire situation was under control. Calmer heads prevailed at the Pentagon. The Admiral was relieved from his position as one of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the President started looking around for a replacement. Mike was asked if he was interested in the job, but replied that since he had no ship and his tour was now over, he was considering a change of venue. A desk job was not to his liking. The President nodded in understanding and suggested that maybe he should give Simon a call. Mike thought about it a second or two, and suggested to the President that he was a proud American and loyal to the country but maybe he could be of some value to Simon as well. The President agreed. Thomas felt the same way. Neither of the men had any family to speak of so it wasn’t that they would be leaving many people behind.

Several days later, Mike and Thomas were asked to come to the White House for a meeting. President Dan Blake, Mike Swendon and Thomas Addison were sitting in the oval office having a cup of coffee and doughnuts.

“Tim Horton’s, I see.” said Mike with a chuckle.

“Don’t rub it in.” said the President. “I still think they make the best coffee and doughnuts around, despite the fact that they are Canadian. Now as to why I have asked you here. I have been giving a lot of thought to Captain Simon Gordon and Blazing Star. He has no reason to trust us but he does need personnel. Gentlemen, I would like to send you to him if you are willing. No strings attached. I assume you both have thought about going anyways.”

“True” said Mike. “If we go, I will be working for him, as long as his goals do not come directly into conflict with the USA. He will have my loyalty.”

“I also love my country, but I sense that Captain Gordon is a very good man and would have to give him my loyalty first as well!” said Thomas.

“Believe me, I do understand. I have checked into both of your service records and would expect no less. You both have always been loyal to your country and served her well. I really hate to lose people like you but it never hurts to have friends. I hope we can work together, and you may be able to help make that happen.” said the President. “If you are both agreed, I can make a phone call and get it rolling.”

With a couple of affirmative nods from Mike and Thomas, the President picked up the phone and dialed.

“Blazing Star” answered Blaze.

“May I speak to Simon please, it is Dan Blake calling.” replied the President.

“Simon here, go ahead Dan.” replied Simon.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything important, but I am just now sitting in the oval office with a couple of gentlemen you know, having a Tim Horton’s coffee and doughnuts. We were talking about you and Blazing Star and the help wanted brochure you published and came up with a plan to help you out and repay you in part for your generous rescue.” said Dan, smiling.

“I am all ears.” replied Simon.

“Mike Swendon and Thomas Addison have expressed to me a desire to join you and help out however they could. I will not stand in their way and hope that we can begin a trustworthy relationship. There are no strings attached and I understand they are willing to travel anywhere they have to to get to you. I will further offer to fly them anywhere convenient for you to pick them up.” said Dan.

[Blaze, are you monitoring?]

(Yes Captain.)

“Hmmm, let’s see. Do Mike or Thomas have anyone else they would like to bring along?” asked Simon.

“Let me ask.” replied Dan. “Gentlemen, anyone else?”

“No just us, Simon.” replied Mike.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t want the tour, Dan?” asked Simon. “I know it is short notice and all!”

“Actually, I was planning on relaxing around here the whole day. My evening commitments have been canceled, so I do have a bit of time. But surely, you are not going to bring Blazing Star here, you have created enough of a stir around here already!” suggested Dan.

“Dan, how many people would you have to bring if you left the White House for the rest of the day?” asked Simon.

“Oh, let’s see, security, secretary, “ started Dan.

“Let’s just say, you have been invited to dinner with a couple of friends. Dress is casual. I will pick you up on your helicopter pad behind the White house at 6:00 PM sharp. You may bring four people of your choosing plus Mike and Thomas. They may bring any clothing or supplies that they wish. From the time I pick you up till the time I drop you off, you will be perfectly safe, but you will be totally off your normal communications grid. We will monitor your communications and if there is any emergency we will deal with that at that time. You had best make arrangements for your absence from 6:00 PM to likely around 10:00 PM. At 6:00 PM you are to be all on the edge of the pad waiting. Is all that understood and agreed?” asked Simon.