Chapter 17: Theoretically Planning

Simon had been giving some thought to several problems of late. It had been a little over two weeks since they had revealed the nature of the mystery panel. They were no closer to getting anything on it to work. Unfortunately, the required data that had been in SheGuard’s memory core was incomplete or damaged.

Tonya was not in a very good mood. She hated to be frustrated but there was just too much to get up to speed on. She desperately needed help. She had begged Simon on more than one occasion to find her help. Simon realized that he needed to get together with the people on Earth to see how the recruiting was going. Sometimes some things just needed to be handled ‘personally’.

He asked Helen how medical was handling all the new crew members and she had told him that they were keeping up. Now that there were other competent AIs in the fleet, things would be easier.

SBE had been equipped with an AI to handle the functions of that base and keep an eye on things Earth side. That new AI was named ‘Dawn’. Simon felt the name was appropriate since she represented the beginning of the enlightening process on Earth. Dawn contained most, but not all of the functionality of SheGuard. She was not required to build huge ships, so did not require that data. She was equipped with full defensive, offensive and construction capabilities. It would be a sorry intruder that tried to interfere with her base operations.

Simon started to relax somewhat and felt that SBE and SBM were in good hands.

Helen and he had been discussing all this when she suddenly paused and said “Are you still looking for a few good scientists?”

Simon nodded and replied “Yes, Tonya needs a couple of ‘theoretical physicists and a bunch of engineers who need a challenge’, to quote her. Do you have someone in mind?”

“Do you recall that brilliant physicist in England, the one that had lost almost all his abilities to communicate? Peter Hunter was his name. I have not heard anything about him in quite a while. Perhaps it is worth investigating what has become of him.” replied Helen.

“Helen, I could kiss you! How could I have forgotten him. I even met him one time when he was visiting Canada. I didn’t get to talk to him at that time, but I was impressed with his reputation. Good thinking Helen! Blaze!” said Simon.

Blaze appeared just to his right and said “Yes Captain”

“Can you track down a ‘Peter Hunter’ in England. He is a Physicist and is severely physically handicapped. If he is still alive and able to communicate, we need to talk to him.” asked Simon.

“I’ll start now.” replied Blaze as she disappeared.

Within a few minutes, Blaze reappeared and said “Captain, Peter Hunter is in a secure private hospital in London, England. He has just undergone surgery and is not expected to survive for very long.”

“What do you suggest Helen?” said Simon. “You know more about his condition than I do. Can you help him?”

“I probably can, but it is a matter of ethics as well. We shouldn’t just kidnap him. He is an internationally recognized scientist and valued consultant.” replied Helen. “He needs help and we need his help, or at the very least Tonya needs his help!”

“Okay, we need to help him and maybe he will help us if he can. Blaze, get Command to lay us in a course to arrive near London England and hold station there. Make it fast. Get me a conference call with Josh and Dan. I’ll take it in Command Conference. I will want Helen, Grant and yourself there.” said Simon as he left for Command Conference.

On the way there, he took a bit of time to freshen up in his own quarters. When he walked into Command Conference, everyone was waiting. Josh and Dan were on a video display, thanks to their new watches.

“I see everyone is here, or represented by a holo-vid.” said Simon. “Thank you Dan and Josh for making yourselves available on such short notice. You may be concerned about the urgency of this request, but it is not because of an invasion or anything of that nature. Time is, however, of the essence.”

Dan and Josh both visibly relaxed. “Helen here, suggested we recruit an exceptional individual by the name of Peter Hunter. Now we did some checking and discovered he has just undergone surgery and may not live long. He is in a secure London, England private hospital. I would like to extract him and see if we can reverse his declining health. Helen is confident that we can. My problem is obvious. He is very much in the public eye. I need to put an operation together to minimize the public impact. I would like your help on this.”

“What do you need?” replied Josh.

“What can we do to help?” replied Dan.

“I would like you each to contact Prime Minister, Eddie Baines. Let him know that I will be contacting him. Tell him that I wish to help Peter Hunter and that I am in a position to do so. Also explain to him that this is a very private ‘need to know’ situation and no one else needs to know. You know the situation! I will need somehow to get in to talk to Peter if that is possible. In any case, I will need to remove him from that hospital. Let him know that he is welcome to be in attendance if it will ease his mind, but he is only to bring two others with him if we are to meet there. This is a one time offer. Can I ask you to do this within the next half hour? That is when we will be ready and available to meet.” asked Simon.

Josh replied “I am already placing the call to his office. I should have him momentarily.”

Dan replied “My call is also being placed as we speak. Maybe we can have him set up a conference call.”

“Good idea Dan.” replied Josh. “I’ll ask.”

“I will leave it up to you gentlemen. Let me know how it goes.” said Simon.

“Blaze, prep TS-2 for a pickup. Standard pickup exterior. You will be the pilot!” said Simon.

“Prepping now!” reported Blaze.

“Helen, get a couple of nurses available. We’ll take them in the shuttle as well.” said Simon.

“Okay, they’ll be there.” said Helen.

“Grant, your usual security precautions should suffice!” said Simon.

“Understood Captain!” smiled Grant as he issued commands to his security team on his wrist radio.

“Route communications to Command Bay then TS-2. Let’s get down there.” said Simon.

Just as everyone had boarded TS-2, and Blazing Star had descended to a position several miles off the coast of England, East of London, Josh’s call came in to Simon.

“What news Josh?” asked Simon.

“Eddie is a bit surprised, but co-operative. Dan and I were able to convince him that he needed to talk to you and we explained a bit about what you had in mind. It is early evening there, so he had wrapped up his meetings for the day. He insisted that he be there and will meet you in fifteen minutes outside the hospital. I am sending Blaze the location co-ordinates as we speak. You should be able to land right beside it, as it is a walled Hospital on the edge of London. There will be a couple of security guards with him, so be aware. He doesn’t know the status of Peter, but will escort you to his room. I suggested he look for the ‘recruitment building’ and ‘knock politely’. I couldn’t resist! Stay in touch. Goodbye Simon.” said Josh.

“Let’s get down there and set up then.” said Simon.

Less than 15 minutes later, TS-2 landed fully cloaked near the front door of the hospital, where all was quiet. Blaze uncloaked TS-2. A few minutes later, the main gate opened and a limousine drove in and released two obvious security types and a middle aged balding man in a suit and tie. Simon recognized him as Eddie Baines. Eddie glanced around, noticed the recruitment building, looked puzzled, pointed it out to his two escorts and the three of them walked over to the door. Eddie knocked politely.

Blaze opened the door and smiled as she welcomed them in. Grant and his two security guard escort were about ten feet behind Blaze as she introduced herself. The escorts stiffened noticeably when they saw Grant and his guards but relaxed when Grant smiled and offered his hand to Eddie as well.

Eddie said “I am supposed to meet a Simon Gordon here. Is he about?”

Blaze said “Just a moment, he will be right with you. Please everyone come on in and relax.”

A moment later Simon walked in from the other section of the craft and greeted Eddie.

Eddie shook his hand and said “Josh and Dan both told me I could trust you and that you were trying to help Peter Hunter. I don’t know what you can do for him since the best doctors on the planet have done everything they can for him. We really do not want to lose him. His insight has been exceptional. Believe me when I tell you this, I have a lot of misgivings about being here tonight. I have spoken privately to both Josh and Dan again in the last few minutes and received one bit of warning. They both said the very same thing. ‘Never underestimate Simon or Blaze.’ That made me very curious. I started thinking. I haven’t had much time to check up on you, but what I was able to learn was that the only information about you paints you as a very ordinary sixty-five year old Canadian from Toronto, Canada. Yet, here you are, inside a walled, guarded enclosure, with a building that I did not know even existed here until a few minutes ago. Now Blaze, looks just like most young attractive Canadian girls, although probably more attractive than most. She is well mannered and appears intelligent. You, on the other hand do not appear to be sixty five. Probably more like forty five and in very good shape I see. Yet, you say you are here to help, so I am listening.”

“Okay, we probably don’t have much time so you will have to forgive the rush. I have brought a doctor with me as a consultant. Dr. Helen Barker is really the one to determine if we can help him or not, so why don’t we get Helen and take a walk up to Peter’s room.” said Simon.

Helen chose that moment to make an appearance and was also introduced to the Prime Minister.

Eddie said “Follow us then.”

The small group entered the hospital and went down a long corridor to a large room near the end. No need for an elevator for this patient. His room was equipped with an incredible array of equipment designed to monitor everything and warn if anything turned bad.

Helen wandered around the room, examined the outputs and the charts on the bed, then approached the bed itself. The occupant of that bed, Peter Hunter, was awake, lying on his back, the only movement was his eyes. There was a surgically implanted device in his throat that made a clicking sound. At that moment, two others entered the room, both in civilian clothes. One was a young blonde woman of about thirty something who walked with an air of authority, the other was a slightly younger looking gentleman who looked very tired. Both were well dressed and groomed.

The Blonde woman spoke “What are you people doing in here? Peter needs his rest.”

Helen replied “I am Dr. Helen Barker and we are here to try to save Peter’s life.”

“All the doctors here tell us that he has days to live. What could you possibly do for him?” said the blonde haired woman.

“Can he hear us?” asked Helen.

“Yes” replied the blonde.

“Can he indicate yes or no or speak?” asked Helen.

“He is still capable of yes or no responses. There is a device that makes a clicking sound. One click is no and two clicks is yes. He needs strength to even do that.” replied the blonde.

“Okay, then I am going to tell him a story and ask him a question. All he has to do is listen until I ask the question.” said Helen.

“Go ahead then.” said the blonde woman.

Helen began “Peter, this is no fairy tale. It is the total honest truth. I am a doctor and I have looked at all your charts here and all the readings. At the best, if you continue with this treatment plan and remain in this hospital, you have one week to live. I am very sorry to tell you this if they haven’t already. There is a choice however. This choice requires a leap of faith on your part, so to speak. Most people would not believe what I am about to tell you, but you should listen and make up your own mind. I have no reason to lie to you. Simon here and I have the ability, the equipment and the desire to reverse your declining medical condition. The equipment to do this is not here. It is at a remote location and you would have to be transported there. There are risks involved in transporting you, but you would be given every possible protection on the journey. We can almost guarantee that once we get you to that facility, you will live a lot longer. We are also very confident that we can restore your health and possibly repair damage to your body to allow you to lead a normal life. We are prepared to do this for you, but there is going to be a cost. Not money. The cost of this is that you will leave everything here behind you, permanently. I will let Simon explain this to you.”

Simon began “Peter, to be fair and honest with you, we are not just trying to save your life, we also need your help. We have a theoretical physics problem that we have not been able to solve and believe you would be able to shed some light on the solution. Before everyone starts crying foul, let me also state that the solution to this problem would benefit all of earth indirectly and not just a small ‘for profit’ group or groups. We believe you, and we, would both benefit greatly from this assistance. One condition of this is that no-one would know what has happened to you. We would have to come up with some explanation for your disappearance. We assure you that you would not be asked to do anything against your country or your friends.”

[Blaze, do you sense any problems here at all?]

(No Captain, although it is almost impossible to get any kind of read from Peter.)

“Now the question.” began Helen. “Do you want us to transport you out of here and try to extend your life?”

There was two very clear clicks on the device. Then two more!

“Wait a second.” said the blonde. “Peter, is my name Bonnie?”

There was one click.

She asked again “Peter, is my name Barbara?”

There was two clicks.

“Okay, I know he understood the question and gave his answer, but you are not going anywhere with Peter unless Mitch and I go with him.” said Barbara.

Eddie asked Simon “How long will it take you to get him to your facility?”

Simon replied “Less than 20 minutes.”

Eddie said, “Then we are all going with you. There will be no more discussion.”

Helen commenced the disconnection of all the unnecessary equipment. Once Peter was disconnected, the security guards assisted in getting the hospital bed out of the room, down the corridor, out the door and over to the recruitment building. Blaze opened a side bay door with a ramp and Peter was pushed up the ramp into TS-2 and locked in place for the flight. Everyone else took seats around the shuttle.

It was about this time that Eddie and his escorts noticed the different interior of the building.

Blaze moved to the front of the shuttle and assumed the pilots seat. Simon motioned to Eddie to go over and sit in the other seat beside Blaze. Blaze activated the controls, set cloak mode and lifted off, accelerating up, over the city of London and flew towards Blazing Star, still cloaked, out over the North Sea. Since there was a lot of air traffic, Blaze had to keep her speed down and monitor all the other aircraft in the area. About ten minutes later, Blaze did a tight loop and pointed the Shuttle towards an opening in the clouds that had suddenly materialized. She guided the shuttle into the opening and it closed behind them. Blaze landed the shuttle at the end of the bay near a set of large doors, opened the shuttle door and ramp, looked at Eddie and smiled. Eddie just stared. He said nothing. He couldn’t speak. All he could think of was ‘Never underestimate Simon, or Blaze!’ He thought he was beginning to understand. Simon broke the silence with a few instructions.

“Helen, get Peter into Medical. Grant, will you and your team help her. Eddie, can you ask your escort to assist Helen. Blaze and I will give you a tour of the ‘facilities’.”

Each jumped to the task requested of them. Peter was rapidly wheeled into Medical and carefully lifted onto one of the scanning tables. Helen activated the all-body scanner and waited for the results. By this time Simon, Blaze and Eddie had arrived at Medical after a leisurely stroll.

Eddie finally got up the nerve to ask some questions. “Simon, where are we? No nonsense now! I am told you are an honest man. I want honest answers.”

“Eddie, we are on my ship. It is not a ship that travels on water, although it could. It is in reality a space ship. It is known as Blazing Star and is called an Aurora Class Battle Cruiser. If you will follow me, I will show you more from Command.” Simon replied.

They walked into Command and Eddie nearly fainted. He took in all the consoles and the people monitoring them and didn’t know what to say. He was introduced to Mike, and the others while he simply stared all around him.

Simon invited him into his quarters and suggested he relax and have something to drink. Eddie asked if this ship had any good beer. Simon chuckled and called up a British Lager Beer. It was not a ‘brand’ name beer, but brewed in the same manner as most British beers. Eddie found it agreeable. Simon called for an Alexander Keiths, sub-zero. Simon liked cold beer, especially when it came to him at -4C. The first mouthful was always the best!

Eddie was watching closely what Simon was doing. Simon suggested a light snack and ordered up some sandwiches and pastries. Eddie was astounded when the food suddenly ‘appeared’. Taking a sip of his beer and a nibble of a sandwich, he was further impressed with the quality of the food.

“How do you do that?” he asked.

“It is all created at the time of the request. We have raw materials in storage areas throughout the ship and they are used as required. This is one of several machines on Blazing Star that create food and drink on demand. Blazing Star contains technology so far beyond anything on Earth. The machines in Medical, for example, can restore almost any body to a healthy condition. They can cure almost every disease known to mankind. We can travel wherever we want to go and faster than you can imagine. We can remain hidden or announce our presence in most unusual ways. We can be a very good friend or a very nasty enemy. At the moment every person on board this ship is Human. We did not build this ship, however, I found it, or rather it found me, we fixed it and now I am its Captain.” replied Simon.

“Blazing Star is only the first ship to be a part of our fleet. We are now known as Star Force Galactic and we have multiple bases and ships. We have a base on Earth and we keep it hidden from any who would seek it out. We use earth to supply us with food resources and personnel. Our primary goal is to protect Earth from any outside forces that would do her harm. Believe me, they are out there, and they are coming. We just do not know who will find us first, whether they will be friend or foe or when that will happen, but it will happen. We have seen the results of battles. We have traveled to other solar systems. We have even fought a battle and won. We know we have to be ready to defend Earth. We don’t need too much from Earth. Food, personnel and obscurity are our only requirements at the moment. We manufacture everything else.” said Simon.

Eddie was thinking and said “So what do you need Peter for?”

“To get Tonya off my back!” replied Simon with a grin. “Peter is probably the most acclaimed theoretical physicist on Earth. We have a ‘system’ that needs his kind of expertise. Tonya needs him. She is head of Research and Development as well as a base commander. She oversees our construction and repair facilities. Helen suggested that we would have a mutually beneficial situation since he was dying and we needed him. Maybe we should walk back down to Medical and see how he is doing.”

Eddie followed Simon into Medical where the two escorts, as well as Barbara, Mitch and Helen were all gathered around Peter who was asleep on the recovery bed. Grant and his two shadows were still hovering around the door to ensure no one wandered away. Blaze, the android, followed Eddie into Medical. Simon asked Helen how Peter was doing.

“He will live, and probably a long time now.” she replied. “The scanning took a little longer than normal. We have already injected the necessary Biotes for the various repair problems, but some things will take a long time to correct. He has not used parts of his body for years. He will have to re-learn the use of his limbs. He has been asleep now for about an hour and I think I see reflexive twitching in his facial muscles. They will be rebuilding. I don’t know how long it will take for speech if ever, but I am hopeful. He seems to have a great will to live and experience life. He is going to need physiotherapy for a while also. Barbara and Mitch have, well, demanded to be able to help. They are his two children, by the way, and rather protective. They won’t leave his side.”

“My God!” said Eddie. “You have already accomplished this in less than two hours! That is incredible. This technology is greatly needed around the world.”

“That is precisely why we must remain obscure. Just imagine what fanatical groups would try to do just to acquire such technology as we have here. They would do anything. Entire countries would do anything to get what we have. Eventually, small amounts of this technology will be released in such a way as to benefit all of Earth, not just a few. We have the corporate structures in place now to handle that kind of situation.” said Simon.

“Forgive me, I hadn’t thought it through!” said Eddie. “You are quite right. Everyone would demand to have what you have and the more fanatical, the more demanding. They would either get it or try to destroy it! Either way collateral damage would be severe! I assume you have the means to defend yourself.”

“Eddie, we have the means, and the will. Blazing Star has demonstrated this already. This ship can and does protect itself, without any direction from me. I am the Captain, but you must understand that Blaze is the ship. I believe it is impossible for any individual or group to seize control over this ship. The ship would simply not permit it. I am it’s Captain by its choice and permission, only because I fit a certain physical and psychological profile. You, and your group, Peter and his family included, have been invited aboard only because we have already determined that you can be trusted and pose no threat. If any of you wish to remain here with us you will be welcome.” Simon said.

“Simon, speaking for myself, anything I can do to help, ever, just ask. As for my government, well, let us say that I will ensure that there will be as little interference as possible. Certain branches within my government have already been more than just a bit curious about you. There have been a lot of unexplained situations worldwide that have come to their attention and they are actively tracking down any information they can get on them.” said Eddie. “I don’t know if there is anything I can do to help, but all you need to do is ask.”

“I will suggest to you that you may need to set up a very high level top secret group to assist where possible. We will assume all funding expenses required, but it must be top secret. It must be very limited in personnel and we would have to approve all personnel involved. Blaze will be available to evaluate them and ensure their loyalty.” said Simon. “We have a similar arrangement with Canada and the USA at present and I urge you to work closely with them as well. We will only need help in acquiring personnel, food and remaining obscure. We normally do not involve ourselves in events here on Earth. Our focus is outward. That is where we are needed most.”

At that moment multiple light warning systems went off ship wide. Simon explained to Eddie that they would have to drop him off back at the military hospital since they had something to deal with.

Eddie looked disappointed and said “Simon, I am not expected back until our next budget meeting in about thirty-six hours, so if time is of importance, you do not need to drop me off right away. I would like to spend a bit more time with you here if that would be possible.”

“Fair enough, you are to stick close to me. Your escort is to stick close to Peter. He is their responsibility. Grant, you and your men are with me and Eddie. Blaze, Give me a status report on the way to Command.” said Simon, heading out the door.

Simon walked briskly toward Command, followed by Eddie, Grant and his two shadows.

Blaze was right beside Simon. “Captain, LRL-12 reports four shift events in its vicinity. Updates show four unknown ships in the area. One is a fairly large ship, likely a Battleship class and three are Destroyer class. They are stationary and appear to be waiting, scanning and looking for something. No communications so far Captain.” said Blaze. “All bases report alert status Black.”

Walking into Command, all station consoles were manned and active. Grant and his shadows assumed their usual stations. Eddie was directed by Simon to a seat near the door and told not to move unless directed by Grant.

“How are we looking James?” asked Simon, scanning the main view screen for the tactical information.

“All consoles are green, Captain. All Pilots are now ready for launch. SBM and SBE are running Black. Awaiting your orders.” said James.

“Maintain full cloak, arm all weapons, full shields, plot me a shift approximately two miles behind them.” said Simon.

“Shift plotted! Ready for shift on your mark, Captain.” reported Mike.

“Shift now!” said Simon.

A short few seconds later and the forward view screen cleared to show empty space.

“Activate rear view.” ordered Simon.

“Rear view now.” replied Blaze.

There they were. One very large battleship class ship almost as large as Blazing Star, and three smaller ships. They looked dangerous, but relaxed. They were shielded and likely had weapons ready, but other than that, making no hostile moves.

“Captain, they are Daandrusian!” reported Blaze. “Their configuration compares to data received from the Epicure.”

“Okay, they are testing us to see how prepared we are. Let’s show them! Launch all Stingers and Arrows, fully cloaked. I want a squadron on each of the Destroyers and two squadrons or more on that Battleship. Encircle them, but do not let the fighters get in our line of sight.” said Simon.

“Launching now!” reported James.

Approximately 300 Stingers and 100 Arrows slipped quickly into space and into their directed positions.

“Once they are in position, Blaze, open a communication channel.” said Simon.

After a few more seconds, Blaze replied “Formation confirmed. Opening Channel. Go ahead Captain.” said Blaze.

“This is Captain Simon Gordon of Star Force Galactic. May we be of assistance?” said Simon.

After a few seconds a brief reply came from the Battleship.

“Captain, receiving identification codes. They are Daandrusians and have come for a visit and an ‘Inspection’?” said Blaze, somewhat surprised.

“Well, let’s let them see what we look like then.” said Simon.

“All Arrows and Stingers only drop cloaks. Full video. Hail the Battleship. Acknowledge their greeting codes and send ours. Move sub-light to a nose to nose position in front of that Battleship.” said Simon.

“Moving now.” reported Mike, then a pause and “Now in position.”

“Drop cloak.” said Simon.

“Cloak deactivated.” reported Blaze.

“Video on! Greetings to the Daandrusian vessels from Captain Simon Gordon and Blazing Star. I welcome you to Star Force Galactic space. I hope your journey has been uneventful!” said Simon with a smile.

In front of Simon a video screen opened up displaying Command on the Battleship in front of them. It was strikingly similar although differed in a number of ways. Simon noticed the absence of a mystery console, which gave him mixed feelings. Simon also noted that the crew was observing his Command just as carefully.

“Greetings to you as well, Captain. I am Admiral Hugha of the Daandrusian High Command and this ship is the Battleship ‘Fair Winds’. We have come to look you over.” replied the Admiral with a grin. “Now, as for our journey, that is an altogether different story!”

“Recall all Stingers and Arrows, Blaze.” said Simon.

“Recalling now!” replied Blaze.

“Admiral Hugha, it would be our pleasure to invite you aboard Blazing Star. We await your arrival.” said Simon calmly.

A few minutes later, a shuttle exited a launch bay on Fair Winds and headed towards Blazing Star. Blaze granted permission to dock and assumed control of the shuttle until it was safely secured in the Command Bay.