Chapter 25: Party Day 2

While travelling back to Earth, Simon organized his thoughts regarding all the various situations he was not looking forward to dealing with. The return to Earth got them back to SBE shortly before 24:00 hrs. GST. They had only been gone about three hours, but what a three hours that had been!

Simon had made a list and it had more than thirty items of consideration and action on it. It was still growing and he couldn’t understand that no matter how hard he tried, that list just would not contract significantly. Perhaps it was the nature of the beast! He was exhausted and needed some sleep, so he retired to his quarters onboard Blazing Star after leaving instructions with several people. Grant was to get some guests back to their hotel suites. Nate was left in charge of dealing with Blazing Star and Blaze was to wake him after eight hours of sleep. He would start to deal with the list in the morning.

Simon woke shortly before 08:00 and got dressed in his BSU as Grant had advised, since he was going to meet all the Presidents, Prime Ministers and their entourages for breakfast in the North Face Hotel Main Dining Room. He recalled Blaze was supposed to wake him shortly, but he was a bit ahead of schedule. Exiting his bedroom to the common room he felt the presence of Blaze. She was calmly seated on a nearby chair, looking quite relaxed, but not asleep.

“Good morning Blaze. How has everything been while I was sleeping?” asked Simon.

“All boards are now Green. Blazing Star has been repaired internally and externally. Repair Droids and crew worked all night to put her back to 100% as you ordered, Captain.” replied Blaze. “SBE and SBM both report 100% ready and SBM reports that the Interloper and the Tallus have both been repaired fully. The ‘stealth shield’ on the Interloper was similar to our own but not identical. Ours was marginally superior.”

“Good! Things are somewhat returning to normal around here.” exclaimed Simon. “Now to deal with the Politicians, especially Viktor. We will stop by Medical on the way over to the Hotel for an update on Anya and all our wounded.”

Simon and Blaze proceeded to Medical next to talk to Helen.

“Helen, you are up early!” commented Simon.

“And a good morning to you too!” exclaimed Helen. “Yes, I am up early. I just want to ensure that everything was okay here before heading to eat.”

“So, how are things here?” asked Simon.

“We have treated all the wounded from the battle and I am happy to report that they are all doing well. That is a big difference from the results of battles I have previously been involved in!” said Helen. “They will all recover with no lingering effects back to full health. The worst case will be back to 100% by tomorrow.”

“Now Anya is still a different problem and situation. I am guessing you need an update before talking to Vladislov Charkov. Anya will live. I can now guarantee that, despite the bit of shaking when we got hit by something big yesterday. You have to learn to get out of the way of those big ones!” said Helen smiling. “She is still in a coma, now maintained by our equipment and medication, as the stuff they gave her was somewhat inefficient. She is showing signs of internal healing and her organs are back to mostly functional. The biggest change is that her skin is finally starting to heal. I estimate she will be here for at least a week, before we will attempt to bring her out of the coma. Then, we will see what other damage may have been done!”

“That sounds very reassuring, Helen.” said Simon. “Thank you for all the updates.”

Simon and Blaze headed to the personnel tunnel to the North Face Hotel to face the gathered guests. Simon was not looking forward to more shmoozing.

The first people encountered by Simon and Blaze, just outside the doors to the main dining room, were the invited members of the Press, Marlyn and Gerlyn. It was not surprising to Simon that they had selected this location for an initial meeting as it was a favorite tactic of the press to wait outside of an anticipated meeting in the hopes of catching people before they were really ready, in order to get some sort of scoop or advantage. It was just their nature. Simon decided to be somewhat aggressive today and thought that he may as well start now.

“Good morning, Marlyn, Gerlyn. I hope you slept well last night.” said Simon. “I am glad to see you up so early. I wanted to address a few things with you before we join the rest of our guests.”

“Good morning Simon.” said Marlyn, echoed a moment later by Gerlyn.

“What did you want to talk about?” asked Gerlyn.

“I wanted to know if you two had reached any sort of consensus on how we can get the world onside with all of the recent events without causing serious conflict.” replied Simon. “Did you at least take the time to study the posted videos that were available to all our guests?”

Marlyn replied. “Yes, we viewed all the available videos and have some ideas, but nowhere near a serious recommendation. This is all too amazing! Nobody is going to believe half of the truth without you giving them serious proof, if you even want to do that!”

“Do you understand why I am asking for advice from you two?” asked Simon.

“Oh ya!” replied Gerlyn. “We can certainly see a lot of potential problems. Maybe we can help. We need to spend more time with you and your other guests to get more of an understanding of the support you will be getting and what support you will need.”

“Okay, that is a start.” said Simon. “At least you seem willing to work with us.”

“After experiencing real space combat for the first time, we have certainly come to realize that we are behind you one hundred percent! We want to be a part of SFG and will do our best to help.” stated Marlyn. “Frankly, we were scared shitless!”

“Heh, I know the feeling.” said Simon, grinning. “Let’s join our guests and get this show on the road. I am hungry and I understand breakfast is being served!”

Simon, Blaze, Marlyn and Gerlyn entered the main dining room of the North Face Hotel to see most of the guests seated quietly eating. Marlyn and Gerlyn headed to an out of the way table to relax and observe. Simon and Blaze looked around the room, noticed Victor and Vladislav seated with their security, and walked over to Vladislav. Their table tensed up but did not do anything threatening.

Simon spoke to Vladislav. “I checked in Medical on the way over here and have some good news about your sister.”

“Please, what is the news?” asked Vladislav. “She will live, according to our Doctors. She is being kept in a medically induced coma until her body has healed sufficiently. Helen thinks that may be only necessary for a week or so. She is healing, but slowly so far. There was a lot of damage internally as well as externally. She should stay here for at least another week.” stated Simon.

“All that is good, yes?” said Vladislav.

“It is very good!” replied Simon.

The rest of the table remained silent and continued to eat their breakfast. Simon and Blaze took their leave and joined George and Dawn at another table.

“What was that about, Simon?” asked George.

“Ah, I was just giving Vladislav an update on his sister Anya’s condition. She is the one that we had to pick up after the rest of the Russian group.” said Simon. “It looks like we got to her in time and she will live. I hope that will help with relations. They are going to be difficult, I can just feel it!”

“You are probably right at that.” stated George. “They do not look relaxed over there, unlike the rest of our guests. There must be some serious tension in that group!”

Simon agreed with that observation.

All the people in the Hotel had been permitted, even encouraged, to view the videos that Blaze had produced over the last year plus. The only information they were not given was where Aurora was when found and where SBM was now. The base on the moon was mentioned, although not specifically located. The guests were now aware of most of the facts regarding SFG.

After everyone had finished breakfast, Simon stepped up to the provided podium and addressed the guests concerning the next part of their meeting schedule.

“Ladies and gentlemen”, he began. “At this time, since you are all now fully awake after having had an excellent breakfast, we should have a short meeting of the Presidents and Prime Ministers in Boardroom A, just across the hall from this room. I will have some updates for you all and if we could all be there in 5 minutes or so, that would be great.”

Several minutes later, the six of them, plus Simon, took seats in Boardroom A. This was a closed door session with no security present. By then it was pretty well understood that security should not be needed, although they did collect as a group just outside Boardroom A in the hallway. Seating was provided for them.

Before anyone else could start talking, Simon took the lead. “I know, for some of you, this has been a rather unsettling past 24 hours or so. Just so you know, it was not entirely according to plan!” stated Simon to a mixture of smiles, chuckles and a couple of grimaces. “Unfortunately, some of those events were beyond my control. I was certainly not expecting to have to demonstrate in real time, the realities of life that we are facing and may have to face in the future. Some of you here have been aware of some of this for a while now and some of you are finding out now that the world as we know it is likely due for a few changes.”

“That seems to be understating the obvious!” commented Josh Alden, the Prime Minister of Canada.

“I still don’t understand.” stated Brian Jones, Prime Minister of Australia. “We all watched the videos you provided as recordings of the events from yesterday. Why did you attack so quickly and with such force? Surely they would have listened to some sort of reason.”

“Brian, you may recall the earlier video that was a documentary of an earlier encounter with the same race. They did not hesitate to open fire on a much weaker opponent. They would have used any advantage to prevail. Sure, we could possibly have defeated them if we had given them a chance, but we would have taken a considerable amount more damage and probably lost a lot of lives doing it that way. My people’s lives are important to me.” stated Simon. “In addition, our biggest worry was that one of them would be able to survive or report to others of their kind that we are here. At the moment, we have to be extremely careful not to allow any adversaries to know of our existence. Those were the critical points in the decision to attack first.”

“Okay, I see your point.” replied Brian.

“Mr. Gordon.” said Viktor Yarolsavtsev, President of Russia. “Why are we here? We have had our awards dinner. Is there more?”

“Yes, Victor, there is more.” said Simon. “The original intention of these meetings was to allow the crew members of the ISS and their families to join Star Force Galactic (SFG) if they wished. In addition it was also intended to make you aware of the existence of SFG and ask for your co-operation and assistance to enable us to accomplish our goals as quickly as possible. You have had an opportunity to watch the videos that show who we are and what we represent. You, personally, have been able to see firsthand the need for a force to protect Earth and defend it against attack from space. That force is just beginning to grow and can now provide limited protection, but we need to do more. We need people and resources. We still need to remain unknown to the general populace of the Earth. There are far too many unknowns in this Universe and we need to explore to find allies. These are our current concerns.”

Simon continued. “You six leaders have co-operated to build and crew the ISS with help from other nations as well. Can you now co-operate well enough to provide assistance with our goals in defending the Earth? Can you six leaders support us in our goals?”

Victor replied. “If we are going to be a part of this, then we should have more control of what you do and how it is run. What makes you the best person for the job of controlling such a space force? You should be sharing the benefits of your Space Force with other countries. The technology you have here can benefit us in many ways.”

“Yes, and if it is placed in the wrong hands, the entire Earth will suffer the consequences. Can you imagine the result of providing some of that technology to groups of terrorists, for example. We have a serious enough problem with them as it is, let alone giving them more powerful weapons to work with.” responded Simon with a frown. “In addition, control is not a topic that is going to be discussed. Star Force Galactic is NOT an Earth organization, and NOT subject to any of Earth’s rules, laws or whims. Its primary mission at present is to defend the planet from other races in space that seek to do us harm. Currently, I am the person in charge, but not the only one making decisions. You are being offered an opportunity to help and become allies of our cause. Although we are not discounting intelligent helpful suggestions and advice, you are not being offered any control. Only personnel who are members of SFG will ever have that role.”

The room experienced a lengthy hush at that point.

Dan Blake, President of the USA had a comment. “The USA was the first nation to be aware of SFG, less than a year ago. So far SFG has only sought personnel and secrecy in their dealings with us. We have not received any technological benefit, nor have we asked for any. Frankly, Simon and his group could do pretty much anything they wanted and there is nothing we could do about it anyways. You have seen the videos. Those ships out there could and would destroy Earth if they intended to. We do benefit from the relationship with SFG in that our medical expenses have been slightly reduced since they are cureing a large number of our people when they become members of SFG. You are aware of the medical technologies available within SFG. Personally, I sleep a little better every night knowing that SFG is patrolling our solar system and I trust Simon Gordon to do the best he can at the job.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence Dan.” said Simon. “Think of SFG as just another Country that I happen to be the leader of and that our domain is everything off Earth. We also, for the moment, are unknown by the rest of the world. We are offering the rough equivalent of a treaty with you. We will not mess with you and you will not mess with us. You help us and we will help the Earth survive. Simple!”

Eddie Baines, Prime Minister of Great Britain spoke up. “I have also been with Simon on Blazing Star when they met the Daandrusians. Simon provided me with a device that allowed instant translation of their language into English so I could understand the discussions. I was also able to speak to those discussions also using that device. I told them then that, in my opinion, Simon Gordon was the ONLY person who could represent Earth to other races. Nothing has altered my belief in that regard since.”

“What we have here is a beginning.” said Simon. “SFG is just getting started. In future there will be benefits to all mankind, but it will take time and those benefits will have to be introduced gradually and carefully so as not to unbalance economies and professions. We will still need all those things in future. You people will have a slight leg-up in that you joined us first and your advice may be very helpful. We are still considering methods and directions to inform the rest of the populace of our existence.”

“So,” said Simon. “Is everyone here willing to support us?”

After a few minutes of discussion, it was agreed by all the leaders that they would support SFG. They also decided to create support groups as the USA, Canada and Great Britain had. Simon agreed to fund all expenses. Simon was still concerned about the attitude of Victor, however. Something was not quite right.

Simon declared at the end of the meeting that all the assembled guests in the Hotel would move to the next location and the second part of their meetings. They were going to the moon.

Two hours later Blazing Star was ready to leave SBE with all the party guests. The guests were once again in the Command Launch Bay relaxing and enjoying more of the beverages provided along with Shawna’s delightful food.

Simon was seated in his Command Chair with Blaze standing slightly behind him and to his right.

“Blaze, are we ready to depart?” asked Simon. “Yes, Captain. All active boards are green.” replied Blaze.

“Take us to space, Mike. Set course for SBM and set speed to arrive in two hours. I will be ‘entertaining’ in my quarters for the next couple of hours. Blaze, route forward main screen to my quarters, please.” said Simon.

“Done.” replied Blaze as Mike began the procedure to move Blazing Star out of SBE and into space.

Simon left Command and entered his quarters, followed by Blaze. His plan for the next two hours was to talk to several people about their future.

“Blaze, contact Dan Blake and ask him to come to my quarters with Admiral Ben Guarant and those three retirees he found for us, please.” said Simon.

Blaze replied, “I have sent your request and they will be here shortly. I sent an escort for them in case they get lost.”

Several minutes later, an entry request at the corridor door alerted Simon that they were here. Blaze opened the door and invited the five of them in. The three retirees were all staring around at all the amenities within Simon’s quarters. The three were introduced to Simon as Admiral Gordy Narvon, Captain Walter Ronald and Captain Frank Senner. After glad handing all around, they all sat down and relaxed. Simon offered refreshments in the form of beer and all were finally comfortable.

Blaze, however, politely declined.

“Well, Simon,” began Dan with a smile. “This has been an interesting event. I am trying to figure out how you are going to top the last 24 hours or so!”

“Simon replied also smiling. “I really hope I cannot. I would far rather have peace and quiet! Stress is not good for longevity!”

“I don’t know what you may have in mind, but these three gentlemen are retiring shortly and have no specific plans that I am aware of, so, I thought you might like to have a private chat with them about opportunities with SFG.” said Dan.

“We are prepared to facilitate anything you decide on, within reason!” Ben stated. “For the record, we will be retiring them with full packages no matter what is decided here today. These men have given many years of loyal exemplary service to their country and we could do no less.”

Simon said. “You come highly recommended, by your President, no less, and we have an offer to make to you. Gentlemen, what we are offering is an opportunity to give the same commitment to your planet and SFG as you have already given for your country. We are in need of highly qualified senior military staff and you may be excellent candidates for those positions. We are building a fleet, a space travelling fleet, and frankly, it will be far too much for me to do alone to manage that fleet. I need good senior officers for those positions. Admiral Narvon, are you interested?”

“Are you suggesting that you will have a fleet that needs officers?” asked Admiral Narvon. “Everything I have seen so far tells me that you may have only two ships. You should be able to command those without too much trouble!”

Simon replied with a smile. “Actually, today, we only have this one Battle Cruiser, Blazing Star. The other ship you saw in the videos was the Daandrusian Destroyer Tallus, with a 100% Daandrusian crew. They were here only in case of emergency, loaned to us by the Daandrusians and very fortunately so. Tomorrow, however, we will begin to crew our newest ships of the fleet. They, even now are in final preparation for launch at our other base. We are going there now, so you should be able to see them in several hours.”

“Captain Ronald, Captain Senner. I have the same offer for you. We will need good officers. We do not have submarines or ships that are designed to float, but our space fleet will not be too dissimilar.” offered Simon.

Captain Senner replied. “Count me in. There is very little difference between being in a submarine where anything outside that submarine could kill you and being in a space ship where the same could be said. I hope the re-learning curve will not be too high. I am getting on in age, you know.”

“Captain Senner, you should be aware that joining SFG entitles you to medical benefits far superior to those on Earth. As an example, I am considerably older than you!” replied Simon. “And what about you Captain Ronald?”

“I am very interested, considering that I had absolutely nothing planned after my retirement. I was looking forward to some kind of a change, however, and this certainly qualifies for that. What about our families? Do we leave them all behind?” replied Captain Ronald.

“Families will be welcome. Depending on the age, they can be a part of our military force, support staff, or if they are children, they will be resident in one of our bases where they will be educated, fed and taken care of. They are, after all, the future of SFG.” replied Simon.

“I too, would be happy to join SFG.” replied Captain Ronald.

Admiral Norval spoke up with a smile. “Let’s make it unanimous then! I am in too!”

“Good,” said Simon. “We will arrange everything. Just let us know what has to be done. Admiral Guarant will take care of everything on Earth and we will take care of everything off the Earth.”

After a few minutes of pleasant conversation, they all took their leave of Simon and Blaze.

“Well Blaze, did you detect any problems?” asked Simon.

“No Captain, they all seemed quite excited to be joining us.” replied Blaze.

“Okay, next we want to talk to Hiroshige Shintani, the Japanese Prime Minister, then Brian Jones. Can you arrange for them to come here, Blaze?” said Simon.

“Hiroshige Shintani is on his way, and Brian Jones will be here in fifteen minutes.” replied Blaze.

“Excellent, thanks, Blaze!” said Simon.

Simon greeted Hiroshige Shintani warmly several minutes later. “Hello Hiroshi, how are you today?”

“I am greatly stressed today, Simon.” stated Hiroshi. “This last 24 hours has been completely unexpected and way beyond anything ‘normal’. I have been considering a number of ramifications of the picture you present to us and that concerns me greatly. This world, I think, is about to take a huge leap into the unknown. I am fearful that the rest of the world will not be as understanding of our situation as we are. I fully agree with your assessment of Earth’s needs for the future, but be aware that several other countries will not agree that it needs to be handled by you. There will be issues, not the least of which will be demands for sharing of your technology. Japan has always been a technology leader and will be tolerant of the need to slowly release this technology into our world, but China will not be so tolerant. I am also concerned about several other countries causing serious issues in future.”

“Hiroshi, I hear you and understand exactly what you are saying.” stated Simon. “We realize there will be issues and will try to work them out as best we can, but some may require ‘significant diplomacy’ to resolve. I only hope they can be resolved diplomatically. We do not need any more wars on this planet.”

“I think we are all agreed on that!” stated Hiroshi. “Now, the Japanese crewmembers of the ISS and their families are allowed, even encouraged, to join SFG. I hope they and any other Japanese citizens that wish to join you will be welcomed.”

“Any citizen of Earth is welcome to join us, provided, they all swear allegiance to SFG and follow our rules. We will not tolerate any dissension in our ranks or any attempt by any government to cause us problems.” emphasized Simon. “We may react very strongly to such interference. That said, we can provide a great deal to those who may be injured, ill or elderly that wish to join us. We now also welcome families. You will see more of SFG and our preparations in a few hours.”

“We will work with SFG and help wherever we can. We are not a large country in size, economy or population, but we will support you.” stated Hiroshi emphatically.

Simon saw Hiroshi out and calmly enquired of Blaze. “Well, any problems you could detect?”

“He is stressed, Captain, but he was being honest with us.” stated Blaze. “He does have a great deal of information to deal with.”

A few minutes later, Brian Jones knocked on Simon’s door and was admitted.

“Hello Brian, thanks for coming.” said Simon.

“Thanks for inviting me!” said Brian. “I must say, you sure have lived up to your promise to provide me with a few surprises!”

“Regrettably, not all planned!” said Simon. “We have a few more before the day is out also.”

“Simon, I will be direct here. I will support you and SFG any way that I can. Just let me know how and when. I have had an incredibly entertaining visit here and would not have missed it for the world.” said Brian. “Maybe surprisingly, I also trust your judgement in Earth’s defence. I don’t believe you have any military experience, however, you seem to grasp both military matters and political matters quite well! Your group, SFG, appear to be exceptionally loyal and dedicated.”

“It does help that a very high percentage of the people now with us are former military or were medically or physically handicapped. Curing them and extending their lives is a strong incentive to remain loyal. We can also train additional skills should they wish to learn.” said Simon. “Do we have any problem with stealing some of your citizens for our ranks, Brian?”

“None whatsoever!” replied a smiling Brian. “We wish them well in their future endeavours. Please protect them and the Earth to the best of your ability. I will see what I can do to assist you in finding more good people. You may get very busy hopping all over the planet picking people up who wish to join you!”

“True enough!” chuckled Simon. “It would be a welcome problem, though.”

With the support of the Australian Prime Minister, Simon was now ready to entertain the Russian President. Viktor and Vladislav were invited to join Simon in Simon’s quarters. Naturally, Grant was also present as he had become Vladislav’s shadow.

Simon had requested an update from Helen concerning Anya’s condition and was told that she was improving, but slowly.

Once everyone was comfortably seated in Simon’s quarters, Simon opened the conversation. “Vladislav, I just received an update on your sister. She is slowly improving. Everything is looking good.”

“Thank you Simon. You knew I was going to ask.” said Vladislav.

“Yes, and I understand your concern.” replied Simon with a smile. “Victor, how are you enjoying our little ‘party’ so far? Have the accomodations been acceptable?”

That caught Victor a bit by surprise. He replied “Yes, very acceptable. Everything was very nice. Your facility was new, yes?”

“Actually, the Hotel was completed just days ago and you were our first guests.” replied Simon.

“Now the reality of space travel and this ship is a bit unsettling!” said Victor. “Where are we going now?”

“Victor, we are travelling to our second base on the far side of the moon. We wish to show everyone what we have begun and accomplished in order to defend this planet.” said Simon. “I hope you realize the importance and necessity of this, especially in light of our confrontation yesterday.”

“How are you able to have a base on the Moon?” asked Vladislav.

“Ah, that would take a long time to explain in detail, however, you may notice that travel in this ship, Blazing Star, feels just like you were still in your Hotel rooms. Gravity and Inertia are things that can be controlled by the technology in this ship. It is also possible to create the same situation on a planet, a moon, and even with another ship or craft within the atmosphere of a planet. Just as you build a spaceship or a fighter aircraft you build a base. Granted there are differences, mostly size and materials, but the end result requires the same or similar technologies. We also have built what we call ‘Construction Droids’, that may be thought of as very sophisticated robots, and these enable rapid construction in all types of environments. The planning takes considerably longer than actual construction.” explained Simon.

“So how long have you had this base on the moon?” asked Victor.

“We have been in residence for over three months now.” replied Simon. “You will get to see it very soon. Meanwhile, I have to ask, will you and your country support our efforts to defend Earth?”

“That is a very delicate question, Simon,” stated Victor. “We feel that, at this moment, we are very much without options. You have us at a disadvantage and we are uncomfortable with this feeling. Further, Vladislav’s sister, Anya, is in your care and may not continue to recover without the resources of this ship. If we wished to return to Russia at this time, would you allow us to do that?”