Chapter 8

Susan was the first of the three to know. She called George and Jim. The three donned spacesuits which were equipped with trans-coms and jumped to the disaster. Esther kept a close watch on the three, since they had no idea what to expect from the volcanic ash and dust.

George jumped to Washington, DC, since he had little confidence in the UN being able to react decisively within years. He didn't bother with the president's office, since jumping there could get him shot before he had a chance to explain what he wanted. Instead, he jumped to the office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Pentagon. A general just might listen before he panicked.

George landed in the midst of a lot of officers and NCO clerks running around trying to think of some way to help, but being frustrated at every turn. They all froze when they saw his spacesuit. His trans-com had almost instantly zeroed in on their speech centers, so George didn't need to shout, nor did he need to speak their language. He said to all of them at once, "I am here to rescue all that still live, but you must cooperate."

This produced a great babble of sound, as everyone tried to talk at once. George held up his hands and asked, "Who is in charge?"

A voice from a man coming through a door announced, "I am, though I don't know what I'm in charge of, after this disaster. How can you rescue us?"

"I am from another world! I have the technology to transport all of you to a world free of this disaster, but it will take planning. Admiral Hitchcock, if we can go into your office, I will explain in detail."

"Please come in. Sergeant, I don't want to be interrupted." They went into the admiral's office and he closed the door. "Now, please explain who and what you are and how you are able to talk directly into my mind. Are you a mind reader?"

"OK, first of all, I cannot read minds. I have a tool which transmits directly between speech centers of sentient brains in such a way that there is no language confusion. The brain translates these transmissions into the speech a person can understand. We have just discovered your disaster and I am part of the emergency contact team who want to help you survive. I am from one of an infinity of alternate universes where humans exist and we wish to help you any way we can. And, no, we don't expect to be paid. To make it simple and quick to understand, we are acting altruistically.

"We can move your world's entire surviving population to another world exactly suitable for human occupation, but we can't do it without cooperation from you people. We have come to the USA first because this is where the need is greatest. If you don't want out help, we can leave and let you all die!"

"Please don't leave. We need all the help we can get. Where will you move us? Mars and Venus won't do."

"You misunderstand. We will move you to a parallel universe where there is an empty Earth-like planet with an environment you would not recognize as different from what this one had before the disaster. We will provide you with emergency food and shelter and help you get established on the new world.

"We must move quickly; people are dying as we talk. Please contact the president for me and tell him what I offer. I didn't go directly to him because I know how the Secret Service would have reacted. By the way, I know nothing of the politics of your world, but I assume that it is similar to my own."

"Very well, I will contact the president right now. Please give me a moment." Adm. Hitchcock reached into his desk and removed a telephone which he talked into, "This is Hitchcock. I must talk to the president immediately. The solution to the disaster is in my office right now!

(a pause of a few seconds)

"Yes, Madam President. I have the solution right here. Please listen to my entire story before you reach a judgment. A man from another planet appeared in my conference room and offered to rescue the people of the Earth at no charge. He came to me instead of you because of the hair triggers of your Secret Service body guards. He wishes to talk to you. May I send him over?"

(a pause of a few seconds)

"Yes, I believe him! The situation is too fantastic not to believe him!"

"Admiral, we can move to the White House directly. My people can transport us the same way we will use to move your people."

"Madam President, he says that he can transport directly to your office from here. We will be there momentarily."

"Esther, transport the admiral and me to the White House Oval Office, please."

"Good day, Madam President. I am George Wilson. I must apologize as I don't know your name."

"It is, indeed, a good day if you can really help us. Why are you wearing what looks like a spacesuit?"

"I came too quickly to be briefed on the exact conditions I would encounter and I wanted to be sure to survive long enough to do some good. My translator is a part of my suit, so I will keep it on, but I would like to take my helmet off."

"Please make yourself as comfortable as you can and have a seat in that chair. I will introduce you to these other gentlemen. By the way, my name is Hazel Johnston-Smith.

"That is John Sanders, Sec. of State, Arthur Williams, Sec. of the Interior, and Henry Smith, Attorney General, who is also my husband."

"As I said, I am George Wilson. I represent Trans Worlds Trading Company. TWT carries on commerce among several parallel universes and a number of planets scattered around the galaxy. We are a private, not a government, organization, and we try to operate in a moral and ethical manner. In fact, my primary responsibility within the company is assuring that we always operate in that way.

"We propose to set up transport portals at strategic locations and funnel the people through to their new planet. The flora and fauna correspond to the Earth 50 million years ago. It is as if evolution stopped then. The planet is not perfectly safe, since there are 8-foot tall carnivorous birds which will eat humans if they get a chance. You will have to defend yourselves, but there is also plenty of food. There is a particularly tasty proto-horse about the size of a large dog. We will supply you with the seeds necessary to grow row crops and cereals and the machinery to plant and harvest these crops.

"Your biggest problem will be that your living conditions will be somewhat primitive compared to what you have been used to. Initially, most places will not have running water and flush toilets. The upshot is that you will have to make many adjustments, but you will live. We will support you as much as we can, but don't expect a lot of hand holding.

We may have to dump everybody helter-skelter. If you want to maintain your current separate country organization, you will have to arrange that after you get organized. Do whatever you like, we don't care. Is all of this acceptable?"

"Well, Mr. Wilson, you have been clear in your expectations and conditions. I believe that we can live with that, especially, considering the alternative. What should we do first?"

"Madam President, let me contact my home base before I answer that. Esther, what is the situation at Alpha2?"

"George, we have been pushing temporary housing and sanitation facilities. We should be able to handle 100,000 people by nightfall. Appropriate food and drink will be in place by then. I'll let you know if the situation changes."

"Madam President, I suggest that you send through enough military police to police and protect that many people before we send any civilians through. Other than that, I'll leave it up to you. I think that we need to start moving the MPs within the hour."

Admiral Hitchcock asked, "Any reason why we can't move their dependents at the same time?"

"That's an excellent idea! Where should we place the portal to begin the troop movement?"

"The parade ground at Fort McClellan, Alabama, would be a good place to start. We can have the troops and dependents ready to start through in 30 minutes. In fact, we might as well clear out Fort McClellan as quickly as possible. Madam President, may I use your telephone line to my office?"

The president nodded her head.

"Hello, Sam? This is Adm. Hitchcock. Send orders to Fort McClellan yesterday, if not sooner, to move everybody out to the parade ground. That includes dependents. They should not take anything they can't carry in their hands. No luggage, but any medicine. No equipment beyond trucks and Humvees needed to move the personnel. Only personal weapons, no crew served stuff. Two day's ammunition supply. Yes, we'll take pets. This is an emergency. NOW MOVE!"