Chapter 4

I really wanted to have some time to myself in which to think about all that I'd heard. But it was evident that I wouldn't be getting that time in the near future. I indicated that Lori could come along because it seemed that she was of some interest to the powers that be. When Dr Smythe saw that I would allow Lori to hear what she had to tell me, she indicated that we should follow her.

We went down the hall a bit further until we came to an elevator where Dr Smythe pressed the call button. A few moments later the car arrived and we entered it. Dr Smythe pressed a button that would send the elevator to the basement of the hospital. We rode in silence until the car stopped. Dr Smythe stepped out and led us to a small conference room. When we were all inside and had been seated, she locked the door and said, "This is about as private as any place gets when there's a Confederacy AI watching everything."

"In other words BB is always watching," I said, "Is there any reason that you can give that we should even consider entering into such a condition?"

"Joe!" Lori exclaimed, "I want to get off Earth before the swarm gets here."

"I guess that right about now I've got one main question. How can anyone on Earth know if we're being told the truth about the Confederacy, the swarm or any other thing that has been put out to the public if we're being constantly monitored to be sure that we aren't saying anything we shouldn't say?" I groused.

"Loose lips sink ships," Dr Smythe said.

"That may be so, but mushroom management kills troops," I responded.

Dr Smythe took a listening pose that I was later to learn was related to a communication device that had been implanted in her skull. After a moment of sitting in silence she said, "Joe, if, and only if you agree to have Lori as your concubine, then I've been authorized to let you see one of the few Sa'arm bodies that we've managed to bring out of the combat zone."

That stunned me, and I had to ask why they were so insistent about us being together. So I asked, "Why is it so important to your AI that Lori and I be together?"

"I think you put on a dumb act at work Joe, but just to be certain that you can understand such things I'll ask: Do you understand what synergy means?"

"I'd guess that somewhere someone or something got the idea that together Lori and I can accomplish things together that neither of us can accomplish separately."

"That's about the size of it," Dr Smythe answered.

"On the surface, until I get to know Lori better I wouldn't be able to answer positively about anything concerning her. But that is not the main issue so far as I'm concerned. What I am more interested in is knowing that I can take Sheba with me.

"I don't think... ," Dr Smythe started to say only to be interrupted by a voice that seemed to emanate from the center of the room, "Major Giovanni will have to negotiate that with the James Cook, which will be his ship if he should wish to take up the challenge."

It seemed that I wasn't going to get a moment to think about any of the many issues that were scrambling to catch my attention. Therefore I asked, "When can I begin negotiations?"

"Dr Smythe, if you would be so good as to ensure that the major and the concubine candidate are prevented from speaking of this to non Confederacy persons, then we can furnish the major with a communication device that will allow him to negotiate with the James Cook."

"How are you going to ensure that I am prevented from discussing this with anyone else?" I asked.

"I'll give you a small dose of nanites with this," Dr Smythe said pulling out what looked like an i-pad or some other sort of tablet computer.

"What will they do to us?" I asked, worried that in some way such alien technology would harm me.

"Mostly they will work with the body maintenance nanites that you already have from your trip through the medical tube. They should make you nauseous if you attempt to tell anyone that you've been recruited by the Confederacy."

"I wonder how Johnny was able to tell me that everyone where I work who was eligible to immigrate would immigrate?" I said, voicing a thought that suddenly occurred to me.

"We're not sure how he managed that," Dr Smythe said, "we're looking into it however."

"I'll let you do the process on me so that my ever-so-paranoid neighbor can see that I'm not harmed," Lori said.

Before Dr Smythe could do anything to Lori, the disembodied voice spoke up. It said, "The reason that Johnny Samson was able to tell Joe Giovanni about the plan to extract as many people as possible from DMC is that he considered him to be absolutely trustworthy with a secret. Both Joe's previous record as a soldier for the US Army and his current CAP score bear that belief out."

"Am I carrying out this interview or are you?" Dr Smythe asked the air with a hint of impatience in her voice.

"I was just clarifying the circumstances surrounding Johnny Samson's ability to reveal that ADC would be extracted," the AI said.

"Thanks, now all I need to do is convince Joe that he should transfer his loyalty to the Confederacy," Dr Smythe grumbled.

"Bethanne," I said, "I'm not going to be convinced that the Confederacy is acting in my best interest or in the best interest of humanity if everyone I meet continues to insist that everything is a deep dark secret."

"Information is withheld from the general public to prevent a general panic," the AI informed me from its invisible domain.

"If the Confederacy is not being treated like an invader by a large percentage of the population, I would be utterly surprised," I said.

"But the Confederacy has not invaded the Earth," the AI almost sounded plaintive as it responded to me.

"But you have come here and announced that the Earth will be invaded by an implacable foe. And then, if that was not bad enough, you've been openly recruiting people to leave the Earth. Worse yet, the people you've been recruiting have been among the best and brightest minds that humanity has to offer. I've seen in the news often enough where the missing are members of one brain trust or another. So who will provide the defense for the Earth? Will the Confederacy defend the Earth? Not likely! After all, are you not cherry-picking humanity in the hopes that our most brilliant minds and perhaps some of our more aggressive fighters will be able to come up with a solution to the problem that you have? That problem is that the Confederacy seems to be in the gun-sights of the Sa'arm as well and that most of the races that make up the Confederacy would consider discorporating if they had so much conflict as the average human has over a hand of bridge!" Lori blurted out a lecture without stopping.

"Bravo!" A booming voice belonging to a giant (I guessed that both he and Cpl. Roberts massed nearly 110 kilos each) in a uniform consisting of a Gray jacket (with Prussian collar) and trousers, black Oxford shoes, black Sam Browne belt, and gray wedge cap said as he entered the room.

I didn't recognize the uniform from any of the Public Service Announcements that occasionally played on the television when I'd had a few moments to watch. I recognized his rank insignia as that of a Lt. Colonel and wondered what he had to do with the effort that was being made to recruit me to fight for the Confederacy. I didn't have long to wait as he said, "Good day to you Col. Smythe, how goes your effort?"

"Bill, the subject that the AI is interested in is stubbornly insistent on objecting to service with the Confederacy," Dr Smythe said.

"Joe, I believe you told your lovely companion that women and children should go first if humanity is actually being threatened by an inimical threat. The AI that is working with us to plan for the arrival of the Sa'arm has decided that I should lend my effort to proving that we are indeed in the cross-hairs as it were. With that in mind I would like to take you on a tour of what humanity has brought back from the stars," the huge (I learned later that his size was considered marine standard) man whom Dr Smythe had called Bill said.

"Then I suppose I should ask how I should address you and what conditions you will place on the information you wish to place at my disposal," I said.

"Tribune Whitefeather will do for now; as for conditions, the main one is that you not tell anyone that you've been approached with a view toward your extraction. That is not so much to keep people in the dark as it is a result of Earth First activities."

"Tribune?" I said, "I don't think I've heard of that rank before, what do you have to do with this? Also, though I haven't decided to volunteer I want to know how I'm supposed to recruit new concubines if I can't talk about being offered extraction?"

"I'm a member of what is termed the Civil Service. We deal with issues surrounding concubines and other dependents. You'll receive a device that will enable you to ensure their inability to speak of your offer with anyone but yourself. Looking at the load of nanites that you were given by the ever-efficient Mr. Roberts, it appears that the efforts to gain your permission to block your ability to share our offer to extract you is somewhat in vain. This is due to the fact that he once again anticipated the situation and introduced the standard contact load of nanites including ones that are programed to sense your stress levels so that you will not be able to discuss what you see here. This was done while your body was repaired to your putative sponsor's requirements," Tribune Whitefeather said.