Aston welcomed the six new visitors and went through again the explanation provided the previous day. He noted that the others present had accepted the gift along with the duty that acceptance imposed. All had received the implants and were now fully functional, although untrained. He asked that if they did not accept the gift that they not tell anyone else about it, as that would endanger the others here.
Ed’s father said, “Son this is your decision and Jane’s. If this is something you wish to do, your mother and I will join you.” Jane’s father made a similar comment.
Ed replied, “Actually, it is something we very much wish to be a part of. This is not an expected life path but it is one that could not be more gratifying and to be in the company of my best friends, what more could one ask. If Jane is with me, then I am in.”
“I am,” responded Jane. Their parents all followed suit.
<You have all received the implants. By tomorrow this time, you will not need the boat to get back and forth. You should also know that the portals can be placed wherever you would like them so that you have access to the ship. While most of the training will be field use of the enhancements, some of the training will be done on the ship so the portals may prove to be very convenient. I have developed a number of exercises that will aid in fully developing the capabilities that you have. These should all become second nature to you so that you clearly know how to use them when needed. Likewise you need to disguise them when needed. There are cameras everywhere on this planet, so you need to assure that you are not picked up on these when changing persona. Again, that is more training.>
Andy noted, “I think that by the end of this vacation, we will try to recruit Nick and Anya. They deserve an opportunity be part of this.”
<Unfortunately, you do not have that long. The Russian secret police are preparing to take both families into custody and ship them to some kind of labor camp. The secret police are not gentle with persons so designated. They will just disappear. They are to be picked up in a few hours. Both families are together at the home of Nikolay's parents. Parents and their offspring all speak English fluently, almost with no accent so they will be easy to hide if they elect to come here. >
"Aston, can you give us a portal to their home and arrange it so that they will see us as we really are but observers will see some one else?"
<Yes, good thinking. Who is going?>
"Pat, Gus, Barbara, Dad and me. They know the five of us from last summer in Tokyo. We are ready now. Make the inside of the apartment door the return portal. After we are inside the apartment, make that doorway impenetrable until all are through the portal."
<Understood. Here you go. Remember you are operational. Bullets can't hurt you. I have also disabled all of the listening devices inside the apartment.>
The five were standing outside the apartment door. Andy knocked on the door.
The door opened and Nikolay was standing there with a look of surprise. "You should not be here, there is danger coming."
"Yes we know and we can help. Please invite us in."
After a fraction of hesitation, he waved them in. When the door was closed, Andy reached over and locked the door and secured the chain and Nikolay said, "that will not stop them."
"Better than you might think. I need to talk to you, Anya and all parents."
"Come with me tovarich."
Nikolay's father rose and said, "My friend, this is a very bad time for you to be here."
"Yes, I know, the secret police are preparing to arrest all of you. In fact, they are already on the way and there is no way out of this building."
"How can you know these things? We feared that we were too late, but…"
"We will explain that later but right now we can get you out if you suspend disbelief for a bit. Do you have the things you would wish to take with you ready to go? Ok everybody lets help them along. Now this will be the hard part." He went to the front door and said, "watch." He then put his hand through and withdrew it. "That is a portal that will place you in Alaska. The secret police are on the way here now to ship you off to a labor camp. How would you like to go to Alaska instead?"
Nikolay's father responded, "that is not possible but then, nothing ventured, nothing gained. I am ready and willing to see what this brings. It is better than the alternative." Gus and Barbara stepped through carrying several suitcases as did Bill Foster. The rest followed carrying various items including a computer hard drive and an antique samovar. Andy took one last look around, saw a book on the table and grabbed it. Pat noticed an old icon on the wall and took that down. Then he and Pat stepped through the portal just as the secret police started pounding on the door.
After everyone was in the main room, he handed the book to Nicolas and Pat handed the icon to his parents and said, "I almost wish I could watch this, the door is locked, the windows are closed and locked, the apartment is on the eighth floor, the food on the table is hot, but no people, it will be priceless."
Aston responded, <but you can, observe.> A three dimensional view of the apartment appeared just in time to see the police break down the door. They saw the apartment was empty, the door locked and chained from inside, the windows closed and locked, and the incredulous look on the policemen's faces as they registered the impossibility of the scene before them. The Alaskans were all grinning including the parents, especially the parents.
After seeing enough, Andy said, "Thanks Aston, that was indeed priceless and my friends are safe. Thank you. Now for introductions."
After everyone was introduced, Nicolas' father said, "Andy, everything I have just seen here is wreaking havoc with what I know of physics and of the capabilities of the United States. As you probably know, both my colleague Dr. Petrovich and I are theoretical physicists and this last 30 minutes is beyond anything that I know and understand. Why do I have the sense that you are the one in charge?"
Jim responded, "That would be because he is indeed our leader."
"Once?"
"Unfortunately, yes, they were invaded and destroyed by a lizard-like race that are now on their way to this system and will reach us in about 7 years with the same intent. The younger people in this room represent the total population of individuals believed by the representative of the Lotan race to be suitable candidates to halt the invasion. With the presence of Nikolay and Anya, every suitable person on this planet that we know of now, is here. The ten young adults here are it. We think there may be no others but we hope there are more and are still searching. The Lotan representative is Aston. He is the ship, our mentor, our tool and our trainer to prepare us for the task ahead. I am going to ask Aston to give you the full explanation and ask if you will all join us in this effort as well as explain your role in it. If you elect to go your own way, we will do our best to provide you with the means to continue life of your choosing wherever you wish to go. I would only ask that you do not reveal what you have learned today."
Aston then explained everything to them as he had done on two previous occasions. At the end of that description, Nikolay and Anya simultaneously said that they were in. The parents all added their agreement to the group. Aston promptly administered the necessary implants.
Bill Foster then said, "we are quickly adjusting to the implants. It is fortunate that we have 10 days left on this cabin rental. This gives us time to gain proficiency in our new capabilities. We will all need to figure out how to allow our new friends to wander about without being charged as illegal aliens. We will also need to be together with each other frequently and we will need a plausible excuse to do that. We will need a base of operations."
Aston said, < I think I may have a solution for that. I have taken the liberty of creating false identities for each of our Russian fr
iends, or should I say friends of Russian descent, each of whom was born in Alaska and have social security records, birth certificates, graduation records, employment accounts, driving licenses, etc. that all register as authentic. They will be able to use the names they were born with and any queries from elsewhere will be deflected without causing suspicion.>
Ed said, "You can do that?"
<I already did that. Another step is that we need to have a way for you to continue your education. Since you have all graduated from high school, there are no state requirements to contend with. I would suggest that you take correspondence courses for college work since your time will need to be flexible. It will also allow you to set your own pace. This will take you out of the public eye somewhat. You will also be learning things from me that are not in any formal curriculum on the planet.>
<Next, normal jobs are going to prove an impediment at times to the flexibility of movement we must have. I can provide you with an income that will surpass anything you can expect and I can do it in a way to avoid drawing the attention of the tax authorities and the government generally. You will all have plausible occupations. I have previously identified some hillside property on Glacier highway beyond Eagle Beach that I am calling Whale Point, suitable for a condominium and lodge/hotel facility. Hoping that you would agree to accept the implants, I went beyond that. The lodge/hotel under construction is paid for by ship funds and will be completed next Spring. It is a very good resort hotel with limited footprint. The structure has four parking levels, a shopping and store level on the first floor above the parking levels. The second floor is for meeting rooms, a sort of mini convention center. The third floor is for offices. The fourth through seventh floors are for condominium dwellings. The first 48 condominium units are ready for occupancy now. Those are on the hillside above the hotel and are not obvious from the road. The next 48 will also be completed by next Spring. You would all occupy the first condominium structure and appear to operate the lodge/hotel and convention site. The stores on the first floor and the offices on the third will give the appearance of some forms of occupation apparent on site. The shops are mostly tourism oriented. There will be a convenience store with groceries there as well. Eventually we can expand the site for quite a few more dwelling and business units so the location will have ever increasing utility and plausibility. The Lodge would be located above the beach while your condominium units would be further up the hillside with portals connected to the ship and to facilities in the hillside that are not detectable. There will be a marina located there for the condominium owners and some whale watching and fishing charters. The units in the first tower would be sold or deeded only to persons with the Lotan implants. Some of you may wish to continue in your current occupations or slowly phase out of them. It probably would not be wise for everyone to quit what they are doing all at the same time. That could call attention to us that we are not yet ready to have. Whatever we do, we want to be comfortable that it is not drawing undue public attention. The land, by the way is on 360 acres. The land around it has been purchased by other corporate entities that we own and do not appear to be related to any one of you. The site has a large cliff to the East that is quite steep, almost vertical and snow free during the winter. This will have solar collectors on it sufficient to power the condominiums and the lodge/hotel. This means that only we will know how much power we are drawing. These collectors will be considerably more efficient than what is currently on the market but that will not be apparent. There will be some secret facilities in the mountain in back of the condos that will be accessible from each condo via portals that are triggered by your implants. The condo and lodge will be managed by a management firm that you will own but will be impossibly difficult to trace back to any one of you. We will have one business office there that will be a consulting firm/think tank. We have another that will offer guide services for exploring the backcountry here. There is a trail that crosses near the Eastern end of the property that is not used very much. We expect to improve that and run tours up that way. It is in proximity to an old early 1900's mining town that we intend to restore and utilize as an attraction. We even have some winter activities in the planning stage that would include some ideal locations for astronomy because of the low light pollution. We are at a location where the Aurora Borealis is frequently seen. If anyone has additional ideas we can explore them. The location selected should be a pretty safe selection since I anticipate no further development in that area for some time and we already have the choice site, in fact, all of the available sites.>
Pavel, Nikolay's father rose and said, "Earlier today I thought my life was over and that my family was in jeopardy because I would not agree to work on a government project to which I am opposed. The government was going to 'soften me up' so I would be more malleable. I can't express how happy I am that you have provided an opportunity for us to contribute in this way. I thank you and my family thanks you."
Andy jumped up saying, "Holy smokes, my manners are slipping, I forgot that you did not have a chance to eat your dinner. You must be hungry. How would you all feel about joining us for an American style barbecue. If that is too much we have some splendid trout waiting for us. We are camped at one of the more spectacular lakes in Southeast Alaska. Tonight you can sleep aboard the ship and join us during the day to relax a bit. We should enjoy what is left of our vacation. Dr. Ivanovich and Dr. Petrovich, I do not think your colleagues will be expecting you for work tomorrow." That brought about considerable laughter.
Dr. Petrovich observed, "I can see that this will be an interesting group to work with. It is so relaxing to see genuine smiles again."
"Wait until you see the lake. Follow me and we can get the food going. A word of caution, there are bears in the area that can get cranky. Big ones. For the most part they are skittish and will leave if they know you are there. Surprising one is not usually a good idea. After tomorrow that won’t matter because then they can’t hurt you. Mostly they just want to fish in peace."
# Day Five at Turner Lake #
# Wednesday. June 15 #
Adjusting to their new capabilities was going very smoothly. Aston started teaching the young people how to absorb and release energy. This was done in areas not near the lake to avoid accidental discovery or discovery by one of the satellites in orbit. One satellite was selected as a target for controlled releases because it was noted that it was an EMP weapon. If used that device could start a nuclear war. They gleefully gutted the satellite and caused it to spiral toward the sun. This must have caused its owners great discomfort because there was no detectable reason for the satellite to behave as it was.
Aston pointed out that their increasing expertise was far ahead of what he expected at this point. He also suggested that a controlled test with practical application would be in order. He suggested that they remain invisible using their stealth capability or use a ghost outline form with facial features obscured. All preferred that mode. He noted that a terrorist with a particularly strong bomb was about to suicide in Times Square at a very busy time. The ten arrived in Times Square just as the bomber revealed the bomb and was about to trigger the bomb. Chris removed the trigger from his hand and held it just out of the bombers reach. Nikolay disarmed the secondary trigger while the rest of the team dismantled the bomb and left it lying in pieces all about him. They then tied him to a light standard. At the start of the operation, they had alerted the police and even though the police responded within 60 seconds, the culprit was disarmed and tied up before they arrived and all the evidence was intact. Witnesses reported seeing streaks of light during the process and what appeared to be very fast moving ghosts. Quite a number of cell phone photographs were taken but none had identifiable features. What could be clearly seen was the look of dismay on the face of the terrorist as his plan unraveled. The press had a field day concerning the unknown benefactors noting that they had likely saved hundreds of lives. An hour after
that they did the same thing in Tel Aviv. They repeated the exercise in London, Cannes and then in Melbourne after that.
They spent the rest of the day relaxing and enjoying the lake and surroundings. Later that afternoon they returned the remaining supplies to the West End Cabin and cleaned up the East End Cabin.
George and Julia Carter returned the boat to the Taku Cabin and teleported back to Turner Lake.
# Day Six at Turner Lake #
# Thursday, June 16 #
Andy suggested that the exercises of the previous day were a good training method for everyone. With that they decided to continue with more of the same and suggested that teams of 4 were probably overkill but that it still sent a message out and provided good training of the capabilities in their implants. Each group going out had at least two of the younger group so they could absorb energy from an event and learn how to fully exercise that capability when required. Day six addressed an event in Berlin, two in Syria, one in Chicago, one in Johannesburg, one in New Delhi, and one in Rome. In each case, weapons were defused, culprits were restrained and left alive for the authorities. The group decided to vary the hours of activity to further confuse the source of the assistance. They also critiqued every action to maximize the learning opportunities.
Aston was able to pinpoint where activity was about to occur with greater accuracy. He suggested that some cases could be dealt with at the source rather than at the target site. This way fewer lives would be at risk. The practice was resulting in greater speed and more effective action than expected at this stage of development.
Everyone took a few hours off to enjoy the lake. While this was happening, Aston conferred with Andy, <These exercises are having an impact. Not only are you developing the skills you will need later, you are taking some vermin out of circulation. I believe you are all ready for something a bit more complex. There is a major crime family compound located on the outskirts of Ciudad Juarez, in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. They have been moving drugs and terrorists into the United States for some time. They have a huge supply of firearms, weapons and explosives. I would suggest that the team go in and neutralize that operation. Essentially empty the compound of everything and everybody. There is an Army General in Mexico City, General Gomez, who is honest and would love the opportunity to remove that thorn in Mexico's side but is concerned with the potential loss of life that a military operation might cause. I think that if this were handed to him as a fait acompli, he would welcome it. There are escape tunnels and tunnels across the border for moving illicit goods and people that need to be closed down so those should be destroyed. We can't tell the police there because they have not eliminated all of their leaks. There are enough corrupt officials and officers that the use of local resources would not be advisable. What do you think?>