Jack and Jill IV
Chapter 18
"Well that went well." Alexis for one was glad it was over. At least they had liked the meal. Even the two Secret Service agents had eaten. They were last, however. She was betting to see if anyone just dropped dead or something like from food poisoning.
"Do you think they believed us?" Kate queried as they all went back to the living room.
"If she doesn't we're all going to be part of the Purpose," Rick pointed out.
"Swell. You're rich. You wouldn't happen to have a nice out-of-the-way place where we could hide forever, would you?" Kate questioned him.
"Dad does own a number of properties spread out all over. The only one isolated enough for that would be the island," Alexis told her.
"You own an island?" Maybe she shouldn't be surprised but she was. Or at least even more impressed with just how rich he was.
Alexis picked up the laptop off the dining room table. They had used it to show something to Madam Secretary and Alexis sat down next to Kate and started searching for it.
"Here. You can read while I go get some wine," Alexis said. "You two can go get coffee if you prefer." Meaning Storm and Jayne.
Storm shook his head. "Coffee leads to addiction. Really bad for my kind of work. Wine will be fine."
"I'd rather have a beer," Jayne said.
"It's in the kitchen somewhere. We bought some in case our guests wanted one. I just asked for imported. I don't know what kind it is," Alexis told him.
Jayne got up and followed her. She would turn right for the wine while he turned left for the kitchen. "I knew there was a reason why I liked you." Jayne smiled at her just as they turned different directions.
"You can show me how much later tonight." Alexis turned her head, smiled at him, then bumped into the stupid table that went down the center. Embarrassing herself.
Jayne swallowed hard and darted into the kitchen.
"Island. HOLY SHIT!" Kate got up and stood next to Rick. She put the laptop in his lap so he could see and didn't miss that Lanie had moved to stand behind him.
"This is not an island, babe." Kate contradicted him even if it clearly was.
"Looks like an island to me," Rick countered. "It also happens to be a resort that I own. I have a management company maintaining it for me. I haven't been there in years. Certainly not after my accident."
Alexis was back with a bottle and glasses. "FUNADHOO ISLAND. It's a resort. It actually makes money for us." Alexis set the bottle down and started handing out glasses followed by pouring for everyone as Jayne came back happy as a clam. Technically this was number two. He had chugged the first one in the kitchen.
Kate began reading. "56.52 hectares. 150 villas, they comprise of six Twin Villas, 100 Duplex Villas, 35 Beach Villas and nine Beach Villas with Pool. This creates a maximum bed capacity of 300. The all-day dining restaurant has a capacity of 215 guests, while the main bar can accommodate up to 72 guests for drinks and snacks. The grill restaurant seats up to 54 guests; the pool bar/area holds 124 guests; specialty Asian restaurant and wine-tasting area holds up to 68 guests and the sunset bar can seat up to 44 guests." Kate was still amazed.
"It has a runway for airplanes." Lanie pointed at it over his shoulder.
"That's how most of the guests get there," Rick revealed.
Kate went back to reading though mostly to herself. "Heat recovery system, Seawater cooling system, fire pump house, desalination tanks, fuel and fresh water tanks. Is there anything this place doesn't have?" Kate switched from reading to looking at Rick and back to reading.
"The runway is 1,200 meters," Kate read.
"We could land there in the jet. Take everyone with us," Jayne mused.
"Baa Atoll in the Maldives." Kate looked at Jayne.
Jayne scrunched up his face as he thought. "Around eight thousand six hundred miles from here. We would need to refuel somewhere. It can be done. Take a while to get there but it can be done."
Storm shook his head. "Too many people. The Amplitur are sure to spot us and come get us. That many people means daily deliveries or we all starve. We would want to land somewhere in North Africa to refuel. That place is out. Sounds nice but out of the question for long-term survival." Storm shook his head again.
"A girl can dream, you know," Kate groused even if he did have a point. "So we don't go there. Got anything else that's isolated and doesn't already have two hundred plus people?" She looked at Alexis for help.
"The point of owning places like that is to make money. And make the guests happy so they come back again," Alexis countered and sat down with her wine.
"Unfortunately she's right. Everything save for this place is meant to make money. It's why I'm rich. I just never thought I would want to escape from aliens that want to control my mind or even zombies," Rick admitted.
Lanie patted his shoulder, "Nice try," and sat down in a chair.
"Well, crap." Kate took the laptop from him, closed it, and set it on the coffee table. "So what happens next?"
"If I had to guess I'd say she takes all this to the President who then, if he believes it all without going to see the dead aliens for himself, will start making phone calls. The UK will likely be first. Followed by France, Israel, Germany, and others in the NATO Alliance.
"We and the dead bodies get flown to someplace like Brussels where NATO is based. While we're there Madam Secretary will have a closed door meeting with several top Senators. Just guessing here but probably only the ones that chair various committees. Or fewer.
"After that I don't know. Maybe Tokyo where the Chinese President just might agree to come for a meeting. How do we get places like Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Somalia, and others that would be more interested in shooting us than helping us? I'm glad I'm not the President or a diplomat," Rick shrugged.
"What about the United Nations?" Kate offered and listened to Storm snort out a laugh.
"The people in that building can't even tie their own shoelaces. It might have been a good idea at one point in time but now it's just a waste of space. One of the five hates something for any reason or even just for spite so they reject it and it's dead.
"Even if it was the greatest idea since sliced bread. If it benefits a country they don't like, it dies. End of story. We only had the Korean War because the Russians didn't bother to show up. They never did that again and neither has any of the other five." Storm had nothing but disdain for the UN. Nothing got accomplished in that place.
"So we're doomed?" Kate asked, looking at Storm.
"No, but it's going to take a lot of planning and with by then maybe less than twenty days to do it. Talk about a challenge." Storm only knew they needed to plan fast and get people moving all over the planet.
"So say we're going to Brussels. Besides telling our story all over again, which is a given, what do we suggest they do?" Kate questioned. "I know the Pentagon has contingency plans for a lot of things. Not so sure one for this, though."
"We really only need to stop the Amplitur. The rest can be taken care of over time. We might even have it all cleaned up by the time the Weave fleet gets here.
"So how do we do that?" Storm needed to think.
"Insertion." Jayne had an idea. "SEAL teams, Green Berets, British Commandos, Spetsnaz, Sayeret, Spéciales Terre, and whatever else. Spread them out all over. Make sure they're mostly sniper teams so they don't get too close. Give them a means of transport. Buggies, Ultralights would be better. Drop down, set up, and start shooting.
"We know these guys are stupid. No security, no sentries. They clearly don't fight like we do. They'll never see it coming till it's all over."
"Not bad." Storm liked it. "We need them to be able to react quickly, though. If we preset them and we're off by hundreds of miles it might be too late for someone.
"So where do they sit and wait and with what do they can get around in?" Storm went back to thinking.
"Aircraft Carriers. We have several, Great Britain has a couple. Even the Russians and the Chinese have one or two. The SEALS use submarines. They come ashore and a C-130 drops them a buggy or two," Rick suggested.
"Maybe. We have nineteen in total though only eleven are operational. The others are undergoing maintenance for one reason or another. China has two actually, Thailand has one, Spain has one, Russian has one, Spain has one, Italy has two, the UK has two, France has one, and India has one.
"There are actually forty-seven that have been decommissioned for one reason or another. Make them operational in twenty some odd days? And manned and equipped?" Storm shook his head.
"It can take a week or more just to sail from the east coast to say the Straight of Hormuz. Assuming the Iranians don't shoot at us.
"It still it might work. We can suggest it," Storm said since it was something.
Jack appeared. "Your planet actually has two hundred twenty-six Aircraft Carriers. Operational are twenty-three; Decommissioned are one hundred forty-seven; Under Construction are seven; Never Completed are forty-eight for a total of two hundred twenty-six. You have none in reserve waiting for deployment." Jack vanished.
"Maybe we should get him to access all of their secret computers and scare the shit out of them," Rick grinned and laughed a little.
Jack was back. "I already have and none of them know a thing." He vanished again.
"I have a big mouth," Rick stated flatly.
"What you need is sleep. It's been a long day." Kate put her wine glass down and stood up.
"I think that's my cue," Lanie said and did the same.
"I know we're not friends again yet, but thanks for coming, Lanie." Kate would hug her if she would allow it.
"Alexis called me. But you're right, we're not. …Yet. You were mean and I can't just overlook that. Call me if you need me for something. Even if it's to remove Kate's ass. I won't even charge you for that." Lanie was, though, willing to tease Kate a little.
"Thanks." Kate wasn't sure if she meant it or not.
"I'll keep that in mind," Alexis told her and escorted her to the elevator down to the ground floor.
"How is Kate doing? Really." Lanie asked Alexis at the elevator to go down.
"Pretty well, actually. I'm pleasantly surprised. She had no qualifications for this job but she's better than any of the others. Who knew?" Alexis was willing to give Kate credit. Just not to her face yet.
"Good. She really was broken. I'm guessing getting five years in prison was rock bottom for her. Like I said call me if you need me. Even if it's to go to Brussels. Never been to Brussels. Might be nice." Lanie stepped into the elevator, pressed G, and watched the door close.
oOo
Kate had Rick dressed in his pajamas and found that his being able to move now was helping a little. He was clearly tired so she simply got into bed with him and made sure she was nice and close. Right where she wanted to be.
Rick was having trouble keeping his eyes open, but he had a question. "You called me babe again," he pointed out since now he had witnesses if he needed them.
"Did I? I don't remember doing that." Kate knew that using the word babe was a term of endearment. Meant to simply convey I love you, without having to actually say those three magical words.
"Go to sleep. We're down to an entire twenty-three days starting right about now. Basically three weeks to prepare for a force of enemy ships that will be arriving." She still wasn't sure just how big a troop transport was. She had never actually seen an Aircraft Carrier with her own eyes. Lots of pictures, yes, but in person, no.
oOo
"You don't know how big any of these fleets will be?" the Secretary had asked Jack and Jill.
"No, ma'am, we do not have that information," Jack had to admit.
"So how big is a typical troop transport?" the Secretary had queried.
"A typical troop transport will hold eight thousand combat troops on average," Jack told them all since he didn't remember being asked that question by anyone till now.
"An Aircraft Carrier," the Commodore had offered since that was about the same number of people. "Including the Air Wing, ma'am."
That had Jack searching to compare. "A little larger but yes. One of your Aircraft Carriers."
"And this ship will land and send out troops?" the Secretary had questioned.
"No, ma'am. Each of us use transport ships to move the combat troops. However to get them to the surface of the planet we each use drop ships. Each ship will hold on average twenty-four combat troops or fewer if they're sending down equipment with them." Jack corrects her thinking. "They land allow the troops to deploy and go back up for reinforcements."
"So hundreds of these drop ships depending on the number of troop transports?" the Secretary had questioned.
"Yes, ma'am. Typically if I have your history of WWII accurate. They will land in a few locations and establish a beachhead and spread out from there. They will not know your planet or it's capabilities. Jill and myself are information gatherers, not military. Where would you land if you knew little about what to expect. What area could you expect to conquer and move on from there?" Jack asked him.
Madam Secretary had just the man to ask. "Storm?"
"Not an island so Great Britain is out along with even smaller islands like Hawaii or Midway. Hell even the Philippines are out. New Zealand is out. Australia maybe but not immediately.
"If they wait a little and see our city lights at night they would know the east coast and all of Europe will be the brightest. So maybe rural Russia, inland China, Midwest of the United States, South America. Say Brazil for example. Then plan for how to take everything else.
"As they say they have been fighting for several millennia so maybe they don't care how long it takes to conquer an entire planet. Let it take several years. A century even, maybe even two. Eventually it will be theirs and the locals after being Suggested will be only too willing to help.
"We just need to be ready for that one place, ma'am, and hope to hell all the Amplitur come down with them eventually. That or we start figuring out how to shoot down space ships the size of an Aircraft Carrier. …Ma'am," Storm offered.
"We're going to need the Air Force for that Madam Secretary," Gary said.
"If we have weapons that we've been trying to hide from the Russians or the Chinese, now would be good time, ma'am," Storm proposed.
oOo
Kate had Rick in the shower to get cleaned up, took care of a swirly, brushed his teeth, dried him, and got him dressed for the day. "We need to get you down to the exercise room later followed by a nap. We need for you to start building up your muscles or you're going to be stuck in that chair forever," Kate told him.
"Six months of this followed by a year of actually walking, then back into the chair because Jack is gone." Rick felt defeated and he had only just started.
"Will you please stop talking like that." Kate felt tears starting and she didn't know where they were coming from. It wasn't like she was madly in love with him. Was she?
"Jack, once your fleet arrives and some of your command structure starts showing up, you and Jill will not be staying on this planet, will you?" Rick called out and watched both Jack and Jill show up.
"Probabilities state the answer is no. There are other systems that neither side had gone to yet," Jack told him.
Jill added her voice. "It is highly probable that we will be assigned to someone else and they with us for support will scout that system and send for support so we can talk them into joining the Weave. Like we are doing here."
"Well SHIT!" Kate sat on their bed and felt more tears chase the others. "There has to be something. …Please? You two are Weave, think of something."
Kate wiped her tears and came to the realization that she really did care. They had gone on what could be considered a few dates. Mostly it was just car outings to get him out of this place and into the world. So were those dates? Just how many dates did she need to have been on to know that she cared?
"We do have a theory, but it's just a theory," Jill cautioned.
"Anything! I'll take anything." Kate looked at these two.
"We are what you call AIs. Very complex and difficult to make. If the same race that made us can make something similar to us, say all they are is a simple computer with no personality of any kind. They might be able to utilize the same system I am using to repair Richard.
"He will need to wear it for the rest of his life. Another one for you," Jack offered. "However that will take a lot of convincing and time. They are good but not that good,"
"Like a medical device that he wears all the time. Constantly monitoring him and repairing what needs to be repaired all his life." Kate tried to understand what these two were thinking about.
"Basically correct. Very simple basic computers with medical capability," Jack agreed.
"You two will need to come up with a viable solution as to why the Weave should do this for you two when they haven't done it for anyone else," Jill warned them.
"We can do that. We have to do that." Kate wiped away the last of her tears, then got up and kissed Rick. "You're rich and smart. Think of something." Kate kissed him again.
"And why aren't you so angry like me?" Kate didn't understand that part about him.
"DNR, remember." Rick had been ready to die so if Jack was gone he was back to square one.
"For your information I'm calling for an EMT if you so much as cough, mister!" Kate pointed at him then broke down and really kissed him.
Rick coughed as he began to roll away from her and got thwacked in the back of his head for that. It did get him smiling. Now he just needed the guts to tell her what he felt about her.
oOo
"Commander Richardson." His phone had rang so he answered it.
"Sir, this is Captain Aeschbach. We have indeed found a ship of some type in the waters where you sent us. The best way to describe it is that it looks like a mini Klingon Bird of Prey, wings and all. But it's too dark and murky to get a good look at it.
"It's resting on the bottom. Best guess is that it might weigh somewhere around five to six tons, maybe more. We're going to need to think and plan carefully if we want to lift this thing out of the water, sir," Andrew was told.
"I'll start making phone calls. For now I want you and your team to guard it. No one but you and your team has the authority to approach it. Deadly force is authorized. Are we clear?"
"Very clear, sir. …Sir, if I may ask? This isn't a sunken mock-up made by some Hollywood company, is it?" he asked him.
"No, Captain, it is not." Andrew hung up and started searching for the person he needed to send a team out there, get this thing off the bottom, and into a dry dock in Norfolk. Under heavy guard, of course. He needed some escort ships so no one tried to take it from him.
They needed that ship in dry dock, open, and inspected. Right now they had dead bodies, autopsy results, and someone inspecting the equipment that had been found. In addition the word of two alien AIs along with what was left of this supposed fighter. This would help a lot.
Andrew had no doubt that the Russians, Chinese, and others would demand access to this ship. But that authority was out of his hands. It also had him out of his office and knocking first before entering.
"Is he in?" Andrew asked his receptionist that handled who had access to him and kept track of his schedule.
"You can go in, Deputy Commander," he told him.
Andrew knocked and opened the door. "Sir, we've found the alien shuttle. The SEAL Team is guarding it. I've arranged for a team to go out and inspect it to determine how to raise it and get in in a dry dock in Norfolk."
"Excellent! We need that ship. Keep on top of it, Andrew. I will inform the Secretary of State and she can inform the President. I already have a meeting with the President tomorrow. Get me all you can before then," he ordered.
"Yes, sir." He saluted smartly and got a soft one in return. Vice Admiral Kendall Card sat back down and tapped his desk before picking up his phone. Getting that ship might take days and that SEAL team was going to need relief. To do that meant he needed someone else to help him. He was the Director of Naval Intelligence but he had little control over deployment of troops or ships.
His meeting tomorrow was going to be a big one.