Disclaimer: I do not own Zootopia or any of its characters, they all belong to Disney. I do not own Halo or any of it characters, they are all belong to 343 Industries. I do not own Battlestar Galactica 1978 or any of its characters, they all belong Glen A. Larson and Universal. I do not own the Ryanverse or any of its characters, they all belong to Tom Clancy's estate. Rated M for sexual themes.
Chapter 18
President Jack Ryan sat at his desk, reading through another briefing paper. This long weekend at Camp David was supposed to be mini vacation, but here he was still in the White House working late Friday afternoon. A small blank window popped up in the right hand corner of the screen.
"What the hell!" he said and the Secret Service Agent looked at Swordsman.
"Jack?" the First Lady said, coming over and leaning over his shoulder, and wrapping her arms around him.
"Well," he said and looking at his wife, "just what do you have in mind?"
Just then the computer beeped again and the small window grew larger.
"Greetings Mr. President. My name is Vice Admiral Judith Wilde. I wish to meet with you. We have much to discuss."
Jack typed a response.
"There are laws against hacking government computers."
"Sorry, but seemed the most expedient way to get your attention other than landing
a drop ship on the White House lawn and saying take me to your leader."
"Is this a joke?"
"No sir," she typed and chuckled. "I could have a drop ship there is about an hour, but I'll put it down on Pennsylvania Avenue so I won't mess up the lawn. OK?"
The Ryans looked at each other and the computer beeped again.
The next message read: look in the fountain on the front lawn and you'll find a key. Jack rose and looked through the window watched the water spray for a moment. Then he looked at the Secret Service agent and then picked up his phone. Two minutes later the head of his Secret Service detail entered his office.
"Gary," he said and pointed to box on the screen, "look at this."
He read and looked at the Commander-in-Chief.
"Sir, that's impossible!" he said and glanced at the screen again. "It's checked daily."
"How much you wanta bet it's there?" he said and his computer beeped again.
Both men read the new message: Go look. They looked at each other and Gary spoke into his mike. A couple minutes later the fountain shutoff and shortly thereafter two 'maintenance men' and two uniformed Secret Service agents walked across the lawn. The water was quickly drained and the key was retrieved, placed into a lead lined box, and handed to one of the uniformed Secret Service agents. Five minutes later in Gary's hands. Then it was run through a battery of tests and an hour later it sat on the President's desk. The computer beeped, but this time a voice came from the computer's speaker.
"Only an hour, I'm surprised," she said and chuckled. "Also, I guess you're through fiddling your computer. Those are some interesting programs you've installed. If you really wanted to know where we tapped into the internet you could've just asked." Jack looked at Gary. "The device converts our Slipspace communications into the protocol the internet uses."
"What's Slipspace?" Jack asked.
"It's our method of FTL for our ships and of course our communications."
"Faster than Light?!" Gary said before the President could.
He looked at Jack and he smiled.
"How fast could you travel from here to Alpha Centauri?" Cathy Ryan asked and Jack looked at his wife and raised an eyebrow.
"Well let's see that's 4.3 light years," she said and thought for a moment. Then she got out her pad and tapped for a few seconds. "141.35175 seconds... approximately."
"How fast is that?" Cathy asked.
"Nine hundred and sixty thousand times c," she said and Jack sat and starred at his computer.
"My God!" Gary said and Jack looked at the man again and smiled.
"OK, enough with awing the natives," she said and Jack chuckled. "Back to the key. As you've already figured out it's for a public locker."
"But where?" Gary asked.
"The Union Station Bus Terminal there in Washington and you'll find a book and a computer."
The examination of the book was completed first and he sat up most of the night reading it, finishing it at 3:05am. The Hunt for Red October fairly accurate, but he thought it was just a bit too dramatic in some places and not enough in others. There were things there that he'd never told anyone even Cathy. His innermost thoughts and feelings were there for everyone to see. Judy put in a note that there many more books and movies too. For just a moment he wondered if he'd let his wife read it, but in the end set it on her nightstand and climbed in bed beside her. He immediately fell asleep.
The next morning woke, showered, dressed, and found his wife at the breakfast table waiting for him and reading the book. Then they had breakfast as the usual, but today Kathy came with him to the Oval Office. Fortunately she didn't have any appointments with her patients that morning. The computer awaited them on the Resolute Desk.
"Sir, we've ran every test you can image and found nothing," Gary said, glancing at it. "Also, it wouldn't boot up. We couldn't even find a button."
"In for a penny in for a pound," he said and pulled out his chair and sat. Then he touched the computer and a 3-D image began to coalesce above it. After a moment it became the head and shoulders of a man in uniform.
"Greetings Mr. President," it said and smiled. "I'm George your personal Artificial Intelligence."
"George Washington!" Gary exclaimed.
"When I was first told of this assignment I thought it would be appropriate," he said and smiled. "So I read all of his writings and reviewed the many histories surrounding his life. I think I've become quite a good simulation of the man."
"Pardon me," Gary said.
"No problem," he said and smiled. "You will notice that there isn't a keyboard or mouse. You may speak to me in any human language. I can respond either by voice or text. If you need to print something I can use any of your printers here in the White House."
Gary winced and President Ryan only smiled.
"George, maybe you could give some of your sage wisdom and advise when I need it."
"Possibly," he said and returned the smile. "The Vice-Admiral would like to speak to you. Do you have time now?"
"Yes," he said and Washington's torso vanished.
A moment later a full sized figure appeared before the desk in a somewhat ornate uniform.
"Hello Mr. President."
"You're a rabbit!"
"and proud of it!" she exclaimed and smiled. "The ears always give it away. Don't you think?" Jack and Cathy laughed. Reflexively the two Secret Service agents' hands went to their personal weapons and Judy turned to them. "Gentlemen, we can't beam down quite yet." Jack and Cathy laughed again. "This is a hologram. It's quite realistic, but it's still only a hologram. Now let's sit and talk."
The two agents returned to their normal wariness.
"About?" Kathy asked.
"The time has come," the Judy said and looked thoughtful, "To talk of many things: Of shoes and ships and sealing-wax - Of cabbages and kings - And why the sea is boiling hot - And whether pigs have wings." She looked back a President Ryan and grinned. "Or in our case the current state of our two universes."
"Two universes?" Ryan said.
"Let me guess your next question will be 'how do I know you're going to be telling the truth?' Well, that one's easy. That computer you have is most advanced one on your planet. It contains an Artificial Intelligence as you now know and also all of our history and a great deal of our knowledge. Also, there are proofs for certain mathematical and physics theories that your branch of humanity had yet to solve and all our medical knowledge pertaining to humans. For instance Cathy, I know that you're an eye surgeon. How would you like to replace an eye with a new one that will never be rejected?"
"That's possible!"
"We can clone any part of the human body or the entire body for that matter."
"You have humans where you come from."
"Yes, from the other Earth and the Twelve Colonies of Kobol."
"Another Earth?" Jack said.
"You see Jack, that other Earth in my universe is very similar yours, but there it's the late 26th century."
"But you're not from there."
"No, my homeworld is about 10,000 light years from Earth – that Earth."
"How did you get here?"
"Some of our allies, the Ris and Mellin, found a wormhole near a star in the Perseus arm of our Milky Way galaxy which connects to one near Proxima Centauri in this universe. Once they realized that they were in the Centaurus system they directed several probes to Sol. Then they found Earth, but it wasn't our Earth. Eventually they reported this to me and I took my starship and the rest of my fleet through. I came here and I left some of my fleet there in the Centaurus system."
"Some," Ryan said.
"The rest went exploring."
"How many ships in your fleet?" Kathy asked.
"4,518 currently, but some of our allies and other UNSC ships are still trickling through."
"UNSC?" Jack asked.
"The United Nations Space Command," she said and looked at Ryan. "Our Earth has a single government. The Unified Earth Government (UEG) is the central civilian government that administrates Earth and its colonies of which there over eight hundred."
"Interesting."
"The history's in the computer."
"Okay then what's the Twelve Colonies of Kobol?"
"They are another group of humans in Greater Magellanic Cloud and are now an allied power. I think their population is currently about 45 billion."
"Billion!" Jack exclaimed.
"They're spread over four star systems and twelve habitable worlds. They were also at war with Cylon Empire for the last thousand years. Recently the UEG/UNSC and Colonials have taken control of the Cylon Empire. So that's thirty or forty more worlds."
"and Kobol too," Nick added off camera.
"Who's that?" Cathy asked.
"That was my husband, Nick."
"Who are the Cylons?"
"They're basically a race of evolved dinosaurs, but the Cylons the Colonials were fighting were the robots that the organic Cylons created. They'd lost control of them and the robots nearly destroyed their creators. Afterwards the robotic Cylons tried to conquer everything in sight. Recently the Colonials discovered a new group of organic Cylons within a few thousand light years of Earth. If fact we have a number of them with us. Ya know it kinda sounds like a bad science fiction novel, doesn't it?"
They heard laughter in the background and assumed correctly that it was Nick.
"Yes, it does" Jack said and chuckled. "How'd the UNSC defeat the ones at war with the Colonials?"
"My cousin Mary's fleet found Kobol and three Cylon Baseships attacked them. Our AIs infiltrated their ships and sent a signal that simply turned them off. Soon afterwards using the same method her fleet took control of the entire Cylon Empire intact just before they would've committed genocide on the Colonials. That means we've control over their planetary infrastructure on all their worlds and all their fleet ships."
"So what do you wanta do now?" Jack asked.
"I read a lot about you Jack and before I chose this way to contact you," Judy said, leaning a bit closer. "I think that you're a pretty good judge of character. I want to meet with you. How about seven days from today?"
"OK. Where?"
"So where would like to meet?" she said and smiled.
"I wouldn't mind seeing your ship," he said hesitantly and smiled.
Judy chuckled at the look on Gary's face.
"I don't want to give your security people a stroke."
"I'll speak to them."
"Oh I'd love to be a fly on the wall at that meeting," she said and winked. "Just give me a call anytime when you're ready."
Earlier that same day, Jack Ryan, Jr. woke at 6am as usual, put on his sweats, and went for his morning run. A mile in he heard the clicking of nails on the sidewalk behind him. He glanced back for a moment to see very large dog keeping pace just behind him. It didn't seem aggressive and he kept up his current pace. At the end of the second mile it caught up and then ran beside him. He sped up and by the third mile it ran ahead of him. Later his smart phone beeped, indicating that he'd reached five miles and began to slow as did the dog. Ahead he noticed a convenient bench and stopped to cool down. The dog sat facing him and its tail thumped the sidewalk. He leaned back and looked at it. The first thing that struck him were its yellow eyes.
"So just who do you belong to?" he asked, not seeing a collar, and the dog gave a small bark.
Jack laughed and it moved a bit closer.
"So are you a good," he began and looked at bit closer, "girl?"
She gave another small bark and hopped up beside him. Then she leaned closer and licked his cheek and he laughed again. He scratched behind an ear and felt her lean into his hand and then her eyes closed in bliss. Then he padded her head and leaned back and she laid her head on his thigh. He sat there for a while idly scratching and stoking her fur. Later his phone beeped again.
"Well, I need to get home and get a shower," he said and she sat up.
He began a slow jog and again she kept pace. Fifty minutes later he climbed the stairs to his apartment and she still was right behind him.
"You're not coming in!" he said and put key in the lock and turned it.
The door opened a crack and she pushed her way through. He sighed and then shut the door behind him. He found the dog lying on his couch, thumping her tail. He laughed.
"I have to take a shower, eat breakfast, and go to work," he said and patted her head. "What am I going to do with you?"
"Take me to your leader," she said and then laughed at the expression on his face. "Oh by the way I'm a good girl, but once in a while..."
She stood and walked toward him.
"Well that didn't take as long as I expected," she said and winked. "I thought it might take a few days. As I said I'd did research on you and suspect when you make up your mind it's made up."
"She got you!" Cathy said and hugged him. "Can I come too?"
"Of course!" Judy said and smiled at the First Lady. "Bring anyone you like, but there are some people I'd like to meet."
"Such as," Cathy said.
"Marko Ramius," she said and Cathy looked at her husband, "and John Clark and his friends."
"How... the other books," Jack said.
"Got it in one!" Judy exclaimed.
Cathy laughed.
"There some technical people you need to bring too."
"OK," Ryan said.
"Some astronauts, physicists, mechanical engineers, biologists, doctors, and Navy types. Or anyone else you need."
"Could I ask why?"
"We have a gift for you," she said.
"A gift?"
"Oh you're going to love it," she said and grinned. "Oh bring some marines too!"
"Marines," he said.
"You were a marine once before you became a secret agent," she said and her eyes twinkled. "Was it like those James Bond movies I've seen?"
Ryan shook his head and smiled.
"You're a very interesting naval officer."
"That's because I was a cop before I was kidnapped by a desperate AI and let's say pressed into service."
"Sounds like the description on the dust jacket another bad science fiction novel."
"No, it's my life," she said and smiled.
"And I was right there with her every step of the way," Nick said.
Judy laughed.
"So where should we pick you up?"
"Camp David."
"No problem."
"It's fairly remote."
"And we can be quite stealthy when we need to be."
"I'll give any other information to George and you do the same," she said and started to break the connection and then stopped. "One other thing I thought I just might not be able to convince you that I was an 'alien from another planet.'" She giggled. "So yesterday before I spoke to you I sent a friend to convince you. You should be hearing from your son quite soon. Please bring him along too."
Jack Ryan, Jr. walked into White House with new 'dog' and his Secret Service escort and was led straight to the Oval Office. Then she stood and unhooked the leash.
"That's better!" she said and Secret Service agents approached. "So what now?"
"Ma'am, we need to search you," Gary said.
"Oh, but don't mess up my fur too much," she said and looked at Jack, Jr. "It took Jack an hour blow dry and brush it out after my shower and he did such a wonderful job too."
"So what do you think of Earth so far?" Cathy asked as the Secret Service ran their fingers through Wolfess' fur.
"It's been great!" she said and lifted her arms. "I met nice young man in the park, we ran together, he took me in, washed my back, brushed out my fur, brought me a new leash and collar, cooked me breakfast, and now took me to meet his parents. I think he really likes me." Jack, Jr. blushed and his mother smiled. "Oh my name is Rebecca. Please tell what he was like when he was a boy."
Cathy hugged her son and kissed his cheek.
"I like her!"
"Can I call you mom?" the Wolfess asked and Cathy laughed.
This large drop ship simply appeared and drifted silently to the ground. Jack, Cathy, and the others waited at a discrete distance. Then the rear landing ramp dropped and armored marines were first down the ramp followed by a Rabbit and a Fox. The President's Secret Service detail came first looked at the marines and then was shown the interior of the ship. Only then did the President, First Lady, Jack Jr., and Rebecca with another group of Secret Service Agents, followed by the specialists the Admiral had suggested, John Clark and the other members of his team, Captain Ramius, and finally their marines.
"I'm Vice Admiral Judith Wilde," she said and extended a hand. "Please call me Judy and this is Nick."
"Your husband's a Fox!" Cathy said and took her hand and shook.
"In both meanings," he said and Judy rolled her eyes. "Mrs. Ryan, I'm very glad to meet you."
He took her hand and they shook. He felt her feel his fur.
"Aren't you so tall and handsome!" she said and Nick grinned. "Please call me Cathy."
"To be honest with you you're not the first woman to tell me this," he said and Cathy laughed.
Then she hugged him and of course Nick being Nick he returned it.
"Your husband must be the luckiest man on Earth," he said and winked at Jack.
"OK Slick, just turn it off," Judy said and rolled her eyes again.
"Why?" Cathy said and glanced at her husband. "I was just beginning to enjoy it! It's not so often I meet such a foxy guy."
Nick grinned and Jack only smiled.
"Jack," she said, ignoring them, and shook his hand. "Thank you all for coming. Ok let's get everyone on board and seated! Jack, how would you like ride on the flight deck?"
"Certainly!" the President agreed.
She looked around for a minute and then found an older man with gray hair and beard. He even looked a bit like Sean Connery! She made her way over to him. "Marko Alexandrovich Ramius."
"Yes," he said and Judy offered her hand. "Pleased to meet you,"
"Vice Admiral Judith Laverne Wilde," she said and they shook. "Please join us on the flight deck. I think you'll find it interesting and I love your accent."
She winked.
"Of course," he said and smiled. "I never thought I'd get into space."
"When you join the military you never know where you might end up."
"True enough," he said and they started toward the front of the drop ship.
"The most interesting place I've been is a Dyson's sphere," she said and took the man's arm.
Jack looked at Ramius and the man smiled.
They passed through the airlock and Judy took the pilot's position and Nick the co-pilot's. She turned to face the group as they filed in.
"This is our navigator Lt. Vao and he's a Cylon," she said and he looked at the group.
President Ryan stepped down and extended a hand.
"Jack Ryan," he said and they shook.
He felt several short claws dimple his skin.
"Vao," he said and smiled, showing a great many short pointed teeth. Then he glanced at the Wolfess standing beside the President's son. "I guess I'm your first 'real' alien."
The Wolfess gave him the finger. Jack chuckled and Jack, Jr. rolled his eyes. Then Jack put arm around Cathy.
"This is Cathy Ryan, my wife."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," he said and took her hand. She fingered his scales and then looked into his eyes. "My people are quite different than humans." Then they heard the engines begin to spool up and Vao took his station. "Excuse me."
"Mr. President, please sit at the weapon's officers position," she said and pointed, "and Cathy sit at the flight engineer's position there beside him. Don't worry both positions have been disabled. Everyone else I think there are enough observers' seats. Please sit anywhere you like."
"CAPTAIN Ramius, please sit here behind us."
"That's the Captain's chair!"
"Yes indeed, it certainly is," she said and smiled.
The drop ship lifted and then simply disappeared and within half an hour was on course for Luna.
"As you can see we've left the atmosphere," Judy said and noticed Captain Ramius scrolling through the readouts, "and have also left Earth orbit."
"Why aren't we weightless?" Kathy asked.
"The ship generates artificial gravity," Judy said.
"We aren't spinning."
"No we're not, the deck generates gravity itself."
"How?"
"Let me show you," she said and a touched her console.
After a few seconds Cathy floated off her seat and was stopped by her safety belts.
"Oh!" she said and her husband put a hand on her arm.
"I cut off the deck plate under your seat," she said and restored it. "You may have noticed that you felt no acceleration when we were under thrust. All of our ships have inertia dampers." Judy walked to her seat and tapped on Cathy's console for a few seconds. "If you want to read about it there's the technical data."
"Thanks," she said and began reading.
"We'll take a close swing around Luna and then on to Mars and later Saturn."
"Your ship is still at Alpha Centauri?" Jack asked.
"Yes, but I thought you might wanta have a look around solar system along the way," she said and looked at Jack and smiled. "You know we could set down on Mars for a few hours and you Mr. President could be the first human being to set foot on that planet." Jack only stared at her. "We brought along enough sets of armor for everyone aboard. They're really easy to use and have their own AIs to help if you need it. What do you think?"
"You make it sound simple."
"Trust me, it will be."
They selected an area just below the slope of Olympus Mons and drop ship settled on the Martian surface as gently as a snowflake. Everyone donned their armor, the air was evacuated from the bay, and the rear landing ramp was lowered. Jack, Cathy, Judy, and Nick stood at the top of the ramp along with the Secret Service detail.
"Ready?" Judy asked and gave the President a little push.
Jack took a step forward and then turned and extended a hand to the First Lady.
"Together?" he said and she took his hand.
"As always," she said and stepped down the ramp beside him.
When they got to bottom of the ramp they timed it correctly and both stepped onto the planet at the same moment.
"I think we ought to say something important," Cathy said.
"I love you," he said and smiled.
"I love you too," she said and hugged him.
"It's not quite the same with the armor," he said and grinned.
"The feeling is," she said.
"You're quite correct as always."
"You're just now figuring that out?" she asked and Jack laughed.
The others soon followed them down the ramp and then fanned out across the surface. A group of marines from both services followed along with each group.
"The gravity's is lighter," Cathy said and bounce on her toes.
"Thirty-seven percent of Earth's," Judy said and then pointed at the enormous volcano. "It's the tallest mountain in the Sol system. It's two and a half times the height of Mount Everest at sixteen miles." Their group looked up and almost had to bend back to locate the summit. "At least we don't have deal with Martians or their war machines."
The Ryans looked at her and Nick chuckled.
"Tomorrow's movie night, isn't it?" Nick said on their personal circuit.
"Yes, it is." Judy confirmed.
The liftoff from Mars was uneventful as was the jump to Saturn.
"What do you think of the rings," Judy asked as she piloted the drop ship so everyone could see them.
"It's one thing seeing them in pictures and another seeing them with you own eyes," Jack said and squeezed Cathy's hand.
"You always said it would be interesting being President," she said and Jack chuckled.
"Now on to Titan," Judy said.
"Titan?" he said. "I thought we'd be going to your ship."
"Your gift is there," Judy said and grinned. "Why did you think I asked to bring Captain Ramius?" She turned to the man. "I mean other then I really did want to meet you, but we do have a job for you." Ramius raised an eyebrow. "Trust me you'll find it interesting."
A few hours later during supper the proximity sensor signaled and Judy looked at her pad.
"We're now within ten thousand miles of Titan," she said and Nick passed her a head of lettuce.
"Shouldn't you be on the flight deck?" Cathy asked as Ramius began to rise.
"The ship's AI will slow us and get the ship into the correct trajectory to put us into orbit," Judy said and set her pad aside. "In fact we don't have to be on the flight deck at all. The AI can do the whole thing itself."
"The AI is that smart?!" Cathy asked.
"It's sapient and sentient just like George," Judy said. "They can even have their own bodies if they want them."
"Robots?"
"Or cyborgs," Judy said and Cathy raised an eyebrow. "Or even multiple bodies." Both Cathy and Jack looked surprised. "When we get to my ship I'll introduce you to several."
After supper they returned to the flight deck and Titan filled the forward viewport.
"Titan is the second largest moon in the solar system," Judy said as they slowed and entered orbit, "and its fifty percent larger than Luna. We'll be catching up with your surprise within the hour."
The proximity sensor signaled again just as the sun rose over the curve of the moon, but since they were nearly nine hundred million miles from the sun it didn't show a disk, but was only a brighter pinpoint in the black sky along with a multitude of others. After another ten minutes the surprise resolved into a double saucered shaped ship.
"That's a Cylon Baseship," Judy said and chuckled at the looks on the human's faces. "And it's all yours."
"Mine!" Jack said and looked at Judy and then back to the ship. "It huge!"
"It's larger than a Colonial Battlestar the discs being over a mile in diameter."
"Good the landing bay is opening," Judy said and took her hands off the controls. "I'll let the AI take us in."
Ten minutes later they set down and the landing ramp lower the deck with a clang. Several people waited for them.
"Follow me!" Judy said and hurried to her friends.
"Judy," both Gazelles said in unison. They hugged and turned to the others. "President Ryan, this is Maria Muler," the Chief Engineer of the Dark Star II and her sister Alejandra."
"He's even more handsome than his pictures," Maria said and took his hand.
"Thank you," he said and shook. "And you're both Gazelles."
"And he's smart too."
"I'm Cathy his wife," she said and Maria smiled.
"From what I've read and now see you're a very lucky woman," she said as Alejandra hugged the President.
"My sister is very affectionate," Maria said and took the hand of the man who stepped up beside her. The Secret Service detail looked a bit nervous. "This is my husband Kurt."
She saw one of Jack's eyebrows rise.
"Mine too," Alejandra said and took his other hand.
Jack extended a hand and Kurt shook it.
"Kurt Muller," he said and looked at Maria, "I'm also her assistant."
"Me too!" Alejandra said.
"Let's show you the rest of your ship," Judy said.
"Now you sound like you're selling used cars," Nick said and received a poke in the ribs.
"These are Cylon Raiders," Judy said, resting her hand on the closest one. "Each of the three large landing bays have a complement of one hundred of these. They can be flown in space or in the atmosphere of a planet."
"They are currently flight ready?" one of the Navy pilots asked.
"They only need to be fueled," she said and smiled. "It use to take three Cylon robots to fly them, but they've now been modified for one pilot, a weapons officer and one other. There are flight simulators aboard so you can learn to fly them whenever you like.
"Thank you, ma'am!"
"The external armament of a Cylon Baseship consists of two long range mega-pulsars for offensive use and one hundred defensive laser turrets," she said and led then further into the cavernous landing bay. Then she touched he pad and the wall before began to rise. "Captain Ramius, this is your crew. There are one hundred organic Cylons and one thousand Cylon centurions plus the people you've brought. This is your executive officer."
"By your command, I am Lucifer, an IL series Cylon Robot," he said, stepping forward and coming to attention. "I, my Centurions, and the Cylons are now under your command."
"To be honest with you I never thought I'd be working with Lucifer," Captain Ramius said as they looked over the bridge. Then he chuckled as did several others. "Lucifer tells me that we ought to be ready to jump to Alpha Centauri within the hour."
"Then you'll see my ship and the two habitable planets we've found in orbit of Alpha and Beta Centauri," Nick said. "Then your people will have time to become familiar with the Baseship before we deliver the others."
"Others?" Jack said.
"We and the Colonials captured over a hundred intact Baseships and even more under construction in the Cylon shipyards," he said and smiled at look on Jack's face. "We could even tow a complete shipyard with the Centurion robots workers here if you like and then you could construct of your own. The asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter has the resources necessary for thousands of years. The ship's sensors have detected Tylium here in the solar system too."
"Tylium?"
"The fuel for the Baseships."
The jump to Alpha Centauri was uneventful and took exactly 141.35175 seconds since this Baseship had been and soon all the others would be modified with new slipspace engines.
"There's the wormhole," Judy said as it opened and two ships emerged.
"Those aren't Cylon," Cathy said.
"Those are Ris."
"I haven't read about all the alien species yet," Jack said.
"There are quite a number," Judy said and took Jack's arm, "but you'll meet them and several others. In a week or so, the Forerunners, Fleet Admiral Lord Hood from Earth, Catherine, leader of my world, the Colonials, The Arbiter, leader of the Sangheili, and the leaders from several other species would like to meet with you and other world leaders. Later we can talk about whom."
"Not countries like North Korea."
"And several others too," she said and the President raised an eyebrow.
"There it is," she said, pointing to her flagship.
She heard the 'oohs and aahs' from the humans who gathered in one of the observation rooms.
"How large is it?" one of the pilots asked.
"Over seven miles," she answered and then heard several different epithets. "I said some of the same things the first time I saw a Keyship."
The Baseship made several passes along the larger starship and then boarded the drop ship for the quick flight to the other ship. As before they set down in one the landing bays and the ramp was lowered.
"Mr. President, the crew of the Far Star II," Captain Wilde said and they heard, felt, and saw thousands of people coming to attention.
Judy opened the door with a flourish.
"The Presidential Suite," she said and grinned.
"Of course it is," Jack said and stepped aside as his Secret Service detail entered first.
"After you get settled we'll go to dinner."
"OK," he said and looked at Cathy.
"An hour or so?" Cathy said.
"You can let George know when you're ready," Judy said.
"Certainly," Jack said as the Secret Service agents finished their sweep.
"Everyone else will have rooms here in this area too," Judy said and indicated the others in President's group.
Judy left with them and Secret Service agents took up stations outside the suite and along the hall. The President and Cathy were left with Jack, Jr. and Rebecca. The Wolfess smiled.
"Jack and I are off to meet my pack," she said. "We'll see you at dinner."
"See you later," Jack, Jr. said, glancing at the Wolfess, and Rebecca put an arm around him.
A moment later the door shut and Cathy looked at her husband.
"I think our son is in over his head," she said and her eyes twinkled.
"About here," Jack said, holding a hand a foot over his head.
"She's not quite what I expected him to like."
"I guess we'll just havta see how it goes," he said and pulled his wife into his arms.
"So what do you have in mind?"
"We have an hour or so."
She kissed him.
"So now what do we do with the other fifty-nine minutes?"
Jack laughed.
"I noticed you liked Nick."
She raised an eyebrow.
"He's quite handsome and his fur feels wonderful," she said and smiled. "What girl wouldn't?"
"So I guess you think he's kinda foxy."
Cathy chuckled.
"Jealous?"
"Yes," he said and kissed her.
Later they had just enough time to get ready for dinner.
President Ryan could say later with complete honesty that this was the most interesting dinner had ever attended. Apparently the Vice-Admiral had invited the Captains and executive officers from all the nearby ships and several hundred of her closest friends. Afterwards they were led to another room to meet and get to know some of other guests.
"John Patrick Ryan."
He turned to see a quadruped with six limbs with long pointed horns. She rose so they were eye to eye.
"My name is Jasmine and I'm a doctor," she said and tapped on her pad. "Please tell me how you injured your back."
"How did you know?" he said and felt Cathy come up beside him.
She tapped her pad.
"I estimate my species medicine is several thousand years beyond yours on your version of Earth," she said and smiled. "Over the last several years I've done an extensive study of humans and found they are a most adaptive species. Only the Huragok rival you."
"Huragok?" Cathy said.
"When you come by the sickbay tomorrow I'll introduce you," she said and smiled. "I can guarantee you that they'll be the most interesting species of nonhumans you'll ever meet. As to your question let me show you." She stepped beside President and turned the pad so both he and Cathy could see. Several Secret Service agents stepped closer. "Here's you skeleton."
"That's amazing!" Cathy said.
"Cathy's a doctor too," he said and Jasmine looked at her.
"Ah yes, I remember," she said and touched the pad. "I designed this myself and in fact I just added a new feature."
She tapped a button and life-size holographic version of Jack's skeleton appeared before them. Then it moved and Cathy stepped back and bumped into her husband and the skeleton moved again.
"It's in real time?!"
"Well of course," Jasmine said and then actually touched its skull.
"I thought it was just a hologram," Jack said and the skeleton's jaw moved in time with his speech. "Like when Judy appeared my office. It's like..."
"Magic?" Jasmine said and noticed a crowd begin to gather.
"Yes," Cathy said.
"This is a perfect example of Clark's Law - Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Then she tapped the pad again and second skeleton appeared beside the first. "But even advanced technology does have its limits."
"Cathy, come let me show you the injury," she said and took the First Lady's hand. "And Jack, please don't move."
Later Jesse and Jean saw the still gathering crowd and knew they'd found her. They gently pushed through and saw two humans and two human skeletons slow dancing in unison. They both sighed.
Jack woke and yawned. Then he stretched and felt the warm body beside him.
"So you're finally awake."
"Dancing till 2am will do that to you," he said and she chuckled.
Then he pulled her close and kissed her.
"We don't have time for that," she said and slipped out of his arms. "We have breakfast with the Admiral and then a tour of the ship. Also, I've heard tonight is movie night down on Beta Centauri Four and I've also heard there's going to be surprise for Judy."
"From Nick?"
"Why of course," she said and grinned. "Jealous?"
Jack rolled his eyes and she laughed. Then he got out of bed and went to the bathroom to shower. While he was washing his hair he felt a draft and this heard the door close.
"Cathy."
"Were you expecting someone else?"
"No," he said and felt her hands on his back. "I thought you said we didn't have time for that."
"I'm only going to wash your back," she said and a few seconds later he felt a soapy wash rag on his shoulder. Then after a few seconds it was on the other shoulder and gradually she began to work her way down. "I need to rinse my hair." He bent over and twenty seconds later the shampoo was gone. Then he stood and rinsed his face and felt the rag on his back again. "That feels good." He put his hands on the wall and heard his wife giggle. Then he felt she squeeze his butt cheek. "Hey, I thought you were only washing."
"Can't I have a little fun too?"
He sighed.
"Oh if you have too," he said and she giggled again.
Eventually she reached his feet and spun him around. Then she started her way back up.
"And that's not my back."
"I just like to be thorough."
"This is getting to what's called a Hollywood shower," he said and pulled her up to face him, "and in more ways than one."
They made it to breakfast just on time.
"Nick!" she said and hugged the handsome Fox.
"Cathy, don't you look beautiful this morning," he said and returned the hug. "I hope you're hungry. Judy made her world famous blueberry pancakes!"
Judy looked at the President and rolled her eyes. Jack shook his head and took his seat.
"Jack, this is my brother Michael," Judy said.
"Mr. President, I'm glad to meet you," he said and shook Jack's hand. "I can't wait to visit Earth – I mean your Earth. I've just finished reading the fourth Clancy book and I have a lot of questions."
"Cathy and I have read 'The Hunt for Red October' and we both enjoyed it."
"But you lived it!"
"Life imitates art," he said and the door chimed.
One of the marines answered it.
"Captain Ramius," Judy said and rose to meet him, "I'm glad you could make it!"
"THE Captain Ramius from the Red October!" Michael exclaimed, standing.
The Lithuanian looked at the young Rabbit and took the seat beside him.
"Marko Ramius," he said and extended a hand.
"Michael Hopps," he said and shook. "And I have a lot of questions for you too."
"How do you like your ship?" Nick asked.
"We'll have the 'Red October' ready for its shakedown cruise within the week," Ramius said and smiled.
Jack almost choked on a piece of pancake. He finally cleared his throat and looked at his old friend.
"Red October?"
"The Captain names his ship," he said and smiled.
"Can I come along?" Michael asked.
"You really want to Captain it?" Jack asked.
"President Ryan, you might not know this, but retirement is boring!" he said and winked. "I have a lot to learn, but I think Lucifer's will be a good teacher." Then she looked at Michael and smiled. "I don't see why not."
He looked at Judy and she only shrugged.
"He's been studying navigation," she said and patted her brother's arm.
"Then we'll put him right to work!" Ramius said, padding the young Rabbit on the back.
Then another Rabbit entered from the living quarters, holding a red furred Fox/Rabbit hybrid with long ears and a long fluffy tail.
"Sorry I'm late!" she said and handed their daughter to her mother. "She wanted to play hide and seek."
"Mama!" Bonnie squeaked.
Then Jill walked over to Nick and kissed him, but it wasn't just a peck on the cheek either. The three humans looked at him and then Judy.
"Oh this is my sister, Jill, and she's Nick's other wife."
"Well I hope everyone enjoyed seeing the bridge," Judy said and stopped. "Next on our schedule is our sickbay."
She opened the door and four people awaited them.
"I'm Dr. Elizabeth Rawlins," she said.
"And I'm Jasmine."
"Like we'd forget," Jack said and Jasmine laughed.
"And these are my assistants Jesse and Jean."
Both Gazelles nodded to the visitor.
"Please follow us," Elizabeth said and Jasmine fell in step with the President.
"First, I'd like to give you an examination," she said and took his hand.
Jack glanced at Gary for a moment and then looked back at Jasmine.
"Certainly," he said and Jasmine looked at the First Lady.
"And you wife too," she said. "I think as a doctor she'll find it quite interesting."
"Why not," Cathy said. "Oh, there are others in our group are doctors too."
"Excellent!" she said and a minute later they stood before an elaborate machine. "Please stand here."
"Mr. President," Gary said and looked at the machine.
"Is there a problem?" Jasmine asked.
"He's one of my bodyguards and..."
Jasmine rose up and faced the human.
"I am a doctor and I've sworn an oath to do no harm," she said.
"Jasmine," Jesse said.
"So would you like to go first?" she asked the Secret Service agent.
Two other Secret Service agents moved toward and President raised a hand, stopping them.
"Jack..." Judy began.
"Yes," Gary said and Jasmine pointed at the pad.
"Stand there," she said, pointing to a spot on the pad, and he stepped up. "I will give you more extensive and far more detailed examination than I was going the give President Ryan and his wife." She dropped back to all fours. "Please don't move."
The machine hummed and Jasmine watched her pad. A minute and twenty seconds later she touched it and the machine shut down. She tapped her pad again a second nude version of Gary appeared.
"Please step down," she said and touched her pad. "You have three small spots of skin cancer." She touched each one. "One of your doctors can easily eliminate each of them."
"Jasmine," Judy said.
"Continue," Gary said and the skin disappeared after a tap on her pad.
"Your musculature is excellent, but I've noticed several minor muscle tears in your arms and legs," she said and looked at her pad again. "You've been exercising them too much."
"Continue," he said and the musculature disappeared, revealing his internal organs.
"Your circulatory system looks good, but there's a slight build up of plaque," she said and pointed to several places near his heart and neck. "Your blood pressure is also slightly elevated and I suspect that's result of your job. There is also a small developing tumor in your liver, but it's currently less than a few hundred cells and your doctors will be able to easily remove it. All of your other internal organs are in excellent shape."
Judy was glaring at her, but she was now completely oblivious.
"Continue," he said and a skeleton appeared.
"I see you've broken your arm here once," she said and touched the spot, "and you've had a shoulder separation. Other than that your bones are in good shape."
Then his skull disappeared.
"This is your brain and here behind the beginning of its stem is another developing tumor which is currently inoperable for the current state of your medical sciences."
"How long?"
She tapped her pad and read the results. Then she rose and looked into his eyes. Her eyes softened and she touched his shoulder.
"Approximately five years."
"Can you remove it?"
"Yes."
"Will you?"
"Certainly," she said and smiled. "Gary, I'm a doctor and that's my job."
"Jack, Jasmine is..." Judy began and felt Nick touch her shoulder.
"Very dedicated to her job," he said and glanced at his wife. "I'm somewhat familiar with that type of personality." Cathy snorted and gave him a playful swat. "I've never seen an operation like that. She and that Huragok were amazing!"
"I and my colleagues thought so too," Cathy said, looking thoughtful. "I think we'd all like to have one of them."
"And in time that will become possible," Jasmine said, entering the room with the Huragok Lifeworker. "The operation was successful and we fixed all his problems that I diagnosed. He'll be able to resume his duties tomorrow. Just to let you know after they watched the operation now all the people in your party want to be examined."
"Even John Clark!" Judy said, remembering his adamant refusal.
"Ding convinced him," the Huragok said and Jasmine's pad translated.
Mr. President and Madam First Lady this is Floats Well," she said and the Huragok drifted down to eyelevel.
"Six eyes," Cathy said and leaned closer. "They're certainly different than human eyes."
"We have much better eyesight than humans or for that matter any other organic species discovered so far," it said. "We also don't have the one genetic flaw that all other carbon based life possesses."
"Which is," Cathy said
"Each individual's life eventually comes to an end."
"Death," Jack said.
"Huragok are, as you humans say, immortal."
"The ones found on Shield World 006 were hundreds of thousands of years old," Jasmine said and stood facing Jack, "and the Huragok on Shield World 1723 were probably just as old or even older."
Both Jack and Cathy looked at Floats Well in awe.
"No, I was built only a year ago," it said.
"Built?" Cathy said.
"Huragok do not have sexes like other carbon based life," it said. "Two Huragok simply build another one when it's needed."
"Trust me," Nick said and looked at the Huragok, "you're missing out."
Judy blushed and both Ryans laughed.
"So did you enjoy the tour?" Nick asked as the drop ship left the landing bay.
"Yes, it was a bit technical, but interesting." Cathy said and smiled. "I can't wait to see the planet!"
"I've only been on Alpha Centauri Four once, but I think you'll enjoy it," he said. "They even have an exhibit of the some of the native animals."
"A zoo?" she asked and Nick chuckled. "Did I say something funny?"
"Yes Cathy, you actually did," he said and she cocked her head. "If you were to literally translate the name of our world it would be Animal Paradise."
Cathy smiled.
"and if you didn't?"
"Zootopia."
The shuttle lightly touched down on the UNSC base on Alpha Centauri Four and they were taken to an open field where a large screen and speakers had been setup. Jack had smelled the barbeques from half a mile away.
"It'll be dark soon," Judy said as they stopped, "although Beta and Proxima will still be up. Beta will just look like brighter star and Proxima is a red dwarf and so far away you can just barely see it." Jack and Cathy both looked up and Judy pointed out Beta. "I'll show you were Proxima is later when it's dark."
Thanks," Cathy said. "So what kind of barbeque are we having?"
"Justa bit of everything," Judy said. "Come on."
She took Jack's hand and his Secret Service started off behind them. The group followed along behind.
"They look like they are getting along," Jill said and looked at her Fox.
"You know your sister," Nick said and put an arm around her, "she gets along with everyone."
They both looked at Cathy.
"Jack does too most of the time."
"I guess in his job he has to," Jill said.
"When he doesn't watch out!"
"Judy too," Nick said and smiled.
Cathy laughed and took Nick's arm. Jill walked on his other side with her Secret Service detail trailing behind.
They ate at a picnic table along with several hundred other people of various races – crew of the Dark Star II and base personnel. Afterwards they walked over to the chairs and blankets that had been setup for the audience.
"So what's the movie?" Jack asked.
"Oh it's Judy's favorite movie of all time," Jill said and Judy smiled, "and my sister selected the second movie just for you, Mr. President."
"Trust me Jack, you'll identify quite well with one of the main characters," Judy said and patted his arm. "But it's still not quite dark enough yet for the movie. So I have a couple of people I'd like you to meet." Two people marched up and stood at attention. "These are two of our Spartans."
"Admiral," the tall man said and saluted.
"Spartans?" Jack said.
"I guess you haven't had a chance to read about the UNSC/ Covenant war yet," she said and indicated the man who'd spoke. "Spartans are augmented special forces soldiers. This is John Mendez, Spartan 117, but we usually just call him Master Chief. He and the Arbiter accentually ended that war."
"Mr. President," he said and extended a hand.
Jack's hand almost disappeared into his and they shook.
"Madam First Lady," he said and Cathy looked into his perfect blue eyes.
She felt herself blush as she took his hand. John smiled.
"This is my wife Cortana."
"Please call me Cathy."
"And I'm a Spartan too," she said, "and John and I were partners during that war."
"You fought with him?!" Cathy said.
"Actually John did all the fighting while I gave him a lot of good advice," she said and John chuckled.
"Let's say we were together the entire time and as close as two people could possibly be," John said and Cathy frowned.
"At the time I was sentient artificial intelligence and shared John's mind."
"How?"
"Now that would take a while to explain," she said and leaned against her husband. "Now I'm a cyborg – living human tissue over a metal endoskeleton."
"Microprocessor controlled, fully armored, very tough," John said straight faced and Cortana laughed and swatted him.
"Like the Terminator?!" Cathy said.
"And then some," John said and smiled.
"Really?" Jack said.
"Her body was designed by an advanced Forerunner artificial intelligence and built by both types of Huragok."
"The movie is going to start in a soon," Judy said, "Who wants popcorn?"
Jack and Cathy were sharing a bowl of popcorn as a digital clock appeared on upper right hand portion of the screen and began counting down from one minute.
"So I wonder what Judy's favorite movie is," Cathy said, taking another handful of popcorn.
"Well," Jack began and looked at the countdown clock, "we'll know in seven seconds."
Cathy smiled and squeezed her husband's hand. Then the screen brightened.
In the First World War and for the first time in the history of Man nations combined to fight against nations using the crude weapons of those days. The Second World War involved every continent on the globe and men turned to science for new devices of warfare which reached and unparallel peak in their capacity for destruction. And now fought with the terrible weapons of super science, menacing all mankind and every creature on Earth, comes The War of the Worlds!
Cathy startled and squeezed Jack's hand a bit tighter.
"Now that'll give you somethin' to think about," Jill said and raised an eyebrow.
"I'm sure people in the UNSC felt like those humans did at some points during the war with the Covenant," Judy said and looked at John and Cortana.
"We fought them on the ground and in space and they didn't care how many soldiers or ships they lost," Cortana said and looked at John. "They just kept coming like a juggernaut! Our victory was almost Pyrrhic and only because of the Covenant civil war and our alliance with the Sangheili did the UNSC win."
"And you can read all about that on your computer," she said and patted Jack's arm.
"But now we have a surprise for Judy," Nick said and touched his pad.
Spotlights came on and cast their beams toward the screen and as it lowered the Martian war machine rose from behind it on its electromagnetic legs. Both Jack and Judy stood as did most everyone else, looking at the machine, and then at Nick.
"Do you like it?"
"You built it?!" Judy said.
"Well the Huragok did that," Nick said and smiled. "The Monitor designed it and I and a few others tested it."
"Then it..." Judy began.
"Works exactly like the ones in the movie."
"Everything?" Jack asked.
"Everything," Nick confirmed and nodded. "Mr. President, how would you like to go for a ride?"
"You should've come with us!" Jack said as he seated himself.
"No, I was just fine just watching."
"Nick let you fire the weapons, didn't he?"
"Yes."
Cathy smiled.
"Boys and their toys," she said and Jack laughed.
"So now I wonder what the second movie is."
"In eleven seconds we'll find out," she said and Jack smiled.
"Touché!"
The film opened with a man walking the halls of a massive supercomputer complex, pausing in places to activate its various systems with a remote control device. As he reaches a large control panel, the name COLOSSUS was spelled out large in a logotype that was extruded from the top of the panel. On the man's white cleansuit the logo for project Colossus was displayed.
After he activated the final part of the Colossus system he turned and walked toward a large all metal exit, seeing several men in similar clean suits waiting on the outside. He walked through the first exit and onto a metal bridge over a deep dark chasm and then stopped and turned. Then he touched his remote control and the door on the other side of chasm began to close, looking much like one on a bank vault. As it shut he turned and continued across the bridge and through another identical exit. Then he turned and again touched his remote control again and the bridge folded up and each half retracted into the wall.
At the same time the second door began to shut and after it closed he flipped up a button cover and touched a red button on his remote control for a final time. Once the second door was completely shut, looking down into the chasm radiation glowed red for several seconds and then finally blue. The man continued outside, greeting other people, and then finally met with the President of the United States who proudly proclaimed that Colossus was "the perfect defense system."
"So Mr. President what'd you think of the movie?" Jill said and put an arm around his shoulders.
Jack smiled.
"He was kinda stuck between a rock and a hard place."
"I seen several movies where the artificial intelligent goes insane," Cortana said and looked into Jack's eyes, "and it can and has happen in the past. We call it rampancy." Jack frowned. "It's a terminal state of being for artificial intelligence constructs in which the AI behaves contrary to its programming-imposed constraints. The AI develops a longing for godlike power and contempt for its mentally inferior makers. When rampancy occurs, there is no way to restore the AI to its previous state and the only alternative is to destroy it before it harms itself and others around it. Well that's the formal definition anyway."
"So it's like going insane for a human," Cathy said.
"Or any organic species," Cortana said and shrugged. "I myself would've gone rampant eventually, but 2742 Vibrant Contemplation, the Forerunner Monitor for Shield World 1723, modified me so now I'm metastable." Jack yawned. "I guess it's getting late and you've got a big day tomorrow."
"The Red October's shakedown cruise and then back to Earth to start arranging the meeting with the world leaders," Judy said. "It'll be another twelve days before everyone's here."
"That should just be enough time," Jack said.
"First, I would thank you all for coming here to Camp David on such short notice," Jack said and looked around the room at faces of other world leaders.
"Sir John, your invitation did say that the subject of meeting would be a turning point in human history," the British Prime Minister said.
"That I did and it is," he said and leaned toward the others. "Well then two weeks ago I was contacted by an organization representing hundreds of sentient species and I spent three days in the Alpha Centauri star system."
For ten seconds it was very quiet in the room and then everyone spoke at once. The President held up a hand and after a time they quieted.
"I know you all must have a thousand questions... each," he said and smiled. Several of them chuckled and people entered the room with carts stacked with boxes. Each box had a name stenciled on it and they were quickly and efficiently distributed. "Before you open them please let me explain their contents. Inside are very sophisticated computers each with an artificial intelligence and yes they were made by that same organization. As soon as you touch them you and only you will be able to operate them. If anyone else touches them they will not function. Today we will be meeting with the leaders of that organization and several others, but first we'll be going on a little trip... into space."
Jack did give them all the option of not going, but after several heated arguments with their respective security officials all of them chose to go.
"This is a drop ship and it has faster than light capabilities, but today we're only going to the far side of the moon."
"That will take..." the French President begin.
"Only two hours," Jack interrupted and grinned. "Looks like everyone found a seat and knows how to buckle in. So now it's time for you to meet your first alien."
He smiled at the look on the others faces and the alien in question entered from the flight deck.
"My name is Vao," he said and smiled, "and I'm a Cylon and this ship's navigator. I'm what you humans would consider a lifeform analogous to reptile, but our bodies do maintain a constant temperature of 94.6 degrees and we're a bit stronger than the average human."
"Your English is quite good," the German Chancellor said.
"Thank you," he said. "I found English to be quite different than my language."
"Could you say something in yours?" she asked.
"Yes," he said and simply repeated what he said previously in Cylon.
"I've never heard anything quite like it," she said, stood, and went to greet him.
The German Chancellor was soon followed by others. Jack smiled.
"Remember we're going to lift off in a few minutes," Jack said as the cargo ramp closed.
"I'm certainly glad we aren't weightless," the Mexican President said as he and several others stepped into the flight deck.
"Cathy wondered why we weren't and one of the pilots showed her what it was like without it," he said and the other President raised an eyebrow.
"Did she get ill?" he asked in a lowered voice.
"No, but she was a bit surprised," Jack said and other man chuckled. "I'm surprised you aren't lost into your computer like the others."
"I'll get to that in time," he said and looked around the cabin, "but first I want to see things that I can touch. I can't wait for us to get into space."
"You mean all of us or you in particular?"
The man laughed.
"Well I'm not that old and you can't be President forever."
"Thank God!"
Then both men laughed.
"Would you really like to?"
"Someone once said that there's no politics in space," Jack said and grinned. "So it would hold some appeal."
The Mexican President smiled.
"Together?"
"But then we'll have to make a rule about no old stores of our days on the job."
"Sounds good to me," he said and smiled again. "Just a couple of old guys flying about in space."
"Maybe not so old as you think?"
"What?"
"I had a long talk with one of their doctors," he said and his eyes twinkled, "and their medicine in very very advanced."
"Gentlemen we are now getting near our destination," Jack said and pointed to the monitor at the front of the room which now began showing a shining dot at the center. "We will arrive in about twenty minutes. As you can see it doesn't look large now, but well you'll see."
Jack grinned and seated himself. He worked on his pad and he too as did many of the others glance up periodically a look at the growing disc. After ten minutes the Cylon Baseship resolved into two discs – one upon another. Still even at this distance its sheer size couldn't be determined by the average observer, but after another five minutes it was. Jack saw the stunned looks and smiled and thought he must've looked much the same when he first saw the Red October.
"Now we'll take a few close passes so you can see its true size," he said as he walked to the front of the cabin. "Also, we'll raise the port coverings so you can get a closer look." They rose and he saw some of them flinch. "This ship has electromagnetic shields which can deflect fairly large meteors and the windows are actually metal."
"What if they are too large?" the Italian Prime Minister asked.
"The ship would dodge and its active defenses would destroy them," Jack said and pointed to the larger ship. "Also I've been told that the Baseship has been cleaning out any asteroids in lunar orbit over the last few days."
"These ships are armed?"
"All ships in space are armed just for this and other problems," Jack said and touched his earpiece. "We're going to slow and make a pass over the top saucer."
The ship moved closer and rolled, giving the occupants a closer look. Later they slowed again as they passed over the edge of the top saucer and passed over the gap between. The lower saucer was much the same as the upper with flack guns placed periodically place across the hull. As the drop ship approached the other rim of the bottom saucer it slowed again and then went into the area between them and slowly made one orbit. Then it cut its forward momentum and came to an also complete stop as a large set of door opened beside it. Then it turned and moved toward the opening and slowly entered. Then the doors shut behind it and they stopped. Air quickly filled the space and five minutes later the inner doors opened.
"This is one of the three large landing bays," he said as the drop ship lightly touched down. "We're here!"
There was laughter around the cabin.
The ramp lowered and somewhat younger looking Captain Ramius awaited them.
"President Ryan," he said and took his hand, "good to see all of you."
"Good to see you too," he said and turned to the group. "This is Captain Marko Alexandrovich Ramius."
"Welcome to the Red October," he said and smiled at some of the new arrivals puzzled faces.
He heard a door open behind them.
"Who's ship is this?" the British Prime Minister said and heard light footfalls on the deck from behind Ramius.
"Our ship now," she said, stepping up beside her Captain. "President Ryan."
"This is Jasmine, the Red October's chief doctor."
"An interesting group of humans," she said and stepped up beside Jack. "Male, female, different races, and most lightly from different parts Earth. Please follow me."
"Sir John?" the British Prime Minister said.
"Everyone who comes aboard my ship is given a medical examination."
"But!"
"It'll only take five minutes," she said and rose up to meet British Prime Minister's eyes, "and you don't even have to take off your clothes."
Jack laughed.
Again there was a bit of discussion with the various security people so Jack went first. Then around the sickbay others began stepping into the large body scanners, some of the security people went before their protectees.
"Just as good as last time," Jasmine said, examining the readings on her pad. "How's you back feeling?"
"Perfect," he said, twisting around and then bending over and touching his toes.
"Are you excising like I told you?"
"Yes ma'am!"
"Remember next week we been the next phase of your treatments."
"Treatments?!" the British Prime Minister said.
"He's in good shape for a man of his age."
"Thanks," Jack deadpanned and smiled.
"The human body's systems do deteriorate over time so we need to begin the rejuvenation treatments now."
Jasmine touched her pad and a skeleton appeared beside her. Everyone around unconsciously took a step back. Jack chuckled and skeleton's jaw moved too. Jasmine turned to it.
"These joints and cartilage between them do wear over time," she said, touching its knees, wrists, and shoulders, "and the bones themselves do tend to get a bit more brittle. So I'll reactive those cells and do a few other things. So within two months your body should return to what is was when you were approximately thirty-five. Plus some improvements." Jack raised an eyebrow and Jasmine grinned. "Remember I've already started working with Cathy too."
He hadn't noticed the Mexican President wonder over after he finished his exam.
"Sounds like you weren't joking when you said their medicine was advanced," he said, putting a hand on Jack's shoulder.
"Sir, let's talk," Jasmine said in Spanish and took the man's arm.
Afterwards they were led to what looked to everyone like a subway station with a train already waiting.
"Trains?" the German Chancellor said.
"The disks are a mile in diameter," Jack said. "Or would you rather take a brisk walk?"
She smiled.
"The train will be fine."
They boarded and the ride lasted only ten minutes. After another short walk Jack led them to a rather well appointed reception room. The people already present turned toward the new arrivals that began to bunch up at the entrance.
"Now I know by now some of you must've read about our guests on your pads," Jack said and put a hand on the British Prime Minister's back, gently guiding the man and his security team into the room and toward the nearest of their visitors. "This is Fleet Admiral Lord Terrence Hood."
"Mr. Prime Minister," he said and extended a hand, "a pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise," he said and shook. "You're British."
"Humanity is now one people on my Earth, but I was born in England and my family does still hold a hereditary title."
"I understand," he said.
"President Ryan, it's good to meet you in person," he said and men shook.
"Thank you," Jack said and smiled. Then Lord Hood looked past him and Jack followed his gaze. "Maybe I should get back."
"Of course," he said and then looked back at the Prime Minister. "Sir, if you have time I would like to discuss a few things."
"Certainly," he said and they walked toward the bar.
Jack stood near the entrance beside Judy and Nick and looked over the room.
"It looks like Thel and John's war stories are a hit," Judy said and chuckled.
"I think videos helped," her Fox said and put an arm around her.
"It's a shame that Cathy couldn't be here," Judy said.
"You're lucky she could come the other time," Jack said. "She had only a few surgeries for those days and someone who could take over for her, but this week there just wasn't any way."
"Maybe we should send Jasmine and some Huragok to give her hand," Nick said and Jack laughed.
"To hear Jasmine talk that could happen someday soon," Judy said.
"Have you come up with a plan to introduce us?"
"A very good question," the Mexican President said.
"I agree," the British Prime Minister said, come up behind them.
"We will have to decide that during the meeting," Judy said.
"Another question is why the Russians or Chinese aren't here?" The British Prime Minister asked.
"We don't talk with criminals or people who commit crimes against humanity," Lord Hood said.
"So what do you do with them?" the Mexican President asked.
"After their put on trial and found guilty we either put them in prison at hard labor for the rest of their natural lives or execute them."
