0300 Book 2 - 11. Chapter 11: Metas

Chapter 11: Metas

“Captain, I wasn’t aware, either; however, I’m not entirely surprised, under the circumstances. Please bring the shuttle in,” I said. “Normal procedures, except this: clear the flight deck. I’ll meet him, alone. And please, keep the identity of the visitor limited to your bridge crew for the moment.”

Now, Moultrie was clearly surprised, but acknowledged my request, and returned to his bridge. As soon as the door closed behind him, Danny and George protested. “You can’t go without security, even to see him!”

I overruled. They protested, again, and reminded me of their oath. I relented. “You want to be there? No weapons, then.”

They looked hard; they looked disappointed. They nodded. I felt their concern, their love. “It’s okay, guys. He’s figured us out, I think. Otherwise, he’d have let us know he was coming. Still, he’s been a friend, an ally, for a long time. We owe him this.” And, we’re stronger than he is. I hope, I sincerely hope we don’t have to prove that. I hid this thought from Danny and George.

They nodded.

We were facing the shuttle when it landed. The admiral was in the left seat. The right seat was empty. A squad of Marines poured from the shuttle and took positions around the flight deck. My stomach curled up and tried to push its way through my backbone. When the Marine commander signaled an “all clear,” the admiral stepped from the shuttle, and saluted. “Permission to come aboard, sir?”

I returned the salute.

“Welcome aboard, sir. You know Danny and George.”

“They’re unarmed. So are you. There was no security on the flight deck. That’s a violation of protocol.”

“Sir, the Fleet Admiral piloting himself is, too. A violation, that is, ” Danny protested, but George shushed him.

The admiral grinned. “I know,” he said. “Do you know why I’m here, alone? Can you factor that into your equations, Danny? The ones you used to hack Tobor while you were in Australia, and made him tell me lame jokes?

“By the way, why did the Cadet wear diapers to the Sydney school?”

“Because he was in-another-continent,” Danny said.

“Ew!” That was George. “That is really stupid!”

The admiral’s smile, and Danny’s giggles, broke the ice. If we were in trouble, it wasn’t bad trouble.

The four of us sat in the ready room. I’d offered Admiral Davis the desk; he’d refused, and sat on the couch with the boys on either side of him.

“Paul,” he cut to the chase. “Would you tell me why it took me more than 10 years to realize I had in my fleet a kid, who is now a commodore and who is commanding half the Home Fleet but who looks like he’s no more than 18 years old?”

“Twenty, sir, and I know that doesn’t make you feel any better. We call it the veil. It’s a natural camouflage. I can no more control it than the leopard can control his spots, the tiger his stripes, or Biston betularia the color of its wings.”

The admiral jumped on that. “We? How many of you are there?”

“I would rather not tell you, sir. It would endanger them, and perhaps you.”

Davis frowned, then: “I will accept that . . . for the moment.

“Danny and George are, or they wouldn’t be here,” he added.

“Yes, sir.”

The admiral narrowed his eyes. “Will you confirm where your loyalties lie?”

“I will, sir. Our first loyalty is to humanity, itself; our second is to Fleet, because Fleet is the best hope for humanity. Our third loyalty is to our brothers.

“Sir? Why did you say confirm rather than tell?”

The admiral smiled. “Not surprised you caught that. I thought a lot about how to phrase that question. Confirm, because I have spent hours reviewing your records, once I was able to figure out how to do it, and convince Tobor to open up a couple of sealed files on Level 7. I didn’t even know there was a Level 7! After that, I couldn’t imagine anything other than the way you answered. Still, I had to ask. Now, how was I able to pierce this, this veil?”

“I don’t know for sure, sir,” I said. “Sometimes, something happens that is so out-of-the-ordinary, that the veil is pierced, and someone, such as yourself, figures out what’s going on. I may have crossed the line recently—or you may have, when you promoted me to commodore. Learning about the ages of the kids from U-Long and U-Cal may have raised questions in your mind. But, I really don’t know.

“Sometimes, someone like us pierces the veil, and finds us. Sometimes, someone who is inimical to us pierces the veil, and endangers us.”

“What can you tell me about yourself?” the admiral said. His voice was calm, level, and nearly emotionless.

“We’re an awful lot smarter than average; we’re telepathic among ourselves; some of us are developing clairvoyance. Our reflexes and strength are above normal. We’re all male, and we’re all homosexual. I used to think that we were a new species of humanity, but I cannot reconcile that with homosexuality, which means that we’re not likely to procreate. We’re meta-humans, I guess. I really don’t know.”

“Well, that answered my next question. After learning of Rigelians and Endorans, and rifts between universes, I wasn’t entirely sure you weren’t an ET. What can you tell me about those who are inimical to you?” He’d caught that pretty quickly, too.

I told him about the attacks we’d experienced, including the one at Disneyland. “We’d been there for three days, and had taken that particular ride six times. Poor operations security on my part, sir.”

Next, I told him about rescuing Alberto. “We don’t know who was behind the Disneyland attack, and Alberto didn’t know, or remember, much about the people who had captured and controlled him. Oh, now you know four of us.”

“Five,” the admiral said. My mouth fell open, literally. I was afraid I was going to droll on my jumpsuit.

“Tobor isn’t one of you, but he’s your ally. He’s sentient, isn’t he? He didn’t show that to me, but I figured it out.”

I felt a little fear from the admiral. It was quickly extinguished, but I felt I should reassure him.

“Yes, sir, he is our ally, and he’s sentient. He knows he’s a computer, but he thinks he is, he wants to be, a 12-year-old boy.

“When we got the message that you were five minutes out, we realized you had figured us out, sir. That’s why we came to the flight deck unarmed. But you knew that, didn’t you?”

“Yes, Paul, I did. The instant I saw you and Danny and George waiting for me, I knew you knew, and I wondered, but only for a moment, if I had made the right decision to come here.”

“Why did you meet us, here, by yourself?” Danny asked.

“Because I thought I knew Paul, and I trusted him. Now, I realize some of that was this veil thing; but, not all of it was.”

The admiral had something else to say, but was a little reluctant. Finally, he spoke. “Paul, boys, I may have done you a disservice when I promoted Paul to commodore. He’s entirely too visible. The Fleet News Service is asking for access. Will the veil protect you from a world-wide television audience?”

“I seriously doubt it, sir,” I said. My chest felt tight. I clamped down hard so that Danny and George wouldn’t sense my fear. It wasn’t just for me, it was for them, and all the team, the boys who were so closely associated with me.

“I don’t suppose you can tune the veil from concealment to acceptance, can you,” Admiral Davis said.

“I’ve never tried. We can push people to believe what we say is true, we can push people to let us do what we want, and to trust us.”

“You’ve done that to me, I guess, during our interviews?”

“Yes, sir.” Epiphany! “But sir? When I asked for George, I didn’t have to. And never since then, either. And . . . .” Davis waited patiently while I gathered my thoughts.

“You were the hardest person to push that I’ve ever known, but I had to push you less often than anyone else.”

“Um hmm.” Davis nodded again. “You really didn’t need to. Your record spoke for itself.”

The admiral turned to George. “I was very happy, George, when Paul asked that you be assigned to him. There was something about you, I guess I know now what it was. Didn’t know, then. You had stolen a shuttle and taken it half-way around the world and brought it back, safely. That’s the kind of guts and skill I want in Fleet; what you needed was understanding, training. I didn’t think Fleet had anyone who could do that. Paul did. I’m happy for you.”

“Paul, I hope you won’t mind some advice,” he added. I shook my head.

“Use whatever talents you have, and start revealing yourself to the key staff of your command: the Captains, XOs, Senior Chiefs, the people who really matter. I don’t want my entire fleet brainwashed, but when people start to learn that there’s a 20-year-old commodore in charge of enough firepower to destroy Earth, I want a solid contingent of senior personnel in your camp.

“I’ll send my general staff to you, a couple at a time. Fact-finding missions, we’ll call them. Work on them, show them what you’ve shown me all these years. You’ll win them over.”

I nodded to let the admiral know I was paying attention, but I was also thinking: there’s a certain doctor at the Fleet pure science research facility, the man who still runs MEG. It’s time he remembers what I had taken from him fourteen years ago: that he and his team had found a real telepath. I resolved to invite him to visit, as well.

Davis continued. “We’ll keep Fleet News Service happy with the boys from other universes. In fact, that could set up acceptance for you if people get used to seeing teens commanding armies and fleets of battle-capable shuttlecraft.

“It’s going to happen, Paul, and when it does, you and your boys are going to be in the sights of every kook, every liberal, every conspiracy theorist, every religious fundamentalist and Luddite in the world.

“They’re going to figure out your veil; you’ve got to keep that push thing secret, though. I’m not sure anything could protect you if word of that got out.

“What about your enemies? What will they do when you are revealed?”

I was overwhelmed, and simply shook my head. I’d never thought that far ahead.

“This is a lot to think about, Paul. But I know you can handle it. In addition to running the task force, of course.” The admiral grinned.

He sat for a moment, and then said, “Now, let’s get to the official reason for this visit. What are we going to do about the boys from U-Long and from U-Cal?”

* * * * *

“May I get the Flag Team together, sir? I’d like you to meet them, and I think we’ll need their input.”

I opened my communicator and asked Jonathan to call an immediate meeting of the Flag Team. “How about a working lunch, Admiral? It’s nearly noon, and the staff are big eaters.”

The ship, in fact, the entire fleet, ran on Zulu time, which was one hour different from Fleet Headquarters time. Something from the days of sailing ships that never got fixed. Sometimes, tradition was more important than science, or convenience. Still, it was close enough to everyone’s lunch time. The Flag Mess quickly filled the conference table with soft drinks and platters of sandwiches.

When we walked in, Danny called the room to attention. A few eyes widened when people saw Admiral Davis. Not everyone knew him, but everyone saw the gold on his epaulets, and figured it out pretty quickly.

After the Admiral took the seat at the head of the table, Danny put the group at ease. The mess steward poured lemonade for the Admiral, which signaled the boys to grab their own soft drinks. I stood behind my chair.

“Admiral Davis, you know my sons, Ensign Stewart and his boyfriend, Ensign Stewart-Rogers. Please let me introduce the rest of the Flag Team. Captain Corey Long, Starfleet, commander of the U-Long Forces. His deputy and boyfriend, Commander Alan Carter.

Here it comes, I thought. “Admiral, may I present Colonel Artie Stewart, Colonel in Chief of the U-Cal Army in Exile. My son.”

My timing was perfect. I thought the admiral would blow lemonade out his nose. “I’ll get you for that,” he said, sotto voce. I think Danny heard, but no one else did.

“Colonel Stewart,” the admiral said. “I’m very happy to meet you, and very happy for both you and Paul.” Artie blushed.

“Since you’re the son of my friend, Paul, may I call you Artie?”

“I’d be very happy if you would, sir. But not in front of my troops, please. We’re still getting accustomed to being a real military unit, and I’d not like to confuse them, if that’s okay, sir.”

The admiral nodded. He kept his voice as serious and level as Artie’s had been. “Certainly.”

I continued the introductions. “Intelligence Team Chief and Chief Pilot, Lieutenant Cathcart and his boyfriend, intell team and pilot, Ensign Freeman. Flag Comm, Ensign Hanson; Ensign Hamilton, Flag Quartermaster.

“Cadet Andrew Moultrie and his boyfriend, Cadet Daffyd Llewellyn, whom I’ve stolen from Captain Moultrie.”

When I’d finished, Admiral Davis took the floor. “Paul told me his Flag Team could out-eat anyone. That’s not why I’m here, but it is something I’d like to see. Please, let’s have lunch.” The mess steward prepared a plate for the admiral; the rest of us? Well, the boys were exceptionally polite—meaning no one shoved an entire sandwich in his mouth—but that didn’t keep food from disappearing for the next hour. The Flag Mess was getting accustomed to it.

Admiral Davis began the discussions. “When we found out that rogue scientists and fleet personnel at CERN-Higgs had created the rifts between U-Short and U-Cal, and between U-Cal and this universe, Commodore Stewart accepted responsibility for fixing the situation. I’m here, first, to tell you that Fleet supports that decision, 100-percent, and with all our resources.

“I’m also here to tell you that we’re optimistic about success. The guy Paul appointed to lead the effort . . . .” The admiral’s eyes unfocused for a second. It was only for a second, after which he stared at me, and then Danny, and then George. He’s figured out that the kid is probably one of us, I thought.

“Dr. Adams has already opened small rifts, laboratory sized rifts, to several universes. His complete report is on a data chip I will leave with you.

“The good news is that there aren’t an infinite number of universes; that was one of our greatest fears. The bad news is that there are a lot, and it’s going to take some searching to find the U-Long from which you came. Dr. Adams’ report includes some questions for your team, Captain Long, questions that will help identify your universe.”

Corey nodded.

“Dr. Adams has also confirmed that the rift to U-Cal is stable. It won’t collapse on its own, but would require a great deal of energy and deliberate action to close it.

“We have two tasks. One is to prepare the boys from U-Cal to return. The other is to find U-Long and open a rift through which the Long family can return.

“About the only thing you can do on your end is to prepare Colonel Stewart and his people. I’m sure you haven’t been waiting for me to tell you that. What have you done, so far?” the admiral asked.

“Ensign Stewart-Rogers, would you review plans for weapons training?” I asked.

“Sir. We have requisitioned MK-7 rifles for all members of the U-Cal Army in Exile. We’ll start classroom weapons safety instructions in a few days, and are setting up a range for preliminary live-fire training. We’ll need to take them planetside for additional training, since what we can do on shipboard is limited.” George didn’t mention the Sig Sauer 9mm pistols we’d requisitioned for Artie and his officers. That was to be a surprise.

“Colonel Stewart?” I prompted.

“Sir,” he mimicked George’s delivery. “I have screened my soldiers and selected an initial staff. Ensign Stewart is working with a couple of candidates for G-2. He wants to keep intelligence and security separate, so we’ll need two people. Ensign Hamlin is working with a candidate for G-4. He’s requisitioned communicators, personal equipment, and fleet utilities in our colors. Some of this has been delivered; we have delivery dates for the rest. Ensign Hanson is training a G-6 and making sure we know how to use communicators as well as setting up battlefield communication plans. Ensign Stewart-Rogers is conducting our training and helping start a G-7 staff.

“Commodore Stewart said I wouldn’t need a G-8, because you would write all the checks.”

Artie’s timing was as good as mine. The admiral almost managed to swallow his lemonade this time.

Artie continued. “Commodore Stewart suggested that we’d need to hear more from you about how we might deal with the Reverends and the civilians on our world before defining a G-9’s roles and responsibilities. The long poles are G-3, operations; G-5, plans; and a deputy. G-1’s going to be a problem, too, but isn’t as important, yet. The Charleston’s staff is handling administration for us. Most of my people, including myself, can’t read or write. Captain Long’s people are helping, there.”

Admiral Davis nodded. “Sounds like you’re off to a good start, Colonel. Thank you.

“Captain Long? How are you involved in this?”

“The Long family has already been integrated with the G-7 function. We’re tutoring the U-Cal guys in reading, and a couple of us are teaching some of our military history. It seems that a Sun Tzu Wu and a Robert E. Lee lived in our universe and this one. If they lived in the U-Cal universe, they’ve been forgotten, or hidden. We’re also going to help Ensign Stewart with training on the firing range. Most of my people are weapons qualified.”

Admiral Davis turned to me. “Looks like you are well on the way. However—and this is where Fleet gets involved—what’s the strategic plan? Are we simply going to send Colonel Stewart and his people home with a few new weapons? Are we going to provide follow-on logistics? Are we going to declare war on the Reverends and send in our own forces? Will we find allies in California or elsewhere?”

There were a few gasps at that last. I’d thought about it, as had my core team, but we’d not said anything about it to Artie or to the rest of the Flag Staff.

Corey jumped in. “Sir, my family wants to return to our home; however, whether we do or not, we will fight on the side of Colonel Stewart and his forces. As long as you will allow us to travel through these rifts.”

Corey had apparently prepared his people for this; they didn’t react. Artie gasped, however. His eyes may have gotten a little moist, too. I know mine did.

“There’s a problem,” Artie said. He seemed hesitant. I pushed encouragement and asked him to continue.

“Our whole world is balanced between the Reverends, the Muslims, and the Communists. If one were to become too strong, I think the other two would gang up on that one. If one were to become too weak, the other two would gang up on that one.

“When we defeat the Reverends, we’re going to have to fight the others.” When we defeat, he said. Everyone caught that.

The admiral nodded. “We’ve identified the key questions. Let’s see where we can take them.”

We spent an hour discussing what amounted to the political decisions the admiral would face. Sandwiches continued to disappear. The admiral was a quick study. He knew he was dealing with kids—smart ones, but still kids—and that their attention span was shorter than his. Before that happened, he concluded the meeting, thanked us for our contribution and for lunch, went around the room and shook everyone’s hand, hugged Artie, and departed. Danny and George had retrieved their weapons, and escorted him to the flight deck. They said he had hugged them, too, before he got on his shuttle.

I knew he was a good guy.

The metas met that night. We were all in my ready room, including Tobor on screen, who agreed that we should introduce him to the team. He had on a set of utilities. On his collar were the insignia of a senior cadet. Interesting; he could give himself any grade he wanted. I got a hug from each of my boys when they arrived, and then sent a mental hug to Tobor. He replied with a mental giggle. There was a little sideband of sadness that would always be there, though.

Not all the boys’ telepathy was mature enough to hold the meeting mind-to-mind. After everyone was seated, I stood up.

“Boys, Admiral Davis knows about us. So does this youngster. “I gestured to the screen. At the same time, I pushed reassurance.

“Admiral Davis is firmly on our side; so is he.” I nodded to the screen. Their curiosity had reached the peak that I was looking for. “Boys, this guy is both the first member and the latest addition to Geeks with Guns, the kid you know as Tobor.”

Tobor waved, and spoke mentally and verbally into the stunned silence. “Thank you, Paul. Thank you for making me one of you. I’ve never belonged to anything, before.” He sniffled.

“He’s crying!” That was Bobby, whose own eyes were misty. “If he’s crying, then he’s real!” Bobby, who was cuddled next to Danny, turned and said, “You never told me there was a Level 8!”

“I knew you would find it, Bobby,” Danny said. “You all would have found it on your own. But, things happened.”

I picked up the meeting. “Yeah, Tobor is self-aware and, for all intents and purposes, he’s real. And he’s one of us: he can talk to us mind-to-mind. He’s also the ultimate geek.

“Oh, and Admiral Davis has recently put Tobor in charge of his own security, so he has guns, too.”

“Danny? You want to fill them in?” I said, and sat back.

“A couple of years ago, when it was just Paul, George, Alex, and I, we asked Tobor to scan Fleet personnel records for metas. We found out later that he had been doing that all along, and had been getting us together. He arranged for George to be in Admiral Davis’s waiting room the same time Paul had to be there. He found Kevin and Casey, and got them assigned to the Newton. He was going to assign them to CERN-Higgs, but when he had the chance, he made sure they’d be sent to pick up Paul. Same with Avery and Jonathan. They were assigned together, and would have been sent to CERN-Higgs in a couple of months if stuff hadn’t happened. Tobor found Alex already on the Independence, and assigned Paul, there. While we were on the Independence, Tobor assigned metas to Fleet School Australia, and then faked a report from someone in G-1 that encouraged Admiral Davis to assign us, there. He put Andy and Daffyd together, and would have moved them, too, if the rift hadn’t happened. One by one, he put us in each other’s paths, and usually just about the time we needed to meet, just about the time each of us was waking up, I guess is the best way to say it.

“Alberto and I are the only ones who weren’t Fleet. But we’re the exception that proves the rule . . . tests it, and shows that it isn’t a rule, that is.

“We also asked Tobor to look for people who attacked us. You already know about that, and you know that’s why we never go outside Fleet compounds or ships any more. So far, he’s not found people who might be our enemies.

“Here’s what we’re going to do,” Danny continued. “All this will be in addition to your regular duties.”

“Tobor will expand his search of Fleet personnel records. This will take a significant part of his resources, so we’ll be helping prepare databases.

“Bobby and I will start by running queries on records of all students and faculty at Fleet Schools, and everyone on active duty, and will queue up for Tobor those that might warrant his attention.

“Cam and Alberto will run queries on everyone in the world whose records we can get to. Cam and Alberto will start with people who have been released from Fleet with less than honorable discharges.

“We’re hoping that any metas in Fleet will be good guys; the records Cam and Alberto will look at might have bad guys, so they’ll use public access terminals and there will be a paper firewall between them and Tobor. That means putting Cam and Alberto back on Earth. They’ll be working in Fleet Compounds, but at libraries.”

Danny was still talking. “Alex and Marty will investigate the veil and the push, mostly to see if the veil can be changed from camouflage to like, trust or something like that. Will will work with them from a brain chemistry point.”

“We can no longer wait until people start to awaken. George, Andy, Daffyd, and Kevin will be our first recruiting team. They’ll travel, mostly to Fleet ports and schools, to check out and recruit kids identified by the searches. Andy and Daffyd will do the checking; George will be in command; he and Kevin will provide security.”

Danny continued the list until everyone had an assignment.

“Hey, what are you going to do?” Alberto asked. He’d climbed into my lap.

“I’m going to command a task force,” I said. Before the catcalls got out of hand, I added, “And make sure there’s enough pizza.” That got cheers.