Escape to Earth 1: Running From Fate (28 page)

Lukas shook his head “That is an excellent idea. We will have to build a system to receive the steel and get it into the warehouse.”

“My mills will build it for you and transfer it to the building just to have the business. I assume we’ll be using our funds to pay for it.” Lukas looked at Joey and nodded. “I’ll draw up the contracts and change the licensing agreements with Barbados to build a larger vehicle. We should have the work done in about two months.”

“Why don’t you set it up so the shipments come into the main island and are ferried here? That way they will have an incentive to approve it.”

Joey nodded, “It will also prevent us from building a deep water approach to the island. It can be trucked to us from the side closest to their port. We’ll have a heavy lift crane to transfer it from the trucks into the warehouse.”

“Just make sure the satellites won’t see anything suspicious through the opening where we make the transfer.” Joey nodded and Lukas looked at the group, “We’ll get the converter to start making more modules for the disruptors.”

Salud said, “Willow?”

“Yes.”

“Is it possible for the converter to take coal and convert it into diamonds?”

“Of course.”

Lukas fell back in his chair and Salud shook her head, “I’ll order a shipment of coal to be delivered here. By the way, how pure can you make the diamonds?”

“How pure do you want them?”

Lukas shook his head, “I should have thought of that.”

Salud shook her head, “You come from a civilization that doesn’t have coal. I’m the one that should have thought about it.”

“I also notice you’re using a machine to cut the diamonds. That’s a rather slow process.”

Salud smiled, “How would you do it?”

“Send two diamonds into my converter and I’ll pattern all the others to be made identical to them.”

Lukas smiled, “All right, we have our work to do. Let’s make this happen.”

Chapter Seventeen

Jim shook his head, “No Sir, we’ve not been able to locate the two missing scientists.”

“The General shook his head, “What good are you if you can’t locate two very high profile scientists?”

“Sir, we’ve exhausted every resource searching for them. It’s like they just dropped out of existence; and before you ask, I attempted to call them.”

“What about their bank accounts?”

“No activity for six months.”

“Their relatives?”

“Haven’t heard from them for the same length of time. I’ve bugged their lines but no call has come in.”

“We need them to assist us in building a weapon to use against those aliens!”

“Sir, I’ve turned up nothing and the Soviets and Chinese have also come up empty handed.”

“What about General Jekins?”

“The satellite we’re using to monitor the island shows images of them importing large quantities of steel. It appears they might be ready to start production of whatever vehicle they’re going to make. Other than that, nothing out of the ordinary.”

“Can’t you get the officials on Barbados to go inspect their buildings?”

“Sir, with the increased number of jobs that their port has experienced, they are extremely reluctant to do anything to upset that particular gravy cart and they ask that we not disrupt the work flow.”

“Selfish bastards.”

“We all look after ourselves Sir.”

“It’s probably a waste of time anyway. I want those scientists found!” The line went dead and Jim sat back in his chair. Two people just don’t up and disappear unless they plan for it. Where would two scientists of their caliber go? He thought about it and decided that they would not quit working. Wherever they were, they were working on something and high-energy lasers and nuclear power would go hand in hand. But where would they go? Ummm, would the Russians or Chinese be working on their own programs without him being aware of it?

If they were…there would be emissions from the effort that a satellite could detect. But every satellite he had was in use on other assignments. If he moved one to take a look, his allies would know it. He pulled up a list of satellites that could be used to search for the telltale emissions and called Satellite Command. They would have to make it happen with the resources at hand. He picked up the most recent photos from the island and threw them across the room. Jill was right, this was a waste of time. Later that day, the satellite covering the island was moved to another location above the planet. A photo showing a young couple lying on the beach slid under his desk. It was missed when the others were picked up and thrown away.

• • •

Jinks looked at Julio and said, “How do you like your scooter?”

“Oh Señor! It’s all I’ve ever dreamed about.”

“Julio you are going to be the floor manager to make sure all these boxes are connected properly in the cars. Can I count on you?”

“Si, si.”

Jinks took the three black boxes and laid them in the drives floorboard. He took the first one and connected a cable to it. A green light illuminated on it. “If this light comes on, you know you’ve done it properly. Now you snap it into place.” Jinks pushed the box against the firewall and it clicked into place. He took the other two and showed Julio where they went in the rear hatch area of the SUV and a red light illuminated on them. “Think you can do it?”

“Let me show you, Señor.” Julio took the next three boxes and installed them in the second vehicle.

“Very good. Now I want you to train your team on how it’s done while I watch you.”

Jinks stepped back and watched as Julio instructed the young adults on how to install the boxes. The giant converter was producing the first ships and as they rolled out of the converter building, they were taken to the small building where Julio’s team installed the boxes. Jinks had suggested that only young employees be allowed to install the boxes. It would be hard to get an operative in that would be young enough to be hired. Willow kept a close scan on the boxes so that none of them could be stolen. If one of them were taken, the jig would be up. Jinks looked at the sleek SUVs and marveled at their beauty. This is one vehicle that would sell if it was ever put on the market, which it wouldn’t. Oh well. He started thinking about how he was going to find the pilots to fly them. He took a deep breath and continued to watch Julio instruct the youngsters. His enthusiasm was contagious.

• • •

Lukas looked at Jinks and said, “We don’t do that, Jinks.”

“Why not. Willow was fully able to escape the ships chasing her. Why can’t these ships fly themselves?”

“They can fly themselves but they are not allowed to fire a weapon without the approval of their pilot?”

“Why not?”

“Because we will never allow machines the power to enslave us.”

Jinks stared at Lukas an after a moment nodded. “I didn’t think this through.”

“No, you didn’t. I trust Willow with my life but most machines are emotionless and will make decisions that don’t take into account the fallout of their decisions. The machines will use their weapons only when directed to do so by their pilots. It’s a form of checks and balances that safeguard both.”

“I don’t know how we’re going to find the pilots without alerting their governments.”

“You’re going to let them find you.”

“And just how am I going to do that?”

“You are going to go on a speaking tour.”

“What?”

“Salud has set up a series of presentations at numerous universities around the world where you will talk about making all the people on Earth to come together to make the planet a better place to live.”

“I’m not a speaker!”

“You are now. Salud will be going with you and taking part in the presentations.”

“But…”

“Some of the students that hear you will seek you out. Those are the ones that will be our pilots.”

“You know the government will have operatives looking to join us.”

“That’s where Sarah will come in. She’ll know which ones to avoid.”

“What?”

“It takes one to know one. They’re all trained in the same school and share common traits. Before we allow them to come to the school we’re building here, they will be tested, measured, and weighed to make sure they’re who we need.”

“Where did you come up with this idea?”

“It’s obvious if you look at who we have at our disposal.”

“What about Stoney?”

“He’s the one that will win their hearts.”

“He’s going to be an instructor here.”

“That he is.”

“Have you told him?”

“No, but he’ll do what needs to be done.”

“When is the first presentation?”

“Monday. Salud will go over the materials with you this weekend and the converter will provide the handouts. Good luck, I know you’ll do well.”

“Just how are they going to come to us?”

“They’ll show up at other presentations and then make a decision to join your crusade.”

“You make it sound so simple.”

“I’ve watched humans since the day I came here. You are at your best when you’re dedicated to a cause larger than yourselves.”

Jinks shook his head and said, “I’m not a speaker!”

“You, more than anyone I’ve ever met, have shown me that you can be whatever you choose. Now you have to make the choice to find others that think like you. You will resonate with them and that’s who we need to fly our ships.”

Jinks shook his head and thought, “But I’m not a speaker…am I?”

• • •

Jinks looked out at the empty auditorium and saw students scattered around the vast building. He looked at Salud and she said, “About two hundred and fifty are in attendance.”

“It appears we’ve gone unnoticed.”

“UConn has a rather busy academic schedule and the women’s basketball team has a game tonight.”

“Did you plan it this way?”

“I thought you could use some practice before more show up.”

Jinks shook his head, “Salud, I don’t know what Lukas is thinking here. I’m just not a public speaker.”

“Do you agree with the message?”

“I guess.”

“Jinks, you either agree or you don’t. There are no half measures with this concept. Now do you agree or not?”

Jinks sighed, “I just don’t know if this is possible.”

“So the end must be achievable before you buy in?”

Jinks stared at her and said, “Let’s do this. Maybe Lukas will come to his senses once he sees just how ridiculous I am at doing this.”

“Fair enough. I’ll go first, then you.”

Jinks shrugged and went to a chair on the stage as Salud went to the podium and said, “I know those of you who chose to come tonight have a busy schedule and we appreciate your being here.”

A student sitting on the front row by herself yelled, “You really didn’t tell me anything about what you’re going to cover. Just what is this ‘One World’ you’re advertising?”

Salud smiled, “I am going to talk about the current situation on our world and then Steve Jekins will discuss what it should be.” The student nodded but Jinks saw she was disappointed and almost stood up to leave. Fifty students did stand up and walk to the back of the auditorium and stand outside the door.

Salud said, “The dinosaurs went extinct about a hundred and sixty millions years ago when the Earth was hit by a nine mile wide asteroid. Since that time, the planet has pretty much gone through a slow metamorphosis to what it is today. If you had a satellite above the planet taking photos of the surface every million years or so, everything would look pretty much the same. Even as recently as a hundred thousand years ago, you wouldn’t see much change. The planet was covered in forests, mountains, river plains, and the animals, birds, fish, and reptiles that have developed over the millennia. About ten thousand years ago, that changed. Mankind appeared and learned to farm. Now man could live in one place without having to chase the migrating herds he used to feed himself. The view from above changed from that moment forward. About five thousand years ago, the great pyramids and wall in China made an appearance. Now think about that for a moment. These were the first structures on Earth that could be seen from space. Suddenly, there was a species on the planet that changed the planet. Until that point, every species was changed by the planet.”

Jinks watched the students gathered at the exit doors and some of them began moving to the back row of chairs. Within ten minutes, all of them had taken seats. Salud pressed her video controller and a huge screen behind her illuminated with images of the Pyramid and great wall. She began showing images and the students in the huge building began moving down to the front rows to get a better view of the images. She walked them through a world of forests to a world of giant cities and worldwide communications. She presented the interlinking of the economies of the world and described how they were all interconnected to the point where all of them could be affected, both positively and negatively, by what happened in various markets.

Jinks shook his head, she had them enthralled and he wished he had her charisma. After an hour she said, “This is where we are now. Steve will now discuss what that means.”

Jinks stood up and walked to the podium. He looked at the giant screen showing Earth from the International Space Station. The lights from the cities of Europe stood out brightly and gave testament to how far humans had changed the planet.

He looked out at the audience and pointed at the screen behind him, “What Dr. Vazquez had described for you during the last hour makes it appear that now our planet is truly one world. Nothing is further from the truth. We are as far away from that as we were when our species first appeared on this planet and, truth be told, we’re further from it. Our world it broken into fragments by the imaginary lines called national borders and every nation is hell bent on doing whatever needs to be done to ensure their survival, even if others don’t.”

Jinks talked about wars, both actual combat wars as well as political and economic. He showed how the current linking of all the nations into a giant interdependent economic structure would lead to confrontations that would be unavoidable. He painted a picture that was worse than any horror movie ever produced.