Rise of the Death Walkers (The Circle of Heritage Saga) (38 page)

“I don’t see any problem with that. Let me check with my people today and I will have an answer by tonight’s dinner. Did Moerin arrive safely?”

“Yes she arrived a few hours ago. And thank you for finding someone I can work with without any major adjustments.”

“You are very welcome Pasche. You needed a good teacher, you already know more and can do more than I will ever be able to do. I need to go now I have a meeting with the President.”

“Ok, I will see you tonight you old squaw chaser.” I heard his booming laugh just before his action of hanging up cut it off. I replaced the phone and turned to Moerin “We will find out tonight if we have the screening facilities.”

“Great, after our nourishments this afternoon I will contact my people and devise a plan of attack.” Moerin held up her glass and said, “To success, my friend!”

“To success!” I agreed and clicked my cup into her glass.

The meal was wonderful and Ricky was overwhelmed with the reception he received from the members of my family who were here in Germany. He did bring his date and it was in fact the girlfriend from my soon to be wife number two. Sonja and Irma rattled on in German all through the meal and Ricky brought me up to date on the things that had happened in his life.

Mia was at the meal but for some reason Katie was absent. I asked Mimi where she was and she told me she had no idea. I had an early afternoon appointment so I could not pursue my questioning.

All too soon, the meal ended and we walked back to my office. Ricky went outside to wait for the architect he had brought from Frankfurt and I settled in my office to handle some private market changes while I waited.

After about fifteen minutes Ricky returned with a short, but stocky man in tow. “General White, May I introduce Miles Ashton Architect extraordinaire.”

I stepped closer and extended my hand. “Pleased to meet you, Miles, my name is Jason. We do not hold much for formality at this point in time. Please have a seat.”

“Jason, I understand you have a headquarters building that you want designed and constructed in this area?” Miles said sitting down.

I waved to the open window. “Yes, right there across the street, in that open field. A couple of preliminary conditions must be met. First; There has to be an area of approximately 50 feet wide of full grown trees between the other side of the road which extends the entire distance from the gardens to the old German military base. Second; The main access road, and parking facilities has to be from the other side of the railroad station to the facility. A private access road which will be only accessible by members of my family and guests will run from that point.” I pointed at a sign on the other side of the road. “Fully equipped with the newest security devices available.

The complex will be no more than two stories above ground and no less than 20 stories below ground. I know this presents problems of great proportions, but this building will house the main strike force which stands between total alien domination and the freedom of the human species. Leave enough room on the property for comparable parking facilities, again no more than two stories above ground and enough below ground to accommodate the needed parking for the inhabitants of the facility.”

Miles looked startled at the request and had been making notes during the entirety of my monolog. “That’s a very tall order Jason, Do you have any idea of the cost for such a project?”

“Cost is not a problem my organization has an open ended budget. Completion time will not exceed two years. You will have six months planning time and the two years starts from the first day of construction. If normal planning requires six years triple up the personnel and get it done in two years.” I walked to my closet and reached for my jacket. “Let’s go for a walk gentlemen.” I put on my coat and they followed me outside.

Ricky followed along and glanced at the proposed area of construction. “If we are relocating to here and I am supposed to oversee some of the stages of construction, Who will be handling the organizational stuff.”

“Both of us, Do you see this military base behind me?”

Both men said, “Yes.”

“I expect that by the end of the day this will belong to our organization. You will go back to Frankfurt and pack every item right down to the last paperclip, and transfer it to the various facilities in that base. Ricky you already own an apartment in that building next to us, Look at it as late birthday present from all the years I missed while we were separated. Miles, You work for me now, Whatever your company has been paying you, you now earn triple. When I say me, I do mean me personally.”

“Bbbb.ut, Jason how and the heck can you afford all of this?” Ricky stammered

“I have been very successful on the markets the past few years Ricky. Grandfather can explain this to you.” I turned back to Miles. “Your time working for the organization will be billed to them, but after that you and I will begin planning some personal projects for me and my family. There is also an apartment above Ricky’s that has been reserved for you. Do you have a family?” The man shook his head. “Fine then it will be adequate for you.”

I pointed to the tree-line. “A couple of years ago I bought all of this land from the township from the river to this street and from the gardens up to half a mile past the end of the base. This is where the complex will be. I want the external building to cover a small area but once you get two stories down you can spread out to your heart’s content. As long as you remain on my land.

Once the construction is finished, the government will buy whatever land was needed for the construction from my private company at a fair price.”

Miles was making a drawing of the area and looked up when I stopped talking. “I will get the surveyors out here tomorrow to begin getting the layout of the land for me. Will I have any facilities where I can start the drafting process?”

“For now the apartment next to you is being laid out as an office until the construction of my new company building is being completed. Don’t worry about the occupants, I haven’t kicked them out, they are just moving to the new high-rise apartments my future wife had them build last year. The apartments are nicer than these here and I needed these for the time being.”

“This is a lot to get done in six months Jason.” Miles stated.

“If you need help, then hire them, but pay them normal wages plus ten percent. I am not made of money you know.” I grinned.

Both men burst out laughing.

I turned serious again. “Whatever construction technique you use I must insist on one thing. No wildlife or fauna is to be disturbed. That’s why we are going to be mostly an underground facility. Also if I did mess things up my grandfather would haul me into the woods and beat me to death with the first loose tree he could find.”

Ricky spoke up then, “He is serious about that. Grandfather Sam loves the natural forests and wildlife.”

Miles smiled and said, “I am glad to finally work with someone who cares about the environment. Once I get the figures from the surveyors I can get a preliminary rough sketch to you in about four weeks. Number of personnel?”

I jerked a thumb at Ricky. “That’s my numbers man. Take whatever number he gives you and triple it plus ten percent reserve. Once we get rolling here I want two years for construction and at least two years for training before we start our first major operation. The actual Strike Force will be trained and housed on the base behind use. Everything else will be in the complex. There is a section along the river where there is a wide open field which used to be used for farming. I want an airfield there with three runways. Six Hangers and the administration buildings for three squadrons of personnel. That will be our future jump off point for missions taking place here on the planet.”

Miles paled. “On the planet? You mean to tell me that there may be a time when your organization will be operating outside the influence of Earth?”

“Miles listen up closely, If we can get these aliens off our world then we cannot under any circumstances stop there. The enemy is out there too, suppressing freedom on other worlds and we cannot stop until they have no one under their control. We are part of an Alliance greater than anyone expects or realizes. The majority of the men and women involved in this operation only know of two of the races in the alliance right now, ourselves and the Barmins. There are two more who I am not at liberty to reveal right now but eventually you will learn about them.”

Miles gulped and said. “Of course Jason. Now I understand the process Ricky put me through this morning.”

“We had to be sure of you, Miles and I apologize for any discomfort you may have experienced. Every member of our team goes through the same process once a month during the entire time they are with us and once you commit to the cause it’s a lifetime commitment.”

“What happens if your fail the test?” Miles asked.

“Nothing if you are not working for us but if you do work for us you simply don’t wake up. Harsh, perhaps Illegal, not anymore. We are fighting for the survival of the human race so we have to have the tightest security measures possible. If we fail in our mission we lose everything we are.” I looked at Miles again and asked. “Still want in?”

“Without a single doubt, Jason.” Miles replied.

I nodded at Ricky and there was a few moments silence then he nodded back to me.

“Perfect Miles welcome to the team.” I held out a hand and shook his.

“What just happened?” Miles asked.

“You will find out during your briefing with Ricky tomorrow,” I replied coolly. “By the way, next week I am getting married again. Free up two days of your schedule because we are throwing one heck of a wing ding to celebrate it.”

“Again?” Miles looked confused.

“Yes to wife number two, Wife number one is excited beyond belief.” I looked at the look of shock on Miles’ face and chuckled. “Complete new country my friend polygamy is the marriage form of the future. which is needed since in the fifty-six percent losses we experienced here in Paneuro almost ninety percent were male.”

“I had not realize it was that bad.” Miles replied shocked.

“It may get worse before it gets better.” I said in a dry tone.

Chapter 30 - Two Day Wedding

The day of my second wedding dawned clear but chilly. Outside was minus fifteen Celsius and the ground was covered in a layer of frost which looked like a well stuffed quilt. Even the bare trees across the field from my house looked like they had been outfitted with fleeced lined jackets to protect themselves from the frosty environment. Katie was still missing and I was worried. I fumbled with the silly tie my future wife had chosen for me and cursed.

Mimi heard me cursing as she walked past the office and stepped inside. “What did I tell you about working today Jason?” She began to fix the mess I had made of my tie.

“I had to get some numbers from....”

“Not today Jason,” she interrupted me. “you promised both me and Irma.” She held out her hand and said. “Give it to me now.”

The week before, Moerin had distributed a new device her people had come up with that tapped into the signaling capabilities of satellites we now had in space. This device was a lifesaver because I could be in contact no matter where I was.

“I can’t, I left it with my new assistant.” I replied

“Good and does he know not to bother you for the next forty-eight hours” she jerked on the tie to tighten it then centered it on my collar.

“He does.” I replied.

“Then everything is settled. Irma is over at her mothers and we will meet them at the church.”

I nodded. Irma belonged to the Catholic church and even though I was basically non denominational they insisted that any children we had would be raised in that faith. I refused. We finally compromised that should the child wish to become a member at the age of fourteen, this would be their choice. This was a condition they set for us to be married in their church and I only did what I did to satisfied the conditions Irma’s parents had set. I looked at my watch and grumbled.

“Don’t be so impatient Jason.” Mimi laughed at me. “We will be there in time for the ceremony.”

“God I hate this monkey suit they have me wearing.” I complained.

“I do have to admit you look quite dashing in it.” Mimi smiled at me.

“What kind of ceremony is this, for crying out loud!” I complained, “There are no horses, no bonfires, no dancing and no loose fitting trousers!”

“It’s a religious ceremony and you agreed to it to make your future wife’s family happy.”

“They are a member of the Second Family for crying out loud!”

“Jason, you know the original tribesmen that were taken to Origan were converted to devout Catholics and that has never changed.” Mimi reminded me.

“Ok, Ok you have me there. I still don’t like this monkey suit. When can I take it off?” I asked.

“Try to leave it on for the first few hours of the reception Grandson.” Mimi diplomatically suggested.

“Fine.” I grumbled. The past week had been full of activities. The exercises in the pool had been switched to improve the muscle tone in my leg. Hopefully in a couple months I would be back to my normal strength. I turned toward the door when it opened.

There stood Grandfather Sam all decked out in a similar monkey suit with the tie hanging loose and flapping in the breeze. “Can anyone tie this dab nabbed doohickey they have me wearing?

Mimi laughed again and said. “You White boys are useless when it comes to tuxedoes.”

“Haven’t had to wear one of these things before. People in our neck of the woods know how to dress for a wedding.” Grandpa Sam growled.

Mimi laughed again and fixed Grandpa Sam’s tie. “There you go Sam.”

“How lo...” He began.

“A couple hours into the reception Grandfather.” I replied. I noticed his startled look and continued. “No I am not reading your mind. Mimi would skin me if I did this too early. I had the same question before you walked in.”

“I know Irma has a taboo in place for work today but there are a couple of items we need to go over before we leave for the church.” Grandpa Sam began.