The Navigator 2: We the People (15 page)

Laura got tears in her eyes listening to Becka. She just held out her arms to the woman and they hugged. "You read my mind didn't you?"

Becka shook her head. "No, I don't have that ability, but even if I did, I would never do something like that without your permission. I am empathic, and I couldn't help but feel your fear and trepidation at this situation." She shrugged as the two women parted. "I'm going to have his baby, that's got to be difficult to accept under these circumstances."

"As I understand it, there are going to be a lot of women that will be having his baby. But, does it have to be done the old fashioned way? Why can't artificial insemination be used?" Laura asked.

"Mostly, it's left up to the women to choose the method. At least, that's the way it used to be. I think Admiral Hawklings felt really bad about asking us to do it in the first place, so he tried to make sure the women had choices. The male Navigators that had been located were mostly single, and those that weren't… well, getting recruited usually meant they were reported as dead on Earth, so they were no longer married. It did bother a few of them, but they eventually got over it. After all, none of us are all that ugly," Becka replied with a half grin.

Laura glanced at Sharon who was smiling and listening to the two women. "I take it Joe never told you about my affinity for redheads?"

"He did mention it, actually. He said that you'd probably like me, but I still worried about it. When Haviar told me about the baby, I got really worried, especially since I figured that the Council was going to allow you to be brought up here," Becka admitted.

"Becka, if I may ask, are you a natural, uh, Navigator, like Joe is?" Sharon asked.

"Not really, no. I trained my mind into it before I even knew of this place. Actually, I'm somewhat of a puzzle to Doc Symms and Cassie. They've been doing research into this evolution we're all going through. You see, I shouldn't be able to do anything but Navigation, and even then I tend to do poorly. Cassie has a theory that all humans have abilities, and it's really a matter of how strong it is. She believes that once I started Navigating, it served to strengthen my natural gift which is empathy," Becka explained.

"How did you train your mind into it before you knew about it?" Sharon asked.

Before she could answer, the nurse arrived to begin the women's treatments. She gave them ‘the nurse frown’ when she saw that both women were still fully clothed.

"Come on ladies, we need to get going! The sooner we get started, the sooner you get out of here. Strip and in the beds!" The nurse ordered.

Becka winked at the women and politely left the room.

A few minutes later, after the nurse once again left the room, Becka knocked before going back in. "To answer your question, General, I was diagnosed with terminal cancer when I was a teenager." She went on to tell them the story of how she became a Navigator. Further questions got put on hold as Haviar returned and the two women went to sleep. Saying good-bye to the doctor and nurses, Becka headed back to the quarters she shared with Joe and the other two women. It was getting late anyway, and she was feeling tired.

The first thing Joe noticed when he entered the apartment was that the family that lived there were Arabian. the women wore the traditional Habib which told him they were also Muslim.

The second thing he noticed was that Juno was a preteen girl, ten to twelve years old. Her father invited them in, and he sat next to his daughter while his two wives brought chilled wine for the men to drink.

"Thank you for the offer of wine, but may I have water or juice instead, please? I must keep a clear head for a time," Joe asked politely.

The woman who brought the wine did not speak, but bowed her head in reply and returned to the kitchen to get the new drink. Joe spoke to the husband and father.

"Before we begin, I would like to apologize for any insult or rudeness I may present. I'm afraid I'm a little rusty on the traditions of your people."

Juno translated for her father. He smiled and nodded his head. When he replied, the girl again translated. "Colonel Anderson, your words are appreciated in the spirit in which they have been offered. Since we fled Syria, few have bothered to take our beliefs into account. The fact that you at least care enough to apologize does much to set my mind at ease in our new situation."

Joe smiled in return and nodded to him. "Sir, with respect, may I have your permission to speak to your daughter of the events she has foretold. With this knowledge, perhaps we can avoid another atrocity."

Again the girl translated, and the man replied. Juno nodded to her father and spoke. "Yes, we wish to help as much as possible. Allah's gift to my daughter has aged her beyond her years, and we have tried to give her some of the freedoms she would have as an adult. Such is not our custom, but Juno is not a normal girl. I will remain as chaperon while you speak with her, as that is our custom," her eyes twinkled and she no longer was translating her father's words. "He's just very protective of me. It is a dangerous world we live in Colonel. If we were still in Syria, I am sure he would be trying to sell me to you as a wife, even though you are not Muslim."

Joe grinned and nodded back to her. "I would imagine so. Unfortunately, that part of my life is pretty confused at the moment. There is also the fact that I think I would be beaten for agreeing to such a young wife."

Juno chuckled. "Muslim men are pervs; they really like to get us young so they can 'train' us. Father and I argue over that a lot."

Joe nodded. "Juno, the vision you had, did you get any specifics on the girl? Her name or where she lives, anything we might be able to use?"

Juno nodded. "Colonel, in a lot of ways, seeing the future is really weird. It's like a kaleidoscopic view, but each view is a different screen, showing a different reality; they're the possibilities for the event I'm seeing. So getting info on one specific part is hard. However, if there is something that they all share, it's easier.

"Her name is Gail Waubinach, she's fifteen years old. She has a good family life, with an older brother and a younger sister. Her parents are proud of their kids. As with most of us, puberty awoke her gifts. She confided in her mother first, who took her to the family doctor. Luckily, he was paranoid enough to know what would happen if he reported her condition. He advised the family to try to keep the gift hidden.

"She had a few narrow scrapes with spontaneous outbursts of talent, and the doctor gave her family a knock out shot for emergencies and advised them to start taking 'camping' trips so she could exercise the ability and learn more control.

"In about eight hours, she and her father will be trapped in a confrontation between the police and a local gang. Her father will be fatally wounded in the event. She will heal him in front of the police officers just before she collapses the building on the gang members. The police will take them both into custody, and she will be retrieved from their holding cell by the dead men. She fights back, and forty-two police officers will be killed as well as her father in the battle. The news will report the destruction of the police station as a terrorist bombing." Juno said. "That is the main reality at the moment."

"Whoa," Admiral Hawklings replied. "We gotta do something about that."

"We will," Joe replied. "Juno, can you give me a visualization of the area the original shoot out will happen in?"

"Yes Colonel," the girl replied.

"Good, if you'll show me, I'll go stop this from happening," Joe said standing. Juno closed her eyes and sent him the image of the place in downtown Atlanta. She also showed him images of the girl and her father.

"Thank you," Joe said and turned to leave.

"Wait!" Juno called. She still had her eyes closed as if trying to remember something. Her brow was furrowed in concentration. "Be very subtle, Colonel. It's scrambled now, but your arrival could very well be the event that triggers the shoot out."

"I understand, Juno. Thank you," Joe replied. He quickly shook her father's hand, as did the Admiral, and the two men left. Joe heard Juno begin explaining what was going on to her father.

After a few hours’ rest in bed with Becka, Joe and Abby met their team in a cargo bay on the same level as the medical section. Admiral Hawklings had gotten hold of more info on the girl and her family, and he showed pictures to each member of the team. He would be taking six people: himself and Abby, Beast and Crow from Carlos' team, and two normal 'Marines'.

They were all dressed in professional yet casual clothes, and carried pistols. On a table behind Joe were rifles and Beast's man-portable mini-gun. He had been carrying an old M60, but smiled when he saw the mini-gun. Beast never smiled; when Joe saw his reaction, he knew the two were destined to be together.

He quickly told everyone what was happening, and how he wanted it to go. This was going to be a quiet in and out. Joe and Abby would talk to the girl and her father while the rest of the team made sure they were safe. If all went well, they would port to the family's home, get the rest of the family and port back to the station. The tricky part would be getting them clear of the area before the fireworks with the gang started.

Abby grinned. "Relax, Bossman, I got that covered."

"Uh huh," Joe replied. "What do you have up your sleeve little girl?"

"Telepathic contact. I'll simply call out that if anyone can hear me to get clear of the area fast. She'll be curious enough to reply and want to know who I am. The rest should take care of itself," Abby replied.

Joe thought about it and nodded agreement, "Yeah, it should work. Just be sure to warn her you are not alone; we don't want to scare her or her father."

"Huh! You better leave Beast here then!" Crow said teasingly, causing the two Marines to chuckle.

Beast just turned and looked down at the girl. "Be nice or I'll sit on you."

"Does anyone have any questions?" Joe asked.

Surprisingly, Beast nodded. "Beast and Crow stay here geared up an' waitin'. Wit less peeps on th' groun' less folks will see. Shit go bad, Beast and Crow come make it better."

One of the Marine's nodded agreement. "That makes sense Colonel, the less of us on location, the less chance of being discovered. It'd be good to have them ready to bail our asses out if this goes sideways."

Joe nodded agreement. "Good call, Beast. You two grab your gear and be ready; I'll call you and open the portal if we need you."

"You gon' be daddy now, don' git dead," the big man replied. "Off wit ya!"

Behind his back, a grinning Crow winked at them.

Joe slapped the big man on the shoulder and opened the portal. Abby's tactic worked pretty well, it still took some explaining on Joe's part, but in the end, they returned to Darkwater with five new recruits. Joe and Abby escorted them to Medical to begin their new lives. To Joe's surprise, Councilor Young and Mrs. Davis also met them there and welcomed the new people.

Joe checked on Laura and Sharon, but as they were still under because of the treatment, he returned to his quarters to change back into his uniform. He just felt more comfortable in it now. When he came out of the bedroom, he joined Cassie and Becka who were talking over something at the kitchen table. Getting himself a soda, he joined them.

"May I join you ladies?" He asked before sitting down.

"Sure, we were just tossing around some ideas about the new community on BC IV. It's actually coming along pretty well," Becka replied.

Joe snorted. "It's only been what, three days? How 'well' can it be going this soon?"

Becka grinned. "As we speak, temporary housing is being delivered to the construction area for us to live in while the rest gets built. The Council has a team of architects working on the designs. Doc Symms is already out there doing a site survey to best use the new shielding and other amenities he's cooking up for us." She paused. "We're even getting our own small starport."

Cassie nodded. "It's gonna be really nice from what we've seen so far. Becka and I were discussing the school for the kids. Becka thinks we're going to have to have separate classes for the gifted kids."

"Not exactly, Cassie. What I meant was some of the classes will have to be for the gifted kids, our kids will have a greater responsibility to our society and will need to understand ethics and morality at a level that most children don't usually get. Then there’s also the classes to help teach them how to safely use and control their abilities," Becka replied. "If we can educate them from an earlier age, maybe we can avoid more issues like the Jared incident."

"I can understand the special classes for use and control of gifts, but I think ethics and morality should be for everyone. We're all out here doing something important for our race, all our kids will need to understand that," Joe replied. "I feel that the community as a whole should make this decision since it's their kids that will be going to the school. They should have a say in what's taught there."

Laura and Sharon were in Medical for a total of eight days; three for treatment and five for physical therapy and to get used to their younger feeling, healthier bodies. Joe chuckled when he saw that both women were overjoyed with the results of the treatment. Haviar told them that over time, they would appear to regress somewhat as the nano's healed the damage aging had done to their bodies. Joe thought they looked younger already.