The President was appalled and cried out, “I didn’t authorize that. Can you hear me, Mike. I had nothing to do with this.”

  Mike told the man, “I believe you, Mr. President. Don’t worry; we’ll deal with it and we’ll get by this. We have to for the sake of the planet. In the mean time, I’ve arranged for you to hear some interesting conversations between Hardesty and a good friend of his, Harvey Grissom.”

  Bambi, play those recordings for him, while we take care of business in Nevada.

  No sooner he had dropped out of the call with the President than Bambi commed loudly, Fuck, there’s a third laser buried in the northwest hills. I’m going after it, but it’s probably going to get off a shot.

  Mike watched the shell shuttle, as a spot on its hull began to glow, and then it melted away. Mere seconds later, a hole appeared on the other side, as the laser came all the way through. Apparently, it took out the shuttles power supply, which halted the shield protection.

  Most of the heavy artillery had been dealt with, but there were just too many of them for the warriors to take all of them out, in so short a time. As a result, artillery began to rip apart the hull of the empty fake shuttle.

  Mike listened in to the supposedly secure line that Hardesty was using to direct the action. Bambi made sure that the President heard it, as well.

  “That’s it men. We’ve got that cocksucker now. Kill him; kill them all. They’re all traitors, so show them no mercy.”

  Hardesty wasn’t aware of the damage to his forces by Mike’s warriors, who continued to substantially reduce the very troops that were expected to finish off Mike’s men. He was so wrapped up in his apparent success that he failed to notice how weak his forces had become.

  Mike contacted Al and told him, I hate to say it, but we need to sweep around the edge of the canyon and take out most those men. Be sure to continue using stun shots, not killing blows. The Planet is going to need those men and they’ll appreciate that we didn’t kill them, although we easily could have and they’ll know it.

  You got it, boss.

  As was his habit in a combat zone, Mike asked, Do we have any casualties?

  Yes sir. One KIA and three wounded. They’re already on a shuttle and in a med unit. Bambi says they’re going to be OK. The KIA was hit eighteen times by a fifty cal. He would have survived, but he took a couple of head shots. It was quick, General. He didn’t suffer.

  Thanks, Al.

  So far the casualties were very light, but Mike still felt for his dead warrior. Who ever he was, he had been a wounded vet from combat long ago and Mike was affected by the unfairness of the man’s death.

  He told Bambi, When this is over, I want the name and record of that dead warrior to be given to each and every soldier in those hills. And if any of them has died, I want to know their history as well.

  I understand sir. I’ll see to it.

  Mike watched in his minds eye, as a strange vehicle came into view on the horizon. It came in close and fired, and then was gone. In the brief three seconds of its presence, it had fired a powerful plasma bolt that destroyed the entire side of the huge hill where the last laser had been.

  Mike realized it had been the Sauran space fighter, flown by Commander Daniel Doolin.

  He commed, Thanks, Doolin. Good job.

  You are most assuredly welcome sir.

  Wayne added, Thanks, Danny, for saving my daddy’s ass.

  Mike could have said something, but he had another task to complete.

  Al, I’m coming in to get Hardesty. Bambi says he’s in here.

  He sent a photo of the entrance to an underground bunker and its precise location on a map grid.

  I’m going to need some help, so I’ll need a few warriors; I’m thinking half a squad should do it. Have them meet me there in two minutes.

  Al fired off a crisp and happy, Yes sir.

  Mike waited until the other shuttle rendezvoused with his, and then they went down and landed about five hundred yards from the entrance. Mike left the shuttle, plasma rifle in hand, and saw that a team of warriors, led by Al Benson, was deploying near him. They met up and headed toward their objective.

  Mike noted that Al had brought twenty men with him.

  Al, I thought I said bring half a squad.

  In false wonderment, Al responded, You did? I thought you said half of a platoon. Oh well, this should do it.

  Mike wasn’t angry, but he felt he should admonish Al for a minor case of disobeying the regs, such as they were. Al, I don’t need a mother hen to watch over me. Four or five guys should be able to get this done.

  Sir, you’re probably right. But, I am on this mission with you and I don’t want to get blowed up like we both did in Iraq. Maybe you don’t mind, but I do.

  Mike gave him a big grin and commed, Good point.

  They were able to get within one hundred fifty yards of the objective before they began receiving fire. The weapons used against them were standard military 5.56 cal rounds. All of the men, including Mike, wore light armor. It was good protection for almost anything they were likely to face, yet not so cumbersome that they couldn’t move quickly. In fact, the speed of their movement was far quicker than the fastest human could move, wearing only shorts and sneakers.

  Al grabbed Mike’s arm and told him, Watch this, boss.

  On a squad wide net, he told the men to take up positions for a group blast, on his command. The men spread out even more than they had been, using their grid locators to precisely arrange themselves for the single fire strike.

  Al told Mike, We tried this about fifteen minutes ago and it worked beautifully. We use a heavier charge, but Bambi rigged a diffuser for us, that spreads out the shot. It strikes a much larger area, but doesn’t kill anyone; at least I don’t think it does. We control the area to be hit, by coordinating all position, without over lap. That should cut down on serious casualties for the other guy.

  Good thinking, Al.

  He took one last check, to be sure his men were properly spaced, and then commed, Aim, He paused then said, Fire!

  The plasma blasts had neither sounds nor telltale visual signs of their presence. However, the results were amazing. All resistance ceased, as troopers dropped where they stood or knelt.

  Mike, the old Sergeant’s instincts kicking in, loudly commed, Go, Go, Go.

  The entire group charged the entrance, receiving no resistance to their movement. Once they reached the open hole where the entrance was located, they proceeded with more caution. Mike was in the lead and found a solid thick metal door blocking the way.

  Without hesitation, he raised his plasma rifle, changed the setting to maximum and announced, I’m blasting the door, everyone get back and stay down.

  He dropped behind the stone entranceway, took aim and fired. It was strange to him that there was practically no recoil. Yet, the results were exactly what he wanted. The entire doorway had been obliterated, leaving only melted metal dripping on the edges of the frame.

  Bambi sent him a graphic showing the layout inside and where he should find Mike Hardesty and he forwarded it to all of his warriors. He was up and running, as he warned, Watch out for the molten edges as you pass through.

  The initial passageway was perfectly straight and about fifty meters deep. When Mike reached the half waypoint, he felt the ping, ping, ping of bullets bouncing off his armor.

  If a normal human had been wearing the armor, he would have been just fine, although the force of the impacts would have knocked him down. Mike didn’t even slow down, as he aimed from the hip, using his minds eye to sight and fire two stun shots at the two guards shooting at him. They both went down.

  At this point, the resistance was ridiculously light. It was obvious that no one thought there would be a need for any serious protection. After all, Mike should be dead by now.

  Two more turns in the tunnel and four more guards later he walked into the command center for this horribly designed screw up. There were two more men inside, holding M16s aimed at him, but they weren’t firing. Mike Hardesty was behind them, holding a Beretta 9MM and he did fire, sending half a clip at Mike, before Al dropped all three of them with a stun.

  Bambi, put the president on, please and show him a video of this place. I want him to see Hardesty and me.

  Yes sir. You’re on, sir.

  “Mr. President, my men have used minimal force and I believe most of these men and the ones who assaulted us are going to be all right. They will probably be knocked out for a few more hours and we’ll retrieve them as best we can, providing aid as needed.

  “Mike Hardesty is also knocked out and from what we can tell, he’s going to be fine physically. He’s your guy, sir, so I won’t do anything to him, except turn him over to whatever authority you designate. How you deal with him is up to you.”

  “Mr. Hurst, I have been in contact with General Boltz who was aware of the precautions that Mr. Hardesty had taken to secure the area. But I believe he had no knowledge of the assault. He has a company of Air Commandos on the way to your location and he will take charge of Mr. Hardesty. I would appreciate it if your men didn’t shoot him.

  “Also, I suppose I need to apologize for this unauthorized act on you and your men. I hope none of them were harmed.”

  Mike sighed and admitted, “We’ve had some casualties, sir. I suspect once we clear this all up, we’ll find that your troops may have a few as well.”

  “Mr. President, I’ve brought everything I promised and it is still my intention to see that, together, we can begin to build an adequate defense force for the solar system. It’s imperative that we keep the Saurans out of our gravitational globe. If they get any sort of toe hold, anywhere in this solar area, we’re all dead.”

  “You don’t paint a very pretty picture, Mr. Hurst.”

  “I wish I had a prettier picture to paint, sir.”

  There was a lull in the conversation, and then the President said, “I’m afraid this isn’t going to look good to our allies.”

  Mike gave it some quick thought and suggested, “Then why even mention it to them? As far as I’m concerned, this was a combined arms exercise and my guys played the opposition force. It went down as expected. The troops on the ground can be told that they have just been part of the very first exercise with the Terran Space Navy and that it is top secret.

  “They will believe it when you send their commanders a video from you, thanking them for their amazing effort. You can promise them that soon they will be receiving training in the use of the same weapons they saw used against them. As a former ground pounder, I can assure you that will please the troops. They always want the best and most powerful firepower they can get.”

  The President nodded his head and said, “Being as you seem to have a good grasp of how to handle a few things, do you have any suggestions for how I might handle Mike Hardesty. If I bring charges against him for treason, it would certainly throw a lot of light on all of this.”

  “Sir, I don’t want to get into politics. Believe it or not, I prefer to remain a warrior for the planet Earth. However, I might suggest that you accept his resignation, due to a pressing family situation and let him know that my intel people will be keeping a close eye on him.

  “It also might be a good idea to give Harvey Grissom a call and let him know that it’s possible that a few of his defense contracts might be reviewed, if he doesn’t play nice and keep his mouth shut. You could point out just how many years in a federal prison a man could get for bribery, and other forms of corruption, not to mention that treason thing.”

  The President grinned, but only slightly, as he said, “Mr. Hurst, you might want me to believe you have no talent for politics, but you certainly seem to understand it quite well.”

  “I think I do, sir. That’s why I choose to remain a warrior.”

  The most powerful man in the world sighed and told him, “Well, it seems we are going to be working together and very closely. So, you might as well call me Bob and if you don’t mind, I’ll call you Mike.”

  “That’s fine with me, sir.”

  There was a ruckus in the hall and Lieutenant General Ludwig Boltz came boiling into the room. Mike suspected that he always came into a room that way. He was unaware that the President could hear him, as he said, “Well, I see that you’ve been a very busy boy, Hurst. This is probably the last you’ll ever see of me. The President is going to roast my ass on a spit, when he finds out I did nothing to stop this. That, ‘I was just following orders thing’ isn’t going to save my handsome young ass.”

  Mike smiled, held out his hand and said, “General, it is truly a pleasure to meet you. How would you like to be a much younger man? I can arrange that, if the President will allow it. As a matter of fact, it would be a tremendous way to improve our communication and you could run this base a hundred times easier.”

  Boltz gave him a puzzled look, as the Presidents voice came over the speakers, “Mike, we’ve just made nice and you’re already trying to steal another of my people.”

  “Not so, Bob. General Boltz will still be under your command, not mine. You’re going to need men like him and they will all need to be in the loop, so to speak.”

  General Boltz looked around and finally said, “I suppose that really is the President?”

  The President responded, “Yes it is, General. I have no intention of firing the best man we ever had at Nellis. As for being upgraded, I’ll leave that decision to you. Once Mike explains it to you, you have my permission to try, if you wish.”

  Boltz gave Mike an angry glare and asked, “Will I be able to monitor everything like you do.”

  Mike grinned and replied, “No, not without the President’s authorization. As for viewing without being there, yes. It can save you a lot of time and there’s no substitute for seeing what there is to be seen. And you can ping my brain to call me a son of a bitch any time you wish.”

  General Boltz smiled and it looked painful for him. “Hurst, you may have just sold me on it.”

  Chapter 15

  Four days later, in a small vacant strip mall miles outside of Washington DC, a car pulled around to the edge of the parking lot. Three people got out, Todd Pierpoint, his wife and Marge Chalmers. Mary Hurst had come back down to the planet that morning, specifically for this meeting. After a pleasant greeting, she escorted them to a field behind the empty stores.

  She told them, “Just give us a few seconds and we’ll have a shuttle here to pick us up.”

  No sooner had she spoken those words, than a rush of air blew over them, and then from nowhere a wide hatch opened before them, seemingly from out of nowhere.

  “Quickly,” Mary said, as she ushered them up the ramp and into the small shuttle. At first it was pitch black inside. But, as soon as the hatch closed, a dim amber light came on and they saw the broad grinning faces of Mike Hurst and Bet Fulwiler.

  Mike held out his hand and said, “Welcome aboard. We should be in Nevada in twenty five minutes.”

  As Todd shook his hand, Bet and Marge embraced and giggled. When Bet backed away from her Goddaughter, Marge was amazed at Bet’s youthful appearance.

  “Wow, Bet, you look incredible. I vaguely remember you from my days as a child; but I’ve never seen you looking so young.”

  Bet nodded and told her, “In a week, you and the Pierpoints are going to look just as good and you’ll all be healthier than you’ve ever been.”

  Todd introduced his wife, Diane, to the group before asking, “Is this thing safe and does it have seating for us.”

  “Of course, Todd. If you folks will follow me, you’ll see that I’ve had a flying lounge module installed for VIPs.”

  Mary hooked the arm of Diane Pierpoint and told her, “It’s wonderful to have more women join the upgrades. We’re slowly building our own little kingdom, within the organization, just to keep the men focused.”

  Diane looked concerned, until Bet told her, “Don’t worry, Mrs. Pierpoint, we know you’re still going to be a US citizen and we’ll respect that. There won’t be any secret oaths to utter and no secret handshakes.”

  They settled into comfortable seats and drinks were offered, as well as snacks. They all agreed on iced tea and cheese with crackers. Marge seemed impressed, when Bet told her all of it came from a food replicator.

  Todd quickly got down to business. “I understand that things are progressing rapidly. I know less than half of the seal teams have agreed to be upgraded. If the results are as good as you predict, I suspect those reluctant men will have a change of heart, although the other guys will never let them live down their hesitation.”

  “That’s true, Todd. I think it’s significant that it was almost all of the married men who refused. I can appreciate their concern for their wives.

  “We’ve given it a lot of thought and we decided that it was wrong to upgrade one spouse, while leaving the other behind. And that’s exactly what it would be. There will be such a distance in abilities and behavior that the one not upgraded will quickly be left out of the other’s thought process. I feel it would lead to the ruin of the marriage, unless the one left behind was upgraded later, which we could easily do.”

  Diane asked, “How many women have agreed to be upgraded?”

  “Six and they’re all wives of men who are being upgraded at the same time. As people go through the process, some will take a little longer than others, due to existing health reasons.”

  Todd asked, “If there is a bad health problem, will that prevent the process from being done?” He looked nervous, as he asked, and Mike felt that there was more to his question than met the eye.

  Bet replied, “No. In fact, whatever health difficulty there is, the med unit should fix it, although that would be the sort of thing to extend the process. The end result seems to be just as effective as it would be for a healthy person.”

  Todd and Diane exchanged looks and she nodded to her husband. Todd announced, “Three months ago, Diane was diagnosed with breast cancer and there are indications it has metastasized to other areas. She’s been given hope, but one doctor confided to me that he didn’t think she would live for more than a year and the last few months of that period would be very ugly.”