Dark as Daylight Ch. 06

"For an underling Captain, that was a brilliant idea."

"It must have been something lurking in the back of my mind from something my husband once said to me. He also told me I am going to marry a foreigner."

"A foreigner, as in alien?"

"That's what he said."

"Even always had a weird sense of humor."

"Then why do I believe him?"

"He just passed away, and you are still in the grieving process. So are the members of this expedition. Do you notice how much quieter it is on our ship, since he passed away?"

"No, I hadn't."

"Maybe it's just me, but everyone seems to be walking a little lighter, maybe just a little softer. They are hoping to hear his voice again. It used to be, he could be in engineering, and you could hear him in the gym. He was part of every connection, every beam, and cross member that holds this ship together. There is only one other person, who knows this ship as well as Even did. Everyone has that same connection to him, and one day, I'm going to kill that little runt."

"On your way past his room, tell him his mother says hi. I haven't seen him out of it, since his dad died."

"Oh shit; I think I know why."

"Are you going to keep it secret, or are you going to tell me?"

"Gordon was so angry with Even for not telling him about the possibility of him dying, I had to yell at him to bring him back to his senses. I asked him if he was going to speak to his dad, before we entered the White Hole, but he went to see the chef first, and would see his dad on the way to the bridge. Apparently, it never happened, and he's really ticked off at himself now."

"There's an easy way to get that information, without running into a brick wall, Senior Captain."

"Why do I hate this title already?"

"As I told you before, you get to handle all the ships problems, from the tiniest to the biggest. This time, I think you should call Zoey to the nursery, and ask her what's going on in her home. Tell her 'The Title Fight' is scheduled for the day after tomorrow, at 1800 hours. Greg will fight Helena for the number four position starting at 1720 hours."

"Have a nice day Senior Captain Jamison. You get to handle all the ships problems; from the largest, to the least significant."

"Oh hell, Even snuck that one by me. That no good... Jennifer, your husband was a really sneaky bastard."

"Monty, are you trying to tell me something I wasn't aware of, or are you just trying to make me smile? How do you think I wound up with my twins? One day we will sit down to coffee. I will tell you the terrible tale of my sneaky husband and my last pregnancy. After I tell you my tale of woe, if you don't want to die just to find him, bring him back here, and kill him, I will want to know why?"

"That must be on heck of a story."

"It is a barn burner."

"You belong on the bridge Captain Luck; stop goofing off."

"Right away Senior Captain. Don't forget to post the 2 matches on the video circuit. I would not want Janet to miss it."

"She is going to be so pissed at me."

"Monty, we all know you are evil."

*****************!

22. Read All About It

"Mister President, Mister Bolden is here, but there is a problem."

"Mister Bolden is a problem. I am about rid myself of it. What else has he done?"

"The paperwork you requested him to bring you on the spacecraft, Good Luck 1, is here, but the Secret Service will not allow it on the property."

"Why not?"

"It's in an 18 wheeler."

"I want that bastard brought to me in handcuffs. The charge is obstruction of justice; lying to a U.S. President; diversion of government funds, and if you get me somebody from the Justice Department on the line, I'll figure out a dozen more before he leaves this office."

"Yes Mister President, what do you want me to do with the documentation?"

"Let me kill two birds with one stone. Get me the Attorney General on the line please."

"Right away sir."

"Good morning Mister President, how can I serve you?"

"Good morning Tim, I have a problem that I need your help on. I am about to arrest James Bolden for about a dozen reasons all involving NASA, this country, and this president. He lied to me for years about this spacecraft that took off a year ago Christmas. He told me it was a magic act and it never happened. I was so busy with what was going on in the Middle East, I never paid attention to it. Now, not only do I find out that it's true, I find out someone is going to try and blow up the new SLS we are building. I didn't find out from him, I found out from William Zabo."

"Mister President, if your source is William Zabo, it's like getting the information from God. Something is going on. He has his thumb on everything that's going on around the world. I would believe him if he told me I was going to have a heart attack tomorrow."

"With the information he gave me, and further proof he is offering, I believe him also. He has written documentation that it's going to happen."

"What idiots would put something like that in writing?"

"It's on NSA letterhead."

"Has it been tested yet?"

"It will be tested by 12 of our handpicked experts next Thursday."

"Did Zabo have any say in who they are?"

"No Tim, they were all picked by us. FBI, CIA, Pentagon, and NSA. I did lose a dollar to Zabo however, because he knew who we were going to pick. Don't ask me how, but he handed me an envelope six weeks before the decision was made. He was dead on."

"I told you that man was good."

"Oh, this wasn't Zabo senior, this was William Junior. I had him checked out. He came back from China December 1, year before last. His father sent him there, when he finished college, to keep him safe, and to see how he did in the business world. He gave him a business worth a few million dollars, and William Junior built it into a business worth a several billions of dollars during his tenure. The boy is good, just like his dad.

Then there's Patrick. A, 16-year-old boy with a photographic memory, who is now running NASA, because I bet him he couldn't beat me in a game of chess, in 20 moves or less. He beat me in 16 moves. I wanted to eat my desk, because I was never so humiliated. After his eighth move I lost my queen. I still don't know how it happened."

"Mister President shall we get back to Mister Bolden?"

"Yes, what should I do with all this documentation?"

"You send it to me. Tell me what to look for, and I will have some of my junior staff go through every word of it and pick it out."

"He told me this thing would never fly. If he told me that, he told my predecessor the same thing. That's what you have to look for first. Any communications between the White House and NASA asking about that spacecraft, because some of it must have trickled down to the White House. Some staff member must have heard about it and believed it was going to happen. Find that string, and you will find who's been pulling it on Mister Bolden."

"Mister President have the truck sent to our processing facility in Suitland, Virginia. We can sort it there easier, and prioritize it."

"Thank you very much Tim. It'll be on its way momentarily."

The president looked at a camera in his office, and said, "Do it."

A light on his desk blinked green and in minutes the truck was being escorted away from the White House, towards Interstate 285.

***************

"Mister President, Mister Bolden is here, and if I might say so, he's not a happy man."

"Isn't that a shame. If he's not happy now, wait until he leaves this office."

Bolden was escorted into the office, with his hands manacled behind his back. His white skin was a fire engine red, and it looked as if he was about to explode.

"What is the meaning of..."

"Keep your mouth shut, or I will have someone put a gag and it. You lied to me, and to my predecessor in this office. It is my fervent hope that you get to spend the rest of your life in a federal prison. Who Mister Bolden, who are you serving, except the country you were sworn to serve? Who is trying to blow up the rocket this country is spending $1 trillion on? Who is it Mister Bolden, and I want to know now."

"If I say one word I am a dead man. If I don't, I get to read my books, I get three meals a day, and a place to sleep. If you don't mind Mister President, I'll take option number two."

The president made a slashing movement across his throat and all surveillance of the room stopped. He even told his Chief of Staff to leave.

"All right James, no one is recording us, and only you and I are in this room. What the hell is going on, and who is pulling your strings?"

"Mister President, these people will have a recording of everything you say in this office today on their desks tomorrow morning. That's how powerful they are. They run this country, not you. Do you want to see the stock market go down? They will make it go down. Do you want the price of oil to go up? They will make it go up. Do you want a terrorist attack on US soil? They will arrange it.

Those words were not out of Bolden's mouth, when a huge blast went off southeast the White House. Agents ran into the Oval Office, and removed the President, and Bolden to a secure room.

"Where was the blast, what was it?"

"The truck carrying the material Mister Bolden brought from NASA just blew up on Interstate 285. Traffic was light, so there are not too many civilian casualties. However, most of the documentation is all over the place."

Bolden said, "Mister President, the documentation is not a problem, it all came off the mainframe last night. It's the original films and the discs may be a problem."

"Get the FBI over to NASA in force. Tell them to guard that mainframe with their lives, if necessary, but no one is to touch it. Take it off-line, disconnect it from everything, including the electricity. Put it on backup mode, but no one uses that thing for any reason."

"Yes Mister President."

"James was that bomb meant to go off here?"

"I did not know there was a bomb in the truck Sir. I would not have been standing here so calmly, if I knew I was going to die any second."

"I believe you, and I believe we can help each other out of this mess. I was a defense attorney many years ago, so I want you to listen to me carefully. You are going to be the perfect soldier. You are not going to say a word to your lawyer, in court, or to the media. You are going to stand 'Mute.' You will be sentenced to a Federal prison for 25 years to life. You will be charged for attempting to blow up White House, and kill this president. You will not talk to anyone about this situation, and show no emotion when you are sentenced.

As a precaution, while awaiting trial, you will be kept in a safe house, and moved every few days. Your guards will be senior FBI agents. You will only be allowed two visitors. Your attorney, and William Zabo. No one flies higher in the business world, then his father does. His people are running a parallel investigation to the governments. The only difference is they don't exactly have to follow the law all the time. Of course, I know nothing about this, and neither do you. Depending on how forthcoming you are with him, will determine how long it will be before you are let out of prison. I will give a signed letter to my successor telling him what you did for our country in its time of need."

"I will do it, Mister President, if I live that long."

"You're going to be guarded like I am. We are going to get you to Florida, before you know it."

"Thank you, sir. I wasn't looking forward to those Kansas winds."

"One more question Mister Bolden, how deep does this go in NASA?"

"I don't know. I was told I was being watched, but that could just have been a ploy to keep me in line. I kept looking over my shoulder to see if anyone was doing something they weren't supposed to be doing, but everyone is always so busy, you can't see anything going on that's out of the ordinary. I just stopped looking, and did anything and everything they told me to do without asking any questions."

"If it's any consolation, I probably would have done the same thing. I have one more question for you. Have you ever met any of these people personally? Do you know their names?"

"I never met any of them personally, Mister President. It was always done through one of their emissaries. I talked to them on cell phones, but I did recognize their voices. I can give you the names of the men I spoke to, plus the men and women I was told are involved. To prove they were serious, they would send me texts telling me not to drive my car on a particular day, because my brakes would not work, or don't open the front door of my home, because there was a shotgun on the other side that would tear me to pieces, if I did. I checked the surveillance videos of the parking area to see if anyone approached my car during the day, and no one had. When I got in and started it, the brake warning system came on immediately, and the brake pedal went all the way to the floor. When the tow truck came to get my car, there was a puddle of brake fluid all over my parking space.

The day I went home, after receiving the message about the shotgun, I went in through the rear entry. There was a double-barreled shotgun attached, by a wire and pulley system, to the front door. As soon as the door was opened 4 inches or more, both barrels would have fired tearing anything in their path apart.

I received many other messages, both voice and text, from them. They told me my life was no longer my own. It was in their hands, and if I played ball with them, I could remain Administrator of NASA for many years to come. Remaining Administrator didn't matter to me Mister President, staying alive did."

****************

23. Changes

There were some very distinct changes after William and Jemma returned to their New York home. Jemma saw to all Williams needs personally. Nothing was too big or small for her to do.

William was not blind to these changes, and began running her all over the house for him. After three days of tormenting her, he grabbed her around her waist, pulled her onto his lap, and kissed her. "What the hell is going on baby?"

"Please don't think I am crazy, because I am not. While we were by Even's grave, I swear I heard him talking to me. He said if I treated you better, I could keep you with me longer. I don't ever want to lose you William, I would do anything to keep you by my side."

"So that's what all this running around has been about?"

"Isn't keeping you by my side worth it? I think it is."

"Am I that much of a prize to you?"

"I rented a United Airlines Boeing 737 to prove it to you."

"You did not!"

"I guess I'm going for a four-hour flight to nowhere, this Thursday, at 10 AM, with Jim in this case."

"Over my dead body."

"Well I'm certainly not going on that airplane alone. It could get quite boring up there, with just my vibrator."

"What did you order for lunch?"

"Pussy à la mode."

"Vanilla? Chocolate, or Strawberry?"

"Neapolitan, three in one."

"You think of everything."

"No William, you did. You made the most indecent proposal a young woman ever heard. However, the most enlightening part of it was, you told her the truth from the very beginning. You disarmed her, and by the next morning, you had her for the rest of your life. Now, she wants you to live forever, or at least until you die in bed together. She doesn't want to breathe one second longer than you do. She doesn't want to be on this earth without you, it would tear her apart."

"Jemma, I have a mistress."

"I'm going to rip your guts out."

He grabbed her arms as they reached for his throat. He began laughing at her, as she bared her teeth, and tried to get to his neck. She was determined to rip his throat out, starting at his spine.

When she couldn't reach it, she screamed, "Don't ever close your eyes again. You will be without balls or a penis. Your heart will be laying on your chest, beating away, waiting for a transplant team to get here to finish the job of removing it from your body, and giving it to someone who deserves..."

She saw him shaking his head at her, with a smile on his face.

"Why are you laughing at me? After all these years you betrayed me."

"Jem, you are still the 26-year-old girl I met on an airplane all those long years ago. You never think before you react. I think I love you more because you've never changed from being that young girl, then I would have if you did. What did you tell Junior last week? Do you remember?"

"I'm an idiot."

"I don't remember you telling him that. Do you want me to remind you of the exact words you used? They made my heart sing with joy, when you said them, because they were true. I could have had all the young women I wanted, because of my wealth. However, I only wanted one woman, and she was my wife. How lucky can one man be?"

"Come on old man; let's go upstairs, I have some apologizing to do."

"Does this fall under the aegis of keeping me alive for a very long time?"

"You can bet your heart rate on it. I should buy you one of those things you put on your wrist that keeps track of everything. It would be quite interesting to see how vigorous you are when we make love. I think our children were quite amazed as they watched our video."

"I don't think amazed is the right word Jemma. Gwen could not look at me during breakfast, the next morning. She was so embarrassed, her face was bright red. I thought it was so cute."

"She became pregnant shortly afterwards?"

"Little things like that do not go unnoticed dear. However, they do go unmentioned."

"We are such wonderful parents; always thinking of our children's welfare."

"Yes, always."

"I remembered one more thing Even said to me. I hope you are not too disappointed."

"Even told me many things dear, none of them made me disappointed with you, or with us."

"Your best and most valued friend told me I would not be having any more children."

William looked into Jemma's eyes, with passion and fury.

"How could he possibly do that to you? He had to know we wanted six more children over the next 45 years."

William did not grab Jemma's hand quick enough this time. It landed flush on his left temple, and as it was said many years before, "He got his bell rung."

He awoke with a cold compress on his head, reclining in his favorite chair, with steel blue eyes looking at him.

"William, I'm not sorry I hit you. I'm not even sorry I knocked you out. I am sorry I didn't knock some sense into you. Six children over 45 years; are you out of your fucking mind?"

"It was a joke, Jemma."

"Look in the eyes William, and tell me it was a joke."

He looked her straight in the eyes, but for some reason, namely her fingers around his throat, the words would not come out.

"You were thinking about what Doctor Heitman said at the hospital weren't you William? I had a uterus like a 20-year-old girl, with no sign of going into menopause. You wanted to be the oldest man alive to father a child, and for me to be the oldest woman to bare one. Well I'm sorry, it's not going to happen."

"You are a spoiled sport."

"Amazing, you men get to make a deposit, and handout cigars. Women have to walk around with an invasive species inside their bodies for nine months, go through hours of labor to push the thing out of their body, and then tend to it for the next 18 years, while the daddies flirt with their secretary's. Aren't women lucky, William? Didn't we just have a conversation over this a few days ago? Something about joint custody, community property, and ugly divorces? Are you beginning to wonder why William?"

"We were talking about a Boeing 737 flying around for four hours going nowhere?"

"I'm thinking about canceling it."

"Let's go upstairs with your second suggestion, and I'll change your mind."