Chapter Seven

Weapons of Mass Destruction

Humor was not in the submarine Commander's smile when he saw the spaceship rise from its hiding place in the trees and slowly approach. "If we play our cards right, we'll both get a promotion out of this," he said to the first mate, who was studying the spaceship with her binoculars. "You keep your eyes on me and do exactly as I tell you. Understand?"

"Yes, sir. There's a female sitting in that open door with her legs dangling out. She's got what looks like a video camera trained on us."

"How nice," the Commander replied. "They're filming this for us. We'll have record of the entire thing. When we capture that ship and the rebel admiral, we'll be heroes." It was then that hubris and arrogance led him to make a rude mistake. "You probably haven't figured how I will engineer things so we will be heroes."

"No, sir, I haven't." The first mate bit her lip and didn't mention that she thought the sub commander was a first class dimwit.

"That's precisely why I'm the Commander of this outfit. Think about it, try to fit in with the plan, then you might be promoted. What's going to happen when we don't report in at the proper time? We surfaced to send in our location precisely on schedule and these rebels didn't let us do it. We wouldn't even have known they were here if those creepy aliens hadn't messed with the antenna buoy. The base in San Diego is probably already sending out word to look for us. All we have to do is make this take as long as possible."

The first mate scowled and looked away from the Commander. She had to admit the Commander was right, yet she had been profoundly moved by the sight of intelligent beings from another world. She had let herself dream that these surprisingly beautiful aliens might have interesting things to show all Humanity, until the commander interrupted and twisted her daydream into an ugly trap. Now her mind’s eye saw uniformed bureaucrats frantically searching for the sub. Nor was her mental picture far from what was actually going on.

Phones were ringing at fleet headquarters. People were running from place to place. Maps were spread out on tables. The Fleet Admiral definitely wanted to know where his newest submarine was; he made sure everybody wanted to find it. "When was the last time they reported in?" he asked for at least the tenth time. "I know. I know. Yesterday morning," he answered himself. "When will the next observation satellite be over this region?"

"Not until midnight our time, Sir." "Darn it all. What could have happened? I'm guessing it has something to do with that rebel spaceship. Get the Commander in Chief to authorize a strategic air force squadron headed in that general direction."

"The President? But it's the middle of the night at the Capitol, Sir."

"You heard me. Red, orange, yellow, pick your own color; this is a national security alert that goes all the way to the top! That submarine is carrying enough nuclear missiles to destroy the entire planet. We can't just lose something like that. Get the President out of bed and on the job."

"Yes, Sir." The young lieutenant ran out of the room, bumping into another running into the room.

"Sir." The new arrival fairly shouted. Everyone looked up from their various projects. "We've found the sub. It's on TV!"

"What?"

"Every channel, Sir."

The entire staff at fleet headquarters crowded around televisions scattered throughout the several buildings. They saw the submarine from a viewpoint looking downward, and then a second view of the spaceship circling the sub and then landing on the beach, facing the sub.

Rima's voice repeated her message, "We interrupt scheduled programming to bring you this special coverage live from the pioneer base on an undisclosed island. The Commander of a captured submarine is about to step ashore to greet those who disabled his ship." She switched the camera to Kevin's for a close up of the sub commander stepping onto the beach.

"Rima, keep going, tell a little more about the delfinians and how they did it," the Admiral said over her radio. "And make sure this is being transmitted onto the sub."

"You are about to see the first intelligent beings to visit Planet Earth from outer space, that we know of. Here's a little background information before we join the meeting on the beach: three of these people, called Delfinians, disabled the submarine with their bare hands and a conch shell. Quite a feat, I'd say." Eddy leaned over and whispered in Rima's ear.

"Wait!" She said. "We have a technical correction. Another race of aliens known as Melodians is known to have visited Earth in the past. They have not visited Earth for over a thousand years, which is another story entirely. I can say, though, the Melodian I met is quite an exceptional person. Now, back on the beach, we can see the submarine commander approaching the Delfinians. I'll switch the microphone from the pioneer spaceship, whose captain is under strict orders not to sink the sub unless it gets out of line. Grace? Are you ready?"

"Hello. I am your on-air host, Grace Berrigan. Please stay tuned for this important announcement from the new pioneer base here on Earth. We have interrupted scheduled programming so you may witness a historic moment. Delfinian divers have captured a United States of Earth submarine, quite unintentionally; the commander of the captured submarine has come ashore and is approaching the delfinians to discuss the situation now. I assume normal protocol will be followed and he will be introduced to their President. Let's join in and find out." Grace mimicked the kind of quiet tones used by sports announcers during a golf match. She was obviously enjoying herself as she walked up to the submarine Commander and President Sudor to hold the microphone for them.

"Welcome to our base, Commander. Please meet President Sudor. May I ask your name for the viewing public and our honored guest?"

Sudor stood in waist deep water next to the rock ledge and reached upward to shake the commander's hand. He was relaxed and not in the least uncomfortable to be standing at a lower level than the tall commander, who reached down and shook Sudor's hand. "Greetings, President Sudor. I am Commander Kenneth Grey of the submarine, USS Friend Corporation."

"Friend Corporation?"

"Our custom is to allow contributing sponsors to place their names on important ships."

"I see. Well, Commander, we are here to establish a Delfinian colony on Planet Earth. Our immediate priority is to protect Cetaceans from human depredation. Our arrival at the spaceport in Nation Pacifica was, shall we say, less than friendly even though we are the first space travelers to visit your planet in modern times. That is why we set up base and proclaim this island to be joint Delfinian and Pioneer territory. We did not plan on this, but now we have captured your ship within our territorial waters and must find a way for you to return to your home port." "Sir. You have not captured our ship. It is peacefully anchored. There are no foreign troops on board."

Sudor raised one eyebrow, that is, what would be called an eyebrow on a human; Delfinians have no hair on their brow, which is somewhat less prominent than a human's. He smiled slowly, looking upward at the submarine commander. He then made a coordinated circular motion with each arm and effortlessly popped out of the water. He now stood, shining wet, on his third paddling hand, next to the commander, who was visibly startled to be looking upward at a person as tall as the tallest among human athletes.

"May I wonder why you can't turn your ship, Commander?" Sudor asked gently.

"There's a tangled wad of cable from our communication antennae caught between the hull and the rudder," the commander answered stiffly, with a barely contained tone of anger on his voice. His accompanying body language communicated social superiority and disdain for what he obviously considered a lower order creature, even if it was taller than he.

"And who put the cable there?"

"I don't know, actually, but I presume it was your doing."

"Correct. Let me introduce you to my companions. Dawn, she pulled out extra cable, looped around your propellor and carried the buoy to Cecric." Sudor smiled warmly to Cecric before turning back to the commander. "Cecric tied the cable to your periscope. She made a special knot so you would know our warning was not an accident. Perko," he said, waving to him, "placed the conch shell over the top of your periscope so you couldn't see. And last, but not least, Landra swam out past the surf line and sent them the Morse code message Perko tapped out on the hull of your ship. You did understand the message, didn't you?"

"Yes, it was clear."

"And the message was?"

"Hi."

"That's all?"

"Up."

"So, the submarine we immobilized came to the surface when we told it to, therefore, we have captured your ship. It is completely in our mercy at this very moment. One false move and our spaceship captain could sink it by burning two meter wide holes right through it."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," growled the sub commander.

"Commander, we are trying to figure out how to send you home in peace and with good will. Why do you make such a threatening statement?"

"Because that ship has enough nuclear weapons on it to blow up the entire planet, twice. There's no telling what would would happen if you burned a whole in it."

Sudor was visibly shocked. "But that's mad." He said, turning to the Admiral, who was standing quietly next to Leona. "Is this possible? What is he talking about? Do the people of planet Earth understand terrorism? Atom bomb nuclear war terrorism aimed at all the innocent people on Earth? How many submarines like this does the United States terrorize the planet with?"

Kevin slowly panned the camera to the Admiral, making sure not to photograph any identifying features of the island.

"You've hit the nail on the head, President Sudor. The United States has many more submarines like this. You are absolutely correct; it is terrorism and it is MAD, and that's exactly what they call it. MAD is short for Mutual Assured Destruction."

"This is unpleasant to hear, especially after seeing the destruction of our own planet," Sudor said this jumping back into the water. "I am not sure we can agree to allow our Cetacean cousins to live with this danger hanging over their heads. You will have to excuse me. I do not have authority to continue without first talking with the rest of the Delfinian Delegation."

Kevin kept the camera on the Admiral. Grace, seeing him lost in his own thoughts, quickly walked up to him with the microphone. "Admiral. You became the chief military officer for Planet Pacifica after holding the same position for many years in Nation Pacifica. Can you give our viewers a little background on Delfinians?"

"I'll be glad to, Grace," the Admiral said, snapping out of his reverie and looking straight into the camera. "We met Delfinians as they fled a gigantic machine of evil which we called 'Doom Cloud'. This cloud of doom was almost as big as the sun. It completely destroyed Delfinia, their planet, killing hundreds of millions of Delfinians as well as everything else living on the planet.

"We believe it also enslaved the planet itself and have brought much data back for scientific study. To make a long story short, we destroyed Doom Cloud with the same kind of weapon we now have directed at the submarine. This weapon, by the way, and I want to assure you on this point, is currently set so low it will only burn through the hull. I have experience with this. I repeat, our joy beams are set low, they will not burn all the way through the sub and cause nuclear holocaust."

Grace wore a thoughtful expression, "Admiral, approximately forty thousand pioneers left the lunar science base and settled on Planet Pacifica. As I understand it, you are sharing the planet in partnership with Delfinians. How many Delfinians are there on the newly discovered planet?"

"A little over one million, and I wish to stress that we could not have defeated Doom Cloud without them. The full story is that Humans and Delfinians would have been defeated without assistance from a third intelligent people known as Melodians; they lost a grand civilization on Planet Pacifica in that battle. Melodians are beings who sing with the stars. They survived the battle and are somewhere out in the Cosmos continuing their struggle against the source of evil which sent Doom Cloud.

"Human pioneers, Delfinians, and Melodians have become close allies in a cosmic-scale struggle between good and evil. We have fought and won a war together. Nation Pacifica, currently occupied by Use, is our protectorate. Cetacean culture, currently enslaved by commercial forces, is also our protectorate. We are not here for a simple visit; Delfinians have sent their President to establish a permanent Delfinian population here in the seas of Earth. I am helping."

The Admiral noticed Sudor and Cecric waving to him. "Perhaps this would be a good time for a quick interview with Kevin and Leona. I suggest you do it by the ship and let Liz run the camera." He smiled and waved to the viewing audience he could not see. Everyone watching felt a bond to the powerful and wise old Admiral. They heard his last words come from off screen and knew exactly who was in charge, "Commander, please come with me."

The Use Fleet Admiral at the occupied navy headquarters in San Diego reacted furiously. "I've seen enough! That renegade rebel and those creepy aliens are making fools of us! Get them off the air!"

"We'll have to shoot down the communication satellite with antimissile missiles, Sir."

"That's exactly what I had in mind," barked the Fleet Admiral. "Those two terrorist economists and their sister are on the air now. Fire when ready."

The Fleet Admiral turned to the large world map on the wall. The captain in charge of communications had every war ship anywhere near the area lit up in green. A red light represented the last known position of the lost submarine, around that was a yellow circle with a radius equal to one-day travel distance. "Sir, we know they started out in a southerly direction but we don't know the random course their computer selected for their peacekeeping patrol. There are hundreds of islands in that circle. We need to get a fix on where they are as our ships enter the search circle." "What are you saying, Captain?"

"If we shoot down the satellite, they will quit sending a signal to it and we won't have anything to home in on."

"I know," the Fleet Admiral replied. "This is rapidly turning into a political decision. Those two ecological socialists are blathering on about sustainable civilization and how to vote in the upcoming election. We can't let a bunch of terrorist creeps on a rebel island pick our next president. I'm thinking we may have to leave the submarine crew to fend for themselves until we can locate them. Have you reached the President yet?"

"He's on the line now, Sir."

The Use Fleet Admiral grabbed the phone. "Have you seen what's being shown on television, Mr. President?" His jaw tightened noticeably as he listened to the response. "I understand, Sir. I've already given the order. That communication satellite will be shot down as soon as possible." He hung up the phone and turned to the operations chief. "Did you hear that?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Very well. The Commander in Chief is watching all this on TV. He's not a happy camper. Make him happy. Do it now."

"Aye, Aye, Sir." The soldier knew everyone in the communication line between him an the rocket launcher would drag their feet. Earth Base One was without a doubt the best show on tv.

Although Admiral Castro had no way to know for sure, he assumed that the Use navy had taken over his old headquarters in San Diego. He could almost picture the opposing fleet's admiral and had a good idea of the tools available to the Use fleet. He felt fairly secure the submarine wouldn't be found before nightfall. As he listened to the animated discussion amongst the delfinians, he watched the interview of Kevin, Leona, and Grace out of the corner of his eye and saw them bring Eddy, the spaceship pilot, into the circle.

"Eddy McGregor is Captain of the spaceship Admiral One," Grace informed the viewing public. "He has had more experience with the Melodian people than anyone, additionally, he has been inside the huge cloud which destroyed the Delfinian planet. How many times were you inside Doom Cloud, Captain?"

"Three."

"Would you tell us what it is like?"

"Well, the first time I went in there nobody knew what would happen. Four of us went in deep, and I'm the only one who made it out alive. My body was aged to that of a ninety year-old and my hair is permanently white, as you can see."

"How were you cured, Captain?"

"Delfinian medical science; it is very advanced. I was rushed to a delfinian hospital and they took care of me; the same thing happened twice. Their scientists were also able to use our discovery of joy power, that is partially why I am still alive. The third time we had delfinian-made crew shields and Star Song protected us with an energy field beamed from the melodian observatory."

"A Delfinian hospital? A Melodian energy field?"

"There is an awful lot to try and explain quickly; Delfinian space ships are very large. I would not be exaggerating to say one of their spaceships is a hundred times bigger than that submarine anchored out there."

"Eddy is not exaggerating, and he is also being very modest," Rima interjected. "It is true that Star Song protected us, but Eddy is the only human who's ever received advanced flight training from the Melodians. Eddy can do things in a spaceship that are not yet understood by our science."

"Oh? Like what?" Leona asked.

The Admiral had walked closer and was listening. At this point he broke in to the conversation. "Our Captain does not wish to reveal the full extent of his abilities. I will say this much, there are no other beings other than Melodians who can do what Eddy can in a spacecraft. Would you mind talking about something else for a moment? Cecric is about to tell us what has been decided. Kevin, take your camera over there so everyone in Nation Pacifica will know about this."

Kevin went along with the Admiral and Grace turned back to Eddy. "This all sounds very mysterious, Captain, I'm sure everyone looks forward to learning more in the future. Can you tell us anything about these people known as Melodians?"

"Oh, yes. The Melodians are an ancient race who have been fighting evil for a long, long time. The Melodian city we saw was more magnificent than anything on Earth. Though much taller, Melodians are similar to us in personality and build, but they are not composed of carbon and hydrogen as we are.

"When Star Song speaks, one hears the voice as telepathic music, inside the mind, and it is not necessary to reply with words. Melodians and other people who have learned their language can hear a melodian song reply inside their heads.

"Is it mental telepathy?"

"Something like that. They sing with the stars and Cosmos sings with them. I think Melodians know they are the Cosmos looking at itself. They work very hard at it and their only reward appears to be two qualities, pride of place and a sense of good purpose. The city we saw was a huge musical instrument and observatory floating on a subterranean sea and powered by the tide. We pioneers have brought back quite a story to tell; it's frustrating the way Use has put up this temporary roadblock, though it doesn't surprise me."

"It doesn't surprise you? Why is that, Captain McGregor?"

"Please. Call me Eddy. There were United States of Earth spies among the pioneers. They allied with Doom Cloud and planned to govern Planet Pacifica with the Use austerity system after we either became corporate wage slaves or were all killed. They left Gwen and me blindfolded and tied to a tree just before the final battle. Luckily, the delfinians found us and helped catch the United States saboteurs."

The president of the United States of Earth was watching Eddy on the television from an underground bunker used during extreme national emergencies. He leaned over a table holding himself up with straight arms and palms down. His face was flushed with anger as he turned to his Supreme Field Commander, "I'm glad to have seen that kid. We need a space jockey like him. I want him captured alive, the rest of that motley crew don't matter. Now, how long until that satellite is put out of operation?"

"Antimissile missiles are targeting now. It's only a matter of minutes, Sir. Not long."

"Good," said President Bushleeg as he strode to the map and gestured angrily. "The rebel broadcast must be stopped as quickly as possible. We'll follow their lying rebel propaganda with a campaign to let people know they are in danger of losing their freedom to an invasion from outer space. We must clearly explain that USE spies risked life and limb to preserve our way of life and a rules based order. We will do everything in our power to stop terrorist alien invaders with a belief system totally opposite to our love of freedom.

"These aliens endanger our very way of life, they might even try to spoil the election plans so my brother can't become president. They must be found and stopped immediately."

"Did you say dead or alive? Sir."

"Dead or alive," the President said gritting his teeth. He turned back to the screen when he heard Kevin's voice come back on the TV. "Take these people off the air now," he yelled slamming one fist on the table and pointing at Kevin's determined smile with his other hand.

"The Delfinians, Pioneers, and submarine Commander have reached an interim agreement which we will now bring to you live from the pioneer base here on Earth. We switch you now to Admiral Castro. Go ahead Admiral," Kevin announced, calmly.

Admiral Castro shot a glance to President Sudor, who nodded for him to explain. He cleared his throat and then began, "Delfinians were completely shocked to learn that this submarine carries enough weapons to destroy the entire planet, twice. Our first discussions had the goal of returning the submarine and crew to full operation as quickly as possible. It was to be a gesture of peace from us. We have instead decided to hold the submarine until we can figure out how to disarm it. Delfinians are going to be permanent residents here on Earth and say they cannot tolerate having a submarine with this destructive potential floating around the high seas. The Commander has temporarily agreed not to attempt escape and we have agreed not to sink his ship."

The Admiral turned from the camera and to the delfinians before continuing, "I have informed the delfinians that Use has many, many more weapons of mass destruction. They have agreed to worry about that later, as a separate issue. Commander Grey of the USS Friend Corporation will now make a brief statement.”

"It's too late, Admiral, we’ve been cut off," Kevin interrupted.

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