Best Intentions

“Mark, since the events in New York City I have been monitoring open transmissions from every government and major news bureau on the planet. They are all requesting information and interviews. The United States President’s office has been trying to reopen communications with you as well.”

“I know, CJ, but I’m definitely not ready to forgive the stunt they pulled when I visited the White House. I guess I’m going to have to make a decision about whom we should speak to first. The people have a right to know about you and our mission to help all the people of the world. I just don’t want to speak with anyone in any government right now though.”

Mark sat and stared at the image of the Earth passing by below. “A guy could get a swelled head looking down at the Earth from here,” he thought.

“I think I have an idea, CJ. I’ve decided that we need to keep things somewhat light and I think I know whom we should talk to first. There is a comedy news program that I’ve always enjoyed and I feel that John Stevens of the Everyday Show would be the perfect interviewer for us.” Mark was thoughtful for a moment. “I don’t want to go to his studio for an interview and doing it by remote could make people nervous that I was hiding something. Maybe he would be willing to come up here! You could set up a duplicate of his studio in one of the cargo bays. There will be plenty of space and with your holographic equipment we can put on a good show. Hey, maybe his audience could come with him. I think that they would find it interesting!”

“Mark, I have reviewed prior broadcasts of the Everyday Show. In spite of Mr. Stevens’ comedic approach to the news, he is an intelligent human who gives a fair and balanced view of his subject matter. I believe that he would make an effective interviewer and would be a good choice.”

“Thanks CJ; I hoped you would feel that way! Let’s get in touch with his show. No, I think I have a better idea, let’s get in touch with him and arrange this. Maybe we can keep it a secret until we bring him and his audience up here!”

“Affirmative, Mark. I can connect you with him at his New York studio. I will access his private line, just one moment.”

Mark heard the phone begin to ring and after four or five times the receiver was picked up.

“Hello?” A voice said that Mark instantly recognized from television.

“Hello, Mr. Stevens, you don’t know me, but my name is Mark Richards and I’d like to talk with you for a few minutes if you have time.”

“Are you serious? This isn’t some kind of a joke, is it? I may be a comedian, but this wouldn’t be funny, well maybe it would be, but not that funny! Is this the man from space or not?”

Mark couldn’t help himself and started laughing hard enough to give himself a brief bout of hiccups.

“Well, I know for sure that this is definitely you. Yes, Mr. Stevens, this is Mark Richards and I’m not from outer space, I only work there,” said Mark stealing a line from a Star Trek film. “I’d like to talk about an interview. Are you available?”

“Please call me John. An interview you say? Sure, just come by now and we can get started. I’m sure we can clear out the studio or even the building immediately!”

Chuckling Mark said, “I had something else in mind, John. Let me tell you my idea.”

Three days later the crowd outside the show’s studio filed in and took their seats. John came out and they stood and cheered, but noticed that the set was not lit as usual and no crew manned the cameras. He quieted them down with a gesture.

“Ladies and gentleman, you’ve come on a special day,” he started. “I bet you want to know who our guest is today. Well, like I said, this is a special day, and for a special day we have a special guest! The thing is, he can’t come to us in the studio, but we’ve been invited to visit him.” John looked over to the left and waved at someone standing in the wings.

One of the show’s staff members walked out onto the set and whispered something to John. He nodded and sent him backstage again.

“I’ve just been told that our transportation has arrived and it’s on the roof of the building,” John said pointing at the ceiling. “Anyone want to guess who the guest is and where we’re going, huh, anyone?”

There was dead silence in the studio and one woman spoke. “Is it the guy who built that gigantic building downtown?”

“Give that little lady a seegar!” John said. “Mark Richards has invited this show to visit him on board his ship in orbit. He tells me that the trip will only take around 10 minutes. So, anyone who doesn’t feel like leaving Earth for a while, please stay in your seat. The rest of you, let’s go! Come on! Follow me! Don’t dawdle!”

No one chose to remain behind as John led them up the stairs and out onto the roof. One of CJ’s transport craft sat there with a short ramp extended from the open end. John led them inside and they all took seats.

“Looks like first class all the way,” said John as he took a seat at the front of the craft. “Comfy!”

Once everyone was seated, the ramp folded up, sealing the ship. They waited in silence for a couple of seconds.

“Hey, someone said from the back, “I don’t have a seatbelt, is that safe, and what about the pilot?”

“Don’t worry, seatbelts aren’t required for this trip,” came Mark’s voice from thin air. “Just sit back and enjoy the view and thank you for flying CJ Airways! Computer control is the only way to fly!”

“What view?” Another audience member said, pointing to the blank walls.

“Oh sorry, the builders of these ships aren’t big on windows. CJ, please give these folks something to look at.”

The viewers activated and the sides of the ship seemed to vanish. Everyone saw that they were already in the air. They stared as the city dwindled beneath them.

“Wow, I don’t even feel us moving,” someone said.

“Look at the angle,” another person said.

“John, is this just a joke, are we still on the roof?”

“Well, I hope not!” John said with a laugh. “Otherwise I just threw away my money on all these tickets!”

“No, this is real,” Mark responded. “Well, the flying is anyway. The image is a holographic projection from the ship’s sensors. Artificial gravity is active onboard, that’s why you don’t feel any motion or acceleration. I’ll explain all about that when we get together.” Mark had a thought. “Hey John, do you think your audience would enjoy a quick trip around the Earth?”

John asked and everyone liked the idea. Mark had CJ bring the ship up to two hundred kilometers altitude and do a circuit of Earth’s continents much to the enjoyment of his guests. The guests seemed to relax after the first few minutes. “Ok, let’s head for the main ship. Everyone hang on to your hats!”

The small craft accelerated to full speed so the trip to the main vessel in orbit wouldn’t take long. Everyone just stared out the holographic windows watching as they gained altitude.

“Ok everyone, you have arrived at the ship!” Mark informed his guests.

“What ship, nothing’s out there,” said the woman sitting next to John.

“Oops, sorry about that. CJ, please deactivate the shields.”

Ahead of them, a huge dull silver shape shimmered into existence. It grew larger by the second as the transport closed until it looked like a wall of metal stretching in all directions. Everyone could see it was huge, though judging the scale was impossible.

“Wow, that is big!” someone said.

“I guess that must be it.” John said.

“Yep, that’s CJ’s ship, folks. Five kilometers long, that’s over three miles for those of you who don’t speak metric!” Mark stated.

A portal opened in the side of one module and the ship entered. An orange line moved down the sides of the survey ship matching the border of the bay opening. The ship set down on the deck in the midst of a couple of dozen identical craft. The hatch started opening and the ramp extended to the deck.

“Wait!” someone yelled as the hatch opened, “What about the air! This place was just opened to space!”

“Don’t worry about that,” Mark said. “Did everyone notice that orange glow when the ship entered? That is the ship’s exclusion field, which is a kind of force field that keeps the air when the hull is open, just like in Star Trek. The landing bay never depressurizes.”

The hatch finished opening and the guests filed out looking around the cavernous bay. Someone looked up.

“Oh my God, am I seeing what I think I am!” the woman exclaimed and everyone else looked.

The walls and roof of the bay were identical to the floor they were standing on, right down to the ships sitting on them. They could even see an upside down robot moving among them thirty-five meters overhead.

“What are we in here, an M.C. Escher painting?” asked John Stevens.

“Sorry about that everybody, I should have warned you. I suggest you don’t look up while walking. Why don’t you head over to that open door? Right this way please,” Mark’s voice said and a set of doors ahead of them opened. The audience members led by John walked down a short stretch of corridor and filed into an exact duplicate of the Everyday Show studio.

After everyone took a seat, Mark stepped out. “Hi everyone. Thanks for coming. I’m sorry about the landing bay; it gets to me sometimes, too!” The audience cheered and clapped. Walking over he shook hands with John and sat down in the guest chair. “You can imagine I don’t get many visitors.” The audience laughed.

“Thanks for having us up, Mr. Richards,” said John Stevens. “The trip was incredible and the chauffeur was superb!” He said kissing the tips of his fingers like a French waiter. The audience kept laughing.

“It was my pleasure, Mr. Stevens. I hope you all enjoyed the trip.”

“The trip was great, but what’s with that crazy room?”

“When you control the gravity, floors can be wherever you want them.”

“I guess storage isn’t much of an issue around here,” said John.

“No, it’s not” Mark said with a chuckle. “But keeping the floors clean, now that’s a job!”

“Say,” asked John,” can you do that with the closets in my house?”

“Sorry, John. I don’t think you would like falling up onto your head every time you reached for a jacket!”

“No, I guess not. Too bad though, unlike you, I could use the space! So, Mr. Richards, who’s this CJ you referred to on the way here?”

“Oh yeah, everyone, it’s my pleasure to introduce my friend, CJ. He has been more important to our planet than anyone realizes - yet. Say hello, CJ.”

“Hello everyone, my name is CJ. Welcome, it is good of you to take the time to visit us.”

A chorus of “Hi CJ’s” came from the audience.

“By the way, John, please call me Mark. Mr. Richards was my father.”

“Thank you, Mark, and thank you for this duplicate of my studio!” Grasping and shaking the edge of his desk John said, “You didn’t get it quite right though. My actual desk is a flimsy piece of plastic crap compared to this one, and this chair is much more comfortable.”

“Sorry, John. I tried to get it right. I will have them replaced for you immediately. CJ, please replace this desk and chair with one’s made from more crappy material.”

“No, no CJ, that won’t be necessary,” John said looking up. “Maybe I can take them with me when I leave though. I wouldn’t mind that at all.”

“Well, let’s see how the interview goes first, John!” Turning to the audience Mark asked, “Is anyone hungry? CJ has introduced me to the primary food of the people who built him. I think you will find it interesting.”

Several small drone robots came out carrying baskets full of the nutrition packs Mark had come to enjoy. The audience members on the ends of the rows passed them down until everyone had one. One of the drones came up to the desk and John reached down and took one. Mark wasn’t hungry but took one to reassure the others that they were safe.

“The thing I enjoy most about these.” Mark said as he tore open the wrapping. “Is that they will taste like whatever you can imagine. Just think of a favorite food, or something you haven’t had for awhile, or even something you don’t eat anymore because it’s bad for you.”

Everyone including the host opened the wafers and took a bite. Mark sat back with a smile as looks of amazement came over everyone’s face.

“This is incredible!” John said. “They don’t even make PB Max bars anymore. Damn you Mars Company!” He said shaking his fist in the air. “I haven’t eaten them for almost 25 years, but this is exactly how I remember it tasting!”

“I thought you might like them. Anyone who wants to take some of them home is welcome to. There will be a good supply in the ship for the return trip. So John, shall we get down to business? You must have a million questions.”

“No, I’m good,” John paused for a few seconds as the audience chuckled and Mark tried to keep a straight face. “Oh, ok maybe a few! So Mark, I hate to ask this question first, but why did you pick me for your initial interview? Ever since that fantastic building went up on the World Trade Center site, every news service in the U.S., in fact everyone in the world wants to speak to you.”

“Well John, I narrowed my choices down to two, and had to decide between you and Faux and friends. It was a tough decision let me tell you. I weighed the pros and cons of both shows.”

“So who won?” John asked resting his chin on his palm. “Don’t keep us in suspense!”

Mark tried to give the audience his best ‘can you believe this guy’ look. “You won, mostly because they are a bunch of douchebags.”

The audience cheered and John said, “Well thank you for that rousing endorsement Mark. You too CJ!”

“You are welcome Mr. Stevens,” CJ replied.

“John, I’m a fan of yours and always enjoy the show. CJ also feels that you deliver a fair and balanced view of the issues, oh and you also make him laugh, isn’t that right, CJ?”

“Affirmative,” was CJ’s deadpan response, which amused the audience to no end.

“See, he can barely contain himself, John,” Mark said before turning serious. “I do feel that this initial interview could be important. Putting some comedy into it could help everyone realize that nothing bad will come of this.”

“Well Mark, where did this fantastic ship come from and how did you come to be on board?

“Let me just say that CJ is far from home, over four thousand light years. I will let him explain how he came to be here. Ok, CJ. Go ahead, but give them the short version.”

CJ recounted the events, which had brought the ship to Earth. When he finished John had a thoughtful look on his face. Mark guessed that he had put two and two together and John’s next question confirmed it.

“How long ago did this occur, CJ?” John glanced over at Mark who just nodded, knowing John understood.

“The detonation of my engine module occurred six point two-five solar years ago Mr. Stevens.”

“So that means you caused…”

“Yes, John,” Mark said wanting to get the story out. “The gigantic explosion in space that caused all that death and destruction was the result of CJ’s accident and happened outside the solar system, not far out in the universe as the scientists said. You have to understand what happened was not his fault. And in fact his crew was killed as well.”

“I knew this would come out eventually, but I believe that everyone will come to understand the benefits far outweigh the accidental damage.”

“Well that explains how CJ came to be here, but how exactly did you come to be on board?”

“When CJ arrived here, he followed his programming. This involved surveying the planets. When he got to Earth and detected intelligent life, he sent down ships to study our planet. I was injured in an accident and one of CJ’s ships happened to be overhead at the time. Basically, he saved my life. When I was well again, he explained what happened and due to his programming, I became his commander.”

“His commander, do you mean he will do whatever you want him to do?”

“That is correct, Mr. Stevens,” CJ said. “Mark Richards commands this vessel now and all my capabilities will be utilized at his discretion.”

Mark just shrugged his shoulders. “I can’t explain it, John. It has something to do with the fact that CJ was set to manual control. The vessels of CJ’s class operate under full computer control since they can be on missions lasting decades at a time. As this mission was to test technology, there was a crew of scientists and technicians on board. CJ’s creators never met another intelligent species and when under manual control CJ is compelled to obey the commander. That’s me now it seems.”

“That’s an amazing story, Mark. What kind of accident did you have? You look fine now.”

“I got the full story from CJ since I was completely incapacitated at the time and have only the vaguest recollection of what happened. He showed me a recording of the incident. A delivery truck hit me while crossing the street. I would have died right there if not for CJ’s help and advanced medical technology. When he described the injuries I had sustained, I couldn’t believe it. In less than a month I was completely recovered. Most of the Se’Tharian, that’s the name of CJ’s creator’s race by the way, medical science is based on nanotechnology. My injuries were healed by literally being rebuilt cell by cell by miniature medical robots called Medibots.”

“Mark, about a month ago there were a bunch of kids that had miraculous recoveries from accidents in several New York hospitals, and several others who recovered from severe burns. Did you and CJ have anything to do with that?” John asked.

“I knew you were the right choice for this interview, John. Yes, that was CJ again. In addition to a few other projects, I wanted a way to show that CJ’s medical technology can really help people. Using it to save kids seemed like a good way to start. Children shouldn’t ever have to suffer and I didn’t think asking permission would have worked.”

“Well no one can argue with the results, as each and every one made a full recovery. The doctors said they couldn’t even tell that they had ever been injured in the first place. Their parents called it a miracle and the doctors went crazy trying to figure out what happened.”

“Not a miracle, John, just a judicious application of advanced medical science. I have discovered that nothing is beyond CJ’s technology.”

“How did he get the name CJ?”

“He didn’t have a name when we first met, but I thought it would be better to have a name to call him instead of just calling him computer or saying hey you!”

“What does CJ stand for?”

“Well, he is a computer and he told me what his model designation was, and it was long let me tell you! So I decided on CJ which is short for Computer Jargon.”

John chuckled at that.

“Excuse me, Mark, but the White House is attempting to contact you,” CJ said. “Would you like me to inform them that you are unavailable?”

“No CJ. Please ask them to hold, I’ll speak with them in a few moments,” Mark replied to the computer before turning his attention back to John.

“John, this should be interesting. Would you and your audience like to listen in?”

“Well Mark, I think we could stick around. What do you guys say?” He asked the audience. Their reaction was most definitely positive. “I think they want to stay too,” said John.

“That’s great, but I have to ask everyone to be quiet while we are speaking. I want the conversation to be candid and I doubt it would be if they knew anyone was listening.”

“Ok, CJ. Tell them I can take the call now.”

“Affirmative, Mark. I have the president on the line.”

Looking at the audience, John said, “Ooh, the president himself! This should be good.” And rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

“Please put him on, CJ.”

It only took a moment for CJ to route the call through to the replica studio and President Stone spoke.

“Hello, can you hear me?” asked the president over the speaker. “Is anyone there?”

“Yes, Mr. President, I can hear you. What can I do for you?”

“Hello Mr. Richards, you’re a hard man to get a hold of. We have been trying to reach you for quite a while now.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. President. I have been busy lately. You know rush, rush, rush just like any other typical New Yorker!”

“Well, not typical, Mr. Richards. That’s all right, I do understand being busy. We have been receiving reports of some of your activities. People have been seeing some strange goings on around the north and south poles, as well as in the Pacific Ocean.”

“Yes, Mr. President. That’s just some work that we’ve been doing. You have to understand, so much damage has been done to the Earth’s environment over the decades, repairing it is going be a monumental task, and we have only started.”

“What about the unusual things going on right here in the United States? Are those more of your activities?”

“Oh those,” Mark said turning to face John. “Yes, Mr. President, that was some of CJ’s work. You forgot to mention the incident during the last space shuttle mission. Oh sorry, I forgot that that incident was suppressed by the vice president’s office.”

Mark was glad that no one seemed to have connected his activities with the tanker mess off Scotland’s coast.

“Yes, well we can offer you the full support of the United States government. We still have some anxious scientists and technicians that want to study the alien technology. When we can arrange to send them up there?”

With a sigh Mark replied, “We’ve been through this before, Mr. President. I’m sorry but that won’t be possible at the present time.”

“Look Mr. Richards, I know that we got off on the wrong foot but I can assure you…”

“Mr. President,” Mark interrupted. “I feel I have to tell you our conversation is not private. I won’t be allowing any scientists on board at the present time. The responsibility for this ship and technology has been given to me and I will use it in the ways I feel are best. My actions will benefit the whole world, not just any one country. If I decide to allow CJ’s technology to be studied, I will let you know.”

“Who else is there with you if I may ask?”

“Just some friends, Mr. President. I do have to go now. I hope to speak with you again soon.”

“Well ok. Goodbye, Mr. Richards, just remember that your government is ready to aid you in any way you may need.”

“Yes, thank you Mr. President, I will be in touch, goodbye.”

“Well John, I hope you and the audience found that exchange entertaining,” Mark said turning his attention back to the show host. “I know everyone would have liked to hear more, but I will have to deal with President Stone at some point. Letting him go on and embarrass himself would have made that difficult.”

“I think that you handled that well, though the reference he made to ’getting off on the wrong foot has intrigued me. Have you dealt with the government before?”

“Let’s just call it a difference of opinion. Something I probably shouldn’t discuss. I’d like to believe that he just wants what is best for the country, but with his track record… well you understand. I guess I’m not a big fan of the current administration. But even if I were, I wouldn’t give them access to CJ’s technology.”

“I personally wouldn’t trust anyone the vice president selected, and I do see his hand in the request to study the ship’s technology. Are there any scientists you would allow on board?”

“You know, John, I wish Carl Sagan was still with us. I admired him and he’s just about the only person I would give full access without hesitation. He would have loved confirmation that we are not alone in the universe.”

“Yes, and if you had trouble getting to sleep, Cosmos was the show to watch.”

“Now that’s not fair, John,” Mark said with a laugh. “I will allow some select scientists on board for a look around eventually, just not now. I want to use this technology to benefit everyone and I think the president has a different idea. I’d like to think of myself as a citizen of the Earth more than just an American.

“That’s a commendable attitude, Mark. So what’s next for you and CJ?”

“Thanks John. I would love to speak to the United Nations. There is so much good that CJ can do for the world. Dealing with local politics isn’t going to get the world anywhere.”

John turned to the camera. “I hope that someone from the UN is listening to this program. You need to speak with this man immediately. Is there some way that they can reach you?”

“Sure, if it’s ok, CJ will add it as a continuous scrolling message at the bottom of the screen.”

“Of course, but aren’t you worried about getting, I don’t know, a million or so crank calls?”

“No, John. CJ is pretty good at screening them.”

“Well Mark, I would love to grill you about some of the incidents the president mentioned, but I know you are busy. I hope we can do this again sometime though.”

“Me too, John,” Mark said reaching out to shake the host’s hand. “What do you think the president’s reaction will be when he finds out that it was you and your audience I was referring to when he called?”

“Let’s just say I’m glad I work in New York and not in Washington!” John leaned in. “The president and I don’t enjoy the close working relationship that you and he do, Mark.”

Holding up two fingers a foot apart Mark said, “Yeah, we’re just like that!” Thinking about it for a moment Mark added, “Maybe you shouldn’t air what was said between the president and me on the show, John. It might make my dealings with him more difficult in the future.”

“Certainly, Mark. I’ll just mention that you have been in touch with the president, but I’m not at liberty to discuss the details.”

“I appreciate that, John.” Turning to the audience Mark said, “Well, having all of you here has been great! John, CJ will make sure you have a full recording of everything that we discussed.”

“Goodbye everyone, the ship’s waiting to take you back to the Everyday Show studio.”

Mark waved goodbye as John and the audience members once again boarded the survey ship and it lifted off to head back to Earth.

Watching it exit through the exclusion field Mark said, “Ok, CJ. Let’s send a request to address the United Nations General Assembly. We can put together some of the material we’ve discussed that I can give them to review.”

“Affirmative, Mark.”

****

“Mark Richards is not going to change his mind anytime soon,” President Stone said. “I wonder who it was that he was with when he told me that our conversation wasn’t private.”

When the Everyday Show interview aired the following day, the president learned whom it was that had been privy to the conversation Mark had had with him and he didn’t take it well.

“How dare he do something like that to me,” exclaimed an outraged President Stone. “He had that, that comedian up there while refusing to let our scientists on the ship!”

The vice president chimed in, “At least he told you that someone was listening, Roger. It could have been an embarrassing situation otherwise. That interview did give us some information we didn’t have. I’ve set up another meeting with the staff. We must have contingency plans to handle Mark Richards.”

“Good idea, Doug. I hope they come up with something we can use.”

Two days later the vice president brought the meeting to order.

“You men know why you have been called I suppose. The situation with Mark Richards and his pet computer could become a crisis. We need to know what our options are. Let’s go over what we know, starting with my aide’s report on Mr. Richards himself. Ok Lawrence, what do you have for us?”

“Well, Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, we know from the previous FBI report that he is from New York. Something else germane to our discussion has been discovered, Mr. President,” said Lawrence Alford. “It is an ongoing investigation into a mining corporation. The corporation earned billions and simply gave the money away to various charities. A high-powered law firm stonewalled the proceedings. As soon as the investigation was ready to bear fruit, the corporation simply vanished. No record in any computer to show it had ever existed.”

“What does that have to do with this?” asked the president.

“We subpoenaed the law firm for their records. If they are telling us the truth, their computer records were erased as well. What little they had was in the form of hand-written notes. The only useful information was the names of the senior officers of the corporation. The president of the corporation was listed as Mark Richards and the CEO was CJ Smith.”

The president turned to his Science and Technology Advisor John Berger. “John, you’ve had the information that we obtained previously and watched that interview he gave. Do you have any new opinions?”

“Mr. President, my staff and I went over everything we learned from the meeting that Mark Richards attended. He confirmed in his interview that nano-medical technology was used on children in New York. We retrieved all of their toys, but some mechanism was used to destroy the technology. A few of the parents permitted our doctors examine their kids, but nothing was discovered about how they were healed.” Turning to the monitor he brought up the image of the fantastic ship. “A new military satellite captured this footage yesterday while you spoke with Mr. Richards.”

They watched as a module detached and moved off at incredible speed towards the Earth. The scrolling data indicated that it was roughly a thousand feet in diameter and matched in configuration the objects that had been seen around the world. Before going off the scope, one indicator showed it had been traveling at mach sixty-five, nearly fifty thousand miles an hour.

“Look at that thing move,” said General James Conaway Commandant of the Marine Corps and a senior member of the Joint Chiefs. “There’s no rocket exhaust, how is that possible?”

John Berger shook his head. “Haven’t you been paying attention, general? Gravity control makes that possible, fusion power and gravity control. These two achievements alone reflect a formidable technology. Our scientists have been trying to sustain a fusion reaction for decades with little success, and scientific theory cannot even explain how gravity works, let alone how to harness it for practical use as this ship does.”

“Mr. President,” Michael Grifin, the head of NASA, interjected. “Mark Richards rescued the space shuttle Atlantis and her crew from certain death during their mission to the ISS. That, along with the fact that he has been supporting children’s charities speaks volumes about his character and intentions. He has also been cleaning up the environment, something that cannot be construed as anything but benevolent. I don’t understand why you believe he poses a danger to the world.”

“We have strong evidence,” interrupted the vice president. “That he was responsible for the Sea Empress disaster off the coast of Scotland.”

It took Director Grifin a few moments to recall the tanker disaster from over a year earlier. “You think he sank an oil tanker, why?”

“We don’t know,” said Vice President Foster. “I’ll admit that he is doing good work, but what if he is not really in control of that ship? He has said that the ship is run by some kind of advanced computer. What if it’s the computer and not Mr. Richards in charge? The ship may be the vanguard of an invasion of the Earth. What if that ship isn’t so powerful? If that blast in deep space was an accident as the computer claims, the ship could be crippled up in orbit. It could be trying to deceive us, pretending to want to help while stalling for time until the rest of the alien forces arrive.”

While the vice president ranted, President Stone, having a short attention span, sat and fiddled with the tablet, poking at the image. By blind chance he accessed a schematic of the mammoth ship’s interior.

“That is possible, Mr. Vice President. True the ship is huge, but we haven’t seen much in the way of the advanced technology beyond the propulsion system. Maybe it’s mostly an empty shell. Also, in the interview with John Stevens, Mr. Richards said that he was healed from severe injuries by microscopic medical robots of some kind. Theoretically some kind of device could have been implanted to influence him during the procedure.”

“That is ridiculous, Secretary Hayes,” exclaimed Michael Grifin. “With just the capabilities that ship has already shown, why would the computer need some nobody pretending to be in charge, and why would they waste time cleaning up the oceans, rescuing astronauts, and healing children? We could not even challenge a race with that apparent level of technology! If they wanted to take over the planet, there isn’t much we could do about it!”

“Calm down, Michael. We’re exploring all possibilities here, and you can’t deny that that is one. You did use the correct word though, apparent level of technology,” said John Berger. “We’ve been told about the ship’s technology, but we can only judge by what we’ve seen. Haven’t you ever heard that looks can be deceiving?”

Michael Grifin conceded the point, but the entire conversation with more than a touch of paranoia made him uncomfortable.

“Well, what can we do about it… anyone?” asked Vice President Foster. “I can’t see the future but the day may come when we must take action and what we need are options!”

“What do you gentlemen know about the Air Force’s Mosquito program?” asked General Kevin Chilton, the head of the U.S. Space Command.

“Ah yes, Mosquito,” said Defense Secretary Hayes. “That may be just the thing!”

“Mosquito, I’ve never heard of it. How can it help us with this?”

“Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, Mosquito is the code name for a top secret experimental stealth spacecraft. It was designed to intercept foreign spy satellites and space installations. It may be possible to use this craft to get a team aboard the alien vessel undetected.”

“That alien ship must possess advanced sensor technology. How could we possibly launch a spacecraft and approach it without being detected?” John Berger asked.

“Well, John, the spacecraft was designed to ride inside a modified second stage of the Atlas II launch vehicle. The same type used to put communications satellites into orbit. Once in orbit the crew will use thrusters to make their way to Mark Richards’s ship. The operation can be launched from Vandenberg, California which won’t arouse suspicion since we have been launching quite a number of satellites over the last year replacing those that were damaged by the radiation from that ship’s supposed accident.”

“What about when they approach the ship? Won’t they be detected when they get close?”

“Significant advances in stealth technology left the drawing board recently. The Mosquito is the first operational craft to be fitted with the new radar absorbing composite material. It has a zero radar signature. With that as well as all the debris that is in orbit, I believe that there is a good chance Mosquito can reach the ship undetected.”

“We will still need to figure out a way for the team to get on board once they reach it. Also, more intelligence on the layout of that monster will be needed. It wouldn’t do us any good to get men on board just to have them wander around what must be dozens of miles of corridors trying to find one man.”

“Doug,” said the president said holding up the tablet so the vice president could see it, “have a look at this…”

Vice President Foster took the tablet and a rare smile creased his face.

“Thank you, General Chilton,” President Stone replied. “We will keep that idea in reserve in case it becomes necessary to neutralize Mark Richards. We will work on getting the information that you require for this to work. You are dismissed.”

“Yes sir, Mr. President, gentlemen.” With that he got up and left.

“Roger, at least we have the beginnings of a plan to deal with Mr. Richards.”

“I hope we don’t need to resort to that, Doug, but it’s good to know we do have some options.”