Earth United

Frank held open the door to the largest conference room in the Sector Four headquarters building. The room was empty except for the magnificent marble conference table extending the entire length of the room, chairs around it, and an open video com screen on the wall at the far end of the room.

“Get on in here and pull up a seat,” Frank said.

Jake, Cal, and Diane walked in and sat down beside each other about halfway down the table. Frank sat down opposite them, laying an electronic data pod on the table in front of him.

It was much easier for Jake to be in this building, now that everything had been set straight. He didn’t care to go in the room where it all happened anymore. The events of the past few days had helped him put all that behind him. Now he just remembered the good times with Uncle Ben. The fun they had together. That’s what Uncle Ben would have wanted. Jake put his elbows on the table, folded his hands and leaned forward toward Frank. “So how did you convince the president that Veneto was behind everything? I heard you were in a holding cell at the time.”

“I didn’t,” Frank replied. He put an elbow on the table and leaned forward as well. “I was fortunate enough to be able to tell him what we knew. But Veneto cut me off before I had convinced the president of anything. Apparently, Mr. Dietrich had been doing his own investigating for quite some time and had reached the same conclusion, that Veneto was involved. Although, he didn’t know to what extent. And since he had nothing solid, he couldn’t go to the president with it. Fortunately, the president listened to me enough to make an inquiry to Dietrich. Dietrich corroborated my story, and, well, you know the rest.”

“So Veneto was even behind the attack on Sector Four headquarters eight years ago?” Diane asked.

“Yep,” Frank answered. “He opened the defense shield for Craton and put up all the roadblocks at the Sector Four defense station. He did it all from the combat room underneath the Presidential Mansion. Unbelievable, isn’t it?”

Jake heard the video com come on. He turned toward the screen, as did the others. A middle-aged lady, well dressed, appeared on the screen, sitting behind a desk. “The president is ready for you, Commander Cantor.”

Jake turned back toward Frank. “The president?” Jake said. He never would have guessed that. Frank had asked the three of them to meet him in this room, but he’d figured it was just an informal debriefing, since they had all already filed their reports. What was the president doing talking to them?

“We’re ready,” Frank replied, looking at the screen.

The screen went black for a second, and then the president appeared. “Thank you all for being here. I apologize that I couldn’t be there with you in person, but I wanted to reach out to you as soon as possible. By reaching out, I mean I wanted to thank you. Jake and Cal, on behalf of me, the government, and the entire Legion, I want to apologize to you for what we put you through. You two fought through everything that was thrown at you in order to protect the very government that was trying to put you away. For that, and more, we are sorry.” He paused for a moment, then continued, “Frank, I owe you a sincere apology as well, for not believing you as soon as you told me.”

Frank spoke up. “No, Mr. President, you owe me nothing. You did believe me enough to make further inquiries. I thank you for that.”

The president continued, “To all four of you, this planet, its government, and its people owe you more gratitude than a simple ‘thank you’ can ever say. If not for you, and what each of you did, Earth United would no longer exist. This planet would no longer exist. I know that a thank you from me doesn’t cover the debt, but I’ll say it anyway. Thank you.”

Jake, Cal, and Diane all nodded to the president, and Jake spoke. “Mr. President, I think I am speaking for all of us when I say, thank you for coming through for us. And nobody owes us anything. We all just did our jobs.”

The president nodded back and raised two fingers to his forehead to salute them. “That you did son, and more.” He lowered his hand and the video com screen went black.

* * * *

“That’ll be all. Thank you,” Jack said. He watched as two Presidential Mansion workers closed the video com screen. He wasn’t sure if he would have had the courage to do what those four did. He really admired them.

The door buzzed.

Jack pushed the remote door keypad on his desk and the door opened. “Aretha, Clarisse, please come in.” He stood up, slowly walked to the front of his desk, and leaned against it, half sitting, with one foot on the floor and the other angled sideways. “Please sit.” He motioned to the chair and sofa in front of them and they sat. “I should have listened to you two eight years ago. You warned me to turn over that crystal immediately. You both knew that nothing good would come of delaying a decision, which I did. And look what happened. Look at all the lives I’ve cost. All the pain, suffering, and hardship I created.”

“Jack,” Clarisse interrupted, “you can’t blame yourself for any of what happened. You had no idea what was going on or who was behind it. Marco, Edgardo, and Romalor would have found a way to do what they did even if you decided to turn over the crystal immediately. It’s not your fault.”

Jack knew part of what she said was true, but not all of it. It was partly his fault. He should have acted immediately. He should have done what he knew deep down inside was the right thing to do. “But it would have been more difficult for them,” Jack replied. “And besides, it’s my job to know what they’re up to. And I failed. That’s why tomorrow, I’m signing a bill to be sent to the Senate for approval, giving the Senate authority over any matter that, in the Senate’s opinion, could adversely impact the safety of this planet and its citizens, in which matter the Legion may, in the Senate’s opinion, be in conflict.”

“Mr. President,” Aretha said, “you can’t do that. I mean, sure, that sounds great for the Senate, but that authority is too broad. A bill like that will give the Senate an open door to challenge almost anything the Legion does. Not to mention how it will weaken the office of the president.”

“Exactly,” Jack said. “That’s what I want. The Presidency has become too powerful in its control over everything. Too powerful for one person. The planet can’t risk one person having that much authority. There needs to be a stronger check on this office in the future.”

“Jack,” Clarisse said, “are you sure you’ve thought this through? A lot has happened in the past couple of days. Maybe you should let things settle for a while before you sign the bill.”

He had thought it through. He had thought about it for eight years. This was what he wanted to do. This would be his legacy. Not the attack on Sector Four headquarters eight years ago. “No,” Jack said. He straightened up and walked back behind his desk. “I have thought about this. I’ve thought about it for a long time. It’s time to act.”

Aretha smiled, stood up, and walked to the front of Jack’s desk. “Well then, I guess that’s that.” She stuck out her hand. Jack grasped it in both of his. “I’ll personally make sure the bill makes it through the Senate, unchanged. I think you’ll be making a bit of history with this move. Congratulations.”

Clarisse stood up and smiled as well. “Yes, I agree. Congratulations are in order.”

“Thank you,” Jack said. He nodded and smiled at both of them. “Thank you both for your guidance and support. It always has and always will mean a lot to me.”

* * * *

After the video com was off, Jake, Cal, and Diane looked at each other and smiled. Jake hadn’t expected to receive a ‘thank you’ directly from the president, and he didn’t need it. But it made him feel good. He felt wanted again, and appreciated. That meant a lot after almost losing everything. All was well again. He turned to Frank. “So where’s the hilaetite crystal now?”

Frank leaned back. “It’s on Pergan. And as we speak, it’s probably being processed. We won’t be seeing that crystal again, and it’ll save a lot of lives.”

“What about Ramirez and Sloan?” Diane asked.

Frank smiled slightly. “The Legion caught up with Edgardo Ramirez. He didn’t put up much of a fight with the entire Legion after him. He’ll be spending the remainder of his days behind bars.” Frank’s smile disappeared. “As for Mr. Sloan, he dropped off the grid again. Nobody knows who he is, where he came from, or where he went. He’s a mystery. Now let me ask you cowboys and cowgirl something. I just finished reading everyone’s report. Everything is clear and thorough, as usual. Everything except the end. After the new Legion fighter divisions arrived at Craton, I know from the other reports that the Craton fighters retreated back to the planet. Not only were they then outnumbered, but they had also learned of the death of Romalor. At that point, the president ordered the Legion to withdraw because you folks had the crystal. But prior to the Craton retreat and Legion withdrawal, you saw Veneto depart in quantum drive and you gave chase. Everything up to that point is clear. Your report says that you chased Veneto for some time, through an asteroid field and so on. Then you say his spacecraft was destroyed and he was killed, and you returned to Earth. But you folks left out the details. You didn’t say how Veneto’s spacecraft was destroyed. Did you shoot him down? Did he blow himself up? Did he crash? Or what? What happened?”

They all three looked at each other. Jake was glad he had told Cal and Diane to leave the details out of their reports too. He wanted this to be a private conversation. Just the three of them and Frank. He was afraid of the panic it could cause if what they had seen leaked out to the public. But more so, he still didn’t trust anyone in the Legion or government higher up than Frank. He was confident that they had everyone involved with the crystal and the attack eight years ago, except for Sloan, but what if there was someone else, and the thing they saw was part of it? What if that someone found out he, Cal, and Diane knew about it? He was probably just being paranoid, but he wanted to play it safe. He got up and walked to the door, opened it, and checked the hall. Good, it was clear. Jake closed and locked the door.

He walked over to Frank, pulled out a chair right beside him, and sat down. He leaned forward. “Frank.” He paused and looked at Cal and Diane, and then turned back to Frank and continued, “We saw something out there, the likes of which nobody has ever seen. We need to talk.”