Earth United

Jake could tell that the spacecraft he and Cal were in was a small transport spacecraft, pieced together from parts of various other spacecraft. To make matters worse, the other spacecraft from which it was made looked like they were manufactured on several different planets. That gave it an odd look and feel, giving Jake a very disconcerting feeling while piloting it. On a positive note, Jake thought, at least it resembled no known planet’s spacecraft. In addition, he and Cal still wore the ragged Craton villager clothes, now even more torn and dirty and bloodied after the battle in the Pit. With the looks of their spacecraft and clothes, along with their battered, dirty, and blood-dried faces, nobody would recognize them as Legion soldiers, let alone Jake Saunders and Cal Danielson. The only problem they would face in trying to pass through an Earth defense station would be their names and identification. How could they get in touch with Frank without using their names?

“How are we going to get through?” Cal said as they approached the Sector Four defense station. “We can’t use our real names or Legion IDs. We probably can’t even say we’re from Earth. Based on Romalor’s video com, we don’t know who we can trust.”

“Yeah,” Jake replied. “Somebody high up is at the bottom of all this. Whoever it is has some sort of control over the Legion, or at least parts of it. I’m sure the Legion is on the lookout for us. I wouldn’t be surprised if their orders are to shoot to kill. We have to get through to Frank somehow, though. He’s the only person we can trust right now.”

“Agreed,” replied Cal. “But this spacecraft has no long-range communications. And I’ve been monitoring all airwave frequencies. As I assumed, the Legion is monitoring them as well. If we get close enough to contact Frank, then as soon as we speak, the Legion will be all over us. So using the radio or video com to reach Frank is out of the question.”

“I have an idea,” said Jake as their spacecraft pulled into the defense station. “Just follow my lead.”

Jake slowly maneuvered the spacecraft into the siding dock and opened the hatch. Jake and Cal remained seated as a Legion soldier walked up to the spacecraft. He was holding a portable data pod in one hand and a stylus in the other. He was punching various buttons and numbers on the data pod. Jake knew that it was standard procedure to log all spacecraft entering and leaving Earth. The soldier looked dubiously at the spacecraft, from one end to the other. Jake knew the spacecraft was clearly in a state of disarray. Here we go with the questions, Jake thought.

“This thing actually flies?” the soldier asked in a sarcastic tone. “Where are you headed?” The soldier turned his attention back to his data pod.

Jake wanted to come across stern and confident. A man on a mission.“To see Commander Frank Cantor.”

“Is he expecting you?” the soldier replied without looking up. He continued to record information.

“Well…” Jake hesitated. “Sort of.” That wasn’t a smart answer. Not very confident sounding. What if his plan didn’t work? Could they retreat? He looked behind him. A line of spacecraft had formed. And the docking bay doors were closed. Escape would be difficult.

The soldier paused and looked up from the pad toward Jake and Cal, who were still seated in the spacecraft. “Can I see some ID?”

Jake hesitated for a moment, and then responded, “Well, we kind of lost our IDs.” This was getting worse. He looked at the soldier’s belt. He could probably get the soldier’s plasma gun if he could draw him close enough. He could then force him to order the docking bay doors be opened using the com. He really wouldn’t shoot a Legion soldier. But could he convince the soldier that he would shoot? No, if the soldier was trained properly, which he probably was since he was in Frank’s Sector, then he would die before opening the doors. That would be the protocol. So the plan had to work. Retreat wasn’t an option, and going forward meant getting blasted to smithereens with the defense station’s plasma guns.

Cal leaned over and whispered, “I thought you had a plan.”

Jake whispered back, “I do. I do.”

The soldier looked at both of them with one eyebrow raised. “Okay then,” he said slowly, “where are you from?”

“We aren’t real sure,” Jake said. He grimaced, waiting for the soldier to lose his temper. But the soldier didn’t.

“Okay,” the soldier said even more slowly, “what are your names, or do you not know that either?”

Jake paused, and then straightened up. He felt more confident. Now he could kick in his plan. “I’m Rooster Cogburn, and this guy here,” he pointed to Cal, “he’s Dog.”

Cal lowered his chin to his chest, rolled his eyes and whispered, “This is your plan?” He shook his head.

Now the soldier looked irritated. “Mr. Cog-burn,” the soldier said slowly, “what kind of names are those? I don’t believe they fit any planet in the galaxy. Look, I don’t know who you are or why you’re here, but Commander Cantor is a very busy man. He has no time for irritants like yourselves. I have a line of spacecraft waiting to get through the station. Would you kindly turn your spacecraft, or whatever this is, around and go back to where it is you came from?”

Now, step two of the plan. Time to plead and beg. “Sir, please,” Jake said. “Just call Commander Cantor and tell him we are here. It’ll only take a second. What do you have to lose? Besides, if he finds out you turned us away, and he really wanted to see us, don’t you think he’ll be quite upset?”

The soldier stared at Jake. It seemed like forever. Jake stared back. Not an ‘I’m going to take you out stare,’ but a ‘please do me this one favor’ stare.

The soldier finally replied, “Okay, if it’ll get you out of here quicker.” He reached down and pressed the com button on his belt. “Joey, get me Commander Cantor on the com.”

There was a pause, and then a reply over the soldier’s com. “Got him on com one.”

The soldier pressed another com button on his belt and spoke. “Commander Cantor. This is Private Alexander at the Sector Four defense station. I’m very sorry to bother you, sir, but I have two men from—” he hesitated, then continued more slowly, “I don’t know where they’re from and they have no ID. They say they need to talk to you.”

Jake could hear Frank’s reply over the soldier’s com. “Private, I am in the middle of something here. Pull them to the side and have them wait until I get done. And, son, get some more information the next time before you call me, like at least a name.”

It was good to hear a friendly voice. Jake could picture Frank sitting behind his desk, chewing on a cigar. He assumed that Frank had been informed that they were dead.

“Sir,” said the soldier, “they did give me their names.”

“Well then, who are they?” Frank demanded. “Hurry it up!”

Jake could hear the irritation in Frank’s voice. Probably from stress. If he knew Frank, Frank probably blamed himself for all this, for sending them to Craton in the first place.

The soldier hesitated, then spoke. “They are…” the soldier trailed off and paused. “Well, sir, they say their names are Rooster Cogburn and Dog.”

Jake could hear Frank’s open hand slam his desk, and he could picture Frank’s face, with a big smile. He heard Frank shout, “Giddy-up horsey! I knew those two coyotes were too ornery to die!”

The soldier’s eyes widened and his head jerked back. “What was that, sir? I don’t think I quite copied you.”

Calm down, Frank, Jake thought. Don’t blow it now. But he wasn’t worried. Frank would take over the situation now. Just part of his plan. He heard Frank again over the com. This time he could hear anger in Frank’s voice. A very good acting job to scare the soldier into not asking any more questions, and to move Cal and him along. “Soldier, why didn’t you tell me their names right away? Didn’t you think that was important?”

“Well, sir,” the soldier started to murmur before Frank cut him off.

“You send those two men directly to Sector Four headquarters, the south hangar. No more questions of them and make sure they have a clear flight path.” Jake could hear Frank getting louder, and he could hear Frank’s fist pounding his desk every now and then, probably for effect. “And soldier, this is a code red priority and a direct order from me. You are to tell nobody that they passed through the defense station. And let me assure you, Private Alexander, if they don’t make it to me safely, if anything whatsoever happens to them, you’ll be flipping pancakes at an Antarctic Legion outpost for the rest of your Legion career. You got that?”

“Yes sir, got it sir, consider it done, sir!” The soldier stood up straight and stepped up to Jake and Cal’s spacecraft.

Jake chuckled to himself. Poor guy. He felt a little bad for having to bring the wrath of Cantor down on him. But he would survive. He was a Legion soldier.

The soldier spoke loudly, and as if Jake and Cal hadn’t just heard the whole conversation with Frank. “The Commander has given you direct clearance to Sector Four headquarters, the south hangar. I’ll make sure you have a clear, uninterrupted flight.” The soldier paused, then continued, speaking softly. “And Mr. Cogburn and Mr., um, Dog, I deeply apologize for my behavior. I had no idea that the Commander was expecting you and that this was such a high priority. You know, with your, well, uniforms, and the condition of your spacecraft…” He paused again, then continued, “You know, just the appearance of it all, well…”

Jake was enjoying the moment, but he couldn’t risk spending any more time at the defense station. Someone could recognize them. They needed to get to Frank as soon as possible. So he decided to interrupt the soldier and save him from any further groveling. “Soldier, it’s okay. We understand. Keep up the good work.”

Jake closed the hatch, pulled away from the siding dock, and quickly exited the defense station.

* * * *

Jake and Cal climbed out of their spacecraft in the south hangar of Sector Four headquarters. Jake looked around. Not a soul in sight, except for Frank trotting quickly toward them. Frank must have cleared out all personnel from the hangar.

Frank reached them and started to hold out his hand. “Jake, Cal.” He stopped. He looked Jake in the eyes, then reached out and pulled him tight for a hug. “I thought I lost you, son.”

Jake felt a lump in his throat. His eyes started to water. He wasn’t the one who had just found someone he thought had been killed, but the crackle in Frank’s voice and the hug, well, he could feel what Frank felt. “I know, Frank. I know.”

Frank hugged Cal, then wiped his eyes with his shirt sleeve. “Just look at this. An old gunslinger like me brought to tears. Doesn’t that just beat all.”

Jake chuckled, wiping his own eyes. Until now, until seeing Frank at this moment, in tears, he had never realized how much Frank cared about them. He probably was the son that Frank never had.

Frank peered behind them, looking in the spacecraft. “Where’s Diane?”

Frank’s eyes were wide, his face frozen, prepared to hear the worst. “She’s alive,” Jake said. “Romalor still has her. I don’t think he’ll hurt her. Not just yet anyway. He wanted her to help him deal with Vernius. I’m not sure what that’s about. But in any event, once he learns that we escaped, he’ll probably want to use her as leverage against Earth. Whatever’s going on, he’ll keep that leverage as a backup. At least for a little while.”

“Okay,” Frank said. “I have a computer booted up in the hangar office and I’ve been doing some digging around. You two can tell me what happened up there and we can compare notes. Maybe we can figure this out and figure out a way to get Diane back.”

Frank stepped over to look at the makeshift transport spacecraft that they had been flying. Then he looked at Cal and Jake again. “You two look like you’ve been dogged, tied and pistol whipped. It must have been a pretty big outlaw to do that much damage to ya. Look at those knots on your heads.” Frank touched Jake’s head.

The touch sent a streak of pain through his head, which then started throbbing again. “Ow,” Jake said. He stepped back. “You have no idea.”

“All right,” Frank replied. “I’ve cleared everyone out of the hangar. Why don’t you two hit the shower room and clean up a bit. There should be extra clothes in there. I’ll grab you some grub and a first aid kit. Meet me in the office and I’ll patch you up and get your bellies full. That’ll help you think better.”

“Sounds good to me,” Jake and Cal both said at the same time.

* * * *

Jake and Cal walked into the office, cleaned up and with fresh clothes on. Not Legion uniforms, but clothes far better than the sweaty, bloody, torn rags they had been wearing.

Frank was sitting at the computer behind a desk. The office was small, probably used for processing temporary data at the hangar. One wall was all glass, looking out on the hangar floor. The other walls were solid white. No windows, no bookshelves, no pictures, nothing. It was evident the office belonged to nobody in particular. Anyone could use it.

“Grab a sandwich over there,” Frank said. “You eat while I tell you what I’ve found out, then I’ll get you two doctored up and you can bring me up to speed.”

Jake and Cal each picked up a sandwich and sat near Frank. Jake opened the bread and picked at the meat. His lip turned up, almost involuntarily.

Frank looked up from the computer. “I know, roast beef, but it’s all I could find.”

Oh well, Jake thought. He was starving. He could eat anything at this point. He took a bite. Roast beef never tasted better.

Frank looked back at the computer. “Here’s what I’ve found so far. First, at some point after the Presidential Mansion gave me the orders that I passed on to you, sending the three of you to Craton, the Legion issued a directive to find and capture you two. It explained that you two were mixed up in trying to illegally deal a hilaetite crystal to Romalor. It said that Diane was caught in the middle, and therefore, you were also charged with kidnapping an ambassador. The orders were to try to take you alive, but any resistance should be dealt with by the use of lethal force. Then, not more than an hour later, the Legion issued a statement that all three of you had been killed on Craton. That the president’s office would be handling the investigation, but there would likely be no action taken against Craton, given the earlier directive that you two were criminals anyway. I received both reports at the same time.” Frank paused and shook his head, then continued, “I, of course, knew the first directive was a lie, but had no reason to doubt the statement that you were dead. That made perfect sense. Whoever is behind this probably arranged to have Romalor kill you. So I started to piece things together and did some digging around. First, it was Armin Dietrich, the president’s chief of staff, who gave me the order to have you three diverted from Vernius to Craton. He said it was an order from the president. Then, I called a couple of friends in the Legion and the Presidential Mansion. It appears that both the directive and the statement of your death originally came from the Presidential Mansion. My sources can’t tell for sure, but they say that it looks like the president ordered both the directive and the statement.”

“The president?” Jake questioned. He’d figured this went pretty high up the chain of command, but he hadn’t thought the president was involved. Everything he knew of Jack Buchanan showed a man of utmost character, integrity, and values. Those characteristics were rarely even questioned by his opponents. He had met Buchanan once, a few years ago, when Buchanan was the keynote speaker at a Legion cadet graduation ceremony. Of course Jack would have been on his best behavior at such an event, but something about him made Jake trust him.

Jake got up and poured two tall glasses of ice water. He handed one to Cal and then drank. Ah, that was good. So cool, so refreshing. He had never been so happy to have a simple glass of water. They had found some warm, stale water stored away on the transport they took. That kept them going. But it was nothing like this. Jake pulled his chair around the desk beside Frank so that he could see the computer, and took another bite of his sandwich.

“I can’t believe that President Buchanan is behind all of this,” Cal said.

“I couldn’t either,” said Frank. “So I had more sources dig deeper. When they did, they found that it looked like the orders were actually made by Dietrich on behalf of the president. So I did my own checking and found that Dietrich and Romalor were pretty close during the negotiations of Treaty 5274.”

“The hilaetite treaty,” Jake said.

“That’s right,” continued Frank. “As you know, Craton was the last to sign the treaty. Dietrich, a young ambassador at the time, was credited with getting Romalor to sign the treaty. Word has it that Dietrich’s ties to Romalor and the relationship they developed was why Romalor signed. So I’m convinced that Dietrich is the mole in Earth’s government, probably going back to the attack on Sector Four headquarters that killed your uncle, Jake.”

“That all fits,” Cal said.

Jake pictured Dietrich in his mind. Not the picture of evil that he always imagined was behind this. Dietrich wasn’t a fighting man, at least in the sense that Jake thought of fighting. But he wasn’t a man who was very well liked, and like anyone in a position of power, he probably wanted even more power, and of course money. Money and power. The two motivators that had caused most of the pain and suffering in Earth’s history, and throughout the galaxy. Yes, he supposed that even Armin Dietrich could cause the death of so many, including Uncle Ben, with money and power as the motivators. “I’ve always said that it was Romalor who led the attack. And we saw the giant crystal on Craton. Romalor is developing some type of weapon with it. By all accounts, it has to be the same crystal that was taken from Sector Four headquarters. That Uncle Ben died for.”

“Yes,” agreed Frank. “Now what we need is hard evidence. Something linking Dietrich to Romalor. Not just our speculation. Even if anybody would believe us, Dietrich wouldn’t let us get close enough to anybody to talk. We need evidence to show somebody first.”

“Yeah, and I doubt that Romalor will be willing to waltz into an Earth courtroom and testify against Dietrich,” Cal added with a slight smile.

Cal got up and poured them each another glass of water and got himself another sandwich. He handed the glass to Jake.

Before drinking, Jake held the glass against the side of his head. The cold felt good. It eased the throbbing, but he still had a headache. Although, it probably now was more from lack of sleep than anything. “Romalor played us a video com of a man, Sloan, talking to him,” Jake said. “Sloan explained how he would arrange to set us up. Sloan said that he had friends in high places that could do that. He must have been referring to Dietrich.”

“Good, good,” Frank said. “Did Sloan say anything or do anything that you can remember that might lead us to a connection with Dietrich?”

Jake and Cal both shook their heads.

Frank continued, “Was there anything in the video that might give us a clue? Think.”

“It’s hard to remember,” replied Jake. “We’ve both been smacked over the head with a club by a seven-foot Cratonite. That tends to make a person forget a lot.”

Cal sat back down, shut his eyes and put his face in his hands. Jake reran the video in his mind, from start to finish, at least what he could recall of it. Nothing out of the ordinary struck him.

Cal uncovered his face, his eyes wide. “Wait, I do remember something! Sloan was sitting at a desk during the call. Behind him on the wall was the bottom half of an emblem. The top was cut off by the video com angle. But the part of the emblem that I could see was the earth, or half of it, and underneath the earth was a giant X.”

“Okay, good,” said Jake. “Do a search on the computer for an earth emblem with an X.”

Frank got up from the computer. “Here, you go at it, Cal. You’re a lot handier with these things than I am.”

Jake got up and moved to the front of the desk so that Frank could stand where he had been sitting. Cal sat down and began typing. Frank stood, looking over Cal’s shoulder. A couple of moments later, the search results appeared.

“What all did we get?” asked Jake.

“Well,” said Cal, reading the results to himself, “there are a number of book titles, articles, miscellaneous stuff.” He paused and read some more to himself before continuing, “Wait, here’s something. A Senate Bill 365 trademark registration of a business logo.” He hit a few keys, and a picture of the logo came up on the screen—the earth with the letter ‘N’ above it and the letter ‘X’ below it. “It says the holder of the registration is EarthNX Corporation.”

Frank slapped the desk. “Bullseye!”

“That’s it,” added Jake. “Sloan was sitting in the offices of EarthNX when he made the call.”

“Of course,” said Frank. “It all makes even more sense now. This mess has the fingerprints of Edgardo Ramirez all over it. I bet EarthNX sold Romalor the crystal, and Ramirez probably is developing that weapon for him, at a nice price, of course. If that isn’t selling out Earth. Whether it’s robbing a stagecoach or intergalactic espionage, the motive never changes. Money!”

“And power,” added Jake.

“Dietrich, Romalor, and Ramirez,” Cal said. “It all fits together.”

“And don’t forget our mysterious friend, Mr. Sloan,” added Jake.

“You two need to get to the EarthNX offices,” Frank said, “and find something solid connecting Dietrich to this. The president won’t have any trouble believing that Romalor and Ramirez are behind this, but it’s going to take hard evidence to convince him of his chief of staff’s involvement.”

“Even if we find something, will the president listen to us?” Cal asked. “I mean, Dietrich and he go back a long way.”

“Good point,” Frank replied. “I was thinking that as well. I think we should take it to Marco Veneto first. He’s a Legion man. He’ll listen. He’ll want to protect Legion soldiers if he has solid proof that you didn’t do anything. And he’ll be able to get the president’s ear.”

“All right, then,” Jake said. “It’s settled. Cal and I will check out EarthNX and see what we can find. Once we find some evidence, hopefully Veneto will get the President to lift the directive and send the Legion for Diane, and for whatever weapon Romalor is working on, before it’s too late.”

Frank added, “And in the meantime, I will talk to Veneto to bring him up to date.”

“Is that a good idea?” asked Cal, leaning back in the chair and looking up at Frank. “You know, telling him that we are alive and here on Earth. I mean, the original directive still stands.”

“I think it’s our only option,” Frank replied. “He has to be brought in sometime, and the sooner the better. That way, if something goes wrong for you at EarthNX, at least we might have him in our corner. I know for a fact that he and Dietrich don’t see eye to eye, to say the least. If there is any chance that Dietrich is implicated, I think he’ll give us the chance to prove it.”

“Makes sense to me,” said Jake. He walked over and picked up another sandwich. This roast beef wasn’t half bad. He was beginning to develop a taste for it.

“You two need to hit Earth NX after dark,” Frank said. “Even then, it won’t be easy. Ramirez has an army of guards the size of a small Legion division, and probably better equipped. And we can have no communications. The Legion will be monitoring everything. Let me doctor you two up, then you can stay here and get some sleep until dark. I’ll keep everyone out and wake you when it’s time. I’ll have a quantum light fighter ready for you. It won’t be the most inconspicuous mode of transportation, but it’ll be dark and EarthNX isn’t far from here. Besides, if something goes wrong, you may need the firepower.” Frank paused, and then added, “There won’t be any help. Even if I can get Veneto on our side, he can’t and won’t go to the president without hard evidence. You’ll be on your own until you can bring something back.”

Jake nodded. He didn’t like it, but it was their only option. Frank was right. There was nobody else they could turn to for help. In addition to being Earth’s army and air force, the Legion was the sole law enforcement agency on Earth. If Cal and he couldn’t clear their names with the Legion, there would be no place they could hide on Earth, and very few places they could hide in the galaxy. And if they were on the run, what about Diane?