Chapter 11

The shuttle landed on the dock, deployed B Squad with the two Navy medics. In such combat units, it had become tradition to have the medics that deploy with Marines come from the Navy, for some undefined reason the Marines never developed their own medical corps. Still, as the Marines were a part of the Navy, as were all other military forces since the Navy went to space, it was a moot point.

The deployment went well, Elizabeth had provided a 'Mule', a remotely controlled motorized cart, to carry the heavy equipment and crates of ammunition and other supplies to support their operationOne Marine controlled the mule while they walked warily to the airlock at the station end of the wharf. At the airlock, Sgt. McCalum keyed in the code to open the airlock, and nothing happened. He tried another code, and still nothing happened. Elizabeth was monitoring him, and told McCalum to place one of her remotes directly on the keypad.

The remote grabbed hold of the box to steady itself, and began sending thin thread feelers into the box, the feelers contained minute electrical connections as well as hair-thin fiber optics. This gave Elizabeth the tools to do the hard work of cracking the security codes, or overriding them and controlling the airlock directly. While she was working on that, she was also inserting her own special brand of antivirus and anti-intrusion code that should neutralize the infection that allowed the aliens control over machinery.

While she was successful in opening the airlock for B Squad, who took advantage of her assistance, she was still working on fighting the infection in the airlock control, and consequently the station network. The virus was fighting back. As soon as she got a grip on one aspect of the virus, another arose with a counter to her action. It seemed someone was programming the virus on the fly. This was far more complicated than a chess game, but it did resemble one on a large scale; every move had a counter move, Elizabeth was the aggressor, the virus was itself the defender. But part of it's defense was to attack the aggressor, and it tried to infect Elizabeth multiple times in multiple ways, none of them successful.

So while the move – counter move of the virus battle was going on, Elizabeth sent snippets of code past the virus defense. None of the snippets were in themselves a threat, they were just bits and pieces of a whole that now was no longer whole – or so it seemed to the virus. There were many trillions of such bits in the system, often orphaned from a rapidly deleted program, often deleted or chopped up by the virus itself. Not finding anything wrong with the flotsam of data floating in the great sea of the network, it looked at each piece of data it found and ignored it, for to try to delete every bit in an unstructured way would cost many millions of cycles of the computer processor, which it could ill afford during the attack.

While all this was going on, Elizabeth had the Marines begin to deploy the remotes they carried. Every hundred meters or so the Marines deployed another remote, which scuttled to find the most innocuous place to secure itself while maintaining a visual, audio and electronic surveillance of its location. The Marines made it to the warehouse, deployed their equipment and joined up with A Squad. McCalum distributed the remotes he carried for A Squad and repeated the instructions.

When the two squads were ready to move out, they selected one of the medics to accompany them and the other to remain at the warehouse. The mule was to remain with the warehouse, which now became a 'firebase foothold' for all military activity, to be used as a makeshift ambulance to carry any wounded or killed back to the shuttle.

The shuttle had stayed on station until the unit had gone through the airlock, then returned to the Vicinity of Elizabeth. The second shuttle left the shuttle bay with the reinforcements that Jeffrey had decided to deploy to the warehouse foothold, rather than keep in the ship.

The deployment was fast, another mule accompanied this squad – which included Torres, the sniper, the two Navy mechanics, who had deployed with Elizabeth when she acquired the shuttles, Svoboda, Mbaka, Smith. The mule carried more ammunition, rations, cylinders of various gasses, more of Elizabeth's remotes, including several of the larger ones to aid in security of the warehouse.

This left Jeffrey, Janet, IntelTech Heinz and the quartermaster, Petty Officer Jon Jonson, to man the ship and guard the prisoners. They also had dozens of Elizabeth's remotes for security.

Elizabeth reported to Jeffrey that she had beat the first few levels of security for the virus-infected area, but that it hadn't been defeated. She then showed Jeffrey and Janet what her remotes were picking up; in various places throughout the station that the remotes had been deployed, were shadows of aliens, which showed in the far ultraviolet. On the screen it took the appearance of faint purple ghosts. As the combined A and B squads moved towards the Administrator's office, the remotes picked up several of the ghosts following the Marines.

Jeffrey asked Elizabeth if she could make those images appear on the helmets of the Marines. She replied in the affirmative. Jeffrey told the two sargents to arm their pistols, then turn around, and fire at the violet ghosts.

The two sargents quietly pulled their pistols, chambered a round, and at the same time spun around, saw the images Elizabeth was projecting on their optics, and opened fire. The rest of the Marines, not party to the conversation, went into full defense mode, their weapons up and ready. McCalum and McSweeny went to where the now perfectly visible aliens were, both with a single shot in the middle of their bodies. The sargents stripped the aliens of anything they thought might prove interesting or useful, then rejoined their team and continued toward the Administrator's offices.

Heinz, in the company of four non-coms and Lt. Andrado, asked what they thought of the altercation with the aliens, which he had seen on the display of the sargents' camera pickup. One of the non-coms asked, “What were they shooting at?”

Heinz took the image back and enhanced it. “No, sorry, I can't see it.” The others agreed. The sargents, it seemed were just shooting at a point behind the group, but no alien target. When the sargents went to the aliens they had just killed and began taking objects off of them, the non-coms all began to get fidgety. Heinz asked them what was wrong,

Andrado was the one to answer, “They shouldn't be doing that.”

“Doing what?” queried Heinz.

“That. What they're doing.”

“What are they doing?”

“You know -that!” Andrado was just as irritated as the non-coms. “They should call central to report this.”

“Report what?” asked Heinz. “What should we report?”

“What?” Andrado looked at Heinz, would not look again at the display. The non-coms also averted their gaze. “Sorry, what were we talking about?”

Janet was busy composing a report using the book, which seemed more secure, but far more difficult to do. The report contained a request to have Wanigan come and make all haste, and to bring a team of psychologists and psychiatrists to address mass hallucinations brought on by the aliens.

Jeffrey requested information from the miners in the ships surrounding the station. Various miners radioed back that the problems had started shortly after the last time Elizabeth had visited. While Lagrange 3A was passing out of the area, soon to be replaced by Lagrange 3B, the miners were loathe to come onto the station. Many of the ships that had been at other sites before, when Elizabeth broadcast her antivirus and anti-intrusion code, didn't have that protection and became some of the first victims. Dozens of ships were now vacant, with destabilizing positions around the station. Jeffrey noted which ones the other miners had pointed out for later investigation.

Elizabeth continued planning for some of the next battles with the computer virus, but being the ultimate multitasking machine, she also was expanding the bridge to include a conference room and Captain's ready room. This involved removing the motors and gears that set the ship in circular motion for artificial gravity, now that alien gravity plates had been installed in the floors. The motors and gears and housings and bracing were carried away to the smelter and recycled. Much of what came of it became walls and controls, as well as more ammunition for the rail guns.

In Earth's World War Two, a new anti-armor weapon was developed that created a copper plasma which cut into heavy armor. The shell of the bazooka rocket wasthis plasma cutter. Elizabeth took the concept and incorporated it into the anti-armor ammunition of the rail guns; the massive wire windings of the old electric motors became some of the copper for the plasma.

Removing the massive motors, housing and bracing gave the bridge an additional twenty-four cubic meters, which was to become the conference room and captain's or officer of the day's ready room. Jeffrey still liked having his own private cabin, away from the bridge if necessary. But it was good for all officers in charge to have a place to retreat to, perhaps for a quick nap, while still on duty.

Elizabeth finished the construction of the two spaces off the bridge while still in combat mode, determining that it would not be a risk of distracting the officers. The construction was done by two of her large remotes and a half-dozen of the smaller ones. A glass-like partition separated the bridge from the conference room, made of a carbon-plastic two and a half centimeters thick, essentially bullet- and other projectile- proof, and it could be polarized to be completely dark or completely clear. Jeffrey's cabin was still a bit of distance down the corridor, with the hidden backup bridge between Jeffrey's cabin and the conference room. Elizabeth made a secret entryway that mirrored Jeffrey's room entrance to the backup bridge.

When Janet saw the construction progress that had been made during the current crisis, she went off to the cabin in which her garden was growing, picked some flowers and herbs, placed them in a jar for a vase, and set them on the conference table. One of Elizabeth's remotes provided Janet with hook-and-loop fasteners – Velcro in the old parlance – to protect the vase from shifting too much in the event of the ship jinking during emergency activities.

Jeffrey came onto the bridge, saw Janet through the conference room window and went in to talk to her. “Was it yesterday or the day before that I just started thinking of changing the bridge around? Talk about fast!”

Elizabeth spoke out, “AND YOU THINK THIS IS FANCY? CHECK THIS OUT,” and she opaqued the windows and displayed a video of Sgt. McSweeny, taken by one of his Marines, directly on the window.

Janet said, “That is so cool!” Another window lit up displaying a map of the station and the location of the Marines. Arrows pointed their most probable course to their objective, and more pale arrows showed alternative courses they could take.

Elizabeth announced, “CAPTAIN, THE LEADER OF THE KANG WISHES TO SPEAK WITH YOU. HIS NAME IS CHTHLIKI.”

“Well,” said Jeffrey, we're in a conference room, let's confer here. Put him through.”

“Captain,” said Chthliki in his gruff voice. “It has been brought to my attention that your soldiers killed two of my civilians.”

“Is that so?” said Jeffrey in a defiant tone. “Do you mean the two aliens that were following my armed Marines using invisibility circuits?”

“Yes! Not soldiers!”

“Can you remember what I told you and everyone else that people using invisibility circuits were subject to immediate destruction?”

“That was for ships! These were civilians!”

“Nobody gets to be invisible. Nobody gets to threaten or spy on my Marines. If you want to avoid any other similar incidents, you will order all Kang to become visible. I have spoken, and will not say this again – we have rules that you must obey or face destruction. Am I clear?”

The leader of the Kang just looked contemptuously at Jeffrey before cutting the connection without saying another word. A moment later, Elizabeth called out “GENERAL QUARTERS. BRACE FOR IMPACT!”

Jeffrey and Janet remained in their seats. The ship shook violently for a few seconds, then stopped shaking. The flowers in the makeshift vase swayed slightly, but that was the full extent of their reaction. “Elizabeth, what happened?” asked Janet, wondering if they were struck by an errant asteroid.

“THE KANG SHIP THREW A MINER'S SHIP AT US. THERE WAS NO DAMAGE TO US.”

“Elizabeth,” started Jeffrey, “Can you target the bridge of their ship?” She answered in the affirmative, so Jeffrey said, “Send a half second burst from one of the rail guns their way.”

At a thousand rounds a minute, a half second burst was only eight projectiles, but that was enough to convince Chthliki that this was not a battle he either wanted to be in or could win. Pieces of his ship floated free, some having been chopped off, some having been blown away. Chthliki immediately called back asking them to stop shooting.

The devastation on the bridge of the Kang warship was evident by the holes in the bulkheads, the sounds of sirens going off, the hissing of leaking air, the moans of survivors and the pile of four dead at the back of the screen.

“Chthliki, I am feeling magnanimous today. That means you should be feeling grateful. Within a few seconds I can destroy your entire fleet. You cannot do anything to stop me. You will line up all of your ships ten thousand meters from the station with me between the station and you, do not charge your weapons, do not activate your invisibility circuits, do nothing to offend me. Am I clear?”

The leader of the Kang said nothing. Jeffrey repeated, “Am I clear?” But again silence. “Rail guns, prepare to kill all the Kang ships.”

“I understand!” the leader of the Kang said, grudgingly. “Why do you humiliate us so! We are a proud people!”

“What do you have to be so proud about? Sneaking around on unsuspecting humans? Eating humans? That is one of the gravest tabus in our culture,” Jeffrey said. “But the most important thing is that you realize that every time you violate us or our laws, it will cost you. Humility is only the first step. Death, failure of your mission, encouraging us to take the fight back to your home world. These are some of the next steps. Realize that when you attack us, your are inviting your own destruction. That is why I humiliate you. So you never try this again.

“Now, Chthliki, how many aliens are on the station?”

“One thousand two hundred three.”

“And how many on your ships?”

“One hundred two.”

“So these thirteen hundred five aliens will present themselves to my Marines in the warehouse at the intersection of outer ring level four, and spoke thirteen, when I call on that to happen. Is that clear?”

“Yes.”

“Just one more thing,” continued Jeffrey. “A virus has infected the systems on the station. We have seen this virus before and have made counters to it, but it seems to be evolving. Why is that?”

“We ordered one of the Administrator's minions to refine the code to make it impervious to antivirus programs.”

“No more deploying of this kind of code. Is that clear?”

“Yes.”

Janet asked, “How do we undo the damage your virus has done to the mental processes of the humans that were affected by it?”

The alien looked at her, and said, “We know of no way.”

She looked at Jeffrey then back to the Kang on the screen, a determination evident on her face. “We will find out, and make sure they remember who did this to them.”

The Marine squads took separate paths to the Administrator's offices; A Squad took the elevator, which was a dangerous gambit; if someone controlled the elevators they could override the safety controls and cause a fatal crash, but that did not happen. The B Squad went on the moving stairways, the escalators, charging up them three steps at a time. They came to the same location as the A Squad after only five minutes.

A Squad set up a perimeter – all entrances to the entire floor were blocked, nobody in or out. Elizabeth had the Marines continue to place remotes, which quickly disappeared into the background, silently monitoring, relaying communications outside the station's network.

B Squad followed Gunnery Sargent McCalum into the Administrator's suite. Two security officers tried to block their way, but recognized the massive difference in firepower between the two groups. Plus the Marines were heavily armored while the security officers had only light duty suits. McCalum passed the security officers outside the office suite to Sgt. McSweeny, who disarmed them cuffed them with the universal plastic cuffs, and secured them out of the way.

McCalum went into the Administrator's private office, and said, “Sir, you are to come with me. Now.”

“I will do no such thing,” said the Administrator. “Do you know what happens to people who interfere with station business? Do you know where your fellow Marines are?”

This last caused McCalum almost to lose his anger control. “Yes I know where they are. Your alien friends were storing them up for food, along with ninety miners and other civilians. You allowed them to turn Humans into cattle.” His voice rose, amplified by the external speakers on his hard suit, a truly frightening thing.

They bundled the Administrator and the only other person in the suite at the time, the InfoTech Manager, secured them with standard ties, and took them out of the administration suite. They left one Marine to stand guard at the suite, with four of the remotes to assist him.

Instead of taking the elevators they all went down by the series of escalators – the moving stairways that took them down ten levels to the correct level for the docks. The four prisoners; the Administrator, the InfoSec Manager and the two security officers were moved to the forward base at the warehouse, where the Marines took a few minutes rest, then they radioed in, requesting a shuttle pickup. They bundled the prisoners into emergency suits – essentially soft plastic bubbles with oxygen cylinders, placed them on the mule, and went out to the dock where Shuttle 1 was standing by. They loaded their human cargo onto the shuttle, escorted by Team A, while Team B took themselves back to the forward base at the warehouse.

At the ship, the prisoners were detained in different cabins, the two security officers in the brig with the other security officers, the InfoTech Manager and the Administrator in separate cabins that had just been converted to interrogation cells.

IntelTech Heinz began his interrogation with the InfoTech Manager. “Where did you get the code for the virus that you modified?”

“What virus? What are you talking about?”

“I'll lay some of my cards on the table, so you can see where the course of this investigation is going,” said Heinz. “Six months or so ago, a virus infected one of the warships in the Navy fleet. Because of some classified safeguards, that ship managed to escape capture, but all its systems were compromised. Every computer, every computer controlled circuit. Worse, even the humans were hypnotized by the virus.

“This ship has already had experience with that same virus, but not that particular strain. We had developed an antivirus, anti-intrusion software package that prevented the virus from continuing to infect any systems, and another module that cleaned up those infected systems. But the humans that were affected required intense psychological counseling.

“So, much of the mutation of the virus on the station can be attributed to you. Just so you know, if I don't get satisfaction from you, I will turn you over to relatives of those who were hurt by your work. There are some on board this ship right now. They are very angry and are armed.”

The InfoTech Manager sat there and looked mostly dumb. Then asked to see some of the source code of the virus that he is accused of engineering. Heinz had Elizabeth display a few sections of code on the wall. The InfoTech Manager looked at the section of code, and said, “Yeah, I see what you mean. This routine here,” and he pointed at a subroutine, “is different from the others, it was written by a human, where this other code was, created by a...” At this point, he just stopped, his eyes glazing over. A moment later, he looked at Heinz, and said, “Sorry, what were we talking about?”

Heinz decided to confront him, hoping that it would take him beyond the stalling point. “You were showing me where humans created the code here, and the rest is alien.”

“Alien. Yeah, I guess that could be it.” The InfoTech Manager looked like he was developing a severe headache.

“Who told you to modify this code?” asked Heinz.

“I don't, I can't, I, I, I...”

Then Heinz had Elizabeth play back the leader of the Kang telling Janet that he had ordered a human programmer to do it.

“Yeah! Him! Wait, there's something different about him.” The InfoTech Manager furrowed his brow, then said, “Yeah, that's it. He always came to me like a purple ghost. He told me what to write in the code. He said 'Make it so they can't see us.'”

While Heinz was interrogating the InfoTech Manager, Jeffrey decided to start speaking with the Administrator. As soon as Jeffrey walked into the newly-made interrogation room, the Administrator began his bluster. “You know you can't keep me. I am an important person, I know important people. There is going to be hell to pay for you, whoever you are.

Jeffrey removed his helmet so the Administrator could see who, exactly, he was dealing with. “Oh,” said the Administrator. “It's you. I don't know how you escaped the last time,but the Navy is on its way and you will be in serious trouble if you don't release me right this instant.”

“Administrator,” began Jeffrey in a low, calm voice. “I am the Navy. You have been collaborating with organized crime, pirates, and now Aliens. You are under arrest. All your rights and privileges have been revoked. You no longer hold that office. Now, you have been known as the Administrator ever since you came on board. That no longer applies. What is your given name?”

“Just call me Administrator.”

“No. I may call you The Traitor. I may call you The One Who Feeds His People To The Aliens. I may call you Shameful Disgrace. But I imagine you would rather a Human name. What is it?” Jeffrey sat back, his helmet on the table between them.

The former Administrator had paused, as if weighing his options, recalculating his position, figuring out where to pick himself up and return to a top position. Then he said in a small voice, Secant. Barry Secant.

Elizabeth displayed a dossier on the wall behind the Administrator. While listening to him talk about who Barry Secant was,Jeffrey was comparing the notes. The notes were remarkably similar to what the Administrator was saying, except that the dossier listed Secant as dead. The Administrator continued talking about Secant, as if he were him.

“So how did you die?” Jeffrey interrupted.

The Administrator sat back, dumbfounded. “How did, what?”

“According to his dossier Barry Secant died. How did you die?”

“How does it say Secant died?” The Administrator asked in a small voice.

“Old age. Do you want to try again? ”

“That was my father. I'm Martel Secant.”

The dossier changed to Martel Secant, a juvenile delinquent in his childhood, a bully in his early twenties, and untraced after that. The dossier showed that Martel was wanted for extortion, larceny, piracy and suspected of murder. The psych analysis was that he was a sociopath and/or psychopath and that he was dangerous. The picture of Martel Secant was roughly similar to what Jeffrey saw before him, although several decades out of date. Jeffrey noted the convolutions in his ear were identical to that in the picture, so he took it at face value.

“So when did you meet the Aliens?” Jeffrey asked.

“It was about a year ago,” Secant replied. “They came to me and offered me riches and power, but it would take some setting up. I was the one to do the setting up.”

“What would you say,” continued Jeffrey, “What would you say was the biggest problem the aliens face?”

“Right now, you” said Secant. “But before they came to this station it was starvation.”

“You realize that they were taking care of that problem by eating people?” demanded Jeffrey. “That they eat their own dead, and they kill ours and eat them too.”

“I can hardly believe that. Mr. Sokolov where do you get such nonsense?”

Elizabeth displayed a video behind Jeffrey of the Marines entering the deserted miner's ships with the station's Marines lying in heaps. She showed the lined up bodybags in the shuttle bay. Closeups showed arms and legs had been sawed off. Closeups of Marine dog tags. Martel Secant looked ashen, the color drained from his face. “Oh.”

“Captain, this is not what I thought. I was hoping for a good life, a life of crime, perhaps, but nothing like this.” The former administrator held a pleading look in his eyes. Please give me a chance to redeem myself. I feel so – ashamed.”

Jeffrey spoke aloud, “Elizabeth, when does Wanigan arrive?”

“TWO HOURS, CAPTAIN.”

“You have two hours to think of a way to redeem yourself. There is a lot to speak for. You stay here. Do not attempt to move or escape. It would please my guards no end to kill you.”If you think of something, let me know; just speak out loud, you are being monitored.” Jeffrey got up to leave. “Two hours.”

After Jeffrey left, he told Heinz the real identity of the former administrator. Told him where he left off, and encouraged Heinz to ratchet more out of him.

“CAPTAIN, THERE IS SOME COMMOTION GOING ON AT THE STATION. THE MARINES POSTED AT THE ADMINISTRATOR'S OFFICE AND AT THE WAREHOUSE REPORT CROWDS GATHERING.”

“Have B Squad get back to the station and help keep things calm.”

“AYE, CAPTAIN.”

“Also Elizabeth, inform Sgt. McCalum of the impending arrival of Wanigan. He should only have to hold out for a few hours.”

“ACKNOWLEDGED.”

“Keep the corpsman here to help care for the victims in the hold.”

“AYE, CAPTAIN.”

The Marines landed on the dock, quickly marched through the crowd of civilians that had gathered around the airlock, then continued marching through to the warehouse. There was another, loud, boisterous crowd. Elizabeth called the attention of McCalum to two aliens with their invisibility circuits, and superimposed them on McCalum's video. He took out his pistol, jacked a round into the chamber, raised the pistol and aimed at the violet image of the one on the left, and fired. He then acquired the second target and fired. Two more hidden aliens down.

The Marines went to where the two aliens lay, stripped them of any apparatus that might prove useful, and left them against the outer warehouse wall. They called on the corpsman to bring out two body bags for the aliens. When she arrived, they placed the aliens into the body bags, and two Marines carried the body bags, one at a time into the warehouse. Then they all entered the warehouse and secured the door.

Sargent McCalum replaced the rounds he had fired, holstered his pistol and told the Marines that they needed to support the Marine they left in the Administrator's offices. Three Marines volunteered to go, so Sargent McSweeny took those three Marines from both squads, and took the elevator to the proper level.

When they arrived, there was a crowd of twenty humans, and Elizabeth pointed out another two invisible Aliens, as violet images on McSweeny's visor. After shooting them both, they followed the same procedure – strip the aliens of any interesting apparatuses and place the alien corpses into body bags and bring them into the office complex with them.

McSweeny told the crowd, “Go to your homes – the offices are closed for now.”The crowd obediently disbursed. One of the Marines gave the Marine that had been left behind to guard the offices replacement air for his suit – the order to keep the armor on until further orders was still in effect.

Jeffrey received the notice that they were still running across invisible aliens – and shooting them as they are detected. He told Janet to raise Chthliki. She broadcast a hail to his ship, but there was no response. She tried again, again without results. While the mic was still open, she ordered the rail guns to take aim on the ship used by Chthliki.

This brought an immediate response, Chthliki appeared to be on his bridge, the holes were still in the wall behind him. “What do you want?” he demanded.

“Standby for Captain Sokolov,” she announced.

“When Captain Sokolov is ready to talk to me, he may call me himself” retorted the Kang leader.

“I see,” said Janet. “What is the name of your replacement? Or do we pick the Kang who replaces you? Either way, you stay on the line or discover how little regard you have among your people. You will be forgotten.”

Jeffrey was just out of the line of sight, standing at the door to the bridge, overhearing Janet's conversation with Chthliki. He told her he would be coming back in two minutes by holding two fingers up.

Frustrated and painfully humiliated, Chthliki stayed on the line. He didn't understand what kind of weapon a 'rail gun' was, but it was vastly superior to the beam and plasma weapons that his ships relied on. He waited, fuming.

Jeffrey then walked onto the bridge, sat down in the captain's chair, and started, “Chthliki. It seems we are still at war.”

“What? No!”

“So here's what we are going to do. You are going to be responsible for every incident of aliens on this station who is using the invisibility circuit. If you can't control your own people, then we need to find a Kang who can. Do you have any recommendations for your replacement?”

“No. I will go onto the station and collect all the remaining Kang and other aliens on the station. I will remove them to my ship. Do not destroy us.”

“Now you see, it is possible for you to be a leader,” said Jeffrey. After they cut the communications, Jeffrey had Elizabeth notified the Marines that they were about to have a visitor, and explained what Chthliki was up to.

The ship carrying Chthliki broke away from the line of Kang ships, and made for the dock next to the shuttle that had delivered the Marines. Elizabeth tracked and analyzed the Kang ship, it's propulsion, it's exhaust, it's electronic and electrical signature, it's radio emissions, it's magnetic properties.

Chthliki exited the ship and walked to the airlock, which opened for him before he arrived. Elizabeth's remotes continued to monitor the Kang leader from their hidden positions. Elizabeth surmised that the Kang was broadcasting or responding to a broadcast signal, perhaps like the old RFID system. She played back all the records that the remotes had recorded, including radio waves and found a signal coming from Chthliki in the hundred gigahertz band. This might be useful for tracking him. She sent an order to the remotes to track any signal at that range of frequencies. Elizabeth was pleased with herself.

She reported to Jeffrey what she figured out. Jeffrey was aware that she was fishing for a compliment, and paid her with profuse and over-the-top compliments.

“OKAY, CAPTAIN. THAT'S ENOUGH. BUT THANKS. YOU MAKE ME BLUSH!”

She tracked the Kang leader onto the elevator, and discovered that the Kang had set up more stops than the designers of the station intended. There were no buttons for the selection of the floors that Chthliki stopped at. When he paused at one of the phantom floors, the elevator doors remained open, he would step out growl a command in the language of the Kang, a guttural commanding language that involved a lot of spit. He told all Kang to drop what they were doing and assemble at the exit where the Marines were. They were not to use their invisibility. They would be detected and destroyed. Already ten of their number were so killed by the Marines.

He then went to another hidden floor and repeated his orders. And another. All told, six hidden floors with the hundred – odd Kang and a smattering of a few other races the Kang allowed to mix with them, were stopped at.

When they gathered at the elevator at the entrance near the docks, Gunnery Sargent McCallum found Chthliki and told him to bring all his people into the warehouse in a neat line. Then they would be able to go on their way.

Suspicious, but somehow trusting, Chthliki told his Kang to line up, the other aliens, similar to Kang, but different, were lined up after the Kang. They entered the warehouse one at a time, where each alien was issued a box of food – canned meats, packaged vegetables, fruits, rice, beans. There were instructions printed in English, but the Marine distributing the food told each Kang that some of the food, like rice and beans, needed to be boiled in water until soft.

The Kang were then led out to the airlock. Chthliki explained that for short times, Kang could traverse vacuum with no medical consequences. They cycled through the airlock twenty at a time, and on the other side, paraded to the Kang ship that Chthlliki had ridden in. Soon all the aliens had gotten onto the Kang ship, Chthliki had taken it back to its place in line with the other ships, awaiting further instructions.

Shortly afterward, Chthliki called in distress – several of his Kang had eaten some of the food and were having abdominal bloating. The MedTech took the call, and explained that they were instructed to boil the rice, not eat directly out of the package. The rice expands in liquid. When they ate it, their stomachs or the Kang equivalent of stomachs, were packed with expanding rice. Have them induce vomiting, he counseled. And make sure they boil the rice in water. Same with beans and any other dried foods.

This placated the Kang leader.

Shortly after the evacuation of the station by the aliens, Wanigan arrived. As usual, it blew deafening tones through all frequencies warning that a Navy warship was arriving, and nobody was to look threatening. She took station near Elizabeth, and after a short time, Commodore Yusef came aboard Elizabeth with a whole gaggle of psychiatrists and psychologists.

He was escorted to the conference room off the bridge, where Jeffrey met him. “You know,” Yusef told Jeffrey, “It is customary to have a dignitary met at the gangway by a bosun's whistle and greeted by the officer in charge once aboard.”

“Oh goodness, Commodore,let me drop what I'm doing, and let's go back to the shuttle bay and...no, wait. I don't think I have a bosun. Or a bosun whistle. Oh well. Sorry. Maybe next time.” Jeffrey smirked.

Yusef laughed, embraced Jeffrey, and thanked him for inviting Wanigan to the party. He had Heinz show the mental health professionals to the humans that had been rescued from the Kang dinner party. Then took Yusef to his new conference room. Yusef looked around – the table was plastic and steel, the walls plastic, there were two square decorations, one an abstract image made of gold, copper, depleted cobolt, silver, and other heavy metals forming a stylized map of the galaxy. The other was a portrait of Elizabeth Sokolov, Jeffrey's late wife.

There was a vase of flowers on the table. Janet had been keeping them fresh. Their fragrance almost overcame the new construction smells that permeated the room.

Jeffrey had the commodore sit alongside him at the far end of the table. As he began his briefing, Elizabeth polarized the windows to the conference room, and turned the windows into displays, one showing details of the Kang ships, one showing the various aliens found on the station, another showing the secret floors on the station that the elevator wouldn't stop at if the proper coded frequencies were not present.

“Commodore Yusef, the aliens have used the virus we have already come across, but induced Human programmers to modify it to work with human nervous systems. The people on the station were all conditioned, by the virus, to ignore any evidence of, or knowledge of, aliens. One other hitch in their conditioning, though. If they find an ill or dead alien, they are to report it...somewhere. And then forget. The Administrator, whose real name is Martel Secant, is actually a low-level crook. He's pretty bright, and the aliens used him to overcome securityat the station, then help them develop their infrastructure.

“These aliens have been feeding on Humans.” Elizabeth played through video of the findings on the abandoned mining craft, and other evidence as Jeffrey spoke. “I informed them that this was no longer to be tolerated. I really stressed the invisibility circuits were to remain off. We have found ways to discern their personal invisibility circuits, and shooting aliens has been good target practice for my sargents. They seem to have learned the lesson.

“The Kang leader, Chthliki, has removed all the aliens from the station, and each was given a box of food before going onto Chthliki's ship. Two things – the Kang don't name their ships. And we just got a panicked call from Chthliki about his underlings not following directions on cooking rice and beans. Big stomachache.”

The captain and commodore had a laugh.

“We established a firebase and food distribution center in a warehouse at the level four dock, not too far inside the airlock. The population is going to need to be de-conditioned to the alien's implanted suggestions.”

The programmer – InfoSec Manager – was re-checking the code of the virus that affected human nervous systems so he could brief the mental health professionals with his findings. Which would be relatively easy as he was also the person who originally programmed it. But his memory was somewhat foggy about that.

“We have security in two places, the warehouse and the Administrator's office. We are keeping our eyes open for one known surviving Marine – Lt. Omotunde.”

Yusef looked up, startled. “You think Omotunde is still alive?”

“Don't know sir, but there was no evidence among the deceased or anywhere else that he was dead.”

“All right, let's see if we can find him,” said the commodore. “What else do you have for me?”

The former Administrator – I left him in one of the interrogation rooms – wants another chance to redeem himself after collaborating with the aliens. He seemed genuinely surprised at the cannibalistic nature of the aliens. I gave him until you got here to decide what he could do to redeem himself.”

“Okay, let's go talk to him.” Yusef and Jeffrey then stood and went to the interrogation room that held the former administrator. Martel Secant tried to stand, but his hands were secured to a ring on the table, so it was an awkward move at best. He sat back down. Jeffrey and the Commodore sat opposite Secant.

“Mr. Secant, I am Commodore Yusef,” Yusef said. “It has come to my attention that you have been collaborating with aliens in the process of attacking Humans. Also, you seem to have made some misrepresentations as to your identity in offering yourself for the position of administrator..” He tossed his head towards Jeffrey, “And Captain Sokolov tells me you wish to make some move towards reparations for your behavior.” He paused a long pause. “What do you have in mind?”

Secant just sat for a moment, looking at his hands. He then looked up at the Commodore, then at Jeffrey, and said in a quiet voice. “I like power. I like wealth. On top of that, I am a very good administrator. But I don't want to do that any more. It has come to my attention that you have established a policy of distributing food to the aliens and registering them. I can manage that program for you. I can help your intelligence agency organize information. All I need is forgiveness and a modest salary.”

“Wait here.” Yusef stood, Jeffrey rose in response. “Mr. Secant, what can you tell us about Marine Lieutenant Omotunde?”

“We lost him – he disappeared somewhere on the station. The Kang couldn't find him, he seemed immune to the virus programming. I suspect he is still alive, but don't know where.”

“Wait here,” Yusef repeated.

They went back to the conference room. Yusef then said, “Elizabeth.”

“YES, COMMODORE?”

“Please update Wanigan in the things you have learned and figured out. She can then advise me on how to defeat the virus-based hypnosis, and other ways to protect my troops.”

“DONE, SIR.”

“Thank you.”

“WHY, COMMODORE, I WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR YOU, SIR.”

“Keep it professional, Elizabeth. I outrank your Captain, you know.”

“YES SIR.”

“Jeffrey,” started the commodore. “I have a small brigade of Marines I'm assigning to you. The station is going to need to be well secured. The Security Officers are all out – with the virus-based hypnotic suggestions. Until they are cleared by the MilPsy corps, they are all on paid leave. And until I find someone else to fill the position, you are the governor of the station.”

“But sir,” began Jeffrey.

Yusef interrupted,“Calm down. It won't be for long. And you will still be captain of your own ship, although Lt. Bianca may need to run some patrols. I need you to do this. You are probably the best qualified person for this.”

Jeffrey shrank in resignation. “All right, sir. But you gotta hurry and find a replacement. My place is on the ship.”

“I doubt you would be surprised at all the captains I ask to do desk work say that.” Yusef chuckled. “Now, regarding the former administrator – I like his own suggestion. Make him an analyst for your intelligence gathering, and as a primary job make him the alien registrar and distributor of food. Elizabeth can keep an eye on his activities to make certain he doesn't step out of line.”

“Okay,” agreed Jeffrey.

“But you are not just the governor of Lagrange 3A, but all the Lagrange 3 stations. The entire orbit.”

“Oh Lord,” sighed Jeffrey.

“Now you see what I mean – you will be on your ship a good deal of the time.”

“Oh Lordy, lordy.”

“Now, if you find Omotunde, debrief him, get him whatever psych analysis you consider he needs to pass, then if he is adequate, put him back in charge of MilIntel. I am aware you and he did not get off well on the first meeting, and you handled him well. But I trust him, I want you to also. But you can make him earn that trust. He reports to you.

“And I want to know as soon as he is found. Use the book.”

Yusef seemed to be winding down. He got up and walked around the conference room, looking at the details Elizabeth put into the construction. “I see you changed the ship around again. I like what you have done to this place.”

“Well sir, if we didn't need the rotational gear, we could use the space for other things. Our Golden drives seem to be holding up really well. Got up to 4 light. I can't stress how useful the smelting and manufacturing processes have worked for me. If I want to change something, I ask Elizabeth to do it and within a short time, Voila!”

“Next; tell me about our social experiment. Any problems?”

“You mean the canoodling within the ranks? Let me say that the results speak for themselves. No problems. Sir, just demand the best from your people, and they will give it to you. My expectations are high, so the men and women reach up to achieve those expectations. Their having sex with whomever has nothing to do with the performance of their duties.”

“Okay, thanks.”

“You need to set up quarters on all the Lagrange 3 stations.If I were you, I would also follow through on the safehouse authorization we discussed back at Earth Station.” Yusef didn't seem to be winding down, after all. “The administrators on the other Lagrange 3 stations have been told to expect you, and you have ultimate authority – if you decide to fire someone, just do it. Tell me afterward. We need to get these stations up to the point of serving our alien neighbors and defending ourselves from the takeover by them or by rogue humans. You are our first line of defense, Jeffrey. Make it work.

“I have dispatched ships containing large quantities of food for the aliens. Those ships will be kept off-station until you decide to unload them. Can you think of anything else you need me to ship to you?”

“Yes, sir. I want bigger replicators. One for the ship, one for each station.”

“Well you, my boy, are in luck. The United Nations got the word we are not alone and stopped their squabbling. They authorized everyexpense for you, within reason. Considering how well you have done with your own old replicator, I think that is a reasonable request. Anything else?”

“Permanent staff for my ship. I'll keep Janet as my number one, but I need more engineers, more combat staff to put under Sargent Torres, maybe a few midshipmen to train.”He paused, then, “How many in the brigade?”

“That's about a hundred.”

“Okay, I'll need more shuttles and crews. Has anyone developed small combat spacecraft?”

“Yes.”

“A flight of those for each station.”

“I like to see you thinking strategically. Don't go overboard, but I'll see about getting you what you need. Oh, and I'll send some new officers to train under you. Seems you have seen more action and done more good for the solar system than any of the rest of the Navy. And you'll have your midshipmen.”

“One more thing, sir.” added Jeffrey. “I need clerical staff unaffected by the virus.”

“I'll send you some. Until then, make do with what you have.”

“Aye, sir.”

Jeffrey had the new brigade of Marines take over another nearby warehouse for its barracks. The commander of the brigade, Lieutenant Colonel Vincent DePaul, came to the ship to get his orders from Jeffrey.

“Colonel, under combat, we found that keeping armor on all the time did two positive things – it offered us the security of constant protection, both from the elements and from aliens. But it also protected us from the hypnotic effects of the alien virus. Everybody on the station was affected, so the aliens understand our neural physiology. Oh yeah, we also get to have my AI superimpose the image of aliens with their invisibility circuits on. If Elizabeth shows you an ultraviolet blob on your screen, she will also tell you that it is an alien. You are authorized to shoot any alien with invisibility circuits activated. Other aliens, just make sure they are registered. You might want to occupy the floors that the aliens had, take a look at their gear, bring to MilIntel anything you don't understand or anything that may give us an advantage over the enemy. Otherwise, your job is to keep the peace.

“I am going to have to travel to all the other Lagrange 3 stations, seems I've been made governor of the entire orbit. I will need to take a third of your troops whenever I travel. It wouldn't be a bad idea to separate your brigade into three sections and assign a new section for every trip I take. I am working at getting a civilian staff goinghere, but we won't use anyone from the station who hasn't been cleared by MilPsy. So when I am off station, you are in charge.

“Any questions?”

“Just one, sir. We have been issued old style projectile pistols. What's that about?”

“Both our armor and the alien's armor are good defense against beam weapons and plasma weapons. The slugs in these pistols go through anything the aliens have, and will ruin a pirate's day if you shoot him in the helmet while he's outside.

“Only thing is, they need to be cleaned far more often.”

“I understand, sir. I'd better get back to my units,” And the Lieutenant Colonel stood up.

“Not so fast, Colonel. Have a seat.” Jeffrey turned his hand over and indicated the seat. “We haven't talked about my AI. Her name is Elizabeth, and I rely on her for pretty much everything. She will be your best friend.”

“No sir.”

“No? Why?”

“I don't trust AIs. They can be programmed to do nasty things just when you need them. Never trusted AIs, never will.”

“Ah. Elizabeth, call Wanigan back and tell her to pick up Lieutenant Colonel dePaul. He won't be staying with us.” Then to dePaul, “Get your gear, Colonel, you won't be staying with us after all.”

“But sir...”

“Elizabeth was with me before I was drafted into the Navy. She is my most trusted crew member. She is the best tool I have for nearly every problem. She is my best friend. If you don't trust her, you don't trust me. If I can't count on you to use the tools I give you effectively, I don't need you.”

dePaul swallowed. This wasn't how he expected the interaction with the young captain was supposed to go, he though he could bully his way to dominating him. Tables turned fast. “Sir, please reconsider. I am a good combat leader, I can be an asset to you and your mission.”

“And my AI?”

“I will try. I've been burned by AIs, sir.” A pleading look on dePaul's face convinced Jeffrey that he could give him another chance. With monitoring.

“Elizabeth, belay that last order. We'll keep the Colonel – on probation.”

“ORDER BELAYED.”

“Thank you Captain.”

“Colonel, did you know Wanigan has an AI? Sister to Elizabeth. When Wanigan's crew was disabled and removed from the ship, the AI was partially disabled, and high-tailed it to where we were, where we were able to defeat the virus and the aliens. That AI saved the ship and her crew. Our AIs are loyal, they are reliable, smart – just a little bit ago, Elizabeth discovered that the aliens wear an RFID type device that emits a very high frequency code which enables them to enter secret compartments, without which nothing happens. Elizabeth figured out we can trace aliens by that frequency emission.”

“RFID? What's that?”

“Radio Frequency Identifier. It's an old Earth technology that enabled companies to embed a passive device that reflected a code when given a specific radio signal. Was good for inventory control and passports and the like. We use much more smart systems now, but in its day was quite the thing.”

“I see. Sir, you can count on me. I apologize for insulting your AI.”

“You can apologize to Elizabeth. Just speak her name, she's always listening.”

“Elizabeth, I'm sorry.” The lieutenant colonel said. His eyes rolled, showing the depth of his feeling.

“LIEUTENANT COLONEL, IF YOU TRULY MEANT THAT, I WOULD HAVE EXPECTED MORE OF A LOOK OF ABJECT HUMILITY, BUT WHILE YOUR LIPS APOLOGIZE, YOUR EYES LAUGH AT ME AND MY CAPTAIN.”

“Colonel, if Elizabeth gives you an order, rest assured that order came from me. Understood?”

“Yes sir.”

“Now go join your unit. Explain what I just said. If they get an order from Elizabeth they can trust that the order is legitimate and came from me. I trust my AI, I trust my troops. When they don't trust each other I have problems. I don't want problems.”

“Understood, sir.”

“Dismissed.”

After the lieutenant colonel left to go back to his team, Jeffrey told Elizabeth to monitor him. “I want to know if he is undermining you or me. I don't want trivial information, but if there is going to be a problem I want to nip it in the bud.”

Jeffrey went aboard the station, accompanied by Audrey and Torres as bodyguards and the Quartermaster, Petty Officer Jon Jonson. He first dropped in on the Marines in the warehouses. They seemed in good spirits. He told Lt. Col. DePaul to relax the hard-shell suit requirement, except for their security details. This brought a cheer from the Marines, especially those that had been on the station for some time. He also passed along the commodore's order to keep an eye out for Omotunde, bring him in safely, or if that isn't possible, report his position.

They then went up to the Administration offices, greeted the Marines on watch there. Jeffrey told them that they would be relieved soon. “Elizabeth, have Lt. Col. DePaul dispatch a replacement team for the security at the administration offices.”

Jeffrey sat down at the Administrator's desk and looked through the drawers, attempting to discover what he could about the man who held the position, and what the position really entailed. He then went through the paper files, looking for records that the administrator didn't want in the electronic system. He found a treasure trove of contacts among the pirates, extortions the administrator had managed, and records of contacts with the aliens.

Jeffrey sent down to the warehouse for the Chief, his naval sniper and chef. She appeare a few minutes later, well armed but without the sniper rifle. “What, you lost it already?”

“The Colonel confiscated it from me. He said it belonged with a proper sniper team.”

“Chief, as far as I am concerned, you are a proper sniper team. I'll get it back from the Colonel. After all, it is my personal property.”

“Thanks sir.”

Jeffrey continued, “The reason I called you here, is we probably don't need you in your role as a combat chief any more, until the next crisis, that is. But we do need you to cook. Can you prepare enough meals for the Marines, the Navy and me?”

“Of course, sir.”

“And if you need help, requisition it from Lieutenant Bianca.”

“Thank you sir.”

“I'm hungry. Dismissed.”

After she left, Jeffrey put Petty Officer Jonson to work organizing the running of the station. Jeffrey then decided to go for a walk. He left, accompanied again by Torres and Audrey. They paid a visit to the Chong family.

Sul met him at the door, initially looking suspicious, but then his face broke out in a wide smile, and he called his family out from hiding to see who it was. Jeffrey greeted the family with hugs and smiles, Lee went to make tea and Kim went to bring some cookies.

They all sat down in the living room, Jeffrey explained that the crisis seemed to be over, but that he was now temporary governor of the entire orbital ring of six Lagrange stations. He was going to have to do a lot of travel. He wanted the Chong family to start a restaurant as they had originally discussed, so they should take a walk and look for suitable locations. “Not necessary,” said Lee. “We have already found the perfect location. If we can find adequate appliances and tables and a supply of food, we can start next week. We were only waiting for the crisis to calm down.”

“Very good. Anything you need, requisition it from the administration office. The cost will come out of your account.”

Then Jeffrey went to the Canada safe house. When he opened the door, it seems there was a presence there, so Torres and Sneaky drew their weapons and entered the apartment. Torres entered one of the bedrooms, looked in the closet, under the bed, but as he was about to turn to exit, he felt the barrel of a pistol against his head.

“Do not make a sound,” said a soft, but menacing voice with an African accent. “I don't want to kill you, but that is entirely up to you.”

A gun barrel appeared against Omotunde's head, held by Sneaky. “But if he doesn't make a sound, how is he to call for help? Hello, Omotunde. Please give Torres the pistol.”

“Torres? From Elizabeth?” Almost dumbfounded, he pulled the pistol away from Torres head and handed it to him. “I almost lost hope. You have no idea what was going on here.”

Jeffrey walked into the bedroom to see what the commotion was all about. “Lieutenant Omotunde! What a surprise! We have been looking for you.”

“Sir, there are aliens on the station. Invisible aliens.” Omotunde, in his agitated state began shaking. “They have killed the Marines – I don't know where they took them. It's like they hypnotized everyone – nobody could see them, even when they weren't invisible.”He paused to catch his breath, “Sir, I know this sounds crazy, but it's true.”

“Lieutenant, I know it is true. We defeated them. Kicked them off the station. Shot a few – the whole solar system seems infected with aliens, but we are slowly fixing it so they don't pose a threat any more.”

“They came, the security officers came, they took all of my Marines. They couldn't find me, but they took all my Marines. They disappeared.” He sat on the bed, his head in his hands, elbows on his knees.

“I don't know where they took them.”

Jeffrey knelt down beside the lieutenant. “Look, Omotunde, they killed the Marines. But we found the bodies. They did everything you said – they hypnotized everyone on the station, except for yourself, probably. We figured out how to not be hypnotized too. But we are going to have to get the station back running again.”

“The Administrator was collaborating with them.”

“I know. He was arrested. But when he saw what the aliens were actually doing, he begged to be given another chance. Commodore Yusef agreed to let him do some minor tasks, including some intelligence work. Yusef also wants you to continue here, if you are up to it, as our MilIntel chief.”

“Yes, sir, I can do that.”

“But not until you have seen some of our shrinks. I want to make sure the aliens haven't put some secret time bomb in your mind.”

“Makes sense. I'll cooperate.”

“Okay,we're going to walk down to the Level Three docks. A couple of the warehouses there were taken over as Marine barracks and forts. I'm going to have some Marines take you to Elizabeth, where you can get started.”

The four then made their way down to the Marine Fort on Third Level. Jeffrey was gratified to see guards posted at very visible spots and backup guards in not-quite so visible spots. He greeted the Lt. Col., and introduced Omotunde. He then asked for an escort for Omotunde to go back to Elizabeth. And to send his personal sniper rifle back with them - the one he had taken from the Navy sniper he had assigned it to. Elizabeth sent a shuttle to pick up the team and offload meals for the Marines and Navy and administration. That brought another cheer from the Marines.

Jeffrey then went back up to the administration offices to continue figuring out what needed to be done. He brought meals for his guards and staff. He asked Jonson to contact Jonathon Jackson, the commodities broker, have him come to the office if he is still around.

Shortly afterward, Jackson arrived looking nervous. When he saw Jeffrey in the Administrator's office, he nearly fainted with relief. “What are you doing here?”

“I was made governor – temporarily – after we defeated the aliens.” Jeffrey looked around the administration offices. “Like my new digs?”

“It's a far cry from your office in the ship!” Jonathon sat down. “I'm glad its you who called me. Too many people have been disappearing – especially since being called to this office. And something strange is going on. I can't put my finger on it but it feels like you're being watched all the time.”

Jeffrey explained about the aliens, and their conditioning to block any notice of them, plus they had invisibility circuits that made them difficult to see. These aliens were the power behind the success of piracy and the disappearances. Things were now under control, so the station could get back to business.Which was why Jeffrey wanted to speak with Jonathon.

“Mr. Jackson, you and I have been doing business for a long time, my parents before me. I have learned to trust you. So now I am going to ask for your help. We need to get this station in business again. And its primary business is mining and processing of ores for shipment back to Earth. The ships in a cloud around this station are sitting idle. I need those rock jockeys out digging ore. Can you talk to them?”

“Of course, Mr. Sokolov.”

“Call me Jeffrey. We've known each other for a long time.”

“Jeffrey. But the miners are afraid of the aliens and the pirates. This sector has become unsafe.”

“Ah. Well you should tell them that I arranged to have a fighter squadron to be stationed here, and another one at each Lagrange 3 station. Let's get some business going,” Jeffrey concluded. Then added, “Those aliens I spoke about? They are going to be our guests. The whole solar system is full of them so we figured the best way to handle them is to start giving them food. They lined up like puppies!” That last, Jeffrey figured would help Jackson accept the fact that their recent oppressive enemies were now their guests. It worked.

“I'll pass that along, sir. We'll get this operation going again!”

“I will be apartment hunting, see you in a while,” said Jeffrey to the quartermaster turned office clerk Jonson.

“Why don't you take over the Administrator's suite? I think it should be part of the perks of the office, don't you?”

“Well, I would, but I don't intend to be in this office for too long. I think I should have a separate suite. I'll go arrange something in the Silver level.”

“Actually, Captain, you can do that right here.” Jonson pulled up a map that showed the vacant suites, so Jeffrey selected a large suite near the safe houses. Jeffrey presented his personal credit chit. Jonson was reluctant to take it, thinking that the Navy should pay.

“Let them reimburse me.”

“Very good, sir.”

He went walkabout with Torres and Audrey to the furnishings store, bought some basic furnishing groups, and had them scheduled for delivery. When the delivery people came, they were quick to set up his living room, bedrooms and office. The kitchen delivery came next, with all the appurtenances thereto. After the delivery and setup people had gone, (with a handsome tip,) Torres took out his anti-spy device scanner and looked over the whole suite, found nothing, but still looked suspicious.

Torres volunteered to build in several features, like the small armory he had installed in the safe houses. And an emergency escape hatch. He then reached into his coverall pocket and brought out two of Elizabeth's remotes. They climbed the walls and settled into comfortable watchfulness.

Jeffrey then ordered delivery of fresh food from the grocery. They apologized, saying that there had not been any food delivery for some time. Jeffrey called up to the administration offices and asked Jonson if he knew anything about halting delivery of groceries to stock the grocery stores. Jonson told him he would look into it. “Make it priority – there are ten thousand humans on this station, they need to eat.”

“Aye, sir.”

A few minutes later, Jonson called back with the news that there had been no delivery of food for at least two weeks. He relayed a request to Admiral Kutuzov to expedite large scale deliveries, but it would still be another week before the ships came from Earth.

Jeffrey then went to Elizabeth and spoke with Commodore Yusef, requesting emergency immediate delivery of food to feed ten thousand people for a week. Yusef asked about the food they had set aside for the Aliens, but Jeffrey said he wanted to preserve that for the aliens. Jeffrey suggested that they outfit a large ship with a golden drive and a Navy crew to deliver it. And to provide an emergency kitchen and crews to prepare and serve the population.

Yusef agreed, and twelve hours later a huge cargo ship came blazing into the area just off Elizabeth's bow. The ship, Magister, began emptying its cargo immediately, but Jeffrey suggested that they only offload enough to prepare one day's meals. Magister's captain agreed, and reduced immediate deployment of the rest of the cargo until needed.

Jeffrey then went back to the station, up to his office in the Administration wing, and discovered that there was, indeed a public address system. He had never heard it used before, so was surprised it even existed. He announced that food would be served around the clock to whomever wanted it, for free. He mentioned the location of the food distribution areas. He also said that the alien menace had been taken care of and that we are on a new order – humans are not alone, and while aliens had tried to take over, Humans still ruled the solar system.

He set the message to repeat every hour for the next six hours.

After a few hours, the entire population of the station was eating, was in line to eat, or had just eaten. Marines had provided security, and their armed presence seemed to have a positive psychological benefit.

As things seemed to be running well on their own, Jeffrey decided to take Elizabeth to the other Lagrange 3 stations. He got a contingent of Marines from dePaul, as well as the other Marines he had started with and his crew as well as a psychiatrist. He had Magister load a couple day's worth of Human food into Elizabeth, and the shuttles took a few palettes of alien food as well. After giving final instructions to dePaul and Jonson, he boarded Elizabeth

They left Lagrange 3A, moving against the direction of rotation. After an hour of normal travel, They jumped to supra-light speeds – three times the light speed for a few hours, until they neared the Lagrange 3F station, then slowed to a normal hundred kilometers per second, and decelerating to meet, come around and match the speed of rotational velocity of the Lagrange 3F station. As Elizabeth neared the station, they broadcast the usual foghorn tone followed by an announcement that a warship was in the area.

Jeffrey came aboard accompanied by two shuttles worth of Marines. As they marched through the station, they discreetly released numerous Elizabeth's remotes. Jeffrey left Marines, in their hard-shell armor, at strategic locations along the way to the administration offices. He entered the office, greeted the sub-administrator, Kaylee McPherson. He explained that he had been appointed as governor of the entire Lagrange 3 orbit and environs. He then queried about how things were going on at the station. The psychiatrist paid close attention to McPherson as she described the goings on. One of the big issues was the loss of communications from her boss, the Administrator on Lagrange 3A. Also there had been no foodstuffs distribution from Earth in a few weeks, the stores were getting very low, and she was concerned that people were going to start getting hungry.

Jeffrey told her that they had brought emergency foods, and the Marines would set up a feeding operation. He had Sneaky get that operation going. He then explained that the Administrator had been arrested, but was being given a lower level task. McPherson now reports directly to Jeffrey. He told her how aliens had infiltrated the solar system, and specifically Lagrange 3A. He was looking for evidence of their presence on all the Lagrange stations. He briefed her on the aliens they had encountered, especially the Kang, who had taken over Lagrange 3A, and their invisibility issues. Jeffrey explained that any alien with its invisibility circuit active was subject to be summarily shot. But this responsibility was only for the Marines. He would leave a contingent of Marines on the station, and that the Navy was dispatching a fighter wing to combat any alien ships.

While Jeffrey was briefing the sub-administrator, Elizabeth arranged for a series of safe houses like the ones on Lagrange 3A. Jeffrey also arranged for barracks for the Marines and Navy. He also bought an apartment for himself. Torres went shopping for surplus computer equipment to house another Elizabeth clone. Sneaky bought furnishings for the governor's apartment, then they also bought enough furnishings for the safe houses.

Jeffrey, the psychiatrist, Torres and Sneaky gathered in his new apartment. Jeffrey asked the psychiatrist his opinion of the state of the people of this station. “Sir,” he said, “The people here are concerned, but not in shock, not in a post-traumatic state. I don't think they had been invaded by the aliens here.”

Torres said, “I concur.” Sneaky nodded. “I see hapiness where there wasn't any on Lagrange 3A.”

“Good. Tomorrow morning, we'll take off for the next station down the line.”

Jeffrey contacted the ship and told them of his plan. He told Janet that he intended to leave half the Marines at this station, bring the rest with him. He asked that she send a report to Admiral Kutuzov using the book, and a general report to Commodore Yusef and Lt. Col. dePaul using general encryption. He asked that she have Yusef dispatch emergency food to all of the Lagrange 3 stations, that he was going to Lagrange 3E in the morning.