Star Traders
Chapter 22

Headed by the combination of Eric the Elder and Eric the Younger, the Earth Federation of Traders had decided not to tip their hand to Earth until they were sure of their ground; that meant waiting for Captain Rice to return with the information concerning armaments and the strategy she had used against the Expedition forces in the battle of Epsilon 4. They had previously decided that there was no imminent necessity for speed in gathering the information about the invasion force on E-1. The invader apparently was in no rush to conquer Earth; if indeed they even had the power to do so.

After settling the Expedition people in the Midwest of the American Continent on E-6, the Earth Federation gathered its meager forces to face that reptilian invader of Earth. Their forces were small indeed. They only had 5 ships capable of Hyperlink drive and only 5 captains capable of remaining functional when the ships went into Hyperlink.

That changed when Jayne came back from Epsilon 4 with the drugs that would render spacesickness to the back burner. Everyone could now be an effective. Space sickness in Hyperlink was no longer a problem.

Since the Earth Federation had only five captains who could operate the trader ships, there had been no hurry to manufacture hyperlink drives. Each ship had one extra, but that was all there was. And three of those ships were on trading missions and were useless to the forces of the Federation charged with the defense of E-1.

They waited one month on E-6 while 20 more Hyperlink drives were finished. The bad news was that Earth Federation now had a fleet of only 22 vessels. The good news was that the extra month on E-6 allowed the Earth Federation to arm each of the vessels to the teeth with the new hybrid missiles. Even those twenty would make a formidable force. They needed that month for another reason also. Crews had to be trained to operate those twenty ships. One month was hardly enough but it was all they had.

The Earth Princess was bristling with missile launchers as it flashed around the backside of the moon a week after they had transferred to the E-1 universe. For several seconds they recorded what was laid out before them and then dropped into Hyperlink before the invaders could lock onto them with lasers.

The recordings were very good. They showed a mass of ships grounded and apparently ready to blast off. There was only one place for them to be headed. Earth.

“How many do you estimate Jake,” asked Jayne, knowing he would have a better grasp on the numbers than anyone else in the party.

“I’d guess over 10,000 ships are there, Captain,” Jake answered.

“About right for the information we had already,” Jayne said thoughtfully. “But this time we have pictures. I think it’s time to go to phase 2 of the plan.”

“You’re right, Jayne,” Eric said. “My people in Personal Securities can break into any communications system in the United States government. I think the red phone in the presidents’ office is a good choice! It’s supposed to be an extremely secure line! And it’s now equipped with visual!

“According to my information, the President or one of his staff will answer the phone. The President is in residence, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he were to answer in person. This is, after all, the most important phone in the United States. When it rings, someone will answer it!”

President Ahern was surprised to hear the loud buzz of the red phone from the second drawer on the left in his desk. To his knowledge, that phone hadn’t rung, except for testing the system, in years. He looked at his Secretary of State, who was equally surprised. The President took the phone out of the drawer on the third ring with a look of disbelief.

The visual showed what looked like the bridge of the starship Enterprise from the old series Star Trek. A blonde woman dressed in a tight black uniform with red piping and the four pips of command on her collar was sitting at what looked like a command console.

“What the hell kind of joke is this!” The President roared angrily.

“This is no joke, Mr. President,” Jayne answered gravely. “Watch this screen carefully. This was recorded only hours ago on the backside of your moon.”

What followed were still shots of the fleet of vessels waiting on the moon. Waiting to invade Earth.

“Who the hell are you and how did you get these pictures? Is this a trick of some kind?” The color had drained the Presidents face.

“This is no trick, sir,” Jayne said gravely. “These ships exist and, from all indications, are poised to land on Earth at a moments notice. That moment will occur as soon as the invading force has secured sufficient space for them to land in both the Congo and Amazon sites.”

“Who are you and how did you get this information?” President Ahern asked quietly.

“We are here to help, Mr. President. We have the means to destroy these invaders. It will take some doing, and we must reach agreements with the Earth Governments before we attempt to do this. If you are in agreement to meet, we can be on the south lawn in less than an hour. Please don’t have an army unit waiting for us. We would hate to have to defend ourselves. And, don’t worry; we won’t break one of your azaleas.”

It didn’t take long for President Ahern to agree. Jayne had to hand it to him. He had reacted favorably to a strange situation.

The Earth Princess flashed over the city, coming to a halt directly over the Whitehouse. Jayne brought the ship down and stopped it inches from the famous azaleas. The ramp was lowered to within inches of the ground and Jayne, flanked by both Lars and Jake marched down the ramp. They were followed by two rows of ten Larn, dressed in their best dress reds. The Larn spread out smartly on either side. All were armed. As were Lars and Jake. They look like they’re going to take on the OK Coral here, Jayne thought with a smile.

“You can’t be armed here!” An armed Marine colonel stepped in front of Jayne.

“And what is that on your hip and in the arms of your men?” Jayne asked demurely, gesturing at the rifles and pistols in evidence. “Gee! It looks like a gun to me, but if you say you can’t be armed here, I guess maybe it’s a fake gun, right colonel?”

The man became flustered. “I can be armed! You cannot be armed!” The man fairly screamed.

“And that is because…?” Jayne looked at him expectantly.

“This is the Whitehouse. The President is here!”

“And I am here,” Jayne informed him. “If I cannot go in with my armed guard, then he will have to come to me. Tell him he can bring armed guards if he chooses. Tell him I will be here for 30 minutes. Then I will leave. Colonel, if I were you I would hurry. Your career is at stake even as we speak!”

Jayne marched back aboard the Earth Princess, going to the bridge where she, Jake and Lars sat back and had coffee.

“Think he’ll come to you, Captain?” Lars asked, taking a sip of coffee.

Jayne looked at her watch. “About 10 minutes from now,” she said. “He has no choice and he knows it. Keep your eye on screen three there. He should be coming out about now.”

An entourage appeared and headed for the Earth Princess. President Ahern was surrounded by what looked like several cabinet members. The Secretary of State was in the group, as was the head of the joint chiefs. The Navy was represented, as was the Air force. Missing was the colonel. Jayne felt sorry for him. He was just doing his job. But in this pissing contest, Jayne couldn’t afford to lose.

The entire group was escorted to the bridge. It was getting crowded in there. Chairs and tables were found for all of them and the Larn served their perennial coffee and doughnuts…with sugar on them. No napkins. Everyone had to lick his or her fingers, including President Ahern. Jayne laughed aloud at the sight. She laughed so hard she cried. The President and his entourage seemed insulted. Jayne waved her hand.

“Don’t be insulted, Mr. President. It just looked so damn funny seeing all of you licking your fingers and looking around dejectedly for a napkin. I know most of you by sight. As do my aids here. I am Captain Jayne Rice. The man on my right is my first mate, Lieutenant Jake Armstrong. The man on my left is Quartermaster Lars Pierson. The man behind me is Commander Eric Tanner, the head of Personal Securities here on Earth. The others in this room do not matter. They are of another race called Larn. We are from a planetary system called Epsilon 4 some 50,000 light years away.” Not really a lie, Jayne thought. “We arrived in your system a week ago and have been studying your problem. We think we can solve it for you if we can come to terms.”

“Why are you here in the first place? What brought you here? And what do you mean by terms?” This came from the Secretary of State.

“Our main purpose is to set up trade relations with your planet. We have observed you during the past 50 of your years and have decided you have the greatest industrial infrastructure we have ever seen. We need that industrial strength. We will pay you well for the right to trade with your planet.”

“You just want trading rights?” President Ahern asked disbelievingly.

“A little more than that, Mr. President,” Jayne said. “We want exclusive trading rights. That means all of your planet must agree. It is not sufficient that your nation alone agree to this. It has to be a joint effort.”

“I think, under the circumstances, the UN will agree to such a contract.” President Ahern said guardedly.

“Don’t bet on it, Ahern,” Jayne commented wryly. “I’ve had a bit of experience with your planets politics in the past. They don’t work very well.”

“You’ve been here before?” President Ahern asked.

“With bells on,” Jayne said. “With bells on. Read a book called Sometime After Midnight. You’ll get the message. You have 24 hours to agree or not agree. Get the U.N. to move on this quickly, before that fleet decides to move. We’d rather catch them on the ground on the moon than chase them all over the damn solar system. Not that we couldn’t do it. It would just be awfully messy! You are dismissed. I will call you on your private line in 24 hours for your answer.”

The entourage got up and hurried out. They watched them hurry across the south lawn and enter the east wing of the Whitehouse.

“Geez, Captain!” Jake said when they’d disappeared. “You were pretty hard on them, weren’t you?”

“I never liked that pompous ass anyway,” Jayne laughed. “He deserved to be taken down a peg or two. Hell, we’re going to take out those invaders no matter what they agree to do or not agree to do. It is in our interest. But it doesn’t hurt a bit to squeeze these power lords some. Besides, it’s a hell of a lot of fun! Did you see those assholes looking around for a napkin? I thought I was going to pee my pants!”

The Earth Princess took off two minutes later. Jayne showed off a bit on takeoff. She went immediately to Mach 6, knowing most of the windows in the Whitehouse would shatter from the displacement. It made her feel good. She knew it was childish, but what the hell!