Dark Star Rising Second Edition (Pebbles in The Sky) (26 page)

“So, I propose a toast to the Bride and Groom.  Peter, you could not be getting a more beautiful wife, and Susan, not many girls get to marry a man as bright and dedicated as Peter, nor one that has a Brown Dwarf named after him either I must say. So, to the both of you, I wish both prosperity and happiness.  May your love for each other shine bright when the darkness comes and it will see you through to the new world that will come to pass after that. To your health, happiness, and your love for each other, I raise my glass.”  The rest of the guests raised their glasses as one as Peter bent over and kissed Susan.

“I have one more thing to say, quiet please everyone,” said Mike.  “Since I have to catch a plane back to JPL in Houston in just a little while, I want to give Peter his wedding present, a very special one from me.  He motioned Peter and Susan to stand.  “As I said a moment ago, Peter has become my right hand at JPL, so he might as well get paid for it and get some recognition for what he does.” He pulled a government identification card from his coat pocket and gave it to Susan with a wink.

She looked at it and grinned.  She held it up and yelled out, “Peter Rockwell, Director, JPL Encounter Studies Division.  Does he get a pay raise too?” She asked as everyone applauded.

Peter was grinning from ear to ear.  “I just want my own parking place, that’s all,” he said as he grabbed Mike in a big hug.

“You deserve it Peter, you do most of the work there anyway you know.  And now, you have to write everyone’s evaluations in the department and I don’t have too anymore! You know I always hated doing that.  I wish you both all the happiness in the world.  Susan, I left a little something for you over at your uncles.  Now lovebirds, I must be off and catch a plane.  Work calls.”

As Mike left, the band started up and the dancing began.  It was turning out to be quite the party Susan thought.  Everyone from JPL that was present had cornered Peter and was congratulating him.  Susan was just standing and watching him when someone came up beside her.

She turned and saw her Uncle Eric.  He gave her a big hug.  “Come dance with me, my dear.  An old man like me does not get to dance with lovely young women like you that often.”

As they danced Susan looked up and was amazed to see tears in her uncle’s eyes. “What’s wrong Uncle Eric?”

He wiped his eyes and said, “You look so much like your mother, she would be very happy for you and I am sure she is smiling down at you even now.  She is probably laughing at my dancing too.  She used to always make fun of my dancing when we were as young as you and Peter are.  Before you and Peter leave for your honeymoon, I would like very much if you would come by my house after the reception.  I have something very special for you.”

At that moment the song changed, and Peter stepped up and asked, “Mind if I dance with my bride?”

Eric laughed and patted Peter on the back.  “Maybe your feet are a little more coordinated than my two left feet.  You two have fun.”  Eric strode away as Peter took Susan into his arms for a slow dance.

Later that evening, as Peter and Susan were on their way to the beach where they were going to spend the weekend together, they stopped by her Uncle Eric’s house.  They knocked on the door and he welcomed them both with a big hug.  “Come in, come in, you two and humor me.  Since all I do is sit around thinking of the past, drinking wine, and eating and playing golf, I have too much time to waste on my hands.  I figure I better enjoy the golf courses while I can since they may break off into the Pacific when the earthquakes hit in eighteen years or so.”

“I asked you to stop by because I have something that I have wanted to give to Susan for a long time.  I wanted to wait until the time was right, and I figured tonight would probably be as appropriate a time as any. Here, have a seat on the sofa and let me get it.”  He left them in the den and went back to his bedroom and returned shortly with an old photo album.

He sat down and gave it Susan who looked at him with questions in her eyes.  “Go ahead and open it,” he said.  Susan opened the photo album and was greeted by a picture of a beautiful young woman.  Tears filled her eyes as Eric spoke.  “Yes, you look almost exactly like she did.”

“It’s my mother, she whispered.”  She turned the pages and there were pictures of her mother at the beach, roller blading, playing a guitar, and in various other poses and locations.  She turned another page and there was a picture of her mother in the arms of a tall, tan young man.  She was giving him a passionate kiss as they stood on the beach.  She pulled the picture out of the album and looked at it closely.  “Is that my father?” she asked as her lips trembled.  Eric nodded.  She turned the picture over and on the back was a woman’s handwriting. “Eric and Eileen, Long Beach Pavilion, July 1995,” it read.  Susan read it again, then turned the picture back over and looked at it closely, then the inscription again.  Suddenly, she turned pale and looked up at Eric.  “That’s, that’s you kissing my mother.”

Eric nodded solemnly, watching her face carefully.

“But you’re her brother, why were you kissing her like that?” Susan whispered.

Eric shook his head slowly and took her hands.  “Susan, I am not your uncle.”

Susan dropped the book, stood up and backed away.  “I don’t understand, I’m confused. You’re my uncle!”

  Again, Eric shook his head.  “Susan, I did not even know you existed until your mother sent me a letter right before she died.” He handed her a tattered envelope.  It contained several pictures of Susan, as a baby, several as a child, and several of her as a pre-teen.  She opened the letter and read.  Tears filled her eyes and she sat down in the floor.  She was sobbing uncontrollably and Peter rushed over to hold her.  He took the letter and read it and then looked up at Eric.

Susan looked up and said, “You’re my father?”

Eric’s eyes were wet as he nodded his head yes.

“After I found out that my step dad was not my real father, I always wondered who my real dad was.  I thought I would never know, and my Aunt said she did not know anything about him,” Susan said.

“She did not know until your mother gave her that letter to send to me, Susan.  Your Aunt called me and asked me not to contact you until you came of age.  She made up the story that I was your uncle. I started sending her money to help support you.  Then, when you were ready for college, I arranged for you to be admitted here and she encouraged it.  I am sorry, but I just did not know how to tell you before now.  I did not know your mother was pregnant when she left.  I begged her to stay, but she said she was not going to stand between me and my work.  She knew that my love of astronomy would always come before her.  Letting her walk away was the biggest mistake of my life.  Since she left, I have never loved another woman.”

Susan stood and walked over to Eric as tears rolled down both their faces.  He stood and wrapped his arms around her as his own tears fell onto her head.  “Today has got to be the happiest day of my life,” she cried.  Not only do I have a husband to love me, but now I have a father to love also.” Peter stood and walked over and hugged his new wife from behind.  Susan sobbed in contentment.  She felt her life was complete now that she had Peter’s love and had at last found her father.

Chapter 29

November 22
nd
, 2024

Washington, DC

General Preston hurried through the White House and met President Bailey as he was coming down from the second floor.  “I am sorry to bother you Mr. President, but this is pretty hot.  I called Marcus Feldman and he is on his way as well as General Dieter.  If you like, I can go ahead and give you a quick brief.”

President Bailey motioned toward the situation room.  “Not here, even though this area is supposed to be swept daily for bugs there are still too many ears about.” The President entered and General Preston shut the door behind them.  “Ok, what the hell is going on General?” the President asked.

“Half the world is pissed as hell at us right now and we are catching flak big time from everyone.  We have riots outside just about every embassy we have,” said General Preston.

“So, what have we supposedly done now?” asked the President.

“Remember when we were looking at worldwide birthrate data a couple of months ago and marveling at how we thought people were wising up and putting off having kids or not having them at all?” asked the General.

“I remember,” the President said. “That was supposed to be good news.  So what is the problem?”

“Well it seems that the news was too good to be true,” said General Preston.  “Birth rates have dropped precariously in the past year and a half, especially in the former third world countries in Africa, South America, India, Indonesia, and so on.  It now seems that it was not by choice.  About ninety percent of the young women of child bearing age in those countries seem to have become magically sterile.”

“So, why is the United States being blamed for that?” asked the President.

“Do you remember back around 2018 when it was announced that a whole slew of new vaccines to combat disease had been developed and what a miracle they were considered to be?”

“I know of the vaccines but do not really recall the date, but go on,” replied the President.

“Well, they were developed by a couple of bio-geneticists that were being funded by a philanthropic group headed by the billionaire,
Benjamin Greco.  His big charity group took it upon themselves to produce the vaccinations and provide them free of charge to all the third world countries.  They even set up clinics to give the vaccines with their own staff.  Probably seventy five to eighty percent of the population in Africa, South America, India, the Southeast Asian Countries and Indonesia received the free vaccines.”

  “Ok, so how does that relate to all the uproar today?” demanded the president. 

General Preston paused a moment to listen to his phone ear bud, then continued. “Well, this same pharmaceutical company also helped produce the birth control vaccine for women that has been so popular in this and the other technologically advanced countries.  It seems that a bunch of independent labs that have been looking into the rapid reduction in birth rate have discovered that almost every woman that received those free vaccines tests positive for the antibodies that the birth control vaccine causes when it is administered.”

The President looked at General Preston, still not comprehending what the General was saying.

“In a nut shell, it seems that Benjamin Greco and his buddies were not just being nice and charitable.  Those bastards must have slipped the birth control vaccine in with the other vaccines.  About ninety percent of the women in those third world countries are now showing up sterile and are quite unhappy about it.  Since the vaccines were made in this country, everyone thinks this was obviously some sort of pre-planned genocide thing cooked up by our government.”  General Preston listened to his ear bud again and then went over to turn the television monitor on to CNN. 

The picture came up to a male reporter standing on a building above a raging crowd of thousands of people.  “This is John Davis reporting from New Delhi, India.  The scene you see below me is just outside the United States Embassy here in New Delhi.  This scene is being repeated at most of the United States embassies and consulates all over the world from what we understand.  In what is sure to be the first real test of his presidency, President Baily is going to have to explain to probably over a billion women in the world why they cannot have children.”

“Government leaders all over the world are calling for calm as they seek to begin an investigation into what exactly is causing these women’s sterility.  Independent labs are reporting that all these young women are exhibiting antibodies to sperm cells.  This is exactly what is seen when women take the birth control vaccine that was developed and distributed by pharmaceutical companies in the United States.

Many women in the United States and other countries have safely used the vaccine and it is very effective. However, it seems now though, that many women in the third world countries were given the vaccine without their prior knowledge or consent.  From what we can determine, they may have received it from the world immunization program that was sponsored by a philanthropic group headed by the American billionaire, Benjamin Greco.  Governments in the areas that received the vaccine are meeting and calling for an immediate explanation from the United States Government.  There are reports coming in that many embassies are being overrun by protestors and reports of deaths among embassy personnel. American citizens everywhere in former third world countries are reportedly being attacked by mobs. We believe…” The President switched the TV off.

“What a fucking mess,” growled the President.  He hit the intercom on the table before him.  “Get me the Secretary of State on line right now. Tell him I want extra security arranged for all the embassies and consulates. The ones that are in danger of being overrun, I want evacuated now. After that, he needs to get over here to the White House.”

“I want someone to find that pompous asshole Benjamin Greco and haul his ass here to the White House.  Find those two scientists that invented this vaccine and get them here also, ASAP.”