TKG08 WE WILL BUILD Rel 01 (32 page)

“You do know about the weather changes and winds, not to mention the rain, the government...”
 
Jeffrey got started.

“What I know,” Bethany Anne replied, “is that Paraguay is not part of the Outer Space Treaty, that Boquerón where Filadelfia is located has about 2 people per square kilometer and that we have purchased over 1,000 acres in a remote area.
 
We have at least a football field worth of space we can land our shipping containers on.
 
I’m thinking that moving them from here to there and then practicing with tree cover is a good idea, and then sending them up to outer space from there and back down for testing is a hell of a better idea than doing it from here.”

She continued, “Security will be an issue, so contact Dan to get that setup and tell Team BMW to move people as appropriate.
 
I know William is going to have to keep his machines here.
 
For that matter, so will Marcus.”
 
She let that hang.

“You’re shipping Bobcat down there with me?”
 
Bethany Anne didn’t respond.

“Ok,” He clarified, “You are telling me to do whatever is needed.
 
I get it.”
 
Jeffrey nodded, “There has to be a downside for getting ready to play in outer space.”

“Right!”
 
She smiled to him, “It’s called roughing it.
 
Just consider it good practice for roughing it in outer space.
 
It isn’t like you’re going to be able to drive out and see a movie on the Moon, either.”

“We will have Pods for that!”
 
Bethany Anne raised an eyebrow to Jeffrey, “Right, like we won’t have Pods in Paraguay.”

“Just think about what you want to build and have down there; build it here and send it down at night.
 
How cozy do you want it?”

“Pretty damned cozy.”
 
He replied.

Bethany Anne stood up, “Good, because there is NOTHING in Paraguay.
 
No electricity, no water that you would want to immediately drink, no gas, no entertainment, no plumbing.
 
It’s almost like I’m asking you to build a livable moon base right here on earth.”
 
She winked to him and then turned to walk out.
 
Ashur got up and traveled alongside her.
 
She didn’t have either Eric or John with her at the moment as they had left for Australia an hour ago.

She did get to have a talk with Dan however, so maybe momma bear would get to have a little fun after all.

So long as her team didn’t know it.

Cheryl Lynn and Giannini grabbed their stuff and quickly followed the two.

QBS Ad Aeternitatem - Mediterranean

Bethany Anne translocated with Ashur to the Ad Aeternitatem.
 
She exited from her arrival room and was surprised to see Ricky Escobar outside of her door, “Tell me you aren’t standing here in the off chance that I show up?”
 
she asked.

Ricky repeated back to Bethany Anne in a monotone voice, “I am not standing here in the off chance that you show up.”
 
He finished with a large grin at Bethany Anne who slapped his arm.

“Ok, funny.
 
Now tell me the truth?”
 
She started walking towards the stern of the yacht.
 
It was night here and she wanted to go back up to check out outer space.
 
Ashur chuffed to her so she told him, “Go on, go get spoiled in the damned cafeteria.”
 
Ashur didn’t wait, but took off with Bethany Anne calling after him, “You're lucky you don’t gain weight!”
 
She got a one bark response before he tore around a corner.

“That dog is scary smart,” Ricky commented.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure if I could figure out a way to talk with him, I’d have a smart but bratty teenager on my hands.”
 
She thought about it for a moment, “Then again, not dealing with a bratty teenager is a nice thought at the moment.”

They arrived at the stern of the boat where TOM’s ship used to be held.
 
Now, there were Pod’s all setup to go up.
 
She waved to Todd Jenkins who was at the other end of the area making sure nothing seemed amiss.
 
He walked over to them, “Going up?”
 
He asked.

“Yes, I want to check something out.
 
While I could see it on the monitors, it helps me to have this big-ass blue ball under me.
 
It centers me.”
 
She shrugged.

“Ok.
 
You prepped on opening the roof Ricky?”
 
Todd asked.

“I’ve been checked out.
 
Pete wants us knowing everything we can about the running of the ship while we are on it.”
 
Ricky explained to Bethany Anne when she looked at him questioningly. “He and Todd are putting into place plans that have Guardians cross-training.”
 
He winked while Todd acted like he would backhand the Wechselbalg.

“Hey, want to go up with me?” Bethany Anne asked Todd.

“Really?”
 
Todd asked.

“Sure tweedle-dick, like I offer and don’t mean it?”
 
She smiled and went to one of the Pods.

“Well, it isn’t like we get asked to go in these often.”
 
Todd came over.

Bethany Paused and considered his statement, “That’s a problem. Let’s get in and I’ll have a note sent to Dan.”

ADAM

>>Yes?<<

Please compose a message to Lance, Dan and both captains about getting all personnel a chance to ride the Pods into space.
 
They all need to understand what we are doing this for.

ADAM told her what he had written for her to those mentioned.

Sounds good, please send it.

She pulled all of the belts into place and locked in.
 
Todd closed the doors and Ricky opened up the door above them.

“Have you eaten recently?”
 
Bethany Anne asked Todd as she set her foot against a ledge on the door.
 
Since she tended to just ‘grab’ pods, William had made an effort to go around to all of the Pods and install the special Bethany Anne foot rest.

“No, why?”
 
Todd asked.

Bethany Anne leaned forward just a touch to confirm the door above them was open.

TOM.

Yes, oh Mistress of the Dark.

Gott Verdammt!
 
What the hell have you been watching recently?
 
Wait, never mind.
 
I don’t have time for that shit right now.
 
Get ready to take us out of here and set the speed dial to ‘11’.

Your wish is my command.

Bethany Anne leaned forward and rested her elbow against her leg and set her chin on her hand.
 

Todd leaned forward a little, mimicking Bethany Anne not sure what to expect.
 
As he leaned forward she smiled to herself.

Punch it!

Todd thought he had just left every atom of his body back on the ship as they screamed up through the hole above them into the night.
 
He reached to his left and to the door in front of him to push against as the extra gravity hit him in surprise.
 
He looked over to Bethany Anne who was acting like this wasn’t a big deal.
 

For her?
 
It probably wasn’t.

For Todd, he was doing everything he could not to scream in surprise.
 
Even so, he grunted at the acceleration and the view out of the glass instantly showed him lights that he knew were a hundred miles away.

Then, they hit high cloud cover and quickly starlight illuminated the sky above them and he slowly released his grip on the Pod itself.
 
“Oh, my God.” He exclaimed.

“Pretty much what I think every time.” Bethany Anne commented.
 
Todd looked over to the woman next to him.
 
“I know, you forgot I was here for a second.
 
Happens most every time.”

“Most?” Todd asked.

“Well, Kevin had a hold of me near my crotch, so I was a bit pointed in telling him he needed to move it, pay me … or lose it.”

Todd laughed, “That story has gone around a little, I was cognizant enough to make sure I didn’t grab the boss's leg!”
 

“Yeah, good.
 
That should be a rule somewhere.”
 
Bethany Anne replied.
 
“ADAM?”

ADAM’s voice came over the speaker, “Yes, Bethany Anne?”

“Please show me all spy satellites within view as we turn and bring up a 3D world globe and show the satellites online.”

“They have that information available on the net?” Todd asked.

“Oh, hell if I know.”
 
She replied, “It might have been satellites spotted by TOM and his craft or special computer ‘searches’ by our team.”
 
In front of her, two 1 inch circles showed up on the glass in front of them and the globe in the lower quarter.
 
“Take us to this one,” She touched one of the circles.
 
The Pod took off again, making the trip to the satellite in ten seconds, soon it was a hundred feet away from the satellite.

“Can we go closer?” Todd asked.

“Not without dealing with the satellite warning system.”
 
She replied, “They have the ability to sense someone coming near.
 
If we stay this far out, our Pods are definitely not seen by their sensors.
 
This way, it doesn’t require ADAM to change the information that it sends.”

“It isn’t that hard to do.”
 
ADAM commented over the speaker.

“I understand, but there isn’t a real reason to get closer at this time.”
 
She replied, “Now, give me an update on the satellite plans.”

“Everything revolves around the communications from the satellites to ground units and each other.” ADAM responded. “The plan is to infiltrate the programming on the satellites and then take over.
 
Most requests will be passed through.
 
Should the country who owns the satellite send a request that would be detrimental to our mission, it will ignore the request and send an artificial response.”

Bethany Anne murmured, “I was wondering how you were going to lie to them.”
 
She looked around, “Ok, kill the displays.”

The screens blanked out.

“Want to see anything?”
 
She asked Todd.

“Like what?”
 
He asked, stupefied.

“Anything.
 
Like, do you want to go to the North Pole, South Pole, over the USA…”
 
She let it hang.

“I’ve always wanted to go to the moon.”
 
He replied.

“Seriously?”
 
Bethany Anne was surprised.
 
She hadn’t thought that Todd was one to go sightseeing.

“Yeah, I’ve got the bug to see new places.
 
One of the reasons I joined the military.
 
It was a way to get out of the small town I came from.” Todd admitted. “Not much to do out my way honestly.” He turned to face her, “Did you know that John Glenn was the only Marine in the Mercury program, and that he flew on Discovery in ’88?”

“Well, I think I have the time to swing by the moon.
 
Hell, we can make you the marine to fly the farthest away from earth, at least for a little while.”

They were pressed back in their seats as the Pod took off towards the moon in record time, swung around the back and shot across the regolith.
 
Then, it gracefully arced up to shoot away from the moon for another twenty thousand miles and slowed down, turned to bring the moon and earth into view.

“There you go, Mr. Marine man.” Bethany Anne said, “You are officially the farthest Marine from the earth.”

“Well, that is recorded anyway,” Todd supplied, smiling.