The adventures of the Star Traveler Andromeda that started in Among the Stars, Beyond the Farthest Planet, So Far From Home and The Voyage Home continues in Earth in Turmoil.
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Chapter 14
The moving transports were loaded and headed to the base. Kacey loaded several boxes of personal items into her shuttle and rover. The babies were strapped into their seats in the back of the rover while the older children were with their grandparents. One final trip into their house to retrieve her violin that she handed to Natalia and they were ready. She set the security code on their house and locked the door. Kacey double checked that the children were secure with their grandparents.
"You monsters be good for your grandparents." She said which earned her a disapproving look from Patricia. She gave her mother a cheeky grin and hurried to where Natalia waited before Patricia could say anything to her.
The convoy left the houses with military escorts for their safety. The journey to the base was quiet and uneventful. Forty minutes later they pulled up to the main gate. Kacey stopped at the gate and returned the guards salute before they opened the gate and shield to enter. She stopped long enough to allow all the vehicles to follow. Once they passed through the gate she led the way to the condos that would be their temporary homes. A second stop at the gate of the high security area before they were able to pass through. They were met by General Millhouse. He handed them badges.
"Good morning. All non-military persons must wear these badges anytime you leave your homes. The children will have special badges that will be placed on their skin so that they cannot be lost or removed."
"You are going to implant the badges in them?" Natalia asked angrily.
"Not at all your majesty." She pulled a box from his pocket and opened it to show her the badges. Inside were six tiny micro chips. "We will place one of these on all the children. Once in place you will not even know they are there, yet the chips will transmit where they are outside your quarters. It is a protection against being kidnapped."
"Did you know about this Kacey?" She demanded.
"No, but it is an improvement over those damned bracelets we had to wear."
"Yes we have made many improvements over the years, General. Queen Natalia, let me reassure you, that once they are in place you will not know they are there or even where they are. But they transmit your children's locations at all times outside your quarters."
"All right General, I will allow it." Natalia stated.
Being a smart man, General Millhouse knew better than to tell her that she had no choice in the matter. His eyes met Kacey's and she nodded.
"Let's get those transports unloaded. Most of the furniture has been set up especially for the children's rooms. General, this condo has three bedrooms." General Millhouse stated. "The troops are here for as long as you need them."
"Thank you General." Natalia said.
"You are very welcome, your majesty."
"Please General, call me Natalia."
"All right, Natalia. Kacey President Cord would like a meeting as soon as you get everything set up. Will two days give you enough time?"
"I believe it will, sir."
"Good. Now what can I do to help?"
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"Did you find out anymore on who attacked the Presidential compound?"
"Yes sir. We have found out that they are an off shoot of one of the factions that joined us. A splinter group of hot heads that thought we were moving too slow."
"Who is their leader?"
"We have unconfirmed reports that he is a descendant of one of the twenty first century Republicans who worked to take as many rights away from women as possible. Do you remember learning about Rafael Carson?"
"Yes. He was my hero when I was a boy. It is too bad he was kicked out of politics and the country before he was able to finish his good work. Women and the degenerates saw to that. How is faction leader related?"
"Fourth generation grandson I believe sir."
" Too bad he didn't learn from his ancestor's mistakes.'
"Very true sir. We have an approximate location on him. I have sent my best man to deal with him."
"Your best man Curt?" Wilhelm nodded. "Then at least we do not have to worry about your son screwing up that mission."
"I am sorry about Peter sir. He has always been a disappointment." Wilhelm admitted. "With the attack, we will have a harder time reaching our targets. Our contact have reported that they have moved into the hyper secure area of the base."
"Do we have people in that area?"
"Not yet sir, but we are working on changing that."
"What of Wilson?"
"We have found no evidence that he is working against us."
"Keep an eye on him. There is something about him that I do not like or trust."
"Yes sir."
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"How is the evacuation coming, General?" Kacey asked as they worked to empty the transport.
"Extremely well. Thanks to the information we received, hundreds if not thousands of lives have been saved."
"What is to stop them from choosing secondary targets?"
"Nothing, but if they do have alternate targets, we have not heard anything."
"You have placed troops in the towns and villages?"
"There are." General Millhouse said as he stopped working. He held up a hand for Kacey to stop. "Hold up a minute."
"Is something wrong General?"
"Yes there is. Kacey, I know I told you that you would lead the troops when the time came, but I have to withdraw that."
"Why, sir?"
"We have a special mission for you."
Kacey hesitated. "What do you need me to do?"
"It will be explained when we meet with the President. I ask for your patience on this."
"Contrary to what Kate has said, I can be patient and show restraint. On occasion," she added with a smile as they carried boxes into the house.
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Kacey climbed into bed and waited for Natalia to put the child down. "That was all he said?" Natalia asked as she turned around.
"That's it. Instead of leading the charge, as he called it, they have a special mission for me. I will find out more when we meet with the President."
"Aren't you the least little bit curious?"
"I am very curious. But one of the many things the service has taught me is they will move at their own pace and divulge information when they are ready to. They will make you wait and wait and then want everything done yesterday."
"Speaking of yesterday, I went to the doctor for my checkup and she gave us the okay."
"Really?" Kacey asked. Natalia nodded. "Why was this time different from the last?"
"It seems one of them decided to kick me on the way out and damaged a very sensitive area. She wanted to make sure everything was completely healed before we made love again." Natalia knelt over Kacey and looked into her eyes. "Want to take the chance that they will stay asleep for at least another hour?"
Kacey reached up and flipped them over. "I am game if you are." She kissed Natalia. Their tongues met and dance for several seconds. Kacey unbuttoned Natalia's pajama top and pushed it out of the way. She trailed kisses down the soft neck to her breasts. She worked from one breast to the other. Her hands kneading the pliant flesh, which caused Natalia to gasp. "Did I hurt you?"
"A little. My breast get very sensitive when it get closer to feeding time. Please don't stop. It has been too long."
"Are you sure?"
'You listen to me General, if you even think about stopping I will have to hurt you." Natalia joked.
"Yes ma'am." Kacey said and continued her loving assault. She spent several minutes trailing kisses from one hardened tip to the other before working her way down Natalia body. She stopped just long enough to remove the pajama bottoms Natalia wore. She hurriedly removed her own sleep clothes before settling down between Natalia legs to feast on the moisture she found.
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The President's quarters were larger and more high tech than the rest of the special units under the protective shields. Cameras recorded every movement outside and around each door and window. Inside visitors had to pass through a security station before access was granted to the Presidential quarters or office.
The door was opened by a security guard to Admit General Millhouse, Admiral Tacher, Kate, Kacey Rhea and Mike.
"President Cord will be here shortly. Please help yourself to coffee." He said and closed the door.
The large dining room of the President's quarters was converted into a conference room. The officers were shown into the room to wait for the President. They helped themselves to coffee and stood waiting. The president walked in and the officers quickly placed their cups on the table and snapped to attention.
"Please take your seats. We have a lot to go over so let's get started. First, I have read your reports, General. Is there anymore information of the remainder of the target areas?"
"Not yet Madam President. Those we know are in the process of switching out the civilians with our people. We are hoping to know more in time to get troops in at least to protect the citizens. We would not have time to evacuate everyone. There are still four that we have not been able to break the code on their locations. We have not given up hope . If they keep to their timetable the attack is schedule for next week so we do have some time to play with."
"When will we be able to retaliate?"
"Not for several weeks. We do not have enough of the new flyers completed yet. The upgraded shuttles help, but to launch an attack now would be costly."
"Do they have any weapons that would take down a flyer?" Kacey asked.
"Nothing from our people suggests that they have anything bigger than hand guns and rifles. Do you have a suggestion?"
"We have other flyers that could fill in the gaps if needed. We are training pilots for this sort of thing. We could utilize them. They would get training in actual combat. The sort that cannot be recreated in simulated battles or test runs."
"That is a very good suggestion. Pick out twenty five of the best pilots and flyers for specialized training." President Cord ordered. "Do we have the locations of all the bunkers?"
"We do now, ma'am."
"Then why wait? Why not go in and destroy them now?" Kacey asked.
"There are women and children in some of the bunkers. We can not risk their lives. That is where you come in General O'Malley."
"What do you need me to do, Madam President?"
"General Millhouse, you are on."
"Thank you ma'am." He stood up and walked to the window. From all our intelligence reports, there are at least two hundred women and close to fifty children being held in the Maine bunker." He turned and pointed to a spot on the map. "You will take a small group, hand picked by you and get the hostages out."
"Define small sir." Kacey stated.
"No more than a dozen people." He responded. "You will need several of them to be women."
"Kacey," the President interrupted, "these women have been subjected to every form of abuse, mentally, physically and sexually. They may not trust men to help them."
"I understand ma'am. When do we go in?"
"Hold on there General. This has to be planned down to the smallest detail. These are the schematics for the bunker. Our person has made a step by step disc that will take you from your access point to where the women and children are being held. We have our best programmers preparing a V.R program that you will practice with your team, Your team will be dropped here." He pointed to the forested area. " You will be seven kilometers from the access point. Your team will make your way under cover of darkness in order to be in position when the attack starts. The access point is the tunnel they use for deliveries. The men in your squad will gather the children and get them out. If you make it to your objective ahead of schedule, there is a security room just inside the access tunnel. You can hold up there until it is time to make your way into the bunker. If you run into any guards, neutralize them however you see fit. When you start into the bunker the transports will move into the tunnel."
"What is to stop the men from attacking Kacey and her team?" Kate demanded.
"They will be too busy to chase them as our flyers will be attacking all other access points."
"We do not have nearly enough flyers to attack all the bunkers General. And what about the women and children held in other areas? Will there be extraction teams going it those?"
"To a lesser degree yes. From all the reports we have received, most of the women and children are held in the larger bunkers. Those are the ones we will be utilizing the flyers and upgraded shuttles. Those are in Maine, Colorado, Alaska, and New Mexico. As soon as we can get two additions flyers ready and ten more upgraded shuttles we will begin. The smaller bunkers will be taken care of by regular shuttles, and whatever flyers we have. Ground assault troops will help."
"This will be a coordinated attack with all areas being taken out simultaneously, to avoid warnings getting out."
Kacey walked to the map and stared at it for several minutes.
"General you said the women have been abused, there should be a doctor or at least a medic to treat any injuries." Kate said.
"We already have a doctor lined up as well as nurses and medics. In addition, Kacey your entire team will get a crash course in first aid."
"How long before the next flyers are ready to be tested?" Kate asked.
"Three week max." Kacey responded. "There are four that will move into the final stage next week. Then a week to bring all the systems on line and synched up with the computers. Then they will be ready for a test flight. We will not be able to do a full test, but we can do a modified test under the shields. There are also twelve shuttles that have been upgraded and ready to test."
"That is excellent news, General."
"Sir can you find a person for me?"
"Certainly. Who do you need found?"
"Sergeant Veronica Hastings Montoya."
"May I ask why you need her?"
"You said the women were sexually abused."
"This sergeant, does she have psychological training?" President Cord asked.
"No, but she is qualified for this mission."
"Care to explain?"
"Those women will have trust issues. They need to relate to some one who has gone through the same. It may be completely insensitive of me, but she is the only woman I know who understands what those women have gone through."
"I will have orders cut to have her temporarily assigned to you."
"No General. Do not order her. This needs to be her choice to help us."
"All right, I will send a message asking her to meet with you."
"Thank you General. I would also like to borrow the whiz kids to help write that program to train on."
"Done. Anything thing else you need?"
"Just one. A way to tell Natalia about this mission without getting into another argument with her. If it is not classified that is."
"Consider it semi classified. Try to keep the details to a minimum. There can be times when too much information does more harm than good."
"Our people are designing special cold weather gear for you and your team. As soon as you pick them, you will all need to be measured for the suits."
"Understand General."
The meeting broke up several minutes later.
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As soon as the boxes were unpacked, Kacey returned to work. She caught up on the reports that fell by the way side while they moved onto the base.
"General, Sergeant Montoya is here." Mike said over the intercom.
"Send her in Mike." Kacey stood as the door opened. The Sergeant snapped to attention and crisply saluted, which Kacey returned.
"Veronica, please come in. Have a seat." Kacey said. "Coffee?"
"Yes ma'am, thank you." She replied as she sat in front of the desk.
Kacey handed her a cup of coffee and sat next to her instead of behind the desk.
"How is Maria and the baby? Elena correct?"
"Correct General. Both are great. Elena is nine months old and crawling all over the place. What about your children?"
Caitlyn and Patrick are three and the newest Shannon and Colleen are three months old. Natalia is fantastic. Busy juggling our family, being queen and the restaurant." Kacey told her. "You are stationed at the Tallahassee base?"
"Correct again, General."
"Who is your C.O.?"
"Colonel Bernice McMann."
"She is an excellent officer. You will learn a lot from her."
"She speaks very highly of you also, General. We both love being closer to our families."
"That is good to hear. How are you doing personally?"
"I am good, General. Pardon my impertinence, you did not ask me here to inquire about my personal life."
Kacey laughed. "You are correct, Veronica. We have a mission in the works that I could really use you on."
"Me, General?"
"Without going into any confidential information, we need to rescue a number of women and children. The women may have problems with trust issues."
"May I ask why?"
"They are being held prisoner and have been abused, physically, mentally and emotionally..."
"Sexually?"
"I know I am being insensitive to what you have gone through, but yes, sexually."
"Oh."
"You understand what they have gone through. They would respond to you faster than to someone who does not have a clue. Some one like me. You are an extremely strong woman Veronica."
"I am not that strong general. It took awhile, but with a lot of help from Maria and Doctor DiMarco, I am able to put everything into perspective and get through the day."
"I do apologize for my insensitivity."
"No, General, no apologies. When do you need an answer?"
"We have a few weeks before we are ready. Talk it over with Maria and Doctor DiMarco before you make any decision. When you do decide, use this phone." She took the phone off the desk and handed it to Veronica. "My number is already programmed into it. This is a secure line. We have to be very careful as we know there are enemies of the peace in all branches. If you decide the answer is yes, you will be temporarily assigned to me. If you decide you cannot help, there will be no discrimination or censure. Very few people know that I am asking you."
"I will not be ordered on this mission?"
"Absolutely not. You have my word on that. There are only a handful of people who know this mission is in the works."
"I do not want to disappoint you if I can not do this."
"Ah Veronica, you will not disappoint me. I still think you are an incredibly strong and intelligent woman. That is why out of all the recruits I had to choose from, I picked you to join Andromeda. Veronica, I meant what I said. If you cannot come on this mission, this will not be part of your service record. This mission for the most part will be off the books and only known by a very select group." Kacey assured her. "One other item, if you decide to join us, there are several cottages on base for you to bring Maria and the baby so you will not be separated from your family."
"You make it hard to say no."
"I do not want any decision today."
"Let me ask you this, General. Do you think I can do this?"
"Yes, without the slightest reservation. I not only think that, but I believe it. I believe in your strength and in you. But what I think is not relevant. It is what you think here," she tapped Veronica's head, "And what you feel in here." She placed two fingers on Veronica's chest "You have my full confidence."
"When I talk to Maria, how much can I tell her?"
"Just what we discussed here today. Outside of Maria, please do not mention anything to anyone. Not even your families. There are enemies within our walls. Not just the service, but in many areas of the government."
"I understand, General. You have my word, I will think about what we have talked about and let you know."
"When is you transport out?"
"Not until eighteen hundred hours."
"Then let me take you home for lunch. You can meet the newest members of the family."
"I would like that General.
Kacy locked her computer, grabbed her hat and they left the office.