“Program P-Seventeen, Session Two, fifteen October 3662, zero-nine hundred hours, three minutes.”
Heather looked around and saw everyone looking back with a little less hostility than the day before, but not much. “Present at this session are myself, Heather . . .”
“Major Lisa Ka-markla.”
“Colonel George Ba-kerga.”
“General Samuel Bo-seklin.”
“Major Sarah Ma-soran.”
“Two-star General Malcolm Ko-fenral.”
“Sergeant Ben Ta-nibon.”
“Corporal Ginny Do-forva.”
“No one else in the building, Sir,” Colonel Ba-kerga stated, “and everyone present has proper clearance.”
They all looked at Heather.
Part of her wanted to run and hide. “Good morning, everyone. Yesterday our president was assassinated. We should first hear Major Ka-markla’s experience of the event.”
Lisa frowned, and didn’t like doing what she had to do, but couldn’t think of any way to avoid it. “Yesterday, approximately ten seconds before the shot was fired, Heather whispered in my ear, I quote, He’s about to be assassinated.”
NEBADOR Book Nine: A Cry for Help 43
The major waited for the rumble of voices to die down, then continued. “I froze, and had no idea what to do. Upon reflection, I can’t think of any meaningful action I could have taken in so short a time, but I’m open to feedback.”
“Perhaps some other time, Lisa,” Heather jumped in, “but today we should focus on the topic, which is, if I may take the liberty of paraphrasing the general, Why didn’t I tell anyone sooner? Is that close enough, Sam?”
He
nodded
slowly.
“In the future, I’ll get the topics in writing, and they will be much less emotionally-charged. Today we’re winging it. I apologize.”
Several people nodded slightly, but most still had their arms folded.
“There
are
three reasons I didn’t tell you sooner that this president was going to be assassinated, and I will share them in order of importance. The least important is . . . you simply didn’t ask . . .”
The grumbling cut her off, so she waited patiently.
“You had been here nearly a day before the assassination!” General Ko-fenral burst out. “Why the Hell didn’t you say something?”
“Malcolm,” General Bo-seklin stepped in, “we’ve decided on a format in which we don’t jump in with questions until the main presentation is complete.”
“Okay, Sam, it’s your show, but this had better be good!”
Everyone looked at Heather again.
She forced herself to breathe slowly and deeply. “I’d like you all to try to imagine how this process would go — how this team would function — if I was constantly trying to remember every bad thing that will happen in the future, and you were running around trying to stop them. I would be in a constant frenzy, struggling to remember enough details to allow you to pin down the time and place, and you would be hounding me for more information. You, and everyone in your chain of command, would be under constant suspicion of causing, or at least conspiring about, every event. None of us would have time to think. My mental health would go down the drain, this program would become the target of everyone’s anger and resentment, and no one would be critically analyzing whether the events even should be stopped.”
Heather looked around the circle and saw some of her listeners relax a
NEBADOR Book Nine: A Cry for Help 44
little.
“The truth is, I certainly did know of the assassination of this president, as I remember seeing it on television — the original broadcast and dozens of replays. But I did not have the date and time memorized. Please recall that the person whose memories I have is a child right now, a normal child. I had no idea the event was at hand until I stepped into the dining room with Lisa and recognized the scene.”
Most of those in the circle now appeared much more relaxed, almost forgiving.
“I wish I could stop now, but unfortunately that’s the least of the three reasons.”
She let a long moment pass.
“What I am going to do next is what I hope this team will be helping me do in the future. You’re all familiar with the Beklan Empire?”
“Of course,” General Ko-fenral answered with a slight laugh. “Half our budget goes to keeping them contained!”
“After the end of this century, the Beklan Empire will become one of the most peaceful, respected, and reliable nations in the world. They will never again give anyone any trouble, and will be a constant ally and partner in military, scientific, and cultural projects.”
“Hard to believe,” Colonel Ba-kerga mumbled.
“I agree,” Heather admitted. “It happens because they go through a deep economic depression later this century. That causes their leadership — and their attitude — to change completely. As the saying goes, cooler heads prevail.”
Several listeners nodded with interest.
“That economic depression was at least partly caused by the arms race and the two proxy wars we will fight with them in coming decades.”
She could see several people in the circle putting the pieces together.
“Our president, recently deceased, was opposed to that arms race and the first of those two proxy wars, which, as you know, is on our doorstep.”
Both generals and several others had their mouths open, becoming aware of the complexity of what Heather was doing.
“I am certainly not fond of assassins,” Heather continued, “but knowing
NEBADOR Book Nine: A Cry for Help 45
the good outcome of that entire chain of events, which happens to include the death of our president, makes me skeptical about any desire to change that future.”
A long silence followed, during which the mouths that were open slowly closed.
“Wow . . .” General Ko-fenral began, “I didn’t realize what we were dealing with here. My . . . apologies for my judgmental words earlier.”
Heather nodded. “Just so you know, the assassin had none of this in mind. His beef was some social policy, I don’t remember which.”
“And,” General Bo-seklin began tentatively, “there’s an even more important reason you didn’t tell us?”
“There is. What I am about to tell you cannot be verified now or at any later time, but it will be the judgment of most people in the future, including many highly-respected historians and forensic researchers. The opportunity and weapon appear to have been made available to the lone gunman by persons high up in the Department of Defense — our Department of Defense.”
The rumble threatened to overwhelm the meeting, so Heather raised both hands for silence.
“It is one thing for this team to find fault with the actions of other governments, other departments of this government, or even mistakes made by the Department of Defense itself. It is quite another to get into direct conflicts with the possibly-illegal actions of your superiors. This program would be cancelled, your careers would be ruined, and my life would be in danger. It’s just not worth it. I hope you understand.”
For the next hour, the officers huddled in General Bo-seklin’s office, and during that time, no one was allowed in or out of the building.
Heather accepted a neck massage from the new corporal.
“By the way, I’m Ginny.”
“I’ve got lots of names.”
Ginny chuckled. “So that little situation the colonel — I forget his name, the security chief — was making up, that was all true?”
“George, Colonel Ba-kerga. Yep, all true, exactly as he said it. That’s why it was so easy to play along!”
NEBADOR Book Nine: A Cry for Help 46
Both females laughed heartily.
“You’re . . . twenty?”
“Nineteen.”
“Are you okay talking about things? You know, boys and stuff.”
“Sure. At the right times and places.”
“I’ll tell Lisa — Major Ka-markla. She’s my body guard and facilitator, but probably can’t do it all the time.”
“Thanks. It would be pretty boring just sitting in the guard room.”
Heather looked at her papers again.
“What’re you working on?”
“Plans for remodeling this place. I want to have them in good shape by tomorrow. Sarah — Major Ma-soran — might have a cook by then, too.”
At that moment, the five officers emerged from their conference. The sergeant and the corporal stood and saluted.
“At ease,” General Bo-seklin said. “Start your tape recorder, Sergeant.”
Everyone returned to their places in the meeting circle.
“We have agreed,” General Ko-fenral began, “that this program is no longer probationary. That must be some kind of speed record for a program of this type.”
Heather
smiled.
“Colonel Ba-kerga?” the visiting general prompted.
The security chief cleared his throat. “What I have to say, my security people have heard, but it’s worth repeating, and good for everyone to hear, especially after what happened yesterday and today.”
He let a long moment pass.
“We have all just seen an example of how complex — and sensitive — the material in this program is going to be at times.” He saw several heads nod.
“Fact is, if you break secrecy in a normal top-secret program, you’ll get a year or two in federal prison. But if you break secrecy in this program, I’ll make sure they throw away the key. That applies to everyone — officers, enlisted personnel, little girls, and whomever you might have told.”
Heather and George shared a moment of eye contact, and the girl nodded her acceptance of the warning.
“We have also developed a protocol,” General Bo-seklin announced, “and
NEBADOR Book Nine: A Cry for Help 47
will probably come up with more as time passes. This one, we all agree, is of supreme importance, and I think Heather will be able to join us in that opinion.”
He looked all around the room before continuing.
“There will be NO actions taken, of any kind, based on anything that comes to light in this program, unless we have at least three votes to do so.
There are four, and only four, possible votes — myself, General Ko-fenral who will not be here at every session but has clearance for all program records, the team as a whole, and Heather.”
The girl’s eyes widened slightly. “Yes, I can join you in that opinion.”
“And one final thing,” General Bo-seklin added. “We get all the money we need for remodeling.”
“Whoopee!” the youngest person in the room cheered.