Chapter 14

Wednesday morning, Mike Douglas joined us for breakfast again.

“If possible, I’m going to try to do this two or three times per week, while you’re in school here. That way, if there are any issues that come up, we can discuss them.”

I asked, “Just curious more than anything else. Why the change in doing things this way here, versus very seldom seeing you in Kansas?”

“Exposure, pure, plain, and simple. There’s basically around two point four million people that live in the entire state of Kansas. Between San Francisco itself, San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties, there’s that many people live just there. Throw in the rest of the counties in the bay area, and it’s over two and a half times that number. Just right here, in less than one-tenth of the area.”

I chuckled. “I remember a saying. ‘You can drive animals insane by packing too many of them into too small a space. Man is the only animal that does this voluntarily.’ I wonder sometimes if it’s true or not.”

Mike chuckled. “While I doubt it, what it does do is allow all the crazies to congregate in one area. Which is basically about an hour that way, but that’s my personal opinion.”

Beth chuckled. “Berkeley, right? You knew that’s where I was made, didn’t you?”

Mike did a double take. “Wait, I thought Harry met your Mom while he was in the Army here in California, then you were born in Sacramento, and then they got married a couple years later.”

“Dad was at the Presidio here, but he was on the inside. He talks about how he did his service in the Philippines during Vietnam, and got out before Vietnam heated up too much. I don’t know exactly what happened, but he did something that had to do with Vietnam, and it didn’t turn out well. He ended up serving three months in the prison, then suddenly all the charges against him were dropped, he was given an honorable discharge, but instead of sending him home to Kansas, they shoved him out the gate. Mom was protesting Vietnam and took pity on the poor boy that they literally pushed out into a crowd of protesters. Dad ended up living with her for a couple of years. I came along in the middle of it, and when Mom finished up her schooling, she figured out that this wasn’t where she wanted to be, and they moved to Kansas.”

I frowned. “I’m not going to get too much into what Harry said, but I know he told me that your Mom literally saved his life. I didn’t realize it was due to a war protest.”

Beth giggled. “Dad has been known to exaggerate sometimes, or tell stories, even to people he knows. He’s a good Dad, and you were right, when we first met. He’d been crapped on, a lot. That he’s not a bitter and reclusive alcoholic is almost a miracle.” She sighed. “But, all in all, Mike is basically right about Berkeley.”

“Thank you for that,” he said. “Okay, the Hollywood contingent will be home this evening. Elroy is flying directly to Kansas from LA. We finally got all of our housing arrangements straightened out, which turned out to be much easier than I expected. The Navy decided to completely pull out of Moffett and give it to NASA, so our folks can move out of their temporary housing and into some semi-permanent apartments over the next couple of weeks. We’ll pay NASA rent, but it’s going to be a hell of a lot cheaper on the budget than it has been.”

“I thought when I got here, we were sleeping in the guard’s quarters,” I said.

Eve said, “We haven’t kept Cal that up-to-date, since he has this micromanaging tendency every now and then. The original plan for residential security trailers you had went out the window almost before we were back in Kansas after our first trip here.”

Mike laughed at that. “You may as well give up even trying to micromanage anything by this point, Cal. That’s why you have your team. Anyway, if any of you need to get to Moffett Field, there’ll be an SPTC bus running about every twenty minutes. You’re also going to see a lot of faces you don’t recognize out on the perimeter. Hell, I don’t think you’ve even met all the female personal protection officers. Between here and Kansas, plus the factory facilities, you’re making George a very happy camper. CEDEM has almost four hundred Wackenhut security personnel working for it.”

I took in a deep breath, then let it out. “You’re in charge of that, Mike. As long as Margie can write the check to pay you, keep it going.”

All of my girls smiled at me when I said that, so I must’ve done something right.

“I was just going to ask if Wackenhut is still billing through Microsoft anymore, more or less as a curiosity question, but I just realized it doesn’t matter as long as you’re still in charge of things for us, Mike. So, unrelated to what you’re doing, what’s going on with Jeremy? I haven’t seen him since Sunday, and I haven’t seen Cain and Abel for a while, either.”

“Gage had to fly to Washington to sign some paperwork. He’ll let you know about it when he gets back. The ‘Trouble Twins’ are just about done in Adak. Carrie, you’ll be interested to know that the BIA has decided that the First Peoples of Alaska are both sovereign people while remaining US citizens, and that they are no longer under the authority of the BIA. They’re still going to have to work some things out regarding tribal lands similar to what they did with the Indian tribes in Oklahoma, so it’s not totally resolved, but they’re actually working on it. We’re ten years past the last claim date the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act allowed, and as a sovereign people instead of simply indigenous people, it’s creating some confusion.”

“Thank you, Mister Douglas,” Carrie said.

“Your King here is causing all sorts of fun for Congress. It may or may not end up in the Supreme Court at some point. Jennifer, we’ve got things set up for your next three tournaments. You’ll be flying out to Phoenix later this morning, coming home Sunday evening. Next week you’ll chopper down to Santa Monica Wednesday morning, come home Sunday evening. And the following week, you’ll just be driven down to Pebble Beach Wednesday morning. We’re working three weeks ahead on a rolling calendar for you, so next Wednesday we’ll have your Hawaii trip figured out.”

Jennifer shook her head, a little grin on her face. “You don’t know how much of a dream come true this is for me. I learned to golf as a little girl, but was always told that women can’t compete against men. Of course, that presumes I make the cut, which I have no intention of hearing from my father again about not trying, so I’ve got that under control, Dad.”

Toby swallowed the drink of milk he was taking and said, “He says you better. Will I still get to come watch when I’m not in school?”

Mike said, “Yes, we’ll have arrangements for travel for school kids when and as needed. Obviously for the final rounds of each tournament, unless something really drastic comes up.”

“Speaking of drastic, or at least a new routine, after class this morning I’ll be meeting with Cindy and half a dozen other law students, regarding setting up weekly study sessions. We’re not planning on doing those here, but I’m keeping that option open if we have to for security purposes,” Beth said.

Mike frowned. “I’d rather have those somewhere else, frankly. Maybe after we’ve settled down more. Technically, this is a high security research facility and not your home, so keeping visitors to a minimum and actually vetting them is part of it. Gage will have a bit more on that when he gets back. There should be rooms at one of the libraries you can reserve for groups, I would imagine.”

“Thanks, I’ll check into that,” Beth said.

We paused for a second to give Toby and Carrie hugs, so they could go leave for school. With them gone and the cook in the other room, I said, “Mike, did you hear anything in your network that’s important from last night?”

“Before I respond to that, you do realize that Sayel and the other girls are in here. I just want to clarify their status regarding what I consider classified information, please.”

“They have the same status as any other family member that knows about me. The only difference is one of perception. Considering their cultural background, and with some of the other things that we’re finding, I’m not going to rule out that they may be more right about things in the end than we could possibly imagine right now,” I said.

I turned my head, so that I could look at the Indian girls, quietly eating their breakfast. “Niranjana, you are Punjabi, from the Indian side of the border. I’m going to ask you a question for which there is no right or wrong answer, and there are no repercussions regardless of how you answer. Obviously, I am your Master, and you are my body-servant. That’s simply a way of showing your status, though, which is related to my own. Who, or what, do you actually consider me to be?”

She looked at me, puzzled. “Master, you are the Prince of Punjab, and will be the ruler of the Punjabi.”

“No, not from a physical perspective.”

“Ah,” she said, smiling as she understood. “I apologize for not understanding, as you spoke in English. I am so glad you have provided us with tutors, so that I may learn and be a better servant to you because of that. That is something that the others and I have discussed. For me, I believe you are the living avatar of Vishnu.”

Four of the other girls nodded their heads in agreement.

“Mahi, what are your thoughts, then?”

“Master, perhaps it is simply a matter of degree. I am not from the Punjab. I believe you are the living avatar of Krishna and...” She looked at Saryu. “I have not the words.”

Saryu nodded. “Krishna is at times considered an avatar of Vishnu, but he is not one of the equals to Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, but one who was created with powers of love and compassion. Avatars can have the powers of more than one god, though. We believe you are Krishna and Ganesha brought to life.”

Hannah asked, “What have you witnessed to make you believe this?”

Saryu glanced at the other girls, then said, “We did not have to witness anything. Our former Master told us that the only one who could possibly beat him in combat would have to be a god himself, for no mortal man could ever defeat him. As for what we did see, we all watched our Master do the dance of Kali before removing the head of Gazda. We have seen his demonstrations with Sayel. Only one who is a god himself would stand without fear while Sayel cut a ball in two while holding it in his hand.”

“What if I told you that your Master is a man, born of a woman like all of us were, and is not a god?” Hannah asked.

That got giggles from most of the girls. Jasveer said, “We have seen and felt the Master perform in other ways that mortal men cannot. Perhaps you are right, in that our Master was born of a woman. An avatar of a god can be a living being, after all. To us, he is proof that our religion, that our faith, is real.”

“Sayel, anything to add to that?” I asked.

“I have witnessed you do things no mortal man could do, yet show the humility of one. I have also witnessed you use the powers of the shivalingam. You are my Master, and I am honored to be in your service.”

“Does that answer your question, Mike?”

His comment answered my question. “If you’re referring to what happened in Mexico, then yes. Stopping in to visit a command and control bird while it was in flight made some reports. I take it you weren’t just showing off.”

“No. Basically, I wanted to ask your advice about something else that we found out last night, that has nasty implications. Dora has been doing some prep work in the country to the south of Panama. It’s common knowledge that the Medellin Cartels run things there. We saw how much last night. It appears their military is mobilizing.”

He looked puzzled. “That’s a good thing, if they’re finally going against the Cartels.”

“Uh, no, Señor Douglas. I’ve done some ‘on the ground’ things as well. It is the Cartels that are preparing the military, to ‘deal’ with the American invaders.”

“Please tell me they’re not that stupid?”

“It’s my understanding they’re planning on pushing a human wave of innocent men, women, and children ahead of them, too,” Dora said.

Mike reached up and rubbed his chin. “My advice is ... wait and talk to Jeremy tonight or tomorrow. He knows more about what’s going on now with the government than I do at this point.”

“Okay, what aren’t you telling us?”

Mike sighed. “Things are getting squirrelly. The US, Soviet Union, and China are all cooperating, which has never happened before. India and Pakistan are cooperating. Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and such are best buddies now. Europe is having issues because of the Treaty of Paris and the Treaty of Rome. They still have people pushing to simply become one unified Europe.”

Before I could say anything, Hannah said, “That’s the other group, the Open Society Alliance, that Grandfather mentioned. While the council cooperated with them to a certain extent, I now wonder if they have closer ties to the group in South America.”

Mike blinked. “What group in South America?”

“The Nazis that escaped Germany, of course. There are thousands of them that live in Argentina,” Hannah said.

“You mean like in ‘The Boys from Brazil’?” Jennifer asked.

“Not exactly. Josef Mengele did escape, like in the movie, but so far as I know, they never tried to ... clone Hitler...” Hannah paused, a scared look on her face. “You know why the council wanted you. Because of your abilities, you could gain the powers of Shiva when the comet shows up next year. The Nazis were genetic geniuses, even if they were twisted morally. And the irony of talking about twisted morals, considering my parents, is not lost upon me.”

“Right. And you mentioned that they knew about the powers of Shiva as well. I can see I’m going to have a really lovely talk with Jeremy when he gets here. In the meantime, Beth and I both have a class to attend. Don’t worry, Mike. I’m sure at some point, we won’t have ninety different irons in the fire.”

“Why spoil the fun, Cal?” he said. “Oh, and good job learning more phrases.”

“Thank you.” Beth and I gave Jennifer another kiss, since she would leave well before I was home today, then we grabbed our backpacks and headed out.

I had Sayel ride in Beth’s cart while she rode in mine, so I could talk with her for a few minutes. One thing I realized was that our family and alone time with each other had been shrinking rapidly, and I wanted to make the most of it.

“First, make sure everyone knows that I love them. And I love you, too,” I said, giving her a kiss. “Second, how did Hannah take the news that the Indians all consider me a god, considering how much we went off on her about that?”

“I think we ought to do less talking and more kissing. It’s damned inconvenient that you’re not tied into our network. You’re the computer genius, you ought to figure something out,” she said. Her stern expression was ruined by her swiftly developing giggles. “Sorry, you looked so serious there for a second. Hannah’s fine with it. She realizes how she went overboard, because she wasn’t thinking of you as an avatar of a god she already believed in. So is Spic. Helen is about half-amused by the whole thing, but also now wondering if there’s something going on that we don’t know.”

“You mean, in the background? It bothers me, too. I almost wonder if there was a soul from here on Earth that died and went to Star Home, to influence things there, so I could show up now.”

Beth was very quiet. I could tell she was talking to the others. We were almost to the building when she said, “Tonight, Helen is going to call Holly and Gloria, while we have Carrie get on the phone here, too. That makes way too damned much sense to all of us.”

“Great!” I sighed. “Oh, oh. Public face time, Cindy is waiting for us.”

The carts got parked and we got off. “Why’d you ride together in one cart when you still have to bring two?” Cindy asked.

“Simple. More smooching time. School is interrupting my available lip time with my man,” Beth said. She gave me another kiss, then hopped out. “Come on, class awaits!”

This classroom was a little smaller. We’d gotten there early enough to choose our seats. Beth and I both recognized students from our other two classes. Once we were seated, with Beth between me and Cindy, Beth said, “Hey, Cindy and I are going to meet after class to start setting up a study group. If you’re in either Cal’s class or mine, and you don’t have anything afterward, you might meet up with us in the cafe so we can figure out days, times, and location.”

The professor had already been in the room and heard her comment. “Young lady, who are you?”

“Elizabeth ... Beth ... Watson, Sir.”

He nodded. “I presume you’re referencing two of the sessions of Constitutional and Criminal Law, correct?” She nodded. “Excellent. Several of our classrooms are available on both Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings throughout the year. On your way to the cafe, stop at the departmental offices and get a copy of available locations and times.”

“Thank you, Sir, I will.”

“You’re welcome. Speaking of welcome ... welcome to the first quarter of Federal Litigation in Global Context. This is a two credit-hour required class. The second quarter is in the spring, and will start exactly where this one leaves off. You will be responsible for knowing two-thirds of your textbook before the end of this quarter, and you will be responsible for the last third next quarter. That does not mean we will not hop through the entire book at different points, simply pointing out what your final exam will cover. Now, who can tell me, without giving me the book’s explanation, on why we spend so much time on this subject?”

There were several different answers, and the discussion was off and running. About halfway through the class period, the professor brought up an interesting point.

“So, we’ve established that different countries have different laws, and what may be against the law here is perfectly legal in a different country. And vice-versa, of course. At the same time, we also have liability that can cross international borders. But where do cases like this come from? As an example, there was a tragedy last month in Bhopal, India, with the pesticide leak at the Union Carbide India Limited factory. Thousands of people died, hundreds of thousands were injured. Who has the liability? The factory itself is only half owned by Union Carbide Corporation, here in the United States. The other half is owned by investors in India, including the Indian government. This is where litigation in a global context comes into play.”

Someone from further back in the classroom raised his hand. The professor nodded.

“What’s the liability, or the potential for litigation, against the Messenger from Above for his actions? Would the survivors of his atrocities in Iran, Iraq, Syria, China, North Korea, Pakistan, and other places be able to sue him, or those three whores he has with him?”

The professor had crossed his arms when the question started, then brought his left hand up under his beard as it continued. When the question was finally done, he pointed a finger at the student in question.

“There are several problems and issues with your questions as stated. The first should be obvious to anyone here. This is a class on, and a school of, law. Not innuendo, not inflammatory statements, but strictly law. If you had asked that question in an actual courtroom, phrased the way you did, the judge would simply gavel you down, and order the question be disregarded, or even go so far as to remove you from the courtroom. I presume from your accent that you are here as a foreign student. Am I correct?”

“Yes! I am Hamdi al-Waheed, from Syria, and the only one remaining in my family after the alien invader killed them while destroying my nation’s oil facility.”

The professor nodded again thoughtfully. “I see. You hold him personally responsible for the deaths of your family. Tell me, how many members of your family were killed at this oil facility?”

“I am an only child. Both of my parents worked at the oil facility when he attacked it for no reason! I am here to study now, so I can see him brought to justice!”

“Okay, I’m going to throw this open. How should Mister al-Waheed proceed? Who does he approach to file his suit?”

He picked several students at random. Most of them suggested an international law firm, the government of Syria, what was left of the United Nations, or even the US government. “Miss, you’ve had an interesting grin on your face ever since I asked for opinions. Why is that?”

Beth said, “His case has no merit or standing under any existing law.”

The professor held his hand up, motioning for al-Waheed to remain seated. “Why do you say that?”

“The original question asked is the key one. Specifically, the level of liability for the actions of the Messenger from Above. He has none, due to his status.”

The professor frowned. “Go on, please.”

“Certainly. Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961, the Messenger from Above has diplomatic immunity regarding his actions in every country except North Korea. The only exemption that Syria made before signing that treaty was their refusal to accept the existence of the nation of Israel. As the oil facility mentioned was being used to produce weapons of mass destruction, specifically illegal nerve gas, any civilian deaths there, regardless of how they were caused, would thus be the responsibility of the former Assad regime. North Korea, as a rogue nation, had no standing under international law in this regard, as most nations did not have any diplomatic dealings with them. The Messenger’s general diplomatic immunity would also apply to his dealings with them. As they no longer exist as a separate nation, any suit would have to be filed individually, and would still have no standing.”

The professor rubbed his chin with his left hand again. “Fascinating. How do you come up with that?”

“Effectively, he is an Ambassador plenipotentiary. He not only represents the governing agency that sent him here, he claims their full authority to do whatever it takes to do his job. While this class is Federal Litigation in a Global Context and not Interstellar Litigation, I believe the same principles apply. The only thing that could happen would be to issue a complaint to his superiors, and if they choose to punish him for what he’s done, that’s all that could happen. Not especially satisfying if you’re seeking revenge, but the only actual legal option. Now, how you’re going to file that suit, I have no idea.”

The professor nodded, his eyes twinkling. “Thank you, Miss Watson. And thank you, Mister al-Waheed. I appreciate your acting ability.”

“It was my pleasure, like usual, professor.” With that, al-Waheed got up and left the classroom. There was a bit of murmuring from the class, including some people that sounded offended that the professor had pulled a trick like that.

“Settle down, that’s enough. I used Mister al-Waheed for this today, for the same reason I’ve used him for the last four years, and why other instructors use someone else for this purpose. The Messenger from Above has changed things this year. Normally he just complains about Israel having killed his family.” He chuckled, then said, “The point being, does what’s being brought up have merit under international law. As Miss Watson so ably pointed out, and supported by memory, it does not.”

From the other side of the room, someone asked, “Okay, I follow what she said, but the Messenger from Above isn’t a signatory to that treaty. Wouldn’t that render her argument moot?”

The professor pointed to Cindy, who was shaking her head. “Miss, please explain.”

“Certainly. The purpose behind the treaty in the first place was to regulate the treatment of diplomats. It’s based upon a principle going back thousands of years, which can be summed up quite simply, ‘don’t shoot the messenger.’ In this case, not the Messenger from Above, but the person who is relaying the information or acting for his sovereign. It’s difficult to negotiate the end of a war if you kill the people who are sent to do the negotiating. All the treaty did was codify established principle.”

“Nice to see more than one student reading ahead in the book, anyway. Thank you. And yes, her explanation is correct. Now...”

We took off on another journey that took the rest of the class period.

When we were done, I gave Beth a kiss bye, and headed out to meet Chuck and Sayel. They took me over to the lab, where Doctor Fallow was waiting. He led me to the Chemistry Building. Doctor Korn and two chemistry professors were sitting in the front of a lab room, talking about something.

“Ah, good morning, Mister Lewis. I have two lab assistants here for you today. This is Jim Spudich and John Ross. Jim specifically is a Biochemist, while John is a chemist and specializes in organic chemistry. They are here to assist you as need be, and will follow your instructions.”

“Gentlemen, pleasure to meet both of you. What I thought I’d do is first put the rough idea of what we’re going to create today on the board. Then, as we go through the process, we can write each step on the boards as we perform it. That way, when we have the end product, it will be reproducible by others.” I paused, then said, “My apologies, Doctor Korn, but before we start, I do need to clarify this from the perspective of the agreement regarding things created while a student here. Specifically, I have not previously filed a patent for this process.”

He nodded. “I suspected that you wouldn’t have thought of that, simply due to how quickly we threw this at you. Fortunately, we have already signed NDAs here that are basically blanket authorizations regarding this, or for that matter, any procedure you come up with.”

He handed them to me, and I quickly scanned all of them. I smiled at the signature at the bottom.

“Doctor Ely created these personally, eh?”

“He did. Something about dealing with a devious bastard.” Korn was grinning when he said that.

“Okay, then. Thank you.” I nodded, put those papers aside, and then went to the white board. I took up a marker. “I apologize if this sounds basic, but I find it’s best to start at the foundation.”

Starting to write, I said, “Okay, what is a hormone? They’re chemical messengers the endocrine glands secrete to maintain physiological activities of target cells. They all have the same properties. They are chemical entities. They’re transported to the target cells via circulation. Their actions are very specific. They’re active in minute quantities. They’re destroyed by their actions, and chemically, they’re heterogeneous.”

“Here’s where the fun comes into play. Typically, our bodies produce the hormones we need, but sometimes they don’t. That’s where synthetic and created hormones come into play, so we can treat a hormonal imbalance with manufactured hormones. So, there is in existence already a medication designed for use as both regular birth control and also as an emergency contraceptive, Levonorgestrel. This synthetic hormone has at most a ninety-three percent chance of preventing pregnancy if taken within seventy-two hours, but will definitely not help if the blastocyst has implanted in the uterine wall.”

“So, what we’re going to do today is, using a purely chemical synthesis process, create a hormone that, when taken, will cause a human female to shed the uterine lining. There are two side-effects of this drug. The first is that it resets the female menstrual cycle. Today is January 16^th. A woman who took this pill today who normally has her period on the first of the month would now have her periods on the 16^th of the month. Second, of course, is that usage of this pill is contraindicated after twenty-one days, as by twenty-eight days the cells ... well, aren’t just cells any longer.”

“Let us begin.”

Once we started, I don’t think any of us looked at the clock again. I know at one point Doctor Korn got into a discussion about something with Doctor Fallow, but I was busy mixing four chemicals together at the time. Even though my ‘lab assistants’ were both professors and had PhDs themselves, they’d both told me to call them by their first names while we were working. I had Jim monitoring titrations, while John was measuring other chemicals we’d use later.

As the ‘discussion’ became louder and louder, Jim hollered, “Hey! Settle down! We’re doing science over here!” I couldn’t help chuckling a little as they left the room then.

When it was all said and done, I blew out a deep breath of air.

“Sorry, I messed up on how long this would take. I apologize for that.”

Jim said, “You’re kidding, right? You just created a new synthetic hormone from scratch in a college chemistry lab, from start to finish, with full documentation of the process, and it only took six hours. What the hell are you apologizing for?”

Fallow said, “I know why. Cal, you could have done it in three hours. It’s the full documentation, so that you weren’t just doing kitchen cooking, as I like to call the kind of chemistry you’ve done in the past, that slowed you down.”