“What we’re going to do is I have to stop her,” Walter said.
“It will probably come to that, but we don’t know what her capabilities are.”
“So, it looks like this, what did you call him…Jack…has given these powers to some woman, but we don’t know what his agenda is yet? Surely it isn’t to just let her run around on a robbery spree?”
“Maybe it is.”
“How do you figure?”
“If she was smart enough to stage a crime spree around here to keep you from stopping what she was doing, why do you think Jack isn’t doing the same thing? He’s got something larger planned, and she is the perfect diversion.”
“There were rumors going around about some female crime boss in the area. You think it could be her?”
“That is a possibility you must consider.”
“We think she was the one behind the plane crash.”
“Then it is more than likely she was the same person. She would be the kind he would target. He doesn’t have to worry about motivating her.”
“That’s fine and all, but do you have any idea what he might be up to?”
“I might have a few ideas, and none of them are good, but whatever it is, it won’t be long. He’ll let his protege run wild for a bit, hopefully getting your attention, and then he’ll start on whatever his plan is.”
“You have ideas? Let’s hear them.”
“Only based on what his group has tried in the past. They’re expansionistic…well…let me rephrase that. They like to exploit other people for resources, and sometimes the other people are unwilling. They don’t like to risk their own people in what could be an ugly fight, so they’ll find people from somewhere else to do their fighting for them. Get enough people, give them the right enhancements and a proper amount of brainwashing, and you have an instant army of expendables. They like to go after technologically inferior people, so I don’t know if your planet would be a target or not. Things could get dicey here, so he might be looking to build an army from people he can get from here. Mind you, that’s all just speculation based on past behavior.”
“Who exactly is this group?” Kendra asked.
“They're the other major faction on my planet. There are really only two factions on the planet. We have other smaller…what you might call nations…but they all owe allegiance to one of the major factions.”
“Like superpowers?”
“Kind of, but not quite. It’s like a loose federal system, like you have here in the United States, but the smaller nations, or states, pretty much govern themselves.”
“But you said they owe allegiance.”
“After a fashion, yes, but it’s not like your states that are part of the larger government. I could go all day trying to explain it and we’d never get close. There is commerce, and something of a military alliance if it comes to that, but it’s more complicated than that.”
“And this other group likes to exploit other people? Sounds like a lot of people here.”
“I suppose you could say that, but imagine if your country wanted to take over Bolivia, but you didn’t want to risk the lives of your own people in what would amount to a small war, so you draft an army from the Dominican Republic to do your fighting for you. They’ve done that to at least a half dozen different planets over the last century.”
“And you think he gave powers to this woman so she could distract Walter and he could do whatever he’s planning to do?”
“That’s what I think, but we just don’t know what his plan is.”
“What does your heart tell you?”
“What my heart tells me is irrelevant. My head tells me that his final target isn’t your planet because of your technological advancement and the fact that the larger powers here would jump in and defend any kind of attack on a smaller nation. He doesn’t want to pick a fight with the major military powers on this planet. He could win eventually, but it would be costly, and his people are all about counting the costs and turning a tidy profit.”
“How many have died for these tidy profits?” Walter asked.
“Millions,” Mike replied.
“Do you think you could be wrong?” Franklin asked.
“This has been their pattern throughout their history. They set their sites on a planet and they suck it dry. The only reason they didn’t take ours is that we fought them to a stalemate.”
“When was that?”
“Three hundred years ago. They rolled in with a larger army, but we had better tech. Things were rough, but eventually we stopped their advance, but we gave up nearly half the planet. Now it’s a tentative truce at best, but they keep going after other worlds. We’re stretched too thin. We just don’t have the forces to defend every planet they go after.”
“I mean about the target. They attacked you, even though you weren’t a pushover. What makes you think they won’t attack here?”
“They’ve only gone after weak people since then.”
“But earth is different. We have hundreds of countries, and not all of them have a big brother to stand up for them. Look at Africa. Nobody gives a darn about them unless it’s a country that supplies us with oil. They go after the countries that don’t produce oil and there might not be much resistance.”
“Yeah, look at the news coverage whenever something goes on over there. The cable channels hardly notice, unless an American is killed,” Kendra said.
Mike thought about that for a moment and then replied, “You might have a point. As much as I’ve studied your planet, I have to admit I often look at it like mine and I forget that your political entities are more varied and don’t always look out for one another.”
“Well…if these folks attack here, what can we do to prepare?” Walter asked.
“Hope your military sees the threat for what it is, or hope they don't come.”
19
Trent Salazar knocked once on the door and waited to be told
