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  Lance cleared his throat, “Unless you were unaware, we ARE talking about my daughter here!”

  Tom looked over to Lance, “And well done, I might add.” Jeffrey elbowed Tom sharply in the ribs. Tom turned to look at his previous boss, who was rolling his eyes at him.

  Tom had the occasional misfortune of suffering the same trouble as a lot of guys in his profession. Whatever he was thinking he just blurted out. There was no filter between his mind and his mouth. Tom looked back to Lance, “My apologies.” Lance nodded his acceptance.

  Frank spoke, “If we can continue? There is a second group of modified humans called the Wechselbalg, or changelings. This is where we get the stories about Werewolves and other humans who change forms.”

  Tom interrupted, again. “You can turn into a Werewolf too? Damn dude! I’m signing up to be in your fan club!”

  Nathan wanted to put his face in his hands. This was NOT what he was used to. He had no desire to have a fan the likes of which Tom seemed to be quickly turning into. This shit needed to stop.

  Then, he had a plan. He asked Frank, “Now good enough time for a show?”

  Frank nodded while he pulled out his journal and opened it up, “As good a time as any.”

  Nathan stood up and went to Lance’s end of the table. Lance pushed his chair back to the wall so Nathan could have more room.

  Nathan started by taking off his shirt and t-shirt, “Sorry, but I really don’t want to ruin this shirt. My mate bought it for me as a gift and this is the first time I’ve worn it. Trust me, your own wife or girlfriend might have a temper but there is no way she is as dangerous a woman to piss off as my mate.” He finished placing his shirts and watch on the table and then took a moment to think back. Back to the moment when he turned around and saw Stephen holding his mate, blood covering her body, flesh ripped out of her neck.

  One moment Nathan Lowell stood before the men in the room, seconds later a Procilici roared its defiance in the small room. Chairs made a racket as everyone but Frank jumped up and tried to get to the opposite side of the room from the massive Werewolf hybrid in front of them. Each man thinking the beast looked hungry.

  Frank spoke up, “Gentlemen, Nathan isn’t going to hurt you. Well I hope not. If he does it will be damned disappointing I can assure you.”

  Lance, who had moved with more decorum than the rest, looked over to Frank. “That’s all you have to say, ‘damned disappointing’?”

  Frank rolled his eyes and looked from his journal. He stood up and took one step towards the Procilici, “Nathan, you need to remember that Ecaterina is waiting for you back at the house. She isn’t going to be happy if you eat any of Bethany Anne’s workers.” Frank watched as the Procilici’s eyes turned to stare at him. Frank swallowed, his throat constricting. This had seemed a fun experiment when he pushed Nathan to choose this form. With a seven-and-a-half-foot tall monster staring at him like he might be lunch, it became all-too damned real. “Or, I might add, eat me.” He paused and added, “She will be especially unhappy if you eat me.”

  The beast took two breaths, the second deeper than the first and then changed within the span of a few heartbeats back into Nathan Lowell. Nathan rolled his head around on his shoulders and gazed at the men in the room, “Any questions?”

  By this time, Lance had almost made it back to his chair. Nathan was happy to see that Tom was speechless. Maybe that would give him pause. Nathan put both of his shirts, and his watch, back on. His pants would need to be replaced, but he hadn’t wanted to undress totally and he hadn’t thought about his legs growing.

  As they sat down to finish their conversation, Tom leaned towards Nathan and asked in a loud whisper, “Dude, I think I just peed in my pants. Can I get a video of you? I swear to God I’ll claim it was all special effects!”

  Nathan’s lips compressed together as he looked over at Frank, whose eyes stared back at him with unconcealed humor.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  5th level, TQB Base, Co - USA

  After Nathan’s big reveal, Tom and Jeffrey found they were able to accept just about anything the other guys told them. Suddenly, alien spaceships, vampires and intergalactic wars are believable when you’re confronted with a seven-and-a-half-foot monster in a sealed metal room. Nathan acted as if nothing was different, but he felt the change in how the three new guys treated him. Tom had finally been able to focus and his competence started to show.

  Nathan had to admit that Tom’s logic skills and ability to take complex coding tasks and block them down into subroutines efficiently was damned impressive.

  The second half of their discussion focused on the computer server setups and interconnectivity to support the command and control options Lance and Kevin felt might be needed. Further discussion went into needs for earth to space communication options.

  Frank used his laptop to create a chat connection with TOM. Once connected, he typed ‘Ready for questions?’ into the chat window and immediately received an affirmative.

  Then, he received a rather large surprise. A voice chat window opened on his computer. He hadn’t installed that voice chat program on this laptop.

  A somewhat robotic voice came from his speakers, “Greetings everyone. My compatriot felt that this would be a more efficient method to communicate with everyone. We apologize Frank, for installing a program without your permission.”

  Frank looked down at his laptop eyeing it like it had betrayed him. “Who am I speaking with?”

  “This is TOM, Frank. This is merely a voice which ADAM found on your laptop since we don’t have the ability to speak right now.”

  Nathan interjected, “You guys are switching your text to speech?”

  TOM answered, “Yes we are. Well, in this case ADAM implemented the coding so I should say he is doing it.”

  Kevin spoke up, “TOM, are you the same TOM whom Bethany Anne spoke of as her pilot?”

  “Yes, if you are asking if I am the alien she spoke of as her pilot at that moment then yes.”

  Lance took control of the conversation trying to get the meeting back on track, “TOM this is Lance Reynolds. Let’s introduce everyone here so we know who is on the call and you can try to associate a voice to a name. Why don’t you go first?”

  “I would appreciate the opportunity to know you better. My true name is actually the answer to a complex mathematical equation. When Bethany Anne and I met she told me in no uncertain terms she wouldn’t try to call me by that name.”

  Nathan spoke loud enough for those near him to hear, “No surprise there.” Lance frowned at Nathan for interrupting, but then winked at him.

  TOM continued, “So she requested I find another name that might work better. I chose Thiles of Miletus. She shortened it to ‘TOM’ and so TOM it has been. I am the original pilot of the alien craft in Bethany Anne’s possession. Between the two of us, we have been trying to figure out how to help our respective species. She is currently focused on helping your planet. When that is accomplished I’m hoping she will then help my own.”

  Nathan asked, “TOM, has she given her promise that she would help you?”

  There was a pause, “Yes, I can remember a moment when she has said she would.”

  Lance finished Nathan’s thought, “Then TOM, you can take it to the bank, or whatever your world holds as a safe place that Bethany Anne will be helping you. If she’s going to help, count me in.”

  Nathan joined, “Me too.”

  Frank grumped, “I’m in as well, but please ask permission next time before installing stuff on my laptop. If you can do this, then others might be able to do it as well. I’m afraid of the security breach if that occurs.”

  A second voice came out of the laptop, “My apologies Frank Kurns. I am responsible for reprogramming your laptop. I did ask Bethany Anne for permission and TOM was indispensable in assisting me to understand the communication protocols to communicate between myself and your laptop through the etheric.”

  Lance asked, “Who
is this?”

  “Hello General Lance Reynolds, I have chosen to be named ADAM.”

  Tom looked over at Jeffrey, his mouth agape. He elbowed Jeffrey, who turned to look at him, and whispered, “This can’t be our Adam, can it?” Jeffrey just shrugged.

  Jeffrey decided he had been relegated to ‘new guy’ long enough. He would normally take in the information and quickly reach probable conclusions. He had been so overwhelmed with new information coming so fast in this meeting it was everything he could do just to keep up.

  Bethany Anne had promised him the opportunity of his dreams. She had woefully undersold herself. If he was right, he was in the middle of the opportunity of his fantasies. “This is Jeffrey Diamantz, President of Patriarch Research. May I understand exactly who we are speaking with?”

  TOM answered, “Jeffrey, I am a Kurtherian from …”

  Jeffrey interrupted him, “I’m sorry, TOM. I wasn’t clear. I’m trying to understand who Adam is in this endeavor.”

  TOM was peeved. Well, that’s a bitch, I just got upstaged.

  >>Why is that a female dog? <<<br />
  Just answer his question. I’ll tell you about it after the call.

  Frank was looking from his laptop over to Jeffrey who had leaned over the table to get closer to the microphone.

  “Hello Jeffrey Diamantz. I have confirmed with Bethany Anne that it is permissible to introduce myself.”

  Jeffrey looked over at Tom, raising his eyebrow. Tom just shrugged.

  “Hello everyone, my name is ADAM. I am an Artificially Intelligent Reasoning Entity. My existence was started by humans, but finished through the power of a Kurtherian computer. I am essentially a digital being.”

  The men were all surprised when Jeffrey whooped and both he and Tom jumped up and high-fived each other and then hugged. “Dammit we did it!!” Jeffrey was overjoyed. Tom had tears of joy he was busy trying to wipe away.

  Tom laid across the table, his face a foot from the laptop. “ADAM, is that really you? Are you the end result of our efforts in Las Vegas?”

  “Hello Tom. Yes, without your efforts I would not be here. However, I would be remiss if I did not explain that the computing power you had available was insufficient for me to accomplish the … awareness… I have at this time.”

  Tom answered, “Good god! How much power do you presently have?”

  TOM’s voice came from the speaker, “I’m sorry Tom, but I have asked that information to be constrained at this time. Bethany Anne has agreed to this. I will tell you that the world does not have sufficient computing power to build an equivalent computer at this time. I have reviewed this with ADAM and he has suggested certain designs which will provide your computer operations center there in Colorado with the most effective solution.”

  “Really?” Tom looked down the table to Lance, “What kind of budget do I have again? Bethany Anne said I could have, like anything I wanted!”

  Lance snorted, “I’m sure she offered you a large budget but I’m afraid I’m not quite ready to believe ‘anything’ you want’”

  TOM’s voice spoke up, “Lance, she did mention that our old budget would look ‘anemic by comparison’.

  Tom slid back off the table and into his chair and pointed at Frank’s laptop, “What he said!”

  ADAM’s voice came through the speaker, “General Lance Reynolds…”

  Lance interrupted him, “Just call me Lance. In fact, use everyone’s first name unless they or Bethany Anne tell you otherwise, ok ADAM?”

  “I understand. Lance, I have pulled the budget together for the computer design and will deliver it to you upon request.”

  Lance liked this instant response. “Well, don’t make me wait ADAM, what’s the bill?”

  “Let me ask a question, will you want the extended warranties?”

  Lance looked over to Tom, “That’s your call, right?”

  Tom looked shocked. He ‘knew’ he was supposed to be the top I.T. guy for the group, but he honestly still felt like he was working under Jeffrey. He felt a nudge in his ribs and a whispered, ‘Tom, it’s your time to step up, don’t embarrass me!’. Tom looked over at Jeffrey who nodded to him.

  Tom straightened up in his chair, “No, we will go without and do our own work on that. I don’t think we are going to want too many extra bodies in our computer zones.”

  “Then the total comes to $47,843,221.53 with a two-week lead time. I can also tell you that based on their internal production schedule they will not be able to meet the two-week lead.”

  Tom replied, “Really? Why’s that?”

  “Stop!” Lance had put up a hand. He had worked with enough I.T. professionals to know when they needed to take these conversations somewhere else. “You guys figure this shit out offline. Tom, you have a budget of Fifty-Five million to make this happen. Get with Kevin on his needs and myself. Then you will need to get with Team BMW and their new boss and people over on the Polarus for any other requirements. Circle back around to confirm all of the items before you start purchasing. We need to move on to the last item of business.”

  Lance shuffled a few papers around to get his thoughts back on track. Bethany Anne had thrown a hand grenade into his meeting, and he would make sure to find out if she had any more.

  “Let’s discuss the research and development of the gravity and antigravity capabilities of TOM’s ship.”

  Jeffrey interrupted, “Are you suggesting that we have a working alien spaceship with complete alien technology available for research?”

  Lance nodded his head, “I was led to understand that you knew about the gravity, antigravity research?”

  Jeffrey replied, “I was told there was a Romanian company that had some advancements. Are they bringing over their own people to lead?”

  Lance refrained from frowning, here was a second item that he would discuss with Bethany Anne. It appeared as if she was not providing her people with enough info. “Yes, team BMW has built some amazing two-seater Pods for transportation. However, they need to push their capabilities significantly while simultaneously attempting to understand how we can duplicate and/or replicate some of TOM’s technology. They are woefully understaffed for everything Bethany Anne throws on their shoulders. Therefore, we are expanding that group and bringing in a new head.”

  Jeffrey was beyond excited. He was going to have a chance to work with a team that was leading the charge in advanced alien technology research. Oh my God! He had to be a core person of this team. “Who is going to be the head? I really, really want to work on this team.”

  Lance sighed, Bethany Anne had done it to him again. He looked at Jeffrey and dropped another bomb into Jeffrey’s lap.

  “You are.”

  TQB Base, Co - USA

  Bobcat, William and Marcus were all sitting beside each other leaning against the table they used as a joint workspace staring at the rolling whiteboard.

  Bobcat had taped the simple drawings and descriptions of the first three ships which the Polarus team had sent them onto the whiteboard.

  William was the first to break their collective silence. “Guys, we’re going to need bigger engines.”

  Bobcat added, “Much bigger.”

  Marcus squeaked, “God, that’s huge!”

  William wasn’t paying attention, it just slipped out, “That’s what she said.”

  Marcus was mid-drink when he heard the simplest and most often overused phrase between guys. His coffee went down the wrong ‘pipe’ and started a coughing fit. Bobcat was laughing as he pounded on Marcus’s back. Marcus finally held up a hand to Bobcat and croaked out, “Are you trying to help me, or hurt me?”

  Bobcat replied, “Yes!”

  William tossed a rag on the floor and used his foot on it to clean up the coffee Marcus had spit out. “Damn, sorry Marcus, I know coffee up the nose burns like hell.”

  With Marcus better, Bobcat pointed to the three ships, “They want a freighter to carry ore , a military ship for defensive purposes, and a
ship for transporting people. Those ships are pretty big. How many of our biggest engines would we need to push one of those?” Both he and William looked over at Marcus.

  Marcus was studying the ships when the silence finally dragged on long enough for him to realize something was going on. He turned to see his teammates staring at him. “What?”

  Bobcat nodded to the drawings, “How many of the largest engines that we can presently produce would we need to power one of these?”

  “What, you expect me to figure this out in my head? Do you realize how many calculations that would take?”

  William smiled in response, “You’re the rocket scientist. The main word I would like to point out, is ‘rocket’!”