Chapter 4
"Well, here we are," Joanne said as she opened the door to her home.
"Here we are," Terry agreed as she moved in after Joanne. "So, now what?
"Um, how about food? You want something to eat?"
"Food's good," Terry agreed as she followed Joanne into the kitchen.
After a moment of somewhat tense silence, she asked, "Tell me, do you have any idea why we both are acting like this is the first time I'm here?"
Joanne laughed. "I think you have a very good point, as far as that's concerned it's probably best to simply pick up where we left off. How about having another TV night? We can start saving the world and all humanity, tomorrow."
Terry sat down on one of the kitchen chairs and looked at how Joanne started to search in the freezer. "Sounds like a good idea, but I have a better one."
"Oh?"
"Why don't we eat, and after that we go to bed."
Joanne's head popped out of the freezer and she looked at Terry to see just what kind of 'going to bed' the brunette meant. Seeing the smirk and the wink, Joanne winked back. "I like that idea even better."
She closed the freezer and walked over to Terry. She took the brunette's hands between her own and said softly, "You know, I really love you, Terry Lee. So much that I'm willing to offer you the last package of chicken stir-fry I have in my freezer."
Terry burst out laughing when the last words registered. "No, that's alright, you can have your chicken. You still have a beef plate left?"
"I do. You know something," Joanne asked as she leaned in and kissed Terry. "I really, really love that laugh of yours."
"And I really, really like the fact that you can make me laugh. I love you too, Jo. Words cannot describe how much."
They spent a moment exchanging tender kisses before Joanne finally moved away to put their dinners in the microwave.
"We got nine minutes," She noted as she got back and sat down on Terry's lap. "You know a good way to fill that time?"
Terry definitely did, and it was only by the fourth insistent beeping of the microwave that they remembered they had warm food waiting. The food didn't stop them long though, and soon they were standing in the bedroom.
"You alright?" Joanne asked when she noted a worried look on Terry's face.
"I'm... I'm nervous," the brunette admitted.
"Why? We made love before, we made love before in this very bed in fact."
"Because, this time it's different. This time you know. This time there aren't any secrets that I have to keep back, this time I don't have to worry about blurting something out."
"You mean, you always held back before?" Joanne asked amazed. Terry had always been passionate. Tender or wild, decisive or submissive, equal partner or far from it, all depending on their moods. But never would Joanne have guessed that Terry was holding back.
Terry nodded her head, slightly worried how Joanne would react to her very last secret.
Joanne extended her hand and pulled Terry closer. "Then I guess that tonight I'll get to know the real Terry Lee. Come on, babe. Show me what you've got."
And with a smile, Terry did just that.
~~~~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning Joanne softly caressed the innocent looking face of her lover. The night before had been fun. It really had been different somehow. Terry had seemed more... alive... than ever, and Joanne could honestly say that it had been the best night of her life.
Life, she decided, was perfect.
But that thought brought the reminder that this might change very fast. Sure, they had a good plan going, but Joanne knew that nothing ever went perfectly. There were bound to be hard times ahead. As many a war on Earth had shown, sometimes the smallest of differences are the hardest to reconcile. And here Joanne was faced with the task of smoothing out the differences between Earth humans and Alien humans.
At that moment, Terry moved as she woke up. A moment later green eyes looked into blue and a sleepy voice asked; "Good morning, how are you?"
"I'm very well, and you?"
"I'm very well too. Jo, would, um, would you think I'm exaggerating if I were to tell you that last night was the best night of my life?"
Joanne couldn't help but laugh. "Guess what I was thinking just before you woke up. So no, I won't think you're exaggerating. I think it's the fact that we already had sex before, and even made love before. We already knew all the right spots and all the 'just like that'. Just that now we had the added bonus of knowing that we love each other, and knowing that the other loves us. That means that 'in love' enters the 'making love', and love makes everything better; even the thing that you thought couldn't get any better."
"Hmm, you know what that means then?"
"What?" the blonde wondered.
"That means that the next time, it will be just as good. And the time after that, and after that."
"Lucky us," Joanne grinned.
"Lucky us, indeed," Terry agreed before sighing. "Now, to talk about something else. How do you plan to get the right people to come to you, people that have authority to deal? Jo, I know that nobody told you this directly yet, but you do realize that this united front we want to create will be commanded by us, and not by one of the factions on Earth, right?"
"I know," Joanne assured, as she closed her arms around her naked lover and gave her a soft hug. "Remember, I'm an executive. Not that I'll be able to keep doing that job now. But the point is, I'm used to listening to people and also hearing the things they don't tell me. Why do you think I made it such a point to address the punishments you people have? I know only too well that what Eric really wants is that the world unites, under them, and that we will bow to their rules and their conditions. My main task will really be to find that middle ground; to go as far as the governments on Earth are willing to go, and then bring it in such a way that it's enough for the Council. I'll have to do a lot of things. Deal honestly, reward, bribe, intimidate, play 'my gun is bigger than yours'. But I'll do what it takes to make it work. The good part about it though babe, is that you'll be right there to give me the strength to deal with it all."
"You bet your pretty ass I will, baby," Terry affirmed.
"Good. As for how I'll actually start doing all that... simple; I'll let the right people come to me and tell them what the deal is. Governments will agree one way or another, to unite under you, but only in secret to begin with. Countries will continue to exist. Their political games between each other will continue, except that your people will come above that and that the average person in the street will be totally oblivious to all this."
"But over time it will become apparent that the countries of the world are following a surprisingly big number of our suggestions; namely all, and rumors will start to form," Terry pointed out.
"That's exactly what we want," Joanne assured. "When the time comes to fight the Bundar, the world will have to know that you're the real leaders in this endeavor. But we can't just show up and say 'hi, we'll take over now'. People would never stand for that. No, rumors have to start, rumors that slowly get stronger. That way Earth is slowly introduced to the idea and people get used to it. The important thing, really, is that we do better the life of the people. If we manage to better the life of enough people, they won't mind that your people are in control of it all. Because you've actually delivered the things that our politicians have been promising us in empty words for, well, ever."
"And when will we start doing all that?" Terry wondered.
"Didn't the council tell you when we should start?" Joanne asked surprised.
"No they didn't. I was just told to wait for contact."
"Huh, well from the way Eric was talking I would assume that they'll contact you within a week or so to give us the go-ahead."
"And what should we do until that time?" Terry asked.
"Have fun?" Joanne suggested with a grin. "You're mine now, babe, I want to show you off. Let's go visit places. Let's go on one of the nights with the girls, so that I can hang all over you and say 'mine' to all that dare to look."
"But only if I can do the same," Terry said with a smile, before adding, "And they better keep their hands to themselves because otherwise I'll kick their ass."
"Oh, hear the warrior talk there," Joanne laughed. "Hey, stay right here; I want to show you something."
She got up and roamed through her closet for a moment, before turning around with a T-shirt in her hands. "Tonight is pool night for the girls. You want to come along? If you do I'll wear this. One of them once gave me this as a joke."
As she had been talking, Joanne had unfolded the T-shirt and now held it in front of her. It showed a cartoon woman standing behind a bigger, snarling, woman and the woman in the back had a text bubble that said, 'My girlfriend can beat up your girlfriend. Any time, any where, any how.'
"Put it on," Terry said with a laugh. When Joanne did, Terry saw that the blonde's ample chest stood out in an extremely sexy way, because the fabric was so body-hugging, and her nipples clearly showed since Joanne obviously wasn't wearing a bra at the moment.
"Tell you what," Terry said with a grin. "I dare ya. If you wear that T-shirt tonight, like that, without a bra... if you dare doing that, I'll be your servant for the rest of the night when we get back."
"Ooh, servant. Tempting. You'll cook for me, bathe me, and then ravish me until I pass out?" Joanne asked while wiggling her eyebrows.
"How about we order food, I'll feed you, and then we both take a shower, because we're bound to create a mess, and after that we make love," Terry suggested instead.
"Deal," Joanne agreed, knowing that on pool night she could get away with wearing the T-shirt like that.
"Good. But for now," Terry curled her finger at Joanne. "Come here you. I want you."
~~~~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~~~~
A week went by before Terry finally got a message. The message, however, was that a scout ship would pick her up, and bring her back to the ship for a face to face report with the Council. Not that there was much to report, Joanne had pointed out, to which Terry had only shrugged her shoulders.
"Once you're back on Earth, tell Joanne Rock that the plan can be set in motion," Eric concluded the debriefing.
"Yes sir. I'll tell Jo as soon as I get to her quarters."
"Jo?"
"Yes sir," Terry said, her voice depicting nothing at all while, in fact, at that moment she was mentally kicking herself. "Jo is short for Joanne. On Earth it's very normal for people that live together to shorten their names. I thought it would be best to do this as well."
"Why?" Eric asked.
"Because people wonder. Joanne's friends were amazed when suddenly someone was moving in with her. Her friends were sure that it had to be something serious. So instead of trying to explain over and over again that I'm just a friend, we pretended to pass for lovers, which stopped all the rumors and talk about me and changed it to nothing more than, 'did you hear that Joanne finally has a girlfriend'? Now the rumors have stopped, and instead everyone expects to see me at Joanne's side."
"I see. You said that you would tell her as soon as you reach her quarters, she is here then?"
"Yes sir," Terry confirmed again. "She came with me because she had to check a few things about our medical knowledge in more detail."
"Very well, is there anything else you want to report to the Council?"
"No sir."
"Then you can go now. Tell Joanne Rock that the plan is active as of this moment, and that she has a completely free hand to do what she thinks is best, as long as it fits in the general plan of course."
"Yes sir," Terry turned around and starting to leave.
"Oh, one more thing," Eric said, as Terry had reached the door.
"Yes sir?" Terry asked as she turned around again.
"Please tell Joanne Rock that we would appreciate it if she were to come with you on the next occasion where you have to give a report. It might be convenient that she's here, if your report offers something we might have to ask her questions about it."
"Yes sir," Terry said again, and this time truly did leave after Eric's dismissal.
As soon as Terry was gone the door behind the Council table opened and a woman that looked to be over a hundred, but that moved with grace and elegance more fitted to someone of thirty, came in and sat down in the sixth chair at the table; the one that was normally never occupied.
"Your opinion?" she asked Eric.
"I think that she is developing deeper feelings for that woman; feelings that might make Terry untrustworthy in the long run. Maybe it's better if we replace her."
"Replace her? It's way too late for that now," the woman said with a shake of her head. "We made the choice to go with Terry, and now she has to run the course. We can't replace her now; that will endanger 'our' plan. Besides, despite the fact that she's only a short living, she is still my last born daughter, and she is the closest match to me should something happen to me. You do remember what would happen if I were to die and there's no successor, right? So let me remind you right now, if something happens to her, it's the end of you; all five of you. You got me?"
"Yes Your my majesty," all of them said at the same time.
"Good. I'll retire for today. And remember, damned is the person that lets something happen to Terry. But for the rest, all goes to realize 'our' plan."
The woman stood up again and left the room without saying another word, leaving five scared people behind her. Finally Eric swallowed against a dry throat and spoke up. "You heard her; nothing is to happen to Terry, but for the rest, we have a free hand."
Eric could only smile at those last words.
~~~~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~~~~
Terry entered the set of quarters that had been set aside for Joanne and frowned for a moment when she didn't spot the blonde right away. Then she saw that Joanne was in the fun room, and was apparently randomly trying out some codes that changed the room. Terry's mischievous side surfaced when she noticed how engrossed Joanne was in studying the control panel; the blonde hadn't even noticed that Terry had entered the other room. She softly stalked closer and suddenly closed her arms around the blonde. "Find something interesting?"
"Jesus H Christ!" Joanne shouted and accidentally pushed her whole hand against the control panel. "You scared the living crap out of me."
Terry placed a few kisses on Joanne's neck before turning her around. "Aww, I guess I should say that I'm sorry, if I was, that is."
"I'll forgive you, if you explain something to me."
"Sure."
"This room. I've noticed several times that should something need to form where I'm standing, say a table, it doesn't. The rest of the room reforms, but that table only forms when I step away. How come?"
"That's the sensors part in the 'Sentient Metal' like you call it. They notice that something is standing in the way, so, at that place nothing new is formed. It's not only you though. Any object that's in the room gets that treatment."
Suddenly the empty room started to reform. "What the hell, I didn't type in any code now."
"I don't know," Terry said, playfully. "I do seem to remember that for some strange reason you suddenly decided to push all the buttons on the control panel. Maybe it needed until now to figure out a valid code."
She moved away and sat down on the couch that had formed. "See, here's your proof that the metal, under the right programming, can make soft material. Try it and tell me that you wouldn't swear that this is a normal couch."
Joanne sat down and tested the couch by bouncing a bit a couple of times.
"I can't tell you that, since I would indeed swear that it's a normal couch," she had to agree. "Of course, now my big question is, if this couch can be formed, why not a normal pillow? Aren't I sitting on a couch pillow right now?"
"You are," Terry said tolerantly. "But you have to keep in mind that we didn't program this room. The Manraqi did. That's... I don't know, like asking a house painter why he can't paint the Mona Lisa. Hey, Leonardo da Vinci could do it so surely the house painter can as well; paint is paint. Yes, we can create amazing stuff with this metal, but we're first rank amateurs compared to what the Manraqi were able to program. On top of that it's still different. Yes, it's a pillow, but it only has to move in one way; up and down, pretend to be dented. But a simple pillow to put your head on? Just think for a moment about how often you move that."
Joanne nodded her head. "Point taken." Then she looked around the room. "This looks nice."
"This is one of my most favorite rooms," Terry said as she gestured around the room that now looked like a comfortable study room.
"It is kinda relaxing," Joanne agreed. "It invites you to just sit and read, or even just sit and relax."
"It does, doesn't it? In fact, I like this room so much that in my quarters this is set as the standard room."
"Standard room?"
"Yes, whenever I activate the room without first entering a code, this setting is activated."
"When I just pushed the start button without entering a code first, it did nothing," Joanne pointed out.
"Really? Hmm, maybe it's because I push those button more nicely then you do."
They laughed for a moment before Terry sighed. "Well, I guess it's time to go."
"Guess it is," Joanne agreed.
~~~~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~~~~
Terry was already in the kitchen when Joanne came down the stairs the next morning. "Morning, want some coffee?"
"Oh, yes. Babe, you are the best. I love you, you're perfect."
"I wonder how many people in the world start babbling sweet-talk, because someone just offered them a cup of coffee." Terry said with a smile.
"Here I'm being nice, and I get teased as a reward," Joanne said with a fake pout as she took the coffee.
"Crybaby."
Joanne grinned, giving up the useless pout. "Love you too babe."
"And I love you baby," Terry assured. "Now, to bring up a different subject. You said that you wanted to start off by appearing on that primetime talk-show. How do you plan to do that? Somehow I don't think that they'll just put anyone on that calls them."
"No, that's right, but 'just anyone' doesn't still have a few favors to collect."
"And you do? Which favors? And with who?"
"You'll find out soon enough," Joanne grinned. "Come on, we'll need to change and get going."
"Breakfast?" Terry asked. She wanted to know more about those favors, but knew Joanne well enough by now, to know that the blonde preferred to introduce her friends and acquaintances first, and then fill in the details later. That way the first impression wasn't colored by Joanne's personal opinion of that person. Only if there was something that Joanne felt that Terry really needed to know did she tell the brunette these details before meeting the people.
"No time, we can grab something on the road. For now, the coffee has to be breakfast."
~~~~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~~~~
When they arrived at the studio, Terry noted that Joanne apparently had very good connections indeed. After giving their name, security waved them by without even doing a search of the car. Even though it was a talk-show, the filming happened on a closed set. And yet, Joanne and Terry were free to walk around as they pleased. After about fifteen minutes, they walked onto a stage where a woman was standing and talking to one of the stage hands.
"Ah Louis, I see that you're still bossing people around."
The woman named Louis turned around, and quickly kissed Joanne on the cheek. "Don't you know that bossing people around is now Bob's job? I just make friendly suggestions."
"What?" Joanne asked with faked amazement, "You finally gave up control? You?"
"Yeah, can you believe it? The control freak giving up control... well, most of it anyway. The show just became too big for me to handle alone after we went national. So I made Bob the producer so that I could concentrate more on doing what I do best, and make this show the hit it is."
"Oh, my god! This gets worse and worse. You didn't just give up control; you gave control to Bob. How do you ever manage without killing each other?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about. Bob and I fit together perfectly; we complement each other," Louis said with a laugh before she looked at Terry with questioning eyes when she saw the frown on her face. "I assume that she has totally no idea why we find that so funny?"
"You assume right. Please allow me to introduce you. This is Terry Lee; my partner. Terry, this is Louis Downs; creator of the infamous Downs Show, the hottest talk-show in the world at the moment."
"Pleased to meet you," Terry said as she and Louis shook hands.
"Partner? You're telling me that you're the one that finally managed to make her see that there's more to life than just space... well, there seems to be more to space than we thought as well, but that's beside the point. You must be really special if Joanne is using the P word."
"I, I think that Jo is very special," Terry finally said, not really knowing how to react to the statement.
"One thing you got to know about Louis," Joanne warned with a smile. "She always says what she thinks; it's one of the reasons why her show is such a success. Though, if you meet her face to face it can be a bit annoying, at times."
"That's alright," Louis said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "You can be damn annoying too at times, so I guess that makes us even."
"I guess it does," Joanne agreed, her smile changing to a grin.
"How do you two know each other?" Terry asked.
"From college. We were friends all through college, but in the beginning of the last year we became more. We dated for two months before we realized that we were better friends then we were lovers."
"Yes, and friends we still are," Louis agreed, as she pulled them both a little to the side of the stage, to give the stagehands room to work. "During that time Joanne was still the shy, innocent girl you just had to adore. She found a way into my heart and she hasn't left since, even though the being lovers part didn't work out."
"So you owe Joanne a favor because you were lovers once?" Terry asked confused.
"Oh, no. Not at all; believe me. I don't know how she is now, but I can assure you that while she was in college she sure wasn't 'that' good that I would still owe her favors for it now."
Now Terry smirked. "And you can believe me, now she is 'that' good that you would gladly owe her a favor for it. But it's too late now; mine."
Louis laughed. "My, my, possessive thing, isn't she?"
"She is," Joanne agreed, "And I wouldn't want to have it any other way."
"Well, to answer your question," Louis said, still smiling, "I owe Joanne for setting me up with Bob."
"She did? How, and what's so special about it that it warrants a favor?"
"Back in those days Bob and I were both working for the school newspaper. Bob was the head of the editorial office while I was one of the reporters; mostly focusing on the sports. That's where I met Joanne by the way. She had, what we all thought then, a relationship with the quarterback of our team. Now I know it was just a very close friendship. Anyway, the thing was, Jo spent a lot of time with him and his friends. I spent time with Joanne, I got to know the sports guys, and because they knew me, they talked to me in interviews as well. As I said, after some time, Joanne and I got involved, but it didn't work out."
"And Bob fits into this, how?" Terry wondered.
"By me hating his guts," Louis said with a grin. "He turned down about half of the stories I wrote and refused to run them in the paper. I thought he did so because he thought they weren't good enough, and yes, I admit that I had a big ego back then and just knew the stories were perfect."
"And this has changed now... how?" Joanne asked with a grin.
"Shut up you; I'm not talking to you," Louis said with a wink.
"I assume that there was more to it though?" Terry asked, interested by the story and wanting to know the rest.
"You could say that. After Joanne and I decided that we should just be friends, she happened to go to a party with Bob. Bob drank more than he should have and started to say things he probably didn't want to say."
Louis smiled, having heard two versions of the events, one from Joanne and one from Bob. "The poor guy was miserable and cried out that he was hopelessly in love with me."
Suddenly Louis interrupted her own story. "Did you ever see her drunk, really drunk I mean?"
"I can't say I have," Terry said honestly. "But she did tell me that there were times in her 'young days' when she had gone on a boozing quest, as she called it."
"Well, just remember, even if she is so drunk that she falls flat on her ass, she remembers every damn word that is said," Louis warned with a smile. "Bob's different. He forgets everything, which is why he doesn't indulge often. He remembered nothing of that night of drinking and Joanne thought it might be for the best. A week later, Joanne invited me out for dinner, telling me that she had a surprise for me. She took me to dinner in a fancy restaurant. It was wonderful, and I have to admit that for a moment I thought that Joanne was trying to restart the lover part in our friendship. That is until a second person she had invited came walking in; Bob. By that time Bob and I hardly even spoke anymore, so we both sat there sulking while Joanne chatted away like nothing was going on. She brought the focus to my stories and I was surprised to hear that Bob complimented me on quite a few of them. So finally, I just asked him that if he really thought they were that good, why did he turn them down all the time?"
"So why did he?" Terry wondered.
"Because he didn't think they were bad, he thought they were good; too good. Every time he turned down a story I was pissed so I never asked just why he had turned it down, and in that anger I also never noticed that the guy was too nervous to start a normal conversation with me on other things. But this time I finally saw that nervousness and this time I finally asked him why, instead of just storming off. I was floored when he told me that they were too deep for a school newspaper. As a normal reporter they would be perfect, but for a school newspaper he had to think about the people that gave that story and still had to stay at school and finish it. It seems that I had a way of connecting with people that made them tell me more than they might really want to. If Bob had really printed the things some of those students had told me in a private conversation, he would have turned their lives into a living hell. I never thought of it that way; I just thought about a story of mine being rejected, again, while I knew for sure that it was an excellent story. Just like the other story before it that had been rejected had been a good story. He still does that today, mind you. Well, not rejecting stories since I happen to be the boss. What I mean is that before shows on sensitive subjects, he says things to me like, 'remember, that boy still has to go home and live with his parents'. More is not needed these days because now I know why he says it."
Louis lowered her eyes for a moment before looking back up with a somewhat sheepish expression. "That admission forced me to take a second look at some of my stories, and I had to agree that I could see his point, and that on its turn forced me to take a second look at the boy. I had always seen the pompous editor that rejected my stories; I had never seen the boy that cared so much about others that he was willing to sacrifice a story to keep the life of someone else normal. We started to talk, normally this time, and I realized that, damn, I really liked this guy. Joanne knew that her job was done so she excused herself for a moment to go to the bathroom. Well, we never saw her again that night. But I sure saw Bob that night, if you know what I mean. We've been together every day from then on."
"And every day for the rest of your life from now on as well," a man said as he closed his arms around Louis from behind and placed a quick kiss on her neck.
"I'm counting on it," Louis said as she placed her hands on those of her husband. "So what are you doing here? I just told Joanne that you do all the bossing around for me, so why aren't you bossing?"
"I saw you on camera 5, and I'll always make a few minutes of free time to say hi to Joanne."
"Hey, don't I rate a few minutes of free time as well?" Louis turned slightly in his arms so that she could look at him.
"Honey, for you a few minutes wouldn't suffice."
"Oh, good answer," Louis said before finally stepping out of Bob's embrace. "Then how about you make a few minutes of time to also say hi to Terry; Joanne's partner."
"You're kidding?" Bob asked amazed.
"Nope, I staked my claim and she's all mine now," Terry said with a grin. She really liked these people, just as she had liked most friends Joanne had introduced her to.
Bob first shook Terry's hand before taking Joanne in a tight hug. "Congratulations. It's about time you found someone."
"She actually found me, along the road," Joanne corrected. "My car broke down and Terry stopped and offered me a ride. The rest is, as they say, history."
"Hmm, how about later you fill in a little more details than that, but right now we only have 45 minutes left before we go live. So, speak, you said you needed a favor?"
"Yes. I read online that tonight your subject is about the UFO's, right? I would like to be on that show if it's in any way possible."
Bob took a deep breath and let it out again before saying, "Oh, man, you really are asking for a big favor there. It would mean rearranging the entire show in less than an hour. Can't this wait until next week or so?"
"No, because today is the first time you've actually had the subject."
"Yeah," Bob agreed. "I know that pretty much every other show beat us to it, but we decided to wait until today to start the new format off with it."
"Which means a lot of viewers today because finally you have the subject as well, and they also want to see the new format you mentioned," Joanne pointed out. "If you were to have the subject again next week people will find other things to watch."
"Well, if we were able to manage getting you on, which point would you represent?" Bob asked hesitantly.
Joanne chuckled. "Bob, how long have you known me again? Guess which point I would represent."
"The E.T. phone home, point?"
Joanne grinned. "Good guess."
"Well, see, the thing is, we already have our guests set up and..." Bob stopped talking when Louis put her arm around his middle and spoke up.
"You know, I think we can manage it. Bob, you agreed with me that that supporter left much to be desired, but that he was the best recognized expert we could find that has name familiarity. How about we kick him out and put Joanne on instead? She might not have some doctorate in her corner, but you know as well as I do that she can make mincemeat from most people in a debate, if she really wants to. I mean, besides the fact that we really do owe her, objectively I think it would provide us with a better show."
"I guess you have a point," Bob relented before looking at Joanne. "Alright, you're on; which means that you have to be in make-up right about... now. Louis can show you the way, since she was supposed to be there five minutes ago."
Those last words were said to Louis while Bob made a shooing motion with his hands.
Seconds later Bob and Terry were standing alone and Terry didn't really know what to do next. "You're welcome in the control room if you want," Bob offered. "But if you want to stay down here I can show you to a seat."
"I would rather stay here, if you don't mind."
"I don't mind at all, and I also fully understand. If it were up to me I would stay as close as possible to Louis, but I have to be up there. And talking about that, let me show you to your seat; I really have to get going."
~~~~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~~~~
The show was a great success. In the beginning, the public in the studio were more for the 'against' person, but as the show went on Joanne was able to use common logic and counter arguments to sway the opinion and the show ended with even the 'against' expert agreeing that she had some valid points.
After the show the four of them went out for a long dinner in which old stories were relived for Terry's sake, and the brunette ended up, more than once, with her sides hurting from the laughter. Questions towards Terry were answered by giving the same story Terry had given Joanne in the beginning, and once again Terry was proven right. Give a whole lot of your story right away and people don't ask for much detail. The only change made to the story was that Terry said that now that she had met Joanne, she had stopped trucking for the moment to see if things worked out between them. She told them that for now she was happy to take a little vacation and do nothing, but eventually she would probably find some local trucking she could do.
Eventually the time came to say goodbye and Joanne and Terry headed back home. Once they arrived there, though, they saw two black cars standing in the driveway. Joanne lifted her eyebrows when she saw the governmental number plates.
"My, they didn't waste any time. I was sure that I would have to find a few more places to be heard before they showed up."
"Maybe it's because it was a nationwide show," Terry suggested.
"Might be," Joanne agreed. "Well, sitting here won't get anything done. Let's go meet our guests."
They got out and entered the house. Once in the living room they saw four men and a woman standing around, clearly waiting for them. One didn't have to guess as to who the one in charge was. Three of the men and the woman radiated the guard look so much that they might as well have been wearing jackets with the word 'security' printed on them. The forth man looked totally different though. He was very skinny and about six feet tall. He had a thin pair of glasses set far forward on his nose, and he was holding on to a black briefcase as if his life depended on it.
"Good evening," Joanne said with a slightly amused tone of voice. "I'm glad to see that you were able to make yourself comfortable in my house."
"I thought that you wouldn't mind," the thin man said.
"Oh, but I do mind. But since that really doesn't make a difference, would you mind explaining to me just what exactly you are actually doing in my house?"
"We were waiting for you, obviously." The man flashed an ID at Joanne. "I'm Frank Mint; NSA. Mind if I sit down?"
"Please do," Joanne said as she pointed to the chair, knowing only too well that the man had probably been sitting there before anyway. Joanne sat down on the couch while Terry chose to stand behind it. The brunette had noticed that the guards had taken positions that were a little too strategically placed for her liking.
"You don't really seem surprised to see us," Frank noted.
"I'm not," Joanne agreed. "In fact, I was expecting you, well, someone anyway. Though I have to admit that I thought that I would have to speak up a lot more to get some attention."
"We like to make sure that irrational ideas don't get too much attention."
Joanne chuckled. "Irrational ideas huh? Then what would you say if I told you that I have proof that not all of my ideas are irrational? But before we go there, how about them?"
Joanne indicated the four guards with a wave of her hand. "Are they allowed to hear what I might have to tell you?"
"They're job deaf; meaning that they only hear what I tell them to hear. Why? Do you really think that you have anything interesting to say? Anything we don't already know?"
"Oh yeah," Joanne assured before starting to mention a few things. Though she didn't show it, Joanne was amused to see that the supposedly deaf guards started to get more and more nervous.
'I have a feeling that Terry will have to handle them,' she thought, not at all realizing just how much she had come to rely on the woman she loved. She looked over her shoulder at the brunette and was certain that Terry knew the same thing. After what Joanne had just told the man, she was certain that they would try to take them into custody to ask a few more questions in a not so friendly setting, at the very least.
"So you see, there's more going on here than you ever thought, but the short story is that humans, more advanced than us, but descended from the same ancestors as us, are here to save the world."
"You have a lot of words, but no proof. Besides, if they really are that advanced and so powerful that they could take over the world if they wanted to, how come one of their ships was brought down by a single sidewinder rocket?"
Joanne shook her head. "That wasn't one of their ships. I know, I know, good excuse, right? But the fact is that all the evidence we have is the government saying that they shot down one of their ships. I say it didn't happen, and neither one of us can prove that we're right... unless you have the wreckage of the ship? No, didn't think so. If you ask me, that whole story was just thought up to tell people 'don't worry, we can handle them'. Well, let me tell you; you can't. One way or another, Earth will be protected against the Bundar. I just hope that Earth can be persuaded to help in the fight. I think..."
"I think," Frank interrupted, "That it would be best if you two were to come with me for a few questions." At his last word the four guards started to move, but so did Terry.
It happened so fast that Joanne didn't even see it all, but moments later the four guards were lying on the floor. Two of the three men were unconscious while the last male guard and the woman were clutching their groins. Joanne cringed. It was so known that you could take out a man like that, but most people forgot that you could also take out a woman like that if you used enough force.
"That's, gotta hurt."
Terry took a moment to unarm the guards and put the guns safely out of reach. Frank started to move, but Joanne suggested that he stay seated.
"So you don't think they have the weapons to take Earth against its will if they really wanted to? Alright, just for sake of argument, let's say that they have nothing but handguns. But you know what? They have other weapons as well; you just saw one of them. Every single one of them is trained in martial arts. And let me tell you something else. They have a training we could only dream of. Every single one of them would follow an order no matter what, even if they know upfront that it will kill them. You see where I'm going? They'll go into a battle no matter what, even if they know they're going to die, and on top of that they will literally fight to their last breath. As you just saw, Terry took out four of your trained guards; and she had to be careful that she wouldn't accidentally kill them, and therefore couldn't go all out. And she's just a regular soldier in their army."
"She is one of them?" Frank asked in a whisper as he looked at Terry, his eyes clearly getting wider.
"Yes she is; I told you they are humans, just like us. I also told you about their class system. Terry is, as I said, just a regular soldier. Every single police member is more than capable of taking on someone in their army, and every single black troop member is once again more than capable of taking on anyone in their police. So are you starting to see just what kind of fighting force you would be taking on?"
Frank snorted. "And you seem to forget that you're talking of taking on the U.S. Army, I think we're capable of defending ourselves pretty damn good."
"I'm not denying that the U.S. army is one of the best," Joanne partially agreed. "The thing is, that it's one of the best... on Earth. Terry's people are as good as any specialized troops in the U.S. Army, but they have much greater numbers. I have been on their ships; I know how many there are. In total there are over 300 million people on those ships. 300 million, all of which are trained better, and most even much better, than a soldier here on Earth would be trained. But let's pretend that all of them are only as good as Terry here, which is 'just' a soldier. Let's pretend that we would bring 300 million soldiers into the U.S. That's pretty much one of them for every one American; think you can handle that?"
"You throw big numbers around, but don't have a single piece of proof," Frank pointed out.
"You know, you're absolutely right. For all you know I could be the next nutcase in line and I'm just telling my version of 'I have been abducted by aliens'. I'm pretty sure that with people now knowing for sure that there is life out there, that claims of meeting aliens must have risen a staggering amount. And now you even have to check out those stories. Tell you what, since I do think you have a point, I'll give you some evidence tomorrow. Why don't you make sure you have control over the Hubble telescope tomorrow at noon, this time zone, and then point it at mars? I'll make sure that you can see the fleet there then. This will also give you an impression about the fact that I'm telling the truth when I say that there are 300 million of them, simply by guessing how many people could live in ships of those sizes. And just to give you some more proof, this time about their weapons, let me give you some GPS coordinates."
Joanne did so before continuing. "I just happen to know that the army has an ammunitions bunker system there, and that it's not in use at the moment."
"How do you know that?" Frank interrupted.
Joanne chuckled. "You really don't think that the only thing those ships did until now is take in the scenery, did you? There are sensors on those scout ships that have been flying all over Earth. Tomorrow, also at noon, one of their scout ships will open fire on the bunker system; let's see what we have left once that has happened. Then, tomorrow evening, you can come by and we'll talk again."
"You really don't think that we'll just leave here like that, do you?"
Joanne sighed. "Do me, and especially yourself, a favor alright? Stop the big talk while you still can. There really are only two options here, considering all that I claim to know. Either I really am a lunatic who is making everything up, in which case you don't need to worry about me. Or I'm actually right and I really have been chosen as the middle person between the two factions, in which case you might want to think about how you want to start things off. Do you really want to start this contact off by arresting the person that's talking for them? And since we are on the subject; it's the same with the bugs and cameras you installed. Either it will show you nothing, or you'll be spying on the contact person. Tell me, how do you think they'll like that if they find that out? So why don't you do us both a favor and remove those things again? And just in case you think of accidentally 'forgetting' a few, I'll have the whole house checked by them, and believe me; they have the technology to find your toys."
Frank lifted his eyebrows and then saw at Joanne's little grin that his reaction had proven Joanne correct. He nodded his head and, despite the situation, had to grin for a second as well. "Tomorrow is time enough for the rest, but the people I report to will probably want a few more answers, so let's pretend that you are really right, for a minute."
"Let's pretend," Joanne agreed.
"If there are really 300 million of them, where would you put them? That would, in one second, double the population in America."
"It would, yes, but you don't have to worry about that. They've been living in those ships for generations; those ships are fully self-sustainable. That includes food, water, whatever. The ships will land somewhere where there's room for them to land, say the desert, and a big part of them will continue to stay and live on those ships. For the rest, they will go to other countries in the world. So while, theoretically, yes, the population in the U.S. will double, in practicality the amount of people on the streets won't change that much... unless it's necessary because they have to occupy, but we're trying to prevent that, right?"
"Still assuming that you're right, right," Frank continued, "Last question, for now, you have this nice talk about them wanting to save the world, but what will they do for us? The promise/threat of we are here to help you save the world will wear thin pretty quick."
Joanne laughed. "That's exactly what I thought. We are here to save you sounds nice for the first three times you hear it; after that it only sounds boring. So what will they bring physically actually, something you can point to, look at, and basically touch? Three things mainly. First is medical knowledge. Because they're humans just like us, their medical knowledge is effective for us as well, and believe me; they are vastly advanced compared to us in that department. Second thing is technological advancements. Again, their level and ours are so far apart that you can hardly compare the two. The third thing is something I call 'Sentient Metal.' It's a very complex thing and it would take a lot of time to explain, but basically it's metal you can have change shape and take on different forms, after it's manufactured."
"Sounds... interesting."
"Sounds like science fiction," Joanne corrected. "But the thing is; science fiction has arrived. One way or another, our lives are going to change. I don't know about you, but I for one would like to embrace the changes and see how they better my life."
"Changes can get you killed," Frank noted.
"Changes also can save your life," Joanne countered. "One hundred years ago, if you had a bad heart, all you could do was die. Now we have open heart surgery, pacemakers, artificial heart valves, and even heart transplants. And as little as one year from now the fear of getting cancer will be eradicated. Diagnosed with cancer? Here, take this pill and call me in the morning."
"So you say."
"So I say," Joanne agreed. "But you'll see soon enough if what I say is true; you will see some of it tomorrow in fact."
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"How did you know they had bugs and cameras installed?" Terry asked some time later after the five people had left.
Joanne shrugged. "They're NSA; it's their thing."
"Do you think they really removed them all?"
"I think so," Joanne assured. "They really have nothing to lose. Either I'm right, in which case they don't want to be proven to have bugged our house. Or I'm proven wrong, in which case all they need to do is visit the house again the next time we're out."
Joanne hesitated as she went over her own words. "Well, they 'are' NSA. I'm pretty sure that they aren't fully gone as in totally gone."
"What do you mean?" Terry asked.
Joanne pointed up at the ceiling. "I mean, just have a spy satellite up there and we can't see it from here, obviously. And when the scans of your ships show that they had a satellite up there... nothing lost since I didn't actually tell them not to keep an eye on us. No, they're still checking the place out in some way, I'm sure. If for nothing more than to see what other people would come over here; to see if some of my nutcase buddies come over so that I can boast about telling the NSA to take a hike. I think that they're still watching the house. But as for the bugs; yeah I think they are gone."
"Alright, in that case, what the hell were you talking about?"
"What the hell?" Joanne asked amused. "I thought you guys didn't do the heaven and hell thing; no religion at all, in fact."
"We don't," Terry agreed with a laugh. "But I'm starting to find that 'hell' and 'god' are words that can be used very effectively. This because they don't really represent the faith angle, but the exclamation angle."
"Like 'what the hell'?" Joanne asked.
"God yes," Terry agreed with a grin before asking more serious, "So, what were you talking about? How do you get the number of 300 million trained people onboard our ships? On top of that, I'm 'just' a soldier? I hate to tell you this, but I'm not 'just' a soldier. I'm a C8. While that's not in the decision making circle, it's still high up, and I got my training according to my position. On top of that as well, I'm good at it. I learned as much as I could, and as good as I possibly could. I would only have gotten more training if I got a higher rank. In fact, it was not that uncommon for me to be the one in front of the class doing the training. So, that in fact leaves quite a big part of the army that is less trained than me, and it leaves in fact all the workers which are all less trained than me."
"Terry, you and I both know that if you really wanted to you could take over Earth against our will; you do have the means for that."
"Of course, but that's not what we are talking about."
"But it is," Joanne disagreed. "Because that part is a fact, I decided to use real and honest numbers, just that I gave them a little different meaning with the rest of what I said. See, the problem is, I had to shock him. I had to give him a number of which he would know that they could never defend against, even if your people were totally untrained. The advanced training angle only made it more daunting to even try to resist. Fact is, there really are 300 million people on those ships. Fact is, every single one of them is trained, in some level, in martial arts. True, not all of them are trained to your level, but as much as I love you, we both know that there are also a lot of people trained much better than you. This compensates for others, so roughly you can say that every army person or higher is as good, or better, trained than you. Lastly, don't underestimate the workers. If there's one thing that our history here on Earth has proven to us, it's that if workers truly want to, they can be a formidable army. And the want angle is covered, because what I said is true, isn't it? Every order of the Council will be followed, even if people know they are going to die?"
"That's true," Terry had to agree. "But what about landing our ships only in America? You know that what we prepared for is different. Yes, the Leader's Council happens to be seated on one of the ships that were chosen to learn English, but we also have entire ships where people speak Russian and have Russian names. The same is true for every other major language on your world. French, Spanish, Chinese, German, you name them, we have it."
"That's why I talked about the ships, and not the people," Joanne explained. "In fact, I clearly stated that you would also leave to go to other countries. See, the thing is, once someone leaves the ship and has to travel for some time, you're going to use your scout ships for the transport, and there, with those speeds, it really doesn't matter if they need to travel 100 miles, or 10,000 miles. But, and this is why I think it's best that those ships are all in one place, you are a community. People travel from mother ship to mother ship as well as traveling to other places on Earth. And there, in one place, you now no longer will need the scout ships. Now traveling from one ship to another will be nothing but a little walk. At worst, if it's from the two ships that are the furthest apart, you just get out the ship and step into one of the gulf carts that have been bought so that people can use them to travel between ships. I think that this gives a lot more freedom for your people to stay that community than having the ships spread all over the world."
"Hmm, you might have a point," Terry agreed.
"Besides," Joanne continued, "we have to build our influence. The U.S. is the most powerful nation on Earth; the only superpower left after the cold war. A lot of countries follow our example. Control the U.S., and show that we really have good intentions and our influence will continue to grow all over the world."
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Continued...