"You will find in your computers," the General
answered, "a set of files that say 'Emergency Frequencies.'
The code to open those files is 'Hallelujah break your neck!'
Activate those frequencies and you will have tellemitry!"
The General walked over to one young operator and looked down at
his console. "You're recording these proceedings," the
General snapped. "No recordings are ever to be made when I'm
on these premesis!"
The young man looked startled. "I'm sorry, sir!" he
snapped. "I thought I shut that down! I guarantee you, sir,
anything that has been recorded will be destroyed , if I must
pull the hard drive and incinerate it myself."
"Very good!" the General snapped. "Make sure it's
done, son!" He nodded to the army Captain and he came over.
"Get going!" he snapped, "And in the name of The
Gods, don't miss!"
"Have I ever?" the army Captain asked.
"I don't want there to be a first time!" the General
answered.
The captain disappeared and Major West jumped. The marine Major
giggled. "We should warn you when we do that!" she
remarked. "We can move at the speed of light."
The Major stared at the woman for a moment. "Are you really
a goddess?" she asked.
"I'm still worshipped some places," the woman answered,
"though it's not something we really encourage. It's hard
sometimes, to break people of old habits!"
The Major busied herself monitoring operations. The hours passed
too quickly. The sea planes got air borne, got to the island, but
had trouble making the people understand they had to leave. But
they were finally air borne. They would be outside the circle at
the appropriate time. The sub got the ship's crew but they too,
were delayed. It was getting close to the time the General had
set when he walked over to the marine Major. "I'm concerned
about that sub," he remarked. "Even at maximum depth
they might still receive too much of a jolt. Get out there. Get
in position where you'll block part of the burst that will hit
them. Give them a little bit more protection."
The Major nodded and disappeared. West came over "You look
worried," she remarked.
The General smiled at her. "We're used to fighting as a
team," he answered, "I don't like sending them out
alone. But a Commander has to trust his subordinates. He can't
always be everywhere! Sometimes they have to function by
themselves."
The Major nodded. "Here we go, people!" the General
snapped. "Five, four, three, two, one, NOW!"
All their instruments went crazy for a moment. The main screen
clicked off then came back on.
"Holy cow!" one of the men cried. "That was the
equivalent of a very powerful atomic explosion occuring some ways
outside the atmosphere! That was no meteorite! That would have
had to have been a mass of several hundred thousand tons!"
"Five hundred and seventy six thousand tons!" the
General answered, "A fragment from one of our ships when we
fought the final battle here on Earth. It was blown out into
space and has just now returned."
The man looked up. "Sir! That battle was 500,000 years
ago!"
"Yes," the General answered, "It was! Ladies and
gentlemen, you may reactivate your satellites!"
The General's companion suddenly reappeared. The General looked
at the Captain and remarked "Good throw!" He turned to
Major West and saluted. "The post is yours, Major! Our job
is done! Thank you, everyone!" The Major returned her
salute. "Sir," she remarked, "I've heard sometimes
you send people souveniers, little keepsakes. If you ever have
anything available, sir..."
The General smiled. "See what I can find!" he answered.
Him and his companions disappeared. The Major looked around and
noticed the officer that the General had scolded wasn't at his
post. She looked around for him. A few minutes later he return
with a cart holding a replacement computer and began removing the
one from that station.
The Major went over. "Oh, sorry, ma'am!" the lieutenant
snapped, :"I should've asked your permisison first!"
"You have instructions from a higher rank," the Major
answered. "Carry out those duties and as soon as they are
completed return to your ordinary duties!"
"Yes ma'am!" the lieutenant replied and returned to his
work. The rest of the night was steady routine. The cover story
was that two asteroids had collided over The Pacific at such
velocity that they had caused a magnetic pulse that had done no
real harm. Everyone involved in the incident had been told it had
never happened.
A few days later as the Major was coming on duty the afternoon
man was all grins. "What?" the Major asked. Her
counterpart held out a package.
"Would you mind?" he asked. "We're all
curious!"
Major West opened the package. Inside was a battered G.I. belt.
Its gold buckle still shone brightly, however, though it bore
many scratches. There was a note inside the package that said
"I hope this will do!"
"Oh, yes!" the Major remarked, wrapping the belt around
her hand and carressing the buckle, "Oh, yes!"
"May I?" her counterpart asked. The Major held out the
buckle and he touched it.
"The post is yours!" he remarked. "Wow! He likes
you, Major!" The Major carressed the buckle again. The belt
would soon be in a display case on her mantel. When people asked
who it belonged to she would only answer "An old soldier, a
VERY old soldier!"
THE END
The beginning of knowledge is the discovery of something we do not understand. ( Frank Herbert )