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The Call
Hunt Residence
Keith heard a ringing. He had been up until
He opened his eyes and looked at his ceiling. It was covered with glow-in-the-dark star
constellations that he had put up with his mother when he was younger. He closed his eyes but the phone rang again.
Keith rolled over and reached through his ‘pile’. Keith would usually just pile his wallet,
phone, keys, and loose change next to his clock. While he generally put everything down the
same way nightly, he still had to struggle to find the satellite phone. He finally got it, along with some pennies, and
answered, “Hello?”
Carmen replied on the other end, “Keith, its
Carmen.”
“Carmen?”
Keith had had a crush on Carmen since he first
met her at the pizzeria. He never knew
how to talk to her as anything more than a friend, so he never attempted to
mention it. It was rare they actually
talked on the phone. In fact, the last
time they talked it was about work.
“Keith, have you seen the news? CTF is saying that-”
Keith stopped her, “Shh. This isn’t a safe line, I’ll call you back!” He hung up.
He called her using maximum encryption.
“Carmen, that call only had the standard
128-bit encryption. It could be cracked
in less than a minute! Listen, head to
our place ASAP. We need to talk, OK?”
“I’m sorry, Keith . . . I didn’t know.”
“It’s OK, I only know because of my
folks. Get here soon. This thing is going to blow up fast.”
“OK, I’ll be there in 20.”
They hung up. Keith did not want to deal with this. Why the hell did his parents have to take in
fugitives? Then on the other hand, he
was glad Carmen would visit. He quickly
put on a shirt. It was a black shirt
that said in Neon Purple ‘Neon Turtles’ on the back it said ‘World Tour 2013.’ He put on a pair of jeans and walked
downstairs. Keith knew his parents would
be awake already.
****
When Keith arrived in the kitchen his
parents, sister, and the Millers were all sitting down eating waffles and
bacon. All of them had coffee except
Jared, who had a glass of orange juice and Kara who had milk. They all greeted him.
“Dad,” he asked, “can we talk . . . alone?”
Sarah gave her husband an inquisitive
look. Aaron replied saying, “Sure, Son. Do you want to eat first?”
“No, thanks.”
It was rare for Keith to be urgent about
anything, so Aaron got up and they headed out the front door to talk. “What’s up?”
“Carmen just called me using standard
128-bit encryption; she said, ‘CTF’ and asked if I had seen the news.”
“Carmen?”
“You know, from Tony’s.”
“Yes, I remember Carmen, she’s the orphan
who worked at Tony’s Pizza with you, but why would she be calling about the Millers? That’s why she called, right?”
“She delivered a pizza here yesterday,” said
Keith.
Aaron didn’t know about the pizza, but he had
seen the boxes in the trash earlier. “Did
she see them?”
Keith nodded affirmatively, “She’s on her
way here.”
“HERE!”
“Don’t worry; she was trying to warn me .
. . I think.” Then he said firmly “I know!
She has no way to know about the phone monitors.”
Most people were not aware that for
decades the government had machines listening to all phone signals. Landlines were all bugged at the phone
company. Since the satellite phone
companies mostly existed outside of the
“OK, we can handle this. Thanks, son, you did the right thing.” Aaron smiled and hugged his son.
They went back in and Aaron announced to
the group in the kitchen, “We have a problem.
The CTF might find you; you need to go into hiding.”
Sarah asked, “What happened?”
“Carmen, the pizza girl, she called Keith on
a 128-bit encrypted call this morning and said ‘CTF,’ and asked if he saw the
news.”
“Oh.”
“I don’t understand,” said Michelle.
“We don’t have time, get your stuff. We have a hiding place here,” said Sarah.
Michelle and Jared went upstairs. They quickly packed. As soon as they were done Aaron led them into
the bay of the garage that had been empty when they parked their cars and which
still had Michelle’s SUV.
Aaron asked, “Are you ready?”
Jared shrugged, “For what?”
Aaron took out an old TV remote control. He pressed some buttons as if he was choosing
a channel. All of a sudden, the floor
started to descend.
“Holy crap,” cried Michelle.
They went down about twenty feet and when
they stopped, they faced a steel door as large as the garage door had been. There was a keypad with a thumbpad
on the left side. Aaron typed in a
number and then pressed his thumb against the pad. The door opened to a large underground
tunnel. The walls, ceiling, and roof
were all concrete. On the left side, a
small tunnel went in the direction of the house. There were fluorescent lights down the center
of the tunnel. The tunnel went down and
to the left out of view. Aaron turned to
Michelle, “May I drive?”
Michelle nodded. They all got in her SUV. They drove awhile and then came to a parking
area and a steel door that was shaped like a house door. The tunnel continued out of sight. He parked in one of the spots. There was also an old Jeep parked there. The area had room for 15 cars. They got out.
The door had the same key and thumb pad setup as the previous door. Aaron opened the door and told them, “Make yourselves at home.
Jared, lend me your keys, and I’ll get your van.” Jared handed over his keys with the van key
held out. “I’ll be back. CTF may be here any minute, so I’ll be topside
until we get rid of them. If you get
hungry, there is some food in the kitchen.”
Aaron walked back and got the van. He drove it just inside the large door, then
shut and locked the door. He brought the
elevator back up and parked his BMW in the garage bay. As he shut the garage door, Carmen arrived.
“Carmen, everybody is inside.”
“Mr. Hunt, I’m so sorry about this. I didn’t know about the phones.”
Aaron was not sure how to handle her. He was fairly sure that she meant no harm,
but he needed more information. Aaron
led her in.
They headed to the kitchen where Kara,
Keith, and Sarah were. Sarah had a
laptop out and was typing. “They’ll be
here soon, probably 10 minutes.” Even
though Sarah and Aaron had been out of the FBI, they still had friends that had
got them access to both the FBI and CTF databases.
Aaron motioned for Carmen to sit. They both sat down.
Sarah started, “Tell us everything.”
Carmen took a breath and started, “Last
night I saw the Millers on the news at the Pizzeria. Jake and Melissa were with me. Jake was cooking and watching the soccer
game. The news cut in and showed a
picture of the Millers. It showed their house
and interviewed their neighbors. The
neighbors said they only heard one shot.
Jake was upset that they interrupted the game. Melissa asked me what I thought, and I said I
don’t believe everything I see on TV. I
also said it was interesting there was only one gunshot. Melissa argued that maybe they had
silencers. I asked why two small town
people would have silencers. Then . . .
Jake said I should ask Keith because you both had been in the FBI. I may have blushed and tried to change the
subject. Melissa asked me what was wrong
and if I was friends with Keith. I said ‘of
course,’ and then I left to deliver a pizza.
This morning I called Keith, and that was it. I’m so sorry.
I didn’t know about the phones.”
Aaron asked, “Why did you call?”
“I called because I was worried. It sounds like these people are in trouble for
something they didn’t do.”
Sarah said to Aaron, “We need to tell her.”
Aaron nodded in agreement.
Sarah then explained what had happened. “Listen, Carmen, the Millers did kill the CTF
members, but not how the news reported it.
You see, Jared is an inventor. He
has invented two very important inventions.
One of them is an atomic builder that can change matter. When the CTF tried to invade their house, he
knew they would steal the inventions, and anything else they wanted. They fled to the basement where his lab was
and used the inventions to turn three of the CTF into gold. The other three were scared off. The Millers came here to hide from CTF.”
With disbelief Kara said, “They turned
people into gold?”
Sarah said, “We don’t have time for questions. We’ll talk later.”
Aaron turned to Carmen and said, “They’ll
question you. They probably just want
the invention and are very aware of how the three were killed. I think the best way to play this is by
having you say you called Keith because of Jake’s suggestion.” Sarah nodded in agreement. “Tell them you don’t believe the Millers shot
anybody and explain it like you tried to do with Michelle. The more you push, the more they will want to
end the interrogation. They’re on shaky
ground, and they know it.”
Sarah added, “Can you handle this?”
Carmen nodded. While they waited, Keith tried to break the morbid
silence with a joke. He looked at Carmen
and said, “Did you hear about the two starving zombies in
Carmen shook her head no.
“The first zombie said to the second
zombie, ‘I’m hungry. I hear there are
humans in the subway.’ The second zombie
replied, ‘Mmm, eat flesh.’” When nobody laughed he added, “Get it? Subway – eat flesh?” Finally, he said, “You’ll laugh about it
later.”
When the doorbell rang, Aaron got up to
answer it.
He opened the door. A team of CTF members stood at the door. Aaron said politely, “What can I do for you
gentlemen?”
“We’re here to interview Keith Hunt and
Carmen Lefèvre.”
Aaron asked, “For what reasons?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“They are both minors. One of them is my son, so it is my business. The other is an orphan, so I’ll make it my
business.”
While CTF had a lot more allowances than
law enforcement agencies, they had to preplan and file ahead to do home inspections. It would take over 24 hours to get permission
for a home inspection. In addition, they
needed consent from a judge to do an inspection in a home of a business
executive, current or past government employee, or foreign diplomat. Since the Hunt family ran a business and both
had been FBI agents a judge would have to approve a home inspection and
probably give reasonable cause as to why one was needed. In addition, CTF tended to purposely avoid
those people as they helped the economy and government.
“Sir, we believe they may know the
location of the two fugitives.”
“What fugitives?”
“Michelle and Jared Miller.”
“Why are they fugitives?”
“They killed three CTF members.”
“How did they do that?”
The CTF member paused then said, “This
really is of no relevance. If we have to
we’ll come back with a warrant.”
“It’s Saturday. You won’t be back with a warrant any time
soon. Answer my questions or waste your
day trying to find a judge!”
“The CTF members were shot.”
“With what?”
“With handguns.”
“Really? Witnesses say they only heard one shot. Were they so incompetent that they stood in a
row and were killed by one shot?”
The CTF agent flushed. “The witness must be mistaken.”
Aaron pushed, “Witnesses. Two neighbors heard the
one shot.”
“The three CTF members all saw and heard
the other shots.”
“Really, how many shots were there? I would expect with amateurs such as the Millers
they probably had to shoot more than once per person. How is it that two untrained civilians shot
three trained CTF members?”
“Sir, I don’t know the details. We need to see Miss Lefèvre
and your son, now.”
“One last question, what’s
your name and the name of anybody who will be interviewing.”
“My name is Max Hartwell. I’ll be doing the entire interview alone.”
Aaron waved his finger no. “I am representing their interests and will
also be in the interview.”
“Fine”
Aaron opened the door and pointed them to
the study. Hartwell went into the study
and the rest waited in the foyer. Aaron
went into the kitchen and said, “OK, let’s go, Keith and Carmen.”
The three of them headed into the study, Keith
and Carmen sat on the couch together while Hartwell and Aaron took chairs. Aaron could tell that Hartwell wasn’t good at
questioning. “Have either of you ever
been in contact with Jared Miller or Michelle Miller?”
Keith said, “As in those two killers on
the news? Not me.”
Carmen said, “I’ve never met either of
them.”
Hartwell said to Carmen, “Have you ever talked to them?”
“No”
Hartwell asked, “Why are you visiting
Keith this morning?”
“I came over because I wanted to ask him
what he thought about the news. You see,
I don’t think the Millers shot anybody.
Only one shot was heard. Where
were the other shots? I think CTF is lying
and I came over to ask Keith’s opinion on the subject since his parents were in
the FBI.”
When Carmen mentioned the one shot, Hartwell
glanced over at Aaron. Aaron lifted his eyebrows
as if to say it was an important point.
Hartwell continued, “Why would you call
him so early to talk about the news?”
Aaron interrupted, “Who said anything
about calling?”
Hartwell blushed. “I’m sorry, I meant visit.”
Carmen replied, “I think it’s very
significant that only one shot was fired.
It seems to indicate there is some type of cover-up as to what really
happened that night. You were there. What really happened that night?”
Hartwell was visibly upset by what she
said, “I never said I was there.” Then
after a moment he said, “Did the Millers tell you I was there?”
“No, you did.”
“I said no such thing!”
“Didn’t you? Why are you conducting this interview
alone? Why are the other CTF members out
in the foyer? Whatever happened is so
secret you can’t even share it with them!
It’s obvious that they would send one of the survivors. Who else would be able to spot all the clues?”
“You’re jumping to conclusions.”
“Talking about jumping to conclusions,
what brought you here this
morning? Do you have an illegal tap into
the phone system? You couldn’t have just
been arbitrarily tapping my phone and Keith’s phone. How would you have known we would discuss the
Millers? You must be monitoring all
phone calls!”
“We . . . had a tip that you might know
where the Millers are.”
“Really, who gave you that tip . . . do
you have a name for your listening system?”
Aaron interrupted, “I think you two have
answered enough questions. Hartwell, I
expect you’ll be leaving now.”
Hartwell nodded sheepishly, “I’ll leave
you my number if you think of anything you want to tell us. It’s very important we find these people
before they kill anybody else.” He
handed a card to Carmen and Keith, and then headed into the foyer. The CTF agents left.
Aaron led Keith and Carmen back into the
kitchen.
“Well,” asked Sarah.
“Carmen did great. I hope they’ll leave us alone for now. We just need to monitor their computers to
see if they plan an inspection here.
They’ll probably be watching the house for a while, so the Millers need
to stay where they are. Carmen, would
you like to see the Millers?”
“Sure.”
Aaron said, “OK, let’s all go. We need to talk anyway.”
Kara said, “Talk about what?”
“You’ll see,” said Sarah.
They went into the living room that was to
the right of the kitchen. The living
room had a fireplace set in the wall between the living room and the
kitchen. The back and sidewalls each had
three large windows. The windows were
covered with a thin white curtain that prevented people from seeing in but
allowed the light to come in. The room
had a large entertainment center beside the fireplace. It included a digital TV, a stereo, DVD
player, the latest gaming systems, two speakers, and a subwoofer at the
base. There were two large white couches
that could sit three comfortably but easily four or even five. There were also two reclining chairs and two
glass side tables. The couches and
chairs all faced the entertainment center like a chapel to technology and
entertainment.
Aaron took out his remote and punched in a
number. All of a sudden, the fireplace
started to descend. It stopped one foot
below the floor level. “All aboard,”
said Sarah. They all stepped down and
were able to fit.
Carmen asked, “Is this like the
underground railroad?”
Aaron chuckled, “No, this is more like the
underground space center.”
Carmen said, “Cool!”
Aaron pushed some more buttons and the
covert elevator slowly descended. It
stopped at a small tunnel with fluorescent lights that went a few feet and
ended at a steel door with the same number and thumb-pad. All five of them stepped off into the
tunnel. The elevator automatically
started to ascend. Underneath the
fireplace was a thick steel hydraulic pole that pushed the elevator skyward.
Aaron unlocked the door and opened
it. It opened to a white cement
tunnel. They walked through and he closed
and locked it. The walls were white
concrete and the tunnel was lit by more fluorescent ceiling lights. They walked to the end of the tunnel, which
opened to the larger tunnel where Jared’s van was still parked.
Aaron said, “It’s a bit of a ways, so let’s
all get in. It will be cramped but we
can manage.”
Sarah and Aaron sat in the front. The teens sat on the floor in the back. Aaron drove down the tunnel and parked beside
the SUV. They all got out and Aaron
opened the door. Through the steel door
was a small utilitarian room. It was
still white cement and fluorescent lights.
On the sides were tall shelves with crates of all sizes. The wall opposite where they came in had two
small windowed gun turrets like the ones from bunkers in the world wars. Between the windows was a heavy iron
door. Sarah and Aaron pulled on it, and
it slowly creaked open. There was a
small anti-chamber and then a wooden door.
Sarah opened the door and yelled, “Honey, we’re home.”
The Millers came to the door and greeted
everybody. Aaron handed Jared back his
keys. “Carmen did great, and I think she
almost made the CTF guy sweat! Let’s
talk in the meeting room.”
They walked inside and down a long
hall. The inside was a lot like an
office. The floor was covered with one
of those multi-colored bright carpets that could make you dizzy if you stared
at it too long. The walls were painted
blue with white patches similar to clouds.
The ceiling was tiled. There were
lights covered with white glass fixtures lining both sides of the wall. There were wooden doors on both sides of the
walls. Some of the doors had placards on
them saying things like fitness center, electrical room, and food
supplies. As they walked, Carmen asked,
“What is this place?”
Sarah explained, “This is our luxury
Carmen smiled, “Yes, completely.”
Sarah continued, “While the facilities are
used to hide people, they also allow them to continue business as usual. So for example, we had a tech mogul whose
company was relocating to
Michelle asked, “Why were they hiding?”
Aaron explained, “Many of our clients are
considered the nation’s elite. As soon as
any try to flee the country Bradshaw has CTF bully them to try to get them to
stay. Some of the people they have
bullied . . . who were not under our protection I might add . . . were shot and
later called terrorists.”
Carmen asked, “Is that what happened to
Paul Boylston?”
Paul Boylston was considered an economic
leader throughout the preceding decade.
He was in charge of one of the largest mutual fund companies ever
created. When news broke that he was
moving to
Sarah said, “Yes. He was considered a threat and dealt with. The saddest part is that after he was shot it
was later found that he had raised the funds to protect hundreds of Arabs who
had been displaced by the same group he was claimed to be a member of! CTF claimed it had just been part of his
cover.”
They arrived at a door marked ‘Conference Room
C’. They went in. It was a rectangular room with a white board,
an oval table, a computer, and a projector that pointed towards a
painting. Above the painting was a
screen that could be dropped down. The
table was surrounded by black upholstered executive chairs.
Aaron said, “Jared, can you demonstrate
your builders?”
Jared said, “Sure thing. I’ll get one.” A few minutes later he returned with a
builder. He touched the atomic builder’s
screen a few times and then said, “All set.
I have programmed it to make a small ball of nickel.” He pointed it at the floor and pressed a
button on the screen. A small ball of
nickel appeared. It was about one inch
thick. He handed it to Aaron. Aaron looked, then
passed it along to his wife. When the
ball had been inspected by everybody, it was put on the table.
Carmen asked, “How does it work?”
Jared explained the whole process
again. When Jared was done Carmen said,
“I’d like to see the programming later.”
Jared said, “Sure.”
Kara asked, “So what’s the significance of
this? If we can build anything out of
anything, we could make a fortune.”
Keith asked, “Can you make me some
skateboards with that?”
Aaron said, “It’s not a toy. The world would change drastically if this
technology got released. This would put
anybody who built, sold, or cultivated out of work. The only jobs left would be in research and
service. It’s hard to say what it would
do to the economy, but if the technology was kept within a monopolistic control
untold horrors would come to pass.”
Keith said sarcastically, “Untold
horrors?”
Jared said, “What your father says is
true. This is the communist’s
dream. The working population would
quickly be reduced. Goods would lose their
value. At the same time, the remaining
jobs would become highly competitive. If
the cost of the goods made by builders is too high, then the people out of work
will be left behind.”
Carmen said, “So what will you do with the
technology?”
Sarah said, “Maybe first we should see the
other invention.”
Kara asked, “Which is?”
“How about a
demonstration? For this, we need
to go to my van.”
They all headed back out to the parking
area. Jared opened up the back doors and
lowered the loading ramp. “Aaron, can
you help me with this?” They pushed the
ball down the ramp very carefully. At
the bottom, Jared uncovered it. There
was a small door that would barely allow an adult to fit through. The ball was made of steel and had several
holes in it the size of tennis balls.
“Anybody want to test drive?” Jared said, “OK, I need everybody to stand on
the sides. What ever you do, don’t get
in front of it or behind it. Stay here:
I’ll be back in ten minutes. Don’t get
in or near the path during that time.”
Kara asked, “Where are you going?”
Aaron hushed her. Jared pulled at the door. It swung open. As it opened a mass of lights came on
inside. He climbed in and shut the door
from the inside. Aaron motioned them to
back up some more. Some noise, like the
sound of jet engines, started coming from the ball. Suddenly the ball rolled. The holes in the rear had jets of flame. The ball rolled so quickly that it
disappeared within two seconds. As the
ball had rolled down the tunnel, it looked like a blur of motion and fire.
Michelle said, “That fool better not land
in a wall.”
They waited ten minutes. Suddenly the ball re-appeared at an
astonishing speed in the same direction it had been going. It stopped as quickly as it had started. The door was on the top and it rolled a bit
very slowly so that the door was at a reasonable position to exit from. The door opened and Jared stepped out. He looked very disoriented and stumbled. After he regained his balance and direction,
he turned to the group and bowed.
He walked back to the group and showed
them his watch, which was ten minutes behind.
Michelle said, “He keeps his watch to the time we get from the satellite
phones. Either he changed it . . . or he
traveled through time.”
Carmen asked, “That’s incredible. How does it work?”
Jared explained, “Traveling forward is
fairly easy. You see, this ball is a
perfect sphere with the exception of the holes.
Inside the holes are jets that are used to propel the craft at a very
high speed. The jets in the rear are on
while all the other jets are off, unless the craft needs some stability on the
sides. As the ball rolls, the jets on
the top turn off and the jets on the bottom come on. When stopping, the jets in the front are on
to stop the craft. The ball travels so
fast that it travels forward through time.
Once it gets fast enough so it is no longer visible, it ceases to have a
specific time in which it exists. That
is when I set a time. The ball hones in
on that time and it lands.”
Carmen said awestruck, “It’s amazing.”
Aaron said, “Let’s secure the time machine
and continue with the meeting.”
Aaron and Jared rolled it back towards the
van and placed it next to the van in a parking space. They covered it back up. Jared closed the van.
Keith said, “Let’s get a sign that says, ‘This
spot reserved for time machines!’”
Everybody laughed.
They headed back into the meeting
room. Carmen asked, “So you have two
monumental inventions. Where do we go
from here?”
Aaron said, “We want to form a colony set
apart from the world. We want to protect
the world from people like Hitler, Stalin, and Bradshaw by stopping them before
they do their damage.”
Keith asked, “Is that possible?”
Jared said, “We can change time. We know that much from tests.”
Kara asked, “Why a colony? What kind of colony?”
Aaron explained, “First we need to protect
these inventions. While the builder
would probably do damage, the time machine would allow people to destroy entire
civilizations. We can’t let that
technology into the world. It’s too
dangerous.”
Kara countered, “What makes us so morally
superior?”
Aaron shrugged. “Maybe we aren’t, but we aren’t morally
bankrupt. It’s those people that will do
anything to get their hands on this technology so they can gain more of
whatever they want. What we want is to
help the future.”
Keith asked, “What’s the other reason or
reasons?”
Sarah explained, “The other reason is so
we don’t pollute our own time line. If I
understand it correctly, we can’t change our future. We have to be uninvolved. If we went back and prevented a war from
starting, but that war, for whatever reason, kept us alive, we couldn’t undo
the war. Specifically, if without the
war the person would have a car accident and die, they would never be able to
prevent the war. Keeping us separate
will maximize our ability to make time changes.
The intention is for civilization to improve, but with the good will
come some bad.”
Carmen asked, “How do you stop a war if it
never happened in your timeline?”
Jared smiled, “Very good. You have to leave a note for yourself.”
Keith laughed. Everybody looked at him and he said, “Dear Self,
don’t forget to go back in time and stop a war, yours truly, Self.”
Aaron shook his head.
Sarah said, “Keith and Kara, you’re almost
adults now. We won’t force you to go
with us. It will be a huge sacrifice
with little pay-off . . . besides the benefits we get from the builders. Your social lives . . . and possibly future
spouses will be from a limited selection.
Can you live with that?”
Aaron said, “Don’t decide now. Think it over. This is very important.”
Carmen asked, “Can I go too?”
Michelle said, “Do you want to go?”
“Yes, very much! This is a one-time historical opportunity; I
don’t want to miss it.”
Jared said, “Why don’t you think about it
some more. If you still decide to, then
I say yes.”
Michelle nodded her head in agreement.
Sarah said, “The more the merrier.”
Aaron said, “I hoped you would want
to. You’re smart and we need that.”
Carmen said, “I’ll give it some more
thought . . . but I’m pretty sure the answer will still be yes.”
Kara said, “So who else will be going?”
Her father answered, “We haven’t decided
yet.”
Jared said, “Actually, I have thought some
about it. We don’t want too many people because it could cause us
to be exposed. To last multiple
generations we need at least four
couples who will have at least two children each. To be honest, Michelle and I have never tried
having children, so we might not be able to.
I’m getting ahead of myself though. The reason for the minimum is to prevent
intermarriage further down the road. In
the end it’s almost inevitable, but with four couples with two children each we
can be assured that nobody will need to marry a person one or two generations
apart. Outside of monarchies, there has
been very little research into . . . the effect of incest. We know the main issue at hand is recessive
genes. If two siblings mated, there
would be about 75% genetic differences between the two. With second generation, cousins, it’s not as
bad but still dangerous, especially with such a small colony. Therefore, we need four couples. Unfortunately, though, four still might be
too few. The first generation, our children,
would have a decent choice of spouses.
However, if each couple decides to only have two children there will be
at most two possible mates for each of . . . our grandchildren. So we should try for six couples. In addition, we can’t accept anybody with
genetic defects. We shouldn’t bother
with any couples who are without children as they might not be capable. This brings me back to Michelle and me. We’ve never tried. However, if Carmen goes with us we would only
need one more child. We could
technically get away with a clone.”
Michelle exclaimed excitedly, “Oh, my gosh, we’re going to have kids!” Jared smiled and hugged her.
Kara said, “Wow. So in a way you really do need us?”
Sarah said, “We love you both and
certainly want and need you in our lives.
But like I said before, it’s your decision and you have to make it. Please don’t feel pressured. If we have to we’ll adopt, or get another
couple.”
Aaron said, “We must decide what
professionals we need. For example we need a doctor.”
Jared joked, “Oh, wait; we need a
mathematician . . . just in case we need an expert to lecture us on Chaos Theory
when things go bad!”
Aaron laughed, “I don’t think so.”
Sarah asked, “Isn’t Jared a doctor?”
Jared replied, “I’m only a doctor because
I have a doctorate. I am not a medical
doctor, nor do I wish to be.”
Sarah said, “OK, so we need a doctor. Don’t we need a biologist too?”
Jared said, “I think so. To create a biosphere we need plants and
animals. I don’t know much about
biologists, but we might need both a plant and an animal biologist!”
Aaron added, “We need a hacker.”
Michelle asked astonished, “A hacker? Won’t they do more harm than good?”
Aaron said, “Actually many hackers have a
high moral code and want the
government to improve.”
Michelle persisted, “Why do we want a hacker?”
Aaron made an evil smile and said, “For
hacking. When we decide to make a change,
we may need information that we can only get by hacking. Also the hacker needs to be able to adapt
because the time changes will change technology.”
Jared said, “We need a programmer. I can program, but I’m not good at it. For all I know my hydrogen bug is a problem
with the software!”
Jared said, “Well, I think that’s all we
need to discuss. Keep thinking about
what type of people we need and anybody you know or know of.”
Aaron said, “Sounds good to me.” The meeting adjourned.
Copyright (C) 1998-2001 East Coast Games, Inc. and 2001 - 2006 Forest J. Handford
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