Author's note: In this chapter, and possibly the next, there will be a lot of jumping around between the three system - Sol, Alpha, and Organo. I will try to not confuse anyone too much - especially myself :)

New Neighbors

Chapter 24

Back in Sol

Sally and Cindy continues to talk with each other on a regular basis; as each re-examined the data recovered from the old database copied from AL. Cmdr Thomas, Cindy's father, was busy getting more of his Marines trained, he had a felling that they would be needed soon. John had returned to the Alpha system to continue his research. Sol had been quiet for awhile, ever since the last attack that had occurred. The plans that Amy had left behind, the drone rings, had been accomplished and the space docks was doing routine repairs and preventative maintenance on the ships in each area of the system. A few more stray PDF ships had arrived for repairs also. Yes everything was quiet, and that bothered Nate Thomas. He had found that whenever things got quiet and peaceful, bad things tended to happen unexpectedly.

On Earth the UN was trying to deal with the usual problems between the different countries, and at the same time trying to find a way to acquire some more of the advanced technology from the Amyins for their own use. After all they said they were allies why wouldn't they be willing to share some of their knowledge? They had taken troops from Russia, France, England, and the USA and trained and equipped them, but the troops were under the control of the Amyins and the rest of the world was not allowed access to them or the technology. These troops were supposed to be for the defense of the planet if those Lizard men came back. But hadn't they also put a ring of satellites around the Earth and moon to detect an invasion? Although no nation had been able to find a single one of the satellites. Most of the countries were complaining that none of their "centers" was using any local power and therefore the countries were not able to collect any money from them.

Small groups of countries banned together to see if it might not be possible to "take-over" one of the centers and the troops stationed there. China and Japan were willing to overlook their differences and cooperate with each other in order to try and "invade" one of the centers. Most of the middle East countries were also getting together with the same idea for their part of the world, after all they still had plenty of oil - but nobody to sell it to (at least not in a quantity large enough to make money).

All of this "secret" planning didn't go unnoticed by the Secretary General of the UN, who used his direct line to inform the Amyins of the potential problems coming. Sally was the one who had been tasked with monitoring the few people of Earth equipped with the secret transceivers. Sally had never been real aggressive, except in combat, but these groups planning to attack one "her" centers got Sally very upset. So, she requested that a squad of the Marines accompany her to the UN where she would explain a few things to the representatives there, and she had no intention of being nice!

Meanwhile on Mars, Cmdr Thomas had a few minor problems of his own; it seemed that some of the newest recruits sent for training had not been screened as well as usual. His Training Instructors had found a few of the recruits trying to gain access to restricted areas, namely the Alert Hanger - where there was always at least two fighters armed and ready for launch. When questioned, the detainees had finally admitted that they were sent by their governments to acquire what they could of the advanced technology and return it for study by the government. "I guess someone forgot that joining up was a no-return flight" thought Thomas as he waited for the "men" to be brought before him.

Cindy had found what she thought was some old abandoned upgrade ideas in the database and was trying to see why they had been abandoned, with the help of Marcie. From what she could see there was a couple of simple math errors in most of the equations. She would clean them up and send a copy to John in the Alpha system, he was the computer expert.

Alpha System

John wasn't felling very well, that was why he sat in Med Bay waiting his turn to be seen (some things never change). He had had a headache for the past couple of days and now he was hearing voices. Some of the voices seemed to be in the middle of having an orgasm, that was strange enough, but now he was hearing voices that were trying to tell to do things like disable the sensors or the drones, these voices worried him the most. A Med-Tech called his name and John went with him for the preliminary scans that were done on everyone who came to Med Bay. After telling the tech about his complaints, and having them entered into the chart, John was surprised when "Doc" took him before someone with an injury. "Doc" talked with him for a few minutes then ordered a couple of specialized scans and instructed the tech to put John in a quiet bed and erect a special shield around him. As soon as the shield was up John's headache got better and the voices stopped.

As he lay there, John remembered something in the last news update from Amy about some sort of telepathy that Jake, Kate, Ted, and herself had been struck with. I hope this doesn't mean we are about to be attacked again, maybe I should inform Jones or Nightwalker. With that thought John tried to contact either one of the two but couldn't, for some reason his comm. unit wasn't working. Wait a minute, the shield!! that might be blocking him out. Just as John was getting out of bed Alexia, the AI for Alpha had chosen that name, appeared beside his bed along with the "Doc".

"Alexia, I think we are about to be attacked! I remember something in Amy's last update about some sort of telepathic attack; now I'm hearing voices. We got to warn Jones and Nightwalker, but my comm. unit won't work." John said very excitedly.

"I will inform Cmdr Jones and Governor Nightwalker of this, but first we need to get you trained in the use of your new mental skill before you can leave the containment field." Alexia said.

"After looking at your scans I contacted Alexia per the new protocol, about you. It seems that like your friends, you are becoming telepathic. I will need to run a very special scan to confirm the strength of your skill and then we, Alexia and I, will instruct you on how to block out the 'voices' and how to utilize your mind better." Doc intoned.

"Also, Amy has requested that you tell nobody about your ability, with the exceptions of Cmdr Jones and Governor Nightwalker. At the present time the enemy is not aware that we have telepaths and we can use this lack of knowledge against them. In fact, Amy and the rest of your friends have already been most successful in using their ability against the enemy. Now you told Doc that some of the voices were trying to get you to disable either the sensors or the drones. That shouldn't be happening as all of the SuLaks are in stasis or in shielded cells in this system. Now if you are ready we will begin the training to help you control what and who you hear." Alexia went on.

It took a couple of hours for the training to be completed. Alexia lowered the shield and John was able to filter out most of the voices - he could still hear some female having a great deal of pain. Just as he mentioned this to Alexia and the "Doc" a woman was brought in missing her left leg and unconscious with pain and sedatives. While the "Doc" went to take care of the woman Alexia asked John to try and reach out to the woman and calm her mind. It took some effort, but John was able to reach the woman and calm her down, at least on a mental level. After he had her calmed down John told Alexia that the woman had disturbed one of the lizard nests and the mental screams were of fright not pain. Alexia said that as soon as they released him he should meet with Jones and Nightwalker to tell them about what had happened to himself, meanwhile "she" would notify AL, who would tell Amy.

John was released a little later and went to find Jones and Nightwalker. He found them both in Jones' office, it seemed that there had been some unusual things happening. The reptilians that were being held were becoming very agitated suddenly. John asked if all of the SuLaks were accounted for, since they were the ones that could control the reptilians and influence them. When he was told that all of them were either in stasis or shielded, John opened his mind and started scanning for them. He found one! and it appeared to be close to the reptilian compound. As soon as he told Jones and Nightwalker this, even though they found it hard to believe, Jones sent word to the troops in that area to look for this being. It was a couple of hours later when John was called to meet with Jones and Nightwalker. Jones informed John that the SuLak had been found but they had to kill him as he turned several of the troops against the rest. There were several "men" in Med Bay now as a result of this attack. John suggested that the ones who were turned be evaluated very closely to see if they were just good candidates for control or had been influenced further and remained a threat.

Once John got back to his lab, he found a message from Cindy with the abandoned updates she thought she had found in the old AL database. He would look at those later, right now he had an idea he wanted to try out. Even though he had just spent some time with his sister and Cindy he was feeling a little lonely and his hormones were getting more active. Now there was this young lady who he had been watching closely and trying to get up the courage to approach. Maybe he use this new skill to his personal advantage, or would that be wrong?  John scanned for the girl, there were a lot of "voices" out there to shift through though and they didn't always sound the same as the person. He had noticed that earlier with Jones by accidentally "listening" to Jones' thoughts. John tried for about an hour before giving up on separating the "voices" out to determine who was who, he didn't locate his target.

Sol System

Sally had made up her mind, she had the AI alter her combat suit's audio output to match Ted's voice. That way the UN wouldn't know  it wasn't him. She and a squad of six Marines in combat armor boarded a shuttle and headed to Earth. It would take about an hour since she was taking her time and was not cloaked, she wanted Earth to know someone was coming. The shuttle was about halfway to Earth when she was contacted by the President of the US to tell her that they had an object on course with Earth and they were concerned. Sally replied that the object was friendly and that it would not be wise to fire at it. She landed the shuttle right outside the UN, in the usual place. When the shuttle opened, out stepped seven suits of armor; three on each side and one smaller in the middle. The group walked straight towards the entrance where they were met by security and asked to state their business. Sally just told them to move, in no uncertain terms, and continued her trip to the main meeting hall. Her entrance caused a stir in the chamber as she walked up to the main podium.

"Mr. Secretary, I am here to address a growing problem that we have noticed. There are some people here who are planning to try and capture one of our centers. There also seems to be some disharmony among some of the members about which countries were asked to provide troops for the protection of Earth. I would like to address the whole assembly regarding these situations." Sally said, but sounded like Ted.

The secretary had expected some kind of reply but for one of the Amyins to show up in person so quickly was a shock, and this was only the second time that he had brought weapons into the assembly hall. Never the less, he was here now and the Secretary had the up most respect for this one. In his ear he heard "I'm sorry to barge in like this, but this could be serious. I hope I didn't upset you." The Secretary just shook his head slightly, then called the hall to order. "All of the representatives are not present at this time, if you had told us you were coming we could have been ready." the Secretary said.

"I understand Mr. Secretary, but my time is limited. I must get back to a battle very quickly. I will give you two hours to gather all the representatives you can manage here. That will also give your news people a chance to make arrangements for a broadcast of my statements." Sally said. With that she turned and walked out of the hall with her escort.

Two hours later to the minute Sally once again walked up to the podium. She acknowledged the Secretary and started to speak:

"As I said earlier, we have become aware of some of the people here getting together and planning an attack or take-over of one of the centers we have provided. I will warn you now that any attempt to do so could result in our leaving this planet to be taken over by the ones who invaded last time. If that is what the world wants then that is what you will get. We befriended you and we have been protecting you for some time. Any group that attacks one of the centers or any of the troops will be dealt with harshly. This world is not ready for access to the types of technology that we have available. Your world can't even get along with each other. We would be guilty of genocide if we allowed ANY country on this planet to have our technology. As I understand it the Middle Eastern countries are upset because they can no longer sell their oil and make themselves rich at the expense of the common person. They can no longer contribute to the pollution of the atmosphere, the rape of the land, or the death of this world. The  people of  Japan want to be the leaders in technology again, even if they have to steal or kill to do so. China wants to become a major controlling power on this planet, but the government is so corrupt that they don't even try to take care of their own people. The US and Russia may act like they are friendly towards each other but each is out to get the best of the other. You want more of our technology? Then you will have to prove that you are ready, that you are united for the common good of the whole planet. You will have to do this before you can apply for membership in the alliance we represent." Sally stated and then stood there for a minute to let her speech sink in, world-wide.

"Now, since you want to fight among yourselves, and bite the hand that protects you. I am telling you now that even our young are better able to control this world than your best rulers. Remember, that even though I may be many light years away fighting, there is always someone watching and listening. We have been monitoring you data transmissions for some time and continue to do so, were we not one of the first to respond when the sever weather wrecked part of the Gulf coast here in the US. No other country even offered to help the people affected by that weather. When earthquakes hit South America we were there to get things sorted out and back to normal. Those are just two of the most recent events where we took care of the people. We made a commitment to you that we would protect you and help you. And the thanks we get is covert plans to attack our facilities and your own people, because of your greed and hunger for power. But that ends NOW! " Sally exclaimed.

Sally paused once again, this time to receive a message from Thomas about the poor screening. She replied that she would take care of it immediately. "I apologize, I've just received information that some of the people you sent to be trained were caught trying to steal technology and return it to their government here on Earth. This will not be tolerated any longer. I am assigning one of our young the task of monitoring your behavior and that of recruiting people to help us help you. That person has lived among you without your even knowing it. She will decide, for the time being, what is and is not done here on Earth as far as we are concerned. In fact she is out amongst the people now. So when the young people start to disappear and your hope for the future is reduced, you can blame yourselves. So, to those people in democratic nations I say talk with your representatives and get your governments straightened out. To the people else where, it is up to you to say how your government acts and to convince them of the errors of their behavior. One last item before I leave, the current Secretary General of the UN is not to be removed or replaced as he has our full confidence and support. The country he represents now, needs to send another to represent it here in this assembly. The post of Secretary General is no longer an elected post. It is now a post assigned by us. Do not misunderstand me, he has no power over the Earth except in this body of representatives. I will not take any questions or comments." Sally ended. With that said she left the podium, the hall, and the building.

As Sally and her escort were approaching the shuttle her armor deflected a projectile and two of the escort stopped and scanned the area for the shooter. Once they found the shooter they took off to "arrest" him. Sally and the other four continued on to the shuttle. "We will wait for our other two to return before leaving" Sally told the rest after they were inside. Sally contacted the AI in the closest center to make sure that her speech was broadcast world wide as requested and asked that a data stream of that speech be sent to Thomas for his review, since he was the senior person in charge of this system. It was about an hour later when the two Marines returned with their "guest" on a stretcher. Come to find out he had tried to physically attack one of the Marines and was injured when he contacted the weak shield that surrounded the combat armor at all times. None of the Marines had even activated the real shields here on Earth.

Cmdr Thomas had just sat down to supper with his daughter Cindy when Sally's message came. Cindy seeing it was from Sally thought it was for her and told the computer to play the message. Both Cindy and Nate were surprised when they saw and heard what Sally had done.

"That girl has a real flair for the dramatic. I didn't expect her to do something like that just because of a screening foul up." Nate said when the video ended.

"You have to admit, she really laid it out for the UN and the world. But what was that about attacking one of the centers? That makes no sense, the centers are there to help everyone; plus provide protection in case the Iberians or "Lizard Men" return again." Cindy asked.

"I don't know, why don't you send her a message after supper and find out for me. I'm thinking it is too quiet now and that usually means trouble is coming or else already here somewhere." Nate replied as he continued to eat and occasionally chuckle.

After finishing her supper, Cindy called Sally to find out more about what was going on back on Earth. Sally explained what had been reported by the Secretary General and that there had been a couple of aborted attempts at entering secured areas around some of the centers, she had just learned of these about an hour before. Sally also told Cindy about the attempted attack on herself as she left the UN.

"You told them that one of our young ones would be put in charge of monitoring and dealing with the problem. Who did you mean?" Cindy asked.

"Well, I was left with the job of monitoring the secret transceivers, so I meant myself. I also will, as time allows, go back to Earth and talk with some of the kids and see about recruiting some more people our own age. Of course I'll have to do this carefully and without causing any attention to be drawn to me. But if your dad doesn't think it is a good idea then I won't do it." Sally replied.

"Well dad could hardly eat he was trying so hard to keep from laughing at your announcement. I don't think he will object if you make sure that you have backup close by, in case of emergency. By the way, what did you think about Amy's 'little affliction' that they mentioned in that last update?" Cindy said.

"Oh, I hope I catch the same thing. That would be so cool." Sally replied with a smile.

Their conversation was interrupted by a message that the new "guest" was awake and demanding to speak with someone. Sally said she needed to deal with this "guest" and asked Cindy to get Nate's opinion on her plan as she had explained it. Cindy told her that she would have something soon. They said bye to each other and Sally headed to the Med Bay to see the "guest".

ALPHA System

John was disappointed that he couldn't locate the girl in question, but had noticed something else while he was scanning for her. He had picked up on a very primitive mind somewhere close. While he could not understand everything he read there, he did pick-up on hunger and discomfort. "I wonder who, or what, I was sensing? We know that there is some very primitive life forms here, I wonder if any of them use telepathy to communicate? Now where was I? Oh yea, Marcie said I needed to practice trying to control some people but not to go overboard or be too obvious about it." John thought. John decided to let that wait until in the morning as he was really feeling tired.

SOL

When Sally arrived at Med Bay she went to the secure cell where their new "guest" was being held. She stopped at the entrance and watched the young man pacing up and down the room. He appeared to be about 25 years old, in good physical form, and very nervous. She had the guard on duty lower the shield and entered the room.

"I asked to speak with someone in charge not some snot-nosed kid! Now get out before I throw you out!" the young man said as soon as he saw Sally.

"I am the one in charge on this base. And, unless you want to go back to sleep, I would suggest that you calm down. My name is Sally and the reason you are here is because you tried to shoot one of us and then like an idiot tried to assault someone wearing a combat suit. You are lucky that we don't shoot first and ask questions later. Now what is your name and why did you take a shot at our representative?" Sally asked.

"Well little girl, that is none of your business. Like I said I want to speak with someone in charge, someone who can get me the hell out of here and off this lousy planet!" the young man continued.

Sally smiled and told the guard to get the biggest and meanest looking Marine he could find and have him report here ASAP. The guard saw Sally's smile and just smiled himself and said it would take about five minutes to comply with that request. Sure enough, about six minutes later a huge Marine sergeant appeared outside the room. Sally remembered him as one of Nate's training staff who was on leave here on the moon waiting for transport to Earth for a three-day pass.

"Just so I can call you something, what is your first name?" Sally asked again.

"Mike" was the reply.

"Well Mike, since you want off Earth, you will be happy to know that you have been off Earth for about two hours. And since you probably don't believe me I will have the sergeant here escort us to prove what I say is true. You won't be restrained but if you make the wrong motion he will be happy to put you out of MY misery. Sergeant, if you please, walk with us to the viewing port; and you have my permission to have some fun with Mike if he acts up." Sally said.

The three of them headed towards the viewing port that overlooked the Moon's EVA training site. As they walked along Mike noticed that a lot of people stepped out of the way and nodded to the girl with respect. After they reached the port, Sally had Mike look out and tell her what he saw. Mike looked out and for a few minutes he just stared through the "glass" before saying that it was a nice view, but so what. Anyone could show a film on a wall and most people would think it was real enough.

"What is this supposed to be, Mars?" Mike said.

"No, it's the moon and that is the area where we train some of our volunteers how to use a space suit. If you will look up and to the right you can see Earth in all of it's glory." Sally replied.

"If we are on the moon then why are those people taking off their helmets down there?" Mike asked.

Before Sally could answer the sergeant stepped close and said "Because numb nuts, they are just learning how to wear those suits. That area has an atmosphere right now so they can get used to the way the suits feel and operate in safety. If we were on Mars then I would be the one down there instructing them, except they would be wearing a full combat pack and it would be without any atmosphere. Begging your pardon Captain for interfering."

Just then one of the men on the ground stepped out of his suit completely and took a jump straight up about twenty feet and floated back down. Mike saw this and then said if that area had an atmosphere then he would like to try that himself. Then maybe he might believe some of this. Sally asked the sergeant if he would be kind enough to show Mike to the training area, but to make sure they had emergency equipment handy. The sergeant said he would but he was afraid he would miss his shuttle to Earth. Sally told him she would make sure he got his full four days on Earth, his original three plus a bonus day awarded by her. After they had finished in the training area the sergeant  was to bring Mike to the dinning area to meet with her again. The two men left Sally and headed towards the training area.

It was about an hour later and Sally was getting worried when Mike and the sergeant came into the dinning area. Mike was in a recruit's uniform and was smiling from ear-to-ear and the sergeant was laughing also. When they came to Sally's table Mike snapped to attention and saluted Sally then said "Recruit Sorenson reporting as ordered Captain."

"What is going on here sergeant?" Sally asked.

The sergeant explained that after he had thrown Mike up in the air a few times Mike insisted on being allowed to join up. So he had been taken to see the "head doctor" and had had his induction physical and been issued a recruit's uniform before being brought to meet with Sally. Mike, still standing at attention asked if he could speak. Sally told him and the sergeant to have a seat and relax.

"Thank you Captain. Now I will answer any question that you might have for me. My name is Michael Sorenson, I'm from Iowa and had applied for a chance to join at the center close to me but they said I didn't qualify because I had a record. I'd been just bumming around and ended up in New York. I saw your shuttle land and had an idea, a very bad idea. I stole a rifle and went up on top of that building. After watching you re-enter the UN, I plotted out the best angle to shoot from and not have to worry about anyone getting hurt. I knew that if I shot at your representative at least one of his escorts would come after me. I though that I might be able to subdue him and convince him to bring me to talk with the man in charge. Like I said, very bad idea. I didn't take into account that two guards would come after me." Mike said.

"Yes, that was a very bad idea. One of the guards was a friend of mine and she felt bad that you got hurt when you jumped on her. But if you had tried to shoot at either of them they would not have hesitated to stun you. Now why were you so intent on joining us?" Sally said.

Mike explained that he was tired of all the fighting between countries, the neglect of the common people, and the fact that only the "high and mighty" had any privileges or benefits. He went on to say that there were many people who were fed up with their life on Earth, the way they were treated by the government, the rape of the land and natural resources, not to mention the fact that everyone was fighting everyone else. Sally was impressed, and she could see the sergeant was smiling also.

"Besides, I saw what the after effects of the invasion were. I saw the destruction they caused. The US couldn't do a thing because they had been too busy trying to support the rich and powerful and not looking for way to improve the conditions for the common man. I heard that speech on the radio and that really convinced me that I had to find a way to join even if I died trying." Mike added.

"Well you're here now. And as the sergeant probably explained, he won't be allowed to return to Earth for at least a year after joining us. Welcome aboard. Sergeant would you escort recruit Sorenson to the training barracks and get him setup for the next class; then you need to get going to Earth for your FIVE day pass." Sally said.