Read Online Starting from Scratch by Bruce George - Free Book Online

located and to work up a plan to capture it, if
they could get out there.
    Another team was tasked with capturing any of the
spacemen, as Hardesty had called them, especially Mike, or Jo. It
was a logical move and Mike was pleased that Hardesty had the balls
to consider those possibilities. It made sense to Mike and he
wasn’t worried about it, because they had no chance of succeeding,
although they didn’t know that.
    Todd Pierpoint, the President’s National Security
Advisor, had his people looking for any friends and relatives of
Mike and Max, who could be used as leverage against them.
    Mike had Bambi check to see if any effort was being
made to arrest or otherwise hassle any of Max’s friends and
relatives, as well as Mike’s, of course. She assured him that she
was watching very closely and saw no such moves and had not
overheard any calls, which would indicate plans to bring those
people in.
    Bambi wrapped up her analysis, Mike, Pierpoint
seems to be a decent guy. I think he’s just protecting his ass, by
covering all the bases. When one of his subordinates asked if they
should put pressure on a few relatives, he exploded and warned them
to stay away from them, but maintain a covert watch, just in case.
He did authorize phone taps on all of them.
    That upset Mike; but on second thought he realized it
should not have surprised him. Throughout the history of mankind,
it had been shown that people in power were capable of doing
anything to protect their status, no matter how despicable. The
sycophants around them were some of the worst; Heinrich Himmler,
Hitler’s chief of the SS, for example.
    The fact that the Americans were this paranoid, made
him wonder how bad the other governments of the free world would
be. And then, there were the governments of nations who didn’t have
a track record of high moral standards or ethics. He would need to
talk with Max about internal security. I hate to admit it, he
thought, but I might need my own Himmler. That possibility sent a
chill down his back.
    The President wrapped up the short list of new
insiders, and then told Mike, “I can’t emphasize this enough, Mr.
Hurst, and I don’t mean to impugn your integrity or loyalty to
America or the human race. However, after reviewing your record,
it’s obvious that you simply don’t have the experience or staff to
deal with the enormity of this dilemma. If you would just come down
to Earth and set up base here, we can work together on this.”
    Mike was glad the President couldn’t see his evil
grin, as he responded, “Sir, my small staff and I have had the same
thought. We, that is to say both of our people, need to get rolling
on a number of projects, which will be critical if we’re to have
any chance at all. We need the help of the best scientific minds
you can put on this project and those will be your people.
    “The need for secrecy and manufacturing space is
vital, for as long as we can maintain it. I’m suggesting that you
authorize the use of land on Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, where
we can begin to build production facilities. We think initially
five hundred acres, but there might be a need to grow larger, so
you might want to have your people keep that in mind. I am not
insisting, sir; I merely suggesting.”
    Mike Hardesty spoke up. “Mr. Hurst, do you have any
preferred location on the base?”
    Mike thought that was a subtle way to see how much
info Mike already had about Nellis.
    “Not really, Mr. Hardesty. But I would think that
anywhere inside the basin would be preferred. It’s already very
secure and we definitely want to keep prying eyes from seeing
what’s going on there.
    “Incidentally, when we return in a few weeks, we’ll
be bringing two fabricators with us. The small one is capable of
producing a number of interesting gadgets and the larger one will
be able to produce a combination of space and atmospheric fighters,
the likes of which you won’t believe. They’ll have