Chapter 9

Campaign On Tour

Admiral Castro had relayed their plans to Walker and told him they were on a course from the rocky mountains where HUNTA was penned in by a large indigenous army using Scott's bolo sling invention. The plan is to inform Nation Pacifica that they are on course to land at the Capitol Spaceport, the admiral had said before the radio went silent. Transfer of communications to Walker had allowed Eddy to fly at an atmospheric speed too fast for reliable radio contact.

They were flying low and fast. It wasn't long before everyone felt the ship boom as Eddy slowed them to below blur speed. They were above open ocean, near Point Conception and blasted on out over the Pacific Ocean, just south of the spaceport. Eddy flew a long, northward arcing turn that brought them back to shore headed straight for the spaceport buildings.

Liz, spiraled down from orbit and joined the approach about fifty kilometers from shore. She had left her chinese passenger at the delfinian ship offshore from Earth Base One and rejoind them to be part of the capitol spaceport landing. No one knew what lay ahead. The two ships were on course to land within minutes, Liz flew side by side with Eddy, she felt good about herself and her decision to work for a healthy planet and delfinian colonists. Liz smiled inwardly at how happy she was to be working for peace instead of capitalist pirates intent on the plunders of unending war.

The ships whooshed past the spaceport building complex on opposite sides, they were far enough away to avoid breaking all the windows with a following sonic boom. Nothing happened. Liz circled back, upward and north. Eddy did the same toward the south. "I'm going to touch down on the big lawn area near the parking lots," Eddy said over the now functionable radio. "You circle a few times. Land further away from the buildings than us, if nobody attacks us."

"I don't like this," Liz said. "It's too quiet down there. I don't see any movement. This must be some kind of a trap."

"What are you seeing?" Walker's voice came over the radio.

"It's quiet," Liz said. "There is no movement anywhere."

"No visible activity," Eddy agreed. "What did you find out while we were flying too fast to use the radio?" Eddy asked.

"Nothing," Walker replied," nobody answered my calls.

"I don't like this," Liz interjected. We should switch places. I land first; this time you back me up."

Eddy started to object but the Admiral cut him off. "She's right," he said. "Though I couldn't ask her to do this, Liz has volunteered to do the right thing. You do have guts, Liz," he said to her over the radio.

"It's those new uniforms," Liz responded. "Brave Moon's eyes have a story in them. Eddy looks like a cinema version of a rebel warrior who eats organic food. And you, Admiral, have become a wise elder statesman from the far distant future. I actually have no choice other than go in first."

"What about me?" Scott asked, laughing as he said it.

"You used joy to make foam-stone houses," Liz answered, with a smile he couldn't see over the radio. "You literally beat swords into plowshares, and you let me help, that's equal and maybe even better than whatever our three frinds have mysteriously turned into."

Scott grinned and flopped back in his seat with his arms spread. "What else can I say?" He asked. "I have to agree; Liz is right again," he said, laughing out loud. His genuine mirth caused everyone else to laugh with him, including Liz.

The Admiral nodded his smiling agreement, noting his crew was definitely absorbing Ocean People culture. They were having far too much fun in the middle of danger to be pure Human.

"Okay. Affirmative," Eddy said over the radio. "Liz flying her heavy duty fighter goes first and hovers outside the main entrance using her precision foam-stone flight patterns. We back Liz with all our weapons set on full power."

The two spaceships howled through long loops, Liz slowed to landing speed on the inland side of the buildings. Her ship appeared to slam into the ground but was actually hovering and barely touching mowed lawn. Pioneer Frigate hovered at one hundred meters, one kilometer inland from the main spaceport building. Stillness prevailed, nothing moved but the Pacific Ocean behind the buildings, and Pioneer Frigate, swaying hypnotically, like the head of a hungry viper.

"Nothing is moving," Liz said. "I don't think anyone is here." She cut power and settled to the ground. I'm leaving my ship now."

"I'm sending down the closest heavy cruiser, with fighters deployed," Walker said over the radio. "Six extra fighters are leaving my ship for the spaceport now."

Eddy flew closer and lower as Liz stepped to the ground and walked toward the still silent central building.

"There's no one here," Liz said as she walked to the entry way. She pushed open the unlocked door and looked in. "It's totally deserted. One hundred percent empty, she said, with a nervous chuckle at her own words, as she walked in. "No one is home," she said. Eddy quickly moved closer and parked next to Liz's ship.

Scott dashed out with the camera as soon as the door was open. He recorded a video of the Admiral, Erica, and Eddy stepping from Pioneer Frigate and walking to the main spaceport building. Distant thunderclaps announced arrival of the pioneer cruiser and twelve fighters. Scott recorded the cruiser landing nearby as well as the fighters landing at scattered locations around the sprawling spaceport complex.

Use forces had completely evacuated from Nation Pacifica, and they had left with the standard nuclear terrorist threat; If anyone breathed one word to anyone about their departure, the United States would nuke every nan, woman and child from north to south and from the mountains to the sea.

"So, that's why no one would talk to us on the radio," the Admiral explained after they had searched around and found no one anywhere. "The people were controlled by atom bomb terrorism, they were under threat from weapons of mass destruction.”

"And now they are free again," Erica said. She dropped to her hands and knees and kissed Earth like she had kissed Planet Pacifica.

"This is indeed a proud moment," the Admiral responded. "Returning pioneers have chased Use out of Nation Pacifica without hurting a single person."

"Cut," Scott shouted with a big grin. That does it, send this video off to the the news. He made a cutting motion with his hand, like he was a movie director. "Cut," he said again, grinning even wider even though he kept the camera rolling.

"The corporatists are retreating and drawing inward," continued the Admiral. "And like a wounded bear hiding in its lair, the beast is dangerous. The United States has ruled the world with nuclear terrorism for a long time. Now rightwing corporatism has felt real push back. Now we carefully increase the pressure without causing either implosion or explosion."

"How do we do that?" Liz asked.

"Simple," the Admiral answered. "It's so easy that it's ridiculous; We keep sending in good news until election day. The corporation owners are spending hundreds of millions of their money pushing fear and hatred. Then along comes us, we pop their bubble with a ray of hope and call it fun."

"When did you decide to run for president of Use?" Eddy asked the Admiral.

"Me?" Inocente responded, pointing at his own chest. "I'm not running for president. Though I do have some favorites. They're write in candidates," he said, as an aside, with a sly smile and a wink.

"Who?" Scott and Liz asked at the same time.

"You will have to guess the answer to that question," the Admiral answered with a positively delighted twinkle in his eyes. "All I will say it's no one here, you know them, and None of the Above is their closest competitor.”

"Will and Leslie Berrigan," Eddy guessed quickly.

"No," Inocente answered, "you'll need to guess again some other time. Now we also abandon this spaceport, board the ships, and head back to Earth Base One. We'll send Liz first and..."

"Admiral," Scott called from the lobby telephone desk. He'd gone there to lag behind and get pictures of the pioneers preparing to leave the spaceport. The phone had started ringing and he had picked it up. Daniella, Pacifica's chief, was on the line, she communicated a quick update before ending the call with a polite, "Good by and good luck." Scott immediately quit his idea of recording the ships as they started their engines and ran back to catch the others preparing for take-off.

"Nation Pacifica has ended radio silence now that Pioneers have occupied the spaceport and day shift personnel are coming to reopen it," Scott quickened his pace toward the ships, yelling as he ran.

"Nation Pacifica's Chief Daniella said that Use has filed a formal complaint at the United Nations World Court in Costa Rica. President Bushleeg is alleging pioneers and aliens are interfering in the United States presidential election. Bushleeg is back on duty, he says Use will do whatever it takes to continue the election as planned."

"Time for us to help them get an unplanned president," the Admiral chuckled mirthfully. "They want to install Jud Bushleeg as President. We're making them sweat over this election. It really is time to turn up the heat."

Innocente, moving through the spaceport building exit, then did a perfect imitation of the old football player style of strutting around for the camera after a touchdown. Everyone else stood flatfooted, gaping and grinning at the sight when he stopped his dance and waved them on.

"He really does think our good news has USE Owners running scared," Scott laughed as he ran to catch up, wondering exactly what Inocente was planning. Scott knew a good time when he saw one. They walked rapidly, almost jogging to the parked spaceships.

"Admiral," Eddy said, skip jogging along next to him, "I haven't seen you this wound up since we were on Planet Pacifica."

"Send Liz back to Earth base One, then we find Sudor," the Admiral said as they entered the ship, slightly winded from their fast pace. "I'm just a melodian ambassador like you, Eddy, we need another president in on this race."

"So it's President Sudor you want to run for United States President," Eddy exclaimed as he slid into the pilot's seat.

"Guess again, Son," Inocente winked and made a motion like he was closing a zipper across his tightly closed mouth. Then he opened the zipper slightly and repeated his number two choice was None of the Above.

Eddy taxied to a proper spaceport launch area after everyone was seated, he had to jump the ship over a few oak-filled canyons to get there but it didn't take long.

"This is Pioneer Frigate calling Capital Spaceport Control. Can You hear me?" he called in figuring he might as well make some attempt at normal procedures during take-off. A pocket phone buzzed in the background, puzzlingly. The Admiral popped open his phone, glanced at it, smiled, and handed it to Eddy. "I put the battery back in when we landed," he said.

A person standing at the spaceport entrance desk was on the tiny phone screen, speaking into a similar pocket phone. "This is Spaceport Pacifica, you have permission to take-off."

"Thank you," said Eddy. "Take-off systems engaged."

"Great,! We have our spaceport back!" Scott said with a broad beaming smile. "Isn't this nice?"

Eddy nodded and tapped the joy power. Pioneer Frigate fairly leaped into space. All aboard were caught up in the Admiral's enthusiasm. They watched Liz break formation in a magnificent downward arc, toward Earth Base One, then they climbed past the lower pioneer patrol orbits. When they flashed past a cluster of of cruisers who had finished cleaning up stray USE atomic bomb warheads, Eddy and Erica tapped into melodian technology and charmed Pioneer Frigate into a precise matching orbit with the delfinian battle platform, where President Sudor was still aboard. Inocente removed his phone battery as he watched their progress.

Though little of their technology and training could be seen with the human eye, Eddy and Erica were a fascinating riddle to Delfinians; including Inocente, three brained Humans had learned to talk with four brained Ocean People.

Eddy called Captain Pearl, explaining they had come for Sudor, who was needed on the planet surface. They watched the landing bay doors open and then Eddy maneuvered in and parked. The huge doors were closed and air was being let into the landing bay before he had fully shut off ship power.

Scott stepped out when Eddy opened the door and lowered the boarding ramp. He had taken to describing what the camera was recording in a soft-tone voice. His father had been a Shakespearean actor on Broadway. Scott's father practicing his lines around the house apparently was absorbed unknowingly by Scott as a young boy. He was occasionally thrilled by his own newly discovered vocal skill.

The delfinians had considered the Admiral by preparing a dry passageway leading directly to an equipment elevator, which whisked them all to the flight control deck. Captain Pearl, Sudor, and Esther, the delfinian astrophysicist, were gathered next to the water barrier, waiting for them.

As greetings were passed around, Eddy was surprised to realize that Esther might be even more beautiful than Cecric. Delfinians are truly beautiful, he thought. "I'd like you to meet Erica Brave Moon," Eddy introduced her to the delfinians and glancing to Erica with a shy grin. "We were married in Fertile Field by Star Song."

"Congratulations," said Captain Pearl reaching for Eddy's handshake, then yanking him into a hug at the water barrier. Sudor quickly joined in.

"Fertile Field?" Esther asked.

"We went there and saw the cosmos as one entire thing. That's when it happened."

"What happened?"

"Eddy and I stepped onto the same life path when we stood together in Fertile Field, the entire Cosmos was shining on us," said Erica, moving closer to Eddy and feeling him put his arm around her shoulders.

"I'd like to hear more about Fertile Field, and Star Song," said Esther, nodding toward the far end of the water barrier. "I also noticed right away that you, and now the Admiral, are not using translation collars. May I ask a colleague who works in communication theory to join us?"

Erica nodded in agreement and walked a few steps from the group so she could talk with Esther. Eddy turned to the Admiral, surprised.

"You didn't turn on your translation collar, either?" Eddy asked.

"Nope," Inocente replied. "Don't forget. I met Star Song before you did. Though I haven't received all the special training you and Erica have, I've been quietly practicing what I do know, along with you two."

Eddy looked proudly at his friend. Inocente didn't say any more, vocally.

Scott, who was still running the video camera said, "My translation collar is still on so please keep using words, at least for the video camera." He then slowly moved the camera from people to a close up of the instrument panels in the pilot seat area, all the while explaining to a future audience where he was via an intriguing monologue of what's what and who's who. His idea of public information was uncensored and direct to the public. Delfinians didn't object to his impromptu video commentary. President Sudor gave Captain Pearl a slap on the shoulder and actually went to help Scott maintain information accuracy about what he was recording.

"When do we leave?" Captain Pearl asked, watching Scott and Sudor out of the corner of his eye before fully turning his attention to Eddy.

"What do you mean? Are you coming with us?" Eddy asked him, noticing a glint of delfinian humor twinkling in the captain's eyes.

"President Sudor expects all of us to touch down together, just as you landed with Captain Strong's ship. I will be copilot," he said, waving Eddy to the pilot seat set up for humans, two extra seats were already placed next to it.

"Oh. I see," said Eddy. He was surprised but not completely taken aback by the plan Sudor and Captain Pearl had come up with. Turning to Erica, he walked the few steps to her and reached for her hand, "President Sudor wants to land this ship like we did Captan Strong's, let's go level the ship and get ready," he said to her.

'There are over thirty-five thousand delfinians on board this ship,' he said, telepathically.

Erica glanced at Eddy. She saw him as slightly nervous. 'We can do it,' she replied, squeezing his hand. That's when Eddy noticed she had several wires taped to her arm.

Esther smiled and took her position among the astrophysical instruments she had set up to record their movement through the conscious fabric of spacetime. She was thrilled by the chance to repeat her experiments with better scientific preparation. Esther was also deeply puzzled by what Erica had told her, it contradicted delfinian notions of multiple big bangs or even one big bang, as humans referred to them. The only part of Erica's description that fit delfinian theory was that what she had seen of the Cosmos was apparently not a sphere.

Esther was virtually certain gravity would force a single big bang into a sphere. She resolved to ask what melodians thought about a cosmic-scale shape that resembled a sliced luffa sponge, or an irregular island coastline.

Scott took the rear seat which Sequoia had used for his scientific observations on the flight from Planet Pacifica. The Admiral had agreed it was the best spot for video recording the flight. Captain Pearl switched on the communication system. Eddy oriented the gargantuan spaceship to level with the planet surface and then slid from his copilot seat to stand next to Erica at the microphone.

"Listen once more for the song of Earth, Sun, and Luna," Eddy said, his voice was heard on every deck, by all aboard. "Sing a melody of beauty when you hear the singing spheres. If you don't hear it, sing anyway; sing of something nice, whatever you think of as nice or fun."

He closed his eyes briefly and visualized the bay off-shore from Earth Base One. He and Erica Brave Moon lifted their arms. Black lightning cracked between them. The delfinian spacecraft was suddenly floating just outside the bay, precisely where Eddy had visualized it.

They had moved through conscious spacetime as thunder rolled into nothing behind Brave Moon's disappearing black lightning, which, this time, left behind a gigantic glistening dome on the ocean surface. It was a dome exactly like those over the computer stations on Earth Base One and Planet Pacifica, but sized more like Star Song's spaceship. There was room for at least ten huge delfinian spaceships under the shimmering dome's protection.

Scott had video recorded Erica and Eddy holding their hands high, then a bolt of black lightning. He recorded the passing weight as it made their bodies sag and rebound. Camera speed was insufficient to catch all the details of what transpired during the instantaneous transition from orbit to calmly floating on the sea, yet he had kept it going. He recorded a golden sphere springing from the void where black lightning and thunder had both disappeared. It was that sphere which expanded outward to become the dome which now protected the delfinian's new safe harbor on planet Earth.

Scott walked slowly to the nearest window and filmed the barely visible egg shaped dome. Everyone heard him speaking softly to his future audience, "What you saw was too fast to see clearly even from here. Melodian science is very advanced. I am informed that Commander McGregor and Brave Moon are somehow linked to the power of a melodian spaceship even larger than the dome now protecting the delfinian colonists. More information will follow as it becomes available."

Delfinians in their thousands exited the ship through undersea doors. Sudor left through the under water revolving door on the delfinian side of the water barrier and was soon outside, waving to them from the ocean surface. He immediately led children who were old enough to the surfing point.

Captain Pearl opened the landing bay door for their spaceship before he too left. "Melodians have given us safe harbor on Earth," he said with grateful awe. "I want Scott's recording of history to record me going swimming and leaving the ship in the harbor, with the door wide open." Then he too left via the underwater revolving door and soon reappeared in the water outside the landing bay door.

Erica, Eddy, the Admiral, and Scott went down the elevator and walked to the open door. Scott video recorded Captain Pearl finishing his statement about how nice it was for the delfinian colonists to have such a large and secure harbor on planet Earth.

"Cut," the Admiral exclaimed, laughingly to Scott. "Watch out, Captain Pearl, we are about to fly our ship from your landing bay and park it on the island."

"Can we fly through the dome?" Scott wondered aloud. "Will the shimmering dome show on the video if we can pass through?"

"Let's go find out," Eddy suggested, leading the way up the boarding ramp to their own ship. "If delfinians can swim through, we should be able to fly through. I'll just give it a soft bump and see what happens."

He flew out of the delfinian ship landing bay and to the dome as soon as everyone was seated. Pioneer Frigate cautiously hovered, moving slowly closer to the dome surface. There was no bump or contact of any kind, the ship passed right through the dome wall. Eddy flew slow enough that Scott was able to video the inside surface of the dome as it passed along the window. When the camera perspective moved outside the dome, Scott was also able to record a close-up of the outer glistening surface.

"At this point, you know as much as we do," Scott told the future video audience. "I'd guess just about anything can go through, if it goes slowly enough. A helicopter could probably lower itself in through the top but who knows what would happen when its spinning blades encounter that shining dome surface?"

"Yuck, Scott. That's gross," Erica grimaced.

Eddy brought the ship to rest at the old colonial fort site. He cut the power with a sigh. "Home sweet home," he breathed.

"It is turning into a very good earth base," Inocente agreed as they rose from their seats.

Scott video recorded them entering the new foam-stone headquarters. He insisted on recording some inside shots before turning over the camera memory chip to Rose and Rima, who waited impatiently so they could send his video to world news outlets.

When Scott finished recording the inside dome and some nice inside building perspectives, he then decided he was tired, turned in his memory chip, and found a shady hammock. 'These presidential campaigns are tiring,' he thought as he climbed into the hammock. 'Being on tour is a lot like work.'

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