“Wholeheartedly. He’s well aware of the power of a boosted IQ, and sees us as the good guys for once. Not to mention, the best chance to prevent Armageddon, round two, in thirty-four years.”
“Does he want to join the group?”
“No. We’re far better off leaving him in place. He and his black-ops team will act as our clandestine security arm. And he’ll make sure we get support from the highest levels of government. When he tells them that the great and powerful Matt, who now has a godlike reputation, is just an average one of us, they’ll realize we’re the best hope for Earth in the coming alien war.”
“Right,” said Desh with a broad grin. “The coming alien war.”
“Instead of killing ourselves engaging in cloak and dagger activities to disguise what we’re doing, we can be much more aboveboard. We can’t be crazy about it, but we won’t have to stress as much.”
“But we’ve talked about having the government involved before,” noted Desh. “And we’ve always decided this would be a bad idea.”
“But now everything is different,” explained Kira. “I’m letting Jake continue to think the longevity therapy doesn’t exist. So no one will be after that. And with the alien threat looming, the government will leave us alone. We can come up with a story that we have to screen potential recruits for genetic compatibility with the therapy. That anyone not compatible will die if they’re enhanced. So if someone in power tries to force himself on us, we can play that card.”
Desh gazed at her in admiration. She had given this a lot of thought.
“And we’ll have Jake’s full support,” she continued. “We’ll be known at the highest levels of government as having saved the planet and working to do so again.”
“Okay, I can see your point. This will definitely be a great help. But let me get back to the big picture for a moment. I agree that transcendent Kira’s plan will get us all working together against a common threat. And that global tensions will be significantly reduced. And I get we won’t have active nukes anymore. But doesn’t it trouble you that the entire world will be working on even more powerful weapons? Weapons powerful enough to stop these fictitious aliens?”
“Transcendent Kira considered this carefully,” she replied. “Yes, new weapons will be developed, but mankind will be on the same team. And strategists will realize immediately that weapons and defense aren’t the answer, anyway. That speed and maneuverability are. A planet is the ultimate sitting duck, especially when you’re trying to protect it from ships capable of moving at light speed, and able to arrive from any direction. The real answer is faster-than-light travel. We need to be able to meet the alien threat as far away from Earth as possible.” She grinned. “Well, if the aliens actually existed, that is. We’d need to destroy them in interstellar space before they could get close to us. Strategists will realize that only faster-than-light ships—controlled by an artificial intelligence, and ramming the aliens, kamikaze style—will allow us to defeat the, um . . . fictitious enemy.”
Desh whistled. “Wow, good thing for the aliens they don’t really exist. I think you’d kick their assess.” With a smile still on his face, he added, “And this dovetails perfectly with our goals. Yesterday, faster-that-light travel was Icarus’s number one priority. Today, it’s the number one priority of all humanity.”
“Not bad icing on the cake, huh?” said Kira. “And remember, we already have the zero point energy drive. We’ll wait until we all think the world can handle it, and give Ross another decade or so to really understand it, and we can reveal it to the world. This will at least allow us to seed a few explorers to colonize other planets, ensuring our survival no matter what happens on earth.”
“But won’t these trips take thousands of years to complete?” asked Desh.
“From our perspective,” replied Kira. “But because of relativity, they’ll be far shorter for the passengers. Regardless, we still need faster-than-light travel to accomplish our ultimate goals. But if we’re helped by the military rather than hindered by it, and can recruit with less fear of discovery, I’m convinced we’ll get there.”
Desh left his seat once again and he and his wife kissed hungrily, as if they had never kissed before. A foreshadowing of the hours of ravenous, frenzied lovemaking that would be their first order of business once they arrived at their destination and Ross was attended to.
They finally parted, and David Desh stared lovingly into the sparkling blue eyes of the woman he adored. He was now convinced that they would accomplish their goals, as well. As long as this remarkable woman was involved, all things were possible.
Kira had found a way to harness human passion for constructive, rather than destructive, purposes. To disarm the planet. To transform a warlike species, splintered into thousands of selfish tribes, into a single unit, eight billion strong. And in the process, she had saved humanity from itself; pulling it back from the edge of the abyss.
Desh grinned broadly. It was hard not to be optimistic. Kira Miller had reined in humanity’s enormous capacity for self-destructive behavior.
Compared to this feat, faster-than-light travel seemed like child’s play.
From the Author:
Thanks for reading AMPED! If you enjoyed this book, I would greatly appreciate it if you could help spread the word. Also, feel free to Friend me on Facebook at Douglas E. Richards Author, or visit my website at www.douglaserichards.com
Novels Written by Douglas E. Richards
Adult
WIRED (Thriller)
AMPED (Thriller, Sequel to WIRED)
Middle Grade/YA (widely praised by kids and adults alike)
THE PROMETHEUS PROJECT SERIES (Science Fiction Thrillers)
Book 1: TRAPPED
Book 2: CAPTURED
Book 3: STRANDED
THE DEVIL’S SWORD (Mainstream Thriller)
ETHAN PRITCHER, BODY SWITCHER (Adventure)