At the same time, I didn’t want to mention to her that I thought that Beulah would be attacked. She knew that I had put a number of boxes of things inside the cavern, but, as far as I knew, she hadn’t gone through any of them. Had she done so, she probably would have asked about a war happening before then. I wondered if I should bring up the idea of running to the cavern in the event of an attack. I truly didn’t want to worry or scare her. However, I thought suddenly of her being confused and unsure of what to do if I wasn’t home when an attack came. It could very easily happen while I was away. The thought of coming home to find the house smashed and their bodies in a morgue or already buried almost made my blood freeze. I said, “Annie, there’s something else you need to know more than anything else.”
She asked, “What, Dave?”
I told her, “I’ve been putting survival supplies inside the cavern. That’s what’s inside those boxes. There’s a strong chance that the Ape-oids won’t restrict the war to space this time. If Beulah is attacked, you should take William and Angelica with you into the cavern. It’s deep enough under those hills and there’s enough protective rock that you’ll both be safe. I already told your father about the cavern in case he should come looking for you after an attack. I guess I figured until now that you would naturally head for a safe place like the cavern. Now I want you to be thinking about it ahead of time.”
She said, “You think the Ape-oids will attack Beulah? But why? We don’t have anything really valuable here.”
I replied, “Maybe not, but we’re in a strategic location. That’s partly why the naval base was established here. That’s why so many of the shipping companies are located here. If it had nothing and wasn’t strategic, then this planet would probably be uninhabited because of its higher gravity. There might be a few people willing to live here, but not many. It would probably be just enough to support the Academy since the Navy deliberately looked for a higher gravity planet to conduct officer training upon.”
“I guess I see,” she replied.
I said, “I didn’t want to have to tell you these things because I was hoping that it wouldn’t get worse. Now it looks more and more like I was right. I can’t ignore the signs anymore. I’m sorry I have to tell you these things and make you worry, too.”
“But you care too much about us to take even the slightest chance. Okay, I’ll take William and Angelica to the cavern if Beulah is attacked. How long will the supplies last?” she asked.
I answered, “I’ve got a year’s supply for three people right now. I’m still trying to add some more to it.”
“You think we’ll have to stay in there a year?” she asked in alarm.
I said, “No, but I’m being overly cautious. I’d rather have too much than not enough when it’s you and the children who are concerned.”
“How will we know when it’s safe to come out?” she asked.
I answered, “I’m not sure how you’ll know. Hopefully there’ll be broadcasts that it’s over or that it’s safe to come out from cover. Just don’t take any chances.”
I think it was from that moment on that Annie saw what I was going through as she paid more attention to what I was doing in my spare time and saw that it wasn’t so much for my enjoyment as our survival. She paid more attention to what was in the cavern and added some items herself, items that were necessary for infant care that I missed. When the items showed up, I realized how much I needed her help if our survival plan was to succeed. Then I was glad that I quit shielding her from the truth.
The more I thought about how I was shielding Annie from the truth, the more I realized that maybe Sarge had seen this even sooner than I realized. Maybe the war and the war to come were what the Sarge had been talking about. Was that what was so obvious that I couldn’t see it at first? Were he and Pennyweight working to see to it that our interplanetary nation was prepared to survive? It was a possibility, but not a strong one. After all, I could see no need for secrecy if that were his or Pennyweight’s goal. I was sure that it had to be some other purpose than that, though that might have been a piece of the overall puzzle. I wondered just how much more of the puzzle remained.
Chapter 23
Then the incident came that threatened to make the whole pot boil over. The Ape-oids captured a small passenger ship from within our territory and returned with it to their home planet. They swore up and down that the ship violated their sector of space and that they weren’t going to release it unless certain demands were met.
The diplomats went into their motions to find out what the demands were. For awhile, the Ape-oids no longer made incursions into our sectors as they negotiated for release of the ship and passengers. They started off by demanding additional sectors of space. They actually demanded that the Union give up some of its territory for a ship and some passengers. They also wanted an apology and reparations for their losses during the war, dismantling of our military, and for our government to turn over certain specified persons to their government for trial as war criminals.
For the first time, I discovered how badly I hurt them when I discovered my name at the top of the list. Even more than before, I was glad that Annie and the children were invisible. With some of the crackpot groups that existed on every planet in small numbers, there was no telling what one of them might do to get at me to please the Ape-oids whom they seemed to have aligned themselves with. I resolved to increase my efforts to get the cavern fully stocked for an emergency. That meant I was going to see retired Admiral Cunningham again soon.
At the same time, I felt a certain pride that they had me at the top of their list. It helped validate some of the techniques I used against them during the war. I didn’t see that it would ever help me to get a regular commission, but I did think that it would give my recommendations to the military some additional credibility.
Annie and I talked some more, especially when she saw my name at the top of the war criminal list.
I said, “It’s nothing. They’re just doing that to use as a bargaining chip. I mean, look at this list. It’s made up with a few correct names. Some names are people who are already dead or didn’t even participate in the war. Look, here’s Sergeant Clark’s name. He was at the Academy the whole time. That’s being a war criminal? If our government gave in to this demand, they’d have to turn over to the Ape-oids almost everyone before it was through. Then the aliens would just demand more people as a result of interrogations of the war criminals.”
Annie said, “Still, Dave, I’m worried that they know who you are. What if they come looking for you?”
I replied, “They’ll find that I’m ready for them. That’s why I want you to go to the surplus store in town and see retired Admiral Cunningham. He’ll sell you a gun and teach you how to use it properly in case you have to defend our children while I’m not home.”
“Me? Handle a gun?” Annie exclaimed.
I replied, “Yes, you! You once told me you’d do anything I told you to do. I’ve tried not to ever tell you what to do, but I’m going to make an exception this one time because it’s for your own good and the welfare of our children. I want you to purchase a weapon and learn how to use it. Don’t worry about what weapon it is. Admiral Cunningham will pick out a weapon that you can handle safely and teach you completely about it. You’ll walk out of that store feeling a lot more secure and knowing that I feel better, too.”
Annie sulkily said, “Okay, I’ll do it. I did tell you that I would do anything you told me to. I’d rather be told to do something else, though.”