“I never even saw him,” Raymond said.
“It doesn’t matter. He shot Devin before he could shoot you or fire the weapon. It’s called the BlackStar, by the way. It's in orbit somewhere around one hundred and ninety miles above the earth. They are just starting to piece the story together from the boys in the white coats who were working on it. Devin killed the guy in charge, Dr. Gimbel,” Miller told him.
“Who was that crazy bastard planning to use it on? I heard something about the Pentagon.”
“Well, according to what we have so far. His first shot was going to be the Pentagon. He was going to show them a thing or two. After that the Capital Building and unless the President gave in to his demands, the White House was next on his list.”
“I thought I heard some of that after I was shot but I figured it was just a bad dream. My God, he really was insane. I think that place could make anyone go insane if they were there too long,” Raymond said.
“Look, I just wanted to drop by and see how you were doing. I doubt that our paths will cross again but it was a pleasure to meet you, Ray,” he said smiling.
“You take care of yourself, Captain Thomas Miller. I appreciate your placing your ass on the line for me. I’m sorry about your men that got killed,” Raymond replied
“I appreciate that. They were both good men. They died for a good cause,” he said.
As he turned to leave he said, “Oh, yeah. Someone is waiting to see you.”
He opened the door and Lynn came in the room.
“Hey sport, you look like hell,” she said and laughed, “Captain Miller told me to say that,” she confessed.
“I’ve been getting a lot of that lately. It’s good to see you. Is everything back to normal?”
“No. Everything is shut down. All projects are on hold until further notice. I get a vacation at government expense,” she said.
“The important thing is that you are all right. At least Devin didn’t get to you,” Raymond said.
“Thanks to you and the guys that came busting in,” Lynn said.
“So what do you plan to do with all this new found time?” he asked.
“I’ll tell you,” she said, leaning over to whisper in his ear.
The President gave Eller a big handshake and then he did something remarkable. He actually gave him a hug and pat on the back. No one had ever seen him react like that before.
“I thank God for your safe return to us Ray,” he said, his eyes watering.
“Thank you Mr. President.”
“You know, everyone kept telling me you looked like hell, but you look damn good to me,” he kidded, “This is Dr. Yurris, is it not?”
“Yes sir. She is the one that I told you about. She is also my fiancée. We plan on being married later this year,” Raymond said, taking her hand.
“Dr. Yuriss, it is indeed very nice to meet you.”
“Please Mr. President. Lynn will do if it is alright with you,” she said.
“It is a pleasure, Lynn,” he said, “I know it’s rude to presume, but I will be invited to the wedding won’t I?”
“You’re at the very top of the guest list,” she replied. She hadn’t voted for the man but now she couldn’t imagine why not.
When Raymond recuperated enough, President Sampson asked him to head up the Area-51 facility. The Gunnery Range would be turned over to the military. He would have a free hand at reorganizing and setting the goals and priorities for the entire facility.
He could live any place in the southwest he wanted as long as it could be reached in one hour by helicopter which the government would provide.
After talking it over with Lynn, he agreed, as long as he could pick his successor at the Department of Homeland Security. He picked Sarah to be the new director dependent on confirmation approval. She was a shoe in.
J lay back in his chair. It seemed that there was some glimmer of hope for this planet. The immediate danger had passed. The human Devin was no longer in control. The weapon, while still a threat as long as it was in orbit, was now dormant.
It might be time for him to contact the new leader of the area. He seemed like the human they had been waiting for. He would wait a few months to be sure, but it seemed like for the first time since he had crash landed on this planet, that there was real hope for the two worlds to establish a working relationship.
He would be glad to see that day come. He was ready for his mission to come to an end. It would be even better if it ended with the two worlds finally being able to join together in peace.
His home world had been watching and waiting to have a relationship with this planet for over two thousand earth units.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marshall W. Huffman did not begin writing until after he retired from teaching. He decided to start with a trilogy based on a cataclysmic event. Marshall’s first trilogy is THE EVENT and consists of THE END, THE BEGINNING, and THE REVELATION. With THE EVENTS success he decided to write a second trilogy that is a frightening look at the events that could lead to THE SECOND CIVIL WAR. It is made up of: Book I — A NATION DIVIDED; BOOK II — A NATION AT WAR; BOOK III — A NATION HEALING.
He has also published a series of books entitled: the ANGIE BARTONI CASE FILES with a central cast of characters. In addition, he has two another series entitled: THE NORRIS FILES with its own set of central characters and THE LOGAN FILES. He enjoys writing mysteries, techno-thrillers, and Sci-Fi. His other Sci-Fi books THE BRINK — DEEP FLIGHT and CLOSE PROXIMITY are intense techno-thrillers with Sci-Fi intertwined. He finished BLACKSTAR and it just went on sale. His latest addition CHIMERA is a look at what could well happen if we don’t stop twisting science in perverted way.
Marshall was born in Bainbridge, Georgia and grew up in Indiana. After spending eight years in the Navy, he attended Ball State University, earning a B.S. degree in Business.
During and after college, he was involved in the restaurant business and spent the next twenty-five years in all types of venues, eventually owing his own fine dining restaurant. After years of long hours, he decided on a career change. He attended Eastern Illinois University earning a MBA. Because of his business background, Eastern Illinois University asked him to teach in the hospitality management program. He was recruited from Eastern to Parkland College and soon took over as the Program Director for the Hospitality Program. During his tenure there, he became a chef and had a television show called Cooking around the World with Chef Marshall and taught a series of Gourmet cooking classes for Continuing Education as well.
Professor Huffman retired from teaching along with his wife, Dr. Susan Huffman, to the Tampa Bay Florida area.