Robert A.V. Jacobs....Author

Chapter One.. Hank and Billy Joe

 

 

Daisy was really starting to embrace being a teenager, and had decided to drop the shield she used to distort her appearance. She had original erected the shield as a defence against all of the young men, who saw her and thought Christmas had come. It was not that she couldn’t defend herself, but she would rather not be put in a position where she had to. So once again she was visibly her normal quite stunning self, much to the delight of everyone at the offices of ‘Dauntless and Weal’. She had taken to allowing her mother to pick clothes for her that emphasised her looks, wore them with pride, and had started to love the sight of young men falling over kerbs, laces, and even their own feet.

 

Her mother had decided that a thirteen year old had no further use for a sand pit, and had instructed George to dispose of it, much to Daisy’s horror. She pleaded, whined and sulked, but it didn’t make any difference. Her mother was adamant and just said,

 

“Stop whining, the decision has been made, and sulking will do you no good either.”

 

Daisy knew that she could have easily prevented any changes with just a thought, but she suspected that her mother was right anyway, so she did nothing. She had seen on television that teenagers are prone to pleading, whining, and sulking, so she had given it a try. It had absolutely no effect, so she gave up trying, and signified surrender by smiling sweetly and saying:

 

“See you later”, kissed her mother, and stepped through the dimensions and into Paul’s office. 

 

Being the other half of ‘Dauntless and Weal, Confidential Investigations’ she had her own office, but preferred the little sofa in the corner of Pauls Office, because it was closer to Pricilla and the copious quantities of tea that she provided. Paul, of course, was only occupying the office temporarily, while William Dauntless was away, but had been there long enough to be untouched by Daisy’s sudden appearances, out of thin air.

‘Dauntless and Weal’s’ real title should have included words like, “A whole load of spies in the service of Her Majesty the Queen”, but they were spies, and it was secret, hence the words ‘Confidential Investigations’ on the door...

 

It was a rather slack period at ‘Dauntless and Weal’, now that the insane Vana was no longer in the Picture. A massive alien being, this particular Vana had been indeed as nutty as a fruitcake, and had been trapped in another Dimension. But he had been using a part of himself that had become separated, and marooned in this dimension, to attack Daisy in an effort to destroy her. The Part had mutinied, joined Daisy and together they had reduced the insane Vana to its component organisms, totally destroyed its composite mind in the process, but in doing so, they had caused immense damage to the Eiffel tower, and the area surrounding it.

 

Daisy and Part had spent considerable time restoring the Eiffel Tower and its immediate surroundings to their former glory after the conflict. And to maintain her own secrecy, Daisy had made Part visible and had convinced the minds of the French authorities that she did not exist, and that it was him that had defeated the enemy. He was France’s hero, plastered all over the papers, awarded their highest medal for bravery, and promised that should he ever need it, there would always be a home for him there. We are pretty sure, however, that when he explained that he had to go to the parallel dimension, a lot of people were really relieved. I mean, where can a very large blob be housed? You can’t really have it roaming the streets, and frightening the kids, now can you?

 

When Part returned to his proper dimension, he was mobbed by all of the millions of creatures that had made up the insane Vana, desperately trying to be reabsorbed. But he pushed them away, and would only allow them in a few at a time, in a controlled absorption, until he had finally reached full size under his own terms. He took control of all of the minds, merged them with himself, and used them to create a single new identity that was at last sane. His most proud moment, however, was when he noticed that Daisy had shown her trust in him, by deliberately leaving the Dimensional Gateway open.

 

“Thanks Daisy, but I’ve got a lot of work to do here,” he thought, and then using the knowledge that he had found in Daisy’s mind when they had been merged, he reached out, and closed the gateway himself.

 

 

******

 

Simon stood and admired the dark red and black uniform that he was wearing, in one of the large windows of the Brighton Pavilion. Not in Brighton of course, because by now, we all know that the Brighton Pavilion sits, in the Sea of Tranquillity, on the Moon, where it forms part of Her Majesty’s Moon Base Daisy. The complete and utter blackness of the Luna night, and the brightly lit interior of the Pavilion, combined to turn the windows into almost perfect mirrors, in which he could see every detail. He turned this way and that, until finally satisfied, he sat back down at his desk. It would do fine, and for once the designers working for the Ministry of Defence had got something right. It was distinctive but not gaudy, and the brand new Star Fleet Captain flashes on the shoulders, completed the job perfectly.

 

With the delivery of the first consignment of uniforms that morning, had come a lengthy document from the Ministry of Defence, laying the groundwork for the formation of her Majesty’s Star Fleet. The document contained a draft copy of Queens Regulations for Star Fleet that Simon needed to comment on, and a complete chain of command structure for the new Service. No-one wanted to embarrass them, by pointing out that this Star Fleet had no space ships, but that would have been nit picking anyway, so everyone kept quiet.

 

Simon sighed, as he realised that his first task was to stop all the men, and women, under his command, from acting like children. They were all walking up and down past the windows, in their new uniforms, doing twirls and striding about, as if they were models on a cat walk. When any two came near each other, they would snap to attention, and give each other exaggerated salutes, regardless of what ranks they were. Accepting that he had just been doing the same thing, Simon decided to put up with it for the time being after all, and live in the hope that everyone, including himself, would grow up very soon.

 

Daisy was astonished, to suddenly find herself with the Rank of ‘Admiral of the Star Fleet’. It was probably the first and only time that such a young person would be given such a high rank. But it has to be said, that when she got over the initial shock, she loved it. She also spent more time admiring herself, in the bedroom mirror, in her new uniform, than Simon had with his on the moon. But as he couldn’t see her, he would never know.

 

******

 

The CIA, NASA, and the United States of America in General, were feeling really miffed at being left out of all the excitement. The United Kingdom was supposed to have a special relationship with the USA, and what did they do, they went and built a base on the Moon, without once asking permission or telling anyone that they were doing it, or even how they had done it. What made it worse was the fact that, apparently, they had not even informed the European Union or most of their own Government either. The President of the United States was showing his displeasure, by refusing to take any calls from the Prime Minister, and the United Kingdom’s Ambassador was asked to leave.

 

In response, the US Ambassador to the UK, was called in to the Prime Minister, and then placed on the next flight back to America. Things were going from bad to worse, and for the first time, the ‘Special Relationship’ was not looking too special.

 

Flights between the two countries were suspended for a while, until the Prime Minister’s wife rang up the First Lady, and as a result each of them told their husbands not to be so childish and to grow up.

 

Relations slowly began to normalise, but the President was still not happy and secretly called in the Director of the CIA, and gave him instructions to find out where all the launches were taking place because, despite all of their efforts, nobody at NASA or NORAD could. For those of you who don’t know, NORAD stands for North American Aerospace Defense Command. It is a joint effort between the United States and Canada, and is responsible for monitoring the air and space, around both countries, for real or imagined threats (http://www.norad.mil). It manages this, by the use of a global network of sensors, so it is in a unique situation to be able to detect launches worldwide.

 

They probably know how the letters NORAD actually fit into their title, but for the rest of us it remains one of those little unsolved mysteries, though it could be that it is easier to pronounce, than NAADC. All the investigations seemed to produce was total confusion. Everyone was now aware of the base on the moon, but no one knew how it had got there. This confusion could have been the reason that no one could find out where the launches were taking place, or it was quite probably because there weren’t any anyway.

 

So, as we said earlier, the CIA had been given instructions to find out how this little, tin-pot country had managed it. The fact that the U.K, or people from the U.K., had invented virtually everything that the world has to offer, even the World Wide Web through the efforts of one Tim Berners Lee (http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee), didn’t seem to matter.

 

Two operatives were given the job, Hank (the hound) Hopwood, and Billy-Joe (basher) Horowich. Hank had received his nickname of ‘The Hound’, from his tendency to hound down terrorists, wherever they might be hiding, with a determination that at times bordered on obsession, and so far he had never failed to catch his man. Billy-Joe was a hulking brute of a man, who never took no for an answer where violence was concerned, and his nickname came from the fact that all of his captures, appeared a little the worse for wear when he brought them in. The whole thing was shrouded in secrecy, and both were sneaked into the UK, on board a visiting Aircraft Carrier, and sent ashore quietly in Portsmouth, together with a few hundred US Navy sailors.

 

******

 

Daisy of course, knew all about it. She had sworn that she would not be caught out again, the day that she had been found by Captain William Dauntless, and as a result of this, had been monitoring all of the major intelligence agencies in the world. She could not do it all herself, and carry on her day to day life, so she had enlisted the aid of the Somethings, who got really excited, at the thought of being able to spy on someone with permission. They reported back to Daisy with the information on the CIA, as soon as the two operatives had joined the Aircraft carrier, via a couple of US Marine Harriers (UK designed), in mid Atlantic.

 

“What do you reckon Paul?” she asked, “Should I go to meet them?”

 

“No, I don’t think so,” answered Paul, “we know who they are and where they are, so we can keep an eye on them, and be warned when they try to do something stupid.”

 

“True, the Somethings will keep a watch,” said Daisy, “but it would have been so much fun.”

 

Just then, there was a knock on the door, and on Paul’s invitation, it opened to reveal a young man of about sixteen, who had a very red face, and who could not keep his eyes off Daisy. He stood and said nothing.

 

“Well its young Mr Alexander,” Paul observed, “What have they sent you for this time Robin?”

 

“I have, uh, I want, er, they sent me, um for....I forgot,” he wailed, and fled.

 

“I am beginning to believe that there are really, really cruel people working in our Analytical Department,” Daisy observed.

 

“Yeh,” said Paul, “You’re right. I think I must have a word before they frighten him away. Other than the problem that he has, of saying anything sensible, while you are around, he does have quite some potential.”