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  Hostage

  By

  Hunter Goforth

  The room was dimmed with the exception of its center, where the lights were bright and focused on a special chair. Tilted at a slight angle and with a seat, which spread apart in the center to support the person sitting in a special way, the birthing chair had been called everything from a medical necessity to something built for the Frankenstein monster. But the chair wasn’t the center of the attention as much as the woman sitting in it. Bathed in sweat, she had only just taken up her position in the seat when the next contraction hit.

  The doctors and nurses were busily scurrying around, monitoring the heartbeats of mother and baby, internal pressures, the baby’s stress, and applying neural blockers to alleviate the pain of childbirth without disrupting the muscle control necessary for the delivery. Someone was even standing by with a cup of ice for the mother to keep her hydrated. More importantly, the husband was standing beside the chair holding his wife’s hand and encouraging her as she passed through her transition to the actual delivery.

  So far Jo had been in labor for 6 hours and had progressed rapidly with no complications. This was their second child, so she and Mike were familiar with what was happening and the steps they needed to take to bring the delivery to a successful conclusion. Mike’s considerate words, gentle squeezing of her hand and loving encouragement had been very reassuring and helpful. In the six years of their marriage, the love they felt had only grown to much higher levels. Their first child, Timothy, had been born nearly five years before and was a fine healthy boy, bringing much joy to both. More than that, the child had been adopted by seemingly everyone on the planet. People seemed to have an insatiable thirst for any information on the young boy. Jo expected that their second child would be no less welcome.

  Contractions were coming rapidly now and the doctor was in position, ready to assist. Jo was breathing rapidly, and although the pain was effectively blocked, she was still exerting herself tremendously.

  The doctor suddenly looked up and said, “The baby’s almost here. One more good push should do it. When the contraction starts, I want you to push as hard as you can.”

  Jo and Mike listened and got ready.

  “Hang in there Mom,” Mike said quietly into her ear with a smile. He was standing behind her in the chair with his head next to hers offering some neck support. His arms were around the chair holding her hands. “I think you are so beautiful when you sweat,” he teased her.

  “It’s a good thing there’s no pain and I’m so tired,” Jo said between breaths. “You’d look funny if I slapped you to the other side of the room,” she said in mock anger. Then the contraction began. Jo stiffened and concentrated on the task at hand.

  Mike saw the change, placed his cheek next to hers and started coaching. “Let’s push hard Mom. Push. Push. Push!!” he said steadily.

  It only took a minute of hard pushing and the doctor found himself holding a slippery, squirming bundle that Jo and Mike immediately named Mary Shala Wilkes. A quick check and a slap, and little Mary proclaimed her presence to the world. Jo and Mike touched their daughter for the first time and Mike kissed Jo on the cheek. While Mary was being cleaned up, the doctor and his staff continued working on Jo and Mike took a moment to walk out into the waiting room.

  Since the Alliance had established the embassy on Thera over five years before, the waiting room in their small hospital had only seen one time when it had been as crowded. And that was when their first child had been born. Pacing nervously in the room were two heads of state, several embassy staffers, including the ambassador, and two other Therans. Rokka had almost walked a path through the carpets on the floor while Shala sat patiently in a chair next to the door. To them, Mike and Jo were their adopted children. Even their two sons had become fast friends with them and the whole family spent many hours together. Often, Rokka would dream up something new and bounce his ideas off of Mike. Sometimes Mike would be very enthusiastic, or he would begin asking questions and pointing out difficulties. Rokka was constantly amazed at the amount of knowledge Mike commanded. In turn, Shala and Jo were constantly swapping ideas on things around the home, from decorating, cooking and gardening to child rearing. Because of them, Timothy was growing up speaking both English and Theran like a native. The bonds between both families were strong.

  But this was no different from anyone else in the room. To a person, everyone in the room felt as if Mike, Jo and their growing family were as their own. Both had given their all to the people of the planet from the time they arrived. More importantly, they had shared themselves freely with all they met. The result was that nearly everyone knew them and adored the young couple and their family. It was hard to imagine Thera without Jo and Mike Wilkes.

  Across the room, a President, a King, and their wives sat in the sterile comfort of common waiting room chairs. The Alliance Ambassador felt very self-conscious about them being there and had offered the comfort of his own home just a few yards away, but King Raterc had politely declined. Both President and Mrs. Rapheli and the King and Queen had grown very fond of Mike and Jo. Not only were they charming, polite and open, but also they had been instrumental in the growth and prosperity of their people. Mike had used his knowledge of engineering and physics to help the planet better understand the technologies that the interstellar outlaw Levid had imposed them on them. In addition, he had helped them develop other supporting technologies to bring all of the planet’s capabilities up to a common level. The way he had done it, in itself, was brilliant. Mike never gave out raw information. That would be too easy and might lead to a dependency on others. Instead, Mike asked questions, which helped point the way. King Raterc had watched his scientists and engineers develop the technologies on their own, simply because it was a logical progression, inspired by Mike’s simple questions. Best of all, Mike had been instrumental in getting rid of the planet’s nuclear arsenals and use the materials for peaceful purposes. That was one weapon system the King was glad to be rid of.

  Then there was Jo. Within a year of the embassy’s establishment, Jo had organized a large cultural exchange center that featured art, dance, theater, film and especially music from all areas of the galaxy. Although the Therans had developed film, Levid’s influence had bypassed it in favor of video. Jo had worked with Mike to help reverse that. Jo opened a theater for displaying films from across the galaxy, especially from Earth. At first the films were silent, with music accompanying the images. Within a month, every night found the theater filled with people even standing around the sides to experience the imagination and emotion of the films. The Queen liked the comedies. Men like Chaplin, Lloyd, and Keaton left her rolling in laughter.

  The King had even been in the audience that first night when a man named Al Jolson had turned towards the audience and begun to sing. The introduction of synchronized sound had finally brought film on par with the video they were used to. Now every film had sound, and every week there was a new program. Instead of Chaplin, the Queen laughed at men like Laurel and Hardy, Jack Benny, Bob Hope, and Abbott and Costello. It seemed that there was no end to the entertainment.

  But the most refreshing part of Jo’s contribution to cultural exchange had been in music. Although Theran music was often brilliant and most entertaining, nothing could compare to some of the music from other worlds, especially Earth. Jo had established the Alliance Stellar Orchestra on Thera for the sole purpose of sharing a wide variety of music. Selecting university students from throughout the Alliance, she had recruited them to become their own unique ambassadors to the planet. Even the Star Fleet University contributed to and supported the work. Not a single concert had gone without every seat filled. What’s more, each of the players spent time with Theran students to
teach new techniques, introduce new instruments and sounds or just give support for imagination. The King could not imagine one day going by that he had not heard some music being hummed or whistled by a Theran from Jo’s efforts. She had introduced them to men like Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms and Schumann, among others that had opened up new ideas of musical thought. The latest rage had come from a young composer named Gershwin. He never tired of hearing the man’s work. He and President Rapheli had been discussing their similar thoughts about Mike and Jo for some time during the wait. Now they both had retreated to their own private thoughts and could be seen smiling to themselves as their wives talked. Their thoughts were interrupted when the hall door opened.

  Mike opened the door to the room and was immediately caught up by the mass of people. He smiled and reassured them. “I am pleased to announce the birth of Mary Shala Wilkes. Both mother and daughter are doing fine,” he said smiling.

  The whole room exploded in applause and shouts of joy as everyone wanted to slap Mike on the back to offer congratulations. Shala stared at Mike in amazement. They had named their daughter after her. Rokka turned and swept her up in his arms and kissed her forehead.

  “We have a new daughter!” he exclaimed with glee.

  Shala smiled at him with tears in her eyes. Then Mike turned to her and gave her a hug. “She is named after my mother and you, Shala,” he said. “She will need a grandmother here,” he added smiling.

  “Oh Mike,” Shala cried and she kissed his cheek. “We will teach many things,” she said through the tears.

  Within seconds of the announcement, a man left all the celebration in the small hospital waiting room and ran outside the hospital into a small van. Soon even television programming was interrupted to announce the birth of the child. Across the globe, wherever people had access to mass media, people stopped and smiled at the news.

  In a small office, in a remote area, of a nondescript country in the southern hemisphere of the planet, a man listened to the news with some disgust. At one point in time he had been a powerful man. These two particular people had seen to it that all his plans had been changed overnight. Since that time he had looked for a way to get even for what they had done. Like a seething reptile, his hatred had steadily grown, day-by-day, hour-by-hour. It had taken five long years for him to regain the power he once had, and more. Now he would use these same two people to get him much more power and authority. He reached beside his plush chair and lifted the receiver of a telephone. After carefully dialing the number he desired, a few terse words were spoken and he replaced the handset. A smile came across his face and he sat back into his chair. This would prove to be a good night after all.

  Chapter 1

  Reunion

  The Lexington sped along at stage seven. There seemed some urgency in her mission, which was characterized by many in her crew. Just six years before they had received the warmest welcome ever experienced on Thera, and now they were on their way back. More to the point, they were on a special mission. The Therans had invited the ship and crew back to celebrate the first six years of true freedom. Captain Fred Dickson had wondered openly if the Therans had invited them more for the celebration, or because Mike and Jo Wilkes were expecting their second child and had hoped to have their parents there.

  But there was something more going on. Space Fleet had ordered them to Star Base Seven a little early from their last assignment to pick up passengers and materials for the voyage. A part of the celebration, he was told, would include a special outdoor concert by the Alliance Stellar Orchestra, and Mike Wilkes had requested special help from some organizations on Earth, in particular, one special organization. That organization had decided to take a large delegation to the planet to assist in the celebration. They had been shuttled to Star Base Seven for the rendezvous. The pick up had been made and the ship was again underway.

  Captain Dickson had been given little information about the passengers and was curious about their part in all this. Upon embarkation, one of the leaders of the group had met with him to make the arrangements. Now, a week later, Dickson was still somewhat in the dark. It was only after a personal request that he was invited to a meal with the two leaders of the group.

  They had both been very cordial when he came into the room and the dinner had been quite pleasant.

  “We are sorry that we had not told you more about what we are doing Captain,” said James Davidson, the Project Director of the operation, and the man Dickson had met upon arrival. “We had been under the opinion that you had already been briefed by your superiors,” he said.

  “That’s quite all right,” Dickson said graciously. “It seems Space Fleet headquarters thought you would brief us and you thought they would,” he said. “Unfortunately, it happens that way sometimes, especially if the mission is not as critical as some.”

  “Still, I feel remiss in my duties,” said Sam Gardner, Chief of Programming. “Maybe I should fill you in on what has been happening,” he said, motioning toward a chair in the room. All of then sat down around a small table. “About four and a half years ago we got this message from a Mrs. Josephine Wilkes, a Deputy Embassy Minister on Thera. It seems she wanted to start receiving, on a regular basis, first generation prints of some of our old motion pictures,” he said with a smile. “As you might imagine, that is not a request we often receive in this day and age. As a matter of fact, our company had not been asked for film stock for nearly one hundred years.”

  “I don’t believe I have ever actually seen or touched film before,” Dickson said grinning.

  “Nor I,” Jim said. “But her request was backed up by the University, the Alliance State Department and a few other high ranking organizations to boot!” he said excitedly. “I mean, how could we turn something like that down?” he chuckled.

  “So I briefed the head of the company and he insisted that we fill the order,” Sam said. Then he leaned forward a little. “Do you have any idea what it’s like to re-invent something like safety film?” he asked jokingly. “We really had to dig to find the old way of making the stuff, and then we had to redevelop the emulsification system to hold the image. Then, we had to pull out all the old equipment from our museum to make a duplicate from the original negatives! Gawd, I thought we never would get it right,” he said throwing up his hands. “But because of Mrs. Wilkes, our company is now back in the motion picture business for the first time in 200 years.”

  “I would not have believed that this would be that complicated,” Dickson said. “I have watched films in some of the old theaters on Earth before.”

  “A computerized image,” said Jim. “At the end of the 21st Century the decision was made to transfer everything to a digital computerized format. All of the film stock and original negatives would be sealed and preserved, but only computerized copies released from then on. What you saw was just as good as the original, but there was no film involved.”

  “We actually lost the technology to work with film except to make another digitized copy from the original. Heck, we even lost the technology to make the safety stock and the silver emulsion,” Sam continued. “Then Mrs. Wilkes made what was to her a simple request. At first we asked if we could send the projector and digital copies and she gave us a flat no. She said that Thera was only at the progression level of the mid-20th century of Earth and that she would not run the slightest risk of jumping technology. It would be film or nothing,” Sam said slapping the table. Then he grinned, “And then she said that it would be such a grand shame if children and families would have to miss out on the kinds of programs we were famous for.” He chuckled out loud again. “That was what did it for our Chairman. He jumped up from his seat and told us that if Mrs. Wilkes was using us as examples of what Earth and her people were like, then by golly she was going to get what she wanted. And that was that.”

  “I was under the impression that she has been showing films all this time. I take it you weren’t the only studios supplying her,” Dickson said, int
rigued by Jo’s forcefulness.

  “Oh she hit all the other studios all right, except there are only two of us still left. Other entertainment interests control the rest of the films. At first there were actual film copies that they let her use, but there weren’t many of them. By the time we redeveloped the process there was a need for it from all the controlling interests. We have been kept busy supplying motion pictures for the Theran embassy for the past three and a half years,” Jim said.

  “I am glad it has become profitable for you,” Dickson said. He could see the potential in more than just Thera. There were many planets like this one who would benefit from the experience.

  “We don’t get a dime,” Sam said.

  Dickson gave a questioning look, “I don’t understand.”

  “It’s a part of our agreement,” Jim said. “We provide the films at no cost to the embassy, and in return, the monies raised through admissions are used to help charities in the countries they are shown,” he said smiling. “Our Chairman loved the idea, and quite frankly, we didn’t know what to do with money anyway. I mean, if we don’t use the stuff, what good would it be?” he gestured.

  “But you are right,” said Sam. “It has been profitable for us because there are a number of embassies like the one on Thera that are now asking for our old programs. Our motion picture department is busy and enthused about the whole project. Even though we don’t shoot mechanically anymore, we are now even transferring some of our new programming to film so that it can be shared in that way,” he said.

  “We even have one guy that wants to go back to using the old Panavision equipment and make films like they used to,” Jim mused. “I can’t wait to see how he pulls that off. The guy says he likes the ‘feel’ of the film,” he laughed.

  “So that’s what we are transporting, motion pictures?” Dickson asked.