I appeared back on Silva at LodiÕs home immediately following my appearance at the debate on Suvious. Lodi, Shelay, and Alia, were watching the live coverage on the holoscreen by the pool, and I had just disappeared from the convention hall. I sat down with them and Alia remarked, ÒBoy you get around fast these days RobertÓ. One of the abilities I now possessed was being able to translate in and out of the spiritual dimension at will, and travel time in that dimension was instantaneous, as the speed of light does not apply there. The method of travel is to picture where you want to be, and bingo, your there. Cool, huh! ÒJust call me speedy GonzalesÓ, I said. Everyone one on Silva was pretty familiar with EarthÕs slang terms, so I never had to worry about them understanding me, which was nice.
President Gambez was making his closing statements and calling for an immediate closed Council session. Lodi replied ÒWatching you handle that pompous ass Gambez was the most fun IÕve had in a long time. It looked like Baylor and his boys did a good job of taking care of the security guards for you. It was pure pleasure watching you forge ahead without hesitation after Gambez ordered you removed from the hall. I do feel sorry for those guards though. When they wake up, there will be hell to pay.Ó ÒThat is trueÓ Shelay said, Òbut considering what Gambez is up against, I think he has more important things on his mind just now.Ó Baylor is about to record the closed session Council meeting, and he will transmit it here on a secure channel.Ó
Alia snuggled up with me to watch the proceedings. She and I were an item now, and her parents seemed OK with that. Things were moving quickly between us, but I didnÕt feel we were being too impulsive. My current level of enlightenment had given me a calm, cool confidence in my decision making abilities, and I knew my attraction to Alia had a deep spiritual significance. I knew also however, that I had to be careful to stay focused on the Federation task. With the future of thousands of worlds at stake, I couldnÕt afford to be acting like a love sick puppy dog.
BaylorÕs transmission was starting, and the Council meeting was being convened. President Gambez was about to speak. ÒFellow Council members, before opening the floor to opinions and suggestions, I would like to tell you all that I believe what we just witnessed might very well be the beginning of the greatest threat this Federation has ever seen. I donÕt know how Dr. Smith survived, or even he even did. Maybe the retinal scan data was compromised. Also his sudden appearance, disappearance, and being able to disable our security force, is very disturbing. However his charismatic, hypnotic effect on people is the ability that worries me the most. As you could tell, even this Council was mesmerized by him. Maybe he is sincere, and believes in Dr. VaslowÕs cause, I donÕt know, but his abilities and powers seem to be far superior to ours, and that disturbs me greatly. If his motives are nefarious, depending on his resources, how can we defend ourselves? Also, the polls indicate that at the end of the debate, the entire Federation is supporting him. Are there any suggestions?
Most of the Council members felt Dr. Smith was somehow brought back to life, and that his transformation was real and would be a benefit to the Federation, however they all acknowledged that his apparent powers were intimidating and could be very dangerous. The consensus was that they would invite Dr. Smith to meet privately with the Council, and use the latest lie detection technology to monitor his honesty. The board room they were in was fully equipped to do this. The room was routinely used to interview visiting dignitaries from planets being considered for Federation membership. I decided this was a good opportunity for me to have a heart to heart with the Council, and I told Lodi to have Baylor get his men in place immediately. He said Baylor was already in place. We had discussed all our plan options and Baylor knew what to do.
ÒGood afternoon President Gambez, and council members. I understand you would like to meet with me here in this room. Is now a good time?Ó They were all clearly taken aback. Gambez said. ÒThis is a closed meeting. How did you know what we were discussing, and how did you get in here?Ó ÒGood questionsÓ, I said, Òbut I am not a liberty to comment on them right now. I will however be happy to answer any questions you may have concerning the creation and guidelines of the new rule reform committee. IÕm sure you are all aware of the poll results supporting the idea. Also, if you would like to activate your voice analysis equipment now, I have no objections. However, I would like the opportunity to ask questions of my own.Ó Most of the members agreed, and the questioning began. I agreed that it was prudent to be concerned about my honesty and sincerity, and assured them that they would have every chance to independently verify my identity, and review my suggestions, technology designs, or other input I may have.
Their questions ranged from my background on Earth, to my Toran crossover details, and my motivation to help Ian realize his rule reform dream. I had asked them to please not ask questions about my new abilities. I did tell them that when the rule reform design was completed, I would be more forthcoming in this area before they ratified the changes, in order to give them peace of mind regarding my motives to help them.
ÒNow gentlemen, it is my turn to ask questions. Actually, I have only one question; however I would like to ask it of each of you separately. Publicly, the only concern I have heard of, regarding humanitarian motivated crossovers to non-Federation planets, is that of possible threats to the welfare of the Federation. IÕm wondering if there are other concerns any of you may have regarding rule changes allowing this type of activity.Ó I then went around the room asking each member this question and they all agreed that ideologically the concept sounded good, if the integrity of the Federation could be assured. I was surprised that even Gambez agreed, although he was somewhat grumpy. It was obvious he was used to being in charge, and resented this upstart from Earth wielding so much power regarding Federation business. I really couldnÕt blame him, but being a politician in such an advanced society he couldnÕt blatantly ignore the will of the people.
Gambez spoke to me. ÒNow that this interview is concluded IÕm sure you realize that we need to review the results of our lie detection data to help verify the truthfulness of your answers, before we agree to proceed with the creation of the new committeeÓ. This was the response I was looking for. I said, ÒAbsolutely, it is imperative that mutual trust is assured before we can work together on such an important project. To that end, I believe I am entitled to see these results myself, so why donÕt we review them together.Ó Gambez was clearly irritated. ÒDr. Smith, we would like to review this data in private if you please, as you are not a member of this council. We will make our findings, and our position on the creation of the committee available to the public perhaps as early as tomorrow.Ó I replied, ÒI realize that I am not a member of this Council President Gambez, however I believe I have as much right to review the results of this data as the Council does, as I need to have faith in the honesty of all members of this council, considering the far reaching effects these new policies will have on perhaps the entire universe. As you have all suspected I now have access to technology considerably beyond that of this Federation, and I am not willing to share that technology unless I have faith in the honesty of everyone in this room.Ó Gambez was fit to be tied, but how could he object, my reasoning was sound, and most of the other members agreed with me.
One of the Council members, Councilman Valaria spoke out. ÒDr. Smith, it takes some time to prepare this data for review, and it has been a long day, I suggest that we adjourn the meeting for an hour or so. Perhaps you would like to join us for dinner. Gamez concurred, and I said that sounded good to me. I was escorted to the CouncilÕs private dining room on the top floor. The view from the room was spectacular. By now I was used to domed roofs with open air clarity, but in this case the panoramic view of the surrounding mountains on one side and the setting sun over the ocean on the other, helped create an atmosphere of incredible beauty and tranquility. The dinner was marvelous, and most of the councilmen were warming up to me, which surprised me somewhat. On Earth, a strange new interloper at this high a level of government would have never been welcomed like this, especially one with seemingly mystical powers. I had to admit, the overall level of maturity in the Federation was very impressive. I noticed that the person who suggested the dinner, Councilman Valaria, and one other Councilman were not present at dinner. I was careful to mention this in an offhand way to quite a few of people, including President Gambez, who assured me that they probably had other pressing business, and would no doubt join us shortly. They did not.
When we returned to the Council Chambers, all were in attendance, including the two who were missing at dinner. I said loudly enough for others to hear. Councilman Valeria, I am sorry you couldnÕt join us for dinner; and he replied that he had been called on to help prepare the data for presentation on such short notice. He indicated that he was in charge of the data formatting department for this technology which he had helped develop.
President Gambez called the meeting to order and said we would now hear and see the data results. ÒDr. SmithÓ he said, ÒI want you to know that very few people in the entire Federation have been cleared to attend a review of this type of sensitive material. The technology is highly classified, and you are here only due to the urgency of the situation for all concerned.Ó He pressed a button, and a holographic display filled the room in front of the conference table. Piece by piece like the record of a court stenographer my interview was dissected and evaluated. The answer to each question was evaluated not only with respect to voice tonality but by skin temperature and resistance, blood pressure, pulse rate, EEG, and EKG readouts, pupil dilation, and many other parameters, all measured remotely, with absolutely no invasive connections, mechanically, electrically, or visually, to the person being questioned. There were charts, graphs, and verbal summaries of the evaluations for not only each answer to each question, but to every statement made. Statements without a question were evaluated for sincerity and lack of duplicity. This was truly advanced technology. I passed the test with flying colors, however much to the dismay of two of the Council members. I had been scanning the room for reactions, and even though they tried to hide it, two members were clearly very upset. ÒWell Dr. SmithÓ, President Gambez said, as he turned off the projector. ÒYou seem to have done very well on this test. Now if you will please let us resume our private discussion of all of this, we will, as I indicated earlier, announce the results of our deliberations sometime tomorrow.Ó
ÒThank you President Gambez and Council members for your patience with me today, however could we please finish the recording data results for the question I put to each individual Council member.Ó Things were about to get interesting. ÒDr. SmithÓ, Gambez said with a face nearly as red as he had earlier in the day during my debate with Dr. Roolian. ÒI feel we have all been very patient with you, but when you impugn the honesty of those on this Council you overstep your bounds.Ó I stood up and faced the other members. ÒSurely you must all remember agreeing to my concerns before we adjourned for dinner. Why else would you all have agreed to answer my question individually? IÕm asking you all, in the interest of mutual trust, to continue with this data review.Ó By far the majority of members were in agreement, so Gambez had no choice but to continue the review. As I expected, at the point when I asked Councilman Valeria if the FederationÕs welfare was his only concern about making changes in crossover policy, all of his remotely monitored parameters went crazy. He got up and shouted charges that I had somehow tampered with his equipment, and that I should be arrested immediately. President Gambez looked puzzled and then very firmly insisted that Valeria sit down and be quiet so we could finish the review. He said that if there was some kind of equipment failure or tampering, it would be investigated later. Shortly another person whose parameters went wild, Councilman Vargas also had to be silenced by Gambez. The rest of the members did as well as I did on their results, including Gambez. He said he didnÕt know what to think about Valaria and VargasÕ accusations, and apparent lies, but he would personally investigate the questionable test results.
I turned and addressed the Council. ÒAs you are all aware, I now posses abilities I did not have on when I was on Earth. I know this makes you nervous, and right now you are wondering if I do have the power to tamper with these results. At the risk of making you more nervous, I assure you that while I indeed do have that technical ability now, these newfound powers and knowledge of mine have come with the caveat that I use them wisely, honestly, and ethically, to help the Federation transition to a higher level of humanitarianism, not to deceive and manipulate you. But to do this requires helping you clean house, so to speak, if necessary. I have been made aware that there are a few very powerful Federation members who have their own private interest in this issue, and I would like to merely point you in the right direction, so that you may correct this problem before I work with you on these policy changes. If you will just bare with me a bit longer, I would like to show you something else now. On cue the chamber door opened, and Baylor entered the room with a young man in tow. ÒWhat is happening here Dr. Smith.Ó said President Gambez, ÒI think we have had about enough of your theatrics for one dayÓ. ÒPlease be patient. President GambezÓ I said. ÒThis is a colleague of mine Baylor, and I believe you recognize your own recording engineer Dr. Blue. Valeria and Varga both stood up and objected loudly. They insisted that I was completely out of my jurisdiction, and that in fact I had no jurisdiction. Gambez told them to sit down and be quiet. I said, ÒDr. Blue, would you please help me clear up the concern over this afternoonÕs recordings?Ó Dr. Blue was very uncomfortable, but he spoke out clearly and with conviction. ÒYes I would, Dr. Smith. While I was in the recording booth when you and the Council took your dinner break, Councilman Valeria came in and told me I could take a dinner break also, and that he wanted to personally preview the data to make sure everything was in order, as he usually does, before the Council sees it.Ó
At this valeria and Varga got up and ran for the door. Two security guards met and restrained them on GambezÕs orders. They were forced to sit in chairs by the door with the guards at their side as Dr. Blue continued. ÒWhen I had first arrived in the recording room earlier Dr. Smith, your associate Baylor was already there and spoke to me about your concerns regarding data tampering. I had no idea how he got in there, but I assumed he had the required high level clearance. He predicted that Councilman Valaria would come in and modify the data. I had been suspicious in the past when on occasion the data as previewed by Valeria didnÕt seem to end up matching my own visual observations as I was recording, but I hadnÕt yet come forward. Now IÕm sorry I didnÕt. I told Baylor this, and he convinced me to duplicate the memory cube after recording it and keep the original to play back for the Council which I did. Here is the cube Valaria modified.Ó He held up a plastic bag with a memory cube in it. ÒI put it in this bag to preserve ValariaÕs fingerprints. The time stamps will show that it was modified while you all were at dinner. In case you doubt any of this, just press play on the recording booth surveillance camera data. I have it preset to show the booth activity during your dinner. Again it is time stamped, and as you know all of this data is also stored on our central computer mainframe which is as secure as anything can be here in this building.Ó Gambez played the surveillance video, which clearly showed Dr. Blue giving the cube to Valeria. Then after Dr. Blue left, Vargas came in and had a very revealing conversation with Valaria.
President Gambez turned to me and said, ÒDr. Smith I owe you an apology. Even though I still feel uncomfortable not knowing more about you and your technology benefactors, it is clear to me that you have, so far at least, shown us nothing but honesty and good reasons to trust you. Apparently you are right about us needing to do some ÔhousecleaningÕ as you put it. I always did like that slang term from your world. I guarantee you that I will get to the bottom of this. I am worried that Councilman Valaria could have already done an enormous amount of damage in the past with the kind of access and data previewing privileges he has been given. And who knows the extent of VargasÕ involvement. As Valaria said, he was a co-developer of the technology and was assumed to be above reproach. This is going to be a difficult web of deceit to untangle. ÒBy the wayÓ, Dr. Blue said, ÒThere is no data preparation time as Valaria told you in the meeting. The computer formats and prepares the data for presentation as it is being monitored. The results are ready for viewing immediately.Ó
I thanked the Council, and said my goodbyes, with the understanding that when the Council was ready to meet with me again, all they had to do was mention the fact on any newscast and I would contact them. I urged them to keep what had happened today highly classified so they wouldnÕt alert other people involved in this deception. Baylor and I left the room in the conventional way, through the door. I decided the Council had witnessed enough magic for one day. Baylor had transmitted a live account of the entire day to Silva, so when I returned to LodiÕs home they had already watched the dayÕs events.