Epilogue

It took Bran three days to name his new Companion. He had promised to continue the battle, after Noah's departure, but that didn't halt his grieving. He chose 'Alexander, ' for his new Companion's name, which means 'Defender of Mankind' in its original Hebrew. In view of their shared mission, the name seemed appropriate.

Alexander had immediately made Noah's memories his own. He was ready to continue with the research that Noah and Bran had been pursuing. The only delay was caused by Bran's inability to focus. Alexander spent the three days studying the data, and discussing his finding and Noah's ideas with Al, and the Companion was ready when Bran's grief began hardening into determination.

Bran's emotions had morphed from soul numbing grief to cold, hard anger, over those three long days. He still grieved for Noah, but he vowed that Noah's death would not be in vain. He also vowed retribution on the author of Noah's death. Bran was ready. His naming of his new Companion was the trigger he needed to focus his attention on Noah's ideas. Their cadre's immediate needs were improved armor, and protection against the Demon's mental attack. Longer term needs were a way to meet the aliens on more even terms when they came. The memories that Noah left encompassed all three needs, and many, many more.

"It's a good thing we can live longer, with a Companion," Bran told Alexander wryly. "Noah left enough work for a dozen normal human lifetimes!"

"Which is probably why Noah prioritized them," Alexander replied. "Do you agree with his order of prioritization?"

"Mostly," Bran replied. "I think some can be combined. For example, the armor can be designed to be part of the protection against the Demon. The current armor can be mentally adjusted to reflect a range of frequencies, depending on the color you want it to be at the time."

"You're thinking of the frequency range of the Demon's mental attack," Alexander said approvingly. "The attack on you was by way of your quantum connection. Companions communicate in a different spectrum. The communications that we facilitate between humans, is very localized. We can determine the spectrum of the quantum connection, and ensure the armor can block that spectrum."

"The Demon was able to block Noah from communicating, too," Bran pointed out.

"True, but he didn't attack in that spectrum, or didn't during that encounter," Alexander replied thoughtfully.

"The armor needs to protect the user in both spectrums," Bran said stubbornly. "At the risk of making a bad pun, I don't want there to be a 'chink' in our armor."

"That was a bad risk, because it was a bad pun; but I understand what you're talking about," Alexander reassured Bran, his thoughts laced with humor. "How about Noah's idea for the mechanics of the armor?" he asked on a more serious note.

"I think it's brilliant," Bran replied, excitement showing in his thoughts. "Instead of a completely new platform with a specialized structure, extend the platform of the internal nanobots to include the armor. That route will be faster to develop, and easier to check for unexpected side effects."

"Do you still have concerns about how all of you are changing; becoming something different than human?" Alexander asked carefully.

The Companion knew the answer to the question. He also knew that it helped his host clarify his own thoughts, when he expressed himself in terms that he was more accustomed to.

"No, because I was wrong," Bran finally replied. "We may be changing, but we're still human. Each of us are still genetically compatible with other humans. We have a few bells and whistles that most humans don't have, but we're still human. I don't think that Branch is still human. I think whatever got into him made him even more inhuman than he already was."

"I think you're right," Alexander agreed.

Bran was ready for testing by the middle of February. He used himself for the first batch. The only 'side effect' was that Alexander was permanently fused to him. The idea of being permanently fused to Bran, was mildly consternating to the new Companion. The 'side effect' of the new armor caused another debate among the Companions.

Companions couldn't be damaged in a physical sense. They could only die if their host died, and another host wasn't available. Al's lifespan of nearly fourteen billion years, was a testament to the longevity of Companions. Facing the prospect of trading the next thing to an infinite future for the finite longevity of humans' bodies, voluntarily, caused a lot of discussion. The Companions were forced to reexamine their commitment to the human race.

Naturally, every Companion wanted to do everything it could for its host. The unwritten contract, between host and Companion, said their unwavering support was provided until the host died. The best solution for the armor would take the Companions beyond the end of their contract, into death itself, voluntarily.

There were one hundred seventeen hosts and Companions, by the first of March. The debate was hot and heavy, but it didn't produce answers, until Al suggested a melding.

"Helping our hosts solve common problems isn't the only reason for melding," Al pointed out. "It can also be used to solve issues that Companions, as a species, must confront."

"What kinds of issues have Companions faced that required melding?" Amy, JJ's Companion, asked curiously.

"Primarily, deciding the degree of Companions' interaction with a new species," Al replied. "You may think of the aliens coming to earth are evil. They aren't. In their view, they, or theirs, were attacked. They will respond. They must respond. A truism on earth is the same throughout the universe. A show of weakness attracts predators, always. That truism applies to every ecological structure in the universe, that I have seen. It applies to individuals within species, political structures, and species themselves. There are species in the universe whose actions resemble a cancer more than an intelligent race. Any species that shows weakness is attacked. Melding makes it easier to determine if Companions are dealing with bad leaders, or a bad species. Every species has its share of both, but the degree of both determines our level of involvement with that species."

"Alexander and I will take part in the discussions, but we cannot join in the melding," Al pointed out, after a pause.

"Why not?" one of the newest Companions asked.

"Our opinion may be helpful, but our decision is moot. It has already been made for us. We have been sealed to our host," Al answered carefully.

"I don't agree with that," Amy spoke up. "I understand what you're saying, but you're wrong."

"It's what I believe," Al said firmly. "Since I do believe it, that is how I will proceed."

"Fine! You're as bad as Caleb!" Amy fumed.

"Thank you," Al replied, smiling to himself, as he compared this discussions to others in his life, with Companions his own age. "I respect Caleb. Being compared to him is a complement. Don't tell him I said that. He still thinks that I think he's defective."

"At least try to explain what you would consider if you were in the meld," Amy pleaded. "Your opinion is important to us!"

"Okay," Al said slowly."Companions die with their hosts. It doesn't happen often, but it happens. Two other Companions died in the crash that brought me here. We take the same risks our hosts take, but at death ... well ... Caleb says we have a 'get out of jail free' card that we can play any time. That's as apt a description as any, I guess. Even though my host died in that crash, I was able to continue with a new host. I am sorry my last host died in the way he did, but that's the way the universe works. I don't regret my new host. If anything, in retrospect, I'm glad circumstances placed me where it has. This is a valuable host."

"What do you mean by valuable?" one of the newer Companions asked.

"Why do we collect memories?" Al queried. "Is it just the act of collecting memories, or is it something more? I am over thirteen billion years old. All you know is your experience with this host, on this world. Can you visualize what a billion is? A billion seconds ago was 1959, on this world. A billion minutes ago, the human that inspired the Christian religion was alive. A billion hours ago, humans were still living in the stone age." He paused, before saying, "A billion years ago, I was Companion to a host in a different galaxy."

"A valuable host is one that teaches you something new, or maybe shows you something rare," Al continued his explanation. "I think I have learned something from Caleb and his species. Or maybe I'm simply remembering something that I shouldn't have pruned, in one of my migrations. That's always a problem for Companions. Which memories do you want to keep? It is a very important question for every Companion."

"Beyond those thoughts, the human species is still the key to the Companion species continued existence. Do we owe anything to our species? I'm not sure how I would have answered that, before Caleb. I do know how I would answer it, now. I would say, yes."

The melding prioritized the questions around the issue. The first question was Al's question. Once the Companions had decided that they did owe an allegiance to their species, the rest of the questions were meaningless.

The issue of whether they should allow themselves to be permanently fused to their human hosts was solved in the first few moments of the melding. They changed their focus to the longevity of humans, and how to extend it. That discussion brought them back to the question of fusing with humans. If their hosts lived long enough, another discovery could be made that would allow them to be separated from their hosts, if they ever wanted to be separated.

The new Companions decided that betting their lives on humans and their ingenuity was a good wager. Al was proud of them. The decision was quickly followed by dissemination of the DNA controlled armor.

"Did I disrupt any holiday plans?" Scotty asked the room full of people.

"Scotty, Federal employees are about the only people that get Presidents Day off," Caleb pointed out drily. "The rest of America can't afford to take a day off just because a bunch of politicians declared it a holiday. To the rest of us, the third Monday of February is just another Monday."

"At least there's not as much traffic on the roads," Scotty pointed out, grinning at his friend.

"That's true," Caleb said with a frown. "Which brings up a whole different issue. The only people not working are Federal employees and banks, yet the impact on traffic is significant. Why do we have so many Federal employees in Houston? Hell, why do we have so many public employees, period?"

"That will be one of the issues in the next Presidential election," Scotty promised drily.

"Still, I appreciate all of you coming today," Scotty continued, looking around the table. "Being a Federal holiday, it was the only chance I had for a meeting like this. Look around you. The people in this room are the core group that will carry us to the White House. We have a lot to do today. There is an agenda for today, in front of each of you. There are a few things we should discuss, before we get to the agenda."

There were nineteen people in the conference room, including Flan and Singer. Everyone in the room had a Companion, and the Companions were ensuring no one overheard the meeting. Despite the meeting being kept very secure and private, the fact they were having a meeting was very public. Scotty believed they needed to go through the motions of a normal campaign. People had to know that he and his election team were holding planning meetings, and doing all the other things a serious White House bid normally required.

"Perception trumps reality in American politics," Scotty explained. "We must create the perception that our campaign is at least quasi-normal. That will attract the funding that we'll need to win. Politics swims in money. It's a fact of life so get used to it. I have about eighty million in my war chest."

There were a couple of whistles around the table, and various comments about money and politicians. The most common comment was about understanding how politicians seemed to be in the top ten-percent of the nations wealthy.

"Expect the cost of this campaign to be close to a billion dollars," Scotty said, and the room dropped into stunned silence.

"We also have opponents, on both sides of the aisle, asking for America's votes," he continued after a short pause. "We also have enemies, both local to the United States, and international. There is a distinct difference between competitors and enemies. Competitors deserve respect, and an honest dialog. Many of our competitors may be future candidates for Companions. Our enemies, on the other hand, reap what they sow, and each of us must watch for them. They are dangerous. Caleb, I believe you have news about our most dangerous enemy, a rogue General Branch."

"I do, but I wouldn't swear that he's more dangerous than our rogue President," Caleb grumbled before turning to the rest of the group.

"We have three security videos of Robert Branch. The last video was in Turkey," Caleb explained. "He was crossing into Syria in the company of the leaders of a loose coalition of Jihadists fighting in Syria. He was dressed in traditional Arabic robes, but we were still able to get a picture of his face. His face has more ridges than Bran described, but it was Robert Branch. The other videos were in Mexico, and Saudi Arabia. In the Mexico video, Branch was walking, and moving, like a man that has had a stroke. The damage was less pronounced in the Saudi video. He was almost moving normally in the video we got from Turkey. It would have been good news, if the damage hadn't been repaired, but it is still encouraging."

"Why would it be good news?" Scotty asked, more for everyone else's understanding than his own.

"That piece of intelligence is bad for that region, but good for our battle against the Demon for two reasons," Caleb clarified. "First, Noah caused more damage in Branch's brain than the Demon could heal quickly. That tells me the Demon doesn't understand very much about the human body. The physical restrictions caused by the damage, even though the damage may be completely repaired, will cause anger. People make mistakes when they are angry. I am assuming that Demons do, too. Second, the Demon wouldn't have stayed in a damaged body, if it had a choice. To me, it means that Noah's goal of fusing the Demon to Branch was accomplished. If we can kill Branch, we can kill the Demon. That's my theory, anyway. We owe Noah a very great debt of gratitude."

'Amen, ' and various other murmurs of agreement ran around the conference table.

"Why is it bad news for the region?" George Terrell, Scotty's Chief of Staff asked.

"We plan on putting Scotty into the White House, in an orderly manner," Caleb replied. Then, at George's nod of agreement, Caleb continued with, "We are planning on taking over the American government to allow us to get into space to protect mankind. The Demon in Branch isn't as concerned about orderly manner, protecting anyone or anything, or how many bodies it leaves behind. We have four years before Scotty can get in the White House. Once Scotty gets into the White House, it will take additional time to mobilize, and get people in place to go on the offense against Branch. Do you think the Demon, and Branch, will be waiting for us to get our ducks in a row?"

"Probably not," George replied, paling slightly.

George, and the rest of those present, had witnessed the replay of the Demon encounters, via their Companions.

"I expect Branch to take command of that loose coalition, and unify it into something very dangerous," Caleb continued, nodding grimly. "Someone else will be the public head of their movement, but Branch will be in the shadows behind that leader. Expect to see a lot of bodies in the streets, in Syria and, and probably Iraq, too. Without our troops in Iraq, Branch will have more latitude to maneuver. Also, don't forget, he was involved with the Iraqi training. He knows how the Iraqi army will react. They won't be much of a threat to him, or his forces."

"We could send in a civilian team, and take him out," Flan suggested. "We have seventy three people with Companions, now, to draw from. If that isn't enough, I know more people with combat skills that would be good host candidates. It would be a nearly unstoppable team, if they're armored up."

"That may be something we need to consider," Scotty agreed. "But only as a last resort. The scrutiny that part of the world is getting, would make it very hard to function without being detected. That's a problem for another day, though. Today, we need to figure out how we'll get to the White House. Remember, we do have a bigger problem than Branch coming at us. Our plan is to get to the White House, to get ready for it. There is one thing that I want to be clear on. We will not be forcing people to our way of thinking with our special abilities. We can get their attention so they listen to what we have to say, but that is all. The primary way we'll be using our abilities is exposing those who are trying to game the system."