Free America's Galactic Foreign Legion - Book 20: Time Machine by Walter Knight

long time out on the frontier with just aliens.”
    “Aliens?” marveled Captain Ride. “We’re not alone?”
    “You and your crew are going to learn things from my men that need to be kept top secret,” I explained patiently. “The less you know about aliens, the better.”
    “I am an explorer,” bristled Captain Ride. “It’s not my nature to be kept in the dark. Tell me everything.”
    “ Challenger crashed because of an O-ring seal on a rocket, freezing a line to an outside fuel tank,” I started. “It’s technical.”
    “I ’m a physicist. I live and breathe technical. Continue.”
    “You crashed and broke your space ship. Too bad, so sad. After repairs, we’re sending you back on a new mission. Congress wants to cut NASA’s budget. That must not happen. The survival of humanity depends on America’s accelerated expansion into space.”
    “Why?”
    “Because humanity is alone, surrounded and under siege by a galaxy of bug empires. We must build and prepare to defend our species against an alien invasion. I’m sending you back with downloaded information containing inventions and technological innovations. Most important, I will give you knowledge of sporting events so you can parlay insider knowledge into a multi-billion-dollar Las Vegas empire, to co-fund NASA. I wish I could join you on Old Earth to see it happen, but the powers-to-be don’t trust me with money. Me, a Hero of the Legion. Can you believe it?”
    “Who se crazy idea was this Las Vegas scheme?”
    “Mine,” I answered indignantly. “Please, we need you. It will work. I’m so proud to meet you, Sally, to see the Space Age being born again. When I joined the Foreign Legion, I never thought I could make a difference. I just wanted to survive the day one step ahead of the Grim Reaper, but they kept promoting me. We are going to propel America across the stars. No one else but America can do it.”
    “Why not just give me lottery numbers?”
    “It’s more fun going to Vegas, baby.”
    “Do you really have sand mites?” asked Captain Ride, relenting for a moment on my earlier proposition. “Oh, never mind.”
    “They ’re hardly noticeable.”
    “How did someone as immature as you ever get promoted to Full-Bird-Colonel?” asked Captain Rider, still sizing me up.
    “I saved the world eight times, and the galaxy three. I’m a Hero of the Legion. I get perks for that. You should be more appreciative. I even saved you. Twice.”
    “Thank you for your service and for saving me,” replied Captain Ride, determined more than ever to give back and to do her duty for America and humanity. “Twice? If you won’t tell me about aliens, is there anything else I should know?”
    “Yes, vote Republican. Humanity depends on it.”
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 1 3
     
    “Did you know all legionnaires are injected with a tracking chip to prevent desertion?” asked Corporal Tonelli conversationally. “It’s embedded in your ass.”
    “Yes,” answered Private Christ. “That’s the first thing I was warned about. It’s in the fine print of my enlistment contract. Desertion is a capital offense too. We’re all in for the duration, whatever that means.”
    “Doesn ’t that grate on you?”
    “Why should it? I just got here. It’s all good, we volunteered. Right? I even swore an oath on the Bible.”
    “But what if you could get away?” pressed Tonelli. “Wouldn’t you take it?”
    “Before I collect on the Yankees game? No way, José.”
    “If we traveled back in time, we would know all the scores in advance. Better yet, the Legion couldn’t track us with their satellites. We’d be free to do as we pleased.”
    “Czerinski would hunt us through time and space,” reasoned Christ. “Our death would be slow and painful. It’s the law. Do you think I want to go through that again?”
    “Czerinski is nothing but a low-rent thug and thief. All he cares about is himself. I’ll take care of Czerinski. I’ve got gold. We