by P F Walsh
The President asked,
“Is Eddie Powers over there?”
“No Sir, I have not seen him.” The Agent replied.
“Well, I’ll send him over to help. Keep me posted with any developments as soon as you know anything.” Said President Burke, he hung up the phone and pressed the hidden button to call the Secret Service agent on duty to come into his office. The side door opened immediately and an Agent came in.
“You need something sir?”
“Yes, get Eddie in here right away.” He said. The Agent slipped back out the door as he lifted his sleeve microphone to his lips.
Eddie Powers was head of the Secret Service and a very experienced Agent. Within minutes he came from his office in the White house and was in the Oval Office listening to the President telling him the Secretary of State was missing, and to get over to the Secretary’s residence and see if you can help. The President then reached for his intercom phone to Elizabeth and when she answered said,
“Elizabeth, contact the Deputy Secretary of State and tell him to get over here ASAP.” Elizabeth replied “Yes sir.” and clicked off.
The President stood up by his desk for a brief moment thinking “I thought I was going to have a nice day today. What now?”
He went to his door and invited the Senators back in to continue their meeting. He would give them no indication of what was going on of course. One of them would pass a tip to the press as soon as they left the White House. He had a final thought “I hope John is OK, I like him.” After that, he switched his mind back to the meeting as the Senators filed back into the Oval Office with coffee cups in hand.
A few hours later, Elizabeth announced a call from Eddie Powers. The President set aside the speech he was working on for the Manufacturer’s Association and picked up the phone.
“Eddie, what have you learned?” He queried.
“Well, sir,” Eddie replied, we don’t know much more than we did before. The forensic people have been crawling all over this suite for the last couple of hours and the only thing they have come up with is a strange circular stain on an outside wall and the Secretary’s phone which has been unremarkable except for his dictated notes about last night’s party at Senator Manders. He said he met the Senator’s step daughter. Sir, the Senator doesn’t have a stepdaughter, we’re following up on that with some of the people who attended the party. Otherwise, we don’t have much to go on. He just disappeared, but we know that really can’t happen, so we’ll stay with it until we know more. That’s all I have now, Sir.” Eddie concluded.
“Thanks Eddie, you’re right, nobody just disappears. Maybe you should have a few of your boys look closely at the Security Agents?” He asked.
“Already on that Sir, logical first step. I’ll keep you up to date if we find anything new Sir.”
“Good, thanks Eddie,” And, the President hung up his phone.
The President leaned back in his chair thinking about what he has just learned. He knew Senator Manders well and knew he was reasonably security conscious but it seems someone had managed to get into the party and talk with the Secretary that was not who she said she was. He knew the Senator had video cameras in the public areas of his home, so the investigators will surely be looking at those recordings.
“I wonder who she is?” He thought.
Earlier, after his meeting with the Senators, his quick meeting with the Deputy Secretary of State had lasted only a few minutes as he informed the Deputy of the Secretary’s unknown status. and that the Deputy was temporarily in charge while the search for the Secretary continued. He was instructed to keep this situation totally unannounced to anybody, and to continue as though the event had not occurred, at least for now.
“Now,” he thought, “maybe I can get back to all the stuff I was supposed to do today.
The rest of the day went as scheduled, he spent most of it meeting with his staff and economic advisors, dealing with political challenges from Congressional pit bulls on the other side of the aisle, always getting their two minutes on TV about how bad the new President was doing. It was all tripe of course; things were humming along as planned.
“Implementing your plans while filling staff positions and replacing employees from the old administration was always a pain in the ass.” He thought, but had to be done unless you wanted holes in your back. The staff knew it, so changes were not unexpected.
About the time he was ready to go upstairs for dinner, another call from Eddie came in. The President picked up the phone and asked,
“What have you learned Eddie?”
“So far Mr. President, nothing new of the Secretary’s location, status, or how he left the bedroom suite. That still remains a mystery. I have the team over at NSA and CIA perking up their listening for any chatter, but there’s none out there.”
“We did look at some video at Senator Mander’s home and we believe we have identified the woman the Secretary was with who lied about who she was. We believe she is Svetlana Kuznetsov a Russian operative who has been definitely linked to one or two assassinations. The video is unclear from the angle but it looks like she might have put something on the collar of his Tuxedo coat as he walked away. It’s speculation on what that was, but suspicions all agree it would not be a good thing.” He finished.
“Thank you, Eddie, The Russians, huh? I knew they didn’t like him, but this is really bad, looks like I need to pull the Russian Ambassador through a splintered knothole tomorrow. He won’t know anything about it of course, but they need to know we will have an unpleasant response.” He said,
“Good Night Eddie, talk with you tomorrow, I know what you’re telling me, but I hope we find the Secretary unharmed.”
“Good night Sir.” Eddie hung up before the President who was slow to put down his phone as he thought, “Now just how hard should I screw those bastards this week if we can’t find the Secretary?”
Chapter Seven
Book One
Doris sat behind Sean since there were two rows of single seats on each side. Each seat was next to a portal, oval in shape, and arranged vertically. She reached for the restraining shoulder belts on either side of the seat when the seat started moving causing her to jump a bit. Then she remembered the Collector said the seat would auto-form to each of their bodies, and that was what it was doing in multiple planes all at once. In about 30 seconds the seat was molded to her body perfectly and cushioned for her weight. She slipped the shoulder harnesses on and snapped the buckle shut as she wondered...
“Why does Sean look so cool? This is scary shit for me.” She thought, and then she recalled the photos in his library of him standing next to an F-15 in his flight suit, and holding his helmet with his name on it.
“Of course, he’s cool, he’s flown with his hair on fire, he’s enjoying this!” She thought... a bit angrily!
The interior of the shuttle was utilitarian and the sides and floor were equipped with many tie-downs that folded flush with the floor and sides. The sixteen seats appeared removable to allow the shuttle to be used for moving cargo as well as riders like Sean and Doris. Strip lighting ran down the center of the cabin and each side, filling the cabin with a soft light. The ramp door had quietly closed and a deep hum was beginning under the floor of the shuttle, she could sense that the shuttle was going up, straight up like a helicopter, but there was no thump, thump, thump from rotor blades, just the soft hum beneath their feet.
The shuttle was now in the clouds and she could no longer see any ground lights in the distance. They had seated on the shuttle side that faced the rest of the desert, away from Palm Springs. Sean was looking out the portal as well, appearing calm just as though he was on a commercial airliner heading to Vegas. There was very little to contribute to any anxiety related to the flight since the shuttle was much smoother than an airliner, and virtually noiseless. Doris could just barely feel a shift to forward motion as the shuttle settled into its flight plan.
The shuttle stayed in the clouds until it was over th
e ocean and then began increasing speed heading North. Doris leaned over Sean’s seat back and asked,
“Got any ideas where we’re going?
Sean turned his head back and replied,
“Not a clue, but I know we’re going North. Might be some place near the North Pole. That would be ideal for a hidden location, not easy to notice.”
The shuttle kept increasing its speed as the cold water of the north Pacific slipped by under it, the faint hum under the shuttle floor never changing in pitch or loudness. A few hours later both Sean and Doris could see there was no more open water below, only white ice and snow pack, Suddenly the shuttle pitched up and the hum under the floor deepened in pitch, signaling that more power was being called for.
“So much for my guess of a North Pole base of some type. We’re going much further away, definitely not on Earth.” He thought.
The shuttle kept going up at very high speed and soon the curve of the Earth could be seen from the portals. Sean and Doris were glued to the portals, watching as the shuttle began its leap into near space. Even Sean with all his flying had never been this high,
“I’ll bet we’re passing through about 90,000 feet, what a view!” He thought. “I wonder what Doris thinks of this?”
Doris was spellbound,
“These were heights very few humans had come to, and none so smoothly and comfortably.” She thought. “Wow!”
The shuttle kept straight on its course, not initiating a roll program to follow the curve of the Earth. This was causing the planet to move out from under the shuttle as it continued on its normal orbit. Sean could see all this from the comfort of the shuttle cabin and realized the shuttle was not seeking an orbit but a straight departure away from Earth. The images of the Earth began to slide out of view from the portals as the shuttle continued to increase speed. The Collector’s tinny voice came through emanations concealed in the ceiling of the shuttle,
“Biologicals, prepare for transition, please be certain the seat harness is now in place on your form and locked.”
Sean leaned back instinctively from his airline days and said,
“Doris make sure you’re buckled in.”
“I’ve got this seat harness as tight as it will go. I’m good.” She replied. “What’s going to happen?”
“I don’t really know, but I think we are about to go much, much faster to wherever it is we are going.” He said.
The shuttle hum deepened even further and slipped into what sound like a sustained, loud grunt. At that moment everything came apart. Nothing was together any more. Sean felt like his consciousness was disconnected from all the sensory connections from his body, his vison went black and there was silence for a moment. Everything stopped, and then it reversed, everything came back together, he could feel his hands and feet and could see again. He took a deep breath and exhaled. The air in the cabin had snapped into a misty cloud that began to clear with the air circulation system. The grunt under the floor was back but declining and returning to a hum. Sean called back to Doris,
You OK?”
“Holy shit, WHAT was that?” She gasped.
“You OK?” he asked again.
“Yeah I’m good, but I think I pissed myself.” She replied.
“What the Hell happened there, man I was unglued.” She said.
“Doris, I never experienced anything like that, but I think we are a very, very long way from home as a result. Some kind of moving from one location in space to another.” He said.
On Earth, if anyone was capable of monitoring, there was a strong burst of gamma rays that lasted for a fraction of a second from a specific location and died away quickly. Sean and Doris both looked out of the portals but there were only stars to be seen, and with a clarity only space travelers were able to see. The Shuttle’s hum was declining.
“Doris, I think we are at our destination.” He said, as he looked out the portal.
The shuttle began a mild rotation. That’s when the Seeker ship started coming into view.
“Oh my God,” said Doris, “Look at that, there’s something you don’t get to see every day.” She kept looking as more of the ship came into view. Sean was transfixed looking at the first alien starship any human has ever seen and couldn’t think of anything to say.
Doris wasn’t so restrained by the sight and said,
“It’s a huge space ship, so they’re real after all.”
The ship was rectangular with a blunt nose that was rounded in a saucer shape. Lights sparkled all over the ship. It kept getting bigger but remained motionless, as the shuttle approached. Sean studied the form.
“Yes, it’s basically rectangular except for the nose section, quite thick, View ports scattered here and there, no visible signs of propulsion I can see, lots of panels around the front outer rim that seem to be able to open. The surface is a metallic color.” He thought, “If it were not for the light from view ports and what he thought were docking light, it would be very hard to see in the darkness of space.” Sean was taking in all he could as more detail became sharper while they got closer. Minutes passed by and still the shuttle was not at the ship. By now, the ship’s side filled the whole portal view and they were not yet docked. Sean could see more view ports at different heights along the rim.
“There must be several levels in this ship, it’s huge!” He thought.
Suddenly, the shuttle slowly passed into the ship through what seemed to be a thick, clear sheet of liquid, then bright lights filled the portals as the shuttle maneuvered inside a huge loading bay. Several shuttles and other machines stood lined up along one wall of the Bay. The shuttle settled into a cradle at the end of the other shuttles and the hum died down into silence.
The shuttle ramp began to open with a brief and slight hiss as the pressure inside the shuttle normalized with the Cargo Bay. The Collector floated from the front of the shuttle behind what Sean assumed to be the cockpit of the shuttle. It then hovered just beyond them toward the ramp which was now down, and said,
“Biologicals will remove seat restraints and leave the shuttle. You are to follow this unit.”
The Collector began slowly moving out of the shuttle as Sean and Doris unhooked their seat belts, grabbed their packs, and got up to follow the chrome Ball. Once out and on the metal cargo bay deck they looked around, and Sean was trying to estimate the size of the bay.
“I think this bay must be at least two hundred feet by one hundred rectangular, It’s enormous.” He said.
The collector began moving toward the nearest wall where there were several doors of various sizes. It floated toward one that appeared designed for pedestrian use. As the Ball approached the door, it slid aside revealing a well-lit short corridor at the end of which there was another set of doors. There were no other doorways in the corridor. Sean and Doris followed the Ball into the corridor and then into the next doorway which similarly slid open as they approached it. Once open, they could see that this was a transport station with a side offset in the track depression so that other cars could pass by. The walls rose up to an arched ceiling, all smooth and shiny as though glass coated. Despite this, there was no bouncing of sound off the hard surfaces like Sean would have expected in a subway station.
The car doors slid open as they approached it, and the Ball went inside and hovered silently near the front. Sean looked down into the main track pit before boarding, and there were two rails, set wide apart, wider than the parked car, for two-way traffic. They were polished chrome without a scratch on them, shining brightly in the station’s overhead lights.
“Must be Maglev, magnetic levitation.” He thought.
Then, Sean and Doris went in and sat in two of the ten seats available.
The doors closed, and the car began to move silently onto the main rail and pick up speed quickly to what seemed like a jogging pace. The car moved along for about two minutes and stopped at another side cutout in a station platform. This station’s wall and ceiling were colored blue. The d
oors opened and the Ball floated out. They followed the Ball to a set of frosted glass doors which, once again, sensed motion to access, and slid open. Here was a room designed for comfort, a lounge of sorts with several plush chairs side tables, four couches and one table. Along one wall there appeared to be a beverage station. On the opposing wall another station was displaying food items behind glass panels. The Ball spoke,
“You may refresh yourselves in this room. A sanitary station door is on the light blue wall. The Seeker will speak to you here.” And, with that announcement the Ball just passed through the far wall and disappeared.
“Did you see that Doris?” Sean asked,
“It just went through that wall!” Doris nodded.
“Yeah, it’s all unreal.”
“Now do you see why I wanted a witness?” Sean said.
“Boy, do I ever, No one would believe this, any of it, in fact, they may not believe both of us either.” Doris replied.
Sean walked over to the food station and was surprised to see an assortment of Earth foods all spread out like a buffet in an expensive hotel. He lifted one glass-like panel which was much lighter than glass would be, and took out what looked like a turkey sandwich with mayo and tomato. He bit into it and was pleased it tasted just like a turkey sandwich should. Sean was hungry and continued eating. He turned around to see Doris looking over several beverage selections including a soft drink dispenser. She took a cup from the stack on the end of the table and chose a button image which looked like a cola selection and pressed it while holding the cup underneath the spout. Out came a fizzy, brown cola-like beverage. She tasted it and declared,
“We are saved, they have Pepsi, well, I think it’s Pepsi, sure tastes like it.”
“Hey, bring me one of those and come and get a sandwich. They’re good, at least the one I have is.” Sean said.
The lighting was soft and side tables near the chairs and couches had tall cylinders on them which gave off a soft glow. Sean and Doris sat at the only table and chairs in the center of the room, and ate, all the while looking around the room and its furnishings. They were all made of fabrics and materials that were similar but not like anything they had seen back on Earth.