The Encounter

by Donal Myrick

  The evening passed slowly, and all remained quiet until four o’clock in the morning. Jim was dozing off, and Max was having difficulty staying awake as well. Max was shaken suddenly fully awake by a faint splashing sound that was slightly out of sync with the sound of the small waves lapping against the side of the boat. He nudged Jim and whispered, “Did you hear that?”

  Jim, fully awake now, listened carefully as the two peered through the darkness towards the stern. Very stealthily, two dark figures slithered onto the rear deck of the boat and began to move directly towards Max and Jim.

  They carried weapons, so their intent was obvious. Jim shouted, “HALT AND DROP YOUR WEAPONS.”

  The first intruder raised his weapon to fire, but before he completed the motion, Max leveled him with a double round of bird-shot. As he reeled backward, Jim took out the second intruder. They both dropped their weapons and dove back into the water. Before they hit the water, Max and Jim popped them with two more rounds. Those two were going to have a very painful swim to safety, and if they were lucky, very lucky, they wouldn’t encounter any sharks along the way.

  Geraldo heard the shots, and he knew that was just a distraction. He knew the real threat would soon be coming through the door in front of him. A few seconds later, two heavily armed men in wetsuits wearing night-vision goggles came bursting through the door. They were expecting to encounter, at most, surprised unarmed civilians, and were prepared to dispatch them in short order before claiming their prize and torching the boat. Instead, they encountered Geraldo, a highly trained, special ops soldier who knew exactly how to deal with their kind. Geraldo double-tapped both of them before they took two steps inside the boat.

  And that ended the assault, which lasted at most ten seconds. Within minutes guards were swarming all over and around the boat. A search was on for the two that jumped back into the water laden with bird-shot. They were never found.

  An investigation was launched, but there was little to discover. Mr. Smith was able to shield Max and crew from most of the pesky questions. The incident was straight forward. Four intruders heavily armed with silenced weapons and obvious evil intent. Two were dispatched: two were missing. The use of deadly force was justified. The situation was handled competently by the civilians. When the Coast Guard Commandant demanded to know what was onboard the civilian yacht in his impound area that warranted a night-time raid by highly armed professionals, and why wasn’t he informed of the potential threat. Mr. Smith politely informed him that he was not cleared for that information, but that he was asked to provide additional security. Mr. Smith also asked the Commandant how was it possible for at least four individuals to penetrate the impound area’s security, forcing the civilians to act in their own defense? The Commandant had no answer, but he assured Mr. Smith an answer would be forthcoming.

  CHAPTER 55

  A Deal Is Struck

  Later that afternoon, after Ted and Dr. Fred arrived, everyone met onboard the yacht. As the events of the previous evening were rehashed, Ted and Dr. Fred learned of what they had missed.

  Ted asked, “Do you think they will try again?”

  Geraldo answered, “It is highly unlikely. They weren’t expecting the reception they got, and now they know that we are on high alert.”

  Dr. Fred implied that he was highly grateful that he had missed all the excitement, but now that he was here, he was curious why the government suddenly had such interest in our activities.

  Max explained, setting the table for the discussions that were to follow. He said, “Dr. Schillinger, the agents here are aware of what analysis of the rocks might reveal, and they are aware of the strange relationship that we have had with the Russians. Two of the gentlemen here are with our Project Blue Book, which we had thought was disbanded years ago. But no, it is alive and well and apparently well-funded, which is one of the main reasons I requested that you and Ted be here. They are suggesting that they take possession of your rocks and place them in a secure location and that you and they jointly analyze the rocks and do whatever it is that you scientists do. I will leave it to you and Ted to negotiate your terms, but I see an opportunity for both of your universities to receive some substantial funding to support your research efforts.”

  “I see your point and thank you for making that a central issue. Yes, our universities are always in need of funding for research, and if our samples from the Churún River Cave are to be located at a secure remote site, it will be very expensive for Ted and me to work between that site and our universities.”

  Mr. Jones interjected at this point that they fully understood and that those costs would be covered.

  Max continued, “I don’t see a place for any involvement in your research project for the rest of us. After all, we are cavers, not academics or scientists. We are planning to work with the Mueller Foundation in writing and publishing an expedition report, so once the rocks are offloaded, we would like to part company with you, and head back to Huntsville.”

  Mr. Smith agreed that would satisfactory, and Mr. Jones concurred.

  Scott, who had said very little up to now, entered the conversation, “Gentlemen, in as much as that you are willing to generously fund the research efforts of Drs. Baldridge and Schillinger, I would like to point out that the Mueller Foundation has totally funded this project, and without the Foundations support, we wouldn’t be having this meeting. I would like to propose that the government consider compensating the Mueller Foundation with an appropriate grant so that we can continue supporting important efforts of this nature.”

  The government guys put their heads together, and after a brief discussion, they agreed that a grant would be an excellent mechanism for continuing an obvious and productive cooperative relationship. Mr. Smith indicated that someone from their office would be in contact with them to work out the details and put the funding on a fast track.

  Before the end of the day, an armored vehicle showed up. Three large bags were transferred off of the boat under armed guard and transported to Homestead Air Force Base. Ted and Dr. Fred accompanied the armored vehicle and would fly with the samples to their final destination in Nevada.

  With that albatross finally removed from the boat, Glen said, “I think we can all relax for now. I propose we find a really good steak house and celebrate a little bit.”

  Peggy was quick to second that proposal and quipped, “Do you think the guards will let an Uber onto the station here?”

  Max replied sarcastically, “I doubt that will be a problem. Considering what happened last night, I think that the security is pretty lax here.”

  Indeed, the guards permitted two Ubers to come on station and transport the six of them to a highly recommended steak house. A delightful and relaxing evening was enjoyed by all, and the next morning Glen headed the yacht out into the intercoastal. Their trip would take them around the southern tip of Florida past the Florida Keys and then across the Gulf of Mexico to Mobile Bay. From there, they would go up the Tombigbee to the Tennessee River and on to Decatur, Alabama, where the yacht was permanently berthed.

  On their final leg, as they cruised up Tennessee towards Decatur, Peggy and Max were lounging together on the forward deck. Peggy turned to Max, smiled, and said, “You know, I could really get used to this lifestyle. We ought to do this more often.”

  Max laughed, “Do you think Glen’s dad could use a yacht sitter when he isn’t using it? We could take really good care of it.”

  CHAPTER 56

  Some Fancy Alabama Engineering

  In the months that followed the group’s return to the states, it was decided to maintain a low profile for a while. The alien devices were secreted off the yacht and stored in the SCIF at the Mueller Foundation. Agents Jones and Smith lived up to their word and fast-tracked substantial funding to the Foundation and to Ted and Dr. Fred’s universities. Ted was brought on full time with his university and given the rank of Associate Professor. They dutifully carried on their research even though they a
lready knew the answers, and in fact, knew far more than could ever be gleaned from the analysis of the rock samples. Max, Peggy, Sam, and Jim moved to Huntsville to work full time for the Mueller Foundation. Spider and Bufford went back to being Spider and Bufford, except that Bufford moved in with Spider. They let the group know that they planned to make the move permanent soon. They also knew it was important to lay low for a while, in hopes that Kuznetsov would conclude that there was nothing further to be learned from any of the group and move on. Max and Peggy took a cue from Spider and Bufford and moved in together. They claimed it was for economic reasons, but no one was buying into that story.

  The Russians finished the aqueduct, and water was restored to Angel Falls. A big to-do was held to celebrate the event, and only Scott, Max, and Peggy attended the event. Kuznetsov was very cool to their presence and did not speak with them. After that, the Russians vacated their presence atop Auyán tepui. Although Kuznetsov showed no interest in the group, Max had a feeling that they were still under surveillance, though perhaps not quite as intense as before. With the water restored to Angel Falls, the Mueller Foundation sponsored a project in cooperation with Parque Nacional Canaima to make the Canaima River Cave a major destination for cavers from around the world who wanted to have on their resume that they had descended the world’s deepest pit inside of a cave. This project also gave cover to the group whenever they needed to visit the aliens. It also provided them with the ability to protect access to the secret entrance.

  All during this time, plans were being made for the assault across several hundred miles of pack ice to the backside of Meighen Island where, in a relatively shallow inlet under thirty feet of permanent ice, lay the alien space ship. Researching this area without raising suspicions or unintentionally disclosing the spaceship’s location proved to be a difficult task. Sam, the new IT guy for the Foundation, took the lead on the task of keeping all research anonymous, and he established several fully protected fake ID’s that could be used when doing searches on the web. All of the important research information was kept on computers that were air-gaped from the internet, so the computers and the data were protected from hackers.

  A secure workshop was set up so that prototype sleds could be constructed using the hover transporters and tested. While the sled concept was working out well, it was realized that the sled would not have sufficient carrying capacity to support the needs of the expedition. A larger craft was going to be required.

  Max investigated snowmobiles, Arctic Cats, tundra buggies, and even aircraft before he hit on air cushion vehicles, also known as hovercraft, as an option. A bit of research revealed that hovercraft can go fast and can easily travel over water, mud, ice, rough terrain, and even fly. The problem, Max realized with hovercrafts, was that they are inherently energy inefficient, and he was in need of the ability to travel autonomously and stealthy perhaps eight hundred miles across one of the most barren and hostile regions on the earth, and that was going to require a huge amount of fuel. There could be no fuel drops along the route because that would be like an arrow pointing to the spaceship’s location. Then suddenly Max had a ‘eureka moment’, it hit Max like a ton of bricks! This was not a problem; he had the world’s most advanced power source at his disposal. It would be riding effortlessly on the sled he had constructed using the hover transports. His hovercraft would simply have to be electrically powered. This was an excellent convolution of circumstances. He had unlimited electric power, and electric propulsion would be hundreds of times more stealthy than internal combustion engines. Problem solved, sort of anyway. He would have to build and test an appropriate hovercraft in order to prove his idea. However, he was so confident that he had hit on the solution that he had to tell somebody, so he sent an urgent group text to everyone to meet him in the shop.

  Sam, who was nearby tinkering with the sled, asked, “What’s up? Do we have a problem?”

  “No problem, rather a problem solved,” Max replied. “I’ve just had an idea that I want to share.”

  Jim, Scott, Connie, and Peggy all came running.

  When they were all present, Max said, “I think I know how to get to the ship. I’ve been looking at all sorts of alternatives, and I think I have identified how we can do it.”

  “We are all ears. Spill it.” Sam said.

  “The solution is to use an air cushion vehicle.”

  Sam cut him off, saying, “That will never work. They are notoriously inefficient.”

  “That is what I thought when I first looked at their capabilities. They have all the characteristics we are looking for, but they are fuel hogs. Then it struck me, that is not our problem. We have all the fuel necessary; it is just not in liquid form. We have the RMD. We can make an all-electric hovercraft. It will be perfect. No gas or diesel required. We have an unlimited supply of electricity. It will be fast, capable, and stealthy, and we can build it ourselves.”

  Sam quickly flipped from negative to positive. “Maybe a hovercraft will work after all. That actually sounds like a good idea. When do we start?”

  Scott said, “I’ve seen a lot of ads for hovercraft kits. Let’s get the biggest kit we can find and start modifying it.”

  Sam came up with the best idea. He suggested, “Why don’t we just buy an electric vehicle and use it for parts. It will have all the right stuff from motors, to control systems to nice seats and a big battery.”

  “That’s a great idea. That will save a lot of engineering time and effort. When the time comes, we just remove the big battery and plug in the RMD. The battery space can be used for cargo.”

  Scott pointed out that “We can get the fiberglass boat company that built our shields to do all of the structural modifications and assembly. Tell them that we are planning to enter hovercraft races, and for a discount, they can identify as one of our sponsors and put their logo on our racer. By being totally open with the project, no one will ever guess what we are building it for.”

  Max said, “Let’s divide and conquer. I’ll identify an appropriate kit and get it ordered. Peggy, you go shopping for an electric car. Don’t go for the high end one. Go for the middle price range and reliability. Sam, get smart on electric car systems and get ready to integrate the RMD. Scott, you have been the primary person dealing with the boat company. Get them primed and onboard to help us build this thing. Jim, it is time to put your HVAC expertise to use. We will need to minimize both our thermal and visible signatures. Find out what kind of paints, tarps, blankets, insulating material, and whatever else we might need to make ourselves invisible in the arctic environment. It looks like everyone has a plateful now. Once again, Connie, you will need to hold the fort down while everyone is working on this project.”

  Two weeks later, the project was in full swing. Scott negotiated a small corner in the boat factory to work the assembly and integration of the project. The large hovercraft kit was delivered and unpacked. The electric vehicle was disassembled, parts identified for repurposing were cataloged and set aside, and all unnecessary parts were scrapped. Scott found a buyer for the engines that came with the kit since they would not be needed. The electric drive motors from the car were much more powerful than the internal combustion engines that came with the kit and were indescribably more responsive. The fiberglass craftsmen replaced the majority of the kit’s fiberglass structural components with carbon fiber covered rigid foam components to accommodate the anticipated increased loads that would be imposed by the powerful electric motors.

  The kit had an open-air cockpit, which was totally unsatisfactory for operating in arctic conditions, so a closed cockpit was constructed. This also required that a large air intake duct be incorporated above the cockpit to funnel the air to the vehicle’s fans. As an artistic touch, many of the high-end comfort appointments of the electric car were included in the cockpit of the hovercraft. This was going to be a hotrod hovercraft, and everyone was anxious and excited about seeing it in action.

  Six weeks to the day, the hovercra
ft was ready for trial runs. The parking lot served as the initial test area. The vehicle performed so well that soon, testing was moved to more challenging venues. In the weeks that followed, the hovercraft could be seen racing up and down the Tennessee River, up and over the banks, across low lying wetlands, and up some craggy slopes. It was on some of the rougher terrains that problems were encountered. When the hovercraft hit a bump while traveling at a medium to high rate of speed, it would become airborne, which in and of itself was not a problem, but the landings were sometimes very rough and dangerous. Something needed to be done to lessen the risk of crashing the vehicle, especially when towing the sled.

  Sam offered a solution. “Why don’t we do away with the sled all together? We can mount the RMD in the vehicle where the battery currently is, and mount the active part of the hoverbarrows on the underside of the hovercraft. They would provide an extra five hundred pounds of lift for the vehicle, and when the vehicle becomes airborne, they will act as shock absorbers when the vehicle comes back down. Getting rid of the sled is, I think, important for the sake of vehicle stability, especially in rough terrain. What do you all think?”

  Max said, “Sam, I like your idea. I like it a lot. Let’s get the modifications done.”

  Scott asked, “What are we going to tell the fabricators? We can’t tell them what hoverbarrows actually are.”

  Max said, “We will tell them that they are specialized stability devices that we have been developing over at the Foundation. The way they actually work is a secret, and their presence on the vehicle must not be disclosed. I think they will buy that story.”