Nexus of Time

by Mark Riverstone

  Colonel Kaliber interrupts, "Did the Greys recover anything of value from those bunkers?"

  Mr. Nix calms and responds, "Unfortunately, yes. There is video footage from all the bunkers that was being recorded by our offsite servers in DC. I had our technicians edit together the relevant footage of their acquisitions. If you will watch the table monitors..."

  The same edited recording plays on the table monitors.

  "This footage is from the Grey Valley Bunker, after we razed the artifacts and escaped. You can see the infiltrating Greys use a disc device to recover the chips from the case we left behind in the conference room."

  Dr. Lost expresses surprise, "I am not sure if I'm more amazed the chips were composed of materials hard enough to penetrate the alloy storage case, or at that device able to exert such a pull on the chips but nothing else."

  Nix continues, "...And here you see they take a frozen hand specimen. Now that item is a negative one-hundred-fifty degrees Celsius, yet those gloves on his suit easily handle it...Ok, this footage is from the Grey Mountain Bunker in Texas. You can see they overrun the bunker before the personnel could raze the artifacts. The Greys can take anything they want, yet the only items they are interested is...there you see one Grey taking the chips...and here you see them go through the vault door..."

  "They just disintegrate that door," comments Mr. Axus. "What are they using?"

  "I speculate disposable nanobots," replies Walter.

  Mr. Nix continues, "Once inside the vault, they release from containment what we refer to as a 'Zeus Box' and take it. Everything else they leave behind and destroy the bunker when they leave."

  Colonel Kaliber asks, "What is that cube? It had special storage in the vault, so do we have an idea what it was?"

  Burt chimes in, "That cuboid is as simple as a child's toy, yet technologically advanced beyond our abilities. It is a supersolid with an internal superfluid reservoir, acting as a frictionless conductor."

  "What?" says Colonel Kaliber confused.

  Dr. Lost interjects, "I understand what supersolids and superfluids are, but comparing it to a toy implies it has manufactured design and purpose. Yet, it is a block."

  Walter responds, "They used frictionless materials to create a small perpetual motion energy amplifier."

  Colonel Kaliber asks, "Which means what to a non-scientist?"

  "It means with a pint of hydrogen isotope, they could power a ship, its cloak, defense shields, and travel anywhere on this planet. The hydrogen fuel was used for starting and stopping the Zeus Box. That box generated a tremendous quantity of power by using little fuel that has a byproduct of water."

  Mr. Axus jumps in, "Not quite a layman's version, but I get the gist. If we had these things, why didn't we ever create them or use them? With that, I could reinvent the power profile of this facility."

  Burt answers, "We are unable to create a stable superfluid or supersolid. Best we've done is get helium-4 to absolute zero Kelvin. It had the properties of a superfluid, but no practical application. Using atomic mass spectrometry on the Zeus Box, we found signatures of gallium, nitrogen and iridium but that never explained how it became a supersolid or what the exact composition was. We cannot create that compound ourselves. We haven't been able to analyze the fluid inside."

  "Why not?"

  Burt continues, "Containing a superfluid is impossible with conventional materials. Black Ops Dark Project took a core sample of the Zeus Box that was in the Grey Valley Bunker. They could not contain it, and we couldn't stop the Box from leaking, so we had to get rid of it."

  Dr. Lost inquires, "How or where did you get rid of it?"

  Walter interrupts, "Dr. Lost, we'll get to that."

  Dr. Lost becomes meek, "Yes, Professor Tomb. My apologies if I overstepped."

  Walter adds with a smile, "You did not. But I appreciate how nervous I make you."

  Mr. Nix says, "If humans could figure out how to make those components, we could create unlimited energy and ignite a technological revolution. That particular item is something the Greys do not want humans to possess."

  Mr. Nix starts the recording again. "If you continue to watch the surveillance video we collected, you'll see that at the Grey Water Bunker in Georgia, the way the personnel razed equipment was crush everything then flood the bunker. That was successful in the artifact room, for you can see right there that the density of the compacted materials made it so the Greys could not recover the micro-chips using the disc, causing the Greys to abandon that recovery. However, this shot here shows...the Greys get the hydraulic press in the vault to lift and expose the Zeus Box. The Zeus Box sticks to the press because the supersolid has magnetic qualities, but also notice that the hydraulic press doesn't destroy or cause it to leak or crack. Then the Greys take it.

  "And finally, in this last recorded section at the Grey Dome Bunker in Ohio, you can see they extract the Zeus Box from acid. The only item not dissolved by the acid. The surface of the supersolid is unaffected, and when removed, the corrosive drips off it. At every bunker, they left with a Zeus Box, except the Grey valley bunker in California where we were. At first, I thought they were tracking the skin spawn micro-transmitters, but I think they also tracked the Zeus Boxes."

  Walter adds, "The only outpost that had Grey artifacts and we received no information on yet is the Barge. That is where the damaged Zeus Box from the California bunker was relocated for containment and storage."

  Colonel Kaliber recognizes the name, "The Barge? I dealt with them once in my career back when I was with Black Ops. And it wasn't much of a dealing. Captain Nemolipaloli..."

  Walter corrects him, "Captain Nemolopolus."

  Colonel Kaliber replies politely, "Thank you. Nemolopolus showed up, took something top secret and left. Though it wasn't a gift. We traded it for his research on HPVs, hypervelocity projectiles, to help with the Navy's rail gun project. What did you get from him for that damaged Zeus Box?"

  Mr. Nix reveals, "He gave us a map of the skin spawn human hybrid genome. That research helped Dr. Black perform the operations she is doing right now. I sent a warning to the Barge a week ago, but received no word back from them. They have the means, unlike those old bunkers, to mask any signals or signatures that Greys can track. The only way the Greys could find the Barge is if Captain Nemolopolus wanted them to find it."

  Dr. Lost meekly speaks, "Walter, sir, do you mind if I ask what is this Barge and who is Nemo...whatever his name is. If I am privy to that information, and I'm guessing I am or you wouldn't mention it in front of me."

  Walter tells her authoritatively, "The Barge is the world's most advanced amphibious craft, research facility, and houses the most innovative scientists alive today. It was a private enterprise and originally a contractor of the US government. Launched in 1970, it resides in international waters most the time, and its mission is to explore and solve all science questions and problems uninhibited by moral, ethical or legal concerns. That is why it stays in international waters. The Barge is so self-sufficient, it never needs to return to the US or any country for supplies. Our government lost control of the Barge to its most recent captain. He is sometimes referred to as 'Nemo', the fictional submarine captain, but he never liked that name and prefers people use his Greek name Nemolopolus."

  Mr. Axus asks, "If he broke from the US, why didn't the government seize the Barge, and how does it survive without us?"

  Mr. Nix explains, "No army, navy or country could take the Barge. The Barge could hold its own against a Grey craft in battle. It started as a facility under government contract, not part of the government, so legally the Barge has a right to be on its own. And we must continue relations with the Barge. Every country needs the Barge. Any time the US or any country in the world must perform an experiment or research that is illegal, unpopular, too dangerous, beyond capability, or involves human experimentation, they go to Captain Nemolopolus. He provides those hiring him with the results, the Barge gets paid handsomely in money or rar
e resources, and the Barge keeps copies of the research. The Barge has the wealth of a country and is rich in every currency on Earth."

  "What do you mean by human experimentation?" curiously asks Dr. Lost.

  Walter responds, "I can't say. No one off the Barge knows. The Committee contracted the Barge to create a 3D organic printer that could render human flesh and organs like lungs and skin, and the contract stated the Barge needed to supply proof of success by implanting those organs into a human and having the human survive."

  "They succeeded?" asks Dr. Lost.

  Walter answers, "Built, tested and delivered. The printer is inside the Committee DC headquarters. Who knows where they found humans to test the synthetic lungs in, but the Barge fulfilled its contract. That is why countries turn to them. They get results without ever having to deal with any moral or ethical issues. I don't want to get into a discussion on the Barge. It is what it is, and even the Committee has turned to them for help. I will continue reaching out to the Barge until I hear from them. If the Greys destroyed the Barge, humanity has lost its biggest asset."

  "If the Barge is safe, when do you expect a response?" asks Mr. Axus.

  Walter continues, "Whenever Nemolopolus decides to contact us. As I said, they don't work for us or anyone. The captain and I occasionally communicate and helped each other, so I expect a response at some point."

  Mr. Nix refocuses the conversation, "However, our plans are not contingent on the Barge. What we need to focus on is the Greys. We can assume the Greys are unaware we infiltrated their skin spawns, because the only agent hybrid we had was Seventeen, and his remains were destroyed when we razed the Grey Valley Bunker specimens. As of now, the hybrid spy program is our only working strategy. We need to get Eighteen and Nineteen out in the field as soon as possible and hope to compromise a few more of their facilities before the Greys come at us again. Or at least, get an idea of what the Greys are planning for their next move."

  "What is our endgame, Mr. Nix?" asks Colonel Kaliber.

  "Well, taking out the Pacific deep-sea colony reduced their numbers ten to twenty percent, so the previous population of Greys at five to seven thousand has been reduced to four thousand to fifty-five hundred. For the last fifty years, the Greys were using skin spawns for labor to supplement their low population. I believe every strike against them increases the chance they will delay invasion, focus on increasing their population, and continue to rely on spawn labor.

  "But honestly, I don't have an endgame. This is a fight humanity can't prepare for and may not win. We cannot foresee the Grey's next move, or if recent events changed their plans. I think a safe bet is that Seventeen's warning message of invasion meant ground forces, so their plan won't include mass destruction by weaponry. I'm guessing they want to take humanity with minimal damage to the Earth, and use skin spawns to engage humans, preventing the loss of any Grey lives.

  "Seventeen's warning also mentioned breeding, so the Greys found a way for their species to breed. Once humans are out of the way, they will need the land and Earth's resources for rapid expansion. Until the Greys breed a new population, they will depend on skin spawns. That will give us the opportunity to get our operatives Eighteen and Nineteen in play. It's our only play. I plan to recruit four more agents for hybrid transformation once these two complete training."

  "What are your orders for me?" asks Colonel Kaliber.

  "Colonel Kaliber, I need you to extend the external surveillance of this facility an additional five miles. The cloaks Grey craft use are sophisticated, so we can't detect or circumvent their effectiveness, but because the cloaks are energy based, they must uncloak first to use energy weapons. Be ready to detect them if they uncloak anywhere within range."

  Walter adds, "I believe that is why they didn't use the cloaks until now. They had the ability, but not using them meant we couldn't prepare or develop any countermeasures."

  Colonel Kaliber wonders, "We had their ships in bunkers for decades. Why didn't we figure out a countermeasure?"

  Mr. Nix explains, "We didn't realize what we had for a long time. We weren't able to get the Grey ships in an operational state to activate it. And when we realized in the nineteen seventies that the ships had an electromagnetic cloak, the DOD and Black Ops were interested in reverse engineering it, not countering it. I could not allow them to reverse engineer it knowing improper modulation of the electromagnetic field causes a temporal loop, so I killed the research. And none of the Grey ships activated the cloak until recently, so there was no reason to counter a device the Greys weren't using."

  Walter takes a scholarly tone, "We can't counter the cloak. Unknown to Nix, I did research trying to recreate the cloak. It bends light and can unify with gravity. The only way I found to detect it is use laser beams. The micro distortion of laser beams would tell us if there is a cloaked ship in its path. But the lasers must be still and the Grey ship must fly through the lasers, and they could detect our lasers before we detect the ship. So, unless we construct a massive laser grid that is constantly active, and their ship doesn't detect the grid while passing through it, then we could detect the ship. The power needs and size of the grid alone make it an infeasible venture."

  "What good is the expanded surveillance?" asks Colonel Kaliber.

  Mr. Nix answers, "We will see them when they uncloak. Or, they may use skin spawns to locate us, and we can detect them. It's all we have to work with, Colonel, make it happen. Dr. Lost, you need to speed up the training for Eighteen and Nineteen. Can you review your training tests and procedures and come up with a report on how we can expedite the process by seventy-five percent?"

  "I already streamlined their training to the minimum," pleads Dr. Lost.

  "Maybe you can modify the information implant devices we use for knowledge and language imprinting on their brains to include information on combat training and skin spawn behavior. Both Eighteen and Nineteen are combat trained and in peak physical condition. I reduced the memory wipe to only remove older memories, and retain the last couple years, allowing them to keep their recent combat experience. Those two things should help you compress the training period and focus the imprinting data. Do what you can, come up with a solution, and we'll discuss it in seventy-two hours."

  Walter becomes interested, "So the telepathic information imprinting headsets I developed from the Grey communicator passed the trials with Seventeen?"

  Mr. Nix smiles, "With flying colors. We implanted as much scientific and historical information as we could, including fluency of every major language on this planet. But because Seventeen was sent into the field, and then disappeared, we have no idea if there are any long-term effects on the brain, loss of retention, psychological disturbances or harmful influences on cognitive reasoning. And every previous agent put through the hybrid program, from One to Sixteen, had a psychological breakdown and was decommissioned. Those breakdowns could have been from the shock of the transition or inability to cope with the new state of being, but could have been from the headset telepathizing and implanting during the months of healing. We can't yet be sure.

  "Walter, I know you are asking because your original intent was for the headset invention to become a tool for our scientist to use, expanding their knowledge in hours into any field or with any information they desired, resulting in more rapid innovation and increased discoveries."

  "Precisely," says Walter.

  "My concerns are that premature usage by any of our scientists, if adverse effects exist, could ultimately inhibit their imaginations, confuse their reasoning and logical deductions, or damage their brains enough to be less effective or ineffective. Some of the most brilliant minds work here for the Committee, and for now that will have to be enough to do what we need to be formidable against the Greys. If more agents successfully complete the transition in the hybrid program without breakdowns, I'll consider letting lab technicians volunteer for test trials."

  Walter insists, "The Committee lost a half dozen brilliant minds
when the Greys slaughtered them infiltrating the bunkers. We need an intellectual boost if we are to make up for what we lost. I encourage testing them on technicians now."

  "And if we lose anymore brilliant minds because we couldn't wait to use the device, we will fall even farther behind. I'm sorry, Walter. Be patient and focus on your unfinished research for the time being. Burt, please continue to aid Walter on his work. To the rest of you, if the Greys change their behavior, perform any other aggressive actions or attack another facility, I'll call another emergency meeting. Any questions? Everyone understand what they need to do?"

  Everyone looks around at each other and says nothing.

  "Ok, meeting adjourned."

  Everyone gets up to leave, talking among themselves. Mr. Nix stays behind, turns his chair, and looks at the monitor on which Dr. Black is operating. He then looks at the one where Eighteen sits naked, unbandaged, with two technicians taking his blood pressure and checking inside his ears.

  Mr. Nix speaks into the communicator, "Medical, I'm headed to Eighteen right now."

  "Yes, Commander," responds a voice.

  No Home away from home

  Chapter 9

  Spare Auxiliary Office, Colorado Mountain Facility.

  Walter stands in the doorway, looking into the small room filled with everything he needs but lacking the clutter and personal flair of being used. His hesitation to enter isn't due to reluctance or discomfort. What weighs on his mind is the hopelessness and doom they face if he doesn't come up with a solution to deal with the Greys. Maybe if Walter spoke up or argued harder at the meeting, but that could have stirred up panic and despair.