Truth Insurrected: Declassified
Page 9
Chapter 8
The Elusive Fifth Species
People who've read Truth Insurrected: The Saint Mary Project often ask about the "Fifth Species," a meddlesome, mysterious, and potentially threatening alien group at the fringes of Saint Mary's research. Are they a figment of imagination and fear? Just who are they anyways?
Now, just to be clear, when we speculate about government contact with aliens, it is speculation, with few reliable facts to go by. Who knows how many species are in contact with Earth? Maybe five, maybe more, maybe less.
For the novel, I wanted to show that there were degrees of knowledge within the Saint Mary Project about aliens, some of which they have in freezers, in captivity, and others only in their fears.
This excerpt introduces the reader to the Fifth Species, and I promise, there is more about them in the book, especially since fears about them propel the Saint Mary Project into a dangerous, confrontational strategy…
“This is damn serious,” Admiral Horner said. “The Air Force has been lucky so far, but naval assets have been lost, as you all should know, in incidents similar to this. This most recent Dreamland encounter swindled you out of two F-15’s just like our loss of a P-3 and F-14 last year near Puerto Rico. Worse still, the Norfolk event. I don’t think I need to remind anyone here about our losses in that incident. The pattern is the same.”
“Could it be the elusive fifth species?” Professor Moresby said.
Silence.
Even the air seemed to disappear.
The officers sat frozen; fears of inadequacy compressed their innards. They hung there, suspended, as if dumped into the suffocating vacuum of space.
For once, the machinery in General Taylor’s head powered down. Emotional batteries kicked in. How will this ever end?
Blood circulated again in his colleagues’ arteries. Their cheeks blushed. Moresby twiddled his thumbs.
At first, the professor’s movement unnerved Taylor. To remind the working group about the fifth species—the daunting, mysterious, unpredictable fifth species—would only encourage more self-destruction.
But watching the old man, Taylor realized the professor’s simple act clarified everything.
“This group knows where I stand. The fifth species is obviously a dangerous threat,” Admiral Horner said, confirming Taylor’s concerns. “Could be the most dangerous. This is what Saint Mary is all about. I don’t put much stock in such things as communications, the hybrids, disinformation, or other intangibles. We need to take a stand. Our day of infamy has come and gone, gentlemen, and I don’t see us fighting back. Saint Mary may have grown out of fear, but I don’t see us doing enough to conquer that fear.”
“We have ELF,” General Lanham said.
“Sure, we have ELF,” Admiral Horner said. “But has it been deployed yet? Do we really know if these low-frequency sound waves will work in the field? Do you want to bet our safety on a multibillion-dollar erector set?”
“ELF will be up and running soon enough, and it has shown promise as a weapons platform,” General Lanham said, his eyes moistening. “I don’t suppose you have any solutions, specifically speaking?”
“All I’m saying is that we need to straighten out our priorities and quit wasting precious time. If I were running this show—”
“I appreciate your comments, Admiral,” the chairman said, interrupting along with an upward hand slice. “But my inclination is to assert an element of diplomacy into this discussion. All functions of the project are supposed to work together. In a mission of this kind, the priorities can be difficult to assign. Everything is important. Security, technology, operations, disinformation. You cannot imagine the dependence we now have on our legal staff. Litigation over the tax status of our facilities has exploded. Apparently, some have found this to be a possible way to break open Saint Mary. In many ways, our front line is a group of lawyers huddled in the basement of Wright-Patterson. In the same sense, our frontier, our jurisdiction, extends virtually anywhere it has to. Remember when the Belgians showed everyone their secret files and photographic evidence? I have never seen the Circle so incensed. In that case, our security branch acted effectively. Their liaison work with NATO was invaluable. But your comments, I have to admit, do reflect the consensus of the Circle’s members. In fact, their interpretation has led to a clarification of our priorities.”
As Admiral Horner grunted his approval, General Taylor’s mechanisms came back online, immediately trying to anticipate where the chairman was headed. Taylor glanced at Colonel Stone. He stared directly at him.
“Three years ago,” the chairman said, “funding was obtained for what was described as a state-of-the-art plutonium storage facility, called North Range. The location of weapons-grade material is not seen by legitimate authorities as, shall we say, newsworthy. The budget submission was black. The secrecy was to our advantage. Not all of you know this, but North Range is actually a new airbase, our new airbase.” The chairman thumped his chest, emphasizing the last three words. “It will be operational in January. Gentlemen, our primary mission will be weapons development. We are to pursue an aggressive policy of technology exploitation. Other functions will remain, but we will consolidate them. The Saint Mary Project must provide solutions, more so than ever before, to the defense question.”
Attempting to hide his surprise and growing anguish, Taylor said, “As you know, my current duties are confined to the security branch and the hybrid programs. They have encompassed other areas in the past, but I am unclear about your use of the phrase, ‘aggressive policy of technology exploitation.’ What exactly does that mean?”
“Essentially, we will not simply rely on the recovered technology. Roswell and Norfolk provided us with great treasures, yes, but the Circle believes we should, and possibly can, intercept and capture these alien craft.”
“You must remember,” Professor Moresby said, “the fundamental reason for our secrecy is that upon the moment of disclosure, we must be able to reassure the public that we can defend ourselves.” Most of the men around the table nodded. “Of course, once we declare war on the aliens, which is the implication of this policy, then there probably won’t be any public left to defend.”