Greg had instantly reacted and had his gun and fired a shot to the torso. Jasper continued to snarl and bite and the hand, but by then the guy was dead. By now secret service agents were all over the place. Every server wearing a white coat, including the cooks was being lined up on a wall. Troops poured in the mess hall and surrounded the hall with rifles leveled at everyone. Greg took his family and two of his agents left the hall for home.
Once inside the house, the kids were excited and running on adrenalin from the action in the mess hall. Greg Jr. said, “Dad that was just like in the movies. I bet you could be a movie star if you wanted to.”
Becky scolded him and told him she would fix something to eat for all of them. Greg turned the TV on and soon the kids were watching Custer fighting the Indians. The TV took their minds off the incident and the sooner they forgot it the better.
Becky fixed some instant oatmeal and toast. A meager meal but under the circumstances, it was better than nothing. Two hours later Greg’s phone rang and he listened while someone did all the talking and Greg grunted a thank you and hung up. The kids had gone to bed and he and Becky were sitting there talking about the whole base and the different factions that were surfacing. After Greg hung up he told her that the two shooters were part of Colonel Bullgorney’s faction and Frank and Ben had discovered their headquarters and fifteen guys were now in the brig.
“I hope that is the end of it,” he said with finality in his voice.
* * *
If they had heads they would be seen shaking them as the events unfolded in the mess hall on earth. “Such a shame and so war like these humans. It is almost time for a change and it will be very soon when they discover our message and their response back. Meanwhile the mother ship has arrived and we are being called for a conference.”
If one could observe their presence they would have seen colored electrical pin heads of light dancing in a space without gravity. It looked very much like a comets tail as they sped away at the speed of light leaving a colored trail behind.
* * *
The next morning at the mess hall the shooting and subsequent apprehension of the dissenters was the talk of the tables. Word had spread thought out the base and fear and pity for the dissenters was felt by all the population.
Similar to the small towns of Medieval Europe small market stands were seen in the area of most traveled areas. Knitters, seamstress, carvers and rug makers, picture frames and all sort of goods were bartered every day. Not to mention a black market developed soon after the storm hit. You could find spices, cigarettes and liquor. Greg and the president thought it was healthy and did nothing to stop it. In fact Greg had Bubba make booths for the market people and wooden benches for sitting and making conversation.
Now as Greg passed by people waved and he waved back heading to Jenny’s lab. She had called him and asked him to stop by. He called Steve to meet him there and he said he was on his way. The space lab had a small conference room and computer print outs were stacked six inches high when Greg found Jenny and Clarence there. He found a chair and waited patiently for them to report. Steve came in next and had two cups of coffee in his hand. He gave one to Greg and took a seat. Jenny picked up her note book and studied it for a minute and left to make a copy for both Greg and Steve.
Both Jenny and Clarence had pleased looks on their faces as she handed them a copy of the message. Jenny said, “This is roughly what it says: DO NOT EARTH PEOPLE DESPAIR. EARTH PEOPLE WE HAVE COME WITH PEACEFUL INTENTIONS. IN THE FUTURE ARE WONDERFUL TIMES. SAVE FOR A BEGINNING.
Greg and Steve just sat there with a bewildered look on their faces. Jenny and Clarence had glued on smiles. Clarence looked like a boy who just successfully robbed the cookie jar. Greg looked up and said, “How sure you are this is the message?”
Jenny replied, “About ninety eight percent sure.”
Clarence nodded his head in agreement. Steve just sat there dumbfounded. He finally spoke, “Well, what the hell do we do now?”
Greg said, “We must form a response, but what do we say back to them.”
Clarence said, “Tell them to come down and we will have a BBQ dinner prepared for them if they stop this damn weather.”
Greg smiled and said he would get together with the president and see what she suggested. “Meanwhile if anyone asks, tell them you are still working on the message until we can formally respond.”
Greg left them to go see how the president was recovering from the attack last night. He had already decided to summarily charge all of them with treason and execute them tonight quietly. He arrived at the president’s car and went inside to find her in bed resting. However, she had left word if he arrived to show him into her bedroom. Carol led the way into a fairly stark but comfortable room. The wall paper was in pale yellow with the thick rug off beige. A writing table sat against one wall and a low black walnut chest of drawers on the other. At the foot of the bed was a walk in closet. Pictures of past presidents sat above the writing table and opposite that were color prints of landscapes giving off a peaceful atmosphere. A door at the head of the bed was a bathroom only used by the president.
A chair sat by the bed and she had a smile on her face. She seemed alert and was glad to see him. She said, “Greg I’m happy you are not hurt. I heard about the second attacker and how Jasper saved the day.”
Jasper was at the present time lying on the bed with her. Jasper rolled over on his stomach as Greg scratched his belly.
Greg said, “How are you doing? You look good, but the doctor said you are taking a sedative and for you to take it easy today.”
She laughed and said, “I’m milking it a little bit. Jasper and I are enjoying the attention. I see you have a file with you and I’m guess it has something to do with our friends from space.”
Greg handed her the file and for the first time Greg noticed she put on reading glasses. He hadn’t noticed them before and guessed she probably didn’t want the public to think she was old. He thought she looked very attractive with them on and she looked up while reading the message and smiled knowing he was thinking about her and her glasses.
She put down the file and took off her glasses which hung from a cord around her neck. She looked at him and he said, “Yes, we need to formulate a response, but what do we say to intelligence with the technology to control the weather and travel through space.”
The president went on to say, “Have the scientists each draft a response and choose the one you like. Or, maybe we'll a lotto and have the population of the base scratch out something and give the winner a free trip to the moon!”
Janet and Carol laughed and Greg said with a smile, “Damn good idea. I will set it up with Bubba. It might put the people at ease knowing the message was friendly and not intended for domination. As for the insurrection, I will summarily deal with the traitors tonight quietly.”
The president nodded her agreement and said, “Now we must prepare for the arrival of guests or do we go to their place?”
Sarcasm was in her voice, but in reality she was dead right about actual contact. Greg took his leave and went to the mess hall for mid-morning coffee and cake if he could find it.
Chuck and some old timers were sitting chatting as usual as he walked in the mess hall. He joined them and showed Chuck the message. Chuck said, “Now I suppose you want me to take a train ride to the moon!”
The table erupted in knee slapping laughter. Greg let go with a belly laugh. He hadn’t laughed this hard in years. Tears were rolling down everyone’s cheeks. There were perhaps one hundred people and staff watching the action at the table of old timers. One guy was heard saying under his breath, “Crazy old people. God I’m going to hate getting old.”
Greg drank his coffee and after he told them about a response via lotto again the table cracked up. He called Jenny and told her to not worry about keeping it a secret, the president said to have the whole base write a response and a committee would chose the best one.
He l
eft for his office. He had some dirty work to do and it was distasteful at best. Earlier he asked Frank and Brad to meet him around eleven thirty to discuss the case. They were both waiting for him when he arrived. He asked them to come in his office. This was very distasteful for him and he told them so. He said, “I’m getting tired of killing people. I don’t understand people like them. The crazy thing is we don’t seem to run of people like them ever.”
Frank and Brad hung their heads in acknowledgement. Greg told them his plan and he would be there at seven pm to formally charge them and give the orders for punishment. He went on to ask them about the formation and was the only leader the colonel from the main frame.
Brad replied to the question, “We don’t really know for sure. Maybe there is a sleeper somewhere but we still have our man in the brig with the others and maybe something will develop as time draws near for their demise.”
Frank chipped in and said, “I will make sure the word is passed on if someone gives up the big boss he will be granted a lesser sentence.”
Greg thought that a good idea and said he would see them in the water reservoir where sentence would be carried out.
It was lunch time and he wanted some friendly company like his wife. He rode to the mess hall to find her and the kids alone at a table about to have lunch. He sat down and gave the news about the message to her and the kids. That took away any talk of last night's assassination attempts. The kids warmed to the idea of writing a message to the aliens. Becky was ecstatic knowing maybe this nightmare weather might end and they could return to life as they knew it before. But she knew deep down life would never be the same and she must prepare her kids and husband for a new life no matter what they faced in the future.
Lunch was nothing short of the same old thing: soup and a sandwich of bologna. The kids said, “Daddy you are the boss around here, why can’t we have a hamburger or a pizza once in awhile.”
Greg smiled and told them as soon as the weather broke he would at the first opportunity find them a hamburger and a soft drink.
Greg spent the rest of the day with Jenny and Clarence. Steve stopped by and the four of them kicked around a response. Clarence wrote down this response: “What do you want?”
Steve had a like response saying: “We are ready to listen.”
Jenny wrote: “Welcome”; and Greg had: “let’s talk about life.’
They all felt no matter the words sent a higher power would let them know what they wanted. Open minds were needed here and certainly rational thinking was the key to the results of message passing back and forth. A whole new line of thinking was needed and a whole new idea of life on the planet earth would result from this encounter. Greg kept coming back to two words in the message: ‘despair’ and ‘beginning’.
After dinner Greg had a duty to perform. Frank told him some information was given up by two perps saying Colonel Travis was the head man. Greg had a hard time believing it, but if two verified it then he must take it seriously.
“Frank, what should we do?”
He said, “Let’s face him off in front of the accused lined up to be executed by a firing squad and see what happens.”
Greg liked the idea and made a phone call to the colonel pretending he needed something to discuss with him. The colonel agreed to meet him in his office in fifteen minutes. Frank left to go down to the brig and prepare the men for sentence. Greg waited for the colonel to arrive and in the meantime, played with a return message to the aliens. Travis arrived full of smiles and friendship. Greg told him about the message and what would he suggest to respond with to the contact? Travis said, “Invite them here and ask them what they want.”
Greg laughed and told him that was a good idea and then asked the colonel to accompany him to the brig and witness the sentence of death to the traitors. Travis said, “I would be proud to act as a witness.”
They both left and made their way to the brig.
Outside of the brig stood the fifteen men lined up against the rock wall. Some were screaming for mercy and others were stoic. Still others were cussing the system and stood there defiant. Greg and Travis walked to about fifteen feet of the accused and Greg stated: “You have been all found guilty of treason and attempted murder. Your sentence is death by firing squad. Now, if any of you have something to say now is the time for you to speak up. Clemency is awarded any of you who can identify the ringleader who we believe is still at large.”
Silence for a few seconds and then three stepped forward and pointed a finger at Colonel Travis and said he was the big boss and mastermind behind the assassination attempt and coup.
Travis immediately defended himself until one guy who had been quiet said, ‘Colonel be a man and take your medicine like the rest of us.”
Travis stuttered and made noise declaring his innocence, but it was clear to all he was involved. Three more names were given who were the colonel’s aids and Frank left to round them up. The thirteen were given jail time and Travis and his three aids were summarily shot along with the assassins.
Chapter 27
Late the next day in the mess hall piles of slips were looked through to deliver a return message to the aliens. Everyone was having a good time. It would seem hope was felt for the first time in many months. An atmosphere of anticipation and good times may finally be realized once again. They had learned a lot about themselves and others. Life would be different in the future no matter the results of the contact. Greg, his family and the president with her staff; Chuck with his lady friend; Bubba and his wife to be; and all of the rest of the population were full of good thoughts of the future.
After a dinner of tacos, thanks to the delivery from Ft. Carson, everyone was in a good mood when the president stood up and asked for everyone’s attention. She announced that the final decision on a message from earth to the aliens came from a high school girl from Colorado Springs.
The message said simply: “We are listening whenever you decide to talk to us mere humans.”
A round of applause went out as the winner of the lotto came forward to the presidents table to receive her award. The president gave her an autographed document signifying an official government response to the aliens which would forever go down in history as the first message from earth of a direct response from a world outside of our own solar system. The girls name would be noted on the document. A standing ovation occurred and the president said, “Tomorrow morning at eight our time this message will be sent out towards the moon. We will then wait for a response back. In the meantime, life goes on and we will go about our business as usual.”
Greg and company were standing in the computer room the next morning as Clarence sat at the computer’s main communication keyboard and typed in the message. At precisely eight the message was sent out. Now nothing could be done except wait. All returned to their respective offices and did busy work. In his office Greg looked at the calendar and noted it was February first and they had been in the mountain for about a month. People are adaptable he thought. He flashed back at his anthropology classes of old.
Humans had come a long ways from the cave man days, but to his chagrin, that is exactly what humans were doing today: living in caves or in manmade caves. He flashed back on the movies the kids had been watching with the cowboy and Indians fighting for the right of occupation. What are the Native Americans doing today he wondered, and it was known that the Native Americans believed one day they would return to their old ways and the white man would no longer be around to subjugate them.
The desk phone woke him from his day dream and it was the president asking him to meet him in the mess hall for coffee. He said, “I’m on my way,” and hung up the phone.
Walking with his secret service guys he looked at his surroundings. Bright halide lights shown from above and horizontal tubes of lights lined the wall. The walls were fitted with Thermax an insulator sheet to ward off the cold. The floors were indoor and outdoor carpeting in the main areas and cement floors in the
outer areas; mostly were residences for the base were located. Greg still wore his vest. His wife insisted he always had his vest on. He strolled along for the first time relaxed and as people were coming and going he smiled and said hello to them.
He was the first one to the mess hall and found Chuck with the boys at their usual table drinking coffee and swapping lies. He stopped by and said hello and moved to the presidents table to wait her arrival.
Greg was thinking how to respond to the aliens when or if they returned a message to earth. He was mulling this over when the president and her usual staff walked into the mess hall. Coffee and cake were served to the table. Greg said to Carol and Janet, “I haven’t thanked you for your quick reaction the other night. Without you we might have had more trouble than we could handle.”
Then he said tongue and cheek, “If it were in my power I would give you a raise in pay!”
The table cracked up and Janet and Carol were blushing. Nowadays the three of them were inseparable. Not to mention Jasper. Jasper probably saved Greg’s life and it appeared a head shot was directed at him from knowing he had on a bullet proof vest. The president had awarded him the Medal of Honor. First time for a canine in American military history and she had a picture taken of him with the medal hanging around his neck.
Greg told the group the message was sent out at eight on the dot. Now the waiting would begin.
“Greg,” the president said with a serious face, “I’ve stopped trying to make a new plan for the government. Too many unknowns and when we hear from our friends in the sky, we will do what is necessary at that time.”
Greg nodded his agreement. Jasper wolfed a little bit and the table erupted again in laughter. “We must never exclude Jasper in our future plans,” Hilary said while giving Jasper a hug.
Unearthly Snowbound Page 24