Intervention: A Science Fiction Adventure

by J. W. Huemme

  “Eagle- seven, are there any markings or insignias? Over.”

  “Base, Eagle-seven. No markings of any kind. Hell, there’s not even a door or window or even a seam. Nothing! Just smooth metal of some kind. Wait a second, my heads up display just went blank. Now there’s something being spelled out on my display.”

  At Christopher’s request, the computer made the message appear on the pilot’s heads up display one letter at a time at a rate of five letters per second. The pilot read the message to his base as it appeared. “It’s a message of some kind. It says, ‘If you return to your base now, there is a strong probability, repeat, strong probability that you will not be vaporized.’” At that moment the craft began to glow like a bright light, pulsing as it got brighter. “That’s it, I’m out of here! Eagle-seven returning to Base!”

  Military on the ground watched the object travel nearly seven hundred miles in a matter of seconds on their radar as the computer moved to the next aircraft to repeat the scene that it had just played out. All the time the craft remained clearly visible to both radar and the naked eye. The results were pretty much what you might expect until the craft appeared in front of the aircraft piloted by a combat veteran, Colonel Masters, a determined and skillful pilot. After the message appeared on his heads up display, he kicked in his afterburner and tried to maneuver around the craft. He became increasingly irritated as the craft matched his every maneuver.

  After a minute of this, Christopher said to the computer, “Perhaps he needs a little demonstration of your maneuvering capabilities. Show him what he’s up against.” With that the computer put the craft through a series of maneuvers that left the pilot in awe. Finally, the pilot realized he was totally helpless and completely out-classed. He turned his fighter for home.

  Christopher and Cindy let out a cheer as they saw the aircraft turn for home. “Guess he realized he bit off more than he could chew,” Christopher remarked. “We did it. We stopped the operation. Not to mention they definitely know we’re here now. Now we have to be sure it never happens again. It’s time for the final phase of our plan. Let’s give the aircraft a little time to get back to their bases and let them talk amongst themselves. In the meantime, let’s take a look at some of the staff’s reaction to this latest development in their well-planned operation,” Christopher commented with a smile.

  * * *

  “And that’s it? The last one? Thank you, Captain,” the Colonel said and hung up the phone. He turned to the round table surrounded by mostly generals and announced, “The last of the aircraft has returned to base. The story is the same with each one. Colonel Masters tried to out maneuver this thing, and if I hadn’t seen what I saw on the radar screen with my own eyes, I would never have believed him. He said he went to full afterburner and tried to go around the thing, and it stayed in the exact relative position to him no matter what he did. Then, according to the colonel, it went from fifty yards in front of him to fifty yards to his left in the blink of an eye. Then a second later it was on his right side, followed by a series of maneuvers he couldn’t even begin to describe.”

  “Thank you, Colonel. Well, gentlemen, I don’t know about you, but I’m convinced we’re dealing with extraterrestrial intelligence here. There’s nothing on this earth that is anywhere near being capable of doing what we’ve seen here today. It’s probably safe to assume whoever they are, they are aware of Operation Down-size.” The general paused for a moment to reflect. “I fear we’ve made a terrible mistake. I only hope they understand that we were doing what we thought was necessary for the survival of our race.” The room was filled with the silence of remorse.

  “All right, let’s let them sleep on that,” Christopher said. “In the morning we begin the final phase of our plan.”

  “You know, looking at them now makes me believe they realize what a mistake they almost made,” Cindy commented.

  “I would tend to agree with you; however, tomorrow we’ll make sure they continue to feel that way as long as they live. This sort of situation can never be allowed to happen again,” Christopher added.

  “This would be a good time to take a nutrient capsule and rest till morning,” the computer suggested.

  “Good idea. Have you detected any movement from the President yet?”

  “They are planning to move the President and his family back to the White House shortly,” the computer responded.

  “Perfect,” Christopher added. “Computer?” Christopher asked, “How about something to rest in.”

  “Would you each like a separate place to rest or would you prefer to rest together?”

  Christopher looked at Cindy. “Together would be nice,” she replied. They each took a small nutrient capsule, placed it in their mouths, and swallowed. Cindy gave Christopher a big hug and a goodnight kiss.

  Christopher said, “You know, this has been the most unusual way to meet someone, but I can’t tell you how glad I am that I met you and how much I enjoy being close to you.”

  Cindy got a little dreamy eyed. “I feel the same way.” They curled up together and quickly drifted off into a deep sleep.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Read His Lips

  “Good morning,” Cindy said.

  “I think it is a good morning,” Christopher responded. “Computer, what is the Eastern Standard Time?”

  “Seven a.m. Time to get started,” the computer replied.

  “And the President?” Christopher inquired.

  “Safely back in the White House,” was the computer’s response.

  “Good. You know what to do, so let’s go wake up the world.”

  The computer moved the craft to its starting position high above the earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean. The computer then made the craft completely visible and sent an image that would make the craft hard to miss on the most primitive of radar systems. The craft began to descend towards a point just off the shore of Los Angeles. The decent was made at a rate of speed somewhere in the neighborhood of Mach-seven. It was felt that this was sure to get the military’s attention. It did.

  Deep inside the NORAD’s Cheyenne mountain complex, an air force major was monitoring his console as he had each day for several years. He diligently watched each blip on his screen. What started as just another day, suddenly became an event. The major quickly grabbed the phone from his console to call his superior.

  “Colonel Evans? Major Raymond. I’ve got something here. Well, it has the same signature as the unknown we were watching yesterday. I’m sure of it. It’s coming straight down from out of nowhere. Its present trajectory will put it about five miles off the West Coast near Los Angeles. It’s coming in at over Mach-seven.”

  The voice on the other end replied, “I’m on my way. Stay on it.” The major returned the handset to its cradle on the console and returned his attention to the blip on his screen.

  Moments later Colonel Evans entered the room going straight to Major Raymond’s console. Leaning over the major’s shoulder, the colonel watched the blip on the screen. “When will it impact?”

  “If it remains on its present course, at its present rate of speed, it will impact in approximately three minutes.”

  The colonel picked up the handset from the console and gave the command. “We have an incoming unknown object. Scramble for intercept five miles off the coast of Los Angeles, and get a fighter up there with a wing camera. I want to know what this thing looks like.” The colonel placed the handset back in its cradle. “It will probably be under water by the time they get there anyway, but it’s worth a try.” Looking down at the radar screen the colonel remarked, “It doesn’t look like it is going to slow down. If it hits the water at that speed, I don’t think there will be anything left but pieces to pick up.”

  The blip on the radar screen grew even closer to the Earth’s surface. The colonel picked up the handset once again. “Where are those fighters I asked for? If they don’t hurry, we’ll have to scramble a submarine.” The colonel place
d the handset back in its cradle once again and continued watching the radar screen.

  A few moments later, the major and the colonel watched as the blip stopped descending at five hundred feet from the Earth’s surface. Without slowing down, the craft made a sharp transition from descending vertically to traveling horizontally. Once it had begun moving inland horizontally at Mach-seven, it began gradually slowing down. It reached a speed of Mach-one and maintained that speed as it traveled east.

  The colonel grabbed the handset once again. “Tell interceptors the object has changed direction to level flight and is now heading East at an altitude of five hundred on a course of…wait a second—zero-seven-five degrees. That’s zero-seven-five degrees. As soon as it began horizontal flight it began slowing and is now moving at Mach-one. Take no action. I repeat, take no action. Just get a good visual with the camera so I can see what we’re dealing with.”

  The interceptors were pushed to their limits by their pilot’s as they attempted to get within visual range of the object. “Eagle-leader to Base,” the pilot squawked into his mask. “Eagle-leader, this is Base. Go ahead,” the voice in his headset replied. “I have the object on radar and should have a visual any time now. I have the object at about Mach-one on a course of zero-seven-five.”

  The pilots scanned the horizon for their first glimpse of the unknown object. Suddenly an excited voice was heard in the pilot’s headsets. “There it is! One o’clock.”

  “This is Eagle-leader. Let’s turn off our afterburners and save a little fuel. Stay in formation. Let’s do our job. Eagle-three, are you getting this?”

  “Roger, Eagle-leader. Transmitting to Base now.” The small group of four interceptors kept their formation alongside the object about five hundred yards away.

  “What is that thing?” The voice in their headset asked.

  “Cut the chatter. Eagle-leader to Base.”

  “Eagle-leader, Base. Go ahead.”

  “The object is about five hundred yards off my wing. It matches the description we got from those pilots yesterday. It’s definitely not from this neighborhood. It’s about seventy feet around. No markings or visible doors, windows, or seams of any kind. Just a shiny metallic disk.”

  “Eagle-leader, this is Eagle-three. I’ve had my Kodak moment and am returning to Base.”

  The interceptors continued to fly with the craft until they were relieved by the next squad, and then returned to their base.

  In the situation room back at NORAD, a group of military brass, including Colonel Evans, stood in front of a large screen with a large map of the United States. “We’ve plotted the craft’s course, and if it continues on its present course and speed, it will arrive in Washington at approximately fifteen hundred hours.” Colonel Evans went on, “We’ve also learned that the silo doors at every missile site have been sealed shut preventing a launch. We’re not sure by whom but I think it’s safe to say it was the same source that sealed the missile hatches on all our submarines. There’s no known technology on Earth that could have come close to accomplishing this. I think we have to assume our mysterious visitor, who we are certain is the same craft described by our pilots yesterday, is responsible for these feats.”

  A general interrupted, “I don’t see this craft as a threat. It hasn’t taken any hostile action. In fact, all it did was to stop an aggressive operation.”

  Colonel Evans continued, “That’s what worries me. We were the aggressors, as far as it is concerned. There’s no telling what level of intelligence we’re dealing with here, but we’ve seen an indication of the level of technology. I believe we would be foolish to move against it. I believe it would be best at this point to let them, whoever they are, make the next move.”

  Another general replied, “In forty years in the military I’ve never taken a ‘wait and see what the enemy does’ position, and I don’t think we should start now.”

  Colonel Evans responded, “General, first of all, what makes you think they are our enemy? Secondly, what would you propose be done? Whoever they are, they have demonstrated a far more advanced level of technology. I doubt there would be much we could do if we tried. All we could hope to accomplish is to convince them we’re idiots and piss them off.”

  An aide entered the room and spoke to one of the generals. “Sir, I think you had better see this in here.” Motioning to a conference room, the aide led the way and the rest of the brass followed.

  In the conference room, a television was tuned to a local news station. The brass watched and listened as the reporter spoke. “Again, if you’ve just tuned in, what appears to be a flying saucer, you heard right, a flying saucer has been seen now by thousands of people across southern California this morning. It is now moving at about the speed of a commercial airliner, but only at an estimated five hundred or so feet above the ground.”

  The newscaster stopped and put his hand to his ear, then continued, “I’ve just been told we have received amateur video of the craft taken by a man in southern California just twenty or so minutes ago. Are we ready? All right here it is. This is the first time I’ve seen this and, wow! That went by a little fast. Can we run that again, but in slow motion? Here we go and, will you look at that. Now freeze it. It’s a little fuzzy, but, well, there you have it. An up close and personal look at a UFO. I think it’s safe to say that this is not a secret military craft. The craft is reportedly moving in an east-north-east direction. If it continues on its present course, film crews will undoubtedly be positioning themselves for some new footage as the craft passes their location. We’ll be sure to bring that to you as it becomes available.”

  “Well, you know the press is going to have a field day with this one,” a general commented. “I just hope they don’t get wind of Operation Down-size. The public would want our heads on a silver platter if they ever found out. I wouldn’t want to be around for that.” The generals all looked very worried, and for good reason. They had plenty to worry about.

  Once again they turned to the television. “We just received word that a news crew has been able to film the craft as it passed their location. We are waiting for that footage to arrive now. I’m told it will be ready to air in just a minute or so. While we are waiting for that footage, let me recap this morning’s events. Just after dawn this morning, thousands of people in the Los Angeles vicinity witnessed what we now believe to be an extra-terrestrial spacecraft in the morning sky. The craft was first sighted to the west, moving to the east-northeast at several hundred miles an hour, just a few hundred feet above the ground. You can see in this amateur video as the craft passed overhead, it’s a plain round saucer shape with no doors or windows or markings of any kind, or at least none that we can see.”

  The reporter stopped to listen to a voice in his earphone. “I’m told we have that new footage ready now, and here it is now. You can see the craft much clearer here and they’ve slowed the film down for a better and longer view. My lord! Will you look at that? This is not anything from this world. I can guarantee you that. Now here, in the freeze frame, you can clearly see the craft has no markings or windows or anything like that. It appears to be made of a shiny metal substance of some kind. You can clearly see military aircraft in the background of the picture. They seem to be escorting the craft as it crosses the country. The military still has no official comment.”

  The still frame of the craft was left on the screen for at least a minute, maybe two, as the reporter described every detail of what he saw. The picture then returned to that of the reporter. “This is a day that will forever change the way we see our place in the universe. This is the day so many have waited for; the day we were visited for the first time by an alien race. What will they be like, we must wonder. Will they even look like us, or be something we’ve seen in so many Hollywood movies? It may just be a matter of time now as the whole world watches and waits to see what will happen next.”

  As the craft continued across the country, Christopher and Cindy watched as the computer d
isplayed the local television images for them to observe. The reaction of the media was exactly what they had counted on. By the time they arrived at the White House, every man, woman, and child was tuned in to watch what would be the final phase of their plan. Christopher and Cindy were somewhat amused by what they saw and couldn’t help but wonder what the thoughts of the average person must be about now. Especially interesting would be the thoughts of those behind Operation Down-size.

  As the day progressed, the story became more widespread. Soon people were no longer working, but were glued to televisions anywhere one could be found. From the high-rise office buildings to the corner gas station, everyone watched as the course of history was changed. Would their lives ever be the same after today, was the thought on so many people’s minds. People’s reaction were often different, but anxiety was plentiful everywhere. Many people fled to the sanctuary of the local church to pray for divine intervention to protect them from their imagined threat posed by the alien invaders. As the craft approached an area, some people would go out into the streets, hoping to see the craft firsthand to experience the awe and wonder for themselves. Others just wanted to know it was for real and not a fabrication of the media, or another War of the World’s scare. Those who were able to catch a glimpse of the craft as it passed overhead were not disappointed in what they saw. If they weren’t convinced of the reality of the situation before seeing the craft, they certainly were once having seen it for themselves.

  About a hundred miles or so from Washington, the craft began to gradually reduce its speed. By the time it was fifty miles from Washington, the craft slowed to only two hundred miles an hour, continuing to reduce speed. There was no doubt that its course would take the craft directly to the White House.

  The President and his people were nervously trying to prepare for the craft’s arrival. Foolishly, they made sure they were wearing their best suits and were as well groomed as possible—all the things that would not matter to a higher race.