“It would seem that the Regent uses aides to do his bidding. One of these aides developed a relationship with an ordinary citizen, who we now hold, with his family and others, in the Cheyenne Mountain facility, NORAD.”
The President angrily stands up as he shakes his fist. “This man seemed to have the run of their command ship. I saw no guards with him. He even had a pilot assigned to him. We must assume that he is a collaborator. There can be no coincidence that he was not at home when the asteroid hit Manhattan. He must have been in contact with them from the very start. This George Stanton is a spy for them...” Realizing that he is ranting, he adjusts his suit and sits down, his facial muscles still twitching.
Barbara doubts this view is accurate, but is intrigued enough that she adds George Stanton to the list of people she wants to talk to. I wonder what his view on all this is? She thinks.
While she ponders this quietly to herself, a young woman wearing a white coat walks up to the President. “Mr. President, would you please come with me?” He quietly complies.
Once he has left the room, the Speaker of the House continues in a sympathetic tone. “The President is not feeling well after his traumatic experience at the hands of the Gamin. George is being debriefed at the NORAD facility with all the others that had direct contact with them.”
As the Speaker drones on, Barbara looks at her list one more time. Andrew and Joe of ASKAP, may have more information about the alien fleet. Hopefully they can resolve the issue of the discrepancy in numbers. John, the forgotten shuttle pilot, and hero to the crew of the ISS, perhaps he saw something, anything during his daring rescue. Then this civilian George, who we know had direct contact with the Gamin, we must find out what he knows. She sighs as she looks at one more name on the list, Demetri. Well, he is the best Russia has, and as much as he detests her, she can't stand his air of superiority either.
Location:
Kangbashi District
China
The Chinese government is quite busy handling numerous issues. The new power unit given to them by the Gamin has caused quite a stir. Many countries want to study it. Requests for access are turned down, while demands to see it are simply ignored. Another pressing dilemma is the recent Korean war. Though brief, it has created a staggering number of refuges, and they are still crossing the border in droves. Looking to secure China’s future, the leadership has not only opened the borders, but is going one step further.
The modern bullet train pulls in to stop at this nearly new train station, the numerous passengers look to each other in a mixture of bewilderment and disbelief. Many had heard of the fabled Chinese ghost cities, but none could have imagined they really existed. One thousand passengers and three hundred members of the People’s Liberation Army of China disembark. Each of the passengers is directed in turn to present documentation to an official, who sends them toward awaiting buses. Each bus, once full, takes these passengers to a residential area where they are assigned housing. The process is very efficient.
Each day that passes finds more trains arriving, each with their load of one thousand passengers and three hundred soldiers. Within days these new arrivals are assigned work assignments and food rations.
Though most of the early arrivals are young single men, later trains include women and children. It does not take long for the once quiet area to become a bustling community. Either due to the heavy military presence, or the newcomers’ own willpower, crime is virtually nonexistent. Children play in the streets safely, homes left open are undisturbed. The local prison stands virtually empty, with the police force spending most of their time attending issues such as cats trapped in trees, and the like.
Local famers find the influx of people a boon to their waning sales. These newcomers attend special language classes each night and work in various factories during the day. Learning Mandarin and working are the requirements, as these people settle in and start a new life. For many this turn of events has been a great blessing. A few still hold onto old values, but they have lost their positions of power and are no longer feared. The rest may not be free in the true sense of the word, but freedom is a relative thing.
Meanwhile, more than one thousand miles away at the Wenchang satellite launch center, there is also a lot of activity. An unmanned rocket reaches two hundred feet into the air, high atop its launch platform. A safe distance away, a lot of nervous officials are monitoring the last few seconds of the rocket’s launch.
“Main engines start, Four, Three, Two, One.” The noise level increases drastically as the heavy launch vehicle prepares to defy gravity. “Lift off. We have lift off.”
The massive CZ-5 rocket builds up speed, as it accelerates away, heading skyward on its fiery plume. The Chinese rocket propels upward, passing the six mile mark within a minute of launch. As the rocket continues upward past the twelve mile mark, ground observers begin to get rather excited. China will be the first nation to have a space based presence since the departure of the aliens.
“Status.” Calls out Control Center Commander Jie.
“All systems are functioning normally.” Responds one of the many people in the command center. He has trouble containing his own excitement.
“We have satellite activity.” This new speaker is a small man hunched over a telescope, peering through its eyepiece. Commander Jie looks at the row of fifteen men all hunched over their hastily built, but powerful telescopes that line the wall. Each telescope aims up and out through openings in the windows toward the skies above. A simple measure, but rather effective.
One by one, the other fourteen people raise their hands, the gesture confirms satellite movement. The Gamin satellite grid would seem to be responding to the rocket’s launch.
“Exiting the stratosphere any second.” Calls out the man monitoring the rocket’s progress, his excitement waning as he glances at the fifteen people, all with one hand raised.
Suddenly, one of the telescope operators falls from his chair clutching at his eyes. “Agghh! Bright light, bright light!” He is blinded, at least temporarily anyway. The other telescope operators notice their colleague’s distress, and look away. This action saves them from the same painful fate.
The Gamin satellite grid consists of thousands of small, yet technologically advanced solar powered satellites. Eight of these fire an energy beam at the approaching rocket. The thin walls of the rocket are no match for the brief, but intense heat. The CZ-5 rocket, China's crowning glory and hope for the country’s space dominance is obliterated in seconds. The remaining fuel ignites, causing a fireball so spectacular it can even be seen from the ground.
“We have lost tracking, the rocket has been destroyed, sir.” The report almost superfluous, but delivered anyway.
Commander Jie looks about the room as his shoulders sag. This failure will cost him his career, at the very least. He gulps at the thought of other options. People are one resource China is not short of, as he recalls stories involving firing squads for embarrassing failures.
Reluctantly, he picks up a telephone to relay the news of the disaster to his superiors.
The voice on the other end of the call is rather non committal. “The rocket was destroyed by the Gamin satellites. Very well. This was not unexpected, I want a full report in the morning Commander Jie.”
“Yes sir.” Commander Jie is most relieved as he replaces the telephone. With all eyes in the room on him, he squares his small frame as he issues his orders with confidence.
“All observers are to write down everything they saw.” He walks to his office, most relieved, this was after all, not his fault.
Commander Jie is so focused on not being held responsible, he totally fails to comprehend the ramifications of today's events. Even when he rereads his own report he can't help but smile at all the details he has added. He knows his superiors will be most pleased with him.
Later that night, he wakes up soaked in sweat as the significance of the rocket’s destruction finally sinks in. “Oh n
o.” He groans as he runs to the bathroom, literally sick to his stomach. “Whatever will we do?” He says quietly to himself. “We are trapped.”
Location:
Outback
Western Australia
Captain Jones usually pilots a 747, but this time with fewer passengers, his route finds him piloting a smaller 737 instead. Once again he has been blown off course, but this time they are flying lower, and under the storm, rather than higher and over it. The smaller plane shakes and rocks in the building storm.
With strong winds buffeting the plane, the copilot looks out his window at the swirling sands far below. “Oh my. What is that?” His voice is full of surprise.
Looking through the swirling cloudy mist, Jones can barely make out a walled section of desert with buildings, or something large inside the area. The walled off area encompasses a huge tract of land.
“Let's get a closer look.” Hitting the 'Seat Belt' sign, he banks the plane over and takes it even lower. The view is even more impressive closer up. There before them, is a massive construction dock. But what surprises them most is the spacecraft inside the dock area. The craft is huge, and looks like most of the other craft the Gamin use.
Passengers inside the plane that happen to be looking out their windows are awed by the spectacle.
“Get an exact fix, and radio ahead, we have to report this.” Jones now understands why this was designated a 'no fly zone'. As Frank relays details of their startling find, he realizes with a shock that the government knew something was going on.
“Understood.” Frank replies to the radio. “They want us to land ahead of schedule.” Looking back down at the ground, his voice a mix of confusion and bewilderment, “I wonder why they did not take it with them? It looks complete.”
The copilot’s comments mirror Jones’ own thoughts. Continuing to circle, he can see dust starting to build up on the leeward side of the surrounding walls, dock, and even at the ramp that extends to the sand beneath the alien spaceship. After one more pass, he straightens the plane out and pushes the engines a little harder.
“Let's get moving then.”
Even before Captain Jones lands in Perth, news of the amazing discovery has gone public. One fantastic video was shot by a passenger and uploaded to various social networks. In no time at all it goes viral, there is no way this can be kept a secret.
By the end of the day, the Australian Prime Minster has little choice but to convene a cabinet meeting. It seems that almost every country in the world wants a piece of the alien spaceship, or even claims some right to it. A huge concern to the Prime Minister is that many countries have quite powerful militaries and some have indicated this during discussions. He can't decide if these are veiled threats or just posturing, whatever the case, he must act, and fast.
Location:
Deutsche Academy der Wissenschaften
(German Academy of Sciences)
Halle an der Saale, Germany
Cindy walks into the small room, looks at the ten seated men and mentally marks them off. The Russians are represented by Olaf and ‘Peter the sleeper’, as she likes to think of him. As much as Peter had been watching Radclyf, her contacts had been watching him. She smiles as she looks about the room. Radclyf and his team are seated with Hayato's team, chatting. She sips her morning coffee as she begins the day.
“You were part of the group selected for operation 'Archangel'. As you know, this was initially a counter terrorist group. The Russian President activated this group in response to the perceived Gamin threat. It seems our alien visitors really did only want some resources after all. Our job here is to piece together as much information as is possible. We need to know why the Chinese were given a power unit, and why the French were chosen to be the first hand recipients of the medical training.”
She motions to Hayato. “I want a quick rundown on your activities and observations.”
Hayato considers his words, and relays everything from the assassination of the North Korean leadership to the disappearance of the military shortly thereafter. He goes on to describe the sighting and landing of the spacecraft in China and of the delivery of the power unit.
“Interesting, I see that you managed to get quite a few photos of this unit and of the workers attaching cables or something to it.” Cindy motions to Radclyf next.
Radclyf's report commences with the elimination of the terrorist cell in France, followed by his experience inside the alien spaceship and concludes with the raid on the French medical facility. His team’s activities seem timid in comparison to Hayato's exploits.
Cindy stands again as she looks at the men. “Olaf, you have nothing to add?”
He shrugs his shoulders. “We seem to have covered everything.” He meets her icy stare.
She does not believe Olaf, but there is little she can do about the lack of a report. Her tone switches to a more positive note as she continues on.
“Well, I am glad I was wrong about the Gamin. They remained peaceful sparing us from using the nerve agent, or worse. It has been made abundantly clear to me that an open conflict with the Gamin would have proven disastrous for us.” She thinks of the deadly green swirling chemical they have in their possession.
“We need to examine all the data we have before we...”
A suited man, hurries into the room and hands Cindy a folded piece of paper. She looks about at the men before her, then opens and reads the note.
“When did this happen?” Cindy is quite agitated.
The messenger replies as though she should already know. “There has been an unsubstantiated video on various web sites for a few hours now. The sighting has been officially confirmed by the Australian Government.”
She looks once more at the note as her mind races. “We must be involved in this.”
Peter casually speaks up. “What seems to be the new development?” He has a very suggestive and compelling tone to his voice.
Surprisingly Cindy replies. “It seems the Australians have found an alien spaceship.” She looks about the room one more time. “I want all of you to get to Perth, Australia. I will find a way for us to be included in whatever they plan.”
Peter calmly states. “I suspect that is going to be a lot easier than you think.” Cindy looks at Peter in curiosity, the news seems to be not too much of a surprise to him. He just sits passively with an all knowing smile spread across his face. Cindy sighs, she does not like riddles. What does he know? Finally after a moment’s silence, she realizes that he is not going to share his insight. She will have to figure it out for herself.
Radclyf smiles, as usual Peter knows a lot more than he is letting on. How he gets his information is a mystery, but get it he does. He glances to his team, then over to Hayato. “Let us prepare for a trip down under, shall we.”
Hayato glances to his team members as he adds. “Agreed, positioning ourselves in Perth is a prudent idea. We too, shall prepare to depart.”
Olaf surprises them all though. “I shall be reporting to my own government for instructions.” He proceeds to get up and leave the room. Peter’s calculating eyes follow him out the room.
With that, the meeting is over. The news of an abandoned spaceship in Australia far overshadowing anything else being discussed.
Cindy heads to her office where she intends on making use of every single contact she has. As she sits down, it dawns on her that she only needs to convince one person. She is a forceful woman, used to getting her way. The call to the British Prime Minister is quite lengthy, as she discusses options for getting her team authorization to travel in Australia. If all goes well, her people will be heading to the Outback, officially under Radclyf’s command.
By the end of the day, she is also a very happy woman. Rehashing the day's events another thought comes, unbidden. Peter had figured this out within seconds, her eyes narrow involuntarily, she won't underestimate him again.
Location:
Parliament House
Canberra, A
ustralia
“The Speaker for the House recognizes the opposition spokesman.” He motions to a slightly overweight man as he rests back in his chair.
The well dressed heavy man stands, and with a booming voice dominates the room. “The Americans have already contacted us. Citing from various treaties, they imply that they have a right to the alien ship.” He is reading from a page of notes he has prepared.
“They have no right to anything on our soil.” The man, an opponent to anything American, is in the minority, and quickly booed down.
The Speaker of the House taps his gavel. “Order in the House.” He motions to the opposition spokesman to continue.
“I will summarize then.” He glares at the man who interrupted him a moment ago. “The British, Russians, Germans, French, and Japanese are amongst just a few of the countries that have contacted us. These have been the ones with peaceful overtures, but quite demanding, none the less.”
Members of the House stand and shout at each other while the Speaker bangs his gavel uselessly on the table. “Order, Order, Order!”
“Why not let them all assign representatives?” The man is quietly spoken. With his hands half inside small pockets in the front of his vest, he stands stoically. He represents the calming voice of reason in the midst of chaos.
The Speaker, seeing an opportunity to restore order shouts loudly. “The chair recognizes the Governor General.” Even as the room calms down, he waits patiently until all are seated and quiet. Rarely does the representative from Britain speak up.
“Let them all have representation. What harm can it cause? We just need to decide who we have on the initial investigative team. We can include others on any follow up team. We don't know what we will find out there. We do know they left it behind for a reason. It tells me that they plan to come back, and soon.” He looks about the room and again waits for the quietly whispered conversations to cease.
Once all is quiet again, he continues. “I received a very interesting call just before this meeting from my Prime Minister. I have been authorized to share its details.” Looking about the room, this quiet unassuming man from Britain now has them all transfixed.
First Contact (Terran Chronicles) Page 22