by Kurt Winans
There had been hope that another change of heart would take place, but Ross had been unable at this point to make that happen. On July 7th, the day that Ross turned seventy-two, there was the typical birthday celebration in his honor at the White House. The event was the final social gathering to be scheduled at the mansion before many of the staff would begin their trek to either their assigned shelters, or to join their families in what could be the final weeks of their lives. Ross had used that venue to speak to those assembled about the third option that had been presented on behalf of the alien species. He had hoped to convince several of them to join him on the travel through space in quest of the new world, but only a few had shown even a glimmer of interest. The truly sad part was that he didn’t have Patty’s support when he spoke to them, as she had no intention of taking part in the ridiculous notion of colonizing anything. From the time of the asteroids discovery, their original plan was to have the entire family safely housed together in the Colorado military complex of NORAD. Patty was not happy that Ross had now wanted to splinter the family by altering that plan.
Several weeks before Ross’ birthday, the aliens had provided Ross, and other world leaders, with the locations of where the transport ships would land. Two of the sites would be in the United States, so Ross had informed those people who were interested via a televised speech just exactly where those sites were. The aliens had allowed Ross to make the selection of one site, and he had chosen Washington D.C. The other site may have seemed strange to most people, but it made perfect sense to Ross when he also considered the ten other global locations.
To go along with the New Mexico desert near Roswell, the transport ships would also pick up passengers in Australia, China, Italy, and Russia. The locations within those four foreign countries, as with Roswell, were in areas where either a large quantity of UFO sightings had occurred throughout the years, or an alien scout ship had allegedly crashed. In most countries of the world that information had never been made available to the general public, but science teams and UFO believers began to put the pieces together soon after the aliens revealed the coordinates of their intended pickup spots.
Their other set of coordinates had revealed landing sites in remotely populated areas of the planet such as Nazca, Peru and Chichén Itzá, Mexico. Those locations were a mystery to Ross until he put them together with the two other more populated locations of Stonehenge, England and Ayutthaya, Thailand. The light bulb in his mind then shone brightly when he saw the final location was adjacent to the giant pyramids of Giza, Egypt. Those five locations each represented an area of the planet where long ago cultures had existed, and they each also contained elaborate ruins or monuments of ancient origin that had never been completely understood or explained.
Ross thought to himself that the Incan civilization of Peru could have been strongly influenced by long ago observational visits by aliens, and that same alien species was trying to help the Earth now. It actually made perfect sense, as the vast and strange markings on the ground near Nazca could only be recognized from high in the air. Their presence had always baffled historians, and they were only one of the mysteries of Peru. Add to that the substantial amount of ancient ruins at multiple sites that included Saqsaywamán near Cuzco, and the world renowned Machu Picchu high in the Andes, and Peru was loaded with unexplained structures.
The stones that make up the structures at those locations vary in size and shape, and some are larger than cars, but they are fitted together so perfectly that a piece of paper can’t be pushed in between them. The current engineering capabilities of Earth can hardly duplicate that level of precision, and the Incan civilization didn’t possess the computers to calculate, or the machinery to place such large and heavy objects into their seemingly perfect positions.
Similar structures of magnificent precision can also be found on the Yucatan Peninsula of eastern Mexico, and to the south throughout Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras. Those were built long ago by the Mayan culture, which suddenly vanished from existence seemingly overnight. Thailand, in Southeast Asia, also has huge temples and other structures from a more recent time in human history, but how they were engineered and built has yet to be fully understood. Ross began to see a pattern of perhaps several ancient civilizations having somehow been helped along by this, or another, alien species.
Although much smaller in stature, the Stonehenge site in southern England has also been a source of inquiry for many years. At that highly visited location west of London, huge stone tablets have been placed in a circular type pattern of some significance, but it is unclear as to their exact origin that dates back a few thousand years.
Finally there was Egypt, where the Sphinx and three giant pyramids were positioned in perfect alignment to either gaze upon, or symbolically represent a segment of the Orion constellation. Dozens of Earth centuries, and the atmospheric conditions of the region, had taken their toll on those magnificent ancient temples, but the craftsmanship equal to those of the previously mentioned ruins was still quite evident.
The only one of the eleven pickup locations designated by the aliens that Ross couldn’t seem to get a grip on until recently was the one along the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Germany. For some reason the small peninsula just west of the border with Poland had been chosen, but even the most dedicated of UFO followers couldn’t provide the answer as to why. There didn’t seem to be enough evidence of multiple sightings or a crash in the area to place Peenemünde within the group that included Roswell, and there were also no ruins to suggest an ancient culture as in some of the other locations.
During a teleconference meeting with government leaders from the countries with pickup locations, Ross learned that Peenemünde had been the location of Germany’s rocket program in the late stages of World War II. It had been the birthplace of the rocket technology that had eventually taken mankind, including Ross, into space, but that birth had come out of a dark time in the modern evolution of mankind. Ross smiled while realizing the aliens had selected that location because it had been where an early major step had occurred in what made the inhabitants of Earth a so called emerging species that would someday soon be ready to explore the cosmos. Thankfully that same technology had not been utilized to completely destroy the planet since its development, although there had been a few times when it seemed imminent.
The current level of that same rocket technology had been put to the test of late, as NASA and other space agencies had been quite busy. Aside from the probes that had been studying the asteroid, many had been launched towards Mars. They were of course all unmanned, but they contained information about the human species and other life forms that inhabited Earth. The thought was that if all life on the planet were to perish, there would be a record of a civilization having in fact existed at some point. Some other species may someday discover the probes on Mars and learn about what had been, and what had transpired, here on Earth.
As for now, the leading military minds were preparing one last ditch effort to save the planet from impact by launching nuclear missiles at the asteroid. The action was certainly worth a try, and it would make all the generals feel better to have flexed their collective muscles, but it would be a hopeless attempt. The data Ross had received from several leading astronomers of the planet had been quite clear that it was not enough firepower to significantly damage the incoming rock. Who would have believed that a civilization who at one point in time possessed enough nuclear firepower to vaporize the planet several times over, did not currently possess enough of that same firepower to save it by altering the asteroids course.
According to Ross’ old alien friend, the transport ships would land at all of the twelve chosen locations with only three or four Earth days left before the asteroid impact, and would remain there for two days in order to pick up all those who wished to take part in the adventure of a new lifetime. The act itself would require a tremendous leap of faith because if the transport ships didn’t show up as planned, most of
the people waiting for them would be nowhere near an adequate shelter.
ONE BY ONE the huge alien transport ships began to liftoff from various areas of the Earth’s surface with their precious cargo. As each one ascended with a group of humans who had made the choice to leave their home world behind, the lead ship of the armada made preparations to board the last few handfuls of the passengers assigned to her. The ship had landed two days before upon the vast section of lawn known as the National Mall between the Washington Monument and the United States Capitol Building, and the perimeter was closely guarded by a secret service detail and accompanying military contingent. In a few short hours former President Ross Martin, his sister Jessica, and his oldest daughter Aurora would board the ship with a small group of loyal followers that included a single secret service agent and Mrs. Patterson. They would then all depart for the great unknown of space.
Throughout the previous few months Ross and Jessica had pleaded with the rest of the family to join them on their pilgrimage in quest of the new world, but only Aurora had been swayed. Patty, along with the vast majority of the planets population, refused to believe in the good intentions of the visiting alien species, and had therefore opted to stay behind. The general belief was that the alien species simply wanted to take the human contingent back to their home world, and either perform hideous medical experiments upon them, or use them as forced slave labor. The thought process was in direct correlation to what people had viewed for many years on their television screens, computers, or in movie theatres, and Ross once again marveled at the power of the world media to shape public opinion.
Rachel had sided with her husband’s viewpoint on the subject, and in spite of the extremely challenging future or possible death that lay in front of them, would stay on Earth along with their two children Luke and Janet. The family would be divided in a way that no one had ever imagined, but Ross knew he needed to be part of the surviving population that would help colonize a new world.
One thing that had surprised Ross was that there was never a need for some sort of worldwide lottery to decide who would be saved. From the very beginning of the process, the aliens had informed the people of the Earth that only a limited amount of room would be available on the armada of transport spaceships. For some reason beyond Ross’ comprehension, so few people had shown any interest in colonizing a new world that a campaign needed to be developed in order to convince more people to take the journey. It had only been during these last few desperate days that many people had a change of heart, but it was too late for any of them to request passage.
At noon eastern standard time of August 22, 2022 Ross Martin resigned as President of the United States, and his former Vice President, Thomas Walton, assumed the role of Chief Executive. Ross had become only the second person in the history of the country to resign from the Presidency, but the circumstances were vastly different from what had caused the previous occasion. Ross knew that his former Vice President was a good man who would do his best to lead what remained, if anything at all, of the nation after the catastrophe. The former Governor of Wisconsin, had been on the ticket as Ross’ running mate during both of the Presidential campaigns, and had been an instrumental part in assuring their first victory by helping Ross carry several key mid-western states with large numbers of Electoral College votes. Thomas Walton’s many years of quality public service to his country had earned him the right to be the President even if only for a short time, so Ross was honored to hand him the reigns.
Some viewed Ross as a coward for leaving the office just days before the impact of the asteroid, but he didn’t care. Within moments after resigning from office, Ross had retrieved the necklace from the reading lamp on his former desk, and had put it back around his neck. He then began a solitary walk within the walls of the White House that would take a few hours. He wanted to say goodbye to what remained of the staff and friends who had been so loyal to him throughout not only his years in the White House, but in some cases for decades. There were several people missing during his tour, as those who had accepted the New Year’s Eve gift of a guaranteed spot in the Strickland’s Colorado shelter had made their way west several weeks earlier.
The family was waiting for him upstairs in the residence so that everyone could say their goodbyes to each other in private, and Ross took that opportunity to present his now ten year-old grandson Luke with a very important gift. Luke had admired the fishing pole with the red bow on it every time he had seen it, so Ross thought it was only right to pass it on to him. He asked Luke to take care of the precious object as he reflected back to the day he received it from Grandpa Hank, and to pass it down to his own grandson someday if he could. Aurora, who didn’t want her not quite six year-old niece Janet to feel left out, presented her with a little white kitten that she had named Snowflake. The little girl instantly perked up at the sight of the kitten, and promised her Aunt Aurora that she would take good care of her new best friend.
Ross took the lead on what could only be described as an awkward situation by giving each of his grandchildren one last kiss on the forehead, and then his only son-in-law a firm handshake. Next was the goodbye hug with his youngest daughter Rachel, and she burst into tears when Ross asked her, “How many grains of sand are there on the beach?” Aurora joined in the hug with her father and younger sister, as she reminded them, “There were way too many to count!”
A moment later Ross, with tears welling up in his eyes, moved towards Patty to say goodbye to his soul mate of some sixty years. They had been through it all together and had held each other up through the difficult times, but they had also seen tremendous joy over the years. Ross had lost his grandfather Hank, father Robert, and best friend Dennis during his much younger years, while Patty had lost her mother Elizabeth and best friend Betty in more recent times. On the positive side they had raised two wonderful children, which eventually led to a couple of grandchildren, and had enjoyed the comforts of Ross’ tremendous career path.
They held each other in a long embrace, and through the tears Patty uttered, “Please stay with me!” Ross returned the emotion with quivering voice by saying, “Will you please join me on this pilgrimage?” They both wanted to stay together so much, but they remained at an impasse as neither would yield. With a final passionate kiss, they said farewell.
Within an hour after the tearful goodbye, Ross and his group were preparing to board the alien spaceship. He waved goodbye to the well-wishers in the surrounding crowd, and turned to climb the long ramp leading into the vessel. As the last two people to board, Aurora carried the American flag from her grandfather Robert tucked under her arm, and Ross did the same with Grandpa Hank’s. When the armada would arrive at their new home world, many flags of various countries would be flown to signify different cultures and nationalities associated with the human endeavor. Ross could think of no more fitting American flags to fly than the two that he and his oldest daughter carried.
Rising slowly at first above the National Mall, the alien transport ship began to pick up some speed to escape the confines of Earth’s atmosphere. Many of the people aboard stood quietly at the large viewing windows to watch the planet grow smaller with distance, but almost all of them remained silent until the ship entered space. Several moments later the ship moved into formation with the rest of the armada at a safe high distance above the Earth, so the much smaller moon and quickly approaching asteroid could be viewed in their current positions on the far side of the planet. Jessica then turned to her brother Ross and told him she could finally understand the beauty of space, and why he had been so captured by the allure of it ever since they were kids.
People around them, from all walks of American society, began to gasp and murmur at the awe inspiring sight, and Ross felt confident that a similar reaction was taking place on each of the other eleven transport ships. Tragically, it had taken such an unfortunate event in the history of the planet, and mankind, to assist this new group of people in their understanding of
what the astronauts of the past sixty plus years had all been so giddy about.
Ross had been informed by his old alien friend that the armada would remain at this location in high orbit until shortly after the impact of the asteroid, so that historical information could be obtained for their own data base. He also informed Ross that the message would be delivered to all those aboard the other ships in the event that anyone wanted to view the event.
According to the countdown the impact would take place the next day, but a startling revelation had just occurred to Ross. From their current position the Earth looked to be about the size of a basketball held at arm’s length from ones face, and the Moon on the far side resembled a softball. Perhaps it was an optical illusion, or a final supreme act of denial, but the incoming angle of the asteroid looked as if it might actually miss the Earth by the narrowest of margins.
Ross wondered if it was possible that the tremendous gravitational force of our sun was having enough of an impact on the asteroid to drastically alter its course during these final days. Even if that were true, he decided it was probably in the best interest of all those around him to keep that thought private for the time being. After all, no good could come from creating some level of false hope among the other passengers.
THE FOLLOWING DAY Ross returned to the viewing window with Aurora and Jessica to find the asteroid much closer to the Earth, but the angle still looked a bit off. Knowing he probably only had a few hours until the impact; Ross informed one of the alien crew that he wanted to visit with his old friend before it happened. A few moments later, Ross was escorted to a more secluded area of the ship where he and the alien could communicate privately, and Ross asked him a series of very important questions.