“AIMI, how did we get aboard the ship?”
“They started jamming your COM and data links, so I let them think they were successful. I was monitoring your COM as well as internal and external base communications. When I saw you were all in danger, I transported you aboard.”
“You transported us aboard? How?”
“I’m sorry, Paul, that information is not available.”
“AIMI, please display the transportation mode and system on screen.
“I’m sorry, Paul, that information is not available.”
The frustrated Paul questioned AIMI again. “What can you tell me, AIMI?”
“Paul, as you have probably surmised, I have several programs imbedded in my memory core. One of my operational imperatives is the safety of you and your family.”
“How or why were these programs installed? And please list programs on screen.” Paul shook his head. “I know, AIMI. That information is not available.”
“That is correct, Paul. Please understand, I am acting in your best interests.”
“I understand that, AIMI, and thank you for rescuing and protecting us all.”
“Paul, the ship is currently surrounded by soldiers, and General Bellinger has alerted additional agencies of a security breach. I recommend that we depart the area as soon as possible.”
“Everybody strap in. We are departing immediately. AIMI, prepare for departure.”
Paul manually selected the Quantum drive to dynamic, and quickly repositioned numerous controls for their departure. As he glanced at the power level, his heart sank. He had never seen it that low. They had enough power to get airborne, but not enough energy to go very fast, or far for that matter. Paul checked the basics - water, hydrogen intermix levels. All were normal.
“AIMI, why is our power level so low? What is draining our power?”
“Paul, it took most of the ship’s energy to transport you all aboard. We have enough to lift off and achieve atmospheric flight at reduced speed.”
“Paul, I have an incoming message from General Bellinger.”
“On screen, please, AIMI.”
The General appeared, and he did not look happy. “I don’t know how you did it, but I am pretty certain that you are back aboard your ship. Exit now, or I will open fire. Try to leave, and I will blow you out of the sky!”
“AIMI, I have an idea. Let’s hope it works.”
They lifted off the ground and Paul slowly pulled away from the landing pad. As the General had promised, the soldiers started firing at the ship. It was all small-arms fire. As he had hoped, when the bullets hit the Quantum field, the kinetic energy was absorbed and transferred to the Alpha’s energy matrix. Slowly, very slowly, the energy level was increasing. The gamble had paid off. They slowly departed Area 51.
Since the horrific events of 9-11, several generals had been given broad shoot-down authority. General Bellinger was one of those men.
The F-18 squadron at Fallon, Nevada was accustomed to alerts, terrorist training exercises, and war games. Unfortunately, this was the real thing. Five F-18s had launched to respond to a very real threat. Terrorists had somehow taken control of a highly experimental aircraft, and they had some sort of nuclear device as well. It was the most important mission that the five pilots who flew these F-18s would ever see. They had been designated as “Guardian Flight”.
“Guardian Flight, this is Guardian Leader. Weapons are free. Tonopah Local is tracking our hostile.”
“We have been advised to keep our distance. As soon as we have missile lock, we will fire. Time to intercept target -12 minutes.”
Guardians 2 through 5 all acknowledged Captain Peter Duke’s transmission.
The Alpha was slowly climbing through 15,000 feet at 200 knots and slowly accelerating, when AIMI alerted Paul.
“Paul, we have five F-18s on an intercept course. They will soon have a radar lock on us. I believe they are hostile.”
“At our current speed, altitude, and energy level, we can’t out run them, can we?”
“That is correct, Paul.”
Lynn, Michelle, and Steve all had the look of concern on their faces, as they should have.
“What are you going to do, Dad?”
“As our friend General Bellinger likes to point out, there are always options. We will just have to create our own.”
“Paul, the F-18s have missile lock; they have just fired at us. Two minutes to impact.”
“AIMI, they are conventional explosives, correct?”
“That is correct, Paul. I am not scanning any radiation.”
Paul selected the maximum setting for structural integrity, then adjusted the emitters to the absolute maximum field and transferred almost all the remaining power. The Alpha began to decelerate and descend.
“What are our chances of survival, AIMI?”
“I’m sorry, Paul, the numbers are too close to calculate based on known data. One minute to impact.”
Michelle and Steve came over and embraced their father. Lynn came over and embraced them all.
“Thirty seconds to impact.”
“Don’t worry, guys. We will make it out okay. Trust me.”
“AIMI, ten second countdown.”
Even in the dark, they all could see the approach of the missiles, both through the windshield and on the LCD screen.
“Ten seconds, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.”
At just prior to one second, Paul transferred all remaining power to structural integrity. Then everything went black.
Captain Duke saw the impact in the dark - it lit up the sky. Then he saw a bright bluish glow, which faded in a few seconds. Then nothing. He looked on his radar. The target was still there, but it appeared to be in some sort of free fall. Impossible!
“Guardian Flight, Guardian Leader. The target remains. Something does not feel right here. I’m going in for a closer look, and I’m going to open up external communications.”
“Captain Duke, our orders are to destroy the target and have no external communications.”
“Guardian Flight, knock it off, and stay back. I’m going in for an assessment.”
Paul’s gamble had once again paid off. The missiles had detonated in the periphery of the Quantum field. The dynamic energy had been absorbed into the field and transferred to the energy matrix via the Alpha’s hull.
His last-second reinforcement of structural integrity had protected the ship. Power levels were higher and continuing to rise. As primary and secondary systems came back on line, he regained aerodynamic control of the ship, and began to accelerate and climb.
“AIMI, open up com on 121.5 and 243.0, as well as Tonopah Local. Let’s try this one more time.”
“Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! This is November 1 Alpha. We are not hostile, repeat - not hostile. Please, cease fire!”
“November 1 Alpha. This is Guardian Flight Leader. Maintain course and speed.”
“Guardian Flight Leader; Tonopah Local. General Bellinger speaking. You are ordered to escort the aircraft back to Tonopah. If he does not comply, shoot him down.”
“Roger that, General. Guardian Flight Leader - WILCO.”
“Guardian Flight Leader, why did you fire on me?”
“November 1 Alpha, we were briefed that terrorists had stolen an experimental aircraft from Tonopah, and had nukes in their possession. We responded to that threat.”
“Guardian, this is Paul Christian. I was lured to Area 51 under false pretenses and held against my will. My children were kidnapped, along with several Secret Service agents, one who is onboard. We had just escaped from Area 51 when you fired on us.”
“Captain Duke, this is General Bellinger. Don’t believe that story. The terrorists are making this all up! Carry out your orders!”
“November 1 Alpha, Guar
dian Flight Leader. Captain Peter Duke speaking. One of my good friends is an astronaut. He did a stint on the Space Station. I think you know him.”
“Captain Duke, you are talking about Colonel Jim Andrews. He’s a friend of mine, as well.”
“What is his favorite beverage, and why?”
“That’s easy, Captain. Texas Home Brew brand beer, the first beverage he ever got drunk on; and years later, what he had in his hand when he proposed to his wife, Gail.”
Guardian Flight Leader was now above and behind the Alpha in perfect firing position. He recognized the ship and the voice of Paul Christian from numerous video appearances and interviews he had seen. A chill ran down his back when he contemplated what they had almost done.
“Captain Christian, please accept my apologies for firing on you. Seems you were not the only one lied to today. It would be our honor to escort you where-ever you need go, sir.”
“Guardian 2, this is General Bellinger. I am relieving Captain Duke of his duties pending court martial for treason. You are to escort both aircraft back to Tonopah. If they resist, shoot them down!”
The General’s words, of course, fell on deaf ears, and after no response, he knew it. General Bellinger had one play left, and he was about to use it.
“Excalibur One, deploy your cargo.”
The Air Force jet then deployed its cargo, a cruise missile with a nuclear warhead. Target - November 1 Alpha. They were on a discreet frequency and were unaware of what had just transpired. All they knew was this was the last chance to stop a terrorist group.
It was just after dawn. The President was awakened from his slumber by a phone call from his National Security advisor.
“Is it an update on the shuttle, or the Alpha?”
“Not exactly, Mr. President. We received Intel that terrorists had breached Area 51, and had escaped with an experimental aircraft, they also had some sort of nuclear device.”
“Let me guess. General Bellinger, right?”
“That is correct, Mr. President, but not all.”
“Please continue.”
“There is no crisis on the space shuttle. I don’t know how he did it, but the General interrupted communications and jammed both voice and data link, and replaced those communications with his own fictional story.”
“Unbelievable, I can’t believe even a loose-cannon like Bellinger would try something like this.”
“It gets worse, Mr. President. The General lured Paul Christian’s two children there, along with their Secret Service agents, under the guise that their father was seriously injured. He took all of them into custody, as he did Paul Christian when he landed. That is based on the Intel that we have received from the two Secret Service agents that have since broken free at Area 51.”
“And?”
“Well, Mr. President, somehow Captain Christian, his children and Agent Brend escaped. Soldiers fired on the ship as they departed. When that didn’t stop them, General Bellinger ordered five F-18s from Fallon to shoot them down.”
“Oh no, please don’t tell me…”
“No, Mr. President, the F-18s did not shoot them down. They tried and fortunately failed. The flight leader of Guardian Flight then identified the Alpha and aborted the mission. They are now flying escort with the Alpha, even after General Bellinger relieved the Flight Leader and ordered the rest of the unit to escort both aircraft back to Area 51. General Bellinger has been taken into custody, but not before he ordered the launch of a nuclear cruise missile that we cannot detonate prior to its intercept of the Alpha.”
“What are our options, gentlemen?”
“There are none, Mr. President. The Alpha apparently does not have enough energy to get away prior to impact. Guardian Flight Leader has offered to intercept the cruise missile and attempt to detonate it with the five F-18’s missiles, and aircraft if need be. That would most likely result in the loss of all aircraft. However, Paul Christian was emphatic and will not let Guardian Flight be used as a shield.”
The President buried his face into his hands and rubbed his brow.
“Brave men, all.”
“Any way we look at it, Mr. President, in less than four minutes, a thermonuclear device is going to detonate and take the Alpha out. He has ordered the F-18s to move out to a safe distance, but they all refused and are still flying in formation with him. We are working on a ground-damage-and-contamination assessment that will result from the detonation.”
“How does a man like General Bellinger get that kind of power and authority? Damn!”
“Captain Duke, I have an idea, but we had better make it quick. Have Guardian Flight form up in formation below me.”
“Roger that, sir, but what will that do?”
“Is that cruise missile’s detonation based on impact or proximity?”
“Somehow the General had the self-destruct deactivated, which I thought was impossible. It could be either.”
“Three minutes to impact Paul,” as AIMI counted down.
“AIMI, just prior to impact I need you to focus all the emitter power on the incoming missile in as narrow and coherent a beam as you can manage.”
“Paul, the Quantum field cannot absorb that amount of energy, and it would be beyond the energy matrix capability to transfer that to the ship.”
“As the beam impacts the missile, reverse the Quantum field polarity. At best, it will deflect the missile upwards in excess of its ability to change course and re-target the Alpha. At worst, it will momentarily open and close a microscopic singularity which would absorb most of the detonation - theoretically.”
“Two minutes to impact, Paul.”
He was feverishly typing the program commands into the AIMI auto-path to back up the verbal commands he had just annotated. This idea was really reaching, but it seemed to be the right thing to do; Paul felt.
There were so many unknowns that he was dealing with, it was almost humorous. A year ago it was all he could do to keep a Boeing-767 right side up. Now he was writing programs that involved quantum mechanics. It’s amazing how a person can adjust to a new state of normal so quickly.
“Hang on, Guardian Flight. This one’s gonna be close!”
“One minute to impact, Paul.”
“Thank you, AIMI, ten second countdown prior to impact. Please execute the Alpha Quantum deflection program.”
Paul glanced at Michelle, Steve, and Lynn. He smiled, and said, “Here we go again. Keep your fingers crossed.”
“Good luck, Captain Christian. It has been an honor flying with you.”
“My pleasure, Guardians.”
“Ten seconds, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.”
At one, Paul manually backed up what AIMI had done - a highly coherent Quantum energy burst that reversed polarity as it impacted the cruise missile.
“Mr. President, I have an update.”
“Ok, let me have the bad news. We are going to go public, and I need to get ready for the press conference.”
“It’s good news, Mr. President.”
“By all means, let me hear it!”
“As the missile approached the Alpha and Guardian Flight, it was deflected upwards, where it finally ran out of fuel and fell back to earth.”
“Are they all safe? What altitude did it detonate at?”
The advisor was almost giddy. They are all safe, Mr. President, and there was no nuclear detonation!”
“Were we able to self-destruct it?”
“That’s just it, Mr. President. We were not able to do anything, and it was not a malfunction. It was armed the moment it was deployed from the B-1 Lancer, but somehow the nuclear fission process went inert. I know that’s impossible, but we are not monitoring any radiation!”
“Can you get me a communications patch to the Alpha?”“Yes, Mr. President. Just give us a f
ew moments.”
The Alpha was still flying in formation with Guardian Flight. The Quantum deflection had not only deflected the cruise missile, but had changed its velocity and vector. It had gone nearly vertical and nearly to the edge of space, when it ran out of fuel and returned to Earth, impacting the uninhabited desert near Area 51.
“Impact at 1231 GMT. Radiation - negative.”
“AIMI, can you confirm there was negative thermonuclear detonation?”
“That is confirmed.”
“Thank you, AIMI.”
“Guardian Flight, this is the Alpha. We lucked out. The cruise missile did not detonate on impact. It must have some sort of proximity targeting system, since we are all still here. It must have never reached its proximity for detonation. Curious though, I’m not scanning any radiation.”
“Alpha, Guardian Flight Leader. We concur, but there has to be some residual radiation. For some reason, none of us here are able to scan it. Even satellite imaging does not show any radiation or even thermal hot spots. We can’t explain it either.”
“Looks like we’ve been dealt a winning hand somehow. Perhaps it’s best not to look a gift horse in the mouth.”
“Paul,” AIMI said, “The weapon did breach its targeting threshold, and it achieved critical mass just prior to deflection. My programming would not allow, by action or omission of action, for you or Guardian Flight to be killed or injured. I then neutralized the critical mass and caused the fissile material go inert, which I did to the conventional explosives, as well.”
“Your programming? Please define that program and display on screen.”
“I’m sorry, Paul. That information is not available.”
Paul grinned and nodded at Lynn, Michelle, and Steve. “Somehow I knew that was going to be your answer. I guess it would be futile to ask how you neutralized the nuke, huh?”
“To answer, I initiated a transport beam parallel to the Quantum drive beam you had created, and I disassembled the fissile material on a subatomic level and then reassembled it with modified nuclei, and diverted numerous atomic components which I transferred to the power grid.”
The Alpha Premonition: Book 1: A Gathering Storm Page 18