by Saxon Andrew
“Is it possible to record them?”
“No, Sir. But the sound of them is not irregular. They sound like something other than noise.”
“Who was the contacted about this issue.”
Jenson pressed some keys on his computer and said, “A Dr. Caspari at MIT was contacted.”
“Give him a call and see if he can help us understand what’s going on.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Jimmy, I have a call from American Intelligence with questions about magnetic fields in weather and military satellites.”
“Tell them to hold a moment.” Jimmy knew he couldn’t stop the communication traffic, too many people had to be contacted to start Plan Able. He began pressing keys on his computer at an incredible speed and looked at the sunspot reports. He found what he was searching for and picked up the phone, “Hello.”
“Dr. Caspari?”
“This is he.”
“We’ve found an issue with some of our satellites giving off a magnetic field. I think we contacted you a few years ago and you attributed it to magnetic clamps. Now we’ve found several of our own satellites are giving off a magnetic field.”
“I don’t find that surprising,” Jimmy responded.
The Captain hesitated and then asked, “Why not?”
“Sunspot activity over the last three weeks has been extremely active and a solar flare erupted three days ago. It wasn’t a large flare but it’s arrived at Earth and the energized particles are being directed toward the poles. I suspect that is what’s causing the magnetic fields. Give it two or three days and see if the magnetic fields start to diminish and then disappear.”
The Captain looked at Jenson who had pulled up the sunspot report and was reading it. After a moment, he nodded. “Thank you, Doctor. I appreciate your fast response.”
“No problem. Let me know if I can be of further assistance.”
• • •
The Captain hung up and looked at Jenson, “Are you pretty certain about the pattern not being noise.”
“Sir, I could be wrong.”
“Are you?”
Jenson looked at his monitor and began shaking his head, “I still hear a regular pattern, Sir.”
“I’m passing this up the channels and have them look into it. Caspari might be right about this but something doesn’t feel right.”
Jenson could only shrug.
• • •
“Jimmy.”
“Yes, Juan.”
“One of my contacts in Air Force has told me that an irregular magnetic field in some of the satellites is being investigated by their experts.”
Jimmy shook his head, “Juan, Nicky has reported that some asteroids have gone missing.”
“I would suggest you shut down your communications immediately and start them back in a few weeks. They aren’t going to hit soon.”
“I’ll do it, Juan.” Jimmy pressed a button on his panel and said, “Attention all Project Members, the military is investigating our magnetic communications and I’m shutting down the system. I’ll contact you when it’s back on line. Contact your teams using normal channels and use the code word ‘Able’.”
• • •
Dr. John Reynolds heard the ear-link go silent and he picked up the telephone. Half a ring later he heard, “Hello!”
“Hi, Jack. I was wondering if you’re able to take a trip with us this fall. We’re looking at planning a cruise and hope you could join us.”
“I’ll discuss it with Loretta and let you know if we’re able to do it. I’m pretty certain we should be able.”
“Thanks, Jack. Let me know.” The call ended and John looked at a list and dialed another number.
• • •
A computer operator at the NSA Intelligence gathering Unit heard a buzz and turned on his monitor. Telephone traffic was one tenth of one percent higher and a pattern was emerging. Many professionals were planning trips or vacations and there were contacting other professionals to join them. What was up with that? He collected the data and ran an analysis. Ummm, was this an anomaly? He stored the data and would look at it later. He had the system look to see if any of the cruise lines or airlines were offering sales on vacation packages. He put the system back on receive and went back to examining a report out of New York on the Governor’s private conversations. He checked back ten hours later and the jump in travel calls had diminished to normal levels. He tried to determine what caused it but decided that someone must have had a sale on travel. He almost saved it but decided it was a waste of data space and he erased it.
• • •
The General in charge of Satellite Surveillance listened to the Colonel explaining mysterious magnetic fields emanating from some military and weather satellites and felt lost, but he wasn’t going to reveal that he was out of his league to his junior officer. He had just replaced the previous commander and was not up to speed on understanding the technology well enough to know what this colonel was saying. He glanced at the written summary in front of him and interrupted, “Could this not be just sunspot activity causing this?”
The Colonel stopped and knew this was a waste of time. The General was pretty much useless and continuing to pursue this issue was senseless. “Yes, Sir. It’s possible.”
“Well, get back to me once the activity dies down.”
“Yes, Sir.” The Colonel packed up his bag, walked out of the General’s office in the pentagon and left the building. Something was happening to the satellites and it was not due to sunspots. He needed more information before he could make a case. His driver opened his door and he went in the back seat. He pulled some papers out of his briefcase and shook his head. A case for what? What could those magnetic fields be? He decided to put one of his best contractors on the issue and see what he could determine.
• • •
Two weeks later, Jimmy felt his ear-link vibrate and he wondered who would be using the links. Orders were issued that no one should use it unless it was critical. He put the link in his ear and said, “This is Caspari.”
“Jimmy, I’ve been given an assignment by Colonel Gabriel to research the magnetic fields detected in some military satellites. He is of the belief that they are more than just the result of sunspots and represent a more sinister purpose.”
“What are you going to tell him, Roy?”
“That I have no idea what it is, however, I’m concerned that he may be assigning the problem to more analysts than me.”
“Do you think they can determine what’s going on?”
There was a pause and Roy said, “Jimmy, in the short time I examined the data he gave me, I was able to determine that those fields are not random. There is a pattern to the noise they create and anyone who has spent any time monitoring satellites will know it’s not a natural event.”
“So what do you suggest?”
“Shut it down until you absolutely have to use it. You’re going to have to go to the normal code words and clandestine meetings used by the intelligence communities to make things happen.”
“Thanks, Roy.”
“Be careful, Jimmy. You don’t want to have some very powerful individuals find you. When the crap hits the fan, they will be coming to take what you’ve built for themselves.”
The contact ended and Jimmy said, “Main Frequency.” He heard a click in his link and he said, “Put away all your links. I am shutting them down and will not open them until an announcement about the asteroids is made to the public. The military is now involved in finding out how we’re communicating and we’ll be contacting you about how we’re going to communicate in the future. Shut down in five, four, three, two, one, now.”
Jimmy pressed a button on his panel and the lights on the right side of his console went dark. He was going to have to depend on the Project Managers to make things happen. They were good people and he was going to have to leave the loose ends to them.
Summer and Rachel came in and gave him a hug. “What’s goin
g on, Jimmy?” Summer asked as she put Ayet down and he ran over to sit in Jimmy’s lap.
“Roy just called and said the military have asked him to investigate the magnetic fields in their satellites. They don’t buy the sunspot story and believe something sinister is taking place. They’ve been able to detect a pattern in the fields and Roy suggests that we shut it down until the last moment when we have to use it.”
“How are we going to deliver messages?”
“I need to work on that. There is a huge amount of information we need to get out to the project managers and I’m concerned about it falling into the wrong hands. Everything we carry on a plane will be inspected and there’s no secure way to send it electronically with the NSA monitoring everything going out on the internet.”
Rachel shrugged, I can deliver it.”
Summer and Jimmy looked at her and she smiled, “Just show me what you want delivered and I’ll get to whoever you want to have it delivered.”
Summer lowered her eyes, “And just how are you going to do that?”
Rachel looked at Jimmy, “Do you have a document on your computer you want delivered?”
Jimmy stared at her and pressed some keys on his computer. A file popped up on the screen and Rachel walked around and said, “May I look at it?” Jimmy stood up and Rachel took his chair. She started scrolling through the file and pages were flying across the screen. She arrived at the end and said, “Is that all?”
“There’s another document but show me what you’re talking about,” Jimmy replied.
Rachel pulled up a blank word document and started tying at a speed that was amazing. An hour later she stood up, “That should do it.”
Jimmy took the chair and pulled up the original document and began comparing it to the one Rachel had completed. After ten pages he stopped and looked at her. Summer was watching over Jimmy’s shoulder and she was also staring at her. Rachel smiled, “I will be your courier. Just show me what you want delivered and I’ll reproduce it on the recipient’s computer.”
“Rachel, how much do you know about what’s happening?”
“Pretty much everything. It’s pretty scary but you seem to have everything under control.” Rachel paused and said, “There might be a way for you to still use the communication system.”
“Oh?” Jimmy replied.
“If you can forego conversations and have messages delivered in squeal bursts, the magnetic field will only appear for less than a second.”
Summer’s eyes narrowed, “Just how do you know about squeal bursts? That’s a top-secret method only used by the military.” Summer asked.
“Mom wanted to steal the technology and had a date with an NSA operative. She lifted his pager and brought it home. I watched her take it apart and it’s really not that difficult to understand.”
“How old were you when this happened?”
“Six or seven. Mom decided she didn’t have the capital to…” Rachel giggled, “To capitalize on it so she forgot about it.”
Jimmy stared at her and said, “You’re having dreams.” Rachel stared at him in silence and he said, “You were expecting us when we found you outside on the swing. You knew who we were.” Rachel shrugged.
“Did you know your grandmother was going to shoot herself?” Summer asked.
“I did.”
“And you didn’t try to stop her?”
Rachel shook her head, “She would have used me to force you to pay her off and she would have put you in jeopardy by forcing you into courts to have custody. She was truly a wicked person. How did you know I knew about it, Mom?”
“I wondered at the time why the gunshot didn’t startle you. I assumed you were in a state of shock at the time.”
“Rachel, has your dreams revealed anything I should know?” Jimmy asked.
“Not really. I’ve not had any, what you call, long distance dreams. Most of mine are about things that happen from day-to-day.”
Summer knelt and looked into Rachel’s eyes, “Are you sure you’ve never had a dream that felt so real but dismissed it afterwards?”
Rachel sighed and started shaking her head. She remained silent and Jimmy said, “What are you thinking?”
“Well, when I was five or six-years old, I had a dream that was pretty ridiculous.” Jimmy and Summer stared at her and Rachel said, “I dreamed a fish walked up to me in what appeared to be a diving suit and pointed some kind of…I don’t know…a weapon at me. Then I woke up.”
Jimmy put his hands on Rachel’s shoulders and forced her to look him in the eyes, “Where were you in the dream?”
Rachel’s eyes narrowed and then she closed them. After a moment, she said, “I was standing beside a stream and I was older. I was wearing a winter jacket when he suddenly walked up out of the steam rising from the stream.”
Summer and Jimmy stared at Rachel and her eyes suddenly flew open, “It was the stream here where it comes out of the mountain!”
Jimmy started shaking his head, “Why did you think it was a fish?”
“Because the helmet it had on was filled with liquid and it had gills, fisheyes, and a fish’s mouth.”
“Can you draw a picture of it?” Summer asked.
Rachel sat down in Jimmy’s chair and pulled a writing tablet out of a tray in front of her. She picked up a pencil and began drawing furiously. Summer looked at Jimmy and said, “She has artistic talent you wouldn’t believe.”
“That’s something I don’t have. Rachel has talents far ahead of mine at the same age.”
Rachel looked up, “What?
“Rachel, it appears that whatever talent I possess is passed along to my children. Only it appears it is stronger in you than what I had at the same age. What you’ve just demonstrated is something I can possibly do but at nowhere near the speed you possess. You also saw how the Agent’s pager functioned at the age of six. Your abilities are developing much faster than mine did. Why have you not told us about what you’re capable of doing?”
“I’ve seen how those around you stare at you. They don’t know how to figure out just who you are and they’re scared of you. I don’t want people to look at me that way.”
Summer shook her head, “You’re only twelve years old and you talk like an adult. You have been the sighted person walking around in the land of the blind your entire life. I’m so sorry, my lovely, daughter.”
Rachel’s eyes teared up and she stood up out of the chair and wrapped her arms around Summer, “I love you so much!” She looked at Jimmy as she held Summer and said through her tears, “I love you, too, Daddy.”
Jimmy put his arms around them and held them close. After a moment, Rachel sat back down and picked up the pencil. In a minute, she said, “That’s what I saw.”
Summer and Jimmy looked at the drawing and saw Rachel was right. The creature was about a foot taller than Rachel and it walked on two legs and had two arms. It also had a tail enclosed inside the suit it was wearing and it did indeed have the face of a fish. The thing in its hands was obviously some kind of weapon and it was pointed at Rachel. Summer looked at Jimmy, “What does this mean?”
Jimmy looked up at Summer and turned back to the drawing, “I had my building that I searched for. This is Rachel’s building and we must make sure she doesn’t find it. That is the Aliens that are causing this and I understand why they want to take Earth.”
Rachel nodded, “Seventy percent of Earth is covered with oceans. Our planet is something they would crave with a passion. Only one thing stands in their way.”
Summer nodded, “Us.”
“This explains a lot.”
Rachel turned to him, “What?”
“I wondered why they would totally disregard the loss of animal and plant life on the planet. Now I can see they could care less about life out of the oceans. They want it all removed and I suspect they will do all they can to melt the polar icecaps to cover even more land with rising sea levels.”
Summer shook her head, “Why do you th
ink they came to our valley?”
“If I could see the white clouds over this valley from a jet flying over it, I think they could see it as well from space. They came to investigate what was going on. They stumbled on Rachel beside the stream.”
“What are you going to do about it!”
“The steam Rachel drew indicates that the temperature in the valley is colder than normal. This dream must take place after Earth has been destroyed. We’re going to make sure all our power is shut down and the defenses around the valley are hidden where they won’t be seen. I hope they see nothing but some animals and just leave if they don’t detect anything. However, we’ll be watching for them and we need to get some cameras on top of the mountains before Earth is hit to provide us early warning of their arrival.”
Summer blew out a hard breath, “How do we stand a chance against an alien species who have technology far beyond anything we have.”
Jimmy pointed at the drawing, “They’re not all you think, Summer.”
“How can you say that?”
“Look at the suit it’s wearing. Notice there’s no metal on it. Everything is made of plastics or polymers. It’s only carrying a hand weapon and it’s not large at all. How would one of our warriors be dressed if he walked into a dangerous place?” Summer and Rachel were silent and Jimmy said, “He’d be wearing body armor, a heavy shoulder laser, grenades, along with several different hand-weapons. If they possessed powerful weapons that could be used from space to kill us, they wouldn’t use asteroids to do it and cause the temperatures around the planet to crash.” Jimmy looked back at the drawing, “No, they are vulnerable.”
“They could just drop another asteroid on us and that would be that,” Rachel said.
“We just have to make sure that we don’t cause them to be suspicious if some of them fail to report in. If we do have to kill any of them, we’ll drop them in the ocean and let them wonder if there is some sea creature that did the deed. We’ll figure that out when the time comes.”
“What about the ship above Earth?” Summer asked.