“All right,” Francis said. “I’m officially dying of curiosity. What are we doing here?”
Richelle smiled. “I’m sorry. I had intended to bring you up to speed on events when you arrived. But as you can see, things weren’t going so well.”
“Okay,” Francis said, “And now?”
“Much better.”
“So?”
Richelle looked at Francis the way a teacher might look at a pupil when deciding how best to explain a particularly complicated idea. When she appeared to have made up her mind, she pointed at the camera nearest them and said, “Come. Have a look.”
When the man operating it stepped aside, Francis saw it was a night vision camera. Although unlike the ones he had used many times himself, this one was clearly state-of-the-art. The screen still had a slight green tint to it, but the image wasn’t grainy at all. What he saw was a large ship with its superstructure in the bow.
“That’s the Pandora,” Richelle said. “She was commissioned at Busan eighteen months ago. In reality, she isn’t so much a ship as a landing platform for what we’ve been calling RP One.”
“RP One?” Francis said.
“It stands for reconnaissance platform. It’s a small scout module used to survey the surface of a planet in preparation for a mass landing. RP One left Origin six days ago. Until we actually sent the launch signal, we had no idea it was even going to work. It’s also the reason Brendan made his move when he did.”
Francis was looking at her as if she were making him the butt of an intriguing but ridiculous joke. Only if it was a joke, the three people now standing next to him must have been in on it, because none of them looked remotely amused.
“Let me get this right,” Francis said. “We’re waiting for a spaceship to land? On that ship?”
“Now you understand why I didn’t bother trying to explain it before. But yes, that’s exactly what we’re doing. Although it’s not really a spaceship. It was launched from Origin by catapult. If Heinz is right, and he has been about everything else so far, it uses some kind of ion converter engine in the upper atmosphere to slow down as it descends because it has no propulsion of its own.”
“Onto that?” Francis said pointing at the screen.
“That’s the theory,” Richelle said. “The Pandora is being controlled from here. Which is why she began to drift out of position when the transponder failed.”
“You’re saying there is nobody on that ship?”
Richelle shook her head. “If the calculations are right, RP One will be about three hundred and fifty degrees Celsius when it touches down. Not only that, but the electric charge it will be putting out would probably fry anyone on board. And that’s not the worst of it. Because of the alloy it’s made of it’s extremely heavy for its size. The Pandora was built with all these things in mind, but the truth is, we’re really not sure how accurate any of our predictions are.”
“And if you’re wrong?” Francis said.
“I’d rather not think –”
She was interrupted by one of the others who pointed at the sky and said, “There,” before running back to his camera and pointing it upwards.
Francis looked up and saw what looked like a bright star, a sight that was only peculiar because there were no others. A moment later Heinz’s voice came over the radio in Richelle’s pocket. He sounded almost delirious with excitement. “Richelle, are you seeing this?”
“I see it.”
“I can’t believe it,” Heinz said.
“Well, if you can’t,” Richelle said, “where does that leave us?”
Francis thought it was a very good question. Heinz replied with a burst of nervous laughter.
As they watched, the light grew steadily brighter and began to take on a pale orange tint. To Francis’s mind, struggling now for dear life to bring what it was seeing into line with what it could accept, the thing up there was not a spaceship, but a giant meteor, hurtling to earth with promises of Armageddon. As if to confirm this, the spot began to glow brighter and grow in length.
A moment later they heard it. It began as a low humming, like the sound of overhead power lines or a low note on an amplified bass guitar, then quickly increased in tone until it was almost a screech. Francis felt Richelle’s hand first brush his own then curl around it in a death grip as the thing appeared to pick up speed.
“Jesus Christ,” Francis said, “It’s going to crash!”
Richelle didn’t reply, but the look on her face suggested she was thinking the same thing.
That’s when it exploded.
Or so it seemed.
Francis saw the Pandora, looking tiny and insignificant as the fireball descended like the wrath of God himself. When it seemed only a few hundred yards above the ship it erupted in a flash of blinding brilliance. Bolts of lightning began to shoot out in all directions, some touching down on the surface of the water, others arching around and finding the ship. The high-pitched whine grew louder for a moment, then suddenly turned into the roar of a thousand afterburners spinning up for takeoff. Francis felt his ears pop. He closed his eyes, convinced that the next thing they would see was either a mushroom cloud or a wave several stories high rushing at them across the water. But when he opened them again, what he saw was nothing. Other than the ringing in his ears and the bright spot in the center of his vision, the night had returned as quickly as it had been interrupted.
Richelle looked at him, then down at her hand, which was still clutching his. She let go and said, “What the hell just happened?”
The way she said it and the expression on her face made her look twelve years old. Francis, who had no idea what the hell had just happened, only reciprocated the look. When he turned to the camera crew he saw they were no better off. Richelle raised the radio in her right hand and said, “Heinz? You there?”
“Hold on a moment,” Heinz said, “We’ve got a visual, but it looks like the sensor readouts are… no wait, I think we’re getting something.”
“Heinz,” Richelle said, “never mind the fucking readouts, have we lost the Pandora?”
There was a pause. When he answered, Heinz sounded both elated and a little annoyed. “Lost the Pandora? No, of course not.”
“And RP One?”
“Well, we’re still waiting for a response from the –”
“Heinz, just tell me if RP One is on board that ship.”
“Yes.”
Richelle let the radio fall from her hand, then sank to her knees and looked up at the sky. Francis thought she had started to cry, but when she looked at him he saw only relief in her eyes. A moment later Heinz appeared in the hatch behind them and climbed out onto the landing pad. Richelle got to her feet. When Heinz extended his hand she ignored it and put her arms around him instead.
“We did it,” she said.
“We did,” Heinz said. “We really did. And if we don’t get out of here we’ll probably all be in jail by this time tomorrow.”
She let go of him and stepped back, the smile on her face widening as she turned to Francis. “Never one to waste time on sentiment is our chief scientist.”
“What?” Heinz said, “I’m serious. We can’t –”
“I know you are,” Richelle said, “Go on, off you go. Get us out of here. I’d give you a week off when we get back, but I don’t see the point in making you miserable after all you’ve done.”
Heinz hesitated for a moment, apparently unsure if the conversation was over, then he lifted his radio and said, “Get the Pandora out of there. I want full thrust on all motors. She’s going to struggle to pick up speed with the extra weight.”
The Karl Gustav began to vibrate as her engines were pushed to full throttle. Richelle and Francis stood looking out at the sea where the first glow of the coming dawn was just breaking over the horizon. In the distance, the silhouette of the Pandora painted both a majestic and somehow ominous picture, a silent promise of things to come.
To be continued…
Nathaniel Dean James
April 2012 – January 2014
Arrival of RP One
Dear Reader
Now that you have finished this book, perhaps you would consider leaving a review. Reviews are a great way for readers to discover new books, as well as for authors to discover new readers. Provided you have an account at Amazon, leaving a review is quick and easy. It would be greatly appreciated.
If you would like updates on the publication of future novels in the Origin series or any other of my books, why not sign up to my author newsletter here.
To view the artwork in this book in its original size and many other images created for the series follow this link to the publisher’s website, or go to www.millenniumbirdhouse.com and follow the artwork link at the top of the page.
Afterword
Although I have never been a particularly big fan of Science Fiction, I have always subscribed to the belief that in all the billions of galaxies that make up the known universe, we cannot possibly be the only intelligent life. This is not so much a religious or scientific conviction as a simple acknowledgement of the law of probability. In so far as any author will inevitably imbue one or more of his or her characters with some trait or aspect of themselves, my own views on this are clearly echoed in the words of our friend Maxim, the retired cosmonaut who Mike and Francis meet in London on their way to Zurich, with whom I otherwise have little in common.
As for the likelihood of our ever encountering such intelligence? I believe it is highly improbable. And for the same reason that I’m convinced it must surely exist; the sheer size of the universe. Luckily for you and I, we need not concern ourselves too much in these pages with such trifling things as likelihood.
In sitting down to begin work on this manuscript one fine Spring day in 2012, I asked myself just two questions; what if there really was a spaceship sitting out there? And what if one man came into possession of that fact to the exclusion of all others? The first presumption aside, I think the second is not as farfetched as it may seem. Everything that followed on the heels of these two “givens” was born in the writing. The only challenge I set myself was to ensure that the “fantastic” did not impinge too heavily on the story itself, the characters and the pace of events. By this I mean the temptation to allow technology to become a deus ex machina to the men and women of Aurora, whose hopes rest so heavily on the potential of their discoveries to set things right.
But as Francis Moore understands only too well, the problems that face humanity cannot be solved by technology alone.
Having already completed much of the second book in this series, I have tried to remained loyal to this premise. For while Origin and its many secrets continue to play a part, that part is necessarily limited. As we rejoin Richelle and her team, now faced with the challenges presented by the arrival of RP One, it is not to the stars that we must turn for answers, but to that powder keg between the 48th parallel and the Yalu River known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, where, even as we speak, sinister forces are conspiring.
Origin – Season Two, is scheduled for publication in April 2015.
Acknowledgements
As any author knows, writing a book and actually publishing one are two very different kettles of fish. Not only in terms of personal effort, but also that of the many people essential to making such a venture a successful one. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to offer my undying gratitude and deepest respect to the following people:
To my dear mother, whose loving support always has been and always will be indispensable. To my father, for pointing out the viability of this work at a time when I was anything but sure of it myself, and for providing the help and enthusiasm to take it forward. To the patron saints, Eddie Wheeler and Alasdair “Mac” MacDonald, who, aside from remaining true and loyal friends, also provided the roof under which most of this book was written and the cash to bring it all together. To Sarah Cohen, Leigh Bowles, Pete Cable and William Tucker, who have each read the manuscript in one or more of its many incarnations and provided invaluable feedback. To Kay, for teaching me one of the hardest and most valuable lessons along the way. To the editors, Mel Hughes and Indy Zoeller, who saw enough promise in the project to provide top-dollar work at rock-bottom prices (keep those rain checks in a safe place!). To BB eBooks for their passion and devotion to detail. To Professor Edwin V Bell of the Goddard Space Flight Center, without whose valuable insights many of the tenets in this book would have been wholly ridiculous, rather than just highly unlikely. To the hard working men and women of the Wikimedia Foundation, who continue to preside over one of the most open, comprehensive and useful sources of information available. And last, but not least, to you, the reader, for taking a chance on this book. If you enjoyed reading it half as much as I enjoyed writing it, we should be all square.
About the Author
I’m a Swede, born in England and raised in the United States. In many ways I was a Caucasian gypsy for the first twenty-five years of my life, settling in Sweden, Denmark, Florida, California (Hollywood, Palmdale and San Francisco), Curacao, Mexico, Hungary, and finally the United Kingdom, where I reside today. I was a soldier for ten years in the British Army, first in the Parachute Regiment, and later in the Royal Military Police. I think the only thing that really strings all these things together is that I never stopped reading. Now a family man, I live with my wife and our twins in West Sussex.
APPENDIX A
—
Cast in Order of Appearance Gert Dekker – Vice President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Carl Bosch – Chairman and CEO of Skyline Defense (see Appendix B).
Mike Banner – Special Agent, FBI Field Office, New York.
Mary Winters – (aka. the Assistant Director) Assistant Director, FBI Field Office, New York.
Mitch Rainey – Technician, Office of System Development, FBI Headquarters, Washington D.C.
Jack Fielding – Head of Corporate Security for Skyline Defense (see Appendix B).
Richard Fairchild – Director of Central Intelligence.
Norton Weaver – CIA operative and head of Operation Princip (see Appendix B).
Steve Rollins – Former US Special Forces. Rollins is the man hired by Jack Fielding to find Francis Moore and the missing hard drive.
Bruce Jessops – FBI Whitehouse Liaison and informant for Jack Fielding.
Gerald Ross – Security systems engineer paid by Francis Moore to help him break into the New York Federal Reserve.
Walter Scott – An alias of Francis Moore.
Francis Moore – Former US Marine recruited by the CIA into Operation Princip (see Appendix B) before it was taken over by Norton Weaver. He is known to Gerald Ross as Walter Scott, and to his friend Valerie Tremblay in Quebec as Maurice. When he arrives in London with Mike Banner he is using the alias Gary Copeland.
Marius Botha – Security Systems Manager for Skyline Defense (see Appendix B) and subordinate of Jack Fielding.
Cynthia Ross – Wife of Gerald Ross.
Valerie Tremblay – Quebec Park Ranger. Valerie is Francis Moore’s local contact in Quebec, but knows him only as Maurice.
Daniel Zimmerman (aka. Lester Farley) – Former Mossad agent hired by Jack Fielding to track down Francis Moore at the behest of Norton Weaver. His partner and brother is Baruch Zimmerman (aka. Eugene Sampras).
Reginald Styles (aka. Colonel Styles) – Retired Army colonel. Reginald was the Pentagon project leader of Operation Princip (see Appendix B) before it was brought under the stewardship of Norton Weaver at the CIA.
Sarah Breland – Employee at Aurora (see Appendix B) and Mitch Rainey’s chaperone on his arrival at the facility.
Brendan (aka. The Chief) – Head of Security at Aurora (see Appendix B). Brendan was originally recruited out of the US Army in Berlin to serve as the personal bodyguard of Peter Bershadsky, Aurora’s founder.
Heinz Gerber – Chief Scientist at Aurora (see Appendix B).
Erik Breland – Chief of Construction at Aurora (see Appendix B) and Sarah Breland’s father.
Maksym (aka. Max) – A contact of Reginald Styles’ living in London. Max is a former engineer with the Soviet Space Program.
Captain Almila – Captain of the Pandora (see Appendix B).
Peter Bershadsky – First chairman of the Karl Gustav Foundation (see Appendix B) and the founder of Aurora (see Appendix B).
Caroline de Villepin – Eldest daughter of Peter Bershadsky and chairman of the Karl Gustav Foundation (see Appendix B).
Richelle de Villepin – Youngest daughter of Peter Bershadsky and the head of Aurora (see Appendix B).
Captain David Williams – Captain of the Calisto (see Appendix B).
Titov Kargin – Former Russian Officer, one of the original members of Aurora (see Appendix B), and Richelle de Villepin’s right hand man.
Victor Manin – (aka. General Manin) – A former Soviet Army General, Manin is now a well-connected arms dealer and security “services” provider.
Yoshi – Helicopter pilot and crew member of Aurora (see Appendix B).
APPENDIX B
—
Names, Places and Objects of Significance (in order of appearance) Skyline Defense – A satellite and space exploration research company based in New York with connections to the Pentagon. Skyline is a subsidiary of the Karl Gustav Foundation.
The Pandora – A research vessel commissioned by Skyline Defense and built at the South Korean port of Busan.
Operation Princip – A clandestine assassination program begun under the Nixon administration and run out of the Pentagon by army colonel Reginald Styles (see appendix A). Following 9/11 the program was moved to the CIA and placed under the control of Norton Weaver (see appendix A).
Origin - Season One Page 41