Trappist-1_The Tree of Life

by Todd Fries

  Nickolas nodded his head.

  “Yes. He was a man of integrity, which I why I want to honor his memory.”

  “A funeral?”

  “Yes, but maybe more than that.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Allowing his dream to live on.”

  Jacob leaned back and crossed his legs.

  “What dream is that?”

  Nickolas pulled out the hand written letter he found in the General’s pocket after his death. Before passing it to Jacob, he whispered.

  “I’m taking a great risk showing this to you. Nobody else can know about it. Do you understand?”

  Jacob nodded and slowly read the note.

  “Where’d you get this?”

  “It’s best you don’t know, but now that you understand what he wished to accomplish, what do you think?”

  “I don’t know what to think. I can’t disagree with anything in this letter, but the reality is we have a different commander now, with different objectives.”

  “But if you had to choose, which path would you follow?”

  Jacob raised his eyebrows.

  “Obviously I’d follow the plan outlined in this letter.”

  “Exactly. What if I said there was a way to make that happen.”

  Before he could finish his sentence, Jacob perked up.

  “I’d be all in!”

  Nickolas stopped in his tracks. While he knew that approaching Jacob would be the least risky, he still planned on going into great detail to justify his plans. Anyone who followed in his footsteps would be in great danger. Not only for their careers, but for their very lives. Clearly the man didn’t understand what he was talking about so he continued to explain.

  “I don’t think you appreciate what I’m trying to say.”

  “I know exactly what you’re trying to say.”

  Nickolas gave up.

  “Ok. What am I trying to say?”

  “You’re planning to ‘go-around’ General Taylor and disobey his orders.”

  Nickolas we unsure how to proceed. Could he trust this man? He answered.

  “In a way. Yes.”

  He selected his next words carefully.

  “But again, maybe a little more than that.”

  Jacob looked at him carefully as if fully comprehending his meaning. This time he leaned in close and whispered.

  “As I said before. I’m in.”

  “But you don’t know exactly what I’m planning.”

  “Doesn’t matter. I knew my answer before you ever walked through that door. I’ve already been called to serve. I just needed to know the plan and now you’re here. So what’s your idea?”

  Nickolas paused, unsure of how to answer. He was receiving good signals from Jacob, but he didn’t want to play his hand too soon. Taking the letter from Jacob, he examined it carefully. As he folded it up, he looked Jacob square in the eye.

  “I appreciated your presentation. It was a masterpiece of facts that made me wonder about my own limited knowledge. I think we have the same idea, but I never considered it from your point of view. You seemed pretty intent on the star system named Trappist-1. The evidence you provided was convincing, but none of us knows if there are any habitable worlds in that system. How can you be so sure?”

  Jacob held up one finger, indicating he needed a moment and shuffling through his papers, he pulled out the star chart used in the meeting. Signaling Nickolas to come closer, he pulled out a pen and sat next to him.

  “What I’m about to show you has only been seen by General Reynolds. Even he didn’t want you to know about it until the time was right.”

  “What is it?”

  “It’s easier to show you.”

  Referring to his map, he carefully drew two lines which intersected on a star named Trappist-1 and then added an arrow, pointing where they met.

  If you look at the left side of the map and the bottom, you see where Trappist-1 is positioned using Ascension and Declination. These are very close approximations used by science, but have a small tolerance of accuracy, so the numbers may differ slightly depending on who’s reporting them. However, when you look at the actual position of this star, it sits at Right Ascension 23h 06m and has a Declination of -4 degrees, 02’ 28.610.”

  “So?”

  Jacob smiled as he answered.

  “Once again, the key is in the math.

  “The position of Trappist-1 sits at Right Ascension 23h 06m 29.283 or

  23 + 6 + 29 + 283 = 58.283

  The Declination is -4 degrees, 02’ 28.610 or

  -4 + 2 + 28 + .607 = 26.607

  58.283 – 25.607 = 31.676, which we round up to 31.68. Does that number mean anything to you? 3168?”

  Nickolas rose to his feet. He had heard enough. The number 3168 was all tied into the Hebrew math and the name of Jesus. He remembered it from Jacob’s presentation to the group. While he wanted to jump out of his seat and start sharing his plans, he wasn’t ready to go into any details now. He still needed to assemble his team and his next stop would pose the highest risk. So without further comment, he excused himself and promised to meet him again in the near future. As of now he had three confirmed accomplices, but still needed to recruit the rest of his team. Hannah and Kathi would be easy, but Mark, Lori and Jillian might be another story.

  He paused for a quick prayer and in his mind he spoke to his Lord.

  “Lord; as your humble servant, I have never been eloquent of speech either now or in the past. I am slow of tongue and I don’t know the proper words needed to change the hearts of these people. I pray that you’ll be with me and guide my words. Help me to understand the information given to me by Jacob. For Your Glory. Amen.”

  The next step would be to assemble his team and make his case before them. If all went according to plan, he would have his answer soon.

  ANGER

  General Taylor paced his floor. It had been far easier than he expected. When he was first given this assignment, he didn’t know what to think. He’d never been to Groom Lake and could only imagine what he might find here. However, the reality was much different. This wasn’t a den of aliens and alien technology, but a highly sophisticated research and development facility in the middle of the desert. They were working on weapons, advanced guidance systems and aircraft designs that defied imagination.

  Of course, SM1 was the crown jewel. It’s why he’d been sent here and why it was important that he fulfill his mission. There had been rumors that General Reynolds had gone off the deep end, chasing after mystical symbolism and religious dogma in an effort to understand the nature and purpose of SM1, but regardless of where it came from, it was the perfect tool for the job and he knew just how to use her.

  He’d spent years in the Pacific theatre, monitoring China, Russia and North Korea. This was a “hot-bed” of potential conflict and turmoil and it wasn’t a matter of “if” but “when” a war erupted. Just this past year, he’d seen it come very close to happening when China launched a kinetic kill vehicle at a ring of geo-stationary satellites circling high above the Earth. The Pacific fleet had been put on high alert and a carrier task force was sent racing toward one of their man-made islands in the South China Sea.

  Before it was over, China backed off and pulled their missiles from that tiny patch of ground, but it left a deep impression on him. The world came close to destruction on that day and when he was de-briefed weeks later, it was revealed this spacecraft was to blame. Or at least the people who recovered her were to blame. It was a miss-managed affair that was executed poorly, using inexperience people who should have never been there in the first place.

  Why send an archaeologist, metallurgist and a linguist to do the work of experienced soldiers? If he’d been in charge, this ship would have been recovered quickly and without having to detonate a nuclear bomb on the surface of the Moon. He shook his head in disbelief. Why would General Reynolds send a nuke to the Moon? This guy was a “nut-case” to say the least. He clea
rly had no imagination.

  As for his people; they were just as bad. If they hadn’t desecrated the Chinese national flag, none of this would have happened. They nearly set the world on fire through their incompetence. The Chinese had sent an unmanned rover to Stellae Mysterium and in the process, planted a flag pole with their national banner. What idiot would take that down in order to put up an American flag? At least that idiot got what he deserved. He was baked into oblivion when he detonated that atomic device with his own hands. What fools.

  It wasn’t that he didn’t feel bad for them, but there comes a point were one’s own mistakes justify one’s outcome. Basically you get what you deserve and they deserved something other than living in this vacation zone in the middle of nowhere. By all rights they should be sitting in Federal prison. Mutiny was punishable by death in his book. So why did these people get a “pass” on something so extreme? It was beyond his ability to comprehend.

  Captain “Bligh” of the Bounty ran a better ship and crew than General Reynolds. He only wished he could have met the man before he died. Perhaps after talking to him he might have understood his intentions. Despite all of his mistakes, he still retrieved the ship, but even that was pure luck. This Nickolas Roshenko stole the ship and took it on a wild joy ride around the universe. Talk about having a mismanaged crew that was out of control.

  The last thing he needed was having him train the Major, but since he was the only one who knew how to fly it, he had no choice. Once the Major was up and running, he’d ban that archaeologist from ever setting foot on her again. From his point of view, he’d like to get rid of the whole lot, but for the moment that was out of his hands.

  And finally all this nonsense about translating this strange language into the bible and decoding a binary message sent by Voyager 2 was way over the top. He reasoned that if anyone searched long enough, they could find a message in anything. When he was presented with the reports, he refused to even look at them. It was beneath him to consider something so ridiculous. If he couldn’t see it himself or measure it, it couldn’t be proven in his opinion. As far as he was concerned, these people were religious zealots and wing-nuts. What he needed were level-headed, reasonable people, but they seemed hard to find this fairy-land called Area 51. No wonder they called it “Dream Land.” These people were all dreamers and schemers with only a loose grip on reality.

  He picked up a folder and started reading. When he requested the dossier on General Reynolds, he didn’t expect to find a highly decorated, experienced officer with numerous letters of accommodation. The man was described as a brilliant free-thinker with very few vices. The man had been involved with top secret “intel” going back to 1975. What he couldn’t figure out is why he was allowed to work on such strange and unusual projects. But there were many odd programs on this base that in his mind were a wild waste of time and resources.

  There were scientists doing experimentation on telepathy, teleportation, remote viewing, telekinesis and other psychic research that made the Barnum and Bailey freak show pale by comparison. If he was in charge of everything, he’s save the taxpayers billions with a stroke of his pen. These scientists would be dumped onto the street along with all their equipment and he’d free up space for weapons development and other useful things beneficial to the country.

  But he wasn’t fully in charge yet and this gnawed at him. He was only allowed to go so far and his main priority was SM1 along with anyone associated with that project. If they were using this assignment to evaluate him, he’d put every effort into doing it right and with a little luck, might be promoted to a level equivalent with General Reynolds. Then he’d make the changes he wanted and quickly.

  In the meantime, he’d humor these scientists until he determined how much he might need them. The key would be to keep them off balance by allowing their pet projects to continue as if nothing had changed. They might still deliver some useful science and the more he knew, the more he might be able to leverage his position here at Area 51. While he didn’t know what Jacob or Hannah might contribute, he’d allow them to access one or two volumes under more secure circumstances to see where it might lead.

  He had no need to bother Jillian, Mark or Lori. They had no involvement in the previous missions and were harmless enough. Mark and Lori had a vested interest in determining how this thing worked and that was a value he could put to use in the future. If he could build a fleet of these things, there’d be no stopping American interests abroad and there’d be nothing her enemies could do to stop the United States from influencing global affairs for decades to come. Having one undisputed super-power would make enforcing global peace that much easier to manage, saving millions from the carnage of war.

  Yes. His was the greater purpose and the higher calling. He could save millions of lives now and in the future, while General Reynolds might have saved hundreds on a distant world. There were those in high places who agreed with him and why he was sent to assume command of this base. The needs of the moment far outweighed the folly of “Reynold’s Ark.” Once he duplicated this technology, mankind could conquer the universe en-masse. It was only a matter of time.

  Now all he needed were some good engineers who were capable of outfitting this ship with an external weapons platform. He was told that the substance used to manufacture this ship was too hard to cut or drill into, so any additional military hardware would have to be assembled around the ship like a giant outer skeleton. There were those who wondered if the spacecraft would still be capable of flight with all of this framework built around it, but he insisted they start construction immediately. The only way to find out would be to test it under actual load conditions.

  The next phase would be to add high resolution cameras to the inside of the vessel. Once the ship became transparent, the digital cameras could point their lenses in any direction, capturing the smallest details. From what he understood, even if the enemy spotted them and was able to fire a missile, this ship wouldn’t even be scratched. In essence, he had an indestructible flying tank at his disposal. Now all he needed were some good pilots and Nickolas would provide the knowledge he needed.

  As for this Nickolas Roshenko, the guy was pretty amazing. He was clearly an outstanding pilot and experienced astronaut. He’d done much to advance the history of this world through his archaeological digs, but maybe he should have stuck with one career. Sending him to the Moon once, let alone twice didn’t make any sense. This wasn’t an archaeological dig, but a recovery operation. This was salvage and the US was the rightful owner and beneficiary of this amazing discovery.

  Major Brooks seemed capable enough. At least the guy had a backbone and was able to convince the mutineers to put down their weapons. He made the tough choices when the tough choices had to be made and he did what was necessary to secure this vessel, but he should have flown the spacecraft himself.

  If he knew nothing else, he understood that if you wanted something done right, you had to do it yourself and relying on others to complete a task on their own was like waiting for ice to melt in the middle of the Arctic. As for himself, he was quite capable of managing all aspects of SM1, while this General Reynolds appeared to have 14 million advisors and not a single thought in his own head. He didn’t need these other people to direct his every move. He had his own wisdom to guide him and that was enough. After all, there wasn’t any new knowledge they could offer that would alter his plans, so why bother investing his precious time in their research.

  So feeling quite confident in his decisions, he lit a cigar and put his feet up on his desk and congratulated himself on his superior management skills. They made the right decision sending him here and he wouldn’t let them down. If there was one area in which he excelled, it was getting the job done quickly. He could pound everyone and everything to his will and now all he had to do was be productive in his efforts. He smiled. These people were already intimidated. All he had to do was push them a little further and they’d do what he wanted out of fear
alone. He grinned even more. This was going to be a walk in the park and a lot of fun. A whole lot of fun.

  BREACH OF CONTRACT

  Hannah felt like she was running a marathon. Nickolas didn’t want any messages sent via e-mail or phone to avoid any accidental leaks. For all they knew, this General Taylor had their phones ‘tapped’ and their email routed through his office. It was agreed that nothing was to be written down and all messages delivered in person. Since she was relatively young, she agreed to contact all members of the team to setup an in-person meeting. So as she walked from building to building, she already felt the soreness in her legs.

  Before approaching Mark, Lori and Jillian, Nickolas felt it best to secure the loyalty of his friends and then present his arguments to the remaining people in a group setting. If they saw the commitment of everyone else, they might be more inclined to join them in their quest. And if they disagreed, they might not blow the whistle if they understood how dangerous this was for himself and his friends.

  All three of them signed the same non-disclosure agreements, but they weren’t non-people. They still had a life in the real world and much more to lose. On the other hand, Nickolas, Major Brooks and herself were already dead to the outside world and could disappear tomorrow without anyone noticing. It wasn’t a good situation. There was great risk in revealing their plans to these new and inexperienced people.

  While the stakes were high; if they did nothing that would be far worse. She never fully understood how someone might want to give their life for a cause they believed in, but for the first time she was beginning to understand. It was true that she volunteered to set off the nuclear device in place of Jin, but that was a decision made in haste and not based on a long standing belief. This time she was convinced of her actions and if she had to pay the ultimate price, she was ready to die for her convictions.