by Don Viecelli
“I agree. I’ll pass on the order to the local commander. Anything else?”
“Yes, sir. We need a cover story. Any suggestions?”
“We’ve already taken care of that. Actually, we’ve got two problems, Colonel. One is NASA’s ISS problem and the other is the crash investigation. We’re working on both of them now. There’s a whole team working on the problems here at the Pentagon.”
“What about my boss, Brigadier General Carl Wolenzski? Has he been notified what you asked me to do?”
“Don’t worry, Colonel. The General has been notified and is on his way back from Colorado. He’ll be handling all the administrative details here at the Pentagon. You will be in charge of the field investigation. We both agreed on that. I want you to take full responsibility for this investigation and keep me informed, personally. Do you understand, Colonel?”
“Yes, sir. I understand. What is NASA planning to do?”
“NASA will schedule a press conference in Houston in the morning at 1000 hours, Mountain Time. They will explain what happened to the ISS from the explosion. They won’t say anything about the UFO. We’re going to keep this secret until the President or Secretary of Defense tells us otherwise. There is too much at stake and we need more information from the crash site to see what we’re really dealing with here. NASA will have their hands full explaining the damage caused by the solar flare. It seems the magnetic storms are building in intensity and may cause further damage to the ISS and to our satellites over the next 24 to 48 hours. We’re not the only ones in trouble. Communications worldwide are being affected. This will be big news on TV tomorrow.”
“Who are you working with at NASA?” Dave asked.
“Doctor Fred Tannenbaum, Chief Administrator of NASA. He’s in Houston now preparing for the press conference and has been very helpful so far. He agrees with us on keeping this a secret for the time being. He is more worried about the ISS damage and the effects of radiation on the ISS crewmembers. They have fairly good shielding on the ISS now for the crew, but there were a lot of computer chip failures in some of the communication and power systems. They’re working on the problems now.”
“What about Commander Bonario? When can we speak to him directly?”
“I’m not sure. I’ll ask Doctor Tannenbaum when we can talk to him. They’re having some communication blackouts with the ISS. It comes and goes. It may get worse. I’ll let you know.”
“Okay,” Dave said. “What’s the cover story we’re using?”
“That this was a test flight crash of one of our new bomber planes. Two crewmembers were killed. We’ll say its highly classified information and no more information will be available. I’ll send you the press release information. We will release it tomorrow after NASA’s press conference. You may have to give a copy to the local police and state troopers up in Michigan if they ask any questions. So far, no one from the press or TV has called us.”
“Maybe for now. Reporters always seem to find out about these things before we’re ready. The press release is a good idea. Who prepared it?”
“One of our guys from Public Affairs. He was called in to write it an hour ago,” the general said.
“Good. I’ll put him on our team. I assume his name and number is on the press release. Tell the PR guy to prepare some frequently asked questions and answers for the news media. General Wolenzski can back up the PR guy. He’s good at this sort of thing.”
“All right. I’ll put him right on it. What else do you need?” the general asked.
“We’re going to need an air force hangar to assemble all the wreckage from the crash site. It has to be secure and easy to access. I’m thinking about Milwaukee. I don’t think Duluth is big enough for this job. Can you get clearance?” Dave asked.
“That should be no problem. I know the general there. I’ll call him right away. Anything else?”
Dave tried to think what else he needed from the general, but could not think of anything else at the moment. “No, I think that’s it for now. I’ll call you as soon as I reach the crash site. How long are you going to be at your office?”
“I’ll be here all night. I’ll wait until you call me and then you can leave messages on my phone. I’m scheduled to meet with General Walton, the CJCS, in the morning at 0615 to advise him and the Secretary what we have found out. They have a meeting with the President at 0730 in the morning. I’ll need everything you’ve got by then.”
“I understand,” said Dave. I’ll get back to you as soon as I find out something on the crash site. I’ll send you video messages. Just send me a reply if you need me. Thanks, General.”
“Good luck, Colonel. Let me know if you need anything else. Keep me informed.” With that the general disconnected the call.
Dave took a deep breath. This was not going to be easy, not at all. Security was going to be a big problem. Hell, this could cause a world crisis, or at least a political crisis for all I know, he thought, Dave looked out the window. It was dark below. But high above him he could still see the shimmering lights of the aurora borealis. If anything, they were brighter that before. Maybe it was because he was flying at thirty thousand feet. He wasn’t sure. All he knew was that it looked so amazing. He stared at the lights for several minutes and wondered how long it would remain in the night sky. Then he turned his attention back to the task at hand. He needed a good team for this investigation, and he needed it fast. He spent the remaining time on the plane deciding whom he needed from his database of contacts. Then he started calling.
Chapter 5
Upper Peninsula, MI:
Earlier in the day, three young men in their early twenties were hiking along a well-marked trail in the forest when they spotted an opening in the trees ahead. It had been a long uphill climb in one of the highest parts of the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park located in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It was getting dark and they needed to find a place to build their campsite for the night. Every once in awhile along the trail, they would pass a rustic cabin that could be rented, but tonight they would have to use their tent. They had hiked too far into the mountains to find any cabins for the night. It was a clear, warm night in June, so the hikers were not worried about the weather. They would have to watch out for small animals that roamed in the night and tried to steal their food packs. It became a game to see who could outwit who as the night progressed.
“Hey, I see a clearing up ahead. Let’s check it out,” yelled the lead hiker named Ryan Weston to the others following close behind. Ryan, or Ry as his friends called him, was twenty-one and was the instigator of this hike in the remote forest. He was an avid rock climber, having mastered the sport at a small mid-western college his first year of school. It was his passion and he would organize small groups of fellow hikers to explore rock-climbing formations in Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan. This was his first trip to the Porcupine Mountains in the UP. He had heard about the area from some of his rock-climbing buddies at the fitness center he worked in during the summer. He and two high school buddies decided to take a week off from their summer jobs to explore the park and climb the 200-foot cliffs found in the wilderness near the Lake Superior shoreline.
“This better be the place, Ry,” Jason Collins called out, trailing the pack a few paces behind. “We don’t have much time to set up the tent before it gets dark.” Jason was the youngest of the three men at twenty, but was the most intelligent studying computer science in college. He, Ryan and Tom Halbrook went to the same High School on the Northwest side of Chicago before they attended separate colleges in Illinois. Two of the young men, Ryan and Tom, spent the first year at colleges they did not like and dropped out to attend the local community college. They just finished their second year at the community college and were preparing to transfer to a four-year college this fall. Jason Collins was attending a four-year college in downtown Chicago. Ryan planned to major in journalism like his older sister, Kaye, and Tom was planning a career in business. They were
all good friends and stayed in touch during the summers.
They reached the clearing at the top of the trail and looked around. The sight was stunning. They could see the Porcupine Mountains all around them with a clear view of the deep blue Lake of the Clouds spread out below them. Overhead, high in the sky, two Peregrine falcons, a protected species, circled guarding their nest. The three friends were on top of a large bluff that descended some two hundred feet below to the lake’s edge. A wooden fence was built along the edge of the bluff by the park rangers to protect hikers from falling down the bluff in the dark.
“Wow, look at this cliff!” Ryan exclaimed. “We could rappel this rock in ten minutes if we hurry.”
“It can wait till morning,” Tom Halbrook said. He was tired and hungry from the long walk up the trail. This was their third day in the mountains and he wanted dinner and a nice long rest.
“I agree with Tom,” Jason said. “Besides, we have to set up camp and build a fire. Who wants to cook tonight?” It wasn’t really a question. Jason and Tom knew how much Ryan liked to play chef. He was always experimenting with the food. Sometimes it really turned out okay.
“I’ll cook if someone sets up the tent,” Ryan replied. “This looks like a good spot over here. Someone already built a fire pit we can use. I’ll see if I can find some wood.”
It was dusk in the mountains. They had missed the sunset. Even so the view around them was spectacular. They were on the southwest side of the park. They could see the Lake Superior shoreline a few miles off in the distance to their North. They planned to work their way over to the lake in the next day or so. First, they planned to climb the massive rock walls found in this area and then explore some of the scenic waterfalls nearby. The next day they would follow a trail that led along the Big Carp River whose rapids cut deep gorges along its path to Lake Superior. It was a very desolate area and they had to be careful. They had only encountered two other hikers on the same trials in the last three days. They were prepared, so they thought.
Ryan’s father was a retired marketing person from one of the biggest communications companies in the world located in Chicago. He made sure Ryan carried the latest 3G cell phone with a GPS receiver. All third generation cell phones had internal Global Positioning System service capabilities and the latest smartphone features, including instant Internet connection, voice activation, color screens, solar batteries, texting, multimedia, digital camera, MP4 digital radio, Bluetooth headset and Wi-Fi capabilities. Trouble was, the cell phone and GPS receiver only worked if you were in range of a cell tower and the nearest cell tower in these woods was ten miles away on the South Boundary Road, too far for the transceiver in Ryan’s phone. The digital camera and radio functions worked fine which meant Ryan could take pictures for transmission later and listen to the best music on the radio or downloaded from the Internet. He just couldn’t make or receive cellular phone calls unless they were near the main road in the park. Not all was lost though. Ryan and his friends planned for every contingency and they all carried two-way radios that worked on RF frequencies up to five miles away for emergency purposes. The radios would come in handy if any of them got separated they figured.
After checking the place out, they decided to pitch their tent and build a campfire. Tom and Jason started to set up the three-man tent. All carried sleeping bags and these were set-aside for the moment. Ryan found some dry firewood and began to prepare dinner.
“You guys want soup or tacos tonight?” Ryan asked.
“Tacos,” came back the reply. “What’s for desert?” Tom asked obviously hungry.
“I can make some popcorn if you guys are good,” Ryan shot back. This would be a treat since they only carried a limited supply of food items into the woods. Usually, they just carried freeze-dried food packs with them and you had to carry all garbage items back out of the park to protect the environment. This policy was strictly enforced by the park rangers with fines and these hikers never violated the rules. Respect for the environment seemed to be a common cause among hikers their age, and Ryan was passionate about keeping it that way.
The tent was up in a matter of minutes and the sleeping bags were thrown inside. Ryan had the fire going and the taco mix heating in the pan by the time Tom and Jason came over to sit down. Ryan ripped open the plastic wrap around the corn soft-shells and placed them in a pan to heat up. Then he found some hot taco sauce he brought with him just for the occasion. This meal was one of his favorites and he never tired of making it.
“Man, that smells good,” Tom said. “I can eat five tacos all by myself, Ry. Do we have enough?”
“Yeah, I think so,” Ryan said. “But there won’t be anymore until we find a store. How far are we from the next service area, Jason?”
“Let me see,” Jason replied pulling out the park map. He had to look close since it was getting dark. The fire helped. “We’re here, I think, pointing to the map. Looks like we’ll find a store on the main road after we reach Lake Superior. Can’t be more than ten miles or so, I guess. Probably two day’s walk down the trail.”
“We’ll survive,” Ryan said while flipping the corn shells in the frying pan. “Maybe, we should stop by the lake tomorrow after climbing to catch some fish.”
“I can do that,” Tom said. He was the best fisherman among them since he fished often with his dad. Besides, it was a lot easier than climbing mountains. He was getting hungry just thinking about it.
“Sounds like a plan,” Ryan said, pulling out some paper plates. “I think dinner is ready.” He passed out the food and they ate in silence clearly enjoying the moment. It had been a good day. They probably hiked five miles from the last campsite. They planned to walk the entire park in six days and travel home on the seventh day. So far, they were on schedule. Tomorrow they would spend the entire day rock-climbing, exploring and fishing for dinner. Then they would head down the trial towards Lake Superior. They heard the falls in the river gorge were great and they wanted to see them.
“How about some music?” Ryan asked. He found his backpack and pulled out two tiny speakers and placed them on rocks near the fire. He took his cell phone, turned on the MP4 player, found the files he wanted to play and set the volume control. The speakers operated on batteries and used a wireless Bluetooth connection to broadcast the songs from the cell phone. The songs began to play. They would listen to songs recorded before the trip each night after dinner, for as long as the solar battery on the phone lasted. Then they would go to sleep.
It was getting pretty dark outside. The light from the campfire danced around them in the trees sending shadows in every direction. There was a light wind blowing, enough to keep the bugs off them. It would be a warm evening, great for sleeping in the tent.
True to his word, Ryan cooked some popcorn they had bought at the last camp store. It was in aluminum container with a metal handle he could hold over the fire. It popped quickly and he handed it over to Tom to open.
“Man, this tastes good,” Tom said while stuffing his mouth. “Wish we had some cold drinks to go with this.” They only carried water bottles on their hiking trip.
“You can go get some for us if you don’t mind hiking ten miles,” Ryan quipped slightly annoyed at Tom’s comment. Tom was always complaining about things they couldn’t do anything about.
Suddenly, Jason saw something in the night sky overhead. It wasn’t completely dark yet and there wasn’t any moon out, but he thought he saw a glimmering light in the sky. “What was that?” he asked looking up at the sky. The other two young men looked up to where Jason was pointing.
“I don’t see anything,” Tom said getting up on his feet. Then they all saw the light. It would come and go very quickly. Then a large pattern of light emerged like a waterfall spreading over the night sky. It would change colors from vivid red to green to yellow and back again shimmering in the night sky. The colors illuminated the trees on the mountaintops in its glow.
“What is it?” Ryan asked. None of the boys ha
d ever seen anything like this before.
“Wow, it’s awesome!” Tom exclaimed.
“I think they’re Northern Lights,” Jason said. He had read about them in the park brochures and seen pictures of them on the Internet. They were absolutely beautiful seeing them for the first time in these mountains. Ryan got out his digital camera to take some pictures. This was something he wanted to save and send to his older sister who worked as a reporter at the Channel Two News TV station in Chicago.
The boys walked over to the edge of the clearing to look at the lights illuminating the mountains, valley and lake below. The lights appeared so low you felt you could almost touch them, but that was just an illusion. The lights were 40 to 200 miles up in the sky and were caused by the solar magnetic storm bouncing off the Earth’ upper atmosphere.
This aurora was so bright and building in color it almost seemed as if the forest was on fire. The pillars of light shimmered and danced in the sky all around them. It was the first time any of them had ever seen such a sight and they were in awe. After a few minutes of watching the lights, Ryan finally lifted his camera and started to take some pictures, not knowing if any of them would come out in the darkness.
“What’s that over there?” Tom asked pointing to a tiny glinting object in the sky coming their way. A small tail of light was following close behind it. At first they thought it was a meteor, but then it slowed down a little and turned towards them.
“It looks like a plane,” Jason said while his eyes followed the object.
“How come it’s not making any noise?” Ryan asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s too far away,” Jason replied.
Ryan raised his camera and started to take some pictures. He changed to video mode and zoomed in. The object was closing fast, heading straight for them, but there still wasn’t any sound. Then, all of a sudden, it exploded, causing Ryan and the other boys to yell out in surprise. A ball of fire burst behind the object as it broke into three pieces. It was a lot closer to them now and they could see it looked like a plane. Ryan adjusted the zoom to get a better picture. “Damn, it’s breaking apart!” Ryan yelled out loud.