by Don Viecelli
The alarm woke him up from a fitful sleep. It was uncomfortable sleeping on the couch, General Anderson realized. He quickly washed his face, shaved and got dressed. He looked in the mirror in his bathroom and decided it would have to do. My hair is definitely getting grayer, he thought to himself, and there were too many wrinkles on his face. Maybe he was getting too old to put up with this type of work much longer. Thirty years of service to his country was probably long enough, but he loved the military life and couldn’t think what he would do outside of it. He checked his watch. His appointment with the CJCS and SoD was at 0615 in the Secretary’s office down the hall and up one floor. It would be a quick meeting; just review the report and give an update on any new developments before the CJCS and SoD drove over to the White House for their briefing with the President. General Anderson had met the President a couple of times already and wondered if he would be needed this time. Then the phone rang. He went over to his desk and punched the handsfree button. “Hello, General Anderson here.”
“Good morning, sir. This is Colonel Hampton,” Dave said into his satellite phone. There was a brief delay in the signal before he heard the General respond.
“Hello, Colonel Hampton. What did you find up there?”
“You were right, sir. It was a UFO. We recovered four alien bodies—all dead, sir. The bodies are on their way to Milwaukee Air Force base for autopsies at the medical facility. The spacecraft is in fragments. There are a few large pieces still intact, but it’s going to take a few more days to recover everything and ship the pieces to the hangar for reassembly. I’m going to need more men for the job, sir.”
“I understand, Colonel. You have my authorization to get whomever you need. How do you know we’re dealing with extraterrestrials here?”
“They’re definitely not human, General. I’m sending you the report with a video message file as we speak. Everything is on the file. I’m quarantining both crash sites, sir. We’ve checked for toxic gases and radiation, but now we need to check for biological hazards. I have a biohaz team flying in this morning from DOD. There are no toxic gases, but some of the debris is radioactive, sir. We think the spacecraft broke in two or three pieces before it hit the ground and one of the sites has the propulsive system. We think it may have been nuclear powered. The radiation levels are low, but we must still shield the recovery team from radiation and get special equipment to remove the wreckage.”
“I see, Colonel. It looks like we have a recovery problem. How is security up there?”
“Pretty good so far, General. We’ve secured the immediate crash sites. We’re working on securing the park. It’s pretty rugged up here, sir. There are no roads near the main wreckage site except for an old mining trail we’re trying to open up for moving in heavy equipment. We’re using helicopters to lift everything out of here for now.”
Dave paused briefly; then continued. “We found some pretty interesting items, General. One of the aliens was clutching a small disk-like object in its hand. We don’t know what it is yet, but it seems to react with another larger object we found which emits a blue signal light every fifteen seconds. It may be a transponder device of some sort. We’re using it to see if we can find any more disks. The disks could be a type of computer or recording device. Everything will be sent to Milwaukee for analysis as soon as we can.”
“Okay, Colonel. I have a meeting in ten minutes with the Defense Secretary. I’ll transfer the report to his office and we’ll look at it together. Call me back in ten minutes and I’ll patch you in to his line and you can take us through the report. Is there anything else?”
“Yes, sir—just one more thing. Two unidentified people were at the crash site before us. We found their footprints by one of the bodies. They may have been park visitors who saw the crash. We’re still looking for them. We assume they took something, maybe one of the disks or even pictures. If we don’t find them, sir, the rabbit may be out of the hat.”
General Anderson let the information sink in for a moment. “Yes, that could be a problem, Colonel. Do everything you can to find them and keep them away from the news media. I’m sure the Secretary and the President will want to keep this incident secret until we figure out how to handle it. Let me know if you find out anything else. Oh, and Colonel, good job. Call me back in ten minutes.” He hung up the phone and turned on his notebook computer. He needed to access the video report on the network. He could do this as he was walking. He grabbed his computer and carried it with him out of the office.
The Secretary of Defense’s office was down the hall and up one flight of stairs on the top floor. It took three minutes to get there. He stepped inside the reception area and noticed that General Sam Walton was already there standing by the secretary’s desk. She was getting some coffee for the general. They shook hands. General Walton was a big man, broad in the shoulders with gray hair, brown eyes, expressive face and big hands that gripped like a vise. “Good morning, Sam, Mary,” General Anderson said.
“Good morning, Kent. How was your night?”
“Busy. A lot is happening in space these days. How was your drive in this morning?”
“Not bad. No traffic this early. It was better than normal. Would you like some coffee? Mary already had a pot brewing.”
“Sure. I could use something to wake me up. Is Harry in?”
“Yes, he’s speaking to the White House, confirming our briefing this morning. You’re invited to attend with us, Kent. We need your take on events. The President is very concerned, as we all are.”
“I understand, Sam. I got some important news on the situation to tell you, as soon as we meet with Harry.” Mary handed him a cup of hot coffee. Kent preferred it black and as strong as possible.
“You can go in now,” Mary said looking at the desk phone. “He’s off the phone.”
“Thanks, Mary,” General Walton said as he and General Anderson opened the door to Harry Patterson’s office and walked in. “Good morning, Harry,” Sam said. They all shook hands and sat down. Harry Patterson had been in the job for three years now. The next Presidential election was this fall and the odds were good he would be around for another four years. He was a very tall, thin man with balding hair, thin face and piercing gray eyes. He never served in the military, but had been the President and CEO of a military defense firm before the President tapped him to serve as SoD. He and General Walton had known each other for a number of years and were good friends. They made a good team for the Defense Department and had the respect of their people and of the President.
“Good morning, Sam, Kent. Have you verified what went down in those woods yet?” He got right to business since time was short. He had a slight New York accent, which he never quite eliminated even with all his years in Washington.
“Yes, Harry,” Sam answered. “I think Kent has the latest information.”
“Yes, we do. I’m waiting for a call from our chief investigator in the field, Colonel Dave Hampton, in a few minutes. I sent him in yesterday to handle the crash investigation. He’s been up all night and filed his report a few minutes ago. I haven’t seen it yet, but if you log into your computer system, I’ll show you where to find it. Colonel Hampton will take us through the report when he calls in. He has verified that the UFO is indeed alien. His team has recovered four bodies, all dead. The bodies are being flown to Milwaukee Air Force Base for medical autopsies. The crash site has been secured. The search and recovery team is checking for toxic chemical and radiation contamination. The Colonel said there are some radiation levels at one of the crash sites where the first pieces went down. He is concerned about biological hazards now and has quarantined the whole area. He needs more people and equipment and I gave him the authorization to get what he needs. So far, there haven’t been any leaks on the crash. However, Colonel Hampton says they found some footprints near one of the bodies. He thinks they are from park visitors. His team is trying to locate and stop them from telling anyone else what happened.”
T
he Secretary’s eyes narrowed even further as what he heard sunk in. General Walton’s expression never changed. It was a trademark of the man. The Secretary spoke first. “I guess we do have a problem for the President. Let’s look at the report.” As he and General Walton turned on their computers and logged into the military network for a video conferencing call, General Anderson walked them through the commands to find and open the correct video file. Then General Anderson’s cellular phone rang. It was Colonel Hampton.
“Hello, Colonel,” Kent said. “I’m here with Harry and Sam. We’re all online and ready to view the video report. Why don’t you switch to the conference call and give us your take on what you’ve found.”
“Okay, General, I’m logging into the net now. I hope everyone can hear me. The video file will show an aerial view of the two crash sites from the army helicopters that found them last night around 2430 hours local time. I didn’t get on the scene until after 0100 with the search and recovery team. Everything else I recorded with my video camera. Sorry for the quality of some of the images. Let me know if you have any questions while it’s running. Okay, I’m looking at the images now.”
For the next fifteen minutes, all four men watched the video images on their computers in relative silence. Occasionally, one of the men would utter a word or two at the site of the wreckage or at the close-ups of the bodies, especially the scene with the dead alien in the seat staring straight ahead with the large lifeless eyes. The footprints in the dirt were clearly visible. The small disk and the signaling globe objects were of special interest as well. They stopped the film in several places to get a close-up view of some of the images. Although filmed in the dark with only minimal lighting, the digital images were surprisingly clear. General Walton was the first to speak when the video and narration by Colonel Hampton ended. “The evidence is very substantial. We seem to have proof of extraterrestrial life. This is going to have profound implications for our government. Good work, Colonel Hampton.”
“Thank you, sir. I had a lot of help,” Dave responded.
“The world is going to be shocked if they find out about this, gentlemen,” Secretary Patterson added in a serious tone. “The President will want recommendations from us. What are the military options?”
General Walton spoke up first. “I think we need to declare this a ‘Top Secret’ national security matter and restrict the flow of information. No one should be permitted to discuss any aspect of this investigation with any other branch of service to keep leaks to a minimum until the President decides what to do.”
“I agree with Sam,” Kent said. “If this gets out, our adversaries around the world will be all over us. The technological discoveries alone could give us the lead in spacecraft design and space travel that no one else could duplicate. It could take years of research to understand how this UFO operated and what it can offer us. We need to tighten security around the whole site and get everything out of there and under wraps as quickly as possible.”
“Colonel Hampton, how long do you think can we keep this secret?” Secretary Patterson asked, speaking to the Colonel whom he could now see on his computer screen.
“I’m not sure, Mr. Secretary,” Dave replied. “We have a national security cover story for the news media about a test plane going down. Somebody in this park must have seen the explosion and we know someone was at the crash site. If we can’t find them in time, the word will get out. If that happens, we’ll have a PR nightmare.”
“Thank you for your report, Colonel,” the Secretary said indicating it was time for Dave to hang up. “We’ll inform the President about the aliens. General Anderson will get back to you after our meeting with the President.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll keep everyone fully informed what happens up here. Good day.” Dave ended his Internet connection and he dropped off the computer screen.
Secretary Patterson looked at General Walton. “We need to advise the President right away. I’ll recommend the highest national security measures. We don’t want to cause undo panic within the general population and we need to keep this under our control. The President will want to appoint a special commission to oversee this project. I can’t predict whom he’ll appoint as head, but we need to be involved. I’ll request that you and I sit on the commission, Sam. Kent, you will continue to head this investigation and try to keep everything ‘Top Secret’ for as long as possible. I’m worried news may get out. If that happens, we must manage the situation and prevent any crisis from developing. If there is nothing further, then we need to get over to the White House for our briefing. I’ll have Mary attach this video file to our briefing report and forward it over to the President’s Chief of Staff.”
The three men concluded their meeting and prepared to leave the Pentagon. It was 6:45 a.m. and the meeting with the President was at 7:30 a.m. It was only a few miles across the Potomac River to the White House. Mary arranged for a military staff car and aide to take the Defense Secretary and the two generals to meet with the President. The Secretary spoke with the President almost every day and General Walton met with the President at most Cabinet meetings with the Secretary at least once a week, but General Anderson only met with the President or his staff on special occasions. This would be one of those special occasions. He hoped his uniform wasn’t too wrinkled.
They were in the car and on their way to the White House in fifteen minutes. General Anderson sat in the front seat with the driver. The Secretary and General Walton were in the back seat. As the car sped out of the Pentagon’s underground parking garage into the early morning sunlight, General Anderson could see this was going to be a beautiful, sunny, spring day. They drove along the parkway to the 14th Street Bridge and crossed the river into Washington DC just below the Tidal Basin. The cherry trees had already bloomed and the rest of the trees already had their leaves. Summer was in the air. They continued up 14th Street to New York Avenue and turned left. The White House was just down the street on the left with Lafayette Park on the right. The White House was an impressive site to General Anderson every time he saw it. The car turned into the N.W. Gate and stopped for a security check by the marine guards. Then the driver drove up the driveway to the West Wing of the White House.
The driver parked the car and got out to open the door for Secretary Patterson. General Walton and General Anderson got out of the car at the same time. The driver would wait in the car for the return trip. One of the Secret Service agents at the West Wing entrance opened the door for the Secretary and the two generals. They were escorted to the President’s secretary who asked them to be seated while she checked with the President to see if he was available. It only took a few minutes and then the secretary escorted them into the President’s oval office.
Chapter 9
Washington, D.C.:
President Tom Maxwell, the former Democratic Senator from Illinois, was sitting behind the desk signing some papers. President Maxwell stood up and walked around his desk to shake hands with the men. He was relatively young for the job, only 48, but his natural leadership abilities were apparent from his first election to political office twenty years earlier. He was of average height and build with handsome features, brown eyes and a full head of hair just beginning to gray on the sides. President Maxwell was very intelligent, graduated from a top ranked law school in Illinois, but never practiced, and had a good sense of humor. He was a quick study and the President’s office seemed to grow on him with each passing year. His popularity with the voters had been increasing to new highs ever since he resolved the trade dispute with China and won some new concessions. He was a strong supporter of military defense and space exploration and fought for their budgets. He needed a strong Defense Secretary and Harry Patterson was his first choice for the job. He valued the Secretary’s long experience in the industry.
“Hello, Harry. I see you brought your best team with you. Hello, Sam.” The President spoke in a casual Midwestern tone that put most people at ease immediately.
&nb
sp; “Good morning, Mr. President,” they all said as they shook hands.
“Mr. President. Do you remember General Anderson?” General Walton asked.
“Why, of course. Nice to see you again, General Anderson. Please, have a seat. I need to bring in Fred for your briefing. From what I’ve seen, we have some important decisions to make this morning.” The President punched the intercom button on his phone and asked Fred Imhoff, his Chief of Staff, to come in from across the hall. “Hello, Fred. You know everyone here except, maybe, for General Anderson.”
“Nice to meet you. I’ve heard good things about you, General Anderson,” Fred said as he shook hands with everyone.
“Thank you, sir. It’s a pleasure to be here.”
The visitors and Fred sat down on the two sofas in the middle of the room. The President took a seat in the chair facing the desk and the open windows.
“Let me ask Joan to bring in some coffee for everyone. I need another cup. Why don’t you start, Harry, with what’s happened since last night on the space station. I don’t think Fred, here, has had a chance to read the latest report you sent over,” the President said.