by Don Viecelli
“Come on in, Fred. I just hung up with Doctor Tannenbaum. He’s on his way here from Houston for the cabinet meeting. I called him to see how the NASA press conference went.”
“What did he say?”
“He said it went well. There were no questions about a UFO crash in the Upper Peninsula. I guess our little secret is still safe for now. He said the ISS suffered some major damage from the solar storm last night, but the crewmembers are safe and are busy repairing the damage.”
“Do we have to send anybody up there to help them?” Fred asked.
“I didn’t get that far. We can ask him when he gets here. He did say the storm is not over. The full effects will hit Earth tomorrow. He sounded worried.”
“Worried about what?” Fred asked, wondering why he was concerned.
“He said the solar storm was unusually large and emitted a lot of radiation and electrical energy. I didn’t understand it all. Were you good at science in school, Fred?”
“It wasn’t my favorite subject, Mr. President. I preferred business.”
“Mine either, but I did enjoy math. I think our Sun is beginning to act up a little. We may have some serious consequences on Earth we need to prepare for. We might learn something today at our meeting. By the way, who is coming to our meeting this afternoon?”
“Seven of the Cabinet Members are available, Mr. President. The Secretaries of State, Defense, Interior, Commerce, Health and Human Services, Transportation, and Energy can make it. The rest are traveling and couldn’t get back here in time. We’ll have to update them later. Several of the Secretaries asked if they could bring some of their Deputy Directors. I said no. You asked me to invite the Vice President and she’ll meet with you before the meeting. You invited Doctor Tannenbaum, the NASA Administrator. The Defense Secretary is attending with General Walton. The Defense Secretary and Doctor Tannenbaum will give everyone an overview of what happened and answer any questions. Is there anyone else you need at the meeting?”
“No, just yourself, and ask Joan to take meeting notes for the record.”
“What about members of Congress and the Senate? When do we tell them?”
“I want to wait until all the Cabinet Members are notified of the situation and we make a decision on what to do. I think your suggestion to appoint a special commission to handle this is the right way to go. Do you have anyone in mind?”
“I think we should let the Vice President handle this one for us. She can pick whom she pleases to help her. It would sit well with the public, I believe, and the Senators like her.”
“You may be right, but the Defense Secretary won’t like it.”
“We’ll make sure he’s on the commission. He can handle the military end of things. It’s the reaction from foreign leaders we need to worry about.”
“Maybe we should inform the UN Secretary General today after our meeting.”
“I think you’re right, but I don’t think we want to go public with this.”
“I’m not inclined to go public yet. We’re not ready, but I do think we need to get the UN onboard and establish a secret commission to study the impacts of this event. We also need some guidance from the scientific community, maybe a professional organization to help us.”
“Sounds good. I’ll see who we can use. Anything else, Mr. President?”
“Just one thing. I need to review the video files again before our meeting, but I would like to send a note to Commander Bonario the aliens helped protect from danger up there. I wonder why they did it, Fred? It doesn’t make sense to me.”
“Maybe they knew the storm was coming, Mr. President, and they just wanted to help.”
“I hope you’re right, Fred. I hope they don’t blame us for the incident. I don’t think it would be a fair fight if they get mad at us.” The President smiled to himself seeing something humorous in the situation.
“I’ll draft a message you can send to Commander Bonario if you wish, Mr. President. I think the other crewmembers would like to hear from you as well. They seem to be having a tough time up there and tomorrow may get worse.”
“Thanks, Fred. I’ll see you in an hour.” With that Fred went back to his office and the President turned to his computer to review the NASA video report on the ISS and the UFO crash site report. He stopped the video when the dead alien scene appeared. He zoomed in on the picture frame. The alien’s face became clearer, although the camera lights seemed to reflect off the alien’s large dark eyes. The President wasn’t sure what he was looking for, maybe some assurance that things would work out in the end. He wondered where the alien was from and why he came here. What he really wanted, though, was a chance to communicate with the alien. What would he say? Would it be memorable enough for history to record? How would this affect the world? The questions just kept coming. He didn’t have any answers. He finished reviewing the video-files and prepared for the cabinet meeting.
* * * *
The Cabinet Members, four men and three women, began arriving just before 3:00 p.m. in the White House and were directed to the Roosevelt Conference Room, which was in the West Wing just down the hall from the Oval Office. Harry Patterson and General Sam Walton arrived a few minutes early in order to set up and test the audio-visual equipment. The President would give a brief introduction and then turn the meeting over to Harry who would give an overview presentation on the UFO crash. Then Dr. Fred Tannenbaum from NASA, who just arrived from Houston, would give an update on the approaching solar storm. The whole meeting would last at least two hours. It may go much longer. Fred Imhoff made plans with Joan to have dinner brought in at six o’clock for those who wished to remain after the meeting.
The Cabinet Members were a diverse group of experienced and influential people whom the President and his advisors selected to serve in his Democratic administration. They came from all walks of life and were a mixture of different ages, races and sexes. It was a liberal group of people, but not overly so. The President was very pragmatic and believed government was there to serve and protect. Fortunately, the economy was in good shape and the government was dealing with budget surpluses and a positive foreign trade balance, thanks to the President’s initiative with China last year.
Everybody stood when President Maxwell and the Vice President, Irene Bossell, the former Senator from North Carolina, entered the room. Vice President Bossell was shorter than the President at five feet six inches. She was in her mid-fifties, with reddish hair, fair complexion, blue eyes, pointed nose, wide mouth with a very gregarious personality. She came from a well-connected political family in Raleigh, North Carolina. Her father was a respected Senator before his retirement from political office and the prime reason for her selection to President Maxwell’s ticket after the primary race. He respected her experience and liked her as a person. It was her southern accent that amused him. She delighted in using it to charm people to her way of thinking. He knew privately that she could turn it off at the drop of a hat since she went to college in California when she was young and could surf like a pro. It was a sport he wished he could have tried, but never had the opportunity growing up in downstate Illinois far from any water with waves. She promised to teach him to wind-surf some day in the warm waters off North Carolina and he intended to take her up on it.
The President and Vice President went around the room and shook everyone’s hand and thanked them for attending. The Vice President had been informed of the UFO situation earlier in the day from the President, but she had not seen the video files or the reports. She was anxious to see them. At least she would not be as shocked as some of the Cabinet Members would be at what the President was about to tell them.
The President sat at the head of the conference table with the Vice President sitting to the left. Fred Imhoff adjusted the window blinds to block out the sunlight and took a seat near the President. The President’s secretary, Joan, sat beside the President in order to take notes. The White House emblem was on the wall behind the President. The mood
was somber. The members waited for the President to speak. “Thank you for attending this meeting on such short notice. I have an important development to discuss with you that must remain confidential until further notice. It concerns the International Space Station and a UFO crash. What we tell you may be hard for some of you to believe, it was hard for me to believe, but the proof is undeniable and we must deal with it.” At the mention of the word UFO, some of the Cabinet Members looked at each other with raised eyebrows.
“I have asked Secretary Patterson, General Walton and Doctor Tannenbaum from NASA to give you all an update on the situation and show you what we have. Let me start first with the incident on the International Space Station. Last night there was a solar flare that caused some damage to the ISS. One of our astronauts was outside and got caught in the storm. He was saved by an alien space craft that seemed to appear from nowhere.” There was a gasp and look of disbelieve from some of the Cabinet Members around the table. President Maxwell paused briefly and continued. “During the storm, an electric power generator exploded on the space station which damaged the ISS and the UFO. From what we have determined, the UFO was forced down to Earth, exploded in the air and crashed in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. We have search teams on the ground conducting an investigation. We’re telling anyone who asks that this was a military test plane crash and is ‘Top Secret’ for national security reasons. We’re not sure how long we can keep this a secret. That is one of the things we must discuss at this meeting. Before you ask any questions, let me turn this meeting over to Harry and let him show you what proof we have. Harry.”
Harry Patterson stood up and walked to the opposite end of the table where the projection screen was. He held a wireless remote controller to operate his notebook and projector. “Thank you, Mr. President. As you’ve just been told, we’re dealing with two sets of problems. One is the damage to the ISS from the solar flare and the second is the recovery of the alien spacecraft and bodies. There may be a third problem with the solar storm, but I’ll let Doctor Tannenbaum explain that to you later.”
“Did you say alien bodies, Harry?” the Secretary of the Interior asked incredulously.
“Yes, Mr. Secretary. We’ve recovered four alien bodies from the crash site. They are on their way to our medical facility at Milwaukee Air Force Base for autopsies. Let me start at the beginning. At approximately 8:00 p.m. last night, CDST, a large solar flare erupted on the Sun’s surface followed by a very large coronal mass ejection or CME. According to Doctor Tannenbaum, who will explain in more detail, heavy doses of X-rays, Gamma rays and energetic proton particles were accelerated and hit the space station fifteen minutes later. Just prior to the solar flare and CME eruption, NASA and U.S. Space Command satellites detected a UFO traveling at a high rate of speed towards the ISS from the vicinity of the Sun. Then it disappeared from our radar screens. We weren’t sure what it was. The incident was reported to the crew members aboard the ISS. They did a radar scan and found nothing. A short time later, one of our astronauts, Commander Julian Bonario, who was outside on an EVA repairing the remote manipulator arm, reported a UFO sighting, but again nothing could be seen on radar. Things continued normally on the ISS until NOAA issued a Space Weather Advisory at 7:00 p.m. MDST. Commander Bonario was advised to abort the EVA and return immediately to the safety of the airlock module. However, the solar flare interfered with the radio and video communication systems and with the Commander’s manned maneuvering unit. The crew lost contact with Commander Bonario for several minutes. According to Commander Bonario, his life was at risk when the UFO appeared just below the solar array on the port site of the ISS and shielded him from the radiation hazard. As he entered the airlock, Commander Bonario remembered the digital camera on his backpack and began to take these pictures of the UFO. This is what he recorded.” Harry pressed the remote and started to show on the projection screen the pictures Commander Bonario took of the UFO. There were several reactions of surprise from the people sitting around the conference table. The pictures were surprising clear and many details of the spacecraft could be seen including the barely discernable figures of two aliens standing behind the front windows of the craft.
Harry Patterson continued. “Commander Bonario prepared a video report and sent it to NASA with pictures of the UFO. NASA notified U.S. Space Command and we went on alert looking for the spacecraft. We did not detect its presence until it exploded over the U.P. at approximately 8:30 p.m. last night. We were not sure if it was the same spacecraft until we sent in our own chief investigator, Colonel Dave Hampton. He confirmed the report when he sent us this video file.” Harry briefly showed excerpts from Colonel Hampton’s report. He stopped the file when the picture of the dead alien appeared. “This is one of the dead aliens. The alien is still strapped into a seat of some sort, but the unusual circumstance is why the seat is standing upright. It appears from the footprint evidence around the seat that someone stood the seat upright and may have taken one of the disk objects we found with the other three dead aliens on the ground. An extensive search is underway to try and find the people responsible. We think it was some camp visitors hiking in the park. We’re concerned about this breach of security and are taking every precaution to resolve it. Are there any questions before I turn the presentation over to Dr. Tannenbaum?”
“How did the aliens save Commander Bonario, Harry?” the Secretary of State asked.
“From what we know, Mr. Secretary, the aliens used some sort of light beam to protect Commander Bonario from the radiation. Without it, the extreme levels of X-rays alone would probably have killed him.”
“Where did the spacecraft crash, precisely, Secretary Patterson?” asked the Secretary of the Interior.
“There is a park in the Upper Peninsula called the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park. It’s approximately 92 square miles of forests, mountain ranges, lakes and rivers on the edge of Lake Superior. There are few roads in the park which complicates the recovery process somewhat.”
“What’s the status of the crash investigation, Harry?” asked the Secretary of Commerce.
“Colonel Hampton has secured the whole area. He has sent in contamination and biohazard teams to check for chemical, radiation and biological agents. Because of the alien bodies and other debris, the crash sites are under quarantine. The park has been closed temporarily and all park visitors are being questioned and released. We issued a press release statement to local officials telling them this was a military test plane crash and everything is covered under national security. The Colonel is preparing to recover and remove all the wreckage to a secure facility at Milwaukee Air Force Base in Wisconsin for further analysis and reassembly. The recovery process may take up to two weeks. The final report may take up to six months to complete.”
“What have you found so far at the crash site, Mr. Secretary?” the Secretary of Transportation asked.
“We found some small disks the aliens seem to carry on their bodies. Each one has a different insignia on top. They seem to react to sunlight according to Colonel Hampton’s latest report. We also found what we think is a transponder of some sort. It reacts with the disk objects and sends out a blinking light every fifteen seconds or so. We don’t know what it’s doing yet. Everything is being sent to Milwaukee for analysis.”
“Do you think another alien spaceship will try and locate the downed spacecraft, Mr. Secretary?” asked the Commerce Secretary.
“We don’t know.”
“What happens next, Harry?” President Maxwell asked.
“We will complete the crash investigation and try to keep everything Top Secret, Mr. President, at least until we have had more time to study and analyze the spacecraft and the aliens. The military impact will be substantial. I can hardly imagine what the world will do if they find out about this before we’re ready.” The President didn’t respond, just nodded for the Secretary to proceed.
“Well, that’s all I have for now. If there are no more questions, I’ll t
urn the meeting over to Doctor Tannenbaum.”
Dr. Tannenbaum stood up and walked around to the front of the conference table. He was much shorter and younger than the Defense Secretary, but he was very intelligent and usually at ease in front of an audience as the head of NASA. However, it was still a little intimidating to be speaking before the President and Vice President of the United States and his Cabinet Members. He took a few moments to calm his nerves down and began to speak in a slow and deliberate manner with his polished voice.
“Thank you Mr. Secretary. Mr. President, Madame Vice President, ladies and gentlemen, it is an honor to be invited here by the President to give you an overview of what is happening with our space station and the recent solar events. I’m handing out a press release that was distributed at our press conference this morning at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. It describes the damage to the International Space Station caused by a solar flare that erupted on the Sun’s surface yesterday at approximately 7:00 p.m. Mountain Daylight Saving Time. It also includes information on NOAA’s Space Weather Advisory that was distributed worldwide yesterday and describes the type of solar flare and Coronal Mass Ejection, or CME as we call it, produced by the flare.