by Don Viecelli
“I don’t understand, Bill. Why do you need a computer?” Dave asked.
“I know what the disks do, Colonel. Bring me a computer and I can show you.”
Dr. Aimes looked at Dave and said, “I can find one. I’ll be back in a minute.” She left the room. Dave looked at Bill.
“What happened last night, Bill?”
Bill thought for a moment. How much should he tell this man? He finally decided to tell him everything. He was a changed man. He felt renewed, like all the burdens on his shoulders had been lifted. Near death experiences seem to do that. He would tell him what happened and let the Colonel make up his own mind. It didn’t matter to him. He knew the truth.
“I was working late. I had just finished some tests with the disks. I figured out what frequency bands they operated on, but I still didn’t know what they did. I was closing my programs down when I felt dizzy. Then I felt pain in my chest. I knew I was having a heart attack. It happened so fast I didn’t have a chance to call anyone. I just fell over.” Bill continued his story. He explained everything that happened while the paramedics were trying to save him. He watched Colonel Hampton’s face to see if he believed what he was saying. The colonel seemed to accept it. He continued. “When I woke up here I knew what the aliens used the disks for. They used them to communicate with the ship just as I thought. They use low frequency brain waves to send commands to the disks. The disks then transmit the signals over higher frequencies to the ship’s computer system. It lets them move about the ship and never be out of control. But there’s more. The disks also record information. Not just computer information, but alien thoughts. The aliens can record whatever they wish for future use. It’s a form of memory device in case something happens to them, like if the ship gets into trouble. If there is time, the information is sent to the recording device, the globe you found. Then it is transmitted into space where it will be picked up by one of their mother ships.”
“How do you know all this?”
“Elon told me. That was her name. Before I re-entered my body. It was really a thought transfer. I didn’t hear any words. She told me how to control the disk, her disk. I had it in my pocket when I fell. She told me something else. I’m not sure why I believe it, but I know it’s true. She said the disks are very important to her people. She wants us to give them back. I think the aliens will come looking for them.”
“Why do they want them back?”
“It contains their memories. When you die, the brain releases energy and the disk records it if it is in range. Elon says the disk belongs to her family. It’s passed on from generation to generation like an heirloom. It’s their most prized possession.”
“Can you prove this?”
“I think so. The disks have information on them the aliens can use. It records the thoughts the aliens are willing to pass on to the ship’s computer system. Information about the sun, for example. That’s why they were here. They were studying our sun. I think something is about to happen to our sun and she wants to warn us.”
Dave wasn’t sure what to think anymore. Bill seemed to believe what he was saying, but it could all be hallucinations caused by his heart condition and the drugs he was on. He needed more proof.
“Where is the disk? Do you have it?”
“It should be in my lab coat. My clothes are under the bed.”
Dave looked under the bed. There was a plastic bag filled with clothes. The lab coat was folded up inside. He took it out and checked the pockets. The disk was there. He took it out. It immediately started to glow in that light bluish color. He looked at Bill who looked like he was concentrating on something.
“I can pick up thoughts from the disk. They’re like pictures. They don’t talk, but I can see things. I don’t understand what they are. Most of them are alien. They must be from Elon. The other thoughts are mine. They’re my memories. I must have passed them on when I died. Maybe that’s why I can control the disk.”
Dr. Aimes entered the room carrying a laptop. She placed it on a spare tray next to Bill’s bed. She could see that Bill was concentrating very intensely. “What’s going on?”
Dave didn’t want to tell her the whole story. He would let Bill explain it all later. “Bill thinks he can control the disk we were missing. He thinks it contains the memories of one of the dead aliens. Don’t ask me how. Bill will have to explain it to you.” Dr. Aimes looked very skeptical.
“Turn on the computer,” Bill ordered. Dave and Dr. Aimes looked at him. Then Dr. Aimes did what he requested. Dave expected the same results he had seen at the crash site. The computer should start downloading information to the disk as soon as it was turned on.
The computer screen on the laptop came to life. It immediately started running a software program that looked like someone was trying to gain access. Then it paused. The disk was glowing brightly at the foot of the bed where Dave has laid it moments before. Something different was beginning to happen. A picture of a sun appeared on the computer screen. It was red in color. Sunspots appeared around the equator. Then a gigantic flare erupted. Then another. They rose up from the sun’s surface and looked like a gigantic seahorse. It continued to expand into space until it looked like a halo circling the entire sun. It was headed straight for earth.
Dave was shocked. This never happened when he had the disks. It was obvious the disk was now downloading information to the computer. How did this happen? He looked at Bill Murphy sitting up at the end of the bed. Bill smiled back at him.
“Are you doing this?” Dave asked.
“I think so. I told the disk to send a recent picture of the sun. This is what I saw. There’s more.” He concentrated for a moment and then looked at the computer screen. The picture of the sun was replaced with text symbols. It was not in any language that looked familiar to any of them in the room. It was a massive program. It filled the screen with symbols and sent page after page of information. Then it stopped as if waiting for more instructions.
“What is it?” Dr. Aimes asked.
“I think it is some sort of mathematical equations concerning the sun. I got the impression it has to do with future predictions. I certainly can’t read it. I can only control the process of sending or receiving thoughts from the disk.”
“Do you think you can control the other disks?” Dave asked.
“I don’t think so. I can only control this one. Elon must have given me access when I had my heart attack. It’s the only explanation I can think of.”
“This is a little hard for me to understand, Mr. Murphy. Why did the aliens need chips implanted in their brains and you don’t?” Dr. Aimes asked.
“I’m not sure. Maybe the chips just enhance the capability for the aliens. Maybe our brain wave frequencies are different. I just don’t know at this time. The important thing is we can now access the information from this disk and study it. It will be invaluable.”
“Bill’s right, Doctor Aimes. This will be critical to our investigation. And there is something going on with our sun. I can’t go into any more details, but the sun is acting up more than usual. In a way, it’s the cause behind what has happened so far. I just hope it doesn’t get any worse.”
“I know what happened to their spaceship, Colonel,” Bill suddenly added.
“What do you mean?” Only a few top people had seen the reports about what happened to the spacecraft at the ISS.
“I can see the damage inside the spaceship from Elon’s memories. She was frightened. They tried to make it down, but she knew they wouldn’t make it.” Bill looked sad.
Dave didn’t say anything. He was amazed. Maybe what Bill had said was true. If so, it was incredible. It would be hard for many to accept. It would take a lot more proof.
“What are you going to do, Colonel?” Bill asked.
“I’m going to advise General Anderson that we found the missing disk. I’ll ask him to send a guard over here to watch it. I’ll have some equipment sent over with one of the scientists on your tea
m. Then I want you to continue downloading all the information you can from the disk. It may be vitally important.”
“I’ll need more computers to download all the information. The disk holds more data than any single computer we have on earth.” Bill said this casually as if he knew it was true. Dave no longer doubted him.
Dave turned to Doctor Aimes. “Can you check with his doctors and see how long Bill will be here. Don’t let him over do it. We need him to recover as soon as possible.”
He turned back to Bill and smiled. “Bill, you’ve been very helpful. I hope you recover soon. Let us know if you need anything. I have to leave now, but I’ll keep in touch.” He shook Bill’s hand and left the room. He asked Dr. Aimes to follow him out of the room.
“Pretty amazing. I don’t have any other explanation for what he knows now. We’re going to have to guard the hospital. If what Bill says is true, then the alien bodies may also be at risk. I’ll have guards posted at your lab. Let me know if anything happens.”
Dr. Aimes agreed with his plans and they parted. She was anxious to hear the rest of Bill’s story and went back to see him. Dave had to get back to the crash site. He walked out of the hospital and found the driver waiting in his car. He got inside and they drove to the helicopter pad. He called Major Cole and said he was on his way. Then he called General Anderson. “Hello, General. I found the missing disk. Bill Murphy still has it.”
“Are you returning it?”
“No, something came up. I left it with Bill. I need you to send some guards over to secure the place. I can’t explain everything now. I’m on my way to the helicopter, but this is important. Bill can control the disk now. It’s a long story and I suggest you visit Bill and let him tell it to you. It’s pretty amazing, but it may be true. He knows things no one else knows about the spacecraft. Bill needs several large capacity computers to download information from the disk. Send one of the scientists he was working with to help him. Let him work with the disk until he gets better. I don’t think he’ll be in the hospital for much longer. He looks okay.”
“It sounds like you had an interesting visit. Anything else?”
“Yes. I’m concerned something is going to happen soon. It appears the aliens were studying our sun. We need to find out what they knew.”
“Did you read the press release information I sent you from NASA?” We’re expecting some bad effects from the solar flare today. It could happen at any time.”
“Yes, I did. That’s one of the reasons I have to get back to the crash site. I don’t want to be cut off from everything.”
“Anything else, Colonel?”
“One final thing. Bill mentioned the disks contain the alien’s memories. He said the disks somehow capture everything in the brain when death occurs. The aliens pass the disks on to future generations. The disks are very important to them. They may try to get them back. Bill said the transmitter device we have is sending data out now where to find them. We need to be prepared if something happens.”
“What do you think will happen? Will the aliens come back for the bodies?”
“I don’t know, General, but it’s a distinct possibility according to Bill Murphy. We need more information. Maybe the disk will tell us. Let me know what happens when you see him. I have to go. I’ll call you later.”
He hung up the phone and looked out the window. The sun was visible in the morning sky. There were scattered clouds and a light wind blowing. It wouldn’t affect his trip back. They drove to the helicopter pad. He could see Major Cole inspecting the helicopter for the flight back. It was only a half-hour later than he had originally planned to leave. He could be back at the crash site in approximately two hours, around 0900 hours. The driver stopped just short of the pad and Dave got out. He grabbed his bag and thanked the driver for his help. Then he walked over to the helicopter and threw his bag inside.
“Did you have a good night, Colonel?” Major Cole asked.
“It was too short. I had to get up earlier than planned. How about you?”
“It was fine. You miss breakfast?
“Yeah. I had some coffee.”
“There’s some coffee and donuts in the helicopter. I figured you might like something to eat during the flight. Hop in. I’m ready to go.”
They climbed into the helicopter and got into their seats. Sure enough, there was some food on the seat behind him. He waited for Major Cole to start the engine and get permission to take off. Then they lifted from the ground. It was just over two hundred miles to the park. The wind was from the west. They were headed north. It wouldn’t take long. Before Dave could take a donut out of the box, his satellite phone rang. He plugged in his wireless earphone and mike so he could hear better and answered the phone. There seemed to be a lot of static on the line. It was from Colonel Feldman. “Hello, Colonel Feldman. What can I do for you?”
“I have some news this morning you might be interested in. We were checking the license plate numbers on the vehicles left in the parking lot. The police just sent us the data. One of the vehicles is a red Jeep. You won’t believe who it’s registered to. A guy named Ryan Weston.” He let it sink in for a moment. “He’s Kaye Weston’s brother. He was hiking in the park with two friends. We haven’t found them yet. We called the local police. Funny thing, they said his sister called them last night to file a missing person report. Something must have happened to him and his two friends. How much do you want to bet they’re the ones who stole the disk?”
Dave’s first reaction was disappointment. Why didn’t Kaye tell him her brother was hiking in the park? It made perfect sense. “Where is she now?”
“She’ll be here in an hour. She was planning to finish filming and wait for you. What do you want me to do?”
“Don’t tell her what you found out. Tell her to wait for me. I’m running a little late. I should be there around 0900. Get the hikers’ descriptions out to everyone you can. We need to find them and soon. It’s very important the disk doesn’t fall into anyone else’s hands. I’ll talk to Kaye when I get there. Maybe she’s ready to work with us on this. Otherwise, the President is going to be very upset.” Colonel Feldman agreed with him and they ended the call. Dave had some thinking to do. He looked out at the fields below. He wondered what more this day could bring. He had no idea.
Chapter 22
Solar Storm:
It was now 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning, thirty-six hours after the solar flare first erupted on the sun’s surface. It had produced the largest coronal mass ejection or CME ever recorded by NASA and NOAA satellites deep in space. The satellites were the first to be knocked out of commission by the huge wave of electromagnetic energy approaching earth. Some of the satellites, those with built-in radiation protection, were temporarily degraded and would recover. The others were rendered into useless space junk and would have to be replaced at a cost of billions of taxpayer dollars. The devastation had begun.
As the solar wave reached the midpoint between the sun and Earth, more satellites were affected. NASA and NOAA personnel monitored the fast approaching storm by the number of satellites that were no longer sending signals. Worries mounted at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Warnings were passed to the International Space Station crew. An hour earlier, five astronauts were ordered to return home on one of the crew return vehicles. Certain ISS modules were well protected and the astronauts were ordered to stay inside them for the next twenty-four hours and put up their radiation shields. It was not certain what would happen to some of the computer, life support and power systems running the station. The astronauts began to report surface-charging effects, solar panel power loss and degradation of their communication systems just before they lost contact with NASA.
The Department of Defense satellites were the next to go. U.S. Space Command started to lose high-orbit air and space defense system satellites. The first to go were those controlling the Star-Laser Defense System. DOD thought they were impregnable from outside attack. Billions of d
ollars were spent on their design and manufacture. The first wave of radiation wiped out their memory banks. The next group affected was imaging satellites; seeing-eye cameras in the sky. At least half of them on the sunlit side of the earth had their imaging systems degraded to the point they lost all capabilities. Worst of all was the affect on low-orbit communication satellites, both voice and high-speed data traffic. One-by-one, they fell silent. Most would recover in time, but over the next twenty-four hours, satellite communications was going to be severely restricted for all parties, both military and commercial. High-frequency radio communications would be disrupted for many hours, especially on the side of earth facing the sun. Cellular traffic would also be affected, mostly roaming capabilities where signals were carried to other countries by satellite systems. Last, but not least, GPS satellite location systems began to shut down. This would severely restrict navigation systems for boats, airplanes, spacecraft, missile guidance systems and any other location-based services that used the DOD satellites in orbit above the earth.
This was just the tip of the iceberg melting down from the sky above. The solar effects were caused by a triple whammy, a category S5 Extreme Solar Radiation Storm, R5 Extreme Radio Blackouts and a G5 Extreme Geomagnetic Storm. It was a rare occurrence. The loss of GPS positioning would make navigation extremely difficult for those dependent upon it. Satellite tracking would be impossible and degradation in earth orbit would start to occur. If not corrected in time, the satellites would simply fall into the upper atmosphere and burn up. Passengers in airplanes would be exposed to high radiation levels. Flights would have to be cancelled. The effects of this storm were just beginning to be felt. More effects were coming.
NASA and NOAA issued Space Weather Bulletins every few hours as more information was collected. The whole world was affected. Governments weren’t sure what they should do. Some of them notified their public agencies and tried to keep their people informed. Other government officials keep everything secret, which just added to the confusion and panic. Major news channels broadcast what they knew, but they were not sure how far their signals were being broadcast. The first incidents began to occur in sea shipping lanes. Tankers began to get lost and almost run into each other. Traffic controllers began to lose positions of ships, trains and planes. Passenger trains had to be rerouted. Airplanes started to have near misses and flight cancellations began to intensify. Panic began to spread.