by Don Viecelli
The press briefing lasted only twenty minutes. President Maxwell answered five questions from the press. He promised a follow-up statement tomorrow at the same time. He would keep them informed of the developing situation. In the back of his mind, the President wondered how the public would react to the next piece of news he was about to throw their way. How in the world was he going to explain it in a way that would not panic them or cause fear and uncertainty? He left the room and went back to his office. Fred walked beside him. “I think you handled that well, Mr. President. No one is blaming us for the power blackouts.”
“Maybe not yet, Fred, but they will if we can’t fix it soon. When is the next meeting?”
“In two hours, Mr. President. The Defense Secretary and General Walton will meet with you. They have some news on the UFO investigation. Harry said they are making some headway on the devices they found.”
“Good, I can’t wait to hear it. Have the chef send me a sandwich. I’m starving. I’ll eat it at my desk. Then get me an update on the power failures out West. I want to know if the blackouts have stopped.”
The next two hours passed quickly. Requests for help were pouring in from all over the country. President Maxwell received word from the Energy Secretary that the power blackouts had reached as far as Kansas and then stopped. The Earth’s magnetic field had deflected more of the solar plasma and the geomagnetic storm effects were lessening as the sun and the Earth turned away from each other. The worst was over. Now they had to rebuild the power grid network by replacing the damaged transformers. The estimates were that up to thirty percent of the country had lost electrical power. The loss in productivity, sales revenues and spoiled goods would be in the billions. Hundreds of people had been injured or had died in car accidents as traffic lights failed. Numerous electrical fires and gas explosions had occurred in homes and businesses. Large cities had the most damage and a few states had already declared state emergencies and were appealing for federal funds. President Maxwell was thankful when Fred knocked on his door and told him it was time for his meeting with the Defense Secretary and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Harry Patterson and Sam Walton entered the President’s office and stood in front of the President’s desk. President Maxwell got up from his desk, shook their hands and motioned for them to take a seat on the sofas. “Hello, Harry—Sam. Thanks for coming. How are things going on your end?”
“Good afternoon, Mr. President,” Harry said as he shook the President’s hand. “We lost a lot of satellites, Mr. President. Most of the low earth orbit satellites provide communication and GPS services. Since they’re in geostationary orbit, only the ones facing the sun were knocked out of commission. We think we can bring most of them back on line in the next four hours or so. The defense satellites in high earth orbit were the most damaged. We lost over fifty percent of them and they will have to be replaced or repaired in space. Our space defense shield is down. We’re relying on our ground-based radar systems for now. Our military radio communication systems are blacked out worldwide. I’ve been told the radio blackouts could continue for another twenty-four hours due to the radiation and geomagnetic effects from the solar storm. That’s why we lost radio communication with the ISS. We think we can get temporary communication links by satellite when the ISS passes over the dark side of the Earth every ninety minutes. We have ground satellite dishes in New Zealand, Russia, China, Japan and South Korea. One of them should be in contact soon, if the communication systems aboard the ISS are working.”
“Have we heard from the astronauts yet?”
“Not yet, Mr. President,” General Walton said. “We’re still working on it. The worst of the storm should be over by midnight, sir.”
“Why so much damage, Harry? Didn’t we expect something like this?”
“We tried to be prepared, Mr. President. The satellites were designed to handle heavy exposure from solar radiation and proton bombardment, I’ve been told. Nobody expected such a severe solar event that would last so long. It was a direct hit on the Earth. It’s like the largest hurricane ever recorded. The damage will be immense. We can’t protect against everything without huge cost penalties. It may be cheaper to just replace what’s been lost with newer and better designed hardware.”
“Okay, let’s change the subject. What about the UFO? Any news?”
“We’re making good progress, Mr. President,” General Walton said. General Anderson reports that they were able to activate one of the disks. They’re downloading all sorts of data from it. The latest report is in here.” He handed the file to the President. “We think we know what the disks are used for. The aliens use them to control their computer systems on the ship. They can control it by using brain waves. One of our computer scientists figured it out. He had a heart attack and almost died. Before he was revived, he says he had an out-of-body experience or something. He says he saw one of the dead aliens and was given the ability to communicate with one of the disks. Strange, I know. We have no medical evidence to support his claim, but it’s a common effect when someone survives a near-death experience I’m told. The man is not crazy and seems okay. I’m not sure if what he says is believable or not, but he can control the disk now.”
“Sounds implausible to me also. What’s on the disk?”
“There are pictures of our sun with various solar events projected. We think one of the events is the same solar flare as the one that hit us, but it was recorded earlier, as if they were able to forecast it. There are more to follow, but none as big. The scientists are trying to understand the data. A lot of it is in alien symbols and text. It will take a long time to try and figure it all out.”
“What’s next then?”
“One of the disks is still missing. We know who has it now, but we can’t locate him because the GPS location service is down. General Anderson is at the Milwaukee Air Force Base now overseeing things there. He requested that we put a priority on fixing the GPS satellites.”
“Who has it?”
“A boy named Ryan Weston and his two friends. He is the brother of Kaye Weston, the TV reporter you talked to. She reported them missing last night and Major Hampton’s investigation team identified his Jeep this morning, which is still in the Porcupine Mountains State Park parking lot.
“Do they need more help up there to find them?” the President asked.
“We have notified the FBI, Mr. President. They will help find them.
“Well, let me know how it goes, gentlemen. I need to get back to work. Let’s plan on a meeting tomorrow morning with the Vice President. She is meeting with some members of the United Nations today and letting them know what has happened. We need to decide what to do next and when. I don’t know how long we can keep this a secret, but it probably can’t be for much longer, can it?”
It was a question left unanswered. No one in the room with the President said anything more. The meeting was over. Tomorrow would be decision time, something President Maxwell always looked forward to.
Chapter 24
ISS:
The situation aboard the International Space Station was perilous. Radiation levels from the solar storm were at the highest levels ever recorded inside the station. The five remaining astronauts were in their space suits just in case they had to evacuate the platform. Commander Bonario and Major Helms were in the command module with Major Parker trying to restore power and communication systems and stabilize the space station. Alex Vladamir was inspecting the modules for structural damage, monitoring the radiation levels and reporting back every ten minutes or so. The remaining crewmember was in the emergency crew return vehicle running through the pre-flight checklist for departure if necessary.
“Do you think the first return vehicle got down safely?” Major Helms asked Commander Bonario.
“I would think so,” Commander Bonario answered. “They left before the full impact of the storm hit. They still had working communication and navigation systems, so landing the vehicle shou
ldn’t have been a problem.” Things were different now on the ISS. There was no primary electrical power. They were operating on battery backup power. It was good enough for one or two days depending on emergency shutdown procedures they took.
They had lost electrical power from the solar panels soon after 0800 hours this morning and could not keep the panels turned toward the sun. Without primary power, they could not keep the ISS from starting to spin, slowly at first and then faster and faster as they orbited the planet creating drag. The drag was forcing them into a lower orbit. It was not critical yet, but time was against them. If the drag increased, the ISS would fall faster until it reached an orbit too low for the thrusters on board to push out of. That would be the end of a 60 billion dollar investment and delay the space program by ten years or more. It would have a devastating impact on the aerospace industry worth almost 100 billion dollars each year. It was not something the astronauts wanted to think about at the moment.
Alex Vladamir floated into the cabin holding a radiation meter and gave them the latest radiation readings. “It’s getting worse. If the levels get any higher we must evacuate. The radiation shields are not adequate in eight of the nineteen modules. The Habitation modules are still safe, but not for much longer. They have the most shielding, but radiation is still getting in and I don’t think we can stop it. Two research labs are safe, but we can’t live in them without food and water.”
“What about the storm? Is it over?” Major Helms asked.
“No, not for many more hours. My calculations show the worst of it will hit us between 1200 and 1500 hours, then start to decline over the next twelve hours. That is, if there were no more solar flares or CME’s erupting right behind the first one. That happens occasionally. Sometimes, the second flare overtakes the first one and then both just get bigger.”
“How much time do we have, Alex?” Commander Bonario asked.
“Maybe three or four hours. Then we must leave or stay in the habitation modules until the radiation levels start to fall. How’s the return vehicle flight test going?”
“They’re finishing pre-flight procedures now. They found a systems failure due to the radiation and they’re fixing it. The problem is not with the return vehicle. We don’t have communications with ground control, and the satellite navigation systems are down. It would be a blind landing attempt. It would be too risky to attempt re-entry. Besides, we can’t leave the ISS in this condition. We would lose her.”
“What about electrical power? Any change?” Alex asked.
“We had to shut down the forward solar panels this morning. The solar storm caused a surge in electrical current and the generator started to overheat. The aft panels are still non-functional from the explosion on Monday. Now we don’t have enough power to rotate the front panels and we can’t use the thrusters to stay on course. We’re starting to spin and we can’t stop it.” Commander Bonario sounded frustrated at their lack of control of the situation.
“How’s our cabin pressure holding up?” Major Helms asked Alex.
“It’s holding at 10.2 pounds per square inch, the same as the return vehicle,” Alex replied. They had lowered the cabin pressure early this morning before the first vehicle crew had departed. It was necessary to lower the air pressure to prepare for departure. The astronauts and other crewmembers would be breathing more oxygen and less nitrogen than normal and their bodies needed time to adjust as the nitrogen was purged from their systems to prevent decompression sickness. It also made it easier if one of the astronauts had to leave the space station on an EVA to make an emergency repair. It was just a precautionary measure.
Commander Bonario was very concerned. He tried not to show it to the others. They probably felt the same way, he thought to himself. This was not something any of them expected, except perhaps, Alex. He knew what a solar storm was capable of, if all the right conditions fell into place. Alex had explained to all of them why this particular storm was so dangerous. For one thing, the solar flare had been stronger than normal and the radiation that followed had knocked out some of the computer chips. The following CME was absolutely huge in size and intensity. But the worst thing was it was a direct hit on the Earth’s magnetic field. Normally, the rotation of the sun and of the Earth made such direct hits a rare event. Most of the charged plasma just miss the planet or bounce off at an angle. This time, though, the plasma hit directly over the North Pole and a great deal was trapped deep inside the Earth’s magnetic field. They could see the spectacular effects as they circled the Earth by the beautiful auroras dancing above both poles. The space station was experiencing strong surface charging and the glowing, greenish ions could be seen out the windows glittering all over the ISS structures. They took several pictures of the spectacular effects for posterity. This storm would go down in the record books and they made a special record of the event in the ISS logbook. Commander Bonario hoped it would not be their last entry.
Things had been very strange the last two days for Commander Bonario and the crew aboard the ISS. His experiences alone on the last EVA had been unsettling to the crew. He had managed to escape harm from the first X-Class radiation emissions over forty hours ago. When he told them how he had managed to reach the airlock, they couldn’t believe his explanation until he showed them the pictures of the UFO. His report to NASA while he was in the airlock had been shocking to say the least. They were now under orders to keep everything secret until NASA and the government leaders determined what to do. They hadn’t received any word back from NASA after the video report he sent on Tuesday other than the news that the military was looking into it. Commander Bonario wondered what had happened to the aliens aboard the spacecraft. He knew the UFO had been damaged by the explosion. The aliens had saved his life. He was certain about that. He hoped they had made it.
The ISS was still spinning and they could not get the solar panels to rotate towards the sun. If they couldn’t stop the spinning before they abandoned the space station, then there was little chance NASA could fix the problem before the space station dropped too low in orbit to be saved. Now they were entering the dark side of their orbit for the next 45 minutes. Maybe they could get a communication link established with one of the satellite dishes on Earth. Commander Bonario turned to Major Parker who has been struggling to re-establish communications with NASA ground control. “How’s it going, Kim? Any luck yet?”
“No, sir, not yet. But the static is decreasing. Maybe the dish in New Zealand will be able to pick us up.” It was almost 1200 hours CDST aboard the ISS. They had been out of communication link with NASA since just before 0800 hours. They assumed most satellite communication systems were down due to the radio blackout conditions. This could last for many hours. However, there was a slight chance they could get through to NASA if the high frequency ground satellite dish was operational. Maybe they could get a message through. Major Parker kept trying, so far without success.
Alex Vladamir decided to check on the crewmember in the emergency return vehicle to see how things were going. He was in no hurry to leave the ISS, but he wasn’t a fool either. He knew the consequences of too much space radiation and the effects would not pleasant. One can always build a new ISS, he thought to himself as he made his way to the shuttle airlock. He was halfway to the shuttle when he looked out one of the starboard windows. He noticed an unusual object off in the distance. As he looked at it, the object became clearer. It was round and there were bright red lights around the edge spaced at equal distances from one-another. He couldn’t be sure what it was at first. That shouldn’t be there, he thought. Maybe he should go back and tell the crew to look out the window. He turned around and launched himself back toward the command module as fast as he could. When he got there, he noticed the entire crew was looking out the windows. “Do you see it, too?” he asked.
“Yeah, we see it, Commander Bonario said. Kim, do the remote cameras work?”
“No, sir, not yet. We need power to operate the outside camera syste
ms. We can use one of the digital cameras inside. I’ll get one.” She left her station to find a camera.
“What do you think it is, Commander?” Major Helms asked beside him.
“I don’t know yet. It looks like another UFO, but this one is much bigger. I wonder how far away it is?”
“It’s moving toward us, Commander,” Alex said. “The stars behind it are disappearing.”
“I think you’re right, Alex. It seems to be moving toward us very slowly.”
“I don’t see any stars anymore. Whatever it is, it’s very large.”
It was an amazing sight. They could make out the shape of the UFO approaching them now. It had some sort of running lights around the entire perimeter of the ship. There were too many lights to count. Major Parker appeared with a digital camera. Commander Bonario mounted it on one of the windows and started to shoot pictures. He was almost too late because the object was getting closer and only the bottom was visible. It was definitely approaching the ISS. It had slowed down the last few minutes and was approaching from the starboard side, just above and in front of the space station. They could see how big the object was and it scared them. It was easily ten times the size of the ISS, which made it over a mile in diameter.
Major Parker tried to get a radio signal from the ground satellite dish in New Zealand. He heard only static on his headset. Then he tried Russia, China and South Korea. Nothing. All telemetry data sent from the space station to ground control was not being acknowledged. He sent a video and text only message to each dish reporting what was happening aboard the space station and notifying NASA about another UFO sighting. Maybe they could receive their signal. He would repeat the message every 5 minutes. They were approaching the sunlight side again and he knew it would be impossible to get a radio signal until they reached the dark side of the Earth.