by Don Viecelli
“Commander Bonario, this is Doctor Tannenbaum. I hear you need to speak with me.”
“Hello, Doctor Tannenbaum. Sorry to bother you, but we have a situation up here that needs to be resolved. I need your help.”
“No problem, Commander. I hear you have been having an exciting time up there. Is everything all right?”
“Everything is under control, Doctor, but we had our moments. Look, something very important has happened and I need some information.” Commander Bonario filled him in on what happened due to the solar storm. Then he brought him up to date on the visit from the aliens. “They requested our help, Doctor. The alien commander asked me what happened to his spacecraft and crewmembers. I didn’t know. No one has told us what happened to the ship. Did it crash or what?”
Doctor Tannenbaum paused for a second and thought about what to say in response. “Yes, Commander, it crashed in the U.S. and we found four aliens, all dead. We removed the bodies from the crash site and took them to another location for autopsies. We found some objects at the crash site and we’re studying them. They may have some useful information. The DOD is in charge of the crash investigation and everything has been classified as top secret. The world doesn’t know anything about this yet.”
Commander Bonario expected the news, but he felt sad about the deaths anyway. The aliens had saved his life. How was he going to repay them now? “I don’t think the secret is going to last very much longer, Doctor. Anyone with a regular telescope aimed at the space station will have seen what was happening up here the last two hours.”
Doctor Tannenbaum hadn’t thought about that. NASA and other government space agencies may have seen the spaceship, but they would be able to keep it secret. If others saw it and took pictures, that would present some problems. “You’re right, Commander. I need to speak to the President. He is handling the matter and needs to know about this. Give me some time and we’ll call you back.”
“We’ll be waiting, Doctor. I don’t know how long the aliens will give us to respond, but they sounded serious about getting their crewmembers’ bodies and missing devices back. The alien commander also said something about our sun and sent us a lot of data. I suggest we have someone take a look at it and soon.”
“I understand, Commander. Let me discuss it with the President and get back to you. I’m sure he’ll do what’s right.” They both ended the discussion and Doctor Tannenbaum knew what he had to do next. He picked up the phone and dialed the White House.
* * * *
The Tularian spaceship retreated to an orbit around Jupiter. The big red planet rotating below reminded Orlutinion of his home planet. The commander instructed one of his officers to keep the radio communication receivers aimed at the Earth space station for the message he knew would come. Then he instructed another spacecraft and its crewmembers to depart immediately for the planet Earth. He wanted images of the crash site and location readings from the missing craft’s transmitter beacon and memory disks. The commander had decided to give the humans one day’s orbit around the sun. It was only fitting, he thought, and appropriate under the circumstances. He felt the missing captain would appreciate their efforts. When word came that the spacecraft was ready to depart, Commander Orlutinion approved the request to open the hangar door and watched from his window seat as it headed for Earth.
Chapter 25
Kaye Weston woke to the sounds of music playing on her hotel room radio. It was 6:00 a.m. Time to get up. She listened for a few minutes to the tune playing on the radio. It was an oldie from her college days. It brought back pleasant memories of good times with good friends. It seemed so long ago, another time in another world. That was when she realized she needed to check her cell phone for messages. She was worried about her brother. Maybe Ryan had called. She rolled off her covers and sat up on the side of the bed. She felt rested, but her legs were sore from all the walking she had done the day before. She rubbed her eyes and got out of bed. She walked to the window and looked outside. The sun was just coming up and the sky was blue. The radio announcer said it would be a partly sunny day today with temperatures in the low 70’s with no chance of rain; an altogether nice day in store.
Kaye picked up her cell phone and checked for messages. It was in sleep mode. As soon as she hit the message button, she could see the message indicator blinking. She prayed it was from Ryan and not someone else. A text message popped up on the screen, six lines at a time. The time stamp said it was received at 4:15 a.m. that morning. It was from Ryan. She was elated. He must be all right, she thought at first. He sent her a message. As she read the text, she became more frightened with every word. Kaye swore. Ryan was in trouble. He was kidnapped. “Who in the hell is the FLM?” she said aloud. Where is Lake Gogebic? Use GPS? Who should she call for help? She needed to think. She quickly took a shower and got dressed. This time she would dress casually in case there was more hiking to do. She put on a blouse and found some pants that matched and looked for her belt and shoes. By the time she had put on her clothes and some walking shoes, she knew what she should do. First she called Kurt’s room. He answered the phone after two rings. “Hello?”
“Hello, Kurt. It’s me. I got a message from Ryan.”
“Is he okay?”
“He’s all right, but he is being held by some paramilitary group called the FLM. I don’t know what it stands for. He says they’re by Lake Gogebic. I don’t know where that is. He wants us to use GPS to find him. Do you know what he means?”
“Yeah, the cell phones use Global Positioning System satellites for location purposes. It’s like E-911. Local authorities can use the signal from multiple satellites to pinpoint the cell phone user’s location. As long as Ryan has the cell phone on and he is near a cell tower, we should be able to find him. When did you receive the message?”
“At 4:15 this morning. He didn’t leave a voice message, just text. I’m afraid to call him.”
“Did Ryan send the message with a return acknowledgement request?”
Kaye looked at her phone. She saw the request indicator. “Yes, he did.”
“Then he knows you received the message. That’s a start. What do you want to do next?”
“I’m not sure. I could call the police or I could call Colonel Hampton for help. What do you think?”
“Let’s meet in the breakfast room and talk it over. I’ll get Debbie and Joe. We’ll meet you there in ten minutes.”
Kaye hung up the phone and thought about her options. She knew Colonel Hampton was in Milwaukee and wouldn’t be back until later that morning. She could call the police, but what did they know about the UFO or the FLM? Maybe she should call Colonel Feldman and let him know the truth. She didn’t need the evidence Ryan had anymore for proof of the crash. The situation had changed greatly since Monday when Ryan had first called her. Now she was working with the government on the UFO crash investigation. It was the safety of Ryan and his two friends that mattered now. She had to take some sort of action. A plan began to emerge.
Kaye packed the things she would need today, put the bag on the bed and left the room. She knew she would have to stay at least one more night to wrap things up here and then fly to Milwaukee, but only if Ryan and his friends were found safely. Otherwise, she would stay as long as it took to find them. She wasn’t going to leave this place until the situation was resolved. She walked downstairs to the breakfast room and waited to be seated. She was pouring herself some coffee when the group arrived.
“Good morning, Kaye. I told Debbie and Joe about Ryan. Did you decide what to do?” Kurt asked as they all sat down at the table.
Kaye said good morning to everyone and explained the situation. They had to speak quietly so no one could overhear their conversation. She had made up her mind what she wanted to do. “I’m going to tell Colonel Feldman what happened as soon as we get there this morning for our meeting. Then I’m going to tell Colonel Hampton. He should be back later this morning for our interview. I’m going to tell them eve
rything. They can deal with the police. I need their help to get Ryan and his friends back. I don’t know who the FLM are or what they want.”
“Do you think the FLM knows what happened up here, Kaye?” Debbie asked.
“I’m guessing Ryan had to tell them. Why would they keep them hostage unless they found the evidence?”
“Why would they kidnap them and not let them go?” Joe asked.
“They must think the evidence is worth something, or they plan to do something with it and they don’t want the boys to stop them,” Kurt volunteered.
“Do you think they will hurt them?” Debbie asked what they were all thinking.
“I don’t know. I hope not. That’s why I want Colonel Hampton to find them as quickly as possible. The police don’t know about the UFO, as far as I know,” Kaye said.
They discussed the situation all through breakfast. To change the subject, Kaye asked if anyone saw the Northern Lights last night. Kurt and Debbie said yes. Joe said no. “They were just beautiful,” Debbie said casually. “Kurt took pictures of them.” It just came out. She realized her mistake and smiled at Kaye. Debbie and Kurt were together last night. How nice for them, Kaye thought. They certainly looked right for each other. She glanced over at Joe. He didn’t show any emotion and she wondered if he knew about their relationship before she did. She looked back at Kurt. He was smiling. “Indeed they were. I took pictures until midnight. We may need them later if this solar storm I’m hearing about develops into something more than just lights.”
“What do you mean?” Kaye asked.
“It was on CNN last night. We’re getting hit with the biggest solar storm ever recorded by NASA. It was covered in the NASA press conference yesterday. That’s why the aurora was so spectacular last night. It will shine again tonight as well. We may experience radio blackouts today and some power outages. No one knows how bad it might be. The International Space Station is in jeopardy. They may have to evacuate the space station today. Too much radiation exposure. NASA is worried. It looks like we missed a big story by not covering the NASA press conference after all, Kaye.”
“Maybe, but I think this story will be much bigger. Don’t you?”
“Yeah, if it ever gets told. You know how the government works.”
Kurt was right. Who knows if they will ever let them go public with this story? How would they stop them? She put the thought out of her mind. She wouldn’t let them keep it a secret. It was too important.
They finished their breakfast. Kaye didn’t feel very hungry. She was worried about Ryan. It was time to leave. They had to be at the park by 8:00 a.m. Kaye offered to pick up the tab as Joe went to start the car. They would drive to the small local airport and take the helicopter to the Wilderness Visitor Center. Before they got up from the table to pay the bill, the electricity in the hotel suddenly went out. The emergency floodlight lamp in the room buzzed on. The sun was up so the lamp stayed dim. Everyone looked at each other. “I wonder what caused this?” Debbie said.
“Let’s ask at the desk. I’ll pay the bill and meet you in the lobby. I need to get my carry bag,” Kaye said.
They all left the room to pick up their things while Kaye went to pay the bill. Luckily, she had cash and left a tip on the table. On her way back to her room she noticed several guests milling about wondering what happened to the electricity. It took a few minutes to find her room, get her bag and a light jacket and walk back to the front lobby. Kurt was already there. “They don’t know why the power shut down, Kaye, but they say it isn’t just the hotel. The whole city lost power. Usually, this only happens in bad weather, but today is fine. I bet the solar storm NASA talked about last night has something to do with it. Even the hotel phones are down.”
Kaye pulled out her cell phone and tried to make a call. She got a busy signal. “I can’t get through. It’s busy. Everyone must be trying to use their mobile phones.”
“It’ll probably be back on in a few minutes. Here’s Debbie. Joe should be pulling up outside with the car. Let’s go.” They walked out the front door and saw Joe driving up. They all got in. Joe had the radio on. “Any news on the radio, Joe?” Kurt asked.
“They’re saying a massive power failure occurred all over the eastern half of the country, something about transformers burning up. Sounds pretty bad. Power is going to be down most of the day, if not longer.” He turned up the radio so they could all hear the news. Sure enough, the newscaster was blaming the solar storm for the damage. Reports were coming in that power was down in most northeastern states and as far west as Kansas. The southern states and far western states seemed to be spared from any power outages, at least for the time being. The power utilities were trying their best to redistribute power where they could. Some states had already declared a state emergency and were asking for federal relief. Several major airports were shutting down and air traffic was coming to a standstill. None of them ever experienced news like this before.
“Do you think we can use the helicopter today, Joe?” Kurt asked.
“I think so. We don’t need to fly very far and I can follow the roads or the lake to the park. I don’t think they will care as long as I’m not flying too far today. We’ll see what they say when we get there.”
It only took a few minutes to drive the five miles across town to the local airport where the company helicopter was parked. They pulled into the parking lot and got out of the car. Joe went to the main building to check with the flight controller on duty to see what the deal was on flying today. The rest of the group put their bags in the helicopter and waited for Joe. He reappeared from the building shortly and walked towards them with both thumbs pointed upward. He had some good news. “They say we can fly today if we want to. There are no passenger planes flying until they get the okay from the FAA, but private planes can fly at their own risk. The only restriction is we can’t fly at night unless they get navigation signals back up. They lost the GPS service this morning. High frequency radio communication is disrupted, but we can still use low band radio channels for communication purposes.”
“What about cell phones?” Kaye asked.
“Mobile phones should work. They use battery backup power if electricity is down, but you won’t be able to make any international long distance calls since they use satellite communication links. GPS location services are down. The cellular systems will be pretty busy today, so you just need to keep trying.
“Let’s get inside. I need to inspect the helicopter and start the engine to warm things up. We should be ready to go in a few minutes.”
Everybody climbed inside the helicopter. Kurt got in front. Debbie and Kaye got in the back. Joe slowly inspected the outside of the helicopter and then climbed into the pilot seat and started the engine. After a brief checklist, he called the controller and told him he was ready to take off. They were the only ones flying at the moment, so they were cleared for lift off. Within seconds, the helicopter roared upward and flew towards the west. Joe decided to follow State Highway 28 for a few miles and then turned right towards Lake Superior. He would follow the shoreline to Ontonagon and Silver City, which would lead him straight to the park. The only unusual thing that struck Joe’s attention was his compass readings appeared to be off. He knew he was heading straight west toward Lake Superior, but the compass reading was drifting too far southwest. Something was affecting his compass readings and he assumed it was interference from the solar storm. It was nothing to be concerned about since he planned to use landmarks on his flight map for directions anyway.
Kaye looked out the window towards the lake. It was a clear day with a few clouds getting in the way of the sun. The water looked deep blue and cold. She didn’t see any sailboats out this early, but it would be a nice day for sailing. She took her cell phone out and checked for messages. There were none. She decided to compose a message to Ryan anyway since she had some time. She used the keypad on the phone to select the letters she needed. It was slow, but she wanted to say the right words
. She told Ryan that help was on the way and to call her if he could. She didn’t know how they were going to find him, but she wasn’t going to give up until they did. When she finished typing the message, she sent it with an acknowledgement receipt request. She wanted to know if Ryan received and opened the message. She waited for a few minutes as the message worked its way through the Internet to its destination. An alert came back that the message had been sent and received by the user, but not opened yet. She would check again later to see if Ryan opened the message. She hoped Ryan and his friends were safe and decided to think about what she would tell Colonel Feldman when she landed. She only had a few more minutes to think about it before they arrived.
Joe saw the visitor center before Kurt did. He pointed below and started his descent. Within minutes he landed the helicopter. It was ten minutes before 8:00 a.m. They were ahead of schedule. Joe tuned off the engine and waited for the rotors to stop before opening the door and stepping down. The rest of the group followed. By the time Kaye got out of the helicopter, Colonel Feldman was walking towards them.
“Good morning everyone,” Colonel Feldman said. “You’re just on time. Follow me. I have some refreshments set up if you’re interested. You’ll have to excuse the dark halls. We had a power failure half an hour ago and it hasn’t come back on yet.”
“Good morning, Colonel Feldman. The same thing happened at the hotel. We already had breakfast, but some coffee would be nice,” Kaye said.
“Did you have a nice stay at the hotel?”
“It was fine. The light show was spectacular last night. Did you see it?”
“No, I’m afraid not. I went to bed early last night, but I suppose they were lovely. They usually are.”
“Did you hear why the power is off, Colonel?” Kaye asked.