Alien Storm

by Don Viecelli

  “Yes, we were notified by the Pentagon this morning. Very unusual to say the least. We do have a power backup system here and we’re trying to restore as much power as we can until electricity is turned back on again. Fortunately, it’s not affecting the investigation teams at the crash sites. They already have portable field generators. We moved one here for our use. It should be operating shortly. Come on in and let’s get settled.” The group entered the visitor center and climbed the stairs to the same meeting room they were in the day before. It was very quiet in the center. There were few visitors being questioned this morning.

  “Have you heard from Colonel Hampton?” Kaye asked.

  “I talked to him an hour ago. He’s on his way and should land around 0900 hours. I tried to call him a few minutes ago, but his satellite phone is not working. It appears the solar storm we’re experiencing has disrupted all satellite communication systems. It could be a few hours before things are working again. I could try him on his cell phone if you wish to talk to him.”

  “No, actually I wanted to talk to you first. I have an emergency and thought you might be able to help me.” Kaye poured herself a cup of coffee and waited for the others to do the same before they all sat down at the conference room table. She decided to tell the Colonel everything. “I haven’t been fully honest with you and Colonel Hampton. I know the persons that took the pictures of the crash and took the alien disk from the crash site. One of them was my brother. His name is Ryan Weston. He was with two friends from college and they decided to spend a week hiking and rock climbing in the park. He was taking pictures of the Northern Lights when the UFO exploded. He just wanted to see if anyone was alive and help them. He sent the pictures to me Tuesday morning. We were supposed to meet up here yesterday, but he didn’t show up.” Kaye waited to see what Colonel Feldman’s reaction would be before continuing. He seemed somewhat relieved.

  “We know who it was also. We found out early this morning when we ran the license plate checks on the vehicles left in the parking lot. Ryan’s name came up and we connected him to you. We also called the local police for information and they told us you had reported them missing last night. We put two-and-two together and figured out they have the evidence. I called Colonel Hampton this morning and told him what we know. He wants to talk to you about it when he gets here. We’re looking for your brother and his friends now. Do you know where they are?”

  Kaye wasn’t too surprised by what Colonel Feldman said. She knew they would find out about Ryan’s Jeep soon enough. She was disappointed that Colonel Hampton had to find out about it through Colonel Feldman and not her. He was probably mad at her now and she would have to deal with it when he arrived. She couldn’t help it now. She continued with what she had to say. “Yes, sort of. I received a text message from Ryan on my cell phone this morning. I saved it. Let me show you.” Kaye found the message and displayed it for the colonel. He took the phone and read the message. He actually wrote the message down on a piece of paper, word for word. He didn’t say anything, but he was thinking about something.

  “Do you know what FLM stands for, Colonel?” Kaye asked.

  “Yes, I do. It stands for Freedom Liberation Movement. It’s a rightwing paramilitary group that is based nearby. They usually don’t cause much trouble, but this may explain what happened yesterday at the crash site. I need to talk to Major Drew. He’s searching for the people who wounded the guardsman yesterday. It may be the same group. They were planning to visit the FLM camp this morning to see if they can find the shooters. The camp is on a nearby farm. The police got a search warrant this morning and they left around 0600 hours. They should be there now. Your brother’s message says they are being held at Lake Gogebic, but doesn’t give an address. It’s a big lake, about ten miles south of here. They could be anywhere on the lake. Unfortunately, the cellular GPS system is not working right now. That would pinpoint the exact location within 10 meters. It’s still a good thing to know. Let me get on this. I’ll be right back.”

  Colonel Feldman left the room. The others looked at Kaye. Kurt spoke first, “What do you think he’s going to do?”

  “I don’t know. Probably tell Major Drew what I just told him. It’s out of our hands now. They’re going to have to find Ryan and get their stuff back. I just hope nobody gets hurt,” Kaye said.

  “It’ll be alright, Kaye. They’ll find Ryan and his friends and we can all go home soon,” Debbie said sensing Kaye’s concern.

  “You’re probably right. Let’s change the subject and plan our day. We still have to prepare for the interview with Colonel Hampton when he arrives. We have enough pictures of the crash sites. Do we need any more video with the park visitors?”

  “I don’t think so, but I’ll go down and see who’s around today. Maybe someone has more information,” Debbie volunteered.

  “Don’t look at me. I’m just hanging around here waiting for you guys,” Joe said and took another drink of coffee.

  “I’ll follow Debbie in case she finds somebody. Let me know when you need us,” Kurt said.

  Kaye decided to call her office to check messages and talk to her boss, Dick Hughes. She wondered if the phones would be working. She used the voice command to call Dick’s number. Surprisingly, it rang. Dick answered in his usual gruff way, “Hello, Kaye. How’s it going up there? Any problems with the power?” Kaye heard him chuckle in the background.

  “Good morning to you too, Dick. Yeah, the power is out up here. How’s the city?”

  “We lost power an hour ago. The mayor is furious, like he can control it. The only reason the phones are working here is because the building is operating on backup power. I can’t tell you how many accidents I see out my window because the traffic lights are out. Oh, and by the way, O’Hare is shut down. Nobody is flying in or out today. Good thing you’re up there where there’re no people to fight with.”

  “We have our problems here too, Dick. That’s why I’m calling you. Ryan is missing and so are his friends. He never showed up last night. I had to call the police. Then I got a phone message from Ryan this morning that he’s being held hostage by a group called the Freedom Liberation Movement, some rightwing paramilitary group that has a camp up here. We don’t know why they’re holding him unless they know about the UFO.”

  “That’s possible, if they got a hold of the disk and film. They probably want to sell it to some news channel. That could be a problem for everyone. Whoever purchases it could show it to the world before you do.”

  “I was thinking the same thing. Any of the news channels would pay a small fortune for the stuff and the story.”

  “Who knows this?”

  “I just told Colonel Feldman at the visitor center. That’s where we are now waiting for Colonel Hampton to return from Milwaukee where they have the alien bodies. Colonel Feldman said they figured it out this morning and were already looking for Ryan. Now they know generally where he is and he’s got the National Guard out looking for them.”

  “Does the President know?”

  “No, not yet, but I assume Colonel Hampton will tell the Pentagon and they will tell the President.

  “Can you call Ryan on his phone?”

  “I’m afraid to. He only sent me a text message. I think he’s being watched. I did send him a text message and told him to call me if he could. The message got through, but Ryan has not read it yet. Ryan told me to use the GPS service to locate him, but the damn satellite system is down because of the solar storm. You know that’s what caused the power failures, don’t you?”

  “Yeah, it’s all over the radio and cable TV news if you can turn it on. Did you hear the space station is in trouble? NASA lost communications with the ISS early this morning. Five astronauts already came back down in one of the crew return vehicles, but they don’t know what’s happening with the others still on board. NASA is planning on giving another press conference this afternoon. So is the President. He wants to talk about the power outages.”

 
“No, we haven’t seen any news about the ISS. I hope they all make it back safely. I never imagined that a solar storm could cause us this much trouble. Did you?”

  “No, me either. I’m not sure when it’s all going to be over, so be careful up there. When do you expect to return?”

  “I think we can wrap up most of the story here this afternoon. Then I plan to visit the Milwaukee Air Force Base with Colonel Hampton to see the bodies. But I can’t leave until we find Ryan. Hopefully, one or two more days should do it.”

  “Alright, keep me informed. They’re saying we should have most of the power restored in the city by tonight, but the Northeast got hit pretty bad. It may take a few days to replace all the damaged equipment. I’m not sure about the satellites. Some of them may have to be replaced. It could be a long time before everything is fixed around here.”

  “I’ve got to go, Dick. I’ll call you later when I know more. Bye.” Kaye killed the call. She then dialed into her message box with her phone since the Internet connection was not working on her notebook and picked up her messages. There were no messages from Ryan. She was working on her interview notes for Colonel Hampton when Colonel Feldman returned. Only Kaye and Joe were still in the conference room.

  “I talked with Major Drew and passed on your message from Ryan,” Colonel Feldman said as he entered the room. “Major Drew says his guardsmen searched the FLM camp this morning and nobody was there. They all left in a hurry last night. He’s on his way to Lake Gogebic. We’re trying to find out who the FLM commander is and where he might be. We’ll know more soon. We just got a call from Colonel Hampton. He’ll be here soon.”

  Chapter 26

  Dave was listening to Kaye telling him something about her past, but he was having a hard time concentrating on what she was saying. He was too busy looking at her beautiful blue eyes. It reminded him of sunlight shimmering and bouncing off water in a deep clear pool. He was dazzled by the light. He could hear her voice and looked down at her pretty mouth. She was smiling at him and looked amused by his expression. He must look dumbstruck or something, but he sure was feeling good. It had been a long time since he felt this way about anyone and he wanted to tell her. He was about to say something clever when he heard someone yelling at him. He tried to ignore it, but it wouldn’t stop. Finally, he recognized the voice and opened his eyes. He had been dreaming.

  “Colonel Hampton, wake up. We’re almost there,” Major Cole yelled over the cockpit noise.

  “How long have I been out, Major?”

  “Just over an hour, sir. You were snoring pretty loud back there.”

  “Sorry. Guess I was tired. I feel better now. Where are we?”

  “We’re five miles from Porcupine Mountains State Park. Should be landing in a few minutes. There’s the building now.” Major Cole angled the helicopter slightly to the left and heading straight for the parking lot. He could see two other helicopters already parked on the lot. He prepared for landing. It was 8:45 a.m.

  Dave straightened his suit and tie. He rubbed his face and eyes, brushed his hair with his hands and put on his hat. His carry-on bag was ready to go. He waited for the helicopter to land and tried to organize his thoughts. He remembered the dream he was having before he woke up. He could not remember what he and Kaye were talking about. He just remembered that pretty smile and the way she looked at him. He couldn’t get that woman out of his mind. He knew she would be waiting for him at the visitor center. They had an interview to do. Then he remembered the problem concerning her brother. He needed to resolve that issue quickly. Why didn’t she tell him about it? He knew the answer before he finished the question. She couldn’t because of the story she was protecting. The President changed all that. There was no reason for her keep the evidence now. He would convince her to help them before someone got hurt. He didn’t want anything to come between them, not before they had a chance to get to know each other better. He wanted that chance, just a few more days to see if the feeling was mutual. Normally, he didn’t feel this helpless, but things seemed to be getting out of his control and that was a feeling he didn’t like.

  Major Cole landed the helicopter without a hitch. He was a pro and it showed. He shut down the engine. “We’re here, Colonel. Do you want me to stick around for awhile?”

  “Yes, Major. Give me an hour to see what’s happening here. I have to talk to Colonel Feldman first. Thanks for the ride, Major. It was a nice flight. I’ll talk to you soon.”

  Dave stepped down from the helicopter. He grabbed his bag and walked towards the visitor center. The sun was out and the weather was nice for this time of year. The wind was blowing from the west at about five knots per hour. He guessed it would pick up by this afternoon. Good sailing weather. He hoped his boat was safe back in North Carolina. He noticed two of the TV reporters outside talking to an older couple by their camper. It wasn’t Kaye. She must be inside. They waved to him as he passed by and entered the building. The power was off, he noticed, but the computer backup systems were working. He went to the command center and noticed everyone was busy performing their tasks. Several officers saluted him and welcomed him back. He went to the office he and Colonel Feldman were using for the crash investigation. The park director’s office was down the hall, but he didn’t bother to visit him. He had only met the director once on Tuesday and decided to let Colonel Feldman keep him informed. They wouldn’t be here long and he would probably be leaving for Milwaukee AFB in one or two days to run the investigation there.

  Dave set down his bag and took off his hat and coat. He needed to freshen up and get some coffee before he met with the reporters, especially Kaye. He found the bathroom down the hall and washed his face and combed his hair. He looked at the face in the mirror. He was forty-one years old. His hair was cut short. He didn’t consider himself overly handsome, but he was good looking when he wanted to be. He liked to smile and the wrinkles around his mouth and eyes were pleasant to look at. He wondered if it would be enough to entice this woman he couldn’t get out of his mind. Even if it were, he wondered how she viewed military life. It was hard on a relationship, he knew from experience, and hard on family life. Too much travel. No roots. He was like a nomad, only in a modern world. How much longer could he put up with this kind of life? He had been in the Air Force for twenty years now, working on crash investigations for over ten years. The toll had been building up. Maybe this should be the last one. He wanted a new life, one with a family he could go home to every night. Preferably a home near the sea where he could watch the waves each day and sail his boat. He could give sailing lessons and work with his hands. He wouldn’t be rich, but he would be happy. It was something to look forward to. He dried his face and hands and decided it was time to get to work.

  Dave walked back to his temporary office and asked someone to find Colonel Feldman for him. He poured some coffee and waited at his desk. He was wondering how General Anderson was doing back in Milwaukee. By now, he must have met with Bill Murphy. Would he believe Bill’s story about the disk? Does it matter? What kind of information is on that disk? How important will it be? What does it all mean for the world? Things were getting damn interesting. What an opportunity for him and for everyone working on this investigation. It would change the world somehow. He knew it for a fact. He just didn’t know how much yet. It would take years to sort it all out. He wondered how long he would be involved in it? He was deep in thought when Colonel Feldman walked into the room and brought him back to the present. “Hello, Colonel. Welcome back. How was the trip?”

  “It was interesting. Thanks. I’ll tell you all about it in a minute. How’s it going here?”

  “Well, Miss Weston came clean this morning. She told me all about her brother and his two friends. We’re trying to find them now.” He spent several minutes explaining what Kaye had told him this morning.

  Colonel Hampton was relieved. He didn’t want to confront Kaye on her missing brother. One issue resolved. “Good work, Colonel. What are our chances of l
ocating her brother?”

  “Major Drew’s men are moving into the Lake Gogebic area now. It’s a pretty big lake, over twenty square miles to search. It’s about ten miles south of here. Major Drew searched the camp this morning and everyone cleared out last night. We’re pretty certain it was one of the paramilitary men who fired at the guardsmen yesterday. They must have been spying on us to see what was going on and didn’t want to get caught. We think they know about the UFO from the boys.”

  “What do we know about this paramilitary outfit?” Dave asked between sips of his coffee.

  “We’re still digging. The local police captain sent over a pretty big file. They’ve been operating in the area for many years. The local commander is a guy named Ted Nash. He owns the farm where the camp is. They have local maneuvers twice a year. He’s an ex-military guy, Special Rangers. Fought in Desert Storm, Afghanistan, Iraq and a few other places. Retired as an Army colonel. Bought the farm in 2001. They don’t cause much trouble. Just don’t like the government. The FLM has been around since the eighties. They’re a pretty large organization, over a thousand members. The FBI keeps an eye on the group. The FLM headquarters is in Montana. The government had some serious trouble with that group in the past, but nothing lately. It doesn’t make much sense why they would take the boys and keep them hostage.”

  “I’m not sure either, but I think we’re going to find out soon enough. Where’s Miss Weston?”

  “She’s upstairs in the conference room waiting to see you. She told me she wants to talk to you in private. I think she’s worried about her brother. You want me to get her for you?”

  “No, I’ll go see her. We have an interview to do on the aliens. I promised her yesterday before I left for Milwaukee.”

  “What’s the news down there? What did you find out?”

  “It appears the aliens we found and the human race are somehow related. There’s a close DNA match according to the doctor who did the autopsies. I’m not sure if I understand the results, but it will cause quite a stir in the religious community, I’m sure, once they find out. There’s more. The aliens were studying our sun. We don’t know why yet, but it seems to be of interest to them. Maybe it has to do with the solar storm we’re experiencing. Look at what it’s done so far. Then, one of the computer scientists studying the disks we found had a heart attack and almost died this morning. After he was revived by the medical team, he could control one of the disks. Don’t ask me how. He had some kind of near-death experience. We’re downloading all kinds of data from the disk now. I don’t know what we’re going to find next, but this investigation is going to go on long after we move everything to Milwaukee. When I got there last night, General Anderson was waiting for me. He was sent from the Pentagon to keep an eye on things. I think the President is worried. We’re going to have to wrap things up here pretty quick before word gets out on the UFO. Now we have this paramilitary group holding three boys hostage who have evidence of the aliens. I think someone is going to blow the whistle soon and we’re going to get mobbed by reporters.”