by Don Viecelli
“My race experienced a much worse event in our solar system. Our sun is much older than your sun. As a sun burns up its fuel, it grows dimmer and expands in size until the heat eventually incinerates the planets nearby. It becomes a red giant. That is what happened to our original home planet.” The hologram before them changed suddenly to show a different solar system with a much larger sun and six planets rotating around it. The sun’s color changed from yellow to red, expanding in size until it overwhelmed three of the planets nearest to the sun. “We were forced leave our home planet and find new planets to live on. Fortunately, your planet will not suffer such a fate for millions of years. However, your sun will enter a cycle soon of massive solar storms that will have negative effects on your planet. We can help you build a solar shield that will protect your planet. In return, we would like our crewmember bodies returned to us, and the memory disks that belonged to them. We would like you to take this information to your President.”
“It sounds like a reasonable request. We certainly can do that for you,” Dave responded.
“There is one more thing I wish to discuss with you before we return you to your planet. It is of a personal nature.”
Commander Orlutinion stood up from the table and moved toward one of the walls in the room. Commander Orlutinion spoke a command and the wall suddenly transformed into a large viewing window. The planet Jupiter was receding in the background. Five of its sixteen moons were visible. The sun was glaring bright yellow in the distance.
“We are leaving orbit around this planet to return to your planet and wait for the response from your President. I wish to make a personal request. It is very important that we get the bodies back for ceremonial purposes. You said you are in charge of the investigation. Did you see the bodies?”
“Yes, I did. We have them in a medical center where we performed autopsies. Why do you ask?”
“I have known the captain in charge of the mission to the sun for a long time. I had complete faith in his judgment. I entrusted my daughter, Elon, to his care.” Commander Orlutinion looked at Dave. There was sadness in his eyes. “I would like to recover her body. Her Mo-Li will be all I have left to remember her by. Please tell your President this.”
Dave didn’t know what to say for a moment. He recognized the name of Orlutinion’s daughter from his conversation with Bill Murphy at the hospital. He was shaken. He just stared out at the planets and stars that filled the window. The view was indescribable. He looked back at the commander. “I’m very sorry for your loss. I’ll do my best to help you.”
“Thank you,” came back the reply. Commander Orlutinion spoke to the group. “We’re returning to your planet. You will be taken back to where we picked you up. Normally, we would not allow you to retain the memories of what you saw here, but these are unusual circumstances. We never planned to communicate with your people for perhaps another hundred years. You have much more to learn before you join us in exploring the universe. So be it. We will help you on your journey. We will start with this event. We are a peaceful race and expect a peaceful union. This will be communicated to your President. We are willing to take a few of your people to teach them the secrets of the sun and how to build the shield. After we return you to your planet, we will remain in orbit around your planet until you release the bodies of our crewmembers. We have sent information about our race to the astronauts on your space station. We will wait for a response through them. Please have a safe journey home.”
Orlutinion and the council members left the room. Ayton asked Dave and the rest of the small group to follow him. They walked back to the vehicle that brought them to the meeting room and stepped on board. They were soon riding back to the hangar where the spacecraft was parked. Within a few minutes they were back in the same room where Dave, Kaye and the rest had been assembled before the meeting with Commander Orlutinion. Ayton and his two aids disappeared. Dave could feel the vibration under his feet and humming noise return. The spacecraft began to move and they watched as the craft sped out of the hangar. The mother ship faded into the distance.
Soon, they passed Mars again on their way home. As they continued to look out the window, they could see the Moon glowing from the sun in the darkness of space. Beyond its surface was the Earth itself, bluish in color and hanging in the air like a beautiful blue marble. The ship descended through the Earth’s atmosphere and the color changed from black to light blue as the sky appeared. There was no sensation of movement in the room. There was no fire glowing on the outside surface of the spacecraft. They just flew rapidly as the clouds sped by. They descended into darkness. Dave looked at his watch. It was 5:00 a.m. in the morning. Only five hours had passed since they first came on board. How could that be, he thought? Only five hours!
The spacecraft landed in an open field a short distance from the same spot they had been picked up earlier in the night. Ayton came to get them and led them down the ramp to the field. It was still warm outside and the stars were visible in the dark sky. Ayton asked for the translation devices back and said farewell. The small group walked to the road and watched the spacecraft take off and quickly disappear into the sky. They could see Lake Gogebic off in the distance. There were lights on in some of the cabins by the lake. Power was back on.
“Now what?” Kaye said.
“I guess we call for a ride,” Dave said. They were still starring at each other in disbelieve at what had happened to them. Dave pulled out his satellite phone, turned it on and was pleasantly surprised to see it was working. He dialed Major Drew’s number. It rang several times before the major answered. He sounded like he was asleep. “Hello, Major Drew here.”
“Hello, Major. This is Colonel Hampton. Sorry to wake you, but we need a ride.”
“Colonel! We saw you taken aboard the UFO! Are you okay? Where are you?”
“Yeah, we’re fine. I’ve got everybody with me: Kaye, Ryan and his two friends. We’re standing in an open field near the cabin where you found the FLM. Can you send a helicopter to pick us up? I need to make arrangements to get to Washington as soon as possible.”
“No problem, Colonel. I’ll see if Major Cole can fly over to pick you up. We’re all at the visitor center waiting for General Anderson to show up. He decided to come up here as soon as he heard you were missing.”
Dave thought for a minute. That made sense. It changed his travel plans somewhat. They could fly out of Duluth Air Force Base. It would save some time. “When does the General arrive?”
“He’ll be here around 0600 hours.”
“Good. We should be back by then. Tell Major Cole to come as quickly as he can. Here are my coordinates from the satellite phone.” Dave pressed the location button and repeated the coordinates for Major Drew to write down. “We’ll be waiting, Major.”
They waited twenty minutes. Luckily, the weather was warm, so they were not uncomfortable. Kaye and Ryan were busy talking to each other, making up for lost time. Jason wanted to look at Dave’s satellite phone while Tom complained about the damp ground. Dave looked up at the stars in the night sky and tried to picture what life would be like living aboard a spaceship. It would be interesting, he thought, but he would miss the warm wind blowing on his face and sailing his boat on open water. He wondered what exploring the universe would be like. He heard the sound of the helicopter before the others did.
Major Cole saw the small group of people on the ground ahead. It was getting light outside. The sun would rise soon. He slowed his speed and slowly settled to the ground. His co-pilot opened the door and helped the passengers climb aboard. When everybody was in their seats, he gave the thumbs up signal to Dave and yelled hello to everyone. Then he took off and headed back to the visitor center were everyone was waiting for them.
Within ten minutes, they landed back at the center. Everyone climbed down from the helicopter and walked toward the building. Colonel Feldman, Major Drew, Kurt, Debbie, Joe and several other people were all waiting impatiently for them. They shook hands
with everyone and the TV crew was hugging each other wildly. They were all smiling and glad to see them back safe and sound. Dave walked with Colonel Feldman and Major Drew back to the command center.
“What happened? Where did you go? What did you see?” Colonel Feldman and Major Drew were asking questions faster than Dave could answer. He asked for a cup of coffee and described his visit with the aliens as best as he could. They were simply astonished.
“What are you going to do next?” Colonel Feldman asked.
“I’m going to ask for a meeting with the President. I’ll take General Anderson, Kaye and her crew with me. You interview the boys and then let them go. Make sure you keep the video from Ryan’s camera. The aliens have the disk Ryan took. After we talk with the President, we’ll probably fly back to Milwaukee. We have to return the bodies and the remaining memory disks back to the aliens. Otherwise, they won’t help us as they promised.”
“Do you think the President will do what they asked?” Major Drew asked.
“I don’t think he has a choice. From what Commander Orlutinion said, we’re in more danger from future solar storms. This was just the beginning. I notice the power is back on. When did that happen?”
“A couple of hours ago,” Colonel Feldman said. “We got cable TV and Internet service back too.”
“That reminds me. What happened to the FLM group you captured?” Dave asked.
“They’re being held in the county jail on kidnapping charges and interfering in a military crash investigation. The FBI will interrogate them later this morning,” Major Drew answered. “We found out one of the men sent a copy of the UFO picture file Ryan took on his camera to someone in Montana. They were trying to sell it to a news tabloid for two million bucks! The FBI is tracking it down now. Hopefully, we can find it in time to keep it off the air.”
Dave thought about the consequences of the news of the UFO incident getting out before the President could announce it to the public. He wasn’t sure what would happen. Just then, someone said General Anderson’s helicopter was landing outside. They left the room to go outside and greet him.
The helicopter landed in the only open spot available at the end of the parking lot. The sun was coming up over the mountains on the east side of the Lake Of The Clouds. Scattered clouds were visible in the blue sky. Dave could see two Peregrine Falcons flying over the edge of the lake looking for food for their young. It looked like another normal day to anyone not involved with the strange events of the last three days.
General Anderson climbed down from the helicopter and walked over to the group of men who were waiting for him. He recognized Dave and everyone saluted. Dave shook the general’s hand and introduced him to everyone. “General Anderson, it’s nice to see you again. This is Colonel Feldman and Major Drew. How was your trip?”
“Rather uneventful compared to yours, Colonel Hampton. I’m glad you’re back safe and sound. Colonel Feldman informed me of your return. I’m dying to hear all about it.”
“We have a lot to talk about, General. Please follow us back to our command center. Are you hungry? I can order some breakfast to be brought in.”
“That would be fine. Some coffee would be good. I have some news for you too. Can we talk in private for a few minutes?”
“Certainly. I have a temporary office we can use. Colonel Feldman, would you mind getting someone to order some food. I’m sure everyone is hungry. We’ll be back in a few minutes.” Dave led General Anderson to his office and closed the door. “What’s up, General?”
“First, Colonel, let me say I’m glad to see you and the others made it back safely. When Colonel Feldman called to tell me what happened, I couldn’t believe it. I decided to fly up here anyway after General Walton called me. The President wants to see us as soon as possible. He’s planning a press briefing at 1400 hours, Eastern Time, at the White House. The President will announce the details of the UFO crash to the public. He doesn’t feel he has a choice now.”
“I can believe that. What made him change his mind?”
“The President received a call from Doctor Fred Tannenbaum, the NASA Chief Administrator, yesterday afternoon. Doctor Tannenbaum says he received a call from Commander Bonario on the ISS that he was in contact with the aliens who lost the UFO. They want the bodies and the disks back. They said the disks are some sort of memory device and they’re sacred to their race. In exchange, the aliens offered to give us information about our sun and how to protect our planet from future solar flares. The President agreed and he is sending a response back to the aliens through Commander Bonario. The President wanted to see the film of the UFO crash your TV crew put together, so I sent a copy to the Pentagon. After you were abducted, I called General Walton. Everyone was worried about you, Colonel. We’re all glad you’re back. What happened up there?”
Dave told him the whole story. The general seemed genuinely interested. He felt some empathy for the alien commander when he heard about his daughter. He said the President would be interested in that fact. It seemed to substantiate the story Bill Murphy told them in Milwaukee. General Anderson asked a few more questions and Dave answered them as best as he could. Finally, Dave asked what they found out from the information Bill Murphy was getting from the disk.
“Well, that’s interesting too,” General Anderson said. “It took a couple of hours to download the data from the disk. It was a lot of mathematical formulas concerning our sun. The scientists are studying it now. It seems NASA downloaded similar information the aliens sent to the ISS. We think we can use the information the aliens sent us to translate it. The scientists think the information will allow us to forecast solar events in the future. It looks like the solar flares are going to get worse for a while, maybe over the next hundred years or so. It looks bad, unless we can figure a way to protect our planet from the solar radiation.”
“There’s more information, General. Commander Orlutinion offered to help us build a solar magnetic field generator in space that would help protect our planet. It would take years to build, but the benefits would be enormous. That’s what he wants me to tell the President. It would be the beginning of a new partnership with them in space exploration.”
“All right. I need to inform the Defense Secretary. I’ll make the call after I meet the TV reporters. We need to tell them what’s up.”
Dave led General Anderson to the conference room on the second floor where they were meeting. He could hear them talking excitedly as they approached the room. Food was being brought in by an outside vendor. Everyone was hungry and grabbed the food as soon as it was set down on the table.
“Kaye, I would like to introduce you to General Kent Anderson. General, Kaye Weston.”
Kaye reached out to shake the general’s hand. “Good morning, General Anderson. It’s nice to meet you at last.”
“My pleasure, Miss Weston. I’ve heard a lot about you and your crew from Colonel Hampton here. He told me all about your visit with the aliens. It must have been very exciting.”
“Actually, I was scared the whole time. My brother Ryan and his friends seemed to really enjoy the whole thing. I’m glad to be back on solid ground.” They both smiled. The general liked her immediately.
“By the way, I reviewed the film you sent me. It was excellent. I sent it to the Pentagon yesterday for their review. They plan to show it to the President this morning.” He turned to Dave who took the cue.
“Kaye, General Anderson will call the Pentagon and arrange a meeting with the President. Tell your crew we need to fly to Duluth Air Force Base in thirty minutes. General Anderson has arranged for an air force transport plane to fly us to Washington, DC. The President plans to go public on the UFO crash this afternoon. He wants you to break the story before he holds the press briefing.”
Kaye was expecting something like this. She took a deep breath. “I understand, General. Colonel, I’ll be ready to go in a few minutes. I need to tell my crew. I’ll take Kurt and Debbie with me. Joe will fly back to
Chicago. I need to call my boss. I have a lot to do, so please excuse me.” Kaye walked back to find her purse. She took her phone out of the bag and dialed her boss. She hoped he was at his desk and sitting down. They were about to break the biggest story of their careers.
Chapter 30
ISS:
Commander Bonario and the rest of his crew spent a fitful morning aboard the space station awaiting further word from NASA. The time was 12:00 UTC or noontime on their clock. Even though the astronauts orbited the planet every ninety minutes, they kept their clocks on the international time standard called Coordinated Universal Time, which is equivalent to Greenwich Mean Time or GMT. Even though it was lunchtime, Commander Bonario didn’t feel the least bit hungry. He decided to check in with Major Parker. “Hello, Kim. Any word from NASA?”
“Not since this morning, Commander. You want me to call them?”
“No, I was just checking. Let me know if you hear anything.” Commander Bonario was getting impatient. Ever since they heard back from Doctor Tannenbaum yesterday afternoon that the President would let them know as soon as possible what he would do regarding the alien requests, Commander Bonario had felt anxious. Normally, he wasn’t the type to get worried. He looked at problems as things to be solved, one at a time. Doctor Tannenbaum said the President was working through the problem and would make a decision soon. The best he could offer now was that Commander Bonario should send a message to the aliens that the President understood their requests and would answer them within 24 hours. Well, time is running out, he thought. The aliens wouldn’t wait forever. He wondered what they would do. He decided to stop worrying about what he couldn’t control and go visit Alex Vladamir to see what he was able to learn from all the data the aliens had sent them. It would take his mind off watching the clock.
He found Alex in the research lab deep in concentration looking at his computer screen. “How’s it going, Alex?”