Alien Storm

by Don Viecelli

  “Thanks, Dick. I appreciate everything you’ve done for us. We couldn’t have pulled this off without you. You know that. I’ll talk to you after the press briefing. The story’s not over yet. The crash was only the tip of the iceberg, Dick. The aliens plan to help us protect our planet from future solar flares. I’ll explain more later, Dick. We’re almost at the White House. Talk to you later.” She hung up the phone. She looked at Kurt and Debbie. “Dick says the President’s Press Secretary is looking for us. We’ll meet with him after we see the President.” She told them about the UFO story breaking on the news.

  “How’s Dick holding up?” Kurt asked smiling.

  “He’s pretty excited for us. He said we would be famous. Are you ready for this?”

  “You’ll be famous, Kaye. We’re just the backup people. You have to break the story to the public on TV. I’m glad it’s not me.” Kurt sounded relieved he was not going to have to face the publicity. Debbie agreed with him. They both preferred to stay in the background—thank you. Kaye, on the other hand, was ready for it. She had worked long and hard and she was going to take advantage of every moment for all it was worth. She just hoped she could handle it like a professional. This was her job and she couldn’t wait to tell the world. They had a right to know what was happening. She believed it would make a difference. She hoped she was right.

  The two cars pulled up to the northwest gate and were checked thoroughly by security. They were allowed to drive up to the West Wing entrance and got out of the cars. They were escorted to the President’s office where they were greeted by the President’s Chief of Staff, Fred Imhoff. The President was waiting for them, he said, and escorted them inside the Oval Office.

  Kaye was impressed by the formality of the Oval Office and the sense of history conveyed by the pictures of former Presidents like Abraham Lincoln on the walls. There were memorabilia and small statues on various tables around the room. The two bookcases were filled with books and other historic objects. The large, oval top bay windows and patio doors let the light in. The room had long gold curtains around each window, light green walls, cream-colored carpet with the Presidential seal in the middle of the room and bands of darker colored carpet radiating outwards. Two large couches with side chairs were in front of a large ornately carved desk used by Teddy Roosevelt with chairs on each side. On a wall table in back of the desk were pictures of the First Lady and their two children neatly placed for the President to look at when he took a break from work. The view of the White House lawn out the windows was green and lush. The desk was neatly organized with stacks of papers and folders on each side. Kaye noticed a notebook computer and small monitor on one side of the desk and wondered if the President had seen the videos they took at the crash site.

  “Good morning, Mr. President,” Harry Patterson said as he walked up to the desk.

  “Good morning, Mr. Secretary.” The President then greeted General Walton and General Anderson. “Please introduce me to the rest of your group, Harry.” The President walked around his desk to greet them.

  Secretary Patterson introduced everyone to the President who shook hands with each of them. He was especially glad to meet Kaye and her crew and thanked them for holding back on breaking the UFO story until now. Kaye, Kurt and Debbie were in awe of the whole situation.

  “Please sit down. Make yourself comfortable. I’m very interested in hearing what happened aboard that space ship, Colonel Hampton.”

  “It would be my pleasure, Mr. President.” Dave repeated the story he told earlier to the Defense Secretary. He emphasized the offer from Commander Orlutinion to help build a magnetic field generator in space to protect the planet from the effects of future solar storms. The President was intrigued by the idea and wondered how long it would take and how much it would cost.

  “Tell me more about Commander Orlutinion. What’s he like?”

  “He seemed sad about the loss of his daughter, Mr. President. And I thought he was sincere about helping us protect our planet from more solar flares.”

  “Well, I hope you’re right about that because I think we’re going to need all the help we can get. You know, we’re still trying to restore electrical power in several states. The Secretary of Energy tells me it could take weeks to get everything back to normal. They never saw anything like this before. Did Commander Orlutinion say why they were visiting our planet in the first place, Colonel?”

  “I think he said they were interested in our sun, Mr. President. Commander Orlutinion showed us what happened to their home planet and told us it would happen to our planet one day, but not for many millions of years because our sun is much younger than their sun.”

  “Well, that’s good news. I guess you all know I’m holding a press briefing in two hours to tell the public about the UFO crash and the Tularians’ visit. We released a statement to the public at eleven o’clock. Miss Weston, you will meet with my Press Secretary, Brad Windley, after this meeting. He’ll give you some questions to ask me at the briefing. I’ll call on you first. Brad wants you to do an interview with your national news network after the press briefing. I promised to do this when we made our deal and I keep my promises.”

  “Thank you, Mr. President.” Kaye said. “Do I have your permission to comment on the press briefing after this meeting for my news station in Chicago?” Kaye asked.

  “You have my permission, Miss Weston. Brad released some of your footage on the UFO crash in preparation for the press briefing today. He’ll meet with you after our meeting and show you what was released. I’m afraid it may get quite hectic today for all of us.” The President seemed pleased that the secret was out in the open now.

  “Well, I’m afraid I must conclude this meeting to prepare for the press briefing. Colonel Hampton, I appreciate the information you told me about Commander Orlutinion. I hope I get a chance to meet him soon. It must have been fascinating on board their space ship. I can’t emphasize enough how much the Tularians helped to save our astronauts and the International Space Station from the solar storm. Our nation is indebted to them. Harry, please stay for a minute. I need to talk to you in private.”

  The meeting was over. Fred led the group outside the Oval Office and closed the door. The President walked to one of the windows and looked outside at the front lawn of the White House. “Harry, I sent a message to the Tularian commander this morning. I expressed sympathy for their loss and offered to return the bodies and other items they requested. I thought it was the right thing to do under the circumstances. I know you wanted to keep everything secret, but I’ve made my decision. I thought it best to work with these aliens and learn from them. We need to protect our planet.”

  “I understand, Mr. President. I would have done the same thing if I had known what was going to happen.”

  “Commander Orlutinion has responded to the message I sent this morning. He says he’ll pick up the bodies this evening. He’ll bring his spaceship to the Milwaukee Air Force Base at eight p.m., local time. He requested that three of the astronauts aboard the ISS join him on his spaceship. They plan to travel to the sun and dispose of the bodies as is their custom. I gave my permission to NASA to let them go. The astronauts will be returned to the ISS except for one, the Russian science specialist. He’ll stay with them to learn more about their race and how to predict solar storms. Apparently, he has already figured out from the data the Tularians sent that our own planet’s magnetic field is shifting. It’s going to affect all our navigation systems.”

  “I understand. I’ll advise General Walton and General Anderson to prepare the bodies for the visit. Anything else, Mr. President?”

  “Yes, one more thing. I told Commander Orlutinion that I plan to be there to greet him. Commander Orlutinion says he’ll present a gift to us. I assume it will be information on this solar shield Colonel Hampton told us about. I want you and your group to come with me on Air Force One and be present when we return the bodies and the disks to the Tularians.”

  “I’
ll make the necessary arrangements, Mr. President. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of everything.”

  The group left the Oval Office. The Defense Secretary, General Walton, General Anderson and Colonel Hampton decided to find a local place for lunch and return in time for the press briefing. Brad Windley was waiting outside the President’s office to talk to Kaye and her crew. Brad introduced himself. “Miss Weston, I’m Brad Windley, the President’s Press Secretary. Please follow me.” Kaye recognized him immediately. Brad was well known to the news media. They all shook hands.

  Brad took them to his office and went over the plans for the briefing, the questions Kaye could ask the President and the interview with the host of CBS’s national news network afterwards. Brad showed them the footage and statement he released to the networks. The phones were ringing off the hook. The UFO crash was making headlines around the world. Reporters were clamoring to get more information. Kaye understood the situation and thanked Brad for his help. Then Kaye took her crew to the place known as ‘Pebble Beach’ on the northern lawn of the White House to film her piece on meeting the President and the plans for the press briefing with the co-anchors of the Channel Two News team in Chicago to put on the air live. This was a breaking news story and she was leading the pack. Now she just had to wait for the President to read his statement and answer her questions. It would change the world and she would be a part of history.

  At 2:00 p.m., the President entered the White House briefing room. The place was packed with reporters who were talking noisily. Secretary Patterson, General Walton, General Anderson and Colonel Hampton stood in the front of the room behind the podium with the other dignitaries. Kaye was seated in the front row in the seat next to the White House reporter who was a familiar face on CBS’s national news network. Kurt and Debbie were in the back of the room filming the whole event live. Everybody became quiet when Brad Windley announced the President of the United States of America.

  President Maxwell strode to the podium. He appeared calm and relaxed. He was ready for this. “Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press, honored guests and people of the United States, I have an important announcement to make to all of you today. With me is the President of the United Nations, Vice President Bossell, members of my Cabinet, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the NASA Chief Administrator and others involved in what I am about to tell you. I thank them for coming and for their help these past few days.” He nodded to each of them and then continued. “This announcement concerns the whole world for the events of the past few days have been felt worldwide. All of you know how the sun’s recent solar storm has affected our country and the planet during the last three days. It has disrupted satellite communication systems, space defense systems, navigation and location-based systems worldwide. There have been numerous shipping, transportation and airline incidences that have resulted in close calls, property damage and even loss of life. Airlines had to be shut down in our county for the second time in our history and flights cancelled due to extreme radiation exposure at high altitudes and loss of navigation and GPS location services. Yesterday morning, at the peak of the worst solar storm in our history, electrical power systems were overloaded and shut down across the entire Northeast and Midwest sections of our country, affecting millions of our people and costing billions of dollars in lost productivity, food loss, property damage and other disruptions. I commend the power utilities for their quick actions to restore power where needed and their efforts to prevent this from happening again. I commend our people for helping their neighbors to cope and recover from this emergency, and having patience while we work to restore power in our great country.

  “I know you are familiar with the events of the past three days, but I wanted to refresh your memories of the damage one solar storm can cause our planet and why it is necessary to work together to prevent this kind of damage in the future. We will not be able to do it alone. The sun affects our everyday life and the very existence of live on our planet. We are at its mercy as are all the races of the universe. I say this because, as you know, we released information this morning about an Unidentified Flying Object that crashed in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan late Monday night. There were four beings on board the craft when it crashed. All are confirmed dead. The UFO has been recovered by our military and the bodies removed from the crash site to a secured location. The beings are not from Earth. They are aliens from a distant solar system many light years from our sun.” The entire room was totally silent. Everybody was too shocked to breath.

  The President paused for a moment, then continued. “We know this because, in a way, we were responsible for the aliens’ deaths. At the beginning of the sun’s solar flare, one of our astronauts aboard the International Space Station was working outside on an EVA trying to repair the robotic manipulator arm. He was caught in the first wave of X-ray and Gamma radiation produced by the solar flare. It shut down his manned maneuvering unit and he was stranded outside in the magnetic storm. He would have died from radiation exposure without help from the alien spacecraft that suddenly appeared and helped him get back inside the space station. Our NASA scientists say the magnetic storm caused a solar panel power generator on the International Space Station to overload and explode, sending out metal fragments that damaged the ISS and crippled the alien spacecraft. The damage caused the spacecraft to explode as the aliens tried to make an emergency landing on our planet.

  “Initially, we tried to keep the details of the crash secret. We did not want to panic the nation or the world. We wanted to see what we could learn from the alien craft and technology and contain any biological or other types of contamination. However, another alien craft appeared, a much bigger spaceship, which made contact with the crew aboard the International Space Station. As some of you may know, the space station was in serious jeopardy from the effects of the magnetic storm. Five of the astronauts had to abandon the space station early Wednesday morning. The remaining astronauts could not get off in time before the storm knocked out most communication, navigation and power systems aboard the space station. It began to spin out of control and was in danger of losing altitude and falling from orbit. NASA did not report this on my orders. The appearance of the alien spaceship prevented this from happening. Again, the aliens saved the lives of our astronauts and prevented the loss of the space station. We’re totally in their debt for preventing this tragedy, and we’re very grateful.” President looked at the audience to emphasize this point.

  “This is an historic occasion for the people of our planet. We have irrefutable proof of the existence of extraterrestrial life for the first time in our history. Many will continue to deny the possibility of intelligent life beyond our planet. I know it will take time to accept this fact. These aliens are real and we have proof. The pictures we released today were documented by an independent team of TV reporters from Chicago present in this room today. Miss Kaye Weston, who is seated here in front of me and her team from Chicago discovered the facts about the crash in the UP and were planning to break the story before we were ready. We asked her not to release the story and help us document this historic occasion. Thank you, Miss Weston, for delaying your story so as not to cause panic in our country and for allowing us time to do the right thing.” Kaye nodded her appreciation to the President and knew every camera in the room was on her. She was as shocked as everyone else on the news about the ISS causing the accident. She wondered if Dave knew this and looked at him behind the podium. From his smile, she knew he did.

  The President continued. “We now know the identity of the aliens and where they are from. They are from a planet called Tular in a solar system 50 light years from our sun. They made contact with the astronauts aboard the space station on Tuesday. This is not the first time they have visited our planet. They have been studying our sun and planet for many centuries. Their race is much older than ours and they have been waiting patiently for us to develop and join them in the exploration of space. We have much to learn from them
and they have offered to help us in exchange for the bodies and other items we recovered from the crash site. We have agreed to this exchange.

  “The Tularians have sent us information about their race and our sun and how to predict future solar flares. They say our sun will become more active in the years ahead and we must be prepared to protect our planet from more solar storms like the one we just experienced. They have offered to teach us and give us the technology we need to protect our planet in the future. It will be a huge undertaking and will last for many years. The technology will advance our understanding of space science and prepare us to join the Tularians as partners in exploring the universe. We thank them for this opportunity and look forward to their help in this endeavor.

  “I plan to establish a commission to work on this important project. It will be led by Vice President Bossell and will be composed of many people in government and the private sector. In addition, the United Nations will form a similar commission made up of people from many nations who can help us protect our world from future solar storms. We don’t have a choice in this matter. It must be done and we will start today.

  “At this time, I would like to acknowledge the fine performance of our military team in charge of the crash investigation headed by the Defense Secretary, Harry Paterson; the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Walton; the Deputy Chief of Staff, General Anderson; and the Chief Crash Investigator, Colonel Dave Hampton. I also wish to acknowledge the efforts of NASA’s Chief Administrator, Doctor Tannenbaum; his team at the Johnson Space Center in Houston and Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, and the commendable performance of the astronauts aboard the International Space Station led by Commander Julian Bonario. It is with great pride and hope for the future that we honor these fine people for what they have done for our nation.