The Unearthing
Page 42
“Ladies and gentlemen meet the Hthaask,” Kodo said, “They evolved from omnivorous scavengers. When the Ship arrived, the Hthaask had an advanced civilization that used metallurgy, vegetable and alcohol-based fuels and geothermal power. The Hthaask hadn’t yet developed space flight but they had already built large cities and had advanced computronics. They were even sending radio messages into space the same way SETI used to.”
“But…why is there no evidence of this?” Bloom asked, “Where are the ruins of their cities? Where are their machines?”
“According to the Ship, most of the Hthaask culture was based on biomechanical and biodegradable technology, including their cities,” Kodo said, “Their civilization wasn’t based around fossil fuels, the way ours is. In fact there were no fossil fuels back then. That we can’t find evidence of their metalwork and other undegradable products could owe much to simple geologic reformation. If they had nuclear fuel we’d never know it today as it would have long ago degraded into baser elements. We’ve dug up much of the earth in archaeology and in mining and construction…we may have stumbled across their technological remains and never known. Over the last sixty-eight million years, the Cataclysm and natural geological events have eroded away what the Hthaask had left behind as monuments.”
“How ironic,” Andrews said dryly, “That the first civilization to grace this world was so much more in tune with the environment, while ours has done so much to destroy the environment by mining and burning our predecessors’ remains. They were killed by the environment, and we have done a wondrous job of killing the environment, by using their remains.”
“It’s been a Human conceit since the dawn of our civilization that we were the first intelligent life form on this world,” Kodo said, “And that ours is the pinnacle of technological success. It appears that neither is the case.”
♦♦♦
Bloom was still reeling from Kodo’s statements when later that night Major Benedict came knocking on her office door.
“Colonel,” He said.
“Hello Major. Have a seat.” She fixed herself a coffee and sat back down at her desk.
“I won’t pretend to know how you found out about my little black op,” she said, referring “But the fact that you aided me in it tells me you’re either working for Justice, investigating me and those above me or you’re working for the same people I am.”
“I imagine that I’m working for the same people you are, Colonel,” He replied, “Though I think I’m working from a position a little higher up the food chain than you are.”
Bloom arched an eyebrow at this. “What do you mean?”
Benedict grinned. “Ladies first,”
“Not too often I get called a lady; I’ll try not to take it personally. Major, I am working under a G-1 security clearance on this one, so I don’t have to tell you that anything I reveal will get me court-martialled with the highest applicable punishment,” Bloom said, her eyes narrowing seriously, “G-1 security violations are considered to be capital offences. So let’s be perfectly clear on this: I am about to trust you with my life. Therefore if anything I say to you leaks and you will find yourself eating the business end of my sidearm. Understood?”
“Perfectly,” Benedict replied, dryly. Bloom nodded, sipped her coffee and then continued:
“I am working for a branch of the DIA commonly referred to as Area 51.”
“The Groom Lake Facility,” Benedict said, “Officially denied, not on any books and considered the Military’s Worst Kept Secret since William Jefferson Clinton signed papers essentially saying that the US did not have to acknowledge that it existed. It’s such a badly-kept secret nobody bothers to watch it except the kooks. That’s why it’s the best place to run black flags, right out in the open; I’ve put in my time there as well.” Bloom couldn’t hide her surprise.
“Really,” She said.
He nodded. “About six years before I was assigned Concord Three. They had me examining thruster components from the Bug.”
Bloom nodded. “That little bee I took from the hive is going to answer a few million questions for them. Probably give them about a billion more. I’ve been working for the DIA the whole time I’ve been here at Arapaho, feeding everything we give to the World Ship Summit to my handler before I send it on to Geneva.”
“I’ve been running a similar filing process with our handler the whole time I’ve been here as well.”
“Our handler?” Bloom repeated.
“The Chairman Joint Chiefs,” Benedict said, “That is who you report to, isn’t it? You’re still not reporting directly to General Harrod, are you, ma’am?” Bemused, Bloom shook her head.
Benedict continued: “In any event, where you report to the Cee-Jay-Cee in his capacity as titular head of the DIA, I report to him on a much higher level. You mentioned G-classifications, before. I’d qualify as a G-Zero classification, if such a level of classification even officially existed. Fact is we both work for the same people; you just don’t know it yet.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I don’t expect you would Colonel,” Benedict said, “But you’re a good person in a bad situation, the same as me. You wouldn’t do anything to betray our Government any more than I would. But we don’t, strictly speaking, work for the US Government right now.”
“You mean the World Council?”
“No; let me explain: Groom Lake, for all intents and purposes is a facility of the United States government. And although it was set up for that purpose originally – witness the Ghostrider Project, commonly referred to by its biggest mistake The Philadelphia Experiment – The US government hasn’t actually run Groom Lake since the end of War Two. At the time that Bug was found in the Alberta Badlands, an international body was formed, led and staffed by members of three governments, yet reporting only to themselves. The organisation is known as the Committee and is run by members of the American, British and Canadian governments. Their job is benefit their respective governments by cataloguing acquiring and studying alien artifacts like the Bug, like the UO from Roswell, and--”
“And like the Ship,” Bloom rasped.
“Exactly; the founding members of the Committee occupied the same positions in Government that its current members hold. The Canadian Minster of National Defence, the Canadian Natural Resources Minister, the Canadian Solicitor General…the British Ambassador to Canada, the British Defence Minister, the head of MI-6 and from the US, the Curator of the Smithsonian Institute, the White House Chief of Staff—”
“And the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,” Bloom said.
Benedict nodded and continued: “An advisory council of past members of the Committee and certain captains of industry also occupy the sphere of power. Beneath them there are two levels of subordinates: Tier One personnel like myself, aware of the Committee, aware of who the players are and a second level referred to as the double-blinds, who think they are working for their respective governments. People like you, like General Harrod and like our dear departed friend Colonel Jude, are double blinds.”
“But…you were with me aboard Concord Three,” Bloom said, “Before the Ship was unearthed.”
“That’s right,” Benedict replied, “I’m only called to work for the Committee at certain times. When your late ex-husband first started digging up the Ship and ordered the orbital scan, the DIA became aware of it. The DIA’s standing orders from the Pentagon are to send in a black ops team to acquire or destroy alien artifacts upon discovery. They’re also expected to run a complete sanitization of the site; eliminating any witnesses. The Committee became aware of this because General Harrod, the head of the DIA, reported to his superior officer, the Chairman Joint Chiefs. The Committee didn’t want to risk something as significant as the Ship being destroyed and the Chairman couldn’t simply rescind standing orders. The Committee hadn’t stationed me aboard C-3; but the fact that I was there made the job a lot easier. I was activated aboard Concord Three, to sabotage
Harrod’s mission. At least I would have if you hadn’t beaten me to the punch. When you sent that pirate Grid link to INN you actually did a lot to help. I doubt you’ll be surprised to learn that the black ops team sent in by the DIA to the Ship was commanded by Colonel Jude.”
“Fuck,”
“Basically Colonel, I was ordered to facilitate your theft of a Bug from the Ship, so that the Committee could get their hands on a fully functional sample and begin reverse-engineering it before anyone else did. The US is out of favour with the World Council. The likely candidates for the contract to reverse engineer one of the Bugs will be either Germany, Japan, or Russia.”
“So the Committee had me steal a Bug for the DIA so that the US and Canada would have first shot?”
“The US and Great Britain more likely; Canada’s role on the Committee seems to be more advisory; token.” Bloom shook her head in disgust. She’d been used and she felt like a ten-dollar whore.
“Those goddamn motherfuckers,” Bloom swore, angrily. She stared at her desk, at the console screen where the K-rune reflected back into her eyes. As her anger at being manipulated began to subside, she turned back to Benedict.
“So, why are you telling me all of this?”
Benedict sighed and stretched. “Because,” he said, “You are something of a darling among members of the Committee. You even have a benefactor on the Committee, to whom you owe your current position as commander of Fort Arapaho and the Ship Survey Expedition.”
Bloom was taken aback. “The Cee-Jay-Cee?”
“No,” Benedict replied, “Actually the Canadian Defence Minister: seems he went to the mat to put you where you are, because you never let your ethics take a back seat to your orders.”
Bloom sneered. “I knew getting repeatedly court-martialled would pay off eventually.”
“The reason I’m approaching you right now is because aside from my orders from the Committee to help you steal the Bug, the Minister asked me to recruit you to Tier One.”
“Why?”
“Because the World Ship Summit is very likely going to put the Ship and its passengers under military control when it launches for its home base. The Committee’s going to want someone in its hip pocket in the driver’s seat. The Minister wants to make sure that the Committee’s influence is tempered by the Ship’s Commander’s code of honour. More simply put Colonel, you’re being groomed to command the Ship.”
The process of first contact between the Ship and Humanity was complete. The Ship and its technologies and resources were now very much part of the World and the World was now living in a new era. And with the exchange about to take place, Mankind hoped to join the greater commonwealth of worlds and take its place among the stars.
NINETEEN
BOARDING CALL
TRANSCRIPT
INTERACTIVE NEWS NETWORK
plain text format
PATH:INN<>HEADLINES>> THE SHIP>> WORLD PREPARES FOR THE LAUNCH OF THE SHIP ><
ANCHOR
Good afternoon and welcome to INN. In the two months since the Ship put forth its invitation to the world, the World Ship summit has been working around the clock in preparation for the departure of the Ship and two hundred thousand of our fellow Human Beings.
The Village surrounding the Ship has grown to a community of millions as industries have sprung up to harvest technology and scientific information from the Ship. New residences have been built for the people coming to bid farewell to Earth and board the Ship. Accommodations are also being created for their friends and family who will be brought in for a final farewell with their loved ones before the Ship launches.
As of yet no date has been set for the launch of the Ship, although sources close to the World Ship Summit have been quoted as saying mid-July is the most likely time. The results of the worldwide lottery to determine who will make up the passenger complement of the Ship are being tabulated and notices will be sent out to the two hundred thousand primaries and fifty thousand runners up.
PATH:INN <>THE SHIP >>THE LOTTERY >>SUMMARY ><
In order to determine makeup of the passenger manifest for Operation Shipflight, the World Council has devised a lottery system by which nearly every citizen of the planet would be eligible to become part of the passenger complement, providing they meet physical and psychological guidelines set out by the World Health Organization. Restrictions for individual eligibility are further limited to families of a maximum of five, or single people over the age of fourteen and under the age of seventy.
Because of the size of the world population, all citizens within these qualification ranges are automatically considered to be entered into the lottery. Only those who contact the World Ship Lottery Commission to request disqualification will be removed from the lottery and there is no time limit imposed upon self-disqualification.
Because of the vast size of the Ship and the ability of its habitat to support life, all members of a qualified applicant’s immediate family, regardless of age, are considered part of the applicant’s ticket should they win. Tickets are transferable, by notarized contract.
Certain people are automatically eligible for tickets onto the Ship, including all past and present members of the Ship Survey Expedition and select members of the Laguna Band.
A special category of the lottery has been set up for people in the health services and wellness industries, including nurses, doctors, dentists, optometrists, etc. Health and wellness personnel registered with their local and national associations will be registered in a separate lottery designed to provide the entire population of the Ship with adequate health and wellness coverage.
Similarly, the spiritual needs of the passengers on the Ship will be taken care of through another special lottery designation set up by the Vatican Interfaith Council to ensure that the religious communities of the Ship’s population are properly represented.
As to safety issues such as policing, fire, etc. the World Ship Summit has decided to leave these under the jurisdiction of the Ship’s command crew, to be composed of military personnel who will be selected from a list of qualified volunteers from the Allied World Army and its member nations.
INN<>THE SHIP >>INFORMATION ARCHIVE >>CREW MANIFEST><
SORRY! THIS SPAR IS STILL BEING ACTUALIZED. PLEASE TRY AGAIN LATER.
♦♦♦
Allison McQuire shut down her console’s viewer and selecting music, put it down beside her chair. She needed to stand up. The package had come for her first thing this morning. She’d had the day off and had gotten up early to enjoy a full day of lounging around in her underwear, drinking coffee and smoking up when the door chimes sounded. It was a courier dropping off a package from James.
As a former member of the Ship Survey Expedition, he’d been automatically qualified for a Ticket. He knew he’d be rejected when it came time for the physical; the World Health Organization looked none too favorably on Oil heads. And although he’d been offered what amounted to a personal fortune to sell his Ticket, James wanted her to have it. He still loved her, he’d written, and if she didn’t want the Ticket, she could do with it as she pleased. He’d taken the time to have the necessary notarized forms filled out and the Ticket with her name and information on it was now sitting there before her, printed on thick, embossed and platinum-leafed paper; a hundred thousand security devices to prevent fraud built into it, including sixty interconnected microchips.
The note and the Ticket had been the first contact Allison had had with James in more than two months. Along with everything the Ticket represented for Allison’s future came everything that contact with James represented: the heartache he’d caused, the pain of what she saw as her failure to help him, to save him. She was over him; at least, she thought she was. But the wounds were still too fresh. She pulled a joint from the pack she’d bought that morning and lit it up. She and James hadn’t been together that long; they hadn’t even known each other that long. It wasn’t like her to fall that hard, that fast…but she had and it was
over, ended all too soon.
Sad ballads were blasting from the wall console’s speakers, but Allison couldn’t get pulled into the tide of grief the way she wanted; the Ticket kept calling her back as it sat patiently on the coffee table her name engraved on its surface. The Ship. She was selected as one of its passengers. She could be one of the people to be aboard; be one of the truly few members of Humanity to leave this small, blue world and do what no one in all of Human history had ever done: leave its cradling solar system behind. The most dreamed-of Human adventure was within her grasp if she wanted it. If she was brave enough; if she dared.