by Geoff Wolak
Britain was next, and the cities started to empty, especially London. At 10am the next day, the UFO appeared over Piccadilly Circus, and an alien in human form looked up at one of his own ships, recognising it. That ship fired on the BBC transmitters, but also demolished Nelson’s Column, damaging the Victoria and Albert Museum just for fun. Big Ben was next, its famous clock soon on the street below, in pieces.
The UFO disappeared as the RAF screamed overhead, and it reappeared at RAF Mildenhall, destroying a dozen USAF aircraft on the ground in a single pass. And then it vanished.
A week passed, and no sightings came, but the world’s air forces remained ever vigilant. There was only one topic of conversation in the bars, and that was when the world would be colonised by aliens, humans enslaved. A month passed, and people figured it would not come back for a while – as it had done previously.
Life turned back towards normal, but life would never be the same again, not for anyone here. Coalition politics appeared in many places, parties of war unity in a time of global crisis and, three months after the last attack, the Russians and the Americans sat down in Iceland. A deal was struck to reduce nuclear missile stockpiles, whilst both sides agreed that radars and anti-aircraft missiles should be bolstered, and that they would share information on new weapons.
NASA was flat out busy, the best of the European scientists now camped out in Houston and trying desperately to figure a defence, any defence, and to give the world some hope. Analysis of the metal fragments that had fallen off the ship revealed unusual properties, in that the substance appeared to be similar to a solar panel in some respects. Scientists theorised that it absorbed the Sun’s rays, and everyone accepted that as making sense, since the ship probably flew in space. They also figured that it was radar invisible, and the metal gave them new ideas about aircraft skins.
Key to their efforts was tracking the UFO, and NASA spent much of its time on that aspect, new microwave radars being tested, pulse radars also being keenly tested. A great deal was getting done, the best brains The West had now camped out in Texas, and all were cooperating like never before, all up late with a coffee most nights.
Nine months later and the UFO was back, now seen over Southern Chile. The alert was issued, jets made ready, but those jets were a long way from Chile. Santiago was buzzed, nothing fired upon, the craft seen over Ecuador a day later. America braced itself; it was next. Colombia was buzzed, but again nothing was fired upon, Panama City buzzed, USAF jets stationed in Panama launching to intercept. Missiles were fired, two jets damaged. Then nothing.
Three days later Mexico City was buzzed, a TV mast destroyed. The US President, George Bush Sr., moved to Cheyenne Mountain and hunkered down, everyone expecting America to be attacked next. And President Bush was in for a shock as he hid deep in the mountain, the aerial arrays above him being demolished. NORAD was partially blind, the President cut off. Little more than ten minutes later the White House was hit and damaged, no casualties sustained. This was getting personal.
Jets rushed to intercept the UFO over Washington, several shot down, a few pilots killed this time. The UFO, if it was the same one, appeared over New York, the citizens all now in the shelters, many radio masts and TV masts hit. But then the UFO changed tactic, and hit JFK Airport, empty passenger jets sat on the tarmac bursting into flames, the air traffic control tower destroyed.
USAF jets over New York found no sign of the craft, Toronto hit a few minutes later, aerial arrays destroyed. Canada’s tallest tower, empty at the time, was sliced through, its top half tumbling to the ground, the impact felt right across the city. The craft was seen over Greenland, and then it vanished.
President Bush had waited a day, and then bravely appeared to give a speech. ‘We will not back down, we will not give in, and we will overcome this challenge to our way of life.’
During the crisis of the past few years, the Space Shuttle had been grounded, delayed, and then finally launched, since space exploration was considered important, now considered very important. The Shuttle’s crew knew they were exposed, but so far the aliens had only attacked TV masts, and shot back at aircraft that shot at it. Some commentators had gone so far as to say that fighter aircraft should not approach it.
A month after the last attack, Space Shuttle Endeavour was launched, an Indian and a British crewman onboard. They made a good orbit, and launched a satellite that would scan near-space, possibly to spot an alien approaching. Having launched the satellite, ground control panicked.
‘CapCom, Endeavour, you have a bogey approaching.’
‘CapCom, say again.’
‘CapCom, Endeavor, you have a radar track approaching you, and it’s slowing down, matching your speed.’
The President got a call, and his heart sank.
The crew of the Shuttle peered out of the windows, and put on EV suits and helmets, just in case. They could soon see the object approaching, and in the reflection of the Sun they could see that it was almost identical to the craft that had been attacking Earth.
‘CapCom, it’s identical to the other craft.’
‘Endeavour, what year is this?’ came a voice.
After a pause, came, ‘Endeavour, unknown sender, please identify.’
‘Endeavour, this is Captain Toby Holton, Earth Defence Force, but I guess you’ve never heard of us. This is embarrassing, but … I’m kinda lost.’
‘Endeavour, Captain Holton, are … you off our port side?’
‘Yep. I’ve lowered the stealth shield on this ship. Can you see me?’
‘Captain Holton, yes, we … can see the craft. Endeavour, CapCom, please advise.’
‘CapCom to unknown sender, please identify.’
‘CapCom, could you do me a small favour … and just tell me the damn date.’
‘CapCom, unknown sender, it’s … July, 1985.’
‘Bollocks.’
‘CapCom, unknown sender, uh … resend last.’
‘CapCom, I’m … from the future. Not only that, I’m from a parallel dimension. Where I come from the year is 2048.’
‘CapCom, Holton, did you say … 2048?’
‘Yes, about sixty years into the future. We captured an alien craft, fixed it, and I was one of the test pilots chosen to fly it. I was on a routine high speed flight outside the gravity well when … I hit a wrong button I think. And now, now I’m here.’
‘CapCom, Holton, we’ve been suffering attacks from an unknown alien ship for many years, same configuration as yours.’
‘Attacks? What … kind of attacks?’
‘CapCom, Holton, random attacks at cities and TV transmitters, right across the globe.’
‘That’s happened before, on other worlds.’
‘CapCom, Holton, please clarify: other worlds?’
‘Here’s a quick science lesson, guys. History … is a cosmic string of energy. Every once in a while it splits in two, and two histories go forwards, identical at the point of splitting. After random events they change. I’ve been to several versions of Earth, and our federation of linked worlds has eight versions of Earth all talking to each other. We have portal technology, and can jump from one world to another.’
‘CapCom, Holton, you’ve come across these aliens before?’
‘The Zim, they call themselves. Yes, and we have ships that can detect their craft and destroy them. This ship can detect them, and its weapons are similar. Now that I know you’re suffering attacks, I’ll send help back.’
‘CapCom, Holton, could you provide us with details of how to defend ourselves?’
‘Sure. I could link in to your computers, but yours are all a bit primitive in this era. If I can find my squadron I’ll bring them back.’
‘CapCom, Holton, did you say … squadron?’
‘Yes, six ships, but of a human design. Far better than the alien ships; better weapons. Problem is, I’m kinda lost and … it may be best for them to find me, instead of me going to find them. We understand these alien ships, but
obviously not a hundred percent - or I wouldn’t be here.’
‘CapCom, Holton, can you land that thing?’
‘Sure, but I know what your pre-war CIA was like, and they’d shine a torch up my arse, then take the ship to attack the Russians.’
There came a pause. ‘CapCom, Holton, you said pre-war?’
‘You guys are due to start World War Three in six years.’
‘CapCom, Holton, do you have knowledge of our future?’
‘Yes, and you’ll fight a war, where America, Europe and Russia are destroyed. After that, an Arab army will rise and take what’s left of the planet. Unless you’re on the list.’
‘CapCom, Holton, what list?’
‘A list of worlds visited by aliens or time travellers. If you’re being attacked, it’s because they already have people on the ground infiltrating your ranks. The way they normally work … is to imitate people, learn life histories, and replace key people. Those key people then trigger wars, and that stops mankind developing - and being a threat to the Zim in the future.’
‘CapCom, Holton, could you assist us with spotting them?’
‘We have scanners, and they have different DNA, but again …. I’m kinda lost here. What I could do is scan for their ships on the ground.’
‘CapCom, Holton, explain last segment.’
‘Alien infiltrators always have the ships that they came in tucked away. They’re invisible, and they usually place them high on mountains, or somewhere where you won’t bump into them. This ship will highlight them for me - if there are any on the ground. Standby.’
After a minute, Toby transmitted, ‘CapCom, there’s one sat on the ground in Scotland, in the Highlands.’ And there was, he had just spotted it.
‘CapCom, Holton, can you give us its coordinates?’
‘I can do better than that, I can position myself right above it. I can also open its door for you. But by doing so I’d be breaking a dozen laws on my world, so … I want to talk with the leader of Britain, and I want an international group of scientists to take charge of that ship, including Russians and Chinese. Otherwise, no deal.’
‘CapCom, Holton, I’m … sure that can be arranged.’
‘CapCom, get me the leader of Britain. Oh, and CapCom, this ship will tell me where the signal is coming from, exactly where it is coming from. No CIA tricks; and I’ll be monitoring the BBC news and others. Go make a call.’
‘CapCom, Holton, please standby.’
‘Endeavour, what’s the food like on that tub?’
‘Endeavour, Holton, its packets, a bit basic.’
‘I have paste in tubes, and another tube for a dump; this ship is really cramped, single seat. These alien fellas, they hibernate on the way here. Six years or more.’
Two hours later came, ‘Captain Holton, in orbit, this is President Bush. Can you … er … hear me?’
‘Yes, Mister President, loud and clear. Go ahead.’
‘You got a lot of folks down here excited, and a few just a bit concerned. Can you … explain just who you are, and where the heck you’re from?’
‘I was raised in Canada, but my parents were British. By trade I’m a test pilot, and where I come from I was selected to test an alien ship that we had captured; been flying it for a few years now. I thought I knew the ship, but somehow went back in time after a fast orbit of the Sun, and … there’ll be hell to pay when they know I’m talking to you.’
‘NASA says that you’re from a parallel world, and from another time; they tried to explain it, but I admit to being a little lost.’
‘Don’t get hung up on the detail, Mister President, just accept that other worlds do exist, and time travel is possible.’
‘Some smart fellas down here reckon they already knew all that, and that funding should have been made available a long time ago.’
‘Give the scientists enough money, Mister President, and they’ll reinvent the wheel for you.’
‘Sounds like you know what I have to deal with. Well, Captain, the question on everyone’s lips … is can you help us?’
‘I can, Mister President, but only by breaking a few laws and rules, rules that I should be sticking to. We have rules about making contact with other worlds, and in other times, and rightly so; one wrong word could start a war - or change the course of history.’
‘At the moment, Captain, our future is being set by outsiders, and it doesn’t seem to be such a great future ahead for us. So what can you tell us about these hostile craft?’
‘I have very detailed files which I’ll let you have, but you’re ten or twenty years away from a defence, which is why they chose this time, sir. They came here now knowing that you’re vulnerable, and that you have a Cold War mentality. Their aim is to start a war, and to stop mankind reaching the stars – and reaching their home world.’
‘Seems like they’ve judged us in advance.’
‘Take a look around you, Mister President, at all the armies, ships, and all the nuclear weapons, and try convincing an outside observer that you’re a peaceful race.’
After a long pause, came, ‘I guess an observer might come to that conclusion.’
‘And that’s without the last sixty years of warfare, sir; not a great advert for mankind. They see you as dangerous, so they don’t want you advancing. On my world, we benefited from a time traveller, and he made six attempts to stop World War Three, finally getting it right; we now have peace, and we made it to 2048. On most other worlds we visited, none made it beyond 2017 without fighting a nuclear war. On one particular world they developed a flu virus and killed everyone.’
‘You said … a time traveller?’
‘Yes, sir, a traveller, the first one. He took three hundred years of going back and forth to get it finally right.’
‘Three hundred years?’
‘Where we come from we have drugs that extend life and cure all diseases known to man. After you fight World War Three, scientists in Canada will develop the drug in desperation to try and live with radiation.’
‘You said … cures all diseases?’
‘Yes, sir, all diseases, and greatly prolongs life. The future, Mister President, need not be a scary place to visit, it can be wonderful, you just need to get past World War Three, but I can’t guarantee I can help you with that; that’s beyond my mission parameters, and I’d need to follow the chain of command. But the very least I’ll do, sir, is give you some pointers before I leave, because you are fellow humans.’
‘Thank you, Captain, and let’s hope you don’t leave just yet. Can we talk again?’
‘Yes, sir, any time.’
Four hours later came a dry voice. ‘Thatcher for Captain Holton. Do you hear me?’
‘Yes, ma’am, I hear you.’
‘You sound British.’
‘British parents, dad from Richmond, but I grew up in Trophy, Canada, ma’am.’
‘And we’re led to believe that you are from some future date.’
‘Ma’am, you can trust your own eyes when I show you where that ship is in Scotland.’
‘We have all started to believe in the fantastic these past few years, and I have seen with my own eyes the suffering it has brought, the anguish and heartache across the world. If you have a solution to offer us, I would gladly kneel down and beg for it.’
‘That would be an unseemly position … for the Iron Lady of the history books. Oh, by the way, your own cabinet will stab you in the back and vote you out later on.’
There came a pause. ‘Perhaps, revelations about the future should be kept quiet for now.’
‘Yes, ma’am.’
‘As to your demands - that we have an international team look at that ship - I agree wholeheartedly, and I agree to make it so.’
‘What’s the time where you are, ma’am?’
‘Coming up to 7am.’
‘Then if you ask your air force not to fire on me, I’ll descend, and position myself over that ship. Your aircraft can track me, and I believe you
have … what Chinooks?’
‘We do, yes.’
‘Send them to the Central Highlands, ma’am, and track me as I descend. When they find the ship on the ground it’ll be invisible, so just throw some dirt over it or something. I’ll then help you get inside.’
‘And if we should have any more unwelcome visitors?’
‘Then they’ll be surprised by this ship firing on them. I can track them, and shoot. I’m starting to descend now, but you can reach me on this frequency. Holton to Endeavour, have a good mission, guys.’
Toby slowly descended, being tracked all the while, and positioned himself over Scotland, soon at sixty thousand feet and directly above the alien ship. He set a slow decent rate, and could see the tracks of aircraft below him, figuring them to be RAF Tornados or Phantoms. When he noticed two slow-moving aircraft, he figured them helicopters, and descended to ten thousand feet. Images of the helicopters came up on his screens, and they were indeed twin rotor Chinooks. With the helicopters just a few miles away he dropped lower, jets now overhead, and continued on down till he was just five hundred feet above the highest peak.
Scanning the various frequencies in use, he tapped-in to the Chinook pilot. ‘Lead Chinook, this is Captain Toby Holton in the craft above you. Receiving, over?’
‘This is Mike Whiskey One Niner, receiving you.’
‘Mike Whiskey, that alien ship is in a nasty tight gorge, and for good reason; not to be found. You’ll need to open your rear and have soldiers jump onto the slope, or you’ll hit the mountainside. Approach with caution.’
‘Captain Holton, received and understood, over.’
Toby observed the scene below, displayed as a holographic image, soldiers seen to be jumping from the rear of the helicopter, packs and weapons thrown out. Two minutes later, soldiers were hitting thin air with rifle butts; they had found it. Toby climbed straight up to eighty thousand feet, and hovered, some paste from a tube needed.
Half an hour later, came, ‘Thatcher for Holton.’
‘Holton here, ma’am.’