Encounters (The Spiral Slayers Book 1)

by Rusty Williamson

  During the battle, Adamarus shot down eight of El Asfar’s fighters and directly saved four of his pilots by picking off the enemy planes locked on their tails. This earned Adamarus the Medal of Valor and his status as an “Ace” fighter pilot. The air engagement was won and three days later, the offensive was launched against Dark Mountain and El Asfar was finally destroyed.

  Evelyn rubbed her forehead in confusion. As far as she could see, Adamarus was a hero, the battle was won and then the entire war was won. Things could not have gone any better! So why had Adamarus attempted to resign? How did “guilt” and “recovery” come into play?

  There was a final attachment and she opened it. The first page opened and she saw that it was another Red Raven Security Level document. She paged down and read.

  After the battle, an after action analysis of the engagement had been conducted. It had showed that El Asfar’s pilots had been absolutely lethal. But Adamarus’ training group had been very lucky.

  During the engagement, Adamarus had been on the tail of the fighter/bomber he had paired up with when he saw one of his pilots die as his plane was hit, then saw that another one of his pilots was on the verge of getting shot down. He radioed the pilot that he was on his way, but the senior officer monitoring the dogfight from a high altitude AWAC command plane ordered him to stay on his target. He immediately disengaged anyway, disobeying a direct order. He went to his pilot’s aid, picking off his tail and saving the pilot.

  As the aircrafts swerved and dove around each other in rapid succession, Adamarus found himself in the same situation three more times, picking off three more bombers and saving three more pilots.

  However, the fighter/bomber he had let go had left the fight, broken through the ground defenses and found its way to the target. The fighter/bomber would have caused fatalities and serious damage to the Clark Island facility, but that’s not what happened. Just as the pilot was releasing his load of bombs, his left wing was shot off by anti-aircraft fire. The plane flipped causing the load of bombs to be thrown off at an angle and they completely missed the Island, instead landing on a residential area of the nearby city. The death toll was horrendous. Two hospitals, one preschool, two elementary schools and a large child daycare center had been among the hundreds of structures destroyed. In all, 1221 civilians were killed and this had included hundreds of children.

  The after action analysis concluded that had Adamarus not disobeyed the order and gone to the aid of that first pilot, and instead pursued his own target, he would have shot down that fighter and still been able to save the other three pilots. His decision had traded one life for 1221.

  Adamarus blamed himself for the horrific tragedy. The analysis was classified—Amular needed heroes not court marshals, and so while publicly he was hailed as a hero and awarded the highest medal, inside he was torn and twisted with guilt. Right after the awards ceremony, Adamarus vanished and went AWOL for several days, then attempted to resign his commission. Knowing what Adamarus was facing, his CO had ripped up Adamarus’ letter of resignation and placed him in therapy where he remained for a year. Afterwards, he was given the intelligence posting to allow the remaining pieces of Adamarus’ soul to come back together.

  Evelyn could hardly breathe as she stared at the screen, eyes brimming with tears. It was unbelievable.

  ---

  Harrington and Jan saw the tears. Harrington adjusted the camera back to its default zoom factor and the small monitor continued its automatic routine of switching between the two views. She looked over at Jan, “What do you know of Adamarus' past?”

  Jan paused, then looked carefully at Harrington. “Dark Mountain?” she asked.

  “Yes,” Harrington looked back at the monitor. She knew because she and Leewood had reviewed Adamarus' complete file after he'd been dropped off at Hillcrest's ER by the Loud. She'd figured it likely that Jan knew being in PR—they had to be prepared in case of leaks to the press. “So, we both know what Evelyn just read.”

  Jan nodded, “What else could it be?”

  “Look, Jan, this is none of our business, but just so you know, I talked to Evelyn about this and there’s nothing at all that will come of it. She loves Brandon and would never do anything to hurt him or to put their relationship at risk.”

  Jan was nodding. “I can believe that. Let’s just hope that he doesn’t find out. From what I’ve seen of their relationship, he’d be destroyed.”

  “Yeah,” Harrington replied.

  They both looked back at the monitor just as it switched to the camera showing Evelyn’s front. Their thoughts and feelings froze. Their eyes went wide and it felt like the area just below their hearts dropped several feet. Jan brought her hands to her mouth. Harrington brought her hands to her chest. Neither could speak.

  Behind Evelyn, just over her right shoulder, Brandon stood watching.

  ---

  Evelyn didn’t turn around. She’d seen him walk up behind her in the monitor’s reflection. “Looks like I’m busted,” she deadpanned.

  “Big time,” Brandon deadpanned back in a bored voice. “You’ll be getting the morning coffee for at least a month.”

  “This is…so horrible,” she whispered.

  He placed his hand on her shoulder and she reached up and put her hand on his, “I know.”

  Now she turned and looked back at him, “You’ve read this?”

  “A couple of days ago.”

  “Geesh,” Evelyn rolled her eyes while trying to wipe tears away with her other hand. “I should have known.”

  “So, this little infatuation of yours…how bad is it? Probably hopeless after reading all that.”

  Evelyn shook her head, “Oh, yeah, pretty bad,” she smiled.

  “Should I be worried?”

  “Absolutely.”

  Brandon laughed, “You are a dog.”

  Evelyn logged off and stood, “Aren’t I though?”

  They put their arms around each other and walked towards the door. “Five weeks coffee detail,” Brandon threatened.

  “I bet Adamarus wouldn’t make me get his coffee,” Evelyn said with a pout.

  They reached the door. “Don’t make me hurt you,” Brandon said straight-faced.

  They walked out, “Ooh…promises, prom…” Evelyn’s voice faded as the door closed.

  ---

  “Oh…give me a break…” Jan said in a stunned voice, still staring at the small screen alternating between an empty chair and a closed door. Her eyes were watering.

  “That’s what I mean about maturity,” Harrington stated, her voice breaking.

  “Well, I don’t know, you know…at some point I think it becomes…ripe,” Jan said, wiping a tear from her cheek.

  Rick chose that moment to open the door and enter, coffee in hand. He saw their watery eyes and stopped in his tracks. “Oh wow, what’s wrong?!”

  “Goodnight, Rick,” Harrington said, and they walked out.

  Chapter Twenty – Secret Disclosure

  “Now, regarding dark energy…one interpretation of quantum mechanics asserts the objective reality of the universal wave function, but denies the reality of wave function collapse, which implies that all possible alternative histories and futures are real, each representing a universe on an alternate timeline. This means that an infinite number of universes exist. In one parallel universe, we never came to your world; and in another, we don’t even exist. So, why have I brought up this incredible sounding interpretation of quantum mechanics…and in connection with dark energy?”

  The Loud Named Bugs

  Opening Speech, 23rd Amular Symposium on Quantum Physics

  Source: The Archive

  At 5:00 a.m., Leewood buzzed Dr. Bradford Donnelly and then Dr. Gerald Van Loader. He woke both of them up. He apologized and told them that their attendance was required at an urgent, top-secret Presidential meeting.

  Just before 5:45 a.m., everyone arrived down in the atrium where they were greeted by Adamarus. Following clearance
by the armed guards requisitioned by the President to secure the meeting, Adamarus led them to a small conference room. They filed in and took seats at the conference table. Behind it, the still inactive form of Bugs’ avatar stood against the wall where it had left itself late last night.

  Leewood had explained the reason for the meeting to Harrington, but Donnelly and Van Loader were still completely in the dark as to why Leewood had summoned them.

  Adamarus got up, and while he walked over to the coffee station, he told Donnelly and Van Loader that all would be explained soon and to please be patient. He took a large mug from the cabinet, filled it and returned to his seat.

  It was too early for chit chat so no one was saying anything. As the clock slowly ticked off the remaining minutes, the others got up to get coffee. Adamarus blankly stared at the bluish metal form of the avatar. His fingers were ice cold and he held his mug between his hands in an effort to warm them. The silent conference room felt surreal and ominous. Adamarus took another sip, then distracted himself by going over a mental list of things he would soon need to cover.

  Finally, the second hand on the wall clock moved from 5:59 to 6:00 and in his peripheral vision, Adamarus saw two of the teleconference screens come to life. The Presidential Seal appeared on each. He glanced down at the avatar and saw that it had moved—Bugs was with them. After a second, President Wicker and Secretary of Defense Lance Thornton appeared on the two teleconferencing screens.

  Since Adamarus had discovered the situation, Leewood had given him the chore of chairing the meeting. Adamarus took a final sip of coffee, then got up and walked to the front of the room. “Good morning, Bugs.”

  “Good morning, Admiral Maximus,” the avatar said as it stepped off to the side.

  Adamarus cleared his throat and nodded at those seated at the conference table, “Good morning.” He looked at the teleconferencing screens, “Good morning, Secretary Thornton,” he nodded at the President, “Mr. President.” He turned back to the conference table. “I know that at least a couple of you have no idea why we are here.” Adamarus looked at Van Loader and Donnelly, “I’ll quickly go over things to get you up to speed. Late last night, we learned that the Loud know more about the approaching alien than they’ve told us.”

  Donnelly’s eyebrows rose and Van Loader pursed his lips and his face started turning red.

  Adamarus continued, “Unbelievably, we've only asked the Loud one time if they knew anything about the aliens, and strictly speaking, the question was phrased in such a way that restricted the question to a narrow span of time.” Adamarus quickly held up his hands, stopping the objections that were bound to come. “As I pointed out on the second day of our meeting, we do have this ‘little’ communication glitch with the Loud.

  "I stumbled over it a number of times, but only recently figured out what was happening. If a point in time is mentioned, it carries over to any question asked afterward.” Adamarus leaned forward, “Frankly, I think what has happened is bullshit; however, within the timeframe boundaries implied by the previous question, they would have answered in the negative…just as Bugs initially answered ‘no’ to Admiral Leewood’s question about the grav-bomb yesterday. In this sense, one could say that they did not lie to us.”

  Van Loader, whose face had been growing redder by the second, exploded from his chair yelling, “One could say? One could say?! You're right about it being bullshit!” Everyone jumped. “This is utterly fucking ridiculous!” he pointed at Bugs and yelled, “The alien bastards…”

  Wicker slammed a gavel down three times. It sounded like gunshots. His voice was raised and angry. “We will conduct this meeting in an orderly manner, Dr. Van Loader! I think we all feel the way you do and even sympathize with your outrage, but you will constrain yourself while others have the floor or I will have you removed. Have I made myself clear?”

  Van Loader’s face turned even redder. He would have openly glared at anyone else, but not the President. Instead, he glared straight ahead and sat back down.

  Wicker waited for him to answer his question, but when it was clear he didn’t intend to, Wicker said in a low, dangerous voice, “Dr. Van Loader, I do not like repeating myself. You will respond to my…”

  “Ka-rys-tal clear Mis-ter Pre-si-dent!” Van Loader interrupted the President in a fierce voice that clearly bordered on insubordination.

  Wicker stared hard at him for many seconds. Van Loader continued to stare straight ahead. One did not interrupt the President or speak to him in that way, and everyone held their breaths waiting for Wicker to slam Van Loader.

  Instead, Wicker addressed the group saying, “Okay…we are all…stressed, angry…even outraged, and certainly confused by this unexpected turn of events…myself included. However, I would suggest that we give the Loud the benefit of the doubt. After all,” Wicker’s eyes came to rest on Van Loader, “some of us would almost certainly be dead right now if it were not for the Loud.”

  The only one in the room that this clearly pertained to was Van Loader, who had been ninety-three and literally receiving last rites when the I-Pills had virtually pulled him from death’s doorstep. Van Loader cringed, closed his eyes, and visibly shrunk at this statement.

  “So far as I know,” Wicker continued, “the Loud have had a very good reason for doing everything they’ve done. So, let us move forward in a calm, professional manner. Consider that an order that will not be repeated.” He nodded towards Adamarus, “Admiral, please continue.”

  Adamarus nodded back at the President then turned and again faced the group. He spoke in a stern voice, “Clearly, the Loud knew we would want…indeed, that we would need, any and all information that they had on the alien. Yet they only answered the questions that we put to them and they offered no information beyond this.”

  Adamarus turned and looked at Bugs, and around the anger, there was hurt and confusion in his eyes. “Without a doubt, at the very least, they misled us.” Adamarus paused for a second and took a deep breath. Continuing to look at the Loud, he went on, “Still, what is not clear is whether they had our best interests at heart.”

  Adamarus’ head jerked around as Van Loader exploded halfway out of his chair with a guttural expulsion. However, with visible effort, Van Loader stopped himself. He was visibly shaking. Everyone was watching him. The President had the gavel raised, ready to bring it down. Van Loader closed his eyes and lowered himself back into a sitting position without saying a word.

  After a beat, Adamarus, now looking back at the group, continued, “They claim that their reason for doing this…was that they were afraid that we would not be able to…” he glanced back at Bugs, “handle the truth.”

  At this, both Van Loader’s and Dr. Donnelly’s angry demeanor took a small, but noticeable turn. Obviously, neither had expected the Loud’s reason for withholding information. Both still looked angry, but this was now tempered with uncertainty.

  ---

  At 6:30, a few early birds turned out for the day’s scheduled meeting. They had not seen or had left their cabins before the cancellation notice arrived. They took the elevators down before signs had been set up at the entrances to the elevators. They had no clue until they got off the elevators in the atrium. There, in surprise, they saw the signs and ropes going up. They jumped when the walls lit up as a flash of lightning shone through the front windows, followed quickly by the crack and rumble of thunder. Turning to the glass doors that led out into the atrium proper, it was easy to see that there’d be no meeting…not right now and probably for the entire day. The rain came straight down, each drop making a small splash in the thin sheets of water already streaming across the concourse’s granite tiles.

  ---

  “We have purposely kept this meeting small…” Adamarus continued, “as well as ‘ultra’ secret at Bugs’ suggestion. Not knowing what to expect, this seemed prudent.”

  Adamarus waited several seconds then squared his shoulders, “Okay, please listen up. This meeting carries a ne
w security level called ‘Black Raven.’ This special security level was created last night by the President specifically for this issue and this meeting. It is above the Red Raven level. It is very important that, unless specifically told otherwise by myself, Leewood or the President, no one is to discuss this new security level, this meeting, or anything discussed here this morning.” Adamarus paused and looked at each face making sure everyone understood.

  Adamarus then took out his communicator, touched a button on it and held it up. “Everyone should now set their communicators to ‘unavailable’ then set them face up on the table in front of you.” Everyone began making the adjustment. Adamarus continued as he walked around checking each com unit, “One other thing, we…created a weather problem in the atrium in order to postpone today’s scheduled meeting. This was done so that we could hear what the Loud have to say before moving on with those discussions. This fact is also covered by the Black Raven security level.” Adamarus then asked if there were any questions.

  Van Loader’s loud arrogant voice caused everyone to cringe inwardly. “Yeah!” he demanded as he slapped his hand down on the conference table, “Exactly what facts have they been withholding from us?”

  Adamarus replied calmly, “We will hear that now, Doctor.” He nodded to Bugs and moved to his seat, aware that Van Loader’s red face and glaring eyes were following him.

  Bugs walked to the front of the room. Its voice was stern and the volume was turned up, “First, I want to say that we regret that we felt it necessary to keep information from you. However, we regret even more that you have discovered this. We were and are acting in your best interests, and if this meeting continues, you will see this.” Bugs paused, allowing that to sink in then continued. “With one exception I will get to in a minute, this knowledge will not change anything in our joint defensive planning and strategies.”

  Bugs took a step forward, and as it looked at each person in turn, it spoke in a stern voice clipping off each word. “I am compelled to warn each of you, in the strongest possible terms, that the knowledge you have asked for, may harm you.” Adamarus could feel his heart pounding. “At the very least, it will cause stress and depression, and even though you may continue with the preparations of your planetary defenses, you will be stripped of all enthusiasm.” Bugs stepped up to the table, and leaning forward, placed its manipulators on it. It continued to look at each person in turn. “This information will overwhelm you. You will experience feelings of inadequacy and inferiority.” Bug raised its voice another notch, “In some cases…” the avatar pushed away and moved along the table, “this knowledge will be too much…” it paused in front of Dr. Van Loader. “In some cases…this knowledge may cause irreversible psychological damage.”