The Peacemaker's Code

by Deepak Malhotra

  “If they have the technology to destroy us—as we all seem to consider highly plausible—then avoiding a war today provides only temporary relief. Because what hangs overhead is not an alien spacecraft, it is the Sword of Damocles itself. For how long, do you suppose, can we keep it from falling?”

  Kilmer turned to Whitman. “Madam President, I continue to believe that humanity will not survive unless we understand what really drives them. There are countless unanswered questions, but the one that I would most like to get answered is the one that’s nagged me from the start: Why would the aliens visit our planet now?”

  He let the question hang in the air for a moment before continuing.

  “Our planet has been in existence for over four billion years. What are the odds that they happen to arrive within a few decades of when we might be able to detect them? Maybe they visited earlier but no one was around to notice. Maybe it’s pure coincidence that this happened in our lifetimes. But I suspect not. I believe that the timing of their arrival is an important clue. I think it could be the key to unraveling the entire mystery. Which means it could also be the key to our survival.”

  General Allen leaned forward. “Professor Kilmer, I want to understand why you think this is the most important question. I might have said the most important question pertains to their military capabilities. Secretary Strauss might have said the main issue is whether they are planning to attack. How are those questions less important?”

  “I want to be clear, General. Your questions are not less important. They are only less fundamental. And in the long run, I believe the fundamentals are what win out. Whatever their military capabilities and whatever their intentions, the greatest threat to us—if we think in terms of generations—stems from their underlying interests. What they can do or want to do might change. What we must understand is the constant: what drives them. And I believe that figuring out what brought them here, at this time, might help answer that question.”

  After some further discussion, Whitman reined in the conversation, thanked everyone for their views, and then announced her decision: she would not be moving forward with a show of force—at least for now.

  As the group disbanded, Whitman looked over at Kilmer. “Professor Kilmer, please stick around for a moment.” Then she turned to her chief of staff. “You too, Salvo.”

  As the others departed, Perez and Kilmer used the opportunity to check their phones. Kilmer saw that Silla had left a message a short while earlier. Heading home for a shower and a nap. Back to work in the eve. Text you later. He smiled.

  “Gentlemen,” Whitman began, “I’d like the two of you to—” She stopped mid-sentence.

  Kilmer looked up to see Whitman staring at Perez, who was eyeing his phone with grave concern.

  “What is it, Salvo?”

  “Madam President. Art sent a message five minutes ago. The reserve spacecraft have moved again. They are now only 100,000 miles from Earth.”

  “What about ET-1?”

  “ET-1 appears to be on the move as well. It’s headed straight for Station Zero.”

  Whitman turned to Kilmer. “Well, Professor, it seems to me that your theories are about to be put to the ultimate test. We’re at the endgame.”

  Kilmer shook his head. “I’m not so sure, Madam President. I think the game has only just begun.”

  ~ 41 ~

  Heirs of Herodotus by D. Kilmer.

  Excerpt from Chapter 3.

  Before we lay blame on those who came before us, we owe it to them—and to ourselves—to understand why they failed. Chamberlain made only one crucial mistake—to accept less than he had portrayed as his minimum demands—and it had two fatal consequences: he lost credibility and left too strong an impression in Hitler’s mind that England wanted to avoid war at all costs. This happened first at Berchtesgaden, then in Bad Godesberg, and only later in Munich.

  Apart from that, Chamberlain was simply dealt a terrible hand. His countrymen were unwilling to go to war over Czechoslovakia—if he had threatened war over it, and Hitler called his bluff, he would have lost even more credibility. England also overestimated German strength; Churchill, too, believed Hitler was far stronger than he was. Finally, even before Chamberlain came into office, the world had failed to punish Germany, Italy, and Japan for their brazen violations of the Covenant of the League of Nations. Had their actions been checked earlier, Hitler would have had neither the strength nor the resolve to do what he did in 1938.

  Chamberlain’s mistake was not that he appeased Hitler, but that he did it in such a way that—even when the British were finally ready to go to war—Hitler couldn’t believe England would really fight to the end. The problem was not with the strategy, but with how it was carried out at the negotiation table.

  ~ 42 ~

  ET-1 was only 20,000 miles above Earth’s surface and continuing to move toward Station Zero.

  General Allen and Director Druckman were on their way to Joint Base Andrews where a helicopter was ready to fly them to Station Zero. 75 soldiers, all from US Special Operations Forces, were already deployed to the area. Allen mobilized another 120 before he got on the helicopter.

  Defense Secretary Strauss was racing toward the Pentagon and taking a call from General Ramsey, whom Whitman had appointed to be the commanding officer at Station Zero.

  Vice President Nielsen was in his office, communicating with Congressional leadership. His next six calls would be with leaders of the international alliance.

  Art was calling Silla, who was rushing back to the office from her apartment.

  NSA Garcia had just walked into the Oval Office and was waiting for Whitman, who was finishing up a call with Attorney General Kim.

  Chief of Staff Perez and Kilmer were also in the Oval Office, still sitting across from one another. They were arguing—and not as quietly as they thought.

  Perez was frustrated. “Professor, there’s no way the president is going to allow that. It’s unnecessary.”

  Kilmer kept pushing. “Don’t you see? You can’t phone this in. Things are going to start moving too fast.”

  “They won’t move faster than the president allows them to move. And she will take your advice into account. Your voice will be heard. You don’t have to worry about that.”

  “You think I’m worried about my voice being heard? I’m trying to make sure the president’s voice isn’t ignored.”

  Whitman hung up the phone and looked over. “Salvo, what the hell is going on over there?”

  “I’m very sorry,” Perez said, as both he and Kilmer rose to their feet.

  Twenty minutes earlier, Whitman had asked the two of them to figure out how Earth-side might go about answering Kilmer’s “fundamental” question about the alien visit: Why now? She’d agreed that Kilmer would be given whatever help he needed to pursue the matter. She’d even given the initiative a name—Operation Churchill—before leaving it to Perez and Kilmer.

  “Don’t apologize, just tell me what you’re fighting about.”

  Kilmer petitioned first. “Madam President. You’ve asked me to approach Operation Churchill as I see fit—and now we might have a chance to actually engage with the aliens. If so, it offers the single best opportunity to learn. We can’t afford mistakes and we have to exploit every opportunity. There’s only one way to do that effectively.”

  Perez interjected. “Kilmer is asking that we send him to Station Zero so that he can advise on our engagement strategy from the front lines. I’ve told him that’s out of the question.”

  Whitman frowned. “Professor, I buy into the importance of Operation Churchill. But what we’re dealing with at this stage is still, above all, a military operation. If we find ourselves sitting down with an alien delegation to negotiate the future of our planet, you will have a seat at the table. But this is not a summit at Camp David. We have no idea what we’re dealing with right now.”

  “That’s precisely my point. We don’t know what we’re dealing with—and the ali
ens might not either. If we frame this as a military problem from the very start, that is what it will become—because once a military frame takes hold, it does not let go. But that is a dangerously narrow definition of the problem—at this or any stage. I don’t think you want the people at Station Zero filtering your strategy through a military or intelligence lens.”

  “Professor Kilmer. General Ramsey is in charge at Station Zero. General Allen and Director Druckman will be there to advise him. But none of them are authorized to make strategy or to reinterpret strategy. Their only job is to implement the strategy that I craft. That’s how it works. And I trust them to do that. I understand your point about making sure we look at this more holistically, from the start, but it is not your job to ensure people make the right calls at Station Zero. Not even close. Salvo’s right about that. They will take orders from me. Your advice can help shape some of those orders, but you can advise me perfectly well from Washington.”

  Kilmer tried one last time. “Madam President, having an effective strategy is never enough. Having people who can carry out orders isn’t either. You know far better than I do that when the action starts, split-second decisions need to be made. When the unexpected happens, judgment calls need to be made. If we were at war, I’m sure no one could make those decisions better than General Ramsey or General Allen, and I would not even pretend to be of any value. But we’re not at war—we’re trying to prevent it. And if all hell suddenly breaks loose at Station Zero, in ways that your strategy and your orders never anticipated, are you comfortable with the judgment calls they will make to avoid war?”

  Whitman considered it for all of five seconds—far longer than Perez had expected. “I see your point—but I’m not convinced we have a problem. We’ll revisit this after we know what’s happening at Station Zero. Until then, you stay put. That’s the end of it.”

  She turned to her National Security Advisor. “Where do we stand with support for Operation Churchill?”

  “Art will free up as many Triad resources as he can to support the initiative,” Garcia answered. Then she looked at Kilmer. “You tell them what you need—people, data, intel, whatever—and they’ll figure out if there’s a way to make it happen. Art is assigning Agent Silla to work with you on this.”

  Whitman nodded. “I think Agent Silla is a perfect choice.” Then she looked over at Kilmer. “What do you think, Professor?”

  For the life of him, Kilmer couldn’t figure out why the president was smiling when she asked him that.

  ~ 43 ~

  A small room situated between the Oval Office and the chief of staff’s office was vacated and designated as Kilmer’s workspace for the coming days. He had just settled in when Agent Lane arrived. Lane was to provide an overview of Triad’s operations so that Kilmer would have a basic understanding of its capabilities and resources. Kilmer was impressed, and somewhat troubled, by what he learned—but he managed to keep himself from initiating a debate about civil liberties or about what might have led to the fall of the Roman Republic.

  Across town, Silla had taken a shower but skipped the nap. On the way back to her office, she texted Kilmer. Bad news, and I don’t mean the alien invasion. Art just told me I’ve been assigned to work with some boring professor.

  Kilmer texted back. I just spoke with the prof. Apparently, he thought boring was part of his charm. He seems open to ideas for how to be more exciting.

  Silla responded. I have some ideas.

  At 3 p.m., she joined Kilmer in his office to discuss Operation Churchill. Kilmer peppered her with questions. Was it possible to look deeper into space to check for additional spacecraft? Could images captured by NASA or other agencies over previous decades be reexamined to see whether aliens had visited previously? Had humans conducted any space activities in recent weeks or months that might have attracted the attention of aliens? What did the government know about extra-terrestrials prior to Day 1? Was there any truth to the countless conspiracy theories that had been floating around for generations? What did Triad know about the materials from which ET-1 was constructed? Was there any way to estimate how far the aliens had traveled to reach the Solar System? Were there any theories on how they powered their spacecraft? Did Earth have any resources that were especially rare in the galaxy, and which could be of broad biological or technological value? Kilmer’s questions led to a lot of discussion, and more than a few “we can look into it” responses, but a eureka moment was nowhere to be found.

  Meanwhile, General Allen and Director Druckman had reached Station Zero and were meeting with General Ramsey, the commanding officer. The trio was going over Ramsey’s plans for establishing a perimeter around the spacecraft—if and when it landed. They were linked via videoconference to the Situation Room, located in the basement of the West Wing of the White House, where Whitman, Nielsen, Perez, and Garcia were joined by the Secretary of Homeland Security. Also calling in were the chiefs of the Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, and National Guard.

  Secretary Strauss was still at the Pentagon, coordinating with the FAA and other agencies to ensure that the air space over Station Zero was cleared. A no-fly zone with a fifty-mile radius was put into place. Only aircraft that were specifically authorized by President Whitman, Secretary Strauss, or General Allen were to be allowed.

  At 3:05 p.m., ET-1 descended, suddenly and rapidly, until it was hovering over a clearing near Loft Mountain Campground at Shenandoah National Park. It was a mere 150 feet above the ground.

  ~ 44 ~

  The troops at Station Zero sprang into action at 3:10 p.m., establishing a perimeter of radius 0.5 miles around the precise spot above which ET-1 was hovering. The encircled area was dubbed Touchdown-1. Soldiers surrounded the spacecraft from a distance, along the established perimeter. No weapons were drawn, and none were to be made visible. Artillery and attack helicopters were situated three miles away at five different locations. At all times, four F-35 combat aircraft and two B-2 bombers were to remain airborne, flying between 10 and 100 miles from Touchdown-1. Satellite imaging of the area was increased, and UAVs were directed to fly overhead at an altitude of no lower than 20,000 feet above ground level.

  By 7:00 p.m., several two-person military delegations from across the international alliance were on flights to the United States. One member of each delegation would remain in DC while the other would go to Station Zero.

  At 8:25, Whitman sat at her desk in the Oval Office. VP Nielsen, NSA Garcia, Chief of Staff Perez, and Professor Kilmer stood nearby. General Allen was calling in from Station Zero.

  “Madam President, this is General Allen. Can you hear me clearly?”

  “Yes, Casey,” Whitman responded. “We can hear you. What can you tell us?”

  “Madam President, we have established two field headquarters. Secretary Strauss arrived a short while ago and is meeting with General Ramsey at HQ-1, which is our larger encampment, 500 yards from the perimeter at zero degrees. Zero degrees corresponds to due south of the spacecraft. Director Druckman and I are at HQ-2, which is located 75 yards from the perimeter at 270 degrees—due east of the spacecraft. As you saw in the live feed, ET-1 landed approximately eight minutes ago. We have detected no movement since. We don’t know if they need light to see around them, but it’s getting dark out here, so we have some lights shining onto Touchdown-1. There has been a persistent humming sound—perhaps some kind of engine—that can be heard even from the perimeter. No radioactive materials have been detected.

  “We will need a spectrometer that can get close enough to figure out what this thing is made of, but it looks metallic—as if it were made of something like titanium, or tungsten carbide. The ship is approximately ninety-five yards across and thirty yards deep. Sixty-five yards of its length are in contact with the ground; the remaining fifteen yards, on each side, arc upward off the ground. At its center, the height of the spacecraft is roughly twenty yards, but the edges reach up to about thirty yards off the ground.”

  “Have we learned
anything from the landing itself?”

  “Only that we don’t believe it uses any technology we’re familiar with when it hovers. ET-1 did not appear to disturb what was on the ground as it descended. Our helicopters would have blown things around quite visibly. It did, of course, crush a whole lot of bushes, some small trees, and a few park benches when it set down.”

  “Okay. Let’s wait another thirty minutes,” Whitman announced. “Then we send in the drones to poke around a bit. No weapons, no sudden movement, and no humans go near that thing.”

  ~ 45 ~

  At 9:00 p.m., eight drones took off from different points around the perimeter and flew into Touchdown-1, capturing images as they went. By 9:05, they had come within one hundred yards of ET-1. Seconds later, seven of the eight drones had been rendered inoperative and fell to the ground. There was no indication as to what had caused them, almost simultaneously, to come crashing down. The eighth drone had been lagging, and its operator pulled it back as soon as she saw what had happened to the other seven. When the lone survivor returned to the perimeter, its image files were corrupted, along with various other parts of its software, including the GPS and navigation system. The drone had made it back, but just barely.

  At 10:00, another attempt was made, this time with drones flying at a higher altitude. The result was the same—all three drones were lost. An unmanned ground vehicle suffered the same fate ten minutes later. Reconnaissance reported that while animals had been spotted inside Touchdown-1, none had been seen within a hundred yards of ET-1—an area now dubbed the kill-zone.

  By 10:30, everyone in the Situation Room and at Station Zero was trying to make sense of what was happening. There were more guesses than guessers. Did ET-1 have some sort of shield that automatically disabled or destroyed anything that came close? Had weapons been aimed separately at each drone? Did the spacecraft use some sort of electromagnetic pulse, or perhaps something entirely alien? Whatever it was, would it impact humans as well? What about birds or dogs? Was this an act of aggression, a defensive measure, or none of the above? Did the aliens even know they were having an impact on what the humans had sent toward it? Were there even any aliens on board ET-1?