The Elicon

by Rob Roth

  “I imagine you are right. That was us. I was fortunate enough to be on the recovery team. Well, it is my area of expertise even though I rarely get to go in the field and get a physical specimen. Usually my studies are analyzing photos, or performing spectral analysis on electromagnetic emissions, but Van Dyne himself asked that I be part of the recovery.”

  “Connor Van Dyne, the Australian billionaire? He’s the guy that made his fortune in the Opal industry, isn’t he? I think I just read he donated a bunch of money to some Australian government high-brow project. How did he get involved with Panterra?”

  Allison smiled. “Actually, he owns Panterra Enterprises. As one of the richest men in the world he owns lots of different businesses, not unlike your own billionaires in the U.S. What else are they going to do with all their money? And speaking of meteors, did you read about the one in the desert that shot overhead not far from here, two nights ago?"

  “Really? No, I didn’t catch the news about that,” Dooley replied, but Allison thought she saw a slight downward glance when he said it. “Hey, Allie, I see they are about to start. I guess we better find some seats. After you...”

  As the two of them were locating a couple of nice seats in the center section close to the front, Dooley smiled to himself, quite satisfied with all the intel he was able to gather about Miss Trask. It was a most informative morning!

  Allison also smiled. Dr. Larkin is going to the university today. Now I wonder what he is doing there, especially since Dooley mentioned that Larkin was out in the desert yesterday… where coincidentally that meteorite could have landed. And here Dooley is pretending not to know about the meteorite. What are you blokes up to?

  WEDNESDAY MORNING - NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY

  “Professor Larkin, it is so good to have someone of your prestige visit our university! The School of Earth and Sustainability at NAU is thrilled to welcome you to our campus. Of course, you may have full access to our facilities. We are glad to make them available to you. But I’m somewhat surprised you came to see us rather than our sister Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science. I would think they would be more in line with your work,” said Dr. Vince Adler.

  The university was not large, but it was very attractive with various buildings in different architectural styles. Jace was particularly impressed with the modern looking science building which was an unusual wedge-shaped brick and glass structure several stories tall that reminded him of the bow of a ship. He had met Dr. Adler just outside the door as they had arranged. Jace was dressed in casual clothes as worn by a typical college professor, including the ubiquitous backpack, which in Jace’s case was carrying the meteorite.

  “Actually, Dr. Adler, recently I’ve been more involved in field geology, and I really need access to your petrology lab and your equipment for the specialized rock and mineral analysis I am interested in performing. If you would be so kind as to direct me to where you keep your chemicals, mass spectrometer, and microscopes used in rock analysis, I would be most appreciative.”

  A short while later Dr. Adler ushered Jace into a small but modern lab that had all the requested necessary equipment and promised he would keep others out of the lab all morning so Jace could have sole access. Looking around Jace saw that chemical analysis was performed on one long lab table, Spectro analysis on another, and microscopy on a third.

  The tables were laid out in parallel, with the necessary equipment already set up and ready to be used — machines for sawing, crushing, and pulverizing rocks to get the required samples for further analysis. Chemicals were stored in a locked cabinet located on one wall, which Dr. Adler had kindly left unlocked before departing.

  “Well Dr. Larkin,” Jace said to himself, “You’ve got everything you need. This shouldn’t take long at all…”

  Unfortunately, Jace was stymied almost before he started. After he took the meteorite from the backpack Jace immediately made his way over to the rock saw table and decided to take a thin slice of the meteorite. After that perhaps he would crush it into smaller fragments and grind it further or use a mortar and pestle to hand pulverize it into a fine sample.

  He figured some chemical analysis, followed by the mass spectrometer, would be the quickest way to get a clear understanding of what this mystery rock was composed of. However, when he tried sawing the rock, he soon determined he would end up ruining the saw before any mark was ever made on the meteorite. There was just no way to take a smaller sample for analysis. In one fell swoop this eliminated almost all the methods at his disposal for rock analysis.

  Jace stared at the rock hoping it would magically give him some answers.

  “How in the world am I going to analyze you if I can’t even make a single mark on you….?”

  Jace was almost positive this meteorite was an igneous rock. He could see the different colors of the various minerals, similar to what one would see looking at a piece of granite. Yet try as he may to chip, cut, crush, drill, or otherwise perform any destructive technique on the rock, the results remained the same and the rock was unaltered in any way.

  “…. if I can’t look inside you, perhaps I can take a closer peek...”

  Fortunately for Jace, the lab had a large sample chamber scanning electron microscope. At the very least, he could look at the structure of the rock under high magnification even if he couldn’t perform any kind of chemical or spectral analysis.

  Determining the exact composition of the rock was probably off the table, Jace thought, but viewing the underlying structure would likely reveal some insights. He had examined many rocks during his years as a student, and then while working toward his master’s and doctorate. He examined many more as a teaching professor. He was sure some comparative analysis could be done.

  Jace adjusted the settings for maximum magnification, and the picture began to appear on the display screen.

  “What the... How is this even possible?”

  The SEM was showing him the internal structure of the rock at 300,000x magnification, and it was a very consistent structure. The rock was made up of perfectly formed dodecahedrons each the same size, with their planes aligned flat against each other. No gaps, fissures or breaks in the structure were apparent anywhere. The planes of the dodecahedrons fit perfectly together.

  Several questions popped into Jace’s mind, which he voiced out loud while staring at the screen.

  “…who in the world would have this kind of technology to construct this…?”

  He knew full well this could not be a natural rock.

  “…why would someone need to make a rock this hard…?”

  It was stronger than anything he had ever encountered in his life.

  “…where did this come from…?”

  It must have originated from somewhere in space to end up imbedded in the side of a canyon.

  “…what is this…?”

  He didn’t have a clue.

  WEDNESDAY MORNING - TUFO

  The morning sun rose gloriously across the desert, striking bright reflections off the steel and glass structures of TUFO as Captain Severs walked over from his quarters to Command and Control. Steinmacher had scheduled a meeting with Captain Severs and two other senior officers in one of the small glass-walled offices. He began the meeting as soon as Severs arrived.

  “The Pentagon is organizing their operations team today, and the first personnel should be arriving as early as tomorrow noon. We don’t know if the visitors will return, or what their intent is at this point. General Heissman is recommending the Pentagon relocate some tactical nuclear weapons to TUFO as a precaution. This gives us roughly twenty-four to thirty-six hours to gather some additional intel while we still have control of operations on the ground. Captain Severs, what do you recommend for our next steps?”

  Captain Severs had already given a lot of thought to what he would say this morning. Last night had been rough having to unload the dead soldiers from the trucks after returning to TUFO. They had needlessly lost their lives
, and the anger Severs felt initially provoked a desire to blame someone for this tragedy. In his military mind where justice demanded a balance sheet, someone must pay. His first instinct was to blame the visitors, but he still had two major leads that required follow-up before he made a final determination.

  “Sir, we know someone arrived at the scene well before we did, and our most likely assessment is that person, or persons, took something the visitors were looking for. At this time, we don’t know who they were, or what were their motives, so I recommend we concentrate on getting these answers. I am hoping we could pull yesterday’s images from our own eye-in-the-sky geosynchronous telescope to see if it captured any images in the desert near the crash site. We also have tire tread information, and know it came from a specific model of Jeep. Given it was heading south we are guessing it may have come from either Winslow or Flagstaff. We can check owners and rentals for that particular make and model and run their names to see if anything of interest pops.”

  “Good work Captain. I will give approval to your request for satellite footage and I’ll file the request with the DMV along the lines you suggested.”

  “One other thing, Colonel, regarding the artifact. I believe the hand indentation clearly indicates the visitors wish a human to place their hand in the indentation. Think about it. They likely can’t speak our language. It’s also possible they might not even be able to talk, or they may communicate in a totally different way. How could they communicate any action to us, or provide any guidance or instruction? To me, this is the most elegant, simple way possible. In fact, I can’t think of any other way they could communicate their intent, can you?”

  “Captain, I appreciate your analysis. Assuming the visitors are extraterrestrial as you believe, it makes some sense, but what if someone were to put their hand in there, and it triggered, say, a nuclear explosion or something even worse?”

  “Sir, with all due respect, if they wanted to destroy us, I think they demonstrated they have the firepower. If they can travel here from another star system, they can access energy in a way that we certainly can’t. No, I think it is more likely they want to communicate, and they provided this artifact as the means. Now, we can either wait until we lose operational control tomorrow to the Pentagon, or we can proceed now. As we all know, the Pentagon will eventually find out about the artifact, come to the same conclusion, and proceed regardless. So, it’s only a question of whether we perform this, or they do.”

  Steinmacher was mulling this over and was about to reply, when Severs continued.

  “Sir, there is one real concern I do have. We do not know what will happen to the individual who places his hand in the indentation. Our visitors may have the best intentions in the world to communicate with us, but we can’t really be sure the person will remain unharmed in any way. Therefore, I respectfully propose that I am the person who utilizes the device. I can’t risk any more of my team, and I can’t ask anyone to do something I would not be willing to do myself. I would perform this in a controlled space, with a medical team monitoring me. I also recommend armed personnel be ready in case they must… well, take extreme measures with me. Any required personnel in the room will be told we are testing out a new weapon being developed.”

  Colonel Steinmacher was a career officer who believed in the chain-of-command and felt somewhat conflicted. TUFO had not yet told the Pentagon about the artifact or the hand indentation, so technically Steinmacher would not be violating any direct orders if he let Captain Severs proceed. However, if anything went wrong, he knew it could mean his job, or even worse if it provoked a national disaster. While he usually considered it better to ask forgiveness than to seek permission, he could imagine scenarios where forgiveness would be impossible to receive from either the Pentagon or himself. On the other hand, this was a unique situation with no precedent, and it was possible that delaying even a day could also have unforgivable consequences. Steinmacher was a man of action, and even though one brash action in his past years ago had resulted in disastrous results, he did not wish that mistake to prevent him from doing what was necessary going forward.

  “Ok Captain Severs, you may proceed as you recommend. Let’s take all the precautions we can. I will be in the room as well, and by God if anything goes south your armed personnel better shoot me as well. I’d rather die a patriot now than as a traitor later in front of a firing squad.”

  WEDNESDAY MID-MORNING - TUFO

  Orders were given and a team under Sargent Conard proceeded to pull satellite footage and initiate a cooperative relationship with the DMV to see if the suspects who were at the meteorite site and quite possibly shot down the helicopter, according to the latest rumors, could be identified and neutralized.

  Meanwhile, Steinmacher himself coordinated the other activity, and by mid-morning Captain Severs was comfortably lying on a medical bed in a relatively small locked room, with the ‘new weapon’ next to him. In the room with Severs were Davis, who was now somewhat like his attaché, Steinmacher, and a few medical and military personnel.

  “Captain, are you sure you wish to proceed with this? I want you to know our cover story about a weapons test leaked out and several of our best men have already volunteered to take your place and assume the risk. I don’t have to tell you how much they respect you, Severs. This says it much better than I can.”

  Captain Severs was moved by the actions of his men more than he would admit. For the last 8 years he had strived for some form of redemption by placing the lives of his men ahead of his own. This had earned him their unswerving loyalty and helped give him a measure of peace. But the loss of DeMarco’s men was a fresh wound that would be very hard to overcome. He had failed to protect his men again.

  “I appreciate their offers, sir. If anything does happen to me, please communicate my profound respect back to them on my behalf. But responsibility demands that I be the one to step up to the challenge. Let’s get on with this.”

  Severs’ body was then strapped in, although his arms were left free with various monitors attached to him to track his vitals. In this position Captain Severs could easily move his right arm further to the right and place his hand onto the indentation in the now upside-down artifact.

  With the small team in their positions, Severs was eager to begin the procedure.

  “Ready to initiate potential contact with the visitors,” he said loudly and clearly, because the mission as they deemed this, was being recorded. Everyone in this brightly lit medical room was tense. Medical staff had their eyes on the monitor as well as on Severs. The armed guards had their weapons pointed down but were focused on Severs and ready to initiate extreme prejudice if necessary. Steinmacher and Davis were a little farther back but just as intent on what was happening.

  Severs moved his hand over to the indentation and spread his fingers to adjust for the configuration that was molded into the artifact and pushed down firmly but not tightly into the indentation. At first there was a slight tingling sensation on his hand, like prickles from a low voltage device.

  Suddenly, power surged out over his hand like high voltage, clamping it tightly to the artifact. He screamed out in pain. The soldiers pulled their guns up into a ready position.

  “Severs, can you hear us?” yelled Steinmacher.

  “Wait… wait!” Severs said. “It’s subsiding…. I think it’s starting to work.”

  A slight prickling sensation started on his head, and he started to see dream flashes like one sometimes experiences when starting to fall asleep. Severs wasn’t exactly sure if he felt emotions or heard the words, but something started to form in his mind.

  “Startled… Surprised.... Fear.... Protect…. Sorrow…. Regret…. Survival...”

  It was almost like poor reception on a radio receiver. Severs couldn’t quite catch what it was saying. But then an adjustment or tuning occurred in his brain, as if scanning to find the right setting to make it clearer. Soon it was much more organized in his mind, although he couldn’t cat
ch all the words/emotions as some had no corresponding mean in Severs’ vocabulary.

  “We came here to Earth through our ….. and were startled to find the …… was missing and surprised your ….. was there instead. Because we were fearful we reacted improperly with …… to protect the ….. We were sorrowful to find your ..... had humans onboard and sincerely regret the loss. Our ... is no longer there. It was taken. Survival of our race depends on recovering …... Forgive us help recover the …...”

  Captain Severs struggled to understand what object the aliens were missing. His team couldn’t recover it if they didn’t know what they were looking for. Other words/emotions flashed in his mind as if the device was trying to locate a concept that would correspond to what was taken. This went on for several tens of seconds. Finally, one picture word flashed in his mind…

  “Egg.”

  EIGHT YEARS AGO

  The Afghan day once again was bright and clear. Fortunately, the mile-high altitude kept the temperature relatively comfortable in Baghran. It seemed unusually dusty this afternoon, thought Lieutenant Daniel Severs as he pulled his red and white checked kerchief up to cover his nose and mouth. Many of the mud brick buildings in town looked half destroyed courtesy of the drone strikes that had cleared out many of the rebels in this area earlier in the day, most likely accounting for the dust in the air.

  As his platoon had done for the last two weeks, they were executing their assigned task of clearing out remaining rebel positions entrenched within the village. Severs was the First Lieutenant in charge of the ground troops, and Second Lieutenant Derek Stevens was his backup officer. The going was slow as they moved down the main road swiveling their M4 carbines left and right almost like dancers performing choreographed steps.

  All at once the silence was broken as two hidden snipers began firing on Severs’ men, causing them to scatter in various directions seeking ground cover behind corners, walls and other rubble, as Severs called out orders.