“We didn’t say we were going to set off devices in all those areas,” General Durance argued.
“No. But what if it made them angry or agitated enough that they activated their own weapons. What if they caused the chain reaction?”
“We don’t even know if they have weapons,” the General shot back quickly.
“Excuse me? Didn’t I hear someone say that we, meaning earth as a whole, are missing something like 460 or 470 nuclear bombs?”
“We don’t know that they have them and even if they set them off, it would mean their own demise as well.”
“Maybe and maybe not. They could trigger them from Titan or wherever they are really located. Even so, haven’t you ever sacrificed a few for the good of the many in combat General?”
“We don’t know that they even have the devices,” he argued stubbornly.
“And we don’t know that they don’t. That is exactly my point,” Peter said.
No one spoke for several seconds. The President had been watching this exchange with a certain amount of amusement.
“Those are excellent points Dr. Ferris,” he said at last. “Do you have a suggestion?”
“Mr. President. We know that they have been down there for a heck of a long time. Actually, we have no idea how long. They know a lot more about us than we do about them at this stage. Why commit to something without having as many facts as possible? We have the tool to do our own investigation. The Chameleon will be operational in a few more weeks. Let’s get the DSV finished, shake her down, and then send her off to see what we can discover. If General Durance, or for that matter, any service is worried about the findings, they can send an observer along with us. I did say observer. It is imperative that Admiral Marcus maintain control over the Chameleon. I would want your word on that Mr. President. Once we feel we have enough data, we could report back and then an appropriate response could be formulated. Perhaps demonstrating that we are attempting to communicate will open the door to understanding, rather than fear.”
“You don’t even know if we can communicate with them,” Durance interjected.
Peter ignored him and went on, “Given the choice between fact and supposition, I’ll take fact every time.”
“And what if you found them to be hostile? Then what?”
“We would report that fact as well and support retaliation in one form or another.”
“Dr. Ferris that is excellent thinking. I couldn’t agree more with what you just said. Your logic makes good sense to me.”
“Thank you sir. I hate to belabor the issue but this is based on Admiral Marcus’ maintaining total control of the Chameleon during the exploration. The only way I could get the other scientists to go along was to guarantee that point,” Peter said.
“Admiral Zoren? General Durance? What do you think?” the President asked.
“I’m not in total agreement with the plan but he is right about one thing. They have been here for some time so I guess gathering a little more information couldn’t hurt,” Admiral Zoren admitted.
“As long as it doesn’t take too long and other military assets aren’t lost,” General Durance added.
“I’m not so sure I understand the bit about Admiral Marcus being in control of the situation,” Admiral Zoren stated.
“Not in control of the situation. In control of the DSV. The President would control the situation. It’s a fine line but a critical one. If you want us go along on the expedition, it is necessary for us to have that assurance,” Peter replied.
“What Dr. Ferris has suggested seems logical to me. Unless someone has a new element to add I am ready to make a decision. Anyone?”
He waited and looked around the table.
“Fine. Admiral Marcus, I am ordering you to maintain control of the USS Chameleon until such time as relieved by me personally. You are to proceed with the outfitting of the vessel and to have the sea trials conducted a quickly as possible. Your duty will be to attempt to locate the life forms and to make contact in a peaceful manner if at all possible. Once that mission is completed, you are to report your findings directly to this office. Is that clear, Admiral?”
“Yes sir. Perfectly clear, sir,” Admiral Marcus said.
“Good. We have a plan I can live with. Admiral Zoren and General Durance you should continue with your battle planning. It may well come in handy. It would be good to be as prepared as possible. You are not, I repeat, not to initiate any direct military action without my written permission. Is that understood gentlemen?”
“Yes sir.”
“Aye, Aye sir.”
“Excellent. Dr. Ferris I want to thank you for your insight and perception. Admiral Marcus was right about you. You are the right man for the job,” the President said. When the meeting was adjourned, Peter and Marcus were once again seated in the limo.
“Man, you really took the wind out of Zoren’s sails. Offering them a chance to place observers on board was a stroke of genius,” Marcus said.
“They were going to do it anyway. We might as well know who they are. Saves on the guesswork.”
“Getting the President to commit specifically to not letting anyone else override my authority while on the Chameleon was a good plan too.”
“To me, it was critical. I wouldn’t have gone otherwise.”
“Critical indeed. I don’t think you will be invited to Zoren's or Durance’s Christmas party this year.”
“Darn. Another year slips by with no invitation. Such is life.”
“I take it from your statement at the White House that the others have agreed to go along?”
“Well, not exactly. I had to make them think it was a fact that we were going. Actually I haven’t really said anything yet. I needed a trump card.”
“You were bluffing? That’s great. Man, you had me convinced. Is the timeline the same?”
“Yes, Wednesday. I wanted to see what the outcome of this meeting was before I spoke to anyone else. No use getting everyone stirred up without the facts.”
“Like Zoren and Durance do?”
“They are jerks. If the aliens are one tenth as advanced as I suspect they are, they could wipe us off the face of the earth whenever they wanted to.”
“Here are the men that I have selected for the crew,” Marcus said, handing over a stack of folders, “Those are just summaries of their backgrounds and accomplishments. I can’t actually give you their personnel files. You might want to look them over and see what you think.”
“I’ll do that tonight. I take it you have a room for me.”
“You bet. That’s where we’re headed. Here are a couple of numbers for you to call. The first is my unlisted number. The second is the flight line. Call them about an hour before you want to head back tomorrow and they will pick you up and can have a flight plan already filed.”
Peter slipped the paper in his coat pocket. When they arrived at the hotel he thanked the Admiral for his support and took the folders to his room to look over. He ate at the bar and turned in around 11:00 P.M.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
- WASHINGTON DC -
Peter was up at 8:00 A.M. and called the number that Marcus had given him. They would pick him up at 0900. He showered and finished dressing. He was waiting in the lobby when the Air Force limo pulled up. He went out to meet it.
“Dr. Ferris?”
“That’s me,” Peter said.
“General Durance would like to have a word with you. Would you get in please?”
“Wait a minute. I’m on my way to the airport. I have a plane waiting,” Peter protested.
“Sir. The General insists. You won’t miss your plane. I can assure you of that. Please get in.”
Peter reluctantly got in the back seat. They drove in silence for some time and the limo finally pulled into a wooded area that overlooked the Potomac River. They sat there for a minute before a second limo drove up. The driver opened the door and General Durance got in.
“Dr. Ferris. Thank
you for coming,” the General said.
“I didn’t have much of a choice.”
“Of course you did. Now doctor, I’ll get right to the point. I know you’re pretty proud of the way you handled yourself at the meeting yesterday. I’ll have to say I was impressed myself. You outflanked both Admiral Zoren and me. That’s not such an easy thing to do. Many have tried. Few have succeeded. I won’t do you the discourtesy of underestimating you again Doctor. I will tell you this. We do not intend to sit on our thumbs while this planet is under attack from an alien life form. I don’t give a damn where they are from or what their cultural habits are. This is our domain. If they don’t like how we behave, they can just haul their asses back to Titan, or wherever they are from. We didn’t invite them here and they have no right to take my people. I don’t buy into this humanitarian crap. They get in our face and we will crush them. What I want from you is your word that you will conduct an impartial investigation, giving us an unbiased and accurate accounting of the mission. If they are a threat then I want you to come to grips with that and call it that way without any bunk about them just not understanding. If they are here for harm or intend to keep up with these experiments then we intend to kick their butts out of here. You scientists seem to live in an abstract world, always looking for the perfect solution so it can be a nice and neat package. This is the real world. People are dying because of these aliens. To me, that is unacceptable and it should be to you as well.”
“I understand what you’re saying General.”
“Good. If you think that they are a threat, I want you to give me your word that you will support armed intervention if necessary.”
“Alright. And if I don’t see it that way?”
“I can live with that as long as you are being totally unbiased and honest in your evaluation. I don’t give two cents about the environmental issues. All I want to know is, are they a threat to this planet?”
“Fine. And if they are, then what?”
“I’ll do everything in my power to wipe them out,” the General said.
“Isn’t that the President's or world leader’s call?”
“We are the world leaders. We control the destiny of this planet. No outside force is going to tell us what we can and can’t do.”
“General, I’m not here to battle with you. I’m just like you. I live here too. I just want a chance to make sure we fully understand what we’re dealing with. I’ll give you credit for this, I honestly do believe you’re acting in what you think is the best interest of the country. I’ll be as factual as I can. I won’t lie for you, however. I won’t change the facts to support you if the information isn’t true. That’s the best I can do. If I think that they can wipe us out and we need to try diplomacy, then that is what I’ll recommend. If I think we need to stand and fight, I’ll say that too.”
“I appreciate your candor. I will tell you something. Knowing when to fight is what the military does best. Civilians have a hard time making that assessment. If I think you’re dead wrong, I’ll roll over you like a tidal wave.”
“I can handle myself. I don’t need your threats,” Peter said.
The General just looked at him for a second.
“Don’t let your testosterone do the talking, doctor. There is a difference between being brave and being stupid,” the General said and opened the door.
He got out without another word and went to his car. The limo drove off and Peter was soon at the flight line with the Lear ready to depart.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
- GOOSE NECK CREEK, RI –
After Peter settled back in, he sent for Susan, Dr. Phillips, Dr. Morgan, Luke, and Okeefer. It took most of the morning to round them all up for a meeting at his place.
“Peter, I’m sure you know how much work we all have left to do. I do hope this meeting is really important,” Dr. Morgan said.
“I understand your feelings but believe me this may be one of the most important meetings you will ever attend.”
“Don’t tell me. The project has been terminated. No money,” Morgan lamented.
Peter just laughed. “I wish it was something so trivial.”
“Good God man, get on with it. I can’t stand not knowing something juicy.”
“I had intended to approach you one at a time but all that has changed. As you know, I just got back from Washington. I met with the President and some of his advisors,” Peter told them.
“What? The President of the United States?” Phillips said looking shocked.
“The very same. He is interested in the Chameleon and our progress.”
“Why? I don’t get it,” Morgan added.
“Let him finish. If you keep interrupting we will never know what this is all about,” Susan said.
“Thank you. It seems that the United States, actually the entire world, may be in a very precarious situation,” Peter started off.
He went on to tell them of the extraordinary events that had been taking place over the past year and the increased activity in the past months. He tried to be rational and factual. He could see that they were each struggling with what they were being told. He told them every detail he could remember including the scenario being played out by the military. He left out the part about his last encounter with General Durance. He was stopped several times for clarification. He answered their questions as honestly as he could.
“And you agree with their conclusions? There are aliens in our oceans at this time?”
“Essentially, yes. If you can point out a logical alternative, I’ll be happy to consider it.”
“This is just too incredible for me to believe,” Morgan said.
“You can believe what he is saying,” Susan interjected, “I’m the one who brought the whole thing to the attention of the President in the first place.”
“You?” Phillip said, his mouth dropping open.
“Yes, you’re probably looking at the person responsible for this whole mess getting noticed.”
“She may be right, but Luke and I were on the team that launched the first probe to Titan and I can tell you firsthand that we have had one mystery after another. Our early data came in and was analyzed. We were all very excited. When we sent the second batch of data that came in, all of that changed. The data that came back didn’t come close to matching the first information. Nothing was the same. The structure, temperature, composition, and on and on were totally different. The second probe we sent only added more confusion. That data didn’t match any of the previous data. Now it starts to make sense. If they knew we were starting to take an interest in their world, it seems logical that they would do all they could to alter the data. It would keep us off balance. Nothing would make much sense to us. They have done a darn good job. We don’t really know beans about Titan.”
“Why don’t they just contact us? Why are we just finding out about all of this now?” Morgan asked.
“I don’t have the answer to that. All I know is that they appear to be on this planet and the President has asked us to try and contact them and to find out what they are up to.”
“Contact with an alien life form. And just what is it that you want from us?” Phillips asked.
“I’m asking each one of you to go along. Not only on the sea trials but on the mission to locate the alien life forms,” Peter said.
“And do what? What can we possibly hope to gain? I don’t know one thing about alien life forms. What good would I do on such a mission?” Morgan asked.
“None of us has any experience in this area. I mean really, do you know of anyone who has ever had this type of encounter before? No one has any practical experience. You are scientists. This is what we do,” Peter argued.
“Yes, but there are people who make this their life’s work. They should be going along, not us.”
“You’re not being forced to go along. Only asked. I happen to believe that you are exactly what we need, a clear, unbiased mind that will say what you really think,”
Peter countered. “All of you are what’s needed. We know the systems. We are scientists. If we don’t go, the military will take our place. Then what would happen? We have to live here too.”
“Dr. Morgan has a point. We aren’t trained for this type of investigation. What do we know about communicating with aliens?” Phillips asked.
“Admittedly not much, but then who do you know that speaks fluent Titanese or whatever you would call it?”
“Valid point.”
“All the military will want to do is kill them. It’s what they do. If it moves, it needs to be killed. You have all been around them long enough to know how they think,” Peter said.
“Peter is right. I’ve been on that military fringe for many years. Kill first, ask questions later,” Luke offered.
“It’s a noble idea and all but I just don’t think I’m ready to save the world,” Morgan said.
“I’ll go,” Phillips said, “I don’t know what good I can do but I’ll give it my best shot. You can count me in.”
“You know I’ll go,” Luke said, “I wanted to go to outer space but I know I never will get that chance now. Now, outer space is coming to me. It’s not exactly what I had in mind but you can count me in as well.”
“Susan?”
“Peter, I’ll say this for you. You really know how to show a girl a different time. Not necessarily a good time, but definitely different one. First you bring us out to the middle of nowhere. Then you work us night and day and now you want us to go out and save the world. Do you have anything else for us to do before I answer?”
“Gee, that’s about it. I could stand to have someone wash my socks for me but I guess that would be going too far,” Peter said straight faced.
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