Wake-up Call: 2035

by Robert J. Traydon

  “Madam President, if you would excuse me, I have another urgent call that I must attend to.”

  He then hung up on the former President.

  11:25 a.m. Earth: United States Airspace – Concern

  Defence Secretary Pentrow tapped the ‘accept call’ icon, then placed the phone to his ear and spoke, “Go ahead, Colonel.”

  “Mr Secretary. I have some priority feedback for you regarding your earlier space surveillance instruction. I’ve just been speaking with NASA’s Director Henderson and he informed me that he already has every telescope and dish array at his disposal scouring space for a very specific object of interest. Just over three hours ago, one of NASA’s ion detection probes alerted them to an anomaly. It had traced a distinct ion trail running through space at incredible speed … invisible to the human eye but as bright as a comet to the probe. The ion trail was found to have originated from Jupiter, and was being tracked along a radial-arc trajectory heading directly for Earth.”

  The Defence Secretary felt his first inklings of hesitation and fear.

  “Go on …” he said.

  Colonel Miller continued, “The Director believed that some unidentified object must be creating the ion trail, so to check his theory, he assigned various telescopes to track the point just ahead of where the ion trail was being created.

  “Only two ground based facilities, the South African Large Telescope (SALT) located in Sutherland, and the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) located in Chile, were successful in tracking the ion path trajectory sent to them by NASA. Unfortunately, due to the high speed at which the object was travelling, and the manoeuvrability limitations of the ground based telescopes, neither was able to capture any conclusive images of the unidentified object. However, the images were able to confirm that there was a huge black shape producing the ion trail. This shape was about two kilometres long and almost half a kilometre wide,” said Miller.

  “And … where is this unidentified object now, Colonel?” asked Pentrow with rising nervousness.

  “Mr Secretary, Director Henderson believes that the object has settled into a Medium Earth Orbit, approximately 20 350 kilometres from the Earth’s surface, but he has no visual confirmation to back up this assertion. He and his team of astrophysicists are unable to explain the event, and wanted to investigate it further before raising the alarm.”

  He paused, as if building up courage to speak further, “Mr Secretary, the Director is very concerned, because it would suggest that someone has been able to develop a high-performance ion propulsion system. Not only that, but they have managed to place this propulsion system into some undetectable vehicle that can be operated in space. This is super-advanced technology that NASA believes is far beyond the capabilities of any known space agency worldwide.”

  Pentrow responded, “So what am I supposed to deduce from this, Colonel?”

  “Well, Mr Secretary, the NASA Director informed me that he has an alternative theory but that he would only elaborate on the theory with the President directly.” Colonel Miller paused and then continued, “He has subsequently spoken with President West, who apparently did not have time to listen to his theory and instructed him to speak with you about the matter. At this very moment I have Director Henderson on my other line, and can transfer him through to you right now.”

  “Thank you, Colonel. Please go ahead,” said Pentrow.

  A few seconds later there was a ping and a gruff voice spoke down the phone, “Good day to you, Mr Secretary. Bill Henderson here, NASA Director of Operations.”

  “Good day to you too, Director. Apparently you have a theory …”

  “I’m going to cut straight to the chase here, Mr Secretary. We have examined the images of the unidentified object very closely, and using special enhancements we have been able to get a reasonable indication of what this object is.”

  Pentrow sat forward in his seat listening intently.

  Henderson continued, “What we are seeing now is of extreme concern to us, because we have seen it before … exactly three years ago.”

  11:27 a.m. Earth: United States Airspace – Speculation

  “What do you mean, Director?” asked Defence Secretary Pentrow.

  “Mr Secretary, three years ago to the day, NASA’s WorldSeeker team discovered a gigantic spacecraft orbiting Mars. Pictures of the spacecraft were released to the media after that controversial Global Unification Summit, and I have no doubt that you recollect them.”

  “Yes I do, Director,” said Pentrow, now starting to feel particularly uncomfortable. He vaguely remembered pictures of a strange looking cylindrical vessel that was claimed to be the extra-terrestrial’s spacecraft. He had dismissed them as fabricated nonsense, as had most other people.

  Director Henderson continued, “Well, Mr Secretary, this object is disturbingly similar in both proportion and shape to that actual spacecraft. For all we know, it might even be the same spacecraft … or another comparable one.”

  Pentrow spoke with clear agitation in his voice, “So Director, let me make sure that I understand you very clearly. What you’re basically telling me here, is that there is a spaceship currently in orbit around the Earth that could very well be the same one described in former President Jameson’s encounter account three years ago?”

  The Director replied, “Mr Secretary, I must stress that this is just a theory, but looking at all the information that is available to us, it is the best we can come up with at this stage. The world’s top aerospace engineering institutes are decades, if not centuries, away from developing a viable ion propulsion system, and as such, I am personally convinced that whatever this thing is, it is not of this Earth … and so, yes, I stand by my theory.”

  Pentrow spoke, “Director, thank you very much for your assistance. Is there any way you can capture further images of this supposed spacecraft to give us irrefutable proof of your theory?”

  “Highly unlikely, Mr Secretary. The object appears to be obscuring itself from view. Not even our most sophisticated telescopes can see any evidence of it. But we will continue to try.”

  “Very well, Director. Please keep me informed of any further developments and find a way to get me the concrete proof I need.”

  “Will do so, Mr Secretary,” said Henderson.

  Pentrow ended the call with an exaggerated tap on his phone and frowned. The coincidence of bizarre events was starting to worry him intensely. The former President’s warning a few minutes ago and mention of a second encounter; and now this potential supporting evidence from NASA suggesting that the hypothetical extra-terrestrial spacecraft from three years ago had returned. Not only that, the spacecraft was now well within striking distance of Earth. If all the information he had been given checked out, and a ‘remediation’ strike of some kind was imminent, then the United States and the rest of the world were in grave danger.

  His phone rang again and he looked at the screen with reluctance. It was Admiral Rogers of the Fourth Surface Carrier Fleet based in the South China Sea.

  Pentrow tapped his phone and spoke, “Admiral Rogers!”

  “Good day to you, Mr Secretary. I need to inform you immediately of some disturbing military and naval developments in China. We are currently monitoring them on our naval surveillance systems, and can confirm that there has been a large-scale mobilisation of what would appear to be their entire defence force. I’m talking land, sea and air – you name it – it’s all being mobilised. It is as though they’re preparing for an invasion of some sort.”

  He continued, “I’m going to forward you all the developments we’ve recorded to date, but this mass-mobilisation is cause for serious concern.”

  Pentrow responded, “Thank you for informing me, Admiral. I trust that you have received notification of the defence readiness emergency drill.”

  The Admiral replied, “Yes, Mr Secretary. We are currently readying the crews across our entire fleet. However, with the developments that we’re witnessing in China, we d
on’t view this as a drill, something’s going on here. Somebody, somewhere has received a pre-emptive tip-off regarding some major event that’s about to go down.”

  “Don’t assume anything yet, Admiral. Just keep your fleet on high alert at this stage,” said Pentrow.

  “Will do so, Mr Secretary,” said Rogers.

  Pentrow hung up. Things were getting crazy now, with NASA claiming the presence of an extra-terrestrial spacecraft, and now China’s defence forces in full mobilisation phase. This could mean only one thing as far as he was concerned: the Chinese President was preparing for the remediation that former President Jameson had warned about.

  Before he could fully gather his thoughts he received another call from the NORAD Commander-in-Chief confirming the mobilisation of defence forces, not only in China, but also in Canada, India, Japan, Brazil, South Korea, Singapore, Namibia, Indonesia, Switzerland and various other European nations.

  This was for real. What he had repeatedly disregarded as fictitious nonsense had in fact been the whole, dreadful truth all along. He now realised just how much precious time had been wasted, and that he had to act swiftly to protect the safety of the United States.

  Pentrow called the Director of the US Secret Service and ordered an immediate evacuation of the President, the Joint Chiefs and Combatant Commanders to the White House bunker. He then spoke with both President West and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs on conference-call, to inform them of the situation and confirm their authorisation for the alert state to be raised to DEFCON 1.

  The Bell-888 helicopter roared through the air at its maximum speed after the pilot had been instructed to take it to the limit. It was now just minutes away from the White House.

  11:32 a.m. Earth: United States Airspace – Confirmation

  As the White House came into view in the distance, Defence Secretary Pentrow dialled the number he had called earlier. It rang and was answered almost immediately.

  “Mr Secretary …” said the female voice.

  Pentrow spoke in a slightly sheepish voice, “Madam President, my apologies for ending our previous conversation so abruptly. I just wanted to inform you that I’ve received compelling intelligence validating your warning.”

  “You’ve spoken with the Chinese President, haven’t you?” asked former President Jameson.

  “Not exactly, Madam President. I can’t elaborate right now, but I can assure you that everything is being done to ensure the safety of our nation and its people.”

  Jameson responded, “I’m glad to hear it, Mr Secretary. I just hope we’re not too late … may God be with us all.”

  Her closing words could not have been more appropriate, as it appeared that God alone would determine their fate now. But Pentrow was determined to do everything he could in how ever little time he had left. He felt a pang of frustration surge through his body … all that critical intelligence of three years ago had been carelessly cast aside and ignored to make way for the aspirations of a young, brash and reckless politician. He now saw the scale of his misjudgement, and regretted being swept up in the raging tide of dissident opinion.

  Pentrow pulled himself together and tried to refocus his thoughts on how best to deal with whatever this so-called remediation might entail. As a matter of top priority he needed to get his hands on a copy of the Ultimatum Compliance Treaty and the latest GCMA report.

  Moments later the helicopter landed on the front lawn of the White House.

  11:45 a.m. Earth: Jameson Country Manor

  Sally Jameson remained sitting in her study reflecting on her conversation with the Defence Secretary. She looked at the CNN website to see whether any evacuation press announcements had been made by the government, but as of yet, none had.

  “What’s taking them so long!” she growled in frustration.

  She closed her laptop and sat back wishing that she had paid closer attention to the Supreme Beings’ presentation. She tried to recall exactly which American cities had shown the highest levels of non-compliance but her effort was in vain. From her recollection, most appeared to have failed dismally. At this stage, the Defence Secretary would have to rely solely on the GCMA’s final report, to strategically coordinate the evacuation effort. All she could do was watch in vain as precious minutes ticked by: 5 minutes … 10 minutes …

  While deep in thought her husband called to her from the lounge with a discernible sense of urgency.

  “Sally! Come quickly! You have to see this …”

  10. CONSEQUENCE

  |EDT| 11:50 a.m. Observatory: Preparation

  The moment had arrived for the Galactic Federation to take definitive action, and stop the systematic destruction of Andorayan Sanctuarium. The remediation would be swift and uncompromising. Those of the human species who were to be removed would not suffer in any way, but their disappearance would surely reverberate across the planet with overwhelming consequence.

  Ten thousand Remediation Class ‘Terraforming Spheres’, referred to as ‘terraspheres’, were declared ready for deployment by the Observatory’s Tribecton Planetary Instrument Section.

  Empress Aeryssia and her five Chancellors each gave authorisation for ‘Phase 1’ of the deployment sequence to proceed. Commander Trennor then instructed the Tribecton Section Leader, Sergeant Rayon, to initiate Phase 1. A moment later, large perimeter cargo doors opened on one of the spacecraft’s rotating sections, and the terraspheres emerged in a perfectly organised circular formation – ready for launch.

  Within the next 10 minutes, each of these terraspheres would be in position at their pre-designated targets, ready to carry out their remediation objectives. These targets included the world’s most overpopulated and polluting cities, poisonous industrial centres, emission-intense factories and power plants, and also all the urban and agricultural development that remained within the Habitat Defence Zones.

  The terraspheres were then released from their holding array and magnetically accelerated along the spacecraft’s cylindrical length. They cruised through space towards Earth, maintaining their circular formation as they went.

  At 10 000 kilometres above the Earth’s surface, the terraspheres’ paths began to diverge away from one another as they distributed themselves around the entire planet – predominantly above the world’s continents. Almost seven minutes had passed by the time the terraspheres reached their pre-descent positions. There they remained stationary at an altitude of 500 kilometres above sea level, awaiting their next command.

  Sergeant Rayon spoke, “Commander, confirmation received that all the terraspheres are in position directly above their intended targets. We await your command for ‘Phase 2’ of the deployment sequence to be executed.”

  The Federal Alliance members looked at the hologram in the central void of the conference table. It showed planet Earth turning slowly with its outer atmosphere surrounded by numerous flickering white spheres indicating the precise locations of each of the 10 000 terraspheres. The six of them knew that the next two commands would remove over 40% of the human population from the planet’s surface. But, at the same time, they knew that the very survival of the remaining human population, as well as all the planet’s other species, were completely dependent on the command.

  Upon authorisation being given by the Empress and each of the Chancellors, Trennor confirmed, “Sergeant Rayon, initiate Phase 2.”

  “Affirmative, Commander. Phase 2 initiated – targets acquired and descent in progress.”

  The hologram showed the 10 000 white spheres turning green and commencing their descent towards the Earth’s surface. Their independent targets would be reached within two minutes.

  11:57 a.m. Earth: Phenomenon

  The terraspheres accelerated vertically downwards and soon began to glow white hot as they tore through the Kármán line* and thickening air of the planet’s atmosphere. Strange vertical streams of turbulent cloud began to appear high in the sky, as though the Earth was being hit straight-on by a major meteor shower.
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  [* The Kármán line is 100 km above sea level and defines the outer edge of the Earth’s atmosphere – approximately where the Thermosphere meets the Mesosphere.]

  People all around the day side of the world looked up into the sky above them, to witness the spectacle raining down on them. It reminded some of an event recorded 22 years earlier in a small Siberian town, when long, cloud-like trails were created by small fragments of a meteoroid that had broken up while crashing through the Earth’s atmosphere. But these particular trails looked far bigger than those of 22 years ago.

  On the night side of the world, the spectacle was very different. Those who were awake and watching, saw a cascade of high-speed glowing flares falling from the sky, almost too bright to look at.

  It was frightening to every single human being who was watching, yet equally intriguing. Animals everywhere, went berserk, as if subliminally aware of the fast approaching menace. A looming terror began to consume the world.

  11:58 a.m. Earth: Jameson Country Manor

  President Jameson was surprised by her husband’s tone. It was tense with concern, yet hinted at amazement. She walked through to the lounge where he was watching the television. The channel was set on CNN which was broadcasting fascinating images.

  Her husband spoke as soon as she sat down next to him, “Have a look at this incredible footage that’s being captured over New York.”

  The quality of the footage was poor and shaky, suggesting that it was being filmed by a bystander with a mobile phone. It was difficult to make out what was happening but there appeared to be a tall, vertical trail of cloud being produced by a rapidly falling, glowing object.

  The video feed zoomed out to show other descending trails in the far distance. The scene was chilling. Further footage and images followed in quick succession, showing similar phenomena occurring right across the United States, and other parts of the world. The trails looked like giant tornadoes stretching down from the stratosphere towards the ground to make touchdown.