Bull’s only concern was Christa and Alex, and from the description given by the pilot, they were still alive. “Thanks, Colonel. I’ll call you once we set down.”
*
Once the pilot waved his wings in acknowledgment, the aircraft turned and headed in the direction of the base. The group returned to the interior of Menno’s ship to await the arrival of a rescue helicopter. Menno had remained impassive about their rescue until Alex sat in front of him. “What’s going to happen next, Mr. Cave? Are you going to arrest me?”
“It’s not up to me. I’m only a teacher at a university.”
“I have not broken any laws.”
“How about theft and murder? You did take a lot of crude oil and people died in the process.”
“Those charges will never hold up in court. I wasn’t the one stealing the oil or murdering those people. Those things were done by others. In fact, I doubt this will ever go to court. The government will never tell the public about aliens and spaceships.”
“You’re right. They won’t make this public, but they will make up some excuse to hold you in custody.”
Menno grinned sarcastically. “They want my new type of energy. I’m sure I can work something out in exchange for my freedom.”
Alex knew he was right. He doubted Menno would face any criminal charges. He heard the deep thumping sound of a helicopter approaching, and everyone except Menno walked outside to watch. The helicopter set down in a cloud of dust and they saw Bull jump out the side door and run over to them.
Bull threw his arms around Christa and hugged her fiercely, and over her shoulder, he saw Alex smiling at him. “Damn, I’m glad to see you two. When you busted through the roof of the hangar, I thought I’d never see you alive again.” He let go of Christa and gave Alex a manly hug before he noticed the blood in Alex’s hair, and then quickly let go. “Damn! Sorry about that. Are you okay?”
Alex smiled at him. “Just a minor cut. Don’t worry about it. Menno is inside with a broken leg. Did you bring a . . ?” He noticed two people climb out of the helicopter and grab a stretcher before walking over. “Never mind.”
“Is it safe to go inside?” Bull asked.
“Yes, just a bunch of debris to climb over.”
Bull turned to the approaching medics. “You’re needed inside,” he told them before noticing the stranger standing next to Henry. “Who’s that guy?”
Alex smiled. “That’s Menno’s brother, Lewis Norton. They’re aliens, Bull.”
Bull’s mouth opened for a moment in surprise. “No shit?”
Alex continued to smile as he put his hand on Bull’s big shoulder. “It’s a long story, my friend. Let’s get out of here.”
The medics walked past them with Menno on the stretcher and the rest followed them to the helicopter. One of the medics stopped Alex before he climbed inside. “He has internal injuries. I can’t tell how badly right now, but he should be taken to a hospital as soon as we get back to the base. He needs surgery, and we’re not set up for it.”
Alex nodded and they both climbed in, and a moment later, they took off and headed for the base.
Christa noticed the concern in Alex’s eyes as he sat next to her. “What’s wrong?”
“Menno has internal injuries. If he doesn’t make it, we won’t have any way of learning how the crystals work.”
“Won’t his brother know the same things he does?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t had a chance to talk to him yet.” As he looked over at Lewis, he felt Christa squeeze his hand and he looked into her eyes.” Listen, Christa, I want to apologize for getting you involved in all this. I’m just really glad you’re all right.” Christa smiled at him and squeezed his hand again.
The helicopter pilot had radioed ahead, and once they set down in front of the main building at the base, the plane that had searched for them was waiting to take Menno to the hospital in Las Vegas. Lewis wanted to go with his brother, but Alex had the feeling it would be best if he stayed behind. He still needed answers and hoped Lewis would cooperate. Once the airplane had departed with Menno, the group walked into the main building and Alex went straight to the office to use the telephone. He informed Donner of what had happened, his plans to keep Lewis there for questioning, and hoped he would cooperate in helping them understand how the crystals work. “One more thing, Martin. They were not born on this planet.”
Donner was silent for a moment while he took in the enormity of the situation. “Are you sure? I mean, this is a lot to take in, Alex.”
“I’m sure about this, Martin. I’m about to go talk to Lewis Norton, right now. I’ll call you back once I have more information.”
“All right. I’ll let the president know what’s going on. Call me when you can.”
Alex walked into the lounge and saw Lewis sitting next to Henry on the couch. Christa and Bull were standing off to one side, talking, and Alex walked over to find out what was going on.
Christa and Bull noticed Alex approaching and turned when he stopped. Christa smiled up at him. “Lewis said the powder Menno gave his followers won’t work anymore. He said they become inert after three days. That was Menno’s plan. He never intended to convert all the crude oil at one time. He knew once transportation slowed down, his followers would never make it to the other refineries in the United States, or any other countries. He just wanted to make a point.”
“That’s good news. Call your people, Bull, and let them know they can start transporting the crude oil again. The western part of the United States is a mess right now, so the sooner we get traffic moving, the better.”
“It will take some time,” Bull informed him. “But at least we can get everything started.”
Bull left the room to make his call, and Alex and Christa dragged chairs over to sit next to Henry and Lewis.
Henry was grinning like a child on Christmas morning. “He’s going to help us, Alex.”
Alex smiled and looked at Lewis. “I was hoping you would. You’ll be staying here, with us, at Area 51. I know a lot of people are interested in your accomplishment.”
“I must return to our facility in the desert. Our people will panic if I do not talk to them. If Henry will accompany me to the facility, I will explain how the crystals work.”
Alex remembered something Menno had mentioned. “Your brother said you tried to save this planet once before. What did he mean by that?”
“Have you heard the term, Snowball Earth?”
“Of course. Our scientists have determined this planet was completely covered by glaciers at one time.”
“The last time that happened, it was our mistake. At that time, the volcanic activity had a devastating effect on this planet. One of our ships was sent here to distribute several devices at predetermined locations around the planet. Once the volcanic activity ceased, the devices would be able to remove toxic molecules from the atmosphere so our people could return. Unfortunately, we lost contact with that ship.”
“Why didn’t your brother talk to us about this new form of energy? Didn’t he realize the damage he would cause to life and property by suddenly stopping fuel production?”
“My brother is not a patient person. I warned him he was being irrational. I would have preferred gradual introduction of the conversion process. The people of this planet are currently too dependent on fossil fuel.”
Everyone turned when the door opened. Colonel Sterns had a concerned expression when he walked into the room and looked down at Lewis. “I’ve just received word your brother died en route to the hospital. I’m sorry for your loss.” He looked at Alex. “Could you step outside for a moment, Mr. Cave?”
Alex stood and followed Sterns into the hallway. “What’s going on?”
“Director Donner just called. The Secretary of Defense wants Mr. Norton arrested and held in confinement.”
“We need his help, Colonel. We need to get him back to the underground facility. Can you help us?” Sterns remained silent for a mo
ment and Alex could see the indecision in his expression.
“I could lose my commission over this, but take the jeeps and I’ll cover for you as long as I can. For now, my people are the only ones who know about the facility and I’ll do my best to keep them from talking.”
“Thank you.” Alex walked back into the room. “You need to leave right now, Mr. Norton.” They all turned and looked up at him.
“What’s going on, Alex?” Christa asked.
“You need to hide in your facility, Mr. Norton. They want to arrest you. I need time to contact the right people and stop it from happening, so you need to leave right now. You have transportation waiting outside.” Christa and Henry both leapt to their feet and began talking at the same time, each making an argument why they should go with Lewis. “I understand, but what I’m doing is illegal,” Alex informed them. “Both of you could be arrested for helping me with this.”
“I do not care, Alex,” Henry said adamantly. “This is too important.”
“I’m going, too.” Christa insisted.
Alex knew it was urgent they leave right away, so did not argue with them. “Then you’d better get moving.” Henry and Lewis rushed past him, but Christa stopped beside him. “I thought you were going with them?” he asked.
“I am, but I wanted to talk to you in private first. I’m sorry I tried to force myself on you. Could we at least be friends?”
“I’d like to be much more than friends, Christa. I just need a little time. You see, since my wife was murdered, I’ve had a difficult time getting close to anyone new. I’m really sorry, but I don’t want the same thing to happen to you.”
“The cold war is over and you’re not an agent anymore. You’re just a professor, remember?”
He did not feel like a professor, not with everything that had happened lately. “Maybe you’re right, but this is not over yet.”
“I can wait. Just do what you need to do and I’ll be waiting.” She reached up and put her arms around his neck, then gently pulled him down and kissed him on the cheek. “You’ll know where to find me.”
Alex hugged her tightly for a moment, and then released her and smiled. “I’ll walk you outside.”
*
WASHINGTON, D.C., TWO DAYS LATER:
Alex entered Donner’s office and shook his hand. “It’s nice to be here with good news this time, Martin.” He set a Manila envelope on the desk before sitting down across from him. “Bull had his people start up the refineries again. As it turns out, Menno knew most of the powder he gave his people would never be used. It seems it only works when it’s fresh.”
“That’s the best news I’ve had all day. The President convinced the Secretary of Defense that we need Lewis’s cooperation, so he’s backed off. Lewis will remain in his facility for now, but under constant supervision. Blackwood is being held in custody until his trial. He’ll probably receive the death penalty for his atrocities.”
Alex nodded. “It will take some time before we can use the crystals commercially, so for now, we will still have to depend on fossil fuel.”
“What about all the crystals that went into the water?”
“Menno’s ship would have been able to retrieve them, but that’s not an option anymore.”
“You did a great job with this situation, Alex. Thank you.”
Alex smiled and nodded to the envelope on the desk. “Lewis told me a story about some other devices that his people tried to use to clean the atmosphere on our planet 180 million years ago. It’s all in the report, but one of their spaceships crashed on our planet before the devices were used. The way I understand it, the devices are cylinders that when activated correctly, will draw certain harmful elements from the atmosphere.”
“What do you mean by ‘activated correctly’?”
Alex hesitated for a moment. “When the ship crashed, something went wrong. Imagine if we had something like those cylinders right now. We could stop this global warming before it’s too late.”
“Does Lewis know how to build them?”
“I’m afraid not. For now, it looks like it’s up to us to solve our own problems.”
Donner saw Alex smile slyly. “I’ve seen that look before, Alex. What are you thinking?”
Alex continued to smile as he stood and tapped his finger on the envelope on the desk. “I wonder where that spaceship crashed.”
The end.
Book 2. Cold Energy
Chapter 1
MONTANA STATE COLLAGE, BOZMAN:
Alex Cave sat on the edge of his old wooden desk, looking at his second year geology students while they headed toward the door. He heaved a deep sigh at the thought of having to teach the same old material to his first year students. The subject matter was becoming so routine he could do it in his sleep. Ever since the Dead Energy operation, he yearned for the adrenalin rush of being on the hunt again.
David Conway waited until the last student walked out of the room before strolling over to Alex. He noticed the nearly healed scar just above his left eyebrow. “What did you do last weekend to get so banged up?”
Alex grinned. The physics student was like the little brother he never had. “Just a field trip, David. You never can tell when a few rocks might fall when you go underground.”
“Speaking of a fall, Greta Bernstein, the English Literature teacher, seems to be really interested in you. She keeps asking me if you’re gay, since you never accept her offer to go out on a date.” He noticed the look in Alex’s eyes change to one of deep sorrow, and realized Alex was still mourning the death of his wife in Holland not too long ago.
“I’m sorry, Alex. Hey, listen. I thought you might find this interesting. I logged into one of NASA’s northern imaging satellites and it was taking pictures over the Arctic Ocean when a small section of ice suddenly changed color from white to clear.”
“That’s interesting. Could it just be a refraction of the light through the ice?”
“It’s possible, but that’s not what it looked like to me. It took several seconds before the satellite moved out of range, but even when the angle changed, the ice was still transparent.”
“Have you contacted anyone who was watching at the same time?”
“I’ve been trying, but so far, no one has responded to my request.”
“Let me know what you find out.”
“I will.”
*
CHARS, (CANADIAN HIGH ARCTIC RESEARCH STATION), CAMBRIDGE BAY, NUNAVUT:
Sonja Hanspevin studied the computer map and lightly shook her head. Thirty minutes ago, the GPS unit on the Polar Ice Sheet north of Canada began flashing a warning. The elevation had just increased by two-hundred meters in only three minutes. “This cannot be right,” she whispered with a strong Icelandic accent. The sudden increase in elevation has to be a mistake, she thought.
She entered a test procedure into the computer, and the data indicated the GPS unit was functioning correctly. She ran another test, and the data was the same.
She grabbed her phone and entered the number for her District Manager, Peter Hendrix. “Hallo, Peter. We are getting a warning from GPS unit 2635. I thought the unit was malfunctioning, but I did two different tests and they are identical. I want to fly out to look for myself, but I need your approval for the helicopter.”
“Tom is scheduled to pick up the Regional Director at the airport in three hours. Can it wait until he returns?”
“I would rather not wait, Peter. We could have a serious problem.”
“What kind of problem?”
“If the GPS unit is functioning correctly, the elevation of the ice sheet has gained two-hundred meters in only a few minutes.” She waited for a response. “Peter?”
“I’m still here. That’s impossible. It has to be a malfunction.”
“There is only one way to find out. If it is a malfunction I will exchange the unit, but we need to be sure.”
“Okay. I’ll call Tom and tell him you’re coming.”
&n
bsp; “Thank you, Peter.”
*
Thirty minutes later, Sonja and the helicopter pilot, an American named Tom Hatfield, thought they were seeing an illusion. Directly ahead, a two-hundred meter vertical wall of transparent ice had risen out of the Arctic Ocean.
“Now that’s different.” Tom stated.
Sonja was speechless as they closed the distance to the ice wall. “Take us higher, Tom.”
Tom increased their altitude for a better view. From the higher elevation they could see that the transparent ice sheet extended two-hundred kilometers south into the Beaufort and East Siberian seas.
“This is not logically possible, Tom. We should find the GPS unit and retrieve the data. That will help us determine how this could happen.”
Tom gave her a nod and entered the new coordinates into the navigation system. “If all this happened as quickly as you say, I would imagine it made one hell of a wave.”
The surface of the newly formed ice sheet was as transparent as the sides and Sonja’s heart broke at the sight of dozens of white pilot whales now frozen in the surface of the ice sheet. What could have caused the water to freeze that quickly? She wondered.
When they approached the GPS unit, Sonja’s mouth opened. The unit was still mounted on top of the original white ice, but it was as if a section of the original Polar Ice Sheet had been sheared off the end, and forced up into the air on top of the massive new sheet of clear ice.
Tom set the helicopter down fifty-feet from the GPS receiver and brought the engine speed down to idle. When Sonja climbed out to exchange the units, she noticed that the air felt extremely cold. When the rubber sole of her shoe touched the ice, it immediately stuck to the surface and she struggled to pull the shoe free. When it tore loose, chunks of black rubber remained stuck to the ice. “What is going on?” she whispered.
She climbed back inside and looked at Tom, who noticed what had happened. “The ice is extremely cold. I do not think we should stay here. We will have to come back with different equipment.”
“Works for me.”
The Alex Cave Series. Books 1, 2, & 3.: Box set Page 30
