Earth Shine

by Jerry Ahern

  Anders sent one of his men to contact the outside word. “You got a minute John? I’ve got something to show you and my boss.”

  Rourke nodded and hollered, “Shaw, come here!” When Shaw walked up, he said simply, “Anders, are your people all okay?”

  Anders nodded, “Yeah Boss, thanks for asking. I’ve got something you need to see.” Turning, he led the two back the way he had come from. A hundred yards down the tunnel, they saw a tarp hanging from one wall. Anders approached and grabbed one end, pulling the tarp back. Inside was a small cave that appeared to be freshly dug, and sitting in the middle of it on three legs was something that took Shaw’s breath away.

  Shaw smiled and said, “Is that what I think it is?”

  Rourke nodded, “Yes sir, Mr. Shaw. That is a real life unidentified flying object. I suspect that this is the missing UFO from the attack on the presidential inauguration. Evidently, Dodd or one of his people piloted it here.”

  Shaw patted Anders on the shoulder, “Good job John. Just wait until the science geeks get their hands on this little baby; any idea how we’ll get it out of here?”

  “Yeah, you remember that damn thing we have been tripping over all day?” Rourke said kicking at the ancient narrow gage railroad tracks at their feet. “We’ll roll it out on these.”

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  The Navy missile cruiser, USS Dagger, was plowing the waters from Oahu to Mid-Wake ostensibly returning Dr. Williams following his meeting with the Under Secretary of Commerce, Dillon Hooper. Acting President Darkwater had arranged for himself and several “guests” to make the trip; it was all an elaborate ruse to conduct a super-secret meeting of Lockout.

  During his last assignment with the Office of Naval Intelligence, Lockout had been the brainstorm of the then sitting president, President Michael Franklin. He was beginning to see undercurrents forming in his administration that were, in his words, problematic. He foresaw a potential for a time in the future were there would be a need to “circumvent the system.” Lockout had been established as a method to accomplish exactly that.

  Neither President Franklin nor the two Chief Executives who had followed had been required to activate it, but the process had been kept in place. It was known only to the President and the Lockout Team which consisted of individuals specifically chosen for their commitment to the country and their positions within the scientific and intelligence communities. Over the years, the individual team members had been shuffled due to retirement, death, or assignment changes. The selection criteria, however, had remained as stringent as it was on day one.

  Down in the Dagger’s Officer’s Ward Room, the participants were gathered around a long table. Dr. Williams began the meeting, “The Chaos Theory has been described as a ‘field of study in mathematics, with applications in several disciplines including physics, engineering, biology, and philosophy. Chaos theory studies the behavior of systems that are highly sensitive to initial conditions, an effect which is popularly referred to as the butterfly effect.’ In 1972, Dr. Edward Lorenz wrote a paper entitled Predictability: Does the Flap of a Butterfly’s Wings in Brazil set off a Tornado in Texas?”

  Jason Darkwater took the floor, “In other words, every incident and every happening has the potential for dynamic effects, both positive and negative, throughout the universe. In fact, most of the time, we are not privileged to see those affects because they may not occur in our geographical locations or within our sensory perceptions. In other words, sometimes ‘shit happens,’ and we don’t know why. We are gathered here today to evaluate situations that cannot be discussed outside of this room. Let me make this clear to each of you; this is a matter of the utmost national importance. To say this ‘meeting never took place’ can only be described as an understatement.”

  The group was comprised of retired Captains and flag officers as well as Dr. Williams. Retired Captain Jack Shilling was the former head of the Nimitz Operational Intelligence Center. NOIC executed the Office of Naval Intelligence’s responsibility for Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) and Global Maritime Intelligence Integration (GMII). It provided the timely, relevant, and predictive intelligence to all fleet elements, including Maritime Operational Centers.

  Retired Rear Admiral Hank Sanders was the immediate past head of the Farragut Technical Analysis Center. His job was to coordinate intelligence activities that would anticipate and analyze rapidly accelerating foreign scientific and technological research, development, and proliferation with the goal of maintaining technological superiority as well as preventing technological surprise. Its intelligence products enable U.S. planning and research and help guide future defense acquisitions.

  The Kennedy Irregular Warfare Center had been commanded by Captain Derek Billings until two years ago. They delivered analytical and operational support capabilities to Navy Special Warfare and Navy Expeditionary Combat Command forces engaged globally. They had state-of-the-art, all-source, reach-back capabilities as well as forward-deploying services to support the operational requirements of irregular warfare.

  Retired Captain Daniel Thomas Hasher had headed up operations at the Hopper Information Services Center. He oversaw the production of information technology and enabled the rapid and reliable delivery of ONI’s intelligence products to service components worldwide.

  Darkwater passed out folders to each of the participants, “Here’s the deal gentlemen; I believe that each of you will recognize the folks pictured here.”

  Hasher let out a low whistle and said, “You have got to be kidding.”

  Darkwater shook his head, “No Captain Hasher, I’m not. And, this is extremely relevant to you personally because of your allegiance to the Progressive Party.”

  Hasher looked up stunned, “Sir, I hope you understand. I’m an American first and a Progressive second. We can agree to disagree on policies, but I hope you are not questioning my loyalty to this country.”

  “Dan,” Darkwater firmly grasped Hasher’s shoulder and said, “if I had any questions about you, you would not be sitting here. I think this will go a long way in showing each of you the delicateness of this situation. This investigation cannot be allowed to go down the path of partisanship and turn into a witch hunt. I believe that decisive action, decisive and immediate action, is on the horizon. The very fabric of this country’s political processes are about to be strained, and we have to be careful and professional. Now, I will need to know your best recommendations on how to proceed, and I’m going to need the best from your operational components.”

  “The primary operational functions from this point forward are critical. We cannot afford mistakes or missteps. We need data, and that data has to be garnered from a variety of sources and triple verified before we can move or, even for that matter, determine how we are going to move. And, understand this; before we move, the decisions that we are going to move and what those movements shall entail must be approved by you as a group. That approval must also be that each and every one of you is in absolute agreement with those courses of action. There will be no exceptions, and no one can simply vote ‘present.’ As of right now, we are all in this boat, for better or worse; we will sink or swim together. Anymore questions? Then, let’s begin.”

  “Before we get too far down this rabbit trail, Mr. President,” Derek Billings said, “I have some concerns.” Darkwater leaned back and directed his old friend to continue. “Let me get an understanding; you are saying that it is predictably probable we have a serious breach in national security, correct?” Darkwater nodded. “You are also saying that, if this body agrees, it is also predictably probable some sort of armed interventions will be required, correct?” Darkwater nodded. “Because of the predictable probability, I submit we better consider right now where to get the manpower for that potential eventuality. I do not subscribe we base our actions or potential actions on the concept of using existing forces to accomplish our mission.”

  “Derek,” Darkwater said, “I agree with you 100 percent
. The very concept by which Lockout was conceived dictates we have to go outside the box. This, should action actually be required, will have to remain completely off of everyone’s radar until, and I say again—if, we are forced to launch any type of aggressive mission.”

  “From what we suspect right now, we have to consider that the Russians are somehow involved; we just don’t know how right now. Second, it appears we have possibly identified some manner of traitorous conspiracy that involves the clones, but we have no idea exactly who is involved or how wide spread it may be. We don’t know what the traitors are planning, so the only intelligent path is to investigate. The really tricky part is that the investigation has to remain absolutely secret. If our suspicions are correct...” Darkwater let the sentence hang in the air for a long moment, “we could find ourselves on the verge of a war with two fronts; that is what we have to try to avoid at all costs. I just don’t know that we can.”

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Following the tunnel sweep operations, there had been a flurry of events both in and around the entire Waiāhole Forest Reserve area. The majority of activity dealt with the ditch and tunnel system on the eastern side. Major Barnett’s forces, the Provincial Guard, assisted by Army Pathfinders and two Recon Marine Teams from the Kaneohe Marine Air Base, continued sweeps throughout the entire area. They were looking for stragglers and checking if there were any other potential outposts that had been established by the alien and clone coalition.

  Army Combat Engineers had focused on clearing the cave-in debris from the tunnel system and repairing the ancient rail system inside. This was in preparations of removing the alien craft Anders and his team had discovered during the battle.

  A total of 42 enemy combatants had survived the tunnel sweep operation; eight of these had subsequently died of their wounds. The eight remaining injured had been transferred to a secure ward at the Tripler Army Medical Hospital in Honolulu; 28 uninjured prisoners had been confined at the new Ambrose Federal Detention Center, near the Honolulu International Airport. Part of the maximum security federal prison system, the AFDC, named for former state Senator Malcolm Ambrose, was under the operational control of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice.

  The uninjured had been divided into three groups of nine prisoners and placed in separate cell blocks. The 28th prisoner, Captain Dodd, had been placed in solitary confinement; all were under 24-hour a day electronic and video monitoring.

  *****

  Tripler Army Medical Center, named after the legendary American Civil War Medic, Brigadier General Chares Stuart Tripler, was in its 15th iteration. Originally established in 1907 as simple wooden structures within Fort Shafter, it was now ultra-modern and the largest military hospital in the entire Pacific Rim region, its closest rival being Mid-Wake which did not have the floor space.

  Dr. David Blackman, Chief of Psychological Research at Mid-Wake; and Dr. Henry Drake, Chief of Medicine at Tripler, turned when John Rourke entered Drake’s office. “Good morning gentlemen,” Rourke said. “Have you made any headway yet?”

  Blackburn stood, “Morning John, I was just briefing Dr. Drake on our experiences with Lt. Kuriname.”

  “I’ve seen the reports,” Drake said. “To be honest, we still do not understand the method by which the connections between these men and who, or whatever, created them works.”

  “I don’t either,” said Rourke. “The Dodd clone we captured before was simply ‘turned off,’ and I don’t know how; apparently, my theory that it was tied to the tattoo was accurate since we have been able to reconnect with Kuriname.”

  “And, there have been no indicators that he is still in some kind of link?” Drake asked.

  “None,” said Blackburn. “I suspect that, when Kuriname was knocked unconscious, the link was temporally broken, and since the tattoo was removed prior to his regaining consciousness, it has been severed completely.”

  Drake frowned, “But if your hypothesis is correct, why haven’t these men been ‘turned off’ as you say?”

  “I think that as long as the link is functional,” Rourke said, “there is some degree of two-way communication going on. Their creators maintain control of the cloned individuals and are able to use their sensory awareness to gather information. It is like they are passive monitors of everything that they see and hear. Gentlemen, I think we have been ‘bugged.’ I think the aliens are monitoring what the clones are aware of. My question is what, if anything, can or should we do about it?”

  “I believe that Dr. Drake can answer the first part of that. Is there anything that we can do?” Blackman asked.

  “I believe so. Since we already have them in custody, we do what you did with Kuriname. Render them unconscious, and while they are out, remove the tattoos. If we are correct, we’ll be able to find out in very short order. My concern is that, if their creators become aware of what we are attempting, they will simply ‘turn off’ all of them at once.”

  “I agree,” Rourke said. “Let’s look at the eight injured men first; do you expect each of them to make a full recovery?”

  Drake nodded, “We have a couple that are touch and go. Honestly, I’m not sure why they are still alive; six, however, should make a complete recovery. Yet, as a physician, I cannot and will not be a party to using these men as guinea pigs or test subjects. No experiments, period.”

  “Dr. Drake,” Rourke said, “let me explain this to you. If we do nothing, none of these men will ever again see the light of day as free citizens. It will be imperative they spend the rest of their natural lives incarcerated. During the rest of their natural lives, they will remain in communication with a force whose desires appear to be the annihilation or subjugation of mankind. If you will remember your Latin, the root for annihilation is the word ‘nihil’; its literal translation is to ‘make into nothing,’ and subjugation is a verb which means to ‘bring under domination or control, especially by conquest.’ I don’t see that they, or we, have much of a choice here.”

  Drake removed his glasses and sat them on the desk, as he squeezed his eyes tightly shut. Leaning over, he placed his face into his cupped hands, rocking slowly for a long moment before sitting back up and replacing his glasses, “Okay, I get it. Now, how do we do it?”

  *****

  Back at the ditch and tunnel system, the recovered alien aircraft had not been nearly as big a problem to move as was initially anticipated. Finally, it was determined the only way to remove the craft without damage was to lift it. That required a gantry to be erected over it; the design and construction was complicated by the fact there was a near total lack of clearance around it. That had taken the most time; once the design criteria had been worked out, it had only taken two days before the gantry spanned the length of the craft and held a system of simple pulleys and ropes.

  These were linked to small diameter, high tensile, strength pipes that formed the framework of the gantry. Heavy lifting straps were slung under the craft, raising high enough to roll a wheeled dolly under it. Once loaded, a dozen strong backs moved it forward to the rail tracks. The gantry was repositioned, the entire load was raised, and the wheels lowered into place on the tracks.

  Twenty minutes later, everything had been loaded on the bed of a large military truck, covered by a heavy tarpaulin, and was traveling to the coast under heavy military escort. A flight of six attack helicopters from the Kaneohe Marine Air Base flew air cover the entire route. Two fighter jets flew Combat Air Patrol over the harbor, while the aircraft was to be loaded on one of the Navy’s largest submersible aircraft carriers for transport and study at Mid-Wake. The trip took one hour; and an hour later, the carrier was steaming toward Mid-Wake. Once it was in deep water, the monster ship slipped quietly under the waves of the Pacific.

  The hope was that examination of the craft would give an understanding both of how it operated and flew but also the technology, weapons, and avionics it possessed. As far as the military knew, only one per
son understood the craft and how to operate it; but, he was in solitary confinement and not likely to divulge that information.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Jack Shilling, former head of the Nimitz Operational Intelligence Center, and Hank Sanders had taken the initial lead on surveillance and how to gather the field HUMINT or Human Intelligence. HUMIT is simply intelligence gathered by means of interpersonal contact as opposed to other methods. These could include signal intelligence, imagery intelligence, or MASINT or measurement and signature intelligence.

  “HUMIT was tricky,” Shilling had said. “It is not as objective or as reliable as the other methods; it has to be evaluated because many of the wide variety of sources are of doubtful reliability. It has to be rated for the reliability of sources and the likely or unlikely accuracy of the information they provide. Such information can only be classified as accurate and true if it is confirmed by a number of sources. Sources of that information might be neutral, friendly, or hostile, and may or may not be conscious or ‘witting’ of their involvement in the collection of information. ‘Witting’ is the art form of intelligence gathering that shows a person is not only aware of a fact or piece of information but also aware of its connection to intelligence gathering activities.”

  Dan Hasher’s team was involved with the “technical” aspects of all forms of electronic and systems surveillance; he had the “hacker squad.” Their jobs were to penetrate computer security, data bases, and any form of communications medium with targeted probes using key words and phrases that had been chosen to show linkages between specific individuals, organizations, and threats. They took those “hits,” and these were used to have a starting point for surveillance activities for targeted individuals and groups.

  It would be the job of these three men and retired Admiral Hank Sanders to look at, analyze, and evaluate the evidence; and if consensus on an action plan was arrived at, to make recommendations to Jason Darkwater.