"You think Area 51 was desolate, Tunguska is in the middle of nothing. It's located in the Central Siberian Upland. If it had not been for the Trans-Siberian Railway, which was built in 1906, the exact site of the crash would probably never have been found. Siberia is half again as big as the United States. Yet at the time the railroad was built and the crash occurred, the population in that region was less than one million."
"What exactly happened with the crash?" Turcotte asked, checking his watch once more. He was anxious to get going after Artad and the Swarm, but he knew he had to go prepared.
Quinn consulted his notes. "In 1908, on June 30, just after seven in the morning, passengers on the Siberian railroad saw something bright race across the sky and disappear below the horizon to the north. There was an enormous explosion.
"Thirty-seven miles from the epicenter, at the trading station called Vanavara — the nearest place where people were, at least people who survived the explosion — no one knows how many trappers or hunters might have perished closer to the blast — the shock wave knocked buildings down and those in the open were burned by radiation. That was only determined decades later, when original reports from the time were studied by scientists who had the data from Hiroshima available. At the site itself trees were blown outward for dozens of miles.
"It was quite a worldwide event. In London, five hours after the explosion, measuring instruments picked up the shock wave in the air after it had already traveled around the world several times. At first, the English scientists thought perhaps they had recorded a large earthquake somewhere on the planet. But that night there was a strange glow, bright red, in the eastern sky, something they had never seen before. For two months afterward the night sky over England was much brighter than normal. It was so bright in some places that fire wagons were called out by people thinking there was a blaze just over the horizon.
"If it had not been for the sighting from the Siberian railroad, the whole source of the event might have been lost. Even with that, the cause of the explosion was not formally investigated by the Russians for nineteen years."
" 'Nineteen years'?" Turcotte repeated.
"Ah," Yakov growled, eager to explain. "You have to remember that that was a turbulent time in my country's history. The czar in 1908, well, one could not expect much from him, then we went through revolution and civil war not long afterward. You also have to understand the remoteness of the Siberian tundra. I have been in Siberia many times. Thousands upon thousands of miles of nothing but trees with bog underneath. A most desolate and isolated place."
"So what exactly occurred?" Turcotte asked, eager to get back on track.
"What do we know for certain happened?" Quinn checked his notes. "Those on the train, Tungus tribesmen, and fur traders in the area who were interviewed later reported seeing a fireball streaking through the atmosphere toward the trading post of Vanavara and leaving a trail of light some eight hundred kilometers long. The object approached from a heading of 115 degrees and descended at an entry angle of thirty to thirty-five degrees above the horizon. The fireball — as most described it — continued along a northwestward trajectory until it seemed about to disappear over the horizon. There followed a rapid series of cataclysmic explosions."
"Not one explosion?" Turcotte asked.
"No. Numerous witnesses reported hearing several blasts in succession."
"That's strange," Turcotte said.
"The site was centered on coordinates one-zero-one east by six-two north near the Stony Tunguska River, ninety-two kilometers north of Vanavara. The power of the blast felled trees outward in a radial pattern over an area covering over two thousand square kilometers. Closer to the epicenter, the forest was incinerated, causing a column of flame visible several hundred kilometers away. The fires burned for weeks, destroying a thousand square kilometers of forest. The fires were so vast and intense that they caused tremendous winds, sucking up ash and tundra so violently that they were caught up in the high-altitude air circulation pattern and carried around the world. The initial explosion and aftershocks were heard as far away as eight hundred kilometers.
"From this data it was calculated that the explosion was at least twenty megatons and may have been as high as forty, depending on the altitude of the initial blast." Quinn looked at Turcotte and Yakov. "To give you an idea of the size, the explosive force that formed Meteor Crater in Arizona was figured to be only three and a half megatons."
"Was there a crater then?" Turcotte asked.
"Ah, a good question!" Quinn was in his element, working wild data he had uncovered and giving it to others. "I'll get to that. A most strange recording was made of the earth's magnetic field at the Irkustk Observatory nine hundred kilometers from the epicenter. At the time they did not know what they were picking up, but comparing those 1908 data with modern records of atmospheric nuclear test explosions shows a remarkable similarity."
"You're saying a nuke went off in the atmosphere?" Turcotte asked, confused. "That's what caused all this? I thought you said an alien ship crashed there. And Tesla caused it? Did he develop a nuke?"
Quinn quickly backpedaled. "I'm saying the results were similar to a nuclear explosion. Just as when you exploded the ruby sphere inside the mothership it added to the force of the nuclear explosions you also initiated. All I have told you are the known facts.
"Now let us move on to current speculation before getting back to what you recovered from the Moscow Archive. Current — before the discovery of the Airlia that is — explanations for the cause of the 1908 Tunguska blast have been numerous. Some say a nuclear blast, which of course necessitates involving aliens, as humans did not posses nuclear weapons at that date."
"But Von Seeckt did recover the Great Pyramid nuke in 1941," Turcotte noted. "So we not only know the Airlia had nukes, we know they left at least one sitting around."
Quinn continued his story. "Others have said it was a black hole striking the planet. Or a small piece of antimatter. Even before the discovery of the Airlia there were those who did say the explosion must have had an extraterrestrial cause — the nuclear power plant of a spacecraft malfunctioning."
"The mothership wasn't powered by a nuclear reactor," Turcotte said. "The UNAOC scientists don't know what the ruby sphere was exactly, but it wasn't nuclear. Although as you said, when it exploded it certainly acted like a nuke."
"The biggest problem with knowing what happened at Tunguska — and no insult to you or your country, Mr. Yakov — is that it took nineteen years before the site was actually first examined," Quinn said. "A Soviet scientist named Leonid Kulik was the one who organized the first expedition. He'd heard rumors of the explosion from the local tribesmen, the Tungus, and that they had closed off the area, saying it was 'holy' land and they were afraid of further enraging the gods who had caused the explosion."
"Primitive thinking, or perhaps they knew more than the scientists," Turcotte noted.
Yakov agreed. "I learned traveling around the world to trust in the words of the so-called primitive people."
Quinn went on. "With backing from the Soviet Academy of Sciences, Kulik and his party traveled to the area in 1927. Kulik discovered the epicenter of the blast by the straightforward method of working his way in against the knocked-down trees.
"He also discovered several cleared oval areas that he assumed to be old meteorite craters that had been filled in by time. However, not only were those 'old' meteorites never discovered, they never found any remains of the large meteorite everyone assumes caused the 1908 blast.
"There are several curious aspects to Tunguska," Quinn said. "One is very strange. It was discovered not long ago that there was accelerated growth of biomass material in the area surrounding the epicenter and that accelerated growth has continued to this day. There have also been a number of mutations of animal and plant life in the area. Among the local Tungus tribesmen, it was found that their Rh blood factor is abnormal, even now, almost a hundred years later."
"Perhaps radiation," Quinn said. "But even at nuclear test sites, there haven't been biological data collected like these. Perhaps," he ventured, "the Swarm bodies did have some alien-type viruses and they infected the local area — and the Germans when they arrived years later. Or, maybe the craft itself or the weapon used against it propagated a field that affected bioforms.
"The common explanation for the Tunguska event has always been that it was caused by an asteroid," Quinn continued. "However, we run into the problem of not being able to find the crater and asteroid fragments that would be necessary parts of such an occurrence. Making that explanation even more difficult is that aerial surveys in the 1960s discovered four smaller blast epicenters within the confines of the larger one. That also backs up the claims of witnesses that there were multiple explosions. So what caused the smaller blasts?"
"Secondary explosions from a craft," Turcotte suggested.
"Perhaps," Quinn said. "But what caused the primary explosion?" He didn't wait for an answer. "Another, bigger expedition was sent to Tunguska after the Second World War. They found signs of an airburst nuclear explosion, now that they knew what the results of such an event would be. Using the data, the men with their slide rules again estimated the equivalent of a twenty-megaton blast. One thousand times the size of the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. You can be assured that generated some interest.
"The Soviet scientists also found traces of the radioactive isotope cesium 137 in the ring structure of trees on the outskirts of the blast that corresponds to the year of the explosion. And still no sign of a crater.
"One of the scientists on the expedition — Gregori Kazakov — said that the explosion at Tunguska had definitely been nuclear and he suggested that it was caused by the nuclear engine of a spacecraft exploding. He said that traces of metallic iron found in the area were fragments from the skin of the spaceship. Other metals found there were from the ship's wiring. He based his theory on the fact that a spacecraft exploding in midair would leave no crater and form the circular effect of blown-down trees that was noted in the area. They also found traces of metal that they couldn't identify."
Turcotte waited, the information coming full circle as Quinn continued.
"Then an aerodynamics expert carefully examined eyewitness reports of the object that had been moving across the sky and concluded that it had to have been under intelligent control. Based on the various reports, the object slowed to around .6 kilometers per second prior to explosion, indicating an attempt to perhaps land — a meteorite would have continued at the same terminal velocity to detonation. He laid out the route according to the various accounts and it appeared — if the accounts from 1908 were to be believed — that the object actually made a significant course change prior to exploding, definitely ruling out an uncontrolled object.
"With this new information the team decided to expand the resources and dig. The thought is that whatever exploded fell to the ground, melted the permafrost, then sank into melted ground. Then the permafrost refroze, effectively burying — and preserving — whatever was there. However, the expedition that went after World War II did extensive digging and found nothing."
"Because the Nazis had already recovered whatever was there." Turcotte supplied the missing piece. "It appears so." Quinn said.
"How were the Germans able to operate so freely in Russia?" Turcotte asked.
"Ah, the 1930s." Yakov's voice sounded sad. "A black time for my country. If you remember history, Stalin had signed a nonaggression pact with Hitler that decade. A most foolish decision given subsequent events."
"Could there be more to that treaty than meets the eye?" Turcotte suggested. "Perhaps the influence of either the Mission or the Ones Who Wait?"
"That is possible with every event in man's history," Yakov said. "Who knows even who Stalin was? Single-handedly he almost destroyed my country. We still struggle to recover from all the policies he enacted; and the millions he killed, they will never be replaced. What he did made no sense."
"Major Quinn, what did the Germans find?" Turcotte asked. "How intact was the wreckage?"
"It was in many pieces," Quinn said. "The Germans took out as much as they could uncover."
"And it wasn't a Talon, bouncer, or mothership?"
"Apparently not."
"Well, what was it exactly? What kind of ship does the Swarm have?" Turcotte asked.
"The Germans never really determined the structure of the craft," Quinn said. "They didn't have enough to work with."
"What was Swarm doing on Earth in 1908?" Yakov asked.
"That's a very good question," Quinn said.
"An even better question," Turcotte said, "is how did Tesla destroy their ship in 1908?"
"At the same time as the Tunguska explosion," Quinn said, "the most significant event occurring in the news was Admiral Peary's expedition to the North Pole. There are some who speculate that Tesla, desiring to gain publicity for his new device, wanted to send a transmission through the Earth to Peary's camp, where it would light the entire area."
"Wait a second." Yakov was confused. "You said it was a weapon?"
"It depends on the amount of energy transmitted. At a certain low level it could transmit a radio message. At other low levels it could produce a glow. Indeed Tesla claimed shortly after the Titanic disaster that his device — located in the Azores — could prevent similar accidents by fighting the entire Atlantic Ocean at night with a low-level glow."
Turcotte wasn't sure how much of this he should believe. A month ago he would have thought it all nonsense, but he had seen so many strange things in the intervening weeks that very little was out of the realm of what he now thought possible. And he desperately needed a weapon, a human weapon, one that was powerful enough to attack the Talons and destroy the Mars transmitter.
"Most of what I am telling you is easily checkable," Quinn said. "You can look them up in the library or on the Internet. Anyway, these people who believe Tesla was trying to contact Peary speculate that Tesla's experiment went tragically wrong.
"If you look at a global projection, from Tesla's tower site on Long Island to Peary's camp near the North Pole and continuing on a line around the planet, you strike Tunguska straight on. The theory is that Tesla mistook both the power and the direction of his beam and instead hit Tunguska with a powerful electromagnetic pulse, causing the explosion."
"You sound as if you do not believe that," Turcotte noted. "Tesla was a brilliant man," Quinn said. "Reading his journals convinced me of that. I do not think he made a mistake. I believe the North Pole information was a cover story that was put out to hide the real mission. I think he did exactly what he set out to."
"And that was?" Yakov prompted.
"Destroy the Swarm spacecraft."
"How did he develop such technology?" Yakov asked. And how could he know the Swarm craft was inbound, then target it?"
"That I don't know yet," Quinn said. "I've got more research to do. But if he had contact with the Master Guardian in Turkey, he might have been able to find out about the Swarm spaceship being inbound. I'm just telling you all I've found out so far."
"Can we duplicate his weapon?" Turcotte asked. "Can it cut through the Airlia shield?"
"I'm speculating that the Swarm craft must have been guarded by some sort of similar shield," Quinn said. "Tesla's weapon seems to have worked on that."
"Can we duplicate it?" Turcotte asked once more.
"I'm working on the data and construction details," Quinn said. "His energy projector doesn't appear to be very complicated."
"Why has no one tried to duplicate it then?" Turcotte asked.
"No one really appears to have looked," Quinn said. "As I said, his papers were taken by the Yugoslavian intelligence service and locked away. I've put out some feelers for experts on Tesla's science. There's one more thing," Quinn added.
"And that is?" Turcotte asked.
> "Tesla traveled to England in 1924."
"So?"
"That's the same year Irvine left England to try to climb Everest. Tesla mentions in his journal that he met Irvine prior to his departure, but he doesn't say why."
"That's not just a coincidence, is it?" Turcotte asked.
"I don't think so."
Turcotte leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes. "Where are they now?"
"Excuse me?" Quinn asked.
"These other Watchers," Turcotte said. "Where are they now? How come they haven't done anything?"
Yakov shrugged his large shoulders. "I have not met any of them or seen the results of any of their actions in my years tracking the aliens. Perhaps Tesla was the last?"
Turcotte turned back to Quinn. "Can we make this weapon?"
"I've got someone coming — a professor from MIT who has done a lot of work with things Tesla worked on." Quinn checked his Palm Pilot. "A Professor Leahy. Should be here very soon."
Turcotte stood. "I hope so. Because we're taking off within the hour."
CHAPTER 13: THE PRESENT
* * *
BARKSDALE AFB, LOUISIANA
The two Air Force officers walked to the surface entrance of thee Final Option Missile Launch Control Center (FOM-LCC). Both were dressed in black one-piece flight suits. On their right shoulders each wore a crest with a mailed fist holding lightning bolts and the words Final Option. A Velcro tag on their chests gave their names, ranks, and units. One was Major Bartlett, the other Captain Thayer.
The surface entrance to the LCC was set in the middle of an open grassy space, about a hundred meters square, surrounded on all sides by thick forest. Twenty meters from the edge of the forest on all sides surrounding the surface building was a twelve-foot-high fence topped with razor wire. One gravel road led to the building. NO TRESPASSING and DEADLY FORCE AUTHORIZED signs were hung every ten feet on the fence. Video cameras, remote-controlled machine guns, a satellite dish, surface-to-air missiles, and a small radar dish were on the roof of the building, the latter three pointing at the cloudless sky.
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