He laughed, the sound echoing off the walls. He reached up and removed the ka from around his neck. He would never need it again. Millennia of dying and being reborn were over. He was immortal and this body would be his forever. The Grail, the carrot that the Airlia had held in front of humans from the very beginning, was his to do with as he willed.
He went to the guardian and made contact, checking the status of his forces. All was progressing well with the fleet. And there was an acknowledgment from his man in Iran, indicating preparations were going forth to seize the second mothership and Master Guardian. His team heading toward Everest was on schedule.
Perfect. It was time to let the humans know their options. He went to the tables holding the equipment that had been abandoned by the United Nations when they evacuated the island. He turned on a computer that had direct satellite contact with the UN.
Area 51
Turcotte rode the elevator into the underground bunkers. His fatigue shirt was soaked with sweat and his hands covered with sand that had stuck to the perspiration. Dried blood encrusted the lower part of his pants.
A few lights were still working, flickering, showing the destruction that had been wreaked. The silence was unsettling. As he expected, the place was abandoned and Turcotte quickly retraced his steps to the surface.
Turcotte went to the runway tower and broke into the supply area. He grabbed a survival vest, checked the small radio to make sure it was working, ensured his SATPhone was still in his pocket, loaded up on a half dozen full canteens, then left Area 51 and headed out into the desert.
United Nations
The men and women chosen for UN Alien Oversight Committee (UNAOC) had done little in the last several months other than observe. This was not because they lacked the will, but more that they lacked the knowledge of what was really going on in order to make a coherent decision. Added to that indecision was worry over the infiltration of their governments and the influences of Guides, Ones Who Wait, and the various human contingents that proclaimed one side or the other of the Airlia civil war to be the one to support.
While every member country of the United Nations had signed an agreement to abide by the decisions of the committee, the reality was that, as had been true for the history of the United Nations, countries only followed the agreement when it suited their interests.
Every country was supposed to surrender any alien artifacts they had in their possession to the UNAOC. So far, not a single item had been turned over. A large row had already erupted over the refusal of the Israelis to release artifacts, including the Ark, that they had taken from the Mission inside Mount Sinai. Additionally, the militaries of all countries were ordered to coordinate with the UNAOC security panel. A few token phone calls had been made, but not a single troop, plane, or ship had been placed under UN command. All eyes were on the Pacific and the surviving American fleet there.
Given that the previous head of UNAOC had been assassinated by a Guide, the committee members not only felt powerless, they also felt threatened.
As they gathered at the conference table to listen to Aspasia’s Shadow’s message, the absence of the Chinese member was noted.
The screen on the laptop in front of each UNAOC member came alive with Aspasia’s Shadow’s pale face. He wasted no time on pleasantries.
“You have called me Al-Iblis. You humans have called me many names over the millennia in many places. I am Aspasia’s Shadow, but I am more than he ever was. You killed him and stopped his space fleet, but you cannot stop me. You can only join me and reap the benefits I offer. Despite your transgressions I will forgive you. I am going to tell you the truth so that you know the reality of your tenuous situation.
“I possess the Grail. It holds the secret of immortality. I offer that to those who join me. I offer the might of my fleet and my other forces to those who join me. You know you cannot penetrate my shields or defend against my nanovirus or my Guides. You are powerless. Report back to your governments. Tell them to face the truth.
“You have a choice now. Join me or fight me or stand aside. But realize that your time is short. And Artad is awake. He has already contacted the mainland Chinese government. They have chosen to side with him. They will die because of that decision.
“Artad cares nothing for humans. His Shadow created the Black Death in the Middle Ages and almost wiped you off the face of the planet. Only I was able to stop it and save you as only I can save you from him now.”
There was a pause, then Aspasia’s Shadow continued. “And there is something else you must know. Something that Artad will not tell you. The reason why the Airlia came here to your planet so many years ago.”
There was absolute silence in the hall now as everyone unconsciously leaned forward to hear what was about to be said.
“They—we—came here to protect you,” Aspasia’s Shadow said. “You humans are like newborns when it comes to the larger reality of the universe. There are many species among the stars. And some of them hate any life-form not their own. In this galaxy, there is a life-form we call the Swarm. They are a race of parasites unlike anything you could imagine in your worst nightmares. They were, are, the Airlia’s Ancient Enemy.”
Aspasia’s Shadow grimaced as if remembering something particularly bothersome. “The Swarm have conquered many planets, destroyed many species, and long ago we came into contact with them. Even we don’t know where their home world is. Some have said they have no home anymore, but just expand outward, consuming intelligent life wherever they find it. There is no communicating with them or negotiating. They exist to destroy.” Aspasia’s Shadow pointed down. “They have been here, humans. On your planet. Scouts. I have protected you, destroyed their scout ship, and prevented them from communicating back to let their fleet know of your planet. If their fleet comes here, not even the Airlia can protect you.
“Their scouts can infiltrate any intelligent species, become part of them so that no one knows they are there. And when their fleet arrives, they destroy every living thing, consuming it so that their own forms can go on.
“Aspasia’s mission was to protect you and help you. And he did so for many years. Your people were in caves when he arrived. He built Atlantis, brought civilization to humanity. It was a golden time.
“But then Artad came along with others—all cowards and deserters from the war against the Swarm. They wanted to hide here, to cut us off from our home system. There was civil war and then there was a truce. But still Aspasia stayed nearby to help defend you and you thanked him by destroying him.
“I am taking his place. I will continue to help defend your planet but you must join with me. It is in both our best interests to work together.
“Fight me and die.
“Stand aside and eventually you will be mine anyway and I will remember your lack of commitment.
“Join me and reap the benefits and be protected.” The screen went dead.
Seoul, South Korea
The South Korean president’s hand shook as he took a sip of tea. The conference room was dark and slides appeared on the far wall, one after another, without a single comment from the American officer waiting close by.
General Carmody was the Eighth Army commander, the senior American officer in South Korea. The images he was showing President Pak had just been given to him by his G-2, intelligence officer. They were from a KH-14 Keyhole spy satellite that was on permanent station over the Korean peninsula. They showed something that hadn’t happened in almost fifty years: Chinese troops crossing the Yalu River into North Korea and heading south. Tanks, armored personnel carriers, and thousand upon thousands of infantry were on the move. All heading south. Then the locations of the photos changed. Pak recognized the DMZ. There was no mistaking the fact that North Korean forces were mobilizing.
Finally, the last shot was displayed and Carmody turned the lights back on. They were the only two people in the room. The general sat down across from Pak. “We estimate at least two corps of C
hinese troops have already entered North Korea with another three corps to follow on. Over a half million men.”
“And the Seventh Fleet?” Pak asked. For decades South Korea had lain under the umbrella of protection provided by America’s military. While most of the world had forgotten that the Korean War had never officially ended, it was never far from the minds of the people who inhabited the southern half of the peninsula. “The Seventh is”—Carmody seemed to search for a nice way to put it, then he simply shrugged—“gone. We’re abandoning Hawaii. That tells you where things stand.”
Pak had already known that from his spy network. “So? What now, General? You have reduced your troop strength in my country to the point where your presence is merely a trip wire. Several thousand Americans whose death would be avenged. But there is no avenging force now.”
An aide entered the room and handed a piece of paper to the president before withdrawing. Pak read it. “The UN has been issued an ultimatum by Aspasia’s Shadow from Easter Island. Join him or fight him.”
“What will the UN do?” Carmody asked.
“A vote is scheduled.” Pak laughed bitterly. “In two days’ time. Much too late for us.”
“Aspasia’s Shadow can’t help us here,” Carmody said.
Pak crumpled the paper and tossed it in the wastebasket. “Evil is evil and I believe these aliens are evil, whatever face they present.” “There is one possible course of action,” Carmody said.
“And that is?”
“Tactical nuclear weapons. A preemptive strike into North Korea. Along the axes of advance.”
Pak stared at the general. “Your government would authorize that?” “I doubt it.”
“Then why do you bring it up?” Pak asked. Carmody had been Eighth Army commander for two years. He was unique in that he was half-Korean, his father an American soldier, his mother a Korean his father had married during a tour of duty in the country. Carmody had grown up in the United States, attended West Point, and served all over the world, before returning to his mother’s country to command his father’s forces there.
“My government…” Carmody paused, searching for words. “Let me put it to you plainly, Mister President. There is great concern among my fellow officers about the integrity of my government. About how much the aliens and their followers have compromised the chain of command. This vote—I don’t know how the United States will vote, but I agree with you that these aliens are evil. The Chinese have allied with Artad and I see nothing good coming out of that.”
He paused, then continued. “I do not think that South Korea is very high on anyone’s priority list in Washington right now.”
“Detonating nuclear weapons against another nuclear power would be on Washington’s priority list,” Pak said.
“That’s true,” Carmody acknowledged. “But, Mister President, I think—” He was interrupted by a loud buzz that caused both men to start.
“It is the line to the North Korean president that we established last year. It has never rung before.” Pak turned his chair and picked up a red phone, putting the receiver against his ear. Carmody got up and went to the far side of the room out of earshot and waited. When he heard Pak hang up he went back to his chair.
“The North Koreans are making an offer. They have allied with China, who have allied with Artad. We have the choice of joining them or dying. It seems our vote is here now.”
“Your decision?” Carmody asked.
“I gave him my answer. We will fight.”
Pacific Ocean
With the shield turned off for the moment, the carriers Stennis and Washington adjusted course twenty degrees to the starboard so that their flight decks were facing directly into the wind. They were still a two-day sailing from Hawaii, over twelve hundred miles away, equaling a round trip of twenty-four hundred miles. Given that the range of the planes they were launching, F-14 Tomcats, even with external tanks, was only slightly over two thousand miles, the maneuver did not seem logical. And, the external tanks on the sixty planes gathering in formation and heading toward Hawaii did not contain fuel, which meant they had an effective range of only fifteen hundred miles.
The sixty planes also weren’t flying at a rate to conserve fuel. With afterburners kicked in, they were flying at over Mach 2, fifteen hundred miles an hour so that they would arrive at Hawaii just as their fuel tanks ran empty.
Behind the planes the shield came back on and the carriers headed toward Hawaii.
The Strait of Taiwan
Archaeological evidence indicates that humans have inhabited Taiwan for as long as ten thousand years. There were also signs that Japanese forces occupied part of the island in the twelfth century. The first Europeans to visit the island were the Portuguese in 1590, calling the island Formosa, which meant “beautiful” in their language. The Spanish attempted some settlements but were kicked off the island by the Dutch, who occupied it and neighboring islands in 1622. In 1644 the defeated followers of the Ming dynasty retreated to Taiwan and expelled the Dutch, establishing a Ming enclave and also the precedent of the island being a refuge for those out of favor with the ruling force on the mainland.
After the British victory over China in the Opium Wars, the Treaty of Tientsin in 1860 opened two ports on Taiwan’s west coast to foreign ships. Missionaries, both Roman Catholic and Protestant, weren’t far behind.
At the end of the first Sino-Japanese War, China was required to cede Taiwan to Japan. Given their tenuous ties with the mainland, the inhabitants refused to be trade bait and rose against the occupying Japanese. This rebellion and the brutal attempts by the occupying forces to “Japanize” the inhabitants went on for over fifty years until the end of World War II and the defeat of Japan. Taiwan was returned to mainland control, but that was viewed by the inhabitants as negatively as the Japanese occupation had been. Once more they rebelled, and once more they were brutally handled, this time by their own countrymen.
However, on the mainland, things were not going well for the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) forces led by Chiang Kai-shek. Like those of the Ming dynasty before, the KMT retreated from the Communist forces to Taiwan. The Communists planned to invade the island, but these plans were put aside when American naval forces were sent to the strait between the mainland and the island. Subsequent to that, America poured over four billion dollars of aid into the country, viewing it as a bastion of “freedom” in a dangerous part of the world, and turning a blind eye to Chiang Kai-shek’s and the KMT’s depredations.
Gradually, rule on Taiwan shifted toward real democracy, just as the United States was shifting its focus from the island to the mainland. When Nixon visited Beijing in 1972, those on the island saw the handwriting on the wall.
Formal ties between the US and Taiwan were broken in 1979 and in 1980 the formal defense treaty between the two countries lapsed and was not renewed.
The flagship of the Chinese Eastern Fleet was the destroyer Qingdao. It had engines made in Ukraine, a British combat control computer to aim its weapons, French helicopters, and weapon systems purchased from a half dozen other countries. The crew, however, was one hundred percent Chinese.
The Qingdao was in the Straits of Taiwan, a hundred-mile-wide stretch of water that separated mainland China from what it considered a wayward province in Taiwan. The strait had seen decades of posturing and bluffing between the navies of the two countries but all that changed as the targeting radar on the flagship located a Taiwanese frigate thirteen miles off its port bow.
The word had come from Beijing just ten minutes earlier. No choice was offered for Taiwan. The bitter blood between mainland China and the small island nation off its coast allowed for no resolution other than annihilation. Accordingly, the Qingdao launched a half dozen antiship missiles toward the Taiwanese ship. Two struck, causing massive damage and killing many sailors.
On both sides of the strait, the respective militaries geared up for all-out warfare.
The Gulf of Mexico
Li
sa Duncan slowly opened her eyes. Her head felt heavy and she knew she’d been drugged. She was lying on her back, a pillow under her head, a white sheet covering her body. Looking up, all she could see was a steel ceiling with numerous pipes running across it. She swallowed and her ears popped, equalizing pressure. She could feel something around her arm and several leads taped against other parts of her body.
She heard a noise to her left and turned her head. A white-coated figure walked in. The man was tall and distinguished-looking, with silver hair and a short white beard. He pulled a stool out from a desk and slid it next to the table she was on.
“How are you doing?” he asked as he checked the readout on a medical monitor next to the bed.
Duncan’s throat was dry and she tried to talk but only a croak came out. The man went over to a sink and returned with a small paper cup of water, which he carefully pressed against her lips. Duncan drank the entire cup, and then he pulled it away and retook his seat.
“Who are you?” she managed to get out.
“Dr. Garlin. The more interesting question is who are you?” “Where am I?”
“The new Area 51.”
“And you’re the new Majestic.” Duncan swung her legs over the edge of the table and sat up, holding the sheet tight around her body. The pounding in her head was fading rapidly. Looking down, she could see that the various leads attached to her body went to the monitor and there was a band around her arm with an IV pressed through it.
“Yes. That was a good guess.”
“No guess,” Duncan said. “It makes sense.” She was looking about. “What kind of doctor are you?”
“An MD. Specialization—cellular structure.” “You want to find out what happened to me.” “Yes.”
She nodded slowly, her head pounding with pain. “So what happened to me?”
“We have some ideas, but some of the data is still being processed.”
“What’s the charter of the new Majestic?” she asked. She was shaking her head back and forth, trying to work out the lingering effects of whatever drug she’d been given.
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