by Dayton Ward
For a brief moment, Wheeler considered the silver pen in his jacket pocket, the special properties it possessed, and the woman who had given it to him. What were the odds that the mystifying Roberta Lincoln already knew about the strange ship? Perhaps she was aware of its origins and intentions. Would she share that information with him?
I can’t, he reminded himself. Lincoln had cautioned against his attempting to contact her except in cases of extreme emergency. The images on one videotape did not warrant sounding such an alarm. Not yet, anyway.
Wheeler led the way into his office, dropping his briefcase on the small round conference table that occupied one of the room’s front corners. “Maybe not by itself, but it can still serve a purpose.” Unbuttoning his uniform jacket, he draped it across the back of one of the table’s chairs. “It’s time to beat back the naysayers again, and this is just the thing to do it with.”
Scowling, Heffron shook her head. “Budget cuts?”
“Yep.” Gesturing for the colonel to take a seat in one of the chairs positioned before his large oak desk, Wheeler made his way to its opposite side and dropped into the leather high-backed chair. “The trouble with being a black project is that you’re not always able to bring your masters down for a guided tour so they can see where all their money’s going.” This dilemma had plagued Majestic 12 almost from its very beginning. Despite support for the organization from the executive branch, the nature of the project required it to operate in total secrecy, folded into and mixed in with other, more conventional military expenditures. As a consequence, there were occasions when Wheeler and his group were obliged to justify their existence, all while maintaining the shroud of mystery concealing their activities.
Heffron said, “If we could show them the thinnest slice of the truth, we’d never have another budget meeting ever again.”
“Not just that,” Wheeler replied, “but think of how many men and women have dedicated their careers and their very lives to this cause. Wouldn’t it be nice if even a handful of them received just a piece of the recognition they deserve?” Over the course of five decades, hundreds of people had worked toward a common goal while passing up awards and promotions, destroying marriages and other relationships, and forgoing anything resembling a normal life as they toiled in obscurity.
And what of those who had been sacrificed in the name of maintaining that secrecy? Principled men and women like James Wainwright and Allison Marshall, who, as with the others attached to efforts like Blue Book, were thrown to the lions in order to cast attention away from MJ-12’s true mission. Wainwright and the others had known the truth from the beginning and had pledged themselves to the cause of being ready for the aliens’ eventual return.
“Hopefully,” Heffron said, “we’ll be able to properly honor those people.”
“Maybe one day, after you and I are long gone. Until then, I think the best we can hope for is that the public never has any reason to know what we’re doing down here or even any of our names. If that’s the price for working in the shadows for the rest of my life? I’ll take it.” Wheeler rose from his chair, moving to the large window at the front of his office so that he could stare out at the men and women manning the Trench. Like their predecessors, they carried out their work in isolation, and if they succeeded in their mission, they likely would never even receive the thanks of a grateful nation.
Will we be that lucky?
There was no way to know, of course. Indeed, there was only one immutable truth: the threat against Earth was real, regardless of the opinions offered by skeptics and deniers. Wheeler knew that such doubters would remain blissful in their ignorance until the inevitable happened, and they faced subjugation or annihilation. Only he and the group of patriots he now commanded, along with counterpart organizations around the world—to say nothing of the “special friends” he had acquired as a consequence of this rather odd job—were humanity’s sole means of protection.
Did they have any real chance against such a threat? Perhaps not, but any prospective invaders would have to prove that. No, Wheeler vowed; they would have to earn it. To that end, his people’s vigilance would be unwavering, their preparation continuous, and their resolve absolute.
Because if the people of Earth possessed a single line of defense, then that line began where Daniel Wheeler now stood: Pentagon Sublevel B14, Section 31.
Acknowledgments
Thanks once again to my editors, for allowing me to write this follow-up to what probably was one of the most fun Star Trek writing projects I’ve ever done, From History’s Shadow. Reader response to the first book was overwhelmingly positive, and though I didn’t write it with the idea of revisiting characters or threads I set up in that book, it certainly was fun to go back and play in this little corner of the Star Trek sandbox. Will there be another such adventure? Only time and sales will tell.
Thanks again to Greg Cox, not for anything in particular he did this time around, but for writing The Eugenics Wars: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh, the books to which I try to remain faithful while writing these little stories. Any missteps in that regard are mine alone.
And, of course, thanks to you, my readers. Your comments about the first book are a big reason I decided to write a sequel. I hope you found it worth the wait.
Until next time!
About the Author
Dayton Ward has been modified to fit this medium, to write in the space allotted, and has been edited for content. Reader discretion is advised.
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ISBN 978-1-5011-1129-7
ISBN 978-1-5011-1130-3 (ebook)
Contents
Historian’s Note
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
&nb
sp; Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Acknowledgments
About the Author
