The Manhattan Incident

by Raymond Poincelot

  Colonel Lanzo had his entire crew looking at recent satellite surveillance encompassing the Salmon River and a circle around it that included Boise, Idaho. Well, looking was perhaps not the operative word. They had isolated the image of the camouflage truck that was seen during the killing of the aliens and the subsequent theft of the weapon. As in word processing, there was a find dialogue box. The software engineers at the base had designed an image finder. The supercomputer was now searching all the video recordings for that image.

  Suddenly there was a beep. The image was shown in a freeze frame outlined in red. The technician signaled Lanzo to come over. Together they watched the video move forward as the truck emerged from the woods. No other images were found that matched the truck. The match was rated as 97% probability. Given that there was no license plate, it could not be 100%. While there were certainly other camouflage trucks in the recording, the presence of a rooftop solar collector made this truck pretty unique. It was obvious that this add-on was handmade. Even if others existed, their handmade look would differ. “Tech Kritsky, speed up the recording until we get to a less rural area or the truck stops.” After several minutes the truck entered the outer environs of Boise. “There, it pulled into a driveway. Get its address now, who lives there, and their P-Com numbers and call list. Monitor the phone in live mode.” Lanzo made a chop motion with his hand to indicate right now. Two nearby technicians tapped their keyboards in a rapid manner. Lanzo continued on. Move the tape forward until we get to the current time, unless the truck leaves the driveway.” The truck was still there. In Boise the sun was setting. “Hopefully, the bastard will stay there and not move on,” said Lanzo.

  Suddenly, one technician spoke up. “Phone call initiated on the P-Com. Now going to speaker phone and being recorded.” “Hi, Jeb; I have a new product line that might interest you. I know you’ll like it. How about I come to your cabin and demonstrate the product?” “Sure, Daryl; Meet you there in an hour. Thanks for thinking of me.” Lanzo could read between the lines meant to not arouse GAF wiretapping interest. “Do you have a fix on the other caller?” “Yes, the cabin is located in the woods. There is no address. It might be a hunting cabin.” Lanzo went into rapid action. “Get me Captain Hauser on the line at the Boise GAF garrison. Get him on the line even if someone has to drag him away from what he is doing. Put all the routes between the two addresses on screen now.” Lanzo looked at the map image while waiting for Captain Hauser. “Yes, at one point there is only one road leading to the cabin. We’ll nail him there. No neighbors to see us.”

  “Captain Hauser here, Sir.” “Captain, this is Colonel Lanzo of MI at the Area 51 base. We have a situation and need your help for a critical mass event. It involves our alien weapon stealer.” Lanzo went on rapidly to explain the ongoing events. “So, get four choppers airborne right now and intercept the bastard on the isolated stretch of the highway. Your P-com should show you the map right now.” “Yes, Sir; I have it. He won’t get away this time. I’ll put the choppers in stealth mode so he doesn’t hear us until the last minute. We’ll time it so he has no place to go. I know that highway stretch real well.” “Good hunting, Captain. We’ll maintain a live communications feed with you from this point on and a satellite surveillance of the ongoing situation. Here are the GPS coordinates of importance. We’ll pipe the video images to your chopper. Sync with us the minute you are airborne. His name is Daryl Jones and here’s his license picture. Daryl is likely a member of RUSS, classified as a terrorist group in the United States. No civil niceties need be observed, if you get my drift. You can be sure he is armed and highly dangerous. You should have enough time to get high above his house before he leaves, but if late, you’ll certainly be able to catch up with him using our feed. Get your troops and secure that weapon, Captain.”

  Daryl was cruising along in his truck. He was on the last stretch to the cabin. Yes, Jeb, their unit leader was going to be proud of him. He pressed the button for Jeb’s hideaway. “Jeb, I’ll be there in five minutes. Wait, I hear something.” It sounded like distant choppers, a lot of them. Suddenly he saw the play of searchlights on his truck. He could see a chopper on each side flying low and now one behind him. “Jeb, I’m compromised. Get out now!”

  He gunned the motor hoping he could get ahead just enough to turn off the road and possibly lose them in the rough terrain. Suddenly Daryl saw a chopper hovering in the highway blocking the road. Shit, no place to go. He ran the automatic windows down on each side and reached for the alien laser pistol. He froze with his hand on the pistol as he saw several red laser dots on his chest. He kept his hand on the pistol and came to a stop. Maybe there would be a chance to fire it when he left the truck. “Daryl Jones, put both hands on your head now. Daryl didn’t move. He still hoped for an opportunity. The loudspeaker blared again. I will count to five and you will comply, or those red dots will be holes. Your choice; One, two, three…” Daryl knew when he was beaten. He put his hands on top of his head. “Good, Daryl. Now get out of the truck and close the door. Go slowly and stand in front of the truck. Do not remove your hands.” Red laser dots followed him as he did as instructed. A few minutes later he saw several GAF soldiers advancing on him with their rifles aimed at him. One approached and cuffed him. Another led him away to a chopper. Daryl knew there would be no trial and that he would be locked away for a long time. That’s how it was once someone was a member of a group labelled as a terrorist group.

  Captain Hauser walked to the truck and opened the door. He saw the alien laser pistol on the passenger seat and carefully picked it up with his gloved hand and dropped it into a small case which he locked. “Colonel, we have apprehended the suspect and have the pistol locked in a case. Your orders, Sir?” “Captain, well done, your service record will reflect this capture. It should do you well down the road. Take the prisoner to your base, secure him, and guard that pistol well. We will prep a jet flight at the Boise Airport for removal of both to Area 51. We’ll tell you when to come. Take no chances. Come with all six choppers and be heavily armed. That weapon must not come into anyone’s hands except ours. Contact you later.”

  Colonel Lanzo called General Straub later. “General, we have secured the RUSS man and the alien weapon. Both will be on base tomorrow.” Good, Colonel. Is he alive?” “Yes, Sir; he is for now.” “Colonel, like it or not, that man saved us from unknown disaster by stopping the aliens and their weapon. He is to be well treated as a prisoner and no harm is to come to him. Is that understood?” “Yes, Sir, if you say so.” “I do, Colonel, and it would be best not to forget it. I will want to debrief this prisoner personally after he arrives.”

  Preliminary reports had recently come in from the team sent to secure and decontaminate the site where the alien ship and rocket launcher rested. The rocket warheads seemed to contain some type of liquid. Yes, thought the General. That man might have saved humanity. Too bad he screwed up. Still, he deserved some respect and consideration. Straub decided to see to it personally. The ship and weaponry was being loaded into two heavily secured bio-proof shipping containers right now according to his latest report. They would arrive by GAF cargo jet tomorrow and go into isolation until everything was deemed absolutely safe. While the General couldn’t wait to have his engineers pick the Stubby apart, it might be contaminated by the bio-weapon. The returning troops and other personnel would also go into quarantine until tests were complete. There was no choice. After departure, a large fuel fire bomb would be detonated to sterilize the site. The site itself would be heavily secured and off limits to everyone, until it was declared safe by the bio-technicians.

  Two months had passed. General Straub was presiding over a joint meeting of member countries at the Earth First Council Building in New York, the former home of the United Nations organization. The UN had been disbanded a few years back when the Earth First government grew stronger and its military arm, GAF, came into prominence. Today was a special meeting whose protocol had been worked out carefully between Chai
r Minkov, General Straub, the Presidents, Prime Ministers, and Premiers of the countries that collectively were governed by the Earth First Council. A special arrangement had been reached between General Straub and President Rushmore. Since member countries had considerable autonomy with the exception of product standardization and military actions, relations were more or less friction free. The occasional disagreement was usually resolved amicably.

  While Chair Minkov welcomed everybody and detailed the agenda for today, General Straub’s thoughts wandered. It had been a rollercoaster, whirlwind two months. The Stubby ship was undergoing reverse engineering. The engineers at Area 51 were convinced that they would succeed in deciphering its total technology down to the drive system and mini-wormhole generator. Space Station Resolve had been propelled into proximity to the alien Wedgie ship drifting near the Moon. It was currently undergoing some retro-fitting to create labs and other analytic spaces to reverse engineer the alien ship. Entry to the ship had been gained. There were no survivors. Autopsies revealed that all had died from hard radiation when Space Station Moon Watch detonated its nuclear warheads. The resulting EMP had fried the electronics thus disabling the self-destruct mechanism. However, the electronics were thought to be similar to those on the recovered Stubby, which were functional. The hardware on the larger ship was intact. The engineers felt optimistic that it would give up all its secrets. Visions of a grand solar and later stellar fleet were on their minds and sometimes lips.

  As to the bio-weapon, the genetic engineers had determined it was a plant virus that caused the biochemical process for chlorophyll synthesis to fail. It was also a virus adapted to transfer by pollinators. In effect it would knock out food producing crops, leading to worldwide famine. It had been completely destroyed by high temperature incineration. Lucky for us, Daryl Jones showed up. That thought caused Straub to look frontward and to his right past a couple of empty seats. Daryl Jones sat there under heavy guard. While the two had not exactly become mutual friends during interrogation, a grudging respect had developed between the two.

  Daryl sat fidgeting under the watchful eyes of the two burly GAF soldiers. WTF am I doing here he wondered. Things hadn’t gone too badly for him. General Straub had met with him several times. Daryl had been treated well, but still he chafed at being a prisoner. He had been allowed web access but not the ability to communicate with anyone. He quickly learned from the RUSS web blogs that Jeb had been captured shortly after his own capture. He had not gotten far from the hunting cabin before the soldiers ran him down. The web scuttlebutt was that Daryl must have sold him out, as he disappeared and could not be found. His former friends suspected he was in a witness protection program. He doubted that he could ever return there, assuming he was released someday.

  Daryl had quickly worried about the safety of his wife and child. At his first opportunity he had mentioned his fear to General Straub during the next interrogation. Straub had assured him that his family would be protected if he cooperated in subsequent discussions. Daryl’s love for his wife and child was stronger than for RUSS, so he slowly gave organizational details. He particularly remembered one meeting with General Straub. The General said his information had been confirmed by MI and was very useful. As a reward, the General said he would be allowed a visitor. As Straub left, Daryl was astounded to see his wife, Hilda, and child, Astrid, walk in. Confinement was now easier to take given subsequent monthly visits. To some degree, he was not unhappy to be sitting here. It was different and not a prison. Well, he could have done without the guards. Still, he was not handcuffed. He was actually enjoying a cup of coffee.

  General Straub returned to reality, hearing his name said by Minkov. He rose and walked to the podium. “Thank you, Chair Minkov for that warm praise. You make it sound like I alone vanquished the alien fleet on their return engagement. All I did was lead those brave men who fought the hard battle, some giving up their lives in the process. That’s why we are here today, to honor those brave GAF Forces who gave up their lives. While most of the action took place over the United States, troops in GAF come from all countries, so it is fitting that all their country leaders are here today. But before I give out the medals to honor those who died or showed extraordinary courage, I want to give you some important news.” Minkov had agreed beforehand that this was a perfect opportunity to create public support for the ongoing projects involving the captured ships. Buy-in was especially critical since taxes might have to be raised to fund the project or some other budget areas raided. Enthusiasm had to be generated.

  “You, the leaders of the member countries under Earth First Government are the first to hear the news.” Straub looked out at the press and media corps covering the event. No doubt, given their sudden activity, they were calling for more backup as this ho-hum ceremony was turning into something undoubtedly newsworthy. “We are on the verge of not only freeing ourselves from the threat of the aliens devastating humanity, but we are on the path to taking the battle directly to the aliens wherever they appear in our solar system. During this last invasion, we seized two alien ships, both intact. One is a fighter craft called the Stubby and the other is the much larger Wedgie craft. Our scientists and engineers are uncovering their wormhole technology as we speak. Not too far in our future, we will have space ships capable of protecting Earth from alien incursions anywhere in our solar system. Building the fleet of space ships will entail sacrifice by all of us, as resources and funding will be needed in large measure. But it will be worth it to once and for all end the threat to our existence. Once our future is secure, then we can look forward to interstellar travel that takes no time at all as we unlock more secrets from these captured alien vessels and their wormhole generators. I need not tell you that this next step will lead us to new resources and livable planets beyond our solar system. We will not have to fear encountering the aliens during these expansive journeys outward, as we will have the ability to defend ourselves successfully throughout the galaxy. Your investment now will pay off several-fold for our generation and those that follow us. Humanity has a great future. We can look forward to the day when we hold our heads high and bow to no one. As important as all of this effort is, the honoring of our heroes is even more important. So let’s get back to the program.” By now the media were in a frenzy mode.

  “During this last invasion, our defensive solar system weaponry dealt a crushing blow to the advancing alien fleet. Still, it was not enough to stop their inexorable advancement on Earth. Space Station Moon Watch stood between the fleet and Earth. They made the ultimate sacrifice to save Earth from destruction. They chose to not employ their nuclear missiles which, at best, would have only caused minor damage to the fleet. The alien laser weaponry would have destroyed most of our missiles before they entered the kill zone. Instead the brave crew of the Station pretended to be defenseless, luring the fleet closer to the Station as the aliens approached Earth. When the fleet was close enough, the brave men and women detonated their entire nuclear arsenal, and dealt a crippling blow to the alien fleet. Their actions also damaged one ship in such a way that it did not self-destruct. It is that ship that became one of the two that we are now taking apart. Their ultimate sacrifice reduced the fleet to numbers that we were able to completely destroy and gave us the key to assuring Earth could have the power to equal the aliens in future battle. For that we are eternally grateful. Earth First Council has agreed to take care of their families. It is the least we can do for those brave souls. I will now bestow the Medal of Sacrifice on each of those brave men and women. As I call each name, family members should come forth to accept the medal. Captain Mitch Janickson is first.” Family after family came forth, tears streaming down their faces, as the names of their loved ones were called out.

  Daryl watched as a long parade of people from all walks of life and all nationalities came forward to accept the honor with tears in their eyes. He watched as other medals were handed out for acts of bravery to the pilots of the Warthogs-OS and F-22EVDs that
stopped the fleet in its tracks. He watched as the Commander Richard Grafton and the entire crew of the USS Shatner received medals for eliminating the alien attack from the waters off the East Coast. Daryl was getting fidgety now, as the time was getting long and the sun hot.

  General Straub looked out at the audience after the thunderous applause died down for all the medal recipients. “Thank you for your patience; now for the last medal, the Medal of Extreme Bravery. All the efforts up to now would have been in vain, if not for this last act of heroism. Despite all our aerial defenses, one ship, a Stubby, evaded us. It was not because of our lack of effort, but because this one ship was unique. It had the ability to escape using a mini-wormhole generator. The aliens thought they had a fail-safe option with this one ship, as it turned out to have a biological weapon on board that could have spelled the end of life on Earth as we know it. It reappeared from the wormhole in an isolated part of the United States, too far from the nearest GAF forces. Fortunately, there was one individual near enough to make a difference. Single handedly and under laser fire, he killed both aliens as they prepared to release their biological toxin. Because of his heroic effort, we all stand here today and have another captured ship. It is an important ship, as with it we are able to unlock the secrets of the other ship on a much faster pace, given it is on Earth, free of damage, and not in Moon orbit like the other damaged vessel.”