MEEK Page 21

  “OK I’ll go along with that, but this thing has a purpose and is not someone’s mistake. My bet is that the antenna/projector thing is the key. I suggest we move in here and declare it off limits to everyone else.” said Jim. Mark was nodding in agreement

  “I’m in favour of that. This place can be made quite comfortable with a bit of effort. The lights are getting brighter and there is water dripping from that tap over there, also the air is circulating and losing its musty smell. This place is turning itself on ready for operation, whatever that happens to be. It must be sensing our presence and is trying to provide full life support,” said Mark.

  At that moment, as if in confirmation with Mark, a panel of controls lit up and the wall behind the panel started to slowly slide upwards revealing the outside landscape behind some form of laminated glass or perspex. The view was dominated by the antenna thing. Jim had moved to a large dial which he was attempting to turn. The dial moved and the antenna arm moved also.

  “Don’t move it, Jim, until we know the co-ordinates it is set to,” said Mark. Lights forming a map indicating the position of Saturn came on in a blaze of colour. The entire complex came to life. Barry reached for his communications set.

  “Hi, Barry here at the... Anomaly... No, all is fine. It’s space junk that’s all, nothing amazing. Yes, we will give a full report. In fact I will be returning to Earth to do the report... Yes, no need to come out here especially as there is some radiation readings. Jim and Mark will be making camp here. We have set up basic life support, it will make life easier for you at the colony later on. Yes, OK a standard check-in every hour from now on, I promise. See you soon.” Barry turned to the others. “This thing is aligned towards Saturn. I need you guys to find out why as quickly as possible. I am heading back to the colony to spin a tale, send me updated information as you gather it. Strictly top secret my private line only, not even if you get a request from the PM himself. Make yourselves as comfortable as you can there appears to be water, power and air production on site; which in turn suggests superior technology.”

  The story Barry told the colonists, soothed their egos. They were still the first on Mars. A failed attempt in the past was very acceptable to their mind set. Random space junk was even better. “So it was some sort of automated data collector?” asked Steve.

  “Yes a big one. It was meant to stay in orbit but the orbital path decayed until it eventually came down. Seems Asian in origin; the best guess is it was some weird attempt by the North Koreans years ago that went wrong and was subsequently hushed up. We probably will never get anyone admitting to it so it’s better forgotten.”

  “How long are you going to stay working on it?”

  “That’s up to the PM. My instructions in matters such as this are clear, ‘gain as much intelligence as possible’ a phrase I have always been fond of.”

  “So it’s business as usual for us, then?”

  “Oh yes, leave this to us. There is every reason to continue on as if we had not found it.” The colonist breathed a visible sigh of relief. “OK Barry it belongs to you and your friends from now on.” Steve was actually smiling.

  Jack and Daniel sat with their boss in the secure area awaiting the PM. The light above the door turned green and Paul stepped in alone. “It’s good to see you again in person Paul.”

  “Yes sir, it has been too long.” They shook hands warmly then embraced briefly. Jack and Daniel shook hands with Paul then guided him into the operations room. The boss was a man in his early eighties, instantly recognisable to anyone in Australia. He had been on the right side of politics in his career and had been responsible for the adoption and grooming of Paul. Paul made his presentation as factual as possible.

  “The construct on Mars is made of materials from Earth. Its purpose appears to be to transmit data to a point situated in the rings of Saturn. It was designed to house a group of people, possibly as many as thirty. These operatives were probably the same or very similar to us but they were small in stature; probably the size of a ten- or eleven-year-old child. Insect life found in the construct came from Earth. Estimated age of the facility proved to be difficult to be definitive about as it had been refurbished and altered over time. The original facility could possibly be a little more than 100 years old. Visual observation using telescopes show nothing special at the antenna’s target co-ordinates. It is focussed on a point in Saturn’s rings.”

  “So are we talking about aliens or not?” asked the boss.

  “We don’t know.”

  “What sort of data was being transmitted?”

  “We don’t know.”

  “Where are these people now?”

  “We don’t know... I’m sorry sir, but that’s all the intelligence we have. A probe has been sent to the co-ordinates recording as it goes. Barry and Professor Crawford are on Mars together with a physicist living in the data projector. The Consortium has been led to believe it is basically space junk. My intention is to say and do nothing as I see no advantage to be gained.”

  “You say they appear to be humanoid, but smaller with technology at least 100 years in advance of our own. Surely that would indicate they are alien.”

  “Not necessarily. They use an alphabet the same as ours,” replied Paul.

  “OK. Let’s move on; what do you intend to do about the array? It could be used as a bargaining chip but you have kept it secret, why?”

  “The countries that have rejected democracy and embraced theocracy have one thing in common. They have shunned science. In doing so they are rapidly becoming our technological inferiors. In five or six years their standard of living will be sliding downhill and internal divisions will tear them apart. The array is insurance against conquest but not necessarily against our own annihilation. I wish to hold it in reserve. I also do not want us to be perceived as a threat by potentially friendly nations.”

  “I understand your reluctance Paul to go to war. However the demilitarised zone of the Torres Strait is not helping your popularity with the voters. Please step up our efforts there to try and push them back into Papua New Guinea and regain total control all the way to the PNG coast. The implications to this discovery on Mars are enormous. I regard it as vital we find out who built it but I agree, keep it under wraps. Get any new information on the Anomaly to me as soon as possible”

  Back in his office, Paul composed a message for Barry. “Vital we find out who constructed the antenna and why. Make all efforts. Stay on Mars until further notice.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  JAN 2031

  “The concept of home is more than a birthplace, a point of origin. It is a definition of self.” Quotes from the Elders.

  The council of elders had voted for an expedition to Earth. It had been more than twenty-five years since the last one. The recently elected new President had pushed for it. “It is unnatural for us to pretend we have no connection to Earth. If the natives still exist we have nothing to fear from them and if they are extinct, then it opens up interesting options for us. We advance through knowledge, not fear.”

  The new president was a woman who commanded unparalleled respect and love from the entire population. The Tuathans had spread and made their mark throughout their small solar system. The President instinctively felt the desire of the young to explore beyond their own solar system. She felt that they should know where they came from before moving on. Life on Tuath had become so pleasant that the more elderly were becoming complacent. An Earth expedition would liven things up as well as reinforce a sense of continuity in the young.

  A specially built disc ship had been commissioned. It was large enough to accommodate an amazing amount of equipment designed to do every type of analysis they could think of. The crew consisted of six males and eight females each with their own area of expertise. The ship would house them in spacious comfort as they would be gone for two complete years. The ship was in orbit around Gateway ready for the appearance of the portal. Final preparations were completed and bo
n voyage messages were sent back and forth.

  The crew waited patiently, the portal appeared and the disc ship leapt forward on its headlong dash through the galaxy.

  Within three hours of exiting the portal, the ships AI set off its alarm “An artificial vessel has been detected.... an unmanned probe... heading directly towards us... visual contact imminent... unarmed... no apparent physical threat... request instructions.”

  The crew ran to the visual enhancers.

  Captain Jay said, “AI, has the probe detected us?”

  “Yes Captain, it has visual recording capacity.”

  “Is it transmitting to Earth?”

  “No Captain, it is in contact with Mars.”

  “AI, we will proceed to Mars, slowly. Intercept and translate its communications to me.” The probe was little more than a tin can but the entire crew looked at Jay with apprehension.

  “It is reporting our presence with a brief, simplistic description of visual. It cannot scan us but is in constant contact with its makers.”

  At the projector facility on Mars the control panel lights blazed as soon as the portal opened. The antenna/ projector had begun to glow and the three men became aware that it was operating. “It is sending a laser beam to the co-ordinates,” exclaimed Jim. At that point the information being transmitted by the probe began to arrive. Their computer started to translate the digital signal to a visual. Mark was operating the equipment, receiving messages from the probe. The instruments were quite simple to understand. Human logic soon worked out which buttons to press. “Both of you come and look at this!” They saw a golden circle situated where the co-ordinates were, then a space vessel emerged and proceeded towards the centre of the solar system.

  The golden circle vanished after two minutes.

  The three of them stared at the image of the space vessel growing rapidly smaller as it moved away from the probe. The probe itself was still journeying on to the co-ordinates and would halt once it reached there in two months’ time. The spaceship moved out of range and was lost to visual. The three ran back to the antenna controls; it had gone quiet and appeared to have switched off. “It sent a signal with no data to the gold circle. It seems to be just acting through a programme with no real purpose,” said Jim.

  “Would that craft have picked it up, do you think?” asked Mark.

  “It’s possible but my guess is as good as anybody’s,” said Jim

  “Jim, let’s do an extrapolation on the trajectory of the craft based on its heading on the last second of visual.” This kept them both busy for five minutes while Barry paced up and down awaiting the results. “Here, it’s probably heading here, which makes sense, it would be aware of the visuals being sent back here.” Mark shook his head in disbelief. Before I lose my grip on sanity I need you both to confirm this statement before I send it:

  “PM: at 1100 hours Greenwich Mean Time on the twelfth of January 2031, a spacecraft entered our solar system emerging from a ‘gate’ in the rings of Saturn. It is currently heading for Mars. It will be impossible for us to conceal this from the consortium colonists if it does in fact land here. I intend to inform them once it becomes obvious that the destination is Mars of its arrival and swear them to secrecy. In the event of contact, Professor Mark Crawford will be our representative. We await your instructions.” Jim and Mark were nodding. “That about sums it up. Basically all we can do is let the visitors call the shots and we adapt to the situation as best we can,” said Jim.

  “Not quite so.” said Barry. “Let us do some alien psychology. They arrive here and find us, they either communicate or run, correct?”

  “No, unfortunately it isn’t that simple,” said Barry. “There is a nasty third option.”

  “Oh shit, yes!” exclaimed Jim, reliving all the old sci-fi stories of first contacts.

  “The trick is to make sure we can communicate with them as soon as possible and I can only see one way of doing that safely and possibly even secretively.” said Mark.

  “OK Mark, we are all ears,” said Jim.

  “We ride out waving a white flag to meet them, it will give us the possibility of communicating with them privately.”

  “Shit! Yes, a classic piece of diplomacy, I love it; beats sitting here. We get a shuttle up there and wait for them beaming out messages of love. That’s the idea, eh Mark?” said Barry.

  “Aahh yes, that’s it in essence,” said Mark.

  Jim looked worried. “I suggest we act like our trousers are on fire, we may have very little time,” said Mark. They informed the colonists that they would be taking a shuttle up to do some aerial photography. Steve volunteered to be pilot, his way of keeping an eye on them. Reluctantly they ended up agreeing as without him they did not have the needed skills. The plan was to put the shuttle in orbit as close to the projected flight path of the alien vessel as possible; they would emit every style of signal possible. As soon as they were in position they transmitted an update to the PM. Steve was at that stage told the truth. His reaction was hostile as he did not believe the relationship between the consortium and the Australian government was being honoured and said so very loudly. An uneasy atmosphere settled in while they waited.

  In Canberra the PM had called together an emergency meeting. The PM, ASIO heads and military were there; in fact all those with top level clearance. They were given a hard copy of the situation plus an update.

  “Firstly, let me remind everyone that due to a time lag in communication it is pointless to try to interfere in whatever action is taken by Barry Bradshaw. We must allow him to take the events in hand and act according to his years of training and experience. We will have to come clean with the consortium about the true nature of the anomoly, but I propose we give Barry as much time and rope as we can.” A long drawn-out debate then followed on the what-ifs of the situation and the international ramifications. At the end Paul came up with a summation. “I want to keep contact with the aliens strictly between them and us. No other nation on this planet is to hear about this until we know what we are dealing with and the best way to exploit it to our national advantage. This could be a great opportunity, if handled carefully.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  JANUARY 2031 CONTACT

  “The inevitable happens; it is built into the fabric of cause and effect. Consequently it is unavoidable.” Wisdom of the Elders.

  The disc ship slid silently through space.

  “Captain? There was a short pulse from a data projector based on Mars received shortly after we exited the portal. It had no data within it.”

  “AI, can you ascertain if the pulse was Tuathan?”

  “Yes Captain, it was.” Jay called a meeting of the crew. They were all looking concerned.

  “Currently we are heading for Mars; it appears the projector is not only still in existence but is operational. This of course is not in the security interests of Tuath. We are obliged therefore to destroy it before it is discovered by the natives. The fact that we encountered a primitive probe means that they are now aware of us and probably will regard us as alien visitors. This of course depends on whether or not they have reached Mars already and have found the projector, we will need to be flexible in such a case.”

  Moss the second officer spoke next. “This is beyond the brief we were given, Jay, and brings us close to being discovered.”

  “Yes it is, but we have been given latitude to perform as requirements demand. I see it as vital we destroy the projector and preserve as much anonymity as we can. This is in the best interests of Tuath. Our lives will be in danger once we reach Mars although our technological superiority should be sufficient to protect us. I would like to feel we are agreed on this course of action. What do you all say?”

  Jade the linguist and sociologist spoke. “The alternative is to stay hidden until the portal opens next year and then return, having learnt nothing. The pulse had no data. This signifies it probably has not been discovered and was automatically triggered by the portal. Why it
wasn’t destroyed in the past is strange. We should try to find out why before destroying it as it may indicate a failure in procedure.”

  “Good point Jade, I agree,” replied Jay.

  “What do we do if we encounter the natives? I realise we will try to avoid detection but if this should fail, what then?” Clover the empath had asked this. She was detecting the agitation of the crew and an underlying, almost primal fear.

  “Run,” replied Jay. “I cannot risk our technology and the location of Tuath to fall into native hands.” The crew seemed mollified by this last statement. A show of hands was unanimous and they prepared to enter Martian orbit. Jay’s expectation of an adventure had already proven to be more than he had imagined. He looked afresh at his crew and saw them as the best of Tuath, more than a match for any primitives on planet Earth. The crew had named the large disc ship The Pride of Tuath. They loved it like an animate entity. Clover had bathed in deeply positive energies but was now wondering if Jay’s confidence may become an Achilles heel.

  On establishing an orbital path, they immediately, to their shock, received welcome signals from a craft in a geostationary orbit above the projector facility. “AI! report and stop thrusters.”

  “The signals are vocal only, in standard English from a craft with... four crew... no discernible weaponry. The craft is very limited, not even capable of interplanetary flight. The message is as follows. ‘Welcome, we wish to communicate in friendship. Please respond’.” Jay had a pained expression on his face, this was definitely not going to be a routine trip.

  The crew on the shuttle watched in awe as the huge silver disc had come closer, then stopped. It was the size of a football stadium. It was motionless, a few lights could be seen emanating from it. “Send the message in at least four languages also some Maths equations and music.” Said Barry. Five minutes passed and there was no response. Then the alien vessel started to move again. It passed by them and positioned itself above the projector. “So it did come to visit the antenna,” said Jim.