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BERING SEA:
Alex is sitting alone in the passenger compartment of the Gulfstream jet, oblivious to the soft whine of the engines. He just can’t figure out how DAR can know what the devices can do in only nine months.
He thinks back to the Red Energy operation. The recovery of the devices from the oceans was top-secret. Not even the military knew what they were doing. Only the crew of the Mystic and his friends at Groom Lake knew what was going on. He looks up when Skip Johnson, the pilot, walks back from the cockpit.
“We’ll be on final approach to Seward in five minutes, Alex. Do you want us to stick around?”
Alex stands to stretch. “That would be great, Skip. At least until after the test.”
“You mean the SV1? Yeah. They call it a space vacuum, but I doubt it will work no air to suck the debris inside.”
“Perhaps you’re right. We’ll know in about an hour.” When Skip returns to the cockpit, Alex sits down, buckles up, and stares out the window. I hope you’re right.
The jet swings around directly over the harbor to line up with the runway, and he can see the Mystic anchored offshore. She’s a tri-hull, and the blue-and-white contrasts of her paint job enhance her sleek design. When she’s underway, the main ship is supported by the two outside pontoons, which end in a vertical V to slice through the water instead of going over the waves. She can easily cruise at 78-knots.
The jet makes a gentle landing and taxies to the small private air terminal. When the whine from the engines drops in pitch, Alex gets up and walks to the front of the plane, pressing a button to open the door and lower the steps.
He glances into the cockpit. “I’ll call you once I know the situation.” He grabs his small suitcase from the storage rack, and when he turns back to the door, a tall man with shaggy blond hair is standing at the bottom of the stairs.
Okana looks up at his friend standing in the doorway. “Hey, buddy. Good to see you again.”
Alex goes down the steps and walks beside his friend toward the blue-and-white, six-person helicopter. “I know you have a lot of questions, but I’d rather wait until we get on board the Mystic before I explain everything.”
“Fine by me. Mike is in Seattle and won’t be back for a couple of weeks.”
Alex sets his bag down on the asphalt when a small woman with short blond hair reaches up and gives him a hug. “Hey, Bett. How have you been?”
Bett lets go and smiles up at Alex. “Doing just fine,” she says with a slight Texas accent. “Josh is looking forward to seeing you again. Hop in and we’ll get you out to the Mystic.”
Alex glances at his watch. “How long until we reach the open water of the Bering Sea by helicopter?
“About thirty minutes.”
“Are you fueled and ready to go?”
“Yeah, why?”
“We shouldn’t stop at the Mystic. We need to head out right away if we want to get there before the test.”
She shrugs her shoulders. “All right, let’s get started.”
Alex tosses his bag into the passenger compartment and climbs in, while Bett climbs into the pilot’s seat. Since he’s a good helicopter pilot himself, Okana sits in the copilot’s seat. When the copter leaps into the air, Alex puts on his headset and leans forward between the two seats. “Sorry to drag you guys away from watching the test of the SV1, but it’s important that we’re near the device in the water when it happens.”
Okana turns in his seat to look back at Alex. “So you’re expecting to see the ocean turn into a giant ice cube?”
“I hope not.” He sees the concerned look in Okana’s eyes. “Is something wrong?”
“I was just thinking about all the commercial ships in the Bering Sea. Have they been warned to leave the area?”
“No, I can’t do that without raising a lot of unwanted questions. If I’m wrong, no one will be the wiser. If I’m right, they’ll be the least of our problems.” He leans back in the seat.
No one speaks as the helicopter flies over the Aleutian Islands into open water. Alex keeps looking at his watch. When it shows three minutes until test time, he leans forward. “Take us up to a higher altitude so we can see more of the surrounding water.”
When the alarm on his watch beeps, Alex slides back and forth across the bench seat to stare out the side windows. “Swing us around in a circle.”
***
SV1 CONTROL CENTER:
Carter is standing behind Teresa and Scott, staring at the information on the monitor. He hopes this second test will go as well as the first one. “All right. Turn it on.” He looks across at the image on the wall monitor, waiting for the funnel to appear. When nothing happens, he looks down at the data in front of Scott. “Is that what I think it is?”
Scott doesn’t look up. “Yes, it’s the second signal. It seems to interfere with our controls. I suggest we shut it down until we can determine the source.”
“All right.”
When it’s off, the second signal disappears and Carter has no idea why. “That’s just too much of a coincidence. The problem has to be here on our end. Run a diagnostic on our software to find out where that second signal is coming from.”
Scott looks up at Carter. “I don’t think we’re causing it.”
“Just run the damn test.”
Scott enters a command into the computer. A few moments later, the data on the monitor shows no malfunction or the source of the second signal. “I told you so.”
“Damn! It has to be us. Keep searching. I’ll call Preston and let him know what’s going on.”
When Carter leaves the room, Scott leans back with his hands behind his head and looks over at Teresa. “I’m telling you, that signal isn’t coming from us.”
“I agree, but Paul is under a lot of pressure to make this work. We just have to figure out where it’s coming from.”
Scott drops his arms onto the desk, and types commands into the computer. “I think our software has a mind of its own. An artificial intelligence.”
“That’s a scary thought.”
“Well, get used to it, because someday it’s going to happen and we’ll lose control of everything we take for granted.”
***
BERING SEA:
Alex cannot stop glancing at his watch as they wait for something to happen, and fifteen minutes after the SV1 is activated, the ocean lay undisturbed. He sighs with relief. “This is one time I’m happy to be wrong. We might as well head back to Seward.”
Alex stares out the side window. He knows the component in the SV1 is one of the missing devices, but he needs information on how DAR got their hands on it. The only way that can happen is with help from his friends.
Okana turns to look back at Alex. “We still need to recover this device, and we don’t have that much area left to search. Could you stick around for a day or two?”
“I have nothing else going on at the moment, so sure. I’ll give you a hand. I’ll call the plane and tell Skip he can head back to the base.” His seat belt digs into his stomach as Bett swings the helicopter around toward Seward.
Moments later, they approach the stern of the Mystic, her sleek design sweeping back to an open stern deck. Bett brings the helicopter down gently between the sub and the motorboat, then the whine of the turbine engines dies to a whisper and stops.
When Alex climbs out, he’s greeted by a big man with a glimmer of a smile behind his thick red beard. Joshua Mason, or Josh by his friends, is the electronics specialist.
When Josh holds his arms out, Alex steps forward and reaches up to give him a hug. “Good to see you again, my friend.”
“Hey, Alex. I’ve set up a secure transmission, and notified everyone on your list about your conference. They’re waiting for you to make contact.”
“All right. Let’s get started.”
Alex reaches back inside the helicopter to grab his bag, and follows Josh through the rear hatch into the main hallway, past the steps up to the bridge, and into a large open lounge with a big-screen TV on the wall. Once everyone sits at the table, he indicates for Josh to connect them to Director Donner and his team at Groom Lake.
A moment later, the screen is divided with Donner’s image on one side, and Henry, David, and Jadin on the other side. “First, I’m glad to say that nothing happened up here. At least for now. What happened to the device in the vault?”
“Nothing.” says Henry. “It remains just as we saw it.”
“That’s good news.”
Donner leans closer to his camera lens. “Are you positive about the one in space, Alex?”
“Ninety percent, so I’d like to see it up close to make sure.”
“Well, I can’t let you take your spaceship up to check it out. I’m having a hard enough time keeping it a secret from the public. I’ll see if I can get you some photos of the SV1.”
Henry feels embarrassed. “We have re-vetted the remaining employees here at the base.”
Alex leans back in his chair. “Good. I guess it’s time for you to know the truth. For the past several months, all of you have been very patient with my being so secretive on how I know so much about these devices and the spaceship, and I would like to explain why. I was sworn to secrecy by a time traveler named Paladin.” Donner stares back quizzically, but the others just grin, including his friends on the Mystic. “I’m telling you the truth.”
Okana places his hand on Alex’s shoulder. “After everything that’s happened in the past few months, I believe you, buddy. I’m grinning because I’m looking forward to the rest of the story.”
“As are we,” Henry adds.
Alex smiles. “All right. It all started right after the Dead Energy Operation. These devices were built by the first race of humans to occupy this planet, one-hundred, and eighty-million-years ago. They were forced to abandon this world in a hurry and didn’t have time to take all their advanced technology with them. Over the past few millenniums of tectonic shift and volcanic activity, these devices and the spaceship were brought back to the surface.”
Alex explains everything that happened up to the end of the Red Energy Operation, leaving out the personal details. “That’s when I was sent back in time to stop the Mystic from testing their new ultrasound locator. Therefore, you see, this is a new timeline for me. Hell, for all of us.” He waits for a response, but they seem in shock.”
David breaks the silence. “Wow. I hope you plan on making that story into a book.”
Alex feels a sense of relief when everyone smiles. “I’ll think about it. For now, we need to locate this last device.” He notices Donner is still grinning. “What?”
“It never ceases to amaze me how many times you get involved in unusual situations. Did Paladin tell you why they had to abandon everything?”
“Apparently, they were testing a new piece of equipment in the Mariana Trench and something went wrong. The explosive force was enough to cause a shift in the tectonic plates, setting off hundreds of eruptions around the world. Only the people on the surface made it off the planet. I’m guessing the people in the trench were destroyed by the magma.”
Donner leans back from the camera. “Wow, Alex. I can see why you’re worried about Preston having one of those devices. All right. Let me know if there is anything you need.”
“Thanks, Martin. We’ll continue the search for the last device until something changes.” When everyone signed off, Alex looks around at his friends, and noticed the broad grin on Okana. “What’s so funny?”
“I was a hero in all three timelines.”
Alex grins. “Yes, but you’re a hero in any timeline.”
“Thanks, Alex. Listen, we don’t have too big an area left to search with the sonar. We should be done by tomorrow morning.” He looks up at Josh. “Are we ready to get under way?”
“We just need to secure the helicopter.”
Alex stands. “I’ll give you a hand.”