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Chapter 21

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WASHINGTON D.C.:

It’s still dark when Alex steps out of the jet into the brisk morning air at Andrews Air Force Base. He, Jadin, and Okana managed a few hours of sleep on the flight from Iceland, but mostly they talked about ideas and questions to present to the people they are about to meet for an early morning session at the Pentagon. He was hoping to tell Donner in private, but the Director insists the meeting include the President’s advisors.

Okana remains seated. “You know, there isn’t much I can add to the conversation. I’ll stay here.”

When Jadin is ready, they walk down to the car and driver waiting at the bottom of the steps. When they arrive at the Pentagon, the vehicle passes through the security checkpoint without stopping, and continues past the main parking areas to a ramp leading to a special door beneath the building.

Alex thanks the driver before he and Jadin climb out, then approach the two Marines standing outside the entrance. He and Jadin show their security badges, and after they confirm their IDs with retinal scans, one of the Marines opens the door and they walk inside.

Theirs are the only footfalls echoing down the corridor as they approach the elevator. Jadin looks up at Alex while they wait. “Do you know where we’re going?”

The doors open and they step inside the car. Alex smiles down at her. “I’ve been here a few times. We’re meeting in the office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Taylor, along with the President’s Chief of Staff, Margarete Shaw, and Director Donner.”

“That’s a heady group of power figures. This should be interesting.”

When the elevator stops, they step out and Alex leads the way down the corridor to a private door into the Chairman’s office. He knocks and is greeted by Director Donner.

“Come in and I’ll introduce you to the people who will be dealing with the situation.”

After shaking hands, they sit down and Jadin opens her briefcase. She slides two small computer tablets across the desk to Taylor and Shaw, so they can watch the edited recording of the ship. Alex waits until everyone has finished the short video before telling them about their encounter with Seth and his demand. “We have sixty-five hours to meet his deadline.”

General Taylor slides his tablet across the table to Jadin. “Does Pandora have the capability to carry out his threat?”

Alex looks across at Donner, who gives him a nod to proceed. “I’m sure all of you have heard about the SV1. What you don’t know is that it was fabricated using a piece of advanced alien technology.” He explains what he knows about the device. “The problem is that Pandora uses the same technology. Right now, she is trying to take control of the SV1. If she succeeds, she will have the capability to destroy our infrastructure by controlling the weather. If she learns how it was re-purposed to melt metal, there’s a possibility she can take out our satellites.”

Taylor’s brows bunch together in thought. “How the hell do we stop her?”

“For the moment, I don’t think we can. I just need some time to come up with an idea.”

Taylor heard about Alex’s unconventional ideas. He just hopes he has one for this situation. “I understand you now know the location of another one of these alien devices she wants so badly.”

Donner holds up his hand. “I’ve had Navy ships searching the area, but so far they haven’t been able to locate its exact position.”

Shaw looks over at him. “Do whatever it takes, Director.” She looks across at Alex. “What about the people who made the discovery? Do they know what it is?”

“A man named Hardin posted videos of the spaceship on the Internet, so I’m sure UFO fanatics will be swarming the area before too long.”

Taylor looks down the table at Donner. “I’ll increase the security around the site. We’ll claim it’s an experimental submarine, and we are conducting a rescue mission.

Alex agrees. “It’s a good excuse to have the military involved.”

Jadin has a thought. “What do we do once she has what she needs? I mean, it’s both a spaceship and a colony. She could wipe us out anyway and start over again with her own people. They have a gene that gives them incredible immunity against any type of virus.”

Shaw stares across the table at Jadin, wondering if she is correct about the immunity aspect of these visitors. She knows better than to pursue the issue and draw attention to her idea.

Alex considers her question for a moment. “We just don’t have enough information.”

Shaw taps her fingernails on the table while staring at Jadin. “So, all we need is a representative with green eyes and he won’t destroy us. I read your dossier, Ms. Avery. I think you’re more than capable of representing us in this situation.”

Jadin feels her face flush. “I don’t want to be the representative. You need to find someone trained in diplomatic issues.”

“From what Alex just told us, Seth already thinks you’re one of our leaders. We could arrange to have a coach nearby in case you run into problems.”

Jadin’s heart rate increases. “I’m a scientist, not a negotiator.”

Shaw smiles at her. “We’d be hard-pressed to find anyone else on such short notice with knowledge of the alien craft, and has green eyes. For the moment, you’re the only green-eyed person that we can trust.”

Alex looks at Jadin. “He thinks you’re my boss, so I’ll be with you the entire time.”

Shaw slides her chair away from the conference table, and motions for everyone to remain seated as she stands and looks at Donner. “All right. I’ll brief the President.” She looks across at Alex. “I know this isn’t your first time dealing with alien technology. I like your skepticism, so you’re in charge of handling this situation. We’ll give you whatever help you need.”

“Thank you. I would suggest having a short list of your foreign counterparts standing by. I don’t think Pandora will leave the matter in the hands of one representative. She’ll demand a bigger audience, and if Seth is any indication of her temperament, they had better be ready on a moment’s notice.”

“I see. I have a friend in Norway where we could wait for the meeting. I’ll take care of it.” She turns and leaves the room.

Donner looks over at Alex. “Where do you want to start?”

“Jadin and I will tell Seth that we are in contact with our leaders and she’ll be representing them. Once we find out what is going on, I’ll let you know what he has in mind and we’ll go from there.”

Taylor looks at Alex. “All right. I’ll call a car to take you back to the airport.”

Donner gets up. “I’ll take care of it, General.” He indicates for Alex and Jadin to follow him out of the room.

Alex keeps quiet until they climb into Donner’s car and he is driving them out of the underground parking lot. “What’s on your mind, Martin?”

“Your spaceship and the two missing weather devices. Does Seth know about them?”

“I don’t think so. Seth and Pandora are very knowledgeable, but if they knew anything about the other ships, they would have asked. When we lied, they didn’t call us out on it.”

Jadin leans forward from the back seat. “Fortunately, they can’t use our satellites as relay stations to communicate with each other, as we do. Pandora won’t find out about them unless she is in a direct line of sight with our ship. That’s the only way they can connect their technologies. We just need to make sure that doesn’t happen or we may lose control of our own ship.”

Donner looks over at Alex. “Perhaps you and Okana should retrieve the arctic device as soon as possible.”

“We will, as soon as we’re done dealing with Seth. I have a gut feeling DAR has the fourth device, but I can’t prove it. Once we’ve dealt with this situation, Okana can go charm Rita into telling him its location.”

“Those devices are becoming a pain in the butt. I’ll be glad when they’re all locked up in one place. Including the one in orbit.”

“So do I, my friend.”

Alex calls Skip to let him know they are on their way. He’s told the jet is refueled and ready to go. After showing their IDs to the Marines at the gate into Andrews, Donner drives them to the steps leading up into the aircraft. Alex looks over at his friend before climbing out. “I should be able to give you an update sometime this evening.”

“All right. Good luck.”

Alex climbs out and leads Jadin up the steps into the aircraft, where Okana is waiting in the cabin. He steps into the cockpit and tells Skip that they are ready to go, removes his coat, and tosses it onto a seat on his way down the aisle.

Jadin is sitting at a small table with Okana, staring at her clasped hands while twiddling her thumbs. She looks up when Alex sits down across from her. “I was thinking about our ship having an intelligent operating system, like Pandora. Maybe it does, but we’re not equipped to communicate with it. Perhaps Seth has some kind of implant that allows him to talk directly to Pandora without an earpiece. I sure would like to talk to our ship before we make this deal with the devil.”

Okana smirks. “What if the devil is female?”

Jadin grins. “My thoughts exactly. I think Pandora is telling Seth what to do. I sure would like to talk to her directly. You know, woman to artificial woman.”

Alex chuckles. “To be honest, I’m finding it difficult to believe a computer could have a gender.”

Jadin grins at Alex’s remark. “After we finish talking to Seth, I’d like to go back to the base and see if our ship might have a similar intelligence to Pandora’s.”

“It’s worth a try. Okana and I will join the Mystic and retrieve the device north of the Beauford Sea. We’ll meet you back at the base once we have it.”

Okana stands and walks to the bar. “While you were gone, Skip, Carl, and I got a ride to the cafeteria to get something to eat. I brought you back some breakfast.”

Jadin smiles. “Great. I’m starving.”

Okana sets a bag in front of her, does the same for Alex, then sits down, and buckles his seatbelt when the jet taxies down the tarmac to the runway.

***

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ICELAND:

Huckabee lets them borrow his airplane again, and Alex looks out the window at the small armada of various naval vessels holding station one-hundred-yards south of the ice sheet. He sees five large canvas tents positioned three-hundred feet from the opening down to the ship.

Okana radios in they’re on final approach and is cleared to land. The tires bounce against the rippled surface of the ice sheet as he touches down, then he turns the plane back toward the new encampment.

Girdler waits until the engine shuts down, then walks over to greet the trio as they climb out. He stops in front of Okana. “Did you have any problem with your plane on the way up here?”

“No, why do you ask?”

“Everything electronic was dead for the past twenty minutes, and it all just came back on.”

“The only electronic equipment in that old plane is the radio and GPS unit, and I didn’t use either on the way here.”

“You’re lucky. I figured it might happen again, but we were ready.” He turns to Alex. “So how are we to proceed?”

“Jadin is going to be our intermediary, but with my help. Right now, we need to go down and talk to him.” He notices the pleading expression in Girdler’s eyes. “I’m sorry, but he won’t allow anyone else to be involved. He’s very temperamental.”

Okana puts his hand on Girdler’s shoulder. “Don’t feel left out. That guy threatened to have me killed if I return.” He looks at Alex. “Wait a minute. He said only one representative, so he might kick you out as well.”

“He won’t.”

Okana has seen that look in Alex’s eyes on many occasions, and doesn’t doubt his word. “Would you mind if I listened in on the conversation?”

Jadin turns to him. “I don’t want to take the risk Pandora will detect it and cause more problems.”

Alex slings his backpack with the star onto both shoulders and looks at Jadin. “Time to get started, Ms. Negotiator?”

Jadin looks around and realizes she doesn’t have anything to carry. “I guess I’m ready.”

Alex goes down first and brushes away the new accumulation of ice crystals blown down from the surface. Once Jadin is beside him, they walk under the ice sheet to the control room ceiling. He and Jadin insert their earpieces and press the tiny buttons to turn them on. Alex stays behind her as she places the star on the surface, presses the amber crystal, and stares down at Seth.

Seth stands from his chair, crosses his arms, and glares up at Jadin. “Pandora does not trust you. Have the one called Alex step forward.”

Jadin shrugs her shoulders as Alex steps up to the roof and looks down.

Seth sees Alex’s face appear above him. “Pandora has decided she will only speak with you. Someone among your people has a working knowledge of our technology. Pandora will alter the weather patterns on this planet, destroying your infrastructure until you bring me the person who modified the device in orbit.”

Alex turns off his earpiece and waits until Jadin does the same. “We can’t tell him we acquired the knowledge from our spaceship. This is complicated enough as it is.”

“What’s he mean by Pandora will only communicate with you?”

“I have no idea.” He cringes at his next option. “We need to make a deal with Rita Harrow. She might be able to get him to stop messing with the weather. I have an idea.”

Alex turns on his earpiece and steps forward to look down at Seth. “I’ve heard about the person you want to talk to. We just need some time to find them. Could you give us a chance before you make good on your threat?”

Seth looks down at the floor and listens to Pandora.

“The device they call SV1 will be in communication range in twenty hours and thirty-seven minutes.”

Seth stares up at Alex. “You have twenty hours and thirty-seven minutes to bring me the person in question.” When Alex’s face disappears, he returns to his chair and closes his eyes. “Tell me something, Pandora. Why didn’t you tell them about having one of our blues represent you?”

“I’ll wait to see if he keeps his word.”

***

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When Alex steps away, Jadin turns off her earpiece and slides it into her pocket, then touches the star and removes it from the ship. “I guess the conversation is over.”

Alex removes his communication device and shuts it off, then holds his backpack open while she shoves the star inside. “Let’s just hope Rita is cooperative.”

Okana is standing outside the nearest tent, chatting with a female nurse, when he notices Girdler suddenly looking down into the opening. When Jadin appears at the top of the ladder, he smiles at the woman. “Gotta go.”

He hurries over to join them just as Alex reaches the top. “Back so soon? Did he throw you both out?”

Alex looks at his watch. “We have twenty hours to find Rita.”

“Wow. How did he know about her?”

“Because I told him. Now Pandora will only talk to me.” He notices Girdler’s concerned expression. “What’s going on, Mark?”

“We have another boatload of UFO gawkers just past our ships. I guess they didn’t buy our story about a submarine rescue. Our people shot down one of their drones before it showed them anything.”

“Damn! They probably have Internet capability.” He looks at Jadin. “Could Pandora hack in through our communication devices?”

“Yes, but the connection would have been broken each time we turn them off.”

“She didn’t have any problem draining my phone battery in a matter of minutes, so I’m sure she managed to get a lot of information.”

Okana shrugs. “Not much we can do about it. Let’s go get Rita. On the way, you can tell me why you’re the new representative for our genetically flawed species.”

Alex turns to Girdler. “We’ll be back as soon as we can.”

“We’re starting to draw a lot of attention, Alex, and my people can keep them at bay for a while. But I think we had better start getting some international intervention before we’re forced to shoot someone.”

“I agree. I’ll let the Director know what’s going on. We’ll see you when we get back.”

Alex turns and joins Okana and Jadin for the walk back to the aircraft. “Jadin, when we get back to the States, Okana and I will find Rita, and I’d like for you to go visit your sister and David at the research station. Find out if they had any luck with the modification I requested.”

“All right. What modification?”

Alex smiles. “They can fill you in on the details when you get there.”

When they reached the plane, it only takes a few minutes for the preflight check, then they are bouncing across the washboard ice until the aircraft climbs into the air. Alex stares out the window as they fly past the military ships, and another private craft cruising toward the armada. Girdler is right. This could get messy.

***

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Alex waits until they enter the jet so he can use the secure phone to check his messages, and is surprised to hear on from Jim Coburn to call him in Nevada. He looks around the small table at his friends, enters the number, then turns on the speaker and sets it down. Jim’s voice is barely a whisper when he asks him to hold on for a minute.

***

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NEVADA:

Jim excuses himself from Essex and Preston, and walks outside the rail hangar. “Hey, Alex. I’m glad you got my message.”

“I got you on speaker with Okana and me. What’s going on?”

“There’s been some weird shit happening here and I thought you should know about it. Rita Harrow, Essex’s girlfriend, went into orbit with him.”

When they hear Rita is with Essex, Alex and Okana stare at each other in shock. They listen to Jim explain what happened during re-entry.

“After the metal ball was recovered and taken to the foundry, Preston arrived with some kind of torpedo to separate the metals, until something went wrong. The damn thing melted my car.”

“Is Rita still there?”

“No, she and I walked back to get another vehicle and she got a ride to the airport in Reno. Essex and Preston are still here.”

“Is Rita coming back?”

“I don’t think so. She said to tell Essex she would contact him later. That was just before she said that torpedo machine belongs to you. Is that true?”

“Sort of. It’s a long story. What did Essex say when you gave him Rita’s message?”

“Evidently she lied to him about something and he’s pissed at her.”

Alex has an idea. “Are Essex and Preston going to stay there for a while?”

“Oh, hell yeah. They’re already setting up for another recovery.”

Alex knows that with Pandora in control of the SV1, their project is over. Somehow, he needs to leverage them into helping him find Rita. “Okana and I will be joining you soon, but don’t let them know we’re coming.”

“Are you going to arrest them?”

“That depends on how cooperative they are.”

“All right. Call me when you’re getting close to the main gate.”

***

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ICELAND:

The call ends and Okana looks over at Alex. “Honestly? Rita and Essex?” He smirks at his friends. “No way. She’s just using him as she does everyone else she meets.”

Alex grins. “Probably.” He looks at Jadin. “After we tell Donner what’s going on, we’ll fly to Fallon and arrange a ride for you back to Groom Lake. Henry can arrange transportation to Christa’s research facility.”

Alex enters Donner’s number and his call is put through to his secretary. A moment later, Donner answers and Alex explains Seth’s demands. “We have less than twenty hours this time.”

“I’ll put out an APB that we want her for questioning.”

“Also, it looks like the submarine rescue mission story isn’t convincing everyone. Small boats of UFO hunters are already converging on the area. It won’t take them long to figure out they can land some place away from our fleet and approach across the ice sheet. If they’re not allowed to see it, one mistake in judgment could turn into a disaster.”

“You’re probably right. I’ll expand the perimeter around the area. What’s your next move?”

Alex tells him the conversation with Coburn. “We’ll start at Essex’s facility and see where that leads us. Hopefully, your people will pick her up before we get into a pissing contest with Preston.”

“Are you actually going to give Seth the data?”

“Not unless absolutely necessary. Even then, it depends on Christa and David. I’ll keep you informed of our progress.”

When Alex stands and walks forward to tell Skip their destination, Okana looks across at Jadin and smirks. “Is your sister as gorgeous as you?”

Jadin suppresses a grin as she leans back in her chair, then forces a frown. “You’re impossible, Mister Okana. She was beautiful, just like our mother. However, she was in a horrible car accident that left her face disfigured and covered in scars. It’s taken her a long time to heal, but she’s doing tons better. Fortunately, the accident didn’t affect her on the inside. She’s just as beautiful on the inside as she ever was. The scars don’t even bother her. She’s still wonderful caring Christa.”

Okana swallows hard. “Oh. I’m sorry. That’s so tragic.”

Alex returns to the cabin and notices Okana appears embarrassed. Jadin is staring out the window, so he figures it’s none of his business and sits down to buckle his seatbelt.