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5:45 PM. SV1 CONTROL CENTER:
Carter listens to Preston’s orders over the phone and looks down at Scott. “Bring up a map of the planet. We’re going to move the SV1 into a geosynchronous orbit over the farthest location from Iceland.”
Teresa is just ending her shift and is about to leave when Carter makes the announcement. She thinks about Terry Hardin in Iceland, and is sure MUFON knows what’s going on up there. She has to stick around and find out what is important enough to move the SV1.
Scott finds a suitable location. “New Zealand is perfect.”
“All right. Let’s get it moving.”
Carter stares at the live video feed from SV1’s cameras while Scott enters the new coordinates. When the thrusters fire, sparkling lights against a black background sweep past the pointed end of the SV1. The Aleutian Islands suddenly appear on the wall monitor, then Alaska and northern Canada sweep past the camera.
Scott feels his heart rate increase when he recognizes the second signal. He enters a command to shut down the thrusters, but nothing happens. “Someone is taking over and I can’t shut it down!”
Carter stares at the monitor while Scott enters more commands. His hands clench into fists at his sides when the image continues to change. Greenland and Iceland appear to slow down and freeze on the screen, exactly where he doesn’t want the SV1.
Scott tries several commands, but the second signal appears to be extremely powerful this time. He looks up at Carter. “Look at this. At least we know where the second signal is coming from. I guess the rumors about finding a spaceship are true.”
Carter stares at the distorted reflection of the universe near the SV1, as he sinks down into a vacant chair and grabs the phone. Preston’s orders also include calling Alex Cave, not him, when it is done. He likes Alex, and hates like being the bearer of bad news.