Legacy (83 page)

Sebastian smiled and stepped back.

“Colonel Collins, I take it you don’t like my aircraft,” the president said as he held out his hand. He saw the still bleeding bandage Jack was sporting after the surgeon had removed the bullet and part of his fourth rib. He had a liter of blood dripping from an IV.

“No, sir,” Jack said, taking the president’s hand and shaking it weakly. “It’s just that I don’t like to be told I can’t do something I’m capable of doing.”

“And that is?”

“I want to see Alice and the senator.”

The president released Jack’s hand and looked from the colonel to Niles. The sound of Air Force One spooling up its engines reverberated throughout the aircraft.

“Then you’d better hurry. The pilots are particular when it comes to people fastening their seat belts around here. Captain Everett, Niles, assist the colonel to his feet and show him into the bedroom, please.”

Jack saw the look the president gave Niles. He turned away as Everett helped Jack off the gurney. It was a short walk across the hall to the presidential sleeping quarters. Niles reached out and tapped lightly on the door. Alice told them to come inside.

When the door opened, Jack saw the senator stretched out on the large bed. Alice was sitting beside him with her feet tucked under her legs. She had a hand on Lee’s and she smiled when she looked up and saw Collins.

“Thank God you made it, Jack,” she said.

Jack cleared his throat as he looked from Alice to the senator.

“How’s he doing?” he finally managed.

Alice reached over and brushed some of Lee’s silver hair off his forehead.

“He died twenty minutes ago, Jack. Niles and I were with him.”

Collins felt his heart fall for the woman he was now looking at.

“I … I…”

Alice stood and walked over to Collins. She reached up and kissed him on the cheek.

“He said to tell you and Mr. Everett, and that little girl Sarah, that he said good-bye.”

Jack lowered his head and Everett closed his eyes. Niles turned and opened the door with tears in his eyes and allowed Jack and Carl to leave. He looked at Alice and she shook her head.

“Now, you know that kind of display would only get you yelled at,” she said as she wiped a tear from Niles face.

“Yes, it would. But not anymore.” Niles turned and left the presidential bedroom.

Air Force One started rolling soon after, taking the body of Senator Garrison Lee home for the last time.

EPILOGUE

GENESIS ACCORDING TO COLUMBUS

EVENT GROUP COMPLEX, NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, NEVADA

The room looked like a hospital ward. Charlie Ellenshaw was sporting a cast from the backfire explosion of the alien weapon on its last discharge. Virginia Pollock had pulled through her surgery with flying colors and she had even learned from Niles that there would be no delay in getting her labs repaired. Jack, still sore and bandaged, sat at his usual spot, with Everett next to him. The guest of honor was at the head of the conference table next to his friend, the president of the United States. Niles Compton sat next to him. The room had been silent since everyone had sat down.

“Before we get started, I have something I want to present to this group.” The president nodded his head toward the double doors and a Navy signalman opened them. When Jack saw who it was, he closed his eyes and then blinked. Everett patted his forearm in support.

Sarah McIntire and Jason Ryan walked into the room and everyone with the exception of Collins rose and applauded. Sarah accepted their congratulations as her eyes found Jack. Ryan only half smiled, then stopped and looked almost angry. Sarah finally broke away and walked over to Jack. She took his hand quickly and squeezed. Then she turned and sat in a chair next to him. Ryan sat across from them, still not smiling.

“Welcome home. They just touched down three hours ago after transferring to the
Atlantis
. I suppose you’ve both had it with space travel?”

Ryan said nothing, just staring straight ahead. Sarah politely smiled as she leaned over and whispered to Jack, “I’m sorry about Will, Jack. My heart is breaking.”

“Is that what’s gotten into Ryan?” Jack inquired.

“Yes,” she said as she saw the strange smile cross his lips.

“Well, he damn well better get over it soon.”

“Jack, that was his best friend, I think—”

“Excuse me, Lieutenant McIntire. Is there a problem?” the president asked from the head of the table.

“Not at all sir,” she answered and then looked back at Jack, who only raised his right brow. He had that old “What?” look on his face.

“Go ahead, Niles,” the president said.

“If I may have your attention, this was picked up by Europa not five hours ago. It’s a live stream from Russian television that she hijacked and beamed to us.” Niles punched a button and the monitors around the table burst to life.

Jack looked from Sarah to Jason Ryan, who still stared down at the conference table.

“Mr. Ryan, I believe the director wants your attention,” Jack said, his stark eyes drilling into Jason.

Ryan finally looked up and fixed his eyes on the monitor in front of him.

On the screen, there was a vast plain of empty tundra. Everyone watched, confused because nothing in particular was happening. Then the angle of the camera changed in time to see five parachutes as they deployed to slow down the Russian space capsule. They watched it as it spent almost four minutes floating down to Earth. Collins watched Ryan as the capsule’s door was blown free and Russian ground crew crowded around and started using wrenches to free the hatch covers. Then the Russian cosmonauts started emerging from inside. After all the trouble getting a Russian spacecraft into the air, they were now returning with what was being called the only successful mission to the Moon since
Apollo 17.

It was Sarah who saw him first. Jack watched as Ryan’s eyes widened. Standing in the doorway was none other than Will Mendenhall. A loud cheer went up as each person around the table saw Will and the white cast on his leg.

“What in the hell is he carrying?” Everett asked.

Niles laughed and spoke up as he watched Mendenhall wave to the cameras and the Russian people.

“It’s the upper section of
John,
the Beatle. He told the Russians he wouldn’t leave without it.”

“The Beatle kept Mendenhall alive for the eight hours it took the Russians to find him. Luckily, he was near the path that led to Shackleton.
John
kept running oxygen to him after the remote removed the bottles from some of our dead soldiers.” Niles turned the monitors off as Will was helped out of the capsule by very exuberant Russians.

Jason finally looked up at Sarah and smiled at her. He sniffed and then straightened out his facial features before anyone could see that he was choked up. Everett and Collins smiled and turned away. Sarah took Jack’s hand.

“Asshole, you knew all along.”

The president now spoke. “I suppose it’s time Niles and I came clean as to what this has all been about. We have had some of the best minds in the world working on the Columbus site and we have some answers in that area. Niles?”

Niles Compton once more turned on the monitors and the lights dimmed.

“Thanks to many linguists and mathematicians around the world, we have figured out enough of the Visitors’ language that we can be pretty certain what they’re saying. Through a diary of sorts, a story unfolded that could very well be a precursor to our own civilization.” On the screen a large picture of Mars came into view. There were oceans and brown continents on its face. “This is where they came from—Mars, once a moon of our own Earth and an extremely close one at that. There were two other moons, one revolving around the hostile and unsettled Earth at the time and the other, Ophillias, around Mars. It’s now known that this ancient world of Mars was attacked, not once but several times.” Niles looked around the table, catching Jack’s attention. “The final attack was by the perpetrators of the war, not just their mechanical or carbon-based mercenaries. The war was long and in the end catastrophic for Mars and the rest of the neighboring bodies. To stop the invaders, they chose suicide over surrender; thus they exploded Ophillias as a last desperate attempt at stopping their enemy. Only a few chosen men and women would be able to survive on our current Moon to continue their race.”

“Only to have our young planet kill them,” the president said.

“Yes,” Niles said. “But they also brought animal life from their home world of Mars. They also brought another sample of their home world with them—their DNA. Yes, we are directly linked to them. We don’t know how yet, but tests have confirmed there is too little difference to say we’re not kin. There you have it. They were here and we wanted the technology our ancestors brought with them.”

“And we had people die for that?” Charlie Ellenshaw asked.

Niles deferred to the president, who stood and faced the room.

“The secrecy was my idea. We cannot and still cannot have any of this leaked to the press. Only Niles, Virginia, Lieutenant McIntire, out of necessity, and the United Nations Security Council and our closest allies know what is really happening. If it got out there would be worldwide panic and we wouldn’t be able to prepare for it the way we could otherwise.”

The president paused and paced a few feet away from the table as Niles flipped another switch, this one controlling Europa.

“Five years ago, we had an incident in Arizona. I’m sure you know of which incident I speak—the incident with the Grays. Well, they’re here, and they have been for some time.” The president nodded again at Niles and he told Europa to run the image. “One thing no one knows is how we knew about the Moon in the first place. The water expedition was a fake; we knew there was something there, thanks to an old friend.”

“Matchstick,” Jack said aloud.

“Correct, Colonel. Mahjtic is the one who told of an ancient battle on our Moon, and he also gave us an early heads-up that the Grays were coming. Niles, continue if you would.”

On the monitors there was a large picture of what looked to be a round shape under ice.

“This was taken two years ago in Antarctica after Matchstick told us about the dreams he was having. Very clairvoyant he is.” The image was enhanced. It was the same design as the three ships that had crashed in Roswell, New Mexico, and at Chato’s Crawl, Arizona, and the one that had crashed on the Moon over 700 million years before. “When a recon team was sent in, the craft was gone. This invasion of our airspace has been happening for quite some time and is escalating.”

“At last count we have 111 visual confirmations of overflights at our and other nation’s military installations,” Niles said, watching the reactions of his people.

“That’s why we need to leapfrog our technology, and Matchstick knew where that technology was—the Moon. I have something else to show you.”

Niles switched the view on the screen.

“This was taken from the Hubble Telescope and has since been classified. You and the heads of state of the nations involved in our defense are the only ones to know of this photo’s existence,” the president said.

In the enhanced picture they saw an amazing sight.

“What you’re looking at is the Triangulum Galaxy, a spiral galaxy coded M-33. The picture was taken and enhanced using a classified ability of the Hubble. The galaxy is our closest neighbor.” Niles switched pictures.

Everyone in the room was confused as to just what they were looking at. There were hundreds of thousands of small dots appearing on the front half of the galaxy. Niles hit another button and the reality of what they were looking at became crystal clear.

“Those are ships—saucers,” Pete Golding said as he stood from his chair.

“Correct, Dr. Golding, they are. Our astronomers tell us that they could be here in less than six years at sub–light speed, faster if they use the wormhole gates we discovered five years ago. The ships that have been appearing recently have not been using these gates. They came from a long way off.” The president let his pen slip and fall to the tabletop.

“Thus, the Dark Star operation instigated by Case Blue—our little green friend,” Niles picked up. “A prelude to what the president has now code-named Case Blue, so that if any nation or government agency links Matchstick to the name, we can deny it. The Case Blue scenario now entails the defense of Earth against a full-scale invasion.”

Stunned silence enveloped the room. It was Jack who asked the obvious question.

“What are our orders?”

“No orders, Colonel. You are to continue your duties here. Others are working on this; your Group has done enough. When needed more directly, you will be notified. I must stress that you need to keep all this in this conference room. The leaders of the world are now cooperating in finding a way to fend off an invasion if it comes, hopefully utilizing some of the technology our ancestors left for us and Matchstick dreamed about.”

“That’s all we have for now,” Niles said, and closed the link with Europa.