Origin - Season One (52 page)

Nathaniel Dean James

April 2012 – January 2014

Arrival of RP One

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Although I have never been a particularly big fan of Science Fiction, I have always subscribed to the belief that in all the billions of galaxies that make up the known universe, we cannot possibly be the only intelligent life. This is not so much a religious or scientific conviction as a simple acknowledgement of the law of probability. In so far as any author will inevitably imbue one or more of his or her characters with some trait or aspect of themselves, my own views on this are clearly echoed in the words of our friend Maxim, the retired cosmonaut who Mike and Francis meet in London on their way to Zurich, with whom I otherwise have little in common.

As for the likelihood of our ever encountering such intelligence? I believe it is highly improbable. And for the same reason that I’m convinced it must surely exist; the sheer size of the universe. Luckily for you and I, we need not concern ourselves too much in these pages with such trifling things as likelihood.

In sitting down to begin work on this manuscript one fine Spring day in 2012, I asked myself just two questions; what if there really
was
a spaceship sitting out there? And what if one man came into possession of that fact to the exclusion of all others? The first presumption aside, I think the second is not as farfetched as it may seem. Everything that followed on the heels of these two “givens” was born in the writing. The only challenge I set myself was to ensure that the “fantastic” did not impinge too heavily on the story itself, the characters and the pace of events. By this I mean the temptation to allow technology to become a deus ex machina to the men and women of Aurora, whose hopes rest so heavily on the potential of their discoveries to set things right.

But as Francis Moore understands only too well, the problems that face humanity cannot be solved by technology alone.

Having already completed much of the second book in this series, I have tried to remained loyal to this premise. For while Origin and its many secrets continue to play a part, that part is necessarily limited. As we rejoin Richelle and her team, now faced with the challenges presented by the arrival of RP One, it is not to the stars that we must turn for answers, but to that powder keg between the 48
^th
parallel and the Yalu River known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, where, even as we speak, sinister forces are conspiring.

Origin – Season Two, is scheduled for publication in April 2015.

As any author knows, writing a book and actually publishing one are two very different kettles of fish. Not only in terms of personal effort, but also that of the many people essential to making such a venture a successful one. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to offer my undying gratitude and deepest respect to the following people:

To my dear mother, whose loving support always has been and always will be indispensable. To my father, for pointing out the viability of this work at a time when I was anything but sure of it myself, and for providing the help and enthusiasm to take it forward. To the patron saints, Eddie Wheeler and Alasdair “Mac” MacDonald, who, aside from remaining true and loyal friends, also provided the roof under which most of this book was written and the cash to bring it all together. To Sarah Cohen, Leigh Bowles, Pete Cable and William Tucker, who have each read the manuscript in one or more of its many incarnations and provided invaluable feedback. To Kay, for teaching me one of the hardest and most valuable lessons along the way. To the editors, Mel Hughes and Indy Zoeller, who saw enough promise in the project to provide top-dollar work at rock-bottom prices (keep those rain checks in a safe place!). To BB eBooks for their passion and devotion to detail. To Professor Edwin V Bell of the Goddard Space Flight Center, without whose valuable insights many of the tenets in this book would have been wholly ridiculous, rather than just highly unlikely. To the hard working men and women of the Wikimedia Foundation, who continue to preside over one of the most open, comprehensive and useful sources of information available. And last, but not least, to you, the reader, for taking a chance on this book. If you enjoyed reading it half as much as I enjoyed writing it, we should be all square.

I’m a Swede, born in England and raised in the United States. In many ways I was a Caucasian gypsy for the first twenty-five years of my life, settling in Sweden, Denmark, Florida, California (Hollywood, Palmdale and San Francisco), Curacao, Mexico, Hungary, and finally the United Kingdom, where I reside today. I was a soldier for ten years in the British Army, first in the Parachute Regiment, and later in the Royal Military Police. I think the only thing that really strings all these things together is that I never stopped reading. Now a family man, I live with my wife and our twins in West Sussex.

—

Cast in Order of Appearance
Gert Dekker
– Vice President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Carl Bosch
– Chairman and CEO of
Skyline Defense
(see Appendix B).

Mike Banner
– Special Agent, FBI Field Office, New York.

Mary Winters
– (
aka. the
Assistant Director
) Assistant Director, FBI Field Office, New York.

Mitch Rainey
– Technician, Office of System Development, FBI Headquarters, Washington D.C.

Jack Fielding
– Head of Corporate Security for
Skyline Defense
(see Appendix B).

Richard Fairchild
– Director of Central Intelligence.

Norton Weaver
– CIA operative and head of
Operation Princip
(see Appendix B).

Steve Rollins
– Former US Special Forces. Rollins is the man hired by
Jack Fielding
to find
Francis Moore
and the missing hard drive.

Bruce Jessops
– FBI Whitehouse Liaison and informant for
Jack Fielding
.

Gerald Ross
– Security systems engineer paid by
Francis Moore
to help him break into the New York Federal Reserve.

Walter Scott
– An alias of
Francis Moore
.

Francis Moore
– Former US Marine recruited by the CIA into
Operation Princip
(see Appendix B) before it was taken over by
Norton Weaver
. He is known to
Gerald Ross
as Walter Scott, and to his friend
Valerie Tremblay
in Quebec as Maurice. When he arrives in London with
Mike Banner
he is using the alias Gary Copeland.

Marius Botha
– Security Systems Manager for
Skyline Defense
(see Appendix B) and subordinate of
Jack Fielding
.

Cynthia Ross
– Wife of
Gerald Ross
.

Valerie Tremblay
– Quebec Park Ranger. Valerie is
Francis Moore’s
local contact in Quebec, but knows him only as Maurice.

Daniel Zimmerman
(
aka.
Lester Farley
) – Former Mossad agent hired by
Jack Fielding
to track down
Francis Moore
at the behest of
Norton Weaver
. His partner and brother is Baruch Zimmerman (
aka. Eugene Sampras
).

Reginald Styles
(
aka. Colonel Styles
) – Retired Army colonel. Reginald was the Pentagon project leader of
Operation Princip
(see Appendix B) before it was brought under the stewardship of
Norton Weaver
at the CIA.

Sarah Breland
– Employee at
Aurora
(see Appendix B) and
Mitch Rainey’s
chaperone on his arrival at the facility.

Brendan
(
aka. The Chief
) – Head of Security at
Aurora
(see Appendix B). Brendan was originally recruited out of the US Army in Berlin to serve as the personal bodyguard of
Peter Bershadsky
,
Aurora’s
founder.

Heinz Gerber
– Chief Scientist at
Aurora
(see Appendix B).

Erik Breland
– Chief of Construction at
Aurora
(see Appendix B) and
Sarah Breland’s
father.

Maksym
(aka.
Max
) – A contact of
Reginald Styles’
living in London. Max is a former engineer with the Soviet Space Program.

Captain Almila
– Captain of the
Pandora
(see Appendix B).

Peter Bershadsky
– First chairman of the
Karl Gustav Foundation
(see Appendix B) and the founder of
Aurora
(see Appendix B).

Caroline de Villepin
– Eldest daughter of
Peter Bershadsky
and chairman of the
Karl Gustav Foundation
(see Appendix B).

Richelle de Villepin
– Youngest daughter of
Peter Bershadsky
and the head of
Aurora
(see Appendix B).

Captain David Williams
– Captain of the
Calisto
(see Appendix B).

Titov Kargin
– Former Russian Officer, one of the original members of
Aurora
(see Appendix B), and
Richelle de Villepin’s
right hand man.

Victor Manin
– (
aka. General Manin
) – A former Soviet Army General, Manin is now a well-connected arms dealer and security “services” provider.

Yoshi
– Helicopter pilot and crew member of
Aurora
(see Appendix B).

—

Names, Places and Objects of Significance (in order of appearance)
Skyline Defense
– A satellite and space exploration research company based in New York with connections to the Pentagon. Skyline is a subsidiary of the
Karl Gustav Foundation.

The Pandora
– A research vessel commissioned by
Skyline Defense
and built at the South Korean port of Busan.

Operation Princip
– A clandestine assassination program begun under the Nixon administration and run out of the Pentagon by army colonel
Reginald Styles
(see appendix A). Following 9/11 the program was moved to the CIA and placed under the control of
Norton Weaver
(see appendix A).

The Karl Gustav Foundation
– A private fund headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, established by the last will and testament of Swedish steel magnate Karl Ludvig Gustav. Originally run by
Peter Bershadsky
(see appendix A), the stewardship of the foundation has since been handed to his eldest daughter,
Caroline de Villepin
(see appendix A). The foundation owns a number of companies, including
Skyline Defense
and
Arman Tenner
.

Arman Tenner
– An engineering company based in Berlin owned by the
Karl Gustav Foundation
.

The Callisto
– The retrofitted Soviet Victor-Class submarine. Callisto’s primary purpose is to ferry supplies to
Aurora
from the freighter
Karl Gustav.

Darkstar
– Communications satellite owned by
Skyline Defense
.

Aurora
– Secret operational headquarters of Project Origin based beneath the
Isle of Dragons
in the Baltic Sea.

Isle of Dragons
– A small, rocky island thirty miles off the coast of Estonia in the Baltic Sea.

The Karl Gustav
– A small freighter operating out of Stockholm whose primary purpose is the re-supply of
Aurora
by way of the
Callisto
.