Your Truth is Out There (Find Your Truth Book 1) (13 page)

The only one in the room he believed might be reasoned with would be Secretary of Defense, Langhorne herself, but he had to tread lightly. She was a politician, which meant she would be looking for a scapegoat, and he had no doubts about whose name was at the top of her list. The sad truth of the matter was that, in this case at least, his name belonged there.

“General Alcorn,” said Secretary Langhorne, slowly and deliberately, “it’s been nearly two weeks since this incident took place and we received our initial briefing. Why has it taken so long for us to receive the full report?”

Good,
thought Alcorn,
she’s patient. She’s willing to give me enough rope to either save or hang myself. Either way, her hands stay clean. That gives me a chance at least.

“Madame Secretary,” he said, “you’ll notice that even though we opened fire, neither of the non-terrestrial ships took aggressive actions toward us. Between that and my initial interrogation of the prisoner, I believed then, as I do now, that there is no immediate threat, and therefore felt the wiser course of action was to pursue a more detailed investigation in order to provide you with better intel, even at the risk of a slight delay.”

“I see,” said the Secretary. “What I find interesting is that you don’t seem to have any more information now than you did after the incident happened, which tells me you wasted two weeks for no good reason.”

Alcorn smiled at the Secretary. Not a smirk, not a fearful grin, but a smile that was warm and sincere.

“With respect, that’s where we disagree, Madame Secretary,” he said, being careful not to tell her she was flat-out wrong in front of the entire room. “Had I called everyone together immediately and given this same briefing, it would have been based on intuition and conjecture, not on proof. I have personally reviewed and analyzed every single piece of evidence, every frame of film, and every word of transcript from this event in order to come to the conclusions I’ve presented today. That takes time, Madame Secretary, and could not have happened if I came to you immediately after the incident occurred.”

“For the love of God, he’s just playing semantics,” said a voice from the other side of the room. It was General Samuel Walker, U.S. Air Force and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He looked straight at Alcorn. “General Alcorn, let’s cut the crap and get to what all of us here really want to know.”

“Yes sir, what’s that?”

“How in the hell did you, a highly decorated commander, hand-picked for this assignment, leading the most elite unit in the entire armed forces, let one alien in one tiny little unarmed ship, get away?”

And now we come to it.
Alcorn held Walker’s gaze without wavering. He desperately wanted to glance over at the Secretary to see her reaction to the Chairman’s outburst, but this was a game, one where a single flinch meant certain defeat. Fortunately, he was prepared.

“General Walker,” he said, finally breaking the stalemate, “with all due respect, there’s not one individual in this room who’s unaware of how one is ‘hand-picked’ for this assignment.” He held up his hand to ward off Walker’s attempted interruption. “But, for clarity’s sake, let’s just say that this assignment is where Generals are sent to retire when there is nowhere else to send them.”

“You’d do well to watch your tone, General,” said Walker indignantly, leaping from his seat amid the shocked murmurs that filled the room. “Not only are you wrong in your assessment, you’re dangerously close to insubordination.”

“That’s enough Sam. Sit down and let the man talk.” It was Secretary Langhorne. Once the room quieted, she continued. “It’s not as if General Alcorn is telling us anything we don’t already know. The truth about First Contact Command, or should I say Last Stand Command, is the worst kept secret in the Pentagon.”

The Secretary looked back at Alcorn, not specifically to give the floor back to him, but as if she was still thinking about whether or not she was finished speaking. Alcorn decided to wait until he knew for sure.

“You know,” she said a few moments later, “I’ve always enjoyed TV shows and movies about aliens and such—at least as much as everyone else, I suppose, but can anyone in this room look me in the eye and tell me that prior to two weeks ago, they believed intelligent non-terrestrial life actually existed?” She paused while waiting for an answer. “I didn’t think so. General Alcorn, please continue.”

“Thank you, Madame Secretary,” said a relieved Alcorn.

“Don’t thank me yet, General,” said Langhorne, no hint of sympathy in her voice, “you’re not off the hook by any means. Don't think that being given a lousy command excuses you from your obligations. You were expected to capture and hold that non-terrestrial, were you not?”

“Yes ma’am, I was, and as commanding officer, I fully accept the consequences of my failure to do so. Be that as it may, Madame Secretary, there is a much larger issue at stake than whether or not I'm an effective commander.”

Alcorn paused for effect, expecting the Secretary, or someone else, to ask what that issue was, but hoping they wouldn’t. When nobody asked, he pressed on, directing his attention solely at the Secretary herself.

“The issue that concerns me, Madame Secretary, is that, as you’ve noted, up until two weeks ago, nobody has given a second thought to the idea that non-terrestrials might actually exist, and therefore, we’re simply not prepared, regardless of how many exercises or drills we run. You saw for yourself how quickly, agilely, and unpredictably those ships moved. Do we have anything that can match them? Certainly nothing I had in the field on the day of the incident. Judge my performance, then do with me what you will, I gladly accept whatever punishment is deemed appropriate, but for the sake of our country—for the sake of our planet—don’t overlook the larger issue. Without a better understanding of what we’re dealing with, and more focused, dedicated resources to get our defense capabilities …”

“Stop right there, General Alcorn,” said the Secretary as she rose to her feet. “That’s enough. This meeting is adjourned.” She turned and left the room without another word.

Alcorn was stunned. He had been prepared to argue his case and had even been prepared to lose, but to be cut off like this in mid-sentence was, well, it was just plain weird.

The rest of the room must have thought so too, as the chatter amongst Alcorn’s colleagues showed that they were as confused by the Secretary’s behavior as they were angered by this entire situation.

“You still know how to stir up a crowd, Teddy, that’s for damn sure,” said Frank Allen as he walked up and patted Alcorn on the back.

“I suppose so,” said Alcorn. “Frank, what the hell was that?”

“Beats the hell outta me. Come on, let’s get outta here before you get cornered by someone less friendly.”

“Good idea. Lead the way.”

Alcorn followed his supervising officer toward a side door, but was stopped before he reached it.

“General Alcorn, a moment, please.”

Alcorn turned to find a rather unremarkable young civilian man standing before him, wearing an ill-fitting suit and looking as if he felt extremely uncomfortable.

“Yes, what is it?” said Alcorn.

“Sir, Secretary Langhorne wants to see you in her office immediately.”

Alcorn started to say something, then thought better of it. He looked back at General Allen.

“It was a nice attempt anyway, Frank,” he said. “Give my best to Karla and the boys.”

Frank nodded and left the room. Alcorn turned back to Langhorne’s assistant and motioned for him to lead the way.

Am I walking toward my salvation or my doom?
He thought as he followed the Secretary’s lackey down the Pentagon’s seemingly endless hallways.
There won’t be any middle ground, that’s for damn sure. I suppose she could demand my resignation, but if that’s all she was looking for, she wouldn’t have ended the meeting like that and asked for a private meeting. She would have humiliated me right then and there in front of God and everybody. No, she’s got something else in mind, something that could make getting fired look like a walk in the park.

When they finally reached her office, the handful of assistants parked at their desks in the reception area didn’t even bother to look up. Four-star generals might rate some excitement in certain parts of the world, but this wasn’t one of them.

“The Secretary is waiting General,” said the unremarkable lackey. “Go on in.”

Alcorn nodded his head in acknowledgement, but couldn’t quite find it within himself to actually say “thank you” to the man. He thought briefly about why as he walked toward the Secretary’s door, but couldn’t come up with anything except that perhaps he was just an arrogant ass. He shrugged inwardly and thought,
I can live with that.

Unable to simply walk in on the Secretary of Defense of the United States of America, Alcorn knocked on the door, one loud knock, just as he’d been taught from the very the beginning of his military training.

“Come!” came the answer from the other side of the door. It gave no indication of irritation or welcome, it was simply a command.

Alcorn opened the door, entered the room and turned toward the desk, only to find Secretary Langhorne not in her seat but instead pouring herself a drink at the bar by the window.

“General,” she said before he could speak, “on the wall, to the left of the door, you’ll find a retinal scanner and security control panel. Please submit to a scan and follow the instructions accordingly.”

Alcorn turned toward the scanner, ready to comply, but hesitated when he saw that it was unlike any retinal scanner he’d ever seen before. For one thing, it had a full visor, covering both eyes, whereas every other scanner he’d seen only had optics for one, which is all that was necessary for identification. It also had a handprint and voice recognition system built into it. Whatever was behind this firewall, it was only meant for the select few. He paused for a moment as he considered asking more about what was going on.

“Please General, we have much to discuss and I have a full day ahead of me.”

“Yes ma’am, of course.”

I guess I’ve been selected.

Once he completed the retinal scan, hand and voiceprint ID, the system made a locking sound, and a computerized voice announced “Identification authorization complete. Room will be secure in 5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1 … Room secure.”

“Pardon my asking, ma’am, but would you mind explaining just what the hell that was all about?”

“The latest in secure technology,” said the Secretary, as she poured herself another drink. She poured Alcorn one as well and motioned for him to sit down. “And for the moment, let’s dispense with the formalities. I’ll leave my title in my desk drawer, if you leave your stars at the door. Whad’ya say Teddy?”

Alcorn took the drink she offered as she sat down across from him. “Fine by me, Natalie. Now, would you mind telling me what in the Sam Hill is going on? I don’t know if I’m supposed to be packing my bags for an early retirement, or leading the next Charge of the Light Brigade.”

Natalie smiled.

“I understand your concern, and your confusion. Your encounter has put our entire DOD philosophy into a state of utter chaos. The boys back in the briefing room were ready to roast you over an open flame, but that was the only thing they could agree on. They simply couldn't come to terms with the idea that advanced non-terrestrial life exists and that we're not prepared for it. For the sake of their own careers, they're ready to hand you over as the one who made sure America wasn't prepared.”

“I assumed as much, even before I went in,” said Alcorn, nodding in agreement. “But you didn’t let them do it. You stopped me, and them, before it could go that far. Why?”

“Because what none of them seem to understand is that neither their careers, nor ours, such as they are, will amount to a damn thing if we’re overrun by hostile alien forces. I don’t know if it was your encounter, or if you’re just wired differently, but you seem to get that, which is why we’re here talking now.”

Alcorn smiled and nodded.

“I’d like to think I’m wired differently than those jackals, but that’s something only time and results can prove.” He glanced back at the retina scanner by the door. “I’m sorry, but I can’t take my mind off of that security thingamajig hanging on the wall over there. What’s that all about?”

Now it was Natalie’s turn to smile.

“It’s called a ‘secure room.’ It allows us to talk in complete freedom without any concerns of being overheard, spied upon, etc. We are totally isolated from the outside world.”

“Interesting. But why did I have to submit to the ID scans?”

“As the room’s owner, I can initiate the call for a secure room, but if there is anyone in the room besides me, they have to consent, which is why you were scanned. The idea is to keep me from locking you or anyone else in here against their will, taking you hostage, as it were.”

“Nice tech,” Alcorn paused for a moment, thinking. “I understand how it knew who I was, I’m in the DOD system, but what if it was someone who wasn’t in the system? How would the computer know who they were?”

“Everyone’s in the system, Teddy,” said Natalie, casually sipping her drink. “Whether they know it or not. I thought someone in your position would have realized that by now.”

Alcorn felt a slight chill at the Secretary’s casual big brother-like implication, but said nothing.

“But enough about that. I’ve looked through your files and tend to believe that you’re wired differently too, for the most part.”

“For the most part?”

“Like all kids who play soldier, you like being the hero, right? So, here’s your chance. Let’s see if you can actually shed some light on the non-terrestrial situation and help us formulate a plan. Do that, and we all win. Fail, well, I think we both know what happens then.”

Alcorn didn’t have to think long about Natalie’s offer. He’d been given a reprieve and he knew it.

“What kind of resources will I have access to?” he said.

“What do you need?”

“I need more and better … well, everything. This project has received the least of nearly every resource, troops, equipment, logistical and tactical support. You name it, we need it.”