A Simple Truth (16 page)

"Thirty million kilometres."

"And its speed?"

"Twenty
-one
kilometres per
second, though it's not directly on an intercept path for earth.
  A secure line is available to the station, code
-
named FTF12, if you want to speak to the commanding officer, a Major Hank Sagadewa."

"Yes I'll speak to him
,"
said Lincoln, still reeling with shock.  Sagadewa was a friendly character and very pleased to speak about his discovery.  He was very excited and had to keep apologising for his exuberance.  Life on an orbiting military platform was largely dull routine, so an important development such as this was quite momentous.  It seemed that for some days now a very faint image had been seen at the limits of detection of the equipment and located a
bout twenty
degrees away from Procyon.  It had not been reported at first in case it was spurious, since high amplification levels
sometimes produced false images; h
owever the shadow persisted day after day so Naganda was notified.

After the radar detection the optical telescopes were used to search for and locate the approaching visitor.  It had been found quite quickly, a dot of light indistinguishable from a very faint star, but the fact that it was visible at all showed that it was both large and reflective.

The present distance and speed had been established with some precision.  The speed itself was interesting.  If either debris or a non-functioning craft had been the result of the attack then its speed would have been m
aintained and it would have passed
by the earth long ago.  But the present speed was greatly reduced and was still falling.  In fact
allowing for some corrections
it would be entirely consistent with a controlled approach to earth orbit.  Calculations showed that without any further speed checks the object would pass within a few million kilometres of the earth in just
sixteen
day
'
s time.  If it was operational and intended to assume a close orbit then it would need to make a
significant
course alteration and would take much longer to arrive, the exact time not predictable because the intended manoeuvres were unknown.

Lincoln drank in every detail.  Life was suddenly an adventure again.  'It has to be the alien craft
,'
he told himself with eager optimism, 'and with that speed it must be operational.'
He briefly considered the possi
bility of an undiscovered earth-
grazing asteroid, but discounted that as
far
too
unlikely considering the comprehensive monitoring that was in place
.

Almost as soon as he had finished speaking to Sagadewa another call came in.  This time it was Naganda, with a degree of urgency in his voice that took him aback.  For Naganda this was clearly not an exciting event, he was much more concerned with matters of security.

"This sighting is to be kept totally secret
,"
he ordered.  Lincoln's hackles began to rise.  Naganda had no right to give orders, especially to a member of an organisation independent of any government.  "Only yourself and your deputy, the staff of FTF12,
and I
and my closest associates know about this and that is the way it must stay."

"Just a minute Doctor Naganda, I and my colleagues are not subject to your or
any government authority, we...
"

"OK
,
OK I know all that
,"
interrupted Naganda, "but think man
,
think.  We have attacked them, we have demonstrated our hostility.  We don't want to repeat the first mistake, but on the other hand we want to prepare ourselves for any retaliation the aliens may use.  If thing
s were sensitive
when neither we nor they had declared any hostility just think how much more sensitive they are now.  Every crackpot government with more than a peashooter will want to destroy them before they destroy us."

Lincoln was duly chastened.  Being a scientist sometimes gave him too limited a viewpoint.  "You're right Doctor Naganda
,"
he said, "yes you're right, we must be very careful indeed."

"To be perfectly frank I was tempted not to tell you
,
"
c
ontinued Naganda.  "I would have preferred to keep it within my own direct control but two reasons persuaded me to inform you.  Firstly your specialist knowledge will be valuable, and secondly I respected your predecessor very much indeed, and his declared wish was for you to play a direct part in any future developments."

"I'm very glad you did
,"
responded Lincoln
,
"
b
ut we can't keep it secret for long.  There will be other people watching as you were, perhaps some already know."

"True, but that can't be helped.  It is already being put under the tightest possible military guard.  We shall be able to destroy it or them at a moment's notice, so all b
ut the most aggressive or panic-
stricken should be satisfied.  Besides I shall make it very clear that an attack by any other government or agency will be treated as an attack on Africa."

Over the last
twenty years Africa had be
come one of
the most powerful economic and military power
s
in the world.  Once the internal strife had worked itself out a succession of determined and charismatic leaders had welded the continent into a single nation under one government.  Like other young nations before it the resolve and single-mindedness of its peoples had overshadowed the waning efforts of earlier leading powers.  Lincoln felt sure than no sane government or person would dare to challenge Naganda, and felt better for having a man like him in such a position at this critical time.

"All right I'm convinced.  What are your plans for the immediate future?  Is there anything you want us to do or do we just sit tight with lips sealed?" 

"We'll keep monitoring the vessel's progress for now, if any direction changes are observed we'll know for sure that it's under control.  Then we can think about announcing it to the world but on our terms.  I shall
ensure continuous
military supervision in case they turn out to be hostile but don't worry, your rule will be strictly observed."

Lincoln could not help feeling a degree of pride at what had become known as 'Lincoln's Rule' - that the aliens should
inflict
significant harm and know t
hat they had done so
before hostility was assumed.  He was glad that Naganda had taken it so much to heart.

"I suggest
,"
continued Naganda, "that you start to prepare some broadcasts to educate the world to the possibilities in this encounter in readiness for when it becomes public knowledge.  Try to divert people from considering threats, and I'm sure you will have plenty of plans of your own." 

Khan had been listening to the conversation and Lincoln was glad of that.  He was included in the elite group that knew the truth, and Naganda's words would impress on him the need for extreme caution more than anything he could say.

***************

Emma Lincoln was a shrewd woman.  But even had she not been the abrupt change in her husband's behaviour would have told her something very important had happened.  As it was she used her background knowledge, some intelligent guesswork, and her intimate knowledge of her husband's personality to deduce the correct answer.  It was two nights after Lincoln had been given the news that she decided to put her intuition to the test.  He was in his study busily engaged in writing notes for the intended broadcasts when she entered and asked if he was ready for some coffee.  Then in exactly the same casual manner and almost in the same breath added
,
"I believe the aliens are
coming
?" 

For a couple of seconds he continued his task.  Like so many other husbands he had perfected the technique when preoccupied of not listening to what his wife said, but retained her words temporarily and then without conscious effort processed them in a mechanical fashion to determine the appropriate response from the store he reserved for just this purpose.  Such replies as 'Oh', 'Was it
?
',
'
D
id
she
?
', 'I would think so', and so on were usual.  On this occasion the response was easy to find, a simple non
-
committal 'Mm
,'
would suffi
ce.  H
owever a second subconscious system operated in conjunction with the first, which scanned the words, and if important notified his conscious mind of the fact.  This process took another second or two to operate but when it did the master alarm was triggered and all thought of his notes vanished in an instant.

Emma was perfectly aware of the process.  She had witnessed it in operation countless times before and like most wives adopted the same system when her husband began to enthuse about sport, his work, or any other activity that was not of direct interest to her.  She waited for the inevitable response, laughing to herself, and was not disappointed.

After the prescribed interval Lincoln's head shot bolt upright.  He remained stationary for a fraction of a second staring at the blank wall in front of him then wheeled round to face her, a classic look of astonishment covering his face.

"What?  Who told you that?  How did you find out?  How did you know
?"
he spluttered in quick succession.

His wife laughed out loud.

It was somehow very amusing to see her husband react in exactly the way she had predicted, but at the same time she felt a strong affection for him and his predictable behaviour.  She could tease him no longer.

"You told me
,"
she declared emphatically,
"
f
or the past two days everything you've done, the way you've done it, everything you've said on the rare occasions that you've spoken has screamed the fact." 

Lincoln was dumbfounded.  For his own wife to have read him so clearly and so accurately, completely without his knowledge, was a revelation he found difficult to believe.

"Don't worry
,"
she added placatingly, "I know it's all secret otherwise you would have told me right away, and of course I haven't said anything to anyone else."  She laughed again.  Her husband's face was a picture.

The humour of the situation finally hit him and the two at last laughed together.  He should have had more sense than to keep such a secret from his own wife, he would know better in future.  He was glad she knew.  He could now talk freely to her about the situation instead of bursting with the knowledge and having only Khan to confide in.

***************

Six days later Lincoln and Khan had completed the initial stages of most of their plans.  The only direct action taken was on Khan's suggestion and had been a transmission to the approaching craft of a complete account of the former disaster giving all the reasons for its occurrence and stressing the fact that the attack was the action of a single person rather than the collective will of everyone.  The statement was a very thorough and profound expression of apology.  No reply had been received but that was n
ot too much of a disappointment;
t
he fact that the music had stopped implied loss of or damage to their transmitter.  It was hoped that somewhere in the vessel a receiver was still functioning correctly.

Daily reports had been issued from FTF12 and Lincoln had been able to build up quite a friendly relationship with Hank Sagadewa.  He realised right away therefore that on this occasion something was amiss as soon as Hank began to speak.  His usual cheerful manner was missing, and was replaced by a distinct apprehension.

"What's
happened Hank?  What is it
?"
a
sked Lincoln uneasily.  The only thing in Lincoln's mind was the approaching craft and anything that threatened it threatened him.  His pulse rate began to quicken as he feared the worst.  "You still have contact haven't you?"

"Oh yes, we still have contact, but the enhanced image is clearer now. 
It
shows hundreds of separate vessels instead of just one.  We can't make out any shapes yet but there are definitely a lot of them all moving together."

This was something that Lincoln had not considered.  His thoughts were racing.  If they were separate vessels then the aliens were coming in enormous numbers.  What was their purpose?  Large numbers suggested force and hostility.  He felt suddenly very cold as a wave of horror passed across his mind, his long forgotten dream reasserting itself in full force.  But then again perhaps the separate elements were just the debris from the attack?  Lincoln now clung to that hope, forlorn though it was, as he knew very well that the speed of approach had steadily dropped since the vessel's first observation, and that could only be explained by active control.