Overlord (26 page)

The American president nodded toward Niles, then looked at his colleagues and laughed. They looked at him confused.

“Dr. Compton has been in control of an asset we have been hiding since 2006. Yes, it is the very same incident that he described concerning the attack in the Arizona desert. Thus far the need to know the whole truth of the matter has only extended to Her Majesty’s government, due to their extraordinary find in Antarctica.” The president again smiled his strange little smirk. “Niles, please make the introductions.”

Jack and Carl saw the familiar face of Virginia Pollock come onscreen. She sat next to a chair that was turned away from the camera. She smiled at the gathered men in the situation room and as she did she turned the swivel chair. The faces around the table drained of color.

“Good God,” the president of France proclaimed as he rose in his chair. The president only smiled wider.

“Gentlemen, may I introduce our friend. This is Mahjtic. Along with the late senator Garrison Lee and Dr. Compton here, this being is responsible for the planning of Operation Overlord.”

Jack had to join the president and smile as he watched Matchstick blink his large, black eyes at the camera—and then wave to the gathered men with a quick, childlike gesture.

It was the French president who summed it up for the world leaders.

“Incroyable!”

Jack had to admit as he looked at his small green friend, that yes, it was incredible.

*   *   *

The president of the United States stood, placed his hands inside his pants pockets, and walked to the front. He nodded at Niles, who replaced his coat and seated himself between Jack and Carl. He looked at them and winked, knowing that he had just introduced to the world the most important being on the planet since the arrival of Jesus of Nazareth. Jack pursed his lips in a silent whistle, showing that he had been impressed with the information about Matchstick being finally out in the open.

Before the president could speak, the German chancellor rose to his feet. “I may assume we can have access to this … this … being for questioning?”

“No. Mahjtic is in a secure location that is inaccessible to the rest of the world, even myself.” The small lie came easily to the president. “If the enemy knew we had a Green being in our hands they would search until they found him and eliminated our only asset. Mahjtic is the only advantage we have in the coming days. If we lose him, we lose the war.”

“And this being is trustworthy?” asked the president of the People’s Republic.

“Mahjtic has proven himself over and over again in the past. It was he who led us to the discoveries on the moon and the technology found there. But for argument’s sake, the man your military leaders chose to lead the combined Special Forces Fast-Reaction Force, Colonel Jack Collins”—the president gestured toward Jack, who just looked on as he still didn’t know what he was there for, and was hearing certain things for the first time—“has worked with the asset many times and will vouch for his commitment to our fight. Gentlemen, Mahjtic was a slave to the beings threatening us; there is no love between the two races. He is reliable.”

A member of the Secret Service knocked and entered the room.

“We have a communication directive from China for the president … err, Mr. President.”

The president nodded his head as the agent delivered the flimsy communication teletype to the small and portly leader of China. The man read and then frowned as he turned to the agent.

“Please have your communications people verify this and inform us right away, please.”

“Is there a problem?” the president enquired.

The man cleared his throat, then slowly placed the communication on the tabletop.

“We are starting to get confirmed reports from Japanese sources that we may have indeed had several instances of downed civilian airliners off their coast.” The Chinese president motioned for an assistant to distribute copies of his Intel report. “It seems that if we couple this report with the incident in the North Sea concerning our friends the French and British, we must assume we are facing the initial stages of war.”

The American president lowered his head and then looked up at the gathered men.

“Thank you Mr. President.” He knew the man he had helped gain power inside China was right. “Gentlemen, I think we can all concur: it has started. And may I suggest we waste no more time.”

“Yes, I believe we should initiate Operation Cut and Run immediately,” the British prime minister announced.

“Very well. Then we are all in agreement?”

One by one each member of the world council raised their hands and lowered their eyes. France, Great Britain, Germany, China, Russia, and the United States all voted together for the first time in military history. The president moved to the door and opened it to allow the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to enter. General Maxwell Caulfield stood rigid as he came face-to-face with former enemies and allies alike.

“General, please alert your counterparts across the board, Operation Cut and Run has been initiated as of this date and time. Start hiding them.”

With one last look at the men at the table the general nodded and then left.

In the next fifteen minutes every army, naval, and air force asset in the world would go to Red Alert. Every warship assigned to a fleet would take to sea and every warplane the world over would be dispersed to undisclosed airfields in every country that was part of the alliance.

Jack looked at Niles, still not understanding what his and Everett’s parts in this plan would be.

“Gentlemen, let us prepare to defend ourselves,” the president said.

Jack wanted to ask Niles about their role but kept quiet as the world spiraled toward a war of the worlds—the like of which had never been thought of before, in life or in their worst nightmares.

The world was about to change forever.

CATOCTIN MOUNTAIN PARK

THURMONT, MARYLAND

Hunting Creek Lake was located inside the confines of Cunningham Falls State Park and was situated only fifteen miles from the fortified residence of the president at Camp David.

The sun was just beginning to set behind the trees as Jim Macdonald and his two sons, Bobby and Brandon, twelve and ten years old respectively, were just starting to pack up from their end-of-the-month hike through the lake country of the park. Ever since Jim had been coming here, he and his boys had occasionally run into either Secret Service or State Park employees making routine sweeps over the area even when the president wasn’t in residence at the Camp David Retreat. This day had been different as they had come across not only the Park Service and the Secret Service, but also full combat-dressed Marines. Needless to say the heavy presence had put a major damper on the day for him and his two sons, even though they had shown nothing but excitement at seeing the Marines in the woods.

Jim admonished the boys to hurry packing the remains of their lunch and hiking gear, as their mother expected them home for dinner before the sun fully set. The father was also in a hurry because the security people they had run into had advised being out of the area due to the heavy police and federal presence surrounding the parks.

They had just finished packing when a small rain squall washed over the area. The man and his boys looked around and up as the sudden wind and rain caught them off guard. The small storm lasted only a minute and the skies quickly cleared.

“Well, that was different,” Jim said as he tousled the now wet hair of his youngest son.

“Now I’m all wet. Mom’s going to have a hissy fit,” Brandon said as he shook off his father’s hand.

Suddenly a shrill whistling was heard from the twilight sky above them. Jim looked up and saw at least a thousand large balls of silver falling toward the small lake and shoreline. At first he thought it was an optical illusion and he was watching a bizarre meteor shower that just looked as if it were heading straight toward them, but then the whistling became loud enough that his two boys placed their small hands over their ears.

Jim realized they were indeed falling objects and they were definitely heading straight for them. He grabbed his sons in both arms and sprinted straight into the trees lining the lake. He was nearly out of breath as he pulled up and turned in time to see the first of the objects strike the water and the shoreline. He tried to count them as the hissing orbs struck, the splashes rising high into the air. The objects that struck the small shoreline also hissed in the wet sand and threw up a plume of steam. Jim had to stop counting after he hit over a hundred of the silverish objects, and still more pierced the sky and landed anywhere from the lake to the forest surrounding it.

Brandon grabbed his father’s legs in a hard hug as Bobby hid closely behind the tree. The objects came to rest; some sank in the cold water while others struck trees and careened off into the woods. They heard a loud crack as one of the strange balls came down near them and crashed against a tree. The eight-foot-in-diameter spherical object left a scorch mark on the bark of the tree, and when it rolled twenty feet and came to rest it started the loose pine needles on fire.

Jim took hold of both of his frightened boys and drew them close. Brandon whimpered as the silver ball started to slowly open along its center-line mass. Jim gagged as a horrid smell struck his nostrils as the ball split open. The three started to slowly back away from the grounded object just as a pole-like device came up from the center. Steam slowly rose and the hissing sound; the small ball was hot enough that Jim felt the heat from ten feet away.

“Daddy, what is it?” Brandon asked, wanting to pull his father away from the frightening scene.

Before Jim had a chance to answer, something uncurled and stood from the inside of the strange craft. It had a large, thin body and as it rose to its full height, Jim thought that he had had enough hiking for the day. He turned with his boys in tow and he came face-to-face with another of the things. The helmet it wore was a dark purple but that didn’t stop Jim from seeing the horror that was behind the visor. The eyes were black and ringed in yellow, a brightness of color that frightened Jim beyond measure. The tall being was holding a large pole half as long as its entire body in its gloved right hand. The other hand reached down nearly to the being’s knees, which were turned backward.

Jim pushed at the boys and they quickly ran past the strange creature. Brandon was crying and Bobby was admonishing him and his father to hurry. As they cleared the woods they came to a screeching stop only fifty yards from the small lake. Over three hundred of the creatures were lining the shoreline or emerging from the water. It seemed every one of them was looking right at the three humans.

A low moan escaped the lips of Jim Macdonald as the Grays approached. He almost fell to his knees as the closest one removed the helmet that had been covering the worst feature of all—the head.

As the sun set over the small lake in the even smaller park, the humans’ screams echoed through the area. Then the Grays moved off toward the north—toward Camp David.

CAMP DAVID

FREDERICK, MARYLAND

The leaders of the world broke into several small groups as they sent out their alert orders; the military establishments, not understanding the entire plan, moved to protect their nations. Coffee and tea were brought in but many, including the president, chose to have something a little stronger—after all it wasn’t every day that the entire world acted as one in a matter of life and death. The president secured his drink as he approached Niles, Jack, and Carl. He was soon joined by the Chinese president with his cup of tea in hand. He spoke before the president could.

“Colonel Collins, it is a pleasure to finally meet you.” He sipped his tea and then smiled. “As I understand it, you were quite instrumental in securing the technology in South America. I must say the report that your president gave all of us read like an American adventure novel.”

“Thank you, sir, but I’m sure it was nothing that thrilling,” Collins said.

“Still, it was enough for my military people to concur with these men that you are the right person for the mission at hand.” He smiled again, then nodded at Niles and Everett and moved away to sit and talk with his counterparts.

“I suppose you are at least curious as to what that mission may entail, Colonel?”

“All I can hope is that it’s something that will assist you in this massive undertaking,” Jack answered.

The president took a sip of the watered-down whiskey and nodded at Niles Compton.

“I’ll leave it to your director to explain as much as he is able. I’m sorry the whole picture cannot be painted for you, Colonel, and Captain,” he said, looking at Carl. “But as you know, we still like our secrets around here. Hell, we would all die if we didn’t keep something in the dark—after all, we’re politicians.” He moved away with a smirk at Niles.

“Captain, you are hereby transferred to a location in Houston for training at the request of one of our leading engineers at NASA. Your transport is waiting outside.” Niles held out his hand to Everett, his eyes going from his face to the wristwatch he was wearing on his right hand. Carl shook. “Godspeed, Admiral,” he said as he handed Everett a small box. Carl opened it and saw two stars. He was shocked. “I’m afraid it’s only a temporary-grade promotion, but it was needed for you to command who it is you’ll be commanding.” Everett looked at Collins.

“Congratulations … sir,” he said with a smile as he too shook his friend’s hand.

Carl was speechless.

“And these are for you, General Collins. Same brevet rank, I’m afraid,” Niles continued without a hitch.

Jack opened the box and saw the two stars of a major general. He too was shocked.

“Believe me, when I heard you went to Washington, I thought we had lost the opportunity to see the faces you are wearing right now.”

“I don’t understand, why—”

“It’s not your place to understand, General. And don’t think that you no longer work for me, because when this is over you both are going to be returned to Group at your former pay-grades.”