Pilgrimage (The New World) (26 page)

When greeted on the lawn by one of his aides, Ross asked her to locate the first lady and request that she please meet him and Jessica in the residence. A few moments later, Patty arrived at their bedroom to find Ross pacing back and forth, while Jessica stood quietly near the window. Patty gave Ross a hug and a gentle kiss before asking him how Camp David had been, and he responded by saying, “It had been incredibly educational!” That brought forth a rather quizzical look from his wife, but she moved over to greet Jessica as Ross moved towards and then opened the door to the hallway.

He spoke briefly with his most trusted sentry who was posted outside, and made it abundantly clear to him that he was not to allow anyone to get past him unless the world was coming to an end. After hearing “Yes sir Mr. President”, Ross closed the door and began to quietly laugh at himself because of the irony of his statement. He then asked the two ladies now seated on the couch to follow him into the huge closet area. The expression on Patty’s face then turned from quizzical to one of concern, but she complied with Ross’ request.

Over the course of the next thirty minutes, Ross very quietly spilled his guts to Patty about what had really happened on the Moon thirty-five years before, the events of his fishing trip to Texas twenty years later, and the most recent contact while at Camp David the previous day. Ross also spoke of the conversation with his father Robert on his death bed, and what had been told to both Ross and Jessica about their mother Janet’s supposed abduction.

When he was all finished, Patty looked at them both intently for a few minutes and then began to laugh out loud. She asked them how long it had taken the two of them to put this practical joke together, while also giving them credit for their collective imagination. Ross responded by saying, “It was no joke, and every bit of what he had just told her was true.” Patty glanced over at Jessica and asked, “Do you really believe this ridiculous fabrication, or did you actually see the alien at Camp David?” Jessica stood by her brother and said, “Even though I did not see the alien, I believe everything that Ross has said.” Patty began to laugh again, and said, “The two of you are daft if you really believe in aliens or abductions.” Ross then informed her that the plan was to get a science team from around the globe together, and discuss it with them before going public with the information.

At that point Patty took a step back and said, “This joke has gone on far enough!” Ross looked deep into her eyes and reiterated, “This is all true, and someday soon I will be able to prove it to you.” Patty returned the deep look into his eyes, and realized he actually believed everything he had just told her. She reminded him that he had been ridiculed in grade school back in Rumley for believing in extraterrestrials, and had seriously jeopardized his career back in Austin when he had talked with his assistant Mrs. Remington about it. Ross had been lucky that she was so loyal to him while he was in the State House of Representatives and then the Senate, but more importantly that she had kept her mouth shut all these years.

Patty enlightened her husband by telling him that the real reason that Mrs. Remington had not stayed on his staff and moved to Washington D.C. when he was elected to the United States Senate was because of his belief in alien life. She didn’t think that Ross should be in national office with that potential mental instability, but she had kept quiet about it. She, along with most of the world, would probably think Ross was crazy to believe all that he had just revealed.

Ross informed Patty that he had thought through all of that, but the needs of the people of the planet far outweigh his own vanity. There was now a very strong possibility that no more history books would be written to discuss his legacy as a political figure, and Ross had no more elections to win even if there were. Public opinion only mattered in the sense of how Ross would be able to assist with any plans to help save as many people as possible.

He continued by saying, “Most people will think it’s crazy, but there will be some believers that will take precautions to try and live through the awful event that will take place in eighteen months.” In conclusion he stepped even closer to his wife and said, “By the time we all get halfway through that time frame, the astronomers of the world will have conclusive evidence that what I revealed about the asteroid and the impact is true. That’s when all hell will break loose, because the denial won’t save them. My good name will be restored once again, but that will mean nothing if people don’t take action!”

Unfortunately for Ross, his rant had fallen on deaf ears. Patty just refused to believe in anything that he had just told her, and was very surprised that Jessica had been taken in and was now a willing participant in the outlandish tale. It had been the one aspect of their long relationship that was a source of anguish, and Ross knew that the only way Patty would ever believe in alien life was if she actually had contact with one. He also knew that he would never have to worry about her becoming a security problem, because Patty wouldn’t risk her current lifestyle or social standing by discussing what he had just told her.

THE FIRST STEP
in the process of putting together a team was to consult with his own National Science Advisor about the challenging problem at hand, and ensure that he understood the importance of keeping the news a complete secret. Ross instructed his advisor to quietly contact a group of global astronomers who possessed the advanced credentials necessary to be of use, but also the ability to keep quiet about the content of their discussions. The scientists would need to have an open minded approach to discuss the validity of such an asteroid impact, but also present viable possible solutions to help people survive the ordeal.

Roughly a month later the group assembled in a cabin at Camp David, and was then shocked to see the President of the United States walk into the room. At that moment Ross knew that his National Science Advisor had done an excellent job of not only getting the group of individuals to assemble by taking a break from their respective research projects, but had also kept his name out of the purpose of the conference.

As the meeting progressed Ross fielded all the questions that came from the panel, but was admittedly lost when it came to some of their collective technical vocabulary. As a former astronaut, Ross understood more of what the group was discussing than most politicians would have, but was intelligent enough to know that he wasn’t the smartest person in the room. Ross was relieved that the group not only believed the information that he had put forth to them, but that they were already brainstorming to find possible solutions to the problem. That was not a new concept to this group of scientists, as most astronomers have known for many years that a multitude of objects have impacted the Earth’s surface since long before mankind’s arrival. What made this discussion different for the entire room was that the knowledge of this impending impact had been provided to the President of the United States by an alien species. One esteemed astronomer from Australia even asked Ross if the alien had alluded to the overall size of the asteroid, but Ross was unable to provide such potentially critical data.

Back at the White House, Jessica was preparing for the next phase of the plan that she had helped Ross develop. After his return from Camp David, Ross would meet with the Joint Chiefs that represented each branch of the military, the directors of Homeland Security, the CIA, DOD, FBI, and a few others in the secure basement bunker of the White House. He would instruct them all to keep the information in strictest confidence until otherwise notified, but wanted each of them to start developing plans that would help keep the peace when the panic and chaos began. Ross knew martial law would be inevitable at some point before the impact of the asteroid, but he also hoped to keep things in America somewhat normal for as long as possible.

A few weeks after that meeting, Ross would then request a closed door session of the United Nations assembly in New York City to address the delegation. His plan was to speak individually with the representative delegation of as many countries from around the world as possible before standing in front of the main body, so he could get a sense of how the news would be received. The hope was that each of the delegates would quietly get the word of the impending problem back to the leading member of their countries’ government, and then the leaders of the world could work together in a beneficial way with the limited time available to help save at least a fraction of the human race.

It was a huge security risk without a doubt as some of the delegates would probably laugh in the face of the President, but it seemed the best way to get the information out globally. Ross and Jessica both knew that within minutes after the announcement the media would run with the story. It was inevitable that someone in the United Nations would leak the news, and that was not only something that couldn’t be avoided, but it was somewhat necessary. A large contingent of media would be positioned at the United Nations building, as was nearly always the case, but this time they would have the story of all stories.

AS HAD BEEN
predicted, the news of President Ross Martin’s shocking address to the United Nations general assembly spread like wildfire. It was now mid-April and a full six weeks had passed since his last encounter with the alien, so Ross informed the world that he believed the asteroid would impact sometime during August of 2022. That was only sixteen months away, and there was a multitude of decisions to be made, and projects completed, before that time expired. Ross had no proof to back up his claim other than the word of the alien species and his own as an honest man, but asked the people of the United States, and the world, to have faith in his prediction.

Unfortunately it would be difficult to gain the peoples trust in this particular instance for two reasons. Firstly, due largely in part to the influence of movies, television, and the internet, the thought of alien life actually helping the human race instead of being a hostile and invading force was beyond most people. Secondly, at least in America, the media had done such a tremendous job over the previous half century of misleading the citizens into false fear, that they had become numb to the thought of another cataclysmic event. Although there were a multitude of examples of that persuasive conduct, a few hugely significant events instantly came to mind for Ross. The cold war with the Soviet Union no longer existed, but the media had a field day with the hype of, “The Russians are coming!” for decades during the conflict. The “Y2K scare” at the turn of the century had turned out to be nothing at all, because the computers throughout the world kept functioning. The “Weapons of mass destruction” that supposedly existed after the attacks of September 11, 2001 had in fact been fabricated as a way to scare the American people into backing a foreign war, and the media fueled the flames of that fear whenever possible. Finally, the Mayan calendar had reached the end of its most recent cycle in December of 2012, but the world didn’t come to an end as many had predicted. On a much smaller scale, the American media had even treated a winter storm as the potential end of days in some cases.