The Gift (7 page)

“I don’t think anyone thought we might encounter a detailed presentation of the events of the next several hours. I know I didn’t," Sam noted, thinking Angela might be disappointed that she hadn’t foreseen something so incredibly unlikely.

Having had the life she’d had so far, Angela was not prone to self-doubt. She’d merely been admiring an elegant solution to a complex problem. She gave Sam and Camilla a playful grin and said, “Come on. Let’s see what everyone is saying about this.”

“I’ll be right there.” Sam took a moment to copy the video onto a secure drive before heading to the meeting.

When Sam opened the door to the conference room, several people glanced in his direction, but the conversation continued.

“…the density of the anomaly before it entered our atmosphere, but why?” Rui was asking Dan.

“I don’t know why, Rui. It’s just one possible solution," Dan answered, his slight irritation a clear indicator of a long and stressful day.

“It’s one possible solution that ignores the fact that we didn’t see the object deeply embedded in the corn field," Rui retorted.

“Which could mean the original sphere was largely hollow or it could mean the anomaly doesn’t want to be embedded in the soil, so it isn’t allowing that to happen.” Dan’s irritation was becoming more evident.

In the pause that followed, Chang took the opportunity to attempt to cool the tone of the conversation. “Perhaps now would be a good time to summarize the various theories?” He looked around the room, and seeing no objection began, “First, we have ablation. It is possible the anomaly shed mass in order to slow down or dissipate heat. Second, we have the possibility that our original estimates of the size of the anomaly were invalid. An entity that can do what we’ve seen so far would appear capable of misleading us for its own reasons. Third, the entity could have shed mass for some reason we have not yet determined. Fourth, the anomaly could have changed density while descending. Those are the proffered explanations, as I understand them. Have I missed one?”

Sam found it fascinating that they were talking about the events in the projection as if they had already happened. Perhaps Angela had spoken on a deeper level about the video than he’d originally concluded. In any case, he was staying out of this discussion. He’d had his moment in the sun and would just as soon spend some time in the shade. Instead, he’d worked his way over to Web’s side while Chang was speaking. He leaned down a bit and spoke quietly to Web as he handed him the drive, “I put a high resolution copy of the video on this drive.”

Web took the drive and stood. “Please continue this discussion without me. I’m going to update the CO. If you come to an agreement supported by the facts as we know them in my absence, please interrupt me immediately.” He gestured for Sam and Jack to follow him before proceeding to his office. Once there, he told Sam and Jack to take a seat.

“I’m about to report what we’ve found. The report will be sent immediately to the NCA. Is there any reason I should not send this video?” He asked Sam pointedly.

“I’m not sure what you mean, Web," Sam replied.

“I mean you’re the only one who knows for sure how this video was constructed. To the best of your knowledge, do you believe it represents what will happen later tonight?”

“I can only tell you that it represents what the aliens communicated to us would happen tonight. As I told you before, I had no way of knowing what the program would do when we ran it.”

“Is there any chance this video could be infected; that it could be the means the anomaly is using to get out of containment?”

Sam was genuinely impressed, “That is a really good question.”

Web looked at Sam intently, trying to determine if he was setting him up.

Sam continued, “It is possible, in the sense that anything is possible, but I don’t think so. I made the video. Like every file I transfer from our networks, I scanned it before and after copying it. It is as secure and clean as I know how to make it. Perhaps you should suggest it be run on an isolated machine just in case,” Sam offered.

Web continued looking at Sam for several seconds before saying, “Okay. Please close the door on your way out.”

Once again, Sam left without saying another word.

Forty minutes later, Web reentered the east conference room. The team was no closer to an explanation than they had been when he’d departed, “Listen up everybody.” The conversations in the room quickly faded to silence.

“We’ve received orders to go to the projected landing site. It is now,” he glanced at his watch, “21:12. We will be departing the SCIF at 21:30. Buses are on their way to transport us to the airfield where we will be met by two Chinook helicopters. They will fly us to an observation site one click away from where we expect the anomaly to arrive in just under four hours. It is a two-hour flight. Because we will be traveling heavy and moving as quickly as possible, we will have to refuel along the way; so we have very little time if we are to arrive before the anomaly does. We
are
going to arrive before it does. Be on the main bus at 21:30 or lose your chance to continue to make history today.”

Dan started to ask a question, but Web cut him off. “We’ll have plenty of time for questions during the flight. Use the next fifteen minutes wisely.”

Everyone in the room started moving for the door. When Sam arrived, Web told him to go see Jack in his office. Sam left to go do so.

When Sam arrived at Jack’s office, Jack was assembling his load-bearing vest. He did not offer Sam a seat. Instead, he continued to work with his hands as he glanced up at Sam. “You’re not going with the team to Kansas, Sam.”

“What are you talking about, Jack?”

“The first contact team is going. You are not a member of that team. We’ll take it from here. Take some time off.” Two security force specialists appeared in the doorway as Jack said this. He turned to them, “Please escort this gentleman to his car.”

“This is ridiculous," Sam said.

“Go home, Sam. We don’t need you anymore.”

C
HAPTER
E
IGHT

The team’s two Chinooks landed in a perimeter established by the advance party. Though they had preceded the contact team by less than 45 minutes, the advance party had accomplished a remarkable amount in the time they’d had. A small shelter system had been erected about 100 feet away from where their helicopter came to rest. A generator could be heard running in the distance, presumably providing power for the well-lit entrance to the newly constructed command post.

“Where did all these soldiers come from?” Camilla asked as she exited the aircraft.

“A team from the 101st Air Assault division, the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment and their payload preceded us. I wasn’t sure they’d get here before us, but I’m glad they did. Although they received their movement order earlier than we did; they had farther to travel. That’s the majority of them. The rest are members of our advance party. They left the better part of an hour before we did. They’d been standing by since we received word of the anomaly and were able to leave immediately once we determined we were dealing with a landing site and not an impact zone. Another team of Air Force security forces should have arrived earlier at the Salina, Kansas airport on a C-17, but they have to travel by road to get from there to here. They won’t arrive for another hour. Unfortunately, that is the closest airfield with a runway long enough to allow a C-17 to take off. We can use the Chinooks to get to Salina in the future. For now, they’ll have to drive. We beat them here, but that’ll be the fastest route back from here on out," Web replied in an uncharacteristically verbose fashion. He’d been in a particularly good mood since they’d left the SCIF. It was not lost on anyone that Web’s change in demeanor coincided with Sam’s departure.

“Jesus Christ, I had no idea corn grew so tall!” Jack exclaimed as he joined the rest of the team on the recently trampled cornfield. Growing up in Miami and spending nearly all of his life on and around various Air Force bases, Jack had never been closer to a cornfield than a distant fly-over.

“Corn frequently grows much higher than this, particularly when it’s to be used for fodder.” Camilla responded in a tone that left no doubt she didn’t appreciate either his ignorance or his choice of expletive. “I expected it would be over our heads. It’s why we brought the lifts.” She gestured toward the three scissor lifts being outfitted with cameras and other equipment around the perimeter on the side facing the landing area.

“Jack, please double check that all of the preparations we requested are going according to plan. The rest of you, please join me in the CP.” Web started walking toward the entrance to the shelter. The rest of the team followed.

Though nearly everyone in the military continued to call any sort of temporary outdoor shelter ‘tent,’ the inside of this shelter belied that term. It had a clean, hard, non-slip floor, a 10-foot tall ceiling, regularly spaced electric outlets, a series of desks along the left wall and three large screen monitors mounted along the right. Technicians were continuing to set up and test equipment and connections throughout the room, but the monitors were already functional. Each of them showed a different view of a section of a cornfield. Web took a moment to scan each of them. Apparently satisfied, he turned back to the team.

“In about ten minutes the world as we know it will change. We will not get a second chance at first contact. I know you’re all tired and I know this is about as unusual a day as a person is likely to have, but it is the day we were given. Other people are doing everything possible to ensure our systems are as ready as we can make them. What I need you to do is prepare yourselves. Grab a cup of coffee or a bottle of water. Do some push-ups or jog in place. Meditate or pray. Do whatever you must do in the few minutes we have to be as alert as possible. I choose coffee.” Web looked at each of them before heading over to the coffee pot. There was never any doubt there’d be a coffee pot.

Rui and Dan elected to watch the landing from outside, reasoning that they could watch the replay as many times as they wanted, but could see it ‘live’ only once. Neither of them thought there’d be much to see with the naked eye, even with the nearly full moon. It didn’t matter to them. Seeing it in person was primal.

“Sam should be here to see this," Dan said.

“I agree that Sam’s contribution was considerable, but Web has a point," Rui replied.

“What point? That Sam is not a formal member of the team? That’s not a valid point. The structure of the team was formed long before we knew what we’d encounter, or that we’d ever encounter anything for that matter. It seemed logical to have a linguist on the team, but Angela has had little to do so far. It seemed logical to have a biologist and a psychologist on the team, but neither Camilla nor AJ has had as much to do as Angela. I’ll admit I didn’t foresee the need for a cyberterrorism specialist on the first contact team, and I was one of the people responsible for the composition of the team, but as soon as we realized we did need such a specialist he should have become a formal member of the team. There’s no way to keep this a secret. Too many people around this landing know about it, and our landing site is likely to be among the most controlled of those around the world. Why hobble ourselves by limiting the team to what we believed it should be before we knew what we were going to face?” Dan asked.

“I think Web’s point is that with the anomaly about to be physically present, it is unlikely we’ll need Sam’s skills in the future and Sam can be a loose cannon. Web has a responsibility to reduce the likelihood of irresponsible behavior," Rui replied dryly.

“I think Web’s point is that he has the power to exclude Sam and so he has," Dan retorted.

Rui chose to give Dan the last word on the topic. It was not one he wished to continue discussing.

The rest of the team, having elected to watch the landing from inside the CP, traded the multiple and enhanced views of the event about to transpire for the opportunity to weigh in on Sam’s absence.
 
Captain Andrews was with the majority. At Web’s request and in keeping with long tradition, she counted backward from ten in time with the countdown clock, “…three, two, one.”

A second after she finished, every monitor showed a sphere centered in its frame. An almost imperceptible moment later, there was an audible crack, similar to a aerial fireworks explosion, but sharper.
 

It was possible to see the sphere as it landed, but barely. Once again, the visitors had demonstrated their ability to ignore inertia in a way that human science had yet to understand. The sphere arrived with a sonic boom, but landed as softly as if it had been placed there by hand. One moment, the field was empty. The next, it was occupied by a dull black sphere 3.072 meters in diameter.

Rui, unaware of the countdown, turned to Dan and said, “Our visitor surprised me again. I thought there’d be something to see. I thought it would slow down before landing, but why should it? Why not approach at supersonic speed and come to rest exactly where you want to be without slowing? Other than the fact that we can’t wrap our heads around how one would go about doing such a thing, it’s very efficient. My God, what we could learn from them.”

Dan nodded slowly and said, “Indeed…if they are here to teach.” He looked back up at the night sky, allowing his eyes to follow the path they had expected to watch the sphere follow as it descended. His eyes stopped at the sphere’s landing spot, where it sat as if it had been there when they arrived. He could not help but feel that it was waiting for them rather than the other way around, “Come on, let’s go inside. Maybe there’s more to see on the replay.”

There was more to see on the replay. The high-speed visual camera had captured what the human eye could not. As Rui and Dan walked in, Jack was asking a technician how fast the sphere had been moving upon approach.

“It was steady at 1056.42 miles per hour all the way to the ground, Sir.”

“There was no variation?” Jack asked.