The Prometheus Effect (23 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

December 24
^th
2020

The Messenger, Fleet Street, London

The office was empty bar Joshua. Despite the Christmas period usually being as busy as any other time, the ailing newspaper which had yet to go to print was in a static state of inaction. Fernandes had let the whole staff take the Christmas holiday in a rare offering of generosity. Perhaps his loss really had changed the way he thought about others. Despite now having moved into a small apartment in Bethnal Green, the move was only a temporary one. Right now, he needed to be close to the office. He was expecting a call of some importance and could not bear to miss it by sitting at home being fed the festive cheer and propaganda that he had come to loathe and disrespect.

Joshua had received a very brief call from the American, it was only long enough to give him a time to be by his phone for a longer more vital call. Joshua had realised that the American's intrusion into his life may have been one of the causal factors behind his seduction and subsequent theft of his hard work. Anything seemed possible of late. Since the Rachel incident, Joshua had barely set foot outside the building without looking over his shoulder. Every phone call was carefully considered and he did not talk openly to anyone about his research. It was time that the American came clean with him and let him know precisely what he had got himself embroiled in.

It was late, almost 2am but Joshua had promised to be there ready for the call. The American was not always on time but he was reliable none the less. Joshua could not imagine what his situation was but if his imagination shed any possible light on it, then the American was a brave man to be riding the storm and swimming against the tide.

At 02:12, the phone rang. Joshua took a few moments to compose himself before answering.

“
Hello friend.”

“
Good morning Joshua.”

“
I think it's time for total truth between us.”

“
Absolutely, I agree. Unfortunately until now I have not had the pleasure of a secure line but I have met a few friends which have helped out a little. I must impress on you however, that despite my best efforts, this conversation may be recorded. Before I continue, I need to know that you are willing to take the risk of being traced. I have little doubt that if this call is picked up, the mentioning of keywords will trigger an automated alert and if the guys at the FBI are awake, then we could be at extreme risk. I have of course taken every possible measure to reduce this risk however.”

“
Yeah, I thinks it's a bit late for that mate. I'm fairly sure I’m being watched and have been for a while.”

“
OK. That's not good but it's workable. You are chipped right?”

“
Yes, although the whole process was totally flawed. My colleague was arrested. Alien infiltrator, what a pile of shit.”

“
I do love the way you British guys say that. I’m grieved for your loss my friend, I too have lost very good people, innocent people.”

“
I'm sorry to hear that. Now I think it's time for you to tell me what's happened to Jill?”

“
OK. To be honest, I can't say if Jill is alive or dead. I hope everyday that she is well and just one of many who have been arrested for knowing too much. I am afraid to inform you however that Paul has passed away. Well, I believe he was murdered.”

“
Oh my God. Can you tell me why?”

“
I will try and explain. My name is Roger Coffey, formerly of the United States Air Force and more recently of NASA. I'm a shuttle navigator, I flew my last mission the day before the 'red dawn'. I was a replacement for my best friend, Paul who had 'committed suicide' earlier in the week. I knew Jill for years, we were formerly partners, both she and her daughters I believe have been abducted or maybe worse.”

“
Wow. That's incredible. I mean, I’m stunned.”

“
Since my return, I have escaped a potentially nasty accident and a more overt attempt to take my life by US soldiers. I took refuge with an old acquaintance who I now believe to have been murdered also. I'm a fugitive, un-chipped and on the run. Enemy of the state, suspected alien infiltrator and many other things. Go figure.”

“
Jesus! Why.”

“
That is precisely what I have been trying to find out. Unfortunately my late employer felt the need to blow his head off rather than talk to me about it so I’m guessing that we are dealing in some heavy duty conspiracy crap here.”

“
You think this is connected with the alien invasion?”

“
Of course man, the whole planet is going through a period of transition, there's a new order being put in place here and the people of the world are literally inviting them to take their seats at the head of the table. What is the one thing that makes people willing to accept change, even to their own detriment if needs be?”

“
I don't know, fear I guess?”

“
Right. We only have to take a look around us to see the changes our benevolent governments are putting into place. Loss of our privacy, our anonymity, our freedom to travel, our freedom to question, our freedom to share knowledge. It's being stripped away from under our noses.”

“
And all the while, the notion that the countries are uniting under one banner for the first time in our history is...”

“
A smokescreen. The real enemy is not some bubble headed telepathic extraterrestrial with a chip on its shoulder, it's a complete fallacy, a false flag if you will to coin a military phrase.”

“
But how do you know, Roger?
A conspiracy on this level is barely feasible in thought let alone actions. The countries of the world can barely agree on anything let alone a plot to simulate an alien attack. What about video evidence, the ongoing attacks, are you saying that our governments are killing our own people just to perpetuate the lie?”

“
Joshua, how long do you think it will be before the public fully accept the changes and forget what they ever had before the conflict started. The people are happy to be united and steadfast against a common opponent. It's all about psychology my friend. Let's face it, it's not as if our governments have not dabbled in these kind of psi-ops before, just on a smaller scale. In the face of a foul and merciless threat, it's not inconceivable that the people will pull together and rally behind a strong and decisive leader. Check your history, it's all there.”

“
I accept that Roger but what about the red sky? Are you telling me that's a fake too?”

“
You're catching on my friend. Where do you think I come into all of this?”

“
Maybe your just one of these people that people love to hate?”

“
Now you're really catching on. Paul was originally on the flight team for a mission to install a satellite into orbit which took off mid November. The name of the satellite was 'Prometheus'. It was touted as being a telecommunication satellite, nothing more. I have personally flown three missions deploying similar hardware over the last five years. After Paul had suddenly been found dead, an apparent suicide, I was drafted in as a late replacement which is odd in itself as astronauts undergo weeks of fitness tests and quarantine before a mission. Whatever this deployment was, it was urgent enough to break every god damn protocol in the book. When I got up there, I could tell straight away that the mission was FUBAR, my crew were secretive and aloof, I was like a leper, they didn’t talk to me or go anywhere near me. I was clearly working on a 'no need to know' basis. Prometheus was deployed in a crazily shallow orbit. I had to double and triple check with Houston that they had got their figures right. To say the tension increased every time I opened my mouth is an understatement. It became obvious that the Prometheus satellite was doomed to fail from the off, potentially burning up in the Earth’s atmosphere in a matter of hours. I mean, we only just managed to deploy before we had to start our re-entry procedures. It was all highly irregular. On top of all that, I saw some unfamiliar hardware up there that looked like nothing I'd seen before. By the next day, the skies had turned red and we were apparently at war with some motiveless alien faction and the world had changed forever.”

“
So the book that Paul sent me was some kind of warning, or explanation?”

“
It's my feeling that Paul knew he was under investigation. Perhaps the faith they showed in his ambition didn’t pay off and they realised he was a threat. I guess he never had the opportunity to tell anyone what he knew without being discovered. I don't think the book was a cry of help, I think it was a posthumous kick in the ass for the people that would go on to silence him. He knew you were influential and curious enough to take a risk on blowing the thing wide open. Maybe if I hadn’t have contacted you the book may have sat on a shelf for a few years but eventually you may have figured it out.”

“
The thing I find incredible though is the scale of this plot. I mean, we are talking about President's, Prime Minister's, military chiefs, scientists.”

“
And take a look at all those who could oppose them. Where are they? Locked up in some maximum security compound or probably gassed and incinerated by now, exposed as traitors to Mankind. You only need to have a solid, robust leadership and a reliable chain of command. The rest of the minions feed off the lies, they are just as reliant on the facts as the rest of us. People do extreme things when put in extreme positions Joshua, history shows that conformity in humans is significantly increased when under the influence of an individual with a perceived authority. Do you think that all the Nazi soldiers who slaughtered six million Jews were inherently evil? It takes a special kind of resolve to sail against the wind my friend and a belief so steadfast that you are willing to challenge the accepted truth even if it means intense vilification by your peers. I know that you know what I’m talking about. I've done my homework on you.”

“
That's comforting. So the red sky thing, you believe Prometheus somehow caused that to happen?”

“
Let's say you are a bright, influential university educated student who is technologically savvy. If someone told you that the only proof of an alien invasion was a media shut-out, a series of documentaries with blurry stills of extra terrestrial bodies and space craft, and a few well placed bombs which actually had little effect in reality on the infrastructure of your country; would you believe it? Of course not. You would need something far more profound, something far more mystical, a global phenomena that could not be discredited or allowed to fade in the memory. The red skies are the key to the whole conspiracy. Let us suppose that the Prometheus device could somehow alter the chemical content of the upper atmosphere of the Earth, then maybe, just maybe the sun rays which are refracted through the various gases might be altered. The result, a different coloured hue. Look at your average rainbow. The light is refracted through the droplets of moisture. The visible spectrum of colours are clearly seen. Now I'm not a meteorologist or a physicist, but perhaps it's conceivable at a stretch.”

“
Then we need to find someone who is prepared to consider the possibility, someone eminent and influential enough to call the government out and put doubt into people's minds.”

“
There lies the main problem. People that call the government out quickly disappear. I believe that the solution can't be found through the will of a single entity. We need to exert pressure in other ways, get the average Joe onside and build a movement more difficult to break down that just a few that would quickly be condemned as conspiracy theorist nut jobs.”

“
Damn them for taking away the Internet. It's back apparently only you have to buy an access key that ties in to your citizen-chip. I guess the minute you type into Google, 'Are the aliens real?' you get your account suspended.”

“
Or a knock on your door from a government agency.”

“
So how have you managed to get a secure line? Who are these friends that you mentioned?”