Legacy

EPILOGUE

The room looked like a hospital ward. Charlie Ellenshaw was sporting a cast from the backfire explosion of the alien weapon on its last discharge. Virginia Pollock had pulled through her surgery with flying colors and she had even learned from Niles that there would be no delay in getting her labs repaired. Jack, still sore and bandaged, sat at his usual spot, with Everett next to him. The guest of honor was at the head of the conference table next to his friend, the president of the United States. Niles Compton sat next to him. The room had been silent since everyone had sat down.

“Before we get started, I have something I want to present to this group.” The president nodded his head toward the double doors and a Navy signalman opened them. When Jack saw who it was, he closed his eyes and then blinked. Everett patted his forearm in support.

Sarah McIntire and Jason Ryan walked into the room and everyone with the exception of Collins rose and applauded. Sarah accepted their congratulations as her eyes found Jack. Ryan only half smiled, then stopped and looked almost angry. Sarah finally broke away and walked over to Jack. She took his hand quickly and squeezed. Then she turned and sat in a chair next to him. Ryan sat across from them, still not smiling.

“Welcome home. They just touched down three hours ago after transferring to the Atlantis. I suppose you’ve both had it with space travel?”

Ryan said nothing, just staring straight ahead. Sarah politely smiled as she leaned over and whispered to Jack, “I’m sorry about Will, Jack. My heart is breaking.”

“Is that what’s gotten into Ryan?” Jack inquired.

“Yes,” she said as she saw the strange smile cross his lips.

“Well, he damn well better get over it soon.”

“Jack, that was his best friend, I think-”

“Excuse me, Lieutenant McIntire. Is there a problem?” the president asked from the head of the table.

“Not at all sir,” she answered and then looked back at Jack, who only raised his right brow. He had that old “What?” look on his face.

“Go ahead, Niles,” the president said.

“If I may have your attention, this was picked up by Europa not five hours ago. It’s a live stream from Russian television that she hijacked and beamed to us.” Niles punched a button and the monitors around the table burst to life.

Jack looked from Sarah to Jason Ryan, who still stared down at the conference table.

“Mr. Ryan, I believe the director wants your attention,” Jack said, his stark eyes drilling into Jason.

Ryan finally looked up and fixed his eyes on the monitor in front of him.

On the screen, there was a vast plain of empty tundra. Everyone watched, confused because nothing in particular was happening. Then the angle of the camera changed in time to see five parachutes as they deployed to slow down the Russian space capsule. They watched it as it spent almost four minutes floating down to Earth. Collins watched Ryan as the capsule’s door was blown free and Russian ground crew crowded around and started using wrenches to free the hatch covers. Then the Russian cosmonauts started emerging from inside. After all the trouble getting a Russian spacecraft into the air, they were now returning with what was being called the only successful mission to the Moon since Apollo 17.

It was Sarah who saw him first. Jack watched as Ryan’s eyes widened. Standing in the doorway was none other than Will Mendenhall. A loud cheer went up as each person around the table saw Will and the white cast on his leg.

“What in the hell is he carrying?” Everett asked.

Niles laughed and spoke up as he watched Mendenhall wave to the cameras and the Russian people.

“It’s the upper section of John, the Beatle. He told the Russians he wouldn’t leave without it.”

“The Beatle kept Mendenhall alive for the eight hours it took the Russians to find him. Luckily, he was near the path that led to Shackleton. John kept running oxygen to him after the remote removed the bottles from some of our dead soldiers.” Niles turned the monitors off as Will was helped out of the capsule by very exuberant Russians.

Jason finally looked up at Sarah and smiled at her. He sniffed and then straightened out his facial features before anyone could see that he was choked up. Everett and Collins smiled and turned away. Sarah took Jack’s hand.

“Asshole, you knew all along.”

The president now spoke. “I suppose it’s time Niles and I came clean as to what this has all been about. We have had some of the best minds in the world working on the Columbus site and we have some answers in that area. Niles?”

Niles Compton once more turned on the monitors and the lights dimmed.

“Thanks to many linguists and mathematicians around the world, we have figured out enough of the Visitors’ language that we can be pretty certain what they’re saying. Through a diary of sorts, a story unfolded that could very well be a precursor to our own civilization.” On the screen a large picture of Mars came into view. There were oceans and brown continents on its face. “This is where they came from-Mars, once a moon of our own Earth and an extremely close one at that. There were two other moons, one revolving around the hostile and unsettled Earth at the time and the other, Ophillias, around Mars. It’s now known that this ancient world of Mars was attacked, not once but several times.” Niles looked around the table, catching Jack’s attention. “The final attack was by the perpetrators of the war, not just their mechanical or carbon-based mercenaries. The war was long and in the end catastrophic for Mars and the rest of the neighboring bodies. To stop the invaders, they chose suicide over surrender; thus they exploded Ophillias as a last desperate attempt at stopping their enemy. Only a few chosen men and women would be able to survive on our current Moon to continue their race.”

“Only to have our young planet kill them,” the president said.

“Yes,” Niles said. “But they also brought animal life from their home world of Mars. They also brought another sample of their home world with them-their DNA. Yes, we are directly linked to them. We don’t know how yet, but tests have confirmed there is too little difference to say we’re not kin. There you have it. They were here and we wanted the technology our ancestors brought with them.”

“And we had people die for that?” Charlie Ellenshaw asked.

Niles deferred to the president, who stood and faced the room.

“The secrecy was my idea. We cannot and still cannot have any of this leaked to the press. Only Niles, Virginia, Lieutenant McIntire, out of necessity, and the United Nations Security Council and our closest allies know what is really happening. If it got out there would be worldwide panic and we wouldn’t be able to prepare for it the way we could otherwise.”

The president paused and paced a few feet away from the table as Niles flipped another switch, this one controlling Europa.

“Five years ago, we had an incident in Arizona. I’m sure you know of which incident I speak-the incident with the Grays. Well, they’re here, and they have been for some time.” The president nodded again at Niles and he told Europa to run the image. “One thing no one knows is how we knew about the Moon in the first place. The water expedition was a fake; we knew there was something there, thanks to an old friend.”

“Matchstick,” Jack said aloud.

“Correct, Colonel. Mahjtic is the one who told of an ancient battle on our Moon, and he also gave us an early heads-up that the Grays were coming. Niles, continue if you would.”

On the monitors there was a large picture of what looked to be a round shape under ice.

“This was taken two years ago in Antarctica after Matchstick told us about the dreams he was having. Very clairvoyant he is.” The image was enhanced. It was the same design as the three ships that had crashed in Roswell, New Mexico, and at Chato’s Crawl, Arizona, and the one that had crashed on the Moon over 700 million years before. “When a recon team was sent in, the craft was gone. This invasion of our airspace has been happening for quite some time and is escalating.”

“At last count we have 111 visual confirmations of overflights at our and other nation’s military installations,” Niles said, watching the reactions of his people.

“That’s why we need to leapfrog our technology, and Matchstick knew where that technology was-the Moon. I have something else to show you.”

Niles switched the view on the screen.

“This was taken from the Hubble Telescope and has since been classified. You and the heads of state of the nations involved in our defense are the only ones to know of this photo’s existence,” the president said.

In the enhanced picture they saw an amazing sight.

“What you’re looking at is the Triangulum Galaxy, a spiral galaxy coded M-33. The picture was taken and enhanced using a classified ability of the Hubble. The galaxy is our closest neighbor.” Niles switched pictures.

Everyone in the room was confused as to just what they were looking at. There were hundreds of thousands of small dots appearing on the front half of the galaxy. Niles hit another button and the reality of what they were looking at became crystal clear.

“Those are ships-saucers,” Pete Golding said as he stood from his chair.

“Correct, Dr. Golding, they are. Our astronomers tell us that they could be here in less than six years at sub-light speed, faster if they use the wormhole gates we discovered five years ago. The ships that have been appearing recently have not been using these gates. They came from a long way off.” The president let his pen slip and fall to the tabletop.

“Thus, the Dark Star operation instigated by Case Blue-our little green friend,” Niles picked up. “A prelude to what the president has now code-named Case Blue, so that if any nation or government agency links Matchstick to the name, we can deny it. The Case Blue scenario now entails the defense of Earth against a full-scale invasion.”

Stunned silence enveloped the room. It was Jack who asked the obvious question.

“What are our orders?”

“No orders, Colonel. You are to continue your duties here. Others are working on this; your Group has done enough. When needed more directly, you will be notified. I must stress that you need to keep all this in this conference room. The leaders of the world are now cooperating in finding a way to fend off an invasion if it comes, hopefully utilizing some of the technology our ancestors left for us and Matchstick dreamed about.”

“That’s all we have for now,” Niles said, and closed the link with Europa.

Collins looked at Everett.

“The damn worst-case scenario has just been handed over to a group of people who can’t even agree on how to feed a small country like Somalia without screwing it up.”

“Yeah,” Everett said, “and then we’ll be asked to get our asses shot off when everything goes to shit.”

“Such is the way of the world,” Sarah said, and then finally greeted Jack with a kiss after everyone had left the conference room but Everett, who ducked out when he saw the two together.

“Welcome home, short stuff.”

“Believe me, I’m never leaving it again.”

Jack, Sarah, Everett, Mendenhall-jet lag and all-Ryan, Virginia, Charlie Ellenshaw, Pete Golding, and Niles stood around the open grave as the minister gave Lee his final farewell while Alice just stared straight ahead. They were still silent as the minister walked away.

“You know, he deserves more than this,” Niles said. “The president couldn’t even make an appearance because of secrecy. I mean, what the senator did in the war years, and what he did with the Group-”

All eyes went to Niles as he held on to Alice’s hand and arm with his own.

“If only the people of this country could know what he did in their name, I think-”

“Now, now, let’s not get carried away, Niles dear. Garrison wasn’t after praise or adoration. If that was what he wanted he would have done something else with his life.”

“What was the senator really after, Alice?” Jack asked as he placed an arm around Sarah.

At first none of them thought Alice was going to answer. She raised her head toward the blue sky.

“I guess he was after what we all are in the end. Peace. The truth maybe. An honesty that is very rare in everyone nowadays.” She looked at the faces around her as she eased the brand-new fedora onto the casket below the ground. She smiled again. “He sold everyone here on how important the Group was and made sure every one of you was a believer-a believer in finding that truth he always sought.”

They all looked around, trying to keep their emotions in check. It was Carl Everett who broke the ice. He walked up to Alice and held out his arm.

“Would you care to join me for a drink, young lady, so we can toast an American icon?”

Alice smiled. She looked at Niles and patted his hand and then she took Everett’s strong arm. He was dressed in his Navy summer whites and looked the part of the masculine man that he was.

“I never turn down the Navy, Captain. Hell, if that old man hadn’t hung around so long, I would have been in San Diego waiting for the fleet to come in.”

They laughed as Everett escorted Alice from Lee’s burial site. As they filed away, Jack and Sarah stayed behind. Collins watched Alice laughing at someone’s small joke when she turned and looked back at the grave one last time. Jack saw the sorrow etched in her eyes and knew that no matter how she hid it, the death of Garrison Lee was the death of her very world.

“Hey, are you awake, Colonel?” Sarah asked.

“Sure,” he said as he finally smiled.

“You wanna go drink with our friends?”

“You bet. But they’re your friends, not mine; I don’t like any of them except Alice.”

Sarah shook her head at the feeble way Jack pretended he hadn’t been affected by Lee’s passing. But looking at Jack, she knew that Lee may not have passed on at all. As long as Colonel Jack Collins was breathing, some of Garrison Lee was still with them.

Sarah pulled Jack along, in a hurry to catch up with their friends of the Event Group.

On a small hilltop overlooking the grave and surrounded by two dozen plainclothes security men, a small being watched from the arms of his old friend Gus Tilly.

Matchstick had stopped having his dreams, but now he knew as he looked down upon the resting place of Garrison Lee that Earth’s chances of survival had just been lessened by the loss of this single man.

War was close at hand and there was little the world could do to stop it.