First Contact (part 4)
Earth's first encounter with extraterrestrial life is not what anyone expected.
— continued from part three — (or start with part one here)
“Major,” General Jenkins said, towering over Major Wilcox who he had ordered to find the amulet. “I want to speak with the team you sent to Antarctica.”
It had been a few days since Jenkins got the call explaining the orders from “the top.” The voice on the phone had advised him to move on, forget it ever happened. And that’s what the general public, even the media, had done.
It seemed they had stopped caring about the spacecraft that had landed at Stonehenge, and the two beings claiming to be, not aliens, but humans from the distant past. Everyone had stopped asking questions — more interested now in a celebrity divorce trial the news outlets were buzzing about.
But Jenkins couldn’t move on. He needed answers. That consumed him in a way he couldn’t explain.
Wilcox shook his head and pointed down one of the long hallways of the military complex. A lone, metal door stood closed at the end of the hall. “Sir, all that’s left of the team is in there.”
Jenkins narrowed his eyes and turned to the door. His footsteps echoed as he approached. Wilcox followed closely behind.
Inside, Jenkins found an empty bed and a man curled up in the corner of the room wearing a hospital gown. His bare feet inched closer to the wall at the sound of the opening door.
“What is this?” Jenkins turned to Wilcox, confused.
“This is Sgt. Andrew Patterson, sir. He’s the only one who returned.”
“I thought you said the team found the amulet, and the mission was a success.”
“The team found the amulet, sir, but I wouldn’t say the mission was a success.”
Jenkins closed the door, leaving the man in the hospital gown and stepping out into the hallway for a private word with Wilcox.
“Why wasn’t any of this in your report, Major?” Jenkins asked through a clenched jaw.
Wilcox straightened his posture. “Orders from the top, sir. I was told not to include it in my report, sir.”
“The top?” Jenkins confirmed. “The top told you to withhold information?” he asked, as his face reddened.
“Yes, sir.”
“At ease, Major.” General Jenkins began to pace up and down the hall. “What is the top hiding?” he asked rhetorically, stroking his chin.
Jenkins opened the door again and nodded at Wilcox. “Let see what we can find out that the top doesn’t want us to know.”
Jenkins and Wilcox entered the room and approached the man in the corner.
The man’s head leaned against the wall, wedged into the corner. His hair dripped with what Jenkins guessed was sweat.
“Sergeant Patterson. I’m General James Jenkins. This is Major Timothy Wilcox. What can you tell us about the mission in Antarctica?”
Patterson turned to face the sound of the general’s voice. His eyes distant. His face pale. Several days worth of facial hair covered his face. After a moment, a sound escaped his mouth like a whisper on top of a groan.
Jenkins could make out one word. “Ambushed? You were ambushed?” Jenkins asked. “Where is the rest of the team?”
Patterson turned back to Jenkins. His mouth opened but it was a moment or so before any sound emerged. “Mind … control …” he croaked slowly.
“Mind control?” Jenkins asked, then turned to see Wilcox’s shocked face.
“All of them?” Wilcox asked the man. “The whole team is under mind control?”
A ghostly whisper came from the sergeant. “Or dead,” he said, then turned his head away as if to say he was finished talking.
“What’s going on here?” Jenkins took a deep breath and began to pace again while he thought. He remembered the report had mentioned finding the successor. An old hermit, they had called him. Though, who knew if anything in the report could be trusted? “Major, take me to the two beings. The ancient ones. I want to talk to them.”
Major Wilcox turned on his heels and led General Jenkins out the door and down a corridor. After a moment, they arrived at another door, flanked by two guards, where the two ancient beings were held.
Jenkins saluted the guards and they returned the gesture. Then, Jenkins opened the door.
“What’s the meaning of this?” Jenkins shouted at Major Wilcox.
“I don’t know,” the Major said, flushed and stammering. “They — they were right here, I swear.”
“Find them!”
— to be continued —
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Me reviewing the AAR: Well, this isn't bad, gentlemen. You see, if you cruise missile the problem, there is no more problem.
Intriguing, the top. They rarely appreciate being mentioned, and that’s usually where the reports start getting edited.