Ultimate Power Trilogy- Book One

Prologue

Central to the future direction and development of mankind on planet Earth is the belief that the origination and design of the Universe and the plan by which it operates are all the work of one almighty creator.

If one follows the view that a motor car comes into existence by way of the design and manufacture process or that a building is the end result of the design and construct process, then it is a simple progression to believe that the Universe and its modus operandi were designed and brought into existence by one Supreme Being.

It also follows that the Being responsible for the creation of the Universe included in his grand plan other humanoids of similar appearance to ours on innumerable planets, all at a myriad of intelligence levels and development. This story involves an encounter by Peter Vanser, a keen starwatcher on Earth, with visitors from Gronorg, a planet which orbits the star Betelguese, the largest star in the Orion Constellation situated one thousand four hundred light years from Earth.

The Gronorgan intelligence and social fabric are five thousand years in advance of Earth. Gronorgan technology has advanced to a level which enables interstellar travel at supra-light speed by the use of a power source involving the combination of x-rays and the properties of a rare metal.

The Gronorgans navigate and determine the attitude of their spacecraft in the galaxy by using a series of four dimensional matrices which they have evolved and expanded over many centuries. They share our belief in the almighty Creator and have a sound reason, because of that belief, to visit planet Earth. They do, however, encounter great difficulty in approaching Earth’s political leadership for approval to land. Being a peace loving civilization, the Gronorgans wish to come to Earth in the spirit of friendship, at the same time respecting the sovereignty of all nations on our planet.

The leader of the Gronorgan mission, Mar Zedok, attempts to communicate with intelligence agencies on Earth and is frustrated at the inability of those agencies to respond. The agencies are also frustrated at not being able to decipher the communications they are receiving from Mar Zedok.

While the deciphering attempts are continuing there are growing concerns emerging within the halls of power around the world. The Gronorgan approach brings into play the believers, the non-believers, the agnostics, the conservatives, the religiously powerful, the commercially powerful, the military and the intelligence agencies, all contributing to the debate on how the approach should be managed. There is intense pressure from some quarters for the suppression, in accordance with current policy, of all information relating to the Gronorgan approach.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration in America brings together the leading international electronics experts and cryptographers in an attempt to decipher the incoming communications.

The Gronorgan mothership is situated behind the Earth’s Moon and on the same orbit. Mar Zedok, in a second leg of his approach has had three of his smaller craft regularly orbiting Earth in an attempt to attract attention.

The intelligence and security agencies, despite their knowledge of the existence of the craft, have been attempting to cover up these events by responding to reported sightings along policy lines that what people are seeing are merely natural phenomena or meteorites entering Earth’s atmosphere.

Peter Vanser, an avid star watcher in Tugun, Australia, has persistently reported his sightings over the Pacific Ocean to the Australian authorities but has continually been advised that the sightings are natural phenomena. Out of frustration Vanser approaches the media on his sightings, complaining about the official response to his reports.

Mar Zedok is aware of the activities and persistence of Vanser and decides to take advantage of Vanser’s interest. Zedok decides he will offer Vanser the opportunity to visit Gronorg and will then use Vanser as a catalyst to draw the Earth leadership into dialogue prior to a Gronorgan landing on Earth. Zedok also decides that he will not outline the reason for his visit until he meets personally with the Earth leaders.

Vanser is approached and accepts the offer to go to Gronorg. The trip is completed and Vanser is returned to Earth. Whilst Vanser is on his visit to Gronorg, the United States, as a part of its ongoing space research program, launches a shuttle. The shuttle is orbiting Earth at the time the Gronorgans return. The Gronorgan mother ship orbits alongside the shuttle and the US President agrees to a joint space-walk meeting by members of both crews. The space-walk is completed during which there is physical contact between the participants as a gesture of friendship. The event is televised around the world and the view that mankind, as we know it, is alone in the Universe, is dispelled forever.

The publicity which follows the space-walk and Vanser’s return is accepted by the general public with great interest and vigor but the evolving situation creates pandemonium within the halls of power. The major debate swings on the points of how to deal with the situation in the light of decades of denying the existence of actual spacecraft over Earth and how to determine whether the Gronorgans are friends or enemies.

The Gronorgans are ultimately granted approval to land on Earth and the reason for their visit is made clear to the Earth’s leaders.

The message relates to a theory that the Creator of the Universe is on or near Earth and that people from the planet Barlop propose to attempt to take the Creator.

The Barlopians also propose that if Earth does not co-operate they will destroy the planet.

The reason for our existence on planet Earth is somewhat of an enigma. What we do know is that the components of the Grand Plan for our progression and evolution are all on the planet.

This story brings together two civilizations in the Milky Way Galaxy both at different developmental stages on their journey to the ultimate truth.

Albert Einstein once said, The greatest joy for all mankind is the mystery May the mystery of the Ultimate Power remain forever.

Chapter One

The night air was cool as Fred Mittern arrived at Edwards Air Force Base at 10.45 p.m. to commence the night surveillance shift in the Space Watch Centre with Joe Arkan. Mittern and Arkan met at the outer security gate and were cleared for entry. They took over from Bill Schneider and Al Robards.

Any activity on the screens, Bill, asked Mittern.

Not so far, Fred, replied Schneider.

But there’s still plenty of time for you guys to see our friends if they remain true to their form of the past two nights, said Schneider.

What about the deep space gear? asked Mittern.

Negative, replied Robards. All quiet there also, apart from a few bursts of rapid and garbled transmissions from God knows where. They’re all on the tape for the NASA guys to review tomorrow.

Mittern and Arkan made a cup of coffee and settled into their positions as Schneider and Robards departed.

Over the past two nights Mittern and Arkan, working the eleven p.m.to seven a.m. shift had watched, on their radar screens, an object of the size of the U.S. space shuttle orbiting Earth at an altitude of 1000 kilometres. They had reported the events and had received the direction to continue to watch and report. The base commander took the reports as a matter of course and appeared to be not concerned by the appearance of the craft on the Edwards radar system.

Precisely at 2300 hours Arkan sprang from his chair and gazed into the main screen.

Holy cow, Fred, have a look at this, yelled Arkan.

Mittern rolled his chair over to the main screen and the two sat with eyes glued to it as three craft appeared in close formation on a south-west to north-east orbit.

This is going to be some night, said Arkan.

They seem to be moving faster than previously, Joe, said Mittern.

And I’d say they are on the standard space shuttle course.

They seem to be playing games tonight, Fred, said Arkan.

Look at them go. They’re changing formation, and have a look at the Comp. Ajax calculations on their speed. They’re doing 50,000 kph and remaining in orbit at 1000 km.

Bloody un-believable, said an excited Mittern.

The adrenalin was pumping through each man as Mittern poured them another strong coffee.

Seems to me we won’t be getting any shut-eye tonight. I’ve got a feeling this is going to be one hell of a night, said Arkan.

You keep watching them, Joe, and I’ll take a look at what’s happening on the deep space comms. gear, said Mittern.

Mittem noted that the deep space comms. planners had recorded the movements of the craft and was about to return to the surveillance area when an excited Arkan called to him.

Come and have a look at this, Fred. One of them has maintained course, one has taken a heading of 270 degrees and the other is off and running at 90, said Arkan.

Do you think we should contact the Commander?

No way am I calling the Commander at 23.30, replied Mittern.

We’ll report what we see, give him the charts from the deep comms. space gear and maybe he’ll show a little more interest than he has over the past couple of days.

Thank God, the plotter is operating OK tonight, said Mittern. Otherwise nobody, but nobody, would believe what is happening here.

Joe, contact UK and ask them to watch for the targets incoming at 270 and 90 degrees, asked Mittern.

Will do, replied Arkan.

Arkan received an immediate reply from the Nottinghill space watching base. "Affirmative, Edwards, affirmative. Targets at very high speed, 50,000 kph, holding orbit at 1000 km Now regrouping on south-west to north-east orbit.

Mittern’s UHF receiver, for the third consecutive night burst into rapid receive mode. The undecipherable language was recorded for later analysis.

Whatever these guys are up to or where they are from does not matter to me, but it’s my guess that they are trying to tell us something, said Mittern.

I’ve got no problem with that view, Fred. I reckon you’re dead right, replied Arkan.

Within thirty minutes the three craft reappeared on the Edwards Base radar screens, overflying the Base.

Don’t know how they can do that, Joe, said Mittern.

They really should be way to the west of us if they’d stuck to a conventional orbit. It’s obvious they can maneuver their craft onto whatever course they choose.

Beats me, replied Arkan.

Are you going to now contact the Commander? This game’s hotting up.

No way, replied Mittern.

"We got the flick last night so we’ll put in the usual report so that he’s got it by the time he arrives at his office in the morning.

I’d be willing to bet that you receive a call mid-morning, said Arkan.

We’ll see, replied Mittern.

In the meantime, Joe, please call the CIA and NASA deep space intercept and ask them if they’ve picked up any incoming UHF transmissions or whether they’ve picked up any targets on their gear.

Will do, replied Arkan.

Arkan emailed both CIA and NASA and received the same negative reply from each organization. Both of them had, in fact, received the same UHF transmission as Mittern and Arkan and they were monitoring the flying maneuvers above Earth. Both organizations had been unable to comprehend what was being transmitted from space so they had decided to adhere to normal policy of denying the existence of any attempted contact.

Lying bastards, said Mittern.

They’ve got more advanced gear than ours but, at least, they would have picked up on the fact that we know something is happening out there.

I’d reckon you will receive a visit from a couple of CIA operatives the next time we are on, or sooner, said Arkan.

You betcha, replied Mittern.

Jane Thoms and Chuck Higgins relieved Mittern and Arkan at seven a.m. on the following morning.

You should have an interesting day, said Mittern.

How’s that? asked Higgins.

There’s been plenty happening overnight and we reckon the game is only just heating up, said Arkan.

OK, you guys. Thanks for the warning. Have a great day, said Thoms as Mittern and Arkan departed.

As Thoms and Higgins settled into their routine a red light on the base of the monitor flashed on to indicate that an E email message had been received.

E emails to and from this monitor are transmitted only between Edwards Base, NASA, the CIA and the Chief of the US armed forces.

Must be something pretty important, said Thoms as she progressed through the opening procedure.

On pushing the ‘Read Message’ command she was instantly confronted with a complete screen of Arabian numerals in what appeared to be a matrix formation. The monitor indicated that there were five pages in the message.

Thoms printed the five pages and she and Higgins read over the information. None of it made any sense to them. On the first page the numerals were arranged in a standard matrix format but on the remaining four the numerals appeared to be positioned at random all over the pages.

There were no sender details on the email.

Chuck, there’s something mysterious about this thing, said Thoms.

Unless, whoever sent this message to us has lost his marbles or is playing games, then something serious is going on here.

I agree, replied Higgins.

I’ve certainly never seen anything like this. They are our numerals but the configurations on the last four pages have got me beat.

Maybe some hacker has by chance broken into the system. If that’s the case it will cause major problems for us bearing in mind what is being played out above us, said Thoms.

Thoms printed a second copy of the email and placed one copy in a ‘Top Secret’ envelope and left it on their immediate Chief’s desk. She delivered the second copy in a similar envelope to the office of the base commander, Jackson Fuller. Fuller was at a security conference in Washington and would not be back into the office until the following day.

The remainder of the shift was relatively quiet apart from several short bursts of incoming UHF transmissions from sources unknown.

At the end of the shift Thoms scrambled the email to a coded location and at 2:45 p.m. she and Higgins were relieved by Bill Zillman and Heather Butler.

Had a good morning? asked Zillman.

Sure have, replied Thoms. But you should have an equally interesting evening.

What do you mean by that? asked Butler.

See you, replied Thoms and Higgins as they departed.

Jackson Fuller returned to Edwards Base at eleven p.m. and went straight to bed. By seven a.m. the following morning he had been for his walk and was taking breakfast with his wife Meryl. Fuller was a highly decorated pilot and was becoming bored in his position at Edwards Base.

You know, Meryl, said Fuller.

I think I’ll make approaches for a posting to one of our coastal or overseas bases. Edwards has been great to us, they’re all a great bunch of people, as you know, but the routine here is a little boring for me now.

Meryl had heard this type of proposition over breakfast for several years but they were still at Edwards.

Whatever you say or do, Jackson, I’m with you, said Meryl.

At 7:50 a.m. Fuller arrived at his office and was greeted by his personal assistant, Mary Robards. Robards was more excited than usual at this time of the day and Fuller was quick to pick up on it.

What’s happening Mary? asked Fuller. You seem a little excited.

Fred Mittern’s report from two nights ago is here and he appears to be wound up about these things which are flying around above Earth. There is also a top secret envelope from NASA on your desk, said Robards.

We haven’t seen one of those in quite a while. Must be something going on.

As Fuller sat at his desk Robards put a cup of coffee in front of him. They had been together for several years and enjoyed an excellent working relationship. Fuller read through Mittern’s report.

I see what you mean, Mary. Fred is certainly getting more excited about these things each time he reports. I will have a personal chat with him to get to the bottom of what he’s on about.

I’ve previously directed Fred to only watch and report but in his last two reports he appears to be applying a little pressure for me to get on with it. Fred’s a good friend of mine, as you know, but we all have a job to do here, said Fuller.

Fuller then opened the NASA envelope and was alarmed on reading the covering memo that the accompanying message had come through the top secret email site. He handed the memo to Robards and scanned through the five pages in the email. He took a long pull on his coffee and stared momentarily at the ceiling.

My first impression is that we’ve gotten a hacker into our system but our security guys have told me previously that that is not possible. Whoever has sent this message to us through that channel is pretty bloody clever, Mary, said Fuller.

They’ve broken through all of the scramblers and deviations in the system so, again, I say they are pretty clever.

Fuller returned to the report from Mittern.

These sightings are getting a little serious and our visitors are becoming more adventuresome with their flying displays, so I can now understand why Fred is a little excited, said Fuller.

Nothing we’ve got in space can do anything like the maneuvering that Fred has reported. Fred is a retired flyer and he knows that it will be many, many, years before we can fly at the reported speeds and maneuver like these things.

Fuller read Mittern’ s covering note again. The message was simple and profound. The message read:

"J.F.

I’ve got a gut feeling that something serious is going on in this exercise. I’m not saying that someone or something is going to have a crack at us. You and I know that we have nothing that can fly like these birds and it will be a long time before we do. I would not be at all surprised if they soon attempt to communicate personally with us. If you wish to talk it through I’ll come to your office at your convenience.

Regards

F.M."

Fuller was required to pass forward all space surveillance reports to the CIA and NASA and he did that before nine a.m. He pondered whether there was any connection between the sightings and the email communication.

Fuller telephoned Mittern at eleven a.m.

Hello, Mittern speaking.

Fred, it’s Fuller. I understand you are not on duty tonight. How about we have nine holes of golf this afternoon? We both need to relax and talk a couple of things through.

OK, replied Mittern. I’ve got nothing planned.

Right, Fred, I’ll see you in the car park at the Club at one-thirty p.m., concluded Fuller as he hung up.

Mittern had lunch and was taking a shower when there was a loud knock on the front door.

He left the shower, partly dried himself, and went to the door with a towel wrapped around his waist.

The front door was opened with the screen door locked. As Mittern approached the door he saw two men wearing dark suits and sun glasses. He was fully aware of which organization employed these people.

Morning, said Mittern.

Good morning, Colonel Mittern, said one of the visitors. May we come in?

Certainly, replied Mittern.

"Take a seat and I’ll put on a pair of shorts.

Can I make you a coffee?" asked Mittern.

No thanks, we’ll only be here a short time, said one of the visitors.

That’s good, I’ve got an appointment on the other side of town at one-thirty p.m. replied Mittern.

I’m Brian Limberg, CIA, and this is my partner, Reuben Miller. What’s your problem? asked Mittern, as he checked their IDs.

No problem, Sir, and I’ll be brief, replied Limberg.

You have given your CO, Major General Fuller, several reports on UFO sightings, said Limberg.

Certainly did, replied Mittern.

Well, Colonel Mittern, those sightings did not occur, said Limberg.

Do you follow me, Sir?

Mittern was not impressed by Limberg’ s attitude nor the message he was conveying.

Listen up, fella, said Mittern.

I don’t give a damn who you are or what rank you hold and take this in loud and clear. I’m not part of your CIA game, so please do not tell me how to do my job.

We are fully aware of your competence, your flying record and your patriotism, but I’m telling you that those events of the past three nights did not occur. OK? concluded Limberg.

OK, I hear you, said Mittern.

We have nothing more to say other than to ask that you respect our request, said Limberg.

Mittern and Limberg bid each other good day and the operatives departed. As he dressed Mittern quickly realized what the golf exercise was all about.

Mittern and Fuller arrived in the golf club car park at the same time. They unloaded their clubs as a club-aide delivered a motorized buggy.

Fred, I guess you’ve figured out that something big is being played out up above, said Fuller as they approached the first tee.

Sure have, replied Mittern.

Well, Fred, I’ve asked Jim Barrop and Andy Gamman to join us. You probably know of them from their work on the base, said Fuller.

What you don’t know is that they are CIA operatives.

OK, I have an idea I know them, but not well, replied Mittern.

Insofar as the base goes, they are below you in rank, but bear in mind that they are highly regarded in the intelligence area. Please don’t be concerned by their presence. They are both great guys, love a joke and a beer, but they are pretty ordinary golfers. We’ll be playing them for ten dollars a hole, said Fuller.

Barrop wants to speak with you pretty frankly, and off the record, about these things flying around the globe so I’d appreciate it if you would hear him out.

I’ll be pleased to hear what he’s got to say, replied Mittern.

This is uncharted territory for me and I expect that Barrop is not going to give me a lecture like I’ve already copped this morning. Two CIA operatives called on me this morning to tell me that the events I’ve been reporting did not happen.

That’s interesting, but let’s see how Barrop approaches it, OK? said Fuller.

OK, I’m with you, Jackson, replied Mittern.

Fuller could see that Mittern was not comfortable.

"Fred, cast this morning’s experience out of your mind. What you are going to hear from Barrop will be the internal view on what is happening.

Briefly, the CIA has your reports and a copy of the coded communication which came in on the top secret email gear.

Their hunch is that the orbiting space craft and the email message are linked. Don’t let this stuff upset your concentration, Fred. Remember, we are playing these guys for ten bucks a hole," said Fuller.

Barrop and Gruman arrived at the first tee and Fuller completed the introductions. Mittern and Gruman relocated their clubs so that Mittern could travel with Barrop. They played out the first hole halving it in fives.

As they moved from the second tee Barrop opened the conversation with Mittern.

Fred, two of our guys called on you earlier today and asked you to keep quiet about the craft flying around our near space. I apologize for the timing, but I believe you now know the official line on this one, said Barrop.

Correct and correct, replied Mittern.

What you are about to hear, Fred, is for your ears only, said Barrop.

"The CIA and NASA have been co-operating in the surveillance of these objects. They are a little larger than our shuttle but, as you know, they can fly well beyond our wildest dreams. We’ve been aware of their presence in our solar system for some time but were not concerned until they appeared at relatively close range. We now believe that the email received at Edwards Base was their first attempt to communicate with us. At this point in time we do not know whether the communication came from one of the orbiting craft or from some other location. We have no ideas on what these people are on about but we gather they are highly intelligent. At this stage, our military guys are not treating the visitors as hostile.

You and your partner are doing a great job Fred and we want you to continue to be vigilant. I would ask that you do not discuss our meeting with your partner. You are the only person outside the security network who is aware of the internal position and activities on this project.

The president has been fully briefed on it and he has directed that a team of the world’s best cryptographers be set up to attempt to decipher the message and any others we may receive. These guys are currently flying into Washington and will start work within the next twelve hours," said Barrop.

While this conversation was taking place Fuller and Gruman were acting at attempting to find a lost ball off the fairway, politely calling three following groups to play on past them.

Are you with us, Fred? asked Barrop.

This is new ground for all of us and if our hunches are correct, mankind on this planet is soon to receive some earth shattering information, so to speak. Are you with us? asked Barrop.

I’m with you one hundred percent, replied Mittern.

OK. Let’s play golf, said Barrop.

The pair met Fuller and Gruman on the second green and the hole was again halved.

The remainder of the match was reasonably even with Mittern and Fuller winning two up with one hole to play. After a round of drinks at the bar the group broke up and Fuller and Mittern made their way to the car park.

At least, Jackson, I’m now better aware of what is going on within our agencies on this project, said Mittern.

Barrop did not go beyond what he obviously felt I needed to know. That’s cool, but it seems to me that there is considerable concern in the upper echelons.

Correct, replied Fuller.

But that’s not for us to concern ourselves about. You just remain alert on this one, as you have been, and report what you see. Thanks for doing a great job.

No problem, Jackson. Thanks for the game. I’ll see you soon, replied Mittern.

Fuller returned to his office and Mittern went to his home for a short nap. His mind was racing over recent events and what he had been told on the golf course.

What’s going on? he thought.

Why are the C.I.A. involved? Why all the secrecy? Why don’t the agencies be more transparent with the public?

Remember, old boy, what Jackson said. Just keep on doing what I’m doing. Mittern dosed off and woke around an hour later, made a cup of coffee and sat down to read the local newspaper.

His attention was drawn to a headline on page three which read ‘UFO sightings on increase.’

The opening paragraph stated that numerous sightings of UFOs had come in from around the globe in the past week. The article went on to state that the timing of the sightings seems to indicate that they are the same craft and that are orbiting the Earth.

The report went on:

NASA and the CIA have denied that there is any connection between the sightings and, indeed, both organizations have stated that the objects are nothing more than commercial or military aircraft and natural phenomena.

What a load of crap! yelled Mittern.

Commercial or military aircraft. Nothing but crap, particularly from what I’ve seen and what I have been told today.

Mittern quickly calmed down and accepted the fact that he was not to become involved in the public relations issues.

At two p.m. on the same day, a meeting had commenced at the Pentagon.

Jim Turner, Chief of Space Surveillance with NASA is Chairman. Fifteen senior personnel from NASA and the CIA have been called to the meeting for a briefing on events taking place in the overall exercise.

Turner is seated at one end of the table with the NASA and CIA personnel on each side. The main players for NASA are Turner, his second in command, Milton Humber, and Chief of Radio Surveillance, Rupert Alloway. The leaders in the CIA camp are Tom Lampert, Chief of Near Space Security, Ziggy Chokovski, Chief of Space Intelligence and Laurance Holbert, Senior Strategic Analyst.

Holbert has been with the Agency for thirty years and is twelve months from retirement. His personal intelligence and analytical skills are highly respected by both the CIA and NASA. From the point of view of his peers he is looked up to as a father figure in an area of operation which requires a high level of intelligence and decisive analytical skills.

Turner opened the meeting.

Welcome, Ladies and Gentlemen. You’ve been called in from all over the country at short notice and I thank you for your attendance. It goes without saying that the information you will receive today is for your ears only and must not be discussed outside of this and future meetings until I give a personal clearance. I’ll go straight to the point, said Turner.

"I have called this meeting at the direction of the president. He’s a little concerned on how we are handling the issue of the flying objects above Earth. He has not yet been apprised on the contents of the email which came through on the Secnet system, simply because we don’t know what’s in it.

We’ll advise him on that one once we decode the bloody thing and ascertain whether or not it is related to the flyers.

The president is copping flak from his political colleagues and the media on the denial policy. Numerous sightings have been reported in recent days to various authorities and the media around the globe, north, south, east and west.

The president is concerned that he does not want to be accused of treating the general public as idiots so he’s got his PR people looking at the most appropriate way to handle the situation.

That information came from the president’s advisor, Sam Garlsberg, who wants a report on these craft within 48 hours. No bull, 48 hours. Garlsberg told me they want to get a clear status on these craft before they come any closer and start a worldwide panic.

Well, Tom, what’s the view of the CIA?" asked Turner.

OK, replied Lampert.

"I’ll start by circulating a report from Jackson Fuller, Commander at Edwards Base. This document is top secret ‘A’ classification. The report came to us early this morning and, as usual, Fuller is frank and to the point.

The sightings were not, at first, considered to be anything above normal but last night the craft maneuvered in some amazing routines at a top speed of around 50,000 kph. Fuller’s report confirmed what we saw on our gear at the same time.

You will note from the plotter printouts that these objects can perform aerobatics in space and at a speed which we have not yet contemplated.

"Then, to complicate the scenario, we are pretty sure that whoever is flying these objects tapped into our Secnet System and communicated to us an undecipherable coded message. Jim has already mentioned this problem.

We’ve had our decoders on it for some time now with no result. Some of the best decoders from around the world are being flown into Washington as I speak. Two from Britain, one each from Russia and China and another from Australia will join our guys in the attempt to decipher the message," said Lampert.

We expect the team to be fully operational by early tomorrow morning. We’ve moved in the best computer gear we could lay our hands on and have established a top level backup team to assist the cryptographers. We anticipate that there will be further incoming tonight so the team will work around the clock to crack the code within the 48 hour time frame.

Laurance Holbert interrupted Lambert.

From a visual point of view there are certainly several craft orbiting Earth. We’ve also picked them up on our equipment. One option we are pursuing is whether or not they are NASA craft put up to test our security systems. We are required to look at all options when unknown flying objects enter our near space, said Holbert.

Turner was quick to respond.

I’ve got a lot of respect for you, Laurance, but that is a load of crap. They are not ours and you know that. So please let us get back on track and formulate a strategy for the next 48 hours so that I can report to Garlsberg within his timeframe.

Holbert grinned in the direction of Turner. There is often competition between the two agencies as to which one should control this type of mission.

What we all need to remember here is that we received the call from Garlsberg, so please let’s get on with it, said Turner.

Shirley Browning from the CIA entered the discussion. Browning is a mature, conservative, deeply religious person who can be very forthright when she feels it appropriate.

"Jim, in your opening remarks you made mention of whoever or whatever they are. You also appear to believe that the incoming communications are from the craft orbiting the Earth, whereas, I would suggest that there is a chance that the two situations may not be related.

I would suggest, with respect, that you, indeed all of us, need to keep an open mind on the options and possibilities. I have no problem with establishing an hypothesis and attempting to prove it right or wrong. But it may be the wrong hypothesis, said Browning. I’d also suggest that we keep in mind our fundamental belief that there are no other intelligent beings in the Universe.

Let’s take a little time on this one because, if you narrow the options down too early in the exercise you might miss the target," concluded Browning.

Thank you, Ms. Browning, said Turner.

Whilst I respect your religious beliefs, I would suggest we are not here to prove whether the teachings of the Bible are right or wrong nor to confirm some of its stories. We have a very complex mission here and we are charged with the responsibility of reporting to the president within 48 hours.

Browning glared at Turner and slowly turned the glare into a grin. She was aware that Turner would need to take what she had said into account but