Chapter 3:
On Moonbase Ayshea Johnson was adjusting well to her new position. As much as she enjoyed working at HQ being in close proximity to Patrick Turner and dealing with his unwelcome advances was too much to handle. She could have lodged a complaint but she did not want to cause him trouble even if he deserved it. In hindsight turning him in might have saved the Commander and Colonel Lake a lot of grief. That still bothered her.
"Ayshea, how is the system check coming along?" asked Nina Barry.
"Just finished, Lieutenant; All systems show normal."
The atmosphere on Moonbase was much more relaxed than HQ, except when the brass was visiting, and Ayshea liked working with Nina. Still she was going to miss working at HQ. Being in the limelight did have certain advantages. Oh well she thought, you can't have it all. She got up from her console to give Nina Barry the report.
"How are you adjusting to moon life?" asked Barry.
Ayshea smiled, "It incredible, I should have asked for this assignment sooner. Looking out the viewport and being able to see the entire planet; it's breathtaking."
Nina nodded, "Well I for one am glad to have you. We have been shorthanded since Joan Harrington was reassigned to Skydiver 5. Gay asked me to come as well but I like it up here. Besides I get to be acting commander most of the time anyway."
Command positions were hard to come by and in an organization like SHADO you were up against the best of the best. It was very rewarding. "I expect we will see some action on Monday morning Ayshea, the aliens will probably try to come in low to the surface and catch us off guard. Fortunately we have a little surprise of our own waiting for them."
Ayshea nodded, "So I gather; I'm going to run and grab a coffee, do you want one?"
"You read my mind," said Nina, "I'm dying for one, thanks."
Alec Freeman looked up from the metallurgy report he was reading.
"Here is your coffee."
"Oh, thanks Mark."
Captain Bradley sat down across from him and asked, "So how long before we can take her out?"
Freeman called up the production schedule for Skydiver 3 and looked at it. "It looks like Diver 3 will be fitted out by the end of next week. You should be able to take her out for sea trials the following Monday. How is Sky 3 shaking out?"
Captain Bradley answered, "She is a dream to fly. I had her up to 300,000 feet at Mach six today."
Alec nodded, "I was just going over the ablative figures in the metallurgy report. The figures look exceptional." Alec changed the subject, "How's Gay?"
Bradley responded, "She's fine, but she's much busier than I am, as a matter of fact I am going to be flying chase for her during her launch tests tomorrow. It should be fun."
Alec laughed, "Just remember, she can fly the pants off you."
Alec had spared no expense for the tickets he had given to his best friend. The acoustics at the Barbican Centre were exceptional. Ed was sure that they had the best seats in the house. "I haven't seen LSO in almost six years." Ed commented.
"Really, I saw them last year," said Virginia, "Paul Foster will never forgive me; he hates the orchestra. I guess that's one reason why we didn't really click, not to mention the fact that Foster has a one track mind when it comes to women."
Straker laughed, "That's an understatement."
Virginia said suddenly serious, "I haven't been in a serious relationship since I divorced my husband."
Straker was surprised, "I thought you and Craig were an item?"
"We were seeing each other, but I wouldn't have called us Romeo and Juliet."
The house lights dimmed as the conductor walked out onto the stage and the crowd applauded enthusiastically. The conductor raised the baton and the crowd quieted. They opened with Bach's Goldberg Variations. Virginia moved closer to Ed as he discreetly took her hand.
The aliens stalked slowly through the woods surrounding Loch Ness. Their attention was on a young couple parked by the lake. Each one carried what looked like a small silver cylinder. They came up quietly behind the car. Very quickly each alien placed the cylinder against the back of the necks of their victims. The couple went limp as the anesthesia took effect. The aliens picked them up and carried then back into the woods. Half a mile in, they came to a cove on the loch. The girl was taken into the cone shaped craft that was parked on the shore. The young man was laid down on the shore and vivisected alive, his mutilated body left on the beach. The aliens returned to the craft and it submerged into the loch.
On the waters of Lake Superior, the fully loaded freighter Sara Mae slowly cruised west. At the helm the first mate noticed a glow from under the water. He locked the wheel and went out on the deck to investigate. The glow from under the water seemed to get larger like it was heading toward the ship. He walked back into the wheelhouse to call the captain when an explosion rocked the ship. The mate was thrown overboard and the ship was hit by what looked like a beam of light. The hull broke in two and the Sara Mae slipped below the waves. On the surface debris burned; one lone survivor clung to a life vest.
The orchestra was playing Borodin's Polovetsian Dances. Ed Straker could not remember the last time he had enjoyed himself so much. Next to him Virginia had laid her head on his shoulder very relaxed, and content. Ed could not deny the attraction he felt towards her as she was a very beautiful woman. But it was more than that; something he wasn't able to put into words. He considered the problems this could cause them as he planned to promote her to executive officer when Alec retired. Straker had considered both Foster and Lake for the position and it was clear early on that Virginia was the better choice. Paul Foster although competent was impulsive and hot headed; Straker felt he took too many risks. Colonel Lake on the other hand was much more cautious and seasoned. She could handle herself well in a crisis, and knew how to delegate. What was going to be a difficult fight was at the verge of slipping into impossible territory. The orchestra built up to the crescendo as they finished the piece. The pair rose to their feet and applauded.
"How did you like the show?" asked Ed.
"It was fantastic!"
The pair slowly moved through the mass of people toward the exit. Ten minutes later they were in the car on their way back to Virginia's apartment.
"Ed, I had a wonderful time tonight, thank you."
"I enjoyed it as well; it's been a long time."
They drove a bit further and Virginia asked, "I was going to go flying tomorrow, I want to do some aerial photography of Loch Ness. Would you like to come? I would love the company, besides it isn't often I can find a qualified copilot."
Ed looked at the time, it was after midnight. "What time are you leaving?"
"I want to be wheels up by ten o'clock," she replied. "I own a Mooney Bravo, single engine retractable; it's fast and its fun; you can't say no."
Ed considered as he turned onto her street, "I'll have to get to bed as soon as I get home."
"Well if you want you can stay here," she said. Ed was surprised by the invitation; Virginia continued, "I have a roll away in the closet."
Slightly embarrassed he said, "Oh…"
Virginia did not miss it, "I know what you were thinking; I didn't mean it like that." But to be perfectly honest it's very tempting. Your charm could sweep a lady off her feet.
Ed pulled into the parking area and parked the car. "Alright, I wouldn't normally do this on a first date but…" He leaned over and kissed her gently. "I'll stay."
They got out of the car and he grabbed the overnight bag he always kept in the back of his car. Virginia thought nothing of it because all of the senior staff had gotten into that habit as twenty four hour shifts were not uncommon. Ed and Virginia walked into the building hand in hand.
Ed helped Virginia pull the rollaway out of the closet and set it up in her living room. She grabbed him a set of blankets and a pillow.
"Ed, there is an extra set of hangers in the closet for your tux."
"Oh, thank you."
"I usually have a cup of tea before bed, would you like some?" she asked.
"That sounds good, thanks."
Virginia put the water on for the tea and walked over to the bedroom. "Ed I'm going to get comfortable while the water is boiling, if you want to change the bathroom is over here. If you need a robe I might have something you can throw on."
"I should have one in my bag, thank you."
Ed grabbed the hangers out of the closet and went into the bathroom to change. By the time he was done, she had already poured tea. He hung up his tux and joined her on the couch.
They talked while finishing their tea.
"I really had a wonderful time tonight, Virginia. Would you consider having dinner with me sometime next week?"
She rewarded him with a beautiful smile.
"I would love to."
They finished their tea and got up from the couch. As he took her in his arms she looked into his eyes. He gently kissed her good night.
"Good night, Virginia."
"Sleep well, Ed."
Ed watched her walk into the bedroom and she smiled back at him before she closed the door. He began to realize how much she meant to him. Ed put aside his robe and crawled into bed having not felt this way in years.
Virginia was tired, but she found that she could not get to sleep right away. She had always been intensely attracted to Ed and now those feelings were surfacing with a vengeance. She knew now that she was in love with him and hoped that she wasn't setting herself up for a fall.
Ed awoke to the image of Virginia sitting on the bed next to him. She was holding two cups of coffee. "You're going to spoil me; I could get used to this. Thanks," he said as he took the cup from her.
In a mock serious tone she said, "I want your word as a gentleman, that you will tell no one how bad I look in the morning."
Ed smiled, "If this is what you call bad, I'd love to see a good morning." Even with her hair out of place she still looks striking, he thought to himself.
"Do you want to shower first, Ed?"
He shook his head, "No you go ahead; I need to finish my first cup of coffee, which is very good by the way."
She smiled and kissed him on the forehead, "You're so kind, I won't be long."
She headed to the bathroom.
Straker got up and put on his robe. He folded the blanket and stowed the roll away. He sat down at the piano and started playing Memory; it had always been a favorite of his.
In fifteen minutes Virginia was done, "Bathroom's free now," she said as she went into the bedroom.
Ed was showered and dressed in ten minutes. As he came out of the bathroom he saw Virginia fixing her scarf. "You look very nice."
"Thank you; I like your sweater, Ed."
Ed had on a charcoal grey pull over and a matching set of trousers.
She noticed the roll away was put back in the closet, "You could have left that."
He shook his head, "Not a chance, you never leave a lady's place a mess, otherwise you may not be invited back."
They sat down at the kitchen table and had a light breakfast. "Have you checked the weather, Virginia?"
She nodded, "Should be VFR this morning; coming back we may have to file a flight plan. A front is moving in from the ocean. Fortunately the Mooney tops out at 25,000. That should keep us above most of the muck."
They finished breakfast and cleared the dishes. Ed brought Virginia's camera bags out to the car and pulled it around to the lobby, while she locked up. They pulled out onto the main road and headed to Heathrow International.
Gay Ellis was awaked by the buzzer in her cabin. She reached for the toggle, "Yes."
Joan Harrington appeared on the monitor, "Sorry to wake you Captain, we are picking up a strange sonar signal; you may want to have a look."
Ellis sat up, "Be right there."
In the control room, the sonar operator was watching a strange pattern on the waterfall display. He had never seen anything like it. The object was moving at eighty knots. Captain Ellis walked into the control room and looked over his shoulder. She recognized the pattern almost immediately.
"Action stations, load tubes one and two!"
Ellis had seen the sonar readouts Captain Waterman had taken, six months ago, when he found the underwater dome. This was a UFO. "Sonar, give me bearings," ordered Ellis.
"Course 265, range 8000, speed 80, bearing 010 relative," called out the sonar op.
"I have a firing solution," said Harrington, who was manning the fire control panel.
"Fire one…Fire two," ordered the Captain.
"Torpedoes away," Harrington called.
The new design used "swimout torpedoes" that did not use compressed air to launch.
"Torpedoes running normal Captain," said Harrington.
Two minutes later the homing torpedoes had locked on to the UFO. An explosion rumbled through the water ten seconds later.
"Target destroyed," reported sonar.
"What's the sounding?" asked Ellis.
"2000 fathoms, Captain," replied sonar.
"Very well; Lt. Harrington, write up an action report and send it to HQ. I'm going back to bed, big day tomorrow."
"Heathrow tower, Mooney 8 3 Sierra, ready for takeoff, runway 9 right, IFR departure."
In terse aviation lingo Virginia requested clearance for takeoff.
"Mooney 8 3 Sierra, Heathrow tower, clear for takeoff, runway 9 right."
She advanced the throttle slightly and taxied the single engine aircraft onto the runway. As soon as she was lined up she pushed the throttle slowly, but all the way forward. The aircraft sped down the runway. At sixty five knots she pulled back on the yoke and the aircraft took off. Ed watched her handle the aircraft like a pro. At eighty five knots she reached over to raise the landing gear.
"Mooney 8 3 Sierra, climb and maintain 5000, turn left heading 350, contact London departure on 135.75, good day."
Virginia responded to the tower and banked the aircraft to the left.
"Very nice takeoff, Colonel," Ed said teasingly.
She looked over and gave him a smile. "Do you want to take her?" she asked.
"Sure, but I have to warn you I haven't flown a prop driven aircraft in years."
While Ed was at the controls Virginia loaded film into her cameras. Visibility was at least fifty miles; she hoped to get some good aerial footage of the loch. At 5000 feet Ed leveled off and set the auto pilot while Virginia closed the cowl flaps, fine tuned the mixture, and set the prop speed. The small airplane cruised along at two hundred twenty knots.
"What did you fly in the service Ed?"
"Phantom jets mostly, the F-4."
She thought for a moment, "Didn't Alec, fly F-4s?"
"Yes he did. He was RAF, but back then he was assigned as a special liaison to our squadron. I told you last night that he was my wingman in Vietnam," answered Ed. "I'm going to miss him when he retires."
Ed lapsed into shop talk, "So what do you think, how was that UFO able to freeze time, and more to the point how have they made such a jump in speed?"
Virginia thought for a moment," I still think they are generating their own time continuum, I'm even surer of that now considering what they were able to do during the Timelash incident. But every UFO we get our hands on is either too severely damaged or there isn't enough of the craft left to analyze. It was a stroke of luck that we were able to synthesize the metal they use in their craft."
"Yes and creating a new alloy by blending titanium we prevent atmospheric deterioration. I'm glad the aliens haven't figured that out yet," said Ed. "They have to be able to control a gravity field, and somehow alter or warp the space time continuum. What kind of a power source would give them those abilities? Even the UFOs that have crashed on the moon don't seem to have enough material to account for the size of the craft."
Virginia looked at him suddenly and asked, "Ed, what if they are using a quantum singularity as a power source? Theoretically it would give them unlimited gravitational control, and ability to warp space."
Ed looked at her, "It makes sense, and it also explains the discrepancy of material at UFO crash sites. The singularity collapses taking most of the craft with it. All that is left is a shell. No wonder we haven't been able to find a power system," he finished then added. "Let's assume for a minute we're right, and they are using a micro or quantum singularity as a power source, is there any way to passively detect it?" He let the question hang.
After a few minutes Virginia answered, "Most of this is hypothetical, we don't even know if such a phenomenon can exist. As you know the standard model has been evolving for the past 15 years. While I was at Stanford I was able to get involved with some of the experiments being done at SLAC. We are just beginning to understand quarks and leptons, and now dark matter is being hypothesized. This opens a whole new dimension in quantum mechanics. If I had to guess, and keep in mind this is purely speculative, we might be able to detect anti-neutrinos, and anti-tachyons from the source. In theory these particles never can slow down to light speed because of the barrier."
Ed Straker had been considering a passive detection system for some time. "Theoretically how close would we have to get, to a UFO, in order to detect these emissions."
"Twenty million miles, the decay of the particles is considerable."
Thinking out loud, Straker continued, "SID currently orbits at the L5 libration point. If we were to put two more SID satellites at the L4, and L3 Earth-Moon libration points, it may give us the protection we need. Colonel, are you familiar with the GIUK SOSUS line?"
She nodded, "Of course, we have to co-ordinate with them every time Skydiver enters or leaves port." It dawned on her where Straker was leading, "You're thinking of the same idea, but on a much larger scale."
"Exactly. A trip wire, if you will. We had better enjoy our time off; I have a feeling we won't have much to spare after tomorrow."
In the control room at SHADO HQ, Colonel Blake was looking at the report he had just been handed. "Lt. Wade, get me Captain Carlin."
At the communications console the blonde lieutenant toggled the transmitter, "Skydiver 1 from SHADO control, come in please."
The voice of Lt. Maxwell came over the speaker. "SHADO control this is Skydiver, Maxwell here."
"Colonel Blake for Captain Carlin," said Wade.
"Standby."
A few seconds later, the image of Peter Carlin appeared on the screen. "Carlin here."
Colonel Blake flipped up the mic, "Peter its Geoff, I need you to get to our installation near Glasgow, Scotland. Once there you will join up with a cleanup team and proceed to a small field near the eastern center of the loch. I'm sending you the exact coordinates on the data link. I want you to assume over all command of the operation. I'll provide you with all the details when your en-route."
Carlin nodded, "Understood, Skydiver out."
Ten minutes later Sky 1 broached the surface of the North Atlantic. Captain Carlin climbed to 60,000 feet and fire-walled the throttle. He would be in Glasgow within the hour.
At two o'clock the Mooney Bravo was flying over the southern half of Loch Ness. "This is beautiful country," remarked Ed. He was flying the airplane while Virginia was shooting photos. "Who are the pictures for?"
She turned and answered, "My mom likes to paint, she asked me to get a few shots of the loch the next time I was up here. Can you drop to 1000 feet and fly up the loch lengthwise?"
"I think I can manage that."
Ed brought the aircraft into a left bank as he descended. Just before he got to the southern tip of the loch he executed a hairpin turn to the northeast. He dropped the flaps to five degrees and reduced power. The Mooney was heading north by northeast at one hundred knots. Virginia was busy snapping shots of the western shore while Ed hand flew the aircraft. Forty minutes later they were approaching the northern end of the loch.
"Do you want to go around again?"
She nodded, "Please, you know this is so much easier with a co-pilot."
Ed brought the Mooney around just before they reached the northern tip of the lake.
"Can you bring her down a little lower on this pass, Ed?"
He put the plane into a shallow descent and leveled off at 600 feet. "How's that?"
Virginia gave a, thumbs up. "Perfect. You seem to have a handle on this."
"They all fly the same way, but I could get used to one of these."
Twenty minutes later they were over the middle of the loch. Ed noticed something in the water. "What's that?"
Virginia turned to look. "What?"
He pointed, "I saw something in the water, there see." In the center of the loch the water was swirling. "I'm going to overfly it, maybe it's Nessie," Ed said kiddingly.
Virginia had just loaded a new roll of film in the camera and she aimed it at the disturbance in the water. As the aircraft flew over the disturbance Ed banked so she could get a clear view. He could hear the shutter clicking away. As they flew by the disturbance became more pronounced.
The water roiled as the alien craft approached the surface; it formed a whirlpool as it broached. It began to climb rapidly.
Virginia was still taking photos when she realized what she was seeing, "My God, Ed, It's a UFO!"
Straker pulled up the flaps and pushed in the throttle. He dropped his altitude as the small plane accelerated; he was barely fifty feet over the water. The UFO was now about a mile away.
"Find the closest airstrip!" he said urgently to Virginia, "We're sitting ducks!"
The UFO started to climb to the north first moving away from the small aircraft.
"There's a small field on the east bank, about two miles south of here." She didn't let it show outwardly, but Ed could see the fear in her eyes.
"RED ALERT, RED ALERT…"
The voice of SID echoed through the control center.
"UFO 426-157 BLUE SPEED, 200 KNOTS, ACCELERATING."
Colonel Blake stepped down to the communications console. "SHADO control to Sky 1. We have a UFO in area 426-157 Blue. Sending attack data now."
Peter Carlin checked the readout and verified the data. "Sky 1 to SHADO control, I have the attack data. Going for intercept, ETA two minutes, out."
"Take over Colonel." Straker was in full command mode now. He turned the radio to the encrypted SHADO ops frequency. "Straker to SHADO control, Straker to SHADO control."
The voice of Colonel Blake came over the speaker. "This is control. Where are you Commander?"
Straker looked up the coordinates on the map and gave them to Blake. At that moment a bright green energy beam flooded the aircraft. The engine quit and all of the electronics suddenly lost power. Virginia had already lined up with the field and dropped the landing gear. Ed looked around but could not see where the alien craft was. He grabbed his pistol out of his flight bag.
"When we get down, make a run for the trees at the end of the field." he told her, "Whatever happens, don't stop." She looked at him, apprehension in her eyes. "Don't worry; I'll be right behind you."
They could hear the hum of the alien craft as it closed in on them. Virginia flared the plane as it came in over the runway. As they touched down the UFO passed overhead. It looked as if it was going to land when it suddenly started climbing rapidly. The Mooney rolled to a stop in the middle of the field as the alien craft vanished from site. Ed opened the door and got out. He turned to help Virginia when they saw a fireball explode in the sky. They could hear the roar of a jet in the distance.
"Sky 1 to SHADO control, UFO destroyed." Peter Carlin made a low pass over the field where he had seen the UFO force down a small plane. As he passed he turned on his high resolution camera to record the plane and its occupants. He wagged his wings as he overflew the field.
Virginia came up next to Ed; he turned and reached for her as she returned his embrace. "I was sure we were goners."
Virginia looked up at him and said, "I'll say one thing; a date with you will never be boring, Commander."