STAR SQUAD - Frag Chapter excerpt

CHAPTER ONE

Peter Michaels stuffed a Boston cream donut into his mouth in three bites, then licked the chocolate icing from his thick fingers on his left hand while his right worked the mouse on a computer.

Technically, he wasn’t supposed to have food in the analyst lab, but since he was the only analyst on duty who was going to tell on him. 

Besides, he was putting in nine hours today, even though the director had cut back overtime, which meant he was working for free.

Free meant he could eat a donut if he felt like it.

The day was routine so far, just reviewing a set of digital stills that New Horizon had sent back from a pass around Pluto. 

He fed the images into a computer that began a routine of scanning and combining three sets of data to form one picture.

Peter took a moment to marvel at the wonder of it.

Here he was on earth preparing to look at pictures of the ninth planet in his solar system, a feat achieved in his lifetime.

He still called it a planet, even though peers had downgraded it to a dwarf planet.

Seriously, who referred to anything as a dwarf planet?

Dwarf star maybe, but Pluto was a planet, small though it may be, so in his mind at least, that’s how he thought it.

He also knew he wasn’t alone in that thought. 

He was on several forums devoted to discussing the images, and the majority of those commenters also called it Planet Pluto.

Peter pulled up the first picture of the planet and began scanning for anomalies. 

The computer did most of the work, running through each pixel and outlining in red any portion of the screen that needed a second, or even third look from a human eye.

He had to be careful though. 

The play of light in shadows on the planet surface created a Rorschach test at times, which forced the viewer to call in a second opinion.

He experienced one of those moments now and almost choked on the last bit of donut in his mouth. 

He had to wash it down with lukewarm coffee, then decided to refill his cup and refresh his monitor.

Maybe the trip to the breakroom would give his eyes some rest from the computer screen, and he could approach it fresh.

He looked away from the screen, grabbed his coffee cup and made the trip to the coffee bar in a little room down the hall. 

He even took the time to go to the rest room while he was up, washed his hands, and chocolate stains from the corner of his mouth.

He got a cup of steaming coffee, added a little creamer and balanced it all the way back to his desk.

Even as he approached, he could still make out the image. 

A giant space craft highlighted against a moon of Pluto. 

Huge.  Alien.

Peter took a huge sip of coffee, burned his lips and dropped the mug on the floor covering the rug in a wet brown stain.

Now he needed a second set of eyes and a mop.

CHAPTER

“Is that what I think it is?”

“Do you think it’s a special effect from a movie?”

“Is it?”

“If it’s a hoax, it’s a damn good one.”

“Is someone pulling a fast one on us?”

The questions peppered the boardroom as the group of scientists stared at the oversize image projected on a screen.

Peter sat at the back of the room, off to one side and wished he had a donut. 

The question about a hoax made him nervous, because a lot of eyes would start looking at his computer activity for evidence of a hack.

And while he had been very careful with firewalls, and subroutines that masked his IP address, some of the places he had visited might have exposed their network. 

Especially the ones in Thailand.

God, he hoped they didn’t find a cookie for that one.

He tried to remember what he had erased, and what he may have forgotten as Lars Ferguson moved to the front of the room.

The picture of the alien spacecraft projected on his chest as he held up a hand to block his eyes.

“Lights,” he commanded the switch.

LED’s bloomed overhead washing out the image.

“I’ve got a team scrubbing the data,” he informed them.  “But so far they’re coming up clean.”

Peter tried not to sigh in relief, and squirmed instead.

“Did you follow protocol?”

“I think so.”

“Is that a yes?”

Asshole.

“Yes. It’s a yes.  I followed protocol.”

“Because if this is a true image, we’re going to have a lot to answer for.”

One of the men raised his hand.

“You’re not in class Harold, you’re an adult. You can just talk.”

Harold squinted behind his bottle thick glasses and raised his bushy eyebrows.

“I think it answers a lot of questions already.  Like are we alone in the Universe.”

The men started muttering again.

“It’s a statistical improbability that we’re alone in the Universe.”

“If it’s so impossible how did they find us?”

“How do we even know they’re looking for us?”

“They live.”

Lars raised his hand to quiet them.

“I’ve got Kuthrapali at Cal Tech running the numbers,” he said.  “Their trajectory puts them on an intercept course for earth.”

“Or they could miss us by a couple of million miles,” Harold snorted.  “From Pluto to here is like asteroid hunting.  We could have a near earth object and still be way outside our orbit.”

“Damn it,” Lars slammed a folder on the table.  “Did anyone reach out to the NEA program and get them off line?”

None of the men spoke up.

“If they see it, they’re leaking it.”

He motioned to Peter.

“You found it. Go stop them.”

Peter lifted his bulk out of the seat and moved for the door.

“If this gets out, it’s your ass.”

He thought about stopping and reminding his shift supervisor that he followed protocol and informing outside agencies wasn’t a part of that. 

But he bit his tongue.

“When this gets out,” he muttered.

“What?” Lars shouted.  “What did you say?”

“I said when this gets out.”

The men around the table stared at him, their faces a mix of fear and wonder. 

First for standing up to Lars, and second for the realizations that they were on the edge of something huge. 

Like noticing an asteroid that could cause an extinction level event.

Or an alien space craft on an intercept course for the planet.

Things were about to change.

Peter shrugged and went to do Lars’ job. 

He was going to stop by the breakroom and grab a donut though. 

To hell with the rules if they were throwing protocol out of the window.

CHAPTER

“Ladies and Gentlemen, the President of the United States.”

The fifteen select members of the press stood as the President marched into the room. 

He didn’t have notes in his hand, but the clear teleprompters were cued up so he could address the reporters in the room, and broadcast to the nation.

“Good evening and thank you for coming,” he started.

His hands gripped either side of the podium as he stared directly into the camera.

“Tonight, I come to you with heartbreaking news.  Terrible news.  I have just met with my highest advisers and military leaders, and though they have told me to keep this a secret, I can’t keep it from you in good faith.  The American public deserves to know the truth.  We have just received pictures and transmissions from a space probe that passed Pluto that proves the existence of extra-terrestrial life.  The alien ship is estimated to be the size of the state of Texas and is moving toward earth. Now I know this is going to be replayed on the fake news sites and they’re going to say you should panic. I’m asking you, the people of America not to panic.  They won’t be on earth for three years. 

“Maybe longer. 

“But three years is enough time for us to prepare.  And so, I am calling on members of Congress to approve a new budget so we can build a wall.  A huge wall.  Bigger than the Great Wall of China, but in Space.  A giant space wall.  It’s going to be the best wall ever built, I tell you.  I promise you. 

“This giant space wall is going to keep the aliens out until we find out what they want.  I don’t know if they’re here to steal our jobs, or if they want our water or our resources, but this wall will stop them from taking what is ours.  If Congress won’t approve the budget, I’m going to sign an executive order bypassing them, and we’re going to build this wall to protect the earth. 

“And I’m going to get the other nations that we’re protecting to pay for it, because this isn’t a burden America should pay for alone.  We’re going to build a wall in space and stop the aliens, and everyone else is going to pay for it.”

Jerry Gellar of the Washington Post leaned over to whisper to the man next to him.

“Is he for real?”

“Somebody voted for him,” Joey Green shrugged as he used the tip of his finger to write on a tablet.

The words were transmitted via wireless to his editor, who adjusted the format and put them on their website within seconds of being spoken.