Chapter 1

INTRO

The squadron moved according to plan. Soon the Messerschmidts would be over the positions assigned by the Führer himself. This secret mission could decide the outcome of the war, or so they were told. Hans did not particularly enjoy night flying and he looked around nervously for Russian aircrafts. Those bastards were in the habit of popping up out of nowhere.

He peered warily into the black sky, moon and stars. The windshield made everything around him seem like a surreal canvas splashed with oil paints. No wonder the pilots were disgruntled before takeoff. Maybe they were nervous even now, but radio silence was an order you did not want to disobey. Not for fear of the officers, but for the antiaircraft defense.

Hans heard a rumble, or did he? Or was it instinct that something was not quite right. His plane unwittingly dropped back slightly from the squadron, just enough to save him. BOOM. The crash yanked him out of his reverie, the horror stunted his reactions. He could do nothing but observe in trepidation.

Objects shaped like giant wedges the size of highrise buildings went through the squadron, smashing the fighters, like sharp stones crashing through thin ice. The explosion lit up the cloudy sky. Only he remained, he and his plane sailing aimlessly across the sky. Like a ship freed of its master’s will. His throat let out a hollow sound, or perhaps it was only a thought:

“O, mein got!”

***

Mrs. Robertson was walking around the classroom with an air of superiority. She continually rammed a single thought into the children’s heads: that it was she alone who knew everything. She was the last resort for knowledge and truth. In fact, the one and only. The children, about eleven years old, adored her and she thrived on their gaze of adoration.

“... So, let’s wrap up this lesson. When we talk of asteroids we can cite as example this very interesting event.”

In one decisive move the teacher let down the classroom curtains and fired up the projector. The image revealed deep craters in the ground, arranged in a circle, their bottom sinking into darkness.

“During World War II we witnessed a meteor shower called the "Rain of Reinmuth", named after the German astronomer Karl Reinmuth that discovered it. Shards the size of tall buildings were wedged deep into the ground. In this image you can clearly see the craters they left behind. There are several formations scattered across the globe. There is much controversy on the subject of how it was that the impact of these objects did not cause the end of the world. One day when you grow up maybe you’ll find answers to this question!”

Suddenly one child rose from her seat, staring into the nothingness before her. Mrs. Robertson could not believe it – such impudence in her class had never occurred and would never again!

“Valentina, what do you think you’re doing?” She asked in an icy shrill.

The child did not vouchsafed a glance but continued staring at the empty board. Suddenly she fell to the floor, like a puppet discarded by its puppeteer, writhing uncontrollably.

CHAPTER 1

Fear, terror, frustration. General Patterson sat silently, snug in the armchair in his office, staring at the screen in front of him. These were his feelings, filling up his soul. He wasn’t really watching anything, just his empty gaze had happened to fall there without focus. Cigars rested on the desk as ornaments. The annoying habit has ceased long ago but their presence relaxed him.

Failure. The nuclear attack that he had counted on had come to nothing. He laughed inwardly, his brain was playing jokes on him. The great Unknown approached at speed, yet he thought only of how the Russians will react to the fact that the Americans already had nuclear weapons in orbit.

He had risen so high in his career due to his quick wit and resourcefulness, but at this point his head felt vacant. He recalled with sadness the carefree years at the academy. In fact, from the distance of decades past he remember only the good things, though at the time he did not think himself so lucky to end up in West Point, despite everyone around him being proud of his achievement. His mother was particularly enthusiastic that her favorite son will become an officer like his grandfather, her father, whom she openly worshiped. Moreover, he was named after a General of the George Washington era, also John Patterson. In short, history obliged him to prosper no less than his illustrious predecessor. And he succeeded, partly due to his own ingenuity, partly thanks to the influential fathers of his classmates from the academy. At sixty he already was at the pinnacle of his career as General of a top secret Pentagon division and reporting directly to the president. In fact, he usually made the decisions alone, having earned the privilege based on many years of accurately analyzing the situation and justifying why such actions should be taken. Administrators in parliamentary committees were afraid of him while his subordinates adored him – a situation which suited him perfectly, at least for most of the time.

A veteran of several wars, stable to his very core, the General was now in a position of utter helplessness. He was not prepared for what was happening. No one could have been prepared. He had never imagined that such a long awaited event would happen on his watch.

It was coming! Nobody really knew what was going on, they were merely guessing about that thing up there. Thing being the proper term. The General recalled how a few weeks ago professor Berenstein had burst into his office. The professor was an extremely gifted scientist, but quite the cracker, according to the opinion not only of Patterson, but even his closest scientist colleagues, the astrophysicists hired to work for the Pentagon.

“General, you must have a look at this” the professor shouted at the top of his voice, his impressive stature making him look just like an angry bear left without lunch.

He approached the desk waving some photographs at his boss. Sunlight barely squeezed through the drawn office blinds, making the sheet in the professor’s hand indecipherable.

“It is unbelievable!” the scientist continued in a panic. “Such an asteroid has never been discovered! Look at its form...”

“Calm down, Berenstein”, said the General, “Sit down quietly and tell me what’s going on. But without all this agitation. I detest such panic, as you know very well know!”

“Alright, look at the photos we received from one of the early warning satellites,” continued the professor, a little calmer now.

Patterson recalled with a sense of personal satisfaction, that it was he who implemented the program for launching early warning satellites to detect dangerous objects in space. Many people were against the project because of the high cost, but he had masked his message with ’the common good’ and had thus managed to suppress the resistance. If he had to be honest, he was not even slightly interested in objects in space, but he used the leverage to push through such an expensive program. Very few people knew that more than eighty percent of the time these satellites were used to spy on objects on Earth, not outside of it.

“Speak, Professor, I’m listening,” continued the General calmly, raising the blinds and letting the sunlight gush in.

“Here, look at the pictures”, the scientist handed him a stack of sheets where a vague, elongated shape was frozen in empty black space.

The veteran took the photographs and began to examine them with unease. He had never before shown an interest in the actual scientific value of the information conveyed by satellites.

“Riveting. But, Professor Berenstein, what precisely is it that bothers or inspires you in these photographs? And please, explain yourself in simple terms.”

“Look at its form, General!” the scientist insisted, “Doesn’t it look like a giant wedge?”

“Yes, you could say that, though the images are vague.” The military man continued to stare blankly. “Can it not have such a form?”

“Asteroids generally are irregular in shape, but not this much. Radar observations suggest that their surface has large bumps and craters due to collision with other space bodies. But this one is furrowed as though it were scraped with a fork.”

“Maybe it just hasn’t bumped into large enough objects yet?” the general ventured a guess.

“The shape is very unusual, which makes me think that it might be something special...”

The veteran looked suspiciously at the scientist, taking a few seconds to assimilate what was said.

“Professor Berenstein,” he solemnly began, “Are you implying something...?”

The scientist abruptly pushed away from the desk, sliding back in his chair and pursing his lips.

“General, let’s be professionals. I do not like to talk in unscientific terms. What I was trying to tell you is that, to me, it is still doubtful where this object originated. I could be wrong, but there are too many things about it that bother me.”

“I am listening.” Patterson sat comfortably in his chair and stared searchingly in the eyes of the professor with a touch of suspicion.

“Let’s begin! The first thing I said is the shape of the object is unlike any other asteroid, free of craters on the surface. Also, it does not rotate around its axis. We have to wait for it to come closer before you can give out a statement, but again I repeat, for me it is not an asteroid. I cannot tell you what it is, but it is not an asteroid...”

He continued with an edifying tone:

“I’m talking about something that could be the discovery of the twenty first century. Imagine that we find the existence of a new kind of space object from the dawn of the Big Bang? And you immediately supposed that I was implying... how to say, a UFO, were you not?” the professor continued to rant angrily.

“Don’t get so excited, Professor. You know that I am a military man, not a scientist” the General tried to suppress the tension with a smile. “It’s best for now to calm down and do further research on the object in question. I expect you to report on your development soon. You have my full support to clarify the origin of this cosmic body. And I may count on your discretion as always, yes? I do not want any hasty articles to appear in the scientific journals before we understand what we’re dealing with, especially whether it poses any danger to Earth or, in particular, the United States. This is, after all, our job, right?” General Patterson assumed his traditional role of a steadfast commander.

“Yes, Sir!” said the professor and flew out of the office.

The scientists in his service were not military, but nevertheless, the general insisted on equal treatment of all his subordinates and had thus habituated even civilian personnel to respond as the military. He did not like to be engaged in such matters, had no taste for Science. It was merely a means to achieve his aims in any given operation conducted by the Pentagon. Undisciplined scientists annoyed him. Most of them were the antithesis of the education he had received in unquestioning obedience.

Next Chapter: Chapter 2