The Gift
A UFO Challenge Story for the Sci-Fi Forever Forum
Written by Matthew R. White
©June 1, 2011
Based on the Characters and series created by Gerry Anderson
Historians Note: The opening of this story is written in the Soul Mates universe and takes place in June of 1984 about three weeks after the episode The Long Sleep written by David Tomblin.
June 17, 1984:
We’re going to need a bigger place, she thought as she looked through the now crowded closet of their bedroom and removed her robe from the hanger. Donning the garment and sliding her bare feet into her slippers, she quietly strolled into the kitchen to avoid waking her new fiancé.
The alert had come in just after midnight. Two UFOs had managed to breech their outer defenses and by the time Sky 1 had intercepted them it was almost three thirty in the morning. When the two of them made it back to bed, they had little on their minds except sleep and she barely remembered kissing him goodnight. But the soon to be Virginia Lake-Straker had resigned herself to the fact that SHADO would be a constant source of interruptions into their private time, an occupational hazard, Ed had told her. Last night was the third time in as many weeks that Ed had been called back to HQ for an alert and even though he told her she didn’t need to go in her sense of duty said otherwise.
By the same token, she had managed to convince him to take more of his allotted time off and delegate more responsibility to the rest of the command staff. “You don’t have to do this alone Ed. You’ve got good people working for you. Let them share some of the load,” she had told him a few weeks after the Timelash incident. Straker being Straker was resistant at first but Ginny pulled the efficiency reports and dropped them on his desk. The numbers didn’t lie and Ed was forced to concede her point.
Virginia put the coffee pot on and looked at the clock seeing that it was almost eleven. So much for our morning run, she thought as she sat down at the kitchen table and contemplated the events of the past few weeks.
Today was Father’s Day, and she found herself thinking about her upcoming wedding day and she was saddened by the fact that her dad would not be walking her down the aisle. Her first marriage was a civil ceremony that lasted all of ten minutes, hardly worth remembering considering how the relationship ended.
Virginia wanted her nuptials to Ed, to be special, and that meant a church wedding, the dress, the pictures, the music, all the trimmings, and the reception after. Of course that took planning and it meant waiting until after the tracking upgrade program was finished in late November.
She stood up and grabbed a cup of coffee along with her father’s journal that her mother had given her two weeks ago. As she sipped her coffee, she found herself lost in the pages of her family history.
Ginny was so engrossed in the journal that she didn’t hear him walk in. He leaned against the doorway to the bedroom and admired her beauty as she continued to read. She noticed him as she took a sip of her coffee.
“How long have you been standing there?”
“Not long,” he said as he came to her and kissed her on the cheek. “Good morning.”
“Good morning,” she said, pulling him in taking his mouth with hers. “You didn’t think you were getting away with just a peck on the cheek, did you?”
“With you? Not a chance in hell,” he said as he rose to grab a cup. “What are you reading?”
“Dad’s journal,” Ginny said with a sigh. “I’ve been thinking about our wedding and it hit me this morning that Dad’s not here to give me away.”
Ed filled his cup and sat across from his future wife. He reached across the table and took her hand. “Do you need to talk about it?”
She squeezed his hand in return, “Ever since Mom gave me this book, I’ve found myself preoccupied with my father. I’m still not at all over some of the things I’ve learned about my parents over the past three weeks. Finding out that they knew about the aliens back in 1943 was a bit of a shock and I’m still trying to sort it all out.”
“I know how that feels,” said Ed remembering his conversation with his father just before his death. “It’s a bit unsettling when someone turns your world upside down. When Dad mentioned Bob Lake, I had no idea that he was talking about your father.”
“I still can’t believe they knew each other,” said Ginny, looking out at the gray skies. “I wish I could have met him Ed.”
Virginia could sense the turmoil of emotion that he was feeling, the shared empathic connection being another aspect of their relationship that they were still trying to adjust to.
“It’s hard isn’t it?” she asked.
“At least Dad and I had a chance to set things right. The years we wasted were my own damn fault.”
Outside the sky had opened up and a steady rain began to fall on the patio.
“You know Ed; there are things in here about your father as well. Today might be a good day to explore our shared history. It’s supposed to rain all day.”
“I think I’d like that,” he said.
The newly engaged couple spent the next few hours cuddled on their couch, immersed in the forty year old book.
Kimbolton, England, 10, February, 1945:
“I always did have a soft spot for a man in uniform,” she said to him as she watched him straighten his tie in the mirror.
Lt. Colonel Robert F. Lake turned and welcomed his pregnant wife into his arms and kissed her deeply. When the kiss had ended he continued to gaze into her deep blue eyes with his slate gray ones. Although she was taller than average, she still had to stretch a bit to reach his six foot two frame.
“Now that was the right way to say good morning,” he said. “I thought you were still sleeping Lynn.”
“It suddenly got cold in there without anyone to snuggle up to,” she answered with a waifish grin. “You’re not flying a mission today, are you?”
“No, but we have to go over the details for the raid scheduled on Dresden three days from now. In fact I’m meeting with Jim Henderson this morning. God Lynn, I hope the hell we are wrong about this.”
Unknown to all but a select few, his wife was also his contact in the SIS or MI6 as it was also known. She often knew more about his mission objectives than he did. As the group intel officer he had met the blonde British beauty two years ago in an intelligence briefing. They started seeing each other very soon after and were married six months later. Because of her cover, most of his war buddies thought he had married a nurse on the base RAF hospital.
The Lakes had not planned to start a family until after the war, but Bob’s close brush with death back in November coupled with the romantic reunion had un-expectantly changed their plans. Lynn was now well into the third month of her pregnancy and she just started to show.
“Bob, you’ve seen the evidence. You know what it means.”
“I know,” said Lake, frustrated with the situation. “It’s just that the civilian casualties are going to be staggering. They couldn’t have picked a worse city to stage out of.”
British Intelligence had uncovered evidence of an advanced weapons research laboratory in the Friedrichstadt district, just west of the city center. In addition to the main laboratory, there were smaller design and drafting offices throughout the Dresden area. It was suspected that these weapon designs were of extraterrestrial origin, obtained either by salvage, or collaboration.
“There is only one way to keep these weapons off the battlefield,” said Colonel Lake. “We’re going to have to flatten the city.”
“Bobby, you don’t have a choice. There’s too much at stake,” said his wife as she clung to him.
“I know, it’s just a bitter thing,” he said as he kissed his wife again.
Lynn walked her husband to the door noticing that it was still dark out. She looked at the clock seeing that it was only four in the morning.
“Where is the meeting, Bob?”
“London. The Prime Minister will be there along with SACEUR.”
“Sir Winston and General Eisenhower? My you are moving up the ladder.”
“Not if I can help it. I just want this damn war to be over so I can retire from the military, maybe teach aeronautics, and spend the rest of my days with my lovely wife and child.”
“You mean wife and daughter. I told you we’re having a girl.”
Robert Lake just shook his head in resignation. Lynn had been so sure that the unborn child was a girl that they had even decided on a name. But in the two years he had known her, he found that she had a knack for seeing things before they happened. His wife had warned him to take extra care during the mission in November. It was a mission that had almost cost him his life.
“Okay, you win. Wife and daughter,” he said in resignation. “I should be home around two thirty. Love you sweetheart.”
He drew her in for a long kiss and then bent over to kiss her slightly distended belly.
“See you later Virginia, Daddy loves you.”
He kissed her one last time and waved as he walked out into the cold winter morning.
Lt. Colonel Lake pulled into the designated parking area a few miles from the city. The meeting had been arranged, by necessity, under a veil of extreme secrecy. Colonel James Henderson was already standing next to the staff car that would shuttle the two men into the city.
Bob Lake saluted his friend before shaking his hand.
“Good morning Bob,” Henderson said warmly. “Are you up for this one?”
“Hello Jim. I’m about as ready as I’ll ever be. Do you think they’ll believe it?”
“I spoke to Ike this morning. He doesn’t need any convincing. Neither does Arthur Harris, he’d bomb the city just for spite. But the Prime Minister is worried about the political fallout and since he is going to be the one that will catch the heat we may have to twist his tail just a bit. Diplomatically of course,” he added.
“I’ll leave the diplomacy to you. You know me Jim. I call it as I see it, and I don’t give a rat’s ass about the politics involved. Ninety nine percent of the poor bastards that are going to die in the next few days don’t have a clue as to why. Have we come up with a plausible cover story?”
“Our Russian friends are going to unknowingly help us with that. They’ve requested that we target the major communication and rail hubs in preparation for their push west towards Berlin. The damage we inflict will cause disarray in the Reich’s command and control infrastructure. With any luck, we can end the war in Europe by mid spring.”
“Do the Russians have any idea about what we have found?”
Henderson looked at his watch and shook his head. “If they know, they’re being pretty tight lipped about it. It’s time.”
The two men climbed into the waiting staff car and were whisked into the British capitol. The Cabinet War Room was located in the basement of the Office of Works, between Parliament and the Prime Minister’s residence at Number 10 Downing Street.
They spoke not a word on the way as the driver had only orders to shuttle them in and return to fetch them a few hours later.
Colonel Lake looked on the damage in horror, thankful that his wife chose to move out of the city at the start of the war. The decision had saved her life.
The staff car pulled up to the Office of Works just as Air Marshall Harris’ car was leaving. Only Harris and his deputy were present and they quickly walked into the building.
As they exited the vehicle Henderson said to the driver, “We should be wrapped up by noontime.”
“Very good sir,” said the Brit lieutenant.
They pulled their identification from their coats and showed them at the door and the two men were led down the stairway to a room that few men were allowed access.
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