Chapter 5: Colonel Foster almost ran into Geoff Blake as the two of them headed for the science lab at HQ. “Oh, I beg your pardon, Paul,” said Blake as he sidestepped to avoid hitting Foster. “Did Joe call you as well?” Blake nodded his head as he answered, “He did and he sounded quite ecstatic.” The two men continued to the lab at a less urgent pace. When they arrived Lt. Colonel Joe Kelly was engrossed in an experiment. “What’s going on, Joe?” asked Foster. “Ah Paul, Geoff, you’re here. Have a seat, gentlemen.” Kelly waited for them to sit before he continued. “Two months ago Skydiver located a dome off the coast of western England. As I remember, it was you, Colonel Foster, who accompanied the Commander on a survey of its interior.” “That’s right, Ed barely got out of there alive. The aliens had created duplicates of all SHADO personnel. The Commander, Colonel Lake, me; they were going to use them to order a complete stand down of all SHADO stations, while launching a mass attack.” “Skydiver destroyed that dome, did it not?” asked Blake. “Yes it did,” answered Kelly. “Here’s my point, while in the dome both the Commander and Colonel Foster had taken samples of the atmosphere. With the exception of argon, the analysis came back to match the element composition that you would find dissolved in seawater.” “Go on,” said Foster. “Okay, we all know that the Earth’s atmosphere is comprised of seventy-eight percent nitrogen, twenty-one percent oxygen, and point nine-three percent argon. The remaining point one percent contains just about everything else. Now seawater is slightly different sixty-three percent nitrogen, thirty-four percent oxygen, one point six percent argon, and one point four percent carbon dioxide. What do you notice about this?” Foster shrugged, “There is more oxygen in the water, much more carbon dioxide, more argon.” “And less nitrogen,” added Blake. “That’s correct,” said Kelly as he flipped on the screen behind him. “We know that the alien craft can survive much longer underwater than they can in the atmosphere, maybe indefinitely, so it would make sense that the atmosphere in the dome would be regulated as not be harmful to the alien craft. At first we thought that the reduced level of nitrogen was the key, so we took a piece of alien hull that we recovered from the crash site off of Ireland a few years ago. We have numerous samples, all preserved in seawater.” “This sample here,” he continued referring to the picture “was subjected to one-hundred percent nitrogen at one atmosphere. As you can see nothing happened. We achieved the same result each time for every other gas until we tried an argon mixture. Watch carefully.” The three men watched the video showing the small piece of alien metal in the glass vacuum chamber. The readouts below the chamber showed the composition of the two gases in percentage of volume. As soon as the argon content reached two percent, the piece of metal flared up and disintegrated. “Interesting,” said Blake. “But that was almost pure nitrogen with just a small percentage of argon.” “That’s right Geoff. The results vary somewhat depending on the second gas, but the important part here is exposure to the argon is what causes the alien craft to decompose in our atmosphere.” Kelly said. “Wait a second Joe,” interjected Paul. “There is almost two times the amount of argon, in seawater. Why does it not have the same effect?” “You noticed that Paul,” said Kelly with a grin. “That’s why I called you both down here. The chemical composition of water, that’s hydrogen two parts oxygen, seems to from a barrier that prevents the argon from coming into contact with the alien hull. Now we should be able to synthesize a coating that will bond to the exterior of the alien craft preventing decomposition. Do you think that might be useful in the process of salvaging an alien spacecraft?” “Hell yeah it would,” said Paul, very excited now. “Wait until Straker hears about this. He might even give three hips and a hooray.” Driving down Rte. 128, Ed Straker was relieved to learn that there had been no loss of life and that Moonbase had not been damaged in the attack. Although he was concerned for all the occupants of the base, his mind kept drifting back to Virginia Lake. The dream that had awakened him had left him with disturbing thoughts about the future, and uncertainty as to where his friendship with Virginia was heading. In his dream, Ed had felt a pain in his heart that was physical when Virginia had died in his arms. To think of it now still caused him great discomfort, and he tried to put his feelings in perspective. He found that he could not, and the conversation that he had with his father did not help matters. Dad always did have a way of cutting through the bullshit. For the first time, Ed contemplated the complexities that a relationship with her could create. He had little doubt that the pairing would draw the scrutiny of the IAC especially with her as acting executive officer. And there was his friendship with her, a friendship that he truly valued. He had to wonder if they could still maintain that friendship should a romantic relationship fail. And there was the loneliness that had become so much a part of him. Would he be able to adjust to a life that involved someone else? Ed thought of his first wife Mary, and the circumstances that had destroyed their marriage. The relationship had been a whirlwind romance but Ed believed that he and Mary would have stayed together if it hadn’t been for SHADO’s demands on him and his family. In fairness to Mary, she had no idea what she had gotten herself in for when she married him. They had both been victims of circumstance. Ed took some comfort in knowing that he and Virginia would not have to deal with that particular issue. Straker switched lanes to take his exit and to his chagrin some drivers were still using the breakdown lane for normal travel even though it was well after ten in the morning. Ten minutes later he was pulling into the driveway and he killed the engine. Tom and Tina were going to pick up Barbara later this afternoon and Ed had not seen his sister since she and her ex-husband had visited him in England a couple years ago. He had missed her and was looking forward to seeing her again. Ed’s sister was almost ten years younger than he was, and she had followed the family military tradition. But unlike her older brother, who studied astrophysics, she had pursued a career in the medical arts having just completed her residency. Following her divorce she had accepted a transfer from Luke AFB outside of Phoenix to Dreamland, better known as Area 51. When Ed walked into the house his father looked up from his paper, “Did you see Charlie Johnson?” “I did,” said Ed. “It would have been nice if you told me he had been promoted. It’s considered poor form to ask for the General by first name. By the way, the General sends his regards.” “I’ll take any chance to tweak him up that I can get, it’s not like I have a lot of time left…” “Dad, please…” “Edward, let’s not dance around this. In a few days, they are going to put me under the knife, and we both know that I’m not coming out alive.” The elder Straker stood up and walked out of the room, and Ed looked out the window, not having shed a tear since John’s funeral. For the first time in over three years, Ed wept. Doug Jackson would not have believed it if he had not seen it himself, he quickly excused himself and walked into the outer office and rummaged on his assistant’s desk for a pen. By the time he had returned, the Commander had composed himself. “It was at that point that you realized the reality that your father was dying, from some of what you have told me I sense that you were reevaluating several aspects of your life.” “Yes,” said Straker, his voice still colored in emotion. Jackson made some notes as he waited for the Commander to elaborate. When Straker remained silent, the SHADO physiatrist pressed on. “This was also the point where you, for the first time, seriously considered a relationship with Virginia Lake, is this not true Commander?” “Yes.” Jackson opened one of the reports he was holding in his hand. He looked up at Straker as he read from the report. “Virginia had been fatally shot in the back and she died as I held her in my arms…Commander, can you describe exactly what you were feeling at that point?” “I…I felt like I had lost someone very close.” “A friend?” asked Jackson. “She was more than that…much more.” “In your dream,” began Jackson, “you describe the destruction of both the film studio and SHADO HQ. Do you remember any other details about how this all came to pass?” “Not really, I only remember that war had broken out, and the aliens had taken advantage of the conflict. It was only a dream.” “Yes Commander,” said Jackson. “A dream by a person who has one of the highest ESP ratings in the organization, as well as a medical history of having experienced precognition in the past. You remember the test that we ran on all SHADO personnel a couple of years ago?” “I do,” said Ed. “But what does that have to with this dream?” “You are one of five people who scored significantly higher than average on the test. The other four were Craig Collins, Paul Foster, Ayshea Johnson, and Virginia Lake. You and Colonel Lake have the highest results. Tell me Commander, in the past year, have you ever been in a situation where you and Colonel Lake were able to anticipate each other’s actions?” “Of course,” answered the Commander. “Virginia and I have worked very closely together for over a year. We know each other very well. I don’t think that there is anything more to it than that. The dream could have been brought on by my concern for Virginia’s safety. She was almost killed twice on Moonbase.” “Perhaps,” said Jackson, pausing for a moment. “How old were you Commander? In the dream, that is.” Straker looked up suddenly as if he had realized something for the first time, “We were older; I was in my fifties…” “Interesting.” “Doctor Jackson, please tell me that you’re not giving this a lot of credence.” “Precognitive dreams are a documented fact, Commander. We would both be foolish to ignore a premonition of the destruction of SHADO and the fall of Earth, would you not agree?” “Of course, if I had other evidence to support this notion. But we have nothing else to go on. The only reason I filed that report is the regulations required it.” Jackson made some notes and flipped to the next page of the report, “In your statement, you mentioned that both you and Colonel Lake had suffered a great shared personal loss. Was that loss related to SHADO, that is, your friends and colleagues, or was it something more personal?” “It was much more personal, I don’t remember any of the details, only that it was something unique to both of us.” “Have the two of you discussed marriage, and children?” “We haven’t discussed children, but we have had one very serious conversation about marriage.” Jackson was not surprised at that, as both Straker and Lake were traditionalists. They would both want to formalize their relationship. Ironically the union would pose little or no problem to their cover, in fact it was common for film studio executives, actors, producers, and directors to form romantic relationships with little or no regard to their position in the studio. A military organization was another matter, although the multinational aspect of SHADO had a less parochial view than the US forces would. As a native of an eastern bloc country he knew that husband and wife command teams were much more prevalent and accepted than in the western world. Henderson had called Straker the organization’s most vital piece of man power, an assessment that Jackson agreed with. Protecting that asset was a job that he took very seriously. Looking through his notes, he could make arguments for both sides of this coin. “Commander when we finish here, I may to need to see both you and Colonel Lake. There are things that one of you have mentioned, that the other did not and I’d like to get both of your reactions on these points.” “I understand,” said Straker. “Now, if you please, let’s continue where you left off…” Later that evening, the Reynolds stopped by, having picked up Ed’s sister. Tony Straker had made dinner for the group and they all spent most of the evening catching up on old times. For Ed, the reunion was therapeutic and he couldn’t remember when he had felt so relaxed. Tom and Ed did manage to play the chess game and Ed beat him for the first time in his life. Reynolds made him promise to play a rematch before he left for England. That evening the sky was clear and a full moon illuminated the snow covered landscape. The early spring storm that passed just before Ed came home had dumped over a foot of snow in the greater Boston area, but a couple of warm days had reduced the ground cover to only a few inches. In some ways Ed missed the New England weather, if you didn’t like it, all you had to do was wait, or so the saying went. In the backyard, Ed looked up at the moon, a place that had so much meaning to him, for many different reasons. On July 20, 1969 a man had first set foot on that, as it was considered then, alien world, becoming the first of twelve astronauts to explore the lunar surface. Little did they know that less than a decade later, mankind would have a permanent base of operations. That base being the front line, in an interplanetary war that had up until then been a one-sided affair. Between twenty five and thirty five souls resided on that base at any one time, all of them his concern and responsibility, but tonight his mind was occupied with only one of them. He found himself troubled by her absence, something he could no longer deny. The sound of footsteps in the ice crusted snow drew his attention. “Penny for your thoughts, Eddie,” said his sister, as she strolled up beside him. “I’m just thinking, that’s all,” he said. “I thought you’d be asleep by now.” Barbara Straker looked up at the moon following her older brother’s gaze. “When a man stares at the moon, he’s usually doing it for one of two reasons. He’s either planning to go there, or he’s thinking about a woman. Since you are no longer in the service, it has to be a woman.” “You seem to forget that I studied astrophysics with two years invested in lunar research,” Ed countered. “If you were doing research, you’d be up at Wallace Observatory looking through the sixteen inch scope. Care to try that again?” Ed could never keep anything from his sister, she knew him too well, just like someone else. He remained silent hoping that she would drop the subject. “Dad say’s her name is Virginia,” she added. “Dad has a big mouth. Besides, haven’t we both learned our lesson by now?” Ed asked before he could catch himself. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.” But Barbara was unperturbed, “It’s okay Eddie. Believe me; I do know how you feel. George and I were married for three years. The first two were pretty good, but I’d never want to go through the last year ever again. It must have been the same with you and Mary.” “Yes, the good times, well…they were great. But the bad times were pure hell, for both of us. That’s probably why I’ll never marry again.” “My divorce became final six months ago. When it was all over, I felt just like you do now and I’d probably still feel that way if I didn’t talk to someone about it.” “You mean go see a shrink?” “No, not necessarily. I did go see a therapist but it was my best friend who helped me the most. She had been through the same thing, and she could relate. And I trusted her. It’s like this Ed, we can wallow in our grief wondering what mistakes we made, or we can ask ourselves, what lesson was I supposed to learn from this? When I asked myself that question, I was able to put things in proper perspective.” “So want do you do when it’s entirely your fault?” asked Ed in a subdued voice. “If that’s what you believe, then you learned the wrong lesson. It’s never entirely your fault. Marriage is a team effort and there is no I in team.” “So you think you will marry again?” “Right now I’m still getting used to being single again, but if the right man comes along, yeah, I would. Just as long as it’s not the flirtatious RAF colonel that runs the new installation. He’s nice but I think he’s a tad bit old for me.” “What new installation?” Ed asked very curious. He was sure he knew who that RAF colonel was. “You know what we do there. Everything on the base is Top Secret. Well this installation is on the other side of the airfield and it’s classified well above anything that I’ve ever seen, nobody in my section knows anything about it. There is a crazy rumor going around the base that we really do have flying saucers hidden there. I figure it’s just another black project. By the way, you’re still cleared right?” “Yeah, it helps to have people in high places.” Barbara looked back at the moon before turning to her brother. “Ed, take some advice from your little sister, ask this lady out. Dinner and a show, keep it light. Dad say’s that the two of you are good friends. In that case, take her out as a friend. Romantic feelings will ebb and flow, but friendship is something that endures. Had George and I been friends as well as lovers, we might have been able to get through the rough times that killed our marriage.” “I’ll think about it…” “No…don’t think about it, do it. And I want a phone call with all the details. This bit of hearing from you once every six months is going to stop. This will give us something to talk about.” “This could get complicated,” said Ed. “Good, that means there’s chemistry there, and I can’t wait to hear all about it.”
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