Homecoming Chapter 6 (Serialized Novel)
Chapter 6
Stephanie noted to herself that the room looked like something from the scene from Twelve Angry Men as she entered into the room that the soldiers had ordered her into. It was a skeleton of a room, with bare walls that had nothing decorating them, and again there was the fact that it was void of any technology. By and large, it was an empty room. There was, however, an enlarged rectangular wooden table in the center of the room that six others, all male, sat around. To this end, it maintained the otherwise ordinary, simple, and somewhat dull feeling that the building offered. It was hardly what one expected from a room where a briefing on issues related to national security to take place. But what did she \know? She had spent most of her life looking up to the heavens.
Likened to the woman of Sodom and Gomorrah of old and operating out of a sense of obligation, she felt a need to take a backwards glance behind her. It astonished her to find that the door was closed shut with the soldiers nowhere to be seen. Even in the absence of their presence, Stephanie wasted no time in taking up one of the other seven unoccupied seats that she counted. She took a seat next to a man at the head of the table on the farthest end.
“Welcome to the strangest day of your life,” said the man sitting nearest Stephanie at the head of the table. The man was tall and slender at around six feet, two inches tall from head to foot. Looking to be in his late forties, the only word that Stephanie could use to describe his facial features was that of having an elongated head with very prominent facial features, and a defining jawline. He had jet black hair that seemed to be starting to recede, and a matching goatee. What stood out most about him was his piercing grayish-blue almond eyes. He wore a white t-shirt and a thick black leather jacket that covered it. This was complimented by his tight blue denim Levi jeans, and brown Kevlar boots. It gave him the look of a tough guy that one would assume probably drive a motor bike to work.
“You can say that again. Do you have any idea why we’ve all been congregated together here like this,” Stephanie questioned him.
“No, I can’t say that I do. I’m just as lost as you are. I overheard something about a briefing and how this is a matter of national security, but that doesn’t provide enough context about what it is pertaining to. Your guess is as good as mine at this point,” the man answered her in a would be matter of factually sort of way.
“Well maybe we can all go around the room and share a bit about ourselves and see if we can find enough commonalities that would suggest why it is that we’ve all been summoned here,” Stephanie suggested to the men sitting in the room, glancing all around the table as she did at each of the strangers that sat before her.
“That sounds great. I’ll go first. My name is Craig Keeling. I am a game theory specialist. I graduated top of my class from WestPoint, and in my lengthy military career, I have provided defensive strategies for the Pentagon. I’ve overseen several platoons and barracks in the Mideast. This was during the war on terrorism. The plane that crashed into the Pentagon went through my secretary’s office, and the movie they made about a bombing of a Saudi Arabian barracks was my own. I’ve also been the President of Raytheon, selling missiles to leaders all over the world,” the man at the end of the table answered her as if her were presenting her with his resume per verbatim. He slouched smugly in his chair, placing his hands behind his head as if he was very pleased with himself.
“No shit,” interjected the man sitting at the head of the opposite side of the table. He was a hulk of a man. Stephanie almost wondered to herself if his muscular figure was natural, or if he was all jacked up on steroids. Whichever was the case, the man that sat on the other side of the table was bald, sporting black Ray Band glasses, and if Stephanie wasn’t mistaken, had what looked like veneers for teeth. He wore a wife beater that revealed his many tribal tattoos that covered all of his great mass. “I work closely with Raytheon as well. The names Clint Conrad, and I am a weapons dealer and expert. They flew me in from a little operation I’ve been working on in South Africa. It’s where the real money is at, but by the sound of it you already know that. The missile industries and their subsidiaries own half the world. The real Rockefeller’s and Rothchild’s of the world if you know what I mean,” Clint Conrad finished with a grin.
“I can hardly see how I fit into all of this. So far, we have high ranking military and arms specialists which seems exactly the type of thing one would expect at the Pentagon. I mean Craig, you’ve worked directly with the Pentagon in your career, which is highly impressive might I add. But this seems like an average everyday walk in the park for you, and it just leaves me feeling even more like I don’t belong here,” Stephanie let out in response.
“Well, what about you love. Who are you in all of this, and what exactly is it that you do,” Clint Conrad asked of Stephanie leaning forward and crossing his arms on the table in front of him as he did so.
“My name is Stephanie McGee, and I am the Professor Emeritus of Astrophysics at Georgetown University,” Stephanie answered simply and to the point, wishing that she had half the accolades that the other men in the room had, a thought that made her feel even more out of place in the midst of everything.
“Well, no, wait just a moment. There is a kind of general pattern emerging here. We are all highly intelligent, and we are experts in our respective fields. That’s a good enough start. This is progress. Let’s keep the ball rolling. What about you old timer? Tell us a bit about yourself,” Craig observed with much excitement and enthusiasm, looking at the man sitting across from Stephanie.
“Who are you calling old timer boy? I’ll let you know that I could learn you a thing or two, but what’s it to you. Let’s see, what is there that I haven’t done? My name is David Rooks. I’m a freaking genius; have a freaking IQ of about 181 with a standard deviation of ten. I’m the lead chair at Mensa. I can accomplish more in a decade that you can fathom in a lifetime. I’m ex-military. Vietnam if you haven’t noticed by the obvious. You’re welcome in advance. I’ve been both an accountant and an engineer. You see the thing about most people is that they get to thinking that they are just one such a thing and another. As if that thing and that thing alone defines them, when we are so much more. I’m a lifelong scholar and learner. I have an insatiable desire to learn. In my more recent years, I’ve been Senator to Colorado. And my most recent profession you wouldn’t even believe. I am part of a secretive branch of politicians known as exo-politicians that act as diplomats to those creatures that you all saw on your televisions last night. I’ll tell you right now that some of them are lovey dove hippies of the plausible multiverse, and the others are just plain mean in the worse sense possible. I’m speaking to that Galactic Federation that they referenced last night, which has been a horrible joke in my honest opinion,” David answered Craig.
David was a large beefy man in his late sixties to early seventies. His rounded face was covered in thinning grey hair, and a large bulbous nose riddled with blackheads that situated itself in the middle of it. The elderly man’s defining characteristic was that he was as pale and translucent as snow and covered in freckles. As for his attire, he wore a purple athletic button-up polo shirt with khaki shorts. They wreaked of an Irish man’s addition to alcohol. This was coupled with blue braces that he wore on both his elbows and knees. His profiled would not be complete without his walker that was situated next to his and that he grasped firmly, sitting cattycorner in his seat, which was in stark juxtaposition to the other men in the room.
“You don’t say. I was wondering about that one bit on their Galactic Federation of, what was it? Light? What is that and how does it work? I’m sure that we’d all love for you to enlighten us on this matter that we know so little about,” Craig asked of the elderly veteran sitting adjacent to him.
“What can I say? It’s classified and on a very need to know basis. But if you were in the right circles or social sphere you might have heard about them on and off. I’m surprised that you’re not more aware of it having worked for the Pentagon yourself. You of all people should know that Cosmic Clearance, or alternatively Q Clearance is the highest level of security in this great nation. They ran a story about it not that long ago. Maybe two years back. The one about how the leader of the Israeli Space Program spoke out about the Galactic Federation and the existence of extraterrestrial life. How they were out there and wanted to make their presence known but didn’t want us to in order to prevent mass hysteria. There are other stories like it as well. Eisenhower’s granddaughter has her Project Monarch that speaks of the celestial beings that we came in contact with during his administration, although a lot of it goes to the wayside and is disregarded as fake news,” David divulged his information on the topic at hand. “However, I can’t really say anything more than that. As I’ve said, I have certain protocols that I have sworn to follow that prevent me from saying anything else,” David continued, leaning himself forward on his walker as if he had just unloaded a very heavy burden from off of his chest.
“Now wait just a minute,” interrupted the man sitting beside David and his walker. “With this, I think I see another sort of pattern starting to emerge. For this reason, I’ll go next, I suppose. May I say that it is a pleasure to meet you all here in this place. Anyways, I am the leading expert on Cosmic Astronaut Theory. I’ve spent my life studying archeological, historical, and paleontological dig sites and excavations in search for proof of extraterrestrial life. The thought is that we’ve been visited before in the past and that they’ve in the development of our past civilizations. There are also some that support the notion of directed panspermia, or that they seeded or created for our species. In all of this, yesterday was both the greatest and most heart wrenching day of my entire life. We finally got the cosmic disclosure that we all wanted, but I also envisaged myself having a larger role in the event. I mean this changes everything. At any rate, it would seem that it has something to do with this. I can hardly see an alternative, although it could have something to do with what is going on with Russia, what with all the ex-military that they brought in,” Erich said motioning to the other three men that had spoken prior to his with a little nod of his head. By far his most noticeable feature was his full head of curly black hair and beard to match that made him come across as a bit of an eccentric type. That and the way that he spoke with many hand movements and gesticulations. He wore a tweed three-piece suit, and taking in his appearance, Stephanie breathed a sigh of relief in that he too looked somewhat out of place in the room of military veterans.
“Oh yeah, I think I’ve seen your stuff. On that spirituality streaming channel, Aliens of the Past, or whatever it’s called. You’re that, ‘I’m not saying it substantiates the existence of extraterrestrials, but this is clear cut evidence of aliens,’ guy that they make all the memes about. Don’t you have a couple of books written too? I absolutely love your work. I mean don’t get me wrong. I hardly think that your, what should I call it, metaphysical approach is exactly a science. It’s more of a pseudo-science if anything. Pseudo-science that conspiracy theory fanatics feed off of. But it is really interesting out there eccentric type thinking. But hey, you’ve made a name for yourself doing what it is that you do. Good for you. I think that we have another outlier here with the alien guy and the professor,” Craig commented arrogantly. Craig rose from his chair and started pacing the room with his hands on his hips as he did so, testing the waters of what he could and could not do while in the room.
“Hey man, that’s not cool. I do what I do simply because I love it,” Erich contested with inclining himself backwards in his seat with a look of reproach on his face showing that he was hurt by the comment.
“He’s right. Backwards, metaphysical, or otherwise, we are seeing that he and his colleagues are right for the most count on most points. You have to give him that much,” Stephanie said in Erich’s defense, secretly not wanting the defensive specialist to know that it came from the place that she had concealed her own search for sentient life out in the universe, and her own thoughts on the matter.
“I suppose that you are right, although I still stand by the fact that it’s all psueo-science. At any rate, let us move forward. That just leaves us with you two. Who would like to go next?”
“I’ll go. I am Arturo Rodriguez, and I work in communications,” came a softspoken and otherwise timid voice from the other side of the table. Sitting there in the chair opposite of Erich was a short and stout Native with leathery brown skin and long braided hair that ponytailed at either side of his head. He wore a formal dress shirt that was green in color with beige slacks and loafers.
“I see, so a communications major of few words. It’s nice to meet you Arturo. And that just leaves us with…” Craig trailed off looking at the last person in the group who had yet to voice himself.
“My name is Robert Diamond, and I could perform a psych evaluation for you and your tremendous ego if you’d like to know what my profession is. I’ll give you a guess as to what it might be, although I’m sure that you can manage that much,” the last member of the group said looking intensely at Craig who was still pacing the room. The good doctor was unquestionably the oldest person amongst them. He was a kind of tall bill gates look alike. At approximately six feet, five inches, he wore oval eyeglasses over his enlarged and pointed nose. His hair was grey and neatly combed over. As for his skin, it was leathery and wrinkled as could be expected in old age. If one were to estimate his age it would be somewhere in the mid-seventies. He wore a beige brown cashmere sweater with matching slacks and dress shoes.
“Come now doctor, there is nothing wrong with an otherwise confident and healthy ego. I mean it’s certainly better than the alternative, to be of low self-esteem,” Craig countered the doctor, who had taken to intently surveying and analyzing every inch of the room, which gave the appearance to the others in the room that he was searching for something.
“I would definitely agree with the doctor. You seem full enough of yourself. It is my experience, however, that confidence only takes us so far. There is a big difference between inflated confidence and actually being able to carry out and perform the thing,” Stephanie offered her rebuttal with a little sneer.
“Ouch Stephanie. I’m offended. But we’re getting off topic here. It would seem that the room is brimming with brilliant minds, further divided into equal parts military prowess and scholarly types. But how do these commonalities explain why we’ve all been brought here? What is the reason why? What could they possibly want with us all,” Craig asked, still lost in his examination of the room.
“Well, knowing what we know now, I would say that the answer is relatively obvious,” Erich answered in a tone that was more skeptical and questioning in its tone than denoting any sense of confidence.
“Yeah, and what conclusion is that Mr. Aliens?”
“Craig!”
“What Stephanie? I couldn’t help myself.”
“As I was saying. In light of everything, it seems rather ubiquitous that we were brought here for reasons related to full cosmic discloser. Maybe I’ll have a larger place in it after all. I mean come on and think about it. There was the Presidential address last night that spoke to how we are not alone in the universe and now this. That, and there is the fact that half of us work in a capacity related to space or to that of extraterrestrial life,” Erich said excitedly with quick circular gesticulations of his hands that further demonstrated his enthusiasm and gusto over the topic.
“Well, Captain Obvious. If that is the case then why is it that the room is half-full of ex-military, defense, and weapons experts,” David inquired of Erich.
“That much I can’t explain. It is a bit of an unknown variable at present. Although, it makes me rather curious. I don’t seen the connection in why it is pertinent in a matter of cosmic disclosure when the President assured us last night that these beings were by no means hostile, and that we had nothing to worry about. So, I’m stumped as to why the likes of all of you would be summoned here if that is the case. Maybe it has something to do with the advanced technology and weapons that they said that they have, in order that we have better understanding of them in terms of creating them or reverse engineering them. Then again, that’s just a swing in the dark,” Erich answered with his same wild hand movements that stressed the syllables of every word that he spoke.
“Erich don’t be so naïve. Everyone knows that when someone says that this is not the time to worry, is exactly the time that one should grow weary and cautious to some extent. At least that’s been my experience and I’m sticking to it. What did that one movie say all those years ago about what to expect if an invasion of extraterrestrial life was hostile? There were two possible scenarios. One being that they wouldn’t fight with their technologies to avoid the event of our leveraging our nuclear weapons against us and this planet. That, and that there were two possible outcomes of their invasion. One being that they would lose and have to go back to their planet for support and help. The other being that they reign victorious over us. I don’t much like the thought of either situation. If they are more technologically advanced, than the good Lord only knows what they have that might have that could trump the atom and hydrogen bombs. It has always been that the most technologically superior species that reigns supreme after all,” David countered Erich’s observation with a little shake of his walker as if he was waving it at him in a manner as if he was disappointed with him.
“I refuse to think that they are hostile beings. If anything, they have the patience of Buddhist monks. If they have technologies that are far superior to our own, then it would seem that we are already in checkmate, but that is not the case. Maybe t hey are showing us understanding and are waiting for us to overcome our destructive nature. For instance, I don’t think that a hostile species would be considerate enough about whether or not another sentient lifeform’s planet would reach a state of global hysteria as a result of their presence,” Erich counterargued David’s points.
“If I may speak, there seems to be an element that has gone unaccounted in all of this,” Dr. Diamond interjected. “It is found in the question of where we go from here now that we know that we are not alone in the universe. In my own observations, it is this question that is center stage in the urgent exigencies that this conversation calls for. It is shaky, almost unstable ground to be in because it makes us question our way of being. It makes us ponder whether or not we are still at the top of the hierarchical food chain, when in the presence of their apparent technological superiority it would seem that this was not the case. Thus, in hindsight, what we have is a power struggle to maintain whatever perceivable sense of power that we have here on earth and in the universe, and perhaps a plausible surrender to a new way of being. Perhaps it could be that we are here to help in the conversation of where do we go from here and planning it out because from where I stand it seems that this is the most pressing issue, although I can hardly see why they would need a Psychiatrist, or half the individuals in this room in order to do so,” the doctor said, bringing his hands to his face and pressing their fingertips together behind pursed lips as if he was in deep thought and reflection.
“Robert raises a good point. That was the main question of fall of my students this morning. Hell, it’s been the question on my mind for that matter. But how does one go about developing such a strategy for how things are going to be? It’s like predicting something with high entropy, of natural selection, or evolution for that matter. Chaos theory even. We could say that this is how they should go about living amongst us, but such and such a thing could go against their very way of being. In my own honest opinion, it is reasons such as these that there is no planning or mapping out how two or more intelligent species are going to live amongst each other. There are simply too many random variables. I will, however, speak to the point of whether or not they are hostile. For as long as we have been a species, we have occupied a planet where we have been more than hostile with our own people. It seems almost in our nature. We are forced to be cordial and occupy a space with countries and people that have dropped nuclear weapons on each other, committed genocide, and committed all kinds of other atrocities against one another. Surely if we can do this here on earth in such a limited area of space, we can find a way to be cordial and have peaceful relationships with beings whose home worlds are so much father away. By the sounds of it, they have already been collaborating here for quite some time. It would only seem obvious that it would continue to grow and develop in whatever capacity that that relationship looks like,” Stephanie offered her thoughts on the topic at hand.
It was at the pause in her statement that the door to the office opened wide open and a platoon of Marines entered into the room. They all were highly decorated four stars Commandant of the Marine Corps, the highest-ranking Marine Officer types. All of them encircled the forefront most part of the room. And following closely behind them, entering the room last was that of Joe Biden, the President of the United States.