Ten Minutes After Penetration Of UE 000’s Inner Hull
“Are you seeing this, Doctor?” Director Minos went from shouting in manic joy to whispering when more came into view, “Incredible.” The monitor’s feed trailed through the cord leading off the table, up the ladder, and into UE 000’s hull. The Director cooed as she panned the snakelike head of the remote-control camera over the interior of the ship.
They sat in camp chairs; Facility resources were spread thin. A table stood between them loaded with three different friction saws, an oxy-fuel cutting torch, some unused thermite, and two glasses of sparkling wine—one drained, one untouched.
“We don’t need a trophy! This video will justify millions in grant dollars.”
Mary Adelaide sat, hands and legs folded, not paying attention. The stress of not knowing, of waiting for news of small bodies in the wreckage, wore at her.
“What the hell?”
Her eyes snapped up to see what Minos had found.
A skeleton. Rather—due to an anaerobic environment—mummies in decent condition. Panning left and right revealed nine bodies of all ages and sexes. Human bodies, on the alien ship. People, wearing strange uniforms. The crew.
“They were trapped inside,” Mary breathed.
“Look,” Minos said, zooming the camera at the faces, “One shot to the head each. The captain spared them starvation and finished herself off in the end.”
The bodies’ placement struck Mary as odd. They weren’t scattered about. Nine side by side, sitting cross-legged, calm in death. No struggle, no fear.
The phone rang, and Mary’s heart leaped into her throat, face hot. She felt her thumping pulse.
Director Minos cast down the controller with a sour expression and answered the phone. The woman’s whole personality changed, back stiff, expression hard, and voice deepened. “They did what?” she exclaimed after half a minute. Her tone said it all.
Mary melted with relief and sat back to wait for the whole story.
After minutes of reports and orders, the Director disconnected the phone and eased as well. Then Minos laughed. It started as a chuckle but became a deep belly laugh before dying away as she turned to Mary. “This calls for another toast, wouldn’t you agree, Doctor?” She got the glasses and killed the bottle. “To Daniel and the kids!” Minos laughed again as their glasses clinked.
“What happened?” Mary asked after downing hers in one go.
“The UEs hid in 001’s vault. They tunneled out and flew away on UE 006, with UE 007 confirmed alive.” Mary offered a silent prayer of thanks. “But that’s not the funny part.”
“Oh?”
“Turns out, they were aliens.”
“Really?”
Minos giggled. “Yes, ‘Aliens from another planet’ wins the office betting pool!” Mary hadn’t heard the Director giggle before. Minos looked at her empty glass with disappointment and set it down, “They opened a portal to another world and zipped through before anyone could stop them. It closed a few seconds later.”
“Isn’t it odd aliens would look and act so nearly human?” Dr. Adelaide thought aloud.
“It doesn’t matter whether they were aliens, mutants, or faeries—nobody came to get them in three years,” the Director countered, leaning forward, “But you can bet Those Above will be predicting interstellar war by the end of the week.” She laughed again. “Don’t you realize what this means? This is the one piece of alien tech we have!” Minos pointed at UE 000.
“I’ll serve them The Last Hope of Humanity on a silver platter—And they’ll eat that crap up.” She collapsed back into the chair, grinning, “We’ll have more funding than we know what to do with!” Minos loosened her tie, “Oh, there’s nothing like Defense Budget money, Doctor.”
She removed her gun holster and tossed it on the table, “If nothing else, today made me a believer in good karma. Remind me to sign a generous check to an orphanage when we’re rich. Did I mention we’ll be rich? This Facility will be the center of the world, and we’ll be sitting on top of every patent that walks out the door. If we play this right, nothing is out of our reach.”
Dr. Adelaide eyed the gun as Minos continued to talk about how their project would change the world. They always lower their guard when they think they’ve won. She leaned over casually and rested an elbow on the table. The gun lay in easy reach now. Minos didn’t seem to notice. Mary hesitated.
“As the project enters this new and exciting phase, I think it deserves a new name. What do you think of The Neo-Atlantis Initiative? You see, the humor is in naming a project investigating a real ancient super-advanced civilization after a fictional ancient super-advanced civilization.”
The Director had been right, before. People would line up around the corner to take Minos’ place… most of them terrible human beings. Mary’s position as Head of Research and Development mattered. She might be the one person here who cared about humanity. If Dr. Adelaide wanted to make a difference, it would be in that role. She reclined and listened to Minos’ rant with half a mind.
Mary thought again of that boy she’d found, the one who had needed her so badly. The one she’d never see again. The one she already missed so much. Mary didn’t cry then. She’d wait for privacy.
Be well, Daniel. Stay safe. And try to have some fun with your new friends along the way.
He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others.
Daniel 2:21, NIV
Ten Minutes After Penetration Of UE 000’s Inner Hull
“Are you seeing this, Doctor?” Director Minos went from shouting in manic joy to whispering when more came into view, “Incredible.” The monitor’s feed trailed through the cord leading off the table, up the ladder, and into UE 000’s hull. The Director cooed as she panned the snakelike head of the remote-control camera over the interior of the ship.
They sat in camp chairs; Facility resources were spread thin. A table stood between them loaded with three different friction saws, an oxy-fuel cutting torch, some unused thermite, and two glasses of sparkling wine—one drained, one untouched.
“We don’t need a trophy! This video will justify millions in grant dollars.”
Mary Adelaide sat, hands and legs folded, not paying attention. The stress of not knowing, of waiting for news of small bodies in the wreckage, wore at her.
“What the hell?”
Her eyes snapped up to see what Minos had found.
A skeleton. Rather—due to an anaerobic environment—mummies in decent condition. Panning left and right revealed nine bodies of all ages and sexes. Human bodies, on the alien ship. People, wearing strange uniforms. The crew.
“They were trapped inside,” Mary breathed.
“Look,” Minos said, zooming the camera at the faces, “One shot to the head each. The captain spared them starvation and finished herself off in the end.”
The bodies’ placement struck Mary as odd. They weren’t scattered about. Nine side by side, sitting cross-legged, calm in death. No struggle, no fear.
The phone rang, and Mary’s heart leaped into her throat, face hot. She felt her thumping pulse.
Director Minos cast down the controller with a sour expression and answered the phone. The woman’s whole personality changed, back stiff, expression hard, and voice deepened. “They did what?” she exclaimed after half a minute. Her tone said it all.
Mary melted with relief and sat back to wait for the whole story.
After minutes of reports and orders, the Director disconnected the phone and eased as well. Then Minos laughed. It started as a chuckle but became a deep belly laugh before dying away as she turned to Mary. “This calls for another toast, wouldn’t you agree, Doctor?” She got the glasses and killed the bottle. “To Daniel and the kids!” Minos laughed again as their glasses clinked.
“What happened?” Mary asked after downing hers in one go.
“The UEs hid in 001’s vault. They tunneled out and flew away on UE 006, with UE 007 confirmed alive.” Mary offered a silent prayer of thanks. “But that’s not the funny part.”
“Oh?”
“Turns out, they were aliens.”
“Really?”
Minos giggled. “Yes, ‘Aliens from another planet’ wins the office betting pool!” Mary hadn’t heard the Director giggle before. Minos looked at her empty glass with disappointment and set it down, “They opened a portal to another world and zipped through before anyone could stop them. It closed a few seconds later.”
“Isn’t it odd aliens would look and act so nearly human?” Dr. Adelaide thought aloud.
“It doesn’t matter whether they were aliens, mutants, or faeries—nobody came to get them in three years,” the Director countered, leaning forward, “But you can bet Those Above will be predicting interstellar war by the end of the week.” She laughed again. “Don’t you realize what this means? This is the one piece of alien tech we have!” Minos pointed at UE 000.
“I’ll serve them The Last Hope of Humanity on a silver platter—And they’ll eat that crap up.” She collapsed back into the chair, grinning, “We’ll have more funding than we know what to do with!” Minos loosened her tie, “Oh, there’s nothing like Defense Budget money, Doctor.”
She removed her gun holster and tossed it on the table, “If nothing else, today made me a believer in good karma. Remind me to sign a generous check to an orphanage when we’re rich. Did I mention we’ll be rich? This Facility will be the center of the world, and we’ll be sitting on top of every patent that walks out the door. If we play this right, nothing is out of our reach.”
Dr. Adelaide eyed the gun as Minos continued to talk about how their project would change the world. They always lower their guard when they think they’ve won. She leaned over casually and rested an elbow on the table. The gun lay in easy reach now. Minos didn’t seem to notice. Mary hesitated.
“As the project enters this new and exciting phase, I think it deserves a new name. What do you think of The Neo-Atlantis Initiative? You see, the humor is in naming a project investigating a real ancient super-advanced civilization after a fictional ancient super-advanced civilization.”
The Director had been right, before. People would line up around the corner to take Minos’ place… most of them terrible human beings. Mary’s position as Head of Research and Development mattered. She might be the one person here who cared about humanity. If Dr. Adelaide wanted to make a difference, it would be in that role. She reclined and listened to Minos’ rant with half a mind.
Mary thought again of that boy she’d found, the one who had needed her so badly. The one she’d never see again. The one she already missed so much. Mary didn’t cry then. She’d wait for privacy.
Be well, Daniel. Stay safe. And try to have some fun with your new friends along the way.
He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others.
Daniel 2:21, NIV
