Chapter IV

 

18:27 The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena,  05.09.2018

 

For Howard the last six hours had been the most surreal in his entire life he experienced a vast array of emotions. At first he felt fear and foreboding at how he had spoken to the administrator of NASA with such derision, even though he felt he deserved it. Then he felt despair at what the readings from Voyager 1 could be and what they could mean for not just NASA but humanity. Then Howard felt worried that he had blown it with the administrator and that they were going to be ignored. Now Howard just felt bored he was slumped in the office chairs staring blankly at the data on the screen, then his pulsed quickened and he swung the chair around to face the door as he heard Emilio running down the corridor. Every half hour Emilio had went outside to check if anyone was coming but this different as it was the first time Emilio was running.

 

Emilio thundered into the room, he came to a halt bent over trying to catch his breath. ‘They are here.’

 

‘You’re sure?’ asked Howard.

 

‘Sure as I can be.’ Replied Emilio. ‘It is a government issue blacked out Sedan, I’m sure I saw the administrator.’

 

‘Well I hope it is I am sick of this waiting around.’

 

‘How do you think they will take it?’ asked Emilio, he looked worried.

 

Howard didn’t answer as he heard footsteps coming down the corridor he looked at Emilio with an equally worried look. ‘It looks like we are about to find out.’

 

Walking into the small office was the administrator and a man in full military dress uniform, the former looked angry and the latter as impassive and unreadable as a brick wall.

 

The administrator stopped mere inches from Howard and pointed his finger in Howard’s face. ‘Who do you think you are you little prick? Making me come to Pasadena, I will have your job!’

 

The military man placed a firm hand on the administers shoulder and pulled him back. ‘Now that is enough of that.’

 

The administrator tried to shrug him off with a snarl. ‘Get the hell off of me.’

 

The man spun the director around then he went nose to nose with him and growled. ‘I am not one of your underlings that you can push around, you will calm down or I will put you down. You will conduct yourself in a manner more suited to your station, do you understand?’

 

The administrator looked angry at being shown up in front of his staff but then realised that the man in uniform wasn’t fucking around, he nodded by way of reply.

 

‘Very good.’ Said the man he then turned to Howard and Emilio and his demeanour softened. ‘I am General Aldrich Breckenridge, of the United States Marine Core and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I felt it prudent not to bring everyone so to not arouse suspicion but rest assured our being here mans that we are taking you seriously.’

 

‘Thank you, general.’ Managed Howard.

 

‘Now I understand you gentleman have some vital information for us?’

 

‘I don’t believe it.’ Whispered the administrator, at first it looked like he was staring at Howard but he wasn’t he was looking at the computer screen over his shoulder.

 

‘Administrator?’ asked the general.

 

‘When were they detected?’ asked Administrator Stronach, looking to Howard and Emilio.

 

‘In the early hours of the morning when Voyager 1 sent back her data.’ Responded Emilio.

 

‘This is genuine data?’

 

‘Of course it is.’ Replied Howard, trying to take the reproach out of his tone.

 

‘Very well.’ Said the administrator, he let out a long sigh. ‘I apologise for my choler.’

 

‘Well you have changed your tune.’ Growled the general, looking to the administrator. ‘Would someone like to clue me in here?’

 

‘I am sorry general.’ Stated Howard, he stood up then gestured to the computer screen. ‘Here you see implicit modelling of data collected by Voyager 1, which has detected multiple objects in the interstellar medium which each have high electron density profiles, not only that they are emitting their own magnetic fields.’

 

General Breckenridge nodded his understanding. ‘You don’t think these could be natural?’

 

‘At this early stage we can’t be sure.’ Replied Howard. ‘We have thought of little else, they could be natural but it is highly unlikely.’

 

‘They couldn’t be asteroids?’ asked the general, he still didn’t looked convinced.

 

‘It is the fact that Voyager 1 is detecting magnetic fields.’ Said Howard. ‘No asteroid in our system has one, in the early days when the solar system was forming there is evidence that early asteroids had their own magnetic fields, samples of Pallasites taken from asteroids that landed here on Earth showed a signature of magnetic fields.

 

‘But by their very nature asteroids are vastly smaller than Earth so they cooled over time and lost their magnetic fields, so by that same logic if asteroids were crossing the vast gulf of the interstellar medium it would be fair to say that they should have lost their own magnetic fields by now.’

 

‘But it isn’t impossible?’ persisted the general.

 

‘No it isn’t impossible, general.’ Put in Emilio. ‘We didn’t call you here because we are offering answers, we called you here because we believed it was a matter of the highest importance.’

 

Administrator Stronach pressed the palms of his hands against his eyes in a brief moment of stress, when he put them back down he looked to Howard and then to Emilio, he then turned to General Breckenridge. ‘We better get on the horn to the president.’

 

‘No we won’t.’ countered General Breckenridge, the administrator looked aghast, Howard and Emilio looked worried.

 

‘Pardon me?’ asked the administrator.

 

‘The President of the United States is not to be informed on this matter.’

 

‘I know the orange fuck is funny looking.’ Pressed Administrator Stronach. ‘But he is our commander in chief he has the right to know.’

 

‘The president or any staffers at executive level for that matter are not to be alerted.’ The Generals demeanour shifted he seemed dangerous now, he gestured to Emilio and Howard. ‘You and you are to pack everything it will be transported separately and you and it will be taken to the Pentagon.

 

General Breckenridge tone darkened further. ‘You are to not speak to anyone about this to anyone and I do mean anyone. The official line is that Voyager has been shut down as planned and you are to give a press release that will corroborate the official line and that the Voyager programme has come to an end.’

 

‘Then how can you explain us rushing down here?’ bit back Administrator Stronach.

 

‘It is well known the animosity between you two.’ Replied General Breckenridge, referring to Howard and the administrator. ‘The report will be that Howard refused to shut down and an altercation broke out.’

 

‘An altercation?’ scoffed the administrator. ‘No one will believe that we don’t even have a scratch-‘

 

The administrator never got a chance to finish his sentence as the general sent a right cross hitting him square in the face bursting his nose in an explosion of blood, Howard and Emilio flinched at the suddenness of the blow.

 

General Breckenridge smirked looking down at the sprawled administrator. ‘Now there has been an altercation.’ He then looked to Howard and Emilio. ‘Now get this gear packed up now.’