Feedback

Bellum turned off the television. The screen went black, but in his mind, Jason could still see the lumpy outline of Mitchell’s body being wheeled away.

Tears rolled down his cheeks.

“I’m sorry,” Lachlan said, crouching down beside him and looking him in the eye. “You don’t deserve this. You don’t deserve any of this. You’re caught up in something that’s bigger than any of us.”

The professor got back to his feet. He was staring absentmindedly at his mutilated right hand. He seemed to be flexing three phantom fingers. The scarred stubs on his hand twitched and moved.

“They’re afraid,” he added. “They’ve covered this up for decades now. The longer this goes on, the deeper the hole they dig for themselves. They’re entrenched. They think they’re protecting humanity.”

Jason wiped the tears from his cheeks, surprised by his trembling hands.

“In their minds,” Lachlan continued, “they think there’s danger in this knowledge getting out. They’re fighting to maintain the status quo while they try to figure out what the hell to do next. They’re afraid one of these UFOs will materialize in Washington D.C. and they’ll be defenseless. They’re afraid of panic if the public finds out. DARPA is convinced this is a threat to our national security.”

“And you?” Jason asked, looking at his mentor with a heavy heart.

“I’ve always believed in you.” Lachlan spoke softly, adding, “You may not have been aware of me, but I’ve always been there in the background, fighting for you, and for what I believe is in your best interests.”

Jason watched as the old man swallowed hard before continuing.

“I never wanted it to come to this. I didn’t want to endanger you, but I had no choice.”

“We’re all in this together,” Stegmeyer added.

“We’re doing this because we believe there’s another way,” Lachlan said. “We believe the public will embrace this knowledge. We don’t think there’s anything to fear from the knowledge that we are not alone in the universe.”

Jason nodded.

Stegmeyer said, “They hold all but one of the cards in this deck.”

“You’re our ace in the hole,” Bellum added.

“I know this is a lot to take in,” Lachlan said, placing a thick folder on the table in front of Jason. “This is everything we know. You’re welcome to look at everything.”

Lachlan signaled with his head and both Stegmeyer and Bellum followed him to the cockpit, leaving Jason and Lily sitting at the table.

Bellum sat down in the cockpit while Lachlan and Stegmeyer stood beside the door talking. They chatted softly with each other, but their conversation sounded forced, as though neither felt at ease. They were being polite, giving him some distance.

Jason stared at the folder.

“I’ll go too,” Lily said.

“No,” Jason replied softly, opening the folder and looking at the first page. “Please, don’t.”

Lily leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, smiling, “OK, then let me get you a fresh cup of coffee.”

“That would be nice. Thanks.”

Within minutes, Jason was engrossed.

Time seemed to come to a standstill.

Lily handed him a pad and pen. Jason arranged the photos across the table, shifting them around and linking them together. Photos were laid out on the floor, but not randomly. He was looking for patterns.

In among the formulas he saw the occasional word hastily scratched into the surface of the dark craft.

As he looked through the photos, he realized a number of terms had been repeated, so he tallied them. But whoever had taken the photos had been concerned with the formulas, catching only passing glimpses of whatever had been written elsewhere. It was stupid, Jason thought. He wanted to see everything written on the UFO, not just the scientific notations.

The writing was in English. That alone should have caught the attention of whoever took these pictures, he thought. They should have been trying to record everything, but they seemed to be interested only by the calculations, with some of the formulas being photographed several times from a variety of angles.

You’re Damned x 14

Doomed x 3

Forsaken x 2

Pointless x 8

Death or Dead x 7

Cursed x 12

Fate x 4

Inescapable x 3

“What do you think this means?” Lachlan asked. He had returned from the cockpit some time ago. Stegmeyer was seated across from Jason, but he hadn’t even noticed her sit down. He was startled by the professor’s voice. He had lost track of time. The Learjet was beginning its descent. Jason glanced at his coffee. A thin film of milk had left a skin on the surface. Touching the cup, he felt how cold the drink was and resisted the temptation to take a sip.

“I think you’ve missed the real story here,” Jason said to Lachlan. “The formulas only paint part of the picture. Look at these words. Why are they here? What’s their purpose?”

Lachlan picked up one of the images, the word “Condemned“ was visible on the edge of the picture, with only the lower half of the last three letters in the frame.

“What do you think it means?” asked Jason.