[Plot Thread 3.1] Opening Doors

[Nina]

Ryan entered Davian’s private dining room, located by his formal office,  he took a seat across from where Davian sat down. The girl, Temple, Davians Ward, came into the room after them and sat at the far end of the dining table away from both of them. The events of the last twenty-four hours weren’t sitting well and that meeting hadn’t done much to ease his mind.

 

The table was already set for three and a door opened and a uniformed waiter entered the dining room and took position between Ryan and Davian, “Good afternoon gentlemen, miss, for todays lunch we have the following selections…,” after explaining the offered entrees and the waiter noted their selections and took drink orders from Ryan and Davian. He then retired only to return a minute later with a tray of drinks, a bottled beer with a frosted mug for Ryan, a glass of wine for Davian, and what looked like a simple glass of water for the girl, not even any ice. “Lunch will be ready in about twenty minutes sir,” he said to Davian as he placed a bowl of bread rolls and a dish of butter on the table then left again.

 

Davian shook his head amused as the unnamed waiter closed the door behind himself, “It’s what everyone expects, I just play along," he said and took a sip of wine. Then he sighed and gave Ryan a knowing look, "Thanks for joining me for lunch Ryan, I know that this whole thing has you upset. I’m not too pleased myself. Losing Emily.” Davian shook his head again.

 

Spoiler

This thread is a new plot line for Ryan. others may become involved as the plot moves along. While the plot and all of the new plots coming are within the same continuity i am not going to use a calendar to track time. instead I am going to treat it like a comic book universe. Things happen at the speed of plot and any character that makes an appearance in one thread may also be in other threads which seem to be occurring at the same time. We will not concern ourselves with small discontinuities. It is all comic book time.

 

[Shameless]

Ryan looked first to Davian, then to Temple.   "You're right, I am upset.  I feel like we were just made fools of.   It's only by their benevolence that we were allowed to leave, and we lost our only link to whatever's going on underneath everything.   I'm mad because Emily left without a word to me.   We weren't together or anything, but I definitely felt a bond with her, due to how we gained our powers together."

He didn't think about that too much, but it was true he had felt a bond with the younger woman, and still did, even if he didn't perfectly understand about how the Sea spoke to her.   "Having said that, the way they think they'll handle anything that comes up, pretty much everything about their setup over there, It concerns me.   They can hold this over us, if they choose to, which won't help us."

"We made mistakes that could be costly, and we've got little to show for it."

He sighed, and then drank half the mug, enjoying the taste, even if alcohol did nothing for him anymore.   "But you didn't call me up here to listen to me gripe, especially in front of Temple."   He looked down to her, and then back to Davian.   "Speaking of, you really don't have to sit so far away you know."

For former military, it was odd how he didn't swear, it didn't fit the stereotype at all.   For Temple, it was clear, he was exercising considerable control over his anger for her benefit, avoiding the coarser language he would normally have used, due to her presence.   It was also clear he didn't really mind it, it was keeping his thoughts under control mostly.

"What are your thoughts on what happened Davian, and where do we go forward from here?"

[Nina]

"You didn't make a fool of yourself Ryan, neither did the others. If anyone miss-stepped it was I."  Davian sat back, "I shouldn't have sent the team without more information or without a clear plan of action along with contingencies. I did both." He picks up his glass and swirls the wine but doesn't drink. "No this one is on me, including losing Emily," he glances at Temple, nods, "I mean Namaka.

 

No I underestimated the Utopian's even when their strength was right before our eyes. And it's made me rethink a few things. I am, first and foremost, a business man, I am an innovator, an organizer, a leader, and a mover and a shaker as my mother was wont to say, but I am not a stormer. And because of that I may not be the best person to direct the Stormer side of our partnership. I trust you and Deezy, but lets face it Deezy has her hands full with the world inside head and trying to translate it to the real world. So I know you have your own personal projects, But I think you at least for now will have to shoulder this burden."

 

The door opened and the food arrived. After they were served Davian continued.

 

"The Utopian's are stronger than we are and their organization is larger. I think for Novastorm to become a capable Stormer organization we need to recruit more empowered and we need to get out there and start doing those things we talked about. Not just research and development but put ourselves into action. Right now the world is focused on Africa and what going on there with the Utopians  might mean to the world. We need to give the world something else to focus on. Since we aren't part of the government we can do work overseas without a lot of red tape. I want to send Cassie out to see about finding places that need our kind of help, let people the world over know that they can call upon us and that we will do what we can. She is personable, has great presence and can take care of herself. But it's not my decision.

 

And that leads me to you. I think your the best we have at growing this part of NovaStorm. and we need someone to take charge of the the empowered and someone to organize recruitment and training. You have the experience and aside from Deezy, you are the driving force for Novastorm."

 

[Shameless]

"We can share the responsibility Davian, for the misstep, and everything else.  That was the agreement I recall us working out."   Ryan was one of the older Stormers, certainly so among those working for Novastorm.
 

'You're talking about a field team, seeking out situations, areas of concern, or just things that stormers we have will be able to set right, defuse, and make a positive distance.   Careful, that's starting to sound very comic-booky."  He was smiling as he said it.
 

"You want me to lead it, and you mention Cassie.   I'll take her as an second in Command.   I'll take the responsibility, and make the main decisions, but she can be the face of the team.  It's a better choice than mine."  He said quietly with a smile.  
 

He nodded.  "I do have experience as an instructor, but lets keep some options open.  I know we're going to have to teach self defense, in addition to power control, ethics, and everything else, and It'd be wise to keep our eyes open for those who could handle that better."
 

He looked over to Temple, and sighed.   "Much as I don't want to ask this, we've got patents and such to protect anything we make,  but there's no guarantee we won't be infiltrated by corporate, government, or other types of spies.  People looking for a leg up, or to exert control, either through gaining trust, or trying to dig up dirt.   What sort of preventative measures are we willing to take to mitigate that?"
 

He hated even thinking that potentially having someone use their abilities to help with this something he was considering asking for.   This was however, a new world since the Storm, and things had simply changed.
 

"I want to actually believe in people, that we can all be better, but I don't want a pure idealism lead to disaster later on.  We can't afford that going forward."

Edited January 15, 2021 by Shameless

[Nina]

"No, you are absolutely correct on that Ryan," Davian replies, "I have already taken steps to increase our reliability in the vetting process and we will be going over current associates as well as new.

 

But I'm hoping to increase our number of empowered. We don't have solid numbers on the Stormer population of Utopia, and the governments are trying to grab up as many of the Stormers as they can. I want to be the alternative to both. I feel that you are the kind of person that can mold that into an effective strategy." 

 

Davian takes a bite and chews it looking at the end of the table and smiles at Temple who shyly smiles back. Then he turns his attention back to Ryan.

 

"About the empowered, We are having to rely mostly on trickle down information from Government sources about the why and wherefores. But it seems that there are different forms of Stormers. What's made the news mostly and is what most of the media talk is about, as well as what we have seen ourselves here, are those who manifested powers like yours, Deezy's and Cassie, powers which seem to, according to the reports I have gotten access to, be various levels of, quote, manipulation of the basic structure of the universe, end quote. Thanks to Utopia the term Nova is becoming the more popular name for you guys.

 

But there are others that were empowered by the storm and these people have a different type of power. Persons who have displayed various mental abilities such as telekinesis, telepathy, clairvoyance, even teleportation, like Temple. Psionics is what these powers used to be called but the government scientist are balking at using that term because of its popularity in fiction.

 

The thing is that some of these scientist are speculating that there may be even more of these Psionic empowered than the Nova's who have powers like yours. And that so far they are very hard to find without direct observation unlike the Nova's who produce a detectable radiation when their powers are used.'

 

Davian paused and pushed his plate away. "My point about all of this is I had to call in favors to get the little information i did get. The government is holding a lot of this tightly under wraps, which to a degree is understandable. But I have always been a proponent of the open and free exchange of information, secrets, inthe long run, are not a good thing."

 

At the end of the table Temple coughs and when her cough draws attention she meekly takes a sip of water. "Sorry."

 

"It's alright," Davian say to Temple. "Anyway, Ryan, what I think I'd like us to do is look at funding our own medical research into the whole Stormer phenomena. Maybe Deezy could head that. I wanted to pass it by you and get your thoughts."

[Shameless]

"Understanding what makes us Stormers, or Novas, however we come to actually be called, is a very good thing, though it can of course lead to dangerous places on both sides.   I think we should still devote at least seventy percent of our medical research towards curing diseases that affect more of humanity, as opposed the tiny percentage that we stormers make up."  Good medical research lead by stormers was something that could generate some amazing goodwill, which fit in with what they wanted from Novastorm as a whole.  "I mean that percentage can be shifted, and we can't just not do it, we want to be on the cutting edge, but  I don't think it should be our primary focus in that field of research.   It might seem abit self-serving to those on the outside if we went that route."

He sighed.   "I get recruiting, but perhaps having someone not a stormer come along with me would be better.  If it's just stormers showing up, again, that might send the wrong message.   I think for some it might be needed, but on the whole If you've got someone with experience doing headhunting, I could partner up with them for awhile to get some recruiting done."

He smiled.  "That of course, assumes you have information on some stormers or Psionics, or whatever they come to be called, for us to get started with."   He looked at him.  "Or, if you've already had Deezy develop something we can use to find new stormers, preferably without outing them in the process."   Some people wanted their privacy, he knew this well.  "We could lose them just because we outed them, and I'd hate to do that."

[Nina]

Davian chuckled, "And you thought you were too old for this. Let me touch on your points one at a time.

 

Nova/Stormer research should and will be separate from Novastorm's main Medical Research. That is why I think Deezy would make a good point person. She is very good at multitasking and has an uncanny ability to solve problems in unconventional ways. And the kind of people who we will need to do the actual research, doctors, physicists, geneticist, what have you, I think would find it easier to work with her, since it is a new science, and they will be making it up as they go along.

 

For our medical foundation and this Nova studies branch, we need to staff them with the best we can find and that means identifying Stormers with medical and research background. The governments have been doing their level best to grab them so we need to make it more attractive for them to work with us. Better funding, more freedom. I'm not a conspiracy nut but in the case of what has happened during and since the Storm, and the trickle of hard information coming out, I think it's best if someone with everyone's interests, both stormer and normal, in mind, be up there taking a hard look at things.

 

Another thing that this brings up is funding. We have a lot of capital, but not enough. We need to get our revenue streams into play and start bringing in money so we can afford all of this and so I don't go broke. All of us have the potential to be incredibly wealthy because of these circumstances. Altruism is good but so is paying the bills. With you taking over the Nova action side of things I'll be more able to concentrate on the business end of things.

 

Which leads to recruitment. I don’t think you should do the hands-on recruitment, rather the organizing. I do however think a stormer should be spearheading it. I was thinking of Cassandra Durrant at the lead. Oh, we will have the usual talent scouts combing the internet and newsfeeds, of course, but I think she would be the best  choice we have right now to actually be the face that would be potential recruits, and the world for that matter, see first.

 

She’s young has incredible charisma and she can take care of herself if need be. I think the best way to go about it is when we identify the possibility of a stormer in a place, wherever it may be not just in the US, if we are unable to make contact through normal means we send her to look into it.  She would report to you and if she does identify and bring in any potential associates, she can arrange to send them back to you for a final interview and placement if they join us.

 

Which leads me back to you, Ryan. The Utopians, this Deus Novus, has me worried. Hell from what little I can get anyone to talk about it has a lot of people worried, people who are not always at their best when they feel threatened. Now all the major governments have  put Stormers on their payrolls and we must assume that those stormers are loyal to their government, but not necessarily to the people.

 

Utopia came out of nowhere, was not on the radar and the composition of their organization is unknown. But just from their existence and what they have accomplished in the time since the storm indicates that someone, most likely a Nova, began this almost as soon as the Storm was over, and everyone is behind the curve on this.

 

I haven’t read comic books in a long time, but we have all seen the superhero movies and lets face it Stormers and all of this is a plot right out of one of those. We even have Stormers using codename, like Einharjer, and Apex. Whether they gave it to themselves or the media did doesn’t matter. A lot of people are looking at Stormers as superheroes and some of them are starting to fill that void. I think you know where I’m heading with this.”

 

[Shameless]

"There's always the other side of the coin."  It was perhaps the more cynical response.   Ryan had no illusions about being a superhero.   He was a former soldier, a pilot, and former instructor.      Ryan nodded.  "And someone with with Deezy's intellect and a lack of her moral compass is a major danger, among others.  I still remember what that kid from Montana, Bastion, did for his demonstration, taking out nearly half a mountain with a single punch.   Not everyone has the restraint shown by some, and I think going forward, this will become more and more clear.

He nodded.  "Yeah, I actually think splitting Stormer research off is the best way to go, and as far as income, well, The government has six satellites they're negotiating with us to put into orbit.  Given what launches cost, figure we can definitely make it cheaper, even if it leaves me exhausted.  I don't want to do it too cheaply, but I don't want to look like we're gouging them.   Fair pay for the tasks at hand.  I've largely been leaving that to the accountants and negotiators you have, how much my abilities are worth to those seeking them.   If you want to tell them to go abit higher, that's fine.   It's part of my job to help keep the Company going too, it shouldn't just be all on you to fund things."  The truth was, he still lived quite modestly, all his needs were met, and he just went along with things.  There'd been no contract signing, but he knew that'd change too, one day.   All his friends from the company were doing well, and business was still booming, just that was only a tiny part of things, there was so much more going on now.

"Maybe it's a just a drop in the bucket, but it's a start."  He shrugged.  "We make that service available to others, we might generate some international goodwill.   Of course we'd have to stick to countries that view us as Allies, and are the same to the US, to avoid getting into any sort of incident."   He'd been about to say international pissing contest, but held back again for Temple's sake.

"Cassandra would be a good choice for initial meetings, and I'll value her initial impressions.   It will be a good experience for her too I think, seeing more of the world, meeting new people.   We need to be seen as an alternative to the Cult of Utopia, or the various governments, a place Stormers of any kind can come to grow, to make a positive difference, regardless of what their powers are."   Beneath the cynicism, there it was, the remainder of the ideals of a much younger man.

[Nina]

"Then it seems we our on the same page. Let's enjoy the rest of our meal, then we have a lot of work to do." And they did.

 

Later that evening, The newly minted Director of Empowered Divisions of NovaStom tossed the reports on Empowered Classifications which the Pentagon was using onto his new desk, in his new office.  Ryan picked the report back up and scowled in disgust. Fully a quarter of it was redacted and the rest was a convoluted mess full of useless military jargon and cryptic abbreviations, hell the last eight pages was a glossary and lexicon of what all the gobble-d-gook stood for. But what it really boiled down to was 'THEY DIDN"T KNOW.'

 

And that was just one report, there were others from, the CDC, NASA, SPACE FORCE, The Navy, the air force and so on and so on. They couldn't even agree among themselves what to call us...

 

A single knock at his door and Pam, his new secretary/assistant opened the door a crack and stuck her head in. "Mr Hawke, it’s Mr Murray, from NASA, he did not call ahead but he is here now. What do you want me to do?”

 

Sam Murray was the NASA official who was ostensibly in charge of the commercial payloads office. The man who took the contracts to place things in orbit then decided who to use to get them there. Until recently that had been a very short list of entities on that list, but now there was one more added to it and that was NovaStorm, or more precisely Ryan Hawke.

 

Ryan glanced at the clock seven thirty eight, “Tell him to wait a minute I’m just about on my way out and you go ahead and get on home yourself its late and we should have been out of here hours.”

 

“Yes sit, and good night sir.”

 

A few minutes later Ryan came out of the outer office to find Sam standing by the wall length window overlooking the inner court of the NovaStom campus.

Sam Murray was in his late forties, had the harried clerks look about him and a perpetually receding hairline, wore out of fashion wire rimmed glasses, dressed in an off the rack suit probably bought at the Men’s Warehouse at least two years back. But he was pretty good at his job. He turned at the sound of Ryan closeing the office door.

 

“Ryan Hawke, no wonder you have been so hard to get a hold of the last couple of days,’ he points at the office door with Ryan’s new title on it “moving up in the world, I see.”

 

[Shameless]

"I have been fortunate enough to find somewhere I belong, and where they recognize my talents, Mr. Murray.  I am still getting used to it, but it definitely is better than before.  How have you been?"   Ryan smiled, he wasn't particularly in the mood for roundabout negotiations, he knew the average costs for putting satellites into space, which was more than likely why Sam Murray was in here today.   
 

"How have things been at NASA?"  His tone was neutral, betraying little emotion.     They'd likely briefed Murray on Ryan's past asppiration, and how he'd been repeatedly passed over.  Still, as he told Davian, business was business, and he wasn't going to be unfair here.
 

[Nina]

Murray grimaced, "As you know we took a hard hit in the storm, Canaveral is still a shambles so any launches we will be making in the foreseeable future have to go up at Vandenberg. There's some discussion of abandoning Canaveral altogether, building a completely modern site at a different location, but that would take years.

 

But that's not why I'm here. Why don't we get out of here and go talk about this over some drinks?"

[Shameless]

To be honest, Ryan did not wish to go out drinking, he did that only with friends as of late, and Murray wasn't that.  Still, as JJ had told him, you had to go along with the client sometimes, doing something you didn't want to do.  

"If that's really what you want, sure.  I know some places locally, and a few not so local ones, unless you've got one you prefer.  That said, I've got a bottle of whiskey in my office proper, though, and I wager any conversation we have will be less likely to be overheard here, than any bar.  Just in case security is something we need to worry about."   This was likely to be a conversation that was best kept private, knowing what he did of NASA, and the government in general.

[Nina]

Murray shakes his head, "Nah this one is my treat. There's a place not far a real honest to goodness NASA watering hole. I came by uber why don't you drive and I'll show you the way."

 

Twenty minutes later Ryan found himself, after a drive filled with nonsensical conversation, in a not so trendy yet not quite a dive bar, on the south-side outskirts of Houston. As they had parked and walked through the more than half full parking lot, Ryan noticed a lot of NASA, USAF, and the new USSF tags on the windshields. That last one was a bit of a surprise The United States Space Force was only a little more than a year old and while one might think NASA and the newest branch of the military would have a lot of overlap, such was not the case.

 

Once inside they saw the usual furnishing found in a thousand bars in Texas, the smell of beer and bar food, the sound of classic rock mixed with modern country and an attentive yet discreet waitstaff. The patron were in their mid twenties to late forties both male and female, dressed in a range of clothing from super casual jeans, western shirts and boots, too well dress office wear and business suits. One thing Ryan noticed right away was no uniforms on display. Most of the patrons were sitting at table or booths drinking and eating while a few were playing darts or pool at a single table toward the back.

 

Murray led them to a table and they sat. Murray looked around, all of the wait staff were occupied. "I'm gonna go grab us some drinks. You want anything to eat?"

Ryan told him what he wanted to drink but passed on the food and Murray headed to the bar. Ryan watched him go then noticed a shadow fall over him. He had kind of expected this but when he looked up not who.

 

Sean Grant Had been a pilot in the air force when Ryan was in the service. thye had served together and flew together during his last tour, before retirieng. He had been a captain then, now he was in a suit.

 

"Evening Major Hawke, mind if I join you?"

 

Spoiler

 Sean Grant 

 

[Shameless]

While outwardly, Ryan was still being polite and amiable, inwardly, he mentally went on alert.   This was starting to stink of a setup.   "Captain Grant, it's been a good while.   Good to see Civilian life's treating you well."   He smiled, though he wasn't feeling it internally.   "No I don't mind if you Join us, I'm sure the other party I'm with was the one to invite you."  

He had suddenly lost his appetite, not due to the particular company, but more that something was up, and a long career as a pilot told him to trust his instincts.   

 

[Nina]

Grant slid onto the bench across from Ryan, "It's Lt Col now, I transferred over to Space Force a little over a year ago. And no Mr Murray didn't invite me I invited him to invite you." He smiled as Ryan narrowed his eyes.

 

"Don't get angry, I have reasons, and I wanted to talk to Major Hawke, not the CEO of NovaStorm. We both know that on paper you and that Klatta woman run and independent," he pauses struggling for something, " ... well whatever it is you guys do there. But we know that Layton Industries is pulling a lot of strings for you and I wanted to talk to you away from any of that influence."

[Shameless]

Ryan tensed inwardly.   "I see."   Ryan already didn't like this.   "So what exactly do you want to talk about, Colonel Grant?   Being part of a new branch of the military, I'm certain you're quite busy.   You know me, so you know I'm not really one for just dancing around the issue.   I consider myself a patriotic American, so let's save us both a fair amount of time."

Ryan wasn't really one for the japanese way of talking around a subject, and while he could, to an extent, it grate on his nerves.  He didn't respond to the baiting to confirm Layton Industries backing them, it was clear enough that they were, just by following the money.  

[Nina]

"Always a hard ass," Grant shook his head, "Alright straight to the point, we need your abilities for a highly classified operation. We don't have time to build an elaborate cover that will hold up  long term under scrutiny, and with you being out as a QEP and your status with a very much in the news corporation, your open involvement would draw undue attention."

 

A waitress, whom Ryan noticed walked a little too confidently and kept her eye on him, brought his drink and a cup of coffee for Grant.

 

"Then there is your association with Layton industries. Now I have nothing against them personally and they hold many government contracts, but not as many as they did when Davian Layton's parents ran things wholly,"  said Grant after the waitress departed.

[Shameless]

Ryan frowned, and sighed. "So that's how it is."  It was some sort of Orbital defense system, or a secret facility, if it had to be secret.  "Wasn't like it could be hidden who and what I am, not after how I gained my abilities."

"So this operation, I'm guessing this is very much Space Force Related, and not NASA.   Which means it's DoD.  That explains a fair bit, but I don't get why you're wary of Davian Layton. He's a businessman, and frankly if you'd come through him with this, It would probably already be a done deal."

"How exactly are you proposing to hide my involvement, should I agree to whatever job it is that you want me to do?"

[Nina]

Grant leans forward and lowers his voice, "Have you ever heard of the Black Knight Conspiracy?"

 

Spoiler

it's a real conspiracy if you haven't heard of it. you can google it

 

 

[Shameless]

Ryan nodded. "I'm aware of yes."   Of course he'd heard of it when he was younger, but back then such a thing was mentioned by anyone serving in the armed forces, conspiracy theories just weren't something that was encouraged among the rank and file, let alone once he'd become an instructor.

He looked at him, and considering the recent trip to Africa, and sighed. "So it's actually real, and you want me to investigate it?"  Just the fact that a government agent from a space agency mentioned it like this, well that meant something, and Ryan was intrigued.  "I take it it's actually alot more than a heat blanket, or just some debris."

[Nina]

"I thought the same thing, but no that actually was a blanket, part of the disinformation campaign that they have been successful at for over fifty years. I didn't believe it either when I was informed right before the Storm.

 

It actually was discovered in the fifties, by the Russians no less. They couldn't get on board it so they came to us. That object up there apparently did more to keep the world from nuclear annihilation than anything else and spawned the greatest coverup the world has ever known. We aren't alone."

 

Grant sits back and fold his arms and shrug. "No, we don't want you to explore it. We want you to move it."

[Shameless]

"Is that wise?"   Ryan looked at him, and what was noticeable is that alien life was just confirmed, and Ryan seemed completely nonplussed by this.    "If it was put there, there's likely a very good reason.    Where exactly would i be moving it to, if I were to do this?"    Ryan was certainly interested, but he wanted to make sure they had a real plan, before he did something that could change things even more.  For all he knew, moving the object could set off a failsafe system, calling whoever put it there back, something the world wasn't ready for at all.

"So the Russians know of this too, and have kept it secret.    That makes my question even MORE important, because if we move it, it Will be noticed, at least by the Russians."

[Nina]

Grant shook his head. "It is more complicated than that. But I can't tell you any more unless you sign an NDA.

 

One more thing this meeting, this whole set up is me going out on a limb, for you. My superiors where just going to reactivate your commission and recall you under orders. I convinced them that that was not the way to go, that we needed you to work with us voluntarily.'

 

He takes a folded set of official looking papers out of his jacket and slides them across the table toward Ryan, then sets a pen on top.

 

Spoiler

It is a very complicated NDA

 

[Shameless]

Ryan sighed.  "So they're not really asking are they, Grant?"  he looked at the NDA, and then back to Grant.  "If this isn't all legit...."   He trailed off not wanting to do more than imply here.    He didn't really have to.  "This ONE time I will do this without you going through the proper channels.   I gave over twenty years of my life to my country.   I'm not doing this for Uncle Sam, I'm doing this as a favor to you, Sean."

He leafed through the NDA, taking notes of any mention of using his powers, of anything that stood out, or any other exclusions beyond talking about the mission, and once he was satisfied they weren't actually trying to get him to reenlist, and that it was legit, he signed it.   "So, where are we moving it to?"   


 

[Nina]

Grant took the document  and, pointedly not looking at it, tucked it back into his jacket. “Obfuscation, that is what the Air Force, NASA, hell the whole national security establishment has been upto since we detonated the first atomic bomb. Both you and I were victims of it, I just found out the truth or at least the bits they let me know, when I transferred over to Space Force.”

 

He picks up his coffee cup and sits back and looks around, Ryan follows his gaze and notices that they are now alone.

 

“For starters, the Space Force has been in operation as a functional service on the black books since 1972. The whole thing, making it a ‘real’ branch of the military last year was more coverup to bring it into the open quietly since it was only a matter of time before it’s activities can no longer be kept clandestine. The Storm made that even more apparent.

 

The object was discovered accidentally by the Russians in ’58 when they were trying to put up a satellite in Polar orbit. They could boost it into orbit, but something kept pulling their sats out of orbit causing them to burn up. The Russians couldn’t explain it. By that time, we had actually become a bit better with satellites than they were and they knew we were planning to make a polar insertion in the near future.

 

They gave us the data they had collected before their birds burned up and with that data we modified the Tiros 1 sat and in 1960 we put it into a modified polar orbit. Something kept messing with the gyroscopes but with the modifications we were able to keep adjusting the orbit to compensate. Using the anomalous interference as a triangulation point, we eventually tracked it down and discovered  nothing.

 

We found a hole in space with mass but it was invisible. The prevailing theory was that it was a micro blackhole but that didn’t pan out. But they kept at it. All during the space race, which by that time it wasn't a race, but the powers that be kept up the fiction, they flew secret missions with Russian cooperation and help by the way, to identify the anomaly.

 

The sixties went on, we put a man on the moon, then more men on the moon, and then in 1970 while we were still flying to the moon, we finally managed to get a probe close enough to the object to penetrate it’s,” Grants sighs, “it’s cloaking field.”

 

“Its cloaked? You mean like in Star Trek?

 

“Was. The probes they used didn’t get any really relevant data, so they actually put a man on it. When He landed on the object the field collapsed entirely and we have never been able to figure it out since. So, its visible, luckily its in a weird orbit that you can’t see from anyplace on earth with a normal telescope unless your star gazing in the arctic circle.”