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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Adults
- Theme: Science Fiction
- Subject: Science / Science Fiction
- Published: 04/19/2018
Voyager is back. The Final Chapter.
Born 1951, M, from Wilmington NC, United States“Well that seems to be it. We haven’t had a new return from Space in a month. So the list stays at: Both Voyagers (I,II), Pioneer 10 and 11, New Horizons, and the Cassini spacecraft. All of which were headed out of the Solar System, except for Cassini - which burned up in Saturn’s Atmosphere…”
“Or so we thought.” Jack grumped out loud.
Mike gave him a quick stare of confirmation.
“So what does all that mean? Somebody, or something doesn’t want us leaving our own system? But then why “save” Cassini? It just doesn’t make any sense. “
A silence settled like a blanket of blank thoughts over the entire group. Every time they removed a satellite from that ranch in Montana, the next morning another one appeared. Until the New Horizons one showed up, and that was a month ago. None of their sophisticated monitoring devices caught the return of any of them. And the only clue they ever got was the cold ground. Space cold.
“I had them close down the Camp last night. We aren’t going to get anymore Satellites back from Space. I don’t think. We shall monitor the area- for whatever good that will do - for well, ever I guess. “
Jack spoke up with his usual blunt engineering voice.
“We don’t have a single theory that holds water. We have one clue in frozen ground. Whomever this is returning our satellites to Earth, has done so with a remarkable stealth ability that we don’t posses. And whomever it is, isn’t talking to us either. Anything we come up with from now on, is pure speculation.”
Silence greeted Jack’s statement. There isn’t any test, experiment, or theory that would hold any new information. Six spacecraft came back to Earth. Or were sent somehow. End of story.
Mike’s cell phone sounded like an Alarm going off in the closed spaces of that meeting room. In fact, it shouldn’t have gone off in the heavily shielded secure facility they were meeting in. That alone served as an alarm.
Everyone had jumped when the phone rang- now they were all staring at Mike as he pulled the cell phone out of its holster on his belt. They stared at him with an intensity that would have made most lasers quiver.
Mike looked at his phone and said lamely:
“It is a text.”
“From who?”
“Them.”
Now the silence in the room was deafening in its completeness.
“Them?” Whispered Sally. “Them?”
“Yes.”
Jack spoke for them all:
“Jesus, Mike, what does it say?”
“It says: “People of Earth, tomorrow you will find a manuscript in the field we have been using. It will tell you what you need to do to be allowed to leave your solar system. Do not be afraid, it is standard procedure to deliver the book to primitive cultures like yours. It will be helpful. And…it is not a Cookbook.”
Sally looked at the text on Mike’s phone. After the message was an emoji: a smiley face and a thumbs up. She couldn’t help but smile.
“Pack up everybody. We are going back to Montana. We have some reading to do.”
Jack spoke up:
“Mike, what did they mean…”its not a cookbook.”
“Jack, didn’t you ever watch TV?”
“No. Not really.”
“Well, it means whatever is in that book is for our own good, that they aren’t going to eat us.”
“Is that a joke?”
“I sure hope so.
“Me too.” Sally said with a weird grin on her face.
“Me too."
Voyager is back. The Final Chapter.(Kevin Hughes)
“Well that seems to be it. We haven’t had a new return from Space in a month. So the list stays at: Both Voyagers (I,II), Pioneer 10 and 11, New Horizons, and the Cassini spacecraft. All of which were headed out of the Solar System, except for Cassini - which burned up in Saturn’s Atmosphere…”
“Or so we thought.” Jack grumped out loud.
Mike gave him a quick stare of confirmation.
“So what does all that mean? Somebody, or something doesn’t want us leaving our own system? But then why “save” Cassini? It just doesn’t make any sense. “
A silence settled like a blanket of blank thoughts over the entire group. Every time they removed a satellite from that ranch in Montana, the next morning another one appeared. Until the New Horizons one showed up, and that was a month ago. None of their sophisticated monitoring devices caught the return of any of them. And the only clue they ever got was the cold ground. Space cold.
“I had them close down the Camp last night. We aren’t going to get anymore Satellites back from Space. I don’t think. We shall monitor the area- for whatever good that will do - for well, ever I guess. “
Jack spoke up with his usual blunt engineering voice.
“We don’t have a single theory that holds water. We have one clue in frozen ground. Whomever this is returning our satellites to Earth, has done so with a remarkable stealth ability that we don’t posses. And whomever it is, isn’t talking to us either. Anything we come up with from now on, is pure speculation.”
Silence greeted Jack’s statement. There isn’t any test, experiment, or theory that would hold any new information. Six spacecraft came back to Earth. Or were sent somehow. End of story.
Mike’s cell phone sounded like an Alarm going off in the closed spaces of that meeting room. In fact, it shouldn’t have gone off in the heavily shielded secure facility they were meeting in. That alone served as an alarm.
Everyone had jumped when the phone rang- now they were all staring at Mike as he pulled the cell phone out of its holster on his belt. They stared at him with an intensity that would have made most lasers quiver.
Mike looked at his phone and said lamely:
“It is a text.”
“From who?”
“Them.”
Now the silence in the room was deafening in its completeness.
“Them?” Whispered Sally. “Them?”
“Yes.”
Jack spoke for them all:
“Jesus, Mike, what does it say?”
“It says: “People of Earth, tomorrow you will find a manuscript in the field we have been using. It will tell you what you need to do to be allowed to leave your solar system. Do not be afraid, it is standard procedure to deliver the book to primitive cultures like yours. It will be helpful. And…it is not a Cookbook.”
Sally looked at the text on Mike’s phone. After the message was an emoji: a smiley face and a thumbs up. She couldn’t help but smile.
“Pack up everybody. We are going back to Montana. We have some reading to do.”
Jack spoke up:
“Mike, what did they mean…”its not a cookbook.”
“Jack, didn’t you ever watch TV?”
“No. Not really.”
“Well, it means whatever is in that book is for our own good, that they aren’t going to eat us.”
“Is that a joke?”
“I sure hope so.
“Me too.” Sally said with a weird grin on her face.
“Me too."
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