Donner and his dad flew back home the day after Pike's Peak. A couple of days later the 15th Mobile Space Communications Command showed up early in the morning to establish a listening post. Captain Harrison introduced himself and spoke with Jack for several minutes about where to best set up the unit. They needed a clear view of Donner's signal source and yet needed to be far enough away from the house to minimize any interference. Jack suggested they set up in the east end of the valley which was more open than the west end. Captain Harrison agreed.
The unit was set up and operating by that evening. Only six soldiers with as many robots established the base of operations. Donner went down to see the setup. The receiving dish's five-meter diameter was quite impressive deployed atop a flatbed truck. Donner introduced himself to the robotic perimeter guard who called for Captain Harrison.
Captain Harrison greeted Donner and offered to show him around the encampment. He got a quick look at the control room for the dish even though it was technically off-limits to civilians. Captain Harrison then introduced him to his technical officer, Lieutenant Jones.
Jones said, “I am pleased to meet you Donner, you are already a legend at HQ.”
“What do you mean Lieutenant?” asked Donner.
“He means,” said Captain Harrison interrupting, “That what you have done with essentially consumer-grade equipment impresses every technical person that learns about it, like Lieutenant Jones here.”
“Well, I found a mystery is all. And I wanted to solve it. For me it was just solving a puzzle.”
“Well, if we could all solve puzzles like that Donner, we wouldn’t need all this equipment and training Space Command gives us. You should be proud of what you’ve accomplished.”
“You should also be proud because it may be invaluable to your country son,” said Captain Harrison.
Donner wasn’t sure what to say so he just said, “Thank you.” Then his dad showed up.
“Donner your mother is looking for you. You should go on home now.”
“Okay dad. Goodbye Captain Harrison, Lieutenant Jones.”
Jack Jackson began talking to the soldiers as Donner walked away. Donner overheard his dad inviting them to dinner when he looked over his shoulder at the stars rising above the mountain tops. Suddenly a flare appeared through the pines between him and the mountain, it immediately dimmed and then brightened, brighter than any star. Then it faded quickly, Donner thought it was just like an explosion. He heard shouts from the encampment. That is when he knew. He knew it was his transmission source that had flared up. Donner ran to an opening among the trees and turned to stare at the sky, he saw other dimmer flares. One, then two, then another and another.
He turned back to join his dad who was walking towards him now. “Dad, you know what that was, the bright one?” he yelled.
“I think I do Donner; the dish lost the signal from your source about the time the flare happened. I also think I know what those other flares are. Let's get back to the house and use your setup. I want to see what signals we can pick up.”
“What is it dad, what do you think is happening?”
“War Donner, I think it is war.”
No comments:
Post a Comment