The Past Is Calling

a reply to: F2d5thCavv2

My first thought was this film

I liked your story just as much though

a reply to: SprocketUK

Heh, I'm aiming this one at the CT crowd

Cheers

=7=

The meeting with the VIP had heated up quickly.

To begin with, the VIP turned out to be a civilian of some unholy rank that was described as "beyond SES" (whatever that meant, thought Markman). And he was no clown; definitely a Type-A personality who was used to calling the shots.

The director of the field office had attempted to give him the standard "here is our mission" briefing for outsiders. In other words, a lot of happy horse-sh** that communicated very little despite the impressive verbiage.

About two slides into the brief, the VIP slammed the table with his hand and uttered one word: "STOP"

"I want the no-holds-barred briefing", he said ... "total disclosure".

Well, that went over with the assembled personnel like the proverbial turd in the punchbowl. Stammering but still game, the director said, "I'm sorry, but even if I knew to what you are referring, you have neither the requisite clearance nor the need to know!"

At that, the VIP's face turned beet red, and he whipped out a cell phone. Quickly keying in a number, he spoke to the party on the other end, and then turned the phone over to the field office director.

Listening to the voice on the other end of the line, the director sat up straighter in his chair with his jaw a bit slack. Shortly, he replied, "Sir. YES SIR, crystal clear. I understand and will comply."

It was clear to all present that their boss had just gotten a world-class ass-chewing by ... someone ... who was apparently "up there".

Markman's boss was quietly assessing the psychological state of those present. Markman's only thought was, "Hoo boy. THIS is going to be interesting." And then he quietly whispered in his boss' ear: "Hold onto your seat. The truth won't be fun to hear."

=7=

Cheers

a reply to: F2d5thCavv2

Hoo boy, this story is heating up!

=8=

The field office director excused himself and left the meeting. Shortly thereafter, he returned with a red file folder stuffed with documents. He reached into the folder, extracted the executive summary of the Von Reitershof interrogation, and turned it over to the VIP, saying "We might as well start with this."

The VIP grunted as he scanned the summary, and then asked, "What kind of piloted weapons platforms?"

"Flying disks. But they were prototypes, and the Germans didn't have enough time to field them as operational systems before the war ended."

"Was their research followed up?"

"Oh yes. It came to be called antigravity, although the eggheads didn't like that term. The German research, along with a bunch of their scientists were brought to the United States as part of PAPERCLIP."

"And?"

"With our people teamed with them, the research proved quite fruitful ... as in practical flying craft that didn't employ conventional propulsion."

"UFOs?"

"Some of the early reports were sightings of our technology."

The VIP massaged his chin with his right hand. "So if this stuff was so advanced, why are the world's aircraft still running on technology from the 1960s?"

The director gave him a wan smile. "Part of the reason was the most advanced technology was reserved for fighting an all-out war with the communists. But the situation dramatically changed in the 1950s, and that is ... eh ... the other shoe to drop."

Cocking his head, the VIP replied, "I'm all ears."

=8=

Cheers

=9=



The Director resumed speaking. "It turned out that several of the German scientists that were brought over had looked into the properties of space-time. Their ideas intrigued our physicists who were working with them, and so, our people took this research further. They determined, by using the forces generated by the 'antigravity' ... uh ... 'devices', that local spatial topology could be, well, tuned."

Now the VIP had a sour expression. "What are you talking about?"

Markman spoke up. "You may know, sir, that every conceivable location in our universe can be mapped to a set of three coordinates: X, Y, and Z. The 'tuning' of a door-shaped matrix of such coordinates was the matching of them with a similar matrix in our own universe ... or, in other space-time domains altogether. In practical terms, it opened a door to elsewhere. But there was a serious problem: the act of matching the matrices was highly unpredictable and they couldn't know what they were opening a doorway to ... and so, the research was ordered to be terminated."

Markman's boss had turned her gaze on him. Other than slightly widened eyes, her expression was blank.

The Director slid another document over to the VIP. The room was silent. Everyone Markman worked with, with the exception of his new supervisor, had been long briefed on these topics. And they all knew that more revelations would come before the meeting was over.

The VIP spoke. "So this research was just stopped?"

The Director pulled a long face. "Officially, yes, and that was what was believed by our people who headed up classified projects. In actuality, what happened is that the research continued without authorization. It was a colossal failure on the part of the security people. It is difficult now to determine precisely what happened and when."

"Why?"

The Director clasped his hands and looked at the VIP directly. "The principals all disappeared."

"Disappeared? You mean defected?"

"No, disappeared. Our best guess is that they succeeded in opening a stable doorway to a location that we cannot access ... and they went there, the whole kit and caboodle of them. No one knows how many voluntarily went and how many were coerced. But go they did ... and they took their research with them. This happened in the spring of 1958, and efforts since then to duplicate their research have been unsuccessful."

The VIP was astounded. "Jesus!"

The Director nodded. "The informal term for them is the breakaway civilization, or 'BAC'."

=9=

Cheers

a reply to: F2d5thCavv2

This is getting better by the minute! I love the document snippets, nice touch!

Yesterday, I watched 30 mins. of Oppenheimer and had to switch off; I'm going to have to watch it again from the beginning. Your timeline and dialogues make much more sense.

Like a BAC out of Hell ...

- insider quip among Markman's work group

=10=

"So", continued the Director, "not only did this so-called BAC exit our world, they took the knowledge of how to do it with them. But that's not all: they know how to come back here, and have done so many times since their departure. We also believe they have agents, sort of "stay-behinds", who have remained here and operate on their behalf."

The VIP was frowning. "Then this, uh, 'BAC' is the source of UFO sightings?"

The Director nodded. "Yes, we think many of the sightings have been of BAC technology based on the original German research."

The VIP placed a beefy palm on the table. "Well, this would be a Hell of a disclosure for the public. The Nazis took off to La-La Land and occasionally return for reasons unknown." He rolled his eyes as he considered what he had just heard.

As the Director grimaced, Markman spoke up. "Not all the reasons are unknown. Their departure only took certain examples of technology with them, and it is believed that the BAC occasionally needs resources found on our world. So they make raids to examine the state of our technological development as well as to seize things they need. And if that isn't problematic enough, the initiative for contact resides entirely with them because we don't know how to open that 'door' they found in the late 1950s."

The VIP narrowed his eyes. "How many people know about this?"

Now the Director spoke again. "It is a very light and tight group that has the entire story. While we have been frustrated in our attempts to duplicate their technological feats, we have used the situation for our own purposes. An example of this has been the use of BAC 'UFO' sightings to provide cover for our own classified research projects, as well as allowing notional 'aliens' to be blamed for abductions made by the BAC. "

The VIP's head hurt. How am I supposed to brief this to my bosses, he thought. "Is that all of it ? Anything else that has been this close hold ?"

The Director's expression was grim. "Yes, I'm afraid there is more to consider, and its implications ..."

He was at a loss for words.

=10=

Cheers

a reply to: F2d5thCavv2

Ok, now I need a glass of red wine to go with this meaty part.

=11=

At this point, a fifteen minute break was called and the participants filed out of the conference room.

Markman saw his boss' expression and followed as she walked down the hall. Catching up to her, he said: "We all like to think we want to know the truth. But knowing the truth is rarely rewarding."

She looked distressed. "Everything we've learned was a lie."

Markman cocked his head a bit to the right and nodded. "Not everything, but yes, much of the history we were taught has been whitewashed in the name of national security."

Her eyes flashed with anger. "Security ? What kind of security ? The people my grandfather fought are still in operation and waging war against us!"

This time, Markman shook his head. "It is more complicated than that. Nazi Germany was defeated. While some German scientists were part of the BAC 'departure', a bunch of Americans went with them. In effect, they are a new 'country', although one that is not part of our everyday world.

Boss, you are far from alone in your frustration with this situation. Practically everything the government has undertaken in reaction to the UFO phenomenon was driven by BAC operations, and most galling is that public confidence in the government has taken serious hits because the BAC succeeded in making the phenomenon look like black operations of the U.S. Government. Yes ... they made us look like the bad guys because it would be political dynamite for the authorities to admit that a bunch of labcoats pulled off what they did. The real cover-up was preventing the public from learning what the BAC is and how they came to be. All kinds of measures were taken to protect that secret."

She looked at Markman. "I noticed the articles about 'anti-gravity' stopped appearing in publications after 1958 or so."

Markman nodded. "Exactly, and now you know why. Part of the security measures were to seed the notion that the program went deep black to explain the sudden absence of the topic in journals.

I won't kid you. The situation is grave and is growing more so. We're in reaction mode, which isn't good. But all indications are that we have far more resources than the BAC ever will, even if they are more advanced in some technical fields."

A frown etched her face. "I guess we should head back to the meeting."

=11=

Cheers

a reply to: Encia22

Signore, the house recommends a hearty Primitivo ...



Cheers

a reply to: F2d5thCavv2

Ooh, grazie! That is an excellent choice!

A bit of a breather was needed, I feel the story is going to get juicier from here.