Extinction Countdown

Chapter 1

The nineteen members of the Senate Intelligence Committee scowled down from the lofty heights of their oak bastions. Directly below them a line of photographers had taken up position, snapping hundreds, maybe even thousands of pictures as Jack Greer, Mia Ward and Admiral Stark struggled to hold firm under the incessant barrage of pointed questions.

“Then maybe you can explain to the members of this committee how agents of this group you call Sentinel were able to pose as naval intelligence and infiltrate a top-secret military operation?” Senator Al Johnson asked, his mouth less than an inch from the mic.

“We’ve been looking into that, Senator,” Admiral Stark replied, cutting a distinguished figure in his black Navy uniform. “Their credentials were spot-on. And at the time we believed the Atean ship was secure.”

Jack couldn’t help but smile at the admiral’s use of the now-popular social media moniker to describe Earth’s only known cosmic neighbors. Pronounced ‘Ah-tea-in,’ the nickname had originally been coined by a blogger who had based it on the close resemblance the aliens bore to praying mantises.

Beside him, Admiral Stark continued doing his best to punch his way out of a cardboard box.

“In summary, we suspect they might have had help from someone on the inside.”

A buzz ran through the audience.

Committee chairman Hatfield crossed his arms and leaned forward. “Can you be more specific?”

Stark shook his head. “At this point I’m afraid I can’t.”

“Well, as a former Navy man myself,” Senator Johnson cut back in, “I can tell you I’ve never seen such gross incompetence.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way, Senator,” Stark replied, coolly. “Since the moment we detected the vulnerability in our security protocol, federal intelligence agencies across the board have made identifying and apprehending members of Sentinel our top priority. To date, authorities in over fifty countries have effected hundreds of arrests. I can assure you, whatever Sentinel might have once been, it’s now but a shadow of its former self.”

Senator Johnson pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and rubbed at his right eye. “That may be so, Admiral, but it still does not unwind the damage you people have already done. This body has been convened, at least in part, to determine which of you folks allowed a group of terrorists free rein within perhaps the most sensitive discovery of our time.”

Jack glanced over at Stark and watched as beads of sweat gathered on his brow. “With all due respect, Senator,” Jack interjected, “we were hundreds of meters beneath the Gulf of Mexico, facing about as chaotic a situation as you can imagine. I don’t think checking people’s IDs was first and foremost on anyone’s mind.”

“That may or may not be, Dr. Greer,” Johnson replied. “But nevertheless, these Sentinel folks were not only able to abscond with advanced technology”—he glanced down, flipping through the report Jack and Mia had put together on the mission—“they were also allowed to destroy a piece of machinery that might have been decades if not centuries ahead of anything we possess.”

“I would remind the senator,” Jack shot back, shifting in his seat, “by that point the blast wave was already destabilizing the limestone foundation upon which the ship was resting. Even if Sentinel had never set foot on that ship, the rock shelf would have collapsed all the same.”

“And yet what do we have to show for it?” Johnson asked, removing his glasses.

“Excuse me, sir?”

The senator stared at Jack. “By your own admission, Sentinel was able to remove pieces of advanced technology. My question to you is, what was the United States government able to salvage?”

Jack shook his head. “Nothing, I’m afraid. Our mission was to understand who these beings were and why they had come to earth.”

Mia put a hand on his leg, warning him he might be walking into a trap.

“I see. Thank you for that clarification, Doctor,” Johnson said gleefully. “And what did you learn in that regard?”

The tie around Jack’s neck was beginning to feel more like a noose. “Not nearly as much as we would have liked. We can say with confidence that the Atean ship impacted our planet approximately sixty-five million years ago, wiping out anywhere from seventy-five to ninety percent of the species on Earth. We know they were responsible for introducing new life into Earth’s ecosystem, including a small, furry-tailed mammal that would eventually evolve into human beings. And we also discovered that a tiny error in the genetic replication process helped to create a gene in humans responsible for violence and aggression.”

The murmurs from the audience grew.

“I regret to inform you, Dr. Greer, that my God isn’t a little green man from Mars,” Johnson said with stinging disdain in his voice.

“If I may, Senator,” Mia cut in, “we don’t know what color they were. The bodies we found on board had been dead for many millions of years. That being said, I suppose the closest resemblance to a species classification on Earth would be an arthropod. And I can assure you, they were definitely not from Mars.”

“Are you mocking this committee?” Johnson asked, a line of redness moving up his neck.

“No, sir,” Mia replied. “I’m merely attempting to highlight that the scientists who descended to investigate the Atean ship did so without any preconceived notions about what they would find. Their personal beliefs, no matter how firmly held, would only have gotten in the way.”

“I’ve gone over your report,” Johnson said, holding up the thick stack of papers, “and it seems that none of you can tell me with any degree of certainty where these beings came from or why they chose the Earth as the site for their holocaust.”

Mia shook her head. “Given the short time we had on board the ship…”

“More to the point,” he went on, “you can’t give the American people or the citizens of the planet earth any sort of assurances these creatures aren’t intending to wipe us out the first chance they get.”

“You’re right,” she admitted. “As of yet, there was nothing we came upon that shed any light on a possible motive.”

“Dr. Ward, you’ve also testified earlier that the pulses of light emanating from the ship were largely to blame for the rash of medical complications experienced throughout the world.”

“That’s correct.”

“But once again, you can’t tell us how these alien beings were able to remotely alter the genes inside our bodies nor for what end.”

Once again, Mia shook her head. “We’re working on it.”

Johnson moved the mic closer to his lips. “So let the record show that in spite of the tome you and your colleague Dr. Greer have created for the committee, outlining the mission and the handful of discoveries you made, the most important question of all remains unanswered. Namely, why has the human race been earmarked for destruction by an alien species we’ve never met?”

The room erupted in a cacophony of shouts.

“We’ve given you the facts as we know them,” Jack said, raising his voice over the noise. “Telling you we don’t have an answer yet isn’t a license to insert conjecture. We’re dealing with probably the most important event in human history. Forcing the scientific community to fill in the blanks simply because it’ll put the public at ease would be irresponsible in the extr―”

The chamber doors burst open and six figures in black hoodies charged in holding what looked like hand grenades. Not far behind them were a dozen security guards as well as members of the capitol police. As the individual leading the group raised his hand to pull the pin, Jack rose from his seat and leapt through the air. His shoulder thudded into the man’s ribs, knocking him to the ground, but the others behind him managed to pull their pins and chanted, “Wipe Earth clean!” before lobbing them. Even as the grenades spun through the air, thick streams of white smoke hissed from each of the canisters, filling the Senate hearing chamber with tear gas and chaos.