The Lure Part 36

In his morning walk, Bull had noted that cloud had already covered the cottages higher up the mountain. He guessed that come the morning hed have to take a motorcade down to Thurmont to catch the helicopter. Hed give Logie a ride.

The President envied Logie. He envied his certainties. But a distance had grown between them; their life paths had diverged to the point where they were scarcely within hailing distance of each other.

'... seem to be maps for the flow of energy and biological information through the human body, and- 'Colonel Rocco.

The soldier stopped in mid-flow.

Bull was still looking out of the window. He spoke quietly. 'Kill it.

This time the Colonel didnt flinch. 'Yes, sir.

Somewhere out there, aliens reaching out to us.

Somewhere in Europe, fugitives with their message.

And hard decisions to be reached.

45.

Brandy and Cigars Now the cloud was enveloping Camp David like a white blanket, m.u.f.fling sounds and creating a sharp, penetrating air. And it isolated the place, giving the guests in the cottages scattered around the mountain slope a feeling of intimacy, of sharing a village.

In Aspen, three men wore dinner suits round a table. Hazel was sitting, glamorous like an aging film star, in a long black c.o.c.ktail dress. She wore a Mexican silver necklace and matching silver earrings which swung with every move of her head. Bull loosened his bow tie and swilled an amber-coloured brandy in a gla.s.s the size of a small goldfish bowl. He looked around at his guests.

Hazel Baxendale, my Scientific Adviser. A turbulent priest, highly capable, a wonderful technocrat. Shed been devastatingly right about the ET signal. Sh.e.l.l be pus.h.i.+ng me to go for the new knowledge, to reach out to the aliens. But her background is academic, shes only ever worked with people like herself. She knows nothing about the range, scope and depths of wickedness on the planet, and thinks of the ET as saviours of mankind, like something out of a Spielberg movie.

Logie Harris, my spiritual mentor and old pal, all the way back to Nam. Hes slowing down, and falling victim to a sort of dogmatism: hes turning into a man whos often wrong, but never in doubt. But hes still my moral compa.s.s in an immoral world, and the only individual round the table who shares my religious convictions. And the only man in America who knows about that little incident, long ago, with Miss Saigon.

Al Sullivan, the Director of the CIA. Now DCIs come and go with alarming speed but Als been in the job for five years and brilliantly supervised the transition from remote satellite sensing to work in the field. Good old reliable Al. He wont have much to say about the issues, but if the defence of the country calls for sordid action in the dark alleys of the world, Al will be there with the knife.

Hazel Baxendale sat directly across from the President. From her end of the table she saw decisions which would affect the lives of billions and set humanity on an irrevocable course, being made over brandy and cigars. She wondered if Bull liked to see himself as another Churchill. Logie Harris, of course, was the big problem. He was a throwback to a darker age, a man who thought all problems could be solved by reference to revealed wisdom. He had a pernicious influence over Bull. Somehow she was going to have to lever the President away from him. She didnt know how. But it would be criminal beyond belief to turn down the invitation to a better future for humanity, doubly so if it was rejected because of this theocratic bigot.

Logie Harris, unlike many of his more calvinistic compatriots, enjoyed a good brandy. If the Lord was happy to turn water into wine, he wasnt about to thwart His purpose by refusing it. There was, he had now been persuaded, a message directed at us from something out there. But that fact had to be weighed against another message, the clear statement that we and we alone were the children of G.o.d. That being so, the message was coming from some alien creature which had no more right to salvation than Seths Labrador, now under the table and sniffing at his shoes. The signallers divorced from G.o.ds salvation could only have malevolent intent. Their earthly spokeswoman in the form of Hazel Baxendale was right here, advising the President. I sense great danger, thought Logie, and pray that G.o.d will help me steer the President on the true path. We must have nothing to do with these ent.i.ties.

Al Sullivan pondered. An issue like this needed a huge input of expertise, the wisest heads going. But there were no specialist advisers, there was no NSC meeting, no Chief of Staff, n.o.body outside this room. The Chief clearly saw this as a matter for the most extraordinary security. He wondered how Il Presidente was going to play this one. The man had some tough choices to make in a matter of hours, especially with those people running loose in Europe. Hes surprised a lot of us, Sullivan mused. Hes turned out to be quiet, stoical, dignified even, and to have an open and reflective mind. I also know him as one tough-minded and obstinate SOB. Once he knows the right course of action, h.e.l.l pursue it relentlessly. The question is, what is the right course of action?

The CIA Director took a cigar from the proffered box. The President nodded at the table. Stewards quickly cleared it, piled logs on the fire. There was a flurry of cold air as they left.

Sullivan puffed at the fine Macanudo. 'The situation has changed, Mr President.

'Uhuh? Bull gave an encouraging nod.

'When the Russians and British had a monopoly on the disk, we stood to fade out.

Bull nodded again. 'I can see that. Wed have been excluded from the game.

Sullivan said, 'But now we have this Petrie guy, and the disk. Now we can access the message.

'a.s.suming we can persuade him to hand over the encryption keys, which are safely in his head.

'Thats not a problem, the CIA Chief said confidently.

'Mr Sullivan, that has a sinister sound to it. Hazel said it light-heartedly. She had settled for a cranberry juice and, in contrast to the men around the table, was sitting upright and tense.

Sullivan said, 'Relax, Ms Baxendale, were not talking medieval torture.

'Im relieved to hear it.

The DCI grinned. 'Not exactly.

The President too was lighting a large cigar. 'I dont want to know, Al.

Sullivan blew a flawed smoke ring. 'There could be overwhelming military advantages tucked away in these disks, even if they only let us jump fifty years ahead.

Hazel nodded her agreement. 'Petries interrogation mentioned new force fields at energies beyond anything we understand now. They wont make practical weapons, not for a long time, but we have to keep a weather eye on anything that increases our understanding of subnuclear matter.

'Id go along with that, the President said.

'So. Bring them over, lets a.n.a.lyse the material. You saw what was on the sample disk. Its just fantastic.

Bull said, 'But the British and the Russians had their chance and turned it down.

Logie Harris said, 'I praise G.o.d that they did, and trust our President to do the same.

Hazel said, 'Their mistake is our profit.

'These are not G.o.ds creatures, Ms Baxendale. They can only be motivated by malice.

'Rubbish. There are strong selective advantages to the old-fas.h.i.+oned ethic of helping your neighbour. Hazel turned to Bull, who was watching the exchange with careful eyes. 'Sir, you heard Petries interrogation this morning. Well, I took advice on the issue.

'I know you did.

'The opinion concurs with Petrie. If advanced civilisations hadnt evolved a code for living with their neighbours theyd have self-destructed long ago. The message is on the level. Wed be fools to turn our back on them.

Harris said, 'Your argument is as false as the message because you base it on the idea of evolution.

'Here we go, still stuck in the nineteenth century.

'In the twenty-first, I a.s.sure you. Evolution is a story, no more. It fails to explain the irreducible complexity of even a single cell. Tiny evolutionary steps cannot have created it. From molecules to a living cell is a fantastic jump which no evolutionists have explained.

'Hey, youve been reading up on this, Logie.

'Indeed, Ms Baxendale. And what I also read is that the evolutionists believe mind was created from inert matter by mindless forces. They believe that all the complexity and structure of the world generated itself. They even believe that the Universe created itself out of nothing, a miraculous feat indeed. Harris turned to the President. 'Your Science Adviser called me a backwoodsman, Seth, blinded by faith. But the evolutionists have their own faith, that of materialism. They will die rather than admit to design even when the evidence of design is staring them in the face.

Hazel said, 'The fossil record speaks for itself. Life has evolved. And the genetic code backs this up. Theres a ninety-nine per cent overlap between the genes of chimps and humans. How can that be if we arent closely related?

'You mean youd let your daughter marry a chimpanzee?

Bull grinned, and Hazel said, 'Oh Christ.

Sullivan said, 'Mr President, perhaps I can bring some clarity to the situation here.

'Al, please do.

'We can remove this Petrie and destroy the disk. That way everything stays the way it was before.

The Presidents cigar was well alight and he looked at the glowing end with satisfaction. 'We could just hand him over to the Slovak authorities. Let them, or the Russians or the Brits, do the throat-cutting. Our hands would stay clean.

Hazel bit her tongue.

Sullivan sipped at an Armenian cognac. 'Too risky. Wed have no control over the situation. Wed have to do the job ourselves.

Good old reliable Al.

The DCI continued: 'Or we could get hold of the disk and the encryption keys in his head. Make use of the knowledge already in the disks but just dont reply to the signallers, so avoiding the danger inherent in a reply. We could control the flow of the new knowledge, feed it through our inst.i.tutes, make it look like a wonderful new renaissance of science or something.

'Maybe we should be taking that route, the President wondered. 'Now that this guy has walked through our door.

Hazel said, 'Thats unrealistic. Science doesnt work that way. Hundreds of people would have to be told the truth. Hundreds or thousands of others would guess it. If just one individual susses out theres an extraterrestrial signal, we dont know what would follow.

The DCI grinned again. 'Disinformation is my trade, Hazel. Dont underestimate the power of a good cover story. Hazel shook her head sceptically and her earrings swung like little pendulums.

Harris said, 'This Petrie knows where the signal came from. He could talk. Some fool would then fire off a reply.

Hazel said, 'We must go for it, Mr President. Well never get another opportunity, not just for ourselves, but ultimately for the whole of humanity.

Harris said, 'Join the Galactic club, huh? We become immortals, G.o.ds on Earth? Producing children in the image of little G.o.ds? There was a smattering of uneasy laughter around the table. He continued: 'Who needs Frankenstein? The signallers are doing it all for us. And Ive seen no more concern here about the moral issues of tampering with life than I suppose Baron Frankenstein did in the book.

'If we have the knowledge we can choose whether or not to use it, Hazel said. 'Sort out the ethical issues at leisure.

Harris shook his head. 'Thats pretty naive, Ms Baxendale. The knowledge would eventually be misused.

'Or used. Even kept in reserve, to rebuild society if we were ever nuked or hit by an asteroid or blanketed with comet dust.

Harris said, 'Youre evidently a G.o.dless woman, Ms Baxendale, and I dont expect you to appreciate this point, but the fact is that G.o.d made Man in His image. Theres nothing in sacred texts about extraterrestrials. And redemption is at the core of all Christian doctrine. But as Ive explained to the President, there is nothing in the Bible to say that unearthly creatures have obtained redemption. That being so, they are not G.o.ds creatures. We are. It follows that we must reject whatever message they send, and make no response. We already have a saviour of mankind. All we have to do is listen to His message.

The President, half-smiling, looked at Hazel expectantly. She controlled her temper and kept her voice even. 'Mr President, I have no answer to this Antichrist rubbish. If you believe it, theres nothing I can say.

The CIA Director said, 'You know better than to question a mans religious faith, Hazel.

'No, sir, I dont know better. We have a golden route to the future in our hands, the conquest of disease, unbelievable longevity, great wisdom. Its in our hands and from where I sit were being denied it by one mans medieval superst.i.tion.

Sullivan opened his mouth angrily.

Bull said, 'Its okay, Al, calm down. Im not looking for Yes men.

Sullivan strode over to a side table and poured coffees. The flames from the fire were now leaping up the chimney. He came back with a tray and distributed cups. 'If the disks end up in the wrong hands it would be a catastrophe. It could reduce our nuclear a.r.s.enals to the level of pikes and swords. They must either be destroyed or delivered into our hands.

The President turned to his Science Adviser. 'Say we had to remove Petrie, Hazel. Whats your view on that?

Hazel replied tensely, 'Not my field. Im just a hack doing my job.

'If I thought that, you wouldnt be here. But Im never quite sure whats going on behind those beautiful dark eyes of yours.

'I just do my job, sir.

'Uhuh. Tell me something. Would you kill a man for your country?

'If I had to. Like any soldier.

'Say some terrorist in Teheran needed to be stopped before he set out to spray New York with botulinus toxin? Me, Id knife him in some dark alley and sleep like a baby after it. But you?

'Pa.s.s me the knife.

'But now suppose the man is innocent. That he just happens to know too much.

'Ill pa.s.s on that.

'See what I mean, Hazel? Thats what I call an ambiguous answer. This time the laughter was subdued, and had a nervous edge to it.

Bull finally dipped his nose in the brandy gla.s.s, took a deep sniff and swallowed half the liquid. 'Politicians have this in common with soldiers: they dont like ambiguities. It makes them nervous. We give a directive, we like to be sure itll be obeyed. He gave his Science Adviser a quizzical look. 'Having you around can be, lets say, uncomfortable.

He looked across at Sullivan, who was eyeing the President speculatively. 'Weve got this mathematician guy in a safe house?

'The word "safe" is an exaggeration, sir. We havent had much call for safe houses in Central Europe these last ten years.

'What are you saying? That the Europeans could find him?

'And soon. The Russians have sent in a team of specialists and the border is effectively sealed. They must know that this Petrie and his girlfriend might approach us.

The President had been about to finish the brandy. He stopped, the gla.s.s poised at his lips. 'Yeah. The girlfriend. What do we know about her?

'A young lady by the name of Freya Strmer, part of the team. Shes a Norwegian astronomer, co-opted like Petrie. Our information is that theyve become close.

'And where is this Freya Strmer?

'Vanished. But she must be at the end of her tether by now. She cant stay free without money.

'h.e.l.l, Al, if they get to her...

'Yes, sir. Ive a team flying out there now. She was last seen in southern Slovakia, a few miles from the Austrian border.

The President stood up. Light from the room was catching snowflakes just outside the window. Ford had used a snowmobile to get around the site and he wondered idly if he ought to get one in for himself.