Chapter 1

Monday 5:47 p.m. Houston, Texas

"Dr. Harmon, do you grasp the gravity of what you've just discovered?"

"Of what we've just discovered, Amy, and for 4 years we've been scanning the cosmos. I don't see how you didn't know this day was inevitable"

"Dr. Harmon, ELSSA is a powerful satellite, one I'm proud to say I've worked all of my professional career on after being selected as part of your team. But I'll be honest and confess that through our years of development I thought we were working against the odds. I thought that regardless of how capable and how strong of an engineering marvel ELSSA was that we'd never truly find anything." ELSSA was NASA's multi-year research program. It stood for Extraterrestrial Lifeform Surveillance Satellite Array and it was designed to peer deeper into our galaxy than its predecessors the Hubble Space telescope and James Webb Space telescope. Neither of which were designed to have the capabilities ELSSA had. "I figured we'd get lucky enough and find a planet that was habitable for human life, all be it too far away to conduct a mission. But Dr. Harmon, this is something that makes science fiction a reality. Societies, religious institutions, and governments are not going to be able to cope with the implications that this news holds in store for us."

"Yes Amy, I’m fully aware. But this data is irrefutable and as scientists we have a duty to remove the blindfold of our contemporary civilization and transition us into a new age of galactic awareness."

"You do realize that this finding is going to go straight to the President and Administrator Cassidy will want us on the next flight out to brief him."

"Yeah, however I hope he's gotten over our disagreement we had some years back."

Tuesday 8:00 a.m. Washington D.C.

"What are my notable appointments today, Michael?"

“Mr. President the Cuban President is scheduled at 12:30. Lunch will be served at 12:45 promptly and after you both have a 1:45 tee-time at Lake Presidential Golf Course." Michael Moore was President Akers Chief Secretary and had been with him since his campaign days. "Before that Mr. President you have a meeting with NASA Administrator Christian Cassidy along with two unknown guests."

"Unknown?"

"Yes, Mr. President, they were requested by Administrator Cassidy to remain anonymous until the time of the meeting, sir."

"And Secret Service was ok with this?"

"Yes sir. Apparently, the administrator and the head of Secret Service go way back to their time in BUD/S. The Administrator asked as a professional favor."

"Ok Michael, that's fine, but let's definitely not make a habit of this. What time is that meeting?"

"9:30 sir, and it lasts until lunch."

"Why on Earth are we scheduled for 3 hours?"

"I'm not sure sir, we tend to keep most of your appointments down to within 30 minutes however, the nature and urgency of Administrator Cassidy's request called for that time."

"Very well. I won't be surprised if it's a request for more emergency funding for their ELSSA project. And mark my words Michael, if Jim Harmon is with Cassidy they're not getting dime." Although the President said this in a half mocking tone Michael knew there was some half truth in his words.

"Jim, do you know what you’re going to say when you see him?" Asked Cassidy.

"I have some ideas but I figured I'd let you talk until the time was right for me to chime in."

"Smart plan, make sure you stick to the briefing, don't deviate and air out any dirty laundry. Did you prepare any PowerPoint slides?"

"No sir, we didn’t have time we have time-lapsed printouts of our thermal and infrared readings." answered Amy while handing Cassidy a folder of images ready to be presented to the President. "Dr. Harmon, I sure hope he’s receptive of these findings. From what you told me it seems that the last time you all spoke there were more than just words being exchanged.

Jim Harmon and Marcus Akers met in school, as roommates, at Columbia University when both were enrolled in masters courses where Harmon studied astrophysics and astronomy and Akers studied Electrical and Systems engineering. Both had attended schools from Texas which is what brought them together attending a school in New York. Both had completed their undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering but Harmon had gone to UTEP while Akers attended UT Austin. Harmon was always the true scientist of the two, the one who needed to find a solution for any problem. However, he had a knack for rubbing people the wrong way. Akers had described the effect Harmon had on certain people as, "a butter knife sawing through wood". Harmon didn't take this very seriously as throughout his life he was good at maintaining a select few handpicked friends and acquaintances he'd allow into his life. Akers was the influencer. He wanted to spark change and saw that America was in need of a revitalization and an awaking to the fact that there was more to this Earth than what was contained within our borders. Akers had always made a case to Harmon that the people needed a new president, "Jim, have you noticed that many of our modern presidents aren't from science fields? We need a scientist or an engineer as President. Someone who is proven to know how to be systemic in their process of solving problems and someone who is able to formulate a plan based on numerical data and facts and not party lines and reelection motives." Harmon would always see this as boisterous and grandiose but he always had a hunch that Marcus would do whatever he could to succeed at his lofty goal.

Several years had passed and both friends had begun work in their respective fields. Harmon went on to work for NASA as a Lead Project Scientist for a prototype new lifeform detection telescope and Akers began working as an engineer for a major renewable energy company who focuses on underwater wave turbines, solar panels, and high efficiency wind turbines. Akers' job took him to many places across the country and in turn got him involved with his community on a very active scale. He was tasked with converting Austin, Texas to a one hundred percent renewable energy city. His role in the project got him in touch with some very influential people and while his natural charisma didn't hurt he was able to cultivate a powerful network of important people. This was the root of his presidential ambitions. He was connected with skilled campaign managers and was surrounded by those wealthy enough to be a healthy treasure trove of contributors.

It was during one of Akers' public appearances during his campaign that things went south very quickly for Harmon and the future President of the United States. Aker's had invited his now well renowned best friend to speak a bit and introduce him at an event he was holding at the University of Houston, just one of the many stops on his campaign to win over the Lone Star State. Harmon began with a very cookie-cutter introduction provided by Akers' media reps but was allowed some time for his own words to make it's way into the introduction. It was Harmon's lack of social tact that took things to.

I've known Marcus for quite a long time. He was always extremely studious but obviously I was the smarter of the two, he is pursuing a career in politics after all (laughs from the crowd). My most memorable moment was when Marcus was giving his final presentation on how Tesla Motors could not only improve their manufacturing process but also improve the potency of their automobile batteries at the same time. He was demonstrating how global companies could use this across varying fields and he went on to describe its relation to rapid genetic sequencing and genetic engineering. Of course Marcus being an atheist said, 'We are no longer playing God, we are God!'

At that moment Akers' Press Secretary came rushing toward the podium followed closely by Akers himself.

"Well, Jim we know it didn't go quite like that." mentioned Akers confidently. Harmon having felt embarrassed and ambushed by his best friend on stage quickly retorted.

"Marcus, don't give these people a false sense of who you are, damnit!" Akers covered the mic with his palm and whispered to Harmon, "Jim, I need you to shut the fuck up and get off the stage." Coursing with anger at his friends condescending comment Jim Harmon hit Akers with the biggest right hook he'd ever thrown. Hitting Akers just left of his eye socket that remained a scar to this day. At that moment the two were microseconds away from a full-blown on stage tussle that was broken apart by security and members of the Akers campaign staff. Needless to say, the immediate fallout of Harmon’s comment was all the news outlets were talking about. “Aker’s the Atheist!” read the headlines. Fox News was particularly brutal considering their disdain for seeing a successful Independent candidate leading the poles. Suffice it to say, Akers was able to parry attacks from different directions regarding his religious affiliation and made a habit of effectively communicating his view of world issues and giving clear examples of his policy initiatives.

“Jim, don’t expect Akers to believe you. Expect him to take what you have to say with a grain of salt and expect him to ask you questions to knock you off balance and make sure you thought of all possibilities. He’s smart and won’t take this news lightly.” Administrator Cassidy had an uncharacteristically worried tone in his voice. Far from comforted, Amy attempted and extinguishing some of the nerves in the vehicle.

“Dr. Harmon, all we can do is lay down the facts and make sure the President knows the wide ranging impacts this news with have.”

“Christian, call Johnson, make sure they have a live ELSSA feed accessible through secure URL in the next 15 minutes. They’ll move mountains for you. “ Harmon was referring to Johnson Space Center indicating he wanted the ability to present a live feed from ELSSA to the President over a web browser. This was news Akers was going to have to see to believe.

“Folks, the President will be with you shortly.” announced Chief Secretary Michael Moore. Sitting in the White House’s Situation Room was a bit intimidating for the group. The Situation Room, typically used for meetings of White House top officials during times of crisis, was never used for science briefings. Exceptions were made during times of massive virus outbreaks like Ebola in 2014 as the cabinet was preparing for the scenario that Ebola would make it’s way to U.S. shores, which it did, and eventually trigger a massive Sierra Leone style outbreak. Ultimately, this was the room where some of the most serious issues, covert missions, disaster relief, and war planning were done.

“How’s that live feed looking Christian?” Harmon asked.

“I have assurances it’s up and running but we only have a one click limit to this URL before it becomes inactive, part of its security feature. So there’s no way we can test it before hand. I’ve sent it to your NASA.gov email address for when you’re ready.”

“You’d think we’d leave ourselves some sort of wiggle room for error.” Harmon quipped.

“Jim don’t start with your pessimistic government sh…

“So who are these these mysterious guests you didn’t want me knowing about Administrator Cassidy?” The President unexpectedly remarked coming into the room with sheer confidence and his characteristic sense of dominance.

“Good morning Mr. President, thank you for seeing us on such short notice.” replied Cassidy standing from his chair as Akers entered the room.

“It’s no problem Mr. Cassidy, NASA is my favorite agency, don’t tell anyone outside this room that. But you guys are the only one’s doing things that really interest me.”

“Thank you Mr. President. We know your time is limited so to air on the side of brevity may I introduce Dr. Amy Vaughn. She’s the Co-Lead Principle Investigator at NASA Johnson Space Center for the ELSAA Program. Dr. Vaughn has been with ELSSA since she at the top of her class from MIT and is one of our best scientists in the SETI field”. SETI stands for the international effort dubbed the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. “I believe you already know Dr. Jim Harmon, Lead Principle Investigator for ELSSA?”...