The Shadow Ark

Chapter 3

Cyrus thought things were crazy at the army barracks, but when he arrived at the airbase he found a whole new level of crazy. No one knew what was going on.

Cyrus's unit was escorted by a couple of men in white overalls to a briefing room. Cyrus almost collapsed when he saw who was at the front of the room. It was General Stanfield, head of the armed forces with a man and woman in white coats he did not recognize.

"Sir!" the unit saluted the General in unison.

"At ease," General Stansfield said, "This is Professor Maxine Baxendale and Major Paul Curry from NASA. I've asked them to attend this briefing."

This is doing my head in, thought Cyrus.

"You probably have guessed why I've called you in," General Stansfield continued.

Nope, thought Cyrus.

"You are the elite unit within the marines – Unit Z – trained in early recognizance, extraction and recovery by air, land and sea. We need you to accompany Major Curry to inspect and recover the object in space."

Sergeant McCarthy put his hand up.

"Yes, Sergeant?"

"Sir, you said 'recover'. Does that mean the object on the news is our shuttle or satellite?" Sergeant McCarthy asked.

"No, may not have been the best word. Frankly, we don't know what it is or where it comes from and we're not ruling anything out. Could be friendly. Could be hostile. We simply don't know at this stage."

"So you want us to accompany the Major in case it is hostile?" the Sergeant asked.

"That's correct Sergeant. We don't know what we will find when we get to the object. Your unit is trained in bomb disposal or really any threat that may be posed by the object. I know your unit has also had zero gravity training. You are our best option for investigating the object. I'll let Major Curry explain more."

"Thank you General. A shuttle is being programmed as we speak to reach the object and should be ready to launch in just under an hour. It goes without saying that this mission is totally top secret and unfortunately you cannot tell anyone outside this room what you are doing. When we are close to the object I will be attempting to establish communication with the object and then we will attempt to dock with the object. Once my team has established a bridge to the object your unit will accompany us onboard the object," Major Curry said.

Cyrus wondered if he might still be sleeping. This was all too crazy, he thought. He never imagined he would actually utilize the zero gravity training he had at NASA. He was not sure he even remembered how to put his astronaut suit on.

"Now soldiers listen to me for a moment," Professor Baxendale said.

Despite all the stress he was under Cyrus could not help checking the Professor out. Man, you're fine, Cyrus thought to himself. The Professor was beautiful, tall and brunette with large eyes behind some black frames. I hope she's coming too, thought Cyrus. He then started to focus on what she was saying.

"... and try not to touch anything within the object. We will be monitoring what is happening back at NASA HQ. Each of your suits is fitted with cameras. We will give you immediate instructions depending on what you find in the object in accordance with protocol," the Professor said.

Protocol, what protocol? thought Cyrus.

"After you return from the mission you all will be in quarantine for three months in accordance with the protocol and will not be able to communicate outside the base. Your families will be informed that you are on a mission and that you are thinking of them and serving your country," the Professor smiled.

Even the Professor's beautiful smile was not enough to assuage the sinking feeling of dread Cyrus felt in his stomach. This was serious, he thought.