Best Intentions

Mark sat back in the chair and stared at the shifting images on the huge viewscreen while trying to come up with ideas and chatting with the computer.

“CJ, I’d like you to search for something happening on Earth now that you can help with.”

“Affirmative, Mark. The network of surveying satellites that have been placed in orbit are capable of monitoring much of the activity on the planet.”

“Good, see what you can find. I want to get this ball rolling as soon as possible.”

“Affirmative, Mark. Are there any specific types of events that I should search should for?”

“Focus on problems that hurt the environment the most, CJ. It would be great if we could keep things from getting worse while working on things to fix the damage already done.”

“One moment please,” CJ said and fell silent about ten seconds before continuing. “Several situations exist that impact the planetary environment, Mark. The most serious involves an oil tanker that, according to intercepted radio traffic, has lost power in a violent storm. It is currently located off the coast of Scotland and is being pushed by the waves against a rocky peninsula. Reports indicate it is leaking oil into the ocean and there is a possibility of the vessel sinking.”

“Are people still onboard the ship? Can you send something to help without anyone knowing about it?”

“Reports indicate that the crew has been evacuated and the severity of the storm has driven salvage craft away from the immediate area.”

“CJ, is that something that you can do anything about? It would be great if we could stop a disaster like that.”

“I believe so, Mark. One of the vessel’s modules will be dispatched to the area of the vessel.”

Mark watched on the screen as the module sped off toward Earth. It wasn’t long before the computer informed him of arrival at the site.

“I’d like to see our first effort, CJ. Can you show me what’s happening down there?”

“Affirmative, Mark.” CJ switched the main viewscreen from the view of the moon to cameras on the module. “The module is moving into position now.”

Even with CJ’s technology, the storm affected the picture. Mark could make out the shape of the giant tanker being battered against the shore by the relentless waves. It listed far to port. Things looked bad and CJ was correct about the situation being dire.

“Wow that looks awful. How can you save the ship, CJ? It looks gigantic.”

“I estimate the mass of the vessel at four hundred thousand tons. The modules gravitational inducers will lift it out of the water and away from danger.”

Mark’s look of wonder at the sight of the gigantic vessel rising out of the sea turned to horror as the hull crushed under pressure from the gravitational beam. The vessel split in half, the front end crashing back into the sea and the stern hitting the rocky beach. A tremendous fireball shot up from the stern section as the ship’s fuel supply ignited.

“No! Oh God, CJ. What happened?”

“I am sorry, Mark, but I did not anticipate the fragility of the vessel’s hull. It could not withstand the stress of being lifted.”

He sat back stunned and stared at the disaster on the screen. His big chance had come and he had blown it. “Is there anything you can do, CJ? Things are worse now than before we got involved.”

“That module does not contain the specialized equipment needed to deal with a petroleum spill. The storm is beginning to abate and rescue vessels will shortly return to the area. What would you like me to do?”

“You better bring the module back, CJ,” Mark said putting his face in his hands. “What a mess this is.”

“I am sorry for my failure, Mark. I did not intend to cause additional harm to the planet.”

“No, CJ. It’s no one’s fault, you were just trying to help. The whole thing was my idea anyway.”

A couple of hours later, Mark watched dejectedly the first news broadcast on the large monitor.

“No one understands why the Sea Empress broke up or how the stern section came to rest on the beach with so much hull damage. Two of the supertanker’s storage tanks ruptured spilling an estimated fifty thousand gallons of crude oil. That, as well as more than four thousand gallons of burning diesel from the ship’s fuel supply make this one of the worst tanker disasters in the last ten years. Investigators will be sent to the Scottish coast to determine the cause of the accident.”

“Maybe I made a mistake,” Mark thought shaking his head. “Maybe - whom am I kidding; I thought it would be so simple. Technology doesn’t always make things easier I guess. This is a lesson I won’t forget.”

“What a mess,” Mark said out loud, standing and pacing back and forth. “We can’t let anything like that happen again, CJ.”

“Affirmative, Mark. Action without careful calculations can be as detrimental as doing nothing at all.”

Mark shook his head. “That’s exactly right. I hate to say it, but after this disaster I’m starting to think that I am in over my head. Maybe we may need some official help to deal with all this, but from whom, that is the question.”

“Roger Stone is the leader of your country is he not, Mark? Should he not be the person that you speak to?”

“President Stone? Yes, he is, CJ. But I can’t just call the president.”

“That is incorrect, Mark; I could connect you with President Stone’s office.”

“CJ, President Stone is the leader of the entire country. He’s not likely to take a phone call from someone he’s never heard of.”

“Why do you believe that is not possible, Mark?”

“I…” Mark stopped to think about it for a second. “Why not,” he thought. “If anyone could gather the right people for him then it should be the president.”

“You know, I guess you’re right CJ, this is important enough. Ok, see if you can get me through to President Stone.”

“Affirmative, Mark. It will only take me a few moments to make the connection.”

“Hold up a second, CJ. What am I going to say to him, hi, I’m on an alien spaceship behind the moon and I need to speak to the president, please?”

“Should I put the call through?”

Mark took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Ok let’s do it, CJ.”

“Affirmative.”

Shortly thereafter a phone rang. The woman who picked up said, “White House switchboard, how may I direct your call?”

Mark was silent for a moment. “Uh, yes hello, I would like to speak to the president, please.”

“Please give me your name. Do you have an appointment to speak with the president?”

“No, I don’t, but it is a matter of some urgency,” Mark replied, ignoring the request for his name.

Looking at her board, the switchboard operator saw no location code for the call.

“One moment please, I will connect you with one of the president’s aides.”

“Mark,” CJ said, “the call has been transferred to what is listed as the security office.”

“Oh, well ok, maybe they can help me get through to the president himself. It’s not like I have any choice anyway.”

“Hello, Dan Chase here, whom should I say is calling for the president?”

“Hi Mr. Chase. My name isn’t important and I know that you are a security officer there and not an aid, but I need to speak with President Stone.”

“Why don’t you tell me what it is that you want to discuss with President Stone, maybe I can help you?”

“I don’t think you’ll be able to help me, Mr. Chase. I think I had better speak to the president directly.”

The line went dead for a moment as CJ spoke. “Mark, I detect electronic tracing in an attempt to locate the source of the telephone call.”

“What will they find out from the trace?” he asked, concerned for a moment.

“The transmission can be tracked as far as the communications satellite it is routed through. They do not have the capability to trace the signal beyond that.”

“Ok, please put him back on CJ.”

“Hello, hello, are you still there?”

“I’m still here, Mr. Chase. I hate to tell you this, but your trace of this call won’t work, I’m a little out of range.”

“I see that, whoever you are. How are you able to tap into a secure military communications satellite?”

“Military? Oops,” he thought.

“Uh, well I’m sorry about that, but I don’t think you’d believe me if I told you. Look, if I could just speak with the president for a couple of minutes, I guarantee that it will be worth his time.”

“Why don’t you give me your name and number and I’ll see what I can do.”

“Will you hold for one minute please, Mr. Chase?”

“Sure, no problem.”

“Yeah, I bet it’s no problem Mr. Chase,” he thought. “Just more time to bring in others to try tracing my location.”

“CJ, I don’t think he’s planning to help me. If I tell him the truth he won’t believe it. I need another way to convince him. Can you arrange it that any outgoing calls from the White House are routed here?”

“Affirmative, Mark. I can remotely take control of the White House communications system.”

“Ok, get ready to do that. Please put Mr. Chase back on.”

CJ reconnected the call. “Mr. Chase, are you still there?”

“Yes, I am. Why don’t you tell me who you are?”

“Ok, my name is Mark Richards. I realize that nothing I say will convince you to allow me to speak with the president and I need you to believe that I am not just some nut. I’m going to hang up now. You can call me back by dialing any number from any phone in the White House. Every call for the next ten minutes will be routed to me. Goodbye, Mr. Chase.”

He had CJ disconnect the call and implement his override of their phone system. Mark waited but it only took thirty seconds for the first ring to come over the control center speakers.

“Hello Mr. Chase,” Mark said good-naturedly. “Been a long time. Good of you to call again.”

The line went dead again as he hung up. Three calls came in simultaneously.

“It’s still me, Mr. Chase.” Nine minutes to go.

Next a dozen calls were received.

“Look, I’m sorry about this,” he said over all nine lines simultaneously, “but it’s important that I speak with the president. Can’t you just ask him if he could spare a few minutes for me? What is the harm in that?”

“I will see what I can do, please hold.”

“Certainly, Mr. Chase. Thank you.”

Mark only had to wait a few minutes before a single line rang. He had CJ disengage his remote control before answering.

“Hello, Mr. Richards is it? This is President Stone. I understand that you wanted to speak to me and were rather insistent about it.”

“Yes, Mr. President. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule. I apologize for the little stunt with the phone system and I assure you that everything is back to normal.”

“Yes, we would all love to know how the heck you did that, and how you tapped into one of our military satellites without leaving any trace.”

“Well Mr. President, I have this friend who is an advanced computer and stuff like that isn’t difficult for him.”

“I think that you mean a computer hacker.”

“No, Mr. President. I mean a computer. I know how this sounds, but believe me, it’s the truth. I’m actually speaking to you from an alien starship in space.”

Mark heard a moment of silence on the other end before the president spoke again. “You’re wrong, I find that impossible to believe. Goodbye Mr. Richards or whoever you really are. You may be receiving a visit from the Secret Service before too long.” The president hung up the phone.

“Wait Mr. President, please,” Mark pleaded, but it was too late. “Damn, he hung up.”

“The president did not believe you, Mark?”

“No CJ, but that isn’t a surprise I guess, considering what I told him. I guess I shouldn’t have led with that information. Do you have any other ideas?”

“I could tap into the White House computer system. We could relay information to the president that way.”

“They still might not believe us. Anything that we show them that way could easily be faked. We need them to listen to us.”

“Mark, if the president received an item of obvious high technology from onboard the ship, a communications device perhaps, he might be more inclined to listen to you.”

“Something like that would certainly get their attention. How can we get it to him?”

“One of my survey craft can deliver it to the White House.”

“Sending one of your ships to the White House might get the wrong kind of attention, CJ. It would probably scare them.” Mark thought for a moment. “I’ve got an idea CJ! What if you were to drop it on the roof of the White House, maybe at night? You could then use their computers to show them an image of it sitting up there. They’ll know that it would be impossible for anyone to get something onto the White House roof so they will at least look at it. Can you do that, CJ?”

“Affirmative, Mark. That will not pose any difficulty.”

Just as the computer said, the small transport had no trouble dropping the small package on the White House roof the following night.

The following morning CJ announced, “the communication unit has been delivered to the White House Mark.”

“Great, CJ. Send the message to the security office with a picture of the roof and the position of the package.”

“Affirmative; connecting to the White House computer systems. Transmitting the message and satellite imagery now.”

An alarm went off in the security office as the computer’s firewall was breached. CJ could easily have bypassed what was a rudimentary system, but what better way to get someone to pay attention to the message.

“What the hell?” said Dan Chase as the message flashed on all of his monitors. “Mark Richards! Damn, here we go again!”

He started getting calls about the computer problem. “Yes sir, I know. I’m working on it just give me a little time.”

A satellite image of a city appeared on the screen. The magnification increased until it was recognizable as Washington. Further increases focused in on the White House itself. It kept magnifying until the image centered on a single corner of the building’s roof.

“What the heck is that?” he thought seeing a small black case sitting there.

“Oh hell!” he yelled while hitting the button that would alert all Secret Service agents currently on duty anywhere on the grounds.

“Get a team to the roof immediately!” he yelled into his microphone. “We may have something up there, southeast quadrant. Look for a small black case.”

Agent Chase waited a tense few minutes until he saw the men approach the object on the monitor. “That thing is small,” he thought. He suddenly realized that he was watching a real-time transmission.

“It’s from directly overhead,” he thought. Radar would have alerted him to any helicopters hovering directly over the White House no fly zone. It can’t be from a satellite; the resolution is fantastic, way beyond our best KH-7s. He started to get a bad feeling about this whole fiasco.

“What have you got there?” Agent Chase asked the team leader up on the roof.

He could see the man waving a multi-function detector over the package.

“It’s a small plastic-like case. Composition unknown at this point,” he said. “No explosives or chemicals detected. I’m bringing it down to you.”

“Take it out back, please. I don’t want it inside the White House just yet.”

“Check, we will meet you in the south parking lot. It’s completely empty today.”

“Check. I better inform the president. Don’t do anything until I arrive.”

He picked up the phone. “Mr. President,” he said while watching his team move the object using tongs and a lead-lined box. “I’m sorry to bother you, but we have a situation. Mark Richards has contacted us again.”

“I can’t spend any more time on that crank,” President Stone said. “Track him down and arrest him!”

“Mr. President, he tapped into our computer system and sent what looks like a live satellite image of the White House roof. My men just retrieved the package revealed to be up there.”

“What, on the roof? How could he get anything onto the roof of the White House? What is it Agent Chase, anything dangerous?”

“No, Mr. President. No explosives have been detected. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get to my men in the south parking lot. I wanted to keep you apprised of the situation.”

“Let me know what you find, Agent Chase.”

“Certainly, sir.” And the president hung up.

He rushed through the halls of the building, almost knocking several people down and garnering some surprised looks from the staff, as his reputation for being quiet and unobtrusive was universally known.

“Ok, let me take a look at whatever this thing is,” Agent Chase commanded as he reached the empty parking lot to take charge.

“I can tell you one thing, Dan, it doesn’t weigh much at all,” the agent said while opening the lid of the protective container. Agent Chase reached in and picked up the small black plastic case. “We waited until you got here so you could open it, just like you wanted.”

“Gee, thanks,” he said taking the case and turning it over in his hands. “It feels like it’s empty. Well, better see what’s inside.”

He set the case on the ground, gingerly flipped up the two clasps and lifted the lid. “What the heck,” the padded interior held what looked like a small thick rectangular glass plate with rounded corners and edges.

“What’s that supposed to be?” asked one of the men standing in the background as he lifted it out of the case.

“No idea, Jim,” agent Chase said turning it in his hands. Rainbows of reflected light flowed across the surface as he looked at it from all sides. “It’s cold like glass, but light like plastic.”

There was static and then the president’s voice came through his earpiece. “What’s going on out there, Agent Chase?”

Looking over, he could see the president watching them through a window.

“We have the object from the roof, Mr. President. It seems to be a glass or plastic plate about the size of a book, nothing that appears to be dangerous.”

“Bring it to my office immediately,” the president instructed as he walked away from the window.

“Yes sir, right away.”

He dismissed the other men, put the object back into the case and carried it inside.

Entering the president’s office he walked over to his desk. Opening the case he tilted it so President Stone could see the object it contained.

“That’s what all this fuss is about? Give it here,” he said beckoning with his hand.

Agent Chase stood his ground. “I don’t think that’s a good idea Mr. President. We should have someone look this thing over before you handle it.”

“I’m the president and I said give it here!”

Reluctantly the agent removed the tablet from the case and handed it over.

“What is this thing supposed to be?” the president asked, hefting the object and turning it over in his hands. “You say that this was on the roof?”

Before Agent Chase could respond, a clear voice issued from the device. “Fingerprints confirmed, identity: Roger Stone – President, United States of America.”

The president started at the voice and dropped the transparent tablet onto the carpeted floor, reflexively pushing his chair back away from it and standing up. Agent Chase rushed around the desk, drawing his service weapon and pointing it at the tablet.

“What the hell was that?” he asked looking at the agent. “You heard that too, right? I didn’t imagine that that thing just spoke?”

“No, Mr. President, you didn’t imagine it,” said an image that had appeared within the transparency. “I’m Mark Richards. We spoke yesterday.”

The agent kept his gun pointed at the device lying on the floor.

“I guess you must be Dan Chase,” Mark said with a grin while putting his hands up halfway. “You can put that away, I’m unarmed.”

Agent Chase holstered his weapon and reached down to retrieve the tablet. He turned it over looking at it from all sides. The image was three-dimensional and identical when viewed from the front or back, but from the sides you could still see straight through the transparency.

“Hey watch it, you’re making me dizzy!” Mark joked, trying to lighten the tension in the room.

“Give me that,” said President Stone holding out his hand.

Agent Chase handed it to him and the president sat down with it behind his desk.

“So are you Mark Richards,” the president stated, staring at the perfect miniature three-dimensional image. “What is this and how did you get it onto the White House roof?”

“What you have is a kind of communications interface, Mr. President,” Mark said. “I had a spaceship drop it on the roof. I couldn’t think of any other way to get you to listen after you hung up on me.”

“Well, I’m listening now. I’ve never seen anything like this, was it built by aliens?”

“Yes, Mr. President, it was, and I am on an alien ship just as I tried to explain yesterday.”

“I assume that this is your image. You look human, how exactly did you get aboard an alien spaceship, and where exactly is this ship anyway? You would think someone might notice a spaceship in orbit.”

“I am human, Mr. President. The ship isn’t actually in orbit, at least not in Earth’s orbit. It’s behind the Moon right now. As to how I got here, well that’s a story for another day. Now, the reason I have been trying to get in touch with you is that I need some help.”

“Let me see if I’ve got this,” President Stone said. “You are on an alien spaceship and you need MY help. Do you need a ride home or something?”

“I’m sorry, I should rephrase that Mr. President. I need help from you in order to help the Earth.”

“Help the Earth? What do you mean, Mr. Richards, just what kind of help are you looking for?”

“What I need Mr. President, are some scientists to help me and CJ determine the best ways to fix the Earth’s environment. You see, I’m in charge and unsure how to proceed.”

“You’re in charge - of an alien spaceship? How did that happen? Aren’t there aliens there? Who is this CJ?”

“No, it’s just me and the computer that runs the ship. His name is CJ. Say hello to the president, CJ.”

“Hello, Mr. President. It is good to communicate with you.”

“Uh, hello CJ,” the president replied. “So you’re a computer?”

“Correct, President Stone. I am an artificial intelligence and I control the vessel’s computers.”

“What kind of ship is it, Mr. Richards, can you give us more information?”

“CJ, transmit the data on this ship to the pad, please. It should be coming through now, Mr. President.”

Mark’s image disappeared and a strange image took his place. It rotated in all three dimensions and lines of scrolling text appeared below it. While they had been speaking, the Secretary of Defense, Robert Hayes and Vice President Foster had arrived.

“This is a picture of the ship, Mr. Richards?”

“Yes, Mr. President. That’s correct.” Mark said.

“Doug, Rob, come around here. I want you two to take a look at this.”

“What is that, Mr. President?” asked Vice President Foster. When he got close enough to see what the president held, he froze. Pointing at the device, he said. “Where did that come from, Roger?”

“I’ll get to that in a minute; just take a look at what’s on it.” He held it up for them.

The image looked like some kind of a long irregular surfaced cylinder.

“That’s a picture of a spaceship,” the president said. “I’m talking with someone who claims he is on it.”

“What kind of hogwash is this, Roger?” asked Vice President Foster. “That isn’t a spaceship! Who’s been telling you that?”

“Well, Mr. Vice President, if you like, I can have CJ move us out of the moon’s shadow and you can point a telescope, or even a decent pair of binoculars in our direction. You shouldn’t have any trouble spotting something the size of this ship. Of course, you may be sharing the view with a couple hundred amateur astronomers. I thought it would be best not to reveal this to the public just yet, but if you don’t mind then I don’t either.”

Both men jumped a bit at the sound of Mark’s voice coming from the tablet.

“That’s Mark Richards,” the president said pointing to the tablet. “I told you that we have been speaking.”

Secretary Hayes looked closer at the text under the image.

“My God, Mr. President,” the Defense Secretary said, “If this is accurate data, that thing is gigantic!” Doing some quick metric conversions in his head he continued.

“Three miles long, over half a mile in diameter and roughly a hundred million tons! Jesus, imagine the amount of power necessary just to move something that size through space.”

“Yes, that data is correct, Mr. Secretary,” Mark said.

“Where exactly did that ship come from?” the president asked. “What is the purpose of this visit to our planet and how long has it been here?”

“There was an accident with an experimental drive system. CJ’s home system is thousands of light years away. As to how long he’s been here, not that long but he arrived outside the Solar System five years ago, Mr. President.”

“Five years ago,” President Stone said, and then it dawned on him. “You don’t mean that that explosion in space was caused by the arrival of this ship?”

“Yes, Mr. President,” Mark said. “It happened when the ship arrived.”

“How could an engine cause an explosion that big,” the vice president said incredulously. “Our scientists said it was a supernova.”

“Negative, Mr. Vice President,” CJ said. “That was an incorrect assessment. The incident was caused by a catastrophic failure and detonation of the vessels experimental engine module.”

“Do you realize just how many hundreds of billions of dollars in damage was caused to this country alone, not even taking into account the launch costs of replacing all the destroyed satellites? You caused an unbelievable loss of life, tens of thousands including the men and women aboard the International Space Station,” said the president.

Mark’s face replaced the image and specs of the ship once again. He had to intervene before the conversation got out of hand. “Mr. President, it was a terrible accident and not CJ’s fault. You should know that all of his crew was killed as well.” Mark stopped and took a deep breath before continuing. “Look, he can help us, and the fact is; the planet needs help. What is past is past and we can’t dwell on it. Let’s look to the future instead. This ship contains a tremendous amount of advanced technology. We have been given an amazing opportunity to make a difference in the world.”

“You say that you are in charge of that ship, Mr. Richards?” asked the vice president.

“That’s correct Mr. Vice President,” Mark said. “When I was brought on board CJ said that he would follow my orders.”

The president took over the conversation once again. “We, of course, have a million questions, but that should wait until we have qualified people asking them. In the meantime, you will have our cooperation. Top scientists can be made available, but from which scientific fields?

“Climate and ecology specialists mostly,” he said. “If some experts on the oceans and climate change could attend, that would be helpful.”

“We will arrange for a group of scientists to come to the White House within a few days. I assume you will be able to get here on your own.”

“Certainly, Mr. President. CJ can provide transportation for me. You can reach me by picking up and speaking to the pad, just call me when you are ready.”

“We will be in touch with you soon, Mr. Richards, goodbye.”

“Goodbye, Mr. President. Thank you for your time.” Mark’s image disappeared and the image of the ship along with the data was displayed again.

“I feel much better now, CJ. With the advice of the scientists we can really begin to address some of the world’s problems. In a few days I will meet with the president and his scientists to plan out a strategy. In spite of the tanker disaster I think it’s going to be ok.”

“Affirmative, Mark. It appears to be a promising start.”