Pilgrimage (The New World) (24 page)

In spite of the turbulent history that existed between the two men, Ross gave Davis Lee a call several months before to see if he needed anything. They were after all brothers of the Naval Academy class of 1972, so Ross wanted to make sure he was doing all right. Davis Lee carried sharpness in his tone when he said “I can’t believe a man who decided years ago to side with our two Yankee roommates, instead of a southern brother, is attempting to become the next President of the United States. There is no way that I need, or will accept, any help from such a traitor!” At that moment Ross knew that they would never have any further contact, and if he was to win the election he would inform the Secret Service to keep a watchful eye on the future actions of Davis Lee.

Now at his desk in the oval office Ross had completed the calls to the list of those he wished to thank, and was about to venture upstairs to the residence when Mrs. Patterson knocked on the door. Wendy had been his personal assistant for the twelve years he had served in the United States Senate, and there had never been a doubt in Ross’ mind that she would continue her excellence as a member of his White House staff.

As had always been her custom, she moved through the door without waiting for Ross to reply and offered an apology for the interruption. She informed Ross that she had just received a call from the Commandant of the Naval Academy, and he was respectfully requesting a moment of the Presidents time. With that Ross picked up the phone and greeted the Admiral on the other end of the line. A moment later Ross said he would be honored to do so, and would make sure his schedule remained clear.

As he hung up the phone and vocally summoned Mrs. Patterson back into the office, he glanced over to where the fishing pole and Grandpa Hank’s flag had their place of honor. Ross had placed them next to the mantle of the fireplace, which was the only spot in a room absent of corners that the fishing pole could lean without potentially falling over. He then took a glance and reached out to rub the emblem that he had worn around his neck for so many years. Before beginning his recent phone calls, Ross had removed the necklace and hung it from the reading lamp on the Presidential desk as a constant humbling reminder of his limited power.

As Wendy entered the oval office Ross beamed with excitement, and announced to her that he had just accepted an invitation to give the commencement address at the Naval Academy graduation for the class of 2017 during the upcoming spring. He was as honored to celebrate his forty-five year anniversary of graduating from the academy by delivering the speech, as they were to have him do so. Annapolis had just equaled the United States Military Academy at West Point by having a second graduate become Commander and Chief, and wanted to honor President Ross Martin for doing so.

THE ELECTION OF
2020 had gone much easier than the previous one, and President Ross Martin won a second term in office by an overwhelming margin of nearly seven to three in the nation’s popular vote. Within the Electoral College the margin had been even more lopsided, so Ross, and the remainder of his political party, had much to smile about.

The first four years of his presidency had gone very well for Ross and the nation as a whole, so the citizens of America had shown their faith in his ability to run the country for an additional four years. Of course those first four years almost didn’t happen, as Ross had won the election of 2016 by the narrowest of margins in a clean campaign that had a competent and viable candidate representing both sides of the isle. That in itself was somewhat of a shock for the standards of any election, but Ross had emerged as the man to follow the eight years of Barrack Obama. In this particular election, the other major party had put up a candidate that most viewed as inferior to Ross. That coupled with the positive upturn in the economy during the previous four years, had made the choice obvious for many of the voters.

Ross had become a seventy year-old man while on the campaign trail the previous summer, but looked and felt much younger. He had taken care of himself physically since he was a boy in Texas, and that attention to his health was paying off a dividend during his so called senior years. Patty was also still in good health, but her long straight blond hair of yesteryear had been replaced by a shorter cut of grey. She still possessed the intoxicating eyes and beautiful smile that had caught the attention of Ross nearly sixty years before, and he still believed a room looked better when she was in it.

Roughly four months after the election, a lull in the schedule would allow Ross to have a little downtime. In typical fashion the holiday season had been rather hectic, and that had been followed by his fifth state of the union address to Congress and the American people. February had then brought forth lots of foreign travel for diplomatic reasons, so Ross was ready to take advantage of the opportunity for a few days of peace and quiet. Normally in early March he would venture back to Texas if the schedule permitted, but in this case he felt the need to do something different.

The winter along the eastern seaboard had been rather mild that particular year, so there wasn’t much snow to speak of. With that in mind, Ross decided to visit Camp David in northern Maryland with as minimal amount of staff and secret service as possible. Ross really enjoyed the retreat that had been used by every President on numerous occasions during all seasons for well over half a century, but he usually only went there in the summer months. No one else in the family had ever really liked the retreat very much, especially in the winter time, so Ross knew he wouldn’t hurt anybody’s feelings by not inviting them.

With the exception of the White House itself, the grounds of Camp David were perhaps the most secure location on the entire planet for the President of the United States. For that reason it became a favorite place for Ross to visit as often as possible. Only there could he take a long walk through the woods by himself with no secret service standing in his shadow, so it was a great place to think. His protection detail knew to give him plenty of space, but Ross had agreed to always carry a whistle in the event he needed their assistance.

On this particular solitary walk, it also became a place where he was visited by an old acquaintance. As Ross rounded a gentle corner of the walking trail through the woods, a familiar figure was standing some twenty meters in front of him. He smiled, looked around carefully in all directions before speaking, and then softly said, “Hello old friend. It’s good to see you, but why have you returned for another visit?”

Ross had not expected to ever see the alien again, because their last meeting of nearly sixteen years before was supposed to be a final contact. At that time Ross had been informed that the aliens wanted to avoid further technological or spiritual contamination of Earth, so Ross was understandably surprised as he reached out with a welcome handshake.

Ross believed that the main topic of their conversation would be the human space endeavor, or recent lack of it, because mankind had not returned to the Moon since his mission more than thirty-five years before. Even the shuttle program had been discontinued for nearly a decade, as Atlantis had flown the final mission in the summer of 2011. The fleet had frankly outlived their original intended life span, but at this time there was no replacement that could serve as the next generation vehicle. All was not lost however, as in spite of drastic budget cuts to NASA during the time of Barrack Obama’s administration, the space program had not been completely abandoned. There was still an ongoing American presence at the International Space Station, but those astronauts needed to hitch a ride with the Soviets in order to get there. NASA was also involved in a few other unmanned projects, and had been able to get some good results with a program that sent small robotic probes to the surface of Mars.

The budget cuts to NASA had been necessary to help rebuild a national economy that had been left in ruins by former President George Bush, and Ross knew all too well that many other segments of American free enterprise had been hit just as hard. It had been a long slow process to bring back a healthy and robust economy for the nation, which had literally taken the entire eight years of the Obama administration and the first three of Ross Martin’s. With the unemployment levels back down to more satisfying numbers, and a strong housing market in place, Ross felt he could use his second term in office to help reestablish a larger budget for NASA. If successful, perhaps mankind could soon return to the Moon to construct a long term livable habitat as had been planned in the 1980’s.

As had been the case during their two previous encounters, Ross could hear the thoughts of the alien without ever seeing his mouth move. Unfortunately for Ross, his jaw fell wide open soon after they began to communicate. The alien had not returned to discuss how the people of
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, or Earth, had been advancing with their space station or the new wave of robotic probes sent to explore Mars, because they were well aware of that activity from their observations of us. The alien wanted to discuss something entirely different, but it did involve space.

Ross listened intently as the alien projected his thoughts towards him, and learned that the people on Earth who are responsible for gaining knowledge by studying the stars would soon discover that a large asteroid is headed in this direction. The discovery of the object will intrigue them enough to take a closer look at the trajectory, but they will inherently want to disbelieve their findings. Further meticulous examination will reveal that an impact is eminent, and they will not know what to do about it.

The alien continued by revealing that he had been sent to Earth by his superiors to inform Ross that the impact of that asteroid will alter the conditions that support life on the planet significantly. Although some may survive, most of the inhabitants be they human, animal, or plant life will perish. In conclusion, Ross heard that this knowledge was given to him well in advance of any discovery by the scientists of this planet. The reason for that was because of what Ross had done to help the alien tend to his friend during their first contact while on the surface of Earth’s moon. His humanitarian actions then, and at other times during his life, along with those of some other people from various areas around the planet, had showed the aliens that the human species had potential beyond the technological side. Their continued observations had also indicated that Ross currently held one of the most prestigious and powerful positions on the planet, and was therefore in a position to help save some of the species.

The news was beyond shocking, but Ross also knew that the source of the terrible information was reliable beyond the comprehension of most people on Earth. He knew he had to speak with his top scientific advisors as soon as possible about what was going to happen, and then somehow explain how he knew it was going to take place. Ross asked his alien friend the two part question of how long it would be until the astronomers of Earth discovered the asteroid, and how much longer after that would it be until the actual impact? What he heard as the response to his questions made Ross feel sick to his stomach, as he was informed that in roughly half a cycle around our host star the discovery would be made, and after that it would be almost one additional cycle before the impact. The main reason for the delay in the discovery was because Earth currently was in a position on the opposite side of our host star from the incoming direction of the asteroid.

Ross’ head was spinning at the thought of all that had been presented to him in the last few minutes, and his first action at the conclusion of this encounter would be to speak with his sister Jessica about it. He quietly thanked his alien friend for the incredible, yet horrifying, information and his civilizations’ concern about the people of Earth. Ross offered a quick handshake, and took a look around in all directions before they went their separate ways.