Chapter 5

Everything had gone terribly wrong, and no amount of explanation would change things. That they were fired upon convinced the duo that their freedom was never an option. They would have to go to plan B.

Eli had no trouble piloting the craft up the East River under water, the least likely retreat direction, while USAF aircraft made sweeps up and down the bay and up the Hudson River, albeit fruitlessly.

When the visitors were ready, they took to the skies so quickly that no craft, no missiles could even begin to catch them and they disappeared out of sight within moments.

They headed back to relative safety. They went back to Tranquility Base!

Their use of ID (InterDimensional) space made it seem to people on Earth that they could achieve speeds near a million MPH because they were already broadcasting within twenty minutes. At this point, they LET people believe they could go that fast.

Enoch spoke:

"In full view of the world, we came in peace; and before we even disembarked, we were forced to defend ourselves."

"We performed two acts of mercy and our reward was another attack."

"It is now clear to us that our ship is being coveted by every single entity that wishes to instantly transform itself into a political power, or to increase that which they already have!"

"This can never be allowed to happen."

"When we return to become citizens of Earth, we will vaporize this ship. It interferes with most computers on the planet, anyway, and the technology is certainly something Earth is not ready to assimilate safely."

"There are wars not too distant in the future in which extremely deadly pestilences will be released into the atmosphere. We have experienced these ugly degenerations in our own past, and our DNA has become hardened with immunizing antibodies."

"Since we only have the limited blood supply that any body contains, we must produce offspring, if we're not too late, that will help future generations ward off these pestilences."

"We assume there will be volunteers to carry these offspring."

"Ah, but first... What happened down there on Ellis Island? What happened on our way there? We want to hear the truth so we may have confidence in the media."

"We're waiting."

So went Enoch's address to humanity as more and more people from around the globe tuned in.

Initial reports were sketchy at best. The Holmes family refused to talk to anyone in the press, and Ted Flagget was locked in a very special debriefing with the President.

It went this way:

"Sir, the craft never fired on me. They actually saved my ass with that particle beam, if that's what your space geeks call it. The loud hum from their craft seemed to vibrate the atmosphere itself. It definitely interfered with computer guidance, yes. A threat to national security? They were not at all hostile, sir."

One of the media's 'secret' sources for prohibited information leaks is our own technology. Any time a cell phone is used, it is subject to eavesdropping. This little 'failing' became a form of salvation, for Molly's parents were totally oblivious to their lack of privacy. After they took Molly to the cancer center to confirm the child's story, they awaited the response.

The doctor called the Holmes residence by land line, but the Secret Service was tapping the line. What's more, the idiots in the truck were communicating by cell phone!

That's how the media got wind of the cancer story, and it made for enormous ratings for whomever aired it first!

Channel 5 got it first and beyond the temerity to broadcast it first, they invited Enoch to interview exclusively with them about it.

First question: "Why didn't you tell anyone you were curing the girl's cancer?"

Enoch said, "Who would have believed me if I claimed that? Besides, I didn't have to remove any of her clothing."

Channel 5: "We have analyzed the radio intercepts from the F-16s over the bay and we heard that you vaporized an incoming missile, saving one of our pilots. But why not also intecept the missile HE fired toward the bay?"