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Apol o 918 The trip of no return
14
Joseph Thomas
Norfolk. Virginia. September 2021
The country has been at war five years, the enemy
coalition had finally launched their attack and World
War III took millions of lives. The bombings were
launched from thousands of miles away, missiles
crossing the oceans trying to hit the major cities of the
world. The planet was divided into two camps: The
Western coalition formed by the United States and
most European countries, and the enemy coalition
which contained several extremist groups. Which for
so many years had tried to control the world. World
leaders never measured the consequences of a war of
this magnitude.
The enemy groups had joined military arsenals and
joining the socialist governments in Latin America,
the military bases in the region had prepared for more
than two years the deathly blow against the city of
Miami. The same day from Asia were launched long-
range missiles against major European capitals, to
start this war, the president and commander in chief
of the U.S. forces ordered to respond the attack, even
at the risk of knowing that the enemies were in
possession of nuclear weapons that could have
serious consequences for humanity.
The fate of civilization was foreseen. The third world
war could destroy the planet if unleashed an atomic
attack. Since Hiroshima and Nagasaki, such
weapons had not been created, these were two
hundred times more powerful, if one of the two sides
launched a nuclear warhead, the other group would
respond in the same way.
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Apol o 918 The trip of no return
The coalition of U.S. and European countries had
easily mastered the Americas. The bases in the South
American territory had not been a big problem for the
U.S. Marines, the bad news came when closely
guarded stockpiles were found in the Venezuelan
Andes. Six nuclear warheads. If there were such
weapons, it was the confirmation that the enemy had
managed to manufacture these weapons. The whole
world was on alert number 1.
*********
The phone rang on my desk, I had been looking out
the window of my office in the commanding
headquarters in Virginia. Only days ago I had
returned from the battle. The call came directly from
the Pentagon. I had to go to the president’s as soon as
possible.
I picked up some papers on my desk, put on my vest
which displayed my medals of colonel, walked into
the courtyard of the base. There a helicopter was
waiting for me. A something in my gut told me that
something serious was about to happen. I remained
startled for the two hour journey.
*********
The Pentagon was quiet, the wide hallways were
desolate. I was received by an infantry general named
Kennedy. Without a word and with a simple gesture
of his right hand told me to follow him, leading me to
a small elevator that would take us to the bunkers in
the basements. I arrived at the office there was the
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Joseph Thomas
president himself waiting, I noticed his tired face, in
his eyes you could see the several days without sleep,
was taking a toll on him. He had a white shirt with
rolled sleeves to mid-arm, it seemed he had not
changed in days.
There were also several generals, all with the same
face of concern. I did not understand why I was cited
to this high-level meeting when I all took with me
was my vest with my medals on it. With a military
salute one of them ordered me to sit. Behind the table
a screen reflected a world map, with different colors
where I could see the territories that we had won and
small spaces that were still dominated by our
enemies. The deep voice of General Pot, military and
counterintelligence adviser to the president, began the
concerned meeting.
- Gentlemen, you have all been summoned to this
meeting to give you extremely classified information.
Our intelligence agencies have sent us a report
informing us that the commander of the enemy force
is launching the first nuclear attack on Europe and the
U.S second. We are doing everything possible to
avoid this catastrophe, but have not yet located the
exact point where these weapons are hidden. If this
attack happens life on the planet is at risk of
disappearing. Now they will be taken to a secret
facility of the department of defense, I think it is
worth mentioning that what you are about to see is of
extreme secrecy.
You could see the faces of concern and curiosity
everyone sitting at oval table. No one dared to utter a
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Apol o 918 The trip of no return
word. The president was at the table with his hands
covering his face, General Pot had to let him know
twice that the meeting was over. We all left from the
opposite end to which we had entered, another
elevator, this time bigger, with access to a courtyard
of the Pentagon unknown. There, a twin-engine
Cessna-340 plane was waiting.
*********
We flew several cities over Canada to enter the
territory of Alaska. At this time of the year, the snow
had covered part of the ground like a big white
blanket on the ground. Inside the plane were fur coats
to protect us from the cold. The pilot, a master in
admiration, managed to land on a firm frozen lake. I
was surprised when, poking my head outside, I saw
many dogs and several sleds.
The silence was still ruling the environment, in the
president's face increased signs fatigue and worry.
We spent exactly 53 minutes traveling by sleds. A
man who led the group in front, never showed his
face, one because of the heavy clothing he was
wearing and another because it was an order not to be
seen, he stopped between two hills, so high that their
tops were visible.
I had my right hand on the gun on my waist. There
was nothing there, just snow and rocks and I was
afraid it was an attack, but suddenly a big rock started
moving revealing a tunnel out of the same stone.
Nobody mentioned a word, the huge stone closed
behind us as we entered.
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Joseph Thomas
I lost count of how many times we went left or right.
Obviously we were in a maze of which we had to
pass several checkpoints, General Pot showed the
identification he carried on his left hand, and the
soldiers opened the doors to clear our path.
We reached the end where a thick metal door step
stopped us. This time the General raised his hand and
placed it in a hole in the stone. Typed a secret code
and the double door opened. An elevator swallowed
us all. I felt a strange sensation as we descended, 7
minutes and 33 seconds-long journey to the depths,
which by my calculations and my military experience
told me that we were more than 500 meters below
ground level. At the end of the fall, we stopped and
the elevator opened. Another corridor between the
stone, but this time shorter, until I walked through a
door that led us to an office. As my eyes adjusted to
the light that attacked us in that room, I could see
clearly that there was only a round table with only
eleven chairs, against these, eleven refractive
monitors all identical in the air, on the wall to my
right another monitor, but of a larger dimension, on
the left a duplicate of the world map I saw at the
Pentagon, with the same colors marking territories,
the only difference about this one was ten points of
the same size were scattered throughout the map. In
front of me, a very dense brown curtain covered the
entire wall. This time it was General Smith who broke
the silence.
- We're here because it's time to reveal our plan
against possible attacks from enemy forces. If that
were
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Apol o 918 The trip of no return
to happen in the next 72 hours, if our enemies were to
activate all they’re nuclear warheads, which at least
we think they have about ten, the planet would not
survive, the air would be unbreathable, all our species
would disappear. The destruction would be complete.
Our allies also have similar facilities like this one and
also share our plan. Gentlemen, it's time to introduce
to you Apollo 918, our newest Noah’s Ark.
The brown curtain opened. Behind this, a glass let our
eyes look into at a huge hangar the size of the
spacecraft for which it was designed, it was a floating
city. Our view was lost, we could not figure out
where it began or ended, it was a masterpiece of
science and technology, we were in it, around the, a
gate on the side of the ship swallowed trucks, with
what I assumed was necessary supplies. Finally, after
so many hours I heard the voice of the President.
- We have gathered together the efforts of all the
scientists in our Allied countries, including this one,
now we have 3 ships, ready to take off into space. We
conducted a selection process, as we cannot save all
our citizens. We cannot, do not have time. We have
chosen mainly young ones. I want to make it clear
that the economic status for this selection was not a
factor, our lists are of the best students of each
university, divided into specialties. Also as many
children as possible, prominent figures of art and
literature, scientists, doctors, all have been medically
checked in depth. We want you on this ship, out of
this catastrophe, we need to save the best of our
society and nation, let this group of American men
and women rebuild the nation or otherwise, start at
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Joseph Thomas
another destination.
We also have a section of the ship where we will save
at least a couple of copies of each plant and animal
species, genetic laboratories, are cloning the process
and will be determining the power of each to
regenerate, depending on the time delay. We also
have workshops with the latest technology, the
highest level hospitals, technical and scientific
personnel. In other words, this ship, has everything
you need.
I realized the seriousness of the matter. What I did not
fully understand was why they had chosen me, what
role was I to play in all of this, I am a young man, I’m
43 years old, although I had reached several colonel
status, 14 search and rescue missions even in the most
difficult terrain, the military were my endorsement,
but I knew nothing of outer space, although I am a
pilot, I knew nothing about the spacecraft.
An elderly man in a white coat, entered the room
where we were. He only greeted the president and he
introduced him as Dr. Hans, the most experienced of
all the scientists who worked on this project. The man
took a remote control from the table and all monitors
were lit, images began to appear in front of us, while
the scientist spoke.
- The risk of those ten warheads exploding are of
incalculable damage to our planet and that would be
irreversible, all our species would disappear, and life
as we know it, the decomposition of the atom as a
weapon of war reduces everything on its path in a
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Apol o 918 The trip of no return
field of thousands of miles around, any point on the
planet would not be safe, oceans would reach
unimaginable temperatures, it would destroy the
ozone layer, the sun’s ultraviolet rays would not have
anything in their path to stop them, in realistic terms,
it would cook the surface. If this happens, and this is
the best of forecast, we could not make it back to
Earth until at least 15 years have passed, this hoping
that the impact would not move the planet out of it’s
orbit. If this were to happen, the option of returning
would be out of the question. Right now our elite
group of astronomers are looking into the nearest
galaxies, a planet where we can start life over and
settle our culture. But so far, we have not found
anything.
On the monitors, while this man talked, we saw
three-dimensional images of what could happen. In
front of my eyes I saw the whole planet blow off and
the blue areas were disappearing.
The man was about to leave, justifying that he should
continue to work, he walked to the door, one of the
generals who was at the table, asked a question that
stopped the scientist on his course.
- Why did we allow our enemies to build these
weapons?
The white-coated man took a 180 degree turn, staring
at the general and answered.
- The permit was given to them the day the first bomb
was built - He turned around and left.
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Joseph Thomas
The monitors remained with the frozen images of the
earth completely destroyed, we only listen to the
commotion of trucks entering the ship when the
rubber of their wheels touched the entrance of the
vast spaceship, a sound I will never forget.
General Pot, chief operating officer of Apollo 918’s
secret plan stood up, walked over to the glass window
standing with his back of the window, stared at me,
and began to give me orders which explained why I
was there.
- Colonel Paul, you have 20 hours to choose among
your troops 100 of your best top qualified marines,
preferably the ones that are not married, or do not
have children, it's hard to say but we cannot afford
more people on the ship. I understand this serious and
painful situation that I'm putting you it, but you must
understand that it is necessary. You were chosen to
command the Apollo 918’s security. In your
experienced
hands
we
have
delegated
the
responsibility of caring for the stability and
tranquility of civilians chosen to board the ship. We
are all here. We are supplying you with the floor
plans of all levels of Apollo 918, we rely on your sole
discretion. You need to come back tomorrow at
14:00. The routine is the same. Outside is a plane that
will take you back to your headquarters, make sure
upon your return you bring with you your men.
I stood up, and with a military salute, walked up to
the door opposite where the scientist had left minutes
earlier. I felt behind me the voice of the president
when he called my name, with just a twist of my
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Apol o 918 The trip of no return
shoulders to face the table. I saw in the eyes of the
man in the corner of the table, not the president of the
nation, this time, I managed to see the human being.
His voice was strong yet painful.
- May GOD bless you.
My answer was simple. It's almost with my back to
everyone, with the metal door opened hoping and
about to leave with concerns of my own, I replied.
- May GOD bless America.
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Joseph Thomas