I didn’t sleep well that night. The hesitance on the phone only confirmed my fear. The Empire was here. But how was it possible? The Galactic Empire was just the figment of one man’s imagination, turned into the greatest Science Fiction phenomenon in the history of the Earth. Yet, there was at least 1 Star Destroyer in the solar system. I spent the night thinking out the possibilities.
Perhaps the broadcasts of the Star Wars movies had somehow reached some other planet, light-years away, and the inhabitants had used them as blueprints, and now they were coming to investigate the origin of the signal.
Or maybe it was just a strange coincidence.
I got up and was working on breakfast when the doorbell rang. I got there, and looked through the peephole. I saw two suits waiting there. I opened the door, after tying off my robe, and greeted the 2 men there.
“Can I help you?” I asked.
“Sir, we’d like you to come with us.” The one on the left said.
“What, now? Do you mind if I finish breakfast and get dressed?”
Upon finishing breakfast and getting dressed, I was escorted out of the house and told to sit in the back of a black car. I found myself going to the airport and taken on board what looked like a private jet. There, several more suits and 1 military man, a General, greeted me.
“Please, sit.” I was offered a plush seat. “Would you care for something to drink?”
The nice treatment made me uncomfortable.
Not answering the question, I spoke the first thing that came into my mind.
“General David Johnson, I presume? Now, either I’ve really screwed up my taxes this year, or you’re here because you want to know what I know about the Star Destroyers. Do I assume the intent of this meeting, accurately?”
“Right on the money.” The General replied. “And I hope you plan on being cooperative about the information you ha…”
I interrupted, “A threat?? Why this must be really important. Look, as I told the man on the phone last night, without more information, I can’t help you.”
“For reasons of national security, we can’t tell you anything more than that report.”
“General, I hate to say it, but if I was right about the size of the ship, you have much more to worry about than a little news report. This goes way beyond the scope of ‘national security’, sir. One of those ships can subjugate an entire world.” I retorted. I was somewhat stunned. They truly had no idea what was going on or the magnitude of this development.
I continued, “Look. I don’t want to hold anything back from you or the government, but I must have more information. If I can have the complete story, from the beginning, I can advise you and anyone else you might think will need to know this stuff.”
The General and some of the suits huddled and discussed the matter.
“Alright. You promise that if we give you all the information we have, that you will give us an idea of what we are dealing with?” asked the General.
I gave them my answer. “Deal. And if you continue to give me information, I can continue to give you information. Not to sound like I’m full of myself, but there are few in the world that know as much about this subject than I do. That is a plain and simple fact.”
“Good.” The General turned to a man at his side “Have the pilot prepare for takeoff.”
“Wait a second.” I interrupted. “Where are you taking me?”
“Washington D.C. If you expect to brief anyone that needs to know this information, we need to get you there. I will tell you what I can on the ride there.”
“Could I make a small request first?” I muttered. “Depending on how long I’m there, I may need another set of clothes, razor, toothbrush and that kind of stuff. Plus, if you want the definitive information, I have some books at my house that could help. I may be good, but I’m not perfect.”
The General paused, then turned to the 2 men that had brought me.
“Take him back to his house. Help him get whatever he needs.”
Turning to me, he said, “Take the time you need. 2 changes of clothes should be fine. You probably will not be in D.C. for long.”
With that I was taken home. I grabbed what books I could, stashed them in a book bag. Then I threw 2 changes of clothes in a small suitcase. I was in and out of the building in 20 minutes. We arrived back at the plane an hour after leaving, and were in the sky in 10 minutes.
I couldn’t believe it was happening. I was going to Washington D.C. to brief politicians and top-brass military about the situation. Once we were level and cruising, I was given the information I had wanted in the first place.
The General began:
“At approximately 2034 hours, 4 days ago, United States surveillance satellites began to detect a massive energy signature. The strange thing was, it was not familiar to any of the scientists, and it appeared to be emanating from somewhere off the planet. It wasn’t until about 30 hours later that we were able to get a reasonable estimate on the location of the power source. We steered several large telescopes to search the area. It took us the next 72 hours for us to find, and confirm exact location of the power. Several pictures were taken, and the worst looking one was given to the press. When we get to Washington, you can get a look at the rest. We have been monitoring the source, these triangular objects, Star Destroyers as you have called them, and they do appear to be moving towards Earth. When I left very early this morning, the ships were closing in on Jupiter’s orbit. At the clip they are moving, they should be orbiting the Earth in 36 to 48 hours.
We can estimate their size by referring to other objects in the solar system, and you are correct. They do appear to be around 1600M long. That was obviously not revealed to anyone on the outside, so that is why we knew you had information that could be helpful.”
I sat in awe. It was true. It was all true. There was no mistaking it. I hoped my jaw wasn’t very slacked. My greatest dreams had come true. We were all part of the Star Wars Universe.