The press conferences on Johnson’s Ridge were held daily at one o’clock. Pool reporters, wearing pressure suits, had visited the galaxy terminus, which seemed to be located on an off-world platform. No one knew for certain, because no exit from the chamber could be found. But if it was indeed off-world, then it followed that artificial gravity was now within reach. An expedition was being planned.
Today, however, no one was interested in anything other than the Visitor.
Flanked by Adam Sky, April began by issuing a short statement that admitted a remote possibility that something might have come through the port. “We don’t think so,” she said. “We are reasonably sure that the only thing that happened was a brief malfunction. The malfunction opened a channel between Johnson’s Ridge and one of the terminus worlds.”
“The Maze?” asked Peter Arnett of CNN.
“Yes,” she said.
“April,” he pursued, “when are you going to open it up for us? The Maze?”
“As soon as we can be sure it’s not inhabited, Peter.” (Wrong word: She should have said “not occupied.” Sounded less ominous.) “But I’d like to reiterate that we spent more than two hours over there. We saw no sign of life. And we were in no way molested, attacked, or threatened by anyone. After we returned, the system reactivated on its own. No one appeared, and there was no evidence to suggest it was anything but a malfunction. And I hope this puts the rumors to rest.”
“You saw nothing at all?” asked Le Parisien.
“That’s correct.”
“But that’s what you’d expect to see, isn’t it,” asked the London Times, “if the creature was invisible?”
“How can I respond to that?” asked April. “We didn’t see anything. More than that I can’t say. If the Times wants to speculate, go ahead.”
“How do you account for Deekin’s statements?” asked a reporter from Pravda. “Deekin swears something came across.”
April allowed herself to look distressed. “You’ll have to ask Dr. Deekin about that.”
Reporters, like everyone else, love a good story. And April knew they were torn between their natural skepticism and an unexpressed hope that there was something to the rumor. Everyone understood that this was the sort of thing that sold newspapers. A lot of newspapers.
She had, of course, been less than candid. The guard who had seen the wrong icon light up had been George Freewater. George also believed something had come across. But they had learned the danger of going public with everything they knew.
“Tell a press conference what we really think,” Max had said, “and we’ll have a panic.”
Adam had disagreed. “Nobody’s going to panic. That’s government-speak. I think we’d do best to tell the truth.”
“Truth is overrated,” Max had said, looking wearily at him. “Have you been out to any of these towns lately? They’re barring the doors at night. And you won’t find many kids outside.”
The News at Noon, KLMR-TV, Fargo
Anchor: More strange goings-on in and around Fort Moxie today, Julie. First we have an exclusive interview with the man who claims to have spoken to the invisible creature that is haunting the border area.
(Cut to aerial shot of the railhead, where we see the depot and a line of tankers and empty flatcars; back off gradually for perspective)
There’s another report on the town’s so-called Visitor. Carole Jensen is in Noyes, Minnesota.
(We see Jensen standing by a railroad track; a white tank car is behind her)
Jensen: This is where it happened, Claude. We are at the tiny depot in Noyes, Minnesota, about a mile south of the Canadian border. A railroad employee may have had an encounter here a couple of days ago with the unearthly thing that is reported to have escaped from the Roundhouse on Johnson’s Ridge. The employee, Curt Hollis, was taken to a local hospital after the incident, although he’s with us today and seems to be okay.
(Camera moves away; Hollis is standing beside the reporter)
How do you feel, Mr. Hollis?
Hollis: I’m okay, thank you.
Jensen: What actually happened here?
Hollis: (Nervously) There was something calling my name. The wind, it sounded like. (Tries to imitate sound)
Jensen: Did anyone else hear it?
Hollis: Yes. The inspector heard it. Ask her. It was here.
Jensen: Did it say anything else?
Hollis: Not words.
Jensen: Not words. What, then?
Hollis: I don’t know exactly. It made me feel funny.
Jensen: In what way, Mr. Hollis?
Hollis: Like I was flying. Listen, you want the truth, it scared the—(Hesitates) It scared me pretty bad.
Jensen: And what happened next?
Hollis: I passed out.
Jensen: So there you have it, Claude.
(Camera withdraws to long overhead shot of freight yard)
At least one other person heard a voice out here. Was this depot the scene earlier this week for an unearthly encounter? Or is it just one man’s imagination running wild in a place where a lot of people are reporting eerie events?
Anchor: Thanks, Carole. Now to Fort Moxie itself, for another report from Michael Wideman at the Backcountry Church, where the Project Forty religious television show was interrupted last night.
Participant
Holyoke Industries Pension Plan
Dear Retiree,
As you are aware, the economy has been going through an extremely difficult period. Pension funds are connected to the economic welfare of the nation, and ours is no exception. We have, over the years, made every effort to safeguard our resources by investing conservatively and prudently. But no amount of foresight could have predicted the downturn of the last several weeks, nor would any measures have guarded against it.
Your company’s pension plan, like that of many other corporations, has seen the value of its securities drop substantially over a matter of days. Fortunately we have a reserve fund set aside specifically to carry us through this kind of emergency. But the sheer scale of the problems now besetting the nation requires us to manage our reserves carefully. In order to ensure that you may continue to rely on your pension, your May payment will be reduced by $421.00 to $1,166.35. We hope that this reduction will be a one-time event only. Be assured that the trustees of the pension plan are doing everything in their power to safeguard our collective future.
We appreciate your support and understanding during this difficult period.
On the same day that Holyoke Industries mailed the bad news to its pensioners, a statement by Heinz Erhardt of the University of Berlin, last year’s Nobel Prize winner for economics, appeared in Der Tagesspiegel. Erhardt acknowledged that the world economy had been rocked by the news from North Dakota. “A short-term downturn,” he said, “is inevitable. But if technological applications in manufacturing and transportation become possible, as there is no reason to doubt they will, the world is headed into a period of prosperity unlike anything that has gone before.”