“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.
J. B. Haldway, Acting Director
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.”
Nobody seemed to be listening. By day’s end, the Dow Jones was down another 240 points and still looking for a floor.
Larry King Live. Guest: Dr. Edward Bannerman of the Institute for Advanced Study.
King: Dr. Bannerman, you’ve been quoted as saying that the big news is the so-called galaxy world. Why is that?
Bannerman: (Laughs) Larry, this is all pretty big news. But the possibility that the chamber in which Arky Redfern died is actually located off-world is a monumental development in a series of incredible events.
King: Why?
Bannerman: I’m talking in practical terms now.
King: Okay.
Bannerman: The people fell down in that room. The reports indicate that the galaxy has not changed its position in the window. Therefore the facility, whatever it is, is not rotating. Or if it is, it is doing so very slowly. Now, that’s important because it implies that if the site is not located on a planetary surface, it incorporates artificial gravity.
King: I can see why that might have some importance. But—
Bannerman: Larry, if we can create artificial gravity, we can probably reduce, or even eliminate, gravity’s effects. I’m talking about antigravity. Think what it would mean to the average householder, for example. Want to move that sofa? Slap an antigravity disk on it and float it into the next room.
Horace Gibson had started life as an insurance salesman. Bored, he’d joined the Marines, risen to command a battalion, and won a Silver Star in the Gulf and the Medal of Honor in Johannesburg. His units had collected enough citations to paper his den. In 1996 he’d retired, tried another civilian occupation, real estate this time, and lasted almost a year. On the anniversary of his retirement from the Corps, he joined the U.S. Marshals Service.
Within two years he had become commander of the Special Operations Group (SOG). SOG was the marshals’ SWAT team, based in Pineville, Louisiana.
Horace was liked by his people. He was willing to take on upper management when occasion required, and he did not spare himself in ensuring that operations were carried out for maximum success with least risk.
He was twice divorced. His life had been too mobile and too erratic for either of his ex-wives. He had two sons, both of whom (with some justification) blamed Horace for the domestic failures, and whose relationships with their father were cool. Horace had found nothing to replace the wreckage of his personal life, and consequently he worked too many hours. His boss, Carl Rossini, liked to joke that Horace needed a woman in his life. He did, and he knew it.
Meantime, Horace took his entertainments where he could find them. These were growing fewer with the passing years, a result of his own aging and the narrowing of his taste. But there were occasional delights, one of which took the form of Emily Passenger, a gorgeous young woman he’d met at a fund-raiser for the Pineville library. They’d gone to dinner several times, seen a couple of shows, and had taken to jogging together. He had noted some reluctance on her part, however, toward pursuing a relationship, and he ascribed it to his track record. She did not want to become a third casualty.
Consequently Horace had embarked on a campaign to demonstrate that he was now both mature and thoroughly domesticated. The first step was to invite her for dinner at his place, and when she agreed, he had enthusiastically set about preparing the evening. He got in a couple of T-bones and an expensive bottle of champagne, invested in a kerosene lamp, which would help provide an offbeat atmosphere, and spent the day cleaning up. That evening, twenty minutes after he’d opened the champagne, his phone rang.