Excerpts

Fairfax, VA

Deep sleep had finally descended on Jack Forester after tossing and turning for what seemed like hours. It had been a hectic day of briefings, meetings and finally a private dinner with the current CIA Director, Bill Reynolds. The phone was ringing for the fifth time and Jack was suddenly awakened from his hard earned deep sleep. It was a phone call with the potential to invariably alter the entire infrastructure of the U.S. government in Washington, D.C. from top to bottom.

As he picked up the receiver and said hello, he developed goose bumps and chills. He knew instinctively it was the call he had dreaded would come someday, that Project Galaxy would be exposed to the whole world and he would have to face a ravenous press, an unbelieving Congress and the President. The frantic, almost hysterical voice of George Chambers on the other end of the line was telling him there had been a breach in security and that damage control was in progress. Jack was almost certain that the breach was uncontrollable and that the news would soon stun the world's capitals and leaders. The entire planet would finally know the true story behind the UFO sightings of the past 40 years.

As Jack hung up the phone, his mind racing, he tried to figure out what needed to be done. He fumbled around in the dark and instinctively picked up his silk robe, putting it on without turning on the light so Kate, his wife of some 30 years, could get back to sleep having been awakened by the call.

Going down the stairs in the dark, he chillingly remembered the first days of Project Galaxy. It was back in 1954 when he first saw the Navy directive calling for volunteers for Antarctic duty with Antarctic Development Squadron Six. He had learned from the old, war seasoned veterans that volunteering for any duty was not the thing to do but he curiously read the directive anyway. Hey, he said to himself, after a tour of duty flying with the Hurricane Hunters, flying in Antarctica can't be all that bad. He submitted his letter to the Bureau of Naval Personnel, Washington, D.C., requesting Antarctic duty with Antarctic Development Squadron Six. About a month later he received Temporary Additional Duty orders to report to the Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River, Maryland, for psychological screening. All personnel had to be screened to ensure they were mentally stable because of the isolated duty in Antarctica. He would find out later that although the screening was psychological it was for two entirely different reasons. As a young Navy Lieutenant who had handled stressful situations in the past, he knew he would have no problem getting past the "shrink."

Jack reported as ordered to NAS Patuxent River after driving for two days from Jacksonville, Florida, in his powder blue and white 1953 Oldsmobile Starfire Convertible. The car was a leftover from the earlier days of his bachelorhood when fast women and hot cars were the best mode for relaxing or was it the other way around. It had been a stressful drive to Patuxent River. He had departed Jacksonville about 8:00 p.m. the previous day and had traveled on the main highways which went through every little town and large city on the East Coast. It was almost impossible to make good time as the reduced speed in each town and sometimes stopping for the only red light in town slowed progress to a near crawl.

He was twenty-eight when he met Kate during that early tour with the Hurricane Hunters in Jacksonville. He had dated her a few times and finally gotten her to bed in his room in the Bachelor Officers Quarters (BOQ). When he first saw her in the dim light as she undressed he thought what a sensuous woman. She had milky white skin with measurements of 39-26-36 set on a 5'7" frame with beautiful short-coiled golden hair and sky blue eyes, which could put Paul Newman to shame. She always had a cute little smile and exuded a wry sense of humor. Little did he realize that after only a few months he would fall in love and marry her.