Communique Whisper

“Wilson Harden please call Central Communication immediately.” An anxious voice sounded in my headset.

“We are trying to verify what happened.” I answered.

“I need you up here immediately.” It was my supervisor Lance Mulligan.

“I will be up there in three minutes.” I replied calmly as Seth Bronkowski was still shaking from what had just happened. “I am trying to verify the transmission.”

“We need to you up here now.” Lance sounded too insistent to ignore.

“Seth?” When I tapped him on his shoulder. He nearly launched himself from his chair.

“God…I heard…like a whisper.” He shook his head.

“We have a recording.” I tried to smile, but the whole floor operation of sixty operators had been really rattled. Seth was trying to calm himself, but I could see in his piercing blue eyes, he was severely shaken. Who wouldn’t be? Taking a deep breath, I said to him, “I’m going upstairs to talk to Mr. Mulligan.”

“Yeah.” His voice had no energy to it and he removed his headset.

“BRB.” I shrugged.

“I…heard…it.” Seth eyes conveyed his apprehension.

“I know.” I nodded before walking toward the door.

“Hey, are we going to be okay?” Ken Foster asked as I passed his station.

“I sure as hell hope so.” I sighed and patted him on the shoulder.

“Stuff like this isn’t supposed to happen.” He shook his head, peering at me from the top of his glasses. His face hid a hundred primal fears that we were all feeling at that moment.

It took me a minute to scale the stairs up to Central Control where Lance Mulligan was sitting with Central Control, a board of sixteen advisors who were experts in satellite communications. Walking into the door, I immediately had thirty-four eyes turned toward me.

“Gentlemen.” I nodded and smiled.

“What the hell is going on down there?” Lance greeted me as I walked into the conference room.

“We heard a whisper.” I shrugged.

“From where?” Nolan Jerritt asked who was sitting to Mr. Mulligan’s right at the circular table.

“Beats me?” I sat in an empty chair, “We are trying to locate it now.”

“Any leads?” Lance stood up, leaning on the table. Lance had been a company man from the first day I was assigned to this top-secret center. A little thick in the middle and thinning hair on top with streaks of gray starting to burst through, he always demanded full cooperation from those under his supervision which was everyone in the ugly cement government building.

“No.” I shook my head. I could see his cheeks flushed with a tinge of red.

“This is quite disturbing, doncha think?” Al Whitaker interjected.

“I do, but I am not going ride through the streets shouting a warning like Paul Revere either.” I leaned back knowing my blunt remark would piss some of them off.

“We need to find out now.” Lance jabbed his finger into the table.

“Wasn’t it just a whisper?” Nancy Collins asked glancing around the table.

“A very faint whisper.” I raised an eyebrow.

“Which was recorded.” Lance nodded as he squinted at me.

“Barely perceptible.” I held up my index finger almost touching my thumb.

“I do not believe this communique came from an unidentified source.” Tristian Marm shook his head as he looked at Lance.

“We cannot jump to conclusions.” I shook my head.

“But we already have.” Helen Wagner spoke with a slight head nod. An expert in the field of astronomy, Helen was the guru of space as far as we were concerned. She had written many papers on some of the theories of Dr. Stephen Hawking when she was working with him on his research. Even Lance Mulligan gave her creedence in many matters of astronomy. “I would advise caution.”

“And what do you advise, MS Wagner?” I ask with a grin on my face.

“The media has makes things like this into a jumbo headline.” She crossed her arms across her chest after giving me the death-stare.

“We will make sure nothing is revealed until we know for certain the source of the whisper.” I swished the word around in my playfully mouth like my mouthwash. She gave me a stare that might have killed me if I was looking directly into her eyes.

“Whisper?” Lance shrugged. “Was that all it was?”

“It was a sound that we could not identify.” I answered as the rest of the people around the table began to fidget. “We have been working on the mystery since it was heard by Seth Bronkowski at fourteen hundred twenty-six Zulu.”

Some of the people at the table instantaneously consulted their wrist watches.

“Twenty-nine minutes ago.” I smiled as I leaned back in my chair.

“Mr. Harden, is all this a joke to you?” MS Wagner snapped.

“No ma’am.” I shook my head knowing how hot her temper could get at time.

“Could be a meteor fart.” Al abruptly added which got some of the people around the table to chuckle breaking the tension.

“I would hope so.” I smirked. “Now if you’ll excuse me, we have a whisper to identify.”

I had heard the sound. It wasn’t made by a human. That much I was sure of. It would not hurt my feelings if MS Wagner put a pair of headphones on and see what she thought. There were a lot of speculation about random sounds made in outer space. While most people believe that space is a big black silent expanse, I have heard stories about some noises made that most people would never ever hear. When I first got into the business, it was due to an unknown transmission picked up by a satellite. No one to this day has ever identified what made the sound. I heard that sound too while I was training on this one, let me tell you, it was no meteor fart, that’s for sure.

My opinion there are too many possibilities for life on other planets, but the vastness of the universe could be an isolating factor of why we have never been contacted by other civilizations before. Lightyears are an incredible distance to travel since it takes light a whole year to travel one light year. Einstein theorized that nothing with mass could reach the speed of light in a vacuum (space). Incredible distance presents a formative barrier to intergalactical contact.

Until now.

Until received a communique.

A whisper.

Seth Bronkowski was still sitting at console with an expression of traumatic shock on his face. His jaw was still hanging open, his eyes were wide open.

“Hey Seth.” I put my hand next to his on the console. “Are you alright?”

“Another…whisper.” He pointed to the screen.

“Hit ‘replay.’ “I instructed him. Moving like a robot, he pressed the replay button.

“Arrrghhh labot bbbrrrruuupppttt.” It was still barely a whisper, but this recording produced definite audible utterances. While there seemed to be a lot of audio interference, I was able to distinguish each utterance. This was a lot more than a meteor fart.

“I don’t know what…” Seth swallowed his words.

“I have no idea what either.” I assured him.

“What do you think…” He swallowed his words again right along with his thoughts.

“Can I leave early?” He face was ashen white.

“Of course.” I patted him on the shoulder.

“Thanks boss.” He rubbed his eyes and stood up as if his legs could no longer support him.

“What are we going to do?” My assistant, Nick Rawlston asked.

“What is your professional opinion?” I asked as I hit the replay button.

He stroked his chin as he listened and shrugged, “In my opinion, it lookslike we are about to have company soon.”

Later that afternoon, I was called up to Lance Mulligan’s office where Nolan Jerritt and Helen Wagner were waiting. I felt as if I was summoned to my own execution.

“Have a seat.” Lance waved to the only empty chair in the room.

“What’s this?” I glanced at Helen and Nolan as I sat in the chair.

“We want to make our statement to the press as clear as possible.” Helen spoke first.

“Press?” I almost choked on the word.

“Yes, we need to make ourselves united in our story.” Nolan straightened his tie.

“And what is our story?” I leaned back in the chair as I sighed.

“A glitch in our equipment.” Helen lifted an eyebrow.

“It wasn’t a glitch.” I shook my head.

“Are we are certain?” Lance folded his hands on his desk. “Earlier in the day, you weren’t certain.”

“We had another-“I paused for a dramatic pause “Whisper. A susurration”

“Why have you not reported this?” Lance stretched his arms with his hands still folded.

“Things have been hectic on the floor.” I tilted my head to communicate how much I despised being here at this moment.

“Too hectic to send an email?” Lance squinted.

“So, what do we know now?” Lance tilted his head in the opposite direction.

“It was not a meteor fart.” I could not contain my smile.

“What was it?” Helen’s question was cutting.

“We don’t know for certain.” I folded my arms across my chest.

“Seems to be your go-to assessment.” She sneered.

“We don’t wish to make a quick assessment that may make it to the front page, now can we?” I dared to glance at her noting her obvious distain.

“We would like to report that there was a glitch.” Lance glanced at Nolan and Helen, “Anything else would difficult to expound upon. If we say that we have been contacted by some visitors from outer space, we might cause a panic.”

“I think it is wise not to miscalculate what has just happened and create a panic among the general public.” I cleared my throat, “But we must not disregard the evidence either.”

“I will make a public statement in the next few minutes, and I want everyone in agreement.” Lance’s face had hardened.

“I see.” I put my fingers under my chin. “I guess this meeting was a waste of time. I am putting the recording under analysis so we can determine what we have encountered.”

On my way out of Lance’s office I heard Helen use the word “rude.”

As I walked down the hall, I began think about when the center opened up. We laughed about being the big ear put in outer space. In a top-secret meeting, some of government officials presented persuasive evidence of alien close encounters of the second kind. Now that we were receiving this information on our own accord, we were quick to discount the evidence. What had given rise to the age of skepticism. When all the knowledge gained by scientific research had come under such scrutiny, that nothing was beyond questioning any longer. When was it everyone suddenly they could not trust in what they saw with their own eyes, felt with own hands, heard with their own ears. What would Lance tell the press if a spaceship landed in the Central Communications Complex grounds?

I had to smile as I thought of this.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the press, may I introduce some recent acquaintances of mine.” He would have his arms draped across the little green men’s shoulders, “These are just meteor farts.”

Applause.

Camera would capture the moment for posterity’s sake.

“Hey Wilson.” Nick greeted me, “Can I see you in your office?”

“Yeah.” I held out my hand as walked into my tiny office.

“Whisper.” He sat in the only extra chair in my office. He cleared his throat, “Was a transmission for an unidentified ship somewhere near Mars according to our tracking instruments.”

“I had a feeling.” He ran my hand over my face, “Upstairs they are discussing what they will say to the press.”

“I do not envy them.” His voice was somber as he brought his hand to his chin. “If we tell them what we have found, they may have a rugged road ahead.”

He turned on the screen.

Arrrghhh labot bbbrrrruuupppttt.

A jagged yellow line ran across the screen as the audio sounded.

“We still have no idea what this transmission means.” He put his hand to his chin as he pressed keys on his laptop that rested in his lap. “But from the analysis we have so far, we have collected, we are certain that this transmission came from a source from other than from this planet.”

“So, we are dealing with an alien?” I held out my hand with a flat palm.

“It would seem that way.” He nodded.

I rubbed my hands together and exhaled.

“I am trying to picture the reaction of Lance when I tell him this.” I chuckled.

“I know those folks upstairs don’t believe in alien contact.” Nick chuckled as he shook his head, “I do not envy you in the least.”

“Do you believe we have been contacted by aliens from another planet…I mean galaxy?” I asked folding my hands on my cluttered desk.

Arrrghhh labot bbbrrrruuupppttt.

“As much as I’m freaked out, after today, I am a believer.” He slumped his shoulders.

I rose to my feet and walked to the window that viewed the Central floor that was now empty and dark. My mind flashed to Seth’s horrified expression as he tried to find the words to describe his close encounter of the second kind.

What would my reaction have been if it had happened to me? There were so many things running through my mind as I viewed the dark empty room. All my life I had this feeling in my gut that we were not alone in the universe and now when there is a possibility of finding some evidence, I am scared down to my bones. What happens when I open a door I will not be able to close?

“Are you okay, Wilson?” Nick asks.

“I’m not sure to tell you the truth.” I shake my head. “All my life I wanted to believe in little green men. And now that we have possible proof, I’m not sure I want to open Pandora’s Box.”

“Yeah. I get it.” Nick sighs. “When I saw Seth’s face, all my excitement melted like an ice cube in the hot sun. There’s something about feeling this is it. We are not alone.”

“What if we start a panic?” I stuffed my hands in my pockets. “We could create a global crisis where thousands of people will be killed. You heard what happened with Orson Wells broadcast War of the Worlds and people panicked? It wasn’t even real. My grandfather told me about it. He was just a kid at the time.”

“Think about. Everyday we walk into this place and listen to nothing, but static. And after all that time he actually hear something. And nobody wants to admit it.” Nick tossed a balled-up piece of paper into the trash can.

“We’re afraid.” I lean my head back and close my eyes. I don’t like what I am seeing in the dark recesses of my mind. “It’s easier when it’s all make believe, but when it becomes real…well everything changes.”

“Are we going to pretend we never heard it?” Nick shrugs.

“You know we can’t do that.” I turn my head to him.

“I know how Lance will take it.”

“So do I.” I shake my head. All I can hear at this moment is the central air in the building. Listening to the rhythmic rumble, I am lulled into a soothing, peaceful chamber of my mind. This is the first time I have managed to escape the crisis surrounding me, threatening to suck me into whirlpool created by the faintest of susurration without a reliable translation.

The following day, Lance invited the press in to make a statement which was contrary to what really took place.

“Are you Wilson Harden?” A stranger asked me as I was exiting the briefing still fuming. He was wearing a suit beneath a stylish trench coat. Clean shaven with his eyes hidden by reflective sunglasses lenses, he was epitome of an uncover agent.

“Yeah.” I gave him the once-over.

“You are correct.” He smiled.

“I beg your pardon.” I shuddered.

“I was an investigator at Area 51.” He handed me his business card.

“Aaron Kimball?”

“That’s me.” He removed his sunglasses. “I just wanted to let you know you are on the right track regardless what your officials are telling us.”

“Why are you telling me this?” I was reeling at the moment.

“That whisper was a communique.” His eyes were a light tint of gray, but his gaze was all-encompassing. He lifted his chin, “They will never know it either. In my professional opinion, I have always felt those who deny what their own senses are telling them is true, are fools. Good day.”

I watched Aaron Kimball walk away without glancing over his shoulder. Even though I had a lot of questions, I knew I would have to wait for the answers.

Later Lance would call me into the office to review Central Communication’s official statement about the whisper we had heard the day before.