Free The Rock by Robert Doherty Page A

what she was doing had thrown him. He'd never considered a stop sign a three-dimensional message. Always before he'd used great innovation and expertise in his missions, but that was after someone else had given him the rules of engagement and the target. Here he had none. And not only that, but he had somehow automatically assumed the unofficial title of leader of the team. He wasn't sure if he had taken it, or if the others had handed it to him. But the other three all seemed to be immersed in something worthwhile-Batson looking at data on the Rock, Fran with her nose inches away from a computer screen, and Levy exploring the message. Hawkins felt somewhat useless.
    His wife, Mary, would have laughed at his being so uneasy, Hawkins thought. She was the only person he had ever allowed to penetrate the hard shell his upbringing in the foster home in New York City and his time in Special Operations had wrapped about his emotions. And the great thing was, Hawkins would have laughed along with her. In their first two years of marriage she had started changing him. But all that had ended four years earlier, and if anything Hawkins was even harder than he had been. He savagely twisted his mind away from thoughts of Mary and focused on the young woman sitting next to him.
    "So you have no idea why your name was on the list?"
    "I have no idea why there was even a list," Levy answered.
    "Fran and Don were on this Hermes project," Hawkins noted. "I work for the government. But you say you had no previous ties with the government." He shook his head. "It doesn't make sense."
    "But the government didn't send the message," she noted.
    "We can't be sure of that," Hawkins said. "We only have their information saying they didn't."
    Levy regarded Hawkins for a few seconds, then a slight smile graced her pale lips. "Very good, Major. I like that. I was just looking at a specific aspect of the problem, trying to view it from a different angle, but you are looking at the entire situation in a different light."
    Hawkins leaned forward. "Let's get back to the original question-what do you think we've got here in the Rock?"
    "I think we have a touchstone," Levy said.
    "A touchstone?"
    "Did you ever see the movie 2001?" Levy asked.
    Hawkins nodded.
    "The stone they uncovered on the moon--that was a touchstone. It's a term used in scientific circles to describe an artifact planted by a more advanced race on a planet where there is a probability of intelligent life developing. To make sure it is activated at the proper time, it is located in such a place that a certain level of civilization is required in order to be able to uncover it."
    "You think that's what we're uncovering?" Hawkins could see that this conversation had gained Fran's interest, and she moved her chair over to listen.
    "It may be," Levy said. "However, it has always been assumed that a touchstone has to be physically uncovered. In this case the touchstone may have already been 'uncovered,' so to speak."
    "What do you mean?" Fran asked.
    "I mean that either the nuclear explosion under Vredefort Dome or the arrival of Voyager at a certain distance away from the sun might have activated the touchstone in the Rock and caused it to transmit--that's if my theory about it being a touchstone is correct."
    "And if it is," Hawkins asked, "what should we do?"
    "We," Levy said, emphasizing the word, "might not be able to do anything. Unlike the story in 2001, it is more likely that a touchstone is a warning for the more advanced race that set it up than a beacon for the less advanced one that sets it off."
    "So we may have hit a trip wire," Hawkins said.
    "Yes," Levy acknowledged. "And we have no idea who's heard it go off and what their reaction might be."

     
     
     

THE RUSSIAN 
     
    Vicinity Chernobyl, Ukraine
    21 DECEMBER 1995, 0600 LOCAL
    21 DECEMBER 1995, 0100 ZULU
     
    The land was empty of animal life. Trees still struggled to grow, but it was obvious even they were losing the war