Free Area 51: The Reply-2 by Robert Doherty

guardian.
    Nabinger knew Gunfield was further distressed to see the face of Peter Sterling fill up the screen on the computers in front of them. Sterling was the chief commissioner of UNAOC. He was the former head of NATO, who had been coopted to lead UNAOC by the Security Council three days ago. Sterling was a distinguished-looking man who had been very high profile in the media for the past several days. His enthusiasm for the UNAOC position and what they were uncovering was unbounded, and he most definitely was in the camp of the progressives.

    Nabinger leaned back in his seat and waited as

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    Sterling reached down and did something with his keyboard and his image grew smaller. Now Nabinger could see that they were connected to the main UNAOC
    conference room on the top floor of the UN Building. He could see the second-in-command of UNAOC, Boris Ivanoc, seated to Sterling's left and the other members of UNAOC arrayed around the table, their own teleconference computers in front of them. Ivanoc was a concession to Russia, an attempt to balance the immense power that UNAOC would hold if they could get back into the guardian and gain access to the knowledge secreted there. The camera zoomed back in, and Sterling's patrician face stared at both Nabinger and Gunfield.
    "Anything to report, gentlemen?" There was the hint of a smile around Sterling's lip.
    "No, sir," Gunfield said. "The guardian is still inactive and—"
    "No sign that the guardian transmitted or received a transmission?"
    "No, sir."

    "You need to be alert," Sterling eagerly interrupted. "We've received a reply."
    Nabinger leaned forward. "To the message?"
    "Of course to the message," Sterling said. "It came in yesterday. Several tracking stations picked it up and recorded it."
    "I've heard nothing from the media," Nabinger began, but again he was cut off.
    "We're not releasing this information quite yet, but we will shortly, I can assure you. We're still coordinating with the various governments that picked it up. Are you certain that the guardian

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    did not receive the message?" Sterling asked once again.
    "Sir," Gunfield replied, "the guardian may well have received this message.
    There is no way for us to know. Reception is a passive action. Now, if the guardian sends a reply, our tracking instruments will certainly pick it up."
    "In what format is the message?" Nabinger asked.
    "Most of it is very complex, and we can't make heads or tails of it," Sterling said. "We think that part was directed to your guardian. Some sort of special code."
    Nabinger leaned forward. "And the other part?"
    "It's digital. Basic binary." Sterling's face was flushed. "That part was directed to us. Humanity."
    "What does it say?" Gunfield asked.
    "We'll send you the text via secure SATCOM. You'll have it when we release it publicly. It's not long."
    "The basic gist?" Nabinger asked.
    "You'll see," Sterling said mysteriously, like a child holding on to a secret.
    "I'm not authorized to tell anyone in advance, as it has to be released simultaneously around the world. But I can tell you one thing, gentlemen; things have changed and are going to change even more."
    Nabinger raised a hand. "Where did the message come from? Is there a mothership coming?"
    Sterling's eyes shifted, looking about his conference room, then settled back on the camera. "Mars."
    Gunfield couldn't help himself. "Mars?"

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    Nabinger nodded as he made a connection in his mind.
    "What are you thinking, Professor?" Sterling asked, catching the movement.
    Damn, Nabinger thought. He could never get used to being watched by a machine.
    "Mars makes sense, at least from an archaeological viewpoint."
    "Explain," Sterling ordered.
    "We found the Airlia atomic weapon in the Great Pyramid at Giza, just outside Cairo," Nabinger said. "Some Egyptologists define the word Cairo as meaning
    'Mars.' Quite a coincidence, I would say. Do you have an exact fix from where on Mars this message was broadcast?"
    "The Cydonia