Star Gift

Chapter Twenty-Two

Driving back to Farmington as darkness set in, the three were solemn and quiet.

"It's so criminal," Tuwa finally said. "How they've kept the truth from the world."

"Did you expect anything less?" Michael asked. "After seventy years of covering things up out here?"

"But why do they keep that up?" Blake asked them, knowing the question was obvious and yet futile.

"It's still complicated," Michael said. "During the Truman presidency, just after the War, and when the sightings spiked, it was decided the general public wouldn't be able to handle another existential threat. One so massive as a worldwide invasion."

"They were so off the mark on what the aliens were doing here," Tuwa chimed in.

"Just plain paranoia," Michael weighed in. "The group Truman called together to make that decision, the Majestic Twelve, were considered experts of the day. Military men and political cronies, mostly. And then there was the religious thing," he continued. "Alien presence, known by the government by then . . . well it  just didn't fit in anywhere with the dominant faiths in America. "

"Times have changed," Tuwa added. The public wants to know. And they suspect heavily they've been lied to. And for far too long."

"Even NASA has been changing its tune, these past years," Michael added. "Their acknowledging, almost endorsing the reality that we might not be alone in the universe. I see it as some kind of preparation for a full disclosure at some point. "

"The photos sent back from the moon probes and images from the Mars Landers have been finally sanitized of their NASA alterations, giving people a better picture."

"Exactly. It's a truer look at what's been going on in or solar system for a lot longer than the history books or science courses tell us."

Tuwa, holding the Jeep steady on the long dark road chimed back in. "They can to longer hide those amazing images of the Martian surface being unlocked by photo experts these days. For years NASA had been reducing the resolution and discoloring the photos sent back. They had even photoshopped out pieces of debris scattered on the surface almost everywhere the camera looked."

"They want you to believe it's the Red Planet. And have pulled it off by the filtering of those images to hide the anomalies in plain, colorful view. These are objects that tell a convincing tale of a past civilization in total destruction there."

Blake was amazed at what he was hearing, but most of all from what had happened as a result of their interaction with the US military, back at the site.

"Look Tuwa," Michael added, as they could see the distant lights of Farmington illuminating the sky. "We still have two of the discs in my backpack. There's so much more information on them. I also understood that those hundreds of discs were all carrying the same information."

"Really?" Tuwa sounded shocked.

"Yes. They were intended as duplicates for the finders . . . that would be us folks. To eventually disperse them to all the capital cities of the world. It was time for their message to arrive, as I understood."

"But now . . .?" Tuwa asked. "Now what?"

"It's still up to us. I have so much information in my head. And I understood there's so much more remaining on these remaining discs. We know how to access it now for human understanding. Through various amplified sound frequencies."

Both Blake and Tuwa remained silent.

"Look you two. Don't feel so defeated," Michael said enthusiastically. We'll go on taking all the information available to us now. I'm amazed at what things I've already learned. So much I can't wait to share!"