Dust Read online

  Chapter 03 – Hoax

  Jon’s assistant Frank Moore was an amazing guy. He was legally blind but still did his job with the aid of large print monitors and other apparatus. Age Related Macular degeneration had hit him younger than the usual victim and it was ignored too long. It was not addressed because it was unheard of in his race and age group.

  His enthusiasm for his job counterbalanced the usual deep depression one would experience when losing vision in middle age. He still had his sense of humor. He liked to tell stories.

  One was about a mother and four-year-old boy who passed him as he waited for the bus to go home. The boy noticing his white cane brazenly came up to him and in the candidness only the young can mount asks, “Did you play with yourself when you were little?” Being naturally truthful and seeing the humor in it, Frank responded with suitable gravity of voice. “Yes, I did.”

  The mother embarrassed and impatient dragged the boy off before Frank could amend his statements. “That is going to be a very frustrated youth.” Frank would say to end his story.

  Frank was speaking. “This is really a hard thing for scientist to do. We are all about finding the truth and now we are asked to fabricate a lie. I think we need to find someone from national security to help us.”

  Jon replied without scowling “Now Frank, it’s not very scientific of you to perpetuate the myth that our government lies to us.” Jon’s penchant for thoroughness took over and he continued beyond what was needed as a reply. “There have been cases where politicians, who are not scientists, have had the notion that a lie believed is as good as the truth. There are way too many folks too lazy to find the truth who would rather believe a lie from a politician than the truth from a scientist. It makes Political Science the granddad of all oxymorons.

  “The difference here is that we have been given a truth that the general public would not be able to deal with. There is nothing they could do with that information to help themselves. We have seen what happens when fear of far less consequences then this washes through the ruck of humanity.”

  Frank raised his hand to acknowledge what Jon was saying and redeem himself with “We all know why we have to do this. We will attack it as any technical problem that needs a solution. If we work through the night, I think we can pretty much have the thing done by morning. We will need someone from communications to tell us how we could be hacked into and have these images inserted into our data stream. Troy is our best computer systems geek and by being candid with him we should gain his help and his silence.”

  Jon nodded assent.

  “We will process the files we have recorded adding a bit here and there by simulation to make the files look like they were the source of the transmissions and not the end. We'll have them analyzed by experts, who we will recruit to our objective, to verify that the whole thing is a hoax.”

  Changing his tone of voice Frank continued, “No wonder conspiracy theories abound. It is so easy to pull one off if you really do have conspirators.

  “We will announce another glitch in our Jupiter system exploration but that the mission will continue without the atomic bore which was lost in rough ice on landing. Still makes me feel ambivalent as a scientist.” concluded Frank in a lower voice.

  “Excuse me, Frank” interrupted one of the other members of the special team. “I heard that the drill probe was seen again on the surface of Europa when they pointed the cameras back to the landing site — still no communications with it yet though.”

  “Curiouser and curiouser” said Jon “Well, we do have a glitch don’t we? No lie there.”

  “Great work guys. I knew I could count on you. We'll post the story on the web. Meantime I have brought the Director on board. He and I are having a secure video conference in two hours with the congressional oversight committee. Steven Rice and I have had discussions about the next move. It looks like JPL will be handing over the problem of what to do next.”

  People started to file out but Frank lagged behind as he usually does as he unfolds his white cane. He really didn't need the cane in the building, but as he pointed out you don't really need a hearing aid that works, just one that is noticed and everyone will talk louder. The cane made people around him more considerate.

  “Jon” said Frank in a somber voice.

  “Yes” said Jon stopped in his tracks and redirecting his attention.

  “If it is to be a hoax it will need a perpetrator.” Said Frank Slowly. ”It will probably cost the person who would pull such a prank his career.”

  “Crap! I hadn’t really thought of those consequences. I thought we could leave it as an unknown prankster.

  “Unless there is a scapegoat it will never be a closed issue. I would like to volunteer.”

  “No, Frank. You’re a good man, a good scientist, and a good team member. I can’t let you do it.”

  “It is known that I have a weird sense of humor. The only thing people will doubt is that I had the skill to pull it off.”

  “No Frank you are very skilled at anything you put your mind to. It would be believed. That’s another reason I don’t want you to do it. I should be the guy.”

  “Jon,” said Frank softly. “Everybody knows you have no sense of humor. They wouldn’t believe it.

  “I do have a sense of humor. A sense of humor is a sign of intelligence. I'm intelligent...

  Frank nodded.

  Therefore I have a sense of humor.”

  Frank rolled his nearly sightless eyes, clenched his jaw and shook his head.

  "No" said Frank "I’m your man. In a few months my career will come to an end anyway. My blindness is progressive. I have the choice of being killed by allergic reaction to drugs or going totally blind. Once I’m totally blind I can’t do my job. None of us may have jobs here for long. Besides, if we don’t find a defense against this alien stuff we all may be dead soon. My mind is made up. We have to have a scapegoat and we have to have him tonight. I’m your man.”

  A parade of emotions auditioned on Jon’s face: surprise, concern, appreciation, sympathy, finally acceptance of what must be. But a touched Jon found no words and a nearly blind Frank did not notice.

  “Thank you Frank.” Replied Jon finally also softly. “This is probably the most important thing either of us will do in our careers.

  “Frank, If this works out I will do all I can to see that you have all the assistance medical science can offer. In a couple years, we can make this all public, if we survive.

  Frank nodded, took his cane but walked to the door without its aid and left the room leaving his beloved future behind.

  A two-paragraph release was posted on the NASA web site. It was generally ignored by most site visitors. It concluded by saying a long time employee of JPL, which was now operating with benefactor donations, had resigned as a result of the hoax that had alarmed mission controllers for over two days.