Anomaly by Peter Cawdron Read Free Book Online Page A

jump to what appears to be the obvious conclusion, that this is indeed alien in origin. But to do so would be folly as we may end up with egg on our faces when the anomaly is shown to be something else. As difficult as it is, we need time to study the anomaly in detail.”
    “But you must know something,” cried another reporter, buried somewhere at the back of the pack.
    “We have our best and brightest working on this,” added Dr. Bates. “But it is important to put the conspiracy theories to rest and realize how little we know about this beyond what has already been reported. There is no record of any such phenomena ever been recorded anywhere, so we are in uncharted territory.”
    “So far, the interior of the anomaly appears completely normal, but it operates according to some kind of localized gravity rather than the Earth's gravity. There's no radiation beyond normal environmental levels. There's no force fields or anything like that. If it hadn't moved, we wouldn't know it was there.
    “And for those that speculate on this being an alien spaceship, it is important to note that there is nothing foreign inside or surrounding the anomaly. The only peculiarity we have been able to observe is a small build up of hydrogen at the exact spherical center of the anomaly, roughly 45 meters above the concrete slab. But it is in small trace amounts, roughly what you'd find in a party balloon.”
    “They use helium,” said Dr Anderson, correcting him. The look on Bates face suggested that he hated being corrected.
    Bates tried to smile politely as he continued. “You'd find more hydrogen in your teenage daughter's bottle of peroxide when she bleaches her hair at the start of summer break.”
    Mason sipped some water before adding some broader comments about the political implications of the anomaly.
    “I'd like to address a few comments to the international community. The advent of the anomaly has caused considerable diplomatic consternation. Please be assured that the US will respond to all diplomatic inquiries and, where practical and feasible, will reply to all scientific inquiries made in relation to the anomaly.
    “We would, however, ask for your patience and understanding. It is our intention to be transparent with the investigation, but this requires considerable logistical and organizational effort on our behalf, and that takes time to establish. We have accepted offers of assistance from CERN, ESA, the Russian Space Agency and the Chinese Space Agency, but there are practical considerations that go along with these offers, such as cultural and language barriers, the need for operational collaboration and even such seemingly minor issues as housing and establishing dedicated laboratories from which to work.
    “All research will be subject to standard scientific peer review which, again, will delay any formal announcement of results, so please, bear with us. This is an important part of the process that cannot be overlooked in favor of a headline for tomorrow's news.”
    Mason held his hands slightly apart, with his fingers poised. He was ready to throw Cathy to the lions.
    “Ms Jones,” he said. “You broke this story. Is there anything you would like to add?”
    Although she looked calm, Teller could see her hands shaking as she held them down on the desk. Her voice quivered as she spoke.
    “Ah... I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. It was rash and thoughtless of me to betray what was a casual conversation between a school teacher, one of his pupils, and her uncle. I'm sorry for causing so much confusion.”
    She started sobbing.
    Mason was stone-faced. He wasn't finished with Cathy, not just yet.
    “Moving forward,” he said formally, “Ms Jones will act as the media liaison for the anomaly investigation team and will undertake daily briefing sessions for the media. It is our intention to provide complete transparency into our observations of this phenomenon so as to avoid any further speculation. We