Category: THE ANTARES SECRET

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THE ANTARES SECRET

Title image for The Antares Secret. Is this the truth behind the Space Race?

Many conspiracy theories have been concocted regarding the Space Race of the Sixties. Some going as far as to claim that the United States never made it to the Moon and that everything was staged in a studio on Earth. Lucas Aldrich was one of the many young boys engrossed with the fantastic voyage to the stars in those years and, as an adult began to search for the truth among the many stories of deceit. What he found was that, hidden in plain sight, the Apollo astronauts found a way to tell the truth through NASA’s smoke screen. Welcome to The Antares Secret.

 

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THE ANTARES SECRET – CHAPTER 1: Moonbeam

Full Moon over the ocean

Lucas Aldrich was already sipping his margarita at the Mexican restaurant when his daughter arrived.

“Hey Dad! Sorry I’m late. Clients sometimes forget that one needs to have lunch.”

“Don’t worry about it Moonbeam.”

Moonbeam was Lucas’ nickname for his daughter Vega. The moniker’s inspiration was a TV interview he had seen of Astronaut Gene Cernan’s daughter in the early 70’s in which she claimed her father had promised to bring her a moonbeam from his trip to the Moon. One day, many years ago, while playing with her daughter, Lucas tied a beach towel around his neck and called himself Rocket Man. Little Vega wanted to be a superhero too, and he suggested the name so they could become the space adventurers Rocket Man and Moonbeam. She loved it and the nicknames evolved into terms of endearment between them. The fact that Vega developed a keen interest in her father’s two favorite hobbies – baseball and the 1960’s space race, helped perpetuate their special sobriquets.

But that was a long time ago and now she was a very busy professional woman so a while ago they had started a tradition of having lunch together, just the two of them every Wednesday rain or shine. Nice father/daughter quality time. This time it was at their favorite Mexican restaurant.

“Hey Rocket Man, easy on the tequila, you’re not so young anymore.”

“Thanks for reminding me,” he said.

“I didn’t say old, I said not so young.”

“Leave it to lawyers to nitpick about the language.”

“Hey you’re in communications. You’re the one who taught me to be meticulous about the words I choose to express an idea.”

A waiter briefly interrupted the conversation to ask Vega what she wanted to drink. She ordered a frozen margarita and asked for a minute to decide on an appetizer. They went with their usual chihuahuas with jalapeños.

“So, how’s everything? How did it go with Dalia’s aunt?” Vega asked her father.

A couple of weeks ago Vega had introduced Lucas to her colleague Dalia’s aunt, a pretty attractive divorcée that she thought would be a good match for her widowed father. They seemed to hit it off, and during their last lunch together Lucas mentioned they were going out on a date that following Friday.

“It was OK,” said Lucas matter-of-factly, “she’s a very smart woman…”

“Buuuuut…” said Vega waiting for the perennial ‘but’ that her father had her accustomed to.

“I don’t know, it’s hard to describe. I just couldn’t find a meaningful connection.”

“Dad, Mom died ten years ago.  I know her absence still hurts but It’s time to move on. No one will be like her, but you must give yourself a chance to experience a meaningful relationship with someone different.”

“I guess I’m just not ready yet Moonbeam. Not ready,” said Lucas looking at his margarita.

“Sorry Dad, I didn’t mean… I just want you to be happy.”

Vega’s frozen margarita arrived with the spicy chihuahuas and before they both dug in they ordered lunch. Again, no surprises there, a Swiss burrito for Lucas and chicken fajitas for Vega.

“Did you watch the game last night?” she asked changing the topic.

“You bet I did, the Indians came from behind in the ninth inning. Sorry about your Yankees,” said Lucas.

“This is the year… right,” said Vega smiling.

Lucas was a Cleveland Indians fan, a major league franchise that hadn’t won a championship since 1948. But being a fan of such a hard luck team wasn’t always the case for him. In the 70’s Lucas was a hardcore fan of the Cincinnati Reds – the fabled Big Red Machine. And in his hometown he cheered for a local team called the Lions. Both enjoyed several championship runs when he was a kid. Then in the 1990’s he saw a movie called Major League and he became infatuated with the then hapless Indians.

“This is the year,” said Lucas smiling and winking at his daughter.

“Are you playing fantasy baseball this year?” asked Vega.

“Oh yeah, the Red Lions are at it again and we are off to a good start. We play the Kitty Hawks tonight.”

“Kitty Hawks as in the Wright Brothers’ Kitty Hawk?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Oh nothing, just found it curious. The manager must be either an aviation enthusiast or a space race buff like you.”

Vega, like her father, knew that Neil Armstrong, the man famous for being the first man to step on the Moon, had carried during his Apollo 11 mission, a piece of fabric and a piece of wood from the flyer the Wright brothers had successfully tested at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in 1903.

“Yeah, he must be…” said Lucas suddenly deep in thought.

 

 

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THE ANTARES SECRET – CHAPTER 2: A First Step

Old notebook with image of astronaut on the Moon overimposed

After having lunch with his daughter Vega, Lucas went back to his studio and spent the afternoon working on a client’s website. It was 2008 and the site looked like it was done in the early days of the World Wide Web. It needed a revamping badly. He tried to focus on the task at hand but for some strange reason he couldn’t shake off Vega’s comment about the Kitty Hawks’ manager possibly being a Space Race buff. After a while, curiosity got the best of him and he pulled out a battered notebook from a special section in his studio’s bookshelves.

It was filled with notes he had written through the years about different things associated with the Space Race. Some referred to aspects he found odd and others pointed out things that he thought needed a better explanation. Chief among them was, of course, why we haven’t gone back? But that was not what he was looking for that time. He flipped the pages until he got to the topic of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. His notes included a comment that simply stated, “Did they???”

Lucas was not a conspiracy enthusiast. He believed the claim that the U.S. never made it to the Moon was ludicrous. The fact that proponents of that idea were the ones that got the most airtime made him think that the extremely outlandish conspiracy theories were promoted by NASA itself to somewhat discredit the more reasonable ones. After all, there were some valid theories about the Apollo 11 Moon landing being faked. The extremely poor quality of the video has being one of the most compelling arguments, but to Lucas, Armstrong’s relative silence after being the first freaking human to step on the Moon was the proverbial smoking gun. The fact that after becoming a historical figure as the first man on the Moon he spent the rest of his life not as immersed in the limelight as one would expect, always felt odd to Lucas.

A wild thought crossed his mind and immediately went over to his computer to Google Neil Armstrong. He found nothing that would infer the former astronaut was a baseball fan, but something curious appeared in his search. In 1994, the Major League’s Houston Astros distributed a special baseball commemorating the 25th anniversary of man’s first Moon landing. It featured the team’s logo as well as the signatures of both Armstrong and fellow Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin.

Although Lucas didn’t find what he was looking for, a little voice kept telling him to dig further. Old Houston Astros CapFeeling stumped he decided to go to his fantasy baseball website to check on that day’s matchup with the Kitty Hawks. The pairing came up on the screen and what jumped right straight at him was the Hawks’ team logo, something he hadn’t paid attention to before. They were using a Houston Astros vintage cap logo – the one with a capital H in front of a star.

He went back to Googling Armstrong. Armstrong and Houston Astros. Armstrong and baseball. Since the man was from Ohio he Googled Armstrong and Cincinnati Reds, just in case he had ever mentioned he was a fan of that team. Nothing.

He gave up Googling and opted for a different approach – he wrote to the Kitty Hawks’ manager through the fantasy baseball website system.

“Good luck tonight. By the way, I like your logo,” he wrote trying to start a conversation.

He wasn’t expecting an immediate reply so he went back to his client’s website design.

After a couple of hours he got a message back.

“Same to you.  Are you from Ohio?”

The question referred to Lucas’ choice of the Cleveland Indians’ logo for his Red Lions fantasy team. Chief Wahoo, the character in the emblem, was a controversial issue and Lucas was in favor of phasing it out. Nevertheless he had chosen it because, besides being his beloved Indians logo, he felt that Red Lion sounded like a Native American name.

“Thanks. Big Indians fan but not from Ohio. Just wondering, why the Kitty Hawks?”

“I grew up near Dayton.”

“?”

“The Wright brothers lived and worked in Dayton, Ohio. They chose to test their flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina because of the wind patterns there. For that reason some people refer to their original flyer as the Kitty Hawk. I know that it is not the correct name but I like the sound of it.”

“It has a nice ring to it. Interesting, isn’t it, that flight in the U.S. was first accomplished in a place called Kitty Hawk?”

“Yes it is. Well, good luck tonight” and just like that the Kitty Hawks’ manager signed off.

Lucas reviewed the conversation a couple of times and then made a quick Google map inquiry. Neil Armstrong was born and raised in Wapakoneta, Ohio, which, as it turned out, was less than an hour away from Dayton…

 

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THE ANTARES SECRET – CHAPTER 3: The Old Man and the Moon

,Full moon rising on the countryside behind the silhouettes of two wine glasses

The man was too old to deal with gratuitously stressful situations. Thankfully, he could identify from a mile away a situation with the potential of getting him into deep waters fast. Throughout most of his life he had had to deal with the nuances of being a reluctant celebrity and had become familiar with most of the back doors fans tended to use to access him. Above all he treasured his privacy and just wanted to live the few remaining years of his life peacefully away from the limelight. Nevertheless, it was 2008, he was approaching his 78th birthday and a feeling of remorse was creeping in, not for what he had done but for what he hadn’t.

Some days he found himself entertaining the idea of telling the whole world everything and the hell with it. He thought that, maybe for such a venture he would be willing to leave the peace and quite of his self-imposed exile. Before long, his musings were interrupted by his wife’s voice…

“Hey honey, cutting down a cherry tree?”

“Just some fantasy baseball stuff… and building up an appetite. What’s for dinner?”

“One of your favorites, roasted squab with potatoes and gravy.”

“It smells delicious.”

Carol was his second wife. He looked at her with loving eyes as he remembered the day they met at a golf tournament sixteen years ago. She was a widow at the time, and he was trying to rebuild his life after a heart-wrenching divorce. The seating arrangements placed them side by side at the breakfast table but, she said very little to him. The woman felt overwhelmed by the celebrity status of the man next to her.  Nevertheless, two weeks later he called and asked her what she was doing. She replied she was cutting down a cherry tree with her son, and half and hour later he was knocking on her door, chainsaw in hand, to help out. They married two years later.

“The weather is really nice today,” he said, “what do you say we open a bottle of Cabernet and eat at the veranda while the Moon rises over the tree tops.”

“Sounds lovely, I’ll set the table outside,” she said while giving him a peck on the cheek.

They lived in the countryside and their house had a spectacular view that always looked even better during the lengthening days of spring. They sat on the table and clinked their wine glasses.

“Cheers,” he said. “Carol, I was thinking… what if I told someone the truth?”

“What do you mean the truth?”

He just looked at the rising Moon in the darkening blue sky.

“Are you serious? You can’t just go out there and tell the world what you know. Besides, there would be serious consequences. Your reputation will be reduced to ashes, plus who knows what the government will put you through. Listen, you weren’t even supposed to tell me. Why are you bringing this up now?”

“I’m tired Carol. They say that on the deathbed one regrets not what one did but what one didn’t. And what I didn’t do was stand for the truth. You’ve made me feel young again, but I don’t know how many more years I have left, and I really don’t want any regrets when the time comes. Not to mention that a man died 10 years ago without the world knowing what he had truly done, without getting the credit he truly deserved. I think the time has come.”

“What about your aversion to the media? You would have to relive all the media frenzy you endured almost 40 years ago… but on steroids.”

“This is just preliminary, but my plan doesn’t include the media. It doesn’t even involve a big splash. Let me refill the wine glasses and I’ll tell you what I have in mind…”

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THE ANTARES SECRET – CHAPTER 4: The Patch Collection

Image of binder containing Vega's collection of Apollo mission patches in front of her bedroom closet

Vega entered her apartment after another long day at the law firm, and went straight to her bedroom closet. There, on the top shelf, was the cardboard box she was looking for. From it she pulled out a three-ring binder with gold lettering embossed on its black cover.

It was his father’s old collection of the Apollo program mission patches. He had given it to her when she was 10 years old. His way of showing her how much he loved that she shared his interest for the space race. This had always been one of her most precious possessions. A treasured symbol of the special bond she had with her dad.

Since lunch, a little voice kept telling her to look into that collection. She began staring at the colorful embroidered patches in the album without really searching for anything in particular. While doing so she could hear her father explaining them to her like it was yesterday.

“The Apollo astronauts had a lot to say about their mission patches. Some of them even took it upon themselves to design theirs. Looking at them is like taking a trip into the astronauts’ minds,” he told her the first time he showed her the collection. And then he would go through each one of them explaining their missions.

Apollo 1 mission patchApollo 1’s patch irony was not lost on her. She couldn’t help thinking about the astronauts’ family members while staring at the patch showing a command module orbiting Earth.  A mission that never left the launch pad where a fire ended the life of astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee.

The mission numbers then jumped from one to seven. According to NASA there were some unmanned missions between 1 and 7. Her father always doubted their official numbering story.

Apollo 7 mission patch“The mission commander for Apollo 7 was Walter Schirra, one of the Mercury seven original astronauts,” her father would say.  “After the Apollo 1 tragedy, NASA needed all the positive vibes available in the universe. So they went with lucky number seven. Remember that all the Mercury missions used that same number and they were all successful. Of course NASA would never accept they were as superstitious as the next guy so they came up with this cockamamie story about obscure unmanned missions that only they knew about, or understood for that matter.”

Vega noted something she hadn’t before in the Apollo 7 patch. Although the key visuals on it were similar to Apollo 1’s – they both featured a command module orbiting Earth – on this one the ship’s engine was lighted while on Apollo 1’s it wasn’t. Did the astronauts do that on purpose? You know, to indicate that this one would get off the ground… and avoid their predecessor’s fate after featuring what could be referred to as a dead engine in their patch. Was this superstition at work again? She wondered… but moved on.

Apollo 8 mission patchApollo 8’s had always been her favorite – a very sleek design that featured a red “8” denoting both the mission number, and the circumlunar trajectory of the mission. The design was first conceived by mission astronaut Jim Lovell who then prepared a sketch and gave it to the NASA artist in charge of the project.

Apollo 9 mission patchApollo 9’s mission patch was probably the least appealing of them all. Her father used to compare it to an elementary school textbook diagram. She moved over quickly to the Apollo 10 patch – another one of her favorites. Apollo 10 mission patchA pretty busy design, unlike Apollo 8’s sleek one, but somehow it worked in a very pleasant manner. Mission astronauts Young and Cernan designed it and its shield-like outer shape gave it a space ranger flair.

She turned the page and came face to face with the most famous patch in the history of space flight – Apollo 11’s landing eagle insignia.

“This one here is where it all started,” her father would tell her. “When I was a little kid I swallowed NASA’s official version regarding the meaning of this design. The eagle with the olive branch in its talons representing the United States going to the Moon in peace. And no astronaut names on it because the feat was an achievement for all humanity. But as I grew older I started to feel there was another more revealing meaning to it.”

Apollo 11 mission insigniaThe first time he said that my eyes opened up like Frisbees, thought Vega.

“Mission astronaut Michael Collins designed the insignia,” he would go on, “and I truly believe he and the rest of the crew decided to leave their names out of it for another reason. In case they didn’t land on the Moon and had to go to their backup plan. The one  in which only the image of the United States accomplishes it. What if their real mission was to make the world believe they had landed regardless of whether or not they did.  Back then, there was a great deal of pressure on NASA to fulfill Kennedy’s dream. Plus the reputation of the United States was on the line. Not to mention the political pressure associated to the Soviet Union’s parallel efforts to reach our companion in the cosmos.”

But they did land on the Moon Dad, Vega could hear herself say with the innocence of a ten year old.

“The United States did, yes,” he would say, “but not Apollo 11. To the astronauts’ credit, they tried, but had to abort and go with the backup plan – make the world believe they did.”

Vega was incredulous the first time she heard her father’s theory. Then, after reading a great deal about the Apollo missions through the years she had to conclude that something didn’t quite match. Especially suspicious were those of Apollo 12 and 13, just ahead of the Kitty Hawk mission.

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THE ANTARES SECRET – CHAPTER 5: The Tell Tale Missions

Psychodelic juxtaposition of the Apollo 13 crew against a scene from Hair

As fate would have it, while Vega was going through the Apollo missions’ patch collection, Lucas was watching the Indians game on TV and reviewing some of his old notes on the Apollo program. His theory on the hidden missions of Apollo 12 and 13 still sounded valid after all these years.

In the summer of 1969 NASA was not ready to land on the Moon. They had known since 1968 that it was nearly impossible to do so, but the pressure to fulfill Kennedy’s dream was enormous and there was no room for failure in that respect. The President’s words were crystal clear: “Land a man on the Moon before this decade is out.” The end of the given timeframe was approaching fast and the powers that were at the space agency panicked.

By December of 1968 the lunar module was still not ready. That’s why Apollo 8 went all the way to the Moon without it during Christmas. The first manned test of the lunar module in space didn’t happen until March 1969. The problems with the machine were widely known through all spheres at NASA. So, they developed a secondary protocol of missions. One that would be put in motion if the primary mission couldn’t be carried out due to any type of malfunction on the lunar module. This secondary protocol was structured to foster the public perception that NASA had been successful in achieving Kennedy’s goal.

After all these years Lucas still hadn’t figured out exactly how they did it but he had a general idea of what the plan entailed. And he did because the astronauts had been good soldiers but better fellow citizens. They had worked through the NASA smoke screen to leave clues as to the true state of the endeavor. Starting with Apollo 11 and following up with 12 and 13.

He truly believed that Apollo 11 never landed on the Moon. And some of the most compelling proof is found in the clues left by the astronauts of the next two missions.

The astronauts, besides meddling with their mission patches, had a lot to say regarding their spacecrafts’ call signs as well. The name of the Apollo 12 command module was “Yankee Clipper” and its lunar module was “Intrepid”. Employees of the ships’ prime contractors suggested both monikers. It felt almost as if the astronauts didn’t have much interest in it. Apollo 12 mission patchFurthermore, the mission patch had a clipper ship sailing around the Moon as if to convey the idea of never stopping at that port. But, with regards to that mission, what knocked the ball out of the park for Lucas was the fact that the video camera got damaged. There was no video feed from the Moon!

From Apollo 11 the world saw a very grainy video supposedly from the “surface of the Moon”, and from Apollo 12 got plenty of visuals from inside the spacecraft and nothing from our satellite’s surface. How convenient!

Apollo 13 mission patchApollo 13 seemed more obvious. So much so that it makes the world back then look extremely naive. By April of 1970, since public perception was that the U.S. had already beaten the Soviets in the Space Race, American society was rapidly losing interest in their own nation’s Moon landings. Lucas believed  NASA designed this mission to heighten public interest on the program again. The truth is that, in hindsight, everything about it seems pretty well planned from the communications standpoint. Starting with the selection of “Odyssey” for the command module’s call sign. It was as if the astronauts knew beforehand what their voyage would become.

But even more revealing was the lunar module’s number. It was LM-7. Lucky seven!  Apollo 13 had lunar module number 7. As if they knew  that particular spacecraft was going to be their lucky charm and lifeboat for the unlucky 13th mission. Add to that the name “Aquarius” and you have a Hollywoodesque script.

The Age of Aquarius

Remember this was the spring of 1970, and just a year earlier a song titled “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” from the musical “Hair” was topping the charts. Lucas had written some of the lyrics of the song in his notebook:

When the moon is in the Seventh House
And Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars
This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius
Age of Aquarius
Aquarius
Aquarius

Harmony and understanding
Sympathy and trust abounding
No more falsehoods or derisions
Golden living dreams of visions
Mystic crystal revelation
And the mind’s true liberation
Aquarius
Aquarius

The first verse mentions the Moon, the planets and the stars and ends with the statement that this is the dawning of a new age – the Age of Aquarius. Then the second verse tells us what that age is all about including “no more falsehoods and derisions, golden living dreams of visions”. Lucas did not buy for a moment that this was a coincidence. It was obvious to him they selected the name “Aquarius” because that particular lunar module was pivotal in the astronaut’s assignment’s drama. The center stage from which they were to pave the way for the truly historic mission. The one that would both end the phase of lies and finally see Kennedy’s dream come to life. It represented the last lie and thus the dawning of the age of truth.

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THE ANTARES SECRET – CHAPTER 6: Houston, Do You Copy?

Montage of Houston Astros Logo over LBJ Spece Center display and old photo of the Wright Brothers Kitty Hawk flight

The night before, the Indians lost to the Yankees in extra innings with the Bronx Bombers coming from behind, and over in the fantasy league Lucas’ Red Lions lost to the Kitty Hawks by a run. Nevertheless, in that particular morning those results felt perfect for they gave Lucas a good excuse to contact the Hawks’ manager again.

He sat down on his computer and wrote the man a message while sipping his first cup of morning coffee.

“Congratulations on the win. Looking forward to our next match. By the way, I’ll be in Houston on a business trip next week, and I see you chose the Astros’ logo for your Kitty Hawks. Are you familiar with the city? Any recommendations as to where to go for a good dinner?” he wrote.

The Houston trip was a lie but it was the only thing he could think of to get the man back on the topic which could lead to the information he was interested in. He had been to the city once for the wedding of a college friend hence he felt confident he could answer with credibility any questions regarding the fake trip. He looked once more at the written message to make sure it was perfect, and then clicked on the send button.

After showering he started his day’s work. An hour or so later he got a call from Vega.

“Hey Sweetie, good morning! What’s up?”

“Well, Mr. Dashing you,” she said in a sassy tone, “I just talked to Dalia and she told me that in her aunt’s opinion you were a real life Prince Charming during last Friday’s date(1). Not bad for a man who’s not interested.”

“Well, you know me, I always try to make the other person feel comfortable.”

“Oh come on, you’re not a sofa. You were enjoying her company and couldn’t help being your adorable and fascinating self.”

“It wasn’t on purpose Moonbeam.”

“Sure Dad, whatever you say. It’s just nice to hear about you having a good time on a date. It makes me happy. Anyway, I thought about you a lot last night.”

“Oh really! What about?”

“I was going through the old patch collection.”

“No kidding? The Apollo mission patches?”

“Yep, I could hear you explaining them to me like it was yesterday. It was a nice trip down memory lane.”

“Funny you mention that because last night I was poring over my old Space Race notebook. Weird, don’t you think?”

“We’ve always been connected. Listen, I’ve been wondering…” said Vega, “is there any way you could find out the real name of the Kitty Hawks’ manager?”

“Already on it.  I’ve had a couple of exchanges with him through the fantasy league’s messaging system.”

“Oh really? Anything interesting?”

“Well, for starters, he told me he grew up near Dayton, Ohio. Do you know who  else was born an hour away from Dayton?”

“Well, John Glenn, Neil Armstrong and Jim Lovell were born in Ohio…”

Yes, but only Armstrong grew up near Dayton.”

“Hmm, don’t jump to conclusions just yet Rocket Man. Keep talking to him. My advice is, don’t be direct. Try to make the man paint himself into a corner by asking innocent sounding questions that allow you to discard other identity options. Oh, and don’t forget, if he is who you think he is, you’re dealing with a very smart person. Don’t try to reel him in with transparent stuff. Listen, I got  to get ready for a deposition, but keep me posted. Ok?”

“Sure Moonbeam, have a great day.”

It wasn’t until after lunch that Lucas got an answer from the Kitty Hawks’ manager.

“A close one,  but I’ll take it any day :-)”, he wrote. “If you like the classic steakhouse menu your best bet is Brenner’s. It’s been there forever and for good reason.”

Lucas didn’t want to waste time in idle chat so he went straight to the point.

“What about the Kennedy Space Center? Is it worth a visit?”

“I’m guessing you mean the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, right?”

“Yep, sorry about that. The ‘Houston we have a problem’ one.”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s a very common mistake. The LBJ Space Center is a nice visit if you’re into that sort of stuff.”

Lucas decided to go for all the marbles.

“The Space Race has always been one of my favorite topics. As a matter of fact, Apollo 14’s lunar module was called Kitty Hawk,” he wrote. “Funny that you chose the Houston Astros H logo for your Kitty Hawks. Where you aware of the connection?”

Lucas waited for an answer but the minutes passed and nothing came back. Should he interpret that as good or bad news?

Over in southwestern Ohio an old man stared at his computer pondering his next move.

 

(1)Vega talked to Lucas about this date in Chapter 1: Moonbeam.

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THE ANTARES SECRET – CHAPTER 7: The Chat Check

Concept art of two persons chatting about baseball and the Moon

Before carrying on his chat with the Red Lions’ manager, the old man thought it would be a good idea to show it to his wife.

“Hey Carol, take a look at this.”

She put on her reading glasses and read the brief conversation.

“Do you think he smells a rat regarding your choice of name? ” she asked.

“I don’t know. But a little voice tells me that the question about the Apollo 14/Kitty Hawk connection is not an innocent one. He’s fishing for something.”

“So, are you going to answer him?”

“Still thinking it over… You know,  the fact that he made the association makes me wonder if he might be the person for my plan. What do you think?”

“Honey, you don’t even know what this man, or woman for that matter, does for a living. Much less whether he or she has the interest or the capabilities to come through with it. What you want done requires a very specific skill set.”

The old man pondered his wife’s statement and started typing on his computer.

“Wow, that’s a connection few people could make nowadays,” he wrote to the Red Lions’ manager. “What do you do for a living? Are you in any way related to the aerospace industry?”

The answer came fast.

“Hey, I thought I’d lost you there for a while.  I’m in advertising. The Space Race is just a hobby,” wrote the Red Lions’ manager.

The old man kept pushing the envelope.

“Are you one of those conspiracy theorists that believe the whole thing was a hoax?”

“No those are just a bunch of lunatics with too much time on their hands and and even more free space in their brain cavities,” read the answer.

The old man liked what he was reading so far and decided to probe the other end of the spectrum.

“So you’re a NASA fan huh.”

“Not exactly. I’m a fan of the astronauts and the engineers that sacrificed everything to accomplish the seemingly impossible. With regards to NASA I think the bigwigs there in the Sixties were not as truthful as they should have been with the American public and the world audience.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, that the Apollo program was successful in taking mankind to the Moon but the landings didn’t take place the way NASA wanted us to believe.”

“So… you are a conspiracy theorist?”

“I have a theory of what really transpired and it differs significantly from the ones professed by the garden variety of conspiracy theorists. Those are full of crap. If my theory is correct, it would imply that some people over at NASA coordinated efforts to bring forth a plan with the intention of making the public believe something that was not true. I guess that would be tantamount to a conspiracy at NASA. Still, to answer your question: I have a theory yes, and it involves some sort of conspiracy yes, but I refuse to describe myself as a conspiracy theorist ;-)”

“You remind me of Richard Gere tap dancing in the musical Chicago while trying to sell a tricky legal argument,” said the old man.

“Yeah, sorry about that. My daughter’s a lawyer,” said the Red Lions’ manager before adding something that caught the old man off-guard. “By the way, call me Lucas.”

Nope, not yet Mr. Lucas, thought the old man, no name from my end today. But I’ll keep asking questions for as long as you keep answering them.

“Very well, nice talking to you Lucas. Good luck in tonight’s game,” he wrote before signing off.

Lucas felt confident he was on the right track regarding the man’s identity, especially after he avoided giving his name.

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THE ANTARES SECRET – CHAPTER 8: A Night at The Bar

Shadowy figure in front of bar

Vega’s deposition took almost all day. She was physically and emotionally drained. Most deposition witnesses are difficult, but this one knocked the ball out of the park. The man named Geoffrey Rousseau had obviously been advised by counsel to be as evasive and vague as possible thus making the discovery procedure an uphill battle for Vega’s team. Trying to get any meaningful information out of a witness who is combative, unresponsive, overly and conveniently forgetful, purposefully slow and generally intent in making the deposition go nowhere is always a draining challenge.

One of Vega’s most colorful characteristics was that she always kept a black baseball bat next to her desk. She had named it Betsy after the legendary Shoeless Joe Jackson’s bat Black Betsy. Well, that night, after struggling for eight hours with such an ass of a witness, she wanted Betsy to have a close encounter of the third kind with Geoffrey’s head.

When it was finally over, she needed a drink badly. The whole legal team did, so they went to their favorite watering hole. The place, named simply The Bar, was an establishment designed to cater to members of the legal profession. With cocktail names like Objection, Hung Jury and Guilty Verdict the joint was a favorite for barristers of all kinds – from the ambulance chaser to the mega firm junior partner.

“There was a moment when I thought you were going to introduce Geoffrey to Betsy,” said Dalia to Vega while nursing a specialty beer named Beyond a Reasonable Stout.

“You have no idea how close I was,” said Vega who didn’t go for any of the fancy named drinks and was enjoying the silky smoothness of a single malt on the rocks. “What an asshole.”

“Well, on that subject and on behalf of Oliver, Martin & Simon Law Offices, thanks for saving the firm some bail money today Vega,” said David Roman, Vega’s boss and one of the firm’s most promising junior partners.

“Yeah, anytime Dave. It takes a lot more than a Geoffrey Rousseau to make me lose it.”

“Switching to a more pleasant topic,” said Dalia, “did you tell your Dad what my aunt said about him after their date?”

“I did.”

“Aaaand…” said Dalia prompting Vega for more details.

Before Vega could say anything, Mr. Martin, one of the firm’s senior partners, entered The Bar and quickly approached the group, interrupting their conversation.

“Good evening ladies and gentlemen, can I steal Mr. Roman for a few minutes?” he said.

The junior partner got to his feet and followed Mr. Martin to a table where two other men waited. Vega and Dalia found the whole thing a bit odd and watched subtly from the distance.

The two unknown men seemed to have been there for a while and it was obvious they were the ones in charge of the conversation. Mr. Martin was taking care of the firm’s side of it while David remained mostly quiet.

After a few minutes, Mr. Martin accompanied David back to the firm team’s table.

“I hereby return your boss safe and in one piece,” he said to the group. “Sorry for the interruption. Dave please have the firm take care of the tab.”

“Will do Mr. Martin, and thanks.”

And just like that, the senior partner left The Bar.

“What was that all about?” Vega asked David.

“Oh nothing, just forerunners for a potential new client.”

“Must be a very important one to have Mr. Martin involved,” commented Dalia.

“One with very deep pockets,” said Oscar Levi the youngest member of their legal team.

David remained quiet throughout the speculation process. A smile here and there but not a single word. He couldn’t share anything with the group and besides, he was still processing the information he had been made privy to and wasn’t sure how to go about it. He needed time to think.

The task wasn’t hard, he just didn’t like what he had been asked to do to one of the members of his team.

 

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THE ANTARES SECRET – CHAPTER 9: On the Down Low

Dark at night in the street a man looks at government's car approaching

David stayed up late that night trying to figure out how to go about his assignment. The people at The Bar were government agents and not forerunners for a new client as he told the group. To organize his ideas he went through the conversation with them in his mind:

“We need your firm to handle this with extreme discretion.” said one of the agents.

“Mr. Roman here, is Ms. Aldrich’s immediate superior and has developed a good personal relationship with her,” said Mr. Martin. “We believe he has earned a high level of trust from her and that the assignment wouldn’t need any other firm asset. That should take care of the discreet aspect.”

“Vega Aldrich should never know she’s being asked to do something for someone else,” said the second agent. “The trick is to make her do our bidding while believing it’s all her idea.”

“We’ve been closely monitoring our man since his first contact with Mr. Aldrich popped up in our surveillance systems,” added the first agent, “and we are very concerned with the direction the conversation is taking. Mr. Martin, it is of utmost importance that, for his own good, Lucas Aldrich stops this before it goes any further.”

The “for his own good” part left David with a bad taste in his mouth.

Mr. Martin asked for information regarding the identity of the man Lucas Aldrich was contacting, but the answer to most of the questions was always the same: “That’s classified.”

In that respect, the only thing the lawyers got from the government agents was that their man was the manager of a fantasy baseball team called the Kitty Hawks. A piece of information David found laughable given the supposed seriousness of the situation. Apparently his face betrayed him with an unconscious expression that prompted one of the agents to ask him if there was anything wrong.

“No, nothing, it’s just that I once had a terrible experience in one of those fantasy leagues,” he said. “They are definitely not my cup of tea.”

“Well’ gentlemen, time for us to start doing our job,” said Mr. Martin after a few more frustrating minutes of unsuccessfully trying to fish out some meaningful information.

Both attorneys got up and left the agents’ table. “Please give me a call tonight once you’re in a place where you can talk privately. Oh, and in case they ask, just tell your team that these guys were forerunners for a potential new client,” Mr. Martin told David as they walked back to Vega’s table.

He called as soon as he got home, and they discussed strategy. During the conversation he could tell that this wasn’t the first time the firm was involved in this type of operation for the government.

David was now going through his mind’s archives of conversations and interactions with Vega trying to find a subtle way to seamlessly talk to her about her dad’s fantasy baseball hobby. In the process he recalled something Dalia said at The Bar just before Mr. Martin pulled him out of the table. It was about Vega’s dad going out with her aunt.

Hmmm, maybe there’s a way there, he thought.

He spent some more time on that train of thought before calling it a night.

Over at Lucas’ place, that night’s game was over and he remembered he hadn’t taken out the trash earlier. As he was taking care of business, he noticed a dark car rolling slowly down his street. Nothing out of the ordinary, except the car looked like a caricature of a government-issued car. He half expected people in dark suits to step out of it. The thought made him chuckle until a yawn attested to his tiredness.

The next morning Lucas was leaving for an early meeting with a client and as he was going out the door he saw the dark car again. A disturbing thought crossed his head: They wanted me to see them.

While getting into his car he though about calling Vega but then decided otherwise. No reason to alarm her, he thought. What was going on? Why would a government-looking car be making the rounds in his street? He was a law-abiding citizen who hadn’t done anything wrong. What if it wasn’t the government? The license plates didn’t identify it as such. What was going on here? He breathed in deeply and tried to relax. The most probable explanation was that the car had nothing to do with him and that his mind was playing tricks with him.

He kept looking in his rear-view mirror all the way to his early morning meeting but the dark car was nowhere to be seen. The previous day optimism was nowhere to be found either. He couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something bad brewing under the surface.  

 

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