Carol sat on the library’s computer and navigated the browser to Lucas Aldrich’s website. Good, he lists his postal address, she thought while scrolling the ‘Contact Us’ section.
She wrote it down on a small piece of paper and took it home to her husband.
Three days later…
The day’s mail had a special surprise for Lucas. After his conversation with Vega, he had decided to wait for the Kitty Hawks’ manager to make a move before deciding what to do next. Getting an old-fashioned handwritten letter from the man was definitely outside his realm of expectations. It was postmarked in Cincinnati, Ohio and the return address was a postal office box. He tore open the envelope on one end and pulled out a trifolded single sheet of paper.
Dear Mr. Aldrich:
I hope this letter finds you well, although I’m willing to bet that my choice of communication channel has startled you. Allow me to explain.
It has come to my attention that there are some people who don’t want us to keep talking to each other. Just the other day I got a strange email that, from its content, I could tell was not really originated by the person subscribing it. The message was an advice for me to be careful with a scam going on in the baseball fantasy leagues. The description of the shady deal sounded very similar to what I had told you regarding the job I needed help with.
If my theory is correct, I suspect people who want to steer us away from each other had monitored our earlier exchanges. As a matter of fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if you had gotten a similar email. So, I figured that it would be best if we continued our conversations through the good old postal service.
Allow me to put my suspicions in context. I’ve got information that will shed some new light on NASA’s Moon landings during the so-called Space Race. The people I suspect were monitoring our exchanges know this, and it seems like they might have read an intention on my part to share with you something they want to keep secret.
I must admit they are not too far from the truth. The job I need your help with does entail sharing some of that information. However, its sensitive nature combined with the likely monitoring of our electronic channels, has left us with only one briefing option – we need to meet in person. For such a purpose I’m including a ticket for you to attend the May 18 Indians/Reds game in Cincinnati. I’ll be joining you in one of the luxury suites. So even though it’s a public place, privacy will not be an issue.
A word of advice regarding your travel plans. I suggest you don’t fly directly to Cincinnati. I fear it could raise some flags within our monitoring friends. It would be better to book a flight to another city like Detroit or Chicago and drive the rest of the way. Choose one you have other reasons to visit. I’ll reimburse your travel expenses at the game.
As for our electronic communications I suggest continuing with them, but as a tool to make them think we have stopped talking about the NASA stuff. No more conversations about a job or anything other than baseball. Although on that regard we should say something along the lines that there’s no longer a need for your services. If we do it right, it’ll give them the impression that we both took the bait.
Please confirm through regular mail and don’t talk about this through any electronic channel.
Sincerely yours,
Edwin Moon
Lucas looked back into the envelope and pulled out the game ticket he hadn’t noticed earlier. The content of the letter was overwhelming. First of all, he thought, the email mentioned in it sounded like the one Vega had forwarded him. In addition, the apparent monitoring of their communications would explain the mysterious car that seemed to be watching him. Plus, he was being hired to do a job that would get him new information regarding the Moon landings. And if that wasn’t enough, he had in his hands a ticket to go watch an Indians’ game in a luxury suit! Wow buster…
Despite his excitement, Lucas followed his instinct and decided to wait for Vega to take a look at the letter before committing himself to a specific course of action.
Please help keep the stories flowing…
“The one and only”, said Armstrong. “My instinct tells me that Shepard himself probably commissioned its design. Remember that he was Chief of the Astronaut Office for 8 years before the Apollo 14 mission. The other astronauts still saw him as a figure of authority. So it wouldn’t surprise me if he had used that reputation to ask a secret favor from his backup crew. The no questions asked type. The alternate mission patch featured the Roadrunner cartoon character already on the Moon as the Coyote arrives. Shepard wore it on his PLSS – his personal life support system – during Moon walks. The symbolism was straightforward; someone else would be forever credited for being first on the Moon.