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flight crewmembers understood that without translation, and gaped at one another, bewildered.
    The commander eyed the man incredulously— how could we have made it across the Gulf of Mexico? That’s impossible . We didn’t have enough time, not to mention fuel —nothing made sense.
    “Ask him what part—” the commander demanded of the pilot translator “—what he is saying is impossible!
    “ ¿Señor— ” the pilot cleared his throat “—qué parte de México?”
    Clearly disturbed, but apparently sympathetic to their plight, the man answered, “ Estamos en el Territorio del Norte de Baja California —” then more cautiously he asked “— ¿Señores, de dónde vino ustedes ? ”              
    The words Baja California were spoken clearly enough to caused an audible gasp from all the men.
    “Sir, how? —” one of the men asked what they were all thinking “—Baja California, that’s …absurd! He can’t be right.”
    The commander didn’t respond— that does answer some questions, the heat, the time of day, the look of the water —he just shook his head.
    The commander turned to the man who had been translating and ordered, “Ask him if he can help us get word to Fort Lauderdale.”
    After that, everything was a blur. His mind could not accept reality. By the next day, the Navy sent a plane for them, but it did not take them to Florida. Rather it took them to a top-secret facility attached to the Naval Ordinance Test Station at China Lake in California. Apparently, the Navy was trying to cover it up, and the men soon found themselves prisoners.
    A couple of weeks passed , and then one of the men tried to escape. Before the officials caught him, he managed to send one telegram. However, devoid of details it made little difference and only served to deepen the mystery of their disappearance.
     
    ***
    1977, NASA
    On August twentieth, the Voyager II space probe was launched from Cape Canaveral, aboard a Titan-Centaur rocket. Its twin, Voyager I, was launched on September fifth of that same year. Their mission was to explore, and send back measurements, readings, and photos of the outer planets. If all went well, they would reach, and take measurements of the heliosheath, the outer edge of the heliosphere, and finally beyond to the interstellar medium.
     
    ***
    2008, NASA
    October, NASA launched the IBEX spacecraft. Its mission was to observe the nature of our heliosphere, measure the interstellar winds, and determine the makeup of the interstellar medium. It was to collect data to compare with the Voyager probes and to allow NASA to determine the size and shape of the solar system.”
     
    ***
    Current Day, Arlington, VA
    Bradley Sandstrom, a tall, well-proportioned man, stood with his hands crossed behind his back. His custom-fit, black Armani suit, along with his lavishly decorated high-rise office, conferred a sense of power and wealth . He was staring out the window across the Potomac River far beneath him.             
    “He’s getting too close,” the black, triangular conference phone on his desk, boomed angrily throughout the room.
    Sandstrom didn’t respond, he only continued to stare out the window.
    “I want it taken care of!” the disembodied voice ordered.
    Sandstrom finally turned from the window and walked toward the desk where the conference phone sat. His black steely eyes were as cold as his voice when he answered, “I’ll take care of it.”
    The man on the other end of the line moved the mouthpiece closer to his angry, gritted teeth and hissed, “You had better.”
     
    ***
    Sandstrom’s boss hung up the phone without saying good-bye and then sat for a while, staring around his office with unseeing eyes. The walls were lined with naval charts and glassed-in shelves that held miniatures of all the finest naval vessels ever made, organized by year. Like walking through time, one could see the evolution of technology simply by perusing the