Jacob's Bridge

By Dr. John Mouery

Since 1908, when an object from space exploded over Siberia and caused the Tunguska blast, that same region has been the frequent site of multiple space object impacts. And yet, very little research has been done on the objects or the blasts.

In 2030, a Russian miner discovers something in a coal mine beneath the location of the 1947 Sikhote Alinsk explosion in Siberia. What at first was thought to be an unexploded WWII bomb is revealed to be something else entirely. The Russians shut the site down, conduct a massive military buildup, and launch some cover story about a mining accident.

American scientist Anita Raymie isn't buying it. She and her handsome boss, CIA agent Gary Dannon, and their US government team of scientists are ordered to investigate. The White House very much wants to know what the Russians are doing.

As Anita and her team study surveillance and satellite data from the mine area, she discovers an eyewitness to the Sikhote Alinsk event, Russian defector Michael Antelov, who is still alive and living in America. She meets him and learns what he saw in 1947, and this leads to Anita presenting her findings to the U.S. president and secretary of defense.

In the midst of all these developments, Anita and Gary are forced to acknowledge romantic feelings for one another. But that will have to wait, because the team finds that the Russians are hiding an object that is definitely not a World War 2 bomb. Russian archeologists and scientists study the find and discover that it is an object not from earth. It's a suspended animation case that is keeping its alien occupant alive.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nathan Mouery
• Release date: May 19, 2016
• ISBN: 9781533707116

Dr. John Mouery

Dr. John Mouery is a Pastor of thirty-three years. John has dedicated his life to enhancing the personal and spiritual development of others. Dr. Mouery is now experiecing his dream by writing futuristic novels. It is his hope that Jacob's Bridge will bring inspiration and wholesome entertainment to all who read it.

Book preview

JACOB’S BRIDGE IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF JOE HEATH JR.

Joe was a wonderful soul who brought peace and joy to my life. Joe, like me, enjoyed collecting guns, hunting, and shooting at the rifle range. As an astronomer, he relocated many times with special assignments all over the world. My thanks go out to Joe for doing the astronomical research for this book, creating the chapter titles, and the names of the characters. Is there any wonder the main character just happens to be Anita, the name of his beloved wife? Anita and I miss Joe but are looking forward to seeing him again in heaven.

I would like to thank Jana Aman for being my critique partner. Thanks, Jana, for your hard work.

Most of all I would like to acknowledge the patience and understanding of my wife while I was consumed with this project. I love her very much.

JACOB’S BRIDGE: HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

In 1908, a nuclear explosion shakes Tunguska, Russia. Five years elapse before the Wright brothers successfully fly the world's first airplane at Kitty Hawk. Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian, invents the first successful wireless telegraph in 1895, and the first transnational wireless message is sent in 1901. The radio is becoming commonplace and is rapidly finding a place in every home. The Saturday Evening Post, first published in 1899, is nine years old. Henry Ford’s Model T debuted this year but is called a 1909 model. Movies are silent and are still in their infancy. Bathing suits cover the entire body and women’s skirts are weighted with lead to keep them from blowing up around the waist. The world is restless and uneasy as it slowly marches toward World War I. Theodore Roosevelt is President of the United States and the forty-six star is added to the flag. The Chicago Cubs wins the World Series and the first horror film entitled "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde premiers in Chicago. Scientists have not discovered the atom but will witness the first nuclear explosion in recorded history.

PROLOGUE 1908 & 1947

A LARGE FIREBALL LIT up the sky as it sped through the atmosphere. The year was 1908 and witnesses testified that the object abruptly changed its course to collide with Earth.

When the object was 4.5 miles above the Earth, an explosion decimated it, saving the planet. The detonation left behind radiation but no trace of the object’s original mass. A large area in Central Siberia was destroyed...without any sign of a crater.

Thirty-nine years later, history repeated itself.

It was 1947 and the Russian military was conducting a test flight of a German jet confiscated during World War II.

Chapter 1: DESTINY

I WAS EIGHT YEARS OLD on that night in 2013, almost two decades ago, when I went outside to stare at the stars.

The sky was so clear and the stars were so bright. I dreamed of someday discovering a UFO or of being a space traveler. Every time a shooting star would speed across the night sky, I would pretend it was an alien spacecraft coming to earth.

Anita Raymie, I said to myself, one day your dream will come true.

Then, as if the universe knew my thoughts, a falling star streaked across the sky.

Oh, wow, another flying saucer. It must be an interstellar craft. It is so much larger than all the others.

It became much brighter as it shot across the sky. It changed direction and headed on a collision course with earth. It turns bright orange, and has become a giant fire ball. Excitement permeates my body at what I am seeing, and at the same time a sense of fear and doom takes over my thoughts. My feet were unable to move.

Thank God my neighborhood is safe, I give a sigh of relief, I must tell mom and dad immediately what has taken place.

My dad’s voice dominated the night’s silence when he called out from inside the house, Can you believe this?

I ran inside and found my parents glued to the TV watching an old black and white documentary. This was my first time watching black and white video, and old documentaries never interested me in the past. I never cared for my folks’ style of entertainment, and would rather watch falling stars in the night sky.

Then something my dad said to my mom caught my interest:

This is a true story. It really happened in 1908, and I have never heard of it.

I looked at the screen just in time to see a large fireball at a high rate of speed exploding. What are the chances? This looked exactly like the one witnessed outside. I continued to watch with my parents as a reporter, standing beside an elderly woman, summarized what was known about the event...

Oksana here is one of only nine Central Siberians who witnessed the explosion and is still alive today. One man is known to have died in the blast itself—a reindeer herder sixty miles from the explosion. The area was so remote that no other humans were near the blast. There were not any records kept to substantiate the number of deaths that occurred later from radiation poisoning, but the remaining witnesses have revealed thousands died premature deaths. Radiation caused deaths an estimated two hundred miles from the explosion, the reporter explained, I have with me today Oksana. Oksana recently defected to America and only now is free to tell her story.

As I watched the grainy film in black and white, the fear in the old woman’s eyes was captivating. Reading the English translation at the bottom of the screen, and listening to Russian coming from her shaky voice, I noticed deformities under her tight, leathery skin. My heart broke for her. Her testimony made such an impression in my mind. For years afterward, I still heard her in my dreams...

My name is Oksana. When I was seven years old, a fireball came streaking down from the sky. I watched it for a few seconds and then it suddenly changed course. I remember like it was yesterday. Then, after the explosion, it seemed the entire world ended. There was a flash that filled the sky. It was like the sky opened up and split in half. I covered my eyes and could see the bones in my hands. Later, I could not understand why so many of my friends and family were getting sick and many died while they were still young. I could not figure out why they got sick.

As I watched this frail woman and heard the pain coming from her, my heart ached and tears began to flow down my face. I could not help thinking how my life would have changed if something like this had happened to me at age seven. I was only eight when I heard about it—that could’ve been me! My Dad changed the channel.

No, Dad don’t change the channel, I need to see the rest of the program.

Anita, why?

Dad, I need to tell you, I saw the very same thing just a few minutes ago outside.

Anita, you did what?

I saw a giant fireball streak across the sky.

Anita, you and your imagination drive me nuts.

Dad, you know I’m crazy about this stuff, and I know what I saw.

No Anita, I will not turn it back. I’m watching something else.

Please? Mom, help me.

Honey, let her watch the ending it is almost over, Mom took my side once again.

Alright, two against one, I can’t take any more pressure. Anita you win.

Dad changed the channel back just in time to hear, Breaking news;

We interrupt this previously scheduled program with a catastrophic event that just took place; we are getting word that a large meteor has impacted earth in Central Siberia just moments ago. People reported a large fireball skittering across the sky just before impact. Buildings are damaged even though the meteor hit in a remote area far away from this Russian city. At this time we do not have any reports of casualties but will keep you informed as we receive more details. Now back to your regularly scheduled program already in progress.

Dad, do you believe me now? I knew it. I knew that fireball would hit the earth.

As a young girl who had been interested in the stars I tuned in with all the intensity that was in me. I was upset at first, because the 1908 fireball incident was over but the documentary continued and grabbed me once again. Another skyward explosion in Russia took to the screen with the time line of 1947. I had never heard of this either but dad had. We watched as the reenactment with narration was in progress...

Colonel Antolev stepped to the glass of the control tower and watched the jet on the runway. He pulled the microphone to his mouth.

You are cleared for takeoff, Comrade Nikita. Report to me everything you experience each step of the way. You must do this right. This is the first test flight of a jet-powered airplane in the history of the Soviet Union. We are making history.

Antolev heard the unnatural whine of the jet engine, and the fragile craft inched forward.

Yes, Colonel! Yes, we are, Nikita said over the radio, I am rolling down the runway. This is fantastic. I have never felt so much power in an airplane.

The jet needed the entire runway to do so, but it finally lifted off.

Colonel?

Yes, Captain, I’m reading you loud and clear.

The speedometer says I’m already traveling at 350 mph. The throttle is only halfway out. I’m going to three-quarter throttle and accelerating. He performed the maneuver, though the craft was already almost out of Antolev’s sight.

This is an incredible airplane, Nikita reported over the radio, I’m going to full throttle. The speedometer is climbing, and I am now at 540 mph. She is a little shaky but still responding to the controls. I’m throttling down to one-half to let the engines breathe for a few miles. I will then go to full throttle in a 45 degree climb.

Antolev imagined Nikita nudging the throttle forward as he pulled into the climb.

The throttle is back at full and my angle of ascent is now forty-five degrees. I am still gaining speed. I am putting on my oxygen mask.

The radio bumped and squeaked as Nikita added his mask.

Now my altitude is 23,800 feet, and I am now starting to lose speed. I must put her into a dive to regain airspeed or I will stall.

That wouldn’t do, not with so much riding on this test.

Captain, watch your speed. Change your angle of descent if necessary. A pause. Nikita, do you copy? Nikita, respond. Captain? Comrade Nikita, do you read me?

The silence lengthened. Antolev imagined Nikita unconscious at the controls as the jet plummeted toward—

I read you loud and clear, Colonel.

The Captain’s voice was shaky.

Sorry, I could not respond. I was speechless. I believe I was in shock. You are not going to believe this. I was in the dive, and as I burst through a cloud, I found myself on a collision course with an unidentified object. It looked like a vertical wheel with a smaller horizontal wheel in the middle of the vertical wheel. I thought we would collide, but the other craft made a quick adjustment in altitude. The propulsion exhaust was so bright it blinded me even with my helmet visor down.

Captain, you are not making any sense.

Antolev looked at the radar display beside him.

There are no other aircraft in your airspace.

I beg to differ, comrade Colonel.

Antolev rubbed his chin.

Tell me again, and speak slowly.

I saw an unidentified flying object, Nikita said, lightning was striking all around it with amber beams that looked like many eyes.

Nikita, Antolev said with anxiety evident in his own voice, you have hypoxia or anoxia. Your mind is playing tricks on you. Put your oxygen mask back on.

Colonel, my mask is on. And there is more, sir: I saw the pilot of the unidentified craft. I saw a large alien; it was not human. He looked as though I had startled him. He had been on a collision course with the Earth, but when I burst through the cloud, he banked away and left at an incredible speed; much faster even than this German beauty could match.

There was fear beneath Nikita’s words.

"Colonel, am I hallucinating? Nyet! I know what I saw was real. I am returning to base at full throttle!"

As Antolev searched the sky for the jet, an incredible flash exploded from the right edge of his vision. He instinctively ducked, and a shock wave washed over the surrounding forest and the airfield, blowing out windows in the control tower and showering him with glass.

I listened as the host of the show continued,

In the days that followed, witnesses who survived the blast reported seeing a glowing object skittering through the atmosphere, changing course radically, aiming for the Russian countryside, and then being impacted from nowhere by another object, causing the tremendous explosion.

The host ends the documentary with this statement;

This time, there was a crater.

I could not believe the program had ended. I decided to find out more about these catastrophes that seemed to be common in Russia. This was stuff I had only imagined and now it’s exciting to know others have experienced the things my dreams were made of. I tried immediately to do research on the Internet.

The phone rang and Dad answered. I could tell by Dad’s tone that it was another annoying bill collector. Mom called me into the kitchen to help clean up and finish loading the dishwasher.

Mom, I am on the Internet!

Anita Raymie, turn the computer off and come here right this minute.

Oh, Mom, I sighed and shut down my laptop.

Mom, if only someone could have warned the Russian people.

Anita, don’t worry your pretty little head over this. It happened a long time ago. We rinsed the dishes in silence.

Sweetheart, we work well together as a team. Don’t you think so? Good job loading the dishwasher. But now, young lady, it’s past your bedtime. Off you go. Good night, Anita.

Good night, Mom.

I gave Dad a hug and headed upstairs to my bedroom. After turning the light out and quietly opening my window, I climbed out onto the roof and admired the stars. The heavens always seemed to be calling to me. On this particular night, I made my decision.

My goal in life would be to watch the heavens and earth to warn people of coming disasters and to search the stars for aliens. I will start by getting a college degree in astronomy.

Chapter 2: NEW DATA ANALYST

17 years in the Future: 2030

THE DAY AFTER FINISHING graduate school I pull my air rider into the driveway to see Mom outside on the mobility chair ramp waving a letter.

What is it, Mom? I shout.

It looks very important.

Who is it from?

I sit down on the ramp beside my mom’s mobility chair to rest. The letter is from the Satellite Data Reduction and Analysis Facility. I am so excited my hands are shaking and my insides feel as though they will burst. Opening the envelope, mom is afraid the letter will tear.

Anita, calm down.

It is an appointment to interview for the position with DRAF. My application was submitted over a year ago. Can you believe it, Mom?

Yes, I can. When it comes to hiring help, the government is slow.

Mom, give me a hug,

I throw my arms around her and kiss her on the forehead.

Mom, I am so happy, it feels like I will boil over.  

Mom, give me your hands, I begin to dance and sing, we’re in the money. Reaffirming her that our financial stress will soon be over puts goose bumps all over my body.

Anita, I know all about your all-or-nothing expectations, and I am telling you to slow down, the job is not yours yet. She has seen me fall great distances from my lofty expectations. God will exalt you in due time, Mom preaches to me as always.

My appointment is in four days, the day after my graduation, which is perfect timing—I will be able to apply as Dr. Anita Raymie. Mom, of course, preps me for my interview.

"Anita, just remember you tend to