Overture (Earth Song) Read Online Free PDF

petty or ridiculous things, and seven kids being born in Peru to one woman. When they finally got to the story they were interested in there was precious little more to offer. The distance shots were longer, and there were a few ‘man on the street’ interviews, but no real information. The story ended with a New York anchorman summarizing what was known.
    “ At some time this morning, NYPD uniformed units encountered something highly unusual. They did not provide any detail and only requested backup and as they stated, ‘better call the FBI too; I think this is above our heads.’ NYPD arrived on the scene at approximately the same time as the FBI and the Federal Government agents quickly took control of the situation. The initial responding NYPD officers are being detained and we assume questioned at this time. There is no more information and so far inquiries to our government at all levels are going unanswered. This is Todd Bakerson reporting from-”
    She snapped off the TV with a stab on the power button and sat staring at the screen. It took her a moment before she realized Jake had asked her a question several times. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”
    “ I said, do you know what this is all about?”
    “ Not a clue, I just spotted the NASA truck there and wanted to know more.”
    “ I bet some satellite crashed in the park and they’re all over it. Could be a Chinese satellite or old Soviet sputnik. That would draw this kind of attention.”
    “ Unlikely.  New York is too far north for most satellites to have come down. Their orbits more closely parallel that of our shuttles we launch from southern Florida. This is something bigger. Besides, if it were just a satellite they wouldn’t have gone to all the effort of concealing the site. Where are the witnesses? If a ten pound meteor were to crash in the middle of the Pacific at midnight there would be a dozen witnesses all clamoring to talk about it on the air.” She gestured at the TV as she spoke. “Not one person they interviewed said they’d seen anything. Damn peculiar in a city that size.”
    “ What, you think it’s little green men?” He turned his head away, regretting the comment the moment it had left his lips, but she didn’t say a word. She’d heard what he said but was still looking at the blank screen and thinking. Thinking about the life she had left behind, thinking about a brief signal coming from a lonely star cluster that had ended that life, and also thinking about what Jake had just said.
     
     
     
    Lt. Harper carried two Styrofoam containers while cradling a couple steaming cups of patented 14th precinct java to the room where Victor sat working with a police sketch artist. The former street punk, drug user, and petty thief smiled brilliantly at him and the food he was bringing. He wondered if they had somehow pulled the wrong rap sheet. He put one of the Styrofoam containers and coffee in front of Victor and took a seat nearby. “Thanks so much, Lt. Harper!” Victor said with a big smile and opened the container. The corned beef sandwich and potato chips were cheap from the precinct cafeteria but Victor acted like it was gourmet food.
    The sketch artist had two computers working with quick and sure movements of a stylus. “Lieutenant, I’m not sure if this is a legitimate use of my time.”
    “ Don’t worry about it, Jennifer; I’ll sign the voucher on this one.” She shrugged and went back to work. The last six hours, Victor had continued to recite, verbatim, detailed descriptions of symbols and designs he had seen on the Portal in the North Meadow. One of her computers was building a comprehensive three-dimensional representation of this Portal as Victor had seen it; the other was the individual symbols that were being described at that moment. Harper didn’t know why he was going to this much effort to indulge a newly born street prophet. He just knew there was more to this than met the eye, and he was going to