September 12th 1962

"We choose to go to the Moon, in this decade and do the other things ... ."

Mac turned off the television set and collapsed into his chair. "Shit," he said. "The Majestic boys are not going to like this."

Bradley raised a hand. "Sir? What have MJ-12 got to do with this announcement?" There was a rustle of sighs from the others gathered around the 12" Motorola set, as well as some sideways glances at Bradley. As he was the new guy in the office, everyone was making bets on how long he would last before he said something that would get him into trouble - erased, or worse!

Mac fumbled in his desk humidor and picked out a cigar, rolling it thoughtfully between his thumb and forefinger before speaking. "You wouldn't know about the fuss last year when Kennedy cancelled the Orion-Casaba. That was our preferred platform. Good-old American know-how; not some souped-up Fourth of July rocket designed by a Nazi war criminal. It would have been beautiful - riding to the planets on the blast from nuclear bombs.

"We had the timeline all figured out. We'd got Heinlein and Campbell on board. They would have promoted it to the public, and the public would have lapped it up. Imagine! We'd have been to Saturn by '71. Saturn! '71! Then Boston boy - " Mac jerked a thumb at the grey television screen, "- cancels it. Didn't like the nuke angle. 'Space exploration should be peaceful.' So we had to change tack. The MJ-12 steering committee were royally pissed.

"And now he goes and springs this on us. No warning. No consultation." Mac sighed, shook his head and bit off the tip of his cigar. "We got to come up with a new script - and fast."

Bradley spoke up again. "But isn't that our job? Keeping the timeline straight? Alright, it's going to be awkward, but -."

"Awkward, hell!" Mac held a lighter to the end of the cigar, then took a long draw on the nicotine-filled smoke. "We've got to incorporate new technologies, and we've been given less time to do it. We're going to have to do a hell of a fake job now." He looked at the clock on the wall. "Alright people! Meeting, one hour. We got to get started on this. Go."

As the team left the office, Bradley hung back for a moment. He was sure that he heard the old man mutter, "He'll be lucky if they don't put a bullet in him."

20th July 1969

Armstrong lowered himself from the ladder onto the lunar soil. "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

On their way to Enceladus, the crew of the USSV Roosevelt watched the grainy images.