A Single Moment of Seriousness

Thomas Heineken knew that as soon as he opened his mouth, nothing would ever be the same again.

Thomas knew these moments made or broke a man’s character and reputation. Not always instantly. Sometimes when such pivotal proclamations must be made in defiance of the society one was bred, born, and brought up in, it takes some time for the dust to settle and one’s character and reputation to be brought back up to par.

Thomas had long been known as a serious man—but there are two types of serious folks, you know? You have the blue-collar man of dirt, mud, and labor. The blue-collar man may not be educated, but he has certain folk wisdom that people trust intuitively because the knowledge possessed is a primal intuitive knowledge soaked deep into the blood memories and deeply coded into the Id of each person.

It's those men with their grit, focus, and quick action that people turn to in times of societal crises like war or poverty. These men who find a way, even when only the raw nature of the Earth is at their disposal.

That is one type of serious man. Thomas Heineken was the other type.

The other type was a man on the opposite side of the Id-Ego-Super-Ego spectrum. Thomas was a man who spent his entire life in the awkward state of not fitting in. As a child, he understood too much, too quickly. The other children found him difficult to interact with beyond his elementary years. Most adults were intimidated by his confidence and knowledge, which made them feel beneath a child who was two feet shorter than them.

To be clear, he was not a pariah, but the risk was certainly there when he was young, but he adapted to his environment. Young Tom had friends and got into the same sort of mischief all children, especially young boys, get into. Yet to maintain these relationships, he, more often than not, decided to go with the flow of others. If he hadn’t, he is quite sure he would be a pariah.

In practice, what it meant is he turned a blind eye to maintain social cohesion within his friend group. For example, when he was twenty-three years old, his friend Jared got super into nutrition.

Nutrition, of course, is a euphemism for the diet fad of whatever decade you happened to live in. Tom let Jared get excited and tell him all about the benefits of pure extracted fish oil served in the morning, followed by a strict 12-hour fast and a dinner each night alternating between carb-loading and protein loading, but never both at once.

Jared explained the reasoning is each fast allowed for quick specialized processing and that the essential oils of the fish were needed base to “lube” up one’s digestive tract for each night’s binge of pasta or steak.

Inevitably, Jared fell into selling the fish supplements for the charlatan who started the fad as part of an MLM scheme. It was Jared’s sole source of income for at least 18 months. Jared’s pitch grew more complex with more of the Kool-Aid he drank. Eventually, the carb nights were the Ying, and the protein nights were the Yang, and the fish facilitated their eternal harmony in you.

Thomas politely went along with Jared’s spiritual diet sales pitch and even bought the starter kit, which included a 3 month supply of the fish supplement, and a daily dinner delivery. Oh! And referral cards! So Tom could get in on it too and make some commission with his other friends. He never did.

Thomas, despite being exceptional in his raw intellect, vocabulary, confidence, reasoning, and spatial memory, pumped the brakes to appear as every bit banal as the others who surrounded him.

His entire life was training a mental muscle that just told him: “Do what you are supposed to. Do not break from the herd. Do not speak up. Do not be ostracized. Do not make waves. Be liked. Do not become the pariah.”

He still didn’t fit in. On the outside, no one would not be blamed for thinking he did because nearly everyone liked him, but ultimately he could not like himself when every inaction he took made his existential purpose drift further and further away. The internal and external were long out of alignment, and as the years went on, he felt his spirit dying as more and more of his exceptional talent became dull in truth, not just disguise.

Today was a day of re-alignment. “No longer will I bury the truth in defiance of God to appeal to the ego of Man.” Thomas thought to himself.

He was still scared shitless, just like the previous 46 years and 49 days since his birth.

Thomas had long been known as a serious man—and as such, he warmed his cold feet as his moment of defiance approached with the thoughts of Galileo, Copernicus, Socrates, and many of the other Greats, who were often only seen and heard in hindsight.

In the 24 years since Tom purchased the supplement starter kit from his friend Jared, he had gone on to live a relatively average life settling in working in a technical sales role for an aerospace defense manufacturer.

Despite being a salesman with years of experience under his belt, Thomas still got taken to the cleaners every time he purchased a car. To call Thomas a salesman is sort of like calling a stripper your girlfriend.

There were no “sales” he had to prospect he simply managed the transactions between the Department of Defense and his employer. The selling was done back in DC with lobbyists in a nondescript backroom with “lawmakers”.

Thomas Heineken’s career, like the rest of his life, was a hollow shell. A decorative act for public image. Nothing more.

Thomas’ typical day to day consisted of him working with different peers across the supply chain who provided different components for the manufacturing of the combat jets his company actually produced. This supply chain management was done on a per order basis to ensure that the final product could be delivered in a timely matter to the customer.

The company Howden Aerospace carved out a very profitable and large niche for itself after it’s atmosphere breaking design guaranteed American dominance of the skies for another century. Literally, atmosphere breaking. After decades of speculation, Howden Aerospace became the first company to develop an aircraft that could easily enter lower Earth orbit, and use the momentum of the Earth’s motion to quickly go anywhere on the planet with significant less fuel being used than traditional aircraft, while covering great distances in no time at all.

The military advantage of this was stark. No longer did the generals in the US military have to lie awake wondering whether its overseas runways or carriers would be eliminated in a sneak attack.

To maintain global air superiority, the bulk of all military aircraft was now kept in the homeland far from the reach of any foreign enemies, but still able to mobilize multiple squadrons anywhere in the world within an hour, all thanks to the faceless innovators at Howden Aerospace.

While the military advantage of the technology fundamentally shifted the calculations for the United States government it could not ignore the enormous commercial utility the technology presented either.

Having already subsidized the airline industry for years, and outright bailing it out at least 5 times, the United States government knew that the efficiency of the technology would be a deathblow to the remaining airlines.

Concerned first and foremost with keeping the technology in the hands of the United States, Congress took the unprecedented action of nationalizing all of the domestic air industry into AmAir, which was supplied exclusively with aircraft provided by Howden Aerospace. Not only that, but AmAir Freight became the exclusive provider of package and parcel delivery for United States Postal Service, which within 5 years forced the consolidation of FedEx, and UPS, and in less than 10 years, saw the nationalization and merging with the USPS.

The United States was still fundamentally a free market economy, but it’s AmAir was a powerful exception. With minimum government oversight, it and all of it’s subsidiaries were de facto puppets of the manufacturer Howden Aeropsace, which through it’s lobby in Congress had great leverage over the entire American experiment.

Within the first decade of the company’s dominance, which saw the demise of it’s domestic competitors, AmAir began providing international routes, and local routes in international markets quickly monopolizing those markets too. Any governments who protested quickly found that the United States was not below pulling foreign aid, or threatening other vital interests. All who put up a show of resistance, did just that, and quickly acquiesced to the tides of the times.

If you are reading this any time close in to the time that I am writing it, you will not be stunned by these facts. That’s how business has been done for a long time. Many have spoken up against these institutional maladies, and they are left ignored.

Thomas Heineken long had moral hang-ups with his employer, but never spoke on them. He knew he knew better than them. He knew he knew more about the corruption than others. The weight of having to speak up was much too much though.

Thomas Heineken was not about to lose his comfortable six figure job to join the chorus of college students cropping up each semester to protest these questionable actions.

Fate eventually propels us to positions we do not expect to be in, and Thomas Heineken was no different. The time had come for Thomas to align his subconscious potential with his conscious actions, and do a moral good not just so he can live up to what he was actually supposed to be, but so he can help elevate all of mankind with a knowledge of the truth. Thomas Heineken knew that as soon as he opened his mouth, nothing would ever be the same again:

“I have worked for Howden Aerospace for the last 18 years.”

“And you had a Top Secret clearance your entire time that you were there?” confirmed Jack Haley, who himself had been a writer for The Atlantic at least as long.

“That is correct.”

Jack didn’t look up, but nodded as he scanned the page in his notebook, before flipping it over to the next page containing the notes from their earlier phone conversation. Jack Haley was a stout, balding middle-aged man, with black hair, and a perpetually inquisitive look in his eyes, which was a natural characteristic of his, despite many thinking it was forced. It served him well in his profession, because no one could ever get a proper read on him, or know what angle he was going to take in the end. He simply inquired, thought, wrote, and published.

Jack’s eyes contrasted heavily with Thomas’. Thomas looked younger overall, despite them being roughly the same age. Thomas had a naturally athletic build even into middle age, a full head of hair that lightened in the summer months, but his eyes. His eyes. They had a blankness about them like a shade pulled over a window blocking the light from entering. Jack could not be read because of his dynamism. Thomas could not be read because of his inertness. Jack looked older, but alive. Thomas looked younger, but dead.

Jack continued to scan his notebook for a moment before dropping his arms and looking at Thomas and his blank eyes across the booth:

“Long story short, you are saying it’s fucking aliens?” Jack blurted in an exasperated, annoyed, energetic, exhausted, yet still hopeful tone, his eyes lighting up even more.

“Aliens, or some other sort of inter-dimensional traveler depending on how broadly you are seeking to use the term.”

“Not human.”

“Correct. Non-human origin. Maybe even non-organic. I don’t know much beyond what I’ve told you.”

“I guess it answers one question. People always wondered why no one ever got credit for Low Earth Orbital Flight (LEOF). Henry Ford was the man behind the automobile. Steve Jobs was the man behind the iPhone. But it was Zeldar from Planet X who gave us LEOF this entire time.” chuckled Jack in what could be confused as a condescending tone, but really was just his way of letting out the anxiety of the situation and the predicament he would be in if he could get this wild-ass story to print.

Thomas smiled pensively.

Jack smiles back quickly before leaning to the side adjusting himself in the booth, pulling his head in, and throwing his hands up in a half gesturing motion and says “So whatcha actually got?”

“Well, I have my the schematics of our current designs. These are what I work with most intimately with in my daily role. As we are beginning to upgrade a lot of Navy’s fleet to it’s third generation fighter, I have been having to cross reference with older schematics because much of the 2nd generation, and some of the first, we call it it the 1.5gen, can just be upgraded. As I was digging into these deeper files, I kept finding references in the annotations to ‘Skidbladnir’ which…”

“Say that again?”

“‘Skidbladnir’ I haven’t looked up the pronunciation, but in Norse Mythology it is a magical ship one of the gods have built.”

“Right. Of course.” Jack says half sarcastically.

“I keep seeing references to Skidbladnir.” Thomas continues: “I’m assuming it is like a Gen 0 prototype and my curiosity is piqued, so I start digging around old network drives and everything else I can get my hands on, which is basically everything since I’m one of only a score of people that can see the full schematics. Until I found this.”

Thomas, with more excitement than his eyes have possessed in years pulls out, and passes over to Jack a three ring binder filled to the brink.

“This is a detailed crash report, detailing exactly what Skidblanir is, or at least the first impressions of it when it was recovered by the USAF.”

Jack opens the binder, and his inquisitive eyes retract back into his skull and become dilated as he looks inward, for once, and start’s questioning everything he knew about himself, rather than questioning everyone else.

Jack knows Thomas is a serious man.

Thomas for once in his life was the other type of serious man. A man who decided to shape his world closer to truth. A man who decided to mold the world, rather than be molded by it. A man, who doesn’t need to live in the abstract and conceptual. But instead a man, who is utilizing grit, risk, and strength, to help liberate his people from the lies all of society has told them.

Thomas Heineken was born with a fire in his heart. The flame of the fire had steadily dwindled for 46 years, and 48 days. On his 46th year and 49th day, a wave of oxygen breathed life to that flame as Jack said he would do all he could to release the truth to the world.

Thomas’ life finally had purpose, and the years of malaise seemed to be the necessary precursor to put this man at this spot in this point in time.

Galileo suffered house arrested. Socrates drank Hemlock. Thomas Heineken hanged himself in his garage on his 46th year and 142nd day.

Jack Haley cried when he heard of the passing of Thomas Heineken. Jared who sold supplements applauded with the masses.

Both Jack Haley and Thomas Heineken were arrested and were awaiting trial for treason before anything could be published in The Atlantic. The official narrative from the US Attorney General, and the PR Director for Howden Aerospace was these men were engaged in formal espionage for the Coalition of Central Asian States.

I knew Jack for many years and thankfully he was a man used to shaping his world. Jack filmed Thomas’ testimony just before their arrest. Jack handed it off to me, and a few others, and we have since passed it along our personal networks, internet forums, and anywhere else these conspiracy theories can bloom into the facts of the history books written tomorrow.

The United States and it’s global empire has a monopoly on non-human technology. They use this technology to bend the will of all other peoples in the world to their favor.

It sounds like science fiction, but it is true, and it is the world we live in. I plead with you to take seriously these most important matters of life and death that serious men have died, and likely will continue to die for, unless we speak up.

Thomas Heineken lived the life of an insecure man, with abnormal abilities relegated to an average life because he never took himself seriously, except for one particular moment in history when God called on him to be exceptional.

In the irony that persists throughout God’s Creation, it was the first time the world did not take him seriously.

Thomas Heineken took his own life because the flame that gave him life was finally extinguished by the shame his own people spat upon him, as he was painted as treacherous loon in the media, the courts, and the streets.

Thomas Heineken was a serious man. I am too and for posterity’s sake, I hope you are a serious enough person to believe this story to have faith in what is unpopular, but truthful. I hope you are strong enough to not give in to the masses among us as Thomas did for most of his life. I pray you take yourself seriously enough to know your voice can liberate us all. Just speak truth, today.