Dr. Halversen
Dr. Howell

National Council of Astronautics Board

On my desk sets a photo taken of me just prior to the TMA-1 signal. I am just about to touch the Monolith for the first time and my face registers the gravity of the moment. Little did I, or anyone else, know that within minutes... with the rise of the minor star Mankind has always taken for granted, our lives would change forever.

Again.

The thoughts that were going through my mind at that moment; the last man to touch what can only be a cosmic alarm, have haunted me ever since.

History is filled with decisions made by the Few concerning the Many they serve. The view of the Science Council and it's decision to maintain absolute secrecy concerning the Clavius discovery; waiting until adequate study of the situation before any thought was given to making a public announcment - though supported by me at the time, may turn out to have been wrong. Like so many other attempts to conceal the truth from a public we fear cannot handle more than they have been led to believe, the Council's decision; based solely on the fear of social disorientation and culture shock, may enter into that same history as yet another misguided failure.

Curiosity about the unknown and the conflicting views that all attempts to discover what will happen tomorrow foster are what allowed the Human Race to leave Earth in the first place. If, as BLACK BOOK suggests, TMA-1 was designed to gather and transmit the struggle between the best and worst of whoever discovered it, perhaps we may have lied to ourselves once too often. Trust in the technology that has allowed us to leave the Solar System far outstrips our trust in each other. I fear a moebius loop of cosmic proportions will be the result of witholding the truth from each other about our place in the Universe. Not only because of the recent discovery on the Moon, but in light of the ever increasing Martian Mapping Mission (M3) revelations; specifically, the ongoing excavations at Tharsis and REGION C.

I will continue to honor all formal security oaths, written or otherwise, sworn by me but I can no longer serve an agency unable to either prove it's best intentions, or disprove the allegations leveled against it by those who suspect the reality behind our "civilian" charter.

Given that these troubling conflicts were foremost in my mind, in spite of the incredible situation I found myself in as I reached out to touch TMA-1, I find I can no longer lie to myself.

I hereby tender my resignation from the Council. I intend to prepare myself and those I love for the inevitable response to the TMA-1 signal.

I do not think I will have to wait long.

Sincerely,

Heywood R. Floyd