“Sir, the manual is very specific about this.”
“And I am superseding that provision, general.”
“Then you are taking security out of my hands.”
“You may view it that way but I see it as adding a level of security,” the President said.
“Mr. President I strongly oppose this. It will make my job all the more difficult,” Devin said.
“General Devin, if you do not feel you can still do the job, I would be happy to have you assigned to another job that you would be more comfortable with.”
“That’s not right Sir. I have worked my ass off on these projects that we are developing and now you think I should be assigned someplace else? I have been totally dedicated to protecting our national security. We have developed weapons superior to anything in the world and they have saved our asses time and again. And I might add, without any additional accountability. I have served under a number of Presidents and they were comfortable with the situation.”
“And I am saying general, that I intend to make a change and if you can’t live with that, I see no alternative except to have you reassigned,” the President replied.
“Goddamn it sir, this isn’t right. You are punishing me for maintaining the original protocol as followed by every President since Truman. Even Clinton wasn’t that unreasonable.”
“General. That is enough. It is going to be done. I have made up my mind. What I want from you is your decision to stay or be reassigned. I want that by the end of the day. I also want you to leave the accounting records with me,” he President said.
His neck was starting to get red and the level of his voice was becoming very stern. Devin knew he had pressed it as far as he could. He reached into his briefcase and removed the records. He stood, placed his hat on his head, and saluted the President.
“Here are the records Mr. President,” he said, laying the bound report on his desk, “I will have an answer for you by 17:00 hours.”
“General,” the President said as a way of excusing him.
When he had gone, the President sat for a few minutes. Why didn’t Devin want anyone to know what was going on? Did he have his own agenda or was he really trying to protect the country’s secrets? How could he inadvertently have failed to mention the Su 11 project? Were there other projects he was hiding?
He had a sinking feeling that Devin was not being totally truthful about what was going on at Groom Lake. And yet the other Presidents before him had not made any changes. Was this honestly the best thing or was he doing what the general accused him of, punishing him? No. He strongly believed that more than meets the eye was going on. He decided it was time to find out. He sent for the Secretary of Defense.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
When Raymond Eller was appointed to head the Department of Homeland Security, he decided that he would do the best job of anyone up until this time. He vowed to not just direct but to get actively involved in cases and to have a working knowledge about everything that was going on.
At forty-one, he was considered one of the bright stars in Washington. He was easy going, smart, but not brilliant. He worked hard and surrounded himself with the best minds. Male, female, black, white, or green, nothing mattered to him but the results.
Within months he found that his vow was idealistic at best and totally impossible. The demands on his time were simply too great. Terrorists were like cockroaches. They multiplied faster than you could kill them. What would cause people to become so fanatical? Whatever it was, he found that he simply could not be involved with all of the cases that poured in.
He was just about to go to a briefing when his secretary stuck his head in the door and said, “Director, Sarah Steel would like to have a word with you.”
“Well, I need to get to the briefing. Can it wait?”
“She said it was very important.”
“Alright. Tell her she can walk with me to the briefing,” he said.
She was waiting for him when he came out the door.
“I know you’re in a hurry but this is really important,” she said, handing him the report from the interviewing agent.
He quickly scanned the report and slowed down his long strides. Sarah was extremely grateful; she had been doing her best to keep up, her high heels clicking along the marble floor.
“Is this the rumblings of a nut case?”
“The investigator was Willis. You know how detailed and persistent he is. He thinks there may be some merit to this,” she said, tapping the report.
“Spaceships? Aliens walking around in Area-51? Sarah, are you buying any of this crap at all?”
“I saw the interview tape. He is not a crazy nut looking for publicity.”
“Still. Everyone knows that strange things go on in that place. You know as well as I do that our most sophisticated planes have been developed there. I seriously doubt that we have aliens working there. This isn't "Men in Black” he said, handing the report back to her.
“I don’t want to believe it either. But what if it is true about the general?”
“Some general building a weapon that is more powerful than the atomic bomb? And he is doing it without authorization? Listen to yourself Sarah. Do you know how crazy that sounds?”
“It sounds anything but crazy. I would like to have permission to check it out further,” she said.
“Fine. Check it out, but don’t let it interfere with other cases. I think it is a big waste of time,” he said as they reached the door to the briefing room.
Sarah Steel was thirty-nine years old and had been working for the government ever since she graduated from Cornell University.
Of all of her traits, when people mentioned her name ‘tenacious’ was most often associated with it. She was like a bulldog once she got hold of something that she believed in. While considered attractive by many of her co-workers, she was not beautiful. If anything, she went out of her way not to highlight her best features. She wore flats on most occasions, conservative dress suits and little make-up. Her hair was dishwater blond and she used nothing to highlight it. At five-foot six inches tall with a slender body, she certainly could not be considered threatening.
Her social life was pretty much nonexistent. As soon as a man found out she was not only working for the government, but the Department of Homeland Security, they quickly disappeared from her life. She was the youngest of the four station heads and the one who needed the least direction from Eller.
Because of her abilities, he afforded her more autonomy than the other section heads. She did her usual competent job during the briefing but didn’t say anything about this latest report. Eller was glad she hadn’t brought it up. The last thing he wanted was to open a can of worms about UFOs.
When the meeting was over she looked up Willis and directed him to contact Dr. Lake. She wanted to be able to compare the two reports and then she could sit down and cross reference them with George Snapp’s account.
She wasn’t convinced that what she had in front of her was the real truth but it intrigued her. She had always suspected that the government wasn’t upfront on a great many things. She understood the need to have national security secrets. What bothered her about this particular case was the fact that a lone general could be operating without the knowledge or sanction of the government. It was obviously a BlackOps situation but even those were accounted for to someone.
She was tempted to ask Ellis to ask the President but realized that even if it was the fastest way to get answers her boss would not take kindly to that approach.