FORTY-ONE
The President was leaning back in his desk chair, looking out the window on the South Lawn. The rain had stopped and the sun was breaking through the clouds. Water sparkled on the lawn. He had the urge to take off his shoes and run through the grass but somehow it didn’t seem appropriate. The press would be sure to make something more out of it than there really was. It was strange to be the most powerful man in the world and to not be able to do what he wanted, when he wanted.
The intercom buzzed and announced that Raymond Eller was here for his appointment. The door opened and the President greeted Raymond.
“Let’s sit over here. I wanted you to be here when I call General Devin. I will have him on speakerphone but I would like for you to say nothing until I give you the word.”
“Yes sir. I’ll just listen.”
“Don’t worry; everything is tapped for future reference. I will have a transcript sent to you for your records.”
“Yes sir. What should I do if he asks if I’m here?”
“I’ll handle that. I won’t lie to him, but I won’t volunteer any information either. We will play that by ear,” the President said picking up the phone and having the call put through.
“General Devin, Nellis Gunnery Range.”
The President pressed the speakerphone button when he answered.
“Hello General. How is the weather out your way?”
“Gloomy.”
“Sorry to hear that. It’s sunny and clear here.”
“Sorry I can’t say the same.” It was a quick sparing match. Feeling out each other.
“General, about our previous conversation. I have been giving it a great deal of thought and I believe I have come to a solution that should be acceptable to both of us,” the President said.
“I’m all ears.”
“After a lot of thought, and going over the possible solutions, I have decided that Raymond Eller, Director of Homeland Security, will oversee the operations at Nellis and attached facilities.”
Silence followed. He couldn’t even hear the general breathing.
“General?”
Another silence.
Finally, “Sir, with all due respect, that bumbling bureaucrat at Homeland Security doesn’t know up from down. What in the world made you come to that conclusion?” he sputtered.
“Well general, I know that you don’t get along with the Secretary of Defense, which seemed like an excellent possibility. I didn’t want to have you two going at it constantly. The CIA and FBI have no business in something of this magnitude. The CIA can have their BlackOps projects, but S-4 is not their concern, nor do I want it that way. I decided Eller was the right man for the job,” the President.
“Eller? What the hell does he know about what we do here? For that matter what does anyone know?”
“And that is my point exactly. I couldn’t have made a better case. The fact is that no one other than you knows what’s going on. What would happen if you were in an accident? Where would we be then?” the President replied.
“With all due respect sir. Bullshit. That’s just smoke and mirrors. The real reason is that you don’t have confidence in my loyalties,” the General said, his pitch raising.
The President didn’t say anything for a second. He was fighting off letting Devin get to him.
“General. Two things. Change your tone with me immediately and secondly, that is my decision and you will not call it into question. This is the last time I will mention your attitude. There will be no next time, got it?” the President asked, anger in his voice.
The general fought down the urge to slam the phone down and took a deep breath, “I understand, Mr. President. I am not calling your decision making abilities into question. I simply cannot see someone like Eller in charge of our most valuable Ultra Secret projects. He is simply not equipped to handle such a job.”
“I understand your concerns. I do. Maybe it would be best if you told Eller about your reservations. He is sitting here with me,” the President said.
“Hello General Devin. I’m looking forward to working with you,” Raymond said in a cheerful voice.
Silence for a few seconds then, “Mr. Eller. I believe we have met before.”
“Yes. At a reception for the retiring Secretary of State. You got my wife’s name wrong a couple of times, but it was late and everyone had a few too many drinks by that time,” Raymond replied.
“Yes. My best to your lovely wife,” he said.
“Now, if we could make some arrangements. The President has been thoughtful enough to have me flown directly to the main facility at Groom Lake. I would be grateful if you could meet me when I arrive. I will have my schedule sent to you over a secure line later this afternoon.”
“I see. And do you have a rough time frame for your visit?”
“Well general, it will be more than just a visit. I intend to stay and discuss the projects and their status. I want to come up to speed as quickly as possible,” Raymond said.
“Yes. Well, you know we are pushing some tight schedules. With the crash of one of our advanced prototype planes, it has put us in a time crunch,” he said.
“Is that the Su–11 crash?” the President interjected.
“Ah… should we be discussing that?” the general asked.
“By all means. Raymond has the same clearance as you. He is your immediate superior as of now. What you know, he should know as well,” the President replied.
He knew the general must be madder than a hornet’s nest hit with a stick.
“I see. Well, in that case, yes, the Su-11 crash. Mr. Eller, how long are you intending to stay?”
“I have no idea really. As long as it takes. The sooner we get started the quicker I will be out of your hair. Then I can come back to Washington and bumble around here for a while,” he said smiling.
“I didn’t mean that like it sounded,” the general said.
“No. I’m sure you didn’t. Besides, that’s water under the bridge. We need to move on to the more important things. I don’t have time for grudges General Devin. Life is too short and I have far too much to do.”
“Yes. I suppose we all do.”
“I will have my office get in touch just as soon as I work out the details and make sure everything is ready for a smooth transition.”
“Transition?”
“At my office general. Not at Groom Lake,” Raymond said.
“I understand. I’ll be looking forward to your arrival,” Devin replied.
When he hung up the President was smiling from ear to ear. His strange sense of humor had kicked in. As childish as it seemed, he enjoyed letting the general take it on the chin.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
The solar system given the Flansteed designation number of 55Cnc is a mere forty-one light years from Earth. It is the closest solar system that resembles our own.
Cnc — D is in the Rho Cancri System and is the third planet from the sun. It can be located from earth by looking from the right ascension angle to east of the vernal equinox. The mass is four times greater than Jupiter's and is where the alien ‘J’, now at S-4, calls home.
It has only been in the past ten years that they have made direct contact with the base at Area–51. Rudimentary dialogue has slowly been developed but we still did not have the capacity to communicate effectively with them. Their alien sound patterns were simply impossible for humans to reproduce with any accuracy.
With the advance in computers we were now starting to make greater progress. It wasn’t just the language, but understanding the concepts behind the language, that was the greatest obstacle. It was like a two year old being taught the meaning of religion. The concept is beyond the comprehension of a two year old and many adults.