“Dr. Lawrence. Nice to meet you.”
“The pleasure is mine. Now, what would you like to see?”
“Everything. I want to see everything there is down to the broom closet.”
“Oh dear. Well, I see you have a Level–9 clearance so I suppose it will be alright. I do not have that kind of clearance. I can only escort you to Level–6. I guess we can start in Bay-1,” he said leading him to another door.
“Do you have any idea what’s in the bay?” he asked.
“No, but I guess I’m about to find out,” Raymond said as the doctor opened the door.
Even though the President had hinted at some of what he was going to find there was nothing like reality, he still wasn’t ready for what he saw. The spacecraft was right in front of him. He blinked once and shook his head. It was true. It was all true. Just looking at it he knew it was not from this planet.
“Oh my God,” he whispered, his knees almost buckling.
“Yes. Most of us felt that way the first time we saw it. It changes everything doesn’t it?”
“Oh my God, oh my God,” Raymond repeated.
“Come, let me show you what we do here,” the doctor said.
Raymond followed in a bit of a daze. While the doctor was explaining the various functions and tests they were conducting, only half of his brain seemed to be functioning. The rest was trying to come to grips with the immense implications of this. The President had been right, it was beyond comprehension. Doctor Lawrence led him from one bay to another.
Each discovery was like a new jolt. The one that they had retrieved from Aztec was mammoth in size. It could hold twenty or more people it was estimated, according to the doctor. He then corrected himself and said twenty aliens. It was almost dark by the time they had finished seeing everything on Level–1.
He couldn’t even remember eating lunch but he must have. He wasn’t particularly hungry. When he was ready to leave, they brought his Hummer to him and he just sat in it, letting his mind try to grasp the implications of it all. He sat and watched as the sun started its descent toward the mountain tops but it was like he was transfixed. He couldn’t seem to get the will to start the car and drive.
He had planned to visit all levels and now realized it would be impossible to even get through the first few in less than a week. Finally, he realized that he needed to get back, he did not want to try to make it after dark. He quickly scanned the map and started out to the main base.
The general sat at the main security post, watching as Eller started the Hummer and put it into gear. Well, now he knows for sure, he thought. With the BlackStar up on the Hump, there was no way he could stumble across it. It would remain there until he left. Let the bastard look around until his eyeballs fell out. Then he could make his little report back to the President. Other than the real reason for the Su–11 and the BlackStar, he had nothing to hide.
He hoped the damned aliens didn’t suddenly decide to drop in. It wouldn’t be a critical thing, but it wasn’t necessary for the President to know that we were in contact occasionally. Then he would want to know more. No, it would not be good for Eller to witness that, especially after the last visit.
He was still trying to figure out if they were angry because of the weapon or something else. It had to be the test firing of the BlackStar but how in the hell could they know from 41 light years away?
It wouldn’t matter much once he had the thing in the air. They could get as mad as they wanted. If they got too pissed, he would aim the BlackStar at them and poof, no more aliens. At least from that planet. With this weapon we would be invincible. The feeling of power swept through him once again.
“Base, Eye-5. Subject made a wrong turn but backtracked and is going in the correct direction.”
“Roger Eye–5, Base out.”
Dumbass can’t even follow a map, Devin thought. Maybe he should let him get lost and let nature take care of him. Unfortunately that might pose a risk too. Screw him, he thought, I’m sitting here when I could be over at the club having a good dinner and some fine whiskey.
“I’m out of here. Make sure this yahoo gets back to his quarters okay." Devin said, jerking his thumb toward the screens around the room.
“Will do, general.”
These were his people. They would only do what he said. That little piss-ant was in his backyard now and no one would tell these men what to do except him. They were totally loyal and Devin had gone to great lengths to ensure that loyalty. When push came to shove, they would stand behind him, of that he was certain.
He walked out in the rapidly cooling night air. The sun was setting rapidly now. In five or six more minutes it would be down and then the temperature would drop even more. He decided to walk to the club and order a big fat T-bone.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
It was five days before Sarah received a call from Eller. She wasn’t worried, but could use his input about a few things. She was actually glad when he finally did call.
“Raymond, nice to hear from you,” she said.
“Yes. I thought I should check in,” he said.
She frowned, it was Raymond but something was different.
“Are you alright?” she asked.
“I’m fine. A little overwhelmed by everything going on but I’m fine,” he said.
His voice was dry and had no spark to it. Nothing like the way he usually sounded. Sarah was worried that something might have happened to him and he couldn’t say anything.
“Is there anything you need?” she asked.
“I was going to ask you the same question. Do you need anything from me?”
“I have a couple of details that I could use your expertise with,” she admitted.
“Go ahead, shoot,” he said.
She went over a short list of items that she wasn’t sure how he wanted handled. His answer was essentially the same each time. Do whatever you think is best or whatever you feel is right.
“Are you sure you’re doing alright?” she asked when she got to the end of her list.
“Really, I’m fine. Just a lot to do. Look, I can’t complain, I volunteered for this. You on the other hand were drafted. I need to be giving you the pep talk,” Raymond said, trying to force some humor into his voice.
“I wasn’t the only one drafted. You can say what you like but I know how the President gets volunteers. They are more like drafteers, sort of a combination of volunteer and draftee,” she said.
“Drafteers. I like it. It’s more accurate than draftees. Look, I need to get back to it. Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“No, just don’t wait so long to call if you feel the need. I won’t take it personally, honest. I can’t call you. Is there something wrong with your cell phone?” Sarah asked.
“No, they have a system here that blocks all incoming and outgoing signals that are not of a specific frequency range. Cell phones don’t operate in that range,” he told her.
“That explains a lot, I'll wait to hear from you then,” she replied.
“Oh, before I forget, how are you and Laura doing?”
“She is sullen, but doing her work. That’s all I require from her,” she said.
“Good woman. I’ll be in touch,” he said, and hung up.
She looked at the receiver for a second before hanging up. Geez, had the pod people from outer space taken over Raymond? She chuckled at the thought. Almost as soon as he hung up her phone rang again. It was Willis.
“What’s up?”
“I think we have a line on our mysterious surveillance team,” he told her.
“Excellent. Who are they and where are they from?”
“We were able to follow one of the off duty teams going back to Georgetown. Guess who has their offices in that area?”