“And into a rocky gorge called ‘The Grave of the Devil,’” Stan adds.
“That was the place,” Eddie continues with a nod. “Several of the locals had already gone up to the crash site, and several of them claimed that they’d been burned while many more claimed that their watches had stopped working once in the area. Finally in November, nearly three months after the initial encounter between the craft and the two fighters, the expedition reached the site. They discovered what the government had kept from the public, and not just the crash. You see, shortly after the crash a helicopter had been ordered in to help hoist part of the object off of the snow-covered bank of the gorge. Something went wrong and the helicopter crashed, killing everyone on board. After that the Russian government gave up.”
“Did they go back?” Walter asks.
“Not until spring when the weather was better,” Eddie answers, “…but they hadn’t been counting on this private expedition to get up there first. That private expedition likely experienced what the military had — the defenses the object had to protect itself. The members of the expedition began to feel an overwhelming amount of energy in the air, and that while they were still fifteen hundred meters from the craft. They pressed on, but when they were a thousand meters from it that overwhelming amount of energy changed to an intense feeling of dread and anxiety. They pressed on nonetheless, but only made it a few more feet before an overwhelming feeling of fatigue overtook them. They could go no farther, and didn’t. Satisfying themselves with a few drawings of the object, they left.”
“And did they or anyone else ever go back?” Walter asks.
Stan shakes his head. “Russian military got back in there and sealed the place off. Today — or at least what will be today — there’s nothing left.”
“Russians got it?”
“Maybe… maybe not.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, that level of fear and dread the expedition members were feeling. Those reactions were never recorded in 1989 when another UFO went down in Russia, this time one that the military managed to retrieve… and with a still-living alien.”
“Whoa!” Walter says. “I can’t believe I’ve never heard this!”
“Hardly anyone has,” Stan says.
At the controls, Eddie chuckles to himself. “You’re about to… oh boy, you’re about to!”
36 — Playing Both Sides
General Anderholt continues to lean against the wall of the hangar, watching as the men file out. The mission debriefing that Ellis has just given is ending, the men going to get some chow and then some much-needed sleep. Well, that wouldn’t be true for all of them, the general knows, just the soldiers from the CAT teams. The MAT Team members would be going to their labs or their hangars, working on all the new technology they’d seized or questioning all the prisoners that’d been freed. And of course the various commanders would be sorting through all they’d seen, trying to process it while figuring out their next move. Dulce Base might be destroyed, but the alien threat to their planet was still very much a reality.
Anderholt scoffs to himself as the thoughts run through his head. If only they knew, he thinks, if only they knew the truth of it all.
As the last of the men leave — including Ellis, whom he knows is the real problem, along with that damn son of his — Anderholt takes a side exit and uses the back hallways to get back to his office, or at least the one he’s using on the base. As planned, Aaron and Carl are there waiting for him.
“If I gotta sit through another one of these bullshit briefings or debriefings then I think I’ll shoot myself,” Aaron says. He’s still in his combat fatigues from the attack on Dulce.
“Make that two of us,” Carl says, rolling his eyes.
“That’ll be the last of ‘em,” Anderholt says as he comes into the room and makes his way to his desk. “By tonight everything will be in place. Most of the men that were with you in Dulce will be dead or imprisoned while the Reptilians and Grays will have started their expansion to the surface.”
“Yeah, and what about the Dutchman, or that damn son of his?” Aaron says. “You know that once Mark starts talking to his father, everything could change. I mean… who knows what he’s seen and heard during these last few years off-world. Hell, I thought the bastard went down in Vietnam!”
“We all did,” Anderholt says, “we all did.”
“So now what?” Carl asks.
“Simple — we take them out.”
Aaron frowns to that. “Mark, yeah… but the Dutchman? Hell — Ellis is a legend in the service. You can’t just take him out. What we need to do is get the Dutchman in on this, always have!”
Aaron says the words forcefully and with conviction, but Anderholt only scoffs.
“You know Ellis will never come over, will never see things our way — he’s too much of a patriot!”
“And that’s why we should kill him and be done with it,” Carl says. “Having his damn son show up again out of the blue like that just makes things worse.”
“Yeah, what is the story behind Mark’s sudden reappearance?” Aaron asks.
Anderholt shakes his head. “Another time, “then looks to Carl. “And for now, we keep Ellis alive, you got that? His death would create too many questions, get too many balls rolling.” He shakes his head. “If that happens there’s no saying what’ll take place, or how far things will get away from us before we can pull them back.”
“Alright, alright,” Carl says, his hands up defensively, “no killing.” He shrugs. “I will run into him later, though, so maybe another talk is in order.”
Anderholt chuckles. “Yeah, like that’ll do any good. About as good as the countless other talks you’ve had with him.”
“Maybe we should just come clean with him finally,” Aaron says.
“Never,” Anderholt says, slamming a fist down on the desk. “If Ellis ever knew the truth, he’d tell everyone… and if that didn’t get the results he wanted he’d go to the press.”
“Which is why I say we just kill him and be done with it, his son too,” Carl says, then puts those hands up again, “but I know you don’t want to, so fine, fine!”
Anderholt frowns. “What’s the matter, Carl? Has Mark’s reappearance really shaken you up that bad?”
“And it hasn’t shaken you up? Carl nearly shouts. “General… Mark knows everything when it comes to what’s happening off-world.”
“But he doesn’t know what’s happening on this base,” Anderholt replies, “nor will he. And if he ever tries to run, well… he’ll turn out just like the survivors of the 1975 attack did.”
Aaron narrows his eyes to that, looking over at the general. “But I thought no more than just that one, single survivor had managed to get away.”
Anderholt shakes his head. “Nope, all told nineteen escaped back into the tunnels, and since the attack occurred on Level 2, it meant they had a good chance of getting out. Twelve managed to do so. To this day they’re still in hiding, crashing in motels and surfing couches, but alive, and safe… and ready to fight in any way they can.”
“God!” Carl says, a hand going to his forehead. “Let’s hope to hell that Ellis doesn’t get his hands on ‘em.”