“So you have inside information about the surveillance out here?”
“Maybe I thought I did.”
“Even if you get off the base, they’ll stop you. They’ll see the dust trail from your vehicle, and they’ll stop you. Then they’ll question you, and you know about me.”
“So you shouldn’t have introduced yourself.”
“That chopper would have seen you, and you’d be hogtied and unconscious right now. I’ve seen it done.”
Blake didn’t know where the situation was going, but he sensed he might have to fight his way out of it. He studied the complexity of the equipment on the man’s body and head and figured he could land an uppercut or shot to the throat — that seemed to be the only vulnerable area. Then he could twist the man up in his poncho and take him to the ground. He only needed a head start. The man couldn’t catch him with all the equipment he wore. “So what do you propose?” Blake asked as he continued to rehearse his strike in his head.
“What’s your friend going to do if you don’t show up on schedule?”
“He’ll leave. Drive out of the valley so they can’t see him through the surveillance telescopes, and find a place off-road to set up a radio antenna and wait for me to call him.”
“How long will he wait?”
“A day. Just in case something happened and I needed another night of darkness to flee.”
“You’ve thought this through.”
“Not interested in failure.”
“Well,” Val said, having devised a plan, “it looks like you’re going to use that extra day. I’ll get you to safe cover tonight. We’ll lay low during the day, and if I’m comfortable with the situation, we’ll go our separate ways tomorrow night. You’ll be close enough to make your crossing point with time to spare.”
Blake eased off on his attack plan and considered this strategy. It was certainly more logical than fleeing for the perimeter with what looked like a sci-fi action figure on his tail. Blake cursed his luck. First he trusted the strangers that got him into this mess. Now he needed to trust a more obscure stranger to get him out, but it seemed like the most reasonable answer at this point.
Blake took one last look at the hangar, still in some sense of disbelief that he was viewing it in person, but his mind was shrouded with a greater sense of surrealism about what was now happening. He didn’t get his pictures of the hangar, but didn’t much care at this point.
CHAPTER 42
Considering the added weight from the Bio Suit components and gear affixed to Val’s body, he moved quickly across the desert. Blake led so Val could keep an eye on him and holler instructions: Left! Right! Slower! Aided by level terrain, they covered their first mile in nine minutes, traveling south, away from the base.
“Stop!” Val ordered, pausing for a quick breath.
As Blake looked back at the base, he noticed a number of lights on the runway. “What about the test?” Blake asked. Snapping photos of a test craft could be of benefit to the professor, and might just salvage the trip.
“How do you know there’s going to be a test?”
“Just guessing.”
“I doubt that. And just because I’m helping you off the base, it doesn’t mean I condone you taking photos of this place.” Unconcerned with the testing at Groom Lake, Val guided Blake on a journey southwest, skirting a dirt road that ran parallel to the runway.
For over four miles Val followed the directions from the GPS in his helmet, saying little to Blake. They ventured away from the access road and up steeper terrain. With fatigued bodies, they reached their refuge for the time being: a makeshift hut fashioned from chaparral brush and camouflage netting, secured between two boulders.
Val grabbed a lightstick from his vest and snapped the center, mixing its chemicals to generate a blue light. Pulling back a piece of the netting, he revealed a cramped hut and handed the lightstick to Blake. “You first.”
Holding the lightstick in front of him, Blake entered, but kept his night-vision goggles on until he was certain the nooks and crannies were free of snakes and other critters.
“It’s not much, but you get to call it home for the next fifteen hours,” Val said.
“Then what?”
“I haven’t decided.” Val pressed several buttons on his computer before disconnecting the wires leading to his helmet. He lifted it off to reveal a white face-hood with black tubing that crisscrossed his cheeks, forehead and chin, giving him an intimidating tribal look.
“Is that a cooling system?” Blake asked.
“Don’t worry about it,” Val said, reclining and sipping water from a canteen.
“You ever take it off?”
“I don’t need you seeing my face.”
“Fifteen hours is a long time to keep that on.”
“It’ll be more than that by the time I take it off again.”
“When’s the last time you had a bath?”
“Hygiene takes a backseat out here.”
“I can smell.”
“I think it would be best if you didn’t ask a lot of questions.”
“Just trying to make conversation.”
“We can talk about the weather. Or you can tell me how a college student sneaks onto one of the most secure military bases in the world.”
“Sure,” Blake agreed, “after you tell me where you got the superhero costume.”
“It’s going to be a scorcher today,” Val answered.
“With that technology, I’d say you’re a serious spy.”
“Aren’t we both?”
Blake had not thought of himself as a spy. “I guess the military would see it that way.”
With each passing minute, dozens of stars faded from view as dawn advanced in the east. Staring through a crack in the camouflage netting, Blake concentrated on a small patch of sky and pondered his predicament. His eyes had watched the crack like it was a television set, helping to pass his time in the hideout.
“Does anyone know you and your friend are out here?” Val asked. “In case he’s lost, or hurt?”
Blake found his concern comforting. “Yeah, people know we’re here.”
“Let’s hope they don’t do anything stupid, like call Nellis or the sheriff and inquire about your release.”
“It won’t go down like that,” Blake said.
“Sometimes under pressure people deviate from the plans.”
That comment made Blake realize he no longer had a plan. How am I going to get out of this? He knew rigorous hiking was ahead. His provisions were low. A few protein bars and enough water to keep him hydrated that day, but his supply would be dry by night unless he rationed. Either way, his body would start tiring after a few miles of hiking.
Knowing he was at this man’s mercy, Blake decided it was time to address these issues. “I’ve been considering my situation and what must happen next. You may feel my presence forced you to confront me last night, but you forced me to stay with you. And now given the extra miles you are making me travel, I don’t think I have enough water to make the alternate rendezvous with my friend.”
“I thought about that,” Val said. “Tonight we’ll head to a bunker in the Papoose Mountains with ample provisions. We’ll pick up extra water along the way.”
“And then what? It doesn’t sound like we’re getting out of here tonight?”
“The final leg around Papoose Lake is tricky. We’ll need an entire night to complete it.”
“So you’ve decided to guide me out of here.”
“It’s either that or leave you for dead.”
“So I should plan on being in Vegas in two days?”
“Barring any problems. I’m still working out the details.”