“Yes, sir, I’m certain of that. It was small, cat size, though looked nothing like a cat. It had big teeth and looked like a devil. Scaly, no fur.”
“Then what happened?”
“It chased me. I shot it, but the bullets went straight through it without killing it. I barely managed to escape.”
“This…thing, this creature, is it still in the facility?”
“Yes, sir.”
(“Translator: A 42-second pause.”)
“Comrade Kulikov, you are to remain by the phone and await further instructions. Contact no one, understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
The line went dead.
(“Translator: After eleven minutes and fourteen seconds the conversation continues.”)
“Comrade Kulikov.”
“Yes, sir.”
“When you were in the facility did you notice any strange pistol-sized weapons?”
“Er, no, sir. Because of the alien I didn’t venture inside very far. Sorry, sir.”
“We have tried contacting the facility to no avail. From what you witnessed inside and finding one dead scientist, do you believe all who were working there have perished?”
“I’m not sure, sir. As I said, I didn’t go very far, and I only came across the remains of one scientist and my four comrades.”
“No matter, Comrade. Your orders are to remain at your post and keep the facility under observation. If this creature you encountered tries to leave you must do everything in your power to stop it, but don’t harm or kill it. Under no circumstances are you to re-enter the facility. A team of specialists will arrive within twenty-four hours to take command and capture it for research. You are to inform no one else about this incident, understood?”
“Yes, sir. I understand.”
(The line goes dead.)
General Nathanial Colt raised his eyes skeptically. “Is this on the up?”
Hopkins shrugged. “As far as we can tell, yes. The facility where this took place was called Laboratory 12 before becoming known simply as ‘The Kamera,’ or as we would say, The Chamber, under Stalin. Located in the remote Siberian tundra, we believe it was decommissioned sometime in the seventies and later used to store confidential documents from the Stalinist era. It has obviously now been brought back into service for another purpose.”
“What was The Kamera’s original purpose?” asked Colt.
“It was once used for the creation and testing of chemical and biological warfare agents, and later, under the administration of the Soviet secret police, it was where the Russians created exotic poisons used to kill dissidents in hideous and mostly untraceable ways.”
“That though is not the reason for its reopening,” said the President. “We believe the strange weapons mentioned in the conversation we just heard are the alien weapons the Russian salvage team collected from the spaceship in Antarctica. We believe The Kamera is where the Russians planned to reverse engineer them.”
“That doesn’t explain this…thing that killed the Russian soldiers and scientist and maybe everyone who worked there,” said Colt.
“Based on the conversation, we also believe,” said Hopkins, “that along with two light-blaster pistols the Russians have, they also have in their possession a species of alien from the spaceship.”
“It was this creature, this alien, that must have escaped from whatever confinement the Russians caged it in and killed some or all of the facilities’ personnel,” added the President.
“Our concern,” continued Hopkins, “is that we have no idea what threat this creature poses humanity if it escapes from the Russian facility and reaches civilization. We’ve all read the reports on the types of alien creatures the scientists and salvage team encountered in the spaceship. None of them are the type that should be loose to feed upon humanity.”
Everyone in the room agreed.
Colt faced the President. “Have you contacted the Russians about this, Mr. President? Or is it something you are considering?”
“That is one of the reasons for this meeting. Whoever the man at the command post spoke to, by his reaction, it was obvious he had no knowledge of the alien at the secret facility. This might indicate only the higher echelons of the Russian government are aware of its existence and why they selected such a remote outpost to study it. What I need to hear from you, Colonel, are our options because I am unwilling to believe the Russians have the situation under control.”
Colt pondered the dilemma for a few moments before answering. “If contacting the Russians doesn’t give you confidence, Mr. President, that they can reliably contain the alien creature and thus prevent it from perhaps signaling the end of humanity, then I foresee only two options open to us. One, we destroy the facility with a targeted airstrike, which will obviously upset the current diplomatic relationship, such as it is, you have with the Russians, and two—my favored option—we send in a covert strike force to kill the creature, which may involve destroying the facility to ensure the alien threat is neutralized.”
It seemed by President Conner’s speedy reply that he had already considered the options presented by Colonel Colt. “I also favor the covert strike force option. A small team goes in, neutralizes the threat as best they see fit when they are on the scene, and gets out before the Russians are any the wiser. They may suspect we are involved, but without any evidence, it will be speculation I can comfortably deny.”
“Then I have your permission to proceed with the mission, Mr. President?” confirmed Colt.
Conner nodded. “Proceed with all haste, Colonel. As the Russian team is expected to arrive at the Kamera facility within twenty-four hours, I suggest the team of your choosing completes the mission within twelve—preferably sooner.”
Though with the flight time to Russia Colt knew it would be tight, he nodded his understanding and strode from the Oval office.
“You are aware there’s going to be fallout from this,” said Hopkins.
President Conner nodded. “I am, but I can handle a bit of Russian flack—the end of humanity because I failed to act, not so much.”
CHAPTER 15
Abduction
Bright and early the following morning, Richard returned to the meteorite to examine it more thoroughly. Aware silicate mineral laced with chromium colored the meteorite its peculiar green, Richard gazed at the impressive rock that could hopefully repair in part his ruined reputation. Most meteorites were stony, almost all, around ninety percent, are termed ordinary chondrites, small, un-melted asteroids that are uniform in composition throughout. Richard examined all the faces of the rock David’s team had cleared of soil. It was without doubt a type of meteorite called an achondrite, which made it an exceptional discovery. Achondrites are pieces of large asteroids or planets at least 200 kilometers in diameter and make up only five percent of the meteorites that have been found.
Richard couldn’t wait to have the rock tested with a scanning electron microscope energy-dispersive spectrometer to accurately identify the chemical composition of the rock. From that and other tests, its origin should be able to be determined. However, there were a few tests he could do in the field that weren’t as precise that would give him a sense of its composition.
He spent the next hour setting up his equipment, drilling a hole and collecting the dust, which he placed in a test tube and added chemicals that would break it down. While the chemicals went to work, Richard switched on the laptop and plugged in the probe that would read the chemical makeup of the sample and transfer the information to the computer software to reveal some of its secrets.