nklin was a jerk. He led people up there on She decided to go back on the attack. White Sides Mountain to look down at the Groom Lake "I checked with Lori Turner, who interviewed you last complex. They would catch him and tell him not to come year for cable TV. She says most of your background back but he kept coming back. What did he expect?" doesn't check out. That makes me doubt your story. That "You don't seem very interested in how he died," Kelly means either you're a liar or a plant to feed false informa- said. "You just seem to assume it was the government that tion. In either case it tells me your story about Area 51 is killed him." bullshit." "Maybe he had a heart attack." Jarvis shrugged. "I don't Jarvis stood. "Time's up. Been a pleasure." He turned really give a shit." and walked out of the bar. "Aren't you worried about the government coming after "Great," Kelly muttered to herself. She needed a way you? You seem to be more of a threat than Franklin was." into Area 51 and Jarvis obviously was not the way. She'd "That's why I'm talking to you," Jarvis replied. "That's just pissed away five hundred dollars and gotten nowhere. why I went on that talk show last year. That's why I keep Her hope had been that Johnny had contacted Jarvis. myself in the public eye." She looked down at the notes she had made during the "I thought it was the five hundred dollars," Kelly replied interview. What would her dad do in this situation? He'd dryly. always said the best way to overcome an obstacle was to "Yeah, the money helps. But I really do it to keep the approach it in a manner that was least expected. He'd also spooks off my ass. The government won't kill me because it said that in the case of getting into a place that was would raise too many questions and actually make my story 100 ROBERT DOHERTY guarded, approach it not at the weakest place, but at the 8 strongest because that was the least-expected avenue. What was the strongest thing about Area 51, from what Jarvis and the research said? "Security," Kelly muttered to herself, still looking at her notes. They had to have people employed to do their security. Driving out to the Groom Lake area would certainly bring her into contact with the security people, but Johnny had done that and he was gone. She circled 757 on her pad. That was it. Tomorrow morn- ing she would go out to the airfield and see if anyone got DEVIL'S NEST, NEBRASKA off the plane. If they did, she'd follow them and see what T-119 HOURS she could turn up. And if tomorrow morning didn't work, then there was always tomorrow evening. "We're green," Prague announced to the men gathered around him in the dark. "Our eye in the sky says the objec- tive is clear. I want all three birds airborne in two mikes. Move out." Prague headed toward one of the small AH-6 helicopters and gestured at Turcotte. "You're with me, meat. Backseat." Turcotte grimaced. The meat comment was getting real old, but now was not the time to face it down. He followed Prague and joined him in the helicopter. Prague took the seat up front next to the pilot, while Turcotte had the entire backseat to himself. The doors were off and the cold night air swirled inside, making Turcotte regret he had not put on long underwear. He wished he had been better briefed on what was going to happen. He zipped his black Gore- Tex jacket up tight over his coveralls and took the headset that was hanging on the roof and placed it on, over the small plug already in his ear for the FM radio on the team frequency. Because he was on the same bird as Prague--the mission commander--Turcotte was immediately plugged into the mission's secure satellite communications traffic as they 102 ROBERT DOHERTY 103 AREA 51 winged their way to the southwest over the fields of Ne- ground positioning receiver (GPR). Prague gave a hold sig- braska. nal to the pilot. "Nightscape Six, this is Cube Six. Status. Over." The "Cube Six, this is Nightscape Six. At Oscar Papa Romeo. voice on the other end sounded familiar to Turcotte, but he Request final clearance. Over." couldn't quite place who Cube Six was. "This is Cube Six. Eye in the sky still shows you are clear Prague replied from the front seat. "This is Nightscape for a twelve-kilometer radius. No traffic within eighteen Six. En route to Oscar Romeo Papa. Will hold there. klicks. Proceed. I say again, proceed. Out." Over." "Roger. Out." Prague pointed out the windshield and Turcotte followed the military terminology easily--ORP they were swooping across the dark sky again. "Phase one stood for "objective rally point," the last place friendly initiated. Start the watch." forces held before hitting an objective. Except in this case, Turcotte still didn't have a clue what the objective was, nor was he impressed with how friendly the forces around him THE CUBE, AREA 51 were, if Prague was to serve as the example. T - 1 1 8 HOURS, 3O MINUTES The other, deep voice continued. "Roger, this is Cube "Sir, we've got a shadow on Bouncer Three." Six. Break. Bouncer Three, status? Over." "A what?" Gullick spun around in his command chair. A new voice came on the air. "This is Bouncer Three. "What do you mean a shadow?" Airborne and en route. Over." Major Quinn pointed at the screen. "There's a bogey "Roger. Wait for my command. Cube Six out." right behind Three. We didn't pick it up before because it's The pilot of the AH-6 swept even lower over the so small, but something's following Bouncer Three. I've cornfields, the UH-60 Blackhawk following just to the rear checked the tapes and it's been there ever since Three left and above. The other AH-6 flew trail. The corn gave way the hangar. Must have been somewhere in the vicinity briefly to pasture with cattle breaking in all directions as when Three took off." the helicopters came over, then the terrain turned back to "What is it?" Gullick demanded. corn. Turcotte had never seen this many fields, even in "I don't know, sir. We were only able to catch it by track- Germany. It seemed like all of Nebraska was one big ing satellite and infrared signature." checkerboard of cultivation and ranching. Through his The Cube was hooked in to the U.S. Space Command's night vision goggles he could see an occasional patch of Missile Warning Center, located inside Cheyenne Moun- trees off in the distance, sometimes with lights peeking tain outside Colorado Springs. The Space Command was through the trees, indicating that was where the farmers responsible for the Defense Support Program (DSP) satel- and ranchers lived. What are we going after out here? lite system. DSP satellites blanketed the entire surface of Turcotte wondered. the earth from an altitude of over twenty thousand miles The pilot pulled back on the cyclic and reduced throttle. up in geosynchronous orbits. The system had originally Turcotte could see Prague checking their location on a been developed to detect ICBM launches during the Cold 104 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 105 War. During the Gulf War it had picked up every SCUD Gullick spoke into the boom mike just in front of his lips, launch and proved so effective that the military had further keying the send button strapped to his belt. "Bouncer refined the entire system to be effective enough to give Three, this is Cube Six. Do you have a visual on the bogey? real-time warnings to local commanders at the tactical Over." level--a valuable system that those in the Cube could tap "This is Three. Negative. We see nothing. Whatever it is, into. Through the other members of Majic-12 Gullick had it's too far back. Over." access to systems like DSP and many others. "This is Six. Give me some evasive maneuvers. Over." Every three seconds the DSP system downloaded an in- The pilot of Three answered. "Wilco. Wait one. Over." frared map of the earth's surface and surrounding airspace. On the screen the dot representing Bouncer Three sud- Most of the data was simply stored on tape in the Warning denly darted to the right just north of Salt Lake City. The Center, unless, of course, the computer detected a missile smaller dot just as quickly followed. A quick series of launch, or, as in this case, an authorized agency requested zigzags didn't faze the bogey. a direct line and keyed in a specific target area to be for- "Should I order an abort, sir?" Quinn asked. warded on a real-time basis. "No," Gullick said. "Let's ride this out. Get Aurora on "Is it a Fast Walker?" Gullick asked, referring to the alert. I want to be on top of this bogey." He keyed the code name for unidentified valid IR sources that the sys- radio. "Three, this is Six. Forget about it. Just continue the tem occasionally picked up and could not be explained. mission. I'll take care of the situation from this end. Out." "It's definitely a bogey, sir. It doesn't match anything on Quinn's worry showed through and it irritated Gullick. record. It's too small to be even a jet aircraft." "Should I inform Nightscape Six?" The unspoken question was, what was that small yet fast "Negative, Major. Let these people do their job and let enough to stay on the tail of Bouncer Three, which was me worry about the bogey. You let me do the thinking and moving at over thirty-five hundred miles an hour toward informing around here. You got that?" Gullick glared at Nebraska? the junior officer. "Put it on up front," Gullick ordered, turning his seat "Yes, sir!" back to the main screen. He briefly touched the right side of his skull, then looked at the hand as he pulled it away. It was shaking slightly. Gullick gripped the edge of his chair VICINITY BLOOMFIELD, NEBRASKA to stop that. T - 1 1 8 HOURS, 15 MINUTES Quinn transferred the information to the large screen in the front of the room. There was a small glowing dot just "We have multiple heat signatures to the left," the pilot of behind the larger dot indicating Bouncer Three. the AH-6 announced, immediately swooping in that direc- "How far behind Three is it?" tion. "Hard to tell, sir. Probably about ten miles or so." "Go get 'em, cowboy," Prague yelled into the intercom "Have you told Three?" as he flipped up his goggles. He reached into the backseat, "Yes, sir." across Turcotte's lap, and grabbed a rifle that had been 106 ROBERT DOHERTY 107 AREA 51 strapped down there. Hooking his arm into the sling, turbing. No one can explain it so no one really looks into it Prague leaned out of the helicopter, his safety harness too hard, but it serves its purpose." keeping him from falling out to the ground below. Turcotte Which is what? Turcotte wondered. He had heard about leaned forward and watched the same scene that Prague cattle mutilations. It was in the paper every so often. Why was following--cattle scattering in all directions from the was such a sophisticated operation being run just to do sound of the helicopters. this? Was this why Duncan had sent him out here? To find Prague put the rifle to his shoulder and looked through out that the government people at Area 51 were behind the night scope mounted on top. He fired twice and two of cattle mutilations? the cows collapsed immediately. "Nerve agent," he said, The Blackhawk had moved away while the men worked. glancing over his shoulder at Turcotte. "Knocks 'em down, Now it came back in, letting down two harnesses on but leaves no trace. We recover the dart." winches--one on either side. The first two men were up The AH-6 pulled up and assumed a stationary position a with their gory load in thirty seconds. Then the next two. hundred meters away from the two animals. The UH-60 "Initiate phase two," Prague ordered and they were Blackhawk came to a hover directly over the two bodies heading farther to the southwest. and Turcotte watched as ropes were thrown out of the Blackhawk and four men with rucksacks fast-roped down. "You hear that?" Billy Peters asked. The four men gathered around the bodies and there was "Huh?" Susie replied, her mind on other matters--in an occasional flash of light as they worked on the cows. this case Billy's arm around her shoulders and her head on "Time hack?" Prague asked. his broad chest. She could hear his heart beating, that was "Six minutes, thirty seconds until Bouncer Three is on for sure. station." "Sounds like helicopters or something," Billy muttered. "Okay," Prague said. "We're all right." He reached out with his free hand and wiped some of the "What are they doing?" Turcotte finally asked. fog off the front windshield of his '77 Ford pickup and tried Prague turned to the rear, looking like a mechanical de- to look out. They'd been parked here for a long time-- mon with a wide grin beneath the protruding bulk of his since just before it had gotten dark, but there'd been a lot night vision goggles. "They're getting some prime filet to say. Susie was leaving her folks and Billy was on the down there. You like heart? Or maybe eyeballs? How spot, not quite sure whether to go for it and invite her to about cow ovaries? We come back with all sorts of good live in his trailer down in Columbus or punt and go along stuff. with her plan to move to her sister's in Omaha. "They have top-of-the-line surgical lasers to make clean He'd picked this spot because he was sure there'd be no one to interrupt them, but now he was almost glad there cuts. They also have suction to clean the blood up. What might be an interruption because he sure couldn't make his the locals are left with is a couple of dead cows with spe- mind up tonight, not with her pushing up against him like cific body parts surgically removed, yet no sign of vehicle she was: how was a man supposed to think clearly under traffic in the area. Also no blood, which is kind of dis- those circumstances? 108 1O9 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 "Something's coming this way," Billy said, looking out up into the air and accelerated w h i l e climbing at a seventy- the window into the night sky. degree angle, swiftly turning toward the northeast and dis- appearing from the screen. THE CUBE, AREA 51 T-118 HOURS, 4 MINUTES VICINITY BLOOMFIELD, NEBRASKA Gullick was watching the large map. The bogey was still Turcotte's AH-6 was holding at two hundred feet while the behind Three. Both dots were currently near the conjunc- Blackhawk passed them by and came to its own hover over tion of the Wyoming, Colorado, and Nebraska borders. a cornfield in front of Turcotte and to his left. The other "Aurora's status?" Gullick asked. AH-6 slid over and took up security four hundred meters "On the runway, ready to take off." in the opposite direction. The Blackhawk slowly lowered "Give her the go." until it was about eighty feet above the ground, just above "Yes, sir." the point where the rotor wash would permanently disturb "TOT for phase two?" the stalks of corn. "Eighty-six seconds," Quinn answered. A bright light flashed out of the cargo bay of the Gullick flicked a switch on the console in front of him Blackhawk, the beam angling to a terminus in the field and watched the video feed from the control tower on the below, cutting through the corn and burning into the surface. A curiously shaped plane began rolling forward. ground. Shaped like a rounded manta ray, the most significant fea- "The laser's computer aimed," Prague explained tures of the two-man reconnaissance plane were its huge through the intercom, proud of his men and their toys. intakes under the front cockpit and large exhausts behind "Makes a perfect circle. Confuses the shit out of those the engines. Capable of Mach 7, over five thousand miles eggheads who come and scratch their heads over it in day- an hour, or almost a mile and a half a second at maximum light. Dumb fucks. They figure it's related to the dead cows speed, it could get to a target in a hurry. in the next field, which it is," he said with a laugh, "but they The successor to the famous SR-71 Blackbird, Aurora don't know how and they'll never figure it out." had made its maiden flight in 1986. At a billion dollars a And? Turcotte thought. Why did Prague want to confuse plane there were only five in the inventory, and they were people? used only when all other systems were exhausted. To the "Nightscape Six, this is Bouncer Three. ETA forty-five public that had financed it, the plane didn't exist. It was seconds. Over." one of the most closely guarded secrets in the Air Force "Roger. Out." Prague turned to Turcotte. "You're going and Gullick had one at his disposal around the clock, an to love the last act of this play. Watch to the south." indication of the importance of this project to the Air Turcotte checked the Calico one more time. This was all Force. so strange, but the thing that disturbed him the most was W i t h sufficient thrust built up, Aurora suddenly bounded the way Prague was showing him everything now, but 110 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 111 hadn't explained it before. What did Prague know about on, it was clear to Turcotte that it wasn't going according to him? Turcotte wondered. Prague's plan. "Jesus, Susie, you see that!" Billy furiously wiped the wind- shield as the beam of light played down a quarter mile to their left into the field. THE CUBE, AREA 51 "What is it?" Susie asked, her living problems forgotten "Pass complete. Three's coming home," Quinn announced. for the moment. All eyes were on the screen. The bogey was still behind "I don't know, but I'm getting the hell out of here." He Three. It continued that way for about a minute, then sud- turned the key and the Ford's engine started up. denly the second dot broke away, heading back to the northeast, where it had just come from. "I've got a heat source in the trees to the southwest!" the "Get Aurora on that bogey!" Gullick ordered. pilot of the other AH-6 announced. "It's a car engine!" "Shit!" Prague exclaimed. A bright glow came flying in from the south, low on the VICINITY BLOOMFIELD, NEBRASKA horizon, moving faster than anything Turcotte had ever seen. It swept by silently, followed closely by another, "We've got to get these people," Prague ordered as the smaller glowing dot. helicopter banked toward the rapidly fleeing pickup truck. "What was behind Bouncer Three?" Prague asked out "They're civilians," Turcotte protested, leaning through loud, his composure cracking for the first time since the door and checking out the truck. Turcotte had met him. Turcotte was surprised by both craft "They saw too much. We can't have them talking about that sped by. This whole scenario was getting weirder by seeing helicopters here. Fire across the front of the truck," the second. Prague ordered the pilot, who expertly sideslipped his heli- Turcotte watched as the large disk that Prague had called copter so that they were now flying sideways, with the nose Bouncer Three made an abrupt jump move to the right, of the aircraft--and the chain gun hung off the skid- changed directions just short of 180 degrees in a split sec- pointed toward the pickup. A stream of tracers arced out, ond, and did a pass over the small town of Bloomfield on right across the headlights of the pickup, and the brake- the horizon before heading back toward the southwest. lights flared. "Get me to that heat source!" Prague ordered. The pilot "Goddamn!" Turcotte yelled. "Are you crazy?" of the AH-6 complied, pointing the nose toward the stand "Put us down on the road in front of them," Prague of trees. "You other guys, head for the MSS," he added. ordered, ignoring Turcotte. The Blackhawk banked right and headed back to the northj, to the secure area of Devil's Nest, the other AH-6 "Who are these people, Billy?" Susie screamed. "Why are flying escort. Turcotte flipped off the safety on the Calico they shooting at us?" as they headed toward the treeline. Whatever was going Billy didn't waste time trying to explain. He slammed the 112 ROBERT DOHERTY 113 AREA 51 truck into reverse as the helicopter settled down in front of We'll get this sorted once we get back to base. There's been him in the glow of the headlights, blowing dirt and debris an accident," he added lamely. "I'm Mike," he said, tap- up into the air, blinding him. ping the man on the shoulder and pointing at the helicop- The pickup's rear tires slipped into the drainage ditch on ter, the sudden human gesture momentarily disorienting the side of the road. Dirt flew as Billy threw the gear into the couple. first, but they didn't move. The man looked at Turcotte. "Billy. This here's Susie." Turcotte nudged them toward the helicopter. "Well, Billy The skids touched ground and Prague was out the door, and Susie, looks like the man wants you to go for a ride." leaving the dart rifle behind in favor of his Calico. Turcotte "Shut up, meat," Prague snarled, gesturing with the followed, right on his heels. Turcotte's mind was trying to weapon. sort out all that had happened and was happening. They got into the helicopter and the pilot lifted. "Hands up and out of the truck!" Prague yelled. The doors opened and a man stepped out, a woman following, hiding herself behind the man's bulk. "Who are you people?" the man asked. THE CUBE, AREA 51 "Cuff them!" Prague ordered Turcotte. A third dot was now on the screen, popping on the screen "They're civilians." He stood still. over eastern Nevada and heading almost directly toward Prague shifted the muzzle of his Calico in Turcotte's di- Bouncer Three, which was returning to base. Gullick knew rection. "Cuff them." that was Aurora on its way to intercept the bogey. Turcotte looked at the weapon, looked at Prague, then "The bogey is dropping off the chase, sir," Quinn re- pulled out two plastic cinches from his vest and secured the ported. The bogey was circling, heading back in toward the couple's hands behind their backs. Nightscape objective. "Let me see your ID," the man demanded. "You can't "Redirect Aurora toward Nebraska," Gullick ordered. be doing this. We didn't do nothing wrong. You ain't cops." Quinn complied. "Get in the helicopter," Prague ordered. He herded the "Aurora ETA at the objective?" Gullick immediately de- procession toward the AH-6. manded. "Where are you taking us?" the man asked, standing "Ten minutes," Quinn announced. stubbornly in the middle of the road just short of the heli- Not bad time to cover almost twelve hundred miles. But copter, the girl still cowering at his side. in this case it might be about nine minutes too late, Gullick Turcotte looked at Prague and saw the way the man's reflected as he watched the symbol that represented the body was set, saw his finger shifting from outside the trig- bogey close on the target site. He briefly considered order- ger guard to inside, a sure sign he was about to fire. ing Bouncer Three to turn around, but that was beyond the Turcotte had been trained just like Prague: the only safety present scope of his authority. Gullick smashed his fist was the finger off the trigger. down onto the desk in front of him, startling those in the Turcotte quickly stepped in between. "Just do as he says. Cube. AREA 5 1 115 114 ROBERT DOHERTY in evasive reaction, but the glow dipped right down with VICINITY BLOOMFIELD, NEBRASKA them and crashed into the front of the helicopter. There The AH-6 cleared the trees at the edge of a field and was a shattering of Plexiglas and Turcotte ducked his head. turned to the north. Turcotte had strapped the man and "Prepare for crash!" the pilot yelled into the intercom. woman into the backseat and squeezed in next to them. "We're going--" The rest of his sentence was cut off as the Prague was twisted around in the right front seat, the bar- nose of the chopper impacted with the ground. The blades rel of his Calico pointed rearward, his finger caressing the cartwheeled into the soft dirt and exploded off, miracu- outside of the trigger guard. lously pinwheeling away and not slashing through the body Turcotte looked at the muzzle, then at Prague. "I'd ap- of the aircraft. preciate it if you didn't point that thing at me," he said into Turcotte felt a sharp rip in his right side, then everything the boom mike. Turcotte was scared. Not so much because became still. He lifted his head. The only sound was a high- of the gun pointed at him, although that was a problem, pitched scream. He turned to his left. Susie's mouth was a but more because the man holding the gun was acting so wide-open and the sound was emanating from it. Billy's irrationally. What did Prague think he was going to do with eyes were open and he was blinking, trying to see in the these two civilians? dark. "I don't give a fuck what you'd appreciate," Prague an- Turcotte reached down and unbuckled Billy's seat belt, swered over the intercom. "You questioned me in the mid- then whipped out his commando knife and cut the couple's dle of a mission. That's a no-go, meat. I'm going to have hands free. "Get out," he said, nudging them toward the your ass." left door, before turning his attention to the front seat. The pilot was hanging limp in his harness, his right arm "These people are civilians," Turcotte said. The couple twisted at an unnatural angle. Prague was beginning to stir. were ignorant of the conversation because they weren't His Calico was gone, thrown from the aircraft on impact. wearing headsets. The smell of JP-4 aviation fuel was strong in the air. As "They're fucking dead meat now, as far as I'm con- soon as it hit a hot metal surface such as the engine ex- cerned," Prague said. "They saw too much. They'll have to haust, the helicopter would be an inferno. go to the facility at Dulce and get clipped." Prague appeared to be fumbling with his seat belt. "I don't know what the hell you're doing, or what you're Turcotte leaned over between the two front seats, ignoring talking about," Turcotte said, "but they're--" He halted as the explosion of pain that movement ignited on his right the helicopter suddenly jerked hard right, then dropped side. Prague's right hand was flipping open the cover to his altitude. holster. "Don't let them get away," he rasped at Turcotte. "What are you doing?" Prague yelled at the pilot, keep- He had the gun out and pointed it back toward Billy, who ing his attention on the backseat. was helping Susie out of the door. "We got company!" the pilot screamed in return. A Turcotte reacted, slamming the inside edge of his left brightly glowing orb--about three feet in diameter--ap- hand across Prague's throat, feeling cartilage give way, peared directly in front of the windshield. The pilot while with his right hand he hammered down on Prague's slammed the collective down and pushed the cyclic forward 116 ROBERT DOHERTY gun hand, hearing the forearm bone crack against the edge 9 of the seat. Prague's eyes bulged, and he gasped through his mangled throat. Turcotte followed Billy and Susie out the left rear door. "Keep moving," he ordered, pushing them away. A flame flickered somewhere in the rear of the helicopter. Staying with the aircraft, Turcotte reached in the front seat and unbuckled the pilot. Prague's left hand suddenly moved, slashing across his body at Turcotte with his knife. The blade cut through the Gore-Tex jacket and inflicted a gash on Turcotte's right forearm. THE CUBE, AREA 51 Pinning Prague's left hand with his right, Turcotte leaned T - 1 1 7 HOURS, 45 MINUTES over the pilot and hit Prague again in the throat with his left, this time not holding back as he had the first time. The "Nightscape Six is down, sir," Quinn announced. "I have a cartilage completely gave way and Prague's airway was transponder location. No communication by radio." blocked. "Launch a conventional crash recovery to the transpon- Turcotte threw the pilot over his shoulder. He jogged der location," General Gullick ordered. He continued to away from the helicopter as it burst into flames. watch the dot representing the bogey. It was slowly moving about in the vicinity of Nightscape Six's transponder signal. Aurora was now approaching the Nebraska-Colorado bor- der. VICINITY BLOOMFIELD, NEBRASKA T-117 HOURS, 42 MINUTES "Get out of here," Turcotte said to Susie and Billy, who were staring at the burning helicopter. Turcotte had the pilot's flight suit ripped open and was going over the man's vital signs, doing a primary survey--for breathing first, then bleeding, then checking for broken bones. The pilot was good to go on the first two other than some scrapes and cuts. There was an obvious broken arm. Turcotte couldn't tell for sure, but based on the large dent on the man's helmet and his unconscious condition, 119 AREA 51 118 ROBERT DOHERTY soon. And then? That was the burning question. He'd he felt the pilot had some sort of head injury, and he was killed Prague on reflex. He didn't regret it, given what he'd not trained or equipped to deal with that. All he could do seen Prague do this evening, but the situation was very was leave the helmet on and hope that it contained the confusing and Turcotte wasn't sure what his next move injury until he could get the man some professional medi- should be. cal help. The pilot was unconscious, and from his condition Had Prague known he was a plant? That would explain it did not appear that he would be gaining consciousness some of his actions, but not all of them. And if Prague anytime soon, which was fine with Turcotte. He immobi- hadn't known he was a plant, then the man had been bor- lized the broken arm as well as he could. derline nuts; unless, Turcotte reminded himself, there was "But--" Billy said, confused. "What--" another layer to everything that he had just witnessed. He "No buts; no questions; no memory," Turcotte snapped, knew the actions, he just didn't know the motivation. looking up from the pilot's body. "Forget everything that None of that was going to do him any good, Turcotte happened tonight. Don't ever tell anyone, because if you knew, unless he could get back to Duncan with what he do they won't believe you and then people who don't want had just seen, and to do that he was going to have to get you talking will come looking for you. Leave it here and away from these Nightscape people. The pilot's uncon- go-" scious condition would buy him some time once they were Billy didn't need any further urging. He took Susie by picked up. It would simply be Turcotte's story, and he be- the arm and quickly walked away in the darkness toward gan working on what he would tell them. the nearest road. He looked down at himself. Blood was seeping out the right side of his Gore-Tex jacket and his right sleeve. He delt with the forearm first, wrapping a bandage from his THE CUBE combat vest over the sliced skin and stopping the bleeding. Gullick had complete telemetry feedback from Aurora and Carefully probing with his fingers, he reached in through he could listen in on the pilot and reconnaissance systems the jacket and gasped when he touched torn skin. Turcotte officer (RSO) talking to each other. carefully unzipped his Gore-Tex jacket and jumpsuit. An "All systems on. We'll be in range of target in seventy- eight-inch-long gash was just over the outside of his ribs. five seconds," the RSO announced. As best he could, he bandaged the wound. Gullick keyed his mike. "Aurora, this is Cube Six. I want Turcotte looked up into the sky. He could see the small a good shot of this target. Get it on the first pass. You glowing object, about a thousand feet overhead. It was la- probably won't have an opportunity for a second. Over." zily moving about, as if to view the results of its actions. He "Roger that, Cube Six," the RSO said. "Fifty seconds." watched for a few moments, but there did not appear to be "Descending through ten thousand," the pilot an- any immediate threat. Although from the way that thing nounced. "Slowing through two point five. The look will be had been moving, Turcotte didn't think he would have right," he told the RSO, giving a direction to orient all the much time to react if there were. sophisticated reconnaissance systems on board the aircraft. Turcotte scanned the horizon. The others would be here 120 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 121 "Pod deploying," the RSO said as the speed gauge con- radar it will be gone in a blink and there's nothing they can tinued to go down. Gullick knew that now that the plane do about it anyway. Damn right it's to pursue." was under two thousand miles an hour the surveillance pod The length of Mexico was traversed in less than twelve could be extended. Doing it at higher speeds would have minutes, Aurora now less than a thousand miles behind the destroyed the necessary aerodynamics of the plane and bogey and closing rapidly. caused the plane to break and burn. Even now, according "Intercept in eight minutes," Quinn announced. to the telemetry, the skin temperature of the aircraft was eight hundred degrees Fahrenheit. "Twenty seconds. All green." VICINITY BLOOMFIELD, NEBRASKA "Leveling at five thousand. Steady at Mach two." "All systems on." Turcotte heard the choppers long before they arrived. The Blackhawk landed on the opposite side of the crash and Gullick looked up to the large screen at the front of the discharged a squad of men with fire extinguishers. Turcotte room. The red triangle representing Aurora closed on and knew that by daylight there would be nothing in the field passed the small dot indicating the bogey. Then the bogey other than some charred cornstalks. The other AH-6 darted away. landed right next to his location. Gullick keyed the mike, "This is Cube Six. The bogey is "Where's Major Prague?" the man who ran off the heli- running! Vector one nine zero degrees. Pursue!" copter asked. Aurora was fast, but maneuverable it wasn't. Gullick Turcotte pointed at the crash site. "Killed on impact." watched as the red triangle began a long turn that would The man knelt down next to the pilot. "What's his encompass most of Nebraska and part of Iowa before it status?" was through. The small dot was heading southwest, cur- "Broken arm. I think he has a concussion. I haven't rently over Kansas. taken his helmet off, to keep the pressure on in case his "What's the bogey's speed?" General Gullick asked. skull is fractured." "Computer estimates it's moving at Mach three point The man signaled for the pilot to be place on board the six," Major Quinn replied. Blackhawk. He pointed to Turcotte. "You come with me. As the bogey crossed the panhandle of Oklahoma, Au- They want you back at the Cube." rora completed its turn over southern Nebraska. "She'll catch up," Gullick said. The two dots continued, Aurora steadily closing the gap. THE CUBE "Bogey's over Mexican airspace," Quinn reported. He hesitated, but duty required that he speak. "Are you au- "Sir, Aurora already has a photo of the bogey," Quinn said. thorizing Aurora to continue pursuit?" "What do you want it to do when it catches up?" "Shit," Gullick said. "The Mexicans won't even know it's The Aurora was purely a reconnaissance plane. Mount- there. Too high and too fast. And even if they get a blip on ing any sort of weapon system, even missiles, would have 122 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 123 destroyed its aerodynamic form and reduced its speed "Eighty miles," the pilot announced. drastically. "Sixty." "I want to find out where this bogey comes from," Gul- "I've got it!" the RSO yelled. lick said. "Then I can send other people to take care of the In the small television screen Gullick could see a small problem." dot. As if on cue the dot suddenly jerked to the right, a Both indicators were now over the eastern beginning of splash of water shot up, and it was gone. the Pacific Ocean. Gullick leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes, his The RSO's voice hissed in Gullick's ear. "Cube Six, this forehead furrowed in pain. is Aurora. Request you lay on some fuel for us on the "Cube Six, this is Aurora. Bogey is down. I say again. return flight. We will be past the point of no return in Bogey is down. Transmitting grid location." fifteen minutes. Over." "This is Cube Six. Roger. We're scrambling some tankers for you. Keep on its tail. Out." Gullick pointed at Quinn, who was also monitoring the radio. "I'll take care of it, sir," Quinn said. The Mexican coastline was now long gone. Gullick knew that the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Central and South America--other than Canal traffic--was a very desolate place. They were still heading almost due south. "We're close," the pilot announced. "It's about two hun- dred miles ahead of us. I'm throttling back to ease up on it." Gullick watched the telemetry. It reminded him of being ground support when he was a test pilot. Reading the same gauges that the pilot overhead did, but not having hands on the controls. As the plane passed through Mach 2.5 the RSO extended the surveillance pod and activated his low- level light television (LLLTV) camera. Gullick immediately had the image relayed through a satellite onto the screen in front of him. The LLLTV was no ordinary television. The camera enhanced both the light and image, giving it the ability to display an image at night, while at the same time carrying a magnification of over one hundred. The RSO began scanning ahead, using the information fed to him from the satellites above to pinpoint the bogey. 125 A R E A 5 1 11 but it was very hard for him to think clearly. "What's the status at the crash site? ' Quinn was ready, the earplug in his right ear giving him a live feed from the man in charge on the ground in Ne- braska. "Fire is out. Recovery team is en route and will be on site in twenty minutes. Those present on the scene from Nightscape are cleaning up the pieces and providing secu- rity. Still no response from locals. I think we'll make it clear." Gullick nodded. If they got the remains of the helicopter THE CUBE, AREA 51 out of there before daylight without being spotted, the T-114 HOURS Nightscape mission would be a success. The bogey was a whole different question. One he hoped he could answer General Gullick poured himself a cup of coffee, then took shortly. his chair at the head of the conference table. He took a "What about the survivors of the helicopter crash? They pair of painkiller pills out of his pocket and swallowed here yet?" General Gullick asked. them, washing them down with a swig of scalding coffee. Quinn checked his computer. 'The pilot is in the clinic Slowly the reports started coming back. in Vegas being worked on. Major Prague was killed in the "Aurora is returning," Major Quinn reported. "ETA in crash. The third man, a Captain Mike Turcotte, was slightly twenty-two minutes. We have the exact location where the bogey went down into the ocean." injured but is here, sir." Gullick looked at the inner circle of Majic-12, who were "Send him in." in the room. Each man knew his area of responsibility, and as the orders were issued, each took the appropriate ac- A quarter mile up a bedraggled and hurting Turcotte had tion. "Admiral Coakley, the bogey is in your area of opera- been waiting for a half hour now. His Gore-Tex jacket was tions now. I want whatever you have floating closest to the partly melted and he was black from soot and dirt. The spot on top of it ASAP! I want you to be ready to go down bandage he had hurriedly put on his arm in Nebraska was and recover that thing. soaked with blood, but he thought the bleeding was "Mr. Davis, I want the information from Aurora stopped. He wasn't ready to peel the bandage off to check downloaded to Major Quinn and I want to know what that until he was someplace where he could get proper medical thing is." care. "Already working on the digital relay," Davis replied. The helicopter had swung by the airstrip outside, drop- "I'll have the hard copy from the pod as soon as it touches ping him off before continuing on with the pilot to Las down." Vegas, where the program maintained its medical clinic Gullick was mentally ticking off all that had happened, close by the hospital facilities at Nellis Air Force Base. 126 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 127 Turcotte had been met by two security men who had hus- knew that the reaction of those in charge when they found tled him inside the hangar. out he had let the two civilians go might be more than a The interior doors were shut, but there was a bouncer in letter of reprimand in his official files. These people were the portion next to the elevator doors. Turcotte studied the playing hardball, and by killing Prague he had entered their craft, recognizing it as the sister of the one that had flown playing field. He just hoped he could get out of here and by earlier in Nebraska. For all he knew it could be the that then Duncan would cover his butt. same one. It didn't take a genius to put together the cattle The elevator doors slid open, and the guard inside ges- mutilations, the false landing signature lasered into the tured for him to come in. Turcotte walked in and the floor cornfield, and these craft to recognize that there was a seemed to fall out from under him as they hurtled down. cover-up operation of major proportion being operated The doors opened again, and Turcotte stepped out into the here. Turcotte just didn't understand how the pieces fit to- control room of the Cube. He looked about but the guards gether. The mission he had just been on in Nebraska hustled him through the room to a corridor in the back. He seemed very high risk and he could see no clear-cut pur- entered a conference room where the lights were turned pose to it. Unless it was to draw attention away from this down low. There were several people sitting in shadows site, but that didn't quite click. near the end of the table. Turcotte walked up to the rank- One thing was for certain, Turcotte knew. He certainly ing general. had something to report on now. It would be someone Turcotte made no attempt to salute; his arm wouldn't else's job to put the pieces together. He was glad to have allow it. "Captain Turcotte reporting, sir." He noted the gotten out with his ass in one piece. He looked down at his nameplate on the man's chest--Gullick. right hand. The fingers were shaking. Killing Prague, al- Gullick saluted smartly. "What happened?" though not the first time he had killed, weighed heavily on That voice--the same one that had been giving the or- him. He turned his hand over and stared at the scar tissue ders to Prague over the radio--Turcotte remembered now there for a little while. With great effort Turcotte brought his mind back to his where he had heard it before: the board of inquiry that had present situation. He wasn't in the clear yet. He was confi- investigated what had happened in Germany. That voice dent that Prague's burned body would raise no questions. had been one of six that had questioned him via He knew that the other helicopter aircrews would return speakerphone in the secure holding area in Berlin. later this morning or maybe even the following morning Turcotte took a deep breath and cleared his mind of every- once they had finished sterilizing the crash site in Ne- thing but the story he now had to tell. There would be time braska. And as soon as they were debriefed, the detection later to deal with the other issues. of the two civilians by the other AH-6 crew would surface. Turcotte proceeded to describe the events of the previ- Then there would be questions asked that he couldn't ade- ous night, leaving out the important facts about inter- quately answer. The clock on his career was already tick- cepting the truck with the two civilians and killing Prague, ing, but looking at the alien craft told Turcotte that there of course. Gullick was most interested in the attack by the were larger issues than his pension involved here. He also small sphere, but there was nothing Turcotte could really 128 ROBERT DOHERTY 129 AREA 51 say about that as he had not been looking out the front "The composition of its skin was resistant to all attempts when it had hit the helicopter. to-- Gullick listened to his account, then pointed back at the "Unknown, then." Gullick slapped his hand on the ta- elevator doors. "They'll take you in to the clinic in the bletop, glaring at the picture as if he could penetrate it with morning. You're dismissed." his eyes. "What the hell do we know about it?" So much for thank you, Turcotte thought as he left the "Uh . . ." Quinn paused and took a deep breath. "Well, room. Gullick had been the most outspoken in his praise of sir, we've got it in our records." Turcotte's actions in Germany, praise that had confused "What?" and sickened Turcotte. But obviously, the events of the pre- In response Quinn split the screen, the photo taken by vious evening were not in the same league. Turcotte had no Aurora of the bogey sliding to the left and an identical doubt that if he had killed the two civilians and presented object appearing on the right in grainy black and white. their bodies like trophies, he would have received a hearty "Talk to me, Quinn," Gullick growled. "Talk to me." slap on the back. "The photo on the right was"--Quinn paused again and The elevator doors closed off the control room to cleared his throat with a nervous cough--"the photo on Turcotte, and he began his return trip to the surface. He the right was taken by a gun camera in a P-47 Thunderbolt should be able to get clear now. on February twenty-third, 1945, over the Rhine River in Germany." General Gullick waited until the elevator doors had closed There was a nervous rustle from the other men in the behind the Army captain. Then he returned his attention inner circle of Majic-12 who were at the table. to Major Quinn. "That was no help. I want all the other "A foo fighter," Gullick said. personnel completely debriefed when they return from the "Yes, sir." "What's a foo fighter?" Kennedy asked. MSS. Have you analyzed the data from Aurora?" Gullick remained silent, digesting the revelation. Quinn "Yes, sir. We've got several good shots of the bogey." looked at the information he had dredged up on his com- "Put one on the screen," General Gullick ordered. puter screen and continued for the others in the room who A small glowing ball appeared on Gullick's computer didn't know their aviation history. "The object on the right screen. was called a 'foo fighter.' There were numerous sightings of "Scale?" Gullick asked. these objects made by aircrews during World War II. Be- Around the edges of the screen rulers appeared. "It's cause they were initially suspected to be Japanese and Ger- three feet in diameter, sir," Quinn said. man secret weapons, all information concerning them was "Propulsion system?" classified. "Unknown." "The foo fighter reports started in late 1944. They were "Flight dynamics?" described as metallic spheres or balls of light, about three "Unknown." feet in diameter. Since the bomber aircrews that reported "Spectral analysis?" them were usually veterans and gun cameras on board es- AREA 51 131 130 ROBERT DOHERTY cort fighters occasionally recorded them also, giving factual fighters. The mission was almost scrapped when the spheres appeared, but the commander on the ground at support to those accounts, the reports were taken seri- ously." the departure airfield at Tinian decided to continue it. Quinn was in his element. Before being assigned to the There was no hostile action by the foo fighters and the situation was repeated several days later during the mission project he had worked in Project Blue Book, the Air Force's classified study group on UFOs--reports of un- to Nagasaki." Kennedy leaned forward. "Von Seeckt was on the air- identified craft other than the ones kept at Area 51. Blue Book has also been a smokescreen for the Area 51 project field there at Tinian back when they launched the Enola Gay and a purveyor of disinformation to mislead serious re- carrying that bomb, wasn't he?" searchers. The foo fighters were in the Blue Book files and "Yes, sir. Von Seeckt was there," Quinn replied. "And we still don't know anything about these foo fight- most aviators had heard of them. "The lid could not be kept on such a widespread occur- ers, do we?" Gullick asked. rence, and reports of foo fighters did leak out to the gen- "No, sir." eral press, and they are even mentioned in some modern "Russian?" Kennedy asked. Quinn stared at him. "Excuse me, sir?" books about UFOs. What didn't leak out, though, is that "They couldn't have been Russian, could they? The sons we lost twelve aircraft to the foo fighters. Every time one of of bitches did beat us with Sputnik. Maybe they made these our fighters or bombers would try to get close to one or fire on them--they were bogies, after all--the foo fighters things." "Uh, no, sir, I don't believe there was any indication they would turn and ram the attacker, leaving our aircraft the were Russian," Quinn replied. "Once the war was over, worse for the encounter. Just like what happened to Night- scape Six. Because of these encounters, classified standing reports about the foo fighters ended for a while." orders were issued by Army Air Corps high command to "For a while?" Kennedy repeated. "In 1986 a bogey was picked up in the atmosphere by leave the foo fighters alone. Apparently that worked, be- space surveillance and tracked," Quinn said. "The object cause there were no further reports of attacks. "After the war, when intelligence went through Japanese did not fit any known aircraft parameters." Quinn pressed a key and a new picture appeared on the and German records, it was discovered that they, too, had screen. It looked as if a child had gone crazy with a bright run into foo fighters and experienced the same results. We green pen. A line zigzagged across the screen and looped know they weren't behind them from what we found. In back on itself several times. "This is the flight path of a fact, the records showed they thought the spheres were our bogey they picked up back in eighty-six flying at altitudes secret weapons. ranging from four to one hundred and eighty thousand "Of particular interest is an incident that is still classified feet." Quinn hit another button. "This is the flight pattern Q, level five." Quinn hesitated, but Gullick gestured for of our bogey tonight superimposed on the one from eighty- him to go on and tell the others. "On August sixth, 1945, six." The two were very similar. "There's something else, when the Enola Gay flew the first atomic mission toward sir." Hiroshima, it was accompanied the entire way by three foo 132 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 133 "And that is?" Gullick asked. As the men filed out, Kennedy stopped by General Gul- "There was another series of unexplained sightings right lick and sat down next to him. "Maybe we should check after this one. The Navy along with the DIA were running with Hemstadt at Dulce about these foo fighters," he said. an operation called Project Aquarius. It was, um, well, "There might be some information about them in the Ma- what they were doing-- chine." "Spit it out, man!" Gullick ordered. Gullick looked up from the tabletop and stared into "They were experimenting using psychics to try to locate Kennedy's eyes. "Do you want to go to Dulce to hook up submarines." to the Machine?" "Oh, Christ," Gullick muttered. "And?" he wearily Kennedy swallowed. "I thought we could just call him asked. and ask. It's possible that the Machine might be control- "The psychics were doing reasonably well. About a sixty- ling-- percent success rate on getting the approximate longitude "You think too much," Gullick cut him off, ending the and latitude of submerged submarines simply by sitting in a conversation. room in the Pentagon and using mental imaging of a pho- tograph of each specific submarine. "There was an unexpected thing that occurred every once in a while, though. One of the psychics would pick up the image of something else at the same coordinates as the submarines. Something hovering above the location of the sub." "And, let me guess," Gullick said. "We don't know what that something was, correct?" "Space surveillance picked up . . ." Quinn hit his key- board and let the flight-path schematic speak for itself: an- other radical flight pattern. "Did anyone ever explain any of these sightings?" Gul- lick asked. "No, sir." "So we have a real UFO on our hands now, don't we?" Gullick said. "Uh, yes, sir." "Well, that's just fucking fine!" Gullick snapped. "That's all I need right now." He glared at Admiral Coakley. "I want that thing recovered and I want to know what the hell it is!" 11 12 VICINITY DULCE, NEW MEXICO LAS VEGAS, NEVADA T - 113 HOURS, 3O MINUTES T - 112 HOURS, 3O MINUTES Johnny Simmons awoke to darkness. At least he thought Las Vegas slowed down slightly at five-thirty in the morn- he was awake. He could see nothing, hear nothing. When ing. The neon still glowed, and there were people on the he tried to move, panic set in. His limbs didn't respond. He streets, most heading to their rooms for a few hours of had a horrible feeling of being awake but asleep, unable to sleep before starting over again on the games of chance. connect the conscious mind with the nervous system to Kelly Reynolds was doing the opposite, starting her day produce action. He felt detached from his body and reality. after catching three hours of sleep in her motel room. The A mind floating in a black void. first thing she had done when the alarm went off was call Then came the pain. Without sight or sound it exploded Johnny's apartment on the slim chance that he might be into his brain, becoming all his mind, all of his world. It was there or have changed the message. coming from every nerve ending in jagged, climbing spikes, She looked up as a red-eye flight roared in toward the far beyond anything he had thought possible. horizon. Walk to the sounds of the planes, she thought to Johnny screamed, and the worst of it all was that he herself, paraphrasing Napoleon. She'd rent a car at the couldn't hear his own voice. airport. Right now she needed the fresh air and the time to think. This is what dad would have done, go for the strongest link. The thought brought a sad smile to her face. Her father and his stories. The best time of his life had been over before he was twenty. What a horrible way to spend the rest of one's life, Kelly thought. World War II. The last good war. Her dad had served in the OSS, the Office of Strategic Services, the precursor to the CIA. He'd jumped into Italy during the last year of the 136 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 137 war and worked with the partisans. Running the hills with a ing shift of workers. He was glad that he was going to be band of renegades licensed to kill Germans and take what able to get out of here. First thing he would do in Las they needed by force. Then he'd worked in Europe as the Vegas after getting his arm sewn up was call Duncan on the war closed out, helping with the war crimes trials. Much of number he had memorized. He wanted to get everything what he saw there had soured him on mankind. off his chest. Then hopefully he could leave all this behind. Peace had never been the same. He'd turned to the slow He noticed an old man come on board, accompanied by death of the bottle and lived with his memories and his two younger men whose demeanor suggested they were nightmares. Kelly's mom had retreated into her own brain bodyguards for the first man. Despite the fact that they and shut out the outside world. And because of them Kelly were the only other passengers on board, the old man took had grown up fast. She wondered if her dad had still been the front row of seats on the other side of the plane from alive, if his liver had lasted a little longer, how the affair at Turcotte. The bodyguards, apparently satisfied there were Nellis would have turned out. She might have been able to no immediate threats, sat down a few rows back as the go to him for help. At the very least, she would have con- plane's door was shut by the same hard-faced man who had sidered what he would have done instead of blazing her greeted Turcotte with the breathalyzer a little less than own path to destruction. He certainly would not have forty hours ago. That man disappeared into the cockpit. bought into Prague's line so naively. He would have told "They are fools," the old man muttered in German, his her to approach the bait very slowly and to watch out for gnarled hands wrapped around a cane with a silver handle. the hook. Turcotte ignored him, looking out the window at the The only legacy she had from her dad was his stories. base of Groom Mountain. Even this close--less than two But she was his legacy and that was more than she could hundred meters away--it was almost impossible to tell that say for herself at forty-two. No children and not much of a there was a hangar built into the side of the mountain. career to counterweight that. As she walked to the airport, Kelly felt an overwhelming depression. The only thing that Turcotte wondered how much money had been poured into kept her going was Johnny. He needed her. this facility. Several billion dollars at least. Of course, with She stopped in an all-night market and bought two packs the U.S. government having a covert black budget some- of cigarettes and a lighter. where between thirty-four and fifty billion dollars a year, he knew that was just a drop in the bucket. "They will all die, just like they did last time," the old man said in perfect German, shaking his head. AREA 51 Turcotte looked over his shoulder. One of the body- Turcotte strapped himself into the plane seat and tried to guards was asleep. The other was engrossed in a paper- get comfortable. He'd spent the last two hours, since leav- back. ing the underground control room, alone, waiting in a "Who will die?" Turcotte asked in the same language. small room off of the hangar, until they rolled out the stairs The old man started and then looked at Turcotte. "Are to load the 737 to fly into Las Vegas and pick up the morn- you one of Gullick's men?" 138 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 139 Turcotte lifted his right hand, exposing the blood-soaked that we can bridge centuries of normal development by fabric. "/ was." simply flying the mothership. They think we can have the "And now who are you?" stars right away without having to make the technological At first Turcotte thought he had translated poorly, but breakthroughs to do it." Von Seeckt sighed. "Or, perhaps then he realized he had it right, and he understood. It was more importantly, without the societal development." a question he had struggled with all through the dark hours Turcotte had seen enough the past couple of days to of the morning. "/ don't know, but I am done here." accept what Von Seeckt was saying at face value. "What's The old man switched to English. "That is good. This is so bad about just flying the thing? Why are you saying it's a not a place to be. Not with what they plan, but I am not threat to the planet?" sure any distance will be enough." "We don't know how it works!" Von Seeckt said, stamp- "Who are you?" ing the head of his cane down on the carpet. "The engine is The old man inclined his head. "Werner Von Seeckt. incomprehensible. They are not even sure which of the And you?" many machines inside is the engine. "Mike Turcotte." "Or there may be two engines! Two modes of propul- "I have worked here since 1943." sions. One for use inside of a solar system or inside a "This is my second day," Turcotte said. planet's atmosphere and the other once the ship is outside Von Seeckt found that amusing. "It did not take you significant effect of gravity from planets and stars. We sim- long to get in trouble," he said. "You are going to the ply don't know, and what if we turn the wrong one on? hospital with me?" "Does the interstellar drive create its own wormhole and Turcotte nodded. "What were you talking about earlier? the ship is pulled through? Maybe. So, maybe we make a About everyone dying?" wormhole on earth--not good! Or does it ride the gravita- The engine noise increased as the plane taxied toward tional waves? But in riding, does it disturb them? Imagine the end of the runway. "Those fools," Von Seeckt said, what that could do. And what will it do if we lose control? gesturing out the window. "They are playing with forces "And who is to say the engine will still work properly? It they don't understand." is a flaw of inductive logic to say that just because the "The flying saucers?" Turcotte asked. bouncers still work that the mothership will work. In fact, "Yes, the saucers. We call them bouncers," Von Seeckt what if it is broken and turning it on makes it self-de- said. "But even more, there is another ship. You have not struct?" seen the large one, have you?" Von Seeckt leaned over and spoke in a lower voice. "In "No. I've only seen the ones here in this hangar." 1989 we were working on one of the engines from the "There is a bigger one. Much bigger. They are trying to bouncers. We had removed it from the craft and placed it figure out how to fly it. They believe if they can get it to in a cradle. The men working on it were testing tolerances work they can take it into orbit and then back. Then there and operating parameters. will no longer be any need for the space shuttles, but more "They found out about tolerances! They turned it on and importantly they believe that it is an interstellar transport, it ripped out of the cradle holding it. They had not repli- 14 A R E A 5 1 0 ROBERT DOHERTY 141 cated the control system adequately and lost the ability to knowledge I brought with me. His chain-reaction experi- turn it off. It tore through the retaining wall, killing five ment gave them the raw material. I gave them the technol- men. When it finally came to a stop it was buried sixty-five ogy." feet into solid rock. It took over two weeks to drill into the "You did?" Turcotte asked. The plane was gaining alti- rock and remove it. It wasn't damaged at all. tude. "How did you know-- "I have seen it before. They never learn. I understood Von Seeckt raised his cane. "Another time for that story, the first time. There was a war. Extreme measures were maybe. We worked nonstop until 1945. We thought we had called for then. But there is no war now. And all the se- it right, just like they think they understand the mother- crecy! Why? What are we hiding all this for? General Gul- ship. The difference was that there was a war then. And lick says it is because the public will not understand, and even so, there were many who argued we should not test his cronies produce all sorts of psychological studies to the bomb, but everyone in power was tired. Then Roose- back that up, but I do not believe it. They hide it because velt died. They hadn't even briefed Vice President Truman. they have hidden it for so long that they can no longer Their great secrecy almost cost them there. The secretary reveal what they have been doing without saying that the of state had to go and tell him about the bomb the day government has lied for so many years. And they hide it after the President died. because knowledge is power and the bouncers and the "After understanding the significance of what he was mothership represent the ultimate power." told, Truman gave the go-ahead to test. But I don't think The plane was gathering speed and moving down the they fully informed him of the potential for disaster, just as runway. "It all used to make sense," Von Seeckt said. "But they keep the President in the dark now. We took a chance this year something changed. They are all acting very then." strangely." Von Seeckt muttered something in German that Turcotte had cued into something Von Seeckt had said. Turcotte didn't catch, then he continued in English. "They "What do you mean the 'first time'?" have a presidential adviser on the Majic committee, but "I have worked for the government of the United States there is much they do not tell her. I know they have not a very long time," Von Seeckt said. "I had a certain"--Von told her about the Nightscape missions. They believe this Seeckt paused--"knowledge and expertise that they operation here, and much else that is secret in the govern- needed so they, ah, recruited me in mid-1942. I came out ment, is beyond the scope of the politicians who can be here to the West. To Los Alamos, in New Mexico." gone in four years." "The bomb," Turcotte said. Turcotte didn't respond to that. He had long ago decided Von Seeckt nodded. "Yes. The bomb. But in 1943 I that the country was run by bureaucrats who stayed in their moved to Dulce, New Mexico. That is where the real work slots for decades--not by politicians who came and went. went on. Los Alamos, they worked off of the information At least he was beginning to understand why Duncan had we gave them. sent him in to infiltrate Nightscape. "It was all very, very secret. They pieced it all out. Fermi "On the sixteenth of July, in the year of our Lord 1945, had already done the first piece even before they had the at five-thirty in the morning, the first atomic weapon made 142 ROBERT DOHERTY 143 AREA 51 by man was detonated. We placed it on a steel tower in the God down there below us and someone has to stop them. desert outside of Alamogordo Air Base. No one quite There are four days before they try to run up the mother- knew what was going to happen. There were some--some ship to full power. Four days. Four days until Armaged- of the finest minds mankind has ever produced--who be- don." lieved the world would end. That the bomb would start a Turcotte asked several questions but Von Seeckt chain reaction that would not stop until it consumed the wouldn't answer. The rest of the trip was made in silence. planet. Others thought nothing would happen. Because it was even riskier than history thinks. We were playing with technology we had not developed!" McCARREN AIRPORT, LAS VEGAS That confused Turcotte. He had always understood that the U.S. had developed the A-bomb from scratch. He It was still dark. Kelly waited in the terminal, staring out at didn't have time to focus on that because Von Seeckt was the runway. A plane roared overhead, and in the runway still talking. lights she could see the red stripe painted down the side. "It was children playing with something we hoped we The plane touched down but didn't turn toward the termi- understood. What if a simple mistake had been made? nal. It pulled off to an area about a quarter mile away, What if we had connected the red wire where the blue wire behind a fence with green slats. Show time. was supposed to go? And even if it did work we weren't Kelly ran through the main terminal dodging tourists quite sure of the limitations! and burst outside. She slid into the rental car she'd left at "Do you know what Oppenheimer said he was thinking the curb, stuffing the ticket that had been placed on the about that morning?" Von Seeckt didn't wait for an an- windshield into her pocket. Following the airport service swer. "He was thinking of the Hindu saying: 'I am become road, she paralleled the green fence, stopping as she death, the shatterer of worlds.' And we had. It went just as neared a gate in it. She shut down the engine and turned planned. We had death under our control--because it did off the lights. There was the faintest glow of dawn on the not start a chain reaction and it didn't just sit there on the horizon. tower and do nothing. It worked." "What now?" she asked herself. She opened one of the "Why are you telling me this?" Turcotte asked. packs she had bought and lit up. The first breath in was "Because I think you are done here, as you say. And I awful, tearing down her throat. She felt lightheaded and am dying. And there is nothing left for me." nauseated. The second was better. "Three years down the Von Seeckt was silent for a few minutes, the plane rising tube," she muttered. up into the early-morning darkness. "Because I have lived A bus pulled up to the gate and it swung open, admitting in ignorance and fear for all my years but now I have noth- the vehicle. Kelly opened the door, stubbing out the ciga- ing to fear. I am dead even as you see me, but it is only now rette. Just before the gate shut, a van with darkened win- in looking back with a different perspective that I know I dows pulled out. was dead all those years." He turned. "Because you are "Shit," Kelly said, jumping back in the car. As it turned young and have a life ahead of you. And they are playing the corner she got the car started and followed. The van 144 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 145 turned onto Las Vegas Boulevard and headed north. They styled silver hair and expensive glasses. He appeared to be passed the Mirage, Caesars Palace, and other famous casi- in good shape and was coldly efficient in bedside manner. nos that lined the street. At the edge of town the van made "Strip down to the waist," Cruise ordered. a right into the main gate for Nellis Air Force Base. Turcotte remembered Prague's nickname for him-- Kelly made a quick decision and followed, merging into meat. He was beginning to feel more and more like that the flow of early-morning work traffic entering the post. was apropos. Hell, Turcotte thought as he watched Dr. The air policeman waved her to a halt as she had expected, Cruise prepare a needle with painkiller, he'd have sewn the because she had no access sticker on her rent-a-car, but she wound up himself if he'd had access to the proper medical was prepared. equipment. He'd been hurt worse on training exercises. "Could you tell me how to get to the public affairs of- "Have you seen the pilot who was injured?" Turcotte ficer?" she asked, holding up her press card as the line of asked as Cruise slid the needle into his side. cars piled up behind her. She could see the van still ahead. "Yes." The air policeman hurriedly gave her directions and Turcotte waited a few seconds but there was nothing fur- waved her through, keeping the flow of traffic going. Kelly ther. "How is he?" had watched the van and followed in the direction it had "Fractured skull. Some bleeding on the brain. He was gone. lucky whoever was with him didn't take his helmet off, or She was surprised to see it parked outside a building he wouldn't have made it here alive." next to the post hospital. Kelly drove past, looped around, Luck had nothing to do with it, then parked in the lot outside a dental clinic across the Turcotte thought to him- street. self. "Has he regained consciousness?" The side door of the van slid open and two men in black "No." Cruise put the needle down and picked up a windbreakers stepped out, then an old man leaning on a charged surgical needle. He seemed quite preoccupied cane, followed by a fourth man wearing a dirty and torn with some other thoughts. black parka. Turcotte watched with detachment as Cruise began to The four disappeared into a door. Kelly leaned back and sew the edges of the tear on his side together. He consid- exercised what her dad had told her was the most impor- ered his situation. If Prague had suspected him, then the tant trait a person could have--patience. word hadn't been passed along, because the two guards were obviously for Von Seeckt. That meant he was home Inside the hospital annex the man in the white coat was free as soon as he was done here. curt and to the point. "I'm Dr. Cruise. Please take a seat in "Wait here," Doctor Cruise ordered after he'd finished examining room two, Professor Von Seeckt. You," he said, putting a bandage on the arm. He went into the office next pointing at Turcotte, "follow me." They left the watchdogs door. The door swung shut but the latch didn't catch and it in the waiting room. was left slightly ajar. Looking at the mirror above the ex- Turcotte followed the doctor into examining room one. amining table, Turcotte could see into the office. Cruise Turcotte estimated Cruise to be in his fifties, with carefully was at the sink, washing his hands. Then the doctor placed AREA 51 147 146 ROBERT DOHERTY both hands on the edge of the sink and stared in the mir- "This wouldn't happen to be something that causes pul- ror, saying something to himself. monary failure, would it?" Turcotte thought that quite odd. Then Cruise reached "No," Cruise said, his eyes wide and staring down at the into a pocket inside his coat and pulled out a needle with a gleaming metal and glass tube. plastic protective cover over the tip. He stared at the nee- "Then there's no problem if you get a dose," Turcotte dle, removed the cover, then took a deep breath and said, pushing the point into Cruise's neck. headed out of the office, through the far door, handling the Sweat was pouring down Cruise's face as Turcotte's needle very gingerly. thumb poised over the plunger. Turcotte hopped off the examining table and slowly "No problem, right, Doctor?" opened the door to Cruise's office. He looked about. There "Don't. Please. Don't," Cruise whispered. was some paperwork on the desk. Turcotte noticed a folder Von Seeckt didn't seem too surprised by any of these with Von Seeckt's name neatly printed on the label. He events. He was putting his shirt back on. "What is in it, Dr. flipped it open. Cruise? My friend with the needle, he has had a hard night. The top document was a certificate of death signed by I would not provoke him into doing anything rash." Cruise with today's date in the top right block. Cause of "It's insulin." death: pulmonary failure. "And please tell me what that would have done to me?" Turcotte twisted the knob and threw open the door to Von Seeckt asked. examining room two. Cruise froze, the needle a few inches "An overdose would cause your heart to stop," Cruise away from the old man's arm. "Don't move!" Turcotte or- said. dered, drawing his 9mm Browning High Power from his "Your death certificate is filled out on the good doctor's hip holster. desk," Turcotte said, looking at Von Seeckt. "He already "What do you think you're doing?" Cruise blustered. signed it. The only thing blank was your time of death, but "Put the needle down," Turcotte said. it was dated today." "I'll report you to General Gullick," Cruise said, care- "Ah, after all these years." Von Seeckt shook his head. fully putting the syringe down on the countertop. "And you are a doctor," he added, shaking his head at "What is going on?" Von Seeckt asked in German. Cruise. "I knew General Gullick was evil, but you should "We'll find out in a second," Turcotte said, keeping the know better. You swore an oath to preserve life." muzzle of his pistol on Cruise as he walked over and "Gullick ordered this?" Turcotte asked. picked up the needle. Cruise almost shook his head, but thought better of it "What's in it?" he asked. given the steel needle in his throat. "Yes." "His treatment," Cruise said, his eyes on the syringe. Turcotte slid the needle out, but before Cruise could "It won't harm you, then, will it?" Turcotte asked with a even draw a deep breath, he slammed his elbow up against nasty smile, turning the point toward Cruise's neck. the doctor's temple. Cruise crumpled to the ground uncon- "I'm--I--no, but--" Cruise froze as the tip touched his scious. skin. 148 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 149 "Thank you, my friend," Von Seeckt said. He pulled his Von Seeckt leaned over and pointed at a small device jacket on and picked up his cane. "And now?" under the steering column. "Electronic theft protection," "And now we get the hell out of here," Turcotte said. he explained. "There's a small conductor that is placed "Follow me." there. Without it, no electrical power. They have begun He opened the door and stepped out into the waiting installing--" room, pistol first. There was only one guard there, reading "All right, all right," Turcotte cut in. He hadn't seen the a magazine. He looked up and kept very still. driver take it out and it wasn't on the key ring. He looked "Keys to the van," Turcotte ordered. "With your left back at the front door of the clinic. A shadow crossed his hand." peripheral vision--the other guard coming around the cor- The guard slowly took the keys out of his pocket. ner of the building. "Put them on the table, then get on your knees, face to Then it all fell apart. The front door opened and the the wall." The man complied. other guard staggered out, pistol waving about, firing, "Get them, Professor," Turcotte said. He edged toward blinking blood out of his eyes. the door, keeping his weapon on the guard. "Where's your Turcotte kicked open the driver side door. "Get out!" he partner?" yelled to Von Seeckt. He fired three rounds quickly, delib- The man kept silent, which is what Turcotte would have erately high, causing both guards to drop to the ground. done in his position. Turcotte slammed the barrel of his pistol down on the back of the man's head and he dropped "Jesus!" Kelly flicked her cigarette out the window and to the floor. started the car's engine. The man who had just fired swung "Let's go." Turcotte carefully opened the outside door around and looked at her, his eyes piercing right through and looked out. Because of the tinted windows he couldn't the windshield from twenty feet away, then he spun about tell if the other guard was inside the van, which was and fired again at the black-jacketed men. Too high, Kelly parked. Turcotte stuck the hand with the gun inside his thought, and that decided her. parka pocket. He walked out with Von Seeckt, straight up With a squeal of rubber she peeled out of the parking to the van, and slid the side door open. Empty. "Get in." lot. She drove to the near side of the van, slamming on the brakes and skidding to a halt. "Get in!" she yelled, leaning On the other side of the street Kelly watched the two men over and throwing open the passenger door. get into the van, the younger of the two holding a gun in The man with the gun shoved the old man in, following his hand. She shifted her eyes and watched the other man, right behind. "Go! Go! Go!" he exhorted her. the guard who had come outside to smoke a few minutes Kelly didn't need the advice. She fishtailed out of the ago, turn around and start walking toward the front of the parking lot. The two men ran out into the road behind, building. firing. A group of airmen waiting outside the dental clinic ran for cover. Turcotte turned the key and nothing happened. He tried There were a few plinks as bullets hit the trunk. Kelly again. "Fuck," he muttered. took the next corner with her foot still pushing down on 150 ROBERT DOHERTY the accelerator. They were out of sight of the two gunmen. 13 The main gate to the base was four blocks directly ahead. "Steady through the gate," the man with the pistol said. "We don't want to attract attention." "No shit, Sherlock," Kelly replied. LAS VEGAS, NEVADA