"Shit," Dickerson heard the copilot mutter. And that ring at a most critical time. We have Bouncer Three down
was a rather appropriate comment on the current condi- with one casualty at White Sands. We also have six aircrews
tion of Bouncer Three. He keyed his radio. "Roller, we're currently being debriefed on the night's events. And all we
going to need a dozer and probably a backhoe too. Over." have gained against those potential security breaches is a
His aide back at main base was ready. "Roger." replay of the events of the other night. We have more pic-
The pilot brought the aircraft to a hover, the searchlight tures of this foo fighter to add to our records and we have
on the belly of the helicopter trained down and forward on almost the exact same location in the Pacific Ocean that it
the crash site. Bouncer Three had hit at an angle. Only the disappeared into."
trail edge was visible, sticking up out of the dirt ridge it had Gullick paused and leaned back in his chair, steepling his
impacted into. Knowing the dimension of the disk, Dicker- fingers. "This thing, this craft, has beaten the best we could
230 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51
231
throw against it, including our appropriated technology Ten heads swiveled and looked at the one man who
here." He looked at Dr. Underbill. "Any idea what it did didn't rate a leather seat. Major Quinn seemed to sink
to Bouncer Three?" lower behind his portable computer.
The representative from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory "Say again?" Gullick said in his deep voice.
held a roll of telemetry paper in his hands. "Not until I get "Perhaps they are aliens, sir," Quinn said.
a chance to look at the flight recorder and talk to the crew- "You mean the foo fighters are UFOs?" General Brown
man who survived. All I can determine from this," he said, sniffed.
shaking the paper, "is that there was a complete loss of "Of course they're UFOs," General Gullick cut in, sur-
power on board Bouncer Three in conjunction with a near prising everyone in the room with the harshness of his
collision with the foo fighter. The power loss lasted for one tone. "We don't know what the fuck they are, do we? That
minute and forty-six seconds, then some power began re- makes them unidentified, right? And they fly, right? And
turning, but too late for the pilot to compensate for the they're real objects, aren't they?" He slapped a palm down
craft's terminal velocity." on the table top. "Gentlemen, as far as the rest of the
Dr. Ferrel, the physicist, cleared his throat. "Since we world is concerned we're flying UFOs here every week. The
don't understand the exact workings of the propulsion sys- question I want an answer to is who is flying the UFOs that
tem of the disks, it makes it doubly hard for us to try to we aren't?" He swiveled his head to Quinn. "And you
figure out what the foo fighter did to Bouncer Three to think it's aliens?"
cause the crash." "We have no hint that anyone on Earth possesses the
"What about something we do understand?" Gullick technology needed for these foo fighters, sir," Quinn said.
asked. "We certainly understand how helicopters fly." "Yes, Major, but the Russians sure as shit don't think we
Underhill nodded. "I've gone over the wreckage of the possess the technology to make the bouncers either. And
AH-6 that crashed in Nebraska, and the only thing I have we don't," Gullick hissed. "My point is, has someone else
been able to determine is that it suffered complete engine dug up some technology like we have here?"
failure. There was no problem with either the transmission Kennedy, from CIA, leaned forward. "If I remember
or hydraulics or else no one would have survived the crash. rightly from my inbriefing, there were other sites listed on
The engine simply ceased functioning. Perhaps some sort the tablets that we never had a chance to look at."
of electrical or magnetic interference. "Most of those sites were ancient ruins," Quinn said
"The pilot is still in a coma and I have not been able to quickly, "but the thing is, there are more high runes at
interview him. I have some theories, but until I can work those sites. Who knows what might be written there? We
on them, I have no idea how the foo fighter caused the haven't been able to decipher the writing. We do know that
engine on that aircraft to cease functioning." Germans deciphered some of the high runes, but that
"Does anyone," Gullick said, with emphasis, "have any was lost in World War II."
idea what these foo fighters are or who is behind them?" Lost to us," Gullick amended. "And it's not certain that
A long silence descended on the conference table. Germans were able to read the high runes. They might
"Aliens?" nave been working off of a map like we did when we went
232 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 233
down to Antarctica and picked up the other seven bounc- Gullick turned to Kennedy. "Do you have any informa-
ers. Remember," Gullick added, "that we just uncovered tion that might be connected to this?"
what was at Jamiltepec eight months ago." Kennedy stroked his chin. "There's several things that
That caught Major Quinn's attention. He had never might be of significance. We know they have been carrying
heard of Jamiltepec or of a discovery having been made out secret test flights at their facility at Tyuratam in south-
there related to the Majic-12 project. Now, though, was not ern Siberia for decades, and we've never been able to pen-
the time to bring it up. etrate the security there. They do everything at night and
Kennedy leaned forward. "We do have to remember that even with infrared overhead satellite imagery, we haven't
the Russians picked up quite a bit of information at the been able to figure out what they've got. So they could be
flying foo fighters."
end of World War II. After all, they had a chance to go "But these things went down into the Pacific," General
through all the records in Berlin. They also knew what they Brown noted.
were doing when they conquered Germany. If people only "They could be launching and recovering off a subma-
knew the fight that went on over the scientific corpse of the rine," Admiral Coakley said. "Hell, their Delta-class subs
Third Reich between us and the Russians." are the largest submarines in the world. I'm sure they could
The last comment earned the CIA representative a hard have modified one to handle this sort of thing."
look from General Gullick, and Kennedy quickly moved "Any sign of Russian submarine activity from your peo-
on. ple at the site?" General Gullick asked.
"My point is," Kennedy said quickly, "that maybe the "Nothing so far. Last report I had was that our ships
Russians found their own technology in the form of these were in position and they were preparing to send a sub-
foo fighters. After all, we have no reports of Russian air- mersible down," Coakley replied.
craft running into them during the war. And it is pretty Major Quinn had to grip the edge of his computer to
suspicious that the Enola Gay was escorted on its way to remind himself that he was awake. He couldn't believe the
Hiroshima. Truman did inform Stalin that the bomb was way the men around the conference table were talking. It
going to be dropped. Maybe they wanted to see what was was as if they had all halved their IQ and added in a dose
going on and try to learn as much as they could about the of paranoia.
bomb." Gullick turned his attention back to Kennedy and indi-
"And remember, they put Sputnik up in 1957." General cated for him to continue. "This might not have anything
Brown was caught up in Kennedy's theory. "While we were to do with this situation, but it's the latest thing we've
dicking around with the bouncers and not pursuing our picked up," Kennedy said. "We know the Russians are do-
own space program as aggressively as we should have, ing work with linking human brains directly into computer
maybe they were working on these foo fighters and re- hardware. We don't know where they got the technology
verse-engineering them with a bit more success than we for that. It's way beyond anything worked on in the West.
had. Hell, those damn Sputniks looked like these foo fight- These foo fighters are obviously too small to carry a per-
ers." son, but perhaps the Russians might have put one of these
AREA 51
234 ROBERT DOHERTY 235
biocomputers on board while using magnetic flight tech- Gullick gestured for him to continue.
nology such as we have in the disks. Or they simply might "Surveillance in Phoenix has picked up Von Seeckt,
be remotely controlled from a room such as we have here." Turcotte, and this female reporter, Reynolds."
"We've picked up no discernible broadcast link to the "Phoenix?" Gullick asked.
foo fighter," Major Quinn said, trying to edge the discus- "Yes, sir. I ordered surveillance on the apartment of the
sion back to a commonsense footing. "Unless it was a very reporter who tried to infiltrate the other night once I found
narrow-beam satellite laser link we would have caught it, out that Reynolds was asking about him. The surveillance
and such a narrow beam would have been difficult to keep just settled in place this evening and they've spotted all
on the foo fighter, given its speed and how quickly it ma- three targets at the apartment and are requesting further
neuvered." instructions."
"Could Von Seeckt have been turned?" Gullick suddenly "Have them pick up all three and take them to Dulce,"
asked. "I know he's been here from the very beginning, but Gullick ordered.
remember where he came from. Maybe the Russians finally Quinn paused in sending the order. "There's something
got to him, or maybe he's been working for them all else, sir. The men we sent to check out Von Seeckt's quar-
along." ters have found a message on his answering service that
Kennedy frowned. "I doubt that. We've had the tightest might be important. It was from a Professor Nabinger."
security on all Majic-12 personnel." "What was the message?" General Gullick asked.
"Well, what about this Turcotte fellow or this female re- Quinn read from the screen. " 'Professor Von Seeckt, my
porter? Could either of them be working for the other name is Peter Nabinger. I work with the Egyptology De-
side?" partment at the Brooklyn Museum. I would like to talk to
Quinn started, remembering the intercept of Duncan's you about the Great Pyramid, which I believe we have a
message to the White House chief of staff. Gullick mustn't mutual interest in. I just deciphered some of the writing in
have gotten to it yet. Again, he decided to keep his peace, the lower chamber, which I believe you visited once upon a
this time to avoid an ass-chewing. time, and it says: 'Power, sun. Forbidden. Home place,
"I have my people checking on it," Kennedy said. "Noth- chariot, never again. Death to all living things.' Perhaps
ing has turned up so far." you could help shed some light on my translation. Leave
"Let's see what Admiral Coakley finds us in the Pacific. me a message how I can get hold of you at my voice-mail
Maybe that will solve this mystery," Gullick said. "For now, box. My number is 212-555-1474.' "
our priorities are sterilizing the crash site at White Sands "If this Nabinger knows about Von Seeckt and the pyra-
and continuing our countdown for the mothership." mid-- " began Kennedy, but a wave of Gullick's hand
Major Quinn had been working at his computer, reading stopped him.
data from the various components of the project spread
out across the United States and the globe. He was re- "I agree that is dangerous"--Gullick was excited--"but
lieved when information began scrolling up. "Sir, we've got of more importance is the fact that it seems Nabinger can
some news on Von Seeckt." decipher the high runes. If he can do that, then maybe we
236 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 237
can . . ." Gullick paused. "Did our people check to see if "Oh, my God," Scheuler muttered.
Von Seeckt has contacted Nabinger?" Blood and pieces of Major Terrent were scattered about
Quinn nodded. "Yes, sir. Von Seeckt called Nabinger's everywhere inside. Dickerson sat down with his back to the
service at eight twenty-six and left a message giving a loca- hatch, trying to control his breathing while Scheuler vom-
tion for them to meet tomorrow, or actually this morning," ited. Dickerson had been a forward air controller during
he amended, looking at the digital clock on the wall. Desert Storm and had seen the destruction wrought on the
"The location?" highway north out of Kuwait near the end of the war. But
"The apartment in Phoenix," Quinn answered. that was war and the bodies had been those of the enemy.
Gullick smiled for the first time in twenty-four hours. Goddamn Gullick, he thought. Dickerson grabbed the
"So we can bag all our little birds in one nest in a few edges of the hatch, and lowered himself in. "Let's go," he
hours. Excellent. Get me a direct line to the Nightscape ordered Scheuler, who gingerly followed.
leader on the ground in Phoenix." "See if it still works," Dickerson ordered. He'd sure as
hell rather fly it back to Nevada than have to cover it up
and take back roads by night.
WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, NEW MEXICO Scheuler looked at the blood- and viscera-covered de-
pression that Terrent had occupied.
The engine on the crane whined in protest, but the earth "You can take a shower later," Dickerson forced himself
gave before the cable, and inch by inch Bouncer Three was to say. "Right now I need to know whether we have power,
pulled up out of its hole. As soon as it was clear, the crane and we don't have time to dean this thing up."
operator rotated right, bringing the disk toward the flatbed "Sir, I--"
that was waiting. In the glow of the hastily erected arc "Captain!" Dickerson snapped.
lights, Colonel Dickerson could see that the outer skin of
"Yes, sir." Scheuler slid into the seat, a grimace on his
the disk appeared to be unscathed.
As soon as Bouncer Three was down on the truck, Dick- face. His hands went over the control panel. Lights came
erson grabbed hold of the side of the flatbed and clam- on briefly, then faded as the skin of the craft went clear and
bered up onto the wood deck and then onto the sloping they could see by the arc lights set up outside.
side of the craft itself. His aide and Captain Scheuler were "We have power." Scheuler stated the obvious. He
right behind him. Balancing carefully, Dickerson edged up looked down at the altitude-control level and froze. Ter-
until he was at the hatch that Scheuler had thrown himself rent's hand was still gripped tightly around it, the stub of
out of two miles above their heads. his forearm ending in shattered bone and flesh. He cried
The interior was dark with the power off. Taking a halo- out and turned away.
gen flashlight off his belt, Dickerson shone it down on the Colonel Dickerson knelt down and gently pried the dead
inside. Despite having fought in two wars and seen more object loose. Goddamn Gullick, Goddamn Gullick; it was a
than his share of carnage, Dickerson flinched at the scene chant his brain was using to hold on to sanity. "See if you
within. He sensed Scheuler coming up next to him. have flight control," he ordered in a softer voice.
238 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 239
Scheuler grabbed the lever. Space appeared below their "But if they found out about Paperclip--" began Ken-
feet. "We have flight control," he said in a rote voice. nedy.
"All right," Dickerson said. "Captain Travers will fly with "We inherited Paperclip," Gullick cut in. "Just as we
you back to Groom Lake. We'll have pursuit aircraft flying inherited Majic. And people know about Paperclip. It's not
escort. Got that, Captain?" that big of a secret anymore."
There was no answer. "Yeah, but we kept it going," Kennedy pointed out.
"Do you understand?" "And what most people know is only the tip of the ice-
"Yes, sir," Scheuler weakly said. berg."
Dickerson climbed back out of the disk and gave the "Von Seeckt doesn't know Paperclip is still running, and
appropriate orders. Finally done, he walked away from the he was only on the periphery of it all back in the forties."
lights and behind the sandy ridge that the disk had crashed "He knows about Dulce," Kennedy countered.
into. He knelt down in the sand and vomited. "He knows Dulce exists and that it's connected somehow
with us here. But he was never given access to what has
been going on there," Gullick said. "He doesn't have a clue
what's going on there." The right side of Gullick's face
THE CUBE, AREA 51 twitched and he put a hand up, pressing on the pain he felt
The lights were dim in the conference room and Gullick in his skull. Even thinking about Dulce hurt. He didn't
was completely in the shadows. The other members of want to speak about it anymore. There were more impor-
Majic-12 were gone, trying to get some long-overdue sleep tant things to deal with. Gullick ticked off the problems on
or checking in with their own agencies--except for Ken- his fingers.
nedy, the deputy director of operations for the CIA. He "Tomorrow, or more accurately this morning, we take
had waited as the others filed out. care of Von Seeckt and the others there in Phoenix. That
"We're sitting on a fucking powder keg here," Kennedy will close that leak down.
began. "By dawn we'll have the mess at White Sands all cleaned
"I know that," Gullick said. He had the briefing book up and the aircrews involved debriefed and cleared.
with Duncan's intercepted message in it. It confirmed that "We have the eight o'clock briefing by Slayden, which
Turcotte had been a plant, but of more import was the should help get Duncan off our back for a little while.
threat that Duncan would get the President to delay the Long enough.
test flight. That simply couldn't be allowed. "Admiral Coakley should be giving us something on
"The others--they don't know what Von Seeckt knows, these foo fighters soon.
what you and I know, about the history of this project," "And last but not least, in ninety-three hours we fly the
Kennedy said. mothership. That is the most important thing." General
"They're in it too far now. Even if they knew, it's too late Gullick turned, facing away from Kennedy to end the dis-
for all of them," Gullick said. "Just the Majestic-12 stuff is cussion. He heard Kennedy leave, then reached into his
enough to sink every damn one of them." pocket and pulled out two more of the special pills Dr.
240 ROBERT DOHERTY
AREA 51 241
Cruise had given him. He needed something to reduce the It was the way language worked. It also fit the diffusionist
throbbing in his brain. theory of the evolution of civilization.
The real problem for Nabinger--beyond the fact that
the dialect made translation difficult--was that the content
AIRSPACE, SOUTHERN UNITED STATES of the messages, once translated, was hard to comprehend.
Most of the words and partial sentences he was translating
Checking the few photos that he had not seen before referred to mythology or religion, gods and death and great
helped Professor Nabinger's fledgling high rune vocabulary calamities. But there was very little specific information.
grow by a phrase or two. The seats on either side of him Most of the high runes in the pictures seemed related to
were empty and there were photos spread out all over the whatever form of worship existed in the locale they were
row. He drank the third cup of coffee the stewardess had found in.
brought him and smiled contentedly. The smile disap- There was no further information about the pyramids or
peared just as quickly, though, when his mind came back to the existence or location of Atlantis. There were several
the same problem. references to a great natural disaster sometime several
How had the high rune language been distributed world- centuries before the birth of Christ, but that was nothing
wide at such an early date in man's history, when even new. There was much emphasis on looking to the sky, but
negotiating the Mediterranean Sea was an adventure Nabinger also knew that most religions looked to the sky,
fraught with great hazard? Nabinger didn't know, but he whether to the sun, the stars, or the moon. People tended
hoped that somewhere in the pictures an answer might be to look up when they thought of God.
forthcoming. There were two problems, though. One was What was the connection? How had the high rune lan-
that many of the pictures showed sites that had been dam- guage been spread? What had Von Seeckt found in the
lower chamber of the Great Pyramid? Nabinger gathered
aged in some way. Often the damage appeared to have
up the photos and returned them to his battered backpack.
been done deliberately, as in the water off Bimini. The Too many pieces with no connection. With no why. And
second, and greater, problem was that many of the pictures Nabinger wanted the why.
were of high runes that were, for lack of a better word,
dialects. It was a problem that had frustrated Nabinger for
years.
There were enough subtle, and sometimes not-so-subtle,
differences in the high rune writing from site to site to
show that although they had very definitely grown from the
same base, they had evolved differently in separate locales.
It was as if the root language emerged in one place, been
taken at a certain point to other locales, then evolved sepa-
rately at each place. Which made sense, Nabinger allowed.
AREA 51 243
22 "Don't do that." Turcotte's voice froze her hand on the
knob.
"Why?"
Turcotte turned his gaze into the room. "If I have to
explain everything I say, we're going to get our shit wasted
when there's no time to explain. I'd appreciate it if you just
do what I say when I say it."
Kelly's clothes were wrinkled and she had not had the
most comfortable night's sleep in the chair. "Are we in the
middle of a crisis that you don't have time to explain?"
PHOENIX, ARIZONA "Not this minute," Turcotte said. "But I'm preparing you
T-87 HOURS, 15 MINUTES both for the minute when that's going to happen. Which,"
"You gave Nabinger this address?" Turcotte asked for the he said, jerking his thumb at the window, "is going to be
third time. sometime this morning."
"Yes," Von Seeckt replied from the comfort of the "Who's out there?" Von Seeckt asked, sitting up on the
couch. The living room of the apartment was dark. couch and trying to pull his beard into some semblance of
order.
"You left it on his voice mail?"
"Less than an hour ago a van pulled in across the street
"Yes."
and down that way"--Turcotte pointed to the left--"about
"And he left the first message on your voice mail?"
two hundred feet. For fifteen minutes no one got out. Then
Turcotte persisted.
a man exited, went over to our rent-a-car, and placed
"Yes."
something under the right rear quarter panel. He went
"For God's sake," Kelly muttered from underneath a
back and got in the van, and there's been no movement
blanket on a large easy chair, "you sound like a cross-ex-
since then. I assume they have surveillance on the back of
amining attorney. We went through all that earlier today in
this building also."
the car. Is there a problem?"
"What are they waiting for?" Kelly tossed aside the blan-
Turcotte peered out the two-inch gap between the cur-
ket, stood, and began gathering her few belongings.
tain and the edge of the window. He'd been standing there
"If they got the messages off Von Seeckt's answering
for the past hour, unmoving while the other two slept, the
service, probably the same thing we are. Waiting for Nab-
only sign that he was conscious his eyeballs flickering as he inger to show."
took in the view.
Kelly paused, seeing that Turcotte was standing still.
He had awakened them both a few minutes ago. It was
'Couldn't they just have had this place under surveillance
still dark out and in the glow of the streetlights there was after kidnapping Johnny?"
nothing moving on the street. "Yeah, there's a problem." "Maybe," Turcotte said. "But that van wasn't there when
Kelly threw the blanket aside and reached for the lamp. we pulled in last night, and when you and I were out for
244 ROBERT DOHERTY
AREA 51 245
our little walk I did a sweep of the area and didn't spot any scrambled and deciphered by the machines. "Out here."
surveillance. I think they only came on the scene this morn- The radio went dead.
ing. Which makes me think they got around to checking The major pushed the ceiling mike out of the way and
the good professor's answering service." looked at the other men. "We wait until the other target
Von Seeckt nodded. "Yes. They would do that. I made a links up at the apartment. They have to be taken alive. All
mistake, did I not?" of them."
"Yes. And by the way, next time, you tell me what you're "It'll be daylight by the time the other guy gets here,"
doing before you do it." Turcotte reached inside his coat. one of the men said in protest.
He pulled out a pistol, pulled out the magazine, checked it, "I know that," the major said in a tone that was not
put it back, and pushed the slide back, chambering a conducive to discussion. "I'll clear it with the locals and
round. keep them out of the way." He lifted a sophisticated-look-
"What's the plan?" Kelly asked. ing gunlike object. "Remember--they are all to be taken
"You ever read the book Killer Angels'?" Turcotte asked, alive, so use your stunners only."
shifting over and looking back out the thin crack. "What about Turcotte?" one of the men asked. "He's
"About the Battle of Gettysburg?" Kelly asked. going to be trouble."
Turcotte spared a glance back at her. "Very good. Do "He's the priority target when we go in the door. The
you remember what Chamberlain of the Twentieth Maine others will be easy," the major said.
did when he was on the far left of the Union line and about "I don't think Turcotte's going to worry about keeping us
out of ammunition after continuous attacks by the Confed- alive," one of the men muttered.
erates?"
"He ordered a charge," Kelly said. Despite a long night with an extended layover at Dallas-
"Right." Fort Worth International, Professor Nabinger felt thor-
"So we're going to charge?" oughly alive and alert as the taxi turned the corner and the
Turcotte smiled. "Just when they do. They'll be overcon- apartment building appeared. There was just the slightest
fident and think they have the initiative. Timing is every- hint of dawn in the air in the east.
thing." After removing his bags Nabinger paid the driver. He
left the suitcase on the curb and tucked his leather case
"Ah, fuck," the major muttered to the other men crowded with the photos Slader had given him under his arm as he
into the van. He glared at the sophisticated communica- searched for the appropriate apartment. He knocked on
tions rig bolted to the left rear wall of the van, then keyed the door and waited. It swung open, but no one was there.
the mike hanging from the ceiling. "Roger that, sir. Any- "Hello?" Nabinger called out.
thing else? Over." "Step in," a woman's voice came from inside the dark
"Don't screw it up." General Gullick's voice was unmis- room.
takable, even after being digitized and scrambled, then un- Nabinger took a step forward and a man's arm reached
246 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 247
around the door and grabbed his collar, pulling him into The major pulled open the side door and stepped out
the room. The door slammed shut behind him. into the street, a silenced submachine gun at the ready.
"What is going--" Nabinger started.
"Quiet," Turcotte said. "We're going to be attacked in a Turcotte froze, the other three members of his group stack-
few seconds. Go with her." He had one of the flash-bang ing up behind him. The officer with the submachine gun
grenades he'd kept from the Nightscape mission in his was joined by a man from the front seat, both pointing
hand. He pulled the pin and leaned against the door, lis- their weapons directly at Turcotte.
tening. "Don't move an inch!" the officer ordered.
Kelly took Nabinger's arm and led him to the far corner "What're you going to do? Shoot me?" Turcotte said,
of the room, where Von Seeckt also waited. She handed hefting the stun gun. "Then why'd you use these? You're
him a strip of dark cloth cut from the curtain. "Hold this supposed to take us alive, aren't you?" He took another
over your eyes." step toward the two men. "Those are your orders, aren't
"What for?" Nabinger asked. they?"
"Just do it!" Kelly said. "Freeze right where you are." The officer settled the
The door exploded in under the impact of a hand-held stock of the gun into his shoulder.
battering ram and men tumbled in, their eyes searching for "General Gullick will be mighty pissed if you put holes
targets. They were greeted with a bright bang and flash of in us," Turcotte said.
white light, immediately blinding all of them. "He might be pissed, but you'll be dead," the major re-
Turcotte dropped the dark cloth he'd held to protect his turned, centering his sights on Turcotte's chest. "I'll make
vision and stepped among the four men, his arms moving damn--' The major's mouth froze in midsentence and a
in a flurry of strikes, sending two of them down uncon- surprised look ran across his features.
scious in less than a second. He scooped up one of the stun Turcotte fired at the driver and the stun round caught
guns from an inert hand and finished off the other two with the man in the chest, and he collapsed next to his leader.
it as they tried to regain their senses. Turcotte glanced over his shoulder. Kelly slowly lowered
"Let's move!" Turcotte yelled. the stun gun she'd picked up on the way out. "Took you
Kelly grabbed hold of Nabinger and they headed out the long enough," he said, gesturing for them to get into the
van.
door.
'The conversation was interesting," Kelly said. "So very
In the van the major tore the headset off and bounced it macho." They helped Von Seeckt and a thoroughly con-
off the wall, his ears still ringing from the transmission of fused Nabinger into the back of the van. The street was still
deserted.
the flash-bang grenade going off in the apartment across
the street. 'You drive," Turcotte said, standing in the opening be-
"They're coming out!" the lookout man in the front seat tween the two front seats. "I want to play with the toys in
the back."
of the van yelled.
248 ROBERT DOHERTY
AREA 51 249
"Next stop, Dulce," Kelly said, throwing the van in gear played. "I want to know where they're heading. We've got
and pulling away with a squeal of tires. to prevent them from going to the media. Alert Mr. Ken-
nedy to have his domestic people monitor the wires. We
get a peep that Von Seeckt has gone to anyone, I want
THE CUBE Nightscape there." Gullick's eyes flickered across the map.
"Tell those in Phoenix to stay there. I also want Tucson and
"Sir, the team leader in Arizona reports that they've lost Albuquerque covered. They'll stay away from the airports,
the targets." Quinn carefully kept his eyes down, looking at so we have them on the ground. The longer they're out
his computer screen. there the bigger the circle grows."
Three hours of sleep were all that General Gullick Quinn plunged on. "There's something else, sir."
seemed to need to operate on. He wore a freshly pressed "Yes?"
uniform and the starched edge of the light blue shirt under "The Abraham Lincoln task force is reporting negative
his dark blue coat pressed into his neck as he turned his on any sign of the foo fighters. They've scanned the ocean
attention from reading reports on the mothership. "Lost?" bottom for a twenty-kilometer circle around where the first
"Professor Nabinger showed up and the Nightscape one went down and they've found nothing. The minisub off
team moved in to secure all the targets." Quinn recited the the USS Pigeon has combed the bottom and--"
facts in a monotone. "Apparently, Turcotte was prepared. "They stay there and they keep looking," Gullick or-
He used a flash-bang grenade to disorient the entry team. dered.
Then, using the stun guns from the entry team, he and the "Yes, sir." Quinn shut the lid on his laptop computer,
others subdued the van team and took off, driving the then nervously flipped it open again. "Sir, uh . . ." He
van." licked his lips.
"They have the van?" General Gullick leaned back in his "What?" Gullick growled.
chair. "Can we trace it?" "Sir, it's my duty to, uh, well . . ." Quinn rubbed his
Quinn closed his eyes briefly. This day was starting out hands together, feeling the knob of his West Point ring on
very badly and it wasn't going to get better as the new his right hand. The questions had been building for too
information scrolling up on his screen told him. "No, sir." long. His voice became firmer. "Sir, this mission is going in
"You mean we don't have a tracer on our own vehicles?" a direction that I don't understand. Our job is to work on
Gullick asked. the alien equipment. I don't see how Nightscape and--"
"No, sir." General Gullick slammed his fist into the tabletop. "Ma-
"Why not?" Gullick raised his hand. "Forget it. We'll jor Quinn!"
deal with that later. Put out a 'sight and report only' to the Quinn swallowed. "Yes, sir?"
local authorities. Give them a description of the van and Gulhck stood. "I'm going to get some breakfast and then
the people." I have to attend a meeting. I want you to relay a message to
He looked up at the large display at the front of the all our people in the field and everyone working for us."
room. An outline of the United States was currently dis- Gullick leaned over the table and put his face a foot away
250 ROBERT DOHERTY
from Quinn's. "We have three goddamn days before we fly 23
the mothership. I'm tired of being told of failures and mis-
takes and fuckups. I want answers and I want results. I've
dedicated my life and my career to this project. I will not
see it be tarnished or destroyed by the incompetence of
others. You don't ask questions of me. No one asks ques-
tions of me. Is that clear?"
"Yes, sir."
FORT APACHE INDIAN RESERVATION, ARIZONA
T-87 HOURS, 15 MINUTES
"I think I'll just stay here," Nabinger said. They were
stopped at a small rest area off Highway 60 on the Natanes
Plateau. There was a brisk wind blowing out of the north-
west and Turcotte was making instant cups of coffee for all
of them, using the microwave inside the van and supplies
he'd found in a cabinet there. They were seated in the
captain's chairs inside with the side door open.
"We can't let you do that," Turcotte said.
"This is a free country!" Nabinger said. "I can do what-
ever I want. I didn't plan on being in the middle of a fight."
"We didn't plan it either," Kelly said. "But we're stuck.
There's more going on here than any of us know."
"I just wanted some answers," Nabinger said.
"You'll get them," Kelly said. "But if you want them, you
have to stick with us." Nabinger had not reacted too badly
to being basically kidnapped and taken away in the van.
But Kelly knew his type, as she'd interviewed scientists just
like him. Many times the quest for knowledge became
more important than everything else around them, includ-
ing their own personal safety.
This is all so incredible," Nabinger said. He looked at
252 ROBERT DOHERTY 253
was a rather appropriate comment on the current condi- with one casualty at White Sands. We also have six aircrews
tion of Bouncer Three. He keyed his radio. "Roller, we're currently being debriefed on the night's events. And all we
going to need a dozer and probably a backhoe too. Over." have gained against those potential security breaches is a
His aide back at main base was ready. "Roger." replay of the events of the other night. We have more pic-
The pilot brought the aircraft to a hover, the searchlight tures of this foo fighter to add to our records and we have
on the belly of the helicopter trained down and forward on almost the exact same location in the Pacific Ocean that it
the crash site. Bouncer Three had hit at an angle. Only the disappeared into."
trail edge was visible, sticking up out of the dirt ridge it had Gullick paused and leaned back in his chair, steepling his
impacted into. Knowing the dimension of the disk, Dicker- fingers. "This thing, this craft, has beaten the best we could
230 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51
231
throw against it, including our appropriated technology Ten heads swiveled and looked at the one man who
here." He looked at Dr. Underbill. "Any idea what it did didn't rate a leather seat. Major Quinn seemed to sink
to Bouncer Three?" lower behind his portable computer.
The representative from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory "Say again?" Gullick said in his deep voice.
held a roll of telemetry paper in his hands. "Not until I get "Perhaps they are aliens, sir," Quinn said.
a chance to look at the flight recorder and talk to the crew- "You mean the foo fighters are UFOs?" General Brown
man who survived. All I can determine from this," he said, sniffed.
shaking the paper, "is that there was a complete loss of "Of course they're UFOs," General Gullick cut in, sur-
power on board Bouncer Three in conjunction with a near prising everyone in the room with the harshness of his
collision with the foo fighter. The power loss lasted for one tone. "We don't know what the fuck they are, do we? That
minute and forty-six seconds, then some power began re- makes them unidentified, right? And they fly, right? And
turning, but too late for the pilot to compensate for the they're real objects, aren't they?" He slapped a palm down
craft's terminal velocity." on the table top. "Gentlemen, as far as the rest of the
Dr. Ferrel, the physicist, cleared his throat. "Since we world is concerned we're flying UFOs here every week. The
don't understand the exact workings of the propulsion sys- question I want an answer to is who is flying the UFOs that
tem of the disks, it makes it doubly hard for us to try to we aren't?" He swiveled his head to Quinn. "And you
figure out what the foo fighter did to Bouncer Three to think it's aliens?"
cause the crash." "We have no hint that anyone on Earth possesses the
"What about something we do understand?" Gullick technology needed for these foo fighters, sir," Quinn said.
asked. "We certainly understand how helicopters fly." "Yes, Major, but the Russians sure as shit don't think we
Underhill nodded. "I've gone over the wreckage of the possess the technology to make the bouncers either. And
AH-6 that crashed in Nebraska, and the only thing I have we don't," Gullick hissed. "My point is, has someone else
been able to determine is that it suffered complete engine dug up some technology like we have here?"
failure. There was no problem with either the transmission Kennedy, from CIA, leaned forward. "If I remember
or hydraulics or else no one would have survived the crash. rightly from my inbriefing, there were other sites listed on
The engine simply ceased functioning. Perhaps some sort the tablets that we never had a chance to look at."
of electrical or magnetic interference. "Most of those sites were ancient ruins," Quinn said
"The pilot is still in a coma and I have not been able to quickly, "but the thing is, there are more high runes at
interview him. I have some theories, but until I can work those sites. Who knows what might be written there? We
on them, I have no idea how the foo fighter caused the haven't been able to decipher the writing. We do know that
engine on that aircraft to cease functioning." Germans deciphered some of the high runes, but that
"Does anyone," Gullick said, with emphasis, "have any was lost in World War II."
idea what these foo fighters are or who is behind them?" Lost to us," Gullick amended. "And it's not certain that
A long silence descended on the conference table. Germans were able to read the high runes. They might
"Aliens?" nave been working off of a map like we did when we went
232 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 233
down to Antarctica and picked up the other seven bounc- Gullick turned to Kennedy. "Do you have any informa-
ers. Remember," Gullick added, "that we just uncovered tion that might be connected to this?"
what was at Jamiltepec eight months ago." Kennedy stroked his chin. "There's several things that
That caught Major Quinn's attention. He had never might be of significance. We know they have been carrying
heard of Jamiltepec or of a discovery having been made out secret test flights at their facility at Tyuratam in south-
there related to the Majic-12 project. Now, though, was not ern Siberia for decades, and we've never been able to pen-
the time to bring it up. etrate the security there. They do everything at night and
Kennedy leaned forward. "We do have to remember that even with infrared overhead satellite imagery, we haven't
the Russians picked up quite a bit of information at the been able to figure out what they've got. So they could be
flying foo fighters."
end of World War II. After all, they had a chance to go "But these things went down into the Pacific," General
through all the records in Berlin. They also knew what they Brown noted.
were doing when they conquered Germany. If people only "They could be launching and recovering off a subma-
knew the fight that went on over the scientific corpse of the rine," Admiral Coakley said. "Hell, their Delta-class subs
Third Reich between us and the Russians." are the largest submarines in the world. I'm sure they could
The last comment earned the CIA representative a hard have modified one to handle this sort of thing."
look from General Gullick, and Kennedy quickly moved "Any sign of Russian submarine activity from your peo-
on. ple at the site?" General Gullick asked.
"My point is," Kennedy said quickly, "that maybe the "Nothing so far. Last report I had was that our ships
Russians found their own technology in the form of these were in position and they were preparing to send a sub-
foo fighters. After all, we have no reports of Russian air- mersible down," Coakley replied.
craft running into them during the war. And it is pretty Major Quinn had to grip the edge of his computer to
suspicious that the Enola Gay was escorted on its way to remind himself that he was awake. He couldn't believe the
Hiroshima. Truman did inform Stalin that the bomb was way the men around the conference table were talking. It
going to be dropped. Maybe they wanted to see what was was as if they had all halved their IQ and added in a dose
going on and try to learn as much as they could about the of paranoia.
bomb." Gullick turned his attention back to Kennedy and indi-
"And remember, they put Sputnik up in 1957." General cated for him to continue. "This might not have anything
Brown was caught up in Kennedy's theory. "While we were to do with this situation, but it's the latest thing we've
dicking around with the bouncers and not pursuing our picked up," Kennedy said. "We know the Russians are do-
own space program as aggressively as we should have, ing work with linking human brains directly into computer
maybe they were working on these foo fighters and re- hardware. We don't know where they got the technology
verse-engineering them with a bit more success than we for that. It's way beyond anything worked on in the West.
had. Hell, those damn Sputniks looked like these foo fight- These foo fighters are obviously too small to carry a per-
ers." son, but perhaps the Russians might have put one of these
AREA 51
234 ROBERT DOHERTY 235
biocomputers on board while using magnetic flight tech- Gullick gestured for him to continue.
nology such as we have in the disks. Or they simply might "Surveillance in Phoenix has picked up Von Seeckt,
be remotely controlled from a room such as we have here." Turcotte, and this female reporter, Reynolds."
"We've picked up no discernible broadcast link to the "Phoenix?" Gullick asked.
foo fighter," Major Quinn said, trying to edge the discus- "Yes, sir. I ordered surveillance on the apartment of the
sion back to a commonsense footing. "Unless it was a very reporter who tried to infiltrate the other night once I found
narrow-beam satellite laser link we would have caught it, out that Reynolds was asking about him. The surveillance
and such a narrow beam would have been difficult to keep just settled in place this evening and they've spotted all
on the foo fighter, given its speed and how quickly it ma- three targets at the apartment and are requesting further
neuvered." instructions."
"Could Von Seeckt have been turned?" Gullick suddenly "Have them pick up all three and take them to Dulce,"
asked. "I know he's been here from the very beginning, but Gullick ordered.
remember where he came from. Maybe the Russians finally Quinn paused in sending the order. "There's something
got to him, or maybe he's been working for them all else, sir. The men we sent to check out Von Seeckt's quar-
along." ters have found a message on his answering service that
Kennedy frowned. "I doubt that. We've had the tightest might be important. It was from a Professor Nabinger."
security on all Majic-12 personnel." "What was the message?" General Gullick asked.
"Well, what about this Turcotte fellow or this female re- Quinn read from the screen. " 'Professor Von Seeckt, my
porter? Could either of them be working for the other name is Peter Nabinger. I work with the Egyptology De-
side?" partment at the Brooklyn Museum. I would like to talk to
Quinn started, remembering the intercept of Duncan's you about the Great Pyramid, which I believe we have a
message to the White House chief of staff. Gullick mustn't mutual interest in. I just deciphered some of the writing in
have gotten to it yet. Again, he decided to keep his peace, the lower chamber, which I believe you visited once upon a
this time to avoid an ass-chewing. time, and it says: 'Power, sun. Forbidden. Home place,
"I have my people checking on it," Kennedy said. "Noth- chariot, never again. Death to all living things.' Perhaps
ing has turned up so far." you could help shed some light on my translation. Leave
"Let's see what Admiral Coakley finds us in the Pacific. me a message how I can get hold of you at my voice-mail
Maybe that will solve this mystery," Gullick said. "For now, box. My number is 212-555-1474.' "
our priorities are sterilizing the crash site at White Sands "If this Nabinger knows about Von Seeckt and the pyra-
and continuing our countdown for the mothership." mid-- " began Kennedy, but a wave of Gullick's hand
Major Quinn had been working at his computer, reading stopped him.
data from the various components of the project spread
out across the United States and the globe. He was re- "I agree that is dangerous"--Gullick was excited--"but
lieved when information began scrolling up. "Sir, we've got of more importance is the fact that it seems Nabinger can
some news on Von Seeckt." decipher the high runes. If he can do that, then maybe we
236 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 237
can . . ." Gullick paused. "Did our people check to see if "Oh, my God," Scheuler muttered.
Von Seeckt has contacted Nabinger?" Blood and pieces of Major Terrent were scattered about
Quinn nodded. "Yes, sir. Von Seeckt called Nabinger's everywhere inside. Dickerson sat down with his back to the
service at eight twenty-six and left a message giving a loca- hatch, trying to control his breathing while Scheuler vom-
tion for them to meet tomorrow, or actually this morning," ited. Dickerson had been a forward air controller during
he amended, looking at the digital clock on the wall. Desert Storm and had seen the destruction wrought on the
"The location?" highway north out of Kuwait near the end of the war. But
"The apartment in Phoenix," Quinn answered. that was war and the bodies had been those of the enemy.
Gullick smiled for the first time in twenty-four hours. Goddamn Gullick, he thought. Dickerson grabbed the
"So we can bag all our little birds in one nest in a few edges of the hatch, and lowered himself in. "Let's go," he
hours. Excellent. Get me a direct line to the Nightscape ordered Scheuler, who gingerly followed.
leader on the ground in Phoenix." "See if it still works," Dickerson ordered. He'd sure as
hell rather fly it back to Nevada than have to cover it up
and take back roads by night.
WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, NEW MEXICO Scheuler looked at the blood- and viscera-covered de-
pression that Terrent had occupied.
The engine on the crane whined in protest, but the earth "You can take a shower later," Dickerson forced himself
gave before the cable, and inch by inch Bouncer Three was to say. "Right now I need to know whether we have power,
pulled up out of its hole. As soon as it was clear, the crane and we don't have time to dean this thing up."
operator rotated right, bringing the disk toward the flatbed "Sir, I--"
that was waiting. In the glow of the hastily erected arc "Captain!" Dickerson snapped.
lights, Colonel Dickerson could see that the outer skin of
"Yes, sir." Scheuler slid into the seat, a grimace on his
the disk appeared to be unscathed.
As soon as Bouncer Three was down on the truck, Dick- face. His hands went over the control panel. Lights came
erson grabbed hold of the side of the flatbed and clam- on briefly, then faded as the skin of the craft went clear and
bered up onto the wood deck and then onto the sloping they could see by the arc lights set up outside.
side of the craft itself. His aide and Captain Scheuler were "We have power." Scheuler stated the obvious. He
right behind him. Balancing carefully, Dickerson edged up looked down at the altitude-control level and froze. Ter-
until he was at the hatch that Scheuler had thrown himself rent's hand was still gripped tightly around it, the stub of
out of two miles above their heads. his forearm ending in shattered bone and flesh. He cried
The interior was dark with the power off. Taking a halo- out and turned away.
gen flashlight off his belt, Dickerson shone it down on the Colonel Dickerson knelt down and gently pried the dead
inside. Despite having fought in two wars and seen more object loose. Goddamn Gullick, Goddamn Gullick; it was a
than his share of carnage, Dickerson flinched at the scene chant his brain was using to hold on to sanity. "See if you
within. He sensed Scheuler coming up next to him. have flight control," he ordered in a softer voice.
238 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 239
Scheuler grabbed the lever. Space appeared below their "But if they found out about Paperclip--" began Ken-
feet. "We have flight control," he said in a rote voice. nedy.
"All right," Dickerson said. "Captain Travers will fly with "We inherited Paperclip," Gullick cut in. "Just as we
you back to Groom Lake. We'll have pursuit aircraft flying inherited Majic. And people know about Paperclip. It's not
escort. Got that, Captain?" that big of a secret anymore."
There was no answer. "Yeah, but we kept it going," Kennedy pointed out.
"Do you understand?" "And what most people know is only the tip of the ice-
"Yes, sir," Scheuler weakly said. berg."
Dickerson climbed back out of the disk and gave the "Von Seeckt doesn't know Paperclip is still running, and
appropriate orders. Finally done, he walked away from the he was only on the periphery of it all back in the forties."
lights and behind the sandy ridge that the disk had crashed "He knows about Dulce," Kennedy countered.
into. He knelt down in the sand and vomited. "He knows Dulce exists and that it's connected somehow
with us here. But he was never given access to what has
been going on there," Gullick said. "He doesn't have a clue
what's going on there." The right side of Gullick's face
THE CUBE, AREA 51 twitched and he put a hand up, pressing on the pain he felt
The lights were dim in the conference room and Gullick in his skull. Even thinking about Dulce hurt. He didn't
was completely in the shadows. The other members of want to speak about it anymore. There were more impor-
Majic-12 were gone, trying to get some long-overdue sleep tant things to deal with. Gullick ticked off the problems on
or checking in with their own agencies--except for Ken- his fingers.
nedy, the deputy director of operations for the CIA. He "Tomorrow, or more accurately this morning, we take
had waited as the others filed out. care of Von Seeckt and the others there in Phoenix. That
"We're sitting on a fucking powder keg here," Kennedy will close that leak down.
began. "By dawn we'll have the mess at White Sands all cleaned
"I know that," Gullick said. He had the briefing book up and the aircrews involved debriefed and cleared.
with Duncan's intercepted message in it. It confirmed that "We have the eight o'clock briefing by Slayden, which
Turcotte had been a plant, but of more import was the should help get Duncan off our back for a little while.
threat that Duncan would get the President to delay the Long enough.
test flight. That simply couldn't be allowed. "Admiral Coakley should be giving us something on
"The others--they don't know what Von Seeckt knows, these foo fighters soon.
what you and I know, about the history of this project," "And last but not least, in ninety-three hours we fly the
Kennedy said. mothership. That is the most important thing." General
"They're in it too far now. Even if they knew, it's too late Gullick turned, facing away from Kennedy to end the dis-
for all of them," Gullick said. "Just the Majestic-12 stuff is cussion. He heard Kennedy leave, then reached into his
enough to sink every damn one of them." pocket and pulled out two more of the special pills Dr.
240 ROBERT DOHERTY
AREA 51 241
Cruise had given him. He needed something to reduce the It was the way language worked. It also fit the diffusionist
throbbing in his brain. theory of the evolution of civilization.
The real problem for Nabinger--beyond the fact that
the dialect made translation difficult--was that the content
AIRSPACE, SOUTHERN UNITED STATES of the messages, once translated, was hard to comprehend.
Most of the words and partial sentences he was translating
Checking the few photos that he had not seen before referred to mythology or religion, gods and death and great
helped Professor Nabinger's fledgling high rune vocabulary calamities. But there was very little specific information.
grow by a phrase or two. The seats on either side of him Most of the high runes in the pictures seemed related to
were empty and there were photos spread out all over the whatever form of worship existed in the locale they were
row. He drank the third cup of coffee the stewardess had found in.
brought him and smiled contentedly. The smile disap- There was no further information about the pyramids or
peared just as quickly, though, when his mind came back to the existence or location of Atlantis. There were several
the same problem. references to a great natural disaster sometime several
How had the high rune language been distributed world- centuries before the birth of Christ, but that was nothing
wide at such an early date in man's history, when even new. There was much emphasis on looking to the sky, but
negotiating the Mediterranean Sea was an adventure Nabinger also knew that most religions looked to the sky,
fraught with great hazard? Nabinger didn't know, but he whether to the sun, the stars, or the moon. People tended
hoped that somewhere in the pictures an answer might be to look up when they thought of God.
forthcoming. There were two problems, though. One was What was the connection? How had the high rune lan-
that many of the pictures showed sites that had been dam- guage been spread? What had Von Seeckt found in the
lower chamber of the Great Pyramid? Nabinger gathered
aged in some way. Often the damage appeared to have
up the photos and returned them to his battered backpack.
been done deliberately, as in the water off Bimini. The Too many pieces with no connection. With no why. And
second, and greater, problem was that many of the pictures Nabinger wanted the why.
were of high runes that were, for lack of a better word,
dialects. It was a problem that had frustrated Nabinger for
years.
There were enough subtle, and sometimes not-so-subtle,
differences in the high rune writing from site to site to
show that although they had very definitely grown from the
same base, they had evolved differently in separate locales.
It was as if the root language emerged in one place, been
taken at a certain point to other locales, then evolved sepa-
rately at each place. Which made sense, Nabinger allowed.
AREA 51 243
22 "Don't do that." Turcotte's voice froze her hand on the
knob.
"Why?"
Turcotte turned his gaze into the room. "If I have to
explain everything I say, we're going to get our shit wasted
when there's no time to explain. I'd appreciate it if you just
do what I say when I say it."
Kelly's clothes were wrinkled and she had not had the
most comfortable night's sleep in the chair. "Are we in the
middle of a crisis that you don't have time to explain?"
PHOENIX, ARIZONA "Not this minute," Turcotte said. "But I'm preparing you
T-87 HOURS, 15 MINUTES both for the minute when that's going to happen. Which,"
"You gave Nabinger this address?" Turcotte asked for the he said, jerking his thumb at the window, "is going to be
third time. sometime this morning."
"Yes," Von Seeckt replied from the comfort of the "Who's out there?" Von Seeckt asked, sitting up on the
couch. The living room of the apartment was dark. couch and trying to pull his beard into some semblance of
order.
"You left it on his voice mail?"
"Less than an hour ago a van pulled in across the street
"Yes."
and down that way"--Turcotte pointed to the left--"about
"And he left the first message on your voice mail?"
two hundred feet. For fifteen minutes no one got out. Then
Turcotte persisted.
a man exited, went over to our rent-a-car, and placed
"Yes."
something under the right rear quarter panel. He went
"For God's sake," Kelly muttered from underneath a
back and got in the van, and there's been no movement
blanket on a large easy chair, "you sound like a cross-ex-
since then. I assume they have surveillance on the back of
amining attorney. We went through all that earlier today in
this building also."
the car. Is there a problem?"
"What are they waiting for?" Kelly tossed aside the blan-
Turcotte peered out the two-inch gap between the cur-
ket, stood, and began gathering her few belongings.
tain and the edge of the window. He'd been standing there
"If they got the messages off Von Seeckt's answering
for the past hour, unmoving while the other two slept, the
service, probably the same thing we are. Waiting for Nab-
only sign that he was conscious his eyeballs flickering as he inger to show."
took in the view.
Kelly paused, seeing that Turcotte was standing still.
He had awakened them both a few minutes ago. It was
'Couldn't they just have had this place under surveillance
still dark out and in the glow of the streetlights there was after kidnapping Johnny?"
nothing moving on the street. "Yeah, there's a problem." "Maybe," Turcotte said. "But that van wasn't there when
Kelly threw the blanket aside and reached for the lamp. we pulled in last night, and when you and I were out for
244 ROBERT DOHERTY
AREA 51 245
our little walk I did a sweep of the area and didn't spot any scrambled and deciphered by the machines. "Out here."
surveillance. I think they only came on the scene this morn- The radio went dead.
ing. Which makes me think they got around to checking The major pushed the ceiling mike out of the way and
the good professor's answering service." looked at the other men. "We wait until the other target
Von Seeckt nodded. "Yes. They would do that. I made a links up at the apartment. They have to be taken alive. All
mistake, did I not?" of them."
"Yes. And by the way, next time, you tell me what you're "It'll be daylight by the time the other guy gets here,"
doing before you do it." Turcotte reached inside his coat. one of the men said in protest.
He pulled out a pistol, pulled out the magazine, checked it, "I know that," the major said in a tone that was not
put it back, and pushed the slide back, chambering a conducive to discussion. "I'll clear it with the locals and
round. keep them out of the way." He lifted a sophisticated-look-
"What's the plan?" Kelly asked. ing gunlike object. "Remember--they are all to be taken
"You ever read the book Killer Angels'?" Turcotte asked, alive, so use your stunners only."
shifting over and looking back out the thin crack. "What about Turcotte?" one of the men asked. "He's
"About the Battle of Gettysburg?" Kelly asked. going to be trouble."
Turcotte spared a glance back at her. "Very good. Do "He's the priority target when we go in the door. The
you remember what Chamberlain of the Twentieth Maine others will be easy," the major said.
did when he was on the far left of the Union line and about "I don't think Turcotte's going to worry about keeping us
out of ammunition after continuous attacks by the Confed- alive," one of the men muttered.
erates?"
"He ordered a charge," Kelly said. Despite a long night with an extended layover at Dallas-
"Right." Fort Worth International, Professor Nabinger felt thor-
"So we're going to charge?" oughly alive and alert as the taxi turned the corner and the
Turcotte smiled. "Just when they do. They'll be overcon- apartment building appeared. There was just the slightest
fident and think they have the initiative. Timing is every- hint of dawn in the air in the east.
thing." After removing his bags Nabinger paid the driver. He
left the suitcase on the curb and tucked his leather case
"Ah, fuck," the major muttered to the other men crowded with the photos Slader had given him under his arm as he
into the van. He glared at the sophisticated communica- searched for the appropriate apartment. He knocked on
tions rig bolted to the left rear wall of the van, then keyed the door and waited. It swung open, but no one was there.
the mike hanging from the ceiling. "Roger that, sir. Any- "Hello?" Nabinger called out.
thing else? Over." "Step in," a woman's voice came from inside the dark
"Don't screw it up." General Gullick's voice was unmis- room.
takable, even after being digitized and scrambled, then un- Nabinger took a step forward and a man's arm reached
246 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 247
around the door and grabbed his collar, pulling him into The major pulled open the side door and stepped out
the room. The door slammed shut behind him. into the street, a silenced submachine gun at the ready.
"What is going--" Nabinger started.
"Quiet," Turcotte said. "We're going to be attacked in a Turcotte froze, the other three members of his group stack-
few seconds. Go with her." He had one of the flash-bang ing up behind him. The officer with the submachine gun
grenades he'd kept from the Nightscape mission in his was joined by a man from the front seat, both pointing
hand. He pulled the pin and leaned against the door, lis- their weapons directly at Turcotte.
tening. "Don't move an inch!" the officer ordered.
Kelly took Nabinger's arm and led him to the far corner "What're you going to do? Shoot me?" Turcotte said,
of the room, where Von Seeckt also waited. She handed hefting the stun gun. "Then why'd you use these? You're
him a strip of dark cloth cut from the curtain. "Hold this supposed to take us alive, aren't you?" He took another
over your eyes." step toward the two men. "Those are your orders, aren't
"What for?" Nabinger asked. they?"
"Just do it!" Kelly said. "Freeze right where you are." The officer settled the
The door exploded in under the impact of a hand-held stock of the gun into his shoulder.
battering ram and men tumbled in, their eyes searching for "General Gullick will be mighty pissed if you put holes
targets. They were greeted with a bright bang and flash of in us," Turcotte said.
white light, immediately blinding all of them. "He might be pissed, but you'll be dead," the major re-
Turcotte dropped the dark cloth he'd held to protect his turned, centering his sights on Turcotte's chest. "I'll make
vision and stepped among the four men, his arms moving damn--' The major's mouth froze in midsentence and a
in a flurry of strikes, sending two of them down uncon- surprised look ran across his features.
scious in less than a second. He scooped up one of the stun Turcotte fired at the driver and the stun round caught
guns from an inert hand and finished off the other two with the man in the chest, and he collapsed next to his leader.
it as they tried to regain their senses. Turcotte glanced over his shoulder. Kelly slowly lowered
"Let's move!" Turcotte yelled. the stun gun she'd picked up on the way out. "Took you
Kelly grabbed hold of Nabinger and they headed out the long enough," he said, gesturing for them to get into the
van.
door.
'The conversation was interesting," Kelly said. "So very
In the van the major tore the headset off and bounced it macho." They helped Von Seeckt and a thoroughly con-
off the wall, his ears still ringing from the transmission of fused Nabinger into the back of the van. The street was still
deserted.
the flash-bang grenade going off in the apartment across
the street. 'You drive," Turcotte said, standing in the opening be-
"They're coming out!" the lookout man in the front seat tween the two front seats. "I want to play with the toys in
the back."
of the van yelled.
248 ROBERT DOHERTY
AREA 51 249
"Next stop, Dulce," Kelly said, throwing the van in gear played. "I want to know where they're heading. We've got
and pulling away with a squeal of tires. to prevent them from going to the media. Alert Mr. Ken-
nedy to have his domestic people monitor the wires. We
get a peep that Von Seeckt has gone to anyone, I want
THE CUBE Nightscape there." Gullick's eyes flickered across the map.
"Tell those in Phoenix to stay there. I also want Tucson and
"Sir, the team leader in Arizona reports that they've lost Albuquerque covered. They'll stay away from the airports,
the targets." Quinn carefully kept his eyes down, looking at so we have them on the ground. The longer they're out
his computer screen. there the bigger the circle grows."
Three hours of sleep were all that General Gullick Quinn plunged on. "There's something else, sir."
seemed to need to operate on. He wore a freshly pressed "Yes?"
uniform and the starched edge of the light blue shirt under "The Abraham Lincoln task force is reporting negative
his dark blue coat pressed into his neck as he turned his on any sign of the foo fighters. They've scanned the ocean
attention from reading reports on the mothership. "Lost?" bottom for a twenty-kilometer circle around where the first
"Professor Nabinger showed up and the Nightscape one went down and they've found nothing. The minisub off
team moved in to secure all the targets." Quinn recited the the USS Pigeon has combed the bottom and--"
facts in a monotone. "Apparently, Turcotte was prepared. "They stay there and they keep looking," Gullick or-
He used a flash-bang grenade to disorient the entry team. dered.
Then, using the stun guns from the entry team, he and the "Yes, sir." Quinn shut the lid on his laptop computer,
others subdued the van team and took off, driving the then nervously flipped it open again. "Sir, uh . . ." He
van." licked his lips.
"They have the van?" General Gullick leaned back in his "What?" Gullick growled.
chair. "Can we trace it?" "Sir, it's my duty to, uh, well . . ." Quinn rubbed his
Quinn closed his eyes briefly. This day was starting out hands together, feeling the knob of his West Point ring on
very badly and it wasn't going to get better as the new his right hand. The questions had been building for too
information scrolling up on his screen told him. "No, sir." long. His voice became firmer. "Sir, this mission is going in
"You mean we don't have a tracer on our own vehicles?" a direction that I don't understand. Our job is to work on
Gullick asked. the alien equipment. I don't see how Nightscape and--"
"No, sir." General Gullick slammed his fist into the tabletop. "Ma-
"Why not?" Gullick raised his hand. "Forget it. We'll jor Quinn!"
deal with that later. Put out a 'sight and report only' to the Quinn swallowed. "Yes, sir?"
local authorities. Give them a description of the van and Gulhck stood. "I'm going to get some breakfast and then
the people." I have to attend a meeting. I want you to relay a message to
He looked up at the large display at the front of the all our people in the field and everyone working for us."
room. An outline of the United States was currently dis- Gullick leaned over the table and put his face a foot away
250 ROBERT DOHERTY
from Quinn's. "We have three goddamn days before we fly 23
the mothership. I'm tired of being told of failures and mis-
takes and fuckups. I want answers and I want results. I've
dedicated my life and my career to this project. I will not
see it be tarnished or destroyed by the incompetence of
others. You don't ask questions of me. No one asks ques-
tions of me. Is that clear?"
"Yes, sir."
FORT APACHE INDIAN RESERVATION, ARIZONA
T-87 HOURS, 15 MINUTES
"I think I'll just stay here," Nabinger said. They were
stopped at a small rest area off Highway 60 on the Natanes
Plateau. There was a brisk wind blowing out of the north-
west and Turcotte was making instant cups of coffee for all
of them, using the microwave inside the van and supplies
he'd found in a cabinet there. They were seated in the
captain's chairs inside with the side door open.
"We can't let you do that," Turcotte said.
"This is a free country!" Nabinger said. "I can do what-
ever I want. I didn't plan on being in the middle of a fight."
"We didn't plan it either," Kelly said. "But we're stuck.
There's more going on here than any of us know."
"I just wanted some answers," Nabinger said.
"You'll get them," Kelly said. "But if you want them, you
have to stick with us." Nabinger had not reacted too badly
to being basically kidnapped and taken away in the van.
But Kelly knew his type, as she'd interviewed scientists just
like him. Many times the quest for knowledge became
more important than everything else around them, includ-
ing their own personal safety.
This is all so incredible," Nabinger said. He looked at
252 ROBERT DOHERTY 253