204 ROBERT DOHERTY A R E A 5 1 2O5
machine guns under our coats and we were there to kill." "The only good thing was he just had fifteen rounds in
Turcotte gave Kelly a twisted grin. "Contrary to popular the mag. He got the IRA guy, but he also hit some civilians.
fiction and what they show on the movies, we weren't stone I didn't know how many at the time. There was just this
cold killers. We were good at our job, but we were also pile of bodies; at the very least the three that had been
scared. Most people are in that situation. If you aren't, around the IRA man, plus some others who'd been in the
you're crazy--and I have met some of those crazies. Any- line of fire. Rolf was even flipping his taped-together maga-
way, one of the IRA guys in the booth he looks at Rolf zines, putting a fresh one in when I grabbed the gun out of
standing there with his thumb up his ass and you could just his hand." Turcotte pulled out his right hand and put it in
tell that the Irish guy knew who we were. Rolf wasn't ex- front of Kelly's face. The skin on his palm was knotted with
actly the greatest actor in the world, and I'm sure I wasn't scar tissue. "You can still see where the suppressor on the
giving off the best vibes either. barrel of Rolfs sub burned my hand. At the time I didn't
"So the guy reached under his coat, and Rolf and I feel a thing, I was so freaked.
hosed the two of them down lickety-split. We each fired "So I took his weapon and grabbed him by the collar and
half a magazine--fifteen rounds each--and there was made for the door. One thing for sure--people really got
nothing left' in that booth but chewed-up meat. And the the hell out of our way now. Surveillance had a car waiting
most amazing thing was that after the first shot there for us and I threw Rolf in and we split."
wasn't a single sound other than the sound of our brass Turcotte took a drink of coffee. "I found out later that
falling to the floor. Everyone in the place just fucking froze night that Rolf had killed four civilians, including a preg-
and looked at us, wondering who was next. Then someone nant eighteen-year-old girl, and wounded three. The news
had to scream, and everything went to hell." was playing it up like an internal IRA hit and the whole
Turcotte's eyes had taken on a distant look as he went country was in an uproar to catch the killers. But they
back into that room. "The smart ones just hit the deck. couldn't catch the killers, could they? Because the country
That's what Rolf and I yelled at them in German to do was the killers.
after the scream. But about half the people rushed for the "For a while I even thought they might give Rolf and me
doors, and that's when we spotted the third guy. He was in up as sacrificial lambs, but then common sense kicked in. I
the middle of a group of four people, running for it. He was stupid for even thinking that. If they gave us up, the
might have been taking a leak. He might have been around whole counterterrorist operation would be out in the open
the corner at the bar. I don't know. But there he was." and those in power certainly didn't want that. Might lose a
Turcotte shook his head. "And Rolf--fucking Rolf--he few votes at the polling booth. So you know what they
just fired them all up. I don't know what short-circuited in did?" Turcotte looked at Kelly with red-rimmed eyes.
his head. Hell, the third guy couldn't have gone anywhere. Kelly slowly shook her head.
Surveillance had to have been sitting on top of his car out- "They held an inquest, of course. That's proper form in
side by now and could have taken him out once they got an the military. As a matter of fact the head man I met down
open shot outside the Gasthaus. But Rolf just lost it." in the Cube, General Gullick, he was one of those ap-
Turcotte's voice briefly broke. pointed to look into the whole thing. For security reasons
206 ROBERT DOHERTY A R E A 5 1 2O7
we never saw those who questioned us, nor did we know Von Seeckt and I don't give a shit whether you believe me
their names. They talked to us and then talked to each or not. Because it's between me and all these high-speed
other, and guess what they decided? They gave us fucking assholes who pull strings and cause people to die. Fuck me
medals. Yeah, Rolf and me. Ain't that great? A medal for once, shame on me--fuck me twice, I fuck back."
killing a pregnant woman."
"You didn't kill her," Kelly quietly remarked.
"Does it matter? I was part of it. I could have told Rolf
to wait. I could have done a lot of things."
"He was the commander. It was his responsibility," Kelly
argued, remembering what her father had told her about
the army and covert operations.
"Yeah. I know. I was just following orders, right?"
Kelly had no answer for that.
"So that's how my career in the regular army and Special
Forces ended. I went to my American commander and told
him where he could shove his medal, and they had me on
the next thing smoking back to the States. But I had to stop
in D.C. first. To meet someone." He proceeded to tell her
about meeting Dr. Duncan, her orders to him, and the
phone line out of commission.
"Why were you chosen?"
"Right person, right time," Turcotte said with a shrug.
"There aren't that many high-speed dudes like me who
have top-level clearances and can fire a gun."
Kelly shook her head. "You were chosen because you
told them to shove the medal. It showed somebody, some-
place, that you had integrity. That's even rarer than a top-
level security clearance." Kelly reached across the table
and squeezed his hand, feeling the rough flesh in the palm.
"You got screwed, Turcotte."
"No." Turcotte shook his head. "I screwed myself the
minute I started playing God with a gun. I thought I was in
control, but I was just a pawn, and they used me up like
one. And now you know why I turned on my commander
out there in Nebraska and killed him and why I rescued
209
1 8 The hangar doors slowly slid open. Inside Bouncer Three,
Major Paul Terrent checked the control panel, which was a
mixture of the original fixtures and added-on human tech-
nology, including a satellite communications link with Gen-
eral Gullick in the Cube.
"All set," he announced.
"I don't like being the bait," his copilot, Captain Kevin
Scheuler, remarked. They were both reclined in depres-
sions in the floor of the disk. The cockpit was an oval,
twelve feet in diameter. They could see out in all direc-
tions, the inner walls displaying what was outside of them
THE CUBE, AREA 51
as if the walls themselves were not there--another piece of
T-96 HOURS technology they could use but still didn't understand.
"Give me a status," Gullick ordered. The effect, while useful, was extremely disorienting, and
"Bouncer Three is ready for flight," Quinn reported. perhaps the second greatest hurdle Bouncer test pilots had
"Bouncer Eight is also prepped and ready. Aurora is on to overcome. Most particularly, the view straight down
standby status. Our link to Cheyenne Mountain is live and when the craft was at altitude, as if the pilot were floating
secure. Anything moves, we'll be able to track it, sir." in the air, was quite a shock to the system until one got
"General Brown?" Gullick asked. used to it. For this night's mission both men were wearing
The Air Force deputy chief of staff frowned. His conver- night vision goggles on their flight helmets and the interior
sation with his boss in Washington had been anything but of the hangar was lit in red lights, meaning there was little
difference in illumination for them between there and the
fun. "I talked to the chief of staff and he okayed the alerts, outside night sky.
but he was not happy about it." However, the greatest hurdle to flying the machine was
"I don't care if he was happy or not," Gullick said. "I the physical limitations of the pilots. The Bouncer was ca-
just care that the mission is a go." pable of maneuvers that the pilot's physiology could not
Brown looked down at his own computer screen. "We've handle. In the early days of the program there had been
got every base alerted and planes on standby for pursuit. blackouts, broken bones, and various other injuries, includ-
The primary and alternate kill zones are a go." ing one fatal crash--the disk staying intact, the uncon-
"Admiral Coakley?" scious pilots inside being turned into crushed protoplasm
"The carrier Abraham Lincoln is steaming toward the on impact with the earth. The disk had been recovered,
sight where the foo fighter went down. It's got planes on cleaned out, and was still capable of flight. The two pilots
alert." had been buried with honors; their widows told they had
"We're all set, then," Gullick said. "Let's roll." died flying an experimental aircraft and given their posthu-
mous medals at the funeral.
210 ROBERT DOHERTY
AREA 51 211
There was machinery surrounding the depressions that The airstrip outside was dark. Terrent pulled up on a
the scientists had yet to figure out. The project's scientists lever to his side with his left hand and the disk lifted. The
believed that there was a built-in way for the pilot depres- control system was simplicity itself. Pull up on the lever
sions/seats to be shielded from the effect of G-forces, but and the disk went up. Let go of it and the lever returned to
they had yet to discover it. It was as if a child who was center and the disk stayed at that altitude. Push down on it
capable of riding a tricycle were allowed into a car. He and the disk descended.
might understand what the steering wheel did, but he Terrent pushed the yoke forward with his right hand and
wouldn't understand what the small opening on the steer- they moved forward. The yoke worked in the same manner
ing wheel column was for, especially if the child had not as the altitude lever. Letting go brought the disk to a halt.
been given the keys. Constant pressure equaled constant speed in whichever di-
The best that they had been able to come up with was rection the yoke was pushed.
allowing the test pilots enough flight time so that they un- Scheuler was looking at the navigation display--a human
derstood their own limitations and did not push the ma- device tied in to a satellite positioning system. A computer
chine past what they could handle. Beyond that, the display with a black rectangular outline to separate it from
shoulder and waist harnesses bolted around the depres- the surrounding view showed their present position as a
sions would have to do. small red glowing dot with state borders shown in light
"There's nothing that can catch us," Major Terrent said. green lines. It was the easiest way to orient the pilots as to
"Nothing human," Scheuler noted. "But if this foo their location.
fighter thing was made by the same people who made this, "Let's roll," Terrent said. He pressed forward and they
or people like the people who made this, then-- were out of the hangar.
"Then nothing," Terrent cut in. "This ship is at least ten Behind them, still in the hangar, Bouncer Eight rose to a
thousand years old. The eggheads know that, at least. Who- hover and waited. On the airstrip Aurora stood at the end,
ever left it behind has been long gone. And they probably engines on, prepared for flight. On airstrips across the
weren't people." United States and down into Panama, and on board the
"Then why are we flying this mission, trying to bait this Abraham Lincoln at sea, pilots sat in their cockpits and
foo fighter? Who made it?" Scheuler asked. waited--for what, they had not been told. But they knew
"Because General Gullick ordered it," Terrent said. He whatever it was, this was no game. The planes' wings had
looked at Scheuler. "You have any further questions, I sug- live missiles slung underneath and the Galling guns were
gest you talk to him." loaded with bullets.
Scheuler shook his head. "No, thanks."
Terrent pressed a small red button added on top of the All clear," Quinn said, a rather unnecessary statement
Y-shaped yoke in front of him, keying the SATCOM radio. since everyone in the room could see the small red dot
"Cube Six, this is Bouncer Three. All systems ready. Over." indicating Bouncer Three moving northwest out of the
Gullick's deep voice answered. "This is Cube Six. Go. state. The computer had already screened out all commer-
Out." cial aircraft flights.
212 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 213
"Contact!" Quinn announced. A small green dot had "That's the lake," Terrent said. He pressed the yoke to the
suddenly appeared on the screen, well behind Bouncer right a bit more.
Three. "Same reading as the first one!" "On course," Scheuler said, checking their projected di-
"Three, this is Six," Gullick spoke into his headset. rection.
"Head for Checkpoint Alpha. Over." "Is the bogey turning yet?"
"Yes," Scheuler said. "It's taken the bait. Right on our
On board Bouncer Three, Major Terrent slowly pressed trail, about one hundred and fifty miles behind."
the yoke to the right and the disk began a long curve over Terrent keyed his mike. "Six, this is Three. Kill Zone
southern Idaho, turning toward the Great Salt Lake. What Alpha in one minute, forty-seven seconds. Over."
was different about the turn from one made by an ordinary
aircraft was the fact that there was no banking. The disk "Roger," Gullick answered. There were several more dots
simply changed directions, staying flat and level. The bod- on the screen now. The red one indicated Bouncer Three
ies of the two men inside strained against their restraining heading directly toward a small orange rectangle--Kill
harnesses during the turn, then settled back in the depres- Zone Alpha--a point directly over the center of the Hill
sions. Air Force Base Range. On the ground out there a helicop-
"Give me a reading," Terrent said. ter and recovery crew from Nightscape waited. The green
dot was the bogey, following Bouncer Three. Two red
"The bogey's about three hundred miles behind us," plane silhouettes showed the F-16's on an intercept course.
Captain Scheuler responded. He was watching the same A red triangle represented Aurora, en route directly from
information on his small screen that the people in the Area 51.
Cube had displayed on their large one. "Intercept in forty-five seconds," Quinn announced.
"Is it turning with us?" Terrent asked. Bouncer Three went through the orange rectangle.
"Not yet."
"What the fuck was that?" the pilot of the lead F-16 called
"Get Aurora in the air," Gullick ordered. "Alert Kill Zone out as Bouncer Three flashed by.
Alpha reaction forces and get them up too. Have you fed "Wolfhound One, this is Six. Stay on target!" General
coordinates of the bogey to Teal Amber?" Gullick's voice in the pilot's helmet was a cold slap in the
Quinn was working quickly. "Yes, sir." face. "Have you got a lock on the target?"
The pilot checked his instruments. "Roger, Six."
At Hill Air Force Base, just outside Salt Lake City, two "Arm your missiles."
F-16 Fighting Falcons roared down the runway and up into The pilot armed the air-to-air missiles under his wings.
the night sky. As soon as they had reached sufficient alti- Still shaken by the image of Bouncer Three, he also armed
tude, they turned west, over the flat surface of the lake, his 20mm multibarrel cannon. His wingman did the same.
heading for the desolate land on the far side. "This son of a bitch is moving fast," the wingman said
over the secure link between the two planes.
214 ROBERT DOHERTY
AREA 51 215
"Not fast enough," the pilot said.
General Gullick was concerned about the same thing in Gullick reacted first. "Get Aurora after it. Launch Bouncer
the Cube. "What's the speed of the bogey?" Eight." He keyed his radio. "Bouncer Three, this is Six.
"Computer estimates twelve hundred miles an hour," Head for Kill Zone Bravo. Over."
Quinn replied. "It's pacing Bouncer Three." Which was "This is Three. Roger."
the reason the disk was flying so slowly, trying to draw the Gullick switched frequencies. "Wolfhound One, this is
bogey in to the kill zone at a slow enough speed to be hit Six. Return to base for debriefing. Out."
by the conventional jets. Gullick was intimately familiar
with the weapon systems on board the F-16's--he was As the two F-16's turned back toward Salt Lake City and
checked out on the aircraft. They could handle that speed. Hill Air Force Base, the pilot of the lead aircraft looked
across the night sky to his wingman.
"Six, this is Wolfhound One. Target will be in range in ten "We're in for a long night," he said on their secure chan-
seconds. Request final authorization. Over." nel. "I don't know what it was we just saw--or didn't see--
"This is Six. Fire as soon as target is in range. Over." but one thing for sure, the security dinks are going to be all
The pilot took a deep breath. over us on the ground."
"Is this guy for real?" his wingman asked.
"No time for questions," the pilot snapped. The heads- Major Terrent lined up Bouncer Three on an azimuth that
up display indicated the target was in range. "Fire!" he would take them directly over the four corners--where
yelled. Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico met--the only
A Sidewinder missile leapt out from underneath the place in the United States contiguous to four states.
wings of both planes. Kill Zone Bravo was several hundred miles beyond that
in the same direction. White Sands Missile Range.
Even though they conceptually knew what the bouncers "Where's the bogey?" Terrent asked.
were capable of--and therefore could conceptualize what "Holding, about fifty miles behind us," Scheuler re-
the foo fighters might be able to do--there was complete ported.
shock as the bogey simply left the orange square behind "Let's hope they're better prepared at Bravo," Terrent
and was over fifty miles away by the time the Sidewinders said.
had crossed the two miles from where the F-16's were to
where the bogey had been. General Gullick was directing the situation to insure just
that. He had Aurora and Bouncer Eight heading directly
"What the fuck was that?" the F-16 pilot said for the sec- toward the kill zone. They would beat Three there by four
ond time in less than two minutes. His heads-up display minutes.
was clear. The Sidewinder he'd fired was an arc disappear- Four F-15's from the 49th Tactical Fighter Wing at Hol-
ing over the base range, running out of fuel and descend- loman Air Force Base were already in the air. He didn't
ing. Whatever he'd fired at was gone. expect them to have any more luck than the two F-16's
216 ROBERT DOHERTY 217
AREA 51
had--except now he had the ace card of having Bouncer From Bouncer Three, Captain Scheuler could see the wait-
Eight in the air. Gullick planned on using both it and ing F-15's on his display. "ETA thirty seconds," he said.
Bouncer Three to corral the bogey into a position where "Slowing." Major Terrent let up on the yoke.
the F-15's could get a good shot at it. Aurora was to be on
standby to chase, just in case it did get away again and "That's the first one," Eagle Flight Leader called out as
moved outside the continental United States. It was a rule Bouncer Three buzzed through, slowing as it went. His
that even General Gullick could not break on his own ini- men were disciplined. No one questioned what it was. That
tiative--the bouncers could not fly over the ocean or for- would have to wait until the ready room after the mission.
eign territory on the remote chance they might go down. Even then, they all knew they could never speak openly of
The wall display was crowded now. Bouncer Three tonight's mission.
straight shot from Salt Lake to White Sands, the bogey just "Lock on," Eagle Leader confirmed.
behind. Bouncer Eight and Aurora on line from Nevada. "Locked," Eagle Two echoed, as did the other two pi-
Four small airplane silhouettes lying in wait over White lots.
Sands. "Fire!"
"Amber Teal has the bogey," Quinn announced. "We're
getting some imagery." On the display at the front of the Cube the foo fighter
Gullick wasn't impressed or interested. They already had appeared to suddenly become motionless as a thin red line
photos of the foo fighters. He wanted the real thing. He extended from each fighter toward the green dot.
keyed his SATCOM link to the F-15 commander. "Eagle
Leader, this is Cube Six. Target ETA in five minutes, "Jesus Christ!" Eagle Flight Leader swore. The bogey had
twenty seconds. You're only going to get one shot at this. disappeared--straight up! Then reality set in hard. "Eva-
Make it good. Over." sive maneuvers!" he screamed as the Sidewinder missile
"This is Eagle Leader. Roger. Over." Eagle Flight Leader from the F-15 opposite him locked onto his plane.
glanced out of his cockpit at the other three planes. "Eagle For four seconds there was absolute confusion as pilots
Flight, take up positions. Get a fix on the first craft as it and planes scrambled to escape friendly fire.
goes through. It will come to a halt on the far side of the
kill zone. A second craft similar to the first is also en route General Gullick didn't even watch the self-induced melee.
from the west and will also hold on the western side of the "Bouncer Three, go! Direct angle of intercept. Break.
kill zone. Launch on the bogey as soon as it crosses Phase Eight, loop to the south and catch it if it goes the way the
Line Happy. Over." other did! Aurora, get some altitude. Move, people! Move!
The four planes broke into a cloverleaf pattern, the kill Over."
zone a large pocket of empty sky, crisscrossed with elec- "Seventy thousand feet and climbing," Quinn reported.
tronic energy as the planes turned on their targeting radar. "Seventy-five thousand."
AREA 51 219
218 ROBERT DOHERTY
"Please, Lord," Eagle Flight Leader whispered as he "Southwest," Scheuler said. "Heading, two-one-zero de-
pulled out of the steep dive he'd gone into. A Sidewinder grees."
roared past to his left. He keyed his radio. "Eagle Flight
report. Over." "What's it doing?" Gullick asked.
"One. Roger. Over." "Bogey heading two-one-zero degrees," Quinn said.
"Two. Roger. Over." "Descending on a glide path, going down through one hun-
"Three. Took a licking, but I'm still kicking. Over." dred and ten thousand. Three is in close pursuit. Eight
Eagle Flight Leader looked up. Not to where the bogey is--" Quinn paused. "The bogey's turning!"
had gone but farther. "Thank you, Lord."
"Uh-oh," Captain Scheuler said as things changed on his
"Ninety thousand and still climbing," Scheuler informed display.
Major Terrent. His fingers hit the keyboard in front of him, "What?" The controls were getting firmer in Major Ter-
his arms struggling against the G-forces pushing him down rent's hands. They were just about down to one hundred
into his cutout seat. thousand feet.
Scheuler snapped into action. "Collision alert!"
"One hundred ten thousand and still climbing," Major "Give me a direction!" Terrent yelled.
Quinn said. "The F-15's are all secure and returning to
Holloman," he added. "One hundred and twenty thou- "Break right," Scheuler guessed.
sand." Well over twenty miles up and still going vertical.
On the large screen the red and green dots both curved in
"One hundred and twenty-five thousand. It's peaking the same direction and merged. Gullick stood, his teeth
over," Scheuler said. biting through the forgotten cigar.
Major Terrent let out his breath. The controls had
started to get slightly sluggish. The record for altitude in a Scheuler watched the foo fighter tear by directly overhead,
bouncer was one hundred and sixty-five thousand feet, and less than ten feet away. A beam of white light was flashing
that had been a wild ride four years ago. For some reason, out of the small glowing ball and raking over and through
due to the magnetic propulsion system, which had not yet their disk.
been figured out, at over a hundred thousand feet the disk "Engine failure. Loss of all control," Terrent reported.
started losing power. They both felt their weight lighten, then they were peaking
The crew of the disk that had made the record flight had over and heading down.
had the unnerving experience of peaking out while still Scheuler looked at his display. "Ninety thousand and in
trying to climb and gone into an uncontrolled descent be- free fall."
fore the disk had regained power. The lever and yoke moved freely in Terrent's hands.
"Heading?" Terrent asked, concentrating on keeping
control. "Nothing. No power." He looked over at Scheuler. Both
220 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 221
men were maintaining their external discipline but their the bogey and Bouncer Eight was increasing rather than
voices displayed their fear. decreasing, despite the crew of the disk pushing it to the
"Eighty-five thousand," Scheuler said. limits of human endurance.
Gullick spit out the mangled remains of his cigar.
"Bouncer Three is in uncontrolled descent," Quinn re- "Bouncer Eight, this is Cube Six. Break off. I say again,
ported. "No power. Bouncer Eight and Aurora are still in break off and return home. Aurora, continue pursuit.
pursuit." Over."
The green dot representing the foo fighter was moving "This is Bouncer Eight. Roger. Over."
swiftly to the southwest. "This is Aurora. Roger. Over."
On the screen Bouncer Eight rapidly decelerated and
"Sixty thousand," Scheuler reported. curved back into airspace above the United States. Aurora
Terrent let go of the useless controls. continued following the bogey.
"Fifty-five thousand." "Alert the Abraham Lincoln to launch pursuit," Gullick
ordered Admiral Coakley. The general finally shifted his
"The bogey will hit the Mexican border in two minutes," gaze to the upper part of the screen. The green dot repre-
Quinn reported. senting Bouncer Three was still motionless. "Altitude?" he
"Bouncer Eight, this is Cube Six," Gullick said into his asked.
boom mike. "Get that son of a bitch!" Quinn knew what he was referring to. "Thirty thousand.
Still no power. Uncontrolled descent."
With no power other than the Earth's gravity, Bouncer "Nightscape recovery status?" Gullick asked.
Three was going down at terminal velocity. They had "In the air toward projected impact area," Quinn said.
tipped over and the edge to both men's right was leading
the way down. "I'm going to initiate at twenty thousand," Terrent said.
They were actually descending more slowly than they His right hand rested on a red lever. "Clear."
had gone up, Scheuler reflected, watching the digital dis- Scheuler pushed aside the keyboard and display from his
play count down in front of him. He felt strangely de- lap as Terrent did the same. "Clear."
tached, his years of pilot training keeping the fear at bay. "Cable up," Terrent ordered.
At least they weren't tumbling. Scheuler hit a button on the side of his seat. Anchored
Scheuler glanced over questioningly at Terrent. "Forty- to the ceiling above and behind the two of them, a cable
five thousand." tightened, its near anchor point sliding along a track bolted
Terrent tried the controls again. "Still nothing," he re- onto the floor until it stopped right between the two de-
ported. pressions the men were seated in.
"Hook up," Terrent instructed.
"Thirty seconds to the border," Quinn said. He confirmed Scheuler reached into the waist pocket of his flight suit
the bad news the screen was displaying. The gap between and pulled out a locking carabiner and slipped it onto the
222 ROBERT DOHERTY
AREA 51 223
steel cable, just above where Terrent put his. He made sure "Ten thousand feet," Quinn said. He looked at his com-
it was on and screwed tight the lock. He then traced the puter screen and hit a few keys. "We're getting a slight
nylon webbing back from it to the harness strapped around change in downward velocity on Bouncer Three."
his torso, making sure it was clear and not wrapped around "I thought you said the readout said the hatch was blown
anything. and they had initiated escape." Gullick said.
"Hooked up," he confirmed. He glanced over at his dis- "Yes, sir, the hatch is gone, but"--Quinn checked the
play. "Twenty-two thousand five hundred." data being sent in from the satellites and Bouncer Three
Terrent grabbed the controls one last time and tried itself--"but it's slowing, sir!"
them. They moved freely. No response. He looked at Gullick nodded, but turned his attention back toward
Scheuler. "Ready, Kevin?" the screen and the green dot of the bogey, now over the
"Ready." Pacific far west of Panama.
"Blowing hatch on three. One. Two. Three." Terrent
slammed down the red lever and the exploding bolts on the Without Scheuler, Terrent had no idea what his altitude
hatch at the other end of the cable blew. The hatch spun was. He'd pushed aside his own heads-up display when
away and cold night air whistled in. he'd hooked up. The power was coming back, but very
"Go!" Terrent screamed. slowly.
Captain Scheuler unbuckled his shoulder straps and
pushed, sliding up the cable, slamming against the roof of "Five thousand feet, continuing to decelerate," Quinn said.
the disk. He got oriented and looked down at Terrent, still "How come I don't see the F-14's from the Abraham
in his seat. Then he let go and was sucked out of the hatch, Lincoln on the display?" General Gullick asked.
the nylon strap reaching its end and deploying the para- "I--uh--" Quinn's fingers flew over the keyboard and a
cluster of small plane silhouettes appeared on the screen.
chute that he had been sitting on. The disk was already They were heading toward an orange circle representing
gone into the darkness below by the time the chute finished the spot where the previous foo fighter had gone into the
opening. ocean. The symbols for the bogey and Aurora were also
He watched but there was no other blossoming of white heading there.
canopy below.
'I think I've got it!" Terrent yelled to himself. He had the
Major Terrenes hands were on the releases for his shoulder altitude lever pulled up as high as it would go and could
straps when his pilot's instincts took over one last time. He continue to feel power returning. "We'll make it, we'll--"
reached down and grabbed the controls. There was some-
thing--the slightest response. His focus came back inside She's down," Quinn said in a quiet voice. "Bouncer Three
the craft as he wrestled with the controls. is down. All telemetry is cut."
"Make sure Nightscape recovery has the exact position
224 ROBERT DOHERTY
from the last readout," Gullick ordered. "Time to bogey 19
intercept for the Tomcats?"
Quinn looked at General Gullick for a few seconds, then
turned back to his terminal. "Six minutes."
"I don't see what good intercept will do," Admiral
Coakley protested. "We've already tried twice. It's over the
ocean. Even if we down the bogey it won't--"
"I am in charge here," General Gullick hissed. "Don't
ever--
"Bogey's gone, sir," Quinn said. "She's gone under."
The data was complex and much of it was not in the histor-
ical record. It counted at least six different types of atmo-
spheric craft, only two of which were listed. And it was not
action of this type that had awoken it twice before. Never-
theless, this new event was a threat because it was tied in to
the place where the mothership was.
Valuable energy was diverted, and the main processor
was brought up to forty-percent capacity to ponder the
bursts of input that had occurred in this past cycle of the
planet around its star. There had been conflict, but that did
not concern it. There were larger issues at stake here.
20 21
VICINITY, DULCE, NEW MEXICO WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, NEW MEXICO
T-93 HOURS, 3O MINUTES
T-93 HOURS, 30 MINUTES
There was something stuck in both his arms and on the The first thing Colonel Dickerson did as his command-and-
inside of each thigh. Johnny Simmons also sensed tubes control helicopter zeroed in on the personnel beacon from
between his legs--a catheter, both fore and aft. There was Bouncer Three was have his aide, Captain Travers, remove
also some sort of device hooked in the right side of his
the silver eagles on his collar and replace them with two
mouth, giving off a very light mist of moisture. Another
stars. That was for any military personnel they might run
tube ran into the left side of his mouth and that was how he
into. The typical military mentality viewed generals as
was breathing. There was something over his face, covering
gods, and that was the way Dickerson wanted people re-
it, pressing his eyes shut and blocking off his nose. Beyond
that Simmons didn't have a clue as to his condition. And sponding to his orders this night.
those discoveries had been made only in those few breaks "ETA to beacon two minutes," the pilot of the UH-60
between periods of excruciating pain. Blackhawk announced over the intercom.
He assumed that at least one of whatever was stuck in Dickerson glanced out the window. Three other
him was a nutritional IV. He had no clue as to the passage Blackhawks followed, spread out against the night sky,
of time, but it felt as if his entire existence had been spent their running lights darkened. He hit the transmit button
in this darkness. for his radio. "Roller, this is Hawk. Give me some good
If it had not been for the needles and catheters, Johnny news. Over."
believed he would have thought himself dead and his soul The response from his second-in-command at the main
exiled to hell. But this was a living hell, a physical one. White Sands complex was immediate. "This is Roller. I've
He felt a coppery taste in his mouth. He didn't even wait got people awake here. The duty officer is rounding us up
for the pain now. His mouth contorted open and he silently some transport. They've got two lowboys we can use and a
screamed. crane rated for what we need for recovery. Over."
"How long before you can get them out to the range?
Over."
228 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 229
"An hour and a half max. Over." son calculated that it was buried at least twenty feet into
"Roger. Out." the countryside.
The pilot came on the intercom as soon as Dickerson "What about the beacon on the hatch?" he asked Cap-
was finished. "There he is, sir." tain Travers.
Dickerson leaned forward and looked out. "Pick him "Nightscape Two has it on screen and is closing on it.
up," he ordered. About four miles to the southwest of our location," Travers
The Blackhawk descended and landed. The man on the responded.
ground sat on his parachute to prevent it from being in- They had to clean up every single piece of gear and
flated by the groundwash of the rotor blades. Two men equipment. There was always the chance that someone
jumped off the rear of Dickerson's aircraft, ran over to they had to recruit to help with the recovery--such as the
Captain Scheuler, and escorted him back to the bird, secur- drivers of the lowboys or the bulldozer or crane operator--
ing the parachute. might talk, but as long as there was no physical evidence,
Scheuler put on a headset as soon as he was on board. they were good to go.
"Have you picked up Major Terrent's signal?" he asked. "Let's land," Dickerson ordered.
Dickerson indicated for the pilot to take off. "No. We're
going to the disk transponder."
"Maybe his equipment got damaged when he was getting THE CUBE, AREA 51
out of the disk," Scheuler said.
Dickerson glanced across at the pilot, who met the look General Gullick scanned the haggard faces around the
briefly, then went back to flying. There wasn't time to tell conference table. There were two empty seats. Dr. Duncan
Scheuler about the slight slowing in descent of Bouncer had not been informed of, or invited to, the night's activi-
Three just before impact. ties, and Von Seeckt was, of course, absent. As recorder
"ETA to disk transponder?" Dickerson asked. and data retriever, Major Quinn was seated away from the
"Thirty seconds." table, at a computer console to Gullick's left.
The pilot pointed. "There it is, sir." "Gentlemen," Gullick began, "we have a problem occur-
machine guns under our coats and we were there to kill." "The only good thing was he just had fifteen rounds in
Turcotte gave Kelly a twisted grin. "Contrary to popular the mag. He got the IRA guy, but he also hit some civilians.
fiction and what they show on the movies, we weren't stone I didn't know how many at the time. There was just this
cold killers. We were good at our job, but we were also pile of bodies; at the very least the three that had been
scared. Most people are in that situation. If you aren't, around the IRA man, plus some others who'd been in the
you're crazy--and I have met some of those crazies. Any- line of fire. Rolf was even flipping his taped-together maga-
way, one of the IRA guys in the booth he looks at Rolf zines, putting a fresh one in when I grabbed the gun out of
standing there with his thumb up his ass and you could just his hand." Turcotte pulled out his right hand and put it in
tell that the Irish guy knew who we were. Rolf wasn't ex- front of Kelly's face. The skin on his palm was knotted with
actly the greatest actor in the world, and I'm sure I wasn't scar tissue. "You can still see where the suppressor on the
giving off the best vibes either. barrel of Rolfs sub burned my hand. At the time I didn't
"So the guy reached under his coat, and Rolf and I feel a thing, I was so freaked.
hosed the two of them down lickety-split. We each fired "So I took his weapon and grabbed him by the collar and
half a magazine--fifteen rounds each--and there was made for the door. One thing for sure--people really got
nothing left' in that booth but chewed-up meat. And the the hell out of our way now. Surveillance had a car waiting
most amazing thing was that after the first shot there for us and I threw Rolf in and we split."
wasn't a single sound other than the sound of our brass Turcotte took a drink of coffee. "I found out later that
falling to the floor. Everyone in the place just fucking froze night that Rolf had killed four civilians, including a preg-
and looked at us, wondering who was next. Then someone nant eighteen-year-old girl, and wounded three. The news
had to scream, and everything went to hell." was playing it up like an internal IRA hit and the whole
Turcotte's eyes had taken on a distant look as he went country was in an uproar to catch the killers. But they
back into that room. "The smart ones just hit the deck. couldn't catch the killers, could they? Because the country
That's what Rolf and I yelled at them in German to do was the killers.
after the scream. But about half the people rushed for the "For a while I even thought they might give Rolf and me
doors, and that's when we spotted the third guy. He was in up as sacrificial lambs, but then common sense kicked in. I
the middle of a group of four people, running for it. He was stupid for even thinking that. If they gave us up, the
might have been taking a leak. He might have been around whole counterterrorist operation would be out in the open
the corner at the bar. I don't know. But there he was." and those in power certainly didn't want that. Might lose a
Turcotte shook his head. "And Rolf--fucking Rolf--he few votes at the polling booth. So you know what they
just fired them all up. I don't know what short-circuited in did?" Turcotte looked at Kelly with red-rimmed eyes.
his head. Hell, the third guy couldn't have gone anywhere. Kelly slowly shook her head.
Surveillance had to have been sitting on top of his car out- "They held an inquest, of course. That's proper form in
side by now and could have taken him out once they got an the military. As a matter of fact the head man I met down
open shot outside the Gasthaus. But Rolf just lost it." in the Cube, General Gullick, he was one of those ap-
Turcotte's voice briefly broke. pointed to look into the whole thing. For security reasons
206 ROBERT DOHERTY A R E A 5 1 2O7
we never saw those who questioned us, nor did we know Von Seeckt and I don't give a shit whether you believe me
their names. They talked to us and then talked to each or not. Because it's between me and all these high-speed
other, and guess what they decided? They gave us fucking assholes who pull strings and cause people to die. Fuck me
medals. Yeah, Rolf and me. Ain't that great? A medal for once, shame on me--fuck me twice, I fuck back."
killing a pregnant woman."
"You didn't kill her," Kelly quietly remarked.
"Does it matter? I was part of it. I could have told Rolf
to wait. I could have done a lot of things."
"He was the commander. It was his responsibility," Kelly
argued, remembering what her father had told her about
the army and covert operations.
"Yeah. I know. I was just following orders, right?"
Kelly had no answer for that.
"So that's how my career in the regular army and Special
Forces ended. I went to my American commander and told
him where he could shove his medal, and they had me on
the next thing smoking back to the States. But I had to stop
in D.C. first. To meet someone." He proceeded to tell her
about meeting Dr. Duncan, her orders to him, and the
phone line out of commission.
"Why were you chosen?"
"Right person, right time," Turcotte said with a shrug.
"There aren't that many high-speed dudes like me who
have top-level clearances and can fire a gun."
Kelly shook her head. "You were chosen because you
told them to shove the medal. It showed somebody, some-
place, that you had integrity. That's even rarer than a top-
level security clearance." Kelly reached across the table
and squeezed his hand, feeling the rough flesh in the palm.
"You got screwed, Turcotte."
"No." Turcotte shook his head. "I screwed myself the
minute I started playing God with a gun. I thought I was in
control, but I was just a pawn, and they used me up like
one. And now you know why I turned on my commander
out there in Nebraska and killed him and why I rescued
209
1 8 The hangar doors slowly slid open. Inside Bouncer Three,
Major Paul Terrent checked the control panel, which was a
mixture of the original fixtures and added-on human tech-
nology, including a satellite communications link with Gen-
eral Gullick in the Cube.
"All set," he announced.
"I don't like being the bait," his copilot, Captain Kevin
Scheuler, remarked. They were both reclined in depres-
sions in the floor of the disk. The cockpit was an oval,
twelve feet in diameter. They could see out in all direc-
tions, the inner walls displaying what was outside of them
THE CUBE, AREA 51
as if the walls themselves were not there--another piece of
T-96 HOURS technology they could use but still didn't understand.
"Give me a status," Gullick ordered. The effect, while useful, was extremely disorienting, and
"Bouncer Three is ready for flight," Quinn reported. perhaps the second greatest hurdle Bouncer test pilots had
"Bouncer Eight is also prepped and ready. Aurora is on to overcome. Most particularly, the view straight down
standby status. Our link to Cheyenne Mountain is live and when the craft was at altitude, as if the pilot were floating
secure. Anything moves, we'll be able to track it, sir." in the air, was quite a shock to the system until one got
"General Brown?" Gullick asked. used to it. For this night's mission both men were wearing
The Air Force deputy chief of staff frowned. His conver- night vision goggles on their flight helmets and the interior
sation with his boss in Washington had been anything but of the hangar was lit in red lights, meaning there was little
difference in illumination for them between there and the
fun. "I talked to the chief of staff and he okayed the alerts, outside night sky.
but he was not happy about it." However, the greatest hurdle to flying the machine was
"I don't care if he was happy or not," Gullick said. "I the physical limitations of the pilots. The Bouncer was ca-
just care that the mission is a go." pable of maneuvers that the pilot's physiology could not
Brown looked down at his own computer screen. "We've handle. In the early days of the program there had been
got every base alerted and planes on standby for pursuit. blackouts, broken bones, and various other injuries, includ-
The primary and alternate kill zones are a go." ing one fatal crash--the disk staying intact, the uncon-
"Admiral Coakley?" scious pilots inside being turned into crushed protoplasm
"The carrier Abraham Lincoln is steaming toward the on impact with the earth. The disk had been recovered,
sight where the foo fighter went down. It's got planes on cleaned out, and was still capable of flight. The two pilots
alert." had been buried with honors; their widows told they had
"We're all set, then," Gullick said. "Let's roll." died flying an experimental aircraft and given their posthu-
mous medals at the funeral.
210 ROBERT DOHERTY
AREA 51 211
There was machinery surrounding the depressions that The airstrip outside was dark. Terrent pulled up on a
the scientists had yet to figure out. The project's scientists lever to his side with his left hand and the disk lifted. The
believed that there was a built-in way for the pilot depres- control system was simplicity itself. Pull up on the lever
sions/seats to be shielded from the effect of G-forces, but and the disk went up. Let go of it and the lever returned to
they had yet to discover it. It was as if a child who was center and the disk stayed at that altitude. Push down on it
capable of riding a tricycle were allowed into a car. He and the disk descended.
might understand what the steering wheel did, but he Terrent pushed the yoke forward with his right hand and
wouldn't understand what the small opening on the steer- they moved forward. The yoke worked in the same manner
ing wheel column was for, especially if the child had not as the altitude lever. Letting go brought the disk to a halt.
been given the keys. Constant pressure equaled constant speed in whichever di-
The best that they had been able to come up with was rection the yoke was pushed.
allowing the test pilots enough flight time so that they un- Scheuler was looking at the navigation display--a human
derstood their own limitations and did not push the ma- device tied in to a satellite positioning system. A computer
chine past what they could handle. Beyond that, the display with a black rectangular outline to separate it from
shoulder and waist harnesses bolted around the depres- the surrounding view showed their present position as a
sions would have to do. small red glowing dot with state borders shown in light
"There's nothing that can catch us," Major Terrent said. green lines. It was the easiest way to orient the pilots as to
"Nothing human," Scheuler noted. "But if this foo their location.
fighter thing was made by the same people who made this, "Let's roll," Terrent said. He pressed forward and they
or people like the people who made this, then-- were out of the hangar.
"Then nothing," Terrent cut in. "This ship is at least ten Behind them, still in the hangar, Bouncer Eight rose to a
thousand years old. The eggheads know that, at least. Who- hover and waited. On the airstrip Aurora stood at the end,
ever left it behind has been long gone. And they probably engines on, prepared for flight. On airstrips across the
weren't people." United States and down into Panama, and on board the
"Then why are we flying this mission, trying to bait this Abraham Lincoln at sea, pilots sat in their cockpits and
foo fighter? Who made it?" Scheuler asked. waited--for what, they had not been told. But they knew
"Because General Gullick ordered it," Terrent said. He whatever it was, this was no game. The planes' wings had
looked at Scheuler. "You have any further questions, I sug- live missiles slung underneath and the Galling guns were
gest you talk to him." loaded with bullets.
Scheuler shook his head. "No, thanks."
Terrent pressed a small red button added on top of the All clear," Quinn said, a rather unnecessary statement
Y-shaped yoke in front of him, keying the SATCOM radio. since everyone in the room could see the small red dot
"Cube Six, this is Bouncer Three. All systems ready. Over." indicating Bouncer Three moving northwest out of the
Gullick's deep voice answered. "This is Cube Six. Go. state. The computer had already screened out all commer-
Out." cial aircraft flights.
212 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 213
"Contact!" Quinn announced. A small green dot had "That's the lake," Terrent said. He pressed the yoke to the
suddenly appeared on the screen, well behind Bouncer right a bit more.
Three. "Same reading as the first one!" "On course," Scheuler said, checking their projected di-
"Three, this is Six," Gullick spoke into his headset. rection.
"Head for Checkpoint Alpha. Over." "Is the bogey turning yet?"
"Yes," Scheuler said. "It's taken the bait. Right on our
On board Bouncer Three, Major Terrent slowly pressed trail, about one hundred and fifty miles behind."
the yoke to the right and the disk began a long curve over Terrent keyed his mike. "Six, this is Three. Kill Zone
southern Idaho, turning toward the Great Salt Lake. What Alpha in one minute, forty-seven seconds. Over."
was different about the turn from one made by an ordinary
aircraft was the fact that there was no banking. The disk "Roger," Gullick answered. There were several more dots
simply changed directions, staying flat and level. The bod- on the screen now. The red one indicated Bouncer Three
ies of the two men inside strained against their restraining heading directly toward a small orange rectangle--Kill
harnesses during the turn, then settled back in the depres- Zone Alpha--a point directly over the center of the Hill
sions. Air Force Base Range. On the ground out there a helicop-
"Give me a reading," Terrent said. ter and recovery crew from Nightscape waited. The green
dot was the bogey, following Bouncer Three. Two red
"The bogey's about three hundred miles behind us," plane silhouettes showed the F-16's on an intercept course.
Captain Scheuler responded. He was watching the same A red triangle represented Aurora, en route directly from
information on his small screen that the people in the Area 51.
Cube had displayed on their large one. "Intercept in forty-five seconds," Quinn announced.
"Is it turning with us?" Terrent asked. Bouncer Three went through the orange rectangle.
"Not yet."
"What the fuck was that?" the pilot of the lead F-16 called
"Get Aurora in the air," Gullick ordered. "Alert Kill Zone out as Bouncer Three flashed by.
Alpha reaction forces and get them up too. Have you fed "Wolfhound One, this is Six. Stay on target!" General
coordinates of the bogey to Teal Amber?" Gullick's voice in the pilot's helmet was a cold slap in the
Quinn was working quickly. "Yes, sir." face. "Have you got a lock on the target?"
The pilot checked his instruments. "Roger, Six."
At Hill Air Force Base, just outside Salt Lake City, two "Arm your missiles."
F-16 Fighting Falcons roared down the runway and up into The pilot armed the air-to-air missiles under his wings.
the night sky. As soon as they had reached sufficient alti- Still shaken by the image of Bouncer Three, he also armed
tude, they turned west, over the flat surface of the lake, his 20mm multibarrel cannon. His wingman did the same.
heading for the desolate land on the far side. "This son of a bitch is moving fast," the wingman said
over the secure link between the two planes.
214 ROBERT DOHERTY
AREA 51 215
"Not fast enough," the pilot said.
General Gullick was concerned about the same thing in Gullick reacted first. "Get Aurora after it. Launch Bouncer
the Cube. "What's the speed of the bogey?" Eight." He keyed his radio. "Bouncer Three, this is Six.
"Computer estimates twelve hundred miles an hour," Head for Kill Zone Bravo. Over."
Quinn replied. "It's pacing Bouncer Three." Which was "This is Three. Roger."
the reason the disk was flying so slowly, trying to draw the Gullick switched frequencies. "Wolfhound One, this is
bogey in to the kill zone at a slow enough speed to be hit Six. Return to base for debriefing. Out."
by the conventional jets. Gullick was intimately familiar
with the weapon systems on board the F-16's--he was As the two F-16's turned back toward Salt Lake City and
checked out on the aircraft. They could handle that speed. Hill Air Force Base, the pilot of the lead aircraft looked
across the night sky to his wingman.
"Six, this is Wolfhound One. Target will be in range in ten "We're in for a long night," he said on their secure chan-
seconds. Request final authorization. Over." nel. "I don't know what it was we just saw--or didn't see--
"This is Six. Fire as soon as target is in range. Over." but one thing for sure, the security dinks are going to be all
The pilot took a deep breath. over us on the ground."
"Is this guy for real?" his wingman asked.
"No time for questions," the pilot snapped. The heads- Major Terrent lined up Bouncer Three on an azimuth that
up display indicated the target was in range. "Fire!" he would take them directly over the four corners--where
yelled. Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico met--the only
A Sidewinder missile leapt out from underneath the place in the United States contiguous to four states.
wings of both planes. Kill Zone Bravo was several hundred miles beyond that
in the same direction. White Sands Missile Range.
Even though they conceptually knew what the bouncers "Where's the bogey?" Terrent asked.
were capable of--and therefore could conceptualize what "Holding, about fifty miles behind us," Scheuler re-
the foo fighters might be able to do--there was complete ported.
shock as the bogey simply left the orange square behind "Let's hope they're better prepared at Bravo," Terrent
and was over fifty miles away by the time the Sidewinders said.
had crossed the two miles from where the F-16's were to
where the bogey had been. General Gullick was directing the situation to insure just
that. He had Aurora and Bouncer Eight heading directly
"What the fuck was that?" the F-16 pilot said for the sec- toward the kill zone. They would beat Three there by four
ond time in less than two minutes. His heads-up display minutes.
was clear. The Sidewinder he'd fired was an arc disappear- Four F-15's from the 49th Tactical Fighter Wing at Hol-
ing over the base range, running out of fuel and descend- loman Air Force Base were already in the air. He didn't
ing. Whatever he'd fired at was gone. expect them to have any more luck than the two F-16's
216 ROBERT DOHERTY 217
AREA 51
had--except now he had the ace card of having Bouncer From Bouncer Three, Captain Scheuler could see the wait-
Eight in the air. Gullick planned on using both it and ing F-15's on his display. "ETA thirty seconds," he said.
Bouncer Three to corral the bogey into a position where "Slowing." Major Terrent let up on the yoke.
the F-15's could get a good shot at it. Aurora was to be on
standby to chase, just in case it did get away again and "That's the first one," Eagle Flight Leader called out as
moved outside the continental United States. It was a rule Bouncer Three buzzed through, slowing as it went. His
that even General Gullick could not break on his own ini- men were disciplined. No one questioned what it was. That
tiative--the bouncers could not fly over the ocean or for- would have to wait until the ready room after the mission.
eign territory on the remote chance they might go down. Even then, they all knew they could never speak openly of
The wall display was crowded now. Bouncer Three tonight's mission.
straight shot from Salt Lake to White Sands, the bogey just "Lock on," Eagle Leader confirmed.
behind. Bouncer Eight and Aurora on line from Nevada. "Locked," Eagle Two echoed, as did the other two pi-
Four small airplane silhouettes lying in wait over White lots.
Sands. "Fire!"
"Amber Teal has the bogey," Quinn announced. "We're
getting some imagery." On the display at the front of the Cube the foo fighter
Gullick wasn't impressed or interested. They already had appeared to suddenly become motionless as a thin red line
photos of the foo fighters. He wanted the real thing. He extended from each fighter toward the green dot.
keyed his SATCOM link to the F-15 commander. "Eagle
Leader, this is Cube Six. Target ETA in five minutes, "Jesus Christ!" Eagle Flight Leader swore. The bogey had
twenty seconds. You're only going to get one shot at this. disappeared--straight up! Then reality set in hard. "Eva-
Make it good. Over." sive maneuvers!" he screamed as the Sidewinder missile
"This is Eagle Leader. Roger. Over." Eagle Flight Leader from the F-15 opposite him locked onto his plane.
glanced out of his cockpit at the other three planes. "Eagle For four seconds there was absolute confusion as pilots
Flight, take up positions. Get a fix on the first craft as it and planes scrambled to escape friendly fire.
goes through. It will come to a halt on the far side of the
kill zone. A second craft similar to the first is also en route General Gullick didn't even watch the self-induced melee.
from the west and will also hold on the western side of the "Bouncer Three, go! Direct angle of intercept. Break.
kill zone. Launch on the bogey as soon as it crosses Phase Eight, loop to the south and catch it if it goes the way the
Line Happy. Over." other did! Aurora, get some altitude. Move, people! Move!
The four planes broke into a cloverleaf pattern, the kill Over."
zone a large pocket of empty sky, crisscrossed with elec- "Seventy thousand feet and climbing," Quinn reported.
tronic energy as the planes turned on their targeting radar. "Seventy-five thousand."
AREA 51 219
218 ROBERT DOHERTY
"Please, Lord," Eagle Flight Leader whispered as he "Southwest," Scheuler said. "Heading, two-one-zero de-
pulled out of the steep dive he'd gone into. A Sidewinder grees."
roared past to his left. He keyed his radio. "Eagle Flight
report. Over." "What's it doing?" Gullick asked.
"One. Roger. Over." "Bogey heading two-one-zero degrees," Quinn said.
"Two. Roger. Over." "Descending on a glide path, going down through one hun-
"Three. Took a licking, but I'm still kicking. Over." dred and ten thousand. Three is in close pursuit. Eight
Eagle Flight Leader looked up. Not to where the bogey is--" Quinn paused. "The bogey's turning!"
had gone but farther. "Thank you, Lord."
"Uh-oh," Captain Scheuler said as things changed on his
"Ninety thousand and still climbing," Scheuler informed display.
Major Terrent. His fingers hit the keyboard in front of him, "What?" The controls were getting firmer in Major Ter-
his arms struggling against the G-forces pushing him down rent's hands. They were just about down to one hundred
into his cutout seat. thousand feet.
Scheuler snapped into action. "Collision alert!"
"One hundred ten thousand and still climbing," Major "Give me a direction!" Terrent yelled.
Quinn said. "The F-15's are all secure and returning to
Holloman," he added. "One hundred and twenty thou- "Break right," Scheuler guessed.
sand." Well over twenty miles up and still going vertical.
On the large screen the red and green dots both curved in
"One hundred and twenty-five thousand. It's peaking the same direction and merged. Gullick stood, his teeth
over," Scheuler said. biting through the forgotten cigar.
Major Terrent let out his breath. The controls had
started to get slightly sluggish. The record for altitude in a Scheuler watched the foo fighter tear by directly overhead,
bouncer was one hundred and sixty-five thousand feet, and less than ten feet away. A beam of white light was flashing
that had been a wild ride four years ago. For some reason, out of the small glowing ball and raking over and through
due to the magnetic propulsion system, which had not yet their disk.
been figured out, at over a hundred thousand feet the disk "Engine failure. Loss of all control," Terrent reported.
started losing power. They both felt their weight lighten, then they were peaking
The crew of the disk that had made the record flight had over and heading down.
had the unnerving experience of peaking out while still Scheuler looked at his display. "Ninety thousand and in
trying to climb and gone into an uncontrolled descent be- free fall."
fore the disk had regained power. The lever and yoke moved freely in Terrent's hands.
"Heading?" Terrent asked, concentrating on keeping
control. "Nothing. No power." He looked over at Scheuler. Both
220 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 221
men were maintaining their external discipline but their the bogey and Bouncer Eight was increasing rather than
voices displayed their fear. decreasing, despite the crew of the disk pushing it to the
"Eighty-five thousand," Scheuler said. limits of human endurance.
Gullick spit out the mangled remains of his cigar.
"Bouncer Three is in uncontrolled descent," Quinn re- "Bouncer Eight, this is Cube Six. Break off. I say again,
ported. "No power. Bouncer Eight and Aurora are still in break off and return home. Aurora, continue pursuit.
pursuit." Over."
The green dot representing the foo fighter was moving "This is Bouncer Eight. Roger. Over."
swiftly to the southwest. "This is Aurora. Roger. Over."
On the screen Bouncer Eight rapidly decelerated and
"Sixty thousand," Scheuler reported. curved back into airspace above the United States. Aurora
Terrent let go of the useless controls. continued following the bogey.
"Fifty-five thousand." "Alert the Abraham Lincoln to launch pursuit," Gullick
ordered Admiral Coakley. The general finally shifted his
"The bogey will hit the Mexican border in two minutes," gaze to the upper part of the screen. The green dot repre-
Quinn reported. senting Bouncer Three was still motionless. "Altitude?" he
"Bouncer Eight, this is Cube Six," Gullick said into his asked.
boom mike. "Get that son of a bitch!" Quinn knew what he was referring to. "Thirty thousand.
Still no power. Uncontrolled descent."
With no power other than the Earth's gravity, Bouncer "Nightscape recovery status?" Gullick asked.
Three was going down at terminal velocity. They had "In the air toward projected impact area," Quinn said.
tipped over and the edge to both men's right was leading
the way down. "I'm going to initiate at twenty thousand," Terrent said.
They were actually descending more slowly than they His right hand rested on a red lever. "Clear."
had gone up, Scheuler reflected, watching the digital dis- Scheuler pushed aside the keyboard and display from his
play count down in front of him. He felt strangely de- lap as Terrent did the same. "Clear."
tached, his years of pilot training keeping the fear at bay. "Cable up," Terrent ordered.
At least they weren't tumbling. Scheuler hit a button on the side of his seat. Anchored
Scheuler glanced over questioningly at Terrent. "Forty- to the ceiling above and behind the two of them, a cable
five thousand." tightened, its near anchor point sliding along a track bolted
Terrent tried the controls again. "Still nothing," he re- onto the floor until it stopped right between the two de-
ported. pressions the men were seated in.
"Hook up," Terrent instructed.
"Thirty seconds to the border," Quinn said. He confirmed Scheuler reached into the waist pocket of his flight suit
the bad news the screen was displaying. The gap between and pulled out a locking carabiner and slipped it onto the
222 ROBERT DOHERTY
AREA 51 223
steel cable, just above where Terrent put his. He made sure "Ten thousand feet," Quinn said. He looked at his com-
it was on and screwed tight the lock. He then traced the puter screen and hit a few keys. "We're getting a slight
nylon webbing back from it to the harness strapped around change in downward velocity on Bouncer Three."
his torso, making sure it was clear and not wrapped around "I thought you said the readout said the hatch was blown
anything. and they had initiated escape." Gullick said.
"Hooked up," he confirmed. He glanced over at his dis- "Yes, sir, the hatch is gone, but"--Quinn checked the
play. "Twenty-two thousand five hundred." data being sent in from the satellites and Bouncer Three
Terrent grabbed the controls one last time and tried itself--"but it's slowing, sir!"
them. They moved freely. No response. He looked at Gullick nodded, but turned his attention back toward
Scheuler. "Ready, Kevin?" the screen and the green dot of the bogey, now over the
"Ready." Pacific far west of Panama.
"Blowing hatch on three. One. Two. Three." Terrent
slammed down the red lever and the exploding bolts on the Without Scheuler, Terrent had no idea what his altitude
hatch at the other end of the cable blew. The hatch spun was. He'd pushed aside his own heads-up display when
away and cold night air whistled in. he'd hooked up. The power was coming back, but very
"Go!" Terrent screamed. slowly.
Captain Scheuler unbuckled his shoulder straps and
pushed, sliding up the cable, slamming against the roof of "Five thousand feet, continuing to decelerate," Quinn said.
the disk. He got oriented and looked down at Terrent, still "How come I don't see the F-14's from the Abraham
in his seat. Then he let go and was sucked out of the hatch, Lincoln on the display?" General Gullick asked.
the nylon strap reaching its end and deploying the para- "I--uh--" Quinn's fingers flew over the keyboard and a
cluster of small plane silhouettes appeared on the screen.
chute that he had been sitting on. The disk was already They were heading toward an orange circle representing
gone into the darkness below by the time the chute finished the spot where the previous foo fighter had gone into the
opening. ocean. The symbols for the bogey and Aurora were also
He watched but there was no other blossoming of white heading there.
canopy below.
'I think I've got it!" Terrent yelled to himself. He had the
Major Terrenes hands were on the releases for his shoulder altitude lever pulled up as high as it would go and could
straps when his pilot's instincts took over one last time. He continue to feel power returning. "We'll make it, we'll--"
reached down and grabbed the controls. There was some-
thing--the slightest response. His focus came back inside She's down," Quinn said in a quiet voice. "Bouncer Three
the craft as he wrestled with the controls. is down. All telemetry is cut."
"Make sure Nightscape recovery has the exact position
224 ROBERT DOHERTY
from the last readout," Gullick ordered. "Time to bogey 19
intercept for the Tomcats?"
Quinn looked at General Gullick for a few seconds, then
turned back to his terminal. "Six minutes."
"I don't see what good intercept will do," Admiral
Coakley protested. "We've already tried twice. It's over the
ocean. Even if we down the bogey it won't--"
"I am in charge here," General Gullick hissed. "Don't
ever--
"Bogey's gone, sir," Quinn said. "She's gone under."
The data was complex and much of it was not in the histor-
ical record. It counted at least six different types of atmo-
spheric craft, only two of which were listed. And it was not
action of this type that had awoken it twice before. Never-
theless, this new event was a threat because it was tied in to
the place where the mothership was.
Valuable energy was diverted, and the main processor
was brought up to forty-percent capacity to ponder the
bursts of input that had occurred in this past cycle of the
planet around its star. There had been conflict, but that did
not concern it. There were larger issues at stake here.
20 21
VICINITY, DULCE, NEW MEXICO WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, NEW MEXICO
T-93 HOURS, 3O MINUTES
T-93 HOURS, 30 MINUTES
There was something stuck in both his arms and on the The first thing Colonel Dickerson did as his command-and-
inside of each thigh. Johnny Simmons also sensed tubes control helicopter zeroed in on the personnel beacon from
between his legs--a catheter, both fore and aft. There was Bouncer Three was have his aide, Captain Travers, remove
also some sort of device hooked in the right side of his
the silver eagles on his collar and replace them with two
mouth, giving off a very light mist of moisture. Another
stars. That was for any military personnel they might run
tube ran into the left side of his mouth and that was how he
into. The typical military mentality viewed generals as
was breathing. There was something over his face, covering
gods, and that was the way Dickerson wanted people re-
it, pressing his eyes shut and blocking off his nose. Beyond
that Simmons didn't have a clue as to his condition. And sponding to his orders this night.
those discoveries had been made only in those few breaks "ETA to beacon two minutes," the pilot of the UH-60
between periods of excruciating pain. Blackhawk announced over the intercom.
He assumed that at least one of whatever was stuck in Dickerson glanced out the window. Three other
him was a nutritional IV. He had no clue as to the passage Blackhawks followed, spread out against the night sky,
of time, but it felt as if his entire existence had been spent their running lights darkened. He hit the transmit button
in this darkness. for his radio. "Roller, this is Hawk. Give me some good
If it had not been for the needles and catheters, Johnny news. Over."
believed he would have thought himself dead and his soul The response from his second-in-command at the main
exiled to hell. But this was a living hell, a physical one. White Sands complex was immediate. "This is Roller. I've
He felt a coppery taste in his mouth. He didn't even wait got people awake here. The duty officer is rounding us up
for the pain now. His mouth contorted open and he silently some transport. They've got two lowboys we can use and a
screamed. crane rated for what we need for recovery. Over."
"How long before you can get them out to the range?
Over."
228 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 229
"An hour and a half max. Over." son calculated that it was buried at least twenty feet into
"Roger. Out." the countryside.
The pilot came on the intercom as soon as Dickerson "What about the beacon on the hatch?" he asked Cap-
was finished. "There he is, sir." tain Travers.
Dickerson leaned forward and looked out. "Pick him "Nightscape Two has it on screen and is closing on it.
up," he ordered. About four miles to the southwest of our location," Travers
The Blackhawk descended and landed. The man on the responded.
ground sat on his parachute to prevent it from being in- They had to clean up every single piece of gear and
flated by the groundwash of the rotor blades. Two men equipment. There was always the chance that someone
jumped off the rear of Dickerson's aircraft, ran over to they had to recruit to help with the recovery--such as the
Captain Scheuler, and escorted him back to the bird, secur- drivers of the lowboys or the bulldozer or crane operator--
ing the parachute. might talk, but as long as there was no physical evidence,
Scheuler put on a headset as soon as he was on board. they were good to go.
"Have you picked up Major Terrent's signal?" he asked. "Let's land," Dickerson ordered.
Dickerson indicated for the pilot to take off. "No. We're
going to the disk transponder."
"Maybe his equipment got damaged when he was getting THE CUBE, AREA 51
out of the disk," Scheuler said.
Dickerson glanced across at the pilot, who met the look General Gullick scanned the haggard faces around the
briefly, then went back to flying. There wasn't time to tell conference table. There were two empty seats. Dr. Duncan
Scheuler about the slight slowing in descent of Bouncer had not been informed of, or invited to, the night's activi-
Three just before impact. ties, and Von Seeckt was, of course, absent. As recorder
"ETA to disk transponder?" Dickerson asked. and data retriever, Major Quinn was seated away from the
"Thirty seconds." table, at a computer console to Gullick's left.
The pilot pointed. "There it is, sir." "Gentlemen," Gullick began, "we have a problem occur-