voice dripped disgust. "I met them. My fellow Germans. "Not exactly. Just somewhere on the outside of the town
The biological and chemical warfare experts. And they of Dulce. I do remember a large mountain behind the town
were continuing their experimental work that they had and that we went around the mountain on a dirt road.
started in the concentration camps. I could not go there. I Then we went into a tunnel and it was all underground."
274 ROBERT DOHERTY
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Turcotte rubbed his forehead. "So you don't exactly
know where it is and you don't exactly know what goes on The copper taste flooded Johnny's mouth and his world
there?" went black again. But this time he could hear his own
"No." screams, sounding as if it were some other person a long
Kelly looked up in the rearview mirror. Turcotte met her way away. But the pain was close.
eyes, then spoke. "Well, we'll be there shortly. And we'll
find out what's going on and get Johnny Simmons out of
there."
Kelly opened her mouth to say something, then shut it.
She turned her eyes back to the road and drove.
VICINITY, DULCE, NEW MEXICO
Johnny Simmons could see. He didn't know how long ago
it had started, but it had begun with the slightest tinge of
gray infiltrating the blackness surrounding him. Then the
difference between light and dark grew, and he was able to
make out some forms moving around on the periphery of
his vision. He couldn't move his head, nor could he move
his eyes.
But as time went by, he wished the slight improvement
that had occurred had not. Because there was something
wrong about the forms he caught glimpses of. They were
human shaped, but they weren't human and that is what
scared him. The silhouetted forms were all wrong--heads
too large; arms too long; torsos too short. Once he thought
he saw the outline of a hand, but there were six fingers
instead of five and the fingers were much too long.
Johnny was concentrating so hard on his eyes that it was
a while before he noticed other changes in his environ-
ment. There was a scent in the air. A very unpleasant scent.
And he could hear sound, albeit as if from a long distance
away. It was a clicking sound, but not mechanical. More
like insect clicking.
277
AREA 51
Route 64 passed along the south side of the community,
25 and Kelly carefully kept to the speed limit as they drove
through. As the town slipped behind them, Turcotte told
her to pull off on a dirt road and stop.
"You say the facility is behind that mountain?" he asked
Von Seeckt.
"Yes. It was night when I came here and over fifty years
ago, though. There wasn't much here in those days. I don't
remember all these buildings."
Turcotte looked to the north. "All right. We have about
ROUTE 64, NORTHWEST NEW MEXICO two hours of daylight left. Let's check out what we can see
T-79 HOURS from the van." He pointed back toward town and Kelly
turned them around.
The road curved around a small lake to the left and passed They cruised in past the sign marking the city limits and
between tree-covered hills. Turcotte checked the map. took a right, going past the local elementary school. The
They were close to Dulce. According to Rand McNally the road slowly sloped up. Within a quarter mile they were at
town was just south of the border with Colorado, nestled the base of the ridge. Turcotte kept Kelly taking turns that
between the Carson National Forest and the Rio Grande directed them to the right. It was the only way he could see
National Forest. The terrain was rocky and mountainous, around the mountain. Left would only run along the south
with occasional clusters of pine trees adorning the hillsides. side of the ridgeline.
It was the sort of relatively unpopulated area the govern- An arrowhead with a 2 inside it marked a road leading
ment liked to build secret facilities in. to the northeast. The other roads all appeared to be local
They hit a straight section of road and a long-distance residential streets. Kelly turned onto the arrowhead road
view opened up directly ahead. Von Seeckt leaned forward and they began climbing the shoulder of the mountain. A
between the seats. "There. That mountain to the left. I sign indicated they were now on the Jicarilla Apache In-
remember that. The facility is behind it." dian Reservation. A white Ford Bronco rolled past with
A long ridge extended from left to right about ten miles two men seated inside and Turcotte twisted his head and
ahead, culminating in a peak slightly separated from the watched it go by.
main body of the ridge. "Government plates," he noted.
"Where should I go?" Kelly asked. "Yeah," Kelly said.
"Stay on this road," Turcotte said. "I'll tell you where to "Probably from the facility."
stop." "I don't want to burst your bubble," Kelly said, "but you
As they got closer, the town of Dulce appeared at the see a lot of U.S. government plates out here. We're on
base of the ridgeline, a scattering of buildings along the ederal land, actually Indian land, but the Bureau of Indian
valley floor running up to the base of the large mountain. Affairs, which helps run the reservations, is federal."
278 ROBERT DOHERTY
A R E A 5 1 279
"But it could be from the base," Turcotte said. guarded facilities. The goal of a lot of the security is not, as
"Ah, optimism," Kelly said, mimicking his Canuck ac- you would think, to prevent someone from actually break-
cent. "I like that." ing in. The goal is deterrence: to keep someone from con-
"There." Turcotte pointed to the right shoulder. "Stop sidering breaking in."
there." "I don't understand," Nabinger said from the rear.
The road split. To the right it went down into a valley. To "Think of the security cameras in banks," Turcotte ex-
the left a wide, well-maintained gravel road curved along plained. "They work through deterrence. They keep most
the back of the ridgeline and disappeared. people from robbing the bank because those people know
"It's around there," Turcotte announced firmly. their picture will get taken and the police will eventually
"Why not to the right?" she asked. catch them. The same with most security. For example, if I
"Von Seeckt said it was behind the mountain. To the wanted to kill the President, I could most definitely kill
right is not behind the mountain." He looked to the back. him. The problem lies with killing him and getting away
"Correct?" afterward."
Von Seeckt concurred. "I believe to the left." "So, you're saying we can get in to this facility but we
Turcotte continued. "Also, since we left Phoenix that's can't get out?" Kelly asked.
the best maintained and widest gravel road I've seen." He "Oh, I think we should be able to get out. It's just that
smiled. "But mostly, the thing that convinces me that the they'll know we did it."
facility is down that road--besides Von Seeckt's opinion, of Kelly shrugged. "Hell, that ain't a problem. They're al-
course--are those little lines of what appears to be smoke ready after us. We get Johnny, we go public. That's the only
hanging above the road." He pointed to the gravel road. way we'll make it."
"See them? There and there?" "Right," Turcotte said.
"Yes. What are they?" "So, back to my original question," Kelly said. "What
"That's dust caught in a laser beam. A car goes down now?"
that road, the beam gets broken and a signal is sent. "Back to town," Turcotte said. "We need a ticket to get
There's two of them, so they can tell if a vehicle is coming us in. Once inside I'll get us to Johnny."
or going depending on the order the beams get broken. I "And the high rune tablets," Nabinger added. "Von
don't think the Bureau of Indian Affairs guards the reser- Seeckt told me that Dulce is where they keep all the ones
vations that tightly, do you?" the government has."
"What now?" Kelly asked, glancing over her shoulder at "And the high rune tablets," Turcotte amended. "What-
the other two men in the rear. ever you can find."
"I don't think this place will be as well guarded as Area "Anyplace in particular in town?" Kelly asked as she
51," Turcotte said. "All the work here must be done inside, turned them around and headed to the south.
so it obviously doesn't attract as much attention as the "Know how cops always hang out at the local doughnut
other facility. So that's to our advantage. shop?" Turcotte said.
"The other thing to remember is a basic fact about most "Yes."
28O ROBERT DOHERTY
281
AREA 51
"We need to find where the workers from the base get met him halfway between the two vehicles, caught in the
their doughnuts." glow of the headlights.
"You an idiot or what?" the driver demanded. "You pass
me and--
Without a word Turcotte fired the stun gun, dropping the
T-73 HOURS, 15 MINUTES man immediately. He cuffed him with plastic cinches from
"That one," Turcotte said. They'd watched a dozen or so his vest and dragged the body into the back of the van.
cars with small green stickers on the front center of the "Get into the truck," he ordered Von Seeckt and Nabinger.
windshield pull in and out of the convenience-store parking The two men scuttled over into the backseat of the Subur-
lot over the course of the past several hours. Turcotte had ban.
pointed out the stickers and explained that they were de- Kelly drove the van a hundred meters down the tar road,
cals used to identify cars that had access to government where the turn concealed them from the intersection.
installations. As night had fallen, the lights had come on, There was no place to conceal the van, so she just pulled
illuminating the parking and leaving their van in the dark- off to the shoulder. Turcotte made sure the man was secure
ness across the street. and quickly frisked him.
"I've got him." Kelly started the engine to the van and "This isn't much of a plan," Kelly muttered as she locked
followed the Suburban out of the parking lot of the Minit the van and pocketed the keys. "And I'm not sure I buy
Mart. your easy-to-get-in-and-out theory."
"One of my commanders in the infantry used to say any
They followed the truck as it went north through town
plan was better than having Rommel stick it up your ass on
and then turned onto Reservation Route 2. They were a the drop zone," Turcotte said as they jogged up the road
quarter mile from the split in the road. toward the truck.
"Now," Turcotte ordered. "I don't get it," Kelly said.
Kelly flashed her high beams and accelerated until they "I never did, either, but it sounded good. What's really
were right on the bumper of the Suburban. She swung out interesting," he said, pausing for a second and looking at
and passed, Turcotte leaning out the window and giving the her in the starlight, "is that you're the first person who ever
finger to the driver of the truck as he screamed obscenities. said that about that quote. I never told my commander I
Kelly slammed on the brakes and they skidded to a halt didn't get it."
at the intersection with the gravel road. The driver of the "And?" Kelly said.
Suburban came to a stop on the gravel road, headlights He began jogging again. "It means you listen and you
pointing at the van. think."
"What the fuck is your problem, asshole?" the burly Turcotte took the wheel this time. He scanned the inte-
driver of the truck demanded as he stepped out and started rior and reached above the visor; an electronic card key
walking toward the van. was there, such as those used in hotels to open doors. He
Turcotte jumped out of the passenger side of the van and checked the name: Spencer. "The plan is getting better by
283
282 AREA 51
ROBERT DOHERTY
also to allow people to begin getting their night sight when
the minute." He tucked the card between his legs next to
the stun gun. "Everyone down. We're going to be on cam- departing.
The slots were numbered, but Turcotte took his chances
era in a second." and went to the far end, out of sight of the guard, and
Throwing the engine into gear, he rolled down the gravel parked. There were about ten other cars in the garage.
road, past the laser sensors. There was no way he could see Over fifty spaces were empty, which meant that the night
it, but he had no doubt that the vehicle was being surveyed shift was a skeleton crew, for which Turcotte was grateful.
by infrared cameras to check for the decal and insure it was There was a pair of sliding doors set in the rock twenty
authorized. He knew the decal was covered with a fluores- feet from where he had parked. "Let's go."
cent coating that could easily be seen through such a de- Turcotte glanced over his shoulder at the three people
vice. He watched the road carefully, hoping that there following him--Kelly short and compact, Von Seeckt lean-
would be no more forks where a decision had to be made. ing on his cane, and Nabinger bringing up the rear. Kelly
A sign appeared in the headlights warning that they were smiled at him. "Lead on, fearless one."
now entering a federal restricted area and the fine print He slid the card key into the slot on the side of the
listed all the dire consequences unauthorized personnel elevator. The doors slid open. They crowded inside and
would face and all the constitutional rights that they no Turcotte examined the buttons. They ranged from HP, Ga-
longer had. Four hundred meters past the sign a steel bar rage, down through sublevels 4 to 1. "I'd say HP stands for
stretched across the road. A machine such as those used at 'helipad.' They probably have one cut into the side of the
airports to give out parking tickets was on the left side. mountain or maybe even on the top of the mountain above
Turcotte pulled up and inserted the card key into the slot. us. Any idea what floor we should go to?" he asked Von
The steel bar lifted. Seeckt.
He continued on, then the road split. Turcotte had less The old man shrugged. "They had stairs when I was here
than three seconds to make a decision. To the left loomed last, but we did go down."
the mountain. To the right the valley floor. He turned left "I'd say bottom level," Kelly suggested. "The greater the
and immediately was in a narrow valley. The sides closed in secret, the deeper you go."
and camouflage netting covered the road, staked down on "Real scientific," Turcotte muttered. He hit sublevel 1.
the rock walls on either side, confirming his decision. A The elevator dropped, the lights on the wall flashed, then
thirty-foot-wide opening in the base of the mountain ap- halted at sublevel 2. A message appeared on the digital
peared directly ahead, carved into the side of the moun- display above the number lights:
tain. A dull red glow came out of the opening.
A bored security guard in a booth just inside the cave ACCESS TO SUBLEVEL 1 LIMITED TO
opening hardly looked up, waving the Suburban in. A large AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.
parking garage was off to the right and Turcotte turned TOP SECRET Q LEVEL CLEARANCE REQUIRED.
that way. The man-made cave was dimly lit by red lights. DUAL ACCESS MANDATORY.
That was both to defeat detection from the outside by not INSERT ACCESS KEYS NOW.
having bright white light coming out of the entrance, and
284 ROBERT DOHERTY
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Turcotte looked at the two small openings--made for ster when Turcotte jumped into the air, feet leading, and
small round objects--one just below the digital display and flew over the desk. The bottom of his boots caught the
the other on the far wall. They were far enough apart that guard in the chest, knocking him back against the wall.
one person could not operate both keys--just like the Turcotte was back on his feet first and he slammed a turn
launch systems of ICBM. "I don't have the keys for that, kick into the side of the guard's skull, knocking him out.
and our Mr. Spencer didn't have them on him either." He turned to the desktop and looked at the computer
"Let's try this level," Kelly suggested. screen that was built into it. It showed a schematic, with
Turcotte pressed the open button and the doors slid rooms labeled and green lights in each little box. The oth-
apart, revealing a small foyer and another door and an- ers quickly gathered around.
other warning sign: "Archives," Turcotte said, resting a finger on a room. He
looked up at Nabinger and Von Seeckt. "That's yours." He
SUBLEVEL 2 reached into his pocket and pulled out the stun gun. "You
AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY. meet anyone, use this. Just aim and pull the trigger, the
RED CLEARANCE REQUIRED. gun does the rest. You've got five minutes. Then be back
here whether you found what you're looking for or not."
An opening for a card key to be passed through was just Nabinger oriented himself with the diagram and looked
below the sign. Turcotte held up the card key he'd appro- down the corridor. "Right. Let's go." He headed off with
priated from the Suburban. It was orange. "We're still out Von Seeckt.
of the depth of Mr. Spencer's security range." He stepped Turcotte pointed. "I'd say your friend is in one of these
forward and shrugged off the small backpack he had on. two places." One was labeled HOLDING AREA and the other
"But I think I can handle this little roadblock." He re- BIOLAB.
moved a small black box. "Biolab," Kelly said.
"What's that?" Kelly asked. They sprinted in the opposite direction from the one
"Something I found in the van. They had all sorts of Von Seeckt and Nabinger had taken. The hall was quiet
goodies back there." A card key was attached to the box by and they passed several doors with nameplates on the out-
several wires. Turcotte slid it into the slot in the direction side--obviously offices for the people who worked here in
opposite that indicated by the arrow. "It reads the door the daytime.
code backward, memorizes it, and then reverses the code. "Left," Kelly said. A set of swinging double doors waited
I've used similar devices in some of my other assignments." at the end of a short corridor. They halted and Kelly
He slid it down in the proper direction and the two doors arched her eyebrows at Turcotte in question as they heard
slip open to reveal a guard seated at a desk ten feet away. someone cough on the other side.
"Hey!" the guard yelled, bounding to his feet. "We charge," Turcotte whispered.
Turcotte dropped the box and reached for the stun gun. "You don't have much of a tactical repertoire," Kelly
It got caught in his pocket and he abandoned the effort, replied quietly.
sprinting forward. The guard's gun had just cleared his hol- Turcotte pushed the doors open and stepped in. A mid-
286 ROBERT DOHERTY 287
AREA 51
die-aged woman in a white coat was bent over a large "But I can't just open it. The shock will kill the obj--" She
chest-high rectangular black object. Her hair was pulled caught herself. "The patient. I have to do this in proper
back tight in a bun and she peered up over a pair of procedure."
glasses. "How long?" Turcotte asked.
"Who are you?" she demanded. "Fifteen minutes to--"
"Johnny Simmons?" Turcotte asked. "Make it five."
"What?" the woman replied, but Turcotte caught the
shift of her eyes to the black object. At the other end of this level of the facility Von Seeckt and
He walked past her and looked down. It reminded him Professor Nabinger were staring at an intellectual treasure
of an oversized coffin. There was a panel on the top--what trove. The archives had been dark when they opened the
the woman had been looking at. "What is this?" he asked. doors. When Nabinger hit the lights, a room full of large
"Who are you people?" The woman looked past them at filing cabinets had come into view. Opening drawers, they
the door. "What are you doing here?" found photos. The drawers were labeled with numbers that
There were a number of cables coming out of the ceiling, meant nothing to the two men. At the far end of the room
going into the black top. Some of the cables were clear and there was a vault door with a small glass window. Von
there was fluid in them. He turned on the woman. "Get Seeckt peered through. "The original stone tablets from
him out of there." the mothership cavern are in there," he said. "But they
"Johnny's in there?" Kelly stared at the casing. She must have photographs of them in these cabinets."
walked over and picked up a clipboard hanging on a hook. Nabinger was already opening drawers. "Here's the
She checked the papers on it. same high runes from the site in Mexico that Slader
"Someone's in there," Turcotte said. "Those are IV showed me," Nabinger said, holding up large ten-by-fif-
tubes. I don't know what they're carrying, but someone's in teen-inch glossies.
there on the receiving end." "Yes, yes," Von Seeckt said absently, throwing open
"It's Johnny," Kelly said, holding up the clipboard. drawer after drawer. "We need to find ones she didn't
"Get him out of there," Turcotte repeated. show you--the ones from the mothership cavern. I do not
"I don't know who you are," the woman began, "but-- believe our Captain Turcotte will have much patience once
Turcotte slid his Browning High Power out of its holster. his five-minute limit is up."
He pulled the hammer back with his thumb. "You got five Nabinger started going through drawers more quickly.
seconds or I put a round through your left thigh."
The woman glared at him. "You wouldn't dare!" The woman's hands shook as she worked on the panel.
"He would," Kelly said. "And if he didn't, I would. Open Most of the cables had been disconnected and she was
it!" checking some readings.
"One. Two. Three." Turcotte dropped the barrel and "What did you people do to him?" Kelly asked.
aimed at the woman's leg. "It's complicated," the woman said.
"All right. All right!" The woman held up her hands. "E-D-O-M?" Kelly spelled out the letters.
288 ROBERT DOHERTY 289
AREA 51
The woman stiffened. "How do you know of that?" Kelly looked at the woman.
"Finish the job," Turcotte said. "Please don't," the woman begged.
The woman hit a key and the box began beeping. "It will "The change starts here," Kelly said. She shot the
be safe to open in thirty seconds." woman with the stun gun, then hurried after the others.
They piled into the elevator. Turcotte leaned Johnny up
Von Seeckt had paused at one drawer, looking at the against the wall and Kelly kneeled to support him.
photos more carefully. At the end of the aisle Nabinger Turcotte punched in the button labeled G and the eleva-
was moving on to the next cabinet when he noticed some- tor rose. He poked Nabinger in the chest. "You and Kelly
thing in a glass cabinet on the wall. He moved over and carry him out to the van."
stared at the object inside. "What are you doing?" Kelly asked.
Von Seeckt held up a handful of pictures. "These are the "My job," Turcotte said. "I'll link up with you in Utah.
photos from the mothership cavern! Let us rejoin the good Capitol Reef National Park. It's small. I'll find you."
captain." "Why aren't you going with us?" Kelly demanded.
"I'm going to see what's on sublevel one," Turcotte said.
The beeping stopped and the woman pointed at a lever on "Plus, I'll create a diversion so you can get away." He hus-
the side of the box. "Lift that." tled them out into the garage, then stepped back into the
Turcotte grabbed the red handle and pulled it up. With a elevator.
hiss the lid came up, revealing a naked Johnny Simmons "But--" The shutting doors cut off the rest of her words.
submerged inside a pool of dark-colored liquid. Needles Turcotte punched in sublevel 2 and the elevator went
were stuck in both arms and tubes led to his lower body. A back down to where he had just left. The doors opened on
tube was inserted in his mouth, a clear plastic-type material the unconscious guard. Turcotte ran out and grabbed the
wrapped around the tube and molded to his face, ensuring guard's body. He dragged the body back, wedging it in the
a seal to keep the fluid out. doorway to keep the doors from shutting. Then he
"I have to remove the oxygen tube and the catheters and shrugged off the backpack of gear he had appropriated
IVs," the woman said. from the van. He knew it was only a matter of time before
"Do it." Turcotte said. He turned as Von Seeckt and some alarm was raised. They had to have some sort of
Nabinger appeared in the doorway. Nabinger's hands were internal checks with the guards, and when the sublevel 2
bleeding and he held something wrapped in his jacket. guard didn't respond . . . well, then things would get ex-
"You were not at--" Von Seeckt halted in midsentence citing.
when he saw the body inside the black box. "Ah, these He laid out two one-pound charges of C-6 explosive he'd
people! They never stopped. They never stopped." found in the van on the carpeted floor of the elevator. He
"Enough," Turcotte ordered. The woman was done. He molded the puttylike material into two foot-long half cir-
leaned over and scooped Johnny up. "Let's go." cles, placing them about two and a half feet apart in the
"What do I do with her?" Kelly asked. center of the floor. He pushed a nonelectric blasting cap
"Kill her," Turcotte snapped as he headed out the door. into each charge. He'd crimped detonating cord into each
290 ROBERT DOHERTY 291
AREA 51
fuse in the van, so all he had to do was tie the loose ends of pulled the pin, and tossed it toward the sound of the guns.
the det cord together with a square knot, leaving enough to He squeezed his eyes shut and put his hands over his ears.
put on the M60 fuse igniter. The igniter was about six As soon as he felt the concussion, he sprang up. In his
inches long by an inch in diameter with a metal ring at the last assignment Turcotte had fired thousands of rounds
opposite end from the det cord. from the pistol every day. It was an extension of his body
The det cord was just long enough for him to step out- and he could put a round into a quarter-sized circle at
side the elevator doors. He pulled the unconscious guard
out of the way and held one of the doors open with his left twenty-five feet.
One guard was kneeling, submachine gun dangling on
hand. Then he checked his watch. It had been almost five the end of its sling, his hands rubbing his eyes. The other
minutes since he'd let the others out in the garage. They still had his weapon ready but was disoriented, facing
ought to be getting near the metal gate. He'd give them toward the wall, blinking and shaking his head. Turcotte
another two minutes, then showtime. The seconds dragged fired twice, hitting the first man in the center of his fore-
by slowly. head, throwing the body back. The next round hit the sec-
Time. Turcotte put the M60 in his mouth, clamping ond man in the temple. As he keeled over, his dead finger
down on it with his teeth. He pulled the metal ring with his jerked back on the trigger, sending a stream of bullets into
right hand.
The detonating cord burned at twenty thousand feet per the wall.
Turcotte slowly slid on his belly up into the corridor. He
second. The result was that Turcotte was still pulling when got to his feet, staying low in a crouch. The hall extended
the charges exploded. He threw down the igniter and about sixty feet, to a dead end. There were several doors to
stepped into the elevator. A three-foot hole was in the the left and another corridor turning to the right. There
floor. Turcotte jumped in, falling ten feet, landing on the were red lights flashing and a teeth-jarring low-frequency
concrete bottom of the elevator shaft. He heard alarms siren wailing. One of the doors to the left opened and
screaming in the distance. Turcotte snapped a shot in that direction, causing whoever
The sublevel elevator doors were at waist level. Turcotte it was to slam the door shut. There were name plaques next
reached up and jammed his fingers between them and to each door on the left and Turcotte surmised that those
pulled. He felt some of the stitches Cruise had put in his rooms were quarters for sublevel 1 staff.
side pop. The doors grudgingly gave six inches, then the He abandoned his cautious approach and ran forward,
emergency program kicked in and they began opening of turning the corner to the right. The hall he faced was ten
their own accord. feet long, ending in a double set of doors with more dire
Turcotte had his Browning out in his right hand as he warnings in red posted on them. Turcotte pushed the doors
peeked up over the lip. There were two guards standing in open and stepped in. The rough concrete floor angled
the corridor and they were ready, the explosion having down to a large cavern carved out of the mountain. The
alerted them. Bullets ripped in above Turcotte's head. He ceiling was twenty feet high and the far wall a hundred
ducked and heard the rounds thump into the wall above his meters away. What caught Turcotte's attention first were
head. He removed a flash-bang grenade from his pocket, several dozen large vertical vats that were full of some am-
292 ROBERT DOHERTY 293
AREA 51
ber-colored liquid and each one holding something in it. t'me of night he didn't think there was a platoon of men
Turcotte stepped up to the nearest one and peered in. He hanging around "just in case."
recoiled as he recognized what was a human being. There A humming noise drew his attention back to the pyra-
were tubes coming in and out of the body and the entire mid A golden glow was flowing out of the apex, forming a
head was encased in a black bulb with numerous wires three-foot-diameter circle in the air above. Turcotte stag-
going into it. It reminded Turcotte of what had been done gered back. His head felt as if an ax had split his brain from
to Johnny Simmons, except on a more sophisticated level. ear to ear. He turned and ran, heading away from the cor-
A golden glow to the right caught Turcotte's attention. ridor he'd come down. When he'd first come into the room
He ran in that direction and stopped in surprise as he he'd realized they hadn't gotten all this equipment in here
cleared the last vat. The glow came from the surface of a through the elevator he'd destroyed. There had to be an-
small pyramid, about eight feet high and four feet across other way. He fought to keep his concentration against the
each base side. tidal wave of pain that surged through his skull.
Several cables hanging from the ceiling were hooked The floor began sloping up again. A large vertical door
into it, but it was the texture of the surface that caught and beckoned. Turcotte grabbed the strap on the bottom of it
held Turcotte's attention. It was perfectly smooth and solid and pulled up. It lifted to reveal a large freight elevator.
appearing. The surface seemed to be some sort of metal Stepping in, he pulled the door back down and checked the
and when Turcotte touched it, it was cool and as unyielding control panel. It had the same two-key system, but the keys
as the hardest steel. Yet the glow seemed to come right out were only needed to go down. He punched in HP and the
of the material. floor jerked.
There were markings all over it. Turcotte recognized the The pain in his head slowly subsided as he got farther
high rune writing from the photos Nabinger had shown away from sublevel 1. He went up past 2, 3, then 4. The
him. parking garage passed by, then almost ten seconds of
There was a noise. Turcotte spun and fired. A guard movement passed until the light came on for HP. The ele-
racing through the double doors returned fire with a sub- vator came to a halt. Turcotte pulled up on the inside strap
machine gun, his rounds hitting several of the vats, shatter- and the door opened onto a large bay carved into the side
ing glass, the liquid pouring out. The man was disoriented of the mountain. Camouflage netting overhung the open
by the layout of the room and had fired instinctively at the end and the place was dimly lit with red night-lights. Crates
sound of Turcotte's gun. and boxes were stacked about. If there had been a guard
Turcotte fired again, more carefully, and hit the man up here he must have responded to the alarm on the lower
twice, killing him. He felt nothing. He was in action mode, level, because the place was deserted. Turcotte ran across
taking care of what needed to be done. He needed infor- to the netting and peered out. A steel platform large
mation and he had plenty from what he had seen in this enough to take the biggest helicopter in the inventory had
room. He didn't expect any more guards soon. One of the been erected out there. He walked out onto it. The side of
Catch-22's of a place like this was that the more guards you e mountain was very steep here. Turcotte looked down.
had, the more people you had who were security risks. This The valley below was in darkness, giving no idea how far
294 ROBERT DOHERTY 295
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down it went. Eight hundred feet above, the top of the disconnecting. Then he dialed a new number with a 910
mountain was silhouetted against the light of the moon. area code. Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Turcotte slid over the edge of the platform onto the rock- A sleepy voice answered. "Colonel Mickell."
and-dirt mountainside and began climbing. "It's Mike Turcotte, sir."
After a few minutes he could see lights moving in the The voice woke up. "Jesus, Turc, what the fuck have you
valley below. Reinforcements. It would take them a while done?"
to get air assets in--he hoped. Having been in Special Op- Turcotte leaned against the phone booth, energy drain-
erations for years, Turcotte knew that there just weren't ing out of his body. "I don't know, sir. I don't know what's
packs of men sitting around with high-speed helicopters going on. What have you heard?"
waiting around every corner. "I haven't heard shit except somebody wants your ass
He moved from rock to rock, clinging to bushes at times. bad. One of those agencies with a whole bunch of letters
He'd learned mountain climbing during a tour in Germany has put out a classified 'grab and hold' on you. I about shit
and this slope wasn't technically very difficult. The dark- when I saw it come through in my reading file."
ness was a bit of a problem, but his eyes were adjusting. Mickell was the deputy commander of the Special
He reached the top of the mountain after forty-five min- Forces Training Command at Fort Bragg and an old friend.
utes. He turned to the west, following the ridgeline that he "Can you help me, sir?"
had seen coming into town during the day. He moved "What do you need?"
quicker now that he was gradually descending. His head "I need to find out if someone is for real and, if she is,
still hurt, feeling as if a massive headache was worming its how to contact her."
way around his head, moving from section to section. What "Give me her name."
had that pyramid been? It definitely wasn't man-made. He "Duncan. Dr. Lisa Duncan. She told me she was the
knew it was connected to the bouncers and mothership. President's adviser to a thing called Majic-12."
But how was it connected to the bodies in the vats? What Mickell whistled. "Oh, man, you're in some deep stuff.
the hell was going on down there? How do I reach you?"
He saw the lights of Dulce to his left and he curved "You don't, sir. I'll get back in contact with you."
downslope in that direction, heading for the western edge "Watch your butt, Turc."
of town. As the ridgeline leveled out to valley floor he "Yes, sir."
passed the first houses. An occasional dog barked, but Turcotte slowly hung up the phone. He wasn't one hun-
Turcotte moved swiftly, not worried right now about the dred percent certain that Mickell would back him up. He
locals. didn't know why Duncan's number didn't work. The only
He spotted a pay phone outside a closed bowling area means of communication she'd given him as he went un-
and jogged up to it. He picked up the receiver and dialed dercover and it had been out now for a couple of days. Not
the number Dr. Duncan had given him. After the second good. Not good at all. He'd just killed three men this eve-
ring a mechanical device informed that the number was no ning. "Fuck," Turcotte muttered. What the hell was that
longer in service. Turcotte pushed down the metal lever, pyramid?
I
296 ROBERT DOHERTY
Turcotte rubbed his forehead. He'd played his last cards. 26
When it got down to it, he had to admit that the only
people he could trust right now were heading for Utah and
the rendezvous he had planned. He didn't want to go
there, but it was the only place he could go.
He looked about. There was a pickup truck parked on
the street. Goddamn, his head hurt. Turcotte drew deep
inside, relying on years of harsh training. He drew up
strength where most would find nothing. And headed for
the pickup truck.
ROUTE 64, NORTHWEST NEW MEXICO
T-7O HOURS, 4O MINUTES
Johnny Simmons started screaming and Kelly's best efforts
couldn't stop it. She wrapped her arms around him and
held him tight, whispering words of comfort in his ear.
The biological and chemical warfare experts. And they of Dulce. I do remember a large mountain behind the town
were continuing their experimental work that they had and that we went around the mountain on a dirt road.
started in the concentration camps. I could not go there. I Then we went into a tunnel and it was all underground."
274 ROBERT DOHERTY
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Turcotte rubbed his forehead. "So you don't exactly
know where it is and you don't exactly know what goes on The copper taste flooded Johnny's mouth and his world
there?" went black again. But this time he could hear his own
"No." screams, sounding as if it were some other person a long
Kelly looked up in the rearview mirror. Turcotte met her way away. But the pain was close.
eyes, then spoke. "Well, we'll be there shortly. And we'll
find out what's going on and get Johnny Simmons out of
there."
Kelly opened her mouth to say something, then shut it.
She turned her eyes back to the road and drove.
VICINITY, DULCE, NEW MEXICO
Johnny Simmons could see. He didn't know how long ago
it had started, but it had begun with the slightest tinge of
gray infiltrating the blackness surrounding him. Then the
difference between light and dark grew, and he was able to
make out some forms moving around on the periphery of
his vision. He couldn't move his head, nor could he move
his eyes.
But as time went by, he wished the slight improvement
that had occurred had not. Because there was something
wrong about the forms he caught glimpses of. They were
human shaped, but they weren't human and that is what
scared him. The silhouetted forms were all wrong--heads
too large; arms too long; torsos too short. Once he thought
he saw the outline of a hand, but there were six fingers
instead of five and the fingers were much too long.
Johnny was concentrating so hard on his eyes that it was
a while before he noticed other changes in his environ-
ment. There was a scent in the air. A very unpleasant scent.
And he could hear sound, albeit as if from a long distance
away. It was a clicking sound, but not mechanical. More
like insect clicking.
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Route 64 passed along the south side of the community,
25 and Kelly carefully kept to the speed limit as they drove
through. As the town slipped behind them, Turcotte told
her to pull off on a dirt road and stop.
"You say the facility is behind that mountain?" he asked
Von Seeckt.
"Yes. It was night when I came here and over fifty years
ago, though. There wasn't much here in those days. I don't
remember all these buildings."
Turcotte looked to the north. "All right. We have about
ROUTE 64, NORTHWEST NEW MEXICO two hours of daylight left. Let's check out what we can see
T-79 HOURS from the van." He pointed back toward town and Kelly
turned them around.
The road curved around a small lake to the left and passed They cruised in past the sign marking the city limits and
between tree-covered hills. Turcotte checked the map. took a right, going past the local elementary school. The
They were close to Dulce. According to Rand McNally the road slowly sloped up. Within a quarter mile they were at
town was just south of the border with Colorado, nestled the base of the ridge. Turcotte kept Kelly taking turns that
between the Carson National Forest and the Rio Grande directed them to the right. It was the only way he could see
National Forest. The terrain was rocky and mountainous, around the mountain. Left would only run along the south
with occasional clusters of pine trees adorning the hillsides. side of the ridgeline.
It was the sort of relatively unpopulated area the govern- An arrowhead with a 2 inside it marked a road leading
ment liked to build secret facilities in. to the northeast. The other roads all appeared to be local
They hit a straight section of road and a long-distance residential streets. Kelly turned onto the arrowhead road
view opened up directly ahead. Von Seeckt leaned forward and they began climbing the shoulder of the mountain. A
between the seats. "There. That mountain to the left. I sign indicated they were now on the Jicarilla Apache In-
remember that. The facility is behind it." dian Reservation. A white Ford Bronco rolled past with
A long ridge extended from left to right about ten miles two men seated inside and Turcotte twisted his head and
ahead, culminating in a peak slightly separated from the watched it go by.
main body of the ridge. "Government plates," he noted.
"Where should I go?" Kelly asked. "Yeah," Kelly said.
"Stay on this road," Turcotte said. "I'll tell you where to "Probably from the facility."
stop." "I don't want to burst your bubble," Kelly said, "but you
As they got closer, the town of Dulce appeared at the see a lot of U.S. government plates out here. We're on
base of the ridgeline, a scattering of buildings along the ederal land, actually Indian land, but the Bureau of Indian
valley floor running up to the base of the large mountain. Affairs, which helps run the reservations, is federal."
278 ROBERT DOHERTY
A R E A 5 1 279
"But it could be from the base," Turcotte said. guarded facilities. The goal of a lot of the security is not, as
"Ah, optimism," Kelly said, mimicking his Canuck ac- you would think, to prevent someone from actually break-
cent. "I like that." ing in. The goal is deterrence: to keep someone from con-
"There." Turcotte pointed to the right shoulder. "Stop sidering breaking in."
there." "I don't understand," Nabinger said from the rear.
The road split. To the right it went down into a valley. To "Think of the security cameras in banks," Turcotte ex-
the left a wide, well-maintained gravel road curved along plained. "They work through deterrence. They keep most
the back of the ridgeline and disappeared. people from robbing the bank because those people know
"It's around there," Turcotte announced firmly. their picture will get taken and the police will eventually
"Why not to the right?" she asked. catch them. The same with most security. For example, if I
"Von Seeckt said it was behind the mountain. To the wanted to kill the President, I could most definitely kill
right is not behind the mountain." He looked to the back. him. The problem lies with killing him and getting away
"Correct?" afterward."
Von Seeckt concurred. "I believe to the left." "So, you're saying we can get in to this facility but we
Turcotte continued. "Also, since we left Phoenix that's can't get out?" Kelly asked.
the best maintained and widest gravel road I've seen." He "Oh, I think we should be able to get out. It's just that
smiled. "But mostly, the thing that convinces me that the they'll know we did it."
facility is down that road--besides Von Seeckt's opinion, of Kelly shrugged. "Hell, that ain't a problem. They're al-
course--are those little lines of what appears to be smoke ready after us. We get Johnny, we go public. That's the only
hanging above the road." He pointed to the gravel road. way we'll make it."
"See them? There and there?" "Right," Turcotte said.
"Yes. What are they?" "So, back to my original question," Kelly said. "What
"That's dust caught in a laser beam. A car goes down now?"
that road, the beam gets broken and a signal is sent. "Back to town," Turcotte said. "We need a ticket to get
There's two of them, so they can tell if a vehicle is coming us in. Once inside I'll get us to Johnny."
or going depending on the order the beams get broken. I "And the high rune tablets," Nabinger added. "Von
don't think the Bureau of Indian Affairs guards the reser- Seeckt told me that Dulce is where they keep all the ones
vations that tightly, do you?" the government has."
"What now?" Kelly asked, glancing over her shoulder at "And the high rune tablets," Turcotte amended. "What-
the other two men in the rear. ever you can find."
"I don't think this place will be as well guarded as Area "Anyplace in particular in town?" Kelly asked as she
51," Turcotte said. "All the work here must be done inside, turned them around and headed to the south.
so it obviously doesn't attract as much attention as the "Know how cops always hang out at the local doughnut
other facility. So that's to our advantage. shop?" Turcotte said.
"The other thing to remember is a basic fact about most "Yes."
28O ROBERT DOHERTY
281
AREA 51
"We need to find where the workers from the base get met him halfway between the two vehicles, caught in the
their doughnuts." glow of the headlights.
"You an idiot or what?" the driver demanded. "You pass
me and--
Without a word Turcotte fired the stun gun, dropping the
T-73 HOURS, 15 MINUTES man immediately. He cuffed him with plastic cinches from
"That one," Turcotte said. They'd watched a dozen or so his vest and dragged the body into the back of the van.
cars with small green stickers on the front center of the "Get into the truck," he ordered Von Seeckt and Nabinger.
windshield pull in and out of the convenience-store parking The two men scuttled over into the backseat of the Subur-
lot over the course of the past several hours. Turcotte had ban.
pointed out the stickers and explained that they were de- Kelly drove the van a hundred meters down the tar road,
cals used to identify cars that had access to government where the turn concealed them from the intersection.
installations. As night had fallen, the lights had come on, There was no place to conceal the van, so she just pulled
illuminating the parking and leaving their van in the dark- off to the shoulder. Turcotte made sure the man was secure
ness across the street. and quickly frisked him.
"I've got him." Kelly started the engine to the van and "This isn't much of a plan," Kelly muttered as she locked
followed the Suburban out of the parking lot of the Minit the van and pocketed the keys. "And I'm not sure I buy
Mart. your easy-to-get-in-and-out theory."
"One of my commanders in the infantry used to say any
They followed the truck as it went north through town
plan was better than having Rommel stick it up your ass on
and then turned onto Reservation Route 2. They were a the drop zone," Turcotte said as they jogged up the road
quarter mile from the split in the road. toward the truck.
"Now," Turcotte ordered. "I don't get it," Kelly said.
Kelly flashed her high beams and accelerated until they "I never did, either, but it sounded good. What's really
were right on the bumper of the Suburban. She swung out interesting," he said, pausing for a second and looking at
and passed, Turcotte leaning out the window and giving the her in the starlight, "is that you're the first person who ever
finger to the driver of the truck as he screamed obscenities. said that about that quote. I never told my commander I
Kelly slammed on the brakes and they skidded to a halt didn't get it."
at the intersection with the gravel road. The driver of the "And?" Kelly said.
Suburban came to a stop on the gravel road, headlights He began jogging again. "It means you listen and you
pointing at the van. think."
"What the fuck is your problem, asshole?" the burly Turcotte took the wheel this time. He scanned the inte-
driver of the truck demanded as he stepped out and started rior and reached above the visor; an electronic card key
walking toward the van. was there, such as those used in hotels to open doors. He
Turcotte jumped out of the passenger side of the van and checked the name: Spencer. "The plan is getting better by
283
282 AREA 51
ROBERT DOHERTY
also to allow people to begin getting their night sight when
the minute." He tucked the card between his legs next to
the stun gun. "Everyone down. We're going to be on cam- departing.
The slots were numbered, but Turcotte took his chances
era in a second." and went to the far end, out of sight of the guard, and
Throwing the engine into gear, he rolled down the gravel parked. There were about ten other cars in the garage.
road, past the laser sensors. There was no way he could see Over fifty spaces were empty, which meant that the night
it, but he had no doubt that the vehicle was being surveyed shift was a skeleton crew, for which Turcotte was grateful.
by infrared cameras to check for the decal and insure it was There was a pair of sliding doors set in the rock twenty
authorized. He knew the decal was covered with a fluores- feet from where he had parked. "Let's go."
cent coating that could easily be seen through such a de- Turcotte glanced over his shoulder at the three people
vice. He watched the road carefully, hoping that there following him--Kelly short and compact, Von Seeckt lean-
would be no more forks where a decision had to be made. ing on his cane, and Nabinger bringing up the rear. Kelly
A sign appeared in the headlights warning that they were smiled at him. "Lead on, fearless one."
now entering a federal restricted area and the fine print He slid the card key into the slot on the side of the
listed all the dire consequences unauthorized personnel elevator. The doors slid open. They crowded inside and
would face and all the constitutional rights that they no Turcotte examined the buttons. They ranged from HP, Ga-
longer had. Four hundred meters past the sign a steel bar rage, down through sublevels 4 to 1. "I'd say HP stands for
stretched across the road. A machine such as those used at 'helipad.' They probably have one cut into the side of the
airports to give out parking tickets was on the left side. mountain or maybe even on the top of the mountain above
Turcotte pulled up and inserted the card key into the slot. us. Any idea what floor we should go to?" he asked Von
The steel bar lifted. Seeckt.
He continued on, then the road split. Turcotte had less The old man shrugged. "They had stairs when I was here
than three seconds to make a decision. To the left loomed last, but we did go down."
the mountain. To the right the valley floor. He turned left "I'd say bottom level," Kelly suggested. "The greater the
and immediately was in a narrow valley. The sides closed in secret, the deeper you go."
and camouflage netting covered the road, staked down on "Real scientific," Turcotte muttered. He hit sublevel 1.
the rock walls on either side, confirming his decision. A The elevator dropped, the lights on the wall flashed, then
thirty-foot-wide opening in the base of the mountain ap- halted at sublevel 2. A message appeared on the digital
peared directly ahead, carved into the side of the moun- display above the number lights:
tain. A dull red glow came out of the opening.
A bored security guard in a booth just inside the cave ACCESS TO SUBLEVEL 1 LIMITED TO
opening hardly looked up, waving the Suburban in. A large AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.
parking garage was off to the right and Turcotte turned TOP SECRET Q LEVEL CLEARANCE REQUIRED.
that way. The man-made cave was dimly lit by red lights. DUAL ACCESS MANDATORY.
That was both to defeat detection from the outside by not INSERT ACCESS KEYS NOW.
having bright white light coming out of the entrance, and
284 ROBERT DOHERTY
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AREA 51
Turcotte looked at the two small openings--made for ster when Turcotte jumped into the air, feet leading, and
small round objects--one just below the digital display and flew over the desk. The bottom of his boots caught the
the other on the far wall. They were far enough apart that guard in the chest, knocking him back against the wall.
one person could not operate both keys--just like the Turcotte was back on his feet first and he slammed a turn
launch systems of ICBM. "I don't have the keys for that, kick into the side of the guard's skull, knocking him out.
and our Mr. Spencer didn't have them on him either." He turned to the desktop and looked at the computer
"Let's try this level," Kelly suggested. screen that was built into it. It showed a schematic, with
Turcotte pressed the open button and the doors slid rooms labeled and green lights in each little box. The oth-
apart, revealing a small foyer and another door and an- ers quickly gathered around.
other warning sign: "Archives," Turcotte said, resting a finger on a room. He
looked up at Nabinger and Von Seeckt. "That's yours." He
SUBLEVEL 2 reached into his pocket and pulled out the stun gun. "You
AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY. meet anyone, use this. Just aim and pull the trigger, the
RED CLEARANCE REQUIRED. gun does the rest. You've got five minutes. Then be back
here whether you found what you're looking for or not."
An opening for a card key to be passed through was just Nabinger oriented himself with the diagram and looked
below the sign. Turcotte held up the card key he'd appro- down the corridor. "Right. Let's go." He headed off with
priated from the Suburban. It was orange. "We're still out Von Seeckt.
of the depth of Mr. Spencer's security range." He stepped Turcotte pointed. "I'd say your friend is in one of these
forward and shrugged off the small backpack he had on. two places." One was labeled HOLDING AREA and the other
"But I think I can handle this little roadblock." He re- BIOLAB.
moved a small black box. "Biolab," Kelly said.
"What's that?" Kelly asked. They sprinted in the opposite direction from the one
"Something I found in the van. They had all sorts of Von Seeckt and Nabinger had taken. The hall was quiet
goodies back there." A card key was attached to the box by and they passed several doors with nameplates on the out-
several wires. Turcotte slid it into the slot in the direction side--obviously offices for the people who worked here in
opposite that indicated by the arrow. "It reads the door the daytime.
code backward, memorizes it, and then reverses the code. "Left," Kelly said. A set of swinging double doors waited
I've used similar devices in some of my other assignments." at the end of a short corridor. They halted and Kelly
He slid it down in the proper direction and the two doors arched her eyebrows at Turcotte in question as they heard
slip open to reveal a guard seated at a desk ten feet away. someone cough on the other side.
"Hey!" the guard yelled, bounding to his feet. "We charge," Turcotte whispered.
Turcotte dropped the box and reached for the stun gun. "You don't have much of a tactical repertoire," Kelly
It got caught in his pocket and he abandoned the effort, replied quietly.
sprinting forward. The guard's gun had just cleared his hol- Turcotte pushed the doors open and stepped in. A mid-
286 ROBERT DOHERTY 287
AREA 51
die-aged woman in a white coat was bent over a large "But I can't just open it. The shock will kill the obj--" She
chest-high rectangular black object. Her hair was pulled caught herself. "The patient. I have to do this in proper
back tight in a bun and she peered up over a pair of procedure."
glasses. "How long?" Turcotte asked.
"Who are you?" she demanded. "Fifteen minutes to--"
"Johnny Simmons?" Turcotte asked. "Make it five."
"What?" the woman replied, but Turcotte caught the
shift of her eyes to the black object. At the other end of this level of the facility Von Seeckt and
He walked past her and looked down. It reminded him Professor Nabinger were staring at an intellectual treasure
of an oversized coffin. There was a panel on the top--what trove. The archives had been dark when they opened the
the woman had been looking at. "What is this?" he asked. doors. When Nabinger hit the lights, a room full of large
"Who are you people?" The woman looked past them at filing cabinets had come into view. Opening drawers, they
the door. "What are you doing here?" found photos. The drawers were labeled with numbers that
There were a number of cables coming out of the ceiling, meant nothing to the two men. At the far end of the room
going into the black top. Some of the cables were clear and there was a vault door with a small glass window. Von
there was fluid in them. He turned on the woman. "Get Seeckt peered through. "The original stone tablets from
him out of there." the mothership cavern are in there," he said. "But they
"Johnny's in there?" Kelly stared at the casing. She must have photographs of them in these cabinets."
walked over and picked up a clipboard hanging on a hook. Nabinger was already opening drawers. "Here's the
She checked the papers on it. same high runes from the site in Mexico that Slader
"Someone's in there," Turcotte said. "Those are IV showed me," Nabinger said, holding up large ten-by-fif-
tubes. I don't know what they're carrying, but someone's in teen-inch glossies.
there on the receiving end." "Yes, yes," Von Seeckt said absently, throwing open
"It's Johnny," Kelly said, holding up the clipboard. drawer after drawer. "We need to find ones she didn't
"Get him out of there," Turcotte repeated. show you--the ones from the mothership cavern. I do not
"I don't know who you are," the woman began, "but-- believe our Captain Turcotte will have much patience once
Turcotte slid his Browning High Power out of its holster. his five-minute limit is up."
He pulled the hammer back with his thumb. "You got five Nabinger started going through drawers more quickly.
seconds or I put a round through your left thigh."
The woman glared at him. "You wouldn't dare!" The woman's hands shook as she worked on the panel.
"He would," Kelly said. "And if he didn't, I would. Open Most of the cables had been disconnected and she was
it!" checking some readings.
"One. Two. Three." Turcotte dropped the barrel and "What did you people do to him?" Kelly asked.
aimed at the woman's leg. "It's complicated," the woman said.
"All right. All right!" The woman held up her hands. "E-D-O-M?" Kelly spelled out the letters.
288 ROBERT DOHERTY 289
AREA 51
The woman stiffened. "How do you know of that?" Kelly looked at the woman.
"Finish the job," Turcotte said. "Please don't," the woman begged.
The woman hit a key and the box began beeping. "It will "The change starts here," Kelly said. She shot the
be safe to open in thirty seconds." woman with the stun gun, then hurried after the others.
They piled into the elevator. Turcotte leaned Johnny up
Von Seeckt had paused at one drawer, looking at the against the wall and Kelly kneeled to support him.
photos more carefully. At the end of the aisle Nabinger Turcotte punched in the button labeled G and the eleva-
was moving on to the next cabinet when he noticed some- tor rose. He poked Nabinger in the chest. "You and Kelly
thing in a glass cabinet on the wall. He moved over and carry him out to the van."
stared at the object inside. "What are you doing?" Kelly asked.
Von Seeckt held up a handful of pictures. "These are the "My job," Turcotte said. "I'll link up with you in Utah.
photos from the mothership cavern! Let us rejoin the good Capitol Reef National Park. It's small. I'll find you."
captain." "Why aren't you going with us?" Kelly demanded.
"I'm going to see what's on sublevel one," Turcotte said.
The beeping stopped and the woman pointed at a lever on "Plus, I'll create a diversion so you can get away." He hus-
the side of the box. "Lift that." tled them out into the garage, then stepped back into the
Turcotte grabbed the red handle and pulled it up. With a elevator.
hiss the lid came up, revealing a naked Johnny Simmons "But--" The shutting doors cut off the rest of her words.
submerged inside a pool of dark-colored liquid. Needles Turcotte punched in sublevel 2 and the elevator went
were stuck in both arms and tubes led to his lower body. A back down to where he had just left. The doors opened on
tube was inserted in his mouth, a clear plastic-type material the unconscious guard. Turcotte ran out and grabbed the
wrapped around the tube and molded to his face, ensuring guard's body. He dragged the body back, wedging it in the
a seal to keep the fluid out. doorway to keep the doors from shutting. Then he
"I have to remove the oxygen tube and the catheters and shrugged off the backpack of gear he had appropriated
IVs," the woman said. from the van. He knew it was only a matter of time before
"Do it." Turcotte said. He turned as Von Seeckt and some alarm was raised. They had to have some sort of
Nabinger appeared in the doorway. Nabinger's hands were internal checks with the guards, and when the sublevel 2
bleeding and he held something wrapped in his jacket. guard didn't respond . . . well, then things would get ex-
"You were not at--" Von Seeckt halted in midsentence citing.
when he saw the body inside the black box. "Ah, these He laid out two one-pound charges of C-6 explosive he'd
people! They never stopped. They never stopped." found in the van on the carpeted floor of the elevator. He
"Enough," Turcotte ordered. The woman was done. He molded the puttylike material into two foot-long half cir-
leaned over and scooped Johnny up. "Let's go." cles, placing them about two and a half feet apart in the
"What do I do with her?" Kelly asked. center of the floor. He pushed a nonelectric blasting cap
"Kill her," Turcotte snapped as he headed out the door. into each charge. He'd crimped detonating cord into each
290 ROBERT DOHERTY 291
AREA 51
fuse in the van, so all he had to do was tie the loose ends of pulled the pin, and tossed it toward the sound of the guns.
the det cord together with a square knot, leaving enough to He squeezed his eyes shut and put his hands over his ears.
put on the M60 fuse igniter. The igniter was about six As soon as he felt the concussion, he sprang up. In his
inches long by an inch in diameter with a metal ring at the last assignment Turcotte had fired thousands of rounds
opposite end from the det cord. from the pistol every day. It was an extension of his body
The det cord was just long enough for him to step out- and he could put a round into a quarter-sized circle at
side the elevator doors. He pulled the unconscious guard
out of the way and held one of the doors open with his left twenty-five feet.
One guard was kneeling, submachine gun dangling on
hand. Then he checked his watch. It had been almost five the end of its sling, his hands rubbing his eyes. The other
minutes since he'd let the others out in the garage. They still had his weapon ready but was disoriented, facing
ought to be getting near the metal gate. He'd give them toward the wall, blinking and shaking his head. Turcotte
another two minutes, then showtime. The seconds dragged fired twice, hitting the first man in the center of his fore-
by slowly. head, throwing the body back. The next round hit the sec-
Time. Turcotte put the M60 in his mouth, clamping ond man in the temple. As he keeled over, his dead finger
down on it with his teeth. He pulled the metal ring with his jerked back on the trigger, sending a stream of bullets into
right hand.
The detonating cord burned at twenty thousand feet per the wall.
Turcotte slowly slid on his belly up into the corridor. He
second. The result was that Turcotte was still pulling when got to his feet, staying low in a crouch. The hall extended
the charges exploded. He threw down the igniter and about sixty feet, to a dead end. There were several doors to
stepped into the elevator. A three-foot hole was in the the left and another corridor turning to the right. There
floor. Turcotte jumped in, falling ten feet, landing on the were red lights flashing and a teeth-jarring low-frequency
concrete bottom of the elevator shaft. He heard alarms siren wailing. One of the doors to the left opened and
screaming in the distance. Turcotte snapped a shot in that direction, causing whoever
The sublevel elevator doors were at waist level. Turcotte it was to slam the door shut. There were name plaques next
reached up and jammed his fingers between them and to each door on the left and Turcotte surmised that those
pulled. He felt some of the stitches Cruise had put in his rooms were quarters for sublevel 1 staff.
side pop. The doors grudgingly gave six inches, then the He abandoned his cautious approach and ran forward,
emergency program kicked in and they began opening of turning the corner to the right. The hall he faced was ten
their own accord. feet long, ending in a double set of doors with more dire
Turcotte had his Browning out in his right hand as he warnings in red posted on them. Turcotte pushed the doors
peeked up over the lip. There were two guards standing in open and stepped in. The rough concrete floor angled
the corridor and they were ready, the explosion having down to a large cavern carved out of the mountain. The
alerted them. Bullets ripped in above Turcotte's head. He ceiling was twenty feet high and the far wall a hundred
ducked and heard the rounds thump into the wall above his meters away. What caught Turcotte's attention first were
head. He removed a flash-bang grenade from his pocket, several dozen large vertical vats that were full of some am-
292 ROBERT DOHERTY 293
AREA 51
ber-colored liquid and each one holding something in it. t'me of night he didn't think there was a platoon of men
Turcotte stepped up to the nearest one and peered in. He hanging around "just in case."
recoiled as he recognized what was a human being. There A humming noise drew his attention back to the pyra-
were tubes coming in and out of the body and the entire mid A golden glow was flowing out of the apex, forming a
head was encased in a black bulb with numerous wires three-foot-diameter circle in the air above. Turcotte stag-
going into it. It reminded Turcotte of what had been done gered back. His head felt as if an ax had split his brain from
to Johnny Simmons, except on a more sophisticated level. ear to ear. He turned and ran, heading away from the cor-
A golden glow to the right caught Turcotte's attention. ridor he'd come down. When he'd first come into the room
He ran in that direction and stopped in surprise as he he'd realized they hadn't gotten all this equipment in here
cleared the last vat. The glow came from the surface of a through the elevator he'd destroyed. There had to be an-
small pyramid, about eight feet high and four feet across other way. He fought to keep his concentration against the
each base side. tidal wave of pain that surged through his skull.
Several cables hanging from the ceiling were hooked The floor began sloping up again. A large vertical door
into it, but it was the texture of the surface that caught and beckoned. Turcotte grabbed the strap on the bottom of it
held Turcotte's attention. It was perfectly smooth and solid and pulled up. It lifted to reveal a large freight elevator.
appearing. The surface seemed to be some sort of metal Stepping in, he pulled the door back down and checked the
and when Turcotte touched it, it was cool and as unyielding control panel. It had the same two-key system, but the keys
as the hardest steel. Yet the glow seemed to come right out were only needed to go down. He punched in HP and the
of the material. floor jerked.
There were markings all over it. Turcotte recognized the The pain in his head slowly subsided as he got farther
high rune writing from the photos Nabinger had shown away from sublevel 1. He went up past 2, 3, then 4. The
him. parking garage passed by, then almost ten seconds of
There was a noise. Turcotte spun and fired. A guard movement passed until the light came on for HP. The ele-
racing through the double doors returned fire with a sub- vator came to a halt. Turcotte pulled up on the inside strap
machine gun, his rounds hitting several of the vats, shatter- and the door opened onto a large bay carved into the side
ing glass, the liquid pouring out. The man was disoriented of the mountain. Camouflage netting overhung the open
by the layout of the room and had fired instinctively at the end and the place was dimly lit with red night-lights. Crates
sound of Turcotte's gun. and boxes were stacked about. If there had been a guard
Turcotte fired again, more carefully, and hit the man up here he must have responded to the alarm on the lower
twice, killing him. He felt nothing. He was in action mode, level, because the place was deserted. Turcotte ran across
taking care of what needed to be done. He needed infor- to the netting and peered out. A steel platform large
mation and he had plenty from what he had seen in this enough to take the biggest helicopter in the inventory had
room. He didn't expect any more guards soon. One of the been erected out there. He walked out onto it. The side of
Catch-22's of a place like this was that the more guards you e mountain was very steep here. Turcotte looked down.
had, the more people you had who were security risks. This The valley below was in darkness, giving no idea how far
294 ROBERT DOHERTY 295
AREA 51
down it went. Eight hundred feet above, the top of the disconnecting. Then he dialed a new number with a 910
mountain was silhouetted against the light of the moon. area code. Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Turcotte slid over the edge of the platform onto the rock- A sleepy voice answered. "Colonel Mickell."
and-dirt mountainside and began climbing. "It's Mike Turcotte, sir."
After a few minutes he could see lights moving in the The voice woke up. "Jesus, Turc, what the fuck have you
valley below. Reinforcements. It would take them a while done?"
to get air assets in--he hoped. Having been in Special Op- Turcotte leaned against the phone booth, energy drain-
erations for years, Turcotte knew that there just weren't ing out of his body. "I don't know, sir. I don't know what's
packs of men sitting around with high-speed helicopters going on. What have you heard?"
waiting around every corner. "I haven't heard shit except somebody wants your ass
He moved from rock to rock, clinging to bushes at times. bad. One of those agencies with a whole bunch of letters
He'd learned mountain climbing during a tour in Germany has put out a classified 'grab and hold' on you. I about shit
and this slope wasn't technically very difficult. The dark- when I saw it come through in my reading file."
ness was a bit of a problem, but his eyes were adjusting. Mickell was the deputy commander of the Special
He reached the top of the mountain after forty-five min- Forces Training Command at Fort Bragg and an old friend.
utes. He turned to the west, following the ridgeline that he "Can you help me, sir?"
had seen coming into town during the day. He moved "What do you need?"
quicker now that he was gradually descending. His head "I need to find out if someone is for real and, if she is,
still hurt, feeling as if a massive headache was worming its how to contact her."
way around his head, moving from section to section. What "Give me her name."
had that pyramid been? It definitely wasn't man-made. He "Duncan. Dr. Lisa Duncan. She told me she was the
knew it was connected to the bouncers and mothership. President's adviser to a thing called Majic-12."
But how was it connected to the bodies in the vats? What Mickell whistled. "Oh, man, you're in some deep stuff.
the hell was going on down there? How do I reach you?"
He saw the lights of Dulce to his left and he curved "You don't, sir. I'll get back in contact with you."
downslope in that direction, heading for the western edge "Watch your butt, Turc."
of town. As the ridgeline leveled out to valley floor he "Yes, sir."
passed the first houses. An occasional dog barked, but Turcotte slowly hung up the phone. He wasn't one hun-
Turcotte moved swiftly, not worried right now about the dred percent certain that Mickell would back him up. He
locals. didn't know why Duncan's number didn't work. The only
He spotted a pay phone outside a closed bowling area means of communication she'd given him as he went un-
and jogged up to it. He picked up the receiver and dialed dercover and it had been out now for a couple of days. Not
the number Dr. Duncan had given him. After the second good. Not good at all. He'd just killed three men this eve-
ring a mechanical device informed that the number was no ning. "Fuck," Turcotte muttered. What the hell was that
longer in service. Turcotte pushed down the metal lever, pyramid?
I
296 ROBERT DOHERTY
Turcotte rubbed his forehead. He'd played his last cards. 26
When it got down to it, he had to admit that the only
people he could trust right now were heading for Utah and
the rendezvous he had planned. He didn't want to go
there, but it was the only place he could go.
He looked about. There was a pickup truck parked on
the street. Goddamn, his head hurt. Turcotte drew deep
inside, relying on years of harsh training. He drew up
strength where most would find nothing. And headed for
the pickup truck.
ROUTE 64, NORTHWEST NEW MEXICO
T-7O HOURS, 4O MINUTES
Johnny Simmons started screaming and Kelly's best efforts
couldn't stop it. She wrapped her arms around him and
held him tight, whispering words of comfort in his ear.