Getting out of the facility had been even easier than
getting in. They'd piled into the Suburban, driven out past
the unsuspecting guard, and linked back up with the van.
Returning the still-unconscious driver to his own truck,
they'd jumped into the van and driven back down through
town and turned left on Route 64.
"Can't you keep him quiet?" Von Seeckt asked from the
driver's seat, checking the rearview mirror.
"I'd be screaming too," Kelly answered, "if I'd been
locked in that thing for four days. You just drive. No one
can hear him except us."
Johnny quieted down and appeared to fall asleep or,
Kelly thought, slip into unconsciousness. She turned to
Nabinger, who had his hands wrapped in a bloodstained
towel. Kelly pulled out the first-aid kit. "What happened to
you, Professor?"
"There was something I had to get and it was in a glass
case. I couldn't find a key so I broke the glass," Nabinger
replied.
299
AREA 51
298 ROBERT DOHERTY
ing this latest escapade, you mean. I think we'll be okay. I
"Couldn't you have used something other than your just hope Turcotte made it out all right."
hand to break the glass?" Kelly asked as she pulled out the "I am not concerned about them being after us," Von
gauze and tape. Seeckt said. "I am concerned that we only have seventy-
"I was in a hurry," Nabinger replied. After a moment's two hours before the mothership flies."
silence he added, "I wasn't thinking about my hands."
"What was so important?" Kelly inquired.
Nabinger carefully unwrapped something from his
jacket. He held a piece of wood, slightly curved, about two THE CUBE, AREA 51
feet long by one foot high and an inch thick. Even in the General Gullick did not look like a man who had just been
dim light in the back of the van she could see that it was awakened five minutes ago. His uniform was well pressed
covered with small carved characters. and his face clean shaven. Major Quinn had to wonder if
"It's a rongorongo tablet from Easter Island," Nabinger Gullick shaved his face and skull before he went to bed
said. "Do you know how rare these are? Only twenty-one every night for just such an occurrence as this--always
are known to be in existence. This must be one that was ready for action. It suddenly occurred to Quinn that maybe
secreted away." the general never slept. Maybe he just lay there in the dark,
Kelly pointed at the eight-by-ten glossies that the two wide-awake, waiting for the next crisis.
men had gathered. "What are those?" "Let me hear it from the beginning," Gullick ordered as
Nabinger reluctantly looked from the tablet to the table, the other members of Majic-12, minus Dr. Duncan, strag-
where the photos were piled. "Von Seeckt told me those gled in.
are the photographs taken by the first team to enter the There wasn't much to tell. Quinn summarized the infor-
mothership cavern. They found flat stones with high mation an excited security chief had called in from Dulce.
runes." In reality, Quinn realized, as he recited the brief list of
"What do they say?" Kelly asked as she finished one facts concerning the break-in and the abduction of the re-
hand and began working on the other. porter Simmons and the theft of photos from the archives,
Nabinger looked at the photos. "Well, it's not like read- they knew more here at the Cube, because it was obvious
ing the newspaper, you know. This will take time." from the description from the guards and the female scien-
"Well, you've got some time, so get to work," Kelly said tist who'd been on shift that it had been Von Seeckt,
as she finished the second hand, then picked up a road Turcotte, Reynolds, and Nabinger acting in concert.
map. She found where they had to meet Turcotte. "You've "I underestimated all of them," Gullick said when Quinn
got all night," she announced. "I think we should get off was done. "Especially Von Seeckt and Turcotte."
this main road and take back roads through the mountains, Kennedy leaned forward. "We're in trouble. They're go-
heading west until we get to the linkup spot." ing to go to the media with this Simmons fellow."
"How soon do you think they'll be after us?" Nabinger "How far into conditioning was Simmons?" Gullick
asked. asked.
"They're already after us," Kelly said. "After us follow-
300 ROBERT DOHERTY 301
AREA 5 1
Quinn was puzzled. What were they talking about? snapped. "Prepare everything to move up twenty-four
Kennedy consulted his notepad. "They were sixty per- hours."
cent into phase four." "But-" Quinn began. The general cut him off again
Gullick looked at Doctor Slayden. "What do you think?" with a glare.
Slayden considered it. "I can't say for sure." "I want the hangar opened tomorrow," Gullick said,
"Goddammit!" Gullick's fist smashed into the desktop. "and I want the flight to be tomorrow night." Gullick
"I'm tired of people bullshitting me when I ask them a looked around the table. "I think everyone has a lot of
question." work to do, so I suggest you get moving." As they all got
The room was silent for several moments, then Slayden up, his voice halted them. "By the way. I want the orders
spoke. "They disconnected Simmons before treatment was on capturing Von Seeckt and his crew changed. It's no
complete. That had to be a shock to his system, and the longer capture at any cost. It is terminate with highest
way his mind will react to that, nobody knows. If nothing sanction."
else happens, the sixty percent he did have will be enough
to assure that Simmons will be discredited if he speaks
publicly. He'll fit in with all the other wackos, to use a
rather unscientific term."
"What about the photos they stole?" General Brown
asked.
"They were of the high rune tablets," Gullick said.
"Even if Nabinger can decipher the language, it will be
quite a while before other scientists can verify his transla-
tion. The tablets are not a problem. Even if they go to the
media, it will take a little time before anyone starts believ-
ing their story. They really don't have any proof."
Gullick's voice was void of emotion, but a vein throbbed
in his forehead. "All right. Then we're still back at the
original problem--Von Seeckt and Turcotte. They're the
threat, but I think at this point we can handle them for a
little while. Long enough, at least, for us to finish the
countdown. That's all that matters."
Quinn found that a little hard to believe. What about
afterward? he wanted to ask, but he kept his mouth shut.
He knew that question would only earn him grief, so he
chose another one. "What about the foo fighters?"
"We'll deal with that and this new problem too," Gullick
303
AREA 51
him but it's bad. Von Seeckt's sleeping inside. Nabinger is
looking at photos from the mothership hangar."
"Has he gotten anything?" Turcotte asked.
"What about you?" Kelly asked in response. "What hap-
pened? What was done on sublevel one?"
"I don't really know," Turcotte answered honestly and
vaguely. He walked to the side door and slipped in, Kelly
following.
"What have you got?" he asked the archaeologist.
"Better wake up Von Seeckt," Nabinger said. "He'll
CAPITOL REEF NATIONAL PARK, UTAH want to hear this."
ADJUSTED T - 4 4 HOURS It took Von Seeckt a few minutes to get fully awake and
then they all gathered around Professor Nabinger. He held
Just north of Monument Valley, Capitol Reef National a legal pad covered with pencil marks.
Park was right in the middle of the Rocky Mountains. This "First you have to understand that my knowledge of the
time of year it was virtually deserted. In fact, in a few high rune language is very rudimentary. I have a very small
weeks the gates would be locked for the winter snows. The working vocabulary, and to compound that fact, there are
lack of people, and out-of-the-way location, were two rea- symbols here that--although I believe they mean the same
sons Turcotte had selected it as their meeting point. The as similar symbols from other sources--have slight differ-
location put a lot of distance between themselves and ences in the way they are marked.
Dulce. "The other problem is that the symbols that represent
He drove in past the empty Ranger station and followed what we could call verbs are most difficult to make out
the road around. At the first campsite he spotted the van. because of the variations in tense, which change the basic
Kelly was standing outside, stun gun in hand, watching his symbol.
truck. She relaxed when she saw him step out. There was a "Beyond the simple deciphering of the symbols and the
concrete walkway at the end of the campsite, going along words they might mean," Nabinger continued, "there is an
the top of the cliff on which the site was located. It af- additional problem to working with a picture language.
forded a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains--or The ancient Egyptians called hieroglyphics 'medu metcher.'
would have if the sun was up. That means 'the gods' words.' The word hieroglyphs, which
"Good to see you," Kelly said. is Greek, refers specifically to the drawings in temples. It is
"How is everyone?" Turcotte asked, stretching his arms difficult for us in the modern day to understand a language
out. that was developed to explain the religious and mythi-
"Johnny's semiconscious. Whenever he gains conscious- cal--"
ness, he's delirious. I don't know what those people did to "Wait a second." Turcotte was tired and had had a long
304 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51
305
night. "You're talking about hieroglyphics now. Let's stick THE CHIEF(?) SHIP/CRAFT NEGATIVE(?) FLY
with the high runes and what they say." ENGINE/POWER(?) DANGEROUS
Nabinger was tired also. "I'm trying to explain all this to ALL SIGNS NEGATIVE/BAD(?) AND MUST BE
you so that you can take my few translations in the proper NEGATIVE/STOPPED(?)
context. It would be wrong of us to superimpose our own MUST BE SOON
culture and ideas upon what was written by a culture with a
totally different set of values and ideas." He tapped the "That must refer to the mothership," Von Seeckt said.
photos. "And here we are dealing with what appears to be "The negative with the question mark in the first sen-
an alien culture. We don't have a clue if their perception of tence- you don't know for sure what that word is?"
reality is the same as ours." "A verb," Nabinger said. "It might be cannot or should
"We're flying their ships," Turcotte noted. "It couldn't not or will not. "
be that far off." He thought of the pyramid and the golden "Makes a bit of difference," Turcotte noted. "I mean,
glow above it and mentally reconsidered his last statement. what if the damn thing just broke? That would cover the
"And not only that," Kelly added, "but didn't you tell us old won 't, wouldn't it? What if these aliens got stuck and
earlier that it appears this high rune language was the pre- their triple A plan didn't cover Earth? And maybe that's
cursor to all of mankind's written languages and probably why that thing shouldn't get cranked."
served as the starting point for those languages? So if the Kelly put an arm on Turcotte 's shoulder. "See? You said
roots are common, we must be able to understand it better 'shouldn't.' "
than if they were totally alien." "Hard, isn't it?" Nabinger said.
"Yes, yes," Nabinger said. "But there is just enough of a Turcotte rubbed the stubble of his beard. "Yeah, I get it.
common root for me to decipher some of this text. This All right, go on."
is--"
Turcotte placed a large hand on Nabinger's shoulder. THE OTHER (A)???? NOT WANT TO STAY
"Professor. It's late. We all need to get some sleep. But BE GONE BEFORE ARRIVAL OF (B)????
before we sleep we need to decide what we're going to do (C)???? STANDS FIRM
next. To do that we need to know what you have, as good as NO CONTAMINATION/INTERFERENCE(?)
you have been able to get it." WITH (WORD EQUALING HUMANS)
Nabinger nodded. "All right. There were two main NATURAL COURSE MUST BE ALLOWED
stones set up in the cavern. Those are the two I have spent
all my time on. There are others I will have to get to to- "No idea what was arriving?" Kelly asked. Her hand was
morrow. But here is what I do have. still on Turcotte's shoulder.
"Please note where I have question marks after certain "It was a special symbol. One that I had never seen be-
parts. That means that I am not quite certain of what-- fore," Nabinger said. "From the basic set of the symbol I
"Just show it to us!" Turcotte said. would say it represented a proper noun: a specific name.
Nabinger slid the first page under the small dome light. I've designated each unidentified symbol by a different let-
3O6 ROBERT DOHERTY
3O7
AREA 51
ter before the question marks to show that they aren't the
same. As you will see on the next page, one of the noun Hell evolution is not what we think. Do you know how that
symbols does repeat." will affect people? Think about religion? About--
"No " Von Seeckt disagreed. "It is not bigger than what
"So they decided to leave us alone?" Kelly said. . happening at Area 51. That is the first problem. Because
"But obviously that didn't happen," Von Seeckt said. in just under three days they are going to try to fly the
"That bomb had to get into the pyramid somehow." mothership, and the marker left by the people who aban-
"Yes," Nabinger agreed. "And the high runes all over doned the mothership says don't do it. We've got to stop
the planet. Somehow humans picked up some of that."
"Probably because it didn't work out the way they had it.""I've got another stupid question," Turcotte said.
planned. Apparently everyone didn't go along so easily The other three waited.
with getting stuck on Earth." Nabinger turned over the last "Why is Gullick in such a goddamn rush to fly the
page. mothership? That's bugged me from the very beginning."
"I do not know," Von Seeckt said. "It troubled me ever
DECISION MADE BY MEETING since he came up with the countdown to fly it. It was ridicu-
(C)???? PREPARES TO IMPLEMENT lous. He wanted to to fly it before we even ran a basic
DISAGREEMENT series of tests on it."
BATTLE Turcotte felt a pounding on the right side of his head.
OTHERS (D)???? FLEE FIGHT "Something isn't right about all this."
CHANGE HAS ARRIVED "Ever since they went to Dulce early this year," Von
IT IS OVER Seeckt said, "it all changed."
DUTY IS (E)???? Turcotte thought of the pyramid, the vats, the golden
glow. The small orb that had destroyed the helicopter he
"So they fought among themselves?" Kelly said. was on in Nebraska. Too many pieces that didn't fit. The
"Looks like it," Nabinger said. only thing he knew for sure was that this was bigger than
"And in the end they did their duty," Turcotte said. him right now.
"But not perfectly," Von Seeckt said. "We are still deal- "Let's get a little sleep first," Turcotte suggested. "We're
ing with the repercussions." all tired and we'll be able to think better with a couple of
"I've got a stupid question," Turcotte said. "Why would hours of rest. We'll decide what to do in the morning. We
the people who built the mothership leave their messages still have forty-eight hours."
on stone tablets?"
"Because that's what whoever was left there had to work
with," Nabinger said.
"This is big," Kelly said. "Bigger than what they have at
Area 51. This means history is not at all what we think it is.
309
AREA 51
was tight: no unwanted watchers on White Sides Mountain
28 this evening. And the skies were being carefully watched
with the invisible fingers of radar to keep out unwanted
overflights. Helicopter gunships were ready on the flight
line outside Hangar One.
Still, Gullick wanted to take no chances. He braked as a
figure stepped out of the darkness. The man walked up to
the humvee, weapon at the ready. The man snapped to
attention when he recognized General Gullick. Despite the
night vision goggles there was no mistaking the general's
HANGAR Two, AREA 51 presence.
ADJUSTED T-42 HOURS "Sir! The engineers are just ahead, under that camou-
flage net."
Major Quinn blinked hard, trying to keep his eyes open Gullick accelerated. Quinn was grateful when they fi-
against the lack of sleep. He pulled the collar of his Gore- nally stopped near several trucks parked under a desert
Tex parka tighter around his neck and shivered. It was cold camouflage net. An officer walked up to the humvee and
in the desert at night, and the wind whipping in the open smartly saluted.
windows of the humvee did not help. They had left Hangar "Sir, Captain Henson, Forty-Fifth Engineers."
One ten minutes ago and were racing around the base of Gullick returned the salute and stepped out, Quinn fol-
Groom Mountain, General Gullick at the wheel and Quinn lowing. "What's your status?" Gullick asked.
in the passenger seat. He wondered why the general had "All charges are in place. We're completing the final wir-
had to choose the single vehicle from the motor pool that ing now. We'll be all set by dawn." He held up a remote
had no top to it, instead of one of the others, but he knew detonator the size of a cellular phone. "Then all it will take
better than to ask. is a simple command on this. It's linked into the computer
There was no road. There never had been one. Roads that controls the sequence of firing." Henson led the way
showed up in satellite photos. They had stayed on the run- to a humvee parked under the camouflage net and showed
way most of the distance, until they turned off and headed the general a laptop. "The sequence is critical to get the
directly for the mountainside. Now they rolled across the rock in the outside wall to come down in a controlled man-
desert floor, the suspension of the vehicle easily handling ner. Very similar to what happens when they demolish tall
the rough terrain. Gullick leaned over and checked their buildings in a built-up area--making the rubble come
GPS, ground positioning system, linked in to satellites down on itself but not hit the ship."
overhead. It gave their location to within five feet, even on The general took the remote and turned it around in his
the move. The headlights on the jeeplike vehicle were off, hands, almost caressing it.
and Gullick was using night vision goggles, allowing them "Be careful, sir," Captain Henson said.
to travel unseen to the naked eye. The outer security net Gullick reached down and pulled out his pistol. He
310 ROBERT DOHERTY 311
AREA 51
pushed the barrel into the underside of Henson's jaw. "It's Kelly, Johnny! It's Kelly! I'm here."
"Don't you ever dare speak to me like that, mister. Do you For the first time since they'd picked him up, Johnny
understand?" His thumb cocked the hammer back, the showed some awareness of his surroundings. "Kelly." He
sound very loud in the clear night air. blinked, trying to focus on her. "Kelly."
"Yes, sir," Henson managed to get out. "It's okay, Johnny. I came and got you like you wanted. I
Gullick's voice rose. "I have had to take shit from civil- came and got you."
ian pukes for thirty years! I'll be goddamned if I will accept "Kelly--they're real. I saw them. They took me. They
even the slightest disrespect from a man in uniform. Is that did things to me."
clear?" "It's okay, Johnny. You're safe now. You're safe."
"Yes, sir!" Johnny turned away and curled into a ball and Kelly held
Quinn froze, stunned at the outburst. on to him. Turcotte looked at Von Seeckt and Nabinger.
"You fucking people." Gullick's voice had dropped to a "Get some sleep. We'll be leaving shortly." He turned and
mutter, and although the gun was still pressing into Hen- walked back outside, sliding the door shut behind him.
son's skin, his eyes had become unfocused. "I've given my Turcotte walked out into the darkness. The stars glis-
life for you people," Gullick whispered. "I've done tened above the mountains that surrounded him on all
all . . ." The general's eyes refocused. sides. It would be dawn soon. He could sense it in the
He quickly bolstered the gun and turned to the moun- slightest change in the sky to the east. Most people would
tainside, behind which the mothership rested. "Show me have not been able to tell, but Turcotte had spent many
the charges," he said in a normal voice. dark nights waiting for the dawn to come.
He thought of the people in the van. Von Seeckt with his
demons from the past and fears for the future. Johnny
Simmons and the demons that had been forced on him.
CAPITOL REEF NATIONAL PARK, UTAH Nabinger with his questions from the past and his quest for
A voice yelled out shrilly. "They're here! They're here!" answers. Kelly--Turcotte paused--Kelly had her own
Turcotte had his gun out, hammer cocked, as he kicked ghosts, it seemed.
open the driver's door of the van and went down into He turned as the van door opened. Kelly slipped out and
squat, peering around in the dark for a target. The scream- walked over. "Johnny's asleep. Or passed out. I can't tell
ing continued and Turcotte slowly relaxed and stood up which it is."
he recognized the voice. He walked around to the right "What do you think they did to him?"
side and opened the door. "Screwed with his brain," Kelly said bitterly. "Made him
Kelly held Johnny, gripping him tightly around the think he got picked up by aliens and taken aboard a space-
shoulders. "It's not real Johnny. It's not real." ship and had all sorts of experiments run on him."
Simmons was pressed up in the left rear corner, staring Think he'll get over it?" Turcotte asked.
wide-eyed straight ahead. "I can see them! I can see them? "Why should he? He did get picked up by aliens," Kelly
said.
I'm not going to let them take me again! I won't go back!"
312 ROBERT DOHERTY
AREA 51 313
"What?" "Then, of course, he showed me the film. That removed
"Whatever they did to his brain is real. So for him it's all all doubt. It was shot in black and white. He told me it had
real. So, no, I don't think he'll ever get over it. You never been taken in 1970. They had picked up a bogey on radar
get over reality. You just get on with your life." at Nellis. At first they thought it might be a stray civilian
"What reality happened to you?" aircraft. They scrambled a pair of F-16's to check it out.
Kelly just looked at him. The first half of the film they showed me was from the
"You said that you'd tell me, first chance you got," aircraft's gun cameras. It starts out with blank sky, then you
Turcotte said. He waited. catch a glimpse of something moving fast across the sky.
After a minute Kelly spoke. "I was working for an inde- The camera centers in and there's a saucer-shaped object.
pendent film company. Actually, I was part of an indepen- It's hard to tell the size because there's no reference scale.
dent film company. I owned a piece. We were doing well. But I could see the desert and mountains in the back-
We did documentaries and freelance work. National Geo- ground, moving. The disk cut across a lot of terrain. If it
graphic in its early TV days had us work a couple of their had just been against sky I might have questioned it more.
pieces. It was before all these cable channels--Discovery The disk looked to be about thirty feet in diameter and
and the like. Hell, we were before our time. We were on silvery. It moved in abrupt jerks back and forth.
the right path. "If it was a fake, it was a very good fake--not someone
"Then I got a letter. I still have the damn thing. Eight hanging a hubcap out the window of their car and taping it
years ago. From a captain in the Air Force at Nellis Air with a videocamera as they drove. Believe me, I've actually
Force Base. The letter stated that the Air Force was inter- seen a couple of those." She walked a little farther along
ested in making a series of documentaries. Some on the the edge of the overlook and Turcotte followed.
space program, some on their work in high-altitude medi- "So the camera tracks this saucer and it descends. I can
cine and other things. see an airstrip at the base of some mountains come into
"It sounded interesting, so I went to Nellis and met this view. At the time I thought it was Nellis Air Force Base,
captain. We talked about the various subjects he had men- but now I know it must have been the airstrip at Groom
tioned in the letter, then, almost as an aside, he mentioned Lake. The saucer goes down, almost to the ground, and the
that they had some interesting footage in the public affairs F-16 goes by and that's it for the gun camera. There's a
office there. splice in the film and then I get it in color from the ground.
"So I say, 'Of what?' And he says, 'Of a UFO landing at Shot from the control tower, Prague tells me."
the air base here.' "Wait a second," Turcotte interrupted. "Give me that
"I about choked on my coffee. He said it like you would name again."
mention the sun came up this morning. Very calm and al- "Prague. That was the Air Force captain who I met and
most uninterested. I should have known from that, that i t who sent me the letter. Why?"
was a setup. But like I said, I was hungry. We were still 1 tell you when you're done," Turcotte said. "Go on."
struggling and this was the biggest thing ever thrown our So the saucer comes to a hover over the runway and
way. stays there for a few minutes. I could see emergency vehi-
314 ROBERT DOHERTY 315
AREA 51
cles being deployed--fire trucks with their lights on. I there in Area 51. It is real, but they set up the people who
could see the reflection of the lights off the skin of the could truly expose it as frauds or kooks."
saucer--a very difficult effect to fake. Pretty much impossi- Kelly pointed at the van, which was fifty feet away.
ble to do, given the technology of the time. Then Air Force They destroyed Johnny the same way. In his mind, after
police vehicles being deployed. Then the saucer starts to go hat they did to him in that tank, he thinks he was really
straight up and it just outraces the ability of the camera abducted by aliens. And the fact is that he was abducted.
operator to track it and it's gone. That he probably did see things they didn't want him to
"I asked Prague why he wanted to give me this film, and see But if he goes public with it, he's laughed at. Yet in his
he said the Air Force was trying to get people off its back mind it is real. That's about the worst thing you can do to a
concerning Project Blue Book. That they wanted to show person next to physically killing him. It can drive you in-
that the Air Force wasn't covering things up and that there sane."
wasn't this great conspiracy that many UFO enthusiasts She turned back to face Turcotte. "So now you know why
claim. I'm not too trusting."
"So I left Nellis and went straight to two major distribu- "I can understand that."
tion companies and told them what I had just seen. Of "What was on sublevel one?" Kelly asked.
course they didn't believe me and of course, Prague hadn't Turcotte succintly told her, leaving out his two phone
given me a copy of the film. He had to clear release with calls after escaping.
his superiors, he told me, and for that he needed to know Kelly shuddered. "These people have to be stopped."
who I was going to distribute it through. "I agree," Turcotte said. "We've made a start on that.
"So when these companies call Nellis and try to get hold You might be pleased to know that Prague was--" He
of Prague, they're told that such a person doesn't exist. paused as there was a thumping sound inside the van.
When they mention the film, they get laughed at, which They both turned as the door to the van shot open and
doesn't do their disposition much good. I got trashed. I was Johnny appeared, holding the arm of one of the captain's
labeled a nut and nobody wanted to deal with me. I was chairs in his hands and swinging it about wildly. "You won't
bankrupt within three months." get me!" he screamed.
"Describe the saucer you saw again," Turcotte said. Turcotte and Kelly ran forward, but Johnny turned from
Kelly did. them and sprinted along the path.
"The film was real," Turcotte said. "That sounds like ones "Johnny, stop!" Kelly yelled.
of the bouncers in the hangar. They really set you up "You won't get me!" Johnny screeched. He halted, bran-
good." dishing the chair arm. "You won't get me."
"I know," Kelly replied. "I wouldn't have gone to the "Johnny, it's Kelly," she said, slowly taking a step for-
distributors for financing if I didn't believe the film was ward. The others were piling out of the van, Nabinger rub-
real. That's what really pissed me off about the whole bing the side of his head.
thing." The sky was getting noticeably brighter in the east. "I won't let you get me!" Johnny turned and climbed up
on the railing.
"That's what's so cunning about what they've been doing
316 ROBERT DOHERTY 317
AREA 51
"Get down, Johnny," Kelly said. "Please get down." She reluctantly nodded, her eyes red rimmed from cry-
"I won't let them get me," Johnny said, and he stepped ing.
out into the darkness and disappeared. "All right," Turcotte said. "If that's our primary goal, the
"Oh, God!" Kelly cried out as she ran up to the edge way I see it, we got two choices. One is to go public with
and looked over. Turcotte was right behind her. In the this. Head to the nearest big town--maybe Salt Lake
early-morning light they could just make out Johnny's body city and try to get the attention of someone in the media.
lying on the rock, two hundred feet below. That way we use public opinion to stop the test. The other
"We have to get him!" Kelly cried out. option is to take matters into our own hands, go back to
Turcotte knew there was no way down into the gulley Area 51, and try to stop the test ourselves."
without climbing equipment. He also knew Johnny was Turcotte turned to Kelly. "I know it's hard, but we need
dead; not only could no one could have survived that fall, your input on this. Will going to the media work?"
the twisted and still way the body was lying confirmed it. She closed her eyes for a few moments, then opened
He wrapped his arms around Kelly and held her. them. "To be blunt, going public is the way you would think
we should go. It's the way I would like to go. The problem
Fifteen minutes later a very somber group was seated in- is that going to the media does not guarantee that your
side the van. Nabinger had a bump on his head where story will get to the public. We have no proof of--
Johnny had hit him with the arm of the chair before bolting
from the van. It had taken ten of the past fifteen minutes "We have the photos of the tablets," Nabinger cut in.
for Turcotte to convince Kelly that they couldn't get to "Yes, Professor," Kelly said, "but you're the only one
Johnny and that he would have to stay where he had fallen. who can translate them. And since you're with us, I think
"All right," Turcotte began. "We have to decide what to people are going to look at that a bit skeptically. There was
do. The first thing is to agree on our goal. I think-- a stone found in America--I think in New England--that
"We get these bastards," Kelly said. "We get them and the finder claimed showed that ancient Greeks were in the
we finish them. I want to see every one of them--every New World a millennium before the Vikings. Unfortu-
single one out at Area 51 and in Dulce--be brought to nately, the man's proof rested on his translation of the
justice." markings on the stone. Other scholars, once they had a
"We have to stop the mothership from flying first," Von chance to study the stone, disagreed. Even if we find schol-
Seeckt cut in. "That must be our primary goal. I under- ars who would agree with your translations, it would take
stand your desire for vengeance, but the mothership is a too long. Certainly more than two days."
danger to the planet. We know that now from the transla- Kelly looked around the circle. "The same is true of all
tion of the tablets. We must stop that first." of us. Von Seeckt could tell his story but no one would
"It's the one with the shortest fuse," Turcotte said. "We believe it for a while, if ever, without proof. People in the
have to stop what they're doing there and in Dulce, but media don't report or print everything that comes to them,
that can come after we stop the mothership test flight." He ecause a lot of what comes to them is bogus and our
looked at Kelly. "Do you agree?" stories are, to say the least, somewhat outrageous." She
318 ROBERT DOHERTY
looked out the window. "Johnny's dead now. We don't 29
even have him."
"Another thing we must keep in mind," Turcotte said,
remembering the conversation he'd had earlier that morn-
ing with Colonel Mickell, "is that we have committed
crimes. I've killed people. We all entered the facility at
Dulce illegally. We might not get much of a chance to tell
our story before we're hauled off to jail, and once that
happens we'll be under the control of the government."
"Then we must do it ourselves," Von Seeckt announced.
"It is what I said must happen all along." ROUTE 375, NEVADA
"This isn't going to be as easy as Dulce," Turcotte said. ADJUSTED T-33 HOURS
"Not only do they have better security at Area 51, but they
are going to be prepared. You can be sure that General "I've got to make a phone call," Turcotte said. Things had
Gullick is going to tighten things down the closer the test been quiet for the past hour as they got closer to Area 51.
gets." Nabinger and Von Seeckt were in the back, napping.
"You know the area and the facility," Nabinger said, "To whom?" Kelly asked.
turning to Von Seeckt. "What do you think?" The dark pavement went by under their wheels with a
"I think Captain Turcotte is correct. It will be next to soothing, rhythmic thump. Turcotte had been thinking
impossible, but I also believe that we must try." things through for the past couple of hours and he'd made
"Then let's start planning," Turcotte said. a decision. He quickly told Kelly about Dr. Duncan and the
reason he'd been sent into Area 51. He told her about
trying to call twice and the line being disconnected and
calling Colonel Mickell at Fort Bragg.
"So are you going to try her number again or are you
trying Mickell?" Kelly asked when he was done.
"Mickell. We're going to need Duncan if she's legiti-
mate."
"If she's legitimate, why is your line to her dead?" Kelly
asked.
"That might be something out of her control and aware-
ness," Turcotte said. He spotted an all-night gas station. He
pulled over and left the engine running while he went to
the phone booth. When he was done, he hopped back in
the driver's seat, handing Kelly a slip of paper. "Duncan's
32O ROBERT DOHERTY 321
AREA 51
phone number in Vegas," he said. "Mickell says that as far THE CUBE, AREA 51
as he can find out, Duncan's legitimate." ADJUSTED T-31 HOURS
"Do you trust Mickell?" Kelly asked.
"I'm not sure I trust anyone anymore," Turcotte re- "Utah State Police found Simmons's body thirty minutes
sponded. ago " Quinn announced. He had been working in the con-
getting in. They'd piled into the Suburban, driven out past
the unsuspecting guard, and linked back up with the van.
Returning the still-unconscious driver to his own truck,
they'd jumped into the van and driven back down through
town and turned left on Route 64.
"Can't you keep him quiet?" Von Seeckt asked from the
driver's seat, checking the rearview mirror.
"I'd be screaming too," Kelly answered, "if I'd been
locked in that thing for four days. You just drive. No one
can hear him except us."
Johnny quieted down and appeared to fall asleep or,
Kelly thought, slip into unconsciousness. She turned to
Nabinger, who had his hands wrapped in a bloodstained
towel. Kelly pulled out the first-aid kit. "What happened to
you, Professor?"
"There was something I had to get and it was in a glass
case. I couldn't find a key so I broke the glass," Nabinger
replied.
299
AREA 51
298 ROBERT DOHERTY
ing this latest escapade, you mean. I think we'll be okay. I
"Couldn't you have used something other than your just hope Turcotte made it out all right."
hand to break the glass?" Kelly asked as she pulled out the "I am not concerned about them being after us," Von
gauze and tape. Seeckt said. "I am concerned that we only have seventy-
"I was in a hurry," Nabinger replied. After a moment's two hours before the mothership flies."
silence he added, "I wasn't thinking about my hands."
"What was so important?" Kelly inquired.
Nabinger carefully unwrapped something from his
jacket. He held a piece of wood, slightly curved, about two THE CUBE, AREA 51
feet long by one foot high and an inch thick. Even in the General Gullick did not look like a man who had just been
dim light in the back of the van she could see that it was awakened five minutes ago. His uniform was well pressed
covered with small carved characters. and his face clean shaven. Major Quinn had to wonder if
"It's a rongorongo tablet from Easter Island," Nabinger Gullick shaved his face and skull before he went to bed
said. "Do you know how rare these are? Only twenty-one every night for just such an occurrence as this--always
are known to be in existence. This must be one that was ready for action. It suddenly occurred to Quinn that maybe
secreted away." the general never slept. Maybe he just lay there in the dark,
Kelly pointed at the eight-by-ten glossies that the two wide-awake, waiting for the next crisis.
men had gathered. "What are those?" "Let me hear it from the beginning," Gullick ordered as
Nabinger reluctantly looked from the tablet to the table, the other members of Majic-12, minus Dr. Duncan, strag-
where the photos were piled. "Von Seeckt told me those gled in.
are the photographs taken by the first team to enter the There wasn't much to tell. Quinn summarized the infor-
mothership cavern. They found flat stones with high mation an excited security chief had called in from Dulce.
runes." In reality, Quinn realized, as he recited the brief list of
"What do they say?" Kelly asked as she finished one facts concerning the break-in and the abduction of the re-
hand and began working on the other. porter Simmons and the theft of photos from the archives,
Nabinger looked at the photos. "Well, it's not like read- they knew more here at the Cube, because it was obvious
ing the newspaper, you know. This will take time." from the description from the guards and the female scien-
"Well, you've got some time, so get to work," Kelly said tist who'd been on shift that it had been Von Seeckt,
as she finished the second hand, then picked up a road Turcotte, Reynolds, and Nabinger acting in concert.
map. She found where they had to meet Turcotte. "You've "I underestimated all of them," Gullick said when Quinn
got all night," she announced. "I think we should get off was done. "Especially Von Seeckt and Turcotte."
this main road and take back roads through the mountains, Kennedy leaned forward. "We're in trouble. They're go-
heading west until we get to the linkup spot." ing to go to the media with this Simmons fellow."
"How soon do you think they'll be after us?" Nabinger "How far into conditioning was Simmons?" Gullick
asked. asked.
"They're already after us," Kelly said. "After us follow-
300 ROBERT DOHERTY 301
AREA 5 1
Quinn was puzzled. What were they talking about? snapped. "Prepare everything to move up twenty-four
Kennedy consulted his notepad. "They were sixty per- hours."
cent into phase four." "But-" Quinn began. The general cut him off again
Gullick looked at Doctor Slayden. "What do you think?" with a glare.
Slayden considered it. "I can't say for sure." "I want the hangar opened tomorrow," Gullick said,
"Goddammit!" Gullick's fist smashed into the desktop. "and I want the flight to be tomorrow night." Gullick
"I'm tired of people bullshitting me when I ask them a looked around the table. "I think everyone has a lot of
question." work to do, so I suggest you get moving." As they all got
The room was silent for several moments, then Slayden up, his voice halted them. "By the way. I want the orders
spoke. "They disconnected Simmons before treatment was on capturing Von Seeckt and his crew changed. It's no
complete. That had to be a shock to his system, and the longer capture at any cost. It is terminate with highest
way his mind will react to that, nobody knows. If nothing sanction."
else happens, the sixty percent he did have will be enough
to assure that Simmons will be discredited if he speaks
publicly. He'll fit in with all the other wackos, to use a
rather unscientific term."
"What about the photos they stole?" General Brown
asked.
"They were of the high rune tablets," Gullick said.
"Even if Nabinger can decipher the language, it will be
quite a while before other scientists can verify his transla-
tion. The tablets are not a problem. Even if they go to the
media, it will take a little time before anyone starts believ-
ing their story. They really don't have any proof."
Gullick's voice was void of emotion, but a vein throbbed
in his forehead. "All right. Then we're still back at the
original problem--Von Seeckt and Turcotte. They're the
threat, but I think at this point we can handle them for a
little while. Long enough, at least, for us to finish the
countdown. That's all that matters."
Quinn found that a little hard to believe. What about
afterward? he wanted to ask, but he kept his mouth shut.
He knew that question would only earn him grief, so he
chose another one. "What about the foo fighters?"
"We'll deal with that and this new problem too," Gullick
303
AREA 51
him but it's bad. Von Seeckt's sleeping inside. Nabinger is
looking at photos from the mothership hangar."
"Has he gotten anything?" Turcotte asked.
"What about you?" Kelly asked in response. "What hap-
pened? What was done on sublevel one?"
"I don't really know," Turcotte answered honestly and
vaguely. He walked to the side door and slipped in, Kelly
following.
"What have you got?" he asked the archaeologist.
"Better wake up Von Seeckt," Nabinger said. "He'll
CAPITOL REEF NATIONAL PARK, UTAH want to hear this."
ADJUSTED T - 4 4 HOURS It took Von Seeckt a few minutes to get fully awake and
then they all gathered around Professor Nabinger. He held
Just north of Monument Valley, Capitol Reef National a legal pad covered with pencil marks.
Park was right in the middle of the Rocky Mountains. This "First you have to understand that my knowledge of the
time of year it was virtually deserted. In fact, in a few high rune language is very rudimentary. I have a very small
weeks the gates would be locked for the winter snows. The working vocabulary, and to compound that fact, there are
lack of people, and out-of-the-way location, were two rea- symbols here that--although I believe they mean the same
sons Turcotte had selected it as their meeting point. The as similar symbols from other sources--have slight differ-
location put a lot of distance between themselves and ences in the way they are marked.
Dulce. "The other problem is that the symbols that represent
He drove in past the empty Ranger station and followed what we could call verbs are most difficult to make out
the road around. At the first campsite he spotted the van. because of the variations in tense, which change the basic
Kelly was standing outside, stun gun in hand, watching his symbol.
truck. She relaxed when she saw him step out. There was a "Beyond the simple deciphering of the symbols and the
concrete walkway at the end of the campsite, going along words they might mean," Nabinger continued, "there is an
the top of the cliff on which the site was located. It af- additional problem to working with a picture language.
forded a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains--or The ancient Egyptians called hieroglyphics 'medu metcher.'
would have if the sun was up. That means 'the gods' words.' The word hieroglyphs, which
"Good to see you," Kelly said. is Greek, refers specifically to the drawings in temples. It is
"How is everyone?" Turcotte asked, stretching his arms difficult for us in the modern day to understand a language
out. that was developed to explain the religious and mythi-
"Johnny's semiconscious. Whenever he gains conscious- cal--"
ness, he's delirious. I don't know what those people did to "Wait a second." Turcotte was tired and had had a long
304 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51
305
night. "You're talking about hieroglyphics now. Let's stick THE CHIEF(?) SHIP/CRAFT NEGATIVE(?) FLY
with the high runes and what they say." ENGINE/POWER(?) DANGEROUS
Nabinger was tired also. "I'm trying to explain all this to ALL SIGNS NEGATIVE/BAD(?) AND MUST BE
you so that you can take my few translations in the proper NEGATIVE/STOPPED(?)
context. It would be wrong of us to superimpose our own MUST BE SOON
culture and ideas upon what was written by a culture with a
totally different set of values and ideas." He tapped the "That must refer to the mothership," Von Seeckt said.
photos. "And here we are dealing with what appears to be "The negative with the question mark in the first sen-
an alien culture. We don't have a clue if their perception of tence- you don't know for sure what that word is?"
reality is the same as ours." "A verb," Nabinger said. "It might be cannot or should
"We're flying their ships," Turcotte noted. "It couldn't not or will not. "
be that far off." He thought of the pyramid and the golden "Makes a bit of difference," Turcotte noted. "I mean,
glow above it and mentally reconsidered his last statement. what if the damn thing just broke? That would cover the
"And not only that," Kelly added, "but didn't you tell us old won 't, wouldn't it? What if these aliens got stuck and
earlier that it appears this high rune language was the pre- their triple A plan didn't cover Earth? And maybe that's
cursor to all of mankind's written languages and probably why that thing shouldn't get cranked."
served as the starting point for those languages? So if the Kelly put an arm on Turcotte 's shoulder. "See? You said
roots are common, we must be able to understand it better 'shouldn't.' "
than if they were totally alien." "Hard, isn't it?" Nabinger said.
"Yes, yes," Nabinger said. "But there is just enough of a Turcotte rubbed the stubble of his beard. "Yeah, I get it.
common root for me to decipher some of this text. This All right, go on."
is--"
Turcotte placed a large hand on Nabinger's shoulder. THE OTHER (A)???? NOT WANT TO STAY
"Professor. It's late. We all need to get some sleep. But BE GONE BEFORE ARRIVAL OF (B)????
before we sleep we need to decide what we're going to do (C)???? STANDS FIRM
next. To do that we need to know what you have, as good as NO CONTAMINATION/INTERFERENCE(?)
you have been able to get it." WITH (WORD EQUALING HUMANS)
Nabinger nodded. "All right. There were two main NATURAL COURSE MUST BE ALLOWED
stones set up in the cavern. Those are the two I have spent
all my time on. There are others I will have to get to to- "No idea what was arriving?" Kelly asked. Her hand was
morrow. But here is what I do have. still on Turcotte's shoulder.
"Please note where I have question marks after certain "It was a special symbol. One that I had never seen be-
parts. That means that I am not quite certain of what-- fore," Nabinger said. "From the basic set of the symbol I
"Just show it to us!" Turcotte said. would say it represented a proper noun: a specific name.
Nabinger slid the first page under the small dome light. I've designated each unidentified symbol by a different let-
3O6 ROBERT DOHERTY
3O7
AREA 51
ter before the question marks to show that they aren't the
same. As you will see on the next page, one of the noun Hell evolution is not what we think. Do you know how that
symbols does repeat." will affect people? Think about religion? About--
"No " Von Seeckt disagreed. "It is not bigger than what
"So they decided to leave us alone?" Kelly said. . happening at Area 51. That is the first problem. Because
"But obviously that didn't happen," Von Seeckt said. in just under three days they are going to try to fly the
"That bomb had to get into the pyramid somehow." mothership, and the marker left by the people who aban-
"Yes," Nabinger agreed. "And the high runes all over doned the mothership says don't do it. We've got to stop
the planet. Somehow humans picked up some of that."
"Probably because it didn't work out the way they had it.""I've got another stupid question," Turcotte said.
planned. Apparently everyone didn't go along so easily The other three waited.
with getting stuck on Earth." Nabinger turned over the last "Why is Gullick in such a goddamn rush to fly the
page. mothership? That's bugged me from the very beginning."
"I do not know," Von Seeckt said. "It troubled me ever
DECISION MADE BY MEETING since he came up with the countdown to fly it. It was ridicu-
(C)???? PREPARES TO IMPLEMENT lous. He wanted to to fly it before we even ran a basic
DISAGREEMENT series of tests on it."
BATTLE Turcotte felt a pounding on the right side of his head.
OTHERS (D)???? FLEE FIGHT "Something isn't right about all this."
CHANGE HAS ARRIVED "Ever since they went to Dulce early this year," Von
IT IS OVER Seeckt said, "it all changed."
DUTY IS (E)???? Turcotte thought of the pyramid, the vats, the golden
glow. The small orb that had destroyed the helicopter he
"So they fought among themselves?" Kelly said. was on in Nebraska. Too many pieces that didn't fit. The
"Looks like it," Nabinger said. only thing he knew for sure was that this was bigger than
"And in the end they did their duty," Turcotte said. him right now.
"But not perfectly," Von Seeckt said. "We are still deal- "Let's get a little sleep first," Turcotte suggested. "We're
ing with the repercussions." all tired and we'll be able to think better with a couple of
"I've got a stupid question," Turcotte said. "Why would hours of rest. We'll decide what to do in the morning. We
the people who built the mothership leave their messages still have forty-eight hours."
on stone tablets?"
"Because that's what whoever was left there had to work
with," Nabinger said.
"This is big," Kelly said. "Bigger than what they have at
Area 51. This means history is not at all what we think it is.
309
AREA 51
was tight: no unwanted watchers on White Sides Mountain
28 this evening. And the skies were being carefully watched
with the invisible fingers of radar to keep out unwanted
overflights. Helicopter gunships were ready on the flight
line outside Hangar One.
Still, Gullick wanted to take no chances. He braked as a
figure stepped out of the darkness. The man walked up to
the humvee, weapon at the ready. The man snapped to
attention when he recognized General Gullick. Despite the
night vision goggles there was no mistaking the general's
HANGAR Two, AREA 51 presence.
ADJUSTED T-42 HOURS "Sir! The engineers are just ahead, under that camou-
flage net."
Major Quinn blinked hard, trying to keep his eyes open Gullick accelerated. Quinn was grateful when they fi-
against the lack of sleep. He pulled the collar of his Gore- nally stopped near several trucks parked under a desert
Tex parka tighter around his neck and shivered. It was cold camouflage net. An officer walked up to the humvee and
in the desert at night, and the wind whipping in the open smartly saluted.
windows of the humvee did not help. They had left Hangar "Sir, Captain Henson, Forty-Fifth Engineers."
One ten minutes ago and were racing around the base of Gullick returned the salute and stepped out, Quinn fol-
Groom Mountain, General Gullick at the wheel and Quinn lowing. "What's your status?" Gullick asked.
in the passenger seat. He wondered why the general had "All charges are in place. We're completing the final wir-
had to choose the single vehicle from the motor pool that ing now. We'll be all set by dawn." He held up a remote
had no top to it, instead of one of the others, but he knew detonator the size of a cellular phone. "Then all it will take
better than to ask. is a simple command on this. It's linked into the computer
There was no road. There never had been one. Roads that controls the sequence of firing." Henson led the way
showed up in satellite photos. They had stayed on the run- to a humvee parked under the camouflage net and showed
way most of the distance, until they turned off and headed the general a laptop. "The sequence is critical to get the
directly for the mountainside. Now they rolled across the rock in the outside wall to come down in a controlled man-
desert floor, the suspension of the vehicle easily handling ner. Very similar to what happens when they demolish tall
the rough terrain. Gullick leaned over and checked their buildings in a built-up area--making the rubble come
GPS, ground positioning system, linked in to satellites down on itself but not hit the ship."
overhead. It gave their location to within five feet, even on The general took the remote and turned it around in his
the move. The headlights on the jeeplike vehicle were off, hands, almost caressing it.
and Gullick was using night vision goggles, allowing them "Be careful, sir," Captain Henson said.
to travel unseen to the naked eye. The outer security net Gullick reached down and pulled out his pistol. He
310 ROBERT DOHERTY 311
AREA 51
pushed the barrel into the underside of Henson's jaw. "It's Kelly, Johnny! It's Kelly! I'm here."
"Don't you ever dare speak to me like that, mister. Do you For the first time since they'd picked him up, Johnny
understand?" His thumb cocked the hammer back, the showed some awareness of his surroundings. "Kelly." He
sound very loud in the clear night air. blinked, trying to focus on her. "Kelly."
"Yes, sir," Henson managed to get out. "It's okay, Johnny. I came and got you like you wanted. I
Gullick's voice rose. "I have had to take shit from civil- came and got you."
ian pukes for thirty years! I'll be goddamned if I will accept "Kelly--they're real. I saw them. They took me. They
even the slightest disrespect from a man in uniform. Is that did things to me."
clear?" "It's okay, Johnny. You're safe now. You're safe."
"Yes, sir!" Johnny turned away and curled into a ball and Kelly held
Quinn froze, stunned at the outburst. on to him. Turcotte looked at Von Seeckt and Nabinger.
"You fucking people." Gullick's voice had dropped to a "Get some sleep. We'll be leaving shortly." He turned and
mutter, and although the gun was still pressing into Hen- walked back outside, sliding the door shut behind him.
son's skin, his eyes had become unfocused. "I've given my Turcotte walked out into the darkness. The stars glis-
life for you people," Gullick whispered. "I've done tened above the mountains that surrounded him on all
all . . ." The general's eyes refocused. sides. It would be dawn soon. He could sense it in the
He quickly bolstered the gun and turned to the moun- slightest change in the sky to the east. Most people would
tainside, behind which the mothership rested. "Show me have not been able to tell, but Turcotte had spent many
the charges," he said in a normal voice. dark nights waiting for the dawn to come.
He thought of the people in the van. Von Seeckt with his
demons from the past and fears for the future. Johnny
Simmons and the demons that had been forced on him.
CAPITOL REEF NATIONAL PARK, UTAH Nabinger with his questions from the past and his quest for
A voice yelled out shrilly. "They're here! They're here!" answers. Kelly--Turcotte paused--Kelly had her own
Turcotte had his gun out, hammer cocked, as he kicked ghosts, it seemed.
open the driver's door of the van and went down into He turned as the van door opened. Kelly slipped out and
squat, peering around in the dark for a target. The scream- walked over. "Johnny's asleep. Or passed out. I can't tell
ing continued and Turcotte slowly relaxed and stood up which it is."
he recognized the voice. He walked around to the right "What do you think they did to him?"
side and opened the door. "Screwed with his brain," Kelly said bitterly. "Made him
Kelly held Johnny, gripping him tightly around the think he got picked up by aliens and taken aboard a space-
shoulders. "It's not real Johnny. It's not real." ship and had all sorts of experiments run on him."
Simmons was pressed up in the left rear corner, staring Think he'll get over it?" Turcotte asked.
wide-eyed straight ahead. "I can see them! I can see them? "Why should he? He did get picked up by aliens," Kelly
said.
I'm not going to let them take me again! I won't go back!"
312 ROBERT DOHERTY
AREA 51 313
"What?" "Then, of course, he showed me the film. That removed
"Whatever they did to his brain is real. So for him it's all all doubt. It was shot in black and white. He told me it had
real. So, no, I don't think he'll ever get over it. You never been taken in 1970. They had picked up a bogey on radar
get over reality. You just get on with your life." at Nellis. At first they thought it might be a stray civilian
"What reality happened to you?" aircraft. They scrambled a pair of F-16's to check it out.
Kelly just looked at him. The first half of the film they showed me was from the
"You said that you'd tell me, first chance you got," aircraft's gun cameras. It starts out with blank sky, then you
Turcotte said. He waited. catch a glimpse of something moving fast across the sky.
After a minute Kelly spoke. "I was working for an inde- The camera centers in and there's a saucer-shaped object.
pendent film company. Actually, I was part of an indepen- It's hard to tell the size because there's no reference scale.
dent film company. I owned a piece. We were doing well. But I could see the desert and mountains in the back-
We did documentaries and freelance work. National Geo- ground, moving. The disk cut across a lot of terrain. If it
graphic in its early TV days had us work a couple of their had just been against sky I might have questioned it more.
pieces. It was before all these cable channels--Discovery The disk looked to be about thirty feet in diameter and
and the like. Hell, we were before our time. We were on silvery. It moved in abrupt jerks back and forth.
the right path. "If it was a fake, it was a very good fake--not someone
"Then I got a letter. I still have the damn thing. Eight hanging a hubcap out the window of their car and taping it
years ago. From a captain in the Air Force at Nellis Air with a videocamera as they drove. Believe me, I've actually
Force Base. The letter stated that the Air Force was inter- seen a couple of those." She walked a little farther along
ested in making a series of documentaries. Some on the the edge of the overlook and Turcotte followed.
space program, some on their work in high-altitude medi- "So the camera tracks this saucer and it descends. I can
cine and other things. see an airstrip at the base of some mountains come into
"It sounded interesting, so I went to Nellis and met this view. At the time I thought it was Nellis Air Force Base,
captain. We talked about the various subjects he had men- but now I know it must have been the airstrip at Groom
tioned in the letter, then, almost as an aside, he mentioned Lake. The saucer goes down, almost to the ground, and the
that they had some interesting footage in the public affairs F-16 goes by and that's it for the gun camera. There's a
office there. splice in the film and then I get it in color from the ground.
"So I say, 'Of what?' And he says, 'Of a UFO landing at Shot from the control tower, Prague tells me."
the air base here.' "Wait a second," Turcotte interrupted. "Give me that
"I about choked on my coffee. He said it like you would name again."
mention the sun came up this morning. Very calm and al- "Prague. That was the Air Force captain who I met and
most uninterested. I should have known from that, that i t who sent me the letter. Why?"
was a setup. But like I said, I was hungry. We were still 1 tell you when you're done," Turcotte said. "Go on."
struggling and this was the biggest thing ever thrown our So the saucer comes to a hover over the runway and
way. stays there for a few minutes. I could see emergency vehi-
314 ROBERT DOHERTY 315
AREA 51
cles being deployed--fire trucks with their lights on. I there in Area 51. It is real, but they set up the people who
could see the reflection of the lights off the skin of the could truly expose it as frauds or kooks."
saucer--a very difficult effect to fake. Pretty much impossi- Kelly pointed at the van, which was fifty feet away.
ble to do, given the technology of the time. Then Air Force They destroyed Johnny the same way. In his mind, after
police vehicles being deployed. Then the saucer starts to go hat they did to him in that tank, he thinks he was really
straight up and it just outraces the ability of the camera abducted by aliens. And the fact is that he was abducted.
operator to track it and it's gone. That he probably did see things they didn't want him to
"I asked Prague why he wanted to give me this film, and see But if he goes public with it, he's laughed at. Yet in his
he said the Air Force was trying to get people off its back mind it is real. That's about the worst thing you can do to a
concerning Project Blue Book. That they wanted to show person next to physically killing him. It can drive you in-
that the Air Force wasn't covering things up and that there sane."
wasn't this great conspiracy that many UFO enthusiasts She turned back to face Turcotte. "So now you know why
claim. I'm not too trusting."
"So I left Nellis and went straight to two major distribu- "I can understand that."
tion companies and told them what I had just seen. Of "What was on sublevel one?" Kelly asked.
course they didn't believe me and of course, Prague hadn't Turcotte succintly told her, leaving out his two phone
given me a copy of the film. He had to clear release with calls after escaping.
his superiors, he told me, and for that he needed to know Kelly shuddered. "These people have to be stopped."
who I was going to distribute it through. "I agree," Turcotte said. "We've made a start on that.
"So when these companies call Nellis and try to get hold You might be pleased to know that Prague was--" He
of Prague, they're told that such a person doesn't exist. paused as there was a thumping sound inside the van.
When they mention the film, they get laughed at, which They both turned as the door to the van shot open and
doesn't do their disposition much good. I got trashed. I was Johnny appeared, holding the arm of one of the captain's
labeled a nut and nobody wanted to deal with me. I was chairs in his hands and swinging it about wildly. "You won't
bankrupt within three months." get me!" he screamed.
"Describe the saucer you saw again," Turcotte said. Turcotte and Kelly ran forward, but Johnny turned from
Kelly did. them and sprinted along the path.
"The film was real," Turcotte said. "That sounds like ones "Johnny, stop!" Kelly yelled.
of the bouncers in the hangar. They really set you up "You won't get me!" Johnny screeched. He halted, bran-
good." dishing the chair arm. "You won't get me."
"I know," Kelly replied. "I wouldn't have gone to the "Johnny, it's Kelly," she said, slowly taking a step for-
distributors for financing if I didn't believe the film was ward. The others were piling out of the van, Nabinger rub-
real. That's what really pissed me off about the whole bing the side of his head.
thing." The sky was getting noticeably brighter in the east. "I won't let you get me!" Johnny turned and climbed up
on the railing.
"That's what's so cunning about what they've been doing
316 ROBERT DOHERTY 317
AREA 51
"Get down, Johnny," Kelly said. "Please get down." She reluctantly nodded, her eyes red rimmed from cry-
"I won't let them get me," Johnny said, and he stepped ing.
out into the darkness and disappeared. "All right," Turcotte said. "If that's our primary goal, the
"Oh, God!" Kelly cried out as she ran up to the edge way I see it, we got two choices. One is to go public with
and looked over. Turcotte was right behind her. In the this. Head to the nearest big town--maybe Salt Lake
early-morning light they could just make out Johnny's body city and try to get the attention of someone in the media.
lying on the rock, two hundred feet below. That way we use public opinion to stop the test. The other
"We have to get him!" Kelly cried out. option is to take matters into our own hands, go back to
Turcotte knew there was no way down into the gulley Area 51, and try to stop the test ourselves."
without climbing equipment. He also knew Johnny was Turcotte turned to Kelly. "I know it's hard, but we need
dead; not only could no one could have survived that fall, your input on this. Will going to the media work?"
the twisted and still way the body was lying confirmed it. She closed her eyes for a few moments, then opened
He wrapped his arms around Kelly and held her. them. "To be blunt, going public is the way you would think
we should go. It's the way I would like to go. The problem
Fifteen minutes later a very somber group was seated in- is that going to the media does not guarantee that your
side the van. Nabinger had a bump on his head where story will get to the public. We have no proof of--
Johnny had hit him with the arm of the chair before bolting
from the van. It had taken ten of the past fifteen minutes "We have the photos of the tablets," Nabinger cut in.
for Turcotte to convince Kelly that they couldn't get to "Yes, Professor," Kelly said, "but you're the only one
Johnny and that he would have to stay where he had fallen. who can translate them. And since you're with us, I think
"All right," Turcotte began. "We have to decide what to people are going to look at that a bit skeptically. There was
do. The first thing is to agree on our goal. I think-- a stone found in America--I think in New England--that
"We get these bastards," Kelly said. "We get them and the finder claimed showed that ancient Greeks were in the
we finish them. I want to see every one of them--every New World a millennium before the Vikings. Unfortu-
single one out at Area 51 and in Dulce--be brought to nately, the man's proof rested on his translation of the
justice." markings on the stone. Other scholars, once they had a
"We have to stop the mothership from flying first," Von chance to study the stone, disagreed. Even if we find schol-
Seeckt cut in. "That must be our primary goal. I under- ars who would agree with your translations, it would take
stand your desire for vengeance, but the mothership is a too long. Certainly more than two days."
danger to the planet. We know that now from the transla- Kelly looked around the circle. "The same is true of all
tion of the tablets. We must stop that first." of us. Von Seeckt could tell his story but no one would
"It's the one with the shortest fuse," Turcotte said. "We believe it for a while, if ever, without proof. People in the
have to stop what they're doing there and in Dulce, but media don't report or print everything that comes to them,
that can come after we stop the mothership test flight." He ecause a lot of what comes to them is bogus and our
looked at Kelly. "Do you agree?" stories are, to say the least, somewhat outrageous." She
318 ROBERT DOHERTY
looked out the window. "Johnny's dead now. We don't 29
even have him."
"Another thing we must keep in mind," Turcotte said,
remembering the conversation he'd had earlier that morn-
ing with Colonel Mickell, "is that we have committed
crimes. I've killed people. We all entered the facility at
Dulce illegally. We might not get much of a chance to tell
our story before we're hauled off to jail, and once that
happens we'll be under the control of the government."
"Then we must do it ourselves," Von Seeckt announced.
"It is what I said must happen all along." ROUTE 375, NEVADA
"This isn't going to be as easy as Dulce," Turcotte said. ADJUSTED T-33 HOURS
"Not only do they have better security at Area 51, but they
are going to be prepared. You can be sure that General "I've got to make a phone call," Turcotte said. Things had
Gullick is going to tighten things down the closer the test been quiet for the past hour as they got closer to Area 51.
gets." Nabinger and Von Seeckt were in the back, napping.
"You know the area and the facility," Nabinger said, "To whom?" Kelly asked.
turning to Von Seeckt. "What do you think?" The dark pavement went by under their wheels with a
"I think Captain Turcotte is correct. It will be next to soothing, rhythmic thump. Turcotte had been thinking
impossible, but I also believe that we must try." things through for the past couple of hours and he'd made
"Then let's start planning," Turcotte said. a decision. He quickly told Kelly about Dr. Duncan and the
reason he'd been sent into Area 51. He told her about
trying to call twice and the line being disconnected and
calling Colonel Mickell at Fort Bragg.
"So are you going to try her number again or are you
trying Mickell?" Kelly asked when he was done.
"Mickell. We're going to need Duncan if she's legiti-
mate."
"If she's legitimate, why is your line to her dead?" Kelly
asked.
"That might be something out of her control and aware-
ness," Turcotte said. He spotted an all-night gas station. He
pulled over and left the engine running while he went to
the phone booth. When he was done, he hopped back in
the driver's seat, handing Kelly a slip of paper. "Duncan's
32O ROBERT DOHERTY 321
AREA 51
phone number in Vegas," he said. "Mickell says that as far THE CUBE, AREA 51
as he can find out, Duncan's legitimate." ADJUSTED T-31 HOURS
"Do you trust Mickell?" Kelly asked.
"I'm not sure I trust anyone anymore," Turcotte re- "Utah State Police found Simmons's body thirty minutes
sponded. ago " Quinn announced. He had been working in the con-