word. The importance of the MRI was diminishing with machines, either, in 1976," Kaji noted.
every minute he studied the writings. "You were with Hammond?" Nabinger asked. He had
A year ago Nabinger had made some startling discover- read Hammond's report in the archives of the Royal Mu-
ies that he had kept to himself. It had always been accepted seum in London. It had not been published due to the
that there were certain panels or tablets of markings at failure to discover anything. Of course, Nabinger had
Egyptian sites that were not classical hieroglyphics but ap- noted at the time, Hammond had discovered something.
peared to be some earlier picture language called "high He had discovered that there was residual radiation inside
runes." While such sites were few--too few to provide a the pyramids that shouldn't be there.
database sufficient to allow a scientific attempt at transla- "I have been here many times," Kaji said. "In all the
46 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 47
pyramids. Also many times in the Valley of the Kings. I below that by a caliph in later centuries. Both linked up
spent years in the desert to the south before the waters with a tunnel that descended through the masonry and into
from the dam covered it. I have led many parties of labor- the rock beneath the pyramid. That tunnel ended in an
ers and watched many strange things at sites." intersection hewn out of the rock where two tunnels
"Did Hammond have any guesses why his machine branched off. One headed up to the middle chamber and
didn't work?" Nabinger asked. the Grand Gallery, which led to the upper chamber. The
"Alas, no." Kaji sighed dramatically and ran his hand other, more recently discovered tunnel headed down into
lightly over the control panel of the MRI, getting Welcher's the bedrock to the lower chamber. It was the lower cham-
attention. "Such a machine is expensive, is it not?" ber that Nabinger and his crew were presently working in.
"Yes, it--" Welcher halted as Nabinger shook his head,
now partially seeing where this was leading. THE GREAT PYRAMID
Kaji smiled. "Ah, Hammond, he had no readings. His
man on the machine, he, too, said radiation. Hammond did The Upper Chamber
or "King's" Chamber The Grand Gallery
not believe it. But the machine, it would not lie, would it?"
He looked at Welcher. "Your machine, it would not lie, The Middle or
"Queen's" Chambei
would it?"
Welcher remained quiet.
"If the machine does not lie," Nabinger said, "then
something must be causing the readings."
"Or something was once here that still causes the read- The Lower Chamber
ings," Kaji said. He turned and headed back toward the
other side of the chamber, where a large stone sarcophagus "I was here in 1951," Kaji said. "Yes, the sarcophagus
rested. was empty then."
"The sarcophagus was intact but empty when they broke "Then?" Nabinger repeated. He'd worked with Kaji be-
the seals," Nabinger said sharply, referring to the first ex- fore at other sites and the man had always been honest.
pedition into this chamber in 1951. There had been great When he'd first hired the old man years ago, Nabinger had
excitement over the discovery of the chamber and particu- checked with several others in the field and Kaji had come
larly of the sarcophagus found inside with its lid still intact highly recommended.
and sealed. The mystery of the pyramids was about to be "Hammond, he thought me an old fool, and I was young
solved, it was thought at the time. One could imagine the then," Kaji said. "I am older now. I tried to talk to him, but
dismay when the seals were broken and the lid was opened, he did not wish to talk." Kaji rubbed the fingers of one
and there was nothing in the stone box. hand lightly in the palm of the other.
The interior of the Great Pyramid contained three Nabinger knew what that meant. Kaji wanted to be paid
chambers. One entered the pyramid either through the de- for his information, as Nabinger had suspected, but that
signed polar entrance on the north side, or one blasted just was only natural. The professor thought furiously. He had
48 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51
49
rented the portable MRI. The contract was billed by day of just wasted quite a bit of the museum's money and wonder-
use, and he had enough funds from the museum for eight ing if he could make it up by skimping elsewhere on the
days of use. If he air-shipped it back tomorrow, he would expedition fund. His mind automatically began figuring the
save five days of billing. That was a substantial amount of exchange rate on the pound to dollar.
money, at least from an Egyptian standpoint. The only Kaji seemed satisfied. "It was nine years before Martin's
problem was explaining his receipts and billing forms to the expedition, during the Second World War. In 1942 the Brit-
accountant back at the university. But there was no sense ish ruled here in Cairo, but many were not happy with that.
in continuing to use a machine in a place where it yielded The Egyptian nationalists were willing to trade one set of
no information. He also considered the runes he was deci- rulers for another, hoping that somehow the Germans
phering in this chamber. Those alone would make the ex- would be better than the British and grant us our freedom.
pedition worthwhile. The MRI had been a long shot In reality we did not have much say in the process. Rom-
anyway. mel and the Afrika Korps were out to the west in the des-
Nabinger looked at Welcher. "Take a break." ert and many expected him to be here in the city before the
Welcher left the chamber, leaving the two men alone. end of the year.
"Ten thousand pounds," Nabinger said. "It all began in January of 1942 when Rommel began his
Kaji's face was expressionless. offensive. By June, Tobruk had fallen and the British were
"Twelve thousand and that is all I have." Nabinger knew in retreat. They were burning papers in the Eighth Army
that was over a year's salary to the average Egyptian. headquarters here in Cairo in preparation to run. They
Kaji held out his hand. Nabinger reached into his pocket were all afraid. And Rommel kept coming. The British
and pulled out a wad of bills, the week's wages for the army fell back on El Alamein.
laborers. He would have to go to the bank and draw on the "I was working in Cairo," Kaji said, waving his hand
expedition account to pay them now. above his head. "Even in the middle of war there were
Kaji sat down cross-legged on the floor, the money dis- those who wished to view the ancient sights. The pyramids
appearing into his long robe. "I was here in 1951 with Mar- have seen many wars. There were many people for whom
tin's expedition when they opened this chamber, but it was the war was a fine opportunity to travel and make money. I
not the first time I was in this chamber." gave tours above. And sometimes, if the person paid
"Impossible!" Nabinger said sharply. "Professor Martin enough so I could bribe the Egyptian guards, I took them
broke through three walls to get into here in 1951. Walls inside. Many wanted to see the Grand Gallery," he said,
that were intact and dated. The seals on the sarcophagus referring to the massive passageway hundreds of feet above
were the originals with four dynasties marked--" their heads that had twenty-eight-foot ceilings and led up
"You can speak impossible all you like," Kaji continued to the center of the pyramid and the uppermost chamber.
in the same quiet voice, "but I tell you I was in here before Kaji spread his hands. "I cared not who ruled Cairo. The
1951. You have paid for my story. You may listen or you pyramids have seen many rulers and they will see many in
may argue, it matters not to me." the future. And the pyramids and the other sites, they are
"I'll listen," Nabinger said, beginning to think he had my life.
50 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 51
"The Germans were only a hundred and fifty miles away who were spying on Italians and around and around." Kaji
and it looked as if they could not be stopped. In early July, chuckled.
General Auchinleck was relieved and Churchill sent a gen- "There were fortunes made on the black market. It was
eral named Montgomery to relieve him. No one thought no trouble for the Germans to send these men into Cairo.
much of it here. It was assumed the British would fall back Especially that July when everyone was more concerned
to Palestine, where they would block the canal with sunken about preparing to flee or how to ingratiate themselves
ships, and the Germans would get Cairo. with the invaders than about strange groups of men moving
"That was when I was approached by a party wanting to in the dark."
go inside this pyramid. They spoke strangely, but they paid "Where did the Germans get their drawings from?"
well, which was all that counted. I bribed the guards and Nabinger asked.
we entered, using the caliph's entranceway late at night, "I do not know. They used me to get inside only. From
which was also strange. there they took charge."
"We moved through the descending corridor until we Nabinger asked the question closest to his heart. "Did
linked up with the original ascending tunnel leading to the they know how to read what they had?"
Grand Gallery. But they did not want to go up, nor did "I do not know," Kaji repeated, "but they had someone
they want to go to what we now call the middle chamber, with them who could understand it in some manner, that
but was then called the lower chamber. They had paper was for certain. There were twelve of them. We went to the
with them with drawings on it." Kaji pointed at the walls. dip, where the tunnel turns and heads up toward the
"I did not get to look at it for very long, but the writing was Grand Gallery, and halted. They searched and then began
very much like that on these walls. The symbols that cannot digging. I became frightened and upset then. I would be
be read." His eyes turned to the notepad in Nabinger's lap. blamed, because the guards knew me and knew that I was
"Perhaps you are starting to understand those symbols?" leading this party in. They were destroying my livelihood
"Who were these men?" Nabinger asked, flipping the with their picks and shovels.
notepad shut. "The German in charge"--Kaji paused and his eyes lost
"They were Germans," Kaji replied. their focus--"he was an evil man. I could see it all about
"Germans? How could they have gotten into Cairo? The him and especially in his eyes. When I complained he
British still held the city." looked at me, and I knew I was dead if I opened my mouth
"Ah, that was the easy part," Kaji replied. "Throughout again. So I stayed silent.
the war Cairo was one of the major centers for espionage, "They worked quickly, digging. They knew exactly what
and all sorts of people came and went freely." they were doing because inside of an hour they broke
Kaji's voice became excited as he remembered. "Cairo through. Another passageway! Even through my fear I was
was the place to be in World War II. All the whores worked excited. Nothing like this had happened in my lifetime or
for one side or the other or many times both. Every bar many lifetimes before me. This passageway led downward,
had its spies, most also working for both sides. There were toward the ground beneath the pyramid. No one had ever
British spying on Germans who were spying on Americans thought of that before. No one had ever considered if there
52 ROBERT DOHERTY
AREA 51 53
was a passage into the ground. They had always searched "No." Kaji sighed and all the energy seemed to drain out
for ways to go up. of his body. "I don't know what it was that they found.
"They went into it and I followed. I did not understand There was a box inside the stone. A box of black metal.
what they were saying but it was easy to see they were Metal such as I had never seen before nor have seen
excited also. We came down the tunnel"--Kaji pointed be- since." He gestured with his hands, indicating a rectangle
hind him--"as you and I did earlier today. There were about four feet high by two in breadth and width. "It was
three blockages set up in the passageway. I could see the this size."
original writings on the walls and knew we were entering Nabinger shook his head. "This is all a story, Kaji. I
parts that had not been seen by a living man in over four think you have taken my money for a story that is a lie."
thousand years. They tore through the blocking walls as Kaji's voice was calm. "It is not a lie."
quickly as possible, leaving the rubble behind. "I've seen the pictures Martin took. All the walls were
"The tunnel ended in stone, but the Germans didn't let intact. The seals on the sarcophagus were intact and the
that stop them as they had not let the three other walls original ones. How do you explain that if these Germans
stop them. They used their picks and broke through. And did what you said? How did the walls get put back up? The
then we were in here. And the sarcophagus was there just seals put back on? Magic? The pharaoh's ghost?" Nab-
like you see it in the pictures of Martin's expedition, with inger was disgusted.
the lid on and the seals intact. In the air I could feel the "I am not sure," Kaji admitted. "I do know, though, that
presence of-- the Americans and the British sealed off the Great Pyra-
Kaji paused and Nabinger blinked. The old man's voice mid for eight months in 1945, while the war was ending. No
had drawn him in, the effect magnified by being in the very one could go in. Maybe they put everything back. It would
room he was talking about. have been difficult but possible. When I went down with
Kaji looked at the center of the floor where the sarcoph- Martin all the walls were back up as you say. It made me
agus had once been. "The Germans were not archaeolo- wonder, but I knew I had seen them broken through ear-
gists. That was certain. The way they broke through the lier."
walls showed that. And the fact that they broke the seals "Why didn't you tell Martin?" Nabinger asked.
and lifted the lid. In 1951 Martin took six months before "I was just a laborer then. And he would not have be-
his men opened the lid, carefully detailing every step of the lieved me, as you do not believe me now."
operation. The Germans were into it in less than five min- "Why are you telling me?"
utes after entering. They were interested in nothing but the Kaji pointed at Nabinger's notebook. "Because you are
sarcophagus. Not the writings on the walls here, not the interested in the special writings that no one can read. The
seals. Nothing but the stone box." Germans had those writings. That is how they found the
"Was it empty?" Nabinger asked. chamber."
"No." "This makes no sense," Nabinger exclaimed. "If the
Nabinger waited, then could wait no longer. "Did they Germans came in here and ransacked the chamber, then
find the pharaoh's body?" why would the Americans and British cover it up?"
54 ROBERT DOHERTY
AREA 51 55
Kaji remained silent. were different. One was the man who read the symbols and
"Ah!" Nabinger threw his hands up in disgust. "There pointed the way. Two of the killers guarded him always. As
were no Germans in here in the first place. How many if he was not there of his own free will.
times have you sold this story, Kaji? How many others have "The second man: Von Seeckt--which is why I stole only
you stolen from? I tell you, I will not allow you to get away from him--he was different also. He was not one of the
with it." killers but he wanted to be there. He was very excited when
"I have not lied. I was here." He reached inside his robe they found the black box. That was when I was able to take
and pulled out a dagger. the knife. They gave him the box and he put it in a
Nabinger started, thinking for a second he had pushed backpack. He carried it with him when they left. It looked
the old man too far, but Kaji held it by the blade, offering heavy, but he was a strong man."
the handle. Nabinger carefully took it. "That is all they wanted?" Nabinger asked. "Just that
"I stole that off one of the Germans. They all wore black box?"
them." "Yes. As soon as they had it we went back out. They had
Nabinger felt a chill as he looked at the handle. A minia- a truck waiting and drove away to the north. I ran and hid.
ture, very realistic ivory skull was at the end, and swastikas I knew the guards would look for me when they found the
were carved into the bone handle along with the lightning broken walls and the empty chamber. But they never came
bolts that indicated the infamous SS. He wondered what for me. I never heard a word, which was strange also."
animal the bone had come from, then decided that was Nabinger held on to the dagger. "How do I know you
information he was better without. The gleaming steel was didn't get this on the black market? It does not prove your
intricately detailed. Nabinger squinted--there was some- story."
thing written there. There was a word on the one side: Kaji shrugged. "I know it is true. I do not care if you
believe it is true. I am at peace with Allah. I have told the
THULE truth." He pointed at the MRI. "I was reminded to tell you
this story because when the Germans opened the sarcopha-
and on the other side a name: gus and pulled out the box, the man I stole the dagger from
had one of those"--Kaji paused as he searched for the
Von Seeckt word--"a small machine that made noise when he pointed
it at the big black box. It chattered like a locust."
Nabinger had heard of Thule. A place of legend, written "A Geiger counter?" Nabinger asked.
about by Ptolemy and other ancient geographers as the "Yes. That is what I have heard it called."
northernmost inhabitable land, north of Britain. He had no "The black box was radioactive?" Nabinger said, more
idea what that had to do with the Nazis or the pyramids. to himself than Kaji. Nabinger looked at the Egyptian, who
"Who was Von Seeckt?" Nabinger asked. returned his gaze levelly. Although there was no logical
"He was the strange one in the group," Kaji said. "Ten reason to believe the old man, for some reason Nabinger
of the twelve were killers. I could tell by their eyes. Two did. What had been sealed in the sarcophagus? What had
56 ROBERT DOHERTY
the ancient Egyptians possessed that was radioactive?
There was no doubting that the MRI was picking up some
form of residual radiation.
Nabinger sorted the story out in his mind. There was
only one clue to pursue: the name on the dagger. Von
Seeckt. Who was--or probably more appropriately--who
had he been?
"What are you doing?" Kaji asked, as Nabinger tucked
the dagger into his waistband.
"I am keeping this," Nabinger said. "I paid for your
story and this is the only proof." NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
"I did not agree to that," Kaji said. T-134 HOURS, 45 MINUTES
"Do you wish me to tell your men of your deal? Of the
money I just gave you?" Nabinger asked. "They would "This is Johnny. I'm out of town for a bit. Back on the
want their share." tenth. Talk to you then. Leave a message at the beep. Bye."
Kaji eyes narrowed. Then he stood and shrugged. "You Kelly slowly put the receiver down, not bothering to
may keep it. It is an evil thing. I should have gotten rid of it leave a message. It was after nine in the morning on the
long ago." tenth. "Oh, Johnny, you've done it now," she whispered to
herself.
There was no doubt in her mind that Johnny Simmons
was in trouble. He had a strange sense of humor, but he
wouldn't have sent her that tape and letter as a joke. She
knew he was dead serious when he went on an assignment.
After the little he had related to her about what had hap-
pened in El Salvador, she could well understand his seri-
ousness. He had listed nine in the morning three times in
his letter. He would not have forgotten or blown it off. At
the absolute minimum he would have changed his message
by remote as he had said he would.
She turned on her computer and accessed her on-line
service. To find out where Johnny was, she would have to
follow him, and information was the way to start.
There were two avenues of investigation to pursue, and
she knew they were the same two areas that Johnny would
have looked into before he went on assignment. The first
58 ROBERT DOHERTY
AREA 51 59
would be to get background information about Area 51 F-15 Crashes, Pilot Killed
and Nellis Air Force Base. The second would be to get
more specific and look into the UFO phenomenon as it Officials at Davis-Montham Air Force Base confirmed
related to Area 51. last night that an F-15 fighter jet from the 355th Tacti-
Kelly had more than a glancing background in the field cal Training Wing crashed during training yesterday on
of UFOs, which was why, in addition to their friendship, the Luke Air Force Base reservation.
Johnny had sent her the package in the first place. Her The pilot, whose identity is being withheld pending
trouble eight years ago with the Air Force at Nellis Air notification of next of kin, was killed in the crash.
Force Base had had to do with that subject and had for all The aircraft went down in rough terrain and recov-
practical purposes destroyed a promising career in the doc- ery operations are under way.
umentary filmmaking field. What had appeared at the time (No further information was available at press
to Kelly as an excellent opportunity had turned into a di-
saster. time.)
Kelly took the package Johnny had sent her and went
through it one more time, this go-around making notes of Kelly checked, but there was nothing on the crash in the
key words on a legal pad. When she was done, she looked following day's paper, which was unusual. Kelly flipped
at what she had: open her atlas. Luke Air Force Base was in Arizona, hun-
dreds of miles from the Nellis Air Force Base Range. She
Las Vegas Postmark hit the delete key. This had nothing to do with what she
The Captain was looking for.
23 Oct. transmissions, Nellis AFB Then she paused. Or did it? How often did F-15's crash?
Red Flag Not exactly every day of the year. Was it just coincidence?
F-15 Kelly did not believe much in coincidence. She felt her gut
"Mailbox" tighten further. What had Johnny stumbled upon? If this
Dreamland F-15 was the F-15 on the tape, the Air Force had gone
Groom Lake through a lot of trouble to point the finger in a different
direction from Nellis and Area 51. And not only was the
Kelly accessed her on-line data base and set up a plane reported as having crashed, the pilot was dead. He
Boolean keyword search. She started with the date in ques- had been very much alive on that tape.
tion, combining it with Nellis Air Force Base, and drew a Next, Kelly tried mailbox in conjunction with UFOs. This
blank. Then she switched to both the twenty-third and produced three hits, all of which identified the mailbox as
twenty-fourth of October and accessed any news about an actual mailbox along a dirt road outside of the Groom
F-15's. This time she got a hit. She drew up the article, Lake complex where UFO enthusiasts gathered to watch
from the Tucson Citizen, dated the twenty-fourth of Octo- for strange craft over the mountains. Obviously the man
ber: who had sent Johnny the tape--the Captain--was one of
60 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 61
those people. At least she now knew where she could find knew that Johnny must have done the same search, in fact,
that link in the puzzle if she needed it. a much more in-depth one. And after completing that
Trying Dreamland and Groom Lake brought her a wealth search he had felt it was worth going out there and taking
of stories about the site there. They were both cross-refer- the chance that the tape he had been sent was a fake or,
enced to Area 51, which was another one of the many given that Johnny knew about her own Nellis experience, a
names for a place whose purpose was unknown and whose setup.
existence was officially denied. Shifting through several of the articles, two names kept
There were many theories, and Kelly was familiar with popping up: Mike Franklin, a self-styled Area 51 expert
most of them. There were some who claimed the govern- living in the town of Rachel, just outside the Nellis Air
ment had contact with aliens at the site, and they were Force Base range complex; and Steve Jarvis, a scientist who
trading for information and technology. The more radical claimed to have worked in the Groom Lake/Area 51 com-
theorists stated that, on their side of the barter, the hu- plex and actually seen alien craft that the government was
mans were allowing the aliens to conduct mutilations on test-flying. Johnny would have seen the same names.
cattle and other livestock and also--from the truly radical Kelly picked up the phone and got Franklin's number
fringe--to abduct humans for various nefarious experi- from information. She dialed and waited as it cycled
ments. There were some who even claimed that the aliens through five rings. Just as she was about to hang up, some-
were interbreeding with the humans. Kelly shook her head. body came on the line. The voice on the other end was a
These were the sorts of stories that made headlines on the woman's and she sounded upset. "Yes?"
tabloid rags at the checkout counter, not something that "I'd like to speak to Mike Franklin. This is Kelly Reyn-
legitimate journalists pursued. olds."
Another theory was that Area 51 was the place where "Mike's not here," the woman said.
the government was testing its own supersecret aircraft and "Do you know when he'll be back?"
that the F-117 Stealth fighter had been test-flown out "He's not here," the woman repeated.
there. The latest "secret" plane that was supposedly being "I'm doing an article on UFOs for a major magazine,"
tested was called Aurora and guesstimates had the plane-- Kelly said, used to occasionally getting the cold shoulder,
no one quite knew what it looked like--flying anywhere "and I'd like to talk to--"
from Mach 4 to Mach 20 and being capable of going high "I said he's not here-." the woman snapped. Just as
enough to place satellites into orbit. quickly the voice on the other end started sobbing. "Mike's
The official government line was that the Groom Lake/ dead. He was killed in a car wreck last night."
Area 51 complex didn't exist, which was a most interesting Kelly's hand tightened on the phone. "Where did the
position considering the fact that the Air Force had been wreck occur?"
gobbling the terrain around the area for the past five years "On Route 375, about fifteen miles outside of town."
as quickly as it could. "Was he alone?"
Obviously, something was going on at Area 51, Kelly de- "What?"
i cided from all the information in front of her. And she "Was he alone in the car?"
62 ROBERT DOHERTY 63
AREA 5 1
"Yes. The state police say he must have run off the road, Jarvis cut in. "My fee for a print interview is five hun-
maybe trying to avoid hitting a deer. They acted like he dred dollars. That gets you one hour."
must have been drunk. But Mike never drank that much. "Mr. Jarvis, I'm just trying to find--"
He didn't like it. And someone went through all his stuff "Five hundred dollars, one hour. Cash or a money order.
here at the house. When I got here this morning I could No checks. No free questions."
tell, even though they tried to put it all back in place. I'm Kelly paused and gathered in her emotions. "Can I see
scared they're going to come back here." you this evening?"
"Who are they?" Kelly asked. "The elephant bar at the Zanzibar. Be there at seven on
The woman gave a high-pitched laugh. "Them. You the dot."
"How will I recognize you?" Kelly asked.
know."
"I'll recognize you," Jarvis replied. "Wear red. Some-
"No, I don't," Kelly said. "Who are you talking about?" thing sexy. Order a slow, comfortable screw from the bar-
"Forget it," the woman said. "Mike shouldn't have been tender."
doing whatever he was doing. I told him." Kelly clenched her teeth. "Listen, I'm a professional and
"What's your name?" Kelly asked. I'm coming out to Las Vegas to do a legitimate job. I don't
"I'm not talking to no one. I'm getting out of here. I need--
don't know what Mike was doing and I don't want to know "Obviously," Jarvis cut in again, "you don't need to in-
no more." The phone went dead and Kelly slowly lowered terview me, then. It was nice talking to you, Miss Reyn-
the receiver. olds."
"Oh, Johnny, Johnny," she said softly. "You hit the nail Kelly waited. He didn't hang up; she didn't either. Elec-
on the head, I think, but it looks like the nail was harder tronic Mexican standoff.
than you thought." Finally Jarvis spoke. "Do you have the money? Five hun-
Kelly stood and looked at the dry-erase board where she dred? Cash?"
kept all her appointments and job assignments for the next "Yes."
several weeks. There was nothing that couldn't be put off "All right. Just ask the bartender for me. He'll point you
for a while with a few phone calls. in the right direction. I'll be there at seven."
After making her work calls she dialed a travel agency As Kelly hung up the phone, a flicker of doubt crossed
and booked a flight out of Nashville into Las Vegas, de- her mind. Was she overreacting to the situation?
parting at noon. Then she called information and got the She reached down and pulled the Nellis file out of her
number for a Steve Jarvis in Las Vegas. A male voice an- desk and stared at it for a few minutes while she thought.
swered. "Hello?" Once before she'd been down this path. But this time was
"Is this Steve Jarvis?" different. She wasn't just after a story. There was Johnny,
"Who's calling?" out there somewhere, hopefully still alive.
"This is Kelly Reynolds. I'm a freelance writer doing an But that didn't mean she had to walk in blind. She
article for-- looked up the article on Jarvis again and checked some-
64 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 65
thing. Then she picked up the phone and made another In many ways the stone had been the key that opened up
call. study of ancient Egypt, because when Champollion finally
broke the code to the traditional Egyptian hieroglyphics
and deciphered it, a wealth of information was unleashed.
Despite his having studied the history of archaeology in
CAIRO, EGYPT college and graduate school, the information Nabinger was
T-134 HOURS, 4O MINUTES now reading was new to him. What Nabinger had never
Peter Nabinger was also trying to answer questions, but he been told was that in 1842 the King of Prussia had led an
didn't understand the information that was appearing on expedition to Egypt that had done further work on deci-
the computer screen in front of him. He was in the re- phering ancient Egyptian texts and markings. A German
search section of the University of Cairo, using their data- Egyptologist named Richard Lepsius had accompanied the
base to check on Kaji's story. He was glad he had access to king and remained there for three years, producing draw-
such a sophisticated system as the university's computer, ings and measurements of all three pyramids.
because much of what he was looking for had been re- Over the years that followed, the Germans had invested
ported only in academic and scientific journals or out-of- quite a bit of time and energy in the study of the pyramids,
print books, and the computer held hundreds of thousands hieroglyphics, and high runes. Obviously--if Kaji's story
of such abstracts. The system also had the advantage of was true--that effort had borne some fruit.
holding practically every bit of information about Egypt In the decade just prior to World War I various German
and Cairo that had ever been recorded. groups had used myths and archaeology to weave a strange
There was no record of Germans in the Great Pyramid and convoluted web of doctrine to support their racial and
during World War II; not that he had expected to find any. anti-Semitic philosophies. The swastika, a symbol that had
But, sorting through bits and pieces of local newspaper been used by several ancient peoples, was resurrected. List,
articles from 1945, it did appear that access to the Great an early influence on Hitler, used his own false deciphering
Pyramid had been restricted for several months during that of high runes to justify his beliefs.
year and that some strange Allied military activity had cen- Nabinger stopped scrolling the computer for a second
tered around the building, as Kaji had said. and stroked his beard. Although the deciphering of the
Cross-referencing the word Tliuie with the Nazis brought Rossetta stone had greatly increased understanding of hi-
a surprising result. Nabinger had been familiar with the eroglyphics, it had been of no help in the deciphering of
word Thule in the traditional sense from ancient mythol- the high runes. Nabinger's own feeling was that the high
ogy: a northern, inhabited region. The Nazis, however, had runes were older than hieroglyphics.
perverted that concept--and many other myths and leg- Nabinger remembered Kaji's comments about the Ger-
ends--for their own purposes and they had used the sci- mans using some sort of map with markings on it to find
ence of archaeology to try to support their claims. their way. What had the Germans uncovered? Had they
Even nonarchaeologists knew about the Rosetta stone, discovered a way to decipher high rune text that still re-
found in 1799 when Napoleon's army had invaded Egypt. mained unknown to the rest of the world? Were they using
67
AREA 51
66 ROBERT DOHERTY
once been the center of a great civilization, but was subse-
some ancient document or perhaps something drawn by quently destroyed by a great flood. This concept was based
Lepsius in the nineteenth century? Or had they simply on an earlier theory postulated by the Theosophical Soci-
used a map, copied from someplace, and still been unable ety. Nabinger said a brief prayer for the computer that
to read the high runes?
gave him the ability to cross-reference so quickly as he
Nabinger had heard about the German fascination with requested information on this latest piece of information.
the myth of the Holy Grail and the search for the lance The Theosophical Society was founded in 1875 in New
supposedly used on Jesus after his crucifixion, but his in- York City by a woman named Madame Helena Blavatsky.
structors in school had laughed away the Nazis as amateurs Her theory had the inhabitants of Atlantis--or Thule, as
in the scientific field of archaeology, more interested in the Nazis had named it--representing the Fourth Race,
propaganda than science. But perhaps, Nabinger won- the only true line of man, which of course, the Nazis found
dered, there had been other searches with better results? very convenient to use in their Aryan-race theory. Accord-
Nabinger thought of his own hypothesis connecting the ing to the abstract the inhabitants of Thule looked very
high runes in South and Central America with those in the much like the figures carved into stone on Easter Island.
pyramid. He knew he would be laughed at also if he tried Nabinger ran a hand through his beard. How the hell had
to publish his results.
she made that connection?
Nabinger read on. At the end of World War I many of Nabinger started to feel like he was getting off base, but
the occult groups that had been born in Germany prior to he read further. The fall of the true line of man--the
the war grew in strength, feeding off the deep and bitter Atlanteans or Thulians--had come about because they had
dissatisfaction of the people with the defeat and peace im- mated with lesser beings. Voila, the master race needed
posed on their country. The name Thule was appropriated purity, which also worked quite well into the master-race
as a cover for these groups.
theory of the Nazis.
Nabinger straightened. In 1933 a book had been pub- So the Nazis had been interested in Atlantis? What did
lished in Germany called Bevor Hitler Kam (Before Hitler that have to do with Egypt? He sat back in the chair and
Came). It was apparently about the connection between closed his eyes. Unsettling thoughts floated through his
Hitler's National Socialist movement and the Thule move- brain as he reviewed what he knew and what he had just
ment. The interesting thing was that after publication, the learned. Why had the Nazis destroyed the book and what
author disappeared under mysterious circumstances and all had happened to Sebottendorff? There didn't appear to be
copies of the book that could be found in Germany were any direct connection here with Kaji's story other than the
collected and destroyed by the Nazis. The author of the word Thule inscribed on the dagger, but Nabinger was used
book was named Baron Rudolf von Sebottendorff. to having to dig intellectually as well as in the dirt. Perhaps
Checking, Nabinger was surprised to see that the com- there was more here than was readily apparent.
every minute he studied the writings. "You were with Hammond?" Nabinger asked. He had
A year ago Nabinger had made some startling discover- read Hammond's report in the archives of the Royal Mu-
ies that he had kept to himself. It had always been accepted seum in London. It had not been published due to the
that there were certain panels or tablets of markings at failure to discover anything. Of course, Nabinger had
Egyptian sites that were not classical hieroglyphics but ap- noted at the time, Hammond had discovered something.
peared to be some earlier picture language called "high He had discovered that there was residual radiation inside
runes." While such sites were few--too few to provide a the pyramids that shouldn't be there.
database sufficient to allow a scientific attempt at transla- "I have been here many times," Kaji said. "In all the
46 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 47
pyramids. Also many times in the Valley of the Kings. I below that by a caliph in later centuries. Both linked up
spent years in the desert to the south before the waters with a tunnel that descended through the masonry and into
from the dam covered it. I have led many parties of labor- the rock beneath the pyramid. That tunnel ended in an
ers and watched many strange things at sites." intersection hewn out of the rock where two tunnels
"Did Hammond have any guesses why his machine branched off. One headed up to the middle chamber and
didn't work?" Nabinger asked. the Grand Gallery, which led to the upper chamber. The
"Alas, no." Kaji sighed dramatically and ran his hand other, more recently discovered tunnel headed down into
lightly over the control panel of the MRI, getting Welcher's the bedrock to the lower chamber. It was the lower cham-
attention. "Such a machine is expensive, is it not?" ber that Nabinger and his crew were presently working in.
"Yes, it--" Welcher halted as Nabinger shook his head,
now partially seeing where this was leading. THE GREAT PYRAMID
Kaji smiled. "Ah, Hammond, he had no readings. His
man on the machine, he, too, said radiation. Hammond did The Upper Chamber
or "King's" Chamber The Grand Gallery
not believe it. But the machine, it would not lie, would it?"
He looked at Welcher. "Your machine, it would not lie, The Middle or
"Queen's" Chambei
would it?"
Welcher remained quiet.
"If the machine does not lie," Nabinger said, "then
something must be causing the readings."
"Or something was once here that still causes the read- The Lower Chamber
ings," Kaji said. He turned and headed back toward the
other side of the chamber, where a large stone sarcophagus "I was here in 1951," Kaji said. "Yes, the sarcophagus
rested. was empty then."
"The sarcophagus was intact but empty when they broke "Then?" Nabinger repeated. He'd worked with Kaji be-
the seals," Nabinger said sharply, referring to the first ex- fore at other sites and the man had always been honest.
pedition into this chamber in 1951. There had been great When he'd first hired the old man years ago, Nabinger had
excitement over the discovery of the chamber and particu- checked with several others in the field and Kaji had come
larly of the sarcophagus found inside with its lid still intact highly recommended.
and sealed. The mystery of the pyramids was about to be "Hammond, he thought me an old fool, and I was young
solved, it was thought at the time. One could imagine the then," Kaji said. "I am older now. I tried to talk to him, but
dismay when the seals were broken and the lid was opened, he did not wish to talk." Kaji rubbed the fingers of one
and there was nothing in the stone box. hand lightly in the palm of the other.
The interior of the Great Pyramid contained three Nabinger knew what that meant. Kaji wanted to be paid
chambers. One entered the pyramid either through the de- for his information, as Nabinger had suspected, but that
signed polar entrance on the north side, or one blasted just was only natural. The professor thought furiously. He had
48 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51
49
rented the portable MRI. The contract was billed by day of just wasted quite a bit of the museum's money and wonder-
use, and he had enough funds from the museum for eight ing if he could make it up by skimping elsewhere on the
days of use. If he air-shipped it back tomorrow, he would expedition fund. His mind automatically began figuring the
save five days of billing. That was a substantial amount of exchange rate on the pound to dollar.
money, at least from an Egyptian standpoint. The only Kaji seemed satisfied. "It was nine years before Martin's
problem was explaining his receipts and billing forms to the expedition, during the Second World War. In 1942 the Brit-
accountant back at the university. But there was no sense ish ruled here in Cairo, but many were not happy with that.
in continuing to use a machine in a place where it yielded The Egyptian nationalists were willing to trade one set of
no information. He also considered the runes he was deci- rulers for another, hoping that somehow the Germans
phering in this chamber. Those alone would make the ex- would be better than the British and grant us our freedom.
pedition worthwhile. The MRI had been a long shot In reality we did not have much say in the process. Rom-
anyway. mel and the Afrika Korps were out to the west in the des-
Nabinger looked at Welcher. "Take a break." ert and many expected him to be here in the city before the
Welcher left the chamber, leaving the two men alone. end of the year.
"Ten thousand pounds," Nabinger said. "It all began in January of 1942 when Rommel began his
Kaji's face was expressionless. offensive. By June, Tobruk had fallen and the British were
"Twelve thousand and that is all I have." Nabinger knew in retreat. They were burning papers in the Eighth Army
that was over a year's salary to the average Egyptian. headquarters here in Cairo in preparation to run. They
Kaji held out his hand. Nabinger reached into his pocket were all afraid. And Rommel kept coming. The British
and pulled out a wad of bills, the week's wages for the army fell back on El Alamein.
laborers. He would have to go to the bank and draw on the "I was working in Cairo," Kaji said, waving his hand
expedition account to pay them now. above his head. "Even in the middle of war there were
Kaji sat down cross-legged on the floor, the money dis- those who wished to view the ancient sights. The pyramids
appearing into his long robe. "I was here in 1951 with Mar- have seen many wars. There were many people for whom
tin's expedition when they opened this chamber, but it was the war was a fine opportunity to travel and make money. I
not the first time I was in this chamber." gave tours above. And sometimes, if the person paid
"Impossible!" Nabinger said sharply. "Professor Martin enough so I could bribe the Egyptian guards, I took them
broke through three walls to get into here in 1951. Walls inside. Many wanted to see the Grand Gallery," he said,
that were intact and dated. The seals on the sarcophagus referring to the massive passageway hundreds of feet above
were the originals with four dynasties marked--" their heads that had twenty-eight-foot ceilings and led up
"You can speak impossible all you like," Kaji continued to the center of the pyramid and the uppermost chamber.
in the same quiet voice, "but I tell you I was in here before Kaji spread his hands. "I cared not who ruled Cairo. The
1951. You have paid for my story. You may listen or you pyramids have seen many rulers and they will see many in
may argue, it matters not to me." the future. And the pyramids and the other sites, they are
"I'll listen," Nabinger said, beginning to think he had my life.
50 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 51
"The Germans were only a hundred and fifty miles away who were spying on Italians and around and around." Kaji
and it looked as if they could not be stopped. In early July, chuckled.
General Auchinleck was relieved and Churchill sent a gen- "There were fortunes made on the black market. It was
eral named Montgomery to relieve him. No one thought no trouble for the Germans to send these men into Cairo.
much of it here. It was assumed the British would fall back Especially that July when everyone was more concerned
to Palestine, where they would block the canal with sunken about preparing to flee or how to ingratiate themselves
ships, and the Germans would get Cairo. with the invaders than about strange groups of men moving
"That was when I was approached by a party wanting to in the dark."
go inside this pyramid. They spoke strangely, but they paid "Where did the Germans get their drawings from?"
well, which was all that counted. I bribed the guards and Nabinger asked.
we entered, using the caliph's entranceway late at night, "I do not know. They used me to get inside only. From
which was also strange. there they took charge."
"We moved through the descending corridor until we Nabinger asked the question closest to his heart. "Did
linked up with the original ascending tunnel leading to the they know how to read what they had?"
Grand Gallery. But they did not want to go up, nor did "I do not know," Kaji repeated, "but they had someone
they want to go to what we now call the middle chamber, with them who could understand it in some manner, that
but was then called the lower chamber. They had paper was for certain. There were twelve of them. We went to the
with them with drawings on it." Kaji pointed at the walls. dip, where the tunnel turns and heads up toward the
"I did not get to look at it for very long, but the writing was Grand Gallery, and halted. They searched and then began
very much like that on these walls. The symbols that cannot digging. I became frightened and upset then. I would be
be read." His eyes turned to the notepad in Nabinger's lap. blamed, because the guards knew me and knew that I was
"Perhaps you are starting to understand those symbols?" leading this party in. They were destroying my livelihood
"Who were these men?" Nabinger asked, flipping the with their picks and shovels.
notepad shut. "The German in charge"--Kaji paused and his eyes lost
"They were Germans," Kaji replied. their focus--"he was an evil man. I could see it all about
"Germans? How could they have gotten into Cairo? The him and especially in his eyes. When I complained he
British still held the city." looked at me, and I knew I was dead if I opened my mouth
"Ah, that was the easy part," Kaji replied. "Throughout again. So I stayed silent.
the war Cairo was one of the major centers for espionage, "They worked quickly, digging. They knew exactly what
and all sorts of people came and went freely." they were doing because inside of an hour they broke
Kaji's voice became excited as he remembered. "Cairo through. Another passageway! Even through my fear I was
was the place to be in World War II. All the whores worked excited. Nothing like this had happened in my lifetime or
for one side or the other or many times both. Every bar many lifetimes before me. This passageway led downward,
had its spies, most also working for both sides. There were toward the ground beneath the pyramid. No one had ever
British spying on Germans who were spying on Americans thought of that before. No one had ever considered if there
52 ROBERT DOHERTY
AREA 51 53
was a passage into the ground. They had always searched "No." Kaji sighed and all the energy seemed to drain out
for ways to go up. of his body. "I don't know what it was that they found.
"They went into it and I followed. I did not understand There was a box inside the stone. A box of black metal.
what they were saying but it was easy to see they were Metal such as I had never seen before nor have seen
excited also. We came down the tunnel"--Kaji pointed be- since." He gestured with his hands, indicating a rectangle
hind him--"as you and I did earlier today. There were about four feet high by two in breadth and width. "It was
three blockages set up in the passageway. I could see the this size."
original writings on the walls and knew we were entering Nabinger shook his head. "This is all a story, Kaji. I
parts that had not been seen by a living man in over four think you have taken my money for a story that is a lie."
thousand years. They tore through the blocking walls as Kaji's voice was calm. "It is not a lie."
quickly as possible, leaving the rubble behind. "I've seen the pictures Martin took. All the walls were
"The tunnel ended in stone, but the Germans didn't let intact. The seals on the sarcophagus were intact and the
that stop them as they had not let the three other walls original ones. How do you explain that if these Germans
stop them. They used their picks and broke through. And did what you said? How did the walls get put back up? The
then we were in here. And the sarcophagus was there just seals put back on? Magic? The pharaoh's ghost?" Nab-
like you see it in the pictures of Martin's expedition, with inger was disgusted.
the lid on and the seals intact. In the air I could feel the "I am not sure," Kaji admitted. "I do know, though, that
presence of-- the Americans and the British sealed off the Great Pyra-
Kaji paused and Nabinger blinked. The old man's voice mid for eight months in 1945, while the war was ending. No
had drawn him in, the effect magnified by being in the very one could go in. Maybe they put everything back. It would
room he was talking about. have been difficult but possible. When I went down with
Kaji looked at the center of the floor where the sarcoph- Martin all the walls were back up as you say. It made me
agus had once been. "The Germans were not archaeolo- wonder, but I knew I had seen them broken through ear-
gists. That was certain. The way they broke through the lier."
walls showed that. And the fact that they broke the seals "Why didn't you tell Martin?" Nabinger asked.
and lifted the lid. In 1951 Martin took six months before "I was just a laborer then. And he would not have be-
his men opened the lid, carefully detailing every step of the lieved me, as you do not believe me now."
operation. The Germans were into it in less than five min- "Why are you telling me?"
utes after entering. They were interested in nothing but the Kaji pointed at Nabinger's notebook. "Because you are
sarcophagus. Not the writings on the walls here, not the interested in the special writings that no one can read. The
seals. Nothing but the stone box." Germans had those writings. That is how they found the
"Was it empty?" Nabinger asked. chamber."
"No." "This makes no sense," Nabinger exclaimed. "If the
Nabinger waited, then could wait no longer. "Did they Germans came in here and ransacked the chamber, then
find the pharaoh's body?" why would the Americans and British cover it up?"
54 ROBERT DOHERTY
AREA 51 55
Kaji remained silent. were different. One was the man who read the symbols and
"Ah!" Nabinger threw his hands up in disgust. "There pointed the way. Two of the killers guarded him always. As
were no Germans in here in the first place. How many if he was not there of his own free will.
times have you sold this story, Kaji? How many others have "The second man: Von Seeckt--which is why I stole only
you stolen from? I tell you, I will not allow you to get away from him--he was different also. He was not one of the
with it." killers but he wanted to be there. He was very excited when
"I have not lied. I was here." He reached inside his robe they found the black box. That was when I was able to take
and pulled out a dagger. the knife. They gave him the box and he put it in a
Nabinger started, thinking for a second he had pushed backpack. He carried it with him when they left. It looked
the old man too far, but Kaji held it by the blade, offering heavy, but he was a strong man."
the handle. Nabinger carefully took it. "That is all they wanted?" Nabinger asked. "Just that
"I stole that off one of the Germans. They all wore black box?"
them." "Yes. As soon as they had it we went back out. They had
Nabinger felt a chill as he looked at the handle. A minia- a truck waiting and drove away to the north. I ran and hid.
ture, very realistic ivory skull was at the end, and swastikas I knew the guards would look for me when they found the
were carved into the bone handle along with the lightning broken walls and the empty chamber. But they never came
bolts that indicated the infamous SS. He wondered what for me. I never heard a word, which was strange also."
animal the bone had come from, then decided that was Nabinger held on to the dagger. "How do I know you
information he was better without. The gleaming steel was didn't get this on the black market? It does not prove your
intricately detailed. Nabinger squinted--there was some- story."
thing written there. There was a word on the one side: Kaji shrugged. "I know it is true. I do not care if you
believe it is true. I am at peace with Allah. I have told the
THULE truth." He pointed at the MRI. "I was reminded to tell you
this story because when the Germans opened the sarcopha-
and on the other side a name: gus and pulled out the box, the man I stole the dagger from
had one of those"--Kaji paused as he searched for the
Von Seeckt word--"a small machine that made noise when he pointed
it at the big black box. It chattered like a locust."
Nabinger had heard of Thule. A place of legend, written "A Geiger counter?" Nabinger asked.
about by Ptolemy and other ancient geographers as the "Yes. That is what I have heard it called."
northernmost inhabitable land, north of Britain. He had no "The black box was radioactive?" Nabinger said, more
idea what that had to do with the Nazis or the pyramids. to himself than Kaji. Nabinger looked at the Egyptian, who
"Who was Von Seeckt?" Nabinger asked. returned his gaze levelly. Although there was no logical
"He was the strange one in the group," Kaji said. "Ten reason to believe the old man, for some reason Nabinger
of the twelve were killers. I could tell by their eyes. Two did. What had been sealed in the sarcophagus? What had
56 ROBERT DOHERTY
the ancient Egyptians possessed that was radioactive?
There was no doubting that the MRI was picking up some
form of residual radiation.
Nabinger sorted the story out in his mind. There was
only one clue to pursue: the name on the dagger. Von
Seeckt. Who was--or probably more appropriately--who
had he been?
"What are you doing?" Kaji asked, as Nabinger tucked
the dagger into his waistband.
"I am keeping this," Nabinger said. "I paid for your
story and this is the only proof." NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
"I did not agree to that," Kaji said. T-134 HOURS, 45 MINUTES
"Do you wish me to tell your men of your deal? Of the
money I just gave you?" Nabinger asked. "They would "This is Johnny. I'm out of town for a bit. Back on the
want their share." tenth. Talk to you then. Leave a message at the beep. Bye."
Kaji eyes narrowed. Then he stood and shrugged. "You Kelly slowly put the receiver down, not bothering to
may keep it. It is an evil thing. I should have gotten rid of it leave a message. It was after nine in the morning on the
long ago." tenth. "Oh, Johnny, you've done it now," she whispered to
herself.
There was no doubt in her mind that Johnny Simmons
was in trouble. He had a strange sense of humor, but he
wouldn't have sent her that tape and letter as a joke. She
knew he was dead serious when he went on an assignment.
After the little he had related to her about what had hap-
pened in El Salvador, she could well understand his seri-
ousness. He had listed nine in the morning three times in
his letter. He would not have forgotten or blown it off. At
the absolute minimum he would have changed his message
by remote as he had said he would.
She turned on her computer and accessed her on-line
service. To find out where Johnny was, she would have to
follow him, and information was the way to start.
There were two avenues of investigation to pursue, and
she knew they were the same two areas that Johnny would
have looked into before he went on assignment. The first
58 ROBERT DOHERTY
AREA 51 59
would be to get background information about Area 51 F-15 Crashes, Pilot Killed
and Nellis Air Force Base. The second would be to get
more specific and look into the UFO phenomenon as it Officials at Davis-Montham Air Force Base confirmed
related to Area 51. last night that an F-15 fighter jet from the 355th Tacti-
Kelly had more than a glancing background in the field cal Training Wing crashed during training yesterday on
of UFOs, which was why, in addition to their friendship, the Luke Air Force Base reservation.
Johnny had sent her the package in the first place. Her The pilot, whose identity is being withheld pending
trouble eight years ago with the Air Force at Nellis Air notification of next of kin, was killed in the crash.
Force Base had had to do with that subject and had for all The aircraft went down in rough terrain and recov-
practical purposes destroyed a promising career in the doc- ery operations are under way.
umentary filmmaking field. What had appeared at the time (No further information was available at press
to Kelly as an excellent opportunity had turned into a di-
saster. time.)
Kelly took the package Johnny had sent her and went
through it one more time, this go-around making notes of Kelly checked, but there was nothing on the crash in the
key words on a legal pad. When she was done, she looked following day's paper, which was unusual. Kelly flipped
at what she had: open her atlas. Luke Air Force Base was in Arizona, hun-
dreds of miles from the Nellis Air Force Base Range. She
Las Vegas Postmark hit the delete key. This had nothing to do with what she
The Captain was looking for.
23 Oct. transmissions, Nellis AFB Then she paused. Or did it? How often did F-15's crash?
Red Flag Not exactly every day of the year. Was it just coincidence?
F-15 Kelly did not believe much in coincidence. She felt her gut
"Mailbox" tighten further. What had Johnny stumbled upon? If this
Dreamland F-15 was the F-15 on the tape, the Air Force had gone
Groom Lake through a lot of trouble to point the finger in a different
direction from Nellis and Area 51. And not only was the
Kelly accessed her on-line data base and set up a plane reported as having crashed, the pilot was dead. He
Boolean keyword search. She started with the date in ques- had been very much alive on that tape.
tion, combining it with Nellis Air Force Base, and drew a Next, Kelly tried mailbox in conjunction with UFOs. This
blank. Then she switched to both the twenty-third and produced three hits, all of which identified the mailbox as
twenty-fourth of October and accessed any news about an actual mailbox along a dirt road outside of the Groom
F-15's. This time she got a hit. She drew up the article, Lake complex where UFO enthusiasts gathered to watch
from the Tucson Citizen, dated the twenty-fourth of Octo- for strange craft over the mountains. Obviously the man
ber: who had sent Johnny the tape--the Captain--was one of
60 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 61
those people. At least she now knew where she could find knew that Johnny must have done the same search, in fact,
that link in the puzzle if she needed it. a much more in-depth one. And after completing that
Trying Dreamland and Groom Lake brought her a wealth search he had felt it was worth going out there and taking
of stories about the site there. They were both cross-refer- the chance that the tape he had been sent was a fake or,
enced to Area 51, which was another one of the many given that Johnny knew about her own Nellis experience, a
names for a place whose purpose was unknown and whose setup.
existence was officially denied. Shifting through several of the articles, two names kept
There were many theories, and Kelly was familiar with popping up: Mike Franklin, a self-styled Area 51 expert
most of them. There were some who claimed the govern- living in the town of Rachel, just outside the Nellis Air
ment had contact with aliens at the site, and they were Force Base range complex; and Steve Jarvis, a scientist who
trading for information and technology. The more radical claimed to have worked in the Groom Lake/Area 51 com-
theorists stated that, on their side of the barter, the hu- plex and actually seen alien craft that the government was
mans were allowing the aliens to conduct mutilations on test-flying. Johnny would have seen the same names.
cattle and other livestock and also--from the truly radical Kelly picked up the phone and got Franklin's number
fringe--to abduct humans for various nefarious experi- from information. She dialed and waited as it cycled
ments. There were some who even claimed that the aliens through five rings. Just as she was about to hang up, some-
were interbreeding with the humans. Kelly shook her head. body came on the line. The voice on the other end was a
These were the sorts of stories that made headlines on the woman's and she sounded upset. "Yes?"
tabloid rags at the checkout counter, not something that "I'd like to speak to Mike Franklin. This is Kelly Reyn-
legitimate journalists pursued. olds."
Another theory was that Area 51 was the place where "Mike's not here," the woman said.
the government was testing its own supersecret aircraft and "Do you know when he'll be back?"
that the F-117 Stealth fighter had been test-flown out "He's not here," the woman repeated.
there. The latest "secret" plane that was supposedly being "I'm doing an article on UFOs for a major magazine,"
tested was called Aurora and guesstimates had the plane-- Kelly said, used to occasionally getting the cold shoulder,
no one quite knew what it looked like--flying anywhere "and I'd like to talk to--"
from Mach 4 to Mach 20 and being capable of going high "I said he's not here-." the woman snapped. Just as
enough to place satellites into orbit. quickly the voice on the other end started sobbing. "Mike's
The official government line was that the Groom Lake/ dead. He was killed in a car wreck last night."
Area 51 complex didn't exist, which was a most interesting Kelly's hand tightened on the phone. "Where did the
position considering the fact that the Air Force had been wreck occur?"
gobbling the terrain around the area for the past five years "On Route 375, about fifteen miles outside of town."
as quickly as it could. "Was he alone?"
Obviously, something was going on at Area 51, Kelly de- "What?"
i cided from all the information in front of her. And she "Was he alone in the car?"
62 ROBERT DOHERTY 63
AREA 5 1
"Yes. The state police say he must have run off the road, Jarvis cut in. "My fee for a print interview is five hun-
maybe trying to avoid hitting a deer. They acted like he dred dollars. That gets you one hour."
must have been drunk. But Mike never drank that much. "Mr. Jarvis, I'm just trying to find--"
He didn't like it. And someone went through all his stuff "Five hundred dollars, one hour. Cash or a money order.
here at the house. When I got here this morning I could No checks. No free questions."
tell, even though they tried to put it all back in place. I'm Kelly paused and gathered in her emotions. "Can I see
scared they're going to come back here." you this evening?"
"Who are they?" Kelly asked. "The elephant bar at the Zanzibar. Be there at seven on
The woman gave a high-pitched laugh. "Them. You the dot."
"How will I recognize you?" Kelly asked.
know."
"I'll recognize you," Jarvis replied. "Wear red. Some-
"No, I don't," Kelly said. "Who are you talking about?" thing sexy. Order a slow, comfortable screw from the bar-
"Forget it," the woman said. "Mike shouldn't have been tender."
doing whatever he was doing. I told him." Kelly clenched her teeth. "Listen, I'm a professional and
"What's your name?" Kelly asked. I'm coming out to Las Vegas to do a legitimate job. I don't
"I'm not talking to no one. I'm getting out of here. I need--
don't know what Mike was doing and I don't want to know "Obviously," Jarvis cut in again, "you don't need to in-
no more." The phone went dead and Kelly slowly lowered terview me, then. It was nice talking to you, Miss Reyn-
the receiver. olds."
"Oh, Johnny, Johnny," she said softly. "You hit the nail Kelly waited. He didn't hang up; she didn't either. Elec-
on the head, I think, but it looks like the nail was harder tronic Mexican standoff.
than you thought." Finally Jarvis spoke. "Do you have the money? Five hun-
Kelly stood and looked at the dry-erase board where she dred? Cash?"
kept all her appointments and job assignments for the next "Yes."
several weeks. There was nothing that couldn't be put off "All right. Just ask the bartender for me. He'll point you
for a while with a few phone calls. in the right direction. I'll be there at seven."
After making her work calls she dialed a travel agency As Kelly hung up the phone, a flicker of doubt crossed
and booked a flight out of Nashville into Las Vegas, de- her mind. Was she overreacting to the situation?
parting at noon. Then she called information and got the She reached down and pulled the Nellis file out of her
number for a Steve Jarvis in Las Vegas. A male voice an- desk and stared at it for a few minutes while she thought.
swered. "Hello?" Once before she'd been down this path. But this time was
"Is this Steve Jarvis?" different. She wasn't just after a story. There was Johnny,
"Who's calling?" out there somewhere, hopefully still alive.
"This is Kelly Reynolds. I'm a freelance writer doing an But that didn't mean she had to walk in blind. She
article for-- looked up the article on Jarvis again and checked some-
64 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 65
thing. Then she picked up the phone and made another In many ways the stone had been the key that opened up
call. study of ancient Egypt, because when Champollion finally
broke the code to the traditional Egyptian hieroglyphics
and deciphered it, a wealth of information was unleashed.
Despite his having studied the history of archaeology in
CAIRO, EGYPT college and graduate school, the information Nabinger was
T-134 HOURS, 4O MINUTES now reading was new to him. What Nabinger had never
Peter Nabinger was also trying to answer questions, but he been told was that in 1842 the King of Prussia had led an
didn't understand the information that was appearing on expedition to Egypt that had done further work on deci-
the computer screen in front of him. He was in the re- phering ancient Egyptian texts and markings. A German
search section of the University of Cairo, using their data- Egyptologist named Richard Lepsius had accompanied the
base to check on Kaji's story. He was glad he had access to king and remained there for three years, producing draw-
such a sophisticated system as the university's computer, ings and measurements of all three pyramids.
because much of what he was looking for had been re- Over the years that followed, the Germans had invested
ported only in academic and scientific journals or out-of- quite a bit of time and energy in the study of the pyramids,
print books, and the computer held hundreds of thousands hieroglyphics, and high runes. Obviously--if Kaji's story
of such abstracts. The system also had the advantage of was true--that effort had borne some fruit.
holding practically every bit of information about Egypt In the decade just prior to World War I various German
and Cairo that had ever been recorded. groups had used myths and archaeology to weave a strange
There was no record of Germans in the Great Pyramid and convoluted web of doctrine to support their racial and
during World War II; not that he had expected to find any. anti-Semitic philosophies. The swastika, a symbol that had
But, sorting through bits and pieces of local newspaper been used by several ancient peoples, was resurrected. List,
articles from 1945, it did appear that access to the Great an early influence on Hitler, used his own false deciphering
Pyramid had been restricted for several months during that of high runes to justify his beliefs.
year and that some strange Allied military activity had cen- Nabinger stopped scrolling the computer for a second
tered around the building, as Kaji had said. and stroked his beard. Although the deciphering of the
Cross-referencing the word Tliuie with the Nazis brought Rossetta stone had greatly increased understanding of hi-
a surprising result. Nabinger had been familiar with the eroglyphics, it had been of no help in the deciphering of
word Thule in the traditional sense from ancient mythol- the high runes. Nabinger's own feeling was that the high
ogy: a northern, inhabited region. The Nazis, however, had runes were older than hieroglyphics.
perverted that concept--and many other myths and leg- Nabinger remembered Kaji's comments about the Ger-
ends--for their own purposes and they had used the sci- mans using some sort of map with markings on it to find
ence of archaeology to try to support their claims. their way. What had the Germans uncovered? Had they
Even nonarchaeologists knew about the Rosetta stone, discovered a way to decipher high rune text that still re-
found in 1799 when Napoleon's army had invaded Egypt. mained unknown to the rest of the world? Were they using
67
AREA 51
66 ROBERT DOHERTY
once been the center of a great civilization, but was subse-
some ancient document or perhaps something drawn by quently destroyed by a great flood. This concept was based
Lepsius in the nineteenth century? Or had they simply on an earlier theory postulated by the Theosophical Soci-
used a map, copied from someplace, and still been unable ety. Nabinger said a brief prayer for the computer that
to read the high runes?
gave him the ability to cross-reference so quickly as he
Nabinger had heard about the German fascination with requested information on this latest piece of information.
the myth of the Holy Grail and the search for the lance The Theosophical Society was founded in 1875 in New
supposedly used on Jesus after his crucifixion, but his in- York City by a woman named Madame Helena Blavatsky.
structors in school had laughed away the Nazis as amateurs Her theory had the inhabitants of Atlantis--or Thule, as
in the scientific field of archaeology, more interested in the Nazis had named it--representing the Fourth Race,
propaganda than science. But perhaps, Nabinger won- the only true line of man, which of course, the Nazis found
dered, there had been other searches with better results? very convenient to use in their Aryan-race theory. Accord-
Nabinger thought of his own hypothesis connecting the ing to the abstract the inhabitants of Thule looked very
high runes in South and Central America with those in the much like the figures carved into stone on Easter Island.
pyramid. He knew he would be laughed at also if he tried Nabinger ran a hand through his beard. How the hell had
to publish his results.
she made that connection?
Nabinger read on. At the end of World War I many of Nabinger started to feel like he was getting off base, but
the occult groups that had been born in Germany prior to he read further. The fall of the true line of man--the
the war grew in strength, feeding off the deep and bitter Atlanteans or Thulians--had come about because they had
dissatisfaction of the people with the defeat and peace im- mated with lesser beings. Voila, the master race needed
posed on their country. The name Thule was appropriated purity, which also worked quite well into the master-race
as a cover for these groups.
theory of the Nazis.
Nabinger straightened. In 1933 a book had been pub- So the Nazis had been interested in Atlantis? What did
lished in Germany called Bevor Hitler Kam (Before Hitler that have to do with Egypt? He sat back in the chair and
Came). It was apparently about the connection between closed his eyes. Unsettling thoughts floated through his
Hitler's National Socialist movement and the Thule move- brain as he reviewed what he knew and what he had just
ment. The interesting thing was that after publication, the learned. Why had the Nazis destroyed the book and what
author disappeared under mysterious circumstances and all had happened to Sebottendorff? There didn't appear to be
copies of the book that could be found in Germany were any direct connection here with Kaji's story other than the
collected and destroyed by the Nazis. The author of the word Thule inscribed on the dagger, but Nabinger was used
book was named Baron Rudolf von Sebottendorff. to having to dig intellectually as well as in the dirt. Perhaps
Checking, Nabinger was surprised to see that the com- there was more here than was readily apparent.