182 ROBERT DOHERTY
AREA 51 183
never talked to anyone outside of the program in all my life the information they were working with was highly com-
since being recruited in 1942. It is quite strange to speak partmentalized. They didn't have access to all the data that
openly about this. was available."
"There are nine atmospheric bouncers. We know they "Where else were these runes found?" Turcotte asked.
are linked to the mothership because of their technology "I will go into that at another time," Von Seeckt said.
and the material they are constructed of and because there "When Professor Nabinger is with us tomorrow."
were two buried with the mothership--Bouncer One and Turcotte gripped the wheel tighter until the whites of his
Bouncer Two, as they are so elegantly called. knuckles showed. Kelly noticed that and quickly tried to
"We also know the others are related to the mothership keep the flow of information going. "But even though they
because it is through material discovered in the mothership couldn't decipher the runes," Kelly said, "they were able to
hangar that we were able to track down the other seven find other bouncers?"
bouncers. When they found the mothership in 1942 they "Yes," Von Seeckt replied. "As I said, there were draw-
also not only found the first two bouncers, but several of ings and maps. There seemed to be no doubt that much
the tablets we have already talked about. Although the attention was being paid to Antarctica, although the spe-
people in the program could not decipher the symbols on cific location was not given. Just a general vicinity on the
the tablets, there were drawings and maps that could be continent. We eventually broke it down to an eight-hun-
understood." dred-square-kilometer area.
"Wait a second," Kelly said. "You're telling me that the "Unfortunately, the few expeditions that were mounted
best minds the government could gather together couldn't during the war years to Antarctica could not be fully
decipher these high runes? We've got computers that can equipped, due to other, more pressing requirements for
break codes in seconds." the men and ships required for such an operation--such as
"First," Von Seeckt said, "you must remember that it is defeating Germany and Japan.
extremely difficult to decipher a language or system of "In 1946, as soon as the material and men were avail-
writing with so little material to look upon. That rules out able, the United States government mounted what was
effective use of computers--not enough data. Second, we called Operation High Jump. You can look the mission up.
did not necessarily have the 'best' minds, as you put it, It was well documented. However, what no one seemed to
working on this. We had those who could be recruited and wonder was why the government was so interested in Ant-
pass a security check and also sign an oath of secrecy. In arctica in 1946. And why did they dispatch dozens of ships
reality that left many of the best minds out of the field. And and airplanes to the southernmost continent so quickly af-
because of the secrecy of the program, those minds never ter the end of the war?
got access to the data. Third, those who did work on the "It was a very extensive operation. The largest launched
problem of deciphering the runes were limited by the con- in the history of mankind up to that point. High Jump took
ventions of their discipline. They did not understand that so many pictures of Antarctica that they haven't all even
these runes found near the mothership could be related to been looked at yet, fifty years later! The expedition sur-
runes elsewhere. Fourth, because of security requirements, veyed over sixty percent of the coastline and looked at over
184 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51
185
half a million square miles of land that had never before from the symbols on the tablets it looked like there would
been seen by man. be more bouncers, so the priority of the recovery effort was
"But the real success of High Jump occurred when they not as high as it might have been otherwise."
picked up signs of metal buried under the ice in that eight- "You mean there were other sites and other symbols and
hundred-square-mile box that special attention was paid to, other priority levels?" Kelly asked.
which is what they were secretly after in the first place." Von Seeckt looked at her. "Very astute, young lady, but
Von Seeckt leaned forward. "Do you know how thick the let us stay with the subject at hand. In 1955 the Navy
ice is down there? At some places it is three miles deep! launched Operation Deep Freeze, under the leadership of
The current altitude of the land underneath the ice is actu- Admiral Byrd, the foremost expert on Antarctica. The op-
ally below sea level, but that is only because the weight of eration established five stations along the coast and three
the ice on top depresses the continent. If the ice were re- in the interior. At least that is what was announced to the
moved, the land would rise up miles and miles! Even with press and recorded in the history books.
all the expeditions--High Jump included--only about one "A ninth, secret station was also established. One that
percent of the surface area of Antarctica has been tra- has never been listed on any map. In 1956 I flew there in
versed by man. the beginning of what passes for summer in the Antarctic.
"Antarctica contains ninety percent of the world's ice Scorpion Station, as it was called, was over eight hundred
and snow and it is a most formidable foe, as those men who miles in from the coast in the middle of--Von Seeckt
were operating secretly under the cover of Operation High searched for the words, then shrugged--"in the middle of
Jump found out. A plane with skis landed at the site where nowhere, actually. Just ice for miles and miles, which is
their instruments had picked up the metal signal--which, why the spot was so hard to find in the first place. I was
despite the aid of the drawings on the tablets, was found shown the location on the map, but what does it matter?
only after five months of searching by thousands and thou- The ice sheet was two and a half miles thick at that point.
sands of men. "They had taken the entire summer of 1955 to simply
"But the weather down there is unpredictable and brutal move in the equipment they needed. They began drilling in
at best. A storm moved in and the plane was destroyed, the 1956. It took four months to get down the mile and a half
crew frozen to death before they could be rescued. A sec- to the target. They finally punched through to a cavity in
ond mission was mounted to the site. It was determined the ice, which was very fortunate. We had been afraid that
that the reflected signal was coming from over a mile and a perhaps the bouncers--if that was what was down there--
half down in the ice. We did not have the technology at the had been covered over with ice and were frozen into the
time to do either of the two things required to explore ice cap. If that had been the case we would have had no
further: to survive on the ice at that point long enough, and hope of recovery. But no, the drill bit broke through to
to drill down far enough. open air. They sent down cameras and looked around. Yes,
"So, for nine years we bided our time and prepared. there were more bouncers in the cavity.
Besides, we had the two bouncers in Nevada to work on. "Then they had to widen the shaft, make it big enough
We weren't sure what was down there in Antarctica, but for a person to go down and look. It was amazing! There
AREA 51 187
186 ROBERT DOHERTY
was a chamber hollowed out of the ice. Not quite as big as "I don't know," Von Seeckt said. "We would have to ask
whoever left them."
Hangar Two, but very big. There were the other seven
bouncers. Lined up in a row. Perfectly preserved--every- "Go on with what happened in Antarctica," Turcotte
prodded.
thing left in Antarctica is perfectly preserved," Von Seeckt
added. "Did you know that they found food at camps along "It took us three years to bring the bouncers up. First
the coast that had been left over a hundred years, and it the engineers had to widen the shaft to forty feet circum-
ference--and remember, they could only work six months
was still edible?"
"Is that why those bouncers were left in that location?" out of the year. Then they had to dig out eight intermedi-
Kelly asked. "So they would be so well preserved?" ate stopping points on the way up, in order to bring them
"I do not believe so," Von Seeckt said. "The two left up in stages. Then, it was necessary to tractor the bouncers
here in Nevada were functional. The desert air is very good to the coast and load them onto a Navy ship for transport
at preserving things also, and they were out of the elements back to the States. All in all it was a fantastic engineering
job.
inside the cavern with the mothership."
"Then why Antarctica?" she asked. "Then we began the real work back at Area 51 trying to
figure out how they flew. We had been working on the first
"I do not know for sure."
"A guess, perhaps?" Turcotte threw in. "Surely you must two, but with nine, we could afford to disassemble a few.
After all these years we can fly them, but we still don't
have an idea or two?"
"I think they were left there because it is perhaps the know how the engines work. And even though they can be
most inaccessible place on Earth to leave something." flown, I do not believe we are able to use them to anywhere
"So whoever left them didn't want them found?" near the limits of their capabilities. There is still equipment
on board the craft that we don't know how to operate and
Turcotte asked.
"It appears that way. Or at least they only wanted them in fact whose purpose we're ignorant of." Von Seeckt then
found when the finders had adequate technology to brave told Kelly the story about the engineering mishap on the
the Antarctic conditions," Von Seeckt said. bouncer engine. She found all this fascinating. If it wasn't
"But they left the mothership and two bouncers back in for Johnny she'd be on the wire right now, breaking the
Nevada," Kelly noted. "And that was more accessible than story. But she knew this is what Johnny would do for her if
she had disppeared.
Antarctica."
"The terrain and climate in Nevada is more accessible to "What else did the tablets show?" Turcotte asked.
man," Von Seeckt agreed. "But the cavern the mothership "Some other locations. Other symbols. It was all very
incomplete," Von Seeckt said.
was hidden in wasn't. We were very fortunate to stumble "For instance?" Kelly said.
across it, and it required an effort to blast into the site. No,
I believe the ships were hidden with the intention they not "I do not remember it all. The work was compartmental-
ized very early on. I was not allowed complete access to the
be found."
"Why seven in Antarctica and two in Nevada?" Kelly tablets, which were moved down to the facility at Dulce
early on in the project. Nor was I allowed to see the results
wondered out loud.
188 ROBERT DOHERTY
of the research at Dulce. The last time I was in Dulce was 16
1946. I do not remember it very well. I do not believe they
have had much success with the tablets, otherwise we
would have seen the results at Area 51."
Kelly thought that was odd. Her reporter's instincts were
tingling. Had they cut Von Seeckt out of the inner circle
years ago? Or was Von Seeckt holding something back?
"That is why we need to link up with this Nabinger fel-
low," Von Seeckt continued. "If he can decipher the high
runes, then the mystery may be solved not only of how the
equipment works, but also of who left the equipment and MIAMI, FLORIDA
why." T-107 HOURS, 15 MINUTES
Kelly caught herself before the words came out of her
mouth. This was not what Von Seeckt had said back in the With only fifteen minutes before his flight was scheduled to
hotel room. Just a few hours ago he was focused on stop- depart, Peter Nabinger debated whether he should check
ping the mothership. Damn Johnny. She was stuck in this his answering machine, but impatience won out. He
car with these two because of him. Kelly slumped down in punched in his long-distance code and then his number.
the passenger seat and the miles passed in silence. Two rings and the machine kicked in. After the greeting he
hit his access code, then the message retrieval.
"Professor Nabinger, this is Werner Von Seeckt re-
turning your call. Your message was most interesting. I do
know of the power of the sun, but I need to know about the
rest of the message. Both what you have and what I have. I
am going to a place where there are more runes. Join me.
Phoenix. Twenty-seven sixty-five Twenty-fourth street.
Apartment B-twelve. The twelfth. In the morning."
The message ended. Nabinger stared at the handset for a
few moments, then headed toward the gate with a bounce
in his step.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
Lisa Duncan was in her hotel room in Las Vegas. Gullick's
reasoning about the accommodation was that there were
190 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51
191
no suitable quarters available at Area 51 for her. She who had left the equipment, or why the box had been
thought that was a bunch of bullshit, just like a lot of what placed in the pyramid and the ships left out here in the
she had seen and heard so far about Majestic-12, more desert. The other bouncers had been discovered in Antarc-
commonly known as Majic-12. tica from maps found in Hangar Two. And they had been
Lisa Duncan had everything that was available in the able to piece together that the Germans had most likely
official files about Majestic-12, and it was a pretty slim been led to the hidden chamber under the Great Pyramid
reading file. Majestic-12 had been started in 1942 when by maps they had discovered elsewhere.
President Roosevelt signed a classified presidential order The MJ-12 program had remained the most highly clas-
initiating the project. At first, no one had quite understood sified project in the United States for the past fifty-five
the strange facts that were being uncovered with the trans- years, at first because of the atomic information. Then,
fer by the British in the fall of 1942 of a German physicist, after the Soviets had finally detonated their own bomb--
Werner Von Seeckt, and a piece of sophisticated machinery
using information stolen from the United States--the exis-
in a black box.
tence of the mothership and the bouncers was kept secret
The British had not known what exactly was in the box,
for several reasons.
since they couldn't open it, except that it was radioactive.
Duncan turned the page in the briefing book and looked
Since, in those days of the Manhattan Project, nuclear mat-
at the official reasons. One was the uncertainty of the pub-
ters were the province of the United States, Von Seeckt
lic's reaction should the information be released--a topic
and the box were sent over the ocean.
Dr. Slayden was supposed to cover in his briefing.
At first, it had been thought that the box was of German
A second reason was that once flying the bouncers had
development. But Von Seeckt was clearly ignorant, and the
been mastered, in the mid-fifties, the craft were incorpo-
contents of the box, once it was opened, raised a whole
rated into the Strategic Air Command on an emergency-
new set of questions. If it had been German, then most
certainly they would already have won the war. There were use-only basis. All of the bouncers were fitted with external
symbols on the inside of the box--which they now knew racks for nuclear payloads to be used in case of national
belonged to a language called high rune--that the early emergency. It was felt that because of their speed, maneu-
Majestic-12 scientists puzzled over. One thing was clear, verability, and nonexistent radar signature, the bouncers
though: there was a map outline of North America on would be a last-ditch method to get to the heartland of the
which a location had been marked--somewhere in south- Soviet Union to deliver a fatal blow in case of all-out war.
ern Nevada, they determined. Another reason, spawned by the Cold War, was simply
An expedition armed with detecting equipment was sent security. The Russians had been able to develop their own
out, and after several months of searching they discovered atomic weapons off of plans stolen from the U.S. It was
the mothership cavern. The men of Majestic-12 had feared that, even though the American scientists couldn't
quickly identified the black metal of the box container with figure out the propulsion system of the bouncers or even,
the metal used in the struts of the mothership. They now for so many years, how to get into the mothership, the
had more information, but were no closer to figuring out Russians might do a better job. That fear was especially
192 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 193
heightened after the Russians lobbed Sputnik up into some of the former Germans working on the NASA space
space, beating the United States to the punch. project were highly publicized, the vast majority of the
One thing the report didn't mention, though, Duncan work covered by Paperclip went on unobserved. When
knew, was the existence of Operation Paperclip and its ef- news of the project became public, the government
fect on the MJ-12 project. Paperclip was officially launched claimed that Paperclip had been discontinued in 1947. Yet
in 1944 as the war in Europe was winding down, but Duncan had affidavits from an interested senator's office
Duncan felt that Paperclip really began the day Von Seeckt that the project had continued for decades beyond that
was shipped over from England to the United States. date.
Paperclip--a rather innocuous name for a very deceitful One of the things that disturbed Duncan the most about
operation. As the war in Europe was ending, the United the present state of affairs was not so much the work being
States government was already looking ahead. There was a done at Area 51 with the mothership and the bouncers.
treasure trove of German scientists waiting to be plun- What bothered her was what General Gullick was hiding.
dered in the ashes of the Third Reich. That most of those She was convinced he was holding something back. And
scientists were Nazis mattered little to those who had in- she had a strong feeling it had something to do with other
vented Paperclip. aspects of the MJ-12 program that they weren't showing
When Duncan had first read of Paperclip, she'd been her.
shocked by the blatant incongruity of the situation. The The senator who had provided Duncan with information
end justifies the means was the motto of those who re- on Paperclip was under pressure from several Jewish
cruited and illegally allowed the scientists into the United groups to disclose the history of the project, with the possi-
States. Yet at the same time, colleagues of those same sci- bility in mind of prosecuting some of those involved.
entists were being tried for war crimes where the defense Duncan was concerned about the past, but she was more
of the end justifying the means had been ruled immoral. In worried about the future.
many cases intelligence officers from the JIOA, Joint Intel- While the German physicists had gone to MJ-12 and the
ligence Objectives Agency, were snatching Nazi scientists German rocket scientists had gone to NASA, the largest
away from army war-crimes units. Both groups were hunt- group of Nazi scientists involved in Paperclip had yet to be
ing the same men but with very different goals in mind. uncovered: the biological and chemical warfare specialists.
Despite the fact that President Truman had signed an As advanced as German rocketry had been at the end of
executive order banning the immigration of Nazis into the the war with the V-2 and jet aircraft, their advancements in
United States, the practice continued unabated, all in the the field of biological and chemical warfare had been chill-
name of national security. ing.
Majestic-12 had started with Werner Von Seeckt--an With plenty of human beings to experiment on, the Ger-
undisputed Nazi--and it had continued over the years, us- mans had gone far beyond what the Allies had even begun
ing whatever means were required. Several of the scientists to fear. While the Americans were still stockpiling mustard
used in the early work on the bouncers and mothership gas as their primary chemical weapon, the Germans had
were Nazis, recruited by Paperclip. While the names of three much more efficient and deadly gases by war's end:
194 ROBERT DOHERTY
AREA 51 195
tabun, soman, and sarin--the latter of which the American larly the mothership--is beyond what you can
military immediately appropriated for its own use after the imagine from reading the papers and viewing the
war. video briefing.
Where were all these biological and chemical scientists 2. Security at the facility is excessive in light of the
whom Paperclip had saved from prosecution? Duncan present world situation.
wondered. What had they been working on all these years? 3. The President's concerns about the psychological
She put the briefing book down in aggravation. There and sociological effects of revealing the project are
were too many questions and everything was going too rap- to be addressed at a meeting tomorrow morning.
idly. Not only was this whole Paperclip issue a problem, but 4. As for the upcoming test flight of the mothership, I
she also wondered about the Mothership test itself. Was request that the President withhold authorization
Gullick moving ahead quickly with the flight for reasons pending further investigation. There is some dis-
that weren't apparent, and in doing so was he overlooking sension on the Majic-12 staff about the testing, and
problems with the mothership and its propulsion system? while it may turn out to be nothing, I believe more
She most definitely remembered the feeling of nausea time is needed.
she'd had in the hangar during the test. 5. As expected, General Gullick and the other staff
She'd been sent here by the President's advisers to check members are very evasive about the early days of
on the situation and look into the potential problems that the program and any links to Operation Paperclip.
revealing the existence of the MJ-12 project might create. The one who would know the most is Werner Von
After all, the President had been in office three years al- Seeckt, but I have not been able to meet him since
ready and his administration by default would be impli- my initial inbriefing. He has not returned my calls. I
cated in any cover-up. will try to corner him tomorrow after the psycho-
She flipped open the lid on her laptop and went to work, logical briefing.
typing out her findings so far. 6. I have not received any communication from Cap-
tain Turcotte. I assume he has not found anything
CLASSIFICATION: TOP SECRET, Q to report of significance.
CLEARANCE, ADDRESSEE ONLY END
TO: Chief of Staff, White House CLASSIFICATION: TOP SECRET, Q
FROM: Dr. Lisa Duncan, Presidential Observer CLEARANCE, ADDRESSEE ONLY
Majestic-12
SUBJECT: AREA 51 Inquiry. She attached a cable from her laptop into a breadloaf-
sized black box that she'd been given by a Secret Service
I have studied the official inbriefing, toured the facili- man when she'd been inbriefed for her new job in Wash-
ties at Area 51, and attended one meeting of Majic-12. ington. All she knew was that the box was supposed to
Based on these initial inputs my impressions are: encrypt her message so that only the addressee could read
1. The technology that is present at Area 51--particu- it. She plugged the cord coming out of the box into her
196 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 197
phone socket and waited until a green light glowed on the THE CUBE, AREA 51
side--apparently it did its own dialing. Major Quinn noted the alert signal blinking in the upper
Duncan waited until the green light went out, then she right-hand corner of his computer screen. He finished the
unplugged all the machinery. She walked to the window of order he was working on and transmitted it, then accessed
her hotel room and looked out, watching the people scur- the signal that had caused the alert.
rying about, going into and out of casinos. How would they Since the Cube had access to every piece of top-of-the-
react if what was hidden in the desert beyond the buildings line equipment the government possessed--and access to
were revealed to them? If they learned that, at least once all codes and encryption techniques--Dr. Duncan's mes-
upon a time, mankind had not been alone in the universe? sage to the White House chief of staff had taken less than
If it was shown that while their ancestors were still living in six seconds for the Cube computer to decrypt. Quinn read
caves and struggling to make arrowheads, aliens were visit- the text. He connected the name "Turcotte" to the man
ing the Earth in craft we still couldn't understand? injured on the Nightscape mission into Nebraska. Another
Those were the large, theoretical questions. Of more im- complication he didn't understand. This was Gullick's terri-
mediate concern to Duncan was to follow through on the tory.
instruction she'd received from the White House chief of He printed out a hard copy and walked to the rear corri-
staff. The President was concerned about what he had not dor, taking the message with him. Gullick wasn't in his
been getting briefed on in the twice-yearly status reports office. The code above the handle to Gullick's private
from Majic-12. Because the organization had been around quarters read DO NOT DISTURB. Quinn stood for a few sec-
so long and had members from almost every major govern- onds in thought, hand poised to knock. Then he turned
ment agency of significance, he didn't trust using normal and went back to Gullick's office. He clipped a top-secret
channels to check it out; thus Duncan's assignment. She'd cover on the message and placed it in General Gullick's
had Turcotte assigned to her based on the recommenda- reading file.
tion of the President's national security adviser. Apparently
Turcotte was some kind of hero for actions on a classified
mission overseas. She'd briefed him personally, but he had
not yet called with anything.
Duncan rubbed her forehead, walked over to the bed,
and lay down. She sincerely hoped the people out at Area
51 would give her some good answers tomorrow and that
they'd be of a higher quality than the ones she'd been given
so far.
AREA 51 199
mation they were after; and he held the expertise to keep
17
them safe and acquire more information.
"My story will have to wait until tomorrow," Von Seeckt
said. He was seated near the window, looking down two
stories at the parking lot. "Professor Nabinger will have the
same questions, and I do not wish to tell it twice. It is
difficult to tell and covers many years."
Kelly looked over at Turcotte. "Well?"
"I've already told you what happened. I just arrived in
time for the Nightscape mission."
PHOENIX, ARIZONA "Yeah, but you didn't come out of a hole in the ground
prior to that," Kelly said. "How did you get sucked into
T-101 HOURS
working at that place? You said something earlier today
"I've told you my reasons for being here and helping you. about an assignment."
How about telling me your reasons?" Kelly asked. "I was in the army, and they cut orders assigning me
They were holed up in Johnny Simmons's apartment. there." Turcotte stood up. "I'm going out to the store. Any-
Turcotte was less than thrilled about being there, given that one want anything?"
it looked as if Simmons had been picked up by Gullick's Without waiting for an answer he walked out and
people. But Kelly had argued that no one knew about their headed for the stairs. Kelly was two steps behind him.
connection with Johnny, so there was no reason for some- "You're not getting away that easy. There's something you
one to come looking for them here in Phoenix. Besides, aren't telling. Why'd you help Von Seeckt? You were one
they needed to stay somewhere en route to Dulce, and a of the bad guys. Why'd you change sides?"
motel was out of the question. The apartment was on the Turcotte went down the stairs, Kelly at his side. "I told
second floor of a modern complex, and it did not appear you. My commander wanted me to apprehend some civil-
that anyone had been inside for several days. ians in Nebraska. I didn't like that. Also, they tried to k i l l
Turcotte had expressed misgivings about stopping at all. Von Seeckt. I don't approve of kidnapping or murder, even
He wanted to push on to Dulce and try to infiltrate it this if the government is the one sanctioning it."
evening. But Von Seeckt had told them of the planned "Yeah and pigs have wings," Kelly said. "I don't buy it.
rendezvous with Professor Nabinger the next morning at You--"
this location, and Kelly had agreed that they ought to wait. Turcotte whirled and faced her, the action so swift that
Turcotte had reluctantly accepted their decision. Kelly stepped back, startled. "I don't give a damn what you
Turcotte was slowly accepting that they all needed each buy or don't buy, lady," he said. "You ask too many ques-
other: Von Seeckt held the knowledge to get them out of tions. You let Von Seeckt have his secrets. How about let-
their predicament; Kelly was to be the voice to the public ting me have mine?"
that would ensure their safety once they acquired the infor- "Von Seeckt is going to tell us his when Nabinger gets
200 ROBERT DOHERTY A R E A 5 1
2O1
here," Kelly countered, stepping in closer to Turcotte. getting held hostage by every two-bit terrorist or wacko
"Come on. You didn't just abitrarily decide to go against with a bomb, someone high up in the workings of NATO
your orders and your training. You must have had a reason. got the bright idea that instead of sitting around and letting
And I do have a reason for asking. I've been set up before the terrorists hit us, we'd seek them out and hit them first.
by the government and I'm not going to naturally assume The only problem was that it wasn't quite legal." He
that you're telling me the truth. We only have your word looked down the street and spotted a cafe. "Let's get some
about what took place in Nebraska. For all I know it never coffee."
happened." They walked over and took a corner booth. Turcotte sat
Turcotte looked off past her toward the western horizon, with his back to the wall, watching the street outside. There
where the sun was balanced on the edge of the planet. "All was a constant clatter of dishes and utensils overlaid with
right. You want to know about me? I got nothing to lose the murmur of conversation from the other patrons. After
anymore and maybe if we survive this mess, you can print it the waitress had brought them a cup each, he continued,
somewhere and people can know the truth. speaking in a low voice.
"I was involved in an incident at my last assignment be- "So, anyway, we fought fire with fire. To stop the law-
fore coming back to the States," Turcotte said. "That's breakers we broke the law. I was on a joint U.S.-German
what they called it: an incident. But people died in this team. Handpicked men from the U.S. Special Forces
incident." DET-A out of Berlin and the Germans' GSG-9 counterter-
He shifted his eyes back to her and the look was not rorist force." Turcotte poured a load of sugar into his cof-
kind. "You're a reporter. You'll like it. It's a good story. I fee and stirred. "Ever hear that slogan: We kill for peace?"
was assigned to a CT--counterterrorist--unit in Berlin Kelly nodded. "Well, that's what we did.
when it happened. Everyone thinks it's all great over there "I didn't mind doing it either. We were wasting people
since the wall went down, but they still have a terrorist who'd put a bomb in a train station and didn't care who got
problem. Same as it was in the seventies and early eighties. caught in the blast. We pretty much broke the back of the
In some ways worse because there's bigger and better remnants of the Baader-Meinhof gang in less than six
weapons available to the bad guys from all the old Warsaw months. I was in on six operations." Turcotte's voice was
Pact stockpiles, and there're a lot of people in those coun- flat. "I killed four people on those ops.
tries who'd sell anything to get their hands on Western "Then we got word that some IRA fellows were in town,
currency. trying to buy surplus East German armament that some
"The only difference between now and back in the eight- former members of the army had stashed away for a rainy
ies is that we learned our lessons from those old days and day when the wall came down. The word was these Irish
now we preempt terrorism. And that's why you don't hear guys were trying to get some SAM-7 shoulder-fired antiair-
about it so much anymore--not because the assholes have craft missiles.
gone away. People are so naive." "We don't know what they were going to do with them,
"Preempt?" Kelly asked. although the best guess was they'd sit outside Heathrow
Turcotte gave a short, nasty laugh. "Yeah. When we were and take out a Concorde just after takeoff. That would
AREA 51 2O3
202 ROBERT DOHERTY
make the news, which is all those scumbags want. I know the way they would have to leave. We had a good spot on a
they signed a peace accord and ceasefire and all that happy curve in the road.
shit, but that don't stop the guys who pull the trigger. They "When the car didn't show after an hour, my CO--let's
have to be on the edge. A lot of those people do what they call him Rolf--got spooked. Surveillance told us they'd
do because they like it. They couldn't give a shit about the stopped in town. But maybe they'd left by another way.
so-called goals they shout at the cameras. It's just an excuse Rolf asked me what I thought. How the fuck was I to
to be a sociopath." know?
He paused when the waitress came by to take their or- "So Rolf and I went into the village and spotted the car
der. Kelly ordered a bagel, Turcotte a glass of orange juice. outside a bar. We'd been told there were three of them. So
"Anyway, everything about the mission was rushed be- old Rolf he decides, hey, fuck it, let's take them out right
cause the intel was late. The IRA had already purchased now and right here. You and me. He was still worried that
the missiles and had them loaded in a car and were head- they might have spotted the surveillance team that had
ing for France when we were alerted. We were airlifted been following them and that they might take a different
ahead of them and picked up some cars. The terrorists route out of town to lose the tail and bypass the ambush
were taking back roads--staying away from the auto- our team had set up. Or that they might even be doing a
bahn--which played right into our hands." dead drop with the missiles in the town and we might lose
The angry undercurrent in Turcotte's voice grew. "We track of the ordnance.
should have just stopped them and taken them into cus- "So I said, hey, yeah, sounds good to me. We had MP-5
tody. But we couldn't do that, you see. Because that would silenced subs slung inside our long coats and pistols in our
have caused too much controversy--the trial and all. And shoulder holsters. Rolf ordered surveillance to close up
it just compounds the problem to put them in jail, 'cause tight around the bar to make sure no one escaped and to
that gives every blood relative they have a reason to grab pick us up when we were done."
some hostages and demand their release. And the whole The waitress brought the bagel and orange juice.
cycle starts again. So instead we were supposed to kill Turcotte took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled as she
them. Make it look like we were terrorists ourselves, and walked away.
that way no one looks bad except the local cops. "We walked right in the front fucking door. The place is
"So." Turcotte took a deep breath to steady his voice. packed, people eating dinner and drinking. Must have
"We were all set to hit them outside a small town in central been twenty, twenty-five people in there. But we spot our
Germany. They were heading up to Kiel to load the weap- suspects right away and guess what? There's only two of
ons on a freighter for transshipment to England. But the these bozos seated in a booth, drinking. So Rolf looked at
IRA guys--they were Irish after all--they had to stop in a me like, hey where's number three? So again, like how the
Gasthaus for a few brews and lunch before making it to fuck do I know? Probably taking a piss. I started to the bar
their rendezvous at the port. to order a brew, scanning the room as I went, but Rolf
"I was the team XO--executive officer. The commander hesitated.
was a German. We set up on the north side of the town-- "I can't blame him too much. Shit, we had silenced sub-
AREA 51 183
never talked to anyone outside of the program in all my life the information they were working with was highly com-
since being recruited in 1942. It is quite strange to speak partmentalized. They didn't have access to all the data that
openly about this. was available."
"There are nine atmospheric bouncers. We know they "Where else were these runes found?" Turcotte asked.
are linked to the mothership because of their technology "I will go into that at another time," Von Seeckt said.
and the material they are constructed of and because there "When Professor Nabinger is with us tomorrow."
were two buried with the mothership--Bouncer One and Turcotte gripped the wheel tighter until the whites of his
Bouncer Two, as they are so elegantly called. knuckles showed. Kelly noticed that and quickly tried to
"We also know the others are related to the mothership keep the flow of information going. "But even though they
because it is through material discovered in the mothership couldn't decipher the runes," Kelly said, "they were able to
hangar that we were able to track down the other seven find other bouncers?"
bouncers. When they found the mothership in 1942 they "Yes," Von Seeckt replied. "As I said, there were draw-
also not only found the first two bouncers, but several of ings and maps. There seemed to be no doubt that much
the tablets we have already talked about. Although the attention was being paid to Antarctica, although the spe-
people in the program could not decipher the symbols on cific location was not given. Just a general vicinity on the
the tablets, there were drawings and maps that could be continent. We eventually broke it down to an eight-hun-
understood." dred-square-kilometer area.
"Wait a second," Kelly said. "You're telling me that the "Unfortunately, the few expeditions that were mounted
best minds the government could gather together couldn't during the war years to Antarctica could not be fully
decipher these high runes? We've got computers that can equipped, due to other, more pressing requirements for
break codes in seconds." the men and ships required for such an operation--such as
"First," Von Seeckt said, "you must remember that it is defeating Germany and Japan.
extremely difficult to decipher a language or system of "In 1946, as soon as the material and men were avail-
writing with so little material to look upon. That rules out able, the United States government mounted what was
effective use of computers--not enough data. Second, we called Operation High Jump. You can look the mission up.
did not necessarily have the 'best' minds, as you put it, It was well documented. However, what no one seemed to
working on this. We had those who could be recruited and wonder was why the government was so interested in Ant-
pass a security check and also sign an oath of secrecy. In arctica in 1946. And why did they dispatch dozens of ships
reality that left many of the best minds out of the field. And and airplanes to the southernmost continent so quickly af-
because of the secrecy of the program, those minds never ter the end of the war?
got access to the data. Third, those who did work on the "It was a very extensive operation. The largest launched
problem of deciphering the runes were limited by the con- in the history of mankind up to that point. High Jump took
ventions of their discipline. They did not understand that so many pictures of Antarctica that they haven't all even
these runes found near the mothership could be related to been looked at yet, fifty years later! The expedition sur-
runes elsewhere. Fourth, because of security requirements, veyed over sixty percent of the coastline and looked at over
184 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51
185
half a million square miles of land that had never before from the symbols on the tablets it looked like there would
been seen by man. be more bouncers, so the priority of the recovery effort was
"But the real success of High Jump occurred when they not as high as it might have been otherwise."
picked up signs of metal buried under the ice in that eight- "You mean there were other sites and other symbols and
hundred-square-mile box that special attention was paid to, other priority levels?" Kelly asked.
which is what they were secretly after in the first place." Von Seeckt looked at her. "Very astute, young lady, but
Von Seeckt leaned forward. "Do you know how thick the let us stay with the subject at hand. In 1955 the Navy
ice is down there? At some places it is three miles deep! launched Operation Deep Freeze, under the leadership of
The current altitude of the land underneath the ice is actu- Admiral Byrd, the foremost expert on Antarctica. The op-
ally below sea level, but that is only because the weight of eration established five stations along the coast and three
the ice on top depresses the continent. If the ice were re- in the interior. At least that is what was announced to the
moved, the land would rise up miles and miles! Even with press and recorded in the history books.
all the expeditions--High Jump included--only about one "A ninth, secret station was also established. One that
percent of the surface area of Antarctica has been tra- has never been listed on any map. In 1956 I flew there in
versed by man. the beginning of what passes for summer in the Antarctic.
"Antarctica contains ninety percent of the world's ice Scorpion Station, as it was called, was over eight hundred
and snow and it is a most formidable foe, as those men who miles in from the coast in the middle of--Von Seeckt
were operating secretly under the cover of Operation High searched for the words, then shrugged--"in the middle of
Jump found out. A plane with skis landed at the site where nowhere, actually. Just ice for miles and miles, which is
their instruments had picked up the metal signal--which, why the spot was so hard to find in the first place. I was
despite the aid of the drawings on the tablets, was found shown the location on the map, but what does it matter?
only after five months of searching by thousands and thou- The ice sheet was two and a half miles thick at that point.
sands of men. "They had taken the entire summer of 1955 to simply
"But the weather down there is unpredictable and brutal move in the equipment they needed. They began drilling in
at best. A storm moved in and the plane was destroyed, the 1956. It took four months to get down the mile and a half
crew frozen to death before they could be rescued. A sec- to the target. They finally punched through to a cavity in
ond mission was mounted to the site. It was determined the ice, which was very fortunate. We had been afraid that
that the reflected signal was coming from over a mile and a perhaps the bouncers--if that was what was down there--
half down in the ice. We did not have the technology at the had been covered over with ice and were frozen into the
time to do either of the two things required to explore ice cap. If that had been the case we would have had no
further: to survive on the ice at that point long enough, and hope of recovery. But no, the drill bit broke through to
to drill down far enough. open air. They sent down cameras and looked around. Yes,
"So, for nine years we bided our time and prepared. there were more bouncers in the cavity.
Besides, we had the two bouncers in Nevada to work on. "Then they had to widen the shaft, make it big enough
We weren't sure what was down there in Antarctica, but for a person to go down and look. It was amazing! There
AREA 51 187
186 ROBERT DOHERTY
was a chamber hollowed out of the ice. Not quite as big as "I don't know," Von Seeckt said. "We would have to ask
whoever left them."
Hangar Two, but very big. There were the other seven
bouncers. Lined up in a row. Perfectly preserved--every- "Go on with what happened in Antarctica," Turcotte
prodded.
thing left in Antarctica is perfectly preserved," Von Seeckt
added. "Did you know that they found food at camps along "It took us three years to bring the bouncers up. First
the coast that had been left over a hundred years, and it the engineers had to widen the shaft to forty feet circum-
ference--and remember, they could only work six months
was still edible?"
"Is that why those bouncers were left in that location?" out of the year. Then they had to dig out eight intermedi-
Kelly asked. "So they would be so well preserved?" ate stopping points on the way up, in order to bring them
"I do not believe so," Von Seeckt said. "The two left up in stages. Then, it was necessary to tractor the bouncers
here in Nevada were functional. The desert air is very good to the coast and load them onto a Navy ship for transport
at preserving things also, and they were out of the elements back to the States. All in all it was a fantastic engineering
job.
inside the cavern with the mothership."
"Then why Antarctica?" she asked. "Then we began the real work back at Area 51 trying to
figure out how they flew. We had been working on the first
"I do not know for sure."
"A guess, perhaps?" Turcotte threw in. "Surely you must two, but with nine, we could afford to disassemble a few.
After all these years we can fly them, but we still don't
have an idea or two?"
"I think they were left there because it is perhaps the know how the engines work. And even though they can be
most inaccessible place on Earth to leave something." flown, I do not believe we are able to use them to anywhere
"So whoever left them didn't want them found?" near the limits of their capabilities. There is still equipment
on board the craft that we don't know how to operate and
Turcotte asked.
"It appears that way. Or at least they only wanted them in fact whose purpose we're ignorant of." Von Seeckt then
found when the finders had adequate technology to brave told Kelly the story about the engineering mishap on the
the Antarctic conditions," Von Seeckt said. bouncer engine. She found all this fascinating. If it wasn't
"But they left the mothership and two bouncers back in for Johnny she'd be on the wire right now, breaking the
Nevada," Kelly noted. "And that was more accessible than story. But she knew this is what Johnny would do for her if
she had disppeared.
Antarctica."
"The terrain and climate in Nevada is more accessible to "What else did the tablets show?" Turcotte asked.
man," Von Seeckt agreed. "But the cavern the mothership "Some other locations. Other symbols. It was all very
incomplete," Von Seeckt said.
was hidden in wasn't. We were very fortunate to stumble "For instance?" Kelly said.
across it, and it required an effort to blast into the site. No,
I believe the ships were hidden with the intention they not "I do not remember it all. The work was compartmental-
ized very early on. I was not allowed complete access to the
be found."
"Why seven in Antarctica and two in Nevada?" Kelly tablets, which were moved down to the facility at Dulce
early on in the project. Nor was I allowed to see the results
wondered out loud.
188 ROBERT DOHERTY
of the research at Dulce. The last time I was in Dulce was 16
1946. I do not remember it very well. I do not believe they
have had much success with the tablets, otherwise we
would have seen the results at Area 51."
Kelly thought that was odd. Her reporter's instincts were
tingling. Had they cut Von Seeckt out of the inner circle
years ago? Or was Von Seeckt holding something back?
"That is why we need to link up with this Nabinger fel-
low," Von Seeckt continued. "If he can decipher the high
runes, then the mystery may be solved not only of how the
equipment works, but also of who left the equipment and MIAMI, FLORIDA
why." T-107 HOURS, 15 MINUTES
Kelly caught herself before the words came out of her
mouth. This was not what Von Seeckt had said back in the With only fifteen minutes before his flight was scheduled to
hotel room. Just a few hours ago he was focused on stop- depart, Peter Nabinger debated whether he should check
ping the mothership. Damn Johnny. She was stuck in this his answering machine, but impatience won out. He
car with these two because of him. Kelly slumped down in punched in his long-distance code and then his number.
the passenger seat and the miles passed in silence. Two rings and the machine kicked in. After the greeting he
hit his access code, then the message retrieval.
"Professor Nabinger, this is Werner Von Seeckt re-
turning your call. Your message was most interesting. I do
know of the power of the sun, but I need to know about the
rest of the message. Both what you have and what I have. I
am going to a place where there are more runes. Join me.
Phoenix. Twenty-seven sixty-five Twenty-fourth street.
Apartment B-twelve. The twelfth. In the morning."
The message ended. Nabinger stared at the handset for a
few moments, then headed toward the gate with a bounce
in his step.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
Lisa Duncan was in her hotel room in Las Vegas. Gullick's
reasoning about the accommodation was that there were
190 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51
191
no suitable quarters available at Area 51 for her. She who had left the equipment, or why the box had been
thought that was a bunch of bullshit, just like a lot of what placed in the pyramid and the ships left out here in the
she had seen and heard so far about Majestic-12, more desert. The other bouncers had been discovered in Antarc-
commonly known as Majic-12. tica from maps found in Hangar Two. And they had been
Lisa Duncan had everything that was available in the able to piece together that the Germans had most likely
official files about Majestic-12, and it was a pretty slim been led to the hidden chamber under the Great Pyramid
reading file. Majestic-12 had been started in 1942 when by maps they had discovered elsewhere.
President Roosevelt signed a classified presidential order The MJ-12 program had remained the most highly clas-
initiating the project. At first, no one had quite understood sified project in the United States for the past fifty-five
the strange facts that were being uncovered with the trans- years, at first because of the atomic information. Then,
fer by the British in the fall of 1942 of a German physicist, after the Soviets had finally detonated their own bomb--
Werner Von Seeckt, and a piece of sophisticated machinery
using information stolen from the United States--the exis-
in a black box.
tence of the mothership and the bouncers was kept secret
The British had not known what exactly was in the box,
for several reasons.
since they couldn't open it, except that it was radioactive.
Duncan turned the page in the briefing book and looked
Since, in those days of the Manhattan Project, nuclear mat-
at the official reasons. One was the uncertainty of the pub-
ters were the province of the United States, Von Seeckt
lic's reaction should the information be released--a topic
and the box were sent over the ocean.
Dr. Slayden was supposed to cover in his briefing.
At first, it had been thought that the box was of German
A second reason was that once flying the bouncers had
development. But Von Seeckt was clearly ignorant, and the
been mastered, in the mid-fifties, the craft were incorpo-
contents of the box, once it was opened, raised a whole
rated into the Strategic Air Command on an emergency-
new set of questions. If it had been German, then most
certainly they would already have won the war. There were use-only basis. All of the bouncers were fitted with external
symbols on the inside of the box--which they now knew racks for nuclear payloads to be used in case of national
belonged to a language called high rune--that the early emergency. It was felt that because of their speed, maneu-
Majestic-12 scientists puzzled over. One thing was clear, verability, and nonexistent radar signature, the bouncers
though: there was a map outline of North America on would be a last-ditch method to get to the heartland of the
which a location had been marked--somewhere in south- Soviet Union to deliver a fatal blow in case of all-out war.
ern Nevada, they determined. Another reason, spawned by the Cold War, was simply
An expedition armed with detecting equipment was sent security. The Russians had been able to develop their own
out, and after several months of searching they discovered atomic weapons off of plans stolen from the U.S. It was
the mothership cavern. The men of Majestic-12 had feared that, even though the American scientists couldn't
quickly identified the black metal of the box container with figure out the propulsion system of the bouncers or even,
the metal used in the struts of the mothership. They now for so many years, how to get into the mothership, the
had more information, but were no closer to figuring out Russians might do a better job. That fear was especially
192 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 193
heightened after the Russians lobbed Sputnik up into some of the former Germans working on the NASA space
space, beating the United States to the punch. project were highly publicized, the vast majority of the
One thing the report didn't mention, though, Duncan work covered by Paperclip went on unobserved. When
knew, was the existence of Operation Paperclip and its ef- news of the project became public, the government
fect on the MJ-12 project. Paperclip was officially launched claimed that Paperclip had been discontinued in 1947. Yet
in 1944 as the war in Europe was winding down, but Duncan had affidavits from an interested senator's office
Duncan felt that Paperclip really began the day Von Seeckt that the project had continued for decades beyond that
was shipped over from England to the United States. date.
Paperclip--a rather innocuous name for a very deceitful One of the things that disturbed Duncan the most about
operation. As the war in Europe was ending, the United the present state of affairs was not so much the work being
States government was already looking ahead. There was a done at Area 51 with the mothership and the bouncers.
treasure trove of German scientists waiting to be plun- What bothered her was what General Gullick was hiding.
dered in the ashes of the Third Reich. That most of those She was convinced he was holding something back. And
scientists were Nazis mattered little to those who had in- she had a strong feeling it had something to do with other
vented Paperclip. aspects of the MJ-12 program that they weren't showing
When Duncan had first read of Paperclip, she'd been her.
shocked by the blatant incongruity of the situation. The The senator who had provided Duncan with information
end justifies the means was the motto of those who re- on Paperclip was under pressure from several Jewish
cruited and illegally allowed the scientists into the United groups to disclose the history of the project, with the possi-
States. Yet at the same time, colleagues of those same sci- bility in mind of prosecuting some of those involved.
entists were being tried for war crimes where the defense Duncan was concerned about the past, but she was more
of the end justifying the means had been ruled immoral. In worried about the future.
many cases intelligence officers from the JIOA, Joint Intel- While the German physicists had gone to MJ-12 and the
ligence Objectives Agency, were snatching Nazi scientists German rocket scientists had gone to NASA, the largest
away from army war-crimes units. Both groups were hunt- group of Nazi scientists involved in Paperclip had yet to be
ing the same men but with very different goals in mind. uncovered: the biological and chemical warfare specialists.
Despite the fact that President Truman had signed an As advanced as German rocketry had been at the end of
executive order banning the immigration of Nazis into the the war with the V-2 and jet aircraft, their advancements in
United States, the practice continued unabated, all in the the field of biological and chemical warfare had been chill-
name of national security. ing.
Majestic-12 had started with Werner Von Seeckt--an With plenty of human beings to experiment on, the Ger-
undisputed Nazi--and it had continued over the years, us- mans had gone far beyond what the Allies had even begun
ing whatever means were required. Several of the scientists to fear. While the Americans were still stockpiling mustard
used in the early work on the bouncers and mothership gas as their primary chemical weapon, the Germans had
were Nazis, recruited by Paperclip. While the names of three much more efficient and deadly gases by war's end:
194 ROBERT DOHERTY
AREA 51 195
tabun, soman, and sarin--the latter of which the American larly the mothership--is beyond what you can
military immediately appropriated for its own use after the imagine from reading the papers and viewing the
war. video briefing.
Where were all these biological and chemical scientists 2. Security at the facility is excessive in light of the
whom Paperclip had saved from prosecution? Duncan present world situation.
wondered. What had they been working on all these years? 3. The President's concerns about the psychological
She put the briefing book down in aggravation. There and sociological effects of revealing the project are
were too many questions and everything was going too rap- to be addressed at a meeting tomorrow morning.
idly. Not only was this whole Paperclip issue a problem, but 4. As for the upcoming test flight of the mothership, I
she also wondered about the Mothership test itself. Was request that the President withhold authorization
Gullick moving ahead quickly with the flight for reasons pending further investigation. There is some dis-
that weren't apparent, and in doing so was he overlooking sension on the Majic-12 staff about the testing, and
problems with the mothership and its propulsion system? while it may turn out to be nothing, I believe more
She most definitely remembered the feeling of nausea time is needed.
she'd had in the hangar during the test. 5. As expected, General Gullick and the other staff
She'd been sent here by the President's advisers to check members are very evasive about the early days of
on the situation and look into the potential problems that the program and any links to Operation Paperclip.
revealing the existence of the MJ-12 project might create. The one who would know the most is Werner Von
After all, the President had been in office three years al- Seeckt, but I have not been able to meet him since
ready and his administration by default would be impli- my initial inbriefing. He has not returned my calls. I
cated in any cover-up. will try to corner him tomorrow after the psycho-
She flipped open the lid on her laptop and went to work, logical briefing.
typing out her findings so far. 6. I have not received any communication from Cap-
tain Turcotte. I assume he has not found anything
CLASSIFICATION: TOP SECRET, Q to report of significance.
CLEARANCE, ADDRESSEE ONLY END
TO: Chief of Staff, White House CLASSIFICATION: TOP SECRET, Q
FROM: Dr. Lisa Duncan, Presidential Observer CLEARANCE, ADDRESSEE ONLY
Majestic-12
SUBJECT: AREA 51 Inquiry. She attached a cable from her laptop into a breadloaf-
sized black box that she'd been given by a Secret Service
I have studied the official inbriefing, toured the facili- man when she'd been inbriefed for her new job in Wash-
ties at Area 51, and attended one meeting of Majic-12. ington. All she knew was that the box was supposed to
Based on these initial inputs my impressions are: encrypt her message so that only the addressee could read
1. The technology that is present at Area 51--particu- it. She plugged the cord coming out of the box into her
196 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 197
phone socket and waited until a green light glowed on the THE CUBE, AREA 51
side--apparently it did its own dialing. Major Quinn noted the alert signal blinking in the upper
Duncan waited until the green light went out, then she right-hand corner of his computer screen. He finished the
unplugged all the machinery. She walked to the window of order he was working on and transmitted it, then accessed
her hotel room and looked out, watching the people scur- the signal that had caused the alert.
rying about, going into and out of casinos. How would they Since the Cube had access to every piece of top-of-the-
react if what was hidden in the desert beyond the buildings line equipment the government possessed--and access to
were revealed to them? If they learned that, at least once all codes and encryption techniques--Dr. Duncan's mes-
upon a time, mankind had not been alone in the universe? sage to the White House chief of staff had taken less than
If it was shown that while their ancestors were still living in six seconds for the Cube computer to decrypt. Quinn read
caves and struggling to make arrowheads, aliens were visit- the text. He connected the name "Turcotte" to the man
ing the Earth in craft we still couldn't understand? injured on the Nightscape mission into Nebraska. Another
Those were the large, theoretical questions. Of more im- complication he didn't understand. This was Gullick's terri-
mediate concern to Duncan was to follow through on the tory.
instruction she'd received from the White House chief of He printed out a hard copy and walked to the rear corri-
staff. The President was concerned about what he had not dor, taking the message with him. Gullick wasn't in his
been getting briefed on in the twice-yearly status reports office. The code above the handle to Gullick's private
from Majic-12. Because the organization had been around quarters read DO NOT DISTURB. Quinn stood for a few sec-
so long and had members from almost every major govern- onds in thought, hand poised to knock. Then he turned
ment agency of significance, he didn't trust using normal and went back to Gullick's office. He clipped a top-secret
channels to check it out; thus Duncan's assignment. She'd cover on the message and placed it in General Gullick's
had Turcotte assigned to her based on the recommenda- reading file.
tion of the President's national security adviser. Apparently
Turcotte was some kind of hero for actions on a classified
mission overseas. She'd briefed him personally, but he had
not yet called with anything.
Duncan rubbed her forehead, walked over to the bed,
and lay down. She sincerely hoped the people out at Area
51 would give her some good answers tomorrow and that
they'd be of a higher quality than the ones she'd been given
so far.
AREA 51 199
mation they were after; and he held the expertise to keep
17
them safe and acquire more information.
"My story will have to wait until tomorrow," Von Seeckt
said. He was seated near the window, looking down two
stories at the parking lot. "Professor Nabinger will have the
same questions, and I do not wish to tell it twice. It is
difficult to tell and covers many years."
Kelly looked over at Turcotte. "Well?"
"I've already told you what happened. I just arrived in
time for the Nightscape mission."
PHOENIX, ARIZONA "Yeah, but you didn't come out of a hole in the ground
prior to that," Kelly said. "How did you get sucked into
T-101 HOURS
working at that place? You said something earlier today
"I've told you my reasons for being here and helping you. about an assignment."
How about telling me your reasons?" Kelly asked. "I was in the army, and they cut orders assigning me
They were holed up in Johnny Simmons's apartment. there." Turcotte stood up. "I'm going out to the store. Any-
Turcotte was less than thrilled about being there, given that one want anything?"
it looked as if Simmons had been picked up by Gullick's Without waiting for an answer he walked out and
people. But Kelly had argued that no one knew about their headed for the stairs. Kelly was two steps behind him.
connection with Johnny, so there was no reason for some- "You're not getting away that easy. There's something you
one to come looking for them here in Phoenix. Besides, aren't telling. Why'd you help Von Seeckt? You were one
they needed to stay somewhere en route to Dulce, and a of the bad guys. Why'd you change sides?"
motel was out of the question. The apartment was on the Turcotte went down the stairs, Kelly at his side. "I told
second floor of a modern complex, and it did not appear you. My commander wanted me to apprehend some civil-
that anyone had been inside for several days. ians in Nebraska. I didn't like that. Also, they tried to k i l l
Turcotte had expressed misgivings about stopping at all. Von Seeckt. I don't approve of kidnapping or murder, even
He wanted to push on to Dulce and try to infiltrate it this if the government is the one sanctioning it."
evening. But Von Seeckt had told them of the planned "Yeah and pigs have wings," Kelly said. "I don't buy it.
rendezvous with Professor Nabinger the next morning at You--"
this location, and Kelly had agreed that they ought to wait. Turcotte whirled and faced her, the action so swift that
Turcotte had reluctantly accepted their decision. Kelly stepped back, startled. "I don't give a damn what you
Turcotte was slowly accepting that they all needed each buy or don't buy, lady," he said. "You ask too many ques-
other: Von Seeckt held the knowledge to get them out of tions. You let Von Seeckt have his secrets. How about let-
their predicament; Kelly was to be the voice to the public ting me have mine?"
that would ensure their safety once they acquired the infor- "Von Seeckt is going to tell us his when Nabinger gets
200 ROBERT DOHERTY A R E A 5 1
2O1
here," Kelly countered, stepping in closer to Turcotte. getting held hostage by every two-bit terrorist or wacko
"Come on. You didn't just abitrarily decide to go against with a bomb, someone high up in the workings of NATO
your orders and your training. You must have had a reason. got the bright idea that instead of sitting around and letting
And I do have a reason for asking. I've been set up before the terrorists hit us, we'd seek them out and hit them first.
by the government and I'm not going to naturally assume The only problem was that it wasn't quite legal." He
that you're telling me the truth. We only have your word looked down the street and spotted a cafe. "Let's get some
about what took place in Nebraska. For all I know it never coffee."
happened." They walked over and took a corner booth. Turcotte sat
Turcotte looked off past her toward the western horizon, with his back to the wall, watching the street outside. There
where the sun was balanced on the edge of the planet. "All was a constant clatter of dishes and utensils overlaid with
right. You want to know about me? I got nothing to lose the murmur of conversation from the other patrons. After
anymore and maybe if we survive this mess, you can print it the waitress had brought them a cup each, he continued,
somewhere and people can know the truth. speaking in a low voice.
"I was involved in an incident at my last assignment be- "So, anyway, we fought fire with fire. To stop the law-
fore coming back to the States," Turcotte said. "That's breakers we broke the law. I was on a joint U.S.-German
what they called it: an incident. But people died in this team. Handpicked men from the U.S. Special Forces
incident." DET-A out of Berlin and the Germans' GSG-9 counterter-
He shifted his eyes back to her and the look was not rorist force." Turcotte poured a load of sugar into his cof-
kind. "You're a reporter. You'll like it. It's a good story. I fee and stirred. "Ever hear that slogan: We kill for peace?"
was assigned to a CT--counterterrorist--unit in Berlin Kelly nodded. "Well, that's what we did.
when it happened. Everyone thinks it's all great over there "I didn't mind doing it either. We were wasting people
since the wall went down, but they still have a terrorist who'd put a bomb in a train station and didn't care who got
problem. Same as it was in the seventies and early eighties. caught in the blast. We pretty much broke the back of the
In some ways worse because there's bigger and better remnants of the Baader-Meinhof gang in less than six
weapons available to the bad guys from all the old Warsaw months. I was in on six operations." Turcotte's voice was
Pact stockpiles, and there're a lot of people in those coun- flat. "I killed four people on those ops.
tries who'd sell anything to get their hands on Western "Then we got word that some IRA fellows were in town,
currency. trying to buy surplus East German armament that some
"The only difference between now and back in the eight- former members of the army had stashed away for a rainy
ies is that we learned our lessons from those old days and day when the wall came down. The word was these Irish
now we preempt terrorism. And that's why you don't hear guys were trying to get some SAM-7 shoulder-fired antiair-
about it so much anymore--not because the assholes have craft missiles.
gone away. People are so naive." "We don't know what they were going to do with them,
"Preempt?" Kelly asked. although the best guess was they'd sit outside Heathrow
Turcotte gave a short, nasty laugh. "Yeah. When we were and take out a Concorde just after takeoff. That would
AREA 51 2O3
202 ROBERT DOHERTY
make the news, which is all those scumbags want. I know the way they would have to leave. We had a good spot on a
they signed a peace accord and ceasefire and all that happy curve in the road.
shit, but that don't stop the guys who pull the trigger. They "When the car didn't show after an hour, my CO--let's
have to be on the edge. A lot of those people do what they call him Rolf--got spooked. Surveillance told us they'd
do because they like it. They couldn't give a shit about the stopped in town. But maybe they'd left by another way.
so-called goals they shout at the cameras. It's just an excuse Rolf asked me what I thought. How the fuck was I to
to be a sociopath." know?
He paused when the waitress came by to take their or- "So Rolf and I went into the village and spotted the car
der. Kelly ordered a bagel, Turcotte a glass of orange juice. outside a bar. We'd been told there were three of them. So
"Anyway, everything about the mission was rushed be- old Rolf he decides, hey, fuck it, let's take them out right
cause the intel was late. The IRA had already purchased now and right here. You and me. He was still worried that
the missiles and had them loaded in a car and were head- they might have spotted the surveillance team that had
ing for France when we were alerted. We were airlifted been following them and that they might take a different
ahead of them and picked up some cars. The terrorists route out of town to lose the tail and bypass the ambush
were taking back roads--staying away from the auto- our team had set up. Or that they might even be doing a
bahn--which played right into our hands." dead drop with the missiles in the town and we might lose
The angry undercurrent in Turcotte's voice grew. "We track of the ordnance.
should have just stopped them and taken them into cus- "So I said, hey, yeah, sounds good to me. We had MP-5
tody. But we couldn't do that, you see. Because that would silenced subs slung inside our long coats and pistols in our
have caused too much controversy--the trial and all. And shoulder holsters. Rolf ordered surveillance to close up
it just compounds the problem to put them in jail, 'cause tight around the bar to make sure no one escaped and to
that gives every blood relative they have a reason to grab pick us up when we were done."
some hostages and demand their release. And the whole The waitress brought the bagel and orange juice.
cycle starts again. So instead we were supposed to kill Turcotte took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled as she
them. Make it look like we were terrorists ourselves, and walked away.
that way no one looks bad except the local cops. "We walked right in the front fucking door. The place is
"So." Turcotte took a deep breath to steady his voice. packed, people eating dinner and drinking. Must have
"We were all set to hit them outside a small town in central been twenty, twenty-five people in there. But we spot our
Germany. They were heading up to Kiel to load the weap- suspects right away and guess what? There's only two of
ons on a freighter for transshipment to England. But the these bozos seated in a booth, drinking. So Rolf looked at
IRA guys--they were Irish after all--they had to stop in a me like, hey where's number three? So again, like how the
Gasthaus for a few brews and lunch before making it to fuck do I know? Probably taking a piss. I started to the bar
their rendezvous at the port. to order a brew, scanning the room as I went, but Rolf
"I was the team XO--executive officer. The commander hesitated.
was a German. We set up on the north side of the town-- "I can't blame him too much. Shit, we had silenced sub-