by Terence West
* * * *
A black military helicopter skimmed low over the hills and sagebrush of the Nevada desert on its way to the Site 4 complex, only having taken off from Area 51 moments before. The motors of the rotor blades chugged loudly inside the cockpit. Perry looked out through the side window at the shadow of the helicopter on the ground. He quickly adjusted his black helmet and tightened his seatbelt. He had never liked riding in a helicopter. He turned and looked at the pilot. "What's our ETA?"
"About ten minutes, Sir." The pilot yelled over the noise.
"Good." Perry turned around and looked at the group of soldiers seated in the rear. "Do you understand what your mission objective is?"
The CO of the men answered. "To eliminate the conspirators, Sir!"
"Affirmative." He handed back several photos of Jake and Griggs. The CO grabbed them and began handing them out. "Take a good look at these men. The next time I see them, I want to be identifying their bodies in the morgue."
"Yes, Sir."
* * * *
Using the shadows and moving quickly around the rocks and sagebrush, they promptly reached one of the nearest communication towers. It was a tall slim building painted in the standard desert camouflage. The several tones of brown hid the tower very well in the stark desert environment. The top of the tower was littered with satellite dishes of all shapes and sizes.
Griggs motioned with his hand for the Jake and Alex to spread out and look for the door. Griggs turned his back to the tower and scanned the horizon for troops. Even though the full moon was shining brightly, it was still very difficult for him to see. Reaching around he removed a pair of night vision goggles from a small pack he had slung over his shoulder.
Slipping them on over his eyes, the nightscape was turned from black into a bright green. He adjusted a small knob on the bottom of the goggles to increase their light sensitivity. He quickly crouched down behind a bush as he spotted a black helicopter approaching from the northwest.
"Get down!" He shouted to the other two.
Jake dropped to the ground and flattened himself against it. Alex dropped down to her knees and rolled behind a large patch of sagebrush near her. They all watched silently as the helicopter roared overhead toward the landing pad.
Jake lifted himself off the ground and dusted himself off. He shouted to the others. "I found the door!" Alex and Griggs trotted around the corner of the tower and stopped next to Jake. "It looks like a service hatch. But it's screwed down."
Griggs knelt down next to the hatch and pulled a compact electric screwdriver out of his pouch. "No problem." He went to work removing the screws.
"What else do you have in that pouch?" Alex pointed at his pack.
"Just what I thought I would need." He removed the final screw and pulled off the panel. "It looks like a tight fit, but I think we can make it." Placing the screwdriver back in his pack, he took his weapon off of his shoulder and handed it to Alex. Slowly, he began to crawl inside.
"What's in there?"
"There's a shaft that leads down into the base," Griggs replied.
"How do we get down it?" Jake asked.
"There's a ladder heading down. I'll start down and then you two follow me. Hand me my weapon."
Jake pushed the gun through the hatch. "You go next Alex." She nodded and gracefully slid into the hatch. Jake took another quick glance around. Stepping into the hatch, he grabbed the panel and pulled it back into place behind him. Flipping on a small flashlight he retrieved from his belt, he examined the tube. Several pipes ran the length of the tower along with numerous dark gray power cords. Multi-colored wires worked their way across and around the tube like a spider's web. He turned around and looked down at the shaft leading down. It was barely wide enough for him to fit into. Going feet first, he climbed down into the tube. Shining the light down below him he saw Alex and Griggs climbing swiftly down the ladder. Jake began to feel claustrophobic in the tube. Closing his eyes for a moment, he took a deep breath then started down the ladder.
* * * *
"Report!" Anne stood just outside the entrance with her hand on her earpiece. Looking up into the sky, she saw General Perry's helicopter approaching.
A voice erupted in her ear. "Nothing to report Sir. The area is clear."
"Very good. Carry on Major." She strode slowly toward the landing pad.
The helicopter hovered above. The rotors were kicking up a lot of dust on the landing pad sending thick clouds of it in all directions. Anne closed her mouth and squinted through the flying dirt trying to keep her eyes on the helicopter. It touched down gracefully on the pad and the rotors slowly began to slow. The cargo door slid open and several soldiers in black fatigues poured out and formed up in front of the helicopter. Opening the passenger door Perry stepped out and adjusted his uniform. Beside the sling on his arm, the only visible remnant of his injuries was a cane he used to help him walk.
Anne immediately stepped up and saluted him. "How are you feeling Sir?"
"Like a desk landed on me." He returned the salute and began walking toward his men. They were standing at attention near the entrance. "I want an update Colonel."
She snapped to attention. "The area is clear Sir. No sign of any of them yet."
"They're here."
"How do you know that Sir?"
"When we were flying in we saw a white Jeep abandoned just off the access road. They're here all right." He looked around hoping to catch a glimpse of them.
"I've had my men sweeping the base for forty-five minutes now and they haven't turn up anything so far."
"Keep looking Colonel. I want those men dead by sunrise. Dismissed." He started toward his men.
Anne turned around and walked back toward the entrance to the base. She checked her watch. 9:12 pm. The sun rises here about 6 am. That meant that she had nine hours to find these men.
* * * *
Emerging from the tube, the three found themselves in a long slender hallway. Black and silver tubes ran the length of the hallway accompanied by wave after wave of multi-colored wire. It was dark except for small lights affixed to the left wall about every ten feet. Walking in single file, the three cautiously made their way down the hall. Griggs held his weapon at the ready as he rounded a small bend.
Quickly stopping he waived Jake and Alex back. The hall came to an abrupt end just ahead of them. Griggs spotted two soldiers in green army fatigues leaning against the wall opposite the exit. He pulled himself back around the corner and faced the other two. "Two soldiers just ahead," he whispered.
"What are you planning to do?" Alex asked.
He shook his head. "Stay here. Jake," he looked over at him. "Come with me." Jake stepped up next to Griggs. "Follow my lead."
He removed a rock he had picked up off the desert floor from his pouch. He tossed it behind the three. It made a loud clunk as it hit the wall then the floor catching the guards' attention. They slowly walked toward the service entrance to investigate. The first guard peeked his head inside the darkened hall followed by the other. Both shrugged and turned around to walk back to their resting spot. With speed and accuracy Jake and Griggs leapt out of the shadows and grabbed the two men around the neck and the mouth. Pulling the two back around the corner, Griggs removed his knife and slit the man's throat. Jake twisted hard and snapped the other man's neck. They grabbed the bodies under the arms and pulled them down the hall, arranging them in a heap near the entrance to the communication tower.
The two men jogged back to where Alex was waiting. Jake poked his head around the corner. Nothing. Griggs stepped around him toward the mouth of the hallway. Stepping into the bright artificial lights he scanned the room they were standing in. It was a large room that vaguely reminded him of a nurse's station in a hospital. Two hallways stretched out from either side of the room. On the opposite wall just left of the service door was a short wall with desks sitting behind it. He motioned for the other two to join him.
Jake stepped out into the light
and squinted a little bit. It was brighter than he was used to. Alex stood at his right looking down the long hallway. She tapped Griggs on the shoulder. "Which way?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. This place is set up entirely different from Area 51."
Jake pulled a coin out of his pocket and flipped it into the air. "Heads we go left, tails we go right." Catching it he slammed it down on to the back of his hand.
"Very scientific," Alex commented.
He lifted his hand off the coin. "Heads. We go left." The three carefully started walking to their left.
* * * *
Perry knocked on the door and then opened it into the small office. A younger man with dark brown hair was sitting behind a small wooden desk was rifling through a small stack of papers that were sitting in front of him. His blue uniform jacket was draped over the back of his tall gray padded chair, while his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. Lifting a black ballpoint pen off the desk he quickly signed his name to the bottom of the sheet and finally looked up.
He immediately jumped to his feet and saluted. "Sorry, Sir. I hadn't been informed that you had arrived yet." He adjusted his large black-rimmed glasses.
"At ease Colonel Lucas." He returned the salute.
Lucas held out his hand to a chair sitting in front of his desk. "Please General, have a seat." Lucas waited until Perry took his seat to sit down. He folded his hands in front of him. "What can I do for you General Perry?"
"I need you to put this facility on full alert."
Lucas looked alarmed. "Why is that Sir?"
"We have reason to believe that the two men that blew up the hangar at Area 51 are trying to infiltrate your base. I need your help in finding these men and destroying them."
"You have it General," the young Colonel stuttered.
Perry studied the younger man for a moment. "How long have you been in the Air Force Colonel?"
"About five years General. I transferred here directly from Nellis."
"And you're already a Colonel?"
"Yes, Sir. Graduated top of my class at the academy."
Perry muttered under his breath. "Colonel Lucas, I have no idea how you got assigned to such a sensitive position when it's obvious that your an idiot."
"Sir?"
Perry looked at his watch. "As of twenty-one hundred hours I am relieving you of duty. I need everyone operating at one hundred and ten percent, and you are obviously not capable of doing that."
"I really don't understand—"
"These men destroyed a good portion of Area 51, and killed several of my best men. I want these men dead and I don't want any mistakes. I've brought in several of my own teams and officers to oversee this operation. I just want you out of the way until were done."
Lucas hung his head. "Yes Sir."
* * * *
Jake slung his weapon over his shoulder and pulled his pistol out of its holster. With his back against the wall, he carefully peeked around the corner. Two guards were standing in front of a large door that had a black and yellow 'restricted' sign on it. He pulled a silencer out of his pouch and carefully screwed it onto the pistol. Swiftly moving around the corner he fired off two shots hitting both the guards in the chest. They quickly slumped to the floor.
Alex and Griggs followed Jake around the corner. "Maybe your guess was right Jake."
Holding the pistol at his side, Jake stepped closer to the door. "There's no control box next to the door."
Griggs moved up next to Jake. "S-4 isn't as heavily guarded at Area 51 because this base is less well known and better hidden from spy satellites." Griggs grabbed the handle of the door and twisted it. The door smoothly opened. "Thus, no ID boxes next to the doors."
Alex had a perplexed look on her face. "Doesn't that seem strange to you? A secret base used in the research and development of Extraterrestrial technology has less security than your average Air Base."
Griggs stepped though the door. "This base is like the ugly step child no body wants to take care of. Being assigned at Area 51, you get to watch alien ships get tested and new kinds of weapons used. Here at S-4, you get to protect a bunch of egg-headed scientists trying to figure this alien shit out. Not real exciting."
"Okay." Jake smiled as he followed Jake through the door. "That's the strangest explanation I have ever heard."
Both men stopped in their tracks when they entered the next room. The white sterilized look of the rest of the base was replaced with flat gray concrete floors and walls. It was lined with tall wooden racks that were filled with what looked to Jake like junk.
Jake walked over to the nearest shelf and lifted a small hunk of metal off of it. He turned it over in his hand to examine it. It was solid piece of metal about the size of a softball but weighed almost nothing at all. The silvery skin of the metal glistened in the low light of the room. He reached over and placed it back on the shelf.
He turned back to Griggs. "What is this place?"
Alex pushed past the two men and began to explore the room. "This must be where they keep the recovered extraterrestrial artifacts!" She was giddy with excitement.
"You mean that the device we're looking for could be in this room?"
"Probably not. This all looks like small stuff. The device we're looking for is about four feet tall and three feet wide."
"Where do you think it would be Major?" Jake asked.
"I'm not sure. When I was first here I was never allowed to be this deep into the base."
"Well, let's keep looking," Jake sighed. Griggs started walking past the two toward the exit on the other side of the room. Jake turned around and grabbed Alex by the arm. "Come on Doctor." She followed reluctantly.
Chapter 22
"Sir, we've found several bodies inside the service tube of communication tower number three."
Anne pressed her earpiece tightly in her ear. "Very good Major. They must be around there somewhere. Find them."
"Yes Colonel."
She reached down and clicked a knob on her portable radio. "General Perry are you there?"
Her earpiece crackled to life, "Yes Colonel. Go ahead."
"General, we've found several bodies inside the service tube to one of the communication towers. They've obviously entered the base through there."
"Good work Colonel. Have you got a bead on them yet?"
"No Sir, but at least we know what level their on now. I have my men combing that level right now."
Her radio began to beep. She switched it back to the previous channel. "Carroll here."
The excited voice of her Major filled her earpiece. "Colonel, we have them!"
* * * *
Machine gun fire slammed against the frame of the large steel door in front of them. Griggs ducked around the corner and pressed his back to the wall. Glancing across the room he saw several soldiers taking up positions in front of the other door. He charged the door, gun blazing. The soldiers swiftly pulled back out of the way to avoid the fire. Griggs reached the door and slammed it closed with his out stretched hand. He looked across the way to see Jake doing the same at the other door.
He shouted across the room. "We've got to find another way." He pointed to his left and began to run.
Jake grabbed Alex by the hand and led her to the opposite side of the room where they met up with Griggs. The three searched for another exit. Alex was panting. "Now what?"
"They're going to be through those doors any minute now."
"Shit," Griggs muttered to himself. "So much for our quiet operation."
Jake leaned back against the wall and let his head fall back against it accidentally catching sight of a large vent on the roof. "Look there!"
Alex looked up. "It's too high!"
"No it's not," Griggs replied. "Follow me." Slinging his gun over his shoulder, he started to climb the nearest rack of shelves.
Jake assessed the rack, "Are you sure that's going to hold?"
"Only one way to find out." Griggs quickly traversed the shelf. On
ce on top he used the butt of his gun to knock the screen loose. Grabbing it with both hands, he wrenched it off and dropped it to the floor. Kneeling down he lowered a hand to Alex. "Come on."
Alex slowly made her way up to the top of the shelf. With a boost from Griggs, she was able to pull herself up into the ventilation shaft. Jake quickly followed suit and climbed up on to the shelf. Leaning over precariously, Griggs grabbed the edge of the vent and pulled himself in.
Jake carefully reached over and grabbed the lip of the vent and started to pull himself inside when the two doors exploded off their hinges sending them flying into the room along with smoke and hundreds of shards of the wall and door frames. The shockwave from the explosion sent Jake falling to the concrete floor. He landed flat on his back knocking the wind out of himself.
Gasping for air, he rolled over on his stomach and lifted himself up. Looking up into the open shaft he saw Griggs waving him up frantically. Jake scanned the room. On the far side he watched as several soldiers made their way in with weapons drawn.
He knew he had only one chance. Leaping at the shelf he climbed up as fast as he could. Bullets ricocheted off the shelves and artifacts around him. One of the armed soldiers ran around the corner and drew a quick bead on him. Before he could fire, Jake grabbed one of the chunks of metal off the shelves and tossed it at him with all his strength. The piece of metal hit the man in the head and knocked him down.
Reaching the top of the shelf, Jake leapt into the shaft. He pulled himself up as bullets strafed the ceiling around him. Both Griggs and Alex were sitting in the tunnel staring at him. "What are you two waiting for? Go!"
All three started crawling away from the hole as fast as possible, when Jake heard something heavy hit the floor behind him. Stopping he carefully turned around to see a grenade sitting behind him. "Shit!" He kicked it as hard as he could, sending it skittering along the shaft until it fell through the hole. "Get down!"
The three dropped to their bellies as an explosion rocked the room they were just in. A plume of flame shot into the shaft and scorched the roof. Jake felt the flames burning the roof just above him. Staying on his stomach, he quickly crawled away from the heat. Stopping at an intersection in the vent, they all tried to catch their breath.