Meteor Crater Motel - Winslow – Arizona – 12:47pm
Tuesday 30th March 1954
‘They call themselves Contactees.’ Vannevar Bush explained to Frederick as they approached the motel entrance. ‘People come from all over to hear them yap on about their experiences.’
‘Sounds like you take it with a pinch of salt.’ Frederick said.
‘Most of them are attention seekers, trying to start some sort of new religious cult which is why we tend to ignore people who claim to have been in contact with beings from another world.’
‘So why are we here?’
‘To give you a taste of what we have to deal with over here. At least in Britain you don’t have this kind of nonsense. We keep an eye on some of these so called contactees make sure they are not on the monitoring device we recovered at Roswell.’
Frederick nodded. ‘I take it none have turned up yet.’
Bush shook his head. ‘No which is why we tend to ignore most of them.’
The main dining hall of the motel had been cleared of tables. Chairs had been set out in rows. A scattering of people faced a makeshift podium which had been hastily constructed. Bush reached into his inside pocket and pulled out a piece of paper which he unfolded. ‘His name is Brandon Fisher.’ He read from the paper. ‘Fisher claims that he had what’s called a close encounter of the third kind, in 1950 and that he had an encounter with beings who claimed they were from the constellation of Orion. This Brandon Fisher seems to be making waves, he’s teamed up with another so called contactee called George Adamski and together they’ve been touring the Mid Western United States holding seminars.’
‘Close encounter of the third Kind?’ Frederick questioned.
‘A term coined by one of our lead researchers working on Project Blue Book, Professor J Allen Hynek. If our collaboration is successful then you’ll probably be bumping in to him,’
Frederick searched his memory and recalled he had first heard that name at the first meeting of the Angel Committee.
Bush continued. ‘Anyway Fisher claimed he had encountered strange beings a few miles out of town on Route 66. And that they have been in some kind of.. ‘Bush squinted at the writing on the page. ‘Telepathic communication between him and the Orions as he likes to call them.’
Frederick surveyed the room in which about thirty people sat. He and Doctor Bush sat in the nearest chair they could find.
Brandon Fisher appeared out of a side door with another man who stood by his side at the podium. ‘Good day to you folks.’ He greeted. ‘Thank you for attending this meeting, it’s an honour to be amongst fellow believers.’
Frederick took a deep breath and settled into his chair as best he could, listening to Fisher lecture about his experiences.
‘Why are they here, you may well ask yourselves, they are here to assist humanity in helping us reach out to our space brothers.’ Fisher stretched out his arms and looked towards the ceiling. ‘We are at the dawn of a new age, myself and my fellow contactee George Adamski are paving the way for our space brothers and spreading the word of peace and harmony.’
‘What a crock of horseshit!’ A voice shouted from the back of the room.
Frederick turned around spotting three men in cowboy hats who had entered the room and stood at the back. ‘Next thing you’ll be telling us is that Santa Clause is real.’ The three men burst into laughter.
‘Non believers are not welcome here.’ Fisher shouted pointing at the three men who stopped laughing.
‘Says who?’ One of the men marched down the centre aisle of chairs, stopping in front of Fisher and Adamski. ‘I have a god damn right to go anywhere I want.’ The other two cowboys approached.
Bush got to his feet. ‘I think I’d better phone the local sheriff’s office, this could get ugly.’
Frederick looked on at the unfolding drama.
‘What gives you the right to tell us where we can and can’t go?’ The lead cowboy pointed a nicotine stained finger. ‘This is America.’
‘I didn’t say that.’ Fisher stated. ‘But you are disturbing our gathering and I would ask that you leave.’
‘We ain’t going anywhere.’ The cowboy growled. ‘It’s you crazy people that don’t belong.’ He said turning to face the assembled crowd of onlookers. ‘You people don’t belong in this town so we want you to clear out.’
‘We will not be intimidated by you.’ Fisher barked.
‘Either you leave now, or we’ll throw you out.’ The cowboy warned.
Against his better judgement Frederick got to his feet and strolled towards the group. ‘Let’s not let things get out of hand here gentlemen.’ He said as calmly as possible.
The lead cowboy stood nose to nose with Frederick. ‘Who the hell are you?’
‘Look whatever the problem is I’m sure we can sort something out.’
The cowboy stepped back staring at Frederick. ‘You talk funny stranger, where you from?’
‘England.’ Frederick replied.
‘New England?’
Frederick shook his head smiling at the man’s ignorance. ‘Old England.’
‘There ain’t no such state.’
Frederick fought against the urge to laugh at the man’s stupidity. ‘No, what I meant to say was England in Great Britain, you know Queen Elizabeth the second, Winston Churchill.’ He broke into a poor impression. ‘Never in the field of human conflict, has so much, been owed to so few, by so many.’
The cowboy stared back blankly. ‘I don’t know any queen Elizabeth, how do I know you’re not talking horseshit like him.’ He pointed at Fisher.
Frederick found himself losing patience with the cowboy. ‘I can assure you I am not talking rubbish..’
The cowboy spun with ferocious speed extending his arm and clenching his fist striking the stranger firmly on the jaw.
Frederick was flung backwards into a row of chairs, his head smashing against the hard floor, blackness soon followed.
Vannevar Bush knelt over Frederick, gently tapping his cheek. ‘Professor Frederick are you ok?’
Frederick was vaguely aware of voices echoing but couldn’t focus.
Brandon Fisher walked over with a small rag, handing it carefully to Bush. ‘Here, wave this under his nose; be careful not to get any on your hands.’
Frederick sat bolt upright scrambling backwards scattering some chairs. ‘What the bloody hell is that?’ He cried out rubbing his nose.
‘It’s a natural herbal smelling salt, Skunk.’ Fisher smiled.
‘It’s bloody disgusting.’
‘At least it brought you around.’ Bush reached out and hauled Frederick to his feet.
‘Thank you for intervening.’ Fisher said looking at Frederick. ‘Things could have got a whole lot uglier.’
Frederick looked at the back of the dining room to see the three cowboys being escorted out by two deputies. The sheriff stood next to George Adamski who stared at Frederick before approaching him. ‘I heard you said you were from England.’
Frederick nodded rubbing his nose, the potent smelling salt was starting to wear off. ‘Yes that’s right.’
‘Are you familiar with Desmond Leslie, he’s a colleague of mine we wrote a book together last year, Flying Saucers Have Landed.’
Frederick tried to gather his thoughts but still felt foggy and the pain on his chin where the cowboy had landed his fist started to kick in. ‘I’m afraid I don’t know.’ He gently massaged his chin.
‘It’s just I thought if you were following our cause you would be Familiar with Mr Leslie.’ Adamski quizzed.
Bush stepped forward. ‘We were passing by, and we saw the sign outside, we were just curious that’s all. But now we’ve had this little adventure I think we’ve heard quite enough, if you’ll excuse us.’
Frederick took in a lung full of fresh air as they stood outside of the motel, his chin throbbed.
Bush smiled at him. ‘With what happened to Professor Watson last week I’d say that makes
everyone even.’
Chapter 98
Dreamland
Groom Lake – Nevada – Grid reference: Area 51 – 1:42pm
Wednesday 7th April 1954
‘Gentlemen welcome to our Groom Lake Facility.’ General Thomas Power greeted.
Frederick and Watson looked out across the salt flat. Two Bulldozers were cutting their way across the dry lake bed.’
‘As you can see we are busy extending the site runway with additional runways being drawn up. We’ve already constructed several large scale aircraft hangers, storage facilities and research labs. Unfortunately the accommodation is still rudimentary but we are used to it.’ He said pointing to a few hastily constructed huts. General Power quickly surveyed the surroundings. ‘Several miles over to the west beyond those range of mountains is our nuclear testing facility.’ He then noted the look on Frederick’s face. ‘Relax Professor the prevailing winds usually carry the fallout to the north. As a matter of fact we have a scheduled test for the day after tomorrow. Our engineers are also working on an underground facility capable of withstanding a direct nuclear assault. We estimate it should take about three years to hollow out the mountain side and convert the surroundings. We are already eight months into the project which is proceeding at remarkable speed.’
‘This is impressive to say the least.’ Watson remarked.
‘You’ll understand gentlemen that this will be more of a whistle stop tour for you, as there is so much to see. But in time we hope there will be British scientists permanently based here in the United States working side by side.’ Vannevar Bush said. ‘We’ll get you settled into your quarters before you can begin.’
The Bell
Thursday 8th April 1954 – 10:56am
Frederick stared at the object from behind the glass window. It was approximately nine feet wide and twelve to fifteen feet in height. Several men in special silver suits worked around the object which bared resemblance to a church bell. The bell shaped object was attached to four chains which were fixed to the floor.
‘This is one of our prized possessions captured from the Nazis in the closing stages of the war.’ Bush explained. ‘We believe that the Third Reich was on the verge of discovering a new energy source. Thankfully we were able to obtain this technology before the Russians got their hands on it.’
Frederick watched as the men in silver suits headed for an exit.
‘This room that we are standing in is lead lined and offers considerable protection from the effects of the device.’
‘Which are?’ Frederick asked.
‘Once activated the bell emits radiation, gamma radiation. The few records we obtained from the Germans revealed that some of the technicians and scientists who came in direct contact with the device died due to exposure.’ Bush indicated to the men leaving the hanger. ‘Which is why we have taken precautions to limit any casualties.’ He then nodded to a technician sat at a control panel. ‘Fire her up.’
A low pitched humming noise started to fill the room, and Frederick noted static electricity building up around him. ‘I have experienced these effects during encounters with UFOs.’ He remarked.
Bush nodded. ‘Yes. Something which we have found is common in many UFO encounters.’
As Frederick watched from behind the glass, light started to emit from the bottom of the object which seemed to be composed of two cylindrical parts which spun in opposite directions. After about ten seconds the whole object lifted off the ground. ‘I don’t believe it.’ Frederick stated. ‘Professor Watson needs to see this.’
‘He will, we have another demonstration this afternoon.’
‘How on earth did the Germans come up with this?’ Frederick shook his head.
Bush took a deep breath. ‘Despite extensive intelligence operations in Europe our people have yet to discover how the Nazis were able to devise this technology. The men we acquired through project Paperclip were unaware this device existed. Our intelligence services throughout Europe have heard whispers and rumours that the Nazis had more than one of these devices.’
‘Do you think the Russians might have got their hands on this technology before you were able to obtain information on other devices which the Germans built?’
‘No.’ Bush replied shaking his head. ‘We believe that information regarding this technology was taken elsewhere. When our forces raided the facility close to the Czech border where this device was held they found a mass grave containing around sixty corpses.’
‘Slave labourers?’ Frederick said.
‘No, scientists and technicians, all executed by order of Hitler himself. It was part of his scorched earth policy to destroy everything the Nazis had built to prevent the allies getting their hands on new technologies. When questioned one of the SS guards revealed that the men had been executed the day before. Documents relating to this device had been shipped out. But he didn’t know where to. By that time the Nazis knew the war was lost, so any information was strictly need to know. Our team even discovered that every member of the SS team on site had a cyanide capsule which they were to use in case of capture. I guess at the end of the day even they realised the Third Reich wasn’t worth dying for. When we stormed the facility they were preparing to load everything onto trucks and ship it out. They were to meet up with a high ranking SS general in Budweis for further orders. The SS commanding officer revealed the name of bell’s project leader who escaped execution the day before a Dr Hermann Fritz.’
‘Do you know where he is now?’ Frederick asked.
Bush shook his head. 'We believe the Russians might have got their hands on him.'
The object seemed to dance tethered to the chains which stopped it from flying off. ‘This is the original bell we obtained, the only one in existence. We have had several years to advance from this, if you’ll follow me Professor.’ Bush invited.
The aircraft hanger Frederick was being shown around was split into two sections of equal size and identical in look. Dr Bush showed Frederick through to another control room with a large glass window overlooking the main work area. The object on the floor of the hanger was approximately fifteen foot across and ten foot in height, cylindrical in shape and tapered at the top, on which sat a spherical component. Bush nodded to the technician sat at his post who immediately started to flick switches and turn dials. Once again a low humming sound came from the object, but this time there was no static discharge. The object took half the time to lift off the floor, but unlike the German Bell there were no chains attached. A thick wire trailed away from the object directly towards the window and under the viewing room. The object hung motionless in the air, and Dr Bush began to explain its function. ‘We’ve fitted magnetic gyros for control, as you can see the object is stable as it floats.’ He nodded again at the technician who grabbed a control stick on the console in front of him and pushed it to the left. The object drifted slowly without tilting and then in the opposite direction as the technician pushed the control stick to the right. The object then settled back on the floor. ‘We’ve also discovered that the energy this utilises is limitless.’
‘Which is what exactly?’
‘Helium three.’
Frederick stared at Dr Bush. ‘Impossible, helium three is one of the rarest elements on earth and almost impossible to synthesise, it’s not limitless.’
‘Another pie the Nazis had their finger in Professor. Something they discovered while constructing their Antarctic stronghold, which of course is now ours. And you’re right it is extremely difficult to create, which is why we have small quantities, the amount we do have is enough to fuel our new rockets we’re planning to use for space exploration. The Nazis however, believed that helium three is abundant beyond earth’s atmosphere. There could well be huge deposits on the moon, as well as the smaller proto planets that exist in the asteroid belt. German astronomers have also theorised that the rings of Saturn could well be comprised of asteroids which have huge quantities of Helium three. This is why we are eag
er to get things moving with the space program.’
‘This is incredible; it could render conventional aircraft obsolete overnight. Added to that Helium Three has almost no radioactive waste.’ Frederick said. ‘Do you realise what you’ve discovered here? The energy it creates could effectively make every fossil fuel redundant.’
‘Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here gentlemen.’
Frederick turned and saw a man enter the viewing room.
Chapter 99
Profit before Progress
‘Professor Frederick, may I present Senator Jacob Barnes.’ Bush introduced.
Barnes grabbed Frederick’s hand shaking it. ‘Professor Frederick, a pleasure. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you. Doctor Bush has told me all about your little adventure last year concerning the woman rising from the dead, fascinating.’
Frederick thought back to the incident involving Edith Jones.
Barnes stared at the object in the hanger bay. ‘You’re right it could solve all our energy problems and dependency on fossil fuels. But for now Professor I’m afraid this kind of technology isn’t ready to be unleashed on the world.’
‘Why not?’ Frederick asked.
‘We are in the middle of a cold war Professor. If we suddenly announce that we have an inexhaustible energy supply the Russians would launch everything they have at us in an attempt to get their hands on our knowledge.’
Codename Angel (The Angel Chronicles Book 1) Page 32