In Situ

by Frazier, David Samuel

  He looked around and shivered. Batter had been a part of the development of this base for the last 30 years, and had been totally in charge of it and the construction of the other three ARCs for the last 10. To him, the job seemed like a natural function of the CIA umbrella, and he had been honored and had felt an extreme sense of duty when he was chosen to oversee them.

  His position, like a select few of his colleagues, was considered so top secret and so long range that it by-passed even the Director’s authority. In fact, for all intents and purposes, he didn’t even exist.

  How fast the time had gone, Batter thought, looking around at the massive air base. In another 24 hours, he mused, this place will look exactly as it does now, but below these hangars, the entire government of the United States will be here; and suddenly, my problem.

  Now Batter stood with the facility’s top ranking scientist and several staffers waiting for two other very important guests. Batter, despite all his pressing concerns, was very much looking forward to seeing Dr. Alex Moss again. He had been very attracted to her the first time they met, which in retrospect, he had to admit, had clouded his judgment-rare occurrence to be sure. But Batter was no misogynist. He loved women of all sorts and loved to be surrounded by them whether romantically or just in business. Never, he was proud to say, had he ever stepped over the line with any of them, despite the constant temptation. Alex was not only extremely tempting; she was a very accomplished scientist, and perfect for recruitment. He had been very disappointed when he heard she had died, and had felt somewhat responsible. But now, it seemed, all was well. He might have her on his team after all, a prospect which made the idea of being locked below ground somewhat more palatable. He could only imagine how thrilled she must be about the male Arzat.

  Too bad the excitement would be short-lived, and he meant that literally. If there was one thing Batter was very good at, it was projecting. After everyone had settled into life underground, it would not be long until the issue came up of why they were expending valuable resources on lizards. Batter could already hear the banter. An informal committee would be formed at first, then the Vice President would end up involved. The scientists would fight the decision, but sooner or later the dinosaurs would be put down. That was inevitable.

  Hell, Batter thought, if things got bad enough there might have to be some other decisions about who else might have to go. People were inevitably always people, and it was hard to tell how even the best of them might act when it finally sunk in that they had essentially been buried alive. Batter still wasn’t even sure how he was going to take it despite the arrival of Dr. Moss. No, he decided, better to leave the creatures out of the ARC in the first place-he would be doing them a favor in the end.

  The Chinook was approaching. He patted Pete Wilson on the shoulder as the helicopter came in for a landing. “Excited?” he screamed at Pete, trying to help him make the best of a bad situation. Pete had been lost in his own thoughts, looking out at the vast airfield. He only nodded.

  Batter looked across the runway and noticed a couple of F-22s preparing for takeoff. It seemed unusual to have training flights this late in the day. A Sergeant ran up to him from across the tarmac. “Sorry to interrupt, Sir, but we thought you should know. It appears that the forty-seven was tailed into our airspace.”

  “By what?”

  The Sergeant hesitated, “Well Sir, looks like an old biplane of some sort.”

  “A biplane?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “You guys aren’t too worried about that are you?” Batter asked.

  “Sir, we are worried about everything, Sir,” the Sergeant replied as if he were stating the obvious.

  “Sorry, Sergeant. Yes, you are quite correct. Keep me informed.” The Sergeant saluted and walked away, and Batter was able to focus on the helicopter which had just landed.

  *

  “Welcome, Doctor,” Batter said as the roar of the Chinook’s engines died down.

  Alex had been first off the helicopter and personnel were already busily preparing to get the lizard off as well. Batter offered his hand to Alex which she ignored as she jumped down from the giant aircraft. She stormed past him, out of the range of the rotor wash, then stopped when she realized she had nowhere to go. A large military ambulance was driven into place as Mot was wheeled back on a gurney to the loading gate of the chopper.

  “Welcome, Doctor,” Pete said, walking over to meet her. He had not known what to expect of Dr. Alex Moss, and certainly was surprised by what he saw. “My name is Peter Wilson. I am the SIC at this base,” he said, also extending his hand which Alex refused. “I am sure you must be very upset Doctor, but Mr. Batter assures me that everything regarding your specimen was done with the utmost care to safeguard both you and the creature.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t call knocking us out with tranquilizer guns and kidnapping us to be the friendliest way of inviting us down,” Alex replied sarcastically.

  “Really, Doctor, would you have come any other way?” Batter said as he caught up with them, overhearing their interchange.

  *

  Tom was almost out of fuel.

  He had used all of the engine’s horsepower throughout the flight just to catch up and keep up with the Chinook. The fact that he had been forced to fly at full throttle hadn’t helped with fuel consumption. For an aircraft that was over seventy, the old girl had done a stellar job of keeping him in the game so far, he thought, but that wouldn’t last long now.

  He tapped his finger on the gauge and rocked the wings just to be sure he was getting an accurate reading. The needle moved slightly, but immediately drifted back toward zero. Maybe ten or fifteen more minutes, then that would be all she wrote and he would have to put the little plane down.

  Tom relaxed a little when Groom Lake appeared far off on his starboard side. He was almost positive that was where they were taking Alex and whatever-in-the-hell it was that they had captured with her. She had found something in the caves. He didn’t doubt that, but Tom could make no sense of what it might be. He had left Alex in an area that was dated to 65 million BCE. Nothing alive could have come from that, could it? It was completely inexplicable.

  But Area 51 was famous as the place for the inexplicable, and it was home to another of the four ARCs, which meant that Batter was probably in the mix. It also meant that any time now, he suddenly remembered, his plane would be identified on radar and he would become a target. The facility was boxed by a 25 mile restricted airspace; a ‘shoot to kill zone’ where the rule applied to anyone who dared to enter without permission. That was the one advantage of not having a working radio, he thought ironically. He couldn’t ask for clearance or identify himself even if the wanted to. Tom scanned the sky. He was going to have company any minute.

  Two dots appeared on the horizon and seconds later a pair of F-22s buzzed him head-on doing about 500 knots. The little Stearman took it in stride, but it did pick up some turbulence in its wings. Tom steadied the aircraft and looked back. He could see the fighters looping for another go round. This time they approached from behind, doing their best to match the Stearman’s slower speed. One jet trailed Tom’s plane and one approached on his left wing. He imagined he could hear the missile lock indicator blaring in the fighter cockpit behind him.

  The lead pilot gestured to Tom to follow him, then rolled his F-22 slowly to the left. Tom knew it was likely he would be shot down if he did not comply immediately and follow the fighter out of the restricted air space, but then he would never get back in and he would never get to Alex. He pulled the throttle back on the Stearman, trying to lose a little altitude, and kept the plane on course for the runway where he had seen the Chinook land. He was almost there, another three minutes or so. The engine sputtered once, trying to find the rest of the fuel in the tanks. Tom felt to make sure that his parachute was firmly attached, and hoped to hell that Matt knew how to properly pack one.

  The F-22 returned, flying closer to Tom’s wing, only forty or
fifty feet between the pilot and himself. The pilot had pushed back his visor, and was giving Tom a very unpleasant look. Tom could tell that this was his last and final warning. He checked altitude. They were only at about a thousand feet. If he jumped he would barely have time to get his chute opened before he hit the ground. Perfect, he thought. As the F-22 again eased left, Tom popped the throttle on the Stearman, pushed the nose up slightly, and proceeded to barrel roll until the little biplane was flying perfectly upside down. “Sorry Matt,” Tom said as he released his seat belt and immediately fell away. The second he was clear he pulled the rip cord and heard the distinctive sound of a missile firing. He looked up just in time to see his airplane disintegrate into a fire ball. Tom covered his face and hoped that none of the debris would hit his chute and start it on fire.

  Tom was very low when his parachute finally shook itself open, barely a hundred feet over some portion of the airstrip. The parachute was an old round para-commander version which tended to land hot, so Tom prepared. His legs hit the ground hard, but he was able to roll out and stop without any major injury.

  Across the runway in the distance, he could see flashing lights of security vehicles racing across the asphalt bearing down on him. Back in the other direction, some of the wreckage of Matt’s old biplane burned along the edge of the field.

  “Boy, am I in trouble,” was all Tom could think to say.

  Chapter 28

  Alex Interviewed

  “So, Dr. Moss, we meet again,” Batter said smiling, enjoying the pure pleasure of just looking at her, even with the rage burning in her deep green eyes. I know she hates me now, but we are going to be down here for a long time. Who knows, he thought mischievously. “Trust me when I say this, I am personally very happy to see you alive, Doctor. Until your telephone call, well,” he held up both hands.

  “Where’s Mot?” she snapped back.

  *

  Alex had remained silent as Dr. Pete Wilson and Batter escorted her from the Chinook’s landing area to a large hangar. Inside, trucks were rolling in and out delivering supplies to a bank of giant elevators that lined one entire wall. They boarded one of them, and began a descent that took several minutes to reach the bottom. Pete then led them through a series of wide corridors, busy with hundreds of people and small electric vehicles loaded with equipment. Eventually, they arrived in an area that transitioned from some very utilitarian back areas to a long section of wood veneered hallways with very formal office spaces. Pete had dismissed himself and disappeared.

  Alex eventually found herself seated in some kind of conference room furnished with a beautiful and very long mahogany table surrounded by sixteen black leather chairs. Three of the walls were full of flat screens that were dark at the moment. On the fourth wall, a very nice map of the world was hung as the apparent centerpiece. As Alex looked around, it reminded her of what she had always imagined one of those secret command posts would look like. Her head still hurt and she was rubbing her wrists where they had been tied. She and Batter were the only ones in the room, and she wondered what he could possibly be up to. Her intention was to find out first, what they were doing with Mot, and second, why she was there.

  *

  “Alright, Batter, where is Mot?” she asked again.

  “Pardon me?” Batter asked, momentarily preoccupied with a file he was examining.

  “Where is… my specimen?”

  “Oh yes, him,” Batter finally looked up. “He is in a very safe and secure area, I can assure you, Doctor.”

  “Listen, Batter, I don’t have time to play games here,” Alex said, annoyed. “When that animal wakes up and finds himself in unfamiliar surroundings anything could happen. I need to be there.”

  “I understand, Doctor,” Batter said, placing the file on the table, finally giving her his full attention. “I assure you I did not bring you here to play any sort of games. If you wish, think of it as an effort on my part to actually save you. We are going to be spending a lot of time together, and I wanted to give you the opportunity to fully understand the situation. I intend to put you with the creature the moment we are done here,” he added, in an attempt to diffuse her anger.

  Alex relaxed a bit. “Save me? What are you talking about?” she asked, now totally confused.

  “In just a few hours, this room will be occupied by no less than the President of the United States and most of his cabinet,” Batter continued patiently, falsifying the facts only slightly. “Additionally, I have a current count of forty two senators and about three hundred and ninety representatives who will be arriving here shortly along with most of the members of the Supreme Court. The rest of them, unfortunately, were too busy or irresponsible to heed a direct order from the Executive Office. And my office for that matter,” he added as an afterthought.

  Alex just looked at him, as confused as ever.

  Batter hesitated, changing direction slightly, “I am sure, Doctor, that you are well aware that Area 51 has been, among other things, a research center for some time. What you may not be aware of is the fact that a large part of it has also been set up as an ARC, just like the site in Utah. This particular ARC is designated for the President, the Judiciary, and most of the rest of the government of the United States, as well as some intelligence personnel, such as some of my staff, and well, you get the picture.”

  Alex looked around the room.

  “I know. It leaves one speechless.” Batter bent forward and lowered his tone. “Now, Doctor, let me give you the most classified information of all. Can you imagine why the President would be coming here?” Vice President—actually—Batter thought sadly, still choosing not to share that information.

  Alex shook her head.

  “Of course not, because the whole idea of it is just as impossible as those creatures down the hall.” Batter paused a moment, as if he were trying to get his own arms around what he was about to say. “Because, Doctor—and you should be one of the few people on the planet really familiar with this due to your knowledge of the K-T event-because, Doctor,” he repeated, “we believe that an asteroid of similar magnitude to the K-T is about to strike the earth. Two of them, in fact, to be more precise.”

  Alex figured that Batter could be a pretty good liar when he needed to be, but her gut told her he wasn’t lying about this. What purpose would it serve? She sat and looked at him for a long time, trying to evaluate him and his message. She wondered if she was beginning to be able to read human minds as well. “When?” was all she could think of to say. And had she missed something, or had Batter said those creatures—plural?

  Batter nodded to the wall behind Alex and pushed a button on a remote control. A large digital clock came up on one of the screens. Alex turned in her chair.

  27:31:43

  The seconds were ticking away. She swung her chair back and faced him. “You do realize that the K-T asteroid caused a blast something equivalent to 100 teratonnes of TNT? That is the equivalent of about one billion Nagasaki atom bombs going off at once.”

  “Yes, Doctor, I am well aware of the scale of the effects,” Batter said, trying not to sound patronizing.

  There was a sharp knock at the door and it opened. A young officer entered and spoke into Batter’s ear.

  Batter laughed, “Well, this just gets better and better.”

  “What do you mean?” Alex asked, unable to imagine humor in anything at the moment.

  “Your former husband is here—just dropped in so to speak.” Batter laughed again then sobered when he realized that the irony of Tom’s sudden appearance was funny only to him. “Seems Mr. Hancock was concerned enough about your wellbeing that he deserted his post at Utah to come and find you here. I’m not particularly happy about it, but I would imagine that you should take it as a big compliment, Dr. Moss, since what he did is tantamount to treason.”

  Alex looked at Batter, but she found herself, once again speechless. Tom here? The world about to end? Treason? And God only knew where Mot was.


  “Not to worry, Doctor,” Batter continued, “I am not planning on charging him at the moment. In fact, I am having him brought down with practically a hero’s welcome to see you now. In the meantime, would you like to hear about the other Arzat?”

  *

  It seemed a miracle but the security guards had not shot Tom when they finally caught up to him. He knew that if he were in charge of the base’s security, he would have given the order himself. Hell, he thought, I would have had that F-22 blow me out of the sky the minute I entered airspace.

  Tom had untangled himself from the parachute as quickly as possible and stood on the runway with his hands held high as two trucks filled with security guards sped out to meet him. The guards poured out of the vehicles, forming a nearly perfect circle of assault rifles around him. Tom was very careful and had followed their instructions to the letter. He invoked the name Batter enough times that he felt confident someone would alert the old man. He was now fairly certain they would at least hold their fire until Batter weighed in.

  Nonetheless, he had been blindfolded and handcuffed, and pushed and shoved around a bit. Tom was transported across the airfield, and then he was aware of being put on an elevator. After a long downward ride, he had walked for quite a while. Eventually, when his escorts finally decided to lift his blindfold, Tom found himself in a hallway that looked like it belonged in a posh lawyer’s office. One of the men removed his handcuffs and opened a door, waving him in with a disapproving look. When he entered, he found Alex sitting there waiting for him.