by Dan Holt
“It’s 10:06,” Audrina said. “Twenty-six minutes! We must be getting closer.”
“Let’s drive on to the crash site,” Brandon said excitedly. He steered the car back onto the road and proceeded toward the turnoff outlined on the map.
“There’s the sign,” Audrina said. It read: Boy Scout Mountain. He looked ahead and saw the turnoff as described by the white haired gentleman at the museum. Brandon slowed the car and made the turn. Driving slowly along the rocky dirt road he glanced at the sphere every few seconds. A few minutes later he eased the car to a stop and picked up the mimeographed page of the map and studied it.
“Okay,” he said. “We need to look for a microwave tower on the left. Just past it is the turn to the crash site.” Audrina picked up the sphere from the dash and held it in her hand as they began the vigil of watching for the microwave tower among the trees. A few minutes later Audrina pointed through the windshield to the left.
“There it is.” Brandon saw parts of the tower in between the trees. Shortly the intersection appeared and he made the turn, and then stopped the car.
“The map says we should park here and walk the last quarter mile or so unless we have a four-wheel drive vehicle.” Brandon studied the road surface. “The road looks good enough to drive on a little farther.” Audrina looked at the road and nodded then checked her watch. She held the sphere up then checked her watch again then frowned.
“What?” Brandon said.
“It’s already been twenty-six minutes and it hasn’t flashed,” Audrina said. Brandon looked at his watch.
“Twenty-seven minutes,” he said then picked up the sphere from Audrina’s hand. They were silent as they watched it. One minute later it flashed. Audrina breathe a sigh of relief then checked the time.
“Twenty-eight minutes,” she said. “We’re farther away from it.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” Brandon said and then started the car forward again. A four-wheel drive Jeep Waggoneer appeared and came toward them on the road ahead. Brandon steered to the side of the road and stopped. The Waggoneer pulled up beside them. A middle-aged lady rolled down her window and smiled. Brandon rolled down his window.
“You been to the crash site?”
“I drove by it. I drove the jeep trail from Arabella.”
“I was wondering about the road,” Brandon said.
“They have graded it up to the crash site. You can drive all the way to it now if you watch the ruts and where you put your tires. There’s a couple of places where she may have to get out and watch for you but you can make it. You’ll know when you get to it. There’s a mining road that goes off to the right and the campsite is right there on the left.” Brandon nodded and smiled. The lady drove away.
Brandon steered the car back onto the road and drove on slowly carefully negotiating the chug holes and rocks sticking out of the road’s surface. Moments later Audrina pointed.
“There’s the mining road.” Brandon pulled the car over to the side of the road again and parked.
“Let’s walk from here,” he said. “It’s only fifty yards or so.”
They arrived at the circle of rocks on the left side of the road then looked at each other. Audrina was holding the Keepsake in her hand. Brandon extended his and she put it in his hand.
“How long since it flashed?” he said.
“Twenty-one minutes.” Brandon looked at it and frowned.
“I thought it would be blinking like crazy when we got here.”
“I did, too.” They stepped over to the circle of rocks with the darkened area inside, squatted down and touched a couple of them, waiting for the next flash. A few minutes later it occurred. Audrina checked the time.
“Twenty-eight minutes,” she said. “The time is still the same.”
“Let’s go find the place where the saucer hit,” Brandon said. They stood then started toward the impact site, ducking under low hanging branches and carefully stepping over scattered underbrush on a surface scattered with pine needles and the shedding’s of the cedar trees.
“Have you noticed that there are no trails?” Brandon said.
“Yeah,” Audrina said nodding. “Apparently not very many people have visited this site.”
“I doubt if very many people know about the Ragsdale site. We didn’t know about it until we visited the museum.” They looked at each other for a moment then hurried on to the huge rock that had been cracked in half as pictured in the book of the Ragsdale story. Brandon held the sphere close to the rock then touched it with it. It remained inert. He held it up in the air and waved it around. The sphere remained dark.
“Whatever is transmitting to it isn’t here,” Brandon said.
“Think about it,” Audrina pointed out. “If it was here the military would have it now.”
“Yeah, they would,” Brandon agreed. They searched the area for an hour on the ground, in the trees, and among the rocks, hoping for something tantalizing. The sphere had flashed two more times; each time the flashes were exactly twenty-eight minutes apart.
“Let’s think for a minute,” Brandon said. “The time between flashes was shorter over on the highway north of where we are now.”
“The Debris Field and the Alleged Site are both north of us, relatively speaking, from where we are now,” Audrina said.
“But it didn’t flash when we were there,” Brandon said. They were silent for a moment. Audrina looked from the sphere to Brandon’s face.
“Maybe it was flashing and we just didn’t see it. I had it in my purse until we got there. We were there for about twenty or thirty minutes. When we decided to drive back to Roswell and eat I dropped it back in my purse again.”
Brandon blinked and nodded. “What a coincidence. Let’s get methodical about this. Let’s go back to the highway, park by the sign that’s close to the turnoff, and time the flashes exactly. Then go to the other site and time the flashes then go to the Debris Field and time the flashes.”
Cha
pter 6
COORDINATES
Brandon and Audrina sat on the side of Old Pine Lodge Road near the turnoff to the Ragsdale Site and waited for the sphere to flash. Brandon took the writing pad and started a new sheet. At the top of the sheet he wrote: Proximity Timing. Then he dropped down on the sheet and wrote, Ragsdale Site – 28 minutes. He placed the sphere on the dash and they watched it until it flashed. He checked the time then they leafed through the Ragsdale book while waiting for the next timed sequence to emanate from it. Twenty-six minutes later it happened. Brandon checked the time. Then on the next line of the pad he wrote: Highway sign north of the Ragsdale Site – 26 minutes,
“Okay,” he said. “Let’s go to the next site.” They drove back to Roswell on the Old Pine Lodge Road. Nearing the city, just before they arrived at the Y, the next flash occurred. When it happened Audrina checked the time.
“Fifty-three minutes,” she said. “We’re much farther away.”
A few moments later the proximity mechanism inside the sphere, passing out of range, turned off.
When they reached the main highway Brandon turned left and headed for the crash site of the second saucer. At the six mile mark the sequence initiated again. When the sphere flashed Audrina checked her watch.
“Twelve minutes!” she exclaimed. Brandon glanced at the sphere then pulled the car over to the side of the road and stopped.
“That doesn’t make any sense,” he said. “How could we suddenly be that much closer?” Audrina glanced at their notes.
Ragsdale Site – 28 minutes
Highway, north of Ragsdale Site – 26 minutes
Driving back to Roswell – 53 minutes
Driving away from Roswell – 12 minutes
She stared at the note for a moment then her eyes went to Brandon. “We drove out of, then back in, its range. This is a proximity device with a limited range, remember?” Brandon nodded then made a u turn and drove back to the intersection of Old Pine Lodge Road then made ano
ther u turn. He began the trip to the second site again. Seven minutes later the flash occurred. He braked the car and pulled over to the side of the road again.
“This is the perimeter,” he said. “Now if we knew the range it has….” They looked at each other, then Brandon pulled back onto the road and proceeded to the second crash site. It was listed in the book as the Alleged Site. He made the turn then followed the winding road through the pasture as described to him. He passed over a cattle guard installed in the road, then another. He went down through a low place then up to two columns that had been erected at the site.
There was a cable strung on each side of the walkway from the two columns to the crash site dramatized in the Roswell movie. He and Audrina made the walk then approached the cliff where the disc had impacted. When they walked up to it they saw a block of what appeared to be red granite or sandstone. It was a three-foot-high block with a polished face three-by-four feet. There was an inscription carved into it. Brandon and Audrina leaned closer. It read:
WE DON’T KNOW WHO THEY WERE
OR WHERE THEY CAME FROM
WE DON’T KNOW WHY THEY CAME
ALL WE KNOW IS
THAT THEY CHANGED FOREVER
OUR PERCEPTION OF THE UNIVERSE
THIS FOREVER SACRED PLACE
IS DEDICATED JULY 1997 TO THE BEINGS
THAT MET THEIR DESTINIES
HERE JULY 1947
The Keepsake flashed. Audrina caught her breath then looked at Brandon.
“Write down the time,” Brandon said.
Audrina looked at her watch and noted the time. She looked at the inscription again. “I didn’t know that this site had been dedicated to….”
“The people from the other planet,” Brandon finished.
“And it’s dramatized for us,” Audrina said. “We know where this sphere came from and what it means when it flashes.” They looked around for a few minutes. Then as more time passed, they began watching the sphere constantly. Half an hour later Audrina looked at her watch again and took a breath.
“It’s been thirty minutes and it hasn’t flashed,” she said, “we must be farther from it. Let’s look around some more while we are waiting.” Brandon nodded. They walked around the area, keeping the sphere in sight, looking at the ground. They walked down through the wash and up to the cliff on the other side supposedly to the exact spot where the disc had impacted fifty-one years earlier. Brandon tried to make out an impression in the cliff that would be a tell-tell sign that something had hit the cliff of dirt but was unable to outline any distinct imprint. He put his hands on his sides and surveyed the area all around the site.
“I’ll bet people have been all over this ground with metal detectors.”
“No doubt,” Audrina agreed then looked at her watch again. “It’s been an hour since it’s flashed. Do you think that maybe we are out of range here?”
“Maybe, but let’s wait a while longer and be sure. They sat down cross-legged on the ground and waited, watching the sphere. Twelve minutes later the precisely timed flash occurred.
“I can’t get over the look of the mechanics of the flash,” Brandon said. “When it comes on the sphere looks transparent then the point of light expands and fills its volume and then it flashes. It makes me gasp for breath each time I see it.” Brandon took out the pad and noted the time: 3:47 p.m. He compared the times, did the numbers, and then looked at Audrina.
“Seventy-two minutes. We’re much farther from it here.” He noted the location and time on the pad. “Okay, let’s drive back to the Debris Field and check the time there.” They went to the car and made the drive to the first crash site they visited when they first arrived in Roswell. Sitting in the car they waited for and recorded the flash time: 4:55 p.m. then began the wait for the next sequence. Brandon reached into the back seat, dug through his overnight bag and came out with the letter from his Grandpa. He read it again, passing away the time. At 5:31 the flash occurred. Brandon logged the time.
“Thirty-six minutes,” he said. “We’re closer here. Let’s go back to the motel, take these figures, and draw up a map.”
“We can go by a store and pick up some paper, a ruler, a compass, a protractor, and a calculator,” Audrina said. Brandon nodded and pulled the car into gear.
“There’s a Kmart,” Audrina said pointing. Bandon steered the car into the parking lot. They went in, picked up the supplies, and returned to the car. Brandon glanced at the sunset enhancing Captain’s Peak.
“It’s almost dark,” Brandon said. “Let’s get some dinner then go to the motel and work on a map.” They went back to the same restaurant, got a table, and placed their orders. When the waitress withdrew Audrina sat staring at Brandon for a moment. He noticed.
“What?”
“It’s early,” Audrina said. “When we finish the map let’s check out some of the night life in Roswell. Just to see what it’s like,” she added.
Brandon reached across the table and clasped her hands. “Okay. Say, let’s see if there’s a club or a dance that was here when Grandpa was here and coming to town on Saturday nights.”
“Yeah, that will be fun.”
When the waitress brought their drinks and salads Brandon made an inquiry: “My wife and I were wondering if there’s a club here in Roswell that was here back in the forties when the Army Air Field was here.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” she answered then glanced at an older lady sitting at the cash register. “Let me get Gertie. She’s been here all her life; she would know.” The waitress hurried over and spoke to the lady at the cash register then went back to her duties. The lady turned a key on the register, removed it, and then walked over to Brandon and Audrina’s table. She laid her hand on Brandon’s shoulder and spoke in a deep voice, raspy with age.
“What is it you want to know, Honey,” she said. Brandon looked down for a moment and blinked at the familiarity, then looked back to the wrinkled face with dominate lipstick.
“I’m Brandon Stevens and this is my wife, Audrina.” The lady looked at Audrina, smiled, and spoke in a man’s voice.
“Hi, Sweetheart, I’m Gertie Wells.” Audrina nodded and smiled.
“We were wondering if there’s a club still in business here in Roswell that was here in the forties,” Brandon said.
“Are you two good dancers?” Brandon and Audrina looked at each other.
“Pretty good,” Audrina said.
“I love to dance,” Gertie said. “The Desert Cactus is out toward the base or where the base was. The base was there then and the Desert Cactus was a hopping place. I kicked up my heels every Saturday night with those soldier boys. The place was packed every weekend.”
Brandon picked up on the music in her voice and smiled. “My Grandpa, Buck Anderson, was stationed at the Roswell Army Air Field in the forties. Do you remember ever meeting him or maybe dancing with him?”
“Oh, no, Darling, I’m sorry, I don’t. That was a long time ago and I danced with all the soldiers. I was pretty back then and they kept me busy.” Gertie’s eyes were sparkling behind a wrinkled and tired face.
“You’re pretty now,” Brandon said, “I hear it in your voice.”
There was a reaction on the seventy-year-old face. “Oh, don’t be silly,” Gertie said playfully slapping Brandon on the shoulder. Gertie glanced at Audrina. Audrina winked that woman-to-woman endorsement. A smile formed on Gertie’s lips.
“You two go on out there. The place has really slowed down; it’s mostly middle-aged folks now, but it’s nice.” Gertie patted Brandon and Audrina on the shoulders and returned to her cash register.
“She’s wonderful isn’t she,” Brandon said.
“I’ll bet she was a corker back in the forties.”
Back in their motel room, Brandon and Audrina cleared the round table that was sitting between the bed and the window with its two straight back chairs. Brandon laid out the Ragsdale book, turned it to the page with the county map, and studied it for a mome
nt. The three crash sites were clearly labeled at the spots where they had taken the timing information with the sphere and its flash sequences.
He laid a sheet of copy paper over the map and pressed it down firmly then traced the points onto it. Then at the edge of the sheet, he drew an arrow up the page and labeled it NORTH. Further, he labeled the points Debris Field of the Two Saucers as Crash Site of Saucer # 1 and Crash Site of Saucer #2. The Debris Field of the two saucers was the first crash site they visited upon arrival in Roswell. The crash site of saucer #1 was the Ragsdale Site. The crash site of saucer #2 was the Alleged Site as they were laid out on the county map featured in the Ragsdale book.
Audrina studied the sheet of copy paper and nodded. Brandon then laid the ruler on the sheet of paper, lined it up on the points of the Debris Field and the Ragsdale Site, and drew a line from one point to the other. “That’s thirty-two miles.”
He then laid the pad with the timing information on it onto the table beside the traced map and looked at it.
It read:
Proximity Timing
Ragsdale Site - 28 minutes
Highway Sign, north of Ragsdale Site- 26 minutes
Alleged Site - 72 minutes
Debris Field - 36 minutes
“Okay,” he said. “We know it’s north of the Ragsdale Site because the flashes were closer together when we timed them north of the site itself.”
Audrina nodded watching intensely then offered an observation: “The time from the Ragsdale Site to whatever it is, is twenty-eight minutes. And the time from the Debris Field to it is thirty-six minutes. That’s sixty-four minutes.”