Chapter Six:
“What’s he
after?” Clark Eddings and Jonathan Gatehouse both found themselves saying
together out load to Claire
“Another time machine only
much smaller, far more sophisticated and most importantly portable! He
needs it to get back to the moment in time he left and from there? Oh my
God!” Claire said in sheer terror so much so that it sent chills down the backs
of both men.
“What Claire?” Clark asked.
“He’ll be able to travel to
any point, past or future, manipulate whatever events and whomever he wants for
his own perverse ends. And judging by the company he keeps I think we can
all guess what type of world he wants to create. Think that reality all
over again only multiply it worldwide and forever!”
They all remained silent for
a long period of time pondering all the truly hellish thoughts that this
invoked until Jonathan Gatehouse broke the stillness. “I’m not used to
asking for help making a decision but anybody please speak up.”
“How much pull do you have
with the Air Force on any number of levels?” Claire asked.
“Without involving other
people enough, but I think we need all the pull, as you say, we can get.
I think I can manage to get all the access, whatever that will be, that you
will need without divulging too much if anything of either you or Dr. Black’s
intentions whatever they are?” Jonathan clearly indicating he need for
information from Claire who took the clue walked over turned on his console
radio and motioned for the three to bring their chairs and gather into a close
circle.
“What
I have to say now goes no farther than this room and you take it to your
graves!” she said as she bent forward and began. * * * * * * * * * * * *
“I’ve never even heard of
this place?” Clark screamed above roar of the engine and banging of the car as
it pothole after pothole. “And one more thing, please slow down!”
Believe me after the next
day or so you’re going to wish you never heard of it in the first place and no
I can’t slow down! Sorry it’s genetic, I always drive fast!” she said
glancing a sideways smile. “Too bad this car tops out at only eighty kind
of takes the thrill out of it, I mean going so slow!”
Clark didn’t answer that he
just mirrored back the same smart-ass smile he saw and hoped the ride would end
soon. His wishes were fulfilled after another 20 minutes of being tossed
about when Claire slowed for the fast approaching town just barely making the
speed limit.
“Welcome to Roswell,” she
said. “Another 10 minutes and we’ll be at the gates to the base. From
there it’s about another half hour or so to the main airfield and the base
proper.”
“How do you know so much
about a secret.. check that I keep forgetting about you and the future and your
job. Never mind me I’ll go back to playing the strong silent type during
this adventure,” Clark smiled again.
Their cover and all the necessary
documentation was in place. Jonathan Gatehouse had taken care of all that
even to the point of telling the President. “He did want him to know
anything about this as the effects of such an operation, should it prove a
failure would erode confidence in and seriously damage his presidency and the
security of the nation and its inhabitants.” The President as
Jonathan later reiterated to Clark and Claire. “Ever the politician and coming
up for a run at a second term had only been two happy to agree with his long
time trusted friend and advisor giving him carte blanche on the entire matter.”
Claire smiled at the line
still. “They have no idea what their in for and what damage I can do with
carte blanche!” she thought again as she slowed the again for the fast
approaching guarded gate of the base.
“This is a restricted area and you
are trespassing turn the car around know and left or face immediate arrest!”
the guard said his revolver drawn for added effect.
“Here are our papers and full
clearance documentation private,” Claire said calmly ignoring the gun as she
passed the papers out the open car window.
He looked at them nervously,
quickly glancing up and down from the papers to the two occupants in the car
until finally deciding he was out of his league. “Turn the car off, hand
me the keys and step out of it while I’ll call the base!” he said with a motion
of the gun.
Both Clark and Claire did as they
were told, slowly so as to not make him even more nervous than he, a boy of
maybe nineteen or so, already was. He stumbled backward to the
guardhouse, a building not much bigger than an outhouse picked up the phone
cranking the handle to power up the generator in it and picked up the receiver
still not letting them out of his sight.
“He’s a good soldier!” Clark said
to Claire trying not to move his lips too much.
“And right about now I’d
say he’s getting the chewing out of a lifetime by some second rate lieutenant
who knows we’re VIP’s but forgot to put it one the duty roster for this
kid! Look at his posture, he’s practically at attention! Hope the
chewing out ends soon or he’ll be 4F because he’ll be deaf in that ear!” she
said back.
The young soldier dropped the phone
back into the box like it was a hot potato and almost ran back to them.
“Sorry for the delay Sir/Ma’am your free to proceed General Ainsworth is
expecting you, sorry again!” he added as he made for the gate in a less than
clam manner, unlocked it and opened the chain link fence.
He passed their papers back to
them and soon they were nothing more than a rapidly disappearing dust cloud
much to his and their relief. At this point on any mission with a partner
Claire usually went over the strategy and tactics once more but she and Clark
had been all over it so many times it was getting as stale as the inside of her
mouth from all the dust she was inhaling so they drove on in silence.
“How much farther?” Clark asked
trying his best not to sound like a whinny child.
Claire guided the car around a
slight bend in the loose gravel road and into a slight incline. “We’re
here!” she announced.
All Clark could see was miles and
miles of the same sagebrush and tumbleweed and alkaloid scared landscape he’d
seen for the last 200 miles. “Don’t play games Claire, its too hot and
I’m too tired to appreciate..” he stopped in mid sentence as the horizon fell
away and the car began its descent into a valley wide and very deep valley at
the bottom of which sat a cluster of buildings grouped around the longest
airstrip he’d ever seen!
“Bet I can make it down to the
base in under 2 minutes!” she said with a wry smile.
“Why don’t you just steer straight
down and we can make it in under one!” he countered with a wry smile of his
own.
Both understood they were
releasing tension and nervousness and each was grateful the other used humour
to do it, things would get serious soon enough they had both crossed the point
of no return although each for vastly different reasons and motives.
Claire took the switchback descent more slowly than she had to as she gathered
her thoughts and ran options through her mind one final time, she’d just
concluded her scenario as the car came to stop outside General Ainsworth’s
Headquarters. The two dusty weary travellers stepped out into the full
bore of the hot relentless mid afternoon sun. White blasted everything in
site included much to Claire’s dismay the corrugated tin Quonset huts that made
up all the buildings she could she including the Generals. A soldier
snapped to attention and opened the door for them as they entered General
Ainsworth outer office the clang of keys from the clerk’s typewriter and the
smell of stale dry air greeting them. Clark took the lead, as the two had
agreed upon and approached the clerk with Claire in tow a step or two
back. Clark pulled out his identification from his wallet as Claire did
from her purse and dropped them on the clerk’s desk for him to see.
“Yyes Sir/Ma’am the generals
expecting you!” the clerk, a PFC named Swanson jumped to his feet, turned and
knocked quickly and nervously on General Ainsworth’s door before entering and
motioning them through the door.
“That will be Swanson close the
door tight on your way out!” the general barked. The private came to attention
snapped his heels together saluted and left. Claire watched him go with
fascinated amusement on her face.
Two pathetic little fans pushed
stale cigar fumed air about the smaller than expected office of General
Ainsworth as he sat behind his desk in a definitely less than welcoming arms
crossed posture that he unfolded to indicate to his guests that they could sit
in the two chairs opposite his desk if they wished. Clark took the offer
and seated himself, Claire instead made for a leather sofa to the left of the
generals desk and up against one wall putting her parallel to Clark, but still
about 4 feet from him and several more than that to the general.
The room was Spartan, even from a
military point of view. A few pictures of the general taken during the
war and several more of what appeared to be his family. Those along with
a small display case containing model aeroplanes, again from the war, were the
only personal effects. The rest of the room was occupied by several
filing cabinets, the general’s desk, complete with the essential in/out basket
and several phones. Clipboards with duty rosters and other mundane
military day to day tasks hung from nails that had been driven into the steel
sided hut at seemingly random places.
“Glad you could accommodate us on
such short notice General. Agent Yates and I certainly appreciate it!”
Clark opened.
“Didn’t see as I had a great deal
of say in the matter son!” Ainsworth pounded back.
“Oh great!” Claire thought.
“It’s going to be like this!” but kept her face neutral and noticed that Clark
did the same.
“No, no you didn’t General and for
that the Government of the United States thanks you,” Clark offered
earnestly. “But, be that as it may we are here and we expect
nothing but the Air Forces complete co-operation on this matter!” Clark said
driving home the point much to the general’s consternation.
“Look sonny boy! That tone
may play back in Washington where people are actually scared of you, but out
here I don’t scare so easy and in truth I don’t answer to you!” Ainsworth said
leaning forward in his chair to emphasise the point.
“Time to find a new tactic,”
Claire thought as she got up from the couch and walked over to the small
display case containing the model aircraft all the while listening to the two
men verbally compare the size of their respective dicks as they jockeyed for
the high ground.
“You General Ainsworth that’s
true, you don’t answer to Mr. Eddings or his department,” Claire interrupting
the melee between the two males as she peered into the case. “You answer
to General Whitmore don’t you?” she asked and then continued with waiting for
an answer. “I think the best plan of action if you’re still uncertain
would be a call to him?” she posed.
General Ainsworth smiled in
triumph at Clark Eddings as he reached for the phone.
“Of course it may take some time
to locate him,” Claire said still looking at the planes her back turned to the
two of them. “I understand the connection to the base in Greenland takes
a while!” she said with a smile as the general put down the phone. I take
it these are exact replicas of the aircraft you flew in the war General
Ainsworth?” Claire said switching the conversation and tactic once again.
“What? Oh yes, exact replica’s,”
he answered recovering his composure from temporarily being outflanked.
“I carved them to pass the time after I was shot down in 44” he answered
proudly as he left his desk and came over to the case beside her.
“They really are excellent!”
Claire said demurely. “This one is a Spitfire Mark III is it not?
Which must mean you flew with the RAF Eagle Squadron during the Battle of
Britain. And is this one a Mark IV or V P-51 Mustang?”
“I can see you know your aircraft
Miss Yates and it’s a Mark V you can tell by the slightly enlarged bubble
canopy. Maybe I should have made that bigger?” he answered and then
questioned himself his tone softening noticeably. “I can also tell you’ve
read my service record.”
“That’s true general but I still
know my aircraft and I know you were a highly skilled pilot who understood
tactics and the strategy of how to attack. It’s what got you promoted up
from Captain to General by the end of the war! Peace time however is a
different matter altogether though isn’t it?” Claire said as she turned and
looked him straight in the eye.
“How so?” he said levelling his
gaze to hers.
“The bandits aren’t so thick in
the sights and neither are the promotions unless the pilot picks his targets
with great care and has a wingman to cover his tail!” she said the implication
as clear as the desert sky.
General Ainsworth narrowed his
eyes for a few seconds studying carefully this woman in his metaphorical gun
sites before turned around and marched back to his desk, picked up the phone
and barked for PFC Swanson who was almost certainly in the room before he hung
up the phone!
“Show Eddings and Miss Yates here
to the officers quarters and give them full access to the base is that clear!”
the shortening of his name not lost on Clark nor Claire but fortunately he
ignored it which Claire admired him for. He saw the bigger victory she
had won for them and put his hurt pride in the backseat.
“Yes sir! This was please
Sir/Ma’am,” Swanson said as he turned sharply on his heels and marched out of
the room with the two following.
“One spring cot replaces another,”
Claire said as she smacked the bed so reminiscent of her stay at the Salvation
Army Centre. “All armies must by their beds from the same supplier?” she
added to herself with a small laugh that was interrupted by a knock on her
door. She opened it knowing it would be Clark.
“Somehow khaki isn’t your colour!”
he said by way of introduction as he entered her room.
“Actually I don’t think I look to
bad in it! At least it allows more freedom of movement than those
straightjacket dresses I’ve had to endure and I fit in better around
here. With the cap on you might not even know I was a woman?”
“I’ll give you the freedom of
movement but this is science fiction enough without you thinking you can hide
the fact you’re a woman. Even that’s too far out there for me!” Clark
said the compliment not lost on the spy. “Our you ready to go our
‘official’ escort one Corporeal Green is waiting outside in the jeep aka
General Ainsworth’s eyes and ears!” Claire donned her cap and the two
made their way to the waiting jeep.
“Good afternoon Sir/Ma’am.
Where can I take you to?” the very young soldier asked eagerly.
“See I told you the cap wouldn’t
make a difference!” Clark gibed before Claire could give her answer.
“Take us to where you have the
occupants of Hanger Three located,” Claire said as she watched the corporal’s
eyes dilate. “You do understand we have complete clearance from General
Ainsworth and the government don’t you Corporal Green?” Claire stated her voice
clearly not to be challenged.
“Yes Ma’am its just that’s it’s a
restricted area to all personal and..”
“Perhaps I didn’t make myself
clear Corporal. Mr. Eddings and I have complete access and as long as
you’re with us so do you! Now if you can’t or won’t drive we can change
seats.”
“Understood Ma’am,” he said as the
jeep started forward. “It may take me a little time to find it, this base
is so big and I’ve just transferred in only a week ago.”
“Understood Corporal Green just do
your best,” Claire said in a reassuring tone.
“I was lucky to get in here at
all,” the soldier said as he drove after a while.
“Come again,” Clark asked from the
backseat.
“This place suddenly got very
popular about six months ago. Before that you had to force guys here a
bayonet point! I guess it had a lot to do with General Ainsworth.
You know him being a big time pilot in the war. I guess everybody figured
they could attach themselves to his brass and go along for the ride.
Great ride I suppose if you like the taste of sand in your mouth!”
“You must you’re here too?” Clark
countered.
“No sand in radar tracking
Sir. That’s why I’m here!” Green said as he turned a corner and applied
the brakes hard narrowly avoiding a collision with a barricade and the MP beside
it!
Claire and Clark climbed out of
the jeep and flashed their passes to the Sargent who examined them carefully
before waving them through, but not Corporal Green who was forced to remain
with the jeep the look on his face clearly indicating he was both anxious and
curious to see what was inside!
Two other sentries, each carrying
automatic weapon’s guarded a door that the duo made for. They stepped
aside and let them pass. Clark closed the door behind them as he and
Claire started down a long concrete corridor lit only by the dimmest of bare
bulbs hanging from the ceiling along the way. They felt along the wall as
they walked until reaching the end and yet another door. Clark spun the
wheel that acted as the handle; much like sailors did to bulk head doors to
open them on ships. He stepped thought and then reached back his hand a
guided Clare over the lip of the door and into darkness.
“Close the door Mr. Eddings!” came
the command of a familiar voice.
“General Ainsworth, why am I not
surprised,” he said in exasperation.
“You seriously didn’t think I was
going to Washington wander around my base gathering intelligence on one of the
greatest events in the history of man without my being there! Who knows
what you two are really up to so to paraphrase Miss Yates I’m going to keep you
two in my crosshairs!” Ainsworth said in a tone just under a threat. He
flicked on the lights to reveal a room about eight by eight feet with a curtain
drawn across the length of one side the general was standing in front of.
General Ainsworth smiled not a
happy warm smile, but something more shocking and sinister as he reached behind
him and pulled the curtain drawstring! The drapes rushed apart in a flash
revealing the cell they had been masking and its two inhabitants. Clark
fell back and had to brace himself against the wall to keep from falling
providing the General with an inward satisfaction at bettering a man he clearly
didn’t like!
“Bit much for you Eddings?” he
mocked with a derisive laugh before focusing on Claire from whom, she being the
weaker sex, he expected and even larger reaction. This time it was the
general who was surprised!
Claire’s face was wonder, question
and confirmation all at the same time. She stepped slowly but
purposefully to the cell bars and knelt down and smiled in triumph. “This
is a first even for me!” she thought as she looked wondrously at the two small
creatures huddled together in one corner of the cell.
“Now you’ve seen and know, the
both of you so the shows over and you can make your report to Washington!” the
general said.
“The shows just beginning
general!” Claire corrected him. “I want to see the ship you have
concealed in Hanger Three and I want this door opened right now!” Claire said
her voice coming up at the end and stern.
“For what purpose, these things
can’t talk! We’ve already tried every form of communication
possible! If you think I’m going to let you go in their Miss Yates,
you’re crazy! I won’t be held responsible for what could happen to you!”
“That’s fine with me General
Ainsworth! I won’t hold you responsible for what happens inside that cell
but I will hold you responsible for what happens if you don’t let me inside
that cell. Do I make myself clear! Now do me the favour and open
the fucking door before I force you to!” Claire demanded.
“Fine you’ll have the same result
we got, nothing!” he said as he produced the key and opened the door.
Claire stepped inside closed the
door turned to face the two men before sinking to the floor and curling herself
into the lotus position with her hands held out at her sides like she was in
prayer. “Did it ever occur to you or any of you’re experts General
Ainsworth that maybe these beings don’t communicate by voice because they
haven’t any vocal chords and the mouth is an evolutionary remnant for them just
like our tailbone is to us. They communicate by telepathy with each other;
it’s faster, more accurate and can convey infinitely more complicated
information.
“Then why can’t they do it with
us?” the general asked smartly.
“Because our brains aren’t
advanced enough. To them general we’re like monkeys. We’re tens of
millions of years behind them on the evolutionary ladder. You never tried
touch did you?” Claire said knowing they hadn’t. “Great welcome you gave
them, throw them in a dark cell, maybe try and figure out what they need as a
food source and who knows what else you did to them?”
“Maybe there here to feed on us or
their part of some alien invasion scout group? If that’s so we need to
find out all we can so we can prepare for battle when their main force shows
up! Did you ever think of that Miss Yates! That’s why we keep them
in here!” the general barked back at this rather forceful woman.
“General Ainsworth, these beings
can travel across interstellar space, the human race has only been able to fly
within the past 45 years. I think their technology and weapons would be
slightly ahead of ours,” Claire said sarcastically. “If they wanted us
dead, I think that would have already happened! Most likely there here
because they’re curious, just as we are about new species. They may be
social anthropologists, historians, botanists our you may be right they are
soldiers sent here to blast us all with their death rays,” Claire said with a dismissive
laugh as she closed her eyes indicating the conversation had come to an end.
Claire held out her hands and
waited, so had no idea if this would work, but she was betting on the alien’s
intelligence to overcome their fear and make contact especially since she had
shown the first move and positioned herself at their level.
The two aliens were maybe three
and a half feet high, completely hairless, with white-grey skin tone.
Large heads with very large oval eyes, a small inset nose, perhaps half that of
a humans. Their ears were merely indentations in the side of their heads
with a flap of skin covering it that they could open and close similar to how a
dolphin’s air hole worked. A slightly smaller neck filled out into a
cigar shaped torso and down to two normal sized legs for the creature’s
height. Their feet had only three small toes protruding from them and
were wider and flatter then human feet. The alien’s arms showed no
delineation from the join at the shoulder to the wrist, they were uniform in there
almost starvation like thinness. Their hands had no baby finger, a
discarded appendage from evolution, instead they had compensated by developing
longer fingers than humans, almost twice as long except for the thumb which was
only half as long giving the hand a proportion much like a humans.
Claire noticed that they looked
like a cross between the alien rendering in the book Communion and the
Spielberg aliens in Close Encounters right down to the same innocent childlike
faces. Despite her outward bravado to the general she had no idea if this
would work and what the consequences might be, but she wanted, had to, try!
Claire didn’t move and was patient
waiting for them to come to her. Clark came forward slowly standing
unawares next to the general just as the creatures started to carefully come to
Claire! The general slipped his hand around to his sidearm and started to
pull upward until Clark pushed it cautiously back into its resting-place!
“Are you mad!” Clark
whispered. “This is your chance to find out all you want to know and to
get yourself promoted! Agent Yates knows the risks, as do I! So
general, let your wingman do her job!” Clark said leaving no doubt as to who
was really in command at the moment.
The two aliens shuffled out of the
corner slowly came nearer the woman until they separated from each other as one
circled around her back to her left side, the other on her right. Their
arms reached out for her hands; the alien’s fingers dancing up and down until
them made tentative contact!
Claire felt their light airy touch
as they explored her hands and fingers with theirs, pausing at her baby finger
and her nails, as they had neither and this naturally invoked their
curiosity. Finally satisfied they moved on sliding their palms in hers
and bending their fingers around her hand as Claire did the same each feeling
the others warmth.
Then Claire felt something else!
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