It would be a low level orbit so they could find out if anyone, including our own military tracking stations, could detect them. NORAD was of course the biggest concern. The only anxious part would be the reentry. A disaster like the last time might finish him and the BlackStar for good. There was no use borrowing trouble, he said to himself. If you look for trouble, you can usually find it.
Angie had worked later than she had planned. Several small incidents had kept her busy all day long. It was almost dark before she locked the infirmary and slipped her coat on. She walked to her car. She opened her purse and dug around for her car keys. Crap, she muttered, when she couldn’t locate them. She dug to the bottom of the bag but didn’t find them. Out of instinct, she reached into her coat pocket and felt something strange. She pulled it out and looked at it in the dimming light. It was a base security card that read:
Mr. Raymond Eller
ULTRA TOP SECRET
LEVEL — 9
Raymond Eller. Raymond Eller, she repeated several time. How in the heck did this get in my pocket? Who was Raymond… wait? Raymond Eller. He was the guy who got lost and was eaten by coyotes. The one Dr. Yurris was talking about. How did she end up with his card in her pocket? This was too weird she thought as she walked back to the infirmary to look for her car keys.
She opened the door and turned the lights on. There on the desk were her keys. Lord I’m forgetful she muttered as she locked back up. Raymond Eller. Why would his security badge be in her coat pocket? She was flipping it back and forth as she walked to her car. It hit her like a ton of bricks. The man held at Beacon. The one she went to get blood from. What was going on? Why was he reported as missing or dead, when he was being held in a cell at Bacon?
She shuddered as she climbed in her car and started the engine. She could see the main security building from where she was sitting. She needed to tell them that they were wrong. She stated her car and drove to the security building and went inside.
“Hi Angie,” the man behind the glass booth said.
“Oh, hi Billy. Listen, can you tell me about that guy that got lost in the desert? Did they ever find out what happened to him?”
He looked at her for a second. A frown flickered across his face for an instant.
“Why do you want to know?”
Immediately from his looks and tone, the hair on the back of her neck started to stand on end. Bad question, Angie thought.
“I was just wondering. I need to submit an accident report to the State whenever someone is seriously injured or dies,” she replied.
“Hum. Well, I guess that makes sense. What I have heard is that he is being considered officially deceased at this point,” he said.
“Oh dear. That means a lot more paperwork for me. Crap. Now I have to notify the State Coroner’s Office as well. I was afraid of that, but I thought I had better check to be sure,” she said.
“Sorry,” was all he said. He had stared at her intently the whole time they were talking.
She got back in her car and tried to think what she should do. Something wasn’t right. She couldn’t drive out to Beacon and check. They would never let her get close to the place. Was Jon in on this? He had to be. What the hell was this all about? She kept asking herself these questions as she sat trying to figure out her next move. She was startled when one of the guards tapped on her car window. She rolled it down part way.
“Anything wrong Angie?” he asked.
“Oh no. Not really.”
“Why are you sitting here?”
“I was just trying to decide if I should fill out the death reports now on the guy that was eaten by coyotes, or just wait until tomorrow. I guess it can wait. I know there is some kind of time frame for reporting deaths but I can’t remember the amount of time allotted,” she said, trying to sound convincing.
“Dead is dead. Tonight or tomorrow. I don’t see how it could hurt much to wait,” he said.
“You know, I think you’re absolutely right. I think I’ll go home, have a good stiff drink and call it a night,” she said rolling up her window and waving as she drove off.
What in the world should she do, she thought as she backed out of the parking space and started toward the home plate, which was the name for the main gate. It was the first time she had ever been worried about passing through the security gates. She had worried for nothing as the guard waved and motioned her through like every other night.
As she drove toward her place at Rachel, a small town just across the way from Area-51, she tried to think of her options. She could do nothing and just get rid of the badge. Two, she could go to security and say she found it. Or she could tell them what she saw at Beacon and confront them with the Badge. None of them sounded very positive.
