In two minutes the Blackhawk was on location and the bodies loaded along with the others. The Strike–1 member who was wounded in the second group never made it back to base. He died shortly after the chopper lifted off. It was the worst day since the formation of the Strike–1 team.
Adam Carter knocked on the door of the Chief of Staff.
“Yes. Please come on in.”
“It’s Adam Carter,” he said, sticking his head in the door. He had met the Chief of Staff only once before and didn’t particularly think he was very sharp. In fact, he wondered how he had ever maneuvered his way to such a powerful position.
“Adam,” he said, standing and extending his hand. He greeted him like he was an old friend. Larry Harper was a tall thin man who looked to be in his early fifties but was in fact going to be sixty-four in July. He had hazel eyes that seemed to see right through to your soul. He had his glasses on top of his head and looked somewhat like an absentminded professor.
“Mr. Harper.”
“Please. Call me Larry. Let’s not be so formal,” he said, taking his glasses off his head and playing with them in his hands.
“Okay Larry. I need some help and frankly I don’t know where else to turn.”
“I see. And you think the White House can be of some assistance in an accounting matter?” he said, with obvious skepticism.
“If you can’t, I’m not sure where to turn next. As you know, the President has directed us to take a look at every military expenditure and to do a complete accounting of where all the money goes. His commitment to leaving no stone unturned involves my office directly,” he said.
“And you have run into a hitch someplace. Someone won’t cooperate.”
“Absolutely refuses is more like it. General Devin is the commanding officer at the Nellis Gunnery Range in Nevada. He also oversees operations at the Skunkworks and all of the other operations within the specified area. This includes Area-51 and contains several different elements. General Devin refuses to turn over the account records for those operations. He has sent me materials on the Nellis Range but refuses to send anything else,” Carter told him.
“Why not go to his superior officer and have him order this Devin fellow to give you what you require?”
“That’s why I’m here. Devin seems to have no one that he directly reports to. So far I can’t get anyone to acknowledge exactly who he reports to.”
“Adam, that simply can’t be. We don’t have generals operating without reporting to a superior in the chain of command,” Harper said.
“That’s what I thought too but after two months of digging, I have run out of avenues to try. I thought maybe your office could help me locate his superior,” Carter said.
Harper laid his glasses down on the desk and scratched his ear. He then rubbed his throat not saying a thing.
After a long silence he said, “Obviously he runs some sort of BlackOps section. I suppose they have a system in place to protect whoever is in charge. Everyone disavows any knowledge of the facility, other than the range. For now, you let the other parts of the investigation go and I’ll check some things out on my end. I can’t promise you I will have an answer you will like, but when we’re dealing with that particular area, it isn’t quite the normal SOP,” he told Carter.
“Sir. The President specifically said no stone unturned,” Adam protested.
“This isn’t a stone. This is a boulder and I’m not sure your office has enough clout to force the issue at this point. You are just going to have to wait until I find out more. That may not be easy, even for me. When it comes to covert operations, it is on a need to know basis only, and I’m not sure even I need to know. Hell, I don’t know if I even
“All right Larry. I’m at a dead end anyway. We will continue with the rest of the report and just leave a footnote for the Area-51 complex,” Carter replied.
“Look, I don’t want to tell you your business but you may want to consider leaving them out of the report entirely. Not even a footnote,” Harper said.
“Yes sir, if you think best,” Carter said trying to determine if it was a suggestion or an order.
“I do,” Harper said.
That pretty much cleared it up.
November in Washington can be exceedingly cold. While the ground was only lightly covered with snow, the wind was a reminder that winter was fast on its way.
Harper pulled his car up to the gate and the Marines on duty, snapped to attention. They looked into his car, noted his pass and waved him through. He pulled around to the south side of the White House and went into a covered parking garage that few knew about.
