“General. That is enough. It is going to be done. I have made up my mind. What I want from you is your decision to stay or be reassigned. I want that by the end of the day. I also want you to leave the accounting records with me,” he President said.
His neck was starting to get red and the level of his voice was becoming very stern. Devin knew he had pressed it as far as he could. He reached into his briefcase and removed the records. He stood, placed his hat on his head, and saluted the President.
“Here are the records Mr. President,” he said, laying the bound report on his desk, “I will have an answer for you by 17:00 hours.”
“General,” the President said as a way of excusing him.
When he had gone, the President sat for a few minutes. Why didn’t Devin want anyone to know what was going on? Did he have his own agenda or was he really trying to protect the country’s secrets? How could he inadvertently have failed to mention the Su 11 project? Were there other projects he was hiding?
He had a sinking feeling that Devin was not being totally truthful about what was going on at Groom Lake. And yet the other Presidents before him had not made any changes. Was this honestly the best thing or was he doing what the general accused him of, punishing him? No. He strongly believed that more than meets the eye was going on. He decided it was time to find out. He sent for the Secretary of Defense.
When Raymond Eller was appointed to head the Department of Homeland Security, he decided that he would do the best job of anyone up until this time. He vowed to not just direct but to get actively involved in cases and to have a working knowledge about everything that was going on.
At forty-one, he was considered one of the bright stars in Washington. He was easy going, smart, but not brilliant. He worked hard and surrounded himself with the best minds. Male, female, black, white, or green, nothing mattered to him but the results.
Within months he found that his vow was idealistic at best and totally impossible. The demands on his time were simply too great. Terrorists were like cockroaches. They multiplied faster than you could kill them. What would cause people to become so fanatical? Whatever it was, he found that he simply could not be involved with all of the cases that poured in.
He was just about to go to a briefing when his secretary stuck his head in the door and said, “Director, Sarah Steel would like to have a word with you.”
“Well, I need to get to the briefing. Can it wait?”
“She said it was very important.”
“Alright. Tell her she can walk with me to the briefing,” he said.
She was waiting for him when he came out the door.
“I know you’re in a hurry but this is really important,” she said, handing him the report from the interviewing agent.
He quickly scanned the report and slowed down his long strides. Sarah was extremely grateful; she had been doing her best to keep up, her high heels clicking along the marble floor.
“Is this the rumblings of a nut case?”
“The investigator was Willis. You know how detailed and persistent he is. He thinks there may be some merit to this,” she said, tapping the report.
“Spaceships? Aliens walking around in Area-51? Sarah, are you buying any of this crap at all?”
“I saw the interview tape. He is not a crazy nut looking for publicity.”
“Still. Everyone knows that strange things go on in that place. You know as well as I do that our most sophisticated planes have been developed there. I seriously doubt that we have aliens working there. This isn't "Men in Black” he said, handing the report back to her.
“I don’t want to believe it either. But what if it is true about the general?”
“Some general building a weapon that is more powerful than the atomic bomb? And he is doing it without authorization? Listen to yourself Sarah. Do you know how crazy that sounds?”
“It sounds anything but crazy. I would like to have permission to check it out further,” she said.
“Fine. Check it out, but don’t let it interfere with other cases. I think it is a big waste of time,” he said as they reached the door to the briefing room.
Sarah Steel was thirty-nine years old and had been working for the government ever since she graduated from Cornell University.
Of all of her traits, when people mentioned her name ‘tenacious’ was most often associated with it. She was like a bulldog once she got hold of something that she believed in. While considered attractive by many of her co-workers, she was not beautiful. If anything, she went out of her way not to highlight her best features. She wore flats on most occasions, conservative dress suits and little make-up. Her hair was dishwater blond and she used nothing to highlight it. At five-foot six inches tall with a slender body, she certainly could not be considered threatening.
