“I need to see your ID,” he said. Raymond could see his own reflection in the man’s sunglasses.
“No problem. I’m Raymond Eller. Director of Homeland Security and now Director of Area–15.”
“Yes sir. Please remain in the vehicle,” he said, heading back to the car with is ID badge.
He said something to the other man and then he got in the car and Raymond could see him talking on the microphone. The MP on the passenger side never took his eyes off of him or lowered the shotgun. It was only 8:15 a.m. and the temperature was already starting a steady climb. The MP in the car got out and walked back.
“Sir, General Devin said he did not know you were going to come out here on your own. It was his understanding that you would wait until you knew the area better. He requests that we escort you back to the main facility.”
Raymond didn’t respond immediately. He tapped his hands on the steering wheel.
“Sir?” the MP said.
“Son, I want you to tell the general that I intend to go to S-4. Now, you can either show me the way or I will go on my own. Either way, I will go.”
“I can’t tell him that.”
“I suggest you do. That badge says ULTRA TOP SECRET on it. I can, and will, go anywhere I want on the facility. Now you go tell the general I said that.”
The MP stayed still, moving his trigger finger back and forth over the side of the trigger guard. Finally, he turned and walked back to the car. A few minutes later he came back, this time with his gun in the holster.
“The general says that we should show you the way for your own safety. If you wouldn’t mind, please follow us. You may want to drop back some so that all the dust doesn’t blow up in your face,” he said.
“Thank you. My badge please?”
“Yes sir,” he said handing it back to him.
Raymond waited until they were several hundred yards ahead of him before he drove off. It was easy to follow them from the long dust trail they left.
Fifteen minutes later they arrived at the base of a mountain. He could just make out the entrance and the hanger doors in the side of the rock.
The MP circled around his car and said, “This is it sir. Swipe your card over there by the door. I told the guards you were coming. It will let you enter. Someone will come and take the car into the parking facility.”
“Thank you,” Raymond said as the MP saluted and drove off.
He got out and walked over to the door that had both the texture and coloring of the surrounding mountain. He swiped his card and heard a loud click. He pulled the door open and once again was met with a refreshing wave of cool air. The first thing he encountered was a large window with two armed guards.
A drawer slid out and one of the men said, “Please place your car keys and your badge inside. Sign the sheet with your name, rank and time in. Then state your name for the voice print recognition system.”
Raymond did as instructed and put DIRECTOR for rank. The two men looked at it and returned his badge through the drawer. Another door opened and he walked into a huge hanger bay.
A man in a white coat greeted him, “You’re Mr. Eller. The general called and asked me to meet you and show you around on Level–1,” he said pleasantly.
“I appreciate that. You are?”
“Sorry. I always forget to introduce myself. Dr. Bruce Lawrence.”
“Dr. Lawrence. Nice to meet you.”
“The pleasure is mine. Now, what would you like to see?”
“Everything. I want to see everything there is down to the broom closet.”
“Oh dear. Well, I see you have a Level–9 clearance so I suppose it will be alright. I do not have that kind of clearance. I can only escort you to Level–6. I guess we can start in Bay-1,” he said leading him to another door.
“Do you have any idea what’s in the bay?” he asked.
“No, but I guess I’m about to find out,” Raymond said as the doctor opened the door.
Even though the President had hinted at some of what he was going to find there was nothing like reality, he still wasn’t ready for what he saw. The spacecraft was right in front of him. He blinked once and shook his head. It was true. It was all true. Just looking at it he knew it was not from this planet.
“Oh my God,” he whispered, his knees almost buckling.
“Yes. Most of us felt that way the first time we saw it. It changes everything doesn’t it?”
“Oh my God, oh my God,” Raymond repeated.
“Come, let me show you what we do here,” the doctor said.
Raymond followed in a bit of a daze. While the doctor was explaining the various functions and tests they were conducting, only half of his brain seemed to be functioning. The rest was trying to come to grips with the immense implications of this. The President had been right, it was beyond comprehension. Doctor Lawrence led him from one bay to another.
Each discovery was like a new jolt. The one that they had retrieved from Aztec was mammoth in size. It could hold twenty or more people it was estimated, according to the doctor. He then corrected himself and said twenty aliens. It was almost dark by the time they had finished seeing everything on Level–1.
