“I know that what we just witnessed is sobering and dreadful but at least we know why now. Your hard work and efforts here will save many lives in the future and for that, you should be proud. We cannot let this slow us down. We must fight through this and keep our spirits up. The two brave pilots on Su-11 need to be vindicated and you are the only ones who can do that. I want to tell each one of you that I am proud to have you under my command and I am confident that Dr. Dean and his entire team will persevere. Once Lockheed is notified of our findings and makes the necessary changes to the latching system, I will have the Su-12 flown out so that you can start final fitting for deployment. This will not derail the project.”
They all clapped but it was more somber than usual. They knew he was doing his best to cheer them up and motivate them, but they all had heavy hearts. The general gave Dr. Dean a pat on the back and headed out of the hanger.
Raymond was startled when he awoke. He was disorientated and stiff from sleeping on the back seat. The motor was still running as he sat up and looked around, trying to get his bearings. He wiped his face with his hands and ran them through his hair. He got out, stretched and rotated his neck and head. He was surprised that he had gotten any sleep at all.
The sun was just starting to change the sky from dark purple to a pale orange. He looked all around, trying to figure out where he was exactly. Taking the map out of the center console, he unfolded it, and started looking for landmarks. He was sitting on the hood of the Hummer with the map on his knees when three F-15 Strike Eagles came skimming across the desert floor.
He watched in fascination as they skipped along the nap of the earth and in unison slid up and over the top of a mountain range. In seconds they were gone and the stillness returned again. Now that it was starting to get light he could better determine his position. Within minutes he felt sure he knew where he was and which way to go.
Raymond got back in the Hummer and started heading east. Ten minutes later he could see the main base and runways at Area-51. It took an additional fifteen to get to the base and he was going to just go to his quarters and clean up but he spotted the general walking out of the Su-11 hanger. He pulled up, stopped the Hummer and got out.
“General. I need to have a word with you.”
“Certainly Mr. Eller. You look a little rugged. Did you have a rough night?” he asked innocently.
“You might say that. I was coming back to my quarters and someone took a shot at me,” Raymond said.
The general looked surprised, “A shot? At you?”
“That’s what I said. Look,” Raymond said pointing to the windshield.
“I don’t even know what to say. You were on the road I take it, when this happened?”
“Hell yes. I was taking a leak when someone shot my windshield. If I had been the damn thing I could have very well have been hit,” Raymond said.
“I’ll have my people look into it but I suspect that what happened is one of the guards took a shot at a coyote and it ricocheted and hit your windshield. That happens out here. We try to keep them out of the facility but sometimes one will get in. The guards have permission to shoot any that wander onto the range property,” the general said.
“That seems a little dangerous with the traffic,”
“Well, we don’t have much traffic out here at night. It is too easy to get lost. Most people are where they are supposed to be by sundown. What time did this happen?”
“I don’t know, 1:00 a.m. or so, I would guess,” Raymond said.
“And you were on the main road back to the base?”
“No. I made a wrong turn and was trying to get my bearings when I decided to step out of the Hummer and take a leak.”
“Well, that explains it. The men are trained never to fire toward the base or where the main roads go. I suspect we will find that one of the patrols was shooting at a critter of some kind and it just happened to hit your vehicle,” the general said.
He was doing all he could to keep from laughing. They should have shot out one of his tires so he would have had to change it, he thought.
“I’ll need a different Hummer,” Raymond said.
He realized that he had just been dressed down in a roundabout way. The message was clear. Stay on the main roads and don’t run around in the desert after dark.
“I’ll have a new one delivered to your quarters. Did you sleep in the Hummer?” he asked with a slight smile on his lips.
“I tried,” was all Raymond could think to say as he got back in the Hummer and drove to his quarters.
He was more exhausted than he had realized. He took a long shower and flopped down on the bed. One minute later, he was sound asleep.
