He walked out on to a pinnacle and looked down in the valley but didn’t see anything of any interest. Whatever the reason, he had discovered The Hump but was no closer to discovering the mystery behind it, or at least it seemed that way. He was just about to go back into his Hummer when something poked him in the back.
“Freeze. Do not even move a muscle,” a deep voice said, “What are you doing poking around up here?”
Eller had not moved; even to raise his hands, “My name is Raymond Eller. You should know who I am by now.”
“I didn’t ask you who you were. I said, what are you doing up here?”
“And I said,” Raymond replied, starting to turn around but he didn’t finish the sentence before he was struck in the middle of the back with a gun barrel.
“I said to freeze. You move again and it will be your last move.”
“Alright. Have it your way. But I am going to make a career saving suggestion. I suggest you get on the radio and call your SP 1 and tell them that you have Raymond Eller under the threat of being shot. I’m sure he will give you proper advice,” Raymond said, staying frozen as he was told.
“I don’t need to check in with control. My orders were very specific. If you or anyone else came up here I was to detain you and have you placed under arrest,” he said.
“What? Are you crazy? You are making a very serious mistake. I oversee the entire area operations. I can go anywhere I damn well please,” Raymond said, starting to get even more frustrated.
“Just put your hands behind your back.”
“You are going to…”
“Now. I don’t want to have to tell you again. First your right hand then your left,” the guard interrupted.
Eller decided that this was not the time or place to argue. He would take care of this, and whoever gave such an order, later. If it was General Devin himself, it would the end of his career, regardless of his importance to the base.
Devin was not going to have him restricted or treated like a trespasser. This certainly wasn’t part of the bombing or gunnery range. The guard placed the handcuffs around his wrists and tightened them.
“Now sit down and cross your legs.”
Eller stooped down and tried to sit down but it was impossible without falling the last foot on his rear. It was just one more nail in the coffin of whoever issued these orders. He waited in the hot sun for what seemed like an hour, but was only twenty minutes in reality.
A white Cherokee came roaring up the hill and skidded to a stop causing a wave of dust to roll over him. He closed his eyes and ducked his head as it encircled him. Hammer, hammer, another nail, he told himself. He looked up and saw someone in a fatigues walking toward him. He walked up to Raymond and squatted down.
“Mr. Eller. What are you doing up here?”
“That is my business and if you and your people know what’s good for you, you will release me immediately and explain just what the hell is going on,” he said with his voice intensifying.
“I’m sorry. Maybe you didn’t hear the question. What are you doing up here?” he asked again.
Raymond could see his own dusty reflection in the mirrored sunglasses he wore.
“Just looking around. What’s the big deal? I saw the road leading up here and thought it would be a good place to look out over the area,” he said.
It was going to be useless to argue with these people. He would take care of this when he got back to the main base.
“This is one of those times when curiosity gets the better of the cat,” the guard said.
“What the hell does that mean?” Eller demanded.
“It means, you should have stayed away from here.”
The two men picked him up by his elbows and sat him in the Cherokee and placed the shoulder harness around him.
“Look. I really don’t get it. Don’t you realize the kind of trouble this is going to cause? I am here as a direct representative of the President of the United States. All of this is going to come down on you like a ton of bricks when I make my report,” Eller said, trying to talk some sense into the driver.
He didn’t bother to reply but just drove. Raymond quickly realized they were not headed back to either the main base or S-4. They were headed south, away from the facilities.
“Where are you taking me?” he asked, but again he got no answer.
Fifteen minutes later they approached an enclosure that was surrounded on all sides by rows and rows of razor wire. When the Cherokee approached, a guard inside the booth pressed a button and a gate opened allowing the Jeep to drive in.
Once inside, a door in a large sand colored structure opened and the Jeep entered. He was taken out of the Jeep and escorted down two sets of stairs, to the basement level. He entered a room that had six cells and the guard opened one and shoved him inside.
“What the hell do you people think you are doing? Damn it, I demand to see General Devin,” he yelled but the door slammed shut.
