Chapter 4

Chapter 3  (13+) Sheriff Tucker interviews Jack and Dr. Marshall about the burn victim. #2035323 by Hyperiongate

Chapter Four
 
It was noon by the time Sam and Jack located the site. After a quick glance at the blackened area, the two men went to a spot just outside of the burned area where JD11 had been “excavated.” Everything was as Jack had remembered it. The hole was still there. Much of the ground had been disturbed EMTs when they “de-planted” JD11 the night before. It had been not easy thing getting him out of the ground intact.

Sam played crime-scene-investigator for a bit while Jack stood back and watched. It was easy to follow the tracks of the EMT’s as well as those of Jack, however, there was nothing else leading to or from the site. Nothing that would indicate how “JD11” had come to be where he was found. Eventually the sheriff came back to the blackened patch of ground.

He knelt by the edge and sniffed the air. Next, he brushed aside some of the top soil and found that the black sand went down to a depth of about two inches. There were no plants growing within the circle’s perimeter and no indication that any had been dug up and tossed aside to make the clearing. It was simply a sterile circle of blackened sand.

“Jack, help me with some of the equipment in the truck,” He said as he gave the horizon a quick scan. It would be plain bad luck if some off-roaders happened by right about now. If outsiders somehow matched this up with the burn victim back in Reno, the internet would heat up in a hurry.

Back at the truck, Sam pulled out a pick axe and a couple of shovels. He reached back in and pulled out a large bag. Opening it up, he withdrew a long shiny silver device.

“Is that what I think it is?” Jack asked.

“It is if you think it’s a metal detector.”

“I can see the need for the shovels to poke around a bit but a metal detector? Are you looking for a buried weapon or something?”

“Let’s just say I hope it is a waste of time and effort because if it’s not, then both of our lives will have just gotten a whole lot more complicated.”

Sam fiddled with the controls on the metal detector for a few moments until he felt it was at the right level of sensitivity. Walking over to the blackened area, he swung it out over the edge of the circle. The result was immediate. The needle swung deep into the red. There was something there buried under the sand.

Sam and Jack looked at each other for a moment before the sheriff continued his survey. Walking around the edge of the circle, he swung the device over the black soil and then back out again. Each time the detector was over the circle, the needle went into the red, outside of the circle, nothing.

Sam looked at Jack with a look of resignation combined with a bit of reluctant excitement.

“Sam, what does this mean? Do you think a meteor hit here or something?”

Sam said, “Jack, this entire investigation just moved out of my job classification. All I know is that a classified Military Protocol has just been invoked.”

Seeing Jack’s questioning look, Sam continued, “There are more UFO sightings in Nevada than almost any other place on earth? It’s true. I’m not a big believer in such things but who’s to say for sure. Anyway, this “prevalence” of strange events in these parts has been monitored by the government for decades. One of the ways they stay on top of any new phenomena is by keeping in touch with senior law enforcement officials across the state. As such, I am privy to certain information that is not known to the public. Specifically, there are several events that, when they occur, must result in a call to the nearest military base. These events each have a set of characteristics that must be met. Once they are confirmed, then Military Protocol kicks in. One of those events has just happened here.”

“I’m still not following you. Are you saying that you think there is a UFO buried here and that you need to bring the Army in on this?”

“Not the Army, Jack, the Air Force. They’re closer.”

“So, every time a metal detector goes a little wacko, you have to call in the Air Force who will then come out here expecting to find a UFO?”

“All I know is that certain criteria have been met. First of all, we have a symmetrical burn in a remote location. Secondly, we have a localized magnetic anomaly and finally, we have a body nearby. Those three things together mean that I have a call to make. Now if you will excuse me for a minute.” Sam pulled out his cell phone.

Jack walked a short distance away to let the sheriff make his call. He didn’t like the way this was going. He’d done his time. He’d served his country well. Now, just when he thought he was “out” it looked like he was being dragged by “in”. On the other hand, this could all end up amounting to nothing. Maybe whatever was causing the metal detector to act up was nothing more than a localized ore deposit. The Air Force would write Sam’s report in the daily log book or something of that sort and that would be the end of it. Everything would go back to normal. There was still the burn victim to think about. The “JD11” was more than an ore deposit. Hopefully, he would survive and eventually tell the tale. In the meantime, there was a certain doctor that kept finding her way into Jack’s thoughts. Lise Marshall; he would remember that name. He smiled at the thought of seeing her again later this afternoon.

Sheriff Tucker closed his cell and walked back over to Jack. “It looks like we are going to have some company pretty soon. I called Fallon Air Force Base but they patched me through to Nellis. It’s much farther away but that’s apparently where they handle this sort of thing. Nellis said a chopper will be here in about two hours. We are supposed to stand fast until then. Sorry about this but it looks like any plans you may have had for the day are going to be put off for a little while.”

Jack listened to what the sheriff said and then tossed all thoughts of the attractive doctor out the window to be replaced by a surprisingly strong feeling of resentment. His hands and jaw clinched at the idea of being told to “stand fast”. He was out of the military. That meant he was a free man. Who were they to tell him what to do? If the military wanted to play UFO hunter, that was up to them, but he didn’t want to be a part of it. He looked at the sheriff who was looking at him and realized he needed to let this anger go. He could play their game for now but he would push back from the table as soon as possible.

Sam watched as Jack tensed and then relax. During that brief time, the sheriff saw something that made him want to rethink his assessment of the man standing next to him. It wasn’t that he now thought Jack was somehow involved in the “burning man” incident. No, it was more like he saw that the loner, trailer-dweller had a dangerous side; one he kept in check. Sam wondered just what or who Jack would become should he lose control of that side of himself. Best to be wary just in case.

“They said to stay put. They didn’t say anything about poking around,” said Sam acting if he hadn’t noticed what they both knew he had.

Sam picked up the pick and said “How about you and I see if we can find us a UFO?”

Jack smiled and picked up a shovel. They both figured that if the military raised a fuss they could claim they’d done the digging before they contacted the military; all perfectly innocent. On the very first try with the shovel, Jack struck something hard enough that it sent a tingling sensation up his arms and made a metallic sound against the blade of the shovel. The two men looked at each other and smiled. Neither man had expected to find anything, though each had secretly hoped to. They dug out a small area where Jack had started. After a bit of effort they had uncovered enough to know they had found something that didn’t belong out here.

Jack stood back and looked at what they had uncovered thus far. Its surface, buried only about six inches under the sand, was a polished cream color giving it a ceramic rather than metallic appearance. It felt oddly warm to the touch, more so than could be explained by the ambient temperature. Everything that they had uncovered thus far was perfectly flat. As soon as they dug outside of the circle, the object dropped away ninety degrees from the surface, going deeper and deeper into the sand. It looked like they had uncovered the top of a cylinder of undetermined depth.

Sam took off his hat and scratched his head. “Well Jack, what do you think?”

Jack thought for a moment. Before he could answer, the unmistakable sound of a helicopter began to grow. The “couple of hours” had passed in no time. To the south, the men could see three Blackhawk helicopters heading their way. The aircraft were flying low and fast – attack formation. Jack understood that something serious was just about to go down.

“What I think is that we have company,” was all he said.

The two men stood there guiltily, tools in hand, as the helicopters settled onto the ground about two hundred yards away. Several troops exited the craft and scrambled in the direction of Sam and Jack. Neither of the two men felt comforted by the fact that all of the new comers were dressed in what appeared to be biohazard suits. The first group to reach them continued on past to the black circle. A couple of the bio-suits stopped in front of Sam and Jack. Everyone had guns - Big guns. Without a word, they began scanning the two men for radiation readings and biohazards. Jack was surprised at what he considered an overly dramatic response but assumed that the military was just being cautious. He decided to play along without comment. Sam was not quite so cooperative, especially when they tried to take away his gun.

“Listen asshole, you Air Force guys can come out here and poke around all you want, but I’m the sheriff and I am keeping my gun,” Sam said placing his hand on his weapon. A hand signal from the one apparently in charge brought four more guns into the conversation. Sam looked around and then reluctantly handed over his weapon. Another hand signal resulted the “haves” escorting the “have-nots” into the nearest helicopter, which took off heading south.

Jack looked over at Sam sitting across from him as the helicopter took them who-knows-where and shrugged. There was nothing they could do at this point. The military had taken control of the situation and was not willing to discuss it with these two locals.

“Where are we going?” Jack said conversationally to the nearest bio-suit.

“There will be no talking, sir,” came the abrupt, no nonsense reply.

The two hour ride passed without further conversation. Jack spent some of the time taking a closer look at the men on the helicopter with him. These did not appear to be run of the mill military personnel. All of them looked to be in their thirties. They were uniformly large, even after taking into account their bulky bio-suits. None appeared to be anything other than alert and prepared for action. Their bio-suits had no insignia. Even their weapons were wrapped in clear plastic, giving them a toy-like appearance. Jack decided to assume they were real anyway.

Eventually, the helicopter reached its destination. Jack could see that they had arrived at an airbase, and assumed it to be Nellis. They landed on a remote tarmac making Jack wander if there was a reason for this isolation. A truck waited for them as they disembarked.

Without comment, Sam and Jack were hustled out of the helicopter and into the back of the truck where their only view was directly out the read end of the vehicle. All this time, Sam had been sitting as if nothing out of the ordinary was taking place. Jack considered trying to talk to him but Sam, in anticipation, had signaled with his eyes that it was best to just stay quiet. Jack was happy to keep his mouth shut. His military experience had taught him the value of gathering information while not giving any out.

“Keep your mouth shut and your ears and eyes open,” he told himself.

The truck bucked to a start and Jack noticed they were driving away from the distant buildings of the Air Force base; at least those they could see out the back of the truck. From what he was able to see from the helicopter as they were landing, he could only guess that they were headed out into the middle of nowhere. Not good. He looked at Sam who just shrugged and said nothing. For the first time, Jack began to feel things might not turn out okay.

After a few minutes, the truck slowed to a stop and then lurched as straining machinery became audible. Through the opening in the back flap, Jack could see that they were dropping below the desert floor. They must be on a large elevator. The downward trip didn’t last long. Jack guessed that they had dropped maybe three or four floors.

Another lurch and the elevator came to a stop. The back flap was thrown open and the two men were motioned off, after which they were escorted through a heavy door and then down a series of white hallways. The featureless walls made Jack think he was in some sort of lab environment.

Their final destination was an office that seemed out of place in what had been thus far, a décor of featureless white on white. The room had a warm library/office feel to it. The chairs were comfortable. Wood paneling and bookshelves lined the walls. Three large, flat-screen monitors hung from the ceiling; another monitor sat on the large desk.

Just inside the office door, a hulk-sized military guard motioned Jack and Sam into a couple of leather chairs. Once they were comfortably seated, their “escorts” left the room. Sam and Jack continued their self-imposed silence. A few minutes later, the door opened and a man in uniform walked in…and their world began to change.

This man was special, both Jack and Sam knew this instinctively. He was impeccably dressed and his manner spoke of absolute competence. He was neither big nor small. His blue eyes seemed almost artificial as they looked across the room taking in the totality of what Jack and Sam represented; unknowing witnesses to something best kept secret. As he walked towards to the two men, Jack was reminded of a predator cat; relaxed, alert and extremely dangerous. Jack, not one to be easily intimidated, knew it would wise not to underestimate this guy.

He stood in front of Sam and Jack and offered his hand. “Good afternoon men. My name is Colonel Wes Lanier. We need to talk.”

Chapter 5  (13+) JD11 goes into the tank. Nursing assistant Annie begins to...evolve... #2035758 by Hyperiongate