8:30 PM Nevada Department of Public Safety Command Post, 2478 Fairview Drive Carson City, Nevada
The State Director of Emergency Preparedness had presented the situation to the governor.
“Sir, we appear to have a vented plume of radioactive gas or fine dust that started about eight or nine miles northwest of Mercury, and was blown northwest by the wind at about eight to ten knots. It is drifting in the general direction of Potts in northern Nye County, although unless the wind picked up, it would take four or five days to get there.”
The governor looked up at the map. “So it would appear that the projected path of the plume would be across highway six between Tonopah and Highway 375.”
“That would be correct, sir.”
“Jimmie….how sure are we that this thing is even real. The director at the Nevada Test Site swears to me that they didn’t test anything, and that they weren’t responsible for the earthquake or…well, whatever the hell the thing was. They’re claiming that this may all be a problem with the sensors.”
“Sir, we have had a single sensor fail sometimes in the past…although the usual failure mode is for the thing just to go dead. This is eight sensors reading positive readings..four of them pegged to their limit…the other four showing high levels of gamma and Alpha activity. Whatever this is, it isn’t just the wind blowing across some old Clean Slate site, and picking up radioactivity. We are getting mobile monitoring teams out there, but until we get a lot more readings…well, I’d recommend we take all this seriously,sir.”
“Your call, Jimmie. What do you propose?”
“Well sir, for starters, I’m going to ask Nye County Sheriff’s office and the Nevada State Patrol to seal off highway six east of the Tonopah airport road and west of the intersection with highway 375 except to emergency vehicles and Air Force personnel. That’ll buy us some time…without doing major disruptions to tourism or commerce.”
“Ok Jimmie, but I remember your briefing on all the stuff out there…left over from the aboveground testing. Let’s get that checked too, before we let people back in the area.”
“We’ll do that, sir.”
8:45 PM Nye County Sheriff’s Office, Tonopah Nevada.
“I understand, sir. We’ll get the roadblocks up immediately…”
Discipline Malfunction (M/L Mature) [COMPLETE]
Moderators: Itzstacie, Forum Moderators
Anna had been terrified when the pull had started and the dishes had started sliding off the tables, but then everyone seemed to be panicking then....everyone but Liz. Even in all the chaos Anna's eyes had been drawn to her friend as she'd walked to that glowing orb...held out her hand...touched it.
When the men had attacked Liz with those weapons, all of her fears about men had suddenly seemed to return..but as she had watched Liz writhe on the floor..her muscles spasming from the electricity..she had somehow gotten beyond those fears. The young Captain had largely subdued the first man by the time she'd gotten there...Anna wasn't too sure how much he'd needed the help she gave him...but her kick to the man's groin had given her a deep satisfaction at least...before the security guard had separated her from the man.
She'd been ready to take on the security guard too, when the young female Lieutenant had calmed her down...told her she could be with Liz while the medical people looked after her. And she'd watched them...still concerned for her friend, but it was clear they were taking good care of her...clear that the doctor was as angry at the two men as she was herself.
Liz really didn't seem uncomfortable...just sort of drugged out. Anna had experience with that...she'd been there frequently enough. But it was different with Liz, she knew. She hadn't done this to herself....wasn't running from her life.....if anyone loved her life it was Liz. The doctor had promised her the electricity and the needles of the darts hadn't done any real harm...and drugs wore off....Anna knew that well. But even so she wanted Liz to wake up...to smile at her.
"Come on, Liz. Wake up," she whispered in her ear. "You need to get over this...get home. I think that Max is probably already waiting to have dessert with you..."
Anna watched the gentle smile form on her lips..watched her face flush....'She'll be alright,' Anna thought. 'Liz is tough...a whole lot tougher than she looks..'
Anna looked up warily as the four entered the room. But she trusted the two men...they'd been the ones who had stopped the ones with the TASERs..and of course Laurie, Laurie had talked the medical people into letting her stay with Liz. The other one...he'd been there too...he'd been giving the orders...sending the people to get the doctor for her...telling the guards to lock those two up.... Anna was sure...pretty sure at least, that these four were alright.
"Anna," said Laurie. "We need to talk to Liz a little right now. Would you please wait outside?"
"She's my friend. Why can't I stay?"
"We wouldn't hurt her, Anna," said Peter. "We just need to talk to her...to ask her some questions."
"But why can't I stay?"
Slammer saw the concern in the teenagers eyes, but he really didn't want Anna there for the questioning. But one young woman had already been assaulted and drugged on his territory on his watch.....he damn sure wasn't going to get the medics to sedate the girl...or the guards to haul her away. So much of the work here was so highly classified...still...he had some discretion.
"Anna, you saw the light out the window, didn't you? You felt what it did? That was some machinery...some machinery we don't totally understand. Somehow it got turned on and what it was doing...well, it might have been pretty dangerous. Liz turned it off, Anna, and we'd like to know how she did that...just in case it somehow got turned on again. She's not in any sort of trouble....nobody is mad at her. Lieutenant DelGado...Laurie...she'll be right here...all the time. But some of what we are going to ask her will be classified, Anna. Those are government secrets that you aren't cleared to know...we really can't talk freely with her with you here...and we need to do that."
Anna had never really had a father, but she'd dreamed of having one. And in those dreams...the good dreams, her father had talked to her like that...been someone like the man looking at her...trying to get her to agree...but not forcing her. She knew if she said no to the man....it'd be alright...he wouldn't force her. But he was asking her...really asking her...not treating her like trash...not even treating her like a sixteen year old. He was treating her like Max treated her..like Greg treated her....Somehow she knew Liz would be safe with them.
"OK I guess. I'll go try to call her husband again. the lines seem to be all tied up."
"I know," said Laurie. "It seems like everyone in Nevada is talking to worried friends from other places. They are calling it an earthquake. Even the military lines are tied up. You need a Flash priority to even call out. But don't worry, she's getting better. And if we have to, we can send someone to get him and bring him here."
Anna thought that over. She sure wished Max was here. Ever since that night..ever since he had stopped...him. Ever since then she had felt real comfortable when Max was along. Maybe Greg could come too.
"I'll be right outside....can I come back in when you are done?"
"Of course you can, Anna," said Slammer.
When the men had attacked Liz with those weapons, all of her fears about men had suddenly seemed to return..but as she had watched Liz writhe on the floor..her muscles spasming from the electricity..she had somehow gotten beyond those fears. The young Captain had largely subdued the first man by the time she'd gotten there...Anna wasn't too sure how much he'd needed the help she gave him...but her kick to the man's groin had given her a deep satisfaction at least...before the security guard had separated her from the man.
She'd been ready to take on the security guard too, when the young female Lieutenant had calmed her down...told her she could be with Liz while the medical people looked after her. And she'd watched them...still concerned for her friend, but it was clear they were taking good care of her...clear that the doctor was as angry at the two men as she was herself.
Liz really didn't seem uncomfortable...just sort of drugged out. Anna had experience with that...she'd been there frequently enough. But it was different with Liz, she knew. She hadn't done this to herself....wasn't running from her life.....if anyone loved her life it was Liz. The doctor had promised her the electricity and the needles of the darts hadn't done any real harm...and drugs wore off....Anna knew that well. But even so she wanted Liz to wake up...to smile at her.
"Come on, Liz. Wake up," she whispered in her ear. "You need to get over this...get home. I think that Max is probably already waiting to have dessert with you..."
Anna watched the gentle smile form on her lips..watched her face flush....'She'll be alright,' Anna thought. 'Liz is tough...a whole lot tougher than she looks..'
Anna looked up warily as the four entered the room. But she trusted the two men...they'd been the ones who had stopped the ones with the TASERs..and of course Laurie, Laurie had talked the medical people into letting her stay with Liz. The other one...he'd been there too...he'd been giving the orders...sending the people to get the doctor for her...telling the guards to lock those two up.... Anna was sure...pretty sure at least, that these four were alright.
"Anna," said Laurie. "We need to talk to Liz a little right now. Would you please wait outside?"
"She's my friend. Why can't I stay?"
"We wouldn't hurt her, Anna," said Peter. "We just need to talk to her...to ask her some questions."
"But why can't I stay?"
Slammer saw the concern in the teenagers eyes, but he really didn't want Anna there for the questioning. But one young woman had already been assaulted and drugged on his territory on his watch.....he damn sure wasn't going to get the medics to sedate the girl...or the guards to haul her away. So much of the work here was so highly classified...still...he had some discretion.
"Anna, you saw the light out the window, didn't you? You felt what it did? That was some machinery...some machinery we don't totally understand. Somehow it got turned on and what it was doing...well, it might have been pretty dangerous. Liz turned it off, Anna, and we'd like to know how she did that...just in case it somehow got turned on again. She's not in any sort of trouble....nobody is mad at her. Lieutenant DelGado...Laurie...she'll be right here...all the time. But some of what we are going to ask her will be classified, Anna. Those are government secrets that you aren't cleared to know...we really can't talk freely with her with you here...and we need to do that."
Anna had never really had a father, but she'd dreamed of having one. And in those dreams...the good dreams, her father had talked to her like that...been someone like the man looking at her...trying to get her to agree...but not forcing her. She knew if she said no to the man....it'd be alright...he wouldn't force her. But he was asking her...really asking her...not treating her like trash...not even treating her like a sixteen year old. He was treating her like Max treated her..like Greg treated her....Somehow she knew Liz would be safe with them.
"OK I guess. I'll go try to call her husband again. the lines seem to be all tied up."
"I know," said Laurie. "It seems like everyone in Nevada is talking to worried friends from other places. They are calling it an earthquake. Even the military lines are tied up. You need a Flash priority to even call out. But don't worry, she's getting better. And if we have to, we can send someone to get him and bring him here."
Anna thought that over. She sure wished Max was here. Ever since that night..ever since he had stopped...him. Ever since then she had felt real comfortable when Max was along. Maybe Greg could come too.
"I'll be right outside....can I come back in when you are done?"
"Of course you can, Anna," said Slammer.
Last edited by greywolf on Sat Mar 03, 2007 11:49 am, edited 1 time in total.
“Since the young lady was just attacked by two men,” said Slammer, “I think it might be advisable if you did the questioning, Laurie.”
“What kind of things do you want me to try to talk to her about, sir?”
“Well, the real question, of course, is how she got that cylinder to stop opening up. It was disconcerting enough to know that we had something that was capable of destroying the Earth when it had been sitting quietly for 52 years. Now that it damn near did it….I’d like to know how to stop it next time…or better yet, prevent a next time.”
“My fault, I’m afraid,” said Peter. “I’ve handled that orb on and off for over thirty years…, heck, half the researchers on site have. I would have never believed…”
“You’d have never believed anyone would be as macabre as to make a trophy of parts of another person’s body….that is what you never believed, doctor. I wouldn’t have either. I can’t fault you for that.”
“Well, with all due respect, sir, whether you faulted me or not would have been damn little comfort if that young lady hadn’t showed up.”
“What did we do with those two jerks, by the way?” asked Laurie.
“The Security Manager’s got them,” said Jim. “They each get one phone call to their lawyers. Since they’re civilians, we can’t court-martial them, so they’ll be turned over to the US Marshalls at the gate to Area 51 shortly after we all get there. Of course, that raises all sorts of security issues….what they might blab.”
“Well, right now I’m more concerned about getting the young lady to talk,” said Slammer. “Start out low-key, Laurie. Just name and age and stuff like that. If that goes well, we can proceed to more involved questioning. The doctor warned us that this won’t necessarily be too reliable, so don’t get too excited. Let’s just see how it goes.”
Liz Evans had never been drunk. The perfect Liz Parker, on the other hand, had been inebriated once in her life. It had involved her cousins wedding when she was six. She’d been a flower girl and things had gone rather well until the reception. A fruit punch was served, with cut up strawberries in the bottom of the punch bowl. Someone had spiked the punch, but nobody had really noticed since the strawberries in the bottom had soaked up most of the alcohol. At six, Liz Parker had loved strawberries and when the punch bowl had emptied, she’d ladled out a sizeable bowl of them, added cream and sugar from the table where the coffee urn was located, and commenced to eat strawberries and cream. The story was legendary in Parker family lore as the young lady had staggered around, giggling crazily. Not since that time had Liz ever been inebriated….until now.
Laurie moved over by the bed and sat down next to Liz.
“Hello. My name is Laurie…”
Liz wasn’t just absolutely sure where she was….Nevada, she thought most likely….or how she’d gotten there. She looked up to see a rather attractive looking Hispanic lady in a uniform sitting next to her. She smiled, said, “Hola…” and dozed off to sleep.
“Well, that’s a start,” said Jim with a smile. “She’s fluent in Spanish.”
“Just because she speaks one more word of Spanish than you do, Jim, does not mean she’s fluent in Spanish. Maybe she just likes to watch Dora the Explorer.” Laurie took Liz’s hand and squeezed it slightly. “Hello?? Anybody in there?”
Liz opened her eyes and saw four people…..going in and out of focus…but she found if she tried real hard to see them…she could see double…then there were eight people. She concentrated on the hand squeezing her hand…followed it back…wrist…forearm…elbow….shoulder…oh, there was that nice Hispanic looking lady again…”Hola…”
“UH…hola,….can you tell us your name?”
Liz had to think of that one a minute…she had so many of them. She’d started with three…the last one had been recently changed…but she was using three other ones currently. S she tried to think, her concentration drifted and her eyes crossed. Almost instantly she noticed the second Hispanic lady…possibly the identical twin to the first. She smiled up at her, too.
“Hola…”
Laurie watched the three men start to snicker. This wasn’t going very well. She decided she might have to lead the witness a little.”
“I guess your name is Beth, right?”
Liz looked back and forth between the two identical twin Lieutenants. They’d both moved their lips at the same time, she really wasn’t sure which one had asked the question. She decided to talk to the space between the two of them, just to be sure.
“Sometimes….”
“Your name is Beth….sometimes?” Everyone seemed to lean forward looking at Liz with some suspicion.
“Sometimes it’s Beth…sometimes it’s Liz…sometimes it’s E-liza-beth…”
Everyone seemed to relax. That’s seemed harmless enough.
“So…should I call you Liz or Beth or Elizabeth…?”
Liz seemed to ponder that for awhile, not quite being up to multiple choice questions in her current condition. She decided to compromise pointing at the right image of Laurie DelGado and saying, “You can call me Beth…” and then pointing at the left image of Laurie DelGado and saying, “..and you can call me Liz,” and then pointing to all the men in the room and saying, “…and you can call me…Elizabeth…”
Laurie looked at Slammer, Jim and Peter, with a wan smile. This obviously was NOT going to go fast….
“So Liz, I guess you are eighteen then?”
“I am? How long have I been asleep?”
“No, I was asking you….asking you if you are eighteen. You’ve only been asleep an hour or so…”
“Then….I’m probably still sixteen…..I’m almost sure of it…”
“Only sixteen?” said Slammer. “How old is your husband?”
Liz appeared to mull that one over awhile. Max…well, Max had been alive prior to the 1947 crash as an embryo…so maybe he was a little over fifty…..but he hadn’t been hatched until about ten years ago…..so maybe he was ten….. She could kind of bound the number…somewhere between ten and fifty-two….but she was almost sure that wasn’t what the two men asking the question wanted to hear.
“That’s kind of hard to tell….” she said.
“Hard to tell..?” asked Laurie.
“Yeah….Max….well….Max is …..adopted.”
“Max is your husband? Not Mark?”
“Max is my husband…..Do you have a husband?”
“No, Liz. I don’t. But about Max..?”
“Oh you can’t have Max….Max is mine. He’s loved me since the third grade….. But you ought to get one…they’re more fun than you’d think.” Liz pointed her right hands at the twin Jims. “One of those guys might be good….Do you like one of them?”
“Yeah Laurie,” said Jim, smiling. “You like one of me??”
That earned him an elbow from Laurie, chuckles from Peter and a look of mock disapproval from Slammer who was struggling himself to keep a straight face. Clearly, whoever the girl was, she didn’t appear to be threatening.
“I’m having a birthday party for Max in a month….he’ll be 17…or that’s what the social worker people guessed was his birthday. I already have the whipped cream…”
“So Max will have whipped cream on his cake?” asked Laurie, trying to keep Liz talking…preferably about things other than her relationship with Jim which she really did want to discuss further with Jim, but not with a drugged up 16 year old in front of other people.
“No…” said Liz. “It’s a costume party…..the whipped cream is my costume….his too. You really ought to get him to marry you,” said Liz, pointing to Jim who she briefly saw as a single person, before her eyes crossed again. “Being married is a lot of fun……if I’d known how much fun I think I would have gotten Max to marry me earlier….maybe the fourth grade.”
“I’m not too sure we have to worry about this young lady being an alien,” said Peter….”..and certainly not a threat to national security.”
“What kind of things do you want me to try to talk to her about, sir?”
“Well, the real question, of course, is how she got that cylinder to stop opening up. It was disconcerting enough to know that we had something that was capable of destroying the Earth when it had been sitting quietly for 52 years. Now that it damn near did it….I’d like to know how to stop it next time…or better yet, prevent a next time.”
“My fault, I’m afraid,” said Peter. “I’ve handled that orb on and off for over thirty years…, heck, half the researchers on site have. I would have never believed…”
“You’d have never believed anyone would be as macabre as to make a trophy of parts of another person’s body….that is what you never believed, doctor. I wouldn’t have either. I can’t fault you for that.”
“Well, with all due respect, sir, whether you faulted me or not would have been damn little comfort if that young lady hadn’t showed up.”
“What did we do with those two jerks, by the way?” asked Laurie.
“The Security Manager’s got them,” said Jim. “They each get one phone call to their lawyers. Since they’re civilians, we can’t court-martial them, so they’ll be turned over to the US Marshalls at the gate to Area 51 shortly after we all get there. Of course, that raises all sorts of security issues….what they might blab.”
“Well, right now I’m more concerned about getting the young lady to talk,” said Slammer. “Start out low-key, Laurie. Just name and age and stuff like that. If that goes well, we can proceed to more involved questioning. The doctor warned us that this won’t necessarily be too reliable, so don’t get too excited. Let’s just see how it goes.”
Liz Evans had never been drunk. The perfect Liz Parker, on the other hand, had been inebriated once in her life. It had involved her cousins wedding when she was six. She’d been a flower girl and things had gone rather well until the reception. A fruit punch was served, with cut up strawberries in the bottom of the punch bowl. Someone had spiked the punch, but nobody had really noticed since the strawberries in the bottom had soaked up most of the alcohol. At six, Liz Parker had loved strawberries and when the punch bowl had emptied, she’d ladled out a sizeable bowl of them, added cream and sugar from the table where the coffee urn was located, and commenced to eat strawberries and cream. The story was legendary in Parker family lore as the young lady had staggered around, giggling crazily. Not since that time had Liz ever been inebriated….until now.
Laurie moved over by the bed and sat down next to Liz.
“Hello. My name is Laurie…”
Liz wasn’t just absolutely sure where she was….Nevada, she thought most likely….or how she’d gotten there. She looked up to see a rather attractive looking Hispanic lady in a uniform sitting next to her. She smiled, said, “Hola…” and dozed off to sleep.
“Well, that’s a start,” said Jim with a smile. “She’s fluent in Spanish.”
“Just because she speaks one more word of Spanish than you do, Jim, does not mean she’s fluent in Spanish. Maybe she just likes to watch Dora the Explorer.” Laurie took Liz’s hand and squeezed it slightly. “Hello?? Anybody in there?”
Liz opened her eyes and saw four people…..going in and out of focus…but she found if she tried real hard to see them…she could see double…then there were eight people. She concentrated on the hand squeezing her hand…followed it back…wrist…forearm…elbow….shoulder…oh, there was that nice Hispanic looking lady again…”Hola…”
“UH…hola,….can you tell us your name?”
Liz had to think of that one a minute…she had so many of them. She’d started with three…the last one had been recently changed…but she was using three other ones currently. S she tried to think, her concentration drifted and her eyes crossed. Almost instantly she noticed the second Hispanic lady…possibly the identical twin to the first. She smiled up at her, too.
“Hola…”
Laurie watched the three men start to snicker. This wasn’t going very well. She decided she might have to lead the witness a little.”
“I guess your name is Beth, right?”
Liz looked back and forth between the two identical twin Lieutenants. They’d both moved their lips at the same time, she really wasn’t sure which one had asked the question. She decided to talk to the space between the two of them, just to be sure.
“Sometimes….”
“Your name is Beth….sometimes?” Everyone seemed to lean forward looking at Liz with some suspicion.
“Sometimes it’s Beth…sometimes it’s Liz…sometimes it’s E-liza-beth…”
Everyone seemed to relax. That’s seemed harmless enough.
“So…should I call you Liz or Beth or Elizabeth…?”
Liz seemed to ponder that for awhile, not quite being up to multiple choice questions in her current condition. She decided to compromise pointing at the right image of Laurie DelGado and saying, “You can call me Beth…” and then pointing at the left image of Laurie DelGado and saying, “..and you can call me Liz,” and then pointing to all the men in the room and saying, “…and you can call me…Elizabeth…”
Laurie looked at Slammer, Jim and Peter, with a wan smile. This obviously was NOT going to go fast….
“So Liz, I guess you are eighteen then?”
“I am? How long have I been asleep?”
“No, I was asking you….asking you if you are eighteen. You’ve only been asleep an hour or so…”
“Then….I’m probably still sixteen…..I’m almost sure of it…”
“Only sixteen?” said Slammer. “How old is your husband?”
Liz appeared to mull that one over awhile. Max…well, Max had been alive prior to the 1947 crash as an embryo…so maybe he was a little over fifty…..but he hadn’t been hatched until about ten years ago…..so maybe he was ten….. She could kind of bound the number…somewhere between ten and fifty-two….but she was almost sure that wasn’t what the two men asking the question wanted to hear.
“That’s kind of hard to tell….” she said.
“Hard to tell..?” asked Laurie.
“Yeah….Max….well….Max is …..adopted.”
“Max is your husband? Not Mark?”
“Max is my husband…..Do you have a husband?”
“No, Liz. I don’t. But about Max..?”
“Oh you can’t have Max….Max is mine. He’s loved me since the third grade….. But you ought to get one…they’re more fun than you’d think.” Liz pointed her right hands at the twin Jims. “One of those guys might be good….Do you like one of them?”
“Yeah Laurie,” said Jim, smiling. “You like one of me??”
That earned him an elbow from Laurie, chuckles from Peter and a look of mock disapproval from Slammer who was struggling himself to keep a straight face. Clearly, whoever the girl was, she didn’t appear to be threatening.
“I’m having a birthday party for Max in a month….he’ll be 17…or that’s what the social worker people guessed was his birthday. I already have the whipped cream…”
“So Max will have whipped cream on his cake?” asked Laurie, trying to keep Liz talking…preferably about things other than her relationship with Jim which she really did want to discuss further with Jim, but not with a drugged up 16 year old in front of other people.
“No…” said Liz. “It’s a costume party…..the whipped cream is my costume….his too. You really ought to get him to marry you,” said Liz, pointing to Jim who she briefly saw as a single person, before her eyes crossed again. “Being married is a lot of fun……if I’d known how much fun I think I would have gotten Max to marry me earlier….maybe the fourth grade.”
“I’m not too sure we have to worry about this young lady being an alien,” said Peter….”..and certainly not a threat to national security.”
9:05 PM 23B Airway Drive, Old military housing area, Tonopah Airport Nevada
Max was starting to get quite concerned. He wasn't sure what that had been but the radio announcers were calling it an earthquake. He'd tried to call Liz...Anna...the cell towers must be saturated. He finally got through on the land line to Betty Ann, even that had been difficult...and then she'd known nothing. And when he'd tried to drive out toward the base in the Jepp, he'd seen the police blockade turning people back. He'd come back to the house and finally gotten through to his desert expert on the phone.
"Do you have your map out, son?"
"Yes, Frank..."
"Well there are four old mining roads....three of them go around that roadblock.....two take you out to where highway six connects to the road to Tonopah Test Range....that other one...it takes you to Groom Lake. But the Air Force has probably got them blocked with fences..."
"That's OK Frank....thanks a lot."
He looked at the clock. He'd wait one more hour...if he heard nothing from her by then...he'd go get her. He could handle fences.
2105 Tonopah Test Range Billeting and Messing Area.
"This isn't going quite as well as I had hoped," said Laurie.
"She is sort of out of it," conceded Slammer. "Why don't you try to concentrate on her background....see if we can find out how to contact her folks....maybe they could tell us something, Then I'll have Peter talk to her about what happened out at the hangar....see if she understood what was going on at all....."
"OK, sir."
"Liz..?"
Hearing her name awoke her...she had drifted off again...it was that nice Lieutenant.
"Hola..," Liz said with a cross-eyed smile.
Laurie just shook her head. "Hola,..Liz. Can you stay awake so we can talk some more?"
"Isn't it nap time?"
"We'd rather you waited until later to nap, Liz. There is an airplane coming...to take you to our other base. You can nap on the trip, maybe. Right now could you tell us more about yourself?"
"About me? Wouldn't you rather talk about him?" Liz asked, pointing at Jim. "You could have a lot more fun with him.....but not on a Maytag...they're poorly designed...the handle bruises your bum..."
Laurie's attention was briefly diverted by looking at Jim....trying his best not to laugh. He looked like he was about to explode. She blushed deeply, glaring at him....she almost hoped he did.
Liz looked at the young Captain and giggled. "He's no Max...but still...he looks like he'd be kind of nice and warm to cuddle up to....the uniform helps, of course.....What's your name...soldier?"
"Liz, you have to concentrate here...never mind about Jim, ..what's your name...your real name, Liz?"
"So his name is Jim....you like him, don't you. What's his last name...."
"His last name doesn't matter, Liz. We need to know your last name...your real last name."
Liz giggled again. Laurie glared at Jim when she was embarassed, just like Maria glared at Michael. She'd seen this before...even intoxicated, she knew there was more going on here,,. Liz crossed her arms and shook her head....."You tell me his...I'll tell you mine."
Laurie looked at Jim in irritation, he was still trying not to laugh, ...then looked at the sixteen year old girl on the gurney Liz was trying to look determined....and to trying to keep her eyes from crossing. Finally, in exasperation, she spoke.
"His name is Jim Hawthorne, Liz. Now what's your name?"
"Jim Hawthorne...." said Liz, "...and your name is Laurie, isn't it?"
"Yes Liz, his name is Jim Hawthorne, my name is Laurie DelGado,....now, what's Liz's full name?"
"You know..." said Liz, "Laurie Hawthorne sounds nice...I think you'd like that...then you could get all warm and cuddly...it's nice...you'd like it." Liz looked at the men and motioned Laurie toward her, looking conspiratorial. She whispered to her, rather loudly..."Even the Maytag was pretty good...but the kitchen table was more comfortable....and it didn't have a lid to get bent..."
Laurie commenced to blush brick red, Peter sniggered, Slammer turned around and found some interesting dust on the windowsill in the corner of the room to examine minutely.....and Jim burst out laughing.
"Liz...this isn't about me and Jim...it's about you. We need to know your name. You said if I told you his...you'd tell me yours. Now that was a promise, Liz..., now what's your name?"
"Max promised when we got married at the Elvis chapel...promised to love me and honor me until death do us part....., you ought to do that Jim....she likes you...I can tell. Laurie Hawthorne....she'd like that.....I can tell."
Jim looked at Laurie blushing beet red in embarassment, looked at Peter and Slammer...barely stifling their laughter...'Out of the mouths of babes,' he thought.
He'd had the ring for two weeks....waiting for the right moment he'd told himself...too afraid was more like it. But the world had almost ended ...just an hour or so ago, and he was starting to believe that a sixteen year old runaway on drugs made a lot of sense.
"OK Liz," he said, taking the box from his pocket and opening it as he got down on one knee. "I'm going to propose to Laurie, and if she agrees to become Laurie Hawthorne, will you tell us your name?"
"OK...but only if she says yes.."
"Well Laurie....will you marry me?" asked Jim.
Laurie sat there speechless, looking at the engagement ring....mouth open but no words coming out...
"It would be for the good of the service," said Slammer, fighting his urge to break out giggling "To help us get information from Liz....."
"The fate of the whole world might depend on the information. Laurie," said a beaming Peter. "I mean, it may mean the survival of humanity...not that we'd want you to feel pressured, mind you.."
Laurie looked at Jim on his knee, the other two men looking at her with the same dopey grin that Liz had...at least the girl had the excuse of being drugged up. It had only been an hour or so since she had seen Armageddon coming, and the first thing she'd done was to go to Jim....of course she loved the big lug....but she never expected....this...now....
"OK, Liz. Tell us your name...your REAL name, and for that I'll even make the supreme sacrifice...give myself body and soul to this big jerk kneeling in front of me....Jim,...that would be a yes...."
"Yippee..."said Liz, "there's going to be a wedding.....be careful of the strawberries in the punch, though.."
The interrogation took a five minute break while the newly betrothed admired her new ring and the other newly betrothed admired her.
"I think Peter and I will step outside for a few minutes," said Slammer, "just so there aren't any witnesses. It's just possible that you two might be pushing the limits of what the regulations allow in terms of displays of affection while in uniform."
As they stepped out, Liz loudly whispered up to the newly-betrothed, "It'll be more fun for you without those two....or the uniforms either, for that matter...I'll close my eyes and not watch...."
Max was starting to get quite concerned. He wasn't sure what that had been but the radio announcers were calling it an earthquake. He'd tried to call Liz...Anna...the cell towers must be saturated. He finally got through on the land line to Betty Ann, even that had been difficult...and then she'd known nothing. And when he'd tried to drive out toward the base in the Jepp, he'd seen the police blockade turning people back. He'd come back to the house and finally gotten through to his desert expert on the phone.
"Do you have your map out, son?"
"Yes, Frank..."
"Well there are four old mining roads....three of them go around that roadblock.....two take you out to where highway six connects to the road to Tonopah Test Range....that other one...it takes you to Groom Lake. But the Air Force has probably got them blocked with fences..."
"That's OK Frank....thanks a lot."
He looked at the clock. He'd wait one more hour...if he heard nothing from her by then...he'd go get her. He could handle fences.
2105 Tonopah Test Range Billeting and Messing Area.
"This isn't going quite as well as I had hoped," said Laurie.
"She is sort of out of it," conceded Slammer. "Why don't you try to concentrate on her background....see if we can find out how to contact her folks....maybe they could tell us something, Then I'll have Peter talk to her about what happened out at the hangar....see if she understood what was going on at all....."
"OK, sir."
"Liz..?"
Hearing her name awoke her...she had drifted off again...it was that nice Lieutenant.
"Hola..," Liz said with a cross-eyed smile.
Laurie just shook her head. "Hola,..Liz. Can you stay awake so we can talk some more?"
"Isn't it nap time?"
"We'd rather you waited until later to nap, Liz. There is an airplane coming...to take you to our other base. You can nap on the trip, maybe. Right now could you tell us more about yourself?"
"About me? Wouldn't you rather talk about him?" Liz asked, pointing at Jim. "You could have a lot more fun with him.....but not on a Maytag...they're poorly designed...the handle bruises your bum..."
Laurie's attention was briefly diverted by looking at Jim....trying his best not to laugh. He looked like he was about to explode. She blushed deeply, glaring at him....she almost hoped he did.
Liz looked at the young Captain and giggled. "He's no Max...but still...he looks like he'd be kind of nice and warm to cuddle up to....the uniform helps, of course.....What's your name...soldier?"
"Liz, you have to concentrate here...never mind about Jim, ..what's your name...your real name, Liz?"
"So his name is Jim....you like him, don't you. What's his last name...."
"His last name doesn't matter, Liz. We need to know your last name...your real last name."
Liz giggled again. Laurie glared at Jim when she was embarassed, just like Maria glared at Michael. She'd seen this before...even intoxicated, she knew there was more going on here,,. Liz crossed her arms and shook her head....."You tell me his...I'll tell you mine."
Laurie looked at Jim in irritation, he was still trying not to laugh, ...then looked at the sixteen year old girl on the gurney Liz was trying to look determined....and to trying to keep her eyes from crossing. Finally, in exasperation, she spoke.
"His name is Jim Hawthorne, Liz. Now what's your name?"
"Jim Hawthorne...." said Liz, "...and your name is Laurie, isn't it?"
"Yes Liz, his name is Jim Hawthorne, my name is Laurie DelGado,....now, what's Liz's full name?"
"You know..." said Liz, "Laurie Hawthorne sounds nice...I think you'd like that...then you could get all warm and cuddly...it's nice...you'd like it." Liz looked at the men and motioned Laurie toward her, looking conspiratorial. She whispered to her, rather loudly..."Even the Maytag was pretty good...but the kitchen table was more comfortable....and it didn't have a lid to get bent..."
Laurie commenced to blush brick red, Peter sniggered, Slammer turned around and found some interesting dust on the windowsill in the corner of the room to examine minutely.....and Jim burst out laughing.
"Liz...this isn't about me and Jim...it's about you. We need to know your name. You said if I told you his...you'd tell me yours. Now that was a promise, Liz..., now what's your name?"
"Max promised when we got married at the Elvis chapel...promised to love me and honor me until death do us part....., you ought to do that Jim....she likes you...I can tell. Laurie Hawthorne....she'd like that.....I can tell."
Jim looked at Laurie blushing beet red in embarassment, looked at Peter and Slammer...barely stifling their laughter...'Out of the mouths of babes,' he thought.
He'd had the ring for two weeks....waiting for the right moment he'd told himself...too afraid was more like it. But the world had almost ended ...just an hour or so ago, and he was starting to believe that a sixteen year old runaway on drugs made a lot of sense.
"OK Liz," he said, taking the box from his pocket and opening it as he got down on one knee. "I'm going to propose to Laurie, and if she agrees to become Laurie Hawthorne, will you tell us your name?"
"OK...but only if she says yes.."
"Well Laurie....will you marry me?" asked Jim.
Laurie sat there speechless, looking at the engagement ring....mouth open but no words coming out...
"It would be for the good of the service," said Slammer, fighting his urge to break out giggling "To help us get information from Liz....."
"The fate of the whole world might depend on the information. Laurie," said a beaming Peter. "I mean, it may mean the survival of humanity...not that we'd want you to feel pressured, mind you.."
Laurie looked at Jim on his knee, the other two men looking at her with the same dopey grin that Liz had...at least the girl had the excuse of being drugged up. It had only been an hour or so since she had seen Armageddon coming, and the first thing she'd done was to go to Jim....of course she loved the big lug....but she never expected....this...now....
"OK, Liz. Tell us your name...your REAL name, and for that I'll even make the supreme sacrifice...give myself body and soul to this big jerk kneeling in front of me....Jim,...that would be a yes...."
"Yippee..."said Liz, "there's going to be a wedding.....be careful of the strawberries in the punch, though.."
The interrogation took a five minute break while the newly betrothed admired her new ring and the other newly betrothed admired her.
"I think Peter and I will step outside for a few minutes," said Slammer, "just so there aren't any witnesses. It's just possible that you two might be pushing the limits of what the regulations allow in terms of displays of affection while in uniform."
As they stepped out, Liz loudly whispered up to the newly-betrothed, "It'll be more fun for you without those two....or the uniforms either, for that matter...I'll close my eyes and not watch...."
9:30 PM 23B Airway Drive, Old military housing area, Tonopah Airport Nevada
Brinngg..Brinngg
"Hello..."
"Max...this is Anna.."
"Anna, thank goodness. Are you OK? Is Liz OK? That earthquake or whatever was near you guys. What was it?"
"Max, I've got to speak quick because I've been trying my cellphone since it happened and the batteries almost gone. I'm alright. Liz...well, she was shot with a couple of TASERs but the doctors say she'll be fine. They are going to have to take her to the other base though..where they have better medical facilities."
"TASERs?? My God, Anna....what did they do that to her for? Where is the base...the one they'll be taking her to?"
"I'm not sure why the men TASERed her, Max. But she's going to be OK. That's the important thing. The other base is at Groom Lake........."
As the low battery indicator beeped one last time and the phone died, Anna hoped that the brief conversation had been enough to reassure Max...reassure him that Liz was OK now, and amongst friends. She elbowed her way to the land line, hoping she could get through on that....to tell him about those two creeps, and how they'd been locked up. She still felt rather proud of herself over the groin kick. Finally getting a dial tone she dialed his number again....
Back at Airway Drive, Max stared at the phone that at suddenly gone dead. "Groom Lake," he said to himself aloud. "....that's Area 51......"
He picked up the map and went out to the Jeep. As he pulled out of the driveway he didn't hear the telephone ringing in the small duplex.
21:30 Billeting and Messing Area, Tonopah Test Range Nevada
"I hate to say this," said Slammer with a chuckle, "..but I'm not sure I trust either of those two to question the girl right now. They seems sort of...."
"Distracted...?" asked Peter.
"Yeah, something like that. Well, it looks like you or me. Want to have a go at it?"
"Indeed....perhaps she can find some young lady interested in a sixty year old cosmologist who doesn't get out much."
"Well,... good luck."
Peter walked over and sat down in the chair beside the gurney.
"Hello, Elizabeth. My name is Peter."
"You are British..."
"Not really, just picked up a bit of a British accent in my years at Cambridge. Where, might I ask, do you come from?"
"New Mexico...the land of enchantment....except if you are stuck there in a small town...well, Maria calls it the land of entrapment..."
"..and this Maria would be..?"
"Maria is my best friend...except for Max, of course..."
"So you were recently married..." Peter asked, figuring that if she was only sixteen it had to have been pretty recent, "..was Maria your maid of honor?"
Liz looked around conspiratorially, then whispered loudly, "She didn't even know.....we eloped."
"Well, Elizabeth..."
"Call me Liz,...everybody does."
"Very well, and you can call me Peter..."
"OK, Pete...."
"No, that would be Peter, Liz. I've never liked Pete really."
"Peter-peter pumpkineater, had a wife but couldn't keep her...have you ever been married, Peter?"
"No Liz, I'm afraid I haven't. Never found the woman who could put up with me I guess."
"Maybe I can find one for you...you'd like being married...it's real cuddly."
"Well, yes Liz, I no doubt would, and perhaps later I'll take you up with that...but for right now, I'd like to talk to you about your marriage."
"It's great....did you see my ring? Max made it for me. He has one too."
"Yes, it's really a very excellent ring, Liz, but can you tell me more about Max? Does he have a last name?"
"Yes he does"
"Do you want to share that name with us, Liz?"
"No.." Liz replied, looking suddenly puzzled. "He shared it with me...that's why I'm not Liz Parker anymore...why I'm Liz Evans...but I don't think he'd want to share it with you...he's already married to me. Besides...I'm not sure your his...type," she said dubiously.
Jim and Laurie were trying to keep from laughing...so was Slammer.
"This is about as easy as pulling teeth," said Peter to the three.
"Hey, you are making progress," said Slammer. "Keep it up. See if you can find out more about her parents...where we might find them."
"Liz," said Peter noticing she had again nodded off. "Liz.."
Liz awoke with a start, and noticed a pretty young Hispanic looking lady being hugged by a tall Captain. She smiled at her..."Hola.."
"Whoops, pardon me Liz, over here..." said Peter.
Liz looked to the man...he didn't look Hispanic...and he had a British accent...nonetheless, she didn't want to offend him...
"Hola," she said.
"Hola," came the four voices back in unison.
Brinngg..Brinngg
"Hello..."
"Max...this is Anna.."
"Anna, thank goodness. Are you OK? Is Liz OK? That earthquake or whatever was near you guys. What was it?"
"Max, I've got to speak quick because I've been trying my cellphone since it happened and the batteries almost gone. I'm alright. Liz...well, she was shot with a couple of TASERs but the doctors say she'll be fine. They are going to have to take her to the other base though..where they have better medical facilities."
"TASERs?? My God, Anna....what did they do that to her for? Where is the base...the one they'll be taking her to?"
"I'm not sure why the men TASERed her, Max. But she's going to be OK. That's the important thing. The other base is at Groom Lake........."
As the low battery indicator beeped one last time and the phone died, Anna hoped that the brief conversation had been enough to reassure Max...reassure him that Liz was OK now, and amongst friends. She elbowed her way to the land line, hoping she could get through on that....to tell him about those two creeps, and how they'd been locked up. She still felt rather proud of herself over the groin kick. Finally getting a dial tone she dialed his number again....
Back at Airway Drive, Max stared at the phone that at suddenly gone dead. "Groom Lake," he said to himself aloud. "....that's Area 51......"
He picked up the map and went out to the Jeep. As he pulled out of the driveway he didn't hear the telephone ringing in the small duplex.
21:30 Billeting and Messing Area, Tonopah Test Range Nevada
"I hate to say this," said Slammer with a chuckle, "..but I'm not sure I trust either of those two to question the girl right now. They seems sort of...."
"Distracted...?" asked Peter.
"Yeah, something like that. Well, it looks like you or me. Want to have a go at it?"
"Indeed....perhaps she can find some young lady interested in a sixty year old cosmologist who doesn't get out much."
"Well,... good luck."
Peter walked over and sat down in the chair beside the gurney.
"Hello, Elizabeth. My name is Peter."
"You are British..."
"Not really, just picked up a bit of a British accent in my years at Cambridge. Where, might I ask, do you come from?"
"New Mexico...the land of enchantment....except if you are stuck there in a small town...well, Maria calls it the land of entrapment..."
"..and this Maria would be..?"
"Maria is my best friend...except for Max, of course..."
"So you were recently married..." Peter asked, figuring that if she was only sixteen it had to have been pretty recent, "..was Maria your maid of honor?"
Liz looked around conspiratorially, then whispered loudly, "She didn't even know.....we eloped."
"Well, Elizabeth..."
"Call me Liz,...everybody does."
"Very well, and you can call me Peter..."
"OK, Pete...."
"No, that would be Peter, Liz. I've never liked Pete really."
"Peter-peter pumpkineater, had a wife but couldn't keep her...have you ever been married, Peter?"
"No Liz, I'm afraid I haven't. Never found the woman who could put up with me I guess."
"Maybe I can find one for you...you'd like being married...it's real cuddly."
"Well, yes Liz, I no doubt would, and perhaps later I'll take you up with that...but for right now, I'd like to talk to you about your marriage."
"It's great....did you see my ring? Max made it for me. He has one too."
"Yes, it's really a very excellent ring, Liz, but can you tell me more about Max? Does he have a last name?"
"Yes he does"
"Do you want to share that name with us, Liz?"
"No.." Liz replied, looking suddenly puzzled. "He shared it with me...that's why I'm not Liz Parker anymore...why I'm Liz Evans...but I don't think he'd want to share it with you...he's already married to me. Besides...I'm not sure your his...type," she said dubiously.
Jim and Laurie were trying to keep from laughing...so was Slammer.
"This is about as easy as pulling teeth," said Peter to the three.
"Hey, you are making progress," said Slammer. "Keep it up. See if you can find out more about her parents...where we might find them."
"Liz," said Peter noticing she had again nodded off. "Liz.."
Liz awoke with a start, and noticed a pretty young Hispanic looking lady being hugged by a tall Captain. She smiled at her..."Hola.."
"Whoops, pardon me Liz, over here..." said Peter.
Liz looked to the man...he didn't look Hispanic...and he had a British accent...nonetheless, she didn't want to offend him...
"Hola," she said.
"Hola," came the four voices back in unison.
“So Liz,” said Peter.. “You promised us you’d tell us your name if Laurie agreed to marry Bob and she has…see, she has a nice ring too, so now you need to keep your promise…what’s Max’s last name…his real last name.”
“It’s Evans…..Max Evans….and I’m Elizabeth Evans….and it’s all just wonderful….and some day…we are going to have babies…..lots of little Evans’s….”
“From the way you describe your relationship, Liz, I don’t have a doubt in the world that will happen…but can you tell me anything about your parents. Can we contact them too…let them know that you are safe?”
Again Liz looked very conspiratorial, “Shhhh!,” she said. “We can’t let them find us….not now….not until I’m eighteen…then they can’t have it nulled.”
“Nulled? Do you mean, annulled Liz? Why would they do that….”
“We didn’t JUST EXACTLY have our parents permission to get married….exactly.”
“Exactly what did you have, Liz?” asked Peter.
“Well they got all upset…just because we fell asleep on a blanket watching the stars…and we weren’t even doing anything….much.”
“I’m sure you weren’t, Liz.”
“OK, well….maybe second base….we weren’t married then and didn’t know how much fun it could be….but they got all upset…wanted to send me to..boarding school. Have you ever been to boarding school, Peter? Have you?”
“Well, sort of, Liz….Cambridge. It really wasn’t all that bad…I met some interesting people.”
“But I wouldn’t have had Max….there’s no one more interesting than Max,” Liz giggled.
“Apparently not,” said Peter. “So you and Max ran off?”
“No,” said Liz, looking puzzled. “We drove off in his Jeep….”
“Ah, I see…of course, that was no doubt quicker…so where did you run…or drive to, Liz?”
”I told you…to the Elvis Chapel…in Las Vegas…it was so sweet. Did I show you my ring? Max made it for me…he has one just like it.”
“Yes, you showed it to me….very beautiful, Liz, ..but we were talking about your parents..and permission. Can you tell us your parents names…and how you got married if you didn’t have their permission?”
“It’s a selt..a kelt….a celt…. It’s some kind of Irish design…because Evans is a Irish name…that’s why he made them like this…except….he’s not really Irish..he’s..” and she giggled, “he’s a-a-a,” and she giggled again, it was so funny Max having an Irish name, when he was an alien, she could barely get it out. Finally Liz controlled her giggling, took a big deep breath and said, “Max is a al..”
“I know,” said Peter, “Max is adopted…but we were talking about your parents…what their names were, Liz?”
“How’d you know Max was adopted?” Liz asked, looking confused.
“You already told us that, Liz.”
“Did I tell you his sister was too?” Again she looked very conspiratorial. “She’s been trying to keep us apart since the third grade. I don’t think she trusted me with him.”
“Why wouldn’t she trust you?”
“She thinks I might tell people his secret…”
“His secret, Liz? What might that be?”
Liz again looked very conspiratorial, motioned him to come near, and then whispered in his ear, “He’s not celt…selt….He’s not Irish at all…he’s Czechoslovakian.”
”I wouldn’t think so, Liz,…that country kind of broke up…but that’s alright…we were talking about your parents…you remember your parents names, don’t you? Tell us their names..”
“Peter,” said Liz giggling, “ ..did you hear the story about the lost little girl? The police asked her what her mommy’s name was and she said, ‘Mommy,” so they asked her what her daddy’s name was, and she said, ‘Daddy,’ so they asked her what her mother called her daddy and she said… ’Stupid’…”
“That’s quite humorous, Liz, but really now, we do need the name of your parents, that’s quite important, Liz…”
“I don’t think you have much of a sense of humor,….Peter. You’d probably like my dad and mom…they didn’t have any sense of humor when we stayed out that night….and we really didn’t do anything wrong….second base really isn’t wrong, is it Peter….when you love someone?”
“No, Liz…I suppose not. Perhaps I should tell your folks that…just in case it comes up again. What are your parents names?”
“Jeff and Nancy Parker….but…now that we are married…it really doesn’t count, does it? The guy at the chapel said ‘one flesh…’ that’s right isn’t it?”
“I suppose so, Liz. It certainly seems like the two of you have been giving it your all, anyway. UH…exactly how did you two get a license…if you didn’t EXACTLY have your parent’s permission?”
“Max makes the best ID, Peter….If you ever need ID…any kind at all, come to me…I’ll have Max fix it up….”
Slammer motioned for Jim to come over near him and he quickly whispered for him to go check with Clark County about marriages performed under those names, then to check with the JAG as to who precisely was the next of kin, so they knew who they could contact regarding continuing the medical treatment on Liz for her overdose and scopolamine intoxication. “And while your at it,” said Slammer, “See how the security manager is doing on getting Schreiber and Blaukopf transferred to civilian care.”
12:00 Kunsan AirBase, Republic of Korea.
Sandi Randolph was usually pretty good at racquetball, but not today. Jane Carpucci was almost annihilating her chief nurse. As Sandi reached for a return…and missed it, Jane saw the wince on her face.
“Don’t tell me it’s the Nautilus machine again, that’s been going on for way too long. You need to get it looked at.”
“Don’t be a worry-wart, Jane. It’s just a strain.”
“That’s what you said a week ago, but it’s not getting any better.”
“Don’t nag….I don’t want to bother one of the doctors over this…I’m sure it’s nothing.”
“Promise me if it’s not gone in a week, you’ll have it checked?”
“Well, if it’s not better in a week..”
”I didn’t say better…I said GONE.”
“OK, if it’s not GONE I’ll have it looked at in a week.”
“Promise?”
“I promise…”
“It’s Evans…..Max Evans….and I’m Elizabeth Evans….and it’s all just wonderful….and some day…we are going to have babies…..lots of little Evans’s….”
“From the way you describe your relationship, Liz, I don’t have a doubt in the world that will happen…but can you tell me anything about your parents. Can we contact them too…let them know that you are safe?”
Again Liz looked very conspiratorial, “Shhhh!,” she said. “We can’t let them find us….not now….not until I’m eighteen…then they can’t have it nulled.”
“Nulled? Do you mean, annulled Liz? Why would they do that….”
“We didn’t JUST EXACTLY have our parents permission to get married….exactly.”
“Exactly what did you have, Liz?” asked Peter.
“Well they got all upset…just because we fell asleep on a blanket watching the stars…and we weren’t even doing anything….much.”
“I’m sure you weren’t, Liz.”
“OK, well….maybe second base….we weren’t married then and didn’t know how much fun it could be….but they got all upset…wanted to send me to..boarding school. Have you ever been to boarding school, Peter? Have you?”
“Well, sort of, Liz….Cambridge. It really wasn’t all that bad…I met some interesting people.”
“But I wouldn’t have had Max….there’s no one more interesting than Max,” Liz giggled.
“Apparently not,” said Peter. “So you and Max ran off?”
“No,” said Liz, looking puzzled. “We drove off in his Jeep….”
“Ah, I see…of course, that was no doubt quicker…so where did you run…or drive to, Liz?”
”I told you…to the Elvis Chapel…in Las Vegas…it was so sweet. Did I show you my ring? Max made it for me…he has one just like it.”
“Yes, you showed it to me….very beautiful, Liz, ..but we were talking about your parents..and permission. Can you tell us your parents names…and how you got married if you didn’t have their permission?”
“It’s a selt..a kelt….a celt…. It’s some kind of Irish design…because Evans is a Irish name…that’s why he made them like this…except….he’s not really Irish..he’s..” and she giggled, “he’s a-a-a,” and she giggled again, it was so funny Max having an Irish name, when he was an alien, she could barely get it out. Finally Liz controlled her giggling, took a big deep breath and said, “Max is a al..”
“I know,” said Peter, “Max is adopted…but we were talking about your parents…what their names were, Liz?”
“How’d you know Max was adopted?” Liz asked, looking confused.
“You already told us that, Liz.”
“Did I tell you his sister was too?” Again she looked very conspiratorial. “She’s been trying to keep us apart since the third grade. I don’t think she trusted me with him.”
“Why wouldn’t she trust you?”
“She thinks I might tell people his secret…”
“His secret, Liz? What might that be?”
Liz again looked very conspiratorial, motioned him to come near, and then whispered in his ear, “He’s not celt…selt….He’s not Irish at all…he’s Czechoslovakian.”
”I wouldn’t think so, Liz,…that country kind of broke up…but that’s alright…we were talking about your parents…you remember your parents names, don’t you? Tell us their names..”
“Peter,” said Liz giggling, “ ..did you hear the story about the lost little girl? The police asked her what her mommy’s name was and she said, ‘Mommy,” so they asked her what her daddy’s name was, and she said, ‘Daddy,’ so they asked her what her mother called her daddy and she said… ’Stupid’…”
“That’s quite humorous, Liz, but really now, we do need the name of your parents, that’s quite important, Liz…”
“I don’t think you have much of a sense of humor,….Peter. You’d probably like my dad and mom…they didn’t have any sense of humor when we stayed out that night….and we really didn’t do anything wrong….second base really isn’t wrong, is it Peter….when you love someone?”
“No, Liz…I suppose not. Perhaps I should tell your folks that…just in case it comes up again. What are your parents names?”
“Jeff and Nancy Parker….but…now that we are married…it really doesn’t count, does it? The guy at the chapel said ‘one flesh…’ that’s right isn’t it?”
“I suppose so, Liz. It certainly seems like the two of you have been giving it your all, anyway. UH…exactly how did you two get a license…if you didn’t EXACTLY have your parent’s permission?”
“Max makes the best ID, Peter….If you ever need ID…any kind at all, come to me…I’ll have Max fix it up….”
Slammer motioned for Jim to come over near him and he quickly whispered for him to go check with Clark County about marriages performed under those names, then to check with the JAG as to who precisely was the next of kin, so they knew who they could contact regarding continuing the medical treatment on Liz for her overdose and scopolamine intoxication. “And while your at it,” said Slammer, “See how the security manager is doing on getting Schreiber and Blaukopf transferred to civilian care.”
12:00 Kunsan AirBase, Republic of Korea.
Sandi Randolph was usually pretty good at racquetball, but not today. Jane Carpucci was almost annihilating her chief nurse. As Sandi reached for a return…and missed it, Jane saw the wince on her face.
“Don’t tell me it’s the Nautilus machine again, that’s been going on for way too long. You need to get it looked at.”
“Don’t be a worry-wart, Jane. It’s just a strain.”
“That’s what you said a week ago, but it’s not getting any better.”
“Don’t nag….I don’t want to bother one of the doctors over this…I’m sure it’s nothing.”
“Promise me if it’s not gone in a week, you’ll have it checked?”
“Well, if it’s not better in a week..”
”I didn’t say better…I said GONE.”
“OK, if it’s not GONE I’ll have it looked at in a week.”
“Promise?”
“I promise…”
2140 On an old mining road just inside the Nellis AFB Range Complex.
Max drove slowly through the night, the lights off, finding the old overgrown path only by the light of the stars and a quarter moon. The Jeep was no longer blue…it was now flat black…his clothes as well. He’d change their color again in the morning…to match whatever part of the desert they were going through. He had to go slowly, stopping periodically to listen for other vehicles out on the desert…although the night wind was picking up, and that helped to cover the noise of the Jeep.
Max was scared…he admitted that to himself. More scared than he’d ever been in his life. Not scared for himself…..this was much worse than that…scared for Liz…his wife. He thought back on the decade that Isabel had been warning him….warning him about giving away the secret, warning him about getting too close to humans. The boogey man she’d used had always been the same….Area 51…the place the Air Force took aliens to vivisect them.
For a decade now, the military and Area 51 had been the boogey-man, and the fear was consuming him….misplaced fear……fear from a stereotype no less outrageous than the concept of bug-eyed alien monsters. For in point of fact, the US military was really one of the least xenophobic organizations in the culture. No, it certainly wasn’t perfect, but on July 26, 1948 President Truman had issued an Executive Order integrating the services, and that process had worked far better and far quicker within the services than it ever had ain the population as a whole. And by September of 1999 any military base would have shown evidence of acceptance of diversity…people of all races, working as a coherent unit….children of Black, White Filipino, German, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese…and other backgrounds, golden children who were living proof of the diversity their parents embraced, whatever went on in the outside world.
But that wasn’t the reality that Max saw…he saw only the memories of aliens strapped to autopsy tables…with evil scientists pawing through their entrails, and in the darkness of the desert it was far too easy to envisage Liz’s face on the body being vivisected.
If he hadn’t been thinking of Liz, Max might have marveled at the changes that had occurred in him in just those two and a half weeks…but he wasn’t thinking about that. He was thinking about his wife Liz, flesh of his flesh, joined in love and joined in marriage….and his responsibility. Max didn’t even bother to question how far he would go to save her….flesh of his flesh, he’d do whatever he had to do…anything at all. And if he found that anyone had hurt her….the rage grew in him…becoming stronger..almost rivaling his fear for her safety. No, there was no limit to what Max would do….fight….die…kill for her…but not now. Now was the time for stealth. She had to be alive…because he was sure he’d have felt it in his soul if she weren’t. Laboriously he drove and stopped…drove and stopped…working his way across the Nellis Range Area…toward Groom Lake.
2150 Passenger Terminal, Tonopah Test Range Nevada
The two C-12s had landed at Tonopah Test Range only 15 minutes ago, and both were soon to take off again.
The first would be going back to its home base at Nellis AFB carrying two prisoners to turn over to the Federal Marshal Service on charges of assault and battery, illegal use of drugs in the commission of assault and battery, and any other charge that the Southern Nevada US Attorney’s office could make stick. Both Blaukopf and Schreiber would be traveling in handcuffs, each escorted by an armed security policeman.
The second aircraft would be refueled, and the crew would convert it to a partial medevac configuration with one litter for the TASERed teenager, two medical support personnel, and three empty seats. It was decided that Slammer, Jim, and Laurie would go, while Peter remained behind to start evaluating how close they could safely get to the hangars that had been torn up by the FTL drive.
But in the meantime, the interview continued…..
“Liz..” asked Peter, “…why did you come into the conference room when everyone else was running…trying to get away from the light?”
“I didn’t think it would do any good to run…..not when I saw the salad plates sliding towards the light.”
“What did you think was going on out there, Liz?” Peter asked.
Slammer’s eyes grew wide when he heard Liz say,…..”I thought it was a singularity…that’s about the only thing that could do that..”
“Ask her how she knew about singularities,” Slammer said to Peter. “That’s just not something any sixteen year old teenage runaway could possibly know. I didn’t know what it was,…how could she.”
Liz turned to look at Slammer, struggling to keep her eyes from crossing again…then she looked back to Peter. “That was a singularity…wasn’t it? A ring singularity?”
“How could she possibly know that…unless she is something more than she appears to be,” asked Slammer again.
Liz giggled, “ I read it in a Scientific American…two years ago now…”
“Is that possible, Peter? I mean, that sounds like too pat an answer…is there any way we can check to see if there was any such article published?”
“I’m pretty sure there was, Commander,” said Peter. “I was the coauthor…”
‘Well damn,’ thought Slammer. ‘..am I the only one here that DOESN’T understand this stuff?’
“Sir,” said Laurie, “since Dr. Schreiber and Dr. Blaukopf raised the issue…maybe we ought to just ask her…straight out….about being an alien, I mean.”
Slammer nodded to Peter and he asked her, “Liz…this may sound like a funny question…but ..are you an alien?”
Liz began giggling, “People are always asking me that…me and Maria….because of our antennas.”
“Antennas?” asked Peter. “Do you mean antennae?”
“Yeah…Antennaes,” said Liz, the ones that come out of our heads…”
“You have antennae coming out of your head, Liz? I don’t see them…”
“That’s because I’m not in uniform…I only wear my antennas when I’m in uniform.”
“What kind of uniform, Liz?”
“My waitress uniform. Maria and I have waitress uniforms with antennas…not real antennas….deely-boppers with ping pong balls….that’s why the kids think we are aliens.”
“Deely-boppers?” said Peter and Slammer in unison, both looking puzzled.
“Sir, they are kind of a head band with springs that come up with the headband that wave when you move your head…I’m sure you must have seen them.”
“Why would you wear antennas…I mean, antennae,” asked Peter.
“That’s our costume when we serve them food…like Galaxy melts, and Saturn rings and space fries…and my personal favorite, the Men in Blackberry Pie.”
”So these are all types of food? And the antennae…just a costume?”
“Not just food but drink too. I like the Blood of Alien Smoothie but Max…Max just has a Cherry coke, with a Tablespoonful of Tabasco.”
“I imagine that lights a fire in him," said Laurie.”
Liz blushed, “No…not really…but I know what does…whipped cream and Tabasco…but it’s a little hot…”
Jim came back into the room then with the security manager, and gave a thumbs up.
“Blaukopf and Schreiber are being loaded onto the plane for Nellis right now. They’ll hold them there until the US Marshals get there. They are reconfiguring the other C-12 to move Liz to the Det….oh, and I got through to the JAG, too.”
“Great, what did the JAG say about us notifying her parents about her medical condition?”
“Uh…sir, the JAG said the only one we can notify would be her husband…”
“Her husband? Another sixteen year old kid, whose apparent only known skill is as a forger? That doesn’t seem right.”
“He’s a great cuddler, too…” said Liz.
“Well, that’s great…he forges documents and makes whoopee….why can’t we call in her parents?”
“She’s an emancipated minor, sir…because of the marriage.”
“She ran off and they both lied about their ages to get married…that can’t be valid.”
“It is sir,... until it’s annuled, it’s perfectly valid, according to the JAG. You have to notify Max Evans. And apparently the two of them have been in contact with their folks, they found a couple APB’s out on the two of them. Max Evans and Liz Parker, married in Las Vegas at the Elvis chapel on the 25th of February.”
”Well, if they have APBs out on them, we should be able to turn them over to the local cops, shouldn’t we?”
“Well sir,” said the security manager, “ I suppose we can…but I don’t think that would change anything. I was talking with one of the Nye County Deputies…they know the couple. Liz and Max and Anna saved one of their deputies a couple weeks ago. He was shot up when a traffic stop suddenly became a big drug bust…Liz and her husband pulled the guy through….then Max busted the jaw of a would-be rapist…someone with an outstanding warrant out on him for raping a little girl up in Fallon…..I mean…Nye County Sheriff's Department really likes these kids. I think the locals know about the APBs, they’re just ignoring them.“
“And according to the JAG, sir, until the marriage is annulled, it’s perfectly legal, and every day that goes by makes it less likely that the Nevada courts would annul it if the kids objected..and they seem pretty happy, according to the Deputy....”
“So what happens if we just notify the police department that sent out the APBs? What’s wrong with that?”
“The JAG says that would be a violation of the Posse Commitatus act…he says we can do that..but then we’ll have to go to jail for two years.”
Slammer just shook his head. “Sounds like when the drugs wear off the young lady, we take her back to Max. Why don’t you see if you can contact him…reassure him that she’s OK.”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about Max…..he’ll come get me,” said a giggling Liz. “He gets lonesome at night if I’m not there…ever since we got married.”
‘Yeah, well I’d like to see him get through our security,” said the security manager jokingly. He’d remember saying that tomorrow, and by then the joke wouldn’t seem funny at all……
2300 Correctional Custody detainment area, Nellis Air Force Base Nevada.
The guard checked the ID…..it was clearly valid. “You’ll have to sign these forms, sir,” said the senior guard, “for us to turn custody of the prisoners over to you.”
”Not a problem, Agent Anderson and I have our car right outside. Here, we might as well put them in our handcuffs so you can have yours back. There’s your signatures..”
It was another ten minutes before the prisoners personal property was found and inventoried, and the federal agents signed for those contents as well. The prisoners were carefully loaded into the back of the GAO car with Agent Anderson riding shotgun. The correctional Custody guard shook the hand of the agent.
“Well, this sure makes it easy on us. We thought we were going to have to wait for the Federal Marshal’s office to pick these guys up tomorrow afternoon. This is really service.”
“Well, the FBI and the Marshal’s Office do a lot of work together. Charlie and I were in the area on other business and had some time…thought we’d help them out.”
“Well, you and Charlie take care. This is Las Vegas, there are a lot of drunks on the road 24-7, the casinos never close. Drive carefully.”
”We’ll do that…thanks for your help, Master Sergeant Jennings.”
“No problem, Agent Pierce…”
Max drove slowly through the night, the lights off, finding the old overgrown path only by the light of the stars and a quarter moon. The Jeep was no longer blue…it was now flat black…his clothes as well. He’d change their color again in the morning…to match whatever part of the desert they were going through. He had to go slowly, stopping periodically to listen for other vehicles out on the desert…although the night wind was picking up, and that helped to cover the noise of the Jeep.
Max was scared…he admitted that to himself. More scared than he’d ever been in his life. Not scared for himself…..this was much worse than that…scared for Liz…his wife. He thought back on the decade that Isabel had been warning him….warning him about giving away the secret, warning him about getting too close to humans. The boogey man she’d used had always been the same….Area 51…the place the Air Force took aliens to vivisect them.
For a decade now, the military and Area 51 had been the boogey-man, and the fear was consuming him….misplaced fear……fear from a stereotype no less outrageous than the concept of bug-eyed alien monsters. For in point of fact, the US military was really one of the least xenophobic organizations in the culture. No, it certainly wasn’t perfect, but on July 26, 1948 President Truman had issued an Executive Order integrating the services, and that process had worked far better and far quicker within the services than it ever had ain the population as a whole. And by September of 1999 any military base would have shown evidence of acceptance of diversity…people of all races, working as a coherent unit….children of Black, White Filipino, German, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese…and other backgrounds, golden children who were living proof of the diversity their parents embraced, whatever went on in the outside world.
But that wasn’t the reality that Max saw…he saw only the memories of aliens strapped to autopsy tables…with evil scientists pawing through their entrails, and in the darkness of the desert it was far too easy to envisage Liz’s face on the body being vivisected.
If he hadn’t been thinking of Liz, Max might have marveled at the changes that had occurred in him in just those two and a half weeks…but he wasn’t thinking about that. He was thinking about his wife Liz, flesh of his flesh, joined in love and joined in marriage….and his responsibility. Max didn’t even bother to question how far he would go to save her….flesh of his flesh, he’d do whatever he had to do…anything at all. And if he found that anyone had hurt her….the rage grew in him…becoming stronger..almost rivaling his fear for her safety. No, there was no limit to what Max would do….fight….die…kill for her…but not now. Now was the time for stealth. She had to be alive…because he was sure he’d have felt it in his soul if she weren’t. Laboriously he drove and stopped…drove and stopped…working his way across the Nellis Range Area…toward Groom Lake.
2150 Passenger Terminal, Tonopah Test Range Nevada
The two C-12s had landed at Tonopah Test Range only 15 minutes ago, and both were soon to take off again.
The first would be going back to its home base at Nellis AFB carrying two prisoners to turn over to the Federal Marshal Service on charges of assault and battery, illegal use of drugs in the commission of assault and battery, and any other charge that the Southern Nevada US Attorney’s office could make stick. Both Blaukopf and Schreiber would be traveling in handcuffs, each escorted by an armed security policeman.
The second aircraft would be refueled, and the crew would convert it to a partial medevac configuration with one litter for the TASERed teenager, two medical support personnel, and three empty seats. It was decided that Slammer, Jim, and Laurie would go, while Peter remained behind to start evaluating how close they could safely get to the hangars that had been torn up by the FTL drive.
But in the meantime, the interview continued…..
“Liz..” asked Peter, “…why did you come into the conference room when everyone else was running…trying to get away from the light?”
“I didn’t think it would do any good to run…..not when I saw the salad plates sliding towards the light.”
“What did you think was going on out there, Liz?” Peter asked.
Slammer’s eyes grew wide when he heard Liz say,…..”I thought it was a singularity…that’s about the only thing that could do that..”
“Ask her how she knew about singularities,” Slammer said to Peter. “That’s just not something any sixteen year old teenage runaway could possibly know. I didn’t know what it was,…how could she.”
Liz turned to look at Slammer, struggling to keep her eyes from crossing again…then she looked back to Peter. “That was a singularity…wasn’t it? A ring singularity?”
“How could she possibly know that…unless she is something more than she appears to be,” asked Slammer again.
Liz giggled, “ I read it in a Scientific American…two years ago now…”
“Is that possible, Peter? I mean, that sounds like too pat an answer…is there any way we can check to see if there was any such article published?”
“I’m pretty sure there was, Commander,” said Peter. “I was the coauthor…”
‘Well damn,’ thought Slammer. ‘..am I the only one here that DOESN’T understand this stuff?’
“Sir,” said Laurie, “since Dr. Schreiber and Dr. Blaukopf raised the issue…maybe we ought to just ask her…straight out….about being an alien, I mean.”
Slammer nodded to Peter and he asked her, “Liz…this may sound like a funny question…but ..are you an alien?”
Liz began giggling, “People are always asking me that…me and Maria….because of our antennas.”
“Antennas?” asked Peter. “Do you mean antennae?”
“Yeah…Antennaes,” said Liz, the ones that come out of our heads…”
“You have antennae coming out of your head, Liz? I don’t see them…”
“That’s because I’m not in uniform…I only wear my antennas when I’m in uniform.”
“What kind of uniform, Liz?”
“My waitress uniform. Maria and I have waitress uniforms with antennas…not real antennas….deely-boppers with ping pong balls….that’s why the kids think we are aliens.”
“Deely-boppers?” said Peter and Slammer in unison, both looking puzzled.
“Sir, they are kind of a head band with springs that come up with the headband that wave when you move your head…I’m sure you must have seen them.”
“Why would you wear antennas…I mean, antennae,” asked Peter.
“That’s our costume when we serve them food…like Galaxy melts, and Saturn rings and space fries…and my personal favorite, the Men in Blackberry Pie.”
”So these are all types of food? And the antennae…just a costume?”
“Not just food but drink too. I like the Blood of Alien Smoothie but Max…Max just has a Cherry coke, with a Tablespoonful of Tabasco.”
“I imagine that lights a fire in him," said Laurie.”
Liz blushed, “No…not really…but I know what does…whipped cream and Tabasco…but it’s a little hot…”
Jim came back into the room then with the security manager, and gave a thumbs up.
“Blaukopf and Schreiber are being loaded onto the plane for Nellis right now. They’ll hold them there until the US Marshals get there. They are reconfiguring the other C-12 to move Liz to the Det….oh, and I got through to the JAG, too.”
“Great, what did the JAG say about us notifying her parents about her medical condition?”
“Uh…sir, the JAG said the only one we can notify would be her husband…”
“Her husband? Another sixteen year old kid, whose apparent only known skill is as a forger? That doesn’t seem right.”
“He’s a great cuddler, too…” said Liz.
“Well, that’s great…he forges documents and makes whoopee….why can’t we call in her parents?”
“She’s an emancipated minor, sir…because of the marriage.”
“She ran off and they both lied about their ages to get married…that can’t be valid.”
“It is sir,... until it’s annuled, it’s perfectly valid, according to the JAG. You have to notify Max Evans. And apparently the two of them have been in contact with their folks, they found a couple APB’s out on the two of them. Max Evans and Liz Parker, married in Las Vegas at the Elvis chapel on the 25th of February.”
”Well, if they have APBs out on them, we should be able to turn them over to the local cops, shouldn’t we?”
“Well sir,” said the security manager, “ I suppose we can…but I don’t think that would change anything. I was talking with one of the Nye County Deputies…they know the couple. Liz and Max and Anna saved one of their deputies a couple weeks ago. He was shot up when a traffic stop suddenly became a big drug bust…Liz and her husband pulled the guy through….then Max busted the jaw of a would-be rapist…someone with an outstanding warrant out on him for raping a little girl up in Fallon…..I mean…Nye County Sheriff's Department really likes these kids. I think the locals know about the APBs, they’re just ignoring them.“
“And according to the JAG, sir, until the marriage is annulled, it’s perfectly legal, and every day that goes by makes it less likely that the Nevada courts would annul it if the kids objected..and they seem pretty happy, according to the Deputy....”
“So what happens if we just notify the police department that sent out the APBs? What’s wrong with that?”
“The JAG says that would be a violation of the Posse Commitatus act…he says we can do that..but then we’ll have to go to jail for two years.”
Slammer just shook his head. “Sounds like when the drugs wear off the young lady, we take her back to Max. Why don’t you see if you can contact him…reassure him that she’s OK.”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about Max…..he’ll come get me,” said a giggling Liz. “He gets lonesome at night if I’m not there…ever since we got married.”
‘Yeah, well I’d like to see him get through our security,” said the security manager jokingly. He’d remember saying that tomorrow, and by then the joke wouldn’t seem funny at all……
2300 Correctional Custody detainment area, Nellis Air Force Base Nevada.
The guard checked the ID…..it was clearly valid. “You’ll have to sign these forms, sir,” said the senior guard, “for us to turn custody of the prisoners over to you.”
”Not a problem, Agent Anderson and I have our car right outside. Here, we might as well put them in our handcuffs so you can have yours back. There’s your signatures..”
It was another ten minutes before the prisoners personal property was found and inventoried, and the federal agents signed for those contents as well. The prisoners were carefully loaded into the back of the GAO car with Agent Anderson riding shotgun. The correctional Custody guard shook the hand of the agent.
“Well, this sure makes it easy on us. We thought we were going to have to wait for the Federal Marshal’s office to pick these guys up tomorrow afternoon. This is really service.”
“Well, the FBI and the Marshal’s Office do a lot of work together. Charlie and I were in the area on other business and had some time…thought we’d help them out.”
“Well, you and Charlie take care. This is Las Vegas, there are a lot of drunks on the road 24-7, the casinos never close. Drive carefully.”
”We’ll do that…thanks for your help, Master Sergeant Jennings.”
“No problem, Agent Pierce…”
Last edited by greywolf on Mon Mar 12, 2007 9:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
-
Timelord31
- Enthusiastic Roswellian
- Posts: 60
- Joined: Wed Dec 01, 2004 10:06 pm
- Location: Kansas
0600 Nellis Range Area, 22 miles northwest of Groom Lake
It had been slow going throughout the night. The range area had a surprising number of people and security personnel working at night. He’d had to stop and seek cover twice already, depending on his ability to hide in the shadows to let the security personnel and range workers pass by him unsuspected in the night. He had now come to the hills northwest of Groom Lake as the desert was lighting up in the sunrise. The little Jeep had done yeoman service and with the hills ahead, the four wheel drive would be severely tested.
He was parked for the moment in the small canyon, as he looked for any onlookers before touching the Jeep with both hands. The black color went away as the pinks and browns of the desert blended in a camouflage pattern on the Jeep. Max took a quick drink from his canteen, then put it away. As he went to get in the Jeep he saw his own reflection in the mirror and stopped, his hand touching his clothes and a camouflage pattern emerging similar to the one now adorning the Jeep.
With every passing moment his concern was growing….what were they doing with Liz? How had they found out. And with every second the guilt was growing too, ‘This is about me…not about her. She’s in trouble because of who I am…’ He felt the power grow inside him as the anxiety grew. He fought against it…not wanting to summon it…not yet. He needed to save it for later…for when it could help Liz.
0700 USAF Medical Facility, Groom Lake Nevada.
Liz woke up and saw an unfamiliar ceiling overhead….almost never an indication of a good way to start the day. She was dressed, if you could call it that, in a hospital gown, and an IV was running into her left arm. She looked past the foot of the bed and saw another identical bed mirroring her own in the small two bed hospital room. She saw the electrode leads running to the monitor…heard it beeping in time to her own pulse….saw the desert outside through the open blinds.
She had no idea where she was, or how she had gotten there. She found the controls to her bed and pushed the one that elevated the head, allowing her a better look at this strange place. She checked herself over briefly…nothing seemed to be missing…she had a slight headache, but other than that seemed to be alright. ‘Where am I?’
Liz didn’t have time to puzzle very long. A female medical technician walked in to the room…saw that she was awake, and smiled at her cheerfully. “Hola,” she said.
“Hola….?” Replied Liz doubtfully. The medical technician made some quick adjustments to the IV pump, took her blood pressure once, and promptly left. Her departure was shortly followed by the entrance of another scrub suit clad person who shouted a cheery, “Hola..” as he brought her a breakfast tray….then left.
“Hola…?” Liz said to the departing man. She sampled the huevos rancheros…they weren’t bad for hospital food….in fact, with a little Tabasco sauce, they would have been quite tasty. She was halfway through them when an attractive young lady came into the room, dressed in a US Air Force Lieutenant’s uniform. Liz struggled to swallow so she could ask the woman some questions, but before she could quite manage the woman smiled at her and said, “Hola.”
“Uh…Hola,” replied Liz. “Can you answer a few questions for me?”
“Maybe,” said Laurie. “What questions do you have?”
“Well, to start with….what country IS this?”
O700 Route 375 (the Extraterrestrial Highway) the Little A’Le’Inn, Rachel Nevada.
Even before they had seen the sign it was apparent that Rachel Nevada wasn’t much of a town…mostly trailers parked out in the desert, and one lone filling station. The two agents and Dr. Schreiber had crowded in to the booth and ordered breakfast.
“Are you sure, Doctor, that her powers have been neutralized?”
“Yes, yes, Agent Anderson, the scopolamine has likely started to wear off, but the serotonin inhibitors will render her powers useless for at least several days…likely longer, since we hit her with both of the TASERs.”
“You don’t have to call me Agent Anderson, doc…, Chuck will do fine.”
“Very well, Chuck…and you may call me Dr. Schreiber. I still do not understand why we are here…and why we are in this stupid tourist trap.”
“Well, doc…Doctor Schreiber, that is….there are only the two ways out of Area 51 by ground….this one, and the road to Nellis. Agent Marsten is waiting with another agent on that one with Doctor Blaukopf. The two of you are the only ones that know this creature by sight…if they try to move her northward, we pick her up…if they try to move her westward, Marsten’s group picks her up.”
“Well what is Price doing?”
“Price is back in Las Vegas, on the phone to Washington to let them know about the situation…also to the facility in New Mexico…they need to get ready for a prisoner…it’s been a long time, and they need to review their procedures and make damn sure the equipment will hold this one.”
“Well this is boring…we should be doing something.”
“We are doing something, doc…tor Schreiber. This is called a stake out.”
“Well what happens if they move her by aircraft?”
“Jeez, doc…we’re just the Special Unit, I mean…we aren’t going to be able to go up against the Air Force plane for plane or anything. If they move her by plane, we’re probably going to miss her. Even if we catch her, they can shut down all the Las Vegas airports quickly…that’s why if we catch her, we’re taking her to Reno. Our plane is waiting there to take us to the facility…”
It had been slow going throughout the night. The range area had a surprising number of people and security personnel working at night. He’d had to stop and seek cover twice already, depending on his ability to hide in the shadows to let the security personnel and range workers pass by him unsuspected in the night. He had now come to the hills northwest of Groom Lake as the desert was lighting up in the sunrise. The little Jeep had done yeoman service and with the hills ahead, the four wheel drive would be severely tested.
He was parked for the moment in the small canyon, as he looked for any onlookers before touching the Jeep with both hands. The black color went away as the pinks and browns of the desert blended in a camouflage pattern on the Jeep. Max took a quick drink from his canteen, then put it away. As he went to get in the Jeep he saw his own reflection in the mirror and stopped, his hand touching his clothes and a camouflage pattern emerging similar to the one now adorning the Jeep.
With every passing moment his concern was growing….what were they doing with Liz? How had they found out. And with every second the guilt was growing too, ‘This is about me…not about her. She’s in trouble because of who I am…’ He felt the power grow inside him as the anxiety grew. He fought against it…not wanting to summon it…not yet. He needed to save it for later…for when it could help Liz.
0700 USAF Medical Facility, Groom Lake Nevada.
Liz woke up and saw an unfamiliar ceiling overhead….almost never an indication of a good way to start the day. She was dressed, if you could call it that, in a hospital gown, and an IV was running into her left arm. She looked past the foot of the bed and saw another identical bed mirroring her own in the small two bed hospital room. She saw the electrode leads running to the monitor…heard it beeping in time to her own pulse….saw the desert outside through the open blinds.
She had no idea where she was, or how she had gotten there. She found the controls to her bed and pushed the one that elevated the head, allowing her a better look at this strange place. She checked herself over briefly…nothing seemed to be missing…she had a slight headache, but other than that seemed to be alright. ‘Where am I?’
Liz didn’t have time to puzzle very long. A female medical technician walked in to the room…saw that she was awake, and smiled at her cheerfully. “Hola,” she said.
“Hola….?” Replied Liz doubtfully. The medical technician made some quick adjustments to the IV pump, took her blood pressure once, and promptly left. Her departure was shortly followed by the entrance of another scrub suit clad person who shouted a cheery, “Hola..” as he brought her a breakfast tray….then left.
“Hola…?” Liz said to the departing man. She sampled the huevos rancheros…they weren’t bad for hospital food….in fact, with a little Tabasco sauce, they would have been quite tasty. She was halfway through them when an attractive young lady came into the room, dressed in a US Air Force Lieutenant’s uniform. Liz struggled to swallow so she could ask the woman some questions, but before she could quite manage the woman smiled at her and said, “Hola.”
“Uh…Hola,” replied Liz. “Can you answer a few questions for me?”
“Maybe,” said Laurie. “What questions do you have?”
“Well, to start with….what country IS this?”
O700 Route 375 (the Extraterrestrial Highway) the Little A’Le’Inn, Rachel Nevada.
Even before they had seen the sign it was apparent that Rachel Nevada wasn’t much of a town…mostly trailers parked out in the desert, and one lone filling station. The two agents and Dr. Schreiber had crowded in to the booth and ordered breakfast.
“Are you sure, Doctor, that her powers have been neutralized?”
“Yes, yes, Agent Anderson, the scopolamine has likely started to wear off, but the serotonin inhibitors will render her powers useless for at least several days…likely longer, since we hit her with both of the TASERs.”
“You don’t have to call me Agent Anderson, doc…, Chuck will do fine.”
“Very well, Chuck…and you may call me Dr. Schreiber. I still do not understand why we are here…and why we are in this stupid tourist trap.”
“Well, doc…Doctor Schreiber, that is….there are only the two ways out of Area 51 by ground….this one, and the road to Nellis. Agent Marsten is waiting with another agent on that one with Doctor Blaukopf. The two of you are the only ones that know this creature by sight…if they try to move her northward, we pick her up…if they try to move her westward, Marsten’s group picks her up.”
“Well what is Price doing?”
“Price is back in Las Vegas, on the phone to Washington to let them know about the situation…also to the facility in New Mexico…they need to get ready for a prisoner…it’s been a long time, and they need to review their procedures and make damn sure the equipment will hold this one.”
“Well this is boring…we should be doing something.”
“We are doing something, doc…tor Schreiber. This is called a stake out.”
“Well what happens if they move her by aircraft?”
“Jeez, doc…we’re just the Special Unit, I mean…we aren’t going to be able to go up against the Air Force plane for plane or anything. If they move her by plane, we’re probably going to miss her. Even if we catch her, they can shut down all the Las Vegas airports quickly…that’s why if we catch her, we’re taking her to Reno. Our plane is waiting there to take us to the facility…”
Last edited by greywolf on Wed Mar 14, 2007 1:19 am, edited 2 times in total.
Rachel Nevada and Route 375 are off-range to the north near the north access road to Area 51. If Liz were to depart Area 51 by public road back toward Tonopah, she'd go through Rachel on 375 before going west on highway six. The direct route between Tonopah and Area 51 that Max is taking has some pretty poor roads and of course, goes through a bombing range where they often drop live ordnance during the daytime. It'd probably be advisable for him to take a different route home. In fact, given the decades of unexploded ordnance littering the area, he was probably lucky to make it to where he is right now.TheAntarianKing wrote:If I understand things right, Liz has already been moved to the Groom Lake facility so staking out the roads for a military vehicle moving Liz wouldn't do any good.
