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FORTY-MILES SOUTHWEST OF SPOKANE, WASHINGTON:
Dry grasslands stretch away into the distance on both sides of the gravel road as they draw near the facility. Tall security fencing with lighting and cameras forms a large square around the compound, and in the center is a one-hundred-foot square concrete building. More cameras and sensors are mounted around the roofline, seemingly defending a large satellite dish and a tall antenna. The only colors are the dark awnings shading the windows of the guard shack at the security gate, and the vehicles parked near the entrance to the SV1 control center.
Okana stops at the security gate, and a man behind bulletproof glass stares back at them.
“State your business”, says a voice through a speaker below a video camera.
“We’d like a tour of your facility.”
“We don’t allow tours. If there is nothing else, please leave. Have a nice day.”
Okana looks over at Alex. “What do you think?”
Alex leans across in front of Okana to look at the guard. “Call Preston. Tell him Alex Cave and Okana are here.”
Okana chuckles. “I wish I could see the look on Preston’s face when he gets this call.”
“I bet he lets us in. If he’s hiding something, he won’t want to make us any more suspicious than we already are.”
After several minutes, Okana hears the guard tell him to enter, and the gate starts moving. He looks over at Alex. “I guess you were right.”
They drive into an open parking space near the front door. When they climb out, a casually dressed man steps out from the building, and Alex holds out his hand. “Nice of you to let us take a look around. I guess you already know our names.”
The man stares back evenly as he shakes hands. “I’m Paul Carter. I manage this control center.” Carter stares at the two men, sizing both Alex and Okana up. Preston had forewarned him that these two could pose a problem if provoked. He knows he has to tread lightly and reveal very little to them. “Follow me and I’ll show you around.”
Alex and Okana follow him into the building, past a room with security personnel monitoring the cameras, and dozens of racks of computing hardware. When they enter the main control room, they see a young woman in a security uniform standing just inside the door.
They move further into the large, air-conditioned room, and Alex sees a young man, about David’s age, concentrating on the desk monitor above the control console.
Carter waves his hand at two large wall mounted televisions. “As you can see, this is where we monitor and control the satellite.”
Alex notices the female guard smiling at Okana, and suppresses a smile when he turns back to Paul. “Where do you do all your research and development?”
“DAR has a partner with a large compound in Nevada.”
“Who would that be?”
“I don’t know all the details. Someone named Essex.”
Alex glances at Okana, who stops smiling at the girl when he hears the name. “Interesting. Listen, we saw a very strange weather event just on the other side of the mountains recently. A nearly transparent tornado formed below a strange cloud and tore up my father’s ranch. Could the SV1 have something to do with it?”
“No, that’s impossible. Nobody can control the weather.”
The young man stands and steps closer, shaking hands with the newcomers. “I’m Scott Brackenbury. Pardon me, sir, but there is. If you apply the right resonant frequency, you can stimulate the molecules in the ionosphere and affect the direction of the jet stream. The SV1 uses specific frequencies to attract certain molecular combinations, and another frequency to fuse them into a solid mass. It could be programmed to emit an E.L.F. to affect the weather.”
“I’m sorry,” says Okana. “An E.L.F.?”
“Sorry. It stands for extremely low frequency.”
Carter shakes his head no. “Even so, you would have no way of creating an isolated weather event, much less a tornado here on the planet.” He notices Scott is deep in thought. “What’s on your mind?”
Scott looks at Alex. “What time did you see the tornado?”
“Exactly 9:47 this morning. Why?”
“When we first fired up the SV1, I noticed a strange frequency one-hundred-degrees offset from SV1’s operating frequency. It was like an echo, but it wasn’t coming from the SV1. I think it was coming from somewhere on the planet. It happened again this morning, about the same time as your tornado.”
“I see. And you have no idea where the signal came from.”
Scott indicates he doesn’t. “They didn’t last long enough for me to run an analysis. The recording is too short.”
Scott sees a look of confusion on Carter’s face. “What is it, sir?”
“Nothing. I just remember seeing something on the news about a similar tornado hitting Darrington not too long ago. It just popped up out of nowhere, like the one you saw, Alex, and I believe it happened right after we turned the device on.”
Alex has a thought and looks at Paul. “How did you plan on getting all that junk down from space?”
“Preston has a recovery vehicle standing by at the Nevada facility.”
Alex turns back to Scott. “Is there any chance you could call me if you detect the second signal again?”
Scott looks at Carter, who indicates approval. “Sure. What’s your number?”
Alex tells him and watches him write it down. “Thanks. I guess we’ll let you get back to work. I appreciate you giving us a tour, Paul.”
Carter bends down to the pen and paper, “Just a minute, Alex.” He writes down his name and number, then rips the sheet from the tablet. “This is too much of a coincidence. Here’s our number. Call us if you hear about another tornado or another strange weather anomaly.”
Alex takes the paper. After a round of handshakes, he leads the way back to the parking lot, where he and Okana climb into the sedan.
Okana doesn’t start the engine. Instead, he looks over at Alex. “I thought Essex was arrested for kidnapping.”
Alex knows that John Essex’s major flaw is his fanatical obsession to conquer outer space. He isn’t interested in money, but Janice Sloan, the woman who kidnapped Fala and her daughter, had enticed him with the promise of a piece of advanced alien technology to help him achieve his goal. She also carried a big gun. “I guess you didn’t hear. His attorney pleaded that he was coerced into helping Sloan under a threat of death. He didn’t go to jail, and is out on bond until his trial.”
“That reminds me. How come you didn’t mention the other missing device at Preston’s place?”
“Just playing a hunch. If they have it, they would never admit it. I would imagine it’s at Essex’s compound.”
Okana’s lips form into a sly grin. “We already know our way around. Let’s check it out.”
“I’ll call and book us a flight to Reno, Nevada.”
Okana backs out of the parking space, and heads for the airport in Spokane.
***
FIDALGO ISLAND; DAR HEADQUARTERS:
When the security system lets him know someone is at the front door, Preston looks over at the monitor, seeing Rita’s troubled expression gazing up at him. He presses a button for the lock, then stands and hurries down the stairs. “What’s going on?”
Rita walks past him to the bar, grabs a beer from the refrigerator, and takes a deep swallow. “There’s something wrong with my device.”
Preston stares at her as she takes another deep swallow. “Would you care to elaborate?”
“There was a strange signal piggybacking on mine while it was on. The oscillations made my teeth vibrate.” She notices the concern in Preston’s eyes. “What’s going on, Steve?”
“SV1 control noticed the same thing, but it only lasted a few minutes. Not enough time to figure out what caused it.”
“What was the exact time it happened?”
“9:47 this morning.”
“That’s when I was trying to destroy Sparrow Valley.”
“Did it work?”
“In a way. I couldn’t hit the town, but I tore up some of Cave’s property.”
“I thought you said you had pinpoint accuracy.”
“It has to be that second signal causing some type of interference.”
“Maybe it’s your signal bouncing off the SV1.”
“No, this one is the complete opposite from ours. Like an echo.” She stares out the window. “I put the trailer in a secured storage building until we can figure out what’s going on.”
“Good idea. Let’s see if it happens again without your device.”
***
GROOM LAKE:
Security officer Brian Speers thinks the video image of the strange looking torpedo in the vault appears to be crooked. He enters the number for Doctor Heinz and waits. The more he studies the picture, the more it appears the concrete walls are straight and the torpedo is at an angle. “Henry, it’s Brian, over at security. You should check on that torpedo you have us watching. I think it might have fallen over.”
***
Henry hurries from his office and down the hall to the large elevator, and enters his code on the keypad. The doors open and he steps inside. Once the elevator stops, he steps out and hurries down the hall to the vault. He opens the door and stands with his mouth wide open. “Good grief!”