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ESSEX’S COMPOUND. NEVADA:
Rita is the only passenger inside the Gulfstream company jet, and she enjoys the solitude. She keeps thinking about what she discovered at the storage building. The aluminum walls and roof of the trailer were intact, but separated at the joints, lying at odd angles on top of her device.
What blows her mind is the trailer frame. It melted into a silver puddle of cold steel on the concrete floor, without burning anything around it. She immediately called Preston, who arrived a short time later. He was more pissed off that he had to bring a loader to the storage unit, than concerned about what caused the damage in the first place. The device is only on loan to her, until Preston needs it in Nevada to separate the metals brought back from space.
She keeps wondering if her machine might be responsible for melting the metal. She designed the control system on the SV1 to create specific oscillation frequencies for each type of material. The problem is that none of those transmissions is powerful enough to reach the surface of the planet. There has to be someone here on earth creating the second signal for the devices down here.
She looks over at the large television behind the bar. The image of the jet’s flight path is getting close to Reno, Nevada, and she wonders if the device at Groom Lake has reacted the same way. For the moment, she doesn’t have anyone else on the inside.
However, she learned that Cave thinks the fourth device might be in the Arctic Ocean, north of the Buford Sea. She thinks about Okana and the time they spent together on board the Mystic, and smiles. They might have gotten together at some point, if Cave hadn’t interrupted her plans.
She has an idea about the arctic device freezing the water as hers did, and presses a button on her smart phone. “Call Paul Carter at SV1 control center.” A moment later, he answers and she explains what she needs him to do.
***
Essex remains inside his small electric SUV, staring through the window as the jet appears to drop from the sky at the far end of the runway. One of his legs bounces up and down on the ball of his foot, while his palms sweat around the steering wheel. The last woman he was partnered with was a nasty bitch, who would have shot him if he stepped out of line. He can only hope this one will be a little nicer.
He watches the airplane taxi to a stop in front of the hangar. When the side door opens, he wipes his palms on his tan shorts, puts his car in drive, and eases the vehicle close to the stairs. He leaps out and waits for the red-haired woman to reach the bottom. When she steps onto the concrete, he holds out his hand and stares up at her. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Ms. Harrow.”
Rita grins when she sees how short he is. The top of his head is barely even with her breasts. “Hello, John. You can call me Rita.”
“I’m so excited to finally go into outer space, I can hardly sit still.”
For some odd reason, she feels a strange attraction to the little guy. “Yes, it should be exciting. I’d like to see your ship.”
He feels butterflies in his stomach, and knows if he smiles any broader, the corners of his lips might tear. “Of course. I’ll have your luggage taken to your room. Please climb in and I’ll show you around my complex.”
Rita sits quietly listening to Essex’s narration of all his projects, and she is particularly interested in his portable habitats. His idea is actually quite brilliant. His living facilities are inflatable, and will be placed inside the existing tunnels, using the thickness of the rock to block the deadly radiation while he mines the interior. She doubts it will happen during his lifetime, but it is an interesting concept to develop for future interplanetary expeditions.
Essex parks at the last hangar along the runway and climbs out. Once Rita is beside him, he indicates the launch rail coming out of the end of the building. “That, Rita, points our way into orbit.”
She shades her eyes as she searches for the end, but the rail disappears over the horizon. A thought occurs to her and a shiver runs up her spine. If the second signal is coming from the SV1, will it melt the metal in the spacecraft while she’s up in space?
She follows Essex into the hangar and around the ship, listening to his descriptions of the various parts of the space vehicle. After he explains the recovery operation in the nose, she follows him up the steps to the cockpit and climbs in.
She studies the various instruments and control panels. “Impressive. I understand you used carbon fiber components to keep the mass of your ship to a minimum. Did you use any steel in its construction?”
Essex thinks it an odd question. “No steel, but I did use metal alloys throughout the craft and for the rocket motors. Why do you ask?”
“What if the SV1 starts gathering metal while we’re up there?”
“It will remain off until we return here to the base.”
I hope so. “This is good. Is everything voice activated?”
“Yes, and you’ll need to spend some time speaking to the voice recognition program before you could learn the various operating systems.” He looks at his wristwatch. “In fact, let me grab a headset and you can get started. We only have thirty-seven hours to get ready. That’s our launch window for collecting the first load of metal.”
“I know. Steve told me. However, we have another problem to fix before we do anything else.” She explains about the second signal creating the bad weather along the western shorelines, but doesn’t mention the melted steel or freezing for fear of him finding out there is more than one device.
Essex feels his heart rate increase and his face flush as he glares at her. “Why the hell didn’t anyone tell me about this second signal? It could jeopardize the entire mission.”
“It wasn’t my call, John. Right now, we need to figure out where that signal is coming from.”
“I thought you said SV1 control managed to shut it down?”
“I’m not so sure it was them. The last time it shut down on its own, as if someone else was controlling the second signal.”
Essex stares out the front window. “I don’t know what you expect me to do about it. You’re the one who figured out how to control the damn thing.” He turns to look at her. “Which you refused to share with me, by the way.”
Rita stares at her hands in her lap. “I know, but that was Steve’s idea.” She looks over at him. “I didn’t know you then, but I’ll show you all my research now, if you’ll help me figure out how someone else can be controlling the SV1.”
He stares at her for a moment. “All right. However, no more secrets. If I’m going to be able to help you, I need all the details of how the SV1 does what it does.”
“Agreed. I’ll show you all my research and designs. I brought all the information on a separate hard drive. It’s in my luggage.”
Essex reaches inside to help Rita squirm out of her seat. “We’re running out of time. Your luggage should be in your room by now and it’s next to my office. Let’s go.”