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NEVADA:
The moonless night sky is the perfect time for Alex and his friends to arrive at Groom Lake. Henry drives down the streets between the other hangars and stops next to a small crowd of people standing outside Hangar 5. There is a palpable feeling of excitement amongst the small crowd standing on the tarmac. Since the mirrored surface of the ship will reflect the smallest amount of artificial light, the entire base is dark. The only sound he hears is the thrumming of desert insects. To any observer, the approaching ship is invisible.
Two parallel rows of red lights on the concrete tarmac slowly increase in intensity, marking the approach to the entrance of the hangar. The reflection of the red dots slowly moves along the mirrored bottom of the spaceship as it silently enters through the opening between the massive doors. Once inside the hangar, the red lights blink off.
Henry and the crowd of spectators move quickly through the narrowing gap into the hangar, just before they heard a quiet thud from the doors. The lights mounted to the ceiling burst into brilliant white light, illuminating the large alien ship on the concrete floor.
Alex sees the people in the hangar applauding and grins at David. “That was an amazing ride.”
“I’ve got the best job in the world. Thanks for arranging this for me, Alex.”
Jadin gets up from her chair and hurries over to David. She smiles and wraps her arms around his neck, then kisses him on the cheek. “That was awesome.”
David smiles at her. “Watch this.” He presses one of the illuminated pads on the control panel, and the ceiling flutters for a second before it becoming transparent, allowing the hangar lights to fill the room.
Henry waits for the airlock doors to open and enters the ship, then slowly ascends the stairs, steps into the control room, and smiles at his friends. “You did it, David.”
“No, it was all of us working together that made this possible.”
“Well done.” Henry turns to Alex. “Director Donner would like for you to call him as soon as possible.”
“All right. Have your people remove the cylinder from the ship’s cargo hold right away. Lock it up with the other two.”
“We only have one so far, Alex. We are still waiting for the one from the cave on the island to arrive.”
Alex stares at Henry. “That’s odd. It was supposed to be here eight months ago. I’ll ask Donner about it. I’ll be back in a minute.”
Once he steps outside the ship, he brings out his phone and calls the Director. “We made it, Martin.”
“That’s good to hear. I’m afraid we have another immediate problem. It seems there’s a chance the gravity machine could cause problems with the International Space Station when it’s in alignment over the device.”
Alex thought things couldn’t get any worse and now this happens. “How long until it’s in alignment?”
“Seven hours, Alex. I know it’s a lot of pressure, but . . .”
“I know, Martin. I know. I think we finally have a plan. We’re having a problem with the cloaking system on this ship, so we’ll need to stay away from any populated areas on the way out to the device. We figure Sloan has her people watching the test area, so David will need to stay above ten thousand feet to avoid being seen. Okana and I will fly back to Fallon, so we can be at the location when the ship arrives. Once he turns off the device, we’ll be on the ground, ready to take it back to Fallon and have it shipped back here.”
“I’ll have some Marines waiting and for you at NAS Fallon as backup.”
Alex wishes he had backup, but that means more eyes on the spacecraft. “I would prefer to keep this as covert as possible. The fewer who know about the ship, the better. It’s your call though, but if we want to keep it a secret, we really don’t have a choice.”
“I see what you mean. I trust you, Alex, so I know this operation is in good hands. Like I said. I know the Base Commander, so I’ll have a car waiting for you at the air terminal. Good luck, Alex, for all our sakes.”
“Thanks.”
With a sigh, Alex walks back inside to tell everyone what is going on. “All right, we have an actual deadline to get this device shut off. Seven hours.”
“What?” Jadin asks.
“In seven hours, it will drag the International Space Station back into the atmosphere.”
Jadin leaps out of her chair. “No, no, no! Alex, we have astronauts onboard. They’re not equipped for sudden re-entry. There’s no heat shield, no parachute, nothing. They’ll all die. I need to call this in so NASA can organize an evacuation mission.”
“Can they do it in seven hours?”
Jadin’s shoulders slump. “No, that’s not near enough time. I don’t think they even have a procedure for such a thing.”
“Then there’s no point in calling them.”
David gives his friends a determined look. “We can do this. We have to. Don’t worry, Alex. We’ll get that damned thing shut off before the deadline.” He plops down in the chair behind the control console, enters the coordinates into the computer, and a map appears on the holographic screen. “Fortunately, because of our location in a vast expanse of barren desert, we can be there in ten minutes.” David looks at the others. “Who’s with me?”
Jadin doesn’t hesitate. “I’m in.”
Henry shakes his head. “I shall remain behind.”
Okana has an idea. “Since you’re flying out to shut it down, why don’t we all go and bring it back in this ship.
“That’s a bad idea,” Jadin tells him. “I’m beginning to understand their secondary mission, and I think that gravity device is what caused this ship to crash.”
Alex turns to Henry. “I’ll call you from the test site when we’re ready and you can let them know to join us. Once the device is shut down, Okana and I will bring it back with us.”
He looks at David. “I’ll see you soon.”
When Alex and Okana leave the room, Henry looks across at a separate small control console. It was leaning at a slight angle when they first entered the ship, but when they pushed it back into its storage bracket, nothing seemed to work. He walks over and looks at the touchpads, which appear to be different from the main console, then turns to David. “Is there any information about what this controls?”
David brings the information up on the view screen. “There is a lot of data about controlling the weather, but there is too much to sift through without overloading our own computers while they are connected to the ship.” He notices a flash drive in Jadin’s briefcase and indicates it to her. “Would you mind if I borrow that?”
Jadin grabs the white plastic device and looks at the number on the side, then gives it to him. “That one is empty.”
When David finishes downloading the information, he holds it out to Henry. “Here you go, Doc. Let me know what you find out.”
Henry smiles and slides the small device into his pocket. “I shall wait in my office and come back once I hear from Alex.”
When Henry leaves the room, David smiles at Jadin. “He seems to be feeling much better.”
Jadin thinks about Jerry. “I think he just needed a break. The same thing happens to my uncle. Are we ready to do this?”
“I just hope it works.”