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Догерти, Роберт - Догерти - Зона 51 (engl)

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пНАЕПР дНЦЕПРХ. гНМЮ 51 (engl)

Doherty, Robert. Area 51
Prologue

It came alive into darkness, wondering what had caused it to wake and aware at the same time that it was much weaker than ever before. The first priority was time. How long had it been asleep? The weakness gave the answer. Dividing half-lives of its power source, it calculated that almost fifty revolutions of this planet around the system star had passed since last it had been conscious. The data from sensors was examined and found to be indeterminate. Whatever signal had tripped the alarms and kicked in the emergency power had to have been strong and vital but was now gone. Its sleep level had been so deep that all the recorded data showed was that there had been a signal. The nature of the signal, the source of the signal, both had been lost. The Makers had not anticipated such a long time before resupply of the power source. It knew there was not much time left to its already very long life before the power sup- ply slipped below the absolute minimum to keep it func- tioning even in hibernation. A decision needed to be made. Should it divert power to sensors in case the signal were repeated, or should it go back to deep sleep, conserving power for time? But if the signal had been vital, and the sensor log said it was indeed so, then there might not be much time left. The decision was made as quickly as the question had
P R O L O C U E

been posed. Power was allocated. The sensors were given 1 more power to stay at a higher alert status in order to catch a repeat of the signal. A time limit of one planetary orbit about the system star was put on the sensors, at which time they would automatically awaken it and the decision could be reconsidered. It went back to a lighter sleep, knowing that the decision to divert power to sensors for an orbit would cost it almost ten orbits of sleep when the power got lower, but it ac- cepted that. That was its job.
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

T-147 HOURS

The grocery bag Kelly Reynolds was holding ripped open

as she unlocked her mailbox and a twelve-pack of Diet

Coke burst open on impact with the ground, sending cans

everywhere. It had been that kind of day, she reflected as

she gathered in the errant cans. She'd spent it interviewing

local bar owners on Second Avenue for an article she was

writing, and two of her five appointments had failed to

show.

She stuffed the mail into the remnants of the bag and

made her way to her apartment, dropping the entire mess

on the table in her tiny kitchen. She filled a mug with water

and pushed it into the microwave, setting the timer, then

leaned back against the counter, giving herself the two

minutes before the beeper sounded to relax. She studied

her reflection in the kitchen window, which looked out

onto a back alley in Nashville's West End. Kelly was short,

just over five feet, but big boned. She carried her weight

well thanks to her morning routine of sit-ups and push-ups,

but the combination of bulk and lack of height made her

look like a compressed version of a person who should be

four inches taller. Her hair was thick and brown, streaked

with gray for the last ten years. Kelly had made the effort

ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51

2 3

to keep the original color for a year or so, then had given audiocassette fall out along with several pages. She picked up, accepting what time had dealt her after forty-two years up the cover letter and read. on the planet.

     The microwave dinged and she removed the mug and Hey Kelly, 3 Nov 96
placed a tea bag into it, allowing the water to soak through. While she was waiting for that, she pulled out the mail, I was trying to think of who to send a copy of this interested most in the thick brown envelope that she'd no- tape to, and you were the first name that popped into ticed as the cans had fallen. The return address made her my head--especially after what happened to you eight smile: Phoenix, Arizona. It had to be from Johnny Sim- years ago with that joker from Nellis Air Force Base in mons, an old friend from her graduate days at Vanderbilt. Nevada. Actually, more than an old friend, Kelly reminded herself I got a package in the mail last week that included a as her mind focused on those years a decade and a half letter and an audiotape--no return address and post- ago. marked Las Vegas. I think I know who sent it, though.

     Johnny had caught her on the rebound after her first He wouldn't be hard to find. I want you to listen to it. husband had dumped her. She'd anchored her psyche in So go find a Walkman or go over to your stereo now. his emotional harbor for several months. When she'd fi- Don't pass go, don't collect two hundred dollars, and nally felt like something of a whole human being again, take this letter with you. I mean NOW! I knew you she'd discovered that while she truly cared for Johnny, she were still standing there. Put the tape in, but don't didn't have that special spark for him that she felt was start it yet. necessary for an intimate relationship. Johnny had been very nice about it and they'd backed off, not speaking to Kelly smiled as she walked over to her stereo system each other for a while, then slowly reentered each other's precariously perched on a bookcase made up of cinder lives, testing the waters of friendship. blocks and planks of wood. Johnny knew her and he had a

     Kelly felt they had cemented that friendship after three good sense of humor, but even the humor couldn't erase years when Johnny had returned from a photojournalist the instant bad feeling the Nellis Air Force Base reference assignment into El Salvador, where he had been docu- had evoked. That Air Force intelligence officer had de- menting right-wing death squads. He'd holed up in her stroyed her career in filmmaking. apartment for two months, decompressing from that Pushing away the negative thoughts, Kelly put the tape ordeal. One or the other would call every month or so and in, then continued reading. they would catch up on their lives and know there was someone out there who cared. Last she'd heard, he was Okay. I'll give you the same information that was in also working freelance, doing articles for whichever maga- the letter I received with the tape. In fact, I'll give you zine was willing to cough up some money. a copy of the letter that came with it. Next page, if you

     She slit the envelope open and was surprised to see an please.
4 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 5


     Kelly turned the page to find a Xerox copy of a typewrit- wasn't someone holding a tape recorder up to a radio ten letter. speaker. There was a clear hiss of static at the end of each

     transmission and three distinct voices, as the letter had

     indicated.

     Mister Simmons,


     In this package you will find a tape recording I made "Victor Two Three, this is Dreamland Control. You

     on the evening of 23 October of this year. I was scan- are violating restricted airspace. You will immediately

     ning the UHF wavelength. I often listen in to the turn on a heading of one-eight-zero.

     pilots out of Nellis Air Force Base conducting opera- "Victor Two Three, this is Dreamland Control. Re-

     tions. It was while doing just that, that I picked up the peat, you are violating restricted airspace. Turn imme-

     exchange you will listen to. diately on a heading of one-eight-zero. Over."

     As near as I can tell, it is between the pilot of an

     F-15 (Victor Two Three), the control tower at Nellis, A new voice cut in, this one with the muted roar of jet

     which uses the call sign Dreamland, and the flight engines in the background.

     commander of the F-15 pilot (Victor Six).

     The pilot was taking part in the Red Flag, force on "Victor Two Three, this is Victor Six. Comply immedi-

     force, exercises at Nellis. These exercises are where ately with Dreamland Control. Over."

     the Air Force trains its fighter pilots in simulated com-

     bat. They have a whole squadron of Soviet-style air- "Six, this is Two Three. I'll be out of here in a flash.

     craft at the Groom Lake complex on the Nellis Over."

     Reservation to use in this training.

     I'll let you draw your own conclusions from the "Negative, Two Three. This is Dreamland Control.

     tape. You will comply with our instructions ASAP. Over."

     You want to talk to me, come to Vegas. Go to the

     "mailbox." You don't know what that is, ask around The commander came back on.

     and you'll find it. I'll come to you.

     The Captain "They got you, Slick. Comply. You know we can't mess

     with restricted airspace. Over."

     Kelly turned the page. She smiled as she read.

     "This is Two Three, I will-- What the fuck! I've got--

     Listen to the tape now. Christ, I don't know what the hell it is. A bogey at

     three o'clock and climbing. I've never--"

     Using her remote, she turned the stereo on and pushed play. The voices were surprisingly clear, which made Kelly The quiet, implacable voice of Dreamland Control cut wonder at the machinery used to make the tape. This in.
6 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 7


     "Two Three, you will immediately cease transmitting, The tape ended. Kelly sat still for a few seconds, consid-

     turn on a heading of one-eight-zero and descend for a ering what she had heard. She knew the name Dreamland

     landing at Groom Lake. That is a direct order. Over." well. She picked up Simmons's letter.


     The pilot of the F-15 was growing more agitated. Yeah, I know exactly what you're thinking, Kelly. It

     could be a hoax or a setup like they did on you. But I

     "This thing has no wings! And, man, it's moving. It's talked to a friend of mine over at the local Air Force

     closing on me. We got a live one! I'm--" base. He said that some of that sky out there near

     Nellis is the most restricted airspace in the country,

     There was a hiss of static. even more so than that over the White House in D.C.

     He also said that pilots in the Red Flag exercises

     "--was close!" Static. "On top of--" Static. "--my sometimes try to skate the edges of their aerial playing

     God! It's turning--" Static. "Jesus! It's--" The voice field on the regular Nellis Range and gain a tactical

     was suddenly cut off. advantage by cutting across the restricted airspace. If

     that pilot did wander over the Groom Lake/Area 51

     "Two Three! This is Six. What's your status, Slick? complex or try to cut a corner, he might have seen

     Over." something he wasn't supposed to. Obviously he ran

     into something.

     Silence. You know me. I'm heading out there to take a look.

     There's enough interest in all of this that even if I get

     "Break, Dreamland Control, this is Victor Six. Do you nothing about the pilot, I ought to at least be able to

     have Two Three on scope? Over." write a couple of articles about the Groom Lake com-

     plex. Maybe Technical or some other science-type

     "Victor Six, this is Dreamland Control. You will return magazine will buy.

     to Nellis Airfield immediately. The exercise is can- So I'll be out there on the night of the ninth. Now, I

     celed. All aircraft are ordered grounded immediately. plan on being back home the tenth. I don't want to

     You will remain in your plane until cleared by security hang around there any longer than I have to. I'll give

     personnel. Over." you a call, regardless, on the tenth by nine in the

     morning. At the absolute least if I can't quite make it

     "I want to know the status of Two Three. Over." home by then I'll change the message on my answer-

     ing machine by remote before 9:00 A.M. on the tenth.

     "We've lost Two Three from our scope. We are initiat- I know all this sounds melodramatic,.but when I

     ing search and rescue. Comply with orders. There are went down to El Salvador--a place no one remembers

     to be no more transmissions. Out." nowadays--it stood me in good stead to have some-
8 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 9
one waiting on a call. Held the assholes off from beat- NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE RANGE, ing me too bad or keeping me forever when I got VICINITY GROOM LAKE caught in places I wasn't supposed to be. So if you T-144 HOURS don't hear from me by 9:00 A.M. on the tenth, it means "Wait here," Franklin ordered as he braked the battered I got caught. Then I trust you to figure out what to do. Bronco II to a halt. There was no flash of brake lights. He You owe me, bud!

     Wish me luck. By the way, if by chance--da-da-de- had pulled the fuse for them prior to turning onto this dirt dum--drumroll, please, I get scarfed up by the author- road. Johnny Simmons leaned forward in the passenger ities, you have a copy of the tape and the letter, and seat and squinted into the darkness. He had to assume that also I've enclosed a key to my apartment. Franklin was so familiar with the road that he was able to

     Thanks. drive it without headlights. Although the road did stand

     All of my love, all of my kisses! out as a lighter straight line on the otherwise dark ground,

     the trip through the dark was unnerving.

     Johnny

     Simmons rubbed his forehead. They were up several Kelly didn't need to check the calendar. The ninth was thousand feet in altitude and he felt a bit of a headache this evening. She gathered the tape out of her stereo and from the thinner air. He was a tall, thin man, his pale skin took it, along with the letters, to her desk. Then she used liberally sprinkled with freckles. Simmons appeared to be the key around her neck to open the file drawer. She with- much younger than his thirty-eight years and his disheveled drew a file labeled "Nellis" and laid it on the desktop. mane of bright red hair only added to the youthful image. Flipping it open, she saw that the first document inside Franklin walked to one side of the road and disappeared was a typed letter on official Air Force stationery. The sig- into the darker countryside for a few minutes, then his nature block at the bottom indicated it was from the Public shadow crossed the road and was gone for a few more Affairs Officer at the base: Major Prague. minutes. When he returned, he was holding four short "Asshole," Kelly muttered as she remembered the man. green plastic rods in his hands. She place Johnny Simmons's letter and the tape inside, "Antennas for the sensors," he explained. "I found the then replaced the folder in the drawer and locked it. The sensors last month. I wondered why the camo dudes were surface of the desk was clear, except for a silver-framed always onto me so quick. They'd show up within twenty black-and-white photo of a young man dressed in khaki. minutes of me hitting this road. Then they'd call in the He wore a black beret, and a Sten gun was slung over his sheriff and it was just a plain hassle." shoulder. "How'd you find the detectors?" Simmons asked, co- She was thoughtful as she kicked back in her chair and vertly making sure the voice-activated microcassette re- considered the photo. "Sounds like Johnny has nibbled at corder in his jacket pocket was turned on. the hook, Dad." She tapped a pencil against her lip, then "I used a receiver that scanned the band lengths. I drove sighed. "Damn you, Johnny. You're always causing trouble, around and stopped when I picked up something transmit- but this time I think you may have gone too far." ting," Franklin said. "Right at 495.45 megahertz."
1 ROBERT DOHERTY

     AREA 51 11
"Why four antennas?" Simmons asked. "Wouldn't two him. They'd passed the "mailbox" farther back on the dirt do?" road about twenty minutes ago and there had been two Franklin shook his head. "They're deployed in pairs on cars and a van parked there. UFO watchers had waved at either side of the road. That way they can tell which way the Bronco as they drove by. The mailbox, which was an you're going by the order they're tripped in." Franklin actual small battered metal mailbox on the side of the talked quickly, eager to impress Simmons with his knowl- road, was the last safe place to observe the sky over the edge. Groom Lake/Area 51 complex. To Johnny it was obvious The simple logic quieted Simmons for a few moments. that the watchers there weren't surprised to see Franklin's For the first time he wondered if he was biting off more truck drive by. than he could chew here. Since Area 51 wasn't listed on Franklin threw the truck in gear and rolled forward any topographic maps, and all roads leading onto the Nellis about a hundred feet. "The sensors pick up ground vibes Reservation were posted with no trespassing signs with om- from passing vehicles, but they don't trip on people walk- inous threats printed in red, Simmons had sought help. ing or animals. Then they transmit that information back He'd met Franklin in Rachel, a small town on Route 375 to whoever is in charge of security for this place. Without that ran along the northeast side of the Nellis Reservation. the antennas they can't transmit. We're out of range now. Franklin was the person he'd been pointed to by "experts" Back in a second." He stepped out and was gone for sev- in the UFO field as the man to see about getting a look at eral more minutes as he screwed the antennas back into Area 51, the place the Air Force pilot had been overflying the sensors.
when he'd been accosted by Dreamland Control and what- They went another two miles down the road, then Frank- ever unknown object the pilot had seen. lin pulled off into the lee of a large ridge that rose up to Simmons hadn't been too surprised to find Franklin a the west like a solid, sloping black wall: White Sides Moun- young bearded man who looked more like he ought to be tain. Simmons stepped out, following Franklin's lead. doing poetry reading at a college than leading people to "It's going to get colder," Franklin said in a low voice as look at a classified government facility. Franklin worked he pulled a small backpack out of the rear of his truck. out of a small, dilapidated house where he self-published a Simmons was glad he had packed the extra sweater. He monthly newsletter for UFO enthusiasts. He'd been pulled it over his head, then put his jacket back on over it. thrilled when he'd seen Simmons's credentials and publish- It had been reasonably warm in Rachel, but with the de- ing history. At last someone with a little bit of credibility parture of the sun, the temperature had plummeted. and pull, had been the way Franklin had put it, and he'd They both turned as they heard a low roar coming in promised to put Simmons as close to Area 51, the code from the eastern horizon. The sound grew louder, then name for the Groom Lake complex, as he possibly could. Franklin pointed. "There. See the running lights?" He Simmons wondered if Franklin might not be the "Cap- snorted. "Some of the people who camp out at the mailbox tain" who had sent him the tape and letter, but he didn't mistake aircraft running lights for UFOs. When a plane's think so. There didn't seem to be any need for the subter- in its final flight path the lights seem to just hover, espe- fuge, and Franklin had seemed genuinely surprised to see cially since it comes in almost straight over the mailbox."
12 ROBERT DOHERTY

     AREA 51 13
"Is that the 737 you told me about?" Simmons asked. "Ready," Simmons acknowledged. Franklin giggled nervously. "No, that's not her." The air- "Let's do it." Franklin took a few deep breaths, then plane banked over their heads and disappeared over White headed for a cut in the steep mountainside and began Sides Mountain, descending for a landing on the other striding up. Simmons followed, his boots making a surpris- side. A second one, just like the first, came by less than ingly loud clatter in the darkness as he scrambled up the thirty seconds later. "Those are Air Force transports. Me- loose rock. dium-sized ones, probably C-130 Hercules. You can hear "Think we were spotted?" Simmons asked. the turboprop engines. Must be bringing in something. Franklin shrugged, the gesture lost in the dark. "Well, we They haul in pretty much all their equipment and supplies know the sensors didn't pick us up. If there was a camo to Area 51 by plane." dude out there in the dark and he saw my truck going down They heard the abrupt increase in the whine of engines the road, then the sheriff will be here in about a half hour. and the sound lasted for a few minutes, then silence We'll see the lights from above. The camo dudes, who are reigned again. the outer perimeter security people for the complex, will He held out his hand. "Camera." drive by on this side of the ridge, maybe even come up Simmons hesitated. The Minolta with long-range lens prior to showtime if they saw we had cameras, another hanging around his neck was as much a part of his clothing good reason not to bring them. The fact we haven't seen as the sweater. anyone yet means there's a good chance we weren't spot- "We agreed," Franklin said. "A whole lot less hassle all ted. If we weren't spotted, then we can spend the whole around if the sheriff shows. You saw the negatives and night up top without getting hassled." prints back at the office that I've already taken of the com- "Doesn't the Air Force get pissed at you for messing plex. They were taken in daylight, too, with a better camera with their equipment?" Simmons asked as Franklin led the than you have. Much better than you could get at night way. even with special film and long exposure." "Don't know." Franklin giggled again, the sound irritat- Simmons removed the camera, the loss of the weight ing Simmons. "I imagine they would if they knew it was around his neck an irritant. He also didn't like the idea of me. But they don't, so screw 'em. We're still on public land having to pay Franklin for photos he could take himself. and will be the whole way," Franklin explained, slowing a Plus what if they spotted something happening? He had bit when he recognized his paying guest's more modest noted Franklin stuffing a camera into his backpack when pace. "But if the sheriff comes here, he'll confiscate the they were leaving earlier in the day. Simmons understood film anyway, so it's easier to simply not haul the weight up. Franklin's scam: he wanted exclusive footage if anything Plus, we got us sort of a gentleman's agreement. This is the happened and he wanted to make extra money selling his only spot left in the public domain that you can see the own photos. Simmons handed his camera to the younger runway from since the Air Force purchased most of man, who locked it in the back of the truck. Franklin the northeast section last year. Most people stay back at grinned, his teeth reflecting the bright moon hanging over- the mailbox because they don't want to get hassled, but we head. "Ready?" aren't doing anything illegal by climbing this mountain.
14 ROBERT DOHERTY AREA 51 15


    "But soon it won't be legal to come here," Franklin con- the men watching a bank of computer screens announced. tinued. "The Air Force is trying to get this land too. Once There were three rows of consoles with computers lining they get it you won't be able to see into the lake bed from the floor of the room, facing forward. On the front wall a anywhere in the public domain. And you sure as hell can't twenty-foot-wide by ten-high screen dominated the room. overfly this place. It was capable of displaying virtually any information that

    

... ... ...
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