Mykal's Return to Towbar's World

by Dave Hazel

  “I don’t know the ‘why’, but I do find it odd as Jill said earlier, that you and Towbar are here in Washington D.C. and all of a sudden the green fog appears and some of the people who disappeared just happen to be very important people to the President and to our government. And it just so happens that these VIPs were returning from a secret meeting and now all of a sudden, they, the VIPs just disappeared. Just by coincidence?”

  “You know Jack, I was starting to think you were different than that last guy, but you’re just as much an idiot as he was. If I did have anything to do with this, how the hell would I know about a secret meeting they had?”

  “You better watch your mouth,” Jack threatened as he lunged at Mykal with his fist cocked back. “I don’t give a shit who you think you are, you are in my custody now, and I won’t tolerate any disrespect. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Are you saying I’m under arrest?”

  “No, I did not,” Jack snarled.

  “Then I’m not in your custody or something better change and I better get a lawyer right now.”

  “You’re being questioned by the United States Government. This is a matter of National Security and we’re going to get to the bottom of this,” Jack pressed his face closer.

  “Well quit talking to me like I’m a dumb ass and I’ll quit talking to you like I think you’re an idiot. What you’ve theorized is some real nonsense and you know it.”

  Jack stood up and backed up and kept an angry glare on Mykal. He kicked one of the other chairs and stormed out of the holding room. “I’ll be back shortly,” he mumbled to Jill as he slammed the door.

  Jill smiled. “You shouldn’t speak to Jack like that,” he said in a friendly manner. “He can be a pretty mean old guy. I’m surprised he held back and kept from hitting you.”

  “What, are you playing the good cop bad cop routine with me now?” He was sure Jack deliberately became angry and stormed out so Mykal would feel the need to confide in the friendlier, approachable, Jill.

  “No Mykal, it’s not like that.” Jill continued to smile, his piercing black eyes searched for any weakness. “I want you to know that I believe what you’re saying. I personally find it hard to believe that people could just vanish because they drove into a fog,” he said with a mocking expression. “Whether the fog is green, white, purple or brown. I personally don’t believe any of this discussion of people being transported back and forth between here and another world that doesn’t exist. Now please, don’t be offended. I’m the kind of person who must see it with my own eyes to believe it. As far as Towbar, he could have been picked up in some jungle around the world somewhere. I’ll play along because everyone in the world seems to believe it. But I personally think your story is a farce.”

  “That’s kinda odd. You say you believe what I’m saying, yet you don’t believe anything that’s been said about being in Towbar’s world? Are you just screwing with my head?”

  “No, no,” Jill chuckled. “I suppose I do sound like I’m contradicting myself. I meant I believe what you were saying about not having anything to do with the kidnapping of the people who disappeared early this morning. I would--” suddenly Jill’s words were cut short by a loud buzzer going off. The red light over the door flashed on and off then alarm ceased.

  “What’s going on?” Mykal asked. He feared Towbar became a problem and fought back with his captors.

  “It’s fine,” Jill replied calmly. “It’s just a signal to inform me that I have a phone call. I will be right outside the door,” he explained and dismissed himself.

  Sitting alone, Mykal knew there were people watching the back of his head through the two-way mirror. He sat still so as not to give them anything to study. He wondered what tactics they would try on Towbar. Mykal knew Towbar could take care of himself physically, but he found himself worried for Towbar. He hoped they wouldn’t try any psychological tricks on the giant. Angrily Mykal wanted to turn and flip off the mirror to let those on the other side know, that he knew, they were there. But he was sure they would take that as a form of hostility.

  The man with the striking black eyes and the fake name of Jill stepped back into the room. Jill wore an odd expression of excitement when he returned. “Come on Mykal.” Jill waved Mykal to join him into the corridor.

  “Where are we going?” He asked and didn’t want to leave his seat because he didn’t trust Jack or Jill.

  “Come on,” Jill waved again and smiled. “I have a surprise for you. There is nothing to fear. You have my word.”

  Mykal joined Jill in the hallway with three new escorts. All three wore dark suits, clean shaven faces, and all had close tight haircuts. These men looked like Secret Service. Their weapons were concealed and they had ear buds connected to radios attached to their waistbands.

  One of the three spoke into his radio to announce they were moving. After a short walk they boarded two golf carts and drove a long distance through a maze of intersecting corridors. “I thought these kind of underground secret locations only existed in the movies,” Mykal said to Jill, but Jill either didn’t hear him or he chose to ignore him.

  They stopped in front of an elevator. There were two others, who looked like Secret Service standing in front of the open door waiting for them. One had a clipboard and pen. He handed it to Mykal before he would step out of the entry way.

  “What’s this?” Mykal asked.

  “Go ahead and read it,” Jill encouraged him. “It basically says that when you leave here you will never speak of this place or of what you see here. This place does not exist, and if you divulge any information you will be brought up on charges for harming the national security of the country. You’re a wise man Mykal, I know you will not do anything foolish,” Jill said while they all waited for Mykal to read and sign his small contract.

  “Believe me, as far as I’m concerned this place never existed,” Mykal chuckled as he signed the form.

  “Good. This building itself is classified as Top Secret. You understand from your time in the Air Force the importance of security involving classified materials.”

  On the elevator the man who handed Mykal the clipboard activated the elevator with a hand held control. There were no numbers on the control panel and all the buttons for various floors were in a circular pattern with symbols instead of numbers keeping unauthorized personnel from knowing what floor they were going to or coming from. Of the twenty-five buttons on the panel, not all were true buttons. Three of them were silent alarms, and four were dummy buttons. Only authorized personnel would know which buttons to avoid. Mykal heard a noise leading him to believe the elevator car to be in motion, but he couldn’t feel any movement at all. He couldn’t detect if the movement went up or down or from side to side.

  “This rides a little slower than your standard elevator,” Jill explained. “But with the technology employed you can’t determine in which direction you are traveling. Am I correct?”

  “Yeah, you’re right. It’s weird.”

  The elevator opened to face a set of double doors. In front of the double doors stood two Air Force Security Policemen. A control panel on their large desk alerted them of the elevator in use. The SPs were dressed as if they were in the honor guard. They wore dress blue uniforms with white ascots. Their trousers were bloused to their highly polished combat boots. The dress combat boots were laced with white laces. Both were armed with a GAU 5A, a smaller version of the M-16 rifle and both had a 9mm pistol as a side arm.

  One of the two staff sergeants stood with a clipboard showing expected personnel and visitors and expected times of arrival. “Whoa, hold it,” he said. He scanned the short list of names. “I personally recognize Sergeant Graves,” he said and looked at Mykal. “But his name is not on the EAL (Entry Access List) or the DVAL (Daily Visitor Authorization Log) sheets. He is not wearing an access badge or a visitor’s badge Sir,” he added and placed his hand on the butt of his pistol.

  The other staff sergeant held his rifle at the
ready.

  “Here you go sergeant,” Jill said and pulled his restricted area access badge from inside his pocket. “The visitor is with me,” he added and pointed to a special mark on his badge that revealed he is one of the few authorized to bring visitors without prior screening. With such authority he also had the responsibility to ensure the visitor was never out of visual contact and never more than ten feet away.

  “Thank you Sir,” the second staff sergeant also verified the badge to be proper. Both had the dual responsibility to individually verify the badges are authentic before granting access to the secured area. “Sign here please,” he pulled the log book off the desk. “Both visitor and the escort have to sign in and sign out at departure. Look up there please,” he pointed to one of two cameras mounted in the corners. “Hold it for at least five seconds. We prefer that you do not smile.”

  “Not only does everyone have to sign in,” the first staff sergeant explained. “But we also videotape everyone. As you can see, security is tight here. By the way,” he whispered. “It’s nice to meet you.” He smiled and gave Mykal a quick thumbs up.

  “I appreciate that,” Mykal said. He had no idea where they were or why. “The security in here is amazing,” he commented when the two staff sergeants slowly opened a vault like door.

  “You haven’t seen anything yet,” Jill said. “But we’re in a hurry and you’ll see why.”

  “Security is so tight here that you can’t even pick your nose without two other people knowing it,” one escort quipped.

  “The purpose is to keep bad guys delayed so our response teams will have more than adequate time to arrive and neutralize any potential threat,” Jill explained while the vault door slowly closed. They were inside a large waiting room and could not gain entrance to the opposite side until the first vault door closed and had been made secure. “Two vault doors will never be opened at the same time,” Jill continued to explain the security to him. “There are the obvious cameras that you can see and there are many hidden cameras. You never know who is watching.”

  “This is amazing I would never have imagined such a place existed.” Mykal shook his head in awe.

  After the first vault door closed and secured, the second opened. When the second opened they exited and went to a waiting room until the second vault door secured. When Mykal stepped in the waiting room he was shocked to see William sitting there by himself.

  “Hey, how is it going?” William asked and looked stunned to see Mykal.

  Mykal thought it odd that none of his escorts, especially Jill, questioned why William sat alone in this super-secret, super-secured area. Mykal knew he saw William slip something into his pocket. Mykal’s only thought that it had to be an all access badge. How else could he be alone? But how would he have gotten his own badge so quickly? This didn’t make any sense.

  “Good. How are you doing Captain Roberts?” Mykal asked showing the respect due his rank and stared intently into William’s eyes. William looked rattled. “Where’s Towbar?”

  “I’m not sure.” William smiled sheepishly.

  “Where’s your escort?” Mykal couldn’t let it go, because something didn’t add up and it didn’t feel right. Mykal’s entire career in the Air Force had been in the Security Police field and he knew security violations were never taken lightly by the government. He could only imagine how strict they would be around this Top Secret location, especially after all that had just been explained to him. Either William’s escort screwed up ‘big time’ or William had been granted special permission to roam freely in this specialized installation. Both reasons for William sitting alone didn’t make any sense.

  Suddenly Jill and the escorts looked at each other as if they were caught with their hand in the cookie jar. “He’s in the rest room,” William answered as if making it up on the fly.

  Mykal didn’t like the thoughts he had or the feelings he struggled with. It seemed like he was being lied to, but why? This didn’t make sense. Jill and the others didn’t make a big deal that William’s escort left him alone until Mykal brought it up. Something wasn’t right and Mykal’s suspicions grew.

  “Watch them,” Jill said to the escorts while he opened the door on the other side of the waiting room.

  “Do you know what they were accusing me of?” Mykal asked.

  “Yes, at first they were accusing me of being a part of it too. It looks as if they cleared that part of their investigation,” William answered.

  “It wasn’t much of an investigation,” Mykal said.

  “Well they know you couldn’t have brought the green fog here. I know how much Towbar desires to go home and I explained that to them.”

  “Well who is the big shot we’re here to see?”

  William smiled. “I can’t say.”

  “Do you know?”

  “I can’t say.”

  “What? How do you know and why can’t you say?”

  “Captain Roberts and Sergeant Graves,” Jill called out and stepped back in between the double doors. “Follow me please.”

  They followed Jill into a large room. Mykal couldn’t believe his eyes. Behind the large oak desk sat President John J. Edmonds himself. A Secret Service officer stood on each side of the President. Mykal felt his jaw drop slightly. More of a shock was the fact that William and the President knew each other personally.

  “JJ,” William called out playfully as he stretched his hand out and moved to the leader of the free world. “I mean Mister President. Sir, it’s been a long time.”

  “Yes it has Will,” the President said and smiled warmly as they grasped hands. “Or should I call you Beanie?” The President said. “It was William’s nickname from a long time ago.” He winked at Mykal.

  “Oh no Sir,” William laughed out loud. This was the first time Mykal witnessed that William had a sense of humor.

  “And this one, I know who this is,” President Edmonds gave what looked like a politicians smile as he gradually moved around his large desk to greet Mykal. “This is the one and only, the very important, Sergeant Mykal Graves.”

  Mykal stood frozen at attention as the tall, slender man approached him with his long thin hands stretched out. Mykal wasn’t sure if he should salute him, break his stance of attention to receive his hand or just stand there with respect, though he would look like a rude fool.

  “Mmm, mmm, Mister President,” he stuttered and mixed up his words in star struck bewilderment. “It’s meet to nice you,” he said and wanted to slap himself in the head for saying such a nervous sentence. “I’m sorry Sir,” he said when he caught sight of the secret servicemen snickering.

  “That’s fine my boy,” Edmonds said and winked again as they shook hands. “You had no idea we were to meet and it took you by surprise. I understand,” President Edmonds said with a friendly and inviting voice. “Relax.”

  “Yes Sir. Thank you Sir,” he replied and gave a sigh of relief since the President took the focus off of his fumbling words. Mykal moved from the position of attention to parade rest, legs spread at shoulder width and hands crossed behind his back. He stood rigid though it was supposed to be a more relaxing stance. He tried to keep focused on the words of the President, but he couldn’t get over how strong the man’s grip felt. ‘Probably from shaking hundreds of hands a day.’

  “Truly, I am sorry that I had to cancel the award ceremony yesterday. What you did in Minot was a very brave thing. Our country is proud to have members like you in our armed forces,” he said and returned to his desk.

  Mykal watched the man and felt honored and very happy to meet him. Edmonds seemed to glide across the room. He couldn’t help but make the comparison to President Abraham Lincoln minus the beard and stovepipe hat. Mykal wasn’t sure if Edmonds really reminded him of Lincoln or was it something the media had constantly repeated.

  “Do you mind if I call you Mykal?”

  Mykal moved back to the position of attention since speaking isn’t allowed while at parade rest. “Not at a
ll Sir,” Mykal replied and resumed his position of standing at attention. “You can call me whatever you like, Sir.”

  “Mykal, you seem wound up son,” Edmonds chuckled. “Have a seat and relax.” Edmonds pointed to a nearby chair at the desk. “It’s just us in here and we need to have a little chit-chat. There is no need for you to stand at attention.”

  “Yes Sir,” Mykal said with a smile and couldn’t believe the President of the United States of America asked him to sit with him at his desk. This definitely became one of the top five special events of his life. It confused him that William was on a first name and nickname basis with the President and yet William had never mentioned it before. It also seemed odd all the Secret Service people seemed to know William too. It just didn’t add up, but that’s for another time. Mykal wanted to soak in and cherish every moment with the President of the United States.

  “What is your name today?” The President turned to Jill.

  “It is Jill this time Mister President,” he announced with a silly smile and humbly shook his head.

  “Jill?” The President asked and did a double take.

  “I’m paired with Jack, Sir. Jack and Jill, Sir.”

  “Well, I guess that’s a very nice, manly, name,” Edmonds chuckled and it caused the others to laugh.

  “Thank you Mister President.” Jill smirked at the President’s playful remark.

  “I would like everyone to leave the room except for Mykal, William and Jill.” Immediately the others all left the room and closed the door behind them.

  “Excuse us for a moment,” the President said to Mykal and William. He turned aside to have a brief discussion with Jill.

  “What’s the problem Myk?” William asked quietly while President Edmonds and Jill had their quiet conversation.

  “Nothing,” he lied. “I just never expected to meet the President. Especially under these circumstances,” he added to take William from his suspicious thoughts.

  “That is the reason why you are here Mykal,” the President broke into their conversation. “Because of the strange, the very strange, circumstances that occurred today. I had not planned on so rudely jumping straight into the subject at hand. However Jill made a point to me. We need to set aside all the chit-chat and get right down to business. Since I need to get right to the point, William, my old friend Beanie, I am going to ask you to leave the room. What needs to be said will be for Mykal and Jill’s ears only.”