by Terence West
Red interrupted. "Sorry Sir, but I've got a visual. It's dead ahead of us."
Staring directly in front of him, Pike spotted the object. It appeared spherical, and was emanating a blue glare. "Are those it's running lights? Their damn bright." The bogey was casting an odd glare on the ground around it.
"Sir, the object has stopped. It's hovering directly ahead of us."
"Bringing us into a hover. Gunner, target your weapons on the bogey." Seconds passed. The crew watched intently as the object just hovered in front on them. Slowly the gunner activated his controls bringing his guns to bear.
"Weapons locked, Sir." Suddenly, the object shot out of its hovering position toward the helicopter. A beam of bright white light slammed into the helicopter rocking it back and forth. In a matter of seconds the object was right on top of the helicopter. Seeing the object right in front of them the men gasped at its sheer size.
Pike panicked and quickly started to bark orders. "Evasive maneuvers! Fire all weapons!" The gunner squeezed the triggers and in an instant the sky lit up with gunfire. The yellow glow of the tracer bullets slid past the object as it quickly jumped to the left. "What the hell is going on?" Grabbing the controls he pushed the helicopter to the right just as the object headed straight for them. "Fire missiles! I want that son of a bitch out of my sky!"
Smoke and flame ejected from the firing tubes as two missiles headed straight for the object. Shifting right, the object easily avoided the first missile, but was caught by the second one. Sparks and debris erupted from the object as it began to violently shake.
Pulling the helicopter back from the object, Pike tried to avoid the wildly spinning craft, but it was too late. The object careened into the side of the helicopter hitting the rotor blades first. Shards from the blades became projectiles that shot in all directions. Several large chunks of the rotors ripped into the cabin, cleaving the metal in two. Smoke erupted from the gash and quickly began to fill the cockpit. The two craft quickly began to fall to the earth engulfed in a giant ball of flame.
"Dreamland! Mayday, mayday! We are going down!" Pike was frantic. He knew his chances of survival were slim. "Repeat: we are going down! Object is hostile! Mayday!"
The two vehicles rocketed into the ground, gaining velocity with every inch. The helicopter hit first and was instantly transformed into fragments of burning steel and rubble. The object hit next. Its nose slammed into the ground and dug in. The rear of the craft whipped around, slinging the entire ship away from the helicopter. Seconds later, it was over.
* * * *
"Red Bird, do you copy?" Hunter keyed the mic again. "Red bird, do you copy?" Only static replied on the channel. "General Davis, Red Bird just sent out a mayday and both crafts have disappeared off our radar."
Davis stood up from his center seat and paced around the room. Turning in Hunter's direction, he stepped forward. "Damn." Rubbing his chin he leaned over Hunter's shoulder. "Colonel, send out a search team for survivors and see what the hell it was that brought Red Bird down."
"Yes Sir."
Moving away from Hunter's console, Davis walked toward the side exit. Reaching into his jacket pocket, he removed a flat rectangular piece of plastic resembling a credit card. Flipping over the key card in his hand, he slid it through the lock on the door. The lock was a silver box with a slit down the middle to slide the card through. It had two red lights on the left side and two green lights on the right. Immediately, the red lights switched to green and the door unlocked. Stepping out of the room General Davis felt the cool regulated air blowing against his neck. The control room was regulated, but due to the staff inside, the room stayed very warm.
Standing in the long corridor outside the control room, he leaned against one of the walls. The corridor was one of the few areas in the facility that had not been finished yet. The walls were still bare rock.
It had been a long week for Davis. It seemed to him that his week had been one botched mission after another. He had been posted at Area 51 for over fifteen years now. He was getting old and tired. He knew that this would probably be the year he retired. But retiring from a job like this wasn't like any other job. Davis had seen things that most people could never even imagine. This made it very difficult to return to civilian life. Rubbing his hand through his gray hair, he closed his eyes and exhaled a long deep breath.
Several hours from now, Air Force Chief of Operations, General Perry would be visiting the facilities at Area 51. Davis was dreading this. Perry was a five star General whereas Davis was only a four star. Perry's visit was to decide if funding was still necessary for the project. It had been over fifty years since Area 51 had been moved into service, and Davis was only the second man ever to be in charge here. He had taken over from an Army General when the base switched over to Air Force hands. The President, at the time of the switch, had made the change to Air Force control after the Army had failed to show any progress in the operation. That decision had been a huge turning point in base operations.
General Perry would surely be bringing several of the Presidents advisors along with him. Davis hoped that his scientific minds would stack up to the President's.
* * * *
The drive from Lake Tahoe to Las Vegas was harder than Jake had expected. About an hour out of Tahoe he had left behind the tall pine trees and the greens and blues of the lake for the plain browns of the Nevada desert. Day was slowly fading into night. Looking out the window of his blue Taurus, it seemed to him like he had traveled into another world. The mountains of the Sierra-Nevada's had gradually faded into the hills of southern Nevada. The trees had shrunk and sprouted into bushes of sagebrush. He had his air conditioner cranked up, but was still sweating. Over the horizon Jake began to see the bright lights of Las Vegas. He flicked a switch on the dashboard. Gusts of cool air began to push out of the dark vents in front of him. Rolling down his passenger side window slightly, he retrieved a long brown cigar and lighter from his pocket. Lighting the cigar, he took a long puff and slowly exhaled it out the window.
Random thoughts were shooting through Jake's mind, most of them dealing with his newest case. The one piece of the puzzle that didn't fit was the hovering blue light. What does that mean, he pondered.
As he took another long puff off his cigar, his gaze began to wander away from the road. There was one thing he could say for the desert, it had the most beautiful sunsets he had ever seen. As the sun dipped down behind the horizon, shades of orange, red, purple, and blue mixed together to paint a wondrous picture across the western sky.
It was about forty-five minutes later when he crossed over a hill and began to gradually descend into Vegas. The lights of the casinos lit up the night in all the vibrant colors of the rainbow. Pulling a small piece of paper out of his pocket, he checked the name and address of his hotel. "'The Tikki Hotel and Casino'", a smile crossed his face, "Nice."
He decided to take the long way, through casino central. Cruising down the strip, he saw all sizes and shapes of humanity. The streets were packed with people on their way to dinner, or to catch a show, or just simply to go gambling. This had never appealed to Jake. In New Orleans they had gambling on all the riverboats, and in Nevada, they had gambling everywhere. Every time you walked into a supermarket or gas station, you had to pass right by a ringing wall of one-armed bandits.
In front of one of the many casinos, a group of showgirls stood trying to draw people in to the theater. They were swathed in sparkling costumes made out of strands of rhinestones and pink feathers. They all looked very similar with long pink gloves that reached up to their elbows and glittering silver stiletto heels. The extravagant headpieces they wore were crafted out of the same material as their costumes. Tall plumes of feathers shot out of the top standing at least a foot off of their heads. Jake roughly estimated that about ninety percent of their body was uncovered. One of the girls noticed Jake's stare, so she gave him a little wiggle of her hips and blew him a kiss. Maybe I could get used to this town.
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Leaving the strip behind, he drove deep into the heart of the city, finally arriving at his destination after several wrong turns. A foreign tourist had even shouted at him in another language when he managed to find himself driving the wrong way on a one-way street. Pulling into the casino parking lot, Jake tuned off his lights and got out of the car. Looking at the casino, he noticed its bright neon sign for the first time. It was a picture of a man in surf trunks with a large rounded wooden mask breathing fire. Yellow neon words flashed above it: "Tikki Hotel and Casino".
Walking through the front door, he was greeted by a menagerie of slot machines and gaming tables. The room was decorated with various stuffed aquatic animals on the walls and small grove of palm trees in every corner. The roof was painted black and had hundreds of small bulbs in it simulating the night sky. The gaming tables were made out of old surfboards with the fins taken off.
Two girls dressed in grass skirts met him at the door. "Welcome to the Tikki Hotel and Casino," they smiled broadly. "My name is Drew, and this is Jennifer." Drew's grass skirt hung just past her knees. She was wearing a tight blue Hawaiian shirt with yellow floral print that she had tied in a knot at her waist showing off her trim stomach. She had Asian features as well as straight black hair and sparkling blue eyes. Jennifer was similarly dressed, except that she had two flowers tucked in her short brown hair. Both girls produced a plastic Hawaiian Leigh from behind their backs, leaned forward and slid them around Jake's neck. "We are here to help our guests. What can we do for you tonight?"
"I'm staying here in the hotel. I have reservations. Can you girls point me to the reservations desk?" Jake was enjoying the attention from two very attractive women.
The two girls looked at each other seemingly disappointed that he wasn't there just to gamble. Drew pointed across the casino. "Walk straight that way," she said, the sexy tones gone from her voice. "There's a big sign. You can't miss it."
Before he could say thanks the two girls had already turned and were talking to another couple that had just entered the casino. What a strange city. Lifting up his suitcase, Jake began to walk across the room. Weaving his way through the various people and tables, he finally arrived at the registration desk. Walking up to one of the receptionists, he immediately sat his bag down and waited for service.
"How can I help you?" The young man behind the desk asked. He didn't seem old enough to drive, let alone be in a casino.
"My name is Jake Silver. I have reservations," he handed the man his identification.
"Okay, let me check my computer real quick." Jake watched as the boy's fingers flew over the keys. It was only seconds before the information was being displayed on the screen, "Ah, yes. Mr. Silver. I have you right here. You will be staying in room 212." Tearing off a sheet of paper that had been printing next to him, he handed it to Jake with a pen. "I'll just need your signature and we'll be ready to go."
Jake lifted the pen and hastily signed his name. He was eager to make it to his room and rest. "There you go." He handed the piece of paper back to the clerk.
"Okay, here's your key." He handed Jake what looked like a credit card. "All you have to do is slide it through—"
"I know how to use a key card," Jake interrupted rudely. He resented the fact that every teenager that saw him assumed that he didn't know how to program his VCR, let alone use a key card.
"Okay. Then let me tell you about the continental breakfast and the swimming pool."
"No thanks," Jake cut in. "Which way to the elevators?"
The clerk pointed to his right.
"Thanks." Heading straight for the elevators he punched the 'up' button and waited for the elevator to slide down. He watched the glowing lights above the doors quickly count down, and the doors finally slide open. Stepping on, Jake jabbed the button for the second floor and watched as the door began to whisk shut.
"Hold the elevator please!"
He quickly pressed his hand against the door to keep it open. Peering outside, he saw a tall brunette woman running toward him.
She jumped into the elevator just as Jake closed the door. "Thanks. Most people wouldn't hold the door." Her long brown hair was streaked with blonde highlights that accented her green eyes. She was dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a dark gray shirt. The two stood in the elevator for a moment in silence. Turning, she reached her hand out to Jake, "Hi. My name is Anne."
Jake took her hand and shook it. "Mine's Jake."
"Where you headed Jake?" She had a smooth and soft voice.
"Just up to my room to catch a little nap. Been a long day." He lifted his head to watch the display above the doors counted up to the second floor.
"I hear that. I've been on my feet all day long." A small bell chimed and the elevator's doors began to slide open.
Jake extended his hand. "It was nice meeting you Anne. I hope we see each other again."
Shaking his hand she gave him a smile, "Me too Jake."
Jake stepped out just as the elevator doors began to close. Shaking the stupid grin off of his face, he turned and looked down the long hall in front of him. The walls were decorated in much the same way as the casino. Turning to his right, he walked down the hall until he came across his room number. Sliding his key card into the lock, he heard the doors dead bolt slide out. Opening the door, he stepped in and shut the door.
* * * *
It was raining the day Christina decided to return to school. She had been gone for over two weeks now. Her mom had offered to give her a ride, so she wouldn't have to take the bus to school. Stepping out the front door of their house, Christina looked up at the dark gray skies as she felt the raindrops pelt her. I can't do this, she convinced herself. "Mom, I don't want to do this."
Susan Anderson had her long gray trench coat on as she stepped out of the house. She gave her daughter a quick glance. "Yes you can, Honey. I know you're stronger than this." The two huddled together in the doorway of the house. It provided a little shelter from the rain.
Christina was dressed entirely in black, against her mother's wishes. The black sweater she wore with her black jeans was the same one she had worn the day of the incident. She didn't know why she insisted on wearing that particular outfit. Maybe it was psychological, but more likely it was just a coincidence. Pulling her black leather jacket a little tighter around her shoulders, she stared at her mother. "The other kids are going to say things about me. Libby's already told me about some of the rumors that are circulating about me at school. I'm not ready. I need more time." She stuck her hands in her pockets.
"Christina Dee Anderson. I don't believe what I'm hearing."
Christina was shocked. Her mother hadn't used that tone with her since she was a little girl.
"Never in your life have you backed down from something," Susan continued, "don't let this be the first." She looked up into the rain as she considered her next line. "As for those kids," she shrugged, "who cares what they think? Only you and God know what really happened."
Christina knew that her mother didn't believe her story about the glowing blue object. She needed more of an Earthly answer to satisfy her. She needed to see someone pay for this. "I know, Mom. I'm just scared, I guess."
Wrapping her arms around Christina, she gave her a big hug. "You're gonna be just fine."
"Yeah, you're probably right," Christina conceded. She didn't know how, but mothers always had a way of making problems seem a lot smaller than they actually were.
"All right. On the count of three, we run for the car, okay?"
Christina smiled, "ready."
"Okay." Both women leaned over like sprinters in the one hundred meter dash. "One ... two ... three!"
They took off towards the car that was parked in the driveway. Stepping in a puddle along the way, Christina accidentally splashed her mom. Christina stopped and laughed as her mom tried vainly to wipe the water off her coat.
"Now you did it, girl!"
With a big smile the two began to splash each
other with water. Finally climbing into the car, the two were soaked to the bone. This was the first time that they had laughed together since the "incident". Both realized it, and knew that they should cherish this moment. A bond between a mother and a daughter is a very special, and unique thing.
Leaning over Christina hugged her mom. "I love you Mom."
"I know Sweetie. I love you too." She ran her hand over her daughter's wet hair trying to comfort her, "Everything's going to be all right."
* * * *
Jake woke in the same place he had fallen asleep. Face down on the bed with all of his clothes still on. Sitting up in bed, he glanced at the clock on his nightstand. It was closing in on 9 am. Finally deciding to get up, he pulled off his leather jacket and laid it on the bed next to him. He hadn't really had a chance to look around his room last night. Taking a quick glance around, he surmised that his room could double as a surf shop. The headboard of the bed was made out of three interlocking surfboards. Two that stood vertically, and one that ran horizontally across the other two. A small shelf had been drilled out of the board. The rest of the bed frame was made out of faux bamboo poles. The room had a queen-sized bed in the middle with much of the same Hawaiian floral print on the sheets and bedspread that he had seen yesterday in the lobby. Across from the bed was a small dresser designed to make it look like it was built out of bamboo and leaves. In the corner was the door to the bathroom, and on the other side of the room was a small round table with a lamp and a phone on it. A small chair sat beside it. On the far wall there was a small window with the air conditioning unit right below it.
Tossing his suitcase on the bed, he unzipped the top and began to pull out clothes looking for his box of cigars. Pushing a dark green shirt to the left he saw the box. Lifting the box out of the suitcase, he opened the top drawer of the bamboo dresser and placed them inside. Turning back to the suitcase, he dipped his hand in again and pulled out his .45 and a case of shells. Placing them in the same drawer with the cigars, he slid the drawer closed.
