Ryan and Mendenhall to the small town below to assist the air force in their drops.
'Thank the Chiefs for me, sir. We'll definitely need them as we don't exactly know what we'll run into down there, and I also suspect we'll find other points where the animal has entered and exited the earth, like out at'--he looked at his notes--'this Tahchako ranch that was hit last night and a few others that were also struck. We may have to break our geology and tunnel specialists into groups and divide a serious amount of security around them.'
'What about secrecy matters at this point, Major?'
'Well, it shouldn't pose a problem due to the fact that they'll be led by actual military line officers from the Event Group. No need in telling them anything more about our little complex under Nellis. Also I have requested air cover for the valley until my teams can get into action, just in case the animal comes shallow before we're ready. Also, after they come in contact with the animal, Niles and the senator suggested not disclosing the animal's origin to the troops outside of the Group. We'll just say it is an engineered species.'
The president turned and conferred with General Maxwell Hardesty, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 'Can you take care of the air request, General?'
The air force general grimaced. 'Yes, sir, air won't be a problem. The town will be secured by a company from the 101st Airborne. They will also control access to the town; we are now in the process of shutting the door with the cover story. As the major stated, the 101st need not know about the nature of the agency leading them, and they have already signed secrecy and disclosure papers. Also I already have a fighter element in the air that will be on station over the valley momentarily.'
'Very good, it's a start,' said the president.
'What was the other item at the crash site, Major?' someone out of view of the camera's lens asked.
'Who is it I am addressing, sir?'
'This is Director Godlier of Central Intelligence.'
'Well, Mr. Director, we have footprints. They were obviously made by a man likely arriving sometime after the crash as the prints are recent. We believe he may have possibly helped the surviving crewman, if there was one, escape the area.'
The president looked around him, then at Collins two and a half thousand miles away. 'Then we may have caught a break?'
. 'Yes, sir, this man may have been of some assistance to the survivor. We do suspect the crewman may have been injured because of the severity of the crash, but of course we would only be guessing at the extent of that injury or injuries.'
'Very well, keep us informed.' The president hesitated a moment. 'Major, here is what we have done on our end. If our teams fail to contain the animal, I suspect we'll have a full-scale war on our hands that we can't keep from the American public. The Eighty-second Airborne is now on alert and already in transit for positioning in either Phoenix or El Paso in case the animal escapes containment. The Fourth Marine Expeditionary Force is on alert for possible action in Los Angeles and the bulk of Southern California. Fort Hood has been alerted and elements of armor CAV are being loaded onto trains as we speak to block any possible movement north into Colorado. That's it, Major, I'm afraid, as the general said, we are spread thin. So try and come up with a plan that will utilize those men we can get to that valley, and for God's sake, contain whatever this thing is.' The view of the president and the Situation Room blacked out.
On the other side of the split screen, Niles looked grave.
'How is the senator?' Jack asked Niles as he tossed his Kevlar helmet to Everett, who had stepped out of the mess tent.
'Alice is with him at the center's clinic. He's due to be transferred upstairs to the Nellis base hospital in a while.'
'Not good then?' Jack asked.
'No, I'm afraid not.'
'Niles, we need to speed things up. Besides the special material I've requested from the private sector'--Jack looked at his notes again--'Dr. Gilliam here at the site has asked for a connection to be made to Helicos BioSciences in Cambridge. They have a high-speed DNA sequencer they've been working on that just may fit the bill here to get a firm grasp on this animal. She says our portable stuff is prehistoric when compared to what Helicos has in the works.'
'I'll get on it right away'
Niles saw Josh Crollmier approach Jack from the side and tug on his sleeve, pulling him away from the camera. Compton looked at Alice in confusion as the voices off camera were muffled. But he was pretty sure it was Crollmier, speaking rather adamantly. He could also hear other members of the ground team shouting and carrying on. Suddenly an ashen-faced Collins stepped back into camera view. He ran a hand through his hair again and looked into the lens.
'What now, Jack?' Niles asked.
Jack once again focused on the camera. Others around the site stopped and watched him, eavesdropping for any information they could get. Collins reached out and snatched something from Crollmier and held it up. It was a piece of wreckage.
'The doc here says we have a problem. He says we don't have the wreckage of one saucer here, we have two. Ryan's Phoenix missile must have caused the attacking craft catastrophic damage, enough to bring it down right next to the other ship.'
Niles sat hard on the edge of the conference table.
TWENTY-SIX
Julie placed the plate of scrambled eggs in front of Billy as he pulled the napkin from the bar and placed it on his lap. He looked at the eggs and bacon without much enthusiasm as he yawned.
'Man, that sure smells good.'
Billy turned and saw two men standing there. Juan and Carmella Lopez, his mother's cleaning people, were still in the midst of vacuuming and washing the last of Saturday night's dirty dishes. They went stock-still, looking at the two newcomers. One was a small, dark-haired man and the other a big black fellow who stood ramrod straight and smiling. They were dressed totally in black, weapons holstered across their chests and black helmets under their arms.
'Can I help you?' Julie asked suspiciously as she placed a knife and fork in front of her son.
'Well, ma'am, you can if you can serve us what that young gentleman is having,' the smaller of the two said as he removed a pair of black gloves.
Julie gave the two men the once-over. They were dirty and, of all things, wore black nylon jumpsuits. Her eyes traveled to the black boots and bloused pants. As she watched, the small man unsnapped his body armor from his chest.
'This is Sunday, we're closed until noon, I'm sorry.'
The small man looked around and saw the two cleaning people, then smiled and winked at them. 'Yes, ma'am, that's exactly what the sign said in the window. But the sergeant and I would forever be in your debt if you could give us something that's not freeze-dried and full of sand.'
'Marines?' she asked, noticing the word
'Not on your life, ma'am,' the taller, black man said, not smiling a bit.
'Special Operations Group, Mrs....?' the smaller of the two started to ask.
She watched the two men for a moment, seeing the dirty faces around clean spots where goggles had previously been. She knew they had come in from the desert, because her son always had the same dirty face after riding around in the scrub.
'You don't look too special to me, and it's Ms.'
The man stepped to the bar and looked at the boy, then down at his plate of food. 'Hi, there, my name's
