'Is that a threat?'
'Take it any way you like.'
Soldi busied himself with his pipe before he spoke. 'No one is above the law, Colonel. The brass will swear they never told you to do anything illegal; they will fry you without a qualm to protect themselves. If I were you I'd keep that fact firmly in mind.'
The colonel apparently decided to let Soldi have the last word.
The sergeant frisked each of the civilians while several of the other men went through the gear in the tents. After he had been searched, Professor Soldi took a seat on one of the camp stools. Dutch sat down beside him.
Rip found a seat in the sand beside Bill Taggart.
'You are welcome to accompany me, Professor,' the colonel said gruffly.
'I warn you,' Soldi replied. He raised his voice. 'I warn all of you people. That artifact is protected by American and international law.'
'We'll be careful,' the colonel rumbled. He picked up one of the camp lanterns and marched away. Captain Pine followed.
Major Stiborek got slowly to his feet, massaging his rump. 'I owe you one, kid,' he told Rip and limped after the others.
The sergeant detailed three men to watch the civilians. He went into the darkness and came back in a few minutes driving a hummer. He parked it with the headlights pointed at the saucer.
'I guess we should have called your university yesterday,' Dutch said to Soldi.
'I suppose.' Soldi fussed over his pipe. When he had it going well, he muttered, 'Damnation,' so softly that Rip almost missed it.
The Air Force rigged lights. Soon the saucer was lit up like a museum exhibit.
'How did they find out about the saucer?' Soldi wondered aloud. 'What do you think, Rip?'
'Satellites, I suspect,' Haagen said. 'Or someone at your camp called someone. Does it matter?'
'I guess not.'
'Why does that guy owe you one?' Bill asked Rip.
'He got mouthy. I dumped him on his ass.'
One of the Air Force NCOs took a seat fifteen feet away facing them.
'What the hell is going on here?' Rip demanded of the NCO. 'Are we prisoners or what?'
'Can it, kid.'
Rip went into the tent and shook out his sleeping bag. Haagen came in after him. 'The officers will be right back,' Rip told him. 'Unless they can figure out how to open the hatch.'
'You closed it?'
'Yeah.'
'If we don't open the hatch for them, they might damage the saucer.'
'You're kidding!'
'They're going in one way or the other, I suspect. A detachment of U.S. Air Force people
'Okay, okay. But I found that saucer. It's mine.'
'Don't get cute with me, Rip. I'm no lawyer, but I don't think you have a claim. You don't even have a prayer. I don't think anybody knows exactly what country we're in.'
'I know this,' Rip Cantrell whispered heatedly. 'My father left me a quarter of a million dollars and a third interest in a farm in Minnesota. I've got an uncle in Des Moines who's a junkyard dog lawyer; his speciality is biting people on the ass. You'll need a rabies shot if Uncle Olie gets anywhere close. With dad's money and my uncle's mouth, I can cause the Air Force a hell of a lot of grief.'
'Hey, you!' they heard the major call.
'Yeah.' That was Bill Taggart outside.
'You know how to open the hatch on the saucer?'
'This is your show, flyboy. I don't know shit.'
Inside the tent, Haagen gestured with his thumb. 'Go open it for them, Rip. Stay with them, see if you can learn anything.'
Rip went. The major was standing outside near the camp stove.
'I can open that hatch, Big Mouth.'
'Come on, kid.'
He could feel Charley's eyes on his back as he crawled under the saucer and placed his hand on the hatch latch. He held it there for fifteen seconds or so, then pushed gently on one end. It moved out, and he grasped it and turned.
The hatch came open, just as it had that first time, several days ago.
The military officers sat stunned, amazed. Without a word Rip climbed into the ship and seated himself in the pilot's chair. He was sitting there when Colonel West stuck his head through the hatch. The glare of the floodlights outside through the pilot's canopy was the only light in the interior. It took several seconds for one's eyes to adjust to the dim lighting.
West stood in the open hatch blinking and gawking. He looked all around, then slowly climbed in. Behind him came Major Stiborek, then Charley Pine.
'Oh,' she murmured when she got her first good look at the interior. She climbed all the way in, then stood near the open hatch. 'Oh, my!'
'It's really cool, huh?' Rip said softly, watching the expression on her face.
'A real… flying… saucer!'
'They don't make 'em like this anymore,' Rip said expansively, once again running his eyes around the instrument panel. With his hands he caressed the controls, fingered them gently, molded his hands around them.
'Unbelievable!' Charley said again and stepped over beside him.
'It's mine, you know,' he said.
She didn't reply, just stood looking.
Behind her the colonel and major were touching and feeling. They peered into the equipment bay with flashlights, then stuck their heads in. They weren't paying any attention to Rip or Pine.
'And I'm going to keep it,' Rip said softly.
He sat in the pilot's seat listening to the exclamations and startled comments. All three of them crowded into the equipment bay, which had just enough excess room to accommodate them. They quickly figured out what the nuclear reactor was. They were musing about what fuel the ship might use when Colonel West stuck his head out of the equipment bay, glared at Rip, then told him in no uncertain terms to leave.
Reluctantly, Rip climbed out of the pilot's seat and exited the hatch. The colonel was right behind him, calling for one of the enlisted men to bring a video camera and radiation detector.
Rip wandered slowly back toward camp. He paused halfway and seated himself in the dirt.
The saucer looked stark under the lights. Had he done the right thing by uncovering it?
After a bit, exhaustion overtook him. It had been a long day.
He struggled to his feet, then went directly to the tent he shared with Dutch and Bill. They were still seated with the professor outside by the lanterns.
As Rip was getting into his sleeping bag, he overheard the professor ask, 'Just who is that kid, anyway?'
'He was one of two hundred applicants for this job,' Dutch replied. 'My boss picked his application out of the pile. He could finish his engineering degree in one semester, but I think he's going to stretch it into two.'
'Most of the time I think he is just what he appears,' Soldi said thoughtfully, 'a kid in blue jeans with a dirty T-shirt. Then there are moments when I think he is brilliant.'
'Rip works real hard to appear normal,' Dutch said. 'But he's a straight-A engineering student with a genius IQ. And he may be the smartest man I ever met.'
Inside the tent Rip Cantrell snorted in derision. He pulled a pillow over his head and promptly went to sleep.
