In Situ (22 page)

The
lead pilot gestured to Tom to follow him, then rolled his F-22 slowly to the left. Tom knew it was likely he would be shot down if he did not comply immediately and follow the fighter out of the restricted air space, but then he would never get back in and he would never get to Alex. He pulled the throttle back on the Stearman, trying to lose a little altitude, and kept the plane on course for the runway where he had seen the Chinook land. He was almost there, another three minutes or so. The engine sputtered once, trying to find the rest of the fuel in the tanks. Tom felt to make sure that his parachute was firmly attached, and hoped to hell that Matt knew how to properly pack one.

The F-22 returned, flying closer to Tom’s wing, only forty or fifty feet between the pilot and himself.
The pilot had pushed back his visor, and was giving Tom a very unpleasant look. Tom could tell that this was his last and final warning. He checked altitude. They were only at about a thousand feet. If he jumped he would barely have time to get his chute opened before he hit the ground. Perfect, he thought. As the F-22 again eased left, Tom popped the throttle on the Stearman, pushed the nose up slightly, and proceeded to barrel roll until the little biplane was flying perfectly upside down. “Sorry Matt,” Tom said as he released his seat belt and immediately fell away. The second he was clear he pulled the rip cord and heard the distinctive sound of a missile firing. He looked up just in time to see his airplane disintegrate into a fire ball. Tom covered his face and hoped that none of the debris would hit his chute and start it on fire.

Tom
was very low when his parachute finally shook itself open, barely a hundred feet over some portion of the airstrip. The parachute was an old round para-commander version which tended to land hot, so Tom prepared. His legs hit the ground hard, but he was able to roll out and stop without any major injury.

Across the runway in the distance, he could see flashing lights of security vehicles racing across the asphalt bearing down on him. Back
in the other direction, some of the wreckage of Matt’s old biplane burned along the edge of the field.

“Boy
, am I in trouble,” was all Tom could think to say.

“So, Dr. Moss, we meet again,” Batter said smiling, enjoying the pure pleasure of just looking at her, even with the rage burning in her deep green eyes. I know she hates me now, but we are going to be down here for a long time. Who knows, he thought mischievously. “Trust me when I say this, I am personally very happy to see you alive, Doctor. Until your telephone call, well,” he held up both hands.

“Where’s Mot?” she snapped back.

*

Alex
had remained silent as Dr. Pete Wilson and Batter escorted her from the Chinook’s landing area to a large hangar. Inside, trucks were rolling in and out delivering supplies to a bank of giant elevators that lined one entire wall. They boarded one of them, and began a descent that took several minutes to reach the bottom. Pete then led them through a series of wide corridors, busy with hundreds of people and small electric vehicles loaded with equipment. Eventually, they arrived in an area that transitioned from some very utilitarian back areas to a long section of wood veneered hallways with very formal office spaces. Pete had dismissed himself and disappeared.

Alex eventually found
herself seated in some kind of conference room furnished with a beautiful and very long mahogany table surrounded by sixteen black leather chairs. Three of the walls were full of flat screens that were dark at the moment. On the fourth wall, a very nice map of the world was hung as the apparent centerpiece. As Alex looked around, it reminded her of what she had always imagined one of those secret command posts would look like. Her head still hurt and she was rubbing her wrists where they had been tied. She and Batter were the only ones in the room, and she wondered what he could possibly be up to. Her intention was to find out first, what they were doing with Mot, and second, why she was there.

*

“
Alright, Batter, where is Mot?” she asked again.

“Pardon me?” Batter asked, momentarily preoccupied with a file he was examining
.

“Where is… my specimen?”

“Oh yes, him,” Batter finally looked up. “
He
is in a very safe and secure area, I can assure you, Doctor.”

“Listen
, Batter, I don’t have time to play games here,” Alex said, annoyed. “When that animal wakes up and finds himself in unfamiliar surroundings anything could happen. I need to be there.”

“I understand
, Doctor,” Batter said, placing the file on the table, finally giving her his full attention. “I assure you I did not bring you here to play any sort of games. If you wish, think of it as an effort on my part to actually save you. We are going to be spending a lot of time together, and I wanted to give you the opportunity to fully understand the situation. I intend to put you with the creature the moment we are done here,” he added, in an attempt to diffuse her anger.

Alex relaxed a bit. “Save me? What are you talking about?” she asked, now totally confused.

“In just a few hours, this room will be occupied by no less than the President of the United States and most of his cabinet,” Batter continued patiently, falsifying the facts only slightly. “Additionally, I have a current count of forty two senators and about three hundred and ninety representatives who will be arriving here shortly along with most of the members of the Supreme Court. The rest of them, unfortunately, were too busy or irresponsible to heed a direct order from the Executive Office. And my office for that matter,” he added as an afterthought.

Alex just looked at him, as confused as ever.

Batter hesitated, changing direction slightly, “I am sure, Doctor, that you are well aware that Area 51 has been, among other things, a research center for some time. What you may not be aware of is the fact that a large part of it has also been set up as an ARC, just like the site in Utah. This particular ARC is designated for the President, the Judiciary, and most of the rest of the government of the United States, as well as some intelligence personnel, such as some of my staff, and well, you get the picture.”

Alex looked around the room.

“I know. It leaves one speechless.” Batter bent forward and lowered his tone. “Now, Doctor, let me give you the most classified information of all. Can you imagine why the President would be coming here?” Vice President—actually—Batter thought sadly, still choosing not to share that information.

Alex shook her head.

“Of course not, because the whole idea of it is just as impossible as those creatures down the hall.” Batter paused a moment, as if he were trying to get his own arms around what he was about to say. “Because, Doctor—and you should be one of the few people on the planet really familiar with this due to your knowledge of the K-T event-because, Doctor,” he repeated, “we believe that an asteroid of similar magnitude to the K-T is about to strike the earth. Two of them, in fact, to be more precise.”

Alex figured that Batter could be a pretty good liar when he needed to be
, but her gut told her he wasn’t lying about this. What purpose would it serve? She sat and looked at him for a long time, trying to evaluate him and his message. She wondered if she was beginning to be able to read human minds as well. “When?” was all she could think of to say. And had she missed something, or had Batter said
those
creatures—plural?

Batter nodded to the wall behind Alex and pushed a button on a remote control. A large digital clock came up on one of the screens. Alex turned in her chair.

27:31:43

The seconds were ticking away. She swung her chair back and faced him. “You do realize that the K-T asteroid caused a blast
something equivalent to 100 teratonnes of TNT? That is the equivalent of about one billion Nagasaki atom bombs going off at once.”

“Yes,
Doctor, I am well aware of the scale of the effects,” Batter said, trying not to sound patronizing.

There was a sharp knock at the door and it opened. A young officer entered and spoke into Batter’s ear.

Batter laughed, “Well, this just gets better and better.”

“What do you mean?” Alex asked,
unable to imagine humor in anything at the moment.

“Your
former
husband is here—just dropped in so to speak.” Batter laughed again then sobered when he realized that the irony of Tom’s sudden appearance was funny only to him. “Seems Mr. Hancock was concerned enough about your wellbeing that he deserted his post at Utah to come and find you here. I’m not particularly happy about it, but I would imagine that you should take it as a big compliment, Dr. Moss, since what he did is tantamount to treason.”

Alex looked at Batter, but she found herself, once again speechless. Tom
here? The world about to end? Treason? And God only knew where Mot was.

“Not to worry, Doctor,” Batter continued, “I am not planning on charging him
at the moment. In fact, I am having him brought down with practically a hero’s welcome to see you now. In the meantime, would you like to hear about the other Arzat?”

*

It seemed a miracle but the security guards had not shot Tom when they finally caught up to him. He knew that if he were in charge of the base’s security, he would have given the order himself. Hell, he thought, I would have had that F-22 blow me out of the sky the minute I entered airspace.

Tom
had untangled himself from the parachute as quickly as possible and stood on the runway with his hands held high as two trucks filled with security guards sped out to meet him. The guards poured out of the vehicles, forming a nearly perfect circle of assault rifles around him. Tom was very careful and had followed their instructions to the letter. He invoked the name Batter enough times that he felt confident someone would alert the old man. He was now fairly certain they would at least hold their fire until Batter weighed in.

Nonetheless, he had been blindfolded and handcuffed
, and pushed and shoved around a bit. Tom was transported across the airfield, and then he was aware of being put on an elevator. After a long downward ride, he had walked for quite a while. Eventually, when his escorts finally decided to lift his blindfold, Tom found himself in a hallway that looked like it belonged in a posh lawyer’s office. One of the men removed his handcuffs and opened a door, waving him in with a disapproving look. When he entered, he found Alex sitting there waiting for him.

She stood up when she saw him, shocked by his appearance. “Jesus
, Tom, what the hell happened to you?” His face was almost black from oil, with the exception of where his goggles had been, and there was a cut on his forehead that was bleeding slightly. He looked like a raccoon that just had the shit kicked out of him.

“Well
, I don’t suppose that’s the very nicest way you could

greet
me after all I have been through to get here,” he said.

There was
some humor left in him, Alex noted, which meant he was probably OK.

Tom didn’t care
about the comment, he was so happy to see Alex alive he hugged her and kissed her profusely.

To her surprise, Alex kissed him back just as passionately,
then gently pushed him away, holding him by the arms. “We’ve got a lot to talk about.”

She spent the next half an hour recounting the entire series of events since Tom left her in the caves
, including Batter’s recent revelation about the asteroids and the two Arzats. The story was so unbelievable that Alex had to repeat parts of it patiently, some several times, until Tom fully understood her—particularly the news about the asteroids. He sat across from her amazed.

“Sounds like we need to go find Mot and Ara,” he said when she was finally finished.

Pete had gone back to Ara’s compound after leaving Batter and the stunning Dr. Moss. After meeting Alex, he no longer had any doubts why Batter had taken such an interest in her. The discovery that she was alive
, and the even bigger discovery about the male Arzat she had found were simply incredible. Asked even a few days before, he might have even said, “impossible.” No more. Pete still wondered how his team could have missed Mot’s sarcophagus. Under normal circumstances, there would have been some unpleasant meetings with them regarding the oversight, and someone would have been reprimanded, or worse. Given the present situation, there was no point. Pete was well aware of the fact that most of his staff would not be invited into the ARC, which was very disturbing.

While the discovery of a second Arzat had been surprising, the fact that a team had been sent out to capture
it was not. Batter had correctly guessed that Alex had been assisted out of the caves. How he had figured that out was a mystery to Pete, although the resurrection of Ara might have tipped Batter to the possibility. The man was that intelligent. And of course, even though there was only a short time left before the first impact, it was no surprise to him that Batter would have followed protocol and ordered both the Arzat and Dr. Moss brought in. The situation in the world was tenuous enough without taking the chance that a creature such as Mot would become public. Perhaps, Pete thought, without much hope, the asteroid will miss altogether, and Batter’s decision will prove to be monumentally correct. As it stood now, it didn’t seem to matter much.

So, on what should have been yet another of the most amazing days in his scientific career
, Pete found himself hopelessly depressed. The condition was made worse by the fact that he could never remember being in such a state in his entire life. He knew that he needed to go in and see Ara, but he was worried that he would be unable to hide the truth from her about their fate. He did his best to shake off his concern as he prepared to face her.

Pete’s staff had alerted him that Ara had been sleeping and then suddenly awoke. The timing had coincided exactly with the other Arzat’s arrival
in the complex. She had been pacing her compound since. Ara had not chosen to attempt to communicate directly with anyone other than Pete, so they were left to guess about what was obviously bothering her until Pete returned.

“Be careful
, Doctor,” Paula cautioned him as she opened the door for him. “She seems to be very upset.”

“Well, at least I have some semi-good news for her,” he replied as he walked in.

Ara stopped pacing and faced Pete, her reptilian eyes narrowing. “There is another,” she said, with a note of accusation, the skin on the back of her neck flaring.

“That is what I have come here to tell you.” Pete said, as calmly a
s possible. He was not worried-even Ara knew that there was no way he could lie to her without being detected. “He just arrived here, Ara, and I only learned of his existence since we last spoke.”

“He?” she asked, with a tinge of hope that Pete could not help but notice.

“Yes, according to the female that found him, it is Mot. Did you know?”

Ara did not answer immediately. She stood staring at Pete, thinking. It is true!
Mot son of Url! Oh Great Creator! “I can feel his presence. I can sense him. He is close by. I should be able to speak to him but for some reason I cannot. He must be asleep the same way I was put to sleep. This would prevent me from being able to reach his mind,” she said. “Therefore, I could not be certain.”

“
Well, Mot is close by and you will see him soon,” Pete said calmly, trying to reassure her. “I understand he was sedated for his own protection, Ara, but we will be reviving him shortly. When we do, I am sure he will be as happy to see you as you will be to see him.”

Ara sat
down on the floor. She suddenly had become quite calm, her stunning mantle folded neatly back into place. Pete had noticed that when Ara was agitated in any way, she would squat on her haunches like a Sumo wrestler; when calm, she would completely sit down on the floor and cross her legs. She beckoned Pete to sit with her.

Pete was hesitant, but he joined her and sat down close, crossing his own legs in the same fashion.

The Arzat looked deeply into Pete’s eyes, her pupils dilating. “It is good to tell the truth, isn’t it Pete son of Robert?”

“Yes,” Pete repl
ied, curious about the question, worried about where the conversation would go.

“In my culture, telling an
untruth is referred to as an atrocity. Our word for atrocity is mata. Do you have such a term, Pete?”

Pete thought for a moment.
“I suppose we would call it a sin.”

“I have co
mmitted such a thing, Pete, this sin, as you would call it.”

Pete’s heart began to beat harder. What was she getting at?

“You could not have known. Arzats communicate very carefully and are skilled at blocking out any thought they do not wish to reveal. Unfortunately, you do not yet possess these abilities and my curiosity overcame me the last time we met.” Ara paused, ashamed, and took a deep breath. “I have looked deeply inside your mind, Pete. I have seen you as a child and as a young male. I have seen your family and even the small animal you care for. It is not right that I did this, but I now know almost everything that you do Pete. At least, most everything that is on the surface of your consciousness. I am sorry, but I felt the need to fully understand the situation.”

Pete was awestruck. How was one to reply? Anythi
ng he might say now she was probably already aware of. It suddenly occurred to him that Ara must know about the asteroid.

“Yes
, Pete, I also know about the great rock.”

Pete looked into her eyes as if he were seeing the magnificence of them for the first time. They were golden, with
flecks of blue and yellow like shining jewels. They actually sparkled. He knew that she was a very young female, but, as with some humans, she was very mature despite her age. Ara blinked, and Pete was almost certain he could detect a tear. “So you know about
everything
?” he asked.

“I know that our prospects for survival in here are small and outside they are nonexistent.
At least, that is what you believe. I even contemplated trying to escape before I sensed Mot’s presence here in this place. But what purpose would it serve? I am afraid that all of our fates look sadly alike, Pete son of Robert. It is an unfortunate turn of events that I should be reawakened to a second chance at life only to have it stolen away. Especially,” she said wistfully, “now that Mot is known to be alive, as well.”

“Ara, I will do everything I can for you
… and for Mot,” Pete said, knowing that Ara would fully appreciate the sincerity with which he was saying it.

“I am sure you will
, Pete son of Robert, but in this matter—how is it you would say—the handwriting is on the wall, and I find myself, once again, helplessly in the hands of the Great Creator.”

Pete lowered his head. Yes
, Ara the Wise, he thought, you are quite correct. We are, all of us, helplessly in the hands of the Great Creator. “I wish there was something I could do.”

“You can. I wish to see Mot.”