Diablo Mesa(87)

“Just what do you have in mind?”

“The colonel made us an offer. We need to consider it.” She then leaned over for a brief, affirming hug, then whispered ever so quietly in his ear: “They’re listening and watching, of course.”

Tappan nodded. He said, “I’m pretty sure he’s going to kill us, no matter what we do.”

“Maybe not.”

“Explain.”

“This organization operates way under the radar,” Nora said. She wondered if Tappan was going to understand and follow her lead in pretending to cooperate, to buy them some time.

“Yeah. They probably killed Bitan ‘under the radar,’ too.”

“The point is, they don’t go around announcing their presence. They don’t act hastily. We’ve been digging for, what, two weeks now? They must have been monitoring us the whole time. They only acted when their backs were against the wall, and we were about to make a shattering discovery. They’re cautious, methodical.”

Tappan shook his head vigorously. Nora persisted. “They’re not going to suddenly break profile and wipe us all out.”

“And you know this how?” Tappan waved a hand vaguely toward the cell door. “You’ve seen their reach. You’ve seen their resources. Sure—and once we’ve told Rush what we know, he’ll kill us.”

“I don’t think so. In some ways they’re as much in the dark as we are—about us, I mean, and how wide the circle of knowledge has grown. Remember that practically the colonel’s first question to you was: Who else knows about this? But he also said we could be valuable to his organization.”

“If he thinks I’m going to jump through hoops for him, after what he’s done, he can go fuck himself.”

Nora paused. She still wasn’t sure where Tappan was coming from. But a further whispered confab would be disastrous. Without doubt, they were being watched as well as listened to.

“We’re not going to jump through hoops. But we have to consider his offer.”

“Why?”

“Why?” Nora laughed. “Because it just might save the lives of others, that’s why! Think of it from Rush’s point of view. You own Icarus Space Systems and half the wind turbines in North America. You’ve got plenty of resources—in certain areas, I’ll bet more than they’ve got. That gives you leverage. And it gives Rush a huge incentive to recruit you.”

“I don’t sense any shortage of resources around here.”

“Hasn’t it struck you how huge this place is—yet how empty it seems?”

“Yeah. All their double-O agents are out, shooting everybody who knows or might know anything.”

Nora shook this away. “No. They’re clearly not the kind to go off half-cocked. Rush spoke of an organization at war. But where’s his army? I’m betting they had a much easier time getting recruits in 1947 than they do now. Think about it: countless soldiers recently demobilized from World War Two; the Cold War and its attendant paranoia ramping up; patriotism at an all-time high. Do you think it surprising almost all the sci-fi movies from that period featured evil, destructive aliens?” She paused. “Things are different today. Our fears have changed. But they haven’t.”

“So do you buy what they say?” Tappan asked. “About these aliens preparing to attack the planet?”

Nora wished she could be sure Tappan understood she was playing for time—a charade she was putting on for their eavesdroppers. “He mentioned documentary evidence, and he seemed willing to show it to us. He’s sincere. We need to see this evidence.”

“Okay,” Tappan replied after a silence. “What you say makes sense. We owe it to ourselves to see just why he’s so convinced Earth is in danger. We owe it to science.” Suddenly, he took Nora’s face in both hands. “And, now that I think about it, cooperation sure beats the alternative.” He kissed her. “You’re one hell of a woman, you know that? Just please don’t ever hit me like that again.”

“I promise,” she said.

Footsteps in the hall…and with a turning of a lock, the two quickly separated. The door opened onto the same two heavily armed guards that had brought them to the cell. Silently, they gestured for Nora and Tappan to stand and step out into the cell block. Then, one in front and the other bringing up the rear, as before, they led Nora and Tappan back in the direction from which they’d come. But this time, they walked past the heavy door and farther along the wide corridor, to a set of doors larger than all the others. The label 019 was stenciled on them in large white digits. This time, the soldiers did not open the doors themselves; one covered the two prisoners while the other entered a number on a keypad. The huge doors whispered back to reveal an echoing hangar. Prodded by the soldiers, Nora stepped forward, began to look around—and then caught her breath in numb disbelief.





58



THE FENCE LOOMED out of the darkness, concertina wire at the top gleaming faintly against the stars. They moved up to it silently, pausing to look around, Corrie scanning for signs of security cameras. She could see none. The fence itself looked decrepit and rusty, but on closer inspection the dilapidation proved superficial. Battered NO TRESPASSING and DANGER: HIGH VOLTAGE signs were attached to it at regular intervals. Beyond, she could see the shadowy outlines of ruined buildings.