The disclosure protocol, p.24
The Disclosure Protocol, page 24
part #8 of Warner & Lopez Series
‘The place is called Brainwash Butte,’ Kyle said from the rear seat of the car. ‘It’s as close as we can get on public land to the airbase and have a clear line of sight.’
Ethan knew from dead reckoning that they were at least twenty miles from the airbase, but with the clear desert air and the high peaks to observe from, it was likely that they would have a perfect view of the base from even this far out. Desert antelope dashed across the desert nearby, and Ethan had glimpsed one or two hawks wheeling on the last of the thermals spiralling up from the desert, but other than that there was absolutely no sign of life.
It took another hour of rough driving on ancient dirt tracks to make it to the foot of the hills, where the terrain was far too tough for anything but the best off-road vehicles to negotiate. Ethan pulled up, killed the engine and got out, grabbing the back packs and water canisters they’d bought before leaving Tonopah. The surrounding hills were now enshrouded in darkness, the first faint stars twinkling like jewels above them.
‘Aren’t the military going to be watching us?’ Lopez asked as she slipped a backpack onto her shoulders. ‘They’re all over Groom Lake.’
Kyle shook his head as he hoisted two cameras from the trunk and checked them over.
‘This base is run by the Department of Energy, not the Air Force. Sure, the security is tight, but they rely on disinterest rather than overt muscle to keep the public out. That said, if we wandered across the perimeter we’d be toast.’
Ethan had only had a few spare minutes to research this most mysterious of locations, and as a result his knowledge was sparse and his nerves on edge. This wasn’t a place to get caught out for all kinds of reasons. If elements of the military were intent on killing them, high desert such as this was the perfect place to commit the crime. Hikers, tourists and other unwary travellers were often lost out here to rockfalls, dehydration, sunstroke, snakebites and other hazards that could easily be claimed to have taken their lives. That, of course, assumed that their bodies would ever be found. Nobody knew that they were out here, nobody travelled out here but for UFO fanatics and the Shoshone and Southern Paiute tribes whose land the base happened to have been built on. Whether they had been driven out or not Ethan was unsure, but three desiccated corpses could lay out here for decades and never be found.
Ethan covered their car with a camouflage net that he’d purchased in Tonopah, one more usually used to conceal nature hides, and then they set off for the heights before the last of the remaining light faded from the western sky. Kyle led the way, apparently having been here before some years ago with friends whom Ethan figured must have shared an equally unsatisfying social life.
The hillside was steeper than he had expected, large boulders blocking many of the easier routes to the top. He could see in the fading light the occasional sign of vehicle tracks but many of them looked old and faint, as though nobody had travelled up here for a very long time.
‘This is the last time I agree to go wandering about in the wilderness,’ Lopez complained behind him. ‘You do realise that every time we do this, you’ve ended up getting us shot at?’
‘You say it like it’s my fault,’ Ethan replied.
‘I like to think they’re shooting at you, and I’m just in the wrong place at the wrong time.’
‘That’s what happened to Greg,’ Kyle pointed out.
‘Whose side are you on?’ Lopez uttered, apparently hurt.
Ethan said nothing as he climbed, following Kyle until they began to breach the summit. The sun had well and truly set by the time he saw a horizon before them again, the night sky glittering with a brilliant veil of stars so vivid it seemed he could reach up and pluck them with his hands.
‘Best night skies in the world out here,’ Kyle said as he saw Ethan looking up. ‘And the best view of ET central you’re ever going to get.’
As they crested the ridge so the deserts opened up before them in all their vastness, and at once Ethan could see a string of flickering lights nestled against the darkness of the mountains to the west.
The airbase looked surprisingly small from up here and so far away, but there was no doubting what it was. The runway was a long, thin line of lights while the buildings and hangars were illuminated by similar pin-prick lights. However, unlike a civilian airport there was no flood lighting of hangars and parking areas. The rest of the base was veiled in darkness and Ethan could see no movement of vehicles at all.
A rumble of thunder rattled the sky and the earth seemed to tremble beneath the blows. Ethan turned to see the thunderclouds looming over them, blocking out the stars as they advanced. A ripple of savage lightning illuminated their depths with vivid flashes of blue-white light that threatened the heavy weather that was to come. Ethan recalled Kyle mentioning that the Roswell event occurred during or after a major thunderstorm, and he guessed that the Hydra had brought them here to this airfield because of the significance of both the weather and the location of the airbase itself.
‘We’d better get set up,’ he said to Kyle. ‘We’ll need those covers for the cameras if it starts raining, and we’re sitting ducks up here for lightning strikes.’
Kyle nodded as he started unpacking the new cameras they’d obtained.
‘Don’t worry, we can set up the cameras and observe from somewhere a little safer on the hillside.’
With Lopez, they spent the next half an hour setting up the cell phone cameras, pointing them in the direction of Tonopah Test Range so that they covered a vast panorama of sky both above and to the sides of the airbase. With ultra-violet, infra-red and optical cameras in play, Ethan figured that if anything came buzzing through the area they could hardly fail to miss it.
Kyle Trent ran a data cable to each of the three cell phones and linked it to a small dish that he set up to point down the hillside. Ethan watched as the kid switched everything on, the dish designed to send the data directly to his laptop computer and an SSD drive that would both display and store every second of footage that they recorded. That way, if the cameras were damaged Kyle would still have a record of what they had seen. At the same time, the satellite phone would pick up the feed and transmit it live onto the Internet.
With everything set up, they turned and made their way off Brainwashe Butte just as the sky crackled and a savage flare of lightning split the heavens with a crash so loud that it reverberated through Ethan’s chest and he flinched instinctively. Lopez ducked and looked up at the turbulent sky above them, a roiling maelstrom of dark, tumbling clouds.
‘I’d be amazed if anything was flying around through that.’
Ethan was about to reply when something caught his eye. As a distant fork of lighting twisted across the sky to the south and cast blue light across the desert wastes, he saw a plume of dust moving toward them. Ethan froze, his eyes fixed on the convoy of vehicles moving across the desert without headlights.
‘We’ve got company.’
Kyle looked to the south and he panicked.
‘They’re here, they’ve come to shoot us, we have to get off the desert!’
‘Take it easy,’ Lopez replied. ‘We can get out of here before they get to us, they’re miles away.’
‘They were miles away when they shot Greg,’ Kyle complained, stumbling past her and taking off down the hillside. ‘I’m not gonna become their next victim!’
‘Kyle, wait!’
Lopez began running through the dark after Kyle. Ethan broke into a run to keep up with her and promptly bashed his knee against a boulder. He cursed, stumbling through the darkness and relying on the occasional flicker of lighting to illuminate the rocky hillside ahead of him.
Whoever was closing in on them would have IR cameras of their own, and though the hills currently shielded them from view as soon as they drove away from the site they would stick out like a beacon against the cold desert. Ethan knew that they had to get away from the cameras to draw attention away from them, but there were few places to hide out here and he didn’t doubt for a moment that their enemy would kill them if they caught up with them.
Ethan hurried in pursuit of Lopez and heard a scuffle ahead as the fleet-footed former police officer caught Kyle Trent with ease. Kyle cried out as Lopez twisted one of his arms up behind his back and pinned him against a boulder.
‘Ow, who’s side are you on?’
‘Yours,’ Lopez insisted, ‘and if you run now they’ll catch you within minutes. They’re in vehicles too, you know.’
Ethan jogged up to Lopez’s side and placed a reassuring hand on Kyle’s shoulder.
‘Running isn’t an option out here,’ he said. ‘We’ve got a few minutes before they arrive. We can plan an escape route into the hills to the east, sit tight there and see what happens.’
‘But they’ll find us,’ Kyle insisted.
‘Not if we’re careful,’ Ethan countered. ‘Only if we’re stupid and start panicking.’
Kyle looked at Ethan, and as another crack of thunder split the heavens he realised that there was no way he was going to survive on his own out here without them. He nodded, and Lopez released his arm.
Ethan turned to where he knew their vehicle was concealed somewhere in the darkness against the side of the hills.
‘Let’s get out of here before they arrive, and set up so we can see what those cameras of yours can see. Trust me, they won’t catch us.’
Kyle sighed, and reluctantly began walking through the darkness. Ethan followed with Lopez, and then the night turned to brilliant day as white lights flared painfully all around them. Ethan threw his hands up to protect his eyes, Lopez and Kyle doing the same. There was no noise, no nothing but the searing light right in front of them.
A series of shadowy figures surrounded them, indiscernible against the brilliant white lights, and for a moment Ethan wondered whether the UFO encounter they’d been hoping for was going to be a lot closer than they had bargained for.
From the brilliant light, a single figure emerged and moved toward them.
***
XLIII
Ethan tried to see the object that was lighting them up, and then he heard boots running and the unmistakeable sound of weapons being cocked. Ethan squinted into the light as the figure moved through the ring of its companions, coming to stand within a metre of them. Ethan saw a broad, craggy face, pale skin and cold, black eyes.
‘Ethan Warner,’ the figure said in a Russian accent, ‘Nicola Lopez and Kyle Trent. We meet at last.’
Vigor Vitesky stepped forward as the blinding lights of a row of vehicles behind him suddenly faded out and left them in absolute darkness. Ethan blinked, trying to get a look at the man confronting them. A flare of lighting danced across the horizon and Vigor’s pale, emotionless visage glared at them in silence as Kyle staggered back and tucked himself between Ethan and Lopez.
‘Y.., you’re Russian,’ Kyle stammered.
Vigor smiled, no warmth in his eyes as he stood with his hands behind his back.
‘I was told that you were smart,’ he uttered.
Thunder rolled across the deserts as though the gods were warring in the skies, and Ethan felt the first drops of rain on his skin.
‘Who are you?’ Ethan demanded. He could see that they were surrounded by armed men, and his only real hope was to appear unintimidated. ‘Where is Sophie?’
‘Mister Warner,’ Vigor turned to him. ‘What I want is only the very same thing that you want. We would very much like to share the technology that your clever young friend here has developed.’
‘It’s not for sale,’ Kyle snapped, apparently recovering his courage. ‘Not to Russia, anyway.’
Vigor raised an eyebrow.
‘Perhaps to your capitalist overlords in Washington then?’ he murmured. ‘Oh, but wait, they killed your friend and are currently hunting you down like a dog. Are you sure you want to risk dealing with them?’
Kyle hesitated in his response, but Ethan stepped forward. He felt certain that the Dugway teams had not shot Greg, but this man before him radiated the kind of fanatical devotion to Mother Russia that would think nothing of taking innocent lives.
‘How would you know anything about the death?’ he demanded. ‘And you’ve abducted an innocent girl! She’s seven years old for Christ’s sake.’
Vigor grinned.
‘We made it our business to know,’ he replied. ‘But as for a missing girl? Mister Warner, Miss Lopez, I know much of what you have done over the years, just as I know that half the people placed under your protection have died. Kyle Trent is not safe here, in fact he’s not safe anywhere in this country now. Kyle, Russia would welcome you with open arms if you were willing to come with us.’
Kyle almost laughed. ‘Why the hell would I do that?’
‘Because for the last seventy years or more your government has deliberately concealed from the American people the greatest secret of all time, the existence of other wordly beings that visit our planet. You, like so many others, are passionate about this revelatory knowledge because you believe that it will bring about a great change in the nature of humanity. So do I.’
Ethan peered at Vigor in silence, unsure of whether or not to believe him.
‘Kyle,’ Vigor entreated, ‘this is not about Russia, or America, or any other country on earth. It is not about governments or nations. It is about the spirit of humanity, of who we are and where we come from. Knowing, for sure, that we are not alone in the universe and that there are other species out there who may befriend us, or attack us, is the one thing that might just finally bring us together as the one species, the one brotherhood that we have always been.’
Ethan saw that Kyle was listening intently, his idealistic fervor sparked by the Russian’s impassioned entreaty.
‘We are brothers in the same fight,’ Vigor went on. ‘The time for disclosure has come and you and I both know it, Kyle. The world is more educated than it has ever been, poverty is at its lowest level since records began. Despite all of the wars and the suffering we see on the news we know that life is getting better for people with each passing year, each passing decade. We have orbital telescopes due to be launched soon that are so powerful they will be able to image individual planets around other stars. How long do you think it will be before one of those planets reveals itself to have oxygen in its atmosphere, or signs of industrial or technological presence on its surface? We are living in an age of discovery like no other Kyle, and it’s down to people like us to bring that knowledge to the people while we can.’
‘At the point of a gun?’ Ethan asked, gesturing around them.
Vigor smiled.
‘It is your people who are doing the hunting,’ he countered. ‘It is your armed forces that are patrolling all around the globe, not ours. Russia is not policing the world, a service that no country has requested.’
‘Thankfully,’ Nicola shot back. ‘The world would be in a hell of a mess if Moscow was the world’s policeman. Queuing for bread, anyone?’
Vigor did not bite on Lopez’s sarcasm, instead keeping his gaze fixed on Kyle.
‘You and I are above politics and name calling. We both know that this is far more important than the petty wars of communism and capitalism. This is about the future of our human race. Imagine what will happen when the world finally knows that we are not alone! Do you want to bring that knowledge to the people, with the computer wizardry that you possess? Or would you rather let your government take you into custody, jail you, confiscate your work which they will then claim has nothing of defense significance or has been lost, and sit on the truth for another generation?’
‘The people know,’ Kyle replied. ‘They don’t believe the government’s lies, they just don’t know what to do about it.’
‘Then take the inititative!’ Vigor insisted. ‘Take the chance, this one chance, to defy the government that hides secrets from its own people and let the world know that it was Kyle Trent who risked his life to reveal the truth!’
Ethan could see Kyle’s eyes glowing with a faint light of delight, or radicalism. His fists were clenched and he was almost hopping about.
‘He’s right,’ Kyle whispered. ‘It’s time.’
Lopez folded her arms and tilted her head as she peered at Vigor with a jaundiced eye. Another deafening crash of thunder split the heavens and the spots of rain began to fall more heavily, splattering against the dusty earth at their feet.
‘And Kyle no doubt should make this announcement in Russia, of course, with Russian money behind him.’
‘He will be safe there,’ Vigor assured her, ‘which is more than can be said for your experiences with your own government, no?’
‘I’ve never heard anyone describe Russia as safe before,’ Ethan murmured.
‘We have a very different policy toward UFO events,’ Vigor rallied. ‘They are considered a topic of open discussion among the people. Such revelations as Kyle could provide would not cause the same rabid fears over national security as he is experiencing here in the United States. There is no Area 51 in Russia where he would be taken, no Guantanamo Bay where he would be hurled to die.’
‘The Gulag?’ Lopez offered. ‘The Siberian Prisons? The…’
‘All long closed,’ Vigor cut her off. ‘Kyle would be hailed a hero.’
‘And a defector, a traitor to his own country,’ Ethan added.
Vigor’s forced smile slipped and he showed the first signs of agitation.
‘Mister Warner, we stand here on the verge of the greatest discovery of all time and you, a man who has been responsible for more carnage and destruction in the name of your country than any agent I have ever encountered, is trying to prevent it.’
‘My job is to keep Kyle safe,’ Ethan shot back. ‘I’m not the one surrounding him with guns.’
‘The guns are a necessity in a country where Americans seem willing to shoot at one another just for the hell of it,’ Vigor growled. ‘The rest of the world is moving forward while you, the grand and great USA, seem to be slipping back into anarchy and lawlessness. I wouldn’t be without a damned gun in this country!’
