you?”
Ellison
closed the door behind him, walked to the middle of the room, and saluted.
McCann answered in kind, and then he sat down behind his desk.
“Please,
Major, have a seat.”
Ellison
sat down in one of the chairs facing the desk.
McCann
folded his hands and touched his thumbs to his chin. “This is difficult for me
to say, Stuart, because I need to ask for your forgiveness. Agent Hayden was out
of line this morning, dismissing you like that to take care of the men. I want
you to know that I spoke with him on the matter. It will not happen again.”
“Yes,
sir,” Ellison answered.
“You’re
my executive officer, Stuart. That means you’re my eyes and ears here on the
base. Sometimes you’re even going to be my arms and legs. I need you to know
everything I know.”
Ellison
shifted in his chair. “Yes, sir.”
McCann
lowered his hands flat on his desk. “So, now that’s settled, what’s on your
mind, Major? You can speak freely.”
For
a second Ellison looked away, but then the day’s frustration broke out of him.
“Why is the CIA even here, sir? What’s our mission exactly? For that matter,
what the hell isFort Blaney even supposed to be?”
McCann
stood up, “Good questions, Stuart, all of them. To begin with, officially, Fort
Blaney does not exist. If you saw it from above with satellite imaging, it’s
nothing more than a rock quarry in West Virginia. As far as government expense
reports are concerned, we’re a decommissioned ICBM silo. Now, as for what Fort
Blaney truly is, to put it simply, we’re a research facility.”
Ellison
leaned forward in his chair. “Research for what?”
“The
US government has partnered with a private contractor, some company called Reah
Labs. If you ever heard of ‘em, that makes you smarter than me. As for our
mission, we are to protect, support, and facilitate their research. Period.”
Ellison’s
face twisted. “So why is the CIA involved?”
“Hell
Stuart, CIA set this whole thing up, and until two weeks ago they could meet
their mission objectives by themselves. Then everything changed, and they
called in someone who could finish the job.”
Ellison
looked down at the floor. “Colonel McCann, you said that as your EX-O I would
need to know everything you know. I’m asking you, sir, what’s our real job
here?”
McCann
pulled back his desk drawer, reached for a file, and tossed it on top of his
desk. “Tell me this, Stuart. You ever heard of something called an anomaly?”
*****
A
pair of headlights swept their beams across Ellison.
He
barked an order, “They’re here. Get ready.”
Four
SUVs pulled up in a line in front of the hangar, and the passenger door of the
second vehicle popped open. Colonel McCann climbed out.
Ellison
snapped his heels together and raised his hand in salute. “Welcome home, sir.”
“Thank
you, Major. Everything in order here?”
“Yes,
sir. No problems to report.”
“Good
to hear, Major.” McCann looked back at the SUV; someone else was climbing out.
“I’d like you to meet Jeremy Cross, Major. Jeremy’s going to be staying with us
for a while.”
“Yes,
sir.” As Ellison watched, a young man with dark hair stepped forward to stand
next to the colonel. Ellison recognized him from the video.
“Jeremy,
this is Major Ellison. He’s my second-in-command here. You’re going to be
seeing a lot of him.”
Jeremy
held out his hand. “Major, it’s nice to meet you.”
In
turn Ellison shook the boy’s hand, making sure not to let go. “Welcome to Fort
Blaney. Allow me to introduce Doctor—”
Ellison
glanced over his shoulder, still shaking Jeremy’s hand, but when the boy turned
his head to look at Dr. Langer, Ellison reached up and jabbed a syringe into
Jeremy’s neck.
“Wha—”
Jeremy turned back to Ellison, a look of fear etched on his face. Then his eyes
rolled back and his whole body went limp. Ellison grabbed him under the arms
and eased him down to the
Ellison
closed the door behind him, walked to the middle of the room, and saluted.
McCann answered in kind, and then he sat down behind his desk.
“Please,
Major, have a seat.”
Ellison
sat down in one of the chairs facing the desk.
McCann
folded his hands and touched his thumbs to his chin. “This is difficult for me
to say, Stuart, because I need to ask for your forgiveness. Agent Hayden was out
of line this morning, dismissing you like that to take care of the men. I want
you to know that I spoke with him on the matter. It will not happen again.”
“Yes,
sir,” Ellison answered.
“You’re
my executive officer, Stuart. That means you’re my eyes and ears here on the
base. Sometimes you’re even going to be my arms and legs. I need you to know
everything I know.”
Ellison
shifted in his chair. “Yes, sir.”
McCann
lowered his hands flat on his desk. “So, now that’s settled, what’s on your
mind, Major? You can speak freely.”
For
a second Ellison looked away, but then the day’s frustration broke out of him.
“Why is the CIA even here, sir? What’s our mission exactly? For that matter,
what the hell isFort Blaney even supposed to be?”
McCann
stood up, “Good questions, Stuart, all of them. To begin with, officially, Fort
Blaney does not exist. If you saw it from above with satellite imaging, it’s
nothing more than a rock quarry in West Virginia. As far as government expense
reports are concerned, we’re a decommissioned ICBM silo. Now, as for what Fort
Blaney truly is, to put it simply, we’re a research facility.”
Ellison
leaned forward in his chair. “Research for what?”
“The
US government has partnered with a private contractor, some company called Reah
Labs. If you ever heard of ‘em, that makes you smarter than me. As for our
mission, we are to protect, support, and facilitate their research. Period.”
Ellison’s
face twisted. “So why is the CIA involved?”
“Hell
Stuart, CIA set this whole thing up, and until two weeks ago they could meet
their mission objectives by themselves. Then everything changed, and they
called in someone who could finish the job.”
Ellison
looked down at the floor. “Colonel McCann, you said that as your EX-O I would
need to know everything you know. I’m asking you, sir, what’s our real job
here?”
McCann
pulled back his desk drawer, reached for a file, and tossed it on top of his
desk. “Tell me this, Stuart. You ever heard of something called an anomaly?”
*****
A
pair of headlights swept their beams across Ellison.
He
barked an order, “They’re here. Get ready.”
Four
SUVs pulled up in a line in front of the hangar, and the passenger door of the
second vehicle popped open. Colonel McCann climbed out.
Ellison
snapped his heels together and raised his hand in salute. “Welcome home, sir.”
“Thank
you, Major. Everything in order here?”
“Yes,
sir. No problems to report.”
“Good
to hear, Major.” McCann looked back at the SUV; someone else was climbing out.
“I’d like you to meet Jeremy Cross, Major. Jeremy’s going to be staying with us
for a while.”
“Yes,
sir.” As Ellison watched, a young man with dark hair stepped forward to stand
next to the colonel. Ellison recognized him from the video.
“Jeremy,
this is Major Ellison. He’s my second-in-command here. You’re going to be
seeing a lot of him.”
Jeremy
held out his hand. “Major, it’s nice to meet you.”
In
turn Ellison shook the boy’s hand, making sure not to let go. “Welcome to Fort
Blaney. Allow me to introduce Doctor—”
Ellison
glanced over his shoulder, still shaking Jeremy’s hand, but when the boy turned
his head to look at Dr. Langer, Ellison reached up and jabbed a syringe into
Jeremy’s neck.
“Wha—”
Jeremy turned back to Ellison, a look of fear etched on his face. Then his eyes
rolled back and his whole body went limp. Ellison grabbed him under the arms
and eased him down to the
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