Area 51: Excalibur-6 (15 page)

"Your decision?" Carmody asked.

"I gave him my answer. We will fight."

PACIFIC OCEAN

With the shield turned off for the moment, the carriers Stennis and Washington adjusted course twenty degrees to the starboard so that their flight decks were facing directly into the wind. They were still a two-day sailing from Hawaii, over twelve hundred miles away, equaling a round trip of twenty-four hundred miles. Given that the range of the planes they were launching, F-14 Tomcats, even with external tanks, was only slightly over two thousand miles, the maneuver did not seem logical. And, the external tanks on the sixty planes gathering in formation and heading toward Hawaii did not contain fuel, which meant they had an effective range of only fifteen hundred miles.

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The sixty planes also weren't flying at a rate to conserve fuel. With afterburners kicked in, they were flying at over Mach 2, fifteen hundred miles an hour so that they would arrive at Hawaii just as their fuel tanks ran empty.

Behind the planes the shield came back on and the carriers headed toward Hawaii.

THE STRAIT OF TAIWAN

Archaeological evidence indicates that humans have inhabited Taiwan for as long as ten thousand years. There were also signs that Japanese forces occupied part of the island in the twelfth century. The first Europeans to visit the island were the Portuguese in 1590, calling the island Formosa, which meant "beautiful"

in their language. The Spanish attempted some settlements but were kicked off the island by the Dutch, who occupied it and neighboring islands in 1622.

In 1644 the defeated followers of the Ming dynasty retreated to Taiwan and expelled the Dutch, establishing a Ming enclave and also the precedent of the island being a refuge for those out of favor with the ruling force on the mainland.

After the British victory over China in the Opium Wars, the Treaty of Tientsin in 1860 opened two ports on Taiwan's west coast to foreign ships. Missionaries, both Roman Catholic and Protestant, weren't far behind.

At the end of the first Sino-Japanese War, China was required to cede Taiwan to Japan. Given their tenuous ties with the mainland, the inhabitants refused to be trade bait and rose against the occupying Japanese. This rebellion and the brutal attempts by the occupying forces to "Japanize" the inhabitants went on for over fifty years until the end of World War II and the defeat of Japan.

Taiwan was returned to mainland control, but that was viewed by the inhabitants as negatively as the Japanese occupation had been. Once more they re-

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belled, and once more they were brutally handled, this time by their own countrymen.

However, on the mainland, things were not going well for the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) forces led by Chiang Kai-shek. Like those of the Ming dynasty before, the KMT retreated from the Communist forces to Taiwan. The Communists planned to invade the island, but these plans were put aside when American naval forces were sent to the strait between the mainland and the island. Subsequent to that, America poured over four billion dollars of aid into the country, viewing it as a bastion of "freedom" in a dangerous part of the world, and turning a blind eye to Chiang Kai-shek's and the KMT's depredations.

Gradually, rule on Taiwan shifted toward real democracy, just as the United States was shifting its focus from the island to the mainland. When Nixon visited Beijing in 1972, those on the island saw the handwriting on the wall.

Formal ties between the US and Taiwan were broken in 1979 and in 1980 the formal defense treaty between the two countries lapsed and was not renewed.

The flagship of the Chinese Eastern Fleet was the destroyer Qingdao. It had engines made in Ukraine, a British combat control computer to aim its weapons, French helicopters, and weapon systems purchased from a half dozen other countries. The crew, however, was one hundred percent Chinese.

The Qingdao was in the Straits of Taiwan, a hundred-mile-wide stretch of water that separated mainland China from what it considered a wayward province in Taiwan. The strait had seen decades of posturing and bluffing between the navies of the two countries but all that changed as the targeting radar on the flagship located a Taiwanese frigate thirteen miles off its port bow.

The word had come from Beijing just ten minutes earlier. No choice was offered for Taiwan. The bitter blood between

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mainland China and the small island nation off its coast allowed for no resolution other than annihilation. Accordingly, the Qingdao launched a half dozen antiship missiles toward the Taiwanese ship. Two struck, causing massive damage and killing many sailors.

On both sides of the strait, the respective militaries geared up for all-out warfare.

THE GULF OF MEXICO

Lisa Duncan slowly opened her eyes. Her head felt heavy and she knew she'd been drugged. She was lying on her back, a pillow under her head, a white sheet covering her body. Looking up, all she could see was a steel ceiling with numerous pipes running across it. She swallowed and her ears popped, equalizing pressure. She could feel something around her arm and several leads taped against other parts of her body.

She heard a noise to her left and turned her head. A white-coated figure walked in. The man was tall and distinguished-looking, with silver hair and a short white beard. He pulled a stool out from a desk and slid it next to the table she was on.

"How are you doing?" he asked as he checked the readout on a medical monitor next to the bed.

Duncan's throat was dry and she tried to talk but only a croak came out. The man went over to a sink and returned with a small paper cup of water, which he carefully pressed against her lips. Duncan drank the entire cup, and then he pulled it away and retook his seat.

"Who are you?" she managed to get out.

"Dr. Garlin. The more interesting question is who are you?"

"Where am I?"

'The new Area 51."

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"And you're the new Majestic." Duncan swung her legs over the edge of the table and sat up, holding the sheet tight around her body. The pounding in her head was fading rapidly. Looking down, she could see that the various leads attached to her body went to the monitor and there was a band around her arm with an IV

pressed through it.

"Yes. That was a good guess."

"No guess," Duncan said. "It makes sense." She was looking about. "What kind of doctor are you?"

"An MD. Specialization—cellular structure."

"You want to find out what happened to me."

"Yes."

She nodded slowly, her head pounding with pain. "So what happened to me?"

"We have some ideas, but some of the data is still being processed."

"What's the charter of the new Majestic?" she asked. She was shaking her head back and forth, trying to work out the lingering effects of whatever drug she'd been given.

"The same as the old one," Garlin said.

"The old one didn't work too well."

"It worked well enough for almost fifty years," Garlin noted.

"Where are the others? Turcotte? Quinn? Yakov?"

"We don't know. We had to"—he paused, as if searching for the right words—"shut down the old Area 51."

"Why?"

"When Major Quinn had the CIA do a check on you, we were copied on the results, as we've been copied on everything going into Area 51. And you ask why we shut down Area 51?" He held up his hand as he ticked off reasons. "You've got Professor Mualama, who turns out to be a former Watcher—or is he former?

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"Yakov. A Russian. Section IV was destroyed—all except him. Pretty convenient.

And he came back from Moscow with a bug planted on him.

"Che Lu. Chinese. A country that now appears to be siding with Artad and preparing for war against both South Korea and Taiwan. And she just happened to be the first person to enter Qian-Ling in many centuries. How did she get permission from Beijing to do that when every other request was immediately turned down?

"Major Mike Turcotte. Involved in a questionable incident while working counterterrorism in Europe. He was then recruited by you to spy on Majestic; which bring us to you. You didn't even really know who you are, did you? And now you don't know what you are."

When Duncan tried to stand, he politely but firmly pushed her back onto the table. "Not yet. You need to know what's going on, so you understand what is at stake."

"I know what is at stake," Duncan said.

"Do you?" Garlin asked. "You don't even know who you are or where you come from." He leaned back slightly on the stool. "Do you know why the Airlia came to our planet in the first place so long ago? Why they fought, and continue to fight, a civil war? Why they were stranded here?"

"Do you?" Duncan threw back at him, but her voice was less combative as she contemplated his questions.

"Not yet, but we're working on it. Aspasia's Shadow just made an announcement to the UN. He claims the Airlia came here to help and protect us from another predatory alien species. Or at least Aspasia did. He says Artad is a deserter."

"Is that true?"

"Are you willing to believe Aspasia's Shadow?"

"Not really."

"We're taking a bigger view than the previous Majestic, especially as we know so much more than they did. We think un-

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derstanding the Airlia would be pretty helpful in the current situation.

Allowing us to act, rather than constantly react."

"How did you come into existence?" Duncan asked. .

Garlin briefly stroked his short white beard as he considered her question. "We want you to understand the situation. We want you to cooperate. So far your actions have appeared to be loyal to our country, so we hope that if you believe what you hear, you will continue to be loyal to the best of your abilities.

"When the primary Majestic-12 was compromised by the guardian they discovered in South America at Temiltepec and the security of Area 51 breached, a plan that had been prepared over forty years previously was put into effect. For every member on the Majestic-12 committee, there has always been a backup selected.

We"—he tapped his own chest—"had no idea we filled these positions, but apparently we were picked by the twelve primary Majestic members from within their own organizations based on detailed psychological profiles that practically assured we would be willing to step up and assume the primary roles once we were informed. The fortunate thing was that we were picked before the primary Majestic-12 was compromised by the guardian computer, so those chosen were chosen because they were projected to be loyal to the original charter for Majestic.

"It has worked as planned. Even as Majestic was being broken apart, with members dead or under indictment, twelve of us received a top-secret CD-Rom by special courier sent from the NSA vault. On each disk was a detailed report of Majestic's formation by presidential decree during Eisenhower's administration and a summary of its subsequent actions over the years along with all that had been discovered about the Airlia and their artifacts.

"Of course, there was no information about Majestic's

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corruption after uncovering the guardian computer at Temiltepec in South America and bringing the alien computer back to Dulce. Still, the basic decree Eisenhower had given the original MJ-12 rang true to those of us who received the CDs—protect America at all cost from alien influence."

Duncan was silent, listening.

"We gathered a week ago at the designated time and location indicated on the CD—a small airfield outside New Orleans. A tilt-wing Osprey landed, and the back ramp opened up. There was no one in the cargo bay and the door to the cockpit was locked. We got on board and the plane immediately took off. It flew out over the Gulf of Mexico, staying just above the waves to stay off radar. The engines rotated up and we finally landed on board what appeared to be an abandoned oil rig, about a hundred miles from the nearest shore. The ramp opened, we got off, and the plane was back in the air and flying away.

'There was no one there. But we followed the directions on the CD, punched in the correct code on a keypad, and got into an elevator on one corner of the rig.

It went down the one leg of the rig to the ocean floor, where an undersea habitat— this place—was attached. The new Area 51."

"How far down are we?"

"Three hundred feet."

"And you have contact with the outside world?

"A secure contact via satcom up top on the rig to the NSA. However, we're keeping quiet so far, just listening. We want to determine a valid course of action before we do anything."

"How come you didn't contact us at the old Area 51?" Duncan asked.

Garlin shook his head. "You still don't understand, do you?" He pointed at her.

"We don't know who you are. We don't know whom at the old Area 51 we could trust. We're starting over with a clean slate.

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"So far, we've done little other than try to keep track of the rapid flurry of events around the world. But when we received a report from the old Area 51

about what had happened to you, we acted swiftly, issuing orders with our presidential authorization."

"So you've kidnapped me," Duncan said. "Seems like something the old Majestic would do."

"The old Majestic protected America for almost fifty years," Garlin said. "Now it's our turn. And we want to be very careful that we don't get compromised like they did. We might be the last best hope for mankind."

"Why haven't you done anything?" Duncan demanded. "Why have you been hiding here while we fought the aliens?"

Garlin tapped her on the knee. "Because we were waiting for you. You're the key.

You're immortal now. If we can figure out what happened to you, we think we can win this war and not just the next battle."

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL

The holiest city in the Christian world had never known such a gathering of people in the streets. The route had been announced on the news the previous evening and people had begun staking claim to a spot immediately, the numbers swelling through the night. Tens of thousands came in from the surrounding country as word spread.