The Bovine Connection (46 page)

She looked back to Angelica and Dr. Bishop who were peeping out of the chamber from behind Angelica. They both appeared disoriented.

“Coast is clear,” Dr. Wallace announced.

Dr. Bishop appeared troubled as he looked at Angelica. “We shouldn’t have done this.”

Angelica dropped her shoulders. “It’s too late Marc, it’s done… we’re on Mars! You want to just teleport back to Earth right now?”

Angelica was growing more and more frustrated with Dr. Bishop constantly second guessing… She narrowed her eyes and looked over at him clearly irritated. “Dr. Bishop, how are you holding up?” she asked aloud to remind him to compose himself in front of Dr. Wallace.

Dr. Wallace glanced back around at Dr. Bishop, concerned, anticipating his answer.

Dr. Bishop stood up straight and nodded at Dr. Wallace and then met Angelica’s eyes. “I’m good. No, I’m good, Ms. Bradley. This is um… amazing, never would have imagined being on Mars,” he stated, business-like.

Dr. Wallace smiled. “Well, you’re here… Welcome! Now, let’s go. Remember, follow close behind me, and do not make eye contact at least for more than a second. Stay engaged in conversation amongst each other. I am going to lead you through the facility so you, Ms. Bradley, can get some photos for your story, but very discreetly, and you, Dr. Bishop, can see the pyramid while on our little field trip. Sound like a plan?”

Angelica did a double take. When did Dr. Wallace become GI Jane? Maybe Dr. Wallace was tougher than she had given her credit for. She certainly wasn’t normal -- “but what person capable of building a teleportation chamber to go to Mars was?” she wondered.

They followed closely behind as Dr. Wallace cautiously led them through the door and down a hallway. The facility was brightly lit with shiny white structural features and round windows. It was very much like Angelica had imagined it would be.

After turning down two corridors, they found themselves in an area that was heavily occupied with personnel. “Stay close, don’t make eye contact and remember, you’re supposed to be here,” Dr. Wallace whispered back to them.

Angelica nervously shook her head and smiled apprehensively. Dr. Bishop started the conversation. “It will be resolved shortly. These system failures are certainly a nuisance, however…” He went on into some high-tech tangent. Angelica continued to nod her head in agreement although she had tuned him out. “I certainly agree, Dr. Coble.”

They were almost down to the end of another corridor when they passed a small group of people in white lab coats, huddled together speaking in front of a large glass window. Behind the glass, in the room, with his back turned, stood a tall man with long white hair. He was standing beside a table covered in what appeared to be graphs and maps of some sort, from what Angelica could make out.

Unexpectedly, the man turned and looked directly at Angelica, as if he knew they were behind him in the hallway.

Angelica suddenly forgot her thoughts and her mind went blank. He looked like the biblical descriptions of an angel, she thought, as she looked back at him. She knew immediately that the being in front of her was not human. His hair was long and pure white. She estimated his height to be over eight feet. He was wearing a bright white, tight-fitting body suit that emphasized his well-defined muscular frame. His facial features appeared youthful and human. She immediately thought of the famous marble statue of Michelangelo’s David, and then she recalled depictions of Archangel Michael.

Dr. Bishop almost bumped into Angelica, catching himself before the collision. Angelica had stopped and was completely paralyzed. The unexpected encounter brought attention from the group.

Dr. Wallace noticed the strange methodical tilt of the being’s head as he observed them. Just as the group in the lab coats looked over curiously. “Dr. Coble and Dr. Estes… This way please. The system’s central control was not communicating properly with the track switches this morning. I am certain you will have it fixed in no time,” Dr. Wallace said abruptly after breaking out into a sweat. She felt the moist drops as they ran down her back.

Dr. Wallace nodded curtly at the group and extended her hand out to lead the way. Dr. Bishop -- aware of the fact that they may have just blown their cover -- played along exceptionally well. “Oh yes, should be back up in no time.”

Angelica reluctantly turned around and followed, while still glancing back at the being. “He is magnificent,” she thought aloud.

Angelica’s heart was racing. Holding it together and maintaining her composure was nothing short of a miracle. Dr. Bishop was biting his bottom lip. He had planned for the possibility of a strange encounter while at the Mars facility, however, he was unprepared and bore the classic “deer in the heads light” expression on his face as he glanced over to Angelica. “That was not human,” he whispered.

Finally, they rounded a corner and stopped. Dr. Wallace released the breath she had been holding as she peeped back around to the hall. “Compose yourselves,” she said angrily.

“Good job, you two… we’ll be dead in no time if you don’t keep it together,” she whispered hastily. “Hurry along. We’re going through that door there,” Dr. Wallace waved her hand frustrated.

Dr. Wallace opened a door to large greenhouse where there were rows of vegetation on long tables. The room was encased in a clear, hard dome, and was about the size of a football field. Dr. Wallace led the way. “These greenhouses are spread out everywhere,” she announced as they continued toward a door leading outside.

Angelica looked up to see a beautiful baby blue sky outside of the dome. “I can’t believe it… It’s true, Dr. Bishop.”

Dr. Bishop smiled and looked up in amazement. “I can’t believe my own eyes, Ms. Bradley… astonishing… truly astonishing! Who would have thought the sky would be so blue?”

Finally, they came to a door. Dr. Wallace’s face was impassive as she stopped right before opening it and turned toward them. “Welcome to Mars!” she mused, as she opened the door, and they heard a vacuum sound from the shiny metal box over head as the gust of pure air rushed in. Angelica wasn’t sure what she had expected to happen. She had closed her eyes for a moment. “Can this be possible?” she thought and then she was hit with an odd feeling, a feeling of dread. Angelica frowned as Dr. Bishop was speaking.

“It’s just like the atmosphere on Earth,” he proclaimed as he took a deep breath.

As they were following Dr. Wallace outside, Angelica couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very wrong. “Something doesn’t feel right,” she stammered.

Dr. Bishop stopped and turned around. “What is it, Angelica?”

“I’m not sure… I just have a bad feeling. Different than just a feeling though. I think…” She took a breath and shook her head as she noticed Dr. Wallace peering at her inquisitively. “It’s nothing,” she murmured, as she raised her hand and scratched the top of her head, worried.

As Dr. Wallace and Dr. Bishop turned back around, Angelica lowered her hand and rubbed her eyebrow.

“Oddly, it is as if we just stepped back onto the Nevada desert, however it was now daylight when we left and the terrain is somewhat different,” Dr. Bishop said as he glared around curiously and immediately noticed the giant pyramid in the distance as they came around the greenhouse.

“The Cydonia Pyramid!” he said, as he gasped. It stood predominately in the middle of the dome structures. Dr. Bishop was bewildered, in comparison to the pyramids in Egypt… It was three times as big as the great pyramid. “It’s true,” he chuckled.

Angelica looked around to notice people walking about. “Are they settlers?” she mumbled her thought aloud. “There appears to be some type of commerce and structured community underway. Who are these people?”

Dr. Wallace remembered what it felt like when she had first arrived on Mars. “Not what you expected, I know. Even for me… Coming here again… it all hits me as if I were seeing it for the first time. How quickly my mind wanted to compartmentalize it when I returned home.” Dr. Wallace shook her head in awe.

“We, the human race tend to take for granted that we are not as evolved as we’d like to believe; we are all but a small microcosm in this grand universe, and beyond… would you not agree?”

Dr. Bishop quickly nodded his head as he observed the people. “I completely agree, Dr. Wallace. Are they not worried about alien bacteria?” he asked, lowering his brow.

Dr. Wallace’s eyes looked earnest. “We are uncertain of the antibodies here. In the beginning they wore suits but have gradually become more confident. So far, they have not experienced any problems, to my knowledge.”

“You remember when Columbus came to America, what happened to the Native Americans…” Dr. Bishop murmured.

Angelica noticed a man look oddly at them, riding on the passenger side of what looked like a Polaris jeep as it passed by them.

Dr. Bishop and Angelica followed Dr. Wallace as she started for the pyramid. Dr. Bishop looked down at his feet while walking across the brownish red sand.

“What are they doing – right there… with those machines?” Angelica asked.

Dr. Wallace lifted her chin and peered out. “They are mining. Those men are mostly geologists, and some other scientists, I suppose.”

Dr. Bishop looked at Dr. Wallace. “What about water? You have to have water to sustain life.”

Dr. Wallace smirked. “There is water here, Dr. Bishop. We discovered a frozen sea that was liquid once… maybe five thousand years ago. According to a colleague on Project Cetus, we were able to build an underground canal to run the melting ice. We created an underground water filtration system, as the ancient Romans taught us. Much like our ancestors, the Mars water system provides a constant supply to centrally located areas.” Dr. Bishop looked at Angelica as he widened his eyes and raised his upper lip indicating he was impressed.

“These smaller round structures running on each side of this manmade roadway here, what are they?” he asked.

“Bunkers… living facilities.”

“They are unusual. I’ve never seen anything like them,” Angelica stated, as she took a picture.

Dr. Wallace looked over at Angelica. “Be careful. Don’t let anyone see you take photos. There is a very strict policy around photography. And I imagine they don’t make allowances for investigative journalists,” she whispered.

They stopped while Angelica took a few more photos of the white bunker pods and the pyramid. As she put her cell phone back in her pocket she sighed, catching a glance of four armed men getting out of one of the Polaris jeeps. They had just pulled up and were stepping out of the vehicle and coming toward them.

“Oh shit!” she said, causing Dr. Bishop and Dr. Wallace to take notice.

Dr. Bishop mumbled, “This is not good!” he quickly raised his palm to the top of his head and turned his body as if he were going to make a run for it, quickly giving up on the idea. Angelica’s legs went weak as fear seized her.

“Dr. Olivia Wallace, we need you and your guests to come with us,” one of the men said as he approached them. There was a red, camouflaged van pulling up beside the camouflaged Polaris jeep, and another armed man was opening the back doors.

Angelica’s hands started to tremble. She looked at Dr. Bishop, who appeared frightened, as well.

“What is this about, gentlemen?” Dr. Wallace demanded.

“Dr. Wallace, you know what this is about. Please come with us.” The security guard grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the van.

“Excuse me, but you are hurting my arm!” Dr. Wallace proclaimed.

One of the other guards had gotten behind Angelica and Dr. Bishop and had his gun extended. “Move along… into the van!”

As Dr. Wallace stepped up into the back of the van, Angelica glanced up to see her get an injection in the back of the neck. She watched, terrified, as Dr. Wallace went limp… and was caught in the arms of another guard and placed on the floor. Angelica screamed and went hysterical. “Marc! Help!”

Marc’s eyes were wide, he was frozen. His mouth fell open but he couldn’t speak as he watched Angelica receive an injection in her neck. He knew he was next.

A
ngelica rubbed her eyes as she lifted her head, and felt a sharp burning sensation in her neck. She reached back and pressed her hand against it as she rose from the metal bench. Angelica was shivering uncontrollably. The room was small, bright, and cold, and there were no windows -- just a camera in the corner of the ceiling pointing down at her. She instantly tensed.

Angelica began to panic, realizing she was locked inside. “Please! Let me out of here!” she shouted at the camera and then waited for a sound.

“Please, let me go!” she screamed out. “Someone please help me,” Angelica whispered as she fell to her knees and wept uncontrollably. She lay on the cold floor and trembled until she finally stood up and crawled onto the bench, curling up into a fetal position. Tears ran down her cheeks, pooling beside her on the metal bench, as she peered up at the camera until she fell asleep.