Chapter 32: Ghosts for the Future

I.
Casse and Eppe had launched into space at 150 miles a second, but unfortunately they overloaded two of the engines of the Bleenaust. The repairs would take a while, and we didn’t have a while. They got back to Earth after about ten minutes, at which time , the two aliens, Estrus, Hernando, Ray, and I met in the conference room of the New York New York. We would have met at the Luxor, but I learned that the Caliph’s decapitated corpse was still in there.

The conference room of the New York New York was large and luxurious. It had a large cherry table and black leather executive chairs. Hernando spread out all the documents and maps of Area 51 on the table.

“Well Hernando, let’s hear it.” I said.

“First, Area 51 is the base we want to take. I’m not sure if you noticed, but you mentioned NORAD not having been taken by the aliens. Michael, I’m afraid that NORAD doesn’t control America’s nuclear arsenal anymore.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“In 2000, after the discovery of the alien technology at Columbine, the then-President, Bill Clinton held a top-secret joint meeting. Among those in attendance were Al Gore, George W. Bush, as at the time of the meeting they were the two presidential candidates and we didn’t know which would win the election, Clinton himself, several top generals, the governor of Nevada and both Nevada senators, myself included. Also there were the head of NORAD and the then-governor of Colorado. We knew that someday aliens would arrive on Earth. On June 2, 2000 it was agreed that if Earth faced an extraterrestrial invasion, control of America’s nuclear arsenal would be transferred from NORAD in Colorado to Area 51. An alien invasion happened, and therefore Area 51 now controls the nuclear arsenal, not NORAD. This was done because Area 51 is far more remote and less well-known than NORAD. Thus, we felt it would be wise to make the switch. And this transfer is to be done only in the event of an alien invasion. Nothing else will lead to the transfer. For example, after 9/11 control was kept at NORAD.”

“So that makes it even more important that we take Area 51.” Estrus said.

“Yes. Area 51 was where the order to launch the ICBM from Minot AFB came from, not NORAD. NORAD remains untak-“ Casse interrupted.

“I hate to interrupt, but I just received word that NORAD has indeed fallen. Aliens gained access to the inside just a few minutes ago. Two guards there allowed the aliens to get inside and the commander surrendered thereafter.” Casse said. “In addition, and this has little to do with us, but China has formally surrendered entirely.”

“That’s good news.” I said. “Anyway, so we know that Area 51 has control of ICBMs. How do we get in there?” Hernando produced and unfolded a three-foot by three-foot map.

“This a detailed satellite image of Area 51. The hangars are on the east side, there are about two dozen of them each with various fighter, bomber, and cargo aircraft. All aircraft are kept on the east end of the base. The two main runways go north-south. On the west end are trailers and the main entrance to the bunkers that lead to the heart of Area 51. There are numerous security centers that control various sections of the base. Each operate independently of one another, so any attempt to take the base will have to destroy all of these to prevent detection.”

“Detection?” I asked. “Are you suggesting a way to get in?”

“I’m getting there. On the west end there’s also a trailer that holds the controls for the Crichton Project. The entire thing is run by one trailer. It requires a Code X keycard to get in. There are three main security access keycards. A Code Z keycard is required to get access to the base. All guard towers require the Z keycard. Code Y keycards are the next level up. They are required to enter any security center. However, one card will work for all of the security centers, which are primarily either towers or trailers. Code X keycards allow access to the bunker itself and the Crichton Project Control Center. Anyone trying to sneak in will need all three cards. Code Z are carried by most guards on the base and can be found in the guard towers. Code Y cards can be found in the security centers, and on Security Department Personnel. These people have orange patches on their uniform sleeve. Code X are carried by Bunker Security Officials. It can be hard to find one, but you might be able to find another way into the main labs.”

“So far, you’re suggesting that a full-scale attack isn’t the best option.” I said.

“It isn’t. Area 51 is impenetrable with regard to a conventional attack. A better approach would be an infiltration mission. Sneak someone inside and have them gain access to the labs. Granted, Area 51 has protections against this as well, and the railguns will make any kind of sneaking in impossible. However, that’s where Area 51 screwed up.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“The railguns don’t get their electricity from anywhere on the Area 51 base itself. They get their electricity directly from a generator at the Hoover Dam about 30 miles from Las Vegas. Hoover Dam security is generally minimal, mainly since nobody knows about the railgun power station. If we can send a group to the Hoover Dam and shut down the generator there, the railguns will have no electricity and won’t be able to function. That will bump the level of difficulty for breaking into Area 51 from impossible to only close to impossible.”

“So who goes to the Hoover Dam?” I asked.

“I’m wondering who breaks into Area 51. I’d rather use one alien for it.” Estrus said.

“The guards will be on the lookout for aliens. It would be hard to get in that way.” Hernando said.

“We can get around that easily.” I said. “We don’t use an alien, we use a human.”

“But who?” Estrus asked.

“I’ll do it.” I said. “It’ll be like a real life video game.” Hernando and Ray laughed. Estrus probably never played a video game in his life.

“All right, and we’ll need a few people to go to the Hoover Dam.”

“I’ll help out.” Ray said.

“I’ve never seen the Hoover Dam, and it sounds easier than breaking into Area 51.” Estrus said.

“Michael will need a Karzarthi to communicate with him. Casse and I will go as well.” Eppe said.

“And I’ll round things out.” Hernando said. “I know my way around the dam well.”

“So that’s the railguns taken care of. What about Area 51 itself?” I asked.

II.
“The easiest way to get in is from the northwest corner. There’s a guard tower there. About a hundred feet north of the tower is a ventilation shaft.” Hernando said, pointing to the map. “The shaft is large enough for a human to get into, although it’ll be a tight squeeze so I hope you aren’t claustrophobic, amigo.”

“Not in the least. My ex-girlfriend and I once hid from an RA in a dorm closet at Concordia Moorhead. Those closets are tiny, about two feet by three feet by seven feet. We hid and ended up having sex in there. Sweaty and clumsy, but fun.” I said.

“Thanks for sharing.” Hernando said. “Anyway, the shaft leads right to the tower. There are security cameras on that tower, so you’ll have to go to the top of the tower and turn off the cameras. There is no main security center, all centers have access to the views from all cameras on the site. Each center can only control cameras in its vicinity though, and there’s three dozen security centers controlling over a thousand cameras. You won’t need to visit all of the centers, but you will need to keep an eye out for cameras and avoid them.”

“What next?” I asked.

“Odds are you’ll run into a few guards. Obviously we’ll be sending you in armed, Michael, so don’t hesitate to neutralize any threats.” In other words, kill any guard who tries to raise the alarm. “Once you’re into the base, and there’s a twenty-foot-high electrical wire fence surrounding the base, head south. There’s a trailer for security there. It’ll say ‘Security Center’ on it. You’ll need a Code Y card, and a Code Z wouldn’t hurt either. The guards inside the tower should have a Z card, and since that tower is also a security center, there will be a Y card in there as well. The Z cards are never just lying around; they are always carried by guards. Hopefully a sentry guarding the base from the outside will have one.”

“Can we attract attention and get a sentry to come to the outside of the base?” I asked.

“What are you suggesting?” Hernando asked.

“Start a small fire by the fence. Bring someone with a Z card out.”

“That could work. Security is typically summoned for a variety of reasons. The most common reason is wildlife trying to get into the base. The fence carries 12,000 volts, so any animal who touches it gets done to a turn. The fence is designed to respond to any disturbance. You could throw a baseball onto the fence and that would summon security.”

“Good. Get a guard out there, kill him, take the card.” I said. “And bring a baseball.”

“Pretty much. Anyway, the trailer with the security center controls the cameras for it and the three trailers south, one of which, I don’t know which, controls the Crichton Project. I imagine the personnel there could use the Crichton Project against us, so shut that puppy down when you’re finished with the security center. There will be another trailer near a large building. This is the security center for the bunker entrance. You will need a X card to get into the bunker. There’s one X card in the security center near the bunker. Get it, shut off the cameras, and gain access to the bunker.”

“This is pretty complicated.” I said.

“It gets more so. I know Michael, Goldeneye and Halo aren’t this complex and don’t have this many objectives. You could make an entire video game out of this operation alone. I know about those games, I’ve drafted legislation that tried to lessen parental groups’ impact on video games. One of the joys of being an ACLU advocate. Thing is, video games aren’t real life.” I recalled trying to shoot down an Apache helicopter with an M16, and that in real life it’s virtually impossible to do. And in real life, stealth missions are much more difficult and complex than a video game would suggest. After all, video games are intended for teenagers, not Navy SEALs or CIA operatives or anyone like that.

“Once inside the bunker, you’ll have to go down ten flights of stairs to the lab entrance. This is the meat and potatoes of Area 51. There are nine levels total. Level One is where the lab security hub is. If you can get there, you can shut off the cameras on levels One through Four. Level Four has the security hub for the bottom five levels. Anyway, the levels you want to stop by on are One, Four, Seven, Eight, and Nine. Level one contains the Security Center for the top four levels, as well as the three elevator hubs. There are three elevators intended for human use, as well as a freight elevator. Any of the three passenger elevators will take you to any level. Level Four has a safe in Lab 4Q. Each lab is named after the level it’s on, then by the alphabet in a circle from the north. The center lab on the north is Lab 4A, the next one clockwise from it is Lab 4B, and so on. Lab 4Q has a safe inside that contains the cure for the Ultraflu strain. It’s in a metal tube. The safe combination is kept in the security center on the same floor, it is on the south between Lab 4J and 4K. It will be on the main computer. There may be other security measures as well, deal with them as you see fit.”

“What then?”

“After shutting down the cameras on the bottom five levels and getting the cure for the flu strain, go to Level Seven. You’ll find scientists here. Capture two of them and make sure they have keycards for the mainframe room. These are special keycards that won’t work anywhere else on the base. On Level Eight is a large mainframe, about the size of a large house, that contains the nuclear launch sequence. It requires two authorized users to do hand scans, retina scans, and key cards to get access to the mainframe. Once inside the mainframe room, convince the two scientists to shut down the mainframe. They will need to get two regular keys from a safe in a lab on Level Seven. I don’t know what lab those keys are in, but hopefully the scientists will be able to tell you. Keep them alive, and have them punch in the code to shut down the mainframe.”

“Isn’t the nuclear missile code just a bunch of zeroes?” Estrus asked. “I thought I heard that from a friend at my school.”

“It used to be 000000000. It’s changed now. It’s now 000000001.” Hernando said. I laughed at that. “But that’s the code to launch, not to shut down. The shutdown code is 666555666.”

“After the mainframe has been shut down, leave Level Eight. The mainframe will have been shut down, but it can be brought back up by anyone with the right authorization. You’ll have to destroy the mainframe entirely. Level Nine contains all the fuel for Area 51. Jet fuel, diesel, gasoline, it has numerous types of fuel. All of it happens to be highly flammable and in most cases even highly explosive. Find a way to blow the fuel tanks up. Make sure it’s a delayed detonation, because you don’t want to be anywhere inside the labs when the fuel tanks blow. It’ll destroy at least the bottom five levels, and burn up the top four. That will render the American military unable to launch any kind of ICBMs. And now that NORAD has been taken, that hopefully means that America will surrender and this damn war will be over with.” I smiled.

“Okay, sounds like a plan.” I would write all this down later and take it with me to Area 51.

“When do we want to do this?” I asked.

“Area 51 normally begins the day shift at 9 AM. It’s about two and a half hours from here to there. So you should leave around 6:30 AM.” Hernando said. “Likewise, it’s about forty minutes to the Hoover Dam. They do their security shift at 8 AM, so we’ll leave at 7 AM. It works out well, also because tomorrow’s a Sunday.” Today was Saturday? I’d lost track of days of the week.

“Should the Karzarthi do any kind of attack on the other end of Area 51?” Casse asked. “Just as a diversion? We’ve got three Bleenausts ready for action, as all have been repaired since Las Vegas surrendered.”

“That would be a good idea. They might be defeated, but hopefully that’ll make them less likely to notice my intrusion.” I said.

“So it seems we have a plan. Michael, you’ll want to get up early tomorrow. Probably around 5 AM.” Ray said. I groaned, just to be an ass. I didn’t actually mind.

“Now then, for this operation, you’re going to need some guns.” Hernando said.

“What, you mean a spear and shield won’t do the trick? I guess watching 300 was a waste.”

“Assault rifles and fighter jets will always beat swords and spears. Our military would make short work of the ancient Spartans, I’m afraid. But we should go look for some guns.” Ray and Hernando got up. I got up as well.

I saw the Senator and Ray drive off into town. I walked toward the Luxor, where the few medics we had were treating the sick. I walked inside and saw Harrison Kell laying on a bed. He looked like shit.

III.
“Hey Michael.” Harrison said. He was coughing a lot. He was pale as a ghost and feverish. The medic treating him was a woman named Sgt. Himmel.

“How is he?” I asked.

“Terrible. He’s not going to last much longer.” Himmel said. “Twenty have died so far. Over four hundred are sick. It was just over a hundred earlier, but a lot of people tested positive and are just now getting sick. This virus has a variable incubation time. It can be anywhere from an hour to 24 hours. For all you know, you might be infected. It’s spread airborne, after all.”

“I feel all right.” I said. “I should hope so, we’re going to try to take Area 51 tomorrow.”

“Again?” Himmel asked. Harrison coughed and wheezed.

“We’re better prepared this time.” I said. I looked at Harrison. He coughed and tried to talk.

“Leave.” He told the medic. She looked at him. He nodded. She had others to treat as well. Granted, all we were able to do was cook chicken noodle soup for people, and even the soup was just canned and heated in the kitchen of the dining area. Thankfully we had gas stoves we could light with a match. I looked at Harrison Kell.

“Sir?” I asked.

“I just wanted to say, I know you’re taking Area 51.” He coughed again. “I fuck-“ Another cough. “-ing hated that place. Kick their ass for me. I want this war to end.” Harrison laid back and closed his eyes. I wasn’t sure what to make of what he said. He was probably delusional with fever and didn’t know what he was talking about. I looked at him for about a minute before I realized he was dead.

Sgt. Himmel came back. She draped a sheet over Harrison Kell’s corpse. She looked at me. I could tell she was exhausted.

“So who’s in charge now?” I asked.

“As far as I’m concerned buddy, you are.” The medic said.

IV.
I went back to the New York New York. I had a bit of a headache, and I was worried that I might be coming down with the Ultraflu, but I took some aspirin I found in a desk and that took care of that. I had seen Harrison Kell die, and it had little impact on me. Death had gotten to be so commonplace that it no longer affected me. Soldiers often got this way, but I was no soldier. I was just a college student.

I knew I had to stop thinking of myself as just a college student. For one thing, I probably would never attend another class at Washburn. For another, I had done everything a soldier does. I’d fought, I’d killed, I’d saved lives. I’d even gone into all-out monster territory by trying to torture the Senator. But in the end, I was unable to torture him, and I still got the information I wanted. By some twist of fate, some whackjob in North Dakota decided to launch a nuke at us. And he launched it just at the critical moment.

I wished I had some pot. I hadn’t gotten high since before landing in Las Vegas. I’d always wanted to go to Vegas, if nothing else for the strip clubs, but now I was sick of this damn city. I’d fought here and nearly died here. I’d killed so many here. But if all went well, tomorrow would be it. I’d storm the base and that would be that. But would Russia and Israel surrender? With America out of the running, they’d almost have to. America was the most powerful country on Earth, and if she couldn’t stand up to the aliens, then who could? Hell, the vast majority of the world had surrendered. Even places like Britain and India, China and North Korea, had all fallen.

I stepped back outside and was just admiring the casino’s New York skyline backdrop and looking at the devastated MGM Grand when Hernando and Ray got back. I didn’t know where Estrus was. I later found out he had been talking to Eppe about, of all things, religion. Eppe’s interest in Christianity had continued. Estrus was a Mormon, and I always considered Mormons Christians, so I figured they’d have a lot in common. While Estrus did have the naiveté of a fundamentalist upbringing, I did have to say that he was one brave motherfucker. He’d had to learn to fight and kill, just like I had.

“Michael, we found a good deal of weapons. Thought you should see them.” Ray said.

V.
Ray’s pickup truck had a bunch of weapons in them, along with ammo. I was in awe at some of this stuff. They had two pistols, two submachine guns, an assault rifle, a sniper rifle, what looked like body armor, and a wooden crate. I also saw, of course, a baseball. Technically it was a softball, but I barely knew the difference. I was a swimmer, not a pitcher.

“Looks like you guys hit the jackpot.” I said.

“Las Vegas is good for that.” Hernando said. “We’ll go through them bit by bit.” I nodded.

“First off, the pistols. These are Glock 22s. Semi-automatic handguns. They take .40 caliber Smith and Wesson rounds. Standard issue to all FBI agents, and indeed, we found these in a FBI field office.” I took one of the guns and aimed it.

“I assume it’s unloaded.” I said.

“Never assume that. But yes, it is unloaded. We found ten magazines with seventeen rounds each. A total of 170 rounds, though I doubt you’ll need all of them unless something happens to the other guns. Next up, these two.” Ray got the submachine guns. “These are Ingram MAC-10 machine pistols. They’re compact and have a very high rate of fire. They take either .45 ACP caliber or 9x19 mm Parabellum. We found the former. You have six magazines with thirty rounds each. Three per gun. Be warned, on full-auto you’ll empty the magazine in less than two seconds. It’s hard to control, especially one in each hand, so you probably shouldn’t try that. Better to fire one with both hands and then switch to the other if your barrel gets overheated.” I was impressed.

“Where’d you find those two?”

“At a Wal-Mart, believe it or not. On sale for two thousand bucks each. Of course, we got ‘em for free.” Ray said. Hernando then reached for the assault rifle.

“This is an M4 Carbine. It’s a shorter version of the M16. Technically it’s an M4A1, meaning that it has an option for fully automatic fire instead of a three-round burst. I wanted to find a regular M4, since fully automatic isn’t as useful as you’d think, but this was all I found in the police station we raided. It takes 5.56 ammo, just like the M16. It also has a scope to look through. This is the main gun you’ll be using. We got ten magazines with thirty rounds each. Three hundred rounds total. Probably a lot more than you’ll need, but it’s always good to be prepared. And now for the crown jewel. We found this at the police station.” Ray picked up a large sniper rifle. The thing was a good four feet long.

“This a Barrett M82 sniper rifle. It takes a .50 caliber round. We got four magazines of ten rounds each. Like with the others, it’s far more than you’ll need, but we just want you to be ready if it turns out you aren’t the most accurate of shooters. This gun is quite heavy, about thirty pounds. It is one of the best sniper rifles in the world. It has an effective range of over a mile. It’s perfect for taking out guards from a long distance, though I will warn you, it can’t bring down a moving airplane like what you see in the movies. People just can’t shoot with that kind of accuracy. A parked plane, it could disable, though you’d do that by damaging an engine, not by blowing up the fuel tank. Real life isn’t full of explosions, amigo.”

“Is it even legal to have one of these?” I asked.

“It’s illegal for a civilian to have one in California, but nowhere else. They cost a lot, though. I don’t know how much experience you have at being a sniper, Lord knows the only place I’ve ever sniped anything was on eBay, but a gun like this is pretty easy to use. Just keep your cool and take care to aim well. Don’t waste ammunition and don’t rush things. Take your time lining up the kill. Also, we couldn’t find any silencers for the weapons, though silencing a .50 caliber is next to impossible to do anyway. But we’ve found some other stuff as well.” Ray got out the body armor. I was more curious about the crates, but I decided to wait.

“This is Dragon Skin SOV-2000 body armor. It’s Level III certification. It provides protection to most assault rifles along with any kind of small arms fire. We found it in the FBI office. You have protection to the torso area. It’ll restrict your movement a bit, but not enough to be troublesome. And finally, the crate.” Ray handed me a crate.

“What’s in here?” I asked. I took the lid off. I saw several metal tubes with caps on the ends. I noticed a smoky smell.

“Pipe bombs. Ray found a plumbing supplies store with the pipes and the black powder we found from at the Luxor. The Caliph often used it to make IEDs and use them against his rivals and later, the aliens. Anyway, there’s twelve pipe bombs. They’re made with two-inch metal pipe filled two thirds with black powder and one third with BBs.”

“BBs?” I asked.

“Shrapnel damage.” Ray said. “I used to make pipe bombs when I was a kid. I got in deep shit when I was in high school once. I got kicked out of a party and retaliated by setting off a pipe bomb on their porch the next morning. Didn’t hurt anyone, but I got probation and community service. And my high school suspended me for ten days, even though the party wasn’t on school grounds nor did my high school have anything to do with what happened.” I laughed. I nearly got suspended for the gay porn on the school webpage incident, but I wasn’t.

“Also, we found four Rolexes in the casino. Ray hooked the insides of the watches up to four of the bombs. You can set the timer to up to three minutes to detonate the ones with watches on them. The others are even easier. Light the fuse, throw, and run like hell.” Hernando said. “That’s what you’ve got. You will have a bookbag we got from a school supplies store to hold all this stuff. Be aware, you’re going to have almost ninety pounds of weight on you. It’s a good thing tomorrow’s weather forecast calls for a high of only 56 degrees for southern Nevada. At 9 AM it’ll be around 48. Chilly, actually. Deserts are only hot in the summer, as you know.”

I was satisfied with the weapons I saw. This operation looked like it might work. I then asked what time it was. Even I got a shock. It was almost 5 PM. I didn’t realize how late it was. It still felt like noon.

VI.
Ray, Hernando, and I went to the Bellagio Casino, the nearest place to eat that was undamaged and had food and alcohol readily available. Luckily, the Las Vegas Strip has plenty of such places, even in times like these. Ray was a good cook, and Estrus came by with Eppe and Casse. Ray found a bunch of lobsters and jumbo shrimp and boiled them. We ate heartily. There was also a full bar. I didn’t want to be hungover for the big day tomorrow, but Ray said fuck it and had five shots of Johnnie Walker before I made him his first Jägerbomb. Hernando had a glass of Port and I finally convinced him to do a shot of Bacardi 151. He downed it, but just barely. I guess being a congressman doesn’t allow for much drinking. Eppe wouldn’t touch the alcohol, but after much coaxing I got Casse to drink a shot of Stolichnaya. He took it about as well as Hernando did the 151. Finally at 8 PM, Estrus decided to break his religious conviction and try a shot of something.

I poured him a shot of whatever liquor he wanted. Even I was stunned at what he requested.

“That 151 stuff.” He said. “The stuff that Hernando had.” I poured him a shot of Bacardi 151 and gave it to him. I also got a beer ready for a chaser. He looked at it, said “forgive me”, and downed it. I was proud.

The party ended around 9 PM. We could easily have gone on longer, but I was getting up at 5 in the morning and I wanted to be well rested. I told them I’d be sleeping in a room on the top story of the Bellagio. Estrus was in the room next door, and Ray and Hernando took two rooms across from me. Finally Eppe and Casse went to the Luxor, told me that the death toll was now at 58, with a thousand sick, and then they turned in a floor below us.

I laid on the bed and closed my eyes. I hadn’t slept in 30 hours. I found a battery powered alarm clock and set it to wake me up at 5 AM.

VII.
I found myself inside that dorm again. It was the first time since I’d been tortured that I’d had this dream. I’d almost forgotten those pinpricks. I was wandering around the hallway again. I now felt that the pinpricks were the effects of marijuana. But I hadn’t smoked pot in days. In a way I knew this was a dream.

I kept walking to my room. I saw two guys, they looked like typical college students, walking toward me. They were laughing, probably not feeling the pinpricks I was feeling. If they were, I couldn’t tell. I closed my eyes and kept walking, as much of a struggle as it was. I reached my door. I knew this was my door. I don’t know how I knew, but I never knew how I knew, that was a trademark of these dreams. I wanted to get to a mirror. I wanted to see my face. Was it burned half to death like in real life? I put my hand on the doorknob and it felt like a static electric shock, though much more powerful and not lasting for an instant. Everything started to glow. I tried to get inside the door, and suddenly a gust of wind started blowing by me. My clothes were caught in it. I twisted the knob, but it didn’t turn. I pushed on the door with my shoulder, the feel of my skin against the wood being like sandpaper. I tried to get in, but the door wouldn’t open.

I was getting panicked. I had to get inside. I had to see myself, I had to get away from this wind. The door still didn’t open. The wind felt like a hurricane now. The door finally opened up, but when I got inside, it wouldn’t close. Why couldn’t I have had that problem a few seconds ago? I fell on my back and onto the futon. The wind came inside. I looked on the TV. I knew real-life brand names could appear in my dreams. Now I knew a real-life movie could as well. I saw the TV was playing the kiss scene from The Notebook. I read the Nicholas Sparks book after my sister recommended it to me. I had no real opinion on the book, I know I finished it two weeks or so before I got abducted. I recalled the last I finished before that was The Crying of Lot 49. My only attempt into post-modernism. But the kissing continued on the TV, and the wind blew toward me. I’d seen the movie as well, though I was high when I saw it on HBO at 2 AM. A memory from my senior year of high school.

Then the kiss scene stopped. Rachel McAdams, the star of the movie, stared at me. The wind continued blowing. She asked me a question.

“Do you believe in God?” She asked. I didn’t know what to make of it. I responded in the worst manner I could.

“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t.” I said.

“It doesn’t matter if you do or not. Just remember me asking you. You’ll see the reason later.” Rachel McAdams said.

“Is it going to have anything to do with Area 51?”

“No, you’ll just need to keep someone else believing. Like I said, it doesn’t matter if you believe or not. But that’s for the future. Tomorrow you’ve got to take Area 51. This is for what lies beyond. You are at the verge of a secret. It will change the rules forever.”

“What about Area 51?” I asked. I was asking a goddamn TV showing a romance movie about this. I’d had weird dreams before, but Christ.

“It doesn’t matter there. You’ll do what you have to. This is for the future. Remember.” The pinpricks came a thousand times worse.

“Fuck you.” I said. “If God wants me to decrypt this, he is free to do it himself.” With that I leaned my head back and threw it into the TV screen. There was a flash of white, and then nothing. I knew I’d never look at The Notebook the same way again. I heard a voice say “I told you so” before the dark came with more voices.

VIII.
“Michael, wake up!” Someone outside yelled. I was back in my right mind. I was inside the Bellagio Casino in Las Vegas. I heard a piercing MEEP MEEP MEEP. It was the alarm clock. I glanced at it. It read 5:44. It had gone off and I’d stayed asleep for almost 45 minutes. I had laid on the burnt part of my face and it tingled. I recalled a similar thing happened when I got up for classes the day I got abducted, except the person who woke me was Gina, not Ray.

“Michael, turn your fucking alarm off!” It was Ray Boatwright. I hit a button on the alarm. It was the Snooze button. I sat up.

“Morning, Mike.” Ray said. I got up and opened the door. He stood there in a bathrobe with jeans on underneath.

“I suppose I have a mission to do.” I walked down into the chilly predawn air. On the reception desk I saw various DVDs. One was for The Notebook. I laughed.

“Oh, that? My daughter loved that movie.” Ray said. “Anyway, I’m going to get the others up. Best of luck.” I patted Ray on the shoulder. “Fucking hungover. Your alarm woke me up.” I shook his hand, and got in the vehicle I’d chosen, a Humvee. The weapons, body armor, and softball were all in the back seat. The fuel tank was full, the tires were fine, and I lit a cigarette with a newly filled Zippo lighter. It was like the one I got in the Smoker Friendly store in Topeka, but blue instead of green. The ignition key was inserted, and the engine came to life.

Time to drive into history, I thought to myself. Blargh.