Area 51 (40 page)

Scheuler did some calculations. "We're not maxed out but we're going fast enough. I estimate we'll be there in about an hour and a half."

"Well, now that we have time," Kelly said, "and we know where we're going, let's find out as much as we can. Talk to me, Professor. What does the tablet say is on Easter Island?"

Nabinger was sitting cross-legged on the floor, the rongorongo tablet in his lap. "I've only managed to decipher part of this, but what I have . . ." He looked at a small notepad in his lap.

"Wait one," Turcotte said. "Let's not go through this guessing game again. Just tell us what you think it says rather than the literal translation."

Nabinger obviously wasn't happy about that unscientific approach, but he nodded.

"All right. First, the tablet makes reference to powerful beings from the sky.

People with hair of fire--red hair, I assume. They--the red-haired people--came and lived for a while at the place of eyes-looking-at-heaven. That's how they describe it. From there they ruled after the month of the dark sky.

"Long after the month of the dark sky, the people with hair of fire went up in the great ship of the sky and left, never to return. But their . . ." Nabinger paused. "I am not quite sure what the next word is. It could mean 'parent,' but it doesn't seem to fit in context. Perhaps 'guardian' or 'protector'--remained and ruled.

"Even after the people with fire hair were gone, though," Nabinger continued,

"the little suns carried the word of the, hmm, let's use the word guardian."

" 'Little suns'?" Von Seeckt asked.

Turcotte remembered the foo fighter up in Nebraska and reminded the others.

"So these things most definitely are connected to the bouncers and the mothership?"

"I'm certain of it," Nabinger said. "There is more here, but it has to do with the worship of the guardian. I have only the one tablet. If I had the others I might know more."

"How many are there?" Kelly asked.

"There used to be thousands on the island," Nabinger answered, "but most were eventually used up as firewood or destroyed by missionaries who thought they were part of old pagan rites. There are just twenty-one in existence now--or at least there were only twenty-one suspected to be in existence. I don't believe that counted this one, since it was hidden in Dulce."

"How did it get to Dulce?" Kelly asked.

"Majic-12 has studied the high runes for years," Von Seeckt said. "They never had as much luck as our good professor here has in translating them, but they have continued to collect whatever they can."

"So maybe people for MJ-12 already have checked out Easter Island?" Kelly ventured.

"They may have," Von Seeckt said, "but I believe I would have heard if they had discovered anything."

"What do you know about Easter Island?" Kelly asked.

"It is the most isolated island on the face of the planet," Nabinger said, remembering what was in Slater's notes. "It is the place that is farthest from any other landfall. It wasn't discovered by Europeans until 1722, on Easter Sun-day that's how it got its name. The islanders themselves call their island Rapa Nui."

"That remote location also helps explain why these aliens might have wanted to use it as a base camp," Von Seeckt added. "Remember the part of the tablet from Hangar Two about not interfering with the local inhabitants?"

"What is the island like?" Turcotte asked, more focused on the immediate future as always.

For that Nabinger did have to consult the notes he'd carried in his backpack through all their adventures. "The island is shaped like a triangle with a volcano at each corner. Land mass is about sixty-two square miles. It doesn't really have any beaches, one reason early visitors had a hard time getting ashore. It is very rocky. Almost no trees were left on the island when it was discovered. There are some now that have been planted.

"And, of course," Nabinger said, "there are the statues, carved out of solid rock in a quarry on the slopes of one of the volcanoes. The largest is over thirty-two feet tall and weighs over ninety tons. There are over a thousand of them scattered all about the island."

"I've seen pictures of those things," Kelly said. "How did those ancient people move such large and heavy objects?"

"Good question," Nabinger said. "There are several theories, none of which quite work."

"Ah," Von Seeckt said, "but perhaps our red-haired ancients might have had something to do with that. Or maybe left something lying around that the natives used to move the statues. Perhaps an antigravity sled or magnetic--

"Is there any evidence of this guardian?" Turcotte cut in.

"Anything like the bouncers or the mothership or even what was found in the pyramid?"

Nabinger shook his head. "No, but not as much is known about the island as people would like to think. We don't know why the statues were built, never mind how they got to their locations around the coast. There is much that is hidden about the history of the island. Archaeologists are still making new finds as they explore. The island is volcanic and honeycombed with caves."

That caught Turcotte's interest. "So maybe there is something there?"

"Perhaps this guardian still exists," Kelly suggested.

"I hope something's down there," Turcotte noted, looking over Scheuler's shoulder at the tactical display. "Because we've got someone hot on our tail. I don't believe General Gullick has given up yet."

33

AIRSPACE, PACIFIC OCEAN

"It's going to get worse before it gets better," Turcotte said.

"What now?" Kelly asked.

"Our satellite link shows we've got company up ahead too. Looks like a bunch of interceptors waiting for us to hit their kill zone."

"So what's the get-better part?" Kelly asked.

"Well, it always gets better after it gets worse," Turcotte said. "Either that or you're dead."

"Great philosophy," she muttered.

A covey of F-16's from the Abraham Lincoln waited over the Pacific, circling on the flight path the target was projected to follow. That is, until small glowing orbs suddenly appeared and all craft lost engine power.

General Gullick closed his eyes, hearing the panicked reports from the pilots as their engines flamed out. He took the headset off and looked at the pilot.

"Where are we headed?"

"I've projected out the flight path of Bouncer Four," the pilot reported. He nodded his head at the screen. A line went straight from their present location over a thousand miles west of Colombia, due south.

"Antarctica?" Gullick asked. "There's nothing out here."

"Uh, actually, sir, I checked. There is an island along this route. Easter Island."

"Easter Island?" General Gullick repeated. "What the fuck is on Easter Island?" He didn't wait for an answer. He immediately got on the radio with the admiral in charge of the Abraham Lincoln task force. That resulted in a five-minute argument, as the admiral's priorities were somewhat different from Gullick's. He wanted to recover the downed aircrews. A compromise was reached and the majority of the task force turned to the south and steamed at flank speed for Easter Island, while several destroyers stayed behind to pick up the crews.

Turcotte watched the dots of the waiting aircraft disappear off the screen. He felt the anxiety level in his gut kick up a notch higher despite this apparently positive development.

"Talk to me, Professor. Tell me more about Easter Island."

"There are two major volcanoes on the island," Nabinger said. "Rano Raraku in the southeast and Rano Kao.

Both have lakes inside the crater. On the slopes of Raraku are the quarries where the stone statues were cut and fashioned out of solid rock. Quite a few statues have been found there in various stages of creation. The inhabitants shaped each statue lying on its back, then cut down on the spine until it was free. Then they hauled it to its site, where it was raised onto a platform.

"It is interesting to note," he continued, "that the main road leading away from Raraku is lined with statues and there are some who think this was a processional route."

"To worship the fire-heads?" Kelly asked.

"Maybe. There are some who think the statues were simply abandoned there when the people rose up against the priests who oversaw the making of the statues.

Those people put a tremendous, almost unbelievable, amount of resources into the creation and moving of those statues. It had to severely strain the economy of the island, and the theory is that eventually the common people revolted."

"So Raraku is the place to look?" Turcotte cut in.

"Maybe." Nabinger shrugged. "But on the rim of the other significant volcano, Rano Kao, over a thousand feet high, is where the ancient people built the village of Orongo--their sacred village. The lake inside the crater is almost a mile in diameter. Offshore of Kao lies a small island called Moto Nui, where birds--terns--nest. In ancient times the cult of the Birdman occurred every year in September, when young men would go from the volcano rim, climb down the cliffs to the sea, swim to Moto Nui, recover a tern egg, and the first man back was birdman for the year."

Turcotte rubbed his forehead. "Okay, okay. They have birdmen. They have volcanoes. They got big statues. They got strange writings on wood tablets. But what the hell are we looking for? Has anything strange been found there that might suggest this guardian?"

"No."

"Then what are we-- ' Turcotte paused as the pilot called out.

"We've got company!"

They looked out as six foo fighters bracketed their craft.

"I don't like this," Scheuler muttered. The foo fighters were making no threatening movements, hanging in position as they flew south.

"How far out are we?" Turcotte asked.

"ETA at Easter Island in two minutes."

The foo fighters were slowing and closing in around their craft, forming a box on all sides.

I don't think we're going to have any choice about where to look on the island,"

Kelly said. "I think the guardian has decided all of that for us."

"We're going down," Captain Scheuler announced unnecessarily, since all inside Bouncer Four could see the island below growing closer. The bouncer was being slowed by whatever force had taken over the controls.

"We're heading for Rano Kao's crater," Nabinger said, pointing at the moonlit surface of the lake in the center of the large volcano.

"This thing waterproof?" Turcotte asked Scheuler.

"I hope so," was the optimistic reply.

"Everyone hold on to something," Turcotte called out as they descended below the edge of the crater's rim. They splashed into the lake without much of a jar and then were enclosed in total darkness. For half a minute there was silence, and it was impossible to tell which way they were moving. A point of light appeared ahead and slightly above them, growing closer.

The light grew brighter, filtered through water, then suddenly they broke out into air again, into a large cavern. The bouncer lifted up above the surface of the water, which filled one half of the floor, and settled down on dry rock on the other half.

"We're shut down," Scheuler announced as the skin of the disk grew opaque. He tried the controls. "It won't power up."

Four thousand feet above Easter Island, General Gullick watched helplessly as the bouncer disappeared into the waters of the crater.

"Can you set us down on the airfield on the island?" he asked the pilot.

"Sir, that's a public airstrip. If we land there, the secret about this aircraft will be out."

Gullick's laugh had a edge of mania to it. "Major, there's a lot of things that aren't going to be secret come daybreak if I don't get on top of all of this, and I can't do it up here.

Land."

"Yes, sir."

"Let's see what we have," Turcotte said, heading for the ladder leading to the top hatch. He climbed up and unfastened the seal, flipping the hatch open. He climbed out onto the upper deck of the bouncer and looked about as the others gathered around him.

"I'd say go that way." He pointed toward a tunnel on the land end.

"After you," Kelly said, with a sweep of her hand.

Turcotte led the way with Nabinger at his side, the others following, with Kelly bringing up the rear. The tunnel was lit by lines of light that seemed to be part of the ceiling.

The floor sloped up at first, raising faint hopes that it might go up to the surface, but then it leveled out and turned to the right.

They entered a cave, somewhat larger than the Cube.

Three walls were rock, but the far wall was metal. On it was a series of complex control panels with many levers and buttons. What caught everyone's attention, though, was the large golden pyramid, twenty feet high, that sat in the center of the cave. Turcotte paused. It was similar to the one at Dulce, but larger.

There was no glow above it, and Turcotte didn't pick up any of the negative feelings he'd experienced in Dulce.

He reluctantly followed the others as they walked in silence up to the base of the pyramid, staring at its smooth surface in awe. Faintly etched in the metal were high runes.

"What do you think?" Turcotte asked of no one in paricular. "I'm sure this thing controls whatever took over the bouncer and is keeping us from getting out of here."

"Why are you in such a rush to get out of here?" Kelly asked. "This is the whole reason we came."

"I was trained to always have a way out ready," Turcotte said, staring at the pyramid suspiciously.

"Well, cool your spurs," Kelly replied.

"My spurs are cool," Turcotte replied. "I have the feeling the only thing waiting for us outside of this cave is going to be a lot of big guns."

"This must be the guardian," Kelly said.

They all held their place as Nabinger ran his hands over the high runes.

"Amazing. This is the greatest find in archeological history."

"This isn't history, Professor," Turcotte said as he walked forward into the room. "This is here and now, and we need to figure this thing out."

"Can you read it?" Kelly asked.

"I can read some of them, yes."