Chapter 20: A Time To Conceal

Warren, a city boy from Chicago exclaimed, "Say what? All they have out there are Indians and ugly hillbillies who marry their own sisters and live on welfare."

I wondered if this was another of her mood swings. Then she explained, "I inherited a piece of property somewhere north east of a town called Woodward. The whole thousand acres are bog and swamp and ugly gullies where erosion ripped away the topsoil.

I own the oil and mineral rights which is why I kept it all these years. A geologist's preliminary report stated there was probably oil there. It's in the middle of nowhere and straddles three counties, which might or might not be a problem.

"Send Warren and Sophie out there to look it over and get permits to build a cat fish farm or a research lab or something on it. Then we dig deep and build high. My Uncle Norman can take care of incorporating and hiding resources so we look just like any other greedy corporation nosing around for cheap labor and a tax break." She smiled brightly and looked around at us.

"Warren, since she volunteered you to go on recon, what are your thoughts?" I asked. The whole idea sounded so weird I couldn't think of anything either for or against it.

"Sounds like it's worth taking a look, so long as I don't have to eat possum pie or fried armadillo or candied skunk parts. I barely made it through survival training. We could start as soon as we hit New York."

"Professor?" I asked.

"I agree we must do something. That nasty Henry person is due back day after tomorrow with some guards. He must not find this place down here."

Professor Mack looked at each of us, "We are on the verge of even greater discoveries. Whole new branches of science lay at out fingertips." His eyes got the glare of the religious fanatic in them.

"As a side issue, we have also discovered some machines, for want of a better name for them, that may well be millions of years old and still work. Much of my applied research came as a result of what I discovered when we first got here. There is just so much to do."

"Then much of what you discovered is not originally your research?" I asked and he nodded. "Please explain," I told him. "There is something that does not quite fit."

"Your father originally funded my research into a communications device that was impossible to decrypt. It involved a whole new branch of applied physics. We named it 'The Project.' Totally secure encryption would be worth literally billions to industry, banking and of course also the government.

We built our research laboratory underground in what was originally an old coalmine. While digging the elevator shaft a wall collapsed and we found this great cavern and the other tunnels. That was when I rediscovered the magnetic anomalies all over again.

"When we discovered the tunnels and natural caves, we explored them as a harmless recreation. Then we found the cave paintings and that led to the machines.

"We did a little more exploring and found another cavern much like this one but smaller. It was well lit by its own power and contained what we later learned were machines, for want of a better name. There we discovered a machine that had broken down. My research into its properties yielded the weak power and the perfect lubricant.

"We need to get a fork lift down here and begin to move everything out of here tonight, right now. If we get everything up to the surface and loaded into semi trailers maybe we can sneak it to another hiding place." I looked at Keith, "Any ideas?"

Henry spoke up, "We have an electric pallet jack down here and an electric fork lift upstairs in the warehouse." Little bat eared Henry had stayed so quiet I forgot he was even present.

"What warehouse?" I asked. "I didn't see any warehouse up topside. All I saw was a rusted out Quonset hut. It's on someone else's property.

"That's a blind. Inside that old hut are four fiberglass cargo containers like you see on ships and a small overhead crane to move them. You also own that other piece of property.

Suddenly we heard a muffled explosion. A bare moment later the wall between the laboratory and the main cavern imploded inward. "Alice!" Henry screamed and ran through the dust that billowed outward toward us. Seconds later he led a small woman, even shorter than he out of the mess.

"What happened?" The professor asked. Automatic fans kicked in finally and drew the dust somewhere away from us.

The second I heard her speak I recognized her voice. She was the irritating woman on the telephone. "It was the pressure constants. The coal I used wasn't pure enough. She held up a gem that looked like a polished uncut diamond to my untrained eye. Here's your coal." Once I got over the shock of the implosion I could only stare in wonder.

"What happened to the granite block you pressed the sample against?" The professor looked keenly at her.

"The fans are blowing the last of it out as we speak, sir." She seemed elated rather than shaken at her near mishap.

"I'll take that," Bobbie said and held out her hand. Alice looked at the professor questioningly. He silently nodded and she reluctantly handed it to Bobbie. My pregnant wife held it up to the light and announced, "This is not a diamond."

She handed it to the professor. As he took it from her he asked, "What makes you so certain it is not a diamond?"

"It doesn't feel right. It's too light."

"You are absolutely correct." He sighed, "Here we have a whole new line of research. Things are happening too fast." He slowly shook his head and sighed.

"What happened to Katherine with a K?" I asked. "I don't care if she lives or dies so long as we aren't attached to what happens to her."

The professor laughed, "Never fear. I sedated her and then I set and splinted her wrist while you were looking at the drawings. We placed her in that little room over there. It's our first aid station." He pointed toward an alcove. I strained my eyes and could barely make out a still form lying on a gurney in the gloomy little room

"Let's take her up to the surface and drop her off in Leeds somewhere." Leave her naked in an alley near the edge of town and let the authorities come up with their own explanation." Bobbie looked around, "Well? What do you think we should do? I want to get her out of our hair."

Warren smiled at her, "You are becoming bloodthirsty." I had to agree with him.

"Bobbie, you and Freddie take care of the task of ridding us of Katy. Just remember, the British are very stuffy about killing ex-FBI idiots on their soil," I told her.

"Spoil sport," she grumped at me, only half joking.

"Professor, how much of this equipment is irreplaceable?" I asked. "I want us to clear out of here as fast and as light as we can."

"Why almost none of it." He looked around. "Most of the laboratory seems to be destroyed anyway. The prototypes and our research notes would be all we absolutely need. Well, plus the artifacts. We have to be so very careful with them. We have no idea of what the consequences might be if we mishandled one. There is just so much we don't know. I intend to make a fresh start when we get to our new location. We had outgrown this place terribly."

"What about the other roomful of alien machinery, or whatever it is?" I asked. I didn't care to leave anything behind.

"Oh, almost everything from there is already in another room here. I already had Henry crate everything up for just such an emergency as this.

I directed him to get moving ASAP, "Okay, bring everything over to the elevator we plan on keeping.

"Warren, you ride shotgun with Bobbie while Freddy drives. Be as discreet as you can when you dump Kate and come right back here. I want us out of here as soon as possible if not sooner. Keith and I shall take everything up to the storage area. We'll truck it out tomorrow night, just as soon as we round up some truck drivers with idle rigs.