Read Online Area 51: The Mission-3 by Robert Doherty - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Robert Doherty
Tags: Fiction, General, Science-Fiction, adventure, Espionage, Political, High Tech, Unidentified flying objects, Space ships, Area 51 (Nev.), Plague, Extraterrestrial beings
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That gives them plenty to work with. The Springfield is taking a course that will follow the shield around for the length of the mission. She's running on minimum thrust and power.
Stealth mode."
"Won't the shield react to the torpedo as a threat?" Duncan asked.
"We're going to try to float the torpedo through, with the power off,"
Admiral Poldan said. "Once it clears the shield, we can activate it through the trail wire and take a look."
"Two minutes to shield," the lieutenant announced. He hit a button on his console. "Entry program is loaded and ready to run."
Duncan looked once more at the imagery of the shield. The guardian had made the shield opaque after the last failed attack by Admiral Poldan's fleet. Up to that point, it had been invisible. The best guess UNAOC scientists had been able to come up with was that the field that comprised the shield was similar to the electromagnetic used by the bouncers—the small Airlia atmospheric craft that Area 51 had had control of for forty years. The fact that in all the years Majestic had worked on the electromagnetic gravity drives of those craft not a single clue as to how they actually worked had been discovered told Duncan that the key to the shield would not suddenly reveal itself.
"Torpedo launch!" the lieutenant announced.
The torpedo was spit out of the launch tube with a gush of compressed air. It ran straight for two hundred
60
meters and then began curving to the left, approaching the shield.
When it was less than a hundred meters from the shield, the electric motor went dead. The torpedo's momentum kept it going forward.
The lieutenant checked the time. "Sea Eye is at the shield."
On board the Springfield, Captain Forster had also just been informed of the torpedo's status.
"Sonar?" he called out. "Anything?"
"Sea Eye is gone, as far as I can tell," the sonar man reported. "Snapped off, like a door shutting.
"So the shield blocks sonar," Forster summarized the first thing they'd learned so far from this mission. "Weapons?" he asked.
"All tubes loaded and ready," his weapons officer informed him.
"Intel?"
"Ten seconds until we power up Sea Eye again," his intelligence officer told him.
"Multiple targets!" the sonar man yelled. "Two eight zero degrees. Three hundred meters and closing."
"I got three clear objects!" The radar man's voice was overlaid on top of the sonar operator's.
Forster looked over the shoulder of his radar man. He recognized the signature. "Foo fighters!"
"Two hundred meters and closing."
"Intel?" Forster yelled.
"Sea Eye is on. All we're getting is a power feedback. Growing."
"One hundred and fifty meters," radar reported.
"They're using the wire to track us," Forster realized. "Cut wire. Complete power down!"
61
"Foo fighters?" Duncan had listened to the exchange in the operations room of the Springfield before the radio went dead after Forster ordered his ship powered down. "I thought we got them all."
The small, three-foot-diameter glowing spheres were the guardian's eyes and ears. Capable of moving through both air and water, their recorded history dated back to World War II when they had been spotted by Allied and Axis aircrews, following airplanes on their war missions.
A nerve was twitching on Admiral Poldan's cheek. "We nuked their base. We've got two subs watching that location and they've reported nothing."
"Then these had to come from somewhere else," Duncan said.
"Status on the Springfield?" Admiral Poldan demanded.
"She's powered down. Descending," one of his crewmen watching a screen responded.
"The foo fighters?"
"Staying between the Springfield and the shield. Holding."
"That alien computer knows we know how to fight them now. They're keeping their distance."
Duncan thought that was a bit optimistic of the admiral.
"How much water does the Springfield have under her?" Poldan snapped.
"Bottom is four hundred meters."
Poldan relaxed slightly. "She can bottom out and handle that
Stealth mode."
"Won't the shield react to the torpedo as a threat?" Duncan asked.
"We're going to try to float the torpedo through, with the power off,"
Admiral Poldan said. "Once it clears the shield, we can activate it through the trail wire and take a look."
"Two minutes to shield," the lieutenant announced. He hit a button on his console. "Entry program is loaded and ready to run."
Duncan looked once more at the imagery of the shield. The guardian had made the shield opaque after the last failed attack by Admiral Poldan's fleet. Up to that point, it had been invisible. The best guess UNAOC scientists had been able to come up with was that the field that comprised the shield was similar to the electromagnetic used by the bouncers—the small Airlia atmospheric craft that Area 51 had had control of for forty years. The fact that in all the years Majestic had worked on the electromagnetic gravity drives of those craft not a single clue as to how they actually worked had been discovered told Duncan that the key to the shield would not suddenly reveal itself.
"Torpedo launch!" the lieutenant announced.
The torpedo was spit out of the launch tube with a gush of compressed air. It ran straight for two hundred
60
meters and then began curving to the left, approaching the shield.
When it was less than a hundred meters from the shield, the electric motor went dead. The torpedo's momentum kept it going forward.
The lieutenant checked the time. "Sea Eye is at the shield."
On board the Springfield, Captain Forster had also just been informed of the torpedo's status.
"Sonar?" he called out. "Anything?"
"Sea Eye is gone, as far as I can tell," the sonar man reported. "Snapped off, like a door shutting.
"So the shield blocks sonar," Forster summarized the first thing they'd learned so far from this mission. "Weapons?" he asked.
"All tubes loaded and ready," his weapons officer informed him.
"Intel?"
"Ten seconds until we power up Sea Eye again," his intelligence officer told him.
"Multiple targets!" the sonar man yelled. "Two eight zero degrees. Three hundred meters and closing."
"I got three clear objects!" The radar man's voice was overlaid on top of the sonar operator's.
Forster looked over the shoulder of his radar man. He recognized the signature. "Foo fighters!"
"Two hundred meters and closing."
"Intel?" Forster yelled.
"Sea Eye is on. All we're getting is a power feedback. Growing."
"One hundred and fifty meters," radar reported.
"They're using the wire to track us," Forster realized. "Cut wire. Complete power down!"
61
"Foo fighters?" Duncan had listened to the exchange in the operations room of the Springfield before the radio went dead after Forster ordered his ship powered down. "I thought we got them all."
The small, three-foot-diameter glowing spheres were the guardian's eyes and ears. Capable of moving through both air and water, their recorded history dated back to World War II when they had been spotted by Allied and Axis aircrews, following airplanes on their war missions.
A nerve was twitching on Admiral Poldan's cheek. "We nuked their base. We've got two subs watching that location and they've reported nothing."
"Then these had to come from somewhere else," Duncan said.
"Status on the Springfield?" Admiral Poldan demanded.
"She's powered down. Descending," one of his crewmen watching a screen responded.
"The foo fighters?"
"Staying between the Springfield and the shield. Holding."
"That alien computer knows we know how to fight them now. They're keeping their distance."
Duncan thought that was a bit optimistic of the admiral.
"How much water does the Springfield have under her?" Poldan snapped.
"Bottom is four hundred meters."
Poldan relaxed slightly. "She can bottom out and handle that
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