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Authors: Robert Doherty
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close to make it out: Thule.
Cavanaugh turned it over. A word was on the other side. Steiner. He assumed that was the dead man’s name. Thule vaguely rang a bell, but he couldn’t place the name. He tucked the dagger into his belt, then checked the body once more. A backpack, riddled with holes and soaked with blood, was on the man’s back. Gingerly, Cavanaugh removed it.
Inside was a leather journal and a half dozen flares. The journal was in a style of writing that Cavanaugh couldn’t read—definitely not German—so he tucked it under his arm while he took out one of the flares. He ripped the top open and ignited it.
“Geez!” Kramer’s exclamation startled Cavanaugh, then he turned to look into the cavern and saw what had caused it. He took an involuntary step back as in the sputtering light of the flare he saw the mile-long black ship resting in its cradle. In the limited light he could barely see the end, but it seemed to extend forever.
“What the hell is that?” Kramer asked.
Cavanaugh swallowed, trying to find his voice, but bis mouth was dry as the desert outside. “The map,” he finally got out.
“What?”
“The map,” Cavanaugh repeated. “What’s this place? What’s it listed as on the map?”
Kramer came closer and unfolded the Nellis Range map they’d been given at the base. He ran his finger across and came to a halt. “It’s a training area. Only has a number. Area 51.”
CHAPTER 5: THE PRESENT
Mars
In 1999 NASA launched the Mars Climate Orbiter. The stated mission was to put a satellite into orbit for one Mars rotation around the sun, the equivalent of two Earth years, to study the atmospheric conditions on the Red Planet. That was a lie.
When the orbiter approached Mars to go into orbit, contact with it was lost and never recovered. The explanation eventually given by NASA was that a data transfer during the preparation stages of the mission between the orbiter team in Colorado and the navigation team in California was flawed. According to the after-action report, one team used English units of measure, while the other used metric units for a key spacecraft operation. This mistake caused the orbiter to plummet into the surface of the planet rather than achieve a stable orbit. A rather startling and elementary mistake by the scientists involved if true. However, this also was a lie.
In reality, the Mars Climate Orbiter project was conceived by Majestic-12. Its highly classified mission was to overfly the Cydonia region of Mars and carefully examine the area with top-of-the-line imaging equipment. Cydonia had always fascinated observers from Earth because of the several apparent anomalies that appeared to be too linear and symmetrical to have been formed naturally. The primary one was a large outcropping labeled the “Face” because of its unnatural shape mimicking that of a massive visage peering up from the planet’s surface. It was over two and a half kilometers long by two wide by five hundred meters high. The second was a large pyramid not far from the Face. There was also the “Fort,” four straight lines like walls, surrounding a black courtyard.
For years NASA scientists had ridiculed any who postulated that these objects were anything other than natural formations. At the same time, it seemed curious that not a single one of all the various probes launched to check out the fourth planet had ever successfully orbited over the site for a closer look. While NASA’s public records indicated that no craft had ever been programmed with such an orbit, the truth was, several, like the Climate Orbiter, had secretly been given the task.
The early Viking missions had succeeded in getting two landers onto the surface of the planet but far removed from Cydonia. Pathfinder, with its Rover, also landed far away from the site. Many on the outside felt these were deliberate attempts on the part of NASA to avoid getting better information about Cydonia. They were half-right.
Cavanaugh turned it over. A word was on the other side. Steiner. He assumed that was the dead man’s name. Thule vaguely rang a bell, but he couldn’t place the name. He tucked the dagger into his belt, then checked the body once more. A backpack, riddled with holes and soaked with blood, was on the man’s back. Gingerly, Cavanaugh removed it.
Inside was a leather journal and a half dozen flares. The journal was in a style of writing that Cavanaugh couldn’t read—definitely not German—so he tucked it under his arm while he took out one of the flares. He ripped the top open and ignited it.
“Geez!” Kramer’s exclamation startled Cavanaugh, then he turned to look into the cavern and saw what had caused it. He took an involuntary step back as in the sputtering light of the flare he saw the mile-long black ship resting in its cradle. In the limited light he could barely see the end, but it seemed to extend forever.
“What the hell is that?” Kramer asked.
Cavanaugh swallowed, trying to find his voice, but bis mouth was dry as the desert outside. “The map,” he finally got out.
“What?”
“The map,” Cavanaugh repeated. “What’s this place? What’s it listed as on the map?”
Kramer came closer and unfolded the Nellis Range map they’d been given at the base. He ran his finger across and came to a halt. “It’s a training area. Only has a number. Area 51.”
CHAPTER 5: THE PRESENT
Mars
In 1999 NASA launched the Mars Climate Orbiter. The stated mission was to put a satellite into orbit for one Mars rotation around the sun, the equivalent of two Earth years, to study the atmospheric conditions on the Red Planet. That was a lie.
When the orbiter approached Mars to go into orbit, contact with it was lost and never recovered. The explanation eventually given by NASA was that a data transfer during the preparation stages of the mission between the orbiter team in Colorado and the navigation team in California was flawed. According to the after-action report, one team used English units of measure, while the other used metric units for a key spacecraft operation. This mistake caused the orbiter to plummet into the surface of the planet rather than achieve a stable orbit. A rather startling and elementary mistake by the scientists involved if true. However, this also was a lie.
In reality, the Mars Climate Orbiter project was conceived by Majestic-12. Its highly classified mission was to overfly the Cydonia region of Mars and carefully examine the area with top-of-the-line imaging equipment. Cydonia had always fascinated observers from Earth because of the several apparent anomalies that appeared to be too linear and symmetrical to have been formed naturally. The primary one was a large outcropping labeled the “Face” because of its unnatural shape mimicking that of a massive visage peering up from the planet’s surface. It was over two and a half kilometers long by two wide by five hundred meters high. The second was a large pyramid not far from the Face. There was also the “Fort,” four straight lines like walls, surrounding a black courtyard.
For years NASA scientists had ridiculed any who postulated that these objects were anything other than natural formations. At the same time, it seemed curious that not a single one of all the various probes launched to check out the fourth planet had ever successfully orbited over the site for a closer look. While NASA’s public records indicated that no craft had ever been programmed with such an orbit, the truth was, several, like the Climate Orbiter, had secretly been given the task.
The early Viking missions had succeeded in getting two landers onto the surface of the planet but far removed from Cydonia. Pathfinder, with its Rover, also landed far away from the site. Many on the outside felt these were deliberate attempts on the part of NASA to avoid getting better information about Cydonia. They were half-right.
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