Temple of the Gods - Andy McDermott [92]
Eddie chuckled. ‘Yeah, you could say that. That’s Area 51!’
‘You’re kidding. What, the Area 51? Where they’re supposed to keep the aliens and flying saucers?’
‘That’s the one. I’d love to poke around there, just to see if any of the stories are true.’
‘You might get the chance,’ said Nina as the plane tipped into a descent. ‘You think that’s where we’re going?’
He pressed his cheek against the window for a better view ahead. ‘Don’t think so. Looks like we’re heading for the hills east of it.’ A frown. ‘Weird, I didn’t think there was anything out there.’
‘Oh, so you’re an expert on Area 51?’ Nina asked, teasing.
‘Had a bit of an interest back when The X Files and all that kind of stuff was big,’ he admitted. ‘Used to buy magazines called things like Alien Encounters. Hey, come on!’ he added, seeing her smirk. ‘Military secrets are a lot more boring in real life than on TV. It’s loads more fun to imagine you’re guarding a crashed UFO than a warehouse full of broken radio gear. And yes, I had to do that once. For a whole month.’
‘Poor baby. So what is down there?’
‘That’s the thing: nothing. That’s why they put Area 51 out here in the first place, ’cause it was fifty miles from anybody who might be watching.’
The plane slowed, engines easing back as it continued its descent. ‘Okay, folks,’ said Abbot over the intercom, ‘we’ll be landing at Silent Peak in five minutes. Put your seats and tray tables in the upright position, huh?’ He laughed a little at his aeronautical joke.
Nina wasn’t amused, though. The message had hammered home the reality of what they were about to do. ‘God, if something goes wrong while we’re out here . . .’
‘Bit late to start worrying now,’ said Eddie. ‘But we got this far okay. All we can do is keep pretending we know what we’re doing.’
‘Isn’t that what we always do?’
The Learjet kept slowing, dropping towards the rugged hills. Eddie looked for their destination. They were heading into a closed valley, a single large rocky peak beyond, but there was no sign of anywhere they might land . . .
He blinked as the truth suddenly sprang from the background like the hidden image in a stereographic puzzle. The valley floor had at first glance appeared desolate and empty – but as the plane drew closer the giveaway parallel lines of human activity were revealed. A runway ran along it, partly hidden beneath sand and dust. The concrete had apparently been made from that same surrounding sand, the colours matching almost perfectly.
Such camouflage wouldn’t conceal it from the infrared vision of satellites, though. That probably meant it had been built before they came into common use. Some kind of Cold War facility?
They would find out soon enough. The Lear adjusted its course for the final descent, lining up with the long runway. ‘This’ll be bumpy,’ Abbot announced, ‘so hold on tight.’
Nina’s nails were already digging into the leather of her armrests. ‘If I hold on any tighter, I’ll merge with the damn chair!’
The pilot had, if anything, underplayed the roughness of the touchdown, bumps and cracks in the dusty concrete making the jet judder like a bicycle riding over cobblestones. ‘Christ, I think I’ve lost a filling,’ Eddie said as the shaking eased to merely uncomfortable levels.
Nina took in the view outside. ‘Where are we going?’ she wondered aloud. There were no buildings along the runway, just the rising valley sides. ‘I don’t see anything here.’
‘Must be something,’ said Eddie. ‘If there isn’t, this is a really, really expensive version of the Mafia taking people out into the desert to kill them.’
‘Thanks, Eddie. You’re always so reassuring.’ But there were still no structures in sight . . .
The answer came as the Lear slowed to taxiing speed and made a turn, bringing the cliff at the end of the valley into view. Set into the rock at its bottom was a door.
A very large one.
It took Nina a moment to take in its sheer scale. An opening at least three hundred feet across and sixty feet high had been blasted out of the