Trifariam, The Lost Codex (2012) (47 page)

He thought that Richard would try to evade his question just as the doctor had done a few minutes ago, but he answered calmly.

“Over the last few months, a number of messages written in code, symbols and ancient scripts have been found in the most well-known places in the world. The government didn’t think anything of it at first, until they deciphered one of them. It seems that a group of lunatics are taking advantage of the recent fame enjoyed by some secret societies to send threats to the U.S. government in their name. I’m helping them to decode all those messages.” Richard smiled and continued to explain. “One afternoon, I found Mary talking on the phone, but unfortunately I couldn’t hear anything. When she found out that I had seen her, she got very nervous and I started to get suspicious about her. The next day, I decided to share your discovery with my contact at the Pentagon. Ever since then, we have had a military team watching out for our safety and helping me to decipher the contents of the book.”

“You should have told me!” he cried, trying to excuse his ignorance.

“But James, you were crazy about that girl! You wouldn’t have believed me!”

“Of course I would! You’re my friend, for Christ’s sake!”

The doors opened again, but neither of them noticed.

“Where are we? The doctor didn’t want to tell me?”

Richard was just about to answer when a loud booming voice spoke from behind.

“Good morning, Mr. Oldrich. My name is Charly M. Humphrey and I am the current Director of Area 51.”

A
rea 51 is a secret military base approximately sixty square miles in size and located in the state of Nevada, in the west of the United States. Its name comes from the area divisions made by the U.S. Government for the administration of all its services.

It was in July 2003 when the Federal Government finally admitted its existence and assigned it to the U.S. Air Force, but they did not give any further information.

It is an area which is permanently out of the sight of civilians and regular air traffic. The area is constantly protected by radar and motion sensors, as well as surveillance and thermal imaging cameras that watch over the complex day and night. Should any absentminded tourist get lost in the immediate surroundings, they would find themselves faced with guards armed with M16 assault rifles and the odd helicopter.

The whole perimeter is monitored by a private security firm which patrols the area with gray all-terrain vehicles, carefully watching all those visitors who get a little too close to the wire fencing for comfort.

It’s worth mentioning that the base never appears on public government maps, which gives it another aura of mystery.

Back in the room, James warily looked at the person who had just come in. He was a well-built, middle-aged man of around fifty, dressed in a dark blue striped suit and a sky blue tie. His chest bore a large number of honors which did not escape the attention of the young professor. James recognized three of them straight away because they were the most relevant military awards the United States of today: the Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Service Cross and the Purple Heart.

The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the U.S. government. Personally bestowed by the president and in order for it to be conferred, the member of the armed services must have shown “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States.”

The Distinguished Service Cross is the second highest decoration and is awarded for acts of extraordinary heroism against the enemy. The act must involve extreme gallantry and risk of life in actual combat with an armed enemy force.

Both awards have different versions depending on the military division; in this case, it corresponded to the Air Force Cross.

Finally, the Purple Heart is awarded to all those who have been wounded or killed in combat.

James wondered what kind of service that man had given to his country to be awarded with such medals, not to mention the rest of the military decorations pinned to his chest which he had never seen before.

“How are you, Mr. Oldrich?”

The elegance with which he wore his suit and his gray hair, which was completely slicked back, did not intimidate James in the slightest.

“I’m much better now. I can already walk.”

Charly watched how James was standing up on his bad leg without any apparent distress and he smiled. It appeared that all the millions which were annually plowed into medical research were starting to bear fruit.

“So you’ve brought us to the famous and top secret Area 51. What have you done with the fragments?”

“I’ll tell you when the time is right, but first I’d like to ask you a question.” Charly came closer, as if he wanted to avoid that part of the conversation from being heard from outside. “Did you find out who was after you?”

“Not at all. That bitch didn’t want to tell me. What happened to her?”

“One of our helicopters took them down with a missile and they were blown to bits. They’re dead.”

James sighed; he was overcome with contradictory emotions. He was relieved but had a knot in his throat and a wave of sadness washed over his heart. He had really fallen in love with that girl.

“Mr. Matheson,” said Charly as he walked to the door. “Would you be so kind as to accompany me? In a few minutes there will be a meeting with the leaders of the most important departments of the U.S. Armed Forces and Security Services. It is very important that you tell us about your experiences and your thoughts on what happened.”

“What did you say?” asked James behind him. “I’m coming too!”

Charly looked at him dubiously. “I don’t know if that would be a good idea. The doctor told me that you still need to rest. Besides - ”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t intend to miss that meeting.”

Charly thought about consulting the doctor but it was already too late - James was getting dressed at top speed. A few seconds later, the three of them left the room.

The outside was completely different from how the young professor had imagined. A very long corridor stood before them, with several rooms lining each side. The marble floor and lack of decoration on the walls gave it a gloomy aspect. As they walked along it, the lighting started to change from yellow to white thanks to the sophisticated lighting system which detected the presence of people and adjusted the brightness accordingly. Richard had already had his ups and downs with the lamp in his room, which followed a similar procedure. By the use of processors controlled by digital LED technology, the lamp was able to emit a different light within a varied color spectrum, according to a person’s state of mind. At night he was unable to deactivate it and he had to sleep with his room having taken on a slightly red tinge.

“Which department are we in?” asked James, trying to keep up with the pace imposed by the Director of Area 51.

“The sleeping quarters. When you woke up in the hospital last night, we decided to bring you to your room. That way if you were in a fit state to attend the meeting, you would be much closer to where it would take place.”

At the end of the corridor was a gigantic elevator. When the doors opened, the three of them stepped inside and were immediately taken aback by the size of the compartment that awaited them. The control panel was similar to that of any elevator, giving the user six possible floors from which to use between -3 and 2. It even had the typical locking system of some elevators which allows access to the underground garage from the building itself. The upper electronic screen indicated that they were currently on floor “-3”.

What a letdown. We’re in the most secretive building in the world and it only has five floors?

Astonished, James observed how the Director slowly inserted a golden key into the lock and as he turned it, a hidden panel within the wall itself began to unfold. It was a control panel into which he typed an alphanumeric code of eight characters. After he punched it in, the sound of hinges could be heard inside the elevator. Both James and Richard looked around but when they glanced back, the panel had disappeared and in its place was a digital fingerprint reader. This time they didn’t take their eyes off the device and when they again heard the sound of hinges, they turned white as they saw it move to the right and a new reader come in from the left; it was a retinal scanner. The security was simply incredible. Despite the three previous tests, a fourth object appeared out of nowhere when the Director’s eye had been recognized. The device was similar to a lancet and also served to take a drop of blood. He later placed it carefully on a piece of glass which disappeared from view as if by magic. It was identifying him by his DNA!

After a few minutes, the machine gave its verdict.

Good morning, Director. How are you?

“Fine, Agatha. We’re in a bit of a rush. Take us to the scientific laboratory, would you?”

“It would be my pleasure, Director.”

“Agatha, allow me to introduce you to Mr. James Oldrich and Mr. Richard Matheson. They will be collaborating with us for the next few days; perhaps you’ve seen them wandering around the site.” Charly fell silent for a few seconds and leaned over to his two companions. “Agatha is a supercomputer, able to interact by herself and make complex decisions - in other words, she thinks. She carries all the internal security for the complex.”

“Pleased to meet you,” she said. “Yesterday I was about to personally introduce myself to Mr. Matheson in his room when he was unable to disconnect one of the table lamps, but I preferred for our meeting to be delayed for a few hours. I thought the sound of a voice coming out of nowhere could have startled him.”

The two friends couldn’t believe what they were seeing, both the security systems and the artificial intelligence that were straight out of a science fiction novel. They were surprised even more when the elevator did not go up, but down several feet, and although it was extremely difficult to check which floor they were on, Richard seemed to be thinking that they were two or three below the previous one. His face was therefore a picture of astonishment when the inner screen read “Floor -42”.

Just then a sound could be heard behind the compartment, as if something had just connected to the rear part. What happened next was amazing. The elevator started to move forwards like a train along a railway line. It was generally in a straight line, although it did seem to turn occasionally. Obviously they were moving around under the surface of Area 51.

“Where is this machine taking us?” asked James.

“Agatha is taking us to the laboratories where the fragments you found are being analyzed. One of the scientists will accompany us to the meeting and tell us about the latest developments. Needless to say, the research that you are about to see is of paramount importance. You should know that you are being granted access to this restricted area because we need your help and, of course, if you talk about anything you’ve seen here, your lives will be in grave danger.”

The machine eventually stopped, detached itself and sharply rose up without stopping to Floor -24. The metal doors opened straight away.

“Sorry. We’re working on making the stop a little more bearable.”

Before their eyes was a corridor around five hundred yards long with a host of laboratories on either side. They were gigantic in size and all kitted out with state of the art machinery. Just to the right of each of the access doors were huge panes of glass, which allowed those outside to observe what was going on within the laboratory. It was intended to motivate the rest of the scientists when they saw the achievements that their colleagues were making on a daily basis. There was a sign below those doors which indicated the project the laboratory was involved in at that time, some of which made their blood run cold.

Richard began to think that something strange must have been going on for them to allow a couple of civilians to be sniffing around their discoveries.

“Force fields?” asked James.

The Director smiled, he seemed ready to answer all their questions. Inside the laboratory was a kind of cube-shaped booth which was twenty square feet and full of water. At the bottom, an air bubble sat in the middle and was preventing liquid from passing through it.

“We’re investigating force fields from different viewpoints. On the one hand, they could protect our troops in a military environment, creating force fields around them which are impossible to destroy during battle. On the other hand, we’re investigating how useful they are in extreme conditions. The eventual aim would be to allow us to live in electromagnetic domes in the most unthinkable places in the world, like at the bottom of the sea or in space.”

At that moment, Richard was unaware of the importance those words would have just hours later.

They continued moving forwards and a new sign appeared before them: “Invisibility”.

“It can’t be!”

The Director smiled. “There’s a very famous saying among physicists: ‘Everything that is not forbidden is compulsory’. In other words, if there isn’t a natural law which prohibits a certain technology, it will not only be theoretically possible but actually applied in the future.”

When James got closer to the glass, he saw a scientist just finish putting on a vest. After pressing a button, his body disappeared, causing an eerie sight; a head floating in mid-air, along with his lower extremities but no torso.

“Invisibility was relatively easy to achieve. We only had to develop metamaterials, or artificial materials that have unusual electromagnetic properties. The key is to succeed in bending the light and making it curve around the objects in its path, before reverting back to its normal course on the other side.”

“Damn! They’ve managed to do that as well!” Richard’s voice was coming from the next laboratory and below a sign which read “Teleportation”.

“Well, that isn’t completely working yet,” stressed the Director, “but it is thought that it will work perfectly within one year. Up until now we have managed to transport viruses, small animals and objects, but we have made some errors that we are trying to iron out. This experiment is one of my favorites and I occasionally follow developments which are made in the world outside.” James was shocked at those words. “World outside”. Obviously for him, this was his real world. “As you know, they have succeeded in transporting photons even though they’re still a long way behind us. I’d say they’ll catch up in fifty years or so.”