Chapter Three
"You're Kidding, Right?"
The General reached over the seat and tapped the Lieutenant's
shoulder. "How's the other shoulder, Mike?" he asked.
"Just fine, sir," the Lieutenant announced.
"Nothing was broken, just a lot of bruises. Your friends got
me out o.k.. Appreciate it, sir."
"Got you out of where?" Donald asked.
The Lieutenant looked towards the General and with his nod
answered.
"Baghdad, sir. I was guiding in laser bombs when the Iraqis
caught me. The General took them out, got me to some of his
people. Rather weird experience. When The President approved the
mission he asked for me. I've got full diagrams, sir. Anything
you didn't find out last night?"
The General shook his head. "No, they're doing a good job.
Cursed luck, though, that culvert was washed out. If it hadn't
been for that the ship would've been sitting nice and level on
the road, instead of plowed up in those buildings. I hope that
engineer's all right."
"Yes, sir. Just a few bruises. You're quite a start, sir, to
someone who's never seen you before."
The General only nodded, and Donald was completely confused.
"What are you two talking about?" he asked.
The General and Lieutenant laughed. "YOU explain it to
him," the General ordered.
"The General can leave his body, sir," the Lieutenant
commented. "He can take on several different forms, one of
them alien. He visited the crash site list night. One of the
engineers saw him, was startled and fell from the rigging."
"Are you serious?" Donald inquired.
"Absolutely!" the Lieutenant answered. "It was his
alien form that saved me in Baghdad."
Donald shook his head and stared at the man beside him.
"Excuse me, sir," he said, "I'm a good old
Catholic boy. I find things like that very hard to believe."
"Quite understandable, Donald," the General told him.
"Sometimes I find MYSELF hard to believe."
They arrived at a small executive airport and an Air Force Leer
was waiting. They were airborne in minutes. "We've got
a couple of hours in the air, gentlemen. Let's get some work
done. Get me the weather reports. I want to know who's going to
be effected if we have to use the bomb. How's the evacuation
going?"
A Sergeant who had been on the plane spoke up. "Almost
everyone is out of the immediate danger zone sir, except for a
few stragglers: hhunting party we can't find, and two people in
an old folks home too sick to move. Two Air Force nurses are
staying with them. But we've got over one thousand people out of
the area. The cover is one of our missiles went haywire."
The General nodded. "Show me where the nursing home
is," he asked. "The Sergeant indicated and the General
again nodded. "Even if we have to use the bomb, they're
pretty far off. They could come out o.k.....find that hunting
party!"
"Yes, sir!" the Sergeant snapped.
The General began to study photographs of the ship, itself.
"This is where we'll establish contact," he said.
"If I can get through to the computer half our battle's won.
If we only knew what the danger was inside. I was too weak to
penetrate the hull last night. Maybe I really ought to give it
another try."
"Why don't you wait until you're closer, sir?" the
Lieutenant suggested. "It's daylight."
"Maybe you're right," the General answered. "Let's
have some lunch. Maybe we'll all think better on a full
stomach."
"I made sure they brought food and beverages you could eat;
turkey ham, and, cheese, Postum. There's plenty of stuff for
us."
"My kind of man, Lieutenant" the General laughed.
They settled down to a quiet lunch while the plane sped westward.