"All right, if you're sure you're up to it, Doc," Jeanie told him, then hung up the receiver. "Dr. Horton's fine!" she cried to everyone in the room. "Better get picked up some. The Doc's going to be here any minute for an important discussion. Oh, Mike! Everything's o.k.!"
Mike, who had been depressed all the time Cooper had been operating, sighed deeply, and looked so relieved with the news Jeanie thought he'd faint away! She ran and gave him a hug, and Larry cheered as he got up from his new usual working place...the floor!
In a few minutes Dr. Cooper was back, looking very tired but pleased. Everyone continued working as they talked.
"All right, people, what are we going to tell Officer McCree about what happened?" was the question of the hour.
"We could always tell him a meteorite hit up there. That's easy enough for anyone to believe!" Larry told him.
"Yeah, but what happens when scientists start coming up here doing tests, trying to find meteorite fragments? There's not even a crater visible where one could've landed," Dr. Cooper logically added. "They wouldn't find a thing to prove it, and might find something that would make trouble for us."
"Oh, no!" Mike gasped, looking pale. "How do we explain what happened to the jeep? It's still up at the lake, wrecked! It's about the only evidence they'll find of us ever having anything to do with the disaster!"
"I don't know!" Cooper sighed, puzzled.
"I could always go back and drop it into the middle of the lake," Mike announced, bleakly.
"That does sound like the best idea for that part of the problem, but still, what do we tell McCree?"
They hadn't heard the door open and close a few moments before Dr. Cooper's last remark, and didn't notice the figure of a man standing before it, just in the shadows of the entranceway. But they did hear his footsteps as he approached them, and they didn't turn around until they heard the familiar voice of Officer McCree from directly behind them.
"What do we tell McCree about WHAT?" he asked sternly, his hands firmly on his hips.
Dr. Cooper swallowed hard, and he slowly put the delicate instruments he held down onto the counter. Mike nervously came to Cooper's side.
"Would you like me to go and take care of that matter we discussed now, Doc?" he managed to say.
"No, son," was his answer, "I've made up my mind. I believe we have quite a bit of explaining to do, and right now!"
"Huh?" Mike gasped, his face white. He had a feeling he knew what Dr. Cooper was   up to, but couldn't believe he'd actually reveal any secrets to