Fire and Thunder by Bowen Greenwood

Author:Bowen Greenwood [Greenwood, Bowen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-06-05T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Terri worked at Groom Lake, Nevada. Known to the public as “Area 51,” it’s a top-secret government military base and testing facility for experimental weapons. Its location — isolated in the middle of the desert, far from any population center — made it the perfect place for keeping secrets. Over the years, it had acquired a reputation with the public for wild, unusual military secrets. Before anyone believed stealth aircraft were possible, the Air Force was testing them at Groom Lake. Secret programs the government never publicly acknowledged operated here. And, of course, when people speculated about UFOs and aliens, they thought of Area 51.

When the government first formed the Abnormal Abilities Agency, Groom Lake seemed like the natural place to headquarter a secret federal agency charged with investigating supernatural powers. When dealing with telekinesis, teleportation, and the ability to throw fireballs, keeping the research secret seemed natural. And when it came to keeping huge secrets, the government had a semi-official policy: keep them at Groom Lake.

Recently, the AAA had established a secondary base at Lake Mead near Hoover Dam. It was a couple hours to the southeast of the main headquarters. But Terri’s security clearance fell far short of that facility. She spent her working hours in the AAA’s Tactical Operations Center at Area 51, and her sleeping hours in the Bachelor Officers’ Quarters on the government base there. It was like an extended stay hotel run by the military.

But she couldn’t bring her parents to it. She wasn’t even allowed to confirm for her parents that either Area 51 or the AAA existed so bringing them to the place she spent most nights was out of the question.

To give herself some place to tell her family she lived, Terri kept a small, one-bedroom apartment in Las Vegas. It was her official “home” when she had an occasion for family and friends to visit. The place sat mostly unused and had a fine collection of dust. Yet, when she turned the key and pushed open the door, she felt a momentary surge of safety

“We can rest here, at least for a while.”

She knew, though, that as long as she had someone with abnormal abilities with her, safety was an illusion.

The door framed Drake’s tall, muscular silhouette like artwork as he came in behind her. His hair was out of place from his fight with Pitch earlier. He swiveled his head from side to side taking in the place.

Terri berated herself for stupidity. She’d been thinking negative thoughts through the whole cab ride here, and they still echoed through her brain.

Bringing a man with abnormal abilities to her home?

If work found out, she’d be disciplined, if not fired. If Maven Flake found out, she could be imprisoned herself as a sympathizer with the people they were trying to study.

But Drake’s haunted eyes spoke to her. His strong jaw and clean-shaven face made her crave just a tiny little crack in the classified, neither-confirm-nor-deny lifestyle of someone working for a government agency that didn’t officially exist.

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