“So do you buy what they say?” Tappan asked. “About these aliens preparing to attack the planet?”
Nora wished she could be sure Tappan understood she was playing for time—a charade she was putting on for their eavesdroppers. “He mentioned documentary evidence, and he seemed willing to show it to us. He’s sincere. We need to see this evidence.”
“Okay,” Tappan replied after a silence. “What you say makes sense. We owe it to ourselves to see just why he’s so convinced Earth is in danger. We owe it to science.” Suddenly, he took Nora’s face in both hands. “And, now that I think about it, cooperation sure beats the alternative.” He kissed her. “You’re one hell of a woman, you know that? Just please don’t ever hit me like that again.”
“I promise,” she said.
Footsteps in the hall…and with a turning of a lock, the two quickly separated. The door opened onto the same two heavily armed guards that had brought them to the cell. Silently, they gestured for Nora and Tappan to stand and step out into the cell block. Then, one in front and the other bringing up the rear, as before, they led Nora and Tappan back in the direction from which they’d come. But this time, they walked past the heavy door and farther along the wide corridor, to a set of doors larger than all the others. The label 019 was stenciled on them in large white digits. This time, the soldiers did not open the doors themselves; one covered the two prisoners while the other entered a number on a keypad. The huge doors whispered back to reveal an echoing hangar. Prodded by the soldiers, Nora stepped forward, began to look around—and then caught her breath in numb disbelief.
58
THE FENCE LOOMED out of the darkness, concertina wire at the top gleaming faintly against the stars. They moved up to it silently, pausing to look around, Corrie scanning for signs of security cameras. She could see none. The fence itself looked decrepit and rusty, but on closer inspection the dilapidation proved superficial. Battered NO TRESPASSING and DANGER: HIGH VOLTAGE signs were attached to it at regular intervals. Beyond, she could see the shadowy outlines of ruined buildings.
“Check out those two heavy wires,” Watts murmured. “They’re attached with insulators. This baby’s electrified.”
Skip nodded. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it was alarmed, as well.”
“How are we going to get in?” Corrie asked.
“Good question,” Watts replied.
They stood for a while, just staring at the fence. Even if they could get over it without being electrocuted, which seemed impossible, Skip was right: it would surely set off an alarm. Once on the other side, they’d be hunted down quickly.
“Maybe we could short-circuit it,” said Skip.
“That would set off the alarms even faster,” said Watts.
While they were talking, Corrie heard the low hoot of an owl, and then a sudden crackling and flash of light appeared about twenty feet up the fence.
They ducked down and listened.
“What the hell was that?” Skip whispered. “Did an owl just get zapped?”
Watts gestured for them to move along the fence toward the flash. He knelt to inspect the ground, looking for a bird, but shook his head, unable to see what might have caused it.
“Let’s walk a little farther,” he whispered. “Just in case there’s a weak spot in the fence.”
They moved along in single file, scanning the perimeter, but nowhere did it look possible to breach. Watts stopped periodically to examine the ground.
“What are we going to do?” Skip finally asked.
Watts shook his head. “I’m stumped.”
Another crackle split the night, with a flash of light a hundred yards farther up.
“You think it’s a pack of animals?” Corrie asked.
“Maybe a short, if we’re lucky,” said Skip. “Let’s go look.”
They continued northward. Here, the fence ran through some steep outcroppings of rock, forcing them to walk in single file.
Watts crouched again. “I’ll be damned.” A stick lay on the ground, still smoking. “How did this happen?”
Skip bent over to look as well. Corrie, bringing up the rear, suddenly felt herself seized from behind. One arm wrapped around her throat while hard, cold steel was pressed against her temple, forcing her back behind the cover of an outcropping.
Watts jumped up and pulled his weapon—but didn’t fire.
“You’re right to think it through,” came a voice. “Now drop it.”