Aug 19, 2011

Chapter 7: Area 51

Twenty minutes later the team was back at No.9's headquarters. Mr. Invent picked up the controller for the Infester and started directing it towards the offices of the facility. They had already passed several rooms: the toilet, the lobby, and the waiting room (why they had a waiting room in a secret facility was a mystery to all of them).


After a few minutes of searching, the Infester had finally reached the office of the Agency Director.

The eyes of The Infester moved downward slowly, looking into the room from one of the air vents. There were two people inside of the office: a military general of some sort, by the look of his medals and uniform, and the head of the agency itself, William Cobbledhead. It seemed like they were talking about something secretively. Not wanting to miss anything, Mr. Invent turned up the microphone.

"You see how important this is!" the general suddenly screamed at Cobbledhead. The feedback from the Infester made the team cringe and Mr. Invent quickly turned the mic back down to its normal level. "If we don't get that crystal it could be the end of civilization as we know it," the general boomed.

He must be one powerful man to be yelling at Mr. Cobbledhead.

"Yes, general, I do, and I understand your concern, but let's not get ahead of ourselves," Cobbledhead replied. "I don't think that someone is trying to steal the crystal to start a war. Besides, even if someone was able to steal it, again very unlikely, they probably wouldn't have the Fulton device. The crystal would be absolutely useless to them."

At this the general's face turned deep crimson. "Well I only know one thing," he said, "we don't have the Fulton either, so somebody else does!"

The general slammed the door as he walked out of the office steaming in anger.

Mr. Cobbledhead calmly clicked on the buzzer on his desk. "Caroline? I would like you to send Team 4 to Area 51," he said into the box on his desk. "Tell them their mission is to retrieve the Crylon Crystal. When it is obtained it should be brought directly to me immediately. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," Caroline replied.

No.9 looked around at everyone's faces.

They had gotten their first real mission....And they were going to Area 51!

There was only one problem...

"Let's go now!" said L.G. excitedly.

"How are we supposed to get there, bubble brain?" asked Bombshell.

Everyone was troubled at this. It was true, they had no way to get there.

"Well," said Mr. Invent, "there is something I've been working on..."

*      *      *

Mr. Invent led the crew to a small shack a few miles away. L.G. brought a laptop with a direct feed to Cobbledhead's office just in case any more important information came up before they left.

"Come on in," he said.

"We can't all fit in there!" Blonde Bomb protested.

"Oh, don't worry, we will."

They all walked inside.

"OW!" Blonde Bomb yelled.

"Get off my arm!" said L.G., squished against the wall.

Mr. Invent walked to the back of the shack and dug around in his pockets. "Here it is," he said after a while. He pulled out what looked to be a blue plastic credit card . He swiped the card through a tiny grey slot near the door to the shack and suddenly there was a small rumble and they were moving downward.

"Cool elevator," said No.9 impressed.

After a few seconds they stopped and Mr. Invent opened the door of the shack-disguised elevator behind them. The room they entered was large and as wide as three swimming pools in all directions.There was a strong smell of dirt in the air.

"Come on," said Mr. Invent, leading them towards the center of the room. "Ah, here she is," he said, pointing to a large object covered in a white sheet.

"What is it?" No.9 asked.

"It's a hovercraft," said Mr. Invent as he pulled the white sheet off of his finest creation.

No.9 walked towards the hovercraft, gliding his hands along the metallic coating. It was circular in shape, almost like a flying saucer from a 1950s horror movie. There were six windows around the side of the the saucer with a large black dome on top.

"Sweet," No.9 said in awe.

Mr. Invent smiled. "It is pretty sweet isn't it?"

Everyone came forward to get a better look at the strange invention.

"How many people can it fit inside?" asked L.G.

"Well, it should fit all of us with a little room to spare," said Mr. Invent.

"How high can it go?" asked No.9

"With our weight we should just barely make 1,000 feet," Mr. Invent said. "Do you guys want to stay here and ask questions all day or go get that crystal?"

"Let's go!" they all yelled.

Mr. Invent pushed a button on a tiny remote control on his key chain. There was a soft beep and the entire dome of the hovercraft split open and folded down into two ramps in opposite directions.

"Hop in!" Mr. Invent said.

They all filed into the hovercraft one-by-one up the black ramp. There was a cockpit with two seats in front of the largest windows and behind the cockpit was the main cabin with two rows of four seats. The inside was large and spacious and the seats were made of leather. It reminded No.9 of a private jet.

Mr. Invent hopped into the driver seat in the cockpit. "Everyone ready? Good. Let's go," he said.

Mr. Invent typed in some kind of number on a small computer in front of him. The black dome close above them and the vehicle jerked ten feet into the air. He grabbed the steering wheel and pushed down on the metal pedal at his feet.

"Hey! How do we get out?"asked Genie Wiz.

"There's a hole at the end of a tunnel up ahead that goes right over the cove," Mr. Invent replied. He slammed the pedal down and the hovercraft went faster than a bullet flying through the narrow tunnel. They could see a speck of light the size of a postage stamp ahead. Every second they were going faster and faster. The hole was coming up. They were only two feet away now. Faster than ever they burst through the hole just above the ocean.

They wouldn't have to travel very far to Area 51. The longest it would take was an hour.

The hovercraft was going faster now. No.9 glanced at the speedometer in front of Mr. Invent. They were going precisely 195 miles per hour.

"Mr. Invent," said No.9, "can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what?" Mr. Invent replied.

"Your secret room would make a perfect headquarters. Do you think we could make a permanent move there?"

"I'd be honored!" said Mr. Invent excitedly.

"Great! Hey, what should we name this hovercraft by the way?"

"How about The Destroyer?" L.G. chimed in.

"No way. Too action movie-ish," replied Bombshell.

"How about Wings of Fire?" said Genie Wiz.

"It doesn't have wings," Mr. Invent said. "How about the Alley Cat?"

"I like it!" said Blonde Bomb.

"Me too!" said No.9.

"Alley Cat it is then," said L.G.

A while later the Alley Cat had approached a sign that read "Welcome to Nevada." Mr. Invent started typing at the miniature computer that was next to the steering wheel.

No.9 saw him type in "Area 51."

There was a small BEEP and the computer showed the exact location of the once-secret base.

Mr. Invent put the Alley Cat on auto-pilot. "Any minute now," he said.

In the distance they could see tiny buildings about the size of a toenail.

"There it is," L.G. said, pointing to the far-off base.

"We need to stop a few miles out," Mr. Invent said.

"Why?" asked No.9

"So they don't see us," replied Mr. Invent. "My radar jammers can get us close, but once we're in better range they'll definitely be able to track us."

No.9 nodded in understanding. Mr. Invent dropped the altitude of the Alley Cat. When it landed the crew stepped out into the dark on the dry flat desert.


"Okay, I brought everyone something to help us out," Mr. Invent said while pulling out six blue necklaces. "They're stealth necklaces. Every time you put it on you'll have about five minutes of camouflage. It's only five minutes, so use them wisely." He handed everyone a necklace.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, let's go," said No.9.

The crew started running as fast as they could towards the base.

"There's a secret entrance just up ahead," said Mr. Invent running in the lead. He stopped after a few paces and got down on his knees to dig. "Here it is!" he exclaimed. He uncovered a large metallic door. Mr. Invent turned a valve and pulled up, opening the covering and revealing a large tunnel. "Come on," he said, climbing down inside.

"How do you know so much about this place?" Bombshell asked as she closed the iron door.

"I used to be a little obsessed with this place," said Mr. Invent as led them through the tunnel. "I had maps and blueprints for the entire place sent to me when I made it into the agency. I guess I have a thing for aliens."

They all continued down the tunnel. It smelled strongly of boiled cabbage and was long and dark making it hard for the team to see their way around. Finally, after about ten minutes of running in the dark they had reached another hatch door.

"Let's go," said No.9, turning the handle.

A burst of light came at their faces. They were suddenly blinded since they had gotten used to the dark of the dank tunnel.

After a few seconds they could see clearly again. When they climbed out what they saw was amazing.

To the right of them was a large bunker with "A-5" written on it. To the left was a similar bunker with "A-1" on the front of the door. In front of them was a vast space of crates and boxes.

"Oh my God," Genie Wiz whispered. "We're actually here. In Area 51! The most top secret place in the world!"

"Well, it can't be very top secret if we know about it," said No.9.

Suddenly three shadowy figures ran across the opposite end of the large courtyard.

"That must have been Team 4," No.9 whispered to the others. "Let's split into pairs. One group follows Team 3, the other two go to bunker A-5 or A-1." He pointed out all of the directions the groups would go in to the others.

No.9 and L.G. went to follow Team 4, Genie Wiz and Mr. Invent went to the bunker marked A-1, and Blonde Bomb and Bombshell went to A-5.

"We need to communicate with these walkie-talkies," said No.9 handing one to each pair. "Our rendezvous point is the entrance to the tunnel. Alright, let's go."

No.9 and L.G. creeped towards Team 4.

"Ok, there they are," said L.G.

Team 4 was made up of five agents, they're number classification meant that they were majors.

No.9 stared at them long and hard to determine if they were carrying anything.

"I can't tell if they have it or not," No.9 said. He pulled out one of the pencils Mr. Invent had made and tore off the eraser. He threw the eraser bomb directly at Team 3.

BOOM!

The three agents fell to the ground, out cold.

No.9 and L.G. ran towards them. L.G. searched around for the crystal but it couldn't be found. The walkie-talkie crackled and Genie Wiz's voice came on.

"Is everyone alright? We heard an explosion. Over."

"We're fine," No.9 replied quickly. "Team 3 did not have the crystal. L.G. is heading over to bunker A-1 and I'm heading towards bunker A-5. Over."

"Okay, we'll see you soon," Blonde Bomb checked in. "Over."

"Over and out," said No.9 before putting away the walkie-talkie 

L.G. and No.9 split up.

No.9 entered bunker A-5 and saw a marvelous sight. In the very center of the room was a large spacecraft. It looked eerily similar to Mr. Invent's hovercraft.

"Wow," said No.9 a little taken aback. Everyone thought that Area 51 was holding aliens, but he had never actually believed it.

No.9 looked toward Blonde Bomb and Bombshell. They were standing perfectly still. He didn't understand why they were doing this at first, but then he noticed the guard walking around the perimeter of the room.

The guard was big and round like a Christmas ham. His flashlight was shining inches away from Blonde Bomb and Bombshell and his pistol was drawn and prepared to fire. He turned the opposite direction and spoke into his walkie-talkie, "Everything checks out here. I'm heading towards A-1 now." Then he quietly walked out.

No.9 pulled out his walkie-talkie to warn the others. "L.G. there's a guard headed your way. Hide!"

"Thanks, No.9," L.G. whispered.

"I think I may have found it," Blonde Bomb said.

"Found what?" asked No.9 turning towards her.

"You know...it?" said Genie Wiz.

"Oh, right!" said No.9. "Where?"

"There," said Blonde Bomb pointing at a half open door. Both of them looked pale white and refused to move an inch.

"Okay, well I guess I'll go get it then," said No.9. He was a little worried about why they were acting so strange.

No.9 headed towards the door. He pushed it open and tried to scream, but nothing had come out. There were glass tubes everywhere around the room containing slimy grayish creatures.

At the end of the room was a large glass case holding a glowing ruby red crystal.

No.9 walked slowly towards the case expecting one of the foreign monsters to to jump out and attack him. When he reached the crystal he noticed that the case was tightly sealed shut. There was no other choice. He'd have to break it.

No.9 took out his walkie-talkie. "Everyone get to the rendezvous point," he warned. "Be ready to run back to the Alley Cat. You might want to use those necklaces now. Over."

"Message received No.9," L.G.'s voice crackled in. "Over and out."

No.9 looked around the room for something to break the case, all the while trying not to look the frightening figures in the glass tube in their black eyes. After a few seconds he found a spare flashlight laying on a desk opposite the row of tubes. He gripped it tightly in his hands and stood in front of the glass case holding the crystal. He waited a few seconds and then...

CRASH! 


An alarm instantly rang throughout the entire base. He grabbed the crystal and slipped on the blue necklace. There was a strange tingling sensation and he knew he must be invisible. He ran out of the bunker passing several guards, all of them staring right through him. He stopped at the entrance to the tunnel and said, "Are you here?"

"Yes," came five voices from below.

"Good, let's get out of here," said No.9.

He jumped into the tunnel and they all ran as fast as they could towards the door in the dessert.

After a few minutes of sprinting they reached their exit. L.G. struggled to open the latch as they all panted in the dark. They were equally out of breath and afraid. When L.G. had finally managed to open the door they all swarmed out of the hole, They could see the Alley Cat up ahead as they towards it as fast as they could. When they were a few feet away six guards emerged out of the tunnel behind them with sniper rifles, taking aim at the crew.

The necklaces had apparently worn off.

Mr. Invent pushed the remote to open the top of the Alley Cat and the rest of the crew quickly jumped in. No.9 was the last one to make it to the ramp, just before a rifle bullet struck the sand where he had been standing.

"Well that was close," No.9 said as the Alley Cat rose into the air and sped away from Area 51.





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