The Keeper of Dragon-5: Chapter 1

This is chapter 1 of my latest work in progress (WIP), working title The Keeper of Dragon-5. I'm currently about halfway through chapter 3. Hope you like it:

Prologue: Long ago, in the time before time, the world was a very different place.  It was the first age of man, a time when humans lived alongside creatures and self-proclaimed Gods who existed in the space between spaces.

For the Gods, this was truly a golden age in every sense of the term.  They had come through what became known to the indigenous peoples as the eye in the mountain in search of gold and other precious metals, along with natural resources such as water and a sustainable food source.

Time passed, as time does, and the Gods were good to the inhabitants of their newly adopted second home.  As far as the people of the time were concerned, the magic of the Gods was absolute, but they were kind.  They brought wisdom for the planting of crops, the introduction of language, the building of houses, and eventually, vast cities, most of which were open to all, but some were built high in the mountains, reserved only for the Gods.

With all great prosperity comes the eventual darkness.  This was manifest by the arrival of a herald, a messenger of war, arriving through the eye in the mountain.  This messenger came in the form of a large, winged animal who called the Gods home to fight the darkness that threatened to consume them all.  But it was too late; the realm of the Gods had fallen to the darkness.

The remaining forces loyal to the Gods fled from their realm through the eye in the mountain and into ours, where they prepared to make a final stand in one of their mountain strongholds.

As the forces of darkness, moving in pursuit of the Gods, threatened to breach the eye in the mountain, the decision to abandon their second home and flee to another realm was made after great debate.

It was the hope of the Gods that the darkness would leave their second home and its people untouched as they pursued them into this third realm.  But if this were not the case, and the darkness was able to breach the eye in the mountain and enter this realm, the Gods would leave behind five of their greatest soldiers.  Warriors born in the forge of the Gods and with the blood of the winged creatures, who had volunteered to stay behind as well, knowing full well that with this commitment, their fate had been sealed.

Again, time passed.  With no sign of the darkness, and eventually faced with their own extinction, the winged creatures, wise as they were fierce, made the decision to disperse from the mountain stronghold in search of a place they could live out their days in peace.

The oldest and wisest of these great winged protectors stayed in the stronghold with the five warriors, ready to stop the darkness should it try and come through.  They trained and prepared for a battle that never came, until the only enemy that the great winged creature could not defeat crept in---time.

His final days were spent with the five warriors, all of whom the winged creature saw as his children, born of his blood in the forge of the Gods, the great protector, as his last act, bestowed upon the five his only possession, his name.  A name and tale lost to time, but one that by chance and happenstance was discovered and reintroduced to history by the Greeks. 

The name of the great protector, passed down to the five warriors born in the forge of the Gods from a language long dead, was written down by Greek philosophers as that of Drakon, spoken by our tongue as 'Dragon'.

1

Briefing

“That’s a pretty good story, Professor.” Said Allan James, the leader of the Special Projects Group for the company Nasoto Aerospace, as he sat along with Derick Hollman, who he recognized from several television appearances, in a very modern yet comfortable waiting room in the headquarters building for Nasoto located in downtown Houston, “But I still am not sure why Nasoto Aerospace, one of the world's largest and most successful technology and space exploration companies, is so interested in ancient Greek myths?”

“Well, in every legend, there’s a smattering of truth. As to why Nasoto is so interested in this legend, well, I guess we will both find out soon enough.” Replied Derick Hollman, who, at the ripe old age of 35, was already a world-renowned expert on ancient civilizations who carried with him two PhDs, several best-selling books, and an open invitation to lecture at any number of elite universities across the globe.

“You mean like the smattering of truth that’s led us to places like Atlantis? By the way, call me Allan.” James said as he grinned and extended his hand.

Grinning and nodding his head, Hollman leaned forward in his chair and shook hands with Allan, “It’s nice to meet you, Allan. Please, call me Derick. And as far as Atlantis, the days not over yet, there’s still hope.”

As he sat back in his chair, Derick couldn’t help but notice that the man he was waiting to be called into the boardroom with at the Nasoto building did not look like any physicist, astronomer, or other intellectual type he had met before.  He had always considered himself a good judge of character, and based upon Allan’s demeanor, physicality, and the general look in his eye, he pegged him as a military man.

“So, tell me, Allan, what do you do for Nasoto Aerospace?”

“I’m in charge of the Special Projects Section.” Allan replied.

“Wow! That sounds exciting. What does the Special Projects Section do?  If you don’t mind me asking.”

Allan grinned, his blue, almost grey eyes making Hollman suddenly feel a little uneasy as they glared with his reply, “We provide physical security for the board members as well as work with outside agencies in the recovery of items deemed important to Nasoto’s mission.”

“The recovery of---items?” Derick asked, his curiosity suddenly piqued.

“Yeah, you know, crashed satellites, things like that.” Allan replied, “Which really makes me interested in why I’m here, with you.”

“Yeah, you and me both.” Derick said in a lower tone as he shifted in his seat, trying hard to fight off the feeling that he may have gotten in over his head when he accepted the invitation to this meeting.

“Gentlemen, they’re ready to see you now.” Said a professional-looking woman who walked into the waiting room.

“Hello, Janet.  How are you?” Allan said as he stood from his chair.

“I’m good, Allan, how about yourself?”

“Pretty much the same.  Anyone in there I need to know about?”

“No.  There’re a few engineers, but everyone in the meeting is a Nasoto employee.” Janet replied, “Trevor Marsh will be joining the meeting online.”

Allan stopped, the expression on his face taking a turn to the serious as he gently nodded, “Trevor, huh? Thanks, Janet.”

“Hey, whose Trevor?” Derick asked.

“Trevor Marsh is the Department of Defense liaison to Nasoto.  He’s a good guy.” Allan replied.

“I sense that there’s a but at the end of that statement.” Derick said with a sense of trepidation.

“His operations tend to get a little---energetic.” Allan remarked as he opened the door to the boardroom and motioned for Derick to go on in.

 Walking into the expansive boardroom, Derick was visibly impressed with the large windows that flooded the room with filtered sunlight.  In the center of the room, which was adorned with pictures and mementos from the company's history, was a handmade oak table with metal accents surrounded by twenty of the most comfortable office-style chairs he had ever seen.

Seated at the head of the table was Hashi Nasoto, the CEO and founder of Nasoto Aerospace. Sitting on either side of him were four younger Nasoto engineers.

Standing, Nasoto pointed at a couple of the chairs and said in a slightly accented voice, “Allan, Mr. Hollman, welcome.  Please, sit.”

A grin crossed Derick’s face as he settled into one of the chairs next to Allan.  His appreciation of the chair was quickly replaced as he took an immediate interest in the sealed packet on the table in front of him. 

On top of the packet was a several-page document titled non-disclosure.

“A non-disclosure agreement?” Derick asked as he held the document up, “Why would you need me to sign an NDA to get my opinion on an ancient legend?”

Mr. Nasoto looked stoically back at Derick as Allan just flipped to the last page of the NDA, signed it, and then set it off to the side, “That’s the funny thing about NDA’s, you have to sign it to see if it’s worth signing.”

“Did you even read that?” Derick asked.

“Nope.” Allan replied, “I sign them on a pretty regular basis.  It’s boilerplate stuff that says if you talk about whatever we're about to talk about, then the legal department at Nasoto will make you their project of the week.”

“Wow, okay.  And what if I decide not to sign it?” Derick asked.

Before Allan could reply, Mr. Nasoto spoke, “Then you will be escorted from the building, and we will proceed without you.  But, Mr. Hollman, I assure you that this project is something that you will want to be a part of.”

A sense of astonishment flashed across Derick’s face as he looked around the room and realized that he was the only one who had not signed the NDA yet.

“Oh, what the hell!” Derick muttered out loud as he flipped to the last page of the NDA and scribbled his signature.

“Thank you, Mr. Hollman.  Mr. Marsh, you are now welcome to join the meeting.” Nasoto said as Janet quietly collected the signed non-disclosure agreements.

With a gentle hum, a large screen lowered from the ceiling.  As the screen came to life, it displayed an image of a man in his mid-forties wearing business casual clothing, sitting at a government-issued-looking desk and sipping on coffee from a mug with a Marine Corps emblem on it.

It struck Derick a little odd that the man was obviously joining the meeting remotely from his office, but that there were no papers or name placards on the desk, as well as no pictures or other display items hanging on the walls.

“Mr. Nasoto, thank you for inviting me to this meeting.” The man said as he went on to introduce himself, “For those of you I don’t know, please feel free to call me Trevor.  Allan, good to see you. How are you?”

“I’m good, Trevor, nice to see you too.  Looks like you're still in DC?” Allan replied.

“Yeah, this place can be a challenge to get out of sometimes. Mr. Hollman, thank you for coming.  I just finished reading your book about the legend of the Dragon Warriors.  It was an extremely interesting read.”

Suddenly feeling out of his depth, Derick did his best to sound like meetings of this nature were old hat for him, “Thank you!  I appreciate that, I’m glad that you liked it.  And please, all of you, call me Derick.”

“Thank you, Derick.  When we meet in person, I’ll bring my copy, and hopefully, I can talk you into signing it.”

“I would love to, Trevor.” Derick replied, “I really hope that I’m not overstepping here, but speaking of my book and the legend of the Dragon Warriors, maybe someone can tell me why I’m here?”

All eyes in the room turned towards Mr. Nasoto, who, with a nod and slight hand gesture, deferred to Trevor.

With a long gulp from his coffee cup, Trevor sat back in his chair, “Derick, if we can, let's jump to the conclusion of your book about the Dragon Warriors.  Were you ever able to nail down a location for this fortress that they were preparing to make their final stand in?”

Shifting in his chair that suddenly wasn’t as comfortable as he had first thought, Derick replied, “Uh, no.  The best my research team and I could come up with was a mountain somewhere in a tropical zone.  Look, we have to remember that this is just a story told by the Greeks that occurred thousands of years before there were any Greeks.  I mean, we could compare it to Atlantis.  That story occurred some nine thousand years before Plato wrote about it.  This whole thing is just…”

Derick didn’t get a chance to finish his statement when he was cut off by Mr. Nasoto, “Derick, we found it.”

Stunned and a little bit flustered, Derick turned to Mr. Nasoto, “What?  You found what---I mean, you found it?  What did you find?”

“What Mr. Nasoto is trying to say is that we think we may have found the stronghold from your legend.” Trevor said as he took another sip from his coffee.

Sitting forward in his chair, Allan pointed at the image of Trevor on the screen, “Trevor, what’s in that coffee cup?”

“It sure as shit isn’t coffee, I’ll tell you that.” Trevor replied with a smirk, “But that doesn’t change the facts on the ground.”

“Wait! Wait, wait, wait!” Derick braked as he stood from his chair, “You are telling me that you think you found the stronghold from the legend of the Dragon Warriors?  Where!?”

“Alaska.” Trevor replied.

“Alaska!?” Derick barked back, “That’s it, I’m leaving.”

“Wait, Derick, please.  Hear us out.” Mr. Nasoto said as he too stood from his chair.

“Hey.” Allan said in a calming tone as he reached out and tapped Derick on the leg, “Sit down, man, I have a feeling that this is gonna be good.”

Shaking his head with a heavy exhale as he sat back down, Derick muttered, “I can't believe I’m doing this.”

“Carry on, Trevor.” Allan said with a smirk as he patted Derick on the shoulder.

With a nod, Trevor continued, “So, we discovered this location in interior Alaska strictly by accident.  We sent some people out there to investigate, and they snapped these pictures, most of which are in your briefing packets.”

Derick and Allan looked on with amazement as a series of pictures displayed on the large screen as Trevor gave a short narration.

“You can see in this first picture there’s a significant change in the topography.  The area is pretty much flat, but then there’s this large bluff.”

Highlighting an area of the screen on the second picture, Trevor continued, “You can see in this drone shot, this area here that’s been highlighted, all the trees and ground vegetation are severely stunted in growth.”

“Wow, that entire area is almost---a square.” Allan remarked as he looked at the picture on the screen and then down at the same picture from his briefing packet.

“That’s right.” Trevor replied, “A square that extends for about a mile in each direction, with this mound situated in the center.”

“I don’t understand?” Derick remarked in a rather confused tone, “Nature doesn’t deal in corners and right angles, what would cause that?”

“Something under the ground.” Mr. Nasoto replied.

“Okay, wait, how did you guys find this?” Darick asked.

Turning and raising his hand to one of the engineers seated at the conference table, Mr. Nasoto replied, “The exact details of the technology are proprietary and confidential, but I believe Doctor Jennifer Millson, the director of our space research program, can answer that question better than anyone.”

“Yes, sir.” Jennifer said as she cleared her throat and tried in vain to shake off some of her nervous energy, “Well, we were scanning for deep space pulsars.”

“Pulsars?” Derick asked with raised eyebrows.

“Yes.” Jennifer replied, “You see, when we talk about pulsars, we have to think of them in terms of a spinning neutron star whose gravity is…”

“Doctor Millson.” Mr. Nasoto said in a gentle tone, “How about the abridged version?”

“Yes, of course, sorry, sir.” Jennifer said as she nodded her head, “We thought that we had found an undiscovered pulsar, but the radio frequency was slightly off and the time between bursts was not the same as other recorded pulsars.”

Sitting forward in his chair, Allan raised his hand and asked, “So, you…”

Not sure how to answer the question, Jennifer looked over at Mr. Nasoto, who replied as he pointed at the picture of the mound located in the Alaskan wilderness, “We performed a realignment of several of our satellites and were able to pinpoint the signal to this location.”

With a slightly disgruntled sigh, Allan remarked, “What I’m hearing is that there’s something inside that crazy ground formation in Alaska that’s transmitting a signal, similar to that of a deep space pulsar, on a regular basis?  Trevor, is there any chance that it’s ours?  Maybe an unlicensed research station, or something from a foreign actor?”

“Well, that was our first thought.  Thus, the reconnaissance team.”  Trevor replied, “It’s not.”

“How do you know?” Derick interjected, “I mean, if it’s not man-made, then it was built by little green men, and I’m not sure that I’m ready to go there yet.”

“Let me preface these next few pictures by saying that we don’t know who, or what, built it.  These next pictures are not in your briefing packets.”

As Derick and Allan looked on, Trevor displayed several photographs of a small team of men using heavy equipment to dig into the mound until the top of a structure was exposed.

“Jesus Christ!  Is that the top of a pyramid?!” Derick exclaimed as he stood from his chair.

“Yes.” Mr. Nasoto said in his unsettlingly calm tone of voice.

Slowly walking towards the screen displaying the image of the top of the pyramidal structure buried in the ground, Derick asked, “Do we have any idea how old it is?”

“It’s more than 200,000 years old.” Mr. Nasoto replied.

With his eyes wide and his mouth slightly agape, Derick turned towards Mr. Nasoto, “How---how do you know that?”

“The oldest Mammoth bone, a tooth, I believe, was discovered near the Old Crow River in the Yukon Territory in Canada.  This tooth was dated to be 216,000 years old. We discovered a similar artifact during the dig, buried in the dirt above the top of the pyramid, that showed a similar date.” Mr. Nasoto replied with a gentle grin and a slight nod of his head.

Clearing his throat and making a failed attempt to compose himself, Derick asked, “Okay, at what depth, approximately, did you find the datable artifact?”

“Approximately fifteen feet above the very tip of the pyramid.” Trevor replied very matter-of-factly.

“Dear God!” Derick said in a hushed tone, “There’s no telling how old that thing may be!”

“Derick, are you ready for the really interesting part?” Mr. Nasoto asked as his previously subdued grin spread across his face.

“The interesting part?” Derick replied, almost afraid to ask.

“Trevor, would you please bring up the next picture?” Mr. Nasoto asked.

Nodding as he took a sip from his coffee cup, Trevor set the stage, “So, after discovering the top of the structure and thoroughly sweeping the area for radiation or other harmful emissions, the expeditionary team dug down further.  It turns out that the structure is not a traditional pyramid, but rather an entrance to whatever is buried underground.”

“An entrance?” Allan remarked as Derick, who was still trying to compose himself, sat back down in the chair next to him, “What sort of an entrance?”

“There appear to be two large doors that come together, kind of like you would expect to see at an aircraft hangar.  This is the only entrance we’ve been able to locate so far.  It’s what's emblazoned on the doors that has you here, Derick.”

Derick let out an audible gasp as Trevor clicked to the next image, which showed two large, black doors at the base of the pyramid where it met with the top of the buried structure. 

The doors, just as Trevor had described, were reminiscent of aircraft hangar doors, with one exception.  A large relief spread across both doors, which depicted five human-looking figures carrying what looked to be weapons, with a large dragon, its wings flared out and snarling, standing behind them.

“Oh my God!” Derick blurted out as he slowly stood and whispered, “It’s true!”

“Holy---shit!” Allan remarked as he leaned forward in his chair.

“Trevor…” Allan began to say, only to be cut off by Derick.

“It’s true!”  Derick yelled as he pointed at the image on the screen, “Oh my sweet Jesus!  It’s true!”

“It certainly looks that way.” Allan said in a much calmer tone as he looked over at Mr. Nasoto, and then back at Derick, who was standing with his hands balled into fists and raised as far above his head as he could raise them, as if he were celebrating a sports team win.

“Derick.” Allan said as he reached out and tapped the very excited archeologist on the leg.

Looking down, Derick saw that the expression on Allan’s face was not one of jubilation as he motioned for him to sit back down.

“Yes.” Derick said as he took several deep breaths and then sat back down, “Yes, I’m very sorry, it’s just, I mean---wow!”

“Trevor.” Allan said as he stood and walked over to a coffee maker in the corner of the room and poured himself a cup of black coffee, “I’m assuming that since you and I are both here, that means that you’re planning on opening this thing?”

“No.” Trevor replied, “We both are.”

“Is that wise?” Allan asked as he sat back down with his cup of coffee.

“I think it would be unwise not to.” Mr. Nasoto replied.

“Allan, are you serious?  You don’t want to open it and go inside?” Derick asked in a very curious tone.

Looking at Derick, Allan replied, “I want you to think about everything you’ve heard here today.”

Pointing at the screen, Allan continued, “That thing is at least two hundred thousand years old.  I would guess it’s probably closer to one million years, give or take.  And just based on this picture, I can tell you that this thing, whatever it is, is a nonterrestrial construct.”

“What does that mean?” Derick asked.

“That means it was built by those little green men that you're not ready to get on board with just yet.” Allan replied, “Let’s take a look at what, up until a few minutes ago, we assumed was a legend.  Giant flying lizards aside, the Gods, that’s the nonterrestrial intelligence that built this place.  The eye in the mountain, that sounds a lot like a portal to me, and the soldiers created in the forge of the Gods?  I’m thinking genetically engineered super soldiers.”

“Super soldiers?” Derick asked.

“Yeah.  Why else would they leave only five of them behind?  And the fact that their emblazoned on the front door of this place tells me that they must have been pretty special.”

“Allan, normally I would agree with you about this.” Trevor said, “But there are two points that I think warrant additional investigation.  The darkness that the legend talks about, and the fact that this place is sending some sort of signal out into deep space.  We need to get in there and figure out if this is just a hey, come get me signal, or if there’s a threat.”

“Allan, as always, you make a valid argument.” Mr. Nasoto said as he got up and headed for the coffee maker, “But, I think that you also know, in this case, Trevor is correct.  We need to get in there and assess what’s really going on.”

Shaking his head and with a heavy exhale through clenched teeth, Allan reluctantly agreed, “Trevor, you just have to promise me that this won’t be a repeat of what happened in the Congo last year.”

“You have my word.” Trevor replied with a slight sneer.

“Wait, what happened in the Congo?” Derick asked as he looked around the room.

“That’s classified.” Trevor immediately replied, “Mr. Nasoto, will Derick here be accompanying the expedition?”

“Derick?” Mr. Nasoto asked, confident in what the reply would be.

“Oh, you better believe it!” Derick answered in a very confident voice.

“Good.  Make sure that he does his N.O.K. paperwork, we’re wheels up tomorrow.” Trevor said with a grin, “I’ll see you there.”

The excitement radiating from Derick was palpable as he turned to Allan and asked, “What’s N.O.K. paperwork?”

Standing, Allan collected his briefing packet and then, with a slight raise of an eyebrow, replied, “It’s Next of Kin notification paperwork.  Come on, we've got stuff to get done before we leave tomorrow.”

“Next of Kin?” Derick muttered, his excitement turning to uncertainty as he followed Allan out of the conference room.

With a nod from Mr. Nasoto, the engineers who had attended the meeting also left the room, leaving Nasoto and Trevor alone.

“So, tell me, Hashi, do you think that there will be something this time?” Trevor asked.

“I don’t know, Trevor.” Mr. Nasoto replied as he collected the papers from his briefing packet, “I certainly hope so.”

“Me too.” Trevor said as he disconnected his transmission, “Me too.”

The next morning started early, much earlier than Derick was used to, as he awoke to Allan banging on the door to his hotel room.

“Let’s go Derick!  We got a plane to catch.” Allan barked as he started grabbing clothing and shoving them into Derick’s suitcase.

“Oh man, is the entire trip gonna be like this?” Derick asked as he pulled a dress shirt on and grabbed his bags.

“Yes! Come on, their waiting for us downstairs.”

“Wait! I need to check out.” Darick remarked as Allan ushered him through the hotel lobby and out to a waiting SUV with tinted windows.

“Don’t worry about it.  It’s been taken care of.”  Allan said as he jumped into the back seat next to Derick.

As the SUV pulled away from the hotel, Allan’s tone took on a serious tinge, “Hey, look, we've got to get some things straight before we get to the airport.”

“Yeah, okay.” Derick replied with a nod of his head.

“We’ve got kind of a long flight ahead of us with a couple of layovers.  In the airport, you stay with me.  If you need to use the bathroom, we both use the bathroom.  You want a coffee or something to eat, we both get a coffee or something to eat.  You stay with me!  Got it?”

“Yes, I stay with you.” Derick replied, “What do I say if anyone asks where I’m going?”

Slightly impressed that Derick actually seemed to be on board with the covert side of the operation, Allan nodded and replied, “Don’t let this go to your head, but you are a little bit of a celebrity.  If someone recognizes you and wants to get an autograph or a picture taken, go for it.  Do whatever you would normally do, just make damn sure that they do not take any pictures of me or any other Nasoto staff.  If anyone asks, you are headed to Anchorage, Alaska, to give a lecture at the University of Alaska, Anchorage, about ancient civilizations.  We’re gonna meet Jennifer at the airport, she’s gonna be traveling with us.  If it comes up, she and I are part of your crew.”

“Yeah, that’s good.” Derick said with a smile, “I actually know a little something about ancient peoples in that region…”

“I know.” Allan said, interrupting Derick, “You wrote an article about them a few years ago, which was published in several scientific and archeological magazines.”

“Damn! You know about that?  Wait, did you read it?” Derick asked.

“Me, no.  Trevor.  He’s a rather significant history buff, you guys are gonna hit it off great.  And just so you know, he was very serious about having you sign his copy of your book.”

Again, Allan’s tone became all business, “Derick, listen, when we get to the site, there are gonna be guys with guns.  Some military, some not, do not talk to them unless they talk to you first.  If they do talk to you, do not ask them their names, where they are from, or anything like that.  If we do get inside this thing, you do exactly what they, or I for that matter, say when we say it.  If we run into a problem, you attach yourself to me.  When I move, you move.  Do you understand?”

Derick just looked at Allan as he nodded his head.

“Say it.” Allan ordered.

Suddenly having to take a second to compose himself as the reality of what he had gotten into started to make itself known, Derick replied, “When you move, I move.”

“Good!  Don’t forget it.” Allan said in a steely tone of voice, “Do you know how to use a gun?”

“Ugh, I mean, sort of, I guess.  I played paintball with some guys for a while.”

Allan smiled, “Paintball, huh?  Those damn things will leave a welt.” 

Trying hard not to break out laughing, Allan just nodded his head as he settled back into his seat in the SUV, “You're gonna do just fine, Derick.”

Sitting back into his own seat, Derick stared out the window for a few minutes, then remarked, “I wish you had told me that Jennifer was traveling with us.  I would have taken the time to toss on some cologne.”

Grinning and shaking his head, Allan replied, “Take it easy, Romeo, I’m pretty sure that you can buy some at the airport.”

Shifting in his seat, Derick nervously asked, “Allan, you don’t think, I mean, are we---is there gonna be a problem?”

“Well, you did sign the Next of Kin paperwork.” Allan replied.

“Shit!” Derik muttered as he turned and looked back out the window.

“Look, man, I highly doubt that they would have given you the green light to go on this little field trip with us if they thought that it was gonna turn into something ugly.”

“Then why all the when you move I move stuff?” Derick asked.

“Better safe than sorry.” Allan said, “Don’t overthink it.”

Derick started to reply, but stopped.  The simplicity of Allan’s advice just seemed to speak volumes to him.  Turning back to the window, Derick pondered those three simple words and pledged to himself that he would do just that and not overthink it, whatever it ended up being.

As they pulled up to the departure gates, Allan told the driver to stop and let them out, where Jennifer, who had already arrived, was waiting for them outside on the curb.

“Jennifer, good morning.” Allan said as he and Derick pulled their luggage from the back of the SUV and then followed her inside the terminal.

“Allan, Doctor Hollman, Mr. Nasoto wanted me to give you these.” Jennifer said as she handed Allan and Derick each an oversized envelope, “They are your boarding passes, military clearance orders for when we get to Alaska, and some spending cash.”

“Thank you.” Derick said as he took the envelope from Jennifer, “And please, just call me Derick.  Why do we need military clearance papers?”

“When we get to Anchorage, we are going to transfer to military aircraft for the final leg of the trip.” Allan replied, “Don’t lose them!”

The first-class seats, which had been purchased by Nasoto Aerospace, made the long flight from Houston, Texas, to Anchorage, Alaska, all the more bearable.  They had only encountered one small hiccup when Derick had been recognized by a high school science club on their way to a school-sponsored event in New York during a layover in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport.

In true Derick Hollman fashion, he spent about half an hour with the club, taking pictures and talking with them about ancient civilizations.  All the while making sure that their full attention was focused on him and not towards Allan or Jennifer.

With one final picture of himself with the science club and the airline's boarding agents, Derick wished the club luck as they boarded their flight to New York.

Grinning ear-to-ear, Derick walked over to the small in-terminal bar where Allan and Jennifer had been watching his interactions from.

“Well done.” Allan said as he handed Derick his carry-on bag, “Come on, we’ve got a flight to catch.”

After spending about another six hours in the air, Allan, Derick, and Jennifer touched down in Anchorage, Alaska. 

Walking off the aircraft and into the jetway, Allan was stopped by a uniformed airport police officer, “Sir, are you Allan James?”

“I am.” Allan replied as he handed the officer his Nasoto company identification card, “This is Derick Hollman and Jennifer Millson, they’re with me.”

Nodding as he handed the ID back to Allan, the officer motioned for them to follow him, “Come on with me, we have a ride waiting for you down on the tarmac that’s gonna take you over to the air guard folks at building three.”

Allan, Derick, and Jennifer followed the officer out a door on the side of the jetway and then down a set of outside metal stairs.  Waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs were two men dressed in military uniforms, standing next to an olive-drab-colored, extended-cab truck. 

Walking Allan and company over to the truck, the officer said, “Mr. James, this is Captain Macey, Alaska Air National Guard. Captain Macey, Allan James, Nasoto Aerospace.”

Shaking hands with Allan, Captain Macey replied, “Thanks, Chris.”

With a nod, the Airport Police Officer started walking back to his vehicle as Captain Macey introduced himself to Derick and Jennifer.

“Mr. James…” Captain Macey started to say when Allan held a hand up.

“Captain, please, call me Allan.”

“Will do, Allan.” Captain Macey said with a smile, “I know it’s been a long day for you guys. We have some temporary quarters set up for you over in the hangar.  We also have some dinner, nothing special, just some pizza, I’m afraid.”

“Pizza would be great!” Derick and Jenifer both said at almost the exact time.

“Well, in that case, hop in.” Captain Macey said, motioning to the truck.

“What about our luggage?” Derick asked as he and Jennifer climbed into the back seat.

“Don’t worry.” Jennfier replied, “They’ll grab it up and bring it over for us.”

“You’ve been on one of these trips before?” Derick asked as he fumbled with his seatbelt.

“Nothing like this.” Jennifer replied, “Mostly as a technical advisor for satellite recovery and things like that.  But yeah, I’ve been on several trips for Nasoto.”

“Do they usually involve the military like this?” Derick asked in a lower tone of voice as the truck pulled off towards the military hangar on the far side of the tarmac.

Smiling Jennifer replied, “We have a good working relationship with the military as well as other government agencies.  We help them, they help us, it’s a very productive business model.”

Nodding as he sat back in his seat, Derick couldn’t help but take note of how rehearsed Jennifer’s statement about the productive business model sounded.  His curiosity then peddled back to something that Allan had said to him at the airport in Houston about making sure that people did not take his picture or take the picture of any other Nasoto staff.

“Why would that matter?” Derick thought to himself. 

Looking out the window, Derick’s brain began to run away from him with all sorts of conspiracy theories, most of which revolved around three-letter governmental agencies.

Before he was able to become too entrenched in any of the theories, the truck pulled up in front of a large hangar and stopped.  Getting out, Derick started to stretch but stopped at the sight of a CH-47 Chinook helicopter parked just off set from the large open hangar doors.

“Wow!” Derick exclaimed, “That thing is super cool!”

“It’s something, isn’t it?” Captain Macey said as he stood next to Derick, “That’s what we’ll be flying out on tomorrow morning.”

“Nice!  You know, with all the traveling I’ve done, I have never been in a helicopter.”

“Well, we’ll get everything loaded tonight and then tomorrow I promise you a smooth ride, just as long as the weather doesn’t pull a fast one on us.”

“I’m looking forward to it, thank you!” Derick remarked.

Smiling Captain Macey slapped Derick on the shoulder, “Don’t thank me till we get on the ground.  Come on, let's get you guys some pizza and some sleep.”

The sleeping quarters consisted of offices with the desks pushed up against the wall and a cot set up with a sleeping bag.  Rudimentary, but more than enough to garner a very approving nod and grin from Derick as he dropped his bag and headed to the men's locker room for a quick shower before diving headfirst into a pepperoni pizza.

“What the hell!” Derick barked as he sat straight up in his cot, reacting to the sound of someone banging on the door to the office he was sleeping in.

Pulling the door open, Derick looked at his watch and then up at the disgruntled face of Allan, “It’s three o'clock in the morning.”

“Believe me, I know.” Allan said with a bit of a sigh, “Come on, something’s happened at the site.”

“What!?  What’s happened?”

“I’m not entirely sure.” Allan replied as he handed Derick his shoes, “What I got from the advance team is that shit started turning on.”

“Wait, what do you mean by turning on!?  It’s an ancient temple, there shouldn’t be anything to turn on.” Derick shot back as he grabbed Allan by the arm.

“Come on, professor.  Jennifer’s on the comms with the advance team right now.” Allan said as he hustled Derick out of his room.

Following Allan out into the large, previously empty hangar, Derick stopped as he looked out at people in military uniforms moving crates of equipment out the open hangar door and onto the CH-47 helicopter, whose engines were starting to hum as they warmed up in preparation for flight.

Off to the right of the door, Derick could see Jennifer standing in front of a large screen, engaging in a video conference with someone he hadn't met, but was obviously in a canvas wall tent.

To his left was a group of eight men, all wearing military style clothing but with no patches or insignia, and all carrying weapons.  They were being briefed by Trevor, who was similarly dressed.

“Derick!” Allan barked, “You remember those guys I told you not to talk to?  Well, that’s them.  Come on.”

Nodding, Derick followed Allan over to where Jennifer was standing in front of the screen.  She had her hands clasped together on top of her head, eyes closed, and was muttering as if she were trying to figure out a difficult problem.

“I just don’t understand how that could be happening?  I mean, where’s it coming from?” Jennifer asked, almost rhetorically as she looked up at the ceiling.

“I don’t know.” The man on the other end of the video call replied, “Our best guess is that maybe we uncovered some sort of solar array?  But as far as the signal, Doctor Millson, I have no idea.”

“What’s happened?” Derick asked as he again looked around the hangar with a sense of astonishment.

“The outbound signal we were monitoring has stopped.” Jennifer replied.

“Okay, I’m sensing that there’s more?”

With a heavy sigh, and a nod from Allan, Jennifer continued, “Yes. We monitored an---inbound signal on the same frequency, but a lot more powerful!”

“What, like a…” Derick started to say, but was cut off by Allan.

“Like a reply?” Allan said as he interrupted Derick, “Do we know where this signal originated at?”

“No, we don’t.  There’s no point of origin, it’s not from deep space, at least not that our satellite technology is able to see.  It’s just---there.” Jennifer said in a very agitated tone of voice.

“Just there?  I don’t understand?” Allan replied, trying in vain to wrap his head around what Jennifer was saying.

“Neither do I.” Jennifer said, “You see, the outbound signal, which we discovered completely by accident, we were able to track from its point of origin to some unknown point in space.  This signal we can track as an inbound, but there’s no point of origin.  It just appears about half a mile above the structure.  And it’s not repeating on a timed basis like the other signal.  It’s more like a series of burst transmissions.”

The wheels in Allan's head were spinning at full speed when suddenly he just stopped, turned, made eye contact with Trevor, and shook his head.

“Jennifer, is it possible that the structure is receiving something like updates or reboot commands from an aerial platform that we’re not able to detect?” Allan asked in a very matter-of-fact tone of voice.

“An aerial platform?” Derick asked, almost afraid of what he was about to hear.

“Derick, how do you think an ancient civilization would describe a stationary aerial, or possibly suborbital platform that they could see but could not reach?”

“Oh my God!” Derick muttered, “They likely would use descriptive comparisons they were familiar with, like a mountain top---the eye in the mountain.”

“What did you mean about a solar array?” Derick asked Jennifer before turning to the screen and addressing the man on the other end of the video conference, “Hey, what did you mean about a solar array?”

The man on the other end of the video conference shifted his gaze towards Allan, who nodded and said, “He’s been cleared and is on the team.”

“About two hours ago, the same time that the outbound signal stopped, we started detecting heat and energy signatures from inside the structure.  Something inside is powering up.”

“What’s the weather been like there?” Allan asked.

“We’ve had clear and sunny skies here ever since we uncovered the first portion of the structure.  That’s part of what made us speculate about a solar array of some sort.”

“Get your gear, we’re leaving now!” Allan ordered as he turned to Trevor and then motioned to the helicopter.

The flurry of activity in the hangar all seemed to fade to the background as Derick, carry on in hand, met back with Allan and Jennifer.

“Okay, listen! From this point forward, you two are with me.” Allan barked over the ever-growing roar of the CH-47 engines.

With nods of agreement from Derick and Jennifer, the three hustled up the rear ramp of the large helicopter. 

As they settled into the troop seats, Derick grabbed Allan by the arm, “Hey! Thank you for not letting me walk out of that boardroom!”

“Don’t thank me yet.” Allan replied, “I’ve got a feeling that shits gonna get weird before we’re done with this.”

The rush and exhilaration that Derick had been feeling began to leave him as the large helicopter lifted off, made some navigational turns, and then climbed to about twenty thousand feet.

“Oh man, this is not like flying in a commercial airliner.” Derick remarked.

Trying hard not to laugh, Allan replied, “You’ll be alright.”

Just then, the Chinook's Crew Chief stepped over in front of Derick and Allan, “Hey, you're Derick Hollman, aren't you?”

“Yeah.” Derick replied, the color slowly draining from his face.

“Here.” The Crew Chief said as he handed Derick a pack of chewable airsickness pills, “These will help get you sorted out.  You know my kids a big fan of yours.  He’s read all your books and follows you online.  What are you doing up here?”

Taking the airsickness gum, Derick replied, “Thanks! I’m going to film a documentary about ancient civilizations in Alaska.”

“A documentary, huh?” The Crew Chief said with a snicker, “That’s a good one!  Hey, if it’s cool, can I get a picture with you later for my kid, you know, when you're not about to puke your guts out?”

With a slight snicker and a smile, Derick nodded, “Absolutely!  Thanks for the gum.”

After getting a thumbs-up from Allan and Jennifer, the Crew Chief went back to checking the secured cargo. A few seconds later, Trevor flopped himself down in the nylon troop seat next to Derick.

Holding his hand out, Trevor said, “Derick, Trevor Marsh.  It’s nice to meet you in person.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you too.” Derick replied as he shook hands with Trevor and then offered a piece of the airsickness chewing gum.

“No, thanks. I’ve spent enough time flying around in these, I find it kind of comfortable.  Almost as comfortable as they do.” Trevor said, pointing to the group of men he had been with back in the hangar, all of whom were sprawled out and sound asleep near the front of the aircraft.

“It’s really something!” Derick remarked as he looked around the nearly empty and very spacious interior of the CH-47.

“Yeah, it’s something all right.” Trevor replied with a grin, “You should see it when it’s fully loaded.  They usually carry about thirty troops in here, depending on what sort of gear they’re outfitted with.”

Trevor’s grin faded as he took on a tone of all business, “Listen, Derick, there are things happening at the site that we had not anticipated.  I know that you spoke with Doctor Hughes on the video conference and heard what Jennifer had to say.  I’m interested in what you think?”

Feeling slightly caught off guard by Trevor’s question, Derick thought for a second and then replied, “I’ve got to tell you, Trevor, I’m not sure what to think.  If we are dealing with a structure that’s as old as everyone seems to think it is, well, then I would have to agree with Allan and say that we are dealing with something constructed by a non-human intelligence.”

“You sound like that freaks you out a little bit?” Trevor said as he saw the concern manifest on Derick's face.

Nodding his head and raising his eyebrows, Derick replied, “Yeah, it does.  And it should really worry the rest of you as well!”

“Why is that?” Trevor asked.

Looking to his side and seeing that Allan and Jennifer were both leaning in and listening to the conversation, Derick continued, “Let’s just say for a second that everything we’ve heard so far is fact, not assumption or conjecture, but fact.  If you overlay those facts onto the legend, then what you have is an advanced alien race that came to Earth around a million years ago and interacted with a human civilization existing some 700,000 years before we thought.” 

Shaking his head with a look of disbelief on his face, Derick continued, “This alien race, who were worshiped as Gods, fought a war with an enemy described only as the forces of darkness, and by all accounts, lost.  Think about this now!  They didn’t lose here, they lost in what’s described in the legend as another realm---another dimension maybe?  Anyway, before retreating to wherever they went, they left behind a fighting force to make some sort of a last stand here on Earth, consisting of dragons and, I’m sorry, but under this hypothesis, just like Allan said, five genetically engineered super soldiers.  Now, this million-year-old alien installation, which was transmitting a signal, has stopped, and is instead receiving one?  Yeah, we should all be more than a little freaked out by this!” 

“So, do you not want to proceed?” Trevor asked.

“Are you kidding me!  No way in hell am I missing out on this!  When do we land?” Derick replied with a slightly sinister grin on his face as he motioned towards the front of the helicopter, “Besides, isn’t all that why those guys are here?”

Smiling as he slapped Derick on the shoulder, Trevor said, “I knew I was gonna like you!  We land in about thirty minutes.”

As Trevor headed back to the front of the aircraft, Allan leaned in close to Derick, “Do you believe all that?”

“Shit, dude, right now the only thing that I truly believe is that I’m onboard a super cool military helicopter, flying into interior Alaska, with what I’m assuming are a bunch of special forces guys, going to look at a super-secret something or other.  The rest will fall into place.”

Nodding as he took note of Derick’s face-engulfing grin, Allan replied, “Just make damn sure that you stay next to me.”