on a workstation. While he was inside his cell, sophisticated monitoring equipment fed her Omega’s information and, though recorded in quadruple, she felt better seeing it for herself firsthand.
Omega slept, but fitfully. His engineered physiology was different from an average adult male of his approximate age, weight, and build. Nonetheless, Sally knew it quite well. Obsessive in her experiments and compulsive to the point of frenzy at the smallest details, she lost herself for hours on end, tapping away at a keyboard, reading graphs, charts, and spreadsheets.
Tonight was no exception. Omega had been more active than usual while sleeping, though he did sleep. Sally, on the other hand, had been less active than her subject of observation, yet her mind was calculating equations, formulating possible reasons why this finely tuned specimen had disobeyed direct orders. There were many mysteries out here in the desert. Many she knew and many she didn’t.
Phantom Base had been the last place she thought she would ever work. At ground level, it appeared little more than a compound used for combat training and perhaps storage. For miles around the complex, the property was riddled with state-of-the-art motion detectors and early warning devices. To maintain secrecy, it had been decided that the airspace above Phantom Base would not be restricted, but advanced radar detected and analyzed all aircraft coming within a fifty mile radius. With the Nellis Air Force Base barely a stone’s throw away, at least in fighter jet terms, this was a busy and demanding necessity to which junior personnel were usually assigned. But why the secrecy? Superior weaponry was often manufactured in the heart of many populated areas where the inhabitants either never knew or never cared. That had been Sally’s first thought when she’d been briefed after accepting the job but before learning what exactly it was that she would be working on.
And when she’d learned, she’d thought the entire world, besides her that was, had suddenly become insane.
Sally knew what she believed to be all the details of the “supposed” Roswell crash and where the genetic startup material came from simply because General Hendricks had told her. As project leader, he said, she was not only privy to the highest of classified documents as they related to the project, but dependent on the understanding that she was responsible for the greatest single experiment in the history of man.
Dr. North gave one last look at Omega’s sleeping form, let loose a very unabashed yawn, and stood from her station. At the door of the lab, she couldn’t help herself. She turned. “Good night, O. Sweet dreams.” There was, of course, no way could he hear her. Despite her scientific leanings, she wanted to think he did… and wished her the same.
The walk back to her quarters was brief. Too brief. Walking was one of the things she missed most about the outside world. Often during her college years--when she was troubled, confused, or just plain stumped--the young genius would head outdoors, walk the campus, walk the town, walk until her legs ached. The simple, primitive act of walking soothed her, allowed her mind to make connections it would never otherwise make.
Such treks were prohibited here. The only times Sally was allowed to see the outside world was on the quick whisks in and out of the compound, accompanied by half a dozen soldiers on approved excursions, and even those were few and far between. Sally thought she might like the desert, if she ever got the chance to experience it beyond a few rushed minutes. Raised in a moderate climate, the harshness of the hot climate intrigued her, as most things unknown to her usually did, hence her life’s profession.
Inside Phantom Base, there were places she could walk, she supposed. It was hard to find solitude outside of your own apartment, however. Furthermore, she had to remind herself, she was watched inside there as well. She
Omega slept, but fitfully. His engineered physiology was different from an average adult male of his approximate age, weight, and build. Nonetheless, Sally knew it quite well. Obsessive in her experiments and compulsive to the point of frenzy at the smallest details, she lost herself for hours on end, tapping away at a keyboard, reading graphs, charts, and spreadsheets.
Tonight was no exception. Omega had been more active than usual while sleeping, though he did sleep. Sally, on the other hand, had been less active than her subject of observation, yet her mind was calculating equations, formulating possible reasons why this finely tuned specimen had disobeyed direct orders. There were many mysteries out here in the desert. Many she knew and many she didn’t.
Phantom Base had been the last place she thought she would ever work. At ground level, it appeared little more than a compound used for combat training and perhaps storage. For miles around the complex, the property was riddled with state-of-the-art motion detectors and early warning devices. To maintain secrecy, it had been decided that the airspace above Phantom Base would not be restricted, but advanced radar detected and analyzed all aircraft coming within a fifty mile radius. With the Nellis Air Force Base barely a stone’s throw away, at least in fighter jet terms, this was a busy and demanding necessity to which junior personnel were usually assigned. But why the secrecy? Superior weaponry was often manufactured in the heart of many populated areas where the inhabitants either never knew or never cared. That had been Sally’s first thought when she’d been briefed after accepting the job but before learning what exactly it was that she would be working on.
And when she’d learned, she’d thought the entire world, besides her that was, had suddenly become insane.
Sally knew what she believed to be all the details of the “supposed” Roswell crash and where the genetic startup material came from simply because General Hendricks had told her. As project leader, he said, she was not only privy to the highest of classified documents as they related to the project, but dependent on the understanding that she was responsible for the greatest single experiment in the history of man.
Dr. North gave one last look at Omega’s sleeping form, let loose a very unabashed yawn, and stood from her station. At the door of the lab, she couldn’t help herself. She turned. “Good night, O. Sweet dreams.” There was, of course, no way could he hear her. Despite her scientific leanings, she wanted to think he did… and wished her the same.
The walk back to her quarters was brief. Too brief. Walking was one of the things she missed most about the outside world. Often during her college years--when she was troubled, confused, or just plain stumped--the young genius would head outdoors, walk the campus, walk the town, walk until her legs ached. The simple, primitive act of walking soothed her, allowed her mind to make connections it would never otherwise make.
Such treks were prohibited here. The only times Sally was allowed to see the outside world was on the quick whisks in and out of the compound, accompanied by half a dozen soldiers on approved excursions, and even those were few and far between. Sally thought she might like the desert, if she ever got the chance to experience it beyond a few rushed minutes. Raised in a moderate climate, the harshness of the hot climate intrigued her, as most things unknown to her usually did, hence her life’s profession.
Inside Phantom Base, there were places she could walk, she supposed. It was hard to find solitude outside of your own apartment, however. Furthermore, she had to remind herself, she was watched inside there as well. She
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