Mark of Odin: The Awakening

Chapter 2: The Flight of the Phoenix

37º 14' 12" North, 115º 48' 41" West.
Air Force Flight Test Centre at Groom Lake, Nevada, the United States.
17 September 2012.

The sun beat down fiercely that morning on the second runway at Groom Lake, an air base set on the burning sands of the Nevada desert. Groom Lake was a detachment of Edwards Air Force Base, just under two hundred miles away to the south-east in the Mojave Desert; both were part of the Nellis field of operations. Groom Lake was its official title, but the base enjoyed several other nicknames: Paradise Ranch, Home Base or Homey Airport. But the most popular of all was Area 51. Since the 1950s, these military facilities had been shrouded in an air of mystery and secrecy that had only served to feed people's imaginations. Rumours of UFO sightings and spaceship testing abounded. In truth, these speculations weren't entirely wrong. Groom Lake was a very special military base. Kept away from prying eyes, it was of great strategic importance. But not because it guarded an alien spacecraft.

The military facilities known as Area 51 were no ordinary air base because they weren't used to store combat units that would be deployed at the front. Instead, experimental aeroplanes were developed and tested at the base. Once these aircraft had been approved by the USAF and other agencies, such as the CIA and NASA, they were transferred to more standard facilities. The Nevada desert had been the first to witness experimental flights by prototypes that would subsequently become internationally famous. This was why barely any photographs of Groom Lake existed, other than a few shots taken by the Soviet Union during the Cold War and images from civilian satellites. The United States government zealously guarded all activity at the base. This was understandable, because after the NORAD, it was one of the most valuable strategic military targets in the country.

Groom Lake was in the heart of the Nevada desert, just over sixty miles north of the bright lights of Las Vegas. It sat on a plain that ended in the Papoose mountain range to the west; to the north, east and south, the plain stretched out across the desert until it reached the foothills of several mountain chains that screened it like powerful walls. The base practically bordered Yucca Flat, the large 1960s nuclear testing zone that was now used for storing nuclear waste. The entire perimeter of the air base was surrounded by barbed wire and signs warning that access to the area was prohibited under penalty of death. An extensive system of security cameras and patrols, by jeeps on the ground and UAVs in the sky, ensured that no unwanted eyes ever rested their gaze on the Groom Lake facilities.

The USAF Boeing C-32 VIP transport aeroplane touched down smoothly on the landing strip. It slowly taxied towards the visitor welcome zone opposite the main hangar at the centre of the complex. The aircraft was more commonly known as Air Force Two and was mainly used by United States cabinet members and congressmen travelling around the world on official business.

The aircraft came to a halt on the tarmac. A stair car quickly sped towards it and began the process of coupling to the door. A convoy of five all-terrain army vehicles moved along one of the access roads and drew up alongside the aeroplane. Twelve soldiers got out and rapidly marched over to the foot of the staircase where they stood in line. They were followed by grey-haired William Murdock, commander in chief of the Groom Lake facilities, USAF Lieutenant Colonel Jack Preston and USAF Captain Derek Chapman. Finally, Clark Henderson, an executive at Space-Combat Ventures brought up the rear. Preston was forty-six years old. He was tall and sinewy with short blonde hair, in striking contrast to Chapman, an Afro-American with short, dark hair. The two men were of similar height and extremely fit. They positioned themselves next to the soldiers and waited for the stair car to finish attaching itself and the aeroplane door to open.

"The day's finally come. I sure hope they give it their all. We've got to impress the congressmen, Jack," said Henderson.

"We've been training long and hard for this. Don't worry, they're going to get a good show today. The boys will make sure of it," Preston replied, confidently.