As Good as Dead

by O. J. Anderson

Chapter 10

Command Van

“It’s not just a matter of one hand not knowing what the other hand is doing,” David is saying, “but the fingers on the same hand don’t even know what each other are doing. That’s the disadvantage of compartmentalization, or advantage, depending on your point of view.

“Over here you’ve got the DIA and who knows who else aiding and abetting the forces of darkness; meanwhile, over there, you’ve got Majestic 12 signing interplanetary treaties with the same beings, but they actually believe these clowns are from Zeta Reticuli.”

Joshua has reached the threshold of information processing for the day. Demonic forces engineering immortal humanoid life forms within an interconnected system of underground bases? And for what final purpose? The concept is too vast to wrap his mind around. His head is buzzing and he needs a break from it all, so he moves to the front of the van. Sits in the driver’s seat.

It’s completely dark outside and the windows are blocked by several inches of snow. Joshua puts the window down enough to look out, but visibility is less than a few feet. Wondering how anyone can find their way through the wilderness and mountains during a storm like this, he says, “Pretty rough out there. I wonder if they’re all right.”

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about guys like these... they’ve got equipment you wouldn’t believe. GPS locators and navigation devices, homing beacons, dangerous terrain indicators, all kinds of things.”

Joshua nods. “Yeah, I heard Jack say they have their own satellite.”

“That’s what I mean,” David says. He goes ahead and pours another cup of coffee. “But they don’t even need all that stuff. They love bad weather. The worse, the better. It’s a tactical advantage, that’s all they care about. They aren’t like the rest of us; they don’t feel cold or tired.”

Joshua puts the window back up.

“Seriously. I once heard a story about one of these guys who did a hundred-foot rappel with nothing but a ball of yarn and a frozen Snickers bar buried in the snow.”

“Uh-huh,” Joshua says, laughing.

“True story.”

* * *

Proceed to Chapter 11...