The man stepped out of the plane which just landed and pushed the left sleeve of his crisply pressed suit up to see the time. Nodding to himself, satisfied that he wasnt late, he walked with purpose towards the entrance. From elsewhere on the flight deck, eyes that ranged from curious to suspicious watched him. He wasnt one of them, yet he wasnt escorted. He knew where he was going and he stepped off a plane marked with the Presidents colours.
The man, himself, was no one in particular. He wasnt the President, nor one of his advisers. He was a contractor, brought on for a specific time, to do a specific job. After which, his association with any of this would be over and he could go back to what he considered to be more fulfilling obligations.
Entering the building, for want of a better word, led him into the maintenance area of the aircraft carrier. Inside mechanics were working on three of the jets that called the carrier home. Ignoring all of them, including the few who shouted after him, he pushed a button on an elevator, swiped a card that had been in his inner jacket pocket and entered the door. Insipid elevator music played as the car took him all the way to the top, skipping the dorms and communal areas, taking him to the bridge level.
The elevator dinged, the doors swept open smoothly and the man continued walking. Here, uniformed officers simply ignored him. If he was not meant to be here, then he would not be here. It was as simple as that. The man walked to the main entrance into the bridge, swiped the card again and entered to a hubbub of noise and movement.
“We are on course, Captain,” a strong voice cut through the rest, amplified by the PA system.
“Good,” the captain replied. He was close to the entrance where the besuited man had entered. The latter cleared his throat next to the captain and was rewarded with a look of shock as the captain recognised him. “Davis, you have command,” the captain said quickly and escorted the other man towards his private office.
“Aye, Sir,” someone, presumably Davis, said from across the room. Everyone else just watched as the captain disappeared with the newcomer into another room.
“Well?” the Captain, a 30 year veteran of the navy asked impatiently.
“Calm down,” the newcomer said with a soft, yet solid voice. “Everything is running according to schedule. Your contributions have been acknowledged at the highest levels and when all is complete, you will be recompensed. But all is not yet complete and I am here to ensure that you are still doing as needed.”
“Of course I am,” the captain hissed. “What else could I be doing? When you people come to me and say jump, I jump. Thats the rules, right? The oath I swore?”
“Indeed, but others in your position have not always been so,” the man paused. “Accommodating.”
“That can hardly be thrown at my feet,” the captain snorted. “I am only responsible for this boat,” he waved his hands around at where they both found themselves.
“Captain,” the man said. “I am not here to assign blame to you that is ill-founded. I assure you, there is nothing in my agenda today that speaks ill of your work here.”
“Then why are you, specifically you, here?” the captain asked pointedly.
“I was in the area,” the man said without irony.
“You are not here as a courtesy,” the captain replied.
“That is correct, I am here to see certain achievements,” the man said. His tone was casual, but the captain knew better.”
“Which ones?”
“Thats more like it,” the man said. “Take me to the lower levels. Escort me through your processes.”
The flight deck was cleared and the plane with the presidential colours was pulled around for its take off. Onboard the man checked the watch on his right wrist and frowned. The tour and subsequent instructions had taken too long. The captain was more pushy that had been anticipated and his anger had not been foreseen. Another character analysis would have to be undertaken at some stage, and soon, to ensure he was still an adequate overseer of this particular task. Even so, his results spoke highly of his organisational methods. While they werent ahead of time here, they werent behind. Not like the other location on the mans schedule.
He felt himself pushed back into his seat as the large airliner, with only him onboard besides the flight crew, gathered speed to leave the aircraft carrier and head back to civilisation. It might be all well and good for these sailors to be out in the middle of the ocean for months at a time, but the man required a properly cooked hot meal with fresh ingredients. Not the slop that the mess, an adequate name if ever he heard one, served.
He spoke to no one and no one spoke to him as the plane headed north and east, back towards the mainland.
A hundred years ago, this valley had been home to several towns. Originally built as hubs for the mining operations in the nearby mountains, they had become ski resorts when the ores dried up, making their money from tourists and adrenaline junkies. But over time, people left. Jobs here became harder and harder to work and all the towns just dried up. That was the official story. The actual one would cause the conspiracy theorists heads to explode. The government, under various unrelated private corporations, had bought everything in all the towns and had silently caused a mass exodus over almost two decades in order to have the land to themselves. Now the valley was empty. The husks of the old towns remained, but there were no people. At least, not on the surface.
A nearby airfield looked abandoned, but parked at one end was a small prop plane. It had landed several hours ago and had circled around so it was pointed back down the runway. There was no air control here since there was no traffic. The engine was off, but the pilot, a shapeless figure in a full body flight suit, was ready to engage at any moment. His passenger, a serious looking man in a well fitted suit had exited the aircraft as it came to a stop, got into a car that had arrived at that exact moment and had sped off towards the looming mountains. The pilot was not paid to ask questions, so they just sat and waited.
What used to be the towns had enough people to monitor anyone coming into the valley from any access point. Usually campers or hunters, they would inadvertently pass Private Property signs and miss the warnings about radiation or other dangers in the area. The most ignorant, or stubborn of these people are the ones you read about on the news, the ones who disappeared in the wilderness of this part of the country. The rest were easy enough to dissuade from coming all the way to the valley floor by one method or another.
The car that sped along the strangely well maintained road was obviously an exception. It was a specific car that had a specific driver and carried a passenger who no one here could say no to.
The man sat in the back seat, an opaque, inch thick, divider separated him from the driver and he sat, hands in his lap, waiting patiently. It was almost an hour from the airfield to the entrance.
A red light lit up in the back of the car as it came to a stop. When it changed to green, it was safe for him to exit the car and go about his business. The change came a few minutes later as the car entered a large cave dug into the side of the mountain at the height of the mining operations. The car came to a halt, the light changed to green and immediately the door opened. The man stepped out, nodded an acknowledgement at the casually dressed woman who had opened the door and walked off, following a bright red line on the floor towards the second elevator of the day, this one heading down. No one followed him.
At the base of the elevator shaft, the bottom of the mine, the bright red line continued and the man followed, checking the watch on his left wrist. He frowned.
Unlike his visit to the aircraft carrier, this time he carried a small briefcase. It matched his suit and it swung lightly by his side as, like the visit to the aircraft carrier, he strode with purpose down the well lit tunnel.
The red line took an abrupt left down a side tunnel, becoming purple as it carried on down the main one. The man took the turn and followed the line to an unmarked door on his right, about a hundred meters further along. The line stopped and, looking slightly annoyed, the man pressed the red button embedded in the rock next to the door. Somewhere that sounded far off, a buzzer sounded. Before the buzzer finished sounding, the door opened and a well dressed, handsome woman opened the door, frowned at the man standing there, but stood aside to let him in.
He was in a well appointed cubicle farm. He could see several people working before him and knew that there was a few hundred others hidden from his sight by the cubicle dividers. None of these people turned to see him. In that way they were better trained than the sailors on the aircraft carrier.
The woman led him down a split between two sections of cubicles and led him into a small, plain office where she took a seat behind a large desk and offered him the seat in front of it. He nodded, placed the briefcase on the floor and turned to close the door behind them.
“Its like that, then?” she asked.
“You know why Im here,” he said. His voice the exact same as when he spoke with the captain onboard the ship.
“I can only do so much with what Im given,” she replied. Her voice was flat and even, although her eyes gave away the resignation in her eyes.
“You were put in this position because of your proven ability to do more with what youre given,” he said. “That is why you were plucked from mediocrity for this job. Yet, somehow, you didnt live up to that reputation. Some of it was on our side, that much is true, but every step of the way you were given support, guidance. It is not my place, surprisingly enough, to chastise you for that. That comes next.”
“What are you here for, then?” she asked.
“I am here for two reasons,” he said. “Number one, is to inform you that you have been replaced and to escort you to your new position.”
“I have a new position?” she asked.
“It was not my decision to make, but yes. You will find out more soon. The second job I have here is visit the creature.”
“It sleeps,” she said, a sudden strain appearing in her voice.
The man checked the watch on his right wrist. “For now,” he replied. “But I have timed this trip with the expectation of it waking as I approach. Now, lead me to the monster you have chained in the basement and tell me what little you have learned yourselves.”