Page 7 of Whoops-A-Mate From Outer Space
I lifted the shoulder with the backpack. “And this.”
He nodded, grabbed my suitcase and bag, then loaded them into the back. He opened one of the passenger doors and ushered me into the vehicle.
Things were awkwardly silent as he guided the vehicle into traffic.
“Look,” I offered, “I’ll tell your CO that I was late if you’ll get in trouble.”
He sighed. “Sorry, Sir. I was there early, and somebody kept harassing me about being their ride-share.”
“That would have been Eddie,” I chuckled. “He never actually calls for one. He just harasses people until he finds a sucker willing to take him somewhere.”
“That works?”
I laughed. “More often than you’d expect. The residents ignore him, but there are always guests and visitors who fall for it. And if he doesn’t get one soon enough, he walks over to the grocery store and tries from there.”
“I see.”
We managed polite small talk until he pulled up to a guard shack. A quick ID check, then we were on our way again. Finally, he stopped on the tarmac next to a transport plane.
Part of me had expected to be dropped off at the airport and handed a boarding pass. Seeing the army green plane in front of me made my stomach turn. But I dutifully got out of the SUV when he opened the door and grabbed my backpack before he could walk off with it.
I was about to ask if I was in the right spot when I saw Colonel Smith walking up, folder in hand.
“Doctor,” he said bluntly, holding out the folder.
“Colonel,” I replied as I accepted it and started to peek inside.
“It’s just paperwork,” he stated. “Documents about your security clearance being reinstated and forms to get you onto the base. You’ll have photo passes and such taken there.”
“Is this necessary?” I asked, motioning to the plane. “Why not put me on a regular airline?”
He gave me a pointed stare. “So nobody can hack those systems and see your name on a passenger manifest.” He paused. “I don’t think I need to remind you that there are very violent people who would oppose what we’re doing. We have to take every precaution.”
I swallowed. I hadn’t given much thought to it, but he had a point. There was still an underlying thread of xenophobia in humanity.
“Are there enough people being brought in to worry about that?” I asked, wondering how many other civilian scientists I’d be working with.
“We’ll discuss that at a later point.”
I nodded and followed as I was ushered onto the plane. There were only a handful of passengers, but it was almost full of pallets. A glance at the labels indicated a mix of items—everything from medical supplies to office equipment, mattresses to baking pans.
“Take a seat, Doctor,” Colonel Smith said. “They’re almost done loading.”
I decided on a seat near the front of the plane and grabbed my e-reader from my backpack.
“Sorry, Doctor,” Colonel Smith stated, then he grabbed what appeared to be a Faraday bag. “No electronic devices until we can secure them.”
I blinked. “It’s not connected. I turned the wi-fi off.”
He shook his head. “We can’t take the chance.”
I sighed and put the device in the bag.
“Anything else we need to secure?”
I blew out a long breath, then pulled my cell phone, tablet, and laptop from my backpack.
“They’re all off?” he asked as he arranged them in the large bag.
