Mine: The Arrival Read Online Free PDF

had a good trip.”
    “A long one. I don’t know about good.”
    Reece smiled as if he hadn’t heard him and gestured toward the door. “Come in, come in.”
    Once inside, the captain said, “If you’re tired, we’ve prepared a room upstairs you can rest in. Or, if you’re hungry, we can go by the cafeteria.”
    “If you don’t mind, I’d rather get things started.” What Durant really wanted to say was “get this over with,” but he was nothing if not diplomatic.
    The captain smiled again. “Right this way.”
    Reece led Durant down several corridors to a fancy-looking locker room. There were two dozen stalls along the walls, sectioned off by dividers. Hanging in each was a set of white coveralls, and on the bench seat a pair of thick black rubber gloves and a gas mask.
    “We’ll change here,” Reece said.
    Durant frowned. “Change? Why?”
    “We wouldn’t want you dying right after you arrived, now would we?”
    “Dying?”
    The captain motioned to one of the stalls. “That one should be your size.”
    The coveralls contained a layer of rubber underneath so they were heavier than they looked. Mimicking Reece, Durant sealed his outfit, donned the gas mask, and pulled on the attached hood. He couldn’t help but feel ridiculous once he was suited up, but at least he’d have a good story to tell people in the future.
    “Ready?” Reece asked.
    Durant shrugged. “I guess so.”
    The captain led him into a narrow hallway and down to the only other exit. He reached for the handle, but stopped before grabbing it and turned back to Durant.
    “Almost forgot,” he said, his voice muffled behind his mask. “Dr. Durant, you are about to enter a facility that has been declared a restricted location by the base commander. You are not allowed to discuss anything you see here without General Braxton’s approval. Do you accept these conditions?”
    “Sure, I accept.” It was a toothless decree. Members of M-Tech took orders from no one but the head of the army or the commander-in-chief himself, and even those two could be ignored if absolutely necessary.
    Reece opened the door and waved for Durant to pass through first.
    They entered a huge room, two stories high and at least a hundred feet square. There were no apparent windows but bright lights lit up every inch. Except for a wall of portable dividing screens set up in the middle of the room, the space was empty.
    “This way,” Reece said.
    As they began walking toward the center, Durant said, “This all seems pretty elaborate for a piece of rock.”
    “Who said anything about a piece of rock?” The captain led him to a door built into one of the dividers, and opened it. “After you.”
    Durant stepped inside and immediately stopped in his tracks, muttering, “What in God’s name?”
    A large rectangular box supported by four impossibly narrow legs stood in the middle of the walled-off space. From the top of the box sprouted spires and discs and other unusually shaped protrusions, all of which—box and legs included—looked to be made from a highly polished metal.
    Reece walked a few paces past him, stared at the box for a moment, and then looked back. “Impressive, isn’t it?”
    Realizing he’d momentarily lost his objectivity, Durant donned a skeptical face. “May I take a closer look?”
    “Of course.”
    Durant circled the object, thinking there had to be some logical explanation for it. “What’s its background?”
    “We’re using code name Venus.”
    “Venus?”
    “Well, she’s a beauty, isn’t she? Bet you’ve never seen anything like her.”
    “What’s Venus’s background, then?”
    “Discovered on November fifth by a hunter in central Montana.”
    “He just happened upon this?”
    “He said he saw it land.”
    Durant narrowed his eyes. “Really? Those were his exact words?”
    The captain hesitated. “He told his wife that he saw a big flash of white flames in the sky before it went down.”
    Durant lowered himself