Warzone: Nemesis: A Novel of Mars Read Online Free PDF Page B

He arrived in his dress greens and was escorted to the Oval Office.
    “The president will see you now, General,” said the president’s secretary, a cute brunette with big brown eyes and a heart shaped face, pert and very polite.
    “Thank you, miss.” He opened the doors to the Oval Office to find his old army buddy standing to receive him. He clasped his old friend’s arm warmly.
    “General, how have you been?”
    “Good, how’s Mamie?”
    “Good, as always.”
    “And John?”
    “He’s as well as can be expected. He never liked the restrictions his military career took on once I ran for president. He’s now serving in division headquarters. It isn’t easy being a soldier when your father is the president.”
    “Well, he’s still serving his country, and you both know it can’t be helped.”
    “I know. How are Esther and your daughters?”
    “Well, thank you. I’m a grandfather now for the fifth time.” The two old friends visited for a while, reliving their glory days as young officers, then settled down to business.
    “Mr. President, you didn’t call me here for a social visit. What’s on your mind, old friend?”
    The president walked over to his desk and retrieved a file marked
Classified
and handed it to him. The cover read TOP SECRET–OPERATION DESERT JEWEL. The general opened it up and looked through the material, stopping to examine the photographs of the aliens very carefully.
    “I have a large disc that needs transported discreetly to your command center, and I don’t want any outside paper trail. It’s probably a spacecraft of an alien race. America cannot afford to have its public engrossed with an extraterrestrial infatuation. We have enough trouble worrying about the possibility of the Soviets developing a nuclear bomb. The object is too large to drive down the highway in a crate, and I don’t want any other military involved in its transport. It will be taken to the edge of Navajo land through the Shiprock district. You’ll need to assist the transport vehicle to cross the San Juan River west of Bluff, Utah. I want you to use a tank to tow the flatbed and crate through the desert, avoiding any contact with people if possible.
    “That’s a lot of land to navigate across quietly.”
    “If you need assistance closing down any roads or highways, we will assist you, though we’d prefer to do so at night. You must, of course, arrange for refueling along the way, and you’ll need aircraft from your facility to provide air security for the trip. Other than that, I don’t want this discussed or reported to anyone save me. You’ll take possession of the disc for study and possible repair. Only necessary eyes should view the disc. If you can salvage any technology of any value to help us against the Soviets, let me know. As of now, I’m decommissioning Presidential Nuclear Command Center Four. Your main function there will be to study the disc and keep it secure and secret. The new name for the center will be the Alpha One Test Center, maintained as a top-secret and high-security facility. You’ll answer and report only to me, and only through dispatched courier with sealed letters. This file must be kept under lock and key, and any correspondence is to be destroyed.”
    “Understood, Mr. President.”
    The two men chatted about the implications of the file&rsquos photographs and the possible trouble if the information reached the wrong hands. GEN Colson left the Oval Office with a new job and purpose.
    Captain Fowler oversaw the crew of white men that took the spaceship down from the mountain. They had to cut a few trees at the crash site, put the disc on skids and pulled it with log skidding mules to a dry wash. From there, they used twelve teams of mules, six in front and six in back, to pull the disc down the wash to the base of the mountain. The mules in the back of the disc controlled the sliding in places so the disc couldn’t run over the mules pulling in front. More white