01-10-2024, 11:46 PM
Ch. 2
An Hour From the Truth
Santa Fe, New Mexico - May 8, 1980.
Cassius pulls into the parking area, finds a spot and kills the engine. His red and white Dodge
pickup is one of only three vehicles in the lot. The others being a 1975 sand colored Ford Bronco
and a navy blue mid-seventies model station wagon - with the obligatory wood-paneled sides.
He can only see two other people in the whole park - one man in sweats at the far right end
doing calisthenics. Another man at the opposite end playing fetch with a German Shepherd.
Perhaps his contact hadn’t arrived yet - it was still early - 8:49am. He decides to get out and
stretch his legs, walks over to the black iron bench and takes a seat out in the open.
It’s a nice, brisk morning - temperature around 55’F. Cassius takes full measure of his surroundings,
making sure to keep his head on a swivel. He checks his watch - 8:57am - still early, but already he’s
feeling like a fool. He didn’t want a repeat of Tuesday.
A runner appears on the paved walking trail about fifty yards away. They’re heading straight towards
him. Getting closer, he can see it’s a woman - slim, attractive, late thirties. She slows to a walk, catching
her breath and stops only a few feet away.
“Good morning!” she says smiling.
“Morning.” he replies.
“Do you mind?” she asks, then has a seat on the opposite end of the bench before he can answer.
“Go right ahead.” he says after she’s already seated.
“Nothing like a good early run. Sets your energy level for the day.” she informs while leaning
forward rubbing her calves.
Cassius admires her legs through the skin-tight spandex. She turns to catch him staring and smiles.
“I’m so glad you could make it, Mr. Wheeler.”
A bit unexpected, as not much in this world shocks him anymore, but taken aback he was.
“Hmm, I wasn’t expecting - “
“A woman?” she interrupts.
“Yeah.” he admits.
“Disappointed?”
He looks her up and down with a quick scan.
“Nope.”
“Good, shall we?” she asks.
“Please.”
“I’m sure you’ve heard of a little town called Dulce?”
“I have.”
“How about Archuleta Mesa?”
“Vaguely.”
She moves a few inches closer.
“There’s a military installation there, an underground base, one mile below the surface.
It’s a multi-level facility conducting secret operations and experiments. Everything off the books.”
she says in lowered voice.
“OK.”
“There are things being done there that no living creature has any business being part of.”
Cassius looks out over the well-manicured greenery of the park.
“Two questions.” he says.
“Of course.”
“Why are you telling me this? And do you have any proof?”
“I’m telling you because you are on a very short list of people that I can trust. And I have enough
proof to get us both killed, many times over.”
“Alright, where is it?” he asks.
“It’s at a secured location. Once you agree to the terms of our further involvement, it will all be
handed over to you.”
An elderly man nears, walking with a cane and slight limp.
The woman jumps from her seat, turns her back to the walkway and begins doing leg
stretches against the bench.
“Good morning.” the elderly man says, smiling widely.
“Good morning sir.” Cassius replies.
She continues with her activity until the man is out of ear-shot, then returns to her seat.
“If you agree to accept this information and publish every last detail, it will go a long way
towards securing your place among the living. Not to mention, incredulity of the public - always
an added bonus. Killing you would only lend to the legitimacy of the information. They won’t want
to risk that.” she lays out calmly.
“I’m not even going to ask who they are.”
“Great because I don’t have time to explain. You know where Amarillo is?”
“In Texas, last I heard.”
“There’s a little town northeast of there called Panhandle. You’ll drive there, leave your vehicle
and ride the rest of the way with one of my men.”
Cassius releases a long, deep sigh.
“That’s over four hours of highway.”
“Fill up the night before, stop only once to refill and use the restroom, on the Texas side of the
border. Use only cash, no checks or cards. Nothing traceable.”
He snickers at the enormity of it all.
“Look, you’re gonna have to do exactly as I say or things will end badly for all of us.
Do you understand?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Wait until we have cleared the parking lot, count to one hundred. Beneath where you are
sitting, just behind the front left leg, there’s a stone. Under that stone is an old, dirty folded
piece of paper. It has your directions. Commit them to memory, then burn it.”
She stands and walks towards the parking lot.
“Okay then.” he says.
“Saturday.” she says without stopping or turning around.
The two men from either end of the grounds meet her in the parking lot, board their
vehicles and disappear.
Cassius surrenders another sigh.
“One, two, three, four…”
An Hour From the Truth
Santa Fe, New Mexico - May 8, 1980.
Cassius pulls into the parking area, finds a spot and kills the engine. His red and white Dodge
pickup is one of only three vehicles in the lot. The others being a 1975 sand colored Ford Bronco
and a navy blue mid-seventies model station wagon - with the obligatory wood-paneled sides.
He can only see two other people in the whole park - one man in sweats at the far right end
doing calisthenics. Another man at the opposite end playing fetch with a German Shepherd.
Perhaps his contact hadn’t arrived yet - it was still early - 8:49am. He decides to get out and
stretch his legs, walks over to the black iron bench and takes a seat out in the open.
It’s a nice, brisk morning - temperature around 55’F. Cassius takes full measure of his surroundings,
making sure to keep his head on a swivel. He checks his watch - 8:57am - still early, but already he’s
feeling like a fool. He didn’t want a repeat of Tuesday.
A runner appears on the paved walking trail about fifty yards away. They’re heading straight towards
him. Getting closer, he can see it’s a woman - slim, attractive, late thirties. She slows to a walk, catching
her breath and stops only a few feet away.
“Good morning!” she says smiling.
“Morning.” he replies.
“Do you mind?” she asks, then has a seat on the opposite end of the bench before he can answer.
“Go right ahead.” he says after she’s already seated.
“Nothing like a good early run. Sets your energy level for the day.” she informs while leaning
forward rubbing her calves.
Cassius admires her legs through the skin-tight spandex. She turns to catch him staring and smiles.
“I’m so glad you could make it, Mr. Wheeler.”
A bit unexpected, as not much in this world shocks him anymore, but taken aback he was.
“Hmm, I wasn’t expecting - “
“A woman?” she interrupts.
“Yeah.” he admits.
“Disappointed?”
He looks her up and down with a quick scan.
“Nope.”
“Good, shall we?” she asks.
“Please.”
“I’m sure you’ve heard of a little town called Dulce?”
“I have.”
“How about Archuleta Mesa?”
“Vaguely.”
She moves a few inches closer.
“There’s a military installation there, an underground base, one mile below the surface.
It’s a multi-level facility conducting secret operations and experiments. Everything off the books.”
she says in lowered voice.
“OK.”
“There are things being done there that no living creature has any business being part of.”
Cassius looks out over the well-manicured greenery of the park.
“Two questions.” he says.
“Of course.”
“Why are you telling me this? And do you have any proof?”
“I’m telling you because you are on a very short list of people that I can trust. And I have enough
proof to get us both killed, many times over.”
“Alright, where is it?” he asks.
“It’s at a secured location. Once you agree to the terms of our further involvement, it will all be
handed over to you.”
An elderly man nears, walking with a cane and slight limp.
The woman jumps from her seat, turns her back to the walkway and begins doing leg
stretches against the bench.
“Good morning.” the elderly man says, smiling widely.
“Good morning sir.” Cassius replies.
She continues with her activity until the man is out of ear-shot, then returns to her seat.
“If you agree to accept this information and publish every last detail, it will go a long way
towards securing your place among the living. Not to mention, incredulity of the public - always
an added bonus. Killing you would only lend to the legitimacy of the information. They won’t want
to risk that.” she lays out calmly.
“I’m not even going to ask who they are.”
“Great because I don’t have time to explain. You know where Amarillo is?”
“In Texas, last I heard.”
“There’s a little town northeast of there called Panhandle. You’ll drive there, leave your vehicle
and ride the rest of the way with one of my men.”
Cassius releases a long, deep sigh.
“That’s over four hours of highway.”
“Fill up the night before, stop only once to refill and use the restroom, on the Texas side of the
border. Use only cash, no checks or cards. Nothing traceable.”
He snickers at the enormity of it all.
“Look, you’re gonna have to do exactly as I say or things will end badly for all of us.
Do you understand?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Wait until we have cleared the parking lot, count to one hundred. Beneath where you are
sitting, just behind the front left leg, there’s a stone. Under that stone is an old, dirty folded
piece of paper. It has your directions. Commit them to memory, then burn it.”
She stands and walks towards the parking lot.
“Okay then.” he says.
“Saturday.” she says without stopping or turning around.
The two men from either end of the grounds meet her in the parking lot, board their
vehicles and disappear.
Cassius surrenders another sigh.
“One, two, three, four…”
