Ana

CH 22

When the CIA took over the investigation of UFOs from the FBI in the early 70's, they changed the name of the program from Project Blue Book to Project Red Book. Project Blue Book had been a joint venture between the FBI and the Air Force that strove to determine if UFOs presented a danger to the nation. The results of that investigation led to the formation of an organization with the mission to develop the means by which aliens would be dealt with at first contract. It included sections from every military branch and was headed up by a special section of the CIA.

Heidi was one of the front line agents of Project Red Book and was use to the very unusual security measures they enforced measures that included the complete isolation of the computers at Head Quarters from the rest of the world. As a result, her reports couldn't be e-mailed to them. They had to be sent to a secondary site where it was burned on a DVD and delivered by hand. If the report contained highly classified material, like her next report did, she had to deliver it in person. It was a pain in the ass, but she could see some wisdom to the strict protocols.

She had just got back from a quick trip to Paris where dead cats were the latest oddity to be added to her report in a trend of increasingly bizarre events tied to her investigations. Heidi sat in her office at the Johnson Space Center examining a video shot from a passenger airliner of a blurry object that had followed them for a short time as it made its way from Istanbul to Paris last week. The really strange thing about this particular sighting was that a fire broke out in the cargo bay of the plane at the time this was filmed. The fire was still under investigation and seemed to have started in a carrier containing two cats. So far, the investigators had no theory as to how a fire could have started at such an unlikely location. She had a suspicion that she didn't share with them. There was still a lot of work to do before she could connect this to her other sightings.

Heidi closed the grotesque picture of the burned cats and opened the police report from Paris. The passport of the man that owned the cats turned out to be falsified. They had run his prints and found out his real name was Ahmed Rasheed. Apparently, this guy has been on Interpol's wanted list for three years because of his suspected connection to active terrorist groups. Heidi had questioned him personally and felt that he was hiding something important, but was unable to get anything specific out of him. She was recommending in her report that he be taken to a CIA facility for more persuasive questioning techniques.

The phone video of the UFO wasn't very good and watching it for the fifth time didn't help much. The blurry object blended in with the clouds and sky too much to see any worthwhile detail, but there definitely was something there. It was almost ghostlike as it hung in the air not far from the jet.

She stretched arms out and rubbed her eyes. She was still feeling some jet lag from her trip. Caffeine might help, so she pushed back her chair and left her office to get a drink from the vending machine down the hall. She was half way there when she spotted Frank Tairov heading her way. He was a retired vet. The slight limp from a wound he got in Iraq was a permanent reminder of his service. Frank had transferred over from Washington a few weeks ago to help with translating Russian. He was a nice enough guy but he was trying too hard to make friends, especially with her.

"So, how goes the UFO chasing?" Frank asked once he pulled up next to her.

"Exciting as always, how goes the translating?" she replied.

"Boring as usual, you field agents get to have all the fun, like trips to Paris. Did you find anything interesting?"

"Yes, it was interesting. Not the kind of thing I should be discussing though, sorry."

"Oh, sure, I understand. I wouldn't want you to spill any alien secrets," he gave her a sarcastic look.

She was use to that kind of ribbing so brushed it off easily. "Let's just say my work is not as cut and dry as yours. I have to keep an open mind about all possibilities."

"I know, I know. But it's not like you've made first contact and I'm sure a little office talk can't hurt your work."

She stopped and glared at him. "I hate to be rude but I think you need to get back to work." With that she turned her back on him and left him behind. She was forbidden to discuss her work with anyone except the brass in Washington, period.

With a disappointed look on his face, Frank slouched back the way he had come, obviously not happy with the outcome the conversation.

She returned to her office after getting a diet soda and several hours later, she finally finished her report. With a smile, she reflected on how this report would stir things up in Washington. Maybe now they would start to take her work a little more seriously.

It was late and everyone else had already left to start their weekend. Heidi locked up her office and headed to her car wondering what to do the rest of the night. Once outside, she paused to admire the nearby palm trees swaying gently, caressed by the breeze in the moonlight. It was a good night to go out and have a few drinks after a busy week. She retrieved her phone from her bag and called her girlfriend, Naomi. Heidi had been traveling so much that she hadn't even seen Naomi in weeks and missed her.

"Hey girl," She said when Naomi answered. "I'm back in town. What are you up to?"

Naomi replied in a low voice, "Oh, Hi. I can't talk right now. Can I call you later?"

Heidi opened her car door and climbed into her yellow Mustang. "Ok, sure. It's just, I have nothing planned tonight and was going to see if you'd like to get some drinks, but if you're too busy, I understand."

"I'm sorry. I wish I could because I desperately need to talk to you. I just can't tonight," Naomi whispered.

"What's up?" Heidi asked then started the car and headed out of the parking lot toward the main entrance.

Naomi said in a soft voice, "I got back together with my old boyfriend Tom and... well, it's hard to explain but I'm helping him with the most amazing things."

Naomi's words hit Heidi like a brick. She paused for a minute then asked, "Does he know about us?"

"No. It may be best for him to think we're only close friends for now. Like I've said before, he's a major nerd and I'm not sure how he'd take it. I hope you're not mad or upset. I did tell you that I was going to keep dating guys."

"Yes, but I... I thought you meant you were going to see Bob every now and then." Heidi felt both mad and empty at the same time. She shouldn't have let herself get emotionally attached like this.

"I'm done with Bob but we can still have our girl's only time together when Tom's too busy for me, which happens a lot."

"Ok, well, I'll let you go then. Call me when you have more time." Heidi hung up the phone then tossed it angrily onto the passenger seat. She slammed her foot on the gas pedal and the car screamed off down the street. She dodged through traffic until the speedometer passed ninety, but then backed it down to the speed limit. Getting a ticket wasn't going to help.

She cursed and banged her fist on her steering wheel. Why did she even try to have relationships? They always ended up with someone getting hurt.