Chapter Twenty-Seven

82 11 3
                                    

Riding with Toby in his truck, and following behind Peter Lancolm and Dr. Chris Berling, the two vehicles carrying the group traversed a wooded area of Colorado for some forty-five minutes up into the foothills. Passing along a lengthy private drive beyond a security gate, they arrived at Lancolm's spacious home in an isolated and pristine area.

"Nice pad," Blake said under his breath as they pulled into the paved driveway. His home was an enormous wooden structure which seemed to glow in the afternoon light, not lacking for landscaped gardens and with no shortage of windows to capture the magnificent surroundings.

"Here we are folks," Toby said. "Ya'll just enjoy your stay here. I'll be around by orders of Mr. Lancolm to take you back into Farmington, either tonight or tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Tuwa asked, surprised.

"The meeting with ya'll might take some time, ma'am. Either way, yer gonna be comfortable here. Mr. Lancolm is one hell of a good host."

"I'm sure," Michael said, sounding genuinely appreciative. "Thanks for the ride."

As they left the vehicle and were greeted once again by the mysterious man and his archeologist associate, they led the three up a stairway to the entry level of the house. Looking to be wooden double doors, Blake could see from their weight and a closer inspection that they were massive metal with several bolted rods for extra security.

When inside they were approached by a Native American woman of middle age who introduced herself as Mrs. Lancolm. She smiled and told them she had been expecting them.

Following several pleasantries about the house and the unseasonable weather, she told her guests Mr. Lancolm would be expecting them in his study shortly. Dinner would follow, she informed them, pointing open-handed to what appeared to be a formal dining room in the opposite direction from the large room she was leading them into.

As they entered the study, copiously walled with bookcases, an executive desk was near the back wall and a massively large-screen monitor directly behind it. The screen seemed to cover the whole wall and It suddenly became illuminated with a blue background screensaver as Mr. Lancolm and Dr. Berling surprisingly entered from a side door. There were several wooden chairs around sturdy library tables and there was a small flower arrangement on each.

"Please . . . Tuwa, Michael . . . Blake. Bring chairs up close to my desk so you can see the screen clearly and comfortably."Blake wondered how anyone could possibly miss the large theater-like monitor from anywhere in the room.

"We'll make this brief," Mr. Lancolm said, picking up a silver remote control device on his desk. Dr. Berling sat next to him and just nodded in agreement. The screen suddenly came alive showing what appeared to be a restricted area from aerial footage, taken at a relatively low altitude. The successive clips showed mountains with tunnel-like openings where large trucks and jeeps could pass into them. The terrain varied in these pictures from mountainous to desert areas, and some clearly near the sea. All showed the same style of unmarked openings to entry-point gateways into the earth with clearly military facility purposes.

 All showed the same style of unmarked openings to entry-point  gateways into the earth with clearly military facility purposes

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Star GiftWhere stories live. Discover now