"Robert Doherty - Area 51 - The Reply" - читать интересную книгу автора (Doherty Robert)


was extraterrestrial life in the universe and that that life had once had a
colony on Earth. Humans were not alone, and while most of the planet focused its
attention on what had been found, those in places like DSCC-10 were concerned
with what was yet to be discovered among the stars.
The message sent out by the guardian computer had jolted everyone out of their
daily humdrum. Now those at DSCC-10, and at other listening posts around the
world, watched their computer monitors with mixed hope and fear. Hope that a
message would come back in reply and fear about what the message would be and
who would be sending it.
Jean Compton had worked at DSCC-10 for twelve years. Officially, and as far as
her partner, James Brillon, knew, she worked for Eastern Arizona State
University. In reality she worked for both EASU and the National Security
Agency. Her job for the NSA was to have DSCC-10 ready as a backup to the Air
Force's satellite dishes at Nellis Air Force Base. If the tracking station at
Nellis went down, Compton was to use DSCC-10 to download classified data from
the network of spy satellites that the U.S. had blanketing the planet as they
passed overhead. The vast amount of data those satellites accumulated, and their
limited storage space, made it imperative that each scheduled download be picked
up or valuable intelligence could be lost.
Compton had yet to have to do that backup job, but she did appreciate the
extra paycheck she received each month from the United States government,
deposited directly and discreetly into her checking account. She also had a
classified In-

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ternet address and code that she was supposed to use in case DSCC-10 ever picked
up signs of intelligent alien life. All she knew about the organization on the
other end was the designation, STAAR, and that the NSA told her to follow any
instructions given by it.
She didn't know what STAAR stood for, and after receiving the briefing from
the STAAR representative at Nellis four years ago, she'd had no desire to know
more. The man giving the briefing had sent chills up and down her spine with his
emotionless detailing of instructions she was to follow in case they found
evidence of extraterrestrial life. He was a tall man, with blond, almost white,
hair cut short, his face looking like it was carved out of pale marble. She
wondered if the man's skin ever saw the sun, yet he had worn sunglasses
throughout the entire briefing in an empty hangar at Nellis. Armed guards
surrounded the hangar, hard-looking men in black jumpsuits. Their presence had
further enhanced the significance and power of this mysterious organization.
Shortly after the guardian computer had sent out its message from Easter
Island, she'd been contacted by STAAR and given a classified briefing by the
same man and detailed new instructions. She didn't really believe that she would
have to use those new instructions, as she hadn't the old ones from the NSA,
until eight minutes before eight P.M. on this evening.
She was in the process of doing a loop scan, the dishes slowly rotating to get
a clear radio picture of a section of sky, when the master warning light bolted
to the beam running across the front of the