19

The man in black suit and sunglasses grimaced to himself in satisfaction. They were weeks behind schedule, but at last his field officers had full control over the entire area. Nothing got in or out of the crash zone, and the resident civilian population was now removed to a distance of not less than five miles.

The irony of it was that the army was the chief source of gossip that leaked to the press, and was a continuing source of trouble for his security measures. The soldiers routinely disobeyed orders where controlling the civilian population was concerned. They refused to arrest trespassers and the curious, they refused to arrest and detain people for gathering around the perimeter of the crash zone, they refused to arrest, detain and question locals who spoke openly to strangers and foreigners about the downed alien vessel.

However, now that the crash site itself was under the control of his field officers, and the army was removed from the immediate vicinity and given the task of policing the perimeter, things were beginning to run smoothly. At last, he was able to move his true operations out into the open.

His special forces operatives were set and ready, laying on their bellies within sandbag-fortified foxholes dug in near the tail section of the craft. Their attention was focussed on a single portal near the tail, a door that had resisted all attempts to cut, burn or pierce it. Now they were set to blast it open and storm the alien vessel en masse.

The entire edge and frame of the door was rigged with high-explosive plastique so powerful it would rip the fame open like a can-opener.

His associate nodded. They were good to go.

The man in black leaned back in his chair to watch the monitors in anticipation.