Chapter 6: Secrets
Field Station Delta: A paranormal military thriller.
Welcome to Field Station Delta. This novella is a paranormal military thriller that I am releasing as a serial for my readers on Substack.
Field Station Delta
Day 2, 12:48
Cathy Doyle picked absently at her tray of cold food as Violet Olstead slid into a seat across from her.
“Heyy there, girlfriend! Sorry I’m late. The Boss wrangled me into a meeting at the last minute.”
Cathy nodded. “The Boss” was the civilian staff’s informal nickname for Dr. Helen Cartwright. On paper, Colonel Nolan commanded Field Station Delta, but anyone with eyes to see knew the Medicine Wheel Ranch facility was Cartwright’s operation. She called the shots, and she had the political clout in Washington to back her up.
“Like, why so glum?” Violet teased. “Air Force cuisine got you down?”
Cathy stole a quick glance around the small mess hall. A trio of Airmen a few tables away were just packing up. They were laughing and joking, oblivious to the two young Blue Shirts. It should be safe enough for them to talk discreetly.
“RADIS picked up another huge weather anomaly this morning,” she said in an undertone. “That’s the second day in a row now. The models predict the same general trajectory as yesterday’s event—the storm will intensify right over Van Cleef tonight.”
Violet’s cheery demeanor evaporated. She looked anxious. “Like, what did Groenke say?”
“The same thing he’s been saying for the last few weeks,” Cathy said. “We’ll monitor the situation and keep the Boss appraised of anything ‘outside expected parameters.’”
Violet rolled her eyes and snorted. “As if! That’s some grade-A BS for you.”
“Exactly!” said Cathy, struggling to keep her voice down. “Groenke knows the frequency and intensity of weather anomalies has been steadily increasing ever since…” she trailed off.
Violet nodded and bit her lip, looking down at the table for several moments, seemingly lost in anxious thought.
“You and I both know this is bad news,” Cathy persisted. “Something’s shifted; the abrupt change in weather phenomena, XAP readings that are off the charts, more personnel visiting the infirmary for unusual medical complaints—nosebleeds, chronic headaches, episodes of vertigo, fainting spells. I’m having trouble sleeping and experiencing strange nightmares. And I know I’m not the only one.”
Violet nodded.
“I’ve brought all of this up to Dr. Groenke more than once, but he doesn’t want to hear it” continued Cathy. “He won’t bring it up with Cartwright because he’s afraid of her reaction. He’s afraid of her. Well, I mean, who isn’t, really. But that’s not the point! If someone doesn’t speak up soon… I’m worried that something terrible is going to happen.”
“And you want me to be that someone?” said Violet.
“You have Cartwright’s confidence; more than anyone else on the Ranch. You told me that she handpicked you for this assignment.”
“It’s not that simple,” Violet objected. “Dr. Cartwright doesn’t actually value my opinions. She finds my abilities useful. That’s all. If I spoke out of turn or started nosing around—well, that’d be the end of my security clearance.”
“Maybe we should go to Colonel Nolan,” Cathy said.
Violet looked horrified. “Go behind the Boss’s back? Are you freaking serious?! We’d both be shitcanned and blacklisted. Maybe even be put in prison!”
“You're exaggerating.”
“No, I'm not,” Violet insisted. “Look, girl, you don't know Cartwright like I do. You do not want to become her enemy. She gets what she wants, and anyone who stands in her way gets bulldozed. The Colonel won't be able to protect us.”
Cathy decided to change tack. “But what about the people of Van Cleef? The recent weather anomalies are persistently focused on the town. Something bad could happen there… And I think you know that better than anyone else.”
“What—what do you mean?”
“Word gets around quick, Violet. I heard about what happened at last night’s pizza party. Metzger—the new Airman—asked you to remote view Van Cleef, and then you dashed off like a hare to Cartwright's office. What did you see?”
“I…” Violet faltered. Cathy waited patiently for her to go on.
“Like, here’s the deal—I think Van Cleef is in danger,” Violet said, lowering her voice almost to a whisper. “When I tried to view the town, it was like trying to peer through murky fog. But there was something else there—a presence. Something was actively trying to block me out, keeping me from seeing what was going on in Van Cleef. Then I felt a push. Like, a kind of mental pushback. Whatever it was, it was able to shut down my viewing session. I’ve never felt a force of opposition like that before. It was—well, anyway, I was terrified. I briefed Cartwright and…”
“And what?”
Violet shrugged. “She didn’t seem concerned or surprised. ‘Thank you for your prompt report, Ms. Olstead.’ That’s all.”
“Violet, if we don’t do something soon, innocent people are going to get hurt. I’m sure of it,” Cathy said.
At that moment, both their cell phones buzzed. Cathy opened the text message. It was a department-wide bulletin from Dr. Groenke.
Latest RADIS projections data report: Atmos anomaly X37 to spawn two distinct systems. X37a tracking towards Van Cleef by approx 1700 hrs. X37b to stall over Delta HQ by approx 1530.
“Oh my God,” Violet murmured. “Two systems?”
“We’re running out of time,” Cathy said.
Day 2, 16:35
Emily Metzger sat cross-legged on her cot, lost in thought, only dimly aware of the heavy staccato of rain on the barracks’ roof and the eerie whistling of the wind as it barreled across the Wyoming badlands. She kept replaying the incident with Sam Brewster over and over in her mind.
Only a few short weeks ago, she would have dismissed his story out of hand as the ravings of the town boozer. Her memory flickered back to Carbondale. In every small town, spooky stories circulated—strange lights in the sky, unexplained disappearances, things that went bump in the night. Harmless local legends, for the most part. A few vocal people took the tales more seriously, or claimed to have had such experiences themselves. Not that they were often believed by their neighbors.
Her uncle who swore up and down that he’d been chased by “Mothman” on a solo camping trip in the hills. She’d always suspected that moonshine was a more likely source for his story than the malicious intent of a six-foot-tall, winged humanoid. But after everything she’d seen, everything she’d been through—first in Nuristan and now at Field Station Delta—could she really afford to be so skeptical anymore?
Certainly, Brewster’s story about being menaced by glowing orbs sounded like crazy-talk on its face—just a tired, frustrated man venting his spleen at the Air Force. But Metzger had seen four orbs herself just after the mysterious shadow-creatures had hovered by her bedside. She shuddered at the memory.
There’s nothing the Pentagon won’t turn into a weapon.
Sam Brewster’s final accusation had hit a little too close to home. Metzger recalled how Jacob Groenke had insisted that the Applied Research Group didn’t have the technology to communicate directly with paranormal entities. Now, piecing together all she’d seen and heard over the last twenty-four hours, Metzger was convinced that Groenke had nearly let the cat out of the bag.
So, if the Blue Shirts—under Dr. Cartwright’s direction, no doubt—were trying to summon these things, perhaps they believed they could control them somehow. Metzger felt a cold void growing in the pit of her stomach. On that lonely Afghan mountainside, she saw the Pale Man turn her friends against one another with a mere word. Trying to out-puppeteer the puppet master was a dangerous game.
She’d sworn not to let any more innocent people be lost to these evil creatures on her watch. But what power did she have? She was an expendable pawn in Cartwright’s ongoing maneuvers. And pawns were expected to play their part, even if that meant being sacrificed.
Lightning flashed and there was a tremendous crack of thunder.
Woah.
This was an even stronger storm than yesterday’s. Metzger’s thoughts returned to the people of Van Cleef. Were they in danger? When she’d asked Violet Olstead to use her clairvoyant abilities to find out what was going on in town, the remote viewer had been terrified by what she’d seen. What did she see? What did she tell Cartwright?
I should go see Violet—now.
The forcefulness of this sudden impulse surprised Metzger. She should probably confront Violet, but it could wait until tomorrow morning after the storm had passed.
No. I need to get up and go to Violet’s office right away or…
Or what? An uncanny certainty grew in Metzger that she had to act now, or she’d miss a very brief window of opportunity.
She rose, bundled herself up in rain gear, and sprinted the short distance to the ARG building. Most of the offices were vacant. But down the hall she heard a voice—Cathy Doyle’s—coming from Violet’s office.
“Ms. Olstead?” Metzger found the door ajar and entered.
Cathy Doyle was crouching on the floor in the center of the room beside Violet’s prone body. Fear was in her eyes.
“Airman Metzger? How’d you—”
“What’s going on? What’s wrong with her?” Metzger quickly knelt beside Violet and took her pulse—slightly elevated. She was breathing steadily. Her closed eyelids fluttered, as if she was in a deep dream state.
“I—we—” Cathy stammered.
“Stay calm,” said Metzer. “Tell me what happened.”
“Violet and I… were working on a remote viewing experiment when she just collapsed unconscious. It was only a few moments ago—then you walked in. I was just about to alert the infirmary.”
Violet moaned. She whispered something they couldn’t catch. Cathy shook her.
“Violet! What is it? Can you hear me?”
“Release. Release them. Or… suffer,” Violet murmured. Metzger’s blood ran cold. Those were the exact words that the shadow-creatures had spoken to her the night before.
Violet’s eyes snapped open at once and she bolted upright.
“Hey! Easy there,” cautioned Metzger.
Cathy smiled with relief. “Thank God!”
“We need to call Cartwright and alert Colonel Nolan,” Violet said, a tremor in her voice. “Van Cleef is in danger! I saw it. Something terrible is happening out there or is going to happen. If we don’t abort Key Master soon, it’s only going to get worse!”
“Slow down,” said Metzger. “What kind of danger are we talking about? And what’s ‘Key Master’?”
Violet turned with a look of quizzical surprise. “Metzger? Like, hold up! When did you get here?”
“Just after you blacked out. I was coming to ask you about Van Cleef.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. I just… Well, it’s not easy to explain.”
“So, let me guess—You just had a gut feeling?”
Metzger nodded.
“Nailed it!” Violet said with a pert smile of satisfaction, “Doesn’t take a genius to guess why Dr. Cartwright wanted you transferred to the Ranch.”
“You still haven’t answered my questions,” persisted Metzger. “How is Van Cleef in danger?”
“Viewing the town was, like, a terrible strain,” said Violet softly. “I couldn’t see much clearly. There was too much interference from the storm. But I felt many strong emotional auras—I can do that too! There was anger… and fear. Totally—everyone in town was afraid. Not afraid of the storm but of… something else.”
“What?” asked Metzger.
“I’m not sure. There were flashes of lightning and terrible winds. Then there was…” She squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed her temples. “Strange… I can’t remember anything else.”
“While you were unconscious, you mumbled something like release them,” put in Cathy.
“Like, did I?” asked Violet.
Cathy nodded. The two women then shared a very knowing look.
Metzger decided to press her advantage. “Does that have something to do with Key Master?”
But at that moment, a klaxon blared.
ATTENTION. EMERGENCY CONDITION: ORANGE. ANOMALY RESPONSE TEAM REPORT AT ONCE FOR MISSION BRIEF. REPEAT. EMERGENCY CONDITION ORANGE.
Dammit, thought Metzger. I’m too late. The shit’s hit the fan already.
Really exciting! Also really wondering if the Blue Shirts are nerds enough to name a paranormal project over a Ghostbusters reference. Please tell me I'm right.
Bring on the chaos!