The Rock by Robert Doherty Read Free Book Online Page A

during the first year and been allowed to heal on its own. Hawkins knew this because he had been tapped to plan a rescue mission into the prison--one of many potential missions his team--code named Orion--planned for but never executed because, as Hawkins's executive officer Richman liked to say, there was "a lack of intestinal fortitude on the part of the one who has to make the decision to go."
    To many not in the know Lamb was simply the President's hatchet man. The one who took the hard jobs and got them done. Of course, he got them done by using other people to do the dirty work and that sometimes caused resentment in the covert community, but as far as Hawkins knew, Lamb had never shirked responsibility for anything he ordered, even when it had turned bad. That was rare in the world of government, from what Hawkins had seen over the past several years.
    Lamb and Hawkins had worked together several times during the course of the past four years while Hawkins had been commanding Orion. Lamb more often than not had been the one giving Hawkins the missions for Orion. He'd been the one who'd supplied the questionable intelligence placing one of the bombs in Colombia and, using his call sign Angel, had given the final go.
    Lamb moved directly to the front of the room and looked at each person for a few seconds, gaining eye contact before moving onto the next, as if he were judging their capabilities with that look.
    "Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Steven Lamb. I'm executive director of the President's National Command Crisis Team. Some of you know me from your work on the Hermes Project." He glanced at Hawkins. "Some from other operations.
    "All of you had or have been given interim top secret Q clearances, so we can speak freely in this room. I am glad each of you was able to make it here in time and--"
    "I didn't exactly feel like I had much choice," Batson interrupted.
    "I second that statement," Fran Volkers added. "I was told I was to be here because of Hermes Project, yet that doesn't seem to be the case." She pointed at the folder in front of her. Hawkins noticed for the first time that all the other people in the room had a folder similar to his. That meant they knew as much about him as he did about them, which bothered him.
    Lamb dodged the question for the time being. "Dr. Volker and Mr. Batson are both members of a group called the Hermes Project and they were told that their presence here was because of that project. However, that is not quite true. The Hermes Project has over eighty members, but as you can see, there are only two of you here. I apologize for the slight subterfuge, but we felt it was the easiest way to get you to come here. This matter does fall under the scope of the contracts you signed with Hermes. I will explain in a little while why we had to bring you here, but let me start at the beginning."
    Lamb gestured about him, taking in the room. "This installation is called Deep Space Communication Complex 14. Two days ago this station--and other tracking stations around the globe--picked up a high-frequency transmission that disrupted all normal communications for over three hours. Tapes were made of it at all affected stations and sent to Goddard Space Center in Maryland, which began the process of trying to determine several things: first, where the message originated from; secondly, where the message was being sent to; and third, what the message was. The answers to some of those questions were determined just eighteen hours ago and I will share them with you shortly, but bear with me as I stay in the order of events as they occurred.
    "Initially, it was suspected that either a civilian or military radio was broadcasting somewhere to the southwest of this location. A helicopter was sent out to locate the emitter."
    Lamb picked up a remote and clicked. The screen showed a massive red rock standing alone in the middle of what appeared to be a desert. "That is Ayers Rock. Located two hundred