Working for the federal government, specifically, the Pentagon. I was, what you might call a “Fixer” while my official position was civilian contractor. How did I get started? A staff member of Admiral Vincent Stafford mentioned me as a possible go to man for exotic assignments. Without my knowing, the NSA had done a background check, and decided I was not an intelligence risk. When my buddy told me about it, at first I was pissed! Then I was intrigued. What in the world could I possibly be called upon to do? I had unfinished degrees in physics, psychology, and sociology. I told him that if they called on me, I would be amenable as long as the mission wasn’t about dropping me in a meat grinder somewhere!

Sure enough, I got the call, and was interviewed by a Colonel Thacker at an interrogation facility and told because of my variety of specialties that I would not be too indoctrinated in one regime or another and therefore, remain open minded. I was cautious, wondering what that really meant other than I would be considered having a broad but limited spectrum of qualifications. “You must understand that this is not some regularly scheduled type of employment. You would be called upon on an as needed basis with a briefing prior to your intended mission.” The Colonel explained.

“Just as long as I don’t get dropped into a “Hot Zone”,” I replied. “I want to make that perfectly clear!”

“I cannot guarantee without a doubt that at times you may be accompanied by military personnel. This position is yours if you decide to accept it.” The Colonel responded with an intense expression that said “Do it!”

“What do you need me to sign?”

After that, I would see a number of bizarre missions, as the military put it. I could be called upon at a moment’s notice to appear at an Air Base or discreet charter flight facility where I might be in the air for up to 23 hours, going to what place on the face of the earth I could hardly guess. Upon landing, I would receive a briefing, rest, food, and local transportation to the point of selected action.

The first assignments seemed mundane and non-threatening enough and aside from the impromptu notice and immediate abandonment of my personal plans all seemed tolerable, and the money was damn good, and so it went. I began to learn that I carried a little clout as far as making decisions on the spot which was what they needed ultimately, someone to make the call that would have required more logistics and more paper work. The more assignments I got, the greater the trust, and the more latitude I acquired to where I had an officer’s level of authority though I was simply a civilian consultant. Cool!

Then it happened! The most bizarre situation I’d ever been in for all my life! I was widely read so part of the incident did not blindside me, but that was all! I was now in uncharted waters and up to my neck in it! I was accompanied on a Galaxy cargo jet with an Air Force officer who worked for some secretive agency that specialized in recovery, as he put it! Recovery of what, I wondered.

We landed in the Kurdistan region of Iraq near Erbil military base. When we touched down on the runway, Captain Shepton glanced over at me and said, “This time, you’re really going to earn your pay!”

I didn’t like the tone of that sentence, and just gulped!

We stopped off at the mess hall and grabbed a quick bite, made no delays in grabbing a staff car with our gear and headed out into the desert. The heat was stifling. The sand rose like dust from hell. I could see pock marks in the desert that were artillery craters from shells had exploded. I saw a wrecked Iraqi armored column, a relic of the last Gulf War conflict that had not ended well for Iraq forces. I wondered if they had even bothered to remove and bury the “Crispy Critters” that were left after one of our air strikes.

 We came to a system of caves dug into a cliff with military hardware all around. There was, what appeared to be a craft half buried in the rocky wall. It was a classic disk shape and despite impact the outer metal hull was not scratched or dented at all, something described by officers like Major Jesse Marcel at Roswell Army Air Field. I paused, taking all this in. The Captain nudged me, “Now you’re going to see some shit!”

We met up with Lieutenant Lewis, dressed in a bio hazard suit. He was preparing to enter the mysterious UAP that had apparently crash landed. I was to assist him, evaluate, and make an on the spot decision if necessary! Now, I knew I’d been dropped into the pressure cooker. I must admit that he appeared to be damn nervous and a little above his head, the Lieutenant, that is. Just before he put on his helmet, he replied, “You will be my outer communication source. We’ll be connected via cable and wireless back up. Are you ready?”

I fastened the headset to my ear, and replied nervously, “Ready when you are.” I said this realizing that Captain Shepton had seemingly bowed out of further interaction here as though he was playing the “CYA” game which I noticed a common practice in the military as they compartmentalized in these operations, and that worried me. “Good luck,” I muttered to him and we did a check to makes sure the microphones worked.

He entered what seemed to be a seamless hatch that opened as he began to enter. He looked back at me and then disappeared inside the odd vessel. “Do you read me?” I said.

“This is weird,” Lieutenant Lewis stammered. “The inside of this thing is huge! This is impossible. The outside only appears to be 30 feet in length but in here it looks the size of a ballpark with-with-what appears to be a black hole or something! I’m getting disoriented!”

“We need to pull him out’ve there!” I shouted, but the Captain grabbed my arm.

“We can’t! He’s in a Time Well.”

“You knew that and you let him go anyway?” I replied angrily!

“He knew the risks!” Shepton shot back!

“What the hell am I supposed to do about it?”

“Stay in contact with him! “ Ordered the Captain.

“Lewis! Can you hear me?” I yelled.

“Yes, but things are changing in here. It’s like I’m in a different dimension! I can’t trace where I entered from! “

“Captain! Get him the fuck out of there!” I urged.

“We can’t! We’ve had this happen before in one of these caves!” Last time we tried we only lost the rescuers!”

“Well, that’s just fucking great, Captain, what am I here for?” I shouted in disgust.

“To decide what we might do,” Captain replied Shepton in a less than confident tone.

“Lewis, we’re going to try to get you out of there! Understand? Don’t panic!” I felt like some asinine middle man making excuses.

“I’ll-I’ll try,” Lewis replied in an unsteady voice.

I turned to the Captain mad as hell now, “You get me a degaussing generator that will connect to a transmitter antennae, and I don’t care how you get it from the NSA, DIA, or requisitioned from the GSA and you get it in here fast!” I shouted.

The voice of Lieutenant Lewis crackled over my mic, “I’m weightless now can’t determine if I’m right side up or upside down! God help me!”

“Did you hear that, Captain?”

“Yeah, yeah, I heard it!” Shepton frowned. “I’m going to get hold of AFRICOM. They should have the electronics we need!”

“Can’t we get that hatch opened so the Lieutenant can see his exit and climb out?” I asked.

“No, it only opened for him like he was chosen.” Shelton now looked shaken up.

“Then get a hold of AFRICOM then! Damn it! “

Captain Shepton entered a radio hut and remained in contact with his superiors for quite some time as I kept a conversation with Lieutenant Lewis going. “We’re working on a solution,” I told him.

“What is a time well anyway, Captain?” I asked when he emerged from the radio hut looking flustered.

“It seems to be a porthole, perhaps to another dimension or a place where time has no meaning like a non-linear existence of some sort as I understand it.”

“Yeah, like what they encounter on the USS Eldridge back in 1942,” I Replied.

“Well, maybe, anyway AFRICOM is sending a chopper. The Huey should be here in 6 hours barring some son of a bitch with a Shrike missile doesn’t try to take it down!”

I thought we have air superiority in this region.”

“We do, but you can’t account for some terrorist asshole with a shouldered Surface to Air Missile on the ground.”

“Great! Just great,” I replied in disgust.

“What makes you think this is going to work?” Shepton asked.

“Outside of using a DEW which would probably blow up the craft, Lewis and maybe us too. It’s the least heavy handed way I know of,” I admitted.

“Let’s hope so,” the Captain added solemnly.

It took 6 hours for the Huey chopper to arrive. The rotating blades kicked up some serious sand, but it was a relief to see it land. Now my theory would have to come into play and I was just guessing! Now two things could happen 1) Either my theory worked and we rescued the lieutenant or 2) My approach failed, we’d lose the lieutenant Lewis, and I’d probably be out of a consulting job, which I wouldn’t miss too much under the circumstances!

“Lewis, you there?” I asked.

“Still-still hanging in here.”

“Good, “I chimed. “Looks like the cavalry has arrived. We’re hooking up a device right now to get you out of there. Do you copy?”

“Yes, Sir!”

Everyone moved quickly to unload the degaussing generator and the transmitter mast from the helicopter. They set it up just outside the craft at the approximate location outside the hull where Lewis had entered. Within the minutes the device was powering up! An odd reverberation began building. It appeared a resonant vibration was humming off the hull of the UAP. As the intensity increased I had no idea what might happen next. Would the field created by the degaussing generator penetrate the internal atmosphere of the craft? Suddenly the outside of the hull seemed to show the outline of a hatch starting to open. Finally it slid open revealing a black void! “Get him! Damn it!” I cried.

There was an arm protruding from the hatch opening, and the airmen pulled Lewis out as the degaussing generator hammered away! As soon as he was pulled out and out of the way of the transmitter, I shit the damn thing off. It almost deafened all of us! Lieutenant Lewis seemed to be in a state of shock, but the onsite physician assured me that he’d be okay. Captain Shepton seemed as relived as anyone could have been if an elephant hadn’t chosen to step on his head. We shook hands in jubilation. A miracle had happened.

I was whisked back home hours later, and delivered to my place. I received notice that I was to meet the admiral in a few hours. If I said I was suffering from jet lag that would have been an understatement! However I did make it to the Pentagon hours later to meet with, from what I heard, was one cantankerous son of a bitch. When I was ushered into his office, he was sitting stiffly in his chair and then stood up to greet me. “Is it every day that you stumble upon a solution to save lives and figure out the unknown?” he grinned.

“Well Sir, I do my best, but I do admit that was a real riddle.”

“I’ll bet. Where did you come up with the idea?”

“Sir, I do a lot of reading on unconventional phenomenon as well as history. What happened on the USS Eldridge in 1942 seemed to be related in some form or fashion.”

“Do not mention that name again!” the admiral snapped. “That project is still heavily classified! And, who gave you the authority to order an expensive device without prior consent up the chain of command?”

“We had an emergency! The Captain went through the proper channels, and we overcame the situation!” I replied with suppressed anger.

The admiral let out an unexpected laugh, “You certainly did, son, you certainly did! I’ recommending you for a civilian badge of honor as a matter of fact! You solved an ongoing problem that may save many more lives to come.” He reached out and shook my hand.

With that, I returned to noraml life after getting over the initial shock and jet lag. My girld friend acted a bit suspicious at where I'd been and what I'd been up to, but I was under a oath of secrecy and let her know that! She didn't seem to mind too much anyway as we settled in for wine and a cozy dinner, and for once ina few days, the world seemed right again.

The End