Bryan O
Groom Lake
DISCLAIMER
This is a work of fiction. Agencies, characters, corporations, and organizations are either a product of the author’s imagination, or, if real, used fictitiously without an intent to portray their actual conduct. However, some factual references are made to historical quotes and situations.
PART 1
AN ALERT AND
KNOWLEDGABLE CITIZENRY
AUTHOR'S QUESTION
Can a novel be an effective tool for disseminating information? There are artistic license advantages to presenting fact as fiction that would otherwise be unacceptable in a non-fiction book, but why use fiction to present facts? What if the government had decades of mounting secrets and the individuals in charge finally decided it was time to change the directives and make this information known? Certainly a press conference followed by a special-interest-backed congressional feeding frenzy for control of the new information would not serve the public’s best interest. One logical approach might be to disperse the information slowly, using various media outlets that remove the shock value and ease acceptance through a methodical heightened awareness.
The letter on the next few pages is addressed to me as ghostwriter for the character spearheading this story. The challenge presented is discerning if I fabricated the letter for the story, or if the letter, and the novel, were contrived as part of a larger purpose. Regardless of the verdict, readers will finish this book with a heightened awareness of practices and fringe sciences controlled by government factions.
A LETTER OF INTRODUCTION
8/6/2007
Dear Bryan,
The past decade has been one of great turmoil as my life executed a tailspin into the doldrums of a solitary and sometimes nomadic existence, a humiliating situation considering that I once soared to the heights of human accomplishment. I literally lost my mind in the process, finding myself incapable of accomplishing anything besides eating and sleeping, and thinking about nothing as I failed to produce the simplest of thoughts.
My story will expose you to some individuals involved deep within the military-industrial complex, which at such a level also becomes the intelligence-industrial complex, because it’s not just the military controlling the game. I guess a more apropos term, or common denominator, is the shadow government.
I feel it significant to highlight the difference between individuals deep in the government and those with only lofty positions. Controllers of the shadow government are not necessarily high on the totem pole. Figureheads come and go; some are never involved long enough to understand their jobs. They rely on briefings to subside, briefings that can sometimes be generated from deep within the government and be tailored for a specific purpose — or crafted to leave out specific purposes, as in my situation. But despite being overlooked and left out in the past, I still have a voice, and I am here with a story to tell, a briefing of sorts.
Remember how popular The X-Files television series was in the nineties? All the related press that show seemed to generate, and press in general that asked questions about Area 51, the black budget and secret government projects? I haven’t heard a story like that in a great while. But all the military spending for the Iraq crisis and you think none of it was siphoned into special programs? The media is so preoccupied with the politics of the Middle East conflicts that there is rarely time for anything except over-reported court cases and national disasters. Shock value reporting is the culture we live in as new media outlets compete for market share. The war against terrorism has proven to be a good ruse, even if unintended, for the black budget operations that started receiving great scrutiny in the nineties.
So much attention is focused on the Middle East that little is discussed about our greatest future threat, and in order to combat the inevitable conflict our country will face we must enlighten people about the situation. I am grateful we have been paired to present this aspect of the project.
I have read the briefing documents given to you, as well as your suggestions for structuring the story, and feel you will make an excellent ghostwriter. I especially like your idea to keep me anonymous until the final chapters. I also agree that there are many facets to my story and varying political points of view. Telling my story in the third person narrative will allow the reader to make an impartial assessment of the various players, then decide without my influence which individuals, and their respective ideologies, might be right or wrong. I suppose people will receive a bit of a history lesson about the shadow government in this process, and have a better understanding of who they are, why they are, and where they are.
I urge you to focus on the two phases of my story, the first taking place in the summer of 1994, when I became directly and indirectly linked to a number of individuals in what I think of as a pot of fate stew that was left out to spoil. The result of our collective relationships was mentally troubling, and many readers may regard my claims as outlandish, but hopefully you can convince them to bear with my story as you tell the second phase, summer of 2004, and the impending new threats these fringe technologies present.
I’m content having my story told in a fictional context, as it leaves an out for all involved should the contents of this book lead to congressional inquiries or sanctions. They will never let my true identity be revealed anyhow, so long as my mind still possesses coordinates and details desired by our enemies.
I agree with your suggestion to use this letter as part of the introduction, but I must say getting my thoughts on paper has been arduous, and you will certainly need to edit my prose.
An astute reader may likely surmise my role in the story as the pages progress, but they will be challenged to decipher who becomes my ally in the waning pages before I am revealed.
Sincerely,
The Wormmeister
THE DICHOTOMY OF PRESIDENTS
“In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
“We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.”
“Information concerning activities at the operating location near Groom Lake has been properly determined to be classified, and its disclosure would be harmful to national security. Continued protection of this information is, therefore, in the paramount interest of the United States."
BACKGROUND
Inside a single-engine airplane, three men, disguised in makeshift hunting outfits, held tight through bump and thump turbulence, saying little while they observed the changing desert terrain below. The plane’s propeller contrasted the verbal silence with a whirling high-pitched whine, different from the deep rumble of larger and faster planes the men typically flew. The small plane, however, was better suited for the low profile and remote landing required on this mission.