Binary code Mystery number two
Шрифт:
Rutra flew there with two specialists who accompanied him with a briefcase containing the Perimeter program. On arrival, they were met by a group of people, ostensibly from the scientific community. After Polygon, Rutra was a little used to his new capabilities, so it was unusual for him to immediately recognize that they were speaking in English, because he understood them in Russian.
After a light conversation and a cup of coffee, the "invisible" organizers of the meeting reported, "The legend went fine, we can move on." They descended into the underground vaults of the airport. The spetses accompanying Rutra were assigned a special compartment with a household unit. There they were to wait for Rutra's instructions. He was escorted to an even lower deck, where there was an entrance corridor to the tunnel linking the strategic centers of NORAD, Raven Rock, and Area-51.
The tunnel was very similar in design form to the polygon's capsule conduit. "Clearly the same team worked on them," Ruthra thought. He was placed in the capsule, and he rushed. Ruthra had no fear of confined spaces, but it was still not very pleasant to "fly" at high speed in an "egg".
An hour later, he was in place. Rutra was met by two military men. Of course, it was a faint semblance of a firing range, simple as that. It was a half-civilian, half-illegal facility. He was led into the bay where the scientists worked. One of them came up to Rutra, said hello, introduced himself.
– Pete, my name is Pete. My ancestors are from Russia," he explained in Russian with a strong American accent. – I'm half Jewish, my mom came here when the "sea" of ours came here. And you?
– Does it matter?
– No, but still. I must accompany you. How do you speak English?
– That's fine, we can do that.
According to legend, Rutra was a scientist, a double agent, and Pete had to know that.
– Are you looking for sources of unpredictable signals?
"What the hell, how does he know," thought Ruthra.
– Which ones?
– I apologize, I must have misspoken.
Next he began to speak in English.
– We have been instructed to assist you in finding sources that could be responsible for unauthorized sources of signals that could interfere with the automatic launch and navigation control of satellites, aircraft and missiles.
Ruthra calmed down, tuned into the dialog, asked.
– Do you have anything like that?
– I may disappoint you, but you've come to the wrong place. The center is officially closed, what we do here is about… that's another area.
– Which one, may I ask?
– We were charged with developing a concept for population management in the face of dramatic changes in the socio-economic, demographic and cultural-religious composition of society.
– Who needs it, why here? I mean, why the secrecy?
– There, I see you know what I'm talking about.
– About what?
– According to the information we have been given about you, you have an active civic position in Russia. I think you are concerned about the same problems as we are.
– Like what?
– These are the very ones associated with a dramatic change in the socio-economic, demographic and cultural-religious composition of society.
Ruthra frowned, he couldn't understand what he was getting at, he realized it and added:
– You, for example, have a very stable public perception of the existence of a "world behind the scenes", a conspiracy theory, so to speak. And you accuse us, i.e. the USA, of this. And who should we blame?
– Do you think you have it too?
– Uh, sure.
– You? At this level?
– Imagine, there's a lot of information that's not available to the public.
– What does it say?
– I think you, as a scientist, will understand me, in the sense that we can only discuss this topic with trusted individuals.
– Is it dangerous?
– I can't say for sure. As for certainty, I certainly wouldn't want an outsider to know. After all, we came to these conclusions on the basis of the information we received from those whom we have come to regard as members of the shadowy conspiracy.
– Conspiracy?
– Not against the authorities, they are the secret authorities. If this information is kept from the public, then it is a conspiracy against the public.
– So what is this information?
– A secret plan in case of nuclear war, colossal natural disaster, or some other type of apocalypse.
– Do you think it's possible, that it's real?
– Let me give you the facts.
– Why, I'm a complete stranger, and my purpose is different.
– No, no, you are not a stranger to us. You can understand us, and most importantly, you can help us.
– How?
– We want to cooperate. We need information about whether we are the only ones who have this happening.
– What's going on?
– Preparation. In return, I will help you understand and possibly find how you can hide and where you can hide the source of the signal.
– Where is it?
– Wouldn't you agree?
– Agree to what?
– To help us as a coworker.
– Within the scientific community, no problem.
– Then let's go to the meeting room, we have a discussion, debate and report there, free-format.
They went into the next room, there were quite a few people there, mostly in white coats, professional "sickness" was evident even in that. They were having a meeting. Ruthra was confused in his thoughts and guesses and could not yet grasp the meaning.
One of the scientists was reporting, he periodically questioned the man sitting next to him about the construction of the facilities he was building, then told the room his interpretation. Ruthra began to take in what he was talking about.