S. Gorden - Eyes of an Eagle a Novel of Gravity Controlled

Earlier that week a second team from the FBI and CIA had sent in an analysis of the circumstances around the timing and location of the alien remains. The only thing that made sense was that the creature had successfully took over the life of one, Jennifer Cosgrove, an executive with Benton Publishing. She, or it, was going to see the demonstration of gravitational control scheduled two days later at the Daniel Karpinen farm. Someone or something decided to kill the alien. Since the consensus of the FBI/CIA team was that Karpinen was important, it was recommended that everything that could be done to help Karpinen in his work should be done and that he should be protected.

For the last few hours, Riley was struggling on the wording of the sealed Executive orders that the President had asked him to write. Every time Riley started on the draft, he got lost with the idea of aliens actually being on earth. He kept expecting to wake up any minute in his old battered armchair with X-files and Outer Limits reruns playing on the TV. Damn, he wished he knew how to write these things but the President had ordered him not to contact anyone about the orders. After printing out the orders, the proscribed procedure was to use a scrubbing utility on the computer to eliminate any information still on the hard drive. Damn secrecy, how was he suppose to make sure his wording was legal? Finally after hours of work, the drafts were ready.

By order of the President of the United States the following procedures are to be immediately implemented:

The National Security Council will coordinate and develop new screening methods to protect all strategic sites from infiltration by non-humans.

The Department of Defense will develop new surveillance procedures and weapons to protect the earth from intrusion from non-terrestrial sources.

Updates of the new security arrangements will be given to the Select Committee of Congress and the President monthly through the National Security Council.

The cover story of “an increased threat by terrorist groups with access to missile/biological technology” will be given to any questions about the changes in security, funding priorities, and Defense changes. Information not cleared for public dissemination through the Select Committee and the President will be considered high treason.

President of the United States

Date

By order of the President of the United States the FBI, CIA, and the Department of Defense will set up a surveillance of the Daniel Karpinen and his farm. Karpinen will not be interfered with but observed and protected. All recordings and information collected will be sent by courier to the Security Council for analysis. Summaries of the information will be given directly to the President every month.

The Department of Defense and NASA will fund and place an office within the Security Council that will process the information gathered and supply money and help for Daniel Karpinen's work. This help must

be screened so no one outside the Security Council will know that it is being done.

Information not cleared for public dissemination by the President will be considered high treason.

President of the United States

* * * *

Felix Abercrombie drove up to the farm. Before he could get to the door, an agent got out and told him to park the car in the large equipment shed. Inside, Felix saw two large SUVs and three other tan sedans. When he got back to the house, he was told he was late and to go into the living room where the briefing was about to start. There were no empty chairs left so he stood by the back wall. A man stood up.

“My name is Harry Zimmerman. I will be in charge of this operation. You should have been informed by now that this will be a long-term undercover operation. Because of the rural nature of the location, you will be rotated out to a Twin Cities hotel for one week off every month. While here, you will be required to keep out of sight and work cover chores on the farm. The location is unique plus we don't want the target to know we are here so we will be depending mostly on remote sensors and field intelligence through local law enforcement. The locals do not know about us but have been given a heads-up about the target and their frequencies are being monitored for pertinent information.

“Our target is living on a farm three quarters of a mile away. You are to observe and protect the target. We have taps on the phone lines into the farm but we have yet to place surveillance equipment in the house. One of the first duties we have will be to insert listening devices and recorders on the target's property.

“This is a joint project and I will not tolerate any inter-agency rivalries. I expect you to follow your orders and work as a team.

“Our military liaison is Major Stanley Burrows. Major, please stand and introduce yourself. And tell the staff what your duties will be."

“I am Major Burrows. I will coordinate all information from the Pentagon. I will be commanding all military personnel at this site. I am also authorized to call in either a Delta team or a rapid-deployment company stationed at Fort Ripley."

“Next is John Smith coordinating with the CIA."

“Hello. My name is really John Smith so no jokes. I will have access to background information and analysis for all non-US contacts that the target makes. If you need information outside FBI channels, come to me."

“I am leading the FBI team here as well so I will make the introductions for the rest of the FBI personal. Jeremiah Francisco grew up only a hundred miles from here. He will be acting as the owner of the farm and will be the major contact with the locals.

“Stand up Jeremiah."

“The three man close-up team has worked together for the last year. Todd Rittmiller specializes in electronics. Sam Aizawa is cross training. And Felix Abercrombie is long range surveillance and sniper.

“Okay, guys stand up.

“The close up team will immediately start reconnaissance of the target farm and work on placement of surveillance equipment. The rest of us will start working on support procedures. The remotes will be recorded and analyzed off-site. There are duplicate receivers and recorders in the communication room at the head of the stairs. I expect everyone to spend time in the room familiarizing yourselves with the target and other civilians who might be at the site. You will be expected to distinguish the good guys from the bad. If headquarters determines that intervention is need, this red light/siren will come on with details broadcast in the communication room."

Felix took the lead. He was the best in the woods. The team had spent an hour going over aerial photographs and topographical maps of the area around the target's farm. Felix immediately went into stalking mode. Todd's and Sam's stumbling and noise pushing through the brush were an annoyance. He was having trouble scanning the near by woods. “Be quiet. The information we have is that the target goes into the woods frequently.” There was a snort in reply but the noise lessened.

They just waded through a muddy low spot when Felix felt eyes watching his every move. He raised his hand to stop the rest of the team and tried to find the source of his uneasiness. He found nothing but the sense of being watched finally quieted the rest of the team and in silence they made it to the edge of the field surrounding the target's farm. The team settled down to watch the farm trying to recognize any patterns that they could use to get close enough to plant their surveillance devices. Felix used a parabolic mike and his riflescope to examine the farm buildings while Sam used binoculars and Todd a specially designed long-range video camera.

There was a lot of activity at the farm. Five people were going in and out of a metal building. There were sounds of metal-working and a boombox playing rock. It was midmorning when the target Daniel Karpinen and his girl friend Tabitha Czeminski came out of the main house. They were halfway to the metal building when they stopped and looked right at the team. Their conversation had been muffled by the wind until they turned. Felix froze hearing, “Two or three?"