Free The Nexus Colony by G.F. Schreader

that glacial ice field. Maggie would have to advise him of the type of personnel the field team would need to accompany them. More than likely, personnel at McMurdo should at least have reliable credentials. And, evidently, the Department had a covert operative assigned there or else the artifacts wouldn’t have been retrieved so fast. Maybe even some of the personnel had security clearances. People who go there are professionals, whether they’re adventurers or not.
    Korbett typed in the names of five individuals: Marshall Abbott; Dr. Peter Almshouse, ufologist (who actually worked for Dr. Vandergrif, and, who conveniently was an amateur archaeo-astronomer); Al Lisk, a computer and electronics expert (and, like Marsh Abbott, a former Air Force Blue Beret and Delta force operative); Lt. Colonel Dave Borden, military advisor; Captain Charles Renninger, military advisor.
    If the Department was right and the artifacts were of extraterrestrial origin, then he’d need Almshouse’s expertise if the team found anything. If the black box was some sort of electronic device and they found any more, he’d need Al Lisk. Borden and Renninger were two good former special forces personnel. They’d keep things in line while Marsh did his job. Korbett sent off the list.
    The coffee was cold. Korbett decided he’d better not drink anymore anyway. Leaning back in the chair, he mulled over the names of the project members. He was acquainted with all of them, good friends with Eli Maislin.
    Dr. Eli Maislin: head departmental ufologist, degrees in forensic science and exobiology. Korbett had first met Maislin several years ago on a project that involved a crashed space object that was rumored to be occupied by beings. That one turned out to be bogus. The object was a crashed weather satellite sent up by the European Space Agency. The “beings” turned out to be a few “fried” whitetail deer that happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when the fragments came down, fortunately in a forested region. They had a good laugh about it and were friends ever since. Eli was a good man. A top level researcher. Probably the best ufologist the Department had.
    Dr. Rula Koslovsky was a former Russian nuclear physicist, not unusual for a woman to hold those types of degrees in the former Soviet Union. He was closely acquainted with Koslovsky, having worked with her on numerous occasions. She always called him William , which he hated to be called, but for some reason it didn’t bother him when Rula called him that. She had defected to the United States in the late 70’s after the KGB arrested and subsequently executed her husband for treason. The details were unclear, but it was inconsequential anyway. Dr. Koslovsky had long been involved in Soviet UFO research as far back as the 60’s. And since the warming of relations after the fall of the Soviet Union, the American UFO research effort had gleaned a plethora of valuable information from Soviet researchers in general. Combined, it had answered a number of questions about extraterrestrial visitation. Notwithstanding the fact, of course, that it raised twice as many more. She was good. He was glad to have her assigned to the team.
    Dr. Anton Vandergrif was also a top level UFO researcher, his specialty being archaeo-astronomy, the science that concerned itself with the recovery and study of evidence of the astronomical beliefs and practices of ancient peoples. Archaeo-astronomy is primarily a tool to gain insight into cultures, principally by studying symbols and glyphs. Korbett could see why they assigned Vandergrif to the team. If he couldn’t immediately identify the symbols on the black box, there must be some extraterrestrial implication. Anton was a pleasant individual, always smiling, always friendly. He liked Anton Vandergrif.
    On the other hand, there was Willard Darbury. If you asked anyone around the Department to give you their first thoughts about Willard Darbury, the