Free The Nexus Colony by G.F. Schreader Page A

words “annoying little bastard” would probably come from everyone’s lips. There wasn’t any better way to describe Willard. He was short and portly, balding, and suffered from terminal halitosis, as Maggie had once put it. His high-pitched whinny voice annoyed everybody to the point that when he spoke out in the company of people, heads turned to see where the annoyance was coming from. But there was one thing that no one could take away from Willard Darbury. He was a walking encyclopedia of UFO knowledge. It wasn’t only his field of expertise, it was his life. It was all he lived for. The man must have a computer chip with a hundred gigabytes of memory implanted in his brain , Korbett thought. He must have read every book and article ever published on the subject. He networked with all the grass root organizations—primarily the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) and the British equivalent, BUFORA—attended all the local and international symposiums, and could find an answer to every question ever posed at him concerning the UFO phenomena. The man was indispensable.
    “Oh, well,” Korbett mumbled out loud, resolute. “God bless, you Willard. I guess I’ll have to keep you and Eli at opposite ends of the table.”
    There wasn’t too much else he could do at the moment until he’d met with the project members. The e-mail sent off, Korbett shut down the computer. He read through the document one more time, making sure he’d digested everything he needed to know for the time being.
    Gathering together the document, making sure he had all the pages and attachments, Korbett went into the private bathroom off the study. Dropping the pages into the toilet bowl one by one, he watched as each one instantly dissolved. When the last one was deposited, he flushed them down the toilet.
    Outside, the day looked drearier than it had earlier this morning. Another month or so and it would start getting a bit nicer. Looking at his watch, he decided he’d have plenty of time to get in a workout before leaving for the meeting. It would be better to do it at home today instead of at the club, as he needed the time to formulate some more contingency plans, and it was easier if he didn’t have to listen to all the old retired military farts reliving their glory days. Antarctica! Christ, the next thing you know they’ll be asking me to send my people to the moon. He walked back to his desk and pressed the button for the P.A. system. “Mrs. Klingenhoff?” he said.
    In a moment her voice crackled over the squawk box. “Yes, General?”
    “I’ll be having lunch out today. Tell Mrs. Korbett I won’t be home until later this evening.”
    “Will you be at the Officer’s Club, sir?”
    “No,” he responded. “Just tell her I’m on official business. I’ll call her later today.”
    “You watch for the weather out there, General,” she said, genuinely concerned as always for the welfare of both him and Mrs. Korbett. “Report says it’s supposed to get very cold.”
    For some people, Mrs. Klingenhoff, it’s going to get a hell of a lot colder than it is here in Washington, D. C.

Chapter 3
     
    FEBRUARY 6, 20--
RURAL AREA NEAR GATHERSBURG, MARYLAND
8:45 A.M. EST
     
     
    I t was a welcome change from the stifling heat that had been blanketing the whole northern region of South America for the past several weeks. What had it been? Twenty some odd days since the temperature had dropped below ninety degrees in Rio de Janeiro? Whatever , he thought. But it was nice nonetheless to feel a good old-fashioned seasonal American cold front.
    Marshall Abbott had the car heater turned on full blast, but had the driver’s window and the back opposite passenger window halfway down to let some of the frosty air circulate through the car. Most people would have thought he was nuts, but actually, it was quite refreshing.
    The sign said Silver Mountain Vacation Community - Private. As he turned left off the highway onto the heavily wooded road