Capítulo 7: First Crumbs
-Edward's Air Force Base, California-
-March 29, 2005, 0300h local-
The general and the two technical sergeants have been pouring over the recordings and the reports all through the night trying to make sense of the occurrence. They first considered it as a glitch in the system but immediately scrapped that idea. The systems are operational, and no errors are found even through a rigorous battery of tests.
General Powell has opted out of going home to study the instantaneous appearance of the man in the middle of the Mojave desert. This mysterious man obviously constitutes a breach in National Security. If he is capable of showing up like that anywhere, what's to say he won't be able just to show up inside the White House and assassinated the President without anyone being able to do anything. Worse yet, he can get in anywhere and take anything out, like nuclear launch codes.
"Do anyone else know about this or have a copy of this recording?" General Powell asked the two sergeants seriously.
"No, sir. We immediately took this to you. The only copy left is in the system hard drive you locked down." Collins replied.
"Good, from now on, this is classified above top secret for eyes only. You will forget this ever happened unless addressed explicitly by the President, the Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staffs, and me. Is that understood?" Powell said while giving them a hard glare.
"Yes, sir!" The two sergeants saluted.
"Ok, you both are dismissed. Take a week off, but keep your phone with you in case you are needed to be called over."
The two sergeants saluted and walked off, nervousness and fatigue radiating from their bodies. The General took his office phone and dialed a number. The phone ringed three times until someone answered on the other side.
"This is General Collin Powell, service ID number 58345244." The general said
"Early in the morning for you general, what can I do for you?" A female voice replied.
"I need to set up a teleconferencing meeting with all the Chief of staff and POTUS as soon as possible. This is a code orange emergency."
"Understood. I'll call you back for the details."
"Thank you."
The general hanged up the phone and stared at a still frame of the man standing in the middle of the desert. He stood up, poured himself a drink, and drank it all in one shot while quietly muttering, "Who the hell are you?"
-Central Park, New York City, New York-
-March 29, 2005, 0700h local-
"Nothing like good coffee in the morning." Agent Phil Coulson said as he was walking towards the site of the event. By his side is Agent Clint Barton drinking his own cup of coffee while silently scanning his surroundings, a trait he can't seem to turn off even when he knows the area is safe. Trailing behind them are the field agents and techs they brought with them each carrying gears they might need.
When they reached the cordoned off area, they saw NYPD cops guarding the area with some civilians milling around. Both Coulson and Barton identified some of those civilians as undercover SHIELD agents tasked with guarding the site. The cordoned-off area is approximately 20 m x 20 m. A large area since the exact point of the event can't be determined since no marks were left on the ground. Only the approximate area was determined from video recordings and eye witness accounts, all of which are from a distance.
Coulson approached one of the cops and asked in a friendly tone,
"Can you point me to who's in charge?"
The cop looked slightly annoyed for a moment but then saw the guy who asked him, including the large group behind him. Looking at the group's fancy attire and equipment, he concluded that these are the feds they're waiting for. He nodded in acknowledgment and looked around for his boss. When he saw him, the cop looked back at the fed asking him and said,
"You see the guy with the brown jacket, That's Lieutenant Avery. He's the one you want to talk to." The cop said while pointing behind him.
"Thank you for your cooperation, officer." Coulson said in gratitude.
Coulson ducked below the cordon and walked over to where Lieutenant Avery is standing. Barton, on the other hand, walked around the area to try spot something unusual. The agents and techs just stood just outside the area, waiting for orders.
"Good morning Lieutenant Avery. How are you? I'm Agent Coulson, and that guy in the jean jacket looking around is Agent Barton. We're the reinforcements you're waiting for." Coulson said while extending his hands.
Avery shook Coulson's hand and said,
"Pleasure to meet you. We're cold but otherwise okay. Good thing you came now. We're just about ready to bug out in 30 mins, and I don't want to leave this place unguarded, but it's all hands on deck later in the morning. Protestors for that Terri Schiavo case would gather on Times Square later today."
"No problem. That Terri Schiavo case is rather complicated. So, what can you tell me about what happened here?" Coulson said, reeling in the conversation to the topic at hand.
"Some of my unis canvassed the area and collected witness statements. We also requested copies of CCTV footage from both traffic, police, and building CCTVs around this area from 8:25 to 8:45 pm. That should give you guys something to work on. The written reports and the disks are at 1PP. Just have one of your men find Deputy Chief Martell." Avery informed Coulson.
"That's great, Lieutenant. You and your boys can go home. We'll take it from here."
"Much appreciated, Agent Coulson..." Lieutenant Avery said. He then looked over to the cops guarding the area and shouted, "Come on! We're going for a quick chow then going home."
Avery and the other cops then left the area. Coulson watched them go for a moment then walked over to his men.
"Mahoney and Johnson, take a car and get those reports. It'll be at 1PP, talk to Deputy Chief Martell. Diaz and James, your security. The others, you know your jobs. Go." Coulson ordered.
The agents and techs immediately scrambled to accomplish their orders. As this was happening, Barton walked over to Coulson's side.
"You know, we should expand the perimeter." Barton suggested
"Why? What did you see?" Coulson asked curiously.
"Follow me." Barton then walked to the center of the cordoned off area with Coulson following him. When they reached the center, Barton handed over to Coulson pair of binoculars he was holding.
"Look over there. Can you see that tree over there? The cherry blossom?" Barton asked while pointing to a tree some distance away.
"Yeah. What am I looking for?" Coulson asked while looking through the binoculars.
"Look at the trunk, near the base of the tree."
"Is that kanji script?"
"Yup, but it has Hindi and other scripts I can't identify. That mark, it's exactly North of here and 100 meters far from where we're standing. You can measure it."
"Yeah. I believe you." Coulson said trusting Barton's skill.
"That's not all. Look behind you, another blossom. That's exactly 100m South of here. Those writings are present in all eight directions exactly 100m from this spot. The weird thing is, I'm fairly certain they were not there before the event."
"Why would you say that?"
"If I'm right and all those trees are exactly 100m from here, It's just too perfect of a placement. It's unnatural."
"You're right." Coulson finally agreed. He called over a tech and ordered,
"I want you to mark where I'm standing. Using this as a reference, measure the distance and the direction from here to that tree over there. When you have it, come back to me."
The technician nodded and executed Coulson's orders. Barton and Coulson moved over to the perimeter of the area.
"So, what's your take on this?" Barton asked
"Well, I got a lot of idea of what might have happened. None of them are conclusive. If I added those weird symbols, it becomes a little more worrying."
"Care to share some of it?"
"I'm currently thinking of two of the possibly worst outcome. One, something or someone activated a type of a beacon. To what end, I have no idea..." Coulson said in a serious voice, losing his trademark smile.
"Or?" Barton said, urging Coulson to continue.
"Something or someone came over. We have no eyewitness accounts except for a flash of light, and those symbols are clearly marking this area if what you said is true."
Barton just remained dumbfounded on Coulson's hypothesis. Thinking it over, both of those scenarios are undoubtedly possible, especially in their line of work.
While Barton was mulling over what Coulson just said, the tech approached them.
"Sir, the tree is exactly North of where you were just standing. It's also exactly a hundred meters away from the trunk to the center of the area." The tech reported.
Coulson faced Barton and said, "Looks like you were right." Coulson faced the tech again and said,
"Ok, here's what I want you to do. Take another four guys with you. Do the same thing should be present for the trees 100 m away in all eight compass directions. Record everything you can. I want tree samples, photographs, and aerial mapping with all the coordinates. I want you to focus on the marks on the base of the tree."
"We'll get right on it, sir."
Coulson watched as the tech walked away, calling some other techs.
"I hoped that would shed some light on it." Coulson mused
"I just hope you're wrong." Barton answered.
-MGM Grand Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada-
-March 29, 2005, 0800h local-
"Hello?" A drowsy Natasha Romanov answered the phone.
"Good morning Ms. Rockfort. This is your requested 8 am wake up call." The receptionist on the other side reminded in a jolly voice.
"Oh, Thank you. Can you confirm my spa appointment."
"Certainly, Ms. Rockfort. One moment please..." Tapping sound could be heard on the other end of the line. "Your appointment was set at 10 am. Is that acceptable?"
"Yes, that's perfect. Oh, can you send up an English breakfast and two large black coffee."
"Certainly, Ms. Rockfort. Is there anything else?"
"No. Nothing else. Thank you." Natasha then hanged up the phone.
After finishing her morning ritual, she changed into blue jeans, a white t-shirt, white sneakers, and a black leather jacket. She heard a knock on the door while finishing her makeup. She looked into the eyehole who is on the other side. When she saw it's her room service, she opened her door and gestured the hotel attendant to bring the food in. The attendant set the food up and left, receiving a $50 tip. Natasha called Fury while eating her meal.
"Good morning, boss." Natasha greeted Fury.
"You left me quite a puzzle, Romanoff..." Fury answered in reply. "The picture you sent of one 'Naruto Uzumaki' didn't come up on any database. He's basically a ghost."
"Even on the oversea databases?"
"I should amend my statemate. He didn't come up on every database." Fury said with a touch of annoyance.
"I'll try to find him while I'm here. He's probably really good to not have any record of him." Natasha said not knowing that Naruto didn't come from their world.
"Tread carefully, Agent Romanoff. I still have a need for you yet." Fury said in a half-joking manner.
"Hahaha. Sure thing, boss. Thanks for the favor."
"Goodbye, Agent Romanoff." Fury said then hanged up the phone.
Natasha placed her phone in her pocket and finished her meal. She left her room to attend her spa appointment while thinking about how to accomplish her self imposed mission.
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