"The Truth" Chapter 4, The Report.

Roswell Army Air Field, Roswell New Mexico, 11:00 hrs, July 3rd 1947

Bryan had just finished the briefing that he had been told by the MP Desk Sgt to expect earlier. The location for it had been rescheduled from the Provost Marshall (PM) Office to the Head Quarters (HQ) Building Conference Room. Bryan had been briefed on protocol and what was going to be expected of him during the briefing from the PM, Colonel Ted Hunt. He was informed that the briefing would be for the Base Commander and 15 other high ranking military officers and civilians, and that Col Hunt would be sitting in the briefing as well.

Bryan was exhausted and exhilarated at the same time. The officers had asked Bryan to give his report over and over while they fired questions at him from all sides at once. Then openly they discussed what Bryan had witnessed like he wasn’t even there in the room with them. They would, from time to time during the briefing, exchanged glances of disbelief with one another as Bryan relayed his version of the events of the previous night and they took their notes. Then at last they had started asking the questions that Bryan knew were bound to come up. They asked why Bryan hadn’t brought his father back to the Base with him as a witness. Bryan made it a point to remind them all that even though Richard Foster was his father, he was after all a civilian and not subject to any military jurisdiction. The incident had occurred outside of federal lands on private property and the Sherriff had complete jurisdiction as soon as it was determined that this was not a military aircraft.

Col Hunt, sensing that Bryan was about ready to shoot the fat, overbearing officer from Military Intelligence (MI) for what he had just said, stood from the table and said “SSG Foster’s actions in this instance were correct, and he should be commended.” He then grabbed Bryan’s hand in a firm hand shake and placed his other hand on Bryan’s shoulder then whispered, “Calm down son, I’ll handle this” to Bryan. No one else in the room seemed to have noticed this exchange or what the Col had whispered to Bryan. What had put Bryan on edge was when the officer from MI had suggested to everyone that they contact the sheriff and have Mr. Foster picked up, or arrested if necessary, and brought to the base for questioning. Bryan was about to lose his military bearing and jump down the fat slug’s throat, when Col Hunt intervened.

The Colonel said to everyone present, “A move like that could be misunderstood as a violation of Mr. Foster rights as an American citizen.” He then suggested that he would go to the Foster Ranch with Bryan and a representative from the Command Group and the Public Affairs Office (PAO) to talk with Mr. Foster there, if Bryan could secure an invitation for them. Col Hunt then looked at Bryan with an understanding glare in his eyes, and Bryan following the Col’s lead, by agreeing that he would arrange it. Bryan was truly thankful to the Col for keeping him out of trouble, but he could not have stood there and let his father be arrested just to satisfy some idiotic Military Intelligence Officer.

Bryan used the phone in the commanders briefing room and secured the invitation from his mother for later that evening. He confirmed that there was to be four people including him and then Bryan quietly asked his mom how his father was. His mother said he had returned to the ranch about an hour ago and was in the middle of explaining what had happened as she was cleaning and dressing his burns. She said, “Bryan, I don’t know if he’s trying to pull my leg or not. You know how playful your dad is sometimes” Bryan told her they would have plenty of time to talk about what had happened later and to believe what he was telling her. He also confirmed with her that he would be staying there on the ranch with a friend for the remainder of the holiday weekend. He ended the call and Bryan then informed the PM that they were expected at the ranch at 6:00pm. He then asked the Col, if he should meet them there or if he was to ride with them out to the ranch. Col Hunt told him to stay close to the barracks and that his driver would pick him up at 1630hrs. He was then ordered not to discuss the event with anyone outside of the people in this room. He was also ordered by Col Hunt to prepare his official statement and complete his report, but not to turn it into anyone but him. Then Bryan was dismissed.

As Bryan left the briefing room and stepped into the hallway, he shook his head and had to laugh to himself; Military Intelligence…If only there was such a thing!

As he left the Head Quarters (HQ) Bldg, Bryan realized that the security at the base was as tight as he had ever seen; In fact it was as if they were preparing to go to war. The MPs and soldiers were in full combat gear and seemed to be everywhere. Bryan found out that while he was in the briefing, they had mobilized and brought in additional help from the local National Guard Unit in Roswell and posted them at every structure on the base, with special emphasis placed on vital areas. The HQs Building, MP Station, the PAO, and the Hospital had a guard posted at every entrance. Every place seemed to have additional security; even the Post Exchange (PX) had extra guards around it. It was like the Base Commander was gearing up for an imminent attack or possible intruders. In addition to the vital areas of the post, there were guards set into sand bagged fighting positions around one of the large hangers at the interior edge of the Air Field closest to the hospital. They also had a corridor cordoned off with soldiers in sandbagged positions between the Airfield and the Hospital, giving an unobstructed direct route from the Hanger to the hospital basement doors.

Bryan took note of the placement of the additional security as he headed back to the barracks on foot. When he arrived, everyone descended on him in unison like vultures. They were shooting questions at him as though he was in a shooting gallery. All he could tell them was that he had been ordered not to discuss the events he had witnessed. Someone in the crowd said rather loudly “see I told you it was a new bomber, and it was probably fully loaded. That would explain the explosion.” Another said” We heard it was Aliens, and a few people in the small crowd uncomfortably laughed, but all eyes were on him to see if he reacted. Bryan held himself together well and did not react to the probing for information; he repeated what he had been ordered to say…Nothing. He responded by asking if anyone had seen Sean. They all denied having seen him. As Bryan went upstairs to his room a small crowd followed him and continued to press him for information. He got to his door, unlocked it, stepped into his room and closed the door. After a few more minutes the crowd that had followed him had gone about their business.

Bryan quietly slipped out of his room and went up the stairwell to the next floor. He opened the door to the third floor and moved left down the hall to Sean’s room. He quietly knocked and Sean yelled “Go Away”. Bryan whispered, “It’s me, can we talk”. Bryan heard Sean’s movement through the door and then it flew open. He looked exhausted, like he hadn’t slept in a week. The first thing he said was “Bryan, I need you to tell me what you saw”. Bryan Quickly moved into the room and shut the door, and then as he turned he examined the scene that was Sean’s Barracks Room. The bed was undisturbed and neatly made, nothing was out of place, though the locker door was open half way and the cover to his foot locker was open, but nothing was disturbed. The overhead light and table lamp were on even though light flooded into the room from outside through the uncovered window. Sean sat down at his desk as if that is where he had gotten up from, and Bryan noticed that Sean had poured himself a sizable drink from the crock jug sitting on the desk. Sean had supplied his liquor cabinet with several 8 ounce glass tumblers shaped like barrels. Bryan was betting that this drink hadn’t been the first, but he would have been wrong.

Sean was obviously upset, as he looked up at Bryan, he said, “I know what you’re thinking, but I haven’t had a drop all night, I’m stone sober. I poured that drink 4 hours ago but I’m afraid to touch it. I’m afraid that if I drink it, I won’t be able to stop”. Then he said”Bryan, I need to know how many people died in that crash?”

Bryan told him everything would be OK after he got some sleep. Sean looked at his friend and asked again with tears welling in his eyes “Bryan how many?” Bryan thought about it for a second, and then realized that Sean was suffering from some kind of professional remorse. He thought that this had been a plane crash while Sean was on duty, and somehow he felt responsible for it. Then quickly, in a flash of pure clarity, Bryan looked at his friend and said one word. “None!”

Sean looked at him with the most confused look Bryan had ever seen. Without saying another word, Bryan sat down in the chair opposite Sean’s desk and without being invited, poured himself a glass full of whiskey from the jug. He then took a long pull from the glass, took a deep breath and marveled again at the smoothness and flavor of the liquor. He leaned the chair back on two legs and looked at Sean. Then, against the orders of his superior officer, Bryan began to tell the story again, this time he embellished it with all of his conjecture, thoughts, and feelings. It was the first time he had gotten to put it all together and tell anyone all the things that he wanted to say about what had happened. All the other times in the last few hours he had repeated just the facts as he remembered them and nothing more.

When Bryan had reached the part of the discovery of alien life, Sean stopped him and reached across the desk for his drink. He downed the whole thing without taking a breath. As Bryan poured them both another more reasonably sized drink, he continued his tale. He reached into his pocket and removed the bits of metal and cloth. Up to now he had not told anyone else that he had removed this from the ranch. As he and Sean examined the metal fragments and the writing, Sean began to open his mind to the existence of life from another world. Over the next 45 minutes or so of questions and answers with Bryan, Sean’s demeanor changed and the depressive mood he had been in faded away. The smile returned to his face, and Bryan knew that sleep was soon to come.

After he completed his second drink, and telling Sean everything that had taken place in the last 24 hours, Bryan put the items from the crash back into his pocket and stood up. He took his friends hand in a firm handshake; he told him that he had been ordered not to discuss this with anyone, and he asked Sean to keep it to himself for now and that they would discuss it when they were alone this weekend. Then he slapped himself on the forehead and said “Oh shoot, I almost forgot, I want you to come out to the Ranch tomorrow for a BBQ”. Sean immediately said without missing a beat, “what should I bring?” Bryan said with a grin, “Make no mistake Sean Flannery, if you step foot on my land without a couple of jugs of this fine product of your homeland, I’ll wrap a cue stick around your head!” then as an after thought, “Oh and don’t forget your appetite. Mom knows your coming and she’s going all out. There will be enough food for an Army.” “Pack an overnight bag as well and stay the weekend, well play some pool and ride the horses. It should be a lot of fun.”

Sean showed Bryan to the door and again they shook hands. Sean said, “You are the best friend I’ve ever had Bryan.” Bryan, laughed and responded with “That’s just the booze talking you old lush, but if you play your cards right, I may introduce you to an old friend of mine this weekend who used to, and still may, think the same thing.” Then holding his nose he added “whew…and trust me when I tell you, she smells a lot better than you do to! Take a shower!” Then as he was going through the door, Sean said in a cheesy southern drawl “I’ll take it under advisement partner, but a skunk smells his own scent first cowboy, now git!” And Sean hit him in the arm with a solid punch. They both laughed as Bryan went down the hall and Sean shut his door.

Bryan was going back down the stairs rubbing his arm; he went past his floor and stopped at the phone at the bottom of the stairwell. He took out his wallet and removed a little black book, he looked through it until he found the number he was looking for, picked up the phone and dialed. After three rings a soft feminine voice answered and he said Ashley, is that you?

(To Be Continued)