This is from the sequel to the book I wrote and published for my niece and nephew
Jack and Madi and An Alien or Two
Preparing the world for takeover by the gods, thereby assuring a position of favor among them, was proving to be a far more difficult task than Major Steve Minot had predicted.
His plan was to travel for a few months, set up headquarters near Cheyenne Mountain, and hatch his evil plot.
Instead, he spent most of his time painstakingly sketching every single detail of his old labyrinth. Each, turn, each dead end, each nook and every single stinking cranny was transferred from his brain onto a single 11” x 14” sheet of paper.
The boredom was excruciating. It excruciated him down to his very hooves, er, rather, toes these days. And yet, he could not stop. Something, some insidious force compelled him to continue documenting each angle, calculating the height of the walls and width of the passageways, and marking every portal.
“I came here to get away from that structure. I came here to be free.” In fits of anger, he would throw his tools only to fetch them back mere seconds later.
He tried handcuffing his hands together behind his back. This, unfortunately, made eating, going to the bathroom, getting dressed and pretty much everything else nearly impossible.
He tried taking allergy medicine to make himself fall asleep, but that only made him loopy and he would draw pictures of pot-bellied pigs doing ballet on the labyrinth walls, which he’d have to erase later.
And he could not even tear up the sheet of paper.
The ex-Minotaur was perplexed and ticked off.
Interlude 1 — A lesson about Cheyenne Mountain and an aside about acronyms
Officially, the Cheyenne Mountain complex in southern Colorado houses NORAD — the North American Aerospace Defense Command — which is the official tracker of Santa on his annual flight and gift delivery, and has over the years served as headquarters for a variety of other military operations.
Here, let us pause a moment and learn about acronyms. Put simply, an acronym is an abbreviation of a phrase made up of the initial letters. For example, the acronym for self-contained underwater breathing apparatus is SCUBA. S for self, C for contained, and so on.
It would stand to reason, then, that the acronym for the North American Aerospace Defense Command would be NAADC, and not NORAD. It would appear to be an overlooked mistake. But would a department with a budget of more money than you’ve even heard of screw up something so small? Well, yes, if we’re going to be truthful about it.
But consider that it may not be an error. Consider that it could be a cleverly disguised message.
Thus endeth our aside. Now, back to our regularly scheduled lesson.
Unofficially, but still known to most of the American public, Cheyenne Mountain is where the president and other high-ranking government officials would go in the event of a nuclear attack or alien invasion.
Speaking of aliens, it is secretly Cheyenne Mountain — not Roswell — where the U.S. government keeps and studies the two alien spaceships that have crashed to Earth since 1943. Given that there are 2,000 feet of granite and limestone between the facility and the outside world, it’s the most secure place in the country.
As far as we know.
***
The major was highly respected by his associates at Cheyenne Mountain even if the ex-Minotaur himself didn’t know why.
Steve looked the same and had the same personality each time he came to this realm, but his life — job, housing situation, romance or lack thereof — would change. Not that it was a problem for him. Some part of the persona he inhabited worked on automatic pilot, performing his duties without any conscious thought.
It was weird.
This time, though, the rules were slightly skewed. Oh, sure, he acted the part of important major with ease, but occasionally he had to think about it. And there was one segment closed off from his mind: The UFOs. He knew they were parked in Area 76B, but he did not know how to get into that area, what the passcode was or even if he had clearance.
But he was determined to find out.
***
Speaking of UFO’s and the aliens they often imply …
“Mleep bargle toopopp. Clickitch, tok tok glba’nt.”
“Shtux icklyu?”
“Sabba tee nok. Sabba tee nok zzay.”
“Hitangh marloaps peetzee k’jenakks, suslo quinlak minn jymeep soglick.”
“Moacks?”
“Clivv.”
“Thoooooooooooop.”
“No, seriously.”
Jill Hohnstein 