He dropped into the back seat of the staff car and forced himself to relax. The moisture seeped through his clothing and he cursed again because he hadn't bothered to check the weather report for Washington DC before he left home.

As the driver worked his way through the busy noontime traffic, Matt's mind wandered back to the question which had nagged at him ever since he'd been summoned to the Pentagon. After all the years of work on this project, no one had ever shown anything more than mild curiosity about the work he and the team were doing at the Arizona facility. Now, unexpectedly, he was being ordered to report to the Pentagon to provide an in-depth report. Probably some recently appointed one star wanted to start digging into the project. Someone must have accidentally come across a report of their latest success and wanted in on it now that it was showing real progress, Matt figured.

Or possibly, someone was all worked up over there being a fatality. Those types would completely miss the success the rest of the project experienced, and they tended to make a whole lot of noise. Before you knew it, people believed evil experiments were being conducted by the Army, and innocent people were being killed.

Matt forced himself to calm down, he was getting worked up just thinking about the possibilities, but it would be better to wait and see what was really going on. By the time he'd managed to calm down, they were arriving at the Pentagon. As he got out of the car, he was reminded again of his wet, and less than perfect appearance.

Upon entering, he was met by a US Army Major. “Sir, I've been asked to escort you to your meeting.”

“I certainly wasn't expecting an escort, but please, lead on Major. I've only been here twice before, and I don't have any idea where I'm going,” replied Fitch.

The Major grinned. “Colonel, I've been assigned here for two years now, and I often get lost in this maze.”

They arrived at the conference room eight minutes later, and the Major indicated the door with a brief dip of his head. “They'll be with you in just a few minutes, sir.” He turned on his heels and left Matt alone.

The conference room was large; there was a substantial bar with a mirror at one end. The other end held all the equipment needed for video conferences. The conference table in the center was large and appeared to be made of mahogany. Twelve leather chairs surrounded the table.

Matt set his briefcase on the table and strode to the mirror by the bar, to see if there was anything he could do with his disheveled appearance.

As he was straightening his shirt the door opened and General Lee Draper came in. The General caught sight of Fitch by the bar and said, “Don't you think it's a bit early for a drink, Colonel?”