[Alpha]

"Ah...okay." He chewed slowly...he never had been a fan of tofu. This wasn't too bad though...I guess if it's seasoned right it could be edible. "So, I noticed there was never an answer to my question...what did you all find out here? Any soldiers or other remains?"

His communicator beeped softly in his ear. "Excuse me, I think I shall head off and prepare myself for morning and head off to...well....bed I suppose." As soon as he was out of earshot of the others, he activated his comlink. "Yes? What is it? I haven't made any progress if that's what you are about to ask. Whatever it was that landed is definitely here...my scanner has picked it up intermittently. It is definitely mobile, but I don't know what it looks like."

"Well, just keep with it. We will be keeping tabs on all the members of the research team and the military personnel there as well just in case any of them are connected somehow. Do you have anything at all to report? Surely you must have come across something or had some sort of insight."

"Wait...I do have something. Can you tell me where Dr. Ari Pascal is headed to after leaving the site?"

"Hold on a moment....yes, I have it. Somewhere in Colorado. The travel request was filed for her so that she can escort the body of a dead soldier home to his family."

Interesting...I wouldn't have pegged her as the type to do something so sentimental. "I want an X-9 Transport ready for me tomorrow around noon. Stealth feature as well. I need to get there ahead of time...and I need another identity. One that will help me explain my presence in Colorado...preferably DoD related. Would help with some sympathy for a dead soldier." It pained him to use a fallen brother to this end, but it was for the greater good.

"It will be there waiting for you. Your scanner will guide you to it whenever you are ready."

"Roger. End transmission." He cut off the link and then went off to the tent they had set up an extra cot for him in. It certainly wouldn't be a five star hotel, but it was better than sleeping on the bare ground.