November 2008. Less than a week after being elected President, Hillary Clinton took a flight from Miami International Airport on a flight to Madrid, Spain where she is scheduled to meet the Spanish Prime Minister, Tomas Otero Pinado before a round of meetings with other European leaders. In less than two hours the flight disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean. Her running mate, Dennis Richardson is inaugurated President in January.

March 21, 2009. Lawrence Turaud, the owner of Duraut Shipping picks up the phone on the third ring and listens to the Coast Guard inform him that they have not been able to find his ship, The Tammy Tryloff. After hanging up, Lawrence sit's at his desk thinking for several minutes before picking up the phone and calling his friend, Greg Atkinson, the head of the Inter-Agency Defense Command and asks if the Navy and others can search for his ship. Greg says he can get the Navy to search for Lawrence's ship for a certain amount of time. Lawrence thanks his friend.

Vice President Michael Adams learns of Lawrence Turaud's ship, The Tammy Tryloff has disappeared and knows that the man will do everything in his power to learn about the fate of the ship. Michael Adams calls the director of the Omega Group, Steven Wolters. Steven answers the phone. "Steven, have you heard about the Turaud ship, the Tammy Tryloff disappearing in the Atlantic?". "No, I have not, why?". "Well, Lawrence is on a rampage to find his ship and you know how determined he can be and I am afraid that if he even get's a hint of the Blue Book project, we could be in for a mess should he learn about it". "Listen, Michael don't go jumping to conclusions just yet, the odds of finding that ship are zero as you may well know about how difficult it can be trying to find something that's disappeared in the Triangle and I am not about to let you worry about it, since I pulled a lot of strings to get you to the Vice-Presidency, understand? Don't worry your head about it. We have worked too hard to get you close to the White House. Forget it". "Dennis Richardson sure was not happy that you foisted me on him as his Vice President, was he?" laughed Michael Adams.

James Sheridan, the Speaker of the House is already planning his run for the Presidency in 2012 in his head when the phone rings. He picks up the phone and "James, it's Steven Wolters here, I am calling about a possible running mate for you and want to run a name by you, it's Catherine Rogers, the Governor of California, what do you think?". "Hmmm, interesting indeed, it could work, but naturally I would have to meet with her. Listen, you know it's still early and I wondered just how much we can get done before it's time to actually campaign for it. Also, I have some information on a legislative act by a minor congressman from Ohio that could affect your organization and others like it". "We'll get together later and hash both of those out at dinnertime, okay?" replies Steven Wolters. "Okay, that sounds great with me and I will see you later".

Loren Smith and Dirk Pitt are dining at the Wyndham Hotel's Verandah restaurant that overlooks the Atrium. Dirk is enjoying his Veal Scallopine while Loren enjoys a mesquite-grilled seafood dinner. They are enjoying their dinner when Loren recognizes the Speaker of the House, James Sheridan and Steven Wolters walk towards the Harvest Fireplace Room that makes up the back part of the Verandah where they are seated for their dinner.

March 18, 2009. Aboard the Tammy Tryloff, captain Pietr Svensson called for a full stop after spotting a dinghy in the water. As the crew of the Tammy Tryloff pulled the dinghy to the ship with ropes they saw a dead man lying in the dinghy. After giving the man a decent burial at sea they looked over the man's belongings. A strange mask was found. In a rucksack they found an I.D. card that revealed the man's name as Tor Uvald. A small booklet was found that revealed a cryptic message in some strange code. Later that night, as the ship made her way towards Europe, Captain Pietr Svensson woke up in his bed swearing he had heard someone's voice. He looks at the Mask and without thinking about it, puts it on. Within seconds captain Pietr Svensson found himself transformed into a rampaging inferno that within 15 minutes kills his entire crew and accidentally causes the ship to sink. As the water overcomes the mask it loosens it's grip on him and the captain drowns.

Lawrence Turaud hires a group of people whose specialties range from Triangle expert, parapsychologist, oceanographer, mercenary and geographic information specialist. The Triangle expert is a man of dubious morals with the name, Evander Tommaso. The parapsychologist is a yoiung woman in her mid-twenties whose name is Anthea Lewellyn. The mercenary is a man whose travels have given him a jaundiced view of the world whose name is Lewis Arlton, a man in his late 40s. The oceanographer is a woman in her early thirties, Melinda Albertson, an attractive brunette who loves the water. The GIS man is Danny Silverstone, a bookish type of fellow whose mind is closed off to those who try learn anything about him. Once they were in Lawrence's office and learning that they were expected to work together to find out what happened to the Tammy Tryloff, the Duraut Ship that had disappeared in the Triangle they learned that Mr. Turaud had rented them an office where they assembled later. It was not an easy meeting with everyone trying to get to know about each other but to put together some kind of plan and how to execute it. Lewis Arlton, having some experience in organizing soldiers of fortune into a fighting machine finally had enough and began to exert himself as the obvious leader with experience in trying to bring together a disparate group of people as those whom he was looking at.

"First off, we do have access to an account set up by Mr. Turaud with several million dollars and the first item we should consider is a boat or ship that can help in our search and provide a platform for any kind of work that will come up in our efforts. Second, a plan or some kind of direction is needed. Mr. Turaud has provided us the information on the Tammy Tryloff, her cargo, crew and destination". Thirdly we should use our special knowledge to the task and hopefully we can come up with a successful conclusion to this without spending too much time on the project. We have all been paid and will be paid at certain times depending on how long this takes us. Any comments?". No one said a word and Lewis Arlton saw that everyone was starting to look his way for guidance.

Lewis Arlton and Melinda Albertson got together later after he had set out a four month schedule of certain goals to be met and now he and the young woman were at a shipyard looking over ships and they decided on a used research ship for their purposes. The next day they found an experienced captain for hire, named Henri Baptiste that they hired. They left it up to him to hire a crew.

A week later all four of them set sail aboard the Falmouth, the research ship they would travel around the Bermuda Triangle on. They took the same route the Tammy Tryloff had taken and each one of them set out to do their own work to find answers to the loss of the Tammy Tryloff. Lewis Arlton considered many of the ways that the Tammy Tryloff could have disappeared and seriously began to think that it was human error that caused the ship to disappear. They had a side scan sonar in tow to try and find anything that could lead them to the Tammy Tryloff.

Vice-President Michael Adams heard that the group of people hired by Lawrence Turaud had set sail and called Steven Wolters. "Steven, the group of experts hired by Lawrence Turaud have set sail and in the same direction that the Tammy Tryloff took. I am worried that they may accidentally come across our project out there". "Michael, I have told you that the odds of them finding anything at all are high and should they do, we can take care of them. Now forget about them. Good Bye, Michael".

The NUMA Ship, Le Soleil lay about 173 miles out in the Atlantic Ocean and Dirk was in the DSO LaSalle about 2,400 feet down in the depths when the Falmouth approached. Dirk was mowing the bottom surface when something caught his sight. He wasn't sure but it looked like a mask. He used the long robotic arm to pick it up and place it in the steel basket. A metal ping appeared on the sonar that indicated there was a sunken vessel nearby. He took the LaSalle and headed towards the direction of the sound. After 12 minutes he came upon the strange tangle of a submerged airliner and a ship that lay across the rear portion of the airliner. He came close enough to see in the videoscope that he was looking at the missing Air Force One. Dirk was stunned and then after collecting his thoughts asked Al, who was seated behind him and facing in the opposite direction to look over his shoulder. Al couldn't believe what he was looking at either. Finally, Dirk called up to Nina Povich and said to her, "Are you seeing the same thing on the scope up there too, Nina?". "Yes, I am Dirk" replied Nina. Meanwhile, the Falmouth had set anchor near the LeSoleil and Lewis, and Melinda were aboard the NUMA Ship when Dirk asked Nina to get the Captain to look at the video monitor on the ship and see for himself what had been found. Lewis and Melinda followed the Captain to the Communications Center. Captain Burton Hirschfeld came into the Communications Center and looked at the Video Monitor and was shocked to find himself looking at Air Force One and a ship lying on the bottom of the Ocean. Melinda said it first because she and Lewis saw it too. "It's the Tammy Tryloff!!"

After scanning the video camera over the whole tangle of metal airliner and ship Dirk and Al slowly made their way back to the surface. When on board the LeSoleil, they headed to the Communications Center where they met Melinda Albertson and Lewis Arlton, who were ecstatic at the finding of the Tammy Tryloff. Nina said a fast growing storm was headed their way. Everyone on board both ships battened down and the two ships were connected by a strong cable. Over 100 minutes later everyone felt the storm lessen to a steady stream of rain. When Lewis went out on Deck he saw that the Falmouth had gotten loose of the strong cable connection and was still in sight but looked like it was in need of help. He ran back inside and had Captain Burton Hirschfield hurry the LeSoleil towards the Falmouth.

When they finally got to the Falmouth and boarded her they learned that a couple of the crewmen and Anthea Lewellyn were washed overboard in the storm. Despite a search effort, they were not found. With a copy of the Video showing the Tammy Tryloff lying on the top of Air Force One the Falmouth headed back to Miami to report to Lawrence Turaud about her finding. Lewis Arlton was suspicious about the two crewmen and Anthea just being washed overboard. Something deliberate had happened and the cable connecting the two ships coming apart seemed too convenient in Lewis' mind. When he and the others met Lawrence Turaud, they showed him the Video. When Danny and Melinda left, Lewis stayed and told Lawrence about his suspicions. Now that there was going to be an official investigation of the site, Lewis said that some things may not be released upon completion of the report. He asked permission to keep Melinda and Danny on the project for a bit longer. Lawrence was grateful for having Lewis on hand to keep things going. Lawrence called his friend, Greg Atkinson and told him of the discovery of the Tammy Tryloff and Air Force One and wanted to be sure to be included in the loop of any news that would not be in the final report. Later, Lewis met Dirk Pitt and knew he could confide in the NUMA man about his suspicions.

Danny Silverstone was curious about the location of both wreckages being that close together. He knew it was in the realm of possibility that both could be together like that but his pique at the two being intertwined like that was too coincidental. He looked up the coordinates in his own private computer lab at home and the numbers rang a bell in his mind. He went to a bookshelf and found the book that he was looking for. He skimmed through it until he found what he wanted. Then he recalled both the Air Force and the Navy had some interest in the location back in the 1960s and early 1970s. Sure enough, when he looked at an old software that had been designed by a defense contractor back then and was now public knowledge and used for commercial purposes with a more up to date version of the program. There had always been UFO interest over the past 60 years since the end of World War 2. And now he recalled a sighting over that part of the ocean back then. Somehow that had been used as an observation site by the defense contractor for a time and included some bits of data in a popular video/computer game that is popular now. He did some research into the company but learned it was absorbed many times over by a larger defense contractor now. Then it occured to him there might still be some low level observations at that site where the wrecked airliner/ship was found.

Danny Silverstone met Lewis Arlton in a public mall and told Lewis what he found. Lewis gave a general statement about his suspicions of what happened to Anthea and the two crewmen. This only confirms Lewis' suspicions of something going on and he meets Dirk Pitt out in the everglades, where Dirk was on assignment. Dirk was most interested. On the way to meet Dirk, Lewis had received a call from Lawrence Turaud. Lawrence said that he would be included in the loop on anything that's not released to the media in the final report about both wreckages. Lewis also told Dirk about this.

Aboard the Deep Submergent Observer LaSalle, Dirk and Al were scanning the bottom of the ocean over three miles from where they had found Air Force One and the Duraut Ship, The Tammy Tryloff when they came across the remnants of an unmanned X-51A Scramjet that had crashed in December 2008 as part of a series of experimental flights that had reached speeds of 4.500mph. What they did not know was that they were being observed by a well disguised underwater lab that housed Project Blue Book. Selim Chu-Ling, the team leader yelled at Henry Potchik to radio the Omega Group's Blue Cove, Delaware headquarters. Larry Narvaez, manning the radio at Blue Cove took the message to Steven Wolters, the Chairman of the Omega Group. Steven Wolters in turn called his partner in the Blue Book project, WaldenCorp president, Tyree Broomfield and informed the Defense Contractor that NUMA came close to discovering their underwater lab."Thank you, Steven, I appreciate your calling me" replied Tyree.

Looking good, tony.

You always have great names for the sea-going vessels in your stories. th:

Danny Silverstone was doing some tedious corporate research when he picked up the trail on Shoreham Associates, an old defense contractor in the 60s and the 70s that had been bought by one company and that company in turn was acquired and so on until it all came under one of the three big defense contractors of today, WaldenCorp. It was Shoreham Associates that had developed the technology that made up the core of it's electromagnetic warfare and detection unit in WaldenCorp's Project Blue Book. As he relayed this to Lewis Arlton, Greg Atkinson was informed that WaldenCorp was trying to keep the location of the Duraut Ship and Air Force One kept from the public in the report that was to be given to the media. Greg Atkinson called Lawrence Turaud and told him, "Lawrence, I don't know if this is of any help but WaldenCorp has pulled some strings to keep the exact location from the Press Release". "Thank you, Greg, I appreciate it". Later, Lawrence gets a call from Lewis Arlton about Shoreham Associates' work and it's being a small part of the large defense contractor, WaldenCorp.

Lawrence Turaud drives into the parking lot near the dock where the NUMA Ship, Le Soleil was berthed and awaited for Dirk Pitt to arrive. After 12 minutes of waiting, Dirk finally walked over to the car and slid in beside Lawrence. "Shoreham Associates, an old defense contractor back in the 60s and 70s was involved in electromagnetic warfare and detection for WaldenCorp before and after WaldenCorp bought the company through a maze of companies that had acquired them over time. But, essentially it was WaldenCorp who benefited and has used some chip technology of that EWD program for numerous software in both commercial and noncommercial applications". "Whew, that's quite an advance in technology and secrecy that has kept it secret for this long". "Yes, indeed" replied Lawrence. "I must go, but if this will help you in getting back at them for me, then go for it". Dirk smiles and gets out of the car and watches Lawrence drive out of the driveway and he turns back towards the NUMA Ship.

Steven Wolters, former Deputy Secretary of Justice under Reagan, Undersecretary of State for G.H.W. Bush, Deputy Undersecretary of Treasury for Clinton, Ambassador to Israel for George W., and now Chief of Staff for President Dennis Richardson sat in the daily National Security Briefing, half-listening to the National Security Advisor drone on about South Africa when his aide slips in and whispers in his ear about a meeting that the IADC director is calling for. Finally, the meeting ends and Steven strides to his office, impatiently. He picks up his phone and calls Greg Atkinson. "Greg, what is so important that you have to interfere with a National Security meeting for?". "Steven, I have a bit of a trouble with several agencies crying foul about the lack of an exact location of Air Force One and the Turaud ship, the Tammy Tryloff". "Who?" replies the Chief of Staff. "The White House Press Secretary, NUMA, NORAD, NOAA, DIA, Duraut Shipping, Lloyds Maritime Intelligence and so on".

Lawrence and Dirk had a good laugh while quaffing some beers at Arthur's Bar about how they manipulated several agencies into the need for the information on the whereabouts of Air Force One and the Tammy Tryloff. Lawrence's cell phone buzzed and he answered it, listening for a few minutes and asking one question. Lawrence put's the cell phone away and turns to Dirk. "Danny Silverstone just did some more research on Shoreham Associates and learned that they had been set up by the Sierra Vista Corporation in Nevada and that reminded him of a vessel that had disappeared in the Triangle back in the 50s, named the Vista, that was a boat that belonged to a family in Nevada whose forefathers had come from both the Basque and Norwegian lineages. The point is that this family was obsessed with UFO's and Aliens back in the late 1940s and gained some media attention with their claims of capturing aliens and sank their bodies in the Triangle. They are the ones who set up the Sierra Vista Corporation, named after their town. That mask you found is an old Norse relic belonging to Loki, the mischievous son of Thor, and whoever wears the mask shall go crazy. Sounds nuts, I know, but that can explain some ideas that have been bouncing around my head for some time now".

Steven Wolters sat at his desk recalling the days he grew up in Sierra Vista. Not only had his father set up the Sierra Vista Corporation but it's spinoff company, Shoreham Associates as well. His father had also set up the museum ond institute on UFO's and Aliens. Steven's father was both genius and touched with madness in his setting up the path to power for his son. Steven was not as passionate or totally into the UFO and Alien obsession but it did lead him to believe in technology that would advance mankind's leap into the future. Malachi Wolters had also taken advantage of Casino and tourism business to gain political influence that would later lead to his influence with U.S. Senator Paul Laxalt. Steven had worked for the U.S.Senator from Nevada before his appointments to the cabinet positions under several administrations. It was only after a couple of years working for Senator Laxalt that he was approached by several corporate, lobbyist and nonprofit interests that had come together for one common goal to set up a powerful organization that would coordinate such interests under one organization that he came to call the Omega Group in 1976. He accepted and led the organization through many challenges and also it had helped his career as a bureaucrat under several Presidents.

On a phone call to Lawrence Turaud, Dirk asked who Tammy Tryloff was "Dirk, I met this most attractive woman when I worked in Dayton, Ohio back in the late 1980s for several weeks just before I set up my shipping company in Chicago. I was on assignment for the shipping company that I worked for at the time and was sent to Dayton. I met her at Goodwill Industries where I was to get some furniture for some of the ships in their fleet. So I went to the Goodwill headquartes on Kuntz Road in Dayton and was given a tour of the facility and met her there. She was working as an occupational rehabilitation counselor there. We had a brief affair, but she left a strong impression on me. I later learned that she was married and living in Seattle. It was a wonderful interlude, but alas it was not to last. I take it everything has settled down now that all the agencies are happy with the exact location of the ship and Air Force One". "Yes, indeed, especially the FBI and Secret Service" answered Dirk Pitt.

Landing at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Dirk Pitt rented a car and headed towards Carson City where he stopped briefly for directions and found Sierra Vista in the Sierra Nevada mountains. It was a dangerous trip on the mountain road to the small town of Sierra Vista with it's hairpin curves and switchbacks. The population of Sierra Vista was just over 500 people. After arriving in town and stopping at the Vista Diner for a bite to eat, Dirk asked directions to the museum of UFOs and Aliens. The waitress, Vera, blanched at first then after looking at Mel, the cook, who did not return an answer she gave Dirk the directions. Dirk left a generous tip for Vera and headed for the Museum. Luckily it was open and he stepped in and rang the bell. Rachael Wolters, a cousin of Steven's came out and smiling, said "May I help you, sir?". "Yes, I have an item that I found in the Bermuda Triangle on the seabed and believe that it belongs to the museum here", and he showed her the mask. She smiled happily upon recognizing the family heirloom and was thankful to have it again. She repeated several times, "Thank You, Thank you, Thank you" over and over. Dirk asked about it's history and the family and she related how her mother's family was from Norway and it had been passed down many generations. She even showed him the provenance documents that proved it. Dirk was satisfied and left.

Christian Daae, the project leader of Blue Book since the beginning walks into the lab where Selim Chu-Ling is leaning over a drafting table with an eye piece looking at electronic schematics. Selim looks up at Christian and asks, "How is our female prisoner, today?". Christian replies, "Ms. Lewellyn is at least eating and drinking regularly now and not trying to escape anymore. And she has gotten used to my visits now. I do believe that she has given up on being rescued now, though". "I am always amazed at the progress we have made since the 1960s when we developed EWD just before the Russians did, even though we had developed it in response to the alien technology we retrieved in Nevada and here in the Triangle, it sure came in handy when we had to respond to the EWD attacks by the Soviets".

Dirk Pitt and Lewis Arlton listened to the briefing by the Navy SEAL leader who was still skeptical about some underwater lab complex. Dirk had spotted the false tailings that had covered the lab complex. It had taken some time and persuasion, and the influence of Lawrence Turaud to convince the Navy to finally give in to an operation to penetrate the lab complex. Lewis wanted to be in on the penetration and could not be dissuaded. Instead of a Naval ship, it was decided that a Duraut ship would be used to get in the area where Dirk, Lewis and the Navy SEALs would make their dive in a special Navy submarine.

The first non-metallic underwater craft slid silently through the waters of the Triangle after being released in the moon pool of the Durango, a Duraut container ship. Dirk Pitt, Lewis Arlton and the SEALs were tense with anticipation of a firefight. They reconnoitered the area where the lab was and slowly Dirk controlled the descent over what he believed to be the entrance hatch. He gently placed the Durango over the hatch and used magnets to lock onto the lab. He moved over to the bottom escape hatch in the submarine and opened it and then slowly opened the hatch cover of the lab. He slipped down the ladder and not seeing anyone signalled the others to follow. He pulled out his colt and walked forward.

The SEALs followed Dirk Pitt and Lewis Arlton with their Seahawk submachine guns. They walked slowly down a hallway until they came to the first door. Lewis, without a word fired his gun at the lock and the door swung open creakily. Anthea Lewellyn came flying out of the room with a bowl in her raised hand and was stunned to see Lewis, Dirk and the SEALs. Lewis made a silencing motion at Anthea Lewellyn to be quiet. They walked further down the hallway and found an unlocked door on the right side and found the galley, empty. They continued down the hall until another door on the left that was ajar and Dirk stepped in slowly and found the sleeping quarters, with one person asleep. A SEAL grabbed that person and gagged and bound him. They continued down the hall some more until a white coated technician rounded a corner from another hallway and stopped in his tracks, staring at several men with guns and dropped his clipboard. He raised his arms and was tied and gagged in a sitting position against the wall. Dirk, Lewis and two SEALs walked the leftside hallway while three SEALs continued forward and three other SEALs took the righthand hallway with Anthea following them. After five minutes the three SEALs that had continued in the main hallway encountered the only two security guards who opened up and wounded one SEAL before being killed themselves. Dirk, Lewis and the other SEALs entered the main lab and soon had rounded up seven of the major scientists. The other three SEALs with Anthea had captured seven technicians.

All the prisoners were taken aboard the submarine and the sub headed back to the Durango. Anthea was happy to finally be free and as soon as possible went to the main deck and breathed the fresh air. The prisoners were taken to a Naval base where they were interrogated. They all cooperated with full disclosure of their scientific work in the Triangle but barely mentioned EWD in the most vaguest terms, only stating that they were working on Electromagnetic technology for a defense contractor. Soon a couple of official representatives of both the Air Force and Navy were on the base saying that they were the military representatives of the joint military/civilian project that had been going on nearly fifty years.

After a trial for kidnapping Anthea Lewellyn, the scientists and technicians were sentenced seven years but that was suspended by the Judge. However, they were put on record as having been sentenced. Anthea was outraged. Lawrence was satisfied after Lewis Arlton explained that the captain of the Tammy Tryloff had put the mythical Norwegian mask on and had gone crazy, killing his crew and with the official report that the sinking had been accidental. Dirk was still curious about the downing of Air Force One and presumed that the scientists had something to cover up about it.

Vice President Michael Adams called Steven Wolters and harangued the man about the discovery of the secret lab. "Michael, it is over and the true nature of the project was never revealed. And the fact that our plan to remove Hillary Clinton from occupying the White House is not likely to be exposed either. Though our men were sentenced it was kind enough of the judge to suspend their sentences. All is well, my friend. And even if something were to come out they still cannot touch us. You are the Vice-President and you should be happy in case something happens. Just be happy my friend".

Mustafa Abbas, aka Michael Adams sat back in his chair after hanging up the phone with Steven Wolters. Mustafa knew that someday his crimes would surface, it was his nature to worry. He had been lucky to be born in the United States but had spent some of his youth in Africa, with his fellow Muslims. In his official biography his religion was Southern Baptist. He knew he was destined for something great but always worried about loose ends. The Omega Group, he knew would be his someday when Steven would hand it over to him. It felt good to be powerful and influential.

September 12, 2014. Fifty years to the day, Christian Daae closed the books on Project Blue Book by handing over his report to the Secretary of Defense. It was a document with shocking conclusions and revelations. After the Atomic explosion in 1945 we were visited by Aliens in spacecraft that had electromagnetic warfare and detection technology and two of those craft had been found in the Sierra Nevada mountains near Donner Pass and another one in the Bermuda Triangle. They had been sent to earth to monitor us for any hint of nuclear war. As a result there were definite and verifiable sightings over the years despite the larger number of supposed sightings. The technology we learned from the Alien craft enabled us to conduct a limited electromagnetic war with the Soviet Union that concluded with disastrous effects that were passed off as earthquakes and horrific weather events. In response to this technology we learned to monitor the Alien visits and conduct a handful of experiments that would disable planes, trains and automobiles. One such experiment was conducted with political change in mind. The prevention of the first elected woman president to be inaugurated. Another such experiment taught the military to build scramjets with better protection against EWD. As a result of the EWD protection, sub-orbital flights were enabled with the appropriate engines. THE END.