Three hours later, Reston boarded a military transport plane bound for Nevada.
Holding the sleeping Alice in his arms, Clemens looked at the middle-aged soldier across the cabin.
The other party was looking through the letter from the Russian geographer.
Where are we going?
Upon hearing Clemens' question, the middle-aged soldier didn't even look up: "I can't tell you."
What will happen to us?
Middle-aged soldier: "I can't tell you."
"What exactly do you want?"
I can't tell you.
Clemens paused for a moment, then asked again, "At least tell me, what should I call you?"
The middle-aged soldier looked up: "Major Cole, I won't object if you call me major."
Clemens first glanced at Liz, who looked uneasy beside him, then looked down at Alice, who was fast asleep, and said to Major Cole, "What crime have I committed? Even a death row inmate has the right to know the charges against him."
Major Cole looked at Clemens, held up the letter, and suddenly said, "The person who wrote this letter is dead."
Clemens shuddered and blurted out, "You did this?"
Major Cole scoffed, "Don't ask stupid questions."
After putting down the letter, Major Cole asked again, "Do you know who the person who wrote this letter to you is?"
Clemens: "I met him at a geography conference in Los Angeles, and after that we only exchanged academic questions through letters a few times."
Upon closer observation, Major Cole of Clemens noticed that the man's expression seemed genuine, and his brow gradually furrowed.
Finally, he said, "I can't be sure if what you're saying is true or false, but I will eventually find a way to verify everything."
Clemens sighed, closed his eyes, and said nothing more.
Late at night, accompanied by the roar of aircraft engines, a military transport plane landed at a military base in southwestern Yucca Flats, Nevada.
After the plane came to a stop, seeing a squad of fully armed soldiers guarding the hatch, Clemens hugged Alice tightly and said to Major Cole in an almost pleading tone, "Don't hurt them."
Major Cole made a gesture, and two female soldiers walked over to Clemens' side.
"As long as you cooperate obediently, I guarantee their personal safety."
Upon hearing Major Cole's words, Clemens struggled for a moment before watching helplessly as Liz and Alice were taken away.
Major Cole nudged the dazed Clemens, signaling him to follow him.
Escorted by Major Cole and a squad of soldiers, Clemens crossed the airport and headed deep into the military camp.
As Clemens traveled along, he became increasingly alarmed.
All sorts of strange devices, almost sci-fi-like intelligent machines, and overly strict security measures.
After passing through three manual checkpoints and two biometric verification checkpoints, Clemens entered a building that resembled an underground research institute.
The researchers in white coats and the heavily armed military security personnel everywhere gave Clemens a strange sense of familiarity.
After passing through several security gates, Major Cole led Clemens to a spacious monitoring hall.
Huge global monitoring screens, a dazzling array of scientific instruments and equipment, and researchers working tirelessly.
In Clemens' view, this place was like a combat command center in a future world.
Major Cole raised his chin, interrupting Clemens's exclamation: "Go forward, General Hamilton is waiting for you."
With a mix of trepidation and excitement, Clemens approached General Hamilton from behind.
Major Cole straightened up and said, "Sir, Professor Scott has arrived."
Seemingly ignoring everything, General Hamilton turned his back to the others, looked at the huge screen in front of him, and muttered to himself, "Isn't this all amazing?"
Clemens followed his gaze.
On the huge multi-dimensional monitoring screen, the map of the entire world is clearly visible.
The three black giant towers located on the Antarctic Peninsula, the Kola Superdeep Hole, and the Mariana Trench appear as three conspicuous red dots, flashing incessantly on the screen.
One after another, dotted lines marked with complex parameters radiate from the three giant towers and eventually converge at the Groom Lake military base in Nevada, USA.
General Hamilton turned around. Dressed in military uniform, his hair was gray, his beard was neatly groomed, and his posture was upright, just like the most traditional soldier commonly seen in textbooks.
General Hamilton said to Clemens, "I have read your book and your paper. Your research seems to me more like a waste of national funds."
The sarcastic and harsh comments immediately enraged Clemens.
Before he could even retort, General Hamilton said dismissively, "I don't care about your research; what I care about most is your dealings with those Russian bastards."
Clemens glanced at the large screen, took a deep breath, and tried to suppress his anger. He said, "General, I seriously doubt whether you can even understand the theories in my book. If you are truly as wise as you claim, why is there such a significant deviation in the markings of the center point on this map?"
General Hamilton was taken aback: "Deviation? What did you say?"
Clemens: "The three towers are located on the Antarctic Peninsula, in the Kola Superdeep Cave, and in the Mariana Trench. Their geographic center is indeed near Lake Groom, but when calculating their exact location, we cannot use the figures from the currently used standard geological databases."
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