"I'll escort you down into the complex, Major. We don't like to leave Gunny too long without company. He has a tendency to gouge the legitimate customers we get in the shop." Mendenhall smiled as the doors slid closed.

Collins watched as the sergeant repeated the process he had used on the first elevator. Only this time, instead of his hand he had to place his right eye into a soft rubber piece that conformed to his orbital structure.

"Retinal scans complete, Sergeant Mendenhall. Will your guest please place his right thumb onto the pad to the right?" the computer asked.

Mendenhall gestured the major forward and indicated the glass plate to the right of the eyepiece he had just used. Collins placed his right thumb to the glass, watching as red laser-tracking lines appeared to wrap around his thumb. The light went off.

"Thank you, Major Collins, you may proceed."

"The computer weighed the elevator and knew that I wasn't alone in the car, thus knew I had a guest with me. This elevator is pneumatically operated. We'll be riding air down into the complex."

The elevator indicator to the left of the doors told Collins the only choices they had were down, and these read 1-150. He didn't comment on Mendenhall's explanation of the elevator as he didn't really care for the idea of riding air pressure anywhere.

"Where in the hell are we, Sergeant?" Collins asked.

The man smiled and said, "Well, sir, the men who will explain that to you are far above my pay grade, but I can tell you"--Mendenhall reached out and pressed a button indicating level 6--"we are on the most northern part of Nellis Air Force Base, below the old gunnery and target range. By the time these doors open, we'll be on the main level of the complex, five hundred and sixty-five feet below the surface of the desert."