"I hit the road the minute your wife told me where you were. Blew out a tire outside of town. I've been on foot for almost an hour."
"That's a long walk."
"In the dark? In this part of the South? Yeah, it is."
"Yeah, what was so important that you had to uh, get here tonight?"
"The C.I.A. has acquired intelligence detailing an imminent threat."
"What kind of threat?"
"An invasion… An alien invasion."
"Come on, that's not even funny right now."
"I know. It sounds completely crazy."
"Well, I dunno. Where exactly is this intel coming from?"
"Her name is Rebecca."
"And who is Rebecca?"
"She drew this. Rebecca is part of a new, highly classified intelligence gathering program developed by the C.I.A. called 'MK Ultra'. It involves precognition. Seeing the future. She's the one who drew this."
"Hang on…"
"What is that?"
"One of our eye-witnesses here described this."
"This 'Rebecca'; when did she draw yours?"
"Four days ago."
"She tell you anything else about this upcoming invasion?"
"Yeah. She said that Hopkinsville is the center point. And that you two were the only ones who could stop it."
—
U.S. Air Force Captain Michael Quinn sighed as he replayed the conversation from the night before in his head.
Agent Banks was ferrying them off to see some psychic woman that he and the rest of the spooks had hidden down in D.C.
Why he insisted on torturing himself this way, he'd never know.
But it did certainly appear he was stuck with the 'Doc and spook for the time being.
And yet, here he was, on another wild goose chase with Hynek to go talk to someone who could apparently 'see the future'.
Well, if that future didn't include a cup of coffee in his hand, Quinn was leaving Hynek on his own in D.C.
Quinn quickly snapped himself out of his thoughts and tried to focus through his boredom when he saw that their spook tour guide was speaking again.
"We created MK Ultra to investigate the paranormal, after learning the Russians were working on harnessing psychic activity for intelligence purposes," Banks explained as the trio reached the end of the corridor, stopping at a security door.
"Psychics as a national defense strategy," Quinn remarked as Banks swiftly entered the passcode on the door's security lock panel. "What's next, voodoo?"
Hynek' lips twitched upwards and he glanced back at Quinn with a small smirk and a look of exasperation in his eyes.
The door beeped and unlatched, allowing Banks to push through and continue into the next room.
Quinn and Hynek followed behind, the Captain's eyes soaking in the room in front of him as he stepped through the door.
Hynek made a noise of fascination, his eyes open wide like a child on Christmas morning.
"Unless you're spoken to, do not address her directly," Banks said as he walked.
"What happens if you do?" Quinn asked idly, glancing at the activity and people in white hospital gowns sitting around at tables and ambling around aimlessly like zombies.
"Well, for lack of a better word, these people are unstable," Banks answered. "Ticking timebombs, if you will. It's best if you don't set them off."
Quinn raised an eyebrow. "If they're that unstable, why have the C.I.A. rely on them?"
Banks paused long enough to utter the two words that had come to be something of a catchphrase for the man's profession before continuing through the room. "That's classified."
"Intriguing," Hynek muttered to Quinn. "I have a theory that I'd like to determine regarding the man who's been following me around and feeding me details, but I'll wait until after we've been introduced to 'Rebecca'."
"You do that, 'Doc," Quinn answered, sighing as the group stopped again, this time in front of a door labeled Room 6, one of many that lined the wall of the hallway.
Through the glass pane of the door, Quinn could clearly see the back of a young brunette woman wearing a simple blue dress.
She was facing the room's window, peering past the narrow gap the curtains provided and standing as still as a statue.
"Remember," Banks reminded them sternly as he stepped up to the door. "When we get inside this room, do not talk to her unless-"
"-She addresses us first," Quinn finished impatiently, adding on sarcastically. "Yeah, yeah-we got it the first time you told us, Banks."
Banks held his hands up in a placating manner. "Alright, just trying to warn ya guys," he muttered before turning back around and lightly knocking on the door.
After a few moments, the C.I.A. agent gently eased the door open and stepped into the room, Hynek and Quinn filing in behind.
The woman, now aware of their presence, slowly turned away from the windowsill to face them with hands clasped in front of her and a timid expression on her features.
The first thing Quinn noticed was how strikingly beautiful the woman was.
Her gaze flitted between each man before locking onto Quinn's eyes, looking apprehensive toward their presence.
"Rebecca, these are the gentlemen that you told us about," Banks introduced them to the woman.
Quinn gave her a small smile in the hope that it would ease her; show that they meant no harm.
An uncomfortable silence grew, but Quinn didn't let it show on his face; maintaining a blank expression just like he had been trained to do in the Air Force.
Feeling uncomfortable that Rebecca was still staring at him intensely, Quinn broke his gaze away and glanced at Banks, who was standing idly with his hands in his pockets.
"...Is there anything else I can help you with?" Banks asked Rebecca after another moment of silence had gone by.
"He has to leave," she spoke softly, but firmly.
Quinn blinked in confusion and turned to the others for guidance. Did she really not like him?
Guess it explained the staring contest earlier.
"Me?" Hynek asked in surprise, pointing to himself with his hat.
Quinn chanced a quick look at Rebecca to see that she was staring at the professor now, not unlike the way she had just done with Quinn a moment ago.
"We'll step outside," Banks said respectfully.
"...But I'd like to observe," Hynek said, a childish undertone present in his voice.
Quinn couldn't help but smile a little at the professor's protest, watching the way his face contorted with subtle annoyance.
Denying Hynek the opportunity to conduct his scientific research was like telling a kid he couldn't have candy.
Rebecca's gaze was back on Quinn, and once again, he couldn't help but feel like he was being examined from the inside-out.
"You can stay," she said after a moment.
Quinn felt himself start and looked up to nod and half-shrug lamely in acknowledgement.
"Sorry, professor," Banks said apologetically before quietly exiting the room.
Hynek looked slightly crushed at this new disappointing revelation, and turned to Quinn with a pointed look.
"It's alright, 'Doc," Quinn attempted to reassure the professor. "I got this."
The other man nodded in disappointment before patting Quinn on the shoulder and began shuffling out of the room.
Quinn watched as Rebecca's eyes trailed after Hynek, eventually returning to Quinn after the professor had exited the room.
"I'm sorry," she said softly, moving to the table in the center of the tiny room. "Some people can block things-it's just how it works."
Quinn had no idea what that meant, but offered an awkward shrug and smile anyways. "It's okay," he said, placing his hat on top of the table.
He motioned to the drawings and paper sheets on the table after another moment of uncomfortable silence. "So uh, what do I-"
"Please stop talking," Rebecca said suddenly.
Quinn froze and swallowed uncomfortably, giving the woman a tight smile. "Roger that," he said as he pulled out a chair.
"That's talking."
Okay, then. So that's how this was gonna go.
He sighed quietly as he sat down in his seat, observing the strange, abstract drawings in front of him.
Not knowing what to do with his hands, he placed them on top of the table before quickly settling on clasping them.
He cursed himself internally. Why was he so nervous right now?
Rebecca was staring intensely at him again, and Quinn couldn't help but avoid her eyes once again.
It felt like she was staring into his soul and picking him apart piece by piece, leaving nothing to bare.
Suddenly, she picked up a pencil and slid a sketchbook in front of her, keeping eye contact with Quinn as she did so.
He watched curiously as she began to scribble on the sheet, her movements rapidly picking up in speed.
Squinting, he tried to make out the drawings with little success.
When Rebecca ran out of room on the sheet, she simply tore it off of the sketchbook and pushed it to the side, then continued onto the next sheet.
Quinn picked up the first of the freshly-drawn sheets and raised it up to his face.
He tried to visualize what the scribbles were meant to depict, but couldn't make heads or tails of it or any of the other drawings that Rebecca made.
"So…," He trained off, looking back up at Rebecca, who was silently continuing to sketch more drawings. "...Could you give me some pointers here?"
The woman tore off one last completed sheet from her sketchbook and paused, becoming motionless in her seat and simply staring at him with a blank expression. "You may leave now."
Quinn glanced back down at the cryptic drawing in his hand and the stack of completed sheets before awkwardly sliding the pile into one arm and picking up his hat with the other. "Uh, thanks."
He offered another smile, and got another blank stare in return.
Psychics, huh? Tough crowd.
Well, this was going just great.
Sighing, he stood up with the stack of drawings in hand and headed for the door.
—
"So, uh…" Quinn said, shuffling through the nonsensical drawings and glancing back to Rebecca's room. "Evidently this-this is all… gonna happen in Hopkinsville tonight."
He handed the drawings to Hynek, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.
"You know," the professor started off distastefully. "I was hoping that we were gonna witness some genuine clairvoyant phenomena here today-I really was, but look at these. Just vague enough to induce anxiety."
Hynek shook his head, pausing to rub his nose. "This is-no different from an inkblot test, except in this case, you're only seeing what she wants you to see."
"How could she be so confident, then?" Banks interjected, sounding a little sour about his C.I.A. project being insulted by the professor.
"With all due respect, the Captain and I have not completed our investigation into Hopkinsville, and bringing in military personnel will only create a panic," Hynek continued. "Thank you, but we still have a case to close."
Quinn couldn't help but frown. He had a feeling that at least some of that rant was because he wasn't over the fact that Rebecca had kicked him out earlier without batting an eye.
But Hynek wasn't wrong.
MK Ultra and the psychic-made drawings would be of little help to Project Blue Book at this stage.
"We'll see ourselves out," Hynek said, before heading toward the exit without waiting for an answer.
Quinn smiled apologetically to Banks, who looked like he had lost some of his C.I.A. agent cool. "I'm guessing you want the drawings back?" he asked, offering the stack of drawings to Banks.
The C.I.A. agent waved him off, shaking his head and walking away. "Keep em', Captain. I'm sure our local boy genius wants some scratch paper."
Quinn snorted, adjusting the stack of drawings under his arm. "Take care, Banks."
Spooks.
One moment they were cold and collected, the next they were taking everything personally.
Never could understand those guys.
He was snapped out of the moment by the uneasy gut feeling of someone watching him, and looked back to find Rebecca staring at him once again through the door's viewing window with those intense eyes.
As soon as they made eye contact, she immediately turned away, moving to stand and stare out her room's window again.
"Jesus," Quinn muttered, taking one more look at the mysterious woman before heading down the hall and away from Rebecca. "Another day with Project Blue Book."
He didn't know what was behind those stares, but it certainly wasn't sexual tension. Or was it?
Only a psychic would know the answer to that.