ScienceDirect - Technol Rep Tohoku Univ ... - Garryck Osborne

xii
Prologue
old, almost every detail of it in the open now. But strip away the facts and
the feeling persisted.
I got it when I went to U.S. government defense laboratories and on
empty windblown hangar floors in parched, little-known corners of
the country. I got it at press conferences in power-soaked corridors of
the Pentagon. But most of all I got it when I stared into the eyes of the
people who worked on those programs.
What I got back was a look. Individually, it said nothing, but collectively
it told me there was a secret out there and that it was so big no one
person held all the pieces. I knew, too, that whatever it was, the secret had
a dark heart, because I could sense the fear that held it in place.
It was impossible to tell Lopez any of this, of course, because it was
simply a feeling. But as I headed back for the car, I knew the trip hadn't
been a waste.
At long last, the secret had an outline.
Through half-closed eyes, I could almost reach out and touch it.