at the general store, and
filled both.

A few miles beyond Indian Springs they saw the entrance road to the
Atomic Energy Commission's Nevada Test Site, and the Sixth Army's Camp
Desert Rock. After that, there was no sign of civilization for miles.

A few miles before the town of Lathrop Wells, Scotty spotted their
turnoff. The sign was small and inconspicuous. It simply read: "_Scarlet
Lake_," and an arrow was painted underneath the name.

The paving ended after a mile or two and became a very good dirt road.
The jeep was climbing steadily now, and in a short time Scotty shifted
to second gear.

"We must be nearly out of Nevada and into California," Scotty commented.

"Almost," Rick agreed. "According to the map, the base is right next to
Death Valley." Suddenly he leaned forward as the jeep rounded a turn.
Far below and still many miles away was the pinkish gleam of a dry lake
bed. Scarlet Lake!

"I see where they got the name," Scotty said.

Rick grinned. "Scarlet Lake makes sense but some of the other names
around here don't. Did you notice the town marked 'Steamboat' on the
map? And not enough water to float a bar of soap."

"See anything of the base?"

"Not yet."

Five miles later they began to see signs that Scarlet Lake was occupied.
Black strips indicated aircraft runways. Then, tiny concrete squares
came into view. But not until they were in the valley, only a mile from
the base, could they see buildings.

The buildings turned out to be a few single-story administrative shacks
clustered around a check-in point. A uniformed guard waved them into a
parking lot and told them to report to Security for badges.

They walked into the building marked "_Security Office, Badge Division_"
and found a counter with another guard behind it. He took their names
and asked for identification, then directed them to stand with chins
resting on a tray. He slipped plastic letters into slots and formed
their names, then took pictures with a fixed camera.

"Sit down and wait," he said. "We'll have these for you in five
minutes."

Rick looked his surprise. "Can you process the pictures that fast?"

"Don't have to. This is a Polaroid camera."

Rick joined Scotty on a wooden bench. "I expected a barbed-wire fence.
But there's no fence at all."

"The whole desert is a fence, I guess," Scotty surmised. "The only
access roads are probably guarded, and the only other ways to get into
the base would be by foot or horse