THE SECRET UNDER THE LAKE
=========================

You align the receiver to 03:13. You hold the NITETIME station ident
on Channel 33. You do not say your name.

The craft responds. Three lights appear along its hull: one above, one
below, and one facing directly toward the garage.

A panel opens. Inside is not a cockpit. It is a map of Wisconsin. Dozens
of small illuminated points cover the state. Most are dark. Several glow
dimly. One burns bright beneath Lake Koshkonong:

    SURFACE NODE 608

The Nitetime Garage.

Then you realize something else. The resonators surrounding the craft
are active. They are receiving a signal from somewhere else, a signal so
strong the instruments cannot measure it.

The craft isn't broadcasting Channel 33. It is cancelling something.

For decades, perhaps longer, the object beneath Koshkonong has been
keeping another transmission from reaching the surface.

The terminal prints:

    SHIELD STATUS: DEGRADED
    SURFACE MAINTENANCE REQUIRED

A compartment opens. Inside is a small metal key:

    SIGNAL ACTIVE
    RETURN ONLY

You take it. Every light in the chamber shuts off.