Ben Archer

by Rae Knightly

  After pausing for effect, he continued. “The fact that you witnessed The Cosmic Fall and that you hold a US passport through your mother has acted in your favor. The FBI has endorsed you. Inspector James Hao, here, also has dual citizenship. He was born on mainland China and is highly regarded by the Chinese Ministry of State Security. It is imperative that you work together. After this meeting takes place, the CSIS will no longer be the only Agency watching you like hawks. Do you understand?”

  Connelly confirmed, “Yes, Sir.”

  The High Inspector straightened the files on his desk. “Your file is impeccable...” he said, before adding slowly, “Except for one thing...”

  Connelly’s mouth twitched.

  The High Inspector removed a folder from Connelly’s thick file.

  “Your wife…” the High Inspector began, as he slid the folder across the desk.

  Connelly took the folder and opened it. Clipped to the left side was a photograph of a smiling young woman. She had curly hair around a youthful, dark-skinned face. Her eyes were grey and her teeth a perfect white. She looked like someone straight out of a magazine. The name on the descriptive form on the right side of the folder read Tamara Connelly.

  Ignoring Connelly’s discomfort, the High Inspector proceeded. “You haven’t returned home once since The Cosmic Fall. I’m not a marriage counsellor, Agent Connelly, but we’ve had countless calls from your wife since you arrived. She’s starting to think that you abandoned her and your kid. She’s threatening to take you to court to divorce you and demand full custody of your son. You say you have become obsessed with The Cosmic Fall, but we can’t afford to have a civilian court nosing into your business here. So either you quietly make amends with her or the next time you’re in my office you’ll be signing divorce papers. Either way is fine, but keep her out of the loop!”

  He leant back into his office chair, observing the Chilliwack police officer. “Any comments, Agent Connelly?”

  Connelly held the High Inspector’s gaze before replying through gritted teeth, “Tell me where to sign.”

  Taken slightly aback, the High Inspector stared at the bald man. Then he broke into a loud guffaw, his belly shaking under his impeccable suit. A palpable weight lifted in the room. The High Inspector wagged a finger at Connelly. “I like you!” he chuckled. “Forget the wife, Theodore. You’re married to the job now.” They were suddenly on first-name terms.

  James Hao joined in. “Good thing you’re getting a raise, Connelly. Child support is brutal!”

  In no time, Connelly was given the necessary clearances to enter what was known as the Dugout. James Hao drove him to a plain, concrete building surrounded by lonely hills. They scanned their badges at the entrance and signed a form that a soldier handed over as he scrutinized them. They took an impressive steel elevator down seven floors. When the elevator stopped, the doors remained closed.

  Hao studied Connelly intensely. “Behind these doors lies the truth of The Cosmic Fall. Once you walk through, there is no turning back. Do you understand?”

  Connelly nodded impatiently.

  Hao scanned his badge once more so the elevator doors could slide open, revealing a cavernous hangar made of concrete. Connelly stepped through onto a corridor overlooking this huge space where men and women, most wearing white coats, bustled around, working at desks full of computer screens or entering offices with glass walls bordering the left side of the hall. In the very centre, a sleek, unusual-looking craft hovered silently a few feet above the ground.

  “This,” Hao said dramatically, “is the intact alien spaceship we recovered from the Chilliwack crash site.”

  After giving Connelly a minute to take in the extraterrestrial vessel, they headed down concrete stairs to the floor of the hangar. As they circled the spacecraft, Hao explained, “We have not been able to access the vessel so far. We are using an electron beam to bore a hole into it, yet its material is so consistent that we have only been able to dent it two points of an inch. It’s going to take time before we get any real results. But mark my words, we will get in eventually.”

  Connelly’s mouth twitched. He examined the closed hangar.

  Hao smiled proudly. “Impressive, isn’t it?” he asked. “The craft was flown in from Chilliwack. It happened on the night of The Cosmic Fall under citizens’ very noses. We were lucky your local police contacted the CSIS immediately. We sent in a heavyweight helicopter to pull it out in the dark before the media arrived. Then we loaded it onto a cargo aircraft Boeing C-17 and flew it over. The next feat was to lower it into this old underground bunker before building several floors above it to seal it in. We have no idea how this vessel works or what’s inside, so we had to make sure it couldn’t fly away on its own through some sort of remote command.” Hao continued, “Bringing over the other two spacecraft was trickier, though, since they had broken into several pieces. You will be able to examine them later.”

  As he spoke, he gestured for Connelly to follow him down another set of stairs to the eighth and last floor. “As you know, we completed the cover-up by inserting meteor debris from Nunavut into the Chilliwack crash site to show to the media. No one was the wiser. One of the CSIS’ finest moments, if you ask me.”

  Hao passed protective clothing and a helmet to Connelly. When they were both fully covered, he led the way into a cold, high-security chamber where three incubators lay side by side.

  “And here, we have the spacecrafts’ occupants,” Hao breathed, as they stared at the three beings who lay in the incubators. Hao spoke in awe. “We recovered these extraterrestrials from the crash site. As you can see, they could easily pass as humans, though they are slightly taller than us. They have strong features, olive-coloured skin and high cheekbones. Their most unusual feature is their white hair. The one furthest from us is a female specimen with long, straight hair and faerie-like features. Next to her is a male of about the same age with short hair. The third being is an older male who may have been their leader.”

  Hao stared at Connelly to check his reaction, but he seemed unmoved by the fact that he was in the presence of creatures from outer space.

  A man in a lab coat appeared behind a tall window. He gestured to Hao that he wanted to speak to him.

  Nodding, he said, “I’ll give you a minute to get to know our three prime ‘suspects’. Too bad none of them are alive to tell us their story. Right?” He clapped Connelly on the back as he walked away.

  Stiff and silent, Connelly towered over the incubators. All of a sudden his brow creased above his determined eyes and he gritted his teeth. He leant onto the incubator closest to him with both hands and bent his head in pain. The muscles at the back of his neck twitched. Something odd was happening to his face, for it began to tremble abnormally fast behind the helmet, as if his skin had turned into rippling water.

  His eyes went from green to honey-brown, his nose shrank, his face lengthened and, out of his bald head, white, spikey hair appeared. When the transformation was complete, Connelly had been replaced by an entirely different being.

  He glared intensely at the lifeless aliens. Then, in the reflection of a windowpane, he noticed Hao taking leave of the man in the doctor’s coat. Hao would be joining him again in no time. The being’s jaw clenched in concentration. His face trembled again, his breath coming in fast gasps and sweat pearling his front. It took all of his willpower to regain his former aspect, yet by the time Hao joined him by the incubators, Connelly’s head was bald and his eyes were green again.

  ***

  The family doctor blamed Ben’s panic attack on his slow recovery from his illness and recommended resting for another couple of days. Ben didn’t think resting would magically rid him of his nightmares and panic attacks, but Laura reminded him they had no choice but to follow the doctor’s advice. After all, how was the doctor supposed to provide Ben with a decent treatment if they had not revealed the real trigger of the boy’s illness?

  “We can’t tell the doctor the whole tru
th, Ben,” Laura said gently, as she tucked him under a blanket on the couch. Tike lay down next to him contentedly.

  Ben toyed with the TV control, pursing his lips.

  “You do understand why, don’t you?” Laura insisted. She brushed his fringe away with her hand.

  Ben sighed.

  I do.

  He went over the reasons in his mind: his mother had found him unconscious, lying between the roots of a tree on the outskirts of Chilliwack, his hair covered in dirt and pieces of corn leaves, his face black with soot. By the time they had made it out of Chilliwack, military helicopters were crisscrossing the sky and reporters were flocking in to cover The Cosmic Fall. A heavy plume of smoke billowed off the hillside next to Grampa’s house…

  Laura interrupted his thoughts. “If the doctor discovers you were in Chilliwack that night, we’ll find a herd of reporters and investigators swarming our apartment. I need you to recover your health, but that won’t happen if there are cameras stuck to your face.”

  Ben groaned. “I know, I know, Mom. You told me before. I don’t really care about the reporters. It’s Grampa I’m worried about.”

  Laura knelt beside him. “I’m worried, too, honey,” she said softly.

  Ben asked, “Did you call him today?”

  Laura looked down at her hands, before answering carefully. “I call his house every day, Ben. I’ve called him a hundred times since The Fall…” She broke off.

  Ben swallowed. “…and, still no answer?”

  Laura’s brows creased as she shook her head. “Still no answer.”

  ***

  By the next week, Ben was back at school, but it wasn’t long before he got himself noticed again, because Tike had somehow managed to escape the apartment and was found sitting politely in front of the school entrance. After the Principal realized that suspending Ben would not have any effect on the dog, and after most of the students voiced their excitement at having a cute dog “guard” their school, he decided to turn a blind eye on the problem.

  From then on, Tike always accompanied Ben and waited for him patiently by the school entrance. Ben found this to be a huge relief. Knowing that his faithful friend was close-by brought him a sense of calm, and he was able to concentrate on his lessons again.

  Unfortunately, the sympathy that Tike received from the students did not rub off on Ben, for he never felt the need to hang around with boys and girls from his class to talk about which movie they were going to see that weekend, or how to best handle Mr. Taylor’s Math assignment.

  When the school bell rang, Ben left in a hurry, hiding his dark brown eyes under his side fringe, hugging the brick wall of the school building, then crossing into a side street which fewer students used. He was barely across the road when he noticed two older boys hanging around behind a van. He swore under his breath for not having noticed them sooner, but it was too late. One of them, the tallest, shouted, “Hey! Oddball! Where ya goin’?”

  Ben knew the bully’s name was Peter. He hunched over, quickening his pace, but Peter called again, “Hey, wait up, Oddball. You have to meet my new friend, Mason.”

  Mason yelled in a sing-song voice, “Hi, Oddball!” Both boys sniggered as they followed him down the road.

  Ben took off, his new backpack bouncing against his side, Tike following close behind. He was passing a chain link fence when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw dark shadows running up to him. He jumped when he realized that three fierce-looking dogs had crossed a small yard to examine him up close. Ben’s hair prickled at the back of his neck as the huge animals shadowed him from behind the fence. He was so mesmerized by the silent creatures that a car almost hit him as it emerged from the parking lot of an adjacent building. The man honked angrily, blocking Ben’s passage.

  Ben turned to face the bullies. They were just about to catch up with him when the three beasts threw themselves at the fence, barking wildly and growling menacingly. The two boys yelled, backing away in fright.

  Ben stared at the scene in amazement while Tike tugged at his trouser leg as if telling him to get moving. Ben didn’t need convincing. He sprinted off, heading into busier streets where he caught a bus to the coast.

  ***

  Stanley Park was considered one of the most beautiful city parks in the world, nestled on a semi-island surrounded by Vancouver Harbour and English Bay. It was covered in lush, dark-green western red cedars, bigleaf maples and Douglas firs, while circled by the coveted Seawall where city dwellers and tourists alike could hike, jog, stroll, cycle or rollerblade while they enjoyed the view of the city skyline and the North Shore Mountains.

  For Ben, it meant freedom to roam along forest trails or the beach while throwing a stick for Tike to fetch. When both boy and dog had had enough, they sat on boulders in front of the Seawall, close to the empty outdoor pool, which only functioned in the summer months.

  The mid-autumn afternoon ticked by. Ben’s backpack was dumped aside, forgotten, as he threw pebbles into the water. Tike tilted his head at the sight of a small crab skittering among the rocks.

  “Hey, you! Kid!” someone yelled. Ben whirled, startled. A young man on a bicycle wearing high-tech cycling garments and unplugging headphones from his ears, nodded. “Yes, you!” Then he pointed towards the parking lot behind the swimming pool. “Is that your Mom?”

  A car honked and several pedestrians turned disapprovingly to see who could be making such a racket. A woman waved her arm energetically through the window of the car, which Ben recognized as being his Mom’s old Toyota.

  “Yes, thank you,” he told the cyclist, flustered. He picked up his backpack, then jogged to the car with his head down. He had barely slid into the passenger seat before she scolded him. “How many times have I told you to come straight home after school? What’s the matter with you? I’ve been waiting for you all afternoon! You can’t go off on your own like that! What if you had had another panic attack?”

  “Mom! I’m fine!” Ben retorted. “You don’t need to be on my back all the time!” He braced himself for her answer while he put on his seat belt. He was reminded of how they had always been bickering at one another before his illness. They were both stubborn that way. But this time his mother remained silent.

  Ben was startled to see Laura’s chin quiver as a tear rolled down her cheek. She bowed her head to let her loose hair fall to the side of her face like a curtain so he couldn’t see her cry. Her breath came in short gasps, accompanied by a wheezing sound.

  Asthma attack!

  The anger left Ben as soon as he recognized the sound. He reached for the asthma inhaler in her handbag and gave it to her. After she had sucked in a few breaths from the medication dispenser and regained control of her breathing, he asked carefully, “Mom, what’s wrong?”

  She stared out the front windshield, then turned toward him. Her red-rimmed green eyes revealed that she had been crying for some time. “It’s your Grampa,” she said softly. “He’s in the hospital.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  Evidence

  Inspector James Hao grabbed the doorknob, then pushed the heavy wooden door into the elegant meeting room. He allowed High Inspector George Tremblay and Agent Theodore Connelly to enter first, before following them without delay. He absorbed the room’s occupants with a sweeping glance: a dozen men and one woman in business suits sat around an impeccably smooth, grey-tinted table. He spotted a couple of men in military uniforms heavily covered with war decorations, while High Inspector shook hands with the woman as he made his way to the head of the table, where he invited everyone to sit down. Hao joined him, while Connelly placed himself in the shadows, close to the wall.

  The High Inspector thanked everyone for making it to the emergency meeting on such short notice. “The Canadian Government,” he explained, “has opted to bring China and the US to the table to discuss the true nature of The Cosmic Fall. The reason for this, is that the event has become an international problem. The Government is considering involving other coun
tries but does not want to risk a breach of information to the media at this point. We will now proceed without further delay.” He presented Inspector James Hao, who moved forward to take his place in front of the curious onlookers.

  Hao cleared his throat, thanked the High Inspector, and began. “On August 26 at approximately 10:46 p.m., a US satellite was destroyed while in full orbit around the Earth. Less than a minute later, several witnesses on the ground reported seeing an object hurtling across the sky. It crashed on the outskirts of Chilliwack in the province of British Columbia. At 10:57 p.m., a second mass fell from the sky and exploded sixty feet from the first. You are already aware of these facts, which were reported by the media. What you do not know is that at approximately 11:23 p.m., a third object reached the same location. This one, however, did not crash.” He paused for effect. “It landed.” He checked his audience for their reaction. There were a lot of confused stares around the table.

  The Inspector clicked the button of a remote control, triggering a projector to cast images on a blank screen behind him. A close-up of the alien spaceship appeared. He heard gasps of surprise.

  “The three objects which arrived on Canadian territory on August 26 were not meteor debris, as we have led the media to believe. They were unidentified flying objects–UFOs,” Hao stated. “This image is of the third spacecraft, which did not explode and which we recovered on location. It is intact but has so far proven impenetrable.”

  Those around the table erupted into loud talking. The High Inspector stood to silence the attendees.

  Several other, less obvious pieces appeared on the screen, as Hao raised his voice over the buzz. “These are the remains of the other two vessels which exploded upon impact. After closer examination, they clearly comprise the same kind of spacecraft.” The pieces on the screen danced around each other before latching together like the pieces of a three-dimensional puzzle.