The Elicon

by Rob Roth

  Jace had just finished up his walking lecture tour of the historic town, when a call came in on his phone. It was a call that would scar his memory forever.

  "Is this Dr. Jason Larkin?"

  "Yes it is. To whom am I speaking?"

  "This is Dr. Mallory at Red Rocks Medical Center. I'm afraid your wife Kaylin has been in a very serious accident. I think you should leave immediately and get here as fast as you can."

  Jace and Dooley ran to their car and began making arrangements for the earliest possible flight. As they raced to the airport, a fireball passed over Nördlingen and was seen in the sky by thousands of residents in that area. Ironically, because of their immediate concerns, and the fact neither spoke German, they were both completely unaware of that localized stellar event.

  The fireball was also noticed by a number of people at the U.S. Army Garrison at Ansbach, including Colonel Heissman who was outside at the time overseeing various flight maneuvers. Unlike most who saw it as an interesting phenomenon, to Heissman it was the sign of destiny.

  Taking a small contingent of soldiers and a truck, Colonel Heissman was able to track down the small impact site to a nearby forest, and he followed the noticeable plume of smoke which subsequently stopped abruptly as he approached. It had led him to a small impact crater about twenty feet in diameter in the heart of the woods. In the center of the crater was a black rock about the size of a grapefruit.

  Carefully Heissman bent over to pick it up, but as soon as he touched the rock, it immediately turned into blue dust. To Heissman this was a miraculous sign. The gods had delivered something very special to him, he was sure. He carefully collected the blue dust and was determined to have his team perform tests to see what this miraculous blue dust was, and how he could use it to advance his destiny.

  ELEVEN

  PRESENT DAY

  Dooley, Allison and Aput made good time travelling back across the Greenland glacier, as the weather was favorable and the days were growing a little longer, providing good light for the journey. Aput was in the lead and travelling in his sled alone, while Dooley and Allison rode behind in the other sled. That gave them both time and privacy to talk.

  “What if that portal Jace went through took him someplace other than what he was wanting?” Dooley asked. “We don’t know that he went right to that woman. The portal could have gone anywhere. Or worse, what if it was some kind of trap?”

  “Blimey Dooley, we can’t change the past. What’s done is done. I don’t think Jace would have forgiven himself if he hadn’t taken that chance. He was right concerned about that woman, and I think he would have bloody well tried just about anything at all to help her out. All we can do is hope he got there ok and is able do whatever he was needed to do. If there’s any way for him to come back, he’ll figure out a way. The best thing for us now is to focus on our plans going forward. We need to set our minds on something else.”

  “You’re probably right, Allie,” said Dooley frowning. “Right now, we need to get Aput back to Qaanaaq and with his village. I think he’s ok, but I noticed he does limp a bit after that explosion dropped the rocks on us. Why the hell do you think they took a shot at us? We certainly weren’t any threat to them.”

  “Who knows? I imagine they could have been mad at Aput yelling at them, but really that doesn’t make much sense. And how did the buggers even find us? We were out in the middle of nowhere for days, and then they showed up right after we found the blue dust, just in time that they could collect it? That’s a pretty big coincidence…”

  “Yeah, it is,” replied Dooley. “What was it Jace said to Severs… ‘coincidences are becoming more commonplace for us.’ I don’t believe in coincidences, but I’d say something fishy is definitely going on. And didn’t Captain Severs say the spaceship was first detected overhead of them, minutes before we called it in to him?”

  “I believe so. And that’s a bit odd as well, wouldn’t you think? Severs was virtually in the middle of nowhere at Thule air base. What’s happening here?”

  “I don’t know, Allie, but I think Captain Severs is somehow involved in these ‘coincidences’ as well. Look, with Jace gone, we are now down a man. What if something were to happen to one of us? The other would be all alone. I know something big is going on. I don’t know what it is, but I think we better figure it out, and we can use all the help we can get. Severs isn’t all that far away. I’m thinking our first stop should be with Severs and see if we can get him to team up with us. He’s the only one that knows what we’ve seen is real — that the aliens are real. And that they can be deadly since he lost his helicopter team. He’s also the only one that’s communicated with them, and he never told us how he did that. There’s definitely more that Severs can tell us.”

  “Brilliant idea. And he had another mate with him that saw the alien ship and the actual helicopter attack. Severs talked to the aliens but never said he saw them. Maybe we should recruit them both,” Allison said.

  “Ok then. First, we need to get to Qaanaaq. I remember Severs said they had a Medevac helicopter that could reach Qaanaaq. When we get there, let’s call him and see if we can arrange for a pick-up and get over to Thule. I’d rather do this in person than over a phone. I may have some persuading to do.”

  “Dooley, I’m glad we have a plan to begin with. I think it’s good for us both to get our minds back in the game. I hope when Jace does show back up, we’ll have made some progress. Bugger, I hate feeling useless.”

  It was still daylight, but the sun was almost to the horizon when Dooley, Allison and Aput finally pulled into the little fishing village of Qaanaaq. Aput insisted they spend the night again with him in his small house, which was nice considering they had no other alternatives and preferred not to build another igloo.

  “Allie, please tell Aput how much we’ve appreciated all his help and hospitality. Oh, and give him this,” said Dooley as he pulled out a sizeable wad of bills from Jace’s pack.

  Aput smiled and said something back to Allison, taking the money and putting it into his pocket.

  “He wanted me to thank you for saving his life from the ‘big whale in the sky’,” Allison translated for Aput. “I hope he doesn’t tell too many people that story. They are a close-knit community and I’d hate to think what his friends would think of that tale,” she said with a slight chuckle.

  They turned in early, and after having spent the last week out in the elements they re-discovered how much they enjoyed being in a warm house. Soft mattresses to sleep on was also a real plus, in Dooley’s mind. Looking over to his right, he saw Allison sleeping on the other mattress, and frowned.

  For the first time in a very long time, Dooley felt as if he was in a bit of a quandary. He and Jace had been close friends for twenty years. They had a special bond. But what he was beginning to feel for Allie was different. She was someone like him, almost like another part of himself he never realized he was missing.

  Sure, they still fought a lot, but he suspected that was part of his attraction. He couldn’t really tell yet if she felt the same way. He was hoping Jace would come back soon, but he also suspected that his relationship with Jace would somehow be different, because Dooley had someone else who was beginning to mean as much to him as Jace. He certainly hoped Jace would not feel too bad about this situation. Jace had depended on Dooley after losing Kaylin, and he didn’t want Jace to feel abandoned. He certainly hoped Jace would eventually find someone special for himself… someone who would be his counterpart in many ways, as Allison has been proving herself to be to Dooley.

  They slept in a little late the next morning, as sleep had come easily in the evening and was not eager to leave them at daybreak. Allison got up when she smelled the coffee Aput had brewed and she was enjoying a second cup by the time Dooley roused.

  “Hey, you should have woken me up when you got up,” Dooley said. “I didn’t mean to sleep half the morning away.”

  Allison walked over to where he was still lying and pa
tted him on the head.

  “But you were such a cute sleepy head, I didn’t want to disturb you.” Allison had decided to see if Dooley responded in some way that would give her a clue if he had any feelings beyond friendship.

  On the spur of the moment Dooley grabbed Allison by the waist and pulled her over onto the bed with him, laughing.

  “Believe me, I don’t mind being disturbed by you,” he said as he wondered if maybe he had gone too far with her.

  But she just laughed back, and gave Dooley a little push, getting back up.

  “Oh? Did I disturb you? I’m curious to know how… and why are you being so friendly today? Is it your way of apologizing?”

  “For what?” Dooley asked with an innocent look on his face.

  “You can be very pleasant Dooley, and I appreciate that. You are a real gentleman. But you also don’t have a clue that women can also be your equal. Maybe even better than you at some things.”

  Before Dooley could protest, Allison continued, “But that discussion should wait, mate. I believe we have a call we need to make. Why don’t you get up and get dressed first? Once you’ve had a cup of coffee, we can give him a call on the sat tele.”

  Dooley nodded to Allison saying, “Ok, I should be dressed and ready before too long,” he said as he rolled off the bed, thinking over what Allison had said to him as he got ready in the other room.

  Her actions were certainly encouraging, he smiled to himself, but her comments caught him by surprise. As he considered them he realized she could be somewhat right. He liked being a gentleman and knew how to flatter the ladies. But after all he was a man, and they were… well, women. He was a trained soldier and… ok, well maybe Allie was too… he would have to think about this some more when he had the time.

  In about an hour Dooley and Allison were ready.

  “Thule air base, this is Qaanaaq village,” Allison called on the phone.

  “Qaanaaq, this is the Thule air base operator. How may I direct your call?”

  “Could you please connect me with Captain Severs? It is regarding a personal matter. You may tell him Allison Trask is calling.”

  In a couple minutes Allison heard the familiar voice of Captain Severs.

  “Captain Severs here. Is that you Miss Trask?”

  “Indeed, Captain. Are you alone and able to talk freely?”

  “Just a minute.” After a number of seconds, Captain Severs came back on the phone. “I am now in a private office. You may speak freely Miss Trask.”

  “Captain, it is imperative Dooley and I come and talk to you at Thule air base. It’s regarding new information we’ve acquired about the aliens and their spacecraft. We’d like to confer with you in an exchange of information. I don’t believe it is an overstatement to say there may be a threat to our world. Any chance you can send the Medevac helicopter to Qaanaaq and pick us up, mate?”

  After a considerable pause he replied, “Miss Trask, I would be going out on a limb if I did that, and possibly risking my career. However, I know what you saw was real, and I can see the merits of a face to face exchange. What does Dr. Larkin think of this? Can you put him on, please?”

  “Unfortunately, Captain, that’s part of our concern. Dr. Larkin’s been taken by the aliens,” Allison lied, although in her mind it was not too far from the truth, either.

  “Now that changes everything, doesn't it? It will take some time, but I think I can get approval for the Medevac to get to Qaanaaq this afternoon. I will meet you both at the helipad at Thule when you arrive this evening."

  Four hours later Dooley and Allison heard the Medevac as it approached Qaanaaq and then descended onto a flat open area just outside the village. They had their bags already packed, so it didn't take long for them to run out, greet the pilot, stow their gear, and get onboard the helicopter. In a couple of minutes, they were ascending and then heading south to Thule. The flight itself was not long, so less than an hour later they felt the helicopter descending toward the Thule Air Base helipad. As they neared the ground they saw Captain Severs standing by the pad watching their descent.

  "Welcome to Thule," they heard the captain shout, in order to be heard above the noise of the helicopter. Once the pilot gave the 'ok' sign, Allison and Dooley climbed out and down to the ground, walked over to join Severs, and in turn shook hands with the captain.

  "So nice to see you again, Captain, in somewhat nicer circumstances," Allison said for the two of them.

  "I trust the flight went well, seeing how quickly you made it here. And I admit I'm relieved to see you are wearing slacks today Miss Trask, he said smiling. "Please, follow me. I have arranged for us to meet in a private office, and I've invited Specialist Davis to join us, if that's ok with the both of you."

  "Actually, we were hoping he would join us, since this affects you both and we could use everyone's help," Dooley replied.

  They made their way across the snowy field to a cluster of buildings. Severs passed several before turning toward an entry door leading into one of the smaller buildings containing a number of offices. After turning down two hallways he opened the door to a small but comfortable office with a round table. Davis was already present and sitting down in one of the chairs, but stood and greeted them both with a handshake when they came in. After this they all took a seat and Severs started the discussion.

  “So, what can you tell us about Dr. Larkin being taken by the aliens? The last time we talked to him he was with you and seemed fine, and the aliens had left. What happened?”

  Allison looked at Dooley, who nodded for her to continue.

  “Sir, we haven’t been completely on the up and up with you, and it’s because there’s a piece of information you don’t have regarding a top-secret weapons initiative I’ve been involved with.”

  Severs sighed and said, “I’m not surprised. When Heissman was assigned to the UFO project I suspected there must have been a reason. And when you got the jump on us in the alley behind the auditorium you mentioned something about new technology.”

  “It’s time you knew everything, mate, because of a threat we fear the aliens pose. A joint project between the U.S. and Australia is working on a new device that is powered by the blue dust, which is a form of exotic matter. This device apparently is able to open an interdimensional portal to some other world, although the scientists cannot yet generate enough power from the blue dust to actually cross the portal. However, Dr. Larkin found a blue stone inside that egg you and Davis retrieved from Dr. Larkin’s office. It also has the ability to open a portal.

  "Jace was able to cross that portal and is now gone. But before he left us, he said the blue stone gave him a vision of a silvery spaceship that existed on the other side of the portal, before he actually saw the real one in Greenland. He told us the spaceship in his vision was identical to the real one, so he believed his visions were real.

  “As best I can describe what he told us, in the vision the spaceship had polluted the land and skies of what had formerly been a beautiful place. He had the sense in his vision the aliens did not mean to do us well. He said the spaceship came from that other dark dimension, and they are evil.

  "You have seen what they can do, Captain. You lost a helicopter with soldiers aboard, and we almost lost Dooley and our guide. Now, we believe they have acquired a lot more of that blue dust from Hiawatha Crater. We don’t know why they want it, but we suspect they use it as a power source, and from what we could tell they now have a very large supply. If only a small amount of blue dust was able to open an interdimensional portal, imagine what they could do with a lot of it.”

  Severs didn’t respond immediately, so Davis jumped in. “Well I believe you Miss Trask. I didn’t trust those aliens from day one when I saw what they did to DeMarco and his men. Count me in on whatever plans you have!”

  “I’m not sure what you want from us, Miss Trask,” Captain Severs replied more cautiously. “It sounds like they already have the blue dust. And I believe you may be correct,
that it is a power source. When I communicated with them, they indicated they only had enough fuel for one trip here. But now they apparently have replenished their supply. What can we possibly do now, other than maybe warn the authorities, most of whom won’t believe your story? Even Colonel Steinmacher is on the fence. He saw the UFO’s on radar and knows DeMarco’s helicopter was downed, but I’m not sure he believes what Davis saw and what I heard when I was communicating with them.”

  Dooley decided it was time to get in his two cents. “Look, we can either take a defeatist attitude, or we can decide to take some action. Yes, they have the blue dust, but it’s been a week since they got it, and they haven’t taken any action yet. That’s at least one reason to hope they don’t have everything they need yet. I think that the portal our governments are messing around with must somehow be related to their plans. Maybe that’s even how the aliens are getting here. We should at least try to destroy the portal.”

  “That reminds me,” said Allison. “Captain, how did you communicate with the aliens in the first place? You never told us that part.”

  “The aliens left an artifact after they destroyed the helicopter,” replied the Captain. “It had the outline of a human hand on it. We still thought they had good intentions at that time, so we did a controlled test and I put my hand on it. When I did, they communicated a message to me in my mind. Later, after we got the egg from Dr. Larkin’s hotel room, I contacted them again using that device. That’s when they mentally communicated to me to give them the egg and destroy the thing that Dr. Larkin had acquired.”

  “Right now, we are still just guessing at things,” Dooley said. “Captain, maybe you could get to that artifact and see what they want. Maybe negotiate with them, or reason with them. Find out what they intend to do.”