Leaving Dreamland

by Jessica Jarman

  Curtis grabbed Milton by the shoulders. “They’ll get her out. The pilots know what they’re doing.”

  “We have to be here. What if we put the weapon into that beam? Let them pull it up?” Milton suggested.

  “And let them analyze it before we deliver it right into their ship in a huge dose? No.” Curtis yanked Milton to the outer doors, and they watched through the specialty reinforced glass and plastic.

  “She’ll be okay. She has to be.” Curtis hugged Milton from behind.

  “If she’s not, this is your fault.” Bonnie pointed at her father.

  “I wasn’t watching her. If she was still in the dark about all of this, she wouldn’t be out there,” Hastings countered.

  Milton knew it was true. If they’d found a way to keep the secrets and distract her, Shannon might be safe right now. “We should’ve just seduced her. Never said a word about the alien thing.”

  “Then she’d have hated us for lying in the end,” Ross said.

  “I got over it. Women can get over things but she deserved to know. She knew there were missing truths in her life. You can’t hold someone against their will for months and not tell them why. This is still America!” Bonnie glared at her father.

  “But even America has martial law. When it comes to an alien attack, I’m willing to use it,” Hastings replied.

  “It won’t work on the aliens so it isn’t exactly worth all that much, is it?” Bonnie shot back.

  “The beam fizzled. Damn, now it’s back.” Milton blinked, but the beam was losing its cohesion.

  Hastings got on his phone. “Tell those pilots to double up. More in the air, and I want ground fire. I mean actual fire. Flame throwers. Whatever you have, throw it at them now!”

  Milton looked over and saw Bonnie’s face contorted in concern and annoyance. Family was never easy. Milton had never had family except for the guys and now Shannon. Without her, the world meant nothing.

  Flames and more jets filled the view, and now, Milton hoped the alien beam protected Shannon from any of the fallout. At first, the Keelon ship showed no reaction to the added attack. Their shields seemed impenetrable. Then the beam became unstable again. The flames and every other form of attack were lodged at that little spot, and something looked as though it had caught fire. The alien beam was down to a faded bit of light. Milton rushed out into the open and felt Gavin hard on his heels.

  This time, Gavin didn’t drag Milton back. Together, they caught Shannon as she fell to the ground. Gavin threw her over his shoulder and ran back to safety as Milton covered them, running backwards. He’d rather take the attack than let anything happen to Shannon.

  When he looked up, Milton saw the Keelon vessel rise, and as he closed the doors behind his group, the Keelons darted across the sky. They were gone in a blink.

  “Are you okay?” Bonnie asked Shannon.

  Shannon shook her head and fainted.

  Panicked, Curtis felt her neck. “She’s alive. Just exhausted. Let’s get her to medical.”

  “How are you?” Ross asked Milton and Gavin.

  “We’re fine. But I’m ready to kill those Keelons. If we could go to war with them, I’d be there.” Milton had never been the harshest warrior of the group, but suddenly, he saw the raw need that Gavin felt. Winning. Defeating the bad guy. For Milton, it had to be personal, but just like the others, he’d been bred for war. The humans had just raised him differently.

  They all marched to medical and listened to Shannon’s raspy breathing. Even Commander Hastings didn’t flee for meetings or status reports—Bonnie probably would’ve strangled him if he had. Milton hoped it was a good sign for the growing family.

  Chapter Six

  Lying on a medical bed, Shannon tried to focus on the seven faces around her. Her four guys, her sister, and even Hastings were there. The other woman was the doctor Shannon had grown to know all too well during her tests, Liz.

  Everyone was talking at once. It made Shannon long for earplugs. Clearly, her sister and her father weren’t the types to be quiet when they had something to share. Her adopted parents were so calm and laid back that Shannon felt like a stranger with her more verbal, real family. She preferred the no-conflict feeling, but the arguing didn’t bother her as much anymore. Maybe her birth mother had been calm, too? She wished she’d have gotten a chance to meet her.

  “Shut up! She’s awake!” Liz said. “Shannon, do you remember anything?”

  Shannon nodded. “My head hurts. That beam was cold.”

  “The beam released you suddenly so you fell about three feet. That strained your head and neck a little. It’s a mild form of whiplash plus a few bumps and bruises. We’ll give you something for the pain.” Liz pressed a needle to Shannon’s skin. “Your epidermis seems to be fine. No frostbite or anything. Let’s get a warming blanket in here.”

  A technician covered Shannon with a heated blanket that made her want to fall right asleep. “Thank you!”

  “Did they drain your energy?” Bonnie asked.

  “No, I don’t think so. It was weird.”

  “They often use mind tricks. Did you feel as if you were on the ship or with anyone you knew?” Liz asked.

  “No, I knew where I was all the time. I don’t know what they were trying to do, but they weren’t pulling me in fast.” Shannon sat up slowly as the pain medication took effect.

  “Did they demand information?” Hastings asked.

  “They wanted us all. They wanted more of us. They repeated something like that.” Shannon shrugged. “It didn’t make any sense. They didn’t take me or grab anyone else in a beam.”

  “Do you think they mean all the hybrids? They’re not getting my baby.” Liz shook her head.

  “Wow, how many hybrid children are there?” Shannon asked.

  “Not that many, but I’m not sure what the Keelons meant. Did they attack anywhere else on Earth? Other bases?” Bonnie asked Hastings.

  “Hang on.” Hastings got on his phone for a report.

  “They kept talking like they were helping us, doing us a favor. Once they got what they wanted, they’d be done. Maybe, that’s just how it sounded in my head, but they weren’t threatening.” Shannon rested her head on Curtis’ shoulder.

  “Probably to keep you calm and see if they could get any information out of you,” Liz offered.

  Just then Liz’s phone went crazy. “Six patients coming in?”

  “Yes, apparently, they dumped over a dozen abductees into another open area before they buzzed the buildings. Some are fine, but all need to be checked out. Six seem to need treatment.” Hastings shook his head. “Why return humans?”

  “To get us to give up what they want without a fight?” Bonnie shook her head. “Maybe, whatever they wanted didn’t work? We’re not worth it?”

  Curtis shook his head. “That makes no sense. The food and biology are too similar. Why not take the resources then?”

  “Too far to haul it all back home? They might not be sure how to preserve our resources so they’ll be useable after the trip. It isn’t a quick trip to Mars.” Hastings sighed and looked at Bonnie. “I have to go deal with this. Keep an eye on your sister.”

  “Is it really that far?” Shannon asked.

  “Yes. If we make enough trouble, maybe it won’t be worth killing everyone and harvesting all our goods. Or ever coming back again,” Ross answered.

  “But they were just here days ago. They went home and came back that fast?” Shannon tried to wrap her brain around what she remembered from Star Trek, but the galaxies and light years weren’t clicking. How far was “far” and how many more ships were coming this way?

  “No, they probably went somewhere nearby to regroup. Communication is possible over long distances, but they won’t spare more than one ship at a time.” Gavin paced.

  “So they gave back the humans so we’ll let them take what they want and go away? It’s not like we’ve put up a huge fight before.” Curtis joined the pacing.

&nbs
p; “What if they found out about the guys? If they can scan for hybrids then maybe they can scan for their own kind,” Shannon said.

  Fear spread through her. She knew she was right even if no one else believed her.

  “They didn’t try to grab the guys who are aliens.” Bonnie frowned. “I don’t get it.”

  “Now, they know there are hybrids here. Maybe, they’ve perfected cloning?” Ross pondered aloud. “Who knows what their technology has grown to? They want to get their people back and dump the humans.”

  “No way is that going to happen.” Shannon hugged Milton tight. She’d just gotten her men and her birth family. No one would take her away. Earth was home no matter what a bunch of aliens thought. She felt nothing alien in her, no connection to the Keelons except a love of space.

  “Damn right. We’re not letting anyone go. Shannon, go rest in your quarters. If there’s anything you remember, bring it up. Right now, you seem medically fine and just need to sleep,” Liz said.

  “Thanks. Let me know how the women are, and if you learn anything from their experiences. Hopefully, the Keelons gave them some clue about why they were being let go.” Shannon’s head rang a bit when she stood up.

  The men held her, and Bonnie smiled. “Don’t hold your breath. Take it easy. Sleep it off. I’ll stay here and keep an eye on the returned women. I promise I’ll give you a full report.”

  “We’ll keep her in bed,” Ross promised.

  “Keep your hands to yourself until she’s recovered.” Bonnie winked at Shannon.

  Shannon wanted to hold onto all her men and feel their warmth and strength instead of the cold alien beam. They’d make it better, and she’d give into the love when her energy was back.

  * * * *

  Curtis cuddled Shannon to him in bed. She was in nothing except a silky teddy, but Milton was pressed to her other side and they had a fleece blanket tucked over her. Ross checked her pulse and temperature regularly. Gavin stood guard. They’d managed to feed her soup then it had all caught up with her. Now, they watched as she dozed.

  “If they wanted to take her, they’d have pulled her up in that beam in seconds,” Ross said softly.

  The break in silence relieved Curtis. “Maybe the attack was effective? Or maybe they don’t want hybrids at all?”

  “Who knows what they want. War? All the women? What does it matter? We need to scare them off.” Gavin paced at the foot of the bed.

  “War is something we won’t win against the Keelons. Scaring them off is all we can manage.” Ross shook his head. “We need to be so much trouble that it’s not worth their time and effort.”

  “Hastings keeps putting off the use of the weapon like it’ll go away,” Gavin grumbled.

  “Picking your battles is part of leadership,” Curtis said.

  When the group disagreed, Curtis had to bring things back in focus. In a war, he’d be leading the group into battles, but here on earth his role was much less pressure.

  “A battle is coming. We can all feel it.” Milton nodded and put a reassuring arm over Shannon. “Our role isn’t war this time. It’s protection.”

  Gavin shrugged. “If they lose the battle, how can we protect her?”

  “Hastings is right not to engage prematurely in a battle with a superior armed force and their technology. If we were close and could travel there, guerilla warfare and small attacks at their weak points would be smart. Cutting off their food supplies or disabling their power sources and spaceships isn’t possible from here. We’re at a disadvantage, but we’re not giving up. Our plans must be flexible.” Ross studied Shannon. “We should let her sleep.”

  “Of course,” Curtis said.

  Ross sighed. “I’d like to see her more hydrated.”

  “When she wakes up, we’ll get her to drink a bunch of water and take more soup,” Milton said.

  Gavin frowned.

  “What?” Curtis asked.

  “I love her.”

  “We all do.” Milton shrugged.

  “I almost wish the battle was behind us before we changed our relationship with her.” Gavin continued his pacing.

  “We loved her already. It wouldn’t help,” Curtis said.

  “It might have been easier to face without her knowing how we feel. Seeing her hurt is harder than anything else.” Gavin leaned on the far wall.

  “No one wants her hurt. We know she loves us. That’s worth fighting for. Knowing that she loves us will give us more of a will to win,” Milton said.

  “We have to win and to protect her. She’s had so much shock and chaos recently she’s acting out and I don’t blame her. Keeping her in the dark was wrong of Hastings. She’s a smart woman who deserved to know the truth. It’s better if she knows what’s going on even if there is a battle. Hopefully, she won’t run out or try to join the fight anymore. If hybrids are at risk, she can stay back and not endanger others,” Ross said.

  “Let’s hope.” Curtis knew it was the practical move. Shannon wouldn’t want to hurt anyone, but all of the secrets had frustrated her. The normally calm woman had run out into the open desert with an alien vessel hovering in the sky. If there was more danger, Curtis just wasn’t sure she’d be able to restrain herself and watch.

  Milton frowned at Curtis. “What? You don’t think Ross is right?”

  “I think she’s discovered her headstrong human side. I can’t imagine she’ll be willing to follow orders and sit back.” Curtis curled a strand of her long brown hair around his finger.

  “Given that Bonnie is Shannon’s sister, I fear you might be right,” Gavin replied.

  “So protection and containment is all we can do. I’d rather be fighting for our own freedom, but if she’s at all in danger, we must have our priorities straight. Protect her from the Keelons.” Ross sighed.

  “We may be asked to protect other hybrids and their families. We’ll have to wait for Hastings to brief people on a plan of attack to see what we’re assigned to do. After what happened today, he’ll have to put together a full scale defense strategy and prep people.” Curtis kissed Shannon’s forehead and hoped she’d feel better when she woke.

  “Whatever it is, we’ll do it. It’ll feel better to have a plan that waiting and watching the skies.” Gavin exhaled in frustration.

  “Our Gavin is such a man of action,” Milton smiled at Curtis.

  “We’d all feel better with the Keelons taken care of. What sort of a future can we offer her now? Stuck here for our own good.” Curtis shook his head.

  “She likes the observation room. If she had a job here, too, it might make it easier,” Ross said.

  “One step at a time,” Curtis said.

  Chapter Seven

  The conference room was packed tight with people the next day. The men stood behind Shannon who sat next to her sister. Gavin watched as whispered conversations around the table made Shannon nervous. The doctor was there, as were Meg and the leader of the pilots on the project, Samantha Montgomery. All three of them had group relationships with alien men and plenty to lose if things went badly.

  Only Liz, the doctor, had had a child so far, and it’d caused a big stress in Dreamland. Thus far, the baby was healthy. Gavin doubted the wisdom of having a hybrid with all of the abductions and Keelon activity. He wanted children the human way, raising them and not training them for war, but until the world felt safe enough from the Keelons, nothing would make their group take that risk.

  Hastings walked in, and the room fell silent. The large TV screen blinked to life and replayed the alien ship’s path and activity from the day prior. Shannon kept her eyes down.

  “The incident shows an escalation we didn’t predict. Returning a large group of human women might be a distraction.” Hastings shook his head. “They know nothing. While the women are relieved to be here, they have no memories at all of their time.”

  “Repressed due to trauma?” Bonnie asked Liz.

  “Not that I can tell. Some of the women are shaken, but the uninjur
ed ones know who they are, where they are, but they have a blank in their memories. They think the date is right around when they were reported missing give or take a day. We’re monitoring them.”

  “Do you think one is an alien plant? Maybe, they have a listening device on the women?” Gavin asked.

  “All of them have been DNA tested. They’re completely human. We scanned then and x-rayed them while they were isolated. Nothing was found that could transmit information back to the aliens. A couple of the women have been gone for more than a year. One has given birth recently, but there was no baby returned and she has no memory of any of that.” Liz shook her head. “They may be distracting us from a coming attack. We could spin our wheels for weeks trying to help the abductees piece together their memories.”

  “If it’s a distraction, what do we do?” Shannon asked.

  “The best move is to relocate all alien and hybrid citizens to another location.” Hastings sat back. “Then we’ll be able to tell if the aliens can find them through some long distance scanner or if they’re just assuming because it’s Area 51 that we have them all here. Don’t worry, you’ll be perfectly safe.”

  “No way,” Bonnie said.

  “This is the best way to keep your men alive,” Hastings snapped.

  “Like the aliens won’t just move on and keep searching the planet? They’ve abducted people from all over the Earth. If you go to the trouble to move them, it’ll just get the alien’s attention.” Bonnie shook her head.

  “She’s right!” Shannon piped up. “We’re not going anywhere. If they want a fight, we’ll put up a fight right here. If they want to take away the hybrids or aliens, we’ll resist. I’ll do whatever I can.”

  “We all will. How’s the drone issue?” Gavin asked.

  Meg nodded. “We’re good. I think we’ve got it finally. We’ll do a couple more tests this afternoon to make sure there’s a consistent explosion, but we’ll be ready to go whenever we get another visit.”

  Hastings inhaled deeply. “Outfit all the ships flying against the Keelons with at least one drone.”