by Ken Warner
“I’m not sure… do you have any pain in this area?”
“No, not at all.”
“Hmm.”
The doctor finished his exam. She asked him to check the back of her neck.
“Yes, this does look like an incision, too,” he confirmed.
She told him about the abductions and explained what had happened with the Johnsons.
“Hmm. If there is something just below the skin, I can remove it now, if you’d like.”
“Yes, please,” she said. “I’m willing to bet I’ve got the same thing they did.”
“Okay, hang tight, and I’ll be right back.”
He left the exam room, then returned a minute later with the nurse. Sydney moved her hair out of the way. The nurse wiped down the back of her neck with alcohol.
“I’m going to re-open the same incision,” he told her. “This will sting a bit.”
Sydney felt him cutting open her skin.
“Yes, there’s something in there, alright,” he said. “Hold on… We’ll get it out with the tweezers… I’ve got it.”
The nurse applied a bandage to the back of her neck.
“I’m not sure what this is,” said the doctor, placing the foreign object in a small Petri dish. “But it looks just like you described.”
He handed her the dish. Sure enough, it was a small, flat wafer that looked identical to the ones in the photo from Mr. Johnson.
The doctor put a lid on the Petri dish for her.
“What about the incision in my abdomen,” she asked. “Do you think there could be something there, too?”
“Well, that’s a possibility, but… I suspect something else.”
“What?”
“The incision is directly over one of your ovaries.”
“My ovaries?! You don’t think they removed one, do you?”
“No, the incision is much too small for that. But I suspect that they could have removed an egg. A human doctor would do that through an intravaginal procedure. But, of course, if it’s aliens we’re dealing with here, who knows what kind of tech they might be using.”
“I was already planning on getting a full-body MRI,” she told him. “If they did harvest my eggs, would they be able to tell that from an MRI?”
The doctor nodded.
“Possibly. It should certainly turn up any abnormalities. Depending on how they did the procedure, it may leave traces that would show up in an MRI scan. There’s a place in Roxboro. I’ll leave the information for you at the front desk so you can grab that on your way out.
“I’m going to have the nurse draw a blood sample, and we’ll run a full metabolic panel. I’ll call you if anything comes up there—no news is good news!”
He left the room. The nurse came back in a few minutes later and drew her blood. When she was done, Sydney checked out and headed back to the ranch. She told Brian and Miguel about her exam and showed them the object the doctor had removed from her neck.
“Very odd,” said Brian. He moved into his office and pulled a magnifying glass out of his desk. Sitting down, he examined it more closely.
“I don’t see any surface features,” he told them. “It’s smooth and black. I’m a little surprised—I expected to see some sort of circuitry.”
“What, like a microchip or something?” asked Miguel.
“Precisely,” said Brian. “I’m going to bring this to my office and have them analyze it in the lab. We’ll try to get some idea of what this is. Oh, and I was able to get you an appointment for Monday with the hypnotist. I gave him more details of what’s been going on. Hopefully, he’ll be able to help you achieve total recall.”
“That would be fantastic,” said Sydney.
“I’m going to head to the office now,” Brian told them. “I want them to get started right away on this… well, whatever this is,” he said, holding up the Petri dish. “Help yourselves to the pantry and the alcohol if you’d like.”
“You’re not going to eat before you go?”
“I’ll grab something on the road,” he said. “Don’t worry about me!”
Brian left. Sydney sat down and called the MRI facility; she was able to schedule an appointment for Tuesday.
After that, she got to work making dinner.
“I’m not much of a cook,” she said to Miguel. “So, I’m afraid it’s going to be spaghetti and meatballs…”
“Sounds delicious!”
After dinner, Sydney started the fireplace and poured them each a glass of Scotch. They sat next to each other on the sofa.
“This whole thing is so… messed up,” she said. “I feel so violated. Someone, we don’t even know who, implanted some sort of device inside my body and might have taken eggs without my consent… And chances are whoever it is has been doing this to thousands of people. I mean, that’s a crime. If this were a human being, they’d go to jail for shit like this.”
Miguel nodded, taking a sip of his Scotch.
“No doubt,” he said. “And we have no idea why they’re doing it. This has been going on for decades, it would seem, but for what purpose?”
“We have no idea,” said Sydney. She drank some of her Scotch. “I still don’t feel right. It’s like… I almost feel like I’m not me anymore. It’s as if I’m watching myself doing things, instead of actually doing them…”
“I know what you mean,” he said. “I had that feeling, too.”
Sydney felt herself tearing up.
“It’s not right, what they did to us,” she said through a sniffle. “I don’t feel safe anymore. I’m scared all the time.”
Miguel pulled her into a hug, and she found herself crying into his chest.
“It’s okay,” he said. “We’re both safe here. They can’t touch you.”
Sydney took a deep breath.
“I feel so stupid,” she said. “I’m not normally a crier.”
“Nothing wrong with a good cry,” he told her. “I cried more than a few times after my abduction.”
“How long did it take before you felt like yourself again?”
“Oh, I don’t know… took a while, I guess. I don’t want to make you feel worse, but to tell you the truth, I still have nightmares sometimes. But it does get better, slowly.”
They sat there quietly for a while. Miguel started stroking her hair and then kissed her on the top of the head.
Sydney turned to face him, looking deep into his eyes.
“I think I like you,” he said, smiling at her.
“Oh, you think you like me?”
“I mean, well…”
She kissed him, and he kissed her back.
After a minute, she got up and said with a smile, “It’s getting late. I think I’m going to bed… Care to join me?”
Sydney led him into her bedroom and closed the door behind them.
A few hours later, as she started drifting off to sleep in Miguel’s arms, she heard the front door opening. She started awake.
“Who’s that?” she whispered.
“Must be Brian,” he said. “I’ll check.”
He got out of bed and got dressed, then went out to see who was there. Moments later, she heard his voice and Brian’s. She got dressed and went out to join them.
“Hey,” she said to Brian through a yawn. “How’d it go?”
“We don’t know much yet,” he said. “I was right; there are circuits on that thing. They’re incredibly tiny, though—it appears they’ve been printed on an atomic level.”
“Any idea what the thing does?” asked Miguel.
“Not yet,” said Brian. “But my team’s going to keep up their analysis through the weekend.
“Anyway, it’s very late—Miguel, let me show you to your room.”
“Ah, actually,” said Sydney, feeling a little awkward now, “he’ll be staying in my room…”
“Oh!” said Brian, surprised. “Okay! Well, goodnight!”
The three of them turned in for the night. Sydney and Miguel went for
a run together in the morning. Brian had breakfast prepared for them by the time they’d returned.
Sunday night, Brian received a call from his office.
“Andre,” he said into his phone. “What’ve you got? Uh-huh… fascinating… Did that have any effect? Hmm. Oh… Are you serious? What frequency? That’s incredible. Alright, thank you—great work!”
He closed his phone.
“So, what is it?” asked Sydney.
“It’s a microchip,” Brian told them. “There’s no question. But they tried applying an electric current to the thing, and nothing happened. On a hunch, Andre had them apply heat—98.6 degrees, to be precise.”
“Human body temperature?” said Sydney.
“Indeed. And that turned the thing on!”
“What does it do?” asked Miguel.
“That’s the most interesting part,” Brian said. “When exposed to heat, it emitted a radio signal. Very low frequency.”
“What does the low frequency mean?” asked Sydney.
“Lower frequency radio waves can travel over longer distances than higher frequency ones.”
“So, what the hell was it transmitting over that frequency, exactly?” asked Miguel.
“That they were not able to determine,” said Brian. “I suspect it may be a beacon of some kind.”
“What, you mean they were using it to track me or something?” asked Sydney. “Like a GPS device?”
“That’s exactly what I suspect,” said Brian. “Which would be incredible for such a small chip. It would have to have some way of performing geolocation—determining its exact coordinates on the planet and then transmitting that information to… well, somewhere. To someone.”
“And the Johnsons had them, too,” said Sydney. “I wonder if they’re implanting one into everyone they abduct.”
“It would help explain how they’re able to abduct some people repeatedly,” Brian observed. “They’d be easy enough to track down.”
“One of you wanna check my neck?” asked Miguel.
He turned around, and Sydney took a look.
“Yep, there’s a tiny scar there,” she confirmed.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” he said. “I think I’ll get an appointment with that doc of yours and have mine removed, too.”
“Oh, I almost forgot—I got the video of your abduction back. Check this out,” Brian said, pulling out his phone. He played the video for them.
Sydney thought it didn’t look much different from the original. But she could make out the bottom of the UFO more clearly. The upper section of the spacecraft, however, was still not visible at all.
“Don’t look much different,” Miguel observed.
“True,” said Brian. “But it is a little odd that the entire upper section of the ship is invisible. Could be the fog and lack of light, but I would have expected to see at least a vague outline of that area.”
“Well, this doesn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know,” said Sydney. “I was hoping for more.”
Monday morning, she drove over to Roxboro with Brian and Miguel to see the hypnotist. They arrived a little early and had to wait until he was ready for them.
Finally, the receptionist invited them into the office.
The room was only dimly lit. There were a couple of candles burning on the desk, and Sydney could smell incense. There were four chairs set up in front of the desk—one leather recliner and three office chairs.
“Greetings, I am Dr. Kumar,” the hypnotist said, shaking their hands. “Please, have a seat—Ms. Hastings, the recliner is for you.”
“Thank you,” said Sydney, taking a seat.
“I have spoken with Mr. Kwan,” he said. “My understanding is that we will be attempting to recover some memories of a traumatic event? An alien abduction, yes?”
“That’s correct,” said Sydney.
“It is not uncommon for one to experience some memory loss after trauma,” Dr. Kumar told them. “It is a defense mechanism the brain sometimes uses when an event is too overwhelming to process. However, in this case, it may be different. Mr. Kwan has explained to me that there are thousands of people who have had these abduction experiences, and the vast majority are unable to recall much of what has happened to them.
“This would suggest to me that whoever is behind these abductions may by some means be intentionally blocking out the memories of their victims. If they are using some sort of biological or chemical agent to achieve this, it could make the memories more difficult to access.
“It is also possible that the victims are being kept unconscious throughout their encounter. However, it is also my understanding that some people do remember at least parts of their experience. This leads me to believe that the victims are conscious for much of the time and that the memories are intact but suppressed.
“And so, I will be helping you relax your mind and attempting to help you relive your experience, to see if perhaps we can gain access to those missing memories.”
“Okay,” said Sydney. “Sounds good.”
“Now, you should know, I have also spoken with Mr. Kwan about the details of your abduction and the reports from other victims. Thus, I do already have familiarity with how these events have unfolded.”
Sydney nodded.
“Very good, let us begin. Please, open the recliner, and make yourself comfortable.”
Dr. Kumar went behind his desk and played some quiet music—it sounded like a flute, with the sound of soft ocean waves in the background.
He returned to his seat.
“Ms. Hastings, I would like you to close your eyes. I want you to concentrate on the crown of your head. Imagine the stress and tension in that area melting away and leaving your body. Now, this release slowly continues, encompassing the rest of your head, your forehead, your face, all the tension washing away, leaving your muscles relaxed.
“This process continues, down your neck, into your shoulders, and down your arms. Let your muscles relax, and allow every part of your body to sink into the chair beneath you.
“This extends now through your chest and your abdomen. Your back, and now down your legs. The tightness in your muscles washes away, and you are relaxed and light as a feather.
“Now, I want you to listen to the sound of the waves. Imagine that you are on a beach. It is nighttime, and you see the moon over the ocean. The air is warm. The waves are gently lapping against the shore, and you feel the sand beneath your feet. How do you feel?”
“Mm, peaceful,” said Sydney. “Calm.”
“Good. Now you are going to maintain that calm. You are safe, and you have the power to go anywhere you choose, at any time, do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“I want you to think back to that night when you saw the UFO. You are in your car, driving. You see a bright light behind you. What do you do?”
“I drive faster.”
“And the light follows you. What do you do now?”
“There’s a dirt road… I turn onto it, trying to get away.”
“But the UFO follows you?”
“Yes.”
“What happens next?”
“The car dies. The lights go out. I get out of the car. I’m running… but the light is still following me. I look up, and there’s a spotlight…”
“What next?”
“I’m flying up through the air…. I’m inside the UFO.”
“Very good. What do you see?”
“It’s darker here… the walls are metal…”
“What else do you see?”
“Nothing… there’s nothing here…”
“What happens now?”
“The opening I came through is gone… now it’s completely dark… I can’t see anything…”
“Is there anyone else with you?”
“No… I don’t’ think so… I don’t see anyone…”
“Do you hear anyone?”
“No. It’s silent. There’s no noise at all.”
“Do you feel anything?”
“No… yes…”
“What do you feel?”
“Air, I think… there’s a breeze… a faint breeze on my skin…”
“What happens now?”
“I don’t know… everything is black… I don’t remember anything else…”
“Do you see anyone when they move you into the pod?”
“No… There’s nobody in the pods… The pods! There were pods in the wall! They moved me into a different area!”
“Is there anyone in the pods?”
“No—they’re empty…”
“Now, what happens next?”
“Nothing… I can’t move. I’m trying to get out of the pod. But I can’t move my arms or my legs.”
“How do you feel?”
“I’m scared. I don’t know what they’re going to do with me.”
“Remember, you are in control now. You can leave at any time.”
“Yes.”
“What happens when you leave the pod?”
“I’m moving back to the room where I started.”
“Do you see anyone here?”
“No.”
“What do you see?”
“The metal walls. There’s a hole in the floor again. I can see the ground below.”
“Do you move down to the ground?”
“Yes. I’m floating again. Floating down.”
“Are you on the ground now?”
“Yes.”
“Do you see the UFO above you?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know where you are?”
“Yes. I’m in the desert. I’m near Monument Valley.”
“You can see Monument Valley?”
“Yes. It’s far away, but I can see it.”
“What do you see close by? Describe your immediate surroundings.”
“I’m in the desert. There’s nothing here. I see a mesa nearby. There’s a butte closer to me.”
“Do you see any buildings? Any manmade structures?”
“No. There is nothing here.”
“Any other flying saucers?”
“No.”
“I want you to look again toward Monument Valley. Do you see it?”
“Yes.”
“Look very carefully. Are you certain you see the mesas?”
“Yes.”
“Is there anyone with you?”
“Yes.”
