Starsong Chronicles: Exodus

by Clayborn, JJ

  “Understood, Ranger. Car 15 out.”

  James clicked the Radio. “Car 5, please respond.” Silence answered him. “Car 5, this is Hutchinson, please respond.” After a few moments of silence James tried the other one. “Car 2, please respond.” He tried again. “Car 2, this is Ranger Hutchinson, please respond.” He was met with only silence.

  He threw the radio on the seat in frustration and slammed his fists into the door, denting it slightly. He packed up the rest of the equipment from the crashed drone and loaded it up. James was more confused than ever, and he felt guiltier about the missing people. He headed back down the trail toward the cabin and called the Sheriff.

  He strode into the cabin and dialed the number. “Sheriff Long, it’s Hutchinson. We may have a problem.”

  The sheriff’s southern twang rang through. “I heard that you found Wade and Arjun, what’s the problem, son?”

  James sighed. “Where to begin? Well, yes, sort of. I haven’t seen them personally. They did radio in, but they were very confused. They still thought it was Wednesday evening.”

  The sheriff confirmed what James knew. “I just spoke with them. They were right out of sorts. I diverted them to the hospital and told them to get a physical and a psychological evaluation done.”

  James shrugged. “Well, that’s a start, and it might give us some clues. I have a suspicion that the fog might be harboring a virus of some kind. But we’ll have to come back to that, but now I can’t raise Car 5 or Car 2 on the radio. They’ve gone quiet.”

  “Hmm. Let me check the board and see where they are…” James listened closely and could hear the Sheriff walking and then the typing of a keyboard. “Son of a bitch! Their GPS is off. Both cars.”

  James shook his head. “Sheriff, I think it’s high time that you and I meet in person.”

  * * *

  Saturday, November 15th

  Chad Dickhaut stared at the data before him. Never in his life could he have imagined this. Twelve objects had now impacted the earth. Two of them had landed in Canada, one in France, one in Finland, one in the Ukraine. The rest had fallen in China, Kazakhstan, and Russia.

  The data was making the hairs on the back of Chad’s neck stand up. All of these objects had a lot of similarities; things that would be very improbable, at best. All of them came toward the Earth from a similar trajectory and all had a very high velocity that shouldn’t naturally occur. Chad supposed that they might have passed through some sort of galactic meteor storm that astronomers had never discovered yet. Like a regular meteor shower, these objects started slow and fell more rapidly. If that held true, more would be falling soon.

  But, there were a lot of other peculiarities that couldn’t be so easily explained away. For example, almost all of these objects were nearly the same size. The odds of running into random space rocks that were identical in size was basically inconceivable.

  Something else gnawed at his gut. He ran the numbers again. The Earth was approximately two-thirds water. Twelve objects had made landfall. Chad missed the connection at first. It wasn’t until he heard one of his colleagues say it that the significance hit home. Land. All twelve of these objects impacted on dry land. If they impacted randomly, at least some of them should have splashed down in the ocean. But the odds of all twelve of them striking solid ground were 1 in 531,441. That definitely wasn’t a coincidence. Chad had a theory, but he wasn’t ready to speculate publicly. He needed more data.

  He went back to the research. The newest bit of data that Chad had just confirmed sent chills down his back. He ruled out immediately any notion of random space rocks. He was mad at himself for missing it before. He had wondered about the impacts themselves on an individual level. An object so dense travelling with such high rates of speed should have left an enormous impact crater, yet everyone whom he talked to reported a fairly small crater, almost always on top of a naturally occurring cave system. He didn’t even want to consider what bit of information would do his odds calculations. But, this explained everything.

  According to Chad’s data the reason there wasn’t a larger crater is because the objects slowed down considerably right before impact. It was the meteorite equivalent of hitting the brakes right before you slammed into a brick wall. Something or someone had slowed the objects down just before they crashed into the Earth’s surface.

  Chad double checked his data. It was true for every single object. This was definitely not a random or natural occurrence. Something or someone was deliberately targeting the Earth. This was the last piece he needed to feel confident in his hypothesis.

  “I’ve got to tell someone…” Before he could finish that thought the proximity alarm tripped – lights and sirens sounded about the room. Chad rushed over and looked at the display before standing back, nauseated. “Oh my god…”

  Sunday, November 16th

  The Marshall County Sheriff’s Office was located in the town Holly Springs, just west of the forest. James left the cabin as soon as the sun was up and drove straight here. He was worried about Wade and Arjun and what the doctors had to say. He was worried about the missing researchers, the other missing deputies, his Ranger colleagues, and his friend Edgar most of all. It didn’t make any sense that Edgar could have survived that fall. He spent the rest of the drive there trying to puzzle that out.

  A deputy greeted James in the lobby and ushered him back to the Sheriff’s personal office. James was reminded how similar the Sheriff’s office was to the Ranger’s Forest Headquarters. The biggest difference is that instead of hunting thieves and muggers, the Rangers mostly hunted poachers and thieves.

  The sheriff’s voice shook James out of his thoughts. “Ranger Hutchinson,” he said, shaking James’ hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “Please, call me Hutch,” James said.

  The Sheriff nodded and pointed to himself. “Larry.” He gestured around the room nonchalantly. “Welcome to the Marshal County Sheriff’s Office.” Sheriff Long waved James towards his personal office and followed him, closing the door.

  The first thing that James noticed as he sat at the conference table was that Sheriff Long had breakfast waiting for him. The Sheriff gestured for James to help himself. James poured himself a coffee and grabbed a pastry from the box. Sheriff Long did the same, and then sat down.

  James studied the Sheriff for moment. They had spoken several times, but prior to this, he hadn’t worked with the Sheriff directly – always with his deputies. The sheriff looked to be about fifty. He had greying hair and a worn complexion that comes with too much time in the sun. His hazel eyes were set back into his head and the wrinkles had begun to form in the corners. It was clear he was trying to be happy, but worry marked his face. James had always heard that the sheriff was a straight shooter, fair but firm, and a little bit of a redneck – this last fact highlighted by his choice to wear a cowboy hat instead of a more traditional sheriff’s hat.

  Sheriff Long studied James with deep intensity for a moment, sizing him up. The sheriff made a half-frown and nodded to himself, sipping his coffee. “Listen, boy, I’m going to cut right to the chase.” He shook his head as he spoke. “I’ve been a sheriff a long time – a long time – and I’ve never seen anything like what’s happening now.”

  James nodded. “I’m at a loss, Sheriff. My rangers have been disappearing. First it was my friend, and then it was the Forest Supervisor and the Special Investigations Team. Now it’s the other Rangers, one by one.”

  The sheriff sipped his coffee again. “And every single patrol I’ve sent into those damned woods has turned up missing or gone missing themselves.”

  “And what about Wade and Arjun?” James asked.

  Sheriff Long sighed and put his coffee down. “Those two… I have no idea. They called when they got to the hospital and they seemed fine. But then they just disappeared. I haven’t heard from them since.”

  James was surprised. “So, they’re missing again?”

  The Sheriff nodded. “Ye
s. Gone without a trace.”

  “I’d be willing to bet money that they are in the same place that Edgar went. He was out of sorts, then he was fine, and then he just disappeared.”

  The Sheriff scratched his chin. “Something’s definitely going on. The ER nurses said that they didn’t even get a chance to do vitals. As soon as they mentioned an exam, both of them just left without another word.”

  “That’s really weird,” James said with a frown.

  A deputy knocked on the door and opened it. “Sheriff, they’re ready for you in the bull pen.” The deputy excused himself just as quickly as he had arrived.

  James stared at the sheriff with a tight lip and a question in his eyes.

  The sheriff stood and motioned for James to follow. “I know that the forest is technically your jurisdiction, son, but I wanted to get to the bottom of this, so I made a few calls and got us some help.” The sheriff walked out of the office and into the bigger space where the deputies worked.

  James shrugged and followed after him, trailing behind him. “No problem, Sheriff. I’m just as curious about what’s going on as you are”

  The Sheriff, acknowledged James, but continued walking. “Good, I’m glad.” He stopped in the middle of the bull pen and addressed one of his deputies. “Get everyone on the horn and bring up the maps.” The Sheriff turned to look at James. “We’re sort of orchestrating this whole thing here.”

  James watched as the sheriff’s men brought up several large paper maps attached to wheeled boards and put them in the room. Phone calls were being connected and the room was bustling with activity.

  “What is it that we’re doing here, exactly?” James wondered aloud.

  The sheriff looked at James and smiled. “We’re going to find out how deep this rabbit-hole goes, son.” He gestured at the map. “I called the neighboring Sheriffs. It took some convincing, but I got the sheriffs for Benton, Tippah, Union, and Lafayette Counties to all agree to work together. Each is sending two patrol cars into the forest to scout. We’re sending one more car as well.” He chuckled to himself, pleased with his plan. “And, since our bird is out of action at the moment, Sheriff Scofield in Lafayette County is sending his bird out too.”

  “Sheriff!” The deputy who had been on the phone called out. “I’ve got them all connected.”

  “Good work. Put the call on speaker,” Sheriff Long instructed.

  The deputy pushed a button and a jumble of chattering voices came through the phone. Sheriff Long shouted at the phone. “Everyone, everyone, quiet please!” The voices died down and Long continued. “I have Ranger Hutchinson of the US Forest Service here with me.” The Sheriff shot James a look that said to introduce himself.

  “Uh... hi everyone.” He said, not sure what to say.

  A disjointed jumble of greetings replied. Sheriff Long was quick to jump back at the reigns. “Let’s do a roll call. Lafayette?”

  A voice with a thick Mississippi accent came through. “Sheriff Scofield here. Two cars inbound, we’re fueling the bird now.”

  Long nodded. “Good. Union?”

  A calm, middle aged voice came through the speakers. “Sheriff Thompson. Two cars inbound.”

  “Good,” Long smiled. “Tippah?”

  “Franklin here, two cars inbound,” an older, weathered voice replied.

  “And Benton?” Long inquired.

  “Smith here. Two cars inbound, they both should be at the forest within 5 minutes.”

  “Excellent.” Long nodded to himself. “I’ve got one car inbound.”

  James thought he looked like a bird, the way he kept bobbing his head slightly.

  Sheriff Scofield piped up. “Look, Larry, I really hope that you’re right about this. We’re putting a heck of a lot of expense into this. If you hadn’t already established your reputation as a fine sheriff… you just better be right, okay?”

  Sheriff Long laughed a sad laugh. “I understand that you’ve got people to answer to. And that this seems like an unnecessary expense. But believe me when I say that this time, I really hope that I am wrong.”

  Sheriff Smith spoke up. “My cars are both reporting in… they’ve just entered the woods.”

  “Good, keep us informed,” Long directed.

  “Actually,” Sheriff Smith chimed in. “There’s more. They’re both reporting some sort of low ground fog.”

  James started shaking his head and his eyes got wide. Fear gripped him. “Sheriff, I don’t know what that means, but it’s not good. Tell your men to turn around.”

  Sheriff Long shot James a disapproving look for interrupting, but then shrugged. “Hutchinson is probably right, turn them around.”

  A momentary silence followed and then Sheriff Smith was back. “Too late. Neither car is responding, and to make matters worse, we can’t track them anymore – GPS is dead.”

  James buried his face in his hand and Sheriff Long sighed.

  “What was that about being right, Scofield?” Long asked rhetorically. “Never mind that,” he continued. “Smith, where did you lose contact with them?”

  “One was on Highway 4, South at Holbrook road, the other was on Highway 4 west at Snow Lake drive.”

  A deputy updated the map and put red tacks where the two cars had vanished. He tied a string between the two markers.

  Another of Sheriff Long’s deputies chimed in. “Our patrol has entered the woods on Interstate 22 south. Nothing unusual so far.”

  More reports continued over the next few minutes. One of Scofield’s patrols was deep in the southern part of the forest and all was clear. The cars from Union and Tippah counties were just entering the eastern edge of the forest.

  “Sheriff?” The deputy at the radio called out. “Car 7 missed the check in. They’ve gone silent. I can’t raise them or track them.”

  “Son of a bitch.” Sheriff Long frowned. “Where were they when we lost contact?”

  “Just north of Lake Center,” the deputy said.

  The deputies standing at the map board added another pushpin. They were about to run the line from Snow Lake to Lake Center, but James stopped them. He stepped closer to examine the board and took some yellow pins.

  “Look at the topography here. If the fog is following the valley floors, then it would have spread this way.” He placed four yellow markers in the north part of the woods between Holly Springs and Ashland and made a rough semi-circle with the string. “It’s a guess, but I’d rather guess too much than too little.”

  The deputies nodded and waited for more updates.

  Sheriff Thompson from Union County spoke through the phone. “Both of my cars just went silent. I had one car on Interstate 22 northbound, and another on highway 178 north. Both went silent just outside of Hickory Flat.”

  Before anyone had a chance to respond, Sheriff Franklin gave his update. “My car on highway 5 south just went dead at Pine Grove.”

  The deputies at the map were busy putting in pins to mark these locations.

  Sheriff Franklin continued. “And there goes the other car. On highway 2 south, just outside of Hickory Flat, just like Thompson’s.”

  “God Dammit!” Long shouted. “Scofield, you’re the last one with any eyes in those woods.”

  “My cars are still good, Sheriff.” There was a pause as Scofield checked in again. “Yep, both cars reporting in. One car is heading north just outside of the woods on highway 7, heading toward Waterford. The other car is in the southern woods. They just crossed over the Little Tallahatchie and are heading west on 349. And, I’ve just got word that our bird is taking off now.”

  The deputies marked green pushpins in the maps along the routes where Scofield’s cars passed without incident.

  James stood at the map and used his knowledge of the topography of the woods to estimate where the boundary of the fog might be. He felt like the room was spinning. He looked down and noticed that his hands were perfectly still, but he felt like he was shaking all over. His became slightly off balance and he
reached a hand out to the board to steady himself.

  “You ok, Ranger?” one of the deputies asked as James sat down. This garnered a concerned look from Sheriff Long, but he remained quiet.

  “Yes, I’m fine,” James said. “I’ll stand, thanks,” he said and closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He didn’t know how he knew, but James knew what was coming. Had it been any other day he would have chalked it up to simple paranoia. If he closed his eyes he could see flashes of images that didn’t make any sense to him. Almost like his brain was still dreaming, or that he was somehow listening in on a TV station in his head. He saw the fog. Trees blanketed in fog. A patrol car surrounded by fog. Terrified deputies with wide eyes trying to get the car to start. More fog. A cave. Fog. A deputy strapped to a table. The room went dark. A scream. A pile of skin on the floor. Fog. James shook his head to clear the thought. What the hell is wrong with me? This is a hell of a time to have nightmare hallucinations.

  Scofield broke the silence with another update. “The first car has reached Waterford, heading east on Potts Camp Road. And the second car reported just passing through Cornersville.”

  James stood and examined the map again. He got a red pushpin and placed it at the corner of Potts Camp Road and Musgray. He grabbed another red pin and placed on highway 349 in the town of Bethlehem. The other deputies gave a questioning look but said nothing. James only shrugged at them.

  Sheriff Scofield chimed in again. “Wait, hang on… I just lost contact with the car on Potts Camp. Last contact was… Musgray road.”

  The two deputies at the map looked at each other wide-eyed, and then stared at James in disbelief.

  “The other car is entering the southern end of Bethlehem Township. Everything is quiet.” There was a pause before the sheriff continued. “The chopper also reports coming up on highway 244, heading northeast.”

  James looked at the map and placed a few more yellow pins and then completed the string outline.

  On que, Sheriff Scofield continued. “The car on 349 just went quiet, right in the middle of Bethlehem.” He was mumbling in the background to someone else. “The chopper is over the river now, it’s reporting a fog cover blanketing the whole area…. Now they’re trying to get a clear view of the road, trying to see what happened to our patrol.” There was a tense silence as the chopper moved around. “The fog is really thick… they’re going to get lower to see if that improves visibility.”