Eclipse (Bright Horizons Book 2)

by Wilson Harp

  “What happened?” she asked as she kept her eyes averted.

  Williams turned off the video.

  “He melted. Honestly that is the best technical term for it.”

  “How was mosar in him?”

  “I don’t know. But it was in all of his major organs, muscle groups and bones. Not like an alien, or he would have completely disintegrated, but there was enough that it collapsed his body.”

  Diane sat silent for a few seconds. The concept that a human could have mosar as part of their body was contrary to every bit of information that was known up until now.

  “Your best guess, Carl. Is it contagious?”

  Williams shrugged and shook his head.

  “I’m not sure, General. I wouldn’t think so, but if you had asked me yesterday about mosar in a human, I would have categorically denied that it was possible.”

  “We need to know, Carl. This is the top research priority. I will contact the President and the Chancellor and let them know. Kiskaliski was right. This needs the fewest eyes possible. If word gets out that mosar can be found in humans, it would cause a panic.”

  “Swanson was recently assigned to the Earth System Defense team. I have suggested that the Berlin and all of the scooters assigned be thoroughly scanned to make sure that this isn’t an environmental issue.”

  “Are you suggesting that mosar might be able to be passed from objects to humans?” asked Diane.

  “I have no idea how, why or what would have caused this, General. We need to examine every theory, no matter how outrageous, until we come up with an answer. I will get a team together to propose theories and start testing them.”

  Diane stood. “You have all the resources that I can give you. Send a report through my secure channel every evening. I want to stay personally appraised of all movement on this project.”

  Diane left Williams to start the project and walked briskly toward the front of the building.

  The Global Science Foundation was funded by the Chancellor’s office officially as a meeting place for all of Earth’s researchers to advance human understanding in all the sciences. But everyone knew that the primary purpose of the building was to analyze alien technologies and re-engineer them using Earth based resources and methods, particularly technologies that could be used as weapons.

  Her aide-de-camp stood and joined her as she walked out toward her car. He was a man of discretion and propriety. He knew better than to ask her about the meeting.

  When they arrived at the staff car, she told her driver to take her over to the Chancellor’s office. It was on the other side of the Potomac, in Maryland, but she wanted to tell him what was happening face to face.

  “Phil, send a message to Chancellor Thomas and let him know I need a meeting with him. Tell him it’s the highest priority and we should be there within the hour.”

  Major Arnold made the call as Diane pulled up her schedule on her tablet. She sent quick messages cancelling two meetings and pushing back one until the next day. She hesitated before she pulled out her private cell phone, but she thought the information she had was big enough for Kyle to be concerned with.

  His voicemail picked up on the first ring.

  “Kyle,” she said. “This is General Kitch. Call me ASAP.”

  Phil looked at her as she put the phone back in her pocket.

  “Big enough to call Ambassador Martin?” he asked.

  Diane nodded. “Yes, Phil. It’s that big.”

  Kyle saw the message come into his phone. He normally didn’t get calls from Diane in the middle of a work day. He frowned at his phone and then sat it back on the coffee table.

  “Something you need to take, Ambassador?” asked Franklin Smith.

  “No, Mister Smith,” said Kyle to the Pelod representative. “I’ll call her back. This time is yours.”

  “Thank you, Ambassador. If it is your daughter, though, I could wait.”

  Kyle smiled warmly at the alien. He understood how much Kyle’s daughter meant to him and how much that concern for her had led the former Marine General to take the role of Earth’s Ambassador to the Galactic Lower Council.

  “If it was Sara, I would have taken it, Mister Smith. It was General Kitch. She only contacts me about situations that are vital to our planet, but your people are vital to our planet as well and you seemed quite eager to speak with me.”

  “I’ll make this brief then, Ambassador,” Smith said.

  “Take your time, if you wish. Although if you have more business today, I understand as well.”

  Smith looked a little puzzled. “Why would you think that I would have further business?”

  Kyle motioned to Smith’s clothes. “You are impeccably dressed. You always are, but I suspect that is because you are always out and about on business for the Pelod.”

  Smith laughed softly. “Oh no, Ambassador. I dress like this all the time.”

  “Really? No casual clothes? No days of jeans and a t-shirt?”

  “No. We Pelod take on a… how would I say this. Not quite a disguise, but more of an image. When I was sent here from Mars, I took on human form. Because I would be dealing with high ranking officials and powerful businessmen, I adopted a form that would allow me to operate in that environment without drawing attention to myself. The clothes are as much a part of my image as is the human form that I take.”

  “Well you look smashing,” said Kyle. “You have nailed the part perfectly.”

  “Thank you, Ambassador,” Smith said. He cleared his throat and seemed a bit embarrassed at the personal compliment. “The reason I have come to you is to address a new problem that we have encountered.”

  “I hope not with any humans. I know there was some unpleasantness a few weeks back on 1970NN. I hope that hasn’t caused more problems.”

  Smith shook his head. “No, no, nothing like that. The problem we have is with the Otina.”

  Kyle shifted in his seat. The Otina had been a problem for humanity since the very first day that Earth met any alien race. In fact, the Otina had been a personal problem for Kyle starting months earlier, although he hadn’t realize it. They had kidnapped his sister and performed medical experimentations on her for almost three years. He had been with the team that had rescued her from the Otina base where she had been held. After that event, the Pelod had agreed to stop supplying the Otina with weapons and equipment inside the Earth system.

  “I hope there hasn’t been a change in our agreement,” Kyle said.

  “No, Ambassador, we haven’t had any dealings with the Otina in over a year. And that may be why we have the problem. We have become suspicious that the Otina may have kidnapped several members of a survey team.”

  Kyle sat up and leaned forward.

  “Tell me what happened,” he said. The Pelod were reluctant to jump to conclusions, but Smith would not have come to him if the evidence was not fairly compelling.

  “Two days ago one of our survey teams was in the Kuiper belt looking for various rare elements. We had found some palladium rich samples and had sent some teams out to scout the region. Two of our teams returned with recordings of a ship that shadowed them for quite a distance. It had all of the markings of one of Warlord Jii’s scout ships. The third team never returned from the survey. We did a thorough search of the region and found some debris that could have been the ship our team was on.”

  “This does sound like a bad turn for the Pelod. Do you think that it is in retaliation for cutting off sales to them?” asked Kyle.

  Smith shrugged his shoulders. A fairly recent human non-verbal response he had adapted. “It could be, but the Otina… they are unpredictable. They seldom do exactly as expected, and that makes them difficult to deal with.” Smith smiled a little. “In that way, they are very much like humans.”

  “I suppose so,” said Kyle. “I do understand your concern, but don’t you think this is a situation that Chancellor Thomas and General Kitch could help you with more than me? I don’t really have anyth
ing to do with Earth security anymore, and since the Otina are not part of the galactic council, there is not much I can affect concerning them.”

  “It’s complicated, Ambassador. It’s not your position that I seek relief from, but rather you that I seek advice from,” said Smith. “During your war with the Iltia’cor, there was a donation made of sixty warp engines.”

  “Yes, by an unnamed benefactor. I have my suspicions of who they might have come from, but I feel it might be impolite to bring it up.”

  “You are wrong,” said Smith. “You don’t have the right benefactors in mind because you don’t know the truth about the donations. You might become angry with me, and you might become angry with A’nacal since he was the one who made the decision. The engines were not donated to Earth, Ambassador. They were donated to you.”

  “To me? Personally?”

  “Yes. A’nacal was quite insistent that you not know. He was also quite insistent that you not become aware of who gave you the engines.”

  “Why are you telling me now? Won’t this cause problems for you and the Pelod?”

  “Probably not. You sit on the Lower Council now. You have negotiated two peace treaties for other races in the last year without benefit to Earth and you have shown graciousness to Iltia in the aftermath of the war. I think humanity can handle the truth. But you are the best person to make that assessment.”

  “Who gave us… me… the engines?”

  “Warlord Jii.”

  Kyle felt like he had been struck on the head with a brick.

  “What? The Otina gave us the engines? Why on earth would they do that?”

  “I don’t know, Ambassador. It was confusing then and it becomes more confusing as time goes on. They gave you the engines you needed to defeat the Iltia’cor and yet they have made more and more raids on your operations as time has gone on.”

  Kyle pursed his lips as he leaned back to think. The news that the Otina were kidnapping Pelod tied into this somehow. He knew that the Otina were crafty, constantly changing tactics and defenses whenever Earth forces engaged them. The news of the engines, though, stunned him.

  Was it personal? Did they realize that they had his sister captive and they were trying to buy him off? Why would A’nacal hold this information back from him?

  “Mister Smith, was this the first instance of one of your people disappearing?”

  “We have surveyors out all the time. Every once in a while, one doesn’t report in and we send out teams to find them.”

  “Have you ever suspected the Otina before?”

  Smith shifted his shoulders. “About three months ago there was some speculation that it wasn’t a simple accident that destroyed one of our survey ships.”

  Kyle understood his hesitation. The Pelod did not like conflict and accusing anyone, especially a former and future customer, was risking the neutrality that they valued.

  “I’m sure you are aware, Mister Smith, that Earth could make good use of the locations and details of those events. Admiral Salazar is leading the effort to push the Otina out of our system, and that sort of data could help in that effort.”

  “I know, Ambassador, but we are not willing to take sides, even now. I was sent here to give you three specific pieces of information. I cannot give more than I was authorized.”

  “You have told me that the engines were a gift to me, and you have told me that you suspect that the Otina have started kidnapping your people. What is the third piece of information, Mister Smith?”

  Smith reached in his pocket and pulled out a data chip. “This is everything we know or even suspect about the history of the Otina. It’s not a lot of information, but it might be of some use to you.”

  Kyle took the chip and looked at it.

  “I thought you had already given us everything you knew,” he said. His jaw clenched a little as he tried not to get angry at the Pelod representative.

  “We gave you all of the verified information, but there are always rumors and hints.”

  “Rumors and hints that you use for profit even when they might have helped us in our fight with them.”

  “Yes, Ambassador.”

  Kyle knew that the Pelod were not alone in holding back information about the Otina. All of the races, even those on the Higher Council, became very uncomfortable when he had inquired for more records or history of their dealings and problems with the pernicious and ever-present race.

  The front door opened and Kyle turned to see his daughter come in. She paused as she realized that he had company.

  “Oh, Mister Smith, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt,” she said.

  “It is good to see you again, Miss Martin. I asked to speak with your father just an hour ago, so there is no way you could know,” said Smith.

  “Are you staying for dinner?” Sara asked. She dropped her keys on the hall table and walked over to her father. She leaned down and gave him a hug and received a kiss on the cheek for her efforts.

  “I would love to, but I must get going,” said Smith as he stood.

  “Are you sure? I make a mean enchilada,” Sara said.

  “Thank you, perhaps one day. I do love enchiladas. But I really do have to leave. It was nice seeing you again.”

  Smith nodded to Kyle and smiled again at Sara before leaving the house.

  Kyle slipped the data chip into his shirt pocket. He heard Sara moving around in the kitchen.

  “Were you serious about enchiladas?”

  “I was,” his daughter replied. “But not if I don’t have anyone to show off for. Besides, I think I have fed you enough enchiladas. You need to have a salad tonight.”

  Kyle sighed as he sat back on the couch. He looked at the slight pudge that his stomach had developed over the last year.

  “It’s back to the gym with you,” he said to his slightly rounded middle. “You just cost me enchiladas.”

  Chapter 4

  Alex winced as he tried and failed to open his eyes. He felt bruised and sore from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head. He tried to open his eyes again and felt the sharp stab of pain shoot through his head.

  His eyes snapped shut and he lay still. After a second he lifted a hand. That worked. He opened his mouth and stretched his jaw, working it back and forth. That seemed to be okay as well. He lifted his hand, shielded his eyes and prepared himself for another jolt of pain.

  This time when he opened his eyes, he just felt a dull throbbing at the back of his head. He moved his hand slowly away. He was lying on his back. A faint light with a bluish tint illuminated the room. Alex saw a ceiling about three meters above him. He moaned as he tried to lift his head.

  “Alex? Are you awake?” asked Manny.

  Alex winced as the sound of Manny’s voice caused another sharp stab of pain to his head. He was glad to hear his friend was alive, though. The last time he saw Manny, the Iltia’cor wasn’t moving.

  “Yeah,” Alex choked out.

  “You have been unconscious for a long while. I was afraid you weren’t going to wake.”

  Alex pushed himself to a semi-sitting position. He couldn’t quite make it all the way up and lay back on his elbows.

  “What happened?” he asked.

  “The Otina attacked our ship and took us prisoner,” said Manny. “I don’t know much more than that.”

  “But I felt the warp field stabilize. How did they pull us out of warp?”

  “I don’t know, Alex,” said Manny. “Do you need help?”

  Alex closed his eyes and forced himself to sit all the way up. He went too far and fell face first onto the floor.

  “Yeah, I need help,” said Alex as he allowed himself to go limp.

  Manny made his way over to his friend and helped him sit back up on the low bed.

  “Thank you,” said Alex as he looked at his friend.

  Manny looked healthy and fit. Alex knew that the Iltia’cor had a robust system that allowed them to heal quickly after any injury, but Manny looked in
great shape.

  “How long was I out?” asked Alex.

  “I don’t know. I have slept four or five times since they brought us here, but there is no way to find out the time,” said Manny.

  Alex’s stomach growled and he felt the severe pangs of hunger.

  “When do they serve dinner?” he asked.

  “I haven’t seen any of the Otina since they brought us in here.”

  “How are you eating?”

  “I’m not, they haven’t brought any food.”

  Alex looked around. The room was composed of solid metal walls, ceiling and floor. It was about three meters by four meters, the ceiling about three meters high. There was what he assumed to be a low bed that sat maybe half a meter high in the middle of the room.

  “Wait, did you just say they haven’t brought any food?” asked Alex. “Why not?”

  “I don’t know. It’s odd because I feel hungry, but I don’t feel drained like I would expect.”

  “Me either,” said Alex. “I feel like I could eat an entire buffet, but I feel like I have plenty of energy. I am very thirsty. Where can I get something to drink?”

  Manny shook his head.

  “Nothing to drink?”

  “Sorry Alex, no. Once the Otina brought you in and laid you down, they left and I haven’t seen them again.”

  Alex examined the room closer. There was a pale blue light that illuminated everything, if not quite enough. No light source though.

  The Otina had found a way to embed a fluorescent effect into their metal structures. Their ships and bases all had this pale blue light. The odd thing was, if you removed any of the metal plating, from their architecture, the glowing stopped immediately. Even when the human engineers tried to place the plates and panels back where they were, the glow wouldn’t come back.

  There was one panel that didn’t glow on the wall, which meant it was the door to the room.

  Alex rubbed his nose as he took in as many details as possible.

  “What is that smell? Is it you, Manny?” he asked.

  “No, I can barely smell it, but the humans all complain about it.”