by Bill Bush
“So you’re arresting us?” Chezlor asked.
“Unless you want to shoot it out?” Finn asked with too much eagerness in his voice.
“You can’t arrest them—they’re trying to help!” Josh shouted.
“Son, I’m not arresting just them, I’m arresting all of you.” He turned back to Fox. “It’s your move. Do you want to be taken, or shot?”
Fox gulped. He would rather go down fighting than give in to such an obviously deceptive ploy. But he also had to think about keeping the kids safe. And he needed to make sure they lived to fight another day.
He slowly laid his weapon down. Nicole and Dyson followed his lead.
The Snaders rushed in, seized and bound them all, then hauled them off in military vans.
Chapter 28
When Flipper woke up from having his mind read, Finn and Damien handed him off to two ugly Snaders. “These guys are uglier than Dr. Needles”, Flipper thought to himself. One had a crooked nose that was longer than any nose Flipper had ever seen. The other had one eye that was substantially higher than the other. Flipper felt like tilting his head so they would look level.
The Snaders tied him securely to a platform and slid him face up in the back of an old Chevy pickup. The cloudless sky and the country driving allowed for a grand display of stars that amazed him for about thirty minutes, before he became too cold and began feeling car sick from having to ride backwards lying down. He spent the last hour of the drive trying not to throw up on himself.
The last few miles of the journey were driven on bumpy, dusty, gravel roads. Flipper coughed. Adding the dust to his nausea made Flipper want to quit breathing.
Finally they stopped. Flipper heard muffled voices from the cab, then what sounded like a garage door open. They pulled the truck forward and Flipper lost his view of the stars. The entry door shut and the only light came from the headlights. He could barely make out the stone ceiling of the cavern, but had to shut his eyes anyway to keep from getting sick.
They drove less than a mile and stopped. Three armed men stood at attention by what appeared to be two sets of elevator doors—one man on each side and one in between the two doors. Four other men put the two Snaders and Flipper through an inspection that included a full body scan and monitor. They were protecting those elevator doors like they were the entrance to Fort Knox.
Once the security detail deemed them worthy to proceed, his two hideous guards escorted Flipper on a five minute ride down in one of the elevators.
When the elevator door opened they walked for a few minutes then stopped in front of a red door. They were at the end of long, narrow hallway. The hallway was not the natural, cave-like rock walls that he had seen before getting into the elevator. Wherever they were, it had been intentionally built and painted completely red — walls, floor, and ceiling.
Tilted Eyes opened the door and Crooked Nose shoved Flipper into the room. Flipper stumbled and sprawled onto the floor. He heard the door slam and lock behind him. He didn’t bother looking back. He didn’t even bother standing up. He rolled onto his stomach and buried his head into the crook of his arm, fighting back tears.
He wasn't hurt. He was angry at himself. He had tried to help his dad but instead he got himself locked up and by now Finn and Damien probably had his friends captured. He had really screwed up. After several minutes, Flipper ran out of tears and desperately needed a tissue. He sat up and wiped the mucus protruding from his nose on his already damp t-shirt. He felt and smelled bad, so he didn’t care he was adding snot to his shirt. It was a sign of how things were going.
He stared at the door for a moment, then noticed that for the first time in many hours he was warm. At least there was one thing to be thankful for.
Flipper heard a snort behind him. He jumped to his feet and ran to the door, his heart pounding so hard he thought he could hear it in the dead silence of his prison room. His back was plastered against the door; Flipper realized for the first time since being shoved into the room that he was not alone.
Lying on the only bed in the room was what looked very similar to a Gude. He had webbed feet, long, shaggy, white hair and a gray beard that lay on his stomach, reaching his waist.
The color of his skin was different than the Gudes’ though. Instead of being a beautiful, bright violet, his skin was a dark, dirty purple. It was so dark it was hard to recognize as purple. Maybe it was because he was old or in bad health. He looked frail. Flipper thought he would need assistance to get out of bed.
He wasn’t sure if the old Gude was awake. If he was, he didn’t pay any attention to Flipper. He rolled from his back to his side, facing away from Flipper.
For the first time since being in the room Flipper took in his surroundings. The walls, ceiling, and floor were solid concrete. There was a light red glow around the entire room that buzzed constantly. There were no windows. The door was solid, without a window or even a slot for the guards to slide things through. The only items in the cell was a stack of spiral notebooks beside the bed, with a pencil sitting on top.
Flipper leaned against the door and slumped to the floor. He tried to hold it together, but he felt so lonely and desperate he began to cry again. He tried to stay quiet. He didn’t want to disturb the old man. He looked frail and harmless, but the old man’s presence made Flipper uncomfortable.
He again cried until he couldn’t any longer. Flipper stood and picked up the pencil. He started pacing around the room. He regretted giving himself up to Finn and Damien. What good had it accomplished? And now what? How was he going to find his dad and get out of here?
“What are you doing?”
The voice startled Flipper. He accidentally flung the pencil across the room when he jumped and whirled around. Flipper hadn’t heard the old Gude get up but he now stood beside the bed. He was slumped over, which made him the same height as Flipper.
Flipper just stared so the Gude asked again, “What were you doing with the pencil?”
“Oh, sorry,” Flipper said as he picked the pencil up and offered it back to the Gude.
The Gude didn’t take it. “No, it’s fine. You can have it. I just didn’t know—it looked like you were flipping it.”
“Yeah, I like flipping things. It’s a habit I have. It helps me think.”
The old Gude laughed—a deep, labored laugh. “My father used to flip things. It drove my mother crazy. He would go into his own little world within his mind. Said it helped him think, and that’s where he came up with some of his best ideas.”
“That’s exactly how I am!” Flipper said excitedly.
“Is your name Flipper?” The old Gude asked.
“My real name is Blake, but everybody calls me Flipper.” He looked at the old Gude oddly and slowly said, “How did you know?”
“Your dad told me about you. You look just like him.”
Flipper was stunned. “My dad!? You talked to my dad!?”
“Yes, he just left a few hours ago.”
“What did he say? Where did he go? Was he okay?”
“Whoa!” the old Gude chuckled. “He was fine. A little frightened and a lot confused, but fine. A Gude named Dell showed up a few hours ago and took your dad away. He wanted to take me too, but I declined. I'm not strong enough to travel.”
“Dell was here and took my dad?” Flipper could hardly believe that Dell had taken his mom and now his dad.
The old Gude carefully sat back down on his bed. “Yes, that’s what he said his name was.”
“Where did he take Dad?”
“He didn’t say.”
Flipper paused and considered this new information. Suddenly he realized the one question he had yet to ask.
“Who are you?”
The old Gude labored to stand so he could shake Flipper’s hand. “My name is Robb.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Robb.”
It took Flipper a minute for the name to register. “You’re Robb!? The son of Bruce and Ava? That crashed near Roswell i
n 1947?”
Robb smiled, knowingly.
”You're my great-grandfather!”
”That's what I understand from your father.” Robb beamed. “I want to hear all about your recent adventures. And don't leave out a single detail!”
Starting from Halloween night when Fox kidnapped Flipper, he told Robb everything that had happened with him and with Allison and Josh. Then he told Robb all about what was currently going on with the assassinations and attempted take-over of Earth by the Snaders.
Robb listened intently, asked many questions, and absolutely believed every word Flipper told him. When Flipper was finished with his story Robb continued to ask questions. He wanted to know everything Flipper knew about the Gudes and the Snaders. He had been lonely and out of touch for a long, long time.
Flipper was thrilled to tell his story to someone who believed him, but he was anxious to hear Robb’s story and had to be patient to get his turn to listen. Finally it seemed that Robb was satisfied with having his questions answered.
“Nicole told me there were no planets that would let you and your parents settle down. Did you really live in space in a spaceship?”
“I spent my whole life living on our spaceship until we crashed on Earth,” Robb explained. “Because of the Snaders’ reputation no one trusted my dad. Even after being married to a Gude for 25 years and helping to protect Earth and Vetrix from the Snaders, people were afraid he was just using my mom. We had many supporters on Vetrix, but not enough to convince the authorities to allow us to settle down. Mom and Dad didn’t care, though. They were in love, they were doing what they believed they were created to do, and they had me. They never should have been able to have children.”
“Why not?” Flipper asked
“Gudes and Snaders have never been able to have children together. Their blood, if you will, isn’t compatible. Gudes and Snaders don’t have different liquids inside them, like humans do.”
“What do you mean?”
“For instance, humans have blood and water. Gudes and Snaders have only one liquid inside them—a goo-like substance. It's their blood and sweat both. The problem is that the Gude and Snader goos aren’t compatible. When they mix together it's deadly. It hasn’t been tried very often, but whenever a Gude and Snader have tried to have children it’s always been impossible.”
“Until you?”
Robb smiled. “Yes, until me. That’s another reason my parents were content to live alone in space. There were many scientists—both Gude and Snader—that wanted to study me. But my parents weren’t going to allow that to happen.”
“What happened at the crash?” Flipper was on the edge of his seat.
“We got word from one of our contacts on Vetrix that a Snader ship had been spotted the day before heading toward Earth. We picked it up on the other side of the planet you call Jupiter and followed it toward Earth. We tried to stop it before it got to the earth’s atmosphere, but their ship was too fast and we had trouble keeping up with them. We did our best not to lose them.
“We didn’t know what their intention was, and of course they wouldn’t respond to our attempts to contact them. Once in the earth’s atmosphere they needed to slow down to approach their destination, which allowed us to catch up. We were near Roswell and it was very stormy and dark. We didn’t know if Roswell was their destination or not. When we got close enough to take a shot at them lightning lit up the sky. The lightning crossed the sky, surged through their spaceship and then through ours.
“I survived the crash, but my parents didn’t make it. I searched until I found the Snaders’ spaceship. I searched it, but whoever had been in it was gone. I heard vehicles coming, so I fled. I knew if your military captured me, well, I knew I didn’t want to go through that.
“How old were you when you crashed?” Flipper asked.
“I would have been the equivalent of twenty-three Earth years.”
“A young lady found me in her father’s barn and helped me hide. I was badly injured. She helped doctor me and get me better. I stayed hidden in her barn for months. During that time we fell in love. I had nowhere else to go, so we decided to settle down in the area. She had just finished college. It took a while for them to accept me, but eventually her parents became supportive of us. They were quite wealthy and bought us a place up in the mountains, near Ruidoso, where we could live in seclusion.”
Flipper could hear both the joy and the sadness in Robb’s voice. His story slowed down as he relived the emotions of being in love.
“We kept to ourselves. We were happy. We had a son and named him Bruce, after my father. I told them all the stories of the Gudes and the Snaders, about my parents and how we traveled in space and protected Earth.”
“Bruce was ten when it happened.” Robb’s voice cracked.
“I was walking through the woods one evening. There was a spot about a mile from our house—a cliff—that overlooked a valley. Sometimes I would go to that spot, lay there for hours and watch the sky. Sometimes I fell asleep and stayed there all night. I felt close to my parents when I was on that cliff. I cherished that time alone.
“But that evening I was attacked and kidnapped by a group of Snaders. I don’t know how they knew I was alive, or where I was, but they brought me back here. I never saw my wife or child again. I’ve been in this room ever since.”
Chapter 29
Allison lay on a flat and uncomfortable cot in the ten by ten cell she shared with Alya. “Should I attend the President's meeting or try to visit Flipper?”
Alya bit her lower lip. “As much as I want to help Flipper there isn't anything we can do. Besides, you can always go see him later. The President has her meeting in the mine soon so this may be our best chance to find out what she has planned next.”
”I suppose you're right.” Allison shut her eyes. Although she had gotten several of hours of sleep at the church, she had awaken early. She kept her focus on President Charles, and eventually drifted off.
***
When Allison appeared next to President Charles, the President screeched and grabbed her chest. Immediately two Secret Service men smashed Allison against a wall. The blow to her head made her faint. The force of the hand pushing into her ribs kept her from breathing.
“It’s okay, you can let her go,” President Charles said after her security assured her that the girl wasn’t carrying any dangerous devices.
The Secret Service men didn't budge. Apparently they weren’t eager to let go of a girl who had appeared out of nowhere. “Ma’am, we don’t know that we can keep you safe around her.”
“It’s fine. She’s a Dreamer.” President Charles seemed delighted at the look of surprise on Allison’s face.
“She’s not here to harm me or she would have already tried. Besides, she’s just going to disappear again shortly.” Allison didn’t know if the President was saying that for her benefit or that of the Secret Service.
“However, we don’t know why she keeps showing up, so let’s keep her under tight watch.”
“Yes Ma’am.”
Allison dropped to her knees, coughing for air. As the ground underneath her quit swaying she noticed her pounding head. She placed her hand on the back of her head and felt warmth. She refused to stay down but gave herself an extra moment before attempting to stand. When she did she noticed the blood on her hand.
”Get young Allison an ice pack.”
”I'm fine,” Allison insisted, but the President refused to retract her order. A minute later Allison dabbed the blood then held the ice pack in place.
“Walk with us, Child,” the President politely suggested.
Allison glanced back and saw Red Fox and Fungus, along with a few other Snader faces she recognized from the underground colony.
They entered a wide hallway with cells down each side. As they walked past the cells, Allison saw both Gudes and humans, one in each of the cells. None of the cells had a door or a front wall. It looked like the prisoners could walk
right out.
“How come everyone doesn't just leave?” Allison asked.
President Charles seemed too happy to explain. “You can’t see, but there is an invisible force field across the front of each cell. The force field cannot be penetrated.”
Allison was curious. “Why do that instead of a locked door?”
“Convenience. Any Snader can walk in and out of the cells, yet the prisoners are secure from escaping. It's easier for us to deliver food, supplies, and have general access to them.”
As they walked through several more hallways like the first, President Charles explained to her Snader guests that they have had Gudes in captivity for over a hundred years.
“We needed a place to experiment with Gudes other than on Rex. Our purpose was to breed the Gudes with the Snaders, but we were never successful. Eventually we expanded the mission to include breeding with humans.
“The Snaders and humans began having children together. It was a strategic move to allow the more human-looking offspring to blend in with the indigenous. The Earth is unique in that it has a plethora of skin colors. Many of the hybrids, with various skin tones, would be able to live within their society easily. America has especially been easy to penetrate since it has such diverse people groups.
“Our hybrids fit in naturally without suspicion. With their Snader blood, most of the hybrids maintained an ability to significantly persuade others, so they often rose to positions of power and influence, just as we hoped.
“As children, hybrids were conditioned in our underground training communities in the ways of the Snaders and prepared for their duty in taking over the world. I was one of those children. The majority of politicians in America are Hybrids. We also have Hybrids spread out all across the planet.
“Once we had enough of our people in the right places, we arranged for the assassinations of the world leaders, putting the blame squarely on the Gudes. With the Gudes bearing all of the blame, the people would be ripe for the Snaders to use their powers of persuasion to gain further strongholds in the society, paving the way for complete domination, then obliteration.”
