Caught in Your Wake

by Darien Cox

  “Married?” Tyler huffed. “Rather get abducted and probed.”

  “That was dark.” Ogden’s brow lowered. “I think that was humor, but with you I can never tell.”

  “I have a sense of humor. It’s just subdued.”

  “That’s putting it mildly.”

  “I’m not Elliot. Everything’s not a joke to me.”

  He felt guilty as soon as the words left his mouth. He was being defensive, and the statement wasn’t fair. Especially since he could still clearly remember the sound of Elliot’s voice in his earpiece that awful night while Tyler pressed his palms down on Nolan’s bleeding wound in the chopper. There were no jokes that night. There was nothing soft about Nolan getting attacked by a hybrid in the woods after infiltrating the Whites’ base to save them. Nothing funny about listening to Elliot’s anguished screams as he helplessly watched Nolan bleed.

  “Now, come on,” Ogden said. “Don’t start trashing other members of my team. They may not have had the same experiences as you, but they did find the only known alien base on our planet and make contact with them. That’s nothing to scoff at.”

  “You’re the one who found the Whites’ base, Ogden. You’re the one who insisted on tracking the activity for years because your instincts told you something was there. You pushed your bosses to keep the program going when they wanted to give up and shut it down.”

  “Yes, but it was my team on the ground that ultimately made it happen. I couldn’t have done it without them, and they deserve your respect.”

  “I respect them. But we’re different. I can’t just become like them. We don’t think the same.”

  “Tyler, I don’t want to change you, and I have no complaints about your work. Different people have different strengths. You may call my boys in the village soft, but they get things done in their own way. Their methods work best in certain scenarios. In other scenarios? I need a heavier hand, which is why I send people like you in to balance things out.”

  “So I’m the bad cop?”

  Ogden huffed and leaned against the console. “Don’t get full of yourself. I’m still the bad cop around here.”

  Tyler smirked. “Okay, so why is the bad cop here now?”

  “I’m going to have Rhonda take over training the recruits from here on.”

  “What? Why? What have I done wrong?”

  “Tyler, I just said you’re doing a great job. It’s not about your work. It’s a beginners’ class, Rhonda can handle finishing it out for you.”

  “But why? I like training the recruits. We’re halfway through the program. Why are you pulling me now?”

  “I’m sending you back to Singing Bear Village.”

  Tyler deflated with a sigh. “Really?”

  “Really. And that sounded dangerously close to a whine.”

  “For how long?”

  “I’m not certain.”

  “Why the fuck now? I thought things were all cozy with the Whites.”

  “They are. It’s not about the Whites. Why this reaction? I thought you didn’t mind going to the village.”

  “It’s cold there.”

  Ogden chuckled. “It’s springtime.”

  “The village has its own weather system. The way the mountains shroud the lake keeps cold air hostage so it doesn’t get warm until like July.”

  “You’re exaggerating just a bit.”

  “Fine, but if nothing’s wrong with the Whites why do you need me there?”

  “Do you know Tim Patterson? The forest ranger in the village?”

  Tyler inhaled sharply. “Is he dead?”

  Ogden scowled. “No, he’s not dead. Why would you think he was dead?”

  “I...never mind. I mean...he’s all right, then?”

  “Patterson is fine.”

  Nodding, Tyler let out a relieved breath. “Good. Okay. That’s good.”

  Ogden’s head tilted. “You want some water? You look pale.”

  “Yeah, okay.”

  “Sit down. That’s an order. I’ll be right back.” Ogden gave him a strange look, but then left the booth.

  Tyler sat. Tim Patterson. A guy he hadn’t seen in a long time, but to say he hadn’t thought about him would be a lie. He’d tried, to no avail. Patterson still worked his way into Tyler’s dreams a couple times a month. And since Tyler was an expert at disciplining his mind, even while he slept via lucid dreaming, it was odd that he couldn’t keep Tim Patterson from popping in. Maybe it was because Tyler felt so safe here at headquarters, relaxed enough to sleep and dream freely without hindrance or the need to control his thoughts. He’d been dreaming naturally for months.

  And those dreams often involved the forest ranger from Singing Bear Village. His tall, fit body and summer-blond hair. That cocky, flirtatious smile. But it wasn’t always the happy-go-lucky version that invaded his sleeping mind. Sometimes, Tyler dreamed of Tim’s tears.

  The forest ranger had been such a mess after the hybrids showed up at the party the night of Elliot and Nolan’s wedding. Tyler had seen the reaction before, with other people once they came face-to-face with non-terrestrial beings. He’d overcome such reactions himself long ago, but he still had empathy for those going through it for the first time. He should have been used to it by now.

  But watching the normally cheeky, overconfident forest ranger come apart that night scared the shit out of him. Maybe because it was so unexpected, seemed to come out of nowhere. Tim Patterson acted so tough, so resilient, that his sudden breakdown threw Tyler off-balance, leaving him shocked and desperate to do anything in his power to calm the guy down. And he had. Done anything. And everything.

  Tyler had seen more than one breakdown, and even suicides occur since joining Ogden’s team, involving soldiers and civilians alike. He never quite got used to it, but it wasn’t uncommon. Some people couldn’t handle this shit. But the forest ranger? He’d seemed perfectly fine up until the moment he wasn’t. Tyler was trained to recognize the signs of someone about to lose it, but with Tim he never saw it coming. Patterson already knew about the Whites, after all. He knew about Baz, had been the one to find him injured in the forest. He’d signed an NDA and seemed to have accepted his new reality.

  But apparently being faced with two alien hybrids up close and personal was one turn off the reality road too far. When Tim snapped, Tyler had to think quick and handle the situation. Thankfully, his training kicked in.

  Yeah, right. And when did your training ever include fucking the victim?

  Since then, he’d told himself over and over that the sex had been necessary. That it was merely a tool to ground Tim, to give him flesh and breath and a warm human body to cling to. To bring him back from the brink of madness. But since it was done with the purpose of aiding and calming a seriously traumatized man, Tyler had some lingering guilt for enjoying it so much.

  He’d never had sex with someone when they were that vulnerable. When he let Tim inside his body and looked into his eyes, Tyler knew he was seeing more truth there than probably anyone had seen in his life. Tyler barely knew Tim, but he’d now witnessed his rawest moment. To get frantically fucked by someone desperately clinging for purchase so he wouldn’t lose himself completely?

  A profound experience, even quick and dirty as it was on the kitchen floor. Intimate. Too intimate. Tim’s heavy body between Tyler’s thighs, rigid cock thrusting into him. Tim’s pretty eyes anguished and wet with tears. Fair skin flushed pink, hot breath on Tyler’s lips as he held his face and whispered, “Please, Tyler. Please.”

  Tim probably didn’t even fully know what he was pleading for in that moment. But Tyler did. Tim was begging Tyler to tether him back to reality. Back to what was base and human. It should have been all about comfort, but Tyler orgasmed like an erupting volcano. And Tyler came first. He winced at the memory. It was only a few seconds before Tim did, but still. Tyler was supposed to be merely the receptacle, the port in a storm, a pair of strong arms to lead Tim back to shore. But he’d climaxed first, bec
ause the sex was mind-blowing in its intensity.

  He’d only been vaguely attracted to Tim Patterson before that. The forest ranger was handsome with his megawatt smile and broad shoulders. Not to mention the permanently pink cheeks, probably from working outside in the cold mountain air so much. He reminded Tyler of a hockey player he’d had a crush on in junior high, always flushed and bright-eyed from being out on the ice. But even so, Tyler hadn’t been blown away by Tim or anything. Not until that weird, emotional fuck.

  Now he was conflicted, because when he thought about Tim Patterson, it caused a painful pit in his stomach, and he couldn’t figure out if it was guilt or something else. Thoughts of Tim evoked sympathy, but there were also memories of peaked pleasure and pale, naked flesh. Desperately gripping fingers, thrusting hips, and hot, pleading whispers. Things that made Tyler’s stomach flip in an unusual way. The pleasant flip was usually followed by the unpleasant pit in his stomach, so he tried to think about Patterson as little as possible. Now here Ogden was, showing up out of the blue, and what did he want to talk about?

  Tim-fucking-Patterson.

  “Here.” Ogden shoved a bottle of water at Tyler.

  “Thanks.”

  “What’s the matter? You sick?”

  “Just a little dehydrated. What’s going on in the village?”

  “Probably nothing.”

  “Then why am I going there?”

  “Why do you have a problem with going back to the village? You never did before.”

  Shrugging, Tyler took a sip of water. “Things get complicated whenever I work with your village team.”

  Ogden sighed. “Yes, I know. Brett told me you had some arguments the last time you were there. That you clashed.”

  “I can handle that, but Christ, it’s like they go out of their way to look for trouble. Take stupid risks. So yeah. We clash.”

  “I don’t care if you clash personally as long as you work well with them. And they don’t look for trouble. Trouble finds them because they’re stationed outside an alien base.”

  “Doesn’t mean they’re not still drama queens.”

  “I realize they’re different than you are, emotionally volatile at times, but they’re vigilant professionals, Tyler.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Fine. So what’s happening then?”

  “Like I said, might be nothing. That forest ranger, Patterson. He’s been on lookout by the field on Bear Peak a few nights a week. Says he’s been seeing things in the woods at night. Hearing things.”

  “Like what? The Whites? Hybrids?”

  “My team doesn’t think this is related to the Whites. Dark shapes that crawl low to the ground. Described them as slithering in their movement. Six to eight feet long.” Ogden pulled his phone out and scrolled through. “Hissing and clicking sounds outside the door of the ranger station. Patterson says he’s experienced this about four times now.”

  “So he’s bugging out. Imagining things out in the dark. You’ve been in those woods up on Bear Peak. They’re creepy as fuck, with or without the Whites.”

  “Yes, that’s true. And there are plenty of creatures on the mountain that aren’t from other worlds. Whatever he’s seeing, it may not be extraterrestrial at all.”

  “Exactly. Besides, what kind of ET would be creeping around outside the Whites’ base? The Whites are powerful, secretive, and territorial. Those woods aren’t exactly a place some random alien would choose for a vacation to Earth. Why exactly are we taking this seriously?”

  “The proximity to the base demands it. Caution first. I ran the details through the database to look for similarities to anything we’ve encountered in the past. Nothing definitive came up, but we did get a couple hits in the maybe category.”

  “Like what?”

  “Let’s play a little game. See how much you remember of your training.”

  “All right.” The testing never ended with Ogden. “Shoot.”

  “Tell me if this rings a bell. Long dark shapes slithering low to the ground. In the mountains. Near a body of water. And near a huge power source.” Ogden’s brows lifted and he watched Tyler expectantly.

  Eyes shifting, Tyler’s mind rifled through his past, all he’d learned since coming onboard with Ogden years ago. Eyes widening, he looked at Ogden as something clicked. “Vermont?”

  Smiling, Ogden nodded. “That’s my boy. I’m impressed.”

  “I was a good student. But you got all those fuckers. They’re long dead.”

  “Can we be sure about that, though?”

  “Oh, come on, Ogden. It was years ago. Where would they have been all this time?”

  “It’s unlikely any survived,” Ogden said. “But we must consider all possibilities.”

  There was a crash in the mountains of Vermont several years back. Tyler was still green then so he wasn’t on the team that went to deal with the alien craft, a cylindrical-shaped black thing. It was reported by local hikers, who were subsequently silenced with the usual bullshit about military craft and signed off to secrecy. But that wasn’t the end of the story.

  Usually when there’s an actual crash, whatever was piloting it is dead. Most people think of aliens as godlike immortal creatures that can live through anything, but in truth most of them are as physically vulnerable as humans. And they’re not all intellectually infallible just because they’ve learned the secrets of interstellar travel. They make mistakes. Underestimate a planet’s gravity. Get caught in the atmosphere. Lose control. Boom—down they go, and in goes Ogden’s crew to handle the cleanup.

  Usually, Ogden and his cronies considered this good fortune, as long as they got to it fast enough to silence any witnesses. It meant salvaging technology, and if they were lucky, bodies to study and syphon whatever biological advancements they could. But this time, something was still alive inside. Something hostile. A team was attacked upon approach. Five soldiers were killed. If the ship or its inhabitants had advanced weapons, they were either damaged or the aliens chose not to use them, because the soldiers were ripped apart by hooks. Primitive. Monstrous.

  Ultimately, the entire craft was blown up in a big fireball by the human team, the situation ‘cleansed’ to avoid further risk.

  Bad day for Ogden. No goodies to bring home to the lab.

  They thought that was the end of it. But days later, reports started coming in from the nuclear power plant on the nearby river. Things spotted crawling around at night. Dark shapes slithering low to the ground. Alarms going off. Two security guards mysteriously killed, guts and throats torn out. Tyler had read the reports during his training.

  Ogden and Wiley sent a team in. They had no knowledge of the creatures’ biology, as they’d blown up the craft and hadn’t been able to recover any bodies, so they were at a disadvantage. But whatever the creatures were, some of them must have escaped before the blast. The power plant was only miles from the crash site—too big of a coincidence. This time the soldiers got lucky. They took out six hostiles, then the activity stopped. The bodies were retrieved. Ugly fucking things with sharp, hooked appendages. Tyler had seen photos and was happy he hadn’t been on that mission.

  “I read the report. There hasn’t been a sighting since. You think some got away? And fucking...made their way to New York State years later?”

  “Not necessarily. But it is a notable similarity that the description of dark shapes crawling low in the dark has been reported. Near a body of water, if you consider Lake Singing Bear. Near a major power source. The Whites’ base isn’t a nuclear plant so it’s not exactly the same scenario. But I think it’s fair to say the Whites have power sources that far exceed that. The entities would be looking for technology they can use. Likely to build or steal a craft to get off the planet.”

  Tyler shook his head. “That’s a bit of a stretch if you ask me.”

  “I agree,” Ogden said.

  “Good. Any more theories?”

  “One more. Patterson also reported hearing a crying infant in the woods on s
everal occasions. What do you think of that?”

  “Crying infant.” Tyler scowled. “I don’t remember reading anything about that in the case histories.”

  “No. Not a human infant anyway.” Ogden raised his brows.

  “Oh, no. You’re thinking of the cow thing?”

  “It’s another possibility that came up.”

  Tyler had been involved on this one. Though they’d never apprehended any culprits, for the stretch of a year, farmers in a twenty-mile radius were reporting cattle dead, completely drained of blood. Often clustered far from an area they usually grazed, sometimes having broken through fences and made their way into patches of nearby woods. The results were identical at several farms in the area. Along with the exsanguination, there was one other constant. The sound of a crying calf. Even if there were no baby cows on the land, several farmers reported hearing the sound.

  “If those ETs used the crying calf noise to lure in those adult cows, are you suggesting it’s the same ones, and they’re using a human infant cry to lure in...people?”

  “That’s the second theory, yes.”

  Tyler tried to study Ogden’s expression, but the man gave little away. “And what do you think Tim Patterson is experiencing on the mountain? You think it’s one of these two options?”

  Tyler hoped not, because neither option sounded good. His gut clenched at the thought of dealing with the clawed, murdering aliens from that crash years back. But the idea of the cow blood-suckers upgrading their game to humans wasn’t exactly desirable either.

  “Like I said, Tyler. These are just theories.”

  “Ogden, come on! Give me your personal opinion, Jesus!”

  “All right.” Ogden sighed. “I don’t think it’s either. I think Patterson is spooked, and what he’s experiencing is either in his mind or something fully terrestrial that he’s misinterpreting. Nolan didn’t see anything on his camera feed. It’s likely the forest ranger is just seeing coyotes, or maybe a rafter of wild turkeys. But because of the proximity to the Whites’ base, we need to check it out regardless.”

  “And you’re sure this has nothing to do with the Whites? Like you said, it’s right by their base.”