Caught in Your Wake

by Darien Cox

  “Because he’s a nosy little fucking shit. He can’t help himself. It’s one of the reasons Ogden loves him so much, Christian can break in and find anything, anywhere, so it’s great for work purposes. But he sometimes doesn’t know how to shut it off. He’s always worming his way into places he doesn’t belong.”

  “Myles told me a bit about his past.”

  “Yeah, well a lot’s changed since then but he’s still a nosy little shit. Christian’s got some contacts at headquarters. He’s discovered a lot about Tyler’s past. Some shocking things. And today, he told me and Elliot.”

  Tim stared at Nolan. “Christian shouldn’t have done that.”

  “I know. I agree. But he did. Now I’m asking if you want to know.”

  “It’s not my place.”

  Nolan held both hands up. “Okay. Your decision, of course.”

  “It wouldn’t be right.”

  “Understood. And under any other circumstances I’d never have brought it up. I’m not one to casually betray a colleague’s trust. But since telling me you’re developing these heavy feelings for Tyler, I thought you might want to have the big picture. So maybe you can understand him better. For both your sakes. But you’re right. Not your place. Not my place. But Christian told me and now I can’t unknow it.”

  “I don’t think I want to hear it. It wouldn’t feel right. Thanks though. For caring.”

  “No problem.”

  “You think he’d ever tell me about it himself? Eventually?”

  “I’d say probably not. But it sounds like you’ve gotten to know a side of Tyler none of us have, so who knows. Maybe.”

  Nodding, Tim chewed his thumbnail, eyes on Nolan. “Is it bad?”

  “Yeah.”

  “How bad?”

  “Bad.”

  “Is it related to what JT speculated about at the house? The abduction thing?”

  “Yes, but it’s beyond.”

  Tim picked up a pen on the table and began tapping it nervously. He tried to focus on the monitors, but it was the same old trees. Same old dark woods. No gator-worms. Nothing to distract him. Finally, he threw the pen down. “Okay just fucking tell me!”

  Nolan’s head tilted. “You sure?”

  “I’m sure. Just come on, tell me. Before they come back.”

  Clasping his hands, Nolan leaned over, resting his elbows on his knees. “Years back, there was a saucer crash right outside a military base.”

  “Like Roswell?”

  “Similar. But this saucer crashed so close to the base it was almost on top of it. Almost like it was aiming for the damn thing. Ogden and Wiley were involved with the retrieval. Inside the craft, they found four dead Greys. And one human boy.”

  A breath whistled out of Tim. “Tyler?”

  Nolan nodded. “He was sixteen years old. They thought he was dead at first, but he was only knocked out. Couple broken bones. He’d been missing from his hometown for a month. But his parents had only reported it a week before.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Because he’d gone missing before. They had a contentious relationship. They thought he’d run away. But there he was. At this crash site. Banged up, unconscious, but alive. The four Greys on the other hand, were definitely dead.”

  “Jesus. So does Ogden have the...bodies?”

  “Yeah. That’s how they figured out the Greys didn’t die in the crash.” Taking a deep breath, he said, “Their necks had been broken.”

  “Their necks had been broken...before the crash?”

  “Yes. Let me rephrase. Someone broke their necks. Before the ship went down.”

  “You’re saying Tyler did it.”

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

  “You’re telling me Tyler got abducted and took out four Greys with his bare hands.”

  “And then purposely crashed the saucer.”

  Tim stared. “Holy fuck.”

  “Yeah.”

  “At sixteen he did this?”

  “At sixteen. You know, I’ve heard Ogden call Tyler ‘Fearless’ before but thought it was just a cutesy nickname. This gives it a whole new context.”

  “How, though? How did Tyler take out four Greys?”

  “He’d trained himself to resist their mind-control. As for how he did it physically? I don’t know, but he’s a fucking badass. Maybe he always has been.”

  “But how did he do that? Train himself to resist the mind-control? That would take time and practice and...shit I don’t have any idea how that would even work.”

  Nolan shook his head. “I don’t know how he did it either, but it unfortunately...it did take time. Because he had time. The Greys had been abducting him off and on for a long while. He went through some shit, Tim. There was evidence.”

  Tim frowned, feeling sick. “What kind of evidence?”

  “After the crash, Ogden’s surgeons at headquarters removed four alien implants from Tyler’s body.”

  Tim’s hand trembled as he ran his fingers through his hair. “Shit. Poor fucking kid. Shit.”

  “They also found evidence of the removal of prior implants. At first, they assumed it was the Greys that had removed them. But wasn’t. Tyler had known what was happening to him. He’d found a doctor to remove implants in the past. He got X-Rays and got them taken out. But the ones Ogden’s team removed from him after the crash were deeper inside his body, almost like the Greys were trying to hide them from any doctor Tyler would visit in the future. Make them harder to get to. But Ogden’s surgeons were able to remove them.”

  “So he had implants removed before that, and then...the Greys grabbed him again and put more back in?”

  “Yeah. The Greys, it seems, were very interested in keeping track of Tyler.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know. It’s what they do. They tag people. Christian didn’t know why either, and a lot of this info is second and third hand. But Christian was able to confirm that Tyler still gets tested regularly for implants, even now. He’s been clear for years. But the threat is always there. And probably the fear. Which...” Nolan shrugged. “Explains a lot.”

  “Like why he needs to feel secure and locked in when he sleeps.”

  “And why he has PTSD. So yeah. Tyler’s baggage? It’s not the carry-on variety you can store in the overhead compartment. It takes up the entire cargo hold.”

  Tim hung his head. “Jesus, Nolan.”

  “I know.”

  “What the hell did they want with him? Why did they keep abducting some poor kid over and over again? Putting fucking trackers in his body for Christ’s sake.”

  “I’m not sure why the Greys do anything. Ogden knows more about them than we do but he doesn’t share much. I only know they make him nervous. I’ve heard a lot of people don’t even realize they’ve been abducted because the Greys use false memories to cover it up. But Tyler? He was aware. Aware enough to do what he did. Fight back.”

  “And he’s still got those memories.”

  Nolan nodded. “We may never know what those memories entail, but I’m sure they didn’t abduct Tyler to have a tea party. I think we can reasonably speculate that it was a traumatic experience.”

  “And Ogden? Ogden just...took him after that? Made him a soldier?”

  “Tyler would have been given a choice. But with Ogden he would have gotten the best care, and from people who would actually understand what he’d been through and not call him crazy. For a young kid like that, it likely seemed like the best option at the time. Especially if he didn’t get along with his parents.”

  “Yeah. Shit. Poor Tyler.”

  “I know. I feel terrible about betraying his trust, and this goes no further. But for his sake as much as yours, I thought you should be made aware of exactly who you’re falling for.”

  “Implants and all,” Tim mumbled.

  Nolan chuckled.

  “Oh God, that was a terrible thing to say. I’m sorry.”

  “Humor is a way of dealing with
stress, don’t worry about it. This is a lot to take in. Just...don’t treat him differently. Not in a way that would be obvious to him.”

  “I won’t. Thank you. For telling me. I know we’re not exactly...well, best buds.”

  “You’re part of the team now. Get that through your head. We’re gonna be your friends whether you like it or not.” He picked up his walkie. “I am so tempted to contact them but don’t want to give away their location. How long has it been?”

  “Not that long. But then Tyler probably hiked back up the mountain in record time.”

  “Yeah, Brett’s fit as fuck too. They could be out there in the woods already.”

  They sat, they watched, they waited, as the clock ticked away on the wall. There were no more heavy conversations, only small talk and long bouts of silence.

  Tim drank more cola and started to feel jittery from the caffeine, and from worrying about Tyler. Fucking Tyler. Tim tried to imagine someone telling him in the past ‘One day you’ll fall for a man who was abducted by aliens. Repeatedly.’ His heart broke for Tyler, and he found the information Nolan had given him positively shocking. But this information didn’t change anything other than softening his heart to Tyler even more.

  Right now, more than anything in the world, he wanted Tyler to return safely. He wanted to see him walk through that door, whole and unharmed. He didn’t even care if Tyler came back wearing his work-face with his eyes all blank. As long as he was okay.

  Please. Please let him be safe out there.

  Nolan’s walkie crackled and they both jumped. Then Brett’s voice came through. “Nolan, you there?”

  “I’m here, Brett. You guys all right?”

  “Yeah, we’re both fine.”

  Tim breathed an audible sigh of relief.

  “You need help?” Nolan asked.

  “In fact, we do. Gather your shit, lock up the station, then meet us down by the stream. Near that cluster of small boulders? I’ll send you the exact location.”

  “I know where that is,” Nolan said. He looked at Tim and they both scowled at a sound that briefly came through the walkie. “Brett, did I hear a baby crying?”

  “Yeah,” Brett said. “Get your ass down here and bring the tarp. You’re gonna have to see this to believe it.”

  ****

  Brett and Tyler were easy to spot through the trees because they’d set up a perimeter of flashlights. They both looked up as Tim and Nolan approached. Tyler still held his gun, but it was hanging at his side, and neither of them appeared particularly tense or threatened. “Hey,” Tyler said. “Take a look.”

  Tim and Nolan stepped forward. “Holy shit,” Nolan said. “You got one.”

  Tim stared down at the thing on the ground. Black skin smooth and shiny, it was one of the gator-worms. Tipped over onto its side like a beached whale, roughly six feet long, its small legs twitched sporadically like it was having a seizure. Periodic hisses of air came from a tube-shaped mouth protruding from lower part of the head. What had resembled a crown on the camera footage was a metallic band with spiky protrusions that were currently shifting like a jammed gear, making that click-click-click sound Tim had heard so many times. The scorpion-tail curled up over its back, golden-brown eyes blank and shiny.

  Tim jumped when the thing’s body twitched, then a long hiss sounded. The legs stopped kicking and the creature went still. “Is it...is it dead?”

  “No, it’s not dead,” Brett said. “Because it was never alive.”

  “Huh?”

  Tyler nudged the thing with his boot. “It’s animatronic. It’s not an extraterrestrial at all. It’s not a living being. Someone made this thing.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Yes,” Tyler said. “It’s not real. It’s just a toy.”

  “Expensive fucking toy,” Nolan said.

  “Look at this.” Brett knelt by the head.

  “Whoa, wait!” Nolan said. “Fake or not this thing could be dangerous.”

  Brett looked up. “Tyler hit it full-strength with the stunner and it went down like a sack of rocks. I’m pretty sure he fried its circuits. Check this out.” With a gloved hand, Brett grasped the clicking metallic band on the thing’s head, using his finger to shift the spikes. The spikes clicked like a dial, then suddenly, from that tubular mouth came the sound of a squalling infant.

  “Oh, God,” Tim said. “Those baby-crying sounds were coming from this thing?”

  “Yep,” Brett said. “And listen to this.” He shifted the metal gears and the baby crying was replaced by the distant call of a male voice. “I need help!”

  “Wow,” Tim said. “I fucking heard that one night in the woods. Spent almost a fucking hour looking for some guy I thought was hurt.”

  “There’s also a distressed sounding female voice calling for help. And you know this one.” He shifted the dial back and the infant’s squall started again. “All things to appeal to human sympathy.”

  “I’d guess my prior theory was correct,” Tyler said. “Was trying to lure you out of the station, Tim. Maybe just to observe you.”

  “Or abduct me or kill me,” Tim said. “Don’t forget you presented that option recently.”

  “I know I did. But since discovering this thing is basically a drone, I’m leaning toward simple observation as motivation now.”

  “Regardless of the motivation of the handler, the man behind the curtain so to speak, what we have here on the ground is nothing but a highly sophisticated machine.” Brett picked up a stick and poked at one of the eyes, making a tapping sound. “The eyes are cameras.”

  “We saw two others,” Tyler said. “You were right, Tim. There are more. When I shot this one, the other two nearby started to slither off really fast, then they just melted into the ground and disappeared. They didn’t dig. They didn’t burrow. They just sank down into the earth.”

  “Into the underground base,” Nolan said. “Gotta be where they went.”

  “Like the Whites’ ships,” Brett said. “Manipulating matter so they can pass right through it. This may be a toy, but whoever designed it is no kid. This is sophisticated technology if it can melt through solid ground like the Whites’ ships can.”

  “Yeah.” Nolan frowned. “It’s becoming less and less likely that this is unrelated to the Whites, or at least the hybrids. Too many connections and coincidences. This is tied to the base somehow.”

  “Can you shut that off?” Tim winced. “I can’t listen to that sound anymore.”

  “Oh shit, yeah.” Brett adjusted the dial and the baby screams ceased. “Sorry.”

  Sighing relief, Tim asked, “Why, if the other ones like this had the ability to sink into the ground, is this one still topside? Someone is controlling these things, right? That’s what you’re telling me? Someone’s been using these as like drones to spy on me?”

  “Yep,” Tyler said. “Brett and I figured whatever mechanism is being employed to manipulate solid matter is directly tied to the bots’ internal structure. It’s being controlled remotely from another location of course, but once this one was severely damaged, whoever was controlling it couldn’t activate that feature. Couldn’t pull it back down.”

  Nolan’s eyes widened. “Which means there’s a good chance Ogden will find this thing extremely fucking valuable.”

  “On that note, let’s get it out of here,” Brett said. “Right now, before something comes looking for it.”

  Tim’s eyes darted around the woods. “Shit. You think someone will?”

  Nolan grabbed the tarp. “As Baz says, better safe than sunny. Let’s do this.”

  They wrapped the animatronic gator-worm up and tied it off, then carried it down to the road, where Tim’s vehicle was parked alongside an Arctic Angel box-truck. They got the thing loaded into the box-truck, then the truck took off quickly with Brett behind the wheel.

  Tim had driven up by himself, so was surprised when the passenger door opened and Tyler hopped in. “Mind if I ride with you?”


  “Not at all. Shit, after what you did tonight? Least I can do is give you a fucking ride.”

  “Good. Let’s get out of here. I for one have had enough of this mountain today.”

  “Agreed.” Tim turned the truck around and headed down the mountain. “So what happens now?”

  “There’s a lab at Arctic Angel Brewery. They’re gonna transport the thing back there for now. They’ll call Ogden. Get hold of Baz. Ultimately rip the thing apart and do a fuck-load of tests.”

  “I see. You said ‘they’ so does that mean we’re not following them?”

  “I’m sure you’re anxious for answers but honestly you won’t be much help right now. You did your part. You should relax tonight. Try getting your mind off it for a while. They’ll contact us when there’s news.”

  “And what about you? They don’t need you at the lab?”

  “Nah, my brainwork comes in on the front end of a mission like this, not the back. After I zap em I leave the lab-stuff to those better qualified.”

  “I can’t believe you actually took one of those things down. Didn’t it hear you coming?”

  “I was quiet.”

  “Must have been hard to aim at those shadowy forms in the dark like that.”

  Tyler shrugged. “These kinds of missions usually happen in the dark. It’s what I do.”

  Tim smiled. Tyler’s words sounded like standard tough-guy talk, but hell, this was what Tyler did. No debate about it, Tyler was a goddamn tough-guy. And while it felt a bit wrong after what he’d learned from Nolan about Tyler’s history—the tough-guy thing was kind of a turn-on right now.

  “Weren’t you afraid the creature would have defenses? That you’d get hurt?”

  “Knew it was a possibility, but it always is. This one was pretty damn easy though. Whoever controls those things definitely wasn’t expecting us to sneak up on them. One blast and it went down.”

  “But you didn’t know it wouldn’t fight back when you went out there tonight. You had no idea what to expect!”

  “No. I didn’t.”

  “You’re a brave motherfucker, Tyler Marchant.”

  A soft chuckle, then Tyler glanced over. “You think so?”