by Allen Wold
"We can't fight," Robert Maxwell said, pacing up and down the conference room. "We can't go home." Though it was still some hours before dawn, all the rebels were awake and present. "And we can't sit still any longer. What are we going to do?"
"I got a message from Linda at the lighthouse, just a few minutes ago," Claire Bryant said. "They're having the same problem, only worse, because of the Visitor technicians with them. At least they all have the antitoxin now, so they don't have to wear their respirators, but there's a problem with providing them with live food."
"Pet stores," Robert said. "Haven't they thought of that?"
"Well, yes," Claire said, "but they've bought out all the rats, mice, hamsters, guinea pigs, parakeets, and even kittens and rabbits in the stores in their area."
"Not kittens too," Paul Overbloom cried.
"Well, that was what was left."
"How about snakes and lizards?" came a voice from the door. It was Ham Tyler, with Chris Faber right behind him.
"Thank God you're back," Robert said, rushing over to pump his hand and pound his shoulder. "We still haven't heard any word from the ship."
"I think we can write them off," Ham said. "We're going to have plenty enough problems as it is."
"You've talked with the network. What do they have to say?"
"Nothing very good." He came into the room. All the rebels gave him their attention. "From one source or another, I've learned that the President, Vice President, the entire cabinet, and the most influential members of both houses of Congress have probably been converted. Federal government is at a standstill. Local government isn't much better. Dammit, there were an awful lot of official visits to the Mother Ship over the last year. Every one of them is suspect. And the real problem is that two hundred fifty million people out there, almost the entire population of this country, aren't even aware of it."
"It's the most bizarre situation in the world," Chris put in. "You go out on the street, and if you don't know what's going on, it looks like business as usual. Prices are coming down, products are available again. Ask anybody and they'll tell you that we'll be back to normal within a month."
"It's the same the world over," Ham said. "I'd never thought I'd pity Russia, but their bureaucracy is bigger than ours, and so they're hurting a lot worse. Places where the government is relatively weak are doing a lot better."
"How about our Lieutenant Governor?" Fred Linker asked.
"Dennis Simon? He spent three days on the Mother Ship. I don't think there's any question but that he's converted. You must have heard some of his broadcasts yesterday."
"We did," Robert Maxwell said. "Martial law continues in effect—for two weeks, he says, for whatever that's worth."
"Nothing," the Fixer said. "We're going to see these United States become disunited, each state for itself, a hodgepodge of neofascists. Those Visitors did more damage than even they knew."
"So what are we going to do about it?" Claire asked.
"What can we do?" Ham asked back. "If we could deconvert people, if we could somehow get people to believe that their elected officials have been converted, we might have some chance. But without Donovan and Julie, and the ship, I don't see what we can do. Dammit, this isn't my line of business. I start wars, not finish them."
"Hold on, you guys," somebody called from the back of the room. "We've got another special announcement."
"I've had enough of special announcements," Robert shouted.
"I think you'll like this one," was the response. "It's Julie."
Everyone's attention became riveted on the screen.
"To all the people of the world," Juliet Parrish was saying, "and especially to the people of Los Angeles. I am speaking to you from a Visitor Mother Ship. It is in our control, and we are returning to Earth. Among us are a large number of Visitors. Most of these people bear only feelings of strong friendship with us. As has happened too many times in our own past, they were victims of an evil government and are not evil in and of themselves. I hope that you will be tolerant during the days and months to come. We have much to learn from them, and this time, instead of empty promises, their knowledge will be ours.
"More importantly," she continued, "we bear with us in the holds of this ship ten thousand living human beings, captives of the Visitors, held in suspended animation. Your neighbors, your friends, your loved ones. Without the assistance of hundreds of Visitor technicians, these people cannot be brought back to life. Just as quickly as we can we will be bringing these poor people down to the plant where they were brought when taken from their homes. Please help us return these people to their families.
"And last, we hold a special prisoner ourselves. Diana, the first science officer and second-in-command of the Visitor fleet, is now in a security cell aboard this ship. It is she more than John, more than any other Visitor, who is responsible for the evil that has been done to us. She will be brought to justice. She will stand trial.
"Shortly, the ship now under our command will once again float above the skies of Los Angeles. Be assured the enemy has not returned."
Julie's image disappeared to be replaced momentarily by the interrupted scene of the movie that had been playing which, in turn, was replaced by frantic, sleepy-eyed newscasters trying to interpret and explain what had just been said.
"All right," Ham Tyler said, shouting above the noise of the cheers, "now we know what to do."
"But they're back," Maxwell said. "We've won at last."
"Don't count on it," Ham said. "Remember when they tried to arrest us when we were at the plant before? Julie has just told the world where she's going to be. There's plenty of time for those who want to set a trap for her there."
"Mike was right," Robert said. "You're too damn paranoid. How could even the Lieutenant Governor justify an attack on that plant with ten thousand lives at stake?"
"I can think of several ways," Ham said, "and so can he. I don't want to guess, I want to know. They didn't listen to us, and we have no assurance they'll listen to Donovan and Julie. Do you want to just sit back here and take a chance?"
Robert stared at him a moment, then nodded his head in agreement.
"All right," Ham yelled, "let's get a move on."
Chapter 8
Los Angeles, so briefly free of the hovering Mother Ship, was once more in its shadow. Juliet Parrish's message had gone out once every hour, but not everyone had seen it. The timing was wrong. It was early morning, and most people hadn't yet awakened. When they did, and saw the huge disk shape overhead, their spirits were crushed.
From the belly of the Mother Ship, three shuttles emerged. Each was as large as the component design allowed. They descended, drifting east toward the plant north of Pomona.
There, a cordon of police and National Guard stood around the perimeter of the facility. This time, it seemed, they were concerned with keeping people out, rather than with disrupting the activities of the suspension plant. A speaker system aiming outward toward the crowds kept repeating Julie's message. Still, many of the people gathered there did not believe what they heard and shouted curses and threats.
The three shuttles hovered over the plant from which so many human victims had been taken. Inside the wire fence was a contingent of National Guard under the command of Colonel Kent Fletcher. The soldiers moved aside as the first of the shuttles descended to the paved yard of the plant. The second landed moments later, and then the third. When all three were down, the hatches opened.
From the shuttle nearest the plant came a wary and armed Mike Donovan and Julie Parrish, immediately followed by Martin and Barbara and, between them, Diana, her hands bound by strange cuffs. From the other ships came rebels, followed by fifth columnists, and then a steady stream of translucent white plastic coffins. Under the supervision of rebels and Visitors, these began to come from the first shuttle too.
Colonel Fletcher stood waiting for a moment. The two captains and two lieutenants who made up his staff watched nervously as
the rebels and their prisoner approached. Then the colonel squared his shoulders and marched forward to greet the victors, his staff close behind.
They stopped when they were just two paces apart. Mike, having gotten word from Robert about the troubles there earlier was apprehensive. Colonel Fletcher, however, saluted sharply, then stepped forward to shake his hand.
"Mr. Donovan," he said, "it's a pleasure to meet you at last. Miss Parrish ..." He offered her his hand. "You have accomplished a miracle." He looked from Martin to Barbara and back. "I never thought I'd say this," he said, "but if you're in any way responsible for bringing these people back, I'm glad to meet you." He shook hands with each and then stepped back.
"I take it," Mike said, "that not all those people out there are quite so pleased."
"Indeed they are not," Colonel Fletcher said. "Most of them did not see your broadcast, and a good number of them don't care. They thought the Visitors were gone forever, and then to have that ship come back again—" he gestured to where it hung in the sky, "—well, it's been hard for them to accept."
"That was one of the things we were worried about," Juliet said.
"How many captives have you brought back?" the colonel asked. His staff stood silently to either side and slightly behind him.
"On this trip," Mike said, "just a hundred and fifty. They are our first concern, of course, but not our only one." He stepped aside and glanced at Martin and Barbara, who pushed Diana forward to face the colonel.
"Ah, Diana," the colonel said. "How happy I am to see you." He clasped his hands behind his back. "You can be sure," he said to Mike Donovan, "that we'll take very good care of her. And of the other Visitors too."
"You understand," Mike said, "that the Visitors we brought down with us are not only our friends, but have much to offer. The process by which those people," he gestured to the continuing stream of coffinlike containers, "have been put into suspended animation can be of great value to us."
"Are all of these aliens, then, necessary to the unprocessing of these poor people?"
"No," Martin said. "Most of them are just workers, or else drawn from other disciplines where they are not needed. We have left several trusted people in charge of the ship. There are approximately two thousand more of them up there, confined to their quarters until we can prove their trustworthiness."
"I see," said the colonel. He did not seem overly pleased. "And children too?" He was looking past them to where Elizabeth stood at the hatch of the shuttle.
"Just the one child," Mike said. "She had been taken up to the ship some time before we captured it. We're bringing her back to her father."
"The most important thing," Juliet said, "is not to revive these people, but to try to identify and cure those who have been converted."
"I don't understand," Colonel Fletcher said.
"We have every reason to believe," Barbara explained, "that most of your government officials underwent a kind of brainwashing process while on a visit to our ship. We think we can reverse that process."
"I see," the colonel repeated. His pleasure seemed to be diminishing rapidly.
"We've begun the process of testing all the Visitors left on board the ship," Mike Donovan said, "to find out which ones we can trust. A large percentage of them are highly trained technicians, engineers, scientific specialists. They are all willing to give us the information and knowledge that John, their Supreme Commander, once promised us."
"That's good," Colonel Fletcher said with a singular lack of enthusiasm. "It would be nice to come out of this mess with something to show for it."
Mike and Julie exchanged glances. Something was going wrong, and they had no idea what it was.
"Perhaps," the colonel went on, "we ought to go inside and see how things are going there."
"All right," Donovan said, and as a group they entered the plant. Elizabeth followed along behind.
There the last of the coffins were being stacked to one side while Visitor technicians were opening up the service panels on the processing equipment. There were also a number of police and Guardsmen standing at attention, carefully out of the way.
"How many more humans are on board the ship?" the colonel asked.
"Approximately nine thousand eight hundred and fifty," Julie said, "but the entire rebel invading force is here with us."
"About these in the coffins: do they have to be unprocessed immediately?"
"Those on board the ship," Martin said, "can probably be left alone for quite awhile. They're connected to special life-support systems to keep them—uh—fresh. But these here will have to be tended to within a few days, or they'll die."
"I see," Colonel Fletcher said. "But they don't need immediate attention?"
"No, but the longer they stay without support, the greater the chance that they won't survive revitalization."
"Very good," the colonel said. "In that case we have plenty of time." He cleared his throat with a loud "harrumph," and the police and Guardsmen all drew their weapons. "You're all under arrest."
"What the hell's going on?" Mike Donovan shouted. Most of the Visitors in the plant were not armed, but neither those who were nor the rebels dared go for their weapons.
"You don't expect me to believe," the colonel said with heavy sarcasm, "that these people," he waved at the Visitor technicians, "would actually join you against their own kind."
"Of course we do," Julie said angrily. "They've chosen a higher loyalty than just to their own race." Around her, police and Guardsmen were relieving the rebels and fifth columnists of their weapons.
"No," Colonel Fletcher said, "I don't accept that. I know about conversion. You've all spent a lot of time aboard the aliens' ship. Obviously there's some kind of plot, and you and these aliens are in it together."
"That's not true," Barbara said.
"You expect me to believe you," the colonel snapped. Nonsense. You've hatched a plan to salvage what you can of a bad situation."
"You're making a big mistake," Mike said.
"That's what they all say," the colonel responded. "I can't trust any of you, and I'm going to put you someplace safe until I can learn the truth."
"But what about the rest of the people on the ship?" Julie said.
"Mr. Donovan here," the colonel said, "figured out how to fly a shuttle. I think I have some men in my command who are equally capable. We'll bring the rest of the human prisoners down and unprocess them ourselves. The Visitors still on the ship can stay there. But you, my friends, are going to be put away for a while."
He gave a command to one of the soldiers, who went to the sliding double doors and opened them. Six security wagons pulled into the plant, and under the colonel's supervision the rebels and Visitors were loaded inside. Then the paddy wagons drove off into the early morning.
Ham Tyler and Chris Faber crouched behind a pile of discarded truck tires among a field of similar such piles. They were a few hundred feet from the fence surrounding the Visitor's suspended-animation plant. On their right were Robert Maxwell and Claire Bryant, and beyond them were half a dozen more rebels. Fred Linker, Paul Overbloom, and the rest of the rebels were on Ham's left. All had a good view of the plant, of the angry and curious people closer to the fence, of the police and National Guardsmen inside—and of the security vans now being loaded with their friends.
"What are we going to do?" Robert whispered loudly. "We can't just let them be taken away. "
"You want to launch an attack," Ham whispered back, "I'll cover your rear." They had arrived an hour before, found the police and Guardsmen already in place, and had witnessed the arrival of the three shuttles. When Juliet Parrish, Mike Donovan, Martin, and Barbara had met the colonel and his staff, several of the rebels had wanted to come out of hiding and join their fellows. It had taken all Ham's authority to keep them concealed.
"Going up against the Visitors is one thing," Fred said, "but I don't like shooting up my own people."
"You'd never make it, in any event,"
Ham said. "Colonel Fletcher, the one in charge, has a reputation for maintaining his people in top fighting form."
The rebels murmured among themselves, passing back and forth their observations and comments. And then when the security vans drove away, it was too late to do anything.
At the plant the Guardsmen took up positions in and near the building while the police went back to the problem of dispersing the crowd. With the rebels and Visitors gone, they had more success than before. Ham decided that now was the time to fall back, before they were discovered.
Reluctantly, almost ashamedly, the rebels returned to their trucks. Ham took Fred aside and led him to one of the smaller vehicles, a step van with a plumbing company sign painted on the side.
"Take two others," he said, "and find out where Mike and the others are being taken. I have a feeling it won't be to a regular security installation."
Fred nodded, called two friends, and drove off before the National Guard vans could get out of sight.
"I can't understand it," Robert Maxwell said. "They should have been welcomed as heroes."
"I'll lay you odds," Ham Tyler answered, "that whoever issued the orders has been converted."
"That whole crowd of civilians around the plant hasn't been converted," Claire said. "They just don't like the idea of that Mother Ship being overhead again."
"Julie should have stayed in orbit longer," Paul Overbloom said. "Nobody watches TV at that hour of the morning. They should have broadcast their message for a whole day before coming down."
"That might have helped," Ham agreed, "but most people do what they're told most of the time, even if what they're told doesn't make much sense. And the people who are telling them what to do are soft-headed because of what the Visitors did to them. So we'd still have trouble even if Julie's message had gone out for a week."
"Are we going to try to rescue them?" Claire Bryant asked.
"There aren't enough of us," Robert said. "Even if we bring in people from the lighthouse."
"All right," Ham decided, "it's obvious we need more help. Chris, see if you can round up any other rebel groups who might be in the area. Maxwell, you're still in charge of the San pedro group. Get everybody ready and leave only a skeleton crew at the lighthouse, just enough to take care of the children."
