by D F Capps
“What is Ceti Research?” Harris demanded. “We ran the name through every database. There is no such place. But this is a very high tech ID card you have here. They don’t make these things up for nothing. Tell me what Ceti Research is and why there’s a flying saucer with dead aliens in Miss Behnke’s back yard. Where is she, by the way? What did you do to her?”
Sean looked back at Harris. He was afraid that anything he said at this point was only going to make the situation worse. “Am I under arrest?”
Harris stood up straight. “You’re being held as a material witness in the disappearance of Peggy Sue Behnke. You were the last one to see her, so in my book, you’re suspect number one. Any other stupid questions?”
I guess not, Sean thought. He tightened his lips together. He’d been questioned by the police before, but he always had the powerful New York Times behind him. Now that was gone. He wondered how he was going to get out of this situation.
Charlie, he thought.
He closed his eyes and focused his mind on Charlie.
* * *
“Where is Mr. Wells?” Peggy Sue asked. “Is he all right?”
Charlie sat across from her in the telepathically secure section of Peregrine Base. “I’m sure he’s fine. What can you tell me about Jasper?”
He sensed the anger and resentment boiling up inside of her. Images flooded his mind of all the things the Zeta Greys had done to her and had made her do. His heart ached for all of the depraved things she had endured.
She shook her head and wiped the tears from her eyes. “They have a ship,” she said, her voice shaking. “It’s full of babies and small children.”
Charlie breathed out slowly as image after image came into his mind: Rows and rows of incubator chambers—tens of thousands of them. “An incubator ship,” Charlie said. “How big?”
She shrugged. “I have no idea, really. I walked and walked inside of it and all I ever encountered was gently curving walls.”
“Ballpark?” Charlie asked.
She looked directly in his eyes. “Yes. It’s very large, like a professional ballpark.”
Charlie raised his eyebrows. “As big as a stadium?”
She nodded. “Probably bigger. I’ve been to Target Field in Minneapolis. I think the ship is bigger than that.”
Charlie leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. He tried to imagine an incubator ship of that size. He opened his eyes and asked, “Do you know how many ships they have like that?”
She shook her head. “I’ve only been on the one ship. Beyond that, I have no idea.”
Charlie nodded. “Thanks.”
* * *
“Sergeant Henderson,” Charlie said as he entered the prisoner cells of the telepathically secure section. “The hybrid: Jasper. Restrain him on the interrogation table.”
Henderson grinned. “So, no more Mr. Nice Guy?”
“Oh, we’re way beyond that,” Charlie replied.
Once Jasper was restrained, Charlie entered the room. He sensed the confusion filling Jasper’s mind—that and the fear. “Tell me about the incubator ships.”
An image of six very large ships flashed into his mind. He leaned over Jasper and spoke softly. “You’re going to show me everything about the incubator ships.”
Jasper struggled against the restraints, but said nothing.
That’s all right, Charlie sent to him telepathically. You don’t have to say a word.
Jasper’s eyes widened with panic. Charlie leaned over Jasper’s face and stared into his eyes, commencing neuronal engagement. He followed the optic nerve back into Jasper’s brain and searched his entire memory. He saw the ships, the Zeta Grey computer system, and all of the things he had done to Peggy Sue and dozens of other women. He extracted the names of all of the hubrids Jasper controlled. All together there were more than three thousand names. What surprised him the most was how long the incubator project had been running and how massive it had become.
* * *
Nothing from Charlie, Sean Wells thought. Charlie apparently managed to save him from the Zeta Greys at Peggy Sue’s house. All he remembered was that he and Peggy Sue were waiting to be rescued. The next thing he knew a police officer was waking him up and Peggy Sue was gone. He considered what Charlie could actually do to get him out of police custody. Outside of invoking some top secret authorization he couldn’t imagine what the police in Sheridan would believe. He didn’t have the New York Times any more, but he had the next best thing.
Sean grinned. “I get a phone call, don’t I?”
Lieutenant Harris scoffed. “Only guilty people lawyer up.”
“My phone? Or do I have to use yours? It’s a long distance all.”
Lieutenant Harris walked quickly out of the interrogation room. It took him an hour to return with Sean’s phone. It was 8:47 a.m. mountain time, an hour earlier on the west coast.
Sean looked around the room. It’s an interrogation room, he thought. They’re going to record everything. He looked at his phone. Might as well make it entertaining. He called information.
“What is the largest publishing company on the west coast?” He waited for the response. “Yes, Seattle would be fine. Please connect me directly.”
He glanced at the one-way glass and winked.
“Acquisitions editor.”
There was a short pause.
“Yes, my name is Sean Wells. I’m . . .” He closed his eyes, trying to calm his emotions connected to the loss of all of his friends in New York City. “I was an investigative journalist with the New York Times.”
He listened carefully.
“Yes, that Sean Wells. You do electronic books?”
He stared at the one-way glass as he listened.
“The massive radiation spill in New Mexico is a lie. It’s a cover story for the most extraordinary event in human history. I have the inside story complete with photos, documents, eyewitness testimony, and permission from the president to publish what otherwise would be classified way above top secret. Is your company interested, or should I call someone else?”
Chapter 58
“I was able to confirm Peggy Sue’s identification of Leland Abbott as a hubrid,” Charlie told Andrews. “I’ll have a better list of hubrids for you in about three hours.”
Andrews nodded. “That explains why Washington, D.C. and Moscow weren’t hit by nuclear weapons.”
“I’ve got some disturbing news,” Hollis said as he entered the room. Charlie and Andrews turned to face him. “All of our HAARP facilities and backscatter array stations have just received word from President Abbott to shut down. Troops are on their way to enforce the order.”
“That would eliminate the planetary shield,” Charlie said.
“And allow thousands of Zeta Grey saucers back into our atmosphere,” Andrews added.
Hollis shook his head. “With Abbott in charge, we’ll never be able to recover. We’ll be worse off than when we started fighting them.”
Andrews looked at Charlie. “This must have been the Zeta Grey plan all along: to bring us to the initiation of a nuclear war then pull everyone back. Demand an end to all means of waging war to gain massive public support, and shut down every means of defense we have against the Zeta Greys. I have to admit, it’s a brilliant plan.”
Charlie nodded. “I’ve received information from my father that Zeta Grey saucers were seen above St. Petersburg and New York just before the nuclear detonations took place.”
Andrews’s shoulders slumped. “Another false flag attack. This time with nuclear weapons.”
“It must have been,” Hollis said. “I had trouble believing that Pasternov would turn against us. I understand the reasoning, but I thought he was more aware than that.”
“How long do we have before troops arrive at the HAARP and backscatter array facilities?” Charlie asked.
“The closest access for the military is the HAARP facility in Alaska,” Hollis asked. “No more than two hours. The facilities
are protected from air attack by the particle beam cannons, so it has to be a ground force.”
“Abbott has to know that,” Charlie said.
Hollis looked at Charlie. “How would he know?”
“Leland Abbott is a hubrid,” Charlie replied, “under the control and direction of the Zeta Greys.”
Hollis glanced at the ceiling in dismay. “How could this possibly get any worse?”
“My guess is that both the new Russian and Chinese presidents are also hubrids, working for the Zeta Greys,” Andrews said.
Hollis shook his head. “Unbelievable. Zadanski’s squadron can have a Space Command army unit there in about twenty minutes. We can cover the rest of the facilities, but it’s going to leave us short-handed to properly defend Peregrine Base.”
“I understand the risk,” Andrews said, “but if we lose the planetary shield, we lose everything else, too. Send the army unit.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And contact the Russian and Chinese Space Commands. Bring them up to date on what we currently know. See what kind of challenges they’re facing.”
Hollis nodded, turned, and left.
* * *
“How close are we to a functioning troop carrier?” Hollis asked.
Theo thought for a moment. “We have a prototype in flight testing. Just beginning basic production. Why?”
“President Abbott has ground troops on their way to the Alaska transmitter facility with orders to shut it down. I need Space Command Army troops there in twenty minutes.”
“Wow,” Theo said. “You can’t use fighter craft?”
“I can,” Hollis replied, “but it will leave Peregrine Base essentially unprotected and the fighters will have only half of their crew if something else goes wrong. It’s too big of a risk.”
He could hear the impatience in Hollis’s voice. Theo breathed out quickly and stared over at his bookcase. “I can’t guarantee the safety of the troop carrier. We’re still trying things out.”
“So come to Peregrine Base, pick up thirty men, and continue the tryout on the way to Alaska.”
Theo closed his eyes. Predictable, he thought. “I can’t guarantee your troops will even arrive alive at this point. I need more time.”
“So do I,” Hollis replied. “That doesn’t mean any of us are going to get it. If we lose the Alaska facility, we lose seven billion people along with it.”
Theo nodded. “Okay, one prototype transport on its way.”
* * *
Great patience was required to accomplish great things, Rosaq reminded himself. All around the world troops were moving to stop the transmitting facilities that constituted the power of the planetary shield. Once the shield was down, his saucers would have free access to the entire planet. Through his hubrid world leaders, the Earth fighter craft would be destroyed along with all other military equipment and weapons of war.
The first target was the HAARP transmitting facility in Alaska. Once it was down a substantial gap in the coverage of the planetary shield would open. He could start bringing saucers in through the northern part of Canada to replenish his own depleted forces. He knew from past experience that the humans could only get soldiers to the Alaska facility by using the fighter craft to transport their troops. That would leave the fighter craft missing an essential member of the flight team. That would make them more vulnerable in combat, and more importantly, it would leave the fighter craft base in New Mexico without fighters for protection. He watched his display screen. He had plans for both the fighters and the underground base.
* * *
Diane watched from the blast door as the disc-shaped troop transport carefully slid into the launch deck at Peregrine Base. With the curvature of the top, it was hard to tell what the overhead clearance was. It looked a lot closer than she was comfortable with. She stepped back as the edge of the saucer cleared the side of the main launch deck opening by less than three feet and continued in her direction. About a third of the transport still stuck out into the air as it came to rest on its short landing pods. She waited for the bright white glow to dissipate before she walked under the edge of the saucer.
She walked inside the transport as soon as the ramp lowered.
Theo smiled at her.
“You’re here,” she said.
He raised his eyebrows. “Least I could do, under the circumstances.”
Hollis walked over and examined the outside of the transport. “Looks perfectly functional to me.”
Theo looked down the ramp and shook his head. “That’s because you haven’t seen the inside yet.”
Hollis walked up the ramp.
Theo pointed to a ladder that extended up from the center of the floor into an opening in the ceiling. “Flight controls are up there.”
Hollis turned in a slow circle, taking in the bare walls all the way around. “No seats?”
“It’s a prototype,” Theo answered.
“I assume the particle beam cannons are in the upper section,” Hollis said.
Theo breathed out heavily. “We haven’t mounted any of the weapons yet. It’s—”
Hollis held up his hand. “I get it. It’s a prototype.”
Theo nodded.
“Zadanski, six fighter craft escort.”
She grinned. “Yes, sir.”
Colonel Novak led the thirty soldiers of Company One into the transport saucer. Each member carried a ghillie suit and blanket that looked like it was made from pine needles. They looked around at the lack of accommodations.
“Sorry, guys. It’s a prototype,” Theo said. “I recommend you sit on the floor.”
“You’re going with the transport?” Diane asked.
Theo nodded. “Too much can go wrong. We just started flight testing.”
She gritted her teeth and nodded. She didn’t like him being in a craft that might fall out of the sky and crash, but at least she would be there to protect him in case of an attack.
* * *
Diane led the transport saucer north to Alaska with five other fighters spread around in a protective pattern. As they got close to the HAARP facility, a dozen Zeta Grey scout saucers rose up out of the snow covered mountains of Denali National Park.
“Initiate jinking,” Diane ordered. “Let them come to us. We have to protect the transport.” Only two against one, she thought. They haven’t done that in months. What are they doing?
Diane’s squadron pulled forward to form a shield for the transport. The Zeta Grey scout saucers started firing from a distance and didn’t engage them up close the way they usually did.
“Something’s wrong,” Diane said to Ryan. “Make a sweep around our back and flanks; see what they’re up to.”
“Roger that,” Ryan replied. “Nothing showing up. Let me try infrared.”
“Squadron One, hold your fire until they get closer,” Diane ordered.
“I’m picking up six warm spots down in the trees,” Ryan said. “Could be parked saucers.”
“Could be, or are?” she asked.
“Can’t tell—They’re saucers! Coming up from our right flank.”
“Buddha, you’re with me. Everyone else keep those saucers at a distance!”
She and Buddha banked and dived under the transport, opening fire on the six Zeta Grey saucers bolting up from the ground. She hit two and Buddha hit one before they got close. Two of the remaining saucers from the ground slipped under them, firing up at the underside of the transport. The last saucer peeled back and made a run for the top of the transport ship.
“Go under!” Diane shouted to Buddha.
She pulled up and pushed the thrust to sixty percent as she curled around in back of the saucer. A flash of light came from the saucer aimed at the transport ship as she hit the underside of the Zeta Grey scout. The saucer tipped and tumbled from the sky.
“Two more saucers down,” Buddha reported.
“The dozen saucers in front have broken off, retreating at high speed,” Ryan said.
All of her fighters reported no damage, but the transport ship wasn’t responding on the radio. It was falling.
* * *
“Dr. Schna,” Charlie said. “This is Peggy Sue Behnke. She has a Zeta Grey brain implant. Anything you can do?”
Dr. Schna raised his eyebrows. “How long have you had it?”
She glanced at the floor. The question didn’t sound like good news to her. “More than a decade.”
Dr. Schna shook his head. “If it was new, no problem. But after a decade? There will be extensive glial cell growth around the implant. It’s high risk.”
“But it could be done?” Charlie asked.
Dr. Schna’s mouth turned down. “I haven’t done an operation on one before. I can’t predict the outcome.”
Peggy Sue looked over at Charlie, then back at Dr. Schna. “I can’t stand having this alien thing in my brain. I want it out.”
“You understand that you could be permanently brain damaged as a result of the procedure?” Dr. Schna said.
She looked back at Charlie as her heart raced. She was a teacher. What would she do if she couldn’t teach? She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She looked Dr. Schna directly in the eyes. “I want it out.”
* * *
“We have power,” the pilot yelled over the sound of air blasting out of the control center, “but no directional control. The ship is not responding to the controls!”
Theo scanned the displays quickly, dived to the floor, and slid open the access doors to the series of control modules under the console. A gaping eight-inch hole angled down from the skin of the ship, through the directional control module, a power cable, and into the floor.
“Get Colonel Novak. I need help!”
Theo yanked the remains of the directional control module out and tossed it across the floor as Novak climbed up into the control center.
