INCURSION - an ALIEN OMNIBUS
Page 8
“Sir?”
“I didn't stutter, did I?”
“No Sir.”
“Then get a bird in the air and shoot them down.”
Baker reached for the phone, but Harris put a hand over his to stop him.
“Use the other room,” he ordered.
Baker nodded and backed out of the office.
“The door,” called Harris.
Baker pulled the door shut.
The second door behind Harris slid open and revealed a Norde standing there.
“Can you do it without being seen?” asked Harris.
The Norde bowed its head.
“Make sure it's done this time.”
29
Rob sat in the co-pilot's seat and studied Sam as she worked the controls.
The takeoff had been smooth, her fingers flicked through the toggles and switches as she lifted them off the runway and climbed for altitude.
Once they leveled off, she kept both hands on the yoke and scanned the sky.
Jodi was buckled into one of the rear seats and watched closely.
They were wearing large headphones that plugged into the radio system.
The noise from the engine was too loud so it was the only way they could talk to each other.
“You said we trained together?” asked Rob.
“We sure did, Sugar,” she shot him smile.
“Why can't I remember?”
Sam shrugged.
“I have a theory. Wanna hear it?”
He nodded.
“How much of any of your training do you remember?”
“Enough,” piped in Jodi. “I've seen him come through twice so far.”
Sam nodded.
“I don't mean then Hon. I mean right now. Think about your training. How much do you remember right now?”
Rob concentrated and frowned.
“I can't. I mean, I remember being abducted and I remember them asking me to help. I know I was trained, but...I can't remember.”
“It's okay,” Sam reassured him. “I don't remember some of mine either.”
“Then why can you remember him?” Jodi asked from the back.
Sam reached out and ran her fingers through Rob's hair and down his shoulder.
“Some things you just don't forget.”
Flak exploded outside of the plane and jolted them sideways.
“What was that!” screamed Rob.
Jodi hunched forward and tried to push his head down.
“We're being shot at,” she shouted.
An F-16 Fighter plane roared past them and looped around.
Jodi jacked the slide on her pistol and aimed it at Sam's head.
“How did they know we were here?”
Sam threw the plane into a corkscrew dive.
“Wasn't me, I swear.”
Rob and Jodi gripped handles on the side of the plane and Sam kept up the evasive maneuver.
“What are you doing?” Rob shouted.
“I gotta lose them Sugar.”
“Not you,” he shook his head and nodded at
Jodi. “Her!”
“She tipped them off.”
Sam pulled out of the spin, leveled off, and dove left.
“No I didn't,” she said.
“This isn't helping,” Rob bounced off the door as Sam pulled up and angled right.
“Then what should I do?” Jodi asked.
“Not you,” Rob said. “Her.”
Sam sent the plane into a dive again.
“Then what should I do?”
“Oh no,” said Sam.
She let go of the yoke.
“What are you doing?”
“He's got us.”
“You can't know that. Pull up. Dive. Do something.”
Sam pointed out of the window. A flash of light spun through the air, locked in on them.
It left a gray contrail in the night sky.
“Stinger,” she said.
“Turn,” Rob shouted.
“It's got a lock,” Sam answered.
She reached over and grabbed Rob's hand.
“Sorry Sugar.”
The F 16 exploded.
A gray saucer glided up and slowly overtook the rocket.
“Friend?” Jodi called.
The missile exploded.
“I'll take that as a yes.”
The Cessna was rocked by the explosion.
It pitched forward and started falling as the engine whined.
“Get the yoke,” screamed Rob.
“No control,” Sam groaned as she fought the yoke.
Rob grabbed the co-pilot's yoke and yanked up on it, but it was no good.
The explosion had sent shrapnel through the wing and clipped the control wire.
The ground grew closer.
Jodi braced her arm against the seat, but knew it was hopeless.
They were going in nose first.
The cabin filled with a bright white light.
30
The bright white light dissolved away and Jodi blinked her eyes open.
She was laying on a soft metal fabric bed in the middle of a large smooth walled chamber.
Slick bulkheads were hidden by a dull gray haze, like silks covered the hidden lights.
She tried to move her arms and legs, starting with her toes and moving up.
Next her fingers.
Everything was there, everything responding.
She turned her head to one side and saw Rob.
He sat at a small cafe table with two gray aliens.
They had short squat bulbous heads, with black oversized eyes and seemed to be conversing with him, though no sound came from the area.
Rob smiled and poured a teapot into three tiny teacups.
He lifted the one to the first alien, then the next and the three of them toasted and sipped tea.
“Rob!” she screamed.
It came out a whisper.
The aliens and Rob glanced over at her.
He sat down his cup and walked over.
“What are you doing?” she whispered. “Why are we here?”
Rob put his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her back into the fabric.
“Having tea,” he said. “Chamomile is their favorite.”
He tucked her in under a silver blanket and smoothed the hair back from her head.
“We made it,” he cooed. “We survived.”
“You look different,” she said softly.
He put a finger on her lips.
“Close your eyes.”
She turned her head to look at the aliens again.
One raised his three fingered hand and gave her a slow wave.
She wiggled her fingers to wave back.
The aliens put their heads together.
Somewhere she thought she could hear laughter.
“I never-”
“Shhh,” whispered Rob.
31
Jodi opened her eyes and glanced around the room.
She was in a hotel.
She could tell by the generic print on the wall, the beige wallpaper, the matching comforters on both double beds.
Rob sat on the bed beside her. He pushed hair back from her forehead.
“It's time to go,” he said.
“Where are we?”
She sat up and blinked sleep out of her eyes.
“DC,” he answered.
He moved to the next double bed and gently shook Sam awake.
“How did we get here?” she stuttered.
Sam sat up and stretched like a cat.
It did very interesting things to her tee shirt and Rob made sure to pay close attention.
“Oh my God,” said Jodi.
“I wasn't-” Rob started.
“I remember,” cried Jodi.
“Pretty amazing, huh Hon?” purred Sam.
She drew Rob's hand to her lips and kissed it.
“Morning Sugar. Do I have time for a shower?”
“Make it fast,” said Rob.
He watched her crawl out of the bed and sashay into the bathroom.
“So it did happen?” said Jodi.
“Nothing happened,” Rob answered.
“I mean the ship, the plane, we were... up there.”
“Your first is always the hardest to get used to,” he said as he sat on the edge of the bed and laced up his hiking boots.
“I saw you drink tea.”
“It can feel sort of surreal, don't you think?”
“There were two of them. And I called your name.”
“It almost feels like a dream. It's the concentration of carbon monoxide in their atmosphere. It makes us sleepy, but works for them. At least in space. Down here, they can tolerate oxygen just fine.”
“You put me to bed,” she said.
“They put us down outside of town,” he went to the window and pulled back the curtain.
It revealed a gray day dawning under a cloudy sky.
“We'll need to catch a cab.”
He left the window and clicked on the television.
A local reporter was standing on the edge of an empty field.
“It was here last night,” the reporter said. “Over ten people claimed to have seen an unidentified flying object land and three figures disembark. Authorities deny-
He turned the volume down.
“Wow.”
Rob sat on the bed beside her.
“Wow indeed,” said Rob.
Sam slinked out of the shower with a short towel wrapped around her torso.
“Where to now Sugar?”
32
Baker rushed down the corridor and burst through the door.
He clutched a narrow briefcase to his chest.
“Where are they?” Harris snarled before he had cleared the door.
“Here,” Baker started to say.
He was cut short as Harris jerked the briefcase out of his hand.
“Here? They're in DC? Damn it.”
“I've recalled Riggs and Freddy to the building,” Baker said.
Harris straightened his suit and walked back down the corridor that Baker had just rushed through.
“I don't want to be late,” he told Baker.
“Sir?” Baker hustled after him.
“Not now,” Harris growled. “I have to prepare.”
He and Baker went into the elevator and rode six floors down.
The doors slid open and two armed soldiers glared at them.
Harris stepped in front of them.
One scanned his badge and held up the tablet to match the picture with his face.
The soldier nodded him through the checkpoint.
He didn't wait for Baker to pass through.
33
Harris moved through a second set of sliding doors that hissed shut behind him.
He faced five men in the room engaged in quiet conversations with each other.
They stopped talking and looked up as he came in.
Harris nodded to the Admiral and General dressed in official uniforms.
The Secretary and Commissioner wore the politician's uniform of a black business suit, white shirt and blue tie.
The President was in a gray suit and red tie, but he looked tired. Distinguished but tired.
Harris glanced around the conference room and froze.
Rob sat on a small sofa to one side between Jodi and Sam.
Baker bumped into the back of him.
“You didn't tell me they were in the building,” he whispered.
“I tried, Sir,” Baker whispered back.
“Let's take our seats and get started,” said the President.
The men moved to take seats around the table.
Harris pushed Baker out of the door and let it hiss shut behind him. He moved to an empty chair at the mahogany conference table.
“I apologize for my tardiness, Mr. President, gentlemen. I'm afraid our guests arrived sooner than I expected.”
“We're just glad you made it,” the President addressed Rob. “I understand you ran into some trouble along the way. Commissioner, can you bring us up to speed?”
The Commissioner was a large man from New Jersey, a former governor who parlayed his rotund likability into a seat at the trough when he helped this President win the election.
He hauled his girth up out of the seat as the lights dimmed and a projection screen dropped from the ceiling.
On the screen, the moving stars are animated and closing in on earth.
“The invasion force is holding a steady trajectory since we first noticed their movement,” he wheezed. “They're still projected to reach us in two to four months.”
He clicked a button and the screen shifted over to a graph.
“Our office is fielding over a thousand calls a day. People are noticing. I don't know how much longer we can keep it quiet.”
The President studied the graph for a moment and made a steeple with his fingers in front of his chest.
“Mr. President,” the General coughed. “We're not prepared for this kind of assault. We've run several thousand scenarios in simulations, and it does not turn out well for us. We're outgunned, out shipped, and outclassed. It's been difficult to prepare without giving too much away.”
“I hope it won't come to a fight,” said the President. “I'd like to introduce you to Rob Crow.”
The President turned and motioned Rob to join them.
Jodi squeezed his arm, Sam patted his leg as he moved to the table.
The men glared at him.
He was something they couldn't understand.
Here they were, the most powerful men in the country with armies at their disposal, and the aliens had specifically requested one amateur astronomer from Los Angeles.
“Want to tell us why the picked you?” the Secretary asked.
Rob glanced over his shoulder to Sam and Jodi.
They smiled at him.
Sam held out a thumbs up.
“Sir,” stammered Rob. “Sirs, they told me you were going to pick me.”
“They told you?” spit Harris. “Mr. President, how can we rely on this man? He's obviously their mole.”
“How is he going to represent us fairly in these negotiations?” the General added.
The President held up his hands for silence.
In his meetings, he encouraged debate and argument so he could listen and gather differing viewpoints.
But he also enforced a rule.
If he asked for quiet, it was given, or you were out of the meeting.
He nodded to the Secretary.
“How did the tell you?” he asked Rob.
Rob stared at the floor, trying to discern patterns with the tip of his toe.
“It's alright son,” said the President. “You can tell us.”
“I'm a multiple abductee,” Rob blurted out. “The Grays, the aliens that contacted you, they've picked me up between fifteen and twenty times over the past several years. I guess we developed a relationship.”
Rob turned to the Commissioner.
“By the way, your calculations are off.
They'll arrive in less than a month.”
“How do you know?” the portly man asked.
“Because they told me,” Rob answered.
“Mr. President there are issues of trust here,” shouted the General.