by Rae Knightly
Ignoring Connelly’s discomfort, the High Inspector proceeded: “Your wife has been searching for you. You haven’t returned home once since The Cosmic Fall. We’ve had countless calls from her since you arrived. She’s starting to think that you abandoned her and your kid. Now she’s threatening to take you to court to divorce you and demand full custody of your son. You say you have become obsessed with The Cosmic Fall, but we can’t afford to have a civilian court nosing into your business here. So either you quietly make amends with her or the next time you’re in my office you’ll be signing divorce papers. Either way, but keep her out of the loop!”
He leant back into his office chair, observing the Chilliwack police officer. “Any comments, Agent Connelly?”
Connelly held the High Inspector’s gaze before slowly replying through gritted teeth: “Just tell me where to sign.”
Taken slightly aback, the High Inspector stared at the bald man. Then suddenly, he broke into a load guffaw, his belly shaking under his impeccable suit. A palpable weight lifted in the room. The High Inspector wagged a finger at Connelly. “I like you!” He chuckled, “Forget the wife, Theodore. You’re married to the job now.” They were suddenly on first name terms.
Robert Hao joined in: “Good thing you’re getting a raise, Connelly. Child support is brutal!”
In no time, Connelly was given all the necessary clearances to enter what was known as the Dugout. Robert Hao drove him to a plain, concrete building surrounded by lonely hills. They both scanned their badges at the entrance and signed a form that a soldier handed over to them as he scrutinized them. They took an impressive steel elevator down seven floors. When they got there the elevator stood still, but the doors remained closed.
Hao studied Connelly intensely. “Behind these doors lies the truth of The Cosmic Fall. Once you walk through these doors, there is no turning back, do you understand?” He said.
Connelly nodded impatiently.
Hao scanned his badge once more so that the elevator doors could slide open, revealing a cavernous hangar made of concrete. Connelly stepped through the open doors onto a corridor overlooking this huge space where men and women, most wearing white coats, were bustling around, working at desks full of computer screens or entering offices with glass walls bordering the left side of the hall. In the very center of it all, a sleek, unusual-looking craft hovered silently a few feet from the ground.
“This,” Hao said dramatically, “is the intact alien spaceship which we recovered from the Chilliwack crash site.”
After giving Connelly a minute to take in the extraterrestrial vessel, they headed down concrete stairs to the floor of the hangar. As they circled the spaceship, Hao explained: “We have not been able to access the vessel so far. We are using an electron beam to bore a hole into it, but its material is so consistent, that we have only been able to dent it two points of an inch so far. It’s going to take time before we get any real results. But mark my words, we will get in eventually.”
Connelly’s mouth twitched. He examined the closed hangar.
Hao smiled proudly. “Impressive, isn’t it?” He said. “The craft was flown in all the way from Chilliwack. It all happened on the very night of The Cosmic Fall under citizen’s very noses. We were lucky your local police contacted the CSIS immediately. We sent in a heavy-weight helicopter to pull it out in the dark before the media arrived. Then we loaded it onto a cargo aircraft Boeing C-17 and flew it over. The next feat was to lower it into this old underground bunker before building several floors above it to seal it in. We have no idea how this vessel works or what’s inside, so we had to make sure it couldn’t fly away on its own through some sort of remote command.” Hao continued: “Bringing over the other two spaceships was trickier, though, since they had broken up into several pieces. You will be able to examine them later.”
As he spoke, he gestured for Connelly to follow him down another set of stairs to the eighth and last floor, as he continued: “We completed the cover-up by inserting meteor debris from Nunavut into the Chilliwack crash site to show off to the media. No-one was the wiser. One of the CSIS’s finest moments, if you ask me.”
Hao passed on protective clothing and a helmet to Connelly. When they were both fully covered, he led Connelly into a very cold, high-security chamber where 3 incubators lay side by side.
“And here, we have the spaceships’ occupants.” Hao breathed, as they both stared at the three beings who lay in the incubators. Hao spoke in awe: “We recovered these three extraterrestrials from the crash site. As you can see, they could easily pass as humans, though they are slightly taller than us. They all have strong features, olive-coloured skin and high cheekbones. Their most unusual feature is their white hair. The one furthest from us is a young female with long, straight hair and faerie-like features. Next to her is a young alien male of about the same age with short hair. The third being is an older male who may have been their leader.”
Hao stared at Connelly to check his reaction, but he seemed unmoved by the fact that he was in the presence of beings from outer space.
A man in doctor’s robes appeared behind a tall window. He gestured to Hao that he wanted to speak to him.
Hao nodded, then said to Connelly: “I’ll give you a minute to get to know our three prime ‘suspects’. Too bad none of them are alive to tell us their story. Right, Connelly?” He clapped Connelly on the back as he walked away.
Connelly towered, stiff and silent, over the incubators. Then all of a sudden his brow creased over his determined eyes and he gritted his teeth. He placed both hands on the incubator closest to him and bent his head in pain. The muscles on his back twitched. Something odd was happening to his face, for it began to tremble abnormally fast behind the helmet, as if it had turned into rippling water.
His eyes went from green to honey-brown, his nose shrunk, his face lengthened and, out of his bald head, white, spikey hair appeared. When the transformation was complete, Connelly had been replaced by an entirely different being was now towering over the incubators.
In the reflection of a windowpane, he noticed Hao taking leave of the man in doctor’s robes. Hao would be joining him again in no time. The being gritted its teeth as his face trembled again, his breath coming in fast gasps and sweat pearling his front. It took all of his willpower to regain his former aspect, but by the time Hao joined him by the incubators, Connelly’s head was bald again and his eyes were green.
***
The family doctor blamed Ben’s panic attack on his slow recovery from his illness and recommended resting for another couple of days. Ben didn’t think resting would magically rid him of his nightmares and panic attacks, but Laura reminded him that they had no choice but to follow the doctor’s advice for now. After all, how was the doctor supposed to provide Ben with a decent treatment if they had not revealed the real trigger of the boy’s illness?
“We can’t tell the doctor the whole truth, Benji.” Laura said gently, as she tucked Ben under a blanket on the couch. Tike lay down next to him contentedly.
Ben toyed with the TV control, pursing his lips.
“You do understand why, don’t you?” Laura insisted. She brushed his fringe away with her hand.
Ben sighed.
I do.
“I mean, just imagine if we told the doctor that I found you unconscious, lying between the roots of a tree on the outskirts of Chilliwack, your hair covered in dirt and pieces of corn leaves, your face black with soot…” Laura said, shuddering as she remembered. “By the time we made it out of Chilliwack, military helicopters were crisscrossing the sky and reporters were flocking in to cover The Cosmic Fall. A heavy plume of smoke was billowing off the hillside next to Grampa’s house. If the doctor finds out you were in Chilliwack that night, we’ll find a herd of reporters and investigators swarming our apartment. I need you to recover your health, but that won’t happen if there are camera’s stuck to your face.”
Ben groaned: “I know, I know, mom. You told me b
efore. I don’t really care about the reporters. It’s Grampa I’m worried about”
Laura knelt down beside him. “I’m worried, too, honey.” She said softly.
Ben asked: “Did you call him today?”
Laura looked down at her hands, before answering carefully: “I call his house every day, Benji. I’ve called him a hundred times since The Fall…” She broke off.
Ben swallowed. “…and, still no answer?”
Laura’s brows creased as she shook her head: “Still no answer.”
***
By the next week, Ben was back at school, but it wasn’t long before he got himself noticed again, because Tike had somehow managed to escape the apartment and was found sitting politely in front of the school entrance. After the Principal realized that suspending Ben would not have any effect on the dog, and after most of the students voiced their excitement at having a cute dog “guard” their school, he decided to turn a blind eye on the problem.
From then on, Tike always accompanied Ben and waited for him patiently by the school entrance. Ben found this to be a huge relief. Knowing that his faithful friend was close-by brought him a sense of calm, and he was able to concentrate on his lessons again.
Unfortunately, the sympathy that Tike received from the students did not rub off on Ben, for he never felt the need to hang around with boys and girls from his class to talk about which movie they were going to see together that weekend, or how to best handle Mr. Taylor’s Math assignment.
Ben left school in a hurry, hiding his dark brown eyes under his side fringe, hugging the brick wall of the school building, then crossing into a side street which fewer students used. He was barely across the road when he noticed two older boys hanging around behind a van. He swore under his breath for not having noticed them sooner, but it was too late. One of them, the tallest, shouted: “Hey! Oddball! Where ya goin’?”
Ben knew the bully’s name was Peter. He hunched over, quickening his pace, but Peter called again: “Hey, wait up Oddball. You have to meet my new friend, Mason.”
Mason yelled in a sing-song voice: “Hi, Oddball!” Both boys sniggered as they followed Ben down the road.
Ben took off, his new backpack bouncing against his side, Tike following close behind. He was passing a chain link fence when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw dark shadows running up to him. Three fierce-looking dogs had crossed a small yard to examine him from up close. Ben’s mouth went dry as the huge animals accompanied him with piercing stares. He was so mesmerized by the silent creatures that a car almost hit him as it emerged from the parking lot of an adjacent building. The man in the car honked angrily, blocking Ben’s passage.
Ben turned around to face the bullies. They were just about to catch up with him when the three beasts suddenly threw themselves at the fence, barking wildly and growling menacingly. The two boys yelled, jumping away in fright.
Ben stared at the scene in amazement, while Tike tugged at his trouser leg as if telling him to get moving. Ben didn’t need convincing. He sprinted off, heading into busier streets where he caught a bus to the coast.
***
Stanley Park was considered one of the most beautiful city parks in the world, nestled on a semi-island surrounded by Vancouver Harbour and English Bay. It was covered in lush, dark-green western red cedars, bigleaf maples and douglas firs, while circled by the coveted Seawall where city dwellers and tourists alike could hike, jog, stroll, cycle or roller-blade while they enjoyed the view of the city skyline and the north shore mountains.
For Ben, it meant freedom to roam along forest trails or the beach while throwing a stick for Tike to fetch. When both boy and dog had had enough, they sat on boulders in front of the Seawall, close to the now empty outdoor pool, which only functioned in the summer months.
The mid-autumn afternoon ticked by. Ben’s backpack was dumped aside, forgotten, as he threw pebbles into the water. Tike tilted his head at the sight of a small crab skittering among the rocks.
“Hey, you! Kid!” someone yelled. Ben turned around, startled. A young man on a bicycle wearing high-tech cycling garments and unplugging headphones from his ears, nodded: “Yes, you!” Then he pointed towards the parking lot behind the swimming pool: “Is that your Mom?”
A car honked and several pedestrians turned around disapprovingly to see who could be making such a racket. A woman was waving her arm energetically out of the car window, which Ben recognized as being his Mom’s old Toyota.
“Yes, thank you.” He told the cycling man, flustered. He picked up his backpack, then ran to the car with his head down. He had barely slid into the passenger seat before she scolded him: “How many times have I told you to come straight home after school? What’s the matter with you? I’ve been waiting for you all afternoon! You can’t go off on your own like that! What if you had had another panic attack?”
“Mom! I’m fine!” Ben retorted. “You don’t need to be on my back all the time!” He braced himself for her answer while he put on his seat belt. He was reminded of how they had always been bickering at one another before his illness. They were both stubborn in that way. But this time his mother remained silent.
Ben was startled to see Laura’s chin waver as a tear rolled down her cheek. She did not want him to see her cry, so she bowed her head to let her loose hair fall to the side of her face like a curtain. Her breath came in short gasps, accompanied by a wheezing sound.
Asthma attack!
The anger left Ben as soon as he recognized the sound. He reached for the asthma inhaler in her handbag and gave it to her. After she had sucked in a few breaths from the medication dispenser, which allowed her to control her breath again, he asked carefully: “Mom, what’s wrong?”
She stared out the front windshield, mumbling half to herself: “I can’t lose you again…” Then she turned to look at him with her clear, green eyes, revealing that she had been crying for some time. “It’s your Grampa.” She said softly, “He’s at the hospital.”
CHAPTER THREE
Evidence
A DOZEN MEN AND ONE WOMAN IN BUSINESS
suits were sitting around an impeccably smooth, grey-tinted table in an equally grey meeting room. A couple of men wore military uniforms heavily charged with war decorations. A door opened, making way for High Inspector George Tremblay. He was followed by Inspector James Hao and Agent Theodore Connelly. The High Inspector shook hands with some of the men and the woman as he made his way to the head of the table, where he invited everyone to sit down. Hao stood beside him while Connelly placed himself in the shadows, close to the wall.
The High Inspector thanked everyone for making it to the emergency meeting on such short notice. The Canadian Government, he explained, had opted to bring China and the US to the table to discuss the true nature of The Cosmic Fall. The reason was that the event had now become an international problem. The Government was considering involving other countries, but did not want to risk a breach of information to the media at this point. They would now proceed without further delay. He presented Inspector James Hao, inviting him to speak.
Hao cleared his throat, thanked the High Inspector, then began: “On August 26 at approximately 10.46pm, a US satellite was destroyed while in full orbit around the Earth. Less than a minute later, several witnesses on the ground reported seeing an object hurtling across the sky. The object crashed on the outskirts of Chilliwack in the province of British Columbia. At 10.57pm, a second object fell from the sky and exploded 60 feet from the first one. You are already aware of these facts, which were reported by the media. What you do not know is that, at approximately 11.23pm, a third object reached the same location. This third object, however, did not crash.” He paused for effect. “It landed.” He checked his audience for their reaction. There were a lot of confused stares around the table.
Hao clicked the button of a remote control, triggering a projector which cast images on a blank screen behind him. A close-up image of the alien spaceship appeared on the sc
reen. This time there were gasps of surprise.
Hao explained: “The three objects which arrived on Canadian territory on August 26 were not meteor debris, as we have led the media to believe. The three objects were unidentified flying objects – UFOs. This image is of the third vessel, which did not explode and which we recovered on location. It is intact, but has so far proven impenetrable.”
By now loud talking had erupted around the table. The High Inspector stood up to silence the attendees.
Several other, less obvious pieces appeared on the screen, as Hao continued: “These are the remains of the other two vessels which exploded upon impact. After closer examination, they clearly make up the same kind of vessel.” The pieces on the screen danced around each other before latching together like the pieces of a three dimensional puzzle.
Hao clicked on the remote control and the screen went blank, before leaving way for an image of the three alien pilots. Loud exclamations came from the men and women in the stuffy room. Hao almost had to shout to make himself heard: “The remains of these three beings were recovered from the crash site.” He stared seriously at the people seated before him. “Ladies and gentlemen, as far as we know, you are looking at the first extraterrestrial visitors to Earth known to Humankind.”
It took much longer, this time, for the room to quieten. Some faces were flushed with anger, others were pale and drawn, while still other flung a series of questions across the room. The High Inspector, Hao and Connelly waited for the excitement to die down.
“Please,” the High Inspector said, “We wish to present all the facts to you first, before we take questions.” He invited Connelly to come forward. “This is Agent Theodore Connelly. He is a police officer from Chilliwack, currently working for the CSIS. Agent Connelly was the first officer on the site of the crash. He has studied the evidence and has come up with some disturbing conclusions.”
