Fallen + Marli & Lalo (Fallen Invasion, #3)

by Mia Mitns

  Lalo and I researched everyone’s name. We collected general information—birthplaces, schools they attended, degrees they had, credit history, financial information, medical history, achievements, facts about their life, criminal records, and places they had lived thanks to regular searches and Lalo’s hacking skills.

  The data wasn’t out of the ordinary until we compared Kallen and Shelie’s information to the rest of the group. Similar to those two, Ashley and Ren had a gap of information. The odd thing was Ashley and Ren’s gap began when Kallen and Shelie began to exist on Earth. We defined existing as being able to see where they lived, activity on social networks, financial activity, articles in newspapers, pictures, etc. To add to the oddities, Dr. Stevenson showed up to our town two years after Kallen did, and Ashley and Ren’s whereabouts reappeared that year.

  “And look at this,” Lalo said. “What do these birth places have in common: Chicago, Illinois; Las Vegas, Nevada; Austin, Texas; San Diego, California; Denver, Colorado; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Washington, D.C., and Dallas, Texas?”

  “Other than them being the places these people and I were born?” I said and shrugged.

  “And I was born,” Lalo said. “I landed near Dallas.”

  “Major cities,” I said. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”

  “Latitudes,” Lalo said. “Almost all are within 10 degrees of Northern latitudes, from 30 to 39.”

  Our notes, simplifying the latitudes and longitudes:

  Marcus: Washington, District of Columbia 38 North, 77 West

  Ashley: Las Vegas, Nevada 36 North, 115 West

  Ren: Chicago, Illinois 41 North, 87 West

  Dr. Stevenson: Denver, Colorado 39 North, 104 West

  Kallen: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 35 North, 97 West

  Shelie: San Diego, California 32 North, 117 West

  Lalo: Dallas, Texas 32 North, 96 West

  Marli: Austin, Texas 30 North, 97 West

  How was I supposed to know that?

  “Then,” he continued, “a few of us are also connected by longitudes, from 90 to 97.”

  “So,” I said.

  “The Masqysava make up birthplaces according to a pattern. We know Kallen and Shelie are alien. Let’s look for a pattern.”

  “There’s no use,” I said. “We all are similar. Kallen, you, and I are connected by longitudes. What about Shelie? Does this mean something is wrong because she’s not in our longitude range? Is Ren excused from committing the crime because he isn’t within these pinpoints?”

  Lalo was disappointed. “You’re right. And there is no other clue we can explore online. The meteorite will tell us if it is aliens, nothing more.”

  “And if it’s true that the meteorite is from aliens, does it mean the meteorite was part of someone’s ship?” I said.

  “Could be,” Lalo said. “They would have needed to hold onto their ship.”

  “Or a part of it,” I said. “And if they came to Earth in a ‘meteor,’ wouldn’t there be a record of it? I’m sure data about the location and the year the meteors came to Earth exists.”

  Lalo caught me off guard, giving me an unexpected hug. “That’s why I love you Marli!” His excitement was reignited as he studied the birthplaces and meteorite occurrences. The coincidences we found were with Shelie, Kallen, Ashley, and Dr. Stevenson’s birthplaces.

  I sighed.

  “What?” Lalo said.

  “I thought Marcus committed the crime,” I said. “He affected me.”

  “Marli, let’s review this data first. The fact that a meteor didn’t land in Marcus’ birthplace doesn’t automatically mean he isn’t alien.”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  We found that a meteorite landed eight years after Shelie was “born” in her birthplace. Five years separated Kallen’s birth and his meteorite landing. Twelve years was the amount of time connected to Ashley’s birth, and one was for Dr. Stevenson. We also found that two years was the difference between Marcus’ birth and a meteor seen over Washington, D.C. that landed in Baltimore, Maryland. All meteorites were found after the births.

  “Seeing a pattern?” Lalo said.

  “Not really. Meteors seen or meteorites were found ten years within everyone’s birthday other than Ashley. Meaning everyone is an alien other than Ashley. If that is what you’re referring to.”

  “Yes, that alone is a difference. However, the pattern that it led me to is more mathematical of a solution. Check out at the latitude position of their birthplace. All are within 10 degrees of each other up to 40. If you subtract Shelie’s birthplace, 32, from 40, it gives you eight. The pattern continues with Kallen, 35 from 40 is five. For Marcus, 38 from 40 is two. Dr. Stevenson, 39 from 40 is one. I threw Ashley out because 36 from 40 is four and not equal to 12.”

  “So why is Marcus different?” I said.

  “They decided they need to hide the information better,” Lalo said.

  “Or he isn’t an alien at all,” I said. “I have a hard time believing that Dr. Stevenson is an alien. He did like hearing Kallen’s alien stories, yet, he dismissed them. You know we could be making up these correlations.”

  “We could,” Lalo said. “But this means we need to ask Kallen.”

  The doorbell rang, making me nearly jump out of my seat.

  Chapter 15

  “Police!” the woman said. “We are here to inspect your house. We will come in if you don’t answer the door!”

  I turned to Lalo. It could have been our enemies. I crept to the door and slid the blind next to it up. The police knocked again, and I opened the door. If I didn’t know that something was wrong, I would have known then. There were eight people, four were police. The others were FBI. I assumed at least a few of them were also members of that secret government group who dealt with the Masqysava.

  They let us know they were going from house to house to investigate. My heart raced when they asked to come in the house and wanted to see both Lalo and my IDs. One of my nightmares was coming true. The police and FBI were going to take Lalo away. There were too many for me to take on myself. He had no proof of anything. He would be blamed for it all.

  “Ma’am,” the woman said. “Your identification.”

  “Sorry,” I said, shuffling to my room to find my purse.

  I overheard Lalo talking to the police, asking if they found anything. Perhaps Lalo had a plan to escape his arrest. Why didn’t he convert to his invisible form instead of altering his appearance though?

  When I returned, I showed them my ID. They stared a good while at it then visually examined me.

  “Okay, we are going to take a look around your house if you don’t mind,” a police man said.

  “Go ahead,” I said.

  Did they even check for Lalo’s ID?

  The team dispersed throughout my house, exploring everything. One picked up the meteorites then put them back down. Phew! They rejoined close to my door.

  “Thank you,” one of the women said. “We will continue to update you on the status of the travel ban through the news. It should be modified soon.”

  I nodded, deciding not to ask questions. I didn’t want to make them more suspicious of me. A few seconds later, they were out the door. Wanting to watch them drive away, I reached out to lift a blind. Lalo blocked my hand.

  “No,” he whispered.

  The cars cranked and the tires dug across the dirt road before I got to peek outside. Kallen apparently passed the test too. He was on his porch, watching them leave.

  To calm down my heart, I took time to breathe and closed my eyes. “Lalo, how did you? What did you—?”

  “Oh,” Lalo said. “Kallen gave the ID to me when he was over here.”

  “I didn’t see him do that,” I said.

  “I know,” Lalo said.

  What?

  “We need to talk to him,” I said.

  “Tomorrow,” Lalo said. “We don’t want to alert the police.”

  “How would talking to my neighbor
be alerting?” I asked.

  “Just trust me,” he said.

  Chapter 16

  Another day on lock down, I stared at the TV with Lalo by my side, anxious for him to give me the okay to talk to Kallen.

  According to the news, our little cluster of towns remained devastated when the police and FBI couldn’t find the offenders. After being cooped up with little left to eat, some people ventured out of their house. Of course there were live shots of these people on the news.

  The ban was lifted only to be reduced into a warning. Dr. Stevenson said that we still wouldn’t work in those conditions. Our work called for us to be exposed out in the middle of the country with no help close by. We also had a greater chance that we would run into the criminals.

  About an hour after that phone call, Ashley and Ren got me on three-way again. Ashley wouldn’t stop dropping hints to speak to Kallen until I got him on the line. Ashley was one of the people who had to get out of the house. Her justification was to see if there was a meteorite shower. Her previous prediction was wrong by a few days.

  “The shower happened last night instead,” Ashley said. “We can take a few minutes to go see. The ban has dropped down into a warning.”

  The other two scientists who stayed with Ashley and Ren were on board. Kallen said it was a bad idea and wasn’t going. I said that Kallen was right. Out there alone gave us a good chance to be attacked. We stated our cases back and forth for a little while, but Kallen and I finally got them to agree to stay at home. As soon as I got off my phone, Kallen was standing at my door along with Shelie.

  We all sat at my table again.

  Lalo must have remembered to trust Shelie and Kallen because he told them about how he came to Earth, The Revolution, and that he was betrayed.

  “And I thought your amnesia came from your ride,” Shelie said. “This is worse than we knew.”

  “We need new plans,” Kallen said.

  “This is what we do,” Lalo said. “First, we have to make the aliens who don’t know of The Revolution choose sides. Not in the open of course. If there is a spy, we will make them work for us. Second, we will offer the humans the opportunity to help us save themselves. Third, we fight.”

  “What about using the Emperor to wipe out The Revolution?” Shelie said. “He would do it and we would get more power.”

  “The Emperor has chosen his side,” Lalo said. “If any group is alike it is the Emperor and The Revolution. Both want humans dead. On top of that, if either of them find out about us, it is more likely that they team up to eliminate us first. The humans would be next. Then they would have their fight.

  “If I am who you say I am will you follow me?” Lalo said.

  “Of course,” Kallen said. “As long as you are not playing both sides for your benefit.”

  “I have nothing to do with The Revolution now,” Lalo said.

  “Marli seems comfortable around you, but is that due to threats?” Kallen said.

  “No,” I said.

  “Knowing that The Revolution exists makes me not sure if I can totally trust you Lalo,” Kallen said. “How do you give up on power like that?”

  “I have no power to lose,” Lalo said. “Both the Emperor and a Revolution decision maker wanted me lifeless. But at least the Emperor can’t kill me now. According to you, everyone knows I’m here and still thinks I’m the leader.”

  “They do,” Kallen said. “We didn’t receive any changes in leadership. I’m going to keep my eye on you Lalo, but I’ll trust you for now.”

  “Good,” Lalo said.

  There was an awkward pause for a few minutes.

  “So, are you going to take out The Revolution first?” I asked.

  “We can’t,” Shelie said. “They’re most likely too deep. We need an idea of who it is.”

  “Will this help?” Lalo said, laying my phone, opened to the graffiti, on the table in front of Shelie. He checked to see if Kallen reacted. Kallen lifted his brow and put his fist to his mouth as he leaned onto my table.

  “It definitely is a combination of styles that I’ve seen before,” Shelie said. “This is from the kidnapping site?”

  Lalo confirmed.

  “Whoever did this was deliberately throwing off the police,” Shelie said. “Kallen told you about the Masqysava forgetting after they followed a similar sign?”

  “Yes,” Lalo said. “Those people, aliens, whatever they were could be the same beings who did this.”

  “I agree,” Shelie said. I think they are. That’s why we took precaution in investigating this case. We followed their scent but were too late. It either dissipated or there are some chemists who made a solution to cover up their whereabouts.

  “The only problem is people in my field are starting to speculate,” Shelie continued. “Could this be a supernatural attack, they say. You two have to be cautious in your investigating. If they catch you—I certainly don’t have that high of a clearance. We’re not sure if the Masqysava who do are on our side.”

  “I understand,” Lalo said.

  “That being said, the crime happened on the night you came Lalo,” Shelie said. “They knew you were coming. Solving the case may lead you to your betrayer. And we can take care of them before the invasion gets any worse.”

  “That’s what I’m hoping for,” Lalo said as Shelie stood to leave.

  “I think we can do it if I can get in the lab without anyone knowing,” I said. “To check the rocks.”

  “You found meteorites?!” Kallen said. “It is definitely someone from The Revolution that you speak of. I visited the crime site. I didn’t see any meteorites.”

  “Neither did I,” Shelie said. “They were made exclusively for Lalo to see.”

  I didn’t mention that I saw them on the TV too.

  “So inspecting the rocks in the lab won’t help?” I said.

  “No, quite opposite,” Kallen said. “They can narrow the suspected. Different divisions of Masqysava design the rocks according to the way they were taught. Therefore, looking for a pattern can help.”

  “Do y’all have an idea of who it is?” I asked.

  Lalo grabbed my hand under the table. I thought he trusted them. I guess not one hundred percent.

  “No,” Kallen said. “But I do have reason to believe one or more Masqysava are hiding in your work team Marli.”

  And I had reason to believe it could be Kallen. I brought up the meteorites to see his reaction. The way he reacted made me a little nervous.

  “Listen, I have to go,” Shelie said. “My team will get anxious if I’m missing too long.”

  “Don’t tell anyone I can remember,” Lalo said. “That’s our best plan for attack.”

  Shelie nodded and left.

  “So,” Kallen said. “Do you have any ideas about who it is?”

  “I think it’s Marcus,” I said, ignoring Lalo’s warning. Kallen had the ability to help us although he could be the one we were looking for. “He fits the timing. Marcus had to arrive to Texas prior to the kidnapping to begin his work in Millsee. Moving to Texas for a job was the perfect opportunity to cover up.”

  “Hmm,” Kallen said and nodded.

  Lalo asked Kallen about the birthplaces of Masqysava, how they were chosen due to meteorite landings. Kallen confirmed that it was a practice of the Masqysava to create them in the same manner that we guessed. In addition, Kallen said newer aliens disguised their birthplace in a similar fashion to Marcus’.

  “Marcus fits by birthplace too,” Lalo said, “which means he is Masqysava and would know the symbol and have access to alien manipulated rock if he didn’t tamper with it himself.”

  “He also made me uncomfortable when I met him,” I said.

  And he fit the description from the psychic and the tall man figure in my dreams.

  “I’ll keep an eye out on him,” Kallen said.

  And we’ll keep an eye out on you.

  Chapter 17

  Around 10 a.m. the next morning I got a call
from Kallen, saying it would be a good time to go to the lab. Ashley, Ren, and their group decided to go find the meteorites after all. I would at least have thirty minutes.

  Lalo and I left immediately. As we took off, he shifted to simulate someone else.

  “How am I supposed to keep up with you?” I asked.

  “Don’t,” Lalo said. “And if anyone asks my name is Dr. Andy Young.” He pulled out an ID card with his info on it.

  “How did you get that?” I said.

  “Kallen dropped it on the floor yesterday,” he said.

  Great! They were communicating in secrecy around me again!

  The parking lot was empty at the lab. I considered going around to the back to park, where we could be hidden, but decided I’d rather face punishment by Dr. Stevenson than be caught by violent aliens. At least in the front people would see us being attacked from the highway. They could call for help.

  As Lalo and I approached the building, I sought out a solution to open the front door. What a surprise! It wasn’t on lockdown. My card opened it right up. Happy about the finding but anxious that we were being watched, I tip toed into the building. Lalo followed me close behind, paying a high level of attention to our surroundings. We made it past the offices and into the lab with no problems. Everyone at least took heed to the warnings to stay away from work.

  I ran over to the microscopes and began examining Lalo’s meteorite. Then observed the one we found at the crime scene. They were similar but slightly different. Lalo took a peek.

  “This is exactly what I expected to find,” Lalo said.

  “And what was that?” another voice asked.

  I jolted my head up to see Marcus approaching us. How did he get in the door without us hearing?

  “Aren’t you supposed to be at home Marli?” Marcus asked. “And who is this?”

  “I could ask you the same thing,” I said. I swallowed, pushing down the fear that he would attack us. Be brave! The one good thing we had going was that he didn’t know Dr. Young was Lalo.

  “If you must know, I had a feeling you were hiding something,” Marcus said. “Well, you, Ashley, and Ren. So I camped out here, in the lab.” His eyes caught a glimpse of the rocks. “Those are the meteorites aren’t they? The ones you found today. Ashley invited me too. I declined.”