A Drop in the Ocean

by James Cooke

  Eghert stared at Foss with a vacant expression, momentarily.

  ‘Yes, good work Foss. Now get onto the base team. I want this entire area sealed off, a full hazmat team here within twenty-four hours. Assign it national security level one clearance; we must find whoever or whatever has been here. Whoever it is, they’ve picked the wrong guy to fuck with. Have you got that Foss?’ Eghert demanded.

  Foss glanced at Eghert, I highly doubt it you arrogant prick, ‘Yes sir, loud and clear.’

  Eghert followed the tracks as best he could through the deep snow, across the clearing before reaching a steep bank. He climbed up and reached the top. Once he had caught his breath, he made a panoramic sweep of the area. The tracks appeared to have stopped on the road, which headed North-South.

  ‘What the fuck, where did they go? Foss get up here and see for yourself.’

  Foss, being much younger and fitter than Eghert had no trouble climbing the bank. She could see what Eghert was bitching about and scanned the road, either side for clues. Something suddenly caught her attention. As she walked further down the road, she could see that it was tyre tracks, large ones as well. ‘Over here sir, tyre tracks.’

  As they both walked on towards the tracks, they both notice the snow piled up at the edge of the road. Over the snow and down the banking, they saw the eighteen-wheeler, laying on its side, fifty yards away.

  The truck unit was upright.

  Without warning, Eghert fired a round from his Glock in order to attract the rest of the team, before heading on down to the truck. ‘C’mon Foss, let's take a closer view.’

  Having climbed up into the truck, it appeared as if someone had emptied a trash can full of rubbish, with sheets of paper, empty burger boxes, coffee cups, magazines and all manner of what he assumed might be typical trucker’s paraphernalia.

  This was of no interest to him. He needed a name, the name of the driver. Rifling through the scattered paperwork, he found nothing. But then, he found a backpack tucked behind the driver’s seat. He pulled a wallet out of the bag, and flicked through it, ‘Hell yes, we’ve got you now,’ he quipped, ‘what a loser.’

  The driver’s haulage license provided a suspect; Brian Hopper, an address in Edmonton. Date of birth, July 12, 1972.

  Foss had arrived, she climbed up.

  ‘Any sign of the driver sir?’

  ‘No Foss, but I reckon this is our man.’ Eghert replied, handing the license over to Foss.

  Eghert raised his arm.

  ‘Wait. This is too much of a coincidence. The bastard crashed here for some reason, not more than two hundred yards from that thing back there.’ Eghert said.

  There was a brief pause.

  “Bastard” what is it with this guy? Why is he so quick to judge people? Thought Foss.

  ‘There’s no sign of a body outside, so it does seem strange, sir.’

  ‘Strange? For god’sake Foss, isn’t it obvious?’ Eghert replied in a patronising tone, ‘never mind, get an APB out on this loser. I want roadblocks and checkpoints within a two-hundred-mile radius. There are not that many roads out of this place. He can’t have gotten too far in these conditions. Let’s see what he has to say when we get our hands on him.’ Eghert enthused.

  ‘What do we tell the local Police sir?’ Foss replied.

  Eghert frowned.

  ‘The local police! Give me a break. Tell them jack shit. No wait tell them we’re searching for a drunken driver who’s been involved with, err, terrorism or something like that. All they need to know is that it’s a matter of national security and for fuck's sake, make sure this doesn’t get back to the Feds either. The last thing we need, is the damned FBI sticking their righteous noses in it where it doesn’t belong.’

  The man’s a lunatic, I swear. The boss will have a field day when I report this in, Foss thought.

  ‘Okay sir, got it.’

  Foss took it all in her stride, made a few mental notes and then made the necessary phone calls.

  Within a couple of hours, full black op’s hazmat team had secured the area, not that it needed much securing; the nearest inhabitants were hundreds of miles away. Several operatives in full CBRN suits stretchered out the four dead aliens and loaded them into a specially prepared helicopter. The remains of the crashed UFO were secured and loaded onto a tank transporter by a heavy lift Chinook helicopter. Six black Chevy Suburban’s escorted the transporter on the very long trip to Edwards Air Force base in the United States, mostly under to cover of darkness to avoid undue attention.

  Later that day, Eghert and Foss arrived in Lupin and questioned a few of the local workers who were out and about. It didn’t take long to find the one and only Motel and ascertain that a man in his forties and a strangely dressed younger woman, in her mid-twenties, had checked in the previous evening, but had shortly left before nine a.m. that morning. The name and address used were evidently bogus, nor did they use a credit card, paying instead with cash.

  A manhunt had started.

  Chapter 10

  Brian thanked Hank as he climbed out of his truck at the Lupin mine at seven p.m.

  It had been fortunate for Brian and Lucy, that not long after setting off down highway 818, Hank had come along and stopped for them. Brian had to explain, awkwardly, how they happened to be on the ice road in the middle of nowhere. He told Hank that we were heading south and spun a story about how they had been on a field trip and that their car had broken down. Luckily for Brian and Lucy, Hank wasn’t that interested and bought the story. But it was evident to Brian, from his attention, that Hank couldn’t quite figure Lucy out, much to Brian’s amusement. If only he knew! Thought Brian.

  Brian decided that the best thing to do was to get to Calgary. From there, they would have more options available to them. For now, it was just a case of, find a motel, get some sleep, and see if he could rent a car, the following morning. Brian knew that he’d also have to ring his miserable boss. He didn’t know how he was going to try and explain all of this to him. Certainly not the truth! He decided that to say that his daughter had been taken very ill and that he’d had no choice but to drop everything and rush home, and in doing so, was unfortunately involved in a collision with an oncoming car. He figured that should do it.

  Brian knew of a Motel if you could call it that, the only one in the town. The ‘Blue Lagoon,' a real trucker’s paradise by all accounts; enormous steaks, a twenty-four-hour bar, and dancing girls. The receptionist flashed Brian a cheeky smile after checking in with Lucy under a false name. Seventy-five dollars cash, up front, no further questions asked, so far so good!

  Brian thought it best to keep Lucy out of sight, she would only attract unwanted attention if he took her to the bar, the last thing he needed right now. He convinced himself that, the best option would be to order room service; a steak washed down with a few beers. Not surprisingly Lucy declined, for obvious reasons; but which Brian had temporarily forgotten why that might be.

  Lucy at first glance appeared entirely human after all. Later on, that evening, Brian offered the only bed in the room to Lucy, while indicating that he would take the chair. Naturally, she declined, saying that it wasn’t at all necessary. Brian was far too tired and stupefied to ask why and instead, gladly took to the bed, where he fell asleep instantly.

  Brian had a very restless night, convinced at one point that it was still just a mind-bending dream. He kept going over and over what he was going to say to his boss in the morning; by way of a valid excuse, not to mention his parents, who were kindly caring for Megan.

  Brian somewhat naively thought that he could get to Marion Island within a few days and be back within a week, i.e., not much longer than he was usually away from home. He figured that he’d just have to patch things up with Joanne’s parents later, but in the meantime, he knew Megan was perfectly safe and sound.

  Brian didn’t get anywhere as much sleep as he’d have liked, struggling to rise out of bed the following morning. He saw that Lucy was already up, a
nd for a while wondered why she didn’t seem tired at all, but just sat there in the corner of the Motel room watching the TV. Then he remembered what she had told him yesterday, about not being human. Um, I suppose that kinda make’s sense he thought.

  ‘Hey there Lucy, I guess you don’t sleep?’

  Lucy replied, ‘That is correct, I do not sleep need.’

  ‘That’s wonderful. Unfortunately, I need lots.’

  Unlike Brian, Lucy appeared fresh as a daisy, without a single hair out of place, or bag’s under her eye’s. Brian watched her intently and for the first time realised how beautiful she was, in his mind; her athletic figure and facial features reminded him of Joanne’s. She seems unreal, how come she’s so darned attractive? Maybe I’ll ask her some more questions today, thought Brian, mustn’t get waylaid though, she’s not human after all.

  ‘Okay, I’ve had a think about it, and here’s what I reckon we should do. I can get us a ride down to Yellowknife. From there we can get a rental car and drive down to Calgary. I’m not sure after that, but I’ll think of something. Is that okay with you?’ Brian asked.

  ‘Yes Brian, I trust you’ Lucy replied.

  ‘Good, then let’s get going. I don’t want to hang around any longer.’

  Brian had assumed it would be relatively easy to hitch a ride south, in theory anyway, as there were several trucks per hour passing through; many of which were heading home south for the weekend. It didn’t escape Brian’s notice that Lucy, dressed as she was in an electric blue skin-tight leotard; was as conspicuous out in the freezing temperatures, as a camel. But seeing as there was nothing he could do about it, he made a mental note to try and get her some more appropriate clothing; something that didn’t shout out attractive young women in a cosplay outfit, abducted by a middle-aged trucker. After checking out, much to the receptionist's amusement, Brian and Lucy headed off down the street. Just as Brian had predicted, they didn’t have to wait long for a ride.

  ‘Here we go Lucy, just like I said; here comes our ride. Please let me do all the talking, you don’t need to say anything, you’re okay with that?’ Brian asked, just to be precise. A big eighteen-wheeler growled to a halt, air brakes hissing. Brian climbed up to see if the driver had actually stopped for them.

  ‘Sure, both of yah’s get in, your lucky day; I’m heading south.’ The female driver said in a friendly tone. Lucy climbed in first, followed by Brian.

  ‘Thank you, mam, we appreciate this. I’m Brian, and this is Lucy.’

  ‘Shirley pleased to meet ya. So, where ya headed?’ the middle-aged truck driver asked.

  Brian reacted spontaneously.

  ‘Yellowknife. See, we’ve been on a sort of a field trip like, and – well we ran out of money if I’m honest. We’re just trying to get back home cheaply if you can see what I mean?’

  The driver shot a glance at Brian and Lucy with a curious face. ‘Is that so. Travelling light are yah, I don’t see many bags.’

  She’s got a point I suppose. Trust me to get lumbered with the Miss Trunchbull of truckers.

  ‘That’s right, no bags, we like to travel light, Brian replied.

  Shirley ummed noticeably, clearly not convinced at Brian’s week explanation.

  ‘So, you two married or something?’ Shirley asked, without taking her eyes off the road this time. Brian wasn’t used to this type of questioning and found it hard to think quick.

  ‘Well not exactly, we’re just good friends. Like I said earlier, just trying to get back to Yellowknife.’

  ‘So you say. What about your girlfriend, don’t exactly talk much, does she?’ This time she made a point of glancing at Lucy, ‘Are you alright honey?’ Shirley asked, sincerely.

  Oh god, here we go! Thought Brian.

  ‘She’s foreign and very shy ma’am. She's not rude or anything.’ Brian replied.

  The damned woman had Brian on the back heel. She ignored him and asked Lucy again.

  ‘Ain’t you got no gear darling, and where in god’s name did you get that crazy outfit from?’ Shirley asked.

  Brian closed his eyes and hoped that she would just shut the hell up. He knew this kind of situation would happen sooner or later. Figuring it was always a risk hitching a ride with a random stranger, Brian realised that he’d just have to try a little harder to bullshit his way out of this predicament.

  There was an awkward silence. Finally, Shirley asked, ‘What’s up fellah, cat got your tongue? What are you two really up to? C’mon, don’t be shy, you can tell old Shirley.’

  No fucking chance! This is going nowhere, Brian thought. For an uneasy minute, Brian didn’t know quite how to respond. Just at that point, he glanced ahead and saw that they were approaching a gas station, together with a few other buildings. Just what he needed, a lucky break.

  ‘Ma’am, would you mind dropping us off at the gas station up ahead? We really need a toilet break and all, no disrespect. And there’s no need to wait for us; I’m sure you’ve got a schedule to keep.’ Brian kindly asked.

  Shirley didn’t reply but just smiled contemptuously, convinced that her hunch about Brian and Lucy was right after all. After thanking Shirley for dropping them off, Brian and Lucy climbed down from the truck and headed into the gas station. Shirley watched Brian and Lucy disappear from view and shook her knowingly; convinced there was something very wrong with the pair.

  When Brian and Lucy entered the station, the station attendant studied Lucy and Brian with extreme curiosity.

  ‘You folks okay, can I help you?’ asked the attendant, all the time staring conspicuously at Lucy.

  ‘Yes, can we get a taxi out here?’ Brian asked.

  The attendant laughed.

  ‘A taxi! Hell no, see there ain’t much call for them out here on account of being so remote and all. Tell you what though; I got a car around back, you can rent it for a small fee of course!’ he replied.

  Brian was a tolerant man, he believed in free speech and inclusivity; he wasn't at all a bigot, unlike some of his work buddies. But his gut feeling said there was something not quite right about this guy. He knew deep down that it was wrong to make assumptions based on someone's appearance alone, but the attendant's long and unkempt greasy hair, broken yellow teeth, and a plethora of hate tattoos all over his neck and face with swastika’s on his forehead, spelt only one thing to Brian - trouble, the Nazi wannabe sort. But, since it was getting late and they had to reach Yellowknife, he replied, ‘Okay bud, that’s very generous. I’ll think about that if I may. Say, can we use your restroom?’

  The attendant smirked at Brian, ‘Sure go right ahead, around back. What about you, Missy?’

  No, you don’t fellah, don’t even bother, thought Brian.

  ‘Oh, don’t worry about her. C’mon Lucy, let’s go.’ Brian replied firmly.

  Lucy nodded and followed Brian outside and around to the rear of the building.

  Brian put his hand on Lucy’s shoulder, gaining her attention.

  ‘Lucy, just go inside here and just wait for me, okay. I’ll just be a few minutes, and then I’ll be back to get you,’ Brian explained, pointing to the Ladies’ room.

  Chapter 11

  Lucy saw no reason to question Brian and trustfully entered the Ladies room as she'd been asked. After only spending a few days with Brian, her programming confirmed that insofar as humans were concerned, he was at least sincere and trustworthy. So far as her mission was concerned, everything was on track; she had secured assistance and was heading albeit very slowly in the right direction. For now, she was happy to let Brian lead the way, his way.

  Inside the gas station, blue lights flashed on and off through the windows. When the station door opened, the attendant waited for someone to enter. A man with a sinister appearance, donning a dark suit, white shirt, and black tie, came into the building. He casually approached the counter, took out his bogus ID card, quickly flashed his ID card at the attendant, purposely not giving the attendant time to read it. ‘How long have you been here
today?’ Eghert asked taciturnly.

  Billy-Ray that was his name was well familiar with the authorities, having spent the last seven of his twenty-five years in various federal correctional institutions; he wasn’t in a hurry to go back. The suited man stood square to him and came across as serious trouble if you really want variety. Faced with a fancy suit, a government style badge, and the flashing blue lights outside; he subconsciously decided cooperation might be the best policy on this occasion.

  ‘Since about eight this morning, can I help you, folks?’ he replied with a big fuck-you grin on his face.

  Eghert regarded him with disdain.

  ‘Let’s hope so. We’re searching for a man and women who may have come through this way; they’re aged about forty-something and twenty-something, respectively. Have you seen anyone that fits that description today?’ Eghert replied.

  The attendant hesitated for a moment then replied, ‘Well let me see,’ pausing momentarily, he cleared his sinuses and spat on the floor. ‘Forties and twenties, you say, no, no one’s been in here today apart from a few older truckers.’

  Eghert glared at him sceptically.

  ‘My associate here, Miss Foss, will leave you her number. If you should see anything, we’d appreciate a call. Do you think you can manage to do that?’ Eghert asked.

  After catching sight of the blue flashers, Brian crept around the side of the building to see what might be occurring. Popping his head around the corner, Brian observed an older man dressed in a suit and tie and a younger woman wearing an open white shirt and dark blue suit, in conversation. He listened in intently.

  ‘I’d trust that bozo attendant about as far as I could throw him. Foss see if you can do a background check on him. Whoever this pair are, they’ll wish they hadn’t been anywhere near that UFO, let alone that godforsaken place, what was it called, Lupin? Meet me back in the lead car in five minutes and tell the driver we’re heading for Yellowknife.’ Eghert said.

  ‘Yes sir, right away.’ Foss replied.