The Bovine Connection

by Kimberly Thomas

  Dr. Wallace noticed the strange methodical tilt of the being’s head as he observed them. Just as the group in the lab coats looked over curiously. “Dr. Coble and Dr. Estes… This way please. The system’s central control was not communicating properly with the track switches this morning. I am certain you will have it fixed in no time,” Dr. Wallace said abruptly after breaking out into a sweat. She felt the moist drops as they ran down her back.

  Dr. Wallace nodded curtly at the group and extended her hand out to lead the way. Dr. Bishop -- aware of the fact that they may have just blown their cover -- played along exceptionally well. “Oh yes, should be back up in no time.”

  Angelica reluctantly turned around and followed, while still glancing back at the being. “He is magnificent,” she thought aloud.

  Angelica’s heart was racing. Holding it together and maintaining her composure was nothing short of a miracle. Dr. Bishop was biting his bottom lip. He had planned for the possibility of a strange encounter while at the Mars facility, however, he was unprepared and bore the classic “deer in the heads light” expression on his face as he glanced over to Angelica. “That was not human,” he whispered.

  Finally, they rounded a corner and stopped. Dr. Wallace released the breath she had been holding as she peeped back around to the hall. “Compose yourselves,” she said angrily.

  “Good job, you two… we’ll be dead in no time if you don’t keep it together,” she whispered hastily. “Hurry along. We’re going through that door there,” Dr. Wallace waved her hand frustrated.

  Dr. Wallace opened a door to large greenhouse where there were rows of vegetation on long tables. The room was encased in a clear, hard dome, and was about the size of a football field. Dr. Wallace led the way. “These greenhouses are spread out everywhere,” she announced as they continued toward a door leading outside.

  Angelica looked up to see a beautiful baby blue sky outside of the dome. “I can’t believe it… It’s true, Dr. Bishop.”

  Dr. Bishop smiled and looked up in amazement. “I can’t believe my own eyes, Ms. Bradley… astonishing… truly astonishing! Who would have thought the sky would be so blue?”

  Finally, they came to a door. Dr. Wallace’s face was impassive as she stopped right before opening it and turned toward them. “Welcome to Mars!” she mused, as she opened the door, and they heard a vacuum sound from the shiny metal box over head as the gust of pure air rushed in. Angelica wasn’t sure what she had expected to happen. She had closed her eyes for a moment. “Can this be possible?” she thought and then she was hit with an odd feeling, a feeling of dread. Angelica frowned as Dr. Bishop was speaking.

  “It’s just like the atmosphere on Earth,” he proclaimed as he took a deep breath.

  As they were following Dr. Wallace outside, Angelica couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very wrong. “Something doesn’t feel right,” she stammered.

  Dr. Bishop stopped and turned around. “What is it, Angelica?”

  “I’m not sure… I just have a bad feeling. Different than just a feeling though. I think…” She took a breath and shook her head as she noticed Dr. Wallace peering at her inquisitively. “It’s nothing,” she murmured, as she raised her hand and scratched the top of her head, worried.

  As Dr. Wallace and Dr. Bishop turned back around, Angelica lowered her hand and rubbed her eyebrow.

  “Oddly, it is as if we just stepped back onto the Nevada desert, however it was now daylight when we left and the terrain is somewhat different,” Dr. Bishop said as he glared around curiously and immediately noticed the giant pyramid in the distance as they came around the greenhouse.

  “The Cydonia Pyramid!” he said, as he gasped. It stood predominately in the middle of the dome structures. Dr. Bishop was bewildered, in comparison to the pyramids in Egypt… It was three times as big as the great pyramid. “It’s true,” he chuckled.

  Angelica looked around to notice people walking about. “Are they settlers?” she mumbled her thought aloud. “There appears to be some type of commerce and structured community underway. Who are these people?”

  Dr. Wallace remembered what it felt like when she had first arrived on Mars. “Not what you expected, I know. Even for me… Coming here again… it all hits me as if I were seeing it for the first time. How quickly my mind wanted to compartmentalize it when I returned home.” Dr. Wallace shook her head in awe.

  “We, the human race tend to take for granted that we are not as evolved as we’d like to believe; we are all but a small microcosm in this grand universe, and beyond… would you not agree?”

  Dr. Bishop quickly nodded his head as he observed the people. “I completely agree, Dr. Wallace. Are they not worried about alien bacteria?” he asked, lowering his brow.

  Dr. Wallace’s eyes looked earnest. “We are uncertain of the antibodies here. In the beginning they wore suits but have gradually become more confident. So far, they have not experienced any problems, to my knowledge.”

  “You remember when Columbus came to America, what happened to the Native Americans…” Dr. Bishop murmured.

  Angelica noticed a man look oddly at them, riding on the passenger side of what looked like a Polaris jeep as it passed by them.

  Dr. Bishop and Angelica followed Dr. Wallace as she started for the pyramid. Dr. Bishop looked down at his feet while walking across the brownish red sand.

  “What are they doing – right there… with those machines?” Angelica asked.

  Dr. Wallace lifted her chin and peered out. “They are mining. Those men are mostly geologists, and some other scientists, I suppose.”

  Dr. Bishop looked at Dr. Wallace. “What about water? You have to have water to sustain life.”

  Dr. Wallace smirked. “There is water here, Dr. Bishop. We discovered a frozen sea that was liquid once… maybe five thousand years ago. According to a colleague on Project Cetus, we were able to build an underground canal to run the melting ice. We created an underground water filtration system, as the ancient Romans taught us. Much like our ancestors, the Mars water system provides a constant supply to centrally located areas.” Dr. Bishop looked at Angelica as he widened his eyes and raised his upper lip indicating he was impressed.

  “These smaller round structures running on each side of this manmade roadway here, what are they?” he asked.

  “Bunkers… living facilities.”

  “They are unusual. I’ve never seen anything like them,” Angelica stated, as she took a picture.

  Dr. Wallace looked over at Angelica. “Be careful. Don’t let anyone see you take photos. There is a very strict policy around photography. And I imagine they don’t make allowances for investigative journalists,” she whispered.

  They stopped while Angelica took a few more photos of the white bunker pods and the pyramid. As she put her cell phone back in her pocket she sighed, catching a glance of four armed men getting out of one of the Polaris jeeps. They had just pulled up and were stepping out of the vehicle and coming toward them.

  “Oh shit!” she said, causing Dr. Bishop and Dr. Wallace to take notice.

  Dr. Bishop mumbled, “This is not good!” he quickly raised his palm to the top of his head and turned his body as if he were going to make a run for it, quickly giving up on the idea. Angelica’s legs went weak as fear seized her.

  “Dr. Olivia Wallace, we need you and your guests to come with us,” one of the men said as he approached them. There was a red, camouflaged van pulling up beside the camouflaged Polaris jeep, and another armed man was opening the back doors.

  Angelica’s hands started to tremble. She looked at Dr. Bishop, who appeared frightened, as well.

  “What is this about, gentlemen?” Dr. Wallace demanded.

  “Dr. Wallace, you know what this is about. Please come with us.” The security guard grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the van.

  “Excuse me, but you are hurting my arm!” Dr. Wallace proclaimed.

  One of the other guards had gotten behind Angelica
and Dr. Bishop and had his gun extended. “Move along… into the van!”

  As Dr. Wallace stepped up into the back of the van, Angelica glanced up to see her get an injection in the back of the neck. She watched, terrified, as Dr. Wallace went limp… and was caught in the arms of another guard and placed on the floor. Angelica screamed and went hysterical. “Marc! Help!”

  Marc’s eyes were wide, he was frozen. His mouth fell open but he couldn’t speak as he watched Angelica receive an injection in her neck. He knew he was next.

  Chapter Sixty-One

  Angelica rubbed her eyes as she lifted her head, and felt a sharp burning sensation in her neck. She reached back and pressed her hand against it as she rose from the metal bench. Angelica was shivering uncontrollably. The room was small, bright, and cold, and there were no windows -- just a camera in the corner of the ceiling pointing down at her. She instantly tensed.

  Angelica began to panic, realizing she was locked inside. “Please! Let me out of here!” she shouted at the camera and then waited for a sound.

  “Please, let me go!” she screamed out. “Someone please help me,” Angelica whispered as she fell to her knees and wept uncontrollably. She lay on the cold floor and trembled until she finally stood up and crawled onto the bench, curling up into a fetal position. Tears ran down her cheeks, pooling beside her on the metal bench, as she peered up at the camera until she fell asleep.

  Angelica awoke to a sound at the door. She jerked her head up from the fetal position she had formed to keep warm.

  Angelica sat up and scooted back against the wall, away from the door. She rubbed her face with the inside of her arm. She looked at her arm as she lowered it, and noticed there were dark red flakes of dried blood. Angelica flinched and started shaking as she noticed her white lab coat was soaked with blood.

  Angelica watched anxiously as the door opened and a tall, thin man with jet black hair stepped in. He appeared Italian. He had olive skin and a beak shaped nose. His eyes were dark and cold, and his face pronounced and triumphant.

  “Ms. Bradley… How nice to make your acquaintance. I’ve heard so much about you,” he stated sarcastically in a slight Italian accent. Angelica scooted back, as close as she could get to the wall… trembling. Her lip felt swollen and she put her hand to her mouth to check it and felt a large gash. When she lowered her hand, she noticed more flakes of dried blood. She jerked her hand up to get a better look. Angelica tasted iron when she licked across the gash in her lip. Her lip had started to bleed again.

  “Yes, appears your lip is bleeding.” He let out a deep breath as if he were genuinely disappointed.

  “We had to extract some information from you. Seems the injection took a little longer to take effect. You are quite a fighter, Ms. Bradley, I must say, given your size. Angelica started to shake uncontrollably as if she were standing inside of a freezer. “Please, do not kill me,” she stuttered through her bloody split open lip.

  He stepped closer. Angelica tried to open her eyes wider, but the room was too bright, causing her to squint. “Ms. Bradley, did you think you were going to just step into the chamber and jump unnoticed?” He laughed an unusual laugh… a frightening chuckle as he shook his head.

  “Where are Dr. Wallace and Dr. Bishop?” Angelica asked as blood ran down her chin. He looked down and then back up to meet Angelica’s eyes. “Well, why don’t I just show you?” He reached out his hand toward the door for Angelica to get up and walk out. She shook her head, terrified. “No, you are going to kill me, aren’t you?” she stuttered. Her lips were blue and shaking.

  “Now Angelica, come on, get up. Let’s go see your friends. Come now… come with me.”

  Angelica slowly stood up, trembling almost out of control, and still weak from the neck injection. She walked reluctantly slouched over and out of the room into a hallway, slowly turning to look at him and noticing the security guard behind him.

  “Go on, that way.” He pointed. She walked slightly sideways, trying to keep an eye on him and the guard that followed behind.

  “I heard you’ve been asking a lot of questions about me,” he murmured. Angelica realized at that moment he was Francis Giano.

  “Through that door, there…” Francis pointed. Angelica looked back and into his cold eyes one more time before she turned the knob and opened the door.

  Slouched over from pain in her shoulder, soreness in her neck and trembling out of control, she looked up into the lab and screamed. “No!”

  Floating in a large cylinder tank of light green liquid was Dr. Wallace’s frail, nude body. Her eyes were still open and her long black hair had come completely loose from the bun and was steadily swaying toward the top of the tank. Angelica dropped to her knees, with her hands over her face, crying and shaking her head. She was afraid to look around for fear she’d see Dr. Bishop had suffered the same fate.

  All of a sudden, the guard grabbed her arm and yanked her up. Her body was too limp to walk on her own so he dragged her and sat her down in a chair. Angelica was sobbing. “Why did you kill her? Where is Dr. Marc Bishop?”

  Francis looked Angelica directly in the eyes… “She took an oath and broke it. We retrieved that cylinder tank from a crashed craft here on Mars, still works, you know. Oh and Dr. Bishop is safe, for now.” Francis smirked as he tossed his hand in the air. His condescending smile sent chills down Angelica’s spine.

  Francis stepped closer to Angelica. “So, how do you like the Red Planet?” Angelica shook her head, unwilling to speak.

  “Quite impressive, isn’t it!” His voice was assertive, quiet, and deep. Angelica dropped her head. “Angelica, dear, I need your full attention, please.” Francis walked around her chair, reached down, and lifted Angelica’s chin. She tilted her head and watched him out of the corner of her eye.

  “How rude of me… It’s like going to third base without even getting to know one another.” Francis stroked the back of Angelica light blonde hair. “You are a beautiful woman, I’m sure you know that. Shall we get to know each other, Ms. Bradley?” Angelica eyes watered and tears streamed down her cheeks.

  “I am Michelangelo Francis Giano,” he announced proudly with an Italian accent. “I built this facility.” Francis gestured his hand about the room. So, how did you like your tour of Cydonia?”

  Angelica looked up, and then scanned the room. There was no way to escape. The guard was in front of the only door.

  “Now Angelica, you’ve seen a lot. Taken a few photos… now, now, you should know we don’t allow photography here.”

  Smeared with blood, Angelica’s face was red. The tissue on her lip was swollen and split wide open. She could taste the metallic blood in the salty tears as they ran into her mouth.

  “Why did you build the teleportation chamber, the aerospace facility? What are you doing here, Francis?” Her voice shock.

  Francis laughed. “Good, we are on a first name basis, makes for candid dialogue, don’t you agree?”

  The door to the chamber swung open and Angelica watched, stunned, as a man confidently walked towards her. She recognized him immediately.

  “Why is he here?” Angelica shouted.

  Francis looked over at John Kaye. “He is a friend.” John smugly smiled. He appeared to enjoy watching their interaction.

  Angelica kept her eyes on John Kaye as he walked over and sat down in a chair to her left. His expression didn’t change. He was peering right through her. “He’s your money man,” she mumbled.

  Francis laughed. “Very good! And that was a hard one to figure out,” he said sarcastically.

  “You are as smart as you are pretty,” he said, condescendingly. “I am a wealthy man; however, a lot of people have invested in this project, and Mr. Kaye is their go-to guy. I’m not much on socializing… I have people for that. I’d rather use my spare time to enjoy my ranch in Montana.”

  The door opened again and Dr. Bishop was brought in. He was hunched over with a blood-soaked gag tied around his mouth. He had a swoll
en black eye and bloody nose… he was badly roughed up.

  Angelica gasped. “Marc! What have they done to you?”

  The guard dropped Dr. Bishop, with his hands tied behind his back, into a chair in the right corner, facing Angelica.

  Francis looked over at the second guard and gestured him out. Dr. Bishop’s fearful eyes were staring at Angelica.

  “Now, where was I? Oh, that’s right… you’ve just recently visited there – what did you think?” Angelica lowered her head and ignored his question. The sight of Dr. Bishop unnerved her.

  “Elberton… my hometown! My family settled there from Italy. My great-grandfather, Michelangelo Giano was intrigued by the stories of gold in Elberton so he went there in search of it… a miner… damn good at it too. He made his fortune mining gold and silver.

  The men in our family followed in his footsteps and we were living the American dream… my sister and I… my lovely sister Giuliana. Ana as we called her. She’s passed on… to the other side years ago. She was a special woman. She married a local rancher by the name of Anderson. I believe you met his son,” he said nonchalantly.

  Angelica lifted her head and sighed. Her heart was pounding in her chest so hard she felt it in her throat. She closed her eyes for a moment and started to tremble. “Did you say Anderson married your sister?” she mumbled.

  “Yes, I did. Nice couple they were -- at least, until those damned grey ETs destroyed their lives.”

  Angelica started trembling uncontrollably again. She was astute enough to know where he was heading. She felt trapped in a nightmare.

  “They took a liking to my little sister and started taking her from her bed in the middle of the night. They were especially interested in her reproductive system; yes, they messed her up. She eventually went crazy and…” Francis looked down. “She killed herself. We covered it up and called it an accident… didn’t want to bring shame to her or the family. That husband of hers, Hugh… a weak man. Couldn’t protect my sister.” Francis laughed. A laugh that penetrated Angelica’s bones.