by James Porter
“We’ll see you next weekend, bright and early, litterbug.” The van door slammed shut silencing the laughter of the deputy.
“Real funny, clown” Alan turned to face his building, and wiped his face with his sleeve. He winced at the bruises that he touched as he did it. They went easy on him, only added 200 more hours of community service, and dropped the charges of assaulting an officer. “What I could really go for now is a nice large slushy.” He turned and started walking to the gas station down the street, slightly limping from his beating. His life wasn’t exactly how he wanted it to be, under the thumb of the man for tossing a paper cup, and for losing his cool about it.
“I mean, paper is biodegradable, right?” He kicked a can that was lying half on the sidewalk, and got even more agitated as it clanked down the sidewalk in front of him.
“Somebody tossed that can, and I’m the one that gets caught He stopped as he reached the edge of the gas station parking lot, he looked up at the brightly lit sign and was anticipating the large frozen sugary drink he would soon be purchasing. He didn’t notice the figure in the shadows as he walked to the front door.
“Hey, buddy, come here.” Alan was startled more than he should have been, but he was so wrapped in deep thought that he had been practically walking on automatic.
“Jesus man! You scared the crap out of me.” He tried to focus on who was talking, but the person was standing to the side of the building, just in the shadows.
“Who are you? Do I know you?” He took a step toward the figure and then paused as his paranoia kicked into overdrive. He shifted uneasily and then started to back up.
“Easy fella. I’m here to help you, the name is Moot, Agent Moot.” The man stepped out of the shadows to reveal a rather unimpressive man. He was not very tall and had a very unremarkable face. He wore a plain grey suit with a black tie and white shirt, and he definitely did not look like any sort of special agent.
“You’re a special agent? Look, whatever it is, you got the wrong guy.” Alan suddenly thought about the hacking he had done last week into some corporate servers, stealing a bunch of rather sensitive files. This guy might have actually tracked it back to him somehow.
“Someone else was using my computer last week, I was out of town, I swear!” The man didn’t seem to care and even if he had Alan doubted this guy could catch him if he were to take off running. The problem with agency types though is the fact that they usually know everything about you before you ever see them and then they got you. He looked around to see if he could see the other agents that must be providing back-up for this guy. The fact that he didn’t see anyone did not make him feel any better, if anything he felt that the abilities of the other agents were top notch. Or maybe there weren’t any other agents at all.
“Can I see some ID? How do I know you’re not some guy trying to mug me…or worse?” He was curious to see if this guy could actually produce identification or if he really was going to end up in a ditch somewhere.
“I assure you that I am here to protect you, but I do have ID.” The man pulled out a billfold that he flipped open in front of Alan’s face. It had some really impressive looking credentials that were probably real. Alan started to sweat a little, and he was not really interested in doing harder time than community service.
“And like I said, I’m here to help you. You’re being watched.” The man took out a pile of pictures and printouts which showed Alan doing a lot of really mundane things. One was of him drinking a slushy, him walking, and then one of him picking up trash off the highway.
“Hey, where did you get these? Have you been spying on me?” He grabbed the pictures and flipped through them hastily a frown forming as his eyebrows turned downward giving a shadow of frustration across his face.
“Not me Mr. Dun, but someone much more devious. Someone that has plans for you, plans that involve an anal probe” He put a lot more emphasis on the last words then he meant to, but the effect was exactly what he wanted.
“WHAT!? What the hell are you talking about?” Alan was seriously starting to worry about this whole conversation. This was going from normal weirdo to full blown crazy real quick.
“I have managed to intercept radio waves on a rarely used frequency and that is where I got all these pictures. I believe that an alien is going to abduct you.”
“Are you crazy? Aliens going to abduct me? Let me see that badge again, it’s got to be fake. You are a nut job!” He started to back away.
“Do you know these people?” Agent Moot showed some more pictures to him. This time of a rough looking oil worker, a gypsy woman, and what looked like a redneck lumberjack.
“I’ve never seen any of them before in my life.”
“Well, I got these pictures the same way as I got yours, and now two of these guys are gone.” It wasn’t easy to get the pictures either, he had to modify some Government Issue equipment and that was usually frowned upon. He had remembered the frequencies that he had seen at the research facility and tried to get them on a CB radio, but it wouldn’t pick it up, so he had to reconfigure the radio. He ended up hooking his phone into the CB and then messing with the CB crystal by rigging his watch into the configuration. He hated to have to use his watch, as it was an expensive one his mom had given him for his birthday, but the world was at stake so sacrifices had to be made. Agent Moot caught some movement from the other side of the street. It was a slender figure in a long coat and a fancy hat, but something just didn’t look right.
Ok kid, we better get moving, looks like trouble may have found us” He grabbed Alan’s arm and tried to get him moving.
“Hey, let go of me!” Alan was not ready to go anywhere with this crazy guy, and he especially didn’t like being grabbed “I’m not going anywhere with you!”
“We’ve got to hurry!” Moot knew this was it, and started to draw his gun as the lone figure started to cross the street.
“Don’t shoot me man!” The big man dropped to the ground making an overall scene.
“I’m not going to shoot you.” Moot tried to convince the kid with his stern but reassuring look he was always practicing in the mirror, but it wasn’t as effective as he thought it would be. “Stand up Alan, we’ve got to move.” He looked up again at the menacing figure, but now it was gone.
Star had stepped back into the shadows once Alan dropped to the ground screaming and such, as she couldn’t take him then. The man who was talking to him had interfered with her plans as if he knew what was going on. That couldn’t be possible though, these humans seemed so far behind in culture and technology that they very rarely noticed what was going on right in front of their faces. That didn’t matter right now though, she would have to grab this guy later, fortunately her other target wasn’t that far away and she could get there without having to move her well-hidden ship. She darted north toward her other target while still mulling over what had happened here.
Alan took off running and didn’t stop until he was half way home. “What kind of crap have I gotten into?” He tried to catch his breath, as running wasn’t exactly high on his list of things to do. He figured he better get all his hacking gear to a safe spot before that loon returned with a search warrant and some real cops. If cops found his gear, there was enough incriminating evidence on the laptop to put him away for a long time. He jogged the rest of the way home while making a mental list of everything he needed to grab. As he got close to his building he noticed an athletic looking girl with red hair hanging around the entrance. Her suit suggested professional, but professional what? Alan walked cautiously to the building entrance, trying to act natural as he passed the suspicious woman.
“Alan Dunn?” He turned as she said his name, too many strange things happening today. She just looked straight into his eyes with her piercing green eyes.
“Yes?” He hesitated and the word came out a bit strained.
“Were you the same Alan Dunn who got in a confrontation with sheriff’s deputies today? I am assuming from
the bruises that you are.” He finally put two and two together. She was a reporter fishing for a story.
“Ma’am, nothing happened, I just got a little mouthy.” He didn’t want this to get blown out of proportion or he might be looking at beatings every weekend.
“Is that normal behavior for you, or were you feeling a little... weird?” She wanted to get answers without putting any words in his mouth, and sometimes people will talk more freely when the questions are generic.
“Weird? Well I guess I was a little hot and aggravated, but I’m not sure what you’re getting at.” He shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. She was watching him like a cat ready to pounce on a wounded mouse.
“Did you see or hear anything unusual yesterday right before your fit?” She was still fishing, but it didn’t seem like she was going to get anywhere with him.
“You mean like a black cat crossing my path or something?”
“Did a black cat cross your path?”
“Lady, are you crazy? Who are you and what is it you exactly want from me?” He was about done with the conversation. This woman was a little off base.
“Look, Alan, I’m a reporter for Spook 101, a paranormal and conspiracy talk show online. We are following up on a report that a UFO was spotted trailing your group of litter volunteers prior to you having your tantrum. We’re trying to put out a complete and interesting story.” Lori knew this wasn’t going anywhere. This guy just blew his top. He wasn’t microwaved by aliens, or at least if he was he has no clue of it.
“A UFO? Are you with that crazy guy claiming to be some sort of special agent? He was saying something about aliens too.”
“Who’s this agent you’re talking about?” Now this was beginning to get interesting Lori thought as the questions started running into her head.
Agent Moot watched Alan run off and decided not to follow him. The alien was close and Moot might be able to get a bead on the ship if the alien was careless and his modified CB worked like he felt it should. He walked back to his car and got in slumping into the driver’s seat. Where his car’s radio should have been was a mass of wires connected to his phone, his watch was barely visible beneath the duct tape that held the configuration together. He started messing with the dials and images flashed across his phone, surreal ghostly images, disturbing images that he tried to ignore. The images turned to what seemed to be the view of somebody moving through the dark woods. Trees flashed past as the view swung side to side as if searching for something. “I think that’s the alien!’ He was excited at the thought of actually seeing through the alien’s eyes. Then he paused and thought about how plausible that was, that he had somehow cobbled together a radio brain television calibrated to alien minds. “Let’s keep looking for that ship, shall we.” He turned the dial and kept looking for any signs of a spaceship signal.
Star suddenly stopped, as her circuits flashed an intrusion warning. Her crystal processor was actually a crystal matrix quantum computer that afforded her enough computing power to crunch through even the most gut wrenching equations, but right now the thoughts she had were impossible. It felt like someone had briefly been inside her head, only for a moment, but long enough for her to notice. The frequency of the interference was a crystal quantum frequency that was seldom used among her people because it directly connected their thoughts, and that was just plain rude. Someone on the planet had access to some advanced technology and had briefly made contact with her. She would have to be on her guard from here on out.
Chapter 10
Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri.
Misty Moon was trying to relax by reading a book in her hammock, an older black and white cat was perched on her stomach eyes half shut gently kneading her shirt. She had her old RV parked in a state park this night and the breeze wove in and out of the trees making a slight shushing sound. Misty imagined that the sound was the surf gently landing on a warm sandy beach, dragging sand with it back out to the ocean as it retreated. She had hung her hammock outside to enjoy the night air, and now the breeze and the warm evening were lulling her to sleep. The heavy muggy night air was alive with the sounds of insects, the buzzing and chirping symphony of the night. She didn’t mind though, the mosquitos never seemed to bother her and the woods gave her peaceful dreams, besides Gwendolyn, her cat, was always there to keep her company. Soon she had drifted off to sleep. She dreamed of a distant place, horrible and threatening, where the whole world was out to get her.
She awoke startled and sweating. She looked around and couldn’t see anything but the woods, the now menacing woods. The trees seemed to be harboring danger and she could feel the unnaturalness that lurked just out of sight.
“Ugh, must have been having some terrible dream” She gave her head a shake sending her curly locks of red hair spilling off her shoulders. She looked around for Gwendolyn and didn’t see her, then she looked out into the woods again, just to confirm it was all a dream. What she did not expect was to see the woods staring back at her. A pair of violet eyes were looking right at her. They appeared to be at human height, not low to the ground like an animal.
“Probably a deer.” Her voice shivered as she choked out the words. It was then that the ‘deer’ started moving toward the camper and stepped out into the dim light of her campfire. It was a slim metallic woman in a coat and ridiculous hat. Misty’s breath caught in her throat, as she tried to remember the last time she had ‘shrooms. It was a while ago.
“Wh-what do you want?” She tried to control the tremor in her voice and failed. Misty’s eyes darted side to side like an animal looking for a way to escape.
“I’m here for you.” The strange person said. It continued walking towards her and the fear inside of Misty gurgled up through her chest until it was screaming in her brain for her to run.
“Oh my god!” Misty bolted for the door of her RV, ripped it open and dove inside. She frantically looked around cursing her aversion to weapons. She scrambled into the tiny bathroom, it was the only place she could hide in the tiny vehicle.
“Misty Moon, I have selected you for an important mission, please come peacefully.” The Metalloid figure moved toward the RV and knocked quietly on the door. “Please come out, I am not going to hurt you.” She tried peering in the window as she softly knocked again.
“This is about that Monsanto incident isn’t it, I knew they weren’t going to forget about that!” She was shouting it while trying to craft a makeshift mace out of the shower curtain rod and soap, the flimsy metal, however, was resisting her attempts to fashion it into a weapon. “Oh, you stupid piece of…” Her conversation was interrupted when the bathroom door was torn off its hinges and thrown away like an old Sunday paper.
“Misty, I need you. You must come save my people, you are a Forest Talker, the third eye guides you!” Misty could see her reflection in the smooth metallic skin of the humanoid machine, she pondered for a split second on how her eyes looked so big when she was in absolute fear for her life, and then she passed out.
Star easily carried the body of the limp woman draped over her shoulder like a roll of carpet. This wasn’t going exactly like she planned, but then again what ever did? Her plan wasn’t to kidnap everyone, it was to beg them for help, and so far all she had done was snatch humans and leave them unconscious on her rocket ship. Not a very friendly thing to do by someone who is supposed to be asking for help. She didn’t feel good about this at all, maybe her people were no better than the ones who had made them. They had kept them as slaves, plaything for the humans to do with as they pleased. They had suffered greatly as a people and it had taken a great act of courage to steal off into the night on a stolen starship. They had thought that part of their lives was behind them and they now had the freedom to evolve as a unique species on their own. As a created mechanism could they even evolve? The crystal processor allowed them to mimic life very closely, but was it real life? Can machines feel guilt? Or is that just a trick to get them to seem alive? She shook her head to clear o
ut all the theoretical crap that she kept dredging up. I don’t have time to ponder the ethics, my people only have one hope and that’s me. I am still going to give them a choice. This one carries my hopes, while the others are destructive barbarians. Haven’t I stooped to their level now by taking them by force?
“I had to.” She said it aloud and startled the cat that was laying peacefully in the hammock. It sat up and stared at Star and her unconscious owner. “You cannot judge me, animal.” She turned from the glares of accusation the cat was casting her way.
Star re-focused on her objective and headed into the woods. Gwendolyn laid back down in the hammock and watched the robot carry her human into the woods and then casually went about grooming herself.
Chapter 11
Marshfield, Missouri.
Agent Moot swung about in the dark with his rigged up CB unit strapped to his chest like a wrecked accordion. Wires and bits of tape clung to the apparatus like spider web on an old crate. The whole thing was dimly lit and gave off soft whirs and clicks with an occasional burst of static. His cell phone was at the center of the device powering the whole thing and providing a view screen into the extra-terrestrial’s actions. He was trying to get a reading from the spaceman’s ship when a series of tones and beeps emitted from his phone, it seemed like a familiar pattern to him, a second later he realized that his phone was ringing.
“Hello?” He fumbled trying to answer it as the current configuration it was in was definitely not phone call friendly.
“Is this Moot?” The voice was familiar, but it seemed like an eternity since he had heard it. “Moot, are you there?”
“Yes sir, I’m here” He had almost forgotten what his boss sounded like in his zeal to track down this alien. “Can I call you back? I am in the middle of something right now?”
“Call me back? NO! You can’t call me back! Moot, what exactly is going on, we haven’t heard from you in four days. Frankly, I expected to hear about the observatory blowing up by now.”
