“Fine. I’ve already told you about the Earupitans and the Mannarians mating practices.”
“Uh huh . . . the threesomes. Yeah.”
“For both species . . . Earupitan and Mannarian . . . the females are our most prized possessions.”
“Possessions?” I asked.
Jhally stared back at me blankly.
“Just go on . . .”
Jhally said, “The war on Gahl was short-lived, about six years. Some of our cities were bombed, but nothing compared to what the Earupitans did in reprisal to the enemy’s world. Between the Earupitan fighting forces, and the Mannarians’ high-tech weaponry, the enemy was defeated, their world destroyed. Then life returned to normal on Gahl. All was well.”
“That’s a good thing, right?” I asked.
“Yes, it was a good thing. That is until eight of your years ago when a terrible discovery was made. The bombs dropped years earlier onto our major cities had an organic component to them. An organic component nearly impossible to detect that had spread and reproduced throughout all of Gahl’s atmosphere.”
“What exactly did it do? You said everything was fine after the war.”
“Our females were becoming infertile. Their E-DNA had been modified so radically, giving birth had become impossible.”
“So what, then? Are you saying both the Earupitans and the Mannarians were . . . a dying species?” I asked.
“Yes, Brian. That is correct.”
“Your scientists . . . the Mannarians, they couldn’t edit out the bad E-DNA genetics? Seems that would be a fairly straightforward thing to accomplish for such an advanced race of people.”
Jhally scratched the top of his head. “Think of it this way. What is the most common ailment here on your own planet?”
“I don’t know . . . maybe the common cold.”
“Exactly. The common cold. And the reason why it is so difficult, perhaps impossible, to cure?”
“It’s constantly mutating. This year’s cold or flu bug isn’t the same virus that infected millions of people the year before.”
Jhally raised his oversized head.
“So you’re saying that’s what the E-DNA altering bombs caused? An ever-mutating, adaptable virus that never allowed your females to reproduce on your home world?”
“Basically, yes,” Jhally said. “So now you know why we are here.”
“I do? Explain . . .”
“The search has been relentless. Very difficult. But out of the many millions of worlds assessed, Earth was selected. They love it here.”
“They?” I repeated.
“Our females. Earth is where they would most like to start breeding again. Hundreds of our females are already here, although you would not know where to look for them.”
“Why here? Why Earth?”
“Earth’s climate is almost identical to that on Gahl. Your oceans contain a flourishing, almost unlimited, supply of shellfish.”
“Your females, how is it they do not suffer the same fate as—”
Jhally cut me off. “The females, close to one million of them, have never set foot on Gahl. They were born in what you would refer to as a test tube. Bred in space, they never once breathed Gahl’s corrupted air.”
I let what he shared sink in. For a long time I’d wondered what the real reason was. What lay behind the aliens’ invasion and occupation. Everyone had wondered the same damn thing. But Jhally’s disclosure made sense. It was far too bizarre of an explanation to be anything but true. My eyes found his. “This planet is not large enough to contain Earupitans, Mannarians, as well as Humans, is it?”
Jhally didn’t answer right away. “No, long term, it is not.”
“What are the Gaps waiting for? Why not just obliterate the Human population and be done with it?”
“Humans still provide something necessary; at least, for the short term.”
“What’s that?”
“Quite simply, it’s your breathing . . . more specifically, Humans breathing around us Gaps.”
“I think I understand,” I said. “You’re describing the process whereby, in the case of Humans, we are protected against illnesses caused by infections. Like with micro-organisms, um . . . pathogens. Yes, we spread things around like the common cold, and flu, and such, but we also build-up a resistance to those diseases. Like an immunization process, is that correct?”
Jhally shrugged. “Close enough.”
“And once the Gaps’ resistance to illness is sufficiently built-up?”
“I believe most, if not all, of the Human race will be eliminated.”
I let that sink in. “One more question . . . where are they now? These ‘waiting to breed’ females of yours?”
“I told you, only a select few have been brought down to Earth.”
“And the rest?”
Jhally looked uneasy and didn’t answer. I could see he was experiencing a primordial conflict of sorts. The third gender of their species, female, was incredibly important to him. “The rest are protected by a dedicated Situational Command Ship. Another vessel is in orbit around the Moon, called a Solaris Habitat,” he finally said.
“And you’re saying a million females exist up there on that . . . Solaris Habitat craft . . . just waiting to breed with the male Gaps here on Earth?”
Jhally nodded back, although he didn’t look too happy with the way I’d characterized things.
chapter 15
I’d instructed Matt and Donny to arrive at my place a half-hour early. There were some things I wanted to discuss with them prior to everyone else’s arrival tonight at midnight. The bright headlights on Donny’s Cherokee were now coming into view. As the SUV jostled its way along my long and winding driveway, I exited the barn and waited for him to pull up close. I signaled for him to hold up and gestured with a winding motion for him to roll down his window.
“What’s up?” Donny asked.
“I’m having everyone drive around to the rear of the barn. Pull all the way inside and park.”
“You got it, brother.” As he throttled forward, I watched the Cherokee’s taillights disappear around the corner of the barn. I knew Jhally was waiting back there, and he would direct Donny where to park.
Three minutes later, Matt’s Subaru was also coming down my drive. Once close enough to see inside, I saw Tim’s dark form sitting in the passenger’s seat. I was surprised to see Matt wasn’t alone. Annoyed, I repeated the same instructions to Matt that I’d just given to Donny. Karen, sitting in the back seat, made eye contact with me but neither of us spoke.
I stared up overhead, scanning the black, star-filled sky. I neither heard nor saw anything, but that didn’t mean a high-flying Skim-Rover wasn’t lurking somewhere up there in the night sky above me.
After closing, then locking, the barn’s double-doors, I hurried to join the others on the opposite side of the barn.
“Hey Brian,” Matt said, fast-walking to reach me before I joined the others. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry. You know, about Karen being here . . . for this early part of the meeting.”
“I did say I wanted to speak with you and Donny alone, Matt.” I watched Karen and Donny speaking together, back where the cars were parked. Karen glanced over at me.
“I know, but she kinda insisted. And all her questions! God! Like, why do we need to take two cars? Are you telling me he still doesn’t trust me? On and on it went . . .”
I raised a palm, and said, “It’s fine. What’s done is done. It’s just that when I left the fair today, I saw Karen and Ronald Gant together. They looked pretty cozy.”
“Karen and Gant? Really?”
I nodded. “If it were anyone else, I wouldn’t have brought it up. But Ronald Gant could bring everything crashing down on top of us. I don’t need to tell you lives are at stake.” I could see both concern and guilt
written all over Matt’s face.
“Screw you!” Karen barked. Somehow she’d crept up on us and overheard our private powwow without being noticed. “You know, Brian, not everything is about you. Not everything is about your Takebacks!”
Not again, I thought, forcing myself not to reply back to her. As it turned out, I didn’t have to.
“Do you know what that asshole Gant does just for kicks?” Matt asked her, already yelling. “Don’t you know that because of his involvement with them that our good friends and neighbors are hauled into the Oversight and Enforcement Center? That a good number of them are never seen again? It’s the work of a traitor . . . to his own kind, his own race of people! That is the choice he’s made . . . and by associating with him, well, it’s the choice you’ve made, too. You need to leave, Karen! Now!” Matt pointed to the parked Subaru. “Take it, I’ll get a ride back with Donny.”
Karen stood up straight, her arms crossed, and her head tilted to one side. She forced a fake smile and blinked her eyes. “Are you done yet, Matt?”
“Yeah . . . I’m done.”
Karen then focused her eyes back on me. “Cozy? You think I’m cozy with Ronald Gant?”
I shrugged. “Tell me . . . what would you call it ?”
“Normally, I would call it none of your damn business. But if you have to know, I was being your James friggin’ Bond.”
It didn’t help any that tonight she was nothing short of stunning, wearing a short yellow sundress that emphasized her long, tan legs. Her black cowboy boots had stenciled characters of Mickey Mouse on one, and Minnie Mouse on the other.
“I don’t understand,” I said.
“Look, having his hand on my bare shoulder made my skin crawl. Was he hitting on me? Of course, he was! I’ve got news for you. That happens. A lot! But what he was sharing with me was important. Maybe could save lives. So I smiled and just acted coy. I gazed up at him with stars in my eyes, while learning new details I was pretty sure you’d want to hear about!”
“Okay. So what did he say?”
Eyes narrowing some, she tightly pursed her lips. She was as mad as I’d ever seen her, yet she was holding it together.
“He said he was being offered a prominent position within the oversight side of things, at the Oversight and Enforcement Center. You know, where the Assembly of Five decides who lives and who dies.”
The Assembly of Five was the closest thing we had to a judicial system around these parts. A panel of Gap uppity-ups, who, as far as I knew, had never once sided with Humans. Probably figured it was best to err only on the side of their own species, if there was even the slightest chance someone, namely a Human, might—even remotely—be guilty of something or other.
“So, what will he be doing there?” I asked.
“That’s the thing. Apparently, he will become one of them . . . the Assembly of Five will become the Assembly of Six. Did you know that Ronald was a lawyer before everything went to shit?”
I nodded, “Yeah . . . he’s mentioned that to me more than once over the years.”
“I asked him directly, you know,” Karen said, “where his true loyalties lie. He said something interesting . . . that people shouldn’t make assumptions about his patriotism.”
“So how’s any of this supposed to help us?” Matt asked.
“Really, you’re asking me that? How knowing someone who sits on the new Assembly of Six can help us? How being privy to insider information won’t be of use to us?” She glared at her brother as though he were an idiot.
“So you’re going to keep on seeing him, then?” I asked.
She thought about that. “Why don’t I leave that up to you, since you’re the big cheese here.”
“Okay, 007, but be careful. Gant’s a slippery one.”
I heard the sound of multiple car engines approaching in the distance. Catching Donny’s eye, I asked, “Can you go out there right now? Direct everyone to pull around to the back and park inside?”
The four Takebacks cells would soon be together for the very first time. Something, though, kept nagging at me—this still might be one big mistake.
chapter 16
Yet to be noticed, I lazily sat up on my perch, which, to most, looked like just some tarp-covered piece of tall farm equipment. Judging by the simple fact so many cars and trucks were able to fit into a small section at the rear of the barn only emphasized how large a structure the barn really was. Several fellow cell members drove here together, but even so, there were eighteen vehicles parked in three rows of six. I watched as the crowd of mostly men, along with several women, eyed people belonging to other cells. A few already knew each other outside of being Takebacks. Perhaps they were neighbors, or attended the same church services on Sundays. I paid special attention to each new arrival. Looked for clandestine signaling between members; for the tiniest off-guard facial expression—perhaps just catching another cell member’s eye, or for telltale indications secret associations were going on. But I witnessed nothing of the sort. I didn’t expect to and felt something akin to pride while watching them now. Each Takeback present, with the exception of Karen, and Jhally, who was kept out of sight for now, had committed a serious crime against the new order. True subversives, they all were anxious and ready to take things to the next level. Starting tonight, that wish would be granted.
I stood and raised a hand up high. “Listen up everyone, can I get your attention?”
Heads turned both this way and that—eyes scanned their surroundings until they eventually found me. Everyone then moved closer in. “Tonight we should continue to use our pseudonyms. So, I am Polybius, your leader of the Takebacks. Most of you are probably wondering about the additional members present here. I can tell you now, there are twenty-six Takebacks here from four separate cells. Soon, I’m hopeful, that number will grow to twenty-eight.”
I let their cross-talk murmurs subside before continuing on. I scanned the crowd looking for Karen but didn’t find her. I continued, “None of you were individually selected to become a member simply because you wanted to be a part of some kind of revolutionary group. You needed to have certain essential skillsets; one that would make you a crucial asset to the Takebacks. Most of you are ex-military. We have four pilots among us. Orville Wright, and yes, that is his historical pseudonym, is a commercial airline pilot. One is a software engineer; another, a hardware engineer. We even have an MMA fighter among us, an instructor of Krav Maga.”
“That’s all well and good, but why weren’t we told there were other cells in the group? We didn’t know you were a part of other cells. I don’t like the smell of this situation . . .”
The fellow who interrupted my little speech was none other than Thomas Edwards. He went by the pseudonym of Titus Quinctius Flamininus, or just Titus, a historical Roman General—one who lived some two hundred years B.C., and was instrumental in the conquest of Greece. I try to get along with just about everyone, but I’ve never really liked Titus. The guy’s bossy and abrupt. Now in his fifties, he was short and muscular—built like a fireplug. His salt-and-pepper gray hair was worn high and tight. A former sergeant first class in the Army, I should have expected his outburst. Some people needed to be in charge, be the ‘big boss’ in the room. Titus was one of them. Finding out now that he was part of a larger organization, that decisions were made without his knowing, probably came as a personal affront. Still, he was a necessary cog in the machine I’d been piecing together for close to two years. He was also a former M1 tank commander. He knew armored, ground-based vehicles better than just about anyone. Plus, he possessed a highly illegal, full-sized operational M1 tank. Built in secret over the course of a decade, it was made of spare parts and pieces he’d acquired from here and there from all over the world.
“That’s a fair question, Titus . . . but as I’ve told you before for obvious security reasons, members needed to be kept in the d
ark about certain aspects of the group and about the Takebacks specific agenda. It was for your own protection as well as everyone else’s.” I could see his face start to redden. His fingers closed into fists. Here it comes, he was digging in for a fight.
“I don’t know most of these people here. Am I supposed to take your word for it that they’ve each been properly vetted? I have a family to protect.”
“The short answer is yes,” I said. “Everyone that’s here tonight I have personally vetted, can personally vouch for. It’s taken years. And, just like you, Titus, they, too, have skin in the game.” I caught sight of Karen then, hanging out by the horses. In truth, not everyone here did have skin in the game. Something that would soon need to be remedied.
Titus still seemed angry, but then he always looked angry. One of those ‘glass half-empty’ kinds.
“Any other surprises we should know about?” he asked in a snarky tone.
I heard others in the crowd now quietly parroting Titus’s remarks.
“Look, it’s taken a lot of time and effort to arrive at this moment. The moment when I finally can be completely transparent regarding the full scope of the Takeback’s charter.” I stared down at some growingly perplexed faces. “And before you start objecting, yes, of course each Takeback cell has been fully dedicated to one, all-important goal . . . to disrupt the Gaps in their invasion of Earth. To make life for the aliens not worth living, at least not here in Castle Rock. What you were not aware of was the much bigger picture. And to be honest, newer revelations of late have forced me to think much bigger. Bigger than Castle Rock, or Colorado . . . or even what used to be the United States of America.”
“What the hell are you talking about, Polybius?” a black man standing near the back of the group yelled out. He was none other than Shawn McGee. I knew him more as Spartacus, who, historically, was a Thracian soldier. Captured by the Romans, sold as a slave, he later became the most famed gladiator fighter of all time. This Spartacus was also our MMA fighter—the instructor of Krav Maga.
“Tonight, I’m here to set out a far bigger picture of things to come. How you, both individually and as a group, will henceforth be the instigators of real change. Real revolution. I know each and every one of you personally. I know you are willing to fight, even die if necessary, for the return of freedom and liberty to the Human race. Your commitment to the Takebacks is not in question. But now you need to get your minds wrapped around something new. Something I like to refer to it as . . . our counterstrike.”
The Hidden Ship Page 9
