by Saxon Andrew
“Have it your way.” The F-150 pulled off and sped up the highway. Five miles up the road Jess saw a taxi pass them in the opposite direction. “We need to hurry to the gas station.” Mike looked in his rearview mirror and saw the taxi. He pressed the accelerator and hit eighty miles per hour.
Jess jumped out of the truck and said over his shoulder, “Let me know if that taxi passes us.” Mike nodded and waited in the truck. Five minutes later, Jess ran out of the restroom and jumped in the cab. Mike pulled out and Jess said, “Did it pass us?” Mike shook his head. “Good. Go to the first exit off this road that goes to Phoenix. See if you can pull off the shoulder and wait for that taxi to arrive. If it takes the exit, I need you to follow it and not be seen.”
“Then what?”
“When the occupant gets out, I’m bailing out as well. I’ll meet you at three o’clock where you drop me off.”
“Who’s in the taxi?”
“That is what I’m trying to find out.”
“You know you look like a kid without that hair on your face?”
“Uhhh…I guess I am a kid. I’m not of legal age yet.”
“Even so, you look a lot younger than twenty.” Mike paused, “Something’s going on.”
Mike saw Jess’s expression and knew he had said all he was willing to reveal. He slowed to sixty and arrived at the first off-road and pulled off the shoulder. Fifteen minutes later the taxi passed and Mike waited for it to get ahead. It went past the exit and Mike said, “It looks like it’s going into downtown.”
“Just don’t lose it.”
“Jess, the number one selling vehicle in America is the Ford F-150 pickup truck. You could rob a bank in one of these and drive away…no one would see you. Relax; I’ll keep it in sight.”
Jess blew out a breath and wondered what the alien was looking to find in Phoenix.
• • •
The taxi moved into downtown on Monroe Street. It turned on right on 6th Avenue and an immediate left on Washington Street. Mike said, “It looks like he’s going to City Hall.” The taxi arrived in front of city hall and pulled over to the curb. Mike pulled over as well and they watched the man exit the cab and go up the steps.
Jess opened the door and jumped out. “I’ll see you here at three o’clock.” He walked quickly and followed the man into the building. Mike took a good look at the man that got out of the cab and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. The Diamondbacks ball cap didn’t look right with the New York Yankee’s t-shirt, but heck, who was he to judge fashion. He pulled away and headed toward the port to discuss a deal to ship his crops to Russia. They were in short supply of food and he could make a tidy profit.
• • •
Jess followed the man into City Hall and saw him stop at a promotional wall. The wall was full of small brochures advertising the many places to go in Phoenix and Arizona. Jess went over to the water cooler and bent down to drink but kept his eyes on the man. He appeared to be confused. He went down the wall staring at each piece of literature before moving to the next. Jess went to the end of the counter where the man had started and casually watched him move along the wall. Finally, the man stopped and Jess saw his excitement. He reached forward and pulled out a brochure and headed toward the front door. Jess moved quickly over and pulled a brochure out of the pocket the alien had selected. He glanced at it and moved quickly toward the door. He almost stumbled when he realized what was on the brochure; it was the United States Mint in Denver, Colorado.
The Alien was looking for the Mint and had arrived at the wrong location. If he discovered his error, he would immediately leave. He noticed the alien stopping several people and showing them the brochure. It appeared there was a problem communicating with the alien. Jess walked up and stopped beside the alien looking at the brochure in his hand. The alien saw him and recognized Jess had the same one he was holding. He rushed over and said something that was unintelligible as he pointed at the brochure in his hand.
Jess deliberately looked puzzled and the alien handed him the brochure. Jess looked at it and smiled, “You want to go here?” Jess pointed to the brochure and pantomimed walking. The alien nodded. Jess slowly shook his head, “It’s not open today.”
The alien looked confused. Jess opened the brochure and pointed to the days and hours of operation on the back. He saw the alien couldn’t read it. He thought for a moment and pantomimed opening a door. The alien stared at him for a moment and then understood. Jess pantomimed closing the door and pointed at the sun. The alien looked up and Jess moved his index finger down to the horizon and then looked to the east and pointed again. He moved his finger a third of the way up the eastern horizon. The alien was following his gestures and after a moment it understood. It would open tomorrow. It held up one finger and Jess smiled and nodded. Jess walked away and hoped the alien wouldn’t make any more inquires and discover the Mint was located in another state. The alien went to the curb and flagged down a taxi. Jess heard it say, “I need a ride to the desert outside of town; can you take me?”
The taxi driver nodded and Jess was confused. The alien’s words did not have an accent and were spoken perfectly. How could it have communicated that clearly to a taxi driver and not be able to say anything coherent to him? Jess knew he didn’t have much time to make a move. The alien would discover tomorrow that the mint was not in Phoenix. How did it make that mistake? Jess went over to the curb and waited for Mike to show up. Mike arrived at noon and saw Jess sitting on the curb. He pulled over and Jess jumped in the passenger seat, “Thank God, you came early.”
“What’s going on, Jess?”
“That man is walking out of the desert and coming to Phoenix each day. I’ve not been able to determine where he’s staying.”
“Get real.”
“I am, Mike. He just seems to come out of nowhere. I’ll let you know what happens after tomorrow. I’m going to take a closer look and follow him so that I don’t lose him.”
Mike nodded and reached in his pocket. He handed Jess a cell phone. “What is this?”
“It’s a throwaway cell phone. I’ve programmed my phone number in it; all you have to do is press the number two and hold it down. It will automatically dial my number.”
“Mike, you…”
“Just say thanks and hope you don’t need it.” Jess stared at Mike and nodded.
They drove back to the desert and Jess got out of the truck, “Mike, thank you for being such a good friend. You’ve really made my life much better.”
“This sounds like goodbye.”
“No, I just needed to tell you.”
“Do you want me to stay here?”
“No, if I need you, I’ll call.” Mike nodded and stuck out his hand. Jess shook it and the F-150 pulled away. Jess went to the opposite side of the road and waited until it began getting dark. He crossed the road and moved into the desert. He retrieved his P-40 and emptied the clip of the standard hollow points. He reached in his pocket and took out ten 165 grain FTX Critical Defense forty caliber bullets. He inserted them in the clip, chambered a round, and replaced the one taken out of the clip. He knew the next night he was going to have to make his move. He was out of time.
• • •
The next morning, Jess watched the alien leave from the top of the spire. He waited until the cab had pulled away from the road and headed toward town before he slid down the rope to the desert floor. He moved over to the trail the alien took each day and began scouting for a place to make an ambush. He walked the trail all the way back to the depression and determined that the only place where he could get a shot off and be protected was from behind the iron rock close to the ship. Everywhere else the saguaros interfered. The forty had excellent ballistics but a saguaro would stop one. The depression was the only place where he could effectively hide and get off a clear shot. He stayed in his cave and waited for evening to arrive. He was pretty certain the alien would not be coming back early.
It was going to take a whi
le for it to discover the mint was not in Phoenix. Once it made the discovery, it was going to have to find out where it was actually located. It had also waited until noon to leave so there was time to prepare. Jess went to the depression and dug out a shallow trench in the sand behind the iron boulder and laid a plastic sheet over the bottom. He sweated in the mid afternoon sun and was soaked by the time he had it ready. He went back to the cave and sat on top of the wall and waited to dry off. The dry air quickly evaporated his perspiration and he went and began getting ready. He applied the light colored camouflage paint and tied his boots tight around his jeans. He put on the black long sleeve shirt and pulled a piece of thick plastic that was cut into the shape of a poncho. He put it on and pulled out his gun cleaning box and thoroughly cleaned the P-40. The Germans really knew how to build an excellent handgun.
The nickel coated P-40 was one of the most reliable and accurate handguns ever built. It had a fixed barrel instead of the floating barrels most modern handguns used and was extremely accurate. His father had bought the weapon and told Jess as a young boy how one day it would be his. He had broken into the orphanage’s main office and stole it out of the storage closet. The deputies had left it with the home to give to him when he was an adult. He asked the gunship owner how much one was worth and the owner had smiled, “You can’t find them anymore. Most people don’t know what it is and the ones that are looking to purchase a P-40 are collectors.” He looked at Jess and said, “You must have one.” Jess shrugged. The owner’s excitement was clear. “What kind of condition is it in?”
“Excellent.”
The owner went over to his computer and pulled up several websites and whistled. “The last one sold went for about thirty five hundred dollars.” The owner saw Jess’s stunned expression. “The cocking mechanism in the handle is what made the P series famous. It is an extremely efficient and reliable handgun. If you ever want to sell it, please give me the first opportunity to purchase it.”
• • •
Jess went out to the depression as the sun touched the western horizon and crawled into the trench and pulled the sand from around it over his legs. He had the P-40 in a plastic zip lock bag and placed it at the front of the trench. He pulled the rest of the sand over his chest and turned to face the route that the alien would take to the space ship. It was still hot but the temperature was falling fast. It grew dark and he put on the night vision goggles and waited. There was a quarter moon hanging high overhead so it wasn’t pitch black. There was enough light to see where you were going. He took the P-40 out and laid it on the ziplock, leaving the small cork in the barrel. It shouldn’t be much longer.
Jess could hear the alien moving up the hill toward the depression. His vision had adjusted to the moonlight and he really didn’t need the night goggles. He lifted the P-40 and removed the cork from the end of the barrel. He sighted at the area fifty yards from the spot the alien usually entered the ship and took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. That’s when he heard, “Hey, Gringo!”
• • •
The alien moved up the rise toward his vessel and was furious. He had wasted a week looking for a facility that wasn’t located in the city he was searching. He was frustrated and furious at the waste of time. Hetzel was going to be furious. He entered the depression and was shocked when he heard a voice say behind him, “Hey, Gringo!” He turned and saw ten humans had stepped out of the darkness and were shining a spotlight on him. All of them had a weapon trained on him. The leader of the group laughed and said, “Amigos, this one’s clothes will look gooood on me.”
“I want the boots, Jefe.”
“They’re yours, Jack.” The alien was frozen in his tracks and the leader stepped forward and jerked the barrel of his Uzi machine pistol up several times. The alien stared at them and raised his hands high over his head. The banditos started moving forward. Jack Orton shook his head. Why did Jose have to make everything theatrical? He should have just shot the man and taken what he wanted. He knew from the war in Iraq that it was always dangerous to reveal your presence. He learned that lesson the hard way by watching some of his fellow soldiers die at the hands of suicide bombers. He kept his AR-15 trained on the man’s chest and his finger tight on the trigger.
• • •
Jess saw the alien raise his hands over his head and noticed he was doing something with the black device on his wrist. He suddenly dropped his arms and swept his right arm across the band of banditos. Something shot out of the alien’s arm and the banditos began glowing bright white and falling apart into ashes. The tallest bandito, furthest from the alien, had his AR-15 aimed at the alien and he fired three quick shots before the beam hit him and disintegrated him into ash. The alien staggered as two of the three rounds hit him; one in the chest and one to the side of his head. He fell to the sand and was still.
Jess stayed in his trench and didn’t move. He watched the alien remain still for five minutes; but then it started crawling slowly toward the ship. It was thirty yards away and it was obviously injured. Jess put on the night goggles and increased the amplification; he saw the alien no longer looked human. It was olive green in color and its skin appeared to be scaly. It’s head was smooth and its mouth appeared to protrude slightly forward of his cheeks. It was over six feet tall and was bipedal like a human. Its eyes were deep set and closed. He raised the P-40 and took aim at the alien’s head but held off shooting. It would offer a better target when it came close to the ship’s entrance. Fifteen yards from the place the alien normally entered the ship, it stopped moving. Jess waited thirty minutes and then crawled out of the trench. He held the gun in both hands and had it aimed at the center of the alien’s head. He stepped forward and arrived next to what he now saw was a dead body. As he watched, the device around the alien’s wrist fell off. He leaned down and picked the device up with his left hand while keeping the P-40 trained on the alien’s head. The device suddenly jerked out of his hand and snapped around his wrist.
He fell backwards, dropping the gun and tried to slip the device back over his wrist. It wouldn’t budge no matter how hard he tried to dislodge it. He struggled with if for twenty minutes and finally gave up. He sat in the sand next to the dead alien and tried to decide what to do next. He looked toward the energy zone and lifted the device and put his arm on his chest. He held it there for ten seconds and the energy field disappeared and the port to the ship lifted. Jess stood up and picked up the P-40, which was now covered in sand. He put it in the empty holster that was also covered in sand and shook his head. He sat outside the port for an hour staring into the ship and tried to think about what his next step should be. He finally made up his mind and entered the ship. He sat down in the chair and took the helmet off the back of the chair. He hesitated for a moment and then pulled it down on his head. He heard, “Connection complete, do you require the force field to be raised?”
“Who are you?”
“Please restate your question.”
“The voice I’m hearing in my head; who is it?”
“Please restate your question.”
Jess shook his head, “What is this?”
“The voice is generated by my central processors.”
Jess jerked at the response and remained silent a moment. “You are the ship’s computer?”
“Please restate your question.”
Jess thought furiously and said, “The ship’s computer produces the voice.”
“Yes.”
“How does the computer understand me?”
“Your language has been downloaded into the data banks.”
“Where was the language learned?”
“It was taken from various inhabitants that were taken from this planet.”
“Why is the computer answering my questions?”
“The computer will only respond to the one with an active wrist controller programmed to it.”
“Does that mean that I now control the computer?”
“It is programmed to res
pond to the unit you have in your possession.”
“What can you tell me about the one that possessed the unit before me?”
“He has been in command of this vessel for six angons.”
“Do you understand my language?”
“Please restate your question.”
“Arrggggg.” Jess blew out a breath. “Does the computer understand my language?”
“It does.”
“Does it know the conversion of values for the different terms used by the former occupant’s language and mine?”
“It does.”
“In the future, use my language for the values used by the computer in communicating. How long is an angon?”
There was a momentary pause and the voice said, “Three of your planet’s rotations. A better description would be eighteen days.”
“Why such a short time?”
“I was recently constructed. I am the newest model launched from the Rogella Ship Yard.”
“What is the species of the former occupant?”
“He is a Neman.”
“Why was he here looking for the Denver Mint?”
“He wasn’t looking for the Denver Mint.”
“What was he searching for?”
“The mint located in Arizona.”
“There is no mint in Arizona.”
“He read the material to me and told me the mint was in Arizona.”
Jess thought furiously and knew there had to be a translation issue involved. He thought for a moment and said, “What did he use to determine that?” Jess saw a map of the United States appeared in midair and he saw a brochure of the Denver Mint below it. He looked at the brochure and said, “How would you pronounce Colorado in his language?”
“Agurellah.”
“And how would you pronounce Arizona.”
“Agurella.” There was a pause and the voice said, “He misunderstood.”
“It appears he did.” Jess paused, “Has the former occupant ever come to this place before?”
“He came here…” there was a definite pause and then the voice said, “..in an older ship ten of your years ago to pick up some of the inhabitants for study.”
