by R. D. Brady
Maeve rubbed her eyes and placed the laptop on the ground next to her. After Maeve finished breakfast, she and Greg brought the laptops outside so they could keep an eye on everyone while they reviewed the files.
Greg sat next to Maeve, his attention still fixated on the screen. Until, of course, Hope bounded over. “Oh, come on, Hope,” Greg grumbled as she dropped a stick onto Greg’s laptop, her tail wagging. Greg tossed it across the yard. And with a happy jump, Hope tore off after it.
“You know she’s going to keep bringing it back if you keep throwing it.”
“I know, I know.” Greg closed his laptop and stretched. “But I have a secret weapon.” He disappeared into the house and a few seconds later reappeared with a large dog bone. “Here, Hope.”
Hope sprinted over.
“Sit.”
Hope promptly dropped her butt, her tail still wagging. Greg handed her the bone and she took it, walked a few feet away, and curled up contentedly as she began to chew.
The triplets had all descended from the trees and were now kicking around a soccer ball. Small smiles were on their faces, and right at this moment, they seemed all right. Alvie glanced over at her from his perch in the tree above them. There was no smile on his face. He had been tense and quiet all morning. Granted, he couldn’t speak, but he wasn’t sharing his thoughts like he usually did. Maeve was worried about him. But she also wasn’t sure what she could do about it. After all, being worried was a pretty reasonable response to what they were going through.
An image of Chris appeared in her mind. Maeve looked into Alvie’s eyes and shook her head. I don’t know. They hadn’t heard from him, not that there was any way for him to contact them. And Guardian hadn’t shared any more information on him, either.
“You ready to chat?” Greg asked, interrupting her thoughts.
Maeve pulled her gaze from Alvie and directed her thoughts to the files she and Greg had been reviewing for the last few hours. “Yeah.”
“So from what I can tell,” Greg said, dropping his voice so Alvie didn’t overhear, “it looks like they’ve accounted for about seventy-five percent of the creatures that were at Area 51.”
Maeve thought of the senseless loss of life, both human and non-human. The United States government had created alien hybrids. At 51, all the creatures they had violently crossed paths with were hybrids. None had been pure aliens. Even the creatures that looked like Grays had been mixed with human DNA.
But that didn’t mean they did not have pure aliens. When Maeve started going through the files, she had hoped she would be able to track down one alien in particular who she believed to be a pure alien—the large Gray who had helped keep them from being discovered. The background on the big Gray was, however, scant. Which was unusual. In all other cases, the subject and the subject’s DNA were well documented.
But for the big Gray, that information was missing. In the file, he was even given a unique classification that did not follow the pattern that was used to classify the other subjects in the database. His classification was Orion1. For example, Hank, the creature Schorn had been working with at Wright-Pat and then Area 51, was designated as Kecksburg-AG2. His DNA had been taken from the Kecksburg, Pennsylvania 1965 crash site and he was a second-generation hybrid created from the DNA strand. But the big Gray didn’t have a hybrid notation. Instead, a single word followed his designation: Agaren.
Was that his name? And what did Orion1 refer to? All the other aliens had a crash site noted as the first name in their classification.
But there was no Orion crash site. Orion, though, was a well-known star constellation. The three prominent stars in the constellation were believed to be the alignment followed by the creators of the three largest pyramids in Giza. Within Egyptian mythology, Orion is one of the two most critical areas of the sky because it was the place where gods were said to have descended from. More critically, the beings that came from Orion and the constellation Sirius spawned Osiris and Isis, who, according to mythology, created humans on this planet. So did that mean the big Gray, Agaren, came from Orion? And if so, how had he been caught if not through a crash?
In fact, all the other files recounted the DNA collection process. So why was the big Gray’s missing? All that was written was that the first contact had been at Holloman Air Force Base. She knew the military had reported thousands of sightings over bases since 1947. In fact, there had been over twelve thousand sightings reported by military personnel between 1948 and 1969 alone. But why, then, wasn’t he classified as Holloman-1? But would that mean there had been a crash at a United States Air Force base?
The big Gray, however, was not the most startling finding. Oh, no. That belonged to the other building, a building that contained recreated pure aliens.
When Maeve’s mother, Alice, had first been hired to work on the A.L.I.V.E. Project, the U.S. government had wanted her to clone alien DNA. But the DNA had been too different. And at that point, her mother was on the cutting edge of cloning research.
They decided to work with Alvie’s progenitor’s DNA because it was a mix of human and alien DNA. But somewhere along the way, as cloning research advanced, they must have figured out a way to clone the pure-alien strains. Was that what had happened with the big Gray? Had alien DNA been left behind or provided to the U.S. government at Holloman that led to the creation of the big Gray? Was he a pure alien?
The discovery of the purebred aliens only became more intriguing when the behavioral differences were noted. When the hybrids were released, they killed the humans they came across. And many hybrids had been killed. But the pure aliens had a completely different approach. In fact, as soon as they were released they seemed to immediately head for the surface, taking care to avoid coming in contact with any humans. There were no reported skirmishes involving any of them and they were not listed among the dead at the base. Maeve wasn’t sure if that was to protect themselves or the humans. From what she could tell, there were only eight pure aliens in captivity. Had they all escaped?
Her screen blinked and she frowned. Then a new data box appeared in the center of the screen.
Watch me. —Guardian.
“Uh, Greg?”
His attention stayed fixed on his screen. “Hmm?”
“Greg.”
“What’s up?” He looked up, his eyes slightly unfocused.
“You need to see this.”
Greg scooted over next to her and peered at the screen. “What?”
“That box just appeared.”
His eyebrows rose. “Just appeared?”
“Yup.”
“I don’t think you should click on it. It could be a virus.”
“It could be, but I thought Tilda said her system had top-of-the-line security.”
“Maybe she just meant the latest version of Norton.”
“Ha ha. Somehow she does not strike me as someone who does not know her way around a security system.” Maeve hesitated, her hand hovering over the keyboard.
“Maeve, they could track us down if you hit that.”
“They’d already know where we are to send it, wouldn’t they? Besides, Guardian’s on our side, right?”
Greg shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Well, here goes nothing.” She clicked on the screen and then enlarged the box.
Greg peered at it. “That’s a satellite image. What is that, like a ranch or something?”
A chill stole over Maeve. “That’s my ranch.”
The image zoomed in on the main gate, and Maeve could see Randy standing outside the gatehouse. Three SUVs pulled up and Maeve held her breath.
Greg pointed to the time stamp in the bottom corner of the screen. “This recording is from the time of the attack.”
Maeve nodded but didn’t answer, keeping her attention on the screen. The guard opened the gate for the three SUVs. They pulled to the side of the fence and a dozen men in black climbed out. All of them were heavily armed.
“What is that?”
Greg pointed to the back of one of the SUVs where some of the men were unloading some large crates. Maeve zoomed in.
Greg leaned closer to the screen. “Those look like—”
“The containment units from 51.”
“Maeve, why would your security have containment units? They’d only need them if they were transporting Alvie and the triplets.”
Maeve felt cold. “No, they’d only need them if they were transporting them without my or Chris’s consent.”
The containment units were left next to the SUVs as the men spread out and began the long walk to the house.
They were coming for us.
The image zoomed out and a dark shadow appeared on the left-hand side of the screen. It skimmed along the edge of the ranch’s property, approaching the front gate and the armed men.
The image zoomed back in and Maeve got a view of the creature in flight. It dove toward the men approaching the house. He yanked one of the men up into the air as the other men scrambled away.
“Holy shit,” Greg breathed out. “That’s the guy from 51! He’s the one who saved me and Leslie from Hank.”
But Maeve couldn’t seem to find any words. She watched the attack on the ranch from this bird’s-eye view. It had looked entirely different from the ground.
Two men approached the house, their weapons raised, and the creature swooped down on them. As Maeve and her gang sprinted for the trees, the creature swooped in again, taking out a gunman that Maeve hadn’t even noticed in their mad dash. Even at the end of the attack, when they were racing away in the Jeep, the creature had landed on an SUV that attempted to follow them, crushing the engine. The last image on the recording was of the creature taking flight away from the devastation at the ranch.
The data box went black and Maeve just stared silently at the screen, stunned into silence.
Greg touched her arm. “Maeve, are you all right?”
Maeve pictured the creature landing behind the house and extending a hand toward her. “It wasn’t trying to hurt us. It was protecting us.” She shook her head, looking around, the world suddenly seeming a lot scarier than it had just moments ago. “It wasn’t the alien that was trying to kill us. Our own guards let them in, which means …”
“Which means the U.S. government is trying to kill you … again.”
Maeve’s gaze flew to Alvie and the triplets, and she pictured the containment units. “Yeah. But I think what they have planned for them might be worse.”
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
CENTERVILLE, UTAH
Norah managed to rent the car without a problem, and she was able to pick up a few things at the drugstore. Then she’d stopped and picked up some sandwiches as well.
As she drove back, she’d scanned the area, looking for Bob’s car even though she’d seen him drive off. But she saw no sign of him.
Gee, paranoid much, she thought as she quickly made her way from the car to the motel room. Iggy was curled up on the pillow in the closet. He smiled sleepily at her.
She placed her stuff on the bed and walked back to the window, glancing outside. Iggy peeked his head out of the closet as she took off her jacket.
“Hey, I got you something.” She sat on the bed, one of the bags from the drugstore on her lap. Iggy inched forward as she pulled a small teddy bear from the bag. It had been an impulse buy. She wasn’t sure what on earth she was thinking when she’d picked it up. It was cute, with big green eyes, and it was about half Iggy’s size.
Iggy’s eyes grew rounder and his little mouth opened in an O. She knelt down and handed it to him. He moved forward and gently took it from her hands. He inspected it, even sniffing it before crushing it to his chest and making that little mewling noise of his.
How did anyone ever think you were dangerous?
A knock sounded at her door and she leapt to her feet. Iggy ran to the closet, his little bear in his arms. Norah pulled her weapon, keeping it at her side as she looked out the window. Bob’s car was back in its spot. And the man himself was standing at her door. Oh crap.
Norah waved Iggy farther into the closet. Once his head disappeared from view, she turned and opened the door.
“Hey,” Bob said.
“Hey.” Norah leaned against the doorframe as if she needed the support. “I thought you’d left.”
“I did, but I felt a little bad about leaving you when you were sick and all. I just wanted to make sure you really were okay.” The words were good, but he kept glancing into the room as he talked. “You sure you’ll be all right?”
Norah nodded. “Yeah. I got the car and I decided I’m just going to relax for the rest of the day. Hopefully I’ll be feeling better tomorrow or the next day and I can start heading back.”
“Okay, well, if you’re sure.”
“I am. Just a little sleep and some meds”—she waved toward the bed where the drugstore bag lay— “and I’ll be right as rain.”
“Okay. Let me know when you’re back in the office.”
“Will do. Have a safe trip.”
“Yeah, you, too.” Bob’s gaze strayed past her into the room one last time before he turned around and headed for the parking lot.
Norah closed the door, letting out a shaky breath. He doesn’t know anything. You’re just suspicious of his behavior because you are hiding something. He might not know something, but he certainly suspected something. But Bob showing concern was not normal.
She stayed by the window, keeping out of view but watching as Bob got into the car and pulled out of the parking lot again. Relief flooded her as his car turned out of view. “Okay, Iggy, you can come out.”
Iggy peeked his head from out of the closet. She smiled suddenly, feeling tired. “Okay, my new little friend. How about we both take a nap? Because I could use one right now. Then when we wake up we’ll see if we can track down someone who can help us out, okay?”
Iggy stepped out of the closet, the bear in his arms. He hopped up on the bed next to Norah. Then he climbed under the blankets, his head on his pillow. He closed his eyes, his new friend clutched tightly in his arms, and let out a little yawn. “Ig,” he whispered.
“Well, I guess you’ve gotten comfortable with my being around.” For a moment Norah considered sleeping on the other bed. Then she shrugged. In for a penny, in for a pound, I guess. She grabbed the blanket off the other bed and lay down next to Iggy, whose breathing had already steadied. She smiled, not sure how exactly she had gotten to this point in her life.
She closed her eyes, trying to sleep, but worries just crowded her mind. Finally she pushed the blanket off her, sat up, and pulled over her laptop. Maybe Schorn hadn’t been killed in the fire. She quickly searched for the latest news article on the fire.
They still hadn’t found a body, but he hadn’t been seen since that night. Arson was suspected. Oh man. It was him.
Norah sat back from the computer. Greg Schorn was dead. She still couldn’t believe he’d been killed. She’d just talked to the man less than a week ago. She had hoped she would be able to talk Schorn into helping her find Leander. Or even talking to her on Norah’s behalf.
Iggy lay next to her on the bed, the teddy bear clasped in his arms, his soft breathing the only noise in the room. She looked down at him. Part of her knew she was crazy. She didn’t know what Iggy was capable of, not really. But she also knew he didn’t deserve to die. There needed to be a third option. And hopefully Leander, who managed to protect four aliens, would be able to help her figure out what that option was.
Of course, she needed to find her first. She knew she was based somewhere near Denver, but that was as much information as she had. It would be dark in another few hours and she needed to get on the road. Driving at night made the most sense because it reduced the chance of someone seeing Iggy.
She pushed the thoughts from her mind. I need to get some sleep. She would head toward Denver and hope like hell that somehow on the way she could figure out a way to find Leander. She tucked the blankets arou
nd Iggy a little more and he snuggled even deeper into them. She closed her eyes next to him and refused to let herself think about what was going to happen if she couldn’t track down Leander. Or what would happen if D.E.A.D. realized what she was doing.
I’ll lose my job. They might even charge me with something. She closed her eyes tightly. No, none of that. It’s going to be fine. It’s going to be fine. She repeated the phrase over and over to herself, forcing her mind to focus on nothing else but the words as she fell off to sleep.
But in her dreams, she and Iggy were being hunted. And it was anything but fine.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
OUTSIDE THE ARCHES, UTAH
Maeve stared at the trees, oblivious to everything around her, her mind completely focused on recalling every detail of the attack. She was trying to find any way that she had misinterpreted what she’d seen. But those armed men had been waved in. They had brought containment units with them. And none of her normal security had come to check on them when the alarms went off. And then she thought of the backpack she had been wearing—the one with the bullet holes in it.
She’d thought they were stray bullets. But they were aiming for me.
Tilda stepped out of the back of the house and Maeve looked up, her eyes narrowing as she remembered Tilda talking her out of contacting the government. Was that luck or did the woman know more than she was letting on?
Maeve stood up, dusting off her pants. Tilda was a septuagenarian who ran Ironman triathlons for fun and who knew the ins and outs of some of the government’s most top-secret programs. “That was not luck,” Maeve muttered as she started toward Tilda.
“What?” Greg asked before scrambling after Maeve. “What are you—”
Maeve put up a hand, cutting him off.
