by Lesley Davis
But she couldn’t deny that there were unidentified flying saucers in the skies. And she’d just been told by someone in the military that bodies were recovered at Roswell and the craft had been scavenged for its secrets. Secrets the military now had at hand in saucers of their own.
But could their saucers stand up against the might of the originals? For now, Emory couldn’t think about that. She had to see if her idiot of a brother was still alive to make her life a misery over the fact he was right as always.
She hoped he got that chance.
*
It was only by following her GPS that Emory knew she was driving into Las Vegas. The once iconic landscape of bright lights and fantastical buildings was all gone. Its endless Strip of decadence lay before them in ruins. The hotels were broken, empty husks of their former glory. Shattered signs blinked erratically and sparked through broken bulbs. The Statue of Liberty had been broken off her pedestal and melted so she was bent out of shape and leaning over. It looked like she had been forced to bow down to a more powerful being. Caesar’s Palace, the Bellagio, the spectacular fountains, all were gone in endless mounds of rubble and massive craters. Vegas was closed to business indefinitely.
Emory drove down the middle of the Strip, trying desperately to dodge the screaming people running everywhere. A dance troupe from one of the many shows ran out in front of her, blind in their panic. The bright and gaudy dresses the women wore were ripped to pieces, blood-soaked, and stained. The once shiny sequins were now hidden under layers of dirt and dust. Emory careened the van around them, desperate not to hit them. The road crunched beneath her tires as she steered over debris of what was left from the surrounding buildings. Scattered cars were everywhere. Many had been flipped over onto their roofs, while others had been thrown a great distance. Emory saw one that had impacted with the remains of a building front, shot like an arrow straight through the wall. Other cars were ablaze; some were blackened or already gutted from the force of whatever had hit them. Emory could only imagine where the drivers had ended up. For a bustling monument to gambling and fun, Vegas was now filled with the screams of both the living and the dying. The surreal sight terrified Emory. The glitz and glamour that Las Vegas was famed for was all gone. Now it resembled a war zone.
“We have to help them.” Emory looked for a safe place to park. The earth rumbled and shook beneath her tires, and Emory felt the road shift. She and Sofia watched with horror as one of the hotels shook with an almighty tremor and then collapsed with a deafening roar. The dust and debris from it spread across the already wrecked landscape. Pieces from it flew through the air, and Emory instinctively ducked as a large chunk of balcony flew past the windshield.
“Get us out of here,” Sofia ordered. “There’s nothing we can do. If we try to mount a rescue attempt we stand the chance of being killed ourselves. The area isn’t safe.”
Emory gunned the engine, fixed her gaze forward, and didn’t look back. It killed her to drive away, but she recognized the futility of staying in such an unstable area. And I need to find my family. I can’t save the world…
“Any ideas what weapons they might have, because we need something to match them to stand a fighting chance,” she said, desperate to have any kind of chatter to drown out the noise of the screaming and the booms from collapsing buildings they were driving away from. Vegas was falling; its loss was catastrophic.
“We have some of the same technology,” Sofia said quietly. She was scanning the area just as Emory had, obviously taking in the carnage but distancing herself from it. Emory wondered what Sofia had seen before that made her able to put up such a wall to block it all out. She dreaded to think.
“Then why are they sending up planes instead of saucers?”
“Because our saucers were in the hangars at Area 51, and now there’s no Area 51 left.”
“Sabotage,” Dink said in Emory’s ear. He’d been quiet for most of the journey except to tell her where the ships had moved to next. Planet Earth was under attack on all corners.
“Do you have any more hidden somewhere?” Emory asked.
“Not to my knowledge.”
“Would you tell me if you knew?” Emory cut Sofia a look. She was surprised to see Sofia crack a small smile.
“There’s not much point in me hiding it anymore, is there? You’ve seen the saucers; you’ve seen what they can do. We need to get to a military base so I can liaise with my superiors. Maybe they have a better idea what we’re up against and how we can fight back.”
“My brother is in Winchester. It’s not far out of Las Vegas. I just need to know—”
“I understand you wanting to reach family, but what if he isn’t there?”
Emory froze as that sunk in.
“We can’t stay, Ellen. We have to find help. Military might.”
Emory released a shaky breath, railing against the truth but knowing that Sofia was right. “It’s Emory.”
“What?”
“My name is Emory Hawkes. Ellen Mays is my CIA ruse.” She gave Sofia a weak smile. “If you’re going to arrest me as you keep threatening to you might as well use my proper name to do it.” She looked out into the darkness. “I don’t think my brother will be able to bail me out this time anyway.”
“He might still be okay,” Sofia said.
Emory knew that tone of voice. Sofia didn’t believe her own words any more than Emory did.
“I think you need to find a way to get to me, Emory.” Dink’s voice startled Emory in the lengthening silence. Sofia was brooding beside Emory, her eyes fixed out the windshield as if all the answers lay outside in the darkness. “Once you ditch the captain, you need to come find me. You’re not safe out there.”
“Are there any saucers in Winchester?” That caught Sofia’s attention. When Dink said no, Emory shook her head. “So no saucers yet.”
“We don’t have a base there,” Sofia said.
“So you think they’re hitting military bases on purpose?”
Sofia shifted in her seat to face Emory. “Wouldn’t you?”
“Ask her about the nuclear stations,” Dink said.
“Is it true the saucers are powered from the nuclear reactors, or are they just scoping them out because we have that tech?”
“I don’t know. Before tonight I didn’t know there were any other saucers other than ours. That’s why I need to get to a base so I can find out exactly what’s going on.”
Emory wasn’t sure she believed her, but she didn’t believe anything the military or government said. She hesitated.
Sofia glanced over at her. “That laptop you squirreled away behind your seat, is it yours?”
“Yes,” Emory blatantly lied without conscience.
Sofia shifted in her seat. “It had better be. Because if it isn’t you’re facing years in a military prison for stealing government property to no doubt try to hack into highly classified military—”
Emory interrupted Sofia’s tirade. “I took that laptop in with me. You can check the base’s cameras to prove my story.” Emory snapped her fingers as if a thought had struck her. “Ah, that might be a problem now seeing as the cameras, along with the rest of Area 51, are currently going up in smoke. Guess you’ll just have to take my word for it.”
“And if I don’t believe you?”
“We have a choice, soldier. We can sit here and become saucer bait—”
“You still won’t say alien, will you?” Dink said, but Emory paid him no attention.
“Or, hypothetically speaking, if we could appropriate something that maybe has answers on it that you weren’t privy to, wouldn’t that be a help instead?”
“There might be a reason for whatever is on there not being made public. I’m going to ask you to hand over the laptop before I make you give it to me.” Sofia’s voice was harsh and authoritative. Emory paid little attention to that too.
“What kind of reasons can’t be made public knowledge? Like there’s flying saucers that could
potentially destroy the earth? I think we’re all aware of that secret now.”
Emory didn’t want to burst her bubble and tell her that Dink was already knee-deep into the memory of the laptop and was using it to hack into the government and military systems linked to that one machine. Once he’d remote accessed it there was no stopping what he could do with the information the laptop held.
“And what if you had found something that isn’t intended for the eyes of the general population?” Sofia asked. “What good is that information to you?”
“You’re asking the wrong person, Captain. I’m due in court in a few weeks because I posted to a site details from a reliable source that there is a secret military agency serving alongside the military that governs Area 51. I was just waiting on this source to furnish me with names and job descriptions, but the site got busted.”
Sofia swung around in her seat and fixed Emory with a hard glare. “There is no secret military agency. Your source was lying.” Sofia’s voice was harsh as she bit the words out.
Emory wondered at the tone and the vehemence behind it. Me thinks the lady doth protest too much.
“Well, I never got the chance to see definitive proof or name names, but I’m going to be prosecuted for not revealing who my source was. So I’m the wrong person to ask about keeping secrets a secret.”
Sofia’s shoulders dropped. “Your pursuit of these crazy fantasies is going to get you into serious trouble one day, Emory. And not just with me.”
“But they’re not so crazy, are they? There are saucers invading us as we speak. So who’s crazy now? The one who believed in their existence but got ridiculed or the one who didn’t believe because they were told the rest of us were making up stupid conspiracy theories for our own ends?” Emory said. “They’re only classed as crazy because people who are frightened for the truth to come out label it as such and the name sticks. Otherwise it’s just a theory. Like the theory centuries ago that the earth was flat. How crazy a theory was that, hmm? This is how I’ve chosen to live my life, not taking things at face value because I’m told I have to. But you’ll find I’m a relatively minor glitch in whatever security there is left on this planet thanks to the invasion. Besides, aren’t you just a little bit curious as to whether we’ll find out if this is all some great big setup? A theatrical display run by the military and the government to keep the general population under control?” Emory flashed her a toothy grin. “Go on, Captain, rebel a little. Come see the world from our side for a while. I promise you, you’ll be amazed at the view.”
Chapter Six
Sofia grimaced at Emory’s words. She was well aware of a great many times disinformation had been sent across the wires and played out on the field. She feared this threat from above wasn’t man-made and therefore was in no way under anyone’s control. No, this is something different entirely. Something that I was never briefed on. “So, just who is this voice in your ear?”
“Big Brother. You’re in safe hands though. He is a man of principle.”
Sofia caught the smirk that ghosted across Emory’s lips before it disappeared just as fast. “And what are you, Emory Hawkes?” She watched Emory’s face closely and saw a myriad of emotions run across her features.
“It depends who you talk to. I’m the crazy conspiracy theorist with subversive tendencies if you listen too long to my brother. He’s probably right. You would see me as the intruder who set eyes somewhere I was never meant to see. I see myself as someone who uncovers the secrets and lies of those in positions of power. I’m a privacy advocate because Big Brother is everywhere, and I don’t just mean the one in my ear.” Emory paused a little and smiled. “He says I missed the part where I’m the best friend he has ever had. I like that description best of all.”
Sofia was surprised to see a faint blush color Emory’s cheeks, visible even in the pale lights of the van’s interior.
“Well, I’m just glad that Big Brother exists so that I don’t have to worry you’re not as insane as I first thought with you talking to yourself. Any chance I can be patched into his chatter, or is this a marriage of just two minds?”
Emory must have been listening to the reply in her ear because she laughed. “He says he’s all for a threesome but knows he’s not my type.” Emory started the van back up. “He says he’ll talk to you though. He hates to keep you out of the loop. He’ll get chatty while we still have communications working.” Emory set them in motion again. “And why is that, I wonder? We have a whole ton of scrap metal orbiting the planet, an endless stream of satellites sending out information and defense systems guarding the planet. The invaders didn’t think to cut off our main source of communications as they passed by? Color me curious that we can still see lights shining and our phones work.” She fished her phone out of her pocket and handed it to Sofia. “For now, press ‘speaker.’”
Sofia did so and the deep tones of a man’s voice came from within.
“Captain Sofia Martinez, I am pleased to make your acquaintance. You may call me Dink.”
Sofia frowned. “Dink? What kind of name is that?”
“One well deserved and preserves my air of mystery, wouldn’t you agree?”
Emory smiled and shook her head.
“So, now that the introductions are in place, let’s talk. I hope you’re ready to talk about aliens. You see, Emory won’t commit herself until she’s seen concrete evidence. I, on the other hand, want to hear all about Roswell.”
“You know that is classified information,” Sofia said. “Even I’m not privy to all of it. All I know is a craft was found and we learned from its technology. I know nothing more than that.” She’d already told them as much when she’d laid eyes on the saucers for the first time. And with what was being seen worldwide, there wasn’t much point trying to keep that secret hidden any more.
“I’m sure you can try harder than that. It’s presumably a long drive between where you are and where you want to go. We’ll need something to talk about to while away the hours. You have no idea what is happening in the big wide world, Captain. Let me be your eyes and ears for a while and share with you what I know. You’d be surprised what Big Brother can see from in hiding.”
Sofia had the horrible feeling he was right about everything. She hadn’t been truly aware of the situation since the evacuation siren had pealed through the complex and she’d been left behind to…do what? Sofia had no idea. She couldn’t lock down the underground base because it had been compromised from above. And now she knew there was no base to secure at all. And I would have been among the dead too if it hadn’t been for Emory coming in and getting me out in time. With my rank and position, I shouldn’t have been left behind.
So who can I trust now? The military I have given my life for but who left me to die? The government I have pledged to serve? Or the crazy woman driving an old VW Bus who talks to a mysterious voice in her ear?
“Why did you save me?” she asked, curious as to what excuse Emory would give her. Sofia had no reason to trust anything this pseudo CIA agent said. But I do trust her for some reason, and I don’t know why. Especially since she is against everything I stand for.
Emory stared at her. “Why wouldn’t I have? The base was about to be blown to smithereens and we needed to get out.”
“But you could have just saved yourself.”
Emory frowned at her. “And left you to die in there? That wasn’t ever an option, Captain. I couldn’t stop the others from being taken up into the saucers, but I could get you out. I would never have thought to leave you behind once I knew you were there, and with the knowledge I’d been given, we needed to get out fast.”
“And it’s just a lucky bonus that you’re so pretty!” Dink said.
Emory shook her head. “Dammit, man, I should have left you off coms.”
Sofia laughed softly. “Thank you, Dink. So I’m guessing you can see as well as hear everything, yes?”
“My glasses aren’t prescription lenses,” Emory sp
oke instead. “But they are equipped with a handy-dandy camera that lets Dink see what I see.”
“So there were really two trespassers on the base?” Sofia made sure she had a stern face on when Emory turned to look at her.
“But only one who could be jailed for it,” Dink said with little compunction. “If I switch off the feed, those glasses are just another fashion accessory for the up-and-coming agent under false pretenses to wear.”
Sofia wondered just what or who she had gotten herself mixed up with.
“This laptop in the van? How involved are you in that, Dink?” she asked, determined to get to the bottom of it.
“Oh, that’s nothing to do with me. That’s Emory’s machine, and she will insist on lugging it everywhere with her. She’s unashamedly addicted to Facebook.”
Emory choked on a burst of laughter but kept her eyes fixed firmly on the road ahead. Sofia had a feeling there was a lot more going on in this conversation than she was hearing.
“I’m certain that your military laptops and computers are fitted with highly specialized software and firewalls to keep someone like me from delving too deep. I’d probably only be able to get as far as seeing that the owner has some primo porn sites listed on his browser, all with his password and credit card details saved for easy access. But then it’s amazing what you can find out about people if you dig deep enough, isn’t it?”
Sofia wondered at his tone. “Please tell me you’re not the sort to attempt to hack the Pentagon?”
Dink’s laughter filled the van. “Oh, my dear Sofia,” he said devilishly, “I did that parlor trick years ago.”
Sofia sighed. “You do realize I will be required to arrest you both for treason when we reach a base?”
Emory pulled into an empty gas station. “Let’s save the world from the so-called aliens first and then we’ll talk about how much trouble Dink and I are causing you.” She stepped out of the van to go fill up the tank.
