Raging at the Stars

by Lesley Davis

  Emory smiled back at him. “Well, with all the secrecy and the irrefutable fact we have aliens knocking at our door, you might need to give me a while to come up with a cover story big enough to make this mess go away.”

  Russom’s smile darkened. “That was Damocles Six’s job. The trouble was, he began talking to the wrong people himself. He was in danger of putting all of us at risk. This agency has seen many members come and go over the decades. It has changed its name numerous times as the original group was disbanded and the government took a stronger hand in the game played. But in every incarnation we have endeavored to keep what is secret secret.”

  Emory knew what he was alluding to. “From Majestic 12 to Dionysius. I have to admit, I am very interested in the origin of the title you bear now.”

  “Are you aware of your Greek mythology, Agent Mays?”

  “I know the Sword of Damocles is used to represent the danger that those in positions of power are under threat of every minute of every day. Dionysius was a king who let a man called Damocles see what it was like to have a taste of his power but also to realize the threats that came with it. He let Damocles take to his throne to wallow in the splendor of being king, but a huge sword was suspended above Damocles’s head, held only by a single strand of horse hair.” Emory shrugged. “It’s the age old adage; with great power comes great responsibility.”

  “Exactly. Each of the guards bearing the Damocles title have a responsibility, a chance to sit in the throne because each has their own talents we are utilizing. But there can only be one king who bears the weight of it all.”

  “The one who keeps the sword above his own head and away from theirs?” Emory noticed how quiet Sofia was. “That’s some power you wield, sir, if I may say so.”

  “I have some mighty big secrets to keep hidden.”

  The elevator stopped. Russom stepped out but not before he addressed Emory directly once more. “How badly do you want to sit in the throne, Mays?” He walked off before she could even begin to formulate an answer.

  Emory swore she could hear the sound of horse hair breaking.

  *

  The layout to Tesla Falls’ underground base was a lot more elaborate than Euphoria’s had been. The first room Russom directed them into was another war room, deep underground and way more militarized. Here on the screens Sofia could see the deployment of troops all across the country. She could see they were fighting a losing battle. The saucers were back flying across the US, killing and taking whatever and whoever they wished. The big guns, armored vehicles, and stealth aircraft that the military sent against them were just delaying the inevitable. It broke Sofia’s heart to see the devastation across the country.

  Russom pointed to a screen. “Captain, any ideas on how they can penetrate that hull?”

  It was the huge black triangular craft that had landed on Maine. Sofia moved closer to the screen, hoping to see something that would help. “I would really need to be there, sir. It doesn’t appear to be made of the same material as the saucers. For a start, its dull black and the saucers are all a shiny metallic silver. The hidden hatch that ship has could be fathoms deep under the sea where it lies. Or it just as easily could be buried deep into the cliff that it’s jammed into.”

  Russom banged his fist onto the table. Emory jumped, but Sofia stayed still, watching him intently. She was intrigued at what he was angry about.

  “I told them not to shoot at the main crafts. Some officer on that damn vessel had his own agenda in play and countermanded my explicit orders. It’s a good thing for him he’s now resting at the bottom of that damned water.” He glared at the screen where the ship filled the monitor as a helicopter flew around it sending back the feed. “They were just lucky it hit the water.”

  “Except for the part that hit the inhabited areas that just happen to be under that ship.” Emory stood beside Sofia and was pointing at the screen. “What are these idiots doing?”

  People, dressed head to toe in black and wearing masks, were walking all over the alien ship. They were employing everything from drilling equipment to massive industrial scale laser cutters on the hull.

  “Are they really trying to break into that? What are they going to do once they have? God knows what’s inside.” Emory, her arms folded across her chest, leaned back against the desk. “General, do you know what’s inside that thing?”

  Russom stared at her and then laughed. “You’ll go far equating me with God, Mays.” He typed something on a keyboard, and one of the screens displayed a series of photographs of a black triangular craft taken up close and personal and on land.

  “We had one of these in our possession?” Sofia couldn’t believe how majestic a craft it was. She ached to be able to see one and get inside it to inspect it further.

  “Sadly, no. We never got far enough in negotiations to garner this kind of technology like we did the saucers. We didn’t have anything that would be a worthy trade for one of their mother ships.”

  “When did these craft appear so that we were able to discuss maybe taking one out on a test drive?” Emory asked. “Roswell gave us the saucer, but I don’t remember a word of one of these coming so close to being in our hands. Or was that covered up a whole lot better than Roswell’s saucer being a weather balloon?”

  “Ahh, conspiracies. God bless them,” Russom drawled. “If the theorists only knew what we have hidden. They’d never sleep at night again. Truno, the CIA Agent before you, decided to expose the existence of everything we’d worked so hard to conceal. Not only was he going to reveal the existence of more ships but also expose Dionysius and our involvement to the public and put us all in danger.”

  “I never met an agent by the name of Truno,” Sofia said, not recalling him ever crossing her path in all the time she’d been recruited by Dionysius.

  Russom shrugged. “And why should you have? He was Damocles Six and your worlds didn’t need to meet. He was meant to put a stop to the conspiracy site that was starting to make itself known among all the countless others. Instead, he started talking to them and sharing information with them.”

  Sofia was thankful that Emory’s face didn’t give her away. She wondered what was going through Emory’s mind as Russom talked about her. She guessed Dink was talking in her ear too given how still Emory was.

  “Did you ever see the people he was leaking information to, sir?” Emory asked.

  Sofia almost stopped breathing. She was terrified of Russom’s reply and what that would mean. The woman who was ready to go to prison for not revealing Truno’s identity was standing right beside her. Emory was slap bang in the middle of the biggest secret military base, having been brought into its secrecy by the leader of Dionysius himself. Her heart was suddenly pounding in her ears, deafening her.

  “No. I left that to my lawyers to deal with. I have no time to deal with their kind. I’d have stepped in eventually if it dragged on too long, but Truno made the mistake of coming back to base and was easily dealt with. With him gone, the leak was plugged and he has been erased from our records. They couldn’t have proved anything even if they released his name as their source. He no longer exists.”

  “He’s been dealt with?” Sofia had the dreadful feeling she knew how.

  “I’m told there’s a new shopping mall being built somewhere in Utah. The foundations have a little extra body in them to keep the building sturdy,” he said without any compunction. “We’re a secret agency for a reason. The general population couldn’t handle hearing just what it is we have been doing for the greater good.”

  “And what have we been doing, sir?” Sofia dreaded to hear his answer, but she had to know. She had to hear it from his mouth to believe what she feared she was realizing.

  “Evolution, Captain Martinez. The human race is going to expand their horizons beyond this paltry planet.”

  Sofia shared a brief look with Emory.

  “I thought we’d already done that?” Emory said. “Or do you mean farther than the m
oon in our orbit?”

  Russom never took his eyes off the screens before him. “Do you expect me to show you the sound stage set up for that, Mays? The past was a minefield of deception and posturing, Agent. But now? Now we have all we need to go farther than we ever could. Now we can take our might out into the galaxy.”

  Sofia wasn’t liking either his tone or what he was alluding to. “Might over exploration, sir? With my saucers? They’re not exactly equipped for long flight or carrying an army.”

  “No, but the triangular craft are. I wanted one captured, but someone disobeyed my orders so I’ll salvage what I can from the downed ship.”

  “It will take years to recover that machine,” Sofia argued. She tapped on the screen to prove her point. “It’s embedded in the earth for God’s sake.”

  “That’s why I have my own plans in place. We just need one ship to take over. Maybe the answer to how that can be done is on the one they shot down.”

  “I couldn’t even get the beam they use to work! How are you going to bring a ship so much bigger down in one piece so you can hijack it?”

  “We’ll use the aliens like they use us. Seems only fair to turn the tables against them now.”

  Sofia frowned. “I thought they came in peace?”

  Russom’s look was pitying. “Are you really that naive, Martinez? We’ve been paying the price for their ‘help’ ever since they crashed on this planet. Now we stand a chance of turning the tide against them and I aim on doing exactly that.”

  Sofia had no idea what he was proposing. “Sir?”

  “Every Damocles guard had their own job to do. Yours was to build the ships, Captain, to ready a fleet. Now I’ll show you what some of the others were doing.” He opened what appeared to be an innocuous closet door. Another elevator was hidden inside. “Even in a hidden room there are still secrets to explore. The main elevator only goes so far. Tesla Falls has many more layers beneath.”

  Sofia could feel Emory’s nervousness radiating off her as they followed Russom into the tiny elevator. In the confined area, Sofia brushed their fingers together and wasn’t surprised when Emory’s held on a little longer before reluctantly letting go.

  The ride was as long as the initial one had been. Sofia had no idea how far down they were traveling. Russom ushered them out into a brightly lit corridor with the ominous words, “Both of you, welcome to the true Dreamland.”

  Chapter Twenty-four

  The weaponry level at Euphoria had been awe-inspiring. The huge munitions expanse at Tesla Falls made Emory’s jaw almost hit the floor. It was the size of a football field and packed with people working on missiles and large portable devices that Emory had no clue what they did or could possibly do. At the very far end of the room were two immense hangar doors.

  “You’re in a DUMB,” Dink told her. “An honest to goodness Deep Underground Military Base. Those doors probably lead out to an exit somewhere miles away where those weapons can be transported off the base.”

  Emory stuck close to Russom. She scanned the room to make sure Dink didn’t miss a thing, even though he was still angry with her.

  “Just tell them you have to go to the little girls’ room and get the hell out of there. You can’t trust Sofia now that she’s back under the watchful eye of her boss. Who just happens to be the head of the secret agency you were going to go to jail because of. And who has admitted to you that he had our informant whacked and buried under a goddamn Penny’s!”

  Emory didn’t make a sound to appease him. She was all too aware Sofia was a part of a much bigger plot to keep the existence of aliens secret. Emory didn’t know what to think or feel any more. She had trusted Sofia, had fought to keep her safe. Yet she was a part of the very thing Emory had dedicated her life to exposing. I just wish she wasn’t so damn beautiful, or funny, or smart, on top of being the enemy in this scenario. She saw Sofia watching her. And in her view, I’m the big bad. How did this get so fucked up? Whatever happened to the happy ever after? Girl meets girl, girl finds girl attractive…aliens invade. There’s always something to spoil the plot. Then there’s the little matter of the general ordering the demise of the last CIA agent that worked for him, and here I am, merrily taking over that role. I don’t think I’m suicidal like Sofia insists. I think I’m just fucking stupid.

  So with that thought, I might as well go out in style.

  “General? The fact this base is named after Tesla has to have some importance, right?” Emory searched the room for something, anything, that resembled some of the inventions Tesla had pioneered.

  Russom stopped in his tracks. “Well, you’re certainly smarter than your predecessor.”

  “Tesla had future visions. He saw things that would be made in the world we live in now as opposed to his own time. How much of his contribution is at work here?”

  “We’re crafting everything from pulse rifles to weapons that can harness electricity and work like a massive Taser.” He waved in the direction where such weapons were being tested. “That’s always my favorite to watch them testing on unsuspecting new recruits. The first setting is police Taser strength. After that it’s like harnessing a lightning bolt and releasing it on a target.”

  “These aren’t employed in the field.” Sofia ran her fingers gently along the length of one particularly lethal looking weapon. Emory found it was too sexy watching her fingers play and had to look away before Dink called her out on her staring.

  “Not yet. They need to pass the last test that eliminates the discharge from the weapon electrocuting the shooter. Only then can they go above and we fry as many aliens as we can with them.” Russom picked up a weapon and held it securely in his arms. “I can’t wait for that day. It’s been a long time coming.”

  “How much of what goes on here is for the foot soldier?” Emory gazed around the room at all the weaponry and machinery but there were also computers running endless streams of code. “Not all weapons can be carried, after all.”

  Russom narrowed his eyes at her, effectively sizing her up. “Definitely smarter than the agent before.” He laid the weapon back down. “There are other areas designated for the weapons that are deployed above us. They’re scattered about the base. It doesn’t pay to keep them all in the same room. Or on just one base either.”

  “And how much of Tesla’s genius is involved there? His supposed energy weapon would easily bring down a triangular craft in more manageable pieces. Theoretically, if such a weapon was part of your arsenal it could turn an alien ship to nothing more than dust.” Emory flashed him a wry smile. “If the stories are true about the power that invention possessed.”

  “That would be quite the weapon to have, wouldn’t it?” Russom said noncommittally.

  “So why wouldn’t it have been employed on the big ships housing the smaller saucers?” Emory pressed him. She was determined to find out why the most destructive weapon they had hadn’t been used for the very purpose it had been designed for.

  “Maybe it will only be revealed when the time is right.”

  “When is the time right? When all of humanity has been sucked up into the saucers? When there’s nothing left of the planet because they’ve bombed it all? How soon before we reach the time the only thing we’ll have left in defense are rubber bands to ping off the side of the crafts?” Emory was seriously pissed and didn’t rein it in. She was surrounded by powerful weapons and nothing was being done, that she could see, to save the planet and its people by employing them.

  “You’ll do well to remember who has the sword hanging over their head, Damocles Six.” Russom’s tone was harsh and Emory flinched at the rebuke.

  “Damocles Six?” She knew nothing good was going to come of her receiving that title.

  “Your part of this agency will be to hide the truth of anything and everything we do in this time of war. Not question it.”

  Emory couldn’t help herself; she laughed at him. “General Russom, not even a magician could employ sleight of hand to hide all
that is happening. So unless you’ve got a memory wiper among all these alien gizmos, the alien secret isn’t going to stay secret no matter what spin we put on it.”

  Russom surprised Emory. He reached out and patted her cheek. “My dear, sweet, child. It’s not the aliens I’m referring to.”

  Emory was confused. She shot Sofia a mystified look, but Sofia looked as clueless as Emory felt.

  “Sir?” Sofia stepped forward. “What else is going on here?”

  “Everyone has their place, Damocles Five. Yours was to engineer the saucers beyond what the aliens originally gifted us with. You excelled in your duties. The saucers will fight against the aliens and take us farther than you ever imagined.”

  “So I built the saucers whose existence has been kept from the public. Ellen here is to further deceive by covering up something bigger than the fact we have flying saucers from an alien source?”

  Emory found something ironic in the fact she was being given the role of a deceiver when all her life she had fought to bring the truth to light.

  “Damocles Four was in Switzerland. His job was to open the door.”

  “What’s there?” Sofia asked.

  Emory’s mind ticked and she didn’t need to hear Dink’s hushed words in her ear.

  “Nothing now,” Dink said. “Everything was blasted to pieces like Area 51 was.”

  “That’s of no consequence now. What he was guarding was destroyed. Damocles One we shall meet on the next floor down. Damocles Two is lost in New York where our offices there have just been blown up. Damocles Three is our liaison with the government because, whether we like it or not, we work hand in hand with them. His job is much like yours, Mays. Deny all knowledge while funding the cause. Damocles Seven’s job is to keep all the factions of the military in line. In times like these they are all to defer to my command.” He shook his head. “I’d say we’ve lost Damocles Seven because he would never have allowed my orders of not shooting down the black crafts to be disobeyed. He’d have had a man on that ship’s bridge take the officer out who went against my orders.”