The Temporal Key

by Adam Benson

“All I can see is the toxic fumes coming off this primitive death trap. Sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides… I think the entire spectrum of hydrocarbons are actively leaking out of this thing! How did we ever survive this period in history?” Dayk complained. “My arm is cramped, I’m stiff and if it wasn’t for the rebreather, I’m sure this machine would have poisoned me by now.”

  “At least you’re sitting down,” Thalia said back. “Strangely, a spring filled, cushioned seat isn’t exactly the easiest thing to stand on for the better part of thirty kiloChrons. These roads are all terrible. Even the nice ones. All I want to do is sit down!”

  “How much further? The engine of this thing is scrambling my vision with heat and fumes,” Dayk asked.

  “Roughly ten point eight kilometers,” Thalia replied. “We should be within walking distance in about six hectos.”

  “Good. I’ve got to micturate!”

  Thalia tried to hold back a laugh, but it came out anyways. “Don’t remind me!” She yelled down at him. As she looked back up at the road she saw another truck pop up over the last hill behind them. Her smile faded as it registered with her. “There’s another vehicle behind us,” she said.

  Dayk looked back, and with his enhanced vision no longer being obscured by the engine, he could see the other truck glowing like a hotspot less than a half a kilometer behind them. “I’m sure it’s fine,” he said.

  “Of course,” Thalia said. “Just letting you know.” Her thoughts let slip a tiny amount of fear as she said it, and Dayk heard it.

  “Honestly, I’m surprised that this is the first one we’re seeing. I expected a lot more of them around.” He noticed her paying more attention to the rear-view mirror than she had before.

  “Well, he’s closing the distance between us, perhaps you can increase the acceleration?”

  Dayk pushed harder on the gas pedal and the engine burned hotter as they began to ascend the next rolling hill. “Better?”

  “I just don’t want him getting too close. With the sun coming up, it won’t take much for him to see that I’m not like him.”

  As the truck made its way to the apex of the hill, suddenly the engine started to sputter, and the truck started jerking them back and forth.

  “Are you activating the dampening system?” Thalia yelled down.

  “I’m not touching it!” Dayk said, his hand still pressing the gas pedal. He looked up at the glowing hot engine in front of him. “The percentage of hydrocarbons in the exhaust is fluctuating!”

  “We must have depleted the fuel source! Dhregh!” Thalia said as the truck began to toss them violently. Thalia quickly turned the truck off the road just as the engine died. It locked up and skidded to a halt, still in gear, and then threw them both forward. Dayk slammed into the front of the floorboard and Thalia slammed into the wheel and came falling on top of him. They lay there for several chrons before either of them spoke up.

  “Are you alright?” Dayk asked her as she lay on top of him, oddly contorted from her fall.

  “Yeah, I think so,” She replied laying still where she landed.

  “Good. That's good news. Now, do you mind getting off of me?” He said squashed uncomfortably against the stick shift and the pedals.

  "Sorry!" She said pulling herself up onto the seat. Just before her eyes made it over the broken rear window, they heard another vehicle coming to a stop behind them. Then she saw him, a plump balding man quickly getting out of his truck and coming their way.

  "Hey!" The man yelled as she quickly ducked back down.

  He saw us? Dayk thought quickly.

  Yes! He’s coming this way! She thought, her eyes suddenly wide open.

  "You alright in there?" The voice was closer this time. "I seen you run off the road! You need some...." Suddenly the man's face was peering through the window. "... assistance?" he said. But there was no one in the truck. It was empty. "What the hell?" He said to himself. The man got up on his toes and peered over the cab of the truck to see if anyone was on the other side, but there was no one. He backed up a step and looked back and forth down the road trying to find the driver, but no one was there.

  The perplexed motorist grabbed the handle and opened the door to the truck. He looked around the cabin for some sign of the occupant who he thought he had seen. The seats were covered with broken glass, and there were small footprints, the size of children’s feet marked in the dust. The back and passenger windows were destroyed, and the front window was pock-marked by pellet holes.

  Confusion suddenly overwhelmed the man and he quickly backed away from the empty truck. He stared at it for a moment and then scoured the road ahead and behind for any signs of the driver. He looked down at the ground, but the only footprints he saw were his own. He bent over and looked under the truck, but he saw nothing there either. He slowly walked around to the other side, his eyes still vigilantly searching for the driver, but as he looked, he saw shotgun blasts ripped into the rusted metal of the old truck.

  “What the hell is going on here?” he mumbled to himself. He looked around at the ground on the other side, and still the only footprints were his own. His heart started to race, and he looked around harder for any sign of the driver, but there was nothing there. “Hello!?” he yelled out. Paranoia crept over him.

  He walked around to the front of the truck, cautiously looking it over as he went. He could feel the heat of the engine as he passed it. The shotgun damage to the windshield looked worse from outside. At least he didn’t see any blood. “Hello!?” He yelled out again, looking everywhere around him. “Where are you?” His breathing got heavier as he made his way back around to the driver side door. He looked back inside, braving his way in a little further than he had before. He felt around the dashboard until his fingers found the ignition. He found the keys still in place, and the ignition was still turned on.

  “What the hell is going on here?” he asked himself again. With a flood of panic, he quickly stepped back away from the truck and started walking back toward his own.

  He got half way to his own truck and then stopped in his tracks. He looked back at the strange empty truck, and then back to his own. The fear that the vanishing stranger might somehow reappear in his truck flickered into his mind. Cautiously he approached his truck, looking this way and that until he was sure that it was safe to get back inside. He rifled around for a notepad and then walked as close as he needed to see the license plate of the abandon truck on the side of the road. He quickly wrote down the plate number and then went back to his own truck and slowly drove away, still looking everywhere for the missing driver.

  When the good Samaritan's truck was over the hill and headed down the other side, Dayk and Thalia suddenly disengaged their cloaks and watched as the unexpected guest continued on away from them. They were both standing on the seat watching him drive away as the sun rose just to the left of them.

  That was too dhreghed close! Thalia thought.

  Good thing we had these cloaks on. Dayk said.

  What was he writing down behind us? Thalia asked.

  "I have no idea." Dayk mumbled aloud. In any case we certainly can't stay here, and it looks like we'll be making the rest of the trip on foot.

  The sun continued to rise in the morning sky, and the desert began making its transition from cool night air to hot, shadeless expanse. As they walked along the desert road, cars and trucks zipped by them completely unaware of their presence, and in a few kiloChrons they made their way through the remaining desert to the edge of town where the dirt shoulder became roughly paved sidewalk.

  Reserve power: 44%. Eminent Cloak Field: 1.134 Meters. Status: Active. Dayk's cloaking field reported to him as he stepped onto the pavement for the first time. “How much power is left in your cloak?” he asked.

  “38%” she replied. “I’m going to have to get out the other set if we’re going to be exposed like this.”

  We’re coming up on people. I think it’s about time we quit talking out loud,
he projected as loudly as he could.

  As they walked into town a mild agoraphobia started to take hold as people walked quickly past them only centimeters away. They dodged oncoming pedestrians by jumping into the street and then avoided cars by jumping back onto the sidewalk. They weaved in, out and around people as they made their way through Roswell.

  The military base had brought a larger number of people to this town than would have otherwise occupied such a small place, and evidence of the military presence was everywhere. Many of the people they passed were wearing uniforms, and drove vehicles marked with insignia of the period. Others looked like the rancher they had stolen the truck from or wore flower patterned dresses and shoes on elevated heels. Thalia found herself getting lost watching the primitive people as they moved all around them.

  Now this is great! Dayk telepathically yelled at Thalia. This is how these people behave every day. This is research.

  I wish my recorder wasn’t stashed. She said, sharing in Dayk's feeling of elation at the hustle and bustle of a primitive military base moving around them. This is the kind of thing I was expecting to do on this mission.

  Well, commit as much as you can to your supplemental memory, and we'll recreate what we can from that when we get home. Dayk said.

  The guard at the front gate stood looking out toward the civilian town as he waited for people entering the base. Dayk and Thalia began walking past him, trying not to leave footprints in the dust as they crept by. Just as they made it passed the guard, a car pulled up to the gate and rolled down its window. Dayk and Thalia turned to watch the transaction. A hand came out of the window displaying a small card of paper. The guard looked cautiously at the card and then back at the person driving.

  "Thank you, sir." The guard said. He stepped back to the small building next to the gate and flipped a switch that opened the gate. The car drove through and continued down the road.

  What was on the card? Thalia asked.

  Credentials of some kind. Dayk responded. Let's go. The ship is off this way. He said.

  They continued through the base until they got to the back where a lone hangar glowed red in their vision. There was a massive set of doors at the front of the building, and there was a small entrance to the side of the main hangar door that was obviously made for personnel and was currently under guard by two military men.

  We’re not going to get in there very easily. Thalia said watching the guards. How are we supposed to get in?

  The guards tell me that this entrance is probably being used. All we can do is wait and follow someone in when they open the door. Dayk replied.

  Do you want to take a quick look around and see if there's another way in? Thalia asked. I'm not sure what your cloak field is at, but mine's down to twelve percent. I'm at least going to have to find a place to hide soon.

  Twelve percent?! Dayk thought with some alarm. That means your eminent cloak field is less than a meter!

  Eighty-seven centimeters, in fact. She informed him.

  Dhregh! Why didn't you say so? You'll be visible soon. Dayk said. Alright. Let's scope out the rest of the building and see if we can get in from another direction. If all else fails, we'll look for a hiding place until we can grab a fresh pair of emitters.

  They walked around the massive hangar as quickly as possible, and finally came around to the back as a missed opportunity slapped them in the face. Just as they rounded the corner, the steel door slammed shut and the two guards snapped to attention. Marching away from the back door was an entourage of military men and women, some of whom were wearing lab coats, wiped with blood. Most of them were either wearing face masks, or had them hanging around their necks, some of whom were talking enthusiastically, while others carried expressions of dread and confusion. Leading the small brigade was a group of four men, two of which both Dayk and Thalia recognized.

  That's the man from their salvage operation. Dayk thought excitedly as he recognized Jesse Marcel. He’s important. He said. We follow him, and he’ll take us to the ship.

  Agreed. Thalia said.

  Then meet me inside, as close to the door as you can. Otherwise, run for it, and good luck. With that Dayk started jogging away toward the entourage, as stealthily as he was able. He was quickly out of mind-shot with their cloaking fields active, and so all he could do was make it inside the building before the door shut and hope that Thalia was close on his heels.

  As he got closer to the group, he could easily make out what they were saying. "...hemoglobin is extremely similar to our own. I'm wondering if perhaps the artificial cells we saw in the first blood sample may be technological."

  "You mean, in the blood? That might explain the radioactivity."

  "We did find other... er, technology... throughout the body, so it's certainly, eh... possible."

  "Are we even sure it is technology, it almost looked as if it was grown that way."

  "You think it's organic?"

  "Why couldn't it be both?"

  He crept as quickly and quietly as possible and managed to move in between two cliques that walked together within the overall group of officers. In a short matter of chrons he was through the door to the building. There were no windows, and so the only lights available were relatively dim incandescent bulbs that glowed from their tungsten coils. While he was invisible it took his eyes an unsettlingly long time to adjust to the sudden darkness. Until that moment he had spent all day outside in the sun.

  Trying to avoid getting trampled, Dayk stepped three steps to the left of the group until he blindly ran into a wall. Thalia! He thought as loudly as possible. Thalia!

  I'm here! Came a faint thought from nearby in the room.

  Dayk's eyes finally adjusted to the dim lighting and he could see the men continuing passed the Private standing at attention saluting them through the door.

  I'm right behind you. Thalia said.

  Good. I’ll meet you in the corridor. Dayk pushed off from the wall and quickly ran to the back of the entourage and followed them coolly through the next door. The group turned left down the hallway passing door after door. Until at last they came to a conference room on the left. Dayk stepped inside the door and then slid across the inside wall as he came inside.

  Dayk? Came Thalia's thoughts somewhere nearby.

  Right here. Inside the doorway. He thought out to her.

  Dayk, you need to get out of there before the door shuts! Thalia thought frantically. It took Dayk by surprise. He wasn't expecting her to say that, and as he heard her the door was already beginning to close behind the entourage. He darted for it as quickly as he was able and just as he passed through the door it closed on him, briefly pinning him in the doorjamb. Quickly, he gave it a slight shove and then continued through the door, hoping that no one noticed. The door clicked shut.

  Thalia, I'm out. He thought.

  My emitter's about to give out. Thalia yelled.

  Your timing couldn't be worse. How long?

  One or two hectoChrons at best. Thalia said with fear thick in her mind.

  Alright, let's see if we can find an unoccupied room. Dayk said.

  Alien Autopsy

  Captain Naomi Saulf sat toward the back half of the conference room alongside Lieutenant Nurse LaRue, Captain Sheridan Cavitt and one other man she hadn’t met. Doctor Moorhead, Major Marcel, and three other men sat toward the front of the room. They tried to make sense of what they had seen and attempted to comprehend all the things that they thought they already knew. Ideas and hypothesis flew around in all directions. The room was bustling. They were awaiting General Ramey so that they could brief the General on their findings and get him up to speed on what they now knew, or thought they knew about the captured alien.

  But General Ramey was taking a long time to arrive.

  Naomi was actively engaged with both Angele LaRue and Sheridan Cavitt. Sheridan was an enthusiastic science fiction fan, who had always dreamed of seeing an alien, but he had never imagined anything quite like t
his. Angele was simply in awe of the entire experience. She never really watched any science fiction, or had any knowledge of Martians, or any other kind of little green men. She was also very unsettled by the whole affair. It may not have been something that she ever imagined, but it wasn't something that she wanted either. Seeing the little dead man from another world right there in front of her, and assisting with its autopsy was almost more than she could handle, and so any contributions that she made to their conversation, were always tainted with a grimace on her face, a quiver in her voice, and terrified religious undertones.

  "We had no idea." Sheridan Cavitt said with an elated smile on his face. "When Major Marcel told me what he found in the bags, this was not at all what we thought we were getting. This is... phenomenal."

  "Exact same number of ribs, same number of vertebrae, same basic configuration of the internal organs. I'm telling you; these aliens are almost a little too much like us." Naomi said. "But they're clearly not... us! If these similarities are naturally occurring, this could go a long way toward understanding how life evolved, not just here, but everywhere.”

  "But some of it wasn't natural!" Angele complained. "All the... mechanisms? I mean, did they do this to themselves?"

  "I don't think there's any doubt they did it to themselves." Naomi snapped back. "That was obvious to me almost immediately."

  "Whoever these aliens are, they're far more advanced than we are." Said Captain Cavitt. "Can you imagine what we'll be able to learn from this?!"

  "I just wish I knew why they were so like us." Naomi said. "They have more in common with us, with our bodies, than we do with dogs."

  "Well, I should hope so!" Angele said naively. "We are nothing like dogs!"

  "Lieutenant!" Naomi started. "They're from another planet. I wouldn't expect them to be anything like us. At least not like that! Dogs share a common ancestry, and yet, these creatures have the same number or ribs, the same number of lungs, in the same basic place. The same four chambered heart. The list goes on."