by Darien Cox
They all nodded.
“I worked together with this guy Bruce. We’d get a file if a civilian had some form of either extraterrestrial contact or evidence of a craft sighting that couldn’t be easily dismissed. People report that kind of shit all the time and are usually just laughed off, it goes away. But sometimes they get too close to the truth. Get some evidence that threatens exposure in a way that bumps them up the list in Ogden’s world. Makes them a priority case.”
“And you’d go in and find a way to discredit them,” JT said. They all understood. There was no judgement in the statement.
Elliot nodded. “Bruce and I would go out of our way to discredit the actual evidence before discrediting the person whenever possible. That was always a last resort. At least to us.”
“What is it, Elliot?” Nolan asked. “Say what you want to say. No one’s judging you. We’re all in the same boat as far as protecting secrets go.”
Elliot chewed the inside of his cheek. He nodded. “We’ve all gotten to know Ogden somewhat the past ten years. Forged a bond of sorts. But the Ogden I worked for back then was ruthless. I saw him destroy people’s lives in his effort to silence them. I did nothing to stop it. I couldn’t.” He looked up and glanced around the room. “Bruce got caught planting evidence in someone’s house. A woman who’d taken video of Greys coming out of a craft in the desert. We’d gotten the video from her and wiped all her computers and phone clean. After that she was just another conspiracy theorist ranting online about aliens. It should have ended there.”
“What happened?” Christian asked.
“She was making a lot of noise and doing interviews with local news stations about taking this footage, and how it had mysteriously been wiped from all her devices. Strange clicking noises on her phone. The usual. So Ogden had drugs planted in her house and had it raided. But Bruce fucked up. He failed to find a nanny cam she had hidden in her living room. The woman had evidence of Bruce planting the drugs. His face was visible. We worked at a private office in D.C. fronting as a law firm. When I went into work the following week, Bruce was gone.”
Nolan’s pulse quickened. “Gone where?”
Elliot shook his head. “I tried to find out. Used every available resource I could without drawing suspicion. But Bruce was nowhere. His office had been cleared out. His house was empty and on the market. Finally I just asked Ogden outright where Bruce was. Ogden told me ‘Bruce’s position was compromised. He’s gone.’”
Elliot took a deep breath and rubbed his forehead. “I said okay, but where is he? Ogden told me he knew I’d been looking into it, and to stop. He said I’d never find Bruce. But if I didn’t want to end up like him, to do my job well, and never allow myself to be exposed. Or I’d be ‘gone’ too.”
“You’re not suggesting Ogden had this guy killed,” Nolan said. “Could have moved him somewhere. Changed his identity. Put him to work underground somewhere.”
Elliot shrugged. “I don’t know what Ogden did with Bruce. I do know that when it comes to exposure, Ogden doesn’t fuck around. So whoever this person is who claims to know who we are and what we do, this ballsy motherfucker who broke into my house and left those pictures? It’s crucial we find them ourselves. Before Ogden figures out what’s happening.”
Nolan shook his head. “We told Ogden about your online interactions. He didn’t seem particularly worried. He told us to deal with it ourselves.”
“Because I get thousands of those online threats, Nolan,” Elliot said. “But this is the first one that’s ever been legitimate. Suffice it to say I’ve not yet had the opportunity to measure Ogden’s response in a scenario where the threat is actually real. Not since I moved to Singing Bear Village and started this project.”
“We need to know who exactly we’re dealing with,” JT said. “And exactly what they think they know. Before they decide to go public or something.”
“They could know next to nothing,” Nolan said. “If all they have is pictures we can always make up a story about what that craft actually was.”
“But how do we find them?” JT said. “It could be anyone in the village.”
“I know who it is,” Christian said.
Everyone stared at Christian.
“That’s why I wanted to come over tonight,” Christian said. “I got new information about the science teacher. Brett Kuna. He’s the one.”
Elliot stood. “Are you sure? I talked to him and he seemed legitimately clueless.”
“It’s him.” Christian stood and pointed to Elliot’s desk. “I’m almost certain it’s him. Can I use your computer?”
“Of course.”
They all gathered round Christian as he sat down at the desk. Christian tapped at the keys. “What I’m about to bring up is a page long since deleted from the NASA website.”
“NASA?” Nolan said.
Christian pushed back from the desk. “Take a look.”
Nolan leaned over and gazed at the photograph. Short dark hair, big smile, a bit younger…but it was the face of the dreadlocked science teacher he and Elliot had spoken to. In the photo he was in a space suit, posing with his helmet in his hands.
“The science teacher is a fucking astronaut?” JT said. “You’re kidding.”
“Was,” Christian said. “Was astronaut Brett Mallory. Changed his name, obviously.”
“And his look,” Elliot said. “Look at that clean-cut baby-faced motherfucker.”
“Clean-cut, accomplished baby-faced motherfucker,” Christian said. “MIT. Multiple degrees. Navy Seal. Two space walks on the ISS. Then he supposedly just upped and left NASA. But my source was able to find documents indicating he was discharged due to mental health issues. ‘No longer an asset’ was one of the terms used.”
“Fuck.” JT shook his head. “So we’re not dealing with some dumb villager.”
“Good work, Christian,” Elliot said. “It’s got to be him. We should go by his house now, at least to see if he’s still there. Could have fled. Probably in the wind by now.”
“He hasn’t fled,” Christian said. He typed on the keyboard, and an image came up. It was a hazy camera’s view, the inside of someone’s living room. Brett Kuna sat in a recliner, sipping a glass of wine, reading.
Elliot leaned over. “Is that a live feed?”
“Yep. I went by his house just before I picked up JT. This guy only lives down the road from you, Elliot. He was inside, just hanging out. So I stuck a small cam to his front window.”
“Then maybe it wasn’t him,” JT said. “Look at him, cool as a cucumber. Doesn’t look like someone who just broke into a house and vandalized a truck.”
“Like I said.” Christian looked up at Elliot. “He lives right down the road from you. He could have easily done the deed, gone home, gotten himself settled in before I went by.”
“So he’s fucking with us,” JT said. “Fucking with our heads.”
“Okay, hang on,” Nolan said. “Are we sure this is our guy? Tim Patterson said the teacher only moved to the village a few months ago.”
“Have you considered the mountain of evidence?” Christian said. “He’s a former astronaut and changed his name. He probably saw something up in…fucking space, and became obsessed with aliens. Maybe that’s why he was discharged. Maybe he wouldn’t keep his mouth shut, or was forced to, I don’t know. Moved here over the summer. Lives down the road. Works at the science lab where the online message came from. Possibly mentally ill.”
“Right,” Nolan said. “I get that it’s compelling, but is it completely solid? Solid enough to grab him and turn him over to Ogden?”
“Well…” Elliot shrugged. “Not completely, but come on, Nolan. The evidence is pretty compelling. I think this is our guy. But we can’t turn him over to Ogden until we know what he has. And we can’t go knocking, that could set him off if he has something ready to make public. He could shoot off an email before he even answered the door.”
“Okay,” Nolan said. “I get that we
four are a bunch of secluded numpties living in bear country. But Ogden was privy to the footage of this guy hiking through the mountain. And he didn’t recognize him? A NASA astronaut?”
“The guy does look pretty different,” Elliot said. “And Ogden’s plate is full, thousands of faces, thousands of files, and who knows what his job entails that none of us ever get to see. Plus Brett wasn’t the only hiker on that footage.”
“I guess,” Nolan said.
“Plus while Ogden has some contact with NASA, he doesn’t work for them or with them,” Elliot said. “Ogden’s job is off-paper.”
“So what’s the deal?” JT said. “Is this guy mentally ill? Think he cracked up, saw something and wigged out? Or is he just a conspiracy theorist?”
“He didn’t seem unstable when we talked to him at the school,” Elliot said. “Yesterday I went through all of DisclosureNow’s posts online, going back four months, when he first popped up and started stalking my posts. He talks about the Whites, insists they’re real, but never goes into specifics. Doesn’t talk about his personal life. Gets into a few arguments, but he doesn’t seem bonkers, especially compared to some of the other people on the forum.”
Christian turned his chair around to face them. “So he works at the school. We know where he is now. We can keep an eye on him until we figure out what to do.”
“But what kind of time frame do we have?” Elliot said. “He’s threatened to expose us, he has pictures of us with a fucking alien craft. I say we wait ‘til morning then get him while he’s leaving the house.”
“But we’re not positive he’s the one, Elliot,” Nolan said. “We can’t just go grabbing people and threatening them. We can’t hand this guy over to Ogden if he’s not actually the one threatening us.”
“If we’re wrong,” Christian said, “Myles will get us out of it somehow.”
“He will not,” Elliot and Nolan said simultaneously. They looked at each other and chuckled.
“I agree with them,” JT said. “I know you love Myles, Christian, but we can’t get him involved. He won’t go for it. He’ll get all ‘I’m still the sheriff of this village!’ and kick up a fuss.”
“Yeah.” Nolan laughed. “He does say that all the time. ‘I’m still the sheriff in this village, God dammit!’”
Christian scowled. “My boyfriend does not kick up a fuss. He just takes his job seriously.”
“We’re not involving Myles,” Elliot said. He turned to JT. “Or Rudy. Least not yet. We could be putting them in danger.”
“You’re worried about Ogden,” Christian said. “I get that. But we’re only in trouble if this clown actually means to expose us, as he threatened.”
Nolan shook his head. “For someone good enough to obtain the kind of info he’s gotten his hands on, he’s made several mistakes.” Nolan glanced at Brett’s image on the live feed. “Almost like he’s leaving us bread crumbs. Like he wants to be caught. At the school he looked me and Elliot in the eye and lied with an innocent face. Didn’t even seem nervous.”
“He’s cocky,” Christian said. “That’s for sure.”
“I’d be too if I’d discovered what he has,” Elliot said. “He obviously knows somehow we’re connected to the Whites. That we’re working as ‘government puppets’ to cover up their existence,” Elliot said. “That’s what he called me in his online message. Said he used to have a life, but government puppets like me took it away from him.”
“But how did he find us in the first place?” Christian said. “Why was he watching the marina last summer? He couldn’t have listened in on our briefings. When Ogden comes to town he…” Christian paused and looked at Nolan. “Ogden. That could be it. He could have discovered us by following Ogden.”
“Fuck,” JT said. “You think he knows who Ogden is?”
“If he’s seen him before or dealt with him in the past somehow, he could have easily followed Ogden and seen him meet with us,” Christian said.
“Right.” Elliot’s lips tightened. “Shit. I can tell you one thing. If Brett Kuna or Mallory or whatever his name is had a close encounter, it’s definitely likely Ogden might have been called in to talk to him at some point.”
“You mean threaten him,” JT said.
“Yeah. That’s what I mean. Ogden may have even destroyed his prior life, if Brett refused to keep his mouth shut.”
“So what’s the plan then?” Nolan said. “Are we really thinking about doing this? Going behind Ogden’s back? Why don’t we just call Ogden now, tell him what we’ve discovered, and let him deal with this guy. Fucker’s not going anywhere. Look at him.” Nolan pointed to the live feed. “Cocky bastard just poured himself another glass of wine.”
“Because, Nolan,” Elliot said. “Brett Kuna could have a failsafe set up. A dead man’s trigger. Meaning if we knock on his door, or even if we wait until he leaves his house then break in to search it, there might be some system set up where information gets sent to the press, or someone else.”
“Wow,” Christian said. “You’re right. Shit. I’ll bet he is prepped for this.”
“The world of disclosure enthusiasts is sophisticated,” Elliot said. “Ogden and types like him are in near constant battle with them, trying to stay one step ahead. We need to corner this guy when he’s out of the house and get him in hand.”
“And this isn’t some chump. He’s obviously intelligent,” JT said.
Elliot returned to his living room chair and sat. The others followed his lead. They were all silent for a long time, lost in their own thoughts. “I’m not a hundred percent sure this is our guy, but I highly suspect he is,” Elliot said finally. “I just don’t want to take the chance that he’ll try to expose us. And I don’t feel comfortable taking this to Ogden until I know the space man is secure. We have to form a plan to get this guy and figure out what he knows, what he’s planning, and what he already might have put into place. Without Ogden.”
“Okay, you keep saying that, but what exactly does that mean, Elliot?” JT said. “You really think Ogden would shut us down? Get rid of us? What?”
“I don’t know, JT. But I’m not willing to risk it. Are you?”
JT looked at Christian. Then at Nolan. Then finally back at Elliot. “No. I’m not.”
Christian nodded. “I’m not either.”
Nolan locked eyes with Elliot. “No,” Nolan said. “I’m not willing to risk it. No fucking way.”
Elliot nodded. “Then I’d better put a pot of coffee on. We need to come up with a plan. And we need every brain in this room to do it.”
Chapter Eight
Nolan shifted on the floor and sat up, shielding his eyes from the sunlight coming through the windows. He looked over and saw Christian asleep on the floor a few feet away. Then his gaze fell on Elliot, snoozing on the couch, on his back, arm thrown over his eyes. In spite of everything happening, Nolan smiled.
The four of them had stayed up all night, keeping an eye on Brett Kuna on the camera feed, trying to come up with a reasonable plan in dealing with the teacher—or rather the former astronaut.
But that’s where everything went ass up. That’s where the logic seemed to clog and choke on itself. With all the strategists and geniuses in the room, they couldn’t come up with a plan between them, beyond Christian’s ‘Let’s just drag him out of class, shove him in a locker and have Nolan sing to him ‘til he cracks.’
Eventually they determined it was futile planning any further until they knew if Brett Mallory was planning to flee, or if he still felt invincible enough to stay in Singing Bear Village and go to his job in the morning as usual. JT had volunteered to get up early and he was already gone. Nolan woke briefly an hour ago as JT was checking the feed. They’d seen Brett leave the house in his work clothes. JT left right after to follow, pay a covert visit to the school so he could report back and let them know.
Nolan scrambled for his phone on the desk and checked it. There was a text from JT to all of them. ‘He went to work. I’m
at the school. I’m gonna keep watch. See if he goes anywhere. I’ll be in touch.’
Nolan sighed. He wanted this over.
Christian sat up, rubbing his eyes. “Oh, God. My mouth tastes like a pig’s ass.”
Nolan smiled. “How do you know what a pig’s ass tastes like? Check your phone.”
Christian groaned and dug his phone out. He read JT’s text and fell back. “Okay. He’s still in town. And we still have no plan.”
“We’ll come up with something,” Nolan said. “Hopefully we’ll all be better after sleeping.”
“Hey,” Christian whispered. He slid closer to Nolan then jerked his chin toward Elliot on the couch. “I never got to ask. You guys end up talking or what?”
“Shhh.” Nolan held his finger to his lips. “Yes but don’t bring it up,” he whispered. “You know Elliot. It’s hard enough getting him to discuss personal shit. If he thinks people are talking about it he’ll shut down and clam up.”
“And what about you?”
“What about me?”
“You happy with how it went?”
Nolan bowed his head so Christian couldn’t read his expression. “Yep. It went well.”
Christian’s face came down and peered at Nolan from below. “And did you kiss him? Hmmm?”
Nolan shoved him away. “Piss off!” he whispered. “What are you, six?”
Christian grabbed Nolan’s shirt and playfully shook him back and forth. “I want to know about the kissing!” he whispered, snickering. “Tell me about the kissing!”
“Fuck. Off!” Nolan slapped him away.
“The kissing was great,” Elliot mumbled from the couch, making them both jump. He still lay on his back, arm over his eyes. “Now go take a shower, Christian. You reek of last night’s booze. I can smell you from here.”
Christian’s eyes widened and he looked at Nolan. “Oops.” He stood. “Elliot, can I steal some clothes?”
“Yesh,” Elliot slurred sleepily. “But don’t use my toothbrush. Is JT back yet?”
“Not yet,” Nolan said. “He’s at the school. He’s gonna watch the teacher for a while, follow him if he goes anywhere else.”
