Act Normal, A Stan Turner Mystery Vol 9

by William Manchee

35

  Safe Haven

  Stan Turner

  When I told Mo I needed to have a meeting with him and Kulchz, he didn't seem surprised. Of course, why would he? They were monitoring my conversations—at least most of them. They knew they'd been caught in yet more lies. Tehra and I drove out to east Texas and met them at Kulchz' headquarters beneath the oil storage tank. He'd made improvements since our last visit. The underground facility had at least doubled in size. We'd have gotten lost getting to Kulchz office had Mo not been there to guide us.

  Just as we were about to go down, two guards confronted Tehra and told her to follow them. I tried to object but Mo restrained me.

  "Don't worry. They're just taking her for a debriefing. She has to report on her assignment watching over you and they want to update her on current happenings on Tarizon as well as the project. And, of course, there's the pregnancy."

  I looked at Mo in shock. How did they know she was pregnant? He gave me a wry smile. "Pregnant?" I replied feigning ignorance.

  "They suspect that she is, but can't figure out when or how it happened."

  I shook my head. "I didn't do it. At least, I have no recollection of doing it," I said truthfully.

  Mo chuckled. "She hasn't been around anyone else, but we'll know soon enough. They’ll test for parentage."

  I felt myself getting hot with embarrassment. Mo seemed to be enjoying my discomfort. "You wanted this to happen, didn't you?" I asked.

  Mo nodded. "Kulchz did. He figured that would give him even more control over you."

  I shook my head. "The bastard!"

  "Careful!" Mo urged. "He's listening to you."

  I bit my tongue and took a deep breath. Finally, Kulchz's door opened and we went inside. Instead of sitting on the plush sofas that we'd sat on in the past, we were escorted to a small room with a round crystal conference table surrounded by five matching chairs. A communications module was built into the center of the table. We took a seat and several seconds later Kulchz and two of his staff joined us.

  "Well, Stan," Kulchz said gleefully. "I've got good news. You have honored Tehra by conceiving in her a son."

  My heart skipped a beat. It was true. Somehow I'd gotten Tehra pregnant. "You're sure it's mine?"

  "Yes, there is no doubt."

  "And you know it's a boy?"

  "Yes, and hopefully as strong and cunning as his father."

  Cunning? What did he mean by that? Was that a compliment or a warning that he was on to Tehra and my attempts at privacy? I wondered if he knew Tehra wouldn't be on his side when the civil war broke out.

  "Well, if he's anything like his mother," I replied. "He'll be a fine person."

  "Yes, indeed. . . . So, Mo said you wanted to talk to me about an important matter."

  "Yes, sir. Apparently there is a snitch prepared to say Charlotte Wenzel hired someone to kill her family. How am I supposed to deal with that?"

  "Like you always deal with any other liar. Impeach his character. Prove he's a fraud."

  "I know that, but do you know anything about this guy? He's not from Tarizon is he?"

  "No."

  "Did he know Charlotte? Was he her lover?"

  "We don't think so, but she wasn't monitored. We knew where the children and Mr. Wenzel were at all times, but not Mrs. Wenzel."

  "So, you can't help me?"

  "No, other than to subject him to the memory gun."

  I shook my head. "Only as a last resort. Using the memory gun could raise new questions. The FBI is still after me to explain how the bank's vault was opened and the contents of my safety deposit box removed. My little lie that a secret invention was the target of the thieves isn't holding water."

  Kulchz looked at Mo. "Perhaps we could use this as a way to transfer some of the technology provided for in the treaty."

  Mo nodded, "Why not? It's as good a cover as any."

  "Fine," Mo said. "I'll have our scientist provide you a prototype of one of the inventions we are obligated to give your government under the treaty. I'll get an agent to pose as your client and you can turn the invention over to them."

  "Really?" I said feeling much relieved. I hadn't expected Kulchz to solve this particular problem. I had mainly come to let off steam, but Kulchz had surprised me. I wondered if he was being so nice because of the civil war about to erupt on Tarizon. Was he hoping I'd remain loyal to him? That was probably it, I thought.

  When Kulchz dismissed me, I was reunited with Tehra and we started back to the surface through the tunnel system that led underneath the lake to where the shuttle landed on an island in the lake called Hawk Island. In my mind's eye I remembered seeing the shuttle take off from Cactus Island at Possum Kingdom Lake. That was a night I'd never forget.

  "You want to go see the launch pad?" Tehra asked.

  "Could we?" I asked.

  "I don't know why not. I've already seen it and you already know it's there, so it's not like it's a big secret."

  "What if Kulchz doesn't think it's a good idea?"

  "Then he'll have some of his troops stop us. If nobody bothers us, then we'll know he doesn't care if you see it."

  "All right. I would like to see it."

  Tehra nodded and said, "This way, then." She started walking down a tunnel. It was much cooler in the tunnel systems than on the surface. Water dripping from the ceiling formed into small pools that made navigating the tunnels treacherous.

  "So, how was your debriefing?' I asked.

  She shrugged. "Routine. They were mainly concerned about the baby. He's normal and healthy."

  "He is? That's good."

  "I'm going to name him Sophilo."

  "Sophilo?"

  "Yes, do you like it?"

  "Sure, it has a nice ring to it. Is that a common name on Tarizon?"

  "Yes. It means hero."

  "Hero? . . . Hmm. That’s nice."

  As we continued to walk we passed several soldiers and Seafolken coming back from the launch area. Each of them gave us a hard look but nobody challenged us. Forty minutes later we reached our destination. It was located in a mammoth cavern under the island. Many crewmen and hundreds of Seafolken tended to the space shuttle that was docked just beneath the surface of the island.

  "Oh, my God!" I said as I beheld the huge ship. I can't believe something that large can fly."

  "I assure you it does. We're near the surface of the island here. There's a dome that conceals the ship. When it's ready to leave the dome retracts allowing it to take off. From above it looks like natural terrain."

  "Jeez. That's amazing."

  "These are small domes compared to the ones that cover our cities back home on Tarizon," Tehra noted.

  "I bet. How tall must a dome of that size be?"

  "Several hundred feet usually, but I know of one that is over 500 feet tall."

  "That city must have one monster of an air conditioner."

  "No. There are thousands of them, but they don't regulate the temperate—just the air quality."

  Several soldiers stepped out of the tunnel and motioned to us. Tehra took my arm and led me toward them. They talked in their alien language, so I didn't know what they said but Tehra indicated we must leave as the ship was getting ready to test its thrusters. I nodded and took one last look at the mushroom shaped ship. I thought of Peter and wondered what he had thought when he was taken aboard a similar craft. Was he scared or too awestruck to think of his personal safety? Knowing Peter it was probably the latter. To think he was now a soldier in a civil war millions of miles away! It still blew my mind.

  Tehra grabbed my hand again and I followed her back into the tunnels. The trip back to the surface seemed much quicker than the journey down to the launch site. Anticipation always had a way of slowing down time. On the way back to Dallas I asked Tehra if she'd heard anything about Peter or the civil war in her debriefing.

  "Yes, there was a big battle on Lortec and the TGA was routed from the Island. Peter fought in the battle. He surv
ived and is at Loyalists’ headquarters somewhere in the Beet Islands."

  "The Beet Islands?"

  "Yes, it's a string of thousands of islands in the Southern Sea."

  "So, the Loyalists won the battle? That's good, right?"

  "Yes, but it is the just the beginning. The TGA has ten times the forces of the Loyalists. The Loyalists only won because they surprised the TGA. The war will be long and hard."

  "So, has anyone here on Earth taken sides yet?"

  "No, so far everyone remains loyal to the TGA, but it won't last. If the Loyalists aren't soundly defeated soon, many will desert the TGA. I must be ready when that happens."

  "Ready? Ready for what?"

  "To go undercover and hide from the TGA."

  "But, where will you go?"

  "I don't know. Will you help me find a place? A place for me and the others."

  "Of course, but what if they find you?"

  "Then they'll kill me."

  "And the baby," I added.

  Tehra nodded.

  "Shit. We better start looking right away. I can't let them harm you and the baby."

  "Dallas is a big city. There must be many places to hide."

  "I suppose. I'll just have to give it some thought."

  That night I slipped out of my belt and took Rebekah for a walk to bring her up to date on what was going on. I omitted the part about Tehra being pregnant. I still couldn't believe it was my child. She took the news about Peter badly.

  "How can he be a soldier? Why would he do that?"

  "He probably didn't have much of a choice. Anyway, he's not the youngest soldier that has ever served his country. He's almost 17."

  "But he's my baby. It's not right. What if he's injured or killed?"

  "You just have to have faith that God will protect him."

  "God? The God who let the aliens take him?"

  I frowned at