Act Normal, A Stan Turner Mystery Vol 9

by William Manchee

get Tim Willis served I drove out to Lake Tawakoni to see if the Tarizonian base was still there. I wanted so desperately to rescue Tehra. I couldn't imagine what fate lie ahead for her if she was forced to go back to Tarizon as a prisoner of war.

  From the surface I couldn't tell much. I'd have to go down into the tunnels to find out if anyone was still there. If they were that would be a good sign. Kulchz would surely destroy the base moments after they left. I pulled open the door into the storage tank that camouflaged the entrance to the base. The ladder down into the tunnels was still in place. As I stepped inside a man grabbed me by the collar and yanked me to the ground. Before I could even think about resisting he had a rag in my mouth and had me pinned down.

  When I looked up, I saw two pulsing green eyes and a half-human face. Fear shot through me like a hot blade. Then a woman spoke.

  "Stan, do not resist. We mean you no harm. Are you here to rescue Tehra?"

  I tried to talk but the rag prevented it. The monster pulled the rag from my mouth but didn't let me up. "Yes, is she still here?" I gasped.

  The woman looked human but was dressed in a military uniform. As she spoke a half dozen other soldiers crowded around her. Some were human and others were like the beast who had me pinned. Then I realized the monsters were the Seafolken that Tehra had told me about, humans who lived in the sea. I struggled to free myself.

  "Let him go," the woman said to the man. He stood up immediately and extended his hand. I took it and pulled myself up. "I'm Lorrah. Tehra told us you had a place where we could hide."

  "You're all Loyalists?"

  "Yes," Lorrah replied. "We must leave immediately. We will soon be missed and then they will come looking for us."

  "What about Tehra? We can't leave her."

  "She's under heavy guard. There is no way to rescue her now."

  "Are you sure? There must be something we can do." "We can't leave her here."

  "We'd need heavy weapons and all we have are our personal protectors. We couldn't assault the detention center without heavy guns."

  "Tehra said her orders were to sabotage the ship and keep it from leaving. Aren't you going to try to do that?"

  "This is the first time we've been together. We've had no time to make plans."

  "Well, you better make them now. Isn't there any way to keep the ship from taking off? That would give us more time to figure out a rescue plan. We might even figure out how to permanently disable the ship."

  A Seafolken stepped up. "I'm one of the onboard mechanics. I think I could cut a few power intakes and prevent take off. Once done, it will take hours for them to find the interruptions and repair them."

  "Great. That's exactly what we need. You should do it."

  "Yes. Go at once, Pulgan," Lorrah ordered.

  Pulgan walked briskly to the staircase and disappeared into the tunnels. I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. How could we possibly rescue Tehra without weapons? Then an idea hit me.

  "What about picking weapons up as we went along? I asked.

  "What do you mean?" Lorrah asked.

  "Well, each guard has a heavy weapon, right?"

  "Yes," Lorrah acknowledged.

  "Well, can't your men take out a few guards quietly by surprise and take their weapons. There's only a half dozen of you. It shouldn't take long to get you fully armed."

  Lorrah nodded. "Yes, there are single sentries all along the tunnels about a hundred yards apart. Since we haven't been identified as Loyalists as yet, we can go back into the tunnels and each engage a sentry. It will have to be a coordinated attack. If the guards suspect any trouble, we won't catch them off guard and the plan will fail."

  "Then once you have the weapons you need, you can go rescue Tehra."

  "Yes, that will be our plan. You'll have to wait for us here. You'd be immediately recognized in the tunnels if you came with us."

  "Yes. Of course," I said a little relieved. It wasn't that I didn't want to help them, but I was no solider and would likely endanger the mission if I accompanied them. Lorrah looked at her watch and then barked orders to her troops in her alien language. They immediately began moving toward the tunnels.

  "Wait here. When we return, I'm sure we'll have to leave in a hurry."

  "Okay," I said, wondering how I was going to transport eight people.

  Lorrah rushed to the ladder and slid down. She hit the ground hard and I heard her running. Outside I got on my cell phone and called Martha Thomas.

  "Martha!"

  "Yes."

  "This is Stan Turner. It's time. I need you to come help me transport our guests. You better bring the Suburban."

  "All right. Where are you?"

  After giving Martha directions I hung up the telephone and called the office. I wanted to see how the trial was going. Maria answered and told me the trial was going well and Paula was feeling optimistic. She asked me where I was.

  "Something came up with another client. I may be tied up for a while. It's a pretty serious situation. Would you call Rebekah and tell her I'll be home late tonight?"

  "Sure, but why don't you call her yourself?"

  "Ah. . . . Oh, I've got to go. Thanks. See ya."

  If I called Rebekah there'd be too many questions, questions I couldn't answer. It was better she not know what was going on. She'd just worry and that would do no good. The thought occurred to me that helping the Loyalists may not be such a hot idea. Hanging around here waiting to assist their escape could end up costing me my life. If things went wrong I'd likely die in the crossfire.

  Despite this growing fear, I couldn't force myself to leave. I'd promised to help them and I couldn't betray their trust. Besides, if Peter was now somehow involved in the Loyalists’ movement, I had to support it in hopes that someday we might be reunited. It was a slim hope, but hope was hope. As I was grappling with my fears, I saw the alien ship begin to lift off of the island where it was hidden.

  "Oh, no!" It was taking off. All was lost. Then suddenly the ship lurched and began to fall. There was a terrible explosion and the island exploded into a fiery inferno sending debris all across the lake. I just stared at the spectacle in disbelief. What had happened? Was Tehra still on the ship when it took off? My heart sank as I feared the worst.

  I rushed back into the tank and peered down into the tunnels. Smoke shot up from the shafts and quickly overtook me. I began to cough, struggled to breathe, and was soon forced back outside. The island still glowed from the explosion and smoke billowed high up into the sky. I wondered how the authorities would spin an explosion on a deserted island in the middle of Lake Tawakoni. An airplane crash? That's how they'd explained the explosions at Possum Kingdom Lake. It had worked then and would probably work again. I decided that’s what I’d tell Martha too since she didn’t know her guests were from outer space.

  As I was analyzing the situation, I saw headlights approaching. Was it Martha? Who else could it be? I prayed it wasn't the local authorities responding to the explosion. As the vehicle got closer I saw it was a Suburban and breathed a sigh of relief. The car stopped and Martha got out. She pointed to the island.

  "Stan, what happened? Was there a crash?"

  I shrugged. "Ah. . . . I don’t know. It looks that way. I just got here a few minutes ago.”

  “Why did they land on the Island? There’s an airport in Greenville.”

  “Right, but there can’t be a record of their arrival. At least not yet until political asylum has been granted.”

  “Oh,” Martha said tentatively.

  “It's been almost half an hour since the explosion and I haven't seen a single survivor."

  Suddenly there were footsteps and voices approaching. Out of the smoke a figure appeared. When the smoke around her cleared I saw it was Lorrah. I rushed over.

  "You made it out. I thought you'd all been killed.”

  “We almost were.”

  “Listen, my friend Martha is here to take you to her ranch where you can hide out. She doesn�
�t know that you are from Tarizon. She thinks you are from another nation on Earth. Don’t tell her anything, okay?”

  “Right. We won’t.”

  “Did you rescue Tehra?" I asked anxiously.

  "Yes, not only Tehra but all the passengers from the ship."

  "Oh, thank God! Where are they?"

  "Your CIA has captured them and are taking them away. We managed to elude them."

  There was coughing in the distance and then several soldiers stumbled out of the tank. A moment later Tehra emerged, black from the soot and smoke, but alive and well. We embraced.

  "Oh, I'm so glad to see you. I didn't think I'd ever see you again."

  "Yes, that was my fear as well. I was very surprised and delighted to be rescued."

  We held each other happily for a moment and then Tehra pulled back, her eyes widened. "Oh, I found someone else you're going to be happy to see."

  I frowned, wondering who that could possibly be. She looked over at a man and two children seemingly in shock just outside the door of the tank. She motioned for them to come over. The man walked slowly toward me. He looked strangely familiar but wasn't someone I'd ever seen before. The children however were a spitting image of their mother.

  "Mr. Wenzel?"

  "Yes."

  "But I thought you'd gone back to Tarizon months ago?"

  "I was scheduled to, but when my daughter was accidentally killed, we were delayed and missed our ship. We've been waiting in the base for the next shuttle."

  "Well, I don't think there will be any more flights back to Tarizon for a while. I guess you'll have to stay on Earth until the war is over."

  "Yes. I’m not so sorry about that