Deep in Your Shadows

by Darien Cox

  Christian turned around and walked back to Myles, who stood in the living room, talking to Rudy. “You okay?”

  Myles squeezed Christian’s shoulder. “I’m fine, Christian. Just had a lot of information forced into my brain, which I’ll have to sort through as time allows. But I’m fine.”

  “You’re handling this well,” Rudy said. “When I saw my first ET I had a meltdown and tried to run out of here. JT stopped me.”

  “How’d that work out for you?” Christian grinned.

  “I can’t complain.”

  The crew at the kitchen table stood, JT, Elliot, and Wiley picking up their drinks.

  Nolan scowled at them. “Hey, you shouldn’t bring beers downstairs. There’s a lot of expensive equipment and—”

  “Fuck off, Nolan.”

  “Shut uuuup, Nolan!”

  “Seriously Nolan, shut the fuck up.”

  They all filed past Nolan, beers in hand.

  “You guys spill anything I’m gonna be pissed!” Nolan followed after them, Ogden trailing behind.

  “Finally, peace and quiet.” Rudy picked up his computer and headed for the spare room.

  Myles cocked an eyebrow at Christian. “I’ve been invited to this briefing as well. What exactly is downstairs?”

  “It’s kind of the bat cave. What did Ogden fill you in on? He tell you about...the mountains?”

  Myles took a deep breath and let it out through his nose. “Yeah.”

  “The Whites?”

  “Yeah.”

  “The base?”

  “Yep. Did you really interview an alien hybrid?”

  “It was more JT and Rudy, but yes, we did.”

  “And that’s Baz, the one you were supposed to meet in the woods by my house.”

  “That’s him.”

  “Kind of a human name for an alien.”

  Christian laughed. “He never told us his real name. Baz is short for ‘ambassador’. He lets us call him that. Doesn’t seem to mind.”

  “And he’s not like the one from this afternoon.”

  “No.” Christian grinned. “Baz is a nice alien hybrid. He doesn’t even hiss.”

  “I think I understand now why you used to drink and fight so much.”

  “Yeah, well I think I’ve found a new way to blow off steam.” Christian let his hand brush across Myles’ groin.

  Myles grabbed Christian’s face in one hand and kissed him roughly.

  “Hey!” Ogden peeked his head around the corner. “We’re waiting.”

  “Okay, we’re on our way,” Christian said.

  Myles gave Christian another quick kiss. “Now we go talk about the one that does hiss?”

  “Don’t let those guys talk over you. If you have something to add, just jump in.”

  “Okay. Lead the way.”

  As they moved down the hallway toward the basement door, Myles glanced in the spare room, where Rudy was now seated at his desk. As Christian led him down the stairs, Myles said, “Rudy doesn’t participate in briefings?”

  “Not usually, unless he was directly involved in something. He seems content to do his thing and let JT do his.”

  “He certainly seems strangely at peace with it all.”

  “He’s gotten used to it,” Christian said. “You will too, eventually.”

  “That’s hard to believe.”

  “I know. You sure you’re okay?”

  “I can handle myself, Christian. Stop mothering me.”

  Christian laughed. “Okay.”

  Everyone was seated around the big rectangular table when Christian and Myles walked in. Christian led Myles to a chair and sat beside him, watching his eyes drift around the room at all the equipment, lighted maps, and monitors. “What the hell is all this?”

  “Stuff,” Elliot said. “Lots and lots of stuff.”

  “Okay,” Ogden said. “Christian, start us off. Tell us what happened at your house earlier.”

  Christian relayed the events, starting with the moment he and Myles heard Cuervo barking, culminating in the white mist that aided in the creature’s departure.

  “You got paralyzed?” Ogden said to Myles.

  “Just my legs,” Myles said. “But yeah. It wasn’t fun.”

  “I know,” Ogden said. “I experienced it as well. So Christian, like the one we encountered in the craft, this being spoke English?”

  “Yeah. He was at least as fluent as Baz. But a whole lot meaner.”

  “I don’t like this,” Wiley said. “Why have they bothered to learn our language? Could they want to infiltrate? Attack?”

  “That doesn’t seem right to me,” JT said. “Their beef is with the Whites. Feels like we’re just something on the periphery that they have to deal with because the Whites’ base is in Singing Bear Village.”

  “Eva said the creature was looking at her toes and her vagina and so on,” Christian said. “They’re obviously not that familiar with humans if it was so curious, comparing and such.”

  “Obviously this is greatly concerning,” Ogden said. “Not only that these other hybrids have been monitoring us, well enough to have learned our language, but that they clearly have a serious problem with the Whites. We need to consider this might not be the last we see of them.”

  “Okay, hang on,” Christian said. “Resemblance to us, and the Whites aside, are we sure these are actually hybrids? Did Baz confirm that?”

  “No. Baz said almost nothing,” JT said. “When Ogden gave us Darwyn’s message, we knew we had to contact Baz, but didn’t know how, short of taking a copter up the mountain and landing it on the field, and we didn’t have that kind of time. So I ended up just screaming his name while Nolan shot fireworks toward the base.”

  “It worked,” Nolan said. “Baz was there suddenly, scolding me for almost starting a forest fire. When we told him you were in trouble, Christian, what was going on, he just said, ‘Baz deal with’ and blew out of there. Obviously, he hasn’t been back.”

  Christian shook his head. “I have the feeling we won’t see Baz for a while. That first night he came to me with the weapon, he refused to answer questions about the other aliens, other than that they were angry, and wanted to steal tech from the Whites. He was really uncomfortable talking about it. And you saw how upset he was after he was forced to kill it.”

  “The creature...” Myles glanced around the table. “I’m sorry, may I speak?”

  “Of course, Sheriff,” Ogden said.

  “The creature we encountered at Christian’s house called the Whites all manner of bad names, like shit and dirt and fuck-holes. He also said that the Whites had hurt him, hurt ‘all’. Which I assume means his people. Not people but...you know. His race, I guess.”

  “I wonder if the Whites physically hurt them,” Wiley said. “Or just betrayed them somehow.”

  “Baz said the Whites are more powerful than the angry nasties, have better tech,” Nolan said, “but for some reason the Whites didn’t want to piss them off. That’s why they asked us to take them out. We’ve never seen the Whites be cautious when it came to pissing us off. We got in their way and they sure as shit let us know it.”

  “It’s possible that while sealed inside that turd-shaped craft, the angry nasties still had a direct line to their home base, or ship, or whatever,” Christian said. “Maybe that’s why the Whites didn’t want to go near it. Or retrieve it. Any action they took would have been instantly relayed to their home base.”

  Myles pointed at Christian. “When that thing with the orange hair first showed up, he said he saw you, Christian. At the boathouse, remember?”

  “That’s right. He said he’d seen me there. I think they had a viewer inside the craft, and could see out, even though we couldn’t see in. They were probably giving it some time, thinking the Whites would retrieve the craft, take it to their base. When that didn’t happen, they ultimately tried communication with us as a last resort, with Nolan and the tapping and such.”

  “Yeah,” Nolan said.
“Played on our sympathy. I don’t think they actually wanted ‘sanctuary’. They were just hoping their pleas would get us to help them unseal the craft. Which we did, albeit accidentally.”

  “Agreed,” JT said. “That might explain why the Whites weren’t just adamant about not taking the craft to their base, but also refused to destroy it themselves. They didn’t want to be seen. Didn’t want to give them a chance to send a message home. If they reported seeing the Whites, and were destroyed thereafter, their homeboys would know the Whites had done it.”

  “Maybe they have some sort of peace treaty,” Wiley said. “Or at the very least, a set of rules they follow, even if they are at war.”

  “And by the time Baz came along,” Ogden said, “the craft was open, and that yellow-haired one was weakened. It wasn’t even awake at first.”

  “It still could have sent a message home once it saw Baz in the boathouse. It started chattering and screaming as soon as it spotted him, remember?” JT said.

  “I had a pretty close eye on it,” Christian said. “I don’t think it touched any controls, it could barely sit up. And it was talking to Baz. It almost looked reverent of him. They had a quick conversation in some other language before Baz slapped the weapon on the craft and ran away.”

  “Yeah,” JT said. “Baz said it suggested killing us all.”

  Christian shivered. “By the time the creature figured out what was happening after Baz slapped the weapon on the craft, all it did was scream and curse.”

  “Fuck to you, death,” Elliot said. “I can still hear it.” He shuddered.

  “It was probably talking to us when it said that,” Ogden said. “Why would it have switched to English to curse at Baz?”

  “That was upsetting,” Nolan said. “Regardless of its death threats, I felt sorry for it. It sounded so...betrayed.”

  “I don’t know if it really wanted to kill us or if it just saw it as a necessity because we saw him,” Christian said. “The one at my house hurt Cuervo and hurt Myles, threw me against a wall, but it didn’t kill anyone.”

  “That’s because it was using me and the dog as leverage against you,” Myles said. “To get you to tell it where its ship had gone. I’m not confident it wouldn’t have killed. It told me it could bleed me from the inside, after all.”

  “Jesus,” JT said. “If they can do shit like that on top of paralysis, then this is a serious threat. Fuck the Whites, they’d better give us some feedback on this.”

  “Do you think they killed it?” Myles said. “Or just...took it?”

  “From what we’ve seen with Baz,” Christian said, “the white mist is used as a shield either to mask or serve in conjunction with some type of transport. They probably just took it out of my house and brought it to their base. Doesn’t mean they haven’t killed it by now. They had no issue asking us to destroy the craft while the two of them were still in it.”

  “The Whites were able to keep that craft, a foreign intruder that entered their space, sealed,” Nolan said. “Until we fucked it up with that containment apparatus. I’d hope the Whites won’t let anything like that get through again. I’d expect they’d be extra vigilant now. Maybe we have nothing to worry about, in terms of the angry nasties showing up again.”

  “All right,” Ogden said. “I want some theories as to who the angry nasties actually are. Where they came from. And why they’re so pissed off at the Whites.”

  JT drummed his fingers on the table. “Let’s suppose for a moment that they are hybrids, like Baz. Let’s also suppose they were created the same way. By the Greys playing Dr. Frankenstein with our joint DNA years back. Say Baz is fifty-fifty, White and human. These could be like...seventy-thirty, with more human DNA than White.”

  “Eesh,” Elliot said. “Baz said the Whites found him disgusting because he has human DNA. But his kind was kept around regardless. Baz said he worked a job at the base. Maybe the angry nasties were just a bit too human for the Whites, though. Maybe the Whites discarded or banished them. Then went on with their cushy, high-tech lives.”

  “Christ.” Riley tossed his pen on the table. “The Whites are like the dead-beat dads of the universe.”

  “Yeah.” JT laughed. “Maybe that’s it. And now the angry nasties are following them around for payback.”

  “Or just acknowledgement,” Christian said.

  “Ah, I don’t think acknowledgment would change anything for them,” JT said. “Whatever happened to the angry nasties, they’re damaged goods. I don’t think they’re looking for the Whites to play catch with them in the backyard and finally accept them.”

  “Right,” Christian said. “Baz specifically said the angry nasties wanted to steal tech from the Whites. It’s like they believe they’re owed it somehow.”

  “Can we come up with another name for them?” Wiley asked. “I can’t keep saying ‘angry nasties’. They’re not characters from a children’s book. They’re a serious threat.”

  “I know,” Ogden said. “And considering they’ve been close enough to monitor us, chances are they’re stationed somewhere too close for comfort.”

  “I still say the moon,” JT said. “I think they’ve got a base inside.”

  “That’s not possible,” Wiley said.

  JT frowned. “Why not?”

  “It’s just not.”

  “Ogden,” Elliot said. “Can you tell Wiley this isn’t the time to clam up?”

  Ogden and Wiley made eye contact. “Tell them I’m right,” Wiley said. “The angry nasties are not based inside the moon.”

  “Why?” Christian said.

  “They’re just not!” Wiley said. “You lot don’t need to know everything.”

  “The angry nasties are not based inside the moon,” Ogden said. “That’s all you need to know.”

  “Well, it’s not an environmental thing,” Nolan said. “The Whites know how to create a life supporting, artificial environment underground. Stands to reason someone could do the same inside the moon.”

  “Then why couldn’t the angry nasties be there?” JT asked. “Ogden, come on.”

  “I bet I can guess why,” Myles said.

  Everyone at the table looked at Myles.

  Christian leaned in. “Why?”

  Myles shrugged. “They are likely so sure because the moon is already occupied. By someone else. Whether it’s a human presence or...another race.”

  JT pointed at Myles. “You’re smart. Christian, he’s smart.”

  Myles chuckled. “It’s just basic interrogation. Look for the holes in the story and come up with plausible options to fill them in.”

  “Is that true, Ogden?” Elliot asked. “Is the moon already occupied? By someone else?”

  Wiley sighed, rubbing his temples.

  Elliot’s eyebrows raised. “Ogden?”

  “All right, yes,” Ogden said. “But you needn’t be concerned about that, I promise.”

  The table exploded with laughter and cheers, and Nolan reached across the table and high-fived Myles.

  Myles looked embarrassed. He glanced at Christian.

  “It’s not easy to get information out of Ogden,” Christian said. “Especially when Wiley’s here. You done good.”

  “They didn’t need to know that,” Wiley said.

  “They did if they were gonna drop the idea that the angry nasties are based in the moon,” Ogden said. “That aside, the moon’s not relevant. I need other theories.”

  “They could have a ship,” Nolan said. “A big honkin mothership docked somewhere in our solar system. The flying turd could have just been a pod.”

  Ogden nodded. “All right. It’s been a long day. And a traumatic one, for Christian and Sheriff Murphy. Let’s call it a night. For the foreseeable future, I want all efforts made to contact Baz. And get him to talk. The Whites forfeited their right to privacy when they asked us to kill for them. We deserve some answers.”

  “Huh,” Nolan said. “With all this threat assessment, we kind of overlooked so
mething important. Regardless of the details, we just conducted a joint mission with the Whites. We searched together. We cooperated to find and eliminate an active threat running loose in the village.” Nolan glanced around the table. “We worked with the Whites. And they worked with us.”

  The crew around the table grew silent.

  “That’s kind of huge,” Elliot said.

  Christian nodded. “Yeah.”

  “It’s what I always hoped for,” JT said. “That one day we’d make contact, and interact in a positive way.”

  “It’s a significant event that deserves acknowledgement,” Ogden said, “and we’ll take it into consideration moving forward. But before you all start holding hands and singing ‘We Are the World’, remember that we need some answers from the Whites before even thinking about considering them allies.”

  “And, there’s the buzz-kill we all know and love.” Nolan stood. “I’m going home to bed.”

  “Sit down Nolan,” Ogden said. “I have one more thing to say.”

  Nolan sat.

  “What is it, Ogden?” JT asked.

  “I want to talk about how this was handled. Your behaviors and tactics.”

  “Oh come on,” Elliot said. “You’re gonna scold us now? It got handled, that’s all that matters!”

  “Shut up, Elliot.” Ogden stood, taking a deep breath. “Years ago, when the situation in Singing Bear Village was presented to me, I pitched an unconventional strategy to my superiors. It was not popular, and I had to work very hard to get it approved. You haven’t always followed my orders. But you’ve pushed forward, and gotten results. It’s been more fruitful than I dared to hope for. I just wanted to say I’m proud of all of you. And that I chose the right team. So thank you.”

  The crew around the table was silent.

  “And on that note,” Ogden said. “I bid you all goodnight. Christian. Sheriff. I’m glad you’re all right.”

  Ogden and Wiley left the basement.

  Elliot raised eyebrows at Christian. “Wow.”

  “My reality has just been shattered,” Nolan said. “Ogden just expressed...gratitude?”