 
This novel is about an alien, Peder_245 and a beautiful FBI agent Tamara Weaver that meet by chance. He is by definition an original human. Hence, earthly humans were genetically enhanced by Peder's race called the Enac. With the help of his companion, Ava, a highly advanced artificially intelligent, shape changing robot, they attempt to save humanity from itself and other aliens. However, none of the aliens are interested in leaving Earth. An alien race called the Zeddi has plans to rule over Earth and all its natural resources. Thus, Tamara and her niece Zoey join forces with Peder to uncover the infiltration of aliens on the planet. Nevertheless, a secret shadow government is trying to gain alien technology for a few wealthy human families. They are unrelenting in trying to capture Ava. To make matters worse, the Zeddi have set a plan in motion to begin their takeover of Earth. Can the trio survive these two powerful forces to save humanity?
Lawrence Sky

Alien Sinkhole

Companion Book Series

Copyright 2014

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this eBook.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

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Smashwords Edition License Notes.

I would like to acknowledge the Director of the Chesterfield Writers Club as an enormous inspiration to me in organizing my book. Also, I would like to give acknowledgment to my great-niece, Jackie, who critiqued my book. And my cousin Ron who is an avid fan.

Home to over 7.6 billion Earthers (2013) – Photo by NASA.gov
CHAPTER 1

Struggling to Understand

Three old trucks – Picture by Wikipedia.org

High on a Belizean mountain, a dirt road curved between thick undergrowth and trees. Three battered military surplus trucks travel down this deserted road. Moist air heavy with organic stench mingled with the fog stirred through the jungle. Tariq, the lead truck driver, strains to see past the thick white soup. From a few gaps in the fog, he can barely see the roadside foliage.

Now and then, a clearing appeared on his right. It revealed a sharp drop down the side of the mountain. To his left, power lines snake their way up the mountain. Tariq saw no one on a slow drive down the mountain for several hours. Only he and his friends penetrated the jungle's creepy silence. The old trucks strained with every gear shift. It started to drizzle; lightning flashed, and thunder cracked briefly lighting up his truck's cabin.

Once a month, the farmers delivered fresh fruits and vegetables to markets down in the valley. Ajay, his youngest son, sat quietly gazing at the thick fog. He had a weird feeling that wouldn't go away. His father looked up into the gloomy sky and then nervously into the dense jungle roadside.

Ajay was the eleventh family member. He had waited twelve years for this one trip. His father was buying him his first pair of sneakers for his birthday. Nevertheless, something pressed hard on Ajay's chest. It diminished most of his excitement. The air tasted metallic in his mouth. With each breath, he felt hot air coming out of his nostrils. Lightning flashed again followed by what sounded like a sharp thunderclap. It knocked a tree down near the roadside. His father swerved to avoid it. He quickly regained control. Ajay's eyes widened as he watched the truck inch closer to the edge of the road. Only a meter away was the lush green valley below. He looked up at his father's acne covered face. He then stared through the windshield into the thick fog.

Suddenly, it stopped drizzling. The fog crept higher up the mountainside. Ajay looked at the mountain's cliff high above. Thrusting out from the jungle foliage was an ancient Mayan temple. It was dark sandstone surrounded by greenery and a gray sky. Most of the weathered stones rising above the ground disappeared into the foliage. Behind the temple rose giant metal towers carrying power lines higher and higher up the side of the mountain.

Mayan Temple – Picture and Photo by Wikipedia.org

They soon disappeared into the fog. Ajay's father's truck engine started to sputter and then died along with the other trucks. They squealed to a stop beside a muddy ditch. Ajay peered passed his father back into the jungle. He noticed a shiny cloud rising from behind the ancient Mayan temple to hover over one of the towers. Small bursts of lightning flashed between the cloud's round shape and the tower. No, Ajay thought, it was electricity moving from the tower to a... spaceship!

Traditional UFO – Pictures by Wikipedia.org

For several moments, it hovered silently. The long circular spacecraft quietly eased away from the tower towards the trucks. Tariq whispered for Ajay to crouch down below the dented dashboard. Meanwhile, the spaceship landed on the left side of the road. It crushed trees under its monstrous weight. They watched two very tall human-looking men step out from a glowing doorway. Dressed in orange flight suits, they had milky-white faces, pale yellowish hair with dark blue eyes. Tariq had the impression their foreheads were slightly longer than normal. One of them fired what looked like a flashlight across the road. It shot passed the trucks and into the heavy undergrowth. The column of yellow light shattered trees into flying pieces of charred wood chips.

"Do you think they saw us come out of our underground base?" asked Lieutenant Bernatt. He smirked at the farmers' tattered clothing.

"I'm not sure, and frankly, I don't care," said Froder, his commanding officer. "They're just worthless humans. I don't want to take any chances with them."

"Commander, your English is getting perfect," said Bernatt his second in command.

Froder smiled and said, "Yes, it is a simple language. I found it very easy to master."

"It makes you wonder why the Enac, our so-called Enhancer would choose them to be in our clan?" offered Bernatt.

"It's just another example of their poor judgment. You can't help every genetically inferior being you come across in the galaxy. Earthers are just bottom dwelling creatures. Besides, their governments chose not to tell them the truth about us. They covered it up, unwittingly helping our invasion. This planet should have technically evolved like ours many decades ago. Instead, Earth's leaders keep other worlds with advanced technologies a secret. They made it seem more profitable to use fossil fuels for wealth and power. At some point, their fossil fuels will become scarce and too expensive to sustain. Then we will suggest alternative fuel sources. Our invasion will be complete by then. They will never rise to greatness. Look at them, scurrying about in gas combustion vehicles," said Froder pointing at their old trucks. "This is why I'm going into politics once I've completed three more missions. My brother is head of a big oil company. I will become wealthy with very little effort. Look at them, the pathetic little creatures. They don't have a clue about how their future is being stolen from them. Some of my brother's friends have already set me up with an extreme rightwing political party. He thinks I will make an excellent hardcore conservative. Politics is how I will build my wealth, Bernatt!"

"I'm going to bring my family here too, for farming," offered Bernatt. "I have five more trips to make, and then we can transition to Earth."

"Hmm, it sounds like you still want to be a bottom-classer," said Froder.

"On the contrary, commander. I have one hundred thousand acres of land waiting for me in Brazil. I will be quite wealthy on this planet."

"I am proud to see you are taking advantage of this planet's wealth. Now, let's not keep our bottom-classers waiting. Eliminate them so we can continue with our mission."

Bernatt pointed his weapon at the trucks. With his other large hand, he signaled them to get out. Three frightened farmers got out of their trucks. They huddled together in the drizzling rain. Tariq led the group towards the waiting spacemen. As they approached, Tariq saw they looked human, except for their pale white skin.

Ajay peeked over the dashboard. Something told him to get out and hide in a ditch. He cracked his door open and crawled out unseen on his hands and knees. He headed towards a muddy ditch. It smelled horrible as his heart raced to keep pace with his fears. With a dirt-smudged face, he peeked over the edge of the ditch. Looking under his father's truck, he saw the farmers shimmering into orange-yellow flames before vanishing.

A pulsating blue cloud quietly rose skyward until high above the trucks. A flash of light soared down and obliterated the vehicles in a loud explosion. Ajay watched thick black smoke and large flames snake upwards. The dark swirling smoke disappeared with the spaceship, leaving small yellow flames to dance in his youthful eyes. He slowly raised his head up towards the heavens, struggling to understand what had happened.

CHAPTER 2

Ava!

Mountain range – Picture by L. Sky & Photo by Wikipedia.org

Two fighter jets roaring low over a mountain range fired four missiles. On the horizon, were the mountain and the early dawn sky merges, a black object falls from the heavens. It burst into an orange flame after being struck by one of the missiles. The UFO winked out disappearing into the darkness. The fighters broke off their pursuit, climbing higher towards the east vanishing in the night.

"I think it worked, master. I hope they'll believe we crashed. They seem to be quite electronically sophisticated," said Ava in her soft female voice.

"This is a good sign. Perhaps earthers have progressed far enough to join us," said Peder_245.

"Maybe Peder, but that was a very hostile greeting," replied Ava. She quickly morphed from her bubble spaceship into a black ball hovering over Peder's head.

Ava floating above Peder_245 – Pictures by L. Sky & lc.wikispaces.com

Standing in semi-darkness, Peder pulled his lifesuit helmet over his head to electronically see what was around him. He walked over to a tall pine tree. He looked up marveling at its beauty. He stooped down to pick up a handful of grass and soil rubbing it between gloved fingers. His readouts were normal across the required ranges necessary for life. The soil beneath his feet felt soft and supportive of his weight. Something above him made a sound, and he looked up. He saw an image; his helmet automatically projected it on his faceplate. A bird flew into the trees. He watched its flight until it disappeared from the helmet's electronic view.

"Earth is beautiful...and quiet. I like it! And yes, it was a rather hostile greeting, but they didn't invite us. Most civilizations in this stage of development believe they're alone in the universe."

"I imagine there are a few aliens visiting Earth for research on primitive civilizations. But I also believe the planet is not worth letting join the clan," projected Ava into his mind.

"What makes you so sure they're not worth it? Despite recklessly transmitting their history out into space, a lot could have happened since then. I will reserve my judgment until I have seen the inhabitants and how they live now! So, try not to dwell too much on their past, Ava," projected Peder to his companion.

"Yes Peder, I will try. But I still believe they are reckless and primitive beings capable of great destruction."

"I accept your opinion since you are the oldest. But I don't agree with it. Let's start our evaluation with this country. What do earthers call it?" voiced Peder.

"From what I can tell, it's called America or...the United States," replied Ava.

"You see, they're united!" said Peder.

* * *

Three weeks later, Peder, the uninvited visitor from Enac, traveled across the Americas. With Ava's help, they gathered information for each culture they encountered. Next, he visited the Asian countries, Africa, and finally, Great Britain and the European continent.

"Ava, I don't think we can gain any more knowledge from this world. They were all unique in their way," said Peder. He was looking up, admiring the Eiffel Tower. His short, curly black hair blew in the wind. He weighed 68 kilograms with a slender well-balanced physique standing less than two meters tall with good muscle tone. Just as important, he was 300 years old and appeared as a rugged, handsome 29-year-old man. Nothing about him suggested he was no more than a tourist. Dressed in light colored blue jeans, and a faded long-sleeve gray T-shirt to blend in with his surroundings.

"I thought you wanted to visit a few more island countries," projected Ava. She quickly morphed into a two-meter tall female. Ava was slender, with a light almond complexion. Her black hair sported a short Chinese style haircut. A small round finger-size ponytail protruded from its back. Dressed in a black jumpsuit, she sported a big red circle on its back.

"No," he said. "I think I have a pretty good idea. In many ways, I feel sorry for Earth. I've never seen a civilization where a few selfish individuals control billions of people. It's rather depressing. These helpless people have no future. No freedom to create a better life for themselves under this type of plutocracy. Now that I think about it, there's usually a secret government operating as well."

"Where would you like to go now, Peder?" voiced Ava.

"I think I want to go back to Virginia...in America. I'd like to visit the beaches again."

"Why there? It's just another sandbox with salt water."

Peder looked up at her smiling and said, "True, but it has a mood that pleases me."

"Peder, you know I can't feel abstract concepts. However, I do understand you draw something from it. I guess it satisfies your emotions." Ava was an autonomous super robot companion. She had been with Peder since his birth and never missed a day by his side. Ava was a mixture of circuit boards, liquid metals, and semi-liquid high-impact plastics. She controlled it with a powerful zero-point energy supply. For over fifty thousand years, companions served as an integral part of Enac culture.

* * *

Ten minutes later, the French coastline shrank behind them with Peder inside Ava's expanded bubble. Controlling the flow of her energy, she increased speed. Peder watched the coastline fade away while he sat comfortably in her belly.

"Peder," said Ava with urgency in her voice. "There's something following us. I can't outrun it at this low altitude."

"Let me see it?"

Instantly, a magnified view of an unmanned drone appeared on Ava's wall. Sudden flashes of tiny lights streaked from a low flying drone heading directly for Ava.

Drone vs. Companion – Pictures by L. Sky & Photos by Wikipedia.org

"Ava!" yelled Peder.

CHAPTER 3

The People of Earth

All Enac wore lifesuits as part of their regular attire. The lifesuit was an external skin practically impervious to just about anything. Composed of a lightweight spandex-like material, it was less than the thickness of the human skin. It was a one-piece suit to fit any humanoid body. Infused inside the material were billions of nanobots. They operated and maintained the lifesuit's extraordinary capabilities. When the nanobots needed replacing, they did so automatically by self-replicating. They kept the wearer warm or cool based on preset limits programmed into the suit. When necessary, it also hardened like armor in a split millisecond around vital body parts. It was also self-cleaning by reversing the outer layer's polarity. Dirt and other materials simply repelled off its surface. The nanobots also excreted a gel inside the suit. It circulated between the lifesuit and the wearer's skin. The gel captured old hair and dead epithelial cells. It helped to recycle the material as a fuel source for the nanobots. Perspiration containing body salts were chemically treated and channeled down the legs. As a byproduct, the salt was extruded through the suit's microscopic pores. From there, it was embedded in the soles of the footies. The salt byproduct was released by friction once it made contact with the surface.

The helmet, when activated, released an unlimited supply of breathable oxygen pumped into the suit. The wearer only needed to exhale carbon dioxide inside the helmet for it to work. He or she would pull the flexible hoodie helmet with a super thin collapsible faceplate over their head's. The faceplate folded like saran wrap inside the helmet against the users back when not in use. A small electrostatic current from the hand activated its unfolding. Once opened, it hardened into a transparent face shield. In turn, it activated the lifesuit, footies, and gloves to cover those body parts. Once active, the inside of the helmet's faceplate displayed feedback readings to its wearer. The wearer communicated information about his or her environment through a thin keypad impregnated on each sleeve of the suit. As a bonus, the user could wear clothing over the suit to conceal it when necessary.

* * *

Peder lay face up in the water feeling his lifesuit under his clothes. Looking up at heavy gray clouds, they were menacing in a darkening blue sky. His tight jeans and T-shirt started to weigh him down, pulling him deeper into the salty liquid. The waves slapping against him penetrated his inner thoughts. For the first time, he felt cut-off, alone, in a vast, watery world. He began to yell for Ava in his mind, and then aloud to the ocean. His body rolled with the motion of the waves, as numbness began to set in from loneliness.

"Ava!" he repeatedly shouted. Only the cold waves slapping against his face answered him. He couldn't relax as the tension built up in his muscles from the thought of being alone. Something bumped his shoe causing fear to grip his chest. Not far behind him, he heard something break the water's surface and then splashed back down. Frantically, he turned towards the sound. He strained to see what it was. Something brushed against his thigh moving too quickly for him to see it. He sensed there was more than one because several white swirls appeared around him. Finally, a large dark figure broke the water's surface ten meters away. It charged towards him and then rapidly veered away. All he saw was a large triangle of flesh sticking out of the water. Another triangle popped up until five more were circling him 10 meters away. He knew it was just a matter of time before they attacked. One or all of them would break the circle and charge at him. Helplessly, he watched them while trying to stay afloat. Then it happened. Something from below charged up and rammed into him. Pain shot up his legs and into his spine knocking him out of the water. He splashed down with a crash outside the circle of creatures.

With glassy eyes, Peder watched them quickly regroup around him again. His back ached with throbbing pain. However, the loneliness he felt was more unbearable. A big shark raised its head out of the water. It rolled over on its side with its mouth stretched wide open. Rows of razor-sharp teeth slowly glided towards him. Its mouth was wide enough to bite him in half and swallow the two pieces in one gulp! He waited as it came closer and closer. It opened and closed its massive jaws. The teeth were long enough to prevent the animal from completely closing its mouth.

Peder, drowning in fear, could see trapped between its teeth chunks of uneaten flesh. He smelt its fetid breath as it swam up to him. He closed his eyes, not wanting to see his end. Bracing for the first bite, he heard a loud thud, causing him to go limp, but he felt no pain. Quickly, he opened one eye in time to see his attacker. It was banging violently against an invisible wall. Peder's blood rushed down to his lower body when he saw the creature dive below him. His only thought was that it was going to bite him from below.

Mako shark – Photo by en.wikipedia.org

Just about the time, it should have happened; Peder leaped out of the water. The creature shot up behind him.

Shark attack – Picture Flickr.com

Its mouth snapped shut, sensing it should have bitten into its prey. Peder fell unconscious from the sight of such a savage terror. Ava had captured him inside her bubble as she sped for the nearest landmass.

* * *

Peder regained consciousness. He found himself peering through Ava's bubble. He saw a howling white blizzard against a frozen white background.

"Where are we?" he said weakly.

"We're in the northern part of a country called Canada," she replied.

"How long have I been unconscious?"

"About three days. I assume you're feeling better now."

"Yes Ava, I'm feeling much better knowing I'm still alive and safe with you. What happened to you? Where did you go?"

"When the missile exploded near me, it released an extremely powerful electromagnetic interference. The pulse temporarily knocked out my systems causing me to lose power. I sank in the salty liquid before regaining control of myself. It was dark the whole time. A large creature swallowed me.

Fish vs. Companion – Picture by en.wikipedia.org & L. Sky

I managed to destroy it from the inside when I restored my power. Would you like to see it?"

"No," said Peder dreading to relive the thoughts again. "Perhaps some other time. Tell me, how did you manage to rescue me?"

"The concentration of salt in the water and I don't agree with each other. It weakened my field and reduced my overall power. Once I restored enough energy, I filled my volume with gas created by splitting water molecules. The hydrogen gas forced me to rise to the surface. I made myself large enough for nothing else to swallow me on my way up. Then, I had to search for you. I guess, I found you not a moment too soon."

"Yes, and I thank you, my little friend," said Peder telepathically. He projected good thoughts to her to show his deepest appreciation.

"I think you should relax and take your mind off all you have endured. We'll begin our journey to Virginia once you're able to travel," she projected. Peder took her advice and relaxed. He had experienced the most frightening ordeal of his life. Outside, in the middle of nowhere, the dark wilderness shrouded them with howling winds. Snow piled up around her bubble. She glowed an aqua blue like a beacon in the night. The wilderness silently closed in on them. Fresh snow covered the surrounding foliage. After a few minutes, it froze into ice settling around Ava's bubble.

* * *

"Peder, soldiers, are coming!" projected Ava.

"How far are they?" he answered groggily.

"Approximately two kilometers," projected Ava in his mind.

"I thought you said this place was isolated."

"They were dropped from an airplane. Maybe that drone continued to follow us and took pictures. They must know you're still alive."

"How do they even know I'm on their planet? I thought you were careful not to arouse too much attention."

"I don't know. Perhaps earther satellites can see my heat signature glowing in the snow. We need to find out what they want," projected Ava. The cold wind continuously swirled around her bubble. Stillness touched everything around them as a special team of contract killers closed in from all sides.

"Any ideas Ava?"

"I could burrow deeper into the snow to minimize detection."

"No, what we need is to capture one of them. Then we can find out what they know," thought Peder as she read his mind.

"I have an idea how we can do that," Ava projected back to him.

* * *

"Three and four, you're too close! Fan out more. I don't want any screw-ups," whispered Captain Warner. Warner was a tall, muscular man. His dark brown eyes set in a square face had mid-length curly graying platinum hair. He was once a heavily decorated soldier, and now a mysterious contract killer. He crouched stealthily in the deep snow. He was following Ava's heat signal. Dressed in white army fatigues, combat-trained men hugged the snowy terrain.

Contract Killers – Photo by Wikipedia.org

"Captain," said his seasoned lieutenant inside his ear. "We should be right on top of our target, sir."

"Roger, everyone, keep your eyes open. Don't make a sound," said Warner carefully inching forward.

"Ohhh...!"

"Captain! Captain?" yelled his lieutenant over his intercom system. Captain Warner suddenly disappeared in the snow.

* * *

"Hey, where am I?" yelled Captain Warner. He found himself sitting in a black chair inside a well-lighted white room. He was facing the man he was ordered to kill.

Peder with a warm smile said, "Hello!"

Instinctively, Warner raised his weapon and fired point blank at Peder's face. The weapon clicked loudly, but nothing happened. He tried again and got the same response. As a professional, he relaxed setting his automatic rifle on his lap. He looked straight into Peder's eyes.

"Sorry, I hope I didn't frighten you too much with that stunt," said Peder.

"I assumed I fell through a trap door."

"Yes, you might say that."

"My men will find me," replied Warner.

"Hmmm! While we're waiting for that to happen, perhaps you can tell me why you're after me?"

"Not you," chuckled Warner. "I want your device."

"My device? Peder said puzzled. "Oh, you mean my companion."

"Whatever! My employers will not stop until they get it. You're better off surrendering it to me now before things escalate out of control."

"Ava is this human telling the truth?" said Peder out loud.

"Yes," said a voice filling the room. Warner's head snapped trying to look around the room for the owner of the voice. "I'm scanning his brain for information." Warner continued looking for the origin of the voice. What he couldn't imagine was the chair being a physical extension of Ava. Contact with the chair allowed the captain to make a psychic connection with her.

"I'm highly trained. You won't get anything out of me," said Warner, referring to his years of hard-earned training and experience.

"His orders are to kill you and somehow capture me. From what I can tell, he has been told he can capture me without any trouble. That's, of course, if you're dead," Ava spoke loud enough for them to hear.

"Where did they get an idea like that? Is it possible we're not alone? You never really scanned for other visitors, did you?"

"No," she projected. "I assumed there might be a few of them here out of curiosity. But earthlings are just too primitive to be of value to another race of beings."

"So, you would think. But someone thinks otherwise," said Peder. He looked at the captain, who was puzzled as to why Peder was talking to himself.

"It's my energy source. They're afraid the inhabitants might find out about it and ask questions. Based on what we have seen thus far; energy is a major issue for this planet. Remember, they are a civilization based mainly on fossil fuels."

"This means someone knows about our existence, and it's not the humans. It worries me deeply," projected Peder.

"I agree. But everyone is a cousin of yours because of Enac genetic enhancements. However, most of the races have agreed not to interfere with newly developing species. Whoever it is, is not interested in following galactic protocol. They will not stop until they get my technology. Not every race is ready for it. Whoever they are, knows this fact. They probably believe humans are cunning enough to get it for them. Sadly, if they were successful, they would never share it with the people on Earth. What should we do with the captain?" projected Ava.

"Let him go, he's harmless," said Peder. He smiled at the captain, who was obviously frightened by what was going on.

"On the contrary, Peder. This captain is a soldier for hire. He works for a fringe group operating outside the normal government's sphere of influence. His leaders are keeping the people and their real government in the dark. They are afraid alternative technologies will force them out of business. Knowing life exists outside their solar system would also cause global economic collapse. We should erase his memory of this meeting and leave immediately. It is not safe here with these contract soldiers lurking around. Further contact may result in one or more of their deaths. I can sense they're determined to find you to complete their mission."

"Ava, you know best about these things. Remove his memory starting from when he fell into your bubble. It will make anything he reports useless. And, my little friend, we need to find a way to help the people of Earth."

CHAPTER 4

Too Nosey!

The meeting was in a small inconspicuous building in the heart of downtown Washington, D.C. A high-ranking presidential advisor and other government officials impatiently waited. A member from NASA was late for the meeting. They sat in a large conference room. Long white venetian blinds covered the only window overlooking the city six floors below. In front of the blinds stood an oblong, well-used oak table. It contained manila folders, legal pads, and sharpened yellow pencils for notes. Glasses and a pitcher of ice water were already half consumed. After a few minutes, a well-dressed overweight scientist with white hair entered the room. He was breathing heavily. He profusely apologized for his lateness.

"Well," said Ms. Rider, the presidential advisor in a loud high nasal voice. She was a thin, pale, almost fragile looking woman. She sported thinning blonde hair in her upper thirties. She had a propensity for rudeness. "Now that we're all here!" she paused for emphasis, looking around the room at somber faces. "Can you tell us anything we don't already know?" she insisted. She glared at the latecomer nervously mopping his forehead with a wrinkled handkerchief.

Noticeably high-strung, Dr. Rueben stood up, adjusted his frameless eyeglasses. He focused on the irritated advisor across the table from him.

"As you know," Dr. Rueben continued. "This UFO managed to disable our entire satellite network. But the military was still able to intercept its transmissions," he said with a quizzical look on his face glaring at the colonel. "The message was difficult to decipher at first. We solved it by calculating its alternating frequencies embedded within the message." He looked around the room with his right eyebrow raised above the rim of his glasses. Dr. Rueben was pleased to see all eyes focused on him. He didn't care if they understood him or not. Feeling confident about his hold on their attention, he spoke further. "Do you mind revealing how you obtained this transmission? Our entire global communications network was down at the time," he said directing his query towards an indifferent colonel.

"Look," snapped Rider. "We'll brief everyone on all the minor details later. Just give us the translation...please," she said annoyed and then as an afterthought said. "That is, assuming you geniuses at NASA could figure it out!" she retorted with a slight edge in her high nasal voice.

"Well...ah...the message said...in a loose translation of course. I am on the planet's surface. I will learn and report back later," read the scientist from a sheet of white paper. Dr. Rueben then placed the document on the table in front of Rider. He looked around the room in search of recognition. Dr. Rueben thought he was the first man to decipher an alien message. But he wasn't.

A man named Turner, dressed in a dark gray suit from Homeland Security looked up at Dr. Rueben. "Is that all it said? There must be more to it than that?"

"No, that's it!" said Dr. Rueben. "That's all it said according to our computers." He paused for a moment while disbelieving faces looked up at him. "Keep in mind that NASA's computers have never deciphered a message of this type. We are 70 percent positive of its correct translation. And remember," he said, holding up a stubby finger waving it in the air to make a point. "If it sends another message our computer's accuracy will significantly increase!"

There was a low murmur in the room. Turner tapped on the table for order and recognition to continue speaking.

"Well gentlemen," he said and then corrected himself, "...and...ladies. What do we do now is the real question before us? What is it that it must learn? And most of all," he paused and pointed his finger in the air for emphasis. "What will happen once it learns what it is they want to know?" he said stopping to catch his breath. Looking at uneasy faces, he continued. "We have many sensitive projects going on around the country. None of them can afford any setbacks. Colonel Houseman, do you have any ideas where the alien was sending his message? After all, it was your people who intercepted it?"

"We are not sure of its exact destination," responded Houseman.

"What about the rumors of a base on the moon?" asked Turner.

"Rubbish!" replied Houseman.

"Our astronauts reported seeing a base during the Apollo 10 Mission," insisted Turner.

"I'm sorry, but I can't comment on that," said Houseman. He had a thin smile on his face. He despised talking to anyone not directly connected with his work. He feared they might leak sensitive information to the public again. The last time it happened, he spent three months on Capitol Hill talking about it.

"Can you at least speculate on where the message might be going then?" asked Turner, determined to get an answer.

"We've been listening for signals from Tau Ceti for years. Our military scientists believe there's intelligent life in that area," admitted Houseman. "This sector of space is humming with chatter by unknown beings. We can only decode about 10 percent of their messages. What we've deciphered so far makes no sense. We were hoping for a breakthrough with this message. This translation was far too easy. It's probably not from our aliens.

"Where did the message originate on Earth?" asked Turner.

"Somewhere in the Appalachian Mountains," replied Colonel Houseman, giving in to the intense pressure in the room.

"What's in that particular area?" asked FBI Assistant Director Bliston. She was a well-dressed middle-aged, white haired woman in a tight-fitting two-piece black suit.

"There's nothing that I'm aware of in the area," said Houseman. The room fell silent, allowing outside traffic noise to filter inside. Late afternoon sunlight trickled through the slits of the partially opened blinds. Strips of light beamed down on those sitting farthest from the window. Their ghastly shadows fell on the wall behind them. A member lit a cigarette watching the smoke snake its way up to the ceiling. It scattered and quickly vanished. No one spoke for several moments thinking about the situation.

"I need to know what we're dealing with!" Rider blurted out, shattering the silence. "That's if all of this nonsense is true! My people think it's a satellite gone haywire."

"We don't know yet," said Houseman. "We need more time to search the area where the crash may have occurred." Colonel looked at each member and continued by saying. "The two pilots involved believed they destroyed a UFO. We know it must have survived. It sent a message right after the fighters left the area. But," he sighed for a moment. "So far, drones, search aircraft, and satellites, have been unable to find any wreckage. Nor have we been able to find any signs of where it may have landed." He looked at Rider, who responded with a look of disbelief. "We'll keep looking just the same of course," he replied.

"Colonel, it's been over three weeks," shouted Rider. "May I suggest that nothing is out there? This whole thing is nothing more than an elaborate hoax. Probably some young jokester is seeking a laugh at the government's expense."

Quickly, the colonel snapped back. "Yes. However, protocol dictates that we follow up on any anomalies originating from outer space. That said, it's an enormously large area we're dealing with!"

"Let's not wait for it to blow up in our faces," said Turner.

"I agree," said Bliston, second guessing his thoughts and continued. "Let's quietly start putting teams together to investigate. People on the Hill are starting to ask questions about this incident."

"This is utter nonsense!" cried Rider turning red in the face. "This has gone too far. It's only a sighting at best!"

"No," barked Turner. "It's more than that I assure you," he said. Pausing, he chose his next words carefully. "I've been informed by my sources that these things are real. Whether we find a spacecraft or not, doesn't rule out something isn't going on. I for one would like to see this administration take UFO sightings seriously!"

"Oh my god, not you too," yelled Rider hysterically. "This is insane. There are no aliens. There are no flying saucers with little green men flying around. We are starting to lose our focus!"

Assistant Director Bliston stood up. "My agency is going to recommend a congressional committee look into this matter. It's time to put these secret discussions into the hands of people that can deal with it."

"I agree," said Turner. "Whether real or imaginary we must consider the potential threat it poses."

"I don't believe this stupidity! Go ahead, be fools! Put your pensions on the line. However, I want to go on the record saying there are no aliens. This latest event doesn't prove anything! You simply have no proof. It could be a plot cooked up by the North Koreans," said Rider, abruptly standing up, jamming papers into her leather briefcase. Without saying another word, she stormed out of the conference room. However, before she left, she looked over to a corner of the room. An old gray-haired admiral dressed in civilian clothes sat with his legs crossed. He smiled, slightly nodding his head at her as she smiled back hastily departing. The admiral pulled his cell phone out of his jacket. He pushed one button on the keypad.

"Move quickly, they're starting to get too nosey!" he whispered quietly into his phone.

CHAPTER 5

Something to Report

Peder sat quietly in his living room. He propped his head on a lounge chair and gazed up at Ava's shiny black ball.

"I think we have enough data to report," projected Ava telepathically.

"I'm not sure my little friend," Peder replied. He rubbed the bridge of his perfectly shaped nose. "Time has traveled fast on this planet. I still don't know what to tell the committee. These humans are inconsistent with their behaviors. I keep thinking there's more to discover. It is clear they are not in control of their planet. Despite the fact, they've had their share of alien technology. It's just not getting to the people who need it the most. They should be much further along with this advanced technology. It's amazing they're still using primitive fossil fuels for energy. This type of energy has a terrible effect on their global environment. Something or someone is holding up their advancement on a global scale."

"I agree, but earthers aren't ready yet as a species. They are too emotional about things they have no control over. Things they do have control over, they're divided on how to deal with it. They're just too primitive...and destructive at this point in their development," Ava projected.

"Ava! They simply need guidance. We should check their information networks. Maybe, we can discover what's going on. The men in the Canadian wilderness knew too much about us. Start with the fossil fuel connection first. Energy is their biggest problem, and yet it should be the easiest to solve."

"I'll do this, but your ancestors take the blame. They were too mysterious about their interstellar experiments. No one could predict they would come this far out in the galaxy. Besides, suppose they don't want guidance from us. Then what? As a species, they're confused about themselves and their role in the universe. What makes you think they even care about doing the right thing?"

"We shouldn't give up on them just yet, old friend. Come sit beside me. Show me what you've found so far," Peder voiced. Ava floated down and morphed into her female form. She sat very close to her master and then put an arm around his neck. Seconds later, she spoke again.

"You're not going to like this Peder," she said aloud. "You were right about the fossil fuels. Apparently, it plays a fundamental role. Humans have zero-point energy technology. They've been using electrogravitic technology for over 50 years. Roswell was apparently ground zero for them.

Roswell Daily Record 1947 – Photo by Wikipedia.org

The technology they recovered from this one UFO started their advancement continuing to this day. Naturally, it's a secret to the public. Certain parts of their government don't even know about it. They were afraid their enemies would get the technology. It created what President Eisenhower called the Military-Industrial Complex or MIC. It operated without any oversight from their government. This new second government answered to no one. They were the ones we encountered in Canada. They're keeping everything a secret. The fossil fuel industries are taking advantage to make huge profits. They have gone to the point of killing people to keep it a secret. They fear anyone who can create free alternative energy. This secret faction doesn't care about the people or the planet. They're only interested in satisfying their greed."

"That doesn't sound right Ava!"

"It's true just the same."

"Someone else must be behind this," stated Peder. "I'll concede greed can make one selfish. But not like this for the sake of wealth. They have no regards for the health of the planet. This act goes against the natural laws of nature. Is there a civilization near Earth capable of this kind of destructive behavior?

"I'll try to find some data that can support your theory. Give me a moment," said Ava. Peder looked at his companion's perfect form. Her flawless skin and black hair were perfect for the shape of her face. With red glowing eyes, Ava wirelessly searched through all of the earth's databases. Finally, she relaxed and looked down at her master.

"Are you ready for this?" asked Ava in an audible voice.

"Well...?" said Peder.

"Well...it appears that a lot has happened on Earth. Your ancestors should never have left it to develop on its own. Several governments have banded together to form an alliance. They were fully aware of beings visiting their planet. So, they formed a joint space defense system made possible by captured alien technology. That happened several years after the Roswell incident. Now, they patrol the solar system in faster than light speed starships. Unfortunately, they started too late. Aliens rapidly took over various key positions in all the world's governments, militaries, and industries."

"Hmm, a silent invasion! Do you know who they are?"

"I'm working on that now. It appears the Zeddi controls the flow of information," said Ava.

"So, what you're saying is two civilizations exist on Earth. One is primitive using fossil fuel technology. The other is visiting distant worlds and perhaps colonizing them."

"That's what I'm saying," said Ava. "They have no idea how vast their wealth is from the exploitation of other worlds. These individuals are extremely greedy. They've used the excuse for over 60 years that Earth is not ready for advanced knowledge by manipulating the education process. It's unlikely they will ever share anything with the rest of the planet."

"If we could only force this faction and their partners off the planet," said Peder. "Earthers could develop into a meaningful species."

"Maybe, but I suspect these beings are very shrewd at what they do. Wait, I think I've found something. Yes, there is a prominent advocate for nondisclosure. The earther calls this entity the Cartel or Shadow Government. Perhaps the Military-Industrial Complex or the...Cabal. That word we're familiar with Peder."

"Ah, yes," acknowledged Peder. "The Cabal is an expression used by the Zeddi to describe their governments. If they are behind this, it makes more sense. Yes, this is serious Ava. What can we do about it?"

"We will have to give it some thought. The Zeddi is pretty smart and doesn't give up easily."

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised since we enhanced them as well. Perhaps a diplomatic call might be in order?" suggested Peder.

"What if the Zeddi's home world doesn't know about it either?" countered Ava.

"Hmm, then Earth will need our help getting them off the planet."

"Yes. The data flow suggests the Zeddi wants to enslave earth's inhabitants. They are silently taking over the major governments and corporations of this world. In twenty years, the takeover will be complete. They will use humans as genetically modified slaves to serve the Cabal by colonizing planets across the galaxy."

"Ava, how could it have gotten this far out of control?"

"Secrecy!" She whispered into his ear and softly kissed it.

"Now," whispered Peder. "Now, we have something to report."

CHAPTER 6

Just Do It

Norfolk, VA Skyline – Photo by Wikipedia.org

Norfolk Virginia's Detective Division routinely dealt with crimes against persons. The Homicide Section had an agreement with the FBI to share this information.

Seasoned detectives sat in flimsy metal chairs, behind two rows of dilapidated wooden tables. They looked at their captain for an explanation. They didn't normally have late meetings. Each face held mild discomfort sitting idle in their conference room. It smelled of tobacco, hardworking men, and woman under constant stress. The room had barely enough sunlight filtering through to hold the gloominess at bay.

"I'm sorry for calling you up here so late this afternoon. We have a special alert situation. The feds want to brief us on it," said Captain Gase. He had a round face and slightly pointed nose. His dark beady eyes evenly spaced apart, had untrimmed eyebrows. His hair was dark brown from hair coloring to hide his white streaks. Flat lips highlighted whatever he was thinking. His facial expressions gave his detectives a clue to his seriousness, as he looked around the overcrowded room.

A minute later, the feds arrived in their dark business suits. The speaker walked over to a battered wooden podium placed at the front of the room. Two other FBI agents stood on either side of him. They had their arms folded over their chests. Large bulges exposed their weapons under nicely tailored suit jackets. He deliberately cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. A hush fell over the room. He peered out into the smoke-filled room. Serious faces watched as he pulled a secret document from his coat pocket. He remembered how he reacted to the news about aliens. He recalled hearing about Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. As a young boy, he always wondered if it were true. Now, it was different; the bureau wanted answers, meaning it was indeed true. He had to share this information with them. He hoped they would accept it and quickly moved on.

Agent McHall was a rising upstart at the bureau. His goal was to be an assistant director in 2 years. His large stature gave him the power to impose himself on others. Still boyish-looking, he charmed the women and crushed the competition. Confident of himself, his dark gray eyes projected his will. Standing in front of the detectives, he took command of the situation.

"Detectives!" he began in an authoritative voice. "And agents!" referring to two colleagues, Harry Morgan and Tamara Weaver standing in the back. Both were wearing their customary black suits with arms folded as well. Special Agent Tamara or Tam was a lawyer turned FBI agent. She was at the top of her graduating law class. Many were surprised when she turned down a successful law career to become an FBI agent. She was a native of Virginia Beach since 1983. Tam was born with a twin sister, but she died during birth. She held the memory of her twin close to her heart. She believed she had a double dose of female intuition because of her. Therefore, she never felt alone. She was one-fourth African-American, one-fourth Caucasian with one-half Native American roots. Tam was very passionate about her heritage. Both her parents were dead, and her only brother was killed in Iraq. All she had was a niece and a grieving sister-in-law. After nine years, her sister-in-law still mourned over his death.

Tam stood exactly 180 centimeters tall. She had a dark brown boyish haircut accompanied with large almond shaped brown eyes. Tam had a light coffee complexion which either provoked pleasure for some or seething envy from others. Running every morning helped maintained her slender physique. People encountering her on the street saw a woman with pride in herself. Her face held a serious look on its brow keeping many potential males at bay. Tam was the sort of person who genuinely believed in what she was doing. It drove her to complete every assignment with meticulous precision. Many of her peers felt intimidated by her as a result.

Special Agent Harry Morgan was the son of hard-working immigrants. He was a typical agent getting on in age. Morgan sported a receding red hairline. He simply combed it back and forgot about it. His warm smile was infectious and deadly because it was disarming. He used it wisely to get more information from those he encountered. Harry was a former military intelligence officer in the Army at the rank of major. His success in the military qualified him for the FBI's diversified experience entry-level program. Morgan took advantage of the opportunity and excelled.

***

"Good evening! I am Special Agent McHall. What I am about to share with you is out of your normal duties. It involves National Security of the utmost importance. Therefore, you are now placed under the Secrets Act. That means what we discuss is classified," he announced. The detectives mumbled. He waited as his agents collected signed documents they had passed out.

With a straight face, he stated, "An alien is on our planet." He paused as someone in the crowd whistled with amazement. A few looked at him with skepticism and folded their arms. They were in no mood for jokes as he continued. "It's possible that this alien is now in your area." The grumbling grew louder with disbelief. "This is not a joke. It might be here to spy on the military bases in your area. We're not sure yet," he said. The chatter grew louder forcing him to raise his hands for silence. "We need you to help search for it. We don't know its gender, but it looks human, obviously. It could be white or bi-racial. We just don't know yet. They don't think it's dangerous. It will be your job to help us quietly find it. You are not to harm this alien. No deadly force," he stressed pausing for a moment. "Evading capture this long is proof of its cleverness. Therefore, we strongly advise you to work in pairs. Do not approach it on your own; use backup!" said McHall. "Be on the lookout for anything unusual," he added. Many of the detectives viewed acting strangely as the norm causing them to laugh. McHall waited for them to settle down again and continued. "Check informants and other sources for information. Look for anything unusual or out of the ordinary."

"Any questions?" McHall asked. A detective at the back table raised his hand.

"How do you know it's in this area?"

"They have been tracking its signals," said McHall not sure how himself.

"What about diseases from this creature?" a mousy looking male detective shouted.

"No major epidemics has occurred since it landed here," McHall replied and continued. "We must assume it has a better immune system than ours."

"If we catch this thing how do we hold it?" asked the well-dressed mousy-looking detective.

"If you think you have it cornered, call for backup."

"What's going to happen to it?" shouted an overconfident male detective.

"We'll let it make the first move. NASA will brief you later on what to expect. Any more questions?" he asked.

"Yeah, you said it could be any sex. But what skin color or complexion do you think it might be?" said a competent female detective. She was tall with a slender figure. Long brown wavy hair made her look like a Hollywood movie star posing as a detective. She flicked her hair back reminding the men of her presence in the room.

"It's more likely to be an adult Caucasian or very light almond complexion like an African-American. He's probably in his mid-to-late twenties. A good example was a sighting in 1964. It happened in New Mexico near a missile base. A sheriff made a good eyewitness account of a UFO landing. Based on his testimony, they were male humans just like us. Yes, you in the back over there," he pointed.

"Why can't it be a female?" challenged another female detective. "A woman could be just as good at getting sensitive information."

"Good question Miss, ah, detective. All I can say is the administration is leaning towards a male," offered McHall.

"What makes you think it's here to spy on our military?" said a squirrelly-looking man. He mopped perspiration from his forehead with a dingy handkerchief. He was the most highly decorated detective in the whole Tidewater area.

"That notion comes from high up in the administration as well. I can't comment or elaborate on it any further than that. However, I've heard they intercept messages from it via satellites. That's how they know it's here in your area now. UFO sightings in Virginia go back a long way," he said as it grew quiet.

"Are you sure there's only one alien?" yelled another woman detective. Her muscular build looked intimidating. Both arms held tattoos on a beach-grown tan.

"Ah, we don't know. Rumors suggest we've never been alone on our planet. Scientists think aliens have lived with us as far back as world war two. Some say for thousands of years or maybe longer. So, if you see this creature, remember we want it alive. Any more questions?" he asked looking around the room at disbelieving faces. "Your captain will give you further briefings when necessary. Good luck to all of you!"

* * *

"Darn, I need fresh air after that bull," said Morgan standing outside the police station with Tam. He was average height compared to her, who was much taller.

"Let's drive over to Waterside to get something to eat," offered Tam.

"Sounds good to me," replied Morgan.

In ten minutes, they arrived at the parking garage across from Waterside Galleria.

Waterside Norfolk, VA – Photo by Wikipedia.org

Tam got out first and nodded towards a couple for her partner to see. Morgan smiled back at her. They watched the odd couple walking towards an expensive silver-blue Jaguar.

Jaguar F-type – Photo by it.wikipedia.org

The convertible top automatically began to fold back. The woman towered over the man. The two agents watched with humor. Suddenly, the female shrunk to get into the car. Tam and Morgan blinked. They both saw her do it. Neither could believe their eyes. So, they dismissed it. They thought it was just an illusion produced by the lighting in the garage. Neither of them said anything, believing the other would laugh. Tam spoke first.

"Get the plates and find out whatever you can about them."

"Why?" Morgan said reluctantly. "They haven't done anything wrong, have they?"

Tam stared back at her partner and said, "Just do it, please!"

CHAPTER 7

With Deep Regret

Zoey Weaver was 24 years old. She was an extraordinarily intelligent young woman. Just finishing her law degree, she began contemplating her next move. Born in North Carolina, she was half African American and half Native American. At just over 170 centimeters, she was quite attractive. Her dark brown hair in a French braid ponytail was her trademark. She looked at you with soft light brown eyes and a complexion equally complimenting as a creamy light coffee color. Zoey was unusual in that she wore very little makeup. She had a small, slender physique. Always walking with her head up, she carried a warm smile on her face. She firmly believed that being a good person made her feel good about herself and others. So, she kept the notion that everyone one day would enjoy the fruits of life in America.

Driving a red Mustang convertible, she drove top-down with strands of hair swirling around her face.

Red Mustang – Photo by commons.wikimedia.org

Zoey cruised with the traffic across the Hampton Bay Bridge Tunnel. She enjoyed watching small fishing boats bouncing up and down the sides of the bridge.

The sea breeze felt fresh and clean on her bare skin as she drove faster down the highway. She exited at the Hampton Coliseum Mall ramp, wrapped tightly in her emotions. She almost ran through a stop sign before recovering herself. With shrieking brakes at the end of the exit ramp, she came to a full stop. Instantly, she decided to put her feelings on hold until she got to the mall just a block away. In the end, Zoey spent most of her time driving up and down the parking lot looking for a place to park.

While driving through the outdoor mall for the third time, there was some commotion going on just ahead of her. Uniformed security guards were running in all directions, looking inside parked cars. She continued driving when suddenly she heard a thud on her backseat. She turned to see what it was. But she caught a glimpse of a man running from behind a parked car. He scurried towards the mall entrance. A man's voice yelled out, "He's going to the mall!"

The guards raced past her. They headed towards the mall on the heels of a dark figure.

The stranger was Sam Sikes or just Sikes. He was average height with a shaved head. Sam was a 40-year-old sneaky looking dark white male. He carried a top heavy, muscular build from years of fitness training. A product of Norfolk, he made crime his only occupation. Over the years, he managed to stay ahead of law enforcement and his competitors. Currently, he was selling illegal weapons. When he arrived at Hampton's busiest shopping mall, his buyer, Rebecca was late. They finally met at the food court as prearranged. To complete the transaction, Sam suggested they go to his car. Unknown to both, an undercover detective had been following Rebecca since early morning. As they arrived at his car, the security guards had already encircled them. Their approach caused Sikes to look up in time to see the guards coming towards them. He snatched a black case from Rebecca's hand. He quickly ran off, leaving her stranded with a stolen car and a trunk full of new automatic rifles and a large cache of ammunition.

Trying to figure a way out, Sikes noticed Zoey's car. He quickly memorized her license plate. A moment later, he dashed for the nearest store. Empty-handed, he slipped past the security guards with ease. Meanwhile, Rebecca was handcuffed and getting her Miranda Rights.

Zoey arrived home disappointed. After all the commotion at the mall, she decided to leave. Her subconscious thoughts forced her to look at her backseat. Her eyes wandered until she saw a black case on the floorboard behind her seat. Bewildered, she reached for it. It was heavy, so she gently shook it nervously thinking it might be a bomb. Carefully, she pressed the release buttons and opened it. In disbelief, excitement washed over her senses. But, it was only short lived. A large amount of cash in the case obviously belonged to someone else. They would want it back.

"He's probably looking for me right now!" she muttered under her breath. With deep regret, she closed the case.

CHAPTER 8

Make a Morning Appointment

The next morning, Special Agent Morgan was driving their official black sedan while Tam stared off into space.

FBI car – Photo by Wikipedia.org

"Tam, remember that odd couple we saw yesterday in the parking lot? Well, I followed your advice and checked them out. He's probably nothing more than a rich mama's boy with a taste for gothic chicks."

"You may be right, but I only glimpsed them."

"That girlfriend is weird and could be seen as suspicious, but aliens are stretching it I think. But, in your favor Tam, they did make the watchlist."

"Morgan, do you know something about them I don't know?"

''Yeah, well by way of photos. Trust me, they're the proverbial odd couple."

"Tell me? What do they look like?" she asked.

"The guy is not bad looking. They think he's bi-racial. But the girl!"

"What about the girl?"

"She's gorgeous in an odd way."

"How so?''

"Her body is perfect, and her hair is in this China doll haircut with a small finger-like ponytail in the back. Not one hair is out of place.

But, it's the way she dresses that really catches your attention."

"And..."

"Well, she's Gothic. She wears black all the time with a red spot somewhere on the front or back of whatever she's wearing and, of course, her nails are painted black as well," replied Morgan and continued. "But her face is also interesting."

"Oh my god, do you want to date her? You really checked her out, didn't you?"

"No, it's not like that. But the woman is unusually beautiful. Her complexion is a Middle Eastern type with serious red lips and bright black eyes."

"And you got all this from one photo of her?"

"No, there are dozens of photos of her at the office."

"I hope they saved some for the guy."

"Yeah, they have a few."

"It's still not enough I think to put them on a watchlist. However, intelligence says the couple just showed up one day and moved into a very expensive townhouse paying cash. We can't find any bank accounts. All we have is a driver's license for her. She goes by the name of Ava Companion. We still can't find any name for him yet."

"That's extraordinary you can't find anything about him," said Tam and continued. "Did you check to see if they had a marriage license?"

"Naturally!"

"And?" she said.

"We don't know, and we didn't see a ring on her fingers either although that doesn't mean anything these days. Like I said, we can't find anything, not even a passport," said Morgan.

"So, what are we dealing with?"

"Drug dealer is what I think!" said Morgan with a wide grin.

"I don't think so. I think we've just seen what Special Agent McHall was talking about."

"No Tam, you don't mean those two are aliens. Jesus, come on. I like her."

"Too bad! I think we need to find them," ordered Tam.

"They seem to like shopping malls based on intelligence reports."

"Anyone in particular?" Tam asked.

"MacArthur's."

"Let's go and stake it out," she commanded.

Special Agent Weaver was beginning to admit to herself that she was distrustful of the couple without a good reason other than their appearance. She began to wonder about their relationship. Based on Morgan's digging into their past, it didn't shed much light. She felt compelled to speak to them. Something wasn't right, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Just then, her cell phone vibrated in her coat pocket.

"Hello!" She said and listened for a moment. "Thank you!" She replied joyfully.

"Quick, let's go, Morgan, they've located them at MacArthur's Mall!"

* * *

Peder sat on a bench in front of a water fountain with an elevator behind it. He watched streams of water shoot into the air forming a neat arc that landed on a pad. Seconds later, another stream of water went to the other side of the fountain and then reverse itself again. People were everywhere wandering in and out of stores searching for bargains or strolling and talking to family or friends.

Casually, Special Agent Weaver in her tight black suit and white shirt walked over to Peder and stood in front of him while starting a conversation.

"Hello, are you alone? Where's your partner?" Tam asked. Peder looked up to see who was talking to him and found himself confronted with a very lovely looking woman. She was just a little shorter than him with a complexion a little darker than his. Her striking beauty caught him off guard as he stared for a moment.

"My partner? Oh, you mean," he said and caught himself. "She's around here somewhere. Do I know you?"

"No," she said coyly. "Not yet, but I have a hunch you will. My name is Agent Weaver, and yours is?"

"My name is Peder."

"Well, Mr. Peder."

"No, just Peder."

"Okay. What's your partner's name?"

"Who? Oh her!" Peder paused and looked at Weaver.

"Okay, are you two married?"

"No, she's my personal assistant and driver," replied Peder. They stared at each other for another moment.

"Well, that must be nice. So, I guess you're wealthy. What do you do for a living, besides hang around shopping malls?

"I shop of course!" said Peder with a board grin on his face.

"Careful," said a voice inside Peder's head. "She's getting irritated with you."

"What kind of agent are you," Peder asked to ease her stress.

"I'm in the insurance business."

"That sounds fascinating. But what exactly do you do in the insurance business, Agent Weaver?"

"Insurance investigator," she snapped.

"Stop playing with her, Peder. She's an FBI Special Agent," projected Ava hovering invisibly over his head.

"Are you investigating someone now?" Peder asked while Tam blocked his view of the shooting water.

"Should I be?" she replied with a grin.

Suddenly, Ava appeared behind Tam and said. "Hello, am I missing something?" her firm voice startled Tam, but she quickly recovered.

"No, this is Agent Weaver, an insurance investigator."

"Oh, is something missing? Have we been robbed Peder?" Ava offered.

"No Miss," Agent Weaver said turning to see who was talking to her.

"You can call me Ava. Just Ava," she replied with a grin.

"Well, this is getting interesting," said Tam. "Why don't we go someplace to talk, let us say your place Peder?"

"Talk about what, may I ask?" offered Peder with a charming smile.

"Like what you're doing in Norfolk would be a starter," boomed agent Morgan coming around from behind the elevator to stand beside Ava. Quickly, Ava walked over to Peder and stood beside him. Special Agent Morgan stood beside his partner looking suspiciously at Peder and Ava.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible," said Ava, breaking into the conversation. "He has an appointment."

Peder looked up at Ava catching the hint and said, "Of course, I guess it's getting late." Special Agent Morgan moved closer as if to stop Peder from getting up from his seat. Peder stood up towering over Morgan and said, "Perhaps we'll meet again, Agent Weaver."

Tam held her hand up to stop Morgan from advancing any closer on Peder.

"Oh, you can count on that," she said eagerly and continued. "Perhaps tomorrow?"

"Do you have our address?" said Ava.

"Of course! Every good insurance investigator has sources," Tam replied.

"Good then, tomorrow morning," said Ava extending her right hand. Tam grabbed it and found it soft, but stronger than usual for a woman.

* * *

Leaving the Mall, Morgan drove the sedan while Tam stared off into space. They received another general alert over the radio for anyone suspicious in the area. The alert bothered her not giving more details. Morgan called back for confirmation and received the same message with no further details.

"I guess we'll know it when we see it," sighed Morgan.

"Yeah, but I think we've just seen...it!"

* * *

Later in the evening, Morgan and Tam drove up to Peder's house. There was just enough light to make out a row of expensive Brownstone houses. Despite a sign stating resident parking only, Morgan eased into a vacant space. They both got out and walked across the street. Morgan arrived first and banged angrily on the door. A shadowy figure appeared at the door's window. A rush of cool air greeted them as it opened.

"Hello, may we come in?" said Special Agent Weaver holding up her FBI badge in Peder's face as he opened the door wider.

"Well, this is a surprise. I wasn't expecting to see the FBI so soon."

Agent Weaver stepped in, but Morgan rudely pushed his way past Peder.

"Pleeease...make yourselves comfortable," said Peder to Morgan.

Walking through the foyer and into the living room, the agents looked around admiring the décor of the modernized Brownstone home. They took a moment longer before sitting down across from where Peder was standing. Peder sat placing his hands on his lap.

"Look," said Morgan gruffly, "we know what you are. Why don't you make this easy and tell us what you're doing here?"

Peder looked at both of them surprised and said. "Up to now, I've been very private with my observations. I'm not prepared to share my findings just yet."

"What are you? Some nut!" shouted Special Agent Morgan. "Don't waste our time. What kind of game are you playing?"

Tam held up her hand for Morgan to stop talking.

"Where is your partner?" said Tam. They both scanned the living room again. Just as they turned their heads back to look at Peder, a voice whispered.

"I'm here!" She was sitting in a chair to Morgan's left. He almost jumped out of his seat from fright.

"Where did you come from?" barked Morgan.

"I've been here the whole time listening to you trying to make criminals out of us."

"No, that's not what we mean," said Tam.

"But Special Agent Weaver, I can assure you we are not here to commit any crimes," offered Ava and continued. "We're only here to visit your lovely city." The two females looked hard at each other before Tam turned away.

"My boss is tired. Perhaps we can continue this talk tomorrow morning like we planned," offered Ava.

"Of course, we understand," said Tam as Morgan started to say something and stopped. He knew it was sometimes better to follow Tam's intuition. Both agents got up and headed for the door. Tam looked back at Ava and politely waved goodbye. When they got to their car, Morgan quickly whirled around and said, "What the hell was that? We had them, Tam."

"No, we didn't. I sense there's something much bigger going on. I'll call her and make a morning appointment."

CHAPTER 9

The Long-Legged Freak

Norfolk was bright and buzzing with sounds of life. Tam and Morgan were on their way again to see Peder at his home. The neighborhood had well-manicured trees in square plots of soil. Much of the street had cars parked in their reserved spaces. But Peder's Brownstone had a vacant spot behind his car.

Brownstone buildings – Photo by Wikipedia.org

Morgan zoomed into the space bumping Peder's back fender in the process without the slightest remorse.

"Good morning," Peder said smiling as he opened the large glass door for them to come into the foyer. Dressed in a lightweight camel colored suit and dark blue shirt he said, "I thought since it is such a nice day we could go to the beach and talk." Tam looked at Morgan. He hunched his shoulders with uncertainty.

"Sure, why not!" she replied looking down at her black suit. She didn't feel dressed for such an event.

"Great!" said Peder looking at her suit and admiring how well it fit her. "My car will only hold two of us. Special Agent Weaver, you can ride with me, and Special Agent Morgan you can take my assistant. How's that?"

"Sounds like a plan," agreed Tam feeling she could handle Peder on her own if necessary. His demeanor suggested a refinement about him above violence.

"My car is out front, Agent Weaver," said Peder.

"Okay," replied Tam looking back at her partner.

"Oh, by the way," Peder said stopping abruptly, "Agent Morgan, my assistant, needs to go to MacArthur's Mall to pick up a package for me. It'll only take a minute, and then you can join us at the beach." Ava, dressed in tight black pants and a black shirt with a large red solid circle in the front smiled down at Morgan, and he fell for it without any argument.

"Good, it's all settled," said Peder.

***

With Tam and Peder gone, Morgan opted to wait outside in his car for Ava. While admiring the exteriors of the Brownstone buildings, he felt a sense of calmness looking down the street at the carefully lined trees in a quiet neighbor beside the river. A nondescript man dressed in a black suit stealthily walked up to his car from behind. Morgan's window was down. The contractor quickly stuck his gloved hand inside and tapped Morgan gently on the neck. Special Agent Morgan instantly slumped over in the passenger's seat. Moments after the contractor ended Morgan's life, three more contractors dashed up the stairs and into Peder's Brownstone. The door banged open, and Ava quickly morphed into her sphere becoming invisible. Her plan was to take Agent Morgan to the Mall and once there announce she had to go to the restroom. She assumed he'd wait for her while she came out invisible leaving him waiting. If he tried to call his partner, she'd block his cell phone signals giving Peder and the female agent more time to be alone at the beach.

* * *

"That long-legged freak is in here somewhere," shouted the lead contract killer to his team standing in Peder's living room. "Don't kill her, we need to find out what she knows about the device." They nodded, and two rushed upstairs with their guns poised to fire. The leader and another man quietly walked to the back of the house towards the kitchen. The back door locked from inside, they turned back after looking into the kitchen. They all searched meticulously with no results. Finally, they joined in the living room again shaking their heads.

"She's got to be here. She's been with him since last night," said the leader.

"Maybe there's a secret room in this place," said one of the men.

"Negative," said another contractor. "Not unless they put one in last night."

"Okay, okay," said the leader. "Did anyone see anything that might be that damn device?"

"Negative!" They all replied in unison.

"I can't believe that freaky woman could be clever enough to give all of us the slip so easily," said the leader. They stood together for a moment looking around the plush living room when a beam of light came showering down to capture them. They stood frozen with eyes wide open, arms at their sides and weapons on the carpet by their feet. Ava spoke inside their heads.

"Don't be afraid. I'm going to ask you some simple questions. You don't have to say anything. Just relax and enjoy the calmness you're feeling inside your heads, compliments of the long-legged freak!"

CHAPTER 10

Splat!

Virginia Beach, VA – Photo by Wikipedia.org

Peder and Tam walked side by side at Virginia Beach on its famous boardwalk, periodically gazing at each other. They stopped to look at three white fishing boats far out on the bay's horizon while leaning on a guardrail. With outstretched fishing nets, gliding seagulls creating a painting in motion delighted them.

Peder pulled out a small bag of crackers from his hip pocket and began throwing small pieces to a few seagulls loitering nearby. He held out a cracker in his hand enticing one in midair to pluck the tasty morsel from his fingers. They laughed in amusement at its boldness while the others vocally urged him to continue feeding. The last cracker plucked away; Peder looked at Tam with a smile as they enjoyed the moment.

"Peder," said Tam, softly breaking the silence. "Why are you here in Norfolk?" she asked with a warm, engaging smile.

"Honestly, I like this area of the country," he replied and continued by adding. "It reminds me of my home," he said watching the surf wash over the sunbathers lying at the water's edge. Further out three pelicans in single file skimmed low across the bouncing waves in search of seafood.

"Where is home for you?" she asked with a suspicious grin.

"Ava says you think we're criminals, and that's why you're interested in us."

"Yesterday, I was thinking that way, to be honest. I'm not sure anymore," she said softly. She continued to look at the bay's endless waves filled with beachcombers bouncing up and down in its rhythm.

"What changed your mind," asked Peder.

She looked away before answering. She felt emptiness wash over her and said, "You have a way about you that I like in a man. I want to know more about you," she replied. Peder looked deeply into her brown eyes.

"Is Ava really just your personal assistant?"

"Yes, she is," he replied with a surprised grin on his face.

"I'm glad to hear that. I could use a friend. But you and Ava are mysterious."

"No, we're just different."

"Well then, tell me where you're from?" she asked.

"We are from a place called..." Peder paused. Ava tapped him gently on the head signaling she was back.

"Auntie Tam I am so glad to see you," said an excited voice behind them.

* * *

"How did you know I was here?" said Tam turning to see her young niece, Zoey.

"I didn't, I came to clear my head."

Caught off guard Tam turned to Peder and said, "Oh, Peder, this is my niece. She totally forgot I might be working."

Shocked, she threw her hands up to her mouth realizing she may have blown her aunt's cover.

"Oh, I'm sorry, but I need your help!"

"Splat...Eeeeck...Splat...Ahh...Splat."

Toxic substance – Picture by L. Sky

CHAPTER 11

You Liked That Huh

"Mickey! Look, I got a license plate number I want you to trace for me. Yeah, it's BBD 723. Listen, I want it yesterday okay! Call me as soon as you get it. I owe you one man!" said Sikes sitting in an old leather chair in a dimly lit room. He had a cheap smile on his face looking over at his partner.

"Are you sure this woman still has our case," said a mysterious voice sitting in a dark corner behind a spacious desk. Breathing heavily, he shifted his weight in a small chair from time to time. He got pleasure watching his second in command panic trying to think.

"It's all I could do, boss, to get away clean," offered Sikes.

"I understand all that, but do you think she'll spend it before we can catch her?"

"Mickey is quick with tracking down license plates. I trust him to get the information soon." Just then, Sikes' phone gave out a loud, silly jingle.

"Yeah, what you got for me?" Sikes listened and then grabbed a pencil and paper off his boss's desk and began writing.

"Are you sure this is correct. Okay, okay, it's just that I have to move quickly. The usual payment will do for you? Great. I'll probably see you tonight. Good, see you, man!" Sikes turned to his longtime partner grinning optimistically and said, "I'll have it very soon now."

"Very good. Get the money and the girl to our hideout and wait for me."

* * *

Rob Miller and Bill Ford were both veteran detectives. They were patrolling Norfolk's city streets in an unmarked car as Rob's thoughts dwelled on the secret briefing by the FBI.

"Bill," said Rob, watching his partner drive relaxed with one hand on the steering wheel, the other resting in his lap. "I still don't understand what we're looking for." Rob's broad shoulders and trim physique never revealed he was in his mid-forties. Methodically, he watched people pass before his brown eyes hidden behind darker brown sunglasses matching his complexion. He continued to talk after Bill grunted an acknowledgment.

"What did he mean unusual no matter how crazy?" Rob asked, noticing Sikes at the same time. During the station briefing that morning, the duty officer gave them a warrant for him and his partner's arrest. Spotting their car, Sikes quickly darted down an alley.

"Look, it's Sikes, our suspect for the day," yelled Rob pointing at Sikes darting down a street alley.

"Yeah, I see him," said Bill, a tall, thin male in his late thirties.

"I'll cut him off at the next block over." Mashing hard on the gas pedal produced a stream of smoke from his squealing tires. It forced the car to leap forward as it roared down the street. A startled crowd looked up at the commotion to determine what was going on. Bill had executed a beautiful 180-degree turn in the middle of a crowded street and then a hard left down another street. Normally, he would never have pulled such a stunt, but Sikes was worth the extra effort. His rap sheet was long and packed solid with arrests and court dismissals due to lack of evidence...or witnesses.

"Darn, he got away!" spat Bill. What in the world, were you thinking? We could have had him! I should have figured he'd slip into one of these buildings."

"Don't worry about it Bill, we can get him later. Sikes may be on the run, but he's not going anywhere," offered Rob and continued by adding. "It's his partner we really want, not him."

"Hmm, I guess you're right Rob. Everyone is looking for them. We'll get him!"

"Yeah, and old buddy, that car stunt you just pulled scared the crap out of me," said Bill.

Rob chuckled and said, "You liked that huh."

CHAPTER 12

Millions of Generations

"What's happening Auntie Tam," cried Zoey in a state of panic.

"Everything is okay," projected a voice inside Zoey's head. She blinked and looked from side to side. Somehow, she found herself sandwiched between her aunt and her strange friend.

"Everyone is safe. But someone is shooting at you with paint," Ava said in an audible voice.

"Is it a light creamy color, like bird poop?" said a focused Tam. She thought she recognized the voice. "Ava is that you?"

"Yes, Special Agent Weaver, it's me. And it does look like bird poop," replied Ava.

"Be careful, it's extremely toxic," said Tam.

"Okay," Ava replied, not concerned about the nature of the compound and said, "I can see the shooters on a hotel balcony behind you."

"What are they doing now," asked Tam.

"They're searching up and down the beach looking for you."

"Only the government has access to such weapons. It's the latest air powered rifle, and only government agents are authorized to use them. I don't understand what's going on," said a baffled Tam. She thought for a moment further before asking, "How come we're still alive?"

"I put an invisible wall between you and the shooters. They can't see you."

"Can you tell who they are Ava," asked Peder.

"They're the same men I encountered earlier at the house."

"Where's Special Agent Morgan," Tam demanded with deep concern in her voice.

"I'm sorry, but your partner is dead. One of these men shooting at you killed him. They have orders to kill anyone connected with Peder."

"What do you mean? I don't understand," said Tam.

"Apparently, they believe they can capture me if Peder is dead. Therefore, they don't want anyone to know about me and what they think I am capable of doing."

"How did Morgan die?" she asked with sadness in her voice.

"Special Agent Weaver, he was given the same toxin while waiting for me in his car. I don't think he felt any pain. Death was instantaneous. I'm sorry."

"Can you do anything to stop them?" asked Tam.

"Yes, if it's okay with my master."

"What are they doing," asked Peder.

"They're still looking for you with a crude heat-seeking device."

"What do you plan on doing," inquired Peder.

"I can get closer to them and link their minds to me for more information."

"Hmm! Go ahead, Ava. But I think we have a lot of explaining to do," announced Peder looking at Tam eyeing him with a curious look on her face.

"Oh! I certainly agree with that," replied Tam.

"Hey, can someone tell me what's going on before I freak out," said Zoey watching people walk by without paying her any attention. She violently waved at them as they ignored her, unaware of her presence. She swallowed deeply and resigned her feelings to take a backseat.

"Get closer together, and I'll form a bubble around you," said Ava as more people continued to pass totally oblivious to what was going on.

The sunlight lost its strength behind some heavy clouds causing faint shadows to fall over the boardwalk. The sounds of happiness drifted in and out as children played in the sand with unwavering excitement.

"Oh, what's happening Auntie Tam?"

"I don't know. Peder?"

"You're now inside Ava. She formed an energy bubble around us. Sit down and enjoy the ride." Zoey's eyes widened as she looked down to see herself hovering over the boardwalk. She didn't know what to expect when she sat on a black platform. Zoey felt weak and slightly disoriented. It was difficult for her to imagine she was sitting on something solid. Peder motioned her to sit closer to him while Tam leaned on him with an arm around his trim waist.

"Peder, agent Weaver knows you're not from Earth. The police and now the FBI are looking for you. You must tell her everything," projected Ava inside his head. Meanwhile, they rose higher towards the hotel. Zoey felt no sensation of movement looking out over the bay where tankers inched their way across the water like giant bugs. Seagulls flew around the bubble aware of its presence while Ava slowly turns her bubble for them to face the sixth-floor balcony of the St. Cleo hotel.

* * *

Ava edged closer to the balcony as the three of them looked through her bubble.

"Amazing," said Zoey marveling at Ava's technology.

"They can't see us," she whispered, looking directly into one of the shooter's faces, partially obscured by his telescopic viewfinder.

"Peder, I recognize the man in the middle. He's one of the men I saw in the Canadian wilderness. What's he doing here? I should have erased all of their memories when I had the chance," Ava scowled.

"For once, I agree with you," replied Peder. "They are becoming a threat to my new friends. Now that I think about it, their leader can't be too far behind. We must be more careful from now on."

* * *

"Do you see them, Howie," asked Carl, second in command of the contractors.

"Not a sign of them. How could they just disappear like that?" Howie asked as an expert shooter.

"Carl, I don't see them on the boardwalk, on the beach, or in the water," offered Max, the expert spotter for the group, scanning the beach with high-powered field binoculars.

"Yes, I think we're wasting our time. I'll call the captain and let him know," said Carl continuing to look for signs of their targets. Howie was the first to look behind him into the hotel room. He blinked his eyes and looked again to be sure. Sitting on the beds were four figures staring back at him. Ava was sitting alone on the first bed nearest the shooters. Howie instinctively spun around firing his rifle at the same time, shattering the balcony window.

"Splat...Splat."

Ava stood up, her head almost touching the ceiling. Suddenly, she morphed to form a transparent box trapping the three men inside.

"Hey, what the hell is this," yelled Carl, banging on the energy field. For spite, Ava made it as hot as a sauna inside. The men began to sweat profusely staring at Peder and his two female friends.

"Please, don't cut off our air. It wasn't meant to be personal. We're just following orders," said Carl while the other two nodded in agreement.

"What are your orders," demanded Tam.

"We're to eliminate him," pointing at Peder. "And anyone with him," he mumbled.

"Who do you work for?" said Peder.

"Look, I'm just a contractor, that's all. I get an email giving me orders, and I carry them out to get paid. I don't know who it is or why they want you terminated. I just know they want that device you have, honest."

"Ava is he telling the truth," asked Peder.

"Yes. At least he believes he's telling the truth. The others two know even less than him. However, the captain we met in Canada is also here. As a matter of fact, he's in the elevator coming up here now."

"Wipe their memories clean. Leave nothing for them to tell," ordered Peder.

A minute later, "He's in the hallway, Peder."

"Get us out of here Ava!"

The three contractors dropped to their knees, dazed and disoriented.

"Wham!" The hotel door was kicked open, and real bullets sprayed the room shattering lamps, television, and the rest of the balcony window. A woman next door screamed her head off in fear as several bullets penetrated the walls just missing her while taking a shower.

* * *

Zoey felt as if she was in a small closet looking through a window with a view of the outside world.

"We need to find a quiet place to hide," said Peder softly, and then told Ava to go to their secret hiding place. Once there, they could all relax. In response, Ava rose higher above the hotel allowing Zoey to get a better view. From their present height, the beach and boardwalk were dotted with tiny people infesting the hotels and stores along the strip. She could see for kilometers in every direction, giving her a new perspective on her small world.

Zoey had never flown in an airplane, and the sensation of flight captivated her senses even more. Looking over at Peder, he was in deep thought. She speculated on who or what he was! He looked, behaved, and talked like an American, but how did he control this 'thing' and what was it? How could she breathe fresh air inside such an enclosed space with no openings that she could see? How could she even smell the ocean? Ava's bubble drew her attention as it started to shimmer slightly as if some hidden force was on the other side swirling it around like a liquid. After a while, Zoey ventured a look beneath her again to see more clearly what she was sitting on and gasped with amazement. It was like looking into a bottomless black pit, but yet there was something solid beneath her, or so her senses told her. However, she could swear she saw twinkling stars like distant pinpoints of light in the galaxy. How could this all be she pondered? How was she flying? It seemed impossible, but it was happening.

Ava told Peder of Zoey's rising bewilderment urging him to speak to her. He turned and caught her attention.

"I will answer all your questions very soon," he said reassuringly. "Are you comfortable?" he asked Zoey finding himself looking at a younger version of Tam. They were both beautiful women and exciting to be around. He felt compelled to protect them.

"Yes, I'm fine," replied Zoey. "I guess I'm just a little curious about all of this, that's all!"

"Isn't the ocean beautiful?" he said to her. Trying to change the subject.

"How high are we?"

"About 300 meters, I think," he said and then paused not sure until Ava told him he was correct.

"Look over there," said Tam. "I think they're racing," pointing at brightly colored sailboats racing northwards up the bay.

"Look," shouted Zoey. "Dolphins!" She pointed as they romped through the water, running ahead of the sailboats as if they too were in the race.

"We're going to a favorite spot I found to hide and rest. Then tomorrow we'll consider all our options. Okay?" offered Peder.

"Okay," repeated Zoey, not worried about her safety for a moment. Tam listening had questions. She was still trying to settle with the death of her partner. He had been a longtime friend, and she would deeply miss him.

Ava circled above a small bridge spanning across an inlet of water bordered by sand dunes. There was a tall luxury apartment building, adjacent to the north of the bridge, near the beach where Ava prepared to land. She circled the bridge from the west to the east allowing Zoey to see the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel-Bridge snaking out into the bay and then disappearing in the distance.

Ava continued descending while producing handlebars from the bottomless pit on both sides of Zoey, so she could hold on tight. Finally, she landed with a little whoosh, safely hiding in the sand under the bridge.

* * *

As darkness gently crept in from the east, a string of lights outlined the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel-Bridge creating an enchanting view of the bay. The rhythmic sounds of the ocean filtered into the bubble, but the noise from the traffic overhead was blocked out. The bottomless pit beneath Zoey changed, turning into a black memory form bed with the most incredible feeling of weightlessness that caressed her body. Once the two females were relaxed, Ava used her telepathic connection putting them into a semi-unconscious state guaranteeing them a restful sleep perfect for dreaming.

* * *

Begin Video Streaming

A cool white room accommodated a three-meter high-bookshelf spanning across three of the four walls. Tiny black cubes covered all the shelves. Each cube had a coded message on its side describing date and name of each planetary experiment. The room functioned as an elaborate virtual reality studio projecting Enac's historical events on each experimental planet. The fourth wall had a white desk spanning its entire width one meter above the black cushioned floor. Embedded into the desk, four rows of tiny blinking lights controlled powerful computers humming with life. Above, a large circular light covered the ceiling. Ava floated to the center of the room below the light. She anticipated a relatively long journey to Earth and felt it prudent to be up to date with her master. He'd surely be curious with many questions, and it was her duty to know as much as possible. She rolled and pointed her red eyespot into the dim light. It triggered a brighter second beam of light directly into her red eyespot. The light interacted with Ava's circuitry allowing her to review a video-reality disc containing planetary records over millions of years old. This disc created a virtual reality environment inside her sphere producing life-like images of an experiment long forgotten for millions of generations.

CHAPTER 13

An Amazing Blue Planet

It was day one. Ava was looking down on six humanoids dressed in dark red lifesuits. They were fanned out in a green valley of tall swaying grass. They were searching for something underneath a hot alien sun. In a wispy female voice, a team member shouts to the group, "Over here!" They rushed to the new area. Another member pointed southward. Quickly, they regrouped and walked back towards their surface cruiser (a real oldie thought Ava). It hovered a meter off the ground. Four-legged creatures jumped inside by way of the cabin's open window to make a mess. The team quickly cleaned the cruiser and headed towards the south.

Ava transformed into her humanoid form with glowing red eyes. She sat with the crew as they chatted excitedly to one another. Ava felt the thick grass brushing against the bottom of the cruiser. Like ocean waves, they smoothly glided along. In the distance, a massive herd of grazing beasts stirred large plumes of dust. It agitated a tremendous flock of orange birds. They cried out from their interrupted feeding. Suddenly, Fredrik_82, a male member shouted, "Over there!" He points towards the southwest. The cruiser automatically steered off in the new direction. Ava winked her eyespot pausing the video-reality disc.

Ava quickly fast-forwarded to the fourteenth day. She silently took her place on the cruiser. It quietly paved a narrow road across an endless sea of wheat colored grass. Looming to the west was a giant snow-capped volcanic mountain.

Volcano in the Mountain – Picture by Wikipedia.org

Its powerful mass rested on a flat valley floor. Safe inside the cruiser, the team admired the surroundings. A flock of red birds flew into a shimmering yellow sunrise. A strong dry breeze with strange odors attacked their sense of smell. Nevertheless, despite the odors, the team felt deeply inspired. The planet's natural beauty was everywhere. Below, Ava heard the cries of death. A reminder that paradise also had sharp teeth too!

Sitting beside them, she sensed something watching them. She could see it, hiding in the thick grass; stalking them. It made her circuitry surge with concern for the team.

"Now, my friends," said Benna_23 with great reverence as the team's leader. "Now marks the third and final change in Earth's evolutionary history. This fertile world," she extolled. She waved her hand across the panoramic view. "They will re-live events repeated on scores of other worlds. This new direction will make them masters of their world," she proclaimed. She was caught up in a moment of euphoria. Beneath her, signs of intelligent life lay scattered in the dirt. The team quickly became intoxicated with excitement. Ava paused for a moment.

* * *

Day twenty-one, that night four round tents occupied a clearing overshadowed by the volcano. The tent's glass-like material glowed bright yellow in the darkness. Fenced in by tall grass, the campsite beamed for kilometers in every direction. They arranged their tents into a square. The land cruiser was parked hovering in the center. It stood ready for any emergencies.

On this hot night, they examined the day's findings inside their air-conditioned tents. A bloodcurdling scream not far from the portable encampment pierced the darkness. An animal was heard trying to escape the savage claws of big cats. Chills ran through everyone's body from uncontrollable fear.

The next morning, the sun shined through scattered clouds after a night of terror. The team looked tired from lack of sleep. They wore small weapons around their waists as a precaution. Working in pairs made them feel secure. Ava thought the weapons justified as she took human form again.

Earlier sightings proved useful in gathering more information about their target specimens. They were typical hunter-gathers searching the valley for food. Animal bones scattered the valley floor near primitive fire pits. They were the telltale signs of a communal species of pre-humans.

The clan was small with twenty members. Nonetheless, they were successful in their efforts to survive. Much of what they ate appeared in their droppings. It was a mixture of nuts, berries, small rodents, and insects. Their path circled the mountain radiating outwards and came back in again. Benna decided to go in the other direction. Ava Pause.

* * *

Day twenty-three, a female team member ran out of her tent. She began shouting at the top of her lungs, "Xandra is gone! She made a back door through the tent and left the camp last night." That morning, they started searching with infrared scanners. After hours of searching, they still had no idea to her whereabouts. Fearing the worst, they assumed she became the food for a long-toothed cat that circled the campsite early every morning.

The next day, they continued the search in the land cruiser. In a small grassy ravine east of the camp, they found pieces of Xandra's remains smeared with her blood. Deeply saddened, they returned to their starship, to mourn in private. Ava froze the video and reflected on what had happened. What made her leave the camp by herself, thought Ava? If she had a companion, Xandra's misfortune would never have happened. Back then, only a fraction of the Enac population had companions. They were originally for protecting Enac children. It quickly became obvious they could do more for their society. They seeded companions into every facet of their culture. Eventually, they were used for space travel. Given to Peder at birth, they imprinted her as his life-long companion. Ava paused the disc again.

* * *

Day twenty-five, Ava noted everyone's signs of relief. Fredrik's portable trap captured a female hominid. She had strayed away from her group. They sedated her without harm. In the dim light, they could see she had little body hair. As planned, her dark brown skin blended well with the hot climate. They looked into her weak brown eyes. It had an expression of awareness behind them. Her thin body weighed only 43 kilograms. She stood just 120 centimeters from head to toe. Each hand had five digits and five tiny toes on each foot. Her head had a small skull and sloped forehead. A heavy brow ridge descended into a strong protruding jawbone. It didn't take long to discover she had a tiny fetus growing inside her. It was several weeks' old growing healthily in her womb. The notion of such a creature conceiving life in the wild harbored strong feelings of joy. They named the mother, Lucy_1.

Lucy_1 (Australopithecus) – Photo by Wikipedia.org

Ava relished the team's feelings. She recorded them for future reference. She paused the video-reality disc with her red eyespot swirling with intensity.

* * *

On day twenty-seven, Ava watched the team extract body fluids from Lucy_1. They exercised extreme care not to harm her or the fetus. After an hour, they released Lucy_1. The drugs appeared to have no side effects. Lucy_1 quickly ran off into the bush and never seen again. Ava paused. Now, they knew the drugs used back then were not harmful.

* * *

By day twenty-eight, all the data was collected. Final preparations began for DNA testing on the starship. With her powerful telescopic eye, Ava looked up into outer space. The starship hovered above Earth like a silvery-black moon.

Next morning the team decided to take a farewell tour. They knew they would never live to see the experiment end. The full moon above the volcanic mountain shined down on the campsite as they prepared to leave. Finally, the sky brightens with soft colors of pink and pastel blues. They headed towards the foot of the snow-covered volcano. The air was heavy with decomposing matter from the night's hunting. Ava analyzed the odor. It smelled of rotten flesh.

For the first time, Ava saw scenes of savagery in its entire natural splendor. The planet was untouched by outsiders...except for the Enac. Never before had they seen so much diversity of life. Fredrik raised the issue of altering creatures to look like them. This project had begun millions of years ago. Benna assured him it was in everyone's best interest. Having something in common would help with communicating with them later.

As they cruised along, they sat on the edge of their seats. They watched the gracefulness of long-toothed carnivores bringing down huge beasts. They tore the flesh off their bodies in large chunks. Blood sprayed freely over them and their progeny. Ava watched the primitive behaviors trigger the team's emotions. It compelled them to continue deeper into the valley. Ava wished the Enac had programmed their new friends with the skills to preserve their planet's natural treasures. In a deep retrospect, she paused again.

* * *

Day thirty, Ava looked down on the familiar blue planet. As the starship descended, she zoomed in closer.

Starship over Earth – Picture by L. Sky and Photo by Wikipedia.org

Brown, blue, and green colors swirled with the white clouds. The globe-like starship cruised above the jungle floor pouring an enormous shadow on the ground.

* * *

Benna_23 Daily Log

"After hours of exhaustive research, my team has created a computerized map of Lucy_1's genes. This morning we designed a viral culture. They're calling it DNA3. It will insert new fragments of DNA into Lucy_1's family genes.

These genes are their final installment. The first genetic update 100,000 years ago successfully altered their appearance to look more human. The second panel increased their self-awareness. With this last panel of genes, the changes will speed up their development. They will evolve a language and swiftly build a civilization." Ava remembered the planet Pwent. They sought to change them too but failed. They caused chaos and destruction for the fledgling species. Now they were releasing this new virus on another planet. Ava paused.

* * *

The starship orbited three kilometers above earth's surface. Starting from the North Pole, it spiraled around the planet. Their course gave the maximum spread of the DNA3 virus. It touched every corner of the globe occupied by their pre-humans.

Ava floated in her virtual surroundings awhile longer. She gazed at a shrinking planet as the starship zoomed upwards. It went back to the safety of the stars. She continued to watch as it faded away. Ava wanted to remember all that had happened. The Enac had good intentions. But, did their new friends know how to be good stewards of an amazing blue planet.

Our planet Earth – Picture by en.wikipedia.org

Stop: End video-reality disc

CHAPTER 14

Get A Room

Still nestled within a sandy embankment under a bridge, Ava continued streaming information into Tam and Zoey's dream state.

* * *

It happened months ago far out in the coldness of outer space. A starship was racing towards the center of the galaxy.

The ship's technicians intercepted faint radio signals. It came from a little solar system a few light-years away. They discovered a blue planet circling a yellow dwarf star. It was another ancestral experiment. Delicate sensors capture radio transmissions from its seventh-planet. While searching, they detected a thick blanket of carbon dioxide gas. As suspected, it surrounded the tiny planet's upper atmosphere.

They scrutinized all the collected data. As a result, three Enac began a meeting in cyberspace. The room contained a huge window simulating stars speeding pass the starship. The leader dressed in a white luminous lifesuit raised her avatar's hand to start the virtual meeting.

"I've asked the committee here to discuss this new planet," said Dr. Linkgar_2501's life-like avatar. "We believe our ancestors visited it. Now we must decide if we should save it," offered Dr. Linkgar. She walked around a black table. Her cyberspace members watched as she finally sat down.

"Are they as primitive as the inhabitants on the planet Kelp?"

It's difficult to say with primitive cultures. Their behavior is erratic. They are warlike one moment and peaceful the next," replied Dr. Linkgar and continued.

"That may not be enough," offered Peneta and added. "We need someone qualified to visit and learn firsthand about them. If they detect our probe, they'll know for certain they're not alone."

"All right, I think we can see where this is going. I'm sure we're all ready to go home. I don't understand why our ancestors bothered to change their genes," said Dr. Linkgar. She said it while looking out into cyberspace. Dr. Linkgar gave in by saying, "Send a team! They must report all findings directly to my station. Then we'll make a final decision."

Beaming a broad smile, Toma asked, "Whom do we send?" His avatar was visibly pleased with the decision.

"Whoever it is, they must have experience," Dr. Linkgar insisted.

Peneta with a warm, lovely smile said, "I know just the team to send. Leave it to me."

"So, we agree to send a team?" challenged Dr. Linkgar one last time. Her avatar saw a cyber room full of smiling approvals.

Stop: End Video Transmission

* * *

Peder peered through Ava's barrier in the early dawn. His mind traveled back to the past few days. The harsh realities began to melt away. He got up and walked through Ava's bubble. A gentle breeze pushed him towards the water. The sand was warm under his feet. He kneeled at the water's edge. White foam rolled onto the sand wiping away the impressions of his footsteps.

Fishing boat – Photo by Wikipedia.org

Below grayish clouds, far offshore under a gray sky, tiny fishing boats dragged their nets. They constantly bobbed with a wall of fog behind them. Closer to shore, swarms of seagulls circled endlessly in search of food. Just then, Zoey kneeled beside him, silently watching nature work its morning magic. A white-haired man appeared from the apartment building. He was carrying a bright multi-colored kite.

A long red streamer chattered noisily behind it. He had the kite soaring in no time. It rose high above him in the bluish-gray clouds. Peder watched and thought. Earth was backward in many ways. But it was still a jewel in the galaxy. He had seen appalling things that saddened him. It was especially true for their lack of respect for one another. Something inside him begged for more understanding.

"I agree with you," Ava projected. "But Peder, do you have a solution...that will work?"

"No," he projected back. "I'm afraid I don't have a tangible solution...yet!"

Tam stirred in her space. Finally, she got up realizing she was alone. Looking through Ava's barrier, she saw Peder and Zoey kneeling by the water's edge. She took off her jacket and smoothed her shirt. Tam was unsure if she could pass through the shimmering barrier. When she looked beyond it, her view outside was clear. Ava's technology was way beyond her comprehension. She reached out. Her hand disappeared while feeling the cool outside air. Tam walked through it towards Peder. Looking back, she saw Ava walking passed her.

"Where did she come from?" mumbled Tam. She quickened her pace towards Peder. He extended his arm to wrap around Tam's waist. Instinctively, she hugged him tightly around the neck. The weight of her body forced him down into the moist sand. She rolled on top of him. Still embracing, the ocean washed over their bodies. She tenderly whispered into his ear. "Thank you for the history lesson! I always knew there was more to that story."

Peder felt the warmth of her body traveling deep inside him. He knew then, what he had to do to save her tiny blue planet.

"Auntie Tam," Zoey yelled. She was blushing as they continued to embrace.

"Please...get a room!" she yelled at them.

CHAPTER 15

Overly Aggressive Motor

Later that afternoon at Virginia Beach, Zoey walked back to her car with Peder and Tam in tow. At the far end of the parking lot, a small black sedan with two men inside stealthily watched them.

BMW sedan – Photo by commons.wikimedia.com

Peder noticed them and mentally asked Ava for help.

"That suspicious looking black car, I don't want it to follow Zoey. Disable its power source," he commanded.

Invisible, Ava floated away landing undetected on the hood of the sedan. Focusing her electromagnetic energy, she melted the car's entire electrical system.

Zoey's Mustang growled engaging its gears as she drove out the parking lot without any sense of being in danger. Tam saw two men. One of them was tall with a bald head, jump out of the car arguing with another man. Zoey drove passed waving goodbye to her auntie and Peder. Meanwhile, Ava tapped Peder on the head.

Tam, watching the black sedan and the two men, and said with a surprised look on her face, "Well, what was that all about?"

"Hmm, good question," said Peder innocently.

"I guess I'll be going now too. I have a lot of explaining to do when I get back to the bureau," offered Tam.

"Yes, but you can't tell them about me."

"They already know about you Peder, just not what you're capable of."

"I need time to find out who's behind this. You go back and explain as best you can, about your partner, and that people are after me. That should keep them busy for a while trying to figure out who it might be."

"All right, but Peder, when will I see you again?"

He smiled at her and said, "I'll be around. You just watch your step."

"How can I contact you if I need help?"

"Let's see," said Peder.

"Special Agent Weaver may I call you Tam," said Ava.

"Of course, you can."

"Tam, type my name on your cell phone's keypad. I will get your call. I have your frequency. I can track you if that's okay with you?"

"Sure," surrendered Tam.

"Don't worry," Peder said affectionately. "I just want you safe; that's all."

"I trust you Peder. It's just I feel funny knowing you are aware of my movements, that's all."

"If I could, I'd let you track me...to be fair," said Ava, "but your device isn't nearly sophisticated enough. I'm not like your cell phone!" Ava said and then projected. "But, I can say that my master cares greatly for you. I've never detected such feelings from him for another person."

Tam looked at Peder and projected to Ava, "Did he hear what you just said?"

"No. It is just between us females."

"What, what," said Peder looking at Tam with a quizzical look on his face.

With a pleased look, she said, "Nothing! I'll go to the office and get it over with."

Peder looked at her strangely and said, "I'll be in touch."

Tam smiled back at him walking to his Jaguar. She pressed the button and automatically put the top down. The engine roared to attention. It caught her off guard while engaging reverse. The back tires rapidly squeal from too much gas. She looked back at Peder and gave him a wicked smile. Tam drove off enjoying every second of the car's overly aggressive motor.

CHAPTER 16

Someone Has Kidnapped Zoey

Under a darkening sky, Ava's bubble arrived at their Brownstone. She quickly converted into her female form and with Peder behind her, walked to the front of the building. She directed a burst of electromagnetic energy at the house to detect if any humans were still inside. She placed her hand on the doorknob. Traces of a presence lingered around the knob like a bad taste. She picked up an electrostatic image of the men she had seen earlier that day. Peder stepped past her and turned the doorknob; not surprised to find the door unlocked. Inside, Ava felt the presence of humans, gone, but their visit still echoing from the ransacking of their home. Peder could tell they were still determined to get his Ava by the amount of damage done to his furniture.

"I think you're right. It seems this group is going to be persistent," projected Ava.

"How did they find out about you? They must have seen you when we were flying over the Atlantic Ocean. Your capture would certainly change the balance of power between the nations."

Ava frowned and said aloud, "I would detonate first Peder before I'd let them capture me."

Exploding companion - Photo by Wikipedia.org

"Yes, I know you would. Nevertheless, I will never let that happen to you. We're one."

"Peder, I will never let them harm you either."

"Listen to us!" said Peder. "We're getting too sentimental."

"But what are we going to do about Tam and Zoey? They're still in danger as long as we remain on this planet."

"Perhaps we should keep them with us until we're ready to leave. What do you think Ava?"

"I know you would like that master."

"I admit I would enjoy Tam's company."

"She is beautiful and clearly attracted to you. Let's go and find them and bring them back here. It will make it easier for me to protect you if you're all together."

"All right let's get Zoey first. She's the most vulnerable right now. Tam should be at her FBI headquarters, which I imagine should be a safe place for her. Call Tam and get Zoey's address," requested Peder. Just then, Ava received an incoming call.

"Peder, I have a call, it's Tam."

"Put her through."

Tearfully she said, "Hello, Peder? I need your help. Someone has kidnapped Zoey."

CHAPTER 17

Starting to Arouse Their Curiosity

Zoey's eyes opened to find her in a room with a small light hanging from an old cord attached to the ceiling. Darkness surrounded the light as her arms and legs throbbed with pain. With a dull ache sitting too long in one spot, her back and buttock tingled. She held her head back to take the strain off her neck and shoulders, only to be blinded by the naked light bulb. A man was leaning behind her checking the ropes that bound her to a wooden chair. When he stood up and faced her, she gasped and yelled, "You! You creep! Thanks for getting me into this mess!"

"You're awake," he said in a deep voice. The crude light landed on his bald head giving off a shiny halo. "My men tell me you won't cooperate."

Zoey blinked and sighed heavily. Without warning, he slapped her across the face, knocking her and the chair onto a hard-concrete floor. Zoey screamed in pain as he quickly pulled the chair upright. The ropes bit into her skin with a burning sensation as she followed the wobbly chair.

"Well, what's it going to be," Sikes barked. She sighed, and he drew his hand back to hit her again.

"Okay, okay," she repeated and said, "You're not going to like it, but I gave it to a homeless center in Norfolk." He suddenly relaxed and brought his hand down. He turned away to finger a small device blinking yellow on a nasty coffee-stained table. He pressed a few buttons on its display and then began mumbling to himself using profanity. Something about the device made him nervous. A red light began to blink on its face. He turned back around and gazed at Zoey, "Nice touch with the homeless! Go on I'm still waiting for the truth." He said smiling at her and looked at the device.

"If only I had time," he said. Sikes spoke with a strange look on his face. "I could make you talk!" He drew a gun pointing it at her chest and laughed. It sounded more like a low-pitched growl.

"How can you do this? I told your men what I did with the money."

Briefcase full of cash - Photo by en.wikipedia.org

He slapped her across the face again. Her head rocked back leaving her face burning with pain. She slumped in her chair.

"Let me go!" she mumbled, but Sikes continued to grin while looking lustfully at her curvaceous figure.

"As soon as my partner gets here, he'll get the truth out of you." He hoped it wouldn't take too long. He found her very desirable.

"Later on, we're going to have a little fun together; at your expense of course."

"I'm already here," said a voice filling the room. "I agree! She is a charming creature. What a pity," said Clarke Mathres and started laughing.

"Oh, hey boss," said a startled Sikes looking at the device and then Clarke as he stepped out of the shadows. "Boss, she won't talk."

"Yes, so I've heard," said Clarke looking down at her. "Get rid of her," said the middle-aged man dressed in a well-tailored suit. His facial features were reminiscent of someone wealthy and powerful. He flicked his long blonde hair back revealing a large rectangular-shaped forehead. Slowly, his tall body leaned into Zoey's face to peer into her eyes. He reached out to touch her cheek with an enormous grin pasted on his suntanned face. She was attractive he thought. Sikes will enjoy playing with her.

"No, wait," shouted Zoey. "My aunt is an FBI Agent. She will track you down like dogs if you harm me."

"What," said Clarke. "Is that true?" he said looking over at Sikes with his blazing blue eyes. Sikes hunched his shoulders.

Convincingly she added, "I haven't lied since I've been here."

"Boss, if she's telling the truth, it could mean serious trouble for us."

"Quiet, I'm thinking," Clarke shouted. "Can anyone connect her to us?"

"No," replied Sikes. "She made an easy snatch once she got home."

"Well then, it's simple, kill her. But, don't touch her body. The FBI is good at forensics.

Forensics Laboratory – Photo by Wikipedia.org

Dump her body in the river tonight. Don't you or your men touch her, is that clear. Make it look like an accident." Clarke backed away into the darkness and left the room. He wanted to have the pleasure of killing her when they finished using her, but now the risk was too great. His men could get caught, but not him. He was enjoying his new identity as a rich progressive criminal. For most of his life, he was a law bidding person in a thankless job safe from any dangers. His new profession was not considered important by any of his friends on Zeddi. However, for him, it was rich with experiences he could never get on Zeddi. The power he cornered in his little empire gave him control over others, which for him was well worth the journey.

Zoey quietly sobbed, her clothes sweaty and tight, adding to her anxiety. Fear gripped her breasts as she imagined helplessly drowning and no one to save her life as it slipped away. Confronted with so much anguish, she emitted a long deep sigh and fainted.

* * *

Sikes leaned several centimeters in front of Zoey's face. He wiped beads of perspiration from his forehead with some splashing on her face. The sweat trickled down her nose, collectively settling for a moment, before traveling to her lips and then mouth. She woke up startled. Sikes untied Zoey and placed her on a nasty, urine stained mattress. He then retied her hands and legs. Carefully, he examined the curvature of her lovely figure with regret.

In Zoey's mind, there was no escaping her fate. Her nose stung from foul odors. She soon realized one of the rancid odors was her own. She tried to focus on her surroundings but saw no clues to her whereabouts. All she knew was darkness and a mattress reeking of urine. Reality soaked into her bones, torturing her into numbness.

Sikes left her in an abandon waterfront warehouse on the docks of Norfolk. No one cared about the run-down building except the rats occupying its basement. They rarely journeyed to the main floor unless they were exceptionally famished. For now, they were content with homeless victims finding temporary shelter in the basement. However, her strong body odor was starting to arouse their curiosity.

CHAPTER 18

Trying Not to Think About Her Future

"How did you find out about Zoey?" asked Peder.

"The call came into the Bureau late this evening. They took her in front of her apartment complex. Dozens of witnesses saw it happen. My people are working on it now. They think they have a strong lead on some suspects," Tam replied confidently.

"Do they know where she is?" asked Peder.

"They think she's being held at an abandoned warehouse by the river."

"Let's get her," said Ava.

"Whoa," said Tam. "We must be careful. I don't want her to get hurt. These guys play rough. I believe it has something to do with what happened the other day. That's why she was at the beach. She told me about it yesterday."

"What happened?" asked Ava.

"It seems some guy tossed a briefcase full of money into the backseat of her car at the Hampton Mall before fleeing from the police. Presumably, he's now trying to get it back from her."

"Okay, let's save her," said an excited Peder.

* * *

Working with the FBI, the police were able to track down Kanadia Enterprises that morning. It was Sikes' hideout at an abandoned warehouse on the West side of Norfolk by the river.

Kanadia Enterprises – Picture by L. Sky & Photo by Wikipedia.org

After a brief surveillance, the area was barricaded, and the FBI along with the local police moved into position.

Sikes had just arrived to meet the kidnappers when a bullhorn shattered the silence.

"Free your hostage and come out with your hands up," yelled an FBI Agent.

"What hostage?" Sikes said baffled.

"Does it matter? What are you going to do," said Matt, a longtime friend and sometimes partner in crime with Sikes. Matt was a slender nondescript man with a round face badly in need of a shave. Like Sikes, he had years of crime on his resume. He didn't play around much and often ended conversations with a fight. Matt was the type that didn't mind shooting at police but wanted options for a clean get away.

"Look, don't sweat it," said Sikes. "I have a boat behind this place. We can slip out once the shooting starts."

"Well boss, I think now would be the time," said Benny, a friend of Matt, who came along for the extra money. He too was sleazy and smelled of cheap wine and urine. Looking out a dirty window, Benny saw dozens of police running to take cover. He turned to look at Sikes, who didn't seem worried about it. The building on the left had a very narrow walkway and no windows between either of the buildings. On the other side, a high fence guarded an anchored government ship with restricted access. The only approach the police had was a frontal assault. They could hold them off until Sikes prepped the speedboat. They just needed to get to Waterside Galleria to blend in with the crowd once they ditched the girl and the boat.

Matt yelled, "Boss; they're starting to move in."

"I'll get the boat ready and come back for the princess," said Sikes pointing at Zoey on the mattress.

"What should we do, boss?" said Matt confused.

"Shoot them fool. Make the police scatter," said Sikes running to a trap door hidden in the back of the warehouse wall.

* * *

Ava arrived just as the shooting began. She hovered several meters above the warehouse.

Warehouse hideout by the river – Picture by L. Sky & Photo by Wikipedia.org

Using her energy, she rendered the inside of the warehouse visible for Peder and Tam to see inside. They saw all the rooms along with everyone's yellowish orange heat signatures. Zoey's image was in the middle of the warehouse on a mattress. Someone was kneeling on the floor next to the front window firing a rifle. Seconds later, an explosion knocked Matt down to the floor. His heat signature quickly dissolved from yellow to blue, and then winked out completely. Meanwhile, Benny continued to spray bullets with his automatic rifle. Tam tapped Peder on the shoulder and pointed to Sikes. He was behind the warehouse on a boat giving off a strong heat signature from its powerful engines.

"Ava, hurry, let's get down there before Sikes goes back inside," ordered Peder.

In a flash, Ava descended, cutting a hole through the roof with her laser and hovered above Zoey. Peder and Tam reached down from the bubble and pulled Zoey inside. The gunfire made a loud racket with bullets ricocheting everywhere. Benny was profusely cursing as he fired at anything that moved. He looked back and saw the girl missing. Benny assumed Sikes had her. He shrugged his shoulders and continued to shoot at cops dashing across his view.

Safe inside Ava, they rose back out of the building. Moments later, Sikes poked his head out the trap door. The smell of gunfire accompanied thick smoke. As it cleared away, Sikes saw Matt lying on the concrete floor in a pool of his blood. There was another explosion sending glass and concrete flying around him. He quickly shut the trap door and left Benny shooting for his life without the slightest concern for him. He worried only a second about the missing girl and then quickly dismissed it. Right now, he only cared about himself getting away unscathed. He turned the boat around in the direction of the Waterside Galleria and sped off with a roar. Not once, did Sykes look back.

* * *

Zoey, now conscious watched the police storm the building as her view faded away in the distance. Ava quickly gained altitude taking them above the surrounding buildings. Zoey felt drained from her experience when Peder said, "We need to find a quiet place for you to rest."

"I have a small bungalow by the ocean. We can go there," Tam offered and gave Ava the directions.

Zoey's mind dissolved away as the sights of the city zipped passed her. She saw the naval shipyard, traffic on the Portsmouth Bridge and the James River with all its little docks lined with boats of every description. Peder gently nudged her and said, "You can't go back to your apartment anymore."

With a touch of sadness in her voice, she said, "I know. What am I going to do?"

"I'm thinking about it. We'll go to your aunt's place for now. Tomorrow we'll consider all our options. Okay?" said Peder.

"Okay," she replied weakly, trying not to think about her future.

CHAPTER 19

Click!

They arrived late that evening at Tam's place. She quickly opened the door and fiddled with the light switch.

"Sorry Tam, but no lights," said a familiar voice inside her head. "We can't take the chance that someone might be watching." Tam nodded and guided them to her bedroom. The house was small allowing sounds from the ocean to easily penetrate through the walls.

"Well, the bathroom is over there," she pointed to the door.

"And I guess I could lie in the middle," offered Tam pointing to the bed.

"I can make a bed for Peder," countered Ava.

"Oh no, Ava, he should sleep in a real bed tonight. He's been busy saving the world today. I'm sure he's very tired." Peder listened and smiled as the two fought over his bedding arrangements. To end it, he jumped on the bed beside Tam. Ava and Tam looked at him for a moment and then decided to accept his decision.

"Master, do you want me to put a wall between the two of you?" Ava projected to him.

"No Ava! Why would you do that?" he thought to her.

"Earth woman are very primitive. She might attack you!"

"I'm sure I can survive an attack if she tries," he projected with a grin.

"Only if you insist master."

"Oh, trust me, I insist!"

* * *

Later that night with Zoey breathing heavily, Tam rested her head on Peder's chest and listened to his strong heartbeat. She reached over to touch him on the shoulder.

"Are you awake?"

"I am now!"

"I can't sleep. I have many questions running through my head. Who are you Peder?"

"I am your proverbial alien. I'm here to see if we can help you."

"I understand all that! But who are you?"

"Oh, I see. I've been trying to figure that one out for hundreds of years. However, I do believe in what my ancestors were trying to do. I think every humanoid should get at least one chance to become sentient. I see it as a gift allowing you to become aware of your conscious thoughts and to act freely on them. My ancestors have been spreading this gift for so long that some of us are now becoming weary of the responsibility that comes with it."

He rolled over to face Tam and continued, "Not all of our attempts have worked as they should have. However, because of their efforts, I now have you as a friend. You are a friend?"

"Yes, Peder, I am your friend. But your efforts have made my planet a dangerous place to live."

"True, there are elements on this planet that are greedy and have no respect for human life. But we will change that, I promise."

"How Peder?"

"It's a species called the Zeddi that has come here to take over your planet."

"Who are...what did you call them?"

"The Zeddi! They almost look like you and me from the planet Zedd about 110 light years from here. We had a hand in their development too, which is why I feel responsible for your troubles now."

"How can we tell who they are if they look like us?"

"It's not too difficult if you know what to look for in them," Ava projected to her.

"They have a longer forehead that doesn't mean anything unless you view them standing together as a group. Even then, you would just say they were related. They have pale white skin unless they apply chemicals to darken it to create a natural suntan. Their hair is blonde unless they dye it some other color. One key point about them is that they are all very tall. Most of the females are around 1.5 meters and 2 meters for the males. But there is one other peculiar thing about them," Ava voiced. She took human form and stood at the foot of the bed with a dull fluorescent glow for them to easily see her.

"The Zeddi can..." said Ava as she turned her head an unbelievable 180 degrees backward, then back again. "Do that!"

"Yikes, why did you do that?" asked Tam.

"The Zeddi have a rotating head that can turn 270 degrees in either direction, meaning they can look to the left by rotating all the way from the right or vice versa."

"How can they do it without breaking arteries or stopping the blood from reaching their brains?" said Tam with astonishment in her voice, understanding its difficulties.

"The Zeddi have unique neck bones containing holes for their arteries that are ten times larger than other humanoids in the galaxy. Their necks won't break when turning their heads around to look at something. However, they rarely do it in public unless caught off guard or genuinely frightened. No one imagined they would develop to become so selfish and immoral against other species," stated Peder.

Ava looked at Tam and said, "They don't want any exposure. If discovered, they'll be forced to leave. Unfortunately, the sad part of this is that not all the Zeddi are trying to take your planet. Some are peaceful and very productive in your society. In many ways they have helped you develop in a meaningful way," Ava said in a sad tone.

"Nevertheless, this is your planet," said Peder forcefully. "They must respect this fact and leave so you can make your mistakes on the way to becoming advanced sentient beings. A few Zeddi is deliberately hindering your economic, social, moral, and technological growth. They're trying to steal your future by putting it on indefinite hold to satisfy their greed. What they're doing is cruel, and I will try everything to stop it."

"How can you help?" voiced Tam. "Many of my people are helping them."

"True, greed is like an infectious disease that transcends all boundaries. Fortunately, it hasn't spread to the point where the entire planet is hopeless. I think removing the Zeddi and revealing to the world what is going on will make a positive impact on getting your civilization back on track."

"Peder, that sounds almost impossible."

"Perhaps, but as you say, you are worth it!"

"Oh, we're worth it all right!" Tam said with a broad grin.

"I should warn you. Ava is afraid you're going to harm me!"

"Oh yeah, she's right," she whispered wrapping her arms around him to begin a journey of passionate kissing and hugging.

* * *

Early the next morning the sun's rays passed through thin curtains. It landed softly on Tam's body. She felt its warm rays and woke up. It was quiet except for constant rumblings from the ocean near her house. She eased out of bed, cleaned herself as best she could, and automatically put on another dark brown two-piece suit with a white shirt. She went into her small living room followed by Ava's tall female form. Tam wasn't surprised to see her.

"I'm going to call the Bureau to see what the situation is," Tam said as she dialed the number from her home phone.

"That's a good idea," said Ava.

The FBI phone rang twice and answered by a professional sounding female voice. After a minute, she hung up her phone and looked at Ava troubled.

"Tam is there something wrong?" asked Ava.

"Yes, they claimed Zoey died from a gunshot wound at the warehouse. They have three badly burned male bodies and one severely burned female matching Zoey's description. What's going on Ava?" said a bewildered Tam.

"I think your secret government is still after you...and me," suggested Ava.

"Hey, Auntie, what's going on?" asked Zoey walking into the living room while rubbing her stomach.

"Oh, nothing. Ava and I are just talking that's all."

"Oh, what about?"

"Food!" Tam said looking at Zoey's firm tummy. "We need some if we plan on staying here for a while."

"I'll come with you," offered Zoey.

"Okay, get your sandals," she replied looking at Zoey's tight blue jeans and dark blue, short midriff T-shirt.

"Ava, tell Peder, we'll be back to fix him breakfast," said Tam heading for the door with Zoey following closely on her heels.

* * *

An hour past when Peder projected to Ava hovering above his head, "They should have been back by now."

"I should have told you earlier they were leaving."

"Hmm, maybe so," he projected.

"Do you want to go looking for them?" offered Ava.

Peder thought for a moment and headed out the back door. He stopped at the beach's edge watching the waves wash the sand. It was peaceful and picturesque with the blue-sky merging with the watery horizon.

"No one is on the beach. That's odd!" he projected to Ava.

"Yes, it does seem strange. I would have thought a lot of residents would be out on the beach by now," Ava projected and quickly yelled. "Wait!"

* * *

Peder found himself inside Ava's bubble looking at a dozen men dressed in black combat fatigues storming the house from all sides. An unmarked black helicopter appeared overhead with men hanging out its side doors with machine guns pointing at the house. Several men rammed the back door and rushed inside only to come out moments later empty handed.

A badly shaken contractor said, "I just saw him and poof. He disappeared right in front of my eyes."

"Don't worry. You'll get used to that. The alien's still here men," shouted Captain Warner and yelled, "I know you can hear me, you alien freak. We have the girls. Give us the device, and you can have them back. I give you my word."

"He's not telling you the truth Peder. They're going to a secret facility in New Mexico called Dulce. I can track Tam. When I went through the databases, I found out that every FBI Agent has a unique electronic implant that gives a personal GPS signal. Don't worry, we'll get them back!"

* * *

"I'm sorry Admiral, but he escaped," announced Warner to his employer over the phone.

"What about the girls? Do you have them?" said the admiral.

"They're secure and on the way to their final destination point."

"Good. Now, what about the warehouse debacle?"

"We caught up with Sikes, the leader of the kidnapping and eliminated him. Then we put him and the other two we snatched from the police morgue back into the warehouse with a dead homeless person fitting the young woman's description. We then burned the warehouse to the ground."

"What did they want with the agent's niece?"

"I don't know sir."

"Okay, very good. That should give the law enforcement something to chew on for a while. Make sure the girls land safely and then come back here to the office. Keep me informed of everything Captain."

"Yes sir, I will, sir."

"Click!"

CHAPTER 20

I Have a Bad Feeling

Captain Warner and his team had subdued Tam and Zoey with flashguns. Each of them fell limp into a temporary death-like state. They hustled the pair into a waiting van outside a neighborhood supermarket. It happened so fast not a sound was made to alert anyone. Safely secured, Warner transported them to an unmarked plane at a nearby county airport. The admiral arranged to have them flown directly to the underground base in Dulce, New Mexico.

Secret airplane – Photo by Wikipedia.org

Peder went back to his secret hiding place under the bridge. Ava began accessing Tam's GPS signal. She found her in the air heading to New Mexico. Ava had no idea they separated Tam and Zoey after landing at a private airport. In separate vehicles, they were rushed along a dark, isolated highway towards a mysterious dark mountain. At the foot of the mountain was a hidden entrance. They drove down into a brightly lit tunnel. The human faction had laboratory created humanoids that took possession of Tam on the first of seven levels in the secret facility. The Zeddi took Zoey to the fourth level that they controlled. With the Zeddi, Zoey's fate was uncertain. They wanted to use her for some experiments. Eventually, they would kill her. However, Tam presented a different problem. As a Special Agent, she would be missed. They were going to re-program her brain with false information. First, they would extract everything she knew about Peder and his device. Then they would send her back to the FBI with this false information omitting her stay at the secret base. She would name Peder as the chief suspect for killing her partner and Zoey. She would have no memory of being Peder's friend. Tam would not remember the Zeddi's plan of enslaving humans. There would be no memories of them raping the planet of all its natural resources!

Ava sifted through streams of raw data. She concluded they had to go to the Denver airport. It was the only logical place to gain access to Dulce's secret underground facility. Peder stepped out of Ava's bubble and walked down to the beach. Ava followed him as the traffic over the bridge continued to rumble. She put her arm around his shoulders and electronically massaged his neck and back. He relaxed and continued staring out at the ocean with evening slowly creeping in.

"Don't worry master, we'll get them back," said Ava. Peder was worried. He felt angry that he was powerless to do anything. He was also uncertain about what to do once he found them.

"We will figure it out Peder. I suggest we leave now."

A string of lights traced the Chesapeake Bay tunnel bridge.

"The lights out there are beautiful, aren't they?" whispered Peder.

"Yes, but we must go," offered Ava.

"The feelings she gave me on the beach. I will never forget that moment," whispered Peder to the ocean. He turned and looked up at the bridge. With its streetlights bouncing off passing cars, he said, "Let's go,"

* * *

Denver Airport – Photo by Wikipedia.org

In less than an hour, Peder was wandering about the Denver Airport with Ava invisible above his head. It didn't take long for her to detect numerous types of electromagnetic energies. They all emanated from a utility room. It had a 'No Exit' sign painted in bold red letters on the door. Electronically, Ava unlocked the door. Once inside, she told Peder about several hidden sensors. She couldn't guarantee he'd be safe from detection. The room was about the size of a bathroom. In the center was a large gaping hole in the floor. Ava estimated it to be at least 20 kilometers deep. The wall was highly polished like black glass perhaps drilled by a powerful laser. No buttons or any indentations could be found anywhere on or near the hole. There was nothing to suggest how to get down other than jumping or climbing down with a rope.

Peder got inside Ava's bubble, and she slowly descended the dark hole. Traveling about a quarter of the way down, they saw four round equally spaced tunnels carved into the wall. About halfway down, they saw an open lift with people rising towards them on. Ava quickly reversed course and went back into one of the tunnels they saw earlier. In the dark, they watched the riders silently float passed them. They stood on a black metallic plate. Its movement was by some magnetic application.

Extraterrestrial Biological Entity (EBE) – Picture by en.wikipedia.org

Looking closer, Peder saw three EBE humanoid riders. Finally, he thought he was on the right track.

* * *

Zoey slowly opened her eyes after what was a near death experience. During that time, she had ghoulish nightmares that gave her a terrific headache. Above her, bright lights hurt her eyes like sharp needles. She tried to lift an arm to shade her eyes but couldn't. Squinting, she barely saw the restraints holding her down. She was too weak to struggle, so she decided to relax and wait for whatever was next. There was no one in the room that she could see, only a door to her right with no doorknob. She closed her eyes and listened. Her wait didn't take long. Two men came in dressed in blue coveralls. One was busy pressing buttons on a panel. The other walked over to her and leaned down into her face. She opened her eyes; his head blocked out the light. His face was distorted, a dark hairy outline loomed over her with black sockets for eyes. His forehead was a little longer than normal but not enough to frighten her. The Zeddi's thin lips spoke words, but Zoey couldn't understand him. Her mind froze as he lifted her shirt and rubbed across her breasts. He turned and said something to his partner while laughing.

He placed a flexible, shiny metal band around her head that turned red and then they both left. Zoey's heart was pounding so hard she felt whatever she was laying on moving with each heartbeat. Then, like a light bulb, she blinked out.

* * *

Tam was sitting upright in a soft cushioned medical bed with her legs propped up. She was quite comfortable viewing wall-to-wall panels of flashing computer lights attended by four very tall slender men dressed in black coveralls. Something was odd about them. She was struggling to figure it out when two of them turned around to face her. Tam was shocked to see they looked identical. They were highly modified clones. One of them walked over to her and placed a metal band around her head. The other one took a reading. He turned to his partners. "She's not ready," he said in English. "She has a severe neuralgia from the flashgun. We'll wait until it subsides then begin." They all stopped what they were doing and left the room. Tam felt her heart pounding wildly in her throat.

* * *

"This is an obvious trap to contain us down here, Peder," projected Ava.

"Yes, I suspected that. I don't see how we have a choice," Peder declared telepathically.

"I'm still picking up Tam's signal. It's over 2,400 kilometers to the south. This tunnel should take us to her, Peder."

"Let's hurry Ava, I have a bad feeling about all of this."

CHAPTER 21

You Idiot!

There were a few Zeddi within the secret facility sympathetic to Earth. They placed their lives in danger every day for the Earthers. They wanted to help them as best they could under the circumstances. One of them slipped into Zoey's room. She leaned over Zoey's face. Gently, she nudged Zoey's shoulder to awaken her. She whispered into her ear. "Please, don't be alarmed. I want to help you." Just then, the Zeddi thought she heard a sound at the door. She turned her head 180 degrees to see if anyone was coming into the room.

Slowly, Zoey opened her eyes. A wall of golden hair leaned over her face. Suddenly, a milky white face turned around to face Zoey with sharp blue eyes looking down at her.

Zoey whispered, "Am I in heaven?" Trying to reach up to touch the vision in silvery overalls, but her restraints held her back.

"Listen very carefully to what I'm going to say. Nod your head if you understand me." Zoey nodded and said, "Then, I'm going to heaven?" The Zeddi looked at Zoey puzzled and quickly removed the band from around her head.

"I'm going to give you an injection. It will cause you to appear very sick with a high fever. The protocol is to place you in quarantine. Once they put you there, I can easily smuggle you out of this facility."

"Why are you doing this?" said Zoey starting to recover from the effects of the metal band.

"I do not agree with what my people are doing here on Earth. It is spiritually wrong to take advantage of intelligent beings like yourself. I am deeply against it. For me, using humans as cheap slave labor is inhumane and not justified. They're others like me at this facility, but we must be very careful not to get caught. They're very serious about security here. Nevertheless, there are loopholes if you know where to look. In a moment, you will start to feel nausea!"

"I'm not alone! I..." whispered Zoey. Her voice trailed off into silence. A wave of nausea washed over her body. A needle had released a colorless fluid into her bloodstream. Violently, she began vomiting as her angel slipped away. Moments later, two technicians rushed into the room. One examined her eyes and felt her forehead. He noticed her headband was lying beside her. Suspicious, he looked around the room, and then put the metal headband in his pocket. The Zeddi rolled her bed out of the room disappearing down a long hallway.

* * *

"What's the status of our FBI Agent?" said Admiral Blanchard in a raspy voice to Warner. Blanchard was average height with broad shoulders. His hair was dark brown with large patches of white on the sides. The two of them sat in a dilapidated office in a building hidden from the eyes of bureaucrats and the press on the outskirts of Washington, DC.

"They said she has a bad headache from the flashgun. The process can't start until it's gone. They gave me some technobabble that could affect the outcome of the procedure."

"Well, you know how I feel about this mess."

"Yes, sir. However, to kill the FBI agent would just raise unnecessary questions. For now, she's just missing in action. That's keeping the FBI at bay as they go through their usual investigative protocols."

"What about the device?"

"We still don't know its whereabouts."

"And our competition, the Zeddi? What do they know about the device?" said Admiral Blanchard staring at Warner with cold gray eyes. Blanchard sat with his legs crossed dressed in an expensive blue suit with a bright red necktie. His low-cut hair made him look like a military professional. He looked spooky sitting across from the captain with his arms crossed. Like a bird of prey, he silently sized up the contractor. His glaring prompted Warner to speak.

"The Zeddi still don't know what we're doing. We made them think the girls knew something about their plans. Therefore, they want to eliminate them. They think the FBI agent is safe with us for now. I believe our plan will work. All I need to do is draw this alien to our section of the Dulce base. From there, I can control the outcome."

"What about this alien? How much do they know about him?"

"I'm not sure sir. I said the man stole sensitive documents about aliens. I then said the agent and her niece were helping him."

"They don't suspect we're looking for the device," emphasized Admiral Blanchard.

"No, sir. As far as I know, they are still in the dark about this alien's true identity and the device."

"Oh, trust me, they know who he is. They're hoping 'we' don't know."

"How sir? I don't understand."

"Captain Warner, I think it's time to fill in some of the gaps for you. It may help you understand what we're doing. I guess it started with a young Palestinian professor. He was the first to translate the Sumerian Cuneiform Tablets.

Sumerian Cuneiform Tablet – Photo by Wikipedia.org

Due to his brilliant efforts, a Chinese professor in the mid-seventies found some Sumerian tablets in a newly discovered ancient Chinese Pyramid.

His translations of these tablets were explosive. They revealed aliens living and breeding on Earth. Mysteriously, his research funding was suddenly canceled. Finally, they blocked him from publishing his findings." The Admiral paused to study the captain's reactions. However, Warner showed no physical emotions. He simply looked at the admiral to continue. "A few months later, he and several of his graduate students were found dead floating in the Yangtze River. Their deaths allowed decades to slip by with little to no public attention to their work. However, the Chinese professor's work has now re-surfaced. It's causing a new movement in Eastern Europe. This faction is using the information to challenge the established way of thinking about who we are. That Enac you're chasing we believe was one of the alien groups living with us in our distant past. They're sometimes called the enhancers. They specialize in modifying DNA. They started us and many other alien races by changing our DNA. This fact includes the Zeddi as well. They also believed the Enac were around after the great flood."

"Whoa! That's incredible sir. I've read stories about some red haired white bearded men found in South America. Legend has it that they helped rebuild the Incan civilization," Warner responded. He smiled with obvious curiosity bubbling up in his voice. "Were they Enac?"

"We don't know. However, the evidence is strong that the Enac may have been around back then."

"This is incredible. How does this Enac tie into what we are doing now?"

"The MIC is afraid this new movement for the truth will get people looking at history. Once again, these homegrown historians are shaking the world's belief system about our existence. Fortunately for us, we have the means to squash this new movement...again. Our problem is with the Zeddi."

"How so sir."

"If these homegrown historians can reveal the existence of other aliens on the planet, then it's game over."

"I don't understand admiral. Wouldn't this expose the Zeddi as well?"

"No. But the other aliens are preventing the Zeddi from completely taking over. If we remove the aliens, the Zeddi will swoop in and gain control as the only real power."

"I see what you mean Admiral. I never dreamed that having more than one species of aliens could be a good thing. That is if we can accept abductions and mutilations as a good thing too. But, why are we after the Enac guy? Can't he help us with the Zeddi?" Warner asked the admiral.

The Admiral smiled at Warner as if talking to an innocent child and said. "We think that Enac's robot can help MIC stop the Zeddi taking over the planet. Right now, the Enac is not a threat to us. But they could be to the Blondies in the future."

"The 'Blondies' sir?" said Warner baffled by yet another alien being involved.

"That's just another name given to the Zeddi. They don't like it of course. To them, it's derogatory. Don't say it in front of them. You might wind up dead if you do."

"Of course, sir. But why is this Enac's device so important that you've devoted all your assets to capture it?"

"All you need to know is that we must get this technology. It will make us equal partners with the aliens. Perhaps the Zeddi will renegotiate our treaties with them. If not, in another 50 years, every scrap of our precious raw minerals will be gone. It will paralyze the world's economies throwing us back into the dark ages."

"Sir, don't we have enough technology to force all the aliens to leave? Or at least renegotiate their treaties," asked Warner.

"Think about it, captain. Do you know a Zeddi? The other EBEs are obvious and easy to isolate. Well, at least most of them. There are a few with good disguises. Nevertheless, the Zeddi could be anybody. Maybe even the President himself. It was President Eisenhower who signed the first of many EBE treaties. It included the Zeddi. Then in 1955, the Blondies skillfully began their silent invasion to take over Earth. You remember the old saying 'the pretty people,' that was the Zeddi. They managed to look and talk like us. Of course, this was after painful surgery. Overnight, they became the poster-child for the rich and famous. They're now deeply embedded in our infrastructure. We'd have to annihilate half the world's population to get rid of them. We could never be a hundred percent sure we got them all. No captain, I'm afraid we're in too deep. They're like parasites. They'll keep sucking on us until everything's gone."

"What if we tell the world about them," suggested Warner.

The admiral chuckled and shook his head in amusement. "My dear captain, have you forgotten. For over sixty years, we've emphatically screamed that aliens don't exist, and UFOs are not real!

UFO Passaic, New Jersey 1952 – Photo by Wikipedia.org

We have spent billions on disinformation. A UFO could land on the White House lawn. No one would believe it! No, we can't do that either. Our country would demand full disclosure. It could cause our MIC to collapse overnight. The retribution they'd seek would be massive. With our new-found technology, we are responsible for thousands of innocent Americans needlessly dying. All because we didn't share what we knew. People around the world would want us dead. Then, think about all the people we've murdered. It was all to keep this technology a secret to favor our military. Our heads, including yours, would roll if they found out. Even without a smoking gun, they know something's not right. The Phoenix lights in 1997 is a good example. The people believe we don't have huge triangular planes that make no sounds and glide in the air without any known engines. That's why you must retrieve that device. We must keep the illusion going. It could help us get rid of our parasite problem and keep a lid on disclosure at the same time. With the Enac technology, we could track down all the influential Blondies. Then kill them while they sleep. No one would suspect us of doing it. We could build an army of these devices and control the entire planet. A new world order could evolve. The MIC would control it," said Admiral Blanchard. He paused for a moment. Blanchard was bubbling with excitement. He mopped his forehead with his open hand. A wide grin appeared on his face. "Get back to New Mexico and make sure nothing goes wrong. That FBI Agent can't be allowed to talk. Is that understood Captain Warner?"

"Yes, Admiral."

"Kill her with or without the memory wipe. Is that clear captain? Our plan is too big an opportunity to worry about one female FBI Agent. In fact, kill her and the niece too. Is that clear captain?"

"Quite clear, sir. I give you my personal guarantee that I won't let you down."

"If you do, I can assure you, you won't live long enough to regret it."

"All the more incentive to complete my mission...admiral! But sir, I'm still confused. Who 'is' the weird broad guarding the Enac and the device?"

"That weird broad...is the device, you idiot!"

CHAPTER 22

Stop...Zzzzzz...

"How long will it take to reach Tam from here?" asked Peder.

Ava projected, "I can get there in about an hour if nothing gets in our way."

"How deep is this place anyway?"

"I can measure about 22 kilometers deep, and before you ask, the tunnel is 6 meters wide at the point we are now standing. I also detect a sophisticated transport system going to New Mexico's northern border. If we travel with it, we should be harder to detect."

Peder looked through Ava's bubble at smoothly cut granite rock supporting a vast network of tunnels. Wall lights became flashing markers as Ava increased her speed. The deserted tunnel had litter stirring around and flicked away behind them. There was a bright light up ahead growing larger by the second. Ava magnified her view to see a station with a magnetic train waiting to leave.

It was transporting various EBE species from Grays, the Reptilians (Draconians) to various humanoid passengers.

Reptilian Alien – Picture by Sa.wikispaces.com

The roof of the tunnel and the top of the train had just enough space for Ava to flatten her bubble with Peder lying down headfirst to see his journey.

* * *

Zoey opened her eyes to darkness again in another unknown room. It was quiet. Her eyes were slowly adjusting to the dim light. She barely comprehended small details of the room. Her body felt weak, and her face numb and tingly after the injection of the alien drug. For the moment, she was reduced to just listening to her surroundings. A few minutes passed, and her vision started returning to normal. The restraints on her arms and legs reminded her she was still a prisoner. She stared up at the ceiling and thought it was rather low. She sighed and relaxed her body as much as she could. A few minutes more slipped past, and then, she noticed lines on the walls. Funny, she mused. She tilted her head to look past her sandaled feet. Chills ran up and down her body, seeing metal bars, not lines surrounding her.

"Oh, my God! I'm in a cage," she screamed. Panicking she yelled, "Hey, somebody, get me out of here!" At that precise moment, she smelt an odor residing in her cage. It felt as if someone was smothering her face with a heavy pillow cutting off her fresh air. Nothing could describe its pungent unearthly smell. She screamed until the door burst open, and light blasted into the room. The painted walls were a drab green, and the floor was rough concrete. The room was not much larger than the cage that sat in its center. Someone squeezed her arm and whispered into her ear.

"Zoey, please...be quiet! You'll bring the technicians back to check on you. I can't help you if they realize nothing is wrong. Just be still while I free you." Zoey tried to control her breathing as she felt the restraints being removed. She sprang up and looked around the cage. It was disgustingly nasty as if some animal had lived in it for a long time.

"Why did they put me in an animal cage? Oh, my god, it's nasty," she spat. "Why did they put me in here?"

"They put all humans in cages if they think they are a health risk," said her new friend as if it were common knowledge.

"Oh my god, this is a nightmare! Am I in hell?"

"No, you're in an underground base in Dulce, New Mexico."

"A base...New Mexico! I don't understand?"

"The people that brought you here expect us to experiment on you. This facility houses many extraterrestrial races that have treaties with your secret part of the government. They allow us to carry out whatever research we deem necessary to understand your anatomy, physiology, and spirituality. You were scheduled for a brain scan to map your neurological centers under extreme stress that would result in severe heart failure."

"What?" Zoey said.

"They want to frighten you to death in a virtual reality simulator."

"But, why?"

"They want to see just how much anxiety your mind can withstand. In your case, they would look at your age and sex. Then they'd compare it with similar test subjects for pattern recognition. But we don't have time to discuss it now. I have to get you out of this room." Zoey gave the impression of zipping her lips and jumped off the medical bed quietly following her angel.

"Hey! Stop...zzz...Stop...zzz..."

CHAPTER 23

Come on Zoey

Some place deep inside Zoey's brain, she stood on an alien world. No one told her, she just somehow knew. Above her, a cloudless soft pastel blue sky surrounded a sun dimmer than Earth's, but just as warm. She relaxed sensing it might be safe.

Looking around, she found herself in a huge courtyard surrounded by old medieval type buildings.

Medieval building – Photo by Wikipedia.org

Zoey walked several meters towards an open archway door and peered into its darkness. She saw nothing, but an odor greeted her instead. It was foul, and the source that produced it seemed nearby. She stepped back and started in the other direction. Something growled and raised the hair on the back of her neck. She ran without hesitating towards the other side of the courtyard. The grass under her feet suddenly turned to sand as she struggled to gain traction. Every fiber in her body told her to run as fast as she could. Somehow, she finally reached a door, opened it and quickly slammed it shut behind her. Zoey found herself outside in another courtyard with people of all colors wandering around in confusion. The sun was gone, but the dim light was somehow still present. She followed a small group talking inside her head about something in the dark that was coming. Zoey became afraid after finding no more doors to get away. Her eyes bulged, searching in the waning light. Around her, chilling screams and bones being crushed encircled her as it turned pitch black. With no escape, something in the darkness dragged itself towards her. She broke out in a cold sweat with uncontrollable shaking as a foul breath fell on her. More screams and crunching bones rang out, growing louder and louder as something was savagely eating its victims while making its way towards her. She tried to run, but her feet were in deep sand, making escape a slow, excruciating process. Something strong and slimy grabbed the back of her hair and began pulling her backward. She struggled to break free. Her senses told her she was getting close to something big. It smelt awful with a clammy heat emanating from its massive body. Zoey panicked and kicked violently to gain a foothold. It dragged her through something gooey, speeding up her backward motion. Centimeters above her head it gave a vicious roar that hurt her ears as she reached up to cover them. A dank breath laced with a putrid odor poured over her body like hot syrup. The monster lifted Zoey by the hair turning her to face her death. It seemed determined to eat her alive. It growled and snorted as she instinctively squeezed her eyes shut. Her body dangled and went ice-cold waiting for the first bite to end her life.

"Zoey, Zoey, wake up!"

* * *

Zoey suddenly woke up and found herself on her knees halfway between the door and her cage. Beside her were two technicians; alive or dead she didn't know. One technician had the metal band in his hand pressed to her arm. Her angel pushed it away as if it was something nasty.

"I had a nightmare just now. Is that what the headband does, cause you to have weird dreams?" Zoey asked.

"Yes. It touched you when this one fell near you," the alien replied pointing at one of the technicians lying nearby. "Do you feel okay?"

"I guess," replied Zoey.

"I had to use my weapon before they figured out I was helping you," said her newfound friend, kneeling on the floor beside her. She still held her flashgun in the air to fire again, if she had too.

"A flashlight can stop you?" said a surprised Zoey.

"No, it's called a flashgun. It's what they were trying to use on you just now. Fortunately, he missed before I could fire mind. I had a feeling this wasn't going to be easy, which is why I brought it. If I don't survive, you must tell other humans about this place. Come on, let's get out of here."

"Hey wait!" said Zoey. "What's your name?"

"My name...it's Edvardia-22655."

"Well, I gather the number part is your last name. But I think I'll call you Eddie for short."

"Please, let's get out of here before someone else comes. Oh, put on that technician's suit. It should get you through the hallway without too much attention."

"Ugh, what's that odor I smell in his clothes," Zoey asked as she turned up her nose while rolling up the legs and sleeves.

"This technician is trying to mate. What you're smelling are male Zeddi pheromones."

"Hmm, I wish him good luck with that."

"Come on Zoey, we must hurry."

CHAPTER 24

He Sensed Real Danger

The Western Universal Company, (WUC) mysteriously appeared three decades ago with vast amounts of private capital for drilling oil. Headquartered in Las Vegas, someone high within the company believed billions of gallons of oil was in southern Nevada. As a result, it was a very secretive company. They aggressively kept out of the public spotlight, never growing too large. They never advertised anything about their business. Operating exclusively in the western states, they maintained an army of influential lawyers dealing exclusively with state and local governments. They intentionally kept the company under the radar while possessing the most lucrative drilling sites in America.

* * *

Geologists have known for years about the effects of injecting fluids underground. Oil fracking produced increased pressures on seismic faults causing them to shift.

Hydraulic fracturing Facility (Oil Fracking) – Photo by Wikipedia.org

Despite repeated warnings about oil fracking, it was the extraction method of choice for WUC. They argued there was no definitive proof of oil fracking ever causing seismic events. The process of oil fracking required pumping large amounts of wastewater to crack rocks. It raised the oil trapped in ancient underground reservoirs. The wastewater injected into these underground pockets drove the seismic activity in the southern Nevada region. It was pushing the faults to the breaking point. The company ignored all official warnings to be cautious. The head of WUC fought off all local, state, and federal attempts to make them stop. WUC simply did not intend to re-think their impact on the regional environment.

* * *

Located in the southwestern portion of Nevada, the U.S. Geological Survey monitored Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico for seismic activity.

Don Fazzino was a slender middle-aged man with receding black hair. He was a senior government geologist for most of his adult life after graduating college. Never married, he lived for his job. He became nationally known and highly sort after for information about tremors, earthquakes, and sinkholes.

As a long time practitioner, Dr. Fazzino practically knew it all. Not much escaped his attention. So, when his junior scientist showed him his printout, it contained swarms of tremors in the northwestern part of Dulce.

Dan laughed out loud at Dr. McNeal. "Paul," he said affectionately. "They always have minor tremors in that area. Don't worry about them. Once you've been here a few years, you'll see enough of them to know not to worry."

"But sir, these aren't the typical type of tremors for this area. Look, these are stronger and deeper than usual. I believe they're being caused by WUC oil fracking operations," said Dr. Paul McNeal, a tall, intelligent young African-American. He was from the University of Chicago fresh out of grad school. With a slender dark finger, he pointed to a section of his printout. "You see this? These signals are suggestive of quake episodes building near the Pueblo area. I estimate an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 near WUC's oil fracking operations. By itself, it's an unusual magnitude for that area. But are you suggesting the area's unstable because of the construction going on near Dulce?"

"Hey, remember! We're not allowed to talk about what's happening out there. Go back and read the updates. You'll see oil and gas companies have oil fracking facilities up and down that particular area. We all know oil fracking is the cause of minor tremors. But, it's only minor tremors. Ergo, you're only speculating these tremors are being produced by oil fracking. I'm telling you; it's a natural seismic event. These readings are not conclusive of a buildup for a major earthquake due to oil fracking. Besides, I can't get on the horn with this," Don said, pointing at Paul's printout. "We have no smoking gun here. Besides, they always ignore official warnings to be cautious. The head of WUC routinely fights off all local, state, and federal attempts to cease their fracking operations. They simply do not intend to curb their impact on that region." Don rubbed his hair back and said in frustration, "Suppose I alert Dulce officials with something like this, and nothing happens. That's my pension. It's also your career down the toilet as well!"

"But Don, these readings. The numbers don't lie. Something big is going on out there. What if we don't say anything, and a major quake hits that area. You'll still lose your pension. I'll still say I told you so!

"Well then, welcome to the real world. I'd rather say nothing, and then later, swear it was a freak occurrence. Then I'd try to survive the storm that followed. I can't see myself yelling wolf or in your case earthquake, and nothing happens. Trust me, I know what I'm saying. Leave this to the politicians. Let them squabble over it. In the meantime, file your printout. Keep an eye for anything else that might happen. If it makes you feel better, call WUC operations. See if they can confirm what you're seeing."

Paul looked at Don with a cheap look on his face and said, "I did call them this morning. They said it was just natural tremors. Not from their oil fracking operations. They were quite adamant about it."

"What did you expect? Of course, they'd say that. I know their head geologist. He can be very tricky about oil fracking causing tremors," Don said and continued. "Look, kid, whatever you do with WUC, see me first. Can we at least agree on that?"

"Okay Don, you're the boss. I always agree with the boss even if it means going straight to hell. I have a bad feeling a major earthquake is brewing down there."

"Never-the-less, just report to me first."

* * *

"Is Mr. Froder in his office? I need to speak with him. It's urgent," said Gerald Talbot gruffly as the head geologist for WUC.

"He's in his office, Dr. Talbot," said a pleasant female voice despite his cold demeanor over the phone. A second later, a voice boomed over the phone line.

"Dr. Talbot, what can I do for you this morning?" said a crisp, confident voice. "Is everything all right down there?" Mr. Froder's voice quickly changed to concern.

"The Feds called this morning asking us to confirm tremors at number 43 fracking site."

"What did you tell them?" said Mr. Froder in a guarded voice.

"I told them natural tremors not associated with our fracking site. This inquiry came from one of their newer scientists on staff, a Dr. McNeal. He's quite brilliant from what I have learned about him. He could be a problem for us. He'll most certainly report it to his superiors."

"Is that going to be a problem, Dr. Tolbert?"

"I'm not sure sir. I know the head geologist there, and he's the best."

"I was under the impression you were the best?" said Froder in a suspicious tone.

"Of course, I am. I'm just afraid that if we keep drilling, we could hit a methane gas pocket. It could trigger an explosion and cause a massive earthquake in the region. Our ground penetrating radar images show large cavities around the drilling sites. However, they're too deep for any definitive confirmation."

"Again doctor, do you see a problem? You know how important this drilling site is to our stockholders. Perhaps you're unsure? I could get someone else. I'm sure they could move the project forward," offered a well-dressed man. Heavily suntanned, he had pale yellow hair and stark blue eyes set in an oblong face. His two-meter height towered over his desk. His large hand dwarfed the small phone. He looked disinterested and eager to end the conversation.

"No, no sir. There's no problem. I just wanted you fully informed that's all. I'll continue drilling immediately. I don't want to do anything that might upset our stockholders."

"That's what we want to hear! We all have great confidence in your ability to handle this project. Just keep me informed and remember we're counting on your success."

"Yes, sir. Thank you for your vote of confidence. I won't let you down."

"Good, that's what I want to hear."

"Click!" Mr. Froder abruptly hung up the phone without waiting for a reply. On the other end, Dr. Talbot wiped his forehead wondering about his situation. He sensed real danger.

CHAPTER 25

Get Out of Here

Captain Warner walked into a sterile room as two genetically created humans looked up. He deliberately stood between the clones, both standing three meters tall. They stared down at him with little expression on their faces as if bored by his presents.

"There has been a change of plans," he announced.

One of the clones moved closer to him and said in a deep voice, "We were not aware of any changes. We must erase her memory as ordered."

"Listen to me you freak of nature. I'm now giving you, new orders!"

"We serve only one master. We must carry out the last order she gave us."

"Ah, you dumb genetic freaks," shouted Warner walking over to Tam pulling a gun out of his pocket. Tam was at a slight upright angle on a medical bed prepped and ready for her memory wipe procedure. She pulled on her restraints hopelessly trying to free herself. The metal band placed on her head hummed with life. She tilted her head back to see who was coming.

Her bed suddenly morphed into a padded seat with the restraints still intact. Warner stood before her cocking his gun to load a bullet into its chamber.

"What have you done with my niece?" Tam shouted. Warner looked at his military-style watch and then back at her saying, "She's dead! However, don't worry. If pretty girls go to heaven, you'll be seeing her in a minute."

One of the clones shouted, "No, wait, the field is on!" Nevertheless, Warner raised his gun and took aim at her head. Just before he pulled the trigger, the floor rippled beneath his feet. His gun fired prematurely. The bullet bounced off the headband's energy field encircling Tam's head releasing the same amount of energy back to its point of origin. The bullet drove into Warner's wrist into his forehead and out of the back of his skull. His life jumped out of his body before he could hit the floor. The clones looked on stunned as Warner's blood splattered on the wall and behind him. They looked at each other without saying a word, and then at Tam, quickly re-calibrating their machines. Preoccupied prepping, the room door slid open. The clone next to the door looked up. There was another tremble, so he ignored the door. The other clone was ready to flip the switch starting Tam's memory wipe. Something caught his hand preventing him from reaching the switch. Startled, he snatched his hand back, looked around the room, and tried again. This time, Ava created a barrier between him and the switch. His hand smashed into Ava with a crunching pain causing him to yelp. He stepped back and noticed Peder standing behind him. Neither clone had training for self-defense, so the clone confronting Peder awkwardly reached down and swung at his head. Peder moved out the way with plenty of time to reach up and hit the clone squarely in the groin. The clone reached down between his legs, staggering backward while losing his balance causing him to crash into a bank of machines. Finally, his large head hit the floor with a painful thud cracking his skull open.

Meanwhile, the other clone seeing what was happening rushed over to Tam wrapping his large hands around her neck. He silently made a gesture that he would break her neck if anything else happened. Peder held his hands up to stop fighting. The clone visibly relaxed with a cruel grin on his thin lips, believing he was now in control.

In a flash, the headband leaped from Tam's head onto his. Peder dashed to flip the switch before the clone could react. The energy flowing through the headband forced the clone to stand upright and rigid, unable to move. He started shaking and drooled as his eyes rolled back in his head. Like a tree, he fell flat on his face with a loud thud.

For a moment, the room was dead silent, and then Tam suddenly gave out a loud sigh of relief. Peder walked over to her and passionately kissed her fully on the lips before unbuckling her restraints. She leaped up and grabbed him around the neck planting another full kiss on his mouth. It was several seconds before she drew back saying, "Boy, that was close," as the room violently shook again cracking the walls further apart.

Peder grabbed her tightly around the waist and drew her body close to his saying, "For a while, I thought I had lost you. I didn't like the feeling."

She whispered in his ear, "Well, from the looks of things it's still possible. What's going on? Is this an earthquake?"

"We're not sure, but we must get out of here, fast," replied Peder.

"No, no, we can't. What about Zoey?"

"I'm sorry Tam," said Ava. "I have no way of finding her down here. The whole complex is coming apart. Right now, she could be anywhere."

"Oh, Peder. I can't leave her, even if she is dead," sobbed Tam in his arms.

"I am genuinely sorry. But we must get to safety," urged Peder.

"We are both very sorry," voiced Ava reappearing as the black ball over Peder's head. Her red eyespot swirled like a raging hurricane. "We must leave the complex now or faced being buried in its rubble with everyone else," urged Ava.

Tam pulled away from Peder stubbornly crossing her arms.

"Come on," said Peder holding out his hand. Tam reluctantly took it; not wanting to leave Zoey behind to such a horrible fate. Crying, she disappeared inside Ava as they made their way to the nearest exit for the surface.

* * *

"Zoey take these stairs, and it will lead you safely to the surface," said Eddie pointing up a dimly lit tunnel with crude steps.

Crude Tunnel – Photo by Wikipedia.org

"No, I don't want to go on my own. Besides, what about my aunt?" she said. "Suppose she's waiting for me? Not only that, your people could be up there waiting for me too."

"Zoey, we're alone, and I have no idea where your aunt might be now. Trust me, it's safe. I've used this particular route many times before."

"Let me have your weapon just in case," pleaded Zoey. Just then, they heard a loud rumbling underneath their feet. The ground rippled with both of them bobbing and weaving to keep their balance.

"Run Zoey, I'm right behind you." The narrow tunnel was just wide enough to accommodate two people walking side by side. Zoey screamed in terror as the walls began to crumble around her. Taking the makeshift stairs two at one time, Zoey missed a step and fell backward.

"Eddie," shouted Zoey. Eddie, now taking three steps at one time reached back with her long arm and caught her. Eddie was almost 2 meters tall with a slender, muscular figure

"Get in front of me!" said Eddie whipping Zoey in front of her as the shaft lights blinked, and then blinked again before going dark. Surrounded by loud crashing sounds, they heard metal twisting in the darkness.

Eddie shouted racing behind Zoey, "The complex must be under attack!"

"Who could do such a thing? We're deep underground, right?"

"True Zoey, but there's a lot you don't know about your planet and the people running it. Ugh," Eddie missed a step putting her further behind Zoey.

Zoey yelled, "How much further?" The tunnel was collapsing behind them and steadily growing louder.

"Not much, keep going," insisted Eddie, which was easier said, than done with the floor rolling like the sea. Zoey strained to see the light or doorway. For a split second, she thought she did see something ahead.

Zoey shouted with excitement, "I think I see a light, Eddie!"

"KABOOOOOM!"

"Zoey save me!"

* * *

The force of compressed air pinned Zoey to the ground. She looked behind her and saw a wall of debris blocking her view. Eddie was missing, and she was now alone.

"Oh no, please no," Zoey cried rushing towards the pile of rubble. "This can't be happening," she sobbed. Small pieces of rock continued to trickle in the darkness as she stepped closer to examine the wall. Focused on the fallen rocks, she paid little attention to what she was doing until something grabbed her leg. She jumped back with fear looking down to see a hand sticking out of the wall of rocks.

"Eddie, you're alive," yelled Zoey. "Hold on, I'm going to get you out!" The Zeddi gave her the 'thumbs up' sign as Zoey clawed into the rubble non-stop. Finally, she uncovered an arm, then a shoulder until Eddie's head popped out.

With a dirt-smudged face, Eddie coughed and said, "You didn't leave me!"

"No, I didn't leave you silly. We're friends for life," said Zoey with a smile.

"Yes, we're friends for life. You saved me. You could have left me to die and saved yourself."

"I don't do that to my friends, Eddie. Besides, you saved my life too," she said reminding her.

"Pull me out, Zoey. Hurry, we're not out of danger yet."

Two minutes later, Eddie was brushing the dirt off her clothes and shaking the grit out of her matted hair. The ground trembled again, and the walls cracked, prompting them to dash for the entrance. When they reached the surface and stepped outside into the sunlight, Eddie caught Zoey's arm before she stepped off a newly formed cliff. Looking out, they stood on the edge of a small Grand Canyon. Above them was part of the landmass that once was a town and now a fallen pile of rocks and wooden debris. Below, Eddie pointed to the side of the secret building where they were not long ago. Silently, they watched helicopters swarming inside the crater like giant flies.

"What happened Eddie? The destruction is unreal. Who could do such a thing?"

"Not who, but what? If it were an attacked, I don't think we'd be standing here talking about it."

"Then, you mean an earthquake caused all of this?" said Zoey.

Eddie with a quizzical look on her face said, "Maybe. But if I didn't know better, I'd say it looks more like a sinkhole than an earthquake."

"A hole! That's crazy," said Zoey.

"Maybe, maybe not. Like I said, there's a lot you don't know. Just about everything on Earth, my people either own or operate. There's a big oil company run by one of us. It's the largest oil fracking operation in Nevada. They received warnings about this happening. Naturally, they ignored all warnings. They cited they had huge investments in the operation. My people here at this facility told them to monitor their projects. Unfortunately, they left them alone. Well, so much for monitoring wouldn't you say, Zoey?" Eddie paused for a moment, and a light bulb came on inside her head. "I remember overhearing someone saying that we should be ready to evacuate the facility today. He said it could happen at any moment. He wasn't sure when. I thought it looked empty around here this morning. I decided it was just early. It's usually pretty quiet during the early morning hours. I figured your arrival sparked the activity I was seeing. I'm not sure. Maybe those technicians volunteered to work on you until it was time to get out of here."

"What time is it?" Zoey asked.

"It's about 9:50 am. But...I think there's another possible explanation for this, I think..." suggested Eddie.

"And...what is it? What...Eddie?"

"If I recall, not long ago my leader was talking about a secret agenda to disrupt treaties made by the other aliens, so we could have Earth to ourselves."

Zoey with a twisted frown on her face said, "What other aliens?"

"You call them grays and reptoid aliens. We call them an annoyance. We all share this complex with your people. Well...at least we did. Now, they'll be exposed and forced to leave the planet. I just wonder if this accident wasn't intentional."

"You mean they killed these people for a secret agenda."

"Not all of them Zoey. You're still alive!"

"But all those lives down there. They're all gone. My aunt is probably one of them."

"Zoey, you must understand. Those humans down there were already dead. The majority was what you called missing people or kidnapped by one or all of us, including by your people as well. They were all part of a treaty deal. The reptoids were even using the younger ones as food. In reality, they were never going to leave alive or be the same again if they were able to leave this place. Zoey, I am truly sorry. I fear your life is now in even more danger."

"Why is that?"

"Don't forget, your people are in this conspiracy too! They can't have you talking about this facility. You know too much. Your life means nothing to them. They will kill you the first chance they get. But for now, hopefully, they think you're under tons of rock!"

"I'd like to keep it that way too Eddie."

"Yes, I'd like that too, my friend."

"So, Eddie, just how are we going to get out of here?"

CHAPTER 26

You Look Ravishing

In Miss Teri-Nikka's hand was a folder with a single sheet of paper that read:

AUGUST 23, 2014:

WUC Internal Briefing:

ULTRA-TOP SECRET

WUC has successfully created a sinkhole by fracking

TIME:

9:53 AM Mountain Time Zone

LOCATION:

Dulce, NM near Pueblo, NM

Dulce Deep Underground Military Base:

Code name Rio Arriba Co DSD-3

COORDINATES:

Longitude: West 106.989600

Latitude: North 36.939557

AFFECTED POPULATION:

Dulce, NM Population: 2,743

Males: 1,291 (47.1%)

Females: 1,452 (52.9%)

***

In a secret room behind Froder's bookshelf sat Teri-Nikka Ghent with her boss. Teri was the company's head information officer. She was responsible for controlling public and secret information for WUC. Teri always came in early before her coworkers. As protocol, she had to do this when having a secret meeting with Froder. Teri sat across from him with her long legs crossed. The room was like a box. It had space for only four individuals. They sat around a circular table facing each other. Cool air silently circulated with warm lighting overhead.

"Well, Teri-Nikka. What news do you have for me this morning?" said Froder trying to be charming. Teri was tall like her boss and very attractive. She also had a light tan complexion. Her wavy blonde hair was mid-length and brushed back. She was somewhat narrow but fit looking. At the moment, she unconsciously smoothed her hair back before speaking.

"I trust you read the secret memo I gave you. Now, I'd like to talk about yesterday's results," Teri replied with a professional demeanor in her body language. She watched Froder, who thought he was good-looking. He was a constant flirt with his female staff members. "As you well know, multiple tremors in the center of Pueblo were successfully created by WUC's oil fracking operations. The earthquake we produced caused a major sinkhole due to the unstable soil beneath the town of Dulce. As planned, the Dulce officials were notified of tremors but not an earthquake. The sinkhole occurred forty-three minutes after the tremor notification. As expected, the geological survey service was unable to predict an earthquake in time. No warnings were given to the population of Dulce. As far, as damages produced, the secret base was destroyed by the sinkhole. The sinkhole exposed everything underground. The public saw created Humans, Grays, and Reptoids mixed with normal human remains in the debris. Mostly all of our people are present since late last night.

Rescue Attempts were futile. The rescue teams were unable to get close enough in time to help. The military also arrived too late to maintain secrecy about the base. The news media covered the entire sinkhole event without any problems. As a result, the world now knows the truth about other beings on their planet. Human-Alien Treaties have started to breakdown. The Grays have been officially asked to leave. The Reptoids are starting to mount a mass exodus from the planet as well. This phase of our agenda has been a total success."

Froder stretched his long arms with satisfaction etched on his face and said, "Well Teri! That's better than we expected. We can now begin the next phase of our agenda. Tell the others to begin preparing for it." He smiled awkwardly for a moment longer and said with a grin, "Now, I must say you look ravishing this morning."

CHAPTER 27

Abruptly Ending

24 Hours Earlier:

"This is NVTV-14 News reporting live from our helicopter above Dulce, New Mexico. I'm Kathy Lafay, and I can tell you it looks just like a scene from a movie set out here. We are approaching an enormous crater perhaps eight kilometers wide and about two kilometers deep. Dulce, the town, is gone. It's now in ruins at the bottom of what looks like a sinkhole. Not one building or house was left standing. The town fell into the crater after 9 am this morning following a swarm of large tremors from an earthquake near Pueblo New Mexico. It's just unbelievable! Right now, I can see what appears to be an elaborate underground complex. Yes, you heard me right, a secret underground base. If you're watching, you can't imagine the scale of this disaster. I've been told the huge pit stretches into southern Colorado, which is part of the Archuleta Mesa region with what looks like underground tunnels going into other areas. Wait...I'm getting word that the earthquake has somehow affected several military bases in the area. Hold on, its Kirkland Airbase, and Holloman Airbase that has somehow been affected. Nothing can get in or out of the airbases. Rumors are circulating that at 5:01 am the earthquake somehow caused a freak massive electromagnetic pulse over these military airbases shutting down everything electronic such as jets, trucks, and radar. With nothing moving from these bases, it's going to be a while before any proper search and rescue can begin. Right now, we're traveling North towards road J-9, and I'm starting to see something that looks like...a... seven...level building deep inside the crater. Yes...it was a huge building complex buried underground. The top three levels have collapsed under the weight of tons of rock and the town. It caused the building's walls beneath the top levels to buckle and collapse outwards. We can see the building's interior. All kinds of debris are scattered everywhere as if a bomb was dropped on the building. Wait...Wait, I see people coming out of the building's debris. We're going to circle back around and go for a better look."

Catastrophic sinkhole – Photos by Wikipedia.org

"...Okay, there are survivors, and they're struggling to get out of the building to the floor of the crater. They see us! They're frantically waving for our help. I can't tell if they are from the complex or the town. I don't see any military uniforms. At this point, it appears to be only civilians down there. Boy...what a sight this is. What's that? There's something coming out of a huge crack in the side of the building. It's trying to stand up. Oh, my god! No, I... I don't believe my eyes. It's starting to crawl down to the bottom of the crater towards the survivors. Oh, my god! The survivors are running away from it; scattering in all directions from...from a tall gray man! Oh no, this can't be real. It's a gray alien. Oh no, there are more of them coming out of the building. They have what looks like flashlights pointing them at the survivors. Oh no, oh, my God. The survivors are dropping like flies. The flashlight thing must be a weapon, and it seems to be disabling or killing the survivors. I... I can't believe my eyes. More and more aliens are pouring out of the building. It looks like at least three types of aliens that I can see from here. One is a gray alien with a big head and large black eyes. Another looks like a tall, shaved head goon, but otherwise, more like us. Another one looks like a reptile walking upright like a man. Wait, no, there are children down there. The reptile aliens are shooting the woman and children; cutting them in half with flashlight guns. For the love of God, can't someone do something? Oh no, please no. One of the gray alien's is pointing their flashlight at us. Get out of here, hurry! Get out of this Alien Sinkhole! Oh god, oh god, no, no, we're going down," yelled Kathy Lafay as a beam of light cut her helicopter in half with her screams abruptly ending the transmission.

CHAPTER 28

Auntie?

High above, Ava used her powerful telescopic eyespot to view the spectacular carnage in sharp detail. Almost instantly, she noticed Zoey. Then she saw the Zeddi standing beside her on the edge of a cliff overlooking the crater.

Mountain cliff above sinkhole – Picture by L. Sky & Photos by Wikipedia.org

"Peder! I've found her," said Ava with her audible voice.

"Who?" Tam said.

"Zoey, she's alive. She's with a female Zeddi, what should we do?"

"Wait, let's see what the situation is first," said Peder while images on Ava's bubble started to resolve into focus.

"It may take a moment for your eyes to adjust. We're three kilometers up," offered Ava.

Excitedly, Tam said, "Oh, I see her! Who is that beside her Ava? She's almost as tall as you are."

"That's a Zeddi," replied Ava.

"She looks human; pretty, actually. Zoey seems relaxed around her. Maybe they're together. Please, let's go down and get her," urged Tam.

In seconds, Ava was parked invisibly in front of Zoey and the Zeddi.

* * *

"Okay, Eddie. What's your plan for getting us out of here?"

Eddie looked around and said, "It looks hopeless unless I can climb over the ledge of this entrance. I think it's much too high even for me to reach. Moreover, I don't recommend waving for help either. That might give away your advantage of hiding from your people...and mine. But, don't worry, I'll think of something," offered Eddie, but secretly, she felt gloomy about the situation. Together, they studied the tunnel's entrance again. It was just enough space to give them shelter from the blazing hot sun.

"If only my auntie were alive! She'd figure a way out of this mess."

"Zoey, I already have," said a familiar voice.

"Auntie?"

CHAPTER 29

On His Avatar's Face

Peder's 1,000-year-old starship was named Fia_1043. It waited for him on the rim of Earth's solar system. Now, in his cabin, he dictated his findings while on Earth. He believed the problem was that Earth unknowingly had faced a silent alien invasion.

"Ava and I thoroughly examined the planet. There's no doubt they are in danger. Not by environmental blunders as you would expect. Instead, it's at the hands of ruthless aliens. I trust everyone has fully read my report," said Peder in a cyberspace meeting.

"Yes, we did," said Dr. Linkgar. "It was a very detailed look at Earth's unique problems. I have already contacted the Zeddi government. They claim to know nothing about what's happening on Earth. If they left Zeddi, they are illegal emigrants. They promise to investigate, but it will take time. Their response wasn't very convincing. We don't think they will do anything. The Zeddi has an overpopulation problem. It would be a relief if their people emigrated to other planets. I think if they returned, they would be unwelcome. At this point, the illegal emigrants are homeless. The Zeddi will do nothing to take them back. As for the other aliens, they will have to leave with the Zeddi."

"So, what can we do," said Peder's avatar.

"Somehow, we must intervene," said Dr. Linkgar. "After all, most of the aliens are products of our experiments. I've already spoken to our leaders on Enac. They have given us the approval to take non-aggressive action."

"That was quick!" said Peder suspiciously eyeing her avatar.

"Yes, I was rather surprised myself at their quick response," voiced Dr. Linkgar. "Peneta has suggested something that may work." She wanted to be sure Peneta received the credit. Not her, if it didn't work.

Anxiously Peder said, "Well...what have you decided?"

Dr. Linkgar stood up from the virtual table. "We have decided to remove the aliens from Earth. We'll transport them to another suitable planet."

Peder looked astonished. He sighed deeply to show his amazement.

"How do you plan to transport such a large population? It's more than safe to say they will not want to leave."

Toma, sitting quietly, finally cleared his throat and said, "We can build citidomes to move the aliens."

Dr. Linkgar's big brown eyes glared admiringly at Peder and added, "Minerals in their asteroid belt can be used to build them. Once completed, the companions can transport the aliens away."

Peder put his hand up to his mouth in deep thought. "That sounds great! But, how do you get them to leave? I don't believe they'll go without a fight. In fact, I'm not sure your plan will work!"

"Peder, that's only part of the plan," said Dr. Linkgar. "We will make a planetary announcement before landing on Earth. We will tell them about Earth's invasion by aliens. Once exposed, the companions can remove the aliens from the planet. We can ask the humans to help to speed up the process."

Peder rose from the virtual table and said, "But Dr. Linkgar, how will you identify them? Most of them look like humans."

"With a virus," said Peneta warmly smiling at Peder. She was 100 years older. She still held great affection for him. "There are only a few genes separating aliens from Earthers. We will target these genes with our virus. The companions will be used to introduce the virus into the population. Naturally, the companions will disguise themselves as ordinary humans. Secretly, they will spread the virus worldwide. After a short incubation period, it will look like a skin rash. During that time, it will join with their chromosomes. The efficiency of the virus will be higher in Zeddi. The skin rash on the human population will be mild. After a few hours, it will disappear. Hybrid offspring, if present, from alien and human mating with the same chromosome number, will also get the virus. However, they will express only part of the viral changes."

"What are these changes?" inquired Peder.

"A dark purple skin color. There'll be no mistakes. They will stick out of the population without any confusion."

"How will skin color be enough to make them leave? I don't think that alone will get them to go." insisted Peder.

"An itch!" said Peneta with a smile.

"A what?" Peder replied.

"An itch!"

"Yes Peder, an itching code was put into the virus's DNA. It will attack the arms, legs, buttocks, and feet. They won't be able to stop itching," said Peneta's laughing avatar. "We'll give them the antidote once they're safely out of Earth's solar system."

"Ava discovered some aliens, like chameleons, were wearing artificial skin. Some even had extra padding to give them an enhanced human appearance. This skin is practically indistinguishable from the real thing. How will your virus expose these individuals?" challenged Peder.

Toma's avatar said laughing, "The virus is airborne! It will itch them out of their artificial skins. The itch will be insatiable without the proper antidote. That and the color change will make them stick out from the population. Our scientists will create a virus to increase the itch with the intensity of color brightness. So, the more alien the DNA, the worse it gets. Naturally, this will be unacceptable to them. They will eagerly volunteer to leave. Getting them off the planet will not be a problem."

"However!" Dr. Linkgar rushed to say before Peneta's avatar could speak. "Getting them to another planet will be troublesome. However, we can talk about this at another time."

Peder held up his finger and said, "What about the hybrid offspring living on the planet? You said they would express only some of the virus's DNA."

"Yes, that is correct. The offspring aliens will only get the color changes, not the itch. They will also be the first to receive the antidote once the citidomes land on Earth," said Peneta. She had to speak quickly before Dr. Linkgar's avatar could say anything else. "We understand they are not there by choice. They will have the option to leave or stay." Dr. Linkgar looked angrily at Peneta's avatar. She realized they were both competing for Peder's attention.

"Oh, Peder, there's one other thing," said Toma. "It can infect us as well. But naturally, we will have been already vaccinated against the virus."

"I see!" said Peder. "And who will be in charge of this huge undertaking?"

"Why you will be!" replied Dr. Linkgar with a sly grin on her avatar's face.

"Well then! I have one more issue to bring up," announced Peder.

"Yes, what is it?" said Dr. Linkgar. Her avatar displayed a surprised look on its youthful face.

"The two female humans back on Earth, who helped me. They need our help now. They're in great danger from their people and the Zeddi. I owe them a great deal for their sacrifices."

"Isn't it true that you have deep feelings for one of them?" said Dr. Linkgar grinning. "Could this be why you are so anxious to help them?"

"Yes, I do admit that I have feelings for one of them. However, it doesn't make their situation any less dangerous. I'm asking the committee to please allow me to help them. At least until the planet's crisis is over," Peder pleaded. He looked at Peneta and Toma's avatar for support.

"You are asking an unusual request." Dr. Linkgar knew only she had the power to grant such a request.

"Under the circumstances," offered Peneta. "I think we should express our gratitude for their help."

"I'm not sure we should extend help to them," countered Dr. Linkgar.

"Perhaps you're right Dr. Linkgar," offered Toma. "But, these are unusual circumstances. They require unusual remedies. I believe we should send them help as soon as possible. We must show the aliens we have a strong desire to help the Earthers."

"Well..." sighed Dr. Linkgar. "Perhaps you're right. I'll agree to send them temporary help. However, once the crisis is over the support will be removed. Is that understood Peder?" she said turning to look at Peder's handsome avatar.

"Yes, and thanks to all of you," replied Peder with a wide grin on his avatar's face.

CHAPTER 30

Want to Go for A Ride?

Zoey stood looking out her living room window as seagulls flew above Maggie Bay Harbor in Alaska. The house was quiet except for the constant sounds of the ocean's waves pounding on the rocky beach below. She thought about the past few weeks that seemed like a world away. It was more like a dream, slowly starting to fade away. Ava had moved them into their beautiful home and gave them plenty of cash. Neither of them had to work ever again. Zoey felt awkward about not working. It was her main way of meeting people. However, her aunt and Ava told her that people thought they were dead, and it had to stay that way for their safety. That's why they couldn't join the FBI's Witness Protection program. They couldn't trust anyone, especially the government! As long as they didn't attract attention, they could live a reasonably normal lifestyle; the ten million dollars Ava gave them didn't hurt either.

"Lovely isn't it?" said Tam walking up behind Zoey and stood next to her, looking out at the magnificent view of the bay.

"I wonder if Eddie is okay?" said Zoey.

"Oh, I'm sure she's okay. You two hit it off well didn't you?"

"If not for her, I wouldn't be talking to you now. I hope one day I'll see her again."

"Don't worry about it. Just enjoy this incredible new life we've been given. It's a second chance to start all over again."

"Yes, Ava really knows how to live; even all the furniture is gorgeous, and the cars are nice too. I miss the two of them. Do you think we'll ever see them again?"

"Well," he said he was going back to his ship," said Tam looking up at a gray sky. "He's going to talk about Earth's situation with the Zeddi and the other ghastly aliens. Perhaps his people will send him back to help us. Or, I could call him and ask if he's in the neighborhood," said Tam, wrapping her arm around Zoey's neck.

"Auntie, please. Don't joke like that. I hope we never have to use that phone Ava gave us."

"Zoey, why do you say that?"

Zoey looked up at her Auntie with a sad look on her brow and said. "Because it means, they've found us, and we're in danger again."

"Don't worry dear, I won't let that happen. Just remember to be careful. Don't take any unnecessary chances telling people about yourself and definitely no contact with the news media."

Zoey crossed her arms and looked out at the bay saying, "Do you think we will be safe here?"

"Don't worry, we will," replied Tam wondering herself about their future.

"I'm going down to the beach. Are you interested," offered Zoey.

"No, you go ahead. But, be careful!"

* * *

Zoey casually made her way down to the beach and sat near the water's edge. Her knees tucked under her chin rocking back and forth; she viewed the ocean.

Cold water washed onto the rocks lining the shoreline. It was early, and she was alone on the beach. She relaxed and enjoyed the scenery. A faint buzz drifted above her head forcing her to look up. She didn't see anything, and it didn't matter. The time slowly passed as she continued to watch the waves while stretching back on the rocks so the sun could shine freely on her face. Suddenly, something blocked the sun. She thought it was her aunt and said with her eyes still closed, "So, you decided to join me after all."

"I wish I could, you're a lovely woman!" said a masculine voice. The strange voice startled her, and she quickly opened her eyes. The shape of a man was looking down at her. "A lot of time and money has been spent trying to find you. Where are your alien friends?" he asked looking around.

"Who are you and how did you get down here?" she countered nervously.

"That's not important Zoey. You are Zoey, right?" he queried.

"It depends on who's asking," Zoey replied.

"Well, my name is Major Benson. You may remember my predecessor Captain Warner?" Zoey felt a sinking feeling in her stomach as she tried to see his face. He deliberately had the sun behind him to obscure it. He was wearing a black suit and tie and what she could see of his face was rugged in appearance. He stepped closer to her and then looked to his left and right. There were men in black combat fatigues walking towards her. Zoey turned her head looking up at the house and saw her aunt looking down at her with arms crossed. Someone stood next to her holding a gun to her head.

"Well, I see you've brought some friends with you," she said smartly.

"Naturally Zoey. We weren't sure what kind of reception we might get. Drones can't tell us everything we need to know," he answered with a smirk on his face.

"Well then," she said and kicked sand and rocks up into his face. He ducked, and she jumped up pushing him back. He stumbled on the rocks and fell backward. Zoey took advantage of the situation running towards the side of her house. Her only hope was to reach the road and get help from the neighbors. She thought she had a chance at making it until a man came out of the house waiting for her on the road while pointing a gun. Zoey sighed and slowed her pace. The other men charged up the hill towards her. She saw another chance to outflank them by running into the woods that formed a buffer zone between the houses. Zoey ran hard as her heart pounded inside her chest. The small trees and bushes were dense and dark, perhaps enough for her to hide or buy time to think. An unmarked black helicopter circled above as she dashed into some thick bushes. She tripped rolling under a tall bush that hid her from the circling helicopter. Zoey felt trapped while listening to men rushing within the bushes trying to surround her. Her mind rushed for answers that weren't there. She started to hyperventilate as panic tightly squeezed her chest. Hiding under bushes, she still felt exposed and vulnerable. It was just a matter of time before they'd be right on top of her. Her heart was now banging in her ears while she heard footsteps running closer towards her position. She tried to control her breathing to calm herself; she closed her eyes to help. In a matter of seconds, she would be caught. In her mind, she saw her auntie standing at the window with a gun at her head. Zoey prayed she'd somehow be okay. Suddenly, the ground around her began to vibrate. She squeezed her eyes tighter, poised on one knee waiting for the inevitable to happen or worse, to hear a gunshot ring out. Her muscles tighten while she continued to wait with her hands wrapped around her ears. Zoey's head pounded from the tenseness stored up in her body as she waited and waited and waited, and nothing happened. She opened one eye and saw her aunt looking at her with a smile turning into laughter.

"You should see the look on your face," she said continuing to laugh. Zoey opened her other eye and looked around. She saw the soldiers frantically pounding in the bushes beside her. The major was standing near his men scratching his head in bewilderment.

"Foiled again," said Tam laughing.

Zoey shouted, "What's going on? Ava! Are you back?"

"No, my name is Freddie! Peder sent me to protect you. I will be with you until things on your planet can get back to normal," said a playful male voice inside the bubble. "Hey, want to go for a ride?"

CHAPTER 31

Mr. President...

Over three hundred companions led the Enac expedition. They brought with them six partially completed space platforms called citidomes.

Parked outside Earth's distant asteroid belt, they located the largest asteroids. There were twenty-six huge asteroids known to travel through the ancient belt. Some were over 200 kilometers in diameter.

As planned, the companions excavated these large rocks for their minerals. The minerals were used to make a special metal glass compound. The glass was super-strong and flexible. Huge machines produced large amounts of the metal glass squares. Each square wrapped seamlessly around the rim of the citidomes. Embedded at the top of each 20 x 20-meter square were special power boxes that generated energy. The energy powered the entire platform. It also produced a protective dome-like shield over each citidome.

Citidome – Picture by L. Sky

From Earth, they watched the six domes randomly produce night skies filled with twinkling electrons mimicking distant stars. For the day cycle, a concentrated ball of electrons created an artificial sun. Each ball rose across the domes like sunrise and sunset.

* * *

In secrecy, government and military telescopes studied the building of each citidome. However, the activity within the asteroid belt was not a tightly kept secret. For two months, anyone around the world with access to a powerful enough telescope could see the construction going on.

Speculations grew more each day as to their exact purpose. Some of the smartest minds tried to guess at their purpose. A few concluded they were living environments. But, quietly, governments around the world frantically prepared for the worse.

Suddenly, a mysterious rumor shot around the world. It claimed people were going to be captured by aliens. The huge spaceships would transport them away as food. So now, people believed the citidomes were holding pens for human cattle. Leaders all over the world were in an uproar. They were powerless to stop the spread of the rumor. Behind closed doors, they agreed to put their political hatreds aside. Collectively, they vowed to fight the aliens to the death.

* * *

Internet Video Recording

"Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States."

"Good morning my fellow Americans. This has been extraordinary times," said President Plummer. He stood very tall as a middle-aged politician. Addressing the nation on television, his clean face with white hair and dark blue eyes gave him a fatherly look.

"Everyone has been shocked by the gruesome scenes of aliens in Dulce, New Mexico. But I now have more definitive answers for you. Let me assure you, it was not real. From what my staff has learned, it appears to be nothing more than a Hollywood production. The local news media were tipped off about a special scene being filmed on that day. The film producers said that what we saw were actors. Dressed as aliens, they poured out of what looked like an underground base. This imaginary alien base was made to look like it was beneath the town of Dulce. They dug a big hole in the ground with the alien actors inside. It's now clear that the news media somehow assumed the scene was real. What is not clear is why the reporter in the helicopter played along with the hoax. Her behavior gave the scene credibility. The reporter in question, Ms. Lafay, used poor judgment. The justice department is currently reviewing her part in this shameful tragedy. I have also asked the FBI to review the case." Plummer paused and looked into the camera.

"Let me be very clear. There are no aliens. There is no secret underground base in Dulce, New Mexico. No hostile alien forces have invaded the United States. It's all been an unfortunate mistake. Now it is time for us to put this stressful event behind us and move forward. Please, go back to your normal lives. Children are still expected to go to school. Do your homework! Every adult is still responsible for paying his or her bills on time. I would like to add there is no need for citizens roaming the streets with guns. Your local law enforcement agencies are asking that you put your guns away."

President Plummer paused to smile into the cameras a few seconds longer. "I will now answer a few questions."

"Mr. President, Mr. President, there are reports that the reporter you mentioned, Ms. Lafay, was killed. Would you care to comment on that Mr. President?" said a young male reporter from QT News.

"I have not been informed of such events. Next question."

"Is it true Mr. President that giant spaceships are being built in the asteroid belt?" said a more seasoned female reporter from the Space Press News.

"No," said the President flatly. "I can assure you I'd tell the nation. Okay, one last question. Yes, you in the back."

"So, Mr. President, about the large spaceships. You're saying it's an elaborate hoax too," asked a small frame woman from CNP. She looked straight into his eyes with a smirk on her face.

"No, I'm simply saying that my administration has no knowledge of alien spaceships!"

"Mr. President, Mr. President, please one more question!" shouted a middle-aged male reporter from the back of the presidential conference room. "Please, Mr. President. What about rumors of an alien right here in the United States. In fact, the Norfolk police department was actively engaged in pursuing it, and a female FBI agent was helping it. Do you have anything to say about that sir?"

"Let me stress that there is no alien invasion. No, little green men in spaceships flying around our cities." For emphasis, he paused and smiled.

"I wish you all a good night and God Bless America!" His aides quickly hustled him off the stage, and the TV screen went blank.

* * *

Under the surface of the moon, a military base spread out over a two-kilometer area. The base commander also watched the companions building the huge spaceships. The base was patiently waiting for orders on what to do about the situation.

"Sir, a message just came in from space command. Shall I read it, sir?"

The commander of the United Earth Space Forces or UESF base was Admiral Stewart Bunkershot. He was an average-sized man and somewhat thin in build. He wore short, straight, dark brown hair with specks of gray. His cold gray eyes were like ice water. He commanded the UESF Base for ten years. He felt confident about his crew of space warriors. They would do anything for him. His overconfident attitude flowed out to his crew. Everyone was eager to engage the new alien threat. Sitting in his ready room, Bunkershot turned towards his second in command. She was a little taller than the admiral and slightly pudgy.

"You can read it, Martie." Captain Martie Eisner was a top Annapolis graduate. Twenty years younger than the admiral, she lacked firsthand combat experience. Nevertheless, she was still the right officer for second in command. Her dark brown eyes read the message causing the admiral to smile.

"Well...well, it looks like space command wants us to kick some alien bootie, sir. We've been ordered to engage and destroy those overgrown spaceships. Wait, the President signed the order. At last, Admiral, our taxpayer's hard-earned dollars are going to be put to good use. We're tired of patrolling and ferrying colonists around the solar system. Personally, I want to kick some butt for a change sir!"

"Good Captain, I'm glad to hear that. What's the status on their weaponry? Are they capable of putting up a good fight?" queried the admiral.

"No, sir. Not from what Earth and our sensors here can tell. It should be another turkey shoot. They have no fighting ships to protect them. All we've seen are those little space balls running around building the spaceships. Frankly, sir, those space balls are too small to be of any danger to our battle cruisers."

"Hmm, that's odd. No support ships anywhere," Bunkershot thought out loud. "Let's hope your right captain," said the admiral. Then as an afterthought, he added. "Have we probed deep space for anything else out there?"

"Yes, sir. No contacts are in the area. We're still working out where they originated. I recommend we come in at light speed before they can react. I estimate we could destroy all the big spaceships within 43 minutes. They'll probably see the battle from Earth. I'm sure the President can explain it away like he did with the Dulce base. I like him. He's a military man, right sir?" asked Martie, who was from a seafaring Naval family. She was now the first generation of a spacefaring Navy. Proud of her accomplishments, she reminded herself of it every day when she proudly looked in the mirror.

"I'm not sure if he's military, Martie. Frankly, I don't care! I just want him to keep the funding coming our way," said the admiral. His dark gray eyes studied each sailor that passed before him. He rubbed his brown, soon to be all gray beard. "Sound the battle alarm. Get the first and second squadrons ready for immediate takeoff."

"Aye, aye, Admiral. Let's go kick some alien butt!"

* * *

Admiral Bunkershot's enormous black triangular spaceships appeared out of nowhere. Companions instantly grouped into a defensive position around the citidomes. Within seconds, like angry bees the companions swarmed the admiral's force of ten heavily armed triangles.

Triangle UFO (1990) vs. Companion –

Picture by L. Sky and Photos by Wikipedia.org and NASA.gov

The companion's superior fighting skills quickly overwhelmed the two squadrons. Companions with small lasers attacked from all sides chipping away at the battle cruisers heavy armor. Six companions soon joined together forming a huge ball. Together, they tripled their concentrated firepower. Like clockwork, high above the battle, they targeted each battle cruiser. With one blast, they disabled each cruiser. In the end, the companions rescued 100 space-suited survivors. They put them inside one of their completed citidomes. In all, it took only 13 minutes of fighting! Small pieces of debris scattered and mixed with the space rocks. Most of the battle cruisers were intact and left drifting in space. The companions went back to work as if nothing had happened.

* * *

Finally, all the citidomes were completed. One by one, the companions turned on their ecosystems to full capacity. Each one mimicked an earthly environment. The first two citidomes had a large mountain in its center like Mount Fuji in Japan. Surrounding the base of the mountain was a sprawling city. The third had buildings lighted as if people were living and working inside them. The fourth had what looked like a national park with small snowy mountain ranges surrounded by tall trees. The fifth had all buildings of all descriptions that gave a bright yellowish aura above it in the dark. A monorail system encircled the city's boundaries. The sixth citidome was unusual. It had four different resort-like habitats. One habitat contained a hot steamy jungle complete with only the sounds of wildlife. Next, a hot desert mimicked the Sahara Desert in Africa. The third resort had a climbable mountain range like the Alps in Italy covered with heavy snow. Finally, the last resort had a large Caribbean island. It had a tropical sloping landscape crawling up to a foliage-covered mountain. Like a fence, the island was surrounded by warm light-blue water. It was in this resort that the UESF survivors awakened to a sweet-smelling island breeze.

"Captain Eisner? Report!" shouted Bunkershot springing up from his bed. He woke up confused by his surroundings. "How the hell did I get here? What's going on, I don't understand," he whispered. "How the hell did we get back on Earth?" Like the rest of his men, he was knocked unconscious from the last blow suffered by his ship. He was now looking out a bungalow window at a beautiful island seascape. The last thing he remembered was spiraling down a dark rabbit hole. He looked around the bungalow and landed on a familiar figure.

"My God, captain, you're alive! Wake up!" Eisner stirred for a moment, then slowly lifted her head.

"Where are we?" she said to no one in particular.

"Look out the window," said the admiral.

Island Resort – Picture by L. Sky & Photo by Wikipedia.org

Dutifully, Martie looked out the window beside her bed. The bed was soft causing her to struggle to sit up.

"Oh, my God! We made it back home. How did we do that Admiral?"

"I have no idea Martie. Let's find out who else made it back," Bunkershot ordered.

After 53 minutes of walking around the island resort, Martie and Bunkershot met by the water's edge. A cool breeze gently surrounded them.

"Wow, sir! This place is beautiful. The crew is all accounted for except for three females and three male crewmembers. We can't find them anywhere unless they went into the mountains earlier this morning. Also, Admiral, we have one male and two females that are in extreme discomfort from...itching and a purple skin discoloration. Apparently, they're allergic to something on this island. I have them soaking in hot water that seems to help a little," reported Martie.

"You say they itch pretty bad. I don't understand?" asked Bunkershot.

"Yes, sir. It's around their arms, legs, feet and... butt sir."

"Alright, okay then. Nothing we can do about that right now. What about our ships? Do we know where they are?"

"No, sir. Everyone is in the dark about it," replied Martie watching the pristine water wash over the beach and then her bare feet."

"Well, what about the base? Did anyone get a message off before we went under?"

"Negative sir. Everything went dead after the first blast. We're alone, sir."

"So, we can assume those little black balls brought us to Earth," offered Bunkershot.

"Sorry Admiral..."

"Yes, Martie. What is it? Speak up sailor."

"Admiral, we're not on Earth!"

"What the hell do you mean we're not on Earth," Bunkershot shouted.

"Well, sir. If you look carefully at the horizon, you'll see it. There, did you see that Sir!" offered Martie.

"What the hell am I looking for Martie?"

"Can you see where the ocean and the sky meet? See, it just happened sir again," said Martie.

"See what? Remember, I'm a senior officer! My eyes aren't what they use to be. That's why you're here."

"Okay sir watch very carefully at the horizon. You'll see..."

"Oh, oh my God, I saw it! What was that captain?" growled Bunkershot.

Martie put her hands on her hips and said, "The crew thinks it's a sliver of space revealed every few seconds."

"You mean we're not home on a beautiful native island?" sounded a disappointed admiral.

"No, sir. You're not. We're still in space. Perhaps on one of those big spaceships," offered Martie.

"Hmm, I think we better find those missing crew members."

"We have...sir! The crew found six. Ah, six...ahh."

"Six what, captain. Spit it out Martie. Six what?" ordered the Admiral.

"They, they found what appears to be six complete skins, sir."

"Spacesuits?"

"No, admiral. They found what looked like six human skins with padding lining the insides."

"Well, did these skins have a head by any chance," barked the admiral.

"Yes...yes they did Admiral. They had the heads of the six missing crew members. But the head was just a padded shell, sir. Something was inside the skins. I mean the skins were more like human suits with something inside them."

"Oh, I see where you're going with this captain. It doesn't sound good, and I don't like it. More of them could be on the moon base."

"Yes, you see my point Admiral," offered Martie frowning. "Maybe we've been infiltrated by aliens."

"That would explain why we didn't detect them. The aliens were riding with us the whole time," suggested Bunkershot. "Send out search parties to find them. Do we have any weapons, Martie?"

"No, sir. What should we do when we find them? They must still be on the island unless they have help. What if they are on another spaceship?"

"No, I doubt that. They wouldn't have left their skins behind. I think they're still on the island. I want you to go from one end of this island to the other. Take all the time and men you need. I don't think we'll be getting off this rock anytime soon."

"Aye, aye Admiral. When we find them, I'll bring them straight to you for questioning."

"Good, good. Maybe we can find out who we're fighting!"

"Admiral, you're not fighting anyone," said an invisible voice. "We only crippled your ships to stop you from destroying our citidomes. We do not intend to harm you or your crew." Ava and Peder appeared beside them. The two Earthers were startled by their sudden presence.

"Everything will be okay. We will return you and your crew to Earth," said Ava with a calm voice. Quickly, she put them into a dream-state. They began a journey that would bring them up to speed on current events. While they dreamed, the citidomes slowly maneuvered into formation. After a short wait, they lumbered towards Earth.

Citidomes to Earth – Picture by L. Sky & Photos

by Wikipedia.org and NASA.gov

* * *

"Ahh, Hello, Mr. President..."

The End...for now

Also, read in the companion series:

Book #1: Alien Sinkhole

Book #2: No Turning Back

Book #3: Cefon-5: The Plantimals

Book #4: Planet Rubius

Book #5: Photopia

Book #6: Battle for Giliesa

Book #7: Return to Planet Rubius

SPECIAL ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Wikispaces.com

Wikipedia.org

Flickr.com

NASA.gov

Special Acknowledgment:

Razzle Dazzle Design for the Book Cover and Companion

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

My Shadow – Photo by L. Sky

Lawrence Sky became interested in UFOs as a young man. His desire to know more about them officially started when he read the controversial UFO crash in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. During his career, he has witnessed UFO sightings in 2005 and 2014 in North Carolina, U.S.A. Since then, he has been committed to understanding the truth about UFOs.

Lawrence holds an undergraduate degree and two advanced degrees in the biological sciences. As a result, his writings reflect many years of research on the UFO phenomena.

Currently, Lawrence Sky is calling his work Science-Fiction Infotainment eBooks. He wants to educate and entertain his readers about the UFO phenomena using the rich canvas of eBooks.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Hancock, Graham. Finger Prints of the Gods. NY. Three Rivers Press. 1995. Digital File.

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Doran, Mark D. Alien Invasion: and the origins of Mankind. Smashwords Edition. 2012. Digital File.

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Good, Timothy. UNEARTHLY DISCLOSURE: Conflicting Interests in the Control of Extraterrestrial Intelligence. London. Arrow Books. 2001. Digital File.

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Dolan, Richard M. UFOs and the National Security State: Chronology of a Coverup, 1941-1973. VA. Hampton Roads Publishing Co., Inc. 2002. Digital File.

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Colonel Corso, Philip J. The Day After Roswell. NY. Pocket Books. 1997. Digital File.

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Bibliotecapleyades.net. A-Z of Alien Species active in Earths Evolution. Date Unknown. Digital File.

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YouTube video: UFOs and the National Security State - Richard Dolan LIVE. 2010. Video File.

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YouTube video: The Secret Space Program and Breakaway Civilization - Richard Dolan Lecture. 2014. Video File.

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YouTube video: Richard Dolan, UFO speech, Best speech ever, Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, Rich Dolan, IMU. 2013. Video File. Video File.

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YouTube Video. Extraterrestrial UFOs are real: Ben Rich Lockheed Skunk Works CEO admits on his deathbed. Oct 12, 2010. Video File.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

ARTIFICIAL SKIN

See the 2014 movie, "Under The Skin" (mature audiences) with Scarlett Johansson. This movie gives a very chilling example of how aliens could use artificial skin to fool us!

AVA'S TECHNOLOGY

Ava produces the bubble with zero-point energy taken from her surroundings (the Universe). She can manipulate the interior to any desired configuration. The bubble is impermeable to any outside forces. Her invisibility is a result of shifting the electromagnetic spectrum outside the visible light spectrum necessary for humans to see.

Factually speaking: It is also known as the quantum vacuum zero-point energy, which is the lowest possible energy that a physical system may have. In other words, it is a motion that exists even at absolute zero. Another term is vacuum energy.

CITIDOME

I have given my personal rendition of a Citidome. Obviously, it's like a cruise ship, but much bigger with more creature comforts. Oh yeah, its travels between stars. But what a ride!

Would you be willing to leave Earth to travel to some distant planet to restart your life? I think I'd say...yeah!

COMPANION

A companion is an autonomous super robot. A companion is a mixture of liquid metals and semi-liquid high-impact plastics controlled by a powerful zero-point energy supply. It is the size of child's bowling ball. The device hovers above its master's head. My only wish is that I could see one built in my lifetime!

EBE

Extraterrestrial Biological Entity (or E.B.E.) is the official U.S. government term used for sentient life that does not originate from Earth.

ENHANCER

In the book, Enhancer is another name given to the Enac race by the beings given their DNA modifications.

ENAC

The ancient Enac were the first within the Milky Way galaxy to compile the book of life or the complete interpretation of DNA. They compared DNA of potential species with theirs and made the necessary changes to their genes to get the desired results they wanted. Their decision for which genes to change came from the planet's natural conditions, such as gravity, climate, and the overall diversity of life.

HOMINID

Hominids in this story are considered pre-humans without getting too bogged down in terminology trying to describe the various developmental stages of prehistoric humans. It is hoped that the reader will appreciate the simplicity of lumping pre-humans together for the sake of easy reading.

The DNA virus is artificially created by the Enac to produce a second and the third evolution of pre-humans. Keep in mind that the original DNA sparked the first natural human evolution.

LIFESUIT

The lifesuit is not real. This suit is totally imaginary, right? The closest thing to it right now is a military exoskeleton suit.

NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is the U. S. government agency responsible for civilian space programs, aeronautics, and aerospace research. However, I suggest you search a little deeper to understand why it was originally formed.

Nome Alaska

The 2009 movie, "The Fourth Kind" occurred in an Alaskan isolated coastal town. Check out the movie! Maggie Bay Harbor is portrayed as the same type of location.

PEDER_245

Peder_245 is an Enac. He is a 300-year-old original human being. The number 245 is Peder's last name for identification purposes.

PRESIDENT EISENHOWER

President Eisenhower in a speech he had given before he left office mentioned an organization called the Military-Industrial-Complex (MIC). The organization composes intelligence agencies, high-ranking military officers, large corporations, and very large academic institutions.

PROBE

I once saw a basketball size circular probe-like object in Roanoke Rapids, NC in 2005. The object was silver colored with smoke and sparkles trailing from behind. It was traveling along the Roanoke River heading north just below the tree line. The object was like nothing I had ever seen. I was driving at the time, so I continued towards Interstate 95 North about 2 kilometers away. Once I got on I-95 North, I saw a black helicopter circling the highway with a man in black army fatigues hanging from its open door with a rifle in his hand. It was only then, I realized the significance of what I had just seen.

UESF

United Earth Space Force is an imaginary military force operating entirely in outer space. Its responsibilities are to protect Earth against hostile alien forces and provide transport and protection for colonists across the galaxy.

UFO

Below is a list of my favorite UFO organizations for studying the phenomenon:

Mutual UFO Network (MUFON)

An American-based non-profit organization that investigates cases of alleged UFO sightings. It is one of the oldest and largest civilian UFO-investigative organizations in the United States.

National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC)

This organization is in the United States that investigates UFO sightings and/or alien contacts.

British UFO Research Association or BUFORA

A United Kingdom organization dedicated to investigating UFO phenomena in the British Isles.

ZEDDI

Zeddi is an imaginary alien race from the planet Zeddi. They are similar in appearance (phenotype) and genetics (genotype) to earthlings.
