Everyone knew that Wilson's trick would only buy them a
few hours at best, but it was the only option. If Wilson
had dropped Asher and company on the hill, then attempted to
decoy the Air Force, he would have ended up with a radar
guided missile as a tombstone. By landing the rented
Jetranger on the hill, as planned, everyone was able to get
into the truck that Melanie had waiting. Next, it was a
simple matter of Wilson tossing a satchel charge into the
idling helicopter, and getting into the truck before it
blew. A professional crash investigator would be able to
tell that the explosion was staged, but to the layman, the
party was as good as dead.
Asher was surprised how easily Melanie had taken the
news of Baker's death. Truthfully, she acted as if she
didn't even notice he was missing... like she already knew
he was dead. He accepted this as an unexplainable psychic
happening (like those books on TV), and left it at that.
The four survivors piled into the van, with Ralston
maintaining his rock-solid grip on the alien, and Melanie
drove to the safehouse she had arranged. When Asher asked
her to find a place to "hide out" for a day or two, she
considered several options before settling on Kershaw-Ryan
park, less than an hour away from the pickup point. The
Nevada State Park was closed now, but there were several
rental cabins and condos still available a short distance
away. It was secluded, and the fact that the park was not
active at the time made it acceptable in Asher's mind. What
concerned Melanie about the site was that the park was less
than one hundred miles from the compound where they had
rescued the alien.
She knew the limits of her psychic powers, and as such,
had traveled to Alamo with Brad to get closer to the
compound. But if there were two aliens, it was possible
that the remaining alien might be forced to locate the first
through astral projection or telepathy. Melanie considered
mentioning this to Asher, but decided against it. For all
she knew, there might not be a safe point on the planet.
As she drove to the cabin, she tried to erect a mental
wall between herself and the alien. The mere presence of
the creature was sufficient to give her a headache because
of the enormous power of its thoughts. Its confused state
probably increased the intensity of the creature's brain
activity, but it was obvious that the creature was not
concentrating or focusing its energy by the way its head
moved and gaze shifted. At times it would try to move, and
Ralston would force it back onto the blankets that cushioned
the floor of the van. The creature obviously made Asher
nervous, because he sat across from it with his M-16 ready
and the safety off.
Even Ralston was nervous. He'd taken Brad's rifle.
Brad's enthusiasm at the successful rescue was not
sufficient to prevent him from passing out after a few
moments of riding. In fact, he was so exhausted he did not
even wake up when they arrived at the cabin and the others
unloaded the van. Asher had calmed down and stated that it
was best to follow the original plan. Melanie wasn't sure
about leaving Asher with Roger, but knew that Ralston would
be there to keep an eye on him. She wasn't concerned enough
to volunteer to stay.
Wilson drove the first leg of the journey back to Vegas
and let Melanie nap for an hour and a half. She took the
next shift while Wilson rested before his flight to the
safehouse. Brad didn't move a muscle until they reached
North Las Vegas Airport about four AM, and then he only
moved because Melanie gently nudged him into consciousness.
"Are we at the cabin?" asked Brad groggily. "Hey!
Where's Roger?"
"It's okay. We're at the airport, you're going to
drive Asher's car back... Remember?"
"Yeah. Is Roger safe?" Melanie explained that they'd
left him at the cabin, handed Brad his bag that held his
change of clothes, then waited outside the van with Wilson
as he changed. Brad tucked the uniform and gear under one
of the blankets in the back of the truck and placed the
revolver in the bag. He stepped unsteadily from the van,
his legs weak and sore from the march.
Wilson walked to his helicopter, and started his walk
around preflight inspection. Melanie gave Brad a map to the
cabin, just in case they were separated on the way back.
She said she wanted to stop at a grocery store in Elgin or
Caliente to buy some food. Brad answered that he would go,
but Melanie knew something was wrong. Somehow, Brad seemed
distant.
As he started to the car Melanie closed her eyes, and
relaxed her body. Her arms fell limp to her sides, and her
head fell back. In the back of her mind, a little voice
told her that what she was doing was wrong, perhaps immoral,
but she focused her concentration on Brad's mind. He was
doing something... He had something to do...
She couldn't read him; his mind was still too exhausted
to think clearly. All she was getting from him was a
feeling of despair or guilt. What ever he was doing, it was
something he'd planned on doing all along. His actions were
being driven by his subconscience mind, which she could not
reach without his willing submission. She had no idea what
he was thinking.
As she stepped into the van, her body trembled with a
light feeling of apprehension toward what had happened, or
was about to happen. The rescue had not gone as planned,
and she believed things were going to get worse. She
wouldn't have called it a premonition: it was more a sense
of a destructive presence. Someone, or something, around
her, was going to jeopardize her life.
She had been lucky to find an food mart in Caliente
that had opened at five. With the extra money that Baker
had brought and left with his change of clothes in the
truck, she was able to buy enough food for the five of them
for the day. It had not occurred to her that she didn't
know what to feed an alien (if anything) until she had
already made her selections. After careful consideration,
she decided the best thing to do was to ask the alien and
make a second trip.
By the time she arrived at the cabin, a little after
sunrise, she'd managed to shake the feeling of doom that had
haunted her. All seemed to be in order except for the
absence of Asher's car. As she had spent fifteen to twenty
minutes at the grocery store, she had expected Brad to beat
her to the cabin. She grabbed groceries from the back of
the van, and stepped to the door.
Again, she felt something was wrong, because she felt
nothing at all. In other words, she had been expecting a
tremendous presence of the alien, but instead felt only
humans. She entered the cabin's main room, and found it
empty. For a moment she stood in the door and 'scanned' the
house. "Hello!"
Ralston backstepped out of one of the bedrooms. "I was
wondering when you two would be back. Where's Dartmouth?"
"I haven't seen him since we dropped Wilson at the
airport. I thought he'd have beaten me here. Where is
everybody?"
"Wilson's in here, Asher's asleep in the other room."
"What about Roger?"
"He's right here... He hasn't moved since we put him in
here."
Melanie stepped passed Ralston and looked in the
bedroom. The alien was seated in the corner of the darkened
room, on a wood chair. "He's asleep," she said. Ralston
looked down at her questioningly. "I can't feel his
presence," she explained, "When I walked in, I was afraid
something had gone wrong. It's as if Roger isn't even here.
I think you two can take a break. Why do you have the light
turned off?"
"When you dropped us off, we put him in the bedroom,
and sat in opposite corners of the room. He covered his
eyes and sat in the corner. We discussed it for a few
moments and decided the we'd turn the light out, but one of
us would stay by the switch in case it was a trick. Once
the light was off, he sat in the chair, and hasn't moved."
"You don't think its dead, do you?" asked Wilson.
"No," answered Melanie, "It's more like hibernation, or
a deep meditation. I've got some food if you're hungry;
nothing fancy: sandwich stuff. Ah, self-serve."
Wilson and Ralston laughed. Melanie's message was
clear, and they had no problems dealing with it. She made
herself a sandwich, and was alarmed to see that with the way
Ralston ate, the food might not last the afternoon. The men
attempted to relax, but Melanie could sense that neither of
them were actually at ease. Truthfully, neither was she.
"I think he's nocturnal," offered Ralston. "That would
explain a lot of things."
"Like what?" inquired Wilson.
"Like why he was up and walking around the compound at
midnight. Not to mention the big eyes: a creature that
moves around in low light needs large eyes. And then
there's the way his skin glows."
"That's probably phosphorus. It glows and has a
grayish tint," suggested Wilson.
"Maybe the glow is from radiation," said Melanie.
"Not likely. The Air Force personnel were not wearing
protective clothing, and I've never heard reports of people
receiving radiation burns from contact with them. It would
also explain why most contact with aliens occurs at night:
the Hill's in New Hampshire, Sgt. Moody in New Mexico,
Travis in Oklahoma. They all made contact at night and
described the ships as dimly lit."
"It would explain why I can't feel anything from him,"
stated Melanie. "A nocturnal animal sleeps in the day."
"So, you think he'll stay asleep until sundown?" asked
Wilson.
"I doubt it," responded Ralston, "Humans are diurnal,
that's the opposite of nocturnal, and we don't sleep from
sundown to sunrise. I can't imagine that he's going to
sleep simply because it's light outside. He's not a
vampire."
After he'd eaten, Ralston asked Melanie if she would
mind if he took a nap. It seemed an odd question, until he
explained that it would probably be best for two people to
watch Roger at all times. Wilson and Asher had assumed
Ralston's fear was purely tactical, but Melanie's felt it
was more involved. When she asked about his reasoning, he
avoided giving her a straight answer.
Brad finally arrived at the cabin at nine-thirty,
causing Melanie to insist that he account for his time. He
flashed her a glare of disgusted surprise, but was countered
with the old 'don't-look-at-me-like-that' response. Wilson
commented that he thought it was odd that he had left the
airport at the same time as Melanie, yet arrived three hours
later.
"Okay, okay. I stopped to get something to eat. When
I got back into the car, I fell asleep. I'm sorry. I
didn't mean to do it," he explained. "Where's the alien?"
Wilson explained that it was in the back room and told the
story of why the light was off. Melanie knew Brad was
telling the truth, and also that he was holding something
back.
She walked to where she'd put her purse on the kitchen
counter and removed a small elastic ring and a brush. As
she brushed her hair, she allowed herself to relax, and took
deep breaths. She closed her eyes and concentrated on Brad
as she placed the ponytail holder on her hair. Her mind
reached across the room to where Brad was stowing his gear
and sought the information he'd withheld. An image began to
form; a billboard. On it, a message... "Stop trying to
read my mind."
Melanie turned to see Brad smiling broadly. Without a
word she stomped to the couch, laid with her back to Brad,
and closed her eyes for a nap.
|
Go to Story Index |
Email Douglas Bunger | Go to Home Page |
Go to Next Chapter |