by Alex Howell
Raina fearing that the worst must have befallen the brave little boy, urged the mother to continue, “And then what happened after that?”
She shook her head, “Oh—I don’t know for sure. My son took off running down the hall and they chased after him. They were gone for a while looking for him… then…. Then suddenly one of them came back…”
David asked, “One of who? One of the terrorists?
The woman nodded, “Yes… One of the terrorists…”
Raina inquired, “What did they say to you?”
She replied, “He said that they found my son hiding in the house, and had one of their buddies take him to another location for safe keeping…”
Sighing, she looked to Raina with immense sadness in her eyes as she explained, “That’s when they told me of the new setup… that they were going to hold him in another safe house and if I did anything to try to escape, they would immediately put him to death…”
She choked and began to sob once again at the very thought. David watched as she put her head in her lap and balled her eyes out. This woman’s suffering was beyond belief. And the one person among them that understood her pain was David Trenton, who had not only had his family kidnapped, but tortured and killed.
Trenton knowing that perhaps he was the only one that could speak some reason into a horrible situation stepped forward and spoke up, “I know that right now the last thing you want to hear is some random stranger professing to know what you are going through… so I am going to spare you of all that.”
The somber tone of Trenton’s voice got the woman’s attention as she looked up and muttered, “What?”
Although David Trenton didn’t know the woman personally, as a former SEAL he knew her husband well enough. And had heard him mention his wife by name on several occasions. Seeking to create empathy, Trenton stepped toward her and asked, “Your name is Maureen, right?”
Feeling reassured by the sudden sense of familiarity, Maureen nodded, “Yes—yes I am. Who are you?”
David informed her, “My name is David Trenton. I used to work alongside your husband in the SEALS.”
Maureen seemingly encouraged by the association, spoke more readily, as she confirmed, “You worked with my husband?”
Trenton nodded, “Yes, I did.”
He then took a deep breath before he continued, “I am not going to stand here and claim to know exactly what you are going through. I can’t do that, because I am not you…”
Trenton then slightly raised his voice as he declared, “But what I can do is most certainly emphasize and feel your pain.”
Trenton then softly sighed and looked toward the ground as he related, “You see…. I too had my family snatched away by this some group of monsters.”
The woman obviously eager to have someone to relate to, perked up, “You did?”
Trenton nodded, “Yes I did.”
Maureen then of course naturally inquired, “So what happened?”
Trenton answered quietly, “They were all killed.”
The previously weeping woman, was now transformed from the bereaved to the comforter, as she attempted to console David Trenton, “Oh no… I am so sorry to hear that.”
At which Trenton, looked at the woman intently as he expressed, “Don’t be sorry… just know that due to my own experience with these creeps, its my personal honor on the line here. And you have my word that I will move heaven and earth if it means that I can bring back your son and bring these monsters to justice.”
David Trenton’s words seemed to have an effect, as Maureen grew considerably calmer and quietly expressed her gratitude, “Thank you…”
Trenton had been through hell and back, but the thought that he could help others and bring some solace to their misery was surprisingly refreshing. As he conversed with Maureen over her trauma, and seeking to aid her in her quest to find her son he was surprised at how he felt. He felt good. He felt, for the first time in a long time that he was living a life with a purpose. And suddenly the idea that he could somehow help this one suffering woman meant the world to him.
Even though he and so many others touched by senseless violence and found themselves living in a world of pain. Unlike others who were sucked into an endless cycle of violence, David had discovered that the way out of this turmoil was not through further retribution—it was through lending a hand to help a fellow human being out of the spiritual quicksand that the darker side of life had threatened to trap them in.
David felt as if he had lost his soul when he lost his family, but he saw a chance to reclaim it by restoring the precious lives of others that had just as nearly been shattered. He may very well be living in a world of tremendous pain and heartache, but David Trenton knew that the panacea to cure his suffering was not vengeance after all—it was compassion.
16
Finding Your Way Through the Dark
ABOUT AN HOUR LATER AT MASON’S HOUSE IN BATLTIMORE.
Kyle sat back down at his command post in Mason’s basement thinking that he would settle back in and gather some background data for the current efforts of the Onyx team. He figured that a combination of the bad encounters with the ballpark jumbotron and the squeegee guy were more than enough of an excuse for Clara to go back to her usual routine of ignoring him.
But he had only been working at his station for a few minutes before he heard the door to the basement creak open. He looked up and sure enough Clara was making her way down the steps. Taking a seat next to him she announced, “Sorry to bother you Kyle—you got a minute? Can we talk?”
Kyle was amazed, as he thought to himself, ‘She really does have a hard time being by herself!’
Entertaining her request, he spun around in his seat and asked somewhat incredulously, “Uh--sure Clara, what do you want to talk about?”
Clara looked down at the ground at sighed, “Oh I don’t know… I just feel so lost sometimes…”
As much as Kyle liked Clara, the roller coaster of her emotions was beginning to grate on his nerves as he tried to keep up with al of her ups and downs. He thought to himself, ‘Great… she’s lost—just what is she babbling about now?’
Nevertheless, after a pause, he quietly inquired, “Uh—what’s that? What are you talking about?”
Clara then pulled out the tablet she had carried down to the basement with her and placed it on the desk in front of them, and pointed at the screen as she softly entreated, “Here.”
Straining his eyes to see, Kyle saw that she was logged into the student portal for Stanford University, with a “drop/add” class window pulled up.
As Kyle peered at the current course listing, she told him, “I’m thinking about changing my major.”
Kyle inquired, “Changing your major—what was your major before?”
Clara nodded, “Criminal justice.”
Kyle then asked, “And what were you planning on doing with that?”
To which Clara informed him of what she thought was rather obvious, “I’m want to work for my dad…”
Kyle’s interest piqued, he inquired, “For your dad? You mean you want to work for Onyx?”
Clara shook her head, “Well no—not that. I was thinking more like working for a branch of service that would help serve to augment the work that my dad already does.”
Kyle still not quite getting it, asked, “Uh—you want to be a cop?”
To which Clara vigorously shook her head, responding “Oh no—I’d rather not.”
Clara then sighed, “No, I was thinking more of going into service for the CIA.”
Thinking about it for a moment, Kyle asked, “Since when do they have majors in school for the CIA?”
Clara shook her head, “No—they don’t. All you really need is a bachelor’s, they just have preferred fields of study.”
Kyle asked, “Like?”
Clara responded, “Well like political science, international relations, and criminal justice…”
Putting a fist to his
head and sarcastically simulating his mind being blown by rapidly splaying his fingers outward, Kyle remarked, “POW!! Criminal justice! Well—that’s your major! So, what’s the problem?”
Clara shook her head, “But like I said it’s just one of the suggested majors for people wanting to join up, all they really care about is the fact that you have a bachelor’s degree. I could major in just about anything and still sign on with the CIA later.”
Reaching down and scrolling through some offerings being listed, she remarked, “See, there’s all kinds of courses I can take in things like language, music, philosophy…”
At which Kyle scoffed, “Philosophy! Please Clara! Whatever you do—don’t become a philosophy major!”
Kyle then thought about it for a moment as he revealed, “You know I thought about working for the CIA before too myself…”
Clara was intrigued as she asked, “Really? What major did you choose?”
At which Kyle laughed, “Major? Um—I guess you could say I majored in hacking.”
Clara echoed, “Hacking?”
Kyle nodded, as he humorously narrated, “Uh… Yeah… back in the day I guess you could say that I kind of made a big splash in the hacking world.”
Kyle then clarified, “I hacked into NASA.”
Clara had never heard much of Kyle’s back story before. This was a whole new topic of discussion for her. Wishing to learn more she asked, “What? Did you just say that you hacked into NASA?”
Kyle laughed, “Yeah, when I was 10 years old, I was looking for aliens.”
Clara raised an eyebrow, “Uh—come again? Aliens?”
Kyle nodded, “Yep, I was convinced that NASA was holding out on us earthlings, and had some kind of hidden information about alien beings floating around in outer space somewhere.”
Kyle chuckled, “I was a pretty crazy kid. I readily believed all of those conspiracy theories that NASA and the government were holding out on us, and hiding information about extraterrestrial life, so I decided that I would take things into my own hands to uncover it.”
Clara was truly intrigued as she asked, “What did you find out?”
Kyle responded, “Well, at first I truly thought that I had hit the motherload…”
Clara asked, “What did you see?”
Kyle nodded, “I saw some strange looking spacecraft and a vague mentioning of ‘non-terrestrial’ officers.”
Clara asked, “Non-terrestrial?”
Kyle explained, “Yeah, as in—not of this Earth.”
Clara startled at the notion of ET apparently working as part of NASA’s staff, exclaimed, “What?”
Kyle was quick to bring her back down to Earth however, as he dismissively waved his hand, and explained “It’s not what you think however. The non-terrestrial officers aren’t aliens…. They are just fellow Americans who just happen to spend the majority of their time posted in space.”
Clara becoming more and more confused at the odd story she was hearing, let out a bewildered, “Huh?”
Kyle then explained, “It wasn’t anything at all to do with bug eyed aliens—the non-terrestrial officer was basically a classified designation for off-planet military personnel. Yeah—and the exotic spacecraft I saw are all ours too—they are just super advanced, cutting edge stuff, and way beyond top secret.”
Scrunching her nose as she thought about it for a moment, Clara remarked, “So you mean to tell me that all of those UFO reports are actually classified spacecraft used by the U.S. military?”
Kyle shrugged, “Well I can’t say that all of them are—who really knows right? But yes, I would say that the majority are indeed from the secret space program.”
Although she was not sure if she was entirely convinced by Kyle’s story, Clara knew that Kyle wasn’t one to lie or make stuff up. But even if what he was saying were true—why would he tell her?
Swiveling her chair to face him, she asked him as much, inquiring, “So if this stuff is still so top secret, why in the world are you telling me about it?”
Kyle laughed, “No offence Clara—but I’m telling you because even if you told someone else, no one would believe you.”
Clara hissed, “Well gee, thanks.”
Letting the hint of a smirk fade from his face, Kyle flatly informed her, “No I’m serious. No offense to you at all Clara… But you are what a military intelligence officer would call a low-level risk.”
Clara asked, “A what?”
Kyle repeated, “A low level risk.”
Kyle sighed, “Just think about it. You are a young college student. You don’t have any degrees, no professional distinction, no political or military ties—you don’t even have a published article under your name. For them you would be considered a low-level threat that wouldn’t rock the boat of the establishment whatsoever, and whose claims going forward, they could easily dismiss and deny.”
From which Clara surmised, “Basically what your saying is—I’m a nobody.”
Kyle grinned, “You got it!”
Clara mirthlessly chuckled, “Well! Now isn’t that encouraging?”
At which Kyle jokingly threw his hands up in the air, and declared, “Don’t look at me! I don’t make the rules of engagement! I just follow them!”
Getting back to the point of Kyle’s clandestine dealings, Clara reiterated, “So you really did hack into NASA?”
Kyle nodded, before making the remark, “Yeah and like I said it was mostly a big letdown as far as I’m concerned. But hey guess what? You know what the conspiracy theorists were indeed right about one thing after all…”
Clara asked, “Oh yeah? What’s that?”
Kyle nodded, “NASA is indeed a smokescreen—it’s just not a smokescreen for aliens.”
Staring up at the ceiling, pausing to think about it for a moment, he then went on to explain, “It’s a not a smokescreen for ET at all… It’s a smokescreen for covert military activities in space.”
Clara couldn’t hardly believe what she was hearing, “You mean to tell me that the military has been secretly conducting operations in space and using NASA as a cover story?”
Kyle nodded emphatically, “Exactly! While NASA the civilian agency posed itself as the face of modern spaceflight, the USAF (United States Air Force) was training its own special core of astronauts to fly secret space planes. These men and women were the non-terrestrial officers! You see—despite what you may have heard, it had nothing at all to do with alien creatures from Zeta Reticula!”
Clara laughed softly at Kyle’s absurdity, before pointedly asking, “Uh right—but why in the world would they keep such a thing secret? Why wouldn’t they want anyone to know about it?”
Kyle thought for a moment before replying, “Because if the American public doesn’t even know what they’re own government is doing up there, then the nation’s enemies most definitely won’t know anything about it. You see, unlike the Earth—space is a big place. And in that empty vacuum they can store a lot of black projects.”
He then paused before quietly adding, “And that way they can do so without the oversight and accountability that can be found attached to more conventional programs.”
Kyle continued, “You see, ever since the creation of the Air Force in the mid-20th Century, the military has been seeking to avoid massive bureaucracies that could leave them hamstrung. After this massive bureaucratic branch was created, the last thing they needed was the creation of another one.”
Thinking about it, Kyle added, “Sure, every once in a while, you will hear some big-name politician speak of a “Space force”, but this is just more sleight of hand, idle banter sort of thing, to keep folks entertained and distracted from what’s really going on. The truth is, the real Space Force already exists and has been in orbit even before NASA launched its first satellite in the 1950’s.”
Clara didn’t know a whole lot about such things, but she knew enough to realized that what Kyle was telling her was all highly unusual, as she remarked, “Wow—”
Listening to Kyle talk about this kind of subject matter, Clara realized he could probably speak about this topic at length—which coincidentally enough, he did on occasion as a guest speaker for MIT. An Alma Mater that he graduated from at the tender age of 13 years old before he started working full time in military intelligence.
Taking a breath, Kyle decided to curtail his diatribe this time around however, and move the conversation forward, as he narrated, “Anyway, to get back to my point—it was after delving into these top-secret programs that military intelligence got a hold of me and recruited me to help in their efforts.”
Clara laughed, “So rather than prosecuting you they hired you?”
Kyle laughed, “Yeah—pretty much.”
Kyle explained, ‘I was only 10 years old after all—they couldn’t exactly lock me up and throw away the key.”
Considering the circumstances, he shrugged, “Besides they determined that I would be much more useful as an ally they could groom, rather than a growing threat they would have to fear. And as such they wanted to keep me close so that I could work for them rather than against them.”
Clara was stunned. She couldn’t believe the incredible, clandestine life that Kyle had been living right under her nose.
And she remarked as much, as she gasped, “Geez Kyle…. That really is incredible.”
Getting back to the topic at hand, she then asked, “So did you think of joining up with the CIA.”
Kyle nodded, “Yeah—and they did select me for a few missions, but I never joined up officially.”
Clara asked, “Why?”
To which Kyle responded, “Too many rules.”
Clara asked, “Too many rules?”
Kyle nodded, “Yeah…”
Clara laughed, “Okay... you work for my father yet you think the CIA has too many rules?”
Kyle laughed, “Hey your dad let’s me wear a hoody and play video games in my downtime. The CIA just doesn’t roll like that.”
Kyle then getting back to the point of the matter felt the urge to encourage Clara as he told her, ‘But it’s a great organization—and as for you Ms. Clara—