by John Coon
“Afraid not. I think that alien in your custody is a damned liar.”
Paige glowered over at Doni. Gauze now covered his more serious burns.
“I was afraid this might happen. I'll take care of it right away.”
She ended the call and shoved the phone back in her pocket. Paige marched back over to the examination table right as Dr. Harter finished bandaging the alien. Her eyes locked on him like twin lasers.
“You lied to me. I sent my people to your alleged landing site. They found nothing.”
Doni sighed.
“Those were the coordinates. I don't know what to tell you. I'll give Xttra credit. He's smarter than I thought.”
“In other words, you're useless to me.”
He lifted his chin and flashed a quick tight-lipped smile at Paige.
“It's a shame you feel that way. I have an idea on how to find our scout ship again. But I suppose I'll just keep it to myself.”
Paige clenched a fist and slammed it down on the examination table next to him. She grabbed the alien by his uniform collar and jerked him forward.
“Don't toy with me.” Her words hissed through clenched teeth. “Your fellow aliens just finished going on a rampage through this base. I'm in no mood to deal with more shit.”
Dr. Harter reached out and latched onto her hand. He tried to push it away from Doni.
“Whoa. What are you doing? He suffered some extensive burns. You can't rough him up like that.”
Paige glared at Dr. Harter but relaxed her fist and let go of the uniform. She took a step back. He let out a relieved sigh. Doni smoothed out the fabric and resumed his spot on the examination table.
“One of my fellow crew members is inside a medical pod on the ship,” he explained. “I put him in medical hibernation after a large black-furred Earth animal attacked him a few days ago.”
“How does that help us?” Paige asked.
“Simple. His hibernation means life support systems need to keep running. Those systems use long-life power cells. I can detect energy output from the power cells.”
“Show me how you do it.”
Doni answered her with an exasperated sigh.
“I don't have time to educate you on how to use my advanced technology. I'm guessing you don't have the time either. The others from my ship will permanently escape your grasp if we delay.”
He paused and jabbed a finger at her.
“Then, mark my words, they will return in greater numbers and finish what Rubrum started.”
Paige pressed her palms to her forehead and frowned as she considered the implication behind his words.
“I guess I have no choice,” she finally said. “What do you need to track the energy output?”
***
Sam found himself agreeing with Ned when Paige briefed them on what she wanted to do.
“This has ‘bad idea’ written all over it,” he said. “You're placing way too much weight on what this alien told you.”
Paige stared at both men and responded with an abrupt nod.
“Opinion noted. We're still doing it.”
She activated door controls for the other hangar. Two massive doors retreated from one another, revealing damaged remnants of a small alien vessel. A ranger team recovered it from the same ravine where they captured the female alien.
Ned took one look at the vessel and shook his head. He turned and cast another wary glance over at the alien.
“This alien here is leading us on a wild goose chase. The rangers pulled that wreckage from Dimple Dell Park. I doubt anything still works.”
Doni stepped forward. He still wore shackles around his legs and handcuffs. Two soldiers guarded him and had their rifles trained on the alien, ready to fire at a moment's notice. Paige glanced at the restraints and turned to face his guards.
“Undo his restraints.”
Ned rushed forward and waved both hands with frantic energy.
“Are you nuts? Every time one of these aliens get out of their restraints, they end up attacking us.”
Sam smiled a bit at his theatrics. Ned still smarted from the earlier attack he endured. He saw no reason to be concerned in this case. This unarmed and injured alien would never be foolish enough to try anything. Either soldier could drop him on the spot the minute something went sideways.
Paige showed she shared similar thoughts.
“The alien is on our side,” she said, ignoring Ned's protests. “Release him.”
A soldier stepped forward and undid the restraints. Doni rubbed his wrists for a few seconds and gave a thank you nod to the soldier. Then he strolled over to the wrecked vehicle. The alien did a double take upon seeing only one attached wing, a broken wheel, and multiple bullet holes.
“This aerorover is barely in one piece,” he said. “How did you even transport it here?”
“How we got it in here is irrelevant.” Ned snapped. “Just do the job you're here to do.”
Doni reached up and pressed his translator. He smiled, looked at Ned, and said a string of words no one else understood. Sam assumed the alien said something nasty to him in his native language. Doni reactivated his translator and then turned away from him as if nothing happened.
Ned's face grew flushed.
“Did that alien insult me? What did it say to me?”
Paige sighed. “No idea. But I sure as hell hope it was an insult.”
Doni popped open a door and slid inside the aerorover. Sam, Ned, and Paige all gathered around the opposite side of the vehicle to get a better view of what he was doing.
The alien powered up the vehicle's internal systems. An embedded screen below the dashboard drew Sam’s attention. His eyes traced the screen, which resembled a GPS or virtual map. Doni pressed buttons below it and scrolled over the screen with his finger. Seeing it in action reminded Sam of a laptop touchscreen. A model of another alien spacecraft soon appeared. Even scaled down to fit the screen, Sam realized this ship was much larger than the aerorover.
Sections on the new alien vessel schematic image lit up. Data also appeared in strange looking symbols and numbers. Sam assumed these were drawn from the aliens' native language. He studied the data for a while, wondering how long it would take him to learn and translate those same words and numbers.
Doni tapped on a specific section and zoomed closer. It started flashing. He looked at the others gathered outside the aerorover. A wry smile crossed his lips.
“I know exactly where he took the scout ship.”
Ned gave an approving nod once Doni shared this revelation. Paige looked much more suspicious of his sudden claim.
“So, tell us where it is.”
Doni glanced at the screen a second time and then looked back at her.
“It will be easier if I show you,” he said. “Then I can also help you gain access to the ship.”
Sam thought the alien's proposal sounded like a much better plan.
36
Xttra awoke for good a few moments before sunrise. The time to return to their scout ship had arrived. Sleep fled from him all night. He could not shake a growing dread creeping over every part of him. Anxiety gripped Xttra over what fate awaited him and Calandra once they returned home. Stellar Guard leaders would certainly open an official investigation into his crew's high mortality rate. He feared neither the Stellar Guard nor the chief sovereign would believe their account of what happened on Earth.
Xttra shuddered thinking about the potential fallout if they were held responsible for everything that transpired. Whispers of suppression and retaliation against opponents to the chief sovereign he could conveniently ignore during day-to-day life in Ra'ahm. Their fates never affected Xttra himself, so why worry about rumors? It became a different story now that he and Calandra faced a real chance of drawing the ire of their leaders. Their secret expedition to make first contact with Earth failed. No one would believe a respected former minister like Doni would betray the rest of the crew. If he did not return to Lathos,
it would only raise further questions. What price would Delcor force them to pay to prevent the truth from getting out?
A soft murmur arose from a large bed behind him. Xttra dropped back a curtain covering the front window and turned to face Calandra. Her eyes remained closed while she lay nestled amid scratchy brown blankets and matching sheets. Xttra strolled over to the edge of the bed and gazed upon the woman he loved. Even amid a peaceful slumber, her beautiful face failed to mask a pain holding her body hostage. He hesitated to rouse her. Xttra did not want to drag her back into the horrors that had overtaken their lives so soon. Calandra deserved rest from a trauma she did nothing to earn.
Blankets shifted as Calandra turned to her side. Her eyelids opened a crack and she let out a small groan. Xttra knelt by her head and took her right hand into his own. He caressed each finger on that lovely hand.
“Is it morning already?”
Disappointment washed over her face once it dawned on Calandra sunrise arrived much sooner than she wanted. Neither of them had grown used to shorter Earth days yet. She opened her eyes the rest of the way and gazed into his face.
“It feels like I've hardly slept at all.” She paused and yawned to drive home her point. “At least, I don't hurt as much as yesterday.”
Hearing that bit of welcome news brought a smile to Xttra's face for the first time in a long time.
“I hope this means you're feeling a little better. I hate seeing you in so much pain.”
He leaned forward, closed his eyes, and kissed Calandra on the lips. Xttra grasped her uninjured arm with his other hand and helped her rise to a sitting position near the edge of the bed. She grimaced as fresh pain stung her broken bones.
“What's the first thing you want to do after we return home to Lathos?”
Xttra blurted out the question to help Calandra focus her mind on something besides her injuries.
“Once I'm healed, we're heading straight to the Aurora Mountains and going for a dive into Ambrosia Lake,” she said. “I've almost forgotten how it feels to spend an innocent moment in nature without the threat of death hanging over me.”
Calandra closed her eyes again while she visualized that exact spot. Xttra knew the place well. Even now, he could see a white rock outcropping marking her favorite entry point into the mountain lake’s cool waters. Happy moments, like the one she described, felt like memories trapped forever behind a sealed door. Their first impression of Earth could not have turned out more wrong and now they were paying a grim price for it.
He handed Calandra a pair of jeans and an old t-shirt he got from Kevin.
“These should offer a nice change from your bloodstained uniform, although I don't approve of how Kevin obtained them.”
Xttra shook his head thinking back to those suitcases in the parking lot. Kevin opened a car door and rifled through them after their owner walked inside the motel office to check out from his room. There had to be a better way to find fresh clothing than stealing from a stranger. Xttra raised his concern and Kevin dismissed it without a second thought. They were on the run now, Kevin told him, and he refused to play nice with anyone.
Calandra draped the newly acquired clothing across her injured arm. She rose from the bed and hobbled in a stiff-legged gait into the bathroom. A limp lingered in her right calf where a bullet grazed her in the ravine.
Xttra cracked open the motel room door. Kevin and Collin stood by the car, mired in another argument. Bad blood percolated between both men since their escape threw the little group together. Xttra could only shake his head upon discovering them at each other's throats again. An annoyed frown crossed his lips as he walked outside and leaned on the balcony railing.
“Can't you two ever get along?”
Kevin cast his eyes up to the second floor.
“We'll get along great if he leaves right now and doesn't stop until he reaches Canada.”
His response produced a bewildered look from Xttra. He tilted his head at the ranger.
“Where?”
Kevin scoffed and shook his head. He showed no interest in giving Xttra a belated Earth geography lesson.
“Never mind.”
Xttra heard footsteps behind him and cast a glance back inside the room. Calandra popped out of the bathroom. The stolen clothes hung loose on her. Their original owner carried at least thirty more pounds on their frame than Calandra did. Her new outfit perfectly concealed her toned body, so it bordered on shapeless beneath the fabric. Xttra shared another brief kiss with her and locked the door behind Calandra.
Once they reached the parking lot, he stuck the motel key under Kevin's nose. The ranger pried his eyes away from his smartphone only long enough to grab it from his hand. Xttra gazed at the electronic device for a moment and then loudly cleared his throat to grab Kevin's attention again.
“What are we waiting for? Let's fly.”
“Relax,” Kevin said. “Your spaceship will still be there, even if we don't leave here within the next five minutes.”
Calandra looked at him with half-closed eyes and a solemn expression. Collin tapped at his wrist, pointing to a non-existent wristwatch.
“All right!” Kevin snapped. “We're going!”
He whipped out his keys and clicked open all four doors. Xttra helped Calandra into the backseat. Once Kevin checked the group out of the motel, he hopped inside, and the car peeled out of the parking lot. The group traveled north and then east toward the scout ship coordinates Xttra provided.
Xttra gazed upon Calandra's delicate face. Her eyes trailed buildings and trees rushing past the car window. Mountains swallowed up the landscape on both sides as they left the alien city called Provo. Those beautiful green eyes seemed deeper and sadder than the ones he knew only a week earlier. Pain afflicted Calandra inside and outside. In an all-too-real way, this expedition robbed her of an innocent hope she once owned. Calandra came across as naive to people who did not know her well. Xttra knew better. She owned an innate gift for seeing goodness in everyone. He hoped he could find a way to restore it to her.
Calandra's frown deepened as she faced him.
“What's on your mind?” Xttra asked.
Xttra took a lock of her auburn hair and stroked it gently between his fingers. She cast her eyes down and pinched her eyes shut to hide tears threatening to form.
“We never honored Lance, Atch, or Jbali undertaking their journeys into the next realm,” she said. “I know their families would want us to do it.”
Xttra frowned. Performing that rite slipped his mind amid the chaos of the previous night. Of course, they could not ignore it. Hesitation also gripped him. Earth did not feel like a good place for such a ceremony.
“This may not be the proper time or place to do this,” Xttra said. “Perhaps we should wait until we’ve returned home to Lathos.”
“You know we cannot wait,” Calandra replied. “The Book of Ahm decrees this rite must be performed within a day of death. Our slain friends would not want us to delay and risk divine anger.”
A distinct image of Lance popped into Xttra's mind when she said those words. He recalled attending the ceremony where Lance's father became the High Cleric of Birshana. Even at that time, Lance's heart yearned to follow a different path. Neither parent could persuade him to join his father in the ministry of Ahm. Lance did not actively serve the faith that encompassed his youth, but he also never strayed from those teachings his mother and father imparted to him as a child. Xttra understood they must honor him, Atch, and Jbali in a manner decreed by the Divine Creator.
“We need to stop the car and build a fire pit,” he said, tapping Kevin on the shoulder.
Kevin glanced at Xttra in the rearview mirror and gave him a puzzled look.
“Why? It's a little too late in the game to plan a camping trip.”
“It's for an important rite. We must honor the journey our slain crew members have taken into Ahm’s realm.”
Collin shook his head and glanced over his shoulder. A sm
irk crept onto his face.
“This is not an ideal time to engage in superstitious practices,” he said. “I thought beings who could travel vast distances through space would have moved beyond such trivial things.”
Xttra and Calandra both answered him with the same surprised stare.
“Do you not believe in Ahm?” Calandra asked. “The Divine Creator who brought all life into existence?”
“Should I?”
Calandra and Xttra exchanged worried glances. They failed to convey the seriousness of their task. Xttra's worry soon hardened into a glare at Collin. Regardless of his own feelings toward religion, Xttra would not risk divine wrath to appease a scientist.
“So, you are a heretic?”
Calandra's tone was quiet, but her accusation registered at a much higher volume. Collin's lips curled into a deep frown once she posed her follow-up question.
“Enough of this shit!”
Kevin cranked the wheel and turned the sedan down a small dirt road. He followed the road until the highway faded from view behind the car. Kevin parked along the side of the dirt road and flung open his door. After stepping outside, he turned to Xttra.
“Do whatever you need to do. But make it quick.”
Xttra exited the car and followed Kevin across the road to a tiny campground. They marched past four wooden picnic tables bolted to a square cement pad and stopped at an old fire pit a stone's throw away. Charred oblong stones formed a rough circle on the ground to create the makeshift pit.
Xttra circled the pit, eyeballing it.
“This will work. Now I must gather fuel.”
He strolled past the pit and walked among a small patch of trees bordering the picnic area. Kevin turned and gazed back at Calandra. Her car door now hung open as she watched from the backseat.
“What's he doing now?” he called out. “And where's he going?”
“Preparing a fire,” Calandra said.
She leaned forward and started rummaging around inside the car.
“Will anything in here ignite a flame for us?”
Kevin crossed the road again and poked his head inside the car. He leaned over the driver's seat and grabbed a thin rectangular object out of a small tray built into the dashboard console. A small wheel topped the object, flanked by a metal hole on one side and a button on the other one.