“What does all this have to do with the claims of the former Mayor?”
“That’s a good question. So far there seems to be no correlation between the events that happened at the furniture store and the population shift of Nexus.”
“What about this Stone fellow?” he asked. “How does he fit into all this?”
“I don’t know. What I’m fairly certain about is that Stone killed the two men in the restaurant, and that the two men were part of the mayor’s top echelon, but we have no idea how the fight started and if any of this connected to the mayor. Why he was in Mira’s car and in a debilitated state is another mystery.”
“What went wrong when you tried to pick up Mira?”
“Like I said, Mira’s car was stopped without incident. I started feeling good about it. But the feeling was short-lived. My partner turned his gun on me and tried to kill me.”
“How in the world did you get out of that?”
“I killed him first. Then all hell broke loose. All I could do was shoot, crawl, and pray. The usual stuff.”
Walter shook his head. “I’m just so glad that you’re okay. I don’t think I could take losing you.”
She was silent a moment. “I’ll be fine. I’m not so sure about Stone. He gave himself a shot of something before we left, and as you can see, he hasn’t woke up yet.” She looked over at Stone. His eyes were still closed.
Walter gazed at Stone a moment then turned his attention back to Candace. “About this Stone. I noticed earlier when you were asleep that he had a large gash down his left arm.”
“Oh, Is that so?” She looked over at Stone but couldn’t see much of his arm. He must have been hit. I should check on him.”
“No need. He wasn’t bleeding, and apparently hadn’t bled at all, even though his arm was laid open.”
“What?” She turned back to Walter. “How could …?”
“His arm didn’t look real. The bone underneath his skin looked more like stainless steel.”
“Not stainless steel,” Stone suddenly spoke as he sat up in bed. “Very similar in appearance, but much more durable. Not solid. The interior is packed with some rather high-tech components.”
Walter and Candace both stared at Stone, at first unable to speak.
Walter finally spoke. “Eh, I’ve never seen a prosthesis that looked so real. The artificial skin is absolutely perfect. May I ask where you had this made?”
“It wasn’t made around here,” Stone said. He paused a few moments before he spoke again as though he were considering what he should say next. Then he said his words slowly. “I’m not from around here.”
CHAPTER 15
Mayor Byron Jensen stepped back away from the door to allow Mira to enter.
“What happened last night?” he asked as she crossed the room to one of the armchairs.
“We underestimated the FBI lady. Candace is her name.”
“How did you underestimate her?”
“Once I was stopped and had this Stone fellow secured, I ordered one of my men to get rid of her. He was riding shotgun with Candace and was acting as a liaison with her and the other FBI agents. Which were our men. The story was going to be that Stone killed her and fled. Meanwhile, Stone would be driven to the house to be interrogated.”
“But none of that happened,” Byron said with a trace of anger.
“No. I can’t tell you exactly what happened. There were three shots fired. Our man was killed. Apparently, Candace wasn’t hit and escaped from the car before my men could get there. I joined the search for her. A gun battle ensued. I believe she was hit in the leg, but she still managed to take out one of my men and escaped with Stone.”
Byron stood up angrily. He walked over fuming to the big window that looked out over a portion of the parking lot. He wanted to hit something. To possibly knock out the window in front of him. But he resisted. He huffed and snorted a few moments before he could find his voice again. “Okay,” he said, pacing his words. “I guess you gave your guys a good story to tell the authorities?”
“Yes. It leaves a few holes but that’s expected in real-life situations as well. The main thing is that there is a warrant out for both Candace and Stone.”
He walked back over and sat down.
“When this FBI lady is caught, or turns herself in, she’s going to have a different story to tell. Who do you think they’re going to believe?”
“If she gets to tell her story.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Remember, I said earlier that our guys picked up some irregular electrical pulses. We assume the pulses are coming from something on the man. Perhaps a pacemaker, or an artificial limb. Anyway, with the help of a couple of our tech guys we’ve been able to greatly amplify the signal. We’ve been able to track him to a motel out of town. And, as it turns out we have someone watching him, or rather them. I’ve been told that this Agent Caine and a man whom we have identified as a local police detective are also there.”
“He nodded pensively. “The cop must be a friend of hers. What’s your plan?”
“It’s too risky to try anything in the light of day. There’s a lot of businesses in that area. There’s bound to be a witness or two if we try anything. We wait till sometime after midnight, perhaps one or two in the morning. We send three of our best men in. One of them shoots Stone with a heavy tranquilizer. We need him alive to find out if there might be others like him who might be after us. Candace and the cop are shot with a silenced thirty-eight. Before they depart, they’ll leave some drugs behind and let the authorities come up with what they think happened.”
Byron smiled. “Good. Let’s make this happen. No screwups.”
“Sure thing.”
CHAPTER 16
Walter stared at Stone a moment before speaking. “Okay, so you’re not from around here. Where are you from?”
“I’m from a planet beyond your solar system,” Stone said bluntly.
Walter laughed. He couldn’t help himself. “Alright, if you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine.”
Candace simply stared at Stone, not knowing what to think.
“This is the truth. I understand that it may be quite shocking to you, it was to me, but it is the truth.”
“What?” Walter asked. “How can it be shocking to you.”
“You see,” Stone began, “up until just a few minutes ago I didn’t know who I was. I just assumed that I was human like you two.”
“I read the report on you,” Walter said. “The officer stated that you were claiming to have amnesia. Now that the amnesia is gone you realize that you’re an alien.” He said this mockingly.
Stone didn’t seem to recognize his tone. “I think that I must have lost my memory during my leap onto this planet from my ship.”
Walter stood up and ambled over to the door. “This is insane. Do you expect me to believe all this bullshit?”
“Why not?” Stone asked. “Do you actually believe that yours is the only inhabited planet in all of the vast universes?”
Walter leaned against the door as though he were preparing to escape if need be. “I don’t know,” he said slowly. “So, where’s this ship of yours?”
“Basically, it’s above your earth moored there by a chip I inserted into a tree when I first materialized on earth.”
“This is too much,” Walter breathed. “I guess your real name is Raznak, or Zoar, or something like that.”
“The name on my driver’s license is Stone Wilson.”
“But I guess that’s not your real name,” Candace said.
“No, but call me Stone, anyway. You’d just mess up the pronunciation of my given name.”
Walter shook his head in disbelief.
“Let me ask you,” Candace began, “What’s your connection with Mira, the lady you were in the car with?”
“There’s no connection that I know of. I just met her yesterday evening when she gave me a ride.”
“So, you don’t know
if she’s an alien, like yourself?” She wasn’t ready to believe his assertion that he was an alien but didn’t want to aggravate him until she got some answers from him.
“No, I don’t. Why are you interested in her?”
“I was ordered by my superior to pick her up for questioning. I’m an agent with the FBI. Are you familiar with that organization?”
“Yes. I’ve studied your planet. Downloaded quite a bit of information.”
“You can’t be serious,” Walter said.
“Walter,” Candace said somewhat scolding, “give him a chance.”
“Alright,” Walter huffed. He straightened up, went over to the armchair and plopped down.
“Walter is with the Nexus Police Department.”
Stone looked at Walter. “Glad to meet you, Mister Walter.”
“Yeah,” Walter simply answered.
“What did you want to question that lady about?” Stone asked.
Candace sighed, then was silent for a time deciding how much she wanted to reveal to him, and if it even mattered anymore. Finally, she spoke. “Okay. First, I want to believe you when you say that you are an alien. I’ve always been open to the possibility that there are aliens here on earth. But to confront someone who actually claims to be from another planet is harder to accept than I thought.”
“I know that it can’t be easy,” Stone said. “But I am who I say I am.”
She glanced over at Walter who was slowly shaking his head in disgust.
“There must be other aliens here.”
“Yes. There are aliens here beside me.”
“How many?” Candace asked.
“I don’t know. I only know of the fugitives.”
“Fugitives?”
“From my planet. That’s why I’m here. I’m a hunter.”
“You’re a bounty hunter?” Walter straightened up in his chair.
“Yes.”
“And I didn’t think it could get any better,” Walter muttered.
“And what are the names of these people you’re hunting?” Candace asked.
“I only know their birth names, not any aliases they might be using on this planet.”
“What are these people charged with?” Walter asked.
“A variety of charges. They range from simple crimes against government to capital murder.”
Candace shifted her position on the bed. Her leg was beginning to ache. She clenched her jaw before speaking again. “Do you know anything about this mayor Byron Jensen or this Mira lady who gave you a ride?”
“I didn’t recognize the lady. I can’t speak of this Byron Jensen since I’ve never met him.”
“Speaking of murder,” Walter sneered as he changed the subject, “what about the two men you killed in the restaurant?”
“I hadn’t intended to kill them. I was only defending myself.”
“Some defense,” Walter said.
“I wasn’t looking for a confrontation when I entered that restaurant,” Stone continued. “I only went in there to try to collect myself. I was beginning to lose my thoughts. I still knew who I was at this point, but I couldn’t remember where I was or what I was here for. It seems the two men realized who I was and attacked me. The only way I could stop them was with deadly force.”
“What do you think caused your memory loss?” Candace asked.
“I parked my ship out in space a few miles above one of your satellites. After securing it in stealth mode I transported down to an open spot in some woods near the restaurant. I do not know for certain, but I believe that it was during this time that a slight glitch in the computer program caused my mental facilities to be slightly distorted.”
Walter shook his head not wanting to believe. “Back to these two men you killed. Were they aliens like yourself?”
“I assume they were. If they thought that I was here to arrest them along with some of their people, they may have figured that they needed to get rid of me as quickly as possible. And from the ferocity and battle skills they possessed, I would say that there was no way they could be merely human.
“You aliens are better fighters than us humans, huh?”
“Oh, yes, by far.”
Walter started to laugh then stopped when a thought suddenly came to him. “If these two men you killed were aliens, assuming I believe that there really are aliens here on earth, that would certainly explain why their bodies were stolen from the morgue. Again, if I were to believe you then there must be some physical differences that an autopsy would have revealed. That could lead to a lot of questions.”
“I didn’t know that the bodies had been taken, but that could very well be the reason. Although the differences are very slight and would be difficult to detect. We’re very much the same.”
“Okay,” Candace began, talking more to herself than to anyone else. “If my fellow agents were also aliens, maybe they weren’t trying to kill me because of our investigation of something that happened in Baltimore, but because they thought that they were about to be exposed. Or perhaps, for both reasons.”
Stone pondered her words for a moment. “Perhaps, initially, my two assailants had only wanted to capture me for questioning, to determine if I was working alone. I guess I resisted too much.”
Candace nodded absently as a thought suddenly occurred to her. “What about that shot you gave yourself during that shootout, what was in it?”
“I’m not sure of all the ingredients seeing that I had nothing to do with the making of it, but judging from my recovery I would guess that it contained a type of antibody and something to deflect an allergen.”
“Why would you need that?” Candace asked.
“Though our bodies are nearly the same as others of this planet there are some rather unique physiological differences. Certain viruses and allergens that are innocuous or cause minimal hurt to most of the human race are fatal to us. The reasons are elusive much like the cause and cure of some human allergies.”
“How often do you have to get these shots?” Candace asked.
I shouldn’t need anymore.” He raised his left arm. “This arm is not just a prosthetic limb. It is also a multi-functioning computer. It administers the medicine that I need when I need it. Evidently, during my leap down to the earth, my computer arm was also temporarily affected making it unable to deliver the dosage that I needed. Now, because it is properly tied into my brain and nervous system, I can sense that it is working properly.”
“This is too much,” Walter said, but his skepticism was weakening. “I don’t know what to think, anymore,” he admitted.
“What about the others. How often would they need to take this medicine?”
“It depends on the individual. I would say they would need this medicine every couple of weeks to a month.”
“But your computer arm takes care of you.”
“Yes. That’s correct.”
“Speaking of computers,” Candace began, “I need to find one. I need to get online.” She began to slide her legs off the side of the bed. She groaned, biting off a scream as a knife blade of pain ran up her legs. She paused allowing the pain to subside to a bearable level. “I need to log into the bureau,” she breathed. “See what kind of information there is on this case and if there’s any mention of the shootout last night. If I hadn’t been shut out of it, that is.”
Walter stepped over to Candace and squatted down beside her. “You should probably stay off that leg for a while.”
“I owe you for saving my life, Miss Candace,” Stone interjected.
“Forget about it,” Candace said. “I was just doing my job. “And just call me Candace.” Ignoring Walter’s advice, she pushed off the bed and tried to stand but her leg quickly gave way and she fell back down on the bed in a seizure of pain. Tears welled up in her eyes and she softly moaned.
“I’m taking you to the hospital,” Walter stated. “You can’t go on like this.” He stood up. “your leg might be infected. Remember, I’m not a doctor.”
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“I can help,” Stone said.
“I can handle this,” Walter snapped.
Stone stood up and walked around the bed. “I can make you better, and in a short time,” Stone said to Candace.
“How can you do that?” Candace asked.
“I can use my computer arm to determine the extent of your injuries, then, the arm will automatically dispense whatever treatment is necessary.”
“Sounds too easy,” Candace said. “What’s the catch?”
“Sounds crazy to me,” Walter added. “And probably dangerous.”
“No,” Stone said. “I assure you. It’s completely safe.”
“Will it take away the pain?” Candace asked.
“Please,” Walter said. “You know nothing about this guy. You’d be trusting a complete stranger with your life.”
“I know, but he has no reason to hurt me.”
“He’s already killed two people.”
“In self-defense.”
“So, he says.”
“I have to figure out what’s going on Walter and I can’t function with this leg as it is. If I go to the hospital, and they don’t turn me in, I will probably just get a shot and told to stay off the leg for a while.”
Walter sighed. He didn’t know what else to say. Her mind seemed to be made up.
“Will it take away this pain?” she asked Stone again.
“Yes, but your leg may be stiff for a while.”
“How long?”
“It just depends on how bad your injury is. Probably no more than an hour or two.”
“Show me what you’re going to do,” Candace said, “then I’ll decide if I want your help.”
Walter looked hard at Stone and appeared as though he were about to say something but didn’t. Reluctantly, he backed off a bit to allow Stone to move closer to Candace.
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