The Encounter

by Norman Fitts

  He looked back at Margaret as she pulled herself out. "We gotta find some cover. There's no tellin' how many are out here."

  She moved up beside him. She rubbed her arms. She pulled the goggles down, reached into her shirt pocket and took out the device. The light was still flickering. She pressed it again and got the same static return.

  "A bullet damaged this, she said, “but I think it’s receiving something." She spoke into it in a language that to him was little more than gibberish. Still the only response was static.

  "Okay... so?"

  "So... I’m sure there’s another ship. It's locked in on the signal this is transmitting and the static is the response" She looked back behind them. "They're coming."

  He drew his gun and glanced around. "Which way?"

  "From below..."

  He started back toward the hole. She took his arm. "Forget it. If we can avoid these guys long enough, I'm sure it's close."

  She pulled him with her and they both started for the woods.

  The two Bounty Hunters pulled themselves out of the ground. The scout ship Commander took a communicator off his belt, gave orders to his ship and waited for directions. It was personal now. He'd have them, dead or alive.

  Lawrence and Margaret moved quickly through the woods looking for some place they could defend. She slowed, then stopped and began watching the treetops.

  He tried to catch his breath. He looked at her, then up at the trees. "What? What is it?"

  She held up her hand for him to be quiet. The Bounty Hunter's ship moved in above them. Even cloaked it moved the treetops.

  A voice came out of the trees in her native tongue. What was said was brief and to the point. She looked at Lawrence. "We surrender now or the ship has orders to kill us both. He gave us about thirty seconds to decide."

  Lawrence looked up, then back to her. "I guess this is it."

  She stepped close and put her hand in his. Whatever was going to happen would happen to both of them.

  He squeezed her hand with his left and drew his gun with his right hand. "Can I give 'em our answer?"

  She nodded. He extended the gun to arms length and fired in the direction of the voice.

  The bullet came surprisingly close to its mark. So be it, thought the Commander. He raised his communicator and gave the ship an order to deliver a non-lethal stun. He wanted to see if they would fight. In his own way he admired their willingness to die.

  Lawrence’s eyes recorded a momentary flash of light, then his electrical system shorted out. The world went black and he felt nothing.

  She wasn't so lucky. The stun left her helpless on the ground next to him, but conscious. The ship Commander, and the man with him, approached and looked down at them. She couldn't move or speak. The Commander knelt beside her. He reached out and rubbed his hands over areas of her body squeezing her here and there. Inside she was screaming with rage. Outside nothing moved.

  He stood back up. He spoke to the man beside him, then into his communicator. It was a language she didn't know. The crewman picked up Lawrence while the Commander lifted her. They both moved off into the woods.

  ***

  Lawrence and Margaret were placed in a holding area. She lay beside him. She was wide-awake but still nothing worked. The Commander stood watching the two of them.

  He spoke to her in her native tongue. “Just so you know, we have to deliver you alive. The Human male on the other hand, we don’t. I brought him along so you could watch him being harvested. Afterward we’ll remove your egg sacks. Something extra, payment for the men we lost.”

  The entire ship shuddered. A message came across the ship’s communications system. She didn't understand it but he did. He hurried away amid curses in both his and her language. Margaret lay there trying to get anything to move, a finger, a toe, anything.

  ***

  The Assault Ship decloaked and settled in above the Cloaked Vergon vessel preventing it from taking off. The energy link had led the Assault Ship directly to them. Both ships had their shields up but the light mercenary Scout Ship stood no chance against the heavier weapons of the Assault Ship.

  The bridge of the Vergon vessel appeared in a heads-up display formed in the air in front of the command chair of the Assault Ship. Members of the Vergon bridge crew were at their stations.

  The ship’s Commander stepped into the view. “We have the Chancellor’s daughter. If you try to board us she will be executed.”

  Margaret’s brother studied the image of the man in front of him. There was no doubt in his mind that he would do just that. “I’m under orders from the Chancellor himself to prevent your leaving with her even at the cost of her life.”

  The Commander also watched his counter part and detected no hesitation in his willingness to do what he said he would do. “Well Captain, that leaves us very little middle ground.”

  “The solution is simple, you release her and you can leave.”

  “Not so simple, if we return without her, or without compensation for her, we will forfeit our lives.”

  Both men pondered about the thoughts of the other.

  ***

  About an hour passed and no one had returned. Margaret’s arms and legs began to tingle. In a few minutes motor control began to return and she shifted around so she could see Lawrence. It was coming back quickly now. She turned her head and raised her hands. With all the strength she could muster, she sat up. She coughed and cleared her throat.

  Three crewmen approached the holding cell. One stood back, armed, while the energy field was released. The other two took her by the arms and half dragged and half carried her from the cell. Her strength was returning. She dug in and jerked away. The two men tried to regain control but she fought them off.

  In her own language, “I don’t know if you can understand me, but I’m not going anywhere without him.”

  The two of them argued about something for a moment. They must have been really pressed for time because they gave in, picked up Lawrence and carried him along.

  The external hatch was open with the Commander standing next to it. The little procession stopped. The crewmen placed Lawrence on the deck and all three approached their Commander. Margaret knelt to check on him. His breathing was strong and steady. He was okay just unconscious.

  Words were going back and forth at the hatch. Finally the Commander raised his hand and put a stop to it. He walked to Margaret. She stood to meet him. He looked up and down her, and then reached for her. She caught his hand.

  They were eye to eye for a moment, and then he pulled his hand back. “The human was not part of the negotiation”, he said. “Consider him a gift, from one predator to another.”

  The Commander stepped around her and left. Two of the crewmen picked up Lawrence and escorted her from the ship. The Commander’s face was etched in her memory. There would be another time.

  She knelt beside Lawrence on the ground, watched the Scout Ship lift off and quickly rise out of sight. Everything had happened so fast she never stopped to wonder why it happened.

  Looking up she knew why. The Assault Ship, high above her, slowly descended. The air around her began to move. She knelt and covered Lawrence to protect him from debris being tossed up from the forest floor.

  The ship settled to a landing. A moment later the hatch opened. A familiar voice came from inside. She stood. Her brother and several others emerged from the ship. An ocean of relief coursed through her body. Thoughts of her little brother, painful memories that she had suppressed, flooded back. With tears running down her face, she ran to her brother and jumped into his arms. He held her and let her cry it out. When he felt her relax he hugged her and let her down.

  Lawrence was an unexpected turn of events for this member of her family. Once they were all safe aboard the ship she set about telling the story.

  ***

  The scout ship Commander pleaded his case before the Vergon Leader. He presented the ransom, and then waited for his fate to be sealed.
To his surprise the Leader dismissed him and ordered the ship to depart. Payment had been enough to preserve himself and his crew and the asshole with the contract could stew in his own juice.

  At the edge of Earth’s solar system a vortex opened. A pulsating energy field formed around the Vergon vessel. The ship entered the vortex and it closed leaving no trace of anything.

  CHAPTER NINTEEN

  Your hearing is always the last of your senses to leave and the first to return. Lawrence became aware of a slight humming in his ears. He was rapidly reaching consciousness. His hands and feet were numb. There was a tingling in his knees and elbows. He tried to move. The muscles in his back and stomach were sore and there was tenderness at the base of his skull. He relaxed and opened his eyes.

  He lay on a bed in a pale blue room covered with a sheet. He tried to look around, but his neck was stiff. There were symbol groupings on the walls similar to those on Maggie’s ship. Maggie... He tried to sit up. Everything hurt and nothing worked very well. He got himself up on his elbows, and then pushed himself to a sitting position with his hands. The sheet covering him slipped to his legs. He looked down. He was naked. He swung his feet off the bed and sat on the edge. He checked himself over. Everything seemed to be there.

  He had to find her but the simple act of sitting up had taken just about everything out of him and the room didn't seem to have a door. He tried to collect his thoughts. An opening appeared in the wall. He turned at the waist to see. Margaret stood there. She smiled and carried his original clothing from her ship, over her arm.

  He gathered the sheet around him and looked at her for a moment. "You know, I've always wanted to ask somebody this... Where the hell am I and what the hell happened?"

  She stepped in and the opening disappeared. "You're on an Inter-galactic Star Ship sitting behind Earth's moon. You're home, or at least close to it." She walked over, sat down beside him and laid down his clothes. "What happened? We won."

  "We won? I don't even remember the fight. Then I take it we're back in our time?"

  "Yes."

  He leaned against her. "Good, cause I don't feel much like Luke Skywalker and it's all I can do to just hold onto this sheet."

  She began to explain. "The weakness and stiffness comes from being stunned. It left me conscious, but it knocked you out. The bounty hunters picked us up."

  "Both of us?"

  "Yeah, well, they had something really special planned for you."

  "Never mind, I don't wanna know."

  "Before they could do anything, my brother showed up."

  "Your brother?"

  "Yeah, my brother. The Vergon realized they couldn't win in an open fight against my brother’s ship so they tried to bargain their way out using me. At first they were told the orders were to prevent my capture even if it meant my life."

  He rose up. "That’s pretty hard core. Sounds like they been taking lessons from the Israelis."

  "Shuuuu... To make a long story, very short, they finally came to terms..."

  "Your people made a deal?"

  "Yes. The Vergon put us back where they found us and left.”

  "They got away?"

  "That’s the way it works, sometimes. That's pretty much it. Now", she looked him over, "how do you feel?"

  He stretched forward and put his hand on the back of his head. "Like shit”

  "There’s something we have to talk about."

  "Wait a minute. Let me get dressed." He looked under the sheet. So did she. "I'm feeling a little disadvantaged. If you know what I mean."

  She passed over the clothes. He dropped the sheet, picked up his underwear and pulled them on.

  The feeling had returned to his feet and hands. He slid off the bed to test his legs. They were shaky but he managed to get his pants on without falling. He sat back on the side of the bed and put on his socks and shoes.

  Nothing was said. Margaret just sat and watched. When he was finished she stood up. "Come on. Let's go to an observation area. I'll tell you the rest of it."

  They walked toward the wall. The opening appeared.

  He stopped. "How does it do that?"

  "I told you, magic. Well, technological magic anyway. I'll explain it later. Right now, we have to talk about other things."

  They stepped through the opening and the piece of wall reappeared.

  ***

  They stood on the observation deck. A view of the moon's surface filled most of the view port. A tiny piece of the Earth was visible.

  They had passed several crewmembers on the way there. The men were very large and a couple of women looked like they could take care of themselves as well.

  The clothes Margaret had on, had the same regimented look, but not as much like a formal uniform. Her race was caught up with blue. He'd never seen so many shades of it. No one seemed to take much notice of him. They greeted Margaret like she had some kind of rank. Their language seemed to be one long line of gibberish without word or sentence breaks.

  Lawrence looked at the Earth. "If we can see them, can they see us?"

  "No. We're cloaked."

  He looked at her. "There has to be a reason you haven't taken me home yet."

  "Yes, there is... Remember, I told you about our laws dealing with unauthorized contact with someone like you, by someone like me."

  "I remember, but don't whoever they are, understand the circumstances that caused this."

  "Yes, they do now. That's why we've been waiting here so long... A decision had to be made."

  "Wait", he interrupted, "How long was I out?"

  "Seven days."

  "Seven days! That's great. "My partner's probably got the FBI looking for me by now. Not to mention my parents."

  "Now, I told you there's a lotta things goin' on down there and I know how you feel about that. For now let’s just say, the disposition of your world is still being discussed"

  Lawrence started a slow boil inside. “Wait a minute, the disposition of something is decided by its owner and we’re not owned by you are anyone else.”

  “Bad choice of words, how about this, there are forces outside this solar system that will take what they want with no say by you. We don’t want that to happen. This whole episode with the portal and the timeline has caused a complete reassessment of a lot of on going research... It’s too dangerous for me to stay here, and I did ask about you.”

  “I take it no was the answer?”

  She nodded. “I just don’t know what’s gonna happen. Believe me, if I knew I’d tell you.”

  He held out his arms. She went to him and they hugged each other.

  "They're not gonna beam me down or anything like that are they?

  She leaned back from him. "No, they’ll take you back tonight... Actually we can do that with inanimate objects, but not with living beings. The body arrives intact, but the life energy inside, doesn't. The beaming process looks too much like death. It's like; you get back a working car with no driver. Incidentally, that's how the doors work. A device above the door is designed to breakdown a section of the wall, and then reassembles it after you pass through. It's triggered by your body's electrical signature." She reached into a pocket, and came out with a device like the one she had been carrying. "Here, keep this. When it lights up, I'm home."

  He reached into his pants pocket and felt around. “It’s gone.”

  “The box? I have it. Thank you for not letting me lose it. It was a gift from my little brother. It’s very special to me.” She leaned over and kissed him. "Come on back to my quarters. We've got a couple of hours yet. Then I want you to meet your brother-in-law." They started out. "Let me warn you. The custom of shaking hands is a human custom. Don't offer to shake his if you want to keep yours. He's not used to dealing with humans."

  "Is he that much stronger than you?"

  The opening appeared. "Well", she took his hand, "the last time I messed with him he held me down and spanked me."

  The opening closed behind them.
<
br />   CHAPTER TWENTY

  The next two hours, and the trip back to Earth, passed much too quickly for Margaret and Lawrence. A cloaked shuttle carried them back to an isolated open field. A hatch opened and he and Margaret stepped out into the night air. The hatch closed. They just stood and watched each other for a moment.

  “Wait”, she said and stepped back inside.

  He stood and watched.

  After a few moments she stepped back out and the hatch closed. She had his cowboy hat. “Here, something to remember all this by.”

  He smiled and took the hat. “Thanks, but I don’t think there’s a chance I’m gonna forget.”

  They stood for several moments in silence. She broke the silence. "Well, don't just stand there. Say something." Her eyes began to tear.

  "I can't think of anything to say that would keep you from leaving or would convince anyone to take me along."

  He knew this was painful for both of them. He held out his arms to her. She stepped in and they hugged one another.

  She leaned back and looked at him. “I have to go, but I promise I'm coming back." It was a clear night. "Look", she pointed to a section of the nighttime sky. "I'm right there. Just keep an eye on the stars and that little black box."

  He looked to where she was pointing, and then he turned her toward him, took her in his arms and kissed her. The kiss lasted until the hatch reopened.

  She pushed away and glanced at the opening. "I gotta go. Hey, you might as well move into my house. It's paid up for the next six months." Her eyes never left his. "I love you."

  "I know."

  She slowly stepped back into the ship. She stood with tears running down her cheeks as the hatch closed. He felt a surge in the night air and he knew she was gone. He looked around. He never felt so alone.

  ***

  Moving into her house turned out to be something he couldn't do. The police still had it sealed. She was still part of an investigation centered around the building where she worked. The papers were still carrying the story. She was still considered a missing victim along with the dead security guard. Her house was checked but only to confirm she wasn’t there. It was just standard procedure to seal the home when the only person living there was the one missing.