by Lucy Kelly
Shutting down her computer, she walked over to the window and looked out over the park. She thought back to when she and Addie were little girls growing up on the farm. Who would ever believe, back then, they would be where they were now?
She rubbed a hand over her chest, right over her heart. She was worried about Justyn. She missed him with an endless ache. She had to find Jett. This waiting three weeks for news was bullshit. He would just have to invent some way to make it faster.
With that idea in mind, she strode from the room to find Jett. She needed to keep busy and focused on Justyn coming home.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Earth…
Sarah disconnected from her conversation with Becky. She was putting together a list of things needed to secure The Sanctuary so the Nephilim on staff could help in the search for Armus Hend. While she understood the importance of capturing him, her first priority would always be her women. They had already been through too much. She didn’t want them upset in any way. She was pulling up the staffing chart and duty rosters, when there was a knock at the office door.
“Come in,” she called out distractedly, hoping there wasn’t a problem. Looking up, she saw Tammy in the doorway. “Hi, what do you need? How was the trip to Montana?”
“The trip was great, we’re going ahead with the purchase. Um, there’s an FBI agent here. The same man who was here in March. Only this time, he’s brought his wife and kids with him. It’s weird. What do you think is going on?” Tammy asked.
“There’s only one way to find out. Let’s go out and talk to him,” said Sarah, getting up from her chair.
Mike McLuckie didn’t understand why it was so important to his wife or the whole family to go to The Sanctuary. The similar birthmarks were worth looking into, but it didn’t equate with the amount of urgency she had for them to visit on this particular day. He’d called the office and taken a family emergency day. Now here they were, waiting to speak to Sarah.
“Agent McLuckie? Welcome back to The Sanctuary. Is this your family?” Sarah asked, as she approached them in the lobby.
He was dressed casually in jeans and a polo shirt. With him was a woman, obviously his wife. She was a few years younger than he appeared. The five other young ladies resembled them strongly and were certainly their daughters.
“Ms. Draama—Sarah—this is my wife, Georgia, and our daughters, Helen, Constance, Judith, Sharon, and Cheryl,” he said, introducing them. Before Sarah could respond or ask them why they had come, Georgia McLuckie spoke up.
“Sarah? May I call you Sarah? Is there some place where we can talk privately?” Georgia asked.
Without saying anything, Sarah led them to the large conference room they had used a few weeks back for their board meeting. Closing the door after Tammy joined them, she pointed to a small refrigerator in the corner of the room that held water and sodas.
“If you would like a snack, I can have a tray brought in from the kitchen,” she offered, even as she wondered why they had come.
“I’m sorry to make this so mysterious. I pulled my husband out of work and my two older daughters too. I even kept the younger ones home from school,” Georgia said, wringing her hands. “You tell it, Mike, you know how to explain it better than I do.”
Mike cocked an eyebrow and gave his wife a look that, after twenty-seven years of marriage, she understood quite well and gave him a look in return.
“Don’t mind the parents, they can have whole conversations without saying a word,” said Helen. “What is this place?”
“We’re a sanctuary for women in crisis, abused or vulnerable in some way,” explained Tammy, which got all the girls wondering, because there were no crises in their family. At least not one they knew of. Suddenly, they all turned their gazes to their father. He threw up his hands. “Okay!”
“Georgia never wanted a career outside the home. She wanted to take care of the house and be there for our girls. We dated all through high school, and married right after college. I went into the Bureau. I was never one of those people who could leave the job at the door. Georgia always talked about what was going on in our day. We kept no secrets from each other. After about my third case, I recognized the important part of the case, the fact which led to unraveling the alibi or found the evidence for a conviction, always came from something Georgia said. She had a natural talent, a psychic gift or what-have-you, for investigating and solving crimes,” he said.
“Tell me about it! We never got away with anything growing up,” put in Judith.
Sarah was beginning to get an inkling of where this was going. She decided to listen a little longer, though, before she jumped to conclusions.
“Georgia is the reason why I’m SAC for an FBI field office the size of Chicago. She’s helped me be the successful agent I am today. So when she insisted we had to come here today, I listened to her. We all did. Is there something going down, some danger of a criminal nature I need to be concerned about?” he asked Sarah point blank.
Sarah squirmed in her seat, wondering how much she could tell them about Armus Hend. She was still trying to decide, when Georgia stood.
“Here, maybe this will help,” she said, putting her right leg up on her chair. Pulling the edge of her skirt up, she revealed a Nephilim mark on her inner thigh, just above the knee.
“Well, now, that does change things,” said Sarah.
All of the McLuckie girls sat up and paid more attention. What did their odd family birthmark have to do with anything? Sarah looked around the conference table.
“I’m guessing none of you are big sci-fi readers? You never read any of the books by Valerie Hudson? Okay, it’s not important; it just would have made this story shorter. Extremely short version is, every woman on the planet with that birthmark—and so far, we’ve never come across any men—is descended from aliens from the planet HeVan. They crash landed here on Earth about ten thousand years ago.”
Since everyone was looking at her as if she had two heads, Sarah figured the extremely short version wasn’t going to work. It never really did.
“Okay, hold tight. I can see you’re the type of people who need proof,” she said, getting up.
She opened a drawer in the credenza against the wall and took out a remote. Pressing a button, a screen dropped from the ceiling at the end of the room. When it was fully extended, she darkened the lights and pressed another few buttons on the remote. It started a preloaded video. The first person who appeared on the screen was Suzanna.
“Hi, my name is Suzanna Miller Aram, and I was born on Earth. After going to work for the government debunking UFOs—that’s right, the men in black exist—I gave up my exciting and rewarding career to be the Gatekeeper on the Far Star Gate Station, sitting on the edge of our solar system. Let me have the camera pan out so you can see the view from my office here at the station. And no, this isn’t a movie set. The camera is going to follow along as we leave my office and travel through the station until we get to the one room where I think we’ll convince you.”
Suzanna continued to talk in her own words, explaining the history of the Nephilim and how they came to Earth. She trekked the long way around the space station, through the arboretum, the mess hall, the shuttle bay, and other areas, until she finally came to an almost empty room. By then, the viewers had all the basic information, only needing to be convinced.
“Weightlessness is the one thing no movie studio or special effects technology can fake. For Apollo 13—the movie—they shot short segments of a plane while diving, which created brief periods of what looked like weightlessness. For the remainder of this video, the gravity inducers for this room will be deactivated. We use it for our workers to practice. They sometimes need to make repairs outside the station. So, for the next continuous fifteen minutes, longer than any possible diving plane, my Ankida and I will play and you get to watch!”
True to her word, she and Jeze and Tyr drank bubbles of liquid suspended in the air. She even had them swim through hoops and float
around each other so anybody watching would see there were no strings or wires attached to anyone. Finally, she had the gravity turned back on and all the objects and people dropped slowly to the floor.
Suzanna picked herself up and walked toward the camera.
“I can’t really show you much else to convince you. I can offer you a place to stay if you want to visit. Thank you for watching!”
As the video came to an end, Sarah brought up the lights and turned to her visitors. “Suzanna was made gatekeeper because she’s from Earth. The Nephilim felt an Earth citizen should choose who gets to enter this solar system. Unfortunately, one of the people she let in, albeit reluctantly, turned out to be not very nice. He set off an explosion at the station, causing the deaths of four people, including a woman from Earth. Another person was abducted by him, and presumed dead, as well. The shuttle he stole should be arriving on Earth at any time and the pursuers are six to seven days behind him,” explained Sarah. “I know it’s a lot to take in. I’d be happy to answer any questions you may have.”
“Of all the…what do you think, Cheryl?” Mike asked their youngest daughter. Cheryl McLuckie had a psychic power like her mom. She saw what people were saying in colors at the edges of her vision. Liars were always in red; the bigger the lie, the more her vision was obscured.
“She’s telling the truth. I always know. All the people in the video—they were all telling the truth too. You know I can only watch documentaries because actors in regular movies are always lying; they’re playing parts, and the colors mess up the movie for me. This video was a documentary; everything in it was the truth,” she said emphatically.
They all looked a little shocked. Sarah waved to get their attention.
“Hi, I’m still here, and still willing to answer all your questions,” she said.
“What are you doing to capture this fugitive? How much damage do you think he’s planning to do here on Earth?” Mike asked.
“Actually, he’s here to hide. He’s probably not going to do any damage. At least, he’s most likely not planning to. Nephilim are much taller and stronger than the average human. He doesn’t know anything about Earth or our culture. That information has not been disseminated to the Nephilim on HeVan. I’m sure you’re aware of Finder, a software program I developed for law enforcement. Becky has fed his information into it. We’ve also contacted Josephine March in San Francisco, as we were hoping to get FBI help in capturing him without revealing the existence of the Nephilim. Will you help us?” she asked.
“Why haven’t you approached the government about these Nephilim? I’m sure they have a lot they could teach us,” Georgia said.
Mike looked at her and then went silent. When Georgia asked questions, he paid attention.
“It has to do with one of the things not covered in the video. We normally wait a little longer before springing it on newbies, like you. Yes, they could give us a lot. Only they have a policy of not interfering with the cultures of worlds that aren’t traveling in space yet. That’s part of it,” she said, getting them to hold off.
“Another part is the people here on Earth might make targets out of those who are descended from the Nephilim, which includes your family. Finally, the Nephilim on HeVan have been in a population decline for the last ten thousand years, ever since their queen was lost in space. To protect their own planet, they try to keep it quiet so other species out there don’t make an attempt to conquer them. Right now, they could probably fit their entire population into California. Since they got their queen back, there has been a population boom. I’m sure you remember how it was around Chicago in the months before Christmas. That was due to Addie; she literally exudes fertility. Anyone around her gets pregnant,” she said, gesturing at her own baby bump. Like many others, she’d gotten pregnant the previous October.
“As a matter of fact, I’m surprised you aren’t pregnant,” she said, looking at Georgia and her daughters. At least two of them were old enough to be sexually active, if not three.
“After five of the little darlings, Mike agreed to get snipped. I wasn’t going to keep trying to give him a son,” said Georgia.
“I love my girls,” he said.
“We’re not talking about sex—whether we are or not having—in front of our parents,” said Helen, and Sarah laughed.
“Okay, I understand. So, Mike, I think if you want, your family can stay here until Armus Hend is caught. He would definitely want to harm any women he found with a Nephilim mark on them. They’ll be safe here. Becky is in San Francisco. I just finished coordinating with them when you arrived.”
“If this guy has a space ship of some kind, what makes you think he’ll land near here?” he said.
“The only Earth language he’s been exposed to is English,” she said.
“Okay, let’s get the girls settled. Then I want to know about any plans that have been put into motion to get this guy. I might have some ideas,” he said.
Tammy offered to take the girls to one of the larger cabins. They were happy to all stay together in a small three bedroom apartment on the second floor. Their parents would stay in the unit downstairs.
When they were finally alone, all the girls had a lot to say to each other. Helen, the oldest at twenty-eight, started them off.
“Okay, fess up. Since I broke up with the asshole, I’ve been off men. What are your excuses?”
She hadn’t thought about it, in particular. It had just been a story on the news. Now, seeing women walking around with baby bumps was common.
“Actually, when I think about it, a lot of women I know are pregnant.”
“I finally drop those twenty pounds, and I’ll bet pregnant is going to be the new look,” complained Constance. “Personally, I’ve been so busy getting my shit together, new apartment, new job, and all. I haven’t been dating anyone special, just hanging with my girlfriends. You can’t get knocked up if you’re not having sex.”
Helen was the looker in the family. She was a slim five foot six, with the dark, auburn hair and blue eyes of their grandmother, on their mom’s side.
Constance, two years younger, had grown up in her shadow, at least in her own eyes. She was five foot five with a curvier figure, honey blonde hair, and their dad’s brown eyes. It had taken her a long time to see her own beauty. Now she was a counselor for young girls, helping them find self-worth.
“I’ve been working too hard for sex,” said the diminutive Judith, called Jude or Judy by her friends and family. Judith was twenty-two. At five foot two, she was the shortest of the women in the family. “You know my first ever show is coming up in just a few months. I have to finish three more canvasses before I meet the gallery owner’s requirements. I have two others I need to paint for myself. I have no time for men right now,” she said.
“You’ll be great. Dad will get this guy really fast,” said Constance. She turned to Sharon. Sharon was nineteen and at a prime age for humping like bunnies. “Why aren’t you knocked up, Sharon?”
Sharon looked the most like their father, with brown hair and eyes. She was also the tallest at five foot seven.
“Foster and I got engaged before he left for his deployment. I haven’t said anything because I didn’t want mom and dad finding out yet. They’d start the whole, “you’re too young” argument. Before he left town, we always used condoms. I heard condom users weren’t getting pregnant when other forms of birth control were failing,” Sharon said.
They all turned to look at Cheryl. Cheryl, the baby of the family, had looks similar to Constance. In fact, it was watching her young sister blossom into a beautiful girl and woman, that had helped Constance get over her own issues. Now Cheryl, at seventeen, had the ripe and sexy look only a young girl had. She was the same age most of them had been when they first started experimenting with sex, as opposed to simple make-out sessions with boyfriends.
“I took the vow,” she said quietly.
“You’re going to be a nun?” asked Judith.
&
nbsp; “She means the abstinence vow. Quite a few girls and women her age are taking it. She understands how important it is to have an emotional connection to the person she goes to bed with. So she’s vowed to wait until she meets her one,” Constance explained.
As a high school counselor, she knew more than a few girls who’d taken the vow.
“Didn’t Lynette Larson, the minister’s daughter, take the vow?” Constance asked Cheryl. She could see Cheryl was uncomfortable with the conversation, so she threw in a piece of conversational fireworks.
“Yeah, and she was always acting like she was holier than anyone else. I haven’t seen her in about a month, though,” said Cheryl.
“I did,” said Constance, making a rounded motion with her hands over her own abdomen.
“You’re kidding! She’s been such a bitch lording it over all of us. And she broke her vow! Wow, no wonder she’s not in school. She won’t live this down. I mean, it’s not uncommon for a high school girl to get into a situation. I don’t blame them. But Lynette is so condescending and nasty to anyone she doesn’t see as perfect and moral. I hope she learns some compassion,” said Cheryl. She tried to feel sorry for the girl and just couldn’t. She ended up bursting into laughter.
“Okay, now we know why none of us is cooking the first grandbaby. What do you all think about this alien thing? Cheryl says it’s all true, and we know she always knows fact from fiction,” said Helen, as she got up to grab a soda from the fridge.
They were all sitting down in the living room of the suite. “I’m blown away. Do you think any of the men here are aliens?” Helen asked absently, as she stared out the window.
“Why do you ask?” Judith asked her.
“Because those guards at the gate were seriously hot! Right now, I’m looking at a few more men, who are just as good looking,” Helen said.
Of course, all the others crowded around to see. Their cabin was behind most of the other cabins in the area. There was a field covered in snow and a large shed. In front of the shed, three men were chopping firewood and stacking it in the shed. Even in the cold temperatures, they had stripped down to thermal shirts, which sharply defined their fine musculatures.