I lost my balance when Alex threw a punch to my left. He took my hand and pulled me to my feet, chuckling all the while. I didn’t seem to find the humor in it. He then showed me regular kicks—the round kick, and the sidekick. I was exhausted but exhilarated. It was time to end our session. I didn’t want to go, but I knew tomorrow would be another day.
24 News Report
I couldn’t believe I had been working out with Alex for almost a month. Today he taught me a new self-defense move. After my shower, I strolled into the living room during free time, sat on the couch, and stared into space. I was sore, but it was a good pain, not much to do but think about why Dr. O’Neil had been deliberately trying to keep Dusty and me apart. She must think he knows something about me, too. Part of me would like to find out what he knows, but I was afraid I would not like what he had to tell me.
My eyes caught a news report on TV that interrupted Days of Our Lives. I began to take notice of what the newscaster was saying. I got up from the couch and strode in front of the television screen.
“A U.S. intelligence satellite lost power and could fall to Earth sometime in March,” a government spokesperson said. “The U.S. Air Force spotted the satellite on the radar.”
My eyes narrowed on the news report. March. It’s February twenty-seventh. My birthday was the sixteenth, and I am sure there would be an equinox March twenty-first. I wish I had paid more attention when Lucien was telling me the dates.
“The spy satellite can no longer be controlled, and it is not known where on the planet it may come down.”
Dusty was looking over my shoulder.
“Appropriate government agencies are monitoring the situation. Numerous satellites over the years have come out of orbit and fallen harmlessly. We are looking at potential options to mitigate any possible damage this satellite may cause. But there seems to be a correlation between the satellite on the radar and a strange event which occurred on the night of February twenty-sixth. The aliens are out there, and Earth had better watch out, at least according to Stephen Hawking,” the reporter said.
That’s an understatement. Wow.
“Hey, Hunter, change the channel!” Dayton yelled.
Ignoring his request, I kept watching the news report. The television screen switched to a live shot of the Sandia mountainside; engrossed in what I saw, I moved in closer.
“Come on, Hunter, move it.”
A pillow flew over my head.
“Hold on!” I yelled.
“Yesterday, nearly one hundred people reported strange events to the National UFO Reporting Center. One witness, who does not want to be identified, said, ‘In my view, this huge mass sighting needs a lot of research and investigation.’ A government official said earlier today that the sightings had been dismissed as simply a meteor without any scientific analysis or investigation involved. The first report began at twenty-one thirty-five in Colorado. This was the small spot on the radar where the Air Force picked up bleeps. The events spread across New Mexico to Pennsylvania.”
My chest tightened as I listened to the reporter.
“It was the craft that took you and Lucien,” Finn said.
“I know.”
“They are coming back.”
“Hey, psycho, quit talking to yourself. Move out of the way,” Dayton hollered.
Finn whipped him the finger. Too bad he couldn’t see him.
“A local resident noticed what he explained as ‘four tightly-packed objects glowing green.’ The strange lights passed over at a speed of one hundred and forty miles per hour. The lights moved out of Colorado and are now being spotted in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. The Colorado-based network with its three thousand or so members, also known as MUFON, keeps track of UFO sightings. Dave Pickles, spokesman for the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport near Latrobe, Pennsylvania, said, ‘Local air travel has been affected due to an increase in radar traffic from flying objects of unknown origin.’ Government officials are not saying if the satellite and the sightings in Greenburg are related. The county public officials have not devised any sort of first-contact strategy. ‘We haven’t received any intelligence regarding contact involved with these sightings at this time. However, if this is going to occur, we know they will come in peace,’ said department spokesman Dan Evens.’”
The screen went back to Days of Our Lives.
“How do they know for sure if they come in peace? The sightings have been picked up on radar everywhere,” Dusty said. “Samantha, I dreamed about this.”
“What?”
Finn caught my attention when he meowed like a cat. I tried to ignore Dusty, but it was impossible because Finn bent down and untied Dusty’s shoes and began to laugh while Dusty bent to tie them. I gestured goodbye. Finn frowned and disappeared.
“The sightings, just like my dream.”
I turned and looked into Dusty’s sea green eyes. He was serious, and for the first time, I believed him.
25 The Meeting
I agreed to meet Dusty right after dinner that night. I felt in my bones; something wasn’t right. It was time I listened to his claims.
“There’s a bonfire scheduled, making it a perfect time to talk with Dusty alone. The halls will be empty. The chance someone would see us together in my room is slim,” I said to Finn.
“I don’t trust him.”
“Why?” I asked.
“There’s just something about him that gives me the creeps.”
“How long do you think it will take before I am totally like Lucien?”
“I dunno, days, weeks, maybe months?” Finn was lying on my bed with his hands behind his head and his one leg crossed over the other while I paced. His pose reminded me of Lucien.
The door opened. It was Victoria. She walked in and I could see the suspicion rise within her.
“Who are you talking to?”
“No one.” I turned to look at Finn. He smiled.
“Dayton was right; you are whacked out.” She got her iPod out, and stared right at me with a look of total disgust, like I had Ebola. She whisked by me and out the door.
“Finn, we have to be careful. O’Neil’s going to drug me up, lock me up, and throw away the key if she thinks I’m talking to myself.”
All he did was laugh, and a second later he was gone. “Oh God, I hate it when you do that,” I said to an empty room.
***
As soon as Victoria left, I waited for Dusty. After pacing back and forth for an hour, I tried to open the window to let some air in. I ran my fingers along the length of the pane; there was no way to open it. Judging by the size, there was no way my butt would fit through there even with three months of no Pop-Tarts.
I lowered the curtain when I heard a tap at the door. I turned the knob and was relieved to see Dusty’s sea-green eyes staring back at me. He was wearing his Army jacket and the same bleached, stained jeans he had on when I first saw him. He gave me an uneasy grin and paused midway through the doorway.
“Dusty, what the heck? You’re gonna get caught.” I yanked his jacket and pulled him the rest of the way in.
He sat on my bed. I stood over him with my hands in my jeans pockets. Not sure of where this meeting was headed, I tried to relax.
“Okay, Dusty, out with it.” I suddenly had a new attitude, and I didn’t know where it was coming from. His eyes were drawn, and his blond hair was tousled, making him look like a little boy. For a moment, I felt sorry for him for being in this loony bin for so long.
“Sam, I meant it when I said I had dreams about you and your boyfriend.”
“My boyfriend?”
“Yes.” He closed his eyes for an instant, recalling his dream. “Lucien, your friend from the sky…. I saw him go into the light.”
“That’s not possible.”
How could he know?
“I knew you
were coming here months ago before you even knew. I dreamt it. The shadow people told me you’re going to help me.”
“The shadow people? What shadow people?”
“They’re shadows that hover over me when I try to sleep. Most of the time, I can’t move. They talk to me, tell me things.”
Like the presence in my room before I knew it was Lucien.
“Lucien was your shadow person, Sam.”
“Dusty, can you read my mind?”
“No, but your friend can. I know what is to come.”
He’s like Lucien. What are the chances? Is he one of the other aliens Lucien spoke of?
“What kinds of things have the shadow people told you?”
“They said you were going to help me leave this place.”
“They said that? You know they have cameras outside.”
“I know about the cameras.”
“And how do you expect me to get you out of here without being seen?” I looked at the window briefly. There’s no way. “We’d get spotted the instant we tried to leave.”
“I haven’t thought that far ahead yet,” Dusty said with a half-smile.
“Dusty, how would I be able to get you out of here? I’m stuck here just like you if you haven’t noticed.”
“We have to try.”
“Do you think these shadow people have something to do with what happened to you when you went camping with your friend?”
“I w-was t-taken by them. The shadows––you know who they are, S-Sam. What L-Lucien is,” Dusty said, stuttering again.
“What do you know about what Lucien is?”
He didn’t have to answer; his face told the story.
“Sam, I don’t know exactly, b-but I think you were sent here to help me find my way to the others who can help me. You have to stop talking to O’Neil. I dreamt last night that she’s one of the evil shadow people.”
“Believe me; I don’t want to talk to anyone here, especially not O’Neil.”
“No, Sam, you’re not listening...the evil ones.”
I had to be careful with him; he seemed more fragile than a bird with a broken wing.
“Dusty, you lost me; who are the evil ones?”
“One of the others like Lucien.”
The air was sucked out of the room. I knew what he meant. My heart quickened. I braced myself and decided it was best not to let Dusty know my true feeling, which was fear.
“Come on, Dusty, Dr. O’Neil’s scary; but she’s not evil. What makes you think that?”
“Because my dreams always come true. She’s going to try to hurt you; and if she knows that I know, we’re both in danger.”
He lifted his jeans up, showing a spot just above his knee. There was a scar. “And here, too.” He lifted his blond locks and showed me another scar behind his ear.
“Where’d you get those?” I thought back to Area 51 when Lucien was sprawled on the table with his leg bleeding.
“The shadow people,” he said in a low, strained voice.
“The shadow people did those? How?” I touched his knee, outlining the small but visible scar.
“I don’t know for sure. When I woke up after the shadow people brought me back from wherever they took me, the marks were there.” He lowered his pants leg.
“Do you remember what they did?”
“No. But right away my head hurt, and when I touched it, there was blood. They put something in me. I don’t know what it was. But whenever I think about that day, I get a pain in my head, and sometimes my nose bleeds. Something tells me I was not meant to leave.”
“Do you remember anything? Dusty, think.”
“No, I don’t remember. It’s a blur. Except an awful feeling. It wasn’t a nice place, and when I woke, I had black oil all over me.”
I thought back to when the men in black chased me at the fair and the grease pit I fell in-to. It had to be connected in some way.
“Black oil? Hmmm, I wonder what it came from.”
Dusty grabbed my hand. “You have to help me, Sam. I don’t think I belong here anymore. You have to help me leave this place. I’m afraid the shadow people are going to come back for me. And this time, I don’t think they’ll let me go. Whatever they did to me, they’re coming back to finish what they started. Why me, Sam? Why would they want me in the first place and what did they put in me?”
“Dusty, don’t be scared. I’m sure there is a logical explanation.”
“Dr. O’Neil is—”
“Don’t go there, Dusty. Calm down. Maybe it has to do with your gift of premonition. Do you have any more abilities that you’re aware of?” I asked.
“No, I don’t think so.” He stood quickly. “Someone’s coming.”
Before I knew it, the door flew open; Dr. O’Neil was standing there with two men. One was a man in a dark blue suit, and the other was an orderly. I had to make up something quickly, and I didn’t know how to explain why Dusty was in my room.
The look on Dr. O’Neil’s face was like a lion’s before it attacked its prey. My eyes shifted to Dusty, hoping he read my mind. Don’t say a word. Dusty’s eyebrow arched. He understood, giving me a reassuring look when the orderly took him back to his room.
“Samantha,” was all she said.
The two escorted me to Dr. O’Neil’s office.
26 Harmon
I followed Dr. O’Neil and the man in the suit into her office. She asked me to take a seat. Reluctantly, I did. It was the last thing I wanted to do, but I didn’t have a choice. O’Neil took a seat behind her desk, and the man sat on the top of her desk, facing me. I watched him, suspicious about what he wanted.
“Samantha, this is Dr. Mark Harmon; he’s a parapsychologist with the FBI. He’s come a long way to see you.”
“Like the X-Files,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“Yes, you could say that. AFOSI: the Air Force Office of Special Investigations,” Agent Harmon said.
“Never heard of it.” I glared at the agent, then at Dr. O’Neil.
“You wouldn’t.”
The atmosphere in here was stuffy, and I could feel O’Neil’s contempt toward me. I wonder if she knew the feeling was mutual. Why else would she be looking at me with such beady eyes? My mind switched over to what Dusty had told me about her. Maybe if she was one of those shadow people, she could sense my revulsion toward her. However, as I recall, Lucien said the others had visual differences. Not once did her eyes melt over to look like thick pools of dark tar.
“Do you know why I’m here, Samantha?” the agent asked.
I crossed my legs, folding my arms across my chest. “It’s much too late for a social call now, isn’t it?”
Finn appeared. I tried to ignore him.
“I like you already, Samantha,” he smiled, but as quickly as the smile appeared on his face, it was gone. He glanced sideways at Dr. O’Neil and then back to me. “You’re right; it’s not a social call. I’m interested in the company you keep.”
Finn made devil horns behind the agent’s head. I started to laugh.
“I haven’t had any company,” I said daringly.
Now Finn was doing it behind O’Neil’s head. I laughed again.
“Is that funny?” the agent asked.
“Samantha, answer the agent’s question without any quip,” blustered Dr. O’Neil.
“I would be glad to if she weren’t here.”
Agent Harmon turned and faced her. “Dr. O’Neil?”
“Uh huh.”
“Do you mind?”
“You’re not serious?” Her face turned from ivory to crimson.
Agent Harmon flashed her a wide, toothy smile.
She grimaced and pushed herself away from her desk, walked out of her office, leaving the door slightly open.
The agent shut it
quickly, then pulled up a chair. He leaned in close. I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this. He seemed genuine, not at all a threat. But then again, I am sitting in a loony bin.
“Samantha, I’ve been keeping an eye on you and the family you’re friends with.”
“You have?” My heart quickened.
“I was one of the agents who visited your father on Halloween.”
“Aren’t you a little old for trick-or-treat?” Play dumb, Samantha.
“You know what I’m talking about, Samantha.”
“No, I don’t,” I lied.
“Samantha, relax—you’re not in any trouble, I assure you.”
“Then what?” I whispered. Who was I kidding? They knew about Lucien; they had to. Everything would soon fall apart. Oh God…. What am I going to do? I looked at Finn, and he shook his head.
“The night I am referring to was the night one of our agents was killed; we tracked down Lucien Foster’s plates with our satellites. I know you are aware of Project Blue Book.”
“I thought it was a myth,” I lied again. I knew all about Project Blue Book. And the government conspiracy.
“Unfortunately, some branches of the government are the arbiters of the truth.”
No duh. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure that out.
“I don’t want you to deny what happened October thirty-first. I know you know all too well that it existed. We hacked your computer.”
“You did what?” I stood up.
“We saw your Internet history. You had Lucien figured out a while longer than we would have liked. He wasn’t supposed to get involved with any outsiders. He took a huge risk in saving your life after your mother’s unfortunate accident.”
“You knew about that, too?”
“You can thank the Patriot Act for that.”
“What are you going to do to me?” I felt my face flush.
“Samantha, take it easy.”
“Thank you, Patriot Act.” I sat back down and tried to think rationally. Nevertheless, I was getting that familiar churning sensation in my stomach.
Equinox (Beyond Moondust Trilogy Book 2) Page 7