by Bill Bush
No one had slept at all during the night. General Jaxxen’s men took turns keeping watch while everyone else crashed in Eric’s cabin. There were bodies everywhere, on the floor of every room except the bathroom. Most of them were so tired they were able to sleep despite the crowded accommodations.
Late in the afternoon Dee and Lavon scrounged around the kitchen for food. They found canned beans and vegetables so they made three large pots of stew.
With the sun setting low and the air turning cold, most everyone was inside eating. Josh’s dad had started a fire in the fireplace. Several huddled around the fireplace while others huddled around the stove in the kitchen. There was no heating system in the cabin.
Flipper stood in the living room eating his stew. He was in a small circle with Jake, Alya, Fox, and General Jaxxen.
“When are we going to rescue Nicole?” Jake asked.
General Jaxxen looked at Fox before speaking. “We’ve discussed this some, but we really need Eric’s input.”
“Eric!” Fox shouted over the mildly loud talking.
When Eric looked their way Fox waved his hand as an invitation to join them.
“What can I do for you?” Eric asked when he joined the circle.
“We are discussing how to rescue Nicole,” General Jaxxen said. “We need to figure out where the President is keeping her. Do you have any ideas?”
Before Eric could answer music started blaring from his pocket.
Flash a-ah
Savior of the Universe
Flash a-ah
He’ll save every one of us
Queen belted from his phone before he could get the sound turned down. “I have to take this. Excuse me a minute.”
Eric walked out the front door before answering the phone. A few minutes later he returned and cleared his throat until he had everyone’s attention.
“That was my boss. He says it’s time to meet.”
“You’ve never met him?” Jake asked.
Eric shook his head. He looked unnerved.
“Where does he want to meet you?” General Jaxxen asked. “A couple of my men will escort you.”
Eric slowly raised his eyes to meet General Jaxxen’s. “He wants to meet with all of us.”
***
Twenty-nine people (Flipper, Allison, Josh and their parents, General Jaxxen and twelve men, Fox, Jake, Chezlor, Alya, Eric, Dyson, and Dell) exited the spaceship in a large valley in the middle of the Rocky Mountains in northern Colorado.
The field was beautiful. Surrounded by pine trees, everything had a light coating of snow—maybe two or three inches. The air was fresh and dry. The wind, along with the altitude and snow, made their jackets not near enough protection from the bitter cold.
Flipper watched his breath slowly move away from his face, each time thinking it might freeze in the air. He didn’t like the cold.
Josh and Chezlor couldn’t resist the three thousand square feet of fresh, undisturbed snow. They made several snow angels each before deciding that was too cold of a mission. It did look amazing though.
“What do you know about your boss?” General Jaxxen asked Eric.
“Just that he knows a lot about technology and has a ton of money.”
“What is his name?” General Jaxxen asked.
“He never told me his real name,” Eric said. “He told me to call him E.T.”
The humans laughed. The aliens didn’t get it.
”What's that?” Chezlor shouted, pointing.
Slowly walking toward them, a short figure covered in a large white robe which almost camouflaged the being with the snow. The figure had a hood covering his head which also covered most of his face. Flipper couldn’t get a good enough look to tell what he looked like.
Josh shifted nervously. “That must be E.T.”
When E.T. was within hearing distance he said, “Follow me.” His voice was raspy like he was fighting laryngitis.
He turned and made his way back the way he had come. They all followed and were soon inside a cave. The cool, steady temperature of the cave felt warm compared to the outside temperature.
“I’m sorry for the delay—I know it’s cold out there. But I had to activate a shield over the valley to protect your spaceship from being spotted.”
Even though they were inside, E.T. didn’t remove his hood. “I need everyone to stand inside the circle on the ground.”
Flipper was uncomfortable with E.T. He was secretive about who he was, what he looked like, and what they were doing there. And he wasn’t sure that E.T. wasn’t disguising his voice intentionally.
It was dark in the cave, lit only by the light from outside. The ground was dark and Flipper couldn’t see a circle. The way everyone else was looking around, they couldn’t either.
Gradually the ground started to illuminate and a bright, blue ring formed. About half the group was already inside the circle. The rest quickly joined them.
As soon as they were all inside the ring, they were instantly inside a different room.
This room was large and could have easily fit a thousand people comfortably. The place was a technological paradise — filled with electronic devices and computers.
Hundreds of screens lined the walls. Most of them displayed activities from different parts of the world. As Flipper looked around he noticed that many of them were showing spaceships. E.T. must be monitoring every Snader spaceship around the world, he thought.
“We must be outside the Snader’s block on teleportation.” General Jaxxen was looking at E.T. and Flipper thought he was asking as much as he was stating.
E.T. looked at General Jaxxen. At least Flipper thought he was looking at General Jaxxen. “Not exactly. I have this mountain protected from their technology. We teleported safely because we remained inside the same mountain.
Eric stepped forward. “Sir, I’m Eric, and it is an honor to finally meet you after all this time.”
“Yes. Yes, I know who you are. I know who you all are.”
“It appears you watch a lot of what goes on around the world,” Fox said.
“It’s been important for me to keep abreast of the Earth’s activities. I knew one day we would be facing a threat of this nature from the Snaders.”
“How would you know that?” Dyson asked.
“I am of Snader blood.”
“Who are you?” General Jaxxen demanded.
E.T. slowly lifted his hands up to his hood. This was the first time they were able to see any of E.T.’s skin. His hands were wrinkled, but it’s possible no one noticed because his skin was dark purple with red blotches.
Flipper recognized his skin as being the same color as Robb’s.
As he pulled off his hood you could have heard a pin drop, until Dennis and Lavon said at the same time, “Dad?”
Chapter 44
For twelve hours, as darkness systematically settled over the countries of the world, Snaders used the cover of darkness to pollute clean water systems. By now, all of the states in America except for Hawaii, would have been polluted by the poison. Within a few hours the majority of the world would have polluted water.
President Charles sat in her office at Camp David with Vice President Langston and Red Fox, anxiously waiting for reports of the results from the poisoning.
Red Fox paced nervously, grinding on President Charles' patience. He had proven to be an asset, but he was also a lot to handle. In a few days they would control earth and she could distance herself from him and surround herself with assistants a little less volatile. Or she might have him assassinated for killing Chili. Yes, that would be more satisfying.
Red Fox suddenly exploded. “Why can't we go ahead and attack?”
And a little more patient, President Charles thought. “We are waiting for the authorities to realize there is widespread poison. With their attention diverted, our attacks will be much more efficient. I'll make the call first thing in the morning.”
”We're giving the people time. They're pr
eparing all over the world to fight the spaceships.”
”They've been on high alert since the assassinations,” Vice President Langston said.
”Besides,” President Charles added, “they're still more concerned about the Gudes than us.”
Red Fox returned to pacing, obviously unsatisfied with the answers he received.
The President’s Chief of Staff came in. “Ma’am, we have a problem.”
“What is it Mr. Kerns?”
“Illnesses are being reported from our first locations.”
“Finally!” Red Fox threw his arms up in victory.
“That’s great news,” Vice President Langston said.
“No, Ma'am, it isn’t.”
“What are you talking about?” President Charles asked.
“The illnesses reported are coming from the Snaders.”
“What?! How can that be?” Red Fox screamed.
“We don’t know yet, Sir. But so far no illnesses have been reported by the humans.”
President Charles was irate. “Tell all our Snaders in these locations to find out what is happening. I want a team of our scientists dispatched to each location immediately. We cannot afford to have a glitch in our plan.”
“Yes Ma’am.” Mr. Kerns quickly exited.
”So now we're going to wait for scientists to do studies?!” Red Fox barked.
”I'll blame the poisoning on the Gudes. The scientists need to solve the water problems so we can settle here. As far as our friends in the sky, it's time we invited them to the party.”
Chapter 45
”ATTACK!”
”Yes Ma'am!” Admiral Grisder shouted, full of enthusiasm.
The President turned to her V.P. “Have the room set up and Nicole brought in. It's time to put our plan into place.”
”Yes, Ma'am.” Vice President Langston opened the door to leave.
”And Jade, have your acceptance speech ready.”
The Vice President scrunched her forehead as if unsure she understood the President. “Are you sure?”
She wasn't ready to concede her seat of power, but her gut told President Charles her next move would have to be drastic. “I am.”
”As you wish.”
When Vice President Langston closed the door, Red Fox demanded an answer. “What are you doing?”
President Charles gave a wry smile. “Putting into place my contingency plan.”
Chapter 46
Flipper had met his great grandfather a few days ago. Now he was meeting his grandfather.
His grandfather looked like a younger version of his great grandfather. E.T.’s skin was dark purple, maybe a shade lighter than Robb’s.
His dad had told him about the car accident that took his grandfather’s life. A large truck had swerved into his lane one night late, causing them both to go over a cliff in the mountains near Ruidoso. The authorities assumed the driver of the truck had fallen asleep. There were only pieces of bodies remaining, but his grandfather’s watch, wedding ring and wallet were all recovered.
“We thought you were dead,” Dennis said in amazement.
E.T. dropped his head. “I know. I’m sorry I had to do that to you.”
“You had to do that to us?” Lavon’s voice was full of rage.
“Your mom and I knew it was the only way to keep you children safe.”
“Mom didn’t know you were alive.” Lavon’s voice continued to rise. “I watched her grieve. She was miserable. It took her a long time to get over your death.”
“Everything I have done has been because I love you two and want to protect you.”
Lavon’s eyes were as piercing as her words. “If you loved us you would have stayed with us.”
“Look at me Lavon.” E.T.’s voice was stern. “Could I have continued to live in a world with humans?”
Flipper could tell by the look on his aunt’s face that she hadn’t even thought about his appearance.
“My skin was turning purple. I knew what I was—a mix of alien and human. I was fortunate not to inherit the webbed feet of the Gudes or I may not have been able to mix in with the human race as long as I did. And although I had darker skin, it wasn’t unusual for a human, until I started to get a purple tinge. I had to go into hiding, or I would have been taken away for testing, as would have you children. Plus we would have become a target for the Snaders.”
“Why not take us with you?” Dennis asked. “We could have still been a family.”
“You were both becoming adults. You had dreams, goals. Your mom and I knew what we needed to do—wanted to do. More than anything we wanted you to have normal lives, at least for as long as you could.”
“You keep talking like Mom agreed to all of this,” Lavon said. “She couldn’t live without you. She jumped to her death a few years after your car crash. She wouldn’t have done that had she been in agreement.”
“And I didn’t.” Dennis and Lavon spun around. Standing behind them was their mother.
***
General Jaxxen took the group, with E.T.’s permission, to explore the facilities, leaving Dennis, Dee, Flipper, Lavon, Lavon’s husband Chad, and Allison with E.T. and his wife.
“You were in on this?” Until now Dennis had remained calm. Now his voice betrayed his rising anger.
“I stayed with you long enough to help you get through college. After that, it was time for you to go and live your lives as adults. Your dad needed my help to prepare for the current events. We did this to protect you two.” Her voice cracked. “Believe me, it broke my heart to leave and know you suffered so.”
“But you could have told us what you were doing!” Lavon protested.
“I was heavily involved with the United States military,” E.T. said. “If there was any doubt that I hadn’t died in that accident you would have been in jeopardy. And I wasn’t going to ask you two to give up everything to go into hiding with your mom and me. Besides, if you had come with me you wouldn’t have these beautiful families you have now.”
Finally E.T. had said something that neither Dennis nor Lavon had a rebuttal for.
“Look, I don’t expect you to forgive us immediately, though I hope someday you will. I don’t even expect you to understand why we did what we did.” E.T.’s eyes were moist. “But I hope you can see past your emotions for a while so we can all work together to stop the Snaders.”
Dennis and Lavon looked at each other. They looked at E.T. and nodded. Flipper was relieved. He knew they could use more help.
E.T. smiled. “Good. Let’s get the others in here. I have some explaining to do to Eric as well.”
***
E.T. introduced himself to Eric and to the rest of the group. “My real name is Bruce.”
Several eyebrows went up. “Yes, my dad named me after his dad, Bruce, the Snader who married the Gude. This is my wife Tori.”
“We have lived here for the past fifteen years. I was here alone five years prior to that, although Tori visited me whenever she could.”
Dennis and Lavon again showed signs of surprise. Obviously they had no idea their mom was sneaking off meeting her dead husband in the Colorado mountains.
“Shortly after your mother joined me permanently I uncovered information about the location of my dad. I believed he was still alive somewhere and I was able to confirm my suspicions. I snuck in one night to break him out. We talked most of the night, but I couldn’t convince him to leave with me. He said he was able to keep up with much of the Snader activities by being a prisoner.
“I visited him frequently and kept abreast of what was going on. He didn’t know exactly what the Snaders were up to, but he knew they were planning something big. He understood what kind of threat the Snaders were.
“I had followed Eric’s career for a while, knowing his beliefs and abilities. I needed help with some projects, and I believed he could figure them out. He proved to be everything I thought he was. He thrived on the projects I gave him. I didn’t want to tell him e
verything—I wanted him to discover the truth about aliens for himself.”
“How did you pay for all of this?” Dennis asked.
“Have you ever wondered how technology has advanced at such a rapid rate recently?” Bruce said seriously. “I invested in businesses I knew would succeed, before I fed them information that would give them a breakthrough.”
Bruce looked at Dennis and Lavon. “That’s how we put you two through college—through my investments. I just give companies a little at a time. That way I can control the speed of the world’s technological advancement. I have been able to make as much money as I have needed.”
“You are basically profiting off of insider trading?” Although it came out as a question, Dennis was very accusatory.
“What I have been doing is trying to keep the Snaders from annihilating the human race.”
Flipper saw on one of the screens the words “Aliens on the Attack”. He pointed to it and asked Bruce, “Can we turn that up?”
The camera angle on the reporter was from the ground, so she looked gigantic, but the effect of the angle put the bright, night sky above in the background. The reporter was somewhere in the country where city lights weren't interfering with the view of the sky. “In what can only be described as space wars, spaceships just outside of our atmosphere have begun shooting at each other.”
”I recognize the dark spaceships from my dream!” Allison exclaimed.
”I ordered them to Earth before I came,” General Jaxxen explained. “Unfortunately I was correct in my assessment that we would need them.”
The reporter placed her hand on her ear and listened for a moment. “Now reports are coming in that some of the spaceships have entered our atmosphere. We are going to break for a word from President Charles.”
A picture of President Charles filled the screen as her voice spoke to America. “First of all I want to urge everyone not to panic. Please remain calm but take immediate shelter. The Gudes have begun an all out assault on our planet, but the Snaders are doing their best to fend them off. Militaries from all over the world are in the air to assist with the protection of our planet. As your leader I want to assure you that I have complete faith in the Snaders' ability to come out victorious today.”