The Dark of Other Skies (The Others Book 2)

by V. E. Lemp

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Copyright © 2017 by Vicki L. Weavil

  THE DARK OF OTHER SKIES by V. E. Lemp

  All rights reserved. Published in the United States of America by

  White Tulip Press

  Print ISBN: 978-0-9981337-3-7

  eBook ISBN: 978-0-9981337-2-0

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the publisher or copyright holder, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Published by White Tulip Press

  Edited by Annie Cosby, Cosby Company http://www.cosbycompany.com/

  Cover Art by Anne Drury http://annemdrury.wixsite.com/annedrury

  Cover and Interior Formatting by VBartles Design http://vbartles.com/design.htm

  Cover Copyright © 2017 by White Tulip Press

  DEDICATION

  This one is for my critique partners –

  Richard & Lindsey

  And for one of my favorite beta readers –

  Mary

  .

  Table of Contents

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Twenty

  Twenty-One

  Twenty-Two

  Twenty-Three

  Twenty-Four

  Acknowledgements

  Also Available Now:

  About the Author

  ONE

  As she did on many evenings, Karen Hallam stared into the night sky and thought about a man who was not her husband.

  Karen rubbed her bare arms. The early summer evening was cooler than expected. She stood beneath the spreading canopy of a maple tree in the fading daylight, the clear blue shading into silvered purple as the sun slipped behind the blue ridge of the mountains.

  “Daydreaming?” asked her friend, Thea Jones. “Or perhaps I should say night-dreaming? It’s almost night. The stars are coming out.”

  “Yes, they are.” Karen had no intention of telling Thea what she was thinking. Her mind had drifted, as it often did, to thoughts of her former lover, Alex Wythe, now living somewhere beyond that lavender sky. Somewhere out in the solar system, on a ship controlled by the Oneiroi, an alien race that had long studied the inhabitants of Earth.

  “Where’d those men get to, anyway?” Thea walked over to Karen, an empty trash bag dangling from her fingers. “Notice how they disappear when it’s time to clear the table?”

  “I think Aaron’s helping Mark hook up the surround-sound on the new television. I suspect my devious husband wanted to enlist the aid of an electrical engineer when he suggested I invite you to dinner. Dealing with audio and video gizmos is not one of Mark’s strong suits.”

  “I’m shocked.” Thea swept the debris on the table into the trash bag. “I thought Mark’s spy-school training would include gadgetry. Guess it’s one of the few skills he’s lacking.”

  “One of the very few,” Karen said. “And really, Thea, he’s not a spy. Just a government agent.”

  “Uh-huh.” Thea dumped the bag in a trash can near the porch. “You want something?” She reached into a cooler sitting on the back steps. “There’s some water, I think.”

  “Sure.” Karen sat in a lawn chair. “Wine’s all gone?”

  “’Fraid so.” Thea strolled over with two bottles of water and handed one to Karen before she settled into an Adirondack chair. “We hit it a bit hard earlier.”

  “Yes, between the four of us we can do some damage.” Karen smiled. Thea Christopher Jones had been Karen’s best friend for over fourteen years, ever since they’d been roommates in college. They were opposites in many ways, but somehow their relationship thrived despite their differences.

  “So, you said you had some information to share? Something about a visitor this morning?”

  Thea’s dark-brown eyes, usually bright with good humor, were shadowed. “Yes, someone named Leena Rebani.”

  Karen swore loudly. “Sorry. Good thing the kids are inside. But you know how I feel about those people. What happened?”

  “She just showed up at our door. I didn’t know who she was and didn’t want to let her in at first. Then she mentioned her name, and I remembered her connection to Ian Vance. So I felt we had to hear her out, if only to gather information for our cause.”

  Karen frowned. She held no fond memories of Dr. Ian Vance, the head of the mysterious company called Exocorp. While in college, she’d participated in a research project designed by Vance. The Morpheus Project he’d called it. It was presented to Karen and the other participants as a simple dream research study, but in reality, Vance and his fellow researchers were seeking conduits for messages from the alien entities they called the Oneiroi. Conduits in the form of people like her, who could pick up messages from these aliens through dreams. Vance had exploited the project subjects to glean information his colleagues at Exocorp used to create new technology. Vance and his backers grew rich, but the study participants gained no such benefits. Two had died, and others suffered mental and physical damage from the project.

  “What in the world did Leena Rebani want with you?” Karen mentally ran through several scenarios. Leena had been a senior researcher on the original Morpheus Project, along with Alex Wythe and Jasper James. She now worked at Exocorp and lived with Vance.

  “She wanted to warn us, or so she said. Thank God”—Thea’s voice shook with emotion—“we hadn’t picked up the kids from my parents’ house.”

  “Yes, that’s a blessing. So she told you and Aaron what? That Mark and I need to drop our investigations?”

  “Something like that. She said Vance was aware of our friendship and knew we’d helped you in the past. She said we should avoid you, which is nonsense.” Thea snorted. “As if I’d drop my friends at her—or anyone else’s—say-so. Anyway, she demanded we tell you to abandon your continued investigations into Ian Vance and Exocorp.”

  “Or?”

  “Or you might be the cause of what she called ‘undesirable actions.’”

  “Did she indeed? Well, they’re using the same old tactics, I see. Trying to manipulate by threatening our family and friends. What gems of humanity they are.”

  Thea took a swallow of water before speaking again. “She looked so fragile, but I’m betting there’s a core of iron there.”

  “There’d have to be, to live with Ian Vance for so many years. Oh, Thea ...” Karen sighed deeply. “What can I say? I hate that you, Aaron, and the kids have been pulled into this.”

  “Not to worry. We’re willing participants in your fight to expose the truth. I’m mainly upset when they drag the kids into it. But I promised Ms. Rebani nothing. I don’t like being pushed around and neither does Aaron.”

  “Oh, I’m well aware of that.” Bullying Thea would always be a losing proposition. “So, Leena threatened you and asked you to warn us and then just left?”

  “Not exactly.” Karen sensed hesitation in Thea’s voice. “That was the weird part. She said something else, something about it being out of their hands now. I asked what she meant, and she said even she and Ian Vance
were answerable to others.”

  “I’ve heard something like that before, from Vance himself. So they’re now at the mercy of some other power? That could be good or bad, depending on who or what it is.”

  “Yes, I sensed she was under stress,” Thea said. “Like this was a way to protect herself as much as anything else. Anyway, it’s all irrelevant. We’re resolved to ignore such messages, especially from one of Vance’s flunkies.”

  “But you should take some precautions. I’m going to ask Mark if he has anyone who can keep an eye on you.”

  “Not necessary,” Thea said firmly. “Please don’t bother Mark or his associates. I’m sure they have more important things to worry about. Aaron and I aren’t looking for help. I just wanted you to have all the facts.”

  “All right, I won’t ask Mark to arrange any protection for you.” This was a lie, but Thea was distracted and missed the obvious clues. Karen leaned against the soft webbing of her chair and stared upwards. A few stars winked into existence in the darkening sky. All those stars, all those other suns.

  “You still think of him, don’t you?”

  Karen turned to meet Thea’s questioning gaze. She should’ve known she couldn’t hide anything from her friend. “Sometimes.”

  “He told you he wanted to return. Think he will?”

  “It’s possible. Alex always accomplished anything he put his mind to.”

  Thea tapped her fingers against her water bottle. “And how do you think you might feel if you see him again? You being married—that could be one awkward reunion.”

  “I hope we can be friends.” It was something Karen had considered more often than she would admit. “I like to think that’s possible, since I know I’ll always care deeply about him. But of course, anything else is out of the question.”

  “Well, I should hope so.” Thea ran her fingers through her hair. It was still as black as when she was young, although kept in a different style than her college afro. Karen suspected Thea had resorted to coloring her hair in recent years, especially since her friend regularly commented on the silver threads running through Karen’s straight brown hair. “I must confess I’ll be very tempted to greet him with a good slap if I ever see Alex’s handsome mug again. After what he did to you he’s definitely not on my list of favorite people.”

  “You’ll have to get in line, I suspect. Behind Mark, among others.”

  “Oh, I doubt Mark will hit him. He’ll just toss a few well-placed barbs and stare him down. You know, that look that chills you to the bone?”

  “Oh yes, I know it.” Karen tipped up her water bottle and avoided Thea’s direct gaze.

  “Thank goodness I’ve never been on the receiving end of that glare, but I wouldn’t be unhappy to see it turned on Alex.” Thea contemplated Karen for a moment. “You know I adore Mark. So if Dr. Alex Wythe does decide to pop back into your life, I’d suggest you remember what’s best for everyone and tell him to take a hike. Unless he’s willing to just be friends, which I somehow doubt.”

  “You never know. It’s been over ten years. A lot can change in that time.”

  “Like how you feel? Has that really changed?”

  “It has.” Karen rose to her feet. “I know you aren’t convinced, but my feelings for Alex are different now. I wouldn’t have married Mark if they weren’t.”

  “So that’s why you still stare up into the night sky with that sad expression on your face? Yes, I’ve seen it. Bet Mark has as well.”

  “He’s never mentioned it.” Karen walked toward the house. “I’m going in now. Coming?”

  “In other words, this conversation’s over. Okay, catch your drift.” Thea stood and followed Karen onto the back porch.

  Mark was swearing when they walked into the kitchen. “Not going well?” Karen called out, as she and Thea headed for the living room.

  “No, it’s not that.” Aaron met them in the doorway. Karen noticed Bradley and Cara, Thea and Aaron’s children, sitting cross-legged on the rug in front of the television, transfixed by something on the screen. “The system’s working fine. It’s what’s on that’s the problem.”

  Thea shook her head at her husband. “So why let the kids watch it?”

  “It’s on every channel,” Aaron said. “Except for the ones they really shouldn’t see.”

  Karen crossed to Mark, who was standing by the edge of sofa. She stared at the television and realized they were watching a live report. A newscaster standing in front of a shadowy landscape gestured upward, and Karen noticed white balls of light bouncing, pinball fashion, about the star-spangled black sky.

  “They’re calling it a mass UFO sighting.” Aaron placed his arm around Thea’s waist.

  Thea shot a swift glance at her children. “Where is this?”

  “In the southwest.” Mark’s dark-brown eyes were narrowed behind the lenses of his glasses. “New Mexico to be exact. Near a place called Archuleta Mesa. I didn’t expect the national news crews to be on top of the story so fast, I must admit.”

  “What’s going on?” Karen glanced up at him. Though her love made her consider him handsome, Karen knew Mark’s ordinary appearance led most people to underestimate him. They’d be astonished by the man who inhabited that unprepossessing exterior.

  “Yeah, what’s this all about?” Thea asked. “You seem to have some idea of what’s going on.”

  Mark met their stares with his steady gaze. “I received word something like this might happen. Didn’t think it’d be quite so soon, as you may have guessed from my less than delighted reaction to the news.”

  Karen gripped his right hand. “Is it real? Or some government deception?”

  “Oh, it’s quite real. Of course the government would like you to think otherwise. Well, most of the government. A few are ready to expose the truth. But most are probably frantically gearing up their disinformation campaigns. And I suspect Ian Vance and Exocorp are scrambling their media wranglers as we speak.”

  Thea spoke after a brief moment of silence in which they all watched the strange lights on the television. “Come along, kids. I believe there’s some ice cream in the freezer.”

  “Yes, rocky road,” Mark said. “That’s if Karen hasn’t eaten it all.”

  Karen jabbed him with her elbow. “I’m not the ice cream thief in this house, Mr. Eats-It-from-the-Container. But yes, there’s ice cream. Untouched. I hid a carton behind the lima beans this morning.” She wrinkled her nose at Mark, who grinned in response.

  At the promise of ice cream, Bradley and Cara started chanting their favorite flavors as they leapt to their feet and trailed Thea into the kitchen.

  Aaron’s dark eyes were shadowed. “So, does this have something to do with our aliens, then?” He sat in one of the oversized armchairs flanking the stone fireplace.

  “Unfortunately, yes.” Mark settled on the sofa and pulled Karen down beside him. “Myron Tarrow’s already there. He called me earlier.”

  “I imagine his followers are gathering to document the sightings.” Karen gazed speculatively at her husband. “This is right up his alley. He’s been trying to find undisputable evidence of UFOs and other alien encounters for some time.”

  “Yes, he’s drawing quite a crowd. Sure to cause consternation in several circles.” Mark sat quietly for a moment, as if debating whether to say more. “The thing is, I’ve been assigned to keep an eye on Myron and his followers. So I’ll have to travel to New Mexico as soon as possible.”

  “Assigned?” Karen looked at him with a puzzled expression. “Do your superiors know you’re actually in Myron’s corner? I mean, do they have any idea we’re helping him and he us?”

  “No.” Mark met Aaron’s questioning look. “Well, let me rephrase that. They know I’m pretending to aid Myron in his quest to out the Oneiroi. It’s my cover, you understand.” Mark smiled.

  A smile with an edge of danger to it. Karen sighed. “So how many layers are you working in at any one time? Honestly, I don’t know how you keep
all those plates spinning.”

  “It’s a talent, rather like your art. Honed through many years of practice. The truth is, Myron Tarrow’s now one of my assignments. It actually works out quite well. Most of my superiors believe I’m playing a double game with Myron. They’d be quite shocked to find I’m not.” Mark leaned back and surveyed her, his brown eyes softening. “It’s all part of the job, sweetheart.”

  “Glad it’s your job and not mine. I’d much rather deal with disgruntled clients and contractors who don’t seem to know their head from their … You know what I mean.” Aaron flashed Karen a sheepish grin as Thea poked her head around the corner.

  “I think it’s time to go,” Thea said. “Cara’s about to fall asleep in her ice cream. Help me gather up their stuff, would you, honey? I’m sure Mark and Karen would appreciate some privacy.”

  After Thea and Aaron bundled up the children and left, with promises from Karen to call with any significant information, Mark settled back on the sofa.

  “Come and sit down. I want to relax before I consider packing.”

  “I’ll be right there,” Karen called from the kitchen. She rummaged around a cabinet and found the bottle of red wine stashed behind some balsamic vinegar. The emergency bottle, Mark had called it. Only to be opened if all other bottles were empty, and the situation was dire.

  She walked into the living room carrying two glasses of wine. “I thought you might need this.” She handed Mark a glass as she sat next to him. “I know I do.”

  “A woman after my own heart.” Mark leaned forward to kiss her before settling back with his glass. “Enough business for one day.”

  “Just one more thing. You mentioned Myron’s now an assignment, so I just wondered …” Karen took a long swallow of her wine. “Do they think that’s what I am? I mean your bosses. An assignment? Someone you have to keep tabs on? Some government asset requiring constant surveillance? Do they believe that’s why you married me?”

  “Some of them,” Mark conceded, without meeting her eyes.