by R J Johnson
“Wait, what does that mean?” Alex asked, confused by the ruling. “I can’t go back now?”
“If we were to send you back now, you would be lost in the wilderness and would immediately die from exposure the second we dropped you off. There is nothing there for you.”
“Wait, why can’t you zip me back to the future where I belong?” Alex asked, feeling the terror well up within him. The time-traveling stone had shown him this future, but the images were fluid, as if he were attempting to recall his dream from the night before. “You’re keeping me here?”
“You’ll be quite comfortable,” the Patron assured him. “We have determined that we can meet your needs for the time being.”
“Time for what?”
“To return you to your planet one million years from now,” Cee replied.
It took a moment for that to sink in. That was an almost impossible amount of time. Alex felt horrified by what that meant. The human race was barely a speck on Earth right now. Cee was right. There was nothing on Earth for him now.
“I’m stuck here?” Alex asked, unable to conceal the panic in his voice.
Cee didn’t respond. He pushed a button on the wall, revealing an octagonal room that only had a small oval coffin like table in the middle. Cee approached the table and began typing quickly on the table’s brightly colored squares. The table slid open, revealing an inside pocket, roughly the shape of Alex’s body.
“The Elders instructed me to insert you into your own personal channel,” Cee said, still typing on the panel in front of him.
“The channel? You mean that Matrix thing?”
“Yes,” Cee replied. “You will wait here and work out what to do after we return you to your Homeworld, and of course, you are welcome to play out whatever life you may wish.”
Alex stared down at the coffin in horror. “I’m being put on ice?”
“The temperature is quite comfortable I assure you,” Cee replied. “There is no ice –“
“No,” Alex said. “I meant, that, you’re just locking me away, keeping me away from your people?”
“In one sense, yes. But more importantly, you now have the chance to live whatever life you wish. Step inside, and I shall show you how it works.”
Alex didn’t like where this was headed, but what choice did he have? He stepped inside the Channel, looking down at Cee.
“Lie down,” Cee instructed. “There will be a slight stinging sensation.”
“What?” Alex asked, panicked. And then there was a jab, as a large needle inserted itself into his calf muscle. He screamed out in pain, feeling the liquid burning through his veins. “Please… stop…” Alex almost lost consciousness.
“The pain shall fade.” Cee replied patiently. “Stay calm.”
And in fact, it did, and was replaced with one of the most pleasant sensations he’d ever experienced. It was like morphine and heroin got together and had a baby named Dr. Feelgood.
“Oh, my…” Alex said, his eyes becoming dreamy. “That is nice.”
“Lie down, so I can begin the procedure,” Cee told him. Alex followed directions, as he was finding it hard to remain standing anyway. The channel was surprisingly comfortable, and Alex found he didn’t even mind the cover rolling back over him, trapping him inside.
That’s when Alex felt the drug’s effects wear off, and for a moment, he was disappointed. “What a gyp,” he complained. “I was just getting used to all that fun.”
Things went dark for a moment, and then, three different colored bars appeared in front of him, each with a different option.
Sleep. Experience. Live.
“There are three options available to you,” Cee told him over the intercom. “You may sleep, for as long as you wish. Your body will be preserved without any discomfort. The channel will place you into a deep coma and wake you at the time you specify. You could spend a year or ten thousand years inside. It makes no difference to the channel.”
Alex swallowed. He always liked sleeping in, but ten thousand years’ worth of sleep would probably be overdoing it.
“And experience?” he called out into the inky blackness surrounding him.
“The channel will simulate in real time a life of your choosing. You may design a life, and live it out as you see fit, or, you can choose from a series of pre-programmed options available to you. Some of those options come from some of our most famous works of art and fiction. Many of those programs are very popular with our species. You can even explore the galaxy however you wish. The Channel can simulate any situation or scenario you can come up with. You will literally live your dreams out in the Channel.”
Alex felt the fear fade away after hearing about this option. “You mean, I can do anything, go anywhere? Even live out my life as it would have gone if I missed out on all this stuff?”
“That is one option available to you,” Cee agreed.
Alex absorbed this information, glancing back at the third option on the channel’s screen.
“And LIVE? What’s that?” Alex asked.
“When you are ready to leave the Channel, simply use that option, and you will rejoin us in this reality,” Cee stated. “It’s best if you come back after every life lived so you don’t lose yourself inside the fantasy.”
“Addiction to other people’s problems and lives. It’s like Facebook on steroids…” Alex whispered to himself.
“As you say,” Cee agreed. “Where would you like to go today?”
Alex considered his options and pressed the Experience button floating in front of him. There were too many choices. All the things he could do with this machine, it was unfathomable. But, no matter the experiences possible, there was only one thing he wanted to experience for himself.
“I have one idea…” Alex said softly.
Cee nodded. “Tell the Channel what you want and it will be granted to you.”
Alex smiled, and closed his eyes, thinking about the experience he had wanted his entire life.
The world around him rippled, as if reality itself were a blanket being shaken out. When the ripples around him settled, he was back in his childhood home, his father sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast. Upon seeing him, Alex’s eyes welled up, and he rushed Ted McCray, grabbing him in an incredibly tight hug.
“Whoa,” Ted said, laughing. “Easy there bud. You’re not as little as you used to be.”
Alex felt himself begin to cry, and began to hug his father tighter. It was so real. Everything was perfect. Even the smell of his childhood home was right.
“You hungry?” his father asked after Alex let go. “You look like you haven’t eaten in a while.”
“Starving,” Alex said, choking up.
“Good, your mother should be back from the store here soon with the eggs. I told her yesterday to grab some, but she didn’t listen. Or forgot. Either way.” Ted chuckled. “If her head wasn’t attached…”
Alex looked at his father confused, “Mom? But, she’s dead. She died years ago…”
Ted looked at him, annoyed, “Come on, that’s not funny Alex. You know how close we came to losing her.”
The garage door opened and Alex’s head whipped around, his eyes wide.
“See?” Ted said, rustling his newspaper “She won’t think it funny you thought she was dead either.”
The door opened and Alex looked at his mother’s face for the first time since he was seven years old. Helen McCray didn’t look as if she’d aged a day since then.
“Mom…” he whispered in shock. He rushed over, nearly knocking the groceries out of his mother’s hands, hugging her as tightly as he could.
“Ack!” she cried out. “What is it Alex? Are you okay?”
She awkwardly placed the groceries on the ground, returning her son’s hug. “What’s the matter sweetheart?”
“Nothing mom,” Alex replied, feeling happy for the first time in years. “Nothing at all.”
Chapter Thirteen
Air Force
One came in for a landing on Area 51’s landing strip, and pulled to a stop just outside a waiting stair car.
The doors opened as marines stood at attention at the bottom of the stair car, waiting to escort Kline into the most secretive area of the United States. The President accompianed him out the door.
“My my Timothy,” Kline said to the President standing next to him. “Your folks have been busy.”
“I’ve filtered more than their share of black budget to them,” Hutton replied, cradling his granite arm. “It’s a wonder they haven’t discovered a cure for cancer with all the money the US is spending here.”
Three high ranking officers approached Air Force One in a golf cart. The man driving practically leaped out to give the President and Kline a smart salute.
“Mr. Kline, Mr. Vice President…” The Corporal began. Kline waved a finger at him.
“Ah ah Corporal. Mr. Hutton here is actually your commander in chief now. You should show him the appropriate respect.”
The Corporal glanced back at the President and nodded curtly. “My apologies Mr. President. I have not been informed of the transfer of office yet.”
“It’s rather recent,” Hutton responded, his face beet red.
The Corporal nodded and turned back to Kline. “I understand you’re here to inspect our facility sir.”
“And I expect full access,” Kline added. “I want to see everything you have.”
The man looked over at the President who nodded quickly.
“Then if you’ll follow me sir.”
Kline turned to the President, “Perhaps you ought to remain behind Timothy and reach out to the Washington elite, letting them know of your new position. I’d hate for us to return to DC and no one knows about your new title.”
Hutton nodded quickly, “As you wish Mr. Kline.”
The President turned and began to trot up the stairs to Air Force One. Kline watched him leave and felt satisfaction in his decision to allow his one-time partner live.
Kline strode across the runway, his dress shoes clicking against the rough concrete of the runway, following the Area 51 officers into a waiting SUV brought for the visiting VIPs.
They accelerated away from the strip zooming down the runway toward a smaller, squat building that sat against the edge of a mountain. The side of the building began to roll up as they approached in their SUV at full speed.
They sped into a tunnel, and turned, heading down into what seemed to be an underground parking lot with no end in sight. Kline held onto the door handle, tried to keep from being thrown as the vehicle ran over several bumps intended to slow people down.
Eventually they came to a stop in front of a huge elevator door, and the Marine driving him down got out, while several other soldiers came over to stand guard and open the door for Kline.
“I could get used to this kind of treatment,” Kline said.
“If you’ll follow me sir,” the Corporal asked, politely pointing to the nearby elevators.
“Lead the way,” Kline replied jauntily. Not since the Mesa in Joshua Tree had Kline felt so certain he was about to take possession of a stone. It would be his tenth, and hopefully he would be able to use it to free the Time-travel stone from its frozen state in Hong Kong.
They entered an elevator, and the Marine pushed the last button on the bottom, and the elevator began descending quickly down the shaft. The elevator was large and could have fit several vehicles inside.
“How long have you been stationed here soldier?” Kline asked.
“Three years this December sir,” the Marine answered, still staring straight ahead.
“I’ll bet you’ve seen some things around here,” Kline continued.
The doors to the elevator opened, and the Marine stepped through, holding his hand out, “Less than you might think sir. This way please.”
Kline nodded.
The corridor had been painted to resembled outdoor scenery, complete with LCD screens stationed every five feet, videos of nature playing. Kline glanced at them, looking interested for a moment.
“The videos help those personnel stationed on this level so they don’t feel so claustrophobic while working six stories below the earth,” the Marine told him. “It’s a psychological trick that seems to alleviate some of the worst parts about being this far underground.”
Kline nodded, and turned. “Take me to the main control center where they work.”
“This way sir,” the Marine continued down the hall until they reached a laboratory. “The main Laboratory has been working on several interesting projects.”
The entered the lab and a small Japanese man stood, walking over to Kline with his hand extended. “Mr. Kline, my name is Albert Ishi. I’m the Project Manager here at Area 51.”
“So you know where all the bodies are buried then?” Kline said, taking the man’s hand.
“In a sense, yes.” Ishi agreed. “What is it you’d like to know about?”
“Show me the stone,” Kline said, licking his lips.
Ishi looked confused for a moment, glancing warily at his assistants. “I’m sorry sir, I’m unaware of what you’re referring to.”
Kline glanced at Dodd. “Of course, operational security must be observed, but I’m not concerned about leaks at this point. I just wanted to see where the alien bodies are buried and where you keep the stone.”
Ishi chuckled. “I’m afraid someone’s misled you about our purpose here. It’s true the CIA and DoD hasn’t exactly discouraged the rumors about Area 51, but I can assure you, while we are working on cutting edge technology, there are no Independence Day aliens stored here. But, I can show you a version of camouflage one of our subcontractors was able to develop. The DoD even funded a vehicle that could appear and disappear on command, but that project has been mothballed for the moment.”
Kline’s face grew ugly. “I don’t care about camouflage or stealth fighters. I want to see the stone that America took possession of in 1948 after the Roswell crash, and I want to see it now!”
Ishi glanced at the Marine nervously and back at Kline. “Sir, I do wish I could help you with that, hell, what I wouldn’t give to be working on alien technology down here. That would be far more fascinating than the…”
Ishi couldn’t speak any longer as Kline reached out, and grabbed his neck, choking the scientist. “STOP lying to me!” He threw Ishi across the lab, and the Asian man’s body flew into the wall, and down to the ground with a sickening crunch.
Captain Dodd shouted and reached for his weapon, but he was too slow. His head exploded, blood flying everywhere covering the instruments and walls. Dodd’s blood trickled down the LCD screen currently showing a squirrel feeding on a chestnut.
Kline growled and began throwing equipment around the lab. He couldn’t understand why everyone was lying to him. There had to be a stone here, or else why all the security and innuendo? The letter had SAID it would be here. After all this time, and after all it had gotten right, another stone MUST be here.
Kline searched the complex, from top to bottom, but found nothing resembling a new stone for him to take. There was nothing other than random projects for the military. But besides the next generation of stealth drones, to some interesting white papers on nanotechnology, there was nothing that indicated that Area 51 had ever had anything to do with aliens, or alien technology.
He emerged from the complex, furious with himself. Hutton may have been telling the truth after all. His stone of control had told him that Hutton had been hiding something at Area 51, but, there was nothing besides the military’s secrets – secrets that thanks to his connects with the DoD he already had access to.
Kline cursed, and snapped his fingers teleporting to the White House, barging in on Ash and Ms. Lasterman who were still in the middle of their christening of the Lincoln bedroom.
“Get out,” Kline growled.
Caught mid-coitus, Ash looked up in shock as Ms. Lasterman screamed in shock. Kline rolled his eyes and
pointed to the office next door. “Two minutes.”
Ash nodded and got out of bed, hurriedly dressing.
A few moments later, Ash emerged from the bedroom, his face red and hair a mess.
“You’re certainly taking advantage,” Kline observed as Ms. Lasterman emerged behind Kline, and excusing herself from the office.
“What can I do for you, sir?” Ash asked, hurriedly combing his hair back using his fingers.
“I need you to assemble a team of researchers, and scour every classified file the US has for any mention of a stone just like mine.” Kline showed Ash the various stones draped around him. “I don’t care how many people you need or how long it takes. Find me those stones!”
Ash looked at Kline in shock, “Sir, there is quite literally a ton of paperwork written about this kind of subject. That kind of project, even with people working around the clock could take months.”
“Then it sounds as if you better get started now Mr. Ash,” Kline snarled. He was getting impatient with Ash’s ability to resist his stone of control. Ash clutched his head in agony once again, falling to his knees.
“When I ask you to do something, I expect an answer,” Kline told him, looking down at the kneeling Ash. “I don’t want excuses, or reasons why it can’t be done. I just want it done.” Kline reached down and lifted Ash’s jaw and met his eyes. “Do we understand each other now Mr. Ash?”
“Yes sir,” Ash replied through clenched teeth.
“Good,” Kline said, relaxing. Ash breathed out in relief as Kline released him. “Good. It took some time for Mr. Tate to understand me as well, so don’t feel bad. It’s a normal part of the process when you come to work with me.”
Ash stood back up, his legs still shaking from the pain. “I’ll take care of your request right now.”
“See that you do Mr. Ash,” Kline said. “In the meantime, I’m going to look up an old friend.”
And with that, Kline disappeared, the flash of light nearly blinding Ash.
Ash sighed in relief, picking up a phone. It was shaping up to be another long night without sleep. But that would be better than the alternative facing him if he failed to carry out Kline’s orders.