Abduction

by Rodman Philbrick

  Luke shook his head. “I didn’t even have to come up with a story for tonight. They’re so worried about Jeff, they don’t have any energy left over for me. He never even came home for dinner tonight.”

  Luke was pretty worried about Jeff himself. But he was even more angry. Teaming up with Quentin and throwing his weight around like a thug was about as low as Jeff could get, Luke figured.

  They hefted their sleeping bags and headed for the power-line junction. The night was dark, clear, and mild. For a while they didn’t speak, lost in their own thoughts and misgivings.

  But as the pylons came in sight, Mandy started to wonder out loud about Cassandra. “Who do you suppose she is, Luke? Do you think she’s crazy? How would she come to know Quentin?”

  “I don’t know,” Luke replied. He couldn’t tell Mandy that he thought the mysterious woman was an abductee who regretted joining the aliens. That would only set her off.

  “I’ve got a theory,” Mandy offered.

  Luke grinned at her. “Now, why am I not surprised?”

  Mandy made a face at him, and continued. “I think she’s a mesmerist. A hypnotist.”

  Luke hadn’t expected that. The background buzz of the power lines made it sound even more strange. “A hypnotist?”

  Mandy’s nervous eyes were fixed on the wires swaying overhead. “Let’s set up first. I can’t concentrate.”

  They stepped off the road, walked past the area where Mandy had put her dad’s video camera, and entered the woods. Once they found enough of a clearing, they spread out their sleeping bags side by side.

  “I can’t see what this is going to accomplish,” Mandy said. “But I think Cassandra was really trying to tell us something helpful.”

  Luke plopped down on his sleeping bag, resting his weight on his elbows. He looked at Mandy. “Hypnotism?” he prompted.

  Mandy sat cross-legged on her sleeping bag. She pulled the scrunchie out of her hair and began to play with it absently. “Remember I told you Quentin has always seemed to have an uncanny ability to know what will hurt someone most?”

  Luke nodded. He recalled Quentin telling their kindergarten teacher Luke was afraid to go to sleep because he still wet the bed and was afraid he would do it in school.

  That had been Luke’s secret fear, known to no one in the world but him. Quentin had done worse things since then, plenty worse, but that was the one that came first to mind.

  “He killed my goldfish,” Mandy continued, “and later my hamster died right after a visit from Quentin. But there was one thing nobody but me knew. My mom had promised I could have a puppy for Christmas if I proved I could take care of the fish and the rodent.

  “He came up to me afterwards and said,”—Mandy pursed up her lips and did a passable imitation of Quentin’s reedy, little-boy voice—“‘Too bad you won’t be getting a puppy. I wanted to see how it would get along with the Hughes’ Rottweiler.’”

  Luke sucked in his breath. “I had a puppy when I was seven. It escaped somehow and got into the Hughes’ yard.” He swallowed, thinking of the bloody, torn rag he had glimpsed before his father pulled him away. “I never wanted another dog after that.”

  “Oh, Luke.”

  They were silent for a few minutes, then Mandy sighed. “Quentin only lives a block from me,” she said. “And closer to the power-line junction. I think he’s been the one most affected by the electrical activity. His psychic power has been boosted.”

  Mandy dropped the scrunchie and turned to face Luke. He couldn’t see her features clearly in the darkness, but he could still feel her intensity.

  “In order to better focus that power, he went to a hypnotist. Cassandra. It’s Quentin who’s been projecting those nightmare visions on both of us.” Mandy’s hands were balled into fists. “Now she’s caught on to what kind of monster he is and she’s trying to stop him.”

  “Okay, Mandy.” Luke sat up and tried to see her eyes. “But what does that have to do with all this?” He indicated the woods, the sleeping bags. “Why should we pretend to sleep but not sleep, keep our eyes closed, all of that?”

  “Because Quentin works best on sleeping subjects,” Mandy said. “If we’re only pretending, we’ll catch him at it. Then we can make all this stop.”

  Luke nodded slowly. He was thinking that last night they hadn’t been asleep. At least not to begin with.

  “If we’re awake when the surge hits, he must project some sleep command,” Mandy explained further, as if she too could read his mind. “So if we’re pretending, he won’t do that.”

  “And that stuff about the ship. ‘Don’t open your eyes until you’re in the ship’? What does that mean?”

  “It’s a metaphor,” Mandy insisted. She flopped down on her sleeping bag and put her arms behind her head. “And don’t ask for what. I don’t know. But I’m sure we’re going to find out.”

  Luke lay down next to her. They both stared up at the stars.

  “Think about it, Luke. Each time we’ve lost more than four hours. If Quentin can harness the electrical surge rather than become overloaded, then he had all that time to mess with our heads. But not this time.”

  Luke thought there were some holes in her logic. But as she said, they would find out soon enough.

  The power lines crackled loudly. They both stiffened.

  “Relax,” Luke whispered. “We’re asleep, remember?”

  They waited, tense, making an effort to look comatose. Luke didn’t see how it could possibly work. His heart was loud in his ears.

  The lines sputtered and crackled and sparked. But nothing happened. After a while Luke felt his eyelids actually growing heavy.

  “Mandy,” he said abruptly, jerking his eyes open.

  “Mmm? Oh! I was almost asleep.”

  “Me, too. We need to keep talking.” Naturally he couldn’t think of a single thing to say.

  “Isn’t the sky beautiful,” Mandy said. “I wish I had brought my telescope. Have you ever looked at the planets through a telescope?”

  Luke had to admit he hadn’t.

  “It’s so great,” Mandy enthused. “Sometimes you can even see the moons around Jupiter.”

  Mandy talked about how she could get lost in the sky through her telescope and he told her he felt the same about sports.

  The power lines sputtered, sending out a shower of sparks. Luke and Mandy both stiffened and shut their eyes. But again, nothing happened.

  They talked and talked for what seemed like hours. Every once in a while, the high-tension wires would make them jump. But it was never anything. Still, Luke thought, it wasn’t a total waste of time. Who would ever have thought it could be so interesting talking to a girl?

  “Nothing’s going to happen tonight,” Mandy said after a while. “We should go.”

  Luke agreed, but they lay there a little longer, watching the sky, being quiet together.

  He was about to get up when the power lines gave off a loud crackle and an angry sputter of sparks. There was a brilliant flash of light. Different from before.

  “This is it!” Luke whispered excitedly. “Close your eyes. Remember to hold your breath.”

  No answer.

  “Mandy!” he hissed urgently.

  She didn’t stir. Mandy was really asleep!

  Panicked, he started to reach over and shake her. But another flash of light froze him.

  He shut his eyes as the sky began to blank out. A cold wind blew across his sleeping bag and snatched at his breath. The air went dead still and the weird electronic hum invaded his body.

  His bones were vibrating. Somehow he forced himself to keep his eyes closed. His breathing was ragged. It took all his willpower to slow his heaving lungs. He felt like he was drowning.

  All at once his body began to lift into the air. Every muscle tensed to fight. Gritting his teeth, he concentrated on going limp, fighting all his human instincts. His heart battered at his rib cage.

  Luke held his breath. Not an instant too soon, he r
ealized, as a light mist fell on his face. He counted the seconds, forcing himself to go slow.

  And then, just when he thought enough time had passed to take a breath, a wad of slime slapped down over his head.

  The cold, gummy substance slicked itself to his face. It flowed over his eyes, nose, mouth. He felt it slide down, molding his arms to his sides, wrapping his legs, congealing around his body.

  It hardened instantly. His body was rigid. He felt like a mummy in a tight coffin.

  Claustrophobic panic seized him. He couldn’t breathe. His mind exploded with terror. Every cell in his body wanted to thrash for freedom.

  Luke fought for calm. He kept repeating in his head, “They must think I’m asleep, they must think I’m asleep.” Though his muscles twitched beneath his skin, he didn’t move.

  And then the sky fell on him. His body felt compressed to a pancake from the force of acceleration. As his stomach squeezed against his backbone, he began to panic again.

  He was hurtling through space and he couldn’t see, couldn’t hear. How much force could a human body take before his bones snapped and his innards ruptured?

  Luke was about to succumb to his mindless panic when his speed slowed.

  His body seemed to drop suddenly. He heard a click and felt a change of pressure. His ears popped.

  His motion stopped abruptly and he heard the noise of machinery.

  He was inside the alien spaceship.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Luke lay perfectly still. He kept his eyes shut, but strained his ears for some sign of what was happening. All he could hear was the hum of machinery. And an odd sucking sound.

  Phwup. Phphwuup!

  Cautiously, Luke opened his eyes. He didn’t expect to be able to see. He was still cocooned in the alien carapace.

  But light shone into his eyes. Too bright. Then a shadow passed over his face and he could focus.

  It took him a second to realize what was happening. A giant disk was descending right over his face. It grew larger, filling his vision.

  It was right on top of him. About to crush his head.

  Without thinking, Luke flinched away.

  His head turned. His body followed. He was rolling.

  Panic gripped Luke like a vise. He braced himself to fall, tensed for the shout of discovery that would come any second.

  But there was no shout. He came to rest in weightlessness. There was nothing under him. Luke twisted to look. His whole body turned.

  The floor was there. Below him. About four feet. There was nothing between it and his floating body.

  Phwup. Phphwuup!

  Luke’s pulse jumped. He jerked to look for the noise and tumbled wildly in midair. The room whirled. What little he could see as he spun filled him with increasing horror.

  The spinning slowed, stopped. Carefully, Luke turned his head toward the sucking noise. He saw himself. Luke. Lying motionless on a gurney.

  A large machine was suctioning the transport carapace off him. Large transparent sheets disappeared into a thick hose. It was the same substance as the piece he had found in the woods.

  Slowly Luke looked down to see the lower half of his floating, conscious self. Arms, legs, torso, all there. But transparent, like a ghost.

  He felt queasy, but no longer panicked. Frightened, maybe, but not terrified. It was a bit like it had been in the vision this morning when he saw himself and then Mandy.

  Mandy. Slowly getting the feel of his non-body, Luke turned, looking for her. She was on another gurney a few feet away. A second machine was sucking the carapace off her. Her eyes were closed.

  There was no one else around. Tentatively, Luke tried a small kick, figuring that floating would be a lot like swimming. Slowly, he moved toward Mandy. Stopping was more of a problem. But he was able pretty much to use the air in here like he would water.

  He floated close to her ear. “Mandy. Can you hear me? Mandy?”

  There was no response. He hadn’t expected any.

  He looked around more closely. He and Mandy were in a room that looked like an operating theater. Unknown equipment surrounded both gurneys. All of it looked clean, polished, and clinical.

  There weren’t any windows. One wall curved outward. The floor was level, the other three walls vertical. The surfaces were a luminous gray, almost silver. Metallic-looking.

  Against one wall was a bank of strange-looking computers, like nothing ever seen on Earth. Their screens were blank.

  There was a noise somewhere outside the room. It was a low, buzzy, chuffing sound. Nothing Luke had ever heard before.

  But it worried him. He had to try and wake Mandy. Maybe they could find their way out of here before the—the—owners came.

  “Mandy. Wake up!” Luke put his mouth right up to her ear. “Mandy,” he called as loud as he dared.

  She was out cold. The chuffing noise was coming closer.

  His pulse ratcheted up to jet speed. He reached out to grab Mandy’s shoulder and shake her. His hand passed right through her.

  He stared in shock at his transparent hand. His mind went momentarily blank.

  Snick! A section of the wall slid smoothly open. Luke froze as three of them came in.

  The creatures from his nightmares.

  They had enormous bulbous heads. Their bodies were slender and sexless under silvery, translucent garments. The skin he could see was skim-milk white, as if these creatures had never been touched by sunlight.

  But it was their eyes that chilled him most of all.

  Almost half their faces were taken up by bulging insectoid eyes. The room’s even lighting was reflected mirrorlike off of them. Luke couldn’t tell which way they were looking.

  But he knew the instant he moved, they would see him. And if they saw him, he had no chance of getting out alive.

  At the moment, they were engaged in some spirited discussion. The buzzy chuffing sound came from small, almost lipless mouths. From the way their heads jerked and the sharp movements of their arms, it looked to Luke like they were disagreeing about something.

  When they moved—quick movements especially—the part of them in motion seemed to disappear briefly. As if they were barely visible in the human spectrum.

  Luke remembered the creature he had chased in the woods. All he’d been able to see of it was a shimmer in the air. What a talent!

  The trio of aliens moved toward Luke’s own motionless body. Luke took the chance to dive under Mandy’s gurney. It wasn’t a good hiding place. They would see him when they came to examine Mandy.

  Meanwhile, he couldn’t see a thing.

  He raised his head to see where they were. He also tried to find a better hiding place. At the exact moment his eyes cleared the gurney, one of the beings turned around. Reflected light flashed off its eyes into Luke’s.

  It had seen him. Luke ducked his head. Three pairs of legs winked in and out of sight as they scissored his way. He was caught.

  He couldn’t fight. Where could he run to? The ship must be full of them.

  The blur of motion was almost on him. Luke looked up. If his hand could pass through Mandy, chances were his body could pass through the ceiling.

  But the prospect terrified him. He knew he had to try to escape, but his mind was full of frantic what-ifs.

  What if he was separated from his body forever? What if he found himself in space and was instantly annihilated?

  They were almost on him. Luke launched himself into the air.

  Light blinded him.

  One of the aliens had looked right at him.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Luke bounced, careening right off the ceiling.

  His heart stopped dead. They had him now.

  He twisted, and aimed for the open door. At least he wouldn’t make it easy for them.

  Diving frantically for the door, Luke miscalculated. His head smacked the side before he could jerk away.

  There was no pain. He was in a long gently curved hallway. Somehow hi
s head had passed through the door frame. But he could not pass through the ceiling even though it all seemed made of the same gray metal.

  There was no time to wonder about it. He fled, kicking like a swimmer. But he could see no way out, no spot to hide.

  The hall was featureless.

  Luke ran his hand along the wall as he went, pressing. He could feel the surface. It was cool and there seemed to be a faint vibration.

  He risked a glance backwards. No aliens yet. Unless they were coming so fast he couldn’t see them.

  Suddenly his arm plunged through the wall. His head and shoulders followed before he could reverse. Panicked, he scrambled to throw himself back into the hall.

  But the room was empty.

  Instantly, excitement gripped him.

  Two high-backed molded seats faced a darkened expanse—a windshield. In front of each seat was a dizzying array of gauges and dials and computer keyboards molded for hands that were not human.

  He was in the pilot’s command module.

  Strange-looking squiggles labeled many of the dials. Naturally none of it meant anything to Luke. Gingerly, he pressed a large black button. His finger passed right through.

  Disappointed, he tried a few more keys, with the same result.

  This was getting him nowhere. But still, he hadn’t been caught. Maybe they didn’t care if his useless ghost wandered the ship.

  Cautiously, Luke stuck his head back into the hallway. It was empty. Either nothing was after him or they had gone past. Slipping back into the hall, he thought he should explore as much of the ship as he could.

  If he ever got out, he could warn someone.

  He floated farther down the passage, running his hand along the wall, pressing lightly. He didn’t want to fall into some room without warning again.

  And then—snick. The wall slid open and an alien stepped out right in front of him. Merely a foot away.

  Luke grabbed the wall, scrambling to turn. It was like trying to make sudden moves underwater.

  The alien turned toward him. Its huge eyes looked directly at him. And then it walked right through him.

  Luke pressed himself against the wall, shuddering. Slowly his rush of adrenaline subsided. It hadn’t seen him. It hadn’t known he was there at all. As far as the aliens were concerned, he was invisible.