by D F Capps
Chapter 60
“We need a new directional control module,” Theo said as he climbed out from under the control console. “And thirty feet of four aught cable, six crimp-on connectors, and the crimping tool.”
“How big is all this stuff?” Diane asked.
Theo shrugged. “Not that big. The module is the size of a briefcase. The wire will be a little larger rolled up.”
Diane nodded and activated her comm link. “Command, this is Jink, you copy?”
“Go ahead,” Hollis replied.
“Tanks and artillery neutralized, no human casualties, but we need a parts run.”
Theo looked around the interior of the transport saucer. “Well, it’s flightworthy, but one thing has become abundantly clear.”
“What’s that?” Diane asked.
“This thing needs guns on it. Big guns. We can’t allow a Zeta Grey saucer to get that close to us ever again.”
Diane smiled. “Welcome to my world.”
* * *
Colonel Novak sat cross-legged in the middle of the access road to the HAARP facility while his men lay quietly in the thin underbrush along the side of the road with their weapons set to stun. The sixty men from the tanks and the howitzer crews had walked eight miles on the dusty road before encountering him. They stopped and three armed soldiers slowly walked up to him.
“Who are you?” a second lieutenant asked. “And what uniform are you wearing?”
Novak grinned. “You look like you’re lost.”
“Show me some ID,” the second lieutenant ordered.
Novak shook his head. “I’m afraid my ID card isn’t going to do you any good. It’s way above your pay grade. You’re not allowed to see it.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.”
Novak grinned. “Do yourself a favor. Set your weapons down on that side of the road, walk to the other side, and sit down. That way you won’t hurt yourself when you fall down.”
The second lieutenant scanned the forest around him, then returned his gaze to Novak.
“You alone?”
Novak shook his head. “It’s just me. Please, set your weapons down and have a seat on the other side of the road.”
The second lieutenant stepped closer and aimed his rifle at Novak’s head.
“Do I need to make an example of you?” Novak asked.
All sixty men raised their weapons and aimed at the surrounding forest.
“None of you are in danger,” Novak said in a loud voice. “Please set your weapons down!”
The second lieutenant took another step forward.
“Okay,” Novak said, holding up his arms. “Have it your way.” He closed his eyes and placed his index fingers to his temples. “Please do not worry. I am targeting only the lieutenant with the power of my mind. The rest of you are safe.”
One quick flash of light and the second lieutenant fell to the ground.
“He’s okay,” Novak shouted, as he lowered his arms. “I just rendered him unconscious with the power of my mind. He’s fine. He’ll wake up in twenty minutes with a headache. That’s all.”
The rest of the soldiers looked around, clearly spooked.
“I don’t want any of you to get hurt, so please set your weapons down and have a seat on the other side of the road.”
The soldiers looked around.
“It’s up to you,” Novak said. He placed his index fingers to his temples again.
The soldiers rushed to set their weapons down, quickly ran to the other side of the road, and sat.
Several quick flashes of light from Novak’s unit and the men slumped to the ground.
Novak’s men walked out of the underbrush and collected all of the soldiers’ weapons, ammunition, and radios.
“It worked,” Henderson said.
“And it’ll keep working,” Novak said. “I didn’t want them to see our flash guns. When they finally get back to their base and tell all of their officers and friends about encountering flying saucers and a man who rendered them unconscious with the power of his mind, how many of them do you think will be willing to come back here?”
Henderson smiled. “The power of spooky weirdness.”
“Exactly,” Novak replied.
Chapter 61
An honor guard in dress white uniforms stood at attention as the Russian fighter craft entered the landing area and slipped down the wide shaft to an available preflight deck. The American, Russian, and Chinese flags were prominently displayed. Andrews and Hollis stood waiting as Pasternov climbed out of the fighter craft.
“Welcome to Peregrine Base,” Andrews said, shaking Pasternov’s hand.
Pasternov nodded and gestured to a stocky man following him. “This is Admiral Petrov, commanding officer of the Russian Space Command.”
Andrews shook hands with him. “Admiral Hollis,” Andrews said, turning to Hollis. “Commanding officer of the U.S. Space Command.”
“I have received word that Hua Chung Hei and part of the Chinese Space Command is arriving. He’s not under attack at this time. I invited him because I believe the three of us need to work together to come up with a solution.”
Six more fighter craft slipped down the shaft and onto the preflight deck.
Salutes and handshakes were exchanged with President Hua and Admiral Tung of the Chinese Space Command.
With the all too brief welcoming ceremony completed, the leaders proceeded to a conference room.
“I have people loyal to me in the intelligence community who are willing to leak everything we have on the Zeta Greys to the public, including the involvement of certain people in congress, industry, and the military who are cooperating with them,” Andrews said.
“It’s an ambitious plan,” Pasternov said. “If the transfer of information is as controlled here as it is in Russia, nothing may come of it. No one will see any of the documents.”
“The Tau Cetians have come up with a way to do it.”
After Andrews’s explanation, the release of all classified documents regarding the Zeta Greys was ordered by all three ex-presidents. Multiple Internet sites were established by the Tau Cetians with replicating programs attached. Each website would create another six sites before it went live. In six hours the documents would dominate the Internet.
“I understand the risks,” Andrews said. “We have to do something to stop the hubrids now running our governments.”
“Are you certain that the people taking over are these ‘hubrids’?” Hua asked.
“I have proof that is the case here in America. Based on the recent cooperation of Russia and China in the ‘end all war’ campaign, I have to assume they are all hubrids.”
“I’ve read classified documents regarding the hubrids. How could just a few of them manage to take over all of our countries?” Pasternov asked.
“It’s not just a few,” Andrews said. “We believe there are eight hundred thousand of them just in the United States, with about half that number in Russia.” Andrews looked at Hua. “In China you probably have three million hubrids, plus another three million in India. For just those four countries, we’re looking at seven million hubrids.”
Pasternov tipped his head back and looked at the ceiling. “That many? How did this happen?”
“We have a hybrid we captured from deep within the Zeta Grey incubator system. From him we now know the hubrid program has been active for at least seventy years, growing exponentially in size the whole time.”
“Can we identify these hubrids?” Hua asked.
Andrews nodded. “We have developed a quick test for the seven specific DNA markers in the hubrids. It’s a bit complicated, but essentially it works similar to testing for blood sugar. A small sample of blood triggers specific reactions within the test strip. In five seconds, you have your answer.”
“And how many of these testing machines do we have?” Pasternov asked.
“Four,” Andrews replied. “But we’re making more.”
Presi
dent Hua closed his eyes and shook his head.
* * *
Rosaq noted the first website with over three thousand documents detailing the existence and operations of the Zeta Greys. It was a commendable effort from the humans. It just wasn’t going to work. He accessed the Earth Internet and located the website. Ordinarily he would be able to alter or delete the website code in a matter of seconds. Earth humans weren’t that accomplished in protecting their software.
He was surprised at the length of time it took to get access to the code and delete the website. Human computer code was elementary and shouldn’t be that resistant to his efforts. When the website disappeared he found four more sites with the same documents. By the time those four sites were deleted, eighty-six more had appeared.
He examined the code used to create the websites. This was clearly beyond what Earth humans were capable of doing. He had seen computer code like it before: from Tau Ceti. This confirmed his conclusion that the Tau Cetians were working with the humans.
They would pay dearly for the interference. He telepathically connected with the Insectoid who had appointed him as commander and shared the involvement of the Tau Cetians. The Tau Ceti star system would pay the ultimate price for their interference, just as soon as the control of planet Earth was complete.
Rosaq created a program to locate and delete the websites as soon as they appeared, but it was possible that some of the sites would remain up long enough for humans to find them and be exposed to the contents. It wasn’t ideal, but the Tau Ceti code was very resistant to being deleted or modified.
* * *
“Walk with me,” Andrews said to General McHenry. “What’s happening with the rest of the backscatter arrays and the transmitting facilities?”
“That’s the thing,” McHenry said. “What Colonel Novak did in Alaska is spreading rapidly through the military community. He’s a genius at coming up with things like this. That’s why I recruited him first.”
“Bottom line,” Andrews said. “I’ve got a meeting.”
McHenry nodded. “The military is spooked. Every unit is now taking extra precautions and taking more time before approaching any of the other facilities. We’ve bought ourselves some time. Whether it’s enough or not remains to be seen.”
Andrews nodded and entered the main conference room.
“The documents are spreading,” Andrews said. “They’re now available in every country and every language used on the Internet.”
“You’re trying to depose the hubrids?” Hua asked.
“By discrediting them and exposing their agenda, yes,” Andrews replied.
Hua shook his head. “Such a thing could conceivably happen in America, but never in China. The people will not rise up against a leader who is bringing them an end to war.”
“It won’t work in Russia for the same reason,” Pasternov added.
“Do either of you have a better idea?”
After an extended moment of silence, Andrews said, “I didn’t think so.”
Chapter 62
“I’m here representing Mr. Sean Wells,” Heath Philbin said. “Where is he?”
The Sheridan, Wyoming police sergeant looked up at him. “And you are?”
Heath handed his ID over to the sergeant.
“You’re from Seattle,” the sergeant said. He looked back at Heath with a skeptical expression on his face. “Do you have a license to practice in Wyoming?”
“I do, actually. Where is Mr. Wells?”
The sergeant sighed, got up, and led them back to the holding cell.
Heath had a photograph of Sean Wells in his folder. The man in the cell certainly looked like the photo—obviously older—but he expected that. “Mr. Sean Wells, I presume? I’m Heath Philbin.”
Sean smiled, stood, and shook hands with him. “Yes. I assume you need to see some documents and some photos?”
Heath smiled and nodded. “I do.”
“I’m afraid you’ll have to ask them for my stuff,” Sean said.
Heath turned to the sergeant. “Is my client under arrest?”
The sergeant shook his head. “He’s being held as a material witness.”
“I need his personal items, now,” Heath said.
The sergeant didn’t look happy about the request, but he nodded and left. He returned a few minutes later with an evidence bag containing Sean’s personal property. Heath opened the bag, picked up Sean’s camera, and handed it to Sean. “Show me the photos.”
Sean turned it on, thumbed through to the photos from the battle at Peregrine Base, and handed the camera back to Heath.
Heath’s heart began to pound as he examined the photos of disk-shaped saucers and oblong craft that had obviously crashed. He had seen some gruesome photos from crime scenes before when he was doing criminal defense work, but nothing had prepared him for the photos of the dead aliens. He looked at Sean. “This is real?”
Sean nodded. “That and a whole lot more.”
Heath reviewed more of the photos. The dead soldiers in dark grey uniforms that were missing arms, legs, and entire sections of their torsos shocked him to the point of trembling. The expressions of pain and horror on the faces of the soldiers with missing arms and hands left him nauseated and wobbling on his feet. The thigh-high pile of dead aliens with green blood running down their bodies brought a level of anxiety and fear to him that he had never experienced before. His hands were shaking violently as he handed the camera back to Sean. He pulled out his cell phone, turned away, and slowly walked down the aisle. He took several deep breaths to try to calm his nerves as he selected the personal number for the owner of Wilson & Reese Publishing. After a short conversation he returned to the jail cell.
“Mr. Wells, you have yourself a publisher. Now let’s get you out of here. I have a private jet waiting.”
* * *
Eleven and a half minutes after the websites went up, the subject of Zeta Greys hit the social media sites. It was obvious to Charlie that the content was being monitored and edited. Posts would appear and within thirty seconds they would disappear. He grinned. Nothing would spread the word faster than censorship. Twenty minutes later the subject of hybrids started to take off followed shortly by hubrids.
It won’t take long now, Charlie thought. All we need is some national attention. He flipped through the different news channels. He caught a glimpse of something and backed up one channel. It was TV4, out of Washington, D.C.
“This is Jan Abernathy, TV4. The Internet is being flooded with fake stories about aliens and genetic versions that look like people. All of this is just plain nonsense. We have been assured by President Abbott that none of the information is true. Please, everyone, just calm down. There is no such thing as aliens or genetically modified people. It’s all fake news. It’s a hoax. There’s no truth to it at all.”
Charlie slapped his hands together. “Yes!” It couldn’t get any better than this.
* * *
“We need to talk,” Peggy Sue said.
Charlie smiled at her. “The crashed saucer in your back yard?”
She nodded. “I don’t want to have to explain why it’s there. It’s just too personal, too—”
“Embarrassing?” Charlie interrupted.
“Yeah,” she said slowly. “I can’t go back there. I just can’t.”
Charlie tipped his head to the side slightly. “You need a new job. Something out of the public awareness, something that uses the unique talents and experiences that you have.”
She looked back at him and smiled. “I can see why Mr. Wells trusts you so much.”
Charlie smiled again. “I have an idea. Walk with me?”
He led her through several halls and up the elevator to another floor. Two large men stood next to an open doorway. Charlie stopped and contacted Andrews telepathically.
“It’s all right,” Andrews said. “Bring them in.”
Peggy Sue followed Charlie, but stopped in the doorway.
Andre
ws waved her in. “It’s okay. Charlie explained your background and situation to me. I’m forming a presidential panel to evaluate and deal with the hubrids in America. I think you would be a good fit as a member of that panel. I could certainly use your experience and insights into the hubrids.”
“You’re offering me a job?” she asked.
“Only if you want it,” Andrews replied.
She looked overwhelmed.
“I can give you some time to think it over,” Andrews said.
“No,” she said. “I mean I don’t need time to think it over. I want to be a part of dealing with the hubrids. I’ve been through so much with them. It would be nice to have the tables turned for a change.”
Andrews smiled. “Doug Franks is my chief of staff. Get with him and we’ll put you to work.”
Thank you,” she said. “Thank you so much.”
Andrews nodded as Charlie led her back into the hallway.
“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Charlie said.
Peggy Sue grinned and nodded. “Mr. Wells was right to trust you. I do too.”
* * *
Doran met with Andrews, Pasternov, and Hua in the small conference room. “We’ve been monitoring the websites, and in particular the social media sites, regarding the Zeta Grey subject matter. Even with the suppression and censoring, word has continued to spread.”
Andrews shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. The major news stations around the world have all declared the subject a hoax. Because of the telepathic influence of the hubrids all over the world, no one is rising up in protest against the hubrid controlled governments. We’ve lost. There is nothing more we can do.”
Doran smiled. “While it may be true that there is little more you can do, there is now something we can do.”
“Like what?” Andrews asked.
Doran watched the expressions on their faces. They were skeptical, but interested.
“We have been prohibited from officially introducing ourselves to your civilization due to a lack of conscious acceptance and knowledge of extraterrestrial life. As of ten minutes ago, that condition no longer applies.”