She backed away and Jared shoved her through the door to the storeroom. He stepped next to her and slapped the side of the doorframe. A faint click and the opening was gone, replaced by what looked to be solid metal.
“Holy shit, what just happened?” Dani touched the cool metal surface. She turned around, not sure where to go or what to do. The shelves were lined with bottles of liquor and bags of pretzels and peanuts. A small fan in the corner stirred the humid air.
“What happened to the door? Did you see the legs on those guys? They have no feet, Jared. And those knees? And you shot them.” She struggled to make sense of it all.
Jared faced the far wall, hands flat on the wood paneling. He worked his hands up, then back down again along the surface.
Dani frowned. “Jared?”
He continued his strange behavior.
“What”—Dani took a few steps forward—“are you doing?”
“Sorry Dani, no time to explain. Those two are gonna be pissed. We need to get to the villa. I don’t think they can get in here, but I’m not hanging around to find out.”
“Pissed? Dude, they’re gonna be dead.” She rubbed her face. “We should call 911. Except, wait. You shot them for no reason. Oh, this is so not good. Those have to be some kind of prosthetic legs. Why’d you shoot them Jared?” She kept replaying the scene over and over in her head. Images flashed back and forth from the way the guys were shaped to the fact Jared shot them. Oh my God. They bleed blue goo. Nothing made sense.
“They’re fine, Dani, trust me. This is a normal gun. Won’t do much but slow ’em down and piss ’em off.”
“A normal gun? As opposed to what? An abnormal gun? Do you know those guys?” Dani grabbed fists full of hair and pulled. The pain helped to clear her head.
“Not personally. But I know their kind. Not very bright but wicked strong.”
“Their kind?”
Jared moved faster and cussed like a sailor as he slapped the wall harder. An opening appeared so fast he almost fell into the void. “Gotcha,” he said, and turned back to her.
“Oh, this just keeps getting better and better. Why don’t I have my camera?” She inched closer to the opening, craning her neck to get a better view.
Dim, gray walls, about twenty feet across with a fourteen-foot ceiling. She took another step and peered around the corner. Light from the storeroom showed a large, slightly oval tunnel leading off to the right. Jared stepped in and Dani caught his sigh of relief as a row of lights came on overhead. More rows switched on farther along the tunnel, one after another, until they curved up and out of sight.
“What is this? The Bat Cave?”
Jared motioned for her to follow.
She looked over her shoulder at the metal door. “So...long creepy tunnel or two creepy whatever they are back in the bar. Any other options?”
“Not unless you know how to summon an EP,” Jared replied. He nodded toward the tunnel while fiddling with his phone.
She was about to ask what an EP was when a muffled bang from the door made her jump.
The adage “Better the devil you know, than the one you don’t” didn’t give her any warm fuzzies. Jared waited for her. He may not be who she thought he was, but he had to be better than the two in the bar. She motioned toward the opening. “You sure this thing isn’t going to close on me? Slice me in half?”
“No, but it might leave you behind if you don’t get moving.”
Dani scowled at him. “Excuse me, what happened to nice Jared?” She held her breath and stepped into the tunnel.
“He’s busy keeping us alive.” Jared slapped the side of the opening a few times before finding the right spot. She winced a little when the door flashed closed.
“You think those guys were going to kill us? Why?” The air smelled fresh and slightly metallic, not dank and stale like she’d expected.
Jared continued tapping the screen on his cell phone. “Because it’s what they do.”
“Don’t think you’re going to get much of a signal in here.”
“Signals fine, he’s just not answering.”
“He?” Dani scanned the empty space they stood in.
“Ian.”
“Ian Cavacent?”
“Yes Dani, Ian.”
Jared tried the number again. “Shit. Right, well either something is wrong at the villa or he’s gone”—Jared glanced at her—“out.”
“Out?”
“Yes, out.” He pocketed the phone, crossed the tunnel and started slapping the far wall.
She knew the routine by now.
“Can I help?”
“No. Won’t open for you.”
“Seriously? Another secret door? Where’s this one go to? Oz?”
“Nowhere, it’s what’s inside I’m after.”
“You ever heard of ‘X marks the spot’? Given the trouble you had getting into this place, I think an X would come in real handy.” Dani wondered if now would be a good time to panic, when, once again, a door flashed into existence and a room appeared. Not a room, a garage. She really should have been more surprised. Maybe she’d used up all her shock for the day. A rectangular shape glided out of the space. Like a pontoon boat without the pontoons, it stopped a few feet in front of her. A larger vehicle remained parked inside. She backed up a few steps. Disbelief trickled down her spine as she inspected the hovering vehicle. No wheels and no noise. Not really a car—no roof, only inward facing seats around the edges.
She raised her right hand. The swelling was gone. She twisted her wrist back and forth. No pain. Maybe the Chinese voodoo Ian did to me is causing me to hallucinate. I’m probably still floating in the frickin’ pool right now.
“Hover craft, I presume?” she asked, deciding the science fiction theme worked as good as any.
“They call them cruisers.”
“Of course they do. Who’s they? And why is this tunnel connected to your bar?” Her voice echoed around them.
“Hold on a sec,” Jared replied. He placed his hand on the wall again and found the spot on the third try. The door to the garage disappeared.
Dani’s gaze followed the lights into the distance and up to who knew where. She turned back to the cruiser.
Jared hurried around the vehicle and held a door open for her.
“Thanks, but, after you.”
He hopped inside and took a seat. The craft barely moved. She stepped forward, put her hands on either side of the opening and jumped in, landing as hard as possible. Her flip-flops slapped against the metal surface. Still, virtually no motion registered in the cruiser. She grabbed hold of the rail and flung her weight from side to side. Although it didn’t feel as if they were sitting on the ground, it was more stable than free floating.
Jared laughed. “I did that the first time I got in too. ’Course, that was after I tried to push it into the wall. Amazing, huh?”
“How does this work?” Dani sat next to Jared. As soon as her bum hit the cushion, they shot off down the tunnel. She let out a short squeal and grabbed the seat cushions. Her pulse shot up a notch. “Are you steering? Where are the seat belts?” she managed to croak out.
“Autopilot. Don’t worry, it’s perfectly safe.”
“You do realize those are some seriously famous last words, don’t you? Hindenburg? Titanic? Ring a bell?” She forced a smile, hoped it looked better than it felt, and tried to relax. So not happening. She decided to settle for breathing and watched the walls fly past. They were smooth, like someone had melted out the core, which, as far as she knew, wasn’t possible. Then again, floating cars weren’t possible either. Her swimsuit cover billowed up from the breeze so she let go of the seat long enough to tuck the gauzy fabric between her legs. “You mentioned summoning something.”
Jared hesitated a moment. “Guess the cat’s out of the bag now. Be kind of hard to explain this vehicle. Not to mention the gents at the bar. We need an EP. Stands for Earth Protector.”
“Earth Protector? You’re kidding right?”
“No. Pretty much what it sounds like. Cliche as it may be, we are not alone in the universe.”
Dani held Jared’s gaze. She’d heard what he said, but couldn’t process the words. They sat on her brain like little beings, patiently waiting to be let in. Knock, knock. Dani let out a nervous laugh. Maybe if I ignore them, they’ll go away. Jared didn’t blink. Or maybe not.
“So you’re not an EP?”
“Nah, I’m human, just like you. I’m what they call a Support Agent, or SA for short. I do what I can for Ian and the other EPs, but I’m based with Ian.”
“So you’re a spy.”
“Support agent, not secret agent,” Jared said. “Although, we are a secret.”
“You’re a spy for aliens.”
“Stop it. It’s not like that.”
“Wow,” Dani said, letting it go. “Ian is an alien? As in E.T.?” Dani’s fingers ached from gripping the seat cushion. She forced herself to let go. She remembered his smoky green eyes and the touch of his fingers on her shoulders and neck. Something similar to, but oh so different than fear, shot through her. What did you do to me? “And here I was, ready to buy into the whole Chinese pressure points voodoo crap. Not so much, huh?”
Jared shook his head, grinning. “Not so much. Though, I’m surprised how far he went with you.”
“How did you know––” She broke off when she realized he was talking about her healed wounds. “Pretty amazing stuff.” To say the least.
“He was only supposed to help with the pain. Not sure what’s up.”
The cruiser had none of the usual sensations when riding in a vehicle. No hum of the engine or vibrations from the contact between ground and car, and yet the tunnel sped by uncomfortably fast. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, the only clue they were moving was the breeze causing her hair to swirl around her face. She reached up and wiped some strands out of her mouth. Jared sat so nonchalantly wiping his nose, he might as well have been on his couch at home, watching TV. She changed the rhythm her fingers tapped out and thought about all the science fiction movies she’d watched.
“Okay, so, Ian—does he look like he looks?”
“What?”
“You know, is he really some ten-armed slimy thing wearing a fake skin?”
Jared laughed. “I’m pretty sure what you see is what you get with these guys.”
“How many are there?”
“If you mean EPs, there’s four. Just got a new one in fact. Haven’t met her yet myself.”
“Got a new one, huh? What did he do? Pick her up at an alien yard sale?”
“Ha, ha,” Jared said.
Dani jumped as the cruiser made a slight course adjustment. “So what do you do?”
“Anything I can. Help them blend in and provide human cover when necessary. And always keep my eyes open. Did you get a good look at those boys back at the bar?”
“Yeah. The funky legs and blue blood?” She flashed back to the bar. “And their arms too, now that I think about it. Who are those guys?”
“They’re aliens. Not nice aliens, either.”
“Clearly not related to Ian. I mean, he’s hot, even by Vanity Fair standards.”
Jared looked up from his phone and grinned. “The boys in the bar are Torogs. They aren’t supposed to be here.”
“What do they want?”
“Generally, they come for two reasons. First, there’s a mineral they want here called carnium. They use it in FTL ships—”
“Whoa, wait.” Dani lifted her hand. “FTL? As in ‘Faster Than Light?’”
“That’s the one.” Jared said. “How else do you think they’d get here? The other reason is for sport.”
“What kind of sport? Basketball?” Dani pretended to make a hoop shot.
Jared shook his head. “Very funny. More like hunting.”
Dani bit the side of her lip before saying, “I get the feeling they don’t hunt animals.”
“Depends. Do you consider humans to be animals?”
“Some.”
“Yeah.” Jared chuckled. “Fortunately for us, the Cavacents like our people as well as our planet. The Sandarians are happy to let them keep the peace as long as they can mine the FTL mineral. Overall it’s a good thing for us because…War of the Worlds? It could happen. I don’t know all the details but I get the impression we humans would be in a heap of trouble without the Cavacents around. Apparently some distant relative of Ian’s was awarded Earth Protectorate for some great deed in the empire’s military.”
“And now we have an empire.” Dani’s head started to spin.
“An empire, a Galactic Trade Organization they call the GTO, and some kind of council. Gets complicated. I’m still sorting it out. What I do know is things aren’t going well.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean the empire isn’t a peaceful place right now.”
Dani rubbed her temples then fingered the scar below her eye. There was barely a trace of the gash she’d had less than an hour ago. She looked at Jared, then at the tunnel flying by. I must be hallucinating. It’s the only answer.
“It’s all real,” Jared said as though reading her mind.
“Why are you answering all my questions? Isn’t this top secret or something?”
Jared took his time to reply. “There are a number of humans who know about the EPs and Sandaria. I trust you.”
“What if Ian doesn’t?”
“Then you’ll forget everything I’ve said.” He went back to inspecting his phone.
“Just like in the movies, huh?”
“Just like in the movies.”
A loud boom echoed down the tunnel from the direction of the bar. They exchanged a glance and Jared punched a few numbers into his phone. “We’re okay for now.”
Dani leaned over to see his screen. It showed a live cam feed from the back room of the bar. The alien dudes just blew something up. As the smoke cleared, she got a good view of them.
“Those guys are seriously freaky.” She couldn’t turn away. Like driving by a car crash, she had to watch. The way their arms and legs moved was totally wrong. The bottom part of their legs could move in any direction. The squishy bit at the end reminded her of a camel’s foot. “That is so unbelievably bizarre, Jared. It doesn’t look like they should be able to stand.”
She leaned closer. “Their arms have the same weird joint, don’t they?”
“Yeah, not quite the same range of motion though. And they only have three fingers and an opposing digit.”
Dani shook her head. “You shot them and they seem fine now.”
“They regenerate fast. You basically have to take out the brains to kill them, but you need more power than an Earth gun.”
Dani burst into nervous laughter. “Ha! They’re zombie creepoids. Zomboids! Unbelievable.”
“Kinda interesting when you think about it. Makes ya wonder how many of our legends and horror stories are based on actual events. These critters and others have been visiting Earth for hundreds of years.”
“Makes sense,” Dani said.
The zomboids were staying put for now but they’d done a number on the room. Shattered bottles and shredded bags of pretzels littered the small space.
“Trust me, you don’t want to get anywhere near those boys. They’re slow at first. Their reflexes aren’t great from a stand still but once they get moving, watch out.”
Dani resisted the urge to pull her hair again. She’d end up bald at this rate.
Jared leaned forward and put a hand on her shoulder. “Your reality changed today. Going to take time for all this to sink in.”
“That’s for sure. It’s exciting, though. I feel like a kid being told there really is a Santa Claus.” Dani sat back and closed her eyes. I hope you’re looking down on this from somewhere, Dad. You were right. Aliens are real. They ascended an incline but the cruiser stay
ed level. She turned, looked over the back, and gasped. This was no small rise. “So where is our great Earth Protector? Don’t see much protecting going on. Aside from you, of course. Thank you very much by the way.” She gave him a heartfelt grin.
“I wish I knew where he was, and you’re welcome.” They both winced as another boom echoed around them. Jared glanced at his phone and frowned. “We’re still good but I’m starting to wonder how long that’s going to last.”
“How can you tell?”
Jared’s display showed thick, gray smoke. “The door has sensors. If it’s breached, an alarm will go off here.” He nodded at his device.
“Nice.”
“Time to call in some reinforcements.” Jared tapped his screen a few times. Although now she paid attention, it wasn’t your average smart phone. Whoever was on the other end, picked up almost immediately.
“We’ve got company on the island,” Jared said. “They’re trying to enter the tunnel from the bar.” Jared listened for a moment before nodding his head. “That’s right. We’re almost at the door to the compound and Ian is MIA.”
There was a pause while the person, or alien, on the other end talked.
“Okay. Thanks.” Jared hung up. “Help will be at the villa in a few minutes.”
“Good thing they’re close by. How many live on the Cat?”
“Only Ian. That was Marco. His base is in New Zealand. He just needs to get dressed before heading over.”
“New Zealand?”
Jared nodded, watching her.
She held his gaze, nodded back, and decided to say nothing. Clearly, she had a lot to learn. The craft slowed and the ground leveled off. Ahead, stood a circular door that was shaped like a bank vault. In the center was a smaller, human-sized entrance.
“Does this lead to Ian’s backyard or something?” Dani asked.
“Nope, right into the central hallway. Kind of a foyer without a front door.”
“He built his villa into the hillside?”
“They’re kinda big on tunnels. Makes sense for them. It’s a good way to get around the planet and they use them for mining the carnium stuff I told you about.”
The cruiser glided to a stop not more than five feet from the door.
Alien Attachments Page 3