Abductors Conspiracy

by Frakes, Jonathan

  The general indicated they'd all go in together. He held up one finger, then two, then three as he jumped and went into the mouth of the cave at the best run he could manage over the rocks.

  McCallum and Henry were both right beside him, picking their way like football players over and around the rocks while watching ahead. McCallum did his best to stay against the wall.

  They were just inside the blackness of the cave when the first shot cut through the air, a white light that hit a rock at McCallum's left and blew it apart as if a blasting cap had been placed inside it.

  Pebbles stung his arm like a shotgun blast and he dove and rolled behind a nearby boulder. With only a slight stop he came up firing in the direction the light blast had come from.

  Both Henry and the general were also firing, the mouth of the cave echoing with the sounds of three M-16s blasting and bullets ricocheting off rock inside.

  McCallum stopped and made himself take a deep breath while his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the cave interior. He could tell the room was huge, with a high ceiling. The floor was mostly level, with a few scattered boulders that had obviously just fallen from the ceiling in the last battle. The shot had come from somewhere near the back of the cave.

  Another white light from the same area blew apart a rock behind Henry.

  McCallum couldn't see the target, but he had a good idea where it was now. He might be able to see it if he was farther down the left side of the cave in the rocks scattered there.

  Henry had rolled to cover his head and the general was laying down return fire.

  "Henry!" McCallum shouted.

  Henry got up on one knee behind the boulder and gave a thumbs-up sign that he was all right.

  McCallum pointed to himself and then down the left side of the cave.

  Henry nodded. "Cover McCallum, General," Henry shouted.

  Both of them at the same time sent bursts of fire into the area of the white light as McCallum jumped over a few rocks and ducked behind a large boulder on the left side of the cave. No alien shot at him, but one ricochet pinged against a rock right near his head.

  After a long few seconds of sprinting, he was now ten paces farther inside, away from the mouth of the cave.

  Now his eyes were adjusting to the blackness.

  He could see two Klar tucked against the back wall of the cave, both with white stick-like things grasped in their hands. One of the Klar looked injured, and considering their cover and how many bullets were bouncing around them, it was amazing they were still alive.

  McCallum's first instinct as a former cop was to shout "Surrender!" But he had no idea if they'd hear him and he didn't want to give away his position.

  He dropped to the dirt and placed his M-16 on a small rock to steady the barrel. "This is war," he said softly to himself. These monsters had planned to blow up every human city on the planet. He owed them nothing.

  One of the Klar rose up to aim his white stick in the direction of General Hoffman and Henry.

  "This is for Albert Hancer, wherever he is," McCallum said, and pulled the trigger.

  The stream of bullets cut through the Klar and spun the monster around, smashing him down into a rock.

  The other one tried to get his white stick up in McCallum's direction, but McCallum covered him with a burst, sending him tumbling back on top of his buddy.

  "Got them," McCallum shouted and both the general and Henry stopped firing.

  Suddenly a white flash filled the cave, followed by a small thump.

  Where the two Klar bodies had been was now a mass of smoking, steaming liquid. Like the thing-on-the-bed and their ship, they had simply disintegrated, leaving no real proof that they had existed.

  Chapter Forty-Five

  No man is dead till he's dead.

  —-FRANCES SEEDING

  FROM THE TWELVE DISGUISES

  4:45 p.m. JUNE 26.

  SHEEPEATER CAVES,

  EASTERN OREGON

  Tina Harris came back to consciousness with the sound of firecrackers going off in the distance. For a short moment she thought she was back home over a hot Fourth of July. And she was missing all the fun.

  Strings of firecrackers. What fun.

  She so wanted to join the fun. She loved the Fourth and all the family things that went on.

  Then she moved.

  The pain from her broken arm shot through her dream and brought her upright. She could hardly breathe, the air was so thick and hot. The hole in the roof was five times its size before, and she could see smoke floating in the sky beyond the cave. And somewhere out there she could hear the sound of a motor.

  Something had happened.

  She eased over and tried to wake Cobb. He was still alive, but she didn't know for how long. He only groaned when she touched him.

  She glanced around, holding her arm tight against her body. There was no one else in the room moving. Two human bodies lay blackened and smoking directly under the hole. A week ago the sight would have gagged her, but she had seen so much death now that it didn't. And somewhere in the back of her mind that fact bothered her.

  A long burst of firecrackers in the distance.

  Then silence.

  Complete silence.

  Those hadn't been firecrackers. Those had been gunshots.

  She used her good arm to push herself to her feet and then stood in the intense heat, waiting for her head to stop spinning. After a moment it did.

  She used the rocks in the room as things to lean on as she picked her way toward the door, moving around bodies. Every step jarred her broken arm, sending waves of pain up her shoulder and into her neck. She doubted if she could get back across the small cave to Cobb. But if there was help coming out there, someone had to let them know there were people in here. And she was the only one still moving, from what she could tell.

  She reached the metal barrier, the door the aliens had constructed in the mouth of the cave. It looked as if it was crafted out of parts of a rusted old car.

  She tried hitting it with her fist, but the blow sent shock waves of pain through her, making her lose her breath. And the sound she made wouldn't attract anything.

  She stepped back, picked up a small rock and moved to the metal barrier, where she sat down on the ground. Then, slowly, she began tapping the rock on the metal.

  Slowly and as consistently as she could.

  Tap. Tap. Tap.

  On and on.

  The sound seemed to echo in the small room. And from somewhere there was a moan.

  But otherwise she was alone, tapping the rock on the metal, giving her last strength to a hope of rescue.

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Test an absurdity and you may stumble on a truth.

  ——ROY C. VICKERS

  FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF DEAD ENDS

  :52 p.m. JUNE 26.

  SHEEPEATER CAVES,

  EASTERN OREGON

  The large cave seemed to deaden every sound as McCallum, Henry, Neda Foster, and General Hoffman scoured it for any sign of aliens. It took only a few minutes for them to call the cave secure.

  Outside, the two helicopters standing guard landed and shut down. This fight was over.

  But McCallum knew the war had just begun.

  The aliens had left only two of their crew, most likely because they didn't have time to get back aboard. And now those two were nothing more than a puddle of stinking acid, slowly soaking into the ground.

  McCallum sat on a rock near the remains of the two Klar, doing his best to catch his breath. His M-16 leaned against his leg, giving him a sense of security in the half-light. Even with the darker insides of the cave, the temperature had to be well over a hundred degrees. Henry stood near him, staring at the puddle of acid, his rifle slung over his shoulder. It was as if neither of them wanted to be far from their weapons.

  Neda Foster and the general had gone back to the helicopter to report to the president. General Hoffman said he was going to bring in a crew and secure the area,
calling it a crash site. Red Bluff One had crashed on a training exercise and he was going to make sure all his men had the same story down pat.

  Another government cover-up, and this time McCallum was square in the middle of it. Amazing the positions a man minding his own business finds himself in.

  "I'm going to stand under a cold shower for an hour when we get back," Henry said. "Just to see if I can remember what being cold feels like."

  "Sounds wonderful," McCallum agreed. "But I think I'll start with a full pitcher of iced tea." Sweat was pouring off him and he was starting to get a little dizzy. He knew that both he and Henry needed water soon.

  "Yeah," Henry said. "And after that a—"

  Henry suddenly stopped talking and McCallum sprang to his feet, gun in hand, as a faint tapping echoed through the cave. They both strained to listen. McCallum couldn't tell where it was coming from, but it sounded weak and distant. But it was clearly from inside the cave, even though he thought they had checked every part of the place.

  "What is that?" Henry said.

  "Maybe," McCallum said, "we have some abductees in here somewhere."

  "Shit!" Henry said. "You may be right. I'll yell for some flashlights." At a fast run he started back toward the mouth of the cave.

  "Have them bring water and medical supplies, too," McCallum shouted after him.

  Henry raised his arm to show that he heard without breaking stride.

  McCallum moved slowly toward the back of the large chamber, trying to follow the tapping. Near the back were a few small indents in the rock wall, but all of them were dead ends. Or at least he thought they were. He checked each one as best as he could without light, finding nothing. But the tapping continued, faintly.

  He didn't seem to be getting any closer.

  "Keep it up," he said softly. "We'll find you."

  Henry, Neda, and the general came scrambling at full clip into the mouth of the cave, switching on flashlight beams as they came. The lights added some depth to the cave, but not much.

  And they reminded McCallum of the Klar weapon, but not enough to want the lights turned off.

  "Any luck?" Henry shouted halfway across the floor.

  "Nothing," McCallum said. "But I have an idea. Everyone spread out to different parts of the cave and stand still. Then point in the direction you think the sound is coming from. We'll see if we can get some triangulation on this."

  The three scattered, taking up positions around the large cavern. Then they stopped and listened.

  McCallum thought the tapping came from the back of the cave to the right, but there wasn't anything back there that he could see except stone wall. He still pointed in that direction.

  Henry pointed near where the aliens had died, also to the right.

  Neda and the general did the same.

  "Okay," McCallum said, heading for the back right wall. With flashlights it only took him a moment to see where the tapping was coming from. There used to be a small corridor leading off the big room, but rocks had come down, probably during the attack, and blocked it. The tapping was coming from behind those rocks.

  "Hello!" McCallum shouted at the rock slide. "Anyone there?"

  The tapping stopped and McCallum could hear a faint, "Yes. We're here."

  "Help is on the way," McCallum shouted.

  There were two taps and then silence.

  McCallum looked at the pile of rock filling the corridor, then turned to the general. "Sir, we need young, strong help here."

  "You got it," the general said. He turned and at a fast trot headed back toward the mouth of the cave.

  "You got some water?" McCallum asked and Henry tossed him a canteen.

  McCallum took a full drink, savoring the feel of the warm liquid as it washed the dirt and dryness out of his mouth. He tossed it back to Henry. "Both of you do the same thing."

  "Gladly," Henry said, tipping up the canteen, then passing it to Neda.

  McCallum turned and climbed as high as he could on the rock slide filling the narrow corridor. Then slowly he pulled down the first rock and passed it to Henry.

  Five minutes later the young army pilots and gunners took over as Neda, Henry, and McCallum stepped back, sweating.

  Another ten minutes and they had uncovered a metal wall made out of rusted old car bodies.

  Neda studied it from behind where the young guys were working, clearing the last of the rocks. "The Klar are so careful," she said. "They didn't even use their own stuff to build a prison. They did the same in the mine where I was held."

  There was no lock on the door, just a large board to stop the door from opening. McCallum and Henry moved in to open the door, and McCallum swung it open.

  And in front of him was a sight that would give him nightmares for years.

  The smell of burnt human flesh and rotting bodies smashed into him, making him stagger back. Behind him McCallum could hear one of the young army pilots throwing up.

  "Oh, my God," Henry said.

  Thirty naked bodies were scattered around the small cave. Over half of them had clearly been dead for days. All the bodies were covered with dirt and flies.

  This room must have been like an oven every day. And then the Klar ship's explosion must have sent intense heat straight down in here. In the center of the room, directly under a hole, were two bodies charred into blackness.

  Beside the door a thin, dirt-covered naked woman leaned against the wall. She held a clearly broken right arm with her left hand. She was looking up at him, smiling, her white teeth the only thing clean on her.

  Both Henry and McCallum knelt down beside her.

  She smiled at both of them, then said, her voice hoarse, "Dr. Livingston, I presume?"

  "More like Laurel and Hardy," McCallum said after a moment of shock.

  She laughed, then grimaced as the pain from her arm shot through her.

  "You stay still and we'll get you out of here."

  "Oh, heaven help us," the general said, stepping through the door, covering his nose.

  McCallum watched as the general took one slow look around. Then he said, low and angrily, "Those alien bastards."

  "He's got that one right," the woman on the floor said, and Henry laughed.

  The general glanced at the hole in the roof then turned to his men who were standing, mouths open in shock, staring through the door. Quickly he started barking orders. "Two of you go find that hole up there from the outside. Then rig up some sort of pulley so that we can get the wounded through there to be airlifted out."

  The two in the back turned and ran.

  "Ron," General Hoffman continued snapping orders. "I want you to call Gowen Field in Boise and tell General Prior that I'm calling in a favor. I want him to set up a secure medical hospital and be prepared for wounded. Only a few trusted doctors and nurses, no one else. Understand?"

  "Yes, sir," Ron said. "I'll make it clear to him."

  "The rest of you find any medical supplies and water in those choppers you can get and return here. Move!"

  His men responded as though someone was shooting at them. As a unit the rest of them turned and at a full run headed toward the cave mouth.

  McCallum and Henry were still kneeling beside the young woman. "Can you check on the blond guy near the back of the cave?" she asked. "He was hurt bad in that last explosion."

  "I'll do it," Henry said.

  Neda Foster was already working her way into the cave, checking to see who was still alive. As McCallum and the young girl watched, Henry moved the length of the room and knelt over a body against the far wall. After a moment he looked up, smiling. "He's alive."

  "Great," the woman said, seeming to relax back against the stone wall with the news.

  "I'm McCallum," he said. Then he pointed at Neda. "That's Neda Foster from Bellingham, Washington. And the fat guy who checked out your friend is Detective Henry Greer from Portland."

  "Tina," the woman said.

  "Tina Harris?" McCallum asked.


  "You're kidding," Henry said as he again knelt down beside her. "You're Tina Harris?"

  The woman looked up at McCallum. "I see my dad's been looking for me."

  McCallum laughed. "He hired me to find you."

  "Well," Tina said, smiling up at McCallum. "I'm very glad you're a good detective."

  "Not that good," McCallum said. "Just the world's luckiest."

  "Is there a difference?" Tina asked.

  McCallum thought Henry was never going to stop laughing.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Heaven pity the person who tries to tell all the truth.

  ——JOHN DICKSON CARR

  FROM THE CROOKED HINGE

  8:38 P.M. JUNE 26.

  WASHINGTON, D.C.

  Vice President Alan Wallace dropped the folder on the desk of the president, glad to be rid of it. "There were nine survivors, sir. All have been airlifted to a secured hospital ward at Gowen Field Air Base in Boise."

  "Good," the president said, standing and moving around the desk. He indicated that the vice president should sit on the couch, then sat down in a chair across from him. There were a crystal decanter of brandy and two glasses on the coffee table between them.

  John picked up the brandy and began to pour while talking. "What about the crash site?"

  "Secured," Alan said, getting himself as comfortable as he could. "And the chopper crew's families have been notified."

  "What about the dead in the cave?"

  "We're going to take that slow," Alan said. "Most likely we'll have each body turn up near where the person was abducted." That decision had been the hardest for Alan to make, but he didn't mention that to John. At least, eventually, the families would have closure. Better than most of those abducted by the Klar.

  The president nodded sadly. He finished pouring both glasses, and put the brandy down. "Has General Hoffman got his people ready for tomorrow?"

  "He does, sir," Alan said. "They'll be heading for Texas tonight for staging. They'll see if they can surprise the Klar in Mexico tomorrow morning. We've got four more attack helicopters added to his command and he'll brief the crews."

  "And my offer?" the president asked.