by Lakes, Lynde
“Tell me about this perfect guy,” Cortz said with what sounded like a hint of jealousy in his tone.
She kissed the tip of his nose. “Not perfect like you’re perfect. Just perfect for our circumstances.”
“Glad to hear it.” Cortz dumped the bags onto the bed. He gestured at his enerplane and water gear. “Good. You remembered to bring these.”
Within an hour, Darli had borrowed a car and they were on their way to the offices of Harris Inventions Incorporated. “Why do we have to go there? ” she asked. “The police could be waiting.”
“I have to get the remote control retriever for my spaceship. It’s locked in my safe at the plant office.”
“Are you sure it will work?”
“It better. It’s the only option we have.” He glanced at her. “Don’t worry. The remote signal will activate the craft and bring it to us at unstoppable speed. But we need a secluded spot.”
“Chinaman’s Hat Island!”
“Good. It’s deserted and not far from shore. We’ll pick up another enerplane at the plant for you. We can surface skim out to the island and bring the spaceship to us there. It’ll be risky though. Once we activate the craft, all the military resources on the island will be directed at it.”
****
Cortz’s palms were damp as he sped out Highway-1 to the plant. When he parked in front, he leaned over and gave Darli a quick kiss. “For luck,” he said huskily. He hated to leave her in the car, but he could move more quickly alone.
He shifted his weight on eager feet until the elevator came. The moment the door opened, he rushed inside and pushed the thirty-second floor button. The elevator rose at a snail’s pace. Cortz bolted out before the doors were completely open and ran the span of the well-illuminated hallway. The fine hairs on the back of his neck prickled. He glanced around but didn’t see anyone.
In his darkened office, he followed the dim path of his flashlight, not wanting to attract attention by turning on the lights. There was a loud crash out in the hall. He switched off the flashlight, moved quickly to the door. He opened it a crack and looked out. Two men from the cleaning crew had their backs to him as they mopped the floor. The crash must have been their pail hitting a cigarette butt can.
Cortz closed the door softly and returned to the task at hand, eager to get his retriever out of the safe before he was discovered. The lock was cold under his fingers. In less than a second, he had the safe open.
He stuffed the retriever deep into his pocket and grabbed an enerplane for Darli.
Suddenly the florescent lights blinked on. As his eyes adjusted to the brightness, a cold awareness washed over him. The man pointing the gun at his head was an image of himself. “Greg!” Cortz said.
“No wonder everyone was fooled,” the real Greg said, staring at Cortz in amazement. “You look more like I looked before I went away than I do now.”
Cortz saw Greg’s finger tremble on the trigger. He’d been living as this man, even thought he knew him. But the truth was, while he knew many things about him, he didn’t know if Greg was capable of pulling that trigger.
“I just have two questions before I turn you over to the police,” Greg said. “Who the hell are you? And why did you take over my life?” The man’s voice, so like Cortz’s own, choked with bewildered fury.
Cortz owed this man an explanation but there was no time. The police might arrive at any moment, and he couldn’t allow himself to be captured. Gambling that Greg wouldn’t use the gun, he dove for it.
Chapter Sixty-One
“What’s wrong?” Darli asked, as one of the men on the cleaning crew ran up to her car. His face was ashen, his eyes wild.
“Harry and I watched Mr. Harris go into his office. Then there was a shot. Harry is calling security and the police. I saw your car here in the lot and thought you’d want to know.”
“Is Mr. Harris all right?” Her hands were shaking.
“I dunno. I just ran out to get you.”
“Was anyone else in the office?”
“Didn’t see anyone.” The sick look on the man’s face told Darli he feared suicide. But it couldn’t be that. But what?
“Wait, Mrs. Harris!” the man shouted as she ran toward the building.
She entered the double glass doors. Her footsteps sounded hollow on the deserted lobby’s tile floor. She jabbed the elevator button, the door opened, and she rushed inside. Maybe it was a car backfire the cleaning crew had heard. The elevator came to a smooth stop at the top floor. But what if it really was a shot? She charged down the corridor, not stopping until she got to Cortz’s office.
The door was locked. “Cortz, it’s Darli, let me in!”
“Get out of here, Darli, now!”
“No, come on in!”
Both contradictory orders sounded like Cortz. The lock disengaged and she watched the door swing open. She hesitated, but fear for Cortz drew her forward, and clammy with fear she stepped inside. She knew immediately that the man holding a gun on Cortz was Greg. He wore jeans and a black T-shirt, and he had a desperate look in his eyes.
Cortz’s blood seeped through his white dress shirt, ran down his arm, and dripped onto the carpet. Darli wanted to run to Cortz but the threatening look in Greg’s eyes stopped her.
“Are you badly hurt?” she asked.
“It’s only a flesh wound,” Cortz said. “Now get out of here!”
“She stays.” Greg’s voice sounded just like Cortz’s.
“She had no part in this, Greg.”
“No?” Greg asked, cynically.
“Greg, I’m Darli and—”
“I know who you are.” Greg’s tone was bitter. He pointed the gun at her stomach.
“Mona told me all about you. You call yourself Mrs. Greg Harris.” He arched an angry eyebrow. “And play my wife.”
“Don’t point that gun at her,” Cortz growled.
Darli searched Cortz’s eyes. “Don’t do anything foolish. He won’t hurt me. Right, Greg?” Dr. Steina had told her Greg could be dangerous if cornered. She looked at the blood seeping through Cortz’s sleeve then at the hole at the end of the gun’s barrel. Her throat felt dry. “We can explain all this.”
“I’d like to hear that.” He pointed the gun at Cortz again. “This man you call Cortz is reluctant to tell me why he stole my life.”
The darting crazed look in Greg’s eyes verified his mental instability. He’d used the gun once and probably wouldn’t hesitate to use it again.
“Tell him, Cortz.” She kept her voice soft, calming. “He has a right to know.”
“He won’t believe any of it.”
“Try me,” Greg said. He had the gun leveled at Cortz’s heart now.
“I didn’t ask for this.” Cortz’s voice was even. “But when Mona identified me as you, it gave me a way out.”
Greg’s eyes narrowed. “A way out of what? What could make a man steal another man’s life?”
“I had no identity of my own, and you were gone. Maybe dead.”
“And if I were dead that would suit you just fine.”
“I wouldn’t want that,” Cortz said. “And you can have your life back. I’m leaving.”
“Exactly where are you planning to go?”
“Back to the planet Uraticus.”
“To the what?”
“I knew you wouldn’t believe me,” Cortz said. “No one ever does.”
Greg tilted his head, doubt along with curiosity evident in his eyes. Darli felt a surge of hope. Maybe they could use his inventor’s curiosity to their advantage. “Tell him about your spaceship.”
“Would you like to see it?” Cortz asked. The ruby flecks in his eyes brightened.
“Forget it. You’re not going anywhere,” Greg said flatly. “I’m turning you over to the police.”
“If you do that,” Darli said, using her most persuasive tone, “you’ll miss a chance of a lifetime.”
“I just want my life back.”
“You can ha
ve both,” Darli said. “Think of it! Your life back and the chance to inspect a spaceship up close. Maybe Cortz will even let you look inside.”
“Where is this spaceship?” Greg asked. His brown eyes glinted with interest.
“We’ll show you,” Darli said. “Right, Cortz?”
Cortz stared at her a moment. Then he nodded.
“I warn you,” Greg said, “if you try to trick me, I’ll kill you both. Maybe I’d even get a medal for killing an alien and his accomplice.”
“No tricks,” Cortz said.
The walk to the parking lot was long. Darli knew if anyone saw Greg’s weapon and tried to stop him someone would die. The way he pressed the barrel into her ribs, it’d probably be her.
Cortz’s arm had stopped bleeding. She hoped he wouldn’t try any further heroics.
When they got to the car, Greg growled, “You drive, Mr. Alien. And don’t try to tell me you can’t. I saw you drive in here. Me and my lil’ wifey will ride in the back.” He aimed the gun at her head. “Any tricks and she’s dead.”
Cortz blew out a gust of air. “Anything you say, only don’t aim that gun at Darli. It might go off.” His tone was grim.
“Okay, alien,” Greg ordered cynically as they sped toward the highway. “Tell me what brought you to Earth.”
“The government of Uraticus sent me.”
“Go on.” Greg traced Darli’s jawline with the barrel of his gun.
Cortz glanced in the rearview mirror—his neck muscles tightened. “Uraticeans are alarmed by the way Earth is heading for environmental disaster.” Cortz’s voice was hoarse with tension. “If Earth destroys itself, it will affect Uraticus and other nearby planets.”
“And you’re here to save us from ourselves?”
“It isn’t that simple,” Cortz said. “We’ve been watching from a distance for years, but atomic and nuclear leakages and explosions have worsened the situation. We needed to collect readings from within the Earth’s atmosphere to assess the full extent of the danger.”
Greg scoffed. “I suppose you’d like me to believe that you’re some kind of an inter-planetary do-gooder!”
“Not entirely. Like I said, we’re Earth’s closest neighbor. What happens here affects Uraticus as well.”
“And that gave you the right to take over my life?”
Darli felt a surge of courage. She pushed the gun away from her face. “He didn’t do it on purpose. Cortz was mugged and lost his memory. He was so much like you, Mona mistakenly thought he was you.”
Greg didn’t say anything. He seemed to be mulling over what she’d told him.
She looked out the rear window, fearful of what Greg would do if the police came after them.
There was no sign of anyone in pursuit, only a string of passenger cars and a few trucks trailed behind. The forest lined the Pali Highway on both sides, surrounding them with evergreen trees, hanging vines, and ferns. They went through the tunnel, into the valley, and then toward the ocean. The distance to the windward side of Oahu was further than Darli remembered. Will I make it to our destination alive?
Chapter Sixty-Two
Finally, Cortz pulled into a parking area adjacent to the beach. Darli looked out across the short distance of water to the unique, small island formed in the shape of a Chinese coolie hat. It was isolated and quiet except for the whisper of soft-breaking waves and the occasional call of frigate birds. The sky was clear and the blue-green ocean was calm. There wasn’t a person in sight in any direction.
“Where’s the spaceship?” Greg asked, frowning.
“We have to bring it to us. But first, we have to get out to that island.”
“So let’s do it!” Greg ordered.
“Turn around,” Darli said. “I have to change into my swimsuit.”
“Good try,” Greg said. “Just get on with it.”
Cortz and Darli quickly changed into their swimsuits and put their clothes under a bush. Greg stripped to jockey shorts and his double holster, while keeping the gun pointed at Darli. The man was armed like Rambo. The holster had an empty slot for the gun and the other slot held a bowie knife. Rounds of bullets decorated the straps.
Darli watched for the right moment to catch him offguard. But he was too alert.
She exchanged a helpless glance with Cortz.
“You can use this,” Cortz said, showing Greg how to operate the enerplane. “Darli and I will use the other one.”
“No way!” Greg corrected. “Darli and I will go together.” He aimed the gun at Darli’s head. “Any funny stuff and she gets it. Now, get into the water—keep going until your feet don’t touch!”
When Cortz was a distance out, Greg shoved Darli toward the water. “You drive and I’ll be hanging on right here behind you. Like I said, any false moves and it’s over.”
Darli held the enerplane in both hands like Cortz had instructed, walking out into the cool water until the ocean floor was no longer beneath her feet. She touched the blue nuclear power switch and the flat, Frisbee-like disk surged forward. Greg’s one-handed grip on her shoulder bit into her flesh like a vise. Water bubbled over her body in resistance to their speed.
“Cortz!” she called. “What do I do now?”
“Just hold on!” Cortz shouted. “When I signal, push the yellow button. Whatever you do, don’t touch the red button. It will take you down…and it’s not deep enough here for that.”
Maybe if she hit the red button she could shake Greg loose.
“Don’t even think of it,” Greg said, as though reading her thoughts. He held the tip of his knife against her back with his free hand.
“Press the yellow button…now,” Cortz yelled as they approached the island. He grabbed onto a rock that jutted out from a ledge and pulled himself upward. Cortz wiped water from his face, then shook his dark curly hair.
Darli pressed the yellow button and her enerplane coasted ashore. She secured the enerplane. Fighting an urge to hit Greg with it, she hoisted herself out of the water onto a sandy plateau, her dripping hair clung to her body like wet seaweed. Before she could completely get her footing, Greg grabbed her and pressed the knife to her throat.
“Look, Greg,” Cortz said. “We’re cooperating, so ease up on the rough stuff.”
Cortz drew the waterproof spaceship retriever out of the zippered pocket of his swimsuit. His face was intent. He deftly punched in the call code to bring the ship to them. Greg watched his every move with intense eyes, as though absorbing each one.
Darli shuddered. The blade against her throat felt so icy that she wondered if she was already cut and too numb to realize it. She hoped the liquid dribbling down her neck was salt water and not blood. With great effort, she closed her mind to the sharp steel against her skin and prayed Cortz had a plan.
Chapter Sixty-Three
The deranged intensity in Greg’s stare convinced Darli that he was capable of killing her. Escape looked less likely by the minute. Think positive. If—a big if—they managed to get away from him, then what? Easy. She’d exchange one danger for another with no turning back and would be on her way to a planet so foreign she couldn’t begin to imagine what it would be like. But she’d elude Greg’s knife and remain alive with Cortz.
“Greg, Darli, look, there it is!” Cortz pointed. His eyes sparkled with anticipation.
Darli shaded her eyes and squinted, wanting to feel his anticipation and share in his excitement. Instead, she felt only dread and a strong premonition of increasing danger. A shiver slid through her. “I see it.”
“Get ready. We must board quickly.”
The shiny spaceship moved rapidly across the sky, appearing to grow from dime to quarter size. Slicing the air with an effortless grace, the growing orb caught the full refection of the sun, gleaming like a polished silver dollar.
“Quit trembling,” Greg shouted, “or it won’t be my fault if I nick you.”
“I’m not doing it on purpose.”
Palm trees and small bushes along
the beach bent in the harsh wind as the orb hovered over them. The hurricane of air whipped her hair onto her face, her neck, tangling the strands around the icy blade. Then, the craft descended straight down and came to rest on the beach in front of them, silent and foreboding.
“It’s all true!” Greg said with awe in his voice. “You are an alien.” He kept the knife against Darli’s throat.
“Yes,” Cortz said. “And if you let us go, you’ll never see us again.”
“Not so fast. You promised to give me a tour of the inside.”
“There isn’t time. The Navy could be—”
“There is all the time in the world because if you don’t—”
“All right,” Cortz said. “Ladies first.”
“No!” Greg drew his gun. “She stays outside.” He pointed the gun at Cortz’s head. “Get over by that boulder, Darli. And if you care anything about your alien friend, you’ll stay put.”
Darli’s stomach knotted. Once the men were inside Cortz would try to jump Greg. And Greg would be ready for him. His next shot might do more than graze Cortz’s shoulder.
“Cortz, please. Do what he wants.” She looked pleadingly at Greg. “Then you’ll let us go, won’t you?”
Greg shoved Cortz toward the spaceship. “If you both do exactly as I say no one will get hurt.”
****
Cortz climbed into the spaceship, fighting disappointment. Things weren’t going as he planned. He had hoped to get Darli safely inside the spaceship, knock Greg out of the way, board, and leave him behind.
He felt Greg on his heels. If he jumped him now the gun might go off and damage the equipment. He couldn’t chance it.
Perhaps if he showed Greg everything, he would let them go. He had to charm his double, befriend him. But that would take time. The Navy’s tracking devices had probably followed the course of the spaceship, and the trackers would know it had landed and had already pinpointed where. Any second they would swarm the area and close in on the craft. And them.