Yngve, AR - Alien Beach

by Alien Beach (lit)

  "So who will stay here?" he asked them. "It'll get rough. Even if they're principally unarmed, these troops are trained soldiers with no scruples against clubbing down civilians if they are ordered to."

  "I'm old and not very afraid of dying," Lazar calmly declared. "If we are all that stands between the Sirians and their enemies, then I will fight to stay."

  "The same goes for me," answered Takeru. "If we stay here, our governments will be forced to take a stand against King Khadi's threats. To abandon the Sirians now would be a cowardly act and a disgrace to the original agreement."

  "How can the president of the United States be so lacking in principles?" asked Andrea. "Is he willing to sacrifice our relations to an extraterrestrial civilization, to avoid a confrontation with a senile Oriental tyrant?"

  "The President is a lawyer by profession," said Carl; no one laughed. "But I should say in his favor," he added, "that if the Arabs attack Alien Beach the next target could be America. From his point of view, he's just protecting his voters."

  "It doesn't make a difference to our governments if a handful of scientists are in danger!" retorted Stone. "So your brave moral stance serves no purpose!"

  "Then why are you still here?" asked Andrea, more out of curiosity than contempt.

  "I'm scared all right. I'm not as eager to become a martyr for science as Carl here. But I think the amphibians are way, way superior to us. They could stop a missile dead in its tracks. Think of the mothership disk out there! If it can transmit a TV signal powerful enough to show on all stations at once, then it could also focus the same energy into a death-ray, and literally fry any city on earth. If they weren't so damned civilized, I'd be sure they'd win even before the war started."

  Takeru recalled the day when Tmmtenaa's unusual condition had been explained to him, and made a startled face.

  And he said: "I think they will wait before using force. It's in their nature to defend themselves when, not before they are attacked."

  Carl then talked about the Sirian machines on the beach, and their use, and suggested proper action against a military raid. He put all his hopes on the Sirians helping them, or they would fail.

  Ann said nothing.

  DAY 123

  "This appears to be the picture so far: after the assassination attempt, the crown prince and the ruling family have spent the entire day rounding up suspects in the government, the police force and the military. Unconfirmed rumors claim that hundreds of suspect rebels have been executed.

  "King Khadi himself has seized direct control of the armed forces, declared martial law and dissolved the parliament. He has been expected to make a public appearance within the next few hours, if his health allows it - he is old and was lightly injured by debris from the bomb explosion. Ecstatic supporters of the royal family are now marching in the streets of the capital Riyadh, chanting and wielding pictures of the royalties. Any hopes of a successful overthrow seem crushed for now."

  "This just in - the famous astrophysicist Carl Sayers, head of the ECT on Alien Beach, has just made a public announcement to CNN over the Internet.

  "In this video clip, he declares that he and the remaining scientists in his group will stage a protest against King Khadi's war threats by staying on the island until the end of the Sirians' agreed one-year visit. His group will refuse to evacuate under any circumstances. By making themselves into living shields, the scientists hope to encourage their home nations to take a stand against 'the senseless aggression of the rogue leaders'.

  "More on this new development when we come back..."

  Most of the team stayed in their barracks and watched CNN on their TV sets and PCs. Some made phone calls to loved ones; others just waited. Ann finished her dinner - she hadn't uttered a word nor made a call during the entire day - and returned to her barrack.

  The platoon was ordered to stay alert, but avoid the scientists; a forced evacuation of Alien Beach could not occur without the direct order from the U.N. Security Council or the President.

  The soldier felt a stronger pull toward the ocean this evening; when he started to get sleepy, he yearned for the soothing embrace of the warm lagoon. But with the yearning also came the memory of the cult's collective suicide by drowning. It wasn't death he wanted; he had seen more than enough of that. He tried to ignore the invisible pull of the ocean, and wrapped the blanket tighter around him.

  Relaxing was impossible; his head felt swollen when it touched the pillow. When he ran his fingers over the ridge on top of his head, he became certain: it really was growing higher. He started in bed when a crack of thunder rattled the barrack; the next second, the rain was hammering down on the roof.

  The sun set.

  In the cloudy night and faint sea breeze, even the faraway noise of aircraft faded. Only the timeless rumble of the lapping waves seemed to matter.

  Ann couldn't sleep; every inch of her skin felt raw, as if it had been badly sunburned. There were too many things on her mind; she couldn't form a stable thought. She sneaked outside and wandered down to the southern cape, alone. Upon arriving, she tore off her clothes - human clothing was a cloying, smothering annoyance. Ann sat down where the waves could splash her legs, and pulled her knees up to her chin. Time passed, though she hardly perceived it. A human observer would have noticed how vacant her wide-open eyes were, and a restlessness barely held in check. Her body was tense, her skin glistening and flushed; her nipples stood out hard from her breasts.

  She saw him rise, tall and proud, above the waves; first the long pointed head, then the sleek, smooth body and massive torso. He too was naked; perhaps he also wanted to escape the entrapment of human things. The amphibian froze still as he perceived her presence and wavered there, up to his knees in seawater, staring at her. His eyes were open to the point of being inhuman, fishlike. If it was another late-night swim with her he wanted, nothing in his poise or expression indicated so. He spoke; very slowly, down almost to a drone.

  "Aannn."

  She looked him straight in the eyes - not an unskilled feat, given the size of his irises. And Oanss made a face of such naked anguish - like he wanted to cry, if Sirians only could - that a sudden twinge of compassion made Ann stand bolt upright, electrified by his presence. He spoke to her faster, stumbling on his tongue.

  "I haave assked... Anccestorss... too mmake youu - onne of thhem - hhave aasked many tiimes. I assked myy peoplle ssame... leet mme diie, llet me decoommpose to nnothinng... leet Aann becomme Ancesstor iinstead. Thee Aancestorrs arre quieet nnow. My peeople... are aafraid off yyour kinnd. Wwon't lleet you bee touchhed by thhe riight mmachiine. Woon't hellp yyou.

  "I waanted too giive yyou thhe righht knnowledge, too builld the rright mmachine yoursself... buut therre iis veryy mmuch not eenough tiiime!"

  He bared his tubular teeth to the clouds, his wail sounding almost human: "I doo not waant too bee an Aancestoor!! I wwant to reallly diie, llike heer!"

  Like an unsubtle movie cliché, the sky responded with a crack of thunder - and suddenly the rain was pouring down, whipping the sand into foam and smattering on the palm-leaves. The world disappeared behind curtains of dark-gray water.

  NOW: time breaks up into a nonlinear array of fragments in Ann's mind. Memories mix with present time; a unique pattern takes shape, pointing like an arrow, pulling with unstoppable force -

  THEN: Ann, thirteen years old, walking alone on a Sri Lanka beach, while her mother and friends are busy working some project. She sees a dolphin look up from the water - their eyes meet, and it speaks to her in its squeaking, alien language. She is electrified -

  NOW: Ann is rushing up toward a taller, humanoid gray shape - or it is rushing toward her - a hot breath, salt with seawater, gushes onto her face -

  THEN: A rapid moment - together with Arthur and Carl on a movie set, Arthur in a wheelchair. Jokingly, they all express disappointment with the rubbery space-monsters being filmed on the set. They are not children any longer; that is not what they want. That is not what s
he wants -

  NOW: She is being lifted up by an embrace closer, more intimate than humanly feasible; she gasps, ecstatic, wanting to be transformed into something more than she is -

  THEN/NOW: And that does happen -

  NOW: Ann is running, panting, in shock. The night is still, the moon hidden by the silent clouds. She remembers the Bermuda shorts in her grip, and puts them back on, but stumbles on a cable and falls into the sand. Her gaze flickers about - deathly afraid someone has seen or heard her, afraid of hearing her own thoughts, afraid of feeling that joy again...

  NOW: Oanss lies in the waves, water lapping just over his eyes, waking him up from a heavy slumber. He gazes up into the dark, rainy sky. Face tired yet triumphant, defying the sky... then turning blank, then wide-eyed with fear as he sits up and sees he is alone. A trail of water-filled human footprints leads away from him, back to the scientist barracks on the other side of the island. He opens his mouth to call out, but hesitates for too long; his courage seems to vanish.

  He looks up to the clouds again, anxious, waiting for the judgment of the heavens...

  The rain ceases as abruptly as it came, and the clouds begin to swirl into more distinct shapes. The large metal eggs on the beach begin to stir, and at once Oanss understands. He pivots onto his feet and runs toward the scientists' barracks.

  The soldier gave up trying to sleep, and joined the rest of the platoon watching the ongoing TV news. In the middle of the program, the captain burst through the door - the odd thing being, that almost at the same instant the torrential rain ceased.

  "Full alert!" shouted the captain. "A cluster of missiles has been launched from the Arab fleet and will impact this area in less than ten minutes. Two Navy choppers are on their way to evacuate the ECT. Grab everything you need and run for the scientists' quarters - now! Move move move!"

  The Marines scrambled for their unloaded rifles and ran out the door on a single file. The scientists' campsite lay just a few hundred meters to the west; it was a straight run past the palmtrees and over open flat ground. Their boots splashed through the slushy sand and water puddles as they ran.

  The soldier glanced upward once - and glimpsed a sky unlike any he had ever seen. The clouds were so thick they were pitch black - and this was supposed to be a night with a full moon! He couldn't make out the details in the dark, but the overhanging clouds appeared to be pulsating, rapidly enough for the naked eye to perceive the movement.

  There wasn't time to think; before he knew it, the platoon arrived at the campsite, the sergeant barking orders. The soldier barely understood what the man was shouting, but the other Marines began to break open doors and force their way inside. The soldier found himself pounding on the door of a barrack, then forcefully opening its front door - it was unlocked. Inside was an untidy, cramped quarter with a single bed, lit by a strip light in the ceiling.

  He stopped in the doorway, and stared at the figure on the floor - for the briefest instant, he thought he had seen the ghost of Patty. A beautiful woman sat there, naked but for a pair of Bermuda shorts - holding a small electric shaver in her hands. Cut-off blond locks of hair lay strewn around her. The woman looked up at her, gray eyes terrified - she had shaved her head into the horse-like mane of a female amphibian.

  The water on the floor and her moist hair suggested that she had been out in the rain recently.

  Ann looked up at the uniformed soldier with the rifle, who had just burst in through her door. She was still dazed, unable to think, but her gut reaction was fear. Ann couldn't move, nor did she want to. The soldier hesitated long enough for Ann to perceive what this intruder looked like: a Caucasian of indefinable lineage, who seemed to have aged too soon. His crewcut hair was gray and his face wrinkled with worry lines.

  There was a bulge in his upper forehead, and his long nose line seemed to merge almost seamlessly with his brow. His build was strong but a bit thinned, maybe from prolonged malnutrition; he appeared more confused than angry.

  The soldier saw that she would not let herself be moved.

  "Be quiet, wait here," he told her, uncertain of his intentions; he switched off the light and rushed back outside, slamming the door shut after him.

  "This one's clear!" he shouted to the sergeant. Other soldiers came up, dragging two civilians between them - one fat American with a big mustache, and a European woman in her late fifties.

  "Where are Sayers and the rest of them hiding?" shouted the furious, frightened sergeant at the fat American.

  Stone gave him a mean-spirited grin. "What's the matter, Sarge - can't find a date tonight?"

  The sergeant punched his nose in - Stone's baseball-cap fell off and he began to bleed. Andrea fought to pry herself loose, but the troops held her in check. "They're with the Sirians!" she shouted defiantly. "You'll never get them now!"

  The sergeant scrutinized the triumphant face of the fiftyish, frizzle-haired woman for a few seconds. Whatever he had considered doing to her, there wasn't time; the two rescue helicopters were already coming down on the beach, a hundred meters away.

  "Grab these two and run for the choppers! Go! Go! Go!"

  The soldier saw his "comrades" head off for the waiting helicopters, carrying the two captured scientists like limp dead animals. He looked frantically for an escape route.

  "Move your feet, Coffin!" bellowed the sergeant over the rotor noise. "Or I'll have you shot!"

  The soldier ran after the others, closely pursued by the sergeant. The captain stood in the open sliding-door of one helicopter, sweeping the beam of a large flashlight across the beach to spot any movements. The beam was reflected by the alien artifacts scattered across the beach. The large metal eggs were stirring, spouting up sand and dirt - digging themselves down into the ground like robotic ants.

  There was no trace of the missing scientists - the rain had washed away all but the most recent footprints. The soldier stepped up into the open cabin of the other chopper and grabbed a holding strap. He was standing next to the female civilian, who sat surly and quiet in the crowd of Marines.

  The captain gave the signal with his flashlight; without shutting the big sliding doors, the choppers took off from the beach. As the helicopters picked up speed, the soldier saw his last chance.

  He took his flashlight, aimed the beam outside, and yelled: "Wait! There's someone in the water down there! They're trying to swim out to sea!"

  The soldier pushed himself free of the others, jumped out the opening and braced himself. It was a ten-meter fall, his velocity at least forty kilometers per hour - the dark waters hit him with a blow. He plunged down feet-first - the boots were too heavy - he had to pull them off to avoid drowning. Holding the boots in his hands, the soldier swam until his feet touched bottom. He put the wet boots back on, and used the flashlight to make his way across the dark island.

  He was getting tired and out of breath now but ran on, lungs aching, past the sand-heaps where the metal eggs had dug themselves down. The eggs he somehow understood were mobile shelters, and the missing scientists had taken refuge inside them.

  Where had that Frenchwoman with the alien haircut gone?

  Inside one of the metal eggs, Carl and Lazar were sitting with their backs up against the black, padded material of its inner wall. A soft white light from the round ceiling lit up the cramped space; they could barely sit down without touching each other's feet. Carl was hyperventilating, and his heart beat much too fast.

  "I hate closed spaces," he said tensely. "Always did."

  "How far down are we?" asked Lazar. "I assume this thing knows how to get up to the surface again."

  "I couldn't find Ann. Damn! Damn! " Carl thought of his family, and tried using his cellular phone - but the signal couldn't get through. The walls around them trembled slightly, and the whole egg shifted. They were both quite afraid; perhaps also their shelter was?

  The soldier ran inside the Frenchwoman's barrack again. It was empty. Outside, the sky was so dark he could only see the horizon
. With his flashlight, he spotted a trail of fresh, bare footsteps in the soggy sand.

  He followed the trail past the back of the barracks - the trail became two tracks, the other one made by long, very flat feet. He hurriedly followed on, through a grove of palmtrees, until he discerned the tree-like alien structure, four meters high, sixty meters ahead. At the base of this cluster of thick, silvery metal poles he could make out two standing figures. One female human, clinging to a taller, male humanoid with the characteristic bullet-shaped head and soft arms. The male was holding a pair of the overhanging metal branches.

  He was wailing something, and the soldier sensed that if the wind hadn't been so loud he would have understood the words. From the black sky came a growing noise, not unlike aircraft but higher-pitched - nearer the horizon, the soldier spotted trails of light. Heading his way.

  And he wasn't afraid.

  Stone Pound and Andrea McClintock were in the rescue choppers, still heading out toward the escaping fleet, when a pilot shouted over the loudspeakers: "Cover your eyes and brace yourselves for the shockwave! Impact in fifteen seconds!"

  The passengers obeyed, and waited - someone said a prayer. The fifteen seconds passed. Nothing happened. A few more seconds passed. The helicopters were jolted by a strong gust - but much weaker than had been expected. Everybody looked out the windows, at the darkened island.

  It was still there, untouched - a few lights were still visible on it.

  One could discern that the missiles had reached the black clouds - their vapor trails were vaguely illuminated by the full moon - and had vanished. The clouds were moving faster now, gaining sharper outlines - within a minute, they had become a spinning saucer-shape, at least ten times wider than the island. The saucer-shape began to glow a deep blue. The helicopters were hit by more turbulence, pulling them back toward the island - the pilots took their vehicles down lower and steadied their course.

  Minutes later, they landed on the deck of the carrier; the wind had now reached gale force, and the seas were foaming. Andrea eased herself past the military personnel on the deck, shielded her eyes from the blinding spotlights, and got a clear view of the island at the horizon.