by Nick Braker
Warren relaxed a bit and nodded at her.
Wow. She’s good. That was exactly what he needed.
“While I tend to agree with you, Warren, I do have some news. Those three men killed Tuesday night in New York were working for the International Commercial Bank. They had direct ties to the research program funding the forcefield technology here in the states. Why these three and not others is a mystery but there is a connection that aligns to Grep’s theory about shutting down this research,” she said but quickly added. “Don’t let it go to your head, dear,” she said to Grep.
“Too late,” he joked, laughing.
Magnus, though, was certain Grep’s laugh was forced. He was still holding animosity toward all of them. Magnus kept his poker face on, giving no reaction to Grep who would certainly notice.
“Why kill them when the three different technologies have been brought under one roof, so to speak, and are being funded by several governments working together on it? Basically, the private investors were pushed out when the governments stepped in,” Magnus said.
“Exactly,” Tom interjected. “Which means, these aliens aren’t perfect and they were acting on bad intelligence. The consolidation move was recent and they simply didn’t know it had occurred. My estimation is they didn’t know and proceeded with killing the three based on old information.”
Grep stood.
“This is excellent news. Tom is right. They aren’t perfect and they killed three people who were no longer involved. They either did it for the glands alone or they did it thinking they were helping their cause. They also are not perfect in one other way. Twice, we stumbled upon their agents. Yes, the alien itself got away but they left behind the body which we finally learned was their way of walking among us. In order to accomplish what they’ve done so far, they have to have agents in the 100’s around the world but we’ve only found two bodies with caved in abdomens. They are good but not perfect. We have to figure out what it was that allowed us--”
“Two bodies? There have been five, dude.” Brock said.
“Yeah,” Warren added.
Alexandria held up her hand to Grep.
“Brock, what do you mean five?” she asked.
“The three aliens on the ship had no abdomens too. You knew that, right?”
“No,” Grep said very slowly. “The three aliens we ejected from the ship had sunken abdomens too?”
“Uh oh,” Brock said.
“Holy shit,” Grep flared. “You Neanderthal monkeys didn’t bother--”
Magnus got between Grep and Brock while Tom moved to cut off Warren who was moving at Grep.
“Stand down,” Alexandria ordered.
Her voice carried so much authority, the three men stopped in their tracks, looking at her like kids caught with their hands in the cookie jar.
“Sit down, now,” she ordered.
They exchanged angry glances with each other but reluctantly sat down. Magnus decided to stay where he was, as did Tom.
“People make mistakes, assumptions, etc.... You can always come to me and admit a mistake. What you can’t do is react like this. We are a team and we will keep it that way.” She glared straight at Grep as if to reinforce the point. “Okay, what does the new information mean? Grep?”
“It means,” Grep responded. “That the aliens on the ship were hosts too. Since they were hosts, their species were being framed. They were certainly not human, though they were close enough to be able to walk among us which is why they were chosen. The smaller alien species used their bodies as hosts to trick us into believing we had human-like aliens walking among us, but instead they are hiding their true selves within both species. I’m certain this is something the Omega aliens did not want us to learn and once again, proof they are not all powerful and that they do make mistakes.”
“How many aliens do we have proof of so far then, Grep?”
Grep started counting off.
“One, the Omega aliens for certain, who we now know are quite small and use other species as hosts. Two, the Alpha aliens who are helping us. Three, the Beta aliens who are using technology to control the minds of their hosts. Four, the aliens we found on the ship. They looked human but Magnus, Zara, Seph, Mira, Jules and I are certain they are not human since their blood was black and smelled of something metallic.”
“What the hell, dude? Are we too stupid to come to that conclusion as well?” Warren asked, anger clearly resonating in his voice.
Grep had intentionally listed all of their names just so he could leave Brock and Warren out.
“Yes,” Grep answered.
Magnus prepared for Brock and Warren to go after Grep but instead they sat in their chairs, nodding to each other.
Shit. They are going to get him later.
“Calm down, everyone. Grep, control yourself,” she said. “Warren, Brock, keep in mind that your friend is still struggling with his new gifts.”
“Of course, boss lady. No problem at all,” Brock responded, cheerfully.
“It’s all good,” Warren said, nodding at Alexandria and smiling.
“Magnus,” Alexandria said but the look she gave him was clear.
I’m going to have to fix this.
He nodded toward her.
Alexandria dismissed the group and they started to leave. Tom grabbed Warren and Brock.
“Hey, guys, may I speak with you two privately?” he asked.
They nodded at Tom. Magnus started to leave as well but Alexandria cleared her throat. He stopped, catching her cue and waited for the rest of them to leave her office.
“I wanted to talk with you privately,” she said.
“About what?”
“Lizabeth,” she said.
Magnus cringed inwardly but Alexandria was not Tom. She was not even like his friends. He could talk with her if she wanted but inwardly Magnus warred with himself. He wanted to walk out.
“Fine.”
She moved to sit down in one of her guest chairs and motioned for Magnus to take one near her.
“You haven’t said anything about WSO’s involvement with Lizabeth. I know you’ve put the pieces together by now,” she said.
“I know and I did. Until I saw the prostitute dead in New York, I had no idea. Why didn’t you say anything sooner?” he asked.
“I apologize. I should have told you immediately. When I got the report from my agents in Evansville, it included next of kin, relationships, et cetera. At the time you were one of many people of interest but a background check on you revealed nothing unusual, and you, like her parents, were considered victims. Lizabeth’s death though was a huge mystery since her demographics were the only exception, at the time, to our belief the aliens only targeted high profile people. We didn’t even consider the possibility back then we were dealing with more than one species.”
“So, when you discovered who I was from your sorority investigation, you realized we were involved in some way either with or against the aliens?” he asked.
“Yes. We dove deep into everything we could find on you four and the four girls. The girls were an enigma that stood out like a sore thumb due to their advanced intellects. They did an incredible job hiding that fact while working in the system as Jules likes to put it but you four were completely average human beings with normal backgrounds.”
“Is that why you made us the offer to join WSO?” he asked.
Alexandria hesitated.
“Partially,” she said. “I believed the Beta aliens killed Lizabeth for some reason. Either they were trying to get to you or--”
“Or I was involved directly with the aliens and we killed her for some nefarious purpose?” he said, finishing for her.
He choked up as he finished the sentence, clearing his throat to cover it.
“Well, things have changed since then. In the beginning, her death was a simple mystery of claiming to see black holes and passing through stars. No one took her comments seriously, not even us. Later, as others made similar claims, we dug in
deeper into all their backgrounds. We came up with no connection. The Beta aliens appeared to have been doing simple reconnaissance and Beth was just the first,” she said. “I believe this is their approach to invasion. They start somewhere, learn what they can and hand pick their next targets. At some point, they find the people in power and take them over.”
This was hard for Alexandria. He had always known she was the type who genuinely cared for and respected the people who worked for her, but perhaps she cared for him more.
If I’m reading her right. She does care for me.
“You obviously made the decision to believe in us. Why?” he asked.
She visibly flinched and her discomfort grew. At any other time, he would have jumped on that chance to score points with her but right now Beth’s death was hurting him deeply and, even after all this time, the wound was still fresh. Alexandria was hiding something.
“When I sat down with you in the interrogation room, I realized there was something different about you. I’m not easily fooled nor am I swayed by charm or charisma. No, what I felt about you, Magnus, was your deep sense of care and concern that you hide so well from others, that--”
“Uh, no need to finish that sentence,” he said.
She laughed and then smiled at him.
“Yes, no need. I made the decision that night to treat you as human beings who were victims of this alien invasion. I am certain I made the right call.”
“Me too,” he said.
He was in a funk and it was showing. Alexandria watched him closely. He felt several times she was about to reach out to comfort him but held back.
“I’m not sure why I didn’t bring this up sooner. It never seemed to be the right moment,” she said. “I’m sorry.”
“Alexandria, it’s okay. I don’t blame you or hold it against you. You have a job to do and you’re damn good at it. You kept the information to yourself with the thought you could be wrong about us and therefore couldn’t trust us with everything.”
Magnus was feeling the emotional strain again from the previous night. It certainly was not resolved within him and he was struggling to contain the turmoil that was building. The hooker’s death was eerily similar to Beth’s and he just couldn’t shake the memories it brought.
I have to get out of here.
“Are you able to talk with me about Beth? May I call her that?” she asked.
“You may but I’m not so sure I can--”
“Never mind, now is not--”
“No, you’re right, I need to do this--”
“No, I’m pushing too hard and it’s just--”
Magnus reached out just as Alexandria did. Their hands brushed each other and instinctively they pulled back.
“Sorry,” they both said in unison.
There was a long and very awkward silence between them but Magnus finally broke it.
“What do you want to know about her?” he asked.
“How did you meet her?”
“What you really want to know is what happened up to her death?” he asked.
“I figured it would be better to start with the good memories,” she smiled.
Magnus nodded and returned it.
“We’re both too damn smart for our own good,” she said.
“Yeah, we are,” he managed to laugh a bit uneasily.
Magnus could see her discomfort but he also knew she could see his. This talk was necessary as WSO needed every piece of information they could get their hands on to fight this invasion and his personal feelings paled in comparison. He understood this and pushed himself to talk with her about Beth.
“I met her in Wesselman’s Park in Evansville,” he shook his head with a slight smirk. “I am a fitness buff and I figured I could ride my bike through the park during my workouts and it would be a great way to pick up women. It was wet and cold as hell that November when I met her there for the first time. I got her phone number, called her a few days later and we went out on our first date. She was high energy, full of life and she never stopped. I loved it. She challenged me every day we were together. I always had to work to keep up with her. She claimed she was smarter than I. I guess she was, now that I put my ego aside.
“It was just a few weeks later when she started dropping hints on love, marriage and settling down. I was so into her, it seemed like the perfect thing to do. I wasn’t even scared of the idea so we started making plans.”
“You two decided to get married then?” she asked softly.
Magnus nodded, then continued.
“It was several weeks later, in December, when she died.”
The comment took him back once again. His anger rose, the anguish of his newfound knowledge of aliens responsible for her death compounding his existing turmoil over his loss and the rage he felt for being so inadequate to stop it. One of his gifts was emotion control, if he could call it that, but it wasn’t working. The dam exploded. Magnus couldn’t push it aside anymore. Tears welled up in his eyes and, automatically, he wiped them away. The next moment, Alexandria was at his side. She had her arm around him, her hands on his shoulders.
“You don’t have to continue if you don’t want to,” she said.
He shook his head.
“I need to get this out, you need to hear it and perhaps it could help,” he managed, though his voice was already hoarse and catching from the emotions.
“I always wanted to leave Evansville. It was Beth that convinced me to stay, get married, and raise a family there. She talked about our life there a lot before the accident. It was afterward that I had this sense of urgency to get out of town,” he said.
Magnus’ fists clenched and he inwardly screamed in rage. His face went deep red and he began to shake.
All of them. Every last one of them....
“Asher?” she said.
“They are the reason I left it all behind,” he growled. “They killed her... and why? It was just a fucking random pick. Luck of the draw. She died for nothing. Nothing!”
“Asher, please. Look at me,” she said.
His arms shook and his vision pulsed red. Alexandria was on her knees in front of him, her hands on his cheeks. Her face close to his. She was trying to talk to him. What was she saying?
“Don’t let them win,” she said. “They took Beth but don’t let them take anyone else. They win if you give in to this. You are losing control. I’ve seen this before. Please,” she begged.
Alexandria and Beth’s image were juxtaposed in front of him. He couldn’t tell if Beth was talking or if Alexandria was telling him something. He could see Beth’s bedroom in the background but then it was Alexandria’s office. It was her face but then it was Alexandria’s. He took a deep breath and willed himself to calm down. Beth knelt before him so he pulled her in, kissing her tenderly.
“I love you,” he told her.
Beth tried to push him back but the effort was useless. He was too strong and she felt so weak. He was kissing her and she couldn’t stop him, didn’t want to stop him but it was wrong and then it wasn’t. Beth managed a muffled no and turned her head away, breathing hard. Magnus jerked back.
“Alexandria?” he exclaimed. “I’m sorry. I’m--”
She stood, pressed her shirt down and walked to her chair behind her desk. Her breathing was rushed and her heartbeat was fast and hard.
“This never happened,” she said. “You’re dismissed.”
She pressed the button to call her secretary.
“Taria, Magnus is leaving. Would you be a dear and help him find Grep?”
She hadn’t looked at him once since the kiss.
“I’m sorry--”
“For what?” she asked. “Nothing happened.”
“Magnus?” Taria said from across the office. “This way please.”
“I’ll contact you once we’re in Paris--” he said.
“Excellent,” she said, cutting him off.
“Taria,” Magnus said, “No need. I know where Grep is. Thanks
.”
The situation between him and Alexandria had just changed. Was it worse or better? She cared for him but was it the same care and concern she had for those who worked for her? He couldn’t answer that. She was one of the toughest people to read.
He entered the elevator and pressed the button for the lobby. Beth would always mean everything to him. That would never change. He felt anger, lust, love and hate as he relayed his story to her, every one of those emotions rolled up together and then he finds himself kissing his boss. What the fuck had they done to him? Did the aliens make him like this or was it a side effect? Worse, what if he really was fucked up and the aliens just amplified it? What if everything wrong that was happening to Grep and Brock had started with him six months ago? The aliens had changed him. Were they to blame?
The doors opened and he found himself standing in front of Tom.
“Magnus, I need to talk with you,” he said.
Magnus stood there for several moments, letting himself calm down.
“Magnus?”
He nodded, following Tom. The lobby of WSO’s main floor was a flurry of activity. Agents were moving about all over its exceptionally long and wide hallway. Glass doors along the walls on both sides opened quickly, only to shut slowly as their mechanisms engaged to prevent them from slamming back. Magnus was mildly interested in the activity until his eye caught one particularly interesting young blond carrying a stack of manila file folders. She was standing at the door of the elevator across the hallway, waiting on one to take her up.
“Tom, who is that blond there in the red shirt and dark gray slacks?” he asked.
“Alice Dover, she works for Bea in research. She’s one of the brightest computer techs we have in D.C. Why?”
“Nothing,” Magnus replied.
Tom sighed.
“Don’t break her heart. She’s a sweet, naive young woman. Listen up, I need to tell you something. Walk with me,” he ordered.
Magnus followed Tom as they headed toward the garage level, taking the stairs. Magnus managed to look back in time to see Alice get on the elevator. She was slim but not athletic looking and apparently new to walking in high heels. She stepped into the elevator and got her heel caught in the gap on the floor. She tried to wrestle the heel out of the gap but found the doors starting to close on her a bigger problem. A quick scream escaped her lips and she jumped into the elevator. The doors closed on her shoe. He didn’t see what happened next as he and Tom were now walking down the stairs.