by Neal Wooten
After he told the officer what happened, and the policeman informed him of the outcome, he was allowed to get out of bed and visit Sally in her room. She was in a coma. They had bandaged her neck, but she had lost a lot of blood and swallowed a lot of seawater. Dr. McNair felt tears run down both cheeks as he stared at Sally while the respirator pumped air to her lungs through the tube down her throat. He thought back to his wife and daughter. He always felt like his work had pushed them away, but the guilt was much worse now. It was his direct actions that led to the current situation. He had been so ready to have one last adventure that he had not considered the danger, even when Erique had made it clear.
Several days passed. He was released from the hospital’s care with minor abrasions and contusions. But he wouldn’t leave, waiting only for Sally to hopefully come out of the coma. After several days, she finally woke.
When the doctors concluded that she was going to be okay, Dr. McNair approached her. Her eyes lit up when she saw him. The tube was still down her throat so she couldn’t talk. She took a marker and wrote on a legal pad and turned it to face him. It read, “Are you okay?”
He nodded as tears ran free once again. “I’m fine.”
She scribbled again. “Erique?”
Dr. McNair nodded. “He’s fine.”
“Insurance?” she wrote next.
Dr. McNair shrugged. He hadn’t even thought to ask Erique if he was covered for the damage. The damage of course being that his boat was totally destroyed.
The next note made him laugh.
“Goofy?”
“He’s fine as well. He waited around hoping you would wake, but he finally had to go back home. They say you’re going to be fine. Should be out of here in a few days. You should know that Thomas saved your life. You were clinically dead and he revived you with CPR. Well, like I said, I thought you should know.”
She nodded. Then she wrote again on a new sheet. She turned it around. “Are you saying his lips were on mine? YUCK!”
Dr. McNair laughed. But her next message made him gasp as he stared at the three-word sentence. It read, “I saw them.”
Sally told him everything via notes and he believed her.
The next day, Dr. McNair took a taxi to the waterfront and asked the driver to wait. He walked the familiar path down the dock to where Erique’s boat was docked before. There was nothing and no one there. He found another fisherman and asked if he knew Erique. He did and told him where he lived.
Dr. McNair walked back to the taxi and gave the driver the address. Fifteen minutes later, the taxi pulled up to a very small cinder-block house. There were a couple of old cars on blocks in the front. There was no grass at all. The yard for this house and every house in the neighborhood was pure dust.
The cab pulled away without waiting as Dr. McNair walked up to the door. He knocked.
Emmanuel opened the door.
Dr. McNair smiled.
Emmanuel turned and yelled back into the house. “It’s the man, Papa.”
Erique came to the door and looked confused but was hospitable. “Come in, Dr. McNair. Please come in.”
Dr. McNair followed Erique to the small kitchen and sat at the little wooden table when prompted.
“This is my wife, Leena,” Erique said.
“It is my pleasure to meet you,” Leena said. “Can I get you something to drink?”
Dr. McNair nodded. “Some cold water would be great.”
She smiled and went to the fridge.
“How is the woman?” Erique asked.
“She’s fine,” Dr. McNair answered. “We’re going back home soon. I wanted to come by and see if you were okay.”
“I was not hurt,” Erique said.
“I didn’t mean physically,” Dr. McNair said.
Erique looked confused.
“I meant financially,” Dr. McNair clarified. “Did you have insurance on your boat?”
“It does not matter,” Erique said. “I would not go back out there if I could.”
“Really? You seem very much at home on the water.”
“Maybe once,” Erique said. “But things have changed. The ocean has changed. It is not a place for people anymore.”
Dr. McNair nodded. “What will you do?”
“I will go to work for my father. He is a roofer. There is much work here now.”
Dr. McNair turned up the glass of water and drank it all. “You will miss it, you know?”
Erique smiled. “Yes, I will. A love for the sea is part of a person’s soul. I will always love her.” He looked at his wife and son. “But some things are more important.”
They sat and talked a little while longer until Dr. McNair left to go back to the hospital.
Three days later, Dr. McNair rolled Sally out of the hospital in a wheelchair and helped her into a taxi. As the driver pulled into traffic, Sally’s cell phone beeped.
“Thomas,” she said, holding up the phone so Dr. McNair could see the name associated with the text. Opening the message, Sally giggled. “Can you believe this guy?” She handed Dr. McNair the phone.
“Oh my goodness,” Dr. McNair said with a chuckle. “Is that a pit bull puppy?”
Sally took back the phone and looked at the small screen. The picture message was of Thomas holding up what appeared to be a pit bull puppy and the text read, Here’s your get well present.
“You know, he’s not a bad guy,” Dr. McNair said.
Sally smiled. “I guess he has a few good points.”
They both laughed.
Two weeks later, Dr. McNair and Sally sat on the bench waiting to be called. They sat motionless, Dr. McNair occasionally wiping the sweat from his brow. He looked over at Sally, who wore a pantsuit similar to the one she was wearing the day they had met, a bandage still around her neck. She had almost fully recovered from the accident and was now waiting to address the Congressional Oversight Committee, which made decisions on various matters, including global warming. The committee had already received her report, and now she and Dr. McNair had to explain it.
The door opened and the same middle-aged woman appeared. “Doctors, they’re ready for you.”
Dr. McNair and Sally walked to the table and took their seats in front of the raised platform where the five senators were poised and ready for their interrogation. Dr. McNair noticed that the room wasn’t empty this time. In the rear, barely visible, sat a small man, almost bald, wearing rim glasses. Dr. McNair wasn’t sure why the man was there.
Senator Elaine Biddle from Arkansas began. “We’ve read your report, Dr. Xie, and frankly, we don’t understand it.”
“Which part do you not understand?” Sally asked.
Senator Weingold from New York spoke up. “To be honest, it reads like a terrible Hollywood movie script. One has to wonder if this was something that came to you in a coma-induced dream.”
“I assure you, Senators, this was no dream.” Sally looked at Dr. McNair for support.
Dr. McNair stood. “She’s telling you the truth, no matter how hard it is for you to believe. We all heard her describe the wall before she was attacked. It is even visible from satellite photos, so it’s quite real.”
“We have seen the photos, Doctor,” Senator Butler confirmed. “We believe the wall is real; it’s just the builders, the creatures who you say are building the wall—that’s what’s hard to swallow.”
Sally borrowed a line from Dr. McNair. “All I can do is report the facts; it’s up to you to decide what to do with them.”
“You want us to believe that they possess that kind of intelligence?” Senator Biddle asked. “You’re saying that whales, orcas, and dolphins, and every mammal in the sea, have been secretly building a one-hundred-mile-long wall of rocks in the ocean. And they’re doing this to change the flow of ocean currents?”
“That’s correct,” Sally said. “Whales bring in the giant rocks in their mouths and drop them. Smaller mammals arrange them in place. I saw it with my own eyes. That’s
why they tried to kill me.”
Senator Malcolm from North Dakota spoke. “And you believe this is causing global warming?”
Sally nodded. “It’s making the ocean current go a hundred miles farther south before turning northward. It’s almost reaching the equator now. That makes it pick up much warmer water before heading north. That’s the reason the Gulf Stream has been so warm, why we’ve had stronger storms, and why the ice caps are melting so fast. Along with harnessing warmer water, thousands of whales now travel the current all the way to the northern ice caps.”
“I don’t understand that part,” Senator Butler said. “What does that do?”
“Mammals are warm-blooded, Senator,” Sally explained. “With so many following the current, they manage to keep the temperature a couple of degrees warmer than it would normally be.”
“I don’t get it,” Senator Weingold said. “Why? What is their motivation?”
“We don’t know,” Dr. McNair said. “While it would benefit sea life greatly to kill off every human on the planet, the warmer climate doesn’t help them in the long run. We think maybe they’ve been trained to do this.”
The senators looked back and forth at each other.
“A mad scientist perhaps,” Senator Weingold said with a chuckle.
“Maybe,” Dr. McNair said, taking the steam away from the intended sarcasm. “We don’t have that information. But the information about the wall, the current, and the climate is all real. Frankly, I thought the committee would like this news.”
Senator Biddle looked at him. “You realize this means all of your former reports are wrong, don’t you?”
Dr. McNair smiled. “I do.”
“Then why would we like this news?” Senator Butler asked.
“Because,” Dr. McNair said, “it is news that you can all agree on. We don’t have to stop drilling for oil, or buying it from the Middle East, or stop doing anything you claim hurts the economy. For the first time, we have a tangible problem that can be dealt with.” Dr. McNair began putting Sally’s papers back in her briefcase. This was his signal to the committee that they were finished. Sally followed him toward the door.
“One more question, Doctors.”
Dr. McNair and Sally stopped and turned around.
Senator Malcolm continued. “Do you think this has anything to do with the alien invasion?”
Sally laughed.
“What are you talking about?” Dr. McNair asked, knowing Senator Malcolm was not the kind of person to joke. In fact, she was the only one on the committee whom he respected.
“Have you not watched the news lately?” Senator Weingold asked.
Dr. McNair glanced at Sally, then back to the panel. He walked a little closer. “No. What has happened?”
“Just rumors so far,” Senator Butler answered. “But the rumor is that aliens have landed in Central America and are setting up shop.”
Dr. McNair shook his head. “I haven’t heard anything. But as to a connection with what’s going on in the ocean, I couldn’t possibly say.”
As the two left the building and walked out into the sunlight, Thomas, who was waiting for them on a nearby park bench, jumped up and ran over. “Well?”
Sally shrugged. “It’s like talking to a brick wall. I don’t think they believed any of it.”
“Have you guys heard about the alien invasion?” Thomas couldn’t control his enthusiasm.
Dr. McNair laughed. “We just heard. What do you know?”
Before Thomas could answer, a marine in uniform walked out of the building. “Are you Dr. McNair, sir?”
“Yes, I’m Stephen McNair.”
“Will you please wait right here, sir?”
Dr. McNair nodded. The marine disappeared back inside the building. A couple of minutes later a young man wearing a jacket and tie, and quite uncomfortably it seemed, rushed out of the building.
“Dr. McNair?” He rushed up to them and bent over to catch his breath. It was the small man who had sat in on the meeting before the oversight committee.
“It’s okay, son,” Dr. McNair said. “Take your time.”
The young man finally caught his breath and stood up. He took off his rim glasses and used his tie to clean them. “I hate suits. Sorry.” He placed the glasses back on. “I’m Dr. Darren Mitchell with SETI.”
“SETI?” Thomas yelled. “Hey, how are you?” He was obviously glad to find a kindred spirit.
“Sorry,” said Dr. McNair. “He’s our alien expert, Thomas Freeman. What can I do for you?”
“Thomas Freeman?” Darren repeated.
“That’s me,” Thomas said, shaking Darren’s hand. “Perhaps you’ve read my books.”
“Yes, yes, I have,” Darren said. “All of them. The last one, Mark My Words: They’re Coming, is my favorite. I’m a huge fan.”
Thomas stood there in a daze while Sally and Dr. McNair laughed.
Darren released Thomas’s hand and looked at the others. “Uh, I need your help. I’m in charge of putting together a team for a situation that has unfolded, and I need experts in several fields, including climatology.”
“Is this a government project?” Dr. McNair asked.
“You could say that,” Darren answered.
Dr. McNair looked at Sally and Thomas. “Well, we’re a team. You don’t get me without these guys. Sally is a marine biologist.”
Darren smiled. “I’ll take you all. Follow me and I’ll brief you along the way.”
“Don’t tell me,” Sally said. “This is about the alien invasion, I suppose?”
Darren opened the door to the building they had just left and held it for them. He looked each one in the eyes and then answered. “Yes, it is.”
Chapter Thirteen
Colonel Benjamin Jamison sat on his sofa waiting for his wife, his neatly pressed jacket hanging over the back of the sofa so as not to get wrinkled. Angel, his pit bull, sat beside him. It was Sunday morning and he and his wife were heading to church. The television was on but he was paying no attention. Instead, he was staring at the family picture atop the TV, the one with him, his wife, two sons, and much younger daughter. He smelled his wife’s perfume as she walked up behind him.
“I’m ready,” Belinda said as she brushed lint from her dress. She looked up at the TV. “What are you watching on the news? Are they talking about aliens?”
The colonel laughed as he looked back to the screen. “Yes, I believe so. They’ve been doing a lot of news stories recently about aliens.”
“Is it real?”
“Come on. It never is. Probably a publicity stunt to lure tourists.”
“I have your robe,” his wife said.
The colonel shook his head. “You don’t really expect me to go through with this?”
Belinda stood firm. “Yes, I do. I’m tired of people saying you’re not friendly. You used to love to sing in the choir before—”
The colonel didn’t argue anymore. He knew she was right and knew what she was trying to say. Ever since his daughter drowned in the family swimming pool ten years ago, he had become withdrawn. He had cried harder than he knew he could that day, but not one drop since. He wasn’t sure if he could anymore. Nothing seemed to matter in life. His two sons were grown now, one a second lieutenant in the army and one a veterinarian, and he couldn’t remember the last time he had spoken with either of them. His faith was about all he had left, and he often questioned that, wondering if he was just going through the motions.
He took the robe, and he and his wife went to the door. Angel followed and watched them leave. They got in the car and drove to church.
On the way, he turned on the radio, but after hearing more about aliens, he quickly turned it off and wondered how there could be so many gullible people in the world.
Twenty minutes later they arrived at the small church just off the army base where the colonel was stationed. He dressed in his robe, his head and burly forearms the only things visible. His formidable appearance be
lied the fact that he wasn’t a very tall man; he was slightly under six feet. He joined the choir, ready for the first song.
The congregation of the small church swayed back and forth to the rhythmic sounds of the choir, like lilies dancing in a warm summer breeze. Colonel Jamison held his hymnal and let his baritone voice soar among the other choir members. His neatly shaved dark head glistened in the light and was almost motionless as he sang. He occasionally glanced up to see his wife, who was seated in the pews. Belinda was still a beautiful woman, her shining black hair cut short and accented now by streaks of silver. Her face was still relatively free of wrinkles, except when she smiled as she was doing now. He knew she was his strength; she always had been.
It was a humid summer day in Georgia as the morning sunlight burned through the stained-glass windows, casting distorted replicas along the far walls like artistic abstracts of holy scenes. Suddenly, both double doors in the rear of the sanctuary opened. Two men in full dress uniform entered, several medals adorning the left breasts of their jackets. They stood motionless and stared at the colonel.
The colonel looked up and noticed them. Adrenaline rushed through his body. He was in the back row of the choir, so he closed his book and quietly stepped backward off the platform and disappeared.
Belinda looked confused until she turned and saw the two soldiers. Her head dropped.
Moments later the colonel appeared from the back in just his suit. He had removed the choir robe. He strolled down the center aisle as the choir continued without him. Belinda was sitting at the end of a pew and held her hand out as he passed. The colonel gently caressed her hand as he walked on toward the soldiers, who quickly stood at attention as he neared. He nodded and followed them to the black car waiting outside.
“What is this about, gentlemen?” he asked as they drove away. He looked beside him at the driver and to the backseat at the other soldier.
“Sorry, sir,” the one in the back said, “we don’t have that information. We were only sent to retrieve you. Do you know, sir? Is it about the aliens?”
The colonel scoffed, then sat silently, looking straight ahead. The last time he was “retrieved” like this was when his CO informed him he was going to the Middle East. But there were no current wars and none brewing, at least none of which he was aware. As the car passed the entrance to the base, the colonel realized they were driving him to his home. He knew what that meant.