by Darrell Bain
She heard the cabin door to the outside close and turned from the blinds. Juan still held his gun but was just as completely bereft of clothing as she was.
He shrugged. "It looks as if there was a gunfight down the beach. I don't know what it was about."
"Should we--" The sound of her phone's ring tone interrupted her. She raised a brow at Juan, shrugged and answered it. "Who is this?"
"Gene. Are you and Juan okay?"
"Gene? What are you doing here?"
"My job and be glad I was. Our old friends from the Middle East came calling again, or at least these three were speaking what sounded like Arabic."
"You mean... ?"
"Yeah. They thought they could grab you while you were having a good time and wouldn't be watching for them. Too bad for them we were."
"Who's with you?"
"Just some friends. If you're sure you're okay go back to sleep or to whatever you were doing. I've made arrangements to keep anyone from disturbing you or asking questions. And Sammie, I'm sorry to have to tell you but you need to pack up and head back home. There's a new development that's occurred and Anton wants to see you both as soon as possible. I'll be watching out for you so don't worry."
"God, Gene. If you hadn't been here... "
"I was, so forget it."
"I doubt I can do that but we thank you. Juan says thanks, too."
"Glad to be of service. I'll see you back home. G'night."
Samantha dropped her gun onto the bed and hurried to Juan's waiting arms. A delayed reaction to what might have happened had her whole body shaking and she wanted his comfort.
Eventually she slept the few remaining hours of their honeymoon but Juan never closed his eyes. He didn't intend to be sleeping in case any others with similar intents came looking for them.
***
Samantha and her new husband returned to set up housekeeping in his apartment. She was so happy that when they stepped inside she felt as if she had been poleaxed. A quick check with Gene told her no more. He wasn't taking calls at present. She could hardly believe what had happened while they were gone. They had spent all their time at the resort concentrating on each other and hadn't been following the news.
"If I had known about this I would have said let's not come back at all," she said as she looked at the chaotic state of Juan's two bedroom apartment. It had been trashed. Clothes and broken dishes were strewn on the floor of every room. Phone wires had been ripped out. His desktop computer was missing as well as a separate collection of hard drives where he had stored what he thought was vital data. Those had been well-hidden but whoever had gone through the apartment were obviously professionals because they had been found. Fortunately, another set was stored in the cloud but now someone had a lot of data she and Juan had worked so many extra hours to develop. On one on the coffee tables Samantha saw a newspaper headline. It didn't register immediately but finally the words penetrated.
NSA AFTER ALIEN?
"I'm calling Anton on his personal phone now," Juan said after she showed it to him, not bothering to read the details. The state of the apartment had told her almost everything she wanted to know already.
Samantha only nodded. She had her phone out and had punched the icon for her mother's phone. She promptly received a "not in service" message. She felt the fear she had held in check since coming through the entrance beginning to break loose. Her father's phone gave a similar response. The couch had its cushions ripped to pieces but she found one of the plain chairs and sat down shakily.
She kept her eyes on Juan who was still standing. He was speaking to someone, Anton, she hoped. Presently he said, "Yes, sir," and hung up.
"Did you find out anything?" she asked.
He came to her, grabbing another chair in the process and sat down beside her. He took her hands. "Sweetheart, I'm sorry. Ron and Elaine are missing. So is Liadra. He says we need to come to the office right now and he'll try to fill in what's happening. He also said to try not to worry about your parents. He knows they're alive."
Samantha sucked in a deep breath of air. She had been holding her breath ever since he told her both her parents were missing. At least they weren't dead. But... she couldn't imagine what was going on. Why would the NSA want her parents? Oh! The thought struck her. If they have Mom and Dad in custody they'll think they can control me and Juan.
Juan stood up and offered his hand. He gently helped her to her feet and kept his arm around her as they returned to his car. She noticed that he still had a very worried expression on his face, as if he were withholding something of importance, but she couldn't imagine what it might be that he wouldn't share with her. Probably she was only imagining it, she thought.
***
Anton was waiting on them but as it turned out, he wasn't alone. Instead of Elaine, who had been handling his office administration, there were two men in her place. Contrary to the usual casual dress within the project, they wore suits. Samantha, by now used to carrying a weapon, took note of suspicious bulges from beneath the suit coats. Neither said a word nor introduced themselves. Instead, one pointed to Anton's office while the other moved to block the only exit, the door they had come in through.
Juan started to say something but Samantha squeezed his arm. She didn't like the looks of the men, nor their actions. He shrugged and knocked.
"Come on in," Anton's voice invited.
Juan pulled open the door and held it while Samantha went inside. He followed, stopping behind her while she took stock of the situation. Anton was at his desk but another office chair had been pulled up beside his. Another of the ubiquitous suited men sat in it, silently.
"Welcome back," Anton said. "You may as well sit down. I imagine you're going to be here for a while."
"What's happening, Mr. McAllister?" Juan asked. His voice held concern for his boss, as well as everyone else associated with the project.
Samantha could see why. Anton wasn't looking well. His face was paler than she had ever seen it and she had never seen him unshaven but he obviously hadn't touched a razor this morning.
"It seems there's a jurisdictional disagreement. Homeland Security, in the guise of our very own National Security Agency, has taken over jurisdiction of DARPA. Or think they have, at any rate."
"We have," the man beside Anton said positively. "You two are under our authority as of this moment. We'll have an interrogator here presently and I'd advise you to come clean."
Samantha saw that he was examining her as if she had some kind of disability or more accurately, as if she belonged to a species of human he neither liked nor cared what happened to.
"Come clean about what? And who are you to be giving me orders?"
"Kid, you'd best listen to me. We don't know whether you can talk to animals or not but we damn sure know you've been talking to a fucking alien when the whole thing should have been turned over to Homeland Security years ago. Whether you know it or not, your boss is in a hell of a lot of trouble and so are you and your boyfriend."
Shufus let loose a low growl of discontent.
"He's not my boyfriend. He's my husband. And so far as I know this is still a free country. I can talk to anyone I want to."
"Not when it's inimical to the country's security, you can't. And if you don't want a bullet in that dog's head you'll keep him in control."
"You touch him you're a dead man, Mister." Samantha stared daggers at him then decided it was useless to carry on a conversation with the man. He was obviously so certain of his position that he wouldn't be convinced of anything else. Apparently, Anton thought so, too, for he wasn't joining in.
"Let it go, Sammie. I believe we'll have this straightened out before long."
"We'd better. Reddy will be back soon, or has that changed while we were gone?"
"No. Now you two just sit quietly for now. We'll be in a better position if we don't... "
His computer dinged for attention. Anton glanced at the screen. A smile broke over his face. "Hel
lo, Gene. I assume you got my message before my keepers shut me down?"
"Yes. I'll be there shortly. Just sit tight and don't give those bastards the time of day."
"Who the hell are you and what-"
The man beside Anton stopped speaking abruptly. Samantha assumed the connection with Skype or whatever program Anton was using had been discontinued. She was glad to hear that Gene was free, at least. She felt Juan's hand tighten its grip on her own and turned to smile at him. Somehow there must have been a tremendous leak if Homeland Security thought they could assume control of DARPA from the military and in the process take over any proceedings with Reddy.
After being cut off the man beside Anton--still without a name so far as Samantha knew--stood up. "I think we'd better escort all you people to a more secure area until this situation becomes a bit clearer. Get up, old man," he said to Anton, "And hurry your ass. We're leaving here."
Without a conscious thought Samantha was up and moving. She never knew whether it was the vulgar language toward the gentle old scientist or word that Gene would soon be on the premises that motivated her. Whatever, she was beside the unwelcome visitor in Anton's office before he paid any attention to her and by then it was much too late. He felt the barrel of her pistol being pressed to the back of his head and froze.
"You can stop right where you are, sonny," she said, purposely returning the kind of uncomplimentary designation he had given her. "And if I find out you've harmed a single hair on my Mom or Dad's head you won't have any hair left because I'll personally blow the whole top of your skull off. Is that clear?"
He mumbled an assent, visibly forcing the words out. Anton laughed. Juan had followed Samantha and promptly relieved the man of the handgun holstered under his jacket, then squatted and took another smaller one from an ankle holster. "My, my," he said. "You must have thought we were really dangerous. Anton, I'm going to lock him in the washroom for now. If his compatriots come inside we'll worry about them then. That was nice work, sweetheart." He walked the man over to the small washroom that contained only a sink and commode then closed the door and locked it.
"Indeed it was nice work, Sammie," Anton said. "Gene is on the way with some help. I'm hoping he arrives before Reddy returns. In the meantime, I need to call the President. The NSA and HS people took us by surprise. I suppose Liadra finally got a message to them past Gene."
"What do you mean?" Samantha asked. Everything was happening too fast to suit her.
Anton punched a key then looked up. "Oh, she was a plant by someone in HS who became suspicious of us. Gene and I knew about her but we fooled her into thinking Gene was her contact. She thought he was passing data on to her boss but nothing important ever went past Gene." He chuckled. "I suppose Gene won't mind if I tell you now, but he's been working for me from the time before Liadra was brought into the circle."
"We thought Joanne was a spy," Juan said.
"She is but Gene recruited her. She was spying on Liadra. I'm sure she'll apologize for that act she put on when you see her again." He appeared to muse to himself for a moment. "I still don't understand how Liadra got anything past Gene. I thought we had everything under control."
"You certainly fooled me," Juan said.
"And me, too," Samantha added.
The door to the office opened. At first Samantha thought the two men who had been in the alcove outside where her mother usually worked had decided to take over but then she saw that Gene was behind them and holding his gun. He herded them inside and was followed by two others in military uniform. One was a Master Sergeant with a Military Police brassard armband. The other was a Major. She wasn't familiar enough with the military to recognize which branch they belonged to and didn't really care. Apparently the military was back in control of the area, for the moment at least. Best of all, her parents followed close on the Major's heels.
"Sammie!" Elaine cried. She and Samantha were hugging a second later.
Anton's computer dinged for attention.
At first Samantha thought it was the President and wondered exactly how much influence Anton had if he could connect with him that fast. Then she heard the voice over the speaker phone. She didn't recognize it but the words told her it was the guard at the site of the stealthed lander.
"Sir, the alien is out of stealth and its computer screen has Ms. Douglas' picture on it."
"That would be Mrs. Carrera now, Tony. But I'm gratified that Reddy wants to see Samantha. She'll be there shortly."
Chapter Forty Seven
As she and Juan left for the lander's site the Military Policeman was calling for reinforcements. Anton stayed where he was, waiting to hear from the President or one of his advisors.
"I wonder who will wind up with authority over Reddy and the project," Samantha said as they drove.
"No one will be in charge of Reddy, I hope. As far as the rest of it goes, I'm putting my trust in Anton."
"Me, too. I wonder what Reddy wants?"
"Why wonder? We'll be there in a moment and ask him."
"Ask Reddy! Ask Reddy!" Sheik agreed. Shufus didn't voice an opinion.
The lander popped into visibility once they were in range. Reddy saw them and flapped his arms in a familiar gesture, although Samantha thought he was more agitated than usual. He had reason to be, as she and Juan soon discovered.
Once the alien being settled in to a prolonged intercourse, a shelter had been moved to the site, with its opening facing the airlock where Reddy stayed while talking with Samantha or Juan. It contained chairs, tables with computers, calculators and other paraphernalia they found they needed. Just as she sat down, Juan's phone rang. He answered then promptly switched the call to speaker phone so that Samantha could listen in.
"Juan, the President's office contacted me. Our project is again under DARPA. Apparently Homeland Security sicced the NSA on us with no authority to do so. President Eddison was very perturbed. He's sending in a special force of army troops to secure the area and arrest every NSA agent on the premises or nearby until we can sort out the guilty from the ones simply following orders from their superiors. That's not the real news, though. In case Reddy hasn't told you yet, the interstellar ship he thought had been lost just went into geosynchronous orbit above the lander's site, which is obviously above you two and us as well."
Samantha and Juan grinned at each other after they both involuntarily looked upward, as if they would have been able to spot the ship. Fortunately it wasn't that big or it might have caused perturbations in the orbits of many other satellites.
"What is Reddy going to do?"
"That's what you're there to find out. Get busy. The President is waiting, not to mention everyone associated with the project." Samantha could practically see Anton's triumphant grin over the phone. She brought up her computer conversion program that enabled her and Reddy to converse with each other, although the computer voice sounded like neither of them. Sheik was no longer needed even though he stayed close. Reddy seemed to take his presence for granted. The first couple of times he had not been there when she attempted conversation with the alien, he complained. Now the parrot always accompanied her, just as Shufus did. She had no idea what Reddy thought of the big German Shepherd or what he gained from his presence but he also liked to have him there.
"My ship has returned," were Reddy's first words.
"I'm glad for you, Reddy. Now you can return to your home much sooner than you anticipated. We're glad your companions are safe as well. Is there anything we can do for you?"
"Yes, your assistance is still required. I have insufficient power to take the lander into orbit."
"I thought the big ship had a number of landers. What has happened?"
"Unfortunately, the ship never left this system. A shield failure as it was leaving stranded it in the Oort belt. It very nearly destroyed it and did destroy the last two landers it had on board as well as its communication module. The last, I am pleased to say, has been repaired and with the module your fr
iends constructed for me, we were able to speak together."
"I see," Samantha said, although she actually didn't yet. "Is there anything we can do to help you now?" she repeated.
"My lander requires energy pellets in order to gain orbit. If one of your spacecraft could reach geosynchronous orbit and mate with the interstellar ship, then return to earth with the pellets, I would be much pleased."
"We'll have to talk to our superiors, but I doubt that that will present an insurmountable obstacle. Is there anything else?"
"Not at this time, no. Thank you."
"You're welcome." Samantha wondered just how much of the politeness and stilted language Reddy used was using was part of his culture or simply following English's grammatical rules and conventions. Not that it mattered, she thought. They understood each other very well now.
***
"The President authorized an immediate trip to the alien mother ship by an unmanned capsule. Fortunately one was already on the launch site at the Spaceport in New Mexico. It will be leaving in two days," Anton said the next day Samantha and Juan reported.
"Good. He assured us that the fuel pebbles don't weigh that much. He also said that the capsule would bring down plans for manufacturing them, a little matter we forgot once had the plans for both the lander and the interstellar ship," Juan replied.
"Fine, fine. You've both done an outstanding job. It seems strange now to think it will be over with soon, so far as our friend Reddy is concerned. I want to tell you that I'm exceedingly glad his superior decided against taking you two and Shufus and Sheik back home with him."
"That made Mom and Dad happy," Samantha said, although she still had a faint sense of loss at not being a passenger on Reddy's ship when he left Earth. "He did extend an invitation, though. In fact, he told me that his superior will expect us to be on the first ship that comes calling on them, once we have our own interstellar transportation."