“I think you should help them. Actually, if you can then you have to. And if you’re unable to help then they’ll lose interest in you very fast. If you wish I can come with you. I’m sure CATI will cooperate in providing the required documents for me to accompany you to San Francisco.”
Chris hesitated for a brief moment. “I think I’d like you to go with me. I always wanted to visit San Fran. There are some great little coffee bars emerging over there.”
Ezrah shook his head. “You really think there will be time to sample coffee?” Chris was lost for words as Ezrah continued, “I’ll send them an answer tomorrow. Be prepared to leave the same day. I have a feeling they don’t want to waste any more time. And… please try to dress like a human being.”
* * *
Ezrah got up from his desk at the police department the following morning. It was time for a coffee, or whatever this black concoction actually was. He had just finished his reply to CATI and was wondering how long it would take them to call him back. He was on his way out the door when his cell phone started beeping.
Ezrah looked at his phone, which indicated an untraceable caller. “Detective Hill.” Ezrah thought he heard familiar street noise just before a voice answered.
“Hello, Detective. This is Agent White, I was wondering if you would like to join me for a coffee. There’s a nice little café close by, it’s called The Shot. I’ve heard they make a great cup of coffee.”
Ezrah was dumbfounded. How had they been able to respond so fast? “That works just fine, I was just about to get a cup myself.”
Ezrah was sure he heard a doorbell in the back when Agent White answered, “Perfect, I’m already there. I’ll order an espresso for you, double shot?” Ezrah was starting to feel annoyed. What in God’s name did this guy not know about his life?
Ezrah put on his jacket and walked out the door, a strange feeling of anticipation spreading in his chest.
Agent White sat on Ezrah’s favorite chair pointing to the seat opposite him.
“Have a seat.”
Ezrah knew that this was no coincidence. The agent’s plan seemed to include establishing a pecking order. “You’re in my chair. If you want to talk to me then you better move.”
Ezrah wasn’t much for playing this game any longer; better to clear the air before it got too thick. Ezrah was an impressive-looking man. A short, greying beard framed his dark face. His skull was clean-shaven and round like a bowling ball. Agent White was only a short, small-framed man, but he didn’t seem to be intimidated. He smiled and again pointed at the chair. “Sit down, Ezrah. We don’t need you. I’m here for Mr. Morgan. You may tag along if you comply, but if you insist on some kind of special treatment, you’ll simply stay where you are.”
Ezrah’s blood was boiling, but he knew that this was not the time for conflict. Agent White smiled while Ezrah hesitantly took a seat. “Two espressos, one single, one double.” Alice smiled at Ezrah as she served his coffee. “Thanks, Alice. Where’s Chris? I thought he would be here today.”
Alice glanced at Agent White. “He asked for a few days off. He didn’t say why or what for. He said he would be back in a week or so. But Tom makes a good cup of coffee, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.”
Ezrah felt the man’s eyes boring into him.
“Nice coffee. Better than what we get at the agency. So where’s your buddy, Ezrah? I hope you’re not planning something stupid?”
Ezrah couldn’t help but smile. “I thought you knew everything. Seems you don’t after all… Anyway, no, I’m not planning anything. Actually I’m also surprised that he isn’t around.”
* * *
Chris took his phone out of his pocket; it was Ezrah calling. He had been expecting his call. There should be some news about CATI.
“Where the hell are you? We’re looking for you.”
Chris didn’t like Ezrah’s tone of voice. “Who’s we? And why are you looking for me?”
Ezrah hesitated for a second. He looked at Agent White and back to his coffee, his face softening. “I’m having a nice cup of coffee with Agent White here at The Shot. We thought we’d meet you here and have a chat.”
Chris felt relieved. “I took the day off and now I’m at Macy’s following your suggestion of buying some… normal clothes. I could do with some help though. I have no idea what to wear.”
Ezrah laughed. “You’re hopeless. The planet’s under attack and you go shopping for clothes? Get your ass back here as quick as possible. We’ll get you some clothes whenever there’s time.”
Chris was quite happy to cut his shopping trip short. He hated shopping malls. They made him feel uncomfortable. He thought he could sense the store compiling his personal shopping profile based on the data received from all the hidden CCTV cameras that tracked his every move. Or was it only a coincidence when the advertising on the huge TV walls changed to stuff he might be interested in the exact moment he was walking past? He looked at all the stressed people pushing past him, trying to secure some piece of junk that would land in the garbage bin just a few days later. He had to get out of there.
* * *
“Chris, this is Agent White, Agent White, Mr. Morgan.”
Chris nodded at the man in the grey suit while he fetched a chair from the next table, and sat down between the two men who made for a strange-looking couple.
“I see you didn’t find anything.” Agent White smiled at Chris, scanning his outfit.
“No… Maybe you should have joined me. Your sense of style seems to be impeccable.”
Chris noticed Ezrah’s mouth curling into a smile. He knew Ezrah enjoyed his no-nonsense attitude that was present no matter whom he was talking to.
“Indeed.” Agent White seemed to be untouched. “Let us cut to the chase. I’m here to ask you to accompany me to San Francisco. There are people, scientists, that would like to talk to you. They believe that you could be the key to saving the planet. I personally doubt that very much, but until they’ve spoken to you and seen through your scam, we shouldn’t waste any more time with small talk. Are you ready?”
Chris bit his tongue. Normally he would have had the right answer for bullshit like that, but this time he simply said, “OK… but only if Ezrah comes too.”
Agent White looked at Ezrah in a way that made Chris feel strangely uncomfortable “Why not.”
* * *
Ezrah felt like all eyes were on Chris when they boarded the plane that would take them from New York to San Francisco. “I told you to wear something normal.”
Chris seemed to be unaffected. “Why? I don’t see the point in standardizing everything, our tastes, our looks, our opinions. For what? So we can all drink the same bad coffee and eat the same synthesized food?”
Ezrah knew this was not a discussion he was going to win. “Yes, yes, just sit down and enjoy the flight.”
Chris felt tired, he was not used to all the excitement surrounding him. The humming sound of the plane’s engines sent him drifting off into a fitful sleep that was soon disturbed by a vivid dream of a tall alien woman standing in the center of a massive, dimly lit hall. Chris stood only a couple of meters away from her while a few hundred people huddled together behind him, pressing their bodies against the back wall, trying to put maximum distance between themselves and the alien predator.
The tall woman smiled at him, while blood dripped off razor-sharp claws that tipped her four muscular arms. She had just killed his friend Ezrah as well as Agent White who lay in a pool of blood at her feet.
Chris looked at the woman. Straight dark hair framed a beautiful, Nordic-looking face. Her blue almond-shaped eyes seemed to be scanning his mind. She opened her mouth, red lips parting, revealing a set of glowing white, pointy teeth.
“Brother. Why do you protect these humans?”
Chris opened his mouth. He tried to speak, but no sound escaped his dry throat. He knew he had to answer the alien being, he had to make contact. He concentrated on his thoughts. He tried to open his
mind to the alien woman that had established contact in such an effortless way.
“Sister. Please don’t do this! They have the capacity to change. They will see their mistakes.”
The woman smiled; she had received Chris’s message. “I will spare them… I do this for you, but soon there will be no more mercy.”
Chris woke up sweating. The plane had just passed the Golden Gate Bridge, which had recently been reopened after an earthquake had destabilized its foundations a couple of years ago. Chris looked at Ezrah. He was breathing softly, his eyes still closed. What a vivid dream… it felt so real, thought Chris as the plane landed safely in SFO where Zoe was already waiting to collect her valuable freight.
* * *
Ezrah looked at Zoe, wondering what an attractive woman like her was doing at CATI. Zoe smiled and shook Ezrah’s hand, looking back at Agent White. “Thank you, Mat, I’ll take over from here.”
Ezrah noticed how Zoe’s demeanor changed when she faced Agent White. He suddenly knew that this woman was much more than just a pretty face. He saw strength in her expression that was far beyond her years.
Ezrah was surprised to see Agent White nod, turn around, and leave without any further comment. What had Zoe done to turn this cocky bastard into a creature meek as a lamb? Ezrah looked at Chris who had noticed it as well. They had to be careful.
Chris and Ezrah followed Zoe and joined her in her black CATI pod. Chris felt a mixture of curiosity and uncertainty arising in his abdomen. “Where are you taking us?”
Zoe brought up CNN. “Did you read the news? More than eight thousand people were killed today and it’s only early afternoon. Where am I taking you? We’re going to ARC, a governmental organization that experiments on crossing human and alien DNA with the aim of finding a cure, a means of defense against the deadly alien attacks. Dr. Jon Adams, the scientist in charge of the program, has been successful in creating a being, half human, half alien. This being has requested your attendance. He seems to be sure that you as well as a woman that we’re just fetching from Tokyo have to be together if humanity is to have a chance of survival.”
Chris stared at Zoe, his mouth half open and his mind blank. “I… I don’t know how that’s possible. I’m just a normal guy. I could try killing the alien with really strong coffee, but that’s about as dangerous as I can get.”
Zoe smiled at Chris. He sensed that she liked him. She didn’t seem to be fazed by the host of tattoos, his wild beard, and strange nineteen fifties-style clothes.
“We’ll see. Delta will know.”
Chris felt like a lobster about to be dropped into a pot of boiling water. “Who’s Delta?”
“He’s the organism that Jon was able to create. He looks like a man in his mid-twenties even though he’s only a few days old. He says strange stuff, but somehow… when he talks… somehow you know that he knows. Oh well… Nothing to be afraid of, he doesn’t bite.”
Chris contemplated what it would be like meeting Delta. Would he still believe that he could help save mankind once he saw him in the flesh? He suddenly felt very small, like a tiny wheel in a grand machine. Still… even the smallest wheel, when missing, will render the whole machine useless no matter how powerful it might otherwise be.
Chris decided to focus on the journey. He knew that thoughts about the unknown wouldn’t lead to a conclusion. They would only trigger more thoughts and create stories that would make him feel nervous and uncomfortable. Still… He decided not to push these thoughts away. He knew very well that any kind of resistance would be fuel on the fire; it would not pacify them but only trigger more thoughts of worry. Chris relaxed in his air cushion and decided to simply observe. To see them rise and pass like waves in the ocean. The more he watched, the more ridiculous they appeared and the weaker they got.
Chris suddenly felt lighter. He smiled, watching Zoe switching to manual mode as the travel pod exited the Web’s Spiral Highway. She was a confident navigator, zooming around corners at maximum speed.
Chris was not fond of travel pods. He considered them just another nuisance of modern society, removing humanity even further from the life they once used to lead. He preferred to walk or ride his thirty-year-old bicycle. An archaic-looking machine composed of welded aluminum pipes that he picked up at an antiques market for just a couple of dollars a few years ago. Bikes like these don’t come around very often, he thought, as Zoe navigated the pod into one of ARC’s docking stations.
* * *
Jon stood only a few meters away smiling at the new arrivals. “You must be… Chris and Detective Hill. Welcome to ARC. My name’s Jon. I’m very glad you’re finally here.”
Chris immediately liked the man. His first impressions were normally correct when it came to meeting people and Jon seemed to emit an aura of confidence intermixed with a selfless attitude that made Chris feel comfortable. “Hi, Jon, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I hope you won’t be too disappointed. I honestly have no idea how I can be of any help to your endeavor.”
Jon smiled. “That’s perfectly fine, neither have I.”
Seventeen
Ilvy
Ilvy left The Shot with tears in her eyes. She hated the happily smiling bastard of a tattooed barista. He had lied to her multiple times while faking compassion in the most deceitful way. If there was one thing she hated even more it was the authorities, the US government who was responsible for this mess. The men in the grey suits, the bureaucrats and politicians, they were the true enemy. They were the ones who held all the power and who dictated the fate of the world in their male-dominated networks of global control and intrigue.
Right now she hated all men. Well… except for one. Her dad. But he was dead and the very enemy she despised so much was responsible for his death. They had cut him open like a pig in a slaughterhouse. Ilvy shivered, her hands wiping away tears that were streaming down her face.
He had never done anything evil. He had been a true and honest man, always. And most significantly, he had been the only important person in her life since her mum died when she was still a girl. He had looked after her. He had been the one who put her to bed every night when she was young, telling her stories about ancient Greek and Roman heroes, stories about a better world where people still cared, where humanity was still honorable, where values like sincerity and mercifulness were more than just empty words.
Ilvy walked past window displays brimming with products manufactured in low-income countries. Junk made of plastic and wrapped in more plastic, ready to pollute a planet that was already struggling to stay alive.
Ilvy remembered reading an article published by World Analytics stating that ten percent of our human bodies were already made up of plastic. The finely ground and predigested powder derived from petroleum-based compounds could be found everywhere, in fish, in chicken, even fruit and vegetables were not safe anymore.
“Why do you do that? What do you want?” Ilvy yelled out in desperation, not caring about the people staring at her as they walked past.
Her face grimaced in pain and disgust as she spat at the window of a shop offering all sorts of plastic items for two dollars apiece.
Ilvy looked down at the dirty pavement where an armada of ancient chewing gum clung to cracks and fissures in the concrete. It stuck to it like the bloodstains that Ilvy was still able to identify on the old timber floor of the café she spent most of her time at after work.
For her it was not a café, it was a tomb, a crypt that held the last remains of a man whom she loved more than anything in this world. Her father.
Ilvy walked down the street in a state of trance. She didn’t know how long she had been walking when suddenly she was standing in front of the door to her small apartment. It was dark. She fumbled in her pocket, eventually producing an old metal key that would unlock the ancient padlock she had fixed to her wooden door. The biometric lock had been non-operational since a break-in last month. She didn’t care. Not anymore. There was nothing she considered valuable in her pos
sessions, nothing that she wouldn’t give freely to anyone who was in need.
Ilvy took off her coat and picked up the paperwork that was scattered all over the table before sinking back into her sofa.
She had received the notice of dismissal yesterday. Only two weeks to go… Ilvy smiled, thinking about leaving her job with the army. She had been working as a personal assistant to General Rush for nearly five years. She initially enjoyed the high-profile job. Traveling with the general was eye-opening, at times frightening, but always a confirmation of her theory that most, if not all, important decisions were made without consulting the public. Ilvy was sure that a few dozen people in the world were playing a massive game of poker and that the world was their price.
Ilvy played along. Or at least she projected a convincing façade of compliance. Not anymore. She had had enough. No more compliance, no more following rules that she had not approved. No more…
Ilvy picked up her cell phone. A message appeared on the display.
Sister,
We are sorry for your loss. Please know that we are on your side. We share your concerns and support your opinion concerning the Great American Lie.
A lie that has been used to exploit the people, the country, yes the whole world for too long. It has to end.
We have to join forces to reestablish equilibrium, to remove the abscess from our beloved body, to again live as free beings in a world liberated from materialistic oppression by so-called leaders of the global community.
If you feel like supporting our cause please, follow the link below and install our communications program. All details will be available through the application.
Yours sincerely,
Sigrid
World Analytics
PLEASE FOLLOW THIS LINK>>>
Ilvy was intrigued. She loved the articles published by World Analytics. She felt this was the right thing to do. This was how she could make them pay. Supporting the resistance, moving against the grain of societal norms. Doing something that would make a difference.
Humans and other Aliens: Book 1 Page 10