Onio

by Jeppsen, Linell

  Mel gasped with shock, while the sasquatches shook their heads in sorrow. Triku stared at Mel and said, “We have spent several lifetimes trying to guide, warn and instruct the new human beings here on this planet, who grew from the seeds of the old, but it seems we have failed and are being called home. I, for one, am glad to go home…to see my world before my eyes grow dim, but I am also angry and frustrated.” The bug shook its scaly head.

  “Human beings have so much potential. They never cease to astonish me with their ingenuity, tenacity and strength. They also break my heart, repeatedly, with their cruelty, anger and propensity for violence. At any rate….” The bug hopped off the rock and hobbled to where Onio stood. “I will be leaving soon. I have taken the liberty of drilling a new tunnel so you can make your way to your king’s chambers unimpeded. I also have a trinket for you.” It grinned up at Onio and held a pebble up in the air.

  Its claws scrabbled at the rocks surface and for a moment, a brilliant rainbow gleam filled their sight. Mel felt the tiny hairs on her forearms stir with static electricity and the sasq warriors gasped. Then the light was gone and it was only a pebble again, dull and partially encrusted with dirt.

  Grinning, the bug shrugged its wings and said, “This is called a Herculean stone. It is something that belonged to your ancient ancestors a very long time ago.” The bug started walking back toward the stone monolith. It held some sort of pointer in its claw and pointed it at the boat. The green glow flickered to life and Mel could hear its mechanisms whine to life.

  Stopping, it turned around and said, “Farewell, Star Brothers. Perhaps we will meet again someday.” With those words, the bug stepped into the doorway and the stone door closed behind it.

  Mel, Tanah and the sasq stared at one another and at the boat that glowed green and seemed to be hovering a few inches off the ground, anxious to get underway. Not knowing what else to do, they walked to the boat, boarded and hoped that it, at least, knew where they were going next.

  ***

  The alien custodian of one of Earth’s inner portals smiled with enigmatic pleasure as it watched the hovercraft sail up and away to the new drilled tunnel through its view screen. He had fulfilled his duty and could go home now. Triku did not know if the Herculean stone would be able to save the guardians, but he had accomplished his mission and could rest now.

  Furling its wings, the bug allowed its protective outer shell to encompass its fragile body. Then, Triku rolled into his cocoon and slept.

  Chapter 21

  Approximately 1525 miles away from where Onio and his companions were air lifted by hovercraft from the gigantic spaceship concealed deep beneath Flathead Lake and the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, Lieutenant Colonel Terrence O’Dell stared at the latest experiment in Major Abernathy’s medical lab.

  Four gigantic medical spotlights illuminated the female sasquatch’s naked body, and her brown eyes rolled in sunken sockets as her brain was removed from the cranial cavity and lifted up into the light for closer inspection. One tender jab of a surgical probe caused the females right leg and arm to jerk spasmodically, and a tall, wheeled tray that housed the surgical saw and a tray of instruments flew across the room and fell over with a clatter. O’Dell heard the metallic clank from where he stood a level above the surgical theatre in an observation booth.

  O’Dell’s assistant, Lieutenant Andrew Spiles, shuddered at the almost sensual smile that crossed his commander’s face. He had learned two years ago, when he was first assigned to the special ops division in Fort Bliss, that the lieutenant colonel’s hatred for the sasquatches bordered on the psychotic.

  Spiles was both dumbfounded and awestruck by the sasq people, who had only lived in fairy tales and his own imagination before he was assigned to O’Dell’s team. Now, he dreaded every day of his life as the lieutenant colonel’s assistant. He held a degree in psychology and knew a lunatic when he saw one, but the commander was a highly functioning psychotic who knew how to cater to the powers-that-be.

  Only Spiles and the medical team assigned to the sasquatch research study knew how much the commander enjoyed hurting the sasq they caught, and the bleeding never stopped…not for the sasq test subjects or the lieutenant, who had to watch the torture day after day.

  Spiles looked at his notes and noted the time and date. Actually, the page was already dated and time-stamped, but he needed to look away from the dying female’s gaze as the doctor plunged her still living brain into a vat of sterilized jelly for further dissection. The bulletproofed glass that separated the operating room from the observation deck rattled inquisitively when the female died, as if the sasq desperately tried one last time to plea for help.

  “Goddammit, that was close,” O’Dell muttered, as Stiles blinked tears of shame from his eyes and fumbled blindly for another Tums.

  O’Dell keyed the mike and barked, “You fucked around too long, Major. Now we lost another one. Take it away and bring in that male we found last week.”

  Turning to his subordinate, O’Dell said, “What’s the matter with you lately, Spiles? I’ve got no time for illness or the faint of heart amongst my staff members. Take fifteen and go get yourself in order, or I’ll find someone better suited to this assignment.”

  “Yes sir!” Spiles responded briskly and strode from the room. He walked into the men’s restroom and, checking quickly to make sure he was alone, walked into a cubicle and closed the door. Last night’s dinner and this morning’s coffee and muffin spewed out of his mouth into the gleaming porcelain fixture. The dying eyes of the latest sasquatch casualty bored into his brain, and tears of grief and remorse ran down his cheeks.

  He remembered the frantic knocking on the Plexiglas windows of the observation platform and closed his eyes in horror. Didn’t the colonel know that what he was doing was a sin? These weren’t animals…they were more…much, much more, and the lieutenant’s blood ran cold. The sasquatches were telepathic, and although they didn’t use words to speak, Spiles would be willing to swear they spoke, and pleaded with him.

  He opened the stall door and stood above the long line of sinks to splash cold water on his face and arms. Rinsing the taste of vomit out of his mouth, Spiles popped a breath mint, chewing furiously. He had requested a transfer out of this hellhole and should know the answer later today. Andrew would take a hard fall, and would probably never be allowed to ride the fast track again in this man’s Army, but he no longer cared.

  For some reason, O’Dell was convinced the sasquatch’s were a threat to national security and seemed determined to eradicate them altogether, despite the fact that the test subjects were supposed to be well treated and, above all, kept alive for further research. If the Geneva Convention models were observed, the facility would have been shut down years ago and everyone who participated in the trials imprisoned for life.

  But that will never happen, he thought as he pushed the button for a Sprite on the pop machine in the white-tiled hallway outside the medical lab. The installation was as secret as it could possibly be considering the fact it resided within the boundaries of the Fort Bliss Army reservation.

  The medical facility itself was deep underground, the only evidence of its existence a large garage that housed the base’s ambulances, coroner’s vans, and medical evacuation Humvee’s. Only high security personnel were allowed past a non-descript doorway into the inner-sanctum, or to what Spiles considered the secret hallways of hell.

  He straightened his shoulders and smiled. He was a soldier in good standing, with numerous medals. He was an officer, a gentleman, and had the right to transfer if he so desired. Maybe he could take a demotion and start out fresh in weapons training, or even sniper school. He was once a pretty good shot, and had a knack for teaching others how to put themselves in that special state of suspended animation needed to hit a target at eight hundred to a thousand yards. Anything would be better than watching another innocent sasquatch die at the hands of a maniac.

  Taking a deep breath, Spiles pushed t
he swinging door open and entered the observation room. Another doped up sasquatch was bound to a reclining gurney. Heavy steel endorsed leather straps circled the male’s wrists, chest, thighs and neck. Electrodes dangled from the sasq’s shaved head and pulse points. The sasquatch’s head came up slowly when Spiles took his place at the console. Although he knew the test subject was administered a freakishly high-dose cocktail of psychotropic drugs, the sasq’s eyes were calm and clear as he gazed at the lieutenant.

  Spiles studied this new specimen carefully. This one was smaller than the others and, strangely enough, its irises were blue. The sad intelligence in those cornflower eyes chilled Spiles to the bone.

  The sasq nodded and said, “You should stop this.”

  The two nursing assistants in the room with the sasquatch started violently, and one let out a little yelp of fear. Spiles stared at the male with wonder. The lieutenant colonel, thankfully, had stepped out for a break. Looking over his shoulder at the metal door, Spiles made a snap decision.

  Springing out of his chair, Spiles ran to the door and locked it. Going back to the console, he keyed the mike and said, “Jonesey, Trish…that will be all for now. Please go to your quarters and stay there until I call for you. This is a security issue now, and you will need to be de-briefed. Answer to me and to me, only. Are we clear?”

  “Clear, sir!” the soldiers exclaimed and ran out of the room, locking the door behind them as they left.

  Spiles knew he only had a few moments of privacy with this magnificent creature before the commander or the doctor returned. He also knew, without any doubt, that what he was doing now would be considered insubordination, punishable by time in the brig and possibly even death by firing squad. He had reached his limit though. Although his palms were slick with sweat and his heart thundered in his chest, he keyed the mike and said, “Can you understand me?”

  The sasquatch nodded his head but his eyelids drooped. “Hey!” Spiles barked. “Don’t fall asleep!”

  The male’s head jerked and he sat up with an effort, staring through the glass at the small human behind the safety glass. “I am awake,” he murmured. “Can you stop this madness?”

  The fear and sorrow in the creature’s deep voice pinged sharply against the lieutenant’s consciousness. He hung his head and said, “I’m going to try, but I don’t have a lot of power around here…can I come in there?”

  The sasquatch frowned and said, “Why? Will you kill me, like you did the others?”

  Spiles shook his head. “No! But I need to make it look like I did. Can you trust me to do that?”

  The sasq nodded and seemed to fall asleep. Moving quickly, Spiles opened the air-hatch, descended the metal catwalk and entered the laboratory. He heard voices in the distance and prayed that his hare-brained plan would work. He moved to the small refrigerator unit in the corner and pulled a bag of plasma out. Grabbing a scalpel, he opened a cut in the plastic and tossed the blood over the sasquatches face and chest. The male sat up, startled, but fell back again when he saw the young lieutenant gesture for silence.

  Spiles knew that although the sasquatch was fighting the drug’s influence with all his might, the chemical cocktail had taken affect. Bending down, Spiles unlocked the wheel brakes and pulled the diodes off the sasq’s body. The voices in the hallway were growing louder and Spiles knew that his time was almost up. It was do or die, right here and right now.

  Biting his lower lip, the lieutenant grabbed the foot-rail of the hospital bed and pushed it through the swinging doors to the installation’s secret hospital ward. Two nurses looked up from their monitors and the lead nurse started to rise to her feet.

  “That’s all right, Molly,” Spiles called out. “This one got a little too frisky and had to be put down. I’m just going to take it to the morgue.” The nurse stopped, gave a shrug and sat back down at her desk.

  Spiles licked the sweat off his upper lip and continued to wheel the bed down the hallway. The closest service elevator was only about fifty feet away. If he could just get the sasq down to the morgue, maybe he could hide the body until later, when he was off shift. His thoughts raced through his mind and he could feel the small hairs on the back of his neck crawling with fear.

  Looking down, Spiles noticed the creature was conscious and watching him through half-closed eyes. “People are approaching,” he murmured, and Spiles’s heart skipped a beat.

  Sure enough, the lieutenant heard the sound of voices coming from an adjacent hallway. It was the lieutenant colonel and Major Abernathy. Not knowing what else to do, Spiles skidded to a stop in front of a custodial closet. He jerked the door open and backed inside, dragging the bed and the sasquatch on it with him into the darkened room. For a second the bed refused to move…it was stuck.

  Bending down, Spiles saw a forty-eight inch dust-mop wedged under the bed’s right-front wheel. Tugging the mop clear with a grunt of effort, Spiles let the door close, enveloping the room in darkness. He heard the colonel and the major walk past the closet and down the hallway.

  Spiles’s heart banged with barely-suppressed panic and his breath caught in his throat when he heard the sasquatch whisper, “Thank you for saving me, soldier…but why do you do so?”

  Spiles shook his head and sighed. “I honestly don’t know. It will be the end of me if we’re caught. It’s just that…I don’t like what’s being done to your people. There has got to be a better way.”

  Standing in the dark room with a creature that could crush him with one giant hand tied behind its back, Spiles let tears of fear and lost opportunities slide down his cheeks. He had just committed a crime against his commander and his country. He knew that if he didn’t think of something to get himself and his charge out of this facility, and fast, life as he knew it had just come to an abrupt end.

  Chapter 22

  The sasq warrior known as Blue (or Blue Sky), son to Two Horses, king of the northern territories, and the human woman called Tanah, watched the small human soldier weep with nervous terror. He wasn’t entirely sure why the soldier was so upset but understood that the small soldier must be going against what his leader wanted of him. He acknowledged that he, personally, would be too frightened of what his father, the king, would do to attempt such a thing.

  Pitying the soldier, he murmured, “Is there some way you could barter for my freedom with your superiors?”

  Spiles shook his head. “No. Somehow I’ve got to get you out of here. If you’re caught they’ll kill you and probably arrange to have me killed as well.”

  Blue shuddered. Killed outright? He thought. I could see killing the enemy if they pose a threat, but to arrange for the death of one of their own kind is extreme! He sat up, wincing. The drug the doctors had given him was wearing off now, but his head pounded and his mouth was dry as sand.

  He saw the soldier walk toward the back of the room. There was a muffled rattle and a crack of false light painted the wall. “What did you find…uh, what are you called?” he asked.

  Spiles turned around and Blue saw a grin come over the man’s face. “I was going to say Lieutenant Spiles, but what’s the point? My name is Andy,” he concluded.

  Blue smiled in return. “My name is Blue Sky, but my friends and family call me, Blue.”

  Andy studied the sasquatch’s face and answered, “It’s because of your eyes, right?”

  Blue nodded. “Yes, sky eyes are rare among our people.”

  “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Blue,” Andy said. “Now we need to get you the hell out of here.” Turning back toward the hole in the wall, Andy sighed. “If it was me, I could shimmy down this shaft and end up in the laundry room. There’s a loading dock there and doors leading outside.” Turning toward Blue, he added, “But that’s me. I’m kinda small and thin. Look at you…I don’t think you will fit!”

  Blue swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, steadying himself on the edge of the gurney. “Let me look.” He walked to where Andy stood peering through a hole in the
wall. Nodding thoughtfully, the sasq said, “It can be done, Ann. I will make myself small.”

  Andy frowned at the warrior. “How…how can you make yourself fit in there?”

  Blue shrugged. “Our bodies are not like yours…we are strong, pliable. Sasq bones are not as rigid as the small humans’…I think I can make myself fit in that tunnel, but where does it lead?”

  “Well,” Andy ran a hand through sweaty hair. “It should lead right into a large laundry bin.” He saw the quizzical expression on the sasq’s face, and added, “A big, soft box designed for catching dirty sheets and clothes.”

  “Ah…laundry,” Blue repeated.

  “Thing is, though, I don’t know if there is any laundry in the catch-bin. Listen….” Andy paused for a moment, trying to think. “You stay here, okay? I’ll run downstairs and see if the coast is clear.”

  “The coast….”

  Blue was looking more bewildered by the second and Spiles said, “Listen, I know that this is hard. I don’t blame you if you decide not to trust me, okay? It’s the first time I’ve gone against orders and I’m just feeling my way here, but if you can trust me one more time I think I can get you out of here!”

  Blue looked the small human soldier in the eye and whispered, “I trust you, Ann.” The words the sasq uttered were so sincere that it made Spiles’s heart heavy with fear. What if everything went FUBAR? Both of them would be shot down without a second’s hesitation by O’Dell and his henchmen.

  “I’m going down to the laundry room. I do have a couple of dress uniforms to check out so it won’t seem too strange for me to show up. The hard part will be getting behind the counter to make sure a bin is under this chute.” He glanced at the sasq. “You need to stay low…hide,” he amended at the quizzical expression on Blue’s face. “Will you do that for me?” he asked. “Over here would be good,” Spiles pointed at the back corner, where a jumble of broom sticks, mop handles and giant squeegees bloomed like a bunch of bizarre posies from an army green plastic garbage can. A battered and dusty locker unit sat next to it in the corner, and there was just room enough for the sasq to hide between the two and not be seen.