The whole thing was mind-boggling. Here she was in the middle of nowhere carrying two sacks of stolen groceries and heading for a space ship. What was going to happen when she got back to the ship? The supplies she brought would last only a few days at best. Then what? They had an enemy ship at their side, one with the potential of destroying all humanity. Surely somebody, the police or people like the O’Hara’s, would discover them sooner or later. What could they do? The Svarians couldn’t just go out into the city. Their features were still too different for that.
In another wave of despair, Mona almost turned and ran. It was a ridiculously impossible situation. What was she doing here anyway? She had no real obligation to Eric, Lydia, or Marcus. In all probability, she could be of no real help to them. It was hopeless. The fact that they’d saved her life and that they wanted to give the world a cure for cancer kept nagging at her conscience. Without warning, Frank Dees’s words were in her ears.
“There’s never been a problem that can’t be solved, Mona,” he’d told her once when she had a difficult assignment. “Sometimes the solutions are not what we hope for, but, nevertheless, everything has an answer. Hang in there — not just on this but on every assignment. Find out the what, when, where, who, and why and take it from there. You’re bright and you’re a good investigative reporter, one of my best. Never give up. No matter what, never give up.”
Frank had told her that when she first started working for the paper. The thought gave her strength. Those words rang truer now than they had in the past. She must go on. She could not desert her friends.
Less than half a mile away, Rob had problems of his own. Tripping over a fallen tree limb, he’d caught one of the paper bags on an overhanging branch. It tore right down the middle. The groceries spread all over the ground.
The delay was annoying enough, but it really terrified him to think that fall could have been fatal. He still did not know what the insertion into his body was, where it was located, and what it would take to trigger it. If it was in the upper part of his torso, a fall might activate it. The Aliens didn’t say whether it was an explosive or just a chemical that would eventually cause body deterioration. He was at a complete loss as to what to expect.
Regardless, good fortune was with him. The fall didn’t cause disastrous results. Rob picked himself up and tried to figure out what to do about the groceries. They wouldn’t all fit in one bag. He tried, but the best he could do was to cram some of the larger cans into the bottom of the bag and pile the smaller ones on top. The loaf of bread was hopelessly squashed into a crushed mass. He scooped out some and wolfed it down dry, then he discarded the rest.
He had a bright idea. Pulling off his jacket, he tied the sleeves together and made a pouch. Still, all of the groceries wouldn’t fit. What to take and what to leave behind was a big decision. Rob’s knowledge of the nutritional value of food was limited. He just guessed what items would be best to discard. Canned milk, he kept. Deviled ham, he discarded. Beans, he kept, thinking at least they’d be filling. Some of the heavier items, he discarded. One by one, he went through the contents as fast as possible. Time ran out. When he finished, he continued on his journey, wondering what somebody would think if they ever found this food out here in the woods.
A new problem arose. His flashlight battery was weak. Each time Rob turned it on, the light became dimmer. “Damn, that could really mean trouble,” he grumbled, hoping to get back to the ship before it went out altogether. As he wondered if he’d ever get back to the ship at all, a wave of despair came over him. If so, would he ever again rejoin the ranks of human beings? It all seemed improbable. Out in the woods with some kind of internal detonator in his body or some chemical in his bloodstream, he could only think the worst — he may never live to see daylight again.
Tears welled up in his eyes, and a lump formed in his throat. He bemoaned the life he’d lived. Oh, the days I’ve wasted. The things I could have done, he thought regretfully. It did no good. All that was behind him. He couldn’t live his life backwards.
He realized that even now his future was in his own hands. He had a choice. Should he still attempt to return to the ship and trust the Aliens to remove the object? Or did his chance for survival lie in getting as far away from that ship as possible and finding medical help? Neither alternative was very promising.
He weighed the choices against each other. Had the Aliens given him any reason to believe they were to be trusted? He had to answer no. On the other hand, he had no reason to believe any doctor on Earth would give an ounce of credibility to his story. Even if one did, since Rob had no indication of where the object was hidden in his body or what chemical was in his blood, what chance was there that it could be taken care of? Besides, he knew that he was out of time. Caught in the middle, he chose to continue his journey back to the ship and hope for the best.
Weighed down with worry, Rob plodded along. In the sky, he saw a flashing red light. How many times before had he seen the tail of a plane going by and paid no notice. Now, it seemed a contact with humanity. But was it? All of a sudden, he realized that it was something more than a plane. No motion could be seen. This object stood still. He watched for a moment and it remained completely immobile. What was it?
Squinting, Rob realized that his twenty-twenty vision did him absolutely no good. The object was too far away. He could not tell whether it was a weather balloon or a ship from outer space. It came down rapidly in his direction. He had a sudden inclination to crouch down out of its way. Realizing the futility of such a move, he remained standing and watched its direction of travel very carefully.
As it neared, he observed its shape. The cone-like object was very similar to the other space ship. It was much larger than he originally thought. He also couldn’t tell whether it was one of the ships he’d left. He’d never seen them airborne.
It boldly flashed lights from all sides as if to say, “I’m coming, I’m coming, beware.” The indiscretion of such a move astounded Rob. He thought anyone from outer space would remain anonymous, if possible. Instead, it appeared that they flaunted their existence for all the world to see.
Moving backward, he noticed that the ship appeared and disappeared at will. It had gone toward the ground in seconds, but just as it almost touched down, a rapid movement thrust it back toward the sky.
Knitting his brows in an effort to pierce through the darkness, Rob had a thought. I wonder if I’m the only human being seeing this? He couldn’t answer his own question. However, in this remote area, he suspected that few, if any, other people were likely to observe this space ship in action. Maybe the occupants of the ship knew that. Was he really seeing what he thought? It could be that whatever Torpi’s people put inside him caused hallucinations. No, this was real. That was a space ship up there.
A thought struck him. In terror, he realized that the ship he saw could be Torpi’s. What would happen if they gave up on his returning and left him? Calming himself, he tried optimism. Maybe he really had nothing to worry about. Perhaps they’d done nothing to him at all and had just used the ruse as a fear tactic to force him to get them food. On the other hand, it was more likely that they had done exactly as they said. They had the technology and the reason to do so. What would be the purpose in lying to him anyhow? He went back and forth, not knowing what to believe. He was right back where he was in the beginning. The uncertainty was the worst of it all. It was about to drive him crazy.
As suddenly as it had come, the ship was gone. If it was Torpi’s ship, Rob knew he had real cause to worry. The thought further depressed him, and he slowed down considerably. What was the hurry if he found that when he got back to the landing spot the Aliens were gone? He might be a dead man.
In the middle of a dense growth of trees and underbrush, he put the groceries on the ground and sat beside them to rest. He felt as if he’d done two days manual labor without a break. The crickets called to him while strange unrelated thoughts drifted through his mind. This was the
very ground Indians camped on a couple of centuries ago. What had they done here? What were they searching for when they explored? Problems that must have faced the Indians seemed minute to Rob in comparison with his own. Yet, to the Indians, they must have seemed insurmountable.
How little they knew, Rob thought scornfully. They didn’t have outer-space creatures to contend with. Wild animals might be easier to handle. I wonder what they’d do if they were me? He had lots of questions, but no answers. A roaring sound echoed through the woods, interrupting his thoughts.
What the hell? He asked himself. In a moment, he had the answer. Lights flashed only feet from him, just outside the thicket on a narrow path. His first fears were allayed when he saw that it was not another space ship. The lights and noise racing his way were coming from a group of dirt bikes. Rob scrambled behind the trunk of a huge pine tree and hoped they’d pass him by. Much to his chagrin, however, amid screams and flying dirt, ten off-terrain vehicles pulled to a halt less than three yards from where he was hiding. His heart raced so fast that he was sure they’d hear it. They didn’t.
Over the sound of idling motors, he heard them talking, but couldn’t distinguish the words. One guy goosed his engine and it went dead. The others also cut theirs off. They lit up cigarettes and when the smell of burning rope reached Rob’s nostrils, he knew why they’d come back into the thicket.
Tough talk of fights reached Rob’s ears. One hairy-faced guy with tattoos covering his arms yelled out, “Hey, you guys, ’preciate you helpin’ me out. I was mad as hell when that dude cut me off.”
Another man laughed, then said, “I think he knows that now. After we made him run off the shoulder of the road and you started beatin’ up on him, I think he got the message.”
“It’s what he deserved.”
Another biker chimed in. “Well, his face knows it. He ain’t gonna be able to eat much for a while. Looked a lot like that bozo I knocked out in that bar last week,” he bragged. “Y’all rememba that?”
“Yeah, he didn’t do nothin’ to you. Why’d you do that?” a guy as wide as he was tall asked.
With a nasty laugh, the other man punched the air. “Wanted to. I jes’ didn’t like his looks.”
An awareness of his hair literally standing on end made Rob shudder. Leaning a bit to one side, as he looked at that tough gang puffing away on their marijuana cigarettes, he accidentally knocked a can of beans out of his bag of groceries. In trepidation, he watched it roll down a slight incline right toward spot where the bikes were parked. As it slipped on the pine straw, one of the cyclists heard the sound.
Cupping his ears, he asked his companions, “What the hell’s that noise?”
“Good God, Bubba. You scared of y’own shadow? That’s just a squirrel,” one of them replied disgustedly.
“Squirrel don’t make that kind o’ noise. Squirrels shamper — samper — Oh, hell, you know what I mean,” Bubba came back defensively, slurring the words. “That’s going ss-ss-s.”
“Who cares? Ain’t you got better things to think about, Bubba, huh?”
But before either of them spoke again, the can came to a stop right at Bubba’s feet. He picked it up. With a sneer, he said, “I tol’ ya it weren’t no squirrel. Hey, we got us some beans. Anybody got a can opener? I’m hongory.”
They tussled with a beer opener until they finally got the can open. One of them said, “We ain’t got no spoon. Besides, I ain’t hongory enough to eat no cold beans.” He dumped the contents on the ground.
Much to Rob’s relief, none of them questioned where the can came from. Maybe they were too stoned to wonder. Regardless, Rob was glad when one long-haired tough revved up his motor as if preparing to leave and the others did likewise. Rob thought he was safe, but the group of men hung around, screaming to each other over the sound of the engines.
Abruptly, and without warning, all of them shut off their engines again. Led by Bubba, they headed in Rob’s direction. Bubba held his cigarette to his lips, took one more puff, then let his arm drop to his side. He said in a stage whisper, “If there’s anybody in there, we’ll get him.”
Frozen to the spot, Rob just sat there, shaking. This was worse than facing the devious Torpi. These kooks would kill him in a minute. It didn’t matter that he posed no threat to them. From their conversation, he knew that Hell’s Angels had nothing on this gang of thugs. They needed no provocation to strike, and he had no defense against them. Pain gripped his chest, and he wondered whether he’d last long enough to be their victim. Cold sweat trickled down his forehead as the blood drained out of his head. Weakness overcame him. He knew that he was going to faint, but he couldn’t stop it from happening. As he lost consciousness, he saw a bright light in the sky. It, too, was headed in his direction. Total blackness told him that, at least temporarily, his world had come to an end.
Rob didn’t know how long he was out, but when he awoke, everybody was gone. No men, no bikes. Only the track marks made by the bikers’ tires showed that they’d been there. Rob was baffled. Hearing a faint noise, he looked upward. Like the reflection of a fish’s fin in the water, he saw a glimmer soaring through the sky. He grinned a smug, sideways smile.
“Well,” he said aloud, “if you’ve taken those thugs, you’ve got your hands full, whoever you are.” Deliberately dismissing the incident from his mind, he picked up his packet of groceries and went on his way.
All the confusion caused him to lose his sense of direction. Thinking that he might be headed towards the road again, he listened for the sounds of the highway or the airport. But none were to be heard. Assuming he was moving toward the ship, he continued his course.
It was still pitch dark. Rob was so tired that he wished he could just lie down and go to sleep. Aching feet and scratched arms and legs didn’t help matters. Thoughts of a good, hot bath made him yearn for the comforts of civilization. If he could have anything in the world he wanted, right now, that bath would take preference — even over a sizzling hot steak dinner.
But all of those things were far from his reach. He dare not even take a bite of food from the bag. Later, in that space ship, it might be even more necessary for survival than it was now. Besides, he wasn’t really hungry, he just needed something to salve his frustrations, and food was the only thing he could think of. He resisted the urge and kept moving.
“Oh, God,” he said almost as a prayer. “Will I ever reach that space ship again?” he asked himself for the hundredth time, desperately thinking he might not. He might be doomed. This time, though, he couldn’t dwell on that, a familiar sound distracted him.
A female cough never sounded so good. The high-pitched stifled sound told him that without a doubt, a girl was somewhere a few yards ahead of him. And somehow, no matter who it was, a female did not seem ominous. Again it came, more like a throat-clearing this time. Pushing through the underbrush, Rob hurriedly tried to catch up. Whatever the outcome, he couldn’t allow her to escape. The need to talk to another human had to be satisfied.
The dim light from his flashlight offered little assistance. It had almost completely gone out. Up ahead, he saw a flicker from another light and debated whether to call out. All he could see was the outline of a slightly built figure of a female. Her light was moving carefully from side to side. He could see that she carried packages in her arms, but he couldn’t tell what they were. She moved fast. He had to hurry.
Leaving his groceries behind, he jumped over fallen tree limbs and made it close enough to the girl so that she heard his approach. Turning to look back, she accidentally flashed the light full in his face. He blinked. Before he regained his composure, he felt two arms flung around his neck.
“Rob, oh Rob,” she said. “It’s really you. I was afraid you were gone forever.”
Unbelievable though it was, Rob realized that it was Mona’s arms that encircled his neck. It was the best feeling in the world. Was he hallucinating? This absolutely was too good to be true.
Rob held Mona at arm�
��s length. “Mona,” he said. “I can’t believe this.”
“Neither can I,” she replied, and they hugged again. They stood there, recounting the past week’s activities. After comparing notes, they came to the point they’d reached now and what the future held.
“This all seems like a dream, a nightmare,” Mona said. “But it’s wonderful to finally have someone who understands and who believes me.”
“Same here,” Rob agreed. “I guess we just have to accept the reality of the problem and try to figure out the solution.”
“Yeah,” Mona said. “At least we’re not alone.”
Even though they exchanged ideas, what to do eluded them. Neither knew. Guessing the right course of action was their only hope. Because of Eric, Lydia, and Marcus, Mona wanted to return to the ships.
“I don’t want to leave them stranded,” she told Rob.
“Well,” he replied, “I sure don’t trust Torpi to eliminate this object from my body or to give me something to counteract what they may have put in my blood, but I really have no choice.”
He still had the gnawing feeling that he might be a goner no matter what he did. But some hope was left. He retrieved his groceries and he and Mona talked as they made their way — a way that both agreed was the right one.
“You know, Mona. We shouldn’t discount other possibilities. Eric could be in charge by now, or Torpi could have overcome Eric’s ship and be lying in wait for us to return.” He shrugged. “And I don’t know about that space ship I saw — the one that must have taken those bikers. Whose was it?”
There were too many unanswered questions. In an effort to put it all out of his mind for a minute, Rob changed the subject and asked about Pep.
Time Will Tell Page 11