The couples viewed with astonishment, as they flipped through all the pictures. One was taken from further away, revealing a creature that appeared to be unclothed, short, and slender. The hands and wrists were slight, appearing childlike, and the fingers were exceptionally long and thin. The legs were thin and the feet tiny. Other photos, taken as both close-ups and from further away, showed the being clothed and wearing a woman’s wig and sunglasses. And the final one made Doug gasp, “Holy smokes, that’s my house!” It was a picture of the figure, apparently unclothed, standing in a front doorway, in front of a black seahorse motif hung on a yellow pastel background stucco wall.
Laura’s eyes were wide as saucers. She was speechless.
After Doug had flipped through the pictures again, Terri broke the silence in the room. “Oh my God, Tom. It looks like one of those aliens you see in the movies.” She shook her head in disbelief.
Tom seemed to agree. “One of those beings from another planet. I wonder if this was what my dad was working on out at Groom Lake?”
“I guess it is some sort of female E.T. and, with the clothes on and all, she doesn’t look too bad,” Doug commented.
“I hope this isn’t my dad’s latest girlfriend.” That comment seemed to break the tension in the room.
“Well, looks like Nick is going to need some help,” Doug stated flatly.
“Let’s see what all this handwritten stuff has to say,” Tom said, pulling out the document from the box and reading it out loud to the assembled group.
The fairly long tome basically detailed Nick’s work at Area 51, the capture of Amie at Rendlesham, the use of captive alien labor and their long period of imprisonment with no exposure to sunshine and fresh air, and the relationship that had developed between him and Amie. Nick explained the details of the extraterrestrial’s escape from Area 51 and her current location. Tom read further as Nick mentioned Amie’s special powers, her telepathic ability, and the unique vest she wore that could signal a Seeker to find her, if she was able to get to a place with a high energy vortex. Nick went on to explain how such a place existed in the Bermuda Triangle, and how he had planned to take her to the Bahamas so that a spaceship could pick her up.
“Well, this explains the letter and all that stuff about transporting her in my boat,” Doug responded.
“Are you willing to do that?” Tom asked. “My father is sure asking a lot of you.”
“UFO’s?” Doug laughed ruefully. “Who’d have thought old Nick would get me into this crazy mess! Nick’s been my friend for years. If he really wants to free this being, this Amie, then I’ll do my best to help him out, unbelievable as it all seems. If she doesn’t get off on her spacecraft I’d say that Nick is going to be in a world of shit. She can’t stay at my house for the rest of her life. I’ve got to help him.”
Tom spoke next. “I agree. I want to help my dad. I can see why he isn’t able to finish this himself. He’s probably being watched, listened in on, whatever. From his letter, I can see that they don’t know enough to point the finger at him, but it may be just a matter of time. I need to do this quickly for his sake.”
“Seems like poor Amie’s been on this Earth long enough. I really feel for her and, if there is a chance, I would like to see her get to her home,” Laura stated.
The only member of the group that was hesitant was Terri. She shook her head and grabbed Doug’s arm. “Listen, Doug. I know this sounds like some great adventure to you, but this could be very dangerous. You don’t know anything about this alien being. She could be real trouble. Just ‘cause Nick says she deserves to escape and return to her home planet, doesn’t convince me that I want to jump into the middle of this mess.”
Terri had made a good point, and the four debated this for some time, and Doug was beginning to side with Terri.
“After all,” Terri stated, “What would you all do if we were suddenly thrown in jail for trying to help this E.T. woman that we don’t know and means nothing to us?”
To allay her fears, Tom reminded that the documents and pictures in the box they had opened were to be used by his father as a bargaining chip with the government, should they threaten him with prosecution. We can warn them we will take what we have to the media. That should make the feds want to draw back and leave us alone.
Doug suggested they put the box and its contents in his safe, hidden under the carpet in his guest bedroom closet floor. “No one knows about that safe except us. Any snoopy agents would never find it.”
Terri seemed mollified by this plan, but she still voiced her concerns regarding the wisdom of opposing the government to aid a non-human creature from another world. She was highly suspicious of the motives of this space alien.
“I hear you, and you are perfectly justified in feeling that way. But this is something very important to my dad, and he got himself mixed up in it for a good reason, I’m sure. I’m going to do this on my own if I have to, because I feel I have already made a commitment to him.”
“We can understand if you two don’t want to get involved. We’ll just have to find another way,” Laura stated with conviction. Tom was quite surprised to hear his wife side with him so adamantly.
There was a long silence amongst the group members, until Doug finally broke the ice, making his decision on the matter, “Nick has been a good friend to me over the years and I’m not going to let him down. Terri, you don’t need to go with me on the trip. I fully understand and, if anything goes wrong, I will swear on a stack of Bibles that you never knew a thing about it.”
With that, the thinking on the issue seemed to take a more positive turn and Terri retracted her position and began to support her husband. “Maybe, once I meet this space woman I will come to understand her better, maybe even like her,” Terri mentioned, trying to sound positive.
Eventually, everyone in the group joined in a discussion of how they were willing to help Nick with his plan. Doug explained that he had taken his boat to the Bahamas in the past, but timing was everything. “It’s a four or five hour boat ride from here, and it will go okay as long as the weather is good.”
“Maybe just Tom and I should take her,” Doug stated, still feeling insecure about what they were about to attempt. “No need for you gals to get involved.”
“No way. I want to go,” Laura spoke up.
“Well, I guess I do, too. A chance of a life-time, I suppose,” Terri muttered, rather reluctantly.
“Yeah, maybe we can all write a book about our adventure someday,” Laura offered.
“I don’t know about that, but someone’s got to keep an eye on these guys and make sure the space babe with the wild wig doesn’t carry them off to her leader on another planet,” Terry joked sarcastically.
“I’ll check the weather right now,” and Doug stood up to check his computer. He was happy that his wife was warming up to their plan. “I believe they’re predicting a good boating week. If it looks good, we can go on Monday.”
The couples planned for what they would need to take, money for boat gas, passport for Doug and Terri, food to purchase, etc. Then the issue came up of how they were going to get Amie. “Will they follow us if we drive to her hideout?” Laura asked.
“We can go in my boat,” Doug said, “They aren’t following me, at least I don’t think they are. If we pick her up by the dock, we can put her in the cabin, head down the river and out the inlet. We should be able to get under that bridge at Idabelle Island as long as it isn’t high tide.”
“But what will she think when we all show up?” Terri wondered, imagining a lone woman might be terrified if a group of people barged into her house.
“I’ll go in alone,” Tom answered, “hopefully, that will convince her that I am on her side.”
Nick spent the rest of the week working on the team awards for his workmates on the Maryland end of the project. He made sure that Shelley Carson got an especially generous award, as he had a guilty conscience over the fact that he had been complicit in her
losing her jacket, purse, money and IDs. He had helped to cause her a lot of unnecessary grief and he felt very sorry about that.
Late Friday afternoon, Bob came by Nick’s office, closed the door, and pulled a chair directly in front of Nick’s desk. He gave Nick a weak smile. “Got all those team awards done for me?”
“Yeah, Bob, I just finished them up this afternoon. Do you want me to schedule a special time, the week after I get back from Florida, to pass them out or just wait for the monthly staff meeting?”
“Oh, well... we can do it at the regular monthly staff meeting, I suppose.” The boss seemed distracted in his thoughts. There was a pause.
“So, you’re going down to Florida next week, to your house, right?”
“Yup, still lots of work needs doing. It’s an old place, built in the early 70’s. Needs lots of updating.”
“Yeah, well that works out good. There’s no need to rush back. Take all the time you need.” Again the boss hesitated, as if there was something he was very reluctant to say to Nick.
Bob’s affable nature changed to a more serious tone. “Look, Nick, we’ve got a real problem here, with all this investigation business into the incident at Area 51.”
“I realize that, Bob. I’ve tried to be straight with those investigators, but they just keep coming after me with petty stuff.”
“Yeah, well all that little stuff does add up...”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, all those things they’ve been asking you. They say your answers are vague. It creates a cloud of doubt. And that will hang over you until Amie is found and they figure out what happened.”
“I guess so,” Nick said, somewhat sheepishly.
“Well it does. So here’s what we’re going to do.” Bob got right to the point. “I think they’re about to pull your clearance. I can’t have you working on much of anything right now, while this thing is still hanging in the air. You’re only a few months from retirement, and I looked up your available leave time. You’ve got at least a month you haven’t used. I want you to just take some time off, Nick. Go back to Florida and enjoy yourself. When you come back, you can take time and work on your resume, clean out your desk. Do some interviews on company time, if you want. You know how we grant all sorts of time to people so they can look for another job after they retire from here, if that’s what they want to do. If some little project comes up, that doesn’t require a clearance, I can put you on that. Although, right now, I can’t envision what that could be. But, by then, maybe this whole thing will be over and you can come back and finish up with some light projects, nothing serious.”
Nick was crestfallen. It was obvious his boss was telling him that his clearance was about to be yanked. The feds had nothing on him, but they were apparently still wary of his possible involvement. Maybe they were waiting for him to make a false move.
“So have a great time down there in Florida. You lucky guy, going down there just when the weather gets chilly up here.” After hopping from the chair, Bob actually punched Nick affably in the arm.
“Okay Bob, I get your point.” Nick stood up and offered to shake his hand. Bob reached out too and both men shook hands, Bob pumping and squeezing Nick’s hand excessively.
Bob was obviously uncomfortable, nervous, and glad to be getting this unpleasant task over with. “But one thing, please stay in touch, every week, okay buddy?”
Nick felt like he just got fired, although he knew that wasn’t the case. He did have a lot of excess vacation time he’d accrued, and he knew the company didn’t like to pay for those leave days when someone retired. It was standard for those contemplating retirement to use up their leave, so Bob wasn’t being deceitful or telling him something different than what he would say to anyone else. Except for the part about the clearance; that was not good.
As Bob hastened out the office door, Nick slouched back in his chair, staring straight ahead. He should have seen this coming. His career was heading to a close and he was being hustled out the door.
After checking his computer for flights to Florida, Nick picked up his briefcase and jacket and walked out into the colors of autumn. Red and orange leaves swirled around his feet, as he shuffled to his car in the parking lot. Suddenly Nick felt as dry and crinkled as those dead leaves. A heavy feeling of depression seemed to drape over him.
Meanwhile, Bob picked up his phone and placed a call. “Yeah, that’s right. He’ll be back in Florida, I think some time this weekend. Okay, I’ll keep you posted if I hear anything else.”
Chapter 23
As usual, Amie arose early that morning, pouring the last of her apple juice into a chipped coffee cup. Because all of her juice bottles were now empty, she would be drinking from her few remaining water bottles and would then switch to the tap water at the kitchen faucet. She put the used up bottle into a black trash bag, full of other empty jars, bottles, and cans, and hauled the stinking load to the garage. She had no idea what to do with the leftover trash, besides storing it in there, away from the house. Nick had not told her about trash pickup.
Amie thought about Nick, and wondered if he was coming this weekend, as he had promised he would. It was an overcast, dreary Saturday and tomorrow would be two weeks since Nick had left. Amie stared out the windows of the Florida room, looking at the gray angry sky, the dripping leaves of the bushes that pushed up against the back of the house, and the dark, lapping river water. Her spirits were low; the local news reports called for rain the entire day. She was bored. It was time to meditate again and call out to Nick. Surely he would hear her. He had assured her he would find a way.
As Nick headed down to Florida on an early Sunday morning flight, he could not get thoughts of Amie from his mind. It had seemed, during his two weeks in Maryland, that he could occasionally hear her words in his head “Nick, don’t forget me” or “Nick, I’m counting on you”. He knew it must be Amie, using her thought-speak, trying to reach him as he worked in his office or slept at night. But now, as his plane prepared to land at West Palm Beach Airport, Nick could clearly hear Amie’s mind-talk, and she was shouting her distress to him in one loud, clear message “Nick, help me!”
Tom and Laura met Nick at the airport and he immediately asked for Tom and Laura’s cell phones, placing them in his bag together with his own. In the airport parking lot, he put his bag down in the trunk of their car, and motioned for them to step several yards away.
Such surreptitious activities unnerved the couple. Nick explained that it was possible for someone to listen in to conversations through the phone’s microphone, even if it were shut off. “A listening device might be in the car, too,” Nick cautioned. “Let’s not speak about anything to do with ‘my problem’ on the way to my house. When we get there, let’s plan to go to the beach. We can talk more freely there.”
On the drive to his home, Nick briefly told them how his work was winding down now, and he would be using all his available leave time to get ready for a permanent move to Florida. Tom told his father that, if he and Laura could get teaching jobs somewhere in the area, they had given consideration to moving down themselves. Nick thought about that and was very pleased that they were contemplating moving closer to him. These happy thoughts led to a daydream of himself playing frequently with grandchildren.
It was a lovely day, sunny and quite hot for late October, and the drive took about 45 minutes to Palm City. After lunch by the pool, they traveled to Jensen Beach. Nick couldn’t be sure they weren’t being followed, but he doubted the government folks would care to trail around after them for a walk on the beach.
The surf was light and a nice, fair weather, easterly wind was blowing, as they walked along the short boardwalk and down the steps to Jensen Beach. Tom and Nick spread out the beach blanket and the one beach chair that Nick had in his garage. Laura, in her bikini, with her pony-tailed, blond hair poking through the back of a baseball cap, was a lovely vision. She sat in the little chair, got out her tanning lotion, and said she
would “catch rays” while the men walked the beach.
Away from the small crowd of sunbathers and amateur surfers, Tom told his father the entire story of meeting with Doug and Terri and everyone’s absolute shock when they saw the pictures of Amie. “I always thought those stories of aliens at Area 51 were just UFO geek’s fantasies, Dad. What a career you’ve had! It must have been amazing to work with these beings.”
“It was a fascinating job. I have loved my work over the years. But, of course, the existence of extraterrestrials has been one of the most closely held secrets of anything in our nation.”
“So why did you become so close to this one alien, this Amie?”
“She worked on my team. I have known here for almost five years now. Gradually, we have grown closer. Most of the folks on my project wouldn’t really have much to do with her. Working with the aliens gives them the willies, even though these beings have been tremendously helpful with our military projects. But there is something about them that most people just don’t like...”
“And they never bothered you?”
“Well, I guess I just seemed more open. I mean, I was never afraid of Amie. I always trusted her. But I will tell you this. When you meet her, don’t be fooled by her size. Amie has special powers. I didn’t realize this, I guess, until recently. You will need to be careful when you find her. I recommend that only you try to approach her. She will be frightened when she hears you enter her house. She expects me. I told her not to admit anyone else.”
“How should I go about it then, Dad?”
“Enter the house with the key to the front door. As you enter, she will probably be hiding somewhere. So call out, ‘Amie, I am Nick’s son. He sent me to help you.’ Something like that. Get the point across that you’re my son, and show her that picture of you and me, and wave the medallion you found in the box in front of her eyes. That should immediately put her at ease. It’s important you do this, because as I said, she does have some inexplicable powers and I wouldn’t want you to end up getting zapped by her.”
SKY WOMAN OF GROOM LAKE Page 18