by NB Blackbell
"Look at this," on the document, it noted that a high frequency disables the Zafarians and that they will remain that way as long as the high pitch is in progress. It must be potent. Humans can't hear it. "We can't hear dog whistles. I wonder if that would work?" Jake grabbed the paper. "Look at this." Further down the page, it read: There are at least a million half aliens living among the humans and don't even know they're not entirely human. Some are good, and some are bad. The bad ones will help us wipe out the rest of the human race, including the half aliens on the wrong side. Jake looked at her. "Wow! This is crazy. We need to show John this, I'm glad you went. I probably would've been to upset with her. Even more, I'm glad you're my sister." Jake got up to find John. He smiled as he left the room. Jasper sighed as she thought to herself, I think I'm going to go take a warm bath, reread this letter, then head to bed for the night. Perhaps tomorrow will be the day we get to go home. She pushed in her chair and headed towards her room.
Chapter Twelve
Christie hopped up onto the bed. "Aunt Jasper, are you awake?" Jasper opened her eyes. Christie was on one side, and Buddy was on the other. "You two need to let me wake up. Perhaps you both can wake each other up." She sat up grinning, then she pulled Buddy over and started to rub his belly. "See, this is what he likes. If you rub his belly, you can be one of his best friends." Christie giggled. "He's so adorable." The cat jumped on the bed and brushed against the little girl. "Oh, Nookers, you're so cute too." Jasper smiled. "If you want, you can be their babysitter. All you have to do is feed and play with them while we deal with the situation on hand." Isabel rolled over. "That would be a great idea. Christie, it will give you someone to play with all day." Christie nodded. "Okay," Jasper reached over and picked up the letter she wrote to her mother many years ago. "I wrote this just before I left home." Isabel sat up.
"What does it say?" Isabel read aloud. "Mom, as much as I can appreciate what you're doing, you need to understand. Cloaked or not, I will not tolerate them hurting the human race. I will find a way back, and I will put an end to all of this. Even before my memory was erased, I swore I would stop them. I don't understand how my mother could know all of this for seven years and not say anything. I may love her, but this is partially on her. We would've been able to secretly work on this for the past seven years, and it could've made a difference." Isabel frowned. "I can understand why you would be upset. She was probably in a pretty dangerous situation, and perhaps she couldn't tell you, it would've interfered with the veiling. There's always a chance he would detect a change in the cloaking if she told you. Do you think he noticed you were against them?" Jasper shook her head. "I don't know, maybe he did. She says he was still very much an alien even though he loved her." Isabel sighed. "It has to be hard having your life change overnight." Jasper sat up and started to put her socks on. "Yeah, it is, I feel like two different people. I hold memories of one life, and now I remember another. Yet I now know the one I thought I had is fake." She got up and headed towards the door. "I'll be back later. I need to figure out what's going on."
Jasper could hear the guys in the board room before she even got there. Must be serious, she thought as she entered the room. "I can hear you guys down the hall, is something wrong?" John looked over at her. "No, we're fine. Just trying to agree on what to do about this. We may know more about them, but it still doesn't tell us how to get rid of them. I think we need to go to where they buried the ship and investigate it, see what we can come up with." Jasper grabbed a seat next to them. "I agree, they buried it for a reason… must be something good on it." Larzo shook his head fiercely. "It doesn't feel right."
John leaned forward, "So, don't go then. Meanwhile, we need information. Some of us need answers, so we can put an end to this. Why are you suddenly paranoid about doing stuff?" Larzo looked over at the window then back at him. "It's one thing to walk into a situation minutes away from the home base, but this is two days away. I guess I can feel the lack of security in this mission." Jake reached over and patted him on the back. "Everyone has their moments. You're used to playing spy close to home. This situation is unusual. This is a life-threatening situation, and if we want to survive, then this is a mission that needs to be accomplished."
Jake looked over at John. "Let's figure out who's the best person to go to Mexico. I think someone immune to stuff should be present, just in case something happens." John nodded. "Yes, I agree. I'll let you figure out which group will go. When you guys get there, I'll have the Mexican team meet up with you and give you a safe place to stay. They will have a team to back you up just in case of trouble. The alien's ship is buried under a temple. I'm not sure how to find it, but we have to try."
Jasper stretched. "So, besides an overly large ship, what exactly are we looking for?" He gazed at Jasper. "I'm not sure. Perhaps there's something in the ship they don't want anyone to find. We won't know until we see it." She nodded, "Okay. Well, I'm going. I want to see this ship first hand. Send Nick too, we're a good team together. Jake, you and Billy should come too. That way, we won't have to worry about anyone being affected. Does anyone actually know where these temples are in Mexico? It's not exactly a small place?" John moaned softly, "I know, it'll take a little research. Maybe I can reach Rick on the handheld. If so, he might have some information on it. His team would be the ones to meet with you. I'll have Faith and Marcy get the stuff you need together for the trip. Give me a few hours to get some more information, then we'll figure out the rest." Jasper got up and headed towards the door. "Let me know if you come up with anything. I'm going to go find Nick."
As Jasper stepped out of the room, she whispered inside her head, Where are you, Nick? Seconds later, he replied, I'm in the kitchen. She turned around and headed towards the kitchen. Nick was sitting at the table, "Morning, Jasper. Do you know how much I missed my morning coffee?" She grabbed a coffee and sat down next to him. "We're planning a trip to Mexico, I imagine we'll be leaving today or tomorrow. We just have to get the details. John's going to let me know in a few hours if he reached a contact in Mexico. Are you up for the trip?" Nick laid his cup down. "If you're going, I'll be right there with you. What do we need to do to prepare for this trip?" Jasper finished her coffee then put the cup down. "Well, I think Faith will make us some food, and John will figure out where we'll stay. We have to look for evidence there, so we'll probably need to search in the dark. Flashlights are definite. Maybe we should take shovels too. We're going to have to dig. Christie said they buried it. If we take the red van, we should be able to stop at a gas station and pump gas without being noticed. That's if they're not standing right there. I really don't want to encounter them." Nick got up. "Well, if we're taking a road trip, I'm going to grab a shower first." As he walked by her, he reached down and ran his fingers through her hair. "Let me know if anything changes." Jasper grinned to herself. "Okay, see you soon."
Later that day, the group gathered in the board room. Jasper peered around at the little group and asked, "So, have we come up with a plan?" John proceeded to write, then quietly laid down his pen. "I've spoken to Rick down in Mexico. His guys are going to keep an eye out for you. They'll assist you through your search and provide a place for you to stay while there. Faith and Marcy have prepared food for your trip, and Larzo went out and got the supplies you need, including flashlights and shovels. I assume you'll be taking the red van?" Jasper nodded. "Yes, I think that would be the smartest thing to do, don't you?"
John agreed, "Yup, keep out of sight as much as possible. Okay, so, Jasper, Jake, Nick and Billy, it's going to be a very long drive. Make sure you stay on course, It's the safest route that I know of. Keep track of everything you see out there, and when you get to Mexico, be sure to fill in the rebel leader about what's happening so he can stay on top of the issue there. You'll be passing through White Rock, San Francisco, and LA. Try to be very careful, they may not be able to see red, but I'm sure they have their own strengths. That puts them at an advantage, the fact that the four of you a
re immune is something they would not be expecting. With all that said, it's time to hit the road, guys. I'll expect to hear from you two days from now, around dinner time."
…
Jake took the first turn at driving, Jasper sat up front next to him. She peered around frantically. "I want to remember everything around me. The more I see, the better off we are. Then possibly, we can end this." Jake pointed to his head. "I have it all up here, every detail as if I was a computer. I used to have a bad memory, but not anymore. When we get back, I'll help you write it all down. I want to try going around them, I know we're driving a red car, but their hearing isn't gone. They can still hear the engine running, and I don't want to take a chance. We're only ten minutes away from White Rock, our first city. We have no idea what to expect driving through there, so keep your eyes open." Jasper let out a giant sigh. "Okay, then, let's do this."
When they finally arrived at White Rock, they barely recognized it. There was nothing but farms. Zafarians stood guarding the crops while dozens of humans tending to the plants. Jake slowed down, leaning forward to get a good look. After having a good look, they continued down the road. Nick shouted from the back, "They must be the lucky ones who survived the gas." They kept going till they reached the border. "Looks like the borders are empty because of everything going on. Never thought I would see that. We have about fourteen hours before we reach San Francisco. I'll drive for another six hours, then someone else can take over for a bit." As they drove, they noticed hovercrafts racing through the air. "they must've been going almost two hundred miles per hour." Jasper leaned forward as she watched them. "Damn! Have you had a good look at those things? You can only see it half a second, but they don't look like anything I've ever seen. They go so fast you would think the fog would slow them down. I could barely see ten feet ahead. I wonder if they make the fog green because they see better in it? If that's the case, it benefits them; I wonder if there's a way to change that?" Billy leaned forward. "I don't think there's a way to do that, but I think you're right about it helping them. Too bad we couldn't turn it red. Imagine how pissed they would be." He laughed. They drove for many more hours, telling stories to make the time pass by quickly. It felt more comfortable driving past the hovercrafts after doing it for a few hundred miles, but the four still stood on guard every time they zoomed past.
Six hours passed. They were halfway to San Francisco. Jake pulled over on the side of the highway and asked, "Who's driving next?" Nick jumped out and waited for Jake to crawl into the back, then jumped in and took over the driving. After driving for about forty minutes, Jasper glanced over at Nick and said, "I'll never be unprepared for anything after this, if this ever ends, that is. I have no idea how this is going to turn out. What if we win, how are we going to know that we got them all? What if we think we win, and all of a sudden, down the road, this starts again?" Nick looked over at her. "Slow down, Girl; that's one too many ifs. This whole situation is overwhelming, but how about one at a time? What if we never see our world again?" Jasper glanced around as they drove down the highway. "I don't know if I could get used to it here. Perhaps it's that I don't want to get used to it. I want to take Buddy out to the park and go to my favourite spots whenever I want." Billy groaned. "I want to ride my bike again. My house doesn't exist in this world, and that's where it is, though my bike isn't very quiet, so I'm sure they would hear me coming." Nick grinned and added, "Or maybe your Harley will sound like a hovercraft." Jasper looked frazzled. "I think what I'm worried about is when we figure out how to get rid of them, how do we know if we got them all? They're all over the world. It's not like we can communicate with everyone to ask." Nick took a deep breath, "That's a hard one. We'll never know if we got them all. The trick is to get our lives back and then to keep an eye on the world around us to make sure this never happens again. We don't even know if these are the only aliens out there, or even among us. We really don't know anything anymore. Just think we're half-aliens, and there is no way we are the only ones. Who says they are all good people?" Jasper frowned. "You're right. We don't know what to expect. I guess the answer is that if we survive this and get our world back, we need to be prepared for anything to come." She laid her head against the window as she watched as the alien's world pass them by. She couldn't imagine not seeing her world again.
Nick pulled over to the side of the road. "There it is, guys." In front of them stood the city of San Francisco. "We have no idea what's ahead of us once we cross that line." The four of them sat looking past the city line for a while, then they slowly crossed into the city. Jasper looked around fiercely. "It looks the same. I think it does, at least." Gazing up in the sky, she watched as hovercrafts flew by. "Other than them," she continued, "but I'm kind of getting used to them. As long as they don't notice us, do you think there are others around here trying to survive like us?" Nick drove slowly through the streets. "I wish there was a way to leave messages for people."
Nick pulled up to a grocery store. "Wait here." He jumped out and ran over to the side where he wrote in large letters with a marker: Handheld radios save lives! He ran back to the van and got in. "There… it's simple, but hopefully, someone is smart enough to read past that. I didn't want to write anything to direct. We don't know what those bastards understand." They continued down the road for about ten minutes until they came to a part of the city filled with construction. The Zafarians were building a new temple. In actuality, the humans were building the temple because the Zafarians were forcing them too.
Jasper leaned forward, trying to get a good look. "They don't look like they're being driven to build it. They kind of look clueless, even a little zombie-like. Perhaps they're under some kind of trance or mind control. I don't like this, I'm glad we're immune, but what about all the people we love? There's no protection for them." Nick continued driving. He glanced over at Jasper, her eyes filled with tears. "We're doing something, we're going to the ruins to see what we can find to help us get rid of them. We don't know enough about them to get rid of them yet. We know they self-heal and are strong enough to kill us. Let's see what we find first before we let our emotions loose. Use them towards the aliens. I think If we get angry instead of scared, it'll give us a mightier force."
After driving through the city for about forty minutes, Nick pulled off to the side. "Who's driving next?" Billy switched places with Nick and smiled at Jasper. "How many hours till LA?" Jasper looked at the map, "About five and a half hours." Jasper leaned against the window. "I've been up for hours. I'm going to take a little nap. Do you mind?" Billy grinned.,"No, of course not.
Jake leaned forward. "Jasper, wake up. Trade places with me, will you?" Jasper opened her eyes softly and then crawled into the back of the van. Jake fastened his seatbelt then looked at Billy. "There we go, how long have I been out?" Billy slightly glanced over at Jake. "You were out for quite a while, we have about three hours until we hit LA. I had to stop and find gas there a while back. We're good, though. Luckily, the gas station doors were not locked up, and I could get in to release the gas pumps. This world is so crazy. I missed so much being bedridden." Without hesitation, Billy slammed on the brakes as a man ran across the highway like he was being chased, and then he burst into flames. One of those hovercrafts wasn't far behind him. "I knew it had to be them," said Jake. He sighed as he looked around.
"It's always them, I can't help but think every time I look around that we are the lucky ones. We have the information about the colour red and how the aliens are colour blind, and we know the gas is toxic. I think that because we are immune, we sometimes forget how dangerous this whole situation is. Our group has a comfortable hotel that, luckily, one of our group members owned. Not everyone is so lucky. Nick's house doesn't exist in this world. So how many people are out running around trying to save themselves, or worse, dead because they had no shelter? I want to run out there and save them all, but I know I can't. I wouldn't survive it." Billy shook his head. "I understand. This is all a shock to me after being
confined to the bed for so long. If I hadn't faced those bastards the first night, I might not believe it myself. Do you think there are many humans left?" Jake frowned. "Yes, I do. There is an awful lot under their control, but I also think there are a lot of hiding in their homes and abandoned places just trying to survive. We have the rebel groups too. There are lots of them all over the world. My most prominent worry is if we ever figure out how to win this war, we won't get them all, and it will start all over again." Jake glanced over at Billy. "The fact that this could happen once is proof. We were never alone, so how many more are out there in the universe and how naïve are we to think that if we win, it'll never happen again." The two guys drove for the next two-and-a-half hours with that piercing thought on their minds. How would they ever get through this?
Just before they reached LA, they pulled over onto the side of the road. "This city is huge," said Billy. "I bet there are lots of people left. It's too bad we couldn't get a message to them to contact John by hand radio so we could all be on the same page. What you said earlier really stuck in my head. I want to make sure we get them all. If we have any chance at ending this, we all have to be on the same page." Jake leaned forward. The city was covered in hovercrafts. "Our city is big, yet all the hovercrafts are in the outer part of the city. This place seems like it's covered with hovercrafts. I wonder what the difference is?" Billy leaned in to look. "Presumably has something to do with what they use the city for. Perhaps they haven't finished collecting in this city, ours turned into camps. This city, being so large, may not be as easy to take down. We'll know more when we drive through it." Billy started to drive slowly. "I don't know why, but I'm really nervous about driving through here. Something keeps telling me to be careful, not sure why. So, just to change the subject, with this half-alien thing, are we more human than alien or the other way around?" Jake laughed, "I don't know. I'm thinking more alien since we are immune to almost everything they throw our way. That seems to play in our favour, don't you think?" Billy chuckled. "So far, let's hope it remains that way." He looked down at the gas gauge. "We need to find more gas; we're getting low."