by Tony Teora
“So, BOT sent out another ship. It never came back and the geo-Sat was destroyed. Earth Command freaked out and sent a joint EC/BOT mission where they were able to isolate the virus and the helminths … err, I mean, the worms. They nuked the whole planet before the infected people finished whatever they were building, and they were lucky. The weapons got more and more advanced. They built shit that took out two of the three Galaxy Class warships. We barely took them out. But BOT was able to bring some of the virus back for study.
“Not back to Earth, mind you. It was too dangerous, too risky to bring anywhere near Earth or Earth’s colonies, so it was brought out here. This batch of virus is it, and if BOT didn’t screw around, we could have finished our work. We were able to partially control the Greys we had locked up here. But to answer your question, we really don’t know what happens in phase three, and frankly speaking, I don’t want to know. I suspect they build technology and colonize the place they’ve landed on, but I’m not sure.”
Ace thought back to the telepathic image he had with the Grey in the tank. “Doctor, is the Grey out there dead?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Because I felt something when I looked at it. I could sense something.”
“Actually, it’s alive, but infected with the genome-modified helminths. We cut out its telepathic organ, the angio-neuro telekinetic sensor. It was too dangerous and got into too many people’s heads. The only way to talk to that monster is through our TeloPath. That being is dangerous and can’t be trusted. So, son, please don’t take my disbelief the wrong way. You’re probably just over-reacting to the image of the creature. Just looking at that thing can freak someone out.”
“Doctor, Ace and I are both EC telepaths. He’s got a rating of 97 on the Swann scale. I’m at 82,” said Kiya.
The doctor’s face froze. “I’m not sure if that’s good or not. The infected are capable of getting into normal people’s heads, let alone someone with strong telepathic powers. I’ve never met anyone higher than a 97 except for the infamous Swann, who’s a 100. Hell, they named the scale after him. There’s no human higher than a 90 other than Swann that I know of. Are you sure he’s 97?”
“It’s all bullshit,” said Ace.
“What do you mean?” asked the doctor.
Kiya answered. “He doesn’t want to believe in telepathy. He thinks it’s just him reading people. He’s got something deep inside that holds him back, Doc.”
“Listen, we’re not here to psychoanalyze me,” interrupted Ace. “We have got to figure out how to get the hell out of here and contain these sick scientists.”
“I agree with getting out of here,” said Dr. Mitchell.
At that moment, Janice opened her eyes. She was still restrained but moved her head up. She gave a dark, cold stare to everyone. “I’ve seen them. They’re not human! They’re coming! The darkness is coming! They’re going kill us all! Ahhhh!” Janice screamed and struggled in her harness. Ace ran over. He didn’t know what to do, so he softly touched her head and said, “Relax, it’s okay.”
Janice continued to scream hysterically.
Kiya came by and slapped Janice in the face, hard. Much harder than Ace would ever have. Janice stopped screaming and looked around at everyone. Her eyes came back to normal. She gave a smile to Kiya and said, “Thanks.”
“Are you okay?” asked Ace.
Janice grimaced in fear as sweat ran down her forehead. “We need to get out of here, and we need to bring the Grey alien in the glass tube with us.”
“What?” asked Ace, totally baffled.
“There’s no way in hell we’re letting that monster loose,” said Dr. Mitchell, shaking his head.
Janice’s eyes stared wide open. Her blue eyes looking like an icy cold ocean. “Let me out of these straps and I’ll explain—we don’t have much time!”
I think about how quickly our differences worldwide would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world. And I ask you, does not this threat already exist?
— President Ronald Reagan, UN address
11
_________
The Alien Greys
The USS Aurora flew at minimum wormhole speed. The alien vessel was slightly larger than the Aurora and followed 1.2 kilometers away, but for all intents and purposes, it was a close ride. One mistake and the two ships would collide. At the minimum wormhole speed of 67.947 million miles per second, it was equivalent to two cars driving at about fifty miles per hour with less than a half inch between bumpers. Swann sat in a soft chair next to Captain Karr, admiring the strange, cylindrical spacecraft. The craft had a halo of luminescent colors surrounding it, making it look like a shiny Christmas ornament reflecting flames from a nearby fireplace.
“Captain,” said Swann with his soft, calm voice. “They want you to open up a visual channel. They don’t need one to talk to me telepathically, but I told them you’d prefer it. They have a voice-to-mind translator they intend to use. I can try to verify their translation, as they say it won’t translate all their thoughts. Something about the English language and human technology being too primitive, but I can try to explain what I see via my telepathic link. They think they can communicate effectively with their basic thoughts, nothing more.”
“That’s somewhat insulting to start off, saying that we’re too primitive to properly communicate. What a way to start a dialogue,” commented Captain Karr.
“I’m sorry, Captain, but they just read what you said through me via my telepathic link. I’ll be more careful in the future. They did respond and asked, respectfully, how would you explain a nuclear bomb’s inner workings to an aborigine? Or an airplane, for that matter. Some of the technology they would like to discuss requires a base beyond our knowledge … or at least, that’s what they’re thinking, er, ‘saying’ via thought, sir.”
“Oh, God. Tell them to try me. Ensign, patch in a ship-to-ship visual channel.”
“Aye aye, sir. Opening up a visual channel.”
Two tall, Grey aliens appeared on the front viewscreen. The heads were almost twice the size of a human head and oval-shaped. The eyes were the size of billiard balls, but tear-drop shaped, and colored a deep black—like a lifeless shark. Something about the eyes sent a cold shiver down Karr’s spine. He knew those eyes were connected to a strange biological device that scientists called an angio-neuro telekinetic sensor. It evolved over time like most organs, but was believed to be genetically modified to telepathically control other intelligent life forms that became slaves to the Greys.
The two aliens stood motionless, as if they were dummies. Swann sensed that the aliens picked up from the captain’s facial expression his distrust and anxiety. Swann asked the aliens to consider doing some small nodding of their heads as their telepathic messages were translated, so as to make Captain Karr and humans more at ease. They agreed. They nodded as a message began: “Human hierarchical … leader …” the voice said in a robotic mechanical tone. The voice then shifted in a gentle woman’s tone and continued: “We request cooperation in the current space-time continuum.” The voice transmitter crackled with static and finally continued in a strong manly voice. “We request cooperation on the planet you designate as Kabbalah … it is in our mutual interest.”
Having the voice change from a robotic sound to a gentle woman and then a strong man’s voice frustrated the captain. It was actually quite annoying.
“What the hell’s wrong with the voice translator?” asked Captain Karr.
Swann frowned, knowing it was his fault. “Sir, they picked up that I didn’t like the robotic sound and figured you wouldn’t, either. So, they then went to a female voice, thinking it would be more calming and motherly to humans, but I really didn’t like it, either. They think the man’s voice sounds more natural to our sexist society … or at least, I think that’s what they think. I kinda like it.”
“I don’t care what voice they use, but I prefer they’d just choose one and pick up the pace.
I’d like to know what’s in our mutual interest. They’re wiping out our colonies, and according to the EBE C2s Greys, they’re hell-bent on destroying us, too. Exterminating us, to be exact. So let’s cut to the chase.”
“They’ll use the man’s voice.”
“Good, so can you pass along my questions please? I’d like some answers.”
The voice continued in the man’s tone, but with a faster pace. “Human hierarchical leader, you are correct in that we are removing your species from our sector of space. Your species invaded our territory … we require those planets for future raw materials … and for our living sphere … we will not allow their destruction.”
Karr shook his head. “Those planets didn’t have names stamped on them. There wasn’t even any intelligent life living there. How can you possibly claim ownership?”
The aliens appeared to look at each other and nodded their heads. “You do not have the ability to see or understand our ultra-dimensional life forms. We exist on those worlds … but in a space-time splice unobservable to your species … your use of nuclear weapons for mining had destroyed much of our space-time ether on those worlds … ether that is required for transformation to other places and other dimensions … required for our species’ growth … this concept is not yet understood by your people.”
“What the hell are they talking about, Swann? Did you get any telepathic meaning behind that mumbo jumbo? Space-time splice? Are they saying they’re multi-dimensional creatures outside the four dimensions that we all live in? Is that it?”
Swann smiled. He didn’t understand the actual terms but he was able to see the ‘ether,’ a place where the aliens lived for a time to study … a non-physical location, one in energy … almost pure thought. It required calmness; a planet without electromagnetic interference. A planet shielded by a strong ozone layer, and most coincidentally, one with similar characteristics to the planets humanity would like to colonize. “Captain, you’re basically right. If I’m reading their thoughts correctly, they’ve found a way to exit their consciousness from their physical brains. It’s like when we watch a holo show, or play a reality vid, or when we read e-books, we feel like we’ve left our bodies and entered a story.
“These creatures do more. During childhood, they actually leave their physical bodies and live for a time in this non-physical world. I hate to even say the word ‘time’ because it’s outside of time. They study for an equivalent of ten thousand years in this ether world, while their bodies are stored in hibernation, like a bear. Once they’re done, they come back to their physical bodies—or new body containers. It’s a little confusing. The Greys that we’re seeing are only a small part of their species. They seem like a network. They’re like part of that sector of space time.”
Holy moly, thought Karr. “So, our exploration in the Zeta sector of space was destroying their non-physical world through the planet building?”
“Yes, in a sense that’s true. It was the nanowave neutrino comstats, the old microwave power converters, the satellites, and worst of all, the underground nukes that were used to crush the unstable land masses and open up the mines on Planet Prohelio. Plus, they don’t really think highly of us. They consider us apes with guns. They think we’ll fight and use even more weapons in those areas … they didn’t say it with the translator, but they think we’re a bacteria that is in need of some major antibiotics.”
Karr looked at the aliens. “Okay, so if all of this is true, maybe I can convince Earth Command to stay away from the Zeta sector.” Since most of the colonies were already wiped out, EC really didn’t want to go back there anyhow. They were more worried about the EBE-C3s coming closer to Earth. That was the reason for the GEN-6 facility.
The translator crackled static. “We have resolved that situation ourselves and it would be wise for the Earth Command to forgo any future exploration of those areas … but, that is not our current concern. We are concerned about the facility on the planet you call Kabbalah.”
Karr tried to adopt a Shit, what do I know about that? expression. I mean, am I supposed to tell you we’re working on some secret weapon to kill all you fucking ugly Grey bastards? Of course you’re concerned. Karr hoped that Swann would protect his thoughts, but Karr did feel like an emperor without cloths. “You’re concerned … understood,” was all Karr could say.
“You should be concerned too, Earth species … as there is an extremely dangerous life form on that base. It is what you would call a deadly virus … but much, much more so,” said the EBE-C3 via translation.
“Really?” said Karr, trying to fake any knowledge of the deadly virus designed to kill Greys.
“The virus is more than you understand. It is capable of absorbing and living in other life forms. It will use your life-force, it will use your technology, your people, and the resources acquired from other species, including us, to rebuild your galaxy—just like it’s done to other galaxies where it’s originated.”
“What is this rebuilding?” asked Karr.
The alien EBE-C3 answered. “They are building a galactic device. They use it to create massive radiation—we’re not sure how they do it, but it will kill both our species.”
Holy fuck. A whole galaxy? Had to be bullshit. Karr didn’t know much about the virus. He had been briefed and knew the virus created an organ that set up a controlled, telepathic link, similar to the alien’s angio-neuro telekinetic organ, and that BOT was able to isolate the genome for controlling that device. But some virus that would absorb a species? Shit, that was news. “Why would they do that? Can you elaborate?”
The aliens nodded. “We do not have much time, but the alien virus is how this species propagates. It will take over your species, person by person, add your technological experience to their genetic memory, and then take out your whole race. This will be done so that they can use your people to assist with building a device to transform the galaxy. That final motive we do not completely understand, but we do know they’ll destroy your species and ours.”
“We have control over the virus,” admitted Karr. Shouldn’t have told them that, but hell, they already knew about it.
“Then why are you here at Kabbalah?” asked the alien. “You say you have control. But do you? We know you don’t. You and your ship must destroy this virus or you put at risk all planets in this galaxy, including ours.”
“Well, if you’re so advanced and technological, why are you talking to us? Why aren’t you back there taking out this dangerous galaxy-killing virus? Why are you asking us to destroy it?”
The two aliens nodded their heads. “Because our ship’s been infected. We’re barely able to maintain flight control of our craft. We had to disable our weapons, as they are thought-controlled and our craft is infected. One of our species who returned was infected, unknown to us. He was brought back via one of our shuttles when we went to recover our abducted people.”
That’s kinda funny, thought Karr. The lower level C2 Greys had been reportedly abducting humans for thousands of years on Earth—on the orders of the tall Greys. And now they had to recover their “abducted” people. Nice payback.
The aliens continued. “The virus infected others on our craft and three of the infected stole a planetary beam ship and went to your research base. We cannot allow this race to enter into our ether. You cannot, either. We will be self-destructing our ship to protect us from further infection and we ask you in the name of mutual interest to go back to Kabbalah and destroy the planet. It is the only way to ensure that this virus stays out of this galaxy. You must not allow them to complete their work on Kabbalah. Time is limited.”
“What the hell? You’re going to self-destruct?” Karr didn’t want to complain per se; he actually embraced the idea of the alien ship self-destructing. He just didn’t want the Aurora in the wormhole while it happened.
The aliens nodded. “Yes, we are going to self-destruct … you should increase speed and exit this wormhole. We will be destructing in fifteen minutes
of your Earth relative time. We no longer have time in this dimension to further communicate. We will pass a mental hieroglyph of the situation with a dictionary translation as best we can into your Mr. Swann. Good bye, hierarchical leader Captain Karr.”
The visual link of the alien craft shut off.
“Engineering, maximum wormhole speed. Now!” ordered Karr. “What the fuck is going on here, Swann? Should we believe these guys?” Karr considered that maybe the research lab had succeeded in creating something to destroy the EBE-C3 Greys, and that this was a ploy to have him destroy that weapon. On the other hand, it was a pretty big deal to blow up their mother ship. Karr needed to consult with his advisors. Something really strange was going on at GEN-6. He had to get back to Kabbalah and figure out what the hell was going on. I sure as hell hope our Big Gun, Ace Archer, has the situation under control.
***
Ace helped Janice onto her feet. She looked pale, but Dr. Mitchell confirmed with a scanner that the alien worm in her head was dead. He said her body would absorb it naturally, like food. Wonder what that tastes like? thought Ace. Wiggly worm food. Yuk city.
“Now, Janice,” said Ace. “I know you just went through a lot, and I heard you say some stuff that, honestly speaking … well, it sounded kinda crazy. What’s this talk about bringing along the Grey alien who’s sitting out there in Moby Dick’s freak show aquarium?”
Janice looked around the sterile laboratory as if lost. A few seconds later, she spoke: “I ah … when I was controlled by that thing … I could see other people. There were people building something, something I didn’t understand. Then I saw this man … or initially I thought it was a man but it wasn’t. It had strange thoughts, but these thoughts were clear and caring, not like the others. It said we were all in danger, great danger …