Your Truth is Out There (Find Your Truth Book 1)

by David Allen Kimmel

  “Sure thing, Dad, I’m fine …” said Theo, who was clearly anything but fine, “… except for the fact that I find out you’re involved with criminals … and aliens … and … and … I have no idea what the hell is going on.”

  Alcorn had been heartbroken by the pain and accusation in his son’s voice.

  “I know, Theo,” he said, “I would have told you all about it, in fact, I planned to, but when I saw how excited you were about your Raphael project … well, I just couldn't bring myself to say anything. I sure didn't expect you to come out to the barn on your own.”

  Theo paused for a moment, before answering.

  “Okay, I suppose I get that,” he said, finally. “But now can you tell me what is going on? Who the hell is this? And where are we?”

  ”This is Gsefx, we met him about a month ago when he had engine troubles and had to land on Earth to make repairs.”

  “Who’s this Henry he keeps talking about and what’s this about a painting?”

  Gsefx turned back around before Alcorn had a chance to answer.

  “I know who is behind it,” he said as he got up from his chair. “I’ll be leaving you, which means you’ll be on your own with Ricnor’s henchmen. They won’t be able to hurt you, but they are going to take you back to their headquarters.”

  “Whoa, wait a minute,” said Theo, “that doesn’t sound like a good plan to me.”

  Gsefx walked over and placed something around Alcorn’s neck.

  “This is a translator. It’s always on, so be careful what you say. You’ll be able to understand anyone talking in Galactine Standard, which should be pretty much everyone, and they will be able to understand you, as long as you speak North American English.”

  “Gsefx, what about …” began Alcorn, but he was interrupted when a door between the ship’s two sections opened before he was able to finish. The squatty, mean-looking alien Gsefx had earlier called Dilnch hopped through.

  Without a word Gsefx pointed a device at Dilnch, pressed a button, and the short little creature screamed and dropped to the floor, unconscious. Another alien came through the door, one that Alcorn had not yet seen, but assumed from what Gsefx had said, was named Klarnus. He and Gsefx exchanged a few words before Gsefx rendered him as unconscious as his partner.

  “Where’s Gsefx?” roared Ricnor, loud enough for the whole room to hear, snapping Alcorn back into the moment. “And where are my paintings?”

  Dilnch dropped to his knees, his head bowed.

  “Sir, we couldn’t stop him. He knocked us unconscious with that enhanced scrambler of his, and then took off.”

  Ricnor stood up, baring all of his teeth.

  Impressive display, thought Alcorn. Very impressive.

  “Dilnch! Get up and tell me where my paintings are!”

  Dilnch stood up, but couldn’t meet Ricnor’s harsh gaze.

  “Sir, he took half of the paintings, but left the other half—they’re being unloaded as we speak. He said that he would return with the other half within the agreed upon time limit, and that, as a gesture of his good faith, you could have these two hostages to do with as you wish.”

  Ricnor smiled and looked at the General and his son.

  “He did, did he? How nice.”

  “Sir, he did add one other thing,” said a trembling Dilnch.

  Ricnor’s smile disappeared.

  “Careful Dilnch, your next words could have a very profound effect on your future.”

  “Yes, sir. He said that you could do whatever you wished with these hostages, but that he expected you to maintain your part of the agreement regarding his wife and boss, Lhvunsa and Qilzar. He said they are not to be harmed.”

  Ricnor stepped down from his perch and approached Dilnch, his teeth shining in their full glory. What Alcorn found most interesting about his newest adversary was that the more he watched Ricnor, the less dangerous he became. It was all showmanship. Ricnor was a dangerous creature, no doubt, but Alcorn had dealt with his type before, people who depended more on the emotion of fear than the actual terrifying follow-through. The fact that he wasn’t human meant little in this equation. Ricnor was an adversary to be wary of, to be sure, but he was far from unbeatable.

  Ricnor stood face-to-face with Dilnch, who was clearly on the verge of collapse. Then Ricnor smiled.

  “Is that all?” he asked. “I hadn’t planned on killing them until after the deadline anyway.”

  He laughed and grabbed Dilnch by the shoulders.

  “Now, let’s have some fun with these Earth creatures, shall we?”

  Ricnor snapped his fingers and someone tossed a large weapon to him. It was one that Alcorn recognized as an obliterator. He handed it to Dilnch.

  “Let’s see what one looks like when it explodes.”

  Alcorn remained expressionless as he watched Dilnch’s eyes light up with pent-up joy as he took the weapon from his leader. Clearly the little psychopath was going to enjoy this. He turned toward Alcorn and started walking toward him, picking up speed with every step. When he was just a few feet away he slowed and started to lift the weapon toward Alcorn’s head. That’s when the General made his move.

  Surprising everyone, including Theo, Alcorn freed his hands, slid to the ground, and swept Dilnch’s legs out from underneath him, taking him to the ground while at the same time grabbing the weapon away from the befuddled Jikian.

  “Whoa!” said Theo, loud enough for everyone to hear. “Who knew the old man had moves like that?”

  Alcorn smiled inwardly at his son’s remarks, but didn’t have time to engage in idle banter. He jumped up quickly, popped Dilnch in the jaw with the butt of the obliterator, then flipped the weapon lengthwise and slammed it down across his knee, shattering the weapon into hundreds of tiny pieces.

  “Space junk,” he said as he put his foot on Dilnch’s throat.

  Alcorn looked over at Theo just in time to see his son free himself and grab hold of an ever-so-slight rippling motion that had slid up silently beside him. In one fluid motion, Theo reached into his inside vest pocket and drew out the curved dagger Gsefx had slipped there before leaving them. He held it dangerously close to the rippling motion.

  “Funny thing about sticking a knife into something that may or may not really be there,” said Theo, “you never know what you might actually cut into.”

  The rippling motion solidified into the form of Klarnus.

  “Be careful, boy,” said the Yelton. “You can cut yourself playing with knives.”

  Theo took the knife and held the tip right to the edge of Klarnus’ eye. Klarnus let out a long, low growl, but his body went completely still.

  “You were saying?” said Theo.

  Alcorn smiled at his son. He’d been proud of Theo before, but at this moment in time, if they died right now, which was a distinct possibility, he didn’t think he could be prouder of the man his boy had become. Not because he was holding a knife at an alien criminal’s vulnerable spot, but because he was strong under pressure. He was the best of both his mother and him, which is all anyone could ever want for their children. The sound of clapping interrupted his moment of pride. It was the sound of a single individual clapping. It was the sound of sarcastic clapping. It was the sound of Ricnor clapping.

  “Very good,” said the gang’s leader, his face the picture of sheer rapture as he moved toward them. “Glorious, in fact!”

  Alcorn looked around. None of the other aliens had moved. They should have come in to take them down. To either kill or at least detain them, but they hadn’t moved.

  Dammit. Ricnor had expected this.

  “I was expecting something,” said Ricnor, “but nothing quite this entertaining. You are splendid, absolutely splendid. What is your name?”

  “Don’t come any closer or we’ll kill your men, or whatever they are,” said Alcorn. “We mean it. We’ll kill ‘em.” He knew it was cliché, as Henry would call it, even as he said the words, but what else was he to do? He also knew they cou
ldn’t kill Dilnch or Klarnus, if, for no other reason, that once they were dead, he’d have no protection at all.”

  Ricnor did stop at least, if only to laugh.

  “By the Gods, you are entertaining,” he said. “Here, let me take care of that for you.”

  Ricnor motioned once and immediately two high pitched pinging sounds rang out. Dilnch’s body, already limp from Alcorn’s knockout punch, went completely flat as the Jikian’s body literally melted beneath the General’s boot. At the same time, Alcorn heard his son gasp and looked up to see Theo let loose of what remained of Klarnus.

  “Those two were dead no matter what you did or didn’t do, Earthling,” said Ricnor, all trace of humor gone as quickly as it had appeared. “They screwed this assignment up from the very beginning and I do not tolerate failure. Your little show here was entertaining, but nothing more.”

  He turned to walk away, then stopped as if considering something, then turned back to Alcorn.

  “Because you were entertaining, I will let you live until Gsefx returns with the rest of the paintings. After that, your fate will rest with him.”

  He turned and left the room.

  Well now … that went better than expected, thought Alcorn, as several hands, claws, and other assorted appendages grabbed a hold of him and his son.

  Chapter 51

  All of This Over My Art?

  “You did what?” said Henry, his voice rising somewhere past incredulity, but not quite reaching the level of full-on hysteria. “You took General Alcorn and his son hostage and then turned them over to the same gang of … what … intergalactic terrorists that took your wife?”

  Henry was shocked beyond what he thought he could handle. Granted, he didn’t really know the blue-skinned being sitting next to him, using two of his hands to pilot the spaceship they were currently flying in, while using the other two to calmly explain how he’d sent the General to his untimely demise. He looked around him, as the realization of where he was and what was happening to him suddenly, and fully, sunk in.

  Holy crap! He thought. I’m flying in a spaceship! In outer-freaking-space! To a totally unknown destination with a creature I barely know. Perhaps I’ve misjudged this entire situation, including Gsefx. I mean, what do I really know about him anyway?

  “Gsefx, I realize General Alcorn tried to capture you the last time you were here,” he said, taking a deep breath in an effort to keep panic from overtaking him completely, “but he was just doing his job. He didn’t mean you any real harm. You didn’t have to …”

  He was interrupted by laughter coming from the pilot’s seat. Loud, jovial, raucous laughter. The being sitting there may not have been human, but there was no mistaking the sound. A joke had clearly been played, and it had been at Henry’s expense.

  “Hey, what’s so damn funny?” asked Henry.

  “I am sorry, Henry,” said Gsefx, when he was finally able to control himself. “I couldn’t keep it in any longer. Please forgive me, I haven’t slept in a very long time and this,” he waved two of his arms around wildly, “has all been so difficult. It seemed like a harmless joke to let you think the worst for a little while. It was actually the General’s idea, but it was all meant to be taken as good fun.”

  Henry glared at the alien. Harmless joke? General’s idea? Good fun?

  “Gsefx, for the love of everything holy, would you please tell me what in the hell is going on?”

  “Yes, of course,” said Gsefx. “But first, let me say that I’m glad to see you think as highly of General Alcorn as I’d hoped you would. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I first encountered him, but he appears to be a capable being with both honor and courage and it is good to see that you seem to think so as well.”

  Gsefx paused for a moment, his expression turning serious once more.

  “He will need to live up to our expectations, and more, if we are all to come through this in one piece,” he said finally.

  “General Alcorn is a good man,” said Henry. “Although he’s a little old to be going out on a combat mission. But I suppose he’s capable enough.”

  “Let’s hope you’re right. Now, let’s see if I can catch you up on ‘what in the hell is going on’ as you put it. It began shortly after I left you the last time, after my boss and friend, a being named Qilzar, and my wife, Lhvunsa, first saw your painting in the back seat of my vehicle.”

  Gsefx went on to recount Lhvunsa’s and Qilzar’s reaction to Henry’s painting and how valuable they both considered it to be. He also told Henry of how Qilzar wanted to go back to Earth right then and there, to get the rest of Henry’s paintings, whether Henry was willing to give them up or not.

  “Wait a minute,” said Henry, “you wanted to steal the rest of my paintings from me after I gave you my favorite one?”

  “No Henry, not me,” said Gsefx, “and not Lhvunsa either. We wouldn’t even allow Qilzar to discuss it any further. In fact, I forced him to swear to me that he would never bring the subject up again, to anyone, ever.”

  Henry sat quietly for a moment, taking in all he had just heard.

  “Thank you for that,” he said finally. “Although, I have to admit, it’s rather complimentary for him to make such a fuss over my work.”

  “If you find that complimentary, wait until you hear the rest.”

  Gsefx then told Henry how he believed Qilzar had betrayed them to the Ricnor gang, leading to Lhvunsa’s abduction. How he’d nearly been killed himself trying to get Henry’s painting from its hiding place, but that he’d overcome his attackers and in the process had gained some small bit of control over the situation.

  “It wasn’t much, but it was enough to negotiate my way into leading Ricnor’s expedition to steal your artwork, which gave me a chance to warn you and keep you safe. My hope is that I’d be able to find a way to save my Lhvunsa, and even Qilzar, too.”

  “All of this over my art,” said Henry, more than a little dumbfounded. “That’s crazy. No one has ever even given my work a second glance before, well, no one on Earth anyway.”

  “It’s often the case that an artist’s own people are the last to see their worth. Or perhaps it was just a matter of not being seen by the right people. Whatever the case, Henry, your art is truly masterful. I wasn’t paying close enough attention when you first gave me the painting because I was so touched by the gesture, but your paintings are worth a fortune. Ricnor will stop at nothing to get his hands on them.”

  “Unbelievable,” said Henry, half under his breath. “Too bad Lucy can’t see me now.”

  “Who is Lucy?”

  “Huh? Oh, nobody really. She used to be my wife. I guess she still is, technically, although our marriage had been over long before you came to Earth the first time.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that, Henry.”

  “I’m not,” said Henry. He paused for a moment, then continued. “That sounded harsher than I meant it to. I don’t have any ill-will toward Lucy. Not really. Well, not any more, at least. We were just never very good together. I could never be the solid, dependable breadwinner she wanted me to be, and she could never be the free-spirited soul mate who supported my artistic search for truth. We were like oil and water; we just didn’t mix. All we did was disappoint one another.”

  Gsefx looked even more tired than he had just minutes before.

  “I think I understand,” he said. “Still, I find it sad when those who were once together find that they must part ways.”

  “Yeah, it’s sad, I suppose,” said Henry, “even if it was the right thing for both of us.”

  Henry sat up straighter in his chair and forced a smile, then reached over and hit Gsefx’s shoulder lightly with the back of his hand.

  “On the other hand,” he said, “I wouldn’t have painted any of those paintings if we hadn’t split, and then you and I would never have met.”

  “Then I am glad for that, at least,” said Gsefx, his tired look unchanged, “even though it is the paintings that are at the h
eart of all this trouble.”

  “Speaking of that,” said Henry, “how did Alcorn get wrapped up into all of this?”

  Gsefx didn’t answer right away, but seemed to be considering how to answer Henry’s question.

  “The easiest way to explain it,” he said, at last, “is that I used the painting you gave me as a guide, kind of like a map, and with it was able to track down the location of your other paintings. They were in General Alcorn’s possession.”

  “That makes sense,” said Henry, nodding his head, “about Alcorn anyway. I asked him to examine my paintings closely to see if he could find some of the answers he was looking for. That must have been why he had them.”

  “Once I realized he had them, I made sure that I not only got the paintings but that I was able to speak with him as well. I had to know you were safe.”

  “That was very kind. But it still doesn’t explain why he and his son are now on their way to Ricnor’s headquarters. Clearly you spoke to him, but how did they end up as hostages?”

  “Well, that’s where things went off-plan a little,” said Gsefx. “The General and I were discussing how he was going to assist me in freeing you from captivity, when young Theo came in. At that point, I had no choice but to render them both unconscious and take them along, hoping that, with enough time, I could persuade them to help me.”

  “What do you mean you had no choice?” Henry suddenly seemed less certain of his friend’s motivations.

  “I mean my companions, Klarnus and Dilnch, the two from Ricnor’s gang, would have been just as happy to kill both of the Alcorns and be done with them. In fact, they came very close to killing Theo, as it was. Ricnor’s weapons wouldn’t work on me, so I was safe from them, and I could even exert some control over them, but the General and his son didn’t have that kind of protection, at least not at that point. I didn't have time to think. I just reacted, and rendering them unconscious and taking them with us was the only solution I could come up with.”

  “I understand,” said Henry. He didn’t really, but he was willing to let it go for now, in order to hear the rest of the story. Perhaps by hearing more, it would all come together and make sense. “But then, why did you leave them alone to be taken to Ricnor’s headquarters?”