by Gary Striker
Aliens in the Allagash
Chapter 15
A Night to Remember
Steve threw himself on the bed, spread eagle in an act of exhaustion. Jane smiled as she ran a brush through her hair and gave the scene a look of approval.
“Can I gently remove your garment now”, Steve asked with a wink?
“You’ll have to get me hot first, mister. I’m cold”!
Steve grabbed his woman and tossed her into the bed. Jane let him claw her nightgown off and pull the covers over. All was well as they tangled for an encounter and then succumbed to the pressures of the day, at least until something got Jane strirring.
“Steve, did you turn the lights on”, Jane asked from a bleary state while rubbing her eyes?
“What? Huh? What’s going on”, Steve asked subconsciously as he glanced at the desk clock?
“Did you turn on the lights”, Jane asked while trying to shake the cobwebs and sit up?
“No, turn the lights off. It’s two o’clock”, Steve requested incoherently.
“There are no lights on”, Jane said as she struggled to look about the room.
Steve regained semi-consciousness and peered about the room. Jane was looking out the window toward the lake.
“Over there”, she said in a more alert fashion, “There, down toward the lake. Look”!
“What the…” Steve paused as he rubbed his eyes. “What’s going on at the lake?
“Nothing, it’s just lit up, like a big spotlight on the whole area near the dam. It feels warm in here”.
“Whatever has that place lit up is swirling around”, Steve observed, “Just like it did the other night down at the railroad tracks in Masardis”.
“Something’s going on and I don’t like it one bit”, Jane declared, “Let me call Jim and see if he knows of anything happening in the area”.
Jim had received no reports of strange activities in the patrol area, but did elect to send a response team to the lake.
“Steve, that light is getting more intense, and it’s warmer in here. Isn’t that where you threw the bead into the Lake”, Jane asked?
“Oh shit”, Steve responded, “Let me see if I can get Darren on the phone”.
Darren answered the phone in a half groggy ‘hello’.
“What’s going on Steve”, he asked?
“We have a strange light shining onto the lake surface. It looks just like the one near the saw mill the other night”.
“What do you see when you look at the source of the light”, Darren inquired.
“Nothing, the sky is clouded over. It’s just an intense light that appears to be swirling around.
“Steve, that could be a Laser communication light, as we had discussed the other night. Is it looking for something, do you think”?
“Chad’s here”, Jane announced as she hurriedly dressed and made her way downstairs.
“What was that Darren”, Steve asked?
“Does the light appear to be searching for something”? Does it appear to be focusing, uhhh, compressing the beam width”?
“Oh shit”, Steve exclaimed, “that’s where I tossed the bead into the lake! Yes, the beam is getting more defined”.
“How deep is the globe, do you think”?
Steve made his way downstairs to find Chad conversing on his patrol radio and Jane staring at the lake.
“I’ve lost communications, guys”, Chad announced.
“Jane, how deep is the lake where I tossed the bead”, Steve asked with Darren on the speaker phone?
“It’s right at the dam, so it’s probably about a hundred and eighty feet”.
“How far are you from the light”, Darren asked?
“About a hundred yards”, Steve Judged.
Darren got concerned with the answers he was given and his hypothesis of events to come. Everyone grew uneasy as silence prevailed. Chad’s communication link was broken and the cell phone service was at minimum. The silence broke as Darren began issuing instructions.
“I don’t have time to explain. I just ran some hypothetical numbers on that Laser light beam. You need to batten down all windows and doors and take cover in the lowest part of the house. Find a secure, protected space, like for a hurricane event”.
“We’re losing you, Darren”, Steve said as his cell service quit.
“Daddy made what he called a ‘safe room’ downstairs”, Jane said, “I think it’s a bomb shelter like people built during the Cold War Era. I used to play ‘house’ down there when I was a kid”, Jane said while leading the way to the basement.
Just then the light extinguished and instantly the place returned to calm. The group stopped at the top of the stairs. All eyes were peering through a window toward the lake.
“Do you guys feel anything”, Steve asked?
“Not a thing”, Chad answered while taking another survey through the windows, “That hum is gone”.
“Here comes another patrol car”, Jane observed, as Chad’s radio came to life.
“Officer Charrette, Code 6, your location, Chad. Got a copy”?
“It’s ‘Duty’”, Jane exclaimed with a big smile as Chad made his way to the front deck.
“You’re a little out of your territory”, Chad commented as Jane and Steve joined the officers.
“I was in Wallagrass responding to a strange noise complaint and saw the light. I’ve been working the whole area. It’s been fairly quiet”, Duty informed the group. “Everybody’s a little on edge, so we’ve been getting some calls, but nothing to worry about, yet”.
Chad described the light over the lake and the humming sound to ‘Duty’ while Steve was busy watching something near the dock.
“Are my eyes screwed up”, Steve asked while pointing to the lake?
Through the mist, something was observed moving about, in and on the water. The dock lights provided enough illumination to make out some shadows through the mist. Chad turned on the spot light of his patrol car and flipped it toward the lake. Several shadowy gray objects were milling about on the dock as well as on the water.
“Who the hell is that at this time of night”, Duty questioned the group?
“Let me radio dispatch and get some help”, Chad suggested as he was barely able to put in the request with the patrol car microphone in hand, while staring at the lake.
‘Duty’ opened the trunk of his patrol car and retrieved a riot shotgun for himself and one for Chad. He filled his pockets with extra shotgun shells and verified that his weapon was ready for use.
“Here, take this”, ‘Duty’ directed as he handed Chad the other shotgun and extra shells.
“Let me grab a couple of shotguns from inside”, Steve said as he made his way up the stairs three steps at a time, then rejoined the deputies at the patrol cars .
“Here, Jane, take this”, Steve directed as he handed Jane the Remington Wingmaster, “I’m not going to ask you anything stupid, like ‘do you know what to do with this thing’?
Jane smiled as she inspected the firearm and looked at Steve with the officers watching.
“I’d be reeel careful what you say right about now, Rambo”, Jane informed Steve with a serious glare as Chad and Duty broke the mood with a hearty ‘Oh shit’ and a laugh!
“What are they doing”, Steve questioned as the activity level appeared to escalate?
“What are those things”, Chad asked?
“I don’t know”, Steve answered, “But they look like a dead ringer for that thing I put two bullet holes in back at the saw mill”.
“Jane, I need you to stay here and keep out of sight”, ‘Duty’ requested, “If you see anything out of the ordinary, get on that radio and tell dispatch to mobilize everything they have”.
“Yes sir, Officer Charrette”, Jane responded as she took a position behind a patrol car with shotgun in hand.
“Do we want to wait for assistance”, Chad asked while keeping a close watch on the lake front activities?
“They�
�ll be another ten minutes. We need to get a handle on this now”, ‘Duty’ responded.
Duty looked at Jane and issued last minute instructions.
“Whatever happens, don’t shoot me, sweetheart. I’m the fat one”, Duty reminded her with everybody taking a short humor pause.
Steve was visually scouting the area for objects of concealment and protection. There wasn’t much to choose from in the hundred yards or so of mostly open land, except for the passing railroad tracks and a few trees. He took command as if overcome by instinct.
“Let me confront these son-of-a-bitches head on”, Steve requested. “You guys cover each flank and try to stay out of sight as best you can. If I have to dive for cover, it’s going to be in the track bed. Don’t get trigger happy, but don’t hesitate either. And remember ‘Duty’, I’m the skinny one in the middle”.
Steve stayed very low to the ground as the deputies disappeared into available hedge cover and trees next to the open area. Steve stopped periodically to surveil his targets of interest and provide hand signals to the officers.
“Those guys got guts! They’re good cops”, Steve thought to himself as he got a better look at the things milling about the dock area.
“Well, I’ll bet two moose and raise you a bear that those varmints are first cousins to that thing back at the mill”, Steve affirmed to himself as he moved forward in prone position.
Steve made it to the railroad track bed and huddled up against the rail with a clear view of the creatures milling about. He could see the officers crouching in position on his flanks, also near the tracks.
“It looks like my Martian friends must have their radar turned off”, Steve observed to himself, “If they know I’m here, they don’t seem to be too concerned”.
Steve provided hand signals to the officers directing them to pay attention to his alien friends on the dock. They were busy erecting a small tripod-like device and spreading some type of net over the water where he tossed the bead. Steve picked up a bed rock and tossed it into the lake. All hell literally broke loose. The creatures split up and focused on Steve and each of the officers.
”Don’t let them raise those things that they’re holding”, Steve shouted as he fired at one of the devices that a creature was attempting to point in his direction.
“Blow those things out of their hands”, Steve instructed over the sound of gunfire as he rapidly discharged the five buckshot rounds in his shotgun. ‘Duty’ and Chad did the same.
Steve glanced back and could see the flashing lights of two requested assist vehicles rapidly making their way toward the dock. They had obviously been alerted by Jane and had seen the gunfire. The creatures did not appear to be harmed, but were milling about in a state of confusion trying to reunite themselves with the devices they had shot out of their hands.
Steve, Chad, and ‘Duty’ had reloaded and were about to open fire.
“Hold your fire”, Steve shouted, “as he focused on the creatures, who had now directed their attention to the tripod device. The assist officers were in position on either side of Steve awaiting instructions.
“Fire, Steve shouted, get that tripod thing they’re messing with”!
All five participants in the confrontation unloaded their firearms into the dock area as the creatures suddenly vanished. Everyone secured their weapons and looked at each other as calm prevailed.
“Is everybody ok”, ‘Duty’ asked, as everyone stood down and surveyed each other.
“I think we’re all ok”, one of the assist deputies answered. Everyone confirmed the same.
Steve could see Jane silhouetted in the flashing lights of the patrol cars holding her shotgun.
“Good girl”, he thought as he admired her fortitude and sensible manner during the crisis.
“I wouldn’t want to mess with that chick”, he contemplated as the situation calmed.
Steve and the officers were just getting up and started to reassemble when the ground began to vibrate in a series of violent shock waves that knocked everybody off their feet. At that moment, an enormous column of water exploded into the low clouds.
“Get down everybody”, ‘Duty’ shouted as the massive water column continued skyward.
Steve glanced at the lake surface as the column subsided, to see an enormous cavity had been evacuated and was now being refilled by the surrounding water.
“Get flat and hang onto something”, Steve shouted as he thought, ‘what goes up must come down’.
At that moment, millions of gallons of lake water, fish, and debris began raining down upon them like a tsunami.
“Oh my God, we’re gonna get it”, Steve thought as he clung to a track rail and became instantly submerged in tons of water while losing his grip. All he could think about at that moment was Jane as he got tossed violently in the surf and landed against a tree fifty yards from the railroad track. He lied there gasping for breath as he noticed Jane running in his direction.
“Steve, Steve, are you ok”, Jane asked frantically as he tried to sit up and collect himself?
Jane knew it was the wrong question to ask as she saw Steve curl a lip with a wryly smile and look up at her while propped on one elbow.
“Hi honey, what’s for dinner”, he asked as he wiped the water from his eyes?
Jane threw him back to the ground as he struggled to his feet. They quickly made their way to what was left of the dock area looking for the rest of the group. The water was rapidly subsiding.
“There’s ‘Duty’”, Jane said as she pointed to a pile of brush and trees as he was trying to get to his feet”, “And her comes Chad. He looks ok”.
They rushed to lend assistance, but Duty managed to get himself to stand.
“My knee”, he complained as he struggled to put weight on it. “It’s my right knee, it may have gotten dislocated when I was tossed into the brush. That was quite a ride”, he said with conviction.
“Well ‘Duty’”, Steve lamented, “You managed to defy death once again”.
“E.M.T.’s are in route, guys”, Jane confirmed as they were now a necessary dispatch.
“Good girl, Jane! You really held it together. I think we owe you”, ‘Duty’ acknowledged.
“Well, there was this Ferrari that I was looking at last weekend down in Bangor”, Jane recollected.
“How about lunch at Fiddleheads”, Duty asked as he focused in that direction? “Shit, the place looks like it took a pounding”!
They had been walking the area looking for the two assist officers and found one sitting in a downed tree trying to gain his senses. He had injuries including a possible broken ankle, but nothing that appeared life threatening. Jane rendered first responder assistance as two E.M.T. vans made it into the area.
“Hi Jane”, Rudy said as he waved and grabbed his bags. “What in blue blazes happened here? The place looks like Quang Tri after we bombed the shit out of it”.
Rudy was a Vietnam era medic and had seen his share of action. Still, the sight before his eyes was impressive. The E.M.T.’s were busy attending to the injuries as Jane and Steve continued to look for the missing officer.
“Who’s missing”, Jane asked ‘Duty’ as he was getting his knee immobilized? He was wrapped in a blanket as was the injured officer.
“Ricky Mills”, he responded.
“Oh shit”, Jane returned, “His boy, Ricky Junior, is in my class”.
“We’ve had better nights”, ‘Duty’ reflected with a grimace as Rudy applied a brace for transport.
A few locals had gathered as the night appeared to be settling down. None of them had seen Ricky Mills and they all rendered assistance in the search. They were all curious as to what the gunfire was all about. ‘Duty’ told them that they were trying to scare off a herd of deer when the lake went crazy. One of the more famous resident old timers said he hadn’t heard that much gunfire since he was at Anzio. ‘Duty’ raised an eyebrow and was amazed that he was still very ambulatory for his age.
“Here comes Ron and his guys”, Jane announced as the Search and Rescue team assembled at the scene.
“Ricky Mills is missing”, Duty said as he pointed to where Ricky was last seen.
“All right guys, you know the drill”, Ricky instructed, “Let’s get to work”.
“Steve, you’re shaking”, Jane voiced her observation with concern!
“I’m a California boy. I might need someone to keep me warm”, he explained.
“Get yourself in the house, Stud Muffin. I’ll be right in”, Jane ordered as the mood lightened.
Search and rescue plus additional units combed the area with no success. Ricky Mills was M.I.A. to the woes and concerns of everyone involved. It was 4 A.M. before the rescue effort was called off. Steve had previously swapped his makeshift swimsuit for dry coveralls and rejoined the crew, but to no avail. Ron scheduled his team for a daybreak mission before dismissing his group.
Jane was busy preparing hot tea as Steve laid back in a kitchen chair with his hands clasped behind his neck.
“Ya know, ma’am”, he began, “You really make it difficult for me not to love the shit outa you”!
Jane conjured up a smile of satisfaction as she set the tea cups on the table.
“You’re under contract, Casanova”, Jane replied, “Now drink your tea like a good boy”.