Aliens in the Allagash

by Gary Striker

  “It’s the eyes, sir”, the other officer responded, “When we move, they seem to follow us. We can feel heat”.

  ‘Duty’ didn’t say a word as Darren evaluated the answer.

  “Steve, you had mentioned that the area in and around your encounters with these creatures got noticeably warm”, Darren commented.

  “Yes, so warm that we had to discard our outerwear, and it was thirty-nine degrees”.

  “Would you be kind enough to retrieve my small bag from your car”, Darren asked Steve as he got his camera ready?

  “I’ll get it”, Jane volunteered, “You guys keep an eye on this thing”.

  Darren’s focus was intense as he approached the holding cell.

  “He looks like something out of an old monster movie”, Darren commented, as Jane handed him his carry bag.

  “I’m going to need to get up close and personal”, Darren informed the group.

  Steve dictated his best safety speculation as to what they needed to do should things not go well. He tested the Laser-Taser as Darren looked questionably at the emitted beam.

  “It’s a tranquilizer”, Steve informed Darren.

  The officer opened the door to the holding cell as Darren took a deep breath and approached the creature.

  “Do you want him restrained”, ‘Duty’ asked?

  “No, it probably won’t make a difference anyway”, Darren responded as everyone looked at each other with wide eyes.

  “I’m going to need the lights turned down”, Darren requested as he retrieved an instrument from his bag.

  “What’s that”, Steve asked?

  “It’s a stereoscopic light microscope that I modified for hand held use”.

  No one had a clue as to what Darren was talking about. He set up the instrument with a makeshift monopod support and brought the lens close to the surface of the eye. The microscope had an ocular adapter that allowed attachment of a specialized camera.

  “I’m going to record everything that I’m looking at”, Darren said as the group stood transfixed in amazement. He slowly and deliberately made his inspection about the entire outer lens as the creature remained motionless.

  Darren stood back with a look of apprehension.

  “I don’t have the magnification power necessary to confirm my observations. However, if we compare this analysis, as cursory as it may be, to the investigative results of Steve’s Correlator back in the lab, we have a problem. I’m going to email this video file to my colleague for his response. Give me just a second as I connect…ok, done”!

  “What are you thinking”, Steve asked Darren?

  “What we have here is a composite organic hybrid assembly. The ‘eyes’, as we call them, are computational devices with an organized substrate, similar to how we manufacture large scale microprocessors, but infinitely more complex”.

  Everyone in the group stared at each other as they were attempting to make sense out of Darren’s analysis.

  “Are you saying that thing is a robot”, ‘Duty’ asked”

  “Not exactly”, Darren answered, “It appears to have an organic communication technique which emulates an electromechanical system with enormous data handling capabilities”

  “Could you translate, please”, ‘Duty’ requested?

  “Sure”, Darren answered. “It appears that incalculable amounts of data are collected and stored in microscopic holding cells, a version of the ‘beads’ that Steve found. These ‘beads’ are physically transported in conduits, much like our own blood vessels, to various parts of the logical processing units, and then off-loaded. They actually change color as they are loaded and unloaded. There is no way, by any theoretical system known to us, that we could ever emulate the computing power and efficiency of what they have accomplished. They are literally light speed ahead of us”.

  The group was hypnotized from their own version of comprehensional data overload.

  “I’m not done”, Darren asserted as he brought the group back to reality world.

  “In the study of physics, nothing ever happens without some form of stimulus”, Darren explained, “We get hot and cold because of the actions of thermal effects of our environment. Nothing happens unless there’s a reason”.

  “Ok”, Steve answered, “We’ll buy that, but how does it affect that thing?

  “There is no evidence that this creature’s hybrid physiology contains carbon. That’s very unusual for an organic entity. Yet, it appears, and only theoretically from our preliminary studies of the Correlator, and now this, that carbon appears to be the fuel that it requires for exothermic reactive processes. Our plants consume our waste carbon gasses as a necessary means of growth and evolution.

  The group looked very confused as Darren continued.

  “We humans are a classic example of carbon based living matter. It describes our earth, our atmosphere, and all living things”.

  Everyone appeared to return to the dialog.

  “Our eco-system is balanced and adapts as man makes changes. Plants give us back oxygen. But here’s the kicker”!

  The group snapped to attention as they sensed an ominous punch line.

  “The unique processing system of the creature before us consumes enormous amounts of carbon compounds, chemically extracts the oxygen, and then uses that for its own exothermic needs. It gives back nothing in the process “.

  “How does that affect us, Darren”, one of the officers asked?

  “Good question, and you may not want to hear the answer!

  Everyone’s body language put emphasis on anticipation as ‘Duty’ said, “Let’s have it, the Full Monty”!

  There are a couple things that we need to focus on”, Darren began, “From our initial lab studies, it appears that the enormous requirement for Carbon that our friends demand can come from anything. That means from any compound found in nature as we know it. The ‘heat’ that you felt was a by-product of the exothermic reaction that also depleted the immediate area of free oxygen, as we had measured in the lab with the Correlator”.

  Everyone in the holding area looked at each other as Steve moved in closer to the creature.

  “You mean this thing wants to eat us”, Steve asked as he translated scientific analysis to street savvy terms?

  Nobody said a word as ‘Duty’ instinctively put his hand on his service revolver.

  “What’s the punch line”, Steve asked? “You always have a punch line”!

  “Hypothetically”, Darren began, “these creatures cannot sustain an ecosystem that will satisfy their own physiological needs. Since they consume carbon compounds and give back no oxygen, what they may be raising for their own consumption will render itself extinct in a very short period of time”.

  “So what you’re saying”, Steve began, “is that they came from someplace else that they exterminated, and now they’re here to do the same to us”!

  The group conferred within their circle for reasonable solutions to immediate dilemmas that they currently faced. Everybody sensed that their problem was much bigger than anyone could handle. Darren finished his immediate assessment with dimensional measurements of his creature, a multitude of pictures, and plans to bring in several colleagues for complementary analysis in disciplines that he was not proficient.

  Security was tops on ‘Duty’s list as they revised their procedures to meet the new potential threat. He also formulated a plan to expose this situation to the authorities without creating a panic storm. Time was the element in question. Nobody had any idea just how much time was available to handle this situation before it all blew up in their faces, literally.

  Steve bid his friend a good night at the Northern Door Inn. Darren was obviously exhausted from many days of laboratory activities.

  “Cruz said that Darren hadn’t been home but once to change clothes since he got that Correlator thing”, Steve said to his woman, “and by the way, you look exceptionally stunning and happy tonight. What’s the deal?

  “I’m j
ust elated that I don’t have to go home and scrape a two-bit electrician off the ceiling”!

  Aliens in the Allagash

  Chapter 20

  Ambush

  “Fiddleheads is opening for breakfast tomorrow”, Jane said as she prepared two artillery grade French 75 cocktails.

  “Did they get hurt bad”, Steve asked?

  “Not too much damage, mostly cleanup. Here’s your French sex drink, big boy”!

  Steve cowered at the sight of his cocktail, but certainly welcomed its effects.

  A discussion of the events of the day did not include the dive mission. Jane was very impressed with Darren’s scientific knowledge base. Both Steve and Jane were a bit too tired to discuss the possibilities that Darren had alluded to. Unknown events of an imminent nature set an uneasy tone for the evening’s dinner activities. What they knew for sure was that something was going to break.

  “You’re in for a treat tonight, my big strapping, beefy super hero”, Jane expounded as she heated tonight’s dinner.

  “It smells awesome”, Steve exclaimed”, what is it”?

  “Jim’s wife brought over some moose meat stew today. She thought you would enjoy it”.

  “How did she get in”, Steve asked with a puzzled look?

  “Well, I assume she opened the door and walked in”, Jane said with a voice of simplicity.

  “You mean she just let herself in and put that stew in the fridge”?

  “Yup, all by herself, imagine that”?

  “Don’t you guys ever lock anything around here”, Steve questioned?

  “From what, you city boys”, Jane questioned with a smile? “Puss said that when Cheyenne bought his pickup truck, he put the key in the ignition and never took it out? He said he couldn’t lose it that way”.

  “Amazing! This has got to be one of the last bastions on earth”, Steve philosophized.

  Steve was thoroughly impressed with his native dinner choice. Jane had prepared the fiddleheads and made French biscuits to go with the stew. Never before had he been exposed to local culinary arts as he experienced in his first week immersed in the Acadian culture. Jane sensed that he would never be able to leave his new environment.

  “I just got an email from some Area-51 U.F.O. group in New Mexico”, Steve said in a surprised voice, “How did they get my address”?

  “That’s Gard at work”, Jane said, referring to their favorite journalist friend.

  “He wants to interview me on some live radio talk show tomorrow”.

  “There’s exposure and popularity among alien hunters”, Jane informed her man.

  “There’s a dysfunctional gang of psycho nuts among alien hunters”, Steve debated.

  “Here’s an email from Cruz”, Steve said, “He talked to Darren tonight and is considering a trip himself to see our visitor. I don’t think he’ll believe any of us until he sees it with his own eyes”.

  “Can you blame him”, Jane asked?

  “We are going to find out what happened to Cruz’s sister, as sure as I’m sitting here”!

  Fort Kent Police Headquarters was a whirr of activity at twenty minutes past midnight. The switchboard was lit up like a Christmas tree. Extra officers were arriving as ‘Duty’ made his way into the reception area.

  “Somebody fill me in. What’s going on”, he asked?

  “We’re getting calls from the Michaud Road district out toward the Ben Lake area”, the dispatcher informed ‘Duty’.

  “Shit! Those things must be on the move. Has anybody been hurt”, ‘Duty’ asked?

  “No sir, but there is reports of shots fired. It sounded like a range war when I was on the line”.

  Three Fort Kent police cruisers met Chad and another State Police cruiser at the entrance to Michaud Road, just north of the Wallagrass Town Hall. They distributed riot gear and ammunition. ‘Duty’ checked the operation of the Laser-Taser. All vehicles headed in with spotlights ablaze and rifle’s ready.

  “There’s George Dumond”, ‘Duty’ pointed out. “What’s he doing”?

  “It looks like he’s firing at something”, a deputy observed.

  The cruisers closed in on George as he came running up to ‘Duty’s window. All of the officers gathered around and peered into the darkness with flashlights.

  “Wolfy woke me up”, George said as he referred to his Irish Wolfhound. “I thought the coyotes or the wolves were after my goats. They’ve been brazen lately”!

  “So what did you see”, Chad asked?

  “I don’t know for sure. Something picked up one of my goats and headed into the woods with it over there behind my barn. There was somebody else with him. I ambushed ‘em as they came around the back of the barn”.

  “Who did you ambush”, Duty asked?

  At that moment, more gunfire could be heard nearby. Chad and his partner dispatched themselves to locate the source of the shooting.

  “What did you ambush, George”, ‘Duty’ asked again?

  “I’m not sure, but they were standing behind some trees”.

  George fidgeted and paused while staring at ‘Duty’. He had a confused look of fear on his face.

  “It must have been those maniacs that you warned us about”, George said.

  “Did the maniac look like this”, ‘Duty’ asked as he displayed a phone picture of his alien visitor in the jail cell?

  George lowered his rifle and took a deep breath.

  “I thought I was going crazy or somebody was pulling an early Halloween trick. But then they did some weird things and took one of my goats. It looked like they were hovering, not walking, as they made their way over there”, as George pointed to where several officers were surveilling something.

  Just then the officers opened fire as everyone took cover. George’s goat stampeded back and jumped the fence into the corral with the horses.

  “I never saw a goat do that before”, George said in amazement as they joined the officers.

  “Those things came at us and pointed something in our direction. It was some kind of ray gun. The beam hit my rifle and sawed it in half. Here, look”, one of the officers said as he held up what was left of his firearm. “We let them have it, but the bullets didn’t seem to have any effect”.

  Chad rejoined the party while giving his discourse of a similar experience. The story was pretty much the same, except the creatures had optioned for one of the neighbors instead of a goat. The neighbor, fortunately, threw a cast iron frying pan at the thing. It got distracted enough for her to make an escape.

  “We have to get everybody out of here”, ‘Duty’ commanded. “There’s only five houses back here, so let’s get with it. If you see any of those things, shoot the bastards. It won’t have much effect, but they seem to get confused by it.

  “Here comes another one” Chad shouted as everyone directed their flashlights into the woods.

  “Get down, everybody down”, ‘Duty’ commanded as he reached for his Laser Taser before hitting the ground.

  At that instant, a light beam focused on ‘Duty’s patrol car. Two seconds later the fuel tank exploded in a ball of flame. ‘Duty’s uniform was afire as chad threw himself on the flames and requested a blanket from Chad. Another officer grabbed his fire extinguisher and hosed down the pair as they pulled duty away from the flames.

  “The Laser-Taser, get the laser”, Duty commanded as he got himself to his feet while evaluating the extent of his injuries. “Get E.M.S. down here”!

  The officers opened fire on the approaching creature as ‘Duty’ aimed the Laser-Taser at the device. An intense ground rumble ensued, which brought everybody to their knees. ‘Duty’ continued to bombard the creature’s weapon as it disintegrated into a flaming molten mass. The officers continued to fire.

  “That thing’s going down”, Chad yelled above the gunfire!

  “Keep firing”, ‘Duty’ ordered!

  As all went silent, ‘Duty’ ordered everyone to reload and surveil the area. The creature appeared to wo
bble and then fell over.

  A deputy was on the radio requesting backup as the E.M.S. van arrived on scene.

  “What in blue blazes is going on back here”, Rudy questioned as he jumped from the van? “Ya’all sounded like a scene from The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral”!

  “You look like a pile of burned up dog shit”, Rudy observed as he attended to ‘Duty’s injuries. “Put that gun away and sit down on the back of the van, Wyatt Earp”.

  “Hang on a second, Rudy, we gotta evacuate this area”, ‘Duty’ requested.

  The deputies proceeded to locate the neighbors and get them moved out as soon as possible. Additional back up officers arrived to assist with the task at hand.

  “Anybody else need assistance”, Rudy asked as he proceeded to apply bandages to the burn areas.

  “Ya’ better check Chad”, ‘Duty’ requested”, “He got so hot for me that he jumped my ass in a wall of flames”.

  “Get over here, Chad”, Rudy requested while questioning the validity of the statement, “Let’s have a look at you”.

  “We need to transport your butt over to Emergency, ‘Duty’. You could have second degree burns on your leg. Here, hang on to this cold pack and climb in”.