A Time of Deceit: Revelation

by William Cushing

  SCENE 31: AN ANSWER

  The Leader and Sara still stood outside of their headquarter office building as it burned to the ground and the bulk of his warriors had simply disappeared. This had never happened before. The Leader knew that the Supreme Council would want him to present himself and explain how such a thing could occur. He did not know how. He had to find out if he wanted any chance of surviving.

  The Supreme Council had given him the task of keeping the American population under control. They were concerned that a Country in which its citizens owned more weapons than there were people could be a threat. A serious threat. It had to be managed. It was too late to even think about confiscating the weapons. That would definitely precipitate a revolt.

  The Leader had assured them he could control things. He had. But now things were beginning to unravel. The Leader was concerned for his survival and angry.

  His Board had to be responsible for this. They had initiated taxes and punitive actions against the underworld creatures. He had to find out why. He didn’t have much time.

  Leader. “Sara. Round up all surviving Board members and bring them to my home. We will operate out of there for the time being.”

  Sara. “OK.”

  Leader. “Arrest and restrain any that refuse. I want to see all of them.”

  Sara. “Yes.”

  Leader. “Contact the engineers and get them working on building us a new headquarters. This time tell them to make it fireproof.”

  Sara. “Yes.”

  Leader. “Off with you.”

  Sara was still in a state of shock. Never have the aliens not successfully completed an attack. Never have they lost a headquarter building. Never have they been compromised before.

  She left to do what the Leader had ordered.

  Sara was able to locate the four remaining Board members. They had not been in the office when it was destroyed. They were agreeable to meeting with the Leader.

  Sara and the Board arrived at the Leader’s home. The Leader welcomed them at the door and showed them into his office. He directed them to sit at the conference table. Once they were seated he started.

  Leader. “I am sorry to say that Asa will not be joining us. He decided to remain with Queen Madeline for the time being. You are aware of the fire. I think that may be a direct result of some of the Board’s actions. Could any of you tell me why you decided to impose a tax on the underworld creatures? Could you tell me what you did with the proceeds? Could you tell me what you did with the underworld children you ordered taken? Could you tell me why you did it without my authorization?”

  The Board members remained silent.

  The Leader. “Come now, I am losing patience.”

  The Board members remained silent. They seemed unconcerned with the Leader’s questions.

  The Leader, clearly frustrated, loudly demanded, “Answer the questions.”

  One Board member responded. “The Supreme Council ordered it. They received the proceeds and the children. They told us you were informed and in agreement with the actions. The order was given world wide.”

  Another Board member. “That is correct.”

  The Leader thought to himself, “How could this have gone on for a year and he not noticed it. He was getting sloppy or he had become just too arrogant. Probably a combination of both.”

  Leader. “Who on the Supreme Council did you deal with.”

  A Board member answered. “Leonie.”

  The Leader knew her. The only female alien on the Supreme Council.

  The Board knew that the Leader could not harm them since they had acted on orders from the Supreme Council. A Board member rose and asked the Leader if he had any further questions. If not, they were leaving. At that, the other Board members rose and walked out of the Leader’s office.

  The Leader did not stop them. He found out what he needed to know.

  If the order was a world-wide order, he wondered if other countries and regions were having similar problems with the underworld Alliance. He had to find out. When the Supreme Council called him before it, he would find out.

  Now he had to decide what to do. Whom does he go after first? Queen Madeline and the underworld leaders must have had something to do with the disappearance of his warriors. The Ghouls’ annihilation of his technicians had to be revenged. His headquarters had probably been destroyed by them also. He had underestimated them. He had overestimated his ability to control things.

  Leader, thinking to himself, “I wonder what else is going to go wrong?”

  Just them Sara sat down in a seat opposite the Leader and said. “I have some news about Higby from Luther.”

  Leader. “Of course, it has to be about Higby. Who else could make this day worse?”

  Sara. “Luther reports that Higby, on one of his nightly hunting excursions, took two women captive to use as sex slaves. He kept them at his residence in D.C.”

  Leader. “And?”

  Sara. “Higby’s residence was broken into and the women were gone when Luther and Higby returned to the residence.”

  Leader. “How is Luther going to contain this?’

  Sara. “He has video of the two men in the residence and of them bringing the women to the first floor of the house.”

  Leader. “Has he identified them?”

  Sara. “Not yet.”

  Leader. “If Higby’s spot on the House Intelligence Committee wasn’t so important to our plan, I would give him to you now to do what you wish.”

  Sara. “I can be patient. I know he will be mine to deal with at some point.”

  Leader. “What is Luther’s plan?”

  Sara. “Simple. Locate and eliminate the two men and two women.”

  Leader. “Tell him to be quick about it. Give him any help he needs. Have him use the FBI if he needs more help. They have large facial recognition data bases. I am sure either the Director or Deputy Director will be happy to assist.”

  Sara. “Luther will appreciate the help.”

  Leader. “Tell Luther to take Higby with him when he goes to eliminate the men and women. Higby must be forced to clean up his own messes.”

  Sara. “You sure you want to compromise Luther that way. Higby only knows how to spew lies to the media. He serves no other purpose. I don’t think having him tell lies to the men and women will be very effective.”

  Leader. “Funny. Just do it.”

  SCENE 32: BACK AT THE BARN

  The trip took longer than seven hours because of stops for clothes for the women and food for all. The women changed in the car and the four consumed their food and drinks in the car. They wanted to put as much distance as possible between themselves and D.C. They all knew they were in danger. The women began to open up a little as the trip progressed. They were curious about Tom and Dick. They shared their names with the men.

  Sheila. “Thank you for getting us out of there.”

  Mary. “Thank you.”

  Sheila. “Where are you taking us?”

  Dick. “To a place we think will be safe for all of us.”

  Sheila. “I would like to make a phone call. Can I use your phone?”

  Dick. “Sorry. We took the batteries out of our phones. We won’t put them back in until we safe.”

  Sheila. “Your are probably right. We are not dealing with the run of the mill criminal are we?”

  Dick. “No.”

  Sheila. “Tell me what you know.”

  Dick. “You were being held by alien creatures. When I say aliens, I don’t mean from Mexico.”

  Sheila. “Do you know where they are from?”

  Dick. “No. What can you tell us about them?”

  Sheila. “They could make us do any thing they wanted. They are telepathic. They would plant a suggestion or order into my mind and I was powerless not to do what they wanted.”

  Mary. “I couldn’t fight against it either. I did recognize one of them. He was Congressman Higby. But he would change into a different form when he wanted t
o use us. He wasn’t human. His buddy wasn’t human either.”

  Dick. “We are here. I just hope Bill is home.”

  Dick pushed the gate intercom button while looking right at the gate camera. The gate opened up slowly. He drove directly to the back of the barn to hide the vehicle. Dick and Tom exited the vehicle and the women followed. They walked into the barn, sat down and waited for Bill.

  It wasn’t long before Bill arrived.

  Bill, looking at the two women, “Boys, you come to visit me a lot lately. Introduce me to your friends.”

  Tom. “This is Sheila and Mary.”

  Bill. “Welcome Sheila and Mary. Pardon me for saying. You girls look a little worse for the wear. Haven’t these boys been treating you right?”

  Sheila. “They have been gentlemen.”

  Bill. “Well, that is a surprise. The boys acting as gentlemen.”

  Tom. “Funny.”

  Dick. “We broke into Higby’s house and found these ladies locked up and chained to the walls in the basement of the house. We thought it best to get them to a safe place after we got them out of the house.”

  Bill. “You boys are cowboys. My wife will be home after her shift at the hospital. She can take a look at the ladies. Let's go into the house. Can’t have the ladies sitting in a drafty barn. They might want to freshen up.”

  Sheila. “Can I make a call now?”

  Bill. “Not now. I think we should try to stay off the radar for now. Higby is going to be looking for you two. Probably looking for the boys also. We are dealing with dangerous beings. Any call you make now may compromise our safety. Agreed?”

  Sheila. “Yes. I just want to call my Secret Service office and let them know I am alive. I am an agent stationed in D.C.”

  Bill. “I thought so. I recognized you from a recent photo we were presented. Come inside, I will explain.”

  The five were sitting around Bill’s kitchen table. Bill had poured them all coffee and placed a plate of chocolate chip cookies on the table. It seemed everyone liked the cookies as they all reached for one at the same time and began to laugh. The ladies were beginning to feel more comfortable.

  Bill. “An FBI friend of mine, accompanied by a Secret Service agent, showed us your photo a while back. They said they had identified you in a video that we had taken at Higby’s house one early morning. They knew you were last seen, before you disappeared, at Higby’s house. That was, again, a while ago.”

  Tom. “We had assumed that they would be observing Higby’s house after they got that information.”

  Dick. “We staked out Higby’s place for more than a week but saw no one else surveilling the house.”

  Bill. “It seems they didn’t want to find you. Now, do you understand why I am hesitant to have your make any calls?”

  Dick. “We don’t know who we can trust.”

  SCENE 33: PAYBACK

  The Deputy Director’s vehicle pulled into the parking garage and made its way to the fourth level. The fourth level would be empty at this hour of the morning. It was 3 am. The garage would not start to fill up for another three hours. He didn’t have to guess where Luther’s vehicle was. It was the only other one on the fourth level.

  He parked alongside and Luther exited his vehicle and got into the Deputy Director’s.

  Luther. “What have you got?”

  Deputy Director. “Facial recognition was able to identify one of the men. He was a restaurant owner. We had him under surveillance for a number of years but were never able to build a good enough case against him. We didn’t like his political opinions. Seems as if he is retired now. Here is his home address. That is all we have on him. Nothing on the other guy.”

  Luther. “It is a start.”

  Deputy Director. “Good hunting. I have been told to tell you that Higby has to join you. He has to clean up his mess. It may keep him from doing it again.”

  Luther. “He will slow things down.”

  Deputy Director. “Sorry. That is an order. Follow it.”

  Luther. “Yes, Sir.”

  Deputy Director. “Good. No contact until the job is done.”

  Luther, as he exited the vehicle, “Understood.”

  Luther took a look at the address and keyed it into his vehicle GPS. Luther groaned when he saw how long it was going to take to get to the address. Asheville, North Carolina was a 9 to 10 hour drive. Luther had to swing by and pick up Higby for the trip.

  Luther and Higby finally made it to the address the Deputy Director had given Luther. It was a large house set back off the road with a long driveway. Luther didn’t hesitate. He pulled into the driveway and drove up to the house. There were no cars in sight. No one seemed to be around.

  Luther. “Let’s go knock on the door.”

  Higby. “OK. I’ll go around to the back. He may try to run.”

  Luther, impressed by Higby’s statement, agreed.

  Luther pushed the bell at the front door but there was no answer. He decided to go around to the back. He knew there would be a security system. He knew he would only have minutes after he forced open the back door.

  Luther kicked in the back door and all hell broke loose. Sirens. The loudest he had ever heard. A voice boomed from speakers warning them that the police were on the way. He had to move fast. Find anything that will help locate his prey.

  He looked around the house and decided to isolate on what appeared to be a home office. An old fashioned datebook was on the desk. He picked it up and quickly looked through it. He decided it might be of value. Time was up. Time to go.

  He grabbed Higby who was still looking around the house and ushered him out the back door. They jumped into their vehicle and backed out. As they drove down the road a county sheriff vehicle went by them in the direction of the house they had just left. Luther thought to himself, “That sheriff deputy is lucky. A little sooner and I would have had to kill him.”

  Luther drove for about 20 minutes before he stopped to go through the datebook. There were only a few entries. One that was repeated was “O’Brien.” It was repeated a number of times. He flipped to the contact pages and found an entry for a William O’Brien with an address. He plugged the address in and found it to be outside of Boone, North Carolina. A two hour drive.

  He knew that anybody who had taken the women from Higby’s house would not be stupid enough to return to their home. His only lead was this O’Brien fellow. No choice but to spend another two hours on the road.

  Higby disagreed. He was tired of driving around. He grabbed the datebook and looked for a phone number for O’Brien. He found it and dialed. The phone was answered by a service that said “Dr. O’Brien’s office was closed. If there was an emergency they could page Dr. O’Brien by hitting #* and the calling number would be sent to the doctor.”

  Higby, not the brightest bulb in the vehicle, hit #* and hung up. He was expecting the good doctor to call him back.

  Unfortunately for Higby, the pager Dr. O’Brien used displayed Higby’s phone number. Bill took a look at the D.C. area code and knew they were in trouble. He showed the number to Tom and Dick. They agreed. They informed the ladies.

  They needed a plan. They could not call for help because they could trust no one at this point.

  They put together a plan and waited.

  It was dark by the time Luther and Higby arrived at the good doctor’s house. Luther was ready to end this quickly and return to D.C. Too many hours in a vehicle with Higby. Luther pulled off the road a short distance from the house. He and Higby began their approach on foot. There was a gate that limited vehicle entry. But, there were openings in the surrounding fencing they were able to squeeze through. They quietly approached the house. It was a very dark night. No one appeared to be home. They noticed a light in the barn at the rear of the property and decided to investigate. They quietly approached the barn door and opened it slowly. A mistake.

  Sheila and Mary both had asked to be given weapons after Bill had shared the pager message with
them. Dick gave Sheila his second handgun. Bill gave Mary a shotgun. Bill was surprised when Mary told him that she had grown up on a farm and been hunting since she was a child.

  Tom was the weak link. He still did not know how to use a weapon. Dick spent a half hour showing him what to do and Tom proved to be a fast learner. He was given one of Bill’s hunting rifles.

  So they waited. Tom and Dick stationed outside the barn. Mary and Sheila inside. All hidden from sight.

  As soon as the barn door was opened, Mary and Sheila stood up and started firing. Sheila was an excellent shot. She pumped four rounds into Higby and two into Luther. Mary waited until Sheila had finished and leveled two blasts into each alien’s chest. They were down. Sheila stayed where she was and took aim at Higby’s head and sent a shot that ripped off part of his skull. Mary not to be outdone fired two more shots at Luther’s head. Luthers’s head exploded with a shower of green blood going in all directions. It was over in less than a minute or two.

  The boys just stood up. There was nothing left for them to do. The immediate threat had been eliminated.

  Bill was the first to speak. “Clean up time. We have to get rid of the bodies.”

  Dick. “They must have a vehicle. We have to find it and get rid of it also.”

  Tom. “I’ll go look for the vehicle. See if we can find a car key on them. The key should make finding the vehicle easier.”

  Bill. “Let me get some rubber gloves before I start emptying out their pockets.”

  Dick. “Gloves for everybody.”

  Sheila and Mary hadn’t said a word. They just kept looking at their handiwork. They seemed satisfied. They smiled at each other.

  SCENE 34: EPILOGUE

  Tom found Higby’s vehicle. They went through it for any information they could find. Tom drove the vehicle back to the D.C. area and parked it on a side street in Anacostia. They knew the vehicle would be stripped or stolen by the end of the day. Dick had followed him in another vehicle. They got out of the D.C. area as quickly as they could.