by Darien Cox
Nolan nodded, sensing something unspoken in Elliot’s words.
“So what’s the matter? Why you stuffing donuts in your face?”
Because JT said you’re thinking of leaving us and it’s fucking me up how panicked that makes me. Nolan bit back the words, instead saying, “I’m just worried about this shit with the Whites.”
Elliot shrugged. “Then let’s gear up, head on up to the peak, and figure out what the fuck is going on.”
“You need to sort shit out with the station? JT’s already got my shifts covered at work.”
Elliot held his phone up. “I just took care of it. But there’s something else I want to do before we leave. What time do you think they take lunch at the middle school? I still want to meet that teacher face to face, see how he reacts to me. Figure out if he’s my disclosure troll.”
“You want to do that now? Christian said he’d look into the guy. And the middle school is all the way back in the main town.”
Elliot laughed. “Oh all that way, huh? It’s a few miles. You’re getting island mentality. Just drop me at my house, I’ll drive down myself. We can meet up at the chopper.”
“And what’s your excuse gonna be for talking to the teacher? You can’t just walk in there and say hey, dude, have you been saying weird shit to me on the internet?”
“I have a plan for that,” Elliot said.
“You’re gonna make up a lie.”
“Of course.” Elliot shrugged. “Kind of my job description.”
“I’ll go with you. I’ll drive you to the school.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I want to,” Nolan said. “Unless you’re sick of hanging out with me. We are going on a stakeout together later, so you’re probably tired of looking at my face.”
Elliot wiped the remainder of donut cream off his cheek and sighed as he stared at Nolan with an assessing look. His lashes appeared a lighter blond with the sunlight filtering through them, giving his eyes luminescence. Nolan wondered why he’d never really noticed how gorgeous Elliot’s eyes were. “You’re obnoxious,” Elliot said. “But I never get sick of hanging out with you. Come on, let’s go.”
Elliot turned and headed toward the truck. Nolan followed with a small grin. Just like that, his good mood had returned.
Chapter Four
A few of the middle school kids stared at Elliot and Nolan as they made their way down the hall toward the science lab. Particularly at Nolan, who looked like a hunter Viking in his boots and thick camo jacket, dark hair loose and framing his solid jawline. Fortunately most of the kids were dispersed and either outside socializing or in the cafeteria eating lunch.
“This way,” Elliot said, turning down a narrow corridor lined with lockers. They passed a few more students and got a few more odd looks, then finally found the room.
“He’s in there,” Nolan whispered close to Elliot’s ear.
Elliot got a little shiver at that short puff of breath against his ear. He’d been trying to avoid physical contact with Nolan, at least until the confusion in his head cleared. He was still having a strange reaction to Nolan’s proximity after last night’s odd touching incident. Things seemed normal between them now, their interactions natural, so Elliot knew it would pass. But it was taking its damn sweet time. Each time Nolan’s arm brushed his, or he grabbed Elliot’s shoulder to get his attention, something churned in his gut and all he could think about was how it felt having Nolan’s hands on him last night.
Inside the otherwise empty science lab, he spotted the teacher fussing around one of the tables. It was definitely the well-built dreadlocked guy they’d seen on the footage of the mountain, but he looked vastly different now. The rugged hippie had morphed into an academic. The dreadlocks were tied back neatly from his face, and he wore khakis, pink button-down shirt with a tie, wire-framed glasses over his blue eyes. He looked up when Elliot and Nolan stepped into the room, but his expression didn’t register anything close to alarm.
“Can I help you?” He pushed his glasses up on his nose and eyed them expectantly.
“Hello,” Elliot said as they stepped into the room. “Are you Mr. Kuna?”
The teacher approached Elliot with his hand extended. “Brett, please.”
“Elliot. Nice to meet you. We were hoping you had a minute to discuss something about your students.”
The teacher’s gaze flicked back and forth between Elliot and Nolan. “Are you parents? I have office hours if you want to discuss something personal. The kids will be back from lunch soon.”
Elliot studied his eyes. No obvious recognition there. The teacher didn’t seem nervous at all. “Well, the thing is my nephew’s been getting some online harassment. Anonymous. Seems to be coming from one of the computers here in the school.”
Brett Kuna stuffed his hands in his khaki pockets and sighed. “Cyber bullying is a problem, but we try our best to discourage it. Is your nephew one of my students?”
“The source was traced back to one of the computers here in the lab,” Nolan jumped in. “You keep this place locked when you’re not here?”
“Of course.” Kuna smiled, then frowned. “You were able to trace the source with that much specificity? I’m impressed. What do you do for a living?”
“I’m a bartender,” Nolan said.
Kuna laughed. When Nolan remained stone-faced, he cleared his throat. “A bartender. I see. Well, I can talk to the students. Remind them that these computers are for schoolwork purposes only. Beyond that, it’s hard to control what the kids do online.”
“What time do you open the room up in the morning?” Elliot asked. “Because some of these messages seemed to be coming in early. Like five in the morning.”
“Well, that’s impossible. None of the kids are in that early. I’m the only one who’s ever here at that time. Once in a while I come in early to get some work done before the rush. But I’m always alone.”
“And you don’t use any of these school computers?” Elliot asked. “For your own personal use I mean.”
The teacher removed his glasses and narrowed his eyes at Elliot. “Are you insinuating that I’m the one doing the cyber bullying?”
Elliot smiled. “No. Of course not.” He glanced over his shoulder as a couple of kids drifted into the classroom. “We’ll leave you to it. Thanks for your help.”
Brett Kuna eyed them warily. “Ah, okay. Sure thing.”
“Hey, one more thing,” Nolan said, turning back. “You look familiar. Do you go hiking up by Bear Peak?”
Elliot watched Kuna’s face carefully. He looked confused, nothing more. “I do. Sometimes. How did you know that? I’m usually alone.”
“Think I spotted you up there one day.” Nolan grinned. “Your hair kind of stands out.”
“Oh.” The teacher chuckled and patted his head. “I guess it would. Unfortunately it seems that section of the mountain has been closed off. Pity. I enjoyed the rock climbing.”
“Yeah, bummer about that. Okay, thanks again,” Nolan said.
As Elliot and Nolan walked outside, they had to maneuver through a swarm of students heading back to class. “What do you think?” Nolan said as they reached the truck.
“Well,” Elliot said. “Either he has nothing to hide, or he’s almost as good at lying with a straight face as I am.”
“We’ll see what Christian finds out,” Nolan said as they both hopped in the truck.
“Maybe we are looking for a janitor or something,” Elliot said.
“Or maybe it’s nothing to worry about after all. Sometimes a troll is just a troll.”
As they headed back toward Singing Bear Village, Elliot glanced back at the crates and boxes Nolan had packed in the truck when they stopped off at his house. “What is all this shit? We’re loaded for bear, no pun intended.”
“Perimeter sensors. Wood. Lights. Food and water. Other stuff. Best case scenario we won’t need it. But if we’re still stuck up there when night falls, I want to be prepared.�
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Elliot chuckled. “How apocalypse-ready you are.”
“If we’re gonna be parked on the field in the middle of the forest late at night, I want to be alerted of anyone…or anything sneaking up on us.”
“Great. I wasn’t nervous until you put it like that.”
Nolan glanced over with a smirk. “I’ll always protect you.”
Elliot laughed. “Not in the market for a savior right now, but thanks.”
“Either way,” Nolan said. “Anything screws with us, I’ll make sure you’re safe first.”
“Nolan. I may not be as fit as you or a ninja like Christian but I can handle myself. If anything screws with us, we work together. That’s how it goes.”
“I see. You’re okay with the idea of something attacking us. But not the idea of me wanting to protect you. That I actually care about your well-being.”
Elliot frowned at him. “Is this a serious conversation? What are we really talking about?”
“Forget it. We’ll be fine. We’ll have the chopper. And we’re prepared.”
“Okay.” Elliot rolled his eyes. “Do you think Baz will show?”
Nolan huffed. “He fucking better. Because if we get no response, who knows what Ogden will order us to do next. But it’ll probably be worse than a stakeout in the freezing cold mountains.”
****
Late afternoon was edging toward evening by the time they finally got the chopper loaded up and were on their way. It was October, so Elliot knew the sun would be dropping fast, and anxiety twisted his gut as he piloted the copter over the colorful mountain peaks. Elliot was fairly brave, but spending the evening parked on the entrance to an alien base wasn’t his idea of a good time.
Nolan didn’t seem nervous at all, however. He had music blasting and was singing along in his seat, belting the lyrics out. “I just wanna use your love, toniiiiight! I don’t wanna lose your love, toniiight.” Nolan glanced at Elliot. “Why aren’t you singing? You like this song. You play it on your radio show sometimes.”
“Kind of trying to pilot a chopper.”
Nolan grunted. “Never stopped you before.”
“Yeah, well.”
What Elliot didn’t say was the cheesy Outfit lyrics Nolan was bellowing were a little too romantic for his comfort level. Either Nolan was oblivious, or he was doing it on purpose to vex him, because he leaned in to Elliot and continued on singing. “You know I’d do anything for youuu. Stay the night but keep it undercover. I just wanna—”
“Nolan, can you stop singing? I need to land this thing. It’s distracting.”
Nolan scowled at him, then faced front, arms crossed over his chest. Elliot had clearly hurt his feelings. But at least the singing stopped.
Elliot felt bad suddenly. He shouldn’t be discouraging Nolan from acting like himself. Despite the awkward lyrics, the singing was moderately soothing. Because it was just Nolan. Nolan acting like Nolan. Aside from a few shared glances that seemed to last a bit too long, things were pretty much normal between them again. Elliot was the one making it awkward by acting differently. He needed to stop. Particularly considering the mission at hand, a little slice of normalcy was a welcome companion.
“Least it looks like no one else is up here,” Nolan said as they approached the field, which was indeed empty.
Elliot set the bird down right in the center, as Ogden had ordered. “Good. Hopefully Tim Patterson’s keep-out signs worked.”
Once he shut it down, they were both silent for a long moment, eyes darting around. They knew there were likely craft up there somewhere. But nothing appeared above them. No space ships hovering or coming down to crush them on their way in.
“Okay,” Nolan said. “Looks clear. Help me set up the perimeter before it gets dark?”
“Let’s do it.”
It was bitter cold when they stepped out of the chopper, and deadly silent. A few birds made chatter in the distance, but wildlife never came too close to the field, as though the woodland creatures knew this was not a place for them. Elliot followed Nolan and helped carry gear as they set up sensors along the perimeter of the field. Elliot’s eyes couldn’t stop scanning the woods beyond. He kept expecting to see Baz’s tall white form appear through the trees, dressed in his knit cap and sunglasses, laughing at them for making such a fuss, then scolding them and warning them off.
But an hour passed, and there was no sign of Baz, or anyone else.
“Here, help me with the wood,” Nolan said.
“Do we really need to make a fire?” Elliot said. “We can stay in the chopper where it’s warm.”
“It’s not just for heat,” Nolan said, hauling an armful of wood and setting it down on the field a few yards away. “Figured we could spell out Baz’s name in wood before we light it, so it can be seen from…wherever they monitor this place from.”
“We’re blocking one of their entrances to the base,” Elliot said. “There’s probably a traffic jam up in space as we speak. Pretty sure they already know we’re here.”
“Sure,” Nolan said. “But maybe Baz isn’t aware. Maybe he’s been transferred or is busy working on a project or something. If we ask for him directly, I’m hoping someone up there will notify him.”
Elliot helped Nolan arrange the wood into a large B-A-Z. A bit of lighter fluid, and the letters blazed to life at center field. Elliot rubbed his hands together as they stood and watched the flames. “Sun’s going down.”
Nolan grunted.
“He’ll show,” Elliot said. “He has to.”
“We should sit outside. We need to keep our eyes open to anything and we can see more of the field out there. Hold this while I get the chairs and blankets.” He handed Elliot a tablet. “If that thing makes a noise, shout. It means something’s broken the perimeter and is heading our way.”
“Great. Good times.”
Elliot turned in a circle, surveying the field. Stars were becoming visible overhead, the moon shining through a cloud cover in the distance. His breath came out in puffs, but the flames kept him warm enough. The wind was picking up though, and the wood was burning fast. They’d have to keep feeding the fires. He turned to go get some more wood and nearly bumped into Nolan. “Here, sit,” Nolan said dropping a lawn chair down.
“We’ll need more wood. I’ll go get some.”
“I’ll get it, just relax.”
Elliot shrugged. “Suit yourself, Rambo.” Elliot opened the folding chair and sat down.
Nolan unfolded a blanket and draped it over Elliot. “Warm enough?”
“Fine, thanks.”
“Good. Be right back.”
Elliot decided that if there ever were an apocalypse, he’d definitely want Nolan on his team. The guy was efficient as hell and never seemed to tire out. He returned with a pile of wood and set it down, then unfolded his own chair and placed it next to Elliot’s, at a slight angle, facing in the other direction. “Here, I’ll take that back.”
Elliot handed Nolan the tablet. “All quiet.”
“Not sure if that’s a good thing or not.” Nolan sat down and drew a blanket up over his legs. “Not even sure if Baz would trigger the perimeter alarm. He’ll probably just pop up in front of us in a cloud of mist or some shit.”
“Yeah.” Elliot laughed. “Probably.” They were both trying to be optimistic, but Elliot had to admit it was fading fast. Baz should have shown up by now. Someone should have shown up by now. The Whites were acquainted with who Elliot and Nolan were at this point. The two of them were blocking the fucking entrance and had a blazing message on fire in center field. He turned and looked at Nolan, whose profile was flickering with amber light from the wood fires. “What if he’s dead?”
Nolan grimaced at Elliot. “Don’t be morbid! Baz isn’t dead.”
“I’m just saying. If he’s like our only assigned ambassador, the only one they tasked with learning English and what have you, maybe he’s croaked and there isn’t anyone to speak with us anymore.”
&nbs
p; “He’s not dead. Stop being all gloom and doom.”
Time passed quietly. They fed the fires. Ate a sandwich. Checked in with JT. Nolan hummed softly as he watched the woods. It grew darker, and they switched on some of the lights from the chopper. They could see a good distance around where they sat near the fire with the chopper behind them, but beyond that was blackness. Elliot studied the stars, looking for signs of craft. But there was nothing but cold dark night.
“You design those yourself?” Elliot pointed to the tablet Nolan had on his lap. “The sensors?”
“One of my older designs. But Michelle said the military’s still using a version of it, so guess it’s not too shabby.”
“You ever miss the military?”
Nolan shifted his chair, his eyes golden in the firelight. “I’m a design engineer. I’m doing much of the same thing now I was doing then, sans avoiding roadside bombs.”
“Now you look for aliens instead of enemy combatants.”
“Exactly.”
“So you don’t miss the…you know. Combat stuff?”
Nolan snorted. “Are you asking me if I miss being in a war zone? No, thanks very much. I’m good.”
“I probably never told you this,” Elliot said. “But I admire what you do.”
Nolan shrugged. “I’m just a tool maker.” He grinned. “A really good one.”
“You shouldn’t say just a tool maker. You’re an inventor. An artist.”
“Still just tools.”
“How modest of you. Tools are the most important invention of human civilization.”
“Nah,” Nolan said. “You’re thinking of the sandwich.”
Elliot chuckled. “I’m serious. Did you read about the Neanderthal bones they found in that mass grave? They all had the same back injuries. They figured out that the spinal injuries of early Neanderthal’s matched those of modern rodeo riders. Because this was before they had learned to make the right tools for hunting. Their method was pretty much ‘get it!’ and a bunch of them would jump on the back of a wooly mammoth or some shit, try to take it down.”
Nolan cocked an eyebrow. “Your point?”