by Darien Cox
“Hang on, Quint,” Gordy said. He glanced back at Baz. “He can do this? That hybrid? He’s mostly human.”
“He has ability, yes.”
Brett’s camera view showed Nolan, lying there so pale Elliot felt vomit try to work its way up his throat. Then the orange-haired being entered the shot at Nolan’s head. His long fingers drifted over Nolan’s scalp like he was giving him a head massage.
“What’s he doing?” Elliot said. “Shouldn’t he be focusing on the wound?”
“I’ve got it, Elliot,” Tyler’s voice said. His face appeared on screen. “I’m applying pressure to the wound.”
Baz’s hand was on Elliot’s shoulder suddenly. “Tullis, this is Baz. If you hurt that human you will know pain unlike you can imagine.”
Tullis’s eerie blue eyes looked up. “I unbleed but need to concentrate!”
“Silence,” Gordy shouted. “Everyone in this room and on that chopper. Silence. Let the hybrid work.”
Tullis’s head bowed again, fingers sliding over Nolan’s head, resting at his temples.
“He doing it right,” Baz whispered to Elliot. “Okay? This how it works.”
“What exactly is he doing?” Elliot asked softly, a tremor in his voice.
Baz’s hand rubbed the back of Elliot’s neck. “The brain is control room of body. Yes? Can use to heal all things. To mend what is broken. Nolan cannot do this himself. He is human. Tullis connect with Nolan brain and do it for him. Stop the bleed. Then repair.”
Elliot let out a hard breath. “He can do that? You’re sure?”
“I have seen. He do it in past for amusement and curiosity. But he do. His kind have the ability.”
“The blood’s not flowing anymore,” Tyler said. “Shit.” His breath hitched. “His bleeding stopped. Is he breathing?”
“Wait,” Tullis hissed.
All voices fell silent. Elliot’s eyes were glued to the big screen, watching white fingers kneading Nolan’s scalp. Seconds ticked by. He was barely aware of Baz’s long arm wrapped around his shoulders, holding him tight.
Onscreen, Nolan took a deep breath, eyelids fluttering.
Elliot tensed.
“Okay.” Tullis released Nolan’s head and looked into the camera. “He to be okay.”
“Are you sure?” Elliot shouted. “Check him. Someone check him!”
Tyler’s camouflaged back entered the screen, hunched over Nolan.
Elliot waited, his heart pounding. Then he heard Nolan’s voice. Dry and raspy, but it was Nolan’s voice. “Elliot. He had…curly hair,” Nolan slurred.
Tyler’s smiling face filled the screen. “Pulse is steady. Bleeding’s stopped.”
Elliot stared at the screen as Wiley and Tyler sat Nolan up, checking his wound. He gulped a sob. “He’s okay?”
“He’s pale as a ghost, Elliot,” Tyler said. “But I think he’s okay.”
“Good job everyone,” Ogden said. “Get back to headquarters at full speed, Quint.”
“Copy that.”
Elliot looked up at Baz. Baz smiled. “Nolan going to need drink some juice.”
A laugh escaped, and Elliot wiped his eyes. “Yeah. He’s gonna need lots of juice.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Drink. Drink it. Drink more.”
Nolan pushed the cup away. “Baz I can’t drink any more juice! I’ve had three cups. I’m okay.”
“Eat cookie.”
“I had a cookie. I don’t want another one. I’m telling you I’m okay!”
Rhonda finished checking Nolan’s blood pressure then stepped back from the cot. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but he’s right, Baz. Nolan’s fit as a fiddle. Even the wound is nearly healed.”
Nolan pulled his shirt back on. “I told you. Can I see Elliot now please?”
“Ellytot very upset,” Baz said. “He watch hybrid cut you. Watch you bleed.”
Letting out a whistle of breath, Nolan nodded. “I’m sure he’s upset. I want to see him.”
“I go get Ellytot.” Baz stuck the cup in Nolan’s face. “Drink?”
Chuckling, Nolan took the cup and sucked from the straw. “Okay? I’m drinking. Can you go get Elliot please?”
Baz smiled. “Okay.” He left the room.
Rhonda grinned down at Nolan. “You gave everyone quite a scare. Good thing you fraternize with aliens.”
“Did that…angry nasty really save my life?”
“Yeah. Talk about someone you don’t want to owe a favor.”
“Where is he now?”
“Somewhere in the bowels of this facility. Ogden had soldiers at the ready when you all landed. Tied that ginger hybrid down like he was Hannibal Lecter.”
“Wonder what they’ll do with him.”
The door opened and Elliot stepped inside, his grin widening when he saw Nolan. Nolan could see from the puffiness around his eyes that Elliot had been crying. “You are in so much trouble,” Elliot said as he approached the cot. “I told you I’d kill you if you got hurt.”
Nolan reached up and pulled Elliot down on top of him, squeezing him tight.
“You okay, really?” Elliot mumbled against his shoulder.
“Ask Rhonda.” He let go and Elliot sat on the edge of the cot.
“Nolan is perfectly healthy,” Rhonda said.
A long sigh leaked out of Elliot. “Really?”
Rhonda smiled. “Really.”
Elliot turned his head and kissed Nolan on the lips. “Love you.”
“Love you too. I’m sorry.”
“For almost dying? You fucking should be.”
“What’s happening in the control room?”
Elliot’s brows rose. “The Greys are still coming. Gordy says they’re about to pass by the moon in about twenty-five minutes.”
“So they haven’t been warned. By the traitor-hybrids.”
Elliot shook his head. “Baz suspects this means the Whites are back in control of the base.”
“I need to see this.” Nolan started to get up.
“No.” Elliot stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. “You need to sleep!”
“Fuck that. Elliot, we need to see this.”
Rhonda nodded. “I’d like to see this.”
Elliot looked at her. “You have clearance?”
“Yep. From Ogden himself.”
Nolan hopped off the cot. “Let’s go then.”
When they stepped outside the room Tyler was there, leaning against the wall. He grinned when he saw Nolan. “Hey. Dead man walking.”
“Hey Tyler. Thanks for everything.”
“It was not my pleasure. Scared the fuck out of me but I’m glad you’re all right.”
“Are you okay?” Nolan asked. “Your shirt’s all bloody.”
“Yeah. That would be your blood.”
Nolan winced. “Sorry. Can we go down to the control room?”
“Oh thank God,” Tyler said. “Ogden sent me here to guard the room until you felt better, was afraid I was gonna miss the action. Follow me.”
****
The control room was bustling with activity, Gordy and Ogden up front staring at the screen maps. A handful of staff darted from one computer to the other, checking things and chattering. Baz sat at the end of the row, Wiley leaning over his shoulder, pointing to something on the small screen. He looked up and smiled. “There he is.”
Nolan grinned. “Hey Wiley.”
Ogden turned from the big screens. “You all right?”
Elliot and Nolan walked over to join Ogden and Gordy. “I’m all right,” Nolan said.
Ogden patted Nolan’s cheek. “You did well.”
“Up until the point I started bleeding, right?”
“You did well,” Ogden repeated. He turned to the screens. “You’re just in time for the show.”
Gordy smiled at Nolan, his snake eyes shining gold against his odd skin. “Young man, it is good to see you up and about.”
“Thanks,” Nolan said. “Told you we ne
eded guns.”
Gordy’s pointed-tooth grin spread wide. “I think maybe that hybrid was just a little too fast for you.”
“Ya think?”
“I had enough firepower for everyone,” Tyler said as he approached. “Loved seeing that rusty red blood spray from that Q-Tip’s chest.”
Gordy jabbed a clawed thumb toward Tyler. “This human’s even more cold-blooded than I am.”
Tyler smirked.
“What’s going on?” Elliot asked. He pointed to the image of the moon on the giant screen. “I don’t see anything happening.”
Gordy called out to the entire control room, “Everyone? Please try to quiet down. The Greys are approaching. Christian?”
Christian walked over.
“Your man friend? Sheriff Murphy?”
Christian snorted. “What about my man friend?”
“Ogden spoke to him. He’s keeping an eye on the skies in Singing Bear. He’ll call us if anything becomes visible, but most villagers should be sleeping now. Elliot, if that’s the case we’ve got you patched in right over there. Your radio station is closed because it’s so late but you can cut in to do an emergency broadcast if necessary.”
Elliot nodded. “Got it.”
“Where are they?” Nolan asked. “Where are the Greys? I see nothing onscreen.”
“They’re cloaked right now. As they pass the moon my people will hit them with something that will force them to show themselves, make them visible.”
“And then?”
Gordy smiled. “And then, we hope they will retreat. If they do not? My people will hit them with something much less pleasant.”
“Can you take them?” Elliot said.
Gordy’s leathery forehead creased. “Take them? Like…” He punched the air. “Beat them up?”
“Yeah. Can your people stop them?”
“We shall see. Keep your eyes on the screens.”
Elliot glanced at Nolan. “We shall see?” Elliot whispered. “Doesn’t fill me with confidence.”
“I’m sure it will be fine,” Nolan said.
Elliot pointed. “You don’t ever get to say that to me again.”
“Ha, fair enough.” Nolan grabbed Elliot’s arm and pulled him close. “It’s still a yes, right? I didn’t forfeit by almost bleeding to death?”
“Yes, you jerk. I still want to marry you.”
Nolan smiled. “Good. Because you don’t have a choice.”
“Yes I do. And you’re it.”
A chorus of shocked gasps and curses ran through the room, and they both turned to the screens. “Holy shit,” Nolan said.
A giant yellow beam was shooting out the side of the moon, illuminating a triangle cluster of saucers. The beam retreated, but the saucers were still visible, silver disks veering off on all sides, dancing chaotically in the dark sky like a swarm of startled bees.
“Here we go!” Gordy shouted. “Let’s watch those bug-eyed bastards run!”
Another beam, blue this time shot from the moon, then another, crisscrossing with the first like two spotlights. Three silver disks exploded in a flash, the others scattering.
“Ah, shit,” Ogden said. “Brazen pricks. Look.”
Nolan’s heart pounded as he watched a cluster of saucers break from the pack, dodge the beams and head straight for Earth. “Do your people have ships, Gordy? Chase them!”
Ogden looked somberly at Nolan. “Gordy’s people have not committed ships to this mission. They don’t want to get involved to that magnitude.”
“Well…what the fuck? Those saucers are gonna head straight for Singing Bear Village! To the Whites’ base!”
Two more beams shot from the moon, taking out more saucers that lingered nearby.
The crowd from the control room had moved to the front, and they all shuffled forward as Ogden and Wiley walked over to stand before the other screens—the wide shot of Earth—and the satellite view of Singing Bear Village.
The saucers showed up as tiny white dots moving in a line formation toward the planet. Nolan counted at least twenty of them but it was hard to tell the way they clustered.
But then the line of saucers broke formation, forming another triangle, and Nolan swallowed hard. Each dot broke into dozens more. There were still hundreds of them.
“Look!” Baz scurried up beside Nolan, pointing. “Look to mountains!”
From the square patch of the field nestled in the mountains of Singing Bear, golden orbs shot up and out of it one after the other like Roman Candles. “The Whites,” Elliot said.
“They sending craft up,” Baz said. “Whites awake. Sending craft up!”
“Not just them,” Gordy said. “Check out the view of your planet.”
The wide shot of earth showed the orange balls of light rising up from the east coast. But they weren’t alone. Two other streams of gold dots were rising to orbit from different points on the planet’s surface.
“It’s not just the Singing Bear Whites. Ships also rising from the other Whites’ bases,” Gordy said. He shuffled over and slapped Baz on the back. “Think it’s safe to say your crew have their communication systems back in hand. They got your message, Bazzy.”
“They’re all attacking at once,” Wiley said. “Fuck me.”
“Gordy,” Ogden said. “Can you close in on this?”
Gordy walked over and stuck his hand into the screen with the shot of Earth. It went black, then blinked on again. The view was slightly closer now, the tiny white dots of the Greys’ ships more evident as saucers, back in triangle formation.
The three streams of Whites’ craft rising from Earth came together and converged into a single mass of gold orbs, thrice the size of the Greys’ brigade. Nolan gasped, gripping Elliot’s shoulder.
“The people in this room,” Elliot said, “are literally the only ones on earth seeing this right now. It’s fucking crazy.”
“Look.” Nolan pointed. “Look at the Greys.”
The exact moment the Greys realized what was happening was obvious—silver disks broke formation and turned back, fleeing away from the planet. But the gold orbs didn’t stop, the horde of Whites zinging across the black, star-speckled sky in pursuit.
“Run, you fuckers, run!” Tyler said, clapping. “Look at them Greys go.”
“The Whites are going after them anyway,” Nolan said.
“Yes,” Gordy said. “I think it’s safe to say the Whites are pissed off.”
The fleet of gold orbs caught up with the silver disks, overtaking them. Then it was chaos—all Nolan could see were explosions, sprays of glittery silver like fireworks against the backdrop of space.
A few silver disks broke off and tried to escape, but were caught in the blue beams that shot from the moon, the saucers flashing bright for a moment before going dark. “This is crazy,” Elliot said again.
“Yeah.” Nolan watched as more saucers tried to break free of the Whites, but were either taken out by pursuing gold orbs or the weapon beams from the moon. Within the cluster of gold orbs more explosions came, more glittery sprays of light.
Then suddenly it was over. The brigade of gold orbs headed back the way they came. The saucers were nowhere to be seen.
When the brigade of Whites’ craft reached the planet’s orbit, they split into three groups again. A line of them trailed off toward China. Another came down in a dotted line over Europe. The final cluster formed a line and descended on the eastern United States.
All eyes shifted to the satellite map of the village, watching the fiery orbs fall one by one, disappearing into the field nestled within the crop of green mountains.
The final craft entered the field, sinking through the ground and disappearing.
The moon cut its beams, and was just the moon again, gray, glowing, majestic.
Any random craft that had been passing through had fled. The skies were dark and quiet, nothing visible but stars.
Silence.
Gordy turned around and raised his arms, snapping
his clawed fingers. “Well? Can I get a hell yeah?”
The control room broke into cheers.
“Holy shit,” Elliot said, still staring at the screens. “Holy fucking shit. Did we just see that?”
Nolan grabbed his face and kissed his cheek. “Just so we’re clear…you don’t still want a different job, right?”
Elliot laughed, then was pulled away when Wiley grabbed him, hugging him as he gave Ogden a high-five.
Baz smiled at the group, then beamed when Christian walked over and shook his hand. Nolan, Elliot and JT walked over to join them. “Congrats, Baz,” JT said. “You did this. You saved the damn base.”
“No, you all help,” Baz said.
“We’re not the ones that threw ourselves into a high-powered air vent to escape,” Nolan said. “You should be proud of yourself.”
“I am…happy,” Baz said. “I must contact base now. Make sure babies safe.”
“Think you can get through?” Nolan said.
“Gordy?”
Gordy stopped his revelry when Baz called his name. He strolled over. “Baz. Congrats. Nice work.”
“Thank to you. You still have link to base from establish before?”
“I can…re-establish it, sure.” Gordy smiled. “You wanna make a call?”
“Yes please. Very much.”
“Come with me.”
JT looked at Nolan, then Elliot, finally wrapping an arm around Christian. “So what now?”
“Now?” Nolan said. “I really, really want to go home.”
The others nodded. “Ah crap,” Christian said. “Will we have to spend the night here?”
“Night’s almost over, and we’ve hardly slept,” Elliot said. “I want to go home now.”
“I miss Rudy like crazy,” JT said. “Hey Ogden?”
Ogden walked over, huge smile on his face. “Yeah?”
“Any way Quint or someone can give us a lift back to the village? And I do mean lift. No driving.”
“I think I can arrange that. You boys want to go home?”
“Yeah,” JT said. “We miss our beds.”
“And our man friends,” Christian said.
“Okay.” Ogden nodded. “Then let’s get you guys back to the village. Where you belong.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight