Sitting at the back of the bus Nick watched his fellow passengers warily through his sunglasses for any sign of acknowledgement that they knew who he was. He kept picturing the bus stopping and Bill climbing on board with an armed escort and dragging him back to Dulce base. The bus ride at least afforded him time to reflect on his passage so far. On the outskirts of the small town of Dulce he found some shelter in an old barn and when it was light out he made his way to the road and was able to hitchhike a ride out of the area and back to Las Vegas. His first thought was to return to his hotel room but as he had no room key or anything that idea was sunk. Plus his reservation was already over, who knows how long ago. So he made his way to the bus station and bought his way onto a charter bus to Vancouver. He was still surprised that he had met no resistance along the way. No vehicle checks or television ads showing he was wanted. No nothing. Perhaps they hadn’t noticed yet? No, that couldn’t be possible. He should have been having more training, they surely would have found out when they went to fetch him. No, they knew he was missing, but why weren’t they doing anything about it? Maybe they decided he was a lost cause and that they could get somebody else to do the job. The base was bigger than what Nick saw; perhaps they had other people also training so that in the event of a failure like this they could go to one of the backups. Whatever the reason, he knew better than to let his guard down.
Thinking ahead to when he arrived home, Nick tried to figure out what his best move would be. Since the bus terminal was near his work, should he go there first to inform his friends what had happened to him? Should he just go to his apartment and lay low until he could figure out what to do next?
Nick had fallen asleep trying to reason what he should do and awoke as they approached the border. His anxiety ratcheted up accordingly. This was a major breaking point. Either he would make it through the border without any problems or else, well he didn’t really want to think of the or else right now. The bus pulled over just after the Canadian border and all the riders had to get out and go in to the customs office and present identification. His passport gripped tightly in his hand, he made his way off the bus and joined the throng of passengers queuing up at customs. Trying to keep his heartbeat and breathing in check, he reached the counter and presented his documentation. Time seemed to stand still as the clerk looked at him, finally asking bluntly “Citizenship?”
“Canadian” he replied
“Anything to declare?” the clerk asked wearily.
“No sir”
“How long have you been out of the country?”
This was the question that Nick had been dreading. He had been away from home for weeks and now he was coming home with no luggage, no souvenirs, nothing. It seemed so ludicrous. He gulped as he said “about five weeks” and prayed to himself that they wouldn’t ask him where he had been.
“Passport please” the clerk said, unfazed, putting out his hand.
Nick passed his passport over and waited on pins and needles. The clerk swiped it and stared at his monitor. After what seemed like an eternity the clerk passed him back his passport and said “Welcome home sir”
Breathing a sigh of relief Nick boarded the bus once more and relaxed, his heart returning to its normal rhythm.
The bus arrived at the station and he disembarked with the other passengers. He looked around, to make sure he wasn’t being watched or followed and then left the building and headed down the street in the direction of his workplace. Without his luggage available to him, Nick knew he needed to stop by his work as he had a spare key to his apartment there in his desk.
Even though Nick was back in Canada, he felt strange, like he was tainted in some way that would never allow him to be like everyone else. He could sense their anxieties, their fears; snatches of their thoughts would flit in and out of his brain if he let them. Nick had to work hard to keep it from affecting him, from making him want to run and hide. On the other side of that equation however, he was getting a real sense of attachment to people, complete strangers and they were all walking around like zombies, trapped in their own mind. They felt helpless to him. So alone and deserted and yet they soldiered on through their lives, always working and striving to better themselves and those they loved.
Half expecting to see a fleet of police cars waiting for him, Nick turned the corner to his workplace, his stomach doing flip flops with anxiety as the building came into view. He suddenly felt dumb. If he were Bill, this is definitely one place that would be watched. He decided to go around the back way by the bay doors and enter where he would be among the people who he worked with on a daily basis and would draw the least attention.
The bay doors were wide open allowing the fresh air and sunshine to penetrate deep into the warehouse. Feeling that this would be a prime place for Bill to get a hold of him again, he paused for a moment and observed; reaching out with his mind to see if could sense if there was any danger present. He couldn’t sense anything and everything was seemingly in order and Nick continued on, his senses bristling. Up the steps and through the back door, the first person he saw was Dean, busy packing an order. He nodded to him and said hello, Dean replied “Hey Nick, your back. How was the holiday?”
“It was great” he replied as he swept past him and continued on. He needed to get to his office so he could get his spare keys from his desk and then he would be on his way. He didn’t like creeping into his workplace like this; he didn’t feel welcome for some reason. Maybe because he was scheduled to be off for two weeks and had really been gone for several; strangely Dean didn’t seem to react to that. Nick shrugged and put it aside as he wove his way through the shelving and encountered some more of his co-workers and greeted them in a jovial fashion as though he had never been away but he never stopped moving toward his objective.
Just ahead was his office, door open and the lights on. ‘Good’ thought. The fewer things to slow him down the better. He went in and quickly moved to his desk, rifled through the top drawer and found his extra keys. Moving to exit again found his way was blocked by Henry. “Hey dude, you’re back”
“Uhhh, ya, just briefly. I needed to get something out of my desk” Nick replied trying to skirt his way around Henry. “I really need to be on my way”
“No problem.” Henry replied as he stepped out-of-the-way. “Nice seeing you again. Are you coming back to work soon or what?”
“Soon buddy” Nick said looking over his shoulder as he strode away.
Nick was feeling something wasn’t quite right but he continued out the door and made his way back to the exit and left without a backward glance. With his keys in hand he made his way back to his apartment. Every car that passed, every pedestrian in sunglasses gave new heights to the sense of foreboding that was building in his mind. He needed to be alone, to clear his head and think. Try to figure a way out of this whole mess. He was at his building now, going up the front steps, maintaining control over himself so he didn’t go sprinting up the stairs and call attention to himself. He took the fire exit up to the third floor. Nothing seemed out of place, why was he feeling this way? Fumbling with the keys he managed to get the door open and burst inside, shutting the door quickly behind him.
‘Home sweet home’ he thought, punctuated with a deep sigh. He dropped his bag and sagged against the door in relief when a voice echoed in his head “Hello Nick, nice to see you again”.
For some reason Nick wasn’t surprised. Like he knew all along this was going to happen.
“I was wondering when you would catch up with me” Nick said. “Why did you let me get all the way back here? I am sure you could have caught up with me before I made it across the border.”
“I was in no real hurry Nick. Besides I felt that being among your fellow humans would really help you to see our point of view. You’ve felt it since you left the base haven’t you? The worry they feel about everything from the mundane to that which is truly worth worrying about. And even when they are mired in some of the most horr
ible things anyone can imagine, people still believe there is something good out there and cling relentlessly to that hope. You’re that hope” he finished.
Nick reflected back on the people he had encountered on his trip home and realized that Bill was right. The feeling he could sense from other people, struggling to keep it all going and defiant in their belief of something bigger than themselves. That described them perfectly.
What did he mean them? He was a part of them and he had a duty to help where he could, to help deliver humanity from enslavement at the hands of a master race, to help save everybody, man, woman and child from a fate worse than death. His resolve steeled, his confidence soaring he squared his shoulders and looking Bill straight in the eye, replied “Yes I have been feeling it, and it has made me realize that this is something I have to do”
“That’s excellent” said Bill, clearly delighted and relieved.
“But you need to answer some of my questions”
“I can do that for you Nick. I agree it’s time that you were everything that’s behind the curtain. ”
Nick moved over to the couch and sat down, Bill joined him and they sat in a strained silence for some time while Nick marshaled his thoughts.
“First off, what happened to Zalath?”
“Even with the advanced knowledge you saw on display Nick, there are times when a militant Annunaki surfaces and tries to work against us. There used to be more of them but over time they have slowly been revealed and are now far and few between. Zalath was especially good in her deceit. Changed her name, used her abilities to mask her true intentions. Unfortunately she was so good at it we didn’t figure her out until she acted. She is being held in a facility and won’t interfere with our operation again.”
“She’s OK then”
“At the present time, yes, and she will stay that way if she cooperates”
Nick pondered this news for a moment then asked “You keep telling me that I was chosen for this for a reason. How was I chosen? What separated me from other people?”
“The focal point of the plan relies on the candidate’s ability to use the telepathic abilities that we have awoken. There are certain DNA markers we can look for that indicates a person’s capacity for their use. Although the capability may be there, we don’t know how the person will react when the ability is awakened. Your DNA indicated a high potential.”
Nick wrinkled his brow in curiosity. His DNA, how did they know that? “How do you know about my DNA? How did you get it?”
“The Annunaki have been around for a long time and the ones that are here are trying hard to help save humanity. Look at the bases you have been in. They are miles ahead of humans in technology. They have been keeping a database of human DNA since the early nineteen hundreds. They knew this day was coming and they wanted to have the right person in place when the time was right.”
The whole idea boggled Nick’s mind.
“But how” he spluttered
“There are a number of ways. When they are born every baby has a heel prick to test for certain diseases. We get a sample then, or through the vaccination program we run in many countries. In some remote places where they don’t have those kinds of things we have to go out and secure the samples ourselves.”
“That’s unbelievable” said Nick. “All those years and all that data and there was never anyone else better suited to do this thing?”
“There have been other candidates but none with such a high potential. They were started on the training and couldn’t handle the reawakening of their abilities. Every single other candidate to this point that has lived, has had to have their memories modified and returned to their lives. So far you’re the only one who did the training and kept it all together. Quite an accomplishment”
Nick looked down at the ground and rolled over the thoughts in his mind. It was almost too astounding to grasp. DNA of every single human being on file somewhere, it was amazing. Then he thought of all those humans and what would become of them if the Annunaki managed to enslave them all, and here he has the power to try and stop it. He had to do it. There was no other way around it.
Bill interjected quietly “What’s it going to be Nick? Our window of opportunity is quickly closing. If we can’t pull this off the next step will be open warfare with them when they arrive in our space. I don’t think I need to tell you the ramifications of that approach. Who knows, we may even need to go that route anyway if this plan doesn’t succeed.”
“I don’t see much of a choice here Bill. I want to help my fellow humans. I’ll return with you to Dulce and continue preparations for this mission” Nick said, his voice wavering slightly under the enormity of his decision. He knew he may never come back, knew that he may never get to enjoy the Earth he was trying to help save but he also knew that he could not live with himself if he didn’t at least try to do it.
“Fantastic” said Bill sounding genuinely relieved “only I don’t think we will be returning to Dulce. You need to continue training, but I think a new locations is in order”
“Where would that be?” queried Nick, more than curious.
“The moon”
Chapter 9