Langan left a specialist A.V.I. team in control of the crash area. He had reassured Dawn that the alien would be treated well and the corpse would be handled with dignity. Dawn, now in a blue boiler suit and sturdy black shoes, was anxious to get back to the city. She was impatient at the Range Rover’s seemingly slow speed, but tried to remain calm and patient.
Finally, Langan stopped typing, looked up from his laptop, and said, “I still don’t understand why you were in that cave.”
“Zolti told me Jensu was there.”
“Zolti?” Langan looked quizzically, “Jen who?”
“Jensu,” her voice quivered with emotion. “The dead female in the cave.” Dawn wiped her eyes. “She was his co-pilot. Zolti wanted me to find her so that those animals wouldn’t get to her.”
“That creature didn’t say a word to you,” Langan commented.
“The same way he told me about the boy trapped in the ship, telepathically.”
“Then why didn’t anyone else hear him?” Langan asked.
“Maybe you’re not ready to open your minds just yet,” Dawn responded quietly.
Langan glared indignantly.
“I didn’t mean it to sound like that,” Dawn said.
“You’re far more forthright with your opinions than I remembered.”
Dawn cursed herself silently. Had she blown this opportunity after so much hard work to get to this stage?
Langan smiled. “Your report will make fascinating reading.”
“I take it that means I have got the job?”
“If you still want it after all the drama and chaos, but―”
“I did not apply for it,” Dawn rushed to point out. “You chased me. Remember?”
“That’s right,” he conceded. “And I think you’ve proven that you can handle yourself and the situation.”
“Thank you,” she said simply. I am look forward to meeting the team in the morning.”
“You don’t start till Monday,” Langan stated dryly.
“Surely this will count as my first assignment,” Dawn protested.
“Welcome to the team, then.” Langan shook her hand. “Take the morning off. You’ve had a very stressful first night on the job.”
The Range Rover stopped at a set of lights.
“You can let me out here, please,” Dawn said.
Langan looked out at the deserted streets. “But you’re nearly a mile away from your apartment.”
“I need to get some fresh air and just clear my mind.”
“We’ll drop you off closer to home,” Langan decided. “This neighborhood can be a bit frightening.”
“I will be fine,” Dawn replied, as she opened the door. “See you in the morning.”
“You don’t need to be in the office until one thirty,” Langan insisted. “Get some rest.”
Dawn turned her cell phone. She walked briskly for several blocks along side streets, taking care to be seen as little as possible. She approached a phone kiosk opposite a sleazy looking bar. As she opened the door, she sensed a couple of hookers standing in the shadows. After a cursory glance, she let go of the door and walked away to taunts of, “you won’t get much business dressed like that!”
The phone in the second kiosk had been vandalized. She walked straight past the next one, that was directly outside a busy all-night mini-mart. Aware that she was walking away from her home, but grimly determined, she found a kiosk in front of a row of dilapidated stores. The stench assaulted her nostrils as she opened the door and she winced at the puddle on the floor. She held her nose tightly, stood on tiptoes in a corner of the kiosk, and lifted the receiver.
“Hello?” A very faint woman’s voice answered.
“Mrs. Spencer?”
“Yes,” replied the voice. “Who’s calling?”
“Amber one. There’s been an accident. The boy cannot be delivered tonight.”
“We know,” said the voice. “Control has been in touch. Is he all right? Is the crew all right?”
“The F.B.I. has taken…” Dawn gulped “Don’t concern yourself with the pilots or even ask about them. You’ve got to act like concerned parents for Tommy, for your son.”
“Are they―”
“Listen to me!” Dawn interrupted. “You don’t know anything. Your son is missing from home, from his own bed. So, when I hang up phone, call the local police. Act hysterical when you report him missing. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” confirmed the voice. “But has he been hurt?”
“He’s in hospital, purely as a precaution.”
“Where?” asked the voice. “In Chicago?”
“You don’t know anything about his sudden disappearance tonight. Wait for the local police to give you the details.”
“Will you come up here?”
“No,” answered Dawn. “We can’t have ever met. When you do meet me as part of the F.B.I. investigation team, wait until we’re formally introduced by somebody else.
“Yes,” the woman agreed, “I understand that.”
“Good. Scatter some clothes and toys around the bedroom and lounge,” Dawn instructed. “Ruffle the bed and make the house look like a disruptive ten-year-old lives there. Before you set off to pick him up, get the dog out of the house, either to a neighbor or into a kennel.”
“We can get somebody to feed him in the house.”
“The dog doesn’t know the boy so it certainly won’t greet him as a playmate, and that will arouse the suspicions of any decent cop. What if it starts barking at Tommy? How would you explain that?” Dawn hung up.
As she walked briskly home thoughts whirled through Dawn’s mind. Where’ve they taken Zolti? When will I get to see him? Will we be able to communicate freely? How am I going to explain the cave? Will they dissect Jensu’s body? What if Tommy is conscious before I get to the hospital?
As Dawn approached her apartment block, she berated herself quietly, “Just one thing at a time.” She slapped the heel of her hand against a lamppost and screamed, “Just one at a time!” She clutched her temples. She leaned against the lamppost, breathed deeply, and wiped her eyes, which begged for sleep. But she knew she’d be deprived of it by the tyranny of her tortured mind. Dawn took a few more deep breaths as she closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against the post. The sound of waves lapping on the shore gently filled her mind. She relaxed and freed herself of the internal chatter.
“Who’s there?” Wide-awake, alert, she looked straight into the alley opposite her. Her eyes quickly focused through the gloom, on a figure standing halfway down the alley. She skipped across the road and into the alley as the figure stepped farther back into the darkness. “What do you want?” she called. A voice in her head invited her in, and she stepped farther into the alley. “How long have you been watching me?” No reply came. The figure turned and moved swiftly out of sight into the darkness. “Hey!” Dawn called out. “What’s up? Don’t go!”
“Dawn!”
She spun round, startled. She recognized special agent Scott Nelson immediately, but tonight the worry on his face made him look all of his forty-four years instead of the late twenties twinkle that had originally attracted her. “Qua-onita! You startled me.”
He sprinted from his car and pulled his gun from its shoulder holster as he reached her. “Who’s in there?”
“I don’t know,” Dawn admitted. “Probably a tramp or a beggar.”
“Wait here,” Nelson instructed. “I’ll have a look.”
“No!” She grabbed his arm. “There’s no need,” she hastened to add. “He’ll have gone by now.”
“Don’t you know better than to walk into dark alleys after strangers?”
“Don’t act like my father,” Dawn brushed off his concern. “I can look after myself.”
“All the same,” Nelson conceded. “I’ll feel easier when you officially join the team and you can carry a gun.” He re-holstered his weapon.
“What are you doing here at this time in the morning?”
“Langan told me what happened, and that you got out of his car miles from home. I was worried I’ve been trying to call but…”
“What?” Dawn objected. “You’re my babysitter now?”
He reached to put his arms around her. “No I love you and I was worried about you.”
“Is this how it’s going to be if we’re on the same team? You hanging around like a mother hen every time I go out on a case because if it..”
“No,” Nelson interrupted her protest. “It’s your first case and a blockbuster. Exploding spaceships, an abducted boy, face-to-face with bleedin’ ET, then you find a dead one.” He lifted one finger in the air to strike a chalking motion, “Well―”
“What?” Dawn said sarcastically. “Chalk one up to the good guys? Whoever killed the slimy alien deserves a medal. Is that it?”
“Well they’d taken …” he floundered, lost for words.
“So they deserve to die, to be tortured? Is that what’s going to happen to Zolti?”
“Christ! You’re even talking about him like … good god, is that the name of the alien?”
“Yes. It is the name of the pilot that you’ve captured and are going to torture. Because of what?” She threw her hands in the air in exasperation. “Your divine right over all creation.”
“ It’s about protecting the earth from some blood sucking aliens who are snatching and torturing thousand’s of innocents for some plan of conquering, enslaving, or even harvesting us for food. God knows what else.”
“You’ve been watching too much television.” Dawn mocked. “Stupid stories of malevolent beings beaming people up into giant freezers, just waiting to be served up as the next ready meal!”
“Don’t mock, this is serious, you’ve seen the evidence for yourself tonight.”
“I’ve seen brutality, blind fear, and death.”
“There’s evidence out there, real people will testify that what these … these things …”
For a moment Dawn sensed the images in his mind of two grey creatures, then winced as his pain blotted them out. “Are you alright?” She asked as he gripped his forehead in pain.
“Yes I’ll be alright.” He smiled. “Why don’t I run you a hot foam bath, and you can just relax and unwind with a glass of wine?”
“No. I need to be alone tonight, just to, uh, err, unwind by myself. It has been quite an adventure.”
“That’s okay” He held her hands. “I love you and I was terribly worried after what I heard.”
She pecked him on the cheek and pulled away as he turned to kiss her passionately full on the lips.
Chapter Six
Tommy