“I just need some fresh air, Dario, to look up at the night sky and try to find our sun; I guess that I am feeling just a little homesick.” The first man said quietly.
“Well I am not homesick, moving to this planet has given me a young body, and if I had stayed on Magenta I might have been dead by now.” The second man replied in an equally quiet voice. For it had been drummed into them ever since leaving their home world, the importance of keeping a low profile on a world full of paranoid enemies.
The two men walked out into the yard and stood there looking up at the sky, however, they could not see their home sun. At this time of the day, their own sun was still well below the horizon, and in six hours’ time when it had risen, the sun of this planetary system would be shining down upon Austin. After five minutes taking in the night air the two men turned and re-entered the building and walked back down the corridor, Sally followed them, pulse racing, and of course feeling very fearful. The two men turned a corner and Sally heard the whirring noise again, then the silence returned.
She hurried forward to see an empty corridor before her, she crept forward and peered into each of the rooms that led of the corridor but found nothing, she swore very quietly, it was obvious to her that somewhere along this corridor there was a secret door, but where, she quickly thought over her options. Should she stay, hidden in one of the rooms that would give her a clear view of the corridor, or should she return home and wait for her Uncle Will to return home, and then they could return later with a full squad of Rangers to seek out the hidden panel? Even though she was exhausted, both from the stress of her breaking and entering, and also the obvious danger that she had put herself in, she decided to wait for another of the aliens to show her the secret of the hidden panel. She did not want to risk looking a fool in front of a squad of Rangers, if they came here and failed to find the hidden panel.
Sally decided to hide in the room that was at the junction of the two corridors, here she could see down the corridor in which the two men had disappeared. Her vigil dragged on, and her backside was going numb sitting on the hard tiled floor, Sally sat partially concealed behind a door while she waited for another alien to show up. Just as she decided to get up from the floor to stretch her legs, and give comfort to her backside, she heard the same whirring noise that she had heard before. She tensed up and closed the door over a little until there was just enough of a gap to see the corridor in front of her. Within the dimly lit corridor, she saw the door of the janitor’s cupboard open, and then a shaft of light lit up the area directly in front of it. She watched as two men walked out of the cupboard, they were carrying a large plastic barrel; and this they manhandled along the corridor, going in the direction of the yard. As soon as they were out of sight, Sally left her room and hurried along to the janitor’s cupboard, she opened the door very slowly, which had swung shut, and peered in.
“Oh My God.” She mouthed silently, for she was looking at the inside of an elevator. On the wall were two buttons, each had an arrow painted on it, one pointing up and the other pointing down, the aliens she realized were below ground. She now almost had enough to report to her uncle, but she realized that she needed just a little more. How were the aliens able to call the elevator from this level when the elevator was sitting on the sub level? There was only one-way to find out, it meant exposing herself to a small amount of risk, but she could not help that. She pressed the down arrow and stepped back. The elevator door duly closed and she could once again hear the whirring noise as the elevator now descended. Sally chose a new viewing point, the room opposite the janitorial cupboard and with the door just open; she waited there for the return of the two aliens. If they wondered too much about why the elevator had descended they might decide to search the sublevel for an intruder, she just hoped that they would not search this floor before she had made her escape.
Ten minutes went by before Sally heard the two men returning, their footsteps echoing slightly in the empty corridors. One of them, the fairer of the two aliens, swore, when he saw that the elevator had returned to the sublevel. Sally could just see his hand as it reached out and slid the light switch within the janitor`s cupboard aside, and she watched as he then reached over to press a button. Moments later she heard the whirring noise, and she was shocked to see the janitor`s cupboard rising upwards to be replaced moments later by the elevator door, which opened outwards. When the elevator descended yet again, Sally quickly exited her viewing room and hurriedly escaped from the building, via the open window through which she had entered. She did not hear any noises coming from the interior of the building, so she assumed that the two aliens had not pondered on the matter of the elevator, soon she was sitting in her car and ten minutes later she was back within the safety of her uncle`s house.
**********
Back in Houston the next morning, Will accompanied the two FBI agents to the apartment of Richard Mallory, but they did not get an answer when they knocked at his door. One of the FBI agents, Special Agent Michael Murphy, pulled out a set of lock picks and soon had the door open, and he then entered the apartment with Will and the other FBI agent, Special Agent Adrian Gordon, following. They found Mallory to be out and his car to be missing from out front. Murphy put a call in to the Houston office of the FBI, but he found out that Mallory had called in sick. Will swore loudly, for had they arrested Mallory when Will had wanted to, instead of consulting with the FBI, he would not be missing now.
“We should talk to his partner, Special Agent Ballinger, to see if he can tell us anything.” Will said.
“Before we do that why don`t I call the Houston office again to see if he is there?” Murphy said and on calling the FBI office he found that Ballinger too had called in, he needed a personal day off to attend to a sick relative.
They then drove round to Ballinger’s apartment but found him missing.
“He might be visiting his sick relative.” Gordon offered by way of an answer.
“He may be, but it is one hell of a coincidence, we need both of their apartments watched and a nationwide alert put out for the two agents.” Will demanded. He was beginning to get rather annoyed with the situation.
“I will call our deputy director and fill him in; he will probably put out a general call for Mallory and maybe even Ballinger. With that taken care of we will spend the rest of the day waiting in Mallory`s apartment, to see if he returns, if he does we will take him back to the FBI offices here in Houston, and then call you.” Murphy replied, annoyed at having to waste a day waiting around to see if the missing agent would return to his apartment.
“At least there was a good supply of coffee back there.” Gordon added.
“I will have Ballinger`s apartment watched by a couple of Rangers, if he returns he may be able to help us.” Will said rather glumly.
After arranging for a watch to be put on Ballinger`s apartment, Will headed back to Austin, it was during the drive that many strange thoughts ran through Will`s mind. There was something nagging him about this case, it did not seem right, was he looking at it from the wrong angle. Then as before when he had been baffled by a difficult case, he experienced a flash of insight, it appeared before him like a motion picture, he could see it clearly now. This case had originated because of Sally`s interest in the people returning from Mars, and then the Moon, could their antagonists be real life aliens, ones from another world? Will could not believe that this idea had popped into his mind, but then another thought entered his mind. Earth had lost contact with the Mars Colony One spacecraft on their outward journey, and did not re-establish contact with them until they had arrived at the planet Mars, could it have started during that time when the craft was out of contact with Earth. All the eight people on Mars Colony One spacecraft were Americans though, if this was when they were brainwashed then surely, it must have been real life aliens, little green men from Alpha Centauri? Will reasoned that for it to have been one or more of the American crew behind the brainwashing, well it would be an even c
razier notion. He decided that he needed to speak to his niece about these crazy thoughts, and the sooner the better.
**********
When Will finally returned home, that afternoon, Sally was extremely glad to see him, to tell him of her adventure and to ask him a question.
“Uncle, how is the case proceeding, have you got anywhere yet?” Sally asked almost immediately after they had sat down.
“Not yet Sally, Special Agent Mallory and his partner Ballinger are now missing, the FBI are mounting a nationwide search for Mallory and hopefully his partner.” Will replied, and before Sally could ask another question, he quickly asked one of his own.
“Sally, are you holding any information back from us, maybe because you are afraid to mention it in case you are laughed at?” Will asked, looking directly at her to see how she responded to his question.
“Anything Uncle, what do you mean?” Sally replied evasively, looking anywhere but into her uncle`s eyes.
From her actions, Will knew that he was correct, and he now told her of the wild theory that had occurred to him, regarding the little green men and such.
Sally openly sighed with relief and then she told him everything. “Yes Uncle and how, I did not tell you before because I thought that you would dismiss my whole story as pure science fiction, but as you have asked, I will tell you everything. First off when I was at the health spa in Houston I did hear something else, something that I knew no one would believe, so I did not dare to mention it.” Sally replied. “One of the two men who were with Richard Mallory, asked why they did not release a virus to clear Earth of its inhabitants, the second one replied that with all the dead bodies covering the Earth, the planet would be a seething mass of bacteria, and he did not want to live on such a world.” Sally said, looking up at her Uncle to see how he took the revelation, and as he seemed to take it rather well she continued.
“Uncle even I could not believe it; this was not just me imagining things it was really happening, it is why I finally called you. You should also know that there are many new faces working at the Johnson Space Center, and while this might be normal, these people are not, she then handed him a list of all the people she knew who she thought were now acting strangely. “There is also something else that you should know.” Sally said, and Will turned his head slightly to look into her eyes, for by her tone he knew that she was not about to tell him about a trip to the mall.
“Yesterday, I felt a little bored sitting here all alone with only the television for company, so I went for a walk.” Sally began and then told her uncle all that occurred, of following Carlisle into a run-down commercial yard, of what she had overheard while hiding within the yard, and of her nocturnal return trip to the yard to look around the buildings, and what she had uncovered.
“Uncle, I heard two of the men speaking, and what they said was this. ‘I just need some fresh air, Dario, to look up at the night sky and try to find our sun; I guess that I am feeling just a little homesick.’ To which the second man replied. ‘Well I am not homesick, moving to this planet has given me a young body, and if I had stayed on Magenta I might have been dead by now.’ They were aliens Uncle, real life aliens.” Sally exclaimed.
Will sat there in shock; his niece had turned into an amateur sleuth, one that took risks bordering on the insane, and one that provided him with more data than any of his experienced Rangers. However, he was still in a state of shock when he replied to his niece.
“Sally, do you have a death wish or something, why on earth didn`t you call me, they could have killed you and I would never have known?” Will said angrily.
“I did, Uncle, I left you a note telling you everything, look here it is.” Sally declared handing him the note, Will glanced at it but was still as mad as hell at his niece`s recklessness.
Sally then explained why she had taken such risks. “I needed to be sure Uncle Will, to be sure that there was something to find before I wasted your time; and also made myself look ridiculous in the eyes of Major Hernandez, surely you understand that?” Sally cried out.
“Ok, Sally, I guess I do understand that, and you did find something, just promise me that next time you will call before putting your life in danger, OK?” Will replied, his anger dissipating, for he knew that he would have done exactly the same thing in her place.
“OK, Uncle, I promise.” Sally said, feeling much better now she had told her uncle everything that she knew and suspected about the alien presence on Earth, and of their invasion plans. She felt as if a great weight had been lifted off her, now someone better suited could protect the people of Earth, and she could relax, a little.
The thought that the aliens might have killed her had occurred to Sally last night, sitting there now, with her uncle, she thought about it again, remembered her fear once again when it bit into her vitals when the two aliens had appeared, and she had been forced to hide beneath a desk. So she took a deep breath of air, and feeling better she waited to hear what her uncle had to say about all that she had told him.
Will now repeated the pertinent facts back to Sally. “Ok Sally, first off they need the results urgently, as they have already identified all of the delivery points in North America and they are ready to commence delivery of the chemical. Secondly, they need confirmation that the latest version of the chemical is effective against us, especially after its immersion in water for an extended amount of time. Thirdly, they need to know the amount of Trichlorian Plus required with each one thousand gallons of water. We also need to know when a top up will be required. They are also about to proceed with the field tests in some of the remoter areas of America, is that everything Sally?” Will asked his niece.
Sally took a moment before replying, running everything through her mind. “Yes Uncle, but the dosage may be too high for it to go unnoticed for the length of time that they need. Carlisle needs more time to improve its effectiveness to ensure that they do not fail. He mentioned that he might be able to refine the chemical enough by the end of next month, but not before.” Sally reminded her uncle.
“Sally, we need to speak to the Major about this, and yes you are right, it does sound as if someone wants to poison us all, and if it is ET, then maybe the target is the Earth rather than just the US. However, I do not want to mention E.T. just yet, not until we have more proof that they exist.” Will said to his niece, who nodded her acceptance of his decision, and immediately some of her elation died away, E.T. was to remain a secret; however, it did not fade away entirely. Sally had long realized the seriousness of the alien presence, but hearing someone else speak of it had made her head spin, but only just a little, however, now she knew the fight would soon be taken to the aliens, their invasion plans were no longer a secret known only to her.
**********
The next morning, at ten o`clock, when the early morning paperwork had been done, Will and Sally knocked on the door of Major Hernandez. “Good morning Major, do you have half an hour to spare, Sally and I need to talk to you about a serious matter; it looks as if Sally has indeed stumbled upon one of our militant crackpot groups, and a rather dangerous one at that.” Will said to his commanding officer who looked quizzically at his officer for a moment before nodding his head and asking him to continue.
Will then told Major Hernandez of Sally`s two visits to the run down commercial building in Austin, and some of what she had overheard and seen there.
Major Hernandez listened carefully, hardly believing that the young woman before him had had the guts to go all Nancy Drew, or that she could stumble across a conspiracy when trained officers could not hear even a trace of a rumour regarding the matter.
“You do realize Sally, that you broke the law when you entered the building early that morning?” Major Hernandez asked a perplexed young woman who had gone to see Hernandez regarding a much more serious matter than trespassing on private property.
“Yes of course I do, but I felt that I had no other option open to me, and it paid off Major, in spades.” Sa
lly retorted. “Didn`t it, and thank god that I did break the law, for otherwise god only knows how many people might have died otherwise.” She said angrily.
Major Hernandez smiled at Sally following her rebuke of him; as he looked from Sally to Will while he quickly considered all that he had heard; he soon came to a decision. “Ok Will, we will mount a raid on the buildings tomorrow morning, at eight when it opens.” Hernandez now turned to Sally.
“Sally, I believe you, I really do, but this is your chance to come clean, if this is really just a figment of your imagination tell us now and I will not rebuke you.” Hernandez said looking rather apologetic for still having doubts.
“If only it was Major Hernandez, it would mean that my life could get back to normal, and that I could go back to NASA, and back to a job that I really do love.” Sally replied with a sad smile on her face.
“Then we shall pay this group of dangerous madmen a visit, and stop their mad scheme before it even begins.” Hernandez promised, believing all that Sally had said, for he now saw the sincerity of her words, both in her voice and upon her face.
Major Hernandez then contacted his two sergeants to have them arrange for twenty Rangers plus the two sergeants to be on hand for an early morning raid, and to stress upon their men that secrecy about the raid was most important, as usual. Hernandez`s sixth sense was telling him that he had not been told the whole story, but he trusted Captain Rogers, and so decided to wait and see how the strange case unfolded, to see if there was another dimension to it.