I stood outside Colonel Vance Cameron’s office surveying the grounds. Several people were working on aircraft in the distance. One guard still manned the gate. I climbed in Cameron’s deep blue sedan to find a strange set of controls. It was manual transmission with the shifter on the floor. The gas pedal was round, the brake pedal huge, and the clutch pedal tiny. First gear was back and to the left, reverse back and to the right. I carefully backed up to the office door, waited to see if anyone considered the action suspicious, then opened the trunk. After pausing suspiciously for another look around, I returned to RJ.
“You ready?”
“Will we make it?”
“I parked the car so the guard’s view is blocked. There’s nobody else in range.”
“What if he wakes up and starts banging?”
“It’ll only take a few seconds to cruise by the guard. After that, there’s no one.”
“I’ll take the feet.”
We half dragged, half carried our victim to the door. Now, with a look of pronounced guilt, I stuck my head out and checked again. No one around. Getting him into the trunk took longer and was less graceful than I'd hoped. There was ample time for someone to show up unexpectedly or notice from afar. No one did. Like inept criminals, we shut the trunk and stood with our hands in our pockets trying to appear innocent. It was agreed RJ would stay down as we drove past the guard. At the gate, he saluted as I went by.
There were no speed limit signs. The speedometer had meaningless, ascending numbers. I did my best to drive a normal speed, all the time fearing we’d meet a patrol vehicle and be stopped. At the turnoff point, we found a path through the brush and trees and forced that poor sedan through the woods all the way to the Griffin, warning Wilson, Danica, and Shelly in advance of what to expect, although they had already seen enough on the collar cams.
There began to be noises from the trunk. We pulled into the clearing a few dozen feet from Griffin, got out and stood behind the car, weapons drawn. Wilson looked on from the Griffin’s open hatch.
“If he gets a look at the spacecraft he’s going to try for the woods,” said RJ.
“That’s what I would do,” I replied.
“If you get into it with him again, at least it will be a fair fight.”
“Very funny. Not my kind of odds.”
“It’s your turn,” he reminded me.
“Regrettable,” I mumbled.
RJ took the keys, and inserted them. He clicked the trunk open and quickly stepped back and away. The trunk lid slowly rose open ten or twelve inches. Colonel Cameron’s angry, glazed eyes peered out.
RJ said, “We’re sorry, Colonel.”
I let go with a quick pulse from the pistol and the trunk fell back closed.
With Wilson’s help, we dragged the Colonel into the Griffin and fastened him securely to a jump seat by a closed portal. Wilson appeared matter-of-fact about the whole affair. Shelly, on the other hand, had a look of consternation that would have quieted any rambunctious kindergarten class. We lifted off and headed back to monitor Erin and Paris, pausing only to check the Colonel’s address from his identification and scan his home to be sure no one would miss him.
RJ sat at his engineering station surveying the inside of the Colonel’s modest home. “You were right. There’s nobody at his place and no other vehicles in the driveway. It’s what they used to call base housing. He has neighbors, though, and they are home.”
“Lucky, lucky.”
RJ turned to look at me. “You see what’s happening here, don’t you?”
“Oh no. I hate it when you say that.”
“You remember back in the late twentieth century, people complaining that UFOs were spying on them and kidnapping them?”
“Oh boy.”
“We’ve now become them.”
“We’re on a mission.”
“So were they, probably.”
“We’re only trying to correct some things that went wrong.”
“Who’s to say that’s not what they were doing? What determines unethical imposition from altruistic intervention?”
“I don’t understand.”
“How important does something have to be before it’s okay to do it, no matter what it is?”
“What do you suggest?”
“I don’t know. I don’t have the answers, either. I sometimes need to grumble about things.”
“Really?”
“All I know is we are now the aliens spying in people’s homes and abducting them.”
A moan from the habitat module interrupted us. RJ said, “The trunk lid absorbed most of the stun. He’s coming around. You said you would sedate him. Are you going to blindfold him, as well?”
“RJ…”
“Are you sure we’re the good guys?”
“I was only going to say, we don’t need to sedate him or blindfold him, for Pete’s sake.”
“Really?”
With Danica doing the flying, Wilson and RJ at their engineering stations, and Shelly seated at the table, I twisted a jump seat around and sat staring at the Colonel. His eyelids fluttered. Glazed eyes tried to focus, though vision hadn’t quite returned. Ambulatory functions were no more than twitches, but it was clear the brain was already at work, racing to adapt and evaluate. Even in semi-consciousness, he had test pilot face. The right hand, the aircraft stick controller, began clenching. This could be a blackout from a fatal dive in an experimental airplane; instantaneous reactions might be needed. He fought his way to awareness and stiffened as he looked around. His gaze met mine.
“Welcome back, Colonel.”
“We’re very sorry about that, Colonel,” RJ called from his station.
He jerked up in his seat, snapping his arms and feet against the restraints, then braced for an incoming assault.
“I’m sorry about those too, Colonel. It’s a temporary measure until we work something else out,” I said.
“He looked around. “What the…”
“This is my spaceship, the Griffin. We’re not going to harm you. When we’re done we’ll return you to the Base.”
He looked down at the restraints holding him and replied sarcastically, “You guys aren’t afraid of me, are you?”
“I can’t let you up just yet, Colonel. I know you too well. You could try something with the ship or crew. You wouldn’t take that chance, if it was you.”
RJ called out. “You’re confusing me, Adrian.”
“RJ…”
“Sorry, just an observation.”
The Colonel scanned the ship and looked back at me with contempt. “You’ve drugged me. I can feel it. This is a setup. You want information about the sound barrier testing. Why is the PRA interested in Mach 1?”
“Colonel, you have not been drugged. What you’re feeling are the effects of weightlessness. We are orbiting your planet at an altitude of approximately 24,000 miles, traveling almost 2 miles per second. I know the term miles probably doesn’t mean anything to you. Just take my word we’re high and fast.”
“Bullshit.”
I reached over and tapped the switch by his portal to open it. Below us, patches of white clouds drifted over the continent below. The Colonel strained to look down, then sat back and smirked. “Nice simulation. Where’d you get the color display?”
“You’re right. That could be faked. But, how about this?” I reached out and withdrew the pen sticking out of his flight suit pocket. I held it a foot from his face and let go. It drifted gently in front of him.
He paused and wrinkled his brow. He looked at me and then back at his pen, still floating. “Okay, I’ll give you that. It’s pretty good. But, we get weightless from diving aircraft all the time. I’m guessing in just a minute or so we’re going to start getting really heavy as this aircraft is pulled out of a dive.”
“Okay Colonel, but while we’re waiting for that not to happen, let me try to tell you why you’re here.”
He looked back at me with a softening expression. “We
can’t be diving. A dive couldn’t last this long.”
“You’re not space sick at all, are you? Makes sense. I never did get sick.”
“Where are we again?” he asked.
“Do you know what geosynchronous orbit is?”
“No.”
“It’s when you position the spacecraft high enough that the orbit is the same speed as the planet’s rotation, so you remain in a fixed point above the planet. Your planet has two moons so we have to continually adjust for their gravitational effects, and there is influence from solar wind and various radiation pressures, but otherwise we’re holding position over one of your cities.”
RJ pushed out of his seat and floated over to us. The Colonel stared at him hovering next to us. “My God. It’s true.”
“Colonel, I must apologize for my Commander’s lack of manners,” said RJ, and he glanced at me like a displeased parent. “This is Commander Adrian Tarn. As he just mentioned, this is his ship, the Griffin. I’m RJ Smith, systems engineer. It is offensive to all of us that you are restrained, but we know we can’t trust you. You are too much like our Commander here, and we all know what he’s capable of.”
I frowned at RJ. “Hey, hold on one minute…”
“Colonel, can I get you something to drink?”
“Not unless I can hold it in my own hands.”
“Ah yes, that. I have an idea that I think will allow us to lose the restraints. Give me a few minutes. I’ll be right back.”
“RJ?”
RJ waved me off and headed aft.
“Why have you brought me here, wherever this really is?”
“We are here about Capal’s chariot.”
A flash of fear spiked in the Colonel’s eye. He tried to appear ignorant. “You’re here about what?”
“There’s a piece of it on display in the Provincial Museum of Natural History. It’s no secret. You’ve just blown your cover trying to pretend you don’t know about it.”
“It’s only a legend. Nobody knows anything about it.”
“We’ve seen the classified government documents. You just blew your cover again.”
“You must know, there are things under the security umbrella that people cannot discuss for fear of repercussions.”
“No one has to know. No secrets can escape up here, and we will leave without a trace. ”
“Sorry. The government does random security interviews. If they suspect the slightest violation, they use truth serums. The only way to protect yourself is to never have said anything for them to find out about.”
I sat back and nodded. “I see. In that case, we must not put you in any jeopardy. You’re about to break the damn sound barrier, after all. Wouldn’t want to compromise that. We can do what we need to without help from you, but you’ll need to tag along until we’re done.”
RJ returned with a silver band in one hand and several coin-sized remote controls in the other. He handed me one and tucked the rest in his pocket.
He moved behind the Colonel and fastened the band around his neck. “I know this is barbaric.” RJ pointed at me. “It’s his fault, Colonel. He left the closet too soon.”
“I am sorry, Colonel. We couldn’t leave you down there or you would have been obligated to give us away. When we’re done here, we’ll put you back where you belong and hopefully no further harm will be done.”
“Oh sure, and I promise not to tell, right?”
“Imagine yourself telling the authorities what has happened to you so far. Then ask yourself if you would rather stay on test flight status.”
RJ interrupted. “This collar has a transducer that emits the same stun pulse that we used to knock you out. Everyone on this ship has a control to energize it. I’m going to release these restraints now. I think you know what will happen if you try anything.” RJ unlatched the restraints and pushed back. The Colonel began to float upward, grabbing the edge of the portal to steady himself.
“Maybe a tour of the ship will make up a little bit for what we’ve done to you. I’m sure the cockpit will be of most interest. Follow me, Colonel,” I said.
The man took to weightlessness like a fish to water. No unnecessary gyrations of the legs. It was gratifying to see. I was almost proud of myself as idiotic as that was. We coasted through the airlock. He paused to look at the outside hatches.
“You wouldn’t want to open those,” I said.
He gave me a flat stare. “Right.”
I moved aside by the engineering stations so he could pull past for a closer look at the flight deck. Beyond the front windows, the planet was turning with us. Flight controls were in orbital lock, keeping us synched. Danica looked back and up at him. “Hello, Colonel. The terminator is just up ahead. We’ll be passing into night shortly.”
He looked forward. “My God,” was all he said, and when his awe had settled a bit he looked back at me. “All this and a doll in the left seat?”
Danica made a 'tsk' sound.
“Better watch yourself, Colonel. She’ll fly circles around you and then beat your ass in the boxing ring, as well.”
After formal introductions to the rest of the crew, I guided him through compartment after compartment and could almost see his mind expanding with each new facility. He asked all the right questions. There was enough technical knowledge that he understood things were decades ahead of his time.
When the tour was complete, he and I sat at the oval table in silence for quite a time while RJ and Wilson went back to engineering station work and Shelly began her sleep period. After the long silence, he asked, “What happens now?”
“I need to go back into your facility…as you. That’s why I haven’t given you your flight suit back. It’s stored in my sleeper cell for the time being. I need to take that Blueprint office elevator down. It will be easier now, but I could still use your help.”
“It won’t be as easy as you might think. I’m not authorized for the lower levels. I’m just a rocket jockey, remember?”
“What’s down there?”
“And that brings us to the point, doesn’t it? I still can’t be sure if you are the good guys or the bad guys?”
“I’m you, aren’t I?”
“Are you? How is it you look just like me? I know it’s not the surgical thing; too much of you is an exact match. So, how can you be who you are?”
“We don’t know. We’re working on it. There’s all kinds of identical parallels between your planet and ours that we don’t understand yet.”
“Yeah, you haven’t told me a thing about where you come from. Maybe you’re here to gather information so your planet can take over and make ours an extension of yours.”
“Nope. We’re too far away. The distance is almost unimaginable. This was a risky venture for us. I’m sorry, I forgot my manners again. Would you like water, coffee, or something else?”
“Water would be good.”
In the galley I set up a squeeze tube for him and filled it with cold water. I pitched it at him through the zero-G and he brought it in like a pro. Back at the table, I sipped at coffee. “The truth is, I understand you perfectly. I’d feel the same way you do. As I said, we can do this without your help. That’s probably the way it needs to be so you can live with yourself afterward.”
“Nothing personal,” he replied.
“Nothing personal.”
“When will you go back in?”
“Late tonight when there’s less staff there. I sure as hell don’t want to stun anybody else.”
“Hear, hear...” he raised his squeeze tube.
“One thing’s for sure.”
“What’s that?”
“You’ll never laugh at anyone who claims to have been abducted by aliens ever again.”
Chapter 39