Consortium of Planets: Alien Test (6 page)

He slowed to match her pace and stayed close. If he got the chance, he would teach her the proper way to rappel. Then he noticed that she was looking up while he was looking down.
While I’m on point, the lieutenant has my back.
He had to admit that it was a good way to protect their rear, especially in the eerie blackness.

Despite taking too long, they arrived at the floor of the crater with no surprises. Beth pulled the shiny half-meter-long plasma launcher off her back. She cocked it for action and nodded that she was ready. Dean pointed at the base of the Moonbeam with his blaster and they started toward it. For safety, they alternated running behind huge pieces of industrial gear – as one advanced, the other stayed hidden and provided cover. Up close, the alien buildings, equipment, and randomly placed paraphernalia seemed much larger. Using hand signals for communication, Dean and Beth passed what appeared to be massive shipping containers under loading gantries. They paused next to a glossy black building.

“L.T., you see any doors or windows? All the surfaces are smooth as glass.”

“Colonel, I don’t even see a scratch. The whole place looks deserted except for, what did you call it, the Moonbeam?”

“That’s what Visen said the press named it.”

“Do you think this place is automated?”

Dean was guarded with his answer. “I think it’s too early to tell but anything’s possible. Let’s keep moving. When we get to the Beam, I’ll check in with Command and then we’ll take it out.”

Beth thought how easy he made it sound to stop the alien weapon. All they had were some conventional explosives that might not be enough to do the job, but she wanted to win back his confidence and didn’t argue. She just nodded and turned back toward their target.

Before Dean followed her, something told him to take another look at the building’s slick surface. He frowned as he studied it. Something about it was wrong. Tentatively, he extended his right hand toward the exterior wall. As he made contact, the surface began to waver and flicker like something that didn’t want to vanish. Dean yelled in surprise and jumped back. After he jerked his hand away, the wall looked solid again.

Beth instantly dropped onto her belly, rolled over supine, and pulled out a blaster. She stayed on her back with her launcher and blaster aimed up at Dean. “What happened?” she gasped.

He was already reaching for the shiny surface again. “Lieutenant, would you mind pointing your weapons at something other than me?” he said, still watching the surface. “The metal changed when I tried to touch it! Watch what happens.”

Dean reached out and once again the wall began to shimmer and sparkle. This time the wall didn’t reform. Instead, the unstable spot expanded into a dark entrance about three meters wide and four meters tall. Its interior walls were smooth, but the floor looked like the crater’s natural dusty surface.

“L.T., I don’t see a welcoming party, but if one shows up, there’s nowhere to hide in there.”

“Colonel, they just threw out the welcome mat. So, do we accept their invitation, blow a few holes in their pretty walls for cover, and kick some alien butt? Or, do we try to get to their scary weapon before they can stop us?”

The element of surprise was gone. Dean felt like a mouse being offered cheese in a trap. He took a few steps back. “We’ll stick to the mission and come back for this after we turn off that light.”

In reality, Beth was relieved. She had been acting overly enthusiastic to impress the colonel. She allowed some fake disappointment to show in her voice. “Too bad we have to wait. I’m going to enjoy checking this out later.”

Suddenly, a force stopped them in their tracks and they began to rise. They floated helplessly a few meters above the hole in the building before a gentle tug began to pull them toward it.

“L.T., I think you’re about to get your wish to check it out – whether we like it or not. Can you move at all?”

“Maybe,” Beth grunted with effort, “with the right motivation. If I could get a shot at one of those little green men, I’d try like hell.”

An average-looking Human male with wavy brown hair and olive skin stood in the mouth of the opening and waited for them. His bright blue eyes were in contrast to otherwise normally dark features. His pot belly made him look middle-aged.

As they came to rest on the surface, Dean had to laugh at the alien’s relatively good attempt at mimicking a Human. “Well, L.T, I’d have to say that your little green man isn’t so green. He looks like one of my old college professors, but they weren’t able to slow me down the way he has.” Dean looked at the alien. “Oh, and by the way, if you want us to think you’re Human, you might want to wear a protective suit when you’re standing in a vacuum on the Moon.”

The ‘man’ showed no interest in Dean’s observation. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t let you continue toward the Moonbeam. Oh, and I wasn’t sure how much power to use on a Human and didn’t intend for you to float about like one of your birds. I’m not what you expected for an alien? This image is not intended to fool you. It is intended to assist in our communication. If I showed you what I truly look like, our research indicates that effective communication would be problematic. We have found that your species is more comfortable around similar-looking beings.”

“Colonel, he doesn’t look dangerous. I think I can get a shot at his leg.”

The alien responded before Beth could react. “Oh, I assure you I am very dangerous and that isn’t really my leg. It’s more of a projection – like a very sophisticated hologram. We’re controlling most of what you see.”

Things were starting to make sense now, but Dean wanted to confirm his suspicions. “The crater’s murky surface and this base are just facades created by you for our benefit?” Before the alien could respond, Dean asked about the real problem. “What about the Beam headed toward Earth?”

The alien no longer sounded like an old college professor. It responded like the dangerous alien that he claimed to be with malice in its voice. “Are you asking if the Beam is real? It’s very real. It will test the United Defense Corps and your whole world.” With an arrogant sneer, it challenged them. “Do you think you are ready?”

No longer acting for the colonel, Beth lost her temper and yelled, “If you’d let go of my legs, I’d like to test how hard your ugly head is with my boot!”

Sounding even more superior than before, the alien shook his head at her. He looked at Dean and continued. “She doesn’t seem to learn very quickly, does she? This is starting to get tedious. My orders are to detain you so that you don’t interfere with your U.D.C.’s response to this threat. We were counting on your superior to send you up here by yourself, given his history of putting you in harm’s way. You are – how do you say? – A wild card that we do not want to take chances with. As I said, we have been watching you for a while and your reputation precedes you.”

“That’s a real nice speech,” Beth interrupted angrily. “The colonel isn’t alone – I’m here. And if this is a test then you’re screwing around with the Corps’ most valuable weapon. A real test would include all our weapons, especially Colonel Forge.”

Beth realized Dean was no longer participating in the conversation. He was letting her distract the alien while he looked for a weakness – some way to escape. In the next instant, everything around her went dark and she felt weightless again. She could sense herself floating forward.
Is the
colonel still with me? Where are we going?

Soon, the lights came back on in a holding chamber about six meters square and four meters tall. There was a low orange glow that radiated off most of the objects in the chamber. The glow provided adequate light and a pleasant ambiance to the tense situation. There were no windows or doors. Chairs, tables, and a computer were made out of the same metallic material as the objects outside. This time, everything except the walls stayed solid. The walls flickered out and exposed natural stone when Dean and Beth touched them. After a few seconds of wavering, the fake walls reconstituted and appeared solid again. And, the aliens had taken their weapons.

Chapter Four

U.D.C. Situation Room:

Dr Friedmark sat immersed in various mathematical equations that blazed across two separate computer screens. While the computers hummed away, he carried on a hot debate by teleconference on a third screen. Sasha stood by his desk and listened patiently while the doctor and his colleagues in Florida discussed various options. Unfortunately, they weren’t coming up with anything new. They still recommended sending up a manned craft, but not much of a mission after that.

Once the meeting ended, Sasha voiced her concern. “Shouldn’t we have a better reason for going up than just to look at the pretty lights?”

Friedmark looked up and realized that it was General Stranova. He gave her a tired smile. “I’m afraid the chancellor is right, General. We’re getting nowhere fast and the Beam is relentless.”

With her most soothing voice, Sasha tried to reassure him. “I’ve suggested to the chancellor that we don’t want to fight an enemy and ourselves at the same time.” The doctor gave her a blank look. Sasha tried to explain. “I mean we don’t want to fight with the chancellor and the aliens at the same time.”

“I totally agree, General. However, we’re fresh out of ideas and I don’t believe the chancellor will be too happy about it.”

It was time for Sasha to bring up her ideas. “What about deflecting the Moonbeam away from the Earth or trying to absorb its energy with some kind of lightning rod? Either way it would give my guys a real mission.”

The doctor jumped to his feet and shouted. “That could have a chance! We might be able to deflect it away!”

Thinking the overzealous Doctor needed a short vacation, she tried to calm him down by speaking evenly. “So you believe the best idea is to use a reflective surface to bounce the Beam off into oblivion? If you can come up with the reflective material, my Plans Division can work out a time and place to deploy it. Additionally, I’ll need all the current data you have and I’ll need to be kept in the loop on any new discoveries.”

Sasha was amazed at how alert she was, given the late hour and the fact that she hadn’t had any coffee since getting out of bed. She thought of her dream lover and sighed. Noticing General Martle’s approach brought her back to the present.

“Hey, boss, what kind of military operation is this without coffee?”

The general smiled approvingly. “Sasha, I thought the chancellor was going to hit you for being insolent when you brought up the way he treated Friedmark, but you had the only ideas that made any sense. He had to listen to you.”

She dropped her head and whispered, “Sir, I think Friedmark is a good man. He’s just under tremendous pressure. The chancellor is only making it worse! I imagined that the he was smarter than that. I’ve found that people tend to live up to your expectations. If you treat them like fools long enough, they figure ‘What the hell?’ and that’s how they start acting. Right now, we need Friedmark acting and thinking like a genius – like the top man at NASA should be acting.”

Martle looked over at Friedmark and made an observation. “He looks happier and more driven since you’ve talked to him. That’s because you have a gift for cutting through the crap. I’m going to keep an eye on the chancellor, but I’ll need your help if he starts to get in the way.”

With no need to hide her true feelings from her boss, Sasha allowed her eyes to become narrow slits. With ice in her voice and nostrils flaring, she whispered into Martle’s ear, “The chancellor makes my skin crawl and he has no honor. I will do what you ask to conquer our new foe. All
I
ask is that you fly ‘top cover’ for me until it becomes absolutely necessary for me to be around him.”

****

Alien Base:

Even though Dean’s sensor indicated breathable air in their chamber, he asked Beth to stay suited up. He hoped that the aliens wouldn’t be able to hear their conversation.

“L.T., be careful what you say to them. Getting you angry may be part of their game plan. Don’t let them throw us off ours. Just give them your name, rank, and social security number.”

“Sorry, sir. I’ll keep it under control from now on. It’s just that he’s so damn smug.”

Dean had said what he had to as her commanding officer but had to agree with her assessment of the alien. He relaxed a bit and smiled. “It would have been good to see you blow off his leg and bring him down a peg.”

Mimicking the alien’s nasal voice, Beth continued. “It was just a projected leg anyway.”

Dean responded with a sigh too tight to grow into the laugh that he intended. Instead, he got serious. “Lieutenant, I don’t give a rat’s ass if this is a test or not. We’ve been captured. We will escape and evade recapture. As soon as we get out of here, we complete our mission. Priority one is escape.”

“Sir, I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Apprehension began to show in her voice. “But escape won’t be easy, since it’s so difficult to distinguish between reality and their illusions.”

“They obviously control what we see. What if they can control some of our other senses as well?”

Beth nodded and reminded him, “Don’t forget about the way they made us float.”

“That’s right! I’d say, at the least, they can control what we see and can affect gravity.”

When she heard his excitement, Beth tried to imagine the amazing smile hidden by his face plate.

“Good point, Lieutenant. I’d better keep you around.”

He was kidding, but it felt good to Beth anyway.

A female voice high above them suddenly interrupted their conversation. Strangely, they could hear her through their helmets. “Welcome, fellow sentient beings. You may take off your head coverings and breathe freely.” She paused while the Humans looked at each other and reluctantly complied. “You have already met Captain Aydr’n.” She waved at the alien beside her and then pointed to herself. “I am Searcher Wystl.”

She was more compact than the other alien. Together, they floated half a meter from the ceiling, above Dean and Beth. Wystl’s legs were crossed yoga style. She held a small flat panel in one of her four hands and poked at it. Two other arms waved for emphasis as she spoke. Her body was covered in short, fuzzy, black fur that gave way to a face with greenish-gray skin. Her high cheek bones, large black eyes, and full dark lips actually made her face strangely attractive.

She waited briefly for Dean and Beth to form an initial impression and then continued. “I am very interested in meeting a new species capable of reason. We’re finding fewer such species all the time. You seem to be complex and capable of learning at an acceptable rate. There is much for you to learn and much that you can share with us.”

“Wystl!” Dean shouted, interrupting her monologue.

“Ah, the colonel speaks!” Wystl exclaimed.

Not sure if her excitement was sincere, Dean glared with irritation but continued anyway. “You need to learn at a faster rate about us if you think we’re going to share anything with you while we’re held captive.”

Beth chimed in sarcastically. “If this is how you
really
look, aren’t you afraid we’ll be difficult to communicate with?”

Wystl snorted at Beth’s obvious reference to what Aydr’n had said earlier and sounded surprisingly defensive for a moment. “I don’t always agree with my comrade or his decisions. Let’s just say that I have more latitude than he does. I don’t believe that your species is as easy to predict as he does. This is a peaceful introduction that allows us to interact without need of protection or prejudice. So far, I think it’s working.”

Looking straight at Beth, Wystl said, “She hasn’t even made a request to shoot me.”

Before Beth could retort, Dean tried to get the dialog back on track. “Is holding us part of the test?”

The creature considered her response slowly. Then she smiled. “I can’t give away too much information; it might affect the results of the test. I may tell you more at another time.” She abruptly changed the subject. “Have you amused yourselves with the computer? It can be very entertaining.”

Without giving them time to answer, the air around Wystl grew darker until she was completely blotted out. The darkness evaporated, revealing the ceiling once again. Wystl and Aydr’n were gone.

Dean nodded and smiled to himself. As Wystl spoke, he had picked up on some dissension between the aliens and was intrigued by the possibility of using it to his advantage. It was simple psychology: If you shut up and let people talk long enough, sooner or later, they will tell you something that you can use against them. These aliens were no different.

“L.T., we may be able to play them against one another or we might…”

Beth finished his sentence. “Gain Wystl’s confidence and use her to get out of here! But what if it’s a trap, Colonel?”

Dean shrugged. “It’s all we have to go on right now. We’ll modify our plans as things change.” Beth still looked worried, so Dean tried to console her. “If that doesn’t work, we’ll be no worse off than we are now.”

****

Sit Room:

Doctor Friedmark got off the phone and began reviewing the new data he had just received from an associate in Moscow. It included a video feed from a Russian probe located in front of the Moonbeam. The doctor watched as the beam flashed with color and electricity against the blackness of space. It was so bright, Friedmark blinked and looked away, but not for long. When he reduced the magnification, the brightness decreased as well, and he was able to focus again.

An old beat-up satellite floated into view and began to drift slowly past the Beam. About half a kilometer away, the space junk began to veer toward a dark, semicircular gap in the top of the Beam. As it changed direction toward the cavity, the satellite rapidly picked up speed and disappeared into it. Then other pieces of debris of all sizes and shapes began disappearing down the hungry maw. The Beam acted like a giant vacuum cleaner. The angle of the probe showed a clear picture of the Beam’s oval-shaped mouth. The doctor carefully increased the magnification for a close-up and examined the Beam’s circular perimeter as it extended back toward the Moon. He discovered that the colors and lightning were only a thin cover that gave form to an otherwise empty spot in space.

The doctor looked for Sasha and saw her talking quietly with General Martle. He waved her over and gave her the news. “General, we’ve discovered two things about the Beam. First, the rainbow of colors and flashes of lightning give the appearance of dimension to an artificial void. The other thing is that the void is sucking up matter that comes within about half a kilometer. Looking in the Beam’s mouth is like looking down the barrel of a loaded gun, except nothing fires out – you get pulled in. I’ll observe more of the Moonbeam’s interaction with matter and calculate how much force it can exert. Once I have the data I’ll forward it to your office.”

Sasha was disappointed that her ideas to confront the alien ray wouldn’t work, but she was glad that they were finally making progress.

Almost commanding, the doctor went on. “I still want you to take a starfighter and get close enough to run some new tests. Try anything you can think of to get that thing to react. Fire lasers, missiles, and cannons at it and see what happens.”

Sasha could barely contain her excitement at finally getting to do something. All she had done so far was engage in pointless verbal fencing with the chancellor. She maintained her cool exterior. “Of course, I’m ready to go, but I need you to forward your test results directly to my fighter. My office is the last place you’ll find me.” She handed him her fighter’s private access code to receive the information and searched his face. “Have we heard from Forge or Stone yet?”

The doctor’s face was suddenly heavy with concern. He almost whispered, “We lost contact about an hour ago, shortly after they paused briefly beside one of the buildings in the alien camp. Everything on their channel suddenly went dark and all that we are receiving is static.”

****

Tyndall AFB, Florida:

Sunlight beat down warmly on the air base’s active tarmac and caused its hot asphalt surface to appear as wavy as water in places. Just a few meters away, tall palm trees waved in the breeze. Just beyond the palms, the Gulf of Mexico lapped at crystal white beach sand.