Cradle (41 page)

Meanwhile Nick stood up. ‘Hold it a minute,’ he said, looking dubious and just a little
confused. ‘Did I hear you right? Did you say you were given a communications bracelet
by some extraterrestrials and then released into the ocean? And then the Navy picked
you up and brought you back to Key West? Christ, Jefferson, you do have an imagination.
Save your creativity for that computer game. Please just tell us the truth.’

‘I am,’ replied Troy. ‘Really—’

‘What did they look like?’ Carol interrupted, her journalistic training taking over.
She had pulled a small tape recorder, the size of a fountain pen, out of her purse.
Troy reached over and switched it off. ‘For now, angel,’ he said, ‘this is strictly
between us… I don’t think I saw any of them anyway. Just the wardens and the carpets.
And my guess is that they’re just robots, machines of some type. Intelligent, yes,
but controlled by something else—’

‘Jesus,’ Nick interrupted, ‘you’re serious.’ He was becoming exasperated. ‘This is
turning into the most amazing shaggy dog story that I have ever heard. Wardens, carpets,
robots. I am lost. Who are
they?
What are
they
doing in the ocean? And why have
they
given
you
a bracelet?’ He picked up one of the little pillows on the couch and threw it across
the room.

Carol laughed nervously. ‘Nick’s not the only one feeling frustrated, Troy. I was
with you down there and I must admit that I’m having a hard time tracking your story.
Maybe we should stop interrupting and let you talk. I’ve told Nick what happened in
that solar system room up until you ran out and the thing or warden followed. Start
from there, if you would, and tell the story in logical sequence.’

‘I’m not sure there is such a thing as a logical sequence, angel,’ Troy replied, echoing
Carol’s laugh. ‘The whole episode defies logic altogether. The warden thing eventually
trapped me in a blind alley and sort of anaesthetized me with one of its rods. It
was like I was dreaming, but the dreams were real. I remember a similar feeling, after
a fistfight when I was a teenager. I had a small concussion then. I knew that I was
alive, but I was very very slow to react. Reality seemed toned down, out there in
the distance somewhere.

‘Anyway, another warden character showed up, same kind of body but different fixtures
sticking in the jelly, and carried me to what I think was an examination room. I don’t
know exactly how long I was there. I was stretched out on the floor and touched by
all kinds of instruments. My brain felt as if it were in superfast motion, but I don’t
recall any specific thoughts. Some images I do remember. I relived my brother, Jamie,
breaking through the line on a trap play and going forty-five yards for a touchdown
in the Florida state championship. Then the bracelet was put on my wrist and I had
the distinct impression that someone was talking to me. Very quietly, perhaps even
in a foreign language, but every now and then I understood what was being said.

‘What they told me,’ Troy continued with an intense and distant expression on his
face, ‘was that what we call the laboratory is really a space vehicle from another
world. And that it has crash-landed, in a sense, on the Earth to allow time for some
difficult repairs.
They
, that is, whoever built the ship, need help from us, from me and you, to obtain some
of the specific items necessary for the repairs. Then they can continue on their journey.’

Nick was now sitting on the floor just opposite Troy. Both Carol and he were hanging
on every word. They sat in silence for almost thirty seconds after Troy had finished.
‘If this story is true,’ Nick finally spoke, ‘then we are—’

There was a loud knock at the door. All three of them jumped. Several seconds later
the knock repeated. Troy went to the door and partially opened it.

‘There you are, you little shit,’ Carol and Nick heard a gruff, angry voice say. Captain
Homer Ashford pushed through the door. He didn’t see Nick and Carol at first. ‘We
had a deal and you’ve welshed on it. You have been back two hours already….’

Out of the corner of his eye, Captain Homer saw that there were other people in the
room. He turned around to talk to Greta, who had not yet entered the house. ‘Guess
what?’ he said. ‘Nick Williams and Miss Dawson are also here. No wonder we couldn’t
find her at the hotel.’

Greta followed Homer into the living room. Her clear, expressionless eyes spent no
more than one second staring at each of the trio. Carol thought she saw just a trace
of disdain in Greta’s look, but she wasn’t certain. Homer turned to Carol, the tone
in his voice markedly more civil. ‘We saw you two return from your excursion around
two o’clock,’ he said with a fake smile. ‘But somehow we missed Troy.’ He winked at
Carol and turned to Nick. ‘Find any more exciting trinkets today, Williams?’

Nick had never made any attempt to hide the fact that he did not like Captain Homer.
‘Why of course, Captain,’ he answered, sneering the epithet, ‘would you believe we
found a veritable mountain of gold and silver bars? Looked like that
Santa Rosa
stack we had on the boat one afternoon, must be about eight years ago. Remember?
That was before Jake and I let you and Greta unload it.’

Homer’s voice had a nasty edge to it. ‘I should have sued you for slander, Williams.
That would have shut your loud mouth once and for all. You had your day in court.
Now knock off the crap, or one day you’ll have more trouble than you can handle.’

While Nick and Homer were trading insults and threats, Greta was strutting around
the living room as if she were in her own house. She seemed to be oblivious to the
conversation and even to the presence of the other people in the room. She was wearing
a tight white sleeveless T-shirt and a pair of navy blue shorts. When Greta walked,
she carried her arms high, her back straight, and her breasts erect. Carol was intrigued
by her behaviour. She watched Greta stop and sort through Troy’s compact discs. Greta
pulled out the disc with the cover picture of Angie Leatherwood and licked her lips.
This pair belong in a kinky novel
, Carol thought, as she overheard Troy tell Captain Homer that he was busy this afternoon
but would get back to him later.
What’s their story?
wondered Carol.
And where does Fat Ellen fit in?
Carol remembered that she was scheduled to interview the three of them later in the
evening.
But I’m not sure that I really want to find out
.

‘We were calling to tell you to bring your swimming suit tonight,’ Captain Homer was
addressing Carol. She had missed the first part of his statement while she was watching
Greta parade around the room.

‘Pardon me,’ she said politely. ‘Could you repeat what you just said? I’m afraid I
had drifted away for a few seconds.’

‘I said that you should come early, about eight o’clock,’ Homer replied. ‘And bring
your suit. We have a most interesting and unusual pool.’

During this exchange, Greta walked up behind Nick and quickly reached both arms around
him. With everyone else in the room watching, she lightly twisted his nipples through
his polo shirt and laughed when he jumped. ‘You always did like that, ya, Nikki,’
she said, releasing him after an instant. Carol saw anger flash in Homer’s eyes. Nick
started to say something but Greta had already walked out of the front door before
he could register a protest.

‘Be sure to call me when you’re through here,’ Homer said to Troy after an embarrassing
silence. ‘We need to straighten out a few things.’ The older man turned around, awkwardly,
and without additional comment followed Greta toward his Mercedes parked in front
of Troy’s house.

‘Now where were we?’ said Troy abstractedly, as he closed the door behind Homer and
Greta.

‘
You
,’ said Nick with emphasis, ‘were telling us an amazing story and had almost reached
the punch line, where you were going to tell us what we could do to help some aliens
who landed here on earth to repair their space vehicle. But first I, for one, would
like some explanations. I don’t know if I believe any of this wild fairy tale you’re
telling us, but I will admit that it is extremely creative. What concerns me at this
minute, however, is not the issue of creatures from another world. It’s those two
real-life sleazebag human beings who just left. What did they want? And are they somehow
involved in our current adventure?’

‘Just a minute, Nick,’ Carol intervened. ‘Before we become side-tracked, I would like
to know what kind of help these ETs of Troy’s want from us. A telephone? A new spaceship?
Let’s find this out now and talk about Homer and your girlfriend Greta later.’ Her
reference to Greta was light and playful. Nick accepted it with good humour and feigned
a wound. Then he nodded his assent to Carol’s suggestion. Troy pulled a sheet of paper
from his pocket and took a deep breath.

‘Now you guys must understand that I’m not yet absolutely certain that I am properly
receiving all their messages. But this particular transmission, where they list the
things they need from us, is repeated every half hour. My interpretation of it hasn’t
changed for the last ninety minutes, so I’m fairly certain that I have it right. It’s
a long list and of course I don’t pretend to comprehend why they want all this stuff.
But I am certain you will both find it very interesting.’

Troy started reading from his handwritten list. ‘They want an English dictionary and
grammar, plus the same thing for four other major languages; an encyclopedia of plant
and animal life; a compact world history; a statistical tract defining the current
political and economic status of the world; a comparative study of the world’s major
existing religions; complete issues covering the last two years of at least three
significant daily newspapers; summary journals of science and technology, including
surveys of weapon systems both deployed and under development; an encyclopedia of
the arts, preferably including video and sound where appropriate; forty-seven pounds
of lead; and fifty-eight pounds of gold.’

Nick whistled when Troy was finished. At Carol’s request, Troy handed the sheet to
her and Nick read it another time over her shoulder, absorbing every item. Neither
of them said anything. ‘Believe it or not,’ Troy added as an afterthought about a
minute later, ‘the first eight items are not too difficult to obtain. I stopped by
the Key West Public Library on the way home from the marina and, for a fee, they are
preparing for me a set of compact discs that contain virtually all of the requested
information. The difficult items are at the end of the list. That’s where your help
is needed.’

Troy stopped for a second to see if Nick and Carol were following him. ‘Just to make
certain I understand,’ Nick was now walking slowly around the room with the list in
his hand, ‘what you want, or
they
want if you will, is for us to return to their laboratory or vehicle or whatever
it is with all this information plus the lead and gold?’ Troy nodded. ‘But fifty-eight
pounds of gold? That’s about a million dollars worth. Where would we get it? And what
would they do with it anyway?’

Troy acknowledged that he didn’t know the answers to those questions. ‘But I have
the feeling,’ he added, ‘again based upon what I think they are telling me, that partially
satisfying their needs will make their task that much easier. So I guess we do what
we can and hope that it’s enough.’

Nick shook his head back and forth. ‘You know, Carol,’ he said as he handed the list
back to her, ‘never in my wildest flights of imagination could I have concocted such
an intricate and crazy scheme. This entire thing is so unbelievable and fantastic
that it just begs to be accepted. It’s pure genius.’

Troy smiled. ‘So you will help after all?’ he asked.

‘I didn’t say that,’ answered Nick. ‘I still have lots of questions. And of course
I can’t speak for Miss Dawson. But somehow, even if it’s all make believe, the idea
of playing the good Samaritan for an extraterrestrial ship is very appealing.’

During the next half hour both Carol and Nick questioned Troy extensively. Troy dismissed
Homer and Greta in a hurry, simply stating that he had agreed on Thursday night to
keep them informed about what was happening on board the
Florida Queen
in exchange for a short-term loan. He also indicated that he never intended to really
give them any information, but that was all right because they were crooks anyway.
Nick was not completely satisfied with Troy’s explanation. He felt that he was not
being told the whole truth.

In fact, the more questions he asked, the more doubts there were in Nick’s mind about
the entire story Troy was telling.
But what are the other options?
Nick thought to himself.
I have seen that carpet with my own eyes. If it is not an ET, or at least made by
one, then it must be a very advanced robot designed by us or the Russians
. As he continued to question Troy, Nick’s facile mind began to construct an alternative
scenario, admittedly wild and improbable, but one that nevertheless explained all
the events of the previous three days in a way that Nick found just as reasonable
as Troy’s story about the alien space vehicle.

Suppose somehow Troy and that turd Homer are working with the Russians. And this entire
thing is just an elaborate cover for a rendezvous where illegal information will be
passed. Homer would do anything for money. But why would Troy do it?
Having Troy participate in a scheme to sell US secrets to a foreign country was the
acknowledged weakness in Nick’s alternative explanation, but he rationalized it by
convincing himself that perhaps Troy needed a lot of extra money to pay for all the
electronic equipment in his computer game.

He certainly couldn’t have saved enough money from his paltry salary
, Nick continued thinking.
So suppose these computer discs of Troy’s have secret military data instead of all
that crazy information he just listed. Then the gold could be his payoff. Or someone
else’s
. Nick asked several more questions about the gold. Troy admitted he did not understand
very well what
they
were telling him, through the bracelet, about why they needed the lead and the gold.
He just mumbled something about those two elements being difficult to produce by transmutation
and then added nothing else.