Escape to Earth 1: Running From Fate (14 page)

“It’s not the Stalkers that concern me.”

Salud tilted her head, “If not them, then who?”

“You heard the sonic boom last week?” Salud nodded. “The only way the Pod could have made an escape was to lift from that parking lot and go to maximum speed to get out of the atmosphere.”

“Ok, so?”

“It had to be seen by your military satellites and the sonic boom would have confirmed that it wasn’t just a flash of light. Your government has to suspect something and it won’t take them long to decide that external forces have been here.”

“That might be good. We can use their help in funding your project.”

Lukas shook his head, “I will not make the same mistake here the Sentinels have made with the Fellowship.”

Salud shook her head slightly, “I’m not sure I’m following you.”

“If we allow your government to take part in my project, how long do you think it will take before they determine that just one of the ships I intend to build would give them world domination? Once they see that, how long will you and I remain in charge of the project?” Salud just stared at him in silence. “And if I move forward alone, and they discover what I’m doing…”

“You fear you and I will just disappear.”

“The temptation to take possession of what I’m creating would be too much for them to resist. They would become the real superpower on this planet and no country could stand up to them.”

“But Lukas, we’re a democracy. Who better to have that power?”

“Salud, I can provide you with enough data to prove to you that your massive Military/Industrial complex, which by the way is the largest on the planet, openly states that it is there to ensure your country’s interests are protected around the world. Its purpose is to impose its will or intimidate others into doing what is in your best interests, not necessarily what is in the interests of the others.

“But…”

“I will not give any one the power to enslave everyone else.”

“Hey, what are you two talking about?”

They looked up and saw Joey standing over them. Salud looked at Joey and waved her hand at Lukas, “Hardhead here is building a spaceship and won’t let me participate.”

Lukas’ eyes went wide in shock at her remark as Joey smiled, “Who is going to pay for it?”

They both looked at him and Salud said, “He’s working on that.”

Joey laughed and pulled up a chair, “Well, count me in, as well.”

Salud’s head went back and she quickly said “Joey, I was just kidding about the spaceship. Lukas is just being stubborn and I was trying to make you laugh.”

“No you weren’t.”

Salud’s eyes narrowed, “Yes…I was!”

“Come on, you can’t kid the kidder.”

Lukas blew out a breath, “She was kidding, Joey.”

Joey smiled, “Now that is the first lie you’ve told me since I first met you, Lukas.”

This time, Lukas’ head went back, “Excuse me!”

Joey leaned back in his chair, “I’m one who believes in live and let live. I don’t judge others or try to tell them what’s good for them. However,” Joey looked at Lukas, “You are not from this planet; so building a spaceship makes sense if you want to leave it.” Salud and Lukas both stared at Joey in stunned silence. Joey looked at them and said, “I wondered about you at first but quickly determined that you are one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. I can see the restaurant from where I perform and I don’t miss much. Lukas, no normal person could possibly do the work you do without falling out with fatigue. You work without stop for hours at a time and never slow down.” Joey shrugged, “I asked Trevor the other night to allow me to lift his tub. That damn thing had to weigh thirty-five pounds. There is no way you could have physically done what you’ve done unless you’re not human. Once I made that determination, it was easy to see the weirdo in the long black trench coat was also from somewhere else.”

“There were more than just one in trench coats.”

Joey looked at Salud, “Yeah, but he was the one in charge.”

Lukas shook his head, “How could you possibly know that?”

“Honestly, I wasn’t sure about him being an alien; but the way he left the building last week made me certain. Not even OJ could have made it through the crowd that fast without knocking people over. He didn’t touch one of them and moved a helluva lot faster than OJ did in his prime.”

“Joey, I’m not kidding. How did you know?”

Joey looked at Lukas and shrugged, “When you’re born into money, the entire world is pretty much your oyster. I had a long line of tutors as a child and one of them was Tibetan. He spent more than a year simply teaching me to look at the world around me without preconceptions. That is a really difficult thing to do. I can’t tell you how many times my hand got slapped. But if you remove yourself from what you’re seeing, the world looks different. That training is what allowed me to see the evidence. I could also see that you were frightened of him at first but eventually moved freely around him.” Joey leaned forward, “What’s going on?”

Lukas shook his head and looked at Salud with an angry expression. She shook her head, “I know, I know, I won’t make this mistake again.” She looked at Joey, “Why would you want to get involved in this?”

“May I assume that you’re going to build more than just one spaceship?”

Salud looked at Lukas who slightly nodded. “Let’s for the moment assume that this fairy tale is true; why build just one?”

Joey laughed, “Outstanding!” Salud pulled her head back again. Joey saw her and raised his hands, “No, you don’t understand. If you were just building one, it would have to be to allow Lukas to leave. In that event, I would want a ride on it before he left for good. But since you’re building more than one, if I help pay for it, would it be possible for me to have my own personal ship?” Lukas stared at Joey and shook his head. Joey’s smile vanished and he lowered his head, “Lukas, I’ve dreamed about going out into space since I was old enough to see stars. I’ve read more science fiction than you could ever imagine. From Isaac Asimov to TR Harris, I’ve read all the great ones. This is a dream I’ve always wished for.” He paused and said, “I think that was the ship you came in that left the other night. You know, the sonic boom and all.”

“And you know this because…”

“The look on your face as you looked up at the ceiling said it all.”

“Joey, how can I trust you to keep this secret?”

“I never said anything to you, or anyone else, about you being an alien.”

“You make a good point.” Lukas paused and said, “Joey, I’m not building space ships to leave or make pleasure trips. I’m building them to defend Earth against an invasion by some very hostile civilizations.”

“What do you mean by hostile?”

“They will enslave the populations and use them to strip the planet of all its natural resources. At this moment, there are hundreds of war fleets just outside the Solar System waiting to take possession of your planet.”

Joey looked at Salud and she remained absolutely motionless. She didn’t know how, but she knew that he could see she knew it as well. “So you intend to build large numbers of ships to stop the invasion?” Lukas nodded. “How many ships are out there?”

“More than a million.”

“You won’t be able to build that many without being noticed.”

“I don’t intend to build that many. I’m hoping I can do it with fewer ships.”

“Will your ships possess weapons powerful enough to take them on?”

“That’s something that needs some work.”

Joey shrugged, “If you don’t have what you need, you should get Trevor involved with you.”

Lukas tilted his head, “What?”

“Trevor is the Head Honcho, the Big Kahuna, and the Last Word in high power lasers. You can use his help.”

Lukas looked at Trevor bussing a table and looked back at Joey and shook his head. “I don’t think he could help me.”

Salud said, “What’s Trevor’s last name.”

“Ambrose.”

“Not the Trevor Ambrose!”

Joey nodded and Salud looked at Lukas, “I think you should reconsider. That young man is so far ahead of his professors that most of them don’t want him in their classes for fear of being embarrassed by him.”

Lukas looked at Joey, “Can he be trusted?”

“He works here doesn’t he?”

Lukas looked across the room and saw Trevor laughing with a customer. He stood up and Salud put her hand on his arm, “What are you going to do?”

“The only way to catch a fish is to have a good bait selected.”

Joey stood up, “I need to start my next set. When can we meet about this?”

Lukas looked at Salud, “Give him my address. Plan to meet there tomorrow night after work.”

“Will do; see you then.”

Lukas walked around to the front of the restaurant and went into the front office. Later, he walked out and stopped by Trevor, “I want you to take a look at something and tell me what you think about if it interests you. However, I need you to keep this between us and no one else.”

Lukas handed Trevor some folded sheets of paper and Trevor took them, folded them again, and put them in his front pocket, “Don’t want the wet towel to mess them up in my back pocket.”

Lukas smiled and slapped him lightly on the back. He walked back over to the table and Salud looked at him, “What did you give him?”

“I used my Wrist Unit to print out the schematics and plans for a disruptor cannon.”

“WHAT?”

“If you want to catch a…”

“I heard you! How do you know you can trust him?”

“I don’t know Joey as well as I know Trevor. I can trust him.” Lukas looked at the clock and saw it was eleven. “Let’s do this; why don’t you just plan to meet me at my apartment tomorrow at eleven. I get off at nine P.M. so I’ll be there waiting on you and Joey to arrive.”

Salud nodded, “I’ll pick you up and take you. I’ll see you at nine fifteen out front.”

Lukas nodded and watched her leave. He worried that things were about to spiral out of control.

• • •

“Jinks, this is volatile material you have here.”

“Yes Sir, it is. And it appears that whatever those objects were in orbit, they’re no longer there.”

“How do you know that, Colonel?”

“None of the observatories have experienced any blockages since the night that object left the planet. Whatever they were, they must have pursued the object that left the planet.”

General McAllister leaned back and put his feet on his desk, “I can’t show this material to my Commander.”

“Why not?”

“Colonel, what happened to the last officer that reported a UFO?”

“I didn’t know any did.”

“His evidence was just as good as what you’ve given me here. He’s serving at a radar station in Antarctica. Since that Area 51 fiasco, the Air Force has been accused of hiding the truth about extraterrestrial intelligence.”

“What else could this be?”

McAllister took his feet off his desk, “Colonel, for all I know it could be swamp gas, however, I’m not going to jeopardize my career without proof positive. All you’ve given me is white globes and cigar shaped clouds. I need more than that to take this further.”

“There are no swamps in downtown Boston, Sir.”

McAllister leaned back in his chair and stared at Jekins. “Do you know the approximate location that object came from?”

“The Satellite picked it up at three thousand feet above the Boston area.”

“Take some teams and see if you can’t come up with some definitive physical evidence to support your video; do that and I’ll move it up the ladder.”

“But Sir…”

“Prove it or forget it, Colonel!”

“Yes Sir.” Jinks saluted, did an about face, and left McAllister’s office. The General replayed the video and shook his head. Just seven months from retirement…seven months! Something had happened, there was no doubt about that…but…he opened his desk drawer and threw the video into it. Someone else would have to handle this. It wasn’t going to be him.

• • •

Jinks left the General’s office and shook his head. Something was going on above Earth and those things weren’t there for peaceful reasons. If they were, they would have revealed themselves. That meant they were there for another reason and none of the ones Jinks thought of were good. He needed to find something concrete in Boston. He took his cellphone out and pressed a number, “Good day, Colonel.”

“Stoney, I need you to put together some teams and meet me at the field office.”

“What sort of requirements do you have in mind?”

“I need fifty two-man teams in vehicles set up to scan for radioactivity, magnetism, ionization…”

“Pretty much the entire electronic spectrum, Sir.”

“Exactly, Stoney. I also want the second member of each team to be a real badass soldier.”

“You want them armed?”

“To the teeth. Just make sure it’s not out in the open.”

“I’ll start working on it immediately.”

“I want you to be my second, Stoney.”

“I consider it an honor, Sir.”

“Thanks, let me know when the teams will be able to meet.”

“Yes Sir.”

Chapter Ten

Lukas showed up at work at three o’clock and found Trevor waiting for him in the kitchen. Lukas smiled, “You aren’t due until eight thirty.”

“Where did you get those schematics?”

“I take it they interest you.”

“Lukas, that thing is beyond anything I’ve ever encountered. If the specifications are accurate, it could fry an Abrams tank from forty miles.”

“Which means?”

“It would have to be mounted on airframe to derive full benefit. It’s wasted on the ground with a horizon only four miles away. Where did you get this?”

“Talk with Joey and if you’re interested, plan to join him tonight after work.”

“LUKAS!!!”

“Talk to Joey; I have to work.”

Trevor stared at Lukas and then stormed out of the kitchen. Joey didn’t show up until eight. Trevor was furious. He knew going to class was a waste of time. He couldn’t get the images out of his mind of what the weapon was capable of doing. He went to class and studied the drawings; the more he focused on the plans, the more fear he felt. He looked at the clock and the second hand seemed to take forever between movements. He finally had enough and walked out of class and went home. This thing captured his consciousness like nothing else he had ever seen.