Reckoning ~ Indian Hill 2 ~ A Michael Talbot Adventure (2 page)

“General, don’t get me wrong. You and your staff have been nothing short of magnanimous. They have taken care of our every need. But I really have to know when we will be free to go. None of us has displayed any traces of anything. I have told and retold my experience to you and the president. Hell, I even brought their commander back. I’m just sick and tired of being cooped up, and now I would just like to go back to Walpole and visit with my family. Do they know I’m back?”

“As for the first question, just four more days, Mike. The medical staff will feel much more comfortable with four more days. Then I promise you a direct flight to any destination that you desire.”

“To be honest, General, I’d rather have a car. Kind of sick of flying too.”

“Understood. How about a Humvee?”

“You’re going to give me a Humvee?”

“I cleared it with the president this morning. He felt it was the least we could do.”

“Awesome! I want the one with the hard plastic shell on the back.”

“Done. And as for your family, they have no idea that you’re back. We couldn’t tell them. They’d be up here breaking in doors and that just wouldn’t do anybody any good.”

“Got any idea where they are, General?”

“Well, after your mother passed, your dad took it pretty hard. He holed himself up in his Searsport cabin.”

“My dad is in Searsport? Hell, that’s only a few hours south of here.”

“Your brother, Ronny and his wife Nancy, are still in Walpole. Your brother, Gary took the loss of your mother pretty hard, took him a few months to go through the mourning process. He and Ronny have put all their energy into their paving company. Your brother, Glenn, moved back to West Roxbury after the funeral. He works from time to time with the paving crew. But mostly, he repairs small aircraft at one of the local airports. Your sister is still living in Connecticut, but travels up to Maine every other weekend to check on your dad. Your mother’s death hit him a lot harder than anyone really anticipated.”

“What are the odds that this weekend would be that weekend, General?”

“It appears, Mike, that luck favors you because this is one of her scheduled arrivals. Would you like me to notify them of your imminent visit?”

“No, General; I’d just rather show up.”

“Mike, about the Humvee.”

“Oh, you want it back already?”

“Not quite. At least, not the Hummer.”

“Then what, General?”

“We would, or rather, I would like to have the person driving the Humvee back.”

“General, I don’t want a driver.” Then my not-so-fast brain finally caught up with me. “You want me back? What the hell do you want me back for?”

“Son, I’ve been watching you for ten straight days. I’ve listened to your story probably a hundred times. I’ve interviewed every one of these girls at least twice. I want you in my service. You are exactly the kind of man that we are going to need in the coming months. You, and thousands like you.”

“General, I’m not cut out for the military life, I’m sure that you have a dossier full of my pre-alien days. I wasn’t quite on the straight and narrow.”

“Son, those events in no shape, way, or form have anything to do with the person that you are now.”

“General, I just don’t play well with others. I have a real authority issue.”

“If I make you an officer and accountable only to me?”

“General, I just don’t…”

“No, don’t answer now. Why don’t you get out of here this weekend, go see you family and friends, drive around this country? In a week or two, give me your answer. Please just promise me that you will at least consider it.”

“Don’t worry, General I will, at the very least, consider it, and often. What branch would I be in?”

“Why, Army of course.”

I laughed. “General, my dad and my brother were both Marines. I’d never live it down if I came home in Army duds.”

“Son, if you join up, I’ll give you any uniform you want.”

“Thank you, sir. I’ve got more on my plate now than I could possibly even begin to finish. I suddenly found myself very tired. Please excuse me, General, I think I’m going to take a nap.”

“Very well, I’ll see you in three days. I’ve been called back to Washington. And it’s not very wise to keep the president waiting.”

“General?”

“Yes, Mike.”

“What have you done with the commander?”

“Ah! See? If you were in uniform I could disclose that information to you. But civilians cannot be privy to those details.” I thought he was kidding until he walked through the sealed outer chamber.

“Son of a bitch,” I mumbled as I laughed and headed for my bunk.

The four days came and went without much incident. Tanya developed a small sneeze that almost shut down the state, but it ended up she was just allergic to some of the detergent that was being used on the hypoallergenic pillows. Kind of ironic, I thought. Beth hadn’t said more than two words to me since we landed. She kept to her side of the quarantine wing. Deb had become increasingly morose and sullen the longer we were cooped up.

I avoided everyone just on general principle. The general did not make it back from Washington before the doctors finally cleared us. The women all hopped into one of the troop transports. They were shuttling them down to the Bangor Airport so they could go home or wherever they desired. A few of them were going to the Bahamas on the U.S. government dime. Why not? Might as well enjoy it while it was free. And true to his word, the general gave me a Humvee with the hard plastic shell, and another little gift. A USMC officer’s uniform with captain’s bars lay on the passenger seat. I was still sitting on the fence with that whole question but it sure was an impressive looking uniform. I barely set foot into my new vehicle when the troop transport truck came to a grinding halt. Beth jumped off the back and ran straight towards me.

“Mike, wait a second!” she yelled with her arms outstretched. I waited patiently. She had just doubled the number of words she had spoken to me since we got back to Earth. I was too curious to do anything but wait and see what she wanted. I did, however, notice Deb sticking her head out to see what was going on.

“Wait, Mike. I just have to get this out before you leave,” she said with a little bit of laborious breathing.

“I’m listening,” I said coolly. I’d been waiting for two weeks for her to say something. I wasn’t about to now let her know that my heart was somewhere in my throat, and jumping around like a frog on crack.

“I know I’ve been distant to you. I know that everything you did out there was for us. I-I’m just having a difficult time handling the images of what you did up there with the person I fell in love with.”

“Do you think it was easy for me? Killing those men?”

“No, no! I’m not saying that!”

“Would you rather it were me on the wrong end of one of those swords?”

“No, God, no!” She screamed. “You’re not being fair.”

“Beth, what the fuck is fair? Certainly nothing that happened up there.”

“I know, I know.”

“I did what I had to. To get us out of there, I did what I had to.” My voice level dropped in half. I had no desire to yell at her. “I am going to keep doing what I have to do.”

“What does that mean?” she asked as she looked at me with pleading eyes.

“The general asked me to join the Marines, and I am going to.” It was that simple and easy. I was well aware that I had to continue the fight; the day was far from won, and I would do what I had to.

“How could you? How can you? Haven’t you seen enough death for a thousand life times?” Disgust crossed her face.

“Beth, they’re coming.” I pointed skyward. “They’re coming whether we want them to or not. And now it’s time for me to pay them back for all the kindness that they bestowed upon us.”

“You’re not the man that I fell in love with.”

“No, I’m not. How could I be? I don’t know what you went through up there, but I can guarantee it wasn’t anything like what I went through. I was forced to kill other human beings for the entertainment of aliens. Do you know what that did to my moral conscience?  Not only was I being torn up physically in those bouts but also spiritually. Do you know how many times I almost laid down my arms so that I could just have it end?”

“Then why didn’t you?” she shot back.

“Because of you!!” I yelled. She stepped back from the sheer force of my voice. “When it all comes down to it, I did it for you, Beth.” She was crying; I was crying; it was not a pretty sight. Half the base was watching. Some Marine I’d make.

“I still love you, Mike, but I’m going to need some time, to get over all of this.”

“I understand. Are you going back home or are you going back to school? “ I asked.

“I’m going home now; if I do go back to school, it won’t be in Colorado.”

That hurt for me, was the first time I truly felt that nothing was ever going to be the same. No more wake and bakes with Saturday morning wrestling, no more parties on the quad, no more concerts at Red Rocks. Life had forever been altered and, at age twenty-two, I felt cheated--cheated out of those things that were rightfully mine.

“I’ll give you all the time you’re going to need. If and when you can forgive me, I’ll be waiting for you. But if we do start over, I want you to know what happened on that ship.” Now it was her turn to look hurt. “When I thought that I wasn’t going to make it, I sought comfort in the arms of another.” She did not seem nearly as surprised as I anticipated. Hurt, but not surprised.

“Debbie, right?” she guessed as she looked down at her shoes.

“How?”

“I see the way she looks at you, when you’re not looking. I see the pain in her eyes. I see the way she eyes me when she thinks I’m not looking. That what-does-she-have-that-I-don’t-have? look. I can’t blame you, with the hell you were put through. That’s not what has me at odds, though, Mike.” She spoke tenderly, and caressed my face with both of her hands. “It was the brutality you unleashed, the savagery in your eyes. They are indelibly burned into my brain. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to look at you without bringing up those images. It’s as if there is a devil living inside of you. Most of the time, you have control of him, but on those occasions when he breaks free, he wreaks havoc on everyone around you.”

“That’s not fair, Beth.” I pleaded.

“No, it’s not; like you said, nothing that happened to us up there was fair. I just need some time, Mike. I need some time to reflect on all that has happened to me, to you and ultimately to us. I wish I could say that everything was going to turn out alright, but I just don’t know.” She moved in closer and gave me a hug, the likes of which I never wanted to be released from. A tidal wave of emotion flooded through our bodies. Had we not been in a public place, we may have taken great strides in improving our strained relationship. The hug ended, oh, so shortly. She got up on her tiptoes and kissed my lips. I flushed, it was the most intimate kiss I had received since leaving this planet.

“Goodbye, Mike,” she said as she pulled away. That goodbye sounded so final, I didn’t know how to respond. I wasn’t prepared for it. I would much rather have been facing an enemy in the ring, at least there I knew where I stood. This was horrible; it was an unseen wound, but it struck deeper than anything I had encountered thus far. I thought my heart would rip in two. My head felt like I was burning a fever and I couldn’t think straight. Do I run after her? Do I stand here like a fool? Do I get in my car and drive?

“Beth?” She turned. “Goodbye.” A small smile flitted across her face replaced by deep sorrow. I wasn’t one hundred percent sure, but I thought that she had already made up her mind. I cried for the first two hours of my drive. Luckily, not many people live that far north in Maine, because I’m sure that I was all over the road.

I finally came to grips with the levity of my situation and the last hour went a lot smoother, especially after I found a liquor store. I was halfway through my third beer when I started down the turn-off to my father’s cabin. I had the windows down on the Hummer; the crisp winter air was invigorating. The only sound I heard was that of the crunching ice under my tires. I slowed to a crawl when I entered my dad’s driveway. Off to my right was Mann’s pond, completely frozen solid at this time of year. I noticed one solitary figure gliding along. I couldn’t be sure from the distance, but in this remote of a location, at this time of year, it could only be one person.

My father stopped his precision glide to look over the pond at the vehicle intruding on his land. I’m sure the sight of any military vehicle was not welcome, especially after the runaround the family received concerning my whereabouts. He slowly skated closer to the edge of the pond, perhaps to verbally accost the intruder. At the previous stop, I had changed out of my civvies and donned the Marine Corps uniform. The general knew I would take the commission and it seemed he also knew my size perfectly. I had to admit, I cut a pretty good figure with it on. I stopped the Hummer on the driveway, my father now within thirty yards, and at the edge of the pond. I knew at this distance there would be no way he could tell who I was. Especially, since the last time I saw him, I was twenty pounds lighter with long hair and more than likely wearing an Ozzy Osbourne T-shirt.