The Visitor (38 page)

“It’s a star sapphire, from India,” he said.

Tak found India on the map. “Gorgeous!”

The next stone she lifted was a pendant of yellow amber.

“This is amber, from the Baltic Sea,” he told her. “These are available where I met you. This is not rare as the others, but still interesting. You will see, if you look closely, that the piece has an insect frozen in it, from prehistoric times.”

“I see it, I see it. How neat!” Then she went to the map, now a very interesting game, until she found a piece of small amber. “Poland.” She held her finger on the country, and Baron looked at where she was pointing. “It will be very special to me,” she said, “as that is where we met.”

She stopped looking, even though there were a few more. “Oh my, Baron, I suspect that these are worth a fortune.” Tak got up and came to him, kissing him. “I shall cherish these always.” Then she took out her pocket watch from her pocket that he purchased for her in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. “But this will still be my favorite as I will always remember where and when you bought it for me.

***

The following morning was overcast, and light rain was falling. It was time. Tak gathered her things, which now were much more than the contents of the satchel she had landed with, and put them just inside the front door.

The wrist computer lit up and spoke in her language. She looked at Baron. “The shuttle is near. But there’s a problem. There’s an Earth warship coming from the south. I believe it’s called a helicopter.”

The helicopter came in under the rain clouds, arriving from the back side of the hill. It swung around the house and landed in the front yard, back far enough to clear the rotor blades. It was a US made Sikorsky gunship in the service of the Thai Army with Thai Army soldiers, consisting of a pilot, a gunner inside behind a .50 caliber machine gun, and another soldier with an M-16 assault rifle. It also had a non-Thai passenger, Richard Ralls.

It shut down its engines and Ralls exited, accompanied by the Thai soldier with the M-16. Ralls had a .45 pistol on his side. The soldier and Ralls walked toward the house, the soldier two paces behind, looking about, ready with his M-16. Tak and Baron had heard the noise of the helicopter and watched from a window.

At the front door, Ralls announced loudly, “I’m Deputy Richard Ralls, US Homeland Security. We are here for Baron and Baroness Von Limbach. The two of you are ordered to come to a Thai Army Base for questioning.”

Baron and Tak heard the order well. They stood just inside the door, looking at each other, wondering what to do.

Just then the shuttle from the starship descended through the clouds to the front of the house, across from the helicopter. It made no noise. It was a gunship, sent in precaution to remove starship personnel from planets that were not peaceful, in case of trouble. It was black, seventy feet long, fifteen feet high, with two, fearsome laser weapons pointing out the front, a laser on each side, another in the back, and a weapon in a turret on the top capable of destroying an Earth warship of any size.

It was a menacing sight to Ralls and the Thai soldiers, with its configuration that gave it almost an ominous expression, as if it were alive.

It descended near to the ground and landing gear extended. Just before setting down, it rotated to face the helicopter, weapons pointed at it.

Ralls looked on in fear and amazement, backing away from the door. The soldier beside Ralls got scared, retreated back to the security of the helicopter, and kneeled down to one knee, pointing his M-16 at the alien gunship.

The gunner in the helicopter, seeing the menacing gunship, got ready behind his .50 caliber machine gun. He chambered a round and aimed it at the gunship.

Baron and Tak opened the door and stood in the doorway. “We’ll not be joining you today, Deputy Ralls,” Baron said. “If you want to leave here unharmed, get back in your helicopter and go.”

Not willing to stand down, Ralls took the .45 pistol out of his holster and pointed it at the two of them. “You are ordered to accompany me to the Thai Army Base. You will now get into the helicopter.”

The gunship was manned with starship personnel, but they did not initiate the first shot. The front lasers of the shuttle moved a few degrees to aim more precisely at the helicopter and the soldiers. When the Thai solder behind the .50 caliber machine gun in the helicopter saw the weapons of the gunship moving, and Ralls take out his .45, he panicked and opened fire on the gunship, letting go a burst of bullets. The bullets did not penetrate the armor of the gunship, bouncing off, and so he kept firing. The kneeling soldier joined in the fracas and began shooting his M-16 at the gunship.

The gunship responded with a loud laser blast from both front lasers, one at the helicopter, disintegrating it completely with its pilot and gunner, the other at the kneeling soldier next to it.

The helicopter, the noisy machine guns, and the three soldiers, disappeared as though evaporated. The silence became deafening. Ralls stared in disbelief. Stunned, he did not move, but continued to hold his .45 on the couple.

Standing in the doorway, Tak held up her arm with her wrist computer and its laser. She touched the lapis jewel on the top, targeted the .45 in Ralls’s hand, and commanded the computer to fire. Its penetrating bright blue beam hit the .45, disintegrating it and, unfortunately for Ralls, some of his fingers. He cried out in pain and dropped to his knees, holding his wounded hand with his other.

Baron and Tak stepped backward into the house where Ralls could not hear them. Looking into Tak’s eyes, Baron said, “This means a change of business for me. Now that the US Homeland Security wants me, the CIA will be hunting me as well. My business as I have been conducting it is over. I will take you up on your offer and come with you.”

“What about all of your affairs?” Tak said.

“Mei Ling knows that if anything happens to me, she is to open a safe at my office where there are instructions for what she is to do. I had planned that one day I might have to flee, but it would have been to a tropical island where I could hide out. I never dreamed it would be into space. It’s ironic for me. I never thought that my life would be undone by a woman.”

“I’m not exactly a woman,” Tak corrected.

Baron chuckled and quickly packed a small satchel of his own with a couple of changes of clothes and other essential items he didn’t feel he could do without. Then they gathered up Tak’s bags that were just inside the door, including her new jewelry case, and headed toward the gunship. They walked by Ralls, still kneeling on the ground in pain.

Ralls gathered himself enough to say as they passed by, “I knew you were an alien! This proves it! But no one will believe me now as there are no witnesses left to back up my story.” The woman and the baron did not respond but continued to the gunship. The door to the space shuttle opened, and they stepped inside. Ralls remained where he was, afraid to move, and stared at her. “I’ve been following you a long time,” he cried. “Who are you? Please, at least tell me who you are.”

Just inside the door, secure in the protection of the gunship, Tak listened to the plea of the government man with his injured hand, kneeling on the ground in the light rain. She looked at her Baron. He nodded his silent assent.

She then presented herself. “Tak, United Federation of Planets; Field Anthropologist; First Officer; Baroness Von Limbach; Honorary Officer, Republic of China, Decorated First In Combat.”

The gunship door closed and the ship ascended at an unearthly rate straight up, disappearing into the clouds.

End

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Brent Ayscough or Ace, as he is known to friends, retired from the practice of law and lives in a house overlooking the sea in Southern California. He has always loved machines, from airplanes to motorcycles, structural design, and other interests. He has enjoyed the acquaintance of diverse and interesting people and is widely traveled. Bits and pieces of characters he has known, places he has been, seasoned with the spice of his imagination, help him create unusual stories and characters. Extensive collaboration with experts and sources, hopefully, make his stories credible and interesting.

GENRE: SCIENCE FICTION/PARANORMAL ROMANCE

This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, businesses, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental. All trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks, and registered service marks are the property of their respective owners and are used herein for identification purposes only. The publisher does not have any control over or assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their contents.

THE VISITOR

Copyright © 2015 by Brent Asycough

Cover Design by Chris Buchinsky

All cover art copyright © 2015

All Rights Reserved

EBOOK ISBN: 978-1-626942-34-9

FIRST PUBLICATION: February 14, 2015

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