Chapter Eight ~ Major O'Dell

 
Major Daniel O'Dell hung up the phone and rubbed his temples. He had just been given not only an earful about the commotion on the space station but also the undesirable job of finding out exactly what had happened. He had found himself solidly in middle management in this whole fiasco and therefore he wasn't high enough up the chain to escape these menial duties. He stared at the old school phone on his desk and wondered who he could call to pass this on to without making it look like he was just passing the buck. But then the thought that if he passed it on to someone and they screwed up it would come back to him and he'd have to answer for it and that ruined the allure of that plan altogether.
 
He wondered why he answered the phone in the first place. Communication was so spotty that he could have said that the phone never rang and no one would have thought he was lying. But he knew that he answered it because he was hoping his wife was going to call to let him know she and the kids were still doing fine, tucked safely away at a military base in upstate New York. They were able to use one of the landlines that had been kept open for military communication but it only worked sporadically so he didn't want to risk the phone call being his family and miss talking to them.
 
So now he had to figure out what had gone on. Stories were that there was a cloud of multi-colored smoke accompanied by a horrible smell directly outside the holding pens up on the station. There was mass chaos with the affected breaking out in dance and someone, clearly not military, was seen running away from the scene. That same man showed up in the hanger bay not too long afterward where a Captain had been struck in the head. When the Captain was revived he reported that the man was in the company of a Major Beckett who had co-piloted the shuttle with him to the station a few hours earlier. The man and the major apparently got away in the same shuttle and flew back to earth and escaped before anyone knew what was happening.
 
So now it was his job to figure out who the man was, who the Major was, and what in the hell they were doing up on the station. Not to mention how they managed to get up there in the first place. Oh, and he was also supposed to find them and bring them in for questioning. As if he didn't have enough to do already without being sent on what he was sure was going to be a wild goose chase.
 
He pushed his chair back and headed out of the office. He wandered down the hall to the cafeteria. He grabbed a doughnut and poured himself a terrible tasting cup of coffee, but reasoned that if he pretended he was sitting at home at the breakfast table, reading the Sunday funnies and smelling the bacon and eggs his wife was cooking and listening to the kids arguing over something upstairs, he just might be able to get make it through to the end of this unbelievable nightmare.
 
He watched the other officers file in and out, grabbing something to eat, stopping to chat with each other. Like life was totally normal and there weren't aliens orbiting the planet scooping up humans and selling them to the highest bidders.
 
He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to figure out how it had been over four months since this whole thing started. Four months since aliens who called themselves the Oday Ursue had arrived. It felt like a hundred years.
 
He could still remember every single thing about the day he and other senior staff were called into the situation room. Two generals were standing at the front, neither of them was smiling. Once everyone had come in and settled down, General McCabe stepped forward.
 
“Everything you are about to hear is confidential and must not leave this room. If we find anyone has leaked this information outside these walls it will be an immediate court-martial. This is absolutely serious despite what we are about to tell you may seem unbelievable at first.”
 
Major Jackson leaned over to Daniel and whispered “Are they going to tell us we are being invaded by Aliens ?” and sat back up chuckling.
 
 “We have been contacted by beings of non-terrestrial origin.”
 
Jackson choked on his coffee and spit it across the table and onto General Adam's paperwork. The general scowled at him and grabbed his files and shook them off.
 
General McCabe glared at Jackson. “As I said, this might seem difficult to comprehend but I can assure you this is not a joke. Unfortunately, they have not come in peace. They are here for the same reasons the Europeans visited Africa several hundred years ago. They are for lack of a better word, slave traders.”
 
The general paused as if to let his words sink in. There was frenetic whispering as every person in the room leaned over to say something to the person next to them.
 
“Two weeks ago our satellites picked up something large beyond the orbit of Saturn with a trajectory that put it on a collision course with Earth. We called in as many experts as we could trying to see how long we had and if our calculations were wrong. It was incoming at a phenomenal rate of speed and by the next day, it had reached Mars and was still headed straight for us. By this point, there was nothing we could do except hope it would somehow miss us and fly right by. Over the next few hours, it slowly changed course until it was on a collision course with the moon. It was coming too fast to do anything but wait for impact. Except as it approached and then disappeared from view behind the moon, nothing happened. We waited, not knowing what to do or what happened until a caravan of small spacecraft emerged and turned on the afterburners and were in near-Earth orbit in less than 5 minutes. Each one of them broke off and as far as we know headed to each major capital city in the world. I can only speak for what happened in the United States but I am assuming it was the same worldwide. All electronics, communications, and weapons of the military were somehow rendered completely useless so all we could do was watch and wait. A craft landed on the military base closest to Washington and beings who did not look dissimilar to ourselves emerged and requested an audience with as he or she put it “those who are able to make decisions for the people of our land". They used a translating device so we could understand them, and vice versa.”
 
The General took a long unsteady breath. Then seemed to compose himself and continued.
 
“They explained who they were. That they traveled the galaxy in search of civilizations that had no weapons or technology that presented a threat to them. They then would take a portion of the population and sell them off to other races who might require quality labor. They made it clear that they did not have to present themselves and could simply take whatever they wanted but they found it easier and “less messy” if they got cooperation from the governments. They laid out a plan wherein they offered some of us amnesty if we are willing to cooperate. Some of us will be spared, as will our infrastructure. Their liaison explained that once they had collected as many as they deemed necessary, they would leave and allow the rest of us to go on about our life.”
 
Again he paused frowning. “While most of us find this gut-wrenchingly distasteful, we have found little choice except to do as they ask. The briefs placed in front of you will lay out what is expected of you and the rules to keep you safe. There are provisions for the families of those who choose to go along with this. Step by step instructions of how to get ready for what is about to happen. You will have one hour to decide if you are with us and then 24 hours from now to prepare yourself and your family.”
 
The room erupted in questions. “24 hours?” “How are we supposed to get everything done in 24 hours?” “Why so little time” “What happens if we don't want to go along with this?” “What is actually going to happen to us and how do I tell my family?”
 
Everyone was standing and talking at once.
 
 “ORDER! BE QUIET AND SIT DOWN IMMEDIATELY”.
 
Everyone sunk back into their chairs but there was still quite a bit of low-level voices and every single face was white with fear.
 
“I wish I had more information. I wish I could guarantee that the word of these beings was good but I do not know more than I am telling you and what is written in the paperwork. Please take the next hour to read through everything given to you and make your decisions. No matter what you decide you will not be allowed to leave this base or make any unsupervised phone calls. I will not answer any more questions at this point. Please take all things into consideration. Weigh your conscience and what is best for you and your family and I will be back for your decision at eleven hundred hours.”
 
And then he was gone.
 
Daniel read through the packet of paperwork but even before he got to the end he knew he was going to cooperate. He had to do it for his family. His kids were young. He wasn't going to allow them to be sold away into alien slavery. He cringed as that thought went through his head because he still didn't believe it. He was allowed one phone call to explain to his wife what was happening, but he had to word it very carefully and made sure she understood what she had to do. Transport would be provided to one of several military bases around the country where food and supplies would be provided for the length of their stay and they had 24 hours to prepare. If anyone tried to contact the media they would be “taken into custody and dealt with”.
 
Also in the information were instructions to pick up pills at the base infirmary that would make you immune to the gas that would make everyone else on the planet compliant and easy to “harvest” which was the word the Ursue used. One was to be taken every morning without fail. They cautioned that a certain percentage of the population would be unaffected by the gas and it was up to the local officials to deal with them as they deemed necessary. The affected would be sent to local cities which would be surrounded by a barrier making it impossible for them to leave. They would be well fed and housed while they were waiting. Upon finishing their harvesting the Ursue would leave, allowing everyone who had cooperated and anyone not taken to go back to their normal lives. They would not be back to this planet in anyone's lifetime.
 
Daniel's stomach ached so badly as he made the call to his wife he wasn't even sure he was going to make it through the conversation. Once she answered he instructed her to listen very carefully and told her she could not ask any questions. He told her to pack up the kids for an extended stay, probably a couple of months, and that a car would be coming for them the next day. He wasn't sure when he would be able to see them if at all during this time but once they were secure where they were going, everything they needed to know would be explained to them. Under no circumstances were they to talk to anyone, tell anyone, or ask questions of the people who came to get them. He emphasized that it was a matter of life and death and that was all he was allowed to say. He said he loved her more than anything and if she did as she was being told everything would be alright. He could hear the fear in her voice as she said she understood and told him she loved him too and then the phone was taken away from him and it was a full month before he finally was able to hear her voice and have her tell them that she and kids were fine. She assured him that all their basic needs were met and there were many spouses of military friends that were there as well. He could tell she did not know more than the very basics of what was going on. She clearly did not know that he had sold out his fellow human beings so his family could be safe. She did not know that people, probably their neighbors, relatives,friends,  the kids' teachers, were being flown to a spaceship that was hiding behind the moon where they were then being sold away into slavery. He knew that her great grandfather had been a slave and had many stories that he told his children and grandchildren of the horrors he went through and the ecstasy he felt when he was freed. Daniel wondered what she would think of him if she really knew what was going on. But it had gone this far so he would have to deal with the aftermath if and when it came.
 
He realized he had been staring into his coffee cup, not drinking it and it had gotten stone cold. He pushed it away and stood up. He had better get going on this job because the longer it took him to start looking for whoever did this, the less likely he was going to get any answers.
 
He knew part of the reason this had been assigned to him was that his office was at the airport for the regional transports of this area. So he had access to the people who might have seen something and may be able to point him in the right direction. He headed to the loading area and began the hunt for anyone who was on duty yesterday.
 
 Oddly enough, every person he questioned could not remember anything. They were either “not on duty”, “not stationed in this area” or “too busy doing something else" to have noticed anything sketchy going on. And four people used the word sketchy. Clearly, no one wanted to admit that maybe they saw something that they should have reported but had been too lazy to do so.
 
Slightly defeated, he headed out onto the tarmac to question the guards. It was between loading times so no one was in the area. He wandered towards some of the outbuildings and saw two guards leaning up against a wall chatting. When they saw him they straightened up and started to hurry off so they looked busy.
 
“Wait... Boys... it's OK I just want to talk to you” he called out.
 
Both men stopped and looked at him warily.
 
“You're not in trouble, I just need to ask a couple of questions.”
 
Daniel caught up with them and both stood at attention and tried to look casual at the same time. “OK, so we've got” Daniel checked their uniforms “Sargent Owen and Sargent Lee. Fellas I need to know if either of you were out here on the line yesterday morning.”
 
“I was Sir” Owen replied.
 
“Did you happen to see anyone who didn't belong? Maybe someone hanging around these buildings?”
 
“I found a Major hanging around back here. She told me she was the pilot we were waiting for and that she was lost because Private Riley dropped her off in the wrong place. I took her inside to the Generals, then after they talked to her I brought her out to the transport and Captain Reed got her set up to fly co-pilot with him up to the station.”
 
Tom looked down and rubbed his temples. Then looked back up and asked, “Has no one asked you about this any time since yesterday?”
 
“No sir. No one. Did I do something wrong?”
 
“Not at all Sargent. Not at all. Did you happen to see her again after that? Perhaps later in the afternoon?”
 
Owen thought for a minute than snapped his fingers “As a matter of fact I did. I saw her walking away from the 3 PM transport back towards these buildings with a guard. Didn't think anything of it though. I figured she was back from the early morning run and off to do other business.”
 
“Do you know who the guard was?”
 
“No. I hadn't ever seen him before, but that isn't unusual. They have people transferring in and out all the time. He was a younger guy wearing a hat and walking away from me so I couldn't see him well.”
 
Daniel looked around. “What are these buildings back here? What are they being used for?”
 
“They are mostly empty, no one is using them for anything which is why it was weird that anyone would be walking around back here, but I've been told not to question anything so I figured maybe there are meetings or offices that I'm not supposed to know about.”
 
“Well if there are offices back here I've never been told,” Daniel said “And I'm stuck going to every meeting there is so I don't think that's a possibility. Let's take a look and see what's so interesting that the Major found it necessary to be here twice yesterday.” He started towards the buildings and Owen and Lee fell in place next to him.
 
“Is the Major in trouble sir? Does this have anything to do with what happened up on the station yesterday? Didn't that happen right before the Major got back? Did she have something to do with it?”
 
“I thought you weren't supposed to question anything Sargent?”
 
Owens looked embarrassed, “Yes sir, you're right. I'm sorry. But most of us down here on the line don't know almost anything about what's going on so sometimes the curiosity gets the better of us.”
 
“I would be happy that you don't know most of it if I were you. I wish I didn't know all the stuff I do. Just do your job, keep your head down, and hopefully, this will all be over with and we can go back to some semblance of a normal life sometime soon, though at this point I don't know if that's really possible.”
 
“Yes sir. Good advice.”
 
Daniel wandered between the buildings looking for something that might give him a clue as to why the Major and her companion had come back this way. Along the furthest building in the back where the weeds were particularly bad, the overgrowth was trampled down against the sidewall and as he followed the fresh path it led around the corner, across a small field and through an opening in the fence and disappeared in the distance.
 
Well, at least he knew how they got in. Sargent Lee asked if they should follow the trail to see where it went but Daniel said that in all likelihood they had stashed a vehicle someplace and were long gone by now. But when he got back to his office he would send someone out to the road with a truck to see if there was any indication of where they went.
 
Both men agreed that was a good idea and they all turned and headed back to the terminal.
 
Back in his office, Daniel tried to find out anything he could about Major Beckett. The computer systems were not working to capacity but you could search for information that was already present on the servers. Apparently, she was indeed an air force pilot but was on extended leave when this all happened. Her mother was in hospice care and she was home helping the family. So she could not have been offered the opportunity to cooperate and gotten pills to keep herself from being affected by the gas so she must be naturally immune. But it didn't explain why she would suddenly show up and pretend to be a pilot. He had no way of finding out who the other guy was that was with her either. The only information was that he was the apparent provocateur of the shenanigans on the station. None of it made any sense.
 
Once again he found himself rubbing his temples. Nothing that happened seemed organized in any fashion or that there was any malice to what had gone on. He wondered how he was going to find out anything else and if it really mattered in the long run. Did he really want to go after people who in all likelihood were just curious and now were probably scared to death of what they saw and probably went deep into hiding? It's not like there were a lot extra resources to waste on this. Besides, what if these people actually wanted to infiltrate the aliens and try to sabotage them. Would he really want to stand in the way of that? He rubbed his temples harder realizing that in his former life there would not have been a single minute that he would have considered cutting corners. Ever. But this wasn't his former life and he doubted he would ever have that life back so it was probably a good idea to get used to the new normal. Yes, this was the new reality. Get used to it old man, he told himself. He reached into his top drawer and brought out a form and started writing.
 
He ended the report with “Every attempt was made to locate the perpetrators of the aforementioned incident with no success. There is no evidence that this was anything more than an isolated incident and while we should remain as vigilant as always, there does not appear to be any need to change how we are currently conducting business.”
 

He signed the bottom and sighed deeply. He hoped he hadn't made a mistake but at this point, it couldn't be a bigger mistake than going along with this whole thing in the first place.