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  “You said ‘us’, son. How many of you are on board there?”

  “Roughly thirty, sir, I can’t get a count because I can’t even see straight. It’s been a long and difficult day.”

  “For us too, son. For us too. You get some rest. We’ll send the coordinates up to your ‘pilot’.”

  “Thank you, sir, I’ll see you tomorrow. Over and out.”

  “Over and out.”

  “Sir, you can’t let them land here.”

  “Don’t worry, Major. I have no intention of leading a potential enemy straight to our command center. I want you to get every National Guardsman on the Eastern seaboard awake and ready. I’m going to have that ship land at that old landing strip in upstate Maine. Go pack a bag, Major, we’re going to Vacationland.”

  * * *

  “Deb, could you please get two girls to keep their rifles trained on him at all times? Have them rotate out every hour. I have got to go get some sleep or I am going to fall over.” I headed down the aisle and my breathing almost stopped, Beth was in the middle of the aisle waiting for me. And to be honest, it didn’t look like concern and love on her face. I wasn’t in the mood.

  “We need to talk,” she said in an urgent voice.

  “It’s going to have to wait.”

  “I don’t want it to wait.” Man, I didn’t remember her having a spoiled streak in her. Maybe all that ‘Queen of the Games’ crap went to her head.

  “Beth, I’ve killed over a dozen other living beings today, I’m a little bushed. So unless this ship is on fire it’s going to have to wait.” She shut up but she didn’t look pleased about it. Screw her, I thought. I risked my very being for her and she was itching to tell me to get lost. Well another eight hours wouldn’t change anything.

  Either this ship was a lot faster than I had anticipated or I had slept a lot longer than eight hours. I wiped crust away from my eyes and tried my best to orient myself. The women on the other hand looked downright giddy, I couldn’t say I blamed them. Earth was huge in the window.

  “How much longer, Commander?”

  “Possibly six of your Earth hours.” His face wore the complete opposite expression than his passengers. He seemed almost sullen. Wow, the High and Mighty Supreme Commander beaten that easily. I didn’t think so. I would double the guards until the military took him off my hands.

  “Have you slept at all, Commander?”

  “Progerians, unlike most of the lower species, only require three to four hours of sleep per night and can go for up to five days without sleeping at all with no signs of fatigue. Unlike you lesser species.”

  “Ah, there’s the Supreme Commander I’ve come to know and love.” He didn’t find it in the least amusing. As far as I knew, the Progerians didn’t even have an equivalent word for love. Why would they? They only mated for procreation.

  “Commander, how old are you?” If he would answer or not, I wasn’t sure and I wasn’t going to threaten him for that little nugget of knowledge. I’d let the military decide that. I wanted to be as far away from this little bit of insanity as was humanly possible. The commander just sat and stared out the window, I guess staring at the ever-growing inevitability looming in front of him. Just when I thought he wasn’t going to answer or quite possibly hadn’t heard me, he spoke.

  “One hundred and twelve of your human years.”

  “Wow!” I said as I spit out the water I had been drinking. That was not a number I had been expecting. “Is that old for your species?”

  “It is old, I would be considered in the autumn of my years. But a reasonably healthy Progerian lives to an average of one hundred forty-five to one hundred fifty years. Unless, of course, an unnatural event occurs.” He once again returned his gaze to my looming planet.

  In another lifetime I might have been able to muster up some pity for him. But I searched deep within my soul and there was none. He was a monster worse than any ever dredged up in the nursery rhymes of my youth. I hoped the military pried every possible piece of information out of him by whatever means necessary and then threw his dried up husk on the nearest trash heap. He had been responsible for at least nine thousand or so human deaths that I knew of. And needless to say all the other poor civilizations they had bumped into. No, the world—scratch that—the universe would be a much better place without him in it.

  “Deb, have you gotten any sleep?”

  “I got a few hours but I wanted to make sure all the girls were rested and that he was covered by at least two people at all times.”

  “Why don’t you go get some shut eye? I’ll take care of the guard duty from here on out.”

  “Thank you,” she said wearily. “We need to talk later.”

  “I know, I know. I’ve been getting a lot of that lately.”

  She raised one eyebrow, then turned to head toward the back of the ship.

  “Tanya, could you please make sure there is always one lady up here with a weapon trained straight on his back? But I want the shifts rotated on the half hour. I don’t want anyone getting itchy fingers and I don’t want anyone getting lax. I’m getting worried that the closer we get to home the more desperate he’s going to become.”

  “Why don’t we just tie him up?”

  “Do you know how to drive this thing?” I asked. She got the point.

  “But if he gets desperate enough won’t he just crash this thing into the first mountain he sees?” she asked with an edge of fear in it.

  “I don’t think so. He might be desperate but he’s not suicidal.”

  “Are you willing to stake all off our lives on it?” That question hit deep. Was I? Did I know him well enough? Could I ever know him well enough? I was wrong about human intentions all the time. He was an alien, I had no idea what was going through his mind.

  “Commander.” I turned back around. “How difficult is it to drive one of these things?” He either had super sensitive hearing or his thought process was similar to ours.

  “Why? Are you afraid I might crash this ship?”

  “No, let’s just say something were to happen to you, like a heart attack. Would I be able to land this craft?”

  “Not a chance, hu-man. First, the controls are so advanced, it would take your puny little brains three solid years of intensive training to even begin to be able to understand and use them. And they are also DNA-coded so only Progerians can fly them.”

  “DNA-coded,” I said. “You have a lot of people stealing these, do you?”

  “We’ve had problems in the past.”

  “What, I’m the not the first person to ever make an escape?”

  “Oh no, hu-man, you are the first,” he sneered. “We had a Genogerian uprising over a millennia ago. They stole a bunch of our ships and attacked the Capital. Since then we have DNA-coded all of our ships to prevent that from ever happening again.”

  “Oh-ho, trouble in the homeland!” I laughed.

  “I do not see the humor, hu-man. At least our war was a species rebellion. Your own kind fight all the time. You fight over imaginary lines in the sand or for a metal that is more common than you can imagine.”

  That hit deep too. Damn, they knew all of our deepest darkest secrets. I bet if they had the Progerian version of Jerry Springer on their home planet, Earth would be a hit series.

  “Gold is common?”

  “There are whole meteorites made of gold. Almost all the species we have encountered except for yours view gold as nothing more than a nuisance metal which is in the way of more precious minerals.”

  I changed the subject; he knew too much dirt about our planet anyway. “So basically you’re saying I can’t fly this thing.”

  “Hu-man, the only thing you could manage would be to crash. Do not worry; though I feel some anxiety about this landing but I have no intention of endangering my life. For I know a full scale rescue attempt will be launched and the plan we have laid out will go into effect just a little bit sooner than expected.”

  “You sure seem ver
y confident about that.”

  “I know my species well, hu-man. Your kind will pay dearly for your assault on my ship and for taking me hostage.” He started to rise as his voice did.

  “Slow down, Commander, take it down a notch. I more than likely won’t kill you, because I want to get home. But that girl behind me, well, she lost two of her best friends and her boyfriend on your ship. She would like nothing better than a reason to take you out. Now I strongly suggest you be seated and we’ll go on with this flight.”

  “Of course,” the commander said as he composed himself and sat back down.

  CHAPTER 50

  Outside Township 573 – Northern Maine – Hudson Army Air Base

  “Major, what’s the status on the ship?” the general asked as he wrung his hands. The general wasn’t sure who was more interested in this encounter, the military or the legion of scientists who had been called up here.

  “Sir, I’d have to say no more than an hour from their present position.” The major was tense. The anger he had for this unseen enemy was vast. If he had been a civilian he thought he would take a shot at this hostage. But military protocol, bearing and discipline forbade him from seeking his revenge. That would have to wait, but he figured payback was only a matter of time.

  “Did you call the radar stations along the Eastern seaboard to let them know to disregard any and all unidentified blips on their screens?”

  “Sir, I had the lieutenant’s team take care of that yesterday.”

  “Very good, Major. And did—”

  “Yes sir, Project Bluebird will go into effect in approximately forty-five minutes.” Project Bluebird referred to the project the U.S. government had been working on since the Soviet Union first launched a satellite. It was basically a way to jam any and all signals to and from any satellite. From time to time the government had used this to disrupt communications in other countries. And then there was the miscue in the winter of 1992, when they had blacked out all television signals during the Olympics for over an hour. The government had feverishly denied any and all acknowledgement of that little pearl. Project Bluebird was for the most part a success, but it had never been tried on every satellite in orbit around the planet. The signal they would need to produce would be enormous and most likely, very easily traced. But the government felt they would rather take blame for disruption than for actually acknowledging the landing of an alien vessel on U.S. soil. The pros far outweighed the cons.

  “Very good, Major. Are there any other questions I need answered before I ask them?”

  “No sir, sorry sir,” the major flushed a little bit. Probably better not to anger the general at this exact moment. “Sir, is the President coming here?”

  “No, he felt it would be better to have plausible deniability should this all blow up in our faces.”

  “Probably not a bad idea.” It was going to be tough to deny this, though. They had a full squadron of F-16’s and Stealth fighters here, plus a battalion of Marines and twelve M-1 Abrams army tanks, and of course the local National Guard who had to be called so as to not hurt their feelings. Pretty tough to move that much machinery without an executive order. Especially to a little bumpkin place like this one.

  “I know what you’re thinking, Major. But if something does happen you are looking at the fall guy. According to any paperwork I ordered all this for military maneuvers. Basically an elaborate practice.

  “Sir, why are you jeopardizing your career?”

  “This wouldn’t be the first time I’ve jeopardized my career and for far less. I know the bio we pulled on this Mike fellow makes him only 19, but he seems to have the situation well in order. Unless of course this is a trap and they want to do some testing of their weaponry on us.”

  “Do you think that’s possible, sir?”

  “Not really, but I didn’t bring all this machinery because I’m one hundred percent convinced, either. Not that I think we’d stand a chance even with all this stuff. But it’s still somehow comforting. Don’t you think?”

  The major thought perhaps the general had been in the military a bit too long. But he’d be damned if he let him know that.

  “Sir, you really think all this weaponry, the most advanced equipment on this planet wouldn’t be enough?”

  “And there it is, Major.”

  “There what is, sir?”

  “The most advanced weaponry on this planet. That shuttlecraft that’s coming in most likely can fly circles around our F-16’s and probably packs a bigger punch than the bomb we just hand delivered them.”

  The major really hadn’t stopped to think about just how advanced these beings were. And now he wished he hadn’t. It sent shivers right through him.

  “Major, I want you to scramble all of the planes as soon as we get to T-minus thirty minutes. Understood?”

  “Yes, sir. T-minus thirty minutes.”

  “Good, I’m going to go finish my crossword puzzle.”

  The old man might be crazy, the major thought, but he sure does have ice running through his veins. The major was about ready to pee on himself and the general was going to do crossword puzzles. The major figured in the next forty-five minutes or so he was actually going to see it all.

  CHAPTER 51

  “Dennis? Hey buddy, how’s everything going?”

  “Right on schedule, Paul.”

  “Therein lies the problem.”

  “Problem? Did you say problem? What’s up?”

  “I need you to get ahead of schedule.”

  “Paulie, if I do anything more than what I’m doing I’m going to rouse a lot of suspicion.”

  “What are you using for a cover story right now?”

  “Contaminated soil.”

  “Nobody’s said anything about the cement trucks?”

  “No, we actually made a small road coming in here that is well off the beaten path and we divert traffic on the main road so nobody sees a thing.”

  “Can they be trusted?”

  “They’ve been bought, my friend, and nothing speaks better than the almighty buck. By the way, where are you getting this kind of bread?”

  “I’ll explain when I get out there. You wouldn’t believe the connections I’ve got. There’s another thing I want you to do for me.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I want the addresses of every person on this project who is not in the know.”

  “Gotcha, but why?”

  “My friend, that is definitely something you don’t want to know.”

  “Your word is my command.”

  “Alright, and remember I’m going to need this done in four months instead of six.”

  “You realize that means more people.”

  “Do what you have to, but I want addresses for them all. Later.”

  “Later, Paul.”

  CHAPTER 52 - Journal Entry 31

  Township 423 - Maine

  The commander landed the ship at the appropriate coordinates without any tricks or attempted deception. He must have been very confident in his rescue squad. And from just a cursory comparison of technologies, I could see why he would be. We had a difficult time making it to the moon and they were traveling across star systems. What did he have to fear from us?

  “Just remember Afghanistan,” I said into the smug commander’s face.

  “What does the reference of your Earth country called Afghanistan have to do with anything, hu-man?” the commander said in his most contemptuous way. I guess he was what we on Earth would call putting on his game face. He had to realize he was about to become a prisoner of war and more than likely believed he would be beaten and tortured. Or maybe he even thought we had our own version of the gladiator games.

  “Afghanistan was invaded by a far superior technological civilization that was bent on the absolute destruction of that country. But for years the Afghans fought, tooth and nail, grudgingly giving land measured in inches instead of the proposed miles the Soviets wanted. For years they defeated the super
ior Russian army, but not with technology.”

  “Then with what, hu-man? You are beginning to bore me.”

  “With something I believe your kind does not have.” I poked him in the chest. He flashed his pearly whites at me, but quickly regained control of his anger as three rifles pointed directly at him.

  “What is it?” he asked exasperatedly.

  “Heart,” I answered.

  “Silly hu-man.” And he laughed that horrible grating metallic laugh only evolutionary evolved crocodiles had. “Yes, we have hearts.”

  “Not the heart in your chest.”

  “Then what, hu-man? You make no sense.”

  “We have the kind of heart makes you go on when all seems lost. We have will and determination and spirit, your invasion will not be the roll over you and your kind believes it to be.”

  “We have encountered many worlds, hu-man, and they all talk big and boastful, but when the guns start firing, your kind will fall in line as quickly as all the rest.”

  “I think you’re going to be in for a big surprise, Commander,” I answered softly; my anger was very near the boiling point. But now it was time to give him some back. “But either way, Commander, you’re going to be sitting on the sidelines watching how this unfolds.” He didn’t answer, but it was clear from his body language he didn’t much like that.

  The ship no sooner came to rest when we were surrounded by what seemed like the entire East Coast National Guard. There had to be at least two to three hundred men with rifles pointed directly at us, that wasn’t even counting the tanks that had their turrets aimed at us. It was very disturbing to say the least. I didn’t make it all this way to get killed in my own backyard by friendly fire. I was about to open the hatch to make them ease their fingers off their triggers, when a hummer came to a screeching halt alongside the ship.