Coalescence (Camden Investigations Book 1) (20 page)

Bill would
be guilty of allowing his people, and those all over the Earth, to come into
harm if he didn’t reexamine his beliefs due to arrogance. What might a
youngster like Rusty have gleaned from the crop circle symbolism? Would the
genetic testing thought to have ended thousands of years ago resume? Worse
still, maybe that testing, or at least the desire to continue it, never quite
ended. The great light from the sky the visitors had referred to could be
another means to change the human species. Bill hadn’t any way to discern if
this was a gift from the Great Spirit or veiled present from the Skeleton Man.
The more he thought, the more he believed the investigators to be correct. It
was better to err on the side of caution. His ancestors never recommended
interference in any matters involving the Star People. But what if some of these
Star People now resided on this planet? What if their agenda had changed
drastically? What if they no longer had the best interests of humanity at heart
and had become infected by cold, detached ambition?

Bill
concluded the focus of the Star People may very well have returned to a great
subterranean power grid, unlikely as it seemed. Were the serpents still
resisting the punishment metered upon them from the gray skinned Star People?
This great, long war was the reason why Bill always believed humans shouldn’t
interfere. But even if the reptiles still merited punishment, could he actually
stand by and watch all of Earth’s people face a major reengineering that would
effectively wipe out humanity via genetic change instead of simple death?

Death could
be honored. It would be better if all died trying to stop the change Mitchell
and Evan had feared. But in the meantime, it would also be wrong to leave a
young man like Rusty all alone in the canyons. The desert was a dangerous place
in itself. Men who burned down labs would surely make it all that more
treacherous.

Bill snapped
his fingers and Tawa yipped. “How would you like to go for a ride, girl?”

M
ITCHELL
RUBBED
his hand along Iris’s back. “Want to tell me what really
happened out there?” he whispered in her ear.

She pawed at
the blanket draped about her shoulders. “It’s not going to help anybody. Just
let it lie.” The bland but solid walls of the camper comforted her. Out in the
open sky, one hour earlier, she was out of her mind.

“You
obviously saw something; it caused you to fall to your knees.”

“I was
experiencing heat exhaustion.”

“Do you
recall what you did next?” Mitchell’s voice rose. “You clasped your hands
together as if in prayer. Is that normal behavior in a dessert?”

“I really
don’t recall that.” Iris shook her head. She really didn’t. But she did recall
Chaco transforming as if it were the Greys home world. Fearing her subconscious
was somehow coming to the forefront of her consciousness, she really didn’t
want to share this revelation with Mitch. What if the same thing were to happen
to him? He was inexperienced in any way, shape, or form to deal with
supernatural mind alterations. That she was sure. Ultimately, she couldn’t
spook the team. It would only make a stressful situation worse. Remnants of the
time shift she experienced in the earlier investigations lingered in her
memory. What if it occurred on a major scale? Mitch’s next question only fueled
her anger.

“Can you at
least tell me if you saw something that would aid in our search?”

Iris pursed
her lips. Her eyes were dark as coal. “Speaking of prayer, is that your only
salvation? Because I’m sure you already know how it plays out.”

Mitchell
shook his head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I guess it is the end
all—at the
moment.
I want to save people, Iris. If I have to
die—”

Iris balled
a fistful of blanket in her hand. “I want to save people. I also want an
option . . .”

Iris turned,
feeling that someone was watching from behind. For a moment, she thought it was
her Dad. But it wasn’t. She wondered how long Kassidy had been standing behind
them. She was going to say she “wanted another option that didn’t involve
Mitchell’s demise.” But she didn’t and they had been whispering. She could only
hope Kassidy hadn’t heard anything more than a couple arguing after a tiring,
long day.

“I was just
wondering if you guys wanted your share. Gavin’s made us dinner: rice and
kidney beans.” Kassidy rolled her eyes. “Yum. Yum.”

“I’ll have
mine after a shower. I believe I’m next.” Mitchell kissed Iris on the top of
her head before he left.

Kassidy slid
into Mitchell’s seat. “I think I know what you meant.”

“Meant about
what?” Iris asked.

“Remember,
when we were at the store. I don’t know the details. I promise I wasn’t
eavesdropping. But what you said about Mitchell, that you already had him
wrapped around your finger, almost implying that was a past action. That this
expedition we’re on might go only one way for some us . . . I
just think that’s shit.” Kassidy focused her gaze on the camper’s ceiling. “I
can only imagine how pissed you are.”

“How could
you conclude this from a stupid joke? I just think it’s your nerves, Kass.”

“The Camden
girls aren’t the only ones with psychic sense. I think you know something from
your visits with Galloway. And I want you to know that as an investigator, I’m
pretty pissed you’re keeping your team in the dark.”

“I . . .
shit . . . okay, you’re partially right. I might have seen some
things when I visited Galloway . . .” Iris swallowed. She had
just admitted more than she cared to.

“What do you
mean by visited? Shit, is that what happened out there today? Did you go
somewhere?”

“Look.” Iris
clasped her hands together. “All I can say is that what I saw is subject to
interpretation.”

“Hm. But
what about Mitchell; what might he have seen?”

“Kass, we’re
all on the same side here. You know I didn’t want to get involved in this, but
now I am. I’m doing everything in my power to keep us
all
safe.”

“So screw it
if you’re not going to elaborate. I
know
Mitchell’s in danger. I pretty
much think we all are.” Kassidy rose from her seat and placed a hand on her
hip. “Ah, is this about Ron? Do you actually think keeping quiet keeps things
from happening?”

Iris reached
out and grabbed Kassidy’s hand. “We’ve got to be a team out there tomorrow.
It’s going to be a full day. We need to have each other’s backs.”

“From what?
More aliens?”

“More likely
the snakes and spiders Rusty keeps warning us about.” At least that wasn’t a
total fib. The reptilians probably shared similar chromosomes with snakes.

Kassidy
gripped her friend’s hand tighter. “You know I’m your bud, always. But as an
investigator, I can’t just ignore information that might help us do the very
thing you want—
keep us all alive
!” At that second, Iris wished
Kassidy had drowned her senses in vodka. It wasn’t a healthy option, but it was
less fraying on her nerves.

Kassidy’s
elevated pitch attracted Rachel’s attention. “I think you guys should get some
food in you.” She placed a plate in front of Iris.

“Thanks,
Rache. Despite our limited culinary options, I’m going to enjoy this rice.” She
took Rachel’s hand into hers.

Rachel looked at their joined hands and scowled. “Shit.
What’s going on, Iris? Are we all going to get killed out there tomorrow?”

D
AN
CURSED
his disguise. It seemed he had been wearing one his entire
adult life. The one that shielded him from his family; it was attached, a part
of his endoskeleton. It was a chip, embedded in the flesh of brain. But the
stupid brimmed-hat and padded jacket, they were extraneous and the subject of
his current focus. The idiocy of wearing a padded jacket in response to the new
day’s sweltering heat; the thought that a brim of a hat might shadow his
identity, his purpose; it was ludicrous. He should toss them on the roadside
right now. But the damage might have already been done. If he were hunting
living aliens, the
Organization
might have equipped him with some
cloaking tech. Dan could only hope Jack and Will were too focused on their
prize to pay attention to a straggler. Dan Camden had jumped the fence and he
knew the penalties for treason. He wondered if Jack and Will were also jumping
the fence.

The thought
that he was journeying back to his family on an all but a deserted road in the
middle of what he would label “nowhere” managed to lighten his step a bit. He
imagined the smiles on Iris and DJ. After he came clean and their anger cooled
he would make up for lost time.

He feared
Jack and Will had gotten the jump on him. Surprisingly, he managed to doze off
into deep slumber a few times during the night. Possibly he was dreaming of
winning back the hearts of his daughters. Nonetheless, he could only attribute
Organization
training to such a feat; the ability to sleep when your very own family may be
knocking at death’s door. He quickened his stride; a hawk or something that
produced hissing sounds flew high above ahead to his right. It seemed to be
circling. That was odd. His mind raced and he imagined the worst. What if
something had already happened? What if he had again abandoned his family in a
time of need? It would be one of the countless times in the past few decades.
He abandoned his jacket around him and began running.

When his
lungs had filled with enough dust to produce a spastic coughing fit, he stopped.
He crouched forward, hands on knees, praying the spell would end so he could
resume. He could still hear the bird in the air, its cry echoing amidst the
whistling wind. When his focus sharpened he saw Jack and Will’s car. It was
oddly parked. Out on the road, diagonally positioned it screamed trouble. He
hacked out a few more coughs.
Way to go. I’ve obviously signaled my arrival.

He pulled
the brim down a bit to shield the sun’s rays. Yes. It was their car. Dan
stopped reprimanding himself for announcing his welcome. His true folly would
be to believe they had actually squandered time when they could be in pursuit
of his daughters. As long as something extraordinary didn’t stop them, Dan
believed men like Jack and Will would never fall off schedule when it came to
acquisitions. But what about this acquisition was so special? He had gleaned
that the teams were having quite a debate about an artifact. It had fallen from
the sky. It supposedly had a purpose. But Dan had never found out what exactly.
He never imagined a war brewed between Greys and Reptilians. He only imagined
ill-fated scout ships occasionally crashed and their technology became human
property. He never knew the technology was being willingly given in exchange
for silence. He didn’t know he was ambling along, all alone in a desert, in
stupid attire no less, to possibly prevent or allow an unparalleled invasion.
The onslaught wouldn’t be about ships and weapons. It would all come down to
light. Pumping humans and their genetic coding with glorious, unceasing rays of
light was all it would take. Light changed DNA. Dan really never pondered the
wonders of the cosmos. He just did his job. He acquired things. He helped
reverse engineer them when he was able. He believed the people at the top would
make sure things were handled properly. And they would—to their benefit.
Instead of reverse engineering gizmos, they would reverse engineer DNA.

Steeped in
this ignorance, the sight of a hand dangling from the rear driver’s door caused
him to gasp. He crept toward the vehicle, baby steps, maintaining minimal noise
levels as if that would help conceal his presence. Again, the bird screeched
from above, and his heart leapt straight to it.

He eased the
door fully open and peered into the car. It was Will. He was stone dead. A
bullet had gone straight through his skull at the temples. A lot of blood had
spilled onto the seats but now the flow had ebbed to a trickle. Will’s open
eyes stared up at him. They seemed to warn him. Dan caught his breath again. He
shifted his gaze left and right. Then he pivoted and scanned the land around
him. Nothing but brush, sand, and rock—not a telltale sign of Jack. Why
had they fought? An argument had to be the motivation. Why else would Jack kill
over an artifact? They had all acquired many over the years. No big excitement;
well, except for maybe your first two acquisitions. All the green horns partied
long into the night on those occasions. Dan was among them, the pangs of guilt
stabbing him. Truth was, at that time, he felt more emotion about a piece of
unidentified equipment than for his flesh and blood wife and newly born
daughter. He shook his head. What a mess. He wasn’t referring to the ruined
upholstery.

His daydream
had cost him. While he perused Will’s body for further answers, someone had
surreptitiously popped out of the trunk.

J
ACK
SMILED
as he opened the trunk from within. He recalled the
saleswoman noting the safety device upon purchase. “No one will ever lock you
in your trunk,” she had said it so cheerfully. As if people did things like
this to each other all the time. Nonetheless, he couldn’t agree more. It was a
great feature.

Jack had
killed Will in the early chill of dawn. The darkness was a whole world away
now. The sun brought urgency to his mission. If he didn’t have to eradicate Dan
at this moment he would have pointed his hands at the sun and tried to grasp
it. For Jack, it would always be about acquisition, even when that acquisition
would become less tangible and more ethereal.

Baby steps
brought him around the vehicle. Dan was just standing there, scratching his
chin.

What a
disappointment you are
,
Jack thought about Dan.
You
not only let your family down, you toiled as a midlevel field agent. No
ambition to rise higher. No intuitive to inquire about the bigger pictures.
Trust me there were many. Many opportunities your loyalty caused you to miss
out on. But I teetered precariously in the middle of all it. I never let myself
get bogged down with family. Never let myself become the automaton the Organization
heads thought I was. For that, I am now rewarded. For spending an awful day and
half in the baking sun of a desert and stuffed in a trunk for an hour breathing
the foul air of a corpse, I have earned it.

Jack let his
fury boil and channeled it into his right hand. Balled in his fist was the butt
of his gun. It came down squarely and effectively on the back of Dan Camden’s
head. Dan fell on top of Will. Jack watched blood trickle down the fallen man’s
neck.
Maybe you two will coalesce. Guess you deserve each other.
He
started the car and parked it off road a half mile away near some brush. It
really didn’t hide the car. But Jack thought nobody else would see it. This
wasn’t tourist season. He could only envision the investigators must be at the
site now, searching for a means to try and stop his future. He let the thought
burn into his mind. There, it singed his consciousness so exhaustion could not
take over. He needed his anger now more than ever. He would stop at nothing to
make sure the investigators were stopped. Ultimately, he would take their
prize, destroy the enemy’s power source and wait out his few pitiful hours of
existence as an ordinary human. Maybe later he would clean up the mess that was
Will and Dan.

For right
now, Jack had taken care of immediate problems. There was some sloppy evidence,
but his two colleagues no longer threatened to bungle the mission. Why wait
around for Dan Camden to eventually stick his nose into
his
field
mission? Or allow Will to expose him unnecessarily? Will almost had given away
their position yesterday when that girl with the glasses had a feinting fit or
something. How many times had he told Will to wait for his signal?

He let the
idea sink in. His steps were lighter because of absolution. Jack forgave
himself.

He
persevered, continuing to walk in the desert heat. He had an option. But he
wasn’t going to do something crazy like drive a car to alert his presence. Not
when he had two stiffs in the backseat. That was what someone like Will or Dan
would have done. They should have washed out a long time ago. They weren’t
Organization
material. Jack adjusted the brim of his army cap. Dressed in a
charcoal grey denim jumpsuit he resembled a character from
Stargate
traipsing
along some new and dangerous planet in search of a gateway. In a way, this was
true. Jack envisioned a new world but one that would still offer danger for the
survivors. Many would foolishly believe they had achieved equality in this new
existence. But it would be an illusion. Someone always had to rule. Besides, if
everyone was truly equal, how could a man like Jack ever claim his title as
god? And in the new world, there would be new rules. Maybe killing would no
longer be thought of as a sin. Maybe you wouldn’t need absolution or a means to
quiet the society-induced pangs of guilt in your mind anymore. It made Jack’s
heart skip a beat. He saluted to the vulture overhead.
New rules, my friend;
new rules for ruling . . .

M
ITCHELL
ATTEMPTED
to keep everyone’s spirits up. He would clap his hands
every now and then. Call out: “it won’t be long now.”

Iris knew
Mitchell well enough. His tone wasn’t convincing her. She circled with the
others in the unbearable heat. Hoping Rusty would either guide them to the
grail or fail so everyone could call it a day. Problem was it was only early
morning. There was a long day to go before anyone could “call” it over.

She nudged
up against Mitchell’s backside and whispered, “Do you really believe we’re
going to find this? There are countless possibilities in Pueblo Bonito alone.
And if it’s not here . . .”

He cut her
off in a harsh whisper. “Then we pack up and scour the next site, for as long
as it takes, for as long as we can before the worst case scenario happens.”

“I had to
hook up with a damn UFO hunter. You’re all so damned stubborn.”

Her whisper
had risen in volume thanks to the surroundings. Kassidy passed by to comment:
“But few as good looking . . .”

Mitchell
grabbed Iris’s hand as she said, “She’s right you know. On this, she’s
infallible.”

Iris gripped
Mitchell’s hand so tight it hurt him. “Ouch!” he shouted.

“Serves you
right, arrogant, scientist bastard.” Iris exchanged a satisfied smile with
Mitchell and Kassidy. Now she barked, “Come on, people. There’s a power source
to find. Keep your eyes open.”

“Yeah, that’s
a way to whip them into shape,” Kassidy remarked.

Iris frowned
at her. “That goes for you as well.”

Kassidy
saluted. Rachel grabbed Kassidy’s arm and twisted it behind her.
“Insubordination is punishable by death.”

“I didn’t
know a salute was insubordinate.” Kassidy feigned pleading eyes at Rachel upon
release.

“Sarcastic
salutes are the highest form of insolence.” Rachel locked eyes with Iris.
“Boss, I suggest we deal with her later. Right now, we need all the hands we
can get.”

“Okay,
okay,” Mitchell warned. “Enough playing already. I am certain our good friend
Rusty didn’t come all the way out in the desert to hear jokes.”

Rusty turned
from his lead position. “It’s okay. We try to get our elders to lighten up all
the time.” For a moment his eyes became sad. Iris guessed it was the betrayal
he felt from disobeying Bill. She wondered how many times, if any, her Dad got
that look in his eyes when he thought about her and DJ.

Rusty
continued, “Besides, it’s not like I’ve found anything yet.”

“Yes,” Evan
added, “but it seems to be also about what you
haven’t
found. You’ve
probably saved us countless hours already by weeding out where the power source
isn’t.”

“How are you
even attempting to navigate this?” DJ inquired of Rusty. “I commend your effort
while I don’t completely understand it.”

Darian
smiled and draped an arm over DJ’s shoulders. “I
completely
don’t
understand it. What
are
you looking for?”

Rusty
pointed at the jut of a cut stone. “See, there.” He pointed at some curious
markings. “It’s an ancient language. I can’t decipher much of it. But from what
I can interpret, it labels what all this is,” he expanded his arms to point to
the corners of the canyon, “and was once used for.”

“You mean
this was an entire functioning city? Not just a farm?” Evan asked Rusty.

“I’m sure of
it. How else could the elders have survived? They not only required food but a
means to transport it.”