Lokians 1: Beyond the End of the World (11 page)

There was no wind on Eon that morning, and
the dark clouds overhead lingered. O’Hara was steady as they walked
into the small, and cluttered, makeshift office. It contained a
great deal of communications equipment, which gave the feel of a
storage room more than a workspace, but military men made due. The
admiral took his earpiece off and connected to a computer. He
pressed some keys and turned a knob.

“
This is Admiral Lay for Ambassador
Weh. We would like to set up a second meeting in order to provide
help,” he said as he looked over his shoulder at the two
associates.

O’Hara also scrutinized the clean-cut men.
They still showed poker faces.

A voice then erupted over the speakers. “We
thank you. We will send a squad for a second meeting in two
hours.”

“
If it’s possible, give us some time to
prepare and arrive, say eight hours,” the admiral asked.

“
Of course, Admiral,” the voice replied
and then there was just the hissing of the comm.
channel.

“
I’ll upload all the data to the
Phoenix
. Franklin and Adams will accompany you to the
meeting. Pick your best men, and show the Thewls anything they ask
for,” Lay heaved. “I’m afraid this as far as I go.”

He smiled then, but it was a sad expression.
O’Hara saluted, and the admiral returned it. When Lay started to
leave them, O’Hara called out.

“
Sir, what do you mean?”

The old man’s smile flickered. Instead of
replying, he turned and left. The captain looked over his new
companions. They were strange.

Both men were roughly six feet tall,
athletically built, and wore black, pinstriped suits, but their
shoes were military, combat boots, which their slacks didn’t
effectively hide. Their striking similarities also gave them the
appearance of brothers.

Both had angular features, hard eyes, and
though Adams had black hair combed back, and Franklin had short,
curly, brown hair, both had chiseled chins, and high cheekbones.
After further observation, which they didn’t mind, he noted
something else strange; their eyes were in a state of repose; they
were both totally unruffled by everything.

The captain had seen gray and blue eyes
before, but the calculating, almost all-knowing, confidence the men
possessed culminated in their stare. Finally, they slightly
gestured with opposing hands, inviting the captain. O’Hara nodded,
and they made their way back aboard the
Phoenix
.

It was a quick return trip to the meet and
greet with the ambassador. Adams and Franklin didn’t say a word for
the whole ride. They simply sat, staring at the wall on the bridge,
not even the screen, which displayed all kinds of terrain over
which they zipped. The rest of the crew eyed the duo curiously.

Suddenly, Adams said, “My associate and I
think it best to keep this meeting a small one. Perhaps, you’re
willing to have the two of us accompany you and no one else.”

Furrowing his brow, he scrutinized them yet
again. He felt a little uneasy. They were too calm for whatever was
taking place.

“
I’m sorry, what bureau are you two
from again?”

Adams and Franklin exchanged looks. “The
Bureau,” Franklin replied.

They even sound the same
, O’Hara
thought. “I’m taking Swain and Nandesrikahl. Fitzpatrick and
DeReaux will post outside.”

Minutes later, the AMS came on, stating they
reached the programmed coordinates. The group of seven went out to
meet the Thewls. Seeing the new faces, the four, spec ops members
looked at each other. O’Hara knew they were wondering about Adams
and Franklin. He gave them a shrug of resignation, so they assumed
information was on a need to know basis.

Fitzpatrick and DeReaux posted up on a
different hill than before. Their vantage point was less appealing,
but it wasn’t wise to set up in the same place twice, even if it
was under friendly conditions. Thewl ships pierced Eon’s hazy veil,
silvery, soundless, vessels landed, blowing a puff of dust into the
air. Once the loading platform released, a rover pulled out while
other Thewls set up chairs and tables. Something intriguing caught
DeReaux’s eye.

“
Joi de vivre, they brought women,” he
nudged Fitzpatrick.

She smiled and nodded. “Maybe...Thewl men
have tits, and the women are the ones we’ve been dealing with.”

With a slight frown, he shot her a dirty
look. At that time, Adams and Franklin sat down on chairs placed in
front of the ambassador. The captain remained standing directly
behind them, practically holding his breath.

“
I’m glad to see you again, ambassador.
These two men are the admiral’s associates, Adams and Franklin,” he
said, carefully.

“
Yes,” Adams agreed. “We understand
that you require certain data for your project.”

Adams produced and opened a tiny, chrome
briefcase he had concealed in his suit jacket.

“
What we have here,” Franklin began as
he produced a memory unit from his inner, jacket pocket. “Is a
rather extensive, data archive, and we are more than glad to help
you and your men find what you need.”

O’Hara interjected, “We believe that your
landing on Earth may cause a disturbance. Our people back home
haven’t received word of our collaboration.”

The ambassador nodded and called for someone,
“Let us have a look at this data.”

One of the Thewls stood and walked over to
Adams and Franklin, who didn’t exhibit the faintest sign of shock.
It was like they had met and dealt with aliens all their life. The
briefcase Adams had produced was in actuality a computer, which he
placed on one of the high tables. Franklin showed a Thewl how to
access the information from the memory unit. She suddenly turned to
the ambassador and spoke Thewlish.

“
My Captain, is this all the help you
will provide?” Ambassador Weh asked.

“
What more can I give?” he rebutted.
“Is nothing there helpful?”

“
I was hoping to travel to Earth
together and make some acquisitions.”

“
With all due respect, Ambassador,
going to Earth will be difficult. It’ll take too long to get there,
and I’m sure all the data you require is in that computer,” he
said, pointing at the machine.

The ambassador nodded. “Yes, some data does
seem to be here, but there are a few pieces of equipment which
reside on Earth that I need to see. I’m certain they will provide
clues regarding where to search for the travelers. As far as time
is concerned, we have methods of travel which surpass yours, as you
already know.”

O’Hara was getting angry. He ground his
teeth, huffed, and shook his head. At his wit’s end, he turned to
the men from The Bureau.

“
Allow me to confer with my men on a
course of action.” He motioned for Swain and Nandesrikahl to come
over. “Do you think we should go to Earth?”

Swain chimed in first. “If we do, we
absolutely need to clear it with the admiral.”

Adams cut in, “Actually, we asked Admiral Lay
to sequester himself from this mission.”

Franklin added, “Yes, we are here to steer
you in the right direction.”

Nandesrikahl was uneasy as he addressed the
suits, “You’re not Navy. You’ve no say in this matter.”

Adams smiled and said, “I may not be Navy.
Anything extraterrestrial is, beyond measure, absolutely my matter,
Sir.”

Franklin added, “Let’s see what they turn up
from the data provided then see what else they need.”

Swain and Nandesrikahl looked at their
captain with incredulity.

“
Who the Hell are these guys, Captain?”
Swain blurted as his mouth remained agape.

He said it was my mission now, the
admiral.
O’Hara looked off into the distance, where a rocky
hill hid a patch of golden trees. The swaying foliage was visible
beside the hill’s crest, and pressed against the hazy, purple sky,
it brought to life a feeling of nostalgia. When Swain asked about
the new men again, O’Hara watched the female Thewl’s work on the
computer. She was cross referencing black hole theory with ancient
scrolls and artwork.

She looked up and said something to the
ambassador then went back to cross referencing beings of light with
the Sol system. Her gurgled speech animated her superior, who
nodded before addressing the captain.

“
We may be in luck. It seems there is
another planet. Somehow, your scientists overlooked it.”

O’Hara looked confused. “What, what do you
mean? What other planet?”

Nandesrikahl’s face lit up, and he answered,
“I know the planet. Yes. It all makes sense. The Sumerians believed
that there were other planets we don’t include when teaching the
Sol system. They’ve written that men came from one of these
planets.

“
A story says that once, there was a
large planet, which collided with another planet. One planet was
destroyed, and it became the asteroid belt of our system, the
Kuiper belt. The remaining piece of the badly damaged, but
surviving planet, became Earth. Men came to Earth from yet another
planet, an immense planet, far away, with a strange, elliptical
orbit around the sun. If this planet is real it may be the home of
the travelers.”

The Bureau agents glanced at him. O’Hara
thought he saw them smile, but they both hid their faces with a
hand gesture. Weh, however, was pleased; he patted Nandesrikahl
gently.

“
How is it that your astronomers have
left this planet out of history, yet the first civilization was
familiar with its existence,” a greenish hue grew over his
face.

“
I still don’t understand,” O’Hara was
ruffled. He looked from Swain, who was just as confused, to Nandy,
who grinned like a buffoon.

“
We shall go looking for this planet. I
invite you to join us,” the ambassador said.

Swain nearly burst as he grabbed the
captain’s shoulder.

“
Someone needs to explain what’s going
on. Ambassador, are you saying there’s another planet in Sol
system,” O’Hara asked

“
I think your man, here, has already
said as much,” Weh replied.

“
Okay, but if we go looking for it, the
Phoenix
would take over ten years to travel that
far.”

“
You may gather your crew and board our
ship, if you must.”

O’Hara already knew he had to go with them,
but his mind raced. He tried to focus on the steps required to
undertake such an adventure. First, he needed to pick his crew.
Next he had to have them board the Thewlian ship, and since he had
to bring Day, that meant placing Roberts in charge of the helm, but
he was dealing with a top-secret mission, so it was imperative to
send her back to Presh. The only problem was what to do with Adams
and Franklin, who were both eyeing him at the moment.

“
Yes, Captain. We’re ready to move when
you are,” Franklin said.

“
I need some time to get ready,
Ambassador,” O’Hara spoke, slowly. “We can’t just drop everything
and hop aboard. Do you mind if I take some time to
organize?”

“
We will depart in twenty four hours. I
hope you are ready by then as there is little time to waste.
Lokians are always on the prowl, I assure you.”

With that, the Thewls thanked the Humans for
their assistance, packed up, and entered their ships. O’ Hara
called the rest of his crew back, and together, they all boarded
the
Phoenix
, and marched straight for the bridge. During the
hike, Nandesrikahl tried to answer their questions about the
elusive planet. The captain was mired in thought, however, and
until they set foot on the bridge, where others were chatting about
the new colony, he kept his eyes glued to the ground.

Eventually, he noticed Day sitting at the
helm with her chin resting on folded hands. She stuck out her
bottom lip and looked at O’Hara, who was obviously frazzled. He
went straight for the intercom.

“
Attention, crew of the
Phoenix
.
This is Captain O’Hara. We’ll be returning to the colony now. After
most of you have been reassigned, the
Phoenix
will return to
Presh station due to certain, residual, energies registering in the
AMS. The engineers will reconfigure the system to solve the
problem. Thank you.”

Day furrowed her brow. She was taken aback
and didn’t believe O’Hara’s claims for a second. Searching his face
for some clue, she did a double take when he winked.

During the next twenty four hours, the spec
ops team, and Adams and Franklin, packed their gear. Day manually
flew to the colony. There, they dropped off the remaining,
grumbling crew. After that, it was a slow flight to Presh at
minimal speed. At the moon station, O’Hara and his crew boarded a
small shuttle.

Day took the helm, and flew right back to
Eon, but it had been less than twenty four hours, so they caught
some R and R. As twilight set in, they stepped out to walk around a
stretch of grassland. Martinez hooked ear buds to his comm. unit
and closed his eyes, relaxing against the hull of the shuttle,
listening to music. Nandesrikahl, however, was irritated. He
approached the captain, who was cleaning his gear.

“
Sir, if I may?” he began. O’Hara
looked up from his work and gave a half nod as he returned to
wiping sections of his rifle. “I don’t trust these two blokes. I
mean, who are they and what are they doing here?”

O’Hara took a deep breath and replied, “I
don’t like it, either, but Admiral Lay didn’t give me an option.
They’re here to do whatever they do. So long as they don’t get in
my way, or cause problems, it should be fine…but look at them,
doesn’t it seem they know about aliens? What was it Franklin had
said? Extraterrestrial matters were his concern?”