Primal Estate: The Candidate Species (22 page)

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Authors: Samuel Franklin

BOOK: Primal Estate: The Candidate Species
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“Why don’t they just eat cows?”
Rick rolled his eyes and poked him hard in the chest with his free hand. “I asked the same thing! Apparently cows don’t explore and settle new places like we do.” Rick flopped his head back and sighed. “No ships…something about not being able to grasp a hammer with a hoof.”
Tony smiled. “Well, that makes sense.” There was a brief silence. Tony stared off into the desert. “I’m going to have to totally rethink my crusade against the NSA.”
“Yeah. That’s what I said,” Rick replied, poking Tony in the chest again. “Kind of.”
Rick started to feel a little vulnerable with his wrist buried in the sand and a rock over it, in an indefensible posture. He assumed Tony was a run-of-the-mill militia sort, but then realized he may have been there to do him harm. Or maybe he worked for Synster. Rick just wanted to be alone. If he couldn’t have that, then he just wanted another human he could trust. The need overwhelmed him. Tony already knew what was going on because he saw Synster take him, so Rick wasn’t telling him anything new. Rick figured that help from Tony was a possibility. Who else would he, alone, be able to convince of the whole alien story? No one. Besides, he was desperate, he was tired, and he wasn’t thinking clearly.
“Okay, I get it.” Rick started, wanting to define their new relationship before Tony made any confessions of a more sinister nature. “You’re an antigovernment type. And you’re following me because you figure I work for the government, and you want to know what I’m up to. Well, I’m not up to shit, other than wanting to retire sometime soon. So you can just forget about there being some evil government conspiracy against Joe Citizen. It just isn’t there. The government couldn’t find its thumb if it was up its own ass. We’ve got a real problem here, and I could use your help.”
Tony gave him a blank stare during his rant and without changing expression said, “Go on.”
“If you’ve got time to follow me all day long, you either don’t care about working a real job, or you’ve already got some resources socked away. Judging from the look of the truck you drive, the rifle on your back, your dandy outdoor gear and nice boots, I’d say money is not a particular problem. Would that be accurate?”
Tony nodded and said, “Well, we all tend to live up to our means.”
“So you’re well-funded and following me. I don’t know what you’re planning, but as you can see, we’ve got bigger fish to fry. Are you on statins by any chance?” Rick asked.
“What?
“Are you on statins?” Rick asked again.
Tony just stared.
“Well, you might want to start,” Rick said sarcastically. “I’m gonna forget your stance against me ‘cause I understand; I can’t stand the government either. Except for my day job, we’re probably on the same side.”
Tony’s blank stare continued.
“What’s your deal? What are you up to?” asked Rick. He held his gaze on Tony and waited for his answer.
Tony cracked easier than Rick would have thought. “I have a website under a different name.”
How amusing, Rick thought.
“I want you to know I support the Constitution and will fight to support it.”
“Me, too. Why were you following me?” Rick asked again.
“I advocate the disruption of government attempts to control our lives…communications, surveillance, healthcare. I have quite a following.”
“How do you make a living? Donations?”
“No, family money. But I served in the Army,” Tony replied, trying to legitimize himself.
“You live in Mancos, right?” Rick had already checked him out…knew his address, vehicles, and what his house cost.
“Yeah.”
“What kind of a network do you have? People, I mean. Can you contact some Army buddies and put together a squad of armed killers?”
“Maybe. What do you have in mind?” Tony was intrigued.
“I’m going to work to earn these assholes’ trust; meanwhile, you put your group together. If I can figure out how to get access to their ship and we have a group of committed people, we might be able to figure out a way to stop them. I know it sounds crazy. We’ll communicate through dead drops. It’ll help keep us from exposing each other. Do you know what that is?”
“Kind of, it’s when…”
“Shhh, find a book on tradecraft and read about it. It’ll even help you with your antigovernment work.” Rick gave him a quick smile and lowered his volume to be as quiet as he could and still make a sound. “The signal location will be the U.S. mailbox outside the Cortez Walmart, a piece of chewing gum on the south side. The drop area will be…”
Rick fished a pen out of his pocket and wrote the drop location on Tony’s hand. “Do you know where that is?”
Tony nodded.
“Under it,” Rick said. “Check Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 6pm. Follow the instructions you find. Good?”
“Yeah. How many of them are there?” Tony asked.
“Not sure.” Rick rolled over to his back and sprawled as if to rest, his tagged arm still in the sand under the rock. “The most I saw at any one time were hundreds; I think this guy said they were millions. But numbers aren’t the problem. It’s technology; they’re way ahead of us.” Rick took a long pause and let his mind wander. “But get this. Their women walk around with bare chests.”
Tony’s eyebrows went up. “Are you sure we really want to kill them?”
They both smiled and Rick replied, “Yeah, I’m sure.”
“What did you mean about taking statins? You mean the cholesterol drug?”
“Yeah. Apparently it makes our flesh bad. They don’t like the flavors or something. Synster, that’s the guy’s name, said that we’ve poisoned ourselves with medication and destroyed their product. Now this is the important part,” Rick realized, “they have to succeed, for a while, at least.”
“What?”
“Yeah, they have to succeed until we can plan something. If they don’t get their quotas covertly, then they will take over to make certain no one takes drugs so they can get our flesh clear. You know, we all live in gulags, concentration camps of the organic.”
“Why do they have to be covert at all? Why don’t they just take us?”
“This is a business for them. They don’t want the expense and problems of the war it would start…civil disruption, people killing each other…or the costs of guarding, feeding, and housing a confined and belligerent mass of condemned humanity. Do you have any idea how badly that kind of stress taints the meat?” Rick said in a grim tone.
“So how do we stop them?”
“I have no idea, but when I figure something out, I’ll let you know. Until then, I’ll work my end, and you work yours. Get as many men together as possible. Quality is better than quantity. We aren’t going to accomplish this by numbers.” Rick paused. “You can’t tell anyone. First off, no one would believe you, and you have no proof. Second, I think these guys can probably get access to anything on the internet, maybe even over the phone, so use the mail or talk in person.” Rick paused again. “No wait…tell them you’re training them for a variety of survival scenarios, something you could justify. Train for that and use whatever communication you normally would. But these guys have to be the type that when you get them together for the real thing, they won’t back down. Can you find those types?”
“I think so.” In the back of Tony’s mind the fact that Rick was a fed kept coming up. Normally he’d be very suspicious. But then immediately he remembered what he’d seen. The feds could stage a circle of light, they could stage destroying weapons, alien guy’s funky clothing. But how could they stage someone running down and killing a mountain lion. It was all too real. Before he had found Rick, Tony had come across the blood and hair that was left from the lion. He’d seen Synster throw the skinned carcass over his shoulder and carry the guts in the hide like a bag. When they had both disappeared, he had seen the white sphere and then the same thing again when Rick returned. He’d witnessed everything through his spotting scope from the top of the canyon. It had been as though he was standing right there with them. He’d even been sure to closely examine his scope for tampering as he waited all afternoon for Rick to return. Tony knew that what he’d seen was the real thing.
Rick wasn’t sure what to do next. Were the plans to be in contact with Tony enough? Could he trust him? Would Tony start talking, and make a fool of himself? There was no way he could know. “Tony, I’ll change the dead drop during our first communication,” Rick whispered and couldn’t think of anything more. His pulse was rapid, but he was exhausted. He just wanted to get home. “Okay, when I take my arm out from under this rock, we can only talk like I was lost and you just found me. You’ll help me back up to my Jeep, and we’ll talk like we’re getting to know each other. You give me your history and I’ll give you mine. That way we’ll know who we’re dealing with and what our skills are. Make sense?”
“Yeah, it does.”
“If we definitely need to say anything regarding a plan, we’ll have to call a stop to rest and write it down. No talking. Okay?
Tony nodded.
“Here we go.” Rick pushed the rock away, removed his arm from the sand, and thanked Tony for letting him rest. He added that they’d better get going and excused himself to call his son. Then Rick remembered he was in the middle of nowhere and there was no cell coverage.
The two talked as if getting to know each other. By the time they climbed the long slope, picked their way up the cliff, and arrived at Rick’s Jeep on the mesa top, they did know each other.
Rick only then thought to ask Tony where he was parked. “The other side of the canyon. I’ve been a lot more careful since the flat tire.” If Rick hadn’t been so tired, he would have felt sorry for Tony. He had miles of rough walking in the dark, back down into the canyon, across the bottom, and back up the other side before he could roll instead of walk. Rick knew the area pretty well but didn’t even know there was a road over there.
“Oh, I almost forgot. Who put you on to me?” Rick inquired.
Tony smiled and stared back at Rick, not sure if he should tell him. “Let’s wait a little on that. I don’t like to put out too much on a first date.”
Rick understood and didn’t mind not knowing for now, but he would have to know soon. He’d get it out of him. “Be careful getting back to your truck, Tony.” Rick smiled at him, gave him a thumbs up, and wondered if he’d ever see him again.
On his drive down the pine-crowded trail, Rick caught one last look at Tony, through the trees, trying to locate the best spot to descend. He kind of liked him. He wasn’t a bad guy, maybe a little misguided.
Sleep again assaulted Rick’s mind as he started drowsing behind the wheel. After the third nod, he realized this wouldn’t do, and decided to pull over. The adrenalin crash from the abduction was hitting him hard. For hours, it had been pumping, and now all his mind wanted to do was sleep. Wouldn’t he feel silly, he thought, having survived an alien abduction, trip to Saturn, the needle probe harassment package, the pain bracelet, and the trip back right into the hands of an antigovernment militiaman, all so he could fall asleep at the wheel to be killed in a rollover. He’d already made it to the land he owned. He pulled to the side of the road, shut the Jeep down, and turned off the lights. He tried Carson on his cell and, to his surprise, he got through.
“Carson, buddy, it’s me.”
“Dad! You must have had a great hunt being out so late. I was worried sick,” replied Carson. “It’s past midnight.”
“I know. I’m sorry, yeah, I got a big one, as big as they come.”
“What, you got a lion?!”
“No, I’m just kidding. I’m coming home empty handed.”
“Are you okay? You sound tired. You haven’t been drinking have you?”
Rick chuckled. “I wish. No, just a long hunt. I’m okay. But I am tired. I just pulled over at the Primal Estate. I’m gonna take a quick nap in the Jeep. Then I’ll be on my way.”
“You want me to come out, Dad?”
“No. Thanks, though. But if you don’t hear from me in an hour…I’ll call when I’m done napping…send out the posse, okay? I’ve just got to take the edge off.”
“All right. I’m gonna go to bed, but I’ll have the phone nearby, so when you call…”
“Thanks, Carson. Bye.”
“Bye, Dad.”
Rick put down the phone and looked out at his land. His eyes were adjusting, and he had a little help from faint moonlight. He had too much to think about and was too tired to do it. He wouldn’t tell Carson, at least not yet. It might be too much for him, and he didn’t need the stress. He’d keep it from him for as long as he could.
Rick also decided not share it with any authorities. As he saw it, Synster wouldn’t have recruited him if he’d thought Rick’s alerting the NSA or any other authority couldn’t be managed. If Rick did convince anyone that wasn’t part of their plan, they’d probably just kill them and make it look like he’d gone nuts. That’s why they pick a mid-level guy, he thought. Rick knew he’d have to do this alone.

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