The Bonding (27 page)

At area 51 Tarku was just waking from a
very sound sleep. The bed was comfortable and the room was quiet, so he slept
well. He yawned and looked around the room, carefully studying all of the walls
and fixtures. He still had an uneasy feeling that the General was up to
something and suspected that he was being watched. He couldn’t visibly see any
cameras and finally got out of the bed and entered the bathroom. Again he
carefully examined the area, searching for anything that looked unusual. The
cameras were there, but they were hidden so well that Tarku couldn’t detect
them.

In a control room in another area of the
facility a soldier picked up the phone. “Sir, this is Sergeant Martin. The
alien is up and taking a shower. I think he suspects there are cameras, but he
hasn’t found any of them.”

“Thank you, Sergeant. I want to know if
he leaves the room.” The General set the phone down and looked over at the
clock. “Five o’clock! What the hell is he doing up so early?” the General
grumbled. He kicked off the blanket and got out of bed.

Tarku got dressed and opened the door to
the corridor. An electric cart was sitting there waiting, just as the General
had said. Tarku sat down and turned the switch. The cart eased away as he
pressed the accelerator.

Inside the control room, Sergeant Martin
picked up the phone. “Sir, Sergeant Martin again. The alien just drove off on
the cart. He’s heading towards the spaceships sir.”

“Keep an eye on him at all times. I do
not want him out of our sight for even a second. Dispatch a man to accompany
him. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Yes sir!”

Tarku stopped at the Annunaki spacecraft
that he had been on earlier. He stepped off the cart and a soldier pulled up on
another cart and stopped beside him.

“Good morning, Mr. Zivok, my name is
Corporal Higgins, and I’m supposed to be your assistant sir. Anything you need,
just ask.” The Corporal put out his hand to shake.

Tarku carefully looked him over and shook
his hand. The Corporal’s eyes widened as he looked down at Tarku’s huge clawed
hand. Tarku smiled. He loved to see the expressions on people’s faces when they
encountered him. The Corporal had never actually seen an alien, even though he
worked at area 51. The bodies of the dead aliens, that had been recovered a
long time ago, were in a special room in another area. Only authorized persons
had access, and the Corporal wasn’t one of them.

Tarku was still amused at his facial
expression. “Nice to meet you Corporal Higgins. So, you’re here to watch me?”

“No sir. They said I was to assist you
with anything you needed.”

“That’s a polite way to say it.” Tarku
knew that the General didn’t want him wandering alone, and when the Corporal
showed up, it confirmed Tarku’s suspicions that he was being monitored. How
else did they know exactly where he
was.
“Have you
ever been aboard an alien spacecraft, Corporal?”

“No sir. I’m not authorized to see the
inside, only the outside.”

“Then how can you watch? I’m about to
enter this one.”

“I’m supposed to accompany you, sir. If
you go on board, then I go also.”

“Then let’s go,” Tarku replied as he
walked up the ramp. The Corporal followed, looking around in amazement at the
instruments.

“In the three years that I’ve been here
I’ve never seen the inside of any of the alien craft,” Higgins said.

“It’s nothing special,” Tarku said. “I’ve
seen hundreds of them.”

Tarku touched several instruments and the
craft came alive. Strange symbols appeared on the monitor as the Corporal
watched. He had no idea what any of the symbols meant. Tarku studied them and
nodded. He was checking the ship’s systems to see if there were any problems
with anything. The ship was in perfect condition and capable of light speed
flight. Tarku smiled and shut down the power.

“Good morning, Tarku.”

Tarku and the Corporal turned to see the
General standing there. “Good morning, General.”

“You don’t have to shut it down,” the
General noted. “If you left it powered up, then our scientists could get a
better understanding of what it’s doing and how it operates.”

“Your scientists will have that understanding
when they can figure out how to turn it on,” Tarku replied.

“Come on, Tarku. Who is going to know if
you show our scientists a few things about this craft? Surely no one from your
planet or your alliance of planets is going to know.”

“I will know, and I’m bound by the laws
of the council to do the appropriate thing. When people stop following the
laws, regardless of where they are, then evil steps in and lawlessness takes
over.”

The General shook his head. “You and I
obviously come from two entirely different trains of thought. I simply want to
help my planet advance in technology.”

“But you’re doing it by using something
that was never yours to begin with,” Tarku pointed out.

“Then why didn’t the Annunaki come back
to get it?”

“As I explained before, they figured that
when you
did
finally learn how it operates, then your technology
will
have advanced to an acceptable level to allow you to
have it. The Annunaki have not come back in person to explain the technology to
you, have they?”

“No!” the General said in a disgusted
tone.

“Then it is not my place to teach you.”
Tarku was carefully watching the expressions and actions of the General.

“Fine, and I accept that,” the General
replied. “I haven’t finished showing you everything that we have. Would you
like to see the other things?”

“Yes. I am curious what else you have. I
have to admit that I am still in awe of your possession of a Quar engine.”

“I still don’t understand exactly what
happened between you and that engine,” the General said. “You said that you
felt it?”

“Yes. It spoke to me through feelings.
That is how I know where it came from.”

“Can I do that?” the General asked.

“You can try, but I cannot say for
certain what the results will be.”

“Let’s stop by there and see what
happens,” the General said enthusiastically. He was hoping that the engine
would speak to him also, and perhaps he could learn how it operates. In all of
the years that they had studied it, no one had ever thought to simply embrace
it.

They pulled up next to the engine and the
General walked over to it. He stood for a few seconds just staring, then turned
his head and looked at Tarku. Tarku made no expressions or motions. The General
looked back at the engine, reached out and touched it. Instead of bluish colors
emanating from his hand out through the surface of the engine, the colors were
more reddish. Mimicking what he had seen Tarku do, he wrapped his arms around
it and put his face against it. Simultaneously huge waves of red and yellow
encircled his body. He began violently shaking, as though having an epileptic
seizure. His eyes rolled back and closed, then began rapid eye movement. Drool
started seeping from the corner of his mouth and a small stream of blood
trickled from his nose. Then, as though the engine pushed him away, his arms
released and he collapsed to the floor. Tarku ran over to him and helped him to
his feet.

“What happened?” Tarku asked.

The General was visibly shaken as he
wiped his mouth and straightened his uniform. “I… I don’t know. It felt like
the engine was angry with me. There were stinging pains racing through my body
and brain, like I was being electrocuted.”

Tarku pointed to the General’s nose.
“You’re bleeding.”

The General pulled a handkerchief from
his pocket and wiped his nose, then looked at the blood on the white cloth.
“Son of a bitch!” He put the handkerchief back to his nose and held it there.

“What have you and your scientists done
to this engine?” Tarku questioned.

The General was holding his head back
with the cloth against his nose. “We’ve tried to figure out how it operates,
that’s all.”

“But by what methods?” Tarku asked.

“We tried to see the interior with
advanced metal x-ray methods and other nondestructive procedures, but nothing
was effective. We then tried to open it with lasers and acids, but nothing
would penetrate the surface.”

Tarku shook his head. “I’m surprised it
didn’t kill you. That engine is a life form. It may be an artificially
constructed life form, but a life form
none the less
.
The artificial intelligence of that engine is smarter than any human being or
computer on this planet. It is probably smarter than any scientist or computer
on my planet.”

“Tarku, I know that you have an idea how
it operates and what it’s made of. Please, let us know just a little.”

“I’m sorry,
General
,
but I really don’t know. I have ideas, but nothing more. That’s why I would
like to take it to my planet and let my scientists look at it.”

“Why can’t they come here and do their
research?”

“You simply don’t have the technology.
Even my race may not have the technology to back engineer this, but we at least
have the instrumentation and facilities to do a much better job than your
scientists can do. I know that you don’t want to hear this, but your research
facilities and scientific knowledge would be considered prehistoric on my
planet. It would be like one of your cavemen trying to figure out how one of
your own spaceships work.”

The General looked at the engine. “I
can’t let it go. I hope you can understand why.”

Tarku shook his head. “General, we’re
going to be together for a few days. What else would you like to show me before
I go?”

“We’ve never seen anyone from your
planet, and we’re curious about your physical makeup. You seem to be very much
like us, but, with your permission, we would like to give you a medical
examination.”

Tarku thought about that for a few
seconds. Janet was required to have a physical examination on his planet for
much the same reasons, and he couldn’t see any harm in it.

“I will agree to that provided that
everything is explained to me before each procedure, so that I can determine
whether or not I will allow each one.”

“Agreed! Let me introduce you to our
scientists and doctors.”

Chapter Eighteen

In another area of this great underground
maze the General and Tarku pulled up to a series of examining rooms. Most of
them were equipped as operating rooms for total body examination, including
autopsy. Inside was a group of ten people, both males and females. When Tarku
entered they all immediately gathered around. None of them seemed surprised to
see him. He surmised that they had already been watching him on cameras.

The General introduced each one and Tarku
carefully looked into each person’s eyes as they shook his hand. Tarku always
believed that you could tell much about any living creature by simply looking
into their eyes. So far, the only person that Tarku didn’t trust was the
General. He knew that he was up to no good, but couldn’t put his finger on
exactly what kind of no good it was.

After the introductions Tarku turned to
the General. “I would like to communicate with Janet before we begin any
examinations. I’ve been here for two days and have not spoken with her.”

His request appeared to catch the General
off guard. “Uh, yes, certainly, Tarku. We can call her. She should be at her
parent’s home.”

The General picked up his radio and
contacted Sergeant Martin. “We can use the telephone in the next room. I’ve had
one of my men call her. As soon as she is on the phone he will call me on the
radio. The General looked at the doctors. “Please excuse us for a few moments.”
Everyone nodded their understanding and Tarku and the General went into the
next room.

In Texas, Janet’s mother picked up the
telephone. “Hello! Commander Shelby? Yes, she’s here. Just a moment, please.”

Janet was in the next room and heard her
name. “Who’s that, mom?”

Her mother shrugged her shoulders. “Some
man from the Air Force asking for you.”

Janet smiled and took the phone. “Hello,
this is Commander Shelby.” She was overjoyed to hear Tarku’s voice.

Tarku looked at the General. “Would you
mind if I spoke with her privately, please?”

“Certainly!” The General left and room
and closed the door. He smiled to himself, knowing that the call would be
recorded and he could listen to the entire conversation later.

“Janet?”

“Yes, Tarku. I am so happy to hear you. I
have missed you more than you can imagine.”

“And I, you,” Tarku sighed. He then began
speaking in his native language from Zintandu. “Janet, I’m sure that this
conversation is being recorded, so let us speak in Zintandian.”

“Certainly,” she replied in his language.
“Are you at Area 51?”