The Fellowship for Alien Detection (34 page)

There was a crack behind her. Arms began to reach in through a hole in the door. A hand found the doorknob and twisted, grabbed Suza's arm, and raced for the double doors that led into the museum.

“But the code!” Suza shouted.

Two more bodies crashed down onto the floor.

“It's too late!” said AJ. Suza could feel tears springing from her eyes. This was their last shot, she knew it. “If we don't get out of here, they'll get us and reset us and that will be it, all over again!”

They raced through the double doors into the dark museum. AJ threw them shut and lowered a security bar just as bodies slammed into the doors from the other side.

AJ and Suza backed away from the shuddering doors. There were more thuds from the front doors of the museum. Then, an enormous thud on the ceiling.

“Now what?” Suza whispered.

“I don't know,” said AJ.

Suddenly the pyramid-shaped skylight above them shattered, glass raining down, and a giant figure dropped through the opening.

35° 23' N 113° 49' W, AZ, July 7, 4:22 a.m.

Dodger watched the desert floor rising to meet them as the failing transparent mode flicked on and off.

All at once, the world around them began to dim. The bright morning sun vanished and the sky inked in to nighttime black. The craft shuddered, and reality itself seemed to swim.

In a moment it had become completely dark outside, but then daylight flashed back, almost like a rubber band had been snapped. It was morning again, but now lines were appearing on the desert beneath them, geometric shapes like buildings and roads, almost as if they were being sketched into existence. Starting as outlines and then filling in, a whole town appearing. And Dodger knew: Juliette.

“They did it!” Haley called.

And then the world began to change again. This time, Juliette stayed, but the sky turned dark again, the sun falling away and black consuming day. Stars, the moon. It was night again. Juliette at night.

“What happened?” asked Haley.

“I think,” said Dodger, “they disrupted the time loop, but only for a second.”

“So are we in the loop now?”

“I think so.” Dodger looked behind them. “And I don't think that other ship made it in.”

He gazed at the streetlight grid of the town below. It was amazing! It looked just like it did on the map he'd drawn, from the visions he'd had for years. Here was the place, Juliette, the place he'd been before.

“So now what?” asked Haley.

“Can we get to the observatory?” the Alto asked. “That is, before we hit the ground?”

“I'll try.” They were still high enough that maybe he could change their landing location. He remembered his map and then looked for the ridge south of town. There was the white building. He sank into the interface.
Turn left, thirty degrees
.

The ship made a weak turn, shuddering as it did, its descent now aimed at the observatory. Dodger corrected slightly to the right, then left. They were getting low. . . .

The ship made it over the ridge and barely cleared the museum roof beside the observatory.
Land here
, Dodger instructed. The ship hit hard, thumping to a stop. Sparks flew around the cabin, and the invisible effect ceased. Dodger, Haley, and the Alto were thrown against the computer banks.

Open the hatch
, Dodger instructed.

There was a weak whine, and the hatch only slid half open. Dodger reached for Haley, who was leaning against the wall, getting her bearings. “Let's go,” he said.

They stumbled out onto the gravel roof.

“It's cold,” said Haley, crossing her arms against the chill.

“It's April in the high desert,” said Dodger.

“April 1994,” said Haley.

“Yeah,” said Dodger.

“But why is it night?”

“The loop must not be a full twenty-four hours long. Maybe people need less sleep when you're resetting their reality every day.” He glanced at the Alto. “Maybe everybody's like him.”

He was gazing around with a puzzled look.

“Them,” he said softly, and pointed to the observatory. Three figures were perched on the lip of the rectangular opening in the dome. And they were looking right at Juliette's newest guests. “On the roof!” One of them shouted. The three started pointing emphatically. Dodger guessed they were alerting more people below.

Then they all just leaped from the observatory. Two of them plummeted into the gap between buildings. Only the third made it onto the museum roof. There was a wicked crack of breaking bone, but then the woman got up and started hobbling toward them, dragging her leg awkwardly behind her.

“They're all under the mind control,” said the Alto.

“They're like zombies,” said Haley.

The Alto stepped toward the approaching townsperson and dropped into a martial arts stance, legs apart and fists up. The townsperson just kept coming, until the Alto's boot struck her in the chin. Then she crumpled to the ground, out cold.

“Come on.” The Alto took a quick look around and sprinted over to a little pyramid-shaped skylight. He kicked through it, again and again, clearing the glass. Dodger and Haley joined him.

“It's about a fifteen-foot drop,” he said. “I'll go first and catch you.” He fearlessly jumped down into the dark. There was a thud. “Okay, come on—oof!”

There was a sound of breaking wood. A grunt. A squealing voice that sounded like a girl.

“Alto?” Haley whispered.

A moment of silence. “Okay,” said the Alto.

“Here goes,” said Haley. She jumped down.

“Dodger,” said the Alto.

Dodger jumped, slamming into the Alto's chest. The Alto half-caught him with one arm, and then Dodger tumbled to the ground. “Ow!” said Dodger, landing hard. He saw Haley sitting on the floor, shaken up as well. “I thought you were going to catch us?”

Then he looked up to see that the Alto was holding someone in his other hand. A girl, about their age. He also had someone pinned beneath his boot. A man with a baseball hat and ponytail. There were chunks of a splintered chair nearby, like these two had tried to attack him.

“Sorry,” said the Alto. “There were some distractions. These two aren't under the control, though.”

“Suza?” Dodger saw that Haley was peering at the girl, who made a whimpering sound through the Alto's hand. “Let her go,” said Haley.

The Alto released the girl. She stumbled forward, catching her breath, and turned to Haley. “How do you know my name?”

”I—” Haley stammered. “It's really you. I met your sister, Steph, in Amber.”

Suza's eyes widened. Dodger couldn't tell if it was fear or sadness.

“I'm Haley. This is Dodger and he's the Alto. We're from outside Juliette. We're here to free you.” Haley fished in her pocket and held something out to Suza. Dodger saw that it was a watch. “Here. Your sister gave me this.”

“You . . .” Suza took the watch. “I did have this.” She shuddered, and sniffled. “Did they say how long I'd been gone?”

“It's been six months,” said Haley quietly.

“Oh,” Suza whispered.

“I'm sorry,” said Haley.

Dodger stood up, and as he did so, he focused on the furious beating of fists and feet against a set of double doors nearby. And also from other spots in the museum. “We probably shouldn't stay here,” he said.

Suza glanced back at the door. “They're everywhere,” she said.

“Can . . . you . . .” the man beneath the Alto's feet croaked.

“That's AJ,” said Suza. “He's one of us.”

The Alto removed his foot. AJ jumped to his feet, catching his breath.

“We heard your message,” said Dodger.

“You did?” AJ said, sounding relieved. “And how did you get in here? Was it during that flash of daylight?”

“Yeah,” said Haley. “The town reappeared for a second. Just in time, actually. Our spaceship was going down.”

“Your . . .” Suza said.

“Long story,” said Haley.

“But it worked,” AJ said, with relief. “Cool. So . . . you guys are here—now what?”

Dodger looked at Haley and the Alto.

“What about accessing that code again?” Haley asked. “And stopping the time loop permanently?”

AJ pointed a thumb toward the banging door. “The only way to do that is through the telescope. You guys didn't bring, like, the army or anything, did you?”

Dodger tried to think of what they could do next, only he was finding it hard to think. His brain felt like it was swimming, like his thoughts were dunking beneath big waves crashing over him. It was a familiar feeling. . . .

He glanced around the room. They were in an exhibit hall, carpeted and dark, with a few dim ceiling lights on. There were glass exhibit cases around the perimeter of the room, and a few displays in the middle. In the minimal lighting, Dodger saw collections of Native American artifacts, pioneer and gold rush items. Something glinted in a case by the wall. Something . . .

Dodger started toward the case. Within a few steps, he could see why he was feeling a magnetic pull in this direction. The glass case held a boulder-sized chunk of the black crystal.

It ignited in orange, as if to greet him.

“We could— Whoa!” AJ said behind him.

Dodger reached the case and put his hands on the glass. He felt the electric warmth flow through him.

“What is he doing?” he heard AJ asking as they all walked over to him.

“He's connected to it,” said Haley. Dodger felt her put a hand on his shoulder. “Hey,” she said.

“Look,” said Dodger. He pointed to the exhibit plaque.

Haley read aloud from the metallic plate:

“T
HIS RELATIVE OF MAGNETITE IS KNOWN TO BE AN EXCEPTIONAL CONDUCTOR OF LIGHT AND RADIO ENERGY
. I
T IS ONLY FOUND HERE IN
J
ULIETTE AND HAS BEEN DETERMINED TO BE EXTRATERRESTRIAL IN ORIGIN
. T
HE PLATEAU ON WHICH
J
ULIETTE WAS BUILT IS BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN THE SITE OF A METEOR STRIKE, THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO
.

T
HIS SAMPLE WAS FOUND DURING EXCAVATION FOR THE FOUNDATION OF THIS MUSEUM IN
1889. W
HEN SHOWN TO THE LOCAL
N
ATIVE
A
MERICAN ELDERS, THEY REFERRED TO THE ROCK AS
P
AHA
'N
E, WHICH TRANSLATES ROUGHLY TO BEGINNING/END. THE ELDERS BELIEVED THAT THE
P
AHA'
N
E FELL FROM THE HEAVENS AND BROUGHT THE FIRST SPARK OF LIFE TO THE
E
ARTH
.”

“Paha'Ne,” said Dodger, feeling like the word made sense to him. Again, that feeling of knowing, of being connected somehow to the crystal, like they shared some identity, but also . . . Dodger turned and gazed off into the museum.

“What is it?” Haley asked him.

“There's more,” said Dodger. For as much connection as he felt to this chunk of rock, he realized that this was not the true source of the magnetic connection he was feeling. There was something . . . bigger. Way bigger. “It might be the source,” he said.

“Dodger.” Haley's brow knitted in thought. “When you interface with the rock . . . do you think you could access the time loop code in there?”

Dodger thought back to Lucky Springs. “Yeah, I think I could,” he said. “One of my options was
time parameter management
.”

Haley turned to Suza and AJ. “I'm guessing there are mines in town. Maybe old gold mines that are sealed off?”

“Yeah,” said AJ. “Actually, there's an entrance on this hillside, not too far from here. Are you saying we need to go into the mines?”

Dodger nodded. “We need to find the source crystal, and from there I think I can turn off the time loop. And maybe the mind control, too.” He looked at Haley. “You think?”

“I think,” she said.

The museum door suddenly splintered, a hinge popping free.

“Whatever we're doing, we need to get out of here,” said Suza.

“Okay, then, this way,” said AJ. He jogged across the exhibit hall, leading them through a door and down a hallway lined with offices. A stairwell led down to a basement hallway cluttered with bookshelves and remnants of past exhibits. There was a door at the far end.

It was shuddering from the thuds of fists.

“Um,” said AJ. “There's a window, in the supply closet.” He backtracked to a door and fumbled his keys from his pocket.

Thunderous footsteps sounded from upstairs.

“They're inside,” said the Alto.

“Okay . . .” AJ's fingers slipped, but then he got the door open. They filed inside and closed the door, trying to quiet their rapid breaths as, outside, townspeople clomped past.