Trespassers: a science-fiction novel (42 page)

“
That
’
s okay,
”
Jeremy said.
“
Don
’
t worry about it. I only want to ask you to do one thing.
”

Her curiosity was piqued.

“
It
’
s a simple thing.
”

“
What?
”
she asked.

“
Close your eyes and keep walking,
”
he said.
“
Trust my voice to guide you.
”

“
That
’
s it?
”

“
Yeah.
”

“
Why?
”
she asked.

“
It
’
s fun. You
’
ll like it. Trust me.
”

After some more encouragement, Sara agreed. She closed her eyes and listened to his commands
—
leading her three notches left and five notches right
—
just like before. Only it wasn
’
t just like before. The feel was missing. It was cold and stiff. And she finally stopped and asked,
what
’
s the point,
with an irritated tone.

“
You can open your eyes now,
”
Jeremy said.

She saw him standing in front of her, defeated.

“
There is no point,
”
he said with a gentle smile.
“
I just .
.
. I wanted to say good-bye.
”
He pulled a folded envelope from his pocket, his voice catching as he began to speak.
“
You wanted me to write you this letter. .
.
. You wanted to remember.
”
He wiped a tear from his cheek, thinking that the Sara he knew would have wiped it away for him.
“
It was nice knowing you. .
.
. And thank you for the memories
—
the memories that you gave me.
”

Before Sara could make an awkward reply, the moment was interrupted by a strange force that permeated the air. The treetops rustled and swayed. A whirlwind swept through the trail, throwing leaves and dirt in all directions. Another whirlwind followed and then a third. It seemed like a natural phenomenon, unless you were expecting an alien spaceship. Jeremy looked to the horizon just above the clearing. Knowing what was coming, it almost seemed as though he could see the stealth ship as it lowered itself in a hail of wind.

A few feet before touching down, the stealth dissolved, revealing the tall, round ship as it settled onto the grass. Mindy recognized this ship. It had hovered above her yesterday. It had sucked Stewart into its belly, and it had backed over a mighty oak tree. Apparently, it had been returned to its driver, and that lumberjack of a driver was stepping out onto the grass.

“
Oh shit,
”
Denokin said, in his native tongue, as he saw Stewart, Web, Lambert, and Mindy
—
the ones who had captured him before.

“
It
’
s okay. They
’
re with us,
”
Dexim shouted over the wind, which was quickly fading.

Denokin nodded, but he still didn
’
t understand how this could be.

“
Let
’
s pack it up,
”
Dexim called out. He turned to the shovelers.
“
Anything?
”

Right on cue, Tobi dropped his shovel and lifted his hands over his head. Lambert and Jin took a look and spontaneously clinked their shovels together like champagne glasses.
Could it be
?

“
Don
’
t toy with me,
”
Dexim said, still shouting, though the wind had completely dissipated.

Tobi flashed a big grin as he squatted down and took hold of something below the surface. He gave it a yank, but nothing budged.
“
I
’
m going to need a hand with this,
”
he said with a laugh.
“
It
’
s heavy.
”

The image of everyone converging on the dig site
—
with the spaceship in the background
—
appeared on the screen of a digital camera. The video had been running fourteen minutes, according to the numbers rolling at the bottom of the frame, and it had captured a wealth of evidence to support the existence of aliens. Bruner carefully held the camera on the action as he eased forward to get a better view, staying concealed behind the cover of the forest. He had played a hunch, and it was paying off beyond his wildest dreams.

Denokin, Tobi, and Lambert hoisted a sphere out of the ground. As Bruner shifted his eyes between the camera and real life, he sensed the importance of this discovery, though he had no idea what it was.

Just as a great speech was about to materialize, it was Jeremy
’
s unexpected voice that broke through the silence.

“
Sara,
”
Jeremy said, taking her hand. All eyes turned to them.
“
I .
.
. ah .
.
.
”
He shook his head and abandoned words. He took hold of her and pulled her in. He planted a kiss on her
—
but a real kiss this time, a passionate, soulful, earth-shattering kiss. He had stolen center stage. Even Bruner tilted his camera to get this.

As he finally released her, she fluttered and stared at his face.

“
I know you,
”
she proclaimed. .
.
.
“
You can undress me in twelve seconds.
”

“
That
’
s right!
”

The spectators exchanged quick looks and raised eyebrows.

“
But you
’
ve never kissed me like that before,
”
Sara said.

“
I wanted to.
”

“
I
’
ve been waiting for that,
”
she remembered.

Jeremy shrugged.
“
Now seemed like a good time.
”

Sara turned to Dexim.
“
You don
’
t have to take me back now. Now that you have the Metraball, I
’
m not a target or an asset.
”

Dexim couldn
’
t argue with that, but before he could respond, Lyntic interjected,
“
No, you have to go. You have to leave him here. It
’
s the only way you
’
ll know for sure.
”

All eyes turned to Lyntic.

“
It
’
s too big a decision to decide now,
”
Lyntic continued.
“
You have to leave, go back home, get back in your element where you can think clearly. You have to allow the possibility that things are going to be different when you
’
re apart. That
’
s the only way you
’
ll find out what
’
s right. If you feel it, come back for him. If not, let it be. Let him move on.
”

As Stewart listened, his emotions flopped back and forth. He couldn
’
t tell which side Lyntic was on, and he couldn
’
t tell whether she was referring to Jeremy and Sara or herself and him.

Bruner stopped the camera to conserve the battery, not realizing it would cause a loud chime to ring out. As he looked back to the action, he saw all eyes staring at him
—
he had been discovered. As Bruner scanned over the faces, he saw a gun in Lambert
’
s hand. The gun fired, sending a dart whistling toward Bruner, slamming into his leg.

As Lambert and Web waded into the bushes to gather Bruner, Stewart lifted his phone to his ear and placed a call to George.
“
I found the girl,
”
Stewart said, skipping the salutation.

“
What do you mean?
”
George asked.

“
I mean the Limestone Group is looking for a girl, and I have found her. But the Mundle don
’
t really want the girl. They want the Adari Metraball.
”

“
What the hell are you talking about?
”

“
I
’
m talking about
—
I have the Adari Metraball. It
’
s smaller than you
’
d think .
.
. and not really that much of a ball. Anyway, it
’
s headed off the planet, which means the Mundle won
’
t be searching for it anymore, which means I
’
ve pretty much saved the Earth from probable extinction .
.
. again.
”

George was silent.

“
Just let the Mundle know that you know what they
’
re up to and that the Metraball is off the planet,
”
Stewart said.
“
I
’
ll go ahead and start moving my things into the new office.
”

All
’
s Well

Bruner felt himself breathing. Perhaps that
’
s always the first thing one
’
s aware of when coming out of sedation. He began to hear his heartbeat. He could hear movement in the room. His eyes opened to see a large office .
.
. a picture window with a tenth-story view .
.
. Stewart arranging items on empty shelves.

“
I think he
’
s waking up,
”
a voice said.

Bruner turned to see Web sitting at the corner of a desk, the same desk he was sitting at. Web looked him square in the eyes, like a doctor examining a patient.
“
How do you feel?
”

Bruner took a deep breath and his bearings returned.
“
I
’
m okay.
”

Stewart pulled a few more items from a cardboard box and placed them on the shelf. Then he turned to see Bruner.

“
Do you know who I am?
”
Stewart asked.

“
Stewart Faulkner .
.
. Limestone Deposit Survey Group,
”
Bruner said.

“
And do you know what I do?
”

“
You cover up alien activity.
”

Stewart eased into the chair across from Bruner. This was his first time actually sitting in it, and he was struck by how much more comfortable it was than his old chair. He took a moment to run his hand along the leather, before returning his attention to Bruner.
“
And how do you know that?
”

“
I have a nice video of it,
”
Bruner said, tapping his pockets.
“
But I guess
you
have that now.
”

“
Don
’
t worry about the video.
”

“
I have about a million questions about that video.
”
Bruner smiled, knowing better than to expect answers. Stewart smiled even wider, as if Bruner had made an inside joke without knowing it.

Stewart paused long enough for both their smiles to die. Then he nodded to a small machine on the desk, which looked like an iPod with earphones attached.
“
This is a memory-blocking apparatus.
”