The Zeta Grey War: the Draco #3: The Zeta Grey War

By DF Capps

The war was going well.

Then it wasn't

A new enemy appeared from deep space. An enemy with technology far advanced over our own.
When all seems lost an ally also appears. But will it be enough?

Another enemy emerges from deep within our own planet, devastating our military and taking our citizens into captivity. Is this the final chapter for humanity, or is there another way?

Join Diane and the U.S. Space Command in their final struggle to survive.

Professionally edited to enhance your enjoyment.

Get "The Draco" Now.

• Language: English
• Publisher: DF Capps
• Release date: Mar 26, 2019
• ISBN: 9780999359433

Book preview

Chapter 1

The huge tear-drop shaped Draco warship appeared in a flash of light. A bright red-orange flaming beam erupted from the sharp point of the black ship and sliced the Andromedan battleship in half. Bodies and debris were expelled into space from the doomed vessel. The Draco warship moved forward and rotated its sharp point to the planet below. For twenty long seconds a red-orange beam flowed down to the surface of the planet. In his mind, Etnar could hear the terrified screams of the millions of people being incinerated in the city below. Another planet was being destroyed by the Draco Federation and he had no way of stopping the carnage.

Etnar woke drenched in sweat and breathing heavily. Another nightmare, he thought. Only it wasn’t just a nightmare. So far over a hundred worlds populated by humans had been blasted into oblivion by the Draco plasma beam weapon. There was no defense against it; no way to shield or deflect its destructive force. Even the Draco warships seemed impervious to the weapons of the Andromeda Council battleships.

He closed his eyes, rubbed his temples with his fingers, and took a deep breath. It was a desperate gamble, but under the circumstances he didn’t see any alternative. He had to be here, near planet Earth, three hundred and fifty-seven years in the past, to see if he could find a way to stop the relentless destruction of the Andromedan Empire by the Draco Federation.

* * *

Sean Wells, author and former investigative reporter for the New York Times, nervously waited between two tall sets of book shelves in The Book Beat, Los Angeles’s largest book store. An over-capacity crowd pressed into the building. His publicist from Wilson & Reese Publishing was busy stacking Sean’s book on three tables to the left of the podium.

Welcome to our presentation today, Peg Sutherland, owner of The Book Beat said. I know some people really don’t need an introduction, and I think you will agree that Sean Wells is one of those people. I can see that you’re all anxious to meet him, so without further ado, Mr. Sean Wells.

People applauded as Sean stepped to the microphone and scanned the crowd. His heart was pounding and he felt like running away. He closed his eyes for a moment and focused on the breathing exercise Dr. Jackson, the Yale psychiatrist who specialized in alien abduction experiencers, had taught him. He opened his eyes and concentrated on an attractive woman in the front row.

Our world isn’t anything like what we have been taught. When I grew up the most dangerous thing we could do was play stickball in the street, which we did a lot. The crowd chuckled. That simple response made him feel more at ease. What we didn’t know was that our world had slowly and secretly been invaded by a technologically advanced alien species. I didn’t believe in UFOs or aliens. I suppose I was like so many other people who just never put much thought or credence into what seemed too bizarre to believe. I was wrong. They were here, and this is what they were doing.

Peg turned off some of the lights so the audience could see the Power Point presentation on the screen to the right of the podium. Sean led them through the artist drawings of what took place during an alien abduction and described the enduring trauma, mental disruptions, and terrifying dreams abductees experienced.

"I know these experiences seem like something out of a horror movie, but I have conducted hundreds of interviews with abductees. I have seen first-hand the devastation and damage wreaked on people’s lives. I have never been abducted myself, but I have witnessed a major battle between the Zeta Greys and some of the most courageous people I have ever met. In my book, The Secret Alien War, you will meet some of those people. For now, I would like to share some of the photos that didn’t make it into the book. I want you to know that some of the photos are gruesome and disturbing. If you think these images may upset you, offend you, or be too disturbing, please either leave now, or cover your eyes."

No one got up to leave. He glanced over at Peg Sutherland. She smiled and mouthed the words, I told you.

Fair warning, he said. He went through the slides of crashed saucers, fighter craft that had been shot down, dead and mutilated Zeta Greys, and dead and wounded members of the U.S. Space Command. He noticed several people covering their eyes during the presentation.

This concludes my formal presentation. I’ll take your questions now.

Hands shot into the air. He pointed to a man in the front row.

Are the Zeta Greys still here?

Sean nodded. I have been assured by President Andrews that no Zeta Greys remain on our planet. They are, however, still in our solar system.

A woman stood. Do they still pose a threat to us?

Potentially? Yes, Sean said.

What are we doing to prevent them from coming back? she asked.

That is a question better posed to President Andrews, Sean replied.

Over the next five and a half hours Sean answered hundreds of questions and autographed almost four thousand books. His right hand and arm ached and the muscles felt like worn out rubber bands. It was a long and trying day, but when it was finished he felt like he was once again doing his part to save the world. His self-confidence and career went into a tailspin when New York City was destroyed by the Zeta Greys using a nuclear weapon. He took the loss of his friends and the New York Times, where he used to work, very hard. Now his feelings of being a champion for truth and justice were finally back, and it felt good, very good.

Chapter 2

Johnny White Elk opened his eyes in shock. He had been sitting on top of the sacred mountain in the Painted Desert of Arizona for the last five days. He was wrapped in three blankets, fasting, and periodically chanting. In his heart he knew something big was about to happen and he needed the insight that only a vision quest could give him. He bundled the blankets under his arm and rushed down the rugged slope to the valley below.

He stumbled into the village and shouted, Gather the people. Gather all of the people! Send messengers to all of the villages. The sky beings are returning! He was greeted with stunned silence. The sky beings are coming now! Gather the people and follow me. He turned and staggered off into the high desert.

Mary Two Toe stood with her mouth hanging open. Johnny White Elk had been the tribe’s visionary shaman for the last forty-five years. When she was born, her right foot had become tangled in the umbilical cord and the circulation had been blocked. The doctor at the tribal clinic told her mother that they would have to amputate her foot at the ankle. Nothing else could be done.

Johnny White Elk used his herbs, massage, prayers, and chants, to restore circulation to most of her foot. She lost the three smaller toes on her right foot, but she could walk and run. As a result, he had become one of the most important people in her entire life.

You heard him, she shouted. Go. Spread the word. The sky beings are coming.

She ran to her Uncle Joseph’s house. We need your truck. Bring some food, water, and blankets. The sky beings are on their way.

He studied her for a moment, grabbed his keys, and tossed them to her. He gathered whatever food, water, and blankets he could find. He hauled them out to the twenty-six year old Dodge pickup truck.

Johnny? he asked.

She nodded. He was on a vision quest.

He nodded as he threw more supplies in the back.

She turned the key. The starter ground slowly as the old engine coughed and sputtered. Come on. She tried the starter again. The engine finally caught and roared to life.

As they passed through the center of the village parents lifted their small children into the back of the pickup truck so they didn’t have to walk so far. They passed a long line of people following Johnny.

Joseph rolled the passenger window down as they came along side Johnny. Where?

The medicine wheel.

Joseph closed his eyes and breathed out slowly. It was thirty miles to the medicine wheel. You’d better get in. It’s too far to walk.

Johnny stopped, already out of breath, and nodded. He climbed into the truck.

* * *

Johnny White Elk slowly climbed a gentle rise to the medicine wheel and took his place near the center. He turned slowly and scanned the horizon. The sun was setting. The pinks, blues, and oranges from the sky made the colors in the Painted Desert glow with reds, greys, whites, browns, and several shades of purple. A long trail of dust rose in the southeast as thousands of people made their way to the medicine wheel. He stood, watching the sky, as evening turned to night. He could see the trail of headlights stretch back over forty miles as the people came to see if the sky beings would arrive.

At midnight a faint light moved in from the north, growing brighter as it came. Red and blue flashing lights on the top and bottom of the glowing white craft lit up the ground. The craft was about sixty feet across and roughly forty feet high, formed by two cones connected at the wide edges. The craft slowed and hovered silently just to the north of the medicine wheel.

Johnny turned and made his way down the small hill to the edge of the crowd. He turned and watched as the craft silently glided over the medicine wheel, lowered its six landing pods, and gently settled on the ground. The bright white glow from the craft diminished and went out. The red and blue flashing lights stopped. Lights came on around the rim of the craft bathing the surrounding area in a soft white light.

A panel slid open on the underside of the craft, and a ramp shot out to the ground. Four people walked down the ramp and stood side-by-side. They looked remarkably like the members of the tribe, except they wore a different type of clothing. One of them stepped forward and greeted the people in their ancient tongue. The language of the Navajo had changed somewhat over the centuries, but the greeting was recognized and returned by the people.

"I am Bih-keh-he. In ancient times we were one people. We came from a distant place to live here, together in the caves during the great snow. As the Earth warmed, we emerged from the caves and grew our crops under the yellow sun. In that ancient time an enemy came and drove us from the sky to the empty space beyond. Your ancestors chose to remain here.

We were attacked once again by this ancient enemy. Other people came to help us in our desperate struggle. We overcame our enemy with their help. Now that ancient enemy has returned here, to your world. We and the people who helped us are once again engaged in battle with our old enemy. We need your help. Some of you are warriors; some are workers. All can be a vital part of our fight for freedom. In whatever way your heart leads you, come and join the battle. There is a place, not far from here, where other people desperately need your help.

Johnny White Elk stepped forward. I know this place. I have met with the one who leads them. His name is Theo. His heart is good and true.

Yes, Bih-keh-he said. We have found him to be good and true, just as you have said. For all who would come and help, please know that they need everything. Even if you believe that you can do little, they need what little you can give. Come and join us. It’s time for the people to stand together.

* * *

Dr. Theo Shugart was the head of Ceti Research, the company tasked by U.S. President Jason Andrews with building the advanced technology of antigravity ships and particle beam weapons to defend against the Zeta Greys. Theo stood at a newly created cave entrance as a ten-foot wide conveyor belt dumped tons of rock into huge dump trucks. Twelve tunneling machines were going at full speed carving out new areas for the expanded construction of a factory to build the new fighter craft. Even with all of the workers from the original Ceti Research, he didn’t know where he was going to get the people he needed for the vastly expanded machining and assembly work.

A security officer gently took hold of his arm. Theo turned as the man pointed off to the left. A column of people stretched out to the horizon under a thick line of dust, all headed to the new cave.

Theo took the ear plugs out of his ears.

Someone’s here to see you, sir. He says you know him; a Johnny White Elk?

Theo nodded and walked out to greet his friend.

Johnny White Elk smiled as he approached. They shook hands and hugged.

Good to see you, my friend, Theo said.

And you, Johnny replied. I understand you need some help.

Theo’s eyes followed the line of people for as far as he could see.

I brought a few friends, Johnny said.

Chapter 3

Mr. Harris? What’s happening?

Jan Abernathy, the mostly human but part Zeta Grey hubrid reporter working at TV4 in Washington, D.C. waited for an answer. Ronald Harris, seventy-two, living alone, was barricaded in his small two-story bungalow on the west side of Washington D.C.

I saw it on TV. We’ve been invaded by aliens. They’re coming.

Jan nodded. She glanced again at the rifle in his hands. It looked like old army surplus from World War II. She wondered if it actually worked.

A week ago a mass landing of saucers from Tau Ceti in major cities around the world had put an end to the Zeta Grey domination of the planet. That landing had also traumatized a large portion of the population in the process.

They’re friendly. They haven’t hurt anyone. They’re healing people for free.

Harris shook his head. It’s a deception. They’re just doing that until we lower our guard. Then they’ll attack. Don’t you see?

She noted the police cruiser pass by the front of his house again; every half hour, like clockwork. The police knew he was armed. In his initial conversation with a police officer Mr. Harris indicated he would talk only with Jan, from TV4. So, here she was, trying to get through to a terrified, lonely human.

She used the telepathic abilities she had as a Zeta Grey hubrid to sense his thoughts and feelings. He was terrified, but just barely keeping his fear under control. Well, aside from the furniture barricaded against the doors and windows of his home. Jan knew the Tau Cetians were here to help the humans of this world. She searched his memory for any recognition of the Zeta Greys and their attempt to take over the world governments. He seemed oblivious to that part of recent history.

Can I bring you something to eat or drink?

Harris shook his head defiantly. They’ll drug me. You can’t trust aliens.

How ironic, she thought. He would talk only with her, not knowing she was part extraterrestrial. If he knew, would he shoot her?

Part of the training she received from the Zeta Greys was how to use her telepathic abilities to calm and redirect the attention of humans. Crowd control, they had called it. All Zeta Grey hubrids were trained to do that. Stay completely calm, the Zeta Greys had told her. Send calm feelings to the humans. Share your calm thoughts with them. Implant peaceful images in their minds. All of her training had kicked in automatically. He seemed to be calming down.

Mr. Harris, how long has it been since you slept?

I don’t need to sleep. I learned that in the Marines.

Still, she said. Don’t you have a friend who could come over and help you stand guard?

He shook his head again. It’s just me. There’s no one left but me.

I’m here, she said softly. You’re not alone. I will be here with you for as long as it takes.

He glanced at her. He was beginning to trust her, just as her training told her he would.

Humans were so simple, she thought. She had practiced her crowd control training before, but that was with a Zeta Grey hybrid guiding the whole process. A hybrid was half Zeta Grey and half human. This was the first time she had tried controlling a human on her own. She sensed his brain waves slowing down, a sign he was relaxing. She reinforced his slowing brainwaves by impressing her own even slower brain waves on his mind.

You’re safe. I’m here, she said softly and slowly.

His eyelids drooped and his breathing slowed.

You’re safe, she whispered.

He closed his eyes and slowly lowered his head. Within moments he was sound asleep.

She created in her mind an image of Harris standing next to the Tau Cetian saucer. She had him smiling with his arm around a Tau Cetian doctor. She added the warm feelings of trust and friendship, then implanted the image and feelings into Harris’s mind while he slept. The image would become a valued memory for Harris because of the emotional content she created for him. She searched his memories and identified where the shock of seeing a flying saucer land near the White House was stored. She inserted a memory block to that event and substituted what was called a screen memory that would take the place of the blocked memory. He would now remember being fascinated by the arrival of the saucer.

Jan used the telepathic power of her mind to put Mr. Harris into a very deep state of sleep. She gently removed the rifle from his hands and carried it to the front door. She leaned the weapon against the wall and pulled the furniture away from the door. When she opened the door, Corporal Emory of the Metro Police Department poked his head up from behind the junipers.

He fell asleep, she said.

Emory waved an EMT team into the house to check on Mr. Harris.

He’s sound asleep, but physically he seems okay, the EMT said.

He needs to sleep, Jan said. His trauma will fade if he can get enough sleep.

The EMT nodded and contacted an emergency department doctor over the radio.

I’ve been authorized to inject him with a sedative. He should wake up in about six hours.

Jan nodded. That should work just fine. She turned to Officer Emory. Has he broken any laws?

Emory shook his head. We’re much more concerned that he will be a danger to himself or another person.

She looked down at Mr. Harris. He’ll be fine. He’s not a danger to anyone. She implanted the idea into Emory’s mind that Mr. Harris would be stable without any further investigation. Can you help me move the furniture back into the room? I want it to look normal when he wakes up.

We don’t know where everything was, Emory said. What if we don’t get the layout correct?

Jan smiled. She walked over and rested her hand on the forehead of Mr. Harris. She accessed the memories regarding furniture placement in his mind. She then pointed out where each piece of furniture should be.

How can you be sure the furniture is where it belongs? Emory asked.

Call it woman’s intuition, she said as she pointed out where the remaining pieces of furniture belonged.

She could see in Harris’s memory where the rifle was stored. Using his memory, she unloaded the weapon and carried it upstairs where she set it in the corner of the bedroom closet, placing the ammunition on the shelf above. She returned to the living room and looked around. With the implanted memories and memory block she had put in place, Harris would be unaware of what he had done or how he had felt.

She went outside and approached his anxious neighbors.

He’s going to be fine. I know you’re concerned about him and your own safety, she said. Mr. Harris is not a threat to you or anyone else. She implanted that idea in his neighbors’ minds and added a feeling of being safe and secure so they would rely on it. Jan looked over at the EMS crew as they loaded their equipment back into an ambulance. I need your help. The EMTs gave him a shot that will make him forget the trauma he’s been through. Can you act as if he never did the things that scared you? It’ll help him recover from the trauma.

He’s not going to be freaking out any more? a neighbor lady asked.

No, he won’t. If you don’t mention what happened, he won’t even remember he did any of those things.

So we act as if it never happened?

Exactly. That’s how you can help him the most.

The neighbors nodded in agreement and slowly returned to their homes.

She turned to Officer Emory. How many others are there like Mr. Harris?

Emory grimaced. Just on the west side? Four hundred, give or take.

Any more of them asking for me personally?

Actually, there are, Emory said.

So who’s next?

* * *

Jan Abernathy walked through one aisle after another in the grocery store not far from her apartment. Marco Reyes, the FBI agent assigned to her, kept a respectable distance of thirty to forty feet. He looked like another shopper.

She glanced at him as a deep sadness surrounded her. In order to remain free she had to identify her fellow hubrids to the authorities. It was a betrayal that, over time, became more and more unbearable. She picked up a package of ramen and dropped it into her cart. How was she going to continue on with her friends in captivity?

It’s not like that, a familiar voice came into her mind.

She turned and looked down the aisle. She recognized the young man standing ten feet away, looking at the packages on the other side of the aisle.

Richard, she replied telepathically. How?

Don’t look at me. The store has a surveillance system.

She turned to the shelf in front of her.

They kept us for about a week. Interrogated us several times. Finally they injected a tracking chip in our arms and let us go.

You’re not in prison. Why did they let you go?

Richard put a box of rice into the small basket hanging on his left arm. I guess the things I did didn’t rise to the level of a major crime in this world. I had to promise to follow the rules, which the government agent explained in graphic detail including what would happen to me if I broke any laws. I’m being tracked at all times. We all are. We can’t assemble in groups of more than three hubrids at a time. Beyond that we’re free to live our lives.

But I betrayed all of you.

Richard moved farther down the aisle away from her. We were all required to betray other hubrids. You didn’t do anything different from the rest of us.

All of you are free?

Richard scoffed. You remember Larry?

How could I forget? He was telepathically convincing every girl he met to sleep with him. He stole from stores and regular people, always using his telepathic abilities to get away with what he did. There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do.

Yeah, well, not any more. He and a number of the other bad seeds are all in confinement.

Can’t say I’m surprised. Her mind was spinning. But . . . How did you find me?

He picked a box of macaroni and cheese from the shelf and examined it. We watch you on TV4. We love your show.

Jan breathed a sigh of relief.

I followed you from the studio. The others have selected me to be our contact with you. We can meet here, in the food store.

Jan moved away from him and leaned in close to a shelf, pretending to study the label on another box. What if I need to contact the others in a hurry?

Just come to the food store. We’re always watching. Two of us have jobs in the store, so it’s not a problem.

She smiled to herself. Thank you, Richard.

Stay in touch. He turned and left.

Chapter 4

You’re here, Theo said.

United States Space Command squadron leader Commander Diane Zadanski smiled. Yes. I’m here.

They embraced in a lingering hug.

Take a look at your new fighter craft, Theo said quietly.

Diane turned slowly and examined the wide