BF90 33 Days That Saved The World

By David Gilbert

Join Wally White on his first adventure into the world of Alien intervention and Government deception as he and his old war buddies work to remove the President of the United States for treason while at the same time earn the trust of an Alien race that will change the world for all mankind.

• Language: English
• Publisher: David Gilbert
• Release date: Oct 10, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393937197

Book preview

Day 1   A Cold Fall Evening

It was a cold and windy Fall night. A nearly full moon was shining through the oversized window of my sitting room. The fire was flickering in the fireplace as the fan from the fireplace insert gently warmed the room and my tired old feet. I was sitting in my favorite wing back chair reading the news on my tablet. As always, my internet was weak and sporadic but that was to be expected living in a rural paradise; my escape from the endless overachievers of my lifestyle. You see, I own and run a small diner/restaurant and all day long it is a parade of self-assured overachievers.  My feet were aching, as usual, and I was just about to rub them and slip on my comfy slippers, you know, those old ones you should have thrown away years ago but you just can’t part with, when something caught my attention from the corner of my eye. A quick glance and it’s back to doing what I do best, rubbing my tired feet. love this little place of mine. Since I lost my wife a few years ago my life has been a bit upside down and I enjoy my evening solitude. My work fills my days and my solitude fills my nights, that’s my new life.

It wasn’t always like this. Back in the day, when Lily was alive, we had quite a business going. Three meals a day, seven days a week. God, how we loved working together. Having a real hi-brow government research facility just outside of town gave us plenty of well-paid customers and Lily loved to cook. Often, we would cook together. I wasn’t as good as Lily was, but we worked well together. She would make all types of foods. She just had this sixth sense of what people wanted. Now, I do the managing and the books while Lily’s first assistant, Maria Spratt, handles the kitchen. I just don’t enjoy being in there anymore. Anyway, now, with the kids grown and moved away, I spend my days talking to all the regulars who come in and doing the books then I retreat home to the quiet of my sitting room. I have my books, flat-screen TV and my music to keep me company until it is time to call it a night. But when I need something to boil my blood I put on the news.

After an hour or so of settling into my hi-back, warming my feet by the fire as they stretched out across the ottoman, a book in one hand and a nice glass of Chablis in the other I found myself ready for a nice hot shower and a good night’s sleep. Boy was I wrong.

As I tied my robe belt around my less than modest waist and began to ascend the stairs to my cozy bedroom once again something got my attention out of the corner of my eye. Only this time it was accompanied by some sound I had not heard before. Just outside my window, there was a low murmur of sorts along with what seemed like some kind of movement.  I do not have any pets like a dog or cat that could be roaming around outside, and besides, a pet would not be making that kind of noise.

I reluctantly turned and descended the few stairs I had managed to navigate making my way to the window. Reaching behind the heavy sky-blue drapes I felt for the light switch that would energize the powerful floodlights I had installed so I could watch the falling snow on those nasty winter nights.

What I was expecting was a waylaid critter or something from one of the trees blown around by the usually strong fall winds. What I didn’t expect was to see a beautiful woman perhaps in her late 20’s, about five feet tall with auburn hair. She was stark naked, huddled in a small alcove and turning blue.

As taken aback as I was, I was lucky to have kept my wits about me and on the way to the door I rescued my Ruger .380 from the concealing display shelf in the entryway. My location is hardly considered a high-risk area but I believe in the Boy Scout motto, Be Prepared and am a strong supporter of the Second Amendment.

Tying my robe to keep it closed against the fall wind, I grabbed a warm coat from the coat tree by the door and headed out to the young lady I had never seen before. As I approached her, she cowered more but did not run. I doubt that she could run in her condition. I wrapped my warm coat around her bare shoulders and told her she would be okay. Fearfully, she followed me into the house and began to collapse in my arms. I lifted her and carried her almost weightless body to the sofa in the sitting room where I could cover her with the multicolor afghan blanket, my wife had made, and that I kept draped over the back of the sofa as a remembrance of my Lily.

I knew once she began to warm up, she would also wake up so I grabbed the few minutes I had to make a trip to the kitchen and make some coffee and heat some chicken broth, she would need both something to warm her insides and give her a bit of nourishment as a pick-me-up.

As I returned from the kitchen, I could see she was beginning to sir; a restless, fitful movement under the afghan that signaled she was about to return to the world that had treated her so cruelly. Then she opened her eyes and began to cry. Her body was a mix of emotion and shivers from the cold that must have worked its way all the way to her bones. She looked so helpless and frightened. I felt helpless too.

She seemed like she wanted to reach out to me but was too frightened so I just sat in the side chair next to the sofa and offered her some coffee. As she drank her trembling slowed until it had subsided and she began to speak in a low sweet but strained voice.

Where am I, she asked; her eyes still a bit cloudy.

You’re safe, I said in a low soft voice, not to alarm her. You’re in my home I added.

But where am I she responded with questioning in her clearing eyes.

You’re in Hudson, New Hampshire. Is that what you want to know? I asked.

But where? she came back.

Vandyke Lane, I said, Is that what you want to know?

No, no, no, she said with frustration in her voice and a look of both fright and confusion on her face. But it was 1982, she said, and I was in Arizona. I don’t understand. maybe we should contact the police, I said and she cried No, please don’t do that I don’t know why but I don’t trust anyone, except maybe you, she said with more fear in her face than I had seen before

With her condition and this level of confusion I decided we needed to wait until morning to sort things out. let’s not worry about that now I said. we can figure everything out in the morning’. For now, let's get some broth into you and get you into a warm bed for a good night’s sleep" She conceded and began sipping her broth while I, keeping one eye on the sitting room, made up the spare bed in the next room.

What had I gotten into!

The night was uneventful but restless. It had been a long time since I slept with one eye open. But I managed. However, my new friend seemed to sleep just fine. Once warmed inside and out and with a little broth to boost her energy a bit she took a quick shower to remove the soil she had acquired while running around naked outside my house. A story I was dying to hear. She was off to bed, never to be heard from until morning.

Day 2  Meeting My Guest

After all those years of being up before the roosters to open the diner at the crack of dawn, I was still up early. No longer before the roosters but never the less, early. I lit off the gas fireplace for both warmth and ambiance; I loved the look and feel of a fire and headed for the kitchen to prep breakfast. Before I knew it, she was standing in the doorway wearing the guest robe I had left for her last night.  She was beautiful. Young, innocent and, for some reason, trusting. She was like the child Lili and I had lost at childbirth so many years ago. Lily had had auburn hair too.

I wished her good morning and before I could say anything else, she began to softly speak. I waited. Thank you, she said. I have no recollection of where I came from or who I am. All I remember is my name is Susan".

We sat at the kitchen table for what seemed like hours as we deliberated our actions to come. Shall we contact the local police or the State Police or the FBI? Should we stay together or should we split up? Afterall, she said, you don’t know anything about me or who I am and what danger I could be putting you in. But, I said, I don’t get the feeling that you would endanger me; at least not intentionally. We went back and forth most of the morning while I made breakfast and she helped me clean up and wash the dishes. Once the dishes were done and put away, the one thing we both agreed on was she needed something to wear. It seemed strange then and it seems strange now but it just so happened that all of Lili’s clothes, that I didn’t have the heart to let go of, just happened to fit her. So, it was off to the store-room and all the containers that I had so carefully packed with my memories of my beloved Lily.

Susan was reluctant to dress in Lily’s clothes knowing how I would feel to see her in them but I insisted. It was eerie but at the same time, it was nice to see this lovely young version of my Lily gracing my home. She finally selected a casual outfit of matching sweat pants and a hooded sweatshirt. The color was royal blue with a black stripe down the legs and sleeves. Just like Lily, it was classy but subdued. She would not stand out should she be seen.

Once she was suitably dressed, we returned to the sitting room to plan what to do next. Since this was my regular day off, I wouldn’t be missed at the diner but that would not go on forever and we needed to get to the bottom of what was going on. Who was she? Where did she come from? What happened to her memory? And why was she cowering by my window, naked and turning blue? So, we thought we should start with what we did know and go from there.

What we knew for sure, or at least thought, was her name was Susan. Now, what was her last name, her family name, and was she married. So, we set out to see what we could deduce and pry from her, seemingly, lost memory.  First, we examined her hands to see if there was a mark around one of her fingers that could tell us if she wore a ring. And yes, there it was, a ring around her ring finger of her left hand. It looked like she had been wearing a wedding ring. Maybe? Next, her nails were both groomed and colored, but not exceedingly long. Color, light green, nothing shouting look at me. We were making progress.

After we took a break and had some coffee and a couple of chocolate chip cookies we moved to the wrists and forearms. Good move. Low and behold her wrists, there were marks that looked like she had been restrained, but not recently as the marks were faint and almost gone. Her forearms looked clean but when we arrived at her elbows the inner arms clearly showed the remnants of needle marks. From this, we deduced that she had been restrained until she was drugged into submission. Not good. We quickly checked her ankles and, as expected, there were remnants of restraint marks there too. Susan, I said, I think you should go to the bathroom and do a complete self-examination. When Susan returned from the bathroom, she had good news; no evidence of any abuse or trauma.

By now it was time for lunch and we debated if it would be safe to go to the diner for something to eat or if we should stay home. Without knowing where she came from and why all the evidence of restraints it seemed the prudent thing to do was to stay home and out of sight. We made our way to the kitchen and made a couple of Ruben sandwiches with chips, the wavy type, and a couple of sodas. Over lunch, we decided to have some pork chops for dinner. I took two thick-cut loin chops from the freezer and set them out to thaw on the defrost tray. I usually didn’t like to use it but we didn’t have time to wait for them to defrost in the refrigerator.

It was time for the next phase of our totally unprofessional approach to trying to figure out just what had happened to Susan. After all, I was a cook and businessman and we had no idea what she was. All we knew for sure is that last night was a very strange happening and we had no idea if danger was lurking around the corner or not.

We decided to move from the sitting room to the living room in order to have a new environment to explore in. In my younger days, I had done a bit of studying the paranormal and learned that things could come to people who were very comfortable and not distracted. The sitting room was cozy but very distracting with the oversized window that was my gateway to Susan in the first place. Also, the fireplace, while warm and relaxing, was a distraction with its flickering flames and the incessant low hum of the fans associated with the insert that kept the heat from going up the chimney. The living room, on the other hand, was larger with less distracting windows and central heat that offered no distracting noise. Additionally, the furniture was overstuffed and lent itself to a more relaxed atmosphere.

It may have been the middle of the afternoon but it seemed like the right thing to do to have a glass of wine. Or brandy if that was more to her liking. She settled on a Merlot and I did the same. We settled into two overstuffed armchairs and began to sip our wine when Susan spoke up. I think I remember something, she said with a bit of a start. it has something to do with the Army or some military something. I seem to remember uniforms, not police uniforms though, and guards in the same uniforms as most of the people. What makes you say that, I asked? I don’t know, I just seem to have a vague memory of that.

Well, I said, if the military has something to do with this then it might just be bigger than either of us thought I think we need to find a way to make you a bit less visible. That red hair stands out like a sore thumb. Lucky for us you look so much like my late wife’s family; you could pass as a niece or something, I said. you know what? That might just be the answer. You're just about the right age and you look a bit like her sister. What do you think? It didn’t take but a few seconds and Susan agreed wholeheartedly and we began planning for the next step in our investigation into who she was and where she came from. And how she ended up on my doorstep.

The next day was my last day off so we were going to have to move quickly. I knew I could take off all the time I wanted to but that would stand out like a sore thumb too. I am a creature of habit and if I wasn’t at the diner as usual everyone would be wondering why. The last thing we needed was to have people snooping around to be sure I was all right.

We finished our dinner of pork loin chops in mushroom gravy with baked sweet potato topped with marshmallows and broccoli in cheese sauce. Then shared a bottle of White Zinfandel wine and spent some quiet time in the sitting room enjoying the fire while she got some downtime to relax and maybe, just maybe, have some memories return.

By 10 o’clock she was ready for bed and, excusing herself, Susan went off to the guest room. I stayed for a while to have a sip of brandy and a bowl of my favorite tobacco in my favorite pipe. Something I didn’t do very often but tonight I needed the downtime myself. Tonight, I thought I would be able to sleep without keeping that one eye out; I needed a good night’s sleep too.

Day 3  Change of Look

Iarose at the crack of dawn, as I always did, and made my way to the kitchen. Susan was still fast asleep in the guest bedroom with the door still open a bit. She had said last night that she didn’t feel safe with the door closed, then I couldn’t hear her if something was to happen in the middle of the night. I guess she was more worried about what had happened to her than my being a dirty old man. No danger there, while she was truly a beauty, she was young enough to be my granddaughter. But I must say I did feel some kind of kinship with her.

I prepped the fix-ins for breakfast and was on my second, or maybe my third, cup of coffee when I heard Susan stirring. She was making her way to the guest bathroom for her morning constitutional. When I heard the shower running, I knew she would not be long arriving for her morning coffee and the start of another day. A day I hoped would clear things up without any excitement.

Eventually, the shower stopped and Susan presented herself for coffee and breakfast clad in Lily’s winter sleepwear; A flannel floor-length nightgown of pink and blue flowers and the guest robe. She looked very much more rested and ready to face the world.

After we shared a pre-breakfast cup of coffee it was time to cook. Susan offered to help but after so many years in the kitchen, I found it uncomfortable having someone in my way as I zipped through my regular routine.

We enjoyed my standard fare of eggs over, two for her and three for me, bacon, sausage patties, and my home fried potatoes; first baked with the skin on then, when cooled, cut into cubes and browned in olive oil and seasoned with my own mix of spices. We added some fresh-squeezed orange juice and another cup of coffee and some small talk. Then we were done and ready to go.

I retired to my room and dressed., I always wore a simple pair of slacks and a button-front shirt, black socks, and casual shoes. To do anything else would raise eyebrows and start people talking, especially if I was seen with Susan. She went to her room and selected a very low-key, nondescript outfit of jeans and a sweater from the boxes of Lily’s clothes we recovered from the storage room last night. We met in the kitchen, maybe, ready to enter the lion’s den.

We left by way of the kitchen door in the rear of the house to avoid being seen any sooner than we needed to be. Besides, tongues would wag if I was seen leaving the house with a young woman this early in the morning.  We took my SUV, a green Subaru with lightly tinted windows all around except for the windshield. It was cold enough that she would not be questioned if she put her hood up and looking at me most of the time made it harder for anyone to get a good look at her.

We arrived at the diner at 9:00 am, my usual time, and entered by way of my office in the back. We were greeted by Eileen Brown, my front-end supervisor who was getting some small bills for the cash register. We had been open since 6:00 am and the morning rush had depleted the ones in the front of the house. I introduced Susan as my niece on Lily’s side. Fortunately, there was not a lot of time for conversation and Eileen headed back out front.

Last night, before bed, we had worked out a story that we were going to use to try to camouflage Susan from the masses in town and especially around the diner.  To do this we were going to need to share the story with Eileen but I knew I could trust her. She had been with me for almost 20 years and I knew and her husband, Ernie, well. The story would go like this. Susan was my niece from Nevada. She and her husband had a falling out and she was afraid of him. She was afraid to go to her parent’s house because he would undoubtedly look for her there. So, she came to stay with me until things cooled down. We didn’t want to advertise she was there so we were going to try to change her looks some, so Eileen was not to tell anyone about her. And I mean anyone! I told her.

When it quieted down, I sent Eileen to the local pharmacy to pick up some feminine things like lip gloss, hygiene items, and some black hair color. While Eileen was gone, I made my mandatory appearance in the diner so everyone would see me; like any other day. At the same time, I let everyone know I was coming down with the flu or something and felt like crap.  That should serve to cover any time I might need to take away from the diner to look into Susan and how she had come into my life.

Eileen returned from her covert mission and I filled her in about my