The Karadan Encounter: LIFE AND FICTION ARE NEVER FAR APART

By F.C. Young

On a lonely, country road, Courtney literally bumps into an alien being and begins an adventure that takes her to the ends of the Earth to rescue a shipmate and find love in the most unusual circumstances.

• Language: English
• Publisher: TOPLINK PUBLISHING, LLC
• Release date: Oct 12, 2018
• ISBN: 9781949804638

F.C. Young

Fran Young was raised by her mother, who was a nurse and a gifted writer. Storytelling was an integral part of her upbringing. Young has now translated the desire to write that her mother instilled in her into the writing of this novel.

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The Karadan Encouter

Life And Fiction Are Never Far Apart

F. C. Young

Copyright © 2018 by F. C. Young.

Paperback: 978-1-949804-62-1

eBook: 978-1-949804-63-8

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

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Printed in the United States of America

Contents

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

EPILOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

The crunch of gravel under my tires was like music to my ears. It meant I had one less minute to spend on that God forsaken dirt road. But it was on that lane in Zion National Park that I most wanted t o be.

Oh God, I wish this wasn’t so remote, I groaned.

I hadn’t passed one car since I turned off the paved road and I hadn’t seen lights or any reminder of people anywhere around.

I’m alone, I shivered.

In the daylight it wouldn’t have mattered because this part of southwestern Utah was absolutely gorgeous with its red, orange and yellow cliffs and hills. But in the middle of the night those same hills looked like huge monsters ready to pounce.

I need some music, I said as I negotiated a particularly nerve racking stretch of rutted road. Maybe it’ll get my mind off the road.

And I needed to get my mind off a lot of other things too. My job is full of high anxiety and enough stress to turn a normal person’s hair gray. I give anesthesia for a living and between the on-call nights and the crazy hours, my work takes up a great deal of my time. When I’m not at the hospital, my life revolves around the love of my life, Sarah, a calico cat who calls me mom and a mom who calls me all the time.

Periodically the stress of work and family overcomes reason and I run away to do something entirely different, which is why I’m on a deserted cow path in the middle of absolutely nowhere. My passion is photography and I will do ridiculous things to get blue-ribbon pictures.

I turned on the radio and stabbed repeatedly at the seek button, but all I heard was some evangelist telling me I was doomed and a country western gal with a clothes pin on her nose, singing off key. God, why didn’t I put in the Sirius XM system? At least I’d have something to listen to. I groped for a CD.

Where is it? I glanced down for a single second.

Thump! My stomach turned over as I realized that I had hit something pretty large, maybe a deer?

Oh my God! I screamed, jamming on the brakes. In the rear-view mirror, I could just make out a lump beside the road. Yah, a deer.

Panic swept over me as I threw the Jeep in reverse and backed down to the unfortunate creature, praying it was dead. Being a fifty-something female and a city girl to boot, I didn’t carry a gun or even a meaningful knife. If the deer wasn’t dead...what could I do? Several thoughts about rocks and brains oozing all over the ground came to mind.

Oh, please be dead! I prayed.

The Jeep’s headlights shone on the body and some of the surrounding desert. Several clumps of rabbit brush peeked out of the dark and the screech of an owl made me jump. I could feel the touch of a light breeze on my cheek and the black hills leaned forward shaking their heads at my crime. I felt rooted to the road and had to will my feet to move forward. The closer I got to my deer, the slower I moved.

That’s not a deer, I gasped. No, no, no.

My mouth was dry, and I could feel the thump of my heart.

You’re human! I cried as all thoughts of cameras and sun rises vanished.

I stared, open mouthed for a few seconds, before running to my victim. A man with wide shoulders and a muscular back lay in the dirt. I knelt beside the torn and bleeding body, choking over the sickly, sweet odor of blood mixed with sage and car fumes. I put shaking fingers to his cold neck and felt a steady pulse.

You’re alive, I breathed with immense relief.

Can you hear me? I asked.

The man moaned and tried to roll over.

Please try not to move. You’re hurt and moving might make it worse, I said in my medical, no-non-sense voice, as I started taking a rough inventory of his injuries.

I ran my fingers over his arms and legs. He twitched as I touched torn flesh.

It’s a miracle, I said in astonishment. "I don’t think anything’s broken, but you are skinned and abraded from head to toe.

How could the Jeep have done all that? I wondered. I wasn’t going over twenty miles an hour.

But the thought flitted away as I took another look at the overall hunkiness of the guy. I might be old, and upset, but I’m not dead and I could still read a menu while I worried. He was gorgeous in every way.

He moaned again and whispered something.

I couldn’t hear you, I told him, leaning closer. I’m going to get help, but I’ll have to leave you. There’s no way my cell phone will work out here.

Why does my voice sound so thin?

A cold, shaking hand gripped my wrist. I let out a chirp of surprise and jumped about a foot.

Take me to my station, he said with his hand still clamped to my wrist.

I tried saying ‘no’ but the word hung in my throat and then just washed away. A feeling of contentment settled around me like I had just curled up with a good book and a hot cup of cocoa. Without another thought I threw a beach towel on the passenger seat and helped the man onto it.

Now that took no time to tell but the doing was something else. That poor man got to his knees, while warding off my offers of help. His moaning plucked at the strings of my heart.

Give me your arm and help me stand, he croaked.

I leaned down and wrapped his arm around my neck, but as he put pressure on my shoulder, I over balanced and took a header into the dirt. I came up spitting sand and brushing grit off my face. I braced for a second try and this time he got all the way up.

I felt like the Eiffel Tower was leaning on me. After all, he weighed a good two hundred pounds and I am a five-foot foot marshmallow. Together we reeled and tottered the few steps to the Jeep. By the time he was on the seat, he was grunting and coughing, and I was gasping for air. I covered him with a blanket and watched him shrink into its folds, his teeth chattering.

Water? His voice was barely a whisper.

I know that after a severe accident one doesn’t give the victim water but what the heck, I reached for a bottle.

I’m losing my mind, I muttered.

But instead of being upset about it, I happily accepted this new state of affairs. I wanted to please this man and would do anything to make him comfortable.

Why is that? I wondered for a brief moment and then lost that train of thought too.

After a few sips the man sighed and lay very still.

Oh no, I cried. You didn’t die, did you? Then I saw his chest rise and fall.

Lordy! Could this night get any worse?

I closed the passenger door and slid behind the wheel. I put my hand on the gear shift but hesitated.

Where are we going?

Suddenly the man’s hand covered mine.

Go this way, he nodded, indicating the way I was already headed. I will tell you where to turn.

Again, that feeling of wanting to please him came over me and I stepped on the gas. A mile farther he told me to turn right.

Where? I asked slowing the Jeep and peering through the darkness.

Then I saw it, a rutted dirt path just visible at the edge of my head lights. How had he known it was there? His eyes were closed, and he was lying down. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and goose flesh popped up almost everywhere.

There’s nothing out there, I said with a hint of desperation in my voice. Let me take you to the hospital.

No! came the very firm reply. Go down the road, my station has the help I need.

I didn’t feel as happy or fulfilled but the urge to help him overwhelmed my good sense and I turned.

This ride is nearly jarring the fillings out of my teeth, I said as we jounced and jiggled.

The path was barely passable with large ruts and boulders sprinkled in to make the way oh, so much more fun. I hit one pothole so hard that both of us flew off our seats and banged down again, making my passenger gasp in pain and moan pitifully.

Oh God! I’m so sorry I hit you.

I could hear the sob in my voice.

You didn’t hit me, he whispered.

What? I gasped. I felt the impact.

I hit another rough patch and the Jeep bucked like a bronc. All thoughts evaporated as my attention was focused on keeping the axles in one piece. It was difficult listening to the man as I steered around another car-eating disaster, but I managed.

I had been injured elsewhere and was making my way back to my base. Time was running out when you came along, and I needed you to stop.

My mouth fell open. I wanted more information, but that dreaminess crept over me again. Happiness and fulfillment. I felt like I had been given a dose of Versed. That’s a drug I use to rid patients of their anxiety before they go to the operating room. There were no IV’s in my arm. So how was I getting the drug?

A little further on my mind cleared and questions bubbled to the surface again. I was beginning to understand the process controlling me and was able to consciously push through the lethargy and think. I was about to speak when the Jeep bucked, and I bit my tongue so hard that I felt my teeth touch. I stopped and wrapped a rag around my freely bleeding tongue as I cried softly. I hoped this was all a nightmare and I was really back in my motel room asleep.

Why have you stopped?

I wasn’t dreaming.

I justh bith my ongue n ith bweeding, I mumbled through the towel and wondered if he understood.

God it hurts!

A firm hand touched my thigh. My eyes glazed over, I put the towel in my lap and started to drive again as the pain in my tongue evaporated.

Oh my!

This guy could make me do things without saying a word. Eeeek!

The gently rolling plains full of salt brush, sage and sparse wild grasses gave way to a boulder strewn upland dotted with wiry and gnarled pinion pines. An occasional bottle-brushy branch hung in my path like the wooden bar across a parking lot entrance leaving me no recourse but to barrel right through it. The limb would bend and then scrape along the side of the Jeep. It sounded like fingernails on a chalk board and set my teeth on edge. I kept up the pace and put everything but road safely out of my mind. Well someone put everything out of my mind.

After swerving around several house-sized rocks I guided the Jeep into a ragged gash in the sandstone cliff that suddenly loomed out of the darkness. The Jeep’s headlights did an amazing job of lighting up the walls of the wash. They were like layers of a cake in red, yellow and pink. A water color artist would die happy here the way the layers of color swirled and danced along the walls.

At first there was plenty of room in the rocky cleft but the further in we went, the closer the sandstone walls loomed. Then after a tight left turn and some lost paint, the canyon opened into a very spacious amphitheater.

The farther wall was maybe a quarter of a mile away and yet I could see its rosy color. How could that be? It was night and there was no moon but the whole area was lit up like it was daylight. I shook my head. With all that had happened in the last few minutes why not this? After only a few more yards I braked to a stop.

Don’t stop, my passenger urged me. We’re nearly there.

I would but I’ve gone blind, I said, feeling slightly hysterical.

One minute I was following the track and the next someone had turned out all the lights and blinking didn’t help.

You aren’t blind. This darkness is part of the defensive shield around my station. Please go on and your sight will return.

The urgency in his voice washed over me. There was no dreamy feeling, just a need to get him to his goal. I gripped the wheel tightly, stepped on the accelerator and moments later the darkness was replaced by blinding light.

Aaaaaah! I screamed, braking so hard that I rocked the Jeep violently. Oh my God, are you trying to kill me? I wailed while covering my eyes with my hands.

The pain is unbelievable, I moaned as tears ran down my face.

And talking made my tongue hurt again.

I heard a rustling sound beside me. Something was pushed into my right hand.

Put these on. They will help.

I felt my dark glasses. With a shaky hand I put them on while keeping my eyes tightly closed.

The light is the other part of our defense. I had no idea the brightness would affect you so. I’m not trying to hurt you. I’m grateful for your help but I will die if you don’t get me to the station now! Please drive up the ramp into the service bay. Hurry!

His last words held an edge of desperation to them.

Die? I gasped.

I no longer felt the compulsion to please him but the healer in me was as strong as any other emotion. The desire to help him overcame my fear, even though I knew that nothing on Earth could produce the effects I just experienced. Nor could anybody on Earth have compelled me to come here without holding a gun to my head. Goose bumps popped up all over my arms again and there was a catch in my chest making it hard to breathe.

I cracked an eyelid. The light was still ferocious, but the glasses made it bearable, so I drove toward what I could only describe as the tallest, silver grain silo I’ve ever seen. Yes, it was a space ship but one like nothing we make on Earth. It was as big around as a gas storage tank and maybe eight stories tall. The top was domed and there were no external protrusions. The very notion that it could fly would never enter my mind. It was like the bumble bee, an enigma that I would love to solve.

Directly ahead was the ramp leading up to a hole in the side of the ship. I gunned the engine and climbed, entering a space that was about three car-widths wide and two deep. I stopped in the middle and turned off the engine. At that moment my friend started to speak.

His window was open, I really don’t know when that happened and what he was saying wasn’t in any language I had ever heard. I was a little afraid to move but I let my eyes dart around the space we were in. Unfortunately, it was just a white and featureless desert. I couldn’t even smell the blood any more.

Ooo. I hoped my brain isn’t being fried, I said under my breath.

I thought about running but I couldn’t seem to make my body move. I just sat there waiting. Time passed, my heart pounded and after what seemed like an eternity the man grew quiet. I turned to him. He was looking at me with piercingly blue eyes, his brows furrowed.

The computer will tell you what to do now. You have been very brave, and I can’t tell you how much your help has meant. Don’t be afraid. We will not hurt you.

His eyes closed, and he seemed to deflate.

I hope you just passed out, I said feeling very nervous.

My eyes darted around.

WE?

You must to take him to the medical-bay now! a voice boomed.

I jumped so violently that I hit the roof.

Oof, that hurt, I moaned rubbing my head.

I searched for the owner of the voice, but no one was in the garage. So who’s talking?

I am the ship’s computer.

Thanks for telling me, I said. And did I mention, you just read my mind?

Get out of the car, walk to the back wall and pick up one of the black straps there.

I practically fell out of the car at the sound of that commanding voice and raced forward. When I got near the back wall I noticed that not only was the entire room glowing white, but its walls were embossed with a subtle design and there were no doors except the big one I had driven through. A long skinny drawer popped out of the shiny white wall ahead of me. Five black straps lay in it. I took one and held it up.

That is correct. Put it around the man’s waist and push the ends together.

I nodded. It was hard work getting the strap under my passenger’s body because he was dead weight.

Oh no, I whispered. Don’t say the D-word.

My arms felt like spaghetti by the time I pressed the ends of the strap together. They instantly fused into a single piece.

That was neat, I breathed, suitably impressed.

The fused area lit up into several triangles.

Tap the topmost icon twice.

The voice ordering me around was totally human, not stiff and metallic like the talking computers of my world and yet there was an aloofness to his manner.

I tap-tapped the triangle. Waves of nausea swept over me and I threw up the blood I swallowed when I bit my tongue. Luckily, I blasted the stuff all over the carpet, mostly missing the man but the smell of half-digested blood was enough to make me gag. I staggered away from the car continuing to retch and leaving small, dark red puddles as I went.

No, no, no! You must hurry. Pick him up and follow the lights.

Are you crazy? Can’t you see that whatever I did to that belt made me sick? I yelled wiping my mouth.

I was several feet away from the Jeep and felt better.

Go back and tap the lower icon once. The effects should lessen enough for you to work with it.

I tip-toed over to the Jeep, looking like someone getting too close to a poisonous snake. Keeping as far away from the belt as I could, I reached out, tapped the triangle and jumped back for a second and then leaned in again and found the queasiness was bearable.

Okay, it’s better. I think I can do it now, I conceded.

Pick him up and follow the lights, the computer repeated.

Pick him up?

I already knew how heavy this guy was. The words were on my lips, but Mr. Computer sensed my doubt.

The belt has canceled out much of his mass. You should be able to carry him easily. Please hurry!

Right, I said, skepticism dripping from my words.

I gathered the man into my arms, planted my feet like a weight lifter and gave a mighty heave. I came up so fast I nearly left the ground.

Wow!

I was standing upright holding a two-hundred-pound man. The belt was truly a miracle. He weighed less than my cat.

Go quickly, the computer urged. "Follow