Incursion

By Chris Lowry

Are you a fan of action packed sci fi?

Then check out this massive collection of science fiction novels that includes first contact, alien invasions and more.

You'll stay up all night swiping to find out what happens next in this alien contact omnibus that includes a selection of classic inspired sci fi.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chris Lowry
• Release date: Nov 10, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223590767

Chris Lowry

Chris Lowry is an author and adventure seeker who has traveled the globe exploring new worlds and writing about his thrilling experiences. With over one hundred thrillers, science fiction, and urban fantasy novels to his name, as well as more than a thousand articles published across various publications, Chris has established himself as a master storyteller and a leading voice in the world of action and adventure. Whether he's fighting off hordes of undead in a post-apocalyptic wasteland or braving the depths of outer space, Chris is always ready for his next thrilling adventure. Follow his journey as he battles against impossible odds and becomes the hero that the world needs.

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Chris Lowry

INCURSION ALIEN OMNIBUS print version NOV 2023

Copyright © 2023 by Chris Lowry

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

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Contents

1. MOON MEN

2. 2

3. 3

4. 4

5. 5

6. 6

7. 7

8. 8

9. 9

10. 10

11. 11

12. 12

13. 13

14. 14

15. 15

16. 16

17. 17

18. 18

19. 19

20. 20

21. 21

22. 22

23. 23

24. 24

25. 25

26. 26

27. 27

28. 28

29. 29

30. 30

31. 31

32. 32

33. 33

34. 34

35. 36

36. 38

37. 39

38. 40

39. 41

40. 42

41. 43

42. 44

43. 45

44. 46

45. 48

46. 49

47. 50

48. 51

49. 52

50. 53

51. 54

52. 55

53. 56

54. 57

55. 58

56. 59

57. 60

58. 61

59. 63

60. 64

61. 65

62. 66

63. 67

64. 68

65. 69

66. 71

67. 75

68. SUPER SECRET

69. Chapter 69

70. CHAPTER ONE

71. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

72. Chapter 72

73. Chapter 73

74. Chapter 74

75. 3

76. 4

77. 5

78. 6

79. 7

80. 8

81. 9

82. 10

83. 11

84. 12

85. 13

86. 14

87. 15

88. 16

89. 16

90. 17

91. 18

92. 19

93. 20

94. 21

95. 22

96. 23

97. 25

98. 27

99. 28

100. 29

101. 30

102. 31

103. 32

104. 33

105. 35

106. 36

107. 38

108. 39

109. 40

110. 41

111. 43

112. 44

113. 45

114. 46

115. 47

116. 49

117. 50

118. 51

119. 52

120. 53

121. 55

122. 56

123. 57

124. Pip burst from the tree line, her rifle held high. She swept the clearing with her eyes, noting the bodies here and there. She stuck to the trees and made her way around to the hut, finally having to expose herself for a fast sprint to the doorway. It was empty. The village was still.

125. 58

126. 59

127. 60

128. 61

129. 62

130. 63

131. 64

132. 65

133. 66

134. 67

135. 68

136. 69

137. 71

138. 72

139. 73

140. 74

141. 75

142. 76

143. Chapter 143

144. Join me on Facebook

145. BEACH HEAD

146. CHAPTER THREE

147. CHAPTER FOUR

148. CHAPTER FIVE

149. CHAPTER SIX

150. CHAPTER SEVEN

151. CHAPTER EIGHT

152. CHAPTER NINE

153. CHAPTER ELEVEN

154. CHAPTER TWELVE

155. CHAPTER THIRTEEN

156. CHAPTER FOURTEEN

157. CHAPTER FIFTEEN

158. CHAPTER SIXTEEN

159. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

160. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

161. CHAPTER NINETEEN

162. CHAPTER TWENTY

163. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

164. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

165. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

166. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

167. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

168. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

169. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

170. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

171. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

172. CHAPTER THIRTY

173. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

174. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

175. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

176. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

177. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

178. Thank you for reading BEACHHEAD.

179. Can I send you a copy of EPOCH?

180. Chapter 180

181. Chapter 181

182. CHAPTER ONE

183. More Battlefield Z Series

184. Chapter 184

185. Chapter 185

1

MOON MEN

The Milky Way is an exceptional phenomenon. Millions of people have stared up at the night sky throughout history and felt small, insignificant.

Stories were created to explain the stars, traditions created to remind people of their place in the cosmos.

People slowly moved from the wild places and gathered in cities.

At first, they used torches to hold back the dark and stars began to slowly fade.

Time passed and the city light grew brighter, glittered in an incandescent hum that pushed back the night and blacked out the sky.

Now only the occasional wild soul looked up at the heavens and wondered.

Are we alone?

Rob Crow knew the answer.

He sat in a rolling chair in front of a computer monitor connected to a high-powered telescope and took meticulous handwritten notes in a notebook.

Despite the light pollution that assaulted the observatory perched on a mountain at the edge of Los Angeles, the high powered optical scope and computer program gave observers a pristine view of the galaxy.

Tonight, it was aimed at the Crab Nebula, measuring the light waves reaching the earth from a group of stars that Rob suspected no longer existed.

At some point in the future, a young astronomer would be sitting where Rob sat and the light would cease to exist.

Star death.

For now, though, he documented his observations and set up an automated program to monitor the coordinates even as the earth rotated past.

He whistled to himself as he tidied up the already neat office and exited to unlock his mountain bike from a fence.

The parking lot was empty this late at night, the popular park closed at sunset and the museum section of the observatory closed at six pm unless there was a special event.

Rob didn’t pay attention to the two dark gray sedans that parked across from the entrance as he pedaled past.

Is that him?

Anson Branch was a former college football player, but too many nights in the sedan left his middle spreading and his cheeky jowls pursed in a permanent scowl.

His partner, Jodi Adams sat behind the wheel and watched as the bike turned a corner.

I feel like we should duck or something.

We’ve been here before and he didn’t notice then. You know those egghead types. All up in their head and pay no attention to the world.

Looks like he’s heading home.

Anson held his cuff to his lips and spoke into a microphone clipped there.

He’s heading home boys. Let’s roll.

2

2

Rob rolled up the quiet street in the small neighborhood of Los Feliz and chained his bike to the side of the stairwell.

He had a top floor apartment in an old Victorian converted into four units with a rent he could barely afford.

He liked the street though, because it felt safe, and his bike hadn’t been stolen yet. His apartment wasn’t much, just a second-floor unit, but there was a spiral staircase he had installed that led to a skylight and a rooftop deck he built piece by piece.

It was unpermitted and the landlord hadn’t found it yet, but Rob liked to spend some of his nights up there watching the sky.

He planned to go up there tonight, after he grabbed a beer and checked his email.

He didn’t turn on the lights after he unlocked the front door and moved across the apartment. He slammed into the coffee table with a small crash.

Damn it Jim, he muttered.

The computer monitor lit up at the sound of his voice.

A picture of a UFO over Roswell moved back and forth across the screen.

He flipped on a lamp and massaged his bruised shin.

The walls were covered with alien posters and pictures of UFO’s. The rest of the decor was simple, Spartan even.

There was a couch, a small television, and the assaulting coffee table.

The primary focus of the room was the computer set up resting on a giant desk that dominated an entire wall.

Rob walked over and nudged the mouse.

While the computer opened to his Gmail program and loaded his correspondence, Rob walked to the fridge set against one wall.

He opened it and pulled out a Corona Light from a six pack that was the only occupant in the refrigerator.

He settled into the stuffed executive chair in front of the computer and clicked one of two new pieces of email.

Star changes course. Western quadrant, Cassiopeia’s armpit. Notice? Tell me true. Capt. Sam Michaels.

No way, he breathed and sucked down two quick swallows.

He moved the mouse to the second email and clicked it open.

The heaven’s move! Can you see it? Selkirk, ICP.

Rob nodded and hopped out of the chair.

He stumbled over to a nook under the spiral staircase and fumbled a telescope case up the stairs.

He gazed through the eyepiece at the prescribed coordinates.

A star was indeed moving slowly across the indigo sky.

A comet would have a different glow, the light signature a shade hotter than this cool blue white blob of energy.

A meteor or shooting star would be a white-hot streak of energy skipping along the atmosphere. This light was different.

Steadfast and relentless.

Without meaning to, Rob shivered.

Son of a fudge… he whispered with an edge of awe in his voice.

He backed away from the telescope, his body shaking, trembling.

One leg kicked out, his foot spastically twisting and twitching.

He leaned all of his weight forward onto it, and his booty started shaking.

He was dancing, and awkward gyrating mess of rhythmic imbalance.

Perhaps it couldn’t even be called dancing, more movement with intent.

No matter though, because Rob was celebrating.

Years of ridicule, countless hours being taunted and accused of being a crackpot, or worse, insane were released in five minutes of vindicating dance.

3

3

"Is he okay?"

Anson and Jodi peered through the windshield at the loft skyline. They watched a silhouette of Rob as it jerked and shimmied along the edge of the roof.

I think he’s being electrocuted, said Anson.

Jodi shook her head.

I think he’s dancing.

That? I took dance. That’s not dancing.

You took dance? she shot an incredulous look at her partner.

What? My mother insisted. I did the whole Arthur Murray catalog.

You don’t look like a dancer.

I can out foxtrot you any day of the week.

You’re on and we’re putting a ten spot on the bet, Jodi held out her hand for Anson to shake.

You’ll probably look like him, Anson smirked at her.

She held the radio to her lips.

Sit tight, she keyed the microphone. We’ll handle this.

Come on, she said to Anson. Let’s go cut in.

He shifted his bulk out of the passenger door and followed her across the street.

I’ve got point, he said.

He unlocked the strap on the Glock that rested to his belt.

Next time, she said and led him through the door to the loft lobby.

One of these day’s someone’s not gonna let you lead.

You’re the dancer, partner. You can lead then. Until that, I go first, I get shot first.

That’s what you tell yourself.

A car whipped around the corner of the street and rocketed toward them.

Jodi spun around, her Glock in hand and tracking the driver.

Anson leaned against the wall to clear her line of sight and aimed with the weapon he drew a second slower than her.

They both watched as a flustered soccer mom raced past the loft, screaming at two towheaded boys in the back seat.

They couldn’t hear her, just see her mouth moving through the closed window.

Jodi slipped the pistol back into the holster on her waist.

Scared you?

You blinked first, Anson grinned.

Let’s go see what this dancer is doing, she said and led him through the door.

Neither of them noticed a black panel van pull up beside the other Sedan across the street.

The agents in the sedan looked left as the cargo door rolled back.

They didn’t have time to react as a silenced handgun slithered from the dark interior and spat twice.

Both agents slumped in the car seats.

Four black clad commandos hopped out of the van.

The passenger side window rolled down and the driver leaned over to the lead commando.

It’d be nice if you made it look real. His voice was oily and sinister delivered over dead eyes that made the hard-core commando wince.

No problem, Sir, he said and licked his lips. Move out.

The four men hustled across the street, dipped in and out of shadows and disappeared through the doorway entry.

4

4

The thing about dancing, especially when you are dancing as if no one was watching because you are pretty sure no one is watching, is it’s pretty darn liberating.

Millions of humans were graced with the ability to dance, to turn movement into art and poetry, to jump and jive in beat with the music so that the only option anyone watching has is to stare in wonder.

Unfortunately, that left billions of humans with no innate ability to dance. Not even a close approximation.

Rob fell squarely in that category. His dancing look like a controlled fall, a twitching twirling dervish of out of sync bounces and fist jams.

There may have even been howling.

Mr. Crow?

Rob stopped dancing. He stopped howling.

He nearly fell off the roof, but caught himself at the last moment. He settled in from the edge, just to be safe and cleared his throat.

Yes?

Anson approached him with one hand extended to shake. But Rob didn’t notice him. He stared transfixed by Jodi.

It was Anson’s turn to clear his throat to get the young man’s attention.

I’m Agent Anson. This is Agent Johnson. We’re with the government.

Anson reached into his jacket pocket and flipped out his badge for Rob to see. A hole popped open in the laminate.

Anson’s eyes grew wide. He let the badge slip from his fingers and revealed a mirror hole in his chest.

As Rob watched, crimson stained the hole in his white shirt and widened.

The Agent collapsed.

Jodi whirled around before he hit the rooftop and squeezed off two shots from her Glock 17.

Rob saw a ninja collapse in the skylight. At least it looked like a ninja, covered head to toe in black as it was.

Jodi ducked low and scurried over to Anson. She placed two fingers on his neck and bowed her head.

Damn, she growled.

Is he dead?

Jodi tracked the skylight and rooftop with her pistol.

You’re the genius, figure it out.

The ninja’s gone, he told her.

Get down!

A bullet whizzed by his head. She dragged him down next to her.

They watched as a canister arced out of the skylight and landed on the roof with a clatter. It rolled in a straight line toward them.

Jodi calmly reached out and covered Rob’s eyes with one hand, her eyes with the other holding her gun.

The can popped with a loud flash and a bang. Smoke poured from the end of the cylinder.

Two figures ran across the roof through the smoke.

Jodi lifted her pistol and dropped them with two shots.

Rob screamed. She lowered her hand from his eyes to his mouth.

Quiet.

What in Hell’s name is going on?

Sirens wailed in the distance. A neighbor heard her gunshots and called the police.

Come with me.

Jodi hauled Rob up and surged toward the corner of the roof.

Ninja! he screamed.

Jodi whirled and fired off a shot.

The last commando collapsed across the edge of the skylight.

Jump, she shouted.

Rob glanced down at the shrubbery two stories below. The bushes looked painfully small.

I can’t. I’m afraid of heights.

Jodi scanned the roof. She didn’t have time to appeal to logic or reason.

Are you more scared of bullets? Then jump!

Rob teetered on the precipice. Jodi reached out and lightly pushed. She leaped right after him.

To his credit, Rob didn’t scream the whole way down. It was more like a whining grunt that ended when his feet hit the bush that broke his fall. He rolled across the ground and came up sputtering.

Jodi grabbed him by the collar and shoved him forward.

See that sedan? Run for it.

She noticed two slumped figures in the sedan as they approached.

Damn it.

You say that a lot, said Rob.

Headlights sparked on behind them. The panel van squealed down the street in a pall of smoke and burning rubber. Jodi used her hold on Rob’s collar and shoved him across the hood of the sedan.

The van sideswiped the parked car in a whirlwind of sparks and shrieking metal.

It slid around in a U-turn, and aimed for them on the sidewalk.

Jodi planted her legs and raised her pistol.

The van gunned its engine and roared straight for her. She fired a shot into the windshield.

It starred and cracked. She fired two more and the van suddenly lost momentum as the driver slid sideways in the seat, his foot off the gas.

The van sputtered to the curb, bounced twice and stopped.

Jodi reached down and hauled Rob up.

Are you hurt?

I think so, he said as he felt his arms, torso and legs.

She half carried him to the van and pushed him against the side.

Stay, she commanded.

She popped open the driver’s door and leaned in with her gun.

The inside was empty.

She hauled the driver’s leaking body out and dumped it in the street.

Get in.

Jodi shoved Rob over into the passenger seat and climbed in after him. She dropped the van in drive and gunned it.

They made the corner as swirling police lights raced into the street behind them.

5

5

Inside the van Rob watched as cop cars raced around the corner behind them.

Flashing lights strobed through the windows, but Jodi quickly outpaced them.

Are you hurt?

No thanks to you, he muttered.

I saved your life.

What’s the saying? With friends like you?

Her knuckles popped out as she clenched the wheel.

Those were real bullets, Mr. Crow.

Blanks.

Excuse me?

You work for the government. This could be a set up. It probably is a set up.

My partner’s dead, she said in a flat voice.

Blood packs. I’ve seen it all before. You guys set me up.

Jodi wiped her hand across the headrest behind her and held it up for him to see. It was covered with thick syrupy goo.

Does that look like a blood pack to you?

I’ve seen better effects in my college play.

Jodi shook her head and concentrated on the road. Her mind was spinning as she played back what happened on the rooftop.

How did a simple pick up go so wrong?

And better yet, who was after this man?

6

6

Washington DC at night was a very different creature from Los Angeles. LA was a city that rarely slept with activity at all hours of the night.

By comparison, DC after ten was a city of the dead after ten pm.

The only activity occurred behind closed doors and in dark rooms with blacked out windows, and double panes of glass to minimize vibration, just in case directional microphones were directed toward those rooms.

Isaiah Thomas strode into just such a room.

He was a tall man, with a thin build and pallid complexion that hinted at way too much time in dark places.

Almost on his heels was his assistant, Baker, an oily looking man with a constant sheen of perspiration and a lip licking habit that most found annoying after only a few moments.

Thomas stood at the head of long conference table and glared at the man sitting comfortably across the expanse, one hand on the table, the other holding a large bottle of water.

So you failed.

Sir, said Thomas. I had nothing to do with-

Exactly my point, Harris cut him off.

I clearly outlined your objective and by passing the duty to a subordinate, you failed.

He assembled the team-

I didn’t order him to do it.

Sir, look-

No excuses are necessary, Thomas.

Harris reached under his lapel and pulled out a small Glock 17 from a padded holster. He shot Thomas twice.

The man grabbed his wounds and started at Harris before he fell to the floor and whimpered.

Baker froze.

Mr. Baker, would you like a promotion?

Baker looked at the leaking body on the floor, the barrel of the gun with its tiny curl of blue smoke and licked his lips.

Yes Sir, he squeaked.

Clean up this mess. Wrap it up in a pretty bow.

"And him sir?

Put Frederick on it. That would make me very happy.

Of course, Sir.

Harris stood up and holstered his weapon.

He stopped in front of Baker to clap him on the shoulder, but one look at the oily sheen on his face dissuaded him. He nodded and left.

7

7

Headlights cut across the flat expanse of the pitch-black desert.

Rob stared through the window and tried to track where they were going. He noticed a pale green reflection of the woman driving floating like a ghost on the windshield.

"Who are you with?

You wouldn’t know.

I know them all.

Government Department on Extraterrestrials.

GDET. You guys lost funding in the last Congressional Oversight meeting.

We were absorbed by the Treasury.

Secret Service? Is the President in on this?

In on what?

Does he know they are coming?

Jodi glanced in the rearview mirror.

No one is coming. We’re not being followed.

Not them. THEM. All Caps. Isn’t that why you came for me?

Her hand gripped the wheel until her knuckles turned white.

Our instructions were to deliver you to DC. Everything else is need to know. And I need to know who killed my partner.

I’m sorry about him.

There were two others.

I’m sorry about them too. But, he said. I am need to know. Or rather I know.

You know? What do you know?

I know that this is all about. Except the men in black. If they weren’t with you, who are they with?

Another government? Rogue CIA? Maybe you’re late on the electric bill. We were just here to pick you up.

Rob adjusted in his seat as he absorbed the information.

Do you know who I am?

Robinson Crow, amateur astronomer, 28-year-old grad student with an Internet hobby on UFO’s and aliens, and an overactive imagination.

Close. I’m a multiple abductee.

What’s that?

You know, alien abduction. Unidentified Flying Objects. I have been visited?

He smiled at her frown.

No one believes me at first. Except your bosses. Someone at GDET knows. They know what it means, he said with pride.

It means you had a lousy childhood. It means you have low self-esteem. It means my partner died for some stupid make believe BS.

Rob sank lower into the seat.

You don’t believe me? Have you ever seen a UFO?

She shook her head.

And you work for GDET? They never took you to Nevada? I thought that would be an initiation ritual for you guys.

I’ve been to the SETI set up, but my division is tasked like the US Marshals. We’re highly specialized.

Crap, even I’ve been to Nevada. I wasn’t supposed to be there of course, but I went. What kind of agent are you?

I’m a delivery person. I show up when you have to get there asap.

Absolutely, positively, huh?

And need to know.

Can you pull over?

Why?

I have to…pee. You need to know I have to pee.

She keeps the van cranked up to ninety and smirks at him.

Right. Nice.

I had a huge bottle of water just before you showed up. Seriously we’re lucky I didn’t leave a long trail when all the shooting started.

Just relax Mr. Crow, you’re safe with me.

Could you just pull over and let me out?

You’re not going anywhere, she said.

The van motor made a high-pitched coughing sound and seized up. Jodi gripped the wheel and wrestled the van to the side of the road.

Did you do that? he asked.

We have gas. Have- her eyes popped open.

Get out! Get out now!

She shoved him through the passenger door and scrambled out behind him.

They scrabbled through the scrub brush,

Jodi pushed him forward ahead of her.

Get down! she screamed.

The van exploded.

The concussion blast radiated out and slammed them both off of their feet. Debris rained down from the night sky.

Rob sat up and shook off the effects of the explosion. His ears were ringing and dirt smudged his face. He patted a smoking spot on the shoulder of his shirt.

He couldn’t see Jodi.

Agent Johnson?

She loomed up out of the darkness behind him.

Are you hurt?

What did you do? he asked and tried to stand.

She held his arm but they were both so shaky it was hard to tell who was holding who up.

Kill switch, remote, I think. It’s a good bet they know where we are.

And by they you mean the men in black?

More men in black.

They were way more fun in the movie. Forget me sticks beat bombs any day.

She led him back toward the road, but angled away from the van so they could gain some distance.

We better keep moving.

Where are we going? he asked.

No time for questions. We need to put some distance between us and their van.

There’s always time for questions, said Rob.

You ask too many questions.

She kept them off the road but marched parallel to the black ribbon in the darkness.

That’s why they picked me.

For your multiple abductions?

You know, he said. I never considered that, but you could be right. No. GDET picked me.

I don’t know anything about it.

About what?

All of this. Any of this. My partner’s dead, someone tried to blow us up. I’ve shot people tonight. I’ve never drawn my weapon before, she said.

You’re holding up very well, he said.

Except for the gunshots and explosions, I feel very protected.

"I’m just supposed to get you to a plane.

They walked in silence under the canopy of winking stars. Rob paused and stared in wonder.

We could get picked up out here, he said.

Jodi walked past him and kept going.

Are you going to phone home? she smirked.

I don’t think I can. You want me to try?

She shrugged her shoulders.

Knock yourself out, flyboy.

Rob closed his eyes for moment and tried to center his thoughts.

He pictured a ship in his mind, tried to reach past the cobwebs of foggy memory to reconstruct what he could remember from abductions.

He hummed, tried to match the frequency and thrumming of the engines through the smooth walls of the alien vessels.

He thought a very simple command, help, and opened his eyes.

Did it work?

I don’t know. We’ll see.

He sat down beside a small scrub brush and twirled a piece of grass between his fingers.

Jodi walked back to stand over him.

Do we have to wait here? We’re a little close to the van.

I’m not a homing beacon. This is where I told them I’d be.

Tell them to follow you. I don’t like it.

Rob was about to argue when he caught a flash of light out of the corner of his eye.

Something blazed through the night sky, lights dancing as it swept across the horizon.

Look, he pointed.

Two bright circles bobbed and hovered across the terrain.

They swept past the van and twirled back, like predators seeking out the metal on the sand.

Rob jumped up and waved his hands.

Hey! Over here!

He started running toward the lights.

No! shouted Jodi.

She took off after him and tackled him to the ground.

Those are Apaches, she hissed.

The lights shot away from the van and raced across the desert floor toward

Rob and Jodi.

I suppose they’re not with you, he sighed.

Run, she screamed as she shoved him up.

He took off away from the van.

Jodi pounded the sand behind him, her breath echoed in his ear.

The spotlights bisected their trail as it the roar of the helicopter drew closer.

The lights blazed across them and settled back.

A minigun whirled and bullets shredded the dirt in front of them.

Rob tripped and sprawled.

Jodi crashed over him and knocked her head against a rock.

Are you hurt, she gasped and held a hand to leaking wound to her forehead.

Not yet, he shouted over the whirring blades.

Good, she said and collapsed across his lap.

A spotlight zeroed in on them.

Rob could see the pilots through the windshield as the minigun adjusted to aim directly at them.

The sky cracked with an explosion of screeching metal as a giant black saucer crashed into the hovering helicopter.

It spun out of control and smashed into the ground in a fireball that lit up the surroundings.

We regret to inform you your son was killed in a training accident, Rob grunted.

He waved at the saucer.

Rob rolled Jodi over and checked her head and her pulse.

He stood up and started walking toward the saucer.

Hey! he screamed. Thanks for coming.

The lights outside of the saucer twirled around in a pattern that made him smile.

A streak of fire split the sky.

A rocket exploded into the spacecraft.

Rob screamed.

The second Apache hovered into view.

It fired a full volley of five more rockets into the black saucer.

Rob shrieked as they plowed into the UFO and created a series of expanding explosions.

He leaped back toward Jodi and covered her body with his.

The UFO turned on end and smashed into the ground.

Metal and flaming debris rained down over them.

Jodi started to come too with Rob across her.

Get off me, pervert, she grunted and tried to elbow him away.

I think we’re in trouble, he said and rolled off of her.

Jodi noticed the Apache spin around to target them.

She sat up and pulled her gun as it approached.

Her finger clenched the trigger and sent three shots into the helicopter canopy.

The pilot jerked the stick as the chopper spun out of control and smashed down next to the blazing remains of the saucer.

Jodi pulled a fresh magazine out and slammed it home.

"How long was I out?

Just a few minutes.

What did I miss?

Rob pointed to the large pile of flaming debris.

That was our ride.

Another helicopter? I only saw two.

UFO.

She studied him for a moment and touched the tender gash on her forehead.

Maybe I’m not the only one who took a mild concussion, she said.

Come on, she climbed up and offered him a hand. I guess we’re walking.

Jodi and Rob kicked up tiny twirls of dust that drifted off with the smoke as they began walking down the dirt road.

They walked for an hour, then two, turning onto a main road.

The only way they could tell the difference was this road had two lanes instead of one.

It also had recent tire tracks in the hard dirt, made visible in the faint starlight as a different color on the ground.

Jodi trudged in front of Rob until a growing see of headlights brightened behind them.

She pulled him off to the side of the road and put a hand on her pistol. She wasn’t sure if it was friendlies, or someone else sent to kill them.

The headlights were blinding as it picked them out of the darkness.

No shots rang out, so she assumed that was a good start.

A mud covered pickup truck pulled over onto the shoulder and an old man reached over to crank down the passenger window.

Need a ride? Hop in back.

No questions. Just a friendly offer. They hopped in back.

8

8

Jodi and Rob sat on the curb outside of a dusty phone booth.

Jodi pulled a locket from under her shirt, wiped dirt off of the edges and opened it up, looking at the smiling black and white photo of a man inside.

He’s ruggedly handsome with tired eyes, and that chin thrust so common in G-men.

Who’s the suit? Rob asked.

Dad.

Where is he?

She didn’t answer him.

Oh- he said.

He was with the government too.

He looks it. No offense.

He never followed orders, she told him.

Subsequently, he was killed in the line of duty.

That explains it.

She hid the locket under her shirt.

You may think so, but it’s more than that, she said.

There’s a pattern in everything, if you look hard enough to find it. Orders simplify the pattern.

I think it’s the chaos theory. Everything that can go wrong, will.

That’s not chaos theory, that’s Murphy’s law.

That too, he said.

A taxi cab pulled up. The driver glanced over at them, then laid into his horn.

Jodi slipped the hem of her coat aside as she stood and revealed her holster to him.

The cabbie stared at her with wide eyes.

She reached over and moved the other side of her coat to show him the silver badge clipped to her belt.

He nodded.

She hauled Rob up and shoved him into the back of the cab. She did a good job at ignoring his protests.

9

9

Rob spent the next few minutes staring out the window and watched the dusty countryside whiz by.

What next?

My orders are- Jodi started.

Your orders are going to get me killed. Just tell me where I’m supposed to be. I’ll meet you there.

You don’t leave my sight.

Come on, you can trust me.

Like you trust me? she said.

You haven’t been shot at yet.

They’re not shooting at me.

He started at her while that sank in.

No one had taken a shot at her except when she put herself between him and the guns aimed his way.

He wondered why anyone would shoot him. Sure, he could be a bit belligerent, especially in traffic which was one of the reasons he cycled to work.

That and the suspended license for one little incident of road rage.

Still being an asshole in traffic wasn’t a reason to kill anyone.

He went back to the landscape outside of the window as his mind raced.

10

10

The cab pulled up to the edge of a private airstrip hunkered down at the end of a private road.

Here, Jodi ordered him to stop.

She paid the cabby with neatly folded bills and climbed out of the cab with Rob.

She led him to a hanger over to one side.

The door was open and a small Gulfstream Jet was parked half out of the hanger, the stairs folded down.

I don’t like this, he said.

So you said. But my orders are-

Screw your orders.

Rob marched away from the empty hanger.

He searched the empty runway, the deserted tarmac.

Jodi moved past him toward the plane.

She studied the cockpit window for a moment, then whipped around to Rob.

Don’t say it, he sighed as he saw her eyes.

Run! she screamed.

She sprinted toward him and grabbed his arm.

They tripped over each other as he tried to turn around and match her momentum, and she struggled to drag him up to speed with her.

Behind them, black clad commandos spilled out of the body of the plane.

They tramped down the steps and raced after Rob and Jodi.

She spun Rob toward the gate at the long private road.

Two black vans squealed to a stop and formed a V shape that blocked the gate and road.

Jodi hauled Rob toward the field.

Commando’s popped up from hidden foxholes and started herding them.

Hanger! screamed Rob and pointed to another hanger across the way.

Jodi pulled her gun to cover him.

Go! she shouted.

She chased after Rob for a moment and noted the Commando’s weren’t shooting, they were keeping a path to the hanger open.

It’s a trap! she yelled at his retreating back.

The Hanger doors rolled back. A line of eight Commandos stood there, guns up and pointed at Rob. He stumbled to a halt.

It’s a trap, he said in a dramatic whisper to Jodi as she stepped up next to him.

Genius.

They stared as a man stepped from behind the wall of guns facing them.

He was tall, bald and scarred. Lines crisscrossed his head and face like a net of knives had landed on him.

They were thin, narrow and uneven.

He smirked at the duo and waved them through the door.

I’m glad you could make it, he said in a gravelly voice that made Rob want to clear his throat.

Come on in.

Rob and Jodi raised their hands up over their heads and walked into the dark hanger.

11

11

The hanger was a large cavernous space at least a football field wide and two football fields deep.

Plastic panels in the roof were spaced every ten feet so to take advantage of the sun and natural light, supplemented by Xenon work lights strung up between the skylights.

Rob stopped halfway through the door.

A large alien spaceship hovered in the middle of the hanger, surrounded by four black F14’s.

Two Troop Transports, four government issue sedan’s and two Black Suburban’s are dwarfed underneath the flying saucer.

Shit, he said.

Is that?

Impressed, said the scarred man.

A name patch on his black commando gear read RIGGS, though that wasn’t his real name.

It was good enough for this assignment.

It’s not ours…yet, he continued.

It’s real? Jodi asked Rob.

Told you.

He blanched and moved to cower behind

her.

Are you hit?

Rob nods toward the underbelly of the ship and tries to cower lower.

Nordes, he said.

Jodi turned back to the ship as a thin opening spread on the hull.

Five tall thin blond humanoids dressed in dull black jumpsuits march in lockstep out the saucer.

Each of them was armed with wicked looking oversized blaster rifles.

They could have been clones since they all looked exactly alike.

Not quite Viking or Norse, though she could see why he called them that.

There was a Scandinavian leaning to the way they looked.

What’s a Norde? she asked.

Riggs grabbed Rob by the collar and jerked him from behind Jodi.

A Norde is our friend.

He dragged Rob toward the alien war party.

And they want to talk to you.

Jodi reached for Rob, but a Commando grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back.

Don’t move, he said.

Riggs led Rob out to the middle of the hanger and abandoned him on the concrete floor.

The Commandos backed away to line the wall in a single file.

Crow! Jodi screamed.

The Nordes floated toward Rob and surrounded him.

The leader raised his blaster rifle and aimed it at Rob’s head.

Rob leaped at him and jerked the rifle from his hands.

The laser made a fizzing sound as red bolts shot around the circle.

Rob shot two Nordes and leaped over the leader.

He landed and blasted a third alien.

Jodi grabbed the Commando holding her arm and flipped him across her back.

She jammed a knee into his throat and took his weapon.

Riggs shouted and aimed his rifle at her.

Rob turned the blast rifle onto the Commando’s.

He sliced through the men lined up against the wall before they can shoot back.

Riggs ran for the open doorway firing over his shoulder as his boots slammed on the pavement.

The Norde leader retreated to the hovering saucer.

A Norde popped up and fired at Rob.

He sidestepped the blast bolt and shot back, pegged the alien in the chest.

The hanger was silent. There was no one left to shoot, but Jodi scooped up a couple of magazines from the Commando’s slumped against the wall.

Rob grabbed her hand and dragged her up.

Come on, he growled. His voice was different, lower.

They ran for one of the Suburban’s and he shoved her behind the wheel.

Drive.

Rob climbed in the back seat and lowered the passenger side window.

Where did you?!

Go! Go! he screamed.

The bottom of the saucer split in half and Nordes spilled out like angry hornets.

Rob leaned out of the window and opened fire with the blaster rifle. Each shot fizzed through the air and nailed the target.

Jodi gunned the Suburban and raced through the open hangar doors.

They bounced up the dirt road toward the gate.

Gate! she screamed.

Rob dropped the rifle and ducked inside of the truck.

The Suburban crashed through the gate and sent metal flying.

Rob climbed over the front seat.

We may need that rifle, said Jodi.

An explosion rocked the truck.

Jodi gripped the wheel and fought to maintain control.

Kill switch, he said.

She nodded and concentrated on the road.

12

12

They hit the Interstate exit and Jodi swung the truck to the East.

Think we were followed? she asked.

They know where we’re going.

This might have tracker or kill switch in it, she said.

He shook his head.

They would have used it already.

What’s going on? How did you do that?

Do what?

The Rambo Terminator action at the airport.

What are you talking about?

You- killing aliens like some gymnastic ninja alien hunter?

Gymnastic Ninja Alien Hunters? I think that was a Z movie on Scify one year.

She studied him a minute.

He wasn’t kidding. Or maybe he was kidding about the movie, but there was something different in the way he held himself. He looked almost deflated.

"What do you remember?

"We were at the airport, the men in black showed up, and-

He stopped talking and stared at her with wide eyes.

Nordes? Who are they?

Rob rubbed his face and leaned back into the seat.

Bad guys. Of galactic proportions. The Bad Guys.

She waited for him to elaborate but he didn’t.

Tell me something I don’t know.

It’s happening.

"What’s happening?

He glanced at her, then looked back at the highway as it stretched behind them.

I told you I was abducted, a lot. I got picked up by the Grays. That was their ship in the desert. They’ve been visiting since 1947.

Roswell?

He nodded.

We need to get out of this truck. We attract too much attention.

What do you suggest we do?

Get off this Interstate. We’re too easy to find. That’s our priority.

And then?

13

13

Hitchhiking is a lost art form.

When cars hit their golden age and highways criss-crossed the land, a daring young soul could stick out their thumb and catch a lift almost anywhere.

Then Freeways were built, and cars got faster to keep up with the wide-open road.

Faster cars meant less opportunity for hitching, and toss in a couple of dyed in the wool serial killers, or at least urban legends about unwary travelers either catching said ride or picking up the killer and the result is a fast-moving population who will barely drift away from the shoulder to create enough room to pass, let alone pull to the side to let someone in.

Hitching in the desert was worse.

Open highway stretched for miles as Jodi and Rob marched along the dusty shoulder.

The advantage of the emptiness was they could see anyone coming for miles.

It also meant they could see for miles that no one was coming.

The Gray’s sent an ambassador to make first contact, said Rob. We shot down the ship, tortured the survivors.

Great first impression, Jodi grunted.

Foam dummies my ass.

The media always gets it wrong. In 1976, an invasion force was headed our way. We were toast. But they got in a fight with the Nordes instead. It saved us.

"Who are the Gray’s?

"They send scout ships here all the time. Recon us. They picked me up once, we started talking and they told me all of it.

She glanced at him. He doesn’t look like much of anything.

Why you?

Usually you hear about bizarre experiments-

Sex with them. Anal probes.

Right. Well, I never had it. I mean, never with them, Rob sputtered.

So I gathered.

She smirked.

It drove him a little crazy.

It was the kind of smirk he’d seen his whole life, from jocks, from girls in bars, and the bartenders who watched him burn out and fail.

I mean, I’ve had sex before. Plenty of it.

Did she imagine him puff out his chest a little.

Plenty of girls in the Niagara falls area, right.

There was that one trip, he said.

An old Chevy pickup truck passed them and pulled off to the side of the road a couple of hundred yards ahead.

It was covered with a thick layer of desert dust probably from the era when hitchhiking was the norm.

Jodi started jogging for the truck.

Rob hustled to keep up.

14

14

The Chevy crested a rise and dim headlights washed over a faded sign that announced Phoenix.

It pulled off the side of the road into a motel parking lot. It was a cracker box hotel, ten rooms up, ten rooms down with a glass walled office at one end that bordered owner’s or manager’s quarters.

The neon sign crackled and hummed, two letters flickering on and off.

The name of the place was completely dark, but that didn’t matter to Rob or Jodi.

The anonymity worked in their favor.

She paid for a room in cash and didn’t have to use her ID.

Rob showered first. He came out of the bathroom toweling his hair with one hand.

I’ve been thinking.

Jodi held up a finger to quiet him as she held a phone to her ear.

Her gun was in her lap and her hand fell on it with an easy familiarity.

I understand Sir, but- Yes Sir, I will.

She dropped the cradle in the receiver and looked at Rob.

I have instructions to take you by train to DC, she said.

That’s ridiculous.

I tried to countermand, but my orders were final.

Rob dropped the towel, settled into the one chair in the room.

Do you think we could be compromised?

Where did you learn a big word like that?

Rob shook his head, noted that she didn’t answer the question.

I have to get to a computer. I need more information.

Jodi stood up and slipped out of her suit jacket.

Her white shirt underneath clung tightly to her torso.

Rob had to look away.

I don’t need information, I have orders. We’re going to the train station in the morning, she said.

She noticed his discomfort.

Any hot water left?

He nodded.

She handed her gun to him.

If anyone tries to come through that door.

He held the gun away from him by two fingers.

I can’t use this.

Just pull the hammer back and point.

I can’t.

She took the gun, cocked back the hammer and pointed it at the door.

Like that, she said. I saw you at the hanger.

I don’t know what you are talking about.

Look Crow, I want to take a shower. I want you to watch my back.

She passed the pistol back to him.

Wash your back?

She can’t tell if he’s kidding or not.

Watch. My. Back.

She’s not kidding.

She slammed the bathroom door and turned on the water.

Rob waited a moment, then moved to one of the beds.

He set the pistol down and dialed the front desk.

Can you get me a phone number for a computer store?

He scribbled the number down on a pad beside the phone, hung up and dialed.

Hi. Can you give me directions from 12240 I-40? he read off the pad he had just scribbled on.

He wrote the address down and noticed Jodi’s jacket.

He glanced over his shoulder at the closed bathroom door, then pulled out her wallet and badge.

The water shut off.

He shoved the badge back in her pocket, opened the billfold and took out a credit card.

He scrambled to shove the wallet back in her pocket and laid across the bed.

The bathroom door popped open.

Jodi stood there toweling her hair off.

Better? asked Rob.

Worlds.

I need to pick something up.

You have an appointment in Phoenix Arizona? Negative. I was ordered to sit tight, so we sit tight till morning.

That’s not reasonable. I need to make contact with people. I need-

You need to get some sleep. We’re not going anywhere.

She picked up her gun from the bed and laid down.

She rested the gun across her stomach, one hand covering it.

Rob slumped across his bed and glared.

15

15

Harris sat in the leather chair staring out of the window at the DC skyline.

Baker slipped through the door behind him and stood at attention in front of his desk.

News?

I would have thought you knew, he smirked.

Harris spun around and glared the man in front of him.

Save the melodrama.

They’re in Phoenix.

Did you send Frederick to the airport?

I convinced the Director to use a train.

Harris nodded. He patted the vest pocket on his suit and pulled out a cigar.

Baker curled his lip then tried to hide it. Harris noticed.

He chewed off the end of the cigar and slowly lit it, puffing out a cloud of noxious smoke over Baker.

Train? That’s a novel idea, he puffed again. Acceptable.

Riggs will meet him there to intercept, Baker added.

Harris nodded and puffed.

Good. That’s real good. You’ve given this some thought.

"Just acting on your behalf.

Keep it up. The future of our world is at stake. He can’t be allowed to succeed.

He won’t.

Baker nodded, and looked like he wanted to salute.

He fought it down along with the rising nausea in his stomach and left by the same door he entered.

Beside the window behind Harris a panel slid back.

A blonde Norde stared at the back of the man’s head with icy dead eyes.

You heard? Once he’s yours, you leave us alone.

The Norde bowed its head.

Harris swung back around and watched the panel close.

He turned to the monitor on the wall that showed an animated graphic of two stars approaching a lonely earth on a black