Phoenix Reborn

"Death solves all problems." Joseph Stalin

As the Marko's sit down to eat, the tension in the dining room instantly grew. Rachel, Nathan and their father have not even looked at each other since burying their heads in their plates. They might as well all be alone as they quietly eat dinner in their perfect suburb house.

Wanting to engage his family, the father is the first to break the silence. "It's so good to have you home, Nate. Ever since you started work we rarely get to see you."

Nate answers without looking up. "Yeah. My own success seems to be working against me. Ever since that operation overseas they got me working double time. Even after this short leave they're shipping me off again to another unit."

"Really? What do they have you doing now?"

Nate looks up and sees his father for the first time since sitting down. "Well I can't really say…."

Rachel sarcastically cuts him off. "Oh yeah. Because super agent man over here is too good to tell us common folk about his top secret missions."

"That's enough Rachel. You should be proud of what your brother has accomplished. So young and he's already done so much for this country."

The father regrettably stares at Rachel and misses the little girl she used to be. Ever since her mother died two years ago he's been slowly losing control of her as she becomes a totally different person.

After a moment Nate tries to break the tension between his father and sister. "Actually, Rache, I can't tell you what I'm going to be doing because I don't even know. They said it's a mandatory move and I will find out the details when I get there."

"Well I'm proud of you, son."

"Thanks, dad."

"If only your mother was here to…."

Rachel stands up and slams her fists down on the table. "But she's not! Is she?! So why don't we forget about all this 'trying to be a family' bullshit and get on with our lives."

She runs upstairs slamming her feet down on the floor as she walks. Nate and his dad just look at each other from across the table with blank stares. "You got to do something about her, dad. She's a different person every time I come home."

"But how? I'm not a woman. I can't talk to her like her mother did."

"She can't go on like this. Sooner or later…"

"I know. I'm working on it."

"Ok. I'm going to sleep. I got to catch my flight in the morning."

"G'nite, son."

"Yeah. Goodnight, Pops."

As Nate walks upstairs the pictures on the wall catch his eye. He sees all the Christmas and holiday photos of the whole family and can't help but miss his mother.

Rachel stares at herself through the mirror on the wall and even she can barely recognize her face. The dark make-up and eyeliner hide her smile along with the pitch-black bangs of her hair.

She lifts up and takes of her shirt. As she reaches for a tank top on the dresser she can't help but notice the scars on her arms; the reminder, everyday, that her life is not perfect and she may never be happy again.

Her whole life, whenever she needed help, she turned to her mother. She was the one person Rachel felt enough trust to be honest with. But now, she's just a sixteen-year-old girl alone in the world.

Rachel grabs the tank top and pulls it over her head. She starts to hear her brother walk up the stairs and quickly runs to the window. She opens it up, quietly climbs out, and down the side of the house. As she hits the ground she takes off into the night.

After an hour of aimless wandering, Rachel is picked up by her boyfriend Scott. They meet up with some of Rachel's girlfriends and together they go to a party at Scott's friend's house.

As they walked through the front door, Rachel immediately breaks free from her friends and pushes through the crowd to the back of the house. In the kitchen she finds a keg and pours herself a cup chugging it down in only few seconds. Scott finds her and grabs the cup as she starts filling it up again. "Easy baby. Save some for me."

He drinks what little beer was left in the cup and drops it on the ground. "Come on. Let's get some good stuff."

They both walk downstairs to the den and headed over to the bar. "Here we go. The hard alcohol. What you want, Rache?"

"Anything."

She goes behind the bar, grabs a bottle of vodka and starts taking big gulps. Scott leans over and pulls the bottle from her hand. "Damn girl! Slow down. Don't want you getting sick on me. What's gotten into you?"

"Stupid family dinners. I don't see the point. We aren't a family anymore. Nate's never home. Mom is dead. Dad's always at work…."

"Baby, baby, baby. This drinking isn't gonna do it then. Here, take this."

The boy reaches into his pocket and pulls out a little container. He opens it up and inside are seven little blue pills. She reaches for one and looks at it in her hand. "What is it?"

"Don't worry about it. Would I give you anything that would hurt you? Just trust me. Take it."

"Whatever."

She grabs the bottle back from him and puts the pill washing it down with a gulp. Scott just smiles. "That's my girl. Now let's go mingle."

He grabs her hand and pulls her up the stairs.

The next day, Nathan Marko spends the entire morning travelling to his next assignment. Finally, he arrives at the address given to him, but finds nothing but a small building in the middle of the desolate Nevadan desert. He has no clue as to why he was transferred or what he was transferred to. Not even his boss knew when he asked him. All he knows is that he was chosen for the job and he is going to find out why.

After the cab drives away, Nate walks through the front door and is met by a old man in a suit. "Good morning Mr. Marko. Glad to have finally met you. I'm Roger Osborn."

Nate looks around the building lobby and sees no windows. The one room building very plain but at the same time decorative. He is confused as to what he's looking at but the style of decor is the least of his questions at the moment. "Good morning. Mr. Osborn."

The old man stands surprisngly straight and tall. His presence is that of an athlete in his prime and shows no signs of his age other than his face.
Mr. Osborn extends his hand. "I'm sure you're wondering why you're here."

Nate accepts the handshake noticing the man's strong grip. "Yes, sir. That's one way to put it."
"Well, Mr. Marko, may I call you Nate?" Nathan nods. "Ok, Nate. You're here because we've chosen you. I've been looking for a new recruit for about ten years."

"You've been watching me for ten years."

"Don't be ridiculous. I've only been watching you for about three. I had to know for sure you would be willing to do this job because once you accept there's no turning back."

"Excuse me sir?"

"Nate, this is a job for life. You quit when you die."

"I don't think I quite understand."

Mr. Osborn puts a smile on his face, turns his body and lightly taps Nate on his chest. "Let's take a walk boy."

Nate cautiously follows the man but stays a step behind him. Osborn leads Nate through a single door in front of them and they both enter an elevator. It begins to slowly descend and Nate looks through the glass left wall of the elevator. As it passes the floor Nate's astonished to see a gigantic empty room the size of an airplane hangar.
Osborn doesn't even look to the window but keeps his focus forward. "You've had quite a career, Nate. Accomplishing more since you joined the CIA than most agents have in forty years of service. Your cunning and bravery has never led you wrong. From your file it would seem you trust no one and only believe what you see with your own two eyes. You always follow your instincts, Nate. Which is why I know you're perfect for this job and will embrace it."

"No disrespect Mr. Osborn, but you're talking as if my career with the CIA is over."

"As far as the CIA is concerned, Mr. Marko, it is."
The elevators opens up but before Osborn can move forward Nate steps in front of him. "Ok. Enough with the riddles. Why am I here?"

Osborn takes a deep breath and looks Nate in the eye. "In the 1950's a space ship crashed in the Nevada desert. The US government decided to study it. Despite a coverup, the event is a well known a conspiracy.

"But what the public doesn't know is that another ship followed it. On board that ship was the Ambassador of Newly Interstellar Planets for the Royal Galactic Government. He told the people of Area 51 not to be alarmed. That the crash was an accident and they will gladly clean up the mess.

"But course our greedy government wanted more. The Ambassador informed them that they could not be admitted as part of their government until they discovered interstellar travel for themselves, but he would gladly set up an outpost on the planet just incase another incident occured.

"A military unit came here, set up shop, and now run basically a port for passing ships. This is that port."
Nate skeptically crunches his brow and takes a deep breath in. "You're telling me that you're like the Men In Black and there are aliens running all over the planet?"

"Haha. Oh no Nate. There are about fifteen extraterrestrials currently on the planet, five of which work here. The others are their families. You know, children, spouses. That sort of thing. And we do not act as a hostel. We are simply a pit stop. A port for ships to have maintenance and refuel."

"And you guys are the only ones on the planet?"

"That is correct. We run the Earth's extraterrestrial activities. The only other person that is aware of our existence is the CIA director and even he knows little about our activities. He just knows we exist."
Nathan begins to crack a smile. "Did Freddy put you up to this? Freddy! Come out you clown! I know you're hiding somewhere!"

"Freddy Jordan? Your colleague? Oh no. We looked into him but his mild obsessive compulsive disorder would have been a problem. And I can assure you, Mr. Marko. This is no joke. Here, would you like to meet the commander?"

Nate just rolls his eyes and goes with it. "Sure. Whatever."

Osborn takes Nate down the hall a little further and turns right into one of the doors. The room is outfitted like a lounge room for employees. Cabinets and couches line the walls as well as a refrigerator and a table in the center. Sitting at the table, a man watches a television hanging from the wall. Osborn moves to the side and places his hand out towards the man. "I present to you Commander Marv Kree."

The six foot six man stands up and towers over Nate. He appears around the age of fifty but still stands tall and strong, like an army general. He extends his hand toward Nate. "Nice to meet you. I assume you're the newbie?"

"And you're supposed to be an alien?" Nate grabs the man's hand and shakes it but does so with a smirk.

"I've seen people that look more like aliens in my high school. This is horrible."

Kree looks at Osborn. "I told you this was a bad idea. We've never had anyone else. We won't need anyone else."

"Well the law requires a representative from the planet to be at the port. You know that. And we've never had anyone else because we haven't needed anyone else. I'm not going to be around forever and he's the only one that would be able to handle a situation should one arise."

"There hasn't been a 'situation' ever. This is a rock to the rest of the universe. We don't need him."

"You know as well as I do he needs to be here. And just in case I want someone that can handle themselves."

Nate completely ignores their conversation and walks to the table and sits down. "So when is the big special effects show that proves to me you're E.T.?"

Kree keeps his back to Nate, extends his arm towards the television with his palm out and fires a blast of energy from it. The light strikes the television, shattering it into a million pieces. Nate falls back out of his chair. "Holy crap"

Osborn throws his hands in the air. "I just bought that thing."

Kree turns around and his human facade slowly fades revealing a blue alien underneath. He walks towards Nate, grabs him by the throat and lifts him off the ground. He then begins to walk towards the wall while Nate's feet dangle a foot from the ground. "Now you listen here. I'm not as welcoming as my human friend. He brought you here believing that you would accept your destiny. But its only destiny because there is no other choice. Now you either accept that fact that this will be your life. Or we will have you dealt with in another fashion. What's it going to be?"

Nate tries to talk but Kree's hand on his throat makes it hard to speak. "I think I'm going to be just fine right here."

"Good. Osborn, show him his room. Welcome to Port 761."

Kree lets him down and walks out of the room. Osborn can only smile. "You're going to have a blast here."