Peace, Love And Aliens

by Ralph Guidi Ferreira

David Vincent drove to Santa Monica, where a young hippie mysteriously died. Could The Invaders be related to that bizarre death? Would the aliens be interested in the counterculture movements of the late 1960's? Sex, drugs, Rock'N'Roll and Aliens?

THE INVADERS

TONIGHT'S EPISODE: PEACE, LOVE AND ALIENS

A nice night, the wind was still a bit cool, because of the end of the spring, but the summer was coming and the temperature was not bad at all.

Three men were calmly walking on the beach, close to the water line. All of them very young, all of them long haired, all of them regular Hippies. The Hippie movement was very popular in the USA, so those three fellows were not different to any other Hippie of their town.

"Man, are you sure that stuff is really good?" Asked a not tall blond man. "According to what you've said, it seems to be too strong!" His blue eyes indicated some concern.

"Oh, come on Bob!" The man who was walking in the middle of the group promptly answered. "What are you afraid of, bro?" The also blond long haired man put his hand on the shoulder of his friend. "I tell ya, man, I almost kissed the stars! Believe me, it was unforgettable!"

"Well….." Bob Ward itched his blond and thin hair. Then he looked to the man who was walking on the opposite side of the group. "What d'ya think Matt?"

"Tom never disappointed us." Matt Atkins smiled, while his brown eyes stared at the man in middle of the walking group. "It will not be different this time." The tall dark haired man stated.

"Ok, let's stop and wait here." Tom Channing stopped walking and looked around. Then he stared at the Pacific Ocean and took a deep breath to smell the sea breeze. "Oh, boys. I love this. Let's take some time while we wait."

"Who are we waiting for?" Atkins asked.

"They told me they would arrive around nine." Channing kept his eyes closed, just smelling the sea. "Just relax, bro. Soon they'll arrive."

"Who are them?" Atkins continued. He obviously was not afraid, but was very curious. That was one of the main characteristics of his personality.

"Friends, Matt." Channing calmly answered. "They are friends, who bring dreams to be shared among other friends."

The three friends stood there enjoying the beautiful night when suddenly a young couple came out of darkness. A tall and thin man wearing hip hugging bell bottom jeans with a wide belt and a black leather jacket. The huge peace symbol in his white T-shirt could be seen from the distance. Beside him a slim and delicate woman, also wearing hip hugger, bell bottom jeans with a wide leather belt and a blue sweater. She also had a headband with a flower on her blond head.

"Mike!" Channing hugged the man that had just arrived, then turned to the woman and hugged her too, kissing her pale face. "Jane! What a pleasure to meet you again." He then presented his two friends to the couple. "Bob, Matt; these are Mike and Jane, the ones I told you about, the dream bringers."

Bob Ward was fixedly staring at the woman. Her straight and thin blond hair and those big blue eyes apparently mesmerized him, something like love at first sting. His rounded and pale face showed the happiness of a boy, dreaming about having a desired gift. In his case, certainly the gift he was dreaming about would be to find a way to kiss those big and sensual lips.

"Yeah!" Mike smiled and took a small plastic flask out of his pocket. "I got what you want, Tom." He took a small red ball pill out of the flask and gave it to Channing. "There it is, brother! Sweet dreams!" Channing then gave a one Dollar bill to Mike, who asked about the other men. "Will your friends travel with you?"

"Yes, they want, Mike." He promptly answered.

"Is it just one Dollar? Atkins questioned.

"It's just for the cost of the manufacture, brother." Mike smiled. "I'm not interested in making money. I just want to bring the stars to you!"

Ward and Atkins got also the strange pills and the group stayed there talking and smiling in a very friendly atmosphere. The young couple was very pleasant and easily interacted with the three good friends.

Atkins was the first one to swallow the pill. He kept chatting with the group for a few moments when suddenly he ceased talking and started looking around as if he was surprised by something.

"Guys, it's…. it's…. it's wonderful! Amazing!" Atkins looked to all sides, smiling and with full opened eyes. "It's almost like floating. I can not describe, guys." He then stared at the moon. "The moon! It's starting to talk! I can not understand, but it tries to talk. See!" The effect of the pill was extremely hallucinogenic and the young man was seeing fantastic things. The smile on his face indicated that he was in a big euphoria.

"Wow!" Ward exclaimed. "That's a bomb! I never saw him like that!"

"I told you, man." Channing spoke and swallowed his pill. "These guys bring dreams."

A few seconds later, the pill started acting on Channing's organism as well, but in a different way. Instead of gazing around, he started itching his eyes and scrubbing his forehead, as if something was disturbing him. He looked at his friends and then without saying any word he started to run, going in the direction of the street.

Ward and Atkins didn't pay to much attention to his good friend running away. They imagined he was enjoying a different kind of pleasure with his pill.

Lanegan continued chatting with the hallucinated Atkins, but he didn't swallow any pill. It seemed that all his attention to that out of control man had the objective of observing the man's reaction to that pill. Lanegan kept always asking what Atkins was feeling and things like that. One viewer could even say that it was like a scientist checking the reactions of a drug on a guinea-pig. Ward didn't note that, because He was still very interested in the beautiful woman that was talking to him.

"Well." Ward stared the young lady with his deep blue eyes. "I'm going to tell ya a secret." He smiled and showed her the small pill. "I never tried anything like this. But I'd do anything, for someone like you."

The beautiful woman placed her right hand on the smiling face of Ward. "Oh, you're so sweet!" Her hand was very gentle and her delicate fingers massaged Ward's cheek. Just one thing was odd in that perfect hand, her little finger was hardened.

Channing arrived to his motor bike and jumped on it in a hurry. He looked around, as if he was fleeing from something. He looked deeply scared. He rode with his bike through some streets and stopped by a building construction, where he got a huge piece of wood stick and jumped back on his bike, going away at high speed.

Channing stopped again, next to a bar in the street in front of the beach. The city lights and people talking and laughing around seemed to disturb him. Completely overturned, he started to strike the parked cars with his wood stick, breaking windows, damaging parts. Some people in the bar seeing that scene ran in his direction to ask him to stop, but Channing was mad and violent. He started hitting the people, who became scared of him and stood back. Since they could not convince him to stop, someone called the police.

Channing was out of control and his strength seemed to be incredibly increased, it was something almost supernatural. His face was also terrifying. He was extremely pale, his skin looked like the paraffin of a candle and the pupils of his eyes were so dilated, that it seemed that his eyes were two black balls. The man who once was handsome, looked like a monster.

When he heard the sound of the sirens coming from the distance, he took his bike and rode into the beach.

Ward was about to take his pill when he saw the light of a bike coming fast and his direction. "Hey, look!" He pointed. "It looks like Tom."

Atkins walked in the direction of the light, with robotic movements of his legs and an idiot smile on his face. "Yeah…. That's Tom!" He hardly could spoke but could pronounce some nonsense things. "See, he's coming in a winged horse, with a sword on high. He's so magnificent!"

Channing abruptly stopped his bike and jumped out of it, leaving the big machine to fall on the ground, breaking its mirror and sign lights. He ran like a mad man in the direction of his friends. The sirens of the police cars could then be heard, approaching them fast.

"You gotta get out of here!" Channing holds tight the two hands of Ward, who let his pill to fall in the floor. "The dragons, they are after me! They'll get ya too! They'll eat all of us!" Channing was mentioning the police sirens as the roar he was so afraid of. "Run, Bob, run!" He then looked at Atkins. "You too, Matt, run while you can!"

"Wait, man." Ward didn't loose Channing's hands. "Something is wrong with you, brother. Your hands are too warm. You got fever, man. You look sick. We gotta take you to a hospital, I guess."

"No!" Channing violently pulled his hands and then gave a punch on Ward's face, which fell on the ground. Atkins in the meantime was so out of his mind that he could not even have a perception of what was happening around him. He just stared at nothing, with a lunatic smile. His pupils were also much dilated, giving his eyes that black balls appearance.

Mike and Jane discreetly left the scene, as soon as they heard the sound of the sirens. They were very sly and silent. Ward didn't pay attention to them, because after the punch, he just stared at his mad friend, who started running as fast as he could, to escape from the police.

The police cars stopped next to Channing's bike. Two officers went in the direction of Ward and Atkins, the other two ran after Channing.

The officers, who stayed, saw the direction that Channing ran to, followed by the other police men and asked reinforcement.

One officer tried to talk to Atkins, but he noticed that it was virtually impossible to communicate with that young man. Atkins acted like a big robotic doll; he walked with difficulty and was not able to answer simple questions such as what was his name or where was he from. It seemed that he even forgot how to speak. "This guy is very crazy", smiled the officer. It's better to take him, for his own safety."

"Are you ok, sir?" Asked the other officer to Ward, who was getting up of the floor, with blood falling from his nose. "Can you speak to us? Do you know this man?"

"Yep, I'm fine, thanks." He answered, verifying with his hand if his nose was broken, then he held the nostrils to stop the bleeding. "This is my friend, you don't need to worry about him, and I'll take him home."

"We do worry about him, sir." The tall officer insisted. "He'll see a doctor, and so will you too."

"I'm fine, believe me, I'm ok."

The officer didn't care about Ward's insistence and simply kept asking information. "Were you attacked by the man, who left that bike here?

"Yes… or.. well… not really." Ward didn't know what to answer. He didn't want to see his good friend Channing in trouble, but he could notice that his friend was in trouble.

"Do you know him?" The officer continued. "Why did he stop here by you? I saw you were talking to him, before he hit you and ran."

"Well….. look….. we…. Well.. ok, yeah, we're friends." Ward was getting more and more concerned.

"Ok." The officer stated. "You and your friend come with us."

Channing was still running from the police. He ran like an athlete, the police officers were getting tired and were not getting close to him. He then returned to the sidewalk and stared around, then started running even faster on paved ground.

Suddenly a police car stopped in his way and two officers got out of it and pointed their guns at the running man.

"Stop where you are, sir! Put you hands on your hand and do not move!" Shouted one of the just arrived police men.

Channing stopped and started staring around again. He was scared to death and his head moved in quick movements, it appeared that he was afraid even from the shadows on the street. "You don't understand!" He shouted to the police men. "The creatures are all around. The monsters will eat all of us. They will eat the world!"

"Calm down!" Shouted a police man. "We will not harm you. Just put your hands on your head and we will get closer to you."

The terrorized man then became quiet. He didn't obey the police force and didn't put his hands on his head. He simply stood, static, in silence. Suddenly Channing collapsed on the soil. The police men cautiously got near him to see what happened. The poor man was not breathing. His eyes were wide open, but the pupils were at that moment so big and black that even the experienced officers got impressed.

"He's dead." A middle aged police man stated. "But look at his face! What is that? I never saw something like this before. Look at his eyes! His skin!" Channing's face was much paler, as white as a paper sheet, even his lips had no color. Something really weird had happened.

ACT I

"The kind of history that the tabloids loved. A crazy hippie was pursued by the police and died in the streets of Santa Monica. The autopsy didn't reveal the presence of any drug. His two friends after some examinations have no signs of abuse of drugs as well and they were released by the police. Curiously the man's face looked so horrible and phantasmagoric, that they scared any people who took a look on it. Bizarre news, that few people pay attention to, but which intrigued one man; David Vincent."

David Vincent drove to Santa Monica. A pleasant ride and not so from his town, Santa Barbara. Specially for a man, who was used to travel all around the USA. After parking his Ford Galaxie 500 near the police precinct that investigated the case that was in the newspapers Vincent got out of his car and entered the building. He identified himself as a freelancer reporter, after some time waiting and after talking to a lot of people, he finally managed to meet one of the officers who attended the case in that night.

"Ok, mister…."

"Vincent". The tall blond man answered.

"Well, Mr. Vincent." The police man continued. "So you're another sensationalist reporter. Right?" The officer smiled. "I believe your colleagues exploited everything they could from this case. Do you intend to discover any new bizarre minor detail?"

"I'm trying to do a more serious work. An investigative article. I want to know all details, all unusual things. Things that a reader that wants to know the truth would love to read." Vincent answered with a smile.

"Well, you're the first one to say something like this." The officer for sure suspected a little, but he was a polite man and agreed to help Vincent's interview.

After around fifteen minutes of conversation, Officer Christopher Bain noticed that Vincent's questions were not sensationalist, and the conversation started to become more and more interesting.

"Ok, Mr. Vincent." Bain stared at Vincent's face. His small blue eyes were fixed, his thick blond eyebrows frowned. "I'll tell you a personal thing." The middle aged man continued. "I do want to catch the punk who's selling that stuff to all those kids. When I saw those very young guys' bodies in those poor conditions, I immediately thought on their parents. On a mother crying, on a desperate father."

Vincent quietly heard, he realized that the police officer could certainly contribute a lot with his investigation; that was the right moment to find a good ally, which in Vincent's solitary war against the unknown enemy invader, was more than valuable. His face was also indicating he was very intrigued on the things that the police officer wanted to disclose.

"I have a kid, who's also a hippie. Same age of that guy who died last week!" Bain finally openly spoke.

For sure, Vincent was a bit surprised, but being a very polite man, he made no comments and simply let the gray blond officer to go on talking.

"Of course, it's not easy for me and my wife, you can probably imagine." He continued. "But we managed to deal with that and in the best possible way; we can pacifically live our lives. I always tell Jake to stay away of drugs, but I cannot have an eye on him all the time. When I saw those deaths, I certainly thought on my son."

"Deaths?" Vincent frowned.

"Yes." Bain's face was very serious. "Look, Vincent! This is not in any news. We do not want to cause any motive of panic yet, because we're still investigating. So, if you publish any unauthorized stuff, I'll personally work to put you behind bars. Did I make myself clear?"

"Sure, sure!" Vincent promptly agreed. "Be sure, Officer Bain, as I told you, I work to find out the truth and to alert people of any big unknown danger. I have a good expertise on this, believe, me! I'll not publish anything that could disturb your investigation. It is just the opposite. I'll do anything on my reach to help you."

"Ok." Bain looked really relieved. "Last week we found a dead young couple, hippies too." The very tall police man continued. 'Some neighbors heard screens and the sound of things crashing inside the couple's apartment, so they called the police. When we arrived, it was a deadly silence. We entered the apartment anyway and we found a scene of war. Everything inside the small residence was destroyed. There was nothing in one piece. Then we found in the middle of the living room the body of a man. In the bedroom, we found the body of a woman lying in the middle of the bed. No evidences that they fought against each other."

"And what was all the noise the neighbors heard?" Vincent curiously asked. "Was their apartment invaded?"

"No." Bain stated. "It was locked from the inside. The young couple destroyed everything inside the apartment before dying."

"And have you found any unusual thing in the crime scene?"

"That's a point, Vincent." Bain was about to reveal a bit more of information. "I've been in the force for many years. I have seen lots of bad and ugly things, but I never saw so horrible faces, as I did in these three dead people. It was something really scaring, phantasmagoric, I'd say."

Vincent was now sure that something really big and bad was happening there. A good possibility that the hands of the invaders were connected to that case. "Did the autopsies revealed the cause of the deaths? Any signs of cerebral hemorrhage, heart attacks?"

Bain deeply frowned. "Have you ever seen such kind of thing in any other place?"

"Not, exactly like you're saying." Vincent continued. "I saw strange things, but if I could have more clues, then I'm sure I could be of bigger help."

"The causes of their deaths were not the ones you mentioned." But, we talked to many neighbors. A man called Steven Smith said he saw a young couple leaving the apartment in the morning of the day the couple died inside the apartment. Mr. Smith said he was going to collaborate with the investigation and he was going to come here to help doing a portrait of the couple."

"And can you show me the portraits you did?" Vincent wanted to have an idea on the faces he was going to start to look for.

"Mr. Smith unfortunately died before coming here." Bain lowered his head, then looked again at Vincent's face. "Natural cause: cerebral hemorrhage."

David Vincent widely opened his blue eyes. Now he was sure that alien invaders were behind all of that. It was time to gather more information, before going after the enemy. If the invaders were related to those deaths that meant something bigger and much more dangerous was being prepared by the aliens.

"When you mentioned cerebral hemorrhage, I guessed you may know a bit more of what could be happening over here." Bain continued.

"I don't have any answers now." Vincent honestly spoke. "But I do want to dig as much information as I could."

"Well." Bain smiled. "I may be wrong, but I don't know why, I trust you. Follow me. I'll introduce you to Mister Alfred Taylor, our legist."

Vincent followed Bain through some corridors until they reached an office, whose interior could be seen thorough the corridor, due to the large windows in its inner walls. Bain knocked at the glass door and the dark haired man seated behind a desk in its interior gestured with his hands for them to enter. He stood up and went in the direction of the visitors to greet them. Taylor was not so tall; he was a thin man, wearing a white apron and a dark blue tie.

"This is Mister David Vincent". Bain introduced. "I brought him here to talk about the 'melted brain'." Taylor deeply stared at Bain's face. "No problem, Alfred. It seems that our new friend here is willing to help in the investigation and I do believe He knows more than what he's talking. But I'll know everything from him."

"Melted brain?" Vincent frowned.

"Do you have a strong stomach, Mister Vincent?" Taylor asked.

"I've seen a lot of bad things in my duty, Mister Taylor. Believe me, I've seen. So, nothing scares me."

"Ok." Taylor nodded. Then he went in the direction of a file cabinet and opened a drawer. He took three files, one named 'Channing'. He opened the folder and took a few pictures and started showing them to Vincent. Bain was beside him, watching in silence. "This is the man that appeared in the news, 'Tom Channing'. The sensationalist press talked a lot about what happened and specially on the appearance of his face."

For sure, Vincent had seen a lot of ugliness in his lonely war against the invaders, but the face of the dead man was a bit scary even to him. He frowned and contracted his eyelids; the other two men noticed he was shocked. The wide open eyes were two black balls, no more iris, and no more sclera. The face, the lips, all cold and pale white.

"Are you ok, Mister Vincent?" Taylor politely asked.

"Yes, sure!" Vincent took a deep breath and answered. "Please, go ahead".

Taylor then showed a picture of the autopsy. "That's the reason we used the expression 'melted brain'." The following picture was really bizarre. A brain so deformed that looked like if it had melted. All lobes were deformed and dry. "In all my years of experience, I never saw something like this". Taylor was an experienced and respected legist; being in his 40's, he had a long and successful career.

"Is this a disease?" Vincent knew that the invaders had already worked with viruses and other mortal things. Could that be another threat like that? In his mind, he was really nervous, but he was used to control his emotions and went on.

"No." Taylor promptly answered. "This man has no signs of any virus or bacteria. Or any decease. He was a healthy man. "I then thought about a new drug; since the officers who met him, told me he acted like a madman just before dying. But… my tests didn't reveal anything! Of course there were signs of other drugs these guys use nowadays; marijuana, LSD and all that crap! But that doesn't do such kind of devastating effect! If…. If this guy used any new drug, it simply vanished from his body and I cannot explain how!"

"Could a drug completely vaporize from a human body after the death of the person?" Vincent figured out that nothing from our world could cause such kind of events, but a synthetic substance made with alien technology could easily do that and cheat our doctors.

"As I told you, not from my knowledge." Taylor's dark brown eyes stared Vincent's face. "Nothing in this world could simply vanish. Not even in chemical warfare technology I've heard of something like that. If you see these other two files, of the young couple we found last week. They are in similar conditions. We contacted the FBI, I sent a report to them, with pictures. Soon they'll be here too to investigate."

"Hey, Vincent. No words in the press about the FBI! Ok? Remember our deal!" Bain was emphatic.

"Of course." Vincent nodded. "I'd say this could be a matter of national security. Taylor talked about chemical warfare. This could be a weapon from any of the enemies of our nation." Vincent was quite sure now that the strange drug was manufactured by the invaders, but if he spoke about aliens from outer space at that moment, he would certainly be banned from the precinct and he would immediately lost the two possible allies he met there. So, it was much more prudent to use the common clichés of the cold war era.

"The newspapers said that there were two other men with Tom Channing, who didn't die." Vincent continued. "Any sign of any substance on them?"

"One of them was completely mad." Bain explained. "He looked as somebody under the effect of heavy drugs. But the examinations on him didn't find anything. He was clean. After two hours he was in normal condition. Not even a headache was reported by him. We could not keep any of them, so he and his friend were released. The rest is in the newspapers."

"I'd like to talk to them." Vincent concluded.

"Well, if you come to them dressed like this, they'll not talk to you." Taylor smiled. Vincent was conservatively dressed. Dark blue suit and tie, white shirt, expensive shoes. "You better get some informal clothes."

"There are pictures of those guys in the newspapers, Vincent." Bain said. "We cannot give you their addresses. We already gave you a lot of important information for you to start your investigative research. Go after the clues and share with us what you get!"

"Ok, Thank you!" Vincent nodded and then shook hands with the two men. His work was just beginning.

It was around 05:30 PM, a pleasant summer afternoon. A group of young people was enjoying a live guitar performance on a street corner, the long haired man really could play well and the not so big audience was loving his solos. Colorful peace signs all around, people with flowers in their hairs, a perfect end of a sunny day.

Suddenly something disturbed the peace. One of the young men who was watching the performance started to cry and to beat the people around him. A woman who was with him, looked at his face and gently placed her hands on the man's arms to try to calm him down; but when she looked into his boyfriend's face she stood paralyzed in terror. The man's pupils were extremely dilated; the eyes that once were clear blue looked at that moment like black balls. He immediately removed her delicate hands from his arms, then violently pushed his girlfriend into the soil. The skinny and little blond woman laid on the floor, shocked, tears rolling down on her delicate face, blurring the flower she had painted on her cheek.

The out of control man struck the guitar player, who was almost knocked out with a punch in the face. The mad man then destroyed the microphone stand and took the rod of the bar, and wielded it as it if was a sword. He then started running as fast as he could, looking at all directions, as if he was trying to get away from something. Some of his friends ran after him, others stayed to help his shocked girlfriend. The guitar man got up and put a hand on his black eye, the punch was really strong and apart from the eye injury, he also got a big headache. The show was over.

Among the people who was running after the insane man, there was a couple which was not friend of that man. They were following him for different purposes.

The running man stopped by a busy avenue and started looking around, shouting non sense things. His friends finally reached him. "Stop Paul!" A long haired blond guy shouted. "Come with us. Jennifer is there, crying, waiting for you. What's wrong, man? You are ape! Stop that or we'll have heat here!"

"I have to kill the dragons!" The insane man shouted out loud. Then he looked at the avenue and saw a big bus coming. When the bus was close, he simply jumped in the middle of the avenue, pointed the rod in the direction of the bus and run in its direction, like a warrior running with its sword into a battle. The driver of bus honked and tried to stop, but it was hard to use the brakes in a bus full of passengers, the vehicle was not going too fast, but its speed was enough to severely injure a person in an accident. Direct impact, instant death.

A horrible scene for that sunny afternoon. A lifeless body of a young man lying in a pool of blood in front of a bus. The passengers got out and saw the horrible scene. The driver was desperate trying to explain he could not avoid that terrible accident. The friends of the dead were around, looking at his friend and speechless in tears.

With no doubts, a distressful occurrence. Sadness, despair in the air, the sound of sirens coming was mixing with sound of people crying and mourning.

Nobody paid attention to a couple who was quietly watching. They seemed not to be disturbed by that sad accident or all of the horror in the environment. They simply watched in silence, both of them expressionless.

"We are ready to start the Phase Two." The blond woman broke the silence.

"Yes." Nodded the tall man with a headband in his long dark brown hair.

The young couple silently sneaked out of there.

ACT II

David Vincent parked his car near the beaches area. This time he was wearing casual dress, a green sport shirt and dark grey casual slacks. Nothing special, but according to the Men's Fashion in the late 1960s.

He walked around the sidewalks. The streets were full of life, people in good mood, it seemed that the last events were not seeing as a threat, but more like unfortunate happenings. No alarm or panic among the people. Vincent for sure was aware of the danger that was in the horizon, but he had no clues yet. He still had a long way to go to find the truth.

He suddenly saw a bar with happy hippies inside it and decided to get in. Vincent was in his 30's, so some glances at him when he entered were obvious, but nobody disturbed him. He walked in and sit in the bar. A man with a black but not so long hair came to attend him.

"May I help you, sir?" The bar tender politely asked.

The man was tall and had a long black moustache that went down in the direction of the tip of the chin, almost like a goatee. Wearing simple jeans trousers and a white T-shirt with a huge peace symbol hand painted in the middle of it, he seemed to know most of the people who visited the bar, since everyone who entered saluted him. Just after he asked what Vincent wanted, a couple entered and a man saluted him. "Hi John!" The young man who just entered put two fingers up in a peace symbol and he returned the gesture.

"Deuce." John Campbell smiled to Vincent. "So, what do you want?"

"A beer." Vincent smiled too and lit a cigarette.

Campbell gave him an ashtray and went to get the beer, which he brought a few minutes later.

"You don't look like most of the customers here." Campbell stated. "Are you a cop or something?" He inquired.

"No." Vincent smiled and drunk a bit of his cold beer. "Your beer is good."

"Yes, I know. But, I'm sure you're not here just for my good beer."

"No." Vincent smiled again. He was trying to be as much likeable as he could. He was a polite man with the gift of good speech, so it was not so hard to him to break the ice in that conversation. "Actually, I'm doing an investigative research for a magazine. I'm a reporter."

"Are you writing something about the hippie culture? Flower power? Or what?"

"I'm researching about the guy who went crazy and died last week."

"That was a downer." He touched his moustache. "I knew Tom Channing. A Cool head!" He then stared at Vincent. "Y'know another guy died yesterday, don't you? People are saying he was hairy, y'know."

"What?" Vincent was not aware of some of the slangs.

"Out of control, man. The poor man who died yesterday was also out of control."

"Are these men using any kind of new drug?" Vincent seriously asked.

"Hey, you're a cop!" Campbell was not so friendly. "Listen, I don't want any trouble with the men. Ok? Please finish your beer and go."

"Ohh... come on. Easy, easy." Vincent smiled and gently put a ten Dollars bill next to the ashtray. "Reporters may leave generous tips."

Campbell smiled and took the bill. "You have a good face. I'm sure your work is pretty decent." He looked around, then spoke in a lower tone. "Cats are talking about a new pill or something."

"Cats?"

"The guys, man. The guys." Campbell impatiently raised a little his tone and then continued to spoke in whispers. "I've heard people talking about a kind of red ball pills that are heavy stuff! Two nights ago, I had to put a guy out of the bar. What a bummer. The cat was so crazy that could hardly walk. His friends took him away."

"Have he used the red ball pill?"

"I've heard them talking something about that, but I cannot tell you for sure. They bugged out, that's what matters!"

"Well. What about the friends of the guy who died, Tom Channing?"

"Bob and Matt?" Campbell promptly asked. "Ahh... I don't know them."

"But you mentioned their names." Vincent smiled.

"Their names were in the newspapers."

"Ok. Vincent showed another ten Dollars bill. I think I'm going to spend my time in another bar. Maybe I can gather different information in other places."

"Look." Campbell smiled again. "I thought a bit more and I was able to remember them."

"So?"

"The three of them used to come here. Sometimes other bars here in the vicinity. For sure, if you come here everyday by this time, eventually you'll meet them. Bob and Matt still often come here, at least two or three times per week."

"Thanks." Vincent smiled and put the nice tip beside the ashtray and stayed there finishing his beer.

Another stressing day in Christopher Bain's life. Paul Benton, the other guy who apparently went mad and died caused excessive work in the precinct. The legist was working hard and still no answers. The FBI arrived, with a lot of questions, but even them had no clue or no start point.

But he was at home, he had to leave the problems in the work. The dinner was in the table, his smiling and pleasant wife Barbara, was there and exceptionally in that night, his son Jeff was there too. A restless teenage; but even with the big generation clash, they have strong family relationship loops and they respected each other.

Sometime in the middle of the dinner, Bain started a difficult subject with his son. "Look, Jeff. I know that you and your friends don't like my profession or the police force. But I have to tell you something very important."

"Come on dad!" Jeff Bain was upset and was about to get up and leave the table.

"Ohh, Chris, please." Barbara Bain tried to calm things down.

"No, son, wait. Please wait." Chris Bain's tone was so serious that Barbara and Jeff stared at him in deep silence. It was evident that he had something very important to say and they were becoming anxious.

"We do believe that there is a kind of new drug around, which may be killing people."

The teenage frowned but didn't say any word.

"You surely knew of the man who died last week and the other one who died yesterday, hit by a bus. We believe they used the same substance."

"What's your point, dad? Be clear!"

"My point Jeff, is: Please do not try any drug that your friends may offer to you!"

"Are you calling my friends of drug addicted?"

"No, I'm not. Listen, I'm not saying that." Bain was also upset with the necessary talking, but he had to discuss that, even if it was not pleasant. He was afraid of seeing his own son in such poor conditions he saw the other victims. "I'm just telling you, please, do not try any substance. Please. There's something mortal in the streets."

"Can I finish my food?"

The family finished their dinner. The mood was a bit heavy, no more talking, no jokes; but Christopher Bain felt a bit relieved of having talked to his son. He knew, as a father, he had to have that conversation, even if it was a heavy subject. He could not know if his son would listen to him or not, but in his heart, he knew he had to alert him.

He sat to watch some TV after dinner, but his mind was not paying any attention to the TV programs. Four people dead, similar conditions. A new drug? Chemical warfare? That mysterious man, David Vincent. How could he know about the cerebral hemorrhage of the witness of the first case? Did he know more than what he was talking? Too many open questions in his mind.

David Vincent had been going for three consecutive nights to the same bar. Campbell, the bar tender even started to become his friend.

Two guys entered, saluted the bar tender and sat in a table next to the window.

Campbell turned to Vincent and discreetly pointed the guys who had just arrived. "The guys you're looking for arrived. That blond and the dark haired, in that table by the window. Good luck."

Vincent walked in the direction of the table and started talking to the two young men, who looked at him with suspicion. He introduced himself as an investigative reporter and asked the permission to sit with them.

"This is a free country, man." Yes, ok. Have a seat!" The blond man said and pointed a place on the table.

"May I pay a drink for you?"

"A beer for me." Atkins promptly smiled.

"For me too." Ward continued.

"Ok." Vincent smiled. "Hey, John." He called the bar tender. Three beers here, please.

"We told everything we knew to the Police and to the other reporters, Atkins stated. What else would you like to know, Dave?"

"Have you talked about all details?" Vincent inquired. "All of them?"

"Yeah, sure." Ward calmly answered. He was almost laughing on the conversation. He was not taking Vincent's words seriously, he was seeing that as a joke or a kid's play.

"What about the red ball pills?" Vincent finally asked.

Ward choked on the beer he was drinking and then stared at his friend's eyes. How could that man know about the pills, was the evident question in both men's faces.

"Well, well." Vincent smiled. "You know, I know; so no need for lies. Ok? Can we have a more serious conversation now?"

"You're a cop, right?" Atkins was very nervous and rubbed his long dark hair. "We have our rights, I know. We need to call a lawyer."

"Wait. Calm down." Vincent calmly spoke. "I'm not a cop. I'm Just looking for the truth. Ok? I know a friend of yours had a horrible death and I do believe you don't want to see others dying that way too. Right?"

"What are you talking about?" Ward asked.

"The thing that killed your friend." Vincent continued. "There are really bad people behind that. People that kill for nothing. People that will not stop until many people get hurt."

"You're not so clear yet, man." Atkins frowned.

"You and your generation, your friends; you all talk about peace, love. You are against the war and violence. Right?"

"Yes." Both answered at the same time.

"Then I tell you that there are very bad people trying to bring the war into our homes. People who intend to kill millions with no mercy. These red pills are just the beginning of something bigger. If you really care about people. Please help me knowing the truth."

The two friends looked at each other. "Tom was a brother for me, Bob." Atkins said. I don't want to see other dying like him. "Ok, Dave." He looked at Vincent's face. "I tried the red pill once."

Vincent now knew that he was going in the right direction. The two friends trusted him and he would be able to collect very important information. 'When that happened?"

"The day that Tom died". Atkins continued. "Some friends of him brought that stuff. I don't remember what happened in that night. I remember swallowing the pill and then waking up in the police department. Someone then told me that Tom had died."

"Have you used it too?" Vincent asked to Ward.

"No. Tom hit me and my pill fell in the ground. Then with all that confusion, I forgot about it."

"And you were mesmerized by the girl, weren't you?" Atkins joked.

"Oh, boy. What a dream!"

"What girl?" Vincent asked.

"I don't know. She was a friend of Tom. Actually she arrived with a big guy, who was the one who sold the pills."

"Do you know their names?" Vincent wanted more details.

"I don't remember." Atkins Said.

"Jane!" Ward Said. "That was the name of the fox. Jane. I still remember she touching my face. Her hand was so nice. Her touch was so gentle, so warm, her fingers were so delicate that she didn't even touched her little finger on my cheek.

"Was the little fingers hardened in her hands?" Vincent knew that was an easy way to recognize an alien.

"What?" Ward asked in surprise.

"Did that woman had any kind of deformity in her hands? What about the man?"

"Look, Dave." Ward continued. "She was perfect. And I haven't paid too much attention to that guy."

"Well, Ok." Vincent continued. But can you recognize them if you see them again?

"Yes sure." Both of them answered together again. "They used to be around every night." Atkins continued. 'But I don't see them for a while."

"Could you try to introduce me to them?" Vincent asked.

"If what you're saying is true." Atkins said. "That Guy is a badass and I don't want to see more people injured or dead. I'll show you them, but I don't want to talk to him or to that girl anymore."

"I want!" Ward passionately smiled. "Free love with her is a sweet dream."

Vincent and the two other men left the bar and started walking around the places where the hippies enjoyed to gather, simply sightseeing the scenery. Once again the weather was nice and there were people dressed in clothing with embroidered flowers and vibrant colors enjoying life everywhere. Flower Power at its maximum expression. In his mind, Vincent was trying to figure out, why the Invaders chose that ideology of non-violence as their target. Time was running out and he knew that the aliens never rested, at that moment, their plans were going ahead.

"Hey!" After some time walking, finally Atkins called Vincent. "There!" He point at a long dark brown haired man wearing a black leather jacket. The man was talking to a group of 5 people, three women, two men, but he was not accompanied by his girlfriend. "That's the square you're looking for. But the skirt is not with him."

"Are you interested in his pills, brother?" Ward asked Vincent.

"No. For sure not." He frowned. "And believe me. Stay away from that thing. It's dangerous, it's lethal. It can kill. That man and his girlfriend are evil. Don't get close to them anymore, for your own safe."

"Man, you haven't seen her." Ward protested. "If you had seen that fox, you'd understand. She was fab! That face, she's fairy. She's not from this world." Ward had turned away from Vincent and Atkins for a moment. While the group was walking around, he met with some others friends of him, with whom he smoked some marijuana. Some time later, when he met his friend Atkins and Vincent again, he was obviously delusional.

Vincent stared at him in disapproval. Although he was a polite man, sometimes, when he got really angry, he used to lose his temper and to become a bit rude "Basically that. She is not from this world. She is far from being a fairy. She is an alien!"

"A What?" Ward laughed out loud. "Man, I had a toke. But you for sure is gone. You're freaking out."

"Shut up." Vincent lost his patience. "Just stay away from them!"

"What are you going to do?" Atkins finally said something.

"I'll follow him. Thank you for your help. The best thing you can do now is go away with your friend. This thing may become real danger and you and your happy friend will not enjoy to get hurt."

"Hang loose, man." Atkins spoke raising his both hands, palms turned in the direction of Vincent. "Me and my brother will beat feat. Don't get unglued on us."

"Ok, ok." Vincent excused. "I'm sorry. Thank you again, but please go." As it was usual in his temper, when Vincent identified the alien threat, he focused on it and didn't waste time with other things, that he considered less important at the moment, that habit made sometimes, people seeing him as a rude man, but those same people have no idea that man not politically correct, was in fact fighting a lonely war against a hidden alien enemy, to save the planet. Yes, a simple man, like you and me, no super hero, no super powers, just a man who cared about people, about life. Altruism could well define David Vincent.

Atkins and Ward said goodbye and went away. Vincent remained in that street corner, watching the alien invader friendly talking to that group of people, a wolf in sheep's clothing looking for the next prey.

"Hey brother." Ward stopped and grabbed Atkins's arm. The two friends had walked away and were distant from Vincent, who was busy, watching the invader actions. "That Vincent is ape, man. Let's see what's he's going to do. Aren't you curious?" Ward was an intelligent man, but also much crazier than his friend Atkins. He obviously was intrigued with Vincent and he hadn't forgotten yet, what had happened to his late friend, Tom Channing.

"Come on, man!" Atkins hesitated.

"Let's see what he's gonna do. His talking about Martians, the death of Tom. Everything is insane. Why is he interested in that man who sold us the stuff?"

"Ok, Right on." Atkins agreed and they started watching Vincent from the distance.

Since Vincent noticed that the invader was going to keep on talking for a while, he decided to take a chance and to go, to get his car. Obviously the alien was not going to stand there forever and when he decided to go, Vincent would probably need a car to follow him. So he left the place in a hurry, got his car and returned. He was lucky, because the alien was still there in a happy talking with that group of flower children.

Vincent parked his blue car, not so far from the group, a place where he could keep an eye on the alien movements. He kept the white fabric convertible top of his car closed so that would give him a better cover, while watching the alien in secret. He noticed when apparently the alien was saying good bye to the group of smiling hippies. The tall long haired man walked along in the sidewalk, Vincent was following that black leather jacket. Mike Lanegan stopped by a red Ford Mustang GT Fastback, got inside it, started the powerful V8 engine and went away. Vincent started the engine of his Galaxie 500 and followed the alien's car.

Lanegan drove for around 15 minutes and parked in front of an old building. The place was dirty and it looked empty for a very long time; in its entrance gate, a yellow sign with big red letters displayed "commercial space for rent" and a telephone number. Lanegan took a key out of his pocket and opened a padlock that tied a chain that kept the wire braiding gate closed. He silently entered the property and then locked again the padlock. He walked a few meters in the deserted area until he reached a door in the building and entered it.

Vincent passed the alien's car and parked one block ahead. He started looking around, trying to find a way to jump over the two meters height wire braiding fence. He looked around; nobody in those deserted street. It was getting late and the last rays of the sun were announcing the end of a sunny and warm day. Vincent firmly grabbed in the fence and started climbing it. When he reached the top, he put his body on the other side and went down, finding a position that allowed him to jump without hurting his legs. Once inside the property, he silently run towards the walls of the building, to take cover and to find a safe way to get inside. Sneak walking, he finally found a broken window that could be opened from the outside. He opened it and entered the dark building.

All dirty and stinking mold. Vincent had to be very careful not to make any noise. He guessed that invader was surely going to meet some fellow aliens in that desolated place, so all his senses had to be very accurate at that moment, any false movement and he knew he would be killed by the aliens. Walking in the dark, he finally saw some signs of light at the bottom part of a closed door. He silently knelt by the door and tried to look through the key hole. The other side was a large warehouse, but differently from the whole place, it was well illuminated and it was clean. He saw some men dressed in blue overalls walking around. Yes, definitively the invaders were there, but then the question, what were they doing? Vincent had to find out, he needed to manage to get inside the warehouse.

He walked around and found a corridor that ended in a stairway. He walked though it and ended in the first floor. A large corridor with many offices, all empty, all dirty and abandoned, but Vincent was luck. All of them had windows that allowed a sight of the entire warehouse. A privileged sight, probably management offices of that commercial building. Silently he crouched and looked down at the place. Two green Dodge Vans were parked there, one of them had a white sign with big blue letters showing 'Richards' Diner'.

The expressionless men dressed in blue overalls were carrying boxes into the two vans. Apparently they were going to leave that place.

"These are the last boxes." Coldly spoke a tall blonde man.

"Very good." Lanegan nodded. "I will remove all my equipment from my current apartment. We are about to start Phase Two. Everything will be concentrated at the Station Number One. All non essential personnel can leave the area and report to our Central Command." The difference in the appearance of those men was impressive. One wearing a red headband in his dark long hair, black leather jacket, bell bottom jeans; the other one, with a conservative haircut, wearing blue overalls and white tennis. Just one thing in common, both had cold eyes and their faces depicted no expression.

Vincent was not able to hear their talking, but he had seen enough. He had to leave the place and look for help. He had to bring the authorities there. So, he left the place in a hurry; but in his despair to escape, he made a little mistake, when he was about to jump back the window that gave him access to the building, he hit his leg on a table and a box with some junk metal parts fell in the floor causing some noise. Two aliens heard the noise and entered the dark offices of the place to check what was that.

The night gave Vincent some cover to run through the property, jumping again the wire fence and returning to his car. No time to loose, he had to warn his friend in the police.

One of the aliens entered the room were the box fell and he saw the box in the floor and all that junk spread around, but he noticed the open window and ran to it. The alien looked around and saw a man running in the direction of a blue Convertible Galaxie 500. It was impossible to fire at that man, but he was going to alert the other aliens, that somebody was spying them.

ACT III

Another sunny day beginning, people going to work, kids going to school, another typical week day.

Michael Foster was waiting for his breakfast and a smiling waitress was serving him.

"Sugar for your coffee, sir?" Asked the young and beautiful blond woman, elegantly dressed, with a light blue mini skirt and a white shirt.

"Yes, please." The business middle aged man answered. He was drinking his coffee and reading some newspapers, before going to his work. Foster was going to have an important meeting in that morning, one of the many he used to have in his very busy life. But, something was going to be sadly different in that sunny forenoon. He dropped the newspaper in the floor, left his unfinished coffee over the table and haven't even waited for his food. He got up, walking in silence, just looking ahead. The long haired waitress simply watched and let him go. He had not paid, but the tall and thin woman didn't care, her cold blue eyes were just carefully observing the man's movements.

Foster entered his black Lincoln Continental and went away. Looking just ahead, he started going faster and faster. He passed in very high speed by a police car, which immediately followed him with the sirens on. Foster ignored the police and continued driving like an insane.

Naturally the police officers asked for reinforcement, since that was a potentially dangerous situation. Based on the Foster's car trajectory, two police cars prepared a barricade. Two more cars arrived then and the officers started warning people to leave the area. The situation there was under control, four officers in the road, behind them, there were two Police cars parked in transversal in the middle of the road; the remaining force was keeping the curious crowd at a safe distance. They saw the black Lincoln Continental coming fast in the distance and then the police men started to wave their hands, gesturing for the driver to slow down.

Foster saw the barricade, but for no known reason, instead of reducing the speed, he pressed down hard and fast on the accelerator of his car. His face was pale and with no expression. No fear, no anger, no pain, nothing. He was not sweating, his head didn't move to any side and his eyes were fixed ahead. His pupil was much dilated, but his eye still looked like a human eye.

When the police men realized that the car was not going to stop, they jumped as fast as they could to save their lives. The Lincoln Continental violently hit the two Police Ford LTD's. A massive destruction, no chance of survival. Luckily the police officers managed to escape, but there was nothing to do for poor Michael Foster. His bloody dead body was in the wreckage of the three cars.

"What was that?" Said a surprised police officer to his partners.

"It's insane. My guess, I think that guy wanted to commit suicide. He didn't try to run, he simply wanted to hit us."

More and more curious people started to gather. The horrible accident changed the scenery in that morning.

A few hours after that fatal car accident, a man hiding his motorbike, suddenly left the road and went in the direction of a pier. He didn't care about people in his way. Men, women, children, all had to get out of his way not to be ran over. Nobody got hurt, but he entered his bike a few meters inside the pier and then he stopped it. He remained frozen as a statue, looking ahead and only accelerating and decelerating the powerful engine of his bike. Some people tried to get closer and tried to talk to him.

"Hey, man. What are you doing? Stop this, you can hurt someone!"

No answer was given. More people were approaching.

"Look at his eyes!" Said a woman who looked at the motorcyclist's face. "He seems to be in trance. Look his pupils, they are so big!"

Suddenly and with no warning, the motorbike went extremely fast, full acceleration. The problem was that it was going in a straight line towards the end of the pier. Desperate people started to cry for the man to stop, but he went faster and faster. The huge motorbike hit the rail at the end of the pier, destroying it. The bike and his rider flew in the direction of the sea and when they hit the water, both sank in a few seconds. People accumulated in the rail looking down and trying to see a possible survivor. The rider didn't swim into the surface, he disappeared with his bike and the scared crowd noticed that the poor man died there.

When the police arrived, all witness started to talk about the suicidal rider, as they called the dead man.

Bob Smith was driving his truck on a highway through the Santa Monica Mountains. Earlier before heading to the highway, he had stopped by a diner and ordered a sandwich and coffee to go. He calmly drank a bit of his coffee, while driving. Smith was an experienced driver and he rode that way many times in his life, but he never got tired of the incredible beauty of the scenery, that idyllic landscape. A few minutes after he drank the first sip of his coffee, he stopped drinking and started looking ahead and accelerating his truck. A big road sign warned of sharp curves ahead, but he didn't pay attention and passed fast through the sign.

Another sign alerted of a curve ahead to the right. Smith didn't care and continued his way. His truck plunged off a cliff in the Mountain and flipped a few times down the side of the mountain. A third fatal accident in that sunny summer morning.

Paul Irons, a 19 years old student was having his breakfast before going to the college. Suddenly he stopped eating and got up, leaving his college bag in the bench. He quietly left the small diner and started running as fast as he could, he was a strong young man, who used to play football, so he went away really fast.

Irons reached his college 15 minutes later. Although he had run for a long distance he was not puffy. When he arrived, some of his friends saw him arriving that fast and came to salute him. He was showing that he was in very good shape. When one of them extended an arm to shake hands, he was punched in the nose by Irons and felt on the ground with a bloody broken nose. Another of his friends tried then to calm him down and received a direct punch on the chin and fell unconscious. Other students saw the scene of violence and came to help and to make peace. When other young men and women approached, Irons became more violent and started started hitting everyone. His pupils were very dilated and his face had no expression. Since he was a strong young man, it was hard for people to hold him. Even two teachers came, but they were not able to control that mad man. Finally someone called the Police and when the Police Ford LTD parked two officers got out and came in a hurry to help to hold the insane man.

After more of 15 minutes of fight, finally the police officers were able to immobilize Irons with the help of other students. Irons was still struggling to get free but suddenly he fully stopped. His eyes stared at nothing, his arms lost all the power and his whole body collapsed. The officers were still holding his arms when they noticed that the young man stopped breathing. He closed his eyes, but trickles of blood started coming out of his ears. An ambulance came quickly, but the doctors were not able to do anything. Paul Irons had died.

Once again, a silent tall and thin blond young woman had closely paid attention to that scene. She went to the door of the small diner and observed the young man running in the sidewalk. When she lost him from sight, she entered the place again, went to the table where the man was seated, silently took his college bag and brought it to a room out of the cafe lounge. Another silent man, very well dressed as a waiter, quickly cleaned the table. The dark haired, tall and thin man, worked fast, despite the fact that he had a small deformity in his hands, his little fingers were straightened. There were more people in the cafe, but all were entertained, some talking to each other, other reading magazines and newspapers while having their breakfast, that nobody really paid any attention to what was happening. After cleaning the table, the silent waiter did just one unusual thing. There was a small container with sugar, which was still full. He changed it for another one. The services went on normally in the rest of that hot morning.

It was noon and the Richards' Diner had a few people having lunch there. The attendant was very pleasant with all customers, always smiling, very polite and serving people with high professionalism, which was granting him some fat tips.

A fair haired medium height man was in the cashier. Jane Richards next to him, observing the movement inside the cafe. Suddenly both of them stared at each other, speechless and emotionless. The blonde woman simply nodded, then she left the lounge, going to a backroom. She unlocked a door and went into a place that looked like a laboratory. She turned on the lights and locked again the door. The room was not large, but in a wall there were some metal boxes, which looked like regular tool boxes, all in blue and well locked; well organized, stored one over the other. In another wall, there was a work bench with strange laboratory equipment over it. Electronic equipment that didn't look like any thing that the human technology of the years 1960's had available, beakers, probes and a keyboard that had no characters, but strange symbols and had no wires connected to it. In front of it, a 30 cm metal rod ended in a metal hoop, 50 cm in diameter, which had at its center a metal square frame, which was connected to the hoop through stems in its four vertices. Richards stopped by a wall that that an empty small table in front of it, with three small yellow buttons and a big red button, all in line in the middle of the table. Coming from the roof, a dark metal rod ended in a 15 centimeter metal sphere

Richards pressed one of the small yellow buttons and a faint red light, radiated by the metal sphere, illuminated her pale and beautiful face.

"Phase Two was successful." Her cold blue eyes reflected the red light of the strange sphere, while she continued to report her activities to her alien leaders. The device she was using was a long range communicator. "The four subjects we tested this morning reacted as planned. The humans are investigating the deaths, but they have no clues yet on what is going on. The local police force called reinforcement from their federal police force, but they are still far from understanding what is happening. I recommend to immediately start Phase Three. I will wait further instructions." After finishing her report, she pressed another yellow button in that table and the red light went off.

She left the room and returned to the lounge. She went to lounge and started happily and friendly talking to some customers. It was really impressive the mood transformation. Before entering the lounge area, her face was expressionless, then suddenly her thin face had a very beautiful smile and her blue eyes were full of life. She seemed a very pleasant and respectful person to all the customers of that place.

Things were very tumultuous in the precinct. Two probable suicides, one fatal accident and the occurrence with the student.

"Did you find anything unusual in this guy, Alfred?" Asked Bain in the morgue, next to the dead body of the student, Paul Irons.

"Well his appearance was normal, despite the blood in the ears." Taylor started. "But…. but…." Taylor removed his glasses, cleaned the lenses then put back in his face and continued. "Be prepared to see this." He removed the upper part of the poor man's skull to show his brain.

"Oh my!" Bain was shocked. The brain of the dead man was dry and shrunken like a rotten fruit. The conditions were much worse than the brains of the people who had died one week before. "What is that? Is the same thing that killed the hippies?"

"Probably." Taylor nodded, but this seems to be even stronger.

"Any signs of drugs?"

"I still need to run some tests, but nothing until the moment. This guy was a healthy and strong man, whose brain literally fried."

"What did the federals say?"

"Nothing. They were here with me all day long, they did the autopsy with me, took pictures, spent some time in the phone with their superiors, but didn't tell me anything. Personally, I believe they know as much as us."

"Nothing." Bain frowned.

"Yes." Taylor nodded with disappointment in his voice. "Nothing."

Vincent waited for almost two hours when finally officer Bain came to talk to him at the end of the day.

"Officer Bain." Vincent impatiently called, when he saw the police man arriving in the office.

"Vincent!" Bain came to him vey upset and pointed a finger on Vincent's face. "What do you want here now? I'm very busy and I have no time for your stories. Get out of my sight or I promise I'll put you in a jail until the end of this investigation!"

"We don't have time for that!" Vincent assertively answered.

"Are you trying to make fun on me?" Bain came very close to Vincent in an intimidating way.

"You know I'm not! I gave you an address. They were there."

"They? They?" Bain shouted. "Who are they, Vincent? Huh? Who are they?"

While Bain was nervously discussing with Vincent, both men didn't realize that a silent police officer was having a cup of coffee, discreetly listening to their quarrel.

Vincent was surprised with Bain's words. What was wrong? He saw the place, he immediately called Bain when he saw the Invaders there. What was wrong?

"We sent some people there today in the morning!" Bain continued. "Do you know what we found? Nothing, only dust and dirt!"

"I called you yesterday night!" Vincent was also upset.

"Don't raise your tone on me! Our personnel checked the whole place and it was not used by anyone for years!"

Vincent remained quiet and thoughtful. He knew the aliens and he knew they were able to quickly remove any evidence of their presence, when they realize they were discovered. He remembered he caused a big noise when he was leaving the building in that previous night and he deeply lamented in his soul. A small mistake alerted the invaders. He returned to the start point. He had to think on something really fast, he was about to lose the help he had inside the Police department.

"Look." Vincent tried then to argue. "What about the vans I saw. That name on their walls, 'Richards' Diner'?

"Go and find yourself!" Bain impolitely pointed the exit door. "Get out of here and don't come back. We do have more to do and I don't have any time to waste with you, sir. Please, leave!"

Frustrated, angry; David Vincent left the precinct and entered in his Galaxie 500. He opened the fabric convertible top of his car, lit a cigarette and then started the engine of his car. He was going to drive around to look for more clues. He was going to try to find that cafe or to find that long haired invader or even try to get any new information with Ward and Atkins. Time was running fast.

After finishing his cup of cup, the police officer who was watching Vincent and Bain's discussion, went to the garage of the building. He went to a corner that was deserted; then he looked around and realized that there were no one near him.

He took an egg shaped device out of his pocket. When he placed it near his mouth, he pressed a button on the side part of it and then he started to speak. The strange device had one flat face, which had five lights positioned in a pentagon and while the police officer spoke, the lights synchronized flashed to his voice. "David Vincent is in town." The dark haired man spoke. "He spoke with a Police Officer called Christopher Bain. Take all precautions!"

It was almost eight PM, Vincent had been driving for hours. He was tired and nervous and had found nothing. He was not the kind of man who easily gave up, but he was a simple human being, who needed to rest, to eat, to sleep. So, he had to give himself a pause in his solitary fight against the alien invaders, so he drove back to his hotel. That had been a hard day and the next day would not be different, so he needed some good rest.

Vincent woke up early, had a quick breakfast and went away in his search for any signs of invaders activities. He was a man that never gave up and he used to fight until his last forces, so he would continue to look for any new clue.

In an unexpected stroke of luck, Vincent saw a nice small restaurant, its walls painted in white and just above the main entrance door, a white sign with big blue letters: 'Richards' Diner'. He was surprised. "God." He thought. "That is the sign I saw in that building!" He parked his Ford Galaxie not far from the place and when he was about to get out of his car, he saw from the mirror of his car, when a long haired man, wearing a black letter jacket left the place and walked towards a red Ford Mustang. That was the alien he saw in the previous night in that abandoned building. Instead of leaving his car, Vincent decided to follow the alien's car.

After driving for some kilometers, the Mustang entered the parking lot of some apartments. Mike Lanegan got out, locked his car and walked towards his place. He went up a stairway and then entered his apartment. Vincent carefully followed him and saw when the alien closed the apartment's door.

With no time to lose, Vincent found a public telephone near the apartments and without deviating his eyes from the parked red Mustang, he called the police and asked for Officer Bain. Vincent was taking chances, he kept his eye only in the car, but if the invader ran away from another direction, he would be in trouble with the police, but he had to try.

Vincent was able to talk to Bain. The two men had a hot discussion on the phone.

"Look Vincent, if you make me waste my time with your useless clues again, I swear I'll personally put you in jail. You'll come with me in the back seat of my car!"

"Yes, Ok! You can do whatever you want with me! I'll be here waiting for you. Just come right now!" Vincent was nervous and impatient, so he totally lost his temper. For sure, Vincent was a man with a big heart, but when he was chasing the aliens, he focused only on that and he had a tendency to become a bit rude, when he realized he was wasting precious time with discussions trying to convince people. He knew that one minute could mean the difference between catching an alien or to be ridiculed by people, as a man that never could prove what he said.

Since Bain was desperate trying to solve that case, he decided to believe in Vincent one more time. He was going with a mate to the address Vincent gave him.

A Police Ford LTD parked just ahead of the red Mustang, two officers got out of the vehicle and Vincent came to meet them.

"Well, Vincent. The car you mentioned is really here. Ok. Where's the man you mentioned?" Bain pointed to the parked Mustang.

"Come, I'll show you."

"No! You stay here! Just tell what's the apartment number and we go!" That was a police verification, so Bain would for sure not allow Vincent to come with them. If the man they were going to check was dangerous, they could not take chances with an innocent.

Vincent was upset, but he informed the apartment's number. Bain went to the emergency stair; the other officer went through the main stair up to the second floor. He knocked the door and waited.

The alien had already cleaned all his apartment. He had got rid of things that he was not going to use. All important items were in a metal suitcase. When he heard someone knocking at the door, initially he took his disintegrator, an alien hand gun capable of vaporizing anything in a few seconds, then he went to see through the door viewer sight clear glass. If it was a hippie looking for him to buy any drugs, he would invite the poor victim to get inside the apartment and would vaporize the person, leaving no clues. But when he saw that there was a police man, he knew it was not going to be that easy. If a police man disappeared, there would be undesired suspicion, that could at that moment, implicate their operation. He put the disintegrator inside the suitcase and went to open the door.

A long haired tall man opened the door, with a big smile in his face.

"Good morning officer!" Lanegan politely spoke. "May I help you?"

The officer thought that attitude a bit strange. Usually the hippies didn't like very much the police.

"We received a call, stating that someone could be selling illegal drugs in this area. Do you know something about?" The officer spoke with a severe tone, while looking all around the main room of Lanegan's apartment. "Would you mind if we take a look at your apartment?"

"Of course not." Lanegan smiled with his hands up. "Am I arrested?" he joked.

"Not yet, sir."

"Do you mind if I smoke?"

"Go ahead." The officer for safety put his hand on the grip of his gun, a warning to that man that he was ready to use it if necessary.

Lanegan slowly opened his black leather jacket, showing that he had no gun. Then he slowly put his hand right in a pocket in the inner part of the jacket and took out a small jewel.

"Ohh, see how beautiful this jewel is." Lanegan continued smiling and showed to the officer something that looked like two diamonds connected to each other through their culets. Both of them had the same depth and in each table there was a kind of small and thing button. While showing that strange jewel to the officer, the alien gently pressed the buttons in the opposite tables of that device and then it started rotating around its own longitudinal axis, emitting a kind of hypnotic light.

"Very well, officer." Lanegan calmly and coldly spoke, but the smile totally disappeared of his face. "Take your gun, officer. You for sure are waiting your mate, aren't you?"

The officer simply nodded, totally hypnotized by that strange light.

"You will now call your mate, when he arrives you will kill him and then you will put this gun in your own head and then will shot again. Very easy."

Vincent was watching from the street, all the movement in the entrance door of the apartment. That was a building with a single corridor, a hallway with rooms on one side only, with view to the street. He couldn't hear anything but he noticed when the officer slowly got out with a hand gun in his hand, walking with robotic steps and calling for his mate. Vincent knew something was wrong, he knew the invaders methods, so he ran to the main stairs as fast as he could.

Lanegan was locking the apartment's door when Vincent arrived to the floor.

"Noooooooo!" Vincent shouted and jumped on the alien like a tiger jumping on its prey. The hypnotized officer was not so far yet, since he was very slowly walking. The two fighting men were projected over him, who fell unconscious in the floor. His gun laid in the hallway floor a few centimeters from him.

The violent struggle continued with punches from both sides, but Lanegan managed to get his metal briefcase from the floor and struck Vincent, who lost his balance and fell. Lanegan then in a rapid movement tried to reach the officer's pistol in the floor, but before he had success, Bain arrived and pointed his pistol at the alien. "Stop where you are! Put your hands up and don't do any stupid movement!"

The alien stood frozen. He was in the aim of the coming officer, but he knew he could not be captured. While Bain cautiously approached, Vincent recovered and stood up. Having nothing to lose, Lanegan jumped to reach for the gun in the floor, but Bain was quicker and shot the alien.

Lanegan started glowing red and collapsed in the floor, still holding his suitcase. In a few seconds the alien and his suitcase vaporized leaving only a few gray dust on the floor. No more clues, no more evidences, no more suspects. All vanished.

"What was that?" Bain was awestruck.

"That's what it's all about." Vincent calmly answered. "Aliens! Aliens from another world, Officer Bain. That was the information I knew, but at that time I could not tell you. If I told you that in the beginning, with no evidences, you would treat me like an insane."

"What…..what do these creatures want?"

"Nothing good. To summarize: our destruction! All those deaths are probably part of a bigger experiment. Unfortunately we lost an important clue here!"

Bain knelt near his mate and verified that he was still alive, although unconscious.

"He'll be fine." Vincent explained. "He had been hypnotized. I don't know what the alien commanded him to do, but he'll be ok, although he'll probably not remember what happened here."

"With the death of this thing, we returned to the starting point." Bain lamented.

"No." Vincent assertively said. "Not yet! Before coming here, He visited that diner I told you about. Help your friend and let's go there. I'll show you the way.

Vincent and Bain helped the stunned officer to find the way to the Police car and left the place. There was nothing more to do there. They had to go to the Richards' Diner to get more answers.

ACT IV

The Police Ford LTD stopped in front of the Richards' Diner, Vincent parked his car just beside it. There was just one car parked in front of the place, a light gray Lincoln Continental. Both men got out of their cars and walked towards the entrance door.

The place was an original style diner, like any other in the United States in the late sixties; narrow and elongated, white walls with two large red stripes coming from one end to the other in each wall, big glass windows with dark red brown curtains, very friendly environment. Next to the entrance door, a big sign indicated that the place was open.

Vincent and Bain didn't notice, but they had been followed. Not far from the diner, a Volkswagen Kombi bus painted with flowers all around and a big peace symbol in front of it, in the place where the VW logo should be, parked one block before the diner.

The two men got inside the diner. The place was nice, very well varnished wooden tables in one side and a long service counter in the other side, having floor-mounted stools for the customers in front of it and a preparation area against the back wall, the floor had black and white chess tiles, a dark haired well dressed man was in the working area, waiting for customers. It was around 3:30 PM and the place was not full, in one table, two men wearing dark suits and black ties were having a coffee.

When Vincent and Bain entered, a beautiful blond woman smiled to them and greeted them.

"A table for two, gentlemen?"

"Yes, please." Vincent politely answered.

"Please, follow me." She said with a very friendly smile and went in front of the two men, who didn't notice, that the woman discreetly crossed look to the man in the service counter. "What will you want?" She asked when the two men seated in a table by a window.

"Black coffee for me." Vincent said.

"For me too." Bain followed.

"All right. Two coffees. I'll be right back.

The woman went to the service counter area and silently the man who was working there, turned off the open sign in the entrance of the place.

"What are the next steps, Vincent?" Bain nervously asked.

"Let's try to ask, see what they say." Vincent frowned. "We don't know yet if the place is owned by aliens or if there are aliens infiltrated in a human business. We cannot harm innocent people."

"Yes. And we need more evidences before asking reinforcement. I'm not liking this situation."

Some minutes later, the blond woman returned, with a tray with two coffee cups and broke off the conversation.

"Your coffees." She served them with a big smile, then pushed a chair from another table and sat in the head of the table. "I don't think you came here because of our strong coffee, right, Mister Vincent?" After asking that, her smile simply vanished from her face and she coldly stared at him.

Bain tried to draw his gun, but Vincent stopped him. "No, don't! Look!" He pointed to the man in the service counter who was already pointing at them a strange shaped gun.

"You're crazy, Vincent? That guy is pointing a toy!" Bain thundered and put his hand on his gun.

"No!" Vincent shouted. "That thing can vaporize you in a few seconds! They got us!"

"Mister Vincent knows us for a very long time." Jane Richards, the blond woman calmly said. "As you humans say, he is a troublemaker and he is always causing big problems to our people."

"I'll never rest until I destroy all of you or until I kick you back to your own world!" Vincent was never afraid of the aliens, even when he was in a very bad position, like this, captured and with a disintegrator pointed at him and his friend.

"Do you see, Officer Bain?" She asked with a daunting coldness. "He does not like us. Now, please give me your gun."

Bain uneasily gave his gun to Richards. "How do you know we would arrive?"

"We are everywhere." She answered. "We were alerted that Vincent was gossiping, that he was talking to you and to the legist. You may try to figure out. We are in the middle of a big operation, so we are closely watching what your department is doing, which kind of information can be relayed to the FBI at the moment. All those things. Everything was going on schedule until Mister Vincent appeared and we had to take extra precaution."

"Well, you are at least right to be afraid of me!" Vincent tried a nervous joke.

"Not anymore, Vincent." She sardonically smiled.

The two men in dark suits got up and walked towards the table where Bain and Vincent were talking to Richards. They stood after her, one on each side of her chair, both with expressionless faces and both drew their snubnose revolvers. She gave Bain's gun to one of them, who put it inside a pocket of his suit.

"Mike Lanegan should have already arrived. He's two hours late." The alien woman continued coldly speaking. "I assume something happened to him. He's not the type of professional who gets late. Maybe you know what happened to him, right, Mr. Vincent? Would you mind to tell me?"

"Go to hell!" Vincent gruffly replied. "You can meet him there!"

"Hmmm." Richards expressed a cold and cynical smile. "That's the way you humans say, when you kill someone you hate. You are very predictable creatures." She continued. "Always full of anger and hate." Then she turned to the man behind the working area. "John. Go with Lance to the apartment of Mike and check if nothing was left there. It's better to remove his car from there too."

The two aliens left the place, leaving the prisoners. They got in their Continental and drove away. Inside the diner, Vincent and Bain were still in the hands of the aliens; two simple men fighting by themselves an unknown and silent war against a hidden enemy to save a whole planet, but in that little moment, they were in a desperate effort to find a way to save their own lives. To keep on talking and getting some extra time, could give a chance for an opportunity. They had to try anything.

"So, what's the big plan now?" Vincent asked with some irony in his tone. "Are you becoming drug dealers now? Will you compete against the mob or are you doing business with them?"

"Mr. Vincent, Mr. Vincent." Jane Richards for a short minute expressed a beautiful smile in her delicate face, then she became expressionless again. "In all this time I've been living in this planet, I learned some of your emotions. So, I can say I have some sense of humor. Do you really think this operation is only to sell drugs to your crazy young people?" She stared at him. "Well, I never understood why your species like to destroy themselves with drugs. In fact, our people don't understand such self destructive behavior of your people. Anyway, we don't care!"

"So, what's all about?" Vincent continued to speak with asperity and Richards remained quietly staring at him. "You're going to kill us anyway. So, what's wrong in tell us?

"You got a point here, Mr. Vincent." She smiled again. Someone who looked at that beautiful face, would never imagine that woman was a cold and lethal alien, ready to kill any human being with no mercy. "I'm going to tell you. The drug you mentioned was just an experiment, the first stage of a bigger project."

Vincent frowned and Bain became more afraid. "A bigger project?" What do you mean?

"We developed a substance, a drug if you prefer, that triggers a self destruction mechanism in your species." She coldly started to explain. "Studying the behavior of your people and your abusive use of all kinds of drugs, looking for ways to escape from the reality, we realized we could work on that. So we created the pills you probably heard about and we tested them in your hippies."

"You used innocent people as laboratory rats in your test?" Vincent was furious.

"Come on Mr. Vincent, do not be so dramatic!" She interrupted him. "Ask your new friend if he ever cared when he found a young man dead of overdose. He doesn't care, you don't care; your people is selfish. So, a few hippies getting crazy and dying would not raise any suspicious on us, people die of overdose very often in this country. In the beginning, our pills provided everything they wanted, euphoria, super strength, and heavy hallucinations. Then after a few times using it, the pills worked what they were planned for. We improved the substance and started testing it on other groups of humans. Now it works at a first intake."

"First intake?" Vincent became more curious. "What are you talking about?"

"In the first tests, we created the pills." Richards calmly continued. "We camouflaged the aspect of the new substance; now it looks and tastes exactly like your sugar. I guarantee you that your primitive technology is unable to detect the difference. Only your organism will." She ended with an evil smile.

"Bastards!" Bain tried to get up but the alien who was standing put his gun in the officer's head.

"Are you in a hurry to die, officer?" Richards cynically asked. "Wouldn't want to hear the end of the plan? Maybe we have something good for you."

"I don't want anything from creatures like you!" The officer angrily spoke.

"We'll see." She remained cold and calm. "That factory that Mr. Vincent snooped was producing the basis for our substance, synthesizing elements from our home planet. Then in this laboratory we produce the final product, our special sugar. We have now produced enough quantity to spread it in all parts of this town and observe how it works. That will be Phase Three."

"Sugar!" Vincent shouted. "You will kill thousands of people, including kids! You cannot do that!"

"Oh, yes we can!" She didn't show any emotion. "We can and we will. We need this planet Mr. Vincent and your species is irrelevant to us. No offense, please." Even in her coldness, she was still extremely polite. "Based on the success of Phase Three, we will produce the special sugar in large scale, massive production. Phase Four we'll distribute the sugar at a nationwide level. Phase Five worldwide."

"You're bluffing, you evil alien!" Bain shouted loud. "You don't even have a brand. You cannot produce and distribute it in large scale.

"Humans." She smiled again. "We don't need a brand. We're not in this business for profit. We'll reproduce the packages of your brands, all brands worldwide, and then we'll mix the packages in your supermarkets. Nobody will notice. Someone buys regular sugar and the neighbor buys the special sugar and starts the destruction. Then the human chaos will finish the job. You will probably never suspect of the sugar, you will think it's a new disease, a pandemic. If my calculations are correct, when Phase Five starts, in six months three quarters of the population of the earth will have perished. Then we will be able to take over."

Vincent put his right hand on his forehead, thoughtful. What could he do at that moment?

"That's it". She finished with a sweet smile. "Now, Officer Bain, we have something for you."

"What could you have for me?" He looked at her with disgust.

"You have a family." She coldly spoke. "I believe you would like to be with the remaining one quarter of your civilization. Right? If you work for us now, we can guarantee you a position.

"To work for you?" Are you crazy?

"Of course I'm not crazy." She continued. "Your friend Vincent made too many questions, talked to the wrong people and now the FBI is around. Mr. Vincent will suffer a tragic accident and you will explain everything, you'll take care of the investigation. Our man in your precinct will help you. Are you with us?"

Bain stared at her, then broke the silence. "I believe David already said this to you: Go to hell!"

"Very well." She didn't react to the expression of fury of the Police man. "That's your choice. Our talking ends here. When John and Lance arrive, you'll die. I believe you have your creed, so I would say you can use your final moments for your reflections and prayers."

Bob Ward and Matt Atkins got out of their Kombi bus and cautiously approached the entrance of the diner. They fast sneaked, always looking around in all directions, they were curious young men, with that counter culture mentality of the end of the sixties, and so what was wrong in spying the police and a mysterious man? They reached the door and didn't care about the 'closed' sign. They spied through the window and although the curtains were closed, they could see the silhouette of two men seated in a table.

"Yeah. They look like Vincent and the cop." Ward said. "Let's see what they're doing." Ward turned the knob and opened the door. He was the first to enter, followed by Atkins.

"Jane?" Ward spoke very loudly when he saw Jane Richards seated in the head of the table. "What a bummer! What are ya doing with a cop and this flake?"

The moment that the blond hippie man impolitely spoke was the chance that Vincent and Bain were waiting for, since in a fraction of second, the two aliens looked at the inconvenient visitors that had just arrived. Vincent took the cup of coffee and threw it in the face of the standing alien and jumped on him to disarm him. Bain was also quick and jumped on Richards, who was not armed at that moment. She was so self confident of their victory that she was relaying only in the standing armed alien to watch two dangerous men. But it was too late for her, a lethal mistake, especially when David Vincent is in the game.

"Hey! Leave her alone, you pig! Ward shouted to the police officer. "That's an abuse of authority, she's got her rights!" He was indecisive if he should help that woman he felt so attracted for or if he should stay where he was, just observing.

Richards was an intelligent alien and she noticed she could take advantage of the situation. When Bain was about to finally immobilize her, she looked at Ward with an expression of agony and pain and tears falling from her beautiful blue eyes. "Bob, please help me. These men went ape! They came to kill us. Help me. Please help me."

"Stop where you are!" Bain shouted. "She's lying."

Also using a short moment of distraction, Richards kneed the genitals of Bain and ran away when the man briefly writhed with the impact. She ran towards a door at the end of the diner and locked herself inside it. Ward and Atkins stopped in surprise. That delicate woman looked so sweet and fragile and suddenly she almost knocked out a trained officer. The two friends were speechless.

Vincent was also in a furious fight for his life against the other alien, but he got an advantage, the hot coffee had hurt the eyes of the alien. Although the invaders feel no pain, the injured eyes gave him a big disadvantage. Vincent firmly hold the alien's hand with the gun and started beating the alien's arm against the floor until finally the invader dropped the gun. Vincent then in a quick movement, while still fighting he turned his body so that his foot could kick the gun toward the direction of Bain.

Bain got the gun, stood up and pointed it to the alien. "Stop and raise your arm in a position I can clearly see them!" He quickly looked at Ward and Atkins and warned them too. "And you two! Stay where you are, no movement!"

The alien stopped fighting. It was the end of the line for him. He would not beat Vincent, his eyes were injured, he could not see very well, but he could not be taken as a prisoner.

"You have the right to remain silent and refuse to answer questions." Bain started talking but before he could continue, the alien got a chair and advanced against the police man, in a clear movement to hit the officer's head, an insane and suicide act. Before he was hit by the chair Bain shot. The alien was not deadly hit and continued in his way to hit the officer, who shot again. This second time the alien felt lifeless on the floor and his body started glowing red disappearing in a few seconds. Only some fine ash was left over in the place where the body completely vaporized.

Bain remained holding his gun with while Atkins and Ward looked scared to death.

"That's what happened to them when they die on Earth." Vincent calmly explained.

"They?" Atkins was astonished.

"Aliens." Vincent continued. "Beings from outer space."

"But…" Before Atkins finished talking, Vincent roughly cut the conversation. "I don't have time to explain to you now! The other alien is still here. We have to stop her!"

Vincent and Bain went towards the end of the diner and found out that the door was locked.

"Get out of there!" Bain shouted. "I'm calling for reinforcement, you cannot escape." Still holding his gun and not deviating his eyes from the door, he walked towards the service area of the place, to use the telephone that was inside it.

Inside the room, Richards knew that she had lost; Vincent and the police officer would be able to call others. Even if her alien friends arrive at that moment, they would not have enough time to take the diner in an assault attack, the reinforcement would arrive and take all of them. They could not afford to let a lot of humans seeing them dying or even worse to find that room with all that alien technology. There was only one thing she could do. So she coldly and calmly opened a small door in one of the silver huge silver cabinets inside that room and pressed a large red button.

While Bain was asking the telephone operator to contact the police department, Vincent hear a humming coming from inside the room, where Richards was locked.

"Let's get out of here! Quick!" Vincent shouted and ran towards the exit door.

"What?" Bain was still with the telephone in his ear.

"Hurry!" Vincent hold the door open. "You too!" He shouted to Ward and Atkins. "Hurry, hurry!"

Suddenly the wall of the room where Richards was locked started glowing red and a fire started in the diner, sprawling out quickly.

The four men got out of the burning place. In a few minutes the fire was consuming all over the place. While they watched in silence the diner being burned to the ground, a light gray Lincoln Continental followed by a red Ford Mustang passed in the street, the drivers intently looking at the fire. Vincent and Bain recognized the drivers as the two aliens who had left the diner. When the eyes of the humans and the aliens crossed, the drivers they accelerated and fled with their cars.

"Well, we have the license plate of the Mustang." Bain said. "I'll call the central and put an alert on it."

"Yes, you can." Vincent gave a tired smile. "But it will be useless. "They'll abandon both cars, maybe they'll vaporize them. You'll never find the owners. You better call the firemen to put this fire out."

"This is unreal." Atkins said. "This is way out!"

"That's real." Vincent lit a cigarette. "These creatures are not interested in peace and love, or sex drugs and Rock'N'Roll. They are here with only one purpose. Our destruction!"

"Why so much hate?" Ward questioned.

"They don't hate us." Vincent calmly explained. They just want our world for them! They come from a dying planet and they want to make this world, their new world."

"A dying planet, huh?" Atkins frowned. "Maybe they are not too different from us or from our future with so many wars and killing all around the world!"

"Yes, I dig." Vincent smiled answering in a hippie way, while smoking his cigarette. That was a single moment of relief and the four men discreetly smiled.

Some minutes later the firemen arrived. They had some hard work to be performed, but eventually the he fire was extinguished.

No signs of the alien laboratory were left. All the alien equipment was vaporized. Only ashes of the diner and its furniture remained.

EPILOG

David Vincent stopped by Christopher Bain's office to say good-bye to his new friend and ally in this silent war against the extra-terrestrial enemy. He was obviously relieved and the simple smile in his face showed his good mood.

"We haven't found any clue." Bain said. "We checked Lanegan's apartment in detail. Nothing! No clues even on where his car is."

"Forget it." Vincent took a cigarette out of his pocket and offered it to Bain, who took one. Then Vincent lit his and Bain's cigarettes and continued talking. "They got rid of all evidences. They'll leave this city and this plan was cancelled. No need to worry about it anymore."

"And the thing with the sugar?" Bain asked.

"No problem. They failed their mission. Once they fail a plan, they never repeat it; they do know people could be expecting it and that will not give them the anonymity coverage they need. They are afraid that if too many people start to suspect on something unusual, that may take eyes to them. They cannot afford being revealed to people. They have no conditions for a full large invasion, they have to work in disguise, in small groups, doing secret actions. This plan is over. Believe me, I do know them."

"Well, I believe we won."

"This battle, yes." Vincent smiled. "But the war is far from an end yet."

"If I see anything unusual or fantastic again, I'll call you. You can count on me, David." Bain smiled.

After a hot coffee and a good talking about regular life; football, baseball and a bit of politics, the two men shaked hands and Vincent left the building.

Before he entered his car, two young long haired men came to him.

"Mr. Vincent!" A blond man called him.

Vincent recognized Bob Ward and Matt Atkins and politely waited for them.

"I, we would like to say thank you and, we also sorry for being so stupid and to tune out every warnings you said."

"That's ok." Vincent smiled.

"We talked everything we know to the cops." Atkins continued. "We don't like them, but this time, we had to. We lost a friend we loved, used as an experiment! That's not human!"

"They are not human." Vincent calmly said. "I told you. We cannot deal with them, they are here to destroy us and to make our planet, their planet. Simple like that."

"This makes me feel uptight!" Ward he scratched his blond hair. "This is, this is way out!"

Vincent put his right hand on the shoulder of Ward, firmly looking at his blue eyes. "We defeated them, this time." Then he smiled and put two fingers up in a peace symbol. "Keep on believing in peace, believing in a better world. But keep your eyes in the sky. And be aware that things that look too fantastic are not simple fairy tales. You now know, that there's a danger much bigger than the status quo of our society, you protest against. Think about that and make the difference!"

Vincent entered his car and departed. The two young hippies, waved to him, as he drove away. They remained for a few moments quiet and thoughtful. Then they went to their Volkswagen Kombi bus and went away.

"The Flower Power generation will continue with its counterculture movement; unaware they were used as subjects in an alien deadly experiment. Two young hippies and a police officer, different men in a world facing severe social tensions know that there's a bigger threat against the human race. Three different men that now know the truth that David Vincent knows."