The Aliens and the Ace

by Green Platypus

On a field trip to a NASA base the gang encounters an alien ship trying to stop the launch. With people succumbing to an alien virus the gang and Shaggy's new friend Crystal must launch the shuttle and catch the alien before it destroys the base and them with it. Sequel to The Ankh and the Archeologists. AU. F/D. Some S/Crystal & S/V.

Thanks to all my readers for returning and any new readers who've found the readers, I hope you like it. Soundtrack Is the X files theme for Parts 1, and 19. "Battle in the Sky" From Doctor Who for part 29. "Battle of Heroes" from Star Wars for part 28. "All the Strange Strange creatures" from Doctor Who for anything 27 and on. Thanks for reading.

Part 1: SALF

The night air was warm and still. Cicadas were chirping in the field. The sound of waves could be heard in the churning waters of the Atlantic over the edge of the cliff that the facility rested on. In the distance the imposing shape of the rocket gantry was shooting into the sky. Sitting on the very edge of the cliff were three enormous satellite dishes. They served the Institute for the Search for Alien Life Forms, or SALF.

It was here, at the dishes that a bright orange jeep stopped and a muscular African American man stepped out with a tool box. He walked to the nearest dish and opened a panel on the side. Inside was a small display with three lighted bars; green, blue, and red. The man, Max, checked to make sure that each bar was level with the others. As long as they were the system was normal and the dishes weren't picking up anything unusual.

Usually it could be done from the control room, but tonight the connection had been severed. That was why Max had been sent out, and why he was currently kneeling in the dirt checking the wire connections with a flashlight. Nothing was broken, that meant that something must have fallen into the dish; maybe a palm frond from the last tropical storm. Max held the flashlight in his mouth and hoisted himself onto the ladder leading up into the dish. The metal clanged as he stepped onto the platform overlooking the dish. He cast the beam around, nothing. Max jumped as he heard something in the bushes. The flashlight clattered into the dish.

"Damn it" Max grumbled as tried to reach down for it. No use; the dish was too deep.

He was just contemplating going back when he heard something, almost like a high pitched whirring. He craned his neck up to see a group of yellow lights zooming through the sky. He ducked as the lights came close. Wind whipped in his face blowing off his baseball cap as they passed overhead. Then he could see that they weren't just lights, it was a ship. It was a glowing orb trailed by metal fins.

Max leaped off the platform and landed hard on his side in the dust. With a pained grunt he got up and ran for the jeep. He swung the door open and turned the keys in the ignition. The engine churned to life and Max gunned it back to the control room. As he drove he dared to glance into the rearview mirror and saw a tall, seven foot figure in a space suit. Its helmet had the same eerie glow he had seen in the sky, and it framed a deformed, only semi- human skull.

Part 2: Family Traditions

Fred scrambled around his room trying to get ready for school. Daphne would be at his house with the van soon. He picked up a pair of jeans off the floor and sniffed them. Deciding they were clean enough, he jumped into them, simultaneously leaning toward his nightstand for his wallet. That was a mistake. His foot hit a stray wrench lying on the floor and he fell.

His hand grabbed up at the desk, scrambling around. His fingers touched his knife and lighter, no he had promised Daphne he would stop carrying those to school, his bandana that Daphne had given him over the summer, no that was safest here, some bits of metal from his last phone, who knows what that was, he thought recoiling his hand, and his 70 year old leather wallet.

It was the wallet that had belonged to his father and his grandfather and before that his great grandfather. His dad had given it to him as a good luck after he had completed his flight lessons. It had been a tradition in the Jones Family. All of them were US Air-force. It wasn't necessarily a tradition that Fred planned on continuing, but he had been happy to take the flight lessons anyway. The wallet was just a good luck charm in the air. It got his great grandpa through the World War Two after all. His grandpa had always said that as long as the wallet held together, the plane would too. 'Just a silly superstition' Fred thought staring at the hunk of leather. He pocketed it anyway. He figured he could always use some luck.

Part 3: Kurt Dinkley

The Dinkley's were an inquisitive family by nature. Down through history, they had always been one form of scholar or scientist. The two current heads of the Dinkley household, Kurt and Natasha, were no different. Kurt was an astrophysicist and Natasha was am archeologist. Their daughters were much the same. Their oldest daughter Velma took an interest in anything and everything pertaining to mysteries. Their youngest, Madelyn could never really settle on an interest for more than a week or two, but she really threw herself into each one.

"Tasha, where's my phone?" He yelled from the kitchen. Madelyn and Velma snickered through their cereal.

"Jacket pocket!" His wife called from the office where she was working.

"Which jacket?"

"The one you're wearing Kurt!"

"Oh" He pulled his phone from his pocket. "You two knew that didn't you?" He said noticing his daughters stifling laughter. They both shook their heads. "Velma you needed me to sign something didn't you?"

"Mom got it" Velma said pulling on her backpack as a horn sounded from outside. "That's the guys I have to go" She kissed her father and sister goodbye, yelled it to her mother and ran out the door to her friends waiting in their van.

Kurt ran his fingers though his slick brown hair. It still amazed him how big his girls were getting. In just a year Velma would be done with high school and off to college.

"All right Kurt, I'm taking Madelyn to school" His wife said throwing her purse over her shoulder and leading their daughter out the door.

Kurt slumped down at the breakfast table and pulled the large stack of mail into his hand; bill, check, school progress report, all A's…

Knock, Knock, Knock

"I'm coming" Kurt grumbled to the door. "You forgot your keys didn't you Tasha?" He smiled swinging the door open to reveal…

"Who the hell are you?"

"I'm agent Bascombe with the NSA." The man at the door said. Kurt thought that that must be right, black suit, sunglasses, and brown hair cut military length, definitely NSA. "Doctor Dinkley are you familiar with the NASA base at Cape Casem?"

"Excuse me, do you mind" Kurt tried to put himself as much between the man and the rest of the house as possible.

"This is a matter of national security which I cannot discuss with you until you have agreed to help us." The man took off his sunglasses revealing a square squished face. "Your name came up first."

Now that was intriguing. It wouldn't be the first time Kurt had been approached by the government. Besides, he always found classified information intriguing, after all if things were classified that meant that there was always more in the world to learn.

"What are the terms?" Kurt asked switching to business mode.

"Strictly consulting, the terms of secrecy after the fact are to be determined once we've reached a conclusion on the subject."

Kurt looked over the man; five seven, muscular build under the suit. He had a fresh tan that extended above his wrists and around his eyes, so tanned with sunglasses, but not the ones he was wearing now which were most likely part of a uniform. That was a vacationer's tan. The man's hands were calloused and had been so for many years but some of the damage was new, that meant recent manual labor. He was bulked around the upper arms; that coupled with the faint Midwest accent, Iowa Kurt guessed, meant that he had probably spent time on a farm most of his life including recently.

The dichotomy between the cleanliness of the suit and the slight scruffiness of the man, including red eyes, indicated that he had only had enough time to change meaning that he had just returned. Kurt registered the information about the Iowa farm boy recently returned from a family visit in the back of his mind, that wasn't pertinent.

The agent's head was cocked to the left where Kurt could see a small black earpiece tucked under the ear length brown hair. The earpiece was a short rang model, that meant someone was close, most likely a partner in the car outside. Two agents suggested that there were others to be taken care of, more consultants. The tired eyes suggested that Kurt wasn't the first visit, so the others were already in the car.

Kurt smiled in the two seconds it took for him to familiarize himself with his visitor.

"Shall we go see the others in the car then, you've had a long flight I'm sure you want to finish quickly."

Bascombe's mouth fell agape as Kurt straightened his jacket collar and walked out the door.

"Coming?"

Part 4: Red Herring

The twelfth grade class at Coolsville High was already itching to graduate and the year had just begun. In four years a lot had changed. Among other things a group of kids from different backgrounds and of different interests had come together to become something truly amazing. Mysteries Inc. as they were known popularly known had gone from unknown teenagers to local celebrities. Some things however never change Fred Jones thought as he spotted something on the far side of the quad that made his blood boil.

"Come on Dex; I just need a couple of bucks"

"I don't have any money today Red, please" The skinny young man whimpered trying to straighten his glasses as the mammoth form of Red Herring pushed him up against the wall.

"Hey Red, why don't you pick on someone your own species" Fred grumbled putting himself between Red and the smaller young man. "The zoo's just two blocks down."

"Stay outa this Jones, go back to your hoity toity girlfriend." The large boy sneered from under his unkempt mop of red hair.

"I'm gonna give you three seconds to get the hell outa here Red"

"You looking for a fight Jones?"

"Maybe I am"

Red through a punch and Fred took it right to the gut. 'That's it' Fred thought, 'forget about Dex'. Fred uppercut and Red staggered back. Right hook. Left hook. Head butt. Both boys staggered back against the wall as a teacher walked past. That was an unwritten part of the rivalry. It was between them, teachers were not to be involved. Daphne or Velma would have said it was stupid, and it was, but it was also habit, something Fred had a hard time breaking. Once the teacher had passed, Red stood up straight, ready to continue, then gave up once he realized Dex had long since fled.

"Later Jones, I'm gonna get you and him" he spat walking away.

"Anytime, anywhere" Fred wiped the cut on his lip and trudged over to where Dex was hiding. "You alright man?"

"Yeah, thanks."

"No problem"

"Seriously, you've been helping guys like me sine junior high, we appreciate it."

"S'no problem" Fred shrugged walking away.

Daphne gasped and went to wipe the blood off his face as he rejoined the group. Shaggy pulled the ice pack from his lunchbox and handed it over.

"Freddy why do you keep doing this?"

"I'm not gonna, ugh" He winced in pain. "Just let that Jerk pick on guys like Dex."

"Or me and Dell" Shaggy added. "You know that was the first time I met you, way before Jacobo"

"I remember" Fred grunted through the pain. "Hurt then too."

Daphne continued to tend to his wounds as Fred slumped down on the bench. She did not fully understand Fred and Red's relationship. She wasn't there that first day of middle school when two boys entered the building. One was intent to make himself feared, the other simply wanted to fade into the crowd, but he couldn't just stand by and watch. It had been a rivalry that extended for seven years and never let up. The usual advice was always given. Velma suggested telling the principle and Shaggy suggested avoiding Red all together. Neither of these could be done. It was between Fred and Red and that was all.

Daphne's tending stopped as the bell rang. Students scuffled to classes. Locker doors slammed. Across the quad Fred could see Red giving him a look that he returned in kind. It signified that nothing had ended, the fight was ongoing.

Part 5: Welcome to Astronomy 101

The class filed in. Some were studious and were taking the class to rack up credits, some were there because they had to fulfill requirements to graduate, and some were genuine seekers of knowledge who wanted to expand their minds. Whatever reasons each and everyone had, they all came together for twelfth grade Astronomy 101. They all filed in trying to take seats next to their friends or people they liked, or trying to avoid those that they didn't. This preoccupied them so much that many of them did not see the tall, wiry, brown haired man standing in front of the desk. He could see them though; his light green, almost yellow eyes scanned every pupil entering the class. They were the only part him that seemed to move. The rest of his body was rigid. Even his face had neutrality to it as though he had simply been switched off.

"Hello class. I'm your new astronomy teacher Mister Eisenhardt."

The class settled down, most of them any way. Each took note of the man. It was second nature to students to size up a new teacher, to see if he would be easy to manipulate, or fool. It depended on the student, some looked for a mentor, others fort a mark.

"I'd like to take roll now, please raise your hand when your name is called; Daphne Blake, Shannon Blake, Dell Chillman, Velma Dinkley, Marceline Fleach, Fredrick Jones, Gibby Norton, Redmond Herring, James Proudwolf, Norville Rogers, Minga Sherpa, Eric Stauffer, Sharron Weatherby, good. Welcome to Astronomy 101."

Velma raised her hand.

"Yes Miss Dinkley"

"What happened to Mister Scott?"

"He won the lottery and decided to pursue other interests. Now, I am aware that you had some permission slips to turn in."

Everyone handed them up where Eisenhardt collected them mechanically.

"The Cape Casem NASA base, exciting. As I understand it you will be witnessing the launch of a trillion dollar space probe intent on laying the groundwork for a manned mission to Mars."

Dell's hand shot up.

"Mister Chillman?"

Something stirred in the back of Velma's mind, that voice sounded familiar.

"Isn't Cape Casem also the location of the SALF station trying to make contact with extraterrestrial life?" Dell summed up in about two seconds.

"Yes" Eisenhardt answered unfazed by the speed. "Although they have yet to actually make contact…"

"As far as they've told us" Dell interrupted.

"Indeed young man" There was a tone in the man's voice as though he had intended a smirk, but his face remained unchanged.

Class continued on to other topics until the bell rang 45 minutes later. All that time Velma couldn't shake the feeling that she recognized this new teacher.

"You know who he reminds me of" Eric said when questioned about it after class. "Brent Spiner, from Star Trek"

"Like the robot?"

"Android" Eric and Fred corrected simultaneously.

"There's just something about him" Velma pondered.

Part 6: The Consultants

It was a nice car, certainly the government wanted Kurt and the other consultants comfortable. Bascombe got in the front with his partner without another word leaving Kurt with the others. One was a Hispanic man about thirty looking with messy black hair and a goatee, the other was much younger with a nervously twitching face and parted brown hair.

"Rupert Garcia" The Hispanic man greeted. "You're Kurt Dinkley, I saw you lecture once at Princeton. I'm an astrocartographer."

"Nice to meet you" Kurt shook the man's hand then turned to the twitchy man.

"M… Munroe Ho… Hopper" The man stuttered with a genuine if nervous smile. "Biologist"

"So, what do they want with an astrophysicist, an astrocartographer, and a biologist." Kurt pondered.

The drive was about half an hour. During that half hour, Kurt, who had worked at Cape Casem before, noticed something strange. They were going the long way around.

"Excuse me; I thought we were going to the NASA base."

"SALF, the SALF base is three miles to the west of the base." The driver answered.

"The SALF base?" Kurt wondered aloud. "Why would they take us to the SALF base?"

The car had to pass through two security checkpoints before it got into the base. One was the standard security desk, but the other looked newly erected and was staffed with two more men in black suits.

"Creepy" Garcia mused.

The car pulled in next to a building no larger than a garage. A mud caked orange jeep was parked next to it. In the distance three tall satellite dishes jutted sharply from the flat terrain. Red lights blinked on their antennae. Waves crashed as the sea hit the cliff side below. It was a stunning scene, one that the two agents couldn't be bothered with as they led the three scientists into the shack.

The inside was in fact much more impressive than the outside. It was wall to wall computer banks with a technological mix ranging from the fifties to the modern day, and even some things Kurt had only seen in blueprint. The two agents stationed themselves on either side of the door, the only exit, Kurt noticed. It was odd that such they would call three top scientists into such a small installation, especially when none of them were computer experts.

"Bascombe, Farmer, I see you brought some new test subjects."

Hopper recoiled at the man's words.

"Kidding" The skinny man laughed stepping away from one of the computer banks. He looked like he was in his twenties and had messy brown hair covering a slim pointed face. "I'm Steve Clarke, this is Max Michaels" He pointed to a muscular African American man. "And Laura Ross" He indicated a short brunette. "We man the SALF base; you must be the experts that they brought in."

"Kurt Dinkley" He greeted shaking the young man's hand. "This is Rupert Garcia and Munroe Hopper, care to tell us why we're here?"

Bascombe nodded his head without breaking his stoic expression. Clarke went to the controls for the largest monitor and displayed a file on the screen. It was a picture of the night sky, specifically the local night sky. Garcia's reason for being here was abundantly clear now, something was wrong with these stars, so they brought in a star charter.

"You see it don't you?" Clarke asked as Garcia put his face almost against the monitor.

"Three extra stars, fascinating, but possible."

"Now this one"

Clarke pulled another picture up onto the screen.

"This was the next day"

"They've moved" Garcia gasped.

The young SALF technician gave a grave smirk as he pulled another image up on screen. This one wasn't a star map. It was something altogether different. Hopper let out a quick yelp as it registered in his mind what he was seeing. It was a picture of a large metal structure. The coloring was brown, almost like copper. Three fins protruded from the back like some kind of mutant fish. In the very front of the object was a glowing yellow window with a black shape outlined in the light.

"That's a UFO" Kurt managed to gasp with what little breath he had left. "That's an alien."

Part 7: Close Encounters

Shaggy sat down with the rest of the gang at their customary table by the window. Normally it was so that they could talk with Scooby during school but today Scooby was at the groomers with Shaggy's mother. Without Scooby there, Shaggy was forced to listen to Dell's excited rambling about the SALF base.

"What I wouldn't give to get in there and see what they're hiding"

"Like Dell… I'm gonna regret this… what are they hiding?"

"What aren't they hiding?"

"Nessie" Shannon offered jokingly.

"The Yeti" Minga laughed.

"No" Dell said oblivious to the sarcasm. "Neither of them could survive in this climate. Listen, there are three main alien research groups, METI, which tries to contact extra terrestrial life, SETI which looks for signals from extraterrestrial life, and SALF which is ready to not only find, but make contact with extraterrestrial life. If any government agency has evidence of aliens, and I'm sure that they do, it'll be there."

It was the kind of thing they heard a lot knowing Dell Chillman, the resident Mulder. He was the kind of person that believed any and all conspiracy theories and Cryptids tales. So far he had yet to prove any of it, but that never stopped him from believing. Others were not as convinced, like Daphne Blake, the resident Scully.

"Come on Dell do you really believe that, how many people do you know who have seen aliens?"

"Like, me and Jimmy" Shaggy said nervously.

"Seriously, you're kidding." Daphne laughed.

"We don't know what it was" Jimmy started grimly.

"But it was like creepy. It was back when we both lived in New Mexico, we were in Roswell, my dad and Jimmy's dad had been called in on police business. One night, we saw it. It was, like, two lights just darting around. They kind of circled each other in the sky above the desert. Then they were gone; you can ask my parents and Jimmy's mom they saw it too."

The whole table was dead silent. Everyone stared mouths open wondering why they had never heard the story before.

"We try not to think about it" Jimmy finished.

"There has to some other explanation, what about fighter planes?"

"Fighter planes don't move like that"

"That is so cool" Dell exclaimed excitedly and with an attempted high five which both boys left hanging.

"Okay, does anybody else have any stories?"

Fred raised his hand. Daphne shot him a look as though his participation was a personal betrayal.

"It's not something I saw. It's something I heard. My grandpa was in the Air Force, he used to tell me about this mission he did. He was flying from the east coast of Florida to Puerto Rico…"

"That's the triangle" Dell gasped.

"Yeah, the Bermuda triangle, he told me that he saw this green mist, he flew through it and then found himself over Puerto Rico, hours earlier than possible."

"He was abducted?"

"He always said that he was saved. His plane had a rupture in the fuel tank he would have never made it the whole way."

"It doesn't matter" Daphne said defensively. "We're not going to be able to see the SALF station anyhow."

Part 8: The Egg

"Why d… did you need me?" Hopper asked as the others poured over the photos. "I'm a b… biologist."

"We brought you Doctor Harper, because of this" Ross said pulling a biological materials box out from under one of the desks.

She waited for him to come closer before opening the box. The first thing to hit everyone was the smell. It was like sewage that had been fermented in alcohol. Everyone in the room recoiled and Garcia actually choked in disgust. Inside the box was a purple sphere, about the size of a watermelon. It looked squishy, almost like it was made of some kind of membrane.

"Oh my… Is th… that what I think it is?"

"That's what we brought you here to find out" Agent Farmer answered.

"It looks… organic. Where did you find it?"

"I found it" Michaels spoke up. "I was out checking the dishes when I saw that thing, the UFO, when I checked the area in the morning, I found that."

"Anyone else getting a body snatchers vibe, you know, alien seed pods to take over the Earth?" Garcia whispered.

Hopper leaned in closer, seemingly unfazed by the smell. The egg seemed to pulsate in the box.

"I'd like to consult a colleague, Doctor Armand Z… Zola in Germany."

"This is classified information; it stays in this country and on this base." Bascombe closed the matter.

"Tomorrow we'll have a room ready at the base for you to make any examinations you need. Today we'll be driving you home."

"Fascinating" Hopper mused at the egg without registering their words. "Absolutely fascinating."

Part 9: The Bus Ride

Everyone was at school bright and early the morning of the trip. Even the most non academic minded wouldn't miss this for the world. It was a chance to see a million dollar space probe launch. Even Red was on his best behavior for fear of getting kicked off the trip. Of course best behavior was a relative term. For example, the best behavior of someone like skinny bespectacled Gibby Norton was to try and hit on any girl he liked, whether they were available or not.

"Hey Velma, wanna see what kinda classified rooms they have when we get to the base?"

"You're a pig Gibby"

"What about you Shannon?" He said turning around unfazed.

"Beat it Gibby" Eric grumbled.

"What's it to you Stauffer?"

"You're being rude"

"What's it matter to you?"

"It matters because I'm his girlfriend; now beat it you bloody little creep." Shannon interjected in the most intimidating tone of her accent possible. "That was a nice try Eric" She said in a much sweeter voice pecking him on the lips. "Very sweet."

"Okay class" Eisenhardt announced stepping in front of the crowd next to the bus.

What followed was the usual recitation of rules and roll call. The day was beginning to heat up as the sun rose. The two parent chaperones, George Blake and Katherine Rogers, as well as her dog Scooby Doo who took his seat next to Shaggy, got on the bus for the hour long drive to the cape.

A school bus was one of the best ways to study people. The ways they sat, paired off, and who they talked to spoke volumes. Close friends and romantic partners would sit right next to each other. Enemies would position themselves so that while not close, they could keep tabs on each other. Then there were those who positioned themselves with an agenda.

"Misses Rogers?" Dell asked leaning over the front of his seat. "Shaggy told us that you had an extraterrestrial experience, is that true?"

Katherine gave a little smirk, tying back her long blond hair into a pony tail.

"Yes Dell, you could say it's true. We never found out what we saw, but they weren't stars and they weren't jets."

"Wow"

"I wouldn't go chasing lights if I were you" George said turning around in his seat.

"Hey, face front Blake" The bus driver called back.

George turned around with a grumble like a schoolboy who had been caught. Katherine gave him a look. She was beginning to worry that she was going to be the only adult chaperone there.

"I'm just saying, old legends tell us not to go chasing lights across the moor."

"You're talking about Jack o' Lanterns?"

"Aye, that's the Irish version, in Scotland we call them Will' o the Wisps. They lead you off the path until you're lost on the moors."

"That's not the story my uncle in Kilkenny told me; he said that they would lead you to safety if you were kind to them."

"Ry didn't row roo raw raliens" Scooby whimpered.

"Like trust me Scoob, you didn't wanna be there."

"I'm still not convinced" Daphne huffed crossing her arms.

"What makes it so hard for you to believe?" Fred asked.

"It's not real because it can't be."

"That's sloppy reasoning Daphne" Velma spoke up.

"Don't tell me you believe too?"

"The legends exist, and witnesses exist who believe they saw something. I don't believe or disbelieve beyond the facts and the facts go either way."

"That's a copout."

"Not in the eyes of science."

It was a long ride, but it was well worth it once they got close. The sun was up now and the smell of the ocean wafted through the open windows in the breeze. In the distance a large rocket gantry rose majestically from the ground. Clinging to it was a humungous white shuttlecraft. Even farther in the distance they could see their destination. The massive two story Cape Casem control center. For the first time since the bus started Mister Eisenhardt spoke up.

"Welcome to the future, we've been waiting for you."

Part 10: The Enquirer

Security was tight at the base. Not only were there guards bearing the Cape Casem name, but also a number of men and women in black suits and sunglasses standing solemnly by each entrance. Everyone was forced through metal detectors and scanners before even entering the waiting room. Each suited guard scanned them behind their dark sunglasses. A couple of the observant, or just government savvy students, registered slight bulges in the jackets just above the shoulders; guns.

After finishing the security gauntlet, they were greeted by a group of people in the main room. One was a woman with light brown skin and short black hair in a NASA lab coat. There was also a man in the same lab coat, with short brown hair and a face ending in a chin like a shovel. The last was a brunette with a pointed face and dark brown hair tied back in a pony tail wearing a US Army uniform.

"Good morning" The woman in the lab coat said. "I'm Professor Janet Lawrence, this is Professor Keith Dale, and this is Sergeant Linda Rauch with the Army Corp of Engineers. Welcome to our playground."

A screen came to life behind them showing pictures of the various departments in the base. It settled on a picture of the rocket in the gantry outside. With that, Dale took the stage.

"This is five years of work in the hopes that we can send a manned mission to the Martian surface. It is the single most advanced unmanned space probe in existence."

Sergeant Rauch took the microphone.

"It represents an unprecedented collaboration between our wonderful NASA scientists and the Army Corp of Engineers; it is half a decade's worth of innovation in an attempt to make our nearest neighbor a little bit closer."

The projector turned off behind them and a large window opened giving an unobstructed view of the ship. A swell of dramatic music played from speakers on the walls.

"We are proud to present… The Enquirer."

A round of applause went up in the audience. The three scientists stepped down in front of the assembled school kids.

"The launch is at thirteen hundred hours, one o' clock for those of you who don't know what that means. Until then, you'll be touring the facility. I'd like to set a few ground rules first though. If the door is closed then the room is off limits. If the room has guards posted then the room is off limits, and lastly, don't touch anything. Let's begin."

Part 11: Crystal

The interior of the base was one of the most impressive sights anyone in the group had ever seen. For the science kids it was the spectacle of the technology. The computer banks and the monitor screens were all the absolute cutting edge. For the others, it was the feeling that they had stepped into a science fiction movie. Throughout the tour each of the three guides explained the different functions of different rooms.

They were taken through the control room where NASA technicians were readying the launch. On the very edge of the base was a massive hanger. Planes ranging from WWI biplanes to F22 Raptors all shared the space surrounded by mechanics' equipment and pilot's gear. Fred's jaw dropped as he stood in the shadow of the great machines.

"Nice aren't they?" Rauch said smiling proudly. "We keep them here for training exercises in the hope that one day we can launch small crafts like this into space. A couple of the Spitfires were out this morning. There's still some fuel in them so don't get any ideas. But the real impressive thing are the exhaust tunnels running all throughout the base. Here at Cape Casem we've found a way to minimize the safe distance from the rocket by building an intricate system of tunnels that take in the flames and safely disperse them without taking any kick out of the rocket." A couple of the more tech savvy students awed in appreciation. "I have some work to attend to, so I have someone else to guide you. Crystal, could you come out please."

A teenage girl stepped out from behind one of the planes. She was wearing blue jeans and an orange T- shirt and she had her long black hair set down by a headband. She certainly didn't look military age, but she definitely had never been seen around Coolsville High.

"This is my niece Crystal, she interns here. She'll lead you around the data collection rooms."

"Hello, if you're familiar with our facility, then you know that we monitor the sky above us in conjunction with the SALF base." She spoke in a voice that, like Shaggy's, sounded very calm and laid back.

The group was lead into an adjoining room filled with monitors.

"Now SALF is the Search for Alien Life Forms, and their mission is to find and if possible contact any neighbors we may have in space. Pretty groovy right, so, like any questions?"

Shaggy raised his hand sheepishly.

"Like, uh, wouldn't that be 'Sufalf'?"

The girl giggled, somewhat confusing Shaggy as he had not made a joke.

"Like, we just ignore the 'for', it's pretty trippy I know."

"Stupid question" Red coughed.

"Like you weren't thinking it" Fred shot back.

"Aye, break it up" Mr. Blake yelled.

The two boys grimaced at each other as they moved to opposite ends of the room. When the tension had cleared Dell raised his hand.

"Has the SALF base ever found anything?"

"Not that they know of." She answered with a smile.

Part 12: Unidentified Freaky Object

Kurt had noticed his daughter exiting the school bus, he had wanted to greet her, but she was not even allowed to know he was there. The agents wanted secrecy as they brought in their consultants again. This time, they were here for an actual alien examination. They all wore scrubs as they stood around an operating table in a sterile room at Cape Casem. Hopper's hands were surprisingly steady as he swept the ultrasound scanner over the egg. On the screen was a pulsating creature, skinny, almost skeletal.

"What the hell is that" Bascombe asked flicking his eyes between the egg and the screen.

"It almost looks skeletal" Farmer added.

"Maybe it's dead" Garcia offered.

"No, there's a heartbeat, its life, just, not as we know it." Hopper confirmed.

The group stopped in the cafeteria for an early lunch before the launch. Some like Eric, Velma, and Minga discussed the ship. Dell and Jimmy discussed aliens. Shaggy and Scooby discussed the merits of cafeteria food outside of school. Katherine and George were locked in a heated debate; Star Trek versus Doctor Who. Outside of the school group all of the technicians were discussing the impending launch.

BOOM!

The room shook. People were thrown from the tables. Guns clicked as guards took aim. Even in the chaos everyone's eyes were drawn to the large window looking out on the gantry. Something else appeared on the horizon, a craft, copper colored and glowing yellow. Flashes burst from the front of the craft and the glass window shattered under a hail of fire. The room was bathed in green light and a high pitched whirring filled the area. The craft flew straight toward the window. Everybody laid flat, hands over their heads. The craft barred down on its collision course. Then it pulled up at an impossible angle, straight up into the sky. There was a collective groan around the room. Some stayed down, too scared to move. Some shakily got up, and some were not moving.

"Like, what the heck was that" Shaggy shrieked pulling himself off the floor.

"Just a plane" Daphne stuttered. "Just a plane"

"No way" Fred yelled with a sweep of his arm. "Planes do not move like that."

"Oh my god, what happened to them?" Shannon shrieked looking down at one of the technicians lying on the floor. In fact, every technician was lying still. "Are they…?"

"No" Fred said taking a pulse. "They're alive, but… there's something wrong. They've all got this sort of rash. Velma, what do you think?"

Velma knelt down by the man and examined his face. There were green bumps running from his throat all the way down his neck.

"I've never seen anything like this."

"Like it's an alien rash, isn't it?"

"Raliens?"

"Class, I hate to cut the trip short, but I believe that we should leave" Mr. Eisenhardt announced.

"I'm afraid I can't allow that!" A voice boomed from the door. A man in a black suit came out holding a badge high in the air. "NSA, this facility is under quarantine starting now!"

Part 13: Questioning Under Quarantine

The two government agents that had come in were rough, rude, and completely averse to hearing testimony from anyone they did not ask personally. Everyone still conscious was corralled into one of the break rooms. Everyone that had fallen ill with the strange alien rash, about 50 in all, was laid down on the cafeteria tables. The two agents stood just outside the break room, it sounded like there were others with them, but it was hard to tell.

"Oh my god, what are they going to do us" Sharon Weatherby whimpered.

"They're not gonna do anything" Fred assured for the fiftieth time.

"What about that rash, you two touched it, you shouldn't be with us" She pointed to Fred and Velma.

"Shut up airhead, they're not gonna do anything." Marcy Fleach, a skinny girl with unkempt brown hair, snapped.

"Don't talk to me like that you stuck up little hippie."

"Why you…"

"Oi!, shut up, the both of you!" Daphne snapped. "Someone's coming in."

The two agents stepped through the door trailed by three other men.

"Dad" Velma exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Don't answer that professor Dinkley, this is a strictly need to know operation."

"Bull!" Fred yelled standing up. "We just got attacked by a UFO. I think we need to know."

"Can you describe this… UFO?" The agent continued calmly.

"Yeah, big, brown with yellow glowing windows, machine guns, where the hell were you when this happened?"

"I'll ask the questions here. When did the technicians pass out?"

"I don't know, sometime during the hail of alien fire!"

"It wasn't an alien" The agent replied.

"Then what was it?"

The agents were all silent.

"You don't actually know do you?"

"I know that something took out fifty technicians on a million dollar shuttle launch that we now have to scrub. I don't know what took them out and I don't know what fired on this base. I will find out and if any of you had anything to do with it…"

"They're just kids agent Bascombe" Mr. Dinkley interjected.

"What about the others?"

"Their parents, and I might add, George Blake's company was one of the primary benefactors for this mission."

"What about the teacher?"

"I c… can v… vouch for… Charles. He and I have w… worked together before."

"Fine, Hopper I want those men examined."

It was a testimony to government paranoia that hazmat suits were readily available at an engineering base. Hopper, Eisenhardt, and the agents all donned them in anticipation of examining the unconscious technicians. The rest of the group observed from a large window overlooking the examination station.

"This is some form of rash. I've n… never seen anything like it."

"Are we looking at an epidemic Doctor?"

"I d… don't know; Dale, Lawrence, Rauch, the school group, none of them were affected. They could just be immune … or…"

"Or what Doctor?"

"We c… could be looking at a slow moving virus. The technicians could have been exposed beforehand and have only now succumbed. If so, we could h… have all been infected by now."

Part 14: The Spooky Space Kook

The gang sat nervously in the observation room. Outside three strangers and their own teacher were debating their fate. It now donned on them that their teacher was something other than just a teacher.

"I wanna see where that thing came from" Fred whispered.

"Like I heard that big guy saying that he saw something by those satellite dishes."

"Great, but we're locked in until the men in black let us out"

"Not if you have keys" Crystal appeared out of nowhere behind them, jingling her key ring.

Crystal quietly unlocked the backdoor of the room. Fred slipped out with Eric by his side. He couldn't bring Daphne or Velma because their fathers would notice their absence, so Eric, the most computer competent was chosen. Their holding area let out into a dark hallway. Eric lit up his phone and cast the beam around. The room was cold and uncomfortably sterile. It reminded Fred of a hospital; he hated hospitals.

"Do we have a plan?"

"Yeah, snatch a jeep, see the dishes, come back."

"Oh good, just what I needed, a federal record. And if we see the UFO?"

"I haven't planned that far ahead."

Eric's stomach began feeling uneasy. It was the same feeling he got when Shannon's father and uncle started talking to him. The two boys walked quietly in case anyone was still in the base. So far all the lights were off in every room. The facility had shut down for lunch and never turned back on. On the one hand, that was good; if people had collapsed at their jobs who knows what machines could still be running unchecked. On the other hand, it meant that building was now devoid of life, a thought Eric quickly shook from his head. Everyone was alive, they were just out.

Fred put a hand out, stopping Eric mid stride. Light poured from the next room. Faint ruffling emanated from the door. Fred slipped closer the light and peeked in the small crack between the door and the frame. As they got closer he held his finger to his mouth, signaling Eric to be quiet. He squinted his eyes against the light as he peeked in. As his eyes rested on the tall figure inside he silently mouthed three words that probably would have gotten him in trouble if his mom was there. It was big, not just tall but bulky. It's barrel like frame ended in a dome glowing with otherworldly light. There was no face, and then Fred realized that he was looking at the thing from behind. Its arms, humanoid like the legs, were manipulating the keyboard of the computer inside.

Fred's phone buzzed in his pocket, short, a text no doubt. It was probably his mother trying to see how the trip was going. He cursed silently as the small buzz filled the otherwise silent room. His eyes darted between his pocket and the domed figure, no reaction. Eyes narrow in observation, Fred realized something.

"I don't think it hears us" Fred mouthed with an accompanying pantomime to Eric.

Eric nodded in recognition. He was way out of his depth. Even in the group he was the hacker, the tech support. He didn't chase the monsters personally; heck he had missed the last two big cases. At Fred's urging he backtracked down the hall. It seemed that their intention to study the satellite dishes was done with.

With the 'thing' out of sight both boys breathed easy; it was a mistake. The light from the room shifted ever so slightly. An almost skull like shape was projected onto the wall as the door creaked open. One massive boot entered the hallway, then another. The hulking figure lumbered out to face the two high school students. Now that the front of its face was in view it took on a whole new level of weird. Almost floating in the domed helmet was a skeletal shape, but narrow, with deep recesses where the eyes should have been. The teeth were three long pointed shapes jutting from below where the nasal cavity should have been. The lower jaw had no teeth at all, rather it had an insect like mandible, two pincers sticking from the sides as sharp looking as the teeth above them. The whole otherworldly face was backlit within the helmet by an intense yellow glow. Frozen in fear, the only description Fred could give was a string of choice swear words.

In unison, the two boys pivoted on their heels and bolted back down the hall. Eric's sneakers and Fred's hiking boots clapped loudly on the tile floor. Behind them the glowing alien monstrosity made no noise at all as it gave chase with surprising speed. The figure raised its arm to the overhead lights. They fluttered to life, blinding Fred and Eric as the glow bounced off the white tile and walls. The boys stumbled and slammed against the walls in an effort to feel their way along the corridor.

BANG!

That was a sound Fred recognized as he hoped it was not directed at him. His eyes still watered in the bright light but he could see a dark figure ahead of him, standing in the doorframe at the end of the wall.

"Chuk"

Something struck the wall beside his head, shattering the tile. Another body grabbed Fred by the shoulders and shoved him forward. His vision almost cleared he saw Eric slam to the floor next to him and the man in black slam the door closed. They were safe, back in the quarantine room. The two men in black reloaded their guns.

"Found your alien" Fred panted.

Part 15: Thinning the Herd

"I'll have you strung up for treason!" Bascombe yelled. "All of you! And you Rauch, I'll have you court marshaled for letting that hippie niece of yours..."

"Bascombe" Professor Dale said exasperatedly. "That'll do us no good, you saw that thing. Whatever it is it caused the virus."

Bascombe was mollified for the moment. The other agents still took positions around the room, although it had been noted that they were rotating in and out to eat. In the excitement of the day, it seemed that a lot of people had forgotten lunch.

The creature had, apparently, given up its chase. Even so, all of the adults, and especially the parents were on edge, none more so than Kate Rogers who paced defensively in front of Shaggy. George Blake, who approved of the gang's activities more than most parents would, eyed the government agents warily. Kurt Dinkley, it seemed, desperately wanted to be with his daughter, but Bascombe and Farmer wanted him working on the case, a case that Fred Jones and his friends desperately wanted to be a part of.

"Dell, out of all of the alien sightings you've ever heard of, has anything resembled that thing?"

"I don't know. I need a computer. If I had one I could check some of my usual sources."

Daphne pulled out her phone and checked the settings.

"If we had the wi- fi password you could use mine."

"Why do you need wi- fi?"

"I'm over my data limit" She shrugged.

Fred rolled his eyes.

"Fine, Shaggy, go see if Crystal has the password."

"Like why me?"

"Yeah, why him?" Velma repeated before sheepishly backing down.

"Uh" Fred darted his eyes nervously between them; what was happening?

This time it was Daphne's turn to roll her eyes. She calmly whispered something to Shaggy, and then to Velma. Both calmed and Shaggy pulled himself up from his chair and walked over to where crystal was sitting.

"So, like hey"

"Hey" She smiled.

"That was, uh, like, pretty cool, you helping us."

"Hey, it's cool man. I was glad to help.

Shaggy sat down next to her, relaxing himself. She was cool. In fact, she was like him.

"So, like, why did you help us?"

"Well, it seemed exciting, and… well, I've read about you and you're friends, I'm kind of a fan"

'Wow she's pretty' Shaggy thought.

"Hello?" Crystal said, unsure if Shaggy was okay as he had been staring blankly for some time.

"Oh, uh, right, I like wanted to know if you had the wi- fi password."

"Oh, no" She sighed. "They keep it like super secret… but I know the password for my aunt's computer in her office."

"Like, uh, should we be poking around the base after what happened?"

"Well, it's for a good cause right man?"

"Like, I guess so." Shaggy gulped, trying to sound brave but believing he had failed.

It seemed like Mysteries Inc. had a new member when Crystal joined them at their table. She took a napkin from the counter and drew a map of the corridors leading to her aunt's office. Everyone was so immersed in the plan that they didn't notice the lights flickering the first time, or the second. By the third a couple of people had looked up. At this point some of them may have even heard the faint hissing coming from the vents, it was too late. The lights flickered again, and this time they didn't stop.

The agents all stood up, guns clicking into position. The lights flickered faster and faster. In the small window of darkness, something rattled in the air vent. Every agent in the room trained their weapons in that direction, ready to open fire. Suddenly the grate shot off the wall, hitting one agent smack in the face. He fell with a thud. The men opened fire generating a thick cloud of smoke by the vent.

They waited, the tension in the room becoming almost palpable as the smoke cleared. Nothing was there. One agent stepped closer, pistol trained on the empty vent. As he dared a look inside, something pulled his face forward, slamming his forehead into the metal, he crumpled. The lights flickered again, this time throwing a shape onto the wall, a sharp inhuman skull.

Someone screamed and the agents, caught up in the tension, opened fire on the wall. The room went dark again. For that moment everything was calm, and then hell broke loose. The agents slumped to floor, green bumps spreading across their faces. The skull spread across the wall again.

Fred kicked at the locked door, breaking it open and leading the group into the examination room. As the lights flicked on they saw two more bodies on the floor, Kurt and Agent Farmer. Another scream sounded, then boom. The building shook and everyone ran. The few people in the room still thinking clearly, Rauch, Fred, and Daphne, led the way. Another hallway was opened and everyone ran inside. Just about to close the door behind them, Professor Dale collapsed.

Then it came, the creature, casting its unearthly glow stepped over Dale's limp form. Rauch and Bascombe opened fire, leaving Fred and Daphne to lead the group away. The bullets bounced off the shiny metal spacesuit. One ricocheted, striking Bascombe in the leg. He collapsed. Rauch reloaded her gun, intent to go out fighting when someone pulled her from behind. She turned to see the young redhead that had been part of the school group, and the blond boy pulling Bascombe to safety.

"Come on!" The girl yelled , her voice gaining a Scottish twinge for a moment.

Rauch complied, helping carry Bascombe. As a last minute thought, Fred pulled the fire alarm, setting the sprinklers off and sounding a screeching emergency signal across the base. The creature stumbled for a moment. Then the lights went out, and it was gone. Fred kicked the door open and pulled Bascombe into the room where everyone had taken cover.

Once settled a headcount was performed. The whole school group was still there, with the chaperones. Rauch and Lawrence were still there, but the rest of the base staff seemed to have been incapacitated. Bascombe was the last of the men in black left, and two out of three of his consultants still stood. At this, Fred realized that Velma's father had been taken down.

Part 16: Splitting Up

At this point no one objected to the meddling of a group of kids. They needed all the help they could get. Shaggy's mother, a trained EMT, set to work bandaging Bascombe's leg. Meanwhile Fred decided that it was time to split up.

"Like, are you out of your mind? That's what that, thing, wants."

"That thing, wants to hunt us down. If we're in a group, that's easier, that's what it expects. It cant's get us all at once."

"Okay, well, like maybe just for once, we get out of the creepy place, yeah?"

"That's the plan Shaggy, you Scooby and Crystal are gonna go to the motor pool and get the biggest truck you can find, then come back around and get us." Fred said with a grin.

"Oh, like okay." It was then that Shaggy remembered why Fred was in charge. He probably never knew what he was doing, but he could fake it brilliantly. "But where are you going?"

"Me and Daphne and Velma are gonna go get Velma's dad and the others, unless anyone else wants to come?"

It seemed everyone in the room looked around at the others simultaneously. One hand went up, Shannon, then Eric. Marcy Fleach stood up, and then, to Fred's astonishment, so did Red. As they were turning to go, another voice spoke up.

"I am in charge of you children, in light of that, I must also accompany you."

"Okay, Mister Eisenhardt, please… come."

Part 17: Signs

Shaggy zipped his jacket up against the wind outside. According to Rauch, the motor pool was on the east side of the base, so that's where he was headed. Crystal was accompanying his in case he got lost, and he was glad of that, for more reasons than one. Scooby was also there, as always.

They tried to stay in the shadow of the buildings when they could. It was midday now, but the cloud cover kept the sun at bay. If there was one thing Shaggy was a natural at, it was sneaking. Quickly as they could they trotted through the muddy earth.

"It should be just over there" Crystal said, pointing down to one of the many uniformly green buildings.

Shaggy gave and awkward nod in her direction. Just as he was ready to move out of cover, something rustled in the bushes. Crystal grabbed his hand and pulled him back. In the back of his mind, Shaggy registered that they were in danger, as it stood; he was too petrified that Crystal was holding his hand. She pulled him low behind one of the buildings motioning for Scooby to follow.

Peering out, they could see a large shape moving out from the bushes. Shaggy and Scooby's eyes widened in terror. It was the 'thing' that had chased Fred and Eric. The glow on its helmet was fainter now, in the daylight, but the skull was immediately recognizable. It stomped out into the mud with its heavy boots and just… waited.

Shaggy's heart was pounding. The thing was right there, not three yards from him, he desperately hoped it couldn't see them. Crystal squeezed his hand harder. It calmed him, just a bit.

The thing raised its arm into the air like it was about to deliver a soliloquy. A shadow passed over the field. Shaggy looked up and forgot to breath. The ship from earlier was passing just overhead. The sunlight reflected off the bronze- like surface, making it almost glow. With a mechanical hum a shaft of red light shot from the bottom of the hull. It sliced into the dirt, throwing soil into the air. The beam moved smoothly across the ground. The smell of burning dirt and grass wafted through the air. With a sound like a radio switching off, the beam disappeared.

The creature walked into the middle of the field and waited just under the ship. A portal irised open in the metal. For a moment, Shaggy thought that it was getting ready to fire again, then it dropped something. A small object crashed into the dirt. Shaggy couldn't see it behind the creature, but he could see the creature kneeling by it. Even though its back was to them he could see it was doing something. Then it got up and walked away.

Shaggy let out a long breath as he got up from his hiding spot. He was drenched in sweat.

"Like, what the heck was that thing?" He panted.

"Ri ron't row" Scooby barked nervously. "Rebel or rempire?" Scooby asked.

"I'm thinking Empire" Shaggy said walking over to where the alien had been crouching.

Shaggy stared at the object like a hound- dog taking a scent. It was as large as a watermelon, and covered in some kind of purple membrane.

"Rit's a regg" Scooby barked.

"Yeah, I think you're right.

"Guys!" Crystal called.

Shaggy and Scooby turned to see her standing on top of one of the buildings.

"Like what is it?"

"You might want to see this!" She yelled taking out her phone and snapping a picture of the ground. Engraved into the dirt, surrounding the egg was a massive pattern of concentric circles and spirals.

Shaggy stepped back looking at the gigantic carving encircling him. 'Why can't it ever be simple?' Shaggy thought.

Part 18: Body Snatchers

Fred trodded carefully into the room where the others had fallen. Behind him was the percentage of his class crazy enough to help him.

"Professor Dale fell just at the end of this hall."

"The where is he?" Shannon whispered.

Fred looked through the hallway and into the room beyond, all of the bodies where gone.

"Dad" Velma shreiked running headlong into the room.

Fred and Daphne chased after her, but there was no one there. It was like they had just been dissintigrated. Every bullet, every gun that had been dropped was still there, but the people themselves where gone.

"This freaky egg thing is still here." Red announced. "Something's wrong with it though."

They gathered around the examination table. The egg lay flat now,as though it had been deflated. Other than that, the area was clean.

"Do you think it… hatched?" Daphne asked cautiously.

"I really hope not."

"There's nothing around the egg, if something did come out of it, it was either ridiculously dry, or it flew." Velma said. Throughout all the distress her voice was level and reasoned, her dad would be proud.

"We should take a sample" Marcy Fleach said.

"If I could get into their computer system, I could try to get some of their scanners working." Eric added.

"Perhaps I could be of assistance children" Eisenhardt announced from behind them. He had been so quiet that they had almost forgotten he was there.

Part 19: Alien Autopsy

"T… two alien autopsies in a day" Hopper said zipping a hazmat suit on. "W… what are the odds?"

"I'd rather not think about it" Mrs. Rogers said zipping into her own suit.

"Are you sure you're up for this Misses Rogers?" Velma asked.

"If you and Miss Fleach can do it I can." She answered. She had remained remarkably calm throughout the whole experience and even for an EMT this stuff was weird. In fact the only indication of discomfort was that she kept twitching her face and sniffing at the air. "Just concerned for Norville and Scoobert" She excused herself.

"They'll be fine" Rauch assured her. "Crystal's with them and she's tougher than she looks."

"Well so are Shaggy and Scooby" Velma answered almost bitterly.

"If we may begin" Eisenhardt asked.

The makeshift autopsy team set to work on the egg while everyone else waited in a sterile room and looked on through a protective window. Although Fred had pointed out how useless that was at this point, the adults had agreed that it was better to be safe than sorry. Hopper made the first incision with incredibly steady hands. Eisenhardt helped to peel the membrane away. The table, save Eisenhardt himself, collectively gasped. Inside was a skull, just like the skull that Fred and Eric had described. It was wet with some sort of plasma and lines, almost like veins were spread around it.

"Jinkies, this is so freaky."

"Life beyond our planet" Marcy said in awe.

"Where's the rest of it?" Katherine asked.

"It m… must be born like this, perhaps the spacesuits are really some sort of transport."

"They would have to be beings of immense mental power to evolve like this"

"Scary as that is" Katherine interjected. "Are we saying that this thing is alive right now?"

"It very well cougggghhhhaaaaaaa" Hopper collapsed clutching his head.

Velma collapsed just the same, then Marcy. Katherine clutched her head too, but stayed upright. Gritting her teeth the moved over to the other side of the table and pulled Velma up off the floor. Reaching for the other girl she noticed that Eisenhardt had already pulled them up, seemingly unfazed by whatever was hitting them.

Fred immediately pulled the door open for them and helped to pull them inside. On the other side of the glass the skull lay perfectly still on the table, almost smiling at them.

Part 20: Bare- Knuckle

"That's it, I'm leaving! If any of you psychos wanna stay and wait up for the beatnik and the mutt you're welcome to it!" Red announced.

"You really are a despicable human being aren't you?" Fred asked turning his attention away from Velma, who like the others had just stopped trembling in pain.

"And you're insane! This is not some action movie Jones, you're not the hero. If we stay we die, I say every man for himself!"

"You wanna be a deserter?!"

"I wanna live"

Fred's anger had reached a breaking point. He was tired of taking this junk from Red. With one swift motion he threw his fist into the other boy's face.

"You selfish son of a…" Red's fist impacted Fred's jaw like a truck.

Fred took a swing back getting Red right in the gut. Seven years of animosity between the two was finally coming out. Not like it had so many times at school when Fred would distract Red from his prey, this was a real no holds barred fight. Red grabbed Fred's shirt and pinned him to the wall. Fred retaliated with a kick right between Red's legs.

"You never got it. You're not Indiana Jones you idiot. You can't just swagger in and save the day. Sometimes you just gotta admit that you're outclassed."

"Yeah, is that you're motto, give up when you're licked?" Head- but!

"Every flippin day!" Blow to the ribs.

Both boys staggered back clutching their injuries. They both gritted their teeth and prepared to go again. It was not to be. Daphne stepped between them and held out her hands, making a barrier between the two combatants.

"Stop it you idiots!" She screamed. The whole room silenced. "One!" She pointed to Red. "Nobody is leaving until everybody is leaving. Two!" She turned on her boyfriend. "Fighting is not going to help this!"

The words hung in the air for a moment, and then both boys quietly slunk off to opposite sides of the room. Daphne was too mad to know what to do. She was saved the harsh decision when Shaggy, Scooby and Crystal came in through the door.

"Like you are not gonna believe this."

Part 21: The Government's Basement

Velma knelt over the photo on Crystal's phone. No one, least of all her was sure if it was deliberate or unconscious but she had made a point of standing in such a way that shunned Crystal from the examination.

"This symbol, I don't recognize it."

Dell leaned over and for all the chaos he looked like he was having the time of his life.

"Wow that is totally Draconian."

"What now?" She said taken aback.

"Draconian, you know Draco, Dracula. The pattern is the symbol for the Cult of Dracula."

"Like not more of that Dell."

"Oh hell" Bascombe cursed under his breath.

"Don't tell me you believe that sh…"

"Shut up kid." Bascombe snapped interrupting Fred. "I'm gonna catch hell for this." He said pulling himself up and leaning heavily on his good leg. "But there's something you people have got to see."

Bascombe led them back to the hanger they had crossed through on the tour. Walking up to one of the work benches, he lifted the lid off a toolbox and flipped a switch inside. The sound of grinding gears filled the room. Everyone stepped back as a section of the floor opened up underneath them. A staircase led into a lower area.

"I'm only showing you this because right now there's no way of hiding it from you and it might save our lives. Plus, after today, everything is being moved out anyway."

"What is it?" Velma asked.

"This is the government's basement. Here at the base we've had scientists working on research projects that you can't even imagine."

Bascombe led them down into the massive room. It was filled from wall to wall with the kinds of things that could only be described as gadgets. They seemed to have been designed the kind of people who could only be described as mad or incredibly geeky. So naturally, that half of the class was in total awe.

"If anyone is trying to attack the base they're trying to get to this."

"So aliens want your technology?" Fred asked unimpressed.

"Ah, well that leads me to my second point. That symbol you found is the emblem of the Hand of Draco, a radical group operating out of Eastern Europe. We've long suspected that there was a cell in the US but we could never find them."

"You built this under our base." Lawrence gasped. "You put a huge target under our base, you endangered our staff! It's your fault the launch is cancelled. My life's work is in that shuttle."

"Janet please" Rauch pleaded.

"You knew?"

"It was the reason we built the exhaust tunnels." She admitted.

"So, you like, invited us to the base, knowing it might be a target? Not cool man."

"Rot rool."

Any further discussion was cut off by the sudden blaring of an alarm throughout the base. Lawrence and Rauch's faces dropped in panic.

"What is it?" Velma asked.

"That's the alarm that warns us the rocket is about to launch."

Part 22: Mission Control

Now things were bad. Upon hearing the alarm about half the group had rushed to mission control. Upon arriving they come face to face with the creature. It was fleeing just as they entered. Fred tried to give chase but Daphne grabbed him by his collar. That wasn't the worst thing though. As Lawrence and Rauch examined the display screens it was plane to see that the situation had gone from bad to worse.

"It initiated the launch. The shuttle is gonna go in exactly one hour."

"You can't stop it?" Velma asked leaning over the display screen.

"It locked us out of the system."

"Like, okay, so why's that a bad thing. The shuttle gets to launch right?"

"Without the proper support team to aid the launch… the shuttle goes up in flames."

"The shuttle goes up in flames, the exhaust tunnels blow up. The whole base could blow." Rauch finished.

"Like; we need to evacuate." Shaggy whimpered.

"Crystal cove is five miles over; we can at least get there." Daphne suggested.

"All right, I'll go get the bus." Eisenhardt announced.

"What about the hostages?" Crystal asked.

"Like your dad Velms; Crystal's right we gotta find them."

"Oh, thanks for remembering." Velma said bitterly.

"Thank Crystal." Shaggy said obliviously.

"Well…" Daphne stepped in trying to diffuse the situation. "Where would they be?"

Mr. Blake walked in looking worried.

"We just did a head count of the students, Wyatt and Norton are gone, and those three techs from the SALF station as well."

Rauch cursed under her breath. She pulled her gun out and checked the ammunition. The she re- holstered it and pointed to Shaggy and Scooby.

"You two, sniffer and handler, with me, Crystal, you come too. We're heading to the SALF base. What's your name… Garcia, you come too; It's getting dark and I want experienced eyes on the sky."

Part 23: Uh- Oh

Velma considered herself a very smart person. She didn't try to hide it, and she was proud of it. She was even able to compartmentalize her father's disappearance and concentrate on the matter at hand, namely learning the ins and outs of the highly sophisticated NASA computers. Together with Eric and Marcy she was part of an emergency launch team that would work with Doctor Lawrence to keep an eye on the shuttle until they could evacuate. Even so, having her father missing, to put it scientifically, sucked. Now she knew how Shaggy had felt when they had first met.

The intercom at her station buzzed to life.

"Bzzt Velma, this is Minga, we've got a big problem down here."

Minga and Shannon, as the most mechanically savvy of the group, had been checking the access points to the exhaust ports.

"What's going on?"

"Bzzt Someone tampered with the exhaust ports, I think we'd better tell you in person."

Uh- oh was Velma's first thought.

"Basically, the vents of the exhaust port were reset." Minga said once they had come up to the control room.

"See, the system is designed to release the heat safely out the cliff side." Shannon explained. "But, someone locked off all the vents, without them, the pressure just builds and builds until… well." She didn't even want to finish.

"It'll blow up?" Daphne asked nervously.

"Boom."

"We have to get out of here."

"I'm afraid it's not that simple." Bascombe said hobbling in. "If the base goes boom, the lab underneath goes with it. I'm not at liberty to say what's in there, but if it gets hit, the minimum safe distance goes from five miles to fifty."

"That's all of Crystal Cove and half of Coolsville."

"I just called in the order to evacuate, but we may already be too late."

"What if we try and fix the vents?" Fred asked.

"In theory…" Lawrence said. "If we actually go into the tunnels… they run by the cliff side, we could plant some explosives which I'm assuming you have agent…" She said accusingly to Bascombe.

Bascombe scratched his chin in contemplation. Finally it seemed that he had decided he had already shown them all enough classified information that any more would make little difference.

"Yes, why?"

"We could blow out the cliff side and let the blast out that way."

"I volunteer" Fred shot his hand up.

Daphne grabbed his arm and yanked it down.

"No you don't."

"I'll go." Mr. Blake said stepping forward. "Just show me how set the charges."

"I'll go with you." Mrs. Rogers announced. "I can't just sit around while Norville and Scooby are out there."

Part 24: Thieves

Rauch kicked the door open gun at the ready. She stormed into the small SALF base and found… nothing. She cursed under her breath. Garcia checked the equipment.

"Someone downloaded something off the computer."

"Ri rell romething."

"What'd you got buddy?'

"Reap ralone and… ryuch… ri ron't row what rat is." He barked scrunching his nose.

"Cheap cologne and mystery smell… that's gotta be Gibby and Jason."

Scooby followed the scent all the way to the side of the room. He gave the floor a confirmatory sniff and nodded his head pawing at the ground. Shaggy kneeled down and checked the floorboards. He dug his nails into the grooves.

"Guys, give me a hand with this."

Crystal kneeled next to him and pulled. The floorboard came away revealing a three foot deep pit dug into the dirt. Inside were Jason and Gibby, huddled and barely conscious. Crystal and Shaggy pulled them out and laid them on the floor. Slowly their eyes opened.

"What happened?" Gibby groaned.

"Where'd those guys go?" Jason mumbled.

"Like what guys?"

"Those three technicians" Gibby answered sitting up. "We were telling them what good hackers we were, and they offered us money to get them unrestricted access into the video files of the computer."

"They downloaded footage of the ship." Garcia said from the computer.

"They were gonna sell it on the internet, to people like Chillman." Jason said.

"And they knocked you out for it?" Crystal asked.

"Wha…?" Gibby asked. "No, they got knocked out too, it was that… thing." He shuddered. "Before I blacked out, I thought I saw it going for the rocket gantry."

A loud clang echoed across the field. Everyone rushed to the widow looking out over the rocket gantry. A small shape was perched on one of the metal arms connected to the ship. It looked like it had a tool in its hand that it was sweeping across the beam. Suddenly another large piece of metal fell from the tower, hitting the scaffolding below and sounding like church bells in the night.

"Oh, no" Crystal gasped.

She swung the door open and took off across the field.

"Crystal wait!" Shaggy yelled.

He and Scooby took off across the field after her.

Part 25: Taking Inventory

Fred lifted another heavy box out of the lab. Bascombe had insisted that it be cleared out as a safety precaution. As he walked out he passed a inset in the wall about the size of a man.

"What's supposed to be here?" He called.

Bascombe checked his list.

"Some kind of armor. Someone must have taken it out for testing.

'Armor' Fred thought. 'I wonder if…'

"What about this one?" Jimmy called out from a large empty space in the floor.

Bascombe looked as though he knew exactly what was meant to be there, he just wasn't saying anything. Fred leaned up against the one of the old WW2 Spitfire Fighters in the hanger and wiped the sweat off his face. That had to be one of his favorite planes; it was the same kind his great grandpa had flown in WW2. From across the room he could see Red admiring it too. Maybe he and Red were more alike than he wanted to admit. At the very least he knew they both had pilot's licenses. It had been an unpleasant day at the flight school when he found that out.

Daphne climbed out of the lab and leaned against the plane next to Fred. She had her jacket tied around her waist and her face smudged with grease. Fred thought she still looked like the most beautiful thing in the world.

"You alright?" She asked.

"Same old, same old. You thinking what I'm thinking about that missing armor?"

"Is it ever any other way?"

"Jeez, I hope not." Fred laughed.

"I don't know, I think we could take on real aliens."

"All right Princess Leia. Come on, we better get back to work." Fred started walking back into the lab.

"Hey Freddy!"

He turned back.

"Be careful okay, whatever happens. You don't have to do it alone." She almost looked on the verge of tears.

"Hey come on, it's me, I'll be fine." He smirked.

Daphne may have had something to say, but she never got the chance. A loud screeching noise filled the room. Everyone turned to see the alien ship, hovering by the open hanger door. It sat for a moment, staring at them like a curious animal, then it open fired. Everyone ducked behind cover. Planes collapsed into heaps of metal.

"I got an idea!" Fred yelled jumping into the Spitfire.

He pulled the canopy closed and checked the instruments. Fuel was topped off and… guns were loaded.

"Here we go" He said activating them. Hundreds of seventy year old bullets crashed against the craft.

As though it stung, the alien ship turned in mid hover and shot off into the sky towards the rocket gantry.

"Oh no you don't" Fred cursed as, without thinking, he started up the engines. The plane glided across the smooth floor until it got into the open air. Fred adjusted the controls and the plane sped off after the alien ship.

"Freddy no" Daphne gasped.

Part 26: Tunnels

"I hate tunnels" Katherine spat, shining her flashlight in front of them.

"Not me" George laughed halfheartedly. "I grew up in the tunnels under Blake Hall."

"I have no right to complain, Norville and Scoobert do it, why not me too."

"Oh now don't do that. I went through the 'my kid is braver than me' phase and it's stupid."

"I just never thought he would do anything like this."

"It scares you? You wonder why he wants to do it. You worry that it's just for the rush and it'll get him killed. I'm going to tell you it's not. When we were at Blake Hall, with the pirates; your boy… boys, all of them really, they did it because they wanted to help. Maybe Daphne and Skip's boy enjoy the rush. In fact I'm certain they do. Kurt's girl, she's in it because she likes living the stories she grew up on. But all of them, and especially your boys, do it because it's right."

"What about you?"

"Me? Always for the rush, now let's blow a million dollar science project to kingdom come." He said with a wild grin. "Just like my year four chemistry class."

They kept walking for another five minutes. Their flashlights could only illuminate a few feet in front of them, but there was no reason to suspect anything was in the tunnels. Katherine stopped George, sniffing at the air.

"There're people down here."

"Don't be daft, there's no one in here."

Katherine wasn't listening; she had already taken off running.

"So that's where the boy gets it from" He nodded.

George caught up to her standing over a row of bodies.

"Bloody hell, it's them, the base staff, the agents, Kurt."

Katherine kneeled down by one of them and took a pulse.

"They're alive" She slapped his face. "But they're out cold."

"We gotta get them out" George said pulling a large tar off the floor and laying it flat on the ground. "Pile them onto here and we'll drag them out."

Katherine gave him an indignant look.

"Have you got a better plan?"

She shrugged and began loading them up.

Part 27: Go for Launch

Velma's intercom buzzed again.

"Mission control"

"Aye, it's George, we found the missing people, they're down here in the tunnels, we're dragging them out now, but it's gonna take time."

"We've got fifteen minutes before the shuttle launches." Velma said checking her readout. "You're going to have to get them out before then and…"

It took that time for Velma's words to catch up with her thoughts. The launch was in fifteen minutes. Until then it had not seemed so real. She and Eric and Marcy were going to have to launch the shuttle. She leaned into the intercom again.

"Make sure you set the charges. I'll see if I can buy you anymore time." She changed the dials to hail Shannon and Minga. "Guys, is there any way to delay the exhaust from hitting the cliff- side tunnel?"

"Hold on" Shannon buzzed back. "On the plans, there's a side tunnel that goes past the SALF dishes. In theory, we could try to reroute the system for…"

"Six minutes at most" Minga chimed in.

"Doctor Lawrence?" Velma asked.

"It could work" The scientist agreed skeptically.

"Do it" Velma ordered.

"Aye captain" Shannon answered back.

"Alright people, we are go for launch."

Eric pulled up the system readout for the exhaust tunnels on his computer. One blast door needed to be deployed manually at the exact right moment.

"Shannon, it's me. Wait for my mark on that blast door, alright."

"Brilliant" She answered back.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Eric, not a terribly religious boy, was praying. Next to him, however, Marcy Fleach was checking the security feeds of the gantry.

"Uh, there're people on the gantry, and it looks like the alien ship is coming in fast."

Velma did not say anything. Anything that could be said had already crossed everyone's minds.

"Commence launch sequence, we're doing this fast and loose people." Lawrence yelled.

Part 28: The Third Kind

Shaggy and Scooby chased Crystal all the way up the rocket gantry. Finally Shaggy pulled himself up, panting, onto the top level. Scooby was just below him. Shaggy did not even see it coming. The creature's boot struck right at his chin and he fell three feet onto the lower level. Above him, the creature was holding Crystal over its head. It threw her down where Shaggy caught her.

He could hear her breathing, but her head was bleeding and her face was flushed. There had been instances in the past when Shaggy's mind had been overcome with a kind of rage. He felt like it made him stronger and faster, more daring. That was not happening now. All that was there was normal skinny, cowardly Shaggy. No one would be stupid enough to attack the monster head on, no one, except him.

"Take her" He said handing crystal off to Scooby.

He pulled some cord from a toolbox next to him and tied Crystal's hands together. Then he looped her arms around Scooby's neck. Scooby gave him a good luck nod and took off down the gantry. Shaggy pulled a wrench from the toolbox and climbed back up onto the narrow beam of metal where the creature was.

Now it was obvious what the creature had been doing. It was holding a cutting torch and it had been taking away pieces of the framework. It let the torch go and a long metal blade extended from its gauntlet. The skeletal face smiled at him, that unnatural, inhuman smile. Shaggy swung the heavy wrench at it. It clanged off the side. The alien did not even flinch. It swung at him. Shaggy stepped back, but the blade extended in midair, managing to cut a gash across his midsection.

He clutched his chest in pain. The skull on the creature moved in a way that might have been laughing. Shaggy doubled over, wrapping his jacket around the wound. The creature raised its blade over its head ready to strike when…

Rat- a- tat- tat

The sound of machine gun fire filled the air as what Shaggy thought looked like a WWII fighter plane swooped down. The guns lit up at the front, blasting at the creature. It stumbled for a moment. Shaggy took that moment to even his own footing on the beam. As the plane passed Shaggy saw Fred in the cockpit giving him a salute.

Part 29: Old School Dog- Fighting

Fred made his pass at the thing attacking Shaggy and moved on to his main target. The alien ship glinted like copper in the gantry lights. He swooped next to it, turning the plane sideways and strafing the alien wings. The damage was minor but he could see dents in the wing. He was getting to it.

The craft shot towards him. It was faster, no time to swerve. So instead Fred dived. He shot straight down. His enemy was confused for a minute, but only a minute. It shot down after him, guns blazing. Fred yanked the controls and forced the craft upward, nose to nose with the alien ship. He let his guns fly, right into the window. Nothing got through.

The alien craft, apparently realizing that Fred wasn't any real danger sped off the other way, towards the gantry. Fred swerved back after it.

"Okay, I need a plan." He panted to no one in particular.

Fred was struck with an idea. He gunned the engines and caught up to his playmate. He made sure he was close enough to get a good grouping of bullets, and then he fired. It worked, the grouping tore a hole in the alien wing.

"Ha, ha, ha… uh oh. Now he's ticked."

The craft rounded back on him and opened fire. Fred shot his plane higher out of the way just in time to avoid being hit. His tailfin was less fortunate.

Back in the control room Marcy was giving commentary to the security footage.

"He's hit, but he got it away from the tower."

Velma didn't know whether to be happy or terrified. She settled for extremely uneasy.

"What!" Daphne yelled over the intercom.

In the hanger Daphne panicked as she heard the news from mission control. Fred was going to die out there if she did not do something fast. It was at that point that she settled on a very Fred- like idea.

There was a small gunship that had not been damaged in the attack. By her reckoning it took three people to fly.

"Jimmy, come here, I need your help with this."

"What are you idiots doing?" Red sneered as Daphne climbed on the plane.

"We're trying to save Freddy and we could use your help too, now come on."

"You're insane" Red said walking away.

"Red, this is his life, you can't just let him die!" She screamed back.

"That's his fault; he jumped in like some big hero. It's gonna get him killed, so what!"

"Red I know that you're better than that."

"What gives you that idea?" Red spat.

"You came to help get the bodies" Daphne answered now on the verge of tears.

Red stood silent for a moment. His face was frozen in contemplation. Then without saying a word, he climbed on board the plane.

Part 30: A Helping Hand

Shaggy swung the wrench at the alien again, hoping to make a dent. If he could just stall until the rocket took off that would be a success. All the same he really wanted to survive as well. The alien stabbed with the blade. Shaggy dodged to the side. His sneaker slipped on the smooth metal. For a moment he caught a glimpse of the ground waiting below him.

That gave him an idea, not a good one but it was all he had. He threw the wrench behind him and spread his arms out. The alien lunged and Shaggy let himself drop. He fell right off the beam. Curiously the alien peered over the side. Below it Shaggy locked his fingers onto the underside of the beam and swung around kicking the alien in the back.

It stumbled, almost falling. Now their positions were reversed. Shaggy was closest to the rocket and the alien had its back to the gantry. A small leaking noise was coming from where Shaggy had kicked. He had opened up the spot where Fred had shot the armor.

The alien advanced on him and the expression on the skull change to one of rage. Behind it there was a glint of gold and a smile crept onto Shaggy's face. A mass of brown fur jumped at the creature. Scooby sunk his teeth into the open part of the space suit and tore. Gas leaked from the suit and the creature collapsed. Without missing a beat Shaggy grabbed the creature under the arm and tossed it into the gantry.

"Where's crystal?"

"Re's rafe" Scooby assured. That was all Shaggy needed to hear.

"Come on, we better make it down before this thing launches.

Part 31: Secrets

Garcia took the girl from the dog. The kind of day he was having, he didn't even question it. As the dog ran back up the gantry something flickered on the girls face. Suddenly her flesh and clothes blinked away like a television being switched off. Before him was a body. Still somewhat female, but covered in a smooth silvery skin, like that of a seal. There was no nose and no hair anymore, the face was smooth and shiny. Garcia's eyes were drawn to the peace sign necklace, the only thing that had not changed. He noticed that one of the arms inside the circle was bent. He straightened it and the girl who he had seen all day flickered back into existence.

Rauch pulled up in a jeep with the two boys. Garcia stared for a moment, frozen in shock. He knew they couldn't have seen anything.

"Oh my god, is she okay?" Rauch asked worriedly. Garcia saw her eyes flicker to the necklace.

'She knows', Garcia realized.

"I think so, we'll get her to that EMT in the base."

"We should pick up the boy and his dog first" Rauch ordered. "That rocket's gonna go off any minute."

Part 32: Ignition

Lawrence had begun the countdown.

Five

"Fred's still leading that ship around" Marcy announced.

Four

"We've almost got everyone out" Mrs. Rogers called in. "George is setting the explosives now."

Three

"Wait for my mark on that blast door guys." Eric said to Shannon and Minga.

Two

"Has anyone heard from Shaggy and Scooby?" Velma asked worriedly.

One

Everyone took to their controls. Outside the rocket engines fired up. Flames shot out underneath it. Beneath the gantry the flames were being taken into the tunnel system as the craft rose into the sky.

Eric tracked the flames on his computer, waiting for the right moment.

"Now Eric?" Shannon called.

"Not yet"

"Now? Minga yelled.

"Not yet"

"Now?" Both girls screamed.

"Now!" Eric confirmed.

In the engine room, the two girls pulled down on levers and adjusted switches. A heavy blast door closed, rerouting the flames for a precious few minutes.

In the exhaust tunnels Kate was handing off the last body to Sharon and Dell. George came running up the hall holding the detonator and smiling like a maniac.

"Come on, I'll give you a boost." He said pocketing the device and cupping his hands in front of him.

Kate stepped up and pulled herself out of the tunnel.

"Misses R?" Eric called on the radio. "You gotta blow that wall now and get outa there, because the flame are coming in fast.

George pressed the button on the detonator and a loud boom echoed in the tunnel.

"Half expected that not to work!" He screamed over the ringing in his ears.

Behind him the flames were shooting down the tunnel. Kate held her arm out to pull him up. He was heavy. With a loud grunt she lifted him out of the tunnel while Dell slammed the door closed.

"We have lift off" Velma half panted, half laughed in the control room.

Part 33: Red to the Rescue

Fred let out a long chain of curses as his other wing caught fire. The alien ship was closing in on him. Without anything left to do he rounded his plane and opened fire on the alien ship. Before his eyes two missiles streaked with fire at the ship. Fred looked behind him to see a massive modern gunship shooting through the sky towards him. As it passed above him he saw the bottom door, where people would parachute out, opening. Daphne was hanging out holding a rope out of the plane.

Getting the message Fred pulled in close, opened the canopy of his plane, and jumped. His finger closed around the rope and Daphne hoisted him up.

"Thanks" Fred panted.

"Don't thank me you life risking idiot. Thank him." She pointed to the pilots chair.

Red turned around for a moment and gave what almost looked like a smile.

"Get over here Jones I need a co- pilot."

Not quite sure what was happening, Fred made his way into the co- pilots seat.

"So, you been fighting this thing, what're its weak points?"

"Aim for the wings" Fred ordered.

Daphne and Jimmy adjusted the guns and fired. The wings of the alien craft were torn to shreds, sending it crashing to the ground.

Part 34: The Hand of Draco

Rauch had collected the 'alien pilot' from the wreckage. Now they were all standing around the control room with the aliens in handcuffs.

"So these are definitely not real aliens then?" Dell asked for the fourth time.

"No, like sorry" Shaggy answered.

"Well then what are they?"

"This one is the armor from the lab right?" Fred asked.

"Looks like it." Rauch answered, pulling the helmet off, as she did the skull went blank.

"Farmer" Bascombe gasped indignantly.

Rauch pulled the helmet off the pilot.

"Keith!" Professor Lawrence shrieked.

"Okay" Bascombe growled. "Who are you working for?"

The two men glanced worriedly at each other.

"You stole that prototype ship. That's what was missing from the lab." Daphne said, not waiting for them to answer.

"Oh, there goes, a million." Rauch groaned looking out over the wreckage in the field.

"I checked the skull when I found out you weren't aliens and I found a high frequency speaker. That's how you made us all think it was alive." Velma said, tossing the alien skull from one hand to another like a baseball. "And both eggs were rigged with a hydraulic pump so that they looked like they had pulses and heartbeats."

"You broke into Sergeant Rauch's computer to get the codes to lockdown the launch and the tunnels." Fred continued.

"And you drugged everyone to make sure that the launch would fail" Shaggy accused.

"Ras, rere was ras in the rafeteria. I relled it."

"Okay, so they leaked knockout gas in through the vents, and only some people were affected because…" Daphne trailed off, not wanting to break their deductive streak.

"It was the food." Velma realized. "Everyone who stayed conscious hadn't eaten yet. There was a drug in the food that reacted with the gas."

"Okay, see we know everything about your plan. So fess up." Fred smirked. Behind them Bascombe could not help but look a little impressed.

"We are the hand of Draco." Farmer snarled.

"Our master could not allow you to reach those beyond the stars." Dale finished.

"They were trying to stop us from contacting aliens." Fred laughed.

"This is great but we still lost those three SALF technicians." Rauch sighed. "Who knows what else they took from those computers."

"My apologies for disappearing children." Mr. Eisenhardt said walking back into the room. "I caught three young people attempting to escape with files from the SALF station. As I had nowhere else to put them, they are currently locked inside a supple closet.

No one said anything. Everyone just stared in amazement. Eventually Rauch stood up to go arrest the techs. The case was over.

Part 35: Launch Party

The party was massive. Now that all the technicians had woken up the launch could be properly celebrated. Earlier that day Bascombe had presented them all with small plaques for helping to launch the shuttle and catch Farmer and Dale. He had said that as part of their reward he would not be arresting or charging them for the crashed planes. It was a good night. It was the kind of time that seeing Red Herring usually ruined for Fred.

"Nice party eh Jones?"

"Yeah, guess it is." Fred answered awkwardly. "Listen, I never thanked you for saving me."

"Don't thank me, thank your girl. She convinced me to do it."

"So is that it?" Fred laughed. "Is this like some TV show, the fighting's over and we're cool now?"

"Maybe. You know, my dad wasn't the nicest guy. I guess he's probably the one that taught me to be the way I am. I learned to know when you're beaten and to move on to somebody who can't beat you."

"Red" Fred gasped. "I had no idea."

"Aw, it's alright. A couple of years ago, my dad just left and my Grandma took me in. But I guess I never outgrew what I learned from my dad. The only reason I'm telling you this is because I think you learned the opposite..."

"I learned that you give everything you have for the people you care for, and you don't let anything get in the way." Fred sighed. "Not even your life."

"Those are both, really bad ways of living." Red said.

"So what, we find a middle ground?"

"There has to be one, you just gotta find it."

"Yeah, so, are we cool?"

"More or less, just don't hurt that girl, or die on her. She made me steal a plane to save your butt. If you do anything to make that a pointless act… I'll get you."

"It's a deal." Fred agreed moving away to greet Daphne. "Oh, and thanks for saving me."

"Don't mention it" Red smirked.

Shaggy was glad that Crystal was okay. He had felt bad for sending Scooby down with her, but saving the ship had seemed so important to her. He had to do that for her at least. She had been grateful enough to dance with him and for the first time in a while, Shaggy felt very much at ease.

"You, know Crystal, I uh…"

"What?" Crystal smiled.

"I really like you."

"I really like you too." She laughed.

Without thinking she kissed him. Shaggy felt like his whole body was being electrocuted. Then she pulled away, and she was crying.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm so sorry, it's just, I don't live near here. It just… wouldn't work." She choked back tears.

"Why not?" Shaggy asked, hurt.

"I just, I can't… I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

Just like that Crystal was gone. She ran off into some unknown part of the base. Shaggy stood there, dejected. A hand grabbed his wrist and put a cookie into his palm.

"Hey Velms" He sighed.

"You gonna be okay?"

"I don't know, maybe." He said taking a bite of the cookie. "Thanks."

"Always."

Part 36: Initiation

Rauch had told Garcia she needed to talk to him about something. He had a feeling he knew what it was. She drove him out under the rocket gantry where two other people were waiting. One was Doctor Hopper, and the other was a very tearful Crystal."

"I think I know what this is about."Garcia said nervously as he got out of the jeep. "You're all aliens aren't you?"

"No" Hopper laughed. He seemed much less nervous now, and his stutter was gone.

"No" Crystal agreed, adjusting the necklace. "Just me" Again the human girl was gone and the alien girl reappeared.

"So you two are what? Government handlers?"

"More like foster parents" Rauch said. "And we're not government, but I'll let them explain that." She swept her hands to the shadows where two men stepped into the light.

"My name is Sam Rogers" The taller one said. "And this is my partner Beau Neville." He indicated the other, more muscular man. "Hello princess" He smiled warmly to Crystal. "It's good to see you again."

"Yes, you've aged" She said innocently.

"You haven't all that much" Beau said smiling.

A low hum began above them. They all looked up see a ship, not sharp and warlike like the fake one, but smooth and rounded. A shaft of light poured out and Crystal stepped toward it.

"That'll be Amber with your ride" Beau said.

"Goodbye my friends" Crystal waved tearfully. "I hope my next mission comes at a time when my people can be allies to all in your world." She stepped into the center of the light and was pulled into the ship. The light shut off and the ship sped off silently into the sky.

"We represent the Knights of Van Helsing." Rogers said switching back to business. "We are a secret organization, dedicated to protecting all forms of life from the evil that wishes to harm them. We keep the secrets of those who wish to stay hidden, like Crystal who you just helped save. The satellite helped launch was meant to establish communications between her world and our order; you just did two worlds a favor. Even before this we've had our eye you Rupert; you have a particular set of skills that we could use."

"And you proved that you can keep a secret" Neville said indicating where Crystal had stood.

"You don't have to join, you wouldn't be the first to refuse, but if you do refuse all we ask is that you keep us a secret for the sake of those we protect."

"So… what, you protect good aliens from bad aliens?" Garcia asked.

Everyone around him laughed.

"Oh no, so much more than aliens. So are you in?"

"I… I'm in." Garcia agreed.

"And you swear to uphold the secrecy of our order and those we protect so long as they wish to stay secret?"

"I do"

"And you swear to protect the innocent from those who would do them harm?"

"I do"

"Then welcome to the order" Rogers said handing Garcia a gold coin. On both sides was an engraving of a V over an H. "Welcome to the Knights of Van Helsing.

Part 37: Epilogue

Fletcher stood over the table, examining a government file.

"Are you sure this was what they tried to take from the lab?" He asked.

"Very." Eisenhardt answered. "Doctor Hopper caught one of his agents trying to take it while everyone was busy with the launch. We suspect that it was the reason the two men carved the Draconian symbol into the ground, to scare Agent Bascombe into opening the lab."

"Who has it now?"

"I do" Eisenhardt said opening up his chest to reveal a delicate system of wires and metal. He pulled out a small silver ring and handed it to Fletcher.

"That is so cool." Fletcher grinned as Eisenhardt's chest closed up.

"Doctor Hopper gave it to me. I was able to manufacture a replica in my internal systems and leave that in the base. I would have been there to help him but I felt compelled to find the individuals who hurt my students. It was a strange phenomenon."

"It means you're alive Charlie. Your father would be proud."

"Indeed he would, I believe that you have transcended being Charlie the Robot. You are simply human now." Another man said stepping into the room. "So, what is it Jonathan?"

Fletcher stared at the ring.

"It's… it's really quite amazing Vincent." He stammered excitedly. "This" He held the ring up into the light. "Is a piece of the Key of Guardians. According to legend, when all seven pieces are assembled they have the power to open up the Chest of Demons."

End Part 8

So, anybody see that coming? I'll try and get the next story (a holiday/Christmas special) out by Christmas. Also enjoy the bonus prequel to this story in chapter two.