Episode One: Trouble In D.C. Part I
Chapter Two: Extra Terrestrial Business
Hendrick Drewmore had to work smart... and quick. Knowing that he would probably be followed if he drove the state car, he dressed in an old sweat shirt, donned his old baseball cap and dark sunglasses and walked out of his house and grabbed a taxi all the way to uptown. There, he got a car rental at a very sketchy place he did business with in the past and drove the bashed up, blue Ford over to Maryland to the nearest NASADA station.
"May I help you, sir?" A security guard at the gate asked. Hendrick pulled out his ID cards and showed it to the man. "Welcome, Mr. Drewmore sir!" The security greeted with a salute before opening the boom gate and letting her through. Hendrick was glad that he still had his NASADA ID card. He parked near the entrance and walked into the building.
"Welcome to NASADA's Maryland station. How may I be of service to you?" The Receptionist at the main building asked as soon as Hendrick walked up to the table.
"Put me into contact with Commander Stanton please." Hendrick said.
The Receptionist looked baffled. "I'm sorry, sir. No one of that name works..."
Hendrick rolled up his sleeves and showed her a marking on his arm. "Trust me, he does. Tell him that it is urgent."
"My name is Dante Price, nice to meet you!" A rather short and well built boy said as soon as Wyatt stepped into his new room after being escorted by two nurses. One of them dropped off two glasses of water and two capsules for each before leaving the room. The pale skinned boy with brown eyes, bushy black eyebrows, disheveled hair and a creepy as heck grin on his face held out his hand.
Wyatt nodded in acknowledgement before aiming at sitting down but the boy, Dante, grabbed his hand and shook it vigorously. "I said my name is Dante Price, nice to meet you!" He said in a very sinister hiss that made Wyatt sweat drop.
"N...n...nice to meet you, Dante!" Wyatt responded albeit in fear. Dante noticed this before pouting and looking sad, letting go of his hand.
"I'm sorry!" The boy looked like he was about to tear up. "I honestly didn't mean to do that!"
Is this guy bipolar or something? Wyatt thought in skepticism before face palming himself. Of course he is! "It... it's okay! I didn't mean to make you feel hurt."
The boy perked up. "Really?" Dante asked and Wyatt hesitantly nodded. Dante grinned before hugging him. "Aw! We're going to be the best of friends!" He pulled back. "Say... what's your name?"
"Um... W..Wyatt Lennox." He answered before pulling away. "I don't like when people invade my personal space."
"Oh... I'm sorry!" He said, pulling away. "Say... why are you here?"
"Say... you say say a lot." Wyatt mumbled.
"Huh?"
"N...nothing!" Wyatt exclaimed. "I have Autism."
"Oh..." He said before smiling. "Don't worry, we'll be the best of friends! You'll see."
"Um... yeah..." Wyatt stretched out the word before looking at the table where the medicine was left on the table. "Are we supposed to take these?"
"Yep!" Dante smiled widely before taking the blue ones. "The blue ones are mine." Wyatt looked at the thing a second time.
"Why are we taking them?"
"They're good for us."
Wyatt hardly believed that. "By who's standards?"
"The nice nurses'." Dante said before popping the capsules in his mouth and downing them with water. Wyatt rolled his eyes and took the green and white capsules in his hands and observed them closely. What was the point anyway... did they really think you can cure insanity with those? How do they benefit people like him... do they have magical abilities that make him more social? And what about Dante; they can probably stimulate his brain and cause him to calm down but for how long... can they cure his erratic mood swings this way?
"Bullshit!" Wyatt walked over to the window and threw it out.
"Hey... that's not allowed!" Dante complained.
"I'm going to bed." Wyatt declared before jumping into the sheets. Dante forgot the prior conversation and shrugged before snuggling into bed and ranting the new kid into a deep sleep as he initially didn't care for what the boy was saying.
"Drew! My man!" Commander Stanton smirked after Hendrick was led all the way to his office. He stood up from his rotating chair and walked over to the dark skinned man before offering him a hug that Hendrick accepted.
"Long time no see, buddy." Hendrick smiled. "By the way... that trainee at the front desk down there really needs to get up to speed on things." After Hendrick had cleared things up with a more experienced Receptionist, he was taken into the restricted area and teleported to the Galactic Investigation base which hovered in space, watching the earth from out of terrestrial bounds.
"Oh... Becky? She's what I call a... clueless beauty." Commamder Statton had an even bigger shit eating grin on his face than usual.
"Classic Joe." Hendrick said. "Still buttering up the ladies."
"You know me." He smirked. "And you... how's the wife?"
Hendrick cleared his throat awkwardly. "It's been... complicated ever since I got the job in the White House." Hendrick Drewmore and Joseph Stanton had been friends since their college days in Princeton University and both were two of the first to head G.I. immediately after it took off directly but Hendrick left years ago to pursue politics. There was indeed no bad blood between the two as they were still the best of friends but Hendrick felt as if he could contribute more than to just sit in the background and be a master orchestrator while other people ensured world safety.
That was more of a Joseph kinda lifestyle.
"I see." Joseph said. "She'll come around eventually... and if she doesn't, Becky is a great lay." He pinched his thumb and index finger in a circle and held it up in the air for emphasis.
Hendrick rolled his eyes. "I did not come here to discuss my love life, Aphrodite. This is urgent." Stanton's smile fell and he headed back to his chair behind the desk.
"Have a seat." He told Hendrick who nodded before sitting down. "How can G.I. be of service to you?"
"You've seen the news right?" Hendrick asked and Stanton nodded.
"I am aware that President McKenzie has gone missing but you know that we do not involve ourselves in politics." Stanton sternly said.
"And the terrorists?" Hendrick asked.
"We are not the United Nations..."
"Which is a bullshity organisation by the way..." Hendrick interupted that with a thought of annoyance.
"... Which means that we cannot interfere with any biotic threats to the earth no matter how dangerous the situation is." Stanton said.
Hendrick sighed before pulling out a note from his pocket. "There is nothing biotic about the 9-30-67-2-89-176."
"Ooh! Yummy!" Dante squealed as he was given a bowl of oats and Wyatt cringed as they shoveled it onto his plate. He has never been a fan of oats and this cement like texture was putting him off. The first night here was already bad enough. He was woken up at five, accessed, given (or force fed... whatever bakes your potato) medication and taken for routine exercise along with other boys from his dorm sector.
It was now seven thirty which was breakfast and eight would mean that classes begin. "Yummy?" Wyatt questioned.
Dante cupped a hand over his mouth as if he was going to share a secret. "It isn't really... I just say it because it helps the food taste a bit better if you try to enjoy it." Wyatt looked dazed but nodded either way. He walked away to find a table to sit at but Dante followed him... again... like he did ever since they woke up this morning. He even wanted to follow him to the bathroom! "So... what classes are you going to take?" Dante asked. The idea of going through a schooling system again was incredibly stupid especially for someone like him who had already completed college but when in Rome, do as the Romans demand you to do.
"Um... Ph...Physics, Information Technology, English and probably Accelerated Math if I can handle it." Wyatt said.
"I love accelerated Math, it is so fun!" Dante grinned like a little boy. "Ms. Park is an awesome teacher and... gasp, we can become study buddies!"
Wyatt was about to roll his eyes at the excitement but couldn't help but feel a sense of relief that he would at least be in a class like that with someone he knows. Besides... his excitement was endearing. Wyatt can tell that Dante is a naturally childish person and it is not a high episode all the time.
"Okay..." Wyatt nodded before he felt someone slide on the bench he was seated on and bump into his side.
"Hey Auto!" Thalia grinned at the boy before looking at Dante seated on the other side. "You're the genius with Manic Depressive Illness, right?"
Dante grinned. "The one and only!" He replied happily. "And you're that seventeen year old that can rip anyone off."
Thalia laughed. "Who would've known that you two would find each other? Match made in... whatever the hell you can call this place."
Wyatt was confused. "And why is that?"
"With your MacGuyver-ing and his Megamind-ing, you can make the perfect crime solving duo in one of those cop shows." Thalia said as she sipped through a coffee flask. Wyatt took the flask and took a whiff through the mouth hole.
"Where did you get the coffee?" Wyatt asked as he gave it back.
"... Is it weird how you always and only look at me when I'm doing something involved with one of those body parts?" Thalia laughed and Wyatt looked annoyed. "Easy there, I took it off of my dorm sector doctor, Pauline... she's a bitch."
"Can we do that to Dr. Reese tomorrow?" Dante asked pleadingly to Wyatt.
"No!" Wyatt refused and Dante pouted but went back to eat without getting agitated. He then turned to Thalia. "Stealing is wrong, Turunen."
Thalia laughed. "I know, Lennox. I'm merely borrowing it. I always return the flask."
Wyatt looked unconvinced but let it go. "Wyatt..." Dante spoke up after silence of eating and Wyatt answered with a hmm. "How come Natalia is allowed to sit so close to you but you hate people touching you?"
Wyatt froze and suddenly became aware of the lack of space between their flushed bodies. He tried to pull away but Thalia pulled him back, surprising him at her strength before laying her head on his shoulder. "He is going to be my future ex husband!"
Wyatt stared on in shock while Dante laughed. Wyatt pulled away and started stammering gibberish to deny the allegation but no coherent words came out so he dropped it.
"Hey... Finley!" Thalia called a girl who was wearing the uniform but had her face completely covered in a black face wrap and only showed her brown eyes. "Dr. Pauline was looking for you... something about extra meds." The girl nodded before turning around and walking out the cafeteria.
"And who was that?" Wyatt asked.
"Already looking at the bevy for a different wife?" Thalia teased. "That's Finley Coetzee. Eighteen, Palestinian and in my dorm sector. She's Schizophernic... no one's ever heard her talk nor seen her face; well except probably that guy named Morgan Rockdale." She pointed at the African American boy sitting in the corner. He was dark in complexion with smoldering brown eyes, a square jaw, dark lips, a large nose and a sour facial expression. "Funny how she never cast away the muslim gimmick in this place."
"Do you know everything around here?" Wyatt asked.
"I get bored fairly easily." Thalia said before pulling a paper out of her pocket. "Like here... you might wanna see this too, Dante." She slid the paper to the middle where the numbers 9-30-67-2-89-176 were written down. "I was researching this in the library this morning after conveniently skipping out on morning routine exercises. I tried phone numbers, barcodes, GPS coordinates... nothing."
"What does this number mean?" Dante asked.
"It's a terrorist group." Wyatt answered.
"No, it's not." Dante immediately said and for the first time ever, Wyatt looked Dante straight in the eyes, almost stupefied.
"Yes... it is." Wyatt demamded.
"No..." Dante negated. "It's a universal coordinate... as in for planets and all that jazz."
Thalia and Wyatt exchanged looks before turning back to Dante. "Universal... coordinates..." Thalia repeated slowly.
"As in positioning of planets." Dante said. "It can't be earthly ones because they only have a maximum of six figures."
"Okay... fine." Wyatt said. "Wait... why are we even discussing this?"
"Because it is very intriguing." Thalia smirked before grabbing the paper after the bell sounded. "Meet me at the library at one. Both of you." She said before heading off.
"She's nice." Dante beamed.
"That's what she wants you to think." Wyatt scoffed.
"Empress Harton." The woman in the hooded coat looked up as she entered the throne room of their ship which was less equisite than the one she had back on Amystheist. She didn't care about the luxuries that it had but rather the idea of her and her people's home no longer existing. It was a sad trade away for the planet they used to live on but alas, Harton knew she needed to do what she could to ensure that her remaining people survived. "You have returned."
"There was nothing left to do for me on Earth, Dunvall." She said as she removed her hooded coat, revealing her very light green skin tone, black lips, gold eyes resembling that of a snake and her black hair done into two long cornrow braids. She pulled her serpent, Aklesta from the bag and it wrapped around her arm. She gave the earthly gimmicks to Dunvall. "Where are my subjects?"
"In the servants' quarters." Dunvall said. "Do you wish for their audience my queen or is there something that needs to be done?"
"No, Dunvall. Let them rest." She said as she sat on her throne. "Only inform them of my return should you find the time to do so."
"You look troubled, my queen." Dunvall noticed.
"Half of our race has been eradicated and we live in a floating tin can." Harton muttered rather tiredly.
"My queen, I can assure you that you are doing everything in your power to ensure that the Amystheans survive." Dunvall coaxed. "Maybe you should rest my queen, I insist. Rontico is on earth currently searching for any moles who can crack the code."
Harton looked conflicted but nodded. "Very well, Dunvall." She said as she stood up and took his outstretched hand. "Dunvall?"
"Yes, my queen."
"Should Rontico find any informants... he should destroy them." Harton said rather hatefully.
"As you wish, my queen."
"Do you really think Project C.O. will work?" Hendrick asked in the technical lab where all the technicians were working tirelessly to reboot one of Galactic Investigation's oldest projects.
"Well, we don't have any other choice for this impending alien attack." Joseph sighed as he watched them work. "Besides, don't be so stressed. They wouldn't do anything so reckless as of now."
"How would you know?" Hendrick challenged his old buddy. "You don't even know any of them. No one does."
"But I did study their attack patterns." Stanton said. "Mostly sabotage... other than kidnapping the President of course."
Just then, alarms started blarring and the monitors flashed red and went crazy. Hendrick gave the commander a look. "You should really learn how to put a sock in it."
"Oh come on!" Joseph turned off the alarm before heading over to a computer. "For all we know it's Dr. Oliver and the Dino rangers."
Hendrick observed the blinking blimp on the map and scoffed. "Right... because Reefside is now next to Kennedy Heights Reform Center." He pointed at the map.
Commander Stanton looked baffled. "Gear up!" He shouted into the intercom.
"Where have you been all my life?" Thalia gaped at the computer screen after Dante had managed to override all filters and hidden security walls in the internet and wandered into dark territory of the U.S. government.
"In my mommy's belly for the first nine... although I was prema..."
"We get the gist, buddy." Wyatt tapped the boy's back. "But turns out you were right about the coordinates thing." Wyatt looked at the secure file on the computer screen. "'A Step Backwards for Mankind' - Says Reuben Norquist. November 2000. After years of case studies happening amongst astrologists of National Aeronautics and Space Administration Development Assosiation or NASADA for short, new research had discovered a new planet in between the axi of Jupiter and Saturn that is dwarf, even smaller than Pluto but sustains life.
"This seems to be a great achievement for the American people and crucially mankind however on the journey, there was a mishap and the planet was destroyed. This mainly concerns the American government who had provided NASADA with the equipment but seems as if their equipment was faulty."
"So... that 9-whatever terrorist group stands for the planet that was destroyed seven months ago." Thalia said. "And sustains life as well?"
"And now they attack earth. This could mean..."
"Aliens!" Dante screamed but Wyatt placed his hand over his mouth while Thalia looked around to see if they attracted any attention as they were in the library.
"I will give you my lunch muffin if you quiet down."
Okay. The muffled tone against Wyatt's hand was enough to convince the other boy but Wyatt and Thalia frowned as the boy from the canteen earlier, Morgan Rockdale walked over. "Hello pupils. Guess who is on library duty today and knows that you four are supposed to be in the auditorium with everyone else."
"No one." Thalia murmured and Morgan rolled his eyes.
"So you wish, Turunen." He laughed. "And you three are looking through what looks to be classified information."
"What do you want to keep quiet?" Thalia asked defeatedly. "And no, I'm not giving you BJ."
"Whatever you propose next has to better then." Morgan smirked.
"Wait... what's BJ?" Dante asked and Thalia and Wyatt looked baffled on how not to ruin the child's innocent mindset.
"Oh that's..."
"Blueberry juice!" Wyatt interrupted Morgan before glaring at him then turning to Dante with a smile.
"I want BJ too..." Dante turned to Thalia who was blushing red.
"Well, the boy has spoken." Morgan smirked.
"Well I can't give you BJ." Thalia said in frustration as her face burned.
"But we want BJ!" Dante complained.
"No one's getting BJ." Wyatt finally said in exasperation.
"You wanted some too?" Morgan asked and Wyatt choked on his own spit.
"Okay enough." Thalia said. "How about we let you in on this... this secret in exchange for your silence?"
"Hmm... and what may I obtain from this?" Morgan asked.
"Some levarage over the state... something that can get us out of this hell hole." Thalia advertised it more.
"Woo! That's some big talk." Morgan said. "Especially for someone who can't give out BJ."
Thalia glared at him. "Your loss then. If you don't wanna know then you are free to snitch."
"That reverse psychology bull ain't gonna work on me." Morgan laughed.
"Fine then, heippa!" She waved him goodbye but the teenage boy looked hesitant before sighing in defeat.
"Fine, tell me." He said. "But what does heippa mean?"
"Blueberry juice?"
"No, Dante!" Thalia sternly said at the bipolar teen. "Heippa means goodbye but that isn't import..." She was stopped by a crash sound of the window above them.
"Duck and shield your eyes." Wyatt ordered and the four crouched onto the floor, shielding their eyes with their arms as more windows were shattered and broken.
"Wyatt, I'm scared!" Dante sniffled, holding onto his roommate. "What's going on?"
"I don't know but calm down, okay?" Wyatt assured him. "We'll be okay."
"Umm... guys!" Thalia pointed at the gang of faceless black and green men coming through the windows and they gaped in fear. "Are those... aliens?"
"Run!" Morgan exclaimed as the four teens got up to their feet and began to try and outrun the aliens as they shot lasers from their blasters at them. As they ran through the ruined halls and tried to dodge getting hit, a particular shot landed on Thalia and Morgan who flew through the air and collapsed on top of Wyatt and Dante before tumbling to the ground.
"Great, we're doomed!" Wyatt deadpanned.
"I can't die!" Morgan panicked. "I'm too handsome to die!" Thalia and Wyatt glared at the boy while Dante sniffled in fear. The four faceless creatures stepped up to them. "Destroy... the... informants!" They repeated before holding their blasters and aiming but the four were shot down by four consecutive, precise shots that seemed to hit crucial points and they fell to the ground, and blew up, injuring the four in the explosion slightly.
"What... just happened?" Morgan asked. "My beautiful face is still alive!"
"Look!" Dante pointed in the opposite direction to see Finley Coetzee in her dark headscarf holding a blaster.
She silently jogged over and helped the four up. "Thanks for saving us, Fin." Morgan smiled but the girl said nothing as she stared at the four with emotionless brown eyes until her eyes strayed to the floor where the weapons of the four aliens remained.
She walked over, picked up a blaster and shoved it in each of their arms one by one. "... What on earth are you..." Wyatt questioned but was stopped by Finley raising a finger to what looked to be her mouth through the black headscarf before jerking her thumb over her shoulder before beckoning them to follow her wordlessly.
"Why isn't she talking?" Dante asked.
"That's how she is." Morgan explained as he began following her. "We can trust her. Come on!" Dante shrugged before following the two.
"Is it racist of me to think she's one of the terrorists?" Thalia asked.
"Yep!" Wyatt stared on at the three.
"You're thinking it too, right?" She asked once more.
"Uh-huh!" He replied before following the three with Thalia in tow. They were next to the auditorium door, Finley crouched next to it before opening it slightly, hearing a voice reverberate inside. Turns out they rounded up most of the student body and kept them in there hostage.
"Now... so that I may not waste your time..." A male voice said. "We come here in peace... and that shall remain only if you tell us who are the moles who discovered where we are from or we destroy you all insteas." Indistinct chatter followed with a chorus of denies that caused Wyatt to feel uneven in the pit of his stomach.
"The... they're looking for us." Wyatt said. "They must be from that blown up planet."
"But why us?" Thalia whispered.
"They're the terrorists." Wyatt sighed. "They're supposed to stay hidden and we threaten that status of theirs. The question should be how did they find us?"
"We have to do something." A new voice said and they turned to look at the Palestinian.
"Uh... no, we don't Fin!" Morgan who wasn't in the least bit shocked at her speaking said. "We need to get out of here."
"No!" Finley shook her head. "If we don't rescue them, who will?" She pulled down her headscarf, revealing her face. "Now let's move. Shoot anything that isn't human."
"But how?" Thalia then examined the weapon in her hands.
"Just aim and fire." Finley said before recovering her nose and mouth, leaving her eyes. "On the count of three, open the doors. Thalia and Dante should be opening it. New kid and Morgan, my side." They all looked hesitant but followed the instructions. "One, two... three!"