Outsider
Part Four
Dr. Feldman parked the van in the middle of the empty desert. "We're here," he said to Mindy. "This is where you'll wait for me."
Mindy looked at their barren surroundings. "This is it?" She asked. "Couldn't you get any closer?"
"The base is just over that ridge. Trust me, this is the safest place for you."
"What are you going to do?"
Dr. Feldman looked at her. She thought she detected a slight nervous twitch to his thin, pale lips.
"Honestly?" He asked. "I don't really know."
"Are you saying that Mork's wellbeing is in the hands of someone who doesn't have a plan?"
"I have a plan—I just haven't quite figured it out yet."
"Oh, that's terrific."
"Listen Mindy, I know Dr. Phillips. I have worked with him for many years. He won't listen to reason. I'll need to find a different approach to handle him. I have some senior authority here, so I might have some influence over the outcome, and I might be able to have him overruled. I promise you though, whatever happens I will do everything in my power to return Mork to you."
Mindy looked at Dr. Feldman. He was an unlikely hero, small and meek, yet the sincerity and conviction in his eyes convinced her that she could believe him.
"I know you will," she said. "Be careful."
Mork's eyes followed Dr. Phillips as he moved around the room, checking the medical equipment monitoring his vital signs.
"I don't suppose I can appeal one last time to your humanity," he said, squirming beneath the restraints that held him. "What about my rights as a living, sentient being?"
Dr. Phillips scoffed. He looked at Mork with disgust. "You don't have any rights," he said. "You're not a citizen of this planet. You're not even human. What you are is the property of the United States government. You belong to me, and I will do with you as I wish, and what I wish is to learn how your powers function. I will learn how they do, too. I will find out, make no mistake. Either you will tell me, or I will force it out of you."
With that ominous threat, he left the room without explanation, the electronic lock to the door clicking shut behind him. Left alone, unsure when he would return, Mork knew it was the perfect opportunity to try to escape. He disabled the cameras that were watching him with his powers so that his efforts would be unseen. That part was easy. The metal bands securing him to the hospital bed would prove more of a challenge. He knew he could snap them mentally if he could determine their properties and composition, but it would strain his abilities to the limit. Still, he knew it was possible, despite Dr. Phillips's assertions otherwise. Orkans were capable of incredible feats of both physical and mental strength. Mork knew that, although difficult, if he applied himself, nothing could contain him. He had never had to work this hard to free himself, but he did know that Dr. Phillips would prove right about one thing. Perhaps he didn't realize what he was capable of until forced into a position to discover for himself.
Composing himself until he was in a relaxed state of deep concentration much as if he were about to contact Orson, he focused on the bands with an intense, unblinking stare. Although his body had ceased its struggles, his mental energies were being expended as he forced them onto the bands, willing them with all the strength and exertion he had available to him to break. At first, nothing happened. Then gradually, the metal became soft and malleable, almost melting. From that state, they shifted into becoming brittle, shattering like glass and falling to the floor in tiny, marble-like beads. Mork gasped and closed his eyes in relief once he learned he was freed from their grip, the effort it required thoroughly exhausting him, sweat beading on his forehead. Taking a moment to recover, his head aching and his body trembling, he sat up slowly, clutching the sides of the bed to steady himself.
The room looked different from the perspective of sitting up than it did lying down. He found himself confined to a secured, hospital-like room, windows revealing the military operations on the base below him. Removing the monitors from his body, he stood, wanting to see more of his surroundings. He winced and cried out in pain as he placed too much pressure on his wounded leg, forgetting about the gunshot. Looking down, he noticed it was bleeding heavily, his orange blood soaking through the bandages. His struggles and Dr. Phillips's pressure on the wound had caused it to reopen, and he knew it would soon become infected. If he had more time, he would have tended to it, but he knew that time was a scarce and precious resource for him, one that he had to take advantage of and use to its fullest before it was taken away from him. Limping, he approached the window, placing his hand against the glass and leaning on it to steady himself. Scanning the perimeter, he saw missile silos in the distance and barrels of gunpowder. Soldiers, heavily armed and in full battle gear, patrolled the grounds. Military aircraft mounted with missiles filled the hangar, prepared to launch and strike at any potential threat at a moment's notice. He realized that releasing himself from his bonds was only the first step toward his freedom. If he was going to get beyond the heavily secured grounds of the base, it was going to require something from him that was entirely different. Dr. Phillips was right—he could use his powers as a weapon, and if it was a weapon he was seeking, then Mork would deliver and make sure not to disappoint him. Only, he would employ a method the military liked to refer to as a surgical strike. Instead of hurting anyone with this weapon, Mork would create a diversion to confuse and scatter the enemy and make his exodus complete.
Mindy saw and felt the explosions erupting on the horizon, thick, fiery clouds of black smoke billowing in the air followed by concussive vibrations that caused the ground around her to shake violently. Worried that something terrible was happening to Mork and unable to stand by helplessly and watch any longer, she got out of the van and began running over the ridge toward the base. Unconcerned with her own safety, she approached, expecting a military guard to either shoot her or steer her away from the premises by force, but there was nothing like that to greet her. Instead, she met with chaos on the base, men in uniform running in all directions, conflagrations erupting from nearby weapons caches as if they were spontaneously combusting. The gates were unlocked, providing her with easy access. She entered carefully, dodging the explosions and men and infernos as best as she could, penetrating deeper into the base to see if she could find Mork. As she entered the hangar, she found the planes moving mysteriously under their own volition, their missiles aimed and prepared to fire, backing groups of men against the wall. Rifles, unaided by human hands, were suspended in the air, aimed at other groups of men. She watched the bizarre spectacle, completely stunned. She had heard rumors about unusual occurrences at Area 51. Until that day, she didn't believe it.
"Ms. McConnell, what are you doing here? I told you wait!" Dr. Feldman shouted, grabbing her arm and shaking her back into reality.
"I was tired of waiting," she said, noticing that they were the only people on the base not at the mercy of the rogue weapons. "Besides, I saw the explosions and I thought…what's happening, here?"
Dr. Feldman nodded to a point in the distance. Looking in the direction he indicated, Mindy saw a shadowy figure walking towards them. As the figure stepped into the light, she could see that it was Mork. He appeared to be injured, limping as he walked, his leg swathed in soaked, bloodied bandages. His clothing was in tatters and he was blackened with soot from the fires. He appeared to be in a daze, a lost, glazed look in his eyes as he commanded the aircraft and weapons to do his bidding with his mind, maneuvering them strategically like expensive Chess pieces, forcing the men holding him into corners and making them surrender peacefully without firing a single shot. Gradually both she and Dr. Feldman began to realize that he was the source of the unusual activity on the base, using his powers to the fullest not only to defend himself, but to earn his liberty. They watched in amazement, neither of them realizing how resourceful and ingenious he could be. It turned out he didn't need a rescuer, after all. He was his own one man army. He collapsed to the floor, unable to move any farther, his wounded leg preventing him.
"Mork!" Mindy shouted, running towards him, Dr. Feldman following her.
She cradled Mork's head in her hands, sobbing and stroking his hair. "Talk to me Mork, please," she said. "It's me, Mindy. I'm here."
Mork's eyes fluttered open, looking at her. They had lost the glazed, unfocused look he had earlier, recognition and awareness returning to them. Weakened not only by his mental exertions, but also by pain and blood loss, he panted, trying to speak but finding it difficult.
"Why doesn't anybody love me for me alone?" He asked weakly. His eyes rolled back and his body went limp in her arms.