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Chapter 2

"Admiral, we have four new contacts," Lieutenant Lee called out.

"Put it on the main screen," Admiral Morgan ordered. It was just his luck that a new team was active at the time and it would be him.

They watched as four separate targets left the anomaly that for the last week hadn't moved from the same spot since it had arrived and it still hadn't.

"Track them, I want to know where they're going." At least it was only four and there still was only the one. Even if they couldn't reach it with anything they had that he knew anything about. That meant he had to follow four screens though when he found one headed for the United States he paid most of his attention to that one.

He watched as it raced across the Atlantic at impossible speeds when suddenly it slowed down to almost a crawl. "What's the nearest airbase?" He needed eyes on whatever it was. Preferably armed eyes.

"Francis S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base is the closest, sir," Lieutenant Miller responded.

"Order them to intercept. I want eyes on whatever it is. Then alert the closest army base for when or if it lands." Admiral Morgan then picked up the phone.

"This is Admiral Morgan at Space Command. Get me the president. We have a squatter in bound."

"Mr. President. The target has dispatched four items. One's headed for the East Coast. Roughly the New York area at this time. We're still tracking the other three.

"I've ordered two fighters out of Francis S. Gabreski to intercept. If that proves to be inadequate the next closest is in New Jersey. The closest army base has been alerted should it land on US soil," Admiral Morgan informed him.

"No, sir, so far eyes only." He hadn't ordered it to be shot down at this time. "Yes, sir. I will keep you apprised at where and what it does." He hung up the phone.

"Connect with the closest radar station. I want to see it." His radar wasn't going to last if it got below a certain altitude and he knew it. He watched it and it was actually moving rather slowly. Too slow for his jets to do anything but a fast fly-by. Still he would have eyes on it even if he didn't have a picture of it yet.

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"The flight is checking in, sir. They indicate that they have overflown the craft. They indicated that it's a glowing pyramid, sir." He hadn't believed them so he had asked them to repeat it.

The admiral opened his mouth to question him again, but he was a trained officer so he closed it. Now he needed to figure out how he was going to get a visual of it. Right now he wanted to know where it was going.

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It took some doing but thanks to one of the local TV stations they had a visual of it because of a news helicopter that was circling it.

"Looks like it landed somewhere in Central Park." But now that it was on the ground it was out of his jurisdiction. It was mostly an army matter at this point. Still he needed to inform the president so he picked up the phone to fill him in.

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Kate and everyone else heard a whistle and realized it was Roy. "Once again, crowd control's up to the uniforms. However, the public's not likely to take this well so you may be called on to help with riot control. Beckett, your team's now on standby. Riots mean someone gets killed. Dr. Parish, I suggest you go to your office and what ever you do, do not go to a site without armed support. These idiots are just as likely to shoot you as anyone else. Get ready everyone." Roy went back to his desk and his phone rang even before he could sit down.

"Not lights any more, Beckett," Espo pointed out as he and Kate just watched it sit there.

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Roy had turned out to be right. There was a riot, though as riots go it was a small one. Though it did end up with someone being killed.

Lanie was looking over the body but also kept an eye on the armed officers that were hovering around her.

"Hey, Lanie, what have we got?" Kate had arrived with Espo, Ryan, and another four cruisers to keep the area safe and help and they were lucky to have them. By rights they should be handling the riot that was finally winding down or at the alien ship that had landed.

"Meet Andrew Allen, 21 years old. Based on the tread marks it's not hard to figure out what killed him but I'll know more once I get him on the table," Lanie said.

"He was part of the riot and got himself run over for his trouble." Kate didn't think that was hard to figure out.

"Looks like it," Lanie agreed.

"Witnesses that are still around? Find out if there are any surveillance cameras. Get the tire treads and maybe we can narrow down who did it." Kate was issuing orders just as a military helicopter flew over them. "And check all of the TV stations. They have helicopters out here with cameras. Maybe they saw something."

A sudden gun shot had all of them turning that direction. "Idiots." Kate wasn't impressed by the public. The world wasn't coming to an end just because one little something landed in Central Park that just so happened to be way over there and not anywhere near here.

"Tell me what you can when you're done. Let's see if he has any friends still in the area or if he was stealing all alone." Kate needed a witness and maybe an abandoned vehicle that was his or his parents that he had taken.

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"Beckett, we found a late model SUV that's registered to one Steve Allen. No relation that might be our boy's," Ryan told her and followed him to it.

"Nice of him to leave it unlocked for us. So why didn't someone steal it?" Kate wondered.

"Beckett." Ryan called her to the back of the SUV and she looked in to see what he'd found.

"Great, just what we need." His car, if it was his car, had a dead body in the back. She pulled out her phone. She needed Lanie over here so she could tell them what killed this guy.

"Gloves," Kate warned Ryan just as he reached for something. She got out her own gloves to put on. "Something tells me this is going to be a long night."

"Maybe the aliens can solve it for us," Ryan quipped and didn't see the look Kate gave him.

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Kate was busy working on her board with her two dead bodies. She had easily found out that Steven Allen was the older brother of Andrew Allen. Steve was four years older than his brother. Andy didn't have a record while his older brother did. However, none of it involved weapons. So why was he killed and how did he end up in the back of his parents' SUV while his younger brother was near by and just as dead?

"Their parents are on their way over though it may take a while. You should see it out there," Espo said. It was a real mess.

"Has the SUV been towed back yet? We need to search it for blood, prints, and anything else." Kate had found that CSU was really busy and couldn't make it to the site so they had had it towed to the precinct. It was now down in the parking garage.

"Rolled in 15 minutes ago," Espo confirmed.

"Take Ryan with you and see if you can find something. I'll talk to the parents." Kate always found it hard to talk to the parents. This one was going to be doubly difficult since they'd lost two sons in the same day at almost the same place.

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Kate felt sorry for them, she really did. The mother had burst into tears. She had lost two sons that she had brought into the world. Surprisingly the husband wanted to know if the aliens had killed either or both of them.

Kate had to tell them that they weren't even close to that area. Aliens had nothing to do with their deaths. Save that they were trying to take advantage of the situation by stealing while the police were busy with other things.

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Ryan and Espo weren't back yet so Kate began work on their financials and phone records. Maybe one or both were part of a gang that had decided to send out everyone to steal what they could.

Kate was still at her desk when Espo showed up and dropped a big plastic bag on her desk that had another plastic bag inside it with something in it. She picked it up, looked at it, and immediately recognized it. "Marijuana." She now had something else to chase down regarding how they got killed that had nothing to do with stealing or aliens.

"Maybe they were taking advantage of the situation to gain something else," Kate mused.

"This is just what we found that was bagged. The back end's full of the loose stuff. We're thinking they were transporting it and got spotted," Espo commented even if he had nothing to prove it yet.

"Another gang or a group of civilians that took advantage of the situation," Kate suggested.

"Or our aliens," Espo added, knowing it would get Kate going and he wasn't disappointed.

"Aliens that want a few tokes so they can get high?" Kate glared at him since it was stupid.

Espo kept it up since egging Kate on was fun. "Maybe they know a use for the stuff that we don't."

"It wasn't aliens. It wasn't ray guns. Maybe you should try looking for something more down to Earth and more useful." Kate had heard enough from him.

"Just because we don't have evidence it doesn't mean it wasn't. Closed mind." Espo tapped at his head and went to his desk to track down the latest bust involving marijuana. Maybe they knew something he didn't. It had to come from somewhere so maybe that was a lead.

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It is now one week later

The riot was over though little had calmed down and the businesses affected were working on recovering from the damage that had been done to their stores. They had insurance and now those insurance companies had people out estimating the cost of the damage as well as the cost of what had been stolen.

Life had basically gone back to normal, at least for the moment. Roy had ordered Kate and her team off of the Allen case. They had no new leads and no killer. It had turned into a cold case and that really got to Kate. She needed to solve every case she got so not getting to solve one hurt. However, she wasn't mad at Roy. He was their captain. That and the city hadn't gone silent in terms on no more murders.

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We go back five days

General Perry had decided to actually visit the site.

"General." Colonel Mueller came to attention and saluted. When he got a salute in return he relaxed a bit.

"So there's been no activity of any kind?" He didn't understand why and that made him worry even more.

"No, sir. It landed very slowly and has just sat there ever since. We've closed off half of Central Park. What we don't have a plan for yet are all of the apartments and businesses that border this area. One of the concerns of that area is that all it takes is one idiot with a weapon," Colonel Mueller explained.

"I see you have a team examining it." He saw three teams in total. All of them were walking around with devices.

"Yes, sir. We've touched it but so far we have restricted everything to something less intrusive. There is one thing, though. The longer you watch it the more your eyes hurt. The light it gives off has never diminished and if you watch it too long without protection it starts to hurt," Colonel Mueller advised him.

That had the general looking again and saw all of the teams walking around wearing eye protection. "And the personnel that are deployed around it?" He didn't need the soldiers around it going blind or to just stop watching it because it hurt too much.

"We've ordered more eye protection but for now we're rotating all ground personnel in teams to limit the time each is required to watch it," Colonel Mueller informed him.

They heard helicopters overhead go past them. "I've ordered the area be closed to all air traffic. This has forced the closure of Midtown Skyport, Bergen County Airport, and other smaller airports," General Perry said.

Colonel Mueller knew full well he wasn't going to make any friends doing that. But he understood needing to control the airspace around this site. Just then another army Cobra helicopter flew over them and patrolled the area.

"We're not alone, though. We know one landed in Russia, China, and India. This one is ours. Keep everyone out of the park. Deadly force has been authorized," the general advised him. He himself didn't approve but he had his orders.

"Sir?" Mueller wasn't sure how his troops that were all National Guard troops were going to take this order. They were part civilians and not armed killers.

"Those are your orders. I didn't say this, understand? Shoot them in the legs or with something less lethal. I'll try and get the local police to provide you with all the tasers they have. It may come in batches, however." It was the best he could do for him and not disobey orders.

"Yes, sir. Sir, we're going to need facilities soon." He only had a few places for his men and women to use the restroom and food was all MREs.

"I'll arrange all I can. Distribute as you see best. Stay in contact. That thing so much as blinks I want to hear about it," Perry said.

Colonel Mueller came to attention and saluted. It sounded to him like the general was done with him for now. He relaxed when he got a salute in return and watched him leave.

"Deadly force." Yeah, this was going to go over really well.

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Later that night he found trucks carrying porta potties with drivers asking where he wanted them. It seemed the general had come through for at least this problem. And they just kept coming all the next day. There were one or two trucks at a time every few hours.

He now had three large stations spread out all over with a few distributed to the troops blocking access to Central Park.

Then a day later a portable kitchen group had shown up and now they were making and distributing hot food to the troops stationed to watch the UFO. The ones manning the perimeter of the park were still stuck with MREs.

Right behind the kitchen were tents for the troops to sleep in. It allowed him to start rotating the troops from always being ready. It also came with a panel truck full of goggles for everyone to wear so that their eyes didn't hurt from watching it too long.

It took a full day but they had finally developed a routine.

The public had gotten the word to stay out of Central Park even though a lot of them spent some time trying to get a peek. It was the ones in the high-rises around them that got the best view. That soon presented a new problem. They either didn't know or had ignored the warning not to look at the UFO for too long. The hospital emergency rooms were filling with people complaining of eye pain.

Similar to looking at the sun for too long was what the nurses and doctors were seeing for a few people. This had local TV stations continuing to issue warnings as did the all the radio stations. In addition New York City spent money to have pamphlets printed out and then hand delivered to all the buildings around Central Park.

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Returning to one week after arrival

Colonel Mueller hadn't seen General Perry since his one and only visit. But that didn't mean he was totally silent. He heard from him daily, in fact.

They both had several topics to discuss. One was getting tanks to the site. They had several M1 Abrams that could be sent to the site. It was just that getting them there was proving to be a challenge.

Most of the bridges around Manhattan were old and there was concern that the weight of the tanks might do damage to them. Then there was what the weight of the tanks would do to the roads. The area didn't have transports to take them there so to get them they had to have them sent from other areas. Most of the crossings were bridges and most of them were old, but they did have four tunnels to use.

For now they mostly had Bradleys and ground units along with air units. Fighters were on standby. The first of the M1 Abrams had just arrived; they were being offloaded and being sent to positions to monitor their UFO.

Then Colonel Mueller heard from General Perry. "I'm being questioned about the number and cost of having this many active military units for a UFO that's doing nothing. For now they're yours, just be ready to reduce the size of containment due to fewer personnel. I'm getting questions if there's actually anyone or anything inside it," General Perry warned him.

"Yes, sir." That had him going to his map to see what he could do with half of what he had now.

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"Beckett, I know it's not your job but all of the uniforms are busy with crowd control. Our UFO's becoming a new draw to all our tourists, not to mention those that live here. We've been ordered to hand over all of our tasers to the military. We just got a delivery and it's downstairs. I want you to take it over to the military then get back here." In his mind it was a simple delivery. It would take her 30 minutes at most.

"Yes, sir." Kate collected everything she needed and headed downstairs to find the delivery. She was going to get in her cruiser and make this easy delivery. She was doing paperwork for her last case, anyway. Besides, while she was out she could stop and get some real coffee on the way back.

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"Castle, we have orders. Time to suit up."

"Yes, sir. And if they decide to start firing at me?" Rick wanted to know his limits, what he could react to, and by how much he could react.

"They haven't shot at us yet," he teased him.

"Oh, swell, that makes me feel better." He knew the capabilities of the unit he was going to be climbing into, though, and felt that he was simply teasing him back.

"Relax, scans show that they only use projectile weapons and low velocity ones at that. You're fine, nothing to worry about. You've been cleared to destroy weapons only. No deaths. The other three are doing the same thing at this time so you're not alone." Well, he was going to be alone here, just not totally alone in actions that were going to take place.

"Copy that, weapons only." Rick climbed up, got into his suit, and powered everything up as it closed around him. He was now going to be relying on his scans and the screens he had to look at as well as his semi-AI unit that was built-in help.

"Ready, Suzie?" Rick had gotten used to her voice and what she was capable of doing.

"Power is at 99%, all systems are operational. Orders are received and acknowledged," Suzie replied. She had gotten the order for weapons only with no deaths permitted.

Three big steps later and Rick was outside in full view of everyone out there. The first move was up to them. He had his orders.