Legacy: chapter 32
Any moment now, this highway in the foothills of the Olympic Mountains would become more of a circus then it already was. John had briefed Brian personally on what was about to happen, what to expect from the crowd; but as Brian sat and tried to write out the message that was to be played over the loudspeakers and scrolled across the huge projection screens of all those transmitter trucks sent by the worlds news conglomerates, he was totally overwhelmed.
How do you tell two million anxious and curious people not to be afraid of a mile long space ship coming out of the sky?
Two million could be an understatement by now on Thursday, 'A-Day' plus three, but it was the last estimate Brian heard from Wednesday. People from all over the country were flocking here in droves, most parking along the highway for several miles in either direction and making the hike up to join the crowd.
Insanity! Brian really did not want to step outside the peacefulness of the communication truck into the chaos of the 'circus'. That was his job, though, according to John.
A massive detachment of troops had arrived from McChord Air Force Base, with two star General William L. Calhoun commanding them; who should have taken over as the ranking officer. But John had been insistent that, while not disrespecting earth military customs, Brian should remain in charge until the General was acquainted with the full depth of the situation.
Brian had worried that any further military involvement, no matter how inevitable it was, might bring in a man like his old C.O., General Beers… four stars on the uniform and five on his ego. Brian really disliked that man. The attitude displayed by these newcomers made him feel more at ease.
General Calhoun seemed less full of himself then Beers was even on his good days. Not necessarily a 'nice guy', Calhoun did show a certain level of human understanding that told him the gung-ho military mindset would be suicide in this situation. Something Beers could have never understood, or put into practice had he understood.
Good enough… Brian dropped his pen and folded the paper roughly; the message was not perfect, but it would serve the purpose. Something had to be said to all those people before the 'Sally', as John referred to it, made her spectacular entrance in the sky over them.
Brian thought of something else before prying himself from the comfortably cushioned swivel chair. He still needed to have a talk with Crawford about her little unannounced escapade Monday afternoon. Two civilians were in custody and another in critical condition in the aftermath of her 'field trip'. That's not what bothered Brian though. The civilians captured; according to Keith Sheppard, if he was to be believed, were the ones who wanted to buy Allie for the purposes of research. Brian would not care if she had killed all three… it would have been the wrong thing to do… but bodies produce much less paperwork than prisoners. What really got him was: how in the hell Mary had managed to trick two members of his hand picked special ops squad into tagging along? Saying that it was 'the Major's order'. Sure, the soldiers had some responsibility for not checking with him first, but Mary was the instigator.
She did get results, though. Brian thought as he opened the door, and if she had talked to me, I would have negated her plan… we would have lost those three 'people'. He chuckled lightly and stepped to the ground, what a wonderfully manipulative woman!
The spring-loaded door of the communication truck closed behind him as Brian looked out across the crowd. A sea of warm bodies; men, women, and children, stretching out, seemingly over the horizon from this position in a shallow valley. Above the sea of heads floated the news vans, at least three dozen that Brian could count, all with their masts at full extension, several of the more high-tech trucks had huge LCD screens hoisted above the masses, playing the images recorded last Sunday night.
This is no circus, Brian rethought his assessment, viewing this somewhat orderly scene. All the people waited patiently. No barrier runners or other problems had been reported sense Tuesday. All these people stayed because they felt compelled to. They were about to be a part of history. That's how Brian felt. From what vague information John had given him, Brian knew that this would be the moment in history. A turning point. Forget BC/AD, dates would now be marked as Before Aliens and After Aliens. At least in the minds of all the people here, after they all see what they are about to see. That is what kept them all from lapsing into a riot, this sense of profound purpose.
Brian started off toward the small camp that had been set up for military personnel and for the Keys/Clark's growing entourage of family and friends. John was there, with his 'family', and Brian wanted to run this message by him before it ran past all the two million plus watchers.
Alienation, an odd word choice to describe what Tyler felt at the moment. He had been overly blunt with his mother when she came to pick Jamie up, demanding to stay, and not giving much explanation why. Now he felt bad. It was lonely, sitting in the corner of this large military tent/building erected for Allie's parent's friends and family. So much activity, and all of it directed right past him, as if he was out-of-the-loop and they needed to keep all this a secret from him.
Not that he needed to be a part of this anyway, he would not have been a part of this if not for meeting Allie. The waiting was getting to him though; Tyler could not explain why he was so anxious to hear about Allie. He did not want to accept that this thing he and Allie shared, even though they had not gotten much of a chance to share it, could affect such a strong control over him to make him yell at his mother and abandon life outside this camp just to hear that she was okay.
It drove him though. Every time a new person entered he sat up attentively, to try and hear what was being said, but it was always just another request for an interview or something else of little importance.
Tyler had also been watching 'John', and the way 'Ka'len' acted around him. Awed respect… she jumped to his every word. 'Yes nas'lenteni', 'at once, nas'lenteni!'
What is a Nas'Lenteni? Tyler mouthed the alien word to himself. Ka'len used it like anyone else would say 'sir', but she said nothing else in that peculiar language. Aliens are so… alien.
A new person entered the tent, Tyler sat up to listen, but it was just that army man. 'Pierce' had been in and out every few minutes over the last few days. Tyler leaned back as the man crossed the floor toward John and handed him a piece of paper. John studied the small slip for a moment before saying: "This is acceptable." And handing it back.
Who put him in charge? Tyler wondered. Everyone, not just Ka'len, treated John with a respect that seemed to have no real source. John carried himself with a certain level of authority, maybe that was it. Some people are just natural leaders. Tyler had been told several times that he had a 'take charge' personality, but he did not believe the teachers and coaches that said it. No one ever listened to anything he said unless they agreed with it, how can that be called 'taking charge'?
"Are you uncomfortable?" a soft female voice jarred Tyler's green eyes off of John. The voice belonged to Ka'len, Tyler knew from memory, but he still could not stop the involuntary reaction to jerk away. He did not mean to, and he could tell in her face that it had hurt her feelings.
"I'm fine… sorry."
She did not reply. Tyler started to apologize again; this had been the fourth time for him to react that way to her and he really was sorry. But she glanced back toward John, and then sat down without further words. Tyler wasn't sure what to say.
"I do not belong here," she said. "I am uncomfortable."
"Oh…" that kind of uncomfortable… Tyler stared straight ahead; afraid to look at the girl whom he had been lead to believe was Allie's cousin. He wanted to give her a chance though. So far, the 'aliens' didn't seem that different… especially if Allie was somehow part them. Nothing that perfect could be bad.
"I know what you mean." Tyler said after working up the courage to venture a quick sideways glance at the girl. He kept expecting to see a short gray 'person' sitting next to him, but she was still the same dark hared girl.
"That is why I chose this spot." Ka'len said.
"Have…" Tyler glanced at her again to find her looking squarely at him. For some reason he did not look away, "have you heard anything about Allie?"
"Not yet," came a quick reply.
"Oh…" disappointment.
Tyler could not think of anything else to say or ask. If he could have, he probably would have still kept his mouth shut. Awkward situations were not one of Tyler's strengths, and this was about as awkward as anything could get. Ka'len sitting with him did make the loneliness subside slightly. She planed it that way, of course.
Ka'len spoke after a minute: "you have deep feelings for Allie."
The question/statement was a thing that Tyler had observed before, but never directed to him. How do you respond? Did she already know and was just saying so, or was she asking?
"Yes. I think…" Tyler said at the risk of sounding stupid.
"She has equal feelings for you."
Tyler was shocked silent. He turned his attention back to the ground for several minutes. The casual seriousness of way she said it almost overshadowed the message. Almost, but in this case, almost did not count. Those six words where the best thing that Tyler had ever heard. Ka'len spoke again:
"Allie's feelings toward you are troubling and confusing for her. Please, be careful when you see her."
Tyler could only nod. He did not completely understand why she had said it, or even what she meant, but at this point it no longer mattered. Tyler applied his own meaning: take it slow.
"Did she tell… I mean… did you talk about…"
"No." Ka'len silenced him with a single word. She reached towards Tyler's hand, which he offered without question. The moment they touched, Tyler felt a rush of sensations; emotions alien to him, but still identifiable. They were confused emotions. Frightened and searching for meaning. But at the same time that meaning was written large across the warm fluttering in his chest.
Ka'len took her hand away, taking the strange sensations with it. Tyler stared at her dumbly for several moments before tying to ask:
"What was that?"
"My sympathetic emotional responses to Allie's encounters with you."
Tyler found himself nodding again even though not a word of that made any sense.
A blaring voice erupted outside, talking about a giant spacecraft and the importance of not fearing it… Tyler could only make out half of the words. Ka'len soon filled in the blanks though:
"An announcement," she explained, "one of our fleet vessels is nearing this location. Allie is on that vessel."
As soon as Ka'len finished talking, Tyler noticed that the low mumble of voices in the tent had silenced and every one stared at them. The voice on the speakers outside started repeating its message.
Tyler felt his cheeks growing red from all the eyes on him. Ka'len seemed equally effected, but for a different reason. John was the only one looking at her.
"I am sorry…" Ka'len blurted
"That was not safe." John said calmly but with authority and force. Tyler watched the expressions on both their faces; shame on Ka'len's, reproach on John's. He was not sure exactly what was being said, or what Ka'len had to be sorry about. Tyler was sure that he was starting to dislike this 'John'.
"She didn't do anything." The words leapt from Tyler's mouth before he realized what he was doing. This brought the uncomfortable attention of the alien man onto him.
"It is not safe for our race to share our infantile emotions with humans. It can cause damage." John explained, voice still calm, but devoid of the authority he had used with Ka'len.
"I'm not damaged…"
A strange look flashed behind John's eyes, like he had just had the most brilliant idea ever. Then, he smiled, "you are, close, to Allie, correct?"
"He is." Ka'len said.
Tyler quickly turned to Ka'len, the nerve!
"That is good." John said in a totally neutral tone. Then turned back toward the others, who were still looking in their direction.
What's good? Something did not sound right about that. What, Tyler could not say. Ka'len seemed excited though.
"Nas'Lenteni likes you."
"What?" Tyler whispered, feeling eyes still watching him.
But Ka'len didn't get a chance to answer. She was on her feet in a blur. Tyler looked back to John, who sat straight in his chair, staring off into thin air as if waiting for something to happen. As quickly as the event started, it stopped… whatever it was. John looked toward Lisa and Charlie and gave a small nod.
Outside, there was not a head in the entire mass of people that was not turned toward the sky. Christina was one of the gawkers, cutting off in the middle of a live international broadcast to stare at the sky where a loud rumbling could be heard. Always the professional videographer, in search of that perfect shot, Tony turned his camera toward the sky, and the bank of clouds that appeared to be concealing the noises origin.
The feeling of privilege had faded somewhat in Christina's view, after the arrival of news crews from just about every news organization in the world, from the biggest to the most obscure. The BBC logo was painted across the side of one of the closest trucks, the CNN van sat just several yards farther out. Both trucks sported fancy LCD projection screens, and both were replaying one of Christina's earlier interviews with the widely accepted UFO and alien expert, Tom Clark. This helped to replace some of that feeling of privilege. No other crews had been allowed inside the army's perimeter. Mary Crawford was right, this was the biggest story ever, and she had given Christina Hart the exclusive!
The rumbling seemed to waver for a moment, then erupted again much more violently as the clouds started to take on an orange/red glow. Like the sound underneath a freeway overpass but with the muffled crackle of an intense bonfire. Everyone still stared expectantly up at what they knew was approaching. No fear, just anticipation. Christina dared not glance away for fear of missing something but she could tell by the crowd's reactions; gasps and silence, nothing else.
The red glow grew as the rumbling started to subside, replaced by a very deep vibrating hum that Christina could feel in her chest more then her ears could sense it. She finally built up the nerve to look away when she noticed the group of people that were with 'Allie's' parents starting to flow out of the military tent. All of them except Lisa stared into the sky; Lisa looked from the older woman that was grasping her hand, to the man called John as if she didn't even care what was happening.
Several moments later Lisa did look to the sky, drawing Christina's eyes up with hers. The cloud broke, revealing a red hot glowing metallic something that just kept coming. It was huge! The 'craft' continued to slowly lose altitude and inch its way forward toward the masses of spectators, the clouds kept rolling back to reveal more and more spaceship!
Christina couldn't take it any more; she tapped Tony on the shoulder and motioned toward the crowd. The open mouthed stares of the people were easy to understand, and they made a wonderful reaction shot. What was not so easy to grasp was why no one had freaked out already. Christina knew this was going to happen and she was still close to the point of a breakdown into hysterics; not from fear… from uncontrollable excitement.
Tony had seen enough of the crowd's reaction and quickly leveled the camera back on the hulking mass of silvery metal that was beginning to slow as it neared their position.
The design was vastly different from the small saucer shaped craft. Christina's eyes darted up and down the massive, elongated form. Totally smooth, the front was slightly rounded and the whole of the structure of the craft looked like a great squashed cylinder, creating an oval cross section. Toward the rear there were two… no three, smaller squashed cylindrical structures attached to the sides and top.
The whole ship was still very far away, but its size made it seem so close. The tail end, or what Christina assumed was the rear, was shrouded in mist and haze because of its distance, but the front was crisp and clearly visible, and almost directly overhead.
Movement. The group of people from the army tent had started walking out into the road. The one called John was speaking to them; Christina could not hear him… she had to hear!
"Hey…" Tony called after her as Christina took off toward them. She heard him but did not care; he would follow, his hunger for the perfect shot guaranteed it.
They were further off then Christina had judged, she stepped up her pace into a full run, but still it seemed as if they were moving away. They weren't. Christina slowed, and then stopped when she noticed that the static energy was back, strong. The same as it had been in the helicopter when that alien had done that… whatever it was called to Mary, but much stronger. As Christina watched, the group she was heading for seemed to grow smaller, the area around them started to look warped… it was warped, even the air! Then, the whole group, ten or more people, were enveloped in a bright flash and disappeared.
"Wow…" Tony breathed as he came to a stop behind her, "I don't think I can ever get used to seeing that."
"Yeah…" Christina turned back toward the van, obviously disappointed. One particularly well said statement from Tom Clark during her earlier interview ran through her head again:
"Arthur C. Clarke once said, "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic". I think what everyone needs to remember is that: no matter what we see in the coming times; these 'aliens' are not gods, they are simply far more advanced then we are."
"They're not gods, Tony." Christina spoke over her shoulder, noticing that Tony had the camera aimed at the giant ship once more. She turned back and whispered: "but they sure seem that way compared to us."
A/N: Dun Dun Dun! The beginning of the end… of this first part of the story. Legacy will draw to a close with the next chapter. Legacy: Forgotten Dreams, the next installment will follow, eventually. I will have more information in Legacy's final A/N. hope everyone enjoyed this chapter!