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The Night The Dreams Died
Midnight Pow-Wow
Part 1 – Rahn's Quest
Chapter 43
XLIII
Gray Hawk looked at the red-tail hawk inside the cage in Michael's room on the New Granolith and nodded approvingly…
"So… you put a drop of the poison of the viper on his food each time he eats… to keep him from changing into something else again… What would happen if he decided not to eat your food?"
Michael smiled. "He has a choice. He can eat… and be a bird for now… or starve. Nobody's going to give him anything else to eat. Nasedo's made his choice."
Michael handed the large hawk a small piece of raw yegg meat, and the hawk grudgingly ate it.
Gray Hawk nodded. "Apparently he has. What will you do with him? Will you take him to your planet?"
Michael breathed in deeply. "That's the big, big question, Gray Hawk. We've been talking about it, but no decision has been made yet."
"You need to have pow-wow," Gray Hawk said authoritatively. "Get everyone together… make decisions. You have many questions to resolve… and little time."
Michael nodded. "I know. Things are getting very difficult down there for Max… well, for both of them. People camp out under the ship hoping to be healed. And the hospital sends a special car every day to take Max and his double to the hospital to heal more people. The word is spreading all over the country… even around the world! Max is helping all he can already. I think he'd heal everyone in the world if he could… but he can't do it, Gray Hawk. He'll kill himself. I've got to make him see that."
Gray Hawk nodded understandingly. "Maybe he knows it. Maybe he just has not figured out what to do about it. You need pow-wow. Soon!"
"Yeah, I know." Michael nodded his head with resignation. "I'll get Max and the others together…"
"Soon!"
"Yeah… soon… today. Tomorrow at the latest."
Gray Hawk smiled. "You can use my pow-wow room."
Michael grinned in spite of the concerns weighing on his mind, but shook his head. "I think not, Gray Hawk… but thanks. I wouldn't be able to get anyone to concentrate on making decisions in there with that big-screen TV and stereo system. We'll meet here on the ship… maybe in the observatory. You should be there, too, Gray Hawk. We could use your wisdom."
Gray Hawk raised his head, and a smile crossed his lips.
"I'll expect you," Michael said. "I'll let you know the exact time as soon as I know it. I need to talk to Max and a couple of the others."
----------
Jeff Parker flipped a burger over on the grill in the kitchen of the CrashDown and ran the back of his hand over his sweating brow. He barely noticed the figure at the window at first, but then a movement caught his eye, and he turned to look. It was a roadrunner… in the open window. The bird hopped off the windowsill and into the CrashDown, then Jeff watched as it turned into a man.
"Having trouble getting out of the ship without being seen these days, Rahn?" Jeff asked with a smile.
"It is a bit of a problem," Rahn replied honestly. "Anyone who comes down from the ship is surrounded by people wanting to know where Max is… and when they can get healed. It's much easier to fly out."
"Lucky you," Jeff said. "Too bad Max and the others can't fly out." Jeff smiled and shook his head. "I'm glad to see you, Rahn. I take it, you bring a message from Max?"
"Yes."
"You know, Rahn… you were right not to reveal your, uh, special abilities to the public. Max is having a real problem right now just because he can heal people. I don't even know what kind of problems might occur if they knew about your special ability… to shape-shift. It's fortunate that that TV lady, Diane, is on our side and is willing to keep your secret."
"She is very kind," Rahn agreed. "It would be a big story for her if she revealed it. But she will not. I trust her. Max trusts her. Michael trusts her."
"I trust her, too, Rahn," Jeff said. "They can't all be wrong. Besides, she's proved herself already. What's your message, Rahn?"
"Oh! Max and Michael would like for you and Mrs. Parker to be present at a meeting on the ship tonight at midnight. I know it is short notice, but Michael says that it is very important."
"Then I guess I'd better be there," Jeff said, managing a smile. "Nancy and I will be there. How do we… uh… get in?"
"Max said that he will move the ship over the CrashDown and transport you up at 10:40 tonight. You and Mrs. Parker will need to have your transport pins on you at exactly 10:40. The transporter will lock onto the crystals in the pins."
"We've done it before," Jeff nodded. Any place we should be standing?"
"Anywhere inside the CrashDown or your apartment will be okay. Just have the pins on you or in hand when 10:40 comes."
"I'm dying to know what this is about, Rahn, but I'm guessing you have other messages to deliver?"
Rahn nodded. "It is a meeting to make important decisions about… everything. You will find out more there. I don't know more than that myself."
Without further elaboration, Rahn shrank back into a roadrunner again then hopped onto the windowsill; and a moment later, with only a quick look back, he flew away.
"I wish I knew how he did that," Jeff mused to himself. "Where does all that extra body mass go… and how does he get it back to turn back into a man again? I wonder if he knows the answer himself or if he just does it." Jeff sighed. "Too many questions, I guess."
----------
Not very far away, in an upscale subdivision of Roswell, Phillip and Diane Evans sat reading the newspaper in their living room when a very persistent bird appeared in the window. At first, Phillip paid it little attention, though Diane did entertain a fleeting hope that it hadn't hurt itself crashing into the window. She quickly decided that it had not and went back to reading the home and garden section of the paper again. The bird made another noise at the window, flapping its wings against the windowpanes and looking like it wanted to come inside. Both Phillip and Diane looked up this time, and it occurred to both of them at the same time that this bird might not be what it seemed. Diane hurried to the window and opened it, and the bird hopped inside the house. She closed the window and curtains so that no one would see, and Rahn began to transform from a bird into a man.
Neither Diane nor Phillip had ever seen this happen before, though they were aware of Rahn's ability to shape-shift and had heard the stories of how he had appeared to Jeff and Nancy as a roadrunner before. Knowing wasn't the same as seeing, though. Standing inside the Evans' house just now, Rahn had transformed from a roadrunner into a man… all in one fluid motion; but somewhere in that three-second fluid motion, wings had stretched into arms, legs had grown from roadrunner-sized to human-sized, feathers had disappeared, and a human… well, maybe… at least he looked human… had appeared. Phillip and Diane stood speechless, their mouths open but no words coming out. For Phillip, especially, it was awkward. Phillip was a lawyer. But he had never defended a roadrunner that could change into a man before, and nothing had ever prepared him for this.
"Hello," Rahn said, extending his hand politely to Diane then to Phillip.
"Hello," both repeated back, still somewhat stunned.
"I am here because Max asked me to come," Rahn said, initiating the conversation. "Max… and Michael… are going to have a meeting on the ship tonight at midnight… to make some important decisions about everything. They would like for you to come to the meeting."
Phillip nodded silently, then Diane nodded, too.
"Good," Rahn said. "Max will move the ship over your house at exactly 10:50 tonight. You must have your pass chip transport pins on you or in your hands at that time so that the transporter will recognize you and take you onto the ship. You can be anywhere in your house, but you must have the pins on you at 10:50."
"Okay," Phillip said simply, oddly lacking for vocabulary for the first time in his life. Diane just nodded and stared at Rahn, marveling at the seeming impossibility of what she had just seen happen with her own eyes.
"I must go," Rahn said. "I still must speak to the Whitmans and several others."
Diane nodded again but then seemed to shake herself out of her silence… "Oh! Rahn! I'm… I'm sorry if we seem… distracted. It's just that… that… we've never seen you do that before… you know."
Rahn smiled. "I know." Walking to the front door, Rahn turned the doorknob, and the door opened. The 'man' who had just been standing in front of Phillip and Diane seemed to simply collapse and disappear, like a hollow shell caving in, as Rahn's body simply flowed downward and changed shape… and in the place of the man stood a roadrunner. The roadrunner took three hops out the front door then took to the air, adjusting its wingspan slightly to give itself better flight capability than the normal roadrunner, which has short wings and can only fly relatively short distances. But such limitations were of no concern to Rahn. This roadrunner was a marathon flyer.
----------
Several blocks away from the Evans' home, Charles and Gloria Whitman were sitting at their dining room table playing a game of scrabble when Rahn lit on the windowsill outside their living room window. Not seeing the Whitmans in their living room, Rahn flew upstairs and checked the upstairs windows. He didn't really like looking into bedroom windows. It felt strangely invasive for some unexplainable reason. He wasn't quite sure why, but it always did. This would have to be an exception, though. Rahn looked through the bedroom windows, but once again, he saw no one. For a few moments, he stood on the roof of the house, wondering how he would get their attention without having to change back from a bird into a man right out in the open where any neighbor might see. Then he noticed the garage door. There was a clearance beneath it of perhaps three feet where it had not completely shut. Rahn flew under the door then simply walked into the house through an open door from the garage into the house.
Sitting at his dining room table, Charles Whitman studied the tiny wood tiles in his hand intensely then sighed…
O U N E
He placed an S, an N, and an R down, making O S U N N E R.
"Sunner! You know… like someone getting a tan. How many points does that give me, Gloria?"
"Roadrunner!" Gloria said, her eyes seeming to grow suddenly larger.
Charles looked at the tiles again and changed a few letters…
R O A D R U N N E R
"You're right. That would have used all but one of my letters!" Then he picked the tiles up again and put the others back down. "I wish I'd seen it, but I can't let you give me answers, Gloria. You're playing against yourself again."
"No, Charles! A roadrunner! There!"
Gloria pointed toward the living room behind Charles, and Charles turned to look where Gloria was pointing. Indeed, as strange as it looked, there stood a roadrunner in the middle of their living room.
"What the…" Charles exclaimed, jumping out of his chair. "How the heck did you get in here?"
Glancing at the open door to the garage, Charles knew. "You need to get back out of here before you mess up the carpet or something. The house is no place for you, guy. Shoo!"
As he attempted to shoo the bird back toward the open door to the garage, the bird did something that Charles Whitman never expected. It suddenly expanded and rose straight up, like Jack's beanstalk, changing from a bird into a man before his eyes.
"Rahn!" both Charles and Gloria exclaimed at the same time, recognizing their unexpected visitor.
"Rahn what in the world are you doing here," Gloria managed to ask, finally finding her voice again.
"Hello." Rahn replied shyly… almost apologetically. "Max and Michael would like for you to be present at a meeting tonight at midnight on the ship to determine what is going to happen to all of them. If you can be there, you should be ready at 11:00 precisely here in your home. It doesn't matter where in the house, but be ready and have your transport pins on you or in your hands. Someone will transport you up to the ship at exactly 11:00. Will you come?"
Gloria looked at Charles, and Charles shrugged. "Well… yeah, sure, I guess so. If they think it's important, I guess it must be. So I guess we'll be ready for them… when they come. It's got something to do with Alex, too, doesn't it? I mean… what's going to happen to Alex… depends on what they decide in this meeting…?"
Rahn nodded. "I don't know what will be discussed at the meeting, but I believe you are probably correct."
Charles nodded slowly. "We'll be ready, Rahn. Tell them we'll be there."
Rahn smiled understandingly then reverted to a roadrunner as they watched. It happened so fast that neither Charles nor Gloria was really sure exactly how it had occurred. Both of them saw it, but like a scene that one has to rewind and watch over and over to try to understand, Rahn's sudden transformation left them baffled. The roadrunner promptly ran out the door into the garage, ran under the garage door, then took to the air.
----------
"Damn! I missed him again!"
The not-yet-thirty but clearly exercise-challenged and overweight longhaired man swung the broom again; and yet again, the bird nimbly leapt over the broom as the broom came down with a whack on the floor. Puffing from exertion, the exhausted man fell back into a nearby armchair, as another man nearby laughed hysterically and shook his head, apparently enjoying the spectacle.
"You'll never get that bird, Jennings. He's too quick for you."
Jennings held the broom out at arm's length toward the other man.
"Here, you get him then."
"Maybe I will, Van. Just watch. You'll see how it's done."
The other man, who was fiftyish but in decidedly better shape than his younger colleague, took the broom and walked forward toward the roadrunner. The roadrunner watched the approaching man warily but seemed surprisingly unconcerned by his approach.
The older man sauntered over to the side a bit, acting nonchalant but intending to corner the bird and back it into a niche that it could not move around in freely, thus limiting its ability to escape when he brought the broom down. Believing that he had the bird in the right place, Bob Stern raised the broom slowly, still pretending not to look at the roadrunner. Then he turned and swung the broom suddenly.
It was to no avail. The roadrunner hopped over the flying broom as though it were all a game. Van Jennings, lying sprawled in the armchair, smiled and chuckled.
"Way to go, Bob! You really showed him who's who!"
Stern grimaced. "I'll get him, though, Van. No stupid bird's gonna make an ass out of me!"
Jennings made a weak braying sound and chuckled. Stern ignored his colleague's oblique barb but clearly seemed to bristle. Bringing the broom down three times in swift succession, Stern succeeded only in getting the roadrunner to hop, duck, and hop again. The broom never even came close to striking the nimble bird. Stern stopped and leaned on the broom for a moment then picked it up and began swinging wildly as though he expected to catch the bird in the air and bat it out the window on the other side of the room. The roadrunner ran from one side of the room to the other, jumping over the broom several times but never getting hit. Stern was beginning to tire when the door to the room beside them opened and a lady looked in…
"What the dickens is going on in here guys? It sounds like you're beating each other up!"
Sprawled over his chair, Jennings smiled and waved dismissively toward Stern.
"Bob's trying to catch a roadrunner that got into the studio somehow. He's not having much luck."
"Oh, and I guess you did better, Mister 'I'm-having-a-heart-attack, I've-got-to-sit-down! Wheeze! Cough!'"
"What roadrunner?" the lady asked, opening the door all the way.
"This one," Stern said, unexpectedly turning suddenly and taking another swat at the long-legged bird. The roadrunner easily avoided the broom again, but this time it leapt right into the arms of the lady who had just entered. She appeared startled but managed to maintain her composure, looking first at the bird on her arm then at her two colleagues.
"Well, I'll be danged! Looks like he likes you, Diane."
"Yeah… I think so, Bob," the lady agreed.
"Hold him there, Diane, and I'll grab him."
Diane turned to the side, ignoring Stern's advance. "Leave him alone, Bob. He came to me. I'll take care of him."
"Pshhhhhhhh…" Bob sighed, letting the air out of his lungs dejectedly. "Alright. Throw him outside… or put him in a cage or something if you want to keep him. We can't have a roadrunner running around in the station distracting everyone."
"I'll worry about that, guys. I don't think the boss will mind. You guys can help me by getting the ads all scheduled for next week if you haven't done that yet. "
Stern and Jennings looked at each other and shrugged. They knew that Diane was right. The boss would not question anything she did. Diane had the closest thing to "star status" that the station had ever known. Stern walked out of the room, and Jennings managed to push himself out of his chair and follow.
"Alright," Stern said. "We'll leave you alone with your bird."
Jennings snickered, as Stern closed the door behind them. Diane checked the door then looked around the room. She opened the back door to make it appear that she had gone outside with the bird… just in case anyone came back in to check, but instead, she opened a closet door and stepped inside, closing the door back behind her.
Diane looked at the roadrunner sitting calmly on her arm.
"Okay, you'd better be what I think you may be or I'm going to feel really foolish bringing you in here."
The bird hopped onto the floor and transformed into a man in front of her. Diane gasped, less from the shock of the sudden transformation than from the sudden reduction in space inside the tiny closet. She found herself face to face, literally, with Rahn. Blushing a bit, Diane stammered, trying to figure out what to say to the man standing right against her in a closet that was now too small to even move in. She felt like they should be dancing… or hugging… anything but talking.
"Rahn, what are you doing here? I'm happy to see you, believe me. I'm just a bit taken aback by the… the unexpected closeness. You could have been killed showing up here like this!"
"Not by those guys," Rahn said confidently. "They couldn't catch me even if they had me in a cage."
"Well, you may be right about that," Diane conceded, with a smile that Rahn probably couldn't see in the darkness of the closet. "But what ARE you doing here, Rahn?"
"I came to ask you to come to the ship tonight at midnight. Max and Michael are having a meeting to discuss their future here, and your presence is needed. Dan Klein should come, too, if you know where we can find him."
"I think so," Diane said uncertainly. "What… where do I go to get on the ship?"
"Max will bring the ship to you… at your house. You should be ready at 11:10, with your transport pin on you. Someone will transport you up to the ship from your home. It won't matter where you are in the house."
Diane nodded. "It must be pretty important… to be so sudden."
"Yes," Rahn agreed. "It is important. The future will be determined tonight… their future… our future… maybe your future, in a way."
Diane nodded again. "I'll get in touch with Dan. Do you want him to be at my house, too, when you come for me?"
"That would be good," Rahn said.
"I'll be there," Diane said. "Dan will, too… I think."
"Good."
"Rahn?"
"Yes?"
"How are we going to get out of this closet? I can't move."
"I'll fix that," Rahn said, grinning slightly to himself in the darkness. "Goodbye, Diane… till tonight. Thanks for protecting me from those two guys."
Diane smiled. "Protecting YOU, Rahn? I was protecting THEM. I thought they were going to have heart attacks from the exertion. You shouldn't tease them like that."
Rahn laughed then transformed back into a roadrunner. Diane opened the door and peeked out of the closet then quickly walked to the back door with Rahn on her arm. She held her arm up in the air, and Rahn spread his wings and leapt into the air.
"Dan and I'll see you tonight, Rahn," Diane whispered, as the bird disappeared into the distance.
----------
At the army base, General David Strickland had just left his office, the office that had once belonged to General Hawkins. As he walked down the hall in the underground bunker, a roadrunner flew overhead. The lieutenant beside him noticed the bird…
"We probably ought to close off the entrances to the bunkers better. We keep getting bats and birds in here. It's a good thing they can't tell anyone what they've seen, huh?"
Strickland smiled. "Well, we can't close it up that tightly, Anson. We're underground. We need the air circulation. I guess the birds and the bats are just something we'll have to put up with. They seem to know how to get back out anyway. So far they haven't been a problem."
"No sir. That's true," Lieutenant Anson replied.
General Strickland stopped and thought for a moment. "Anson… was that a roadrunner?"
"It looked like one, sir. I'm not sure, though. It flies pretty well to be a roadrunner."
Strickland nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right. You know, Anson, I think I forgot something in my office. You go on ahead. I'll catch up with you later."
Anson turned and politely saluted the General then walked off. General Strickland watched as Anson rounded the corner, then he turned around and walked back toward his office. As he put his key in the door and turned it, Strickland sensed a presence beside him. Turning quickly, he found himself looking at Rahn, whom he recognized from the ship.
"Where did you come from?"
Rahn smiled. "It's a bit hard to explain. I have a message for you."
Strickland nodded. "The roadrunner that I saw in the hall… That was you, wasn't it?"
Rahn appeared flustered and momentarily unsure what he should say. He had never revealed his shape-shifting ability to Strickland. He had never even revealed his ability to his captors in all the years he had been held on the base before he had escaped… before Strickland had become a general.
"It's okay, Rahn. I'll keep your secret. I probably know better than you what would happen to you if it got out. I heard rumors about a special roadrunner. I've got lines of communication. Some of them keep track of miscreants like Judge Lewis. He's been telling everybody that some of the aliens can change into other things… like snakes or roadrunners. But no one trusts Judge Lewis anymore. I store all these little tidbits and details up here…" Strickland pointed at his head. "for future reference… if needed. Sometimes even the rantings of a madman can turn out to have relevance… if one is open to seeing it."
Rahn nodded. "I should have guessed that Judge Lewis would figure it out. Do you think anyone else will believe him?"
Strickland shook his head. "No. We've pretty much told the press and everyone that anything the judge says can be considered for its source. He's untrustworthy. And his experience in the desert has left him… um… let's say, susceptible to hallucinations and imagined happenings. It's not really to protect you that we don't want anyone believing the judge, Rahn. It's because he has too much classified knowledge… things we don't want anyone else knowing. Judge Lewis had sources, including Culpepper and others, and he was fairly good at storing every little bit of information he heard –intentionally or on the sly- in his head."
"You seem to be pretty good at that yourself," Rahn said.
David Strickland smiled. "There are things that can be learned… even from a cretin."
"I'm glad you're on our side," Rahn replied, smiling. "You'll be a very good general."
Strickland smiled. "It's a challenge. But I'm giving it my best. What did you want to tell me, Rahn?"
"There is going to be a meeting on the ship tonight… at midnight. Max and Michael want you to be there, because you are our friend. They need to decide some things about our futures and the futures of the others here."
Strickland raised his eyebrows. "The others meaning… Max Evans… Isabel Evans… Michael Guerin… Angie Lee?"
Rahn nodded.
"And does that also include Elizabeth Parker, Maria DeLuca, Alex Whitman… and the sheriff's son, Kyle Valenti," Strickland asked.
"It may," Rahn said. "I don't know for sure, but I suspect so."
Strickland nodded. "And the sheriff and his wife, Amy…"
"Probably," Rahn replied. "We are all at a crossroads right now. There are things happening that have made it necessary for us to have this meeting… to make decisions."
Strickland nodded again. "Maybe more than you know, Rahn. Like I told you, I have lines of communication, and I store every little detail up here." Strickland pointed at his head again. "I'm not sure about this information yet, but I've heard some very troubling rumors from a couple of my sources recently. I wasn't going to say anything until I had confirmed it and knew more of the details, but you should know what I know. It's only an unconfirmed rumor right now, understand, but a couple of very good sources have told me that the 9th Circuit Court, in San Francisco… that's California… has been meeting in secret the last few days. They cover much of this area of the country, including Arizona and most of the west coast. If my sources are right, the purpose of these meetings was to decide how to 'best allocate an indispensable resource currently located in the area of Roswell, New Mexico.'"
"What… exactly… does that mean," Rahn asked.
"Well, it could mean a lot of things," Strickland replied. "Or maybe nothing at all. But I have a dreadful feeling that it does not bode well for you… and especially for Max… the one who can heal."
Rahn paled. "Would they harm Max?"
Strickland shook his head. "I don't think that's their intention. I suspect that the 9th Circuit Court has decided that it has the responsibility for determining who Max heals and when he heals them. If this is the case, it could mean that Max would become essentially… a slave… a permanent ward of the court… controlled by them… no longer free to make decisions about things like… leaving. You see what I'm saying?"
Rahn nodded. "They're afraid we'll leave and take Max with us… both Maxes. They want to make sure that does not happen. And they want to control who is eligible to be healed and let the court… themselves… determine the priorities."
"That's what I believe, Rahn. I told you, it's all only guesswork and rumor right now… I could be wrong."
"But you are very good at piecing puzzles together, David Strickland. If you think this might happen… it is enough for us to be concerned about it. Max will want to know. Michael needs to know, too. It should be discussed at the meeting tonight. Can a court in San Francisco do this?"
"That is not clear, Rahn. The state of New Mexico is in the 10th Circuit Court's jurisdiction, not the 9th, although some of our neighboring states, like Arizona, are in the 9th; but there is some indication that the 9th Circuit Court may believe that it can obtain legal jurisdiction over the ship and its occupants in some other manner. I thought you would want to know."
"Take this transport chip pin, David Strickland. Keep it on you somewhere. At 10:30 tonight, the ship will pick you up. The transporter will recognize the chip in the pin."
"I've used it before," Strickland said, turning the pin over in his hand. Do you want me to be here… in my office?"
"You tell me where it would be best to find you," Rahn said. "That is where we will go."
Strickland nodded. "It might be best if it were somewhere else. This area is too protected… and too watched."
"I suspected that," Rahn said.
"Can you pick me up from my home?"
Rahn nodded. "That will not be a problem."
"23 Benwood Aircraft Circle. It's three miles north of the base just outside Roswell. From the air, you can easily spot Benwood Aircraft Circle. It has a small airstrip through the center of it. A lot of our residents have private planes. My house is on the east side of the strip, second house from the north end of the runway. Can you remember that?"
"Of course."
"Good. I'll see you at 10:30 then, Rahn."
"Thank you," Rahn said. He looked at Strickland for a moment then decided that David Strickland could be trusted completely. Without any warning, Rahn shrank suddenly, becoming a roadrunner once again. David swallowed, and his eyes opened a bit wider.
"Amazing. I wish we had more time to get to know each other, Rahn," he whispered, leaning over and offering the bird his hand. The roadrunner hopped onto Strickland's outstretched index finger, then Strickland raised his hand into the air… and Rahn flew away.
tbc
Coming Up: Part 2 – Decisions