Your Truth is Out There (Find Your Truth Book 1) Page 6

  “Please, put down your weapon,” he said, “I’m just here to repair my vehicle. I don’t want any trouble.”

  The Irtling again said something unintelligible and continued pointing the weapon at him.

  “Please, just let me fix my vehicle,” he said as he gestured toward his ship, “and I’ll …”

  He was interrupted by a loud “bang” and the whirring sound of a small projectile as it passed by his ear. The Irtling had just fired at him!

  Gsefx jumped at the near-death experience and began backing up toward his ship, hands still in the air. The Irtling remained where it was, but surprisingly had lowered its weapon. Gsefx stopped and looked closer at the creature. It was clearly shaken and seemed to be just as scared as he was. Perhaps it hadn’t meant to fire on him.

  Gsefx was about to repeat his appeal to be left alone, when a thought struck him. He didn’t know if it would work, but it was worth a try and he was out of alternatives.

  Chapter 16

  “Night is Day and Day is Night”

  Although his hands were steady as he aimed the .357 magnum, Henry was a complete wreck inside. His heart was pounding, his mouth was dry, and he could feel the sweat pouring down his face.

  The alien’s four hands were raised as if it was trying to show it wasn’t a threat. When the creature spoke again and made a movement toward the ship, Henry’s shaky nerves could take no more. It wasn’t until he heard the sound of the gun firing and felt the recoil that he realized he had actually pulled the trigger. Fortunately for the alien, this was the first time Henry had ever fired a gun. The shot missed and glanced off of the ship’s tent-shaped appendage.

  Henry was as surprised as his alien counterpart. He certainly hadn’t meant to fire. Stunned, he lowered the weapon and tried to think about what to do next. He thought about simply dropping the gun completely and running away. Let the alien kill him if it wanted to, he was prepared to die. The only thing stopping him was the tiny voice in his head that insisted on reminding Henry there were things worse than death, and that turning his back on this creature before knowing what it had in mind was a very bad idea.

  The alien began backing away toward its ship, hands still in the air. It opened its mouth to speak, then closed it again as if considering another option. When it opened its mouth again, Henry was shocked to realize he understood what the creature was saying.

  “Night is day and day is night,” it said in a high-pitched, but clear voice, “don’t say I won’t ‘cause you know I might.”

  Henry stood in stunned silence, trying to process what he had just heard. The creature repeated the words, and as it did so, Henry realized he recognized the words as lyrics from one of his favorite songs. As his mind tried to come up with a logical explanation as to why an eight-limbed being from outer space would know the words to a late 70’s rock song, he failed to notice the gun slipping from his hand and falling harmlessly to the ground.

  Chapter 17

  A Man of Action

  “Where is it now?” yelled the General into the ear of his assistant. His helicopter was fully powered-up and waiting just a few feet away, but he needed one last check before he lifted off.

  “Ops says they’ve lost coverage, sir,” replied the assistant. “They say the craft appears to have continued along its projected path and landed.”

  “All right, Major, we’re a go. Have all units proceed to those coordinates. Keep me posted of their progress.”

  “Yes, sir. Good luck, sir.”

  The General nodded, climbed aboard the chopper, and shut the door.

  Along with the four stars on his shoulders, General Theodore Eustace Alcorn carried a full set of mixed emotions as well. When he was assigned this command, he had known contact with a non-terrestrial race was a possibility and had, in fact, spent the last three years preparing for this day. Even so, he never really believed it would happen. He never actually believed non-terrestrials even existed. But now, it seemed one had actually arrived and touched down within the borders of the continental United States, and he found that he was actually excited.

  Still, a part of him had hoped this day would never come. With less than eighteen months until retirement, he had settled into an acceptable, even comfortable routine. Throughout his career, Alcorn had always been a man of action, preferring to see his plans and strategies enacted in real-world situations, rather than endless drills and simulations. In this case, however, he would have been content with running drills and conducting exercises designed to simulate all the potential ways first contact could occur until it was time for him to retire. At this point in his life, he and his wife had begun doing many of the things they’d been unable to do while Alcorn had been climbing the ladder, and their son, Theo, had been at home. But that was all over now. Theo had long since moved out, and there were no more rungs on the ladder left to climb. Contentment was no longer a dream for General Alcorn, it was an attained reality.

  Even before graduating at the top of his class in high school, Teddy, as he was known by those closest to him, knew he would be a career soldier. His friends and family all urged him to reconsider his application to West Point and his choice of a military career. The civilian sector is where it’s at, they said. With your intelligence, instincts, and ability to read people, you can write your own ticket, they said. And they were right, of course. He could have done anything he wanted, which was why he pursued a career as a military officer. It was exactly what he wanted; it was exactly what he was meant to do.

  For nearly thirty-nine years now, he had served proudly and been well rewarded. Few ever made it as far as he had. There had even been talk of a possible appointment to the Joint Chiefs, but he knew how that game was played. The powers that be might dangle the possibility of an appointment in front of him, like they did with all of his four-star peers, but he would never have been assigned First Contact Command if they were truly serious about a seat at the Joint Chiefs’ table. Around the Pentagon, First Contact Command was better known as Last Stand Command. Being assigned to it meant it was your last stand as a commander. Although he’d played the political game well enough to make it as far as he had, sitting on the JCS was the last place Alcorn wanted to be anyway, so he accepted his assignment to Last Stand with the same vitality and vigor he had every other command. He told himself he would give it everything he had until he reached the forty-year mark and it was time to retire. It was only lately that he’d caught himself starting to look forward to the day when he could spend the rest of his life golfing, fishing or just plain lounging around the house in blissful ignorance, instead of poring over troop levels and readiness exercises.

  Today’s events could change all of that. It now appeared he would be required to fulfill his assigned mission. To make first contact with a species not of human origin. His plans for retirement could very well be delayed, if not canceled altogether. The needs of the Army came first. They always came first.

  Adding to the mix of emotions was the additional aspect of his mission. Simply making first contact might not be good enough. He and his men might have to forcibly detain, or even eliminate the aliens if he determined them to be a threat. He hoped it would not come to that. Alcorn always believed his mission was to find a peaceful resolution to conflict, whenever possible. But that wasn’t always an option. Sometimes military action was required and it was his job to be ready when force became necessary. In this case, securing the safety of the United States, and perhaps the entire planet, was priority number one. Everything else was secondary.

  Besides, he thought to himself with a smile, all of those other four-star bastards who actually want a seat at the Joint Chiefs table have enjoyed the hell out of seeing me assigned to this crap command.

  He strapped in and put on his headset.

  “Pilot, what’s our ETA?” he asked.

  “17 minutes,” came the response.

  “Let’s go.”

  Last Stand Command, my ass, thought Alcorn, as the ch
opper lifted off. Who’s laughing now?

  Chapter 18

  Have You Lost Your Mind?

  Qilzar was miserable. He had experienced many uncomfortable moments in his lifetime, including the recent encounter with his boss just a couple of sars earlier. But, compared to his current situation, his confrontation with Xtlar seemed almost pleasant. Traveling with the belligerent wife of an ex-employee to some backwater planet named Irt was easily the worst experience of his entire existence.

  As planned, they met in the parking lot of the Pigawitts building, at which point Gsefx’s wife immediately insisted on demonstrating her penchant for verbal assault. Unpleasant as it was, it was not totally unexpected, and Qilzar weathered the barrage as best he could. Through the various obscenities and other choice words she flung his way, he discovered her name was Lhvunsa and that she and Gsefx had been married for ten turns. Only when her tirade ended and she paused to catch her breath, did she reveal she knew where her husband was and that he was very likely in serious trouble.

  “I’ve tracked his vehicle to a remote sector of the galaxy about three sars from here,” she said. “It appears he’s gone to a tiny, recently-charted planet called Irt.”

  “Irt? Never heard of it,” said Qilzar, doing his best to act as casual as possible. It wasn’t working. “Whatever would possess him to go there?”

  Lhvunsa’s thick eyebrows bunched together as her eyes narrowed to barely-open slits. “He wouldn’t have had the opportunity to even consider such a foolish idea if he hadn’t been fired! You would both be sitting comfortably in your offices doing whatever it is you do there. And I would be wrapping up my contract for the new addition to the Klarock Museum instead of …”

  She paused and sighed deeply.

  “All right, enough of that,” she said with a wave of one of her three hands. “Apparently, since he had some unexpected free time, Gsefx went to Irt to obtain some music straight from the source. Albalan originates from Irt, you know.”

  “Alavan? What’s that?” asked Qilzar.

  “Al-ba-lan. It’s a newly discovered form of music. Quite primitive and all the rage lately. I don’t care much for it, but Gsefx just can’t seem to get enough. He’s obsessed with it. I’m sure that’s why he went there. He may be a great accountant, but there are times when his common sense leaves a lot to be desired. It’s doubtful he considered any of the potential consequences before taking off like that.”

  Qilzar was about to ask another question, but Lhvunsa stopped him with another wave of the same hand. “Before you ask any more questions, get in your vehicle; we have to go and find him.”

  Qilzar stepped back as if he’d been slapped. “Have you lost your mind, Madam?” he cried. “I’m not going to Irt, or whatever it’s called. Gsefx is an adult, and quite capable of taking care of himself. If you feel like chasing after him, please do so, but you’ll not drag me along.”

  He paused for a moment, reminding himself of his tenuous employment situation. “When you do see him,” he said gently, “please tell him the whole firing business was a terribly unfortunate mistake, and to please contact me immediately.”

  He turned as if to get back in his vehicle, only to feel a rather determined hand grab his arm and spin him back around.

  “Don’t even think about walking away from me!” said Lhvunsa, one hand gripping his arm, another sternly planted on her hip, and the third shaking a delicate green finger in his face. “Gsefx’s vehicle has stopped responding, which means he’s in trouble. Not only are you going with me, you’re piloting. This entire turn of events is your fault and if anything happens to my husband, I will hold you personally responsible.”

  In all of his forty-seven turns, Qilzar had never been married, had never, in fact, even had a serious romantic relationship. He liked the female form well enough, but found the corresponding psyche completely impossible to fathom, not to mention rather frightening. So it wasn’t at all out of character when he shrank in the face of Lhvunsa’s demands. To his credit, he did try to object—three separate times, in fact. Each time he got no further than opening his mouth before realizing anything he might say would only serve to diminish his already poor standing with this woman, whose help he desperately needed if he was going to avoid exile on Zaras 7. In the end, he simply closed his mouth and opened the passenger door for Gsefx’s wife.

  From that high point, things went downhill rather quickly. There were no further outbursts of anger, only a cold, harsh silence, as Lhvunsa sat quietly staring out the window. It wasn’t long before Qilzar hoped she would start yelling again. He twice attempted to start conversations, asking about her family first, then her career. He was abruptly cut off both times with glares that cut right through him, which were followed by even more intense silence. Shortly thereafter, he switched the vehicle over to manual control and focused on piloting. According to his on-board navigational computer, they were about thirty ebyts from Irt when Lhvunsa finally broke the silence.

  “Why do you hate my husband so much?”

  The suddenness of her question startled Qilzar out of his dark thoughts, which mostly centered around the disaster awaiting him on Zaras 7.

  “Ahh … excuse me? What did you say?”

  She surprised Qilzar further by reaching over and engaging the auto-pilot.

  “I want to know why you despise Gsefx so much.”

  Her tone was conversational, but there was nothing casual about the question.

  “He’s done nothing to you except make you and your department look good time and again by meeting impossible deadlines with unmatched accuracy. He works so much, especially since his promotion, I hardly see him anymore. Yet you treat him like a criminal.”

  “And speaking of the promotion,” she continued, her voice rising again, “why in the galaxy would you promote him, only to hound him mercilessly and make his life miserable afterwards, then fire him on a minor technicality? That doesn’t make any sense! What do you have against him?”

  “Whatever do you mean?” asked Qilzar, slipping into the smooth voice he used on troublesome clients. “Gsefx has always been my top employee and I am actually quite fond of him. As I tried to explain earlier, this whole thing was just a simple misunderstanding. I was merely trying to point out that he needed to do something about his consistent tardiness and somehow it got blown out of proportion. You must believe me, I would never intentionally do anything to hurt your husband.”

  “Ha!” she cried. “You don’t really expect me to believe that, do you? I don’t know who you think I am, but I assure you …”

  Qilzar watched as an expression of shocked disbelief overtook her face.

  “Unbelievable,” she said shaking her head. “As far as you’re concerned, you’re telling the truth. You actually believe what you’re saying, don’t you? You’ve convinced yourself that none of this is your fault, that it really was just a misunderstanding. You’ve probably even convinced yourself that somehow this is all Gsefx’s fault.”

  Qilzar opened his mouth as if to speak, but he wasn’t given the chance.

  “You fired him, Qilzar!” continued Lhvunsa. “For some reason, ever since his promotion, you’ve been looking for ways to hurt him and today you succeeded in the worst way imaginable. You fired your best employee for nothing more than spite. You might be able to convince yourself this was a simple misunderstanding and that you’re not the cause of it, but you won’t get me to buy into that lie.”

  She reached over and switched the ship back to manual mode.

  “Forget I said anything and just pilot.” She turned her back to him and looked out the window again.

  Qilzar was stunned. Too stunned to do anything except what he was told. As he piloted the ship, his thoughts were no longer on Zaras 7, or even Irt for that matter. He had never encountered anyone like the woman sitting next to him. He was used to getting what he wanted, either by bullying or manipulating those around him. Lhvunsa would allow him to do neither. She had, in fact, done a p
retty good job of bullying him since the moment he first contacted her.

  Moreover, she was right. He really had started to convince himself that none of this was his fault. That Gsefx was, in fact, the miserable show-off he made him out to be. But why? What had Gsefx actually done to him to deserve such treatment? The answer was simple. Admitting it wasn’t.

  “I don’t hate Gsefx,” he said quietly.

  “What?”

  He reengaged the auto-pilot and turned to face Lhvunsa.

  “I said, I don’t hate Gsefx.”

  Lhvunsa turned from the window to face him.

  “I don’t dislike him at all. It’s just that …” he looked down at his hands, unable to meet her eyes.

  “Yes? I’m waiting.”

  “I’m jealous of him,” he said softly. “I know how juvenile that must sound, but it’s the truth. He’s successful because he’s smart, talented, and good with people in a way I’ll never be. He’s a natural leader.”

  He took a deep breath and summoned the courage to look at Lhvunsa directly.

  “His success isn’t limited to the workplace, either. He’s happily married to a beautiful woman who clearly loves him very much. I, on the other hand, have never even been on a third date.”

  He turned away from her and looked out his window, silence enveloping the cockpit once again. When Lhvunsa finally spoke again, her voice was gentle, but firm.