THE

DEADLIGHTS
CREATURE

PROLOG

Life forms aren't exclusive to just planets. As we will, in

the near future of mankind, figure out. By the past reckoning we

have learned this creature was but a mere 'space organism'.

Figuring out, it had come from another star system, kidnapped by

a passing asteroid as the trajectory would swing it fairly close to

earth. They had wait almost a week as coffee shop astronomers on

earth watched the closely passing asteroid. Some thought it may

actually strike earth as newscasters placed fear in the airwaves.

1.
 Though, somewhere else, concern was also of the 'path' it

might take. Thought it would skim past earth and would probably

burn up if caught in the gravity, watchers waited for anything to

drop into the planets gravitation field, showing a fiery trail across

the sky. Though dismayed, that never happened. It just skipped on

past, almost unnoticed.

But, something had jumped off the asteroid's back, now

trying to backpedal high above the stratosphere, caught in the

planet gravitational field, it knew now, that jumping was the

wrong move. It was too small to even be noticed even with a

telescope. Now clinging to a weird metallic rock swinging around

the pretty blue planet, understanding that the planets gravity

would never allow it to escape back into open space, where it

called home. And searching, there was literally no food on it.

Stuck, caught by the one thing it knew to avoid, gravity...

2.
 A call from a back area of NASA gave the first hard sign

something had happened,

“Sir, we've just lost signal on satellite SA279. It was that class C

asteroid.” A console operator spoke into his headset watching a

screen.

“Do we have any type of control?” The comptroller’s voice

filtered in from across the communication floor.

“No sir. SA279 is not showing any signs of life. And yes sir,

we’ve already gone through full protocol. Bottom line, we seemed

to have lost all signal.” He stated, hoping something would lessen

the bad news.

“It’s still up there, right?” The voice almost sounded angry.

“Yes, I have confirmed that SA279 is still in stable orbit. Though

it was the closest orbiting object at the passing of the asteroid

J443.”

3.

“Confirm that SA279 is still in a stable orbit?”

 “Physically yes, all our instruments say it’s still in a stable orbit.”

“Then what happened?” The comptroller asked in a heated tone.

“All electronic emissions have ceased, we have no idea's yet.”

The operations manager stated, being informed by others around

him, they had ‘nothing’.

“That tells me squat,”

“I’ll let you know the second we have something verified...”

“Stay on it. Now, was that the only effected satellite?”

“Affirmative on that, the only one that has gone off-line.”

“Two hours ‘after’ an inert asteroid passes, the damn thing burns

out? I wouldn’t buy that.” A business tone spoke.

“No sir.” Stupidly stated the man on the other end,

“Find me something I can use to explain this FUBAR, and do it

now!”

“I’m on it...” The comptroller stated as the phone clicked off in

his ear piece.

“Well, might as well make the call to their company

representatives.” The comptroller said staring at the cradled phone

receiver.

[Background: SA 279 was the first set of cell phone

signal satellites built to give signal to anyone anywhere around

the world each was bought by school of very wealthy people of

the United States of America. There was a lot of red tape tied into

this as other countries feared a camera conspired to capture

hidden secrets; it almost failed on several accounts. They used an

open policy with all who apposed and with the agreement that

ANY Country would have full use of them, if in their air range. It

would start a new boom in cellular tech, and companies around

the entire globe flourished instantly. The big name on the stock

market, were the owners of these satellites. And technology had

gone as far as rip open a new wave of modernizing cell phone

communications.]
 Though this was the first sign of trouble about SA 279, it

was one that would only get much worse. At NASA, they had

tried every possible configuration, and finally an idea was hatched,

They already had the space shuttle in orbit, two days

before a return to earth. It only took a day to clear the road for a

pick-up of the downed satellite and a minimal amount of money.

They were banking that the retrieved satellite only had a shorted

out 'power relay', and bringing it down this was would save the

owners tons of money. It could cause many problems from this

point on, if they didn’t get it back up there before 90 days

[contract clause] termination. Time, not money, was the biggest

problem. The return rocket was now being built in quick fashion.

There was a bright side in the fact that NASA was also

currently monitoring the Space Shuttle which had been orbiting

earth for the last few days. As money twisted arms, the space

shuttle now had just picked up the downed satellite

 Then it came,

“The story of today, the space shuttle that was carrying a

malfunctioning satellite back to earth, was lost off scanners twenty

minutes after 'an emergency call' from the pilots. The touchdown

emergency sight has now become the Kennedy Space Center.

They admit the shuttle may be experiencing problems... We'll keep

you updated as we receive it.”

All the news channeled the basic information to it's viewers

and it wasn’t long before more even more interesting 'news' began

to pop up.

“the space shuttle suppose to land at the Kennedy landing site

never touched the ground as it over shot the runway in a blaze of

awe and has crashed in the murky swamps of the everglades.

It only got weirder from that point out as hundreds of

News reporters scrambled to find their own way into the

backwaters of the wooded swamps. Many, trying to buy, rent or

borrow any boat available from the local population. Many

stopped dead in their tracks as national guardsmen and boats were

quickly flooding the waterways.

“And in this new update, four thousand National Guard troops

are being transferred to the swampy everglades just east of the

Kennedy Space Center. All civilian traffic is being 'kept out' of the

area. All's we are getting is that it is ‘A national security situation’.

Some theorist’s point out that the shuttle, may be buried in the

muck. Or that it sunk, which would making it harder to retrieve,

once they find it. Ham radio operators have sent in feeds of the

shuttle voices, and the government refuses to comment on these.

Here is a segment of that feed... [sounds of shuttle crew member's

shouting unintelligent rants of fear and yelling]

“I’m interested in as to ‘why’ the sound feed was cut dead.”

Another news anchor questioned.

 “Good question… and in another point on that news, the live

feed sources suggested the shuttle may have been deep into

trouble, even before the decent. Four thousand National Guards

had surrounded and began to swarm around the everglades. Do

we have something to fear?” The newscaster boldly began digging

for the true story.

“That is quite a lot of force for just the shuttle. And why

surround it?” His co-newscaster trumped him.

And then that sound feed only took over night to go viral.

24 hours later, it came out…

“The military has just admitted that something ‘alive’ came

down on the shuttle. Theorists are clamoring all over the white

house for a statement about possible alien contact and it became

chaos as every media channel was being ordered to head to

Florida. But in a decisive move, the president has officially banded

any media on this, the official quote was ‘Media coverage will be

ban from a 30 mile radius around the shuttle’s downed site. Any
media center sending crew or crews into the area will be detained

and any equipment taken… However, in all fairness, a rally point

at the north end of the Kennedy Space Center is available to all

media, extra bathrooms and shower rooms are available. All

updates will be available as soon as they come to fluidity at that

site.’

In less than a blink, the direction of this whole thing had

changed. The government had put a clamp on all media, anything

that had the key words ‘shuttle’ ‘alien’ or ‘military’ was

completely cut. Even the web had trouble keeping any videos up

on the subject. Washington instantly dried up, after the word

‘possible alien’ words had finally dropped out of a congressman’s

mouth. The whole world stood still for about two seconds, and

then, it went nuts!

With no real conformation past that point, the media spun

every science fiction alien story towards the public, in rebellion to

this. News papers, especially ‘rags’ ran any and every picture of
one with a doom and gloom tale to push it. Radio stations were

doing UFO abductees stories and even Orson Wells was brought

back up, it was everywhere and yet nobody knew squat…

Everybody had an angle, after that…

The government squashed all media ordering the FCC to

follow homeland security protocols to prevent anyone from

entering the area around of the downed shuttle. Any pickup, truck

or van that might hold TV cast camera were to either ‘do not turn

off here’ ‘turn around’, and after the third warning, threatened to

‘be arrested’.

Some bolder crews caught within were arrested and

charged ‘federally’. They had make it a point to show everybody

in the media 'what' going past the 'drawn

line' meant. The interstate had literal check points at every exit

ramp both ways and the government was really cracking down

here as the circle around the shuttle got tighter.

 As ratings soared on the news showing 'other' reporters

being jailed... they’d went as far as to push out false story that ‘the

whole state of Florida may have to be evacuated’ over a creature

from outer space that has been trapped deep in the Everglades.

Special government ‘reports’ aired stating that there was no such

alien attack, the American people had been duped by the media.

And as far as they explained it, ‘due to the area where the space

shuttle crashed and it is an extremely harsh environment, to

expedite the search... 2500 extra guardsmen are now searching the

entire area and stopping 'would be' activists from entering the

area.”

The pubic sought anything, relevant to this science fiction

shuttle twist of an alien creature. Those in Florida where free to

leave, but you were getting nowhere near that area, and most

choose to leave. The government men had surrounded the whole

area.
The lid of this thing wouldn’t stay on, as more and more stuff

found its way into the average household. Somehow a ‘file’ had

been uncovered, though the military is denying it. The file's name

describes exactly what to fear within the swamp's of Florida. That

name, 'Dead-lights Creature'... Will the government have to

evacuate Florida?” The News reporter prattled on. And almost at

that second 'that statement' would be the last ANY news would

carry.

That broke about two day's later as the Governor of

Florida had made a stupid, multi cast statement... He’d admitting

of an ‘off world’ entity may have infested the shuttle which has

crashed into the everglades.

The government would ‘filter’ what the News got to air,

but that statement just gave an open door on speculation. Analyst

panels popped up, saying maybe this, or, maybe that. Scary was a

common word used a lot. The whole world waited with baited
breath of what next was to happen. Some people weren't waiting,

packing up and leaving the state.

The entity had come from the darkest corner of the

universe on a hitch type ride. It was just riding a rock in the

vacuum of outer space. How it had survived, they'll probably be

debating through the next two decades, but the one thing they had

determined early on, it was definitely a bred for survival!

CHAPTER 1
BACKGROUND: [One week after the comet past, three days
after the shuttle crashed somewhere in the vast swamps of the

Florida everglades. The state of Georgia, just north of Savannah in

a unrecognized town, a slender, young female adult was waking

up after a solid week of studying. She hadn’t even seen daylight,

until she opened the living room window and realized the world
was still out there. Her 'studying' out of the way now, she readied

to go out and get reacquainted with sun again.

Her name was Justine Cohn. She was twenty-three this

year. A natural blonde shoulder length hair, good facial features,

she seemed to make other women jealous, and the fact she carried

a smile that made men around her uncomfortable, it didn’t help

making female friends. With a model type figure, keeping in shape

was no big deal. Men would call her a ‘unicorn’ or a ‘trophy’, but

growing up she’d learned to ignore these looks and comments.

She knew who she was, she was confident in how she

looked, and smart too boot. Her mind never stopped challenging

the unexplained. Finding any type of ‘alien life’ would be her

ultimate fantasy.

For the last two years after high school she had been

studying the collage courses required for the FBI exam and living

in a low rent modest apartment complex. Though as a quirk, she

also claimed a hobby of tracking down unexplained things going

on around the world. In a funny kind of way, she was like the

fictional TV character ‘sully' on X-files ’… except she had barbie

blonde hair and no money except for her grants and loans to

survive on.

However as for the last week, with her ‘newest’ boyfriend

‘out of the country’ on family matters, she had devoted most of

her time cramming for a mid-tern exam she needed to advance in

the field she was aiming for. Her mind needed to process all the

information. A walk into the near town was just what she needed.

Of her first break of a seven day cram and numb with

information, she took a small hike in towards town, hoping the

change would allow it all to settle in. It was about a twenty minute

walk. The sight of the stores and small restaurants relaxed her as a

light 72 degree breeze and a clear day made it even more

agreeable. Across the way was the small town police department,
she smiled deciding the food could wait. Traffic was light and

nothing moved in a hurry, as she crossed the street.

Entering the door at first glance, everything seemed to be

the same to her as she walked up to the desk and check if any

odd-ball stories had come in. Justine spotted Officer Odell, the

officer who took care of those inquiring about requests, such as

the ones ‘she’ had always seeming to be asking about.

“Hi Dave, you got anything new?” Justine asked, leaning on the

desk. Officer Odell seemed either to be tired or bored, which of

the two, Justine couldn't tell.

“Uh, there's always something new around here. Usually, it has

to do with the law though.” He almost mumbled, she could tell

that he was holding something back, some type of important

information, from her no less. Justine's eye's lit up,

“Usually...You mean you actually got something?” Justine

stated, loud enough to cause a few snickers out of a few co-

workers hanging near-by.

 “You actually mean you got something...” He mimicked her,

adding. “I told you I'd tell you, didn't I?”

They'd gone out on 'a few' dates. Month’s ago, Dave

remembered this look. She had this look towards him, but,

figuring out he wasn't what she sought. That look had now well

faded. It was a little rough, but, they had still remained friends.

Now, their dating was old news, as they had both moved on. (He

was actually getting pay-back here)

“Well, I got something. Seems it just came in over the Fax, and

we're supposed to be having a meeting about it later on today.

Hum, it seems pretty hush-hush. But, it seems, it would be right

down your ET alley.” Dave said, finally making eye contact with

her. Yep, it’s the look he wanted to see again. God she was

beautiful. He held a paper in his hand.

“ET's you say?” She cozy's up towards his lean in and he just as

quickly, he pulled back smiling at her. He was not allowing her to

grab at it.
 “Watched it Dave, I see her claws coming out.” Vince, a co-

worker said in passing. It kind of brought a smile between the

both of them. He, behind the desk, had in a sarcastic move, turned

around reading off the paper.

“Um, yeah, seems this is a true government Fax, yep.” Dave said

looking over his shoulder, watched to see how this tid-bit would

make her react, “and, it has most of Florida on an 'Orange Alert', it

seems something that's going on down in the Everglades, at the

shuttle's crash site.” Dave told her, and turned around, gazing into

her eyes. He remembering, the last time he'd seen her eyes light up

like this.

“The shuttle crashed, in the Everglades?” Justine asked,

wondering when this all happened. She was numb by this

information.

“Haven’t you been watching the news? Actually, they’ve

censored any news on the shuttle crashing.” Dave sounded almost

shocked enough to turn around, almost.

 “News..? What, the shuttle crashed? Seriously?” Justine felt so

out of the loop.

“Yeah, you’ll probably have to go dark net to find any real

updates.” Dave had finally turned around and seeing her shocked

look, and sympathetically handed her the Fax.

Looking it over carefully, wide eyed she read every line,

and realized that he had actually handed her a memo that was

regarded as inner-office only. Something big seemed to be going

down in the Everglades. The space shuttle had veered off course

and crashed in the Everglades and most of the National Guard

from around the state, as well as State Troopers had been directed

towards that location. The Fax seemed to point out that it was all

now being governed by the military. And that the area would be

off limits to civilians until they had gotten a handle on the

situation. That bought a press blackout. And that fact, instantly,

had caught her attention.

 Normally, a crash of the space shuttle would be plastered

all over the news, however, as she recalled lastly, they only stated

that it would be rerouted to another landing site ‘if’ there was to

be atmospheric issues. What happened?

“Remember now, this is official police business, your not even

suppose to see that.” Dave said.

“Um yeah, No problem,” Justine peered up at Dave, “Say, could

I ‘please’ get a copy of this?” Justine asked in a pleading tone.

““Do I get another date?” Dave instantly interjected.

“Um, I thought you were going out with Karen?” Justine asked,

suddenly sensing that it hadn't worked out between the two of

them.

“Well, not anymore. She found someone else that twisted her

keys.” Dave told her.

“Sorry to hear that,” Justine said, letting his offer hang in the air.

“So? What do you say, is it a date?” Dave asked.

 “Give him another date. He's been whining and moping since

they broke up.” Another co-worker chimed in. Though this made

her smile, she couldn't offer the date. She had been in a better

relationship that seemed more to her liking, and wasn't about to

end it for Dave.

“I've got just the girl for you.” Justine thought of Julie, and if

her match-making skills were still working, they would both find

happiness for at least a night.

“Oh, this ought to be good,” Dave stated, realizing she'd just

turned him down.

“No really. I'll bring your name up to her, see if she seems

interested.” Justine scammed, but would he bite?

“You got another guy, I get it. Well, if she as good looking as

you. What's her name?” Dave asked, making her realize, he was

just horny.
 “Well, her names Julie. If you want me to hook you up, I'll need

a copy of this.” Justine had hinted to him, waving the paper at

him.

“Sounds like the best offer on the table, I'd take it.” A female co-

worker said, ambling on her way past.

The copied paper in her hand felt good, as she walked out

of the police station. It got her juices flowing, and yet it brought a

frown at the same time. This information wasn't worth another

date with Dave, but worse, there didn't seem to be any way to

follow it up. Oh, it was good information, yet, a dead-end. There

had to be a way to get more information on this.

Across the street, as if on queue there was Frank. She

instantly spotted his new black BMW. This was the man she had

an eye for. He had about everything she was looking for. He was

cute, though about four inches shorter then she was, and together

they sort of stood out to onlookers. He was extremely rich,

though she never, so far, pried into his net worth, but she felt
comfortable around him since the day she met him. Even ‘that’

was a fluke, as she had literally run straight into him knocking him

to the ground coming out of a store. Between the apologies and

helping him back to his feet, realizing he probably ruined his pants,

their eyes met. He’d let this pass if she agreed to lunch...

It was a decision moment for her, but with another look at the

impeccable way he was dressed and his manners, she decided he

was not a scrub. Flashing a coy smile, she agreed. Over lunch she

found him a total gentleman and witty as well. He was just shy

enough to allow her to keep her independence. She allowed him to

drop her off at her apartment complex, with no kiss, she waved

him good-bye. Yet, the next morning, a dozen roses lay at her

apartment doorstep. The note entwined within made her smile.

“To be graced with your company, I have a dinner function

requiring a date at 8:30 pm. You have first shot. In accepting,

place only 1 rose in view of the road. Frank.”

 That dinner was the first of many, as she grew to trust him,

then came the first kiss and as she closed the door to her

apartment, him, not invited in. She felt elated, giddy and scared at

the same time. They seem to fit well together, outside of his

‘shortness’.

How he'd known she would be here kind of puzzled her,

but she was glad to see him. His whole name was Frank Conner, a

highly recognized person and important to those that knew of him,

respected his wishes. They had agreed evenly to take it to the next

level, and that worked out well too. Justine lost sleep trying to

find ANY flaw with this man, she was falling in love. The worst

point was that he was about twenty nine years old, slightly older

than her parents would have wanted, but hey, it was her life. And

if this was the worst thing about him... Wow.

“Hey love... How did you figure out that I was here?” Justine

asked smiling at him.

 “Bob told me, princess.” Frank stated. (Bob a neighbor had

always 'sort of ' kept an eye on her, living next door to her and all.

“Cool... So, what's going on?” She asked, suddenly realizing he

seemed slightly out of sorts as she climbed into his BMW.

“I think I just lost my satellite.” Frank said, severely depressed

about it.

“Aw, well... Let’s go find it.” She stated, not knowing much

about his inner workings. Actually, she thought he was joking

about it.

“Well, it not that easy, ” Frank stated, apparently upset.

“What happened?” Justine spoke very concerned about

whatever his real problem was,

“They were supposed to be bringing it down on the shuttle, and

then they said it had to be re-routed to another landing sight. And

yet, with all my resources, I can't find out what actually happened.

What's 'not' funny is, Everybody's tells me they're looking into it...
But, 'Nobody' can give me any answers...” Frank seemed almost

about to cry over it.

“The shuttle,” Justine just gave a puzzled look. “You’re satellite

was on the shuttle?” Justine didn’t know if he was joking or not.

The paper seemed to burn in her hand.

“Yeah, now, if I can just find THAT.” Frank said, in real concern.

“The shuttle that overran the Kennedy runway and crashed in

the everglades?” Justine stated, just having received the news

herself.

“What do you mean?” Frank raised an eyebrow at her. “No...

that runway would be way to short to land the shuttle there in the

first place... No that would be impossible.”

“You haven’t watched the news? Like over the last few days?”

Justine said shocked that he was just as misinformed as she was.

“News? Honey, I just got back from Germany, burying my

father, remember?” Frank said still not past this as of yet.

 “Yeah, I’m sorry. I knew you’d left the states... didn’t know why

though... You never told me your father died. Oh baby, I’m so

sorry.” Justine stated, not realizing that was why he had left.

“It’s okay... We didn’t get along so well.” Frank said as if that

was now behind him.

“Aw damn, just so sorry.” Justine said, the paper still nagging at

her brain.

“It’s alright I’m kind of over it.” Frank blew her sympathy away.

“While you were gone, I’ve been steady studying for this up

coming exam, so I didn’t know anything about the shuttle crashing

until today... but here.” She handed him the copied paper

“Wait, hold-on. The shuttle crashed, for real?” Frank said

reaching for his cell phone, totally pissed-off.

“It overshot the runway and crashed in the everglades.”

“Seriously?”
 “Um, before you do that, you might want to see that paper,”

Justine pointed to the paper he now held.

“Huh?” Frank said finally looking at the paper in his hand, he

back away from the bland paper, trying to adjust to the print size.

“Just remember... I get that back,” Justine pointed to the single

sheet of paper, almost wishing she hadn't given it to him.

“Whoa! Where the hell did you get this?” Frank began scanning

over the paper.

“I have influential friends too, you know.” Justine almost

mocked him with a smile.

“I see this,” Frank said fully absorbed in the letters and words on

the page.

Honestly, Justine was trying to one up him, but was taken

aback by the way got glued to it.

“Remember, I got that for me, I do want it back.” Justine said

again, feeling that she had just become invisible to Frank. From
where she sat, he seemed honestly shocked at all the information

the single page held. Could any of this be true?

“Where the hell did you get this?” Frank asked, not looking

away from the letter.

“I got it from Dave, he wanted a date for that paper,” Justine

stated. In truth she had always been truthful with him, as they had

started out as friends. That was just after she had gone out with

Dave, and she was starting to realize just how much their

'friendship' had grown.

“Oh, is he still trying to get you back?” Frank questioned, finally

making eye contact with Justine. He knew that Dave wasn't her

type, and went back to the letter.

“Yeah, he'll never change. But you’d be proud of me. I'm going

to set him up with Julie. She a collage friend and I got the notion

she’s looking for a fresh piece of meat.” Justine said, realizing that

he was just 'picking up' on what the paper was saying,

 “That’s good. Hold-on a sec.” Frank quickly raised his other

hand to her, grabbing his bulky cell phone placed call.

Justine 'knew' this was going to be an angry call by the

way he'd raised his hand to her and she quickly told him she was

going across the street and get something to eat. Quickly stepping

out of the small black car, the door closed as he spoke to someone

on the other end,

“Frank, going to get a hot dog, you want anything?” She asked,

interrupting him through the open window.

“Hold on Phil, What? Ah, no Justine. Nothing for me,” Frank

tried to smile till she broke her gaze with him.

“Okay,” Justine smiled and walked away from the car.

“Alright Phil, what's this about the shuttle crashing in the

Everglades? Don’t hand me that you haven't heard anything crap.

I'm reading it right now! My satellite is in the Everglades! Now do

I get conformation on this or, do I fire you? What, the board …my

father? And just how was I to find out? When was I supposed to
find out?” Frank said, getting angrier at every statement he made.

Then he listened, for a short minute. This was utter B.S. and Phil

was still stalling him.

“Actually, MY GIRLFRIEND just gave me the TRUE scoop.

I’ll follow-up on it myself, thanks anyway...” Frank stated about to

turn off the phone, but a quick line of words poured through the

ear piece,

“Frank NO! Everyone but the high brass is out of this one! They

don’t care Frank, just let the military do their thing first, I’ll catch

you up to speed.” Phil tried to placate him.

“So ‘who’ do I call to get invited to this shindig, what’s the

generals name?’ Frank said point blank.”

“Damn it Frank, you’re not listening! Don’t get involved. At

least not yet, It’s …they’re trying to blame 'our' company. Frank,

you’re company’s survival is in question here, just please don’t

make waves right now...”

 “Company’s survival, what the hell are you saying? Make

sense.” Frank said.

“Look, call me tomorrow and I’ll have a better idea what you’ll

be dealing with. You haven’t talked to any of the council, yet, have

you? ” Phil tried to estimate.

“No, I just got back last night. Damn, I step away for one week.

And I’m out of the loop! This is so bullshit!” Frank went off, not

holding the volume back.

“Call me tomorrow, about 5 am, I’ll have as much information

as I can get you,” Phil tried to end the conversation as he was in

the middle of ‘other things’ at the moment.

“What? Wait! Phil...” The phone had gone dead in his ear.

“Shit.” Frank stated his face flush with anger.

Justine had returned at the conversations end. She got in

and sat, watching his actions. Evidently the news wasn’t good.

This was probably the reason she wasn't yet being 'clingy' towards

him, she was afraid of the way he might treat her, if he ever got
mad. He might be very mentally or worst yet, physically forceful

and she didn't ever want to be in that position. It was one of the

reason's she held off any real commitment towards any of her past

boyfriends, she wouldn't be able to handle it.

“You alright,” Justine asked, nibbling at her hot dog.

“No. Sorry. But I’m not,” Frank admitted, sighing.

“So? What are you going to do now?” Justine quipped,

wondering what was going to happen next.

“I’m going to find my satellite....” Frank had made up him mind

just that fast.

“Really,” Justine loved the spontaneity of him.

Frank started the car, pulling it into gear and drove out of

the parking lot.

“Where are we heading?” Justine asked, noticing that he already

picked a destination as they were heading.

“Well, first, drop you off, then to my house. I'm going to pack

and then, I'm heading for the Everglades.” Frank said in flat tone.
 “The Everglades, you mean it was really your satellite that was

on the shuttle? And it crashing actually does have something to do

with you? You really 'do' own a satellite?” Justine realized her

boyfriend had things going on that she had only guessed at. She

actually just thought he was just a rich playboy type. She thought

he’d been playing about all this.

“Yes. Um, your apartment first. I'll probably be gone for a few

days,” Frank stated, figuring to be doing so.

“Why can't I go with you?” Justine asked, having studying her

ass off over the last week.

“What? You want to go?” Frank asked, surprised she would

wanted to do something like this.

Justine had pacifically gone to the police station to see if

there was something of an ‘alien’ angle to anything. She would

have been happy for a mauled cow report. And more and more,

this major story was pointing that way. There was ‘no way’ he was
going to leave her behind. Besides, now she had proof and, with

him, a possible way there.

“HELL Yeah, you couldn’t peel me off you now. You kidding

me, a possible ET sighting, I think this is going to be a blast!” She

perked up, as he turned the corner and headed towards her

apartment.

“Who said anything about aliens?” Frank missed something in

the conversation.

“You did read the memo, right?” She looked at him funny.

“Didn’t mention ‘aliens’…”

“Well seriously, do you think half the armed forces would be in

the swamp… what, just to find the space shuttle or your satellite?

Max troops would be ‘maybe’ 500 for both of them.” Justine

frowned that he could be so dense to only see his satellite as the

whole picture. “I mean, and don’t a ‘2000 plus armed force’ point

out anything to you?”

“Still doesn’t say alien…” Frank rebutted.

 “Well I’m still going!” Justine stated, digging in her heels.

“Oh, you are huh? What if I said no?” Frank said with a bit of a

smile to her.

“Still going... even if I have to find my own way there,” Justine

supplied.

“It's all going to be totally outdoors. Swamp, bugs, a few

snakes, and a whole lot more conversations like that one. Are you

sure that you actually wanting apiece of this?” Frank honestly

asked her.

“Are you going to talk to me like you did to that man on the

phone?” She asked, concerned.

“Uh, I don't snap at my girlfriends like that.” Frank said,

surprised she'd think such a thing. She smiled weirdly at him,

“what?”

“Well you finally admitted it.” Justine had finally pinned him.

“What?” Frank said still perplexed at what she was referring too,
 “I’m your girlfriend.” Justine smiled, having heard him finally

say that.

“Okay, fine. You’re my girlfriend, but that’s one more reason

NOT to bring you.” Frank stated.

“What?”

“I’m not going to put you into anything like this that could be

dangerous, I care about you.” Frank said.

“Aw, that so sweet, I love you too... But I’m still going.” Justine

just added pressure to her foot being down on this. Would this

back-fire on her? They were almost at her apartment complex.

Frank stopped the car in front of her apartment, silence

was the game. Justine did not appear to be leaving the car. Now

what? He did like her and she had a lot of spunk to her. Should he

demand her to exit the car, and what if she refused? He turned to

her, her smile just shined like a know-it-all. He wasn’t going to get

rid of her.
 “So you really want to do this? Go into a bug and snake infested

swamp to search for something that may get us killed or detained

by the military?” Frank questioned her openly.

“Sure, I think it will be quite interesting. And it just might give

me an insight as to who you really are.” Justine said, smiling at

him.

“Okay then, well your apartment is right here. Go get ready.

After I check on a few things and pack at my house, I’ll be back to

pick you up.” Frank told her, seeming to be in a hurry to get to his

house.

She hadn’t budged in millimeter. He had said something

wrong. Had she smelled ‘the instant ditch’ and her face showed it.

“We’ll get what I need on the road, I’m fine,” Justine told him,

not falling for this.

Justine was lying through her teeth, there had been about a

hundred things she’d have to do before leaving on this type of trip,

but the thought of being left behind out-weighted all of them.

 “You trust me, right?” Frank stated.

“On this, honestly, I’m not sure.” Justine said quietly, her face

showing her insecurity of this.

They had reached an impasse. Frank realized he had

caused this. With a slight snort, he turned to her and she looked

impossible to deny. He weighted it in his head for a good moment.

“…Okay, we’ll come back for you to pack,” Frank said as the

smile came back on her face.

“Cool. Let’s go.” Justine said almost wanting to put the car in

gear herself. He smiled.

As the car started to move, left behind was the doubt that

he would leave her standing alone in front of her apartment

complex. On the main road again, the air tossed around wisps of

her bright blonde hair over her face in which she happily groomed

out of the way with her right hand. Frank smiled seeing her smile.

Almost to his estate (a three car garage with a small mansion

beside it), she realized that to some she would look like a gold-
digger. But with her good looks, she could scrape past that and

come off as a trophy type girlfriend. Though in honest, she had

never seen these types of materialistic things in her whole life. He

had bought her the designer jeans and the blouse she was wearing

and she felt proud to wear these ‘good things’ when she was with

him. Though she never would ask for more ‘stuff’, she realized

she couldn’t wear these but a few times, and never twice in a row.

Her normal clothes would be good for the Everglade swamps.

Then she recalled another item he had gifted her.

“Um, the phone you gave me?” Justine pondered. “Do you have

it?”

“Sure. You left it in the glove box, again.” Frank pointed it out

that it was still there.

“I know..., I need to make a phone call, is it still charged?”

“Yes, I kept it charged for you.” Frank said,

“Calling Julie, cross your fingers.”

 “Ah.” Frank had never understood how most women did this.

Placing the cart before the horse,

She had no sooner got a hold of Julie, and suggested that a

date with Dave was going to take place, when Frank's phone

suddenly rang. As normal, he pulled off to the side of the road to

accept the call. For some reason, he always pulled over before

ever answering his cell phone. She had once asked him why he did

this, and his response really surprised her.

'When driving, response time counts, cell phone calls tend to

block that response time.'

They both had conversations going on. Justine was

priming Julie about Dave's little quirk's, asking a few question's

about where she'd like him to take her out to dinner. Frank was

trying to maintain control about the information he was receiving

about the shuttle. There had been a complete shut-down on

outgoing information, even at the highest ranks. And he had no

more information then what Justine had given him.

 After the call's, they traded information.

“Julie wants a 'four star' restaurant, and if I know Dave, they'll

wind up at Mickey 'D's. It should become a very short lived date.

Now, too call Dave and tell him the address to Julie's and what

time to pick her up. So, how did you fair?” Justine asked as she

seen the frustration on his face.

“Twenty-three million dollars worth of equipment, and they can't

even tell me the damn thing crashed.” Frank said, seeming

concerned. He placed the car in drive and rather quickly they were

on his street.

The car drove up the long driveway (that hid his house

from the outside world), and although he owned two other

vehicles, all three seemed flawless. Quickly, he had headed for the

front door, leaving it open for her. She almost knew exactly where

he was heading… Too his 'special room'! She walked up to the

front door, noticed that the plant's had not been tended too, as

well as she would have expected for such a rich man.

 Walking into the house, she headed for the fridge. He had

A&W root beer stocked, and she quickly pulled one out, noticing

that he'd setup a picnic for lunch. She knew instantly it was for the

two of them. And that’s was why he was there, picking her up. He

was so sweet.

She tried to listen, as he tried to gather information about

what had happened, if Justine's information was accurate. And

from his raised voice, it would turn out, it was. Then quietness and

then, more talk. He was trying to get a flight to the Everglades.

Miami, Tampa. But, the ticket agency could not provide a ticket to

those locales. Part of the government clamp down. He called for

his own private jet, but couldn't get flight clearance. He was

almost pissed off! The government had locked down literally

everything!

He quickly learned the government was all over this.

Something was definitely wrong here! It might have been a three

million dollar satellite, but, for the man who owned it, he wasn't
able to get any information on what had actually happened to it.

Justine listened as his frustrations and tone rose as every plan to

get to there, failed in misery.

“Oh, how damn frustrating this is. I have sixty thousand cell

phones with exactly ninety day's of air time left.” Frank mumbled,

his mind trying to figure out how to replace the damn thing

instead of repairing it. A new satellite is not in the budget. DAMN

IT!

“Ninety days?” Justine asked, looked questionably at her own

phone. Starting to understand the problems he was dealing with.

“That's how long I have to get another satellite up into orbit.”

“What made you bring it down?” Justine asked.

“Don't know. Just went off-line last week. I was thanking god

when I was told that the space shuttle was already up there, and

that arrangements were made to bring it down. The rocket to send

it back up, we have. Fixing it, would be no problem either. And

because it didn't cost but a small fee to bring it down, they said we
could stay within budget, then, I was in the middle of my father

dying.” Frank stated as he typed on the computer, hoping to find a

ride, of some type, there. Even the computer, ripping at keys,

failed to provide any usable information.

Their eyes met, his held the look of someone thinking too

fast, hers, amused at his apparent dilemma. Justine knew it would

be hard to break this ice, but she held a few aces. Using her

brighter than ever smile she said,

“Well, we're still going there aren't we?” She wanted it to come

out more as a statement than as a question. But it seemed to fall

flat.

“Somehow, just not sure yet how,” Frank said stymied.

“It’s still in the United States? Well, we could just drive there?”

Justine pointed out, as he looked out the doorway at her as if he

was floored by the idea.

“Yes! We CAN drive there. Damn, why couldn’t I think of

that?” Frank said, leaving the computer behind.

 “Duh, because you have money,” Justine offered him as he came

into range. His eyes of confusion on this had cleared up, and

smiling took the can from her and drinking it on the way to his

bedroom, he quipped,

“You’re just bucking to meet the family, aren’t you?” Frank

spoke vocally.

“Too fast...” Justine said surprised he’d actually spoke that.

She had only been in his bedroom twice, both over-night

stays were more than ‘enjoyable’ as she watched him grabbing a

suitcase and began tossing underwear and shirts without thought

as to how they landed within.

“Okay, that’s not packing.” Justine entered the room and began

rearranging the clothing inside the suitcase. Frank placed down the

can of soda gripping a handful of pants and placed them over the

lip of the suitcase. He was moving way too fast,

 “Okay, only three pair of pants or we’ll never fit everything in

here.” She stated as he tossed in a hand full of dress socks at the

open case (this was not going to be easy)…

“Frank, you’re going to need ‘different’ socks, do you have any

white cotton socks?” Justine looked down at the footwear of his

choice, “Boots are NOT the best shoes to wear in a swamp

setting. You got any old sneakers?” Justine stated when he

produced the cowboy boots.

“Um new ones, in the closet, left side, bottom, I rarely wear

them.” Frank said still holding onto the pristine boots.

“Maybe you should find something else to do,” Justine stated

almost confused by his choices of clothing. “Say, I’ll pack for you

and you go get the transportation ready?” Justine offered. Frank

realized he was making a tragedy of this packing, and backed

away allowing her to do it.

“Sure. Which one, uh,” Frank actually asked, his mind thinking

about worst problems on the table.

 Justine knew he was lost. He had way too much on his

mind, the wheels were spinning but he had no traction. She smiled

only long enough to see that he was still standing in the bedroom

doorway. She changed her expression stating in a pondering look,

“Um, The Explorer should do fine. It has a hitch, right?” Justine

kept talking thinking it would help him focus.

“Yes. Hitch. Oh, for the boat, good thinking.” Frank said

walking out of view.

“Hey? You actually got a boat?” Justine called him back into the

room.

“Of course, three of them actually… A yacht,”

“To big,”

“A sailboat,” He offered.

“Too tall, think swamp.” Justine pointed out.

“Um, I got a small skiff,” Frank said, thinking about the boats

usefulness.
 “Small skiff, how big is it?” Justine had to ask, as small to a rich

man is different to that of a poor man.

“Actually it’s kind of tiny,” Frank admitted.

“Tiny, what is it in ‘feet’ please?”

“It will fit both of us,” Frank boasted not recalling its actual size.

“Motorized?” Justine asked.

“Of course,” Frank smiled, having finally figured out the proper

boat. Again he disappeared to ready it. Justine just smiled, packing

for her man.

Outside, trying to act strong, Justine lugged the suitcase

down the walkway to where Frank was readying ‘the boat’.

Justine froze in mid-step realizing this boat would not do well in

the swamps.

“Um, that’s not going to work for where we’re heading.” Justine

pointed out.

“What? It’s a boat?” Frank stated.

“You’ve ever been in a swamp?” Justine questioned.

 “It’s water. Right,” Frank stated.

The ‘Boat’ was a ten foot flat skiff with a 20hp motor,

barely enough room for ‘two’ and maybe a small amount of fishing

tackle, leaving the poles behind. Problem was, Justine HAD been

in a swamp setting before. And this boat was nothing like those.

They wouldn’t have had made it a quarter of a mile before having

moss entangled around the prop and being dead in the water.

“Nope, this is not going to do it.” Justine admitted, looking it

over.

“Of course it will, take this bass fishing all the time,” Frank

defended the boat.

“Big difference between a lake visit and a swamp visit, no, I see

that becoming quickly unusable.” Justine informed him.

“Oh?” Frank questioned.

“Seriously, you’ll need ‘at least’ an 15 foot ‘air boat’ if you want

to actually make it into the swamp where you’re satellite is.”

Justine pointed out.

 “Okay then, I’ll just buy one on the way there,” Frank said,

unhitching the trailer in quick fashion. Happy with this ability to

literally conjure up high priced solutions, Justine came out the rest

of the way with his suitcase.

“Yeah, well trust me it would be better than trying to swing it

with that.” She said openly, pointed at the boat.

“Hey, ‘that’ was the first boat I ever bought!” Frank stated,

having dropped the idea of hooking it up, and trying to make sure

he hadn’t forgot anything, as he placed the suitcase Justine

brought out into the back of the green explorer.

“What about the picnic basket?” She asked, as he pasted her.

“Oh yeah, go in and grab it. I was going to take you on a picnic

today.” Frank said, remembering why he actually went to pick her

up.

“Hum, I’m taking a picnic basket for a swamp ride, how

original.” She quipped, as he just smiled at her.

 He quickly started the greenish Ford Explorer, and soon

they where heading back towards her apartment.

“I hope you don't think I'll be packed this fast?” Justine asked,

slipping in an old ICP CD.

“No, you take your time. I’ve got to do some calculations

anyway.” Frank said as the song had begun. The title: ‘Clown

killers’. The ride back to her apartment was rather quick as the car

park into the slip in front of her apartment.

It was a good day, and it didn't take her long to pack, once

they reached her apartment. She quickly threw all her bras,

underwear, and a few long pants with matching tops. Her tooth-

brush, hair-brush and some gum. What else… Oh, from the

nightstand draw, birth control pills. Somewhere, they would be

having sex.

Frank had decided to wait in the Explorer while she got her

things together. It wasn't long before she'd locked everything up

and watered all her indoor plants. She left her message machine on
with a number of the cell phone Frank had given her. It only took

Justine 'seconds' to memorize its number. After all, it was her first

C-phone. She was smiling as she tossed her own suitcase into the

back seat, and climbed in the front. It actually felt as if they were

eloping. She smiled seen he’d waited out front, he might be a

keeper.

“You ready?” Frank asked her, smiling back at her smile.

“Yeah, hope I didn't take to long?” Justine asked, knowing she

hadn't wasted a second.

“No. We're good.” Frank said as they pulled out.

“Thought about something,” Justine stated.

“About what,” Frank asked.

“The government, will they let us in? Being as you owning the

satellite?”

“Doubt it, Phil says I need to lay low and let this play out.”

Frank face twisted at the thought.

 “Why? You should have some say in this.” Justine pampered is

thoughts.

“Hell Justine, the government trumps all civilians. This time, it's

not letting anyone get near the everglades. No, you and I are

going to have to sneak our way in.” Frank stated, as they slowly

rolled out of the complex driveway onto the main street.

“So? That means?” Justine asked.

“That means that we don’t get caught.” Frank admitted.

“At least the road trip won’t be all that bad.” Justine stated,

keeping lightness in her tone.

“I figure about eight hours, give or take two. And that depends

on how thick things have gotten down there.” Frank said,

knowing how the government played these things.

“Thick?” Justine smiled at Frank’s choice of words to describe

things.

“Yeah, thick,” Frank replied. Justine’s smile dimmed on the

single word.
 Though they both lived just south of Savanna Georgia, it

would be a ride straight into the night. It was around seven P.M.,

the sun all but gone when they'd pulled into a small unknown

motel. It was way off base for what Justine figured Frank would

pick. But yet, here they were. And, in a way she was glad he had,

because she too was tired.

Registering as Mr., & Mrs., it made Justine smiled,

thinking how she had just taken one of her birth control pills

before packing them in the back-pack. They had quietly pulled out

their bags and closed the motel room door to the outside world.

Inside, Justine had quickly grabbed dibs on the shower, but

it didn't stop Frank from undressing outside the door. Walking into

the bathroom just as she was about to step into the tub, which she

had in shower mode. She giggled at him quickly stepping into the

blast of the showers spray, Frank laughingly stepped in behind her.

The touchy-feel y started in the shower and didn’t stop until a very

passionate round of lovemaking on the double sized bed.

 They both lay panting on the bed. Now more tired then

both thought. They needed sleep, and with everything that would

be going on tomorrow, minutes of sleep mattered.

“I needed that, night,” Frank almost mumbled.

“That was good. We need to do that more. Good night.” Justine

said, sounding just as spent.

“Oh yeah,” Frank agreed, his whole body too tired to even climb

under the blankets.

He was laying on his back, as Justine curled up on the

other side, in her own space, both their bodies going through the

cool down period just after making love. As there eyes closed, in

small shifts they moved to each other, any onlooker would have

seen that their raw naked bodies fit very well together. Frank's last

thoughts were of the satellite being infested with tree moss and

snakes, surrounded by alligator in murky hip-deep water! Justine's

was of Dave and Julie eating at Mickey D's while the place was

being robbed.
 It wasn't long before they both were sound asleep. Justine

dreamed her normal dream of confronting an alien race. Frank,

who couldn't find comfortable sleep, thought about the condition

of his satellite. He had thoughts of suing NASA over this.

Realizing it would probably be tied up in court for a “gazillion”

years. Through out the night, they shifted positions only a few

times.

CHAPTER 2

Frank's watch had sounded off. It was a sound he'd gotten

use to over the years of having the watch. He awoke almost

knowing it was 5:30 am. Turning off the alarm, the sound so

slight, Justine never moved. Climbing out of the double-wide bed,

he quickly dressed and headed for the bathroom. Quickly he

showered off, and got dressed. Shaving, really fast, he exited the
bathroom to find Justine still sound asleep. His C-phone on the

nightstand on next to her, he picked it up. He smiled at Justine.

Then, stepping outside, quietly closing the door behind himself, he

quickly pegged the number of Phil. The man he’d dialed had

finally answered.

“Okay. This better be good.” Frank spoke into the phone first.

“Frank?” Phil's voice sounded groggy, as if just awoken and

shocked it would be him.

“Damn straight. What's going on?” Frank asked.

“Uh, not awake yet. Hold on a sec.” Phil said, either laying the

phone down or placing himself on hold for about two minutes.

Then he came back on,

“Um. Yeah, Frank. I called around, and it seems the shuttle did

actually crash somewhere in the Everglades. The board is on top

of it, trying to apply pressure to the government for information

about the crash site.” Phil ended.

 “They do realize it was MY satellite that was aboard their

shuttle?” Frank asked.

“Well, there too, is something. There is some suggestion that it

was ‘your’ satellite that might have caused the shuttle to crash.”

Phil stated.

“What! HOW is that even slightly possible?” Frank was

dumbfounded.

“There calling it a 'hitch-hiker', or something like that. Look, I'm

trying to figure this out too. The board is working their magic to

'down-play' the whole thing.” Phil stated.

“And how did they arrive at this 'hitch-hiker' conclusion?” Frank

asked glad Justine was sleeping.

“Still looking into that, but it's gotten really 'hush-hush' after I

ask 'just what' had hitched onto your satellite,” Phil informed him.

“What do you mean ‘got hush-hush'?” He asked.

“Information just dried up. But if I were a guessing man, I don't

think it was ‘just’ your satellite they picked up. Frank, you don’t
believe in ET's, do you?” Phil said, knowing he was about to get

an ear full over that statement.

“ET's! Tell me 'you've' just went and lost your mind? …You

mean to tell me they picked up some type of space creature along

the way?”

“They’re saying they had no problems until after they picked up

our satellite, as of now. Investigating a comment about a strange

gel on the satellite one of the astronauts noted.” Phil spoke.

“Phil, Gel? How the fuck you get Alien creature out of ‘gel’?

really... just how stupid do I look? First off, it’s SPACE. Nothing

can live in space! Unless it a mutant micro fungus. Phil, you get

to the bottom of what's going on and call me back at around eight

o'clock.” Frank said, totally pissed off.

“I’m telling you, they’re really bent on this... Alien thing,” Phil

tried, knowing this was the start of a very bad day.

“Phil, eight, call me.”

Eight, this evening,” Phil spoke, praying that’s what he meant.

 “No Phil, I mean eight this morning. About two hours from

now,” Frank spoke boldly. Phil wasn’t quite awake.

“Really... ugh coffee... okay,” And hung up on Frank.

Looking over the morning, as the darkness still had a light

glow to it , Frank didn’t know if he could deal with this crap Phil

was trying to feed him. Either way, this whole thing was funded by

his family’s money. Way back he’d gotten in on the ground floor.

Somehow ‘both’ of the other investors got killed and the buyout

of the larger one tilted the company into his favor. Though young,

he’d made a smart move. This thought had left a smile on his face

as the turned to the door and entered.

Justine had just opened her eyes. She was just starting to stretch

as the blanket slid revealing a young curved body, seeing Frank

smiling coming through the door, allowed the blanket to reveal

even more to his smile.

“Hey there,” Frank said, watching her now slowly climbing out

of bed, with that bright smile already set in place. Totally nude, she
was really something to look at, as she advanced towards him.

Her naked body made him smile more, as he shut the door.

“Um, Good morning, ” She said smiling, giving him a kiss.

“Good morning,” Frank kissed her back, “Need to get dressed

though,”

“Um, why, is something going on?” She asked, sensing he had a

reason to say that.

“No. Not yet. But get this one. They think an 'ET' gel had

attached itself to my satellite. There saying that one of the

astronauts noted it while loading my satellite... and that's what

probably caused the shuttle to crash.” Frank laughingly called

behind her.

“Wait, what? A real Extraterrestrial life form, they’re admitting

there’s an ET involved, seriously?” Justine said, popping her head

back around the corner.

“Yeah, as if I believe any of that crap, honey, it’s a gel. In space,

doubt is alive. ” Frank said, not believing it for a second.

 This line of talk perked up her outlook. She quickly

popped into the shower and realized while washing her hair, she'd

forgotten to bring in her clothes in with her. With a towel tied

around her head, she walked back into the main room, as Frank

again caught her within his eye sight, she was dripping wet. She

smiled at him. He loved looking at her like this; she seemed to be

flaunting a bend-over. Justine was trying to tease him into another

round of sex, but the moan he let out, told her they had too many

other things to do.

“Ah, that does look good, but we have to get going. Come-on

girly, we got to go.” Frank said, flatly. Coming up behind her and

wrapping his arms around her.

“Party pooper,” She said, pulling away from him, getting out a

change of clothes from her back-pack.

She dressed quickly, bummed he hadn't took her up on the

morning tumble, but she always known him to go after stuff in a

quick fashion. Checking after herself she closed up her back-pack

and in that time Frank had loaded his in the back of the Explorer.

“Ready, ” She announced as he came back through the door.

He suddenly came to the realization she was already

packed. He smiled that she hadn't slow-poked around. A final look

in the mirror and she was set, it was somewhat the look she

wanted, she headed out the door to put her back-pack in the back

seat of the Ford Explorer He looked around behind him one last

time, closed the door headed to the front office to turn in the key

and returned about the time she had everything in order and was

ready for the road trip ahead.

“Got everything?” Frank asked placing the key into the ignition

and turning the key.

“Nice of you to ask AFTER you turn in the key.” Justine noted.

“So? Did you 'forget' anything?” He asked.

“No.” Justine smiled back.

“Then we're good to go?” Frank asked, one last time.

 “Except for one thing,” She stated.

“What's that?” Frank asked. Justine who smiled and popped in

the road music, and soon, they were moving on down the road.

Interstate 95 took them into an eventful situation.

It was about 7:30 AM when they seen that Kennedy Space

Center had a 'back-up' line over a half mile long.

“Damn! There on lock-down,” Frank said, driving on past the

exit. He kept on driving till an idea struck him.

“Let's drive on further, see if we can find the sight ourselves.”

Frank suggested.

“I'm game, let’s find food and figure this out.” Justine agreed

with this idea, wanting more than ever to do just that.

“A little eager, aren't we?” Frank asked.

Now, Justine felt like it was turning out to be the adventure

that it was suppose to be.

“Ur, well, I'm just glad to see you're taking things into your own

hands.” Justine averted his eye. And they drove on down the road.
The Explorer was fully loaded and even had a ‘state of the art’

street locator. Hitting a few buttons, they had a good idea which

would be the best exit to take.

“Look's like the second exit.” Justine stated. “Exit 63,”

“Sixty-three, got-you,” Frank realized it was still a mile or two

up the road.

“Hey? Weren't you supposed to contact Phil?” Justine

remembered.

“Oh great, Lost track of time, I'm losing it.” Stated Frank who

had totally forgot all about the call back. Justine almost giggled, as

he rode up the exit to the stop sign. They took a right and pulled

into a dinner. They both noticed it was almost ran over by the

national guardsmen as he looked for a place to park,

“Whoa, did not expect this.” Justine said, noticing twenty men

standing fifty feet off to the side smoking cigarettes. That meant

the inside was probably packed.

 “Get use to it, going to get much worse the rest of the way

there.” Frank said, coming to a stop and placing it in park.

“Hey. Trust me, I’m not scared.” Justine said shooting him a

daring smile.

“Thanks. Hold-on one second. Uh, you can step out be out after

this call.” Frank smiled at her wondering why he hadn't taken her

up on that kiss this morning when she had gotten 'frisky'. Frank

pulled out the phone. Punching buttons, he contacted Phil, as

Justine climbed out, eyeing the restaurant as to how men ‘horny’

men would be staring at her. She almost knew she was going to be

groped, at least once.

“Oh, Justine... Open mouth, Insert foot.” Justine murmured to

herself, adding, “It an Alien life form, it’s worth it... Okay. I you

got this. Frank won’t know. Game face.”

Frank heard the phone on the other end ring.. Twice..

“Hello?” Phil answered, almost expecting it was Frank.

 “Okay. Times up what did you find?” Frank went straight to the

issue.

“Oh, Frank, I hope you’re sitting for this,”

“What the hell’s going on.” Frank spat into the phone, already

not liking the sound of it.

You would not believe what's going on! They actually got the

southern half of Florida locked up tighter than a drum!”

“Really,” Frank cut in.

“Seems they called in the National Guard at eleven thirty last

night, been closing off any entrance that leads anywhere near the

crash site.” Phil stated.

“Uh, I need to know, EXACTLY where the shuttle went down.

Longitude and latitude I want. Use GSS if you got too. Just get

off your ass. Now, do you have any Real answers?” Frank asked.

“Um, I figured you'd want at least that much. So, I dug up an

area to start.”

“Start,”
Uh, it’s a MAZE out to it. Not like a desert landing! Frank, it is

deep into the middle of the ‘Everglades. The swamp...” Phil

continued on,

“Directions, all I want are ‘directions’ Phil... What’s so damn

hard about that?” Frank wasn’t happy.

“Frank. There's more.” Phil reiterated.

“What MORE?” Frank asked, his voice getting agitated.

“There must be something to that ET angle. Something's BIG is

going on out there. Because there's over a hundred 'white coats'

are being invited into the area.” Phil said.

“When did all this happen?” Frank asked.

“Like I said, about eleven-thirty last night, they've lit this whole

thing up like it's a roman candle!” Phil stated as he just got done

navigating the worst maze of misinformation he’d ever run across

in the ten years of doing this.

 “Phil. What, you are not trying to tell me they actually think it is

A REAL alien life form?” Frank asked, so stunned, he stated this

in front of Justine.

“That 'alien' angle, YEAH! They actually think an alien had

taken over the ship on re-entry and caused it to crash, listening to

the tapes, they seem to have reached a conclusion that a

dangerous entity actually did attach itself to our satellite.” Phil

began the wacky story..

“Oh my god, so, now... it’s classified as alien and ‘dangerous’?”

Frank asked.

“... and it was brought aboard the shuttle.” Phil continued.

“And that’s our fault? Wait, you are making all this up... Right,”

Frank’s mind was numb with this vicious impossibility.

“Frank, this is all real. I’m being serious. Call the board. Like I

said, I've been all over this thing. I don’t believe this shit myself,”

Phil said about to pop a blood vessel.

 “Okay. Frank, get past this… So it’s a real ‘alien’,” Frank

brushed back his hair, “and how bad does that make this Phil?”

“Okay, the reports are highly HUSHED, but there’s now over

three thousand of the Guard coasting around that area. They're

transporting anyone that’s got a home within the area, out! And

anyone without the proper credentials in being there, they're being

jailed.” Phil stated.

“What, they actually think there IS an alien out there?” Frank

never believed in stuff like this, this was just the words that Justine

needed to hear escape his lips.

“Alien?” Justine was all ears. Watching his every twitch,

“Hold-on, Phil.” He told Phil.

“Listen, I'll share all the information once I get it, Okay. Wait

here,” Frank got stern with Justine, though in a nice way. She

became complacent. “Yeah ...Go Phil.”

“Anybody not 'papered' is to be debriefed and transported out of

the zone, to be detained.” Phil continued.

 “So, they are calling it a zone now?” Frank realized this was a

key word.

“A HOT ZONE, I'm telling you, this is like really big. Watch

your ass.” Phil stated.

“Okay. Now, what about a 'replacement' satellite,” Frank

questioned knowing this would not be good to ask. Phil’s answer

went totally off the grid,

“Government has picked up the tab of the satellite; you've been

reimbursed in the full amount. You just got to write it off.” Phil

said, pleased about this event.

“Write it OFF? Phil, what you’re saying is... that there’s no

satellite to send back up there, is there?” Frank fumed.

“Well minimum damage is, if we push hard, four months. It’s

only $240,000 in negate fees for the lost month,” Phil painted the

best results talking extremely fast.

“How many clients are now waiting for that bird to fly again,

and your telling me there isn't even a bird? Am I right Phil, Now,
how the hell can I be anyway near happy about that?” Frank

almost went ballistic as Justine looked into the windshield of the

Explorer, knowing he’d asked her to escape this yelling, and he

was going off in there!

Phil was trying to soothe Frank with words. But it didn't

matter, and Frank struck it home when he asked Phil if he realized

just where he was ‘sitting’.

“Know where I am sitting?” Frank calmly said, cutting into

Phil’s chatter.

“Home,” Phil hoped, losing the rest of that train of thought.

“I'm on the side of the highway. In Florida; Exit sixty-three on I-

95.” Frank said.

“Oh shit, you’re already there.” Phil said. Frank had round

ended him. “No Frank, Get out of there, back away. This is too

big, if they catch you, you’ll be buried under the jail.”

“NOW, Phil. Listen to me. You, get them papers to me.” Frank

said.
 “Oh crap. I’m going to have to call the board on this,” Phil

actually threatened Frank.

“Do that and I’ll tell your wife about that time in Aruba?” Frank

pulled a sleeved ace.

“You...” Phil stated, knowing that ‘little’ incident could ruin his

whole life. “Uh, okay you win, I’ll do it.”

“No call?” Frank asked.

“No call,” Phil gave in.

“And I get clearance papers?” Frank asked.

“I'll ‘try’ and get clearance papers for you,” Phil said.

“Um, I’ll need two sets.” Frank stated.

“Two? Who, Oh good god, Do you have someone with you,”

Phil asked, knowing this would throw a monkey wrench into the

request asked of him.

“Yes.” Frank openly admitted.

“Oh. My. God…” Phil’s mind cracked wide open. “Let me

guess, a girl...”
 “Yes Phil it’s a girl. Name’s Justine. Justine Cohn and she an

accredited UFO investigator,” Frank said, looking out the front

window at her. She was looking into the small ditch along side the

highway about twenty feet ahead of the vehicle. And in the papers,

have her assigned to our company?”

“She has no paperwork with us. That won’t fly... no way,”

“Phil,”

“Oh No, Orange is not a good color on me,” Phil whined openly.

“Orange or your wife…” Frank stated.

“Okay, Justine Cohn. I’ll place her… How to make you realize

this is going to be fucking impossible! You realize I’m not the

fucking unicorn you think I am,” Phil stated, realizing this was the

first time he’d actually cussed at his boss.

Frank went ballistic in his ear, demanding that he complete

the task asked of him. Then Frank’s end of the phone went dead.

Phil realized that ‘the girl’ was that collage girl Frank had met

almost 3 months ago. The called ended with his plus 1 being his
personal scientist. Maybe he could get placed at a good prison, to

hide from his wife.

Hanging up, Frank beeped the horn to let Justine know he

was done. With her natural smile, she came back to the Ford

Explorer. Normally, he'd never let his business involve her. This is

the first time his other world had involved anyone. This woman,

she had somehow crossed a line in the sand he'd built in order to

protect people like her, but, this time he had to let her in. It was

her area of Expertise. The one thing he actually needed here, an

extra-terrestrial investigator. Again, he smiled at the design of this.

She had to be the right girl for him, though he’d never expected it

to be ‘her’.

Quiet now, and Frank off the phone and smiling at her

again, she opened the door and climbed in, the whole time eyeing

his facial expression After seeing all the angry looks inside the

windshield, she decided to let him begin first, and he did,

 “Oh shit. You are not going to believe this,” Frank stated, trying

to stay 'upbeat' over all this.

“W-what,” Justine asked, hoping that he was done yelling.

“They've cut off the Everglades. It seems the impossible has now

happened. We have 'Aliens'.” Frank almost shook his own head in

disbelief.

“Aliens, you mean a 'Real' alien contact,” Justine chimed in, her

heart fluttered. It was always her biggest wish to be able to find

such a thing.

“Probably just a mass of fungi or something simple like that, Oh,

I am trying to get some papers that will be covering you as a UFO

investigator ‘slash’ scientist. I used your own name, and you’re

now a part of my company staff.” Frank told her.

“Where's the lie there?” Justine asked.

“The papers will be naming you as my personal scientist.” Frank

dropped the other shoe.

“Oh.” Justine stated.”

 “I wanted to protect you.” Frank added, trying to help her

understand.

Even Justine knew that probably wouldn’t work. The

government was pretty damn savvy about catching misinformation

like that. She frowned slightly at the ramifications this might

cause,

“I do have the credentials to hold my own on this,” Justine

pointed out.

“From what I hear, No, no you don’t. Not on something like

this, but I had an add-on attached to your resume.” Frank didn’t

want to pop her bubble, actually proud she acted this way, but,

THIS was way out of her realm.

“Oh.” Justine realized by his tone, this was the only way too

possibly get past the first road block.

“Normally, I would have.” Frank tried to soften his harsh reality

on this.
 “No, it’s okay. I understand.” Justine actually did understand,

and smiled that he cared about her. She had the courses to back it

up. Six years she’d spent on schools that taught outer space and

anything on life forms outside of earth. It had hit her at about the

age of nine, and there was never enough information to prove that

life outside this planet had, could or did contain life, until this very

moment.

“Can you believe it? They’re saying that a freaking alien just

wiped out 20 million dollars of my satellite.” Frank stated, trying

to believe it himself.

“Not to mention the Space Shuttle,” Justine pointed out when

he mentioned the amount. “Which cost way more and is a

worldwide project...” Frank acted as if he’d never heard her.

“Aliens, I just. I just can’t believe this. The possibility that they

might exist,” Frank was still trying to wrap his head around this.
 “I'm really surprised you don't believe in them. I'm sorry about

your satellite.” Justine said, switching tactics. She didn't want him

opening up, on her.

“Thanks, but it doesn't make me feel any better. Unless you can

actually lead me to this alien… so as I can kick it’s ass!” Frank

stated, picking a fight with the unseen creature. But, you can't

find, what don't exist.”

“Let’s just try and 'prove it does' first. Come-on, I’m hungry.”

Justine popped his little bubble.

“Hungry? Oh yeah,” Frank said, fuming that she was probably

right.

“Now, get on you game face, and let’s find some ‘Intel’.” Justine

opened the door.

“Yeah, I got it,” Frank said, thinking about what Phil had said

about the N.G. and now they were about to go into a nest of

them.
 “You never even considered that ET's could be real?” Justine

asked.

“The Government suddenly seems to want me to think there is.

But your right, No, I don’t, and never have.” Frank flatly said as

they began the fifty yard walk.

“You know, the Government's not going to try and catch it.

There probably just going to kill it,” Justine knew how National

Security outfits worked.

“Well if they don't, I'm going too.” Frank figured this as to be

the truth, “I just hope they leave a piece of that alien ass for me to

kick around.” Frank almost gritted his teeth.

Looking from the parking area of the dinner, a small town,

laid to the east and a gas station just over the interstate on the

west side. They headed into town, not seeing anything out of the

ordinary, and a small restaurant offered a time out, as they decided

to eat a hearty breakfast before deciding what to do. Pulling in and

getting out, Frank spotted quite a few military hummers parked

down at the parking lot's end. It was the National Guard, a lot of

them.

“See that?” Frank nodded to the vehicles, as they opened the

door as the waif of egg's & coffee hit their noses.

“Place is covered in National Guards. Okay, we ready? Game

faces, let’s do this.” Justine stated, knowing somehow they were

going to be targets.

Justine smiled, and once inside the door, she realized just

how many where in here. The men and women in cameo had made

the place a sea. It wasn’t but a glance at the dozen of boxes that

were being prepared along the coffee counter for the many unseen

Guardsmen not in attendance, that the first solid grope took place.

As if on cue of it, the register rang... Only blinking of the sliding

brush of an open hand, she watched order boxes being taken as

money passed hands.

Waitresses scurried back and forth trying to keep up with

all the orders and refilling coffee cups. This was a mad house, and
‘there’ a second full hand, literally square on her ass, with a slight

squeeze… Ugh.

Normally, she’d of whirled around, kneeing the pervert,

But, she let it slide. The third one made her avert her head from

Frank, as fingering slid straight down and up her lower lip. It was

accomplished, perfected, in a single move in a casual pass by.

Frank was still looking for an open seat, as Justine realized she

was now a target for almost every male moving at her.

“Move us out of main traffic,” Justine said to Frank, unable to

stop the hands in passing. A smiling NG female passed, both of her

hands had literally cupped Justine’s breasts in a tight pass between

them. That had never happened before, as Justine was glued to the

woman apparent smile towards her, her jaw almost dropped open.

“Um okay,” Frank said moving, with her in tow. “Let’s try back

over there.”
In a follow, another two or three hands touched areas that were

meant to cause arousal in a female. Her ears burned, holding tight,

as if nothing had happened.

Justine tried to listen in to a radio signal of a group

somewhere out in the swamp. At first, Justine thought they set up

this restaurant as a cozy headquarters. It was somewhat scary to

see, and ‘somehow’ they sensed her being spooked, which had

attracted even more attention to them. Frank realized they had to

break the ice, somehow,

“Say? What's all the hoop-la about? You guy's training around

here?” Frank asked a Sergeant.

“Yes sir. We're on a training mission, where are you and the

pretty lady heading?” He asked, as if on a queue, others around

him smirked.

“The pretty lady is my wife,” Frank stood up to the man’s try at

intimidation. Justine knew what was coming next.

 “Sorry sir. Uh, yes of course. May I see some identification,

please?” The Sergeant stated.

“Yes. Sergeant, isn't it?” Frank said, quickly producing his own

driver’s license.

A second guard, moved in, removing the card from Franks

hand and began to write down the information.

“You’re not headed on into town are you?” The Sergeant asked

Frank.

“Um, no, we're heading to Miami,” Frank stated, as if it were

fact.

“Then you'll be getting back on interstate?” The man asked, as if

just in passing.

“Yes why? What’s going on?” Frank asked, trying to match wits.

“We're using the town ahead as training grounds. We’re just

making sure nobody gets hurt.” The Sergeant said casually, as the

man handed back Frank's license.

 “Oh. Well, it’s a good thing we aren't heading down that way.

Imagine honey, we'd of never knew that if we hadn't pulled in

here.” Justine said to Frank

“Well. I'm sure they would have stopped us sooner or later.”

Frank said.

“Yes sir, you'd be right. There's a road block about three

quarters a mile down the road.” The Sergeant smiled at Justine,

who had 'blasted' him with one of her own smiles. Frank swore

that six of the other soldiers crossed there legs, as the Sergeant

just stood transfixed to her radiant smile. Frank almost wanted to

laugh at what was happening. It was smiles like these that had him

hooked him to her.

“We'd like to see a menu, Sergeant?” Justine asked, still standing

five foot from the restaurants door. She said it as if he were

nothing but a busboy.

“Um, sure miss…” He said actually looking around for her.

Frank, just watched the spectacle take place.

 As if a domino effect, about five different soldiers searched

for a menu, until the

Sergeant looked around the room, seeing them all after a menu,

his look had stopped them all in there tracks. Frank smile actually

surpassed Justine's. Hell, he was almost in tears over this.

Wanting to bust out in a loud laugh, never finding it so

hard to keep a straight face, He really almost lost it when the

Sergeant handed her a menu and she said,

“Thank-you.” and completely lost her smile towards him. She

looked at him as a cold as a fish staring out of an ice bucket.

“Now honey, be nice.” Frank rubbed his eyes trying to hide the

smirk on his face.

“Sir, Mrs., You two, have a very safe trip to Miami, but, good

luck getting any service in here.” The Sergeant gave a final tip of

his fingers to his head and quietly went back to his men, leaving

them alone for the first time. Justine realized that for the first time

they had actual ‘space’

 “I didn't know you had such a mean streak in you.” Frank

almost whispered as they both again looked around for a seat.

“That married thing, thanks.” She said with a slight smile.

“Shh,” Frank said, in a whisper, leaning into her. “You want me

to tell every man in here you’re single?”

“Oh, you’d die...” Justine thought about all the gropes so far.

The waitress finally show up,

“A table for 'two',” Justine asked her in passing with boxes of

food stacked on a bus platter.

“Two?” She said in passing,

“Yes. For two, please.” Frank replied as she dissolved into a sea

of brown, white and green fatigues.

On the way back through, Justine asked her,

“Please. If we could get one towards the back,” Justine said,

pointing. The waitress stopped and looked in her pointed direction

and as if by magic, the three men had moved off the back table,
leaving it open. The waitress smiled at the three as they passed

her.

“There, is that good enough?” She stated, leading them to the

now open table.

“Thank-you,” Justine smiled realizing the woman had some

powerful mojo.

Justine had her ears focused on the National Guards radio.

The words spewed into the restaurant, and it didn't take long to

hear what she was listening for. The front line had engaged the

enemy, and somehow where now, they were MIA! The Sergeant

listened for his orders, and everybody listened for the confirmation

of the missing troops. The men muttered, others headed out the

door, something spooked them.

The count of twenty missing men in a matter of five

minutes, the total so far. There was a transmission of lost

equipment, drone helicopters just dropping out of the sky. A quick

advance of another unit sent in… twenty men and two minutes in

the engagement, all contact had become lost!

Something unnatural was differently happening out in the

swamps. It had everybody on high alert. In quick action, as in a

few curt words everybody in uniform piled out the door, heading

for the Hummer that had actually lined up behind the restaurant.

Frank and Justine soon sat alone, their meal at the table.

“Did you hear any of that?” Justine asked Frank.

“Some of it sounded pretty spooky.” Frank answered.

“They just lost forty men and have yet given a description of

what they're up against!” Justine said, feeling a chill go up her

back.

“And whatever it is just wiped out a few airborne drones too,”

Frank noted.

“You sure you don't want to back-out?” Justine questioned, as if

it might not be a bad idea.

 “Actually, it would be a wise thing to do.” Frank thought about

it.

“Your sense of adventure peaked already?” Justine asked, with a

frown.

“Oh, you mean, I'm I ready to go chasing little green men?”

Frank whispered, realizing the Ng's leaving the next booth over

were listening, or at least paying attention to every movement

Justine was making.

“We're being watched.” Justine whispered, the feeling of stares

nagging at her.

“I just want to check and see if anything is salvageable.” Frank

said, nodding that he'd heard her, swallowing one of the first bites

on his plate.

Suddenly, all the soldiers got up too leave. In a mass

exodus, they grabbed boxes of food as wad's of cash was being

tossed on the counter. The older lady waitress became

flabbergasted in the realizing that quite a few of the orders had as

of yet been made. They didn't care, heading out the front door in

droves. If they hadn’t paid, it was to late now.

“Well, the 'straight-in' approach does not seem workable. What's

next?” Justine quickly gobbled down a few bites, in case Frank

had decided to head out as well.

“I don't know.” Frank said, scraping up egg yolk with his bread.

They ate the rest of the meal completely alone, not another

customer had entered since the all Guardsmen had left.

Completely finished, the waitress had came over and asked if they

wanted anything else.

“Yeah, do you know of a 'guide', that knows these parts, maybe

with an air boat?” Justine asked the kind old lady, the name tag

stated her name was Glenda.

“Air boat? Um, are you too in the media?” She eyed them,

knowing she could get in trouble just by this type of talk.

 “No. No. I’m the owner of the satellite that the shuttle was

carrying,” Frank stated as the waitress stared blankly, then, shifted

her eyes to Justine.

“My assistant slash girlfriend.” Frank spoke for Justine, as he

had no reason to lie here.

“Hi, I’m Justine. You heard any stories come out of the swamps

east of here?” She smiled kindly.

Ha, all kind’s of stories. You’re actually lucky to have landed

here. My husband has been working here as his air boat went

‘boom’. Before that he was part of the Western everglades air boat

collusion.

“You’re husband?” Frank questioned.

“He's been living in the 'glades' since birth, and he’s got names

for most of them swamp critters. Plus, he knows every back

waterway path from here to the other side of the state, sigh...” She

stated with a realization that her husband has been so patient.

 “That sounds like the guy we're looking for, right? Frank?”

Justine asked, kicking him under the table. Frank gave a daunting

look.

“…he makes better time in the water than most do on the

roads.” The slightly older waitress stated to Justine, as she picked

up a few of the empty plates off the booth next to them.

“You stated he owns his own air boat?” Frank asked.

“Of course, and it’s fixed… but, we still have to pay for the

overhaul on it before we can get it back from the shop.” She said,

slightly downhearted about it.

As she walked away, it gave them time to talk this over.

The waitress knew money when she smelled it and realized, this

man was rolling in it.

“Well?” Justine asked Frank.

“What? I should hire her husband as a guide? Cause he has an

air boat?” Frank asked.

“Like you have one?” She asked.

 “I can buy one.” Frank high brow-ed her.

“I bet you’d have to go completely all the way up to the

panhandle to find one.” Justine smirked, knowing every ‘floating’

boat was currently being rented or sold to the media and currently

under military lock-down.

“Naw, shouldn’t be that hard.” Frank said.

“Sir, I’m afraid she’d be quite right…” Glenda stated, coming

back to clean off the tables surrounding them. “Military’s been

taking everything that floats out there off the water trails.. They’d

of had my husbands too, except, we’ve asked the mechanic to say

‘GATORBACK’s’ still broken, and awaiting parts.”

“Okay, I’ll buy a new one and have it brought here.” Frank

stated, solving that problem.

“I like to see that. Suppose you are going to have it brought

right out front? Guarantee it won’t make it pass the first National

Guard patrol on the way in.” Glenda almost smiled at that

thought. Justine did smile.

 “And, if it did make it… which direction out there, were you

going to take? You know those waterways, they all look the same.

You'd be lost in ten minutes,” Justine started,

“I'd give him five...” Glenda had 'woman sided' with Justine.

“Yeah, Well, I wonder how he'd feel about being detained and

'jailed' by the National Guard.” Frank said, not so lightly, as to

throw off the waitress's ear. Justine's smile dropped, not having

thought of that angle.

“Might do him some good,” The waitress stated, fully

understanding what he'd said.

“You do realize what we're asking?” Frank stated to her in a

turn of his head.

“Yes, you’re asking to have my husband to get you to the

shuttle's crash site. Without getting caught by the men in green or

the little green men. Is that about it?” She said out loud. Lucky

there wasn't another soul in the restaurant.

 “Uh, yeah, that's about the size of it.” Frank said, surprised she

understood all they had going on about. His shin hurt, he

wondered if Glenda had caught that under the table shot.

“He needs his boat back, and I’d be getting a lot less traffic from

all his ‘buddies’ in here. They do nothing but drink coffee and yak

stories about everything going on out there. Cause of that, he

barely keeps up with the work around here.” Glenda stated openly.

“See. He’s needed here.” Frank pointed out to Justine.

“Ah, he’s a good husband, not so much a diner cook. He’s a

swamp man. But like I said sir, he’s without a boat, he just needs

to have it paid off first.” She winked at Frank and left to take a

bus pan full of dishes into the back.

“He really knows the back water trails?” Justine asked, as

Glenda about raised the bus pan.

“Every fallen branch, every dead end, and critter connected

between. Oh, I say, he’d be the right man for you.” Glenda winked

at Justine.
Justine caught the wink, letting Glenda walking away.

“So, what do you think?” Justine's voice was almost a whisper

to frank.

“I don't know. The risks are really stacked high.” Frank admitted

realizing, that it was about the only plan on the table. He knew

that they could get out there and end up lost for day's, never

finding the crash site, or, wind up caught by the 'Greenies'.

Before they realized it, a man removing his apron came

from behind the swinging door. He was trying not to seem pushy,

but his weird smile told the whole story. (Hell he’d talk to the

devil to get his boat back, he was losing over half of his income

every week, only 'half', because he was helping here at the diner.)

Frank realized 'this' must be Glenda's husband, as his

shoulders sank. Justine caught his glancing reaction, turning to

wave at the giddy man. That was the sign he was hoping for, and

walk straight up to them,

 “Hi. The name is Mike. I hear you two need a guide...” The man

smiled, offering a hand shake towards Frank. Almost reluctantly,

Frank accepted his hand.

“Do you have any idea of what we’re asking of you?” Frank

asked as Mike took the booth behind Justine.

“Uh, kind of... You need a clean shot too the shuttle. Know right

where it landed.” Mike said openly.

“Without being caught by the military.” Frank pointed out first

off.

“I can do that,” Mike said, smiling about this fact.

“You say you know where it crashed?.” Justine asked over her

shoulder.

“Within 50 foot.” Mike affirmed.

“And you realize this is going to be dangerous, you be better off

staying out of this. We could end up jailed or worse dead,” Frank

bluntly informed him

 “Sure, I get it. However, I’m not the kind of guy that plays it

safe. Beside, this ‘restaurant work’ is about to drive me nuts...”

Mike spoke, hoping his wife didn't hear that.

“So, jails 'no problem'? Frank eyed him.

“Ever work a grill? It's worse than jail. Besides, there’s a lot of

information I've gotten through the grape vine you'll need to

know.” Mike said.

“Information? Like what?

“ 'Whatever' it is that is loose out there, it's 'not' sending all the

animals packing for parts unknown... which in its self is a funny

thing in itself,

“The wildlife isn't afraid of it?”

“Not from a friend of mine, who claims to have spotted a

raccoon almost 20 foot away from it. Said the damn creature was

almost a light tan in color and it had neither interest in the raccoon

or him.”

“Really?”
 “He was just sitting there fishing as it slid along the bank on the

other side.”

“It slid?”

“Said it looked like cross between a jellyfish and a slug... but it

was much bigger.”

“Bigger?” Frank asked.

“He stated it must have been about ten foot high and about the

same around...” Mike relayed the 'valuable' information.

“That gives us a rough size of the thing.”

“If he wasn't blowing it out of proportion..” Frank stated.

“Frank!” Justine reprimanded him.

“Oh, you know 'fish stories'...” Frank countered.

“Well, there’s been quite a few of my friends that have seen the

damn thing since yesterday. Some were closer than twenty foot

away, they all agreed on it's size and shape.

“And ignored them all?” Justine asked.

 “It just seemed ignore everyone... Well, except for two, Jeb and

Carl they seem to be missing altogether.” Mike confirmed.

“Missing?” Justine asked.

“Both are avid hunter's, good at their craft. Both crack shots.”

“And their both missing?”

“We checked to see if the N G's had them locked up, but they

had no idea... However Carl's boat was found adrift near where

the creature was spotted. We're almost sure it got Carl.” Mike

said.

“So, you think Carl's dead?”

“...either it got him or he jumped out of his boat, didn't find his

gun either. ” Mike stated.

“This 'thing', it didn’t take anybody else?” Justine asked, trying

to piece this bit of information to a reason.

“Well, except for those two.” Mike thought about it and added.

“Both of them a dyed in the wool hunters... Nope. But, it had been

seen by a lot of folks who live in those swamps. Five of them were
in here this morning, talking about it over coffee, four of them

packed and left till this is over with.” Mike stated.

“That may have been for the best.” Frank stated, rethinking this

whole thing.

“Funny thought... What if it's targeting gun fire?” Justine

wondered out loud.

“That would make sense, it IS devouring every living military

solider that runs a crossed it. Somehow, it seems to be sensing

'them' as danger.” Mike stated.

“That would make perfect sense, it’s following them though...

How? The only thing they all have in common is... guns?” Justine

questioned the addition of the information.

“Best I can think of, yeah. Guns,” Mike agreed with her, having

come to that conclusion himself.

“Weapon fire would make sense.” Frank mulled it over.

“But it's attacking them 'before' they're seeing it. It's hunting

them...” Mike said.

 “What?” Justine needed him to clarify.

“Oh, that right, you don't know... with the reports being slung

around in here, it seems the creature is stalking the N G's.” Mike

spoke the truth.

“It's actually going after them?”

“Yeah.

“Can't be the gun fire then...” Justine crossed that off her mental

list.

“Why not, every one attacked has had a weapon... or, so it

would seem.” Mike added, having come to that conclusion

himself.

“But, it's ambushing them... can't be gun fire. Has to be

something else...” Justine thought hard over this.

“Yeah, guess your right... 'body odor'?” Frank said, trying to

help.

“No or everyone would be on the menu...” Justine said, stopping

that thought.
 “What about the size of area it's in?” Justine pumped Mike for

any more information.

“Seems to be covering about a five square mile area, but don't

seem to be going outside the area.”

“For the moment,” Frank pointed out.

“But why is everything inside that area, as far as wildlife goes,

not being touched.” Mike asked.

“It’s got to eat? Don't it?” Frank pointed out.

“May not need food in the way we need food.” Justine stated,

throwing this into her mental debate.

“No idea, but I'm guessing it is not 'humans',” Mike offered,

getting up from the booth and leaving the two of them to talk.

“Probably not,” Justine spoke softly, watching him take his

empty tea glass with him.

“Explain that?” Frank asked with a puzzled look on his face.

“I think. It’s just defending itself.” Justine noted.

 “Justine, its eating people, a lot of people.” Frank tried to drive

this nail home.

“No, something’s not right here.” Justine pushed his words

away, shaking her head no.

“What’s not right,” Frank said, trying to keep his voice level.

“..why only N G’s are being targeted. It's happening 'even

before' their attacking it.”

“They're attacking it, to kill it...” Frank pointed out as if this was

a normal response.

“I know... But, 'they' attacked 'it' first.” Justine pushed it back

into his face.

“Justine, of course... So you're saying it's what... defending it's

self?” Frank realized this was hopeless and dropped it. He tried to

smile at her and she tried to give him a real smile back. It got quiet

for a minute.

Justine had just reached her whole life's dream, and it just

came true. Her ears rang and buzzed at such a vibration, she
barely heard all the thoughts inside her own head.. She was

stunned! A REAL ET! She got short in breath, so much so, Frank

gave her a look of concern,

“Justine, you okay in there?” Frank asked, seeing her not paying

attention.

“Um, hold on a sec. I’m trying to understand things here…

Protocols. Is it most at home in the water or on land?” Justine

almost had babbled it to herself,

“Justine, space would be the correct answer.” Frank called over

to her but she was clearly somewhere else. This Alien thing was

like her big puppy dog and she was dressing it in ribbons and bows

and thinking it needed a bath with soap bubbles.

“I need to talk to Glenda again,” Justine bounced up from the

table, and headed to where Glenda was still loading up a tabled

bus tray half way across the room.

They hadn't talked for a good five minutes, until frank had

to break the silence.

 “Yeah, about Mike,” Frank said trying to tell Justine his

concerns about that point.

“We need to have him with us. His wife actually wants him to

go. No spark, he really needs time out on an adventure. He's part

of the team. Now, you were saying?” Justine blurted out as if

suddenly this had become HER project. The hell with the Satellite!

There was a much bigger picture here!

“Hey! Hey, about Mike, Justine ...I don’t want to accidentally

get him killed. And remember, we're here to find my satellite.”

Frank reminded her.

“The government knows exactly were it is, don't they?” Justine

corrected Frank. She felt like a long running dog on a short leash!

“Yes...” Frank admitted, realizing they weren’t even talking on

the same page.

“Do we?” Justine queried him.

“Um, no not yet,” Frank answered.

 “Do we know anyone who does?” Justine looked him straight in

the eye.

“You mean Mike... Justine, he could get killed out there, I don’t

want that on my conscious!” Frank stated.

“What about me, you’re not worried about me? Anyway, his

wife’s fine with it.” Justine pointed out blowing off his concern.

“What? You've already talked to his wife?” Frank tried to keep

up with the information.

“Yeah, she’s fine with him helping us. And yes, she knows the

risks. He's a go,” Justine stated.

“Okay. If she's okay with this, I guess we have our guide.

Honey, now, what were you thinking about earlier, when you

disappeared there?” Frank recalled.

“Um, I was trying to understand how this 'entity' operates. It's

motive.”

“Motive?' Frank thought the word was wrong.

“The reasoning to what it been doing.”

 “Don't think there's a reason, it not intelligent...?”

“It has some type of reasoning, or it wouldn't be going after the

people with guns.” Justine pointed out.

“Okay...” Frank said.

“Like I said, Mike has key information on this thing. Bet the

military doesn’t know half as much as we do.”

“So you think his information is credible?” Frank asked,

confused as to how a backwater bumpkin could match wits with

Justine. Maybe Justine could identify with ‘plain folk’ better then

he could.

Justine got up to go get Mike and Glenda, Walking over to

the register, Glenda quickly saw her from the bus window and

quickly came out. Mike wasn’t far behind her as the two 'younger'

workers busily worked restocking and cleaning. Both of them

seemed to hold a nervous smile towards her beckon. It only took

four words to change the looks on there faces,

 “Welcome to the team.” Justine said, standing at the counter,

giving Mike a bright smile.

It was funny, but as his own smile brightened as he seemed

to grow younger by the second. And actually hurried around the

counter almost embracing Justine in a bear hug, and then

removing his apron, sailed straight to the open bench seat across

from Frank. Smiling! Though Frank didn't know quite how to take

this, both women were giggling at the display Mike had put on,

again shaking Frank’s hand.

Justine went to join the two men, Mike already discussing

the best way to get into the waterways without getting caught.

This time, she sat down beside Frank. As she looked up at Glenda,

she could see grateful ‘thanks’ in the elderly woman's eyes. Glenda

turned to grab some coffee for Justine and a sweet tea for Frank.

Justine just listened, as Mike began to describe whatever

this thing could be, and she was buffering his talk with questions.

Between them, they all began to get a picture of just what they
had to look forward too. It was a good thing that Mike had been

thinking about some of this stuff. He concluded by giving a full

account of the odd things that others had seen and those neighbors

bringing these stories to tell in his dinner. Sorting through these,

she took all the information and began to create all of the facts

into some kind of order. Running through these it seemed even

more dangerous then they had ever realized. Again Frank was

thinking this whole thing 'too dangerous' and was having thoughts

about leaving this up to the military.

“I think we better start building a plan to keep that thing away

from us.” Justine's first words stated.

“Maybe we should not pursue this if there is some type of alien

creature out there...” Frank thought out loud.

“Huh? Your starting to get cold feet now?” Justine seemed

serious and straight faced at his last statement.

“I'm down for it,” Mike chimed in.

 “Honey. This is the 'first contact' of off world life. I've built my

whole life around this. I thought you said you'd support me on

anything I wanted to do?” Justine got miffed, just staring at this

shift in his thoughts.

“I did... I mean I do. I just wanted to find what's left of my

satellite, Really didn't expect a people killing alien...” Frank

admitted.

“What's that suppose to mean?” Justine had lost her natural

glow, and Frank almost turned away. In this silence, she saw it. He

was scared. Really scared. His next words revealed the crux of the

problem,

“Justine... I just don't want to lose you, screw the satellite...”

Frank admitted.

He 'loved' her! Justine had never expected this. He cared

about her 'so much' he was willing to forget his own agenda for

her safety!
 “Oh my god...” Justine stated, he was in love with her. This

placed 'everything' on the back burner. “Frank? Are you saying,

what I think your saying?”

“I think so.”

“Do you love me?” Justine blurted out the words as Mike

quickly realized these two didn't need him there, and got up

heading for the kitchen.

“Yes... I think I do, I know I do... Yes, I love you.” Frank had

turned all kinds of red.

Justine inhaled. Shock ruled the moment. Never in her life

did she expect 'this'. How to react? What to say? How to continue

and still chase her dream? The silence was so long, he wondered if

she was in love with him...

“I've... never had anyone say that to me. Give me a minute...”

Justine's head swam in a million thoughts, none of them were

about an 'alien life-form on the planet'. Was she going to get sick?
Nothing made sense anymore... Frank finally looked at her, she

had to respond... Words, what words.

“You want a solid relationship? Are you proposing... Frank

Conner?”

“Yes, I guess I am. But I'm scared that if we do this... Go after

this creature, I'll lose you.” Frank admitted.

He wanted to marry her! Now her head spun around even

quicker as the 'M' word had finally struck the wall of her mighty

defense. The wall instantly crumbled as if made of tissue paper.

How to have both world's? She realized again that he'd been

looking straight into her eyes the whole time.

“Wow... I mean yes, I love you too... But Frank, I can't just run

from this. It's almost dragging me into it...”

“Well let me drag you away from it... We'll get married, have

kid's... whatever you want.” Frank almost pleaded with her.

“You love me?” Justine needed to clarify this.

“Yes, to the ends of the earth.” Frank said sheepishly.

 “If you love me, and I will marry you... You have to fully

support me on this. It's the only way I can do this.

“Support you? You still want to go alien chasing?”

“Frank, I honestly think if I walk away from this, the entire

planet will be in grave danger. With you backing me, I can solve

this... But, do you love me 'that much'?” Justine

had volleyed it into his court.

It was a 'make or break' move. And she had no idea how

he'd respond to it, but she knew 'if' she didn't follow her instincts

on this... 'marriage' would never take place with him.

“I'll follow... just don't get us killed, okay?” Frank stated,

realizing she was much a stronger person than he thought.

She' done it! Maybe he was the right man. Oh, how could

she have had gotten 'so lucky'... She half expected to be sitting

here alone, wondering what to do next... But, it wasn't like he was

caving-in to her. He truly did love her and just admitted he

respected her too.

 “We are 'so' going to get married after this.” Justine smiled, and

kissed him on the mouth. Both Glenda and Mike realized that was

a 'true love kiss' and smiled at each other with a huge smile of

relief. They decided to leave them together alone for a few more

minutes as Mike's tea glass had gone dry (watching the whole

scene from afar) and decided to refill it again. Glenda grabbed

mike and kissed him literally the same way.

“wow, haven't had one of those in a while.” Mike chimed

heading for the ice tea pitcher. Glenda smiled, slapping at him as

he walked away with his own smile.

Justine caught the kiss and the playful slap as their smiles meet in

an equal tone.

Justine now beamed brighter than an angel and Frank felt

'giddy' inside. So this was love... The moment only faded lightly as

Mike had been nudged by the Mrs. to returned to the table, he

approached smiling weirdly at them.

 “So, you were thinking 'safety first'... This is good.” Mike stated

smoothly sliding back into the bench across from them, moving his

glass of tea to a permanent resting spot.

“Uh... we still haven't got any science on this thing, whatever it

is.” Justine said, trying to pull back from her dream come true.

“Have you heard 'anything' the guardsmen have been saying?”

Frank asked Mike trying to stay on topic as well. Justine smiled at

him for asking that.

“Me No, I'm stuck behind the kitchen doors most of the time.”

Mike shook off, “But, I'm sure the waitress we hired can tell you

a few things about the creature... Told me a few of them... Pretty

scary stuff.”

“Think she'd talk to us?” Justine asked, noticing the waitress

completing tasks before the next rush.

“Don't hurt to ask...” Mike got never got up. “Kendra..”

A woman, dirty blonde and slightly stocky almost instantly

gave up her task and with a smile came to the table.

 “Mike?”

“Um, these people are trying to understand the creature out

there... Got any insights?”

“Oh thank god somebody asked me that.” She grabbed a four

leg chair and sat down.

“Okay...” Justine realized the woman knew 'too much' and just

had to recap to someone, anyone.

“Where to start...” And Kendra began

It was about a twenty minute rant, talking as fast as the

mind could comprehend she poured out highly valuable

information. In the opening salvo of words, Justine and Frank

realized they needed a tape recorder to keep up with her

“Hold-on honey... Can I borrow your order pad and a

pen...”Justine stopped her in mid sentence.

“Oh, sure... here,” Kendra offer the pad and her pen to Justine

who flipped to the first clear page and quickly wrote key things,

stated so far. Kendra waited.

 “Okay... Go.” Justine stated as Mike and Frank just looked

weirdly at them, and like a dinner bell, Kendra rapidly spew

everything. The constant chatter of Kendra's rant with Justine

quickly jumping in for more information between... was crazy.

Both Frank and Mike sat trying to block it out. The information

was traveling to quickly, as Justine herself almost scribble out in

short hand trying to keep up, popping in another avenue or

rehashing something needing clarity. At the end Justine just

seemed to need simpler answers as the story had worn down...

Kendra seemed 'freed' from all this and Justine began to connect

the dots, flipping back and forth through the many used pages.
“We now it moves in water like an air boat and they figured it

must move slug like on land. Moves like a snail on land. Devours

humans in an acid like fluid,”

“So many military men dead...” Frank noted.

“Okay, about that. I can understand it getting one, maybe two

Guards... But ALL of them?” Justine stated, confused.

“One hell of an appetite,” Frank noted, realizing this was going

to be dangerous.

They all thought about this. It was a good question. A

scary question,

“I've never heard of any species that has a way to do things like

this.” Justine stated.

“Isn't natural,” Mike said. “It's like moths to a flame.”

Justine got stuck on the saying, her mind rolled those

words, and then, it struck home.

“Like MOTHS TO A FLAME!” Justine stated, grabbing her

own skull as if the answer would crack it wide open.

 “Hun, what...” Frank asked, realizing she was freaking-out at

the table.

“There are a few species on the planet that do mimic those

qualities, like light! Some attract their prey by light!” She had to

coax the thoughts, “... and sound as well... Like the sirens song.

Hercules, you remember?” She said to Frank, who must have

never had seen the movie. He looked stumped.

“Two different ways of attraction,” Mike tried to follow her

thinking.

“Or, it could be some type of mixture of them, or there might be

more involved.” Justine thought even deeper.

“If that's so.., just how would we protect ourselves?” Frank

asked, realized the danger level just rose to another level.

“I'm working on that, hush for a second.” Justine said out loud,

trying to cancel out the voices around her. The thoughts turning

cog's within her brain.

 There were a lot of things to iron out, and they slowly

developed a plan that might just send the three of them into three

different directions. Seeing that she needed space, Frank went

outside to talk on the phone. Mike went back into the kitchen to

help his wife as Justine began to scribble out things on napkins.

It all fell together about the time that the Ng's had shown

up for more chow. Glenda had this end well under control. She

had called a close friend who would stop by to take over the

cooking and dishes, and he would be here in a few minutes to help

out.

It didn’t take long, they had finished the light meal and

Mike got ready to go with them. Mike’s smile was ear to ear as he

kissed his wife and made sure everything was in order before

leaving. The influx of guards paid no attention to the three leaving.

Frank, Justine and Mike took off, back up the interstate.

The first stop was two exits up. It was to get Mike's boat. Oh, it

was quite an air boat! Surprisingly enough, it was setup to ride

three people, with ample storage space! It looked good, even to

Frank.

“Nice boat.” Frank stated handing the mechanic his Visa card.

“Yeah, I kind of thought it would rot here.” The mechanic

honestly mentioned, swiping the card, knowing Mike couldn't

raise the money.

“Well, it's paid for now!” Mike said smiling as Frank took his

card back.

“Who's these people?” The mechanic questioned Mike, while

waiting for the transaction to clearance.

“Well, this here's Frank, and this pretty young lady's his wife,

Justine. And for your information I’m being paid to haul them

around for the next few days.” Mike proudly explained.

“Dang Mike, we all kind of figured you'd get the boat paid off,

but we never thought you'd figure out to be renting ole Gator here

out... So, let me guess. They are uppity scientists?” The mechanic

took a good stab at who they were.

 “Good call,” Frank over heard the mechanic. Yeah, we're into

geology research.” Frank said to the man as the clearance tone

came through the phone line.

“Oh, wildlife, well, you got the money to back it up,” The man

felt stumped.

“Thanks Titus. That hole in the bottom almost lost me the whole

thing.” Mike said, shaking his hand that Gator was now paid for.

“Nothing to it, Oh, I flushed out the motor too.”

“Thanks Titus.” Mike said with a smile.

“Just glad for the business,” Titus smiled back at him.

“Seen any those Greenies?” Mike asked him.

“Yeah... In fact, they told me to inform all my customers to stay

off the waterways for the next few days, that they were training.”

Titus said, knowing it was just a lie.

“Training,” Mike almost coaxed.

“Yeah... Hey, I got one of their boats in the back.”

“Really,” Justine got highly interested.

 “And the way it's whacked up, something had too of run slap

over the bow. And whatever it was, it didn't seem to have a

problem doing it either!” Titus said, walking them around the shop

like structure.

He showed off the massive damage done to the air boat,

but began to scratch his head over something that didn't seem

right.

“Holy crap, what the hell?” Titus stated.

“Oh jeez!” Justine said, moving quickly towards the boat to

check it out.

“Now MRS., I wouldn't get any closer than that! I can't tell

what that is, but, it sure wasn't any Gator or tree and it wasn't

what they claimed happened either. But look, whatever it IS it’s

'chewing' on the dang thing, so I’d be careful.” Titus stated to

Justine, Frank and Mike.

 “What did they say it was?” Frank asked, watching Justine

drawing ever closer to the boat. She was watching the ground,

and noticed a few pencil like lines in the sandy dirt.

“They said they ran into each other. But when I asked 'where's

the other boat', they got like real dummy with me and just left this

one here...”

“Um guy’s, we need to back up here...” Justine said, noticing

something strange. Those little black lines were on the move.

“What?” Frank asked moving towards her, as she stopped him.

“Back away, now.”

“What’s going on?” Frank said as she took his arm and pulled

him away from the boat.

“Whatever it is, it’s alive... and moving.” Justine said, making

sure they hadn’t stepped in any of these ‘lines’.

“What?” Frank asked looking closely at the ground and barely

noticing the lines himself.

 “Yeah, I see it... Look, the little black lines coming off the boat.”

Mike said.

“Yeah. That’s why I told you to stay clear.” Titus pointed to the

boat itself. “See there and over there. The way it's apparently ate

away. Like some type of corrosive.” Titus stated.

“And, whatever it is, it's chewing the thing up really fast!” Frank

said, as he quickly noticed Justine eyeing the mark's really

carefully.

“How long ago this happen?” Justine asked Titus.

“Heck, today, I’d say about two hours ago.” Titus stated,

getting concerned about what he had on his property.

“I see puffs of smoke, as if whatever that stuff is, eating it.”

Justine pointed, wanting to get closer.

They should be here about now. I’m telling them I want it off my

property.” Titus concluded, as Justine went to the explorer and

opened her suitcase, getting out a glass vile.

 Mike’s boat was already on a trailer, and Frank reached up

under the driver’s seat pulling out a hitch ball, mounting in less

than ten second's. Starting the Explorer and backing it into place.

Titus stopped him when he was just under the trailers cup, almost

as fast, they had the thing all hooked up. Justine was glad Mike’s

boat was nowhere near that other boat.

The men talked as Justine took this time to write down

measurements and depths, as well as trying collecting some of

what could be some of the creature’s enzymes with a long stick. It

didn’t move fast at all, and seemed to eat the stick as it moved.

With care, Justine placed a small amount into the small glass vile,

and capping it with a special glass lid, she felt a sigh of relief.

“This ought to do it.” Justine spoke, to the three men, looking

into the clear glass tube.

Justine was about to carry it back to the Explorer, when it

suddenly started to feel warm between her fingers. She stopped

about ten feet from where the other men stood, and it was now

growing hot!

“Frank! We have a chemical reaction here. Check this out!”

Justine quickly placed the vile on the ground, as it was turning

extremely hot. A vapor now seemed to swirl around inside the

capped tube.

“I think it's trying to eat the glass!” Justine pointed down at it.

The three men came over to look at the vile. The smoke

thickened.

“What is that? Radioactive?” Titus asked acting scared of it, and

backing away.

“No. I'm pretty sure it's a chemical reaction,” Justine stated. And

about the time she'd spoke that, the vile cracked once and then

shattered in a 'pop'! The smoke from it dissipated quickly within

the natural breeze flowing pass them. The glass fragments seemed

to grow smaller and smaller dissolving into nothing. The grass

blades browned and disappeared underneath it as well.

 “Holy shit!” Titus said, seeing the vile pop.

“It's got to be! I don’t know of an acid that interacts with glass

like that.” Justine pointed out.

“Eating it like breakfast!” Mike said, looking at the small glass

fragments, dissolving right before his eyes.

“Definitely an acid, but nothing I've ever witnessed.” Frank

noted.

“No. This stuff's much stronger. It seems to just keep going.

Like it has a destiny or a purpose... The movement seems,

directional.” Justine made the mental note out loud.

“Nasty stuff either way,” Mike said, as Justine stood back up

heading for the Explorer to retrieve her back pack.

“Okay. Anyone got a map?” Justine asked.

“In the truck,” Frank went to retrieve it.

“Mike, you say you know about where the shuttle crashed?”

Justine asked as Frank came back unfolding the map.

 “Sure.” He was going to point it out on the map, just as Frank

walked up.

“Anyone got a compass?” Justine asked, theorizing a idea of its

movements.

“I got one, hold on a second.” Titus said as he disappeared into

his office, quickly to return. “Here,”

Mike pointed out the exact area on the map as Justine took

a reading and finding true north, aligned the pencil thin black lines

to there direction....

“That’s it. This stuff... its ‘slowly’ heading back to whatever

crashed here.” Justine confirmed.

“So, what your saying is... This ‘stuff’ is a part of whatever is

out there?” Frank said.

“It may be some type of the creatures ‘blood’?” Mike

questioned.

“For a better word, yeah.” Justine offered.

 “Oh crap.” Frank stated, realizing this ‘creature’ was deadlier

then any of them had even considered.

“Still want to put a foot in its ass?” Justine said out loud.

“Glad I’m not dealing with this. Good luck,” Titus said, walking

away from these crazy people.

They watched Justine walk over to the Explorer, opened

up her back-pack and searched it, finding nothing that she could

use to contain some of this residue in.

“Damn it!” She said, finding nothing but clothes.

“What?” Frank asked.

“...Didn't pack for anything like this!” Justine said, realizing that

she'd packed mainly clothes.

“It's about gone anyway.” Mike noted, coming up behind them.

“Not gone... I think we'd better get some type of an idea what

we're up against or this thing could well be having us for lunch

before we ever reach the crash site.” Justine informed them,

frustrated about not having equipment to do this.

 It was eye opening, but they did need to know exactly

what they were up against. And by the results so far, Justine

realized that all of them might have been walking over glass,

barefooted.

Frank's cell phone rang. Answering it, he'd gotten Phil to

actually do something right. The call was short, yet yielded great

results. He had gotten the passes for him and Justine. They could

safely pass any check-point of the Ng's and Justine heard a

machine in the Explorer go active. Frank headed for the drivers

door, as Mike said his farewell's to Titus. Justine made it a point to

tell Titus not to go near that boat under any condition.

He said he wouldn't, as Frank came back with the papers

allowing passage. There was one restriction on the pass, they

couldn't actually 'remove' anything from within the bordered area

of the crash site.

Everybody piled back into the Explorer with Mike’s air

boat attached as Titus waved them a country good-bye. Powder

dirty sand kicked up a cloud as they left the mechanic's shop

unpaved driveway.

“Where to now,” Mike asked from the back seat, unsure of the

plan now.

“I need a Science Store. Hobby shop, something!” Justine

requested as Frank realized she was highly concerned about what

had happened back there.

“There’s nothing like that around here,” Mike said, knowing

every store within 50 miles.

“Hold-on,” Frank said, pulling to a stop just before reaching the

interstate junction. He got on the phone, and hitting button's,

reaching the right number.

“Yes. Hello, this is Frank Conner. Yes. I'm down in mid-

Florida.” Frank spoke, waiting for a connection to go through. It

took a few seconds to connect, but he continued when who-ever it

was answered,
 “Yes. Frank Conner here, Yes, I'm here in mid-Florida, and I'm

looking for one of your stores around this area. Uh, on the east

coast... Yes. That's Right, I-95. Okay, Sixty? Is that east or west?

Okay. Okay. Right, got it, okay, yeah thanks. What... Might as

well, we're heading there now. Yes. Thank-you, Bye.” Frank said,

hanging up the phone.

“What? You find something?” Justine perked-up.

“There's a science store, as you call it, a couple of exits up the

road. I have an account with them.” Frank stated to Justine.

“What exit?” Mike asked.

“Exit sixty,” Frank stated, pulling out onto the road.

“Exit sixty? I don't know of any stores on that exit.” Mike said,

really thinking about it.

“Well, if he says it's there. It's there.” Frank said to Mike.

Mike's wife had packed a quick meal of sandwiches and a

few soft drinks, handing them to Justine, just as they climbed into

the Explorer. Justine now dug into the bag and pulled out a soda,
offering one to Mike. He gladly accepted it, cracking it open in the

back seat. Frank passed on one as, Justine pulled out one for

herself.

“A 'science store'… I got to see this for myself.” Justine popped

the top of the soda can.

Now, back on the Interstate, heading north again, Justine

realized it was only a exit down the road, and soon they were at

the bottom of the exit ramp sixty. Frank looked both ways and it

would seem Mike was right, there didn't seem to be any kind of

stores or ‘anything’ for that matter. Just trees and a paved road

that crossed under the interstate with a few telephone and power

lines that following long the roadside.

Frank turned and headed west under the interstate

overpass, heading at a good clip of about forty-five miles per hour.

The air boat, that tagging quietly behind, was barely noticeable,

not causing any sway in the Explorer. Justine kicked on the air-
conditioner, as Frank kept an eye out for the landmarks that would

mark its presents around here.

About two miles down, he turned left, and now Mike had

been down this road about a year ago, there was nothing here

then. But, there standing as bright as day was a building.

“'That' wasn't there a year ago.” Mike stated.

“Well, it's here now.” Frank said.

“Must have just been built,” Mike said, as they pulled up to the

warehouse type building.

“Must have,” Justine agreed, as Frank gave her a funny smirk.

As they got out of the vehicle, Frank could hardly wait to

see Justine's eyes as he held the door open for her and Mike to

pass through into the building that didn't seem to hold any

windows.

“Hello? Mister Conner?” A man spoke, recognizing who this

must have been.

 “Yes. This is my wife. She needs some 'thing's'.” Frank said, as

the man cast an eye on Justine, and smiled saying,

“Welcome Mrs. Conner. If you'll have a seat right over here, I'll

bring a profile of the

Extensive stock we supply.” The man smiled at her offering them

all a seat and quickly disappeared behind a door.

“This place is bigger than it look's.” Mike said.

The man returned rather quickly as Frank had just relaxed

in the chair besides

Justine. He handed her a rather thick notebook full of supplies.

“Here you are sir, and a note pad, for when you find the things

you require.” The man placed the pad down on a small table

between her and Frank. Mike, who had been standing looked at all

the pictured 'items' on the wall.

“Thank-you,” Justine said, smiling about his help.

“Call if you have questions about anything.” The man offered

and again disappeared.

 Justine flipped through the pages as quickly as she could.

She knew what she was looking for. And quickly finding item after

item, she wrote down the numbers that corresponded to it.

Looking through pages in search of another item she ran across

colored lenses! She jotted down the number, and then scratched it

off.

It took all of five minutes to make the list, Frank told her

not to worry about the prices and when the man came back in she

handed him the list. Frank broke out his wallet and pulled out a

credit card. The man accepted it saying,

“Thank-you Mr. Conner, I'll have this order filled momentarily.”

He took the card and disappeared out of sight.

“You going to let him just walk out with your credit card.”

Justine asked.

“I'm not worried about it as there are protections systems are in

place.” Frank told her.

 “My beverage is out in the Explorer, I'll be right back.” Mike

said, heading outside, he was probably going out to smoke a

cigarette too. Half hanging out of his top pocket, they were kind

of obvious.

“So, what do you think we're up against?” Frank asked her.

“Whatever it is, it seems very hostile. I'll need to go back to that

boat and do a few tests, and that's going to take a few hours on its

own. Either way, we aren't going to get to the crash site 'today'.

Sorry, But by then, I'll be able to tell you better. As of right now, I

just don't know.” Justine admitted to him.

“You are serious about all this, I can't believe your stopping me

from getting to my Satellite.” Frank actually snickered at her

answer.

“Let's see Frank, a platoon of Ng's missing, all the information

from the stories. Uh, the glass vile that just disappeared in front of

your eyes, from something ALIVE! The hair on the top of my

head has been standing on end ever since you got that Fax from

Dave.” Justine said, almost exasperated.

“Yeah, I get it. Something telling me that there is something out

there too. And, I can honestly say there's 'Nothing I know' that can

cause a glass vile to dissolve, not man made anyway.” Frank said,

understanding her concern not to 'rush' into this without look

around first.

“Good, then listen, this thing is Dangerous! Trust me on that.”

Justine said, her lip's almost in a thin straight line.

“I have been listening Justine, I just want you to understand. We

have to get to my satellite. I need to see how much damage has

been done. 'See', if it's worth getting out of the swamp. If not, I

need to devote the time after that trying to quickly build another

satellite.” Frank laid it on the line. Justine couldn't bear to tell him

that there probably wouldn't be anything left of his Satellite, if this

stuff was what brought down with the shuttle.

 “Tell you what. We'll determine that safely, Okay? But, if I say to

do something, Please just do it my way!” Justine sternly warned,

worried about any type of creature that could put out this type of

acid.

“Okay, you got it.” Frank agreed to that, and reached in for a

kiss, she gave him a peck back. At least this man might actually

listen to her warnings

As life is, Mike stepped back inside bringing a sudden halt

to their kiss that was turning kind of deep throat.

“I always seem to catch people this way.” Mike said, adverting

they're sudden notice of his presence.

“Sorry.” Justine said, ending with a small giggle. Frank just

smiled.

“So, have you figured out what's waiting for us?” Mike asked of

them. He could see that from the way there eyes darted between

each other this was 'the question'.

 “It's definitely deadly. And fast. Also has some type of hypnotic

qualities. About 650 to 750 pounds in weight. Moves on land

slowly and water very swiftly, though, that’s just a guess.” Justine

stated, taking a stab at it.

“Is it a land creature, or water?” Frank himself asked her, as she

seemed not to have the answers. She shook her head,

“Not sure. Seems water, but consumes only humans that

threaten it. I don't have enough information...” Justine seemed too

be formulating on the go.

“We sure it's an ET?” Mike asked.

“Yes, we are sure of that much.” Frank stated.

“I wouldn't be getting this stuff if it wasn’t.” Justine said.

“So, were actually going to find this thing? What’s your dog in

this fight?” Mike asked, now looking at Frank.

“Oh, ah, me? Uh, well I owned the satellite that was aboard the

shuttle, just before it went down in the swamp.” Frank said.

“Satellite, but, you told Titus,” Mike questioned.

 “It was best he understood it that way.” Justine told him, not

wanting Mike to spill the beans once they got back to the

mechanic's shop.

“Got-ya, so, you owned the Satellite that was aboard the

shuttle?” Mike asked, shocked at Frank's probable wealth.

“Yes. It carries about 20,000 cell phone signals.” Fred informed

him.

“Oh, one of them relay satellites. I see. And what about you,

pretty lady?” Mike said, turning to Justine.

“Me., I'm working my way through collage to get a foot up on

the F.B.I., Frank's my boyfriend.

“F.B.I.? Okay and what does that have to do with space

creatures?”

“I've always hunted ET stories, even if it was a dead end. It’s

kind of like my hobby since I was a kid.” Justine filled him in

about herself.

“So, you are here, for your Satellite? And, you’re an X-file
chaser. Here for the ET? And you’re dating each other?” Mike

tried to understand. They both nodded with a smile.

“Well, this must be one heck of a date.” Mike chuckled, keeping

in good spirits.

The man came through the door, smiling with a receipt and

his card.

“Mr. Conner, I'll need your signature right here and your

purchase will be ready in a few minutes at the loading dock

around back.” The man said.

“Thank-you,” Frank said, signing the form, and got up to move

the Explorer around to the back of the building, after putting his

credit card back in his wallet.

“We ready?” Mike asked, seeing Justine stand up as well.

“It will only take a few more minutes.” The man said, leaving

the room.

They headed back outside as it must have been close to

twelve o'clock. The sun was almost directly overhead. They

climbed back into the Explorer. Starting it, the clock told Mike it

was only eleven fifteen. By eleven thirty the back of the Ford had

been loaded down with all the equipment she had ordered. Justine

checked it out, piece by piece, and finally,

“We're set to go. This stuff should help us figure out what we're

up against.” Justine said, closing the tailgate. Frank was getting

the paperwork in order, for when they ran upon the road block of

Ng's.

“Here you go,” Frank handed Justine her paperwork. “Mike,

you had better just allow us to explain you. Okay?”

“No problem. I'm just a guide anyway.” Mike smiled, and added

from the back seat,

“Oh, could you please hand back another one of those colas?”

“Think we'll have any problems?” Justine asked Frank, handing

the cola back to Mike.

“Thanks.” Mike said, staying out of their conversation

 “Depends,” Frank stated, thinking about it, “on how spooked

they are, who's in charge, and what kind of mood there in.” Frank

said, having walked through many a restricted area a 'few times'.

Some of these by his own protocols,

Their seat belts on, they set to the task at hand. The

reverse path, quickly lead them back to Titus's shop. They were

surprised to see a Hummer and two N G's standing around it.

Pulling up they realized, they had came back for the boat, in which

Titus was suppose be 'fixing'. They parked and got out, heading

directly for where the N G's boat had been parked. And they all

stood twenty foot away, in shock.

Titus and a 'Captain' stood just out a circle where the boat

had been. Looking at the ground, that was now barren of all life.

Whiffs of smoke kept cropping up along the outer edges. The

boat, however, was almost completely gone, as was most of the

trailer.
 “What the hell?” Mike said, almost calling to Titus, who seemed

really highly upset or 'pissed-off'', which he couldn’t tell from here.

Titus spotted Mike and quickly walked over to the three of

them. He was really upset, the captain realizing he'd lost just the

attention of the civilian, turned to see the three of them looking

concerned.

“The damn SHIT. It killed Rufus!!” Titus said walking straight

up to Mike, rambling on, “That damn shit, whatever it is... He just

'sniffed' at it and went yelping into the house! I tried to help him.

But, it had already eaten about half his nose off! It just kept eating

his face! He was in so much pain! Then, he shot off yelping as

these stupid N G's pulled up.

“Did you come in contact with any of it?” Justine walked up to

him.

“No... I don't think so... Poor Rufus... My damn dog.” Titus said

now angry.
 “Don't get near that boat.” Justine stated, clearly and loudly to

the men in uniform.

“And you'd be?” The captain asked.

“As of now... The person most qualified to answers questions

about 'what' that stuff is.” Justine stated taking full rein here,

“Have you're men retreat to their vehicle... Now, or I'll hold you

full responsible any deaths occurred here.

“That's a pretty bold statement... Men, back to the vehicle.” The

captain ordered.

“There only concern is if their boat was fixed! And when I came

around to show them what that shit was doing to it, all but the

main axle and engine had dissolved! Explain to me 'what the hell's'

going on here!” Titus almost yelled at Justine.

“I'm all ears as well,” The captain agreed to the mechanic's

grievances.

“She's with me.” Frank cut in.

“And you are?” The captain asked.

 “The owner of the satellite that was on the shuttle... Frank

Conner, sir.

“Well...Hello,” The NG Captain spoke to Frank and Justine as if

he just found a prize at the top of a cereal box he'd just opened. “I

hope you three have papers.”

“Yes.. Of course Captain.” Frank said, already holding them in

his hand.

“You got papers too Missy?” The captain asked Justine, she

nodded as she handed over hers too.

Titus was steady talking to Mike, telling him all what had

happened since he'd last seen them. Justine, walked pass the

Captain, over towards the burned out area and was 'amazed' at

what had happened to their air boat. The Captain talked to Frank,

“Mr. Conner. I'll have to clear you two through command before

we can go any farther. MISS! I wouldn't get to close to that boat.

We don't know what we're up against yet!” The Captain said to

Justine, as he handing the papers to a Sergeant, who took them

and walked back to the Hummer.

“I pretty much do. I'm here to make sure we get the answers

'safely'.” Justine turned and kind of hollered back at the Captain.

Deciding to herself that she needed things out of the Explorer, she

again headed to the vehicle.

“Seeing as how we're talking, what happened?” Frank asked the

captain.

“Until I get confirmation,” The Captain quickly reiterated, “you

three can just stand with your vehicle...”

Frank realized the tone, the military trap had just been

sprung. They had just became POW's.

“Honestly captain, we're here to help.”

“Want to help? Stand over by you vehicle.” The captain said

sternly.

“Oh great... Here we go.”

 Justine, thinking everything was fine, beginning to unload

the stuff she'd ordered. As she began to check out the contents of

a box, she then set it onto the ground, going in after another one...

“Uh, you mind telling her to stop 'unpacking'! Like I said, it will

be less you have to pack back up...” The Captain suggested to

Frank.

“Um, I see. Justine dear, we may yet be asked to leave. Slow

down on the unpacking there.” Frank stated to Justine, Who

stood at the tail gate of the Explorer. It seemed by her actions, she

hadn't heard him, but it was at that moment, the 'clearance' had

just came through,

“Captain? Sir.” The Sergeant came up to them.

“Yes?” He turned to confront the solider.

“Dr. Conner and his wife have been given Full clearance, but the

third is a res. Escort him out?” He asked, wondered if this was the

proper call.
 “Can't do that, we have hired him as our guide,” Frank spoke

up.

“Guide or not, we have our orders.” A solider stated from

behind Frank.

“No, I'll handle this... Okay, this is how it's going down, The

Captain almost barked, adding, “Dr. Conner, you say he's your

guide? Will you being taking responsibility for him?”

“Yes, of course.” Frank said, as the Captain nodded his head

that he understood and was going to make a note of it.

“Well then, Dr. Conner, I guess 'now', we can share

information.” The Captain said to Frank, as Justine headed back to

the Explorer to start looking for what she needed.

“SO... what's going on here?” Frank asked the Captain.

“Seems that your Satellite had picked up an alien hitch-hiker,”

He began.

“So I’ve been informed,” Frank acknowledged. “So, what's

that?”
 “That's what's left after the alien collided into a boat with three

of my men on it.

“Really?” Frank said, shocked at the damage.

“We never found a single trace of the men that were on that

boat...”

“I told 'it' had actually attacked them,” The captain seemed

highly angry about their loss.

“Didn't your men have orders to 'kill on sight'?” Justine walked

past the captain, understanding most of what was going on here.

“This is actually first-contact for the planet, so, we have to

follow full protocol on this one.” The Captain said, uneasy.

“Kill first, ask questions later? Is that the actual protocol?”

Justine turned away to continue her path towards the

disintegrating boat.

Frank realized that back at the restaurant, Justine had got a

lot of answers. And fully 'blamed' the military for the way this was

turning out. Setting up a small table, and opening box after box,
Justine set up her own little 'work table' as the mere sight of it had

drawn over Mike and Titus.

The Captain seemed not to even care about Mike or Titus

advancing towards her.

“Is she a scientist?

“That’s why she’s here, to find out how about this life form. To

stop it if we can.” Frank pointed to Justine, who was currently

looking over the ground very closely, advancing slowly and careful

where she placed her footing.

“Um, I see. Well, we got some of 'our own' scientists working

on the alien problem too.” The captain stated, wondering if she

was actually going to try and collect a sample of that stuff.

“I kind of figured that, and what have you learned 'so far'?”

Frank said, realizing the tables were about to turn.

“I’ve been asked to escort you to where they are. I'm sure your

scientist there would love to confer the results.” The captain

stated.
 “Oh. I see. Well, we are looking forward to helping, but our

first concern besides our safety is in finding the shuttle... and the

satellite that was on it.”

“Oh, well, that makes sense... There’s one little problem.” The

captain almost smirked at Frank.

“And that is?” Frank awaited the answer.

“There's more of that boat left than there is of the entire shuttle

AND the satellite.” The captain announced.

“Oh, I see...” Frank realized this creature just ruined his entire

career.

“Mister Conner, do you even realize that not including the three

men of the shuttle crew. There are 'three hundred of my men' dead

by this alien. The creature has been determined 'hostile'. We're

taking every 'precaution' to kill the damn thing, which means you

both are to do as we ask of you.”

“So... That means,” Frank said blankly, still adjusting to his life

going down the tubes.

 “As soon as she collect's a safe sample... you'll be coming with

us.” The Captain stated.

“Why me? What have I got to do with this any more ” Frank

caught the scent of a rat.

“Not so much as you.... Her.” The captain pointed to Justine.

“We are returning the both of you to the higher ups. They’ll decide

how you two will be allowed to proceed in assisting the military.”

The captain dropped the other shoe.

“Sir the 'satellite' is, or was... our only concern here.” Frank

spoke honestly.

“Sir. The alien IS the only concern here.” The captain

announced.

“If your out to kill it, you don't need us...” Frank offered,

knowing how well they were at doing that.

“There’s a good point. We're not able get close enough to the

creature, to figure out how to kill the damn thing! And now, the

damn things coming after us. But, maybe with her help, we can
find it's weak spot.” The Captain said, looking hard at Justine

working ferociously to gain a sample.

“Seriously? Her?” Frank said, surprised they hadn't killed the

damn thing already.

“Yes Mr. Conner. What she's doing right now... Let's just say

'that's' the closest any of us has gotten to the creature... and lived.

Hell, the dog just sniffed at the thing and is probably dead off in

the woods somewhere.”

“So, that's the creature?” Frank asked, as Justine had walked

from the Explorer in passing.

“No. I think it's just... blood of the creature. Not sure though...”

Justine stopped, hearing the two men talking.

“Have you gained a sample yet?” The captain asked.

“No, and surprisingly, I don't think I'm going to be able to... Too

strong.” Justine said, almost confused herself.

“What the hell is that stuff,” Frank asked.

 “It's... an acid... But, here's the 'weird' part... It also appears to

be alive.” Justine stated.

“Alive?” The captain looked at her as if she were crazy.

“Alive... What do you mean alive?” Frank asked.

“Let me run a few more tests and I'll have a better understanding

of how to explain this to you.” Justine said, walking off.

“She telling me that shit's alive?” The captain said, instantly

going to his Hummer and

talking to someone on a phone type radio. Frank realized as he

watched the captain, Justine had become 'part' of their solution.

Seems she was doing what the military couldn't. And Frank

realized that this was not a good thing. Damn military was so

sneaky. Justine had found the box she wanted, already

beginning to unpack it. It had contained a set of jars that seemed

to contain colored waters. All marked with labels. With these, she

would be able determine what type of acid they might be dealing

with. She looked through two other boxes, finding a container

built for acid's like this. And glass looking scoops.

She was actually mystified as to 'how' this creature lived.

This, 'substance' was 'in fact' alive and it was moving. It defied

gravity. In fact, it seemed to have 'intelligence' too. How was any

of this possible? She dug into a few more boxes. She was looking

for an ‘analyzer’ that would determine the composite of the acid.

Pulling one out of the box and reading the directions, she figured

out it was the right one.

Justine wasn't really interested in what the two men where

talking about, because she just wanted to 'examine' the fluid like

residue, still dripping off the air boat. Then, walking back to the

explorer, she heard the most 'stupidest' sentence she'd ever heard,

“Yes sir. My orders are to find its weaknesses, and kill it, even if

we have to nuke it.” The Captain stated decisively. Justine had

'stopped'... as Frank spoke her thoughts,

 “NUKE it?” Frank stated, not realizing just how Gun-ho the

military was to neutralize this thing. ”What about capturing it?”

“Not a snowball's chance in hell... If this thing decides to

reproduce, how many would there be, and 'where' would it stop?

This thing is not some 'little bug'. This thing is 'eating people', as

well as every other animal in the swamp. No, we're definitely out

to kill it.” The Captain told Frank, flat out.

“It’s not killing 'anything' but your people.” Justine stated,

opening a whole new round of talks with anger.

“Mrs., how did you come by that information?” The captain

asked, realizing this woman knew 'much more' than even his

scientists.

“Like I said, we're out here on a fact finding mission... And that

'sir'... was a blat-en lie.” Justine announced openly.

In an oops, she almost froze. At this point she was unable

to correct her outburst. Frank wished she hadn’t said that.

 “I see and just 'where' did you get those FACTS?” The captain

asks.

And he cringed when she expelled the truth.

“At the dinner, where all your men eat. You know, maybe you

should actually 'listen' to the locals before you chase them out or

imprison them.” Justine pointed out.

“That’s information from inside the zone. Explain?” The captain

eyed her as Frank wanted to protect Justine

“We’re out of here,” Frank took Justine by the arm leading her

to the Explorer.

“Not so quick...” The two men noted the captains intentions and

stopped them. “Mrs. How did you know that?” This enraged

Justine, and she turned to face him, eyes a fire.

“Because you JACK-ASS I listen...And it's MISS” Justine

stated, as Frank's head lowered.

“I see...” The captain said almost meekly. “...you're both under

arrest.” The other guardsmen walked up on them.

 “Well, your definitely not going to like this news...” Justine

stated, seeming to hold a trump card.

“And that is?”

“A nuke won't kill it... Just create hundreds more of itself.”

Justine said.

“And you figured that out how?”

“Give me ten minutes and I'll explain exactly 'how' I know that.”

“Fine, ten minutes... Let her go.” There captain said as the two

men backed off.

About this time Mike had noticed the demeanor of Frank

and Justine had seriously changed, and began to walk towards

them, Titus in tow while still explaining,

“Yeah, Rufus just sniffed the damn thing, and after sneezing

once or twice, He started to going all kind of nut's!” Titus stated.

“Nuts?” Mike questioned, closing ground.

“Yeah, slap dab. Then he started yelping and before I could get

to him., He darted into the house. I tried to follow him. Then, I’d
seen what that shit was doing to him as he shot past me and out

into the swamp. I heard him dying out there! Then, no more

sounds.” Titus said shrugging, his eyes watering over again. Mike

stopped twenty feet from them, seeing Justine released and

heading back towards her table.

“How long ago this happen?” Mike asked, following her.

“About twenty seconds after you all pulled out the last time.”

Titus stated.

“Damn. So Sorry...” Mike console Titus, knowing that ole Rufus

was dead.

“He was a good hound. Could spot a snake twenty yards away,”

Titus said, in a low voice.

Frank was on the phone, it seemed funny, but to Mike;

Franks phone call, didn't seem to be going too well either. A look

of frustration had plastered itself onto his face, and it didn't seem it

would be gone anytime soon...

 Mike and Titus slowly walked over to where Justine had

set-up a small table to test this stuff. Watched quietly as she picked

up a small twig, half eaten with the deadly

acid and carefully carrying it over to the table, setting it into the

glass container, she seemed to want to watch it for a few minutes.

Franks call's had definitely not pleased him as he walked

over to them. Justine walked back to the Explorer, bringing back

two containers with the colored waters as the captain just watched

from afar.

“What will those do?” Mike asked her.

“Well, this one will tell me how strong it is. And this one should

tell us what it's going to take to neutralize it.” Justine stated,

opening the first canister.

“Watch it. My dog Rufus just sniffed at that shit, and he's dead!”

Titus said, warning her about any of those gases.

“Thank-you, I think I can handle it.” Justine said, slowly pouring

a small amount of a light red colored liquid into the container. It

produced a slight plume of smoke within the container, as she

quickly capped the liquid and set it down, picking up the analyzer

and pointing it at the container, keeping well back of even

'catching a whiff'.

They all watched, as she poked buttons on the small hand

held devise. And the concern that rode itself across her face,

worried all three of the men that stood a distance back from her.

“How bad is it?” Frank asked.

“Worse then I had ever expected. This acid, or whatever it is. is

more powerful than

anything on the planet. It's properties suggest it's coherent of a life

form. And THAT scares me all the more.” Justine statement really

seemed puzzling.

“You mean, that 'goop' is alive too?” Titus asked, Which

shocked the other men that he 'knew' what she had said.
 “According to the results. Remember, our own life forms began

from amino acids. These are just way different then ours.” Justine

said.

The Captain had been talking to some of his big wigs, and

had come over to see if Justine had found anything he could use.

“You got any results there?” The Captain asked having watched

this whole thing.

“It's not good.” Justine turned and announced.

“Explain not good?” The Captain replied.

“Well, Seems... Well, you know how a slug leaves that film?

Well, it seems that the slime this thing is producing, well, it's alive

as well. Just as much as the creature is alive, so is 'this stuff'.”

Justine told him with a pretty straight face.

“Mame? You’re telling me. Even it's 'spit' is alive?” The Captain

made sure he heard her.

 “Sir, I wouldn’t call it ‘spit’, more like... Blood,” Justine

theorized not able to contemplate all the ramifications of her own

statement.

“Blood. That’s the creatures Blood? Okay, so... how do we kill

it?” He asked.

“Don't know. Hell, I haven't even figured out just how this damn

stuff is alive!” Justine stated.

“That is not the answer I need.” The Captain stated.

“Sorry! I'm working on it.” Justine answered him.

“Just get me an answer I can use.” The captain stated, quickly

leaving her to do just that.

It was just too much for Titus. The man was besides

himself. He had to get away from all this bullshit. No one was

going to help him, as he walked away from them and walked over

to the captain. In a few words between them, it was apparent

these NG's had no use for him and literally in a wave, let him

leave.
 It was only when the pickup truck started and almost

burned out of there, that both Frank and Justine turned and

realized he was to late to catch.

“Hey, stop him.” Justine stated, as the Florida sandy dirt left a

smog trail of his quick exit.

“Why?” The captain asked.

“We haven't checked him for contamination. We got to stop

him!” Justine pointed at the kicked up dirt.

“Contamination?”

“He's been here the whole time! Probably stepped in it. This acid

can attach itself to anything, like the bottom of his sneakers! We

wouldn't even know it, till it ate up through his shoes! Damn it, we

got to stop him!” Justine stopped everything. “Frank, slowly head

back to the explorer, remove your shoes before getting in.”

“Okay?”

“I'm right behind you. Captain, please tell me you know where

he was heading?”
 “Of course. To the restaurant,”

“Which one?” Justine asked, just leaving everything behind.

“He only goes to ours,” Mike spoke up.

“Mike, follow Frank and do what he's does.” Justine told him as

Mike followed her orders to the letter.

“Hey, just wait a second, I didn't say you could leave...” The

captain asked as Justine walk up to him.

“I'd have you men remove their boot's and leave them outside of

the vehicle, this whole place is contaminated, we've 'all' probably

stepped onto this crap... and it won't take but a half a drop to kill

any of us... “We're heading for the restaurant, hopefully we're not

to late.” Justine walked straight passed the two NG's, who

realized 'she wasn't lying' and looked at the captain for orders to

do what she suggested...

“You heard her. Let's go. Leave your foot gear outside the

vehicle... Move.” The captain said, making his own way back to

the Hummer.
 They had all abandon their shoes and left, almost racing

down the interstate, towards the diner. It wasn't but ten minutes as

a frantic Glenda stood outside the doors looking so frantic, Mike

knew there was something wrong. What he saw made him almost

jump out.

“Wait, Pull up next to the captain. Open your window.” Justine

said, seeing Titus's pickup parked almost a few slots past the door.

Frank, doing so, Justine motioned for him to roll down his

window. As he understood, he yelled over to her.

“Okay. Now what?”

“We need shoes.”

“Yeah, I got that... I'm getting sizes now, what do you take?'”

“11” Frank said

“10” Mike said, seeing Glenda walking quickly towards him, her

hands raised in distress.

“9” Justine said as Glenda made it up to the window, blocking

out the view of the captain...

 “It's Titus! Somethings bad wrong... He went screaming into the

kitchen, told me to get everyone out... He was hurt, told me not to

follow... What's happening!”

The captain had overheard every word.

“Glenda! Just stand right there. Don't move.. “Justine literally

jumped out her side of the door and ran around the front of the

vehicle. Face to face, Justine said,

“Listen to me, this is very important... I want you to lift up each

foot and let me take off your shoe's one at a time.. Frank, toss me

your jacket...”

“What's going on? Mike?”

“Just listen to her... Do what she says.” Mike pleaded.

Glenda looked at Justine and seeing the urgency lifted her

one foot towards Justine. Justine began to talk calmly to her,

tossing the jacket on the ground next to her.

When I remove this, place your foot directly on the jacket, then

the same with the other. You understand?'

 “Yes... why?”

“Titus stepped into the creatures path. He got some on his shoe.

You may have some on the bottom of your shoes too.

“Oh shit.” Glenda said as the first shoe slid off. “Is... that why he

was screaming?”

“Yes. Captain quarantine this site NOW!” Justine stated, as she

could see the captain still relaying instructions through a phone

system. Justine carefully allowing Glenda to balance using her own

shoulder as support, Glenda's first foot landed on the jacket. The

shoe she held, tossed behind her landed twenty foot away.

“Now, the other foot...” Justine tried to smile at the woman who

did exactly as she was told. Justine got the shoe off, tossing it

back behind her, again guiding Glenda so her other foot landed

safely on the jacket.

The woman safe now, Justine spoke...

 “I want you to walk 'away' from here, to the other side of the

parking lot... Mike, get out on the far side, go around the back of

the vehicle and walk her away, understand?”

“Yes, of course.” Mike said, having already opened the door and

exited. Justine hoped 'she' hadn't just made contact with the

residue and slowly retraced her path to the front of the vehicle.

Once in front, she knew she was good. The bottoms of her feet

'didn't' burn

as she knew what to look out for.

Back on her side of the vehicle, she yelled to the captain,

“Back straight up... about ten yards, you should be good.” The

driver never waited for him to confirm it as the Hummer hit

reverse and backed up to almost where Mike and Glenda now

stood. “Frank... you too, meet you there.”

Frank also placed it in reverse, and did the same. Justine

walked easier, seeing both Mike and Glenda barefooted and arm in

arm. Frank got out as did the captain...

 “Oh this is just 'peachy'” The captain announced almost pissed

off for being out of uniform.

“Better peachy than dying,” Frank pointed out as they both

looked on at the empty restaurant.

“Okay.. no one goes near that building or that pick-up truck,

captain.”

“Since 'when' do you give orders around here?” The captain

asked.

“Since I'm the only one who knows what's going on here.”

Justine walked straight up to him. Somehow it seemed to shut him

up.

“Boot's will be here in about two minutes...” He said almost

quietly to her.

“Till then, I'll explain what we're up against...” Justine said.

“About damn time,” The captain agreed.

Justine rolled out everything she had learned to the

captain, unknowing he had the phone picking up ever word she

spoke. It was about the time the boot arrived with 'many'

hummer's in tow as the NG private got out to direct all the others

to a safe parking location. There must have been 30 men, awaiting

orders.

“Captain, the more men, the more likely someones going to step

into this shit. Just block off the entrance a guard on each side of

the building... and do the same for the last site we...” As almost

ten set's of boots landed on the ground in front of them.

“Yeah... I got this!” The captain almost barked at Justine as

Frank stood up at him.

“She's just trying to save your men...” Frank sternly eyed him.

(It was a guy thing).

The captain turned away looking among the boots for his

size. As frank, Justine, the two NG found theirs as well, The

Captain walked towards the troops as the driver climbed back into

the hummer. The group of men took note he was coming at them

and tried to assemble some kind of formation. On approach, he

began to explain 'what was going on' 'how to deal with it' and

'what to watch out for'. It took all of three minutes and five went

one way towards the building., and four walked to blocked off the

entrance by the street. The others climbed back into the Hummers

and promptly left the entire site, heading back onto the interstate.

The captain came back over to Justine and Frank, now

taking the time to lace up his boots.

“So, now what?” The captain asked.

“Got a compass?” Justine asked, “left mine back at the other

site,”

“A 'compass'? Do I look like I carry a compass? Damn.” The

captain said, turning to the NG driving his hummer. “Find me a

compass.”

“Yes sir, on it.” The driver spoke getting on the phone system. It

wasn't twenty seconds that the driver spoke out.

“Sir. It's the Major.”

“Which 'Major'?” The captain asked.

 “Major Briton... sir.”

It didn't look like he wanted to take the call. Frank and

Justine stood back allowing the captain his call. They quickly

realized 'most' of the call was about 'them'.

It was hard to follow, but while on the phone, a smaller military

'jeep' was let into the area. Stopping the driver got out holding a

compass and the captain, still conveying things over the phone

pointed to Justine. The man quickly understood and handed it off

to Justine and left just as quickly.

Done with the call, Frank asked him,

“Is there anything on your end you could share with us,”

“Not really. Except that 'Thermal scans', 'infer red' and 'X-ray'

does not detect it.” The Captain informed them. The only way

were able to track it is by our missing people.”

“Thermal scans don't pick it up? Have you tried a spectral

scan?” Justine asked.

 “I don’t know, let me check... ” The Captain admitted calling

someone on the cell phone 'again'.

“Try it, may help to locate the actual creatures location.” Justine

stated.

“Miss, Seems that anything that actually sees this thing gets

killed. We've now lost two hundred and eighty men. Four air

boats, a chopper.”

“A helicopter, really?” Frank asked dumbfounded.

“Well, got to close to the tree tops... But that’s four men still

dead. So... Now about needing that 'compass'? ” The captain

pointed to it.

“We know the direction this residues traveling.. so..” Justine

began using the compass, and gauging it to proper alignment.

“So, your saying it should be the same here too.”

“Correct, which means it should be coming out of the building in

about this direction,” Justine pointed with her arm and hand

pointing in an almost north direction.

 “If your right, it should track across the east end of this parking

lot.” The captain stated.

“Correct. So... do you have any type of 'visual' on the creature?”

“...even the cameras we've setup throughout the area, go down

before we can get any image of the damn thing!”

“The camera's go down?” Justine questioned.

“Yes.” The Captain confirmed.

“Electrical interference,” Frank stated to Justine, as he knew

about this.

“Probably what attracted it to your satellites emissions?” Justine

pointed out.

“So you agree with that. Electrical interference, so, that means

we can short it out somehow? The Captain asked.

“I don’t think it's going to work like that,” Frank interrupted, as

Justine took over.

 “But, I'd say it's a point of reference...Captain, it's information

like that we're looking for... That’s why I got to go in.” Justine

said, not sure if she just given him an answer or have gotten one!

“Miss, is there a solution you could give me on how to kill it

that creature?” The Captain asked.

“Captain, I’m trying. That's why I need to go find it, but, were

nowhere near that point yet,” Justine pointed out.

“Okay, I'm sending a team to assist you two on this. I'll get full

clearance for you both and just make sure I get a way to terminate

this thing. As soon as you can, Washington's worried it may head

for a populated area. And if it does, we have a fail safe plan. So,

don't let down your country.” The Captain said.

“How much time do we have?” Frank asked, already knowing

there was a time frame on this.

“currently, seventy-two hours...” The Captain stated.

“What happens after that?” Justine asked.

“The fail safe plan.” Frank almost mumbled under his breath.
 “We nuke it.” The Captain confirmed as if that would instantly

incinerate it.

“Oh… Holy Jesus, Oh, hell no… ” Justine said, her thoughts on

that almost popped a fuse, as dread blanked her mind.

“It's okay Justine, we'll have it figured it out way before that

point.” Frank said, trying to lead Justine away while she stood

there frozen, still dazed about is his answer.

“I hope so…” The captain said. Then he just walked away from

them, back towards his Hummer.

“Captain, we've noticed that each of creatures residue trail's are

heading in exactly the same direction Justine here has pointed

out.” Frank told the Captain.

“Same direction? And that has to do with what?” He asked.

“It seems to heading back towards the crash site.” Frank stated.

“Or the creature...” Justine added, still in a shock/ dazed stance.

“I thought we'd determined that?” The captain seemed to ponder

this rehash,
 “Yes, but now we 'know' the residue is on a course to link up

with the creature...” Justine stated, somehow breaking out of the

dazed stance.

“Link up with the creature? Solider,” The Captain called to one

of the enlisted men, “How long until those white coat's get here?”

“I'll check. sir.” The man disappeared towards a set of the aimed

head lights.

“White coats?” Justine asked.

“Scientists.” Frank translated.

“I'm going to need to get you civilian's out of here...” The

Captain stated.

“How, by tucking us away?” Frank asked.

“We need to actually SEE the creature we're up against.” Justine

stated.

“It's too dangerous for you two. Actually, we've just setup a link

through mounted camera's and might have caught our first

sighting of this thing.”

 “Where? I need to see this.” Justine stated.

“You seem like you need to be arrested? I told you, this is no

place for civilians.” The captain stated angry she was still

confronting him.

“We're trying to help you, you... idiot!” Justine said almost

getting up in the face of the captain.

The captain instantly took offense to Justine's statement, as

Frank wished he could have stopped the outburst...

“Justine.. NO,” Frank pulled her away from the captain's face.

Holding her by her arms.

“I've got that and all other types of information at a video store

we've turned into a headquarters, so you want to help...You need

to be there.” The Captain said, interrupted by the enlisted man.

“Fine!” Justine burst out.

“Sir.”

“Yes solider?”
 “The scientist's aren't allowed unsupervised release, under a

major Briton orders.” The man saluted the Captain.

“What the hell's that all about? Fine, I decided to take these two

there...personally! How long until replacements get here?”

“ETA. About four minutes.” The soldier stated.

“Prepare to move out and bring these two.” The Captain created

orders and began to bark them out.

It was about five minutes before the Captain had instructed

his men, and returning to all the others, it seemed the game plan

had completely changed.

“Dr. Conner and Miss Cohen You'll be riding with me...” The

Captain instructed them.

“I have my own vehicle, ” Frank stated.

“I was under the impression it had been contaminated?” The

Captain questioned.

“No. There 'was' a possible scenario it had... but we've ruled it

out. It's clean.” Frank said.

 “Soldier, Those two,” The captain pointed to Mike and his wife,

still standing over by the Explorer., “Their to be held under

standard quarantine.”

“You can't do that!” Justine yapped.

“Do 'you two' want to hold hands with them? Or come with

me?” The captain asked openly,

“But, we’re not...” Frank tried to reiterate.

“Follow 'my way' of thinking here you two... My way, we'll be

releasing the diner’s owners, after 24 hrs, with you two following

me to HQ... Or your way, all of you spend the next twenty-four

hour's in quarantine then 'you two' go off to a prison, for a few

years...” The Captain stated, as two other Hummers pulled into

the parking lot.

They had no choice... After backing down, things seemed

to move rather quickly over the next few minutes. Glenda and

Mike almost got upset and it took a few minutes for Justine to
point out that this would in fact, be the best thing for there own

safety. Frank promised Mike to pick him up as soon as the

quarantine was over.

They were quickly led away, as Justine and Frank were

allowed to follow in their own vehicle. New troops were deployed

at the entrance of the diner’s parking lot as the place they were

leaving looked like the deserted spot of a war zone. The truck of

Titus's now, exploding into a large ball of flames. Frank and

Justine followed the Captain's Humvee back onto interstate. Three

exits down they'd pulled off, heading west. It was a short ride

from there and they'd pulled in front of a well lit Hollywood Video

Store.

“I didn't like the way he just did that,” Justine stated.

“I don't like this at all. Something else is happening here; stay

quiet until I figure this out.” Frank drove behind one of the

Humvee's.
 The National Guard had turned the store into a major

campsite as soldiers stood guard and fifteen or so transport truck's

dotted the parking lot. They pulled in directly beside the Captain,

and were given a band of ID to wear before they entered, they

were also 'fingerprinted' which bothered Frank. Soon they would

realize EXACTLY 'who' they were. It was something that they had

both tried to avoid.

“Over here Dr. Conner, if you would.” The Captain pointed to

three scientists, just beyond the wall of tapes on display.

On table top, they had a map of everything that had been

reported since the shuttle went under radar and crashed. There on

the map was where they had been, even where they had picked up

the scientific supplies.

“Mrs. Conner? You will bring these three gentlemen up to

speed. Then, as soon as your clearance is confirmed, we'll go from

there.” The Captain said leaving her to three other scientist's who

just stared at her.

 “Who are you,” Major Briton looked up from his desk.

“Sir, I’m Frank Conner, the man who owns the satellite that was

on your shuttle.”

“Wrong. Not government, it belongs to NASA.” Briton didn’t

even look up at him.

“Our 'Clearance' has already been checked.” Frank stated.

“Uh, yes. Solider, did you find 'Mrs. Conner's' Clearance.” The

Captain requested.

“Sir, Mrs. Conner? There’s no Mrs. Conner. Sir,”

“Hum. I wonder 'why' that is?” The Captain raised an eyebrow

to Frank.

“Frank Conner is not married, Sir,” The solider stated as Frank

was sitting down, and now just wanted to leave. Major Briton

realized the Captain had just returned ‘without’ Justine.

“Your lucky you are who you say you are. Mr. Conner.” The

Captain pointed to the man he'd brought.

 “Please, Mr. Conner, stay seated. She’s fine.” Major Briton

offered.

“She’s with the scientists; they’re grilling her good, last I saw of

her.” The Captain told the Major, with a snicker.

“Now, let's see what we have here…” The Major smiled at

Frank.

Frank was staring down the barrel of a gun here. This was

about to get brutal.

It wasn’t long before they cornered Frank and played out every

move he’d made up till now. They knew exactly who he was, why

he was here, but for the life of themselves could not figure out

what he expected to do now. It had been a grueling fifteen minutes

and Frank hadn’t yet said a word.

The three of them opened a barrage of questions towards

Justine, and it was quite evident they knew almost nothing.

Justine looked and rolled her eyes, knowing this would take a

whole lot of time to explain, precious time. Between the four of

them, they ironed out the myths and the facts, weeding out the

'stupid thinking'. Thomas, one of these three 'white coats' asked if

she was the one was who requested the spectral scan.

“Yes. Did you run it?” She asked, almost wanting to see the

information.

“That's been the best piece of thinking so far.” Thomas smiled at

her.

“Oh? What type of image did you get?” She asked.

“Well, here. Let me show you.” One of the other scientists

opened up a scrolled paper across the table. Though they didn't

speak to her, she 'read' the colors on the picture.

Justine realized that the scientist had been warned 'not to'

give any of the information they were already sharing. There eye's

darted about, making sure not to get caught at this. But it gave

Justine a picture of what it had revealed. Looking over the paper

as quickly as she could, she studied the color's on it rather than

'where' the color's were.

 “I knew it!” Justine said out loud, confirming her own ideas.

“What?” One of the scientist's asked.

“Here. See? And there, the whole thing, the patterns show it. I

knew it, it is alive. But notice that it's not a ‘carbon’ based life

form.” Justine stated, and they quickly moved over to the map to

see just what she was seeing.

“Yeah, guess that’s why they’re trying to kill it. It’s alien.”

Darwin stated.

“Hey, that’s enough. You had your say, time to meet the Major.”

A guard stepped into the open framed doorway, calling for Justine.

They had been busted! Suddenly, she was being lead away

from the scientist. What had she said? Then a door in front of her

opened. Guided in by a guard, the door closed behind her as the

look of fear was plastered on Franks face.

“Um, that was kind of rude,” She said offended.

“You know why you've been brought back to me?”

“You don't even know who I am?”

 “Not Mrs. ‘Conner’ I hope?” Major Briton’s egged her on.

“No...” Justine eyed Frank a second time. “It’s Cohn. I wonder

cornball clink, do you guys have any idea what you're up against?”

Justine opened the conversation, bridged with the knowledge of

what the three scientists theorized. He acted as if she hadn’t even

spoken.

Frank sat next to her as she stood in sheer defiance.

Briton, closing the file, he looked up at them both.

“Um, normally, my options are pretty clear in situations such as

this. And trust me, I hate people trying to deceive me. As you

haven’t as yet, I’ll try to keep an open mind here, and it's MAJOR

Clink.” Major Briton stated.

It was well clear that they were 'both' heading directly to

jail.

“We're just trying to help,” Frank tried to state. Major Briton

just held up a single hand, which told him to 'shut-up'.

 “Your walking on a very 'thin' line already, I suggest you

LISTEN. Do I make myself clear?” Major Briten sternly stated to

the both of them. Justine just crossed her arms and fumed.

“Uh. Yes sir.” Frank said.

Justine had just stood silently, understanding 'something

was up'.

“Now then., As I was stating., you've 'both' deceived me.

Neither of you are married. your boyfriend and girlfriend, am I

right?” Major Briton asked.

“Yes sir. Actually we are to be married next year.” Frank stated,

which almost shocked Justine, as that was the first time that

subject had ever arisen.

“But your not NOW,” Major Briton pointed out, only getting

madder.

“No sir.” Frank backed down.

“Dr Conner.? Wasn't that your satellite on the shuttle?” The

major asked.
 “Yes sir.” Frank decided to answer in short terms.

“Miss Cohn. I see you've been studying courses relevant to the

FBI. Uh, I also see that

You’re hobby is ‘directly related’ to a first contact. So, you’re an

ET hunter?” Major Briton questioned.

“Well,” Justine said, and was about to go into a long winded

story about it, then she looked over to Frank who was shaking his

head 'Do not to go there,' “Uh, yes sir.”

“I see. And little did you realize there might be one?” Major

Briton pointed out.

“Yes sir. No sir! I,” Justine said, finally just shutting up seeing

on of the scientists enter the room. Briton looked directly at him,

almost angry by his entrance.

“Sir,” A voice other than there's spoke up, “If I may,”

“This had better be good...” The Major said with a look that

burned a hole through the man in the white trench coat. .

 “Uh, Miss Cohen's treatment of this situation… In mine and my

colleague’s eyes, has been right on the money as far as this

creature…”

“Alien you mean.” Briton corrected him.

“Alien… we were very delighted to have her presents out in the

field.” Thomas stated. It was praise, out of the blue.

“I see. Has she given any 'real' information that been useful to

you?” Major Briton queried.

“Sir. The spectral scan, in which is what has finally given us a

picture of what your looking for.”

“We can locate it now? Why didn’t you say that first,” Briton lit

up towards the man.

“Uh, no sir, nothing but a radar blip, but it won't give us an

exact location...”

“Then how?”

“We are starting to understand how it’s built, is what I meant.”

He stated.
 “Come back when you actually can tell us how to 'see it'... ”

“Because of her contribution, we have an avenue to do that.

And she also confirmed something else. It's not a 'carbon based'

life form. Which also means, given time, we'll be able to figure a

way to kill it, or capture it.”

“Not carbon based? Miss Cohn. Honestly, I've been thinking to

cram you into a small box until this whole thing's over with. But,

I'm starting to see you've won over my scientist in a single talk.

Saying that, In that you think you might have a handle on this

thing, well, it's killing my men and I want answers.” Major Briten

said.

“Yes sir, I believe I can do that.” Justine confirmed.

“I'm. therefore, Going to override these orders to 'contain you'

and I'm going to let our scientist's here. to command your

whereabouts, in retrieving the information they require. Do you

'completely' understand what I'm asking?” Major Briten said,

giving her a rather stern look.

 “Yes sir.” Justine stated, understanding it was this or jail.

“Dr. Conner You however, we have no use for you. Your to be

'debriefed' and sent directly home.” Major Briton then pointed to

Justine... And I expect you to stay back there, with those renegade

scientist's and get me those answers.” The Major stated.

“Uh, about my satellite?” Frank tried to get an answer.

“We've paid you in full! SO YOU... go home. That's Final!.

Unless you actually WANT to spend this whole time behind bars.

Do you?” Major Briten questioned him.

“No sir.” Frank gritted his teeth.

“Good, besides, like the shuttle, your satellite has been

'dissolved'. Now, be a 'good businessman and go type me up a

report on how you got this far... Include everything up to your last

two words to me . By the way, they will be 'Yes sir'. Understand?”

Major Briten stated.

“Yes sir.” Frank said.

 “Good. You are 'both' dismissed.” Major Briten waved them

away.

They were being split-up! It wasn't suppose to go like this.

Out of earshot, they talked about it,

“I don't believe that man! He can't do this!” Justine said to Frank.

Thomas following directly behind them.

“He can, and did. Looks like your on your own. You know my

number right? Call me when your clear enough to talk, I'll be close

by.” Frank said, giving her a wink.

“This way. Sir. Dr. Conner. Right in here,” A soldier stated. The

room held a typewriter.

She stood for a second, not believing this was actually

happening. Then the slim man in the white coat confronted her.,

“Miss Cohn.?” Thomas questioned.

“Call me 'Justine'.” She said out of confusion.

“Yes. Justine, Please follow me. We have many things to discuss.

And not much time.” The man tried to lead her back to his little
corner. Frank again gave her a wink, patting his cell phone pocket.

She still had hers too! And she gave a wink back.

“Uh. Yeah.” She said, slowly turning away from Frank.

It took a few minutes to get back into all the jargon they

had been spewing between each other. It was their task to give the

military some other way to kill it, other than to NUKE IT! As

they began to pour over what they already knew. Justine realized

that 'this' was going to take some real thinking. Though, with the

'BOTTOM LINE' in place, the pressure was on. they only had

seventy-hours.

TIC-TOCK, THE CLOCK

DON'T STOP
They were discussing all types of ideas. Some 'might'

work, others slid straight into the garbage can. There were a few,
they all concurred. were solid facts. Justine was tired, actually…,

she was exhausted as they had been asking her about the residue's

composition. It would be her first duty to figure out how to

'retrieve' some of the residue and bring it back, to studied. She

explained about how it was impervious to heat. and how every

drop of it was connected to the 'actual creature'.

“We're really making 'progress',” Darwin stated.

“Yeah, well this is all fine and great. But, I'm exhausted. I need

some sleep!” Justine finally couldn't fend off the yawn's. Her eyes

were about to shut.

“One second.” Thomas said.

The 'Three blind mice' was the best way to describe these

three 'white coats'. There was Darwin, very systematic, cautious

but very straight lipped. Then, was Jaron. Mechanically thinking

and half the time 'frowning' about an idea he waited to formulate

in his mind. And finally, Thomas. Though slightly 'taller' than the
other two, he seemed the one that was the most mentally and

emotionally 'stable' among the three of them.

Thomas was the first one she noticed to smile at her. He

was also the same one who had followed them and stood up for

her to the Major. Though he wasn't the nerdy type she was

expecting. his mind was. 'Fixed'. She could tell, he got more

excited over curves on a plain then the curves on a woman.

“Yes, Miss Cohn is going to need someplace to sleep.” Thomas

called over to a soldier, 'evidently' placed there to tend to their

'wants' and 'need's'… It was also to keep an eye on them. The

soldier, hearing Thomas, disappeared.

“Thanks. I hate to bust up this support group, but I've got to go

get some kind of sleep.” She said, stopping short. The soldier had

returned in quick fashion. He carried with him a fold out cot! And

before she could react to this, he dropped it, and walked away. He

wasn’t a nursemaid.
 “What, wait... I'm supposed to sleep here?” Justine stated

'shocked'.

“Of course, you expected different? Nobody’s going to be

leaving until ‘we’ solve this problem.” Darwin stated in a

humorous quip.

“Yeah... No Lights! No people talking! A cot! Where would you

like me to begin?” Justine stated as she couldn't believe they'd do

this.

“Well, you're bed,”

“Cot!” Justine shot back.

“Whatever. Can still sleep on it, so like it or not. Welcome to

our prison.” Darwin pointed to the cots filled with notepads,

papers or some clothes spread about them.

“You've got to be kidding me?” Justine said.

“Nope, Welcome to hell!” Thomas stated.

 “Oh shit.” Justine stated plopping down on the cot. “Well. What

about a pillow... and maybe a blanket or a sheet?” She asked,

suddenly noticing the solider disappearing again.

“All's you got to do is ask out loud, and they bring it.” Darwin

said, seeing her take note of the guard absence.

“Yeah. I asked for a two inch stake, medium rare, with A-1

sauce. Two hour's later, 'Poof ' there it was.” Jaron said, smiling

about the great service around here.

“Great. I want to sleep in my own bed.” Justine said out loud,

just wanting to go home.

“Girl. They’ll will go to your house, load up your bed and bring

it back here. Watch what you ask for.” Darwin stated.

The solider had brought back a pillow and a blanket,

“Here you are miss.” He said, not even smiling at her.

“Thank-you,” Justine stated, miffed. Placing the pillow at one

end, she quickly laid into it and placing the cover herself over. She
tossed and turned as she listened to the others re-hashed the

information over and over till she finally fell fast asleep.

It wasn't 'near' long enough, she didn't even dream!

“Hey. Miss Cohn.. Wakeup, Miss Cohn. Rise and shine.” Darwin

said, a little

timid about waking her.

“Uh.” Justine cracked her eyes, and all of a sudden came wide

awake. “Where am I!?”

“Right where you fell asleep,” Jaron said from the other side of

their makeshift desk.

She suddenly remembered it all, and instantly bolted to a sitting

position. Darwin jumped two foot back. It did seemed much

quieter then, when she'd fell asleep.

“Uh. What time is it?” Justine asked alerted it was morning

again.

“Almost daylight, you want any breakfast?” Darwin asked, still

looking over some papers.

 She yawned and scratched her head while trying to

straighten her hair and quickly realized she had to use the

restroom.

“Where’s is the restroom?” She asked.

“Over there. But, knock first, or you may just walk in on

somebody.” Jaron almost snickered at her.

Walking to the door marked 'restroom', she knocked. No answer.

She pulled the door open and realized that every man in uniform

must have used this toilet. It stank! The air was so foul that she

could have whizzed on the floor and it would have made no

difference.

“Oh god, I've found hell.” She said to herself. Pulling her pants

and underwear down to her knees, then in a half stoop over the

toilet, she let it rip. About mid stream, though she hadn't heard the

door swing open, there stood a man quite in a hurry to take a leak.

His hand held his zipper at half mast, as he froze at the sight of a

strange woman still pissing in a hover over the toilet.

 “Oh crap, sorry.” The soldier stated, trying to back out as

quickly as possible.

She just closed her eyes as the man beat a hasty retreat out

of the bathroom. Justine opened her eyes when she heard the door

close.

“Yep... This is hell.” She said out loud, now trying to allow the

rest of her kidney to empty. It took almost a half a minute to relax

enough, but finally, she emptied out and realized that there wasn't

a single sheet of toilet paper in the whole room.

“Definitely Hell!” Justine yanked up her underwear and her

pants. Thank god she hadn't been about to have her period, or this

place wouldn’t be standing. The creature 'out there', would have

been the least of their problems.

Now, lit up like a heavy stoked fire, she opened the

bathroom door. Only the man waiting to go wasn’t afraid... he had

to go NOW. In a glance, she gave him a pass. But the sound of the
door bursting open had drew all kinds of attention. The look on

her face didn't hold that sweet smile any longer.

Though they avoided her apparent anger, they also didn’t

engage her loud action. She was not to be messed with right now.

And even Jaron avoided eye contact when she came back into

there little alcove.

The 'slam' had brought Major Briton’s attention and it

peaked her anger when he personally showed up to ask,

“Is there a problem, Miss Cohn?” He seemed to smile at her.

“Is... THERE A PROBLEM!!! AUGH!! You rotten, no good,

son of a bitch... I'll show you a problem!” Justine said as she

lunged at him. She was caught by someone from behind her, as the

Major backed quickly out of her reach. Her arms flailed at him.

“One of your men just caught her on the toilet, that's all. It will

be alright.” The voice that contained her had stated it was Darwin.

“Alright MY ASS!” Justine ranted, her arms flailing at the

Major.
 “Clam her down and get me some answers.” The major stated

and left the area.

“Alright!. It's over... You’re fine,” Darwin's voice spoke to her.

She was half way into hyperventilating, but she calmed

down long enough to let him think she was back in control.

Stupidly, he released her. And before he could react to her sudden

turn around, there was a female's fist was speeding directly

towards his nose.

It was the second commotion this morning. The fist

connecting had sent Darwin sprawling over a table and up under

his own cot. He lay there a few seconds as Jaron, who was

looking to find ‘some way’ around this mad woman, was dodging

her looks towards him, when suddenly Major Briton showed up,

again!

“Miss Cohn. Am I going to have to place you under arrest?” The

Major asked, as Darwin suddenly got up off the floor, stepping up

behind her while holding his heavily bleeding nose.

 “It okay... It’s alright, she just getting out some of her

frustrations,” Darwin said, in a hand covered voice. His upper lip

split, showed of blood dripping everywhere.

“You have the makings of a wild card. I don't work well with

wild cards. Miss Cohn.”

Major Briton stated in a tone that proved he was more than

slightly peeved.

“No. She'll be fine. Major, we're getting close to an answer on

how to confront the creature. It's just a little hard on the brain,

you know.” Thomas came forward.

“We're 'close'…” Jaron backed this statement from the other side

of the desk.

“Not one more disruption. Do I make myself clear?” Major

Briton asked. The private guarding them, stood almost directly

between Justine and the Major.

“Yes Major Briton” Darwin said, wiping his nose, as it had yet

to slow the blood flow. Justine's temper seemed to be held in

check for the moment. And this was, really, a good thing! The

Major left the area.

“Easy girl,” Darwin said, saying far out of reach. “We've been up

all night. And while you slept,”

“I’m going to report that man.

“Justine, if you'll pull in your horns for a second, you might be

surprised at what we've uncovered.” Thomas stated, showing their

work table, as if it held what he said was the truth. Justine

'snorted' at him.

“...son of a bitch walked in on me while I was pissing! God I

hate that!” Justine was still seething over this.

“Well get over it.” Darwin said, taking another step back, as she

shot him a very angry look.

“Here. Look. Just look at what we've found,” Thomas waved a

slice of paper, trying to distract her and 'off set' her anger.

“Grr, wait,you found something?”

 “Yeah, check this out.” Thomas opened, “We figured out how to

contain the residue.

“Contain it? But Briton wants to kill it?” Justine pointed out.

“You realize that's not be the best option...” Thomas stated.

“Ya think?” Justine said, glad that someone was making sense.

One thing Justine noted first off was that it would be

almost impossible to actually kill it, unless they could find a viable

weakness. So far, they hadn’t even figured out what its base form

consisted of. Without that much information, whatever they were

saying was no more than a shot in the dark.

“We think a static electrical charge may contain it,” Jason stated.

“How? I mean without even a base element to start with,

anything we formulate will crash and burn, literally.” Justine

pointed out.

“A bio-electrical damping field,”

“Yeah, it's but a simple static charge!” Darwin said, smiling at

her, his nose still seeping blood.

 “Basic electricity,” Justine gave them a queer look.

“Wouldn't require much, a ‘low voltage’ static charge would be

all that's required.” Darwin offered.

“A small voltage static charge? How? ” Justine asked, actually

stumped at this seemingly simple idea. Her anger curbed as

confusion took over.

“Yeah, Thomas figured it out.” Jason said, almost afraid to smile

about it, but pointing to the proof on the paper.

“Let me see that.” Justine advanced towards Jason, and almost

snatched the paper out of his hand. She 'still' wasn't happy.

She looked over the paper. It took a few minutes to figure

out the formula they had used, and she had to re-read the

information they had gotten off the spectral scan. However, it

seems to hold weight.

“This might work. With this, we should be able to contain it long

enough at least to study it.” Darwin pointed out.

 “How long, I mean, to build a workable unit? And then, attach it

to a container?” Justine asked.

“We already did it.” Jason stated.

“Hun?” Justine questioned.

“We already have built it. Thomas is about too go out and

collect a sample of the residue.” Darwin stated.

“Coffee?” Jason asked, just trying to be polite.

“Yes., Hey. Why, why didn't you wake me? I thought 'I' was

suppose to be the one going out in the field. What? He's going to

bring it here?” Justine questioned the two men.

“No...”

“Thank-god.” Justine took the coffee.

“He’ll be taking it to The Kennedy Science Center.” Jason

explained.

“Thomas needed to 'stretch' his legs... You were asleep, and

Jason and I have already made progress on the next 'problem' on

the list.” Darwin concluded.

 “The next problem, which is?” Justine asked as Jason offered

sugar for her coffee.

“We already know this creature has a ‘hypnotic effect’, and

we've understood it uses a lighting system to implement it.”

Darwin opened.

“Where’d you get this information?”

“We’ve already done a lot of workup on this creature. After

your coffee, we like if you’d look it over.” Jason added.

She realized that they had more information then she had

hunches, and it might be best to look it all over. They offered her

to there ‘table of madness’ and as she picked up paper after paper,

they described the thoughts it contained. They’re thinking wasn’t

reputable, it all made sense. But, a few had some major holes.

“So, containing a specimen is one thing, the creature, is

another.” Justine finally realized.

“We may have something on how it’s attracted.” Darwin said,

holding up a piece of paper to her.

 “So, you think it’s a ‘scent’ it’s going after.”

“Has to be. This creature, it must have a multiple hypnotic

system, which means that we shouldn’t exclude any of our five

senses...” Jason

“Smell, sight, touch, sound,” Darwin began to count them off.

“I got it.” Justine spoke.

“Lights and sound capture it prey's attention, but...” Darwin

said,

“Not sure how it goes about getting attracted to make that

threat attention.” Justine said, finishing his statement.

“Yeah,” Darwin said stumped. He had racked his brain over this,

unable to connect the attraction.

They worked on theories, as Thomas walked out carrying

the small device. He was going to attempt to collect a mere drop

of the residue slithering back to the creature.

The three of them worked on anything that might work against

this creature, as Darwin split off to work on defense against this

thing. Jason and Justine pressed on without him.

It was about three hours later and Justine was now

starved, as Thomas entered the room. He seemed pissed off to her.

“Well?” Darwin asked, seeing the disdain on his face.

“I had it contained. The charge was working, but somehow, the

container just split wide open. I don't know what went wrong! It

should have worked.” Thomas said, completely frustrated,

mentally trying to figure out the failure of this.

“Sir,” It was a soldier standing there. “Major Briton wishes to

speak with you.”

“Oh. Here we go.” Darwin said, watching Thomas follow out

the soldier to Major Briton’s office.

“What's going on?” Justine asked.

 “A 'failure report'... Just wait till it's your turn. That man can

chew some real ass!” Jason said, and Thomas heard it, still not out

of ear shot. He stopped and just looked at Jason.

“..A failure report, do, they have the right to do that?” Justine

questioned.

“They're looking for answers. I should say they're looking at us

'for' those answers.” Darwin stated.

“They had over two hundred and thirty troops killed by this

thing, yesterday.” Jason said as Thomas was again being led away.

“That was part of his failure report butt chewing.” Darwin

stated. Jason shut-up.

“Oh shit.” Justine said, realizing she was just another rat in the

maze. “I got to get out of here. This is crazy.”

“Yeah, Right... Briton will throw you into Leavenworth so fast,

it will spin your head right off your shoulders.” Darwin stated.

“Yeah, you will be thinking 'Just click your heels three times

Dorothy.” Jason stated.

Justine was about to just walk out, until she seen the National

Guard Private standing there. Just looking at her, and suddenly she

realized it was all true.

“They have 'five' Private's to every one of us. You can forget

leaving.” Jason said avoiding her eyes.

“Then I just won't work. Hell with it!” Justine tried this idea.

“Oh. Another Leavenworth bound idea. He's thrown 'three'

people into Leavenworth since we've started this project.” Darwin

said.

“God damn 'Hitler' he is.” Jason stated, as a bummed Thomas

reentered there area. He seemed to have been crying. The second

guard smiled at the first, but left without speaking a word.

“What the hell's going on?” Justine stood in front of the soldier,

asking him. The private refused to even speak to her.

“There not friendly, at least not towards any of us.” Darwin

almost pulled her away from the private’s face. Darwin must have

been right, the private didn't even flinch.

 “Oh, but they will take us anywhere we need to go.” Jason said

leading her away.

“You mean he has actually placed people in jail?” Justine asked.

They all nodded.

“Faster than you can say 'shit',” Thomas said sitting down on his

bed.

“So, what happened out there?” Jason asked Thomas.

“I don't know. I thought it was working, seemed to be. Then,

faster than an egg cracks, the container just busted open!”

“Busted open?” Darwin asked him.

“Yeah, just shattered... 'Poof',” Thomas said, really bummed and

completely upset.

“How do you mean shattered?” Justine asked, curious.

“I thought I heard a crack, but didn't see anything. Then about

two seconds later, it shattered like it had hit the pavement. Thank-

god I wasn't holding it.” Thomas said, thinking about the effects of

that scenario.
 “Was it hot? Did you feel any heat?” Justine asked of it.

“Of course, but it wasn't 'that bad'.” Thomas said trying to

reconstruct what had happened.

“It wasn't a heat shatter?” Jason asked.

“No.? No, it didn't seem to be?” Thomas thought about it.

“Harmonic's?” Justine asked. Tossing it out there, as Thomas

thought about this. He head came up, staring Justine in the eye.

“Yeah. Yes! That's it. Vibrations! That's how it acted, like it was

vibrating.” Thomas thought about it harder, and it fit all the

criteria of the reaction.

“By harmonics, vibration through harmonic's? ” Darwin

questioned.

“Look. We already know the creatures working on a multi-level

of dynamics. It would only fit that harmonic's would play a part of

a natural defense!” Justine stated.

 “That would fit towards many of the attributes the creature

seems to be capable of. We shouldn't rule out 'sound' then,” Jason

added.

“Good point.” Thomas stated.

“I'm hungry. Say, will they take me out to eat.” Justine changed

the conversation suddenly.

“Sure, as long as it on the way to do something.” Darwin said,

caught off guard by her question.

“Somehow we need to get a sample of that thing.” She stated,

her stomach growled at her.

“How? Nothing we have yet, will contain it?” Thomas asked.

“Plastic... If you mix it right, it won't shatter. And we still can

place a static charge on the plastic. Plastic won't hold the heat!

Shit.” Justine offered, realizing quickly it wouldn't work.

“It's not 'plastic' you’re looking for... There is a synthetic they

have now. Its properties do have the qualities that will carry a
static charge and holds together via a very high melting point.”

Darwin stated as if recalling it from far in the past.

“Is it shatterproof,” Thomas asked, still stuck on what had just

happened.

“Oh definitely... what was the name of that stuff, uh?” Darwin

racked his brain.

“Tri-quorum. It's still in the experimental stages though. They

wanted to use it to replace the heat tiles on the shuttle.” Jason

added.

“Yeah, that's the stuff!” Darwin said grabbing up a pen and

writing it down.

They quickly made up all the specs and Darwin asked to

use the video phone computer. He disappeared for about ten

minutes as Justine was writing down everything she knew about

the creature’s ways.

“A dog whistle?” Justine questioned out loud, looking up from

her pad. She caught Jason's eye.

 “It's frequency of harmonics?” Jason was already thinking along

the same lines.

“Yeah. It'd have to scramble the human mind in order to cause

such attraction.” Justine pointed out.

“Like the residue?” Jason asked.

“The creature and 'residue' are one and the same, aren’t they?”

Thomas confirmed.

“Oh man. Sound harmonic's and hypnotic lights attraction, acid

as blood... Hell, let's hope this thing doesn't reproduce without a

mate...” Darwin stated, coming back from the video-phone.

“Oh crap. Reproduction,” Justine said, never really giving it

much thought.

“Yeah I've been thinking about that too, all morning long.”

Darwin was already on it.

“And?” Justine thought he had 'something'.

“Can't draw a conclusive answer, we need something to study

first!” Darwin said.

 “Have we figured out 'anything' that will immobilize it?” Justine

asked them.

“No. I hit the residue with a shot of dry ice. It had zero effect.

Neither does fire.” Thomas said.

“Damn. SOMETHING'S got to work.” Jason said, racking his

brain. “We're no closer now, than when we began.”

“HEY! No negative thinking here.” Darwin snapped at him.

“Easy. You guys need to try a chess game and relax a bit…”

Justine smilingly stated. She could tell they were all on the edge.

It was true. Time was just ticking away, and they hadn't

made any real progress. They sat around as Jason mauled the

paperwork they had. Thomas stared off into space, (his quiet

spot). Darwin paced about, back and forth, Justine was getting

really hungry, and they hadn't built a profile on the creature, 'yet'.

“Well. We can't bring it to us. Can’t study it in the field, and that

leaves the Kennedy Space Center as the only choice...” Darwin

pointed out the facts.

 “Hell, it was almost ninety-five degree's out there! And with the

suits we're required to wear. I don't know which is going to be

worse. Catching the creature, or the heat.” Thomas moaned.

“Yeah, it’s either broiling to death in those suit's or allowing

contamination!” Jason stated.

“Or ...deal with Briton!” Darwin concluded.

“Suit's?” Justine questioned this.

“Yes, due to military protocol, we have to wear decontamination

suits.” Thomas

“But there bulky and,” Darwin complained getting cut off.

“There extremely hot!” Jason said, stating the worst part.

“What happened to modern technology?” Justine asked.

“Yeah, what’s happened,” Jason said in a mocking recall to point

out where they stood.

The discussion had pointed out all the flaws. There was

definitely a problem. And it was an issue that had to be addressed

now. In a sudden huff, she walked past the guard. Not thinking to

explain, on the way out of their cubical she heard Thomas ask,

“Where's she going?” Darwin asked.

“I don't know, maybe to the bathroom again.” Jason wondered

himself.

She walked right back to Major Briton's office door. A

man sitting outside the office stopped her, in the form of a

question. He had a lot of stripes on his sleeve,

“Can I help you?” The master Sergeant asked.

“Uh yes... I need to talk to the major.” She requested.

“Major Briton's busy at the moment.” The gruff man spoke.

“He's in isn't he?” Justine asked.

“Uh, yes Miss. But he's busy.” The master Sergeant stated.

“T-M-I.” Justine said, quickly walking into major Briton’s office.

“Mame! Miss? ...Hold on!. He told me you'd try something like

this.” He said trying to grab her arm and stop her. Moving to

quick he had to following her in.

 “Major Briton. We need to talk!” Justine announced herself.

“Sir, I tried to stop her.” He said, now directly behind, wanting

to grab her arm.

“It's okay. I'll talk with her.” The major stated, not even looking

up from his papers. He then waved the Sergeant out of the room.

“Yes sir.” The Master Sergeant said confused, backing out of the

small room.

“We need to get some things clear here!” Justine began,

“Okay?” The Major said, peeved enough to put down the papers

he was over looking.

“Explain to me what we're doing here?” Justine asked, angry.

“You’re supposed to be gathering enough information to kill this

monster. Whatever it is,” The major stated.

“Kill it? What happened to 'capture it'?” Justine asked.

“Did you know those 'other three', the 'scientists' you're

currently working with are convicts?” Briton questioned her.

 “Convicts?” Justine acted surprised, concerned, and then lumped

it into one statement,

“Sir, we haven’t as of yet figured out if it's alive, much less 'how

to kill it',” Justine stated, still reeling over the fact they were

'convicts'.

“Look, the information I've already passed on has made the

higher ups and I'm pretty sure there going to want it dead. So,

within two days, we will be pulling back to a safe position...” The

Major stated.

“But we 'are' making progress.” Justine countered, then realized

what he's said, “Pulling back to a safer position?”

“Well, if you think you can capture it before the deadline, go for

it.” He quietly stated.

“Deadline? , well we could... if you'd quit making us walk with

this government tightrope you got us on!” Justine pointed out,

adding, 'Wait, what are you referring to?”

 “Well HQ doesn’t see that you can contain it. They, as of 'today',

just want a report on how a small nuke will affect the area around

the creature...” He said, spilling the beans.

“NUKE IT!? What the hell. Have you gone nut's? You hit that

thing with a force like that. I want you to understand… It IS NOT

going to just die, or evaporate. It will just spread into a ‘few

'hundred thousands' of them... And all because you gave them

‘your spin' of grand information, you've doomed maybe the

world.” Justin screamed at this either very stupid or 'crazy' man.

His next statement just proved which he was.

“You don't know that. Damn it. As of an hour ago, we've topped

three hundred and fifty DEAD! This thing needs to be killed. If I

say we nuke it. We nuke it.” He said with a slight gleam in his eye

and added, “Then, maybe I get to retire with a win under my belt.”

“Oh!. You are one piece of work… nuke it and retire… Well, it

won't work like that.” Justine stated, her voice carrying through

the door.
 “What, like you and 'the three stooges' back there are going to

lasso it, stuff it in a garbage can... and then what?”

“We're learning more about it every second. We, 'stooges' or not,

DO know for a fact that if you NUKE IT. It's only going to

spread... like a hundred fold.” Justine tried to make him see

reason.

“Not by my understanding, or to my superiors, too them, that's

just a possible scenario.” The major sprang back at her.

“Based on SCIENCE! Oh, you are one dumb son-of-a-bitch!!”

Justine couldn't help it.

“Well, it's now considered 'too late'. The finalizes have already

been made. In two day's we pull out.” Major Briton stood up…

ready to escort her out of his office.

“Why are you being so pigheaded about this?” Justine couldn't

believe this man.

 “Pigheaded. What's so pigheaded is that you think that you can

cage something as deadly as this and place it on some kind of 'pin',

too display.” Major Briton fired back.

“That is 'not' our goal , our 'idea' is to cage it and 'ship it' back

out into space… as if you'd given us a way to 'logically figure out'

how to do that!” Justine said as it ended in a shout.

“Well. Times up,” Briton said, opening the door for her/

“My ass...” Justine said, leaving the room in a huff.

She walked back to the others. They all took notice of the

look on her face. They knew where she gone. How would she

explain what she'd just heard?

“You saw Briton. Didn't you?” Darwin asked.

“Asshole!” Justine said.

“What did you do?” Darwin asked, feared of the man's reaction

to this 'woman'.

“I found out what the hell's going on.” Justine stated adding,

“and I wished I hadn't.”

 “What you mean?” Darwin said, as the others gathered around.

“There still aimed to blow the damn thing up.” Justine seethed.

“What? In my report I handed in yesterday, I stated that the

effect of a nuclear blast would more than likely just irradiate the

area for fifty square miles and not effectively diminish the

creature!” Darwin sited.

“Well, being as how you’re a 'convict'… 'Briton' must have

rewrote it. Because he told me that the report 'he' sent, stated that

we would not be able to effectively find away to 'kill' or 'contain'

the creature within the allotted time.” Justine told them.

“He blew us right out of the water. That son of a bitch,” Darwin

stated.

“That's what I called him.” Justine snipped.

“Oh crap.” Thomas said, thinking about those effects on the

creature.

“He'll do it.” Jason pointed out, mentally throwing in the towel.

 “And he just wants you to prepare a report outlining the effects

of what to expect from a blast from a 'mini nuke'.” Justine stated

seething.

“This is such bullshit!” Darwin stated, now, angry as hell.

“Oh crap.” Thomas stated again, not believing this.

“Oh man. The son of a bitch has been placing us on the sidelines,

the whole time!” Darwin plowed on.

“I was wondering why things didn't feel right.” Jason said.

This had thrown everyone into a tailspin. Anger was the

main course at the moment. Worse was the way it made Justine

feel. Like being locked into her dorm room without books to

study for a test just two day's away.

“Okay. We're not out yet.” Darwin said, striking past the anger.

“Hun,” Jason questioned his outburst.

“Okay. If this works,” Darwin reiterated, mentally formulating a

plan.

“If WHAT works?” Thomas asked.

 “The 'container',” Darwin continued. “If it can contain the

creature's residue, it should contain the creature, right?”

“Yeah, like Briton's going to make sure we'll get a chance to

receive it, much less use it!” Thomas reminded them.

“He won't stop us, he can't! The only thing he CAN DO is make

things harder on us.”

Darwin confirmed.

“Or, he knows we'll write a condemning report, telling that he

denied us things.” Thomas stated.

“Like computers?” Jason asked, holding up the 'list' he'd already

jotted down.

“No., we have access.” Darwin reminded him.

“Yeah to one computer, One from the dinosaur age,” Thomas

pointed out.

“But we are still allowed 'access',” Justine seemed to want to

confirm.
 “That's his game. He's walking the line, still aiming to get what

he wants!” Justine said, noticing that the guard was hard listening

to there conversation.

They all noticed it, and suddenly their conversation

changed. To any outside appearance it became morbid. Doom and

gloom talking. It was as if they had all given up. In kind, they

wanted it to appear that way. Muddling around the table, they past

papers around with there plan. Jason acted as if he was doing

some paperwork and Thomas was looking as if he were trying an

experiment on something, while Darwin and Justine pondered how

big the container would have to be to safely ensnare the creature.

Though, they past notes, as if reaffirming formulas, each

one confirming a game piece to the others. And within an hour,

they'd worked out a plan well outside the box. And it all started

with Justine going out to lunch.

“Damn. I'm so hungry.” She pushed back from the table.

 “The food down on exit fifty-nine has some good vittles.”

Thomas expressed to her.

“Who's Buying?” She asked them.

“Government pay's for it.” Darwin stated.

“Alright, let's go.” Justine stated, acting as if they would all be

going.

“I can't. These 'nuke' projections need to be calculated.” Jason

said a little to loudly.

“Count me out. I've got that container coming. Though, I don't

know 'what' we're doing with it now,” Darwin stated.

“I've got to work on that patch between the spectral and sound

sequence. It should be ready by later tonight...” Thomas told

Justine.

“Well, I haven't eaten since yesterday. I'm starved!” Justine

pointed out.
 “Yeah, get the veal. He knows the place, on exit sixty-one.”

Thomas pointed to the guard. Justine turned to look where

Thomas was pointing, she smiled at the guard.

“Exit 61 out, contaminated... exit 59? Say what time is it

anyway?” Justine had lost all track of time.

“Miss?” The guard asked.

“The time, what time is it?” She asked again.

“Um. About 4:30.”

“Okay, need to go to the bathroom first though.” Justine told

him and walked towards the bathroom. “Hey YOU... Follow me.”

She told the private.

“Hun?” He questioned her, wondering why she had required him

to follow,

“Look. I'm going to pee and YOUR standing outside, until I'm

done! Understand?” Justine pulled on the man's camouflaged shirt.

Oh, he was going!

 “No miss, I was told to stand here and guard. Sorry.” The man

stated as he hadn't budged.

“And My taxes pay for this... Thomas, would you kindly?”

Justine stated then asked Thomas politely.

“Sure.” Thomas got up and followed her to the bathroom.

It was a ploy, and everybody but the guard knew it. Once

inside the bathroom, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed

Frank. On the first ring he picked up,

“Talk, you okay?” Frank spoke to her.

“Frank, I’m fine.” She almost whispered.

“Okay. I thought I'd lost you. How are you calling. I tried to call

you...” He stated, fearing the worst.

“I know. I had my ringer off so they didn’t catch my phone.

Frank, this shits all screwed up. Look, I don't have time to explain.

I need you to meet me at exit 59, restaurant .” Justine said,

“59? Uh, okay?”

 “What? Is there a problem?” She asked, suddenly realizing he

may be headed back up to Georgia, or worse yet, already there.

“No. No problem. I'll there. When?” Frank asked.

“Twenty minutes or so. And you'll need to park down the road,

or something, I'll be slipping out the ladies restroom window

because I'm being escorted by a lonely private!”

“Escorted? A who?” Frank asked, sounding almost concerned.

“A very lonely private. I’m going to slip out the back window,

and you better be there.” Justine said, telling him in a way, she

didn't have long to talk.

“I'll be there in a 'General's' uniform. 59, twenty minutes, you

see me.”

“GEN?. Whatever, but, better make it thirty-five minutes then,

because if they’re paying, I'm getting the most expensive food on

the menu.”

“I have a feeling we'll be eating together!” Frank said to her,

with a snicker.
 “I don’t want to even know...” Justine stated with a giggle/

“I miss you.” Frank said after her giggle.

“No, you just miss the great sex we have, and what about that

marriage thing?” Justine said, with a smile on her face. Then, there

had come a single knock on the door.

“Seemed like the right thing to say.” Frank said.

“I'll be out in a minute,” Justine loudly stated at the door.

“But you’re alright?” Frank asked.

“Fine, just be there...” Her voice lowered to a whisper.

The conversation ended, and she put away the cell phone

carefully. Walking out the bathroom she noticed a solider standing

behind Thomas, and they casually walked away from the

bathroom. As they walked back Justine told Thomas she was

going to meet Frank, and he'd be dressed as a 'General'.

“What the hell. A general out here?” Thomas stated almost

openly.
 “Well, it not like we’ll be able to talk with him... Okay, I'm

ready. Anyone else want anything while I'm out?” She asked,

entering the cubical.

“I'm Fine.” Jason said noticing her smile.

“Naw,” Thomas said, sitting back down in front of his work.

“Darwin?” She asked.

“No thanks, I'll get in touch if anything happens.” He said in

such a way, the guard hadn't even noticed.

They about walked out the door when the guard stopped

and wrote down 'who' and 'where' they were going. Following him

out to a Hummer, she was surprised at how close he'd parked.

Right next to Briton's Hummer. Justine felt like 'keying' the damn

thing.

Soon they were alone in the vehicle, as 'normal', the

Private's hormones had kicked in,

“Finally, I won a bet...” He stated to her with a smile.

 “Excuse me?” Justine asked, not yet understanding what he was

thinking.

“Finally, I won.” He said, again.

“What do you mean? Won?” Justine asked, still smiling.

“We had a bet going on,” He said 'stupidly'.

“Oh? On what? ..oh I get it. Who gets to take me out for the

first time,” Justine said adding up the conversation.

“Yeah, and I won!” He said smiling at her.

“You don't win that often, do you?” Justine stated, in a way as

to 'why' she realized this fact.

“Not at things like this. No mame.” He freely admitted, with a

smile of accomplishment.

“Oh, you mean me being a pretty woman and all?” Justine

pointed out her own good look's.

“Uh. Yes. Oh ...no disrespect intended, though.” He said,

realizing she might take his answer in a distasteful way.

 “None taken,” Justine placed him back at ease, with a smile

attached with her answer.

They had hit the interstate, and the rubber of the tires tread

caused a very 'stiff' ride that also caused a vibration with in the

vehicle's frame work.

“What? No radio.” She asked, looking around the inside of the

vehicle.

“Government's never goes that far.” He smiled.

“Hey, Taxpayers money... Why not,” She said in a light mood.

“It all has to do with Rank. ...You ought to see the inside of the

Major's.” He stated.

“Fully loaded, I'd guess.” Justine stated.

“You know it. Oh, by the way, I'm Sam.” He said, walking on

with the conversation.

“Sam, Oh, that's your first name.” Justine finally caught his hint.

“I just figured it'd be easier.” He said, almost flustered.

 “I'll have to try it out, maybe during our lunch, mine Justine.”

She smiled, as they were already pulling off the interstate.

“I know..” He smiled.

She noticed a lot of military Hummer's spread up and

down the main road. It was a heavy checkpoint. Although she

couldn't show her tension, she was highly concerned about the

amount of the military around the diner. How the hell was she

suppose to 'escape' anything here. She 'hoped' Frank was inside…

then she spotted his truck.

“Look's full,” Justine noted, now smiling.

“It's about lunch time and yeah it's going to really fill-up in about

twenty minutes,” The private said, knowing this was the best time

to come. Everyone would see him walk in with this pretty woman.

“I'm famished.” Justine said, wondering why Thomas had picked

this place.

They pulled in and got out of the Hummer. A few rumbles

in the remarks of ogles, had naturally taken place before they ever
even entered the swinging door. This was going to be a very long

lunch, how the hell was this going to happen. How would Frank

get her out of here?

“It going to be impossible for us to find a seat,” Justine quipped.

“Something tells me there might be a problem.” The Private was

feeling the envy of all the male 'sharks' in this place. Justine's

DANGER signal had just brighten by ten fold!

They had entered the restaurant. And it was a shock.

There, sitting at a four sided table all by himself, was FRANK. He

was sitting in a single star general's uniform and looked pretty

damn good in it!

“Sir.” the private said as he looked past the general for a

possible table they could easily win.

“Private, is this young lady with you?” Frank spoke candidly to

the private.

“Uh, yes sir.” He almost saluted when the General actually took

notice of Justine, quickly looking around the room and he

suddenly realized that everyone knew what was about to happen

right about. Now,

Though, the mangy private would have turned any table

into a 'sparing match' over the pretty lady. And the 'Star' in the

room made those within these walls rather meek.

“Private, the room seems pretty full up, and I'm to believe it's

only going to get worse over the next half hour. You and the

young lady are welcome to sit with me.” Frank spoke up at him.

The private looked for 'any other' option. He was caught, and

knew better than to decline the offer...

“Um, Sir?” The private questioned the General's offer.

“You heard me solider. Have a seat.” He spoke a little crisper to

the private.

“You’re a general?” Justine smilingly questioned him, quickly

pulling up a seat next to Frank. She did it so quickly Sam had to

give in. He heard the snickers around the room.

“Yes Miss.?” Frank asked, as if they had never met.

 “Justine Cohn. Sir,” Justine acted with all the manners of a saint.

Though this seemed to grab the Private by the throat, he slowly

pull out a seat, sitting down.

“Cohn? I've heard of that name, recently. Where have I heard

that name?” The general seemed to ponder this.

“I don’t know, I’m not well known... Its just been my boyfriend,

Frank and me. The man who owned the 'satellite' that was on the

shuttle. We were coming down...

“That’s it, Frank Conner's report. Yes...”

‘Yes sir, we were here to check out what had happened.” Justine

pointed out.

“Conner... Where can I find him,” The General again questioning

the private.

“Um, sir?” The Private avoided his question. He definitely didn't

seem in wanting to be seen with a general. But it was too late, as

Miss Cohn had already grabbed a seat.

“Thank-you general, Um?” She queried him for his name.

 “Piken. General Piken, but you may call me Franklin. Now, your

boyfriend, Frank Conner, where is he?”

“Um, major Briton sent him home, I believe...” The private

stated.

“And Briton split you two up? What happened?”

“Yes, um, we were coming down to find out what happened to

his satellite, and a Captain. Um Turnell, I think, took us to a

'Major Briton'. The Major decided to send my boyfriend packing

and assigned me to the science squad… And did you know they’re

convicts!! Oh, I mean, their nice enough...” Justine poured her

little heart out, as if she'd never met this man before… She was

quite the actor.

“Your boyfriend' Dr. Conner? Frank Conner. Correct?” The

General asked, loud enough for everyone to hear the name.

“Yes, say? You know him?” Justine acted as if she'd just made

the connection.
 “Yes. You might say.” The general seemed to smile back at

her.”I'm suppose to visit a Major Briten this afternoon. Private? Is

'Briton' your commanding officer?” He asked the Private who

controlled the urge to impale himself rather than answer.

“Major Briton! Yes that the man! He sent my boyfriend packing.

He seems to be a bad man. I've listened to the way the 'other'

scientist's talk about him. They think he 'want's to 'Nuke' this alien

creature' rather than find a way to capture it. Yet, we've made real

progress, we're getting really close, so close, to figuring how this

creature works. Yet, Briton.. he thinking along the lines of

'retiring' with a quick win under his belt. So the quicker he gets

that, the faster he get to retire.”

“Is this true. Private?” The General questioned the private.

“Sir. I don't know what she's talking about. I would state that

her view, sir, is just hearsay...”

“Hearsay? You suggest she's lying?”

 “I'm just following orders.” The Private almost stumbled over

the correct words to say.

“So your following orders?” The General asked.

“Yes sir.” The Private stated as a truth.

“I see., I suggest to try the 'cheeseburger', there great.” The

General told him.

“Yes sir.” The Private said, as the waitress came by handing

them both a menu. The Private seem to hide behind the menu.

Justine smiled at Frank. Her boyfriend. The GENERAL.

She didn't know how he did it, but he looked REAL in the

General's uniform. Even acted like one. The buzz around the other

tables was about how the brass always got the chick. It didn't

bother Justine in the least, and as the private ducked behind the

menu, Frank winked at her. She couldn't help but smile back. and

at least one table caught the action between them.

“So, Private. you decided on what to order?” The General

asked.
 “Uh. Yes sir. I think I'll go with your choice.” The Private had

carefully checked out the rest of the menu.

“And you Miss Cohn?” The general asked her.

“Uh. I heard to order the Veal, and it does sound pretty good.”

She said, not really firm on the choice.

The waitress came by and the both of them ordered, The

general ordered another ice tea. And while they waited for the

food, Justine pointed out what 'she' thought was the problem by

'nuking' the creature. The General seemed to have a problem with

her 'facts'. He had heard that they had 'no working idea's' on killing

or capturing the creature and that the 'bomb' was the only choice

left.

“No sir.” Justine said, and was about to give him a rundown on

what they 'had' actually

discovered so far, when the Private spoke up.

“Uh, no disrespect sir. But to get the whole truth. You will need

to talk to Major Briten, Not Miss Cohn. sir.” The Private said as
the waitress had so quickly brought the food and just had set

down there plates when the general went off.

“Private? Do you have any idea who you just said that too?. I'm

here on a fact finding mission, and I think I've just bit into a shit

sandwich. Oh, I will be talking to your Major Briten. Very soon.

But solider, I suggest you remain quiet for the rest of this meal.

Do I make myself clear?”

Two M.P.'s had heard the General's voice raise and where

about to assist him. without question! Almost every face in the

diner had at one point or another gazed at the Private who was

getting chewed out. it ended the tension with the Private's two

words.,

“Yes sir.”

“Good. Now. Uh, Miss Justine. as you were saying.?” He farther

questioned. A few soldiers across from them 'snickered' as the

Privates face turned beet red.

 Again she began to run down all the progress that they

'had' made. None of this he had been made aware of. and so stated

in front of the Private.

“It would be my advantage to have your profile to dispel the

Major's idea's. Would your word carry any weight in this

situation?” He calmly asked her.

“Uh sir, I was told I'd be throw into a jail cell if I went up

against the Major., and I feel that there is truth about it.” Justine

stated, and the Private sat very blank faced across from the

General, not even wanting to cough at this point.

“I see. Private. I hope that this is not the case. I think you'd

better 'light on' back to your HQ, and tell Major Briten, we'll be by

shortly.”

“Yes sir.” The Private said, as he was right in the middle of his

last few bites.

“I meant NOW! Private.” Frank stated in such a tone the young

man almost choked on the bite he had in his mouth.

 “ULK, helk. Yes sir.” He mustered, getting up quickly and left,

so shaken up, he didn't even salute, or look back.

“Hee-hee.” Justine snickered, almost losing her mouthful of

mash potatoes.

“Miss Cohn. After the meal, I would appreciate if you'd

accompany me to the Major. this man I want to talk too.” Frank

maintained his stature.

“Be glad too.” Justine had a hard time keeping the smile off her

face. and slowly finished her drink.

They were going to get away with this! The Private had

already lit out,. though a snag had suddenly presented itself., it

was the M.P.'s.

“Sir. do you need us to escort you to the Major?”

“Uh, no. I don't think we'll need that, enjoy the rest of your

meal.” Frank said, laying forty dollars on the table.

“Yes sir. Have a good day sir.” The Sargent M.P. said with a

smile and returned to his seat.

 “Carry-on. troops!” Frank said, following Justine out the door.

They could hear the sudden loud talk about the whole

situation that had just transpired within the diner. As the General

opened the door of a green Explorer, allowing Justine to scoot in

as he closed the door.

The truck started, and pulling out of the diner. He rolled

down his window to show the soldiers around them of who he

was. A General. They headed out onto the interstate and he rolled

up his window.

“Oh my god. We did it!” Justine squealed.

“I make a pretty convincing General. Don't I?” Frank beamed a

loud smile himself.

“Uh. Your heading 'There'?” Justine noticed their direction.

“I did this just make it look like we we're doing what I said we

would, I'll be turning around at the next exit.” Frank said

unbuttoning his shirt.

 In the fly, he changed out of the military uniform. and

Justine quickly tucked it under the seat as he rolled off the next

exit down, crossed the bridge and again turned back north on the

interstate.

“OH baby!. Shit., we've got real problems.” Justine stated.

“Talk to me.” Frank said, watching his speed.

“There bound to Nuke the damn thing., but the guy's and I have

figured out quite a few thing's that could contain it for transport.

If there was someway to transport it back into outer space.”

Justine stated.

“Oh?. You think it would work if you had a way to transport it?”

“If we got our fact's together right. Hold on, I got to make a

call.” Justine said, getting out her cell phone, and pressing

buttons.”Hi., Darwin? Justine. I'm out.”

Though Frank only understood her side of the

conversation, it was quite easy to figure they had a plan going. He

heard something about spectral vision glasses. and the

containment jar had come. Then she listened for a second, Briten

had just caught wind of a 'General' heading this way.

“Oh. That was Frank. In a General's uniform. He was great!”

Justine stated.”What? Oh no. Really?. Cool. Well, that will help.”

“What?” Frank asked. She placed her hand over the receiver and

explained his words.

“Seems the second he heard the General was on his way. They

all got computer's and everything's been 'stepped-up' and 'their'

original reports had been sent through.” Justine told him.

“Hell, it ain't been fifteen minutes!” Frank stated, almost

laughing over it.

“No. He laughing about how quickly this happened. What?. .

Really? No- shit!” Justine said, placing a hand over her mouth.

“What!?” Frank wanted to know.

“He says that 'Briten' lit out of there about twenty seconds ago.

He going 'back' to the diner to 'look over' something or other.”

Justine said.
 “Maybe we should really make a visit to the video store?” Frank

said, with a chuckle.

“What?.” Justine was listening to Darwin.”Tell Thomas I said to

check the frequency and match it to the residue once you get it

contained.. Yeah. Talk to you later. Yeah. You got my number.

Bye.”

“Well?” Frank asked.

“Well, your 'General's' performance smacked Briten a little to

close to home. He's going to Mike's Diner. Though I doubt it.

Probably at a bar.”

“And?.” Frank pumped her.

“Well, we figured out that the creature emits a sonic residence.

This could well be a part of the hypnotic effect it has on it's prey.

Thomas has also figured out that it's tied into a hypnotic light

show, that changes frequency's so easily. it may cause a blinding

hypnosis. which would draw the victims into it. He's working on a

light neutralizer that would defuse the lighting pattern. and a set of
ear protector's that would eliminate the sound's, enabling us to get

close enough to capture it.” Justine informed him.

“And your working on the containment unit?” Frank asked.

“The containment jar is only big enough to hold a small amount

of the residue.” Justine admitted, then added, “One, big enough to

capture the Creature would take almost four day's to create, IF

we had that much time. And IF it work's.”

“One thing at a time.” Frank slowed her down.

“Darwin's heading out right now, to collect some of the residue.

He'll call me good or bad.” Justine said.

“Well, I had to change motel's.” Frank said, pulling off on exit

sixty-seven.

“Oh. A shower! God, I need a shower!” Justine stated.

“I know., I can smell you all the way over here.” Frank said, not

being nice at all. She reached over and lightly smacked at his arm.

Instinctively he cover his face, blocking her swipe at him.

 They pulled in and drove around back. there, chained to a

post was Mike's air boat

“All your clothes are inside, as well as all the equipment.” Frank

warned her.

“Was there any contamination on Mike's shoes?” She asked.

“I. I've got some bad news. Glenda's dead.” Frank said.

“What?” Justine said shocked.

“On the way out, She must of stepped into the stuff. She was

already infected when they'd placed her into quarantine. Mike

watched her be consumed. He's in the hospital. He had a heart

attack, he's going to take time to recover. We're on our own.”

“Oh No. Shit… No.” Justine stated, angry that she died.

She ran to the bathroom straight away, slamming the door

behind her. Frank knew

she was crying, as even the shower couldn't drowned out her

weeping. Frank turned on the TV to see if anything else about this

area had made the news. They only had about a three minute
segment on the 'crash' of the space shuttle. Pretty much they were

putting a cover over it, and Frank wondered if they HAD decided

to nuke it. would they even evacuate the southern half of Florida?

This bothered him. If the time frame was as said, they would have

broke with the story by now. They weren't going to. Probably

going to blame the Blast on the satellite. This sucked!

He got ready to shower after her, though, it seemed she

might spend the next hour in there. No sense in hurrying. It was

mid-day already, the air conditioner made the room feel cool, and

the dark curtains effectively kept out the bright sunlight. Frank

kicked off his shoes and laid down on the bed. About ready to nod

off, Justine came out.

“Hey.” Frank said, as he noticed her eyes were still slightly puffy.

“Yeah.” She said, a heavy white towel wrapped around her

torso. Not feeling very well, she crawled in beside Frank,

snuggling up and wrapping an arm over his body.

 They didn't speak for awhile, he waited for her to break

the ice about it. Honestly, he had about gotten into a TV program

when she finally spoke,

“It shouldn't be like this. I liked them.” She stated, becoming

quiet.

“I know.” He stated.

The formula in a daydreamed planned a way to capture it .,

and how everything should work plan by plan. Solutions. And she

based everything on the small amount of information she'd

gathered so far. It all depended on her 'to show containment'. They

would have 'time' after that. The phone rang. it was 'her' cell

phone, it was in the bathroom where she'd left it after hearing

about Glenda.

She sprang off Franks body so quick, it would have been

too late for him to react. In a bounce she was off the bed and half

way to the bathroom, at the rear of the room. She disappeared

around the corner,

 “Yes. hello?” She began, “Darwin! Yeah? Really! Good. Oh,

THANK GOD.

Going where? You think it will give you the time?” Justine said

holding her hand to her head, thinking.

“Alright. Give it five minutes more. I don't care! Five extra

minutes! Call me when you get a reading. What? Kennedy Space

Center? They what? Oh, Really. Good, Uh Dr. Conner will be glad

to hear that.”

They spoke awhile longer. as she had sat on the edge of

the bed., Frank had lowered the TVs volume to let her talk. After

the call, Frank almost had to prod her,

“Well, What's going on?” Frank asked, as she was acting a little

more chipper.”

“Well, it seems that somehow, the containment jar's seems to be

working. Thomas has the frequency calculation going on. We may

have a way to capture this creature.” Justine said, taking a swipe

to remove her blonde hair out of her face. She was pleased.
 “What was that about the Space Center?”

“There going to use the equipment at Kennedy to help zero in

on the frequency.” Justine said to Frank adding, “He going to call

once they get there.”

“Once that's done?” Frank asked.

“Then plan is to build a much larger container. If this works.”

“One large enough for the creature?”

“That's the plan.”

“What happens after you capture it?”

“Don't know. Launch it into outer space. If we can't figure a way

to Kill it first.” She shrugged her shoulders.

“Launch it?” Frank thought about this idea.

Laying quietly on the bed, it was the middle of the day, as

Frank awoke.

“I need a dip in the pool.” Frank said getting up and looking

through his clothing.

 “You brought your swimming trunks?” Justine stared at him in

disbelief.

“Of course. You didn't?” He said, not believing she hadn't

brought hers.

She shook her head 'no'. It was alright though, she needed

to sleep. As he disrobed and placed on his trunk's, she smiled,

curling up on the bed.

“Sure you don't want to take a dip? We could be back in an half

an hour. “ He asked.

“No. You go ahead, I need this soft bed.” She said, already

drowsy. She began to curl up around the pillow and closed her

eye's.

Frank realized that she must of had a rough time ,but, it

seemed she wasn't in that bad of company, she had gotten a lot

done with these people. He was about ready to walk right in the

makeshift headquarters in the general's outfit. It wasn't a plan well

thought out, but it was a plan. He quietly gather up his towel, cell
phone, and his laptop. Looking over at her, he realized she was

already asleep. He picked up her cell phone, at first he was going

to place it on a charger, yet, he took it to the pool was well. She

needed real sleep.

Stepping out of the room., he quietly closed the door

behind himself. If anyone were to call he'd gladly take the call and

tell her when she awoke. The sun felt good, and it was sure

enough hot out! He'd forgot to get 'flop-flops' for his feet, as the

hot concrete burned at his feet. The gated pool with it's white

plastic lawn furniture made the almost calm clean blue water look

quite inviting. Taking a seat farther back from the water he

decided set up his laptop and the phones. Hanging his towel over

the chair, he walked over to the pools edge and looking around at

it depth, he took the dive. It seemed 'funny' that the pool was

completely empty.

Major Briten had debriefed the soldier who had been

responsible for Miss Cohn and after hearing what had transpired at
the diner, decided to Fax off all the information that these

scientist's have been giving him. And he was sure of the reaction

the General would have after her little 'jag' of what he'd done to

them under his command. It wouldn't take to much digging to

uncover the three scientist's he had hauled off, as they wouldn't be

very hard to find in backing up her stories.

The paper work about caught up, he ordered the master

Sargent to release TWO more computers and had set them up for

the scientist's and granting them the proper access codes to

Washington's main-gate computer core. He told the Sargent that

they would be moving HQ to a 'closer area' and that nine soldiers

under 'his' pick would be staying behind to 'guard' to the

scientist's. The Master Sargent suddenly felt as if he was the

sacrificial lamb in an operation gone bad. But, these were his

orders.

Briten had called all the other troop leaders to give them

their orders to set up camp at a new locale, in which he handed

out after quickly picking a spot close to a bar. two exit's down. It

took all of forty-five minutes to completely 'bug-out'. As his last

order, the Sargent was told with the scientist's listening that 'this'

was to be deemed a rear area if the General stopped by. 'they

were to 'redirect' him to the front line HQ's. The last few words

commended the scientist's to keep up the good work and to send

all progress reports through the 'proper channels'.

This shocked Darwin! He thought for sure that they we're

going to be 'disbanded' due to the unethical practices that has

transpired so far in their 'week long' saga here. Thomas stood as

motionless as a statue as Briten more or less tossed the football

completely into their court. Was Briten actually leaving?

Jaron quickly realized Briten had gotten his tail in a trap

and was going to just disappear., with a rumor about 'a General'

heading this way, to rumor was storming from solider to soldier. It

was only then, that he realized that Justine hadn't come back with

the private, 'two and two' had simply added up.

 Within a half hour, Darwin was now unencumbered

enough to actually get some work done. And the first thing he did

was to get a soldier to take him, and the new container, to see if it

would work. Thomas, engrossed in the open computer, agreed to

keep an open line with him and to hold down the fort, in his

absents.

Thomas, using the Washington 'main-gate' program, had

successfully inter-linked enough people together in order to create

a workable headset that would hopefully protect the user from the

creatures hypnotic effects. It was being built before he'd even

logged off. It seemed 'much' lighter around the video store, as they

worked unhampered for the first time. All's they needed right now

was a 'frequency'. to properly adjust the system once it was built,

and Darwin had given Thomas the idea to send it to the Kennedy

Space Center, once it was built. These 'people' stated that they

could have it built in less than 'two hours'. and have it there. forty-

five minutes after that.

 Jaron was keeping track of the creature, and, the four

spot's of residue had 'now'

turned into only two. By the creatures known 'path'. He figured

out the known rate of speed that the residue was traveling, the

creature was calling them 'home'. Not good.

A bit of good news came in. There was another 'General'

that had received all the paperwork. A 'real General', and with the

'reports of conflict' between Briten and the three scientists, he

requested and talked to Thomas. Stopping by in person, he was

redirected to the 'other' HQ. but he wanted to talk to the

scientists. Thomas explained to him the advancements they had

made and outlined a plan that would involve just a little more time

to put into place. The General had already agreed to canceled the

plan to 'nuke the southern half of Florida'. All three scientists were

relieved in hearing this. They also introduced 'Justine' as the

coordinator of all these new innovations that had been found to

track the creatures movement and it's possible reasons for hunting.
 The General was pleased with the progress they were

making and informed Thomas that the Major Briten was being

dealt with as they spoke. Thomas felt a sigh of relief as he hung up

the phone. Finally, they were making some 'real' progress.

If the helmet worked right, it would block out the visual

and harmonic effects the creature produced, things would be

going great. And if the containment jar did as it was suppose too,

they had a way to capture it!

Thomas tried hard to calibrate the harmonic effects

without actually knowing the proper frequency range. Though,

after many Web sites, he found the range that effected the human

ear as well as the light frequency of the strobe effect the causes

hypnotic trances. Most of it could be configured into the helmet,

yet, he was having a great deal of trouble finding a integrator that

could relay the proper reverse protocol rendering the wearer of it

immune the light and sounds of the creature. The integrator he had
found were way to large to be consider portable and it was a part

of the puzzle that stumped him. for now.

They rode down the highway, though the containment jar

jiggled now and then, it seemed to keep the residue in a quiet

stasis. Darwin never took his eyes off the jar, adjusting the stasis

field every few seconds. Blinking only quick enough to moisturize

his eye's. The Humvee's tires were making an almost buzzing

sound as they connected to the road. He had been told it would be

about forty-five minutes to get to the science center of Kennedy

Space Center, as he began to sweat more and more, mile by mile.

The container seemed to be holding the creatures 'ooze', however.

it would only take a second to lose containment and they'd have a

real problem doing 65 mph! If that were to happen, Darwin

'doubted' any of them would actually live through the experience.

None the less, the driver kept glancing at Darwin for any facial

expression changes. his hand secretly latched to the door handle.

Mentally swearing to dive out of the vehicle at the first sign of

trouble. He'd already watched one of his buddies die from this

thing! It wouldn't get him!

It was so damn hot in the back of this Humvee that Darwin

was sweating buckets. He had removed his helmet just to be able

to breath! Yet, he could feel the beads of sweat rolling down his

leg's and thought to himself 'another ten minutes in this suit and

he'd be able to swim around in it.' And the Humvee rolled on.

“Next exit. And ten minutes. How it holding up?” The driver

asked.

“Fine. So far. Keep driving!” Darwin stated.

“You be sure to tell me if you even 'think' that things going to

crack.” The driver said looking back at Darwin.

“You'll be the second to know.” Darwin spoke up.

“The second?. I want to be the first!” The driver chimed up.

“Hey, how do you rate not to have to wear one of these suits?”

Darwin asked.
 “Can't drive in one of those things.” He retorted, Pointing to the

helmet part of the suit

that Darwin had long cast aside.

“Lucky dog.” Darwin begrudged the man, noting the man was

grinning as he said it.

“Yeah, I figure if you lose containment., I'll be able to climb out

that much quicker!” The driver almost giggled.

“Well. Now that you told me. If by chance you look back here,

and I'm not here. Kiss your ass goodbye. Containment's gone!”

Darwin said, not really joking about it.

“You know something. I believe you.” The driver said, coming

up to the exit.

Pulling onto the exit, The driver asked one more time how

thing's looked. And at least moving, there was a breeze. Now, at a

complete stop, Darwin was convinced the temperature inside the

suit he wore had risen twenty degrees! The line was short, and the

light seemed , as normal, to take it's own sweet time. They kept
moving. Darwin looking ever so closely at the containment unit

and was happy to see it still held full containment. The driver

looked back,

“Where still good. Radio ahead and tell them that this seems to

be working, so far.” Darwin spoke to the driver.

“Roger that, just as soon as I get around this corner.” He told

Darwin, who noticed that the car's beside of them were beginning

to move.

“Thomas.?” Darwin talked into the cell phone.

“Yeah. Right here.” Thomas spoke back through the line.

“It's holding. so far.” Darwin admitted.

“Uh,. It should be 'growing' inside the containment field.”

Thomas asked concerned.

“Yes. your right, the containment jar has 'increased' in mass by

15 %.” Darwin stated,

seeing that they had properly anticipated this.

“Temperature tolerances.?.” Thomas asked.

 “I've registered 2,000 degree's at one point. but I think it was

just testing the wall's of it's crib.” Darwin informed Thomas.

“Two thousand?.” Thomas spoke shocked it had gotten so

high.”Check the electrical

wiring around the unit. with that type of heat. it could melt the

induction field wire assembly.”

“Already done it. the spike was only for about twenty second's.

and has stabilized at nine hundred and twenty degrees. Makes me

wonder if it dissolves it's food or burns it.” Darwin said, as the

breeze of moving once again proved to be a great help.

“I'm sure that suit don't help, . But just make sure the system

stays within spec.'s.” Thomas stated.

“Yeah. I'm afraid to see how this thing handles a pothole.”

Darwin stated out loud

“No 'potholes'!!” The driver stated, making sure he drove over

the smoothest area of the road from here on out.

 “How are you guy's making out with the headset?” Darwin

asked.

“Any vibration shifts?” Thomas asked, almost ignoring Darwin's

last question

“I ran a vibrate-graft during the last two. as the mass grows, so

do the demographics of the frequencies. I'm sending the data as

we speak. Also to note, I've had to adjust the stasis field ten

times.”

“And that's within 'what' spectrum frequency?” Thomas asked.

“.'2953' meg's to '3753 meg's.” Darwin read the numbers to him.

“That's how many adjustment?”

“.about 'ten' so far.” Darwin was still adjusting.

“Um. The time between the adjustments?”

“two minutes,.” Darwin recalled.

“Uh, which way higher of lower?”

“Back and forth… Problem.?” Darwin asked.

“. Any rad's?” Thomas stated.

 “Strangely. Lower than we had anticipated. 0.4 rad's. first count.

0.7 rad's on the second. about to take another reading… steady at

0.6. Talk when we get there.” Darwin relayed the information.

“Just stay safe…” Thomas said.

“Planning on it.” Darwin replied, not taking his eyes off the

containment jar.

“Hey, wait! We've hit a small snag. Jaron is having trouble

calibrating the light spectrum.” Thomas said.

“Well. Um, Where's Jaron now?” Darwin asked.

“He's already at the science center.

“Where's the head set?” Darwin asked.

“There. With him.? You two me to meet you guys out there?”

Thomas asked.

“Yeah. Bring the paperwork and the 'disk' to make further

corrections on our invention.” Darwin said, hanging up his cell

phone.
 Thomas hung up the phone, called Jaron as explained

everything.

Jaron was making adjustments to the helmet as Thomas could

finish the answer.

“Great. I'm dying to see what this 'shit' look's like anyway.”

Jaron said, heading straight to the Guard positioned at he front

door. Thomas smiled at his back, thinking 'this may just come

together yet.'

Out at the pool, Frank had been talking on the phone for

the last two and a half hours straight. This thing was a complete

bust. His satellite was a melted pile of metal cover in the mud

heartland of the Everglades. And as if that wasn't enough, the

government was planning to 'shift' part of the bill onto his

company. In his mind, he could see his stock dropping like a rock.

And ahead, a very large board room filled with chairmen, stock

holders and investors. none of which would be happy with

'anything' he had to say.

 Frank had not had any 'good news' from Phil either, there

was nothing but bad news about getting another 'satellite' built

within the next six month's. And the 'rocket' he had built to take it

back up. Hell, even 'if' he'd sold it to another firm. would still be a

loss. Worse yet, was the fact that twenty-five 'thousand' customers

would be swinging into 'roaming charge's least two hours of every

day. He was bound to lose big time., If the FCC didn't put a abash

on him and have him dragged into civil court over this. They'd

called it 'Class A' lawsuit. Hell, he could possibly go broke over

this! Stupid 'alien' bullshit!

It was enough sun for the day. He thought about just

crawling into bed with Justine and calling it quits. at least for now.

Collecting up his stuff, he realized the sun here was much

stronger. His skin had really burnt! Leaving it dry and stiff. and

red.

“Oh Great! On top of everything else. I've got a sunburn!”

Frank said, leaving the pool area.

 Up in the room, he noticed that Justine hadn't moved from

her spot. He decided to take a cool shower and see if he could

blast some of the heat out of his skin. With the shower blasting, he

thought it was working quite well, as it felt extremely good. and

his skin was cool to the touch. Yet, drying off. the heat quickly

returned, in fact it seemed to be worse. Stepping out of the

shower he stepped in front the mirror. sure it was a little red. But

not nearly as bad as it felt!

“Oh., this suck's!” Frank said slightly angry.

“Uh?. What suck's.” Justine asked, as she had awoken from her

slumber.

“Oh. I sat out by the pool. in the sun. and got fried!” Frank

spoke boldly now, realizing she was awake.

“Got any aloe?” She asked.

“No.”
 “um. Let me think, ah, go get a pint of milk. I think the store

across the street will have some.” She said, slowly stretching and

raising up into a sitting position.

“A pint of milk?. Never heard about this remedy.” Frank almost

questioned as he got on his pant's and shirt. Putting on his shirt

was kind of rough but he managed through it. And was soon

heading out the door.

Justine arose, and quickly hit the shower. about the time

she'd gotten dried off, Frank was coming back into there room.

She allowed him to watch her dress, as she then went into her

scientific equipment.

“Oh! What kind of remedy is this.?” Frank asked, seeing her dip

into her science kit.

“Don't worry. It a 'simple' one.” Justine pulled out a bottle of

clear liquid.

“What's that?.” Frank asked, wondering what she was mixing up

in the milk after taking a big gulp out of it.

 “It's 'simple vinegar'.” Justine said.

“Vinegar?. And milk?” Frank asked, figuring out this would

smell to high heaven!

“Yeah, it's a smelly remedy., but it work's great.” She said,

beginning to mix up the potion.

“As long as it works. My back's on fire!” Frank finally admitted

to her.

As she spread the mixture onto his back and he suddenly realized

that it 'was' working. Her Cell phone rang. Both her and Frank

looked at each other as if to ask each other, 'who could that be?',.

it only panned out after she answered it,

“Hello?” She spoke in a question.

“Justine?. It's me 'Thomas'.” He announced.

“Oh. Hi Thomas, what going on?” She cleaned off her hands and

moved slightly away from Frank's smelly back.

“We've got the specimen safely to the science center. The

container held! We're working on a much larger container. for the

creature. but we'll need some type of visual of the thing to collect

enough information to create it.”

“Visual. How you going to get that?” Justine asked over the

phone.

“I was calling up to see if you wanted to go out there and get

it.” Thomas said, in a kind of question.

“Me.? You want me to collect the information.?” Justine asked

shocked.

“Yeah., You told me you'd give about anything to actually see an

ET. Well, here's your chance. Besides, we've almost got the helmet

figured out. should be ready for a real test, in about an hour. You

get first dibs.” Thomas informed her.

“An hour?. I don't understand. How did thing's start moving so

quickly?” Justine asked.

“Easy, there was a 'real' general that scared Briten into a very

small hole. The 'correct'

information has been sent, and as long as we can keep 'promise' of

containment of the creature. we'll be given all the time we need.”

Thomas almost crowed.

“That's great! You think the helmet is going to work?” Justine

asked.

“That's something you'll be finding out. We've worked out 'most'

of the bug's. we think. But, as far as a trial test, you get the

honor's.” Thomas told her.

“Um. I see.” Justine said, then added,”Well, I let you know as so

as I discuss all this information over with Frank.”

“Frank?. Girl. This is your baby. I thought you controlled

everything?” Thomas questioned, not quite understanding the

relationship between them.

“I call you back.” Justine said into the phone and then quickly

hung up.

“What. Was that one of those scientist you were helping?” Frank

asked.
 “Yeah. The containment jar I helped on 'worked'!.” Justine said.

“That's great!” Frank said.

“There's more.” Justine held up her hand in a 'stop' motion.

“What?” Frank asked.

“They've got the helmet 'up & running'. They say it should

work.” Justine stated

“That's good.” Frank said as she again held up her hand again

towards his words.

“Their ready for measurements for the containment unit, but

need to have a 'eyes-on' to confirm it's mass and size.” Justine

prepped him for the upcoming bad news.

“I see.” Frank waited this time for the other shoe to drop.

“They want 'me' to do it.” She said.

“You?” Frank asked, shocked that they'd choose her.

“why can't 'they' pick one of their own?” Frank asked.

“Frank. I want to do this. Don't ask why, I just want too.”

Justine said.
 “You want too?” Frank asked, slightly shocked.”You actually

'do' want to do this.”

“We've got an hour. to decide. But they want me.” Justine spoke

boldly.

She had so badly wanted to do this. But 'Frank'. would he

let her? It was

probably the largest choice in her life right now.. 'Frank' or 'the

alien'. But down inside, if it came down to a choice. she knew

which it'd be. hands down. Frank did too., she lived for this 'alien'

crap.

“You want to do this?” Frank asked her in earnest. The 'fire'

about gone off his back.

She slowly nodded 'yes' to him.

“Well, okay then. I guess you'll need someone to guide the air

boat” Frank said, trying to show her that he'd support her.

Besides. he'd almost rather this creature killed him,

then face the board members .over the destroyed satellite.

 She smiled at him for a second, and without a second

thought, rushed back over to him, grabbing him around his smelly

neck and latching on! Oh, he was definitely a 'keeper'! The

vinegar-y smell broke the hold short, but he got the idea. She'd

love having him along.

After breaking lose, she quickly picked up her phone,

finding the number she'd stored for Thomas. Finding it, she

quickly studied it and then dialed the number., she bounced around

on the bed, her towel slip down off her head, as she awaited an

answer.

“Hi. Thomas?. Justine. Yeah. Fine. I'll be there. Uh. rather me

and my boyfriend will be there. that okay?” Justine asked

excitedly.

“You do realize we only have the 'one' helmet?” Thomas asked.

“Uh. Yeah, I realize that.” Justine hadn't thought about it past

that point, but didn't want Frank to understand what she was

talking about.
 “Well, as long as you understand that.” Thomas said, making

sure she understood him

“Good. Does 'Frank' know?”

“Yes.”

“What about him. How you going to 'protect him.?” Thomas

asked.

“It's Solved.” Justine told him.

“Solved eh?” Thomas questioned her, curious she wouldn't

answer in normal phrase's.

The point of this worried Thomas. would she actually

place another safety

after her own? The silence scared him!

“Justine.?” Thomas asked.

“Yeah?” Justine calmly answered.

“You will keep 'Frank' safe.?” Thomas asked her.

“Of course he's my boyfriend.” She confessed.

It still worried him, slightly. She had 'something up her sleeve' ,

but she wasn't telling him.

“Uh, When will the Helmet be ready.” Justine questioned.

“Jaron said it would take about another half an hour. I'd say

about ten to fifteen minutes. So, are 'you two' on your way?”

Thomas questioned her.

“Yeah. We're on our way. Where are we going to meet you?”

Justine asked, listening and smiling at Frank. Frank just looked at

her with a funny look.

“Pack! Where out of here.” Justine said in a quick voice, eye to

eye with Frank.

Studying her eyes, as he asked,

“Where too?” Frank asked, packing up everything.

“Kennedy Science Center.” Justine said. getting off the bed and

'repackaging' the vile of

vinegar.
 “I know where that's at.” Frank said, having been there (over a

hundred times) before.

“Good, then it shouldn't be too hard to find.” Justine said,

checking her equipment over.

They both quickly packed up there things, as it took three

trip's to the Ford explorer to cram everything in. Most of it was

Justine's 'magic kit', as Frank referred to it. She was almost huffing

as Frank finally closed the tailgate.

“Okay check the room over, I'll hook up the air boat and met

you at the front desk.” Frank told her.

“You going to keep the room?” Justine wondered.

“No.” Frank said.

“Oh., okay, just checking.” Justine said making sure what was

going on.

“I have everything of mine. I think. But check for me again.”

“Sure. front desk. five minutes. And then, We're going to see us

a monster.”
 “They got the helmet ready.?” Frank questioned.

“That's what they tell me, I'm going to call Darwin and Jaron

and find out how things are working out for them, while I check

the room over.” Justine told him as Frank climbed into the truck.

“Talk to you up front.” Frank said.

“Okay.” Justine said, giving Frank a small kiss; after he'd closed

the truck door.

As the engine started up, Justine turned back towards the

room, catching reverse,

Frank backed slowly out of the parking space. It wasn't long as

they both met at the front office as Frank realized that he had left

something behind. his phone charger. Justine had it in her hand as

he walked into the main waiting area of motels lobby. In two

shakes of a monkey's tail, they were on interstate 95 heading

North towards the Kennedy Science Center. And what most

people didn't realize was that The 'SPACE CENTER' and the

'SCIENCE CENTER' were two completely different places. Hell,

they were so far apart from one another, they probably didn't share

the same 'zip code'. But funny thing was, they had the same exit

off the interstate.

It was kind of weird diving towards this place, when

thinking about it, Frank no longer had a legitimate reason for

being here. Except for the rocket. the empty rocket he'd waited

two years to use. now, he'd gladly trade it in for a highly abused

satellite. a rocket could be manufactured in two month's, his

satellite. six years, the next one was almost three year's off!

He wondered, to himself, waiting at the exit. 'how long

would it take if I hired

'two' more shift's 'full time'. and just built the damn thing as fast as

I could?.' The light ahead of him turned green, and the four

vehicles before him in turn moved onward and around the corner

to the left.

Justine was on the phone to Darwin. It seemed the

specimen had made it there in one contained piece. though,

Darwin said he was noticing some pretty 'weird' readings

emulating from the 'ooze'. When Justine asked unto what end, she

didn't like the way the conversation was turning out.

“We were doing a radio frequency scan. along with 'other' test's.

and 'sure enough' the little critter has been sending out a signal the

whole time we've had it captured.” Darwin said.

“No shit!” Justine said into the phone.

“We've isolated it within a containment field that will defuse it's

signal. But, the creature now knows it's last place of origin is

here.” Darwin pointed out.

“Probably true. Have you ran into Jaron yet.”

“Right here beside me. Here,.” Darwin said, handing the phone

to Jaron.

“Hey.?” Jaron said into the mouth piece.

“Yeah. Uh, so, how did the calibration test go.” Justine asked

him.
 “I don't like the results. If this creatures capable of doing what I

think it is. I don't think we as of yet, have the technology quick

enough to confuse it's light's display,. The sound, we got down.

but the light's. the pattern's that I've witnessed on the tapes. there

just too damn complex to combat!”

“You mean the damn things useless?” Justine asked, thinking

he'd already worked out all the bug's on the 'deadlight's' effect this

creature had.

“Not 'useless'. Just not as 'effective' as I was hoping for. At

random pattern coverage. the helmet can block-out about forty-

five to fifty-six percent of it's hypnotic sequences.”

“That leaves 'forty-five' percent retinal ingestion!!! Hopeless,

Okay, What percentage if

wearing the helmet. it's working properly. and you keep your eyes

closed.?” Justine asked, just as they pulled up outside the science

center.

“And your going to 'see' the creature. how?” Darwin asked.

 “Uh. She's 'not'. We'll have to figure out something else.” Jaron

stated.

“Where are you at. We're parked right out front.?” Justine told

him.

“Out front?” Jaron asked,”Uh. we're located in building 27 3A.

3A, right Darwin?. …Yeah, 3A.”

“Building 27. 3A.” She told Frank, who knew right where to

head.

“. Uh., I tried about every combination on the sequence pattern's

I know, and, I'm now trying to filter out those that require direct

contact with the cornea.” Jaron said as if talking from a computer

generated game-plan.

They pulled up out front of the building. and both got out,

and approached the guard who was already 'informed' of there

arrival. He quickly opened the door for them, and allowed them to

pass unhampered, into the single floored building.

 “Where almost there.” Justine told Jaron,”3A. Talk when I get

there!” she said to Jaron, as her and Frank headed towards the

elevator. Justine seemed confused for a second. then realized. It's

'down' they would be traveling. 'Underground'!

As the door closed, she remarked to Frank.,

“I thought this whole area was 'at sea level'.?” She asked.

“It is. But thanks to modern building technique's. We can now

build down as far as we need.” Frank said, having already pushed

the third floor button. The elevator descended, floor one, two,

three. The elevator stopped and the doors quickly opened. They

both stepped out as Frank took the lead again. Though there was

only 'one direction' in which to travel, she followed to the first

door they came too. Frank opened the door and allowed Justine to

walk into the room.

“Sure hate to see what it would cost if this place sprung a leak.”

Justine said, placing the cell phone back into her clutch purse she

was carrying.
 They both were standing there. Darwin, and Jaron. Both

stood in front of a thick window, looking intently at something.

“Hey guy's!” Justine said, seeing them. As they turned around

Justine was taken aback of Darwin's black eye's. She must have

nailed him really good! It was funny, though he looked like a

raccoon he still seemed to hold a smile on his face.

“Hey there 'slugo'. Here. Put these in.” Darwin said to them,

handing each of them a electronic pair of earplugs. As Frank made

the connection.

“What are these for.?” Frank asked, noticing Darwin's

blackening eyes.

“Sound., the creature's residue has almost the same

characteristic's as the creature.” Darwin stated.

“Did you do that?” Frank almost whispered to Justine as he

placed in one of the ear plug's.

“Hell yeah she did. WAP! Straight in the nose!” Jaron stated,

introducing himself to Frank.

 “.Honey!” Frank shamed her, she blew it off.

“Okay. So, what's happening?” Justine asked, looking through

the window into a whole room full of equipment. In the center a

six foot glass ball, and barely able to notice, the 'sample' of ooze

they had collected.

“We've been running test's. Here. I want to show you some of

the results.” Darwin lead her over to a table filled with a mass of

computer generated papers.”Jaron. where are those graft's.?”

“Spectral graft's., Here they are.” Jaron said, finding the stack of

papers on the table, handing them to Darwin.

He quickly flipped through the pages to show Justine what

he'd thought would be of high interest to her. Handing her the

page he'd picked out. He began searching the table for yet another

stack of paper's.,

“As you can see there. The residue is sending out a RF of 2634

megahertz's. actually seems to me… it's 'calling' mommy.”

“. it's like a sonar signal?” Justine questioned.

 “Yeah. except. 'worse'.” Darwin found the papers and holding

them up towards her stated,” they were blocked by us. but

somehow. The creature 'knows' we are holding this residue. and

it's still heading this way!”

“What?!” Justine grabbed the second stack of papers and began

to study them.

“Oh shit!” Frank stated out loud.

“We've got to get this specimen out of here!” Justine stated.

“We will. In about 'ten minutes'. transports already been set in

place. I have 'two' more test's that we need completed before we

can release it.

“According to these photo's. That creature's will be onto of us in

about twenty-five minutes!” Justine exclaimed.

“We're 'trapped'.” Frank stated, wanting to go back 'upstairs'.

“I know. I know.” Darwin stated, it was just then the phone

rang.

“Yeah.?” Jaron answered the phone.

 The phone call had everyone on hold, as Jaron just seemed

to listened. It was only about twenty seconds and he pulled the

phone away from his ear and placed it back on it cradle. His face

held bad news. everyone knew it.,

“So? What did they say.?” Darwin asked.

“Mommy just crossed Route 1&9. The national Guard has

closed down the whole science center. And to make matters

worse, We're under a 'quarantine'. We don't 'get' to evacuate!”

Jaron stated, his look had 'horror' written all over it.

“WHAT?. This creatures not 'contagious'. Where do they get

off?” Justine said, realizing that if they couldn't leave. They'd be

the next dead.

“Briten's orders…” Jason said, looking at the clock.

“Oh shit. We're dead!” Darwin said, looking pale, showing off

the darkening circle even more. He took for the elevator…

“But, we'll die in this place'!” Justine stated.

 “Yes, We will be dead. And once the creature will 'regroup' with

this specimen we have, it will probably head back for the others

strains of it's blood and Briten will be disjointed and nuke the

damn thing.” Jaron spoke up there plan.

“Why did it come after this one 'first'?” Justine suddenly

wondered.

“Probably because we 'contained it'. The 'Elevator's not

responding.” Darwin stated

“It has a 'stress factor'!” Justine wondered.

“Probably. It's not like we had all this shit figured out. We

couldn't of known.” Darwin pointed to the obvious.

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Justine admitted it to herself.

“That thing's heading here.” Frank asked as if it were a lie.

“According to my calculations we've got about ten minutes left.”

Darwin said, pushing buttons on a highly technical switchboard.

The computer's printer kicked in as results poured out in

understandable language.
 Jaron headed over to the printer, checking the feed-line

sheet's of paper that were spewing out.,

“Last test.,” Darwin pushed a button, as something happened

beyond the thick pane of glass.

“What test is this.?” Justine questioned.

“I decided, as a last test, to run a Bio-genetic cell frame, it will

help us to determine just exactly what we're up against.” Darwin

stated, freaking out.

“Is that the 'test' you had planned?” Justine asked, noticing that

he seemed a whole lot 'weirder' than normal

“No…” Darwin admitted, hitting the button that would begin

the test. Things inside the bubble below began to move around.

mechanical arm's moved into place and re-positioned themselves

for the best angle at which to 'dissect' the residue. A small beam of

light zapped at the center of the bottom of the over sized petri

dish, and then in less then a spark, Darwin knew what had

happened.
 Suddenly, All the bell's and whistles in the place went off.

Justine grabbed her ears.

“Damn! We got a breech!” Jaron yipped, running over to the

window. looking to the sample he'd brought here.

“What 'Breech'?” Justine asked confused, as the loud sound was

almost deafening.

“The residue's out!. It's escaping!” Darwin yelled at her and

Frank.

“We have to get out of here!” Frank said.

“Forget it! Elevator's already on 'lock-down'! We're here either

way. or until 'the creature comes gets it's residue and exits the

building.” Jaron pointed out.

“Ah shit, we have to get away from here.” Justine said. already

annoyed with the howling noise of the siren.

“We'll have to wait!” Darwin said. Hitting a few button's,

making the horn's stopped blowing, yet the red light's still flashed

off everything in the room.

 “Thank-you,” Justine said, realizing Darwin had stopped the

noise, “.Wait for what.?”

“The 'creature'.” Jaron said in a low tone.

That statement, blew everyone's mind. They looked at one

another, realizing that there was 'no escape'! Not for them, nor for

the residue. And the 'creature' was on it's way!

“Oh my god.! Your not telling me 'We're screwed'.” Justine

stated.

“We're three floor's down!” Darwin said. Stating, that even if

they 'could' get out of the room. just where in the hell would they

go?

“Is the jamming shield still working?” Justine asked, thinking

with every brain cell that wasn't being used at the moment.

The phone rang. Both Darwin and Jaron just looked at it.

It rang a second time. And Darwin picked it up.

 “27-A3.” Darwin stated and listened for a moment. then

added,”Containment's is lost. Yes sir, we realize that. Uh, yes sir.

Yes sir. We understand.” He hung up the phone.

“The Jamming field.” Justine asked Jaron again, as Darwin

conveyed the news.,

“The whole science center has been evacuated. This building. is

under lock-down until the creature has left the area. In short, the

creature is heading here. and 'we're' on our own.” Darwin stated

to them all.

“Uh. Jamming shield's still working, but the residue's on the

move.” Jaron said, heading over to the window.

“Can we get a fix on it direction?” Justine asked.

“I'm on it.” Jaron said, lighting up key's on the consoles

computer.

Within second's and using the equipment already setup

throughout the room and on the other side of the thick glass, a

thermal image appeared on the screen. The picture show a orange

colored shadow slowly moving out of the bowl and dropping onto

the floor. Though the rest of the room showed 'grayish', the

residue showed up a bright orange.

“Is that it?” Justine asked.

“Yes. The orange.” Jaron stated.

“Which way is it's movement.” Frank asked.

“Not able to tell yet.” Jaron said.

Justine could feel her heartbeat. Then it dawned on her. in

a horrible thought!

“The residue's being RF jammed. Right?” Justine asked Darwin.

“Yeah, for now. So?”Darwin asked as Jaron who watched for

directional movement.

“Vibrations. Heartbeats. sounds. It can hear those.” Justine

stated.

“Vibrations.?” Darwin questioned her, he hadn't thought about

it.
 “Yes. you know. Us talking. Vocal cord vibrations.?” Justine

asked.

“We have movement. It's coming straight for us!.” Jaron said,

spooked at the idea.

“That would figure. sonar, radar. Shit! It senses us better than

we can see it!” Darwin said.

“It coming straight towards us!” Jaron got really excited,

backing out of his chair.

“Oh crap!” Frank said, beginning to look for a way out of this

box.

“Call them upstairs. Tell them we need a 'override' on the door!

NOW!” Justine said.

“They won't.” Darwin stated, watching the screen.

“He's right, we're on our own!” Frank said, looking around for

something to open the door with.

“It climbing the wall!! Coming straight for us! Somebody better

think of something. soon!” Darwin stated.

 “Aw shit!” Jaron stated, helping Frank in his quest.

“Justine. We've got to figure out a way out of here 'before' that

thing gets in here.” Frank stated.

“Is there an air vent shaft in the hallway?” Justine noticed the

'vent' up in the corner.

“Yeah., but the way out been sealed.” Darwin stated.

“.air shaft?” Justine said blankly, trying to think past the door.

“.The creatures heading this way!. As soon as the residue eats

through the RF shielding. The creature's going to know 'exactly'

where the residue is. and game over.” Darwin said.

“That things going to have us for lunch.” Frank said, fearful that

this may be the end.

“Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit.” Jaron was becoming unglued.

“Each one of these building has a power room. with a

transformer in it. right?” Justine asked, trying to think.

“Yeah, on the first floor. Why?” Darwin asked.

 “Ventilation. How big are the ventilation duct's?” Justine

questioned him.

“Uh. There's a horizontal shaft twenty yards down the hall.

twenty-four by twenty-four. I think?” Darwin stated, wondering

why she was asking.

“But could we climb up it?” Justine asked.

“. to the first floor?. Yeah. I guess so…” Darwin said.”But it'd

be hard going.”

“Calculate how long before the creature gets here!” Justine

called over too Jaron.

“On it.” Jaron said, just glad 'somebody was trying to find a way

out.

“Frank, how long before you can get that door open?” Justine

questioned.

“Uh. about five minutes.” Frank stated.

“You got 'TWO'.Darwin, how long before that residue gets

through that wall?” Justine asked.

 “At it present rate of movement. about nine minutes.” Darwin

stated.

“Once the RF shielding gone, I estimate about seven minutes the

creature will be walking through that door.” Jaron added.

“Great! That mean's they will both have converged onto this

room in about eight minutes.” Justine stated, adding, “Is the

Helmet ready?” Justine asked Jaron.

“Best I can do. Yeah, It's right over there.” Jaron said.

“Alright. I figure., we have about five and a half minutes to get

to the first floor and inside the transformer room. and once inside.

NOT A SOUND! Understand?” Justine stated to everyone in

about that exact moment, Frank had got the door open. Everyone

moved quickly to the exit Frank had created. Justine quickly

grabbed the helmet and the back-pack, following them into the

hallway. Not stopping until they had kicked the grill off the air

duct, they all 'kicked' at it, caving it in. Frank crawled in first and

rose out of sight, one by one they all disappeared up it. Darwin
carried the helmet and back-pack for Justine, who went last. It

was perhaps the hardest thing she'd ever done, but foot by foot

she climbed back up to the first floor.

Climbing out of the ventilation shaft, she was well winded.

But Frank had Jaron trying to get into the transformer room. The

door like most. was locked as he banged and jabbed at it with a

pry tool, Finally he kicked in the small vent square towards the

bottom of the door and reaching in unlocked it from the inside.

“It's Open!” He said, offering everyone in.

“Stand as close to the transformer as you can. The EM field

should blackout our life sign's. at least that's how it should work.

Don't move. Breath cough. fart. sneeze. OR we're dead.

Understand?” Justine pointed out.

“For how long?” Frank asked.

“As long as it takes, or until it finds us. Oh, and face away from

the door. and if you see even a glimmer of light, completely shut

your eyes.” Darwin added.

 “Starting 'when'?” Frank asked.

“Now!” Justine said to him, pointing him away from the door.

The others quickly followed suit. They understood

Justine's Idea. It just might work., as long as the creature didn't

open the door on them. In silence they waited. and waited and

waited. It was seemed like 'forever' as Darwin checked his watch.

twenty-three minutes, and counting.

Frank felt like coughing. Had he, the siren would have probably

drowned it out.

It was about that moment everyone felt death pass the

doorway. No, it didn't hover or enter, yet, the eerie presents of

the creature was electrified within their sweat as it slugged by. The

plan of Justine's worked. It hadn't sensed them, and this was

probably the only reason they still breathed in their shallow

breath's. The constant shrill of the siren bit into their ear's, as

again, the creature passed by the doorway. It must have been

looking for them. It must have!

 They waited. and waited. and waited, truly numb from loss

of blood flow within there lower extremities. Finally, Darwin

couldn't handle it any longer.

“I got to check.” He said, cautiously moving towards the door.

No one else moved, even Frank remained still, afraid that this

creature would somehow be hunting them down.

“Put on the headset.” Justine whispered to him, realizing 'he'

was the worst pick to do this… However, someone had to do it.

Jaron placed the helmet on Darwin's head and the utility

back-pack onto his back. Doing a quick check rundown, Darwin

was glad that it completely blocked out the sound of the warning

siren., switching on the power, the dark visor came down into

place. covering his entire face. They didn't know if this would

'work'. but now they'd find out. Jaron patted Darwin on the back

to let him know he was set to go. Darwin walked over to the door

and knelt down.

 Peering around through the thin vent slat's on the door,

and not seeing any 'lights' or movement, slow cracked open the

door. Quickly peering at both ends of the hallway, it seemed that

the cost was clear, however. a 'hole' had been burned down

straight through the floor by the elevator. He slowly walked,

footstep by footstep, down the hallway towards the hole.

Darwin stopped in his track's! He didn't understand 'what'

made him stop. but all too quickly his eyes saw it through the

smoking burnt hole. It wasn't but a slight reflection off shiny

metal. the creatures lights! Taking another step, suddenly he

realized that he was looking directly at the creature! It was on the

main floor above them! His blood went cold, as he slowly backed

away from the burnt hole, the whine of the siren wasn't an issue.

he couldn't hear it.

“It's kind of clear.” Darwin said to Jaron who was now, peering

around the corner of the electrical rooms door. He turned, and

passed on the information before stepping out of the rather small

'humming' room. Quietly, outside of the forever shrill of the

danger warning, they moved out into the hallway.

“What did you mean 'kind of'?” Frank asked, not sure he had

heard him right.

“It's on the floor above us.” Darwin told them all as they moved

around in the small room. His tone was but a mere whisper.”.The

residue! It's climbing upward. to the creature.” Darwin stated.

“.How's that thing working?” Justine asked him.

“I 'saw' the creature. at least part of it, no headaches, no

attraction. Seems to be working.” Darwin stated.

“Let me see it.” Justine asked.

“What?” Darwin couldn't believe what he was hearing.

“Hook it onto me. I need to 'SEE' what we're up against.”

Justine informed them.

“Justine. no.” Frank stated in a 'seething hiss'.

“Your a rocket scientist. Not an ET expert.” Justine eyed him.

“Yeah? So.?” Frank stated.

 “I think you just lost that round.” Jaron said to Frank.

“Hook that thing on me.” Justine stated to the three men.

“Justine no., this could get you killed.” Frank said, as Darwin

took off the device.

“Hell, we all could have been dead already.” Justine said, cold as

ice.

“What do you mean?” Jaron asked.

“Look on the floor, under your feet.” Justine said, again

watching the trail of residue climb the wall to the creature on the

floor above.

Frank looked at them. as Darwin and Jaron seemed to

begin to 'freak-out' about

something. Then it hit him. The creature path. The creatures

residue. Where he stood!

“. There's 'No residue' under your feet. trust me.” Justine said in

a low tone. Jaron and Darwin seemed stunned at her observation,

as the remote possibility that they 'wouldn't

be' infected by the ooze. Wide eyed, they all hung onto this

possibility. for dear life.

“How can you be so sure of that?” Jaron stated.

“Took me a while to figure it out. But, this 'residue'. It like

'blood' or something.” Justine said, watching the residue literally

'climb' up from the hole in the floor up to the hole that had been

burned into the ceiling.

“.blood?” Jaron asked, puzzled.

“Yeah,” Justine whispered in a low tone.”About the only time

we see the 'ooze' or 'residue' is after this creature has 'bumped' into

something.”

“How did you figure that out?” Jaron asked.

“Actually, Darwin was all the proof I needed.” Justine

mused.”.We 'know' the creature passed down and back over this

hall. By now, 'this close' to the creature, Darwin. would be well

infected, and I'll bet something else,. IF he 'would have' stepped

into any of the ooze, the creature would be down here so fast it'd

make your head spin.”

Her statement made sense. And Jaron seemed to think over

all the evidence they'd learned up till now, in hopes to point out

something she'd missed. Looking on the floor for any 'ooze'!

“You mean, that thing 'bleeds' the acid type ooze that ate up

Glenda?” Frank asked.

“Yes. Makes sense, don't it?” Justine asked, as Darwin helped

her into the back-pack, as Jaron held the helmet.

“Why is it waiting upstairs?” Frank asked her.

“To 'recollect' the sample ooze that was brought here to test.”

Justine pointed out.

“I think it would be wise to 'end' this discussion.” Darwin

pointed out, turning on the helmet's power switch, lowering the

visor into place.

As if in a sudden fear of capture, all vocal communication

ceased. They waited, and watched the trail of ooze slowly climb
up the wall. It seemed to take hour's and Frank felt his sunburn

bothering him. Darwin and Jaron talked on paper between each

other, at times, they called to Justine and stuffing their writings

into her face. Two or three times they wrote down things that

didn't sit well with her. Outside of that, Justine just watched the

ooze, writing any thought that came across her mind.

It was weird, but suddenly all the ooze, too the last drop.

pulled itself up through the burned hole in the ceiling. and within

seconds after that, the creature seemed to up and disappear

altogether! Justine noticed it first., she walked back to the

transformer room.

“I think it's gone.” Justine said, still seeming to hold her breath.

“Hun?” Darwin asked, speaking for the first time himself.

“It's gone!” Justine said, almost positive about this fact. She

started to remove the helmet off her head, as they all came out of

the room.

“How come it didn't notice us?” Darwin wondered.

 “Not exactly sure it didn't.” Justine said, realizing this herself.

“What?” Frank questioned.

“Maybe it smelled that nasty shit you’re wearing.” Darwin

smarted off.

“We need to get to a hold of those outside. NOW!” Frank said.

“Phone just down the hall. Second door on the left.” Jaron said,

taking the sweat laden helmet from a very dehydrated Justine.

Justine swaggered out of the back-pack. In a long arm

swinging stretch she tried to remove all the tension built up by it's

weight.

“Frank. You call. See what you can find out. And. if they can,

get over here and unlock our elevator.” Justine said.

“Well. How did the helmet work?” Darwin asked her.

“Good. Better than I expected.” Justine agreed.

“Did you see the light's 'in' the creature.” Jaron asked, pulling

the back-pack off.

 “Was looking straight at them, the visor is working better than

you thought.” Justine said.

“Warning. It's not properly calibrated.” Darwin stated.

“Noted.” Justine said, grabbing a note pad and beginning to

write down idea's and thoughts about the whole experience.

Jaron slowly walked up to where the hole had been burned

through the floor and ceiling's and peered hard at it. It was true.

All the residue was gone, no wisp's of smoke. no bubbling areas.

And the burnt etched markings that climbed up the wall and the

rather large four foot holes in the floor and ceiling were the

biggest points that told of it's passing.

Frank came back, and he didn't seemed to be very happy.

Walking into sight, he was on his cell phone. Justine was still

writing on her notepad. Darwin was studying the helmet's back-

pack assembly. And Jaron was inspecting the burnt hole.

“Justine, come here a sec.” Jaron had asked, wanting to share

something he was witnessing.

 “Yeah., Be there in a sec.” Justine said, asking Frank as he

approached,”What did you find out?”

“It look's like we may be here awhile. The Creature is returning

back to the swamp. And that's the only good news.” Frank said,

adding,”.the 'bad news'. It killed sixty-three more National

Guards. They tracked it all the way here., and it's last known

position was two miles away from this side of Interstate ninety-

five. heading 'back' towards the original crash site.”

“Only NG's? What about civilians?” Justine asked. No one

seemed to have an answer.

“Us?.Oh, being as we're still alive and all. Major Briten wants to

'debrief' all of us. It going to be a long day.” Frank hammered the

coffin nail straight into the box.

“Ah shit!” Darwin stated, knowing the ramifications of Frank's

last statement.

“He didn't mention major 'knuckle-head'?” Jaron spoke up

walking back from the hole in front of the elevator.

 “He did.” Justine pointed out, realizing that even 'she' wasn't

happy with Frank's last words.

“They're going to open the lock-down in about thirty minutes.”

Frank finished.

“Thirty minutes. We need to head down to the lab. I need to get

to the computers.” Jaron stated.

“I agree.” Darwin said, still checking over the wires of the

helmet.

“I hate to tell you guy's but if we're going back down. we're

going to have to 'crawl' back down the ventilation shaft.” Justine

pointed out.

“Well., at least it will be easier heading 'down'“ Darwin said.

They all decided it would be a best use of there time if it

were spent in the lab, two

floors down. Standing at the air vent and one by one climbed back

down the
metal shafts, the helmet back-pack was carried down by Darwin.

Exiting and a little out of breath Justine exited the shaft. Dusting

herself off, she asked Jaron.

“So, Have you figured out what your going to 'name' that

contraption?” Justine asked Jaron.

“No, haven't really thought about it. 'life saver'. I don't know.”

Jaron said.

They entered the lab as Jaron let out a low whistle. The

residue had in fact eaten through the wall just below the glass

window into the control room. And with the hole beside the

doorway, it was quite evident that the creature and residue

connected just this side of the door.

“If we'd been in this room. we'd be dead.” Frank stated.

“Yeah, we would have.” Darwin said, putting down the helmet

and back-pack.

“You know, I can't believe we're still alive.” Frank said, actually

smiling about it.

 “Yeah, That's been bothering me as well.” Justine said, as

everyone but Frank picked up on just how she meant that.

“What's wrong?” Darwin came up on her.

“Um, It's nothing I guess.?” Justine said to him.

“What's going on?” Frank suddenly realized she wasn't her

'happy' self.

“That's what I was just asking her.” Darwin reiterated.

“Guy's!. Damn, I hate being double teamed.” Justine said, now

pinned by both men.

“Honey., If something's 'wrong' here, please tell us.” Frank said,

realizing that there was definitely 'something' bothering her.

“It 'knew' we were there. It knew it!. And yet, we're still alive.

WHY?” Justine asked.

As Frank looked to Darwin and Jaron, he realized that

what Justine had just said. was the scary truth. They 'should' all be

dead! Jaron and Darwin seemed to not want to face the truth of

what she said, feeling that if they tug on this 'string' of actual truth,
the creature would suddenly pop it's ugly mug back through the

doorway, to finish the task.

This fact, and their 'suddenly' not wanting to meeting eye

to eye, told the story. They wanted to just 'drop' the subject,

altogether.

“It didn't know we were there.” Frank tried to tell her.

“Yes it did. When it 'passed'., didn't the hair on the back of your

neck's stand up?” She asked him, as well asking the others. They

didn't answer. He didn't answer. yet, they all knew.

Oh., it had known. She knew it had known. And yet, it

hadn't 'attacked. And it

puzzled her as to 'why'. she looked around, her talk was actually

scaring the others and if she where to keep brooding over it,

wouldn't be helping the team.

Jaron was now collecting the data the computer had spit

out in there absents., and was handing some of this data to

Darwin, when Justine asked,

 “What did you find?”

“Here. Look at this.” Jaron handed her a five or six folds of

paper.

“Okay.? What am I looking at?” Justine asked.

“Remember the last test I was going to run before our certain

death.?” Darwin asked.

“Yeah?” She said looking over the papers, as Frank looked over

her shoulder.

“Here. The Bio-Genetic cell frame test results.”

“Oh, you got it? Is it complete?” Jaron asked, interested in the

information.

“No. but look 'here'.” Darwin pointed to a page that held a

scientific graph of composed elements and a second page of

chemical compositions.

“I was right. it's definitely not carbon based.”

 “No. but with the results of what the residue left behind and it's

genetic make-up, it's only going to take a couple of hours to find

out what it is, and what it's consuming.” Darwin stated.

Darwin sat down with Justine and Jaron and began to

study the information carefully between them. Frank felt like an

outsider, and ended up just listening to them banter back and forth

over the pages of information. Justine called Thomas and it

became a 'four-way' discussion over the information. The whole

thing lasted straight up to the moment Frank heard the elevator

start moving.

“Hey! Their here.” Frank broke up the powwow.

In a flurry of motion, everyone began collecting things to

take out with them. Frank felt like the look-out. He didn't know

what to grab, what they were after or where what they were

looking for or whatever 'it' was, and where it was at. It only took

two minutes, six National Guard's men armed with M-16's to enter
the lab's doorway. Everyone, just stood as the men were pointing

their weapons at them.

“Thanks for your concern. But the monster's gone.” Darwin

stated to the six N.G.'s.

It didn't take long to ride back to the video store. Frank's

truck was following in tow. And it was an unwanted sight to see

Major Briten standing just outside of the video store.

“Aw shit.” Justine stated, seeing him 'glaring' at them in the

Humvee

“This ain't going to be fun.” Darwin stated.

“Yeah, Fort Leavenworth bound.” Frank said, opening the door

to the Humvee

They all got out, walking up to Major Briten. It was very

hard to even imagine 'what' the man was thinking as they eyed the

man straight on.

 “You two.” Major Briten pointed to Darwin and Jaron,”I want a

complete report on everything you've done since I last saw you. In

one hour.”

“Yes sir.” The two almost said in unison, walking past him. one

carried the papers the other had the back-pack and helmet.

“And. You two., follow me.” Major Briten turned and walked in

behind Darwin. Thomas actually smiled walking up to Justine,

“I'm so glad to see you guy's. I must hear how you made it out

of there alive.” He started to inquire, but Briten cut him off,

“Only after I get it in triplicate. and after I debrief them.” Major

Briten stopped him.

“Thomas, any 'different' information. you have any?” The Major

asked.

“Uh, No sir. not yet.” He lied.

“Then back to you computer. 'find' some.” Major Briten said in a

forthright tone.
 “Talk later.?” Thomas said, heading back to their corner. Justine

just smiled at him, as Major Briten had already began to lead them

back to his 'new' old office in the managers area.

Frank could feel the shackles on his ankles already. This

wasn't going to fair well. He just knew it. Entering the office,

Justine just smiled as she passed the master Sargent she stormed

past yesterday. Major Briten sat in his seat behind the desk,

pointing to Frank to close the door behind him. With a click of the

door, the three of them were alone.,

“Well. You two do pull off some pretty surprising moves.”

Major Briten began, “And how you lived through a 'direct contact'

with the creature has the full interest of my superiors.”

“Told you I have a good idea what we're up against.” Justine

stated.

“If we didn't we'd be dead. Who was it that 'ordered' that lock-

down. Locking us in with that creature?” Frank stared at the

Major
 “Hum,. Okay. Drop the crap. I've had my can kicked all over

this state. Because of the 'both' of your 'exploits'. Now, what are

we up against?”

“As stupid as this sound's. it's intelligent. More so than 'you'

appear to be.” Justine spoke straight forth to him.

“You mean this creature 'thinks'?” Major Briten questioned.

“Not in as a rational way as we do. more like a predator... a

'shark'.” Justine tried to convey.

“We know it's a killer!” Briten stated.

“No, you don't understand.” Justine paused, trying to word this

right.”It's like dropping a shark in tank full of 'fish'. we're the fish.”

“I get that part already.”

“It's just that 'we're' a particular type of fish.”

“What? The good to eat type.” Briten asked her.

“We're 'piranha'. Think bout it?”

“Piranha?. How the hell.?”

 “Since this thing has landed, we've been trying to kill it. It 'had'

to go on the defense!”

Justine tried to paint the Major a picture.

“So it's just going after those that pose a threat to it's survival?”

The Major thought over this way of thinking.

“Why do it keep returning to the swamp.

“We're not sure 'what' it's after. but I think something in the

swamp is what it's after.” Justine pointed out.

“How do you figure that?” Briten asked.

“Because it keeps heading back there. and not towards a

populated area.” Justine made a guess.

“Or maybe. it's making babies.?” Briten suggested.

“It has collected up the residue from the diner., And the boat.”

Justine seethed.

“How did you know that?” Briten asked, unsure how she had

acquired this information

 “The residue is like it's blood. blood of this thing is like a baby

chick 'chirping' for it's mother.” Justine tried to explain.

“Your way over my head. and I can usually get into a good

science fiction flick.” Major Briten admitted.

“Sir, Justine's getting close to all the answers you'll need to

make a decision on this creature.” Frank spoke up.

“Last I heard, after it left, passing all four of us by five feet.

'WHICH' it could have killed us. It headed straight back to the

'swamp'. Why?” Justine formulated.

“But it killed seventeen of my men passing through!” Briten

exclaimed.

“Your men were carrying 'weapons'! This thing already knows

that 'gun powder' makes it bleed! Of course it attacks your men, it

senses the gunpowder as a automatic threat!” Justine pointed out.

“So we should just lay down our gun's?. I don't see that

happening! Tell you that right now!” He threw up his hands.

 “We were less then 'five feet away' from the Creature. No guns!.

we weren't a threat to it!. Damn! Just try to understand what I'm

telling you!” Justine tried to convey.

“It okay honey.” Frank told her, seeing this wasn't getting

resolved.

“So what does the creature want?” Briten asked, moving on.

“I don't know. maybe 'moss'. Bark. certain bug's! I don't know

yet, we need a little more time to figure it out!” Justine stated.

“Well your time is running out. Go on. find out.,” Briten waved

them both out, adding, “But do it 'quickly'! If I 'nuke it' I lose my

pension.”

With that they left the room. Justine was frustrated with

that 'stupid' man. She actually hated men like him. And to the

point. all's he was concerned about was his pension!

“That went better than I thought it would.” Frank said outside

his office. Following her back to where the others had awaited her.
 “No, actually. it didn't.” Justine said, rounding the corner and

seeing the others awaiting her arrival.

“Justine! Come here!” Darwin called her over.

“Yeah. What did you find?” She asked, feeling older then anyone

in the group.

“Check this out. You were right! It does crave an element. Well,

not actually an 'element', more like a 'fungus'.” Darwin stated.

“A fungus?” Justine pulled the piece of paper out of Darwin's

hand.

“Damn we're good!” Thomas stated, smiling himself.

“Yeah. it form's 'naturally' at the waterline. around water based

tree's.” Jaron stated.

“How did you derive at this?” Justine asked, only 'hoping' that it

was this simple.

“We did get a 'part' of a genetic make-up on that last test we ran.

Remember? And then Thomas did a 'life form' analysis of the

things in the swamp. and Bingo. a match!” Jaron answered.

 “Great!. So, it's not after 'mankind'. Briten will be glad to here

this.” Justine stated, about ready to head straight back to his

office.

“Not so fast.” Thomas stated, stopping her in her tracks.

“We think it has a 'higher mentality' than we've been giving it

credit for.” Jaron informed her.

“Oh?. Figures. Talk to me.” Justine stated, she needed to hear

this.

“I was thinking., as to 'WHY' it didn't attack us. And I'm not

sure about this, but. It 'now' sees us humans as rats. We only try to

kill rat's when we spot them. not when there hiding from us.”

Jaron said, trying to put a workable scenario to it.

“Hun?” Justine questioned.

“We're more apt to try and kill a rat coming after us, then on one

trying to run away.” Frank pointed out.

“I see. That would make the 'gun power'.” Justine said.

“The 'cheese'!” Frank stated.

 “And Briten's boy's have been acting like a set of 'coon dog's'

going after this thing.” Thomas added.

“Chasing after rats with 'cheese'. we've created ourselves as a

natural enemy of this thing.” Justine said, coming into an

agreement with the four men around her.

“The process has already begun.” Jaron pointed out.

“What process?” Justine asked.

“You heard Briten. It's already starting to attack his men

whenever they get 'too close'.” Thomas pointed out.

They stood around pondering how to approach Briten with

this new equation. Thomas figured out 'he'd' be the best choice.

For some reason, the major was less abrasive towards him. As he

headed for Briten's office, loaded down with papers, they waited

for the results with baited breath.

It was about ten minutes before Thomas came out of the

back office. Jaron tried to read his face, almost remarking 'good'

or 'bad'. but he couldn't.

 “Well.” Thomas said coming up to everyone,”.We're to get as

much information on the creature as we possibly can. in the next

twenty-four hour's.

“What 'kind' of information?” Jaron asked, ready to gather all

data he had on paper.

“The 'up close and personal' kind.” Thomas stated. not happy

with what he had to say next.

“What is that suppose to mean?” Justine asked.

“Okay everybody. 'we're' the only people that's been able to walk

away from this thing. so there sending the 'two' of you in.”

Thomas said, adding,”Justine., you and Frank.”

“Me and Fr. What does he want, us to go up to it and shake it's

hand?!!”

“He want's, as he puts it. a confrontational report on it.”

Thomas said.

“Confrontational report?.” Justine stated, confused, but Frank

knew.
 “How it moves. what it eats . who or what it goes after.”

Thomas said, downhearted.

“They want us to 'follow it'?. That's the 'stupidest' thing I've ever

heard.” Justine's voice rose.

No one spoke as Justine looked it each of them for

agreement on this suicide mission. The problem was, everyone

'knew' this would be the next step anyway.

“On the brighter side. they've canceled the 'nuke' theory.”

Thomas stated, trying to smile.

“Fan-fun-tactic!” Justine stated.

“Honey., baby! Isn't this what we were going to do 'anyway'?”

Frank spoke to her directly.

“Frank. That was 'before' I realized what we were up against.

But now.”

“And now?” Frank questioned her.

“I really think they need to find there 'own' guinea pig.” Justine

said, half out of fear, half out of frustration.

 “Well, if you weren't 'so damn good'.” Frank talked, as a bright

smile covered his face.

“There's ten thousand people more qualified then I am.” Justine

had said in an almost 'whine'.

“Not in my book.” Thomas spoke up, though trying to keep out

of their conversation. As Both Justine and Frank both turn to look

at Thomas. and Darwin, and Jaron., it had somehow 'finalized' the

order from Briten.

“Aw. Shit.” Justine moaned, as she gave in.

Opening this new can of worms, they all hunkered down

to try and make this a two way trip. Briten, however, stopped by

to this time and 'inquired' about Frank's involvement with the

satellite and how all this had come to pass. Explaining, and

without knowledge, Frank had gave Briten information that would

solve a problem that hadn't been brought up yet. Ending his story,

Briten had rearranged the whole game plan.,

 “Ur., Mr. Conner. Dr. Conner, Uh, We're going to need your

help.” Major Briten stated, as if he hadn't heard much of Frank's

story.

“Yes Major, I don't mind going out there. We'll get as much

information for you as possible.” Frank said, thinking this was

what he meant.

“Your staying. The government wishes to acquire your rocket.”

Major Briten stated, “How long will it take to take to get it set

up at 'Kennedy'?”

“Excuse me?” Frank was blown away. “Did I understand you

right?”

“I need you to set up that rocket.” Briten restated.

“I'm. you. you think I'm just going to 'hand over' my satellite

rocket.

“If we 'capture' this creature, were going to need a way to get it

'back' into outer-space.” Briten stated, coldly.

 “Don't the 'Army' have any of it's own rocket's?” Frank asked,

adding. “And who the hell's going to escort my girlfriend out there

in the swamp? One of your pimple-faced privates?” Frank got kind

of snotty.

Darwin was working on the Helmet, making adjustments.

Thomas was taking over with Justine about the moment the

creature had passed them in the hallway, Jaron was listening as

well.

“But your saying that all of you, 'never heard' anything?. I don't

understand?” Thomas questioned.

“You know. Now that you mention it. I 'didn't' hear anything.?”

Justine stated.

“Me either.?” Jaron spoke up, as if tore away from reading

important information.

“Hey Darwin, when the creature passed us. did you hear

anything?”
 “Not anything audible. May have been higher then our ears

perceive, uh, hold on” Darwin got up and checked some of the

papers they had gotten from the test they did on the ooze.

“Uh, according to the test results. It is higher. much higher then

we can hear. Like twice outside our hearing range.”

“Then I was right, it's 'got to' work in sync with the lights.”

Thomas stated.

“I've been reading these reports.” Jaron spoke up, “and there

have been 'no survivors' of anyone that has had any ocular contact

with this creature.”

“Your point?” Thomas asked.

“Seeing it means you 'hear it'. If you 'Hear it'. you die.”

“It consuming 'us' to grow. Has anyone done a demographic on

how all this human consumption is affecting the creature?” Jaron

pointed out.

As they thought this over, Frank had just came from

Briten's office. The look on his face alarmed Justine.

 “What's the matter?” Justine broke away from the group.

“I'm not going.” Frank stated, at a loss for any other words.

“What do you mean 'your not going'?” Justine questioned him.

“Briten want me to stay hear and get 'my rocket' ready to

transport that thing back into outer space.” Frank spoke gloomily.

“What? 'Your rocket'?” Justine couldn't believe her ears.

“Briten also want's to talk to you.” Frank said to her.

“I want to talk to him as well!” Justine blew-up, stepped quickly

to get around Frank. But he was quick enough to grab her arm.

“Justine. His idea just might work. Hear him out.” Frank said,

fighting her resistance.

“Oh, when I'm done 'everyone' will hear him.'running' OUT,

screaming.” Justine was flaming angry.

“Justine! I mean it. hear him out. The plan he's got formulated.

it will probably work!” Frank said, trying to get her to clam down.

He was about to let go, when she had suddenly relaxed. About

that moment Thomas spoke up,

 “Uh. I wouldn't 'let go' just yet.” Thomas was pointing at

Darwin.

“Honey.?” Frank asked again, understanding how Darwin had

gotten 'his' mask. He continued to hold her, then her strength

returned. again trying to pull away from Frank.

“That son-of-a-bitch needs castration!” Justine spoke so loudly,

every man in the building wanted to protect his own jewels.

“Justine! Listen to me!. We don't have 'Mike' any more. You

know I'll get us lost out there, which might get us both 'killed'!

But YOU,. you can handle yourself in these situations. You'll need

a rocket to get that thing off the planet.” Frank shook her, trying

to get her to understand.”.I have the rocket. YOU have to get the

information they need to capture it. We can do this. Justine? Are

you listening to me? I believe this could work!”

It took a few seconds to sink in, but she finally shook her

head. He loosened his grip as she slid into him, gripping him into a

hug. She was scared! And crying.

 “Aw. There you go! Now, why didn't I do that?” Darwin asked

Jaron. Even Thomas snickered.

“ Who knows. it might have saved you a pop in the mug.” Jaron

answered back.

“doubt it., he had it coming.” Thomas stated, short and sweet.

“You guy's are just so wrong.” Darwin said leery of the way this

conversation was turning out.

Justine hugged on Frank until the frustration cried itself

out. After two or three minutes she finally released him, and at

that break His took the time to ask,

“..hey., if this is too much, I'll take you home. Right now!”

Frank stated, looking her in the eye.

She knew his last statement could never be. Though, it was

mighty sweet of him.

“No it's alright, it just. that man. he infuriates me!” Justine

grabbed onto Frank tightly.

 “He has a plan. that don't include 'nuking it'. the least you could

do is 'listen' to him.”

Frank said.

“What? We have no way to kill it. Not yet.” Justine said

“No. But thanks to you, we have a way to 'contain it'.” Frank

continued.

“Yeah, we figured if we could 'contain it' long enough, we might

just be able to ship it back out into space.” Darwin spoke up.

“How we going to contain it… We don't even know what will

bring it?” Justine stated.

“Uh, yes we do.” Thomas stated. Justine just looked at him as if

she had 'lost' this piece of information somewhere in her own

mind.

“Hun? Like what?” Justine asked.

“Gunpowder.” Thomas simple stated.

“How did you come up with that?” Justine questioned.

 Thomas began a rundown on all the 'facts' we had known.

And inducing the creatures pattern of attack, everyone it had

attacked… had a weapon.

“Then, your saying, that's why it left us alone down there.?”

Justine pondered this.

“I even checked it's pattern 'after' it left the area. It went straight

after a large platoon

dropped off just north of the way it 'should have' headed… It went

out of it's way to attack that platoon., then headed back onto a

track that would be where the shuttle crashed.” Darwin pointed

out.

“We've double checked everything, it makes sense.” Thomas

concluded.

“So, we make some sort of over large containment jar and 'do

what' with it?” Justine

questioned.
 “ load it with guns and a few dummies, Once it's contained. Ship

it to the rocket.” Frank stated.

“Ship it? How?” Justine questioned.

“Remember, I already have a 'rocket',” Frank reminded her.

“Rock. I mean how are we going to 'transport it' TO the rocket.

“ Justine thought about it.

“You need to talk to Briten.” Frank restated. It got her to think

a little more.

“Yeah. I guess, in a minute…” Justine's mind kicked in as she

began to realize that they would need a few things 'perfected'.

Justine would decided after talking to Briten. But until

then, if she was going to 'stalk' this creature. She wanted it on the

best terms possible

“. Thomas. Get that helmet up and running, I have a feeling my

life's going to depend on it. Darwin, your on the containment unit.

size, density…” She stopped speaking, ready to face the military

'Major moron'.
 “What about 'me'?” Jaron asked, as if he was left out.

“Follow up on the information we retrieved, see what else you

can figure out.”

“On it.” Jaron said, and when straight after it.

“If I don't return, I went after Briten.” Justine said in such a way

Frank worried about

how this meeting would turn out.

“He seemed to have had a change of heart after that real general

tagged on him.” Thomas stated.

“We can only hope.” Justine stated on the way back to the

manager's office of the video

store. The place seemed pretty active as people with papers seem

to jump from one desk to the next. She, following Frank felt as if

she was going to the Principal's office.

Entering the man's office, the mood seemed pretty somber,

as Major Briten allowed everyone to file in,

 “Okay, couple of things we have to clear up. We've removed the

men back thirty miles from the crash site. Although the creature is

seeking out 'gunpowder' from our troops weapons. You can't

request that my men walk around 'unarmed'. Secondly, we still

have a window of 'evacuation', if this creature decides to start

moving towards a major town.” Major Briten stated, dropping the

other shoe,”HOWEVER! If it moves to a position of 'attack',

your plan gets shuffle to the back burner, understand?”

“Yes Major Briten, we understand.” Frank stated.

“I wasn't talking to you.” Major Briten said, turning to here it

from Justine.

“Yes Major Briten.” Justine stated.

“Okay then, submit your plan through reports and I'll try and

make sure those 'convicts' get what they'll need… Oh, I've

decided to drive the 'air boat' myself. I grew up around these

waters.” Major Briten spoke in such a way everyone realized he

did have a large state in this.

 “You are going to drive the boat.?” Frank asked.

“It's been brought to my attention that I've been going about this

situation all wrong. I have to 'recant' my earlier displays of anger.

They were uncalled for.” Major Briten actually sounded 'human'!

“I. What about me. What am I 'chopped liver'?” Frank asked.

“No actually. Your work is pretty well cut and dried. You have

to get that rocket set up and ready, if we can get this thing

captured. You can 'start on this'. now. “ He stated to Frank. And

with that the 'meeting' was over.

Five seconds later, Justine was numbly heading back

towards there work area. Thomas and Darwin talk over the

helmet's configuration as Jaron followed up behind her and Frank.

“See that didn't go so bad.” Frank stated.

“Spooky if you ask me. It was almost as if. It 'sounded' as if he

put me in charge.?” Justine stated in a confused voice.

“We all decided, that in order to make this work, 'you' had to be

at it's head.” Jaron spoke-up behind her.

 “And 'Briten' went for that? From 'convicts'?” Justine asked.

“We're not all 'that' dangerous.” Jason stated.

“You heard, he going to 'escort' you out there personally!”

Frank said.

“It a good thing we only have 'one' helmet.” Justine said in a

vindictive way.

“Justine, you ain't thinking about 'tossing' Briten to the

creature.?” Frank stated, as the others heard his statement. She

just 'smiled'. thinking about it.

“Justine, Briten has to go by your word, in order for this plan to

work.” Frank pointed out.

“Yes. We were 'all' quite adamant about that fact…” Thomas

stated to her.

“We told him that 'you' weren't a 'convict'. and that he'd better

treat you with 'respect'., if he wanted to cash in on his 'pension'.”

Darwin piped in.

 “Per the orders of the General.” Jaron added in as Justine turned

to look at Frank.

“Don't look at me. They did it.” Frank admitted.

Justine looked at each one of the three convict scientist's, who

bashfully smiled back, admitting there guilt in this. She reflected

on their faces for a moment, realizing she would be getting

'respect' from here on out, because of them. she smiled at them

and spoke,

“And they say 'convicts are bad people'.” She stated. Shyly they

all lowered there head, in truth. all three had done massively

wrong things. It was 'surprising' they weren't in 'shackles' this

whole time.

“Oh we're 'guarded'.” Darwin pointed out the Ng's placed in

charge of these three.

“Though, even 'we' realize there is a bigger picture here. that's

why we've stayed.” Thomas stated. It gave Justine a 'different

understanding' of the way things had been.

 They talked in the back of the Explorer while getting out

her suitcase of clothes. Asking about her supplies, she agreed that

they might come in handy, and they unloaded these too. Two of

the National guardsmen helped transfer Mike's air boat over to the

Majors 'Hummer'. though it took almost twenty minutes for them

to say 'good bye', Frank worried about her 'safety' against this

'Deadlights' creature.

As Frank pulled away Justine couldn't look back, she was

to worried about all her equipment being 'casually' carried into the

building. His last view of her was giving some G I a rash of shit

about caring for her equipment., He smiled looking out his rear

view mirror.

She had just brought in her clothes, still upset about the

man carrying her supplies

with insensitive hands. Darwin actually witnessed the way the man

place the box down, himself concerned with it's contents.

 “These guy's. They don't worry about anything but there own

ass.” Darwin stated.

“Yeah… Well. They'd better figure it out. soon.” Justine said.

“I know. Just remember, they only see the fact that the 'creature'

is killing there buddies.” Darwin stated as Jaron came up to her

with some really good news.

“Hey Justine. I've just finished reviewing the results of those

tests we were doing. I found this.” Jaron stated, handing her the

papers.

“What?.” Justine said, still a little 'testy'.

“The 'harmonic's'… I've narrowed it down!… Look.” Jaron said

extremely excited over the find.

As she eyed the paper's, most of it was over her head, by

in his explaining. The helmet, with a few adjustments would

render the creatures affect's 'harmless'. She realized this would

give them there first 'really useful' tool against the creature since

this whole thing started.

 “How long would it take you to build another helmet.?” Justine

asked.

“Another helmet.?” Jaron questioned, as Darwin over heard her.

“Yeah, It won't look right to let 'Briten' go out there

unprotected.” Justine stated.

“.about ten hours.” Darwin stated.

“Get on it, I'll try and delay Briten's departure to go find the

creature.” Justine told them.

“I'm on it. The second one will be quicker to make. Oh, They're

already working on the containment unit.” Darwin stated.

“How?, We still don't know the creatures dimensions.” Justine

didn't recall 'any' of them seeing the creature.

“Yes. Actually, we do. At least a basic size.” Thomas stated,

after placing down the helmet.

Thing's had changed around here. Though she was still

working with 'prisoners' and Briten had somehow changed his

mind about the whole project, the 'air' around them seemed to be

easier to breath.

They had worked through the night and Briten awaited the

helmet to arrive as the three scientist's had barely made it back

from breakfast awake. Darwin had crashed on his cot without so

much as pulling the papers off his bed. Thomas had to raze him a

few times before the man got up and cleared it off.

In another good turn of events, Justine's cell phone rang. It

was Frank! Half asleep, she sprang from her cot, trying to listen to

the progress he had made. Grabbing a pen and paper, she wrote

down time and places to inform Briten of. The rocket would be on

the gantry in nine hours. It was a slight disappointment to have to

tell him that 'Briten' was going to pilot the air boat himself, telling

him that the 'Major' had grown up around the area they would be

looking to capture the creature.

The best news came about twelve that afternoon, The

'containment unit' was ready for transport. There was when thing's
began to roll. Everyone rolled out of the sack, demanding 'coffee'!

Justine herself decided it might not be a bad idea to grab a cup

with the other scientist's. She 'disliked' coffee, but maybe it would

clear the cobwebs out of her head. She'd already reported to

Briten, finding the military man 'snoozing' behind his own desk.

The second helmet had arrived, as Jaron tweaked on it.

Justine realizing everyone in the group with beginning to

'squabble' over to many small problems. Calling a meeting she

gave the three a form as to where they could speak they're minds.

Jaron discussed procedures on the basic adjustments of the helmet

and the possible 'effects' the creature may still have. Briten had to

be included in on this. He wasn't impressed, but he did pay close

attention to it's working's. In a final thought, Thomas explained

where the containment unit was to be best setup at. The location,

was pretty spooky, as they had tracked it's basic movements,

realizing this 'deadlight's creature' had basically stay very close to

the downed shuttle craft.

 “I believe, 'Here', “ Thomas point to a map, “.would be the best

spot to find the creature.”

“Funny! I don't remember 'anyone' coming up with an idea on

how to do that.” Briten stated. If left all the scientists stunned.

Even miss Cohen! The major smiled. This was where he was out

of their league. Most of his life he'd spent 'trapping' prey in these

swampland's.

“We have the containment jar about ready to deliver..” Justine

quipped.

“What? Your going to just make that creature 'jump-into' it?” He

wondered.

“Well, no.” She answered.

“That mean's we're going to have to get it to follow us into it..

Right?” Briten questioned.

This part of the plan, she had no clue to. They all remained

silent as he eyed each of them for a better answer. They had the

helmets.. containment Jar.. Hell, they even had the rocket to get it
off the planet.. How to capture it? No one had anything to add.

Nor should they had.. This was Major Briten's corner of the

world.. He knew how.

“How long before their ready to ship the containment jar to us?”

Briten asked.

“They say they can have it dropped where we want it, in about

two hours.” Thomas stated to him.

“You have a spot picked out?” Briten asked him.

“Yes sir.. I've picked out a very..” Thomas began to answer.

“Do it, Get Company A and B of the 427 to assist in it's set up at

that location.. The helmets are ready?” Briten asked Jaron.

“This one will be ready within the hour. Sir.” Jaron said.

“Miss Cohen, Your with me, be ready to leave within the hour.

Dismissed.” Briten said, with a wave of his hand.

Everyone muddled around for a few seconds, before

mulling out towards the front of the store. Collecting up their

items. They worked quickly trying informing each other as to what

to expect out there.

It would be their first real confrontation with the creature.

On it's terms. Jaron worried that the helmet may malfunction in

the water, trying to water proof it's every opening, as Thomas

surveyed the map.

“How does he plan to lure it into the containment unit?” Darwin

asked.

“I have no idea, yet. I have to call Frank.” Justine said,

concerned.

They all seemed busy. As the flow of ‘military personnel’

doubled, bringing in information to the Major, Frank wasn't very

happy to hear he was going to take Justine with him. Planning was

the best defense to make this happen. Phones rang as answers

confirmed this plan was ready. Then came in Briton,

“Load up the equipment.” He told one of his men that had

walked from his office.

 “You understand how to use this?” Darwin asked Briton.

“Most of it,”

“If it short's out, or quits. Just do not look at the creature!”

Jason warned.

“How will I know that?” Briton asked.

“The battery pack, this diode, will light up red with a beep. It

does that, means there's something wrong.” Jason stated, to both

of them.

“Seem to work well before.” Justine stated.

“It wasn't subjected to water testing. Short order, the best we

could do.” Jason stated.

“Anything else?” Briton asked.

“We go in unarmed,” Justine stated, as time froze.

“Lady, you’re fucking nuts.” Briton swatted away her words.

“We have a strong proof this alien creature is only targeting the

military gun fire. There are fifteen stories of sightings with no

attacks yet only the military or gun toting are missing. The only
thing that’s common is ‘gunpowder’.”

”Gunpowder, you got to be shitting me! What the fuck we

supposed to do, ‘mind meld’ with the fuck thing! We want it dead,

understand.

“Right now I’d be happy with ‘seeing the damn thing. We still

need to assess this creature’s size and dimension. We need to find

all its strengths and its weaknesses. And the way I’m hearing it,

you’d rather shoot first, figure it out after… and where has that

got you so far?”

“Well, too bad you’re not in charge, Point is,” Briton stated

openly.

“Point is ‘know you adversary’, that’s the first rule of any

engagement.” Justine pointed out flatly.

“No, point is, we kill it.” Briton and Justine seemed to be talking

on opposite sides of the same coil.

“The only thing you’re going to do is get us all killed if you

bring a gun… This isn’t going to work out, is it?” Justine asked.
 “You are so crazy,” Briton just slowly shook his head at her.

“So, and that means..?” Justine questioned, not liking the way

this man conducted himself.

“I sorry, unarmed… No, Miss Cohen that isn’t going to

happen… This isn’t a recon mission. In fact, I can’t sanction any

action much less be a part of it. But, in all interest, tell you what…

I’m going to send you with Frank and one of my men, a real

screw-up, he’ll be going, unarmed, in my place.” Major Briton

grinned at her.

“Frank? What brought him into this?” Justine never thought he’d

be so sneaky. Then she realized, he only mentioned two people.

“You’re boyfriend and you… meeting the creature, together,

unarmed. Let’s find out how friendly ‘it’ is, or we’ll be finding

how fast you’re stupidity can get you killed. You get one air boat,

all you’re 'fancy equipment' and for a weapon, a knife. Now, do

the government proud and capture it.”

 Justine was still processing ‘Frank’ and now, as if carved in

stone… Briton wasn’t being a hero, he was being a ‘dick’!

“Oh my god, you’d really just send the two of us…” Justine

heard herself saying the words and realized this is exactly what she

wanted in the first place.

“Two birds, one stone, if you want to quip quotes,” Briton

handed off the equipment to Frank.

Frank looked befuddled, accepting the helmet. He turned

to Justine, looking for the direction to swing this new turn of

events. Justine too, looking weather or not to push against this.

“Fine…” Justine said with as much disdain as possible. Frank’s

face dropped, and the major saw he’d finally got his way.

“Good, the boats awaiting.” Major Briton slipped behind his

desk and instantly sat down.

Briton began moving papers on his desk, in some kind of

frantic searching. Having dismissed them he ignored them. Only

Darwin who had caught the drift and walked to the door, opening
it, his body movements were like, ‘OK, we’re done here, we need

to go.’

Justine and Frank’s eye never unlocked, as Darwin was

trying to get them to safety. Realizing it would be better out of

Briton’s ear when they talked, Justine turned to the open door

heading out, as Frank followed suit still holding the helmet.

They all headed back to they’re 'almost hidden' area. They

had arranged all the DVD racks to mimic walls. Surrounded by

every playable movie literally made, the racks made perfect walls.

One way in, one way out, and a permanent guard stationed just

outside.

Justine hadn’t spoke a work until she crossed the

threshold,

“What a douse…”

“Glad you waited till now to say that.” Darwin headed past

Frank, taking the helmet from him, moving towards the makeshift

desk. He’d thought of an idea to stop it from shorting out

prematurely. Thomas fell in line behind Darwin, now setting the

helmet down.

“Okay, what happened?” Thomas asked him.

“Well, it’s normal Briton, everything’s….bad.” Darwin stated

looking for glue.

Thomas realized he wasn’t going to get any information

here and walked up to Frank and Justine, who was on another

tangent about Briton.

“What did he say?” Thomas asked, completely butting in,

“Fucker backed out.” Justine stated as if he was the most

disgusting man on the planet.

“Well yeah. Kind of expected that, Tell me, did he scrub it

altogether?” Thomas asked.

“Uh, no…” Justine chose her words, “Just a change of

personnel, Frank and me are going… apparently ‘alone’.”

“Just you two?” Thomas asked, understanding that by Briton’s

point of view, that would make this a suicide mission. Except now
with the knowledge about the creature they had gained and

equipment they’d created to protect themselves from the creature.

This would be a walk in the park, as long as there was no

gunpowder involved.

“Yeah, and our only weapon, is a knife...” Justine smiled, and

Thomas smiled. Frank was still lost.

“That’s even better. When are you heading out?” Thomas said.

“Soon as we’re done waterproofing the helmets, want to give

me a hand here?” Darwin called from the table.

“Uh, yeah, sure…” Thomas left them to help out.

Finally alone, Frank turned to Justine. His look totally

confused.

“Time we get out of here.” Frank spoke a fear, Justine had never

heard before.

“Huh? Why, things are perfect.” Justine smiled, eyeing his face

of concern.
 “Okay, how that? You mean you wanted 'just us' to go?” Frank

asked.

“Yes, of course. It was the only way this would work.”

“Huh?”

“We know the creatures only threat is 'gunpowder'. Without

that factor, it should allow us at least close enough to get a visual

on its size. And then... I'm almost sure... Can you get your 'rocket'

delivered to Kennedy and have it ready for a launch?”

“What?” Frank wondered, “You’re thinking on capturing it?”

“I’m have a good idea as to how…” Justine thought through it,

“Care to explain?” Frank asked openly, catching all three of the

scientist’s attention.

As they grouped around her, as Justine played out her

idea. At first, it sounded far fetched, then as the plan laid out,

each saw the possibilities grow.

“Uh, yeah, remember the test in the lab?” Justine started in on

some of the 'facts' they knew of.

 “Yeah, that specimen gave out a frequency signal, called that

thing straight to it.” Darwin recalled.

“Think you can recreate it?” Justine asked.

“Yeah, should be no problem... Oh, your thinking of leading it...

I see.” Darwin spoke.

“Lead it where?”

“To the rocket..” Justine said.

“Honey it could take 'days' to get it here! Much less ready for

launch.” Frank realized the time frame required to have this done.

“Not if I make it a government order...”

“Huh?” Frank stated.

“Remember the 'General'?”

“Hey, that's right... I still have his number. He gave it to me...”

Thomas stated.

The 'idea' developed from there. They had a containment

field, and a lure... and a rocket that would 'at least' get it off the

planet. And here in a phone number was a way to jump past all the
paperwork 'Briton' would try to throw in there way... This could

work!

“Okay, but first, we need a visual to see what size to make the

container.” Justine pointed out.

“So... that means, we still have to go out there.” Frank said, not

really wanting to take this course of action.

“I think if it stays on this planet 'too' much longer, it will pick

mankind as a threat, if it hasn't already. We have to get it off the

planet. Just imagine if it re procreates, how many and how far

would it travel? By our tests, it wouldn't be limited by climate.”

Justine pointed out.

“And if the military get's it's way, and 'nuke' it... There might be

millions on the planet.” Thomas stated.

“Oh, not good.” Darwin stated.

“Okay, let's go find a monster.” Justine stated as they all broke

the huddle.
 There was 'a lot' of thing's to get ready. The helmet now

double sealed as well as the ear transceivers would provide the

protection required 'not' to become swayed under the creatures

lights and sounds. And quicker then expected the guards showed

up as to 'when' the both of them were 'required' to leave to find

and confront the creature. It was now just after dark and 0600

was the time of their departure.

“Uh one request, I... we would like to use the boat we came

with... instead of one of your boats.”

“I'll check.” The guard responded before leaving.

“Oh, and could you send in some pizza's, we're starved.” Darwin

added to the request.

The guard got a smug look on his face and turned walking

away from them. This was a long shot, but if Justine's thoughts

were spot-on, they had a chance. Now, till 0600 hours they had to

prefect the plan. Everybody had a job and the only unknown

veritable were 'how big' the creature was, how big to make the
containment package. And what 'bait' to use to lure it into the

containment unit. The 'call' to the General provided 'full clearance',

as Justine and Frank had to verify almost everything. And at 0400

hours the air boat known as 'Gator Back' would be waiting at the

dock with a map and a small escort to lead them to the proper

area. The attraction 'sound' wouldn't be ready until the last

moment however, containment unit could be built in less than six

hours and shipped in two hours, on request. This was now almost

two days with no sleep, and 0600 came fast.

“Major Briton says it time...” A guard called in as Frank and

Justine had napped for the last two hours.

“Ah shit... coffee.” Frank stated, not use to this type of

excitement.

“Waiting up front, you got ten minutes to prepare.” The new

guard stated.

“Okay then,” Justine wiped her eyes, “What have we got?” She

asked the three weary scientists,

 “It took a while, but I've created a devise that should attract it's

attention, maybe...” Jason provided the small hand held object to

Justine.

“Okay...”

“We've got clearance to get the rocket here in under two hour's

and set to launch in another two hours.” Thomas stated.

“Good, do it.” Justine said, happy with this news.

“The containment unit will take about two hours, providing the

size and an hour to transport and two hour's to install...” Darwin

provided,

“We should know that in about an hour and a half... Okay... If

we find it, when we find it, we got what... four and a half hours to

lead it to the rocket..” Justine said, needing that 'coffee' herself.

“One small problem... 'Bait'..” Thomas stated.

“Oh crap,”Justine almost deflated.

“No... I figured it out... But, a usable supply, um, is a item only

found relatively around active volcano's.

 “So, it's impossible to retrieve?” Justine guessed.

“Well, no... It's just the 'amount' we're able to acquire. It may

not be enough to entice the creature into the containment unit.

“Get whatever you can and make it appear that there's more

than it looks...” Justine said, as the guard had returned again,

“Coffee's this way, Major Briton wishes to speak with you

before departure...” The guard stated, leading the way.

“Go time... and don't allow Briton to derail you guy's.” Justine

stated, following Frank who was following the guard to the

coffee.

So, this was it... They had one chance. Frank's nose

'sniffed' the air, realizing the aroma.

“Why did you ask for 'gator-back'?” Justine asked Frank heading

towards the smell of coffee.

“I figured we might need a boat with a little more 'pep'. And

viewing the air boats the military is using, we'd have a better

chance in it.” Frank saw the coffee pot, bee lining to it.
 “Miss Cohen, The Major wants to speak with you.” A guard

stated openly.

“Coffee first, unless you want me up on attempted murder

charges...” Justine said shooting him a look that verified her

statement. The man remained motionless until she had made the

cup and took the first draw off the cup... “Okay... Lead the way.”

Frank had raised an eyebrow at her statement, wondering

where the 'sweet little woman had gone'. He smiled, following her

across the store. She was a 'fire-cracker' and the 'worst part' about

this whole thing 'so-far'... She was handling this better than he

would have. He'd of either gotten himself 'captured', 'killed' or just

ran for cover allowing the state of Florida to be nuked. She was a

very interesting woman, to say the least.

Justine never wanted to take the reins on this. But, with

her upbringing, and her background on this, she couldn't back

down from the responsibility. With the guards knock on the door,
it opened quickly as the guard stepped out of the way allowing

them entrance.

“You two are such a pain in the ass! I should shoot the both of

you right here and now,” Major Briton held a military 45cal pistol

in his hand. “... But the higher-ups are backing your plan...

'whatever it is'... So,” (placing the gun on the desk) I've been here

all night taking order's to make sure every 'dainty' thing you've

requested is supplied.”

“Thank-you,”

“Oh, don't thank me yet... You both going out to find that

creature. And I'm not providing 'one more' item then I agreed to

yesterday.” Briton stopped her, he was angry as hell.

“Except the boat, gator-back...”

“Miss Cohen, it's my best hope that the creature finds you and

turns you into a liquid puddle of goo. Half my staff has been re-

assigned to gather the items you've requested, and god only

knows what that entails...” Briton stated.

 “We're 'trying' to save the planet from this thing. We have 'no'

known way to kill it, and we figure it would be best to just ship it

back out into space, that's the plan.

“Oh, it's just going to climb aboard a rocket and fly back out

into space?”

“Something like that.” Justine almost stared down the Major.

Frank just sat back finishing up his coffee.

“Okay then... We done here. Boat's at the dock...” Briton

pointed to the door, as Frank and Justine got up and left without

looking back. The door closed now,

“That man's an ass-hat through and through.” Justine said,

realizing the guard 'smiling' at her comment.

“This way...” The guard pointed towards the exit of the video

store.

“Can I have a refill before we go, call it a last request...” Frank

stated in a plea. The guard led them to the coffee pot and they

both refilled there cups.

 “Oh, I glad I caught you,” Darwin almost bumped past the

guard. “You might want to know this, the sound will attract the

creature, but only activate it it the creature seems to be deterred

from following you, stop as soon as it attracts to it, we know very

little about the speed in which it moves in water... The land we got

a good reading on, but the water is still an unknown.”

“Thanks, knew I was forgetting something..” Justine said

accepting the small device.

“Be safe out there.” Darwin said, hoping to see her after this.

“We only got two choices out there, safe or dead.” Frank spoke

trying to finish his coffee. It seemed at the last tip of the cup, the

guard seemed to edge them both towards the front door.

Entering out into the morning air, the sun not even having

above the horizon, it seemed a normal day with almost zero

clouds. Three or four smoker's hung around the butt can that

resembled a large empty coffee container, not even remotely

interested that the two civilians were being led to a hummer.

 “At least weather won't be a problem.” Frank noted to Justine.

“Well, that's one good thing.” Justine said climbing in, realized

her hair was a wreck.

All in and the doors closed after buckling up, Justine

asked,

“Why didn't you tell me I looked like a wind blown scarecrow!”

“I wanted Briton to see you in your true nature...” Frank

snickered at her as she was trying to flatten down her hair in the

back seat. Frank noticed the driver's snicker at his humor, as a hit

into his shoulder by her anger made both men smile louder.

“We're trying to capture the creature, not scare it into hiding!”

Justine said, as the driver started up the vehicles engine.

The driver only glanced once or twice in the mirror at

Justine still trying to straighten out her hair, pulling out onto the

road leading to the interstate. The interstate was completely

'clogged' with traffic. Every car loaded down with family luggage,

now just trying to get out of harms way. The driver, not seeming
to be concerned with the traffic, rolled north along the emergency

shoulder as if it was a regular lane. This went on for about two

exit's as traffic beside them was only a bit slower. The hummer,

finally turned off an exit that had been patrolled by two Hummers

and four guards who easily let them pass. At the end of the exit, as

if 'waiting' for them, a solider waved them into the direction

required.

A left turn leading over the interstate and 'many' guards

and military vehicles had literally blocked off this whole road for

almost a half mile, as Hummer's and larger transport vehicles lined

the road on both sides.

“How many guards you think they got out here?” Justine asked

Frank.

“All of them...” Frank replied.

“No shit..” Justine quipped.

 It was so surreal that for the first time since Frank had

found her at the police station, she felt fear. All the vehicles lined

up this way reminded her of a gauntlet to the hanging tree.

“Got a bad feeling...” Justine spoke softly to Frank.

“Oh. Your just now getting that... I've had that feeling for two

days now.” Frank pointed out just how far behind the times she

was. Again he got the slap on the arm. It was then that the driver

spoke up for the first time this whole trip,

“The rumor is, your going to 'capture' it... It's killed a lot of

us...”

“We understand... We're trying to ship it back into outer-space.”

“That equipment, those helmet's are they suppose to protect you

from the creature?”

“Yes. We need to 'see' the creatures actual size, if it's grown

any.” Justine said.

“But, we have pictures?” The driver pointed out.

 “Pictures? Where?” Justine said actually 'shocked' at this

revelation.

“Briton!” Frank got visibly angry.

“Back at the office, you didn't get to see them?” The driver

queried.

“... You have a phone?” Justine asked the driver, seeing that

Frank no longer had his.

“Of course miss, but I've been order not to allow you to just

it...”

“That figures.” Frank stated, looking for it around the mans

belongings.

“But, I just bought this new phone yesterday... It's not military

issued, but works just the same.” The driver handed the phone to

Justine.

“Great... Thank-you.” Justine accepted it from the front seat and

racked her brain for the number to 'Thomas'. She had only dialed it
once... Hitting buttons the first 'two' tried failed... the third

connected to the voice she recognized.

“Thomas! Briton has the pictures. You need to get him to

'release them' . When you do, you can extrapolate the creatures

size.” Justine almost shouted into the phone as she realized that

'Gator-back' was already off the trailer and prepped to go.

“I figured that out last-night and found them just after you

pulled out. Oh, Darwin told me to tell you, be careful 'not' to dunk

the helmets or they will short out.”

“Yeah, we figured that.”

“Miss, I'll need my phone back now,” The driver rolled up to the

area and pulled to a stop.

Just as he came to a stop, Justine ended the call and in a

concealed motion, slipped it back to the driver.

“Thank-you mame.”

“No problem, hey... when we get back... We'll probably have the

creature dead on our ass.” Justine stated, realizing this man had
gone above and beyond for them. The back door flew open as she

was to be escorted to the air-boat.

“Yes mame.”

“I want you to clear a path to the launch pad, all guns are to be

'cleared' from the route, between her and there,” Justine spoke to

the driver.

“Major Br...

“The 'Major' want's to blow Florida off the map! You do the

math, we save the planet or we create the largest sinkhole in the

world... catch the gravity of this situation?”

“Yes mame.” The driver said, getting out and walking them to

the air-boat.

“Jefferson.... Your to be the 'only one' waiting here when we

come flying in, and I'm pretty sure the creature is going to be dead

on our heels... Be ready.”

“But if the major countermand's?” Jefferson asked.

 “Just leave a Hummer here. But 'somehow' get the troops away

from the road,” Justine tried to convey.

“Or everyone with a 'weapon' along the route, will die.” Frank

finished.

“Understood.” Jefferson almost wanted to salute these two. He

knew deep down, they were doing the right thing. Two other

soldiers listening to the conversation had noticeably took note of

the words and would be anywhere but here when these two

returned. They retrieved the helmets out of the back and carried

them towards the boat. As another air-boat with one soldier

awaited to lead them through the swamps trails.

“We're going to need a GPS to figure out how to get out of

there and back to here once we find it.” Frank said to one of the

soldiers, who just gave him a blank look and then did something

that brought back Frank to the situation at hand... He was handed

a 'knife'.

“Oh great... we're dead.” Frank said, being lead to the boat.
 “Real optimistic there.” Justine pointed out, climbing onto

Gator-Back.

“Just stating the facts as I see them,” Frank offered, now not

wanting to do this.

Justine, though she had never driven an air-boat in her life,

climbed up into the high chair. Looking over everything, she

couldn't believe how 'modernized' the outlay of the control's were.

This boat had 'everything'! Everything was so clearly marked, a

second grader could operate this thing! The levers, switches,

buttons... told clearly what they did.

“You need me to drive this?” Frank asked, noting the look on

her face, and ready to trade places.

“No... I got this,” Justine stated with a smile, in a flip of a

switch, power surged and lit up a screen that contained a full map

of their location on the water.

“Wow... Didn't know they had a 'water' GPS?” Justine

“What?” Frank questioned,

 “We have GPS... we got a fully integrated mapping system.”

Justine smiled staring down at it. It told her 'everything' about the

water environment around them.

“Helmet?” Frank asked.

“Yeah...” Justine said, realizing they may not have a chance once

spotting the creature.

Placing on the helmet and plugging it up to the large bulky

power-pack, she was kindly surprised when she spoke,

“A little tight...”

“Hello Justine,” a voice spoke to her and it wasn't Frank!

“Darwin?” Justine acted shock as Frank was just now putting his

on.

“Figured you'd be a bit surprised. I took the liberty of installing a

two-way, besides the small one for you and Frank. This was so we

can keep in constant contact and we'll know if shit slides

sideways...” Darwin said, “Besides 'Thomas' made me do it... I

think he's got a crush on you...”

 “You guy's...” Justine couldn't help but smile.

“Justine can you hear me?” Frank's voice sounded off in a

smaller voice.

“Yeah, you hear me?” Justine asked.

“Yeah, you about got the controls figured out?” Frank replied.

“Almost. Hey, Darwin placed a mini two-way that connects me

to him. So now we can coordinate tactics through him.” Justine

announced.

“Smart.” Frank admired the thoughtfulness of the idea.

“Almost ready, turn up the volume, these boat's are a rather bit

loud.” Justine stated using the control herself.

“How that?” Frank almost blared in her ear.

“Good. Here we go..” Justine hit the starter button as the large

engine right behind her instantly spun the huge prop. Still at an

idle, she checked the steering rudder and all the gauges as the

other boat started up. A another soldier releasing both their

mooring lines and almost in a drift they soon pointed out to the
path of water. Justine allowed the Military boat to take a good

lead as she would need some room to get use to the way this craft

handled. It was almost like driving, except the steering wheel was

a forward/backward lever... and there was no brake pedal...

“You got it,” Frank's voice came through clearly over the

engines noise, as she slowly accelerated.

In a few push and tug's of the steering lever, Justine

realized the air pushed boat was not as directional as a car. In this

she'd have to learn at slower speeds as the NG's boat ahead began

to pull away. Pressing harder into the gas pedal her hair seemed to

be sucked into the large aero blade behind her, as the increased

speed propelled the air boat to now skim across the waters. Now,

at higher speeds the boat acted much differently, and she now

understood the thrill of this type of travel. The NG air boat seeing

her climbing up close behind them, accelerated as a slight right

split the path and in a slight pull back on the lever, Gator Back slid

almost naturally into the turn. Justine having master her first real
turning maneuver smiled and the perfection of her own driving.

Frank, on the other hand, was sitting almost gripping the seats

armatures with white knuckles. After the turn and still in prefect

tow behind the NG's air boat, Frank gave a thumbs-up.

Justine just wanted to go faster now... This was incredible!

She never had this type of hands on experience before, except the

time her dad had tried to teach her to drive a manual transmission

car, recalling that hadn't went very well. But this... It was like, the

greatest adrenaline rush she'd ever experienced! She wanted a air

boat!

Ahead, another split in the water paths, this time a left.

The Ng's Boat had begin to slow down and Justine had to let off

the gas, but did so to abruptly, as the boat seem to loose steer

ability,

'Oh, crap.” Justine stated, as the turn had somehow created a

deeper turn then expected... Using the directional lever to

compensate she had almost glided up beside the NG's boat, still
allowing Gator Back to slow down.. The NG's boat pulled ahead

again, allowing Justine to climb in behind them. The NG boat

ahead a safe distance once again, she again adjusted the gas to

follow.

“Little close there babe..” Frank said.

“I got it!” Justine replied back.

They had traveled five or six more splits in the pathways

and she noticed the signal to stop as she let off the gas. She had

noticed a small pedal beside the gas and assumed it was the

brakes, applying pressure to it, she realized it was the proper thing

to do as Gator Back slowed down much quicker, almost pulling to

a stop beside the NG's air boat... Hitting the kill switch, the engine

died instantly, as the NG's motor had died as well, as a guard had

grappled onto Gator Back stabilizing both boats. Both Frank and

Justine pulled off the helmets, and the lead NG started talking,
 “This is as far as we go... The creature is supposed to be just

about a quarter mile up this pathway. I suggest you use the trolling

motor the rest of the way in... Good luck.”

It was the only advice they got as Gator Back was released

and the NG's motor kicked on, did a U-turn. and lit out at full

bore...

“Damn, they're in a hurry.” Frank noted.

“Well, we've seen that thing in action. I really don't blame them.”

Justine stated as the motor's sound faded quickly away.

Justine looked over the control panel and clearly marked

was a switch marked 'trolling motor' it was lit in lime green as she

noticed a smaller steering lever actually closer to her seats position

than the larger one.

“Trolling motor?” Frank began looking around for it.

“I got it. I think it's time to place these helmet's back on and go

find the size of this creature.” Justine stated.

“You sure we're doing the right thing here?” Frank asked.
 “Yes. We need a proper size to contain the creature with in.”

Justine stated.

“Okay, say we figure out the size, say we even make it... What

then? How are we going to attract it too the containment, much

less get it to crawl in?”

“I got an idea about that too... Right now, we just need a

visual.” Justine said placing on the helmet, finding that Darwin had

been trying to reach them the whole time.

“Justine.. Frank! Are you there?” Darwin spouted in a almost

yell.

“Yeah, lower your tone. We're right here. What?” Justine stated.

“Oh thank god... I uh, we've figured out what the creature may

consume as far as nutrients go,” Darwin stated.

“Really?” Justine said.

“Frank here, what was that?” Frank stated having just put in his

helmet,

“We know what it feeds on,” Darwin stated for him.

 “Okay. That's great. We'll need a good quantity of it to entice it

into the containment unit.”

“Uh, okay... small problem, maybe not... I'll get back to you on

that, how goes the hunt? Spotted the creature yet?” Darwin

badgered them.

“We're heading into it location now, stay close, cause we're just

getting a look and heading out.” Justine stated.

“I'll relay the dimensions as soon as we're safely away.” Frank

stated to Darwin through the headset.

“Of course. Oh, I was to tell you, 'the rocket is heading towards

the launch pad' and will be ready to launch in about fifteen hours,

but the payload bay can only fit a certain dimension container and

we're 'hoping' that it will be big enough for the creature. We've

gone ahead and started building the cage.” Darwin stated.

“Okay, just keep going. We'll finalize the plan once we get a

positive size of the creature....” Justine chimed in.

 “Rodger that, stay safe..” Darwin said, now only wanting to

listen. Darwin would love to be out there with them, as a prison

cell was the only thing he'd seen in the last fifteen years. 'Maybe' if

he did good here, it would be brought up in front of a review

board... Listening back at the small video store, both his cohorts

on this project had worked feverishly towards making sure

'Justine's plan' wouldn't fail. Jason worked at acquiring the rare

type of 'food' the creature ingested... However, they did know

where these certain balanced 'rocks' could be acquired, however,

getting the acquisition past Briton was the whole thing. And

Thomas was creating the containment unit and connecting the

'dots' in a company that could create such a unit was slimmer than

he'd thought. It would be about two hours after they had relayed

the size, that confirmation of a company would be able to take on

the project actually landed...

“Okay, let's go find a creature...” Justine hit the smaller

motor's switch and took hold of the lever which had a twist type
speed handle. Frank actually fastened his helmet, which Justine

thought weird, setting the air boat into a forward motion. This

wasn't but a crawl as she almost felt disappointed as the boat

moved awkwardly requiring many more corrections. It was almost

boring to watch the trees and shrubs climbing up out of the water,

to slowly pass by...

“How far did they say we had to go?” Frank looked ahead

closely , not seeing sight of anything 'off world'.

“Somewhere up around the next bend...” Justine stated, as thirty

meters off to her left, she noticed that the creature had been,

mimicking their speed...

Not freaking out, she studied the creature, using the

woods and shrubs as a size ruler... It wasn't rushing up on them, as

she'd feared it would once it spotted them. No, it got no closer as

the small electric motor moved them slowly forward...

“Frank... Slowly look to your left.. Keep calm.” Justine said to

him.
 Frank, understanding what she'd said, felt his blood

literally freeze in his veins as he slowly rotated his head... There it

was,

“Holy crap..” Frank whispered, realizing the creature had them

in a target scope, but non threateningly tagging along with them.

“Easy... Okay, what would you say would be around figure size

for that?” Justine asked, as the light's flashed throughout the

creature.

“Uh... length wise?” Frank asked, as the creature seemed to

elongate as it traveled beside them.

“I'm afraid to stop, though it would give us a proper size

configuration...”

“No, don't stop... can you turn around?” Frank asked.

“Like casually?.. I'll try,”

“Slowly, no threatening moves now...” Frank stated, seeming to

hold his breath.

 It was about the U turn completed and no attack, that the

creature had actually stopped, giving them a proper size.

“Good, I'd say about nine foot around... and what, ten foot

high?” Justine noted.

“Hey! Darwin here!” His voice boomed through the

headphones. His voice almost made Frank piss himself... You

have, or are about to have the creature in visual range...”

“Darwin, shut up... we're literally staring at the creature.”

Justine stated.

“Darwin, will that thing attract to urine?” Frank asked.

“Um... No. I don't think so.. why?”

“You just made me wet myself...” Frank almost growled into the

mic.

“We have a size for you, nine foot in circumference and ten foot

in height,” Justine pushed the information through.

“Has it targeted you at all?” Darwin asked.

 “Oh yeah, we're meat on a stick...” Frank said, trying not to

make any sudden moves.

“Affirmative... We're currently doing a slow retreat... Oh shit...”

Justine said.

In a sudden move, faster than either of them could move,

the creature now loomed less then four feet away from the boat,

almost as if 'looking' for something...

“Ohhhh shit,” Frank quietly whined literally staring at the

creature just outside arms length. Justine froze as well.

It seemed like a Mexican stand-off as the creature seemed

to decide if this was a threat or not... Neither Frank or Justine

moved as it's light's blasted at one point, and a definite sound

blared a resonating sound at them. Due to the helmets visor and

ear protection, both saw and heard the creature try to invoke

them, however, as neither the light's nor the sound seemed to have

any effect, the creature slid back among the thicker brush and
woods, watching for a good twenty seconds before slithering

beyond eyesight range...

“Holy shit... Justine get us the fuck out of here..” Frank said,

realizing the creature had left the area, fearing it's return.

“yeah.. Let's just make sure first, that it's lost interest in us,”

Justine said, as she hadn't made a quick move yet,

In a rather sudden appearance, the creature had come from

almost nowhere, now almost blocking their path...

“Just stay still,” Justine said as now what would be 'bright light's'

flashed from with inside the creature's frame at the both of them.

Justine lowered the trolling motor's speed to a complete stop, as

the creature swirled in the water a mere twenty meters ahead of

them. It's movement's reminded frank of a large mop being slung

side to side as the lights showed almost agitation. Justine realized

it was just curious, probably as to how these creatures were not

being attracted to it... Ten seconds swishing back and forth, light's
flashing, vibrations felt deep in the bone, then, again... zip, it was

gone through the brush and shrubs...

“Oh fuck...” Frank said, as Justine just sat there frozen, not

wanting to move.

“We're okay... Stay still, we're alive... don't move...” Justine told

him as again she started the trolling motor, gliding them back into

the middle of the path.

“It's stalking us...” Frank said, feeling that at any second the

creature was going to bum-rush them again.

“No, it's just curious... We haven't taking any hostile movements

towards it. It should leave us be.

“You sure? It came back a second time..”

“But, again, it didn't attack us.”

“Well, it scared the shit out of me.” Frank stated, pretty sure

he'd browned out his shorts.

“It was taunting us to see if we were 'violent', that's all.” Justine

stated having to say this out loud for her own belief of it.
 They traveled for almost another ten minutes, the creature

unseen. It had seemed to have lost interest in them. Feeling sure

about this fact now, Justine toggled off the trolling motor and in a

quick move, started the large engine... In an almost full throttle

move, the boat sped into the waterways, Justine trying to recall

the exact path they'd come from. A good straight run ahead, she

flipped on the GPS. In kind it instantly revealed that the next left

would be the way back... Justine almost slid around the turn, at

full speed...

They could have flipped, wiped out into the heavy under

brush or even capsized, but Gator Back seemed to understand and

they easily slid around the ninety degree left turn as if it had done

it a hundred times before.

“We lost it... slow down before you get us killed!” Frank's voice

almost screamed at Justine.

Justine realized she had taken this last turn way to quickly

and a large part of that was from fear. In a quick release of her
foot, the boat slowed down. Both felt their heartbeats in there

throats... Scared, hell yeah! But they'd 'so far' made it out alive...

Half throttle now the GPS guided them to there point of origin as

they spotted the same air boat that had taken them out.

“Thank-god,” Frank stated, see the boat ahead. In a slow down

approach, they glided up next to the other boat... Frank threw off

the mooring ropes as Justine shut down the engine. Dragged to

the shoreline Frank was already on dry land as Justine was making

sure everything was shutdown properly... From her high

advantage, Frank looked like he was going to either throw-up or

kiss the ground. As she watched one of the NG's jump back away

from Frank, she knew which one it was... Her stomach didn't feel

that well either.. Keeping her last meal down, she spoke to

Darwin,

“Darwin... We made it back.. alive.”

'You saw the creature?”

 “Up close and personal... twice. But thanks to the helmet's,

we're still among the living.” Justine stated.

“So they worked?” Darwin stated.

“Yeah, only one side affect though,” Justine noted.

“Okay?”

“After the barrage of lights and sounds... we're both severely

sick to our stomachs...”

Justine mentioned.

“I see...” Darwin stated as if this was a design flaw.

“But, point is... it worked.

“Oh, good news... The creature measurements are small enough

for the containment unit.

“See you when I get back, Justine out.”

Justine had no sooner got the helmet off and hopped to the

dry land then everything inside spewed forth. That creature had

somehow messed with their internal organs. She, like Frank had

become disorientated and her organs felt 'displaced'. It took almost

ten minutes before either of them could even think about getting

into the humvee.

“Miss Cohn, when your well enough to travel, Major Briton

would like a full report on the creature.” A rather young NG

stated to her,as she was still bent at the knee.

“..just give us a few minutes... We just did the impossible...”

Frank said, now sitting on the ground.

“Whoa, that creature sure fucks with your insides..” Justine told

Frank.

“I drive 'next time',” Frank stated seeing her finally stop

throwing up.

“Nope, last time we'll be doing that...” Justine spoke as she

limped over to him and sat down, clutching his arm and resting her

head on his shoulder.

It was as if they'd both been beat to hell from the inside. It

took a few minutes to sort it all out but they both realized it wasn't
her driving, it was the creatures attack on them that had caused

this, knowing the helmets had saved both their lives.

It was strange, but the guard instantly retrieved both their

helmets, also requiring the battery packs as well. In moans they

both removed the strapped on pack's handing them over, almost

glad too.

“They still need some tweaking...” Justine informed the guard

who asked,

“You actually saw the creature?”

“If I'd of reach out my hand, I'd of slapped it...” Frank admitted.

“So, these work?” He asked.

“Like you saw... They need a bit of tweaking, oh god my insides

hurt.” Frank stated.

They sat that way, for quite a while. And finally trying to

get up off the ground was like almost impossible. Frank nearly

face-planted into the dirt, as they both realized vertigo was a

serious problem. Justine had a better time as the guard had a hold

of her arm while she tried to stand.

“Damn! This shit's fucked up...” Frank stated, unable to keep a

steady balance.

“Oh, holy crap... We need to be checked out, medically, as soon

as possible.” Justine to the NG holding her stable.

“I'll inform Briton...” He said leading her to the Humvee.

“No, I'm serious. Now... Hospital.” Justine made it an order.

“She's right... I'm right behind you babe.” Frank admitted,

thinking that would be the right course of action at this moment.

“You need the hospital?”

“The quicker the better... And Screw Briton.. Hospital NOW!”

Justine said, being led into the door frame of the Humvee. Frank

barely climbed in the back seat, as the vehicle started up.

“Get these two to the nearest hospital, have them run full tests...

Briton's orders.” The Ng that had helped Justine in the vehicle

stated to the driver.

 “Got it,” The man stated as the vehicle caught gear as a u turn

and a few bumps almost made the both of them turn green as the

moans told of what was about to happen next The driver seeing

this, became 'careful' in his driving as the finally made a solid

paved road.

“Sorry about that, these Humvee's don't have the softest

suspension in the world...”

“Hospital...” Was all that Justine recalled saying, slumping

against the door, the world had went black.

Justine awoke in the softest bed and realized by the room's

fixtures, they had made it to the hospital. It looked dark outside as

she wondered how many hours had passed. Where was Frank?

How bad off where they?

“Hello?” Justine called out past a light blue cloth that acted as

privacy. Nothing...

“HELLO!” Justine spoke up louder, finally seeing movement as

the curtain was drawn back to reveal the entire room.

 “Good. You're awake. I'll have the doctor here in a minute...

She didn't get the chance to leave the room to go find him,

as he entered holding a clipboard...

“Well, welcome back to the living Miss Cohn, you two have

been on a bit of a roller coaster ride.” He seemed to smile at the

fact she was coherent.

“Where's Frank?”

“Oh, just down the hall a room or two... Doing okay. Now

about you...”

“Yeah, I'm feeling a lot better now...” Justine tried to re-position

herself, but her arms felt like lead. The doctor realized the look on

her face and began explaining...

“Easy there... Your body's been through a lot.” He stated as she

realized every muscle in her entire body was almost screaming

from pain.

“Ohhhh Ho crap?” Justine said, not even wanting to flex a single

muscle now.
 “Yeah, your both very lucky to even be alive...”

“What's happened to me?” Justine looked at him with fear.

“The sounds you encountered... basically ripped at ever muscle

and organ you own. It is like... being beaten half to death from

'sound'. Seriously, you're both lucky to even be alive.”

“We're both going to make it?” Justine asked.

“Yeah, but it was a fight for both of you...” You made out better

than Mr. Conner's though,”

“Frank!”

“He's out of the wood's... resting just fine, but we had to remove

one of his kidneys... and an vein in his leg literally exploded, but

we patched it back together again...”

“How.. How long have we,” Justine almost was afraid to ask,

“Well, almost three days now... We were mainly worried that

you both might have serious mental disabilities from your ordeal

with the creature...”

 “Seriously... Oh shit. But, we're both okay, mentally?” Justine

asked piecing together the creatures attack on them. The sound

that it must have produced, had caused all this, it was the helmet

that saved their brains.

Though the sound had ravaged their bodies, almost on a

cellular level, Justine wondered more about 'Briton's' threat. If the

72 hours had pasted... Why were they still here? What changed?

Was there still a nuclear threat?

“Mentally, yes... and you got lucky there... but it' going to take

quite a while for your body's muscles to operate without pain...

seriously, you two should have died in that encounter.”

“Frank's alright?” Justine asked again, trying to raise her arm.

It was 'clearly' the wrong thing to try... The very second

she exerted brain thoughts to the muscles, every fiber from her

shoulder to the tip's of her fingers... felt as if it had been dipped in

molten lava!

“Oh.... craap!” Justine almost squealed at the doctor.

 “Please, let your body heal. It's only been a few day's.” He

stated.

“Briton..” Justine barely got out, knowing that 'Briton' had them

on a seventy-two hour nuclear threat. She wondered what had

happened.

“Easy! The more you move, the more your going to hurt

yourself. Major Briton will be here shortly, just rest now.” The

male doctor said as the nurse went to give her a shot.

“What are you giving me?” She asked as the nurse stopped,

looking at the doctor.

“It will easy the pain... When it kick's in, do not think your

alright... Your internal organs still have to heal, as well as every

muscle in your body... Move wrong, or even just move, and your

muscles will shred like newspaper.” The doctor warned.

“It's that bad?” Justine asked, knowing by the way her body felt,

he was probably right.

“Again... Your lucky to be live, more so, 'talking'.” He stated.

 “Is this a military hospital?”

“No. A local hospital, however, you two must be important...

there's guards outside your rooms and now I have to inform major

Briton you've regained consciousness.”

“Oh, Briton... yes,” Justine spoke almost in a squeak.

The man left, and she couldn't tell if he was a nurse or a

doctor. Her head felt as if it had been in a blender. It eased her

mind that Frank was going to be alright, she should have never

gotten involved in this. She should have never shown Frank that

Fax. So 'stupid'. As she laid there, wallowing in her own self pity,

two military uniformed men came into the room, the one was

Briton... And he looked somber.

“I'm no longer in command...” Briton spoke openly, as she

assumed by the way the man next to him stood sternly. “Major

Tenenhal here, has been assigned to take over from this point on

out...”

“And..” The man next to him stated.

 “and... I'm sorry I threatened you and your boyfrien...”

“Uh,” The man interrupted.

“...Mr. Conner... I had no right to place military protocol on

civilians, or place you two in harms way... ” Briton finished.

“You're re-leaved.” Tenenhal stated and like whipped pup,

Briton left the room. She just watched as Briton left the room,

turning her attention back on this 'younger' man, he actually smiled

at her, “Hello miss Cohen, the work you've done for the military

has been exemplary. I'm supposed to congratulate you on the

work, but we're not quite done with you as of just yet.”

“Excuse me? What all's happened?” Justine had to say.

“We've talked extensively to the convict's under Briton's rein,

they've all pointed out this is actually your 'second' encounter with

the creature?”

“yes,”

“Impressive... They told me 'you had a plan'?”

“yes, I think it would be best to just get it off the planet.”

 “Yes, we got that too. We pretty much understand what you

were trying to do, we just don't understand 'how' you were

planning to do it.” Tenenhal stated,

Justine had to clear her voice a few times, but in a short

version spoke out her idea's on the matter. Afterwards, he had

more questions,

“I see... So, basically, using the creature's 'blood' to call it and it's

natural food source to lure it into the containment unit, you'd just

ship it off the planet, back into outer space, using the rocket Mr.

Conner was having brought here?”

“yes...” Justine squeaked, as he reconfirmed her idea.

“Okay.. Just sit tight, we got this.” The major smiled again at

her.

“Your not going to nuke it?” Justine asked.

“Oh heaven's no... When we got word of that recommendation

'Briton' was offering, we stepped in. It's very unethical to nuke our

own people... No, we stopped that the second we heard of it, why
I'm here instead of Briton... Why your still here,” The major

stated.

“I'm not sure we got enough food to entice it into the

containment unit..” Justine stated.

“Not to worry, we've had the reports analyzed, and are now in

the process of luring the creature in... Trust me, it will have

enough food on the ride out.”

“Your already doing it?” Justine couldn't comprehend what this

man just said.

“With the help of those three scientist's and all the information

you've gathered, yes, we've placed everything on a 'fast track'.

Within hours now, a rocket will be lifting off. Those 'helmets' that

your information helped to create are going to make sure our men

can do this and feel somewhat protected,” The major informed

Justine.

“Just, no weapons..” Justine squeaked, her throat not getting

any better.
 “Yes that too, we fully understand that the creature see's the gun

power as a threat,” Major Tenenhal almost laughed, “like I said,

we wouldn't have half a handle on this creature if it hadn't of been

for all your leg work.”

“I (clears her throat), hope you realize, all three of them did all

the work... The helmet, finding the creatures abilities, it's food

source...” Justine said, unable to speak more of all the thing's

they'd done.

“Yes, and I want you to know, because of that, two of them will

be getting a pardon. However, the one... sorry, due his horrendous

past crimes...” The major also added,

“and I'm having you transferred to share a room with mister

Conner, as you'll be able to see the launch from there better... if

that's alright with you?” Justine smiled and slowly nodded her

head, which to hurt to do.

The creature was way more dangerous than any of them

could have imagined, and having lived through the experience, she
realized first hand. Just the small talk between them had wiped

her out, and having the time to figure out more about how badly

her own body had been pummeled, just by the sounds the creature

emitted, she realized without that protection, they would have

died just like all the other soldier's. Justine realized that if she

hadn't been so 'doped up' the pain alone would have placed her

into a coma, there would have been 'no way' a brain could have

dealt with this kind of physical internal damage.

Somehow, she had passed out, seemed like only a second

had passed, but when she awoke, the entire room had changed,

her eyes realized the major's form had been replaced with two

others...