Coalescence (Camden Investigations Book 1) (27 page)

Dan handed
the blanketed artifact to Iris upon landing. “Just freeing my hands to escape
this death trap, honey. Don’t worry. Your dad’s not going to bail on you this
time.”

She served
it back to him. “I’m going to hold you to your word. But you can reserve the
melodrama for the moment. There’s a good chance you’ll survive the radiation.
After all, there’s no known object in our universe to make comparisons to.”

“I know, and
if I should survive, I’m ready to make amends. For you and DJ. I promise.”

She hopped
out and Mitchell was at her side in a blink.

“Now we wait
instruction.” Mitchell fished a remote from his shirt pocket. “This,” he said
pointing at the small black box, “is only to be used for Bill’s signal. There
will be no communication other than the ‘go’ word. Despite the dial’s best
attempt to cloak its presence, we must still err on the side of caution.”

Dan scowled.
“What are you looking at me for? You’ve got the communicator in your hand,
don’t you?”

Mitchell
sighed.

Iris
intervened. “I think what he means is that you’ll do your best to keep your
telepathic transmissions to a minimum. Isn’t that what you meant,
sweetie
?”

“Uh, huh,”
Mitchell answered. His tone was less than convincing than his acknowledgement.
Iris squinted at him in exasperation. “That’s good, Mitchell. You’re learning
how this relationship thing works,” Dan said with a smile. “Agree to disagree,
only don’t let your old lady know you’re actually disagreeing with her.
It’s”—he pointed a finger at his temple—“an internal thing.”

“Great, Dad.
Why don’t you just tell him it’s all right to lie?”

Dan
scratched his chin. “I thought I just did.”

Mitchell
smiled and stared off in the distance, slightly shaking his head.

C
OME
ON
, Ron. You can do it. Back off and see the whole picture.

Kassidy
continued her mind speaking. Evan excused himself to the bathroom. Bill, with
Tawa at his side, continued to chant softly.

DJ, Darian,
Gavin, and Rachel sat around the microscopically sized kitchen table staring at
the walkie-talkie in silence. “I could sure use a
Red Bull
,” Gavin
commented.

Darian
retorted. “Well the rocks are kind of red and you’re kind of full of shit, so
I’d say you’ve got your wish.” He spread his hands wide as if encompassing the
pueblo.

“Ah! Ah!”
They all turned in direction of the scream.

Ron wasn’t
mumbling in anguish anymore. His speech wasn’t even recognizable as him. At
least that’s what Kassidy concluded, if one could actually analyze gibberish.

When Bill
shuddered, Kassidy felt a cold tingle mingle with her spine.

“What’s
going on?” she began to ask.

In seconds,
it was clear.

Ron—or
what Ron was intended to
become
—spoke. “Ladies and Gentleman, you
are hereby ordered to direct your attention and efforts to service your new
Lords and Ladies of this planet. Do not panic. I am here to instruct you so the
transition goes smoothly. I am your General of this sector. Follow my
instructions to the letter and you will live in a golden age. You will live a
fulfilled life with unimaginable talents at your disposal. Disobedience will
result not only in removal of your gifts but your rights as a citizen of the
sector. Do I make myself perfectly clear?” He cleared his throat. “This message
will repeat again in various languages . . .”

“What the
fuck?” Kassidy moaned more than asked.

“I think
he’s been activated. Only too early. Damn it—that has to be it!” Evan
could only speculate. Kassidy knew this much. Yes, it had to be some kind of
early activation. Because if it wasn’t it meant the plague had already been
released. But it hadn’t. Had it? Kassidy’s head swam with confusion. She
glanced at Bill but he appeared unconscious. Tawa whimpered and licked his
face.

Kassidy
didn’t have to look. She felt the rest of the group peering over her shoulder.
No doubt staring agog at what had replaced poor Ron.

Kassidy
shook her head. “I’ve tried. I really tried to do it the pacifist way.”

Without further hesitation, she reached back as if a
baseball pitcher and released a haymaker. Her fist connected directly with the
jaw of the man who appeared to have become the spokesman for the Greys
welcoming committee.

A
FRAID
SHE
was winding up for another blow, Gavin clawed at Kassidy’s
shoulder. He was behind her and his fumbling hand caught onto her bra strap.
Kassidy growled. “Back the hell off!” The strap snapped against her skin. She
tugged it back into place, her face contorted with confusion and rage. She
would not face Gavin, however. Kassidy was fixated on Ron and whatever now
accompanied his mind. Nonplussed by her threat, Gavin latched a hand around her
right arm at the bicep.

Shaking the
impedance away, Kassidy elbowed Gavin in the abdomen, sending him into a
backward spiral and into Rachel as if a bowling pin. She fell backward as well,
hands fastened about Gavin’s waist. They teetered and finally fell.

With a
crimson-red face, Kassidy snarled, “I’ve got to stop this! Didn’t you hear
him?” She pushed a hair through her curls. “Shit! It’s still happening!”

Ron/Grey
Alien Spokesperson mumbled. His tone was less authoritative after Kassidy’s
haymaker. Whatever he was saying was drowned out by simultaneous conversations.
Darian and DJ shouting at each other, Gavin asking Rachel if she was all right
while she rolled off him, Kassidy apparently conversing with the joined species
before her, and all the while, Tawa yipped.

Darian
pointed a finger at Kassidy. “Whatever the hell you just did just may have been
broadcasted back to their ship!”

Rachel
grabbed his arm and held it. She addressed Kassidy in an even tone. “Fisticuffs
may have worked on a playground or in a barroom brawl, but not between species
in the middle of a desert. Darian’s correct. You may have just endangered Iris,
Mitch, Rusty, and Mr. Camden. They’re out there alone, awaiting our signal.
We’ve all got to take it down a notch.” She released Darian’s arm.

“Take it
down a notch, Rachel?” Kassidy questioned. “Did you hear what he just said? We
are supposed to just bow down and serve, according to the
General
here.
If we
don’t
do something, a lot of people are going to get hurt.”
Kassidy was kneeling before Bill, feeling for a pulse on his wrist. Ron’s head
lolled. He had stopped broadcasting.

She resumed
her rant. “And what was I supposed to do. Bill is out cold. Damn! Our spiritual
guide is shit out of spirit and all but out of commission.” With pursed lips,
she stared at Ron. “Come on. Make your next move.” She waggled a finger at him.

“Damn it,
Kassidy!” Rachel’s even tone was replaced with infuriation. “We just told you
to back off. This is a majority vote.”

“I don’t see
our group leaders here.”

“What the
hell is going on here?” Evan emerged from the bath.

“Where were
you?” Kassidy charged.

“I was
taking a cold shower.” Evan shook a damp towel at her and dropped it.

Kassidy
couldn’t resist. “A cold shower, huh? Sure you’re not just hot for my bones?”
Her tone was more adversarial than flirtatious.

“Have you
been drinking?” Evan asked her.

Rachel
answered. “She hasn’t had a drop. She’s been hand-holding Ron.
Until . . . well, until that happened.”

“What
happened was I took the alien emergency broadcast system offline. Ron would
have probably thanked me. Besides, he looks just fine.” Kassidy’s hands rested
on her hips.

“Looks just
fine, huh?” Evan asked. He pointed a finger at the red dribble on Ron’s chin.
“You injured the man. He’s here to help us.”

Kassidy
pointed at Ron with her back to him. “He’s okay. At least for someone whose
brain has been infected by an alien virus.”

“Oh . . .”
Evan was about to reply when he noticed Bill’s state. “What did you
do
,
Kassidy? Did you strike him too?” He placed his hands on top of his head in
disbelief.

Evan then
charged forward. Kassidy angled her body as if to impede him. “It’s easy for
you to point fingers. Does your ‘science’ have any answers? If you were so
concerned, why weren’t you out here?”

Evan pinched
the bridge of his nose. “I am trying to remain awake. This altitude is making
me woozy. Not to mention a severe withdrawal from caffeine. Cold water is usually
an eye opener.” He shook his head. “And if you think I don’t care about this,
you’re wrong!” He stabbed a finger. It brushed against Kassidy’s clavicle.

Grabbing his
finger, Kassidy pulled Evan toward her. “I can just as easily punch you. I’m
not afraid.”

Evan bear
hugged Kassidy so her arms were pinned to her sides. He lifted her slightly
until her feet were raised off the floor. “No one’s here to fight.”

Kassidy
growled in response. She cocked her head toward Evan’s right ear as if to bite
him.

Evan
grimaced and slanted his head to the left. Kassidy applied forward momentum
until Evan wavered backward. She then hooked her legs around his waist.

“Shit!
Guys . . .!” Rachel threw up her hands. “This isn’t going to
turn into some erotic wrestling match is it?”

Gavin
chuckled. “I wish. Probably it’s a mix of sleep deprivation, fear, and sexual
tension.” He cleared his throat. “Of course, I wouldn’t know anything about the
last subject.”

Kassidy
seesawed, attempting to knock Evan over. It was no use. Despite her thrashing,
Evan’s tall and sturdy build kept him centered.

Evan
released Kassidy’s arms. She raised a balled fist, then slowly let her fingers
unfurl. She scowled as if stung. Still wrapped about Evan’s waist, tears formed
and dribbled down her cheeks.

“You see,”
Evan whispered to his attacker. “We can resist. You tried to beat my
gravitational center. I don’t think the Greys will have such an easy time
changing our makeup, changing who we are. We can resist. At least we can try.
You just did.”

“But,”
Kassidy drawled, “you theorized it was all possible, all so simple. You said
their light would beat us without question.”

He shook his
head and placed a cupped a hand around her chin. “I was arrogant. It’s because
I was so determined to prove my beliefs. What does proving beliefs mean at this
juncture? I’m not sure about anything right now. Maybe you were right to react
the way you did with alien Ron. We’re all flying by the seats of our pants
here.”

She flashed
a brief smile and slipped out of his grip.

DJ held the
transceiver up. “I think we better alert Iris and Mitch about what just
happened here.”

Evan nodded.
He held out a hand to Kassidy. “Friends?”

She scowled
and put her hand up for a high five. “I’m more of a hand slap kind of girl.”

Evan chuckled.
“I’ll take that under advisement.”

DJ pushed a
button and called out. “Eye Girl, Eye Girl. Do you read?”

Iris’s voice
crackled through the transceiver. “Copy, Dream Girl. What’s going on there?”

DJ attempted
to give the Cliff Notes version.

“She did what?”
Iris’s voice was a shriek. With the exception of Bill and Ron, everyone
attempted to shield their eardrums.

M
ITCHELL
WAGGLED
his fingers at Iris. “Please let me talk to them.”

He cleared
his throat. “I am giving an order. No one is to lay hands on Ron or anyone else
for that matter. We are fortunate the worst has still not happened. There is to
be no response, verbal or otherwise, no matter what alien Ron announces. Is
that clear, copy?”

Evan’s voice
answered. “That’s an affirmative. We’ve all come to an agreement, Mitch. Over.”

“And what is
that? Over.”

“We all
don’t know what the hell we’re doing here. Over.”

A chorus of
laughter wafted through the transceiver back to Mitchell.

“Then you
better let me call the shots then. Over.”

Kassidy
grabbed the transceiver from Evan. “I think silencing the
General
was an
appropriate and swift response. Maybe they’ll think twice before broadcasting
their alien spam. Copy.”

Evan shook
his head. “I don’t think the alien broadcast was live. In short, I think this
is some kind of recorded loop broadcast via Ron. It stands to reason, Kassidy.
Why would they make a welcoming announcement prior to their alteration plans?
It must be some kind of malfunction. Over?”

Kassidy
shook her head.

“Copy?”
Mitch asked.

“Yeah, copy,”
Evan answered.

“And we
can’t go knocking Ron out or terminating his signal. Remember guys, we still
need to place the ship—”

Mitchell
didn’t quite his finish his thought. Ron was chattering again.

R
ACHEL
KNELT
before Ron, her hands cupping his.

He was moaning
random words. They were unintelligible and out of order.

Tawa growled
and pawed at the floor.

“I don’t
know guys.” Rachel attempted to assess a situation that had no precedent.
“Maybe he’s damaged from the blow. Maybe he’s offline.”

Evan
scratched his forehead. “Let’s just hope his visions aren’t offline.”

Ron
stammered. “Clouds . . . lifting . . . light
is . . . The Alteration is coming . . .”

The words
suddenly made sense.

Kassidy
shrieked. “That can mean only one thing.”

“They’re
preparing their weapon!” Gavin replied.

“But where
are they?” Evan asked rhetorically. “It all depends where they are. I don’t
think they’ll fire until they’re directly over us. That’s where the gap is.”

“But you
heard what he just said,” Rachel responded to Evan. “They’ve detected an
opening. The clouds must be equivalent to the OBOLs. They’re probably over us
right now if they know that!”

Evan shook
his head. “Not necessarily. They may have an advanced radar or scanning system.
They could still be on the other side of the planet for all we know. We’ve got
to see what Ron sees. It’s imperative.”

“But
how . . .” Rachel paused, suddenly aware of the answer.

I
RIS
BALKED
at the suggestion. She was speaking to Evan over the
transceiver. “DJ carries DNA in direct conflict with our enemies. I can’t put
her in harm. There’s got be someone else. Over.”

“But there
isn’t. Bill is still unconscious. There are no other telepathically gifted
people here, Iris. Besides, we’ve discussed this. DJ is okay with it. Copy.”

Iris allowed
a long moment to pause before she responded. Having DJ communicate with
Galloway was one thing. Although they were ignorant of the connection at that
time, Galloway and DJ were Reptilians. Her sister could not have come to harm
in hindsight. But how would the enemy react if it could detect DJ’s Reptilian
makeup? Even if the Greys were only equipped with a traumatized human in Ron to
do its bidding and the enemy’s reach was questionable, the threat remained
tangible to Iris.

“Dream
Girl?” Iris called. “Over.”

“Yeah, Eye
Girl. Right here. Copy.”

“A link can
take seconds, even moments to break. DJ, do you understand what might happen in
those seconds. What they might do to your mind? Over.”

“I
understand. But what will happen to all us if we don’t get a lock on the ship?
Besides, if they have similar emotions they just might slip up. Over.”

“Please
elaborate. Over.”

“If they can
experience anger, my Reptilian presence just might create a hiccup. Maybe it
will buy you some time to reengage the object during the confusion. I know if I
were on the flip side. I would be angered, but more importantly, I might even
be shocked at the discovery. I think I can break the link in time during those
seconds of disorder. I wish I could be more certain about what might happen to
Ron. He can’t break their link. They might take out all their rage on him.
Iris, it is Ron we should be concerned about. Over.”

Iris’s head
drooped. She felt Mitchell taking her hand into his.

Iris sighed.
“Okay, please proceed. DJ, I love you. Copy.”

“That’s a
definite copy, Eye Girl. Now stand ready for instructions. Copy.”

DJ
GRIPPED
Ron’s hands tighter. The message was becoming clearer.

The ship was
in orbit and decreasing speed. Light shimmered and something was protracting
from its midsection. This couldn’t be good.

We’re too
late. We’re too late.
DJ complained internally. She wasn’t
quite sure if anyone other than Ron could hear her thoughts.

I’m
reacting. That means we’re too late. I’ve got to break away.
DJ
attempted to break focus. She imagined rushing water pouring over a dam. It was
allegorical. She hoped the water would free her from the hold the dam had over
her. She imagined the aliens to be the dam.