Coalescence (Camden Investigations Book 1) (34 page)

After several uncomfortable moments, Dan excused himself
from the filibuster and offered the floor to Evan.

“Thank-you, Mr. Camden. For what it’s worth, I do believe
you. I still despise your employers with every fiber of my being. Now, in the
words of Kassidy ‘as to what really freakin’ happened out in the desert,’ I can
only theorize.”

Gavin grunted. “I can tell you a whole bunch of people
living in a camper is just wrong.”

Evan smiled and pointed a finger. “Aside from that
epiphany, I do have several explanations for Time/Space or the Doctrine of
Temporal Parts. The ontological position posits that an object exists in time
and has temporal parts in the various sub-regions of the total region of time
it occupies. I see Darian scratching his head. I want to say I have
been
there.
Sorry for the bad joke. But there was a time I couldn’t understand
the nuances of time either. But bear with me. The next theory I want to talk
about is Eternalism, which states all points in time are equally real as
opposed to the Presentist idea that claims only the present is
real.
I
hope I didn’t lose anyone on that.”

Gavin raised a hand. “You didn’t lose me. I’ve watched
The Big Bang Theory.”

Darian grunted. “That, I don’t doubt.”

“No, wait guys. Stop kidding,” DJ said. “What Evan
proposes explains my experience with my mom. If Eternalism is
truly real,
then
it’s why I was really with her in the time slip. It explains how I could be
there.”

Iris interjected, “Sis, you might want to consider your
DNA. It’s probably what saved you.” She leered at Evan. “And I so am not
forgiving Evan anytime soon for omitting the truth to me.”

Evan pinched the bridge of his nose. “Iris, you’re right.
It was inexcusable.”

“Good. I hope you weren’t going to blame it on the
sweltering heat of the pueblo. I know I would have.”

“Thank the Almighty for showers, Amen!” Rachel said in a
teasing tone.

“Hey,” Gavin said to Rachel, “I thought you were on the
side of science.”

Evan cleared his throat. “I think there is duality. I
don’t think religion and science have to butt heads any longer.”

Bill raised his palms to the skies. “Now I truly believe
Mr. Science has seen the light.”

Mitchell raised a pen in the air. “How about the view
that states objects last over time without being wholly present at every time
they exist?” He twirled his pen in the air and caught it. “Now, that’s a
conundrum; one that might explain how video footage on Kassidy’s camcorder was
able to record the past.”

Gavin added. “I believe we owe a debt of gratitude to the
OBOLs. They calculated the correct vibrations necessary to allow the artifact
to complete its task: protect humanity. And they did it without want of a
single thank-you.”

“Here, here!” Kassidy shouted. She raised a mock glass to
the air. “Hey, Evan, how about we discuss these theories over a drink or
three?”

“Sure, but it’s going to be a non-alcoholic
drink
for
me,” Evan responded. “My head’s still aching from the altitude changes.”

“My head is aching from the
attitude
changes,”
Kassidy joked. “The lady accepts your invitation to share a non-alcoholic
beverage.” She plumed her hand outwards as if a queen awaiting a kiss of her
hand.

Dan attempted to stifle a grin but failed. He glanced at
Iris. She had seen his slipup.
I’m going to be all right out there, honey.

Iris answered.
You’ll have to be or you’ll have me to
answer to.

O
VER THE
course of the next two weeks, time had
returned to normal for most of the group. Iris had managed to keep her
hairdresser job. In the evenings, the team continued to operate in a coalesced
state, renaming itself for the benefit of unifying its new cause. The Colorado
Investigators of Time, Space, and the Paranormal was a mouthful but it managed
to acknowledge its ongoing mission of seeking spirits and chasing what remained
of unidentified flying objects. Despite all the evidence, a piece of the puzzle
still remained unanswered for Iris.

 
The group
missed Evan. He’d had to end his sabbatical and return to the east. However,
the way Kassidy clung onto him during his final days in Colorado gave Iris hope
the man would not only return to investigate the unexplained but also to answer
a human calling: love.

On one particular warm night in May, Iris returned home
from her shop caught in a flux of mind chatter. Would Mitchell ask her to marry
one day? Would DJ return to school and begin a political career? Would her dad
continue to survive living on the Hopi reservation? In the next instant, those
questions would pale to what was about to occur in her foyer.

She dropped her bag and screamed at what stood before
her. This couldn’t be a paradox. She was no longer in Time/Space. But if it
wasn’t, what the hell was going on here?

A mirror image stood before her. It was another Iris,
clothed in the same apparel with hair and glasses to match!

She covered her mouth with one hand and rested the other
on her heart.

“Wait, wait,” the Other Iris said. “Calm down before you
have a conniption.”

Iris pointed. Her mouth opened and moved but no sound
came forth.

“Ha!” the Other Iris stated. “First time I’ve seen you
speechless.”

A shimmering wave blurred Iris’s vision. She removed her
glasses and rubbed her eyes. But everything else in the room was as clear and
in focus as could be without aid of spectacles.

“What’s going on here? Are you the Voice?” Iris balled a
fist. “Tell me! Tell me, now!”

The shimmering subsided and in its place was DJ, standing
there with her usual OMG pout and hand on hip.

“What the fuck! DJ . . .?”

“That’s right. It’s me. But a second before I was
you
.”
She giggled and raised her hands to her face. “I can change my
appearance—apparently, at will.”

“No!” Iris answered.

“How can you disbelieve your own eyes, Sis?”

“I’m not arguing . . .” She held a hand
out as if it would rationalize the situation. “I was just in shock, that’s
all.”

“I think it has something to do with my alien DNA. Can
you imagine what this might do for my political career? I could go behind enemy
lines and gather Intel on my opponents. I could . . .”

Iris interrupted. “I don’t believe you could do such
immoral deeds. I
do
believe you can shape shift.”

“Oh,” DJ paused. Her hands formed parentheses marks
around her body. “So, that’s what you call it, shape shifting?”

“It makes perfect sense. Galloway said the aliens have
lived among us in guised form. And who knows what he really looks like. He
presented himself as a man, a rainbow, yet at heart, he called himself a
reptile.

“Call my extreme makeover what you will. When it first
happened, I thought I would freak. But I didn’t. I guess it all comes down to
what Darian says about embracing your individuality. I’ve got to tell him.”

“Not via phone you’re not. And we’ve got more important
things to consider, like Dad. What if you could transfer your gift, so to
speak?”

“You mean a blood transfusion!” DJ clapped her hands
together, and her mouth formed a giant “O.” “That’s a great idea, Sis! We share
the same blood type. Remember, the time we all gave blood for the Red Cross?
We’ve got to get out to the reservation. But who will help us with the
transfusion?”

“They have doctors on the reservation.”

“What did you mean by a voice? You thought I was someone
else?”

Iris waved a hand. “Nah, it was just something bugging me.
Not important.”

A
NOTHER THREE
weeks elapsed without further
notable incident. Dan begrudgingly accepted the transfusion. He urged his
daughters not to initiate further contact until he experienced DJ’s new
gift.
Iris ignored her father’s cautions. She clung to the hope that shape
shifting would give him the freedom to reenter society but hope was beginning
to wane.

“This is no way to live,” Iris said to DJ, pluming a hand
through her hair. She was seated at the kitchen table with her half sister,
contemplating if she should finish her half-cold plate of lasagna.

“Sis, it might take some time. Be patient.”

“I can’t. It’s not in my nature, in any time line.”

“I know you want to be with him. I also realize he has
changed. He’s not a shape shifter; but he’s also not the self-centered prick
that sent our moms packing from him.”

Iris reached out and grasped DJ’s hand. “I know. And
you’ve changed as well, Sis. How about I start calling you Doris Jean again?”

DJ blinked rapidly until a smile formed. “I would like
that.” She gripped her half sister’s hand as tight as if Iris were her full
biological sibling.

D
AN CAMDEN
was not horrified. His hands weren’t even
trembling. In fact, he was smiling at whatever stood before him.

She was glorious. Tall with long blonde hair and big blue
eyes. Something seemed to shimmer about her outline. He didn’t know who she
was. He had ruled out the Greys. There was no way this knockout blonde would be
confused with a big-eyed, gray-skinned, spindly-armed midget any timeline soon.

Dan felt at peace. He wasn’t quite communing
telepathically the way he had with Iris. It wasn’t words he was exchanging. It
was concepts, ideas. He came to a quick conclusion. This being was here to help
him.

He reached out a hand. She took it into hers, and she
waved at the air with the other. He began to see a playback of his daughters
and their friends. It was a glimpse into the time slip. She smiled while he
observed.

“They have passed the tests. What’s more, you have passed
the tests. We will help you now.”

It was the first and last words the being spoke. Dan felt
a strange vibration encompass his being. He stared down to find his appendages
shimmering. In the next instant, he was invisible to his naked eye.

I
RIS BALLED
a fist as tears poured out of eyes. Her
glasses were fogged, and she could not see.

“I shouldn’t have agreed to let him out of my sight. I’ll
never forgive myself.”

She was speaking to no one in particular. Mitchell was
closing his call with Evan.

“Hey, honey. Don’t take it so hard. From what Evan tells
me, your father may be under protection by some guardian, observer race known
as the Nordics. The description Bill gave of the woman seems to be a match. It
is also why Bill felt helpless to assist. The Nordics seem to excel at mind control.”

“What, yet another alien race I never was able to
see
?”
She cleaned her fogged lenses with a ball of her shirt.

“No. I think you did
see.
Don’t you remember? The
strange ship that seemed to orbit your house and peer into your bedroom and the
Voice you heard in the time slip; I think both are connected.”

“Then they are some kind of watcher race? Huh, why didn’t
they feel the need to intervene? We could have used their help resisting the
plague.” She shook her head, disgruntled.

“I think it’s in their nature to observe. Possibly, we
were being watched. Maybe we were being tested.”

“Hmmm, I hate to admit it, but you’re right.”

“You admit my science answers all of life’s mysteries?”

“I admit you have keen logic. It’s not all about science.
I think it’s attributable to watching Mr. Spock on
Star Trek.
”

Mitchell raised an eyebrow. “If I were human, I believe I
would be insulted . . . if I were
human.
”

“Looks like I better start memorizing Dr. McCoy’s lines.
You’re pretty good at imitation.”

“You’re pretty good at being a hero, sweetie.” He kissed
her forehead. “You did save us all. You saved Ron, you saved your sister, your
dad; hell, most importantly, you
saved
me.”

“Huh. I did all that, didn’t I? Little old spectacle
wearing me.” She fluttered her eyelids to mock a nineteenth century madam.

“You did. You made me see the whole picture. Damn, I was
shortsighted. I actually thought concepts like rapid evolution were merely
entertaining study. I should have stopped to realize the dangerous
consequences.”

She poked a finger into his chest. “But it was you who
opened my eyes to those theories. I wouldn’t have been on board without your
dogged determination.”

“Or,” he paused to roll his eyes, “my dogged narcissism.
I was arrogant. Still am.”

“I think your arrogance will keep the aliens away. At
least the
bad
aliens, I hope.”

“So you believe Evan? Your dad is under some kind of
extraterrestrial protection?”