Desert Assassin (12 page)

“He wants to believe that a UFO crashed and that’s okay.”

“What’s next?”

“I suspect that we will hear from the General before too long. By now, he has the team he mentioned working on Assassin’s body. I’m guessing Stan and Alice might be en route to getting to examine Assassin.”

“Any idea where?”

“No, but I’m sure he’s got it someplace where he figures Morgan can’t find out about it.”

“What are the odds of keeping Morgan in the dark.”

“Probably not good. Meanwhile, let me check a few things in the house and we can go into Albuquerque. I’ve got to restock just about all my food and liquor. Whoever the General had here cleaned out just about everything, but I can’t blame him as he was stuck in the house for more than two weeks. Also, I’m guessing there is stuff you need to buy. When we get back we can go up in the hills and do some regular hunting.”

C
HAPTER
F
IFTEEN

A
S
W
ILLIAMS AND
F
OWLER WERE DRIVING
to Albuquerque, Ling and Henderson were in an underground complex somewhere in northwest Texas getting a first look at Assassin. There were three other scientists present, including one of the country’s most prominent microbiologists, Dr. Edward Stanton. With the group was Jim Rappaport.

Assassin was encased in a rectangular, thick glass case with the internal temperature set at negative eight degrees Celsius. Visually, it looked somewhat smaller and its coloration was paler than its light brown when encountered by Williams. Both changes were caused by the loss of blood. Nevertheless, it was still every bit as imposing as it was grotesque. Looking at what appeared to be two knife wounds in its neck, Ling asked Rappaport who killed it.

“Williams,” whispered Rappaport. “You can share that with Henderson, but no one else until I check with the General.”

“How? Where?”

“I have no idea.” Rappaport then addressed the five scientists. “At 2:00PM, there will be a video presentation chronicling the development of Assassin from shortly after the time it began to emerge from a meteorite until it escaped from surveillance. This will be followed by a Q and A chaired by Dr. Ling. A briefing detailing the death of Assassin will commence at 6:00PM. Dr. Stanton, as senior scientist present, will then announce the schedule for the examination of Assassin and will be in charge of proceedings. Dinner will follow. Thank you for your service.”

Rappaport begin to exit the steel encased room which was at least twenty thousand square feet with ceilings approximately thirty feet high. The amount and variety of equipment, including computer banks, defied belief. Henderson intercepted him before he reached one of two doors leading to and from the room.

“Is Bill okay.”

“Yes. He was the one who killed Assassin. That’s all I know. It’s classified information. I’ve already told Stan. Until I talk with the General, it’s not to be shared with anyone else.”

Henderson was relieved and also stunned. She knew her former lover was trained to kill human beings, but to kill something as big and monstrous looking as was the present iteration of Assassin was beyond anything she could imagine.

“Stan, how in the world could he have killed it?”

He showed a trace of a smile. “You don’t really expect me to have any idea, do you? However, the knife wounds are in the front right and left sides of the neck. Therefore, it would seem that it was a face to face confrontation.”

Henderson shuddered. Momentarily forgetting they were no longer in Las Vegas, Ling moved to hug her, but quickly pulled back. “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas – at least for now,” he thought.

After consulting with her, he decided to run back-to-back, without interruption, both the video Williams had created and the one Henderson and he had done together. They would then field questions.

Sandwiches and soft drinks accompanied the showing of the videos.

The team remained quiet during the playing of first video until the engulfing of the assassin bug and the subsequent incorporation by Assassin of its victim’s antennae. All three of the General’s new “recruits” expressed amazement. They would continue to do so during the entire showing of the videos which lasted nearly two and one-half hours.

When the viewings were completed, Ling, ever confident, got up out of his seat and motioned Henderson to join him. She did so, but without the same level of confidence as Ling. She was looking at three of the country’s foremost biologists, and was being looked at by them. In addition to Stanton, the microbiologist whose specialty was virology, were a geneticist and a molecular biologist. The geneticist, a native of India, was Dr. Arvind Patel; the molecular biologist was Dr. Harold McDonald who, like Stanton, was born and raised in the United States.

With a broad smile, Ling said, “I don’t suppose there are any questions.”

Stanton replied, “I imagine we might be able to come up with one or two. If I may, the alien appears to have been killed as a result of knife wounds to the neck. How and who did it?

“I’ve been told that it is classified information. The question is best left for Colonel Rappaport.”

“The last we saw on the video was what I, and I’m sure Dr. McDonald and Dr. Patel, thought was a dead Assassin. Can you explain what happened?”

Ling turned the question over to Henderson. It was a perfect way for her to get over her nervousness as she was the one who brought to light the possibility that Assassin might be able to reproduce asexually. She thoroughly retraced what had transpired from when she first speculated about the possibility that it could reproduce asexually to the possibility that Assassin had somehow poisoned or programmed its clone to decompose. She concluded by asking, “Gentlemen, your thoughts?”

This turned the meeting into a full-fledged discussion among the five scientists, a discussion which was still ongoing when Rappaport returned for the 6:00PM briefing. Ling noted throughout that Alice was the center of attention. “Brains and beauty,” he thought, “what a combination.”

All three of the newcomers were quick to realize that Assassin, in the short period of time from its obviously well planned escape to its demise, had managed overwhelm both a mountain lion and a human being. What was impossible to fathom was how it could have managed to incorporate into itself the physical traits which it apparently desired. “Impossible” was the one word heard over and over again.

Rappaport entered the room at precisely 6:00PM. “Dr. Stanton, Dr. Patel, Dr. McDonald, thank you for joining us. We are bearing witness to what is, perhaps, the greatest scientific discovery in the history of humankind. And with it brings the possibility of gaining knowledge that may forever change the course of that history. Your expertise in the field of biology is, of course, why you have been invited to join Dr. Ling and Dr. Henderson. Beyond the knowledge which may be gained by studying the alien, we may be facing an emergency – the possibility that Assassin may have made a copy of itself before it was killed by Major Bill Williams of the United States Army.”

Ling and Henderson both showed surprise at the identification of Williams. Rappaport noticed their surprised expressions. “Major Williams is the one who found the meteorite and discovered Assassin. He also is the individual who recorded the first of the two videos which you watched earlier. Along with a companion, he was authorized to search for and destroy the alien.”

He then dropped a bombshell. “Major Williams had the opportunity to converse with the alien prior to his killing it.”

Simultaneously, McDonald and Patel blurted out, “How?”

“That is one of the many questions to which we hope you will be able to find the answer. From his conversation with Assassin, Major Williams was told that the human who was killed, ‘ended’ is the term used by Assassin, was a rancher named Fred.”

“Excuse me, Colonel, but you do realize that if any of us attempted to tell this story without benefit of the videos and the body, we would be promptly judged to be insane?” said Stanton.

“We are counting on that to insure your silence.”

Laughter followed.

“From Williams’ recounting of the conversation, it seemed that Assassin either physically incorporated Fred’s brain or somehow acquired his consciousness.”

“Will it be possible to speak with Williams?” asked Stanton.

“I will have to get back to you on that. If not, perhaps a transcript.”

“How did Williams come into contact with Assassin?”

“Two weeks into the search, Williams’ partner had gone to a distant town to get supplies. Williams had finished his searching for the day and was sitting at their campsite when Assassin appeared pointing a rifle at Williams. Assassin had apparently taken the rifle from Fred. The conversation began.”

Ling looked at Henderson and could see she was struggling to hold in her emotions. He couldn’t blame her.

“Rather than try to give you a second hand account of the conversation, I’ll tell you that Williams hoped he could get Assassin to reveal whether it had made a replicate of itself subsequent to the one which we found decomposing in the desert. After some time had passed and without the question having been answered, Williams was presented with an opportunity to engage Assassin and did so.”

“How in the world did Bill overcome the size and strength of Assassin, not to mention the rifle?” asked Ling.

Rappaport smiled. He looked at Ling’s Air Force uniform and said, “Major Williams is United States Army Special Forces.”

“I asked for that, didn’t I?” laughed Ling.

“Colonel,” said Henderson, “I think both of our men and anyone else who has come into contact with it should have blood tests taken as soon as possible.”

“I’ll see to it immediately,” he said as he left.

Stanton looked at Ling and Henderson. “Is Major Williams here?”

“I doubt it,” said Ling.

“I hope I will have the opportunity to meet him.”

He then addressed the group, “Let’s take a break. We will meet for dinner at seven-thirty and then begin the examination of the alien.”

Knowing the General was in charge, Henderson was not surprised to find that wine, including an obviously expensive bottle of Pinot Grigio, accompanied the meal which was held in a dining room located some six hundred feet away from the examination room. The dinner talk was strictly shop talk with questions and speculations being bandied about from an initial toast to the final sips of wine. As they prepared to begin their work, Henderson said quietly to Ling, “This is a good group, no prima donnas.”

“Step one,” said Stanton, “Follow me. We are going into a side room to put on biohazard suits. The examination room was scrubbed down after we left. We will work until midnight.”

No one wanted to quit at the designated time, but Stanton convinced them that to continue given the lack of sleep on which they were operating would potentially cause more harm than good. They each retired to their Spartan rooms and agreed to meet for breakfast at 8:00AM. This wasn’t Las Vegas, as a result Ling and Henderson slept alone.

Williams and Fowler were in a brew pub in Albuquerque talking to two middle-aged women when Williams’ dedicated phone to the General rang.

“Bill, where are you?”

“A pub in Albuquerque.”

“Finish your beer. You and Fowler need to get to the 377th Medical Group Hospital at Kirtland immediately.”

“Why?”

“You both need to get yourselves tested. It’s precautionary, but there is a possibility that the two of you may have been exposed to something. We’ve got a team just getting to work on this end. Their first priority is to make sure the two of you are in the clear.”

“Can’t it wait until the morning?”

“Now, that’s an order.”

“Damn!”

Following their unexpectedly shortened trip to Albuquerque, Williams and Fowler spent the next two days hunting in the distant hills directly west of Williams’ property. This time the hunting was strictly for native animal life. A good part of both evenings were spent at Killer Two’s.

During the first of the two evenings, Fowler asked Killer Two how Kowalski got the name Killer.

“First of all, he was a big guy, six-and-a-half feet tall and weighed as much as two eighty and most of the time he was the bad guy in the ring. Near the beginning of his career in the early 1950s, he was wrestling another big guy, Yukon Eric, in Montreal. Now it was really an accident, but Killer knee dropped him and took off part of Yukon’s left ear.”

Fowler looked toward the television screen. “One of the videos you’ve got up there is of those two fighting.”

“That was in another match after Killer chopped off the ear.”

“Looked to me like Yukon Eric pinned him, but the ref gave it to Kowalski.”

“No, no, Art, next time you watch it, look closely and you’ll see that it was Yukon Eric’s shoulders that were pinned first. Now in that first fight, Yukon had to go to a hospital. Killer goes to visit him. Yukon is sitting on the edge of the bed talking to reporters with his head wrapped in bandages. Killer thinks he looked like Humpty Dumpty sitting on the wall and begins to laugh. Now Yukon also begins to laugh as he knows it was an accident, plus his ears were already cauliflowered. The next day the newspaper reported that Killer came up to the room to laugh at Yukon Eric. A week or so later at a match, someone yelled out to Kowalski, ‘You’re nothing but a killer.’ That’s how he got his nickname.”

When they returned to the house following the second day of hunting, Fowler suggested they go back to Albuquerque.

Williams tossed the keys to the Pathfinder at him. “Stay as long as you want. If I need to go any place, I’ve got the jeep.”

“You sure?”

“Yep. See you tomorrow some time.”

“If I’m lucky.”

With Fowler gone, Williams had the chance to do something he had missed the previous few weeks. He grabbed a bottle of Merlot and a glass, walked out to the porch and turned on his music.

A phone call came in from the General at eight the next morning.