SODIUM:1 Harbinger (20 page)

Several hours later two cars arrived. It was a long ride back to Sacramento with my arms crossed and a scowl on my face. The driver kept trying to ask questions just to make conversation, but all he got in response were short answers. After the first 20 minutes of “Yes” and “No”, he gave up trying.

Our flights home seemed to take an eternity. We arrived back in Atlanta around 2AM and Bull and Allie drove me to my house. As I walked to my front door and turned the key I looked back at them. Allie raised her hand in a half-hearted bye as they backed down the drive and slowly pulled away.

I went into my big empty house and sat down on my sofa. I stared endlessly at the walls. At some point I was overcome by fatigue and I woke up the next morning lying where I had fallen asleep the night before.

I stood, walked to the kitchen and made coffee. I then took a long, very over-needed bath. Once dressed, I walked to the front door, opened it and retrieved the paper from its usual spot in the bushes. The paper was covered with the news of Eisenhower signing all kinds of civil rights legislation. It was not a welcome idea in the south at the time.

Contrary to the popular opinion, most southerners were not racist. But as with most people, they were apprehensive about change when not fully understanding of what that change meant. I for one thought every man should initially be treated as an equal, until such time as they proved themselves otherwise.

Even though the news was immense in its day, it all seemed small and petty compared to the story I had to tell. Aliens had invaded our planet. There was actual intelligent life elsewhere in the universe and it was obviously much more advanced than us. We were living in dangerous times and yet was unaware.

As I scanned the paper, I thought about how we had somehow overcome our disadvantages and put an end to the alien’s exploratory mission. I then wondered if they had landed elsewhere. I began tearing through the rest of the paper looking for any little story of such.

News of aliens would not have been buried in the back, it was a front page story. After several frustrating minutes I had come to the conclusion that there was no sign of alien anything… anywhere. Perhaps the military had encountered them, or perhaps they had selected some small backwater country and the news had just not yet leaked out.

I badly wanted just a piece of one of those demons to hold in my hand, one that I could then hold up to the world. I wanted to tell of our amazing deeds and heroics. The world needed to know. But my story would go nowhere without the backing of the others. My family and friends had clammed up when I needed them most.

I returned to work the following day, but I left early as I just could no longer focus. First one week and then two went by and my clients were starting to get edgy with my standoffish and distracted behavior. They had been used to my catering to their every need and to my soothing their every worry. They had been placated with one insurance package or another, sold with speeches about how they were covered and well protected. For several weeks all they had received was short “Yes” and “No” answers.

A full month had gone by before I finally picked up the phone and called Bull and Allie. I sensed a bit of unease from him and our conversation went nowhere. The only thing we had to discuss was our trip and he had no interest in talking about it.

It was driving me crazy having the knowledge I did and not being able to tell anyone. My focus and attention to those things that mattered in daily life were no longer there. I was obsessed with finding the evidence that would set my silenced story free. The call ended soon after I brought up the subject of the alien encounter and asked if he would reconsider. I was truly on my own.

Chapter 15

After hanging up the phone I made the decision to go back out west. I would hike back into the wilderness and find that bit of evidence that I so desired. Once that decision was made, the life seemed to come back into me. I once again had a purpose and a desire to accomplish something. I was determined that I would find a piece of the invaders, even if it took the rest of my life.

Within the week I had sold my business to a competitor. My home had been put on the market and I began to liquidate all my investments. On the first of August I boarded a plane back to Sacramento and was on my way to find my future.

Shortly after arriving I looked up the Sacramento outfitter that Bull had partnered with and I arranged to buy enough gear for some extended hiking. I also talked him into giving me whatever outdoor training he could offer. I signed up two hiking guides to accompany me and to help with my survival. Money was no object and the man was more than willing to help me part with my cash.

I spent the month in Sacramento before I was ready to hit the trail. I was warned that snows would be expected soon at the higher elevations. The weather would make the hiking and the survival a lot more difficult. My only concern was getting out there so that I could scour the grounds for that one bit of treasure.

We arrived at Cherry Lake Dam and immediately began our hike back towards Woods Ridge. We spent a day at Cherry Creek where Minhafa had sprung past me and overturned the first demon. The guides fished, hunted small game or just sat around camp playing cards as I moved meticulously back and forth, looking under every bush and beside every rock.

They asked repeatedly what I was looking for so they could help. I could not say without running the risk of them thinking I was crazy and walking off the job. Besides, I felt they were best used by keeping me fed and secure while I searched for my reward. The next day we moved our camp to Woods Creek and the site where we had lured the second demon into our ambush.

The results were the same as I spent the entire day combing the area for any little sign of our visitors. The spots of ground where the green fog had spread out were still largely bare. When I was asked about them I gave no answer and continued my search.

I had thoroughly covered each of our previous battlefields after two weeks. The guides were ready to go back to their homes, their wives, families and lives. When we returned to Sacramento I sat all evening in a hotel room just staring out the window at the autos going up and down the street.

The next day I went to the nearest car dealer, purchased a used pickup truck and then made my way by the outfitter’s store. I reloaded on all my hiking and camping supplies. He once again offered two guides and I once again accepted his price without negotiation.

Again, two weeks came and went as we covered the same grounds a second time with no luck. This time the snow was beginning to fall on the last day and I knew I would only have one more shot before having to wait until spring. On the third try we were stranded for two days by a heavy snow bringing our excursion to an early end. I was told the high country would now be covered with the white powder until at least April. It would be then before there would be enough snow melt to show any ground.

It was a hard winter for me just sitting around Sacramento until spring. In my boredom I did some bookkeeping for several businesses and arranged a few insurance deals for them as well. I wasn’t making enough to live off of, but it kept my mind somewhat occupied as I waited for the spring thaw.

Besides, I had loads of money in the bank after my home sold in Atlanta. I was still well off for a man in the 1950’s. I spent the winter learning about survival, the back-country and studying maps. I would no longer need any guides for direction, but I would still take them along to run my camp. It would allow me to spend my time searching.

I spent the most of April through September of 1958 going over and over the places we had encountered the demons. There just did not seem to be anything to find. The snow melted and the grass grew and the once tell-tale barren spots were now lush and green with new growth.

By the end of 1958 I was going out and staying by myself for a month at a time. Come early October the cold and the snow moved in again, crippling my search activities. I once again spent the winter months working odd jobs to make a little extra cash as my bank account was beginning to slowly decline. That Christmas I sent Bull and Allie, and Kyle and Susi each a Christmas card. Susi and Kyle had gotten married, but I was out in the wild at the time so I did not attend.

My life had changed drastically since our trip out west. I had a scraggly beard growing and my hair was unkempt. The constant summer days in the sun was taking its toll on my skin. The back country life was hard and I had become a scrawny old stick of a man who was in constant need of a bath.

My obsession with finding an alien artifact was all consuming. I was becoming known around Sacramento as this crazy old guy who was searching for something that could not be found. Everyone assumed it was something that I had lost and I thought that it was just as well they think it. What had started out as an all-out hunt for however long it took, soon turned into 15 years of wandering, prodding and poking.

My fortune had dwindled to just enough to keep paying for my room and board during the winter months and to purchase a modest amount of supplies for the summer. The physical toll on my body was much greater. During my hikes I had a number of falls. Twice I dislocated a shoulder, once broke my lower leg and I had numerous sprains, twists and bruises. The scars from the rough outdoor life were now too numerous to count.

My family history was such that the men of my stock rarely made it past 55 years of age. We were just not sturdy folk as they would say. And, I had noticed that I was beginning to slow significantly in the amount of terrain I could cover on any outing.

I had come to the conclusion that I would probably die out in the wilderness alone. Still searching for that one bread crumb that fed my obsession. I had been over each of the places we had encountered the demons at least a hundred times. On one particular day in late August, I came upon our camp by Laurel Lake.

I sat down on the rocks where I had first seen the red demon eyes and where Bull had taken his first shots at them. It was a familiar place to me just as were all the others. As I sat, taking a break from my constant downward gaze, I noticed some brush moving just behind another set of small boulders. I stretched out my hand and placed it on my bat. After 15 years in the woods it was still my preferred defensive weapon.

Up from the brush and onto one of the boulders jumped an old haggard looking mountain lion. It was the first one I had seen since the one I had called Minhafa had saved me from the demon by Cherry Creek.

The old cat just stood and looked at me for several minutes. It was then that I decided that maybe I really had snapped and that I had wasted the last 15 years wandering around the woods like a lunatic. But I could not turn back the clock. I had lost touch with my family and friends. There really was nothing to go back to. The wilderness had become my home and the searching my life.

The old cat continued to stare at me to the point where I started to grow angry. I held up my bat and waved it at the beast and shouted for it to leave. But the old cat just stood and stared. I then stood up and shouted and tried to move about in a threatening manner, but it made no difference, the old mountain lion was not impressed.

So, I did next what any insane person would do. I charged at it with bat raised while bellowing out one curse word after another. As I got to about 30’ away the old mountain lion turned and hopped back down into the bushes and slowly loped away. I stopped in front of the boulders and watched as the tail end of the cat disappeared into the woods. I leaned over on the boulder and took a breath and wondered again if I had not gone fully mad.

As I turned to go back to my searching I caught the slightest reflection off of something down at the base of the boulder. There, lying in amongst some wilted grass, was the item of my long-time obsession.

At first I was in disbelief. It could not possibly be a part of the alien machines. How could the item have gotten over there when it had clearly fogged the rocks 60’ away? I reached down and picked it up. My hands were trembling. This was the proof I had been looking for… for 15 years!

I let out a howl and danced a jig, and then let out another howl. I kept up the celebration until I had no breath left. I sat on the ground and just stared at the item for an hour. I relived each of our battles with the aliens over and over in my head. I thought about how heroic I had been and about how we had defeated the alien invaders with our wit, and a lot of luck.

I guessed that at our first encounter with the red devil eyes, when Bull had fired his .45, that one of the bullets had found its mark. It had knocked the item the 60 some odd feet away. I had browsed by the rocks before, but never with the extreme scrutiny that I had given to the previous bare spots.

The find was huge. I decided that I would grab my pack and make haste for Sacramento, I needed to call the others. They would now have to join me as I now had the evidence that the world needed to see.

The following afternoon I reached my apartment and immediately picked up the phone. I first called Bull and Allie, but got no answer. I then called my sister and Kyle and was thrilled when someone spoke. I asked who it was and discovered it to be a ten year old nephew that I didn’t know that I had. He passed the phone to Susi who remained mostly silent as I told her of my find. Kyle was at work and she told me that I should call back that evening to talk to him.

Susi also told me that Bull and Allie gone on a vacation to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. She gave me a hotel number and I called as soon as I had finished talking with her. She didn’t show the excitement about the find that I had hoped for, or that I had expected.

It took me two hours of calling the hotel before the clerk finally told me that they had just checked out. They had given a forwarding address to a hotel near the Grand Tetons where they would be for the next two days.

As soon as I was off the phone I packed a small bag with a change of clothes and headed outside to my truck. I stopped at the first gas station and tanked up. I purchased a road map that would take me across the Sierra Nevada’s and to Salt Lake City.