Momma yelled, “Get off the road… car’s coming!”
Cuddy and Jackie moved just far enough away so the approaching car could get past them. Instead, it slowed down and came to a stop—the sheriff’s cruiser.
“Sheriff!” Momma exclaimed.
All three leaned down to look inside the car. The sheriff’s wide-brimmed hat sat next to him on the passenger seat. Cuddy noticed the sheriff’s shiny domed head was just about touching the interior headliner.
“Whatcha folks doing, standing out there in the middle of the road? Are you nuts or just plain stupid?” Cuddy could see the sheriff instantly regretted his choice of words as soon as he looked at him. “It’s not safe.”
Momma said, “Kyle’s missing, Sheriff. He left the car here… abandoned. I’m worried.”
The sheriff first studied the Maxima, then his eyes tracked all the skid marks. Cuddy noted the tired resignation on his face before he looked up at Momma. Probably the closest thing to compassion he could conjure up. “He may have been taken. I’m sorry… this is… all… so unbelievable, Dotty…”
Momma, now angry, said, “Oh no, you’re not going to tell me my boy’s been taken by those…” her words died off.
The sheriff let out a long breath before answering: “Earlier, three cars were abandoned here. No one was in them when Plumkin arrived on the scene. But he saw it. A space craft… or whatever it was.” His eyes lifted toward the sky back behind them. “He saw it up in the air… heading off.”
Cuddy, Jackie, and Momma all turned and stared into empty open sky.
“Best you get indoors. I’m sorry about Kyle, I truly am, but I have my own family issues to attend to.”
Momma, who’d begun to wring her hands, looked more kindly at the sheriff and asked, “What’s happened, Dale?”
“It’s my boy… Tony. He’s been badly beaten up. His friend Gary, too.”
Jackie glanced at Cuddy.
“Actually, talking to your boy here was on my list of things to do today.”
Momma said, “Cuddy’s been with me all morning, Sheriff.”
Rolling his shoulders, the sheriff said, “No… since they woke up their story is… they got into it… beat the living daylights out of each other. That’s their story, anyway.”
Cuddy thought about that, but it didn’t ring true. Tony and Gary were both cowards; more apt to pick on the disabled or a helpless dog. Thinking about it, he let a faint, lopsided smile cross his lips. It was Kyle! It made sense. Probably was only a matter of time before Kyle settled things with them… for what they had done to him and Rufus.
Jackie asked, “Can we get back to the aliens? Kyle might be… up there now, like a hostage, or a prisoner, or something.”
Momma nodded in emphatic agreement, while unconsciously continuing to wring her hands—her face taut with worry.
“The latest reports say anything approaching that alien ship will get shot down. It has some kind of ray beam. Five of our F-16s were plucked out of the sky in only a matter of seconds. It’s like the end of the world. People are scared. Hell, I’m scared! And today things have only gotten worse. First Arnold Air Force Base was attacked… then with McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base, and then Camp Frank D. Merrill in North Carolina… all have all been destroyed. So there’s no one coming here to help us… we’re completely on our own.”
Momma stared at the sheriff, her temper again beginning to rile up. “Well, don’t come all unraveled here, Dale. Everyone’s counting on you to hold things together.”
He took her scolding and nodded. “Best you all get out of the street… I’m sorry about Kyle,” he said, and drove off in the direction of town.
Cuddy said, “I need to get back to the ranch… help Tow. Maybe he’ll know how to find Kyle.”
“Can I help?” Jackie asked.
They reached the ranch ten minutes later, Momma driving her own car while Cuddy rode with Jackie in the VW bug. Pulling alongside the already parked Maxima, she cut the engine. Momma was already hurrying toward the porch. Cuddy reached for the passenger door handle when Jackie placed a restraining hand on his leg.
“Cuddy… can you just wait a minute?” Feeling her hand resting on his thigh, Cuddy immediately felt his heart rate double. “Um… yeah… sure. What is it?”
“There literally is a world out there… filled with terrified people… and you are the only one that knows what’s really going on. The only one! It’s… staggering. Think about the responsibility!”
“Why? I’m already freaking out.”
Looking across at her, Cuddy saw her smile at that. To him just then, she was breathtakingly beautiful. It was disconcerting, for some reason embarrassing, that after all these years he only now was coming to that realization.
She said, “I’ve been thinking about everything.”
Cuddy looked at her and waited.
“That alien friend of yours, Tow,” she smiled again, realizing how preposterous that sounded, “chose you. You know that… right?”
Cuddy looked away, letting his gaze drift toward the distant tree line, then nodded.
“Future actions will impact more than Kyle, your momma… or me. They will impact life as we know it today.”
“I already know that!” he snapped. “I need to get to him now… to Tow.”
“What I’m saying is I want to help. I want to go with you to the ship. I’ve got nothing better to do. It’s not like I’m going to be able to take the MCAT this year.”
“I promised him… Tow… that I wouldn’t tell anyone,” Cuddy said.
“Well, that ship pretty much sailed. Take me with you… please!”
Chapter 23
Momma was on the phone as Cuddy and Jackie prepared to leave the house. She covered the mouthpiece with her hand and said, “I don’t like this… you two going out there on your own. Let me call the sheriff…”
“No!” Cuddy said, more sternly than he intended. “We’ll be fine. Promise me you won’t tell anyone, especially the police? Promise me, Momma.”
She hesitated then nodded. “But, Jackie, you call me on that cell phone of yours. I need to know what’s happening.”
“I will, Mrs. Perkins, I promise.” Jackie, smiling, gave her front jeans pocket a couple of pats. They left the house and headed for the barn, the late afternoon sun casting long shadows before them. Jackie asked, “Is there anything I should know… you know, before we get there?”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know… I’ve never met an alien before.” She looked nervous, perhaps even a trifle scared.
“He’s sick… he’s dying. Has the Dirth.” Cuddy suddenly stopped in his tracks and looked hard at her. “He might not even be alive. Last I saw him he was pretty sick.”
“Is it—”
“Contagious?” He finished her sentence. “I don’t know for sure, but I don’t think so.”
Together, they walked into the cool darkness of the barn. Cuddy paused just long enough to give Ellie a few pats on the horse’s nose, then, exiting the barn, he said, “I guess I should tell you the rest of it… the things Tow told me. About the Howsh… and his own people, the Pashier. The destruction of his home world, Mahli, and what’s most important to him… something called the heritage pod.”
Entering into the woods, they stopped at the brook. Cuddy, starting at the beginning, told her everything that had transpired since he first met the glowing Pashier alien only days before. Jackie interrupted him several times to get better clarity on certain events. She was most interested in, concerned with, the effect of the wellness chamber on Cuddy. He tried to explain what he’d been dealing with since.
“I guess what’s most surprising is that, after all these years… since I was seven and fell from the hay loft… the memories I thought were lost… gone forever… were not. I just couldn’t make the right mental connections to them. The problem is, Jackie, that I remember much of what’s happened over my life. Even things people have said to me, or what I’ve seen on TV. But that doesn’t mean I understand it all… there’s a lot I’ll need to learn. I can do that… over time… but it’s overwhelming. But worst of all, the feelings I felt… way back then… I remember them now, too. I spend all my conscious moments trying to bury a ton of emotions.”
“Doing that doesn’t at all sound healthy, Cuddy.”
“I’m dealing with it. Anyway, it’s getting dark. We better keep going.”
Ten minutes later, they reached the edge of the clearing. Cuddy watched Jackie’s expression as she caught sight of the alien spacecraft.
She stopped and stared. “This is… un… fucking be… lievable!”
Cuddy smiled and focused on the closed hatchway, wondering if perhaps Tow was too sick to greet them. He regretted wasting so much time getting back, and then wondered if some of his concern was that he’d brought someone along with him. He’d brought Jackie.
“Are you absolutely sure you want to… you know… be a part of all this?” Cuddy asked, looking unsure.
“Are you kidding me? I want to help… to have a chance to protect Earth and humanity… I haven’t had any sense of purpose since my father’s heart attack. No… I’m a part of this, like it or not.”
At that very moment, the hatchway began to open as the gangway descended toward the ground. Cuddy was surprised at the elation he felt when the glowing figure moved into view. He was alive! Tentatively, Tow raised a hand in a half-hearted wave.
Approaching together, they stopped at the bottom of the gangway. Cuddy said, “This is Jackie, Tow. She’s my friend. And Jackie, this is Tow… he’s also my friend. Can we come in, Tow?”
Tow lowered his head and leaned forward as he stared at Jackie for a long moment—as if examining her with his eyes. He then hobbled down the gangway and awkwardly held out his left hand. He tentatively looked over to Cuddy, “Is this the right gesture… how humans greet one another?”
Cuddy had to think about that. Was that the correct hand… should it be the right hand?
“Yes!” Jackie said. She took his outstretched hand in hers and shook it. “I am… honored to meet you… Tow. Cuddy has told me so much about you.”
Grimacing, Cuddy gave Tow an apologetic smile.
Tow, nodding, gestured for them to come up the ramp.
Jackie hesitated a moment as she looked again at the ship there before her. Looking excited, she glanced over at Cuddy.
“It’s okay. I promise, you’re safe here.”
She smiled and, taking in a deep breath, headed up the ramp behind Tow. Last, Cuddy followed behind. The alien stopped at the open hatch, bowed his head and gestured for them to proceed inside.
Inside the ship, Jackie—with an expression of utter astonishment—looked around at the surroundings. When the AI orb hovered into view from the bow, she took a step back. Cuddy felt her body press against him.
“It’s okay. That’s the orb… the artificial intelligence for the ship.” The orb hovered in close. One of its articulating arms began to extend, its claw—three finger-like digits—opened and closed. Cuddy tensed—his hands tightening into fists.
Tow ordered, “Back away, orb! Jackie is a friend. Amend your database to include her… do it now!”
“Database amended. Hello, Jackie… welcome aboard the Evermore.” Cuddy noticed the orb was sounding less alien-like than before.
“Tow,” he said. “…I think the Howsh took my brother.”
Jackie was uncharacteristically quiet as she continued to take in the glowing and naked, as usual, alien.
“That may be true, Cuddy. I am sorry. It is my fault; I have caused unexpected turmoil on your planet.”
“We need to rescue him. Find that ship… go get him.”
Jackie said, “And I’d like to help too.” Tow silently studied them both.
“The repairs to your ship… have you started yet?” Cuddy asked.
Tow nodded. “Yes, but I am quite weak. It is a slow process.” He searched Cuddy’s face and asked, “Tell me, how are you doing, Cuddy?”
“You mean since you used him like a lab rat in that chamber of horrors of yours?” Jackie interjected. Tow and Cuddy stared at her.
“It’s not like that, Jackie,” Cuddy said. “I thought you understood.” He was beginning to regret bringing her along.
Indignant, she looked at Tow. “He’s changed, you know. He’s not the same person he was before. He’s having a big problem adapting. Did you think about that before—”
“Jackie!” Cuddy snapped. “It’s what I wanted. What’s wrong with you, anyway? Stop attacking Tow. Remember, you’re a guest here.”
“It’s all right, Cuddy. She is correct. I did not fully anticipate the physical and mental repercussions those wellness chamber sessions would have on you beforehand… on a human. I made some assumptions that have proven to be incorrect, and I have thought about little else ever since.”
“Look, Jackie, I wouldn’t go back… to the way I was before, not for anything. What Tow did for me… was a gift. He’s changed my life for the better. I think you owe him an apology.”
Jackie said, “Fine, then… sorry,” crossing her arms over her chest.
Cuddy was well aware she could be tenacious—had spunk—but he’d never seen her be rude before. He chalked it up to her being overwhelmed. Any normal person would be freaking out about now.
“Tell me what to do, Tow; how I can help with the repairs?” Cuddy asked.