Flying Purple People Eater
"Well I saw the thing comin' out of the sky It had the one long horn, one big eye I commenced to shakin' and I said "ooh-eee" It looks like a Purple People Eater to me"
- Sheb Wooley describing a Close Encounter of the Third Kind
"Michael, how do you believe in flying saucers?", Minx asked me one night after work as we waited for the elevator.
I looked at her for a moment and answered her honestly.
"If you're talking about flying saucers with little green men, not really. If you're talking about Unidentified Flying Objects and possible extraterrestrial life, of course I do. You know that.", I replied.
"So you don't believe in little green men?", she confirmed.
"Only in bad movies and comic books. And of course, the Little Green Guys from Greatest American Hero."
She opened her briefcase and pulled out a copy of the local tabloid and handed it to me.
"Page six.", she instructed.
On page six there was a news story, if you can define anything in a tabloid as "news" about the sightings of a flying saucer in California.
The story went on to describe the aliens as big headed, with big eyes and wearing purple clothing. The article also claimed that the aliens seemed to levitate in the air, bouncing from place to place like our astronauts on the Moon in the low gravity.
"Were they wearing Nikes?", I asked after finishing the article.
"Do the words 'sick fuck' mean anything to you?", she said with a wry smile.
"It's been said. But the last time you asked me a question like that I wound up with a bunch of vampyres. Not that Matthew isn't a nice guy and all, but I did get a little closer to death than I'd like."
"I thought you might be interested is all.", she said, taking the paper from me.
I looked at her with suspicion.
"What aren't you telling me Mistress?", I asked as the elevator doors opened.
"Michael, have I ever given you a reason to mistrust me?", she demurred.
"No, Mistress and I hope you're not going to give me a reason to now.", I said as we walked in.
"Let me explain ... ", she said as the doors closed.
By the time we reached the lobby of the building she had explained why she was interested and what it had to do with Ay'esha.
"And that's why you and I are going to San Diego.", she explained as the doors opened.
"Well, I think somebody has seen It Came From Outer Space one time too many, but if the Mother of Many says we go, we go.", I said skeptically
"What if it was just me who said you go?", Minx asked seriously.
I looked at her blankly.
"I'd go of course. What else?", I answered.
"Just making sure.", she said as we took the elevator to the parking garage.
"When do we leave?", I asked.
"Tomorrow morning. When did you want to start?", she replied.
"How about eight? I'll meet you at your house.", I suggested.
"Fine, I'll be ready. But do me a favor. Wash that car of yours before we leave."
"If I do that, the damned thing will fall apart."
I was rewarded with a look almost as dirty as my Eagle.
"Wash it.", she warned.
"Yes Mistress. Just one question: Are you playing Mulder or Scully?"
"Well we already know how you look in a dress.", she replied and got into her car and pulled out.
I walked to my Eagle and sighed.
Dirty, battered, and with almost as many miles on it as a trip to the Moon, the Eagle had seen a lot of strange sights.
Would little green men be the next one?
0800 the next morning I loaded Minx's camera bags in the Eagle and we started driving South towards San Diego.
Her reasons for driving were sound. The Eagle was better suited to the back country than anything we could rent if we flew down, and the appearance of my battered piece of junk would blend into the background.
We were actually operating undercover on this trip, credentialed as reporters for a local newspaper courtesy of The Publisher, one of the Matriarchs of Ay'esha.
The drive to San Diego from The City takes about eight hours normally, but I wasn't in that much of a hurry to get there since the show didn't start until nightfall.
A stop in Bakersfield for lunch and then a snack stop in Anaheim slowed our progress slightly, so we didn't arrive in San Diego until almost seven and then had to drive another hour to a town named Campo.
The whole town was talking about the flying saucer sighting and the aliens. Signs were being put up declaring Campo as the UFO Capitol of California and the local merchants were already tying their advertising wagon to a star, or possibly starship.
We claimed our rooms at the small inn and then cameras in hand we made our way into the streets to observe the residents, tourists, wackos, and skeptics.
One street vendor had jars holding what he claimed were alien embryos and another was selling video tapes of flying saucers, not bad fakes in fact , almost Hollywood quality.
Minx took large numbers of photos using her film camera, almost more than I thought were necessary, until I realized she was using the wide angle lens to shoot with. By the time she was finished we'd have a picture of everybody in the crowd for later review.
We had reached the end of the street and were heading back when there was a collective gasp and a few screams from the crowd.
I looked up and saw three glowing objects in a tight formation flying over the town. They were blue in color and made a low throbbing sound. Minx was already shooting and I could hear the auto winder of the camera zipping off film as fast as she could press the shutter release.
I just watched as the objects passed out of sight over a hill, trying to memorize every bit of information I could about them and then looked back at the crowd.
Almost everybody was looking up at the passing objects, except for one woman who was leaning against a telephone pole with a slight smile on her face.
I used my digital camera to get a quick picture of her, and as the camera flashed she looked at me and then quickly walked away into the shadows.
The street was filled with people talking about what they'd just seen and I touched Minx on the arm and moved her away from the rest of the crowd.
"I just spotted something unusual. While we were all watching the objects, there was a woman watching the crowd instead. I took her picture, and when I did she disappeared into an alley back there.", I said softly.
"Good work. Let's get this film into the soup and look at the results.", Minx replied and started walking back to the inn.
It didn't take us very long to start processing the film once I set up Minx's portable film lab. I had gotten used to setting it up in exotic locations like the African veldt or the Alaskan tundra. Setting it up in a place with running water and electricity, even though the place reminded me of the Bates Motel was an major improvement.
By one AM we had a set of wet proof sheets to examine with a magnifying glass, looking for the woman I'd seen in any of the other pictures Minx had shot.
"I think this is her.", I said after examining one of the frames of film for a few minutes.
Minx looked over my shoulder as I used a pencil point to show her the face in the crowd I thought was our disinterested observer.
Minx looked closely at that frame as I continued to look at the pictures I had shot, finally finding the one of the woman I'd seen.
"Here's the one I shot.", I said
Minx placed the photo next to my camera display and examined them both and agreed.
"That's the same woman in both pictures. Good. Now we have to find out exactly who she is."
I yawned and rubbed my eyes.
"Can it wait until morning?", I asked. "It was a long drive and I'm tired."
Minx nodded and pointed towards the bathroom.
"You can sleep in there tonight."
I looked at her sleepily.
"Not in my room?", I asked.
"Since we already seem to have attracted someone's attention, I think we should stick together for tonight.", she replied logically.
I picked a pillow off the bed and took a spare blanket from the closet shelf.
"This reminds me of Norwegian Wood.", I said and trailed into the bathroom to sleep.
As I drifted off to sleep I heard her humming and placed the words to the tune.
"She told me she worked in the morning and started to laugh, I told her I didn't and crawled off to sleep in the bath."
I woke up the next morning to the sound of running water as Minx washed her face in the sink, neatly avoiding the developing chemicals on the countertop.
"Good morning mine sklave.", she said cheerfully.
"Is it morning?", I groaned pulling myself to an upright position using the grab rail on the side of the bathtub.
"I think so. It's eight o'clock.", she replied.
"Then I'll get out of here so you can take a shower.", I said, crawling out of the tub.
"I'd appreciate that.", she said. "Why don't you go to your room and get cleaned up, then meet me back here in about twenty minutes?"
"Yes Mistress. I take it that you don't think we'll have a problem in the daytime with our mysterious adversary?"
"Probably not. It would draw too much attention to her. But be careful.", she warned.
"Of course. After all I wouldn't want to be abducted by aliens.", I joked.
"Little green ones or others?"
I considered carefully for a moment before replying.
"If you're not coming with me, I don't want to go."
Twenty minutes later, showered, shaved, and with a cup of bad instant coffee in my gut, I returned to Minx's room to find her dressed and ready for action.
She was wearing her jeans and a pair of hiking boots, her denim jacket with the hidden pockets in it and over her shoulder she had her camera bag.
"Looking a bit butch today Mi'lady.", I commented.
"Well what about you? ", she replied.
I was dressed in a blue jumpsuit and wearing my denim jacket as well. A pair of short boots finished my outfit, and my digital camera bulged out of one of my pockets slightly.
"I'll bet you've got your micro recorder in your vest pocket too.", she said.
"Well, the better to tape the proceedings with.", I admitted.
"Come on Spy Smasher, let's get some breakfast and listen to the people.", she said.
The local cafe was packed with people waiting for tables and chattering on about the events of the previous night. One group was arguing the probability of the objects being man made , while another was denying the very idea.
"They can't possibly be man made. No man made object moves like that.", the leader of the other group shrilled.
"What about Frisbee's?", the leader of the first group said smugly.
Further discussion was cut off by the arrival of two men in black suits, black shoes, and black sunglasses.
I looked at Minx as if to say "What's next?', when the waitress arrived to escort us to a table.
One of the Men In Black fed some coins into the jukebox and the tune he selected almost had me on the floor in hysterics as the tune they had selected was an old Sheb Wooley song.
"He was a one eyed, one horned Flying Purple People Eater.", he sang, as the rest of the cafe caught the joke and started laughing as well.
After breakfast Minx and I went back into the streets to talk to people about the "flying saucers."
Everybody had an opinion and our interview with the local Chamber of Commerce was interesting because of their honesty about the situation.
"We have to admit that the appearance of the saucers or whatever they are hasn't hurt the town's business at all.", the chairman admitted. "We don't know what they are, but we're going to take advantage of a good thing."
"An honest answer at least.", I said. "But what do you think personally?"
He looked at Minx and I, and then out the window at the crowds.
"Off the record?", he said cautiously.
"Yes.", Minx said.
"I thought the first report that was printed in the paper was a load of shit. And I still don't believe it. But something is flying around up there."
After we left the Chamber of Commerce we drove to the outskirts of town where a tent city had sprung up of true believers and hucksters. The alien fetus vendor was there displaying his wares and a revival type tent was pitched under a large tree and a signboard was posted advertising it as the traveling home of Madam Tixe, Alien Contactee, Ambassador to the people of the Earth.
A picture mounted on the board was our unconcerned observer.
"Well, isn't that interesting?", I said pointing to the picture.
Minx nodded as the mystery woman came out of the tent.
The woman's green eyes flashed in the afternoon sun and her red hair stood out against her pale skin. She wore a white robe and a bodice that gave her tits the size of melons.
"I see you have come to speak to me.", she said without preamble.
"Actually, we were just gathering material for our story on the sightings.", Minx said coolly.
"And of course you decided to interview me.", the woman said preening herself.
"Not especially. It was just a coincidence we came here.", Minx replied.
I could see Madam Tixe's lip curl slightly at the perceived insult but she recovered quickly.
"I can understand your doubts. I didn't believe either until I was taken and shown by the Vegans their plans for the people of Earth.", she said easily.
"So you claim to have been contacted by aliens. Are they the same ones who are flying the saucers that we've been watching?", I said taking out my recorder and starting it.
"Yes. They came to me as I was crossing the desert one night and told me of their plans. They are really a very generous and loving people. But they fear us.", said confidentially.
"I can understand that.", Minx said. "But I'm sure they are understanding enough to call ahead and arrange for a meeting. I mean, ET phone home and all."
Tixe smiled and looked at Minx with practiced innocence.
"You are but a child. The Vegans prefer to work by stealth, influencing from behind the scenes. They are very humanoid . Only their eyes show their true nature."
"I see. So you claim that we have Vegans living with us right now?", I asked.
"You could draw that conclusion. But I didn't say that at all. No, they prefer to use trusted humans for their work on Earth."
"And you claim to know their plans. How do we know we can trust them?", I continued.
"Do you not trust me? I have harmed no one.", she replied.
"So how long will these visitations continue?", Minx asked. "If you know their plans you should be able to tell us."
Madam Txie looked up at the late afternoon sky and then back at Minx and I.
"I will join them soon.", was all she said and walked away without a backwards glance.
I clicked the recorder off and watched her walk away.
"And that would seem to be that.", Minx said with a gesture of annoyance.
Our interview with the Sheriff was about the same as our interview with the head of the Chamber of Commerce, although with some concern about people flocking into the town.
"This is a small town and we're not really set up for this many people. And if there was any kind of emergency we'd be hard pressed to deal with it.", Sheriff Alfred Jordan explained.
"I can appreciate that.", I said. "But what do you think personally? Do you think that your town is being visited by aliens from outer space?"
He shook his head negatively.
"I think somebody is trying to convince people we are, but I'll be damned if I know why."
One of the hardest parts of a mission is the waiting. And wait we did until nightfall as the crowds gathered again to see if the visitors would reappear.
As the sun set people started looking expectantly to the southwest for any sign of the approaching "spaceships".
I stood with Minx on a low hill south of the town away from the majority of the crowds, the Eagle parked nearby, watching with binoculars as she manned her camera, this time with a telephoto lens to get any detail she could from the objects.
Further south of us we could see high tension power lines indicated by red warning lights stretching off to the left and right.
"I'm using the top of the middle tower as a gage for the size of the objects.", Minx explained as she adjusted her camera.
We waited as darkness fell and then in the midst of our preparations we heard a roar of approval from the other people who had joined us on the hill. The objects we approaching again. I flipped on my pocket recorder to see if I could capture the sounds of the objects this time and Minx started shooting, the auto winder shrilling with each frame advance.
The objects flew towards us, four of them this time, and as they flew overhead the last two slowed and stopped. One of them, the fourth one, it's lights turning from electric blue to a greenish hue, hovered a few hundred feet from the ground directly over the power line.
Suddenly the light died out leaving only a dark image against the background of the stars that hung there like a dark cloud.
From the crowd came a spattering of white flashes, camera strobes punctuating the darkness.
A sudden flash of white light came from one edge of the fourth object and people screamed as a tree behind us burst into flames and then another flash from the power line and an explosion of fire.
The lights of the town went dark leaving only the fires for illumination.
The third object, glowing electric blue , headed in the direction of its predecessors then stopped as it passed our position.
It hung there and the throbbing sound became more apparent. I felt like I was being observed carefully.
The light dimmed again and I felt rather than heard a sound that raised the hair on the back of my neck. Instinctively I knocked Minx to the ground as the white light pulsed and then flashed like a nuclear explosion.
This was getting too much like War of The Worlds for my comfort.
The object moved away and again the lights brightened as it disappeared into the distance.
"Are you all right?", I asked Minx helping her to her feet.
"All I can see is purple spots in front of my eyes.", she said blinking rapidly.
I held her in the darkness listening to the sound of sirens approaching, the red lights approaching from the road below contrasting against the darkness and the firelight from the burning trees.
Minx lay on the bed in her hotel room with a damp cloth over her eyes as we assessed the events of the previous hour.
"I have a hell of a headache, but at least the spots are going away."
" I'm sorry I knocked you down," I apologized "but I heard something and after I saw that tree catch fire I didn't want to take any chances on us being next."
"Oh I'm not complaining...much. What did you hear?"
" Have you ever listened to the strobe on your camera when it charges up? I heard the same thing but a whole lot louder. The last time I heard it that loud was at a laser demonstration at Caltech."
"So you thought we might get zapped?"
"As I said, I didn't want to take a chance. The strobe was bad enough. I've read about something like it being used for riot control. It's designed to disorient people or temporarily incapacitate a crowd".
"Useful if our ET's want to take samples...or discourage photography," Minx observed.
"That's for sure. We've at least established one thing. It's not swamp gas or a balloon flying around up there. Whatever they are, they are controlled, they can defend themselves,and they're watching us. The one that flashed us knew we were there."
"So that says they would show up on radar. Or should anyway," Minx said after a moment of reflection.
"They might not when they get this low, but if they're approaching from outer space or even from high altitude they would."
"So we check the radar records. They should show up on the San Diego radar system."
I shook my head negatively.
"We're below their horizon, but I seem to recall a radar station somewhere locally," I said reaching for my map book and thumbing through the pages."Yes, Mount Laguna. They'd see everything from here to the border and beyond."
Then you'd better get to bed," she said. I started for the bathroom and was interupted by her next sentence. "In your room tonight. You have a bit of a drive in the morning."
The next morning we pulled up to the gate of the Mount Laguna FAA radar station and rang the bell at the gate.
The intercom at the post buzzed and demanded our reason for calling.
Minx was her most charming and soon the gate opened and we parked at the base of the tower where a young man came out to meet us.
"I'm Sonny Johnson.", he said shaking hands with Minx and I. "Welcome to my little home away from home."
He escorted us up the stairs and into the main control room of the site.
"Normally I wouldn't let you people up here, but I'm a bit bored and as you're members of the press, it won't hurt to get a little publicity.", he said as we sat down.
"What is you do exactly?", Minx asked.
Sonny went into some detail explaining the function of the station and after he finished Minx shook her head in suitable impressed wonder.
"I guess in some ways it's like being Zeus on Mount Olympus. Seeing everything from on high.", she gushed.
"We do see a lot of odd things up here. Sometimes we even see UFO's.", Sonny confessed.
"Hold on there.", I said, grateful that he had opened the door to the question. "You mean you can track flying saucers?"
He laughed at my ignorance.
"UFO means unidentified flying object. That can be anything in the air that doesn't have a flight plan or a transponder. Not necessarily little green men."
"Do you keep records of all that?", I asked. Come on, take the bait , I thought.
"We keep records of everything.", he bragged and walked towards a computer terminal. He pressed a few keys and an hourly list appeared.
"I can replay all the air traffic in the area right here. Sometimes when a plane goes down I have to reconstruct the flight path."
He punched in for a replay of the previous hour's traffic and Minx and I watched as the display showed moving blips at varying speeds across the screen. A menu on the side of the display with a light pen allowed for selecting playback speed, editing, selecting a specific target, and a few other tasks.
I looked at Minx and nodded.
"Can you show us the tracks of the UFO's from the last week or so?", I asked.
"Sure. Is that what this is all about?", Sonny replied.
Minx nodded slowly and turned to Sonny.
"Sure, let me show you.", he said cheerfully.
He punched in the time sequences of two nights before and watched the traffic flow across the screen, a mixture of colored blips.
"Too much data. I'll take out the targets with transponders.", he said and instructed the system to remove the traffic with transponders that show position.
The system displayed far fewer targets.
Another command eliminated aircraft that had filed flight plans.
That left only four blips on the display, one larger than the others and separated by some distance, all of them dim and fuzzy.
I pulled out my camera as he started the display, clicking off shots of the images as they moved across the screen.
"That's from two nights ago.", Sonny said. "Now we'll look at last night ."
This time there were five tracks for awhile and then only three and a fuzzy fourth track.
"That's the night of the blackout.", I said to Minx.
"One of the tracks disappeared.", she observed.
"Warped out? Beamed up? Crashed?", I suggested.
She sneered at my lame jokes.
"Welcome to Roswell.", she said.
"Is there any way to track this fuzzy one specifically.", I asked , pointing to the fourth track.
"Sure. Let me tag it.", Sonny said and touched it with the light pen.
The fuzzy blip became UNK-1 on the display.
The computer replay of the first night showed the target coming slowly from the Mexican border, disappearing for a short time, and then reappearing only to disappear again as it headed slowly northeast.
The pattern was repeated the second night as well, but the target appeared in a completly different place and disappeared in a different place as well.
Bingo.
"Hey! What are you doing?", I heard a man say.
I looked up from the viewfinder to see another technician walking towards me.
I stood up, put the camera away, and offered my hand.
"I'm a reporter." , I said.
"What have you got displayed there?", he asked pushing me aside.
"Just looking at the replay of traffic. Damned interesting system.", I said. "Haven't seen anything like this before."
He restarted the display and I saw the blips start from near the line that marked the Mexican border and then disappeared just over the US border.
The tech looked at me and shook his head.
"Another nut case tracking flying saucers.", he said restoring the display to normal.
Sonny grinned.
"Let me introduce you to my iracable partner Vladimir Mishkin. He's the perfect man for this sort of work as he has all the social graces of a rock and an eye like an eagle", he said
"Damn it Sonny, the last thing we need is a story about flying saucers. Something like 'Government tracks UFO's - Denies everything.' ", Vlad complained.
"There isn't anything classified about it. Since Blue Book, nobody even cares any more.", Sonny argued.
"Blue Book?", Minx prompted.
"Project Blue Book was an Air Force project for studying UFO's. It's purpose wasn't to explain them but to determine if they were a threat to the United States. After they gathered all the data, the answer was no. There might be something up there, but it wasn't a threat to the country.", Sonny explained.
"You know quite a bit about it.", I commented.
Sonny grinned sheepishly.
"Well, I followed UFO reports for years. You have a lot of time on your hands up here and you see a lot of strange stuff. I guess you two are covering the flap down on the border?"
"Our editor wants the real story on them. If you see them on radar, then there is something there anyway."
"Just don't quote either of us, OK?", Vlad said sourly.
"Forgive my partner please. He worries too much. I hope you gathered enough material for your story.", Sonny apologized.
"We certainly did. And trust us, we won't be printing anything like what he thinks. Our editor would just throw it away.", Minx said in reassurance.
Minx and I discussed the next move as we drove out of the gate.
"I was hoping that they would have a radar track of the objects. From this the start and end points could be determined. I can't do it myself though. I need the help of a cartographer.", I admitted.
She thought for a minute and then told me to stop the car.
I did and she pointed at a sign.
"There's an observatory up there. Would a stellar cartographer do as well?", she asked.
I looked at her with passionate amazement.
"Goddess I love you! One small step for man, one giant leap for Homo Erecto!", I replied.
A few minutes later we were talking with Dr. Melissa Alcott.
She frowned disagreeably as we told her the truth, or at least all the truth we could about our visit.
"So you want to plot the end points of the UFO's. I don't approve, but I suppose I can have one of the grad students help you.", she said.
She waved for one of the people working nearby to come over.
"John, take the information these people give you and plot it for them.", she instructed.
"Yes Doctor.", he said and led us towards a computer.
We linked the camera to the workstation and downloaded the images and explained what we needed.
"I can do that.", he said "It will take me about ten minutes or so. Did you want a ground plot as well?"
"Sure, if you can do that."
"No sweat. We have a map database on line here. We plot meteorite impact locations here as well, and this is pretty much the same thing."
We wandered around the lab for the amount of time John had requested and then came back to his workstation where he was waiting with a printout and a map.
"Here you go. All plotted and mapped. It looks like one track started near Tecate and ended near Campo.", John said pointing at the map.
"And the others?", I asked.
"They seemed to go a bit further east. Maybe thirty or forty miles."
"Can you tell me speed and altitude from the tracks?", I asked.
"Oh sure. They were traveling about a hundred knots and about three thousand feet up at the peak of the arc.", he said.
"And the odd track?" , Minx continued.
"That one moved at about half that speed."
"What about last night's data?", Minx asked.
"Now that's a little different. One of the objects appeared at a much lower altitude and disappeared farther away than the first time. What am I looking at anyway?", he finally asked.
Minx looked at him and smiled sweetly.
"Swamp gas."
"So," Minx said as we drove down the mountain, "there is something there that shows up on radar that we've seen and then something we haven't seen as well. Something larger."
"The mother ship.", I said.
"Mother ship?", Minx questioned.
"One of the standard patterns of UFO reports is small ships carried by a larger ship, usually referred to as the mother ship. Sort of like an aircraft carrier.", I explained.
"I see. So the little ones fly out of the big one."
We drove down the mountain silently, each involved with our own thoughts. I thought about the radar plots and the map.
One track disappeared. I thought about the blackout. I'd read of UFO causing blackouts before, in fact ,one writer blamed the 1965 New York blackout on a UFO sighting near Niagara Falls.
I'd read of one report where a UFO flew along power lines and reset circuit breakers in a power plant.
"Do you mind if we go look at the power lines?", I asked.
" What are you thinking?", Minx replied looking out the window.
"The blackout. What if the unknown did crash or tamper with the power lines? There might be a clue there."
"We can look."
A few minutes later we were standing under the spot where we saw the saucer over the power line.
"Nothing, no plastics, no metal, nothing.", Minx said after a careful look around.
Heavy truck tracks covered the area and had churned up the soft soil, but if they were from the power company making repairs or the aliens, I couldn't tell.
I walked in everwidening circles around the spot, keeping my eyes to the ground. Even if they had cleaned up the wreckage there should be something here. Something small they might have missed.
A gray shape half buried caught my eye and I stooped to pick it up.
"I've got something.", I called.
She came over and examined the piece.
"What is it?"
"Piece of ribbon cable", I explained.
"So we may not be dealing with aliens at all.", Minx said.
"Unless they are using parts from Radio Shack to fix their warp drive, probably not."
"Madam Txie did say that Vegans were living here on Earth. That might not be impossible.", Minx reminded me.
"Devil's advocate?", I grinned." OK, I'll keep an open mind until I have other evidence to prove one way or the other."
After a late lunch we went back to the encampment where Madam Txie was holding court, surrounded by people anxious to hear more of her predictions.
"You saw their power last night.", she lectured to the crowd. "They could easily destroy us, but that is not their purpose. It serves as a warning for people not to meddle in their affairs.", she said looking directly at us as we stood at the back of the group.
"I'd call that a thinly veiled threat, wouldn't you?", I muttered to Minx.
"Not that thin. And a bit clumsy for aliens. You'd think they'd be secure enough to ignore us.", Minx replied.
"So, they blew up a tree.", A man wearing a plaid shirt called from the far side of the crowd. "Special effects people do that all the time. How do we know they aren't fakes?"
She looked on him with a superior smile.
"Tonight you will see proof of their powers.", she said.
I looked at Minx and nodded away from the crowd.
"Did you get the impression that the gentleman set up that answer.", I said.
"And damned well too. Perhaps we should introduce ourselves.", she said lightly.
We walked around the crowd and intercepted the man as he walked away.
"Excuse me sir, can we talk to you for a minute?", Minx asked.
He stopped and smiled at her.
"Of course. You must be Miss Dawes and you must be Mr. Forbin.", he said warmly.
"Have we met?", I asked offering my hand.
He took it and shook it firmly. He was slightly portly and had a friendly face. His whole attitude was one of permanent amusement about the world but there was something about his eyes though that I couldn't place.
"Not exactly. I've seen you around town and I heard you introducing yourselves to some of the vendors."
"Then you have us at a disadvantage.", Minx said.
"Oh , I'm sorry. I'm Richard Kimball.", he said with a slight bow in her direction.
"What brings you to Campo?", I asked as he released my hand.
"Same thing as you. The Visitors.", he said with a small smile.
"I got the impression you didn't believe in them.", Minx said as we all walked back towards the parking lot.
"Oh, I like to play with people's heads.", he said. " I believe in life in outer space, I'm just not sure that I believe in Madam Txie's Vegans."
"Sensible enough.", I agreed. "And what kind of work do you do?"
"I'm a social scientist. I've been studying human reactions to things like UFO's for some years now."
"You make it sound like you're less than human yourself the way you say that.", Minx commented as we stopped next to a car.
"Miss Dawes, after living with them for this long, I do a remarkable imitation of a human. Good afternoon, both of you.", he said, got in the car and drove away.
I looked at Minx and shrugged.
"Why is it we seem to find all the nuts?", I asked helplessly.
While we waited for the show that evening, we processed the films from the night before. Minx had managed to get a picture just as the object had flashed, so we had a before, during and after image of the light.
"Looks like a fairly small object.", I said looking at the prints.
"Big flash for a small object.", Minx said.
"It might have been a group of strobes designed to fire off as one, or triggered to in this case. Flash one or two to communicate and then use all of them if necessary for defense. And if a laser was responsible for the tree fire, they don't have to take up a lot of room", I suggested.
Minx yawned and stretched out on the bed and kicked off her shoes.
"I'm going to take a nap. Why don't you get a short one yourself?", she suggested.
"I'll wake you up in an hour or so, unless something happens before then.", I said walking to the door.
"Not tired?", she asked.
"A little. I need time to think more than anything else. If someone is faking these sightings, the question of why still needs to be answered.", I said and went back to my room to meditate.
I must have fallen asleep because the sky was dark when I awoke to shouts from outside. When I looked out I saw people pointing towards the sky in the direction the saucers usually came from.
Minx met me in front of her room armed with her camera and we moved to the main street.
As we watched one object moved slowly over the main street in town and hovered about five hundred feet over the small patch of dirt that was supposed to be a flower bed in front of the library. Two more of the objects moved slowly into position near the first one forming a triangle in the air of blue glowing light.
"Holy shit!", I said as Minx took more pictures of the sight.
Down the street we could see Madam Txie walking towards the center of the triangle formed by the lights on the ground.
She looked up into the lights and raised a hand in greeting.
There was a tremendous flash from the objects and when my vision cleared, Madam Txie was nowhere to be seen.
People screamed and ran as a smoke rose from the ground where only a moment ago a woman had been standing.
The objects dispersed in three different directions and disappeared into the night sky.
"What in the hell happened?", Minx asked as we ran towards the scene in defiance of all logic.
"Either one hell of a special effect or we just watched someone get incinerated by aliens from outer space.", I said panting as we ran.
She started taking pictures of the scene as soon as we got close and before the sheriff arrived to close off the scene from onlookers, the ones that hadn't run like hell that is.
A neat circle had been scorched into the ground and there was no sign of anything else, no ashes, bones, or any sign a human had ever been there.
Minx shot a few more pictures and then was stopped as the sheriff arrived and pushed us all away while his deputy taped off the scene.
"I want someone posted here until the FBI arrives. Enough is enough.", Sheriff Jordan ordered his men. "And you, I want that film.", he said to Minx.
I expected an argument, but she just rewound the film and removed it from the camera. As she started to hand it to him however it slipped from her fingers and fell to the ground. She quickly picked it up and handed it to him, who put it in his pocket.
Minx reached for my hand as he turned away and I felt her slip something cylindrical into it. I slid it into my pocket and faced Sheriff Jordan.
"You can't do that! We have a right to those pictures.", I said.
He looked at me and thought carefully before he answered, knowing he was restrained in his choice of words by the presence of a lady.
"I'll return the film after the FBI has examined it. If there is any evidence of a crime, I'm sworn to protect it.", he grated through his teeth.
"We understand.", Minx said, pulling me away from the group.
We walked slowly back to the inn and after carefully locking Minx's door, removed the roll of film from my pocket.
"You missed your calling.", I said handing her the film.
"I always did enjoy my spycraft classes.", she said going into the darkroom to process the film.
It didn't show all that much we hadn't seen before and the pictures of the spot where Madam Txie had stood didn't show much more than we had seen ourselves.
"Well that was almost a fruitless effort.", I said as Minx handed me the last of the prints.
"Start looking at the background of the shots. Maybe we can spot someone or something."
Half an hour later I gave up, my eyes smarting from the effort to using the magnifier.
"I can't find anything this way at all. I need to scan and enhance the negatives with a graphics workstation.", I complained.
She looked up at me and nodded in agreement.
"An imager would really help, I agree. But we'll have to work fast because when the FBI processes the film the sheriff gives them, they'll be paying us a visit."
"What was on that roll by the way?", I asked taking a sip of coffee.
"The pictures of your birthday session.", she said calmly.
After I wiped the coffee off the prints, we gathered the entire lot of film, prints, negatives and disks from the digital camera into my briefcase and went down to the Eagle for the drive into San Diego.
Minx and I had agreed after a few minutes of discussion that the nearest location that would have the equipment we wanted would be at UCSD.
The University of California at San Diego looks over the Pacific Ocean in a town named La Jollia. La Jollia is also the home on the Scripps Institute of Oceanography and the Salk Institute for Biological Research.
It was sunrise when we drove up to the campus and parked in front of the Engineering building. A few students were wandering around at that ungodly hour, most of them looking like they'd slept in their clothes.
Having been one of them, I knew for sure that some of them had.
Gaining access to the equipment wasn't a problem at all at that hour and Minx set it up with practiced hands.
Once the negatives were fed into the system, we started a frame by frame examination of all the footage and discovered for the first time that our little flying friends had legs.
"Interesting.", Minx commented and reduced the brightness of the central part of the image, dimming it down until we could see an approximate shape.
It looked like an hourglass with legs.
"That makes it an unusual kind of UFO. I've never seen one that looked like that in any of the books I've read.", I said.
"OK, at least we know the general shape of the object.", Minx said.
"Now if we can fit an object to the design, we'll be halfway there.", I replied.
I thought about her question carefully. It hovered. It moved both horizontally and vertically at high speeds and low. It wasn't completly silent. And it had legs.
"I can't think of anything right now.", I admitted.
"Let's go for a walk. Maybe something will pop into your head.", Minx comforted.
We saved our work onto a disk and packed everything back up again and walked into the early morning light. A quick stop at a coffee stand that was set up next to one of the labs and then we walked down the long hill to Scripps Institute and out to the end of the pier overlooking the ocean.
I watched the seagulls circle the end of the pier as I sipped the coffee and Minx stood next to me saying nothing, just enjoying the view as the morning mist slowly dissolved in the sunlight.
"You love the sea don't you.", Minx said looking at my expression.
"Yes, I do. It never changes, but is never the same. Denise and I used to live on the beach and walked down it every night for miles and then walked home again. No worries, no hurry, just the sound of the waves on the beach and feeling her hand in mine.", I sighed.
"Feeling your age this morning my slave?", she said kindly.
"Feeling my experiences. I just wish sometimes that things had turned out a bit differently.", I replied.
"If they had my pet, I would never have known you.", Minx replied taking my hand.
"Or had the heartaches, headaches, and pains in the ass either.", I replied.
"You were not my first slave Michael Charles Forbin. I knew what I was getting into when I took you for my own. I do love you and you have been more than I expected in many ways."
"Have I given you pleasure Mistress?", I asked looking into her eyes.
"Yes Michael. And you will continue to do so in the future.", she said kissing me on the cheek.
As we drove back to Campo armed with a set of copied USGS maps and a rented GPS receiver, we decided that the next step was to look at the theoretical start and end points of the flights.
As expected the FBI was in full force as we drove into town with a team of people taking samples from the trees and soil, and interviewing all of the witnesses that they could round up and a short note pinned to Minx's door requested our presence at the Sheriff's office as soon as possible.
"I guess he noticed that he's got the wrong films.", Minx said.
"I guess. Do you suppose we have time for a nap first? We've been up all night.", I complained.
"I don't suppose we should. As soon as we finish we can come back and get some sleep.", she comforted.
We walked to Sheriff Jordan's office carrying the films and a set of duplicate prints, and wearing appropriately embarrassed expressions of regret for our deception.
He wasn't impressed and neither was Agent Frances Belson of the FBI who was waiting for us.
"I believe these are yours.", she said handing Minx a packet of pictures.
"Thank you.", she said, and motioned for me to hand Agent Belson the prints and negatives.
"I suppose you've already looked at these films.", Agent Belson said.
"Of course. The people do have a right to know.", I said evenly.
"The people also have a right not to be panicked by irresponsible journalism.", the Sheriff said coldly.
"Sheriff, wait until Hard Copy gets here. Trust me, we're pussycats by comparison."
Agent Belson's expression got even harder at that comment.
"Mr. Forbin, do you know the penalty for interfering with a federal investigation?", she said harshly.
I looked at Minx for guidance and her expression was one of indulgent amusement.
"Go ahead, make her day.", she seemed to say.
"I'm sure you're going to tell me. But I would haste to point out that you didn't have jurisdiction at the time. Now if the Sheriff would like to charge me with obstruction of justice, that would probably stand up. At least until it hit the courtroom. So, do your worst. If you'd like to lock me up, I'd appreciate it at this point. I need a nap.", I replied tartly.
"Is that your opinion as well Miss Dawes?"
"I'd rather not spend time in jail, but if that's what it takes to make you happy, feel free.", she invited.
They're not making Feds like they used to because a few minutes later Minx and I were ensconced in a small cell in the back of the building.
"Well there's another fine mess you got me into.", Minx said only half joking.
"I'm sorry Ollie.", I said scratching my head like Stan Laurel. "We could always tell them we know where the objects are coming from."
"Until we determine who is responsible, that is not an option. The Mother of Many wants this whole thing kept under wraps."
"She doesn't seriously think that we're dealing with ET's does she?", I said.
"I don't know what she thinks personally. But as I told you before we came, she does think that someone may be using the first report to cover up something else."
"So how long before we get bailed out?", I asked.
She shrugged.
"I called the Publisher, and she passed it on to the legal department at the paper. So, hopefully we'll be out in a couple of hours. I noticed you made a call too."
"Well I didn't want to waste my right to one phone call.", I said.
"So, who did you call?"
At that point one of the deputies stuck his head into the holding area.
"Which one of you called Dominos?", he said unhappily.
Minx just looked at me and rolled her eyes
A long nap and a ground beef, cheeseless pizza ( I'm allergic to cheese) later, we were bailed out by a lawyer from the paper who handed Minx an envelope and suggested to me that I curb my sense of humor for the time being.
"Is that anything like curbing a dog?", I asked innocently.
"How do you work with this guy?", the lawyer asked.
"Very well actually. Although frankly, he's supposed to be the straight man.", Minx retorted.
The envelope contained a long message from the Mother of Many that boiled down to "Stop fooling around and find the source of the sightings. "
"Well at least we have some idea where to start looking.", I said.
"Did you want to start at this end or the far end?", Minx asked as we studied the maps of the area.
"Let's do as the King advised Alice. Begin at the beginning and go on until the end. Then stop.", I said looking at the coordinates that we'd gotten from the observatory.
"It's two o' clock, so we don't have a lot of time left before sunset.", she observed.
"All we need to do is gas up the Eagle and then follow the GPS readings until we get to the location.", I said .
"You make it sound so simple.", she said.
"It is."
About three hours later as the sun set , I wasn't so sure.
Even with the help of the GPS and the maps we were still a fair distance from the first plotted location of the sightings. The trail had led us from Campo to Tecate and back stopping finally at a dilapidated collection of wooden shacks that claimed to be Dogpatch.
"Do you suppose the Schmoos are flying the saucers?", I asked with a grin.
"What's a Schmoo?", Minx asked.
I just stared at her for a moment in amazement, then remembered that there was a little age difference between us and she'd probably never read Lil' Abner.
"I'll show you later.", I said making a mental note to dig through my archive of cartoons.
I switched to four wheel drive and turned down a dirt road that finally led to a set of railroad tracks that was almost on a direct heading for the coordinates on the map.
"Now what?", I asked.
"Follow the tracks, Max.", Minx replied.
I hesitated to follow that order. The Eagle is pretty tough, but an oncoming train is a hell of a lot bigger than it.
"And what exactly do I do if a train comes and wants to pass?", I asked.
"According to the map, the line is not in use.", Minx said reading the map legend.
"You'd better be right about this.", I said and turned onto the tracks, the left side of the car straddling the rail.
C.W. McCall once sung about a sign he saw posted at the entrance to the Black Bear Road. It said, "You don't have to be crazy to drive this road, but it helps."
It fit this situation perfectly.
As we bumped and shuddered and jostled and about went through the overhead from the motion, I understood exactly what he was singing about. I couldn't make much speed against the roadbed and only the weight of the car and four-wheel drive kept us moving forward towards the coordinates.
I was actually happy when we rounded one turn and I saw a bridge ahead of us and a tunnel ,simply because the wooden planking would be much easier on the suspension and on my ass.
"We're almost at the coordinates.", Minx said as we rolled onto the bridge.
"Good. And so far, no choo choo trains to spoil my day.", I said stopping the car.
I rolled slowly across the bridge then stopped as I saw a light starting to glow through the tunnel opening.
"I think our luck is running out.", I said and started backing up as quickly as I could back to a dirt crossing where I could swing off the tracks.
The light grew in intensity and as we stopped the first of three brightly lit objects sped out of the tunnel and into the sky with a roar in the direction of Campo leaving nothing behind but blowing dust and a couple of squirrels running in fright, not to mention two rather startled human beings.
"Talk about a light at the end of the tunnel!", I exclaimed.
I pulled back onto the tracks and through the tunnel going about 20 miles an hour and I saw a sign in English and Spanish as we bounced off the tracks stating that we had crossed the international boundary.
"We just crossed the border.", Minx noted as we bumped onto a dirt road.
I flipped the headlights on and followed a trail of dust in the headlights and caught a glimpse of a set of tail lights.
"Do Martians drive trucks?", I asked as the Eagle juddered through a set of ruts in the road.
"I thought they drove VW's ", Minx replied bracing herself against the dash.
The road dipped into a riverbed and the truck ahead of us plowed through the water, spraying it high to each side, the tail lights flickering out and then one of them flickering back on.
"Hang on!", I said and floored it.
"Michael!!", Minx warned.
The Eagle headed into the water, got about three quarters of the way across and then slowed to a crawl and tried to stall.
"Come on baby.", I begged as water seeped in around the door frame.
The Eagle sputtered its way out of the water and shook like a dog throwing off a bath as I punched the gas and climbed the riverbank. We continued down the road and finally reached a paved highway without catching sight of the truck again.
"Which way?", I asked.
" Try to the left.".
I unlocked the four wheel drive and turned onto the paved road hopefully in the right direction.
Ten minutes of driving later we pulled over and stopped.
"Okay, so maybe right was a better choice.", she admitted putting her head down on the dashboard in disgust.
I turned around and after a half an hour we arrived in the town of San Pablo on the Mexican side of the border and parked at a gas station.
"Sorry I lost them.", I said shutting off the engine with a sigh.
Minx leaned back in her seat and stared at the roof.
Damn. Fucked up again.
She sat up and looked at me, then patted me on the head.
"Don't sigh. You did what you thought was right. ", she comforted." I told you to turn left, so it's just as much my fault."
I looked around at the small town and closed my eyes as well.
"What's wrong?", she asked.
"I'm inspecting my eyelids for leaks." , I said finally.
I opened them again and started the car up and drove slowly through the town until we reached the main highway again and then drove back to Tecate on the Mexican side of the border.
While we waited at the border check I noticed a large mud splattered flatbed truck in the rear view mirror.
"Mistress, check six.", I suggested.
She turned and looked back at the truck behind us and then at me.
"Looks right, but I can't tell in this light.", she said.
We pulled up to the border check point and the inspector pointed his flashlight into the car.
"Nationality?", he asked.
"American.", I replied.
The inspector waved us through and we parked on the roadside to wait for the truck to pass us. As the truck pulled through the check point and passed us, I pulled out behind it and Minx quickly took note of the license plate number.
We followed the truck as it traveled through Dogpatch and Campo and then turned onto the interstate heading towards El Centro.
It was easier to follow the truck on the interstate even at that late hour as I let a few cars get between us and the suspect, and as we drove Minx kept an eye on the GPS system.
"If that truck does have anything to do with the objects, we can use the GPS to track the location. If it matches the map coordinates, we've got them.", she said.
"I just hope this doesn't go on too long.", I said looking at the gas gage nervously as it approached the quarter tank mark.
"Unless he's got a much larger tank than we do, or he's more fuel efficient, he's going to have to stop too.", she replied.
She was right as usual as I watched the truck signal for a lane change and then another to get in line for an off ramp, and turn into a truck stop.
We pulled into a pump island where we could watch him and I filled the tank while Minx kept an eye on the driver, a tall thin man with glasses who looked more like a computer nerd than a trucker.
After he filled his tank, he drove into the restaurant parking lot across from the gas station and went inside.
"Dinner?", I suggested.
"Dinner.", Minx replied.
Before we went into the restaurant Minx and I took a closer look at the flatbed truck.
There was a gas tank mounted on the truck bed and a set of heavy chain tie downs, and the mud on the truck was still wet in places. On the side was a sign warning the unit was not for hire.
"It's rigged as a tow truck, but the chains look like a bondage rig for Godzillia.", I commented.
Minx climbed up on the running board and peeked into the cab.
"Nothing special that I can see, a cell phone, a CB radio, police scanner. Pretty normal for a tow truck.", she said jumping down.
"Then let's get some dinner and keep following the guy.", I said leading the way.
We seated ourselves near the door where we could keep an eye on our target who was enjoying an order of steak and eggs.
The waitress came up and I ordered the same as the driver while Minx ordered a salad.
"You know, I think I get the better end of this deal.", I said as I cut into my steak.
"Of what?", Minx asked, a forkful of greens halfway to her mouth.
"Well, at least the greens I'm eating have been processed by the cow."
"And you've always had abysmal eating habits.", she retorted.
"Once it walked along with you, now it walks inside of you, everything is food, everything is food.", I sang softly.
The truck driver stood up and walked towards the rest room, and I watched him enter, then looked back at Minx.
"I think I need to use the waste management facility.", I said, rising.
"Don't fall in."
The driver was just washing his hands as I entered and I nodded to him politely as I took the sink next to him.
"Long drive tonight?", I asked lathering my hands.
"A little.", he replied noncommittally.
"Yeah. Did you know you've got a tail light out?", I said rinsing.
"No I didn't, thanks.", he said and walked out.
I waited a minute, vented my own bladder, and then returned to the table where Minx was talking with our waitress.
"Anita was just telling me that someone saw a flying saucer out here too.", Minx said as I sat down again.
"Really?", I asked keeping an eye on the driver who had resumed his seat and was now reading a newspaper.
"Yes, I saw one a few nights ago.", the girl explained.
"What did it look like?", I asked.
"I just saw a couple of little blue lights is all. I was in the military, so I know a little about airplanes, and these weren't airplanes."
"Which were they going?"
"Sort of towards the northeast.", Anita said standing up and walking back to the counter. "Sorry, I have to go back to work now. It was nice chatting with you."
The driver of the truck looked at his watch, finished his newspaper and his coffee and walked to the register to pay his bill. Minx nodded to me and walked outside, leaving me to pay for dinner.
I caught up with her at the car and we sat inside it waiting for the truck to pull out. The driver just stood by the truck, looking into the sky and then looking at his watch as if waiting for something.
I looked up as well and saw a large gray shape moving across the sky slowly towards the northeast trailed by three small blue lights.
"Do you see...", I started to say and was cut off by Minx's gasp.
"Goddess..", she breathed.
The driver looked down, checked his watch and climbed in the truck.
"Don't let him get away.", Minx ordered, regaining her composure.
I started the Eagle and waited for him to pull out.
When he did he passed under the interstate and turned onto the road back towards Campo.
"I think he's suspicious of us.", I said.
"Don't follow then. Keep heading towards El Centro and then pull off on a side road. We can wait there for him.", she advised.
So I did as she told me and we drove towards El Centro, Minx keeping a wary eye on the sky for the new arrival and the other on the GPS unit.
A roadside rest stop provided the perfect location to wait for the truck to pass our position if it was going to, and we settled down to wait.
We didn't have to wait very long before I spotted his tail light and continued the slow pursuit of the target.
The truck finally left the freeway and started into the forest that lined the road on both sides. I turned off my headlights and sped up so that he would think that we had turned off and then when the lights came on, we were a different car so far as the truck was concerned.
As I turned one curve I slammed on the brakes sending the car skidding.
"What's wrong?", she said as we stopped.
I looked at the scene in the headlights ahead.
A large gray object sat near the road, almost obscured by trees and in the headlights I could see shapes moving to and from it. Minx braced the camera against the dashboard and started clicking off shots panning slowly from left to right.
"I think I just found the mother ship.", I said.
As we watched one of the figures started towards us an object in his, her's, it's hand.
"Jesus!", I said and threw the Eagle into reverse, hitting the gas.
The Eagle surged backwards and then the engine stalled leaving us without power steering or brakes as the rear wheels went into the ditch at the side of the road leaving us trapped.
The figure got closer and I locked the doors and tried to start the engine again. The Eagle choked as the carb fought the flooding. I put her into four wheel drive and tried again. This time she fired and I hit the gas.
We popped out of the ditch as the figure came into clear view.
It was about five foot seven and was dressed in dark gray. The face was humanoid, but the hand that reached towards us had gray skin.
The gun it held was all too human in appearance, and it gestured for us to get out of the car.
"There is an alien with a gun pointed at us Mistress.", I said softly.
" I can see that. Get us out of here!", she said.
I hit the gas and the figure jumped aside as I drove past him and towards the mothership. I hoped my rapid movement would be enough to escape but as I passed the ship I felt a tire blow and we skidded into the side of a hill a short distance away.
I opened the locks and pushed Minx out of the car.
"Get into the woods and hide.", I said following her.
The large gray object rose slowly into the air and started moving southwest slowly, no lights marking it's passage, just the silhouette against the starlight, and the muffled hum of a motor.
We laid there in the woods watching for any signs of pursuit, our hearts beating like trapped animals. I could hear rustling in the trees of the wind and the occasional sound of an owl calling into the night.
"I think we're alone now. There doesn't seem to be anyone around.", I murmured.
"Stay down.", she hissed.
A long time passed before she felt we could move safely towards the Eagle again.
We made our way carefully to the car and I examined the rear tire using the flashlight from the glove compartment.
The tire had been shredded, either from the friction of spinning out of the ditch at full throttle or by something else.
"I'll get the tire changed. You keep an eye out for any naughty bug eyed monsters.", I said trying to put a light face on the incident.
As I worked on the Eagle, a car approached from behind us.
The car slowed and a pair of red lights flickered on as it stopped and in the reflected headlights I could see the car was black and white.
Two men stepped out in the uniform of the Highway Patrol.
"Give you a hand here?", One of them said walking towards where I was standing. The other remained shielded by the door of the car.
"Blew a tire. Just need to get it changed.", I said.
He looked at the tire and then at Minx.
"I'm sorry sir, but I'm afraid I'll have to ask you and your friend here to come with us.", he said flashing the light into my eyes.
"What for?", I said startled.
"I think you and your young lady are under the influence of a controlled substance.", he said putting the light back into his belt.
"What!", I almost screamed.
"Sir, you can come along quietly, or I can cuff you. Your choice.", he said taking the cuffs out.
"Michael, don't argue with him. We can get this unscrambled when we get back to town.", Minx said tiredly.
"OK, fine. But I expect an apology when this is over.", I grumbled walking towards the patrol car . The second officer opened the door and closed it behind us as we got in and then resumed his seat.
The officer who spoke to us got in and then looked back at us with a small smile.
"We're really very sorry we have to do this.", he said.
I looked at his face and then I saw his eyes were strangely colored and had very large dark pupils.
"Oh shit.", I whispered before blackness engulfed me.