It's no wonder nobody likes to go down here, Ming thought as she began walking down the main corridor. Mr. Xi had told her the office supply room would be unmanned due to a shortage of staff, and she was to go ahead and get a replacement keyboard by herself.

  She stopped beside a door marked SUPPLIES and tried the knob. It was unlocked. Stepping into the deserted area, she was somewhat taken aback by how huge the room was. From the walls to the ceiling it stretched up as high as five meters, with what looked like endless rows of metal shelves containing boxes with numerous unassembled furniture, fixtures and miscellaneous supplies contained therein.

  An unmanned desk stood in the middle area leading out to numerous rows of shelves. A number of rolling ladders had been left along the open pathways so that people could climb up to reach any of the taller shelves.

  Ming walked up to the desk and signed into the log-in sheet attached to a clipboard. Once she had finished, she walked up to the end of the shelves and stared at the labeling. Moving parallel until she got to the office supplies section, Ming noticed a set of double doors marked SECURE AREA—AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY. The push lock had a card scanner beside it.

  I'll need to find out what's on the other side, but not now, she thought. I'll just get what I need and then go.

  Moving down one of the lanes, she stopped and peered into one of the containers. A stack of brand new keyboards, still in their boxes, were inside. Reaching in, she took the top box and opened it, making sure that the cabling would be compatible with her workstation.

  As she held the cardboard box in front of her, Ming heard the slamming of the security doors. Reacting quickly, she ducked behind one of the unused rolling ladders and crouched down, blending in with the shadows.

  A pair of uniformed security guards held a young man in between them. With her sharp eyes, Ming quickly recognized their prisoner. That's Biao, he used to work with us in accounting on my first day here, but then I never saw him again until now.

  Even though his hands were bound, Biao was struggling as the two security guards dragged him along the floor. After a few meters, the young man tilted his head up and started convulsing.

  The first security guard looked at his colleague. "We shouldn't have brought him through here! Someone might come down and see this."

  "The other elevators were full and everybody's leaving for the day," the second guard said as he held up Biao, trying not to let him fall to the ground. "The loading dock is just down the corridor. Come on, let's get him over there."

  Biao started screaming, his body contorting in spasms. "Help me! It's inside of me! I... I... can't think!"

  Ming's fingers nervously curled around the guard rails of the rolling ladder, unable to believe what she was seeing.

  The first guard cursed aloud as he tried to keep the prisoner on his feet. "Stop struggling, it will only make the pain worse, you fool! Don't resist it."

  "I... can't hold him," the second guard said. "He's too strong!"

  Both men tried their best, but Biao somehow slipped away from their fingers. Ming's former work colleague fell onto the floor and he began to make choking noises, his mouth agape.

  The first guard threw his hands up while glancing at his partner. "What do we do now?"

  "He's rejected it," the second guard said, shaking his head. "We'll just have to wait."

  Biao was on his stomach and it looked like his eyes were about to pop out. He started flopping around like a fish out of water, right before he began to cough up blood.

  Ming stifled a scream, placing her hands over her mouth. What is happening to him?

  Biao uttered a single, muffled shriek that echoed along the entire room before his eyes rolled up and blood seeped from his eyelids and nostrils. The young man's body twitched a second time, and finally went still.

  Ming could only look on in silent terror as a half meter long wormlike creature slithered out of the dead man's mouth. The being had a transparent body, with rows of sharp spikes used for locomotion as it crawled ahead, droplets of blood giving its glassy body a crimson reflection.

  The first guard crouched down while taking a large test tube out from his belt and placed it on the floor. The spiked worm seemed to compress into itself before crawling into the container, then the guard picked it up again and stored the tube inside one of the pockets lining his waist.

  The second guard shrugged as he began to walk back from the still open double doors. "Let's go."

  "What about the body?" the other guard asked.

  "We'll just call in one of the outer perimeter teams to take care of it. Come on, we've got to file a report on this."

  The moment both men went past the doorway and slammed it shut, Ming grabbed hold of the sides of the surrounding shelves, nearly collapsing as she began to retch out what was left of her partially digested lunch.

  33 Utah

  INGRID AWOKE WITH A smile. Never in her wildest dreams had she ever expected to be reunited with her mentor, Professor Andreas Bergweiler, and she was overjoyed when the cleanup crews had brought the once missing scientist over to Granite Peak Base for recovery and debriefing.

  After a quick shower, she ran to the cafeteria and grabbed a croissant and a cup of coffee, consuming her breakfast as she passed through the secure lower areas of the base. For the first time in almost a year she felt at peace with the world, and the constant fatigue she always felt after a long day in the labs was nonexistent.

  Walking into the main research laboratory, she was somewhat surprised to see the professor chatting with Chief Engineer Max Niemi as the two men stood hunched over a metal table.

  Andreas was the first to notice her coming into the room. "Ingrid, this is early for you."

  She giggled while walking up and giving him a hug. "Have you two been here all night?"

  Andreas smiled. "I've been asleep in some strange artificial womb for months, so I figured it would be best to make up for that."

  Niemi crossed his arms after shaking Ingrid's hand. "The professor here was able to correct some of the mistakes you put into the mathematical formula, Ingrid."

  "Is that right? Well, I guess this means we've finally solved the insurmountable problem from last night?" Ingrid asked.

  Andreas winked at her. "Not yet, but we are almost there."

  Ingrid gleefully rubbed her hands together. "So tell me, what new insights have we discovered this morning?"

  Andreas turned around and gestured at the clumps of different colored crystals lying on the table. "Last night, actually. Dr. Abrams concluded that these crystals are, in fact, artificial. It seems the aliens can manufacture a crystalline based technology in addition to metals."

  "How does one create such things?"

  "Well, we can make crystals too," Niemi said. "Like rock candy or alum, all you have to do get some boiling water and add in some ingredients, then wait as the crystals form."

  "Is that how the aliens make theirs?"

  Andreas shook his head. "I believe they have a more advanced process. For one, their crystals actually exist in multiple dimensions, not just in three like the ones we have here on Earth."

  "Really?"

  "Ja, when we used an electron microscope on some of the clumps that were taken from the Etherian headquarters, we were able to detect embedded circuitry on the molecular level, much like that of a terrestrial computer's central processing unit."

  Ingrid let out a deep breath. "So these crystals are more than just batteries and energy conduits? They're actually machines of sorts?"

  "Correct," Niemi said. "It was a pain in the butt to assemble the proper crystals together to make those phasor rifles, but with Professor Bergweiler's new insights, we ought to be on the verge of developing more complex tools."

  "Like what?"

  Andreas pointed up at the ceiling. "We might soon be able to design and build a new type of spacecraft—a vessel that can travel instantaneously across hundreds of lightyears in mere seconds!"

  "We're that close to this sort of breakthrough already?"

  Niemi walked over to the far wall and activated a button on an embedded keypad. The opaque divider slid down, revealing a much larger room beyond. Most of the space was occupied by what looked like a saucer-shaped vessel more than ten meters in diameter. The hull seemed to be made of blue-black shiny material that reflected some of the lights in the room.

  Ingrid stood dumbfounded for a full minute before she started speaking again. "Is that... a UFO?"

  Andreas walked over to one side of the strange vessel. "The cleanup crews found it inside one of the buildings at the Etherian compound. Transporting it here wasn't actually too much of a problem since it was remarkably light enough so to be carried by helicopter."

  "Have any of you gotten inside of it?"

  Niemi chuckled as he took a greenish clump of crystal from the table and walked towards the craft. In less than a minute, the side of the hull seemed to open up by itself, revealing a vertical tear leading into what looked to be a tight interior room inside.

  Ingrid staggered forward. "Could... I maybe..."

  Andreas gestured for her to get inside. "With our compliments."

  This time she didn't hesitate. The two men continued to laugh as Ingrid squeezed her way through the vulva-shaped opening and stared at what looked like the cockpit. The dashboard had the requisite melted metal look, and a number of what seemed to be instruments were made entirely out of black crystal. The controls faced what looked like a glass sphere directly in front of the panel.

  Andreas poked his head through the opening. "Do you notice that the whole interior glows? We believe that it might either be running on some reserve battery, or the entire craft itself is linked with the other dimension and can draw power directly from it."

  Ingrid turned around. "But if your second theory is true, then it would mean—"

  "Ja, it would mean that the vessel itself is fully powered!"

  Ingrid shrieked before exiting the vessel. "I do not want to be sitting in there if it decides to return to wherever it came from!"

  "When I stood in there earlier this morning I couldn't even find a chair in that cockpit," Niemi said casually.

  Ingrid stood beside the professor. "So none of you decided to take it out for a spin or something?"

  Andreas shook his head. "We don't even know what controls to use, so I think it's better if we take it slow."

  "I'm sure Mrs. Cornell and Mr. Strunk will be overjoyed when they hear you two have managed to open up a UFO and see what was inside of it!"

  Niemi and her mentor looked at each other, before Andreas began talking. "We haven't told anyone yet. So far only the three of us know this."

  Ingrid raised an eyebrow. "Are we going to tell them?"

  "I have not been able to speak to my wife and children since I was rescued," Andreas said. "I've been asking General Jokinen, Cornell, and Strunk about it, but they have always said that I must remain under quarantine for now, due to possible radiation contamination."

  "Which is just BS," Niemi added. "The scientists all ran tests on each other, and there is no trace of ionizing or any other sort of electromagnetic radiation in their bodies."

  Ingrid frowned. "Why would they stop you from contacting the outside... unless there was a good reason not to?"

  Andreas shook his head. "From what I deduced, it seems the Americans have not even told Germany or any other government that I have been rescued. My family might even think I'm dead, and it pains me."

  "I think I know why," Ingrid said softly. "A few weeks after your disappearance, Professor, some aliens tried to abduct me too. I was saved by an underground group called the Resistance."

  Niemi began rubbing his grizzled chin. "You never told me this, Ingrid. What happened to this group?"

  "They're all dead."

  Andreas was shocked. "How did they die? Alien attacks?"

  "To an extent—but the ones who pulled the trigger were humans."

  "You're saying we've been infiltrated?" Niemi asked.

  Ingrid nodded. "This is why this base is out here and not beside some city. Everyone is screened carefully before they are allowed inside."

  "But I must be able to speak to my wife and family," Andreas said despairingly. "If I cannot come to them then they should be brought here."

  "Let's see if we can strike a bargain with them," Niemi said. "You get to contact your dependents, in exchange we'll tell them more about our research."

  Ingrid remembered her old life with her girlfriend. She missed Monika so much. "I am with you both. No more work is to be done until they allow us some contact with our loved ones, at least."

  34 Toronto

  THE CURTAINS AROUND the house by the cul-de-sac along Dorengate Drive had been drawn halfway shut, bathing the living room and kitchen in varying degrees of light and shadow. Margaret McClusky preferred it this way, ever since her son had disappeared without a trace almost a year before.

  Seated in the plush chair facing the sofa, Margaret smiled at her guest while wiping away the last of her tears. "Thank you for giving me the good news. You have done so much for me all these months."

  Irene Lancet gazed into the older woman's eyes. "Have you watched the news lately?"

  The old woman shook her head. "No, not since my son disappeared."

  "I'll be truthful to you. If you do turn it on, there may be some news about the Ether Society that they will show on the TV."

  "Oh? I guess I've been out of the loop when it comes to current events. What did they say about us?"

  Irene suppressed a smile. She still believes. That's good. "They will say that local authorities raided our headquarters off the coast of Seattle, and that our great leader is dead."

  "Oh my goodness! Is it true?"

  "It's true that the authorities did indeed mount an illegal raid against our group, but it isn't true with regards to Mordrake."

  "Well, this certainly puts a damper on the good news."

  "I expect the American or Canadian authorities to contact you directly. They will say that your son was kidnapped by us, and of course that is a lie."

  Margaret nearly jumped out of her chair. "That can't be true, right?"

  "Of course not. The governments of the world all lie a lot these days, and they will do anything to discredit our group."

  "But why would they do such things to the Ether Society? What have we done to deserve such treatment?"

  Irene leaned back in her chair. "The American Government seems to have a mistaken belief that we are responsible for all these alien attacks."

  "My goodness! Why would they even think of that? We're peaceful, and we advocate dialogue with our friends from space."

  "You're absolutely right, Mrs. McClusky. The sad part is that once our government has tagged you as the enemy, then there's precious little anyone can do. They're trying their best to make everyone believe we’re bad people, but you know we aren't."

  Margaret smiled. "Of course you're not. When I begged the police to find my son, nobody bothered to help, except you. I really appreciate the financial assistance you gave me for all these months. A retiree like me was dependent on Doug's income as a scientist, and when he disappeared my pension just wasn't enough to live on."

  "Think nothing of it," Irene said. "The first time I saw you at one of our group meetings, I knew you were a kindred spirit. It was a pleasure to help you."

  "Well the government can say what it wants, but I will never believe them when it comes to smearing our group. I'm a proud Etherian, and when my son is back here I'll ask him to join up too."

  "I'm glad to hear that, but I also would like to ask a very big favor from you."

  "Anything, my dear."

  Irene hesitated for a bit, as if she was too shy to ask. "I'm pretty sure that the authorities will contact you and ask if you'd like to visit your son at one of their military bases."

  "Well that's nice of them. I hope they're paying for the transportation."

  "They will, I'm sure of it. The favor I'm asking is if I could come along with you."

  "With me? To see my son?"

  Irene nodded. "This is a very big favor, but if it's okay... could we pretend that I am your youngest daughter?"

  "V-Violet? But my daughter passed away two years ago."

  "Yes. The reason I'm asking is because I want to visit Edward. I know they're keeping him prisoner in there and I won't be able to get in, unless I can pretend to be your daughter."

  Margaret looked away. "I... I don't know about this. It isn't illegal, is it?"

  Irene leaned forward, placing her hands on the older woman's knee. "Oh no, not at all. I sort of look like your daughter anyway, don't I?"

  "Oh yes, dear. That was the first thing I told you when we met at the convention last year, remember?"

  "That's right. You told me how empty your life was after losing Violet and then not knowing what happened to Doug."

  Margaret trembled a little. "I wasn't sure if I had enough strength to go on living when we first met, but you kept me going with your group's support. Joining the Etherians was my way of thanking you."

  "And we're happy that you're one of us," Irene said. "Can you do this one favor for me, please?"

  "I will, dear. Consider it payment for all the wonderful things you've done for me."

  Irene suppressed a grin. "Thank you, Mrs. McClusky."

  "Please, call me Mommy, dear. That's what Violet would say."

  "But of course, Mommy."

  35 Olympia

  TUCKED IN BEHIND A curving lane and a line of trees, the Thurston County Coroner’s office was a single-story building that looked more like a house from the outside. Even though it served as the state capital, Olympia remained a quiet little town and both the county jail and courthouse were within the same city block as the morgue.

  Special Agent Alonzo "Al" Smith stared at the corpse lying on the slab. The freezers lining the small room were limited in number, and he figured no more than a dozen bodies could be accommodated at a time. "Yes, that's him."

 

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