name from me, I’ll deny it.” He wrote the name on a piece of paper and handed it to Jesse.
“Thanks,” Jesse said as he took it from his hand.
Outside he looked at the name,
Wylie had not actually said the name, but Jesse had noticed the dark veil that had fallen across his features as he’d handed him the card. Because of that, he’d expected to see a far more sinister figure than the one he observed from his hiding place in the bushes outside Crawford’s house. From that limited perspective, Jesse could see only an ordinary man who had two sons and a wife who seemed at times unsteady on her feet.
He waited until Crawford left the house, then stepped before him, blocking his way to the car.
“My name is Jesse Keys,” he said. “My father’s name is Russell Keys. He was a pilot over Germany in the Second World War. He and I have both had encounters with UFOs. We have both been inside them.” He waited for a response, but the man merely waited silently for him to go on.
“They have come for us,” Jesse told him. “And they have taken us and they are going to come for us again.”
The man nodded and Jesse could see that, unlike Wylie, he was seriously considering what he’d just been told. He smiled softly. “Take me to your father,” he said.
On the way to the hospital, Jesse gave the man more details, so that by the time they stood at his father’s bed, he was fully informed.
“Whatever they did to me killed all the members of my crew,” Russell said. “I don’t know why it didn’t kill me. I tried to run from it. Then they started chasing Jesse. They seem more interested in him now, than in me.”
Crawford nodded. “You’re talking about the tumors?”
“They’re not tumors,” Russell answered. “They’re something they put in our heads. In a place where the doctors say it can’t be taken out.”
Jesse shook his head disconsolately. “If someone put it in, then someone ought to be able to take it out.”
“They can take it out,” Crawford said with certainty. “But it would kill you.” He smiled at Russell. “You have a very brave son, to be willing to go head-on at danger. To ‘fly blind.’ ” He turned back to Jesse. “I’m impressed. Especially by your initiative. In finding me, I mean.”
Jesse glanced at Russell and saw it in his father’s eyes, the first hint of a dark suspicion.
“The fact is, I’m in command of a very secret group,” Crawford said. “There are several of us. We pose as regular officers, but our real mission is to gather stories of people who have been… taken.”
“So Lieutenant Wylie works for you?” Jesse blurted.
Crawford smiled. “Wylie, yes, he’s one of ours.”
Jesse looked at Russell and saw the silent command in his father’s eyes, Say
“Jesse here did the right thing in coming to me,” Owen told Russell. “You’re right, they are after him. Because it’s been passed down to him, whatever kept you from dying like the others. It’s a trait that probably runs in your family. But you’re not alone.” He glanced back toward Jesse. “There must be others, too.”
Russell saw a sinister flash in Crawford’s eyes. “Jesse,” he said. “I need to talk to Colonel Crawford in private.”
Jesse looked at Russell apprehensively.
“Just for a moment,” Russell added.
Jesse nodded, then reluctantly left the room.
Russell leveled his eyes on Crawford.
“You’ve seen them, haven’t you?” he asked.
Crawford nodded.
“Don’t hurt my son,” Russell said.
Owen released a dismissive chuckle. “Hurt your son?”
“I know you want the… tumors,” Russell said coolly. “The things they put in our heads. You can have mine, but not his. I want your word that you’ll never do anything to my son.”
“I would never hurt Jesse,” Owen assured him.
“We have a deal then.” Russell asked. “I’ll give you the tumor.”
Owen smiled. “Thank you for volunteering again to help your country.”
Dr. Greenspan pulled over at the crossroads, got out and leaned against the side of the car. The plain seemed to stretch endlessly in all directions. The road was deserted, and for a moment, she enjoyed the stillness. In the backseat, Jacob slept soundlessly, a little boy, exhausted.
She glanced to the left, and saw a truck approach from the distance. She watched silently as it drew in upon her, then hurtled by, followed by a car that drew over to the side of the road and pulled up behind her.
“Jacob’s in the backseat,” she said, as Tom and Becky got out. “We were followed, but Jacob stopped them.”
“Is he all right?” Becky asked.
“He’s in a lot better shape than the men who followed us,” Dr. Greenspan answered.
Tom glanced into the backseat of the car. “Thank you, Dr. Greenspan,” he said. “From my family.”
“He’s a very special boy,” Dr. Greenspan said. “Take care of him.”
“There’s a family he can live with,” Tom told her. “An older couple. He’ll be safe there until he’s ready to go out on his own.”
In the backseat, Jacob rustled slightly, then opened his eyes.
“Hey, Jake,” Tom said.
Owen and the wing commander stood at the end of the corridor as Jesse Keys was led toward the cell where, only a few hours earlier, Lieutenant Wylie had been taken.
“That’s the boy,” Owen said to the wing commander as the two MPs stopped before the cell door, each holding firmly to one of Jesse’s arms. “I saw Lieutenant Wylie giving him specific figures. Numbers and types of planes, payloads.” He shook his head as if appalled by such treachery. “At the time, I didn’t realize what they were doing, but when the Defcon order came through…”
“You tricked me, you bastard,” Jesse cried. He tried to break free of the MPs, but they held him in place. “You were supposed to help us and you tricked me.”
Owen smiled coldly. “Kind of young for a spy.”
“A spy!” Jesse shrieked. “What the hell are you talking about? What about the UFOs? What about the flying saucers?”
Owen shook his head, as if in astonishment at such lunacy. “He must be hopped up on something to give him the nerve to do what he did,” he told the MPs. “I just pray to God he didn’t manage to deliver his information.”
The wing commander nodded. “I’ll notify the Pentagon, let them know we have a breach.”
“Where’s my father?” Jesse demanded as the two MPs pushed him into the cell. “I want to see my father!”
Owen stared briefly into Jesse’s desperate face. Then he turned, walked out of the brig and headed toward his car. Jesse Keys was now well in hand, he thought, absolutely secure. And as to Russell Keys, what did it matter? He was worth no more than the tumor that was about to be taken from him, no more than whatever it was the visitors had sunk into his brain.
Chapter Two
