~ Austin Miller And The Secrets Of Whitmer ~

by

Joel Goelet

Suddenly, the ground beneath the knight gave way. With the noise of air being expelled, the knight fell downward, disappearing within a fraction of a second. The humans were momentarily stunned. Gathering their wits, they cautiously moved across the incline to where the ground had caved in.

From a prone position Austin peered into the hole, fearful of the ground caving in under his own weight, which, in the moment, he was thankful that his weight was far below what the knight weighed. He could see little within the hole; not even the knight in fact. It seemed as if the earth had opened up and swallowed the alien whole.

“Yo, 42, are you all right?” Austin shouted.

“Yes,”  the knight answered from the darkened depths.

“I can’t see you, it’s too dark,” Austin said. “How deep are you down there?”

“Twelve meters, roughly,” knight 42 said. “This is not a good place for a Purrian knight to be.”

“Earthling Austin,” Watcher said. “My sensors have detected the presence of Tobian metal below us.”

“Say what?” Austin questioned.

“Please send Watcher down here,” knight 42 said. “I have need of its light.”

Austin rolled aside, allowing Watcher and the other satellites to enter the hole, which they barely fit through. The satellite’s glowing lights soon illuminated an immense cavern. Through the opening Austin could make out an object within seven feet from the top of the hole. It appeared to be metallic, flat and smooth.

“Lower yourselves though the hole to the surface you see,” knight 42 instructed. He was unseen, standing somewhere off to one side of the metallic looking object.

Reluctant at first, Austin hesitated before carefully climbing into the hole, instructing the remaining three humans to stay above ground for the time being.

The metallic object was in fact domed, circular and hollow sounding as he walked carefully from the hole to an edge of the object where the knight stood. There was a ladder resting against the object. He climbed down as the knight held it steady.

A few wide steps took Austin away from the object to the center of what appeared to be an immense underground cavern. He stood still and looked at the object. In a mind twisting realization, he recognized the shape of a Tobian spaceship. His thoughts were further choked as he looked around and counted a total of five spaceships, all the same size and shape.

The spaceships sat forlorn looking, covered by thick layers of dust. They looked frightfully cold, menacingly threatening.

The sight of the vessels was overwhelming. The thought of them being alien spaceships hidden away on Earth seemingly like the auxiliary fleet on Tobious hurt Austin’s head. His mind was reeling with thoughts of an invasion, thoughts of thousands of human hosts being hauled off to their fates halfway across the galaxy.

“How?” Austin exhaled, unable to say much more.

“These are Tobian transport ships,” Watcher said as it moved between and around the vessels. “They were used to transport humans to Tobious. They are of the Emperor class ships.”

“Which means what?” Austin asked.

“They are at least a hundred years old,” Watcher replied.

“Are they operational?” Ben questioned from atop the ship beneath the hole. Chris and Czor were standing next to him.

“They are completely intact,” Watcher said. “Completely operational.”

Austin moved around the cavern, running a hand over the cold metal of the spacecraft. His thoughts were scrambled, trying to determine what to do about the ships. At one point he asked the question aloud to himself.

“That’s a good question,” Ben said, overhearing the question as Austin spoke it. “What are we going to do with them?”

Austin spun around, somewhat startled by Ben’s presence. So deep had his thoughts been, that his subconscious had masked out everything and everyone around him.

“I don’t know what to do with them,” Austin admitted. “On one side of the coin I’d like to let our government people look at them. But then again, our government might just keep the information under wraps and not let any of it benefit the public.”

“I say we destroy them,” Ben said firmly. “I don’t want there to be any chance that those blood sucking sons of a bitches can steal any more lives.”

“I concur,” knight 42 said.

“I agree also,” Chris said. “I see nothing good to save here. I see death sitting here. If this was Tobious, Mister Schilling wouldn’t hesitate to blow these ships to pieces rather than let them be used to haul more people.”

“Then I’d say we’re in agreement to destroy them,” Austin said. “Any suggestions how?”

“They each have self destruct mechanisms,” Watcher said. “We could set the timers to detonate after we reach a safe distance.”

“And how far would that be?” Ben questioned.

“Two miles minimum,” Watcher replied.

“Running through thick forest up hill would take a minimum of half an hour,” Austin said. “And Ben couldn’t run all that fast with his injury. Could you guarantee we’d have enough time?”

“Negative,” Watcher replied. “The effects of self detonation on this planet may differ from Tobious. My guess is the effects would be far more severe.”

“Great,” Austin sighed.

“Piss on it,” Ben cussed. “Let’s go for it anyway. It’s better than letting these ships be used ever again. Payback, in a way.”

Watcher’s light suddenly began to flash, a sign of approaching danger. The other sphere’s lights went out.

“Tobian satellites approaching,” Watcher sounded.

“What?” Austin choked. “Bad satellites?”

“Affirmative,” Watcher signaled. “Several satellites, heavy firepower. They were alerted to our presence.”

A large door opened at the farthest end of the cavern. Immediately a swarm of loyal Tobian satellites flooded into the subterranean chamber. Red flashes of laser fire shot across the expanse as the rebel and loyal satellites engaged each other in combat. Explosions echoed through the cavern as one by one the satellites destroyed each other. The knight joined in the fight, bringing his laser weapon to bear on the satellites as they entered through the doorway.

A satellite suddenly swept out from under a spacecraft. It dove at the knight, its laser weapons blazing full strength. A bolt of energy struck the knight, flinging the hulking mass backward. In the same instant a laser beam struck the satellite itself. In a fireball it exploded, spewing shrapnel, like pieces of an exploding hand grenade.

Austin rushed to the fallen knight. He cradled the knight’s torso in his arms, kneeling on a rough stone floor. He looked down at the faceless, dying creature, feeling as helpless as he had ever felt.

The knight suddenly grabbed Austin’s arm. The movement momentarily startled him. In an incognizant move he jerked his arm. The knight gripped the arm even tighter.

“What can I do?” Austin asked, pleading for an answer that would assist the wounded alien.

“Tell your leaders of the Tobians,” knight 42 said, nearly in a whisper.

“I will,” Austin promised.

“Remember this, I will be with you again,” knight 42 choked. Suddenly his body was racked with spasms of agony. The hand released Austin’s arm and fell limp to the floor, lifeless.

Austin thought of the situation. Even with the sounds of laser fire raging around him he wondered how he would prove his story about the Tobians now that the knight was dead. What proof had he except a lifeless body? He thought of Watcher just then. That would be his ticket. He needed to make sure Watcher remained operational.

Without thinking of the danger Austin stood. He heard a humming noise behind him. Twisting his torso, he was able to see a Tobian loyal satellite hovering there, ominously poised to strike. What was it waiting for he wondered. Why didn’t it fire at him? From in front of him a second humming noise was heard. He looked ahead. Another satellite was there, a rebel satellite, Watcher. But what were they waiting for. The battle between satellites still raged. Why did these two waste their time on an insignificant human being?

Suddenly, from out of the shadows Ben charged. Like a football linebacker he blindside tackled Austin, tossing him to the ground.

There was a flash of laser energy from the loyal satellite. Ben was flung away from Austin by the laser impact. A joint discharge of energy from both satellites struck each other. Both exploded into small fireballs.

For a moment Austin lay on the floor unaware that Ben had tackled him. From a darkened area Ben’s agonized moans rose. Chilled, Austin hurried to the old man’s aid. A gaping wound on Ben’s side was still smoldering from the heat of the laser energy.

Austin cradled the old man’s head in his arms. “God, no,” he gasped.

“Shit,” Ben swore. “To think a goddamn alien got me. Shit! Who’s going to believe this happened to me? Damn! There’s a saying in the New Testament, Revelation. ‘I looked and beheld a pale horse, and his name that sat on him was Death’.”

“Ben, don’t try talking,” Austin said.

“Hell yes, Austin. I haven’t got time for anything else, except dying.”

“You’re not going to die,” Austin said.

“The seerer showed me how this was going to happen.”

“You saw him... it?” Austin gasped.

“We all did,” Ben sighed and went still.

There was sudden, cold silence from the old man.

“Ben?” Austin said, nudging the still figure held by his arms. A sudden emptiness was felt just then, a sense of loss, a feeling of helplessness.

Austin gently laid Ben upon the floor. There was silence, absolute, haunting. All the satellites laid in shattered ruins. Czor and Chris crawled out from under a spaceship. In the darkness they managed to locate Austin. They stood next to him. Suddenly, even in the darkness, Chris noticed Ben’s lifeless body lying behind Austin. He rushed to his old friend’s side.

“Ben,” Chris said softly. He nudged the old man. “Wake up, Ben.”

“Chris, he’s gone,” Austin said, kneeling and placing a hand on Chris’s back.

“That’s not fair,” Chris choked. “How can he die after coming so far? He wasn’t in danger on Tobious. He comes back to Earth and gets killed. What’s fair about that?”

“There’s a lot that’s not fair in this world,” Austin said.

Chris looked at Austin. There was a tear in the corner of an eye, an eye that held a far off look, a look that pleaded for reason and perhaps sympathy. After a minute he nodded and stood.

“We can’t leave these ships here in one piece,” Austin said. “We need to destroy them.’

“How?” Chris asked. He was more than eager to destroy the spaceships used by the race he’d come to loathe. “Without the satellites or the knight we can’t set the destruct mechanisms. Hell, we can’t even get into the damn ships.”

We have to look around,” Austin said. “There must be something here we can use. We can’t just let it be. Find some broken wood that fell from the ceiling to burn for light. The smoldering satellites might be hot enough to light it. Maybe if we find enough of it we can set these ships afire.”

“They will not burn,” Czor said. “After living on their planet all my life, it comes as a shock to me that I don’t even know much about their flying machines. But I know they will not burn. I’m sorry.”

Austin wrapped an arm around Czor’s shoulder. “Don’t be sorry. Be thankful you feel human and not Tobian.”

Sounds came from the door at the far end of the cavern. Voices. Human voices.

An army of men and women entered the cavern. They carried lanterns and flashlights and weapons. They were a welcomed sight to Austin. At last, he thought, he’d get to where he wanted to be.

The assemblage moved as a whole straight to where Austin, Czor and Chris stood. For some unknown reason no one was smiling except Austin. A police officer carrying a rifle stepped directly before Austin.

“You’re a welcome sight, officer,” Austin said and stretched out a hand to shake.

The sickening thud of a rifle butt striking against the side of Austin’s head echoed through the cavern. Austin’s lights went out.