The ship touched down in the gorgeous Ozarks of southern Missouri. The region had long since disposed of its reputation as hillbilly territory and was now seen as a tourist destination and getaway for the rich. Many wealthy families from St. Louis, Kansas City, or other parts of the area had vacation homes there.
Many of the houses were still standing, of course, but they hadn’t been occupied since the Drevi invasion. Some areas of the Ozarks had been cordoned off, to help the Drevi authorities keep better track of the human population, and therefore made a perfect hideaway for rebels.
“We went camping out here a few times during college breaks,” Ted explained to his alien companions, who seemed to be enjoying the natural beauty as well. “Kenneth introduced me to these mountains. I’d only seen the Appalachians before. It was always his dream to own property out here.”
“Where’s the cave we’re looking for?” Juiya asked, squinting and looking around.
“It’s going to take a little hike,” Ted warned. “But the terrain isn’t bad. There’s a trail that leads up there.”
Trell glanced at Alana, who shrugged and started off up the trail. The Koleans seemed much more willing to hike in this heat and humidity than Ted did.
After about two hours of walking, Ted stopped in front of the giant maw of rock, looking inside, eyes filled with hope. “This is it.” Disappointment flashed across his face as he registered how deserted the cave was. It was relatively deep, but because of the sunlight’s angle he could see deep into the interior. There was nothing inside but limestone. He’d been so sure...
“Ted.” A male voice sounded behind him. Ted turned toward the greeting, his mouth in a firmly pressed line. A man strode up the trail behind them, two burly men with guns and ammo strung across their torsos flanking him. Kenneth Wood himself was an unimpressive looking man. Barely five foot five, he had short messy brown hair in a neutral cut covered by a baseball cap. He wore a camo vest over a sweater and blue jeans, and stubble adorned his strong jaw. Everything about him screamed uneducated and boring. Ted, however, knew not to underestimate the man.
“Ken!” Jodi cried, unable to hide her excitement at seeing her old friend once more. She started forward and captured him in an embrace, and to Ted’s surprise, Kenneth allowed it. He would have thought Kenneth more cautious, given the situation. What if Jodi had been captured by the Drevi and was being coerced into helping them find him? Kenneth must really trust her.
“I got your message, Ted,” Kenneth said, turning his gaze from Jodi. “And I have to admit, I’m kind of impressed.”
“I think you’ll find I’m not the same person I was when we last saw each other,” Ted said, his face neutral.
Kenneth had already discovered the Koleans, none of whom were wearing makeup this time so Kenneth would be more likely to believe their story. He seemed to take it pretty well, for all he said was, “And who are these people?”
Ted took a deep breath and recited the speech that had been spinning around in his head for the last two days. “Kenneth, this is Alana Teinn, Trell Sirrin, and Juiya Kama. They are all from the planet Kolea.”
Kenneth examined them for a moment, his face showing his skepticism, but he did not lose his cool in any way. “May I?” He chose Juiya.
Juiya looked nervous but nodded his head, half-understanding what the human meant to do by his body language. Kenneth reached out and touched the delicate blue feathers, and Ted saw the instinctive shiver travel down Juiya’s body. Kenneth stopped for a moment, but continued when Juiya did not move away or try and stop him.
“They’re real,” Kenneth said. His face gave nothing away, but his voice revealed how shocked he really was.
Trell spoke up, wishing to begin as quickly as possible. “We’re here to discuss...”
“How can you speak English?” Kenneth asked, interrupting Trell. The resistance leader leaned back against the rock face and viewed the aliens standing in front of him with a kind of apprehensive awe.
“We learned it,” Alana said, albeit impatiently. “My mother, who works for the Kolean Intelligence Service, obtained millions of documents, communications, and programs from Earth, and we managed to learn the language from those.”
“Very interesting,” Kenneth said, sounding sincere, as he created a pause to think.
“Is one of these gentlemen your second in command?” Jodi asked, breaking into the conversation and glancing briefly at one of the muscle bound men who had accompanied Kenneth.
Kenneth shook his head. “No. My second ain’t here. In case things go south.”
“Is it Jesse?” Jodi asked knowingly.
Kenneth sighed. “Can’t hide anything from you, can I Jodi? Yeah, it’s Jesse.”
Ted didn’t know anyone named Jesse, so he assumed it had to be someone Kenneth had met after college. To his ears it was a gender neutral name, too, so he had no clue if it was a man or a woman.
“So I guess I’ll ask why you’re here,” Kenneth said, addressing Alana. His sharp eyes and keen instincts had immediately singled her out as the one in charge of the strange aliens.
Alana seemed impressed by his observations and stepped forward to address him. “Believe it or not, we’re here to help you,” she began. “I understand you’re in charge of one of several resistance cells?”
“That about sums it up,” Kenneth said. Ted tried to read his face and get a grasp of what he was thinking, but he came up short. Kenneth had the best poker face in the world.
Alana continued, unfettered. “We have an army of over two hundred and fifty ships lying in wait along the asteroid belt of your solar system. We’d like to coordinate our movements with your own operation. We’re here to help you defeat the Drevi and retake your world.”
“What’s the catch?”
“Excuse me?” Alana asked, obviously unfamiliar with the phrase.
“There is no catch, Ken,” Ted said, knowing he was going to have to explain this a hundred more times. “I spent three weeks among these people on Kolea after Alana and Trell rescued me from the labs. I’ll swear on anything you want me to that their intentions are good.”
“I’m sorry Ted, forgive me if I find it hard to believe that these people want nothing in return for bringing their whole fleet over here to help us,” Kenneth said sharply, his eyes trained on Ted.
“I understand how you feel, Ken, believe me, I do. But look at the situation. Our governments don’t exist, there are too many resistance factions to count, and our people are at the breaking point. If we don’t handle this carefully, there could be an all-out, completely unorganized rebellion and millions of people are going to die. And you don’t have any ships that are remotely a match for the Drevi. Let’s combine our forces and get the Drevi off our planet!”
“It’d be nice if we had the November, I’ll give you that,” Kenneth said with a snort. “At least we know where it is. We just can’t get to it.” Through his poker face, Ted could see the irritation such a failure had caused his former friend. And that was when an idea came to his mind.
Alana, however, continued talking. “I assure you, there is no ‘catch.’ Ted, in the eyes of my government, as the legal representative of the population of Earth, formally requested help from the Kolean Parliament. They voted by a large margin to help you fight the Drevi, admittedly because the Drevi invaded Kolea itself five years ago. We know what you’re going through, and we feel it is our obligation to help others against our enemies, for our own benefit as well as yours.”
“It all still seems a little too good to be true.”
“I have an idea,” Ted broke in. “Why don’t we prove our intentions to you?”
“How?” Kenneth inquired.
A sly smile spread across Ted’s face. “We’ll bring you the November, of course.”
Kenneth looked at him with interest. “I’m listening.”