After Jack left, Agent Sanders went back to her office to check in with Joe Spencer. She couldn’t wait to hear his reaction to her report.
“You’re telling me you have an alien from another planet in your custody?” Joe asked skeptically.
“Yes, sir. The CIA agent, Jimmy Malone, had him but when the Hanson place was swallowed up they got separated and Jack was only able to save Linkh.”
“His name is Linkh?”
“Yes. Linkh Leode.”
“Jesus. The Director knew the President was keeping something from him, but nothing like this.”
“Ah. You should probably not report this to your superiors quite yet. Linkh may want to go back to his ship, so we don’t want to do anything that would get him in trouble. He says if they found out he’s cooperating with us, they’ll summarily execute him.”
“Okay. I’ll need some time to get my head around this anyway. So, how can I help you now?”
“While you’re getting your head around that, consider that the Nanomites are a sentient life-form and if we kill them, we’ll be committing genocide.”
There was silence on the line. “Joe?”
“I’m here. My heart was pounding so hard I couldn’t hear you.”
She laughed. “The Army must know about the Nanomites, at least I hope they do. Anyway, they can deal with the ones at Death Valley Junction for now. I don’t think they have anywhere to go since it’s such an isolated area. But we need help at the Independence site. Jack and Linkh are there now trying to figure out how to contain them.”
“Okay, what do you need?”
“I’m not sure right now, but Jack will be calling me later with a plan, and then I’ll have a better idea what to tell you. For now, just get a team ready to fight, but you won’t need bullets.”
Joe laughed. “Thanks a lot.”
“Okay. Talk to you later,” Agent Sanders said and hung up.
She got up and walked back to George’s office. Cindy and George were looking rather pale. “What’s wrong?”
“We’re under surveillance apparently. Cindy went out to get us some fast food for dinner and someone followed her.”
Agent Sanders looked at Cindy. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, when I noticed them, I went around the block and took an unscheduled stop at the grocery store. When I left ten minutes later, they were back on my tail. I came straight back here.”
“Okay, we’ll have to move our operation. Call a cab and have them meet you at the auditorium. I noticed there is a performance there tonight and people will be coming and going.”
“A cab?”
“Yes. Your car probably has a tracking device on it by now, or a bomb.”
“Oh, God!’ Cindy exclaimed. “Are you serious?”
She nodded. “Yes, the government has been hiding the fact that there are aliens among us, so I’m sure they wouldn’t hesitate a moment to kill us.”
“Oh, Jesus,” Cindy moaned.
“Disguise yourselves as best you can and then sneak over to the auditorium. When the cab gets there take it to the mall. Have them let you off on the south entrance. They don’t know I’m here, so I’ll be waiting for you at the north entrance.”
“Okay, that sounds good,” George said. “Where are we going to go?”
“To help Jack and Linkh stop the Nanomites,” Agent Sanders replied.
“Right. . . . I sure hope they have some idea how to do it.”
George rolled his eyes. “Me too.”
Agent Sanders sighed and then went back to her office to pack up her things. A moment later she went out the back exit and rushed to her car. She saw a suspicious vehicle with two men in the front seat talking. They gave her a good look and one of them took her picture but they didn’t leave their post. She got in her car and left without anyone following her. She drove to the gas station, got gas and a soda, and then went to the mall for the rendezvous. George and Cindy were nowhere to be seen, so she parked in a space with a good vantage point and waited. Eight minutes later George and Cindy walked out looking distracted. Agent Sanders started the engine and drove over to them. George and Cindy opened the door, jumped in the back seat and slid down so they wouldn’t be seen.
“Step on it!’ George urged. “There are two men following us.”
Sanders gave it gas and they took off just as the two men came out of the mall entrance.
George sighed. “That was close.”
“Did they see us?” Sanders asked.
“This was the only car around, so they probably figured out we were in it.”
“Great. Fortunately they won’t know which direction we were heading, so they won’t be able to follow us.”
Just as Agent Sanders spoke they could hear a helicopter in the distance. Sanders looked out her drivers’ side window. “Oh, crap! They’ve got air support.”
“What are we going to do?” Cindy asked frantically.
“I don’t know. It’s going to be hard to lose a helicopter in such flat terrain.”
“Go downtown,” George said. “They won’t be able to shoot at us or set down in the city.
“Good idea. If I can make a telephone call there may be a way to get rid of this helicopter.”
Just then a bullet shattered their back window. “Oh, shit!” Cindy exclaimed as glass rained down upon her.
“Get down behind my seat,” Sanders ordered as she increased her speed. They passed the city limits sign and a 40 mph speed sign as the speedometer hit 70.
“Over there!” George screamed. “Go into that gas station. I know the owner. You can use his telephone.”
Sanders made a hard turn into the gas station and came to a screeching halt inside the garage bay. The owner who was working under the hood of an old Chevy looked up in shock. George got out and put up his hand.
“Sorry, Wally. We need to use your phone.”
Wally nodded and motioned to his office. “Thanks,” George said.
Sanders rushed inside the office and called Joe.
“Joe Spencer, here.”
“Joe. You don’t happen to have a bird anywhere near Lone Pine do you?”
“Ah. There’s one about thirty minutes out.”
“Okay, there’s an unmarked helicopter after us. They’ve taken a few shots at us and knocked out our back window. We’re going to hang around downtown so it won’t be easy for them to get to us. When your chopper gets here, we need it to keep them busy while we make our escape. We don’t want to lead the Army to the Independence Site. If they find it they may do something rash like drop a bomb on it or something, and that will just make matters worse.”
“Alright. I’ll get it up there right away. Don’t let them catch you.”
“Don’t worry. There’s only two of them.”
Two cars came screeching up in front of the warehouse before the words got out of Agent Sander’s mouth. “Oh, Christ!” she exclaimed. “Gotta go.” She disconnected and called the Lone Pine police.
“Lone Pine Police?”
“This is Agent Marcia Sanders of the FBI. I need back up at Wally’s Garage near the intersection of highways 395 and 136.”
“Roger. I’ll get the word out.”
“Thanks,” she said, hanging up the telephone and pulling out her gun.
Six men got out of the two vehicles with guns in hand and approached the garage cautiously. Agent Sanders fired a warning shot over their heads and they scampered back behind their vehicles. Sanders motioned for George and Cindy to stay out of sight. Two of the men ran from their cars to the side of the garage entrance just out of Sander’s view. She shot in their direction to deter them from going any farther. Sirens began to wail in the distance. The four men, cowering behind their vehicles, looked in the direction of the sirens. As they got closer one of them motioned to the others to get back in their cars. One car started its engine and drove off. The other one drove toward the garage,
picked up the others and left just as a sheriff’s squad car drove up.
Marcia showed the deputy her badge and pointed to the car turning the corner. “There they are. Don’t let them get away!”
The deputy tore off after them as Marcia glared up at the helicopter hovering overhead. A few minutes later she heard another helicopter in the distance and was relieved when she recognized it to be one of the FBI’s. When the pilot of the unmarked helicopter saw the approaching FBI chopper, he turned and headed back in the direction he’d come. As soon as they were in the clear Agent Sanders gathered up George and Cindy and they were back on the road, this time without anyone tailing them.