Chapter 7

The two agents had supper together that evening during which Kim once again insisted the four women had to be connected in some manner although at the moment she had no idea how.

“Could they have been coerced, threatened to make them recant?” She posited.

“But why? And besides,” said Chris, “they all sounded sincere. I can’t help believe that at least one of them would have shown some signs of being coerced.”

Kim shook her head from side to side as if to clear cobwebs.

“I agree they all seemed sincere, but ... Damn! I know something’s wrong here, I just can’t put my finger on it.”

“What say we sleep on it and maybe it will be clearer in the morning,” suggested the younger agent.

With that they retired for the evening where Kim paced for close to an hour without being any closer to the answers she sought.

She poured herself a drink and was about to try to distract herself by watching some TV when her cell phone chirped.

“Cho,” she answered, identifying herself.

The voice was definitely male but with a low timber. She noted no kind of accent either foreign or regional.

“If you want answers about Sharon DuBois come to the following address at 12:00 midnight.”

Unfamiliar with Baton Rouge, Kim jolted down the address.

“I am aware that FBI agents don’t work alone so bring your partner, but no one else or you’ll never know why she now says she wasn’t raped.”

“But...”

Before she could say another word the line went dead.

Quickly she punched in her partner’s number.

“Chris, I’ve got an address I want you to track down, then meet me in the parking lot in ten minutes.”

Agent Allen came walking swiftly to the car where Kim sat waiting impatiently. In the last few days he had come to know Kim as a no nonsense special agent who wanted the information she had requested first. Then she would explain why.

“Uh, the address you gave me is a furnished house for rent, currently unoccupied. It’s on the west side of town not far from the river.

“Okay, you drive. It’s your town.”

Walking around the car he took the keys from her and climbed in behind the wheel.

“Are we in a hurry?” He asked.

She looked at her watch.

“We’ve got about thirty minutes.”

“No problem,” he smiled and they pulled away.

“And this guy says he’s got the answers we’re looking for?” He asked as they turned off the main artery and began weaving down narrower avenues towards their destination.

“That’s what he said,” she replied, “and not much more.”

Only a few minutes later the sedan pulled up in front of a modest house in a modest neighborhood. The house like the others on either side was reasonably well kept although definitely in need of a coat of paint.

“You sure this is the right address?” Asked Kim.

“Double checked it before we left. Actually it doesn’t look that bad.”

“No, the house is okay I guess. It just seems like a strange place for a meet, Did you notice the other houses all the way down the street have for rent signs in the yard?

“Yeah, I guess this guy must really want some privacy.”

“Okay, he knows there will be two of us so we’ll go in together. Just be ready.”

“Gotcha,” replied the younger agent.

They walked up the short stone walkway and onto the front porch where Kim knocked, then knocked again when there was no reply.

They both checked their watches which read midnight.

Kim tried the door and found it unlocked. Cautiously she entered, Chris a step or two behind. Both clicked on their flashlights.

“FBI” yelled Kim, but there was no reply. They made their way into the kitchen but met with empty silence.

“Let’s try the bedroom,” suggested Kim quietly and the two made their way through the doorway and entered the small room. As expected a dresser stood against one wall, a chair stood in a corner with most of the room devoted to the double sized bed.

They clicked off the flashlights when Kim turned on a small lamp on the bedstead. The light was dim but sufficed.

“It seems he’s not here,” said Chris.

“Oh I think he is,” said Kim drawing her nine millimeter and pointing it at the young agent.

“What’s going on?” He asked.

“The moment we met I knew something wasn’t right about you. And then when we started the investigation you seemed all to ready to just write off the rapes and those phony recantations. Then the phone call tonight. The guy said if I didn’t show I’d never know why the DuBois woman had recanted her story. We only learned of her recantation today and only you and I knew about it ... The FBI uses photo ID you know. I checked you out this evening. Agent Chris Allen is on assignment out on the coast. So who are you really? You’re certainly not an FBI agent. No wonder you avoided going in to the office.”

Chris smiled slightly. “I congratulate you agent Cho. I thought you would figure it out sooner or later. Yes, I made the call. Disguising my voice was not hard as you will understand when I explain everything to you. “

“You can start right now,” ordered Kim.

“Of course. May I suggest we sit as this may take a while.”

Chris sat on the edge the bed while Kim drew up the chair, the gun pointed straight at her suspect the whole time.

“You can put down the weapon. I assure you I mean you no harm.”

“I think I’ll keep it right where it is, thank you. Take out your weapon slowly and slide it to me.”

Again he smiled gently as he complied.

“As you wish. I don’t mind satisfying your investigative curiosity as it will never be revealed anyway.”

“We’ll see about that,” she retorted. “Now suppose you tell me what the hell this is all about.”

“Of course, but I warn you, it will seem absolutely incredible despite the fact that every word I am about to tell you is the truth.”

“Let me be the judge of that.”

“Let me start by saying I am here to help.”

“And that means what?”

“Agent Cho, please open your mind to what would ordinarily be absolutely unbelievable. I am not from planet Earth.”

“Oh come on...” She started.

“You wanted the truth, I am about to give it to you. Please allow me to explain. The human race is headed for extinction. I am here to see that doesn’t happen.”

Kim’s incredulous expression was incentive for him to continue before she could interrupt.

“I shall start at the beginning in order to give you a frame of reference. My race has existed since long before humans even evolved. I am from a planet on the other side of the galaxy. We visit worlds from time to time ... and yes there are hundreds of intelligent species scattered across the Milky Way. We normally do not interfere with their internal struggles unless they are on the verge of demise. Such is the case with Earth. Humanity simply will not survive unless we intervene. Atomic wars are not the problem. The problem is you are systematically destroying the very ecosystems which sustain life. Oh, you are doing it a step at a time, depleting resources here, polluting them there, all in the name of progress and greed. The process is slow but the outcome inevitable. Besides we feel a certain responsibility for what is happening.”

Kim was incredulous. She had heard crackpots before, but this was a new one: An alien who wanted to save the world.

“What do you mean you’re responsible?”

“Early in your evolutionary history we visited Earth. The Neanderthals, with their extremely limited intellect and inability to adapt, were already on the road to extinction and could not be helped. But Cro-Magnon, while also on the road to extinction had more highly developed brains. It was decided to try to save what you now call humanity.”

“And just how did you do that?” asked Kim, not sure whether she was enjoying this trip down fantasy lane or simply growing tired of the rants of a man who was obviously either puling her leg or mentally deranged.

“We interbred with these early humans infusing them with genes which would enable them to evolve intellectually and thereby technologically. We then left humanity to not only survive, but evolve into your present day civilization.”

“So? Why are you here now?” she asked wondering just how far this story would go before collapsing. Are you the UFOs that keep being reported?”

“No,” he smiled. “Your UFO culture has grown entirely on its own. Misidentification and fantasy. Our ships use, if I may borrow from your science fiction TV, cloaking devices. No human has ever seen, nor will ever see, one of our ships. Nor do we abduct humans and conduct experiments on them. Our only mission is to infuse the human race with our own genetic material so you may evolve along lines which will ensure your survival.”

“But if you did this once before, what went wrong?”

“Because while we gave you the intellect, unfortunately we did not provide you with the wisdom to use that intellect for humanity’s ultimate benefit.”

“So you’re correcting your mistake of the past.”

“Precisely. Since we intervened before, we feel an obligation to step in and correct a course of self destruction for which we are partly responsible.”

“And you do this by raping young women?”

“A rather inelegant way to put it, but there really is no other way. When our ancestors visited yours at the dawn of human history there were probably no more than a half million Cro-Magnons scattered across northern Africa and Europe.The number of inseminations required to infuse our genes into yours was relatively small and easily accomplished. Now, however, with a world population approaching seven billion it will take a considerably larger number to ensure our DNA will successfully become dominant and provide a change in intellect which will steer humanity away from the self destructive course it is now pursuing.”

Kim had to admit, he seemed to have answers which made sense. Still...

“But why not just land on the White House lawn and tell the president and other world presidents they need to steer a new course?”

“Can you imagine the societal upheaval that would cause? Political, religious and societal chaos would ensue, especially since your TV and movies have convinced the public that any visitation by aliens would be for world conquest. The conspiracy theorists would have a field day. It would absolutely tear the fabric of society apart. No, our approach must be subtle, without humanity knowing we are even here or what we are doing.”

“Then you’re doing this around the world?”

“Yes, in every country and every culture. Our mission will last for some three Earth years and involve close to a million of us infusing our DNA into the human genetic stream.”

“You say you are being subtle, yet the women you inseminated are having dreams of monsters. That will surely call attention to what you are doing.”

“Would have. The means by which we keep our mission secret is by altering the memories of the women we inseminate. We alter only the memories of the experience itself. That process was flawed with the first women who were inseminated. It has since been corrected.”

“You went back ... that’s why they all recanted their stories.”

“Yes, my so-called date the other night was actually a visit with Sharon Dubois. I altered her memory so she also would recant. Agent Cho, we are trying to accomplish our mission with the least harm to the women. They are now all left with the pleasant memory of a sexual encounter from which they have become pregnant. No more nightmares, just pleasant memories of a tryst with a handsome man.”

“But why the nightmares to begin with? Why monsters?”

Kim, despite herself, was becoming fascinated with the story this man was spinning. After all, it did make sense in an incredible way.

“We altar our appearance to look human so we can blend in and establish initial contacts with women. These women are chosen for their own special genetic properties which will combine with ours to provide the intellectual characteristics we hope to achieve.

“Then I ask again, why the monster nightmares?” She asked.

“Because our natural appearance is one which, unfortunately humans find repulsive, frightening, even threatening. We hide that appearance as long as possible but the human disguise is not complete. In order to copulate with human women we must, at the moment of insemination revert to our natural form. Understandably this is frightening and until we corrected our memory wiping procedure, was the cause of such nightmares and discomfort. As I say, we have now corrected that. There will be no more nightmares and no more police or FBI investigations.”

“I wouldn’t count on that,” said Kim, the nine millimeter in her hand still pointing at the man who called himself Chris.

“Please think back to when we entered this house. You came in first. I was behind you. If I intended you harm I could easily have done so from behind.”