Chapter 282

Partial Character List:

Jeff – The Prime.

Diana – The Clan Queen and Jeff's first wife.

Arlene – Jeff and Diana's daughter and Jeff's young wife who is also a Queen.

Susan – Wife and Diana's mother, who is also a Queen.

Jennie – Young wife.

Melissa – Young wife.

Laura – Wife and computer guru.

Ann – Laura's daughter and Jeff's young wife, also a computer guru.

Helen – Genius wife and teacher.

Nat, Nicki, and Whitney – Young wives who were rescued by Jeff and his team.

Joyce – Wife and deputy.

Caitlin – Wife and nurse.

Kayla – Wife who first worked for the FBI, but then went to work for the General, and now she is Jeff's last line of defense.

Selina – Six-year-old genius who lives with the Matthews family.

Billy Bad Ass – Billy the kitten. Belongs to Selina.

Spike – Male Chihuahua. Belongs to Arlene.

Sugar – Female Chihuahua. Belongs to Hope.

Eric – Alpha. Pharmacist and father of Alice and Terri.

Angela – Eric's sister.

Alice – Twelve-year-old who was kidnapped.

Terri – Fourteen-year-old who was kidnapped.

Sheriff Quinton Tate – Alpha. Sheriff of Grand County.

Virginia – Quinton's first wife.

Elizabeth – Quinton's wife and Virginia's sister.

Rachel – Elizabeth's daughter and Quinton's wife.

Cindy – Elizabeth's daughter and Quinton's wife.

Van – Alpha. Organic farmer.

Adriana – Van's first wife.

Lillian – Van's second wife.

Jeremy – Alpha. Van's son and organic farmer

Connie – Construction worker who became Jeremy's wife.

Denise – Construction worker who became Jeremy's wife.

Paulette – Jeremy's sister and young wife.

Art – Alpha. Young FBI agent who was in a shootout in Atlanta.

Bobby – Nurse from Atlanta who is Art's wife and Sandra's sister.

Sandra – Nurse from Atlanta who is Art's wife and Bobby's sister.

Hope – Art's young wife, who was abused by her father and other men.

Matt – Alpha. New FBI SAC who has recently reported to the Denver office.

Courtney – Matt's wife who believes that Jeff and his family might be aliens.

Bridget – Soon to be new wife for Matt.

Dave – Alpha. Contractor and Project Manager for Jeff.

Evie – Dave's first wife and assistant Project Manager.

Kim – Dave's wife.

Linda – Dave's wife and Bill's daughter.

Fred – Alpha. Jeff's friend from Georgia.

Brenda – Fred's first wife who came back in the body of the woman who was killed in the wreck in Georgia.

Carla – Fred's wife and farm owner.

Jessica – Fred's young wife and Carla's daughter.

Audrey – Campground manager from Georgia and one of Fred's wives.

Angel – Fred and Brenda's daughter and now Fred's new wife.

Lieutenant Mayfield – Lieutenant in charge of Security.

Sheriff Quinton Tate's Home Near Winter Park

Sheriff Quinton Tate had stocked the automatic feeder for the horses and put out extra hay so he wouldn't have to get up early tomorrow morning, Sunday, to feed the animals. He stepped back into the kitchen as Virginia finished with the coffee maker, and the phone rang. Expecting it to be someone at the Sheriff's Department with an emergency that would screw up their weekend, she answered in clipped tones. "Tate residence. This is Virginia."

There was a pause, before she responded, "You've got to be kidding, right?"

Another pause, this one much longer, as Quinton stood with a puzzled look on his face wondering who she was talking to.

"All right, we'll be there as soon as we can." Hanging up the phone, she turned to her husband. "That was Diana. Ann is back from her ... trip. Di said there was a strong possibility that Earth is going to be attacked by aliens, and Jeff wants everyone there for a meeting."

Tate started to laugh, but Virginia only looked frustrated. "Di said that Ann's mission was successful and she found ... aliens in a giant ship five light years out. Honey, Di is serious. They want all of us to come back up there as soon as we can get there. They're going to show us video of these ... creatures."

"Diana is pulling your leg..." Quinton tried, but wound down when his wife began to frown. She obviously believed what Diana had told her.

Virginia suddenly grabbed him in a hug, shivering as she buried her face against his shoulder. "Quint, I'm scared. Di said that Dave was already on the phone talking to the company with the rock borers, offering them extra if they would be at the Retreat Monday ready to start work on the fortress."

Quinton's expression changed as he began to believe. Jeff and Diana, well any of them, will kid from time to time, but I can't imagine Di kidding about something like this. It has to be real. "Oh, shit," he muttered, aloud.

Elizabeth had gone next door to check on her house. Since she and her daughters had been living with the Tates, Elizabeth hadn't dusted or vacuumed her place in quite a while, and she had decided to do that this morning.

"Elizabeth still next door?" Quinton asked.

At Virginia's nod, he continued, "Get her on the phone, Hon. I'll round up the girls. If this is some kind of joke, I'm gonna kick Jeff's ass." But there were chills running up and down his spine that spoke otherwise. Jeff teases, but he never jokes about something serious.

Virginia began dialing the phone, but called out to her husband as he left the kitchen in search of the girls, "Diana said to come expecting to spend the night, so tell them to pack a bag, and you too, Honey."

Twenty minutes later, the Sheriff's SUV roared out of their driveway headed for the Retreat.

The Retreat

Angela entered their suite just as Eric left their bedroom and stepped into the sitting room. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Nothing, just trying to get my head around all this, I suppose."

"Are the girls in their bedroom?"

"Yeah, they're still pretty hyped up about what Ann did."

Angela let out a sigh. "I wish they had been somewhere else when Ann came back. After watching that ... recording, they'll have nightmares forever. They're too young to be involved in this."

Eric, realizing how tense she was, took her in his arms, pulling her against him and absently massaging the tense muscles in her shoulders. "There were a lot of kids in World War II that were too young to be involved, but that didn't stop the bombs from falling on them, and then there's Iraq and Afghanistan to name two more times, and of course, there are others. Admittedly, I never expected this to happen when we went to the Ship to welcome Ann back. Hell, I'm still trying to get my head around the idea of a sixteen-year-old girl who has gone five light years from Earth. Then we see a giant, supposedly alien, ship on that screen and saw those ... beings talking to each other. I keep wondering if I'm going to wake up from this nightmare. But then I realized that there is an alien ship sitting in what is practically our back yard and remember that we came here on that same invisible ship. All you have to do to believe is to walk onto the bridge of that ... thing, or see our food materialize on that counter in the lounge."

"I know all that," Angie admitted, "but it still seems like a dream, no, a nightmare, to think that aliens could be getting ready to attack Earth. I mean, I didn't see anything on that screen that would make me think that Earth is involved..."

"And what do you think those things – those warships – were shooting up all those boulders for? They're practicing their marksmanship."

"But that doesn't mean..."

"We're the closest planet to them, and Ann said she watched four and five year out-of-date newscasts from Earth, depending on how far away she was at the time. If she could do it on her little ship, you know it's reasonable to think that those beings on that monster can do the same thing. What about those signals she caught of them screaming at each other; did they look fake? Baby, we all want to deny that this is happening, but the video Ann brought back is real. It's also reasonable to think that they've already discovered Earth and are preparing to attack. Those were definitely some type of attack craft. They're damn sure not on a diplomatic mission."

"Oh, I know it, but it's like some cheap science fiction movie or something. It's still hard to believe."

"Then why are you shivering?" he teased. "And what about this, my Sister? Is this real?" he said as his lips touched hers. He originally meant for the kiss to get her mind off her worries, and it started out with just a light touch, but she wrapped her arms tightly about her brother and crushed her mouth to his, her tongue seeking entrance. Soon, they had lost themselves in each other.

Eric felt a tap on his shoulder a second before Alice and Terri joined in the hug and Terri said, "No fair you two. You can get your minds off what's going on by having sex, but Alice and I don't have that option. We're scared."

Eric fought the blush he could feel warming his face. "We weren't going to have sex – well, not right now, anyway," he admitted. "But there's no reason to be scared," Eric said as he pulled Terri into his arms while Angie was doing the same thing with Alice.

"Daddy, don't treat us like little children," Terri hissed out. "Those things are going to attack Earth. Jeff said so. And don't start telling us lies so we won't be scared. You've always told us the truth."

Eric tried to hedge. "Truth is, we're all worried, but there's no way to be certain of their intentions at this point."

"But Jeff is calling all the Alphas in for a meeting," Alice argued. "He thinks those things are getting ready to attack Earth."

Eric sat on the couch and motioned to the others. Alice plopped onto his lap and leaned against him, while Angie snuggled to his right side and Terri to his left. There was quiet for a time. Eric eventually cleared his throat and spoke. "Look, we need to be logical about this. Think what Jeff has told us about Ship. The AI was given everything she needed to construct the most advanced warship ever imagined, and that was many, many years ago. She has worked to improve herself throughout all those years. She says nothing can penetrate her shields. She seems to be bigger on the inside than she is on the outside, at least that's what Jeff says. How about her flight deck with all those other ships all lined up in rows? I had no idea she was that big, and Jeff says she's even bigger than that. She does something with the dimensions. When I get a chance, I'll ask Jeff to explain it to me."

"We know," Alice broke in. "Arlene has told us all that, but we can't even see the Ship, at least from the outside. And all you have to do is walk through that opening ... that hatch or door – or whatever you call it – to realize that's she's alien."

"Agreed, but I'll talk to Jeff. I know he's seen her without the invisibility thing going on. Maybe he can get her to show herself. He told me that she couldn't be seen from above, heck, he says this whole area of the mountain can't be clearly seen, as far as that's concerned. I think she stays invisible mostly to keep visitors, UPS and FedEx drivers, and the like from driving up here and accidentally seeing her. Would that make the two of you feel any better to actually see that Earth has a warship, too?"

"I guess," Alice quietly said, "but I'm still scared."

Terri leaned forward a little so she could look her father directly in the eyes. "Do we, uh, I mean, do you think our military has some kind of fighting spaceship? Do you suppose they might have something they've been keeping a secret at Area 51, or some place like that, and that ship or weapon could defend Earth?"

"I doubt it, Baby. I saw on the news the other day where we've spent years and many billions of dollars developing a new fighter jet, but it still hasn't passed its final tests even after we've spent all that money and time on the project. If we can't even build a new fighter jet, I think a fighting spaceship, at least at this point in time, is out of the picture for the U.S. Maybe one day, but I suspect that day is a long way in the future."

After pausing for a couple of seconds to digest what her father had said, Terri went on, "And what about the boulders that those little ships pushed out of the asteroid belt, then shot them off for those other ships to destroy? What if they shot a bunch of asteroids at Earth?"

Not waiting for an answer, the teen went on. "We studied about the giant meteor crater in Arizona. Scientists think the crater was created about 50,000 years ago when a meteor struck the ground there in what is now Arizona. It was supposed to have been composed of nickel-iron and was moving at more than twenty-eight thousand miles per hour when it struck the Earth. And look what that collision did. It left a crater more than a half mile in diameter, and scientists think the shock wave would have killed any animal life for many miles around. The impact was the equivalent of ten megatons of energy. What if something like that hit New York, or any of the big cities of the world? The aliens could fire those things at us and we couldn't do a thing about it."