Saucer s-1 Page 16

  Hedrick and Rigby floated up from the bulkhead.

  Hedrick laughed, a loud, happy laugh. Rigby pushed himself toward Charley, snarling, 'You slut! I'm going to make you pay — '

  'That's enough, Rigby,' Hedrick declared.

  'Yeah,' said Charley Pine. 'Cork it, asshole.'

  'Please, Ms. Pine, let's not beard the lion.' And Hedrick laughed again. He pushed off with his feet and shot across the cabin, all the while roaring his delight.

  Through the canopy she could see the eastern seaboard of the United States pass below, although a cloud cover obscured much of the Atlantic. Through occasional rifts one caught glimpses of ocean, a deep blue hue, almost black.

  She turned the saucer so that the sun shone full upon her. She was excited, as she always was when she flew the saucer. She took a deep breath, let it out slowly.

  Hedrick was beside her now, looking through the canopy. Rigby had retreated to a seat, where he strapped himself in.

  'An experience of a lifetime,' Hedrick said. 'I'm so glad I lived to see this.'

  What the heck. Charley rotated the saucer so he could see the earth passing below, then got busy with the computer plotting reentry.

  'About twenty minutes,' she told him. 'Then we start the reentry burn. Better find a seat before then.'

  'Couldn't we do a complete orbit?'

  'The scenery is fantastic but the company leaves a lot to be desired. We're going to Australia when we hit the reentry window. I am guessing on the time. The computer isn't programmed with our minutes and seconds.'

  'Okay, Ms. Pine,' Hedrick said reluctantly and pushed off for a seat. 'You're the pilot.'

  After Hedrick's thugs drove away, Rip and Egg sat on the porch without speaking, each occupied with his own thoughts.

  Finally, Rip took out his wallet and counted the cash it contained. 'Uncle Egg, could you lend me three thousand dollars?'

  'Going somewhere?'

  'Australia.'

  'We'll have to go into town. I'll write a check at the bank.'

  Rip stood and dusted off the seat of his jeans. Then he wiped his eyes. 'I'm ready now,' he muttered.

  'Saw an article about Hedrick in one of those investment magazines down at my dentist's, maybe two or three weeks ago. He has a place west of Sydney, if I remember correctly. Lots of stone and glass and shapely young women. I specifically remember the women.'

  'Maybe we can stop by the dentist's. I'd like to have that article.'

  'Sure. And I better lock up the house. No telling who heard that thing climbing out of here.'

  After he retrieved his passport and new clothes from his bedroom, Rip strolled out to the pickup while Egg went through the house locking doors and turning off lights. He was standing there when a pickup roared in and slid to a halt with a spray of gravel.

  'Did you see that thing?' the man at the wheel shouted. He pointed at the sky in the general direction in which the saucer had disappeared. 'One of them flyin' saucers?'

  'Yeah.' Rip turned to point. 'Went right down that runway there and then… ' He made a gesture skyward with his right hand. 'Went swooping up, clean out of sight. Darndest thing I ever saw.'

  'Say, I haven't seen you around here before, have I?'

  The man at the wheel was wearing bib overalls and a T-shirt. On his head was a cap bearing a John Deere logo.

  'I'm Egg's nephew. Name's Rip.'

  The man eyed him suspiciously. 'The TV says maybe those saucers are dumping aliens around, like in the movies. Maybe they're gonna try to take over. How do I know you're who you say?'

  Egg heard that remark. As he strode up carrying a suitcase, he called, 'Lemuel, haven't I told you a dozen times to stay the hell off my property? I don't want you over here sniffing around.'

  'I seen that saucer, Cantrell, and — '

  'Aliens! You fool. If I had a couple I'd sic 'em on you. Turn that thing around and get out of here before I call the law.'

  As Lemuel was turning his truck, Egg called, 'And fix that hole in the fence that your bull comes through, you skinflint. I think you're running that animal over here on purpose to eat my grass.'

  Lemuel got his pickup underway in another shower of gravel.

  'Let's go,' Egg told Rip, jerking his head toward his own pickup. 'We'll lock the gate on the way out.'

  'General De Laurio, Space Command reports that a vehicle just went into orbit from a location in central Missouri. Liftoff was about twenty minutes ago. It is in orbit now, engines secured. Preliminary reports on the wire services seem to indicate the vehicle was extremely loud and saucer-shaped.'

  De Laurio was back in the West Wing of the White House. He had sent home for a clean uniform and a toothbrush. Two hours ago he went over to the Pentagon for a short nap. P.J. O'Reilly gave him a cold stare as he left. He felt as if he were abandoning the women and children aboard the Titanic while he rowed away in the only lifeboat, but he had to get a little sleep.

  'It's in orbit now?' Bombing Joe asked the Pentagon duty officer.

  'Yes, sir. Achieved a sustainable orbit about five minutes ago. And General, apparently a National Guard F-16 on patrol over Missouri fired two Sidewinder missiles at it.'

  'What? Say that again.'

  The duty officer did so.

  'Who ordered armed patrols?'

  'I believe that order came from the White House, sir.'

  'Who gave permission to open fire?'

  'Sir, that came from the White House.'

  'Cancel it,' De Laurio shouted. 'Keep all those trigger-happy morons on the ground. What if they shoot down a United jet?'

  'Well, sir, I think the White House understood that risk when — '

  'You don't know these people. No one over there would take an iota of responsibility for an accident like that. Get all those airplanes on the ground and keep them there. That's a direct order. I'll take the responsibility.'

  'Yes, sir.'

  'I'll pass the Missouri launch stuff on to the president. How are we doing on springing that UFO team in Libya?'

  'State has people talking to them now. We'll know more in about a half hour.'

  'Call me back.'

  'Yes, sir.'

  Bombing Joe found O'Reilly in his office. 'A National Guard F-16 over Missouri just fired two Sidewinders at something,' he told the president's man. 'Apparently some damned fool gave orders for squadrons of fighters all over the country to fly armed patrols.'

  'Watch your mouth, General. That "damned fool" was the president. He felt he had to do something dramatic.'

  'Why didn't he consult me? I don't even charge for professional opinions.'

  'You were asleep at the Pentagon. We couldn't wait.'

  'If some used-car salesman in a jet fighter shoots down an airliner full of voters, that will really be something dramatic, all right. Are you out of your little mind? Get a grip, O'Reilly.'

  'Shut up, De Laurio!' O'Reilly was on his feet, his face red. 'You uniformed popinjays don't seem to realize that the fate of Western civilization is on the line.'

  Before Bombing Joe could deck O'Reilly, the president darted into the room. He had just completed a press conference in which he had tried to look presidential. Never in his life had he had a day like this, not even when his mistress held a press conference in New York City to tell all. His face was ashen and his hands were shaking.

  'Damned flying saucers,' he exclaimed as he plopped into a stuffed chair. 'Why in hell didn't these things plague the last administration? Why me?' He tugged at the knot in his tie.

  'Because you deserve it,' Bombing Joe De Laurio muttered under his breath. If anyone heard that remark he gave no indication.

  The general took a deep breath, silently counted to ten, then said loudly, 'Mr. President.' When he had the elected one's attention he told him about the report from Space Command.

  'A saucer went into orbit from central Missouri?' O'Reilly asked incredulously.

  'Apparently so, sir,' Bombing Joe said. 'And an F-16 fired
two Sidewinders at it. Results unknown.'

  'I don't believe a word of it,' the president said firmly and leaned back in the padded chair. 'I don't believe any of this horseshit.' He dabbed at his brow with a handkerchief, careful that he didn't swab off any makeup. 'The Washington Post wanted to know what this administration's position will be when aliens come to negotiate.'

  'They really asked that?' O'Reilly seemed stunned.

  'The college professors say it's time to acknowledge the presence of other life-forms in the universe. The religious types are going nuts. There's a mob of a thousand or so across the street in Lafayette Park waving signs and making speeches, talking about the imminent arrival of the Antichrist.'

  'It's that bad?'

  'It's that bad.' The president's face contorted in a grimace. 'I sacrificed everything for a career in politics. Now I'm the one who has to stand out there and welcome the aliens.'

  'This is another right-wing conspiracy,' P.J. O'Reilly declared.

  The telephone rang. General De Laurio grabbed it. He grunted a time or two, listened for about a minute, then carefully placed the receiver back on the hook.

  He shook his head, rubbed his eyes. 'Okay. Finally we get the real story.' Both the president and chief of staff stared at him with their mouths hanging open.

  'There is only one flying saucer,' Bombing Joe explained. 'A seismic survey crew dug it out of a sandstone ledge in the Sahara Desert. The thing was in the stone since Noah was mucking stables on the Ark. It is now being flown by a former Air Force test pilot and one of the survey workers.'

  The president was horrified. 'Oh, my God!' he groaned.

  'There is no invasion from Planet X,' Bombing Joe said, weighing each word, searching the president's face to see if he was getting through. 'There is no fleet of saucers, no aliens out to conquer the universe, no androids who eat human flesh, no battle of Armageddon. This crisis has been caused by two idiots zipping around in a round artifact scaring the bejesus out of people.'

  'Who says all this? What's your source?' O'Reilly demanded.

  'State got somebody in to see the UFO team that's being held in the central prison in Tripoli. The team was there with the saucer in the desert. They were actually inside it. The test pilot was on that team. When the Libyans showed up, she and a survey worker sneaked into the saucer amid all the excitement and flew it away.'

  'Of all the rotten luck… ' said the president, staring at his hands. He sagged back into the chair. 'Why me, Lord? I just told the Post the aliens would be received like any other foreign dignitaries! I'm going to be laughed out of the White House.'

  I'm going to get something to eat,' said Bombing Joe. He stood and marched out of the room before anyone could order him to remain.

  Egg and Rip found the magazine in the dentist's waiting room. The receptionist, who was on the telephone, just nodded when Egg asked with gestures if they could have it. The three people sitting in the waiting area were watching television reruns of the saucer over Coors Field as experts off camera explained everything.

  The Cantrells took the magazine and left.

  Rip got a new toothbrush and razor at the drugstore across the street, which he put into Egg's suitcase. After a stop at the bank, Egg pulled up at a pay phone at a filling station on the edge of town.

  Fifteen minutes later, Rip was confirmed on a flight from St. Louis to Los Angeles, and from there to Sydney. One way.

  'Can you get me to St. Louis by noon, Egg?'

  'Get in. Let's roll.'

  'General, the saucer is coming out of orbit.' The voice on the telephone sounded smug. 'Space Command is tracking it. They're landing in Australia.'

  De Laurio picked up a fork and whacked it on the table a couple of times. 'Okay,' he said after a moment's thought. 'Call State and the White House and let the duty officers there know. Maybe the Aussies can arrest these people before they scare everybody from Sydney to Perth.'

  'Sir, our armed forces throughout the world are still at DEFCON ONE. What should we do about that?'

  'Let the politicians decide. A little training won't hurt anybody. But under no circumstances is anyone to shoot at anybody or anything without direct authorization from the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Got that?'

  'Yes, sir.'

  Bombing Joe hung up the phone and attacked his breakfast.

  Egg and Rip were an hour down the highway when Rip said, 'You check on Mom, will ya? See that she's all right. If those jerks are still at the farm, call the police. Send the cops over.'

  'Sure, Rip. Don't worry about your mom. Hedrick got what he wanted. He's called off the dogs.'

  'The saucer isn't going to do him any good.'

  'Kid, you may not be able to get the saucer away from Hedrick. He's filthy rich, got his own private army, owns that part of the world and all the politicians in it.'

  'I know that, Uncle. I'm going to give it a try, though. But what I'm really after is the girl — I'm not leaving Australia without Charley.'

  Egg smiled then.

  Charley Pine had no trouble finding Hedrick's station even though it was night in Australia. She flew west from the lights of Sydney until she spotted the approach lights of Hedrick's private runway. Hedrick had landed there many times in his Boeing jet, so he stood beside her looking out the canopy and gave her rudimentary directions. The ranch headquarters was a huge, sprawling complex a short distance from the runway.

  'Land in front of the hangar,' Hedrick directed. 'We'll put it inside.'

  She did as she was told.

  Once the saucer was on the ground, a crowd quickly gathered. Charley opened the hatch for Hedrick. 'You fly this thing into the hangar,' he told her before he got out. 'Rigby,' he said, with a glance at his man. He jerked his head at Charley, then let himself down through the hatch. Rigby grinned broadly. 'Back into the seat. I'll be standing behind you. One false move and I'll snap your neck like a dry twig.'

  'I've waited all my life for a real man like you.' He did stand right behind her. She could smell his breath. As she reached for the controls to lift the saucer to move it, his hands went around her neck. 'Let go of me, you bastard.'

  He did release his grip, but his hands hovered there by her shoulders. 'Goose it,' he whispered, his voice urgent. 'Go ahead. I want to see you fly with a broken neck.'

  She moved the saucer through the open door into the dark interior, and set it down again.

  She killed the reactor and climbed out of the seat. The hatch was still open, so she dropped through it.

  Hedrick was on a cell phone. He gestured to a man, who asked her to accompany him. They got in a golf cart and rode a hundred yards or so to the main house, a monstrous structure as big as a hotel. After walking through endless corridors past enough art to fill a medium-sized museum, she was locked in a bedroom without a telephone.

  Only then did Charley Pine begin to shake. That passed after a minute or so, leaving her exhausted. She stood at the window, which was two stories above the ground, staring at the lights of the hangar. Finally she lay down on the bed.

  Bombing Joe went back to the White House after he finished breakfast. He was glad he did. He got to watch the president have a conversation with the Australian prime minister that tickled the bottom of his heart, though not a trace of his delight showed on his face.

  'Mr. Prime Minister, you don't understand,' the president said into the telephone. 'We are not asking you to arrest these people. Oh, no, sir. Merely to detain them for questioning… '

  The president listened a bit, looking very sour. 'Yes, sir, we are sure the saucer is there… Our satellite tracking network watched it come out of orbit and enter the Sydney area, where we lost it.'

  He frowned.

  'Certainly it is the same saucer… I assert to you that it is the same machine. It was tracked from liftoff here to touchdown there… Okay, into the Sydney area… Not touchdown… Indeed, I misspoke. Will you assist us?'

  The president listened for almost a minute before he spoke a
gain. 'The United States has extensive military, cultural, and economic relations with Australia. Your country and mine are allies. Why are you being so obtuse?'

  The good-byes were short and curt. The president slammed down the phone and glowered at his listeners, the secretary of state, O'Reilly, Bombing Joe, and several aides.

  'They won't do anything unless the crew of the saucer violates Australian law. Nothing.'

  'What?' O'Reilly was furious. 'He can't do that.'

  'He just did. He said that other issues, Australian sovereignty issues, were involved. He would not take orders from the American president. He suggested that the American ambassador deliver a note during working hours that sets forth our request and the grounds for it. It will be considered, he said.'

  'He brushed you off,' O'Reilly declared, obviously shocked.

  'Someone got to him,' the secretary of state said ominously.

  'What a day! I don't know about the rest of you people, but I want a drink,' said the president and pushed a button to summon the valet even though the clock on the wall said it was still an hour before noon.

  Late that afternoon a large helicopter bearing U.S. Air Force markings circled lazily over Egg Cantrell's farm, then dropped very low over the burned grass on the runway. It hovered over the burned area for a bit before it gently touched down. Three men disembarked.

  They examined the burned area on the runway, then separated. One man went up to the house to knock on the door, a second went to the hangar to peer in the windows, and the third examined Egg's other outbuildings.

  The helicopter pilot remained in his machine with the blades engaged.

  Twelve minutes after landing, the three men climbed back into the helicopter and it lifted off. One of the three got on the radio. 'It was probably here. The hangar is large enough. It contains a lot of junk and antiques, but there is enough room. No one on the premises.'

  The man listened to the reply, then motioned for the pilot to fly on.

  Rip Cantrell was sitting in a cafeteria in the international terminal of the Los Angeles airport, killing time and sipping a Coke, when Professor Soldi came on the television set mounted high in the corner of the room. The tube had been giving saucer coverage since Rip entered the room an hour ago. Only a few people were paying attention.