Tarizon: Desert Swarm Read online

  Chapter 33

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  Agent Sanders watched the big cowboy through binoculars wondering who he was and what he was doing. She recognized Jimmy Malone as a CIA operative who worked directly with the President and General Thornton. This puzzled her.

  “Who is that guy?” Jack asked.

  “I don’t know. He’s someone the CIA has brought in. Some kind of a consultant I would guess.”

  “A biologist perhaps?”

  ‘Possibly. He appears to be taking a nap.”

  Jack laughed. “Really. Sounds like a government consultant.”

  “I wonder how much he’s charging the taxpayers for the nap.” George snorted.

  “So, why would somebody be napping close to where the rock monster is present?” Cindy asked.

  Jack pondered that question. “Well, if it were possible to communicate with a microorganism it couldn’t be done with voices. The microorganism wouldn’t understand English even if they had ears. It would have to be with the mind.”

  “That’s what I was thinking,” Cindy said.

  George nodded. “I think you’re on to something. This guy must be communicating telepathically.”

  Agents Sanders frowned. “That’s easy to say, but do you actually know anybody who can communicate telepathically?”

  “No,” George admitted. “But obviously there’s a lot the government keeps secret.”

  “Well, if we had people who could read minds I’m sure the FBI would know about it.”

  “Do your superiors tell you all their secrets?” Jack asked.

  “No,” Agent Sanders acknowledged. “But that one would be so useful in law enforcement, I’m sure I would have heard about it.”

  “Assuming you’re right,” George said. “Then we are back to the alien equation. Could that huge man with very strange looking skin be an alien.”

  Agent Sanders put the binoculars to her eyes again and studied the man. “Well, now that you mention it he looks extremely muscular and fit. Oh, my.”

  “What is it?” Jack asked.

  “There’s still a price tag on the side of his jeans.”

  “Really. What do you think that means?”

  “It means he just bought them. So it’s probably a disguise,” Cindy suggested.

  “If you look close, it doesn’t even fit him.

  “Everyone looked at her. Agent Sanders smiled. “Very good, Cindy.”

  “So, how do we find out more about this guy?” Jack asked.

  “We keep an eye on him,” Agent Sanders replied. “We need to know everything he does.”

  “I know someone in this neighborhood who will let us use their yard for surveillance,” Jack said.

  “How well do you know them?” Agent Sanders asked. “We can’t let anyone find out we are investigating the army.”

  “I know. It’s not a problem. It’s one of my employees, Barry Flint. We go way back.”

  “Okay, the rest of us can go back to the college and start piecing together what we have learned so far. I need to report into my supervisor too.”

  “Sounds good,” Jack said. “We’ll check in with you tomorrow.”

  Agent Sanders, George and Cindy left in her car and Jack and Dolly drove their truck over to Flint’s house. Flint was out front watering his lawn. He waved when he saw it was Jack approaching.

  “What are you doing around here?” Barry asked.

  “Watching the Army process the crime scene.”

  Barry nodded. “Yeah. It’s kind of scary what happened, huh?”

  “It sure is. . . . Hey. This is my girlfriend Dolly.”

  Dolly smiled and extended her hand. Barry shook it gingerly.

  “Nice to meet you.”

  “So, Barry. I’m not buying the Army’s explanation of the murders, are you?”

  “No. Reverend Little gets carried away at times, but I don’t think he is a killer.”

  “Neither do I, and I don’t like the government coming in trying to protect the real killer. We need to get to the bottom of what’s going on at the Bat Mountain Site. It’s no goddam geological uplift. There’s something going on out there and I want to know what it is.”

  “I agree, but what can we do about it?”

  “Well, one thing is to let me and Dolly hang out here tonight. There’s something strange going on at the Hanson place and we want to keep an eye on it.”

  “That’s fine. Josie’s off to school, so we’ve got a spare bedroom.”

  “Actually we’d like to use your rooftop if you don’t mind. I want to keep a set of binoculars on what’s going on over there.”

  “No problem. Is there anything I can do to help?”

  “No. Just keep what we’re doing to yourself, okay. If the Army finds out we’re watching them they might try to stop us.”

  “Not a problem, but someone might spot you on the roof.”

  “We’ll wear dark clothing and wait until the sun goes down to go up there.”

  Barry nodded and invited them into the house. They talked and Mrs. Flint invited them for supper. After they ate they climbed onto the roof, found a comfortable spot, and took turns watching the place. Nothing happened during the night but at first dawn Jack spotted the big cowboy and Malone drive up. The cowboy went back under the canopy and took the same position he’d been in the day before. Jack wondered what they were talking about, if indeed that was what was going on.

  After a minute the cowboy abruptly sat up and sprang to his knees. He was starting to stand up when the ground began to vibrate causing a rumbling sound like thunder. Then the ground began to shake violently. Jack shook Dolly who had fallen asleep.

  “Get up! Something’s happening.”

  Dolly’s eyes opened and she rolled onto her knees. “What is it?”

  Just as she said it the ground all around the Hanson property gave way. Jack saw Jimmy Malone, who’d been standing just outside the canopy, try to run away but the ground beneath him fell away. The cowboy was gone too, having been devoured by the huge sink hole that stretched at least a hundred yards across.

  “What happened?” Dolly exclaimed.

  “I don’t know, but the Cowboy and Malone are gone. We better get down there and see if we can see them.”

  They scampered down the ladder as Barry came running out of the house. “What’s going on! I heard a horrible noise.”

  “The ground has collapsed. We better get over and see if we can rescue anybody.”

  They all three ran across the street and down the block to where Hanson’s lot used to be. When they reached the rim, they peered down and saw nothing but dust.

  “I can’t see a thing,” Dolly complained.

  “Oh, my God!” Barry exclaimed. “It must be fifty feet deep.”

  “Can you see anybody?” Jack asked.

  “No, I can’t—wait, there’s something moving over there!” Dolly replied

  Jack looked over where she was pointing and saw the cowboy hanging onto a ledge about twenty feet below the rim. “We need a rope,” Jack said.

  “I’ve got one in the garage,” Barry said. “I’ll go get it.”

  Several dozen neighbors were now huddled around looking down into the pit. “What happened?” someone asked.

  “It’s a big sinkhole,” Jack replied. “Two people are down there. You can see one of them, so we’re going to try and rescue him. Someone call the fire department.”

  A few moments later Barry returned with the rope. “Here you go!” he yelled.

  Jack took the rope and ran over to a spot directly above the cowboy. Then he tied a loop on one end and lowered it down until the cowboy could reach it. The man put one foot in the loop and nodded for them to pull him out. Jack and Barry tried to pull him out but he was too heavy.

  Jack looked over at the crowd. “A little help, please!”

  Two men came rushing over and between all four of them they were able to pull the cowboy out of the sink hole.

  �
��Are you okay?” Jack asked as the cowboy climbed out.

  “I think so,” he replied seeming a bit dazed.

  “Who are you?” Jack asked.

  The man didn’t reply but just gave Jack a hard look. “You saved my life.”

  “Not really,” Jack said. “The fire department would have got you out had we not done it.”

  “No. I couldn’t have held on much longer.”

  “Well, I’m glad we could help, but you didn’t tell us your name.”

  “Linkh Leode,” he replied.

  Sirens began wailing in the distance and Linkh looked in that direction nervously.

  “Were you here with Agent Malone?” Jack asked.

  Linkh looked at Jack seeming surprised by the question. “Do you know Jimmy?”

  “Not really. Agent Sanders pointed him out to me. She knows him.”

  “Can you take me to him? I can’t be found by the authorities. We must leave now.”

  “Sure. We’ll take you to her.”

  “Oh. Agent Sanders is a woman. Okay.”

  “Come on,” Jack replied taking Link’s arm.

  They started jogging toward Barry’s house as fire trucks rolled up. When they got there they went inside and Barry’s wife attended to Linkh’s scrapes and bruises. Then Jack, Dolly and Linkh got in the truck and drove off. Jack couldn’t believe their good fortune to have saved Linkh’s life. He wondered if he would tell them anything.

  “So, Linkh, do you know what caused the ground to collapse,” Jack said smiling at him.

  “Yes, but I’m not at liberty to discuss it.”

  Jack noted that Linkh spoke English quite well but he had an unusual accent. Jack knew he wasn’t American. “I hope they’re able to rescue Jimmy. That would be a horrible way to die.”

  “Yes, but I don’t think they will. I saw him fall deep into the hole. I was only able to save myself because I knew what was about to happen.”

  “Really? How did you know that?”

  “I was warned.”

  “By whom?” Jack asked.

  “I’m not at liberty to say. It’s classified, as Jimmy called it.”

  “It looked like you were communicating with someone,” Jack said.

  Linkh looked at Jack curiously. “How did you know that?”

  “Well it seems obvious that there is some sort of microorganism in the walls that were growing under the canopy. I was the one who discovered the Bat Mountain Site in the beginning, so I know there is another cathedral under construction here.”

  “Oh, you’re the Jack Carpenter that Malone is always complaining about.”

  Jack nodded. “Yes. I’m sure that’s me.”

  “He doesn’t like you. He says you are the cause of all his troubles.”

  “Is that right? Well, from his perspective that’s probably true, but I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on.”

  “I shouldn’t talk to you, but since you saved my life I’ll tell you a few things if you swear to your God that you won’t tell any one how you learned of it.”

  “Absolutely, I swear.”

  “I am not from this world.”

  Jack looked at Dolly and swallowed hard. He looked back at Linkh. “Okay. I was wondering about that.”