Synopsis:

Scott was on his way west to meet up with his friends to start a new life in L A. What he came across in the desert after his car broke down would change him forever. He wondered if his friends would recognise him once they finally met again. He didn’t think this was what his friend’s intended when they said, "start a new life."

Chapter Thirteen

Leaving the others seemed scary at first, not having the backup of the car or the glasses, not to mention Sara's keen insight on overcoming difficult situations. William was thinking how different Scott had become since becoming Sara. She had blossomed, and seemed to be a take-charge person now, unlike the layback person she'd been as Scott. He knew she was only a phone call away, but having thousands of miles between them, made the point moot, they would have to solve their own problems, if push came to shove.

They drove through the outskirts of San Francisco heading south before driving the Volvo onto the highway leading towards Los Angeles; they took their time, knowing that the others had many weeks before they would be back. They spent some time in Reno and visited Bakersfield, before William changed into Huang Chien Liang in readiness to checkout his property in Los Angeles.

They drove through the centre of the city heading southeast towards Boyle Heights. They managed to get off the freeway and drove past the Evergreen playground heading for Wellington heights. They slowed as they approached their destination, stopping outside 34 Gleason Street that overlooked the nearby Obregan Park.

Everything looked quiet from the road, not that much of the house could be seen through the trees and shrubbery surrounding it. William swiped his security card that was included inside his, or rather Huang's wallet, allowing the main gate to open. Driving through, William saw the gates closing after them, probably from a buried induction sensor under the driveway. The card also keyed the house and William quickly disabled the alarm system inside using the memories supplied with Huang's body.

After a hasty reconnoitre, to establish that they were alone, they began a more thorough search. Strangely, the place was immaculate, showing no signs of hasty departure. The two-storied place was fully furnished with contemporary furniture. A swimming pool was visible from the back windows, along with an entertaining area with seats and table by a gas-powered barbecue. Checking the fridge brought the first shock. The milk was fresh. According to the date, it must have been put there in the last day or two. There was cold meat, that when Julie smelt it, indicated it wasn't old. Considering the weeks since the aliens had left, if this place had been abandoned, why wasn't the food stale and fit only to throw away.

"Maybe he had a cleaning service or a person who kept the place stocked up." Julie offered, hoping this was the correct answer. "Are there any memories available in that body that might help?"

"No, at least nothing that helps, remember, it’s mostly names and skills, not actual thoughts, which carry over. You could be right about the maid, either that, or he never left with the others," William mentioned nervously, looking around.

"See if there's a computer, I'll check in the garage," suggested Julie.

The pair split up, Julie headed towards the built in garage at the front, while William headed upstairs. Julie came across a battered looking motorbike of questionable heritage, but saw no signs of a car, which disappointed her. In fact, the garage was full of a home gym and looked like there had never been a car there. Obviously Huang was interested in keeping fit, and with his martial arts skills, this seemed appropriate. 'Maybe he ran everywhere,' she thought, dismissing the eyesore of a bike as a practical mode of transport. She heard William call, so she left and went back to see what William had found.

"Hey! Jules," William said, calling her by the nickname he had started using. "This computer hasn't even been wiped, and seems to have had a message left for us."

"For us?" A suddenly frightened Julie asked, feeling a shiver run down her spine.

"Well, not for us exactly, but for whoever eventually opened the computer." William elaborated, making Julie feel a tiny bit better.

"But I'm concerned that the time of the entry, post dates the date when they were supposed to have left."

The chills came back, as Julie thought about what that meant, there were still aliens on earth, possibly watching them now invading their homes. Julie's first thought was to leave immediately.

"What did the message say?" She finally asked.

"Here, read it yourself," William said, allowing her see the screen.

The Unipodstor is available for use. Make full use of it, to seek out that, which will determine your future.

Julie stared at the words sitting on the screen. It didn't seem particularly directed at them; she even considered that it was just a message for another alien, maybe the Unipodstor was their name for a space ship.

"What makes you think it was for us and not a message for another alien?"

"This," William answered, scrolling up the screen.

Julie read the words outlined there. 'To those reading this, we leave you our gifts, use them wisely.'

"Wow! Exclaimed Julie. "That is pretty explicit. I wonder what else we will find here. Is there anything else on the computer?"

"No, it's like there has been nothing put on the laptop, other than the latest regular programs. It shows no signs of being used at all unless it was cleaned thoroughly. I checked the install dates on the programs and they have all been loaded within the last two weeks. That's the weirdest part."

"Maybe someone formatted the drive and reloaded everything."

"Yeah, but that still leaves us with a someone." William added.

"I'm scared," Julie said, snuggling closer to William in search of reassurance.

William put his arms around Julie, holding her close. He liked being the protector around Julie, it gave his life meaning, and she was so huggable as well. He kissed her hair, before pushing her back a little in his arms, so he could see her face.

"I trust Sara and her instincts. She's been on the money so far, and if she thinks the aliens aren't out to do us harm, then that's how I'm going to deal with it. I won't be running around, looking over my shoulder thinking the aliens are going to get me. That's no way to live. Let's play it as we go and trust in Sara." He comforted her, before kissing her luscious rose bud mouth.

Tummy demons interrupted their intimate moment, reminding them with a growl that they hadn't eaten in hours.

"I'll go get some 'real' fresh food, while you continue the search," William suggested, reluctantly pulling out of their mutual embrace.

"But, but I'll be here alone," protested Julie weakly, feeling strangely vulnerable.

"I'm just going to be ten minutes, twenty at the most, You're a big girl now, you'll be fine," promised William, as he pecked her on the cheek, before heading outside.

Julie watched him drive out from one of the windows overlooking the driveway. Trying to curb the feeling of loss, as her lover departed, she tried to put her mind on other things, as she continued the search.

William seemed to be taking longer than twenty minutes, as she checked her watch. Her search had netted a selection of sunglasses in a male style, but wasn't sure if any had the same powers as the pair found in Australia, maybe Huang just wearing lots of different glasses. They may only work with a male anyway. She put them aside and waited for William.

An hour had passed and Julie was fretting. This was one of the drawbacks of being female, the sense vulnerability. Being smaller and lighter than Daniel, she had used the others as a shield against any threat she may have sensed. Knowing there was two strong bodies nearby, (William and Kevin) along with Sara, who by force of personality made her presence seem more imposing, had allowed her let the others take charge, while she fell more into the role of the helpless female. Daniel had been the same, in a way, allowing the others to be in charge, whilst he was content to follow their lead. Maybe that's why she felt more comfortable as a woman, seeing Daniel lacked that aggressive drive so commonly found in the male population. Being a woman meant she didn't need to compete to get ahead, but that didn't mean she was a pushover, she found that women held the reins to a lot of things that were not that obvious. Julie considered herself more empowered now, than before, as a man. With a look or word, she could make William do what she wanted far better than Daniel ever did. She loved being a woman, and if William didn't get home soon, she'd show him just how much of a tiger she could be.

A toot on a horn drew her out of her introspection. She ran outside, her resolution to tell William off for worrying her, forgotten. She halted, seeing a cab, instead of the Volvo. She'd thought the horn had sounded different. Julie chided herself for not checking before going outside. That could have been anyone driving up. Seeing William paying the driver and pulling a few shopping bags out filled her with questions.

"Sorry for the delay, I should have taken the cell phone. I guess I'm not used to carrying one yet," William opologised, seeing her expression. "Her, give us a hand will you, our luggage is in the trunk." He added, taking the bags of their belongings from the trunk of the cab.

"What happened? Where's the Volvo?" Julie asked, taking some of the lighter items.

"I'm afraid the Volvo's kaput. A concrete truck ran a red light and struck the front, as I was moving forward. The car got sandwiched between the truck and a bus waiting at the intersection. It's totalled. I guess we can claim insurance."

Oh crap, are you okay? No injuries? What about the bus, was anybody else hurt?" Julie's rapid-fire questions coming almost too fast for William sort out.

"Yes, no, the bus was empty, and no, I think that's correct," William smiled, kissing Julie to stop the next seventy trillion questions. "The car was towed and I called a cab so I could unload our gear from the Volvo. Oh, and I picked up dinner as well." William added seeming pleased that he hadn't forgotten that.

Later, when their belongings had been placed in the bedroom and attention was given to satisfying their hunger, William asked if she'd found anything. Julie went and retrieved the glasses after finishing dinner and showed them to William. Removing her bracelet, William tried them on in turn, testing them on Julie. A ray ban look-alike turned out to have the same hypnotising power as the pair Sara had.

"Great work hon," William congratulated her, making Julie feel like she'd achieved something. Now all we need is some new wheels."

"The only wheels are attached to a wreck of a motorbike." Julie informed him, her tone indicating what she thought of that idea.

"Well if it's the only option," William left the question hanging.

"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you," Julie smiled.

"Okay first thing in the morning, I have a date with a bed and a warm body," grinned William, giving Julie a cuddle.

"That body better be mine," she pouted back

"Um, well-ouch! That hurt," he protested, laughing, as Julie punched him lightly.

Morning saw them up early; having satisfied their animal needs that night. Once breakfast was over, they moved the motorbike out into the morning light for a closer inspection. First impressions confirmed Julie's opinion that it was a wreck. However, as William stood it up on the bike stand, Julie saw something she had missed. Having only viewed it from one side in the garage, she hadn't seen a small knob that looked very similar to the one on the truck.

It struck her like the proverbial blinding flash and deafening report, that just like the default setting of the car was a ratty old truck, this could be the default setting of another car like Scott had found. Excitedly, she hopped on and turned the ignition switch, before William could even protest. She saw that despite its apparent age, it did have an electric start. When the engine rumbled into life, she felt the vibrations send tingles through her groin.

"Wait, are you sure you want to test it?" asked a concerned William, as he saw her hand on the knob.

"Better stand back in case it transforms into something that might cover where you are standing," warned Julie.

William was almost knocked over, as Julie turned the knob. Having only just stepped back, he was still forced back by whatever the bike had become. The instant the knob was turned, the noise of the engine ceased to be audible and a brilliant sphere or coruscating light appeared in its place. As it expanded, it pressed against William forcing him back. It was like a pressure wave, pushing him outwards, without any tangible sensation against his skin. It swelled into a twelve-foot ball of glittery light, completely covering Julie.

William called to Julie, fearing for her safety. No answer, the ball remained silent, shedding its light all around. William took out his cell phone, deciding to ring Sara.

"Sara, it's William."

"We have a situation here, Julie found a motorbike with a knob like the truck, but when she used it, a huge ball of energy enveloped her."

As William spoke to Sara, he saw the ball starting to diminish leaving an outline of Julie to be seen, still covered by the glow.

"Wait, it's starting to change, I need to see to her,"

"Okay, I'll ring you back," he finished. Seeing that Julie's body was clear of whatever had covered her. William could see that Julie was sitting in some sort of daze. Her eyes unblinking were staring straight ahead and didn't react to his hand waving into front of them. He called softly to her, trying to bring her out of her fugue.

After five minutes, a shiver ran through Julie's slender body, as she came out of her frozen state.

"What happened? Are you okay?" William asked, worriedly, as he held her close.

"Um, well, sort of, it talked to me," Julie said, trying to collect her wits after the weird experience.

"What talked?"

I guess the owners- the Shelke," Julie replied, not realising at first the import of her words.

Sara's cell phone chimed about an hour after William had called the first time. She'd been sitting nervously in the motel waiting for this call. She had told Kevin to take Kim shopping to get her some new clothes, as Sara didn't want their guest to see her worrying. She listened to William, as he related the events that had followed his first call. Sara told him about Kim and her worries, about the situation. Sara was just ending the call, telling William, that she'd call soon, when Kevin and an excited Kim came back.

"Was that them?" Kevin asked, as Kim bounced into the room waving bag filled arms.

"Yes, I'll tell you in a minute," Sara answered, looking at Kim.

"This is so great," gushed Kim, pulling out a dress. "I can not believe that I bought dresses and skirts."

"Kim, honey, I know you're excited, but I need to talk to Kevin. Do you mind going to your bedroom and amuse yourself with your new clothes while we talk?"

"Sure, no problem. I'll be trying everything on again," she bubbled, not sensing the air of tension in the room.

"What happened?" asked Kevin, once Kim had left the room.

"Well," Sara started, smiling at the happy noises emanating from Kim's bedroom. "It seems while Julie was trying out another version of the truck, she was enveloped with a type of energy screen. She went into a fugue state while she got a pocket version the Shelke’s history."

"Shelke?"

"Our alien friends, at least that's what Julie said it sounded like." Sara elaborated.

"These Shelke talked to her?" Kevin interrupted again, as he sat down beside her on the couch.

"Yes, now stop interrupting," she chided, poking him in the ribs. "Or I'll never get the story finished." She smiled, seeing him do a zipping of lips motion, as she started again.

"The Shelke come from deep in the galactic core. They are, but one of many different races living there. The Shelke are more adventurous than some and were drawn here, once they left the more populous areas near the core."

"Drawn here?" asked Kevin forgetting his promise.

"Yes, apparently we advertised our presence by all of our radio transmissions beaming into space. Once they got closer, they picked up our television signals as well. Once they realised how far away we were, they knew that a better way of space travel was needed, as their first generation jump ships were limited in range. Knowing that there were others living out here, helped give them the impetus to develop a new way of travel. Julie couldn't understand the technical terms, but it uses some sort of wormhole drive. A micro black hole powers it. Julie thinks there was mention of a white hole involved as well."

"Wow,"

"Yeah, once they reached earth they use a magnetic resonance drive that feeds off the natural ley-lines around the world. Julie said it came across like the old trolley buses with the arms that connected to the overhead wires. Instead they have a loop field that slides along the nearest ley-line, getting shorter or longer as they move in the opposite direction to the lines. Once the ley-line gets further out of reach, the loop field flashes across to the next nearest ley-line. Julie said that it looked similar to one of those Van De Graff generators where the electric arcs wave around looking for something to ground on. Once an 'arc' if you want to call it finds a ley-line, it latches to it and thickens, as it draws power. Once the distance gets too great it thins, allowing the other arcs to search out the next nearest source of power. Oh and it needn't just be ley-lines that it uses, any power source with do. High voltage lines, cars, you name it."

"That's fantastic," Kevin broke in. "What else did she find out?"

"The reason they were called back from earth." Sara said sombrely.

To be continued.

  

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 © 2005 by Prudence Walker. All Rights Reserved. These documents (including, without limitation, all articles, text, images, logos, and compilation design) may be printed for personal use only. No portion of these documents may be stored electronically, distributed electronically, or otherwise made available without the express written consent of the copyright holder.