Trouble With UFOs - Episode 6

Trouble with UFOs

By Toni Walker

Episode 6: Attack of the Nanies Part Two

I’m not sure what time it was. I felt like I’d slept over eight hours. For the first time, I looked around my room. I shook my head. My room. It was hard to believe I had a place here.

My door opened suddenly and Penny stuck her head inside my door. A big smile crossed her face. “Hey, girlfriend, you coming out anytime today?”

I winced and struggled into a sitting position. “I thought I was a prisoner.”

Penny looked upward in thought. “Well, yeah, in a manner of speaking, but there are so many cool things to do here.”

She came inside and pulled me into a standing position. I don’t think I could have done so otherwise. Her smile was infectious.

“Get up. Come on. You’ll love it.”

As she pulled me outside my door, I suddenly felt a lot better. I took a deep breath and sighed.

“I see you noticed the aromatherapy,” Penny sniffed the air. “Vanilla bean and lavender with a touch of mint.”

I raised my eyebrow.

“What? It’s a talent.”

Penny led me down one row and over two.

“You’re gonna love this,” she said. Penny pushed me out into the main throughway. “Ta da! What do you think? Cool, huh?”

Whatever I was expecting, it wasn’t this. It was like looking at a vendors alley in Disneyland. The closest place had a large circle logo. It took me a second to realize what it was.

“A Starbucks? In Area 51?”

“I know! Killer, huh?” Penny got into line behind a tall black man who had to be pushing sixty. The man behind the counter handed Penny a tall frothy drink that probably had more sugar than a dozen donuts.

“What’s your poison?” Benji, the manager, asked.

“Hazelnut with cream. But I’m not a fan of Starbucks,” I said with a shrug.

“Of course,” he said as he accessed a panel on the side of the kiosk. “Ah, St. Louis Bread Company, eh?”

I smiled in surprise. “Yeah, how did you know that?”

“They know all,” Penny said wiggling her fingers.

“Take a look around,” Benji said. “A lot of interesting things around here to keep you occupied.”

“Benji’s all about keeping busy,” Penny said. “Hey, you gotta check this out.”

Penny led me to what looked like a bookstore with the words Amazon.com stenciled on the glass.

“We all get a Kindle when we arrive, but it’s more fun to browse through a real tangible bookstore than search for a book on the website.“ Penny whipped hers out of her pocket. “And I know you love you some books. I’ve seen photos of your book collection. And might I say -- AWESOME.”

“How do you know about my book collection?”

“I sometimes help out with technical issues. You know, computer stuff.” Penny smiled. “You should check out your kindle. I’ll bet they put every book you own on it plus a whole bunch you only dreamed of having.”

“That sounds great,” I said slowly. I was more than a little freaked out that Area 51 knew so much about me, about my preferences.

Penny searched up and down the isles scanning bar codes of books. I picked up one as well scanning a label of a book that wouldn’t come out until September. The lady at the front desk stared at my scanner read out. “That’s all? Just one?”

I nodded. “How much does something like this cost?”

“It’s all free,” she said with a weak smile., “Everything on the Concourse is. You must be new.”

“I’m showing her around,” Penny said enthusiastically. “This place is basically a one stop shop filled to the brim with anything you could ever want or dream about.”

“It sounds too good to be true.” I leaned against a bench inside the Kindle Store. “I think I’ve had too much of a good thing.”

“Ah, come on! You can’t leave now. We’ve only scratched the surface.” Penny pouted with as much enthusiasm as she smiled.

Before I could return to my room, Clarke Jenkins appeared on the Concourse. He seemed to be looking for someone. It turned out that someone was me.

“You’re a hard lady to track down,” Clarke said. “Considering what happened yesterday, shouldn’t you be resting?”

“What happened yesterday?” Penny’s innocent eyes stared up at Clarke, but it was another voice that answered her.

“I’m afraid that’s classified.” Jack Osbourne parted the crowd with a stern look.

“Jack?” I was relieved to see a familiar face. I clutched him in a big bear hug he only half returned. He and I had our issues in the past. Maybe he was still dealing with them. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m part of the military contingent that works here.” The easy smile I remembered returned for a brief second and then was gone.

“Did you see that?” Penny pointed to Jack’s face. “I think I saw a moment of true emotion. There goes my theory that you’re a government issued automaton.

“Penny, we’re going to have to steal Taffy away for awhile.” An edge of concern marked his brow.

“More tests?” I asked, deflated. 

“I’m afraid so.”

I waved a goodbye to Penny while Clarke and Jack momentarily conferred then momentarily loaded me into what looked like a golf cart. Clarke whisked me away toward the restricted area where the labs were located.

“It shouldn’t take more than an hour,” Clarke assured me. “I want to take a closer look at the anomaly I found in your blood.”

“Get that look of terror off your face,” Jack said.

“Excuse me for being freaked out, but the last time they tried a routine procedure on me I nearly died.”

“Died is a strong word. You were having a seizure. Technically, that’s not dying,” Clarke wiped my arm with alcohol.

I turned away. I was not a big fan of needles. I had been a sickly kid and spent much of my youth in and out of doctor’s offices.

“Still have a needle phobia,” Jack asked.

I closed my eyes until Clarke finished drawing my blood. “Let’s just say, I’m not a fan.”

+++

“What’s the verdict, doc?” Jack asked. Clarke could tell he was being patient but that would only last up to a point.

Clarke moved from one slide to the next, then shook his head. “It’s not there.”

“What’s not there?”

“The foreign nanites. The ones that attacked my nanos. They’re gone. I can’t explain it.” Clarke raked a hand through his hair.

“Where could they go?” Jack asked. She’s been under constant surveillance since she arrived.

I don’t know,” Clarke said.

“Can you put one of your nanites into one of these samples of Taffy’s blood?”

“What could would that do?”

“Just do it.”

Clarke reluctantly followed Jack’s suggestion. As he added one nanite with a syringe to the closest blood sample. As he observed under the microscope, the foreign nanites began popping up in the sample.

“Oh, my God. That’s not possible Somehow my nanites bring out the foreign ones in her blood.”

“Ah, doc…” Jack was looking into a second microscope fitted with a drop of Taffy’s blood straight from the vile. “You need to take a look at this.”

Clarke slid over, peered into the second microscope and gasped. “That’s not possible.” But it was clear as say. This blood sample also had the foreign nanites as big as life. “I altered that sample over there. This sample should theoretically be clean.”

“Maybe they’re somehow wirelessly communicating with each other.”

As Jack posed his theory, a light of wonder filled Clarke’s eyes. He stood and ran to the room where Taffy was resting.

“What?” Jack asked, following the doctor. “Am I right?”

When they duo arrived in the room, Taffy was seizing on the bed.

“This shouldn’t be happening,” Clarke said. “That blood sample in the other room shouldn’t be effecting her here.”

“But it is.”

“She’s defying basic scientific principles.”

“Screw the scientific principles. Save Taffy.” Jack ran back to the lab and grabbed the slide. “What if destroying the nanite doesn’t work this time.”

“I’ve been asking myself the same question.”

Trouble With UFOs - Episode 5

Episode 5 - Surprising Development

Taffy Appleton's hand twitched and Jack grabbed it. Pretty soon her entire body was convulsing. Clarke could hear the confusion down the hallway. He raced into the room with an injector canister. 

"Hold her down!"

"What's wrong with her, Doc?" Jack asked.

"It's nearly impossible, but somehow Taffy already has nanos in her blood."

"How is that possible?"

"I have no clue." Clarke pushed the injector into her arm.

"What is that?"

"I'm giving the nanos I placed into her blood a signal. They should be integrated back into her system."

"What about the others?" Jack still hadn't made up his mind about the doc. Should he trust him with Taffy's life?

"I'll do some testing on them," Clarke said. "I'm very curious where they might have come from. It's fascinating."

Taffy began to stir. She opened her eyes and looked directly at one man. "Jack?" Her voice cracked. "You're hair is so short."

Jack couldn't help but laugh. Only Taffy could face death and come out smiling. He glanced toward Clarke. "I think she's going to be okay."

"She may be okay, but if McCabe finds about I had to flush a hundred thousand dollars worth of nanites dow the toilet, we could both be hurting."

"Then maybe you need to find a way to control the nanites she already has in her body," Jack suggested.

"You don't know what you're asking. These are the most advanced things I've ever seen."

"What are you saying exactly, Doc?"

"I'm saying that technology like that doesn't come from this world."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Not you too. You let them suck you in."

"I've been here a lot longer than you have, Jack. I've seen things."

Taffy was still displaying signs of wooziness so she couldn't follow the conversation. She closed her eyes to get the energy to ask a question, but before she could she fell back asleep.

Clarke pulled out a needle and placed it into an unmarked bottle. He filled the needle up to the end and injected it into her arm.

"What's that stuff?" Jack flinched as Clarke extracted the needle.

"It's ATP. It's what the nanos feed on," Clarke said. "What I can't figure out is why she hasn't collapsed before now."

"What do you mean?" Jack asked.

"Nano technology requires an energy source. In the human body, it's powered by something called ATP. The body can't rebuild the substance very quickly so the subject would have to have daily infusions of some sort to replenish the quickly depleting supply."

"If you didn't put the foreign nanos into her, who could?" Jack asked.

Clarke shook his head. "I don't know, Jack. I really don't know."

+++

The rays of the morning sun woke me up. If I was near a window, I knew I wouldn't need an alarm clock. I walked to the curtains and pulled them back and found a sophisticated light box. There were no actual windows.

It took me a few minutes to remember where I was. I was still trapped in Area 51.

I heard a curious giggling outside my door and couldn't help but investigate. A pixie-haired girl no more than eighteen laughed as a boy nearly her age threw her a frisbee. The disc almost took off my head as I opened the door.

"Oh, I am so sorry," the girl said. "My bad."

"You don't look like you threw it, so I doubt it's your bad." The pixie shrugged, clearly apologetic. As the boy walked closer, I realized it wasn't a boy but a well-defined man wearing a tank top and shorts.

"It's my fault," he said, now standing in front of me. "I didn't expect anyone to be in this room yet."

"Yeah," the pixie interjected. "You're not supposed to be here for a month."

"Sorry to disappoint you," I said. "I'm Taffy."

"Pleased to meet you. I'm Carter Wayne and this little elf of a girl is Penny Newcastle."

I nodded a greeting but suddenly felt uneasy on my feet. "I think I need to sit down," I said weakly.

"Maybe we should call Doc Jenkins," Penny said.

"I think you may be right." 

Carter helped me to a bench across from my room. The entire hallway reminded me of how a mall was designed. Various green plants in pots dotted each side of the corridor and every one hundred feet or so sat a similar wooden bench.

"Where is this place?" I asked. "It doesn't look like the facility I walked into yesterday."

Penny shrugged shoving bangs out of her face. "We should probably let Helen explain, or the Doc. They both understand this way more then me."

She picked up the yellow frisbee and threw it down the hall. "That was totally the best throw so far," Penny said to Carter as she disappeared down the corridor.

"You'll have to excuse me," Carter said. "I have a point to prove and a reputation to maintain." He shouted to Penny who was quite a ways down the hall. "You are going down."

I smiled at them. At least someone could have fun in all this insanity. I shook off the wave of tiredness long enough to make it back to my room and collapse into bed.

+++

Carter stopped by Doc Jenkins lab after his victory over Penny. He was sweaty and ready for a nap, but he wanted to know more about the new girl.

"Must you make an appointment with me every time a new lady enters the facility?"

"I'm hurt," Carter Wayne said. "Can't I be concerned about our new guest?"

"You've met her already?" Clarke asked with surprise in his voice.

"Briefly. I was in a kickin' game of disc golf with Penny when she walked out of her room and I nearly sliced her in two," he said. "What's the lowdown on the newbie?"

"Her situation is classified." Clarke wanted to be as vague as possible because he knew Carter's reputation for sticking his nose in where it didn't belong. Plus, Clarke didn't trust him as far as he could throw him.

"I get it. You like her and you want to spend some quality time together," Carter said. "I totally respect that. She seems like a nice girl."

Clarke moved away from the microscope and turned around. "Okay, you have my attention. What do you really want?"

"I heard a rumor you're testing those experimental nanites on her."

"That's what this is about? A rumor?" Clarke sighed. "You know I can't reveal the details of any project to a civilian. Why don't you move along. Play another round of disc golf. Relax. It's not like you're going anywhere."

Clarke let out the breath he was holding when Carter Wayne finally left his office. The man was trouble with a capital T. He shook off the encounter and returned to the blood sample he'd taken from Taffy the night before. The foreign nanites had completely taken over the ones he'd injected into her blood. Clarke still couldn't believe what he was seeing. They were somehow wirelessly communicating with his nanites and reprograming them with their code. It was as fascinating as it was horrifying. Where had those foreign nanites come from and what were they doing to Taffy's body?

Episode 4: Taffy 2.0

Episode 4: Taffy 2.0

"The general is interfering again," Clarke Jenkins paced in front of Robert C. Cooper's desk. He was the only civilian authority who had more power than most of the military assigned to the base.

"I'll talk to him," Cooper said. "But I'm not promising anything. You know how stubborn the man can be."

"I already can't control the nanos in Taffy's blood. I told him I needed  more time to find a compatible match. Some people are more tricky than others."

Robert surveyed the results of Taffy's first sleep study.

"Thirty percent is pretty low," Robert said. "I've seen you get at least fifty with an hour of prep."

"I can't put my finger on it, but there is something different about her."

He handed Robert the dream analysis Doris had compiled with Lucy Franks, head of the Necromancer unit.

"It concerns me that she's no remembering some of these dreams," Robert said.

"We don't need her to remember. The nanos will do that for us," Clarke replied. "Even at thirty percent the analysis is pretty spot on."

Robert threw the reports down on his desk. "Make sure she's up to fifty percent for tonight's test. I can't push this under the rug forever."

+++

Fifty percent was a crazy expectation. Clarke wasn't sure what to do. He'd pushed Taffy's nanos as much as he was comfortable. What he really needed to know is what was it about Taffy that was different from everyone else.

"You look a little defeated." Jack Osbourne leaned back putting his feet up on Clarke's desk.

"What do you want, Jack? General McCabe can't want results already." Clarke shrugged out of his lab coat and put it on a hanger.

"Taffy Appleton. What does the military want with her?" Jack peeked out the hallway then closed Clarke's door.

"What do they want with anyone?... Results."

"What kind of results? Is this technology a danger to her?" Jack leaned in toward Clarke.

"There is a small chance of rejection. We've had a lot of success with this line of nanos. She should be fine."

A sound of footsteps rapidly pounded down the hallway. The receptionist, Helen Burke, burst through the door out of breath.

"There's been a complication with the Appleton girl. You have to come -- NOW."

Clarke raised his eyebrows at Jack then followed Helen out of the room. They jogged down the hallway dodging a group of military and civilians lined up at the Starbucks on the Concourse.

"They had to put her right in the middle of everything?" Clarke slid into the room, the bottom of his loafers losing traction on the slippery surface. He caught his balance before falling on his face. Jack was on his heels.

Taffy was crumpled into a ball on the floor. She twitched violently as Clarke knelt by her side.

"Help me get her onto the bed."

The two of them worked in harmony, quickly and efficiently. Clarke checked her airway and pulse; both were fine, although her pulse was racing a little faster then he was comfortable. 

The one thing he was concerned with was the nanos. He'd never had a subject experience a negative effect. This woman was the most important subject to the general. If she crashed and burned, it could possibly mean his dismissal from the program.

"What's wrong with her?" Helen asked. She had gained a quick attachment to Taffy.

"The general wanted a quick implantation for Taffy. I had to cut corners to meet his deadline." Clarke didn't miss the angry expression on Jack's face.

"What sort of corners?" Jack came forward his face more menacing  than Clarke had ever seen it.

"I didn't have time to program the nanos sufficiently. The general only game me half the time. I must have miscalculated..."

"Then you'd better fix it fast, buddy. You may not realize this but Taffy and I are friends. Our parents have known each other for years. If anything happens to her, I'll have to make you pay."

Clarke's eyes grew wide. "It was a mistake."

"Stop talking and start working."

"Alright. We need to take her back to my lab."

"We can't!" Helen blurted the words so loudly, Clarke jumped. "The general has the entire place wired with security cameras."

"What about in here?" Jack asked.

"The tech division wasn't expecting Taffy until next month. Not everything in here works yet," she said.

"Then, I'll need a few things from my lab." Clarke listed what he needed and Jack and Helen went to gather the items.

Clarke stared at Taffy. She didn't look good. If he didn't miss his guess, the nanos were depleting her system of ATP, a critical component for bodily function.

"I'm so sorry," Clarke said to Taffy's unconscious form. "I never meant for this to happen."

Helen and Jack chose that moment to return. Clarke cleared the emotional lump from his throat. He shouldn't be feeling this way about someone he barely knew.

"Here's the hand scanner." Helen handed him the device. "You really need to organize your lab. It's a complete mess."

Jack helped Clarke hook it up. It took a grueling ten minutes to scan Taffy's body. Jack positioned himself over Clarke's shoulder. He pointed to the monitor. "Why do these two look different?"

Clarke shook his head. "They're the same thing. They should be registering the same color."

"Maybe they're not," Jack suggested.

Clarke stilled. "I need to get a sample of both nanos."

"How do you plan to do that?" Helen asked. She was more freaked out than either of the men.

"I'll take a blood sample, take it back to my lab and test it." Clarke said. "That's all I can do right now. I don't know what we're dealing with."

"You better find out fast. There's only so long I can cover for you." Helen exited Taffy's room and disappeared down the hallway.

Clarke looked to Jack. "Can you stay with her while I complete my tests?"

"Sure, no problem." Jack packed up the scanner and moved it to the desk. He wanted to make Taffy as comfortable as possible.

"Hey, kiddo. Long time, no see." He wasn't sure if she could hear him but he wanted to keep the faith. 

"Bet you didn't expect your old buddy Jack Osbourne to be messed up in all this. It's not exactly my first choice of assignments. But I can clearly say you're the best thing that has happened to me in four years."

Taffy's hand twitched and Jack grabbed it. "Taffy?"

All the color drained from her face and he body began to jerk uncontrollably. Without Clarke to supervise, Jack knew they were in big trouble.