Episode 3: Implantation

Trouble with UFO’s 

Episode 3

The guard dragged me toward the metal double doors I had been curious about earlier. Now I wasn’t so curious. I just wanted out of this facility. Ever since I’d been brought here, I’d found nothing but trouble. 

I couldn’t gander and fawn over the technology because the guards whipped me by labs so fast it made my head swim. My feet couldn’t keep up with them and they had to literally lift me into the air.

“Don’t bother staring,” Guard One said. “You won’t be staying long.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked as Guard Two nearly pulled my arm out of socket. “Ow! Hey, watch it!”

“You have a fifty-fifty chance,” Guard Two said.

“To what?” I asked. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like the answer.

He smiled evilly. “To live or die.

+++

Dr. Clarke Jenkins patched up the shoulder of his latest subject and wheeled the crash cart into recovery. The new procedure was coming along nicely, but he still wasn’t one-hundred percent sure about it. As he placed another gurney beneath the device guards pulled a woman into the room. She was struggling against them but was so petite compare to the two thugs that any move to break free was immediately thwarted.

“You can’t have another one already,” Jenkins said. He spun the knobs to the electronic devices back to their beginning positions and opened the dome above the gurney. Lights lit up the room like a night game at Busch Stadium.

Guard Two thrust the woman at Jenkins who barely caught her before she collapsed on the floor.

“Is that really necessary?” Jenkins asked. He steadied her as he removed the bindings from her wrists, but her disorientation caused her to fall against the table. Jenkins moved her into place.

“This is a special delivery from General McCabe,” Guard One said. “He wants the procedure done immediately.”

“Immediately?” Jenkins said. “I need at least a day to make the necessary adjustments. Unless I have compatible nanos, there could be damage to her system.”

“You don’t have a day. The subject’s already been causing trouble,” Guard One said. “General McCabe says you have two hours.”

“Two hours? I can’t get a compatible match in less than four.”

“Make it possible or deal with McCabe yourself.”

The guards held Taffy’s hands down as Jenkins strapped her into the device. She yanked at her restraints, but only an extremely strong body builder could break free. He administered a strong sedative and the woman fell into a deep slumber.

+++

Four hours later.

The lights in the laboratory were dark, but various instruments around the room provided a dim light. It took a short while to gain my bearings, but I still felt a bit on the loopy side. Whatever they had given me had to be strong, but then again, I crashed when I took Nyquil. 

A lady sitting in a nearby chair looked up from her Kindle. She stood and shoved it into her pocket. As she came closer, I could tell it was the receptionist I’d met when I’d first entered the facility. She had a smile on her face. It was the first happy expression I’d seen since I’d come here.

“You’re awake. Lovely.” She helped me to a sitting position. It was a task that took over a minute to accomplish. I wasn’t feeling very coordinated. She told me her name was Helen Burke.

“What happened to me?” I asked. My shoulder throbbed and I still felt a bit woozy.

“The implantation took longer than anyone anticipated. You should rest for a few days to recover your immunity,” she said.

She made it sound like I'd just been through a major blood transfusion. I wasn't sure why I felt like this.

"What do you mean by implantation?" I asked.

She smiled weakly. "I'll leave that question to Dr. Jenkins."

"What did you people do to me?" I felt a sudden pain in my skull that seemed to originate from nowhere. I didn't scream, although I wanted to. Before I could say anything to the receptionist, the pain mysteriously vanished.

I stared at her in confusion, tears edging my eyes from the pain.

"Why am I here?"

I held onto her outstretched hand as I climbed off the bed. I rubbed my sore shoulder. I wondered why it hurt. Had I done some sort of exercise to pull a muscle? Did I injure myself? Was that why I was in the hospital?

I was so tired. I decided to think more about it in the morning.

"Why don't I take you to your room where you can rest," the receptionist said.

"That would be good," I mumbled.

+++

Clarke Jenkins shoved the guard to the other side of the room. He checked the medical equipment that monitored Taffy's implant then glared at the guard.

"Never touch the equipment," he shouted. "You could have given her a stroke."

"But I didn't, did I?" The guard's name was Isaac and Clarke knew he'd have to keep an eye on him concerning Taffy. He had to be one of General McCabe's inside men in the facility.

"The nanos in her blood are experimental. We don't yet know the extent of what it can do to her," Clarke said. "We don't want to add to the complications."

"McCabe wants to keep her in line," Isaac said.

"You don't have to erase minutes of her memory to do that!" Clarke exclaimed.

"She's as calm as she can be now," the guard said. "So, I think the distraction worked nicely."

Episode 2: Inside Area 51

If you had asked me yesterday if I’d be lurking inside a secret government facility, I’d have told you that you were crazy. But here I am doing just that… lurking. I’m not exactly supposed to be in this section of the compound. I’m on a catwalk high above the action looking down into different partitioned sections as tiny scientists work on strange technology.

This facility is pretty famous considering it’s so secret. They call it Area 51, and I’m its newest resident. They haven’t given me a “My Name Is Taffy” badge or catalogued me in the “Weird Dreams” section, but I know something bizarre is coming. I mean, after all, I was the one who was kidnapped by a UFO and brought here.

In all my lurking, I didn’t think to watch my back. I’m not exactly stealthy in my covertness. As I leaned over the railing to get a better look, a hand rested on my shoulder nearly causing me to jump out of my skin and off the catwalk. Considering it was so high up, I was lucky I wasn’t dead.

I gasped and turned around holding onto the railing with a death grip. I didn’t scream but a great whoosh of air came hurtling past my lips. Standing a little too close for comfort was a man wearing a rumpled white lab coat over civilian clothes.

“Don’t scare me like that,” I said. My heart pounded in my ears making it hard to hear what the man was saying.

“You always stroll around secure facilities like you own the place?” the man asked.

He was holding an Apple tablet in one hand that looked more advanced than the ones I’d seen on the Yahoo Tech page. It was like technology on steroids around here.

“Just curious,” I replied. “It’s not everyday I get a personal invite to Area 51. I thought it would be silly not to take a look around.”

The scientist shook his head. “You know what they say about curiosity? I’d hate to see something happen to you.”

“Threats already? I don’t think I know you well enough for you to be throwing around idle threats.”

“Oh, they’re not idle,” the man said as he motioned to two security guards hiding in the shadows.

“Now that’s not playing fair,” I quipped.

“Take her into Section Five. The implantation device is all booted up and ready for her.”

“Implantation… What… I never agreed to….” The guards man handled me toward a red double door. I struggled but it was like pushing against iron. “Someone… HELP!”

I screamed but no one heard me.

Episode 1: A Not So Alien Abduction

Trouble with UFOs 

Episode 1:

It was one of those toss-and-turn in your bed nights; the kind of night where sleep seems elusive. It didn't help that my usually quiet neighborhood was bustling with a noisy nighttime chaos.  

I lifted my head to peer out the sliding glass door and found dark outline of someone standing on the stairway to the balcony. The surprise was a shock and bolted me awake with my heart pounding in my ears.

 I must have said something to the stranger on the balcony, although, I don't remember speaking. The woman glanced toward me in her eyes a menacing warning. She was dressed in firefighter gear casually watching the chaos unfold. The woman called out to me saying, "Everything is fine."

I think she expected me to fall back asleep, but I knew sleep wouldn't come, especially now that a bright light in the sky above my house drew my attention. I gaped, open mouthed.  The clouds around the object began making intricate patterns in the atmosphere. It was as if someone was trying to communicate via sky writing. 

The biggest surprise of all was the object itself. It was a flying saucer! 

The UFO was so close to my house, I could see what was painted across the bottom. Etched on the underside and clearly visible it said: U.S. ARMY. I was shocked, but in a way it kinda explained everything. An epiphany rippled across my mind. Was the government responsible for all the strange things in the world?

As the saucer slowly glided through the sky, it slid from my view over the top of my house. I ran downstairs to the back door and gazed up. The UFO stopped directly above me. 

A door appeared in the side of the UFO as it hovered. A small blue and white craft came flying outside looking like a bright white four-legged spider. It wobbled and jerked in the sky.  As it came closer I could tell it was going to land in my back yard only inches from the door where I was standing.

The man inside appeared to be middle-aged and looked like a scientist with crazy strawberry blond hair.

I'm not sure why but I opened the back door. Call me crazy but it's not every day something like this happens. I had to get a better look. 

I didn't get a chance to walk outside.

The scientist asked for my name, and when I gave it a blinding light flashed in the doorway. Suddenly, the doorway changed. It no longer opened to the outside. Instead there was a door to a government office. A brunette receptionist sat at a station with official framed documents on the wall beyond. The lady saw me, smiled and pushed a button on a keyboard I couldn't see.

"Ms. Appleton has arrived, sir"

She seemed to be expecting me. Apparently, I was the only person who thought my sudden appearance here was a bit odd.

"What's going on?" I asked. "Why am I here?"

"That will be explained to you shortly," she said cryptically, picking up a clipboard and walking around the reception desk. "Please follow me. They're waiting for you in the conference room."

"They?"

She arched an eyebrow staring at me with a mix of compassion and pity. "I'll let them explain it to you."

She opened a double door at the end of the hallway and pushed me inside.

"Good luck," she whispered under her breath, disappearing through the door that had clicked closed behind her.

"Ah, Ms. Appleton. Thank you for coming so quickly," said the man at the head of an incredibly long conference table. He was wearing a military outfit. I could only assume Army since that was the name on the bottom of the flying saucer.

"Not like I had a lot of choice," I muttered.

"Please have a seat." He gestured to the chair on my left. "My name is General Kenneth Macabe."

"I'm not really sure why you brought me here, General Macabe. I'm not exactly the military type."

"You're here for one talent and one talent alone. You're the dreamer. Our very own sleeping Nostradamus."

I goggled at the absurdity of it all. "What? Are you serious?"

"We're at a rocky time in our history. Only you can save us from a possible doomsday."