“We spent over an hour looking for you.” Nick was saying. He was feeling remorseful because they had abandoned the search for Troy so quickly. “It didn’t occur to me that you might still be down in that place, whatever it was, and of course we couldn’t hang around forever. All of our electronics were zapped by this funny carpet thing that came out of the sea. So we lost all nav — ” He stopped in mid-sentence and looked at Troy. “I’m sorry, friend.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Troy replied with a shrug, “I would have done the same thing. At least I now know that you have met one of the bizarre characters in my story. You didn’t, by any chance, also meet one of the wardens did you? Great big globs of clear jelly, amoebalike, with little boxes in the middle and removable rods hanging out all over the top?”
Nick shook his head. “Warden?” Carol asked quickly, her brow knitted. “Why do you call that thing a warden?”
Warden, sentinel, whatever,” Troy answered. “They told me the warden things protect the principal cargo of the ship.” Troy stared into the blank gazes of his friends. “Which leads me back to the first question,” he continued. “They gave me this bracelet. It is some kind of two-way communications device. I couldn’t begin to explain how it works, but I know that they are listening and watching as well as transmitting messages to me. Only a few of which I understand.”
Carol was starting to feel overwhelmed again. In her mind this already complex situation had added a new dimension. Hundreds of questions were crowding into her brain and she could not decide which one to ask first.
Meanwhile Nick stood up. “Hold it a minute,” he said, looking dubious and just a little confused. “Did I hear you right? Did you say you were given a communications bracelet by some extraterrestrials and then released into the ocean? And then the Navy picked you up and brought you back to Key West? Christ, Jefferson, you do have an imagination. Save your creativity for that computer game. Please just tell us the truth.”
“I am,” replied Troy. “Really — ”
“What did they look like?” Carol interrupted, her journalistic training taking over. She had pulled a small tape recorder, the size of a fountain pen, out of her purse. Troy reached over and switched it off.” For now, angel, “ he said, “this is strictly between us . . . I don’t think I saw any of them anyway. Just the wardens and the carpets. And my guess is that they’re just robots, machines of some type. Intelligent, yes, but controlled by something else — ”
“Jesus,” Nick interrupted, “you’re serious.” He was becoming exasperated. “This is turning into the most amazing shaggy dog story that I have ever heard. Wardens, carpets, robots. I am lost. Who are they? What are they doing in the ocean? And why have they given you a bracelet?” He picked up one of the little pillows on the couch and threw it across the room.
Carol laughed nervously. “Nick’s not the only one feeling frustrated, Troy. I was with you down there and I must admit that I’m having a hard time tracking your story. Maybe we should stop interrupting and let you talk. I’ve told Nick what happened in that solar system room up until you ran out and the thing or warden followed. Start from there, if you would, and tell the story in logical sequence.”
“I’m not sure there is such a thing as a logical sequence, angel,” Troy replied, echoing Carol’s laugh. “The whole episode defies logic altogether. The warden thing eventually trapped me in a blind alley and sort of anesthetized me with one of its rods. It was like I was dreaming, but the dreams were real. I remember a similar feeling, after a fistfight when I was a teenager. I had a small concussion then. I knew that I was alive, but I was very very slow to react. Reality seemed toned down, out there in the distance somewhere.
“Anyway, another warden character showed up, same kind of body but different fixtures sticking in the jelly, and carried me to what I think was an examination room. I don’t know exactly how long I was there. I was stretched out on the floor and touched by all kinds of instruments. My brain felt as if it were in superfast motion, but I don’t recall any specific thoughts. Some images I do remember. I relived my brother, Jamie, breaking through the line on a trap play and going forty-five yards for a touchdown in the Florida state championship. Then the bracelet was put on my wrist and I had the distinct impression that someone was talking to me. Very quietly, perhaps even in a foreign language, but every now and then I understood what was being said.
“What they told me,” Troy continued with an intense and distant expression on his face, “was that what we call the laboratory is really a space vehicle from another world. And that it has crash-landed, in a sense, on the Earth to allow time for some difficult repairs. They, that is, whoever built the ship, need help from us, from me and you, to obtain some of the specific items necessary for the repairs. Then they can continue on their journey.”
Nick was now sitting on the floor just opposite Troy. Both Carol and he were hanging on every word. They sat in silence for almost thirty seconds after Troy had finished. “If this story is true,” Nick finally spoke, “then we are — ”
There was a loud knock at the door. All three of them jumped. Several seconds later the knock repeated. Troy went to the door and partially opened it.
“There you are, you little shit,” Carol and Nick heard a gruff, angry voice say. Captain Homer Ashford pushed through the door. He didn’t see Nick and Carol at first. “We had a deal and you’ve welshed on it. You have been back two hours already . . .”
Out of the corner of his eye, Captain Homer saw that there were other people in the room. He turned around to talk to Greta, who had not yet entered the house. “Guess what?” he said. “Nick Williams and Miss Dawson are also here. No wonder we couldn’t find her at the hotel.”
Greta followed Homer into the living room. Her clear, expressionless eyes spent no more than one second staring at each of the trio. Carol thought she saw just a trace of disdain in Greta’s look, but she wasn’t certain. Homer turned to Carol, the tone in his voice markedly more civil. “We saw you two return from your excursion around two o’clock,” he said with a fake smile. “But somehow we missed Troy.” He winked at Carol and turned to Nick. “Find any more exciting trinkets today, Williams?”
Nick had never made any attempt to hide the fact that he did not like Captain Homer. “Why of course, Captain,” he answered, sneering the epithet, “would you believe we found a veritable mountain of gold and silver bars? Looked like that Santa Rosa stack we had on the boat one afternoon, must be about eight years ago. Remember? That was before Jake and I let you and Greta unload it.”
Homer’s voice had a nasty edge to it. “I should have sued you for slander, Williams. That would have shut your loud mouth once and for all. You had your day in court. Now knock off the crap, or one day you’ll have more trouble than you can handle.”
While Nick and Homer were trading insults and threats, Greta was strutting around the living room as if she were in her own house. She seemed to be oblivious to the conversation and even to the presence of the other people in the room. She was wearing a tight white muscle shirt and a pair of navy blue shorts. When Greta walked, she carried her arms high, her back straight, and her breasts erect. Carol was intrigued by her behavior. She watched Greta stop and sort through Troy’s compact discs. Greta pulled out the disc with the cover picture of Angie Leatherwood and licked her lips. This pair belongs in a kinky novel, Carol thought, as she overheard Troy tell Captain Homer that he was busy this afternoon but would get back to him later. What’s their story? wondered Carol. And where does fat Ellen fit in? Carol remembered that she was scheduled to interview the three of them later in the evening. But I’m not sure that I really want to find out.
“We were calling to tell you to bring your swimming suit tonight,” Captain Homer was addressing Carol. She had missed the first part of his statement while she was watching Greta parade around the room.