Chronicle 1, Episode 1, Chapter 2

The Interstell Chronicles

Episode 1 - War from Above

Chapter 2:- Interrogation

The best thing about unconsciousness was that the mind could bury itself in it’s own subconscious thoughts. This meant that you did not feel pain, or experience the world around you. But when your sub-consciousness is filled with images you don’t understand, or are sometimes plain scared of, there is no rest to be found in the darkness.
This is how Matthew found himself. Surreal images of him fighting unseen beings with strange weapons. Fighting for his life in hostile environments. Circuit designs and technological specifications flashing before his minds eye. All of which he understood, without actually understanding.
"Wake him up."
The voice penetrated the darkness to the dormant conscious mind. Yes, I want to be awake was the response.
Matthew’s eyes snapped open to a light shining overhead. Immediately closing them against the glare, he became aware of several people surrounding him. Somehow, he knew, two were beside hi to the left, one on a chair by the door, and two outside the door. More feelings of others surrounding him, but further away also filtered through.
"Did you see that…? He just woke up without the counter-sedative!" A female voice, the one to the left besides the bed spoke.
"Impossible!" That was the man by the door. "He got enough to keep him out for hours!"
"No he did….! Mr. Hunter? Can you hear me?"
Matthew turned his head in the direction of the female voice and tried to respond. But his throat was so dry, that barely a horse whisper came out. Nonetheless, she heard him.
"Remarkable."
Mathew opened his eyes again, this time slowly, to accommodate them to the light. The room he was in was spartan in nature, but brightly lit by recessed overhead lighting panels. Gray walls, a bench at waist height running along one of the longer sides with various pieces of equipment on it. Including a flat-screen computer terminal showing his image, a close up on his face and eyes. The other equipment included syringes laid out neatly in a row. Presumably with more tranquilizers or antidotes to them. Then there was the desk behind the trolley he was lying on. Unable to turn far too look due to restraints attached to wrist and ankles, he could only catch either corner, but nothing on top. He could however make out a patter on the floor near the desk that indicated a window with some sunlight shining though.
"Mr. Hunter, we need to have a chat!"
"No kidding" Matthew replied with sarcasm as the trolley he was lying on was raised to a more vertical position, allowing him to see the man sitting on a chair to the left of the door. Dressed in a black suit, he was a roughish looking fellow with dark hair, and very muscular. But what really drew Matthew’s attention was the ozzie nine millimeter sitting on his lap, with a hand resting lightly on it.
"What do you know about this?" The man on the chair held up a clear plastic bag containing the chip he had discovered in a now dead child at the hospital where he worked.
"It is some sort of transmitter. I assume it is yours."
"Why do you say that?"
Matthew stared hard into the mans eyes. The fear that should have been with him was nowhere to be seen, and that surprised him, but gave him confidence to face down these people. "You came to retrieve it!"
The man almost smiled at Matthew’s response. "Indeed we did. Do you know why?"
Matthew just shook his head, but keeping his eyes fixed on his interrogator.
"The child was the victim of repeated abductions. The chip was meant to allow us to track him on his next abduction, and catch his assailants."
"Why would anyone want to kidnap the child??
"That is a good question Mr. Hunter. You are the person we found with the chip…. Perhaps you can answer it!"
The fact that he had just been accused of a criminal offence was not lost on Matthew. But then he realized that apart from possession, they had no evidence. At least no real evidence. "I have no idea. I found the chip in a child at the hospital where I worked. I don’t know why I took it.
The man made a slight sound, as though he was satisfied with the response. "Are you happy with your job?"
Now that question was unexpected. Why ask it?
"Yes. Why?"
The man looked briefly at his colleagues. Apparently satisfied with their non existent response, he continued.
"We wish to hire you."
"Hire me?" Surprise was evident in his voice, and Matthew meant it. These people were abducting him, now asking if he wanted a job. "I will not help you break the law!"
"We don’t break the law Mr. Hunter. We are above the law by international decree."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"The child that died on you yesterday is the first confirmed death by extraterrestrial."
The way the man had said that seemed so matter of fact. But sent Matthew’s head spinning. Not only had he been abducted by people with automatic weapons, but they were crazy people with automatic weapons.
"We are not crazy Mr. Hunter. You must have heard of the increase in UFO sightings?" Soliciting a nod from Matthew, the man continued. "Well, they are mostly true. For the past fifty odd years, this planet has been visited by aliens. The first landing was…"
"Let me guess…. Roswell!" Sarcasm again.
"No. It was Scotland 1953. Roswell really was a weather balloon. Or at least so the American Intelligence have told us."
"Why are you telling me this?" Stall for time Matthew thought. If they run out their questions, they might be tempted to use some of the equipment around the room. If they did, life expectancy would drop sharply.
"You don’t believe me do you? That’s fine Mr. Hunter. I did not believe the first time I saw a UFO. But I do now, and I fight them for a living." Standing up, he began to pace back and forth across the room. "You see. The Aliens don’t seem to like us very much, or at least don’t give us any respect. Since 1953, there have been multiple abductions, but all the victims came back alive. Until now. The child that died yesterday, is the first confirmed casualty of the coming conflicts."
First confirmed casualty. That immediately triggered an alarm in Matthew’s mind that there had been other casualties, but that they could not be credited to ‘Aliens’. "You have suspicions there have been more?"
The man smiled slightly before killing it and having his face as impassive as before. "Indeed Mr. Hunter. We suspect that many of those who die of cancer were given it by the aliens. As you know from working in a hospital, the number of cancer cases that die is significant, even though we now have the abilities to cure many."
"So why am I really here, and why are you offering me employment?"
"A reasonable question. You are here because we wanted to asses your knowledge of the chip you acquired. This leads to another problem. You do indeed know what it is, and as such, you pose a security risk. An unacceptable risk at that."
"So you offer me employment or what?"
The man stopped his pacing and stared deep into Matthew’s eyes. "We have ways of blocking memories using drugs and various psycho-therapies. Or we could kill you."
Now that made Matthew start. With the exception of being kidnapped, drugged and restrained, there had been no real sense of danger. At least, the worry he felt had not been supplanted by fear. But a death threat was definitely something extra to ponder, and something that they seemed perfectly capable of doing. But then he found a new question rising through his thoughts. "People would notice I was dead you know!"
"We know. But we could easily stage your death by an unidentified assailant, and plant suspicious materials at you house. We could make it seem a drug dealer had you killed, or any number of other scenarios. But we have looked at your records. We know that you could be useful."
The man sat back down but stayed leaning forward, hands gripping knees, his gun resting on the chair behind him
"We can see that you are fit, supported by the fact that you woke up early from a powerful sedative without the counter-agent. Your record also show you to have ‘quiet competence in all areas you apply yourself to’. Besides, we need trained medical staff to man our sickbays and to analyze any specimens we bring back. If you want, we can even train you to become a field medic."
"I need to think."
"Of course you do Mr. Hunter. Would you like to go for a walk? I often find it helps clear my mind."
Matthew just nodded, then watched as the man indicated for his companions to undo the restraining straps. Matthew’s eyes were fixed on the man on the chair, as he reached round behind him to retrieve his gun. "I won’t need this will I Mr. Hunter?"
Matthew just shook his head again and received a ‘good’ in response as the man handed his weapon over to the other man in the room.
Unrestrained from the trolley, Matthew stretched his muscles, removing some of the drug induced tensions and minor aches. It also allowed him the opportunity to take a closer look around the room. The desk behind where he had been restrained indeed backed out onto a window as he had guessed. The window had been darkened till it was nearly black, and blinds hung at either end. But it was the view outside that made him stare. He was looking out over London. Specifically out the window of the MI5 building.
It was at that point that the true reality that these people could be serious sank in. Why would the agents of the British government lie to him about aliens? It made no sense unless there was a bigger unseen picture. But as to what that was, he had no idea.
The man had been watching Matthew’s reaction to this, and he smiled again. This time he did not bother to hide it. "You are beginning to believe! Let me show you something that will convince you further."

Five minutes later, Matthew was sitting in an underground room in the MI5 building, looking at live footage of an alien craft somewhere over New Mexico.
The craft was a gunmetal gray all over, and was similar in design to the ‘classic saucer’ design in many sci-fi movies. The bulge under the craft appeared to be the propulsion unit, but no blinding flashing light, just the shimmering of a heat source, and a ring of small lights that could only be seen from either right below, or directly from the side.
The man who had interview Matthew sat beside him, giving a narration to the images that appeared on screen.
"This image was recorded over three years ago. Given to us by the CIA in an information exchange on UFO’s."
"You exchange everything?"
"Pretty much. They give us reports that they can confirm, for the same courtesy from us. It was a sheer fluke that an automatic camera caught these images. Our scientists have analyzed the tape every which way, and it is authentic. Which is surprising. Because any camera that catches a UFO this close normally has the tape blanked by what we assume to be magnetic fields."
"I cant believe that more people don’t notice these things. I can’t believe that I never did!"
"Are you sure? Many people have seen these things but dismissed them because they don’t want to believe. I know I did."
Matthew gave him a sidelong glance before returning his attention to the screen as the UFO accelerated upwards.
"So how do you fight them?"
The man smiled again. "We have just recently signed an agreement between some other countries to found a special organization to investigate the sightings, and if necessary, to retaliate against them. At this early stage, not much can be done. We are building the first secret base out in the South of Essex, with a second planned for North America to begin construction by the end of the year."
"Essex?"
The man smiled again. "Indeed. It is being built on Foulness Island, on the site of the old barracks. It’s out of the way, but still near to transport routes. From there we can cover most of Europe. Besides, it had a Nuclear bunker that we could convert. The second base will of course cover the USA and Canada, who make up a significant portion of the budget. A third will probably be built in Australia, with more following as we need them. They are going to be outfitted with the best technology we have, Labs, workshops, living quarters, Hangars for the Jets, and of course storage space for equipment and supplies."
"All underground?"
The man nodded. "Easier to defend from attack, and to hide the locations."
More questions and thoughts flew through Matthew’s mind. So much had happened since he started work for the day yesterday. The first time one of his patiens had died, the discovery of the chip, the kidnapping, discovery of alien intelligent life. It was alsmot enough to blow his mind away. But he could only say one thing. It felt so right to say it. Almost as thought it was his destiny.
"When do I start?"

NOW OUT :- CHAPTER 3