I remembered the device I’d taken from Bedlow’s house. Those Binqua had seemed anxious to get it. In fact, so anxious they’d died trying. Maybe it was a weapon. I’d taken my jacket off and left it in the lab.
“I’ll be right back, Doctor. I picked up something at Bedlow’s place. You might want to take a look.”
I was back in less than a minute. He studied it, turning it over and looking at the back. His forehead wrinkled.
“I saw something like this in one of the files. As soon as you’re finished eating, we can go to the lab and I’ll look it up.”
“Okay. Sir, what are we going to do about the Binqua? Shouldn’t we notify the federal government about this? Perhaps they can do something. Get some soldiers out here maybe.” I blew out a breath. “We can’t let them finish what they’re doing. They’re not going to get Effingham Shipping to transport their machines, but they are determined to have this world so they’ll find another way.”
The doctor looked thoughtful before saying, “Even though they have managed to maintain the military, there isn’t much of a government left, Tennessee, though you have to give them credit for trying. I do know some people in the Department of Homeland Security and I can contact them but there is one big problem: getting anyone to believe before seeing for themselves that we’re dealing with aliens. Then, if we can convince them to come, there is the added problem that only small firearms work. None of the big missiles are operative. And even if they were, Henderson has some type of force field, a shield he can deploy that will repel any attack on them.”
“He has a shield? How do you know? If he’s got something like that, why didn’t he use it to keep us from escaping?”
“He likely didn’t have time to activate it, Tennessee. I believe it is something he’s not accustomed to using since he arrived on this world. But I know about it because it’s in the files. I’ve seen the schematics for it. I think I could even build one if I had the materials.”
He looked at the strange device again. “The image for this thing was in the same file as the shield.” He looked around noticing we’d finished eating. He stood. “Come, I’m curious to see what this does.”
Duncan, Lem, and Percy had finished their drinks.
“Doc, if you don’t mind, I could use another one,” said Duncan lifting his glass. “Y’all can go look at that thing but my nerves need some more calming.” Lem and Percy obviously felt the same.
Dr. Bennett nodded. “Help yourselves. If you want anything else to eat, feel free to get it. You have been very helpful and I am grateful.”
In the lab, the doctor pulled up the files he’d hacked. He brought up a page and clicked on the translator.
“This is the information on the force field and the shield.” He pointed it out. “Now, here is the image of the device you found at Bedlow’s house.” He clicked and a picture sprang up on the screen.
That was it all right. Except for one thing. “It says here it has three switches, Doctor. I’ve only seen two. Where’s the third?”
He perused the screen, then held up the device, studying it closely. Then he said, “Ah. See the one on each end? Well, look carefully at the middle. There is another, less prominent one.”
I took the thing and stared. It took a minute but I finally saw a slight dip. I nodded. “Okay. I see it. But what does any of them do?”
The doctor went over to another page. “Hmm… here it is. The term for it translates as “canceler” – or that’s as close as it can come in English. Let’s see… hmm… ‘To disable the energy weapon, press switch number two, once. For disabling the force field, press switch number three, twice’. You must be within six hundred feet, though.” He frowned and flipped to another page. “There doesn’t appear to be anything about the third switch, yet. I’ll try another page.” He clicked over and read for a minute. “Well, this passage indicates that if the anomaly is shut down on this side too abruptly, there will be a rebound that will destroy the base from which it operates on the other side.” He looked up at me. “In that case, it cannot be reopened and would be closed forever.”
“That’s good. We want it closed forever. Does it say how to do that?”
He frowned again as he turned back to the page. “There is something untranslatable here for switch number one, which is the one in the middle of the canceler. It refers to the thing that holds the anomaly open, the thing I’ve called a wedge, and here’s an image of the machine I saw, but I don’t understand what the switch does. Whatever it is, you have to be within five feet.”
I stared at the picture of the “wedge”. It was made of what appeared to be some type of shiny metal. It was probably about the size of an office printer or copier though it looked wider and obviously was not a printer because its curvy bulk was egg-shaped with no discernable openings.
I studied the canceler. So, it wasn’t a weapon. Still, it was something that could be used to our advantage. My hopes rose and I began to formulate a plan. “We can shut them down, Doctor! This thing disables their weapon and their shield. Surely if the anomaly is even mentioned, it must be saying this is how to close it off.” And closing it would prevent any more Binqua from coming to Earth. Getting within six hundred feet to shut down their weapon – and their shield if they put it up – would be easy. I could accomplish that without going on the grounds. After that, I would damned sure find a way to get to the wedge.
He was quiet for a moment, then said, “I don’t know, Tennessee. You could be right but whatever association it has with the wedge doesn’t translate into English. We can’t be sure.”
“Those Binqua we took down were awfully anxious to get it when they saw it, Doctor. It fell from my pocket and they immediately went for it. That indicates it must be important.”
“Well, it could simply be because they knew it would disable their lasers and their defensive shields. It’s also possible there is some other reason they fought so hard to get it back, but that may not mean what you think it does because the Binqua don’t necessarily think the way we do. They are highly intelligent, but they are also highly arrogant. I believe that factor causes them to underestimate us as a species. They believe themselves to be the pinnacle of evolution. They don’t always erase people from a planet – simply ones they deem to be especially inferior, which is, unfortunately, their opinion of our species. That attitude I think, has caused them to become mentally lazy.”
I gazed at him thinking that the Binqua weren’t the only ones who sometimes had that “pinnacle of evolution” attitude. That meant that there were some ways in which they thought the same as humans, but at the moment that was neither here nor there so I merely said, “Then I guess that might explain why they seem to make a lot of stupid mistakes.”
He nodded. “Yes, it could but you shouldn’t underestimate them, either. They can get more fighters here if given enough time. I believe the only reason they didn’t already have better ones here is because their original plan wasn’t to wipe us out. It’s also possible they don’t run into many species as aggressive ours, but now that they know, they’re likely to bring—”
The phone rang, startling me. It had to be Madison. I grabbed it.
She sounded dazed. “Tennessee, the fight’s over. Your guys are the best! But, what the fuck were those… those… things… from Semptor? They can’t be human! What the hell is going on?”
I could hear voices in the background and gathered there were others in there with her wondering the same thing.