by Julie Everett
With wild gusts of dust-laden wind, spring arrived with a vengeance in a tiny West Texas town called Crane. Meteorologists in the city of Midland had just issued a tornado watch for Crane County, but very few residents paid attention. Instead, they were excited about the grand celebration that was taking place at Freedom Park. Almost everyone in town wanted to participate in the town's birthday extravaganza.
Newspaper reporters and television camera crews flooded the scene. Several photographers encircled the gazebo on the northwestern side of the park. Each one of these eager journalists attempted to interview Robert Johnson, a candidate for the office of governor. Among the photographers was Paul Forrester, who was struggling to find a place to stand among the crowd.
Unfortunately, the worst gossip in town, Edith Folgerton, had decided to attend the celebration. She had no interest in the party itself because her main focus in life was sticking her nose into other people's business. Staring at a young couple holding hands on the other side of the park, she quickly made her way toward them, so that she could ask them questions about their personal affairs. Then she strutted toward the gazebo. Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at Paul. He seemed familiar to her. Suddenly she remembered the poster that was hanging on the bulletin board at the post office. The words "Wanted by the Federal Security Agency" were displayed in bold letters, along with a picture of Paul and George Fox's telephone number. She rushed to the courthouse across the street. After she located a pay phone, she contacted Fox.
Finally the activities at Freedom Park were coming to an end. Sitting on the steps of the gazebo, Paul and Scott patiently waited for Paul's employer, the editor of a local newspaper. She arrived just as the sun was setting with a crimson hue. Paul stood up and handed his rolls of film to her.
Without warning two men sprang from a black limousine, which was parked near the curb. It was Fox and Wylie. Making sure that Paul had no access to his sphere, Fox drew his gun and began firing several rounds. The editor began to scream as the bullets hit Paul.
With his sphere glowing in his hand, Scott desperately tried to revive his father. However, Scott did not have enough experience using the sphere to heal injuries. Pam Clausen, the newspaper editor, tried to stop the bleeding and administer CPR without success. She could find no pulse, and Paul stopped breathing.
At that moment Scott used his sphere to send a distress signal to Paul's home planet. Lunging toward Scott with all of his might, Fox knocked the sphere from Scott's hand and quickly snatched it from the dry grass. Wylie grabbed Scott by the arms and placed handcuffs around his wrists, while Fox pushed Pam into the car. After they forced Scott inside the vehicle and loaded Paul's body, they sped toward the nearest FSA facility.
Fox personally locked Scott into a holding cell. Tears were streaming down the boy's face. However, he began to smile a little when he peered through his cell window and saw a huge spherical spacecraft hovering over the compound. A bright blue light suddenly appeared below the craft. It came inside the building and stopped next to Paul's lifeless body. Pam stared through the bars of her cell in disbelief, as Paul rose from the laboratory table on which he had been placed.
Holding his blue sphere, Paul unlocked the cell doors. Fox attempted to grab his pistol, but Pam put her hands on it first. She ran toward the entrance of the building. Although she was frightened, she decided to help Paul and Scott escape. All three of them ran outside the prison compound. Pam found a jeep on the premises, but the keys were not in it.
"Don't worry. I can start the engine without a key," said Paul. He touched the ignition switch, and the jeep sprang to life. Speeding through the FSA compound, Paul crashed the vehicle through several barricades and onto the highway. Pam was trembling with fright, but Paul tried to reassure her.
Back at the cell block, several more blue lights appeared. They surrounded Agent Fox on all sides. He was unable to move at all. As the aliens encompassed him, he started to float in the air. Fox was screaming when they took him right through a brick wall, into the courtyard and up into the spacecraft.
Since the aliens were curious about Fox's phobia towards extraterrestrials, they probed his thoughts to gain some insight. After they were finished, they returned Fox to earth. He found himself in a frozen wasteland. A figure approached him from the horizon.
"Zdrastvuyti, tovarishch," said a man clad in a heavy fur coat.
"Where in the world am I?" cried Fox.
"Welcome to Siberia," replied the man.
THE END
Written by Julie Everett. If you have any comments on this story please E-mail them.