by Effie Burton
CHAPTER 3
George Fox looked at his assistant. "I'm sure this is a wild goose chase, Wylie. The World Enquirer has a reputation for printing fabricated stories and stretching the truth."
"Yes, Mr. Fox, but everything can't be a lie. Maybe they do know where the ali..., huh, the subject is."
Fox gave Wylie a stern look. "I really doubt it." Wylie had almost slipped. They were sitting in the reception area of this tabloid newspaper and it wouldn't be wise to discuss the real reason for their visit within hearing distance of the secretary.
Wylie continued, "I thought we should at least check into the possibility."
"I only agreed to this visit because we could stop here without altering our travel plans. If the General ever finds out I'm investigating stories printed by a tabloid, he'll have my appropriation cut off. You'd better ..."
"Mr. Keller will see you now." The receptionist showed them into the enclosed corner office of the editor.
As the visitors entered the room, Otto Keller hoisted his large bulk from the chair. He extended his hand to George Fox as he said, "Hello Mr. Fox. I'm Otto Keller and this is Clark Cummings. Please take a seat."
Fox shook hands with Keller and Cummings but ignored the offer of the chair. He was in no mood for amenities. Fox walked over to stand directly in front of the reporter. "Mr. Cummings, are you the one who wrote this story?"
"Ye.. yes, I did". Clark was shaking inside.
As Fox shook a copy of the paper in C.C.'s face he demanded, "Where did you get the information for this article?"
C.C. was twisting a napkin in his hands. Some of his earlier stories had brought in lawyers and angry citizens, but this was the first time anyone from the government had come. He hadn't anticipated such repercussions, but kept thinking about the nagging little voice that had warned him about writing this story. It'd been right. C.C. looked from Keller to the angry little man standing in front of him. It was obvious Keller was going to let C.C. hang for this alone.
o O o
The note on Paul's desk said to come to Keller's office as soon as he returned. There was some type of VIP meeting requiring photos. Keller liked to have pictures of all important visitors in his files. The procedure was always the same. Paul waited until everyone was inside, entered unannounced and began to take pictures. Paul didn't know what they were used for, but C.C. had once called them Keller's insurance policy. Paul knew it must be another one of those human double meanings which made understanding this culture so difficult.
Paul opened the door to Keller's office and stepped inside. He saw the four men look toward him. After the split second of recognition, Paul dropped his camera and reached for his sphere.
"Wylie, stop him!" George Fox and his assistant moved toward Paul with one motion as the sphere in Paul's hand began to glow. Fox managed to knock the sphere from Paul's right hand as Wylie grabbed his left. A few seconds later both Paul's hands were manacled behind his back.
Keller and C.C. sat open mouthed as George Fox retrieved the sphere from the floor. As the initial shock wore off, they both began to talk.
C.C. was shouting, "What're you doing to Paul? He's just the photographer. If you don't want your picture taken you should be upset with Keller here, not with Paul."
Keller growled at the reporter, "C.C. shut-up! Mr. Fox, aren't you over-reacting to a harmless picture?"
George Fox motioned for Wylie to leave the room. He turned to the two newspaper men. "Mr. Keller, Mr. Cummings, your government is very grateful for your assistance in the capture of Paul Forrester. It would be beneficial to you, if you say nothing to anyone about what happened in this office just now." Both men started to protest, but the look on the Federal Security agent's face made them keep their silence.
The normal clatter and din of the newsroom had ceased.
All eyes were on the men coming from Keller's office. Paul Forrester had worked among them for two months and everyone liked him. The sight of him being led away in handcuffs had put a stop to all activity. Keller and Cummings were standing in the door of the office, but nothing in their expressions gave a clue about what had happened.
Ellin Jensen was coming out of the supply room when she saw Paul and the two men approaching. Paul's usual cheery expression was gone. In its place was a look best described as resignation. Ellin stepped back inside but left the door slightly ajar so she could hear what was being said as the men walked by.
"Wylie, we have to find the boy."
"Won't he be in school Mr. Fox?"
"I'm sure he will, but we can't take the chance of spooking him. This is too important. Where's the school, Forrester?"
The men were too far away now for Ellin to hear, but she was sure Paul hadn't answered that last question. She watched as the two men put Paul into the car and saw his hands manacled behind his back. Obviously, something was very wrong here. As she watched the men drive away, Ellin's reporter mind was full of a thousand questions. Who were these men? Why had the arrested Paul? Why did they want the boy also?
Ellin had only met Paul's son one time, but had taken an immediate liking to him. She didn't stop to think about the meaning of the scene she had just witnessed or contemplate the consequences of her next actions. Ellin drove to the school and had Scott called out of class. When she had asked for a Scott Forrester they had no student by that name. It had taken a little doing, but by asking about new students enrolled during the last two months she had found out he was registered as Scott Hayden. She wondered about the different last name as she waited in the empty hall outside the student activities office, but didn't give it too much thought. With all the divorce and remarriage in our modern society, members of the same family with different last names weren't at all uncommon.
When Ellin saw Scott approaching, she walked up the hall to meet him. "Scott, I'm Ellin Jensen. I work with your father. Do you remember me?"
The boy looked at her warily. There was something odd about his expression. "Yes, you came to our apartment one night. What's wrong? Why are you here?"
"Scott, two men just came to the paper office and arrested your father. What's going on?" The look on the boy's face told Ellin this news wasn't a complete surprise. He was shocked, but seemed somewhat resigned to the news. In fact, his expression was similar to what she'd seen on Paul's face.
"I can't tell you that, Mrs. Jensen." Scott had begun to look around nervously.
"Scott, something's wrong and I want to help. Why would those men want you too? I heard them say they were coming to the school." The boy continued to look up and down the empty hall and Ellin could see he was getting very anxious.
"You've got to help me get my father away from them."
"If you won't tell me what's going on, I won't know how to help you."
"I can't tell you. Don't you understand? He needs your help. I need your help."
"I'll do what I can, but I need to know more."
"What started all of this? Why is Fox here?"
"Fox? I heard that name used by the one called Wylie. You do know what's going on, don't you?" Ellin was now sure Scott knew more than he was telling. "Let's get you out of here. Come on."
Scott hesitated. He looked into this woman's eyes. His father had always spoken of Ellin Jensen as an understanding person and he needed to trust someone. As they began to walk to her car he told her some of the story. "Fox and Wylie are Federal Security Agents. They've been after my father for fifteen years. Now they want me too."
"Why?" Fifteen years seemed like a long time to pursue one man, especially one with the media status of Paul Forrester. Something didn't seem right in the boy's story. The pieces just didn't fit together.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Scott, it'll be easier for me to help if you tell me everything." When Scott didn't respond, Ellin continued, "It won't be safe for you to go home, so I'll take you to my house."
"Fox will come to the school first. There'll be time to go pack our things."
"Are you sure you want to take the time?"
Scott stopped walking, looked at Ellin and sighed, "Trust me Mrs. Jensen. I've done it lots of times."
o O o
As the smoke from his cigar swirled around his head, Otto Keller contemplated his next move. The FSA agent had told him not to talk about the arrest of Paul Forrester, but that didn't mean he couldn't do some investigating. It had always seemed odd that a Pulitzer prize winning photographer would work for the World Enquirer, but Keller had promised to not ask questions. Now it seemed obvious there must be something in Forrester's past to cause him to shun publicity. Since Fox and Forrester had immediately recognized each other, they must have crossed paths before. Keller knew the FSA didn't pursue petty crime and he could smell a big story. He called C.C. to his office.
"Clark, we have to find out more about Forrester. I want you to dig up everything you can about him, the FSA, and George Fox. There has to be some kind of connection."
C.C. looked up at his boss. "But the government man said..."
"I don't care what he said. I want to know what's going on here. We could be on the inside of one of the biggest stories of this century. You just dig up everything you can." Keller clamped the cigar between his teeth and stared at the smaller man.
C.C. started to protest again, but decided it wasn't going to get him anywhere. He left Keller's office and headed to the morgue. It seemed the place to start looking was in the files of information from fifteen years ago. Something about the alien story had brought the FSA to the paper. As for Paul's background, with his media status, it shouldn't be too hard to find out what he'd been doing for the last few years. C.C. couldn't imagine a connection between the FSA and Paul. He knew Paul had been in Vietnam so maybe there was something there. Clark would do enough digging to make Keller happy.
o O o
Ellin didn't believe anyone could pack so rapidly, much less a fourteen year old boy, but it had taken only ten minutes for Scott to gather their belongings. It was obvious he'd done this before. As she maneuvered her way through the afternoon traffic, Ellin wondered what she was going to do next. She kept stealing glances at the young man who sat beside her in silence.
Scott was thumbing through a copy of the World Enquirer Ellin had thrown on the car seat, but his mind wasn't on the words. Suddenly a headline caught his attention: 'Alien Father Returns To Reunite Family'. Scott read a small part of the article. He exclaimed quietly, almost in a whisper, "Oh, no!"
"What is it Scott?" Ellin looked over at the boy seated beside her.
"Who is C. Cummings? Where'd he get the information for this story?"
"Clark Cummings is a writer for the paper who creates stories. He's never written the truth about anything. That story is another one of his fabrications. Why does it upset you?"
Scott turned to look at Ellin Jensen as he realized he must confide in someone. He blinked back the tears as he began to explain. "This story isn't fiction. It's the story of my family. The woman described here is my mother, Jenny Hayden."
"What're you saying? C.C.'s story is about beings from another world. It's just trash."
"No! It's not. This C. Cummings must've found out about my father and wrote the story. Why would he do something like that?"
Ellin could see Scott was very agitated. He was serious about what he was saying, but Ellin just couldn't accept it. She stopped the car so she could look at Scott as they talked. "Scott, what are you saying? C.C. made up this story. He found clippings from a story published fifteen years ..."
"Fifteen years ago my father's space craft was shot down over Wisconsin. For the next three days, he and my mother traveled to Arizona. It was there his people picked him up in the mother ship and took him home."
Ellin raised her eyebrows as she said, "You're telling me your father is from another planet?"
Scott looked directly into Ellin's eyes as he said, "Yes, Mrs. Jensen."
"You can't seriously believe that, Scott. It's just not possible. There's no life on other planets."
As Scott removed a small metal object from his pocket he looked at Ellin, raised one eyebrow and asked, "How can you be so sure?" There was a hint of a smile on his face.
"Well, it's just not possible. If your father is an alien, what are you? You can't seriously believe you're an alien? You're as normal as I am."
Scott didn't say anything more, but began to concentrate on the sphere he held in his right hand.
Ellin watched as the object became transparent, white, and then blue. She jumped as the turn signals blinked, the lights flashed, the windshield wipers began to move, and the horn honked. "What....? What's happening? What is that thing?"
Scott looked at Ellin as the sphere returned to a solid silver color and the car became quiet. "I don't really know. I'm not very good with it, but I can use it to find my father. I know it's an energy source but I'm just learning how it works."
Ellin stared at the young man seated beside her. She was speechless for once in her life.
When Ellin didn't respond, Scott continued, "Do you believe me? I have non-human abilities I inherited from my father. I'm just now learning about myself, my father, what I am and what I can become. It's exciting and frightening all at the same time."
"Paul Forrester is an alien being?" Ellin shivered slightly. She didn't want to believe what she'd just witnessed.
"Yes."
"Why...why did he come back?"
"He came back because I was alone. Ever since he returned to Earth a few months ago we've been searching for my mother. He wouldn't hurt anybody or anything but Fox won't leave us alone."
As Ellin started the car she said, "Scott, I think we have some plans to make." It was incredible, but she really did believe him.