James Glass - Sedona Conspiracy

“I’ll be in my office,” said Davis, and he joined a small group of people crowded together around a computer to look at pictures that had been transmitted during the flight. An image of Ariel floated in blackness there. As Eric walked past them, Rob Hendricks stuck out a hand. “How does it feel to be spokesman for an entire planet?” he asked, and grinned.

Eric shook his hand. “Hasn’t sunk in, yet. I’m a little numb.”

Brown took him by the elbow and steered him away. Seeing Brown in normal light for the first time, Eric thought the man had the good looks of a celebrity, a sort of dark, brooding look.

Another man who could have been Brown’s brother approached them, held out his hand, and Eric shook it.

“This is my closest colleague, Mister White,” said Brown. “He has been my right hand on this project.”

“So glad to meet you at last,” said White. “I must admit I had some doubts about you at first, but I should not be surprised at your performance. Your heritage demanded it.”

Eric nodded politely, thinking the man was simply complimenting an American ally, but Brown squeezed his elbow and pulled him away. “We can have dinner together this evening, but now I have private matters to discuss with Doctor Price. Please excuse us.”

“Of course,” said White. “I’m sure he has a thousand questions.”

“Nice to meet you,” said Eric, as Brown pulled him away.

“He does love to talk, especially about Ariel. Davis will be there, and two other members of the Council. I think you’ll find the evening most entertaining, but now some private things need to be said. I’ll even buy you a cup of coffee.”

The man actually smiled. “Okay,” said Eric.

They went to Mess Hall and found a corner table. Eric spooned sugar into a tall cup of coffee, and Brown drank tea.

“First there’s the matter of project continuation. We want you to be a part of it.”

“Any trained pilot can work with Dillon, and he’ll certainly agree to it. You don’t need me for anything. I did what I came here to do. I’ll likely be reassigned soon,” said Eric.

“Not if we request your services here. Reliable support for this project goes to the highest levels in your government. It’s the reason we brought Sparrow to you in the first place. You’re a scientist, an analyst, and the first to fly Sparrow in N-space. Your voice is the first from earth to be heard by the Arielian people. And there is one other thing, probably most important.

Brown paused and frowned, but Eric remained silent.

“There’s no subtle way to say this, Doctor Price. In every practical definition, you are an Arielian. It would take a DNA sequencing to show the difference between you and a pure human strain. The only differences appear in viral fragments. We’re cousins, so to speak. We share a common ancestor, gone long before either of our written histories begin.”

Eric smiled. “I think I read that somewhere.”

“Our contact with humans goes back at least ten thousand years. Our people have stayed here for many different lengths of time, but the times have become longer in recent centuries. Breeding with humans has been natural; many Arielians have had families and lived out their lives here. There are records we could have checked to find you, but it was only after Natasha discovered you that we did that. You are second generation, Doctor Price. Your grandmother on your mother’s side was from Ariel. She was a cultural anthropologist who spent half her life doing field work on Earth.”

“My mother was a native American,” said Eric.

“She was half Arielian,” said Brown. “She gave you that spiritual quality we’ve never understood in ourselves, that quality that connects our souls. Poor Natasha connected with you so quickly, well before you discovered your feelings for her, and now she’s miserable because of something I asked her to do to help her own people on both sides of her heritage.”

“Nataly?”

“Yes. Her father came from Ariel as a young man, looking for land of his own. He was an important contact in the early stages of our project. We suspect he was murdered because of it, but I think it’s now safe to say that justice has been served. I’ve known Natasha since she was a little girl, Doctor Price. I feel her misery, and yours as well, and I bear the guilt for it.”

Brown was looking at him closely, his forehead creased with the signs of worry. “Knowing what you know now, would you have done the same for your people?”

“I think I would have told the whole truth to someone I loved, and who said they loved me.”

Brown shook his head. “You all had to believe you were dealing with an Earth-based power for as long as possible. Dealing with an alien power is either unbelievable or too frightening. We have experienced that problem on Ariel. It came close to destroying us. We didn’t intend to inflict that on Earth’s people. The whole truth can gradually be released as our relationship grows. Natasha loves you with all her heart, Doctor Price, but she did what she had to do. Her soul has been bruised, and so has yours, and I will suggest a cure, if you’re willing to listen.”

“I’m willing,” said Eric.

Nataly dressed in a Santa Fe skirt and a sleeveless white blouse for the occasion. She brewed a pot of coffee, and then arranged her business plan and a few sketches of the proposed gallery on her desk.

The call from Vasyl had come the previous evening. Whenever she heard his voice, now, she anticipated bad news about Eric, but this time it wasn’t so.”

“Is this about Eric? Is he leaving?”

“He’s still thinking about it, Natasha. I promise I’ll let you know when he decides something. No, this is about a project you’ve had in mind for quite a while. You remember Leon, of course.”

“Yes! Is he getting better?”

“He’s recovering nicely. I went to see him, to thank him for saving Eric’s life, actually. The man talks and talks. He mentioned your ideas about a gallery addition to your shop, and said you’d need a partner to help run it.”

“Leon and I actually talked about that,” said Nataly. “I already knew he was a CIA agent at the time, but I think he has a genuine interest in art. Is he retiring from government service?”

“Oh no, this isn’t about him. But, you know how it is; he has a friend of a friend from Phoenix who would be interested. Leon has talked to him. The man will arrive in the morning. I thought I might bring him up to meet you around noon? I think it would be good for you to have a new, creative project, Natasha. You need a distraction. I want you to stop being so sad.”

“I know you’re trying to help, Vasyl, but I’m not a little girl anymore. I’ll get over it.” It’s just my soul that’s dying , she wanted to say. “Sure, bring him over. If nothing else, I can get a second opinion of my ideas.”

“We’ll be there at noon.”

“Vasyl?”

“Yes?”

“I thought I might at least hear a goodbye from Eric. You’ve talked to him. Has he said anything about me?”

“No. We talked, though. I told him everything about you, about your father.”

“You didn’t!”

“Yes. He also knows his own heritage, now. I told him about his grandmother. I’m trying to get him to remain with the project, Natasha.”

“What was his reaction?”

“A bit stunned, I’d say. He has a lot to think about. Be patient with him.”

“I’m trying,” she said. It’s easy to be patient when your heart isn’t crumbling into pieces over something you have no control of. “See you tomorrow.”

Now it was noon, and Vasyl was habitually prompt. There was a pleasant coffee odor throughout the house, and it was a sunny day. Nataly opened the doors to the balcony, put three coffee cups and saucers on the table there.