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Okay, guess I don’t need to take little Shane to a hospital to be checked out then.
The juvenile will not experience adverse health effects. You do not need to worry.
I stand there watching as the people regain consciousness. Once they do, they step down, shivering and totally confused. “Everyone, look at me for a sec. I know this is crazy, but try to stay quiet. Don’t scream, don’t panic. First, what are your names, and speak quietly, please.”
They each give me their names. Okay good. At least, they can recall that.
Meredith, a nineteen-year-old-girl, tries to cover herself with her hands. Her face goes bright red. She’s about to lose it when she catches sight of the nice alien in the tank right next to her and ends up just staring at him in utter shock.
A younger guy named Bud covers himself and appears embarrassed to the point of fainting. Almost.
Another lady—Velma—is making a ‘well ain’t this some shit’ face, as if alien abduction was no more stressful than an annoying neighbor parking in her driveway.
Carson himself appears unconcerned with his immediate lack of clothing. He takes Gemma’s hand and squeezes it. “Hey, are you okay?”
Gemma presses a hand to her face. “What happened? We’re all naked. Were we abducted?”
“Seems so. I had the craziest dream they hurt you.”
Eek. I wince. He probably did watch them cut her open, though Gemma doesn’t appear injured at all. If the aliens did do anything surgical to anyone here, their medical technology is advanced enough to not leave any marks whatsoever. Here’s hoping no one is missing any organs.
They are not,says Xaan in my head.Organs may have been removed to be weighed and scanned, but they would have been replaced.
I squirm. Meanwhile, everyone looks at him as if they also heard his voice.
“There are clothes in there,” I say, pointing at the storage bin.
Carson spins in place. “Shane?” He waits only a second before raising his voice. “Shane?”
“Your son is fine,” I say. “I found him a few hours ago. Please keep it down. We’re not safe.”
“Hours?” Carson gawks at me. “How long have we been here?”
“You and Gemma have been missing for nine days.” I look at her. “Your brother Scott hired me to find you. I’m a private investigator.”
“Nice miniskirt,” says a guy named Titus. “Don’t look like no PI to me.”
“They took my stuff, too. What I’m wearing, I got from this storage bin.”
“Shane’s okay?” Carson walks up on me. “Where is he? What did they do to him?”
“Easy.” I hold up both hands. “He was a little groggy from whatever the aliens use to make everyone sleep. Not hurt. He’s at my sister’s place. I’ll get him back to you as soon as we’re out of here.”
Carson slouches, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Gemma’s the first to approach the storage bin. As soon as she pulls a shirt out of it, the others all seem to snap out of their fog at the same time. For a few brief seconds, none of them appear to care they’re naked, all crowding together to rush the storage bin at the same time in a moderately controlled feeding frenzy. I politely keep quiet and wait. Amid the chaos, Velma finds a pair of khaki shorts that’s too small for her. She tosses them over her shoulder and keeps rummaging. Ooh. Upgrade. I dart over and swap the miniskirt for the shorts. Nothing against skirts, but they’re not the best fighting apparel. Meredith, in a man’s tank top shirt and no bottoms, spends a while rummaging before noticing the miniskirt I abandoned and goes for it. She also pulls a giant flannel shirt on over everything else. Titus looks like a country truck driver from the early Seventies. Velma’s in a flannel shirt and jeans. Both younger guys—Bud and Rich—are dressed like me: a graphic T-shirt straight out of the 1980s and dorky shorts.
Once everyone’s dressed, they stand around in a loose cluster, mostly staring at Xaan still in the tank but also me.
“What’s going on?” asks Titus.
“We have all been abducted by aliens.” I point at the two unconscious entities. “The reason I asked you all to be quiet and not scream is… we’re on a ship. There are likely more aliens. I’d like to escape without being recaptured. Xaan is not one of the aliens who kidnapped us. He’s on our side. Think of it like two different nations at war with each other.”
The people all nod in response or gaze vacantly.
I glance at Xaan. When we first walked into the clearing, they zapped the heck out of us. How do I stop them from just doing that to me again?
We prevent one of them from activating the device.
