The Pandora Directive

Chapter Thirty-One

Neither of us moved for a moment.

The ship was quite large, maybe seventy feet long and ten feet high. From where we were standing, it looked triangular, not like the boomerang shape I’d seen on Roswell’s lowest level. The surface was metallic and shiny. Several black patches on the exterior could have been windows. There were no openings readily visible.

We walked cautiously toward the craft. For some time, we walked around it, saying nothing. I touched the surface, which fell no different than any other metal. Regan came around the side. “Is beautiful.” She continued to stroke the metal, awestruck. “It’s like a huge Christmas present just waiting to be opened.”

I pulled out the communication device Fitzpatrick had given me. “I guess I should call Fitzpatrick and let him know that we found it.”

Regan turned sharply. “Don’t call!” She came closer. “Let’s keep this to ourselves. It’ll be for just you and me.”

“That isn’t how it works, Regan.”

“But it can be. Just think of the life we can have together. I know some people… all we need to do is tell them how to find the ship. They’ll give us all the money we’ll ever need, and we don’t have to do another thing, except fly away and spend the rest of our lives together. We’ll be able to do anything we want, go anywhere we want.”

Regan reached out and touched my face. Until this moment, her words might have tempted me, but now I saw her in a different light. She really didn’t care about anything but money and herself.

“It’s not right, Regan.”

Suddenly, she was angry. “What are you going to do, Tex? What have you got to go back to? Look at your life! A run-down apartment. Barely enough work to pay your bills. It’s a dead end, and you know it. You can play it safe, stay with your little mutant girlfriend, go through life struggling and never taking a chance. Or you can have it all, including me. Is there even a choice?”

I stepped back. “Yeah, there’s a choice, and I’ve already made it. My life may not seem like much to you, and my little mutant girlfriend may not be the most glamourous woman in the world, but I happen to feel a certain obligation to do what’s right, not just what serves my own interests. Even if I went along, I don’t think it would ever work out for you and me. I don’t like the way you think.”

Without warning, a voice spoke from behind me. “What a lovely speech.”

I spun around to see Jackson Cross, a gun in his hand pointed at my chest.

He motioned toward the communication device I was holding. “Hand it over.” I hesitated. “If you prefer, I can blast a hole through you, then get it.”

There was no room for argument. I handed it over. Cross smiled at me. “I thought you’d be more surprised to see me.”

“I figured the NSA would be hanging around. I’m just wondering why I didn’t smell you before now.”

Cross laughed maliciously. “Oh, I’m not here on official business. The agency isn’t involved. This is purely personal, just between me and Ms. Madsen, here.”

I turned back toward Regan. Her eyes met mine coolly. “Sorry, Tex. It’s just business. I offered you a piece of the action. You’ve got no one but yourself to blame.”

I couldn’t stop looking at her face. She’d taken me in completely. Her demeanour was calm, but I could detect a hint of regret. She wasn’t proud of what she’d done, but that wasn’t about stop her.

Cross laugh behind me. “Disillusioning, isn’t it?”

I turned around to face the leering bastard. “So the two of you came down together? How come I only saw one set of footprints?”

“Standard NSA procedure — two-pronged approach. Regan entered on the low side; I flew the Avatar and made a systematic search of the area. I found the spacecraft a few hours ago. In fact, I was waiting up here when I saw you get dropped off down below. I guess Ms. Madsen forgot to tell you that I was here.”

Regan had circled around to stand next to Cross. His gun remained pointed at me as he turned and smiled at my Delilah, then back at me. “I learned about Malloy’s work through the NSA. It sounded like a good personal opportunity. While I was trying to track him down, I met up with Ms Madsen here. I figured she could help me, so I offered her a chance to become partners. She was ready to sell out her father in a heartbeat.”

“I didn’t sell him out.” Regan’s eyes flashed.

Cross turned serenely, the smile on his face unchanged. His tone dripped acid. “Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot. You just wanted your rightful inheritance.”

He turned back to me. “In any event, she and I found out that Malloy had sent the boxes. I had some trusted associates watching for them in different places. We were looking for one at the Ritz when you stumbled into our path. Then, of course, you ended up killing one of my men who was staking out the Fuchsia Flamingo. We watched the Collins girl, but she never got a box. We had a little more luck with Ellis.”

Regan broke in. “You didn’t have to kill them, by the way. There is such a thing as an innocent bystander.”

Cross chuckled and shook his head. “Sweet Regan. Poor, sweet, naive Regan.” his voice went deadly. “Don’t interrupt me again.”

Cross turned his attention and his gun back toward me. “I wanted you out of the way, but Regan convinced me to give you a chance. After I watched you work for a while, I decided to let you do the work, which turned out to be a good decision, don’t you think? Now here we are. All according to plan.”

“You’re not going to get away with it, Cross.”

He laughed again. “Really? I don’t see anyone here who can do anything about it.”

Regan spoke up. “That device he gave you is his contact with Witt and Fitzpatrick. I know how it works. Let me have it. I’ll send a message that we haven’t found anything.”

Cross watched her until she finished, then smiled at me. “There. That should give us plenty of time. I’ve alerted our buyer. He should be here with everything we need within a couple hours.” He levelled his gun at my forehead.

“As for you, Murphy, I’ve wanted to blow your head off from the first time I saw you. Not that I don’t like you. You seem like a resourceful guy. I just like to kill people. It’s unbelievably satisfying.”

I caught Regan’s eye. “After the way you played me for a sucker, I think you deserve to pull the trigger yourself.”

Regan looked away uneasily. “I left before you did, hoping it would save you.” She looked back at me. “You’re too good for your own good.” “If I ever get out of this situation, I’ll try to keep that in mind.”

Cross stepped forward and levelled the gun at my chest. “Enough talk! Say goodbye, Murphy.”

Suddenly, a sound came from behind us. A hatch swung open from the side of spacecraft with a vaguely hydraulic hiss. A pair of wing tips under neatly pressed trousers appeared on the steps of the hatch door. Slowly, and man descended. It was Fitzpatrick.

“Don’t shoot. If you spare him, I’ll show you how to find what you’re looking for.”

Cross whirled around, the gun now pointed at Fitzpatrick’s forehead. “I don’t know who you are, but you should know, I generally frown on blackmail.” “You don’t know what you’re looking for. I do.”

Cross hesitated, apparently weighing the old man’s offer. Slowly, his arm went down. “Okay, old man. I won’t kill him… yet.”

Fitzpatrick bowed his head slightly. “Follow me.”

Cross walked around behind me and placed the tip of his gun barrel into my lower back. When he nudged me, I started up the steps towards the hatch, Cross right behind me.

The area just inside the entrance was quite large, though there wasn’t much headroom. It appeared to be a control centre. There was a soft glow in the room, but no distinct light source, as if the very material the room was constructed from was emitting the light. The area was circular, like the interior of an egg, with three doorways spaced evenly to the left. One doorway was open, and a reddish light was blinking from beyond. The control centre had no seats, though what appeared to be consoles lined about a third of the conference on the right. No switches or buttons were visible, only flat surfaces with markings on them.

Fitzpatrick’s voice interrupted my examination. “We are standing in the midst of history. Those who came with this ship may have been our forefathers. If not the fathers of our race, they at least were guardians and guides to our ancestors. This is a holy place.”

He turned his gaze past me, toward Cross. “You would sell this. How can money mean so much to you? If I could, I would preserve this, to show what our civilisation might become when we are wiser and more prudent. It is a pity that we are not even close.”

Cross laughed Crawley. “You and Murphy are full of pretty words today, aren’t you?” he motioned toward the red light. “What’s in there?”

Fitzpatrick appeared reluctant to say anything, but answered. “The main power cell.”

Cross pushed the gun painfully into my spinal column. “Let’s go take a look, shall we?” As we entered the chamber, I saw that the source of the light was mounted on a small pedestal. The room was only ten to twelve feet in diameter, with a pedestal against the far wall. Just inside the door, Cross pushed me to the right. “Stay right there. You, old man, stand beside him.”

While Cross waited for Fitzpatrick to get in place, Regan entered the chamber and walked straight to the light source. Cross’s eyes left us for a moment and followed her to the pedestal. Fitzpatrick’s elbow touched my ribs. He lifted a finger, then made an almost imperceptible motion toward the door. I wasn’t sure, but it seemed he wanted to make a run for it when the opportunity presented itself. I didn’t know how we could possibly get away, but we were going to die anyway.

Cross looked back at us. We haven’t moved a step. He moved slowly toward a pedestal, trying to keep one eye on us and one on the red light. When he’d gotten close, he leaned over to get a better view. Fitzpatrick nudged me. I turned and bolted through the door. Behind me, I heard a slamming sound and the same hydraulic hiss I’d heard before. Suddenly, Cross’ s gun went off, and I turned to see Fitzpatrick hit the floor as the door closed behind him. I rushed over to the old man. He was hurt badly.

“C’mon, we’ve got to get out of here and get you to a doctor.”

Fitzpatrick looked up at me. “There is no need for a doctor. I’ll live long enough to fulfil my destiny.” “What do you mean?”

The old man gasped for breath. He didn’t have long. “I’m going to navigate the ship off the planet and destroy it. I have the explosive set. You must get off now, while you can.”

“You know how to fly this? How do you know it even works?”

Fitzpatrick smiled weakly. “Trust me, Tex. The power cell you retrieved from Roswell allowed me to regenerate the ship’s power. It will work.” “But you’re not gonna make it. Tell me what to do.”

The dying man gasped. The colour was training quickly from his face. “Find the sun symbol and press it. That will activate the navigational console. Then press V, Red, Left Half-Moon, 11, Triangle, Helix, Green, Right Half-Moon, X, Double Circle.”

Each word was more difficult to hear. On the word “Circle,” Fitzpatrick shuddered and exhaled loudly. He was dead.

I turned to the console, hoping that the dead man hadn’t passed on before completing the instructions. A gunshot rang out, and a bullet ricocheted off the console to my right. Cross had managed to get his gun barrel in the path of the door. It was wedged tightly and, luckily, it wasn’t pointed at me. Behind the door, Regan and Cross were yelling at each other. Cross’s fingers slipped through the gap and above the wedged gun.

I turned back and scanned the console wildly, looking for the sun symbol. In my head, I was repeating over and over: V, Red, Left Half-Moon, 11, Triangle, Helix, Green, Right Half-Moon, X, Double Circle. V R Moon E T H G Moon X Double Circle V R Moon E T H G Moon X Double Circle

I finally located the sun symbol and touched it. The console burst to life. When I pressed the V symbol, four coloured areas appeared. I touched the red spot. My eyes ran over the surface. What was next? I saw two half-moon symbols and pressed the left one. Try to remember. V, R, Moon, E. What was E? Eleven! Close by, I saw a figure of two parallel vertical lines and touched it. A whirring sound ensued. OK. V, R, Moon, E. Now T — Triangle, then H — helix. The to symbols worn the same section of the console. All right, so far, so good.

Now G, Moon, X, Double Circle. G for Green. I moved back to the four-colour display and touched the green spot. The whirring sound stopped. Behind me, I heard a metallic clang and spun around to see that Cross had widened the gap in the door. I moved back to the half moon symbols and touched the right one. The ship shuddered. What was the next symbol? My eyes ran over the console frantically. No, no, no…X! I pressed the X symbol. Finally, I needed to find the Double Circle. It was placed directly in the centre of the console, like a target. I pressed it and heard something mechanical kick in.

The second I touched the Double Circle, I raced to the hatch. A loud, hydraulic hiss hit me in stereo. The hatch was starting to close, and I was fairly sure that Cross had pried the door open at the same instant. With no time to lose, I vaulted through the hatch, down the steps and away from the spacecraft. A barely detectable humming escalated into a low roar. After several seconds, the ancient ship began to lift off. I watched it shoot straight up toward the sky. Higher and higher it rose, until I could no longer see it. I continued to stare skyward for several minutes. Suddenly, a white flash appeared, brighter than any light I’d ever seen. It filled the sky for several seconds. Then a massive boom echoed from above, shaking the very roots of the stone cavern. It was over.