Zircon

A sharp pain woke me, apparently I had fallen asleep on top of what seem to be a desk. As I open my eyes I notice that the room was pitch black, nothing could be seen. Relying only on my sense of touch I deduce that I was sitting on a metal chair behind a metal table. Both my arms were lying on the cold surface of the desk, when I tried to retrieve them I felt the sharp pain again in both my wrist, and heard the clicking sound of metal beating against metal. I began to search for any source of light, but fail to find any. Since I was confined with no way of escape for the moment, I tried to recall what had happen in the last 24 hours, I needed to remember how did I get here? The harder I tried to remember the more I began to notice the migraine. The only thing I knew for sure was that I was on my way to meet him, after that nothing.

The lights turned on revealing that I was sitting alone in a white room. After being in such darkness the light that I long for hurt my eyes, forcing me to blink while I adjusted to its brightness. A few seconds passed before I could look around and notice that there were no windows on the walls. And every time I move in my chair, it would rock. I looked at the legs of the chair and saw that one of them were unbalance, so I extended my right leg to balance it out. Front of me was a large mirror that had the same length as the wall from which I saw nothing except my own reflection. As I looked at myself I observed my long curly brown hair falling against my shoulders. My light tan skin seem pale in this light. I was wearing a black tank top with dark blue jean and hiking boots. I shifted my view towards my dark brown eyes. I lean forward to get a better view and notice that my eyes are red and my pupils dilated. I sigh with angers and leaned back in my chair. The facts were clear I had been drugs to get here, that would explain the headache.

I waited for my captor to reveal themselves but there were obviously taking their time to observe me from the other side of the glass. I knew I wasn’t alone, I knew they were there, so I made sure not to give them the satisfaction of being afraid. As I waited the only sound in the room was the buzzing the lights made. I looked up towards the right corner and saw a large plasma TV hanging from the roof and next to it a speaker phone. For all I knew they might not even have the guts to show their faces.

“Is it or is it not your name Katherine Vine” said a harsh male voice thru the speaker phone. I have to admit after a while in silence his voice startle me, making me jump in my seat.

“Yes.” I replied. The voice said again “Your parents are Josh and Marie Vine, born in Orlando, Florida, only child. It says here you’re doing your Master’s degree in Astrophysicist at the university of Phoenix Arizona. Is that correct?”

“Where am I? And who are you? I demanded

“Answer the question Ms. Vine!” His tone told me that he had no patience and was for sure not going to answer any of my questions

“I haven’t done anything wrong. I demand to know under what circumstances I have been detain!” I said with anger.

“Is not what you have done, it’s what you know.” Said another voice thru the speaker phone. Both the voices were male. But unlike the first voice this one seemed to be an older man. He talked with great conviction and his decibels were grave. Perhaps thru him I could get some light at what’s going on

“What? When did the study of Astrophysics became a crime?!” I said sarcastically

“Why don’t you tell us where he is?” said the impatience one

“Who?”

“Don’t play dumb, you know who we are talking about.”

“Actually, no”

“We can do this all day. You see, we are very patient people, it is only a matter of time until we get what we want” said the older man

“Now I’ll ask you again, where is he?” the impatience one asks again,

“I have no idea, I don’t even remember how I got here.”

“Then tell us, why you help him?” said the older man

“What you expect, it was the middle of nowhere.”

“So you just decided to help a complete stranger?” the older man asked with a hint of curiosity in this tone

“It wasn’t like that!” I snap at him

“Then how was it?!” said the impatience one who was starting to get on my nerves

“I am not going to answer any more of these questions until I get a lawyer!”

“Ms. Vine, you must understand that this is a matter of national security and we need your full cooperation.” Said the older man. I could tell that he was trying to reason with me.

“I didn’t realize that this was the way to give full cooperation.” I said while I tried to raise my hand but couldn’t because of the cuffs that tied them to the desk. “National security? What are you CIA? FBI?”

“Does it make a difference?” said the impatient one whit a chuckle. Listening to the humor he had while asking me made my blood boil.

“Yes actually, I want to know the name of the agency that I am going to sue for keeping me here against my will!” I said furious. While I talked the plasma screen turned on and a set of images began to appear as if in a slideshow slowly passing one after the other, once the cycle was over it began again and again. The pictures were of us together at different national parks and forests.

“Could we say from these pictures that the two of you had an intimate relationship?” asked the older man. I looked at the picture of a while before I answered.

“I wouldn’t say intimate.”

“Then how would you explain these?”

“That we enjoyed our company...” I said rather doubtfully

“So you help him, then you keep seeking him?”

“No, he would come find me.”

“And that didn’t mind you?” interrupted the impatient one

“No, he was sweet and kind and in case you haven’t notice he is also very attractive.” I said with a smile

“Attractive?!” he asked with surprise. “You are aware that he is not one of us?!”

“He looks that same to me.”

“Has he ever told you where he is from?”

“Does it matter?” I asked

“Absolutely!” he said agitated. I could tell that I had struck a nerve. Which brought a bigger smile to my face, because I knew that would bother him even more.

“Tell me then, why you would only be seen with him at different national parks like this picture was taken at Mongolian Rim, Papagos park, the Gran Canyon and many other places?” asked the older man

“We love nature.”

“You know it’s interesting, you told us he would come find you but our intel tells us that you were the one who would meet him at these locations” interrupted the impatient one

“He told me it wouldn’t be safe for us to meet at an urban location”

“What wouldn’t you be safe from?” asked the older man

“Well let's see… I guess from men like you, whom bring me here unconscious, tie my hands to the desk and keep me here against my will. So, I’ll let you do the math!”

“Ms. Vine, I think you have a small misconception about us. We are the good guys here” Said the voice of the impatient man with his hypocrite tone as if he were trying to sound pleasant.

“Good guy?” I answer in shock “If this is being the good guys, I don’t want to know what’s being the bad guys.”

“So, you never wonder where he is from?” Said the voice of the older man getting back to the main subject

“He told me after some time.”

“Why would he trust you with that?”

“I don’t know, maybe for the same reason he kept looking for me.” For a moment there was silent, then the plasma screen began to show a new set of images

“Have you seen this before?”

“What is that?”

“It’s a life pod. An only one person ride, we believe this is what your friend used to travel here. Unfortunately, it looks as if something might have gone wrong in the landing since its severely damage and since we have no idea how it works there is no way for us to repair it. But by what we could see its technology is far way more advanced than ours. Our top minds believe that this little shaped sphere pod can travel at the speed of light and it could camouflage within its environment very easily.”

“I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

“He never showed you this?” asked the impatience man doubting me

“Or how it can be used?” added the older man

“No.” I lied. It was so obvious that they were both eager to learn what I had to say about the matter, but I denied them that. I wasn’t going to tell them about it, and neither was I going to let them suspect that I remember seeing it before. But still, I remember like if it was yesterday, when I was driving at night thru the desert when I ran my truck into some invisible force.

“Where was it you found him again?” Asked the inpatient man

“Out in the desert.”

“And you didn’t see this?”

“No, it was dark.”

“I see…” he said not convince. I could tell that by his breathing and tone that he was about to explode in anger.

“Ms. Vine, you are going thru a lot of trouble protecting this man, but you must understand that he is extremely dangerous and he cannot be trusted.” Said the older man concerned.

“Why? Because he is not from this galaxy?”

“That’s exactly why!” snap the inpatient one at me

“You afraid of the unknown?” I sarcastically asked him

“You certainly should be!”

“Are you aware of the things this man is capable of?” asked the older man. I began to notice a pattern. Every time the impatient man got to agitated, the older man, would began interrogating. I am assuming for the other to cool off.

“Yes. I have seen part of it.”

“And that didn’t scare you?”

“At first.”

“You know the thing that bothers me the most is that you give your full support to that… that alien! Said the impatient man with spite

“Zircon!” I answer him back

“Excuses me?”

“His name is not alien it’s Zircon!”

“How interesting, doesn’t that remind you of the element in the periodic table? Asked the older man to the other

“perhaps.” He answer back

“So, tell us Ms. Vine, Why did Zircon came? Asked the older man

“To warn us…”

“Of what? An Invasion?” said the inpatient man very agitated

“No!” I shouted back

“Then why else would he come? Why would he travel more than a thousand light-years just to get here, because I seriously doubt that he came for hot cup of tea!”

“Haven’t you seen the state of our planet?” I couldn’t finish my line of thought since I was startle when thru the speaker phone I hear a loud sound as if someone hit the desk with the fist with anger.

“Ms. Vine I will only warn you once…” Said the voice of the impatient man. While he talked I notice the rage in his voice. “You better start giving us strait answers, because if you don’t you will officially become enemy of the state or worse enemy of the globe and I will personally make sure that you go thru hell. I will put you in a small dark room where you will spend the rest of your pitiful life!” While he talked an alarm started and none of them talked for a brief moment. The siren was loud, and it seemed to come from everywhere. “We will take a 15 minute break, which should give you enough time for you to think about what we said and of how you will answer from now on.” Said the older man with a tone of concerned. If it wasn’t because of the alarm I would have thought that he was concern of my safety, but under the circumstances I knew it was because something big was happening.

As the siren continue to echo thru the walls I looked around for anything that could help me escape, but as before I found none. I had no idea if there was anyone observing me thru the other side of the glass but I continued to look for a weak end on my cuffs that where attach to the desk. My efforts were in vain. I had no other choice than to sit until they return, or most probably until they decided it was time to release me; that is, if they are even planning to do so. Then a terrible thought can to me, what if I was to be their prisoner? It was obvious they had the means to erase me from the planet. How knows what sort of governmental unrealistic explanation they would give for my disappearance.

When this charade began I was mad but now at this precise moment I felt scared. I was frightened of what could and would happen to me. This situation made me feel that it would have been best if Zircon and I would have never met, but then again do I? I remember like if it was yesterday when I crash my truck into his spaceship about six week ago. Finding him so vulnerable out in the dessert. No matter how I tried I could never bring myself to tell him no; and less when he looked at me with his intense grey eyes, and his charming smile. Yet I fear that without me something terrible might happen to us all. Even though I have enjoyed his presence I still know very little about him and about his plans for us. I only know for sure that my place is by his side.

Suddenly the siren went off, only the buzzing of the lights remained. The speaker phone activated again and a new voice came thru.

“Just so you know, everything said here has been recorded.” His voice seem familiar but I wasn’t quite sure. “So, have you thought about what they said?” He asked.

“Yes I have.” I answer

“How would you respond?”

“Zircon came to help us.”

Then I heard him chuckle before he said “You know, it doesn’t matter how you may change the form of a metal it will always be a mineral.”

I looked at my cuffs that tied my hands to the desk and they disintegrated into a fine dust. I retrieve my hands and rubbed both my wrist. The door towards my left open and thru it came Zircon extending his hand toward me and smiling his charming smile

“Zircon!” I said with relief

“What do you say if we get out of here?”

I took his hand and we both walked confidently out the door. I still don’t know how he does it but I am glad he came for me. The only bad thing is that I am going to miss the look on their faces when they come back to sense and see that I am gone. And like Zircon said all they need to know is on the tape.