Abduction

My last session with Dr. Brenda occurred on Friday. The weekend was long and hard as I waited for Monday to roll around and hoped that she could bring me more answers. I struggled to remember what happened after we were all herded into the... I will call it the hangar bay for lack of any better description. The opening leading out of the bay looked like that of a large hangar and there was these craft, larger than a helicopter, and more metallic than most aircraft, that sat around in two lines. It looked like the upper deck of an aircraft carrier only we were definitely indoors.

It was not that I was failing to draw from my memories. The sights and sounds of the bay were etched there as the grays, who we could all seem to now understand, were yelling instructions at us, telling us to move along. They herded us to the exit and out onto a hard and dirt-covered landscape. I clearly remember taking that first breath of air, stepping out of the giant craft for the first time. What came after, however, seems like just a dream. I must have been delusional, the victim of some group hallucination that I shared with my fellow captives. The skies here, wherever we were, differed from the skies in Colorado and every other place I visited. They were less blue than any sky I knew of, giving way to hues of reddish-blue across the horizon. The ground was equally reddish in color. Perhaps, I thought at the time, the colors from the ground were reflecting off the atmosphere for some unknown reason. I really wished I had studied more in science class than I had as I was pushed into a line, along with probably eighty other people my own age.

Looking down the line, there were people from all over the place that had been brought here. I could hear distinctively foreign languages as they spoke to themselves; some African, British, French, Asian, English, Irish, and what sounded like Portuguese. We were a melting pot of different ethnicities, brought together from around the globe. Once we were in line, members of the grays came around to each one of us, one by one, and adjusted something on our necks. I looked down for the first time and realized, we had all been fitted with a collar attached to our uniforms. Weird, I remember thinking. Why would they accessorize us with jewelry?

Then it hits me, as they adjust my necklace, even the two men that appeared to be speaking French-Nigerian were now speaking English. I looked to Alexa, nodding at her as she nodded. She noticed it as well. The necklaces were some type of universal interpreter, capable of interpreting every language that was being represented. How, I asked, was this possible? The technology for such a thing was years from going to market.

A horn blew overhead, in front of us, causing us all to look forwards. For the first time, I noticed the platform we were all being gathered in front of, a regal podium in its' center. Perhaps, I wondered, if that was going to be when we got some answers, some explanation as to what was happening to us all. One of the grays, its' voice echoing, announced that we should all pay attention and respect to their supreme leader. I looked past the podium and there was an entourage of the tall, lanky, blue-gray-skinned creatures coming from a distant structure. Structure? It was all beginning to clear in my mind. My heart began to race and my palms started to sweat. I honestly felt as if I was suffering an anxiety attack. I started to look around us, turning in place as I noticed the surroundings in greater detail.

"Jesus, we're not on earth..." I began to tell Alexa before one of the grays poked me with a large staff.

"Ugh!" I wanted to scream but managed to muffle my grunt as the pain of the staff poking into my rib cage shot through me like a hot poker. The dammed things were charged, like a dammed cattleprod.

"Silence," a voice said, the tall gray that had struck me stared into my eyes. Their mouths never seemed to move enough to tell if they were speaking or if they communicated telepathically. It was obvious that this gray was talking to me. I softly apologize and turn back to face the same direction as the group. Their leader and its' entourage have made their way to the podium.

"Greetings, my name is Bahal, and I am the leader of the people of Phobos," the creature spoke with a female voice. It was almost a soothing voice to hear, comparing it to the rest of the foul beasts.

"Our people wish to welcome you to our world and we regret that the circumstances of your first days with us have been, certainly unpleasant," she continued to speak.

Unpleasant, I nearly laughed at the sentiment she conveyed. There was nothing unpleasant about it. Each and every one of those exams they forced us through had proven to be down-right humiliating, painful, excruciating, and the scariest days of my life. How in the world could they use the term unpleasant to cover what they were doing and the acts they forced us to suffer through? They had, after all, opened me up while I was awake and played with my organs. I assumed that the term unpleasant was one that Bahal simply hadn't learned to use correctly, since they were speaking in English.

Some of us were there for labor, she explained, as the people of Phobos needed manual workers as much as they did the rest of us. She was ambiguous about that issue, what the rest of us were for. Bahal went on to tell the group that those of us not sent to the labor camps, would remain there in the capital city of Phobos and had been selected for something much more important. Now, we were being assured that our questions would all be answered in due time, Bahal promised that our cooperation was imperative and in the best interests of all parties. I wondered, had this been a former President? Was she perhaps a certain Don? She certainly spoke as eloquently as he once had, before the loss of the White House sent him, my father, and a few million others over the deep end.

"Many of you have been paired up with another from your species and your respective nations on Earth," she said.

The crowd began to hum even after one of the grays yelled, "Quiet!" I guess I was a little faster to figure out our situation than most of the group. It appeared that only Alexa and I had put together we had been abducted by, aliens. Ironically, as our fellow captives seemed to finally draw the line between where they came from and where they were, we were now the aliens. Bahal told us how they found it easier to transition the recruits if they were paired with someone like them, someone that gave them comfort. She then instructed the "Liaisons," to gather their charges and guide them to their quarters.

As the supreme leader departed, the entourage of staff-wielding grays following closely, the gray that poked me in the ribs came over to where I was standing, Alexa in tow.

"You two spent enough time talking while in your cells, I'm sure you can get along if I place you in the same housing unit," it told us.

Alexa and I simply nodded our heads. She seemed almost relieved that we were both being housed together. The idea of our "quarters" left much to the imagination as we were lead away, toward the large structure where Bahal appeared to come from. Our guide, who I now remember, was called Zahec.

The walk was longer than it looked, walking from the landing area to the main structure. It was on the other side of the structure that we first saw the city of Kaknar, as our guide described it. Kaknar was the ruling city of Phobos, almost like our own Washington DC but on a planetary scale. The structure was impressive but the rest of the city reminded me of Mos Eisley from that space movie my dad made me watch with him. We were guided around to the lower level of the main structure and an off-shoot that contained small living quarters. Zahec told us that the quarters were built for their military before the great war, a sentiment I found less than comforting. Even on another planet, there'd been a great war. Light years from home and one thing our captors had in common with people from earth, they referred to wars as great.

Zahec pointed at the third door from the left. It was obvious that was to be our assigned quarters while we were here.

"Come, young ones, come, come," he repeated.

We were lead to housing for the "recruits" still not knowing what exactly we were being "recruited" for and the indigenous life forms here could call it what they wanted, we weren't recruited, we were shanghaied, kidnapped, snatched, or drafted if you want a friendlier way of saying it. None of this, was by choice. As was were escorted into our quarters I was surprised. Shanghaied or not, the living quarters we were assigned were impressive. This was a genuinely nice setup and it wasn't just me, Alexa beamed from ear to ear.

"How is this possible?" I asked, looking around the apartment-style living arrangement.

Right inside the main door to our new home, there was a living room, much like the one I grew up with at home. A large sofa-sectional sat in the center of the space, facing a fireplace with a large flat screen hung on the wall directly above. On the opposite side of the room were twelve-foot windows with shades that could be closed by hand. The room was designed with a warmth that the craft bringing us here sorely missed. I turned around, looking back at a kitchen right off the living area. Equally impressive, the kitchen had all the amenities. I looked into the refrigerator, shocked to see items we normally bought in grocery stores on earth.

"How?" I asked.

"We have been studying your people for nearly eighty of your earth years. Our replicators can make anything that we have recorded from your world," explained Zahec.

Alexa came rushing back from the upstairs section. She was excited. The bedrooms were perfect, she told me. Both of us were getting king beds, our own separate rooms, and the closets were filled with clothing similar to the style we wore before we were taken. I wondered why there were two bedrooms, secretly hoping that we would be sharing the same bed. Call it what you will but as a young man in my prime, living with Alexa had some promise.

"You will be expected to remain here unless escorted around the city. Here," said Zahec, handing us each a small device, "If I'm needed, simply press here and it'll alert me."

Zahec explained that he would return in twelve hours to retrieve us for our first day of training. It was obvious that we were going to be forced to perform a task for the grays. What, neither Alexa nor I knew.

Our guide, Zahec, was gone and we were alone, finally, after the craziest day, I could have imagined. We sat, silently at first, before we both burst into hysterically uttering our feelings and thoughts. Alexa was in tears, a case of both relief and fear, overwhelming her senses. I put my arm around her, trying to comfort my only friend on an entire planet. We were together at least, which, besides the new living quarters being an immediate upgrade from the cold, steel, cells of the ship, was our only other form of solace. We sat there for the longest time until the screen above the fireplace turned on, causing us both to sit up and focus our attention on the images unfolding before our eyes.

"This, recruits, is Turak of Zaneer," a voice described a green-skinned, lizard creature. I remembered seeing this creature in line with us. It was another recruit, another captive the population of Phobos had shanghaied to their cause.

"Turok tried to flee from the recruitment center," the voice on the screen continued. "We wish for you all to know the consequences of leaving the designated areas we have assigned you without your guides' authorization."

Two of the grays took Turok and drug him back to one of the examination tables. He was strapped on the table, much the way I remembered being strapped there once, myself. Alexa and I sat, watching as two of the grays stood beside the Zaneerian, instruments in their long-fingered hands. Turok screamed as the two grays began to torture him. Slowly, like peeling an orange, they were filleting the lizard for the recruits to watch. Alexa turned her head into my chest, hiding her eyes from the horror show being played out in front of us.

"Turn it off," she said, shaking. "I've seen enough."

I left her on the sofa, walking over to the screen. Looking for buttons, remembering Zahec describing the replicators, I found a line of six buttons and pressed them all. Finally, the gut-curdling sound of Turok screaming as they peeled away his flesh was gone.

"I guess we're really trapped here," Alexa sobbed as I sat next to her.

Was she right? Were we as trapped as it seemed? How would we ever see our homes or our families again? I didn't admit to it, but I was just as scared as Alexa.

The next thing I remembered was waking up on the sofa, Alexa still in my arms. We must have fallen asleep together after the horror of the grays killing Turok. Neither of us had slept well during the trip to Phobos and even crowded together on a plush, faux-leather, sectional was still more comfortable than our time stuck in the steel covered cells of the ship. It was early and Alexa was still asleep, cutely snoring. I rested her head against one of the pillows on the arm of the sectional. She was adorable when she slept, I noticed that already.

I went over to the windows that faced the landing field where we first arrived on Phobos. The ship was still where we landed. I watched dozens of grays working, scurrying around the ship, loading containers into the landing bay. A large ground craft towed two of the smaller craft from the opening to the bay, taking them out to a field of other smaller craft. It all seemed so orderly, I remember thinking to myself as I stood there, watching them. Even from Phobos, the sun coming up was a sight. For the first time, the distance from home struck me. The sun popped up over the horizon, smaller than from earth, its' light stretching a hundred-million-miles farther than I was accustomed.

"We are gonna die here," I said to myself before finally laying back down, slipping in behind Alexa, happy that she felt my hand behind her and pulled it around her front.