"After Roswell" - A.H. Roberts (the gingerbread man read aloud txt) 📗

like a tumbleweed in the wind. I must avoid another interaction. He might already be trying to pick up more details about me. Just lucky he didn't ask me for my name. I would have hesitated in a effort to fabicate a false one. With the Sun retreating behind the background. It be a wise decision to sleep here in the city. Following morning. I'll depart to the new location after stocking up on supplies. First I need to find a suitable location that can conceal me. Not much money for a room. Its better decision to stay outside. I don't want to leave a paper trail. Enought things have already tied and tainted the name of Hank's son. So for the time being. A dark corner under a staircase will hide and protect me until morning. I have a tendency to look up in the night sky when something is bothering my mind. I peer into every star in hopes to find the answers that avoid me. In some cases. I imagine when looking at the darkness of space. A passing ship would appear. A ship from my homeworld. Here to take me back to a place that I've almost forgotten. I'll be glad to return. Being around people I've forgot and cared about in the past. Remembering those places which have fallen from memory. But thats only my imagination. My people know protocol. To send a rescue mission without any status I'm alive would be useless. Funny as it sounds. I don't blame them for not even trying. During the planning phase the higher commands wanted another ship to accompany us on the voyage. Remaining in the outskirts of the system for a emergency rescue if needed. I told my superiors not to bother. That the crew and I would have no problems. I mean this exploration to another distant planet could be no different then other missions. A secondary ship would be more people to command and more lives to govern over. I had confidence in my crew. That we alone could get the mission accomplish. My crew believe in me. They wanted to make history. I wanted to make history for myself. One more thrill for my last exploration. As morbid as it might be. I think my crew was glad they died. Died knowing I was there along with them. But the navigator was alive when taken away by the military. My instincts tell me I should investigate what happen to him. Maybe he didn't die? Some impossible chance. He might still return with me. But where is the navigator being held? Once again. Being human has cast feelings in my mind. Compassion for others has me veering off my path. Doesn't matter. Must make amends with those that I have wrong. Its my fault. Only I can correct the situation. I'm sure when I fall asleep all will be gone. Mistakes which have kept me here for all this time.
My eyes open. I realize that I'm not under the staircase. I'm in a cargo bay with sealed-up body bags. Navigator strapped to a gurney beside me. It feels like the same dream. Movement is felt. So I'm not stationary. A sense of turbulence. Finally its clear. I'm on a plane heading to somewhere. Tires streak on the runway. We come to a hault after a few minutes. Cargo bay door opens up. Military soldiers pour in. They grab the navigator and the bodies. Taking them to a half-circle facility opposite direction. Used to store planes and other large objects. Above the facility is marked "Hangar 18", words that burn right into my mind. Like before, the navigator is wired and probed by the medical personel. So tired from the transport. He doesn't even put up a fight. Besides his prior injuries, the crude examination from these humans add to his misery. They try to communicate with him. Flashing light in his eyes, checking for responses. He watches the humans cut open the pilots, extracting organs and tissue samples. Hard to believe I'm dreaming and able to witness these events. I can experience the past. But I'm unable to interact with those involve. Watching my friend go through these horrible treatments. It makes me sick to my stomach. My feet feel like there cemented to the ground. An illusion which is preventing me from saving the navigator. While watching all this activity. A group of men dress in suits and wearing dark glasses appear out of nowhere. With arms crossed, they whisper and discuss something that is hard to make out. Deameanor and character suggest these are the men in charge. They order and dictate the medical personel, directing them on the procedures. Some of these figures dressed in suits get close to the navigator. In harsh, almost unaudible tone. They demand the navigator respond to their questions. Being uneducated in the human's language he probably hears nothing but gibberish. The navigator looks confused. He speaks in a language I haven't spoken in years since arriving here. I'm unable to understand the navigator. Soon the men in suits power on a fixture above my friend. A bright light beams onto the navigator's face. Once again they demand he answer their questions. Questions include his name, home planet, and purpose for being here. They continue the interrogation. But their voices start to dim ever lower and lower. I hear my friend speak. I don't know if to the men in suits or me. So I listen hard on the words spoken. Soon he turns his head toward where I'm facing. The navigator speaks a phase over and over again. I understand what the navigator is saying."Auttaa Minua, Auttaa Minua". Now these humans become very aggravated. But I'm invisible to them. So even louder than before they demand a answer. But the navigator just keeps repeating the same words. Totally ignoring the men in suits. He keeps his eyes right on my."Auttaa Minua! Auttaa Minua"! With no progress. These men leave the room. They let the medical personel continue their examination. After finishing up the examination. My friend is moved through an exit door. Before he is gone from view, the navigator droops his head over the gurney. Speaking those words to me once again. Doors close. He is finally gone. Now the dream fades away and the room turns black. Only a fraction of light from above remains focus on me. As I try to figure out the question. What could those words mean?
A slight poke on my arm wakes me up from my sleep. Then a voice that sounds roughly familar follows next."I told you boy to move on out of town". Its the officer from yesterday. I explain myself."I'm sorry for not taking your advice. But was little timid to walk in the dark. I was waiting for first light". The officer in charge has a disgrunted look on his face."Usually when someone goes against my orders. I don't tread too lightly". Now some uncertainty rises within. Is the officer going to get into personal questions that I can't answer? I wait for his verdict."Well to avoid paperwork and ruining your day. I'll give you another chance. Take my advice. I don't want to see you again in this town". He enters his vehicle. Gawking me down as he turns the corner. No use of sticking around. Even with the need for supplies. I have a better shot of moving to a new location for supplies and avoid being a suspect. So I gather myself for the long trek to the next destination. Physically I'm not up for the long walk. But not much of a choice. While I'm walking. Its still lingering in my mind about those words spoken by the navigator. Its hard to distinguish from my dreams and reality. I hear a faint voice from inside. Its that voice that monivated me to leave the cave. I still have no indication were the voice is leading me? Is it even leading me at all becomes the actual question? Could I just be dillusional and totally out of mind? I know being human has had some effect on my mental state. Irrational judgements and fatal errors have made numerous uncomfortable situations. Maybe my mind is playing tricks on me? That voice in my head could just be mine. I'm becoming infuriated in trying to figure out this puzzle. A puzzle with an answer. Yet leaves alot more questions. So difficult to know the truth. But as I think about this. What else do I have to lose. My life, career, and reputation is already gone. All of sudden the voice speaks."Auttaa Minua, Auttaa Minua". I yell on the inside. "What do you want from me! Please give me an answer"! The voice mellows out. I silence all thought. Waiting for the voice to return. But I hear nothing and keep on treking. As I'm walking. I repeat the words in my head. Playing over and over like a recording on a record player. I try to put the words together toward my mental dictionary. Knocks me over like a wrecking ball. These words that have plague me, pounding on my mind have finally revealed the answer."Help Me, Help Me". Its true. He is reaching out to me. Either in a past time or the present. He needs my help. Is the navigator trying to assist me? Is he dead and leaving a trail of bread crumbs? A metaphor for clues leading to his whereabouts. But maybe if I find the navigator. It could lead me to the equipment that was stolen from the ship. Its also possible that the equipment is working. Only problem is how can I find this secretive location? If I think hard enough it might be visible in my dreams. It sounds crazy. But I'll try to communicate with the navigator."If your alive. Please give me a sign. A little more help would be appreciated my friend. Needing light in this dark corrider I'm trapped in". In the direction of the town I just left. Sirens are roaring down the road. That officer finally wised up and put my face together with the story in the newspaper. No other alternative. But to hide like usual. So I duck behind some foliage. At least until its safe to come out. While hiding in the foliage. I think to myself. Realizing my friend and that mysterious voice are the same. Since the navigator was hauled away all those years ago. He never left my command. Doing his job in leading me to him. Navigating a safe passage.


Chapter 10
"Finding the Truth"


Walking for about an hour. I still hear the sirens in the next town. At this time the threat is gone but its not over. I'll stay clear from the roads. Might be smart to avoid the public as well. Especially with the cops on my trail. Lately a strong feeling from within has me hypotized. This propels me to find the answers to these visions in my dream. I'm thinking if I continue on my journey. More clues will start to get unravel. It seems the more I keep dreaming about the navigator. His story reveals more. But I can't keep waiting for the same dream to occur everytime I fall asleep. Must be a way to locate physical evidence from that night. I might just come up empty on any evidence? But I'll keep trying to find my friend. If he is still out there? If he is still alive? If I do Locate the equipment taken from the ship. In the command module there was a emergency beacon. This beacon acts as a flare if the comm systems failed. But at this distance. Its hard to tell if there is enough power to make it that far. It was only constructed for short range missions. I'm