DeniseZen Read online

  “Do we have time to make ownership of these official?” Layla asked.

  “Yes, yes of course.”

  Name: Denise Zen

  Password: denizen

  She finished registering her computer, put it to sleep and plugged it into a power strip connected to a bedroom outlet to fully charge.

  “I’ve got software we can install later,” Denise said.

  “Ok. I’m ready when you are.”

  “Feel like driving?”

  “Sure.”

  “Layla, what is the meaning of the name Myla?”

  “Pretty sure it is intellect.”

  “How about Aren?”

  “That one is easy. It’s a guy’s name. Means Mountain of strength.”

  “They contacted you with their names didn’t they?”

  “Yes,” Denise said handing Layla the keys to the Mustang.

  On the way to town Denise described the last image she saw.

  “That does not sound good.”

  “Yes. I am going to need to get an early start tomorrow.”

  “That’s understandable. Wish I could come with you.”

  “I will ask.”

  “Thanks.”

  Layla decided on a Schwinn Le Tour Sport in white, and Denise chose a color that matched her Mustang, a Schwinn Le Tour Legacy. The manager of the store arranged for the bikes to be delivered to Denise’s trailer the next day at no charge.

  They came home with a pizza and settled in to a restful evening with each other and their new Macbook Pro computers.

  “What do you think you can expect tomorrow?” Layla asked, giving Denise a foot rub.

  “I’m not sure. The real start perhaps of a strange trip, hopefully not a LONG strange trip.”

  “I think one of them is her lover. My guess would be Aren, don’t ask me why, I just do,” Layla said.

  “I think so too. I think we should put some of the cash in a few other banks, what do you think?”

  “Two million dollars, less what we have spent. I was thinking the same thing earlier today.”

  “Well then maybe you put the suggestion in my noodle,” Denise laughed.

  “I don’t know. I am certain that if you received a suggestion to spend the evening at home together naked, or as close to naked as possible, that would have been me.”

  “Oh, I KNOW that one was you,” Denise laughed.

  Chapter 8

  First Day

  Just before dawn Denise was awakened by the soft voice of Nola in her head. If you do not object, it might be best if I pick you up today.

  I have no problem with that. How soon?

  Is one hour ample time for you to get ready?

  One hour is perfect.

  Excellent.

  Once again she started her day by putting on a small pot of coffee before heading to the bathroom. She turned on the clock radio she kept in the bathroom, and showered to the sound of Blues Magoos singing We Ain’t Got Nothing Yet. How appropriate, she thought between lyrics as she sang along. “One day you’re up and the next day you’re down, You can’t face the world with your head on the ground, The grass is always greener on the other side they say, So don’t worry girls life will be sweet some day, Oh oh oh oh.”

  She simply threw on a red thong for her first cup of coffee, getting online to check her email and send a few messages of love, Just in Case, not knowing what to expect.

  After rinsing off her mug, she slid into a pair of black Capri jeans and black leather sandals then stepped back into the bathroom to put a touch of makeup on. I’m outside. “Hmm, I did not hear a car pull up.” She put her iPhone into the black leather handbag she had cleaned much of the ‘crap’ as she put it out of, turned off the lights and walked out the front door.

  The big black Oldsmobile 98 was parked in front of her trailer already facing the exit.

  “Good morning,” Denise said as she got in on the passenger side.

  “It is a lovely morning Denise. I took the liberty,” Nola smiled pointing to the Starbucks cup closest too her.

  Denise snickered softly. “You’re quite a host Nola.”

  “I’m learning.”

  Nola steered the Oldsmobile east on Boskydell Road. The car did not make a sound, moving down the road as if it were standing still. “I wanted to thank you again,” Nola said.

  “You’re welcome, but I haven’t really done anything. I’ve listened. I’ve seen. Please save your thank you’s that I know are sincere until we get your friends back.

  “As you wish.”

  “It throws me off and makes me feel uncomfortable, so please take no offense.”

  “None taken.”

  “I’ve been confiding in Layla. I trust her implicitly. It helps me keep it all in perspective somehow. Her feedback is valuable. What has happened to your friends makes us both very angry, and anger is an energy that is good to release.”

  “She’s fallen in love with you.”

  “I know.”

  The Oldsmobile turned right at Giant City Road and sped south. Sunlight of the coming day filled the sky and clouds with shades of violet and soft power blues, yellow orange scumbling across the bottom of the wispy puffy clouds. Denise wished she had her window open and could take this glorious morning in with all her senses, as she wondered on the technique she might use to paint those clouds. Denizen we are both ALI, she heard scream in her mind. She lurched forward in her seat hanging on to the dashboard. “They’re alive. It was a males voice this time. It was as if he was here in this car with us shouting,” Denise sighed.

  Nola did not say a word. Denise saw a tear streaming down her cheek. “You are in love with him, in love with Aren?” she asked. She reached into her bag and handed Nola a napkin.

  “Yes, very much in love.”

  I am Denizen Aren. Please try to describe WHERE you are being held. Denise thought.

  Like a broken digital signal interrupted by a passing storm, two words sputtered in her mind seconds apart, under ter.

  “Please focus on the road ahead of us,” Nola said.

  They were just west of Little Grassy Lake when she noticed that the Oldsmobile was slowing down. Appearing directly in front of them was a door clearly opening into a ramp, the light within whatever the door belonged to seeming to mimic the sunrise. The door swallowed the Oldsmobile to the sound of a soft deep hum and a gentle thud.

  “Welcome to our ride to the training facility as you put it,” Nola said.

  “Where are we?” Denise asked.

  “You’re on our, I believe you might call it a shuttle craft.”

  “Shuttle craft?”

  “Come, I’ll show you.”

  They exited the Oldsmobile and Nola guided Denise through a walkway dimly lit in a pale violet hue. The wall in front of them shimmered and silently disappeared revealing a room that undoubtedly controlled the vessel.

  “I believe you have met our pilot today informally, Cyn.

  “Hello Denise, it is a pleasure to meet you,” Cyn said spinning in her chair to face her.

  “It Came From The Chicago Subway,” Denise smiled. “It’s a pleasure.”

  “If you would have a seat Denise, we will get under way,” Cyn smiled back.

  Nola sat next to her in seats away from what Denise thought looked like important controls for the vessel. “We are traveling to our main vessel. In lieu of the many pieces of information you’ve been able to obtain so far, I thought it important that you meet with the other members of our crew.”

  “Of course. And where would that be?”

  Cyn activated a screen above her station that showed them moving rapidly, heading west was Denise’s best guess. “The Smiley Face,” she said softly. “I’ve always felt Makanda was one of the most important spots on the planet,” she snickered.

  They appeared to be picking up speed, still heading in the same direction. When it was clear there was nothing but Shawnee Forest beneath they came to a near complete stop before the craft acc
elerated at what Denise thought an impossibly fast speed, straight up.

  “Very near and very private?” Denise said as the craft left Earth’s atmosphere.

  “Relatively,” Nola said.

  “I wonder if we are going to be on You Tube?” Denise laughed.

  “At the moment our vessels cannot be detected by any current devices on your world,” Cyn said.

  “Cloaking?”

  “An apt description.”

  A rapidly growing light shimmered on the screen before it filled the screen and changed color to the same pale violet hue Denise had seen earlier. She sensed a low-pitched hum subside at the same time she felt a mild vibration. Nola led her past the Oldsmobile and down the ramp they had arrived on, into a much larger space. The craft they were exiting was not touching the floor. There were two other similar craft attached to what she could only guess were docking clamps in the circular space.

  “I’m not in Kansas any more,” Denise said.

  “Kansas?” Nola asked.

  “It’s a movie, The Wizard of Oz,” Denise smiled.

  “Come and let me introduce you to the rest of the crew.”

  She was led through the same type of vanishing doorway that sealed behind them, then down a corridor that she could tell lead around the craft in a circle.

  “We’re in a saucer shaped craft?” Denise asked.

  “You will be given a complete tour when we have finished our meeting. I felt it important to have you explain the past few days to the crew first,” Nola said.

  They were greeted outside another doorway that vanished before her eyes. “Welcome, I am Trepa.” She had short blonde hair and was as tall as Denise.

  “Hello.”

  Trepa led them into a room with a circular table that resembled polished steel yet was not touching the floor. Around it were seated seven other crewmembers.

  “Please be seated,” Trepa spoke in a gentle voice, her hand extended palm up to an empty seat.

  “Where are we, how far from Makanda?” Denise asked.

  “Approximately nine thousands kilometers,” Cyn said.

  “Straight up?”

  “That is one way of looking at it,” Cyn said.

  A tall female with long black hair entered carrying, or guiding, a tray filled with cups. “Hello Denise, I am Mari, and this one is yours,” she said before walking around the table positioning tall cups in front of seats around the table.

  “It’s a latte,” Nola said. “Let me know what you think.”

  Wow. Perfect. Better than Starbucks perhaps, she thought.

  There were a few giggles around the room.

  “It’s perfect,” Denise said.

  “Thank you,” Mari smiled before taking a seat opposite Denise.

  When all were gathered there were nine members seated at the table along with Denise. Nola introduced them all. “You’ve already met Pyta, Cyfer and Cyn. Artand, who was the first male you met in the Student Center theater, Mari of course who seems to have acquired a passion for lattes as well. Trepa who you will be spending most of your day with once this meeting is over, Kinsa, Vido, and Senn.”

  “Hello,” Denise said, lifting her cup in the air before taking a sip.

  “As I explained to all seated here, you’ve been in communication with our crewmembers for the first time since their disappearance. I wonder if you could relate your experiences as they happened and your thoughts that are most insightful,” Nola said.

  After explaining in detail what she had seen and heard the past few days, Denise continued. “I believe they are being held not by members of our government, and this I find especially disturbing. It is embarrassing to have to admit this being a member of the human race, but there are a growing number of humans that will stop at nothing to satisfy their greed. Greed is the number one reason for all of mankind’s problems. It is a sickness that most humans in power suffer from, an uncontrollable desire, more like an addiction, to gain more at any cost. This is what disturbs me the most about the who’s and why’s.”

  There was silence for a moment.

  “Denise,” Trepa said, “the latest messages you received today, you said they were much stronger.”

  “Yes, they were. For what it’s worth, I have seen or heard nothing since leaving the ground.”

  There was communication between the crewmembers taking place that Denise could not tap into.

  “I believe they are being held under the location they are at, and that it is near water, perhaps under water. This is just my theory based on this mornings last message of course which doesn’t give us a lot to go on within a radius of four hundred miles from Makanda. Wherever they are it is not a ground level structure, of that I am convinced, theoretically anyway.”

  Denise sensed a beam of hope in Nola’s expression.

  We have agreed to allow your friend to accompany you the next time we meet,” Nola said.

  “Thank you. She will be most pleased.”

  Nola, where is the uhm, ladies room? Denise thought.

  “My apologies. I am about to turn you over to Trepa, she will show you.”

  The meeting broke and Denise followed Trepa out the vanishing door and down the hall to another door on the opposite side of the hall that opened into a room filled with ambient golden light. “This is your personal space, one of our guest quarters. I trust you will find the accommodations suitable,” she said pointing gracefully at another smaller door that opened into what she suspected was their equivalent of a bathroom.

  “I won’t be long.”

  “Simply think the function you wish to perform and the appropriate device needed will appear.”

  “Much easier than an in-flight toilet,” Denise smiled.

  Hmm. Tinkle. Nothing appeared.

  Pee pee. Nothing again.

  Try toilet, Trepa whispered in her head.

  Thanks. Toilet. A silver disc she could only assume was a toilet bowl appeared before her that did not seem to be connected to anything. “It it’s not, oh well, it’s only a tinkle,” she giggled before sitting on it to get rid of the morning’s coffee.

  You are NOT going to believe where I am, she thought, directing in to Layla.

  She stood up and looked down at a bowl that was empty. “Interesting. Let me try something.” Finished. The bowl vanished when she did. Sink. A silver sink appeared where the bowl had just been. She put her hands under what appeared to be a faucet and a stream of water began to flow. When she pulled them away the stream stopped and her hands were already dry. “So much for requesting a towel.” Finished. The sink disappeared.

  Let me guess, she is a Madame and you are making a fortune with your looks. It was Layla’s voice.

  Let’s just say I will be back in Kansas in a while.

  Can’t they make it Southern Illinois, I miss you?

  “That is some bathroom,” Denise said upon exiting.

  “Thank you,” Trepa said standing by the doorway to the hall. “Much of your training will take place in this room.”

  “I can’t wait. Were you able to sense my friend’s thoughts a moment ago?”

  “No, I was not. She is handling your brief separation well?”

  “Yes, she is.” Denise weighed her answer. If they could not lie, she just communicated with Layla in private.

  “You have a lot of questions. Today is simply an orientation and tour. Tomorrow is when we really get started, at which time you will undoubtedly receive answers to the many questions you have.”

  “May I bring Layla tomorrow if she is willing to come?”

  “Yes.”

  “May I speak to her about this day?”

  “It is recommended. It will afford her a more favorable start to her day.”

  The tour continued past living quarters and what could only be deemed a small dining area. Trepa pointed out an area that for now at least was off limits to visitors. Denise suspected it lead to areas critical to the overall function of the ship.

  When t
hey arrived at what Denise termed ‘the bridge’, she gazed out at the Earth through what appeared to be a large window. “That’s one clear picture if that is a video screen,” Denise said.

  “It is the equivalent of a window,” Cyn explained. “Certain sections of the hull of the ship will become transparent at will.”

  “You have one in your room if you need to activate it,” Trepa said.

  “I feel like such a child in your presence,” Denise said.

  “As do we in yours,” Nola said, entering the room.

  Denise just turned to her and smiled.

  “Shall we?” Nola said.

  “I have finished our tour. I will see you tomorrow,” Trepa smiled.

  “Til tomorrow.” Denise smiled back.

  Nola led her back to the shuttle with Cyn. The Oldsmobile was facing the ramp now. “Please,” Nola said, opening the passenger side door of the car.

  The ramp closed before her eyes and Nola got into the drivers seat. “We’ll be taking the fast route back, so being in place is advisable.”

  Denise heard the start of a deep hum before the quiet thump of what she could only assume was the release of the docking clamp. She thought she sensed movement but could not say for certain.

  “I was able to communicate with Layla from the guest room, for what it’s worth,” Denise said. “I have seen or heard nothing from Myla or Aren since this morning.”

  “That could prove to be important.”

  Within what seemed like less than a minute, Denise sensed a strange pull on the ship.

  “We have entered your atmosphere. You will notice a subtle change in the movement of this vessel when we do.”

  “I know I’m going to get that question right if it’s on the final,” Denise giggled.

  “Final?” Nola laughed. “It is a delight having you near Denise.”

  “The feeling is mutual.”

  Nola started up the Oldsmobile just as the doorway and ramp opened before their eyes. The craft appeared to be standing still when Nola put the car in gear and they were heading north on Giant City Road on the way back to her trailer.

  “You’re a good driver,” Denise said.

  “Thanks.”

  “Trepa said it was ok for Layla to accompany us tomorrow if she is willing.”